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randomwelcomehomestuff · 11 months

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Unfinished Business: a Welcome Home Corpse Puppet AU fanfiction

A/N: Just here to let you know that I'm not creative. Like, at all. This is a fanfic of a fanfic inspired by a fan-made AU of a completely unrelated work, but I couldn't get it out of my head so maybe now my brain will be at peace so I can work on my original story (or it will come up with fifty other fanfic ideas because that's more fun than editing).

Anyway, Welcome Home belongs to Clown/partycoffin, the Corpse Puppet AU belongs to @sketchquill, and the fanfic this is based on is a Corpse Bride/Nightmare Before Christmas crossover fic called The Undead Groom by moviefan_92 on Ao3.

Spoiler Alert for all of that media, plus a little for the novel The Pumpkin Queen just because there's a reference here and there, but not too much.

Also C/W: There's a lot of major character death in here.

I may add more to it later if inspiration strikes. Let me know in the comments if you are interested in that.

Okay, I'll shut up, now. Here's the fic.

The carriage jostled down the muddy dirt road. You wrung the handkerchief in your hands as you gazed out the window at the grey sky, occasionally distracted by the raindrops trailing down the glass. Try as you might, you just couldn't cry. You wanted to, but no tears would come.

At least the dreary weather was appropriate for a funeral.

Howdy was watching you. He wasn't one to judge his spouse's appearance, but he did decide that funeral black did not suit you particularly well. Not when he'd seen you in so many other bright, cheerful colors, when you had been happy. When you were like this—mourning—the sparkle in your eyes was gone. He thought you were beautiful when you were happy, somehow still hauntingly so when you were sad, but he would be lying if he said he didn't prefer seeing you smile or laugh.

“Are you alright?” he asked. “I know you and Eddie were close.”

You sighed. “I'll be fine. This isn't my first time dealing with grief.”

Yes, Howdy knew that all too well. The first several days of your marriage had been more awkward than they probably should have been for... obvious reasons. Any time he caught you staring despondently out the window, he knew deep down that you were thinking of Wally.

That didn't have a negative impact on your marriage, though. You were strong and optimistic, and Howdy shared many happy memories with you. You taught him how to play piano, and he in turn taught you how to garden. You even started a small orchard together. Howdy couldn't think of many more signs of a happy home than the smell of apple blossoms in the garden and hallways filled with the sounds of music and laughter. You were comfortable, and your fortunes were secure, (that was the most important thing to both of your parents, and neither of you could ask for much more than your parents' satisfaction).

Most of all, you and Howdy loved each other. Howdy had accepted long ago that yours was a love built off of friendship and mutual respect rather than romance, but it was enough for him, (considering what he grew up witnessing from his parents, he counted that as the greatest success of them all). You recently celebrated your copper anniversary, which baffled Howdy. How could seven years fly by so quickly? Thinking back on everything, he knew that he was completely satisfied with where his life was, as long as you were by his side and happy.

Which is why he hated to see you so sad. He wouldn't rush you through your grief, but he could at least help lighten the load. “Would you like to talk about it?” he asked.

You looked down at the handkerchief in your hands, wadded up beyond recognition, but still as dry as it was when Howdy handed it to you. You smoothed it out over your lap and stared at Howdy's initials embroidered in green in the corner.

Howdy watched you, patient. A deep rumble of thunder rolled through the sky outside.

“I just... hate how somber it was,” you said.

“Funerals typically are.”

“I know, but Eddie wouldn't have wanted that. He was so much more cheerful and... and colorful than that. He'd want people telling funny stories about him and celebrating his life, not... just standing in silence while the dirt is thrown over his casket.” Your shoulders stiffened. “I should have said something.” Now you could feel the tears building up, but they simply would not come. I should be crying. Why am I not crying?

Howdy leaned forward and took your hand, and you finally looked into his eyes. He was smiling. “He's in a better place, now.”

You smiled at that. Seven years ago, those words would have felt like a hollow attempt at consolation, but now they were a real comfort. Howdy was there when the dead came up to the Land of the Living. He witnessed Eddie and Frank briefly reunite. Now they would never be separated again, and he knew it as well as you did.

Perhaps that was why you couldn't cry: you knew that good things were waiting for Eddie on the other side.

The tears finally spilled over and rolled down your cheeks, but they were not tears of sorrow. You were happy.

Howdy used two of his free hands to cup your face. His smile was soft and understanding as he thumbed away your tears. You stood and shifted over to the seat across from you so you could sit beside him, and his four arms wrapped you up into a tight hug. He pressed a kiss into the top of your head, like he had so many times before. “Everything will be alright,” he whispered.

“I know,” you mumbled into his shoulder.

Lightning flashed outside, followed by a loud clap of thunder. You gripped at Howdy's coat as he leaned forward to look out the window. “That storm is getting much worse.”

“Should we stop somewhere?” you asked.

He nodded. “Most likely.” He reached up to knock on the ceiling of the coach. “Johnson? How are the roads looking?” he called.

Johnson, the driver, shouted something back to Howdy, but his voice was drowned out by a deafening crash. A blinding white light flooded the carriage and the horses whinnied outside in terror. You tried to lean forward to look out the window, but the horses bolted and the momentum sent you crashing to the floor of the coach. You could hear Johnson yelling. Howdy grabbed your arm and tried to haul you back into the seat, but when you looked out the window, what you saw made you freeze.

Lightning had struck a nearby tree. It was on fire. Johnson seemed to have lost the reins, because you could see them flapping in the wind by the window. Howdy was calling your name. Johnson was screaming at the horses to stop.

The carriage was passing the flaming tree right as it started to crackle and groan.

You jumped back into the seat and grabbed Howdy. One of his hands grasped the back of your head and his body tensed around you as if he was bracing himself.

It only took a few seconds—three at most—but it felt like an eternity.

Wood splintered around you as the carriage shattered. A heavy weight came down on you and Howdy, and for a brief, macabre moment, you were amazed by how fragile your bodies really were.

Then everything went black.

There was nothing but darkness for a long time. You tried to move, tried to call out for Howdy, but nothing happened. You were just... nothing.

That thought scared you. There was so much more than that. Light. Color. Noises and smells. Life. You couldn't be nothing, that just wasn't possible. You had memories and goals. You had a spouse and a family. You had an estate to attend to you. You couldn't just... not be.

Panic twisted your stomach into knots, clawed its way up your throat, and came out of your mouth as a scream: “Help! Help me!”

“Alright, alright! Calm down!”

You stopped. That voice sounded familiar, but you couldn't quite put your finger on who it was.

Then you heard another, timid voice. “Is it always like this?”

That one you did recognize, because you had just heard it a few days ago. It was Eddie. Your instinct was to gasp, but you couldn't. I can't breathe. Oh, God, I can't breathe.

The first voice spoke again: “Often, yes. It all depends on the person and how at peace they are.”

There was a shuffling nearby. It was odd, despite the panic coursing through you, your body was strangely... calm. You expected your heart to be thumping fast and heavy in your ears and for your palms to be sweaty, but there was nothing.

The space above you shifted with a low creak and light stabbed your eyes. You flinched, blinked, then stared at the two faces above you blurring into focus.

Eddie and Frank were leaned over, looking down at you. They both offered you sad, soft smiles.

Your neck was stiff as you looked around. Your were laying in some sort of bed. It wasn't comfortable; even though it was all silk, there was no cushion, and the pillow at your head was much too small. Your mind was sluggish like you had just woken from a long nap. You had to blink several times and crane your neck to the left before you realized that Frank was holding open a lid.

You were in a casket.

Your tongue felt like cement in your mouth as you stammered, “Am... am I d-dead?”

Eddie gave you a pitying look. “Oh, Y/N.”

“Come on,” Frank said, “the sooner you get on your feet, the better you'll feel.” He and Eddie grabbed you under your arms and hoisted you out of the casket, which was sitting on a table. They helped you find your footing and Frank instructed you through some stretches to shake off the rigor mortis. You took a moment to look around.

You were in a sort of cavern, full of other caskets sitting on tables. Some looked new, others old and decayed.

“Where are we?” you asked.

“The Land of the Dead. Specifically, an offshoot of our village, just below the graveyard where you were buried,” Frank said.

You felt dizzy. “So... the crash... I didn't make it.”

Eddie put his hand on your shoulder. “No one made it except the driver. When the tree fell, he got thrown off, but he survived. Poor man blames himself for what happened. Thinks he should have kept better hold of the reins or suggested you leave sooner to avoid the storm.” He squeezed your shoulder. “They say you and Howdy died in each other's arms.”

“Howdy...” Your stomach was churning and you wondered if you could still get sick even if you were dead.

Eddie nodded. “Frank had to break a couple of rules, but we went to the Land of the Living to see your funeral—”

“From a safe distance, of course,” Frank interrupted.

“Of course. Your parents spared no expense. They got you a big, beautiful gravestone and there were flowers everywhere. You and Howdy were buried next to each other in the outfits you got married in.”

You glanced down at yourself for the first time and realized he was right, you were wearing the outfit your mother had picked out for your wedding, complete with your wedding band on your left hand.

Not only that, but you were also wearing the other wedding band on your right hand. Wally's wedding band. It was the same ring Wally had worn all those years ago, after you had practiced your vows in the woods. You ended up keeping it for myself since Howdy's mother insisted that you purchase new rings for your next attempt at getting married, (”I'll have no cursed rings at this ceremony,” she said). You could never bring yourself to get rid of it, though, and eventually fell into the habit of wearing it on your right hand while you wore your actual wedding ring on your left.

You were surprised that you had been buried with it, considering everything. Perhaps your family decided that since you wore it all the time, it held sentimental value to you and you'd want to keep it. Or, you shuddered to consider this, your hands were too swollen to get it off.

You shook those thoughts away and looked back to Eddie. “Where is Howdy?” you asked. “If he was buried next to me, shouldn't he be here?”

Frank and Eddie exchanged a glance. “We aren't sure where he is,” Eddie said.

“We've been keeping an eye out for him, but we think he's gone to the upstairs,” Frank added.

“The upstairs?”

“Heaven, Paradise, Nirvana, whatever you call it. You can go to whatever version of the afterlife you choose once you pass on. Unless you're someone like Julie.” They frowned. “Someone like that who has caused suffering for others doesn't get a choice. She's downstairs.”

“So, if there's an upstairs and a downstairs, where are we? The ground floor?”

Frank's mouth twitched into a smile. “Something like that. The people who end up here usually either can't make up their mind where they want to go or have unfinished business. You could join Howdy upstairs, if you wanted.”

You considered this, but the idea made your head spin. Where exactly did Howdy go, and how would you go about joining him?

Frank nodded to a nearby hallway. “We can talk more about this, later. Come on, the others are waiting to see you.”

The others. You perked up a bit remembering them. Sally, Poppy, Barnaby, even your old dog, Scraps. You followed Frank out of the cavern, and Eddie fell into step beside you, whistling a cheery tune as you walked.

The bells were already ringing by the time you reached the village, and as you got closer to the old tavern you could hear a chorus of voices all calling out, “New arrival! New arrival!”

Eddie chuckled beside you. “Poppy is up to her ears in cooking. They just had a Welcome Feast for me the other day.”

You tried to swallow, but your mouth was too dry. God, Eddie's, funeral was just the other day, and now here you were. You weren't sure if you could take part in any kind of feast; your mind was still reeling from everything that had happened.

You entered the tavern and were immediately greeted by Sally, the tragic Shakespearean actor, who gripped your hand and was roughly shaking it as soon as you stepped through the door. “Well, it's about time you showed up!” she said.

“Easy, Sally. Y/N is still adjusting,” Frank said as they came in beside you.

“Yeah, yeah,” Sally said as she tugged you across the room and sat you down at a bar. “So how'd it happen?”

You cleared your throat. “Um. A carriage accident.”

She whistled. “Wow, that's a rough way to go. Do you remember any of it?”

“Not really. I got knocked out pretty quickly.”

There was a loud thud beside you as a familiar, tall blue dog plopped down in the seat on your other side. “Welp, that's good at least,” Barnaby said as he handed you a frothing mug of beer.

“Sure is. Not remembering violent deaths makes the transition a little easier.”

Barnaby leaned over, his eyeball rolling into his right socket, and peered at you. “And judging by all the schmutz on your face, I'm guessing it wasn't a pretty sight.”

“Schmutz?” You gently touched your face and realized that you had a very thick layer of makeup on.

“Oh yeah! We need to get that off you right away. It looks awful.” Sally stood up and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Poppyyyyyy! I need a mirrooooooooor!”

“One moment, please!” a high-pitched, crow-like voice squawked from the kitchen. “Goodness me, I'm going to start molting again from all these feasts.” Poppy walked into the space behind the bar, wiping her wings on her apron, and she looked up at you. “Oh, my dear Y/N. I heard the rumors, but I didn't know if they were true. I'm so sorry.”

You couldn't help but smile at Poppy, remembering the way she comforted you when you first came here and were scared out of your wits. “I'm fine. It's good to see you again.”

She smiled back at you before digging through her apron pocket. “Let's see, I think I have a mirror in here, somewhere. Ah!” She withdrew a tiny hand mirror and handed it to you. “Please don't be insulted, but whoever did your funeral makeup certainly did you a disservice.”

You looked into the mirror and blanched when you realized that they were right. The makeup didn't match your skin tone and made you look horribly discolored, and they seemed to try and make up for that by applying huge splotches of rouge to your cheeks and lips. You grimaced at your reflection.

“Uh huh. Here,” Sally said while handing you a rag.

You went to work cleaning up your face and neck, scrubbing the makeup away. You froze when you glanced at your reflection again and noticed just how much you had changed. Your skin had taken on a bluish tint, and you had massive stitches across your neck and down your right temple. You gently prodded at your temple and flinched when a fraction of your skull shifted under your touch. No, the accident wasn't pretty at all.

Sally noticed this and took the rag and mirror from you. “Here, I'll finish,” she said.

“You'll get used to it,” Barnaby said as Sally got to work. “Imagine how Poppy was when she first got here and saw that half of her face was missing.”

Sally finished and nodded with satisfaction. “There. Now you look like one of us!”

“The stitches are a nice touch, too. Makes you look like a pirate,” Barnaby said.

Sally gasped. “Oooo. We could do a production of The Pirates of Penzance! Are you a good singer?”

“Me? Well, uh—”

Barnaby laughed then stood up. “Care if I go ahead and audition?” He started singing “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” before anyone could protest, going out of his way to use a silly voice and make larger-than-life funny gestures.

Eddie took Barnaby's seat beside you and helped himself to the drink that Poppy put down in front of him. “So, what do you think you're going to do now?”

You pondered this for a moment. “I'm not sure. What can I do?”

“Whatever you want, really. You could move on to another afterlife upstairs, or you could stay here. Take care of whatever unfinished business you have.”

You shrugged. “I guess that's why I'm here, huh? I just can't make up my mind?”

Poppy leaned against the bar and giggled. “Oh, no. I think you do have unfinished business.”

You tilted your head. “What?”

Sally's attention was brought back to you and she propped her elbows on the bar, giving you a sly smile. “Oh, yeah. And I bet we all know what it is.”

“I'm confused,” you said.

“Oh, come on. Do we really need to spell it out for you?” she said with a groan. “How about the guy you almost drank poison for?”

Your eyes widened. “Wally?”

Sally and Poppy both nodded. Barnaby gave up on his performance when he realized no one was watching him juggle three empty beer mugs and approached you again. “Sounds about right,” he said.

“But that's not possible. Wally, he... he's gone. I saw him disappear.”

Frank approached you from behind and placed their hand on your shoulder. “He's not gone. Souls don't just disappear like that.”

“Yeah, and he visited us a couple of weeks ago,” Barnaby added.

You felt something deep within you—your heart, maybe? even though it wasn't beating anymore?—jump up at the revelation. “Where is he? Upstairs?”

“Nah, I think Poppy would have let us know if he was living in the attic.” Barnaby laughed when Frank gave him a sharp glare.

“Not precisely. Last I heard, he's residing in another in-between kind of place. It's a little bit harder to get there since it's separate from our world, but he's figured it out well enough that he still visits us from time to time,” Frank said.

Your throat clenched like a fist and your eyes were stinging. You pressed your hands against your mouth and sniffled.

Poppy grinned. “I knew it.”

“Please. We all knew it,” Sally said.

“How do I find him?” you said.

Frank put a hand to his chin. “Well, he told me that there are a couple of ways to get there, but for most of them you have to know what you're looking for. I haven't been able to go there, myself, so I won't be very much help, there.” They tapped his jaw and hummed a bit in thought. “I suppose I could give you the spell I gave Wally before. It's a bit of a gamble, but I'm sure it won't be much of a problem for you. It's a spell to help you find your heart's desire. I gave it to him when he first got here in case he ever changed his mind about that unfinished business of his, and he kept it with him for years. Didn't use it until that day in the Land of the Living.”

You remembered that moment vividly, when you watched as Wally's body dissolved into hundreds of blue and grey butterflies. “That was a spell? I thought he was gone.”

Frank shook his head. “I think once he decided that he was satisfied, he needed something to help him move on. He's happy where he is now, if not a little lonely.”

You hugged yourself. You had never considered the possibility of seeing Wally again, and now that you were told that it was possible, your heart seemed to sing at the idea. But something was holding you back.

“What about Howdy?”

Frank sighed. “I can't help you with that. I'm afraid that's a decision you'll have to make on your own.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Eddie said, “you're not limited to one place. You can visit each afterlife whenever you want. I visited my parents in the upstairs the other day, but I'm staying here to be with Frank.” As he said this, he took Frank's hand and gave them a sweet smile. “So, uh, if you want to see Howdy again, you can. But you don't have to stay anywhere. You're free to do what you want.”

That seemed to loosen some of the tension in your chest. You took a deep breath and let your heart take over. “Okay. How do I use that spell?”

Frank smiled. “We'll need to get some things out of my office.”

You stood and followed Frank out the door. Sally whooped behind you, “Woo hoo! Lover boy's getting his partner back!”

“We'll have that Welcome Feast another time, alright?” Poppy called.

Barnaby just hummed to himself, considering adding another verse to “Remains of the Day” so that the story would have a happy ending, after all. Then again, he'd probably have to sacrifice the catchy instrumental part in the middle so the song wasn't too long, and he wasn't willing to do that.

You and Eddie stood in silence as you watched Frank dig through his various supplies. He scrutinized their spell book as he carefully measured and combined the ingredients. When they were finished, he handed you a small capsule the size of a marble.

“This is it?” you asked.

He nodded. “It looks unassuming, but it is a very powerful spell. All you have to do is crush it in your hand and you'll be sent to wherever your heart's desire is. Though, you may need to try and focus on one thing, or else you may get sent to the wrong place.”

“But don't worry. If you get lost, just find a graveyard and enter a crypt to go underground, and you'll find a village associated with that grave yard. You should be able to find your way back from there,” Eddie said.

You nodded, staring at the capsule in the palm of your hand.

Without warning, Eddie pulled you into a hug. “Take care of yourself, okay, bud? And you'd better visit us all the time, or I'll come find you, myself.”

You smiled and leaned into his hug. “I will. I promise.”

Frank sniffed and cleared their throat, trying to hide the fact that you reminded him of themselves when he was young and fell in love with Eddie for the first time. “Alright, go on before Eddie decides to make you stay here.”

You turned to Frank and gave him a hug, too. “Thank you,” you whispered.

They awkwardly patted your back. “Of course.” He led you out to his balcony that overlooked the village. “I will warn you, it may be a bit of a bumpy ride.”

You walked to the edge of the balcony, looked back over your shoulder at them as Eddie put his arm around Frank. You took a deep breath—just out of habit at this point, and it was an odd sensation to feel your lungs stretch for the first time in a while—then turned your face up. You closed your eyes and pictured Wally, wherever he was, then you squeezed your right hand until the capsule burst and a fine powder spilled out between your fingers.

Nothing happened, at first. You opened your eyes again and looked down, wondering if you'd done something wrong.

But then you felt another strange sensation: an unraveling, like your body was falling away from you. A gust of wind swirled around you, your feet and the tips of your fingers tingled, and your body transformed into hundreds of butterflies.

Just like Wally.

Normally, you would have been frightened. You weren't. Your heart jumped up in your throat with excitement. You almost laughed, but your face and mouth had been transformed by then.

You were jumbling, fluttering, riding on the wind current, spread out in a great cloud of delicate wings. You tumbled through the air, trying and failing to grasp what was happening and where you were going. The world flew past you in a blur. You felt free.

You jolted when your feet suddenly met solid ground. You blinked, held your hands out in front of you and found them whole again.

You were in a circular clearing in the middle of a grove of trees. You spun around in a circle, taking in your surroundings. The trees were all tall and dark, and each tree on the edge of this clearing had a door carved into it. A four-leaf clover, a big red heart, a Christmas tree? An Easter egg? These were all symbols associated with holidays.

“Oh!” a quiet voice sounded behind you. You turned to face them and stared, slack-jawed, at the person who met you. She was a tall, slender woman standing at the edge of the grove. Her skin was made of a blue fabric and she had long, red hair and wore a colorful, patchwork dress. A small basked was hanging from the crook of her arm, stuffed with sprigs of lavender. Her round, glassy, babydoll eyes blinked at you. She smiled and dipped her head down. “I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting to find anyone else here.”

You struggled to find your words as you were still wrapping your head around the concept that a giant rag doll was talking to you. This was all a lot for you to take in one day. You coughed and said, “No, I'm sorry. I'm just... looking for someone.”

The woman tilted her head. “Is that so? Who are you looking for?”

“A man named Wally Darling. He's a...” You hesitated, unsure how foreign this would be to her.

But she finished the sentence for you. “A corpse? Like you?”

You smiled bashfully. “Yes.”

The woman grinned even bigger. “Then it's a good thing I found you. He's from the same town as me.”

That jolt of excitement shot through you again. It seemed like the spell that Frank made for you worked like a charm. “Really? Can you take me there?”

“Of course.” She walked up to you, her stride small and with a noticeable limp, thought she didn't seem to be in pain. She held out her hand. “My name is Sally, by the way,” she said.

Another Sally, you thought. You shook her hand and introduced yourself. She nodded, then motioned to the side toward a tree with a door shaped like a jack-o-lantern in it. “We'll be heading to Halloween Town. This is the fastest way there,” she continued. She limped to the tree, turned the knob that was disguised as the jack-o-lantern's nose, and the door swung outward. You cautiously approached it and looked down into the hollow tree. There was nothing but darkness, and the door opened to a steep drop-off that you couldn't see the bottom of.

“I find it easiest to just close my eyes and jump,” she said. “I know it can be a bit intimidating sometimes, but I promise, it's perfectly safe. My husband and I come through here all the time.”

You swallowed, grabbed hold of the doorway, and shut your eyes. A gentle breeze blew through, carrying the comforting scent of fallen leaves and caramel apples. A smile crept onto your face, and you pulled yourself through the doorway and jumped.

There was only a second of free fall before you landed smartly on your rear end in a giant pile of leaves. You grunted and clambered to your feet.

Sally appeared beside you. “Are you alright? That happens a lot for first-timers.”

You straightened up and said, “Yeah, I'm fine. Not like I can get much worse.”

She giggled at that and motioned for you to follow her. You walked together down a dirt path that cut through the woods and she asked you about where you came from and how you got here. She was a good listener as you told her everything.

“How do you know Wally?” she asked.

“We, um...” Your face heated up and you found yourself fiddling with the band on your right hand. “It's a long story. Let's just say we're... old friends.”

“I see,” she said with a knowing look that made you blush more. But then she looked forward and said, “Here we are.”

You both crested a hill and looked down on an archway with “Halloween Town” spelled out in black, iron letters. A large town bustled with activity down below. The architecture was conflictingly made of a combination of twisting, curving lines and jagged, sharp angles, and the citizens seemed to enjoy and monochrome color palette with occasional splashes of bright color. You followed Sally down the path and entered the town.

You had to keep yourself from gawking when you saw the first couple of citizens gathered in the town square: a wolf man dressed in tattered flannel chatting with a bulking man dressed in overalls with an axe stuck in his head. They both gawked at you, though, when you came into a view.

“Look! Queen Sally has brought in someone new!” the wolf man exclaimed with a gravelly voice.

You glanced at her. “Queen Sally?”

She blushed. “Ah, yes, I didn't mention that. I'm the Pumpkin Queen.”

“Oh!” You fumbled and started to bow, but Sally stopped you.

“Please, don't. That's exactly why I don't go around announcing that to everyone. Just treat me like you would anyone else.”

You nodded. “Sorry.”

“And don't apologize, either.” She hooked her arm around yours and said, “Now, let's go find Wally.”

She led you away, but not before you noticed that a trio of women, (witches, you guessed, based on their clothes and pointed hats) had gathered around the wolf man and were whispering conspiratorially.

You hadn't gone far before you stumbled upon two more citizens: a man wearing a long trench coat and tall, thin top hat, and an even taller, thin, and gangly skeleton dressed in a pin-stripped suit with tails on his coat and a bat bowtie. They were both leaned over something on a table.

Sally perked up a bit beside you. “Oh, that's my husband over there. He may know where Wally is.” She waved her free hand and called, “Jack! Jack!”

The skeleton looked up and his face split into a wide, toothy grin. “Sally! Perfect timing! Mr. Hyde and I were just testing out his newest creation. Would you care to see?”

She nodded and walked to the table, where Jack presented her with a large, orange bowl of candy with a small sign taped to the front that read “Just Take One.”

“A seemingly normal bowl, yes? Perfectly welcoming to trick-or-treaters.”

“Of course,” she agreed.

“Go and take a piece. Just one.”

Sally did as he said a delicately picked up a wrapped piece of butterscotch. She waited a moment, then raised a brow at him. “Is that all?”

“Precisely, because you were good and only took one. Now, pretend you are a greedy trick-or-treater and try to grab a handful.”

Sally nodded and drove her hand into the bowl, grabbing a large handful of candy, when a ghostly hand jumped from within the depths of the bowl and grabbed her wrist. She gasped, startled, then laughed. “What fun!”

Jack clapped Mr. Hyde on the back. “You see? A brilliant idea! I knew you were an excellent choice for the knew town scientist. Well done!”

Mr Hyde chuckled, pleased with himself. “You flatter me, Jack.”

Sally gently tugged at Jack's arm and whispered to him. He looked at you and his eyes lit up. “Oh, my apologies! I was so caught up in my work, I hadn't noticed you there.” He swept into a low bow. “Jack Skellington, Pumpkin King and Co-Representative of Halloween.” He stood upright and draped an arm over Sally's shoulder. “And you've already met my wife and partner, Sally.” He looked you up and down, then beamed. “We don't get very many new faces, but you seem like you'll fit right in, here.”

You cleared your throat and said, “Actually, Mr. uh, Skellington—”

“Please, Jack is fine.”

“Jack,” you corrected, “I'm actually looking for someone. Wally Darling?”

He raised a brow and glanced at Sally, who only smiled up at him. “Your name wouldn't happen to be Y/N, would it?”

Your eyes widened. “Yes. Why?”

“He talks about you all the time. Oh, he'll be over the moon when he sees you!”

You could have sworn that your heart thudded hearing that, but that couldn't have been possible, could it?

Jack tilted his head and hummed. “I just saw him a moment ago. I may know where he is. Follow me!” He let go of Sally and strode away. You glanced at Sally and she nodded to you, urging you forward, then you jogged to follow the skeleton.

Jack led the way down a twisting cobblestone path that led out of the town and into farmland that mostly consisted of pumpkins. He led you through a graveyard and up a steep hill, and his long strides took him up the hill faster than you could keep up with. You couldn't run out of breath, anymore, but that didn't stop your muscles from aching as you hiked after him. As you reached the top of the hill, you could see another hill in the distance that made the shape of a spiral. As you took in the view, your gaze wandered from the massive spiral and down to the bottom where another there was another pumpkin patch.

You froze when you saw him. There was no mistaking him with his blue, patchwork skin and signature hair style. He wasn't wearing the wedding tuxedo anymore; now he donned a simple white shirt and blue striped pants. He was seated at a stool in the middle of the pumpkin patch with an easel in front of him, hard at work on a painting. You would have gasped if you still had breath, and your body moved before you completely comprehended what you were seeing.

Wally.

As you came closer, you could see that he was recreating the view of the spiral hill on his painting. His back was to you, and he hummed quietly as he worked, so deep in thought that he didn't notice you and Jack approaching until Jack called his name.

“Wally! I thought we'd find you here.” Jack leaned over Wally's shoulder and looked at the painting. “Ah, is this my commission? It's coming along swimmingly.”

All you saw was Wally's side profile as he smiled up at Jack. “Thank you. I'm just touching up a few details, right now. It should be finished in a day or so, when it dries.”

“It will be a wonderful anniversary gift. Sally will love it!”

Wally turned back to his painting, and Jack glanced at you like he'd just remembered you were there. “Actually, Wally, I needed to speak to you.”

“Hm?”

“It seems,” Jack said, putting his hand on Wally's shoulder, “that someone is here to see you.”

Wally gave Jack a confused look, then turned.

His eyes widened, and the paintbrush fell from his limp fingers.

Neither of you moved. His eyes trailed up and down your body. He stood, took a few hesitant steps forward, and said, “Y/N?”

You smiled. “Hello, Wally,” you said.

Jack was beaming.

Wally blinked, then shook his head. “I'm dreaming.”

You almost laughed. Your hands were shaking. “No, you're not.”

“I am. You... you can't be here. It's not possible.”

“Wally...”

“I'm going to open my eyes, and you'll be gone.”

You approached him, took his hand, and pressed it against your face. His eyes dilated and his mouth fell open.

“I'm here,” you whispered.

He studied your face, and his fingers trailed down your jaw and to your neck, where they found the stitches. He glanced at them, and his mouth opened wider. “Oh...” His other hand found your neck and he gently traced the stitches. He gently turned your head from side to side as he looked you over like he was just noticing the bluish tint your skin had taken, and his gaze fell on the stitches on your temple. “What happened?”

“A carriage accident.”

He covered his mouth. “Oh, no...”

You took his hand again. “It's alright. I don't remember anything.”

You noticed tears forming at the corners of his eyes. “I'm so sorry.”

You cupped his cheek. “Don't be. I'm alright.”

Jack coughed. “I believe you two will be wanting some time alone?” He leaned down and whispered to Wally, “I recommend the top of Spiral Hill. Very romantic spot.” He winked, and Wally started to blush.

“Thank you,” he mumbled before he gripped your hand tightly and led you toward Spiral Hill. You trudged to the top together, hand in hand, and you looked out over the view of the graveyard and pumpkin patch, grey and black with dots of orange.

Wally turned to you and took a tight hold of both your hands. “Tell me everything.”

You didn't speak, because with him holding your hands I noticed something for the first time. When you had met before, when you were still alive, whenever he touched you his skin was always freezing cold. Now it wasn't. You realized it was because we were the same temperature. It made you want to hold him closer.

“I already told you, I was in a carriage accident.”

“No, no. I mean... tell me about your life. What happened after I left?”

“You want me to tell you all of that? Right now?”

He nodded. “We have all the time in the world, now.”

You grinned, and then you did just that. You told him about your marriage to Howdy, the relationship you had formed, the good and bad times, and you told him that during those seven years, you never forgot him. You were afraid that he would be upset or sad when you told him about your marriage, but he seemed to be the contrary.

“I'm glad,” he said. “I was hoping I was making the right decision. It's good to know that you lived a good life after I was gone, even if... even if it was a short one.”

He had looked away, and you gently cupped his cheek so that he would look at you. “The others in the Land of the Dead said that the reason I stayed behind was likely because I had unfinished business. At first, I didn't know what they were talking about, but I think I do, now.” Despite building up to that, you suddenly became bashful and couldn't quite find the words.

Wally touched your hand on his face and leaned into it. “You were looking for me?”

You nodded. “The thing is... I missed y—”

He interrupted you by pressing his lips to yours.

He had only ever kissed you once before, that night on the bridge. You weren't sure if that even counted since you fainted when he did. You remembered being terrified back then, your stomach swirling and your heart thumping so hard and fast you thought you were about to have a heart attack. You remembered how cold his lips were, and how dizzy you were from the fear.

This was different. Obviously, you weren't afraid, now, but it was more than that. It was rushed and passionate, not the formal seal of the vows that Wally had done before. And it was warm. You still felt dizzy, though.

When he pulled away, you stared into each other's eyes for a moment, then you took his shoulders and pulled him back to you for another kiss. Your hand went to the back of his head and your fingers tangled into his soft hair. His hands trailed up and down your back. You gripped each other as if the second one of you let go, you'd be lost forever. You finally pulled away again when you heard the sound of an applause in the distance.

At the top of one of the nearby hills, a small crowd of monsters and ghouls had formed, and they were whooping and cheering. Jack and Sally stood at the center of the crowd, smiling up at you as Sally leaned into Jack's shoulder.

“So much for alone time,” you muttered. You turned back to Wally to see him beaming up at you. His eyes sparkled.

He wrapped his arms around your waist and lifted you up into a twirl. You yelped in surprise and gripped his shoulders. He laughed heartily as he set you back down, then he leaned his forehead into yours, and for a moment you simply relished in each other's company.

“Thank you,” he said. “I've missed you, too. I know that I was selfish before, but I really am glad that you came to find me.”

You were surprised to feel your heart melting a bit when he said that—it seemed that even if your heart didn't beat anymore, it was still capable of swelling and melting with emotion.

The ring on your right hand glinted in the moonlight. A knot formed in your throat. “I think... I think I know what my unfinished business is, now.”

Wally tilted his head, curious.

You took the ring off your finger and held it up to him. “I want to try again. Properly, this time. Nothing in our way, and no interruptions. I want to give you the wedding you deserve.”

Wally's eyes widened a bit, then he chuckled and shook his head. “It was never just about the wedding, you know. I wanted true love. A happy ending.”

“Exactly,” you said. “I want to give you that. A big, beautiful ceremony to celebrate true love, and a real happily ever after.” You cleared your throat, suddenly nervous. “If you'd like that, I mean.”

He broke into a wide smile. “Are you asking me to marry you?”

You nodded. “Yes. Will you marry me? Again?”

He laughed again and pulled you into a hug. “Yes. If you will have me.”

You closed your eyes and leaned into the hug. “Of course I will.”

You finally pulled apart once again to slip the band on Wally's finger, right where it belonged.

A/N: Yes, I already know I'm cringe. Don't look at me.

#welcome home fanfic #corpse puppet au #wally darling x y/n #wally darling x reader #nightmare before christmas crossover #jack x sally

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heartthrobin · 7 months

Text

lovers, to bed: tis almost fairy time (4)

sam winchester x fairy!reader

wc: 4.0k

warnings: soulmate!au (partners share scars), fem!reader, limited use of y/n, implied age gap (reader is early 20's), angst, subby sam winchester (?), some smoking, canon warnings (child kidnapping, violence ect.)

an: i'm so sorry that this took so long, uni has put me in a really tough mental space at the moment and being creative has been so difficult. but i hope it was worth the wait! love you all endlessly

summary: yes, Sam Winchester was an idiot: but he would be damned if he was going to let his little fairy get away.

part one part two part three

The trunk clicked open, swinging up against the back window of the Impala.

Dean rummaged between the shotguns and the silver blades and the jugs of gasoline. His hand emerged with a wide set machete, holding it up to Sam.

"I've been dying to use this bad boy since Idaho." He grinned at his reflection in the steel blade.

Sam rolled his eyes, hair fluttering over his forehead where the evening wind was tugging on it. The Impala was parked up against the grass at the edge of the forest, the sun disappearing over the treetops in a way that sunk the town in a purple glow.

He reached in to grab a shotgun, a silver blade too: slipping it into his jacket pocket. "Right. Let's just get this over with."

His brother grinned, "So you can go see your little princess, hm?"

Sam didn't dignify him with a response. Mostly because he was right.

The weight of the truth draped over his shoulders like a truck. Stifling and making it hard to breath, let alone think.

Dean laughed at his lack of response, bumping his shoulder to his:

"Sammy's getting laid tonight." He sing-songed.

"Yeah, right. That's a great idea." He huffed, "Then she can see all my scars and realise I've been lying to her. Sounds fun."

Nudging the trunk closed, Dean groaned. "She's gonna find out either way."

"Not unless I don't tell her."

At that Dean paused. His eyes ran over Sam's figure where he was loading the shotgun.

"So when were done, we're just gonna leave town?"

Sam slammed the trunk shut with maybe a little too much force. "Can we drop it?"

Dean raised his hands in surrender. "Whatever. It's your problem, but I think she should know."

But Sam was already pacing towards the line of trees, huffing and trying to suffocate the guilt building in his chest.

The forest wasn't making it any easier. Dean was trailing behind him, every footstep crackling over the dry leaves and soft grass reminding him of your laugh. The dark bark of the black of your eyes, those eyes so wide and wet--

"Hey," Dean's voice cut through his thoughts. He motioned over between the trees. "Look."

There was the tree again. Glowing just like it had been the last time they'd ventured into the belly of the woods.

A crunch echoed around the space. Sam's head whipped over his shoulder, Dean reaching with a quickness that only came from experience for the gun in his holster:

"What was that?"

There was a teenager behind the counter when you plonked down a packet of sour worms and a tray of eggs in front of her.

She was usually the one who helped you when you'd stop in after work some days. She's cute in a sprightly way: piercings sticking out from every piece of skin she could get her hands on and she was one of the only people left in town who didn't scowl at you when you came in.

But she was looking at you funny just then, her hands still where they'd usually just reach to start scanning your things with a bored look on her young features.

"You've ... uh, got a ..." she'd motioned up to her own face, brushing a finger over her cheek.

Your hand came to pet your own face, drawing back with a palmful of blood. Shoulders sagging, you sigh. "Oh."

She leaned down under the counter, emerging with a handful of napkins and offering them to you. You smiled at her, "Thank you. It's, uhm, it's not mine."

The girl nodded like she already figured. She started to scan your eggs while you wiped down your cheek, napkins dissolving into a crimson lump. You wondered, for the millionth time, what your soulmate had gotten themselves into today.

There was a glass case enclosing some rotating hot dogs that you used to check your reflection: to probe gently at the thin cut you suspected was the work of a sharp blade, and when she handed you your bag, your face was mostly clean over where it was flush with embarrassment. Poor girl was already working late on a week night and you'd waltzed in looking like a scene from a horror movie.

You thanked her and she offered one last uninterested nod.

It was dark out already and you didn't feel as safe walking home as you once had but there was little option, and the corner store was less than a couple blocks from home.

The bag shuffled and your neck-full of crystals clinked as you walked. You hummed a song you'd had stuck in your head all afternoon, some playful tune you'd heard on the radio in the shop.

In the distance there was a crowd. The road overthrown with a flickering blue and red light from cop cars parked just further down and voices overlapped in loud chatter.

You frowned. "What ..."

As you neared your eyes find uniformed officers pushing back other curious onlookers. There was a news van parked there too: a man dressed in a smart suit speaking into a microphone at his chest and he's grinning-- "Yes, Arthur, I am here in Fernglade Washington with some amazing news for our viewers. Tonight, the town can rest a little easier--"

There was a loud sob that carries over heads and a woman was on her knees, jeans pressing into the concrete where she was clutching a child. She's shaking violently ... and she wasn't alone.

Behind her was another set of parents with a child ... and another, and another.

Your heart floated into your throat. There brewed a bubbling feeling in your chest, it's ... it's the children. The missing children.

You recognised Rachel and Georgia ... and Manny. Sure, they were a little dirty: with pale soil-ridden faces and torn Barbie t-shirts.

One, two, three -- you counted them with your eyes -- seven. They were all there.

The police had set up a barricade and you didn't even realise you'd dropped and crushed your eggs when you pressed against it. There's eyes on you, guilty eyes, and you could tell nearby officers were pretending not to look at you out the corner of their eyes.

But you couldn't be bothered with them, with the whispering crowd either, because you'd made out the outline of the Winchester brothers' backs talking down at a short police woman who was avidly writing against a tiny notebook.

You were grinning so hard it was hurting your cheeks and your eyes welled with the joy of the scene. They were all there. They were all okay, alive!

"Sam!' you leaned over the wooden barricade. It had to have been them, there was nobody else who believed you. Believed that the kids weren't locked up in the depths of a dungeon you didn't own.

A laugh was gurgling up from the depths of your throat and you felt where a tear slipped over the healing cut on your cheek. "Sam!"

Sam's head perked up, pausing mid-sentence when he turned those wide shoulders to the crowd, to you. His face lit up with shadows under the spectacle of coloured lights when his eyes found yours.

Your heart sunk from where it was sitting in your throat, slipping all the way to the deepest pit in your stomach.

Even under the harsh light and the cover of night it was impossible to miss the drying blood painting his face. Running down from a cut over his cheek. Your hand came to find your own jaw, eyes never leaving his, when you pressed up into the matching scar. It didn't hurt and even if it had, you wouldn't have felt it just then.

Sam's face was twisting with realisation. "Y/n--"

You tripped back over the edges of your skirt, knocking into the onlookers behind you-- "hey, watch it!"

Concrete reached up, scraping at your heels wedged into dainty sandals, but the hammering of your heart kept them moving. You broke out the crowd, oxygen leaning further and further out your grasp when you broke into a run.

"Y/n, wait!"

But you didn't stop.

Sam watched your silhouette shrink down the road, streetlights illuminating your escape. He gulped for breath, guilt choking him out: clogging his airways with thick sludgy shame.

"Sammy," a hand closed over his arm. "Come on--"

"Agent, we need to finish getting your statement."

Dean was leaning over his shoulder when he looked down. His eyes were sticky with sympathy.

The officer was lingering just a foot from him. She looked confused, gaze flickering between him and the now empty street.

"Dean ..." he turned to his only comfort. "She-- my face ..."

His brother nodded. "Yeah, I know. I know, Sammy."

He patted him. "Just give her some time to breath, okay? Let's finish here."

Every nerve-ending in his body was screaming at him to chase you down the street. To break through the nosy locals and crawl his way up your porch steps: beg on his knees for forgiveness.

Just give her some time. He didn't know if his mind was ringing or if Dean had said it again, but Sam nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

The officer pressed her pen back to her little notebook. She nodded, "Okay so you guys followed the perpetrator into the forest. Male, blonde hair, you said?"

Dean made a grunt of agreement.

The night was so cold, Sam remembered.

A thin sheet of drizzle was patching up the sidewalk when his heavy footsteps crept up along it. Barely enough to dampen his hair, but his jacket felt impossibly heavy over his shoulders.

It was past midnight. The police had held them down: a trip to the station, a tower of signed documents and a sketch artist later there he finally was, standing feeling small for the first time in his life at the edge of your property.

Wind was twirling a thin line of smoke off your porch. He could see you through the darkness.

You said nothing. Eyes connected with his across your impeccably maintained grass.

It egged him forward.

His footsteps were loud clambering up the three wooden steps onto your porch.

You were leaned back into the arms of an ornate wooden rocking chair he'd noticed on his first trip up those same stairs. You weren't looking at him anymore: eyes drifting over the quiet street.

Sam was at least glad to find you bundled up in a blanket.

In your lap sat was the strangest-looking pipe he'd ever seen. An obnoxiously long chamber with a bulbous bowl at the end.

A string of purple smoke was curling out from between your lips. "You're here."

He couldn't tell if it was a question or not. Your face was as passionless as he'd ever seen it: offering him nothing.

"I promised I would be."

You nodded slowly, bringing the pipe up to your mouth and sucking on it steadily, still not looking at him. "How are the kids?"

Sam's hands bunched at his side. A dreadful burning viper was slithering between his organs. In this light he could see the smooth cut against your face, a misaimed throw of a blade from Dean when a tiny grotesque goblin had leapt up at him.

"They're ... they're fine. T-They're good."

"Did you know?"

You're looking at him now. It's the question he knew was coming but it knocks him breathless all the same.

He draws breath, mind spinning between the truth and an easier lie. "I--"

"Don't lie, Sam."

Your eyes are piercing him, like an arrow to the chest. He swallows hard. "Yes ... I did."

The pipe draws up to your mouth again, you let out a soft humourless laugh. It's followed out by another cloud of glittering smoke. The laugh so empty that it dries Sam's mouth.

"I ... the life I lead," he starts again, the snippets of a speech that he'd been stewing on his whole life for this exact moment coming out sounding more pathetic than he ever thought they could. "It's no life for you. For anyone, and I couldn't do that to someone I... I-I love. To tie you to me, I've done terrible things you don't know--"

"And you think I haven't?" You're rising from the chair now, pipe thudding to the floor. Your voice is prickled in a rising anger. "That I'm some jewel who could never imagine what life is like on the run? To kill and hurt for survival?"

The rain was coming down harder. Trees and bushes leaning against the push of the wind. Sam was so lost in the heat of your eyes that he didn't notice the creep of a thick-set branch crawling up the edge of the porch, down over the lip of the roof.

"Were you just gonna leave?" Your voice never rose but he flinched like you'd screamed it at him. The flush of fury setting your cheeks alight, illuminating the scar that put you both there. "You were, weren't you?"

The touch was wet and solid when it wrapped around his ankle, the branch wrenching him by both ankles back against the bannister of the porch. He gasped when the wood struck his back: another thick brown limb winding around his neck, not enough to hurt but enough to fix his head in your direction and stop him from toppling over.

It took a couple gulps of breath to realise that it was the tree. The one wrapped around your cottage, that it was you.

"This is a two way street, Sam." you pressed up against his chest, eyes alight with a power you'd never let show before. "You bang me up for years and years, and I sit and wait for you. And you were just gonna leave? Leave me to patch up all your bullet holes and your wolf bites?"

Shame drains his cheeks of warmth. He doesn't fight the tree's grip, purposefully ignores the sharpened blade that's still well within his reach. Sam shakes his head as well as he can: he doesn't know what to say. His whole pathetic speech meant nothing anymore and he didn't think this could hurt any harder until he realises that tears are streaming quietly down your perfect perfect face.

You're pressed up against him, your warmth seeping into his bones.

Forehead meeting his pectoral, you shake your head too. Tears wetting his shirt.

"I was scared." He finally lets out, it's pitiful. "I didn't know this is what it felt like. I didn't know love could feel like this."

"I'm scared too, you know." You whisper into him.

In a surge of bravery, or maybe just stupidity - he couldn't tell anymore, his hand finds your jaw: tipping it up to face him.

God, he never thought you could be more beautiful but you were blinking up at him with wet lashes and a trembling lip and he was ready to give up his whole fucking life for you. Lay down the gun and never pick it up again, let Dean drive alone out and far away from Fernglade.

It was all made more real when you leaned up onto your toes, nose brushing his and hands finding his neck.

You moved no closer, warm breath caressing the bow of his lip, but Sam would be damned if being hog-tied by some oak tree was gonna stop him from the taste of you so he wrapped a strong arm over your waist and tugged you just that little distance further.

The feeling of your lips crashing on his couldn't be any sweeter. He imagined that this is what a firework felt like when it leapt into the sky and burst.

Your mouth was desperate, like his, and your hands wrapped around the base of his shivering neck.

You tasted like sweet tea and tangy like whatever was in your magical pipe and if the tree wasn't holding him upright he'd have crashed to his knees. You whined lowly and it stoked the fire pit in Sam's stomach.

His tongue slipped past your lips, struggling against the hold of the oak tree to let his hands roam your back. Your mouth was wet hot and he knew he could kiss you forever, until his oxygen depleted and he was dead for the world.

But you stepped back, eyes wide like you'd been doused over with ice water. A hand wiped at your mouth, at the mix of his and your's saliva coating your lips.

"You ..." your voice trembled. "You should go."

You stumbled back down the porch, door creaking as it opened and banging as it shut.

The grip of the tree loosened and Sam watched it's branches creep back under the porch. It became still again, rain calming to a measly patter and bushes watching quietly.

"Fuck." he whispered.

Sam shut the car door obnoxiously loud after him. The leather of the Impala creaked loudly when Dean followed in suit, hands reaching up to the slick black wheel.

"You're sure?"

Without answering, Sam shifted to take one last look at the Pinecone Motel and it's chipping copper paint.

"Fine." Dean turned the key into the ignition, car rumbling to life beneath them.

In the backseat is his and Sam's rucksacks and duffle-bags jam-packed with their few worldly possesions. The same bags haphazardly zipped shut that same morning when Sam eventually busted through the door demanding that they left Fernglade right fucking now.

The sun was just barely creeping over the town and morning chill frosted the view through the windscreen. It's busy despite the time: open signs are flickering on and men in aprons are heaving crates of apples onto stands under fairylight-lit doorways.

Bad Moon Rising hummed through the crumbly speakers and Sam slammed the switch on the dash so it shut off.

"Hey!" Dean calls, "take it easy man. She's gentle."

He pat the dash softly where Sam has just knocked it. Still, his brother says nothing.

"Okay." He huffed, pulling the car into a spot near the sidewalk in front of a lifeless diner. Dean twists in his seat to face Sam: "you've barely said a word all morning."

Sam tugged his jacket closer over his frame. "I said I don't wanna talk about it."

"Yeah, yeah. You've been saying that all damn week." Dean's arm lifted to rest against the back of the seat. "But you're gonna talk now. This isn't some passing girl that you can just pack your bags and run away from. You're gonna have to go there and apologise."

Sam's expression curls in anger. "Yeah, Dean, I did that! And she tied me up with tree branches and kicked me off her porch--"

"Well, boo hoo!" Dean tightened his one-handed grip on the steering wheel. "Do it again! Do it until she forgives you."

"I don't need your advice, Dean. I've made up my mind, we're leaving."

A cat was scratching on a growing weed at the edge of the sidewalk, Sam focused on it to avoid his brother's eyes. They were hot and he could feel them burning a hole into the side of his face.

"Can we just go."

"What is it?" Dean spoke again, this time quieter. Cool fog followed the words out his mouth. "What are you scared of?"

Sam ran both hands through the tendrils of hair over his scalp. He sighed. "I'm ... she's not gonna be able to forgive me."

"Are you gonna be able to forgive yourself?"

There was a long quiet.

It was broken by a car passing noisily. It draws Dean's attention and he nodded quietly to himself. "Fine. Wisconsin?"

"Yeah." Sam agrees quietly.

The car started again, Dean went to turn to radio back up. "Will you grab my jacket, I left it in the trunk. It's fucking freezing in here."

Sam sighed again. "Fine."

"Thanks."

The door clicked open again. He's barely both feet out the car when it grumbles and swerves off the sidewalk, Sam tripped over the edge nearly onto the concrete, and by the time he's stabled himself: the Impala was racing down the main road.

"You'll thank me for this!" His brother's voice faded with the car's black silhouette.

Sam's hands returned to his hair again, "son of a bitch!"

An old lady across the street turned to him with an affronted look. He waves her off, kicking at the same weed the cat had abandoned in the flurry of commotion.

Above him, the diner sign flickers on: The Frothy Mug. He stopped.

It felt like years between when he was last standing under the same light of the sign. In front of the same three steps that he watched your eyes sparkle at him: your hand tucked warmly against his.

"Fucking ..." the expletives died on his tongue. He's right, that asshole.

"I'm a fucking idiot."

Sam's legs began moving before he even knew they were, chasing down the same route he'd meandered along with you three nights previous. He's sprinting, breathing a purposeless afterthought as the diner disappeared behind him.

Past the pharmacy, the laundromat, The Bloom Box. All the way to the end of town where your cottage and your trees and your flowers and you waited for him.

Sam panted clouded breaths as the sight came into view at the end of the road. The morning sunlight lit your garden a bright orangey eden. His steps were just as heavy as they were in the early hours of that same morning when he trudged up the same stone pathway.

He didn't let himself hesitate, bringing red, bruised knuckles up against the hardwood door. The knock rumbled through the house and shakes every bone in his body.

There was a long pause. Then a scuffle, a sniff and a "Goose, get back".

The door creaked and you stood in the doorway like you had the first day his feet found this porch.

While expected, Sam was taken aback by the sight of you. You're in a matching set of pajamas, green - unsurprisingly - and covered in little ladybugs. Your face was swollen with sleep, eyelashes kissing in the corner and lips puffy.

"Sam--" you sighed, but Sam's hands find your shoulders gently.

"I know it's early, but please listen. I'm an idiot." He sounded desperate, but couldn't find a way to help it.

"Yes." You nodded.

"And I'm sorry." He nodded along with you. "And it took Dean kicking me out the car to get me here because - like I said - huge idiot, but I'm sorry. I'm a sorry, sorry idiot who's so in love with you that he doesn't know what to do with himself."

Your eyebrow curls, "Dean kicked you out the car?"

Sam's eyes rolled. "Yes. I was going to leave, because I'm a coward too. A cowardly idiot who doesn't deserve forgiveness, but I'm asking for it anyways."

You shrugged, head dipping to almost rest against your shoulder. Your face almost, almost laced in amusement. "Begging always looks a little more convincing on your knees, Sam."

His knees knock loudly when they hit the wooden porch. Sam's hands slide down to find yours.

"I'm sorry." He said again, the only words his brain could formulate under the shine of you in your morning glory - the sight of a woman he wanted to see every morning until forever. "Please let me make it up to you?"

Your hands released his slowly, rising to run through his chestnut hair and settling at the base of his neck. You smile.

He thought he might be dreaming but you lean down and kiss him gently. A tinkle of bells rang through the air and Sam smiled against your mouth.

You brushed your nose against his: "I forgive you, Sam."

Sam's hands grip against your hips before floating back and brushing against the edge of the silken wings at your back.

"Really?"

"Yes. Now come in here and show me how sorry you are."

remember to comment and repost please!

taglist: @firstsnowdrop @writerofthewinds @aria1245 @nyx22-blogs @lucysaloser @britishscum @pookiesnatcher @music-keep-me-sane @cryptid-with-a-cane @sammys-concubine @i-live-for-fantasy @grimbunnie @crystalreedwifey @haileycannotcometothephonern @i-cant-write-for-shit @did-someone-change-my-name @1313ek @chlorine11 @ch33ze00 @random-fandom-gurl @melancholicandmessy @harley-quinns-girlfriend @cardigan-ns @charliethealpaccaso @crystalandphoebewifey @nonbinarycryptic @multitargaryen @darylsleathervest @aquatic-bread @ferrersbiggestfan @miles-stargirl @secretsuitcasegooplawyer @bxtchboy69 @devilslittlebabyxx @bucky-barnes-beloved @susyelectra @spilled-coffee-cup @ashdoctor @deamus-liv @rintheemolion @damonsalavatore-best @ilovetaquitosmmmm @itzdarling @mo-i-ra @saiacross @n7cje @flaming-chaos

#sam winchester x reader #sam winchester fanfiction #sam winchester x you #sam winchester imagine #sam winchester #sam winchester x female reader #sam winchester drabble #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #dean winchester #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester x you

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 6 months

Note

WIBTA if I posted a song kind of trash talking my parents?

👨‍👩‍👧🎵

(TLDR at the bottom)

Okayy, hear me out. I (20F) am a musician and songwriter and I tend to write about well, my life. Music is the place where I go to relax/vent, basically a creative outlet. Now, this is not my job and I'm not a big artist by any means, I just do this for fun and sometimes post it online in a public account.

My relationship with my parents (43F, 50M) has historically been not great. I'm the eldest and have often been made feel the reason why my parents didn't divorce when their marriage started failing. My father has a temper and was absent for a part of my life, and my mother also has a temper and is very critical of me. Overall, not parents of the year.

Now, a couple months ago I started writing a song about basically hating that I share traits with them and how it fucks me up sometimes to know despite how different I try to be from them, they're still my parents and live in me. The lyrics aren't outright disrespectful or anything like that, but I do complain about my relationship with each of them, their behaviours and how I at times don't feel loved or cared for.

Yesterday I finished it and I actually really like it, I showed it to one of my friends and they really liked it too, and told me I should post it so others could listen. I'd like to, but right now things with my parents have been good and while everything in the song is true, I don't want them to feel judged or antagonized. Along with this, friends and family alike have access to the place I post my songs in, and while I've vented to a couple of friends about my parental issues, by posting it I'd basically be airing out our dirty laundry to a bunch of people, which I know they'd dislike and might even hurt them. We might not be the bestest of friends, but they are my parents and I love them. But again, everything is true, and I like to think maybe if they listened to it they'd understand me more. And, it would not be the first time I post a song complaining about someone/something in my personal life, so it wouldn't be exactly off-brand.

So, idk, WIBTA?

TLDR: I wrote a song complaining about the behavior and not great relationship I have with my parents and I really want to post it, but I feel like posting it might embarrass and hurt them by airing out our problems online.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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unpretty · 6 months

Text

clearing out a bunch of VERY OLD astielle asks now that i've posted a new chapter recently enough to no longer feel weird about it. anyway these go back to chapter 38 and probably earlier.

anonymous asked:

Business school run by Minnow, Leonas, & Karzarul would probably not defend Enron, but you still could break the curve by picking the answers with the most murder.

anonymous asked:

the moon goddess, seeing Karzarul's trauma pangolin: Oh this one's cute, there should be a ton of this one

they're very resource unintensive. not a lot of processing power to make a rock.

@strewb asked:

I've been a big fan for a long time, you have thee definitive batman for me. I think about Shine often. I recently got covid (its mild) but your Astielle series has been getting me THROUGH IT. I've seen you posting your excellent graphic for it for ages and finally picked it up. I'm INTO it! I'm on the bit where there's the flashback to when the three first went on a quest for their weapons and mr mini moons is SO. Like this whole section is seeded with so many gut punches. like when Vaelon says "that's my girl," I CHOKED. the way that Karazul between the beginning to the present is genuinely so like the difference between a college senior and a middle schooler. He's a raw nerve. He want's to be Vaelon and want's to be with him. That's everything. And the way that the monsters seem so eager in different ways BECAUSE they were made out of a being's love? HELLO? Also I'm truly coming in so late on this story, but I love the video game aspects of it. The BOTW flavor to the world is SO fun. I feel like I KNOW it. You really captured that 'blithely wandering off the path to look at some plants instead of doing the main quest to prevent the looming apocalypse' vibe SO well. Also living for the incredible monsterfucking. truly 10/10. top tier creativity. I hope you do a victory lap after you post each chapter. This story is SO fun.

So I’ve just finished the montage of all of the hero and the heir’s lives and Karzarul doing his fucking best. I was already winding down from crying at the death’s of the original two and we get to minnow’s line “how do you feel about Leonas being my boyfriend.” And I honestly, your wrote it such that I FELT the weight of lifetimes of bullshit. Of the love and the hate and the trapped in this mortal coil with them by a choice you made. But I had to remember that Karazul and Leonas were getting closer before the flash back. It was a gutting line tho. Like how do I feel about it? Stabbing him another time would be less awkward. This poor fuck.

thank you for sharing your journey, i love it 💙

@elafire asked:

Doing rereading and the shimmerbats were made to find the crystal sunbeam huh and there were a lot of them at the temple with the undead and none at the shadow garden. Bats in caves and darkness looking for sunlight where it shouldn’t be. Thinking about how beast monsters are smart enough to recognize words and identify details about mushrooms and Karzarul doesn’t get any memories from them at all. Thinking about drakonis taking over castles. I bet you can follow shimmerbats to some very interesting things

🦇🦇🦇

anonymous asked:

!!! New chapter!!! The Fairy King!!!!! Leonas' Mom quest!!!!!!! <3 (Minnow's Mom quest would inevitably have been sad, but in my heart it would have been funny because I like to pretend they'd find like a spry old lady who is exactly like Minnow & Leonas' would lose the small thread of hope he had that maybe Minnow was Like That because she was a Changeling) Anyways I went to reread past chapters and forgot that this is a porn series & was briefly surprised when sexy times happened, hahaha. <3

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PWP (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

anonymous asked:

Huh, has it been hinted before that if one of the trio gets killed by someone else they Come Back Wrong? Was that what was up with the previous-Minnow that a previous-Leonas and Kaz teamed up to kill?

i think the chapter in the forge is the first time it was state explicitly that it's what happens, and yeah it was implied to have happened to the Hero that one time

@adorkable1291 asked:

“The inside of the cabin was dusty, but most things were by the time she got back to them. There wasn’t much, aside from extra rocks she hadn’t wanted to keep carrying the last time she’d been through. She’d meant to come back for them but had forgotten. The root vegetables in the kitchen bin had started growing. She opened all the windows and the oversized front door, dragging the quilts outside to shake them out. The Sunshield and the Starsword leaned against opposite sides of the doorframe.”

Oh my heart. So soft and so bittersweet to see. The nostalgia of returning to a home that may have never been with who you wanted it to be with. But to maybe have that chance again in a new and familiar and yet heartbreaking way

💙

@revirag asked:

Kitty!!! THE BOYS ARE TALKING!! I mean they are both self-sacrificing and -blaming idiots (even if it's well-deserved at times), but they are talking!! I am v proud of them. Babies 😭 I need more direct communication in romance stories and you are serving it alongside the steamy sex scenes - which is to say, stars bless you for both!

@answeringmysister asked:

Kitty! The new astielle! ahhhhhhh firstly i love the discussion on what sex in the dreamvoid is like. hysterical. i sent that to a friend with very little context, because i had to. secondly Go Leonas For Forcing Convos. Someone in the room turned out to be an adult?! "theyre grown rocks" amazing. no notes.

getting that conversation to happen without anyone having a meltdown or committing a violence was a fucking nightmare and it turned out the secret was the have leonas be a huge asshole about it on purpose

@therealbeachfox asked:

I missed -two- Astielle chapters?!? Dammit! I HAVE COMMENTS My mental-canon that Laurela's game was the result of a spiteful game designer trying to angstbomb a fandom that'd rejected his grimdark reboot becomes more and more verified with every new thing we learn about her. She never even to got to see her cabin! Good god! Speaking of angst: The Fairy King and his desperate attempts to let children be children forever without being SUN FUELED DEATH ZOMBIES because some -stupid- idiot ruined it all being a stupid goddam idiot. And the combined one-two punch of Karz being the closest thing he has to a peer in the world, and Karz wearing his Bruteling for perhaps the first time in centuries if not millennia to try and comfort him. The man is either at 0 or 100 when it comes to emotional maturity. He has no middle ground. These kids are so delightfully fucked up yet functional about it. It makes me happy reading them slowly piece together something that can work despite each one having their own unique hundred lives of repressed memories and emotional PTSD to deal with around each other. Mad respect. Oh hey, Leonas' mom is still alive! That's good! I was honestly resigned to her having been part of dad's habitual murderclensing of loose ends. I cannot -wait- to meet her. Leonas/Karzarul are my new favorite pairing. It's incredible how well their damage interlock into a high precision machine of ultra-functional dysfunction. I'm rooting for these boys. Thank you for more chapters. This remains my favorite fiction on the internet.

i figured out a way to get more laurela in a future chapter and it will not change your theory i think. you sent this before karzarul and leonas went on their date and i hope you enjoyed them getting some alone time :3

@speakingintothevoid asked:

rereading Astielle (y'know, as one does) and every time I hit chapter thirty eight and Minnow is overwhelmed in the Forge and tells Leonas "I’m tired, Nettles.” I just. idk the exact feeling but i'm. it's SO GOOD. i love it. I love them. I love these three broken immortals who have always been in love and the complications that have ensued. I love every version of them. Even Gwenviel. (maybe not Aimon but also sorta him too) They don't know what normal is and even if they did it wouldn't apply to them anyway. But they're trying. I just. yeah. Thank you for writing this story.

i do not think it will come up in the actual text so i will tell you here that minnow has never noticed that she calls him that when she's very stressed and leonas, who remembers fuck all, never questioned it because he's prickly

@imrix asked:

Astielle Astielle Astielle! Yeeee, ch.40 comments: -I can only imagine how much Minnor complained about how the Starsword gets wings but she doesn't.

technically the scabbard gets wings! but it only works when the starsword is in it Because Reasons. i have Agonized over whether i should have been more descriptive of her glider sooner but she hasn't been able to use it most of the time

-Minnow trying to avoid aggro because this has nothing to do with you mobs please just piss *off* is such a mood. Blithely suggesting the one-armed no-legged pirate survive long enough to get back to town by cannibalising his dead crewmates is not a mood, but *is* hysterical.

PLEASE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE I AM TRYING TO COLLECT MATS THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU 😭 genshin keeps trying to make me feel bad about all the murders but they start it

-Some merchant is going to notice that the monsters pay for the novelty of being greeted warmly and make a killing off of opening up like, a custom monster salon or something. It will start fashions.

making a fortune off a host/ess cafe

@ivylaughed asked:

Karzarul is a Good Boyfriend. He is a doing a good job at interpreting Leonas's needs, even when Leonas can't express them. I am so proud of him, I wish he could learn to be proud of himself.

it's easy to forget how much time he spent as an emotional support animal before circumstances made him go feral

@inklesspen asked:

Leonas, you need therapy. I know getting monster dick might feel like therapy in the moment, and I can't blame you for that. but you do also need actual therapy.

the therapeutic monster dickings will continue until morale improves

@flippedroundagain asked:

MINNOW, MY HEART. god I love her approach to questing. so practical. so good. thank you for another great chapter 🌟

practical is one word for it

@rose-and-bones asked:

“You threw a rock at me and that’s why you don’t get to have legs or drugs anymore.” Terrifying! I love her!

\_ leonas and karzarul

@onwardmotley asked:

Holy shit, Minnow. Minnow I don't think that guy is going to want to sell you cave orchids after you cut off three of his limbs. But also god if that's not the way it ALWAYS goes in video games.

putting resources that far from a teleport point should be illegal is the thing

@9ofspades asked:

Just read the last chapter of Astielle and (1) why does Buttercup know good date places and (2) can I date Buttercup

buttercup gets around, is the answer to both questions

@9ofspades asked:

Was originally going to be like “why is everyone wtfing at minnow? They threw rocks at her it’s a pretty reasonable response.” But then I got to the next scene and. Ah. Yeah. Not quite fucked up but dangerously close. Disagree that eating yourself is weirder than eating your friends tho. It feels a lot fairer and less parasitic. But also living on just meat is bad for you. Get that one-limbed boy some fruit. it’s late where I am and I’m ridiculously tired so it took me a while to figure out what Leonas’s discomfort was. I was about to be like “o I might have to ask unpretty to explain again” when I was like “!!! Wait I know this one! It’s ‘immigrant returns to the motherland’.” Luckily I was in a lot of Asian communities before my first time so I didn’t get Leonas’s experience but it was Strange having no white people around. Also it was weird that it was some urban crowd when I was pretty sure I came from a fantasy wuxia setting and also my parents came from sepia photos of anonymous buildings. Did not get samosas or hold hands with a big monster, sorry to say. I did climb a broken wall, though.

trying to describe leonas' feelings without using the phrase Same Hat was genuinely such an ordeal for me

#original #astielleblogging #no i will not stop using the shitty meme i made myself about my own story

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alyjojo · 10 months

Text

August 🎺 2023 PAC - Follow Your Dreams

✨🧡✨💛✨💙✨🩵✨🩷✨💜✨

Pile 1 - Orange 🍊

The Dream: Knight of Cups 🥂

The House: 5th

Signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius 🔥 Virgo & the entire generation of Pluto Scorpio (Millennials)

Oracles:

18 Start

You must start from where you are, examine your situation, and take a chance.

45 Collaboration

Creative people can be inspired by sharing and stimulating creativity in others.

Great Adventure

“Take a risk; venture forward.”

What can you do right now to prepare?

Two stories here, one is for those that either want a lover to come back, or want to find their true soulmate. The other is for the musicians or entertainment people that want to make it big.

And the advice is the same. RISK looking like a fool. Be obvious! Put yourself out there! 5 Pentacles shows you’ve faced rejection before, you’ve probably tried to follow this advice before, whether regarding this or something else. Rejection is just redirection, it’s not that you’re bad or wrong, that this isn’t your path or you can’t have what you want, it’s just that particular company / gig / person isn’t the one that it’s going to happen with, or the *what* needs readjustment. Same energy, different target! For those wanting to reunite with an ex, same target, different strategy / behavior. The signs could be a hint of who they are, or who you are. There is very heavy fire 🔥 and that’s what you’re needing to embody, if you don’t already possess it. Fire does not sit around and pine over things. They want it, they go get it 💯 And they make it look easy, because they tend to be more impulsive and *thinking about it* or planning can be an afterthought. Just do it.

Sagittarius being highlighted specifically can be the person, you, or the energy you need. They are a very laid back sign when it comes to details, demands, and expectations, but so much fun and always keeping a sense of humor about things. They’re not emotional, they just want to have a good time, and often impulsively just decide to do something they think would bring them a lot of joy. If it doesn’t work out, that’s okay shit happens. We still had fun, and aren’t going to linger in any disappointment. Onto the next thing tomorrow, the path is always open to head down a new lane, there is no “stuck”. Keeping an optimistic and positive attitude, seeing yourself as a winner regardless of circumstance, and eventually you’ll get there.

You need this attitude, because you’re so focused on the negative and what could go wrong, that you stop yourself before you even start! Fear is blocking an entrepreneurial spirit, the fire inside you to motivate and inspire your next big move! Kindly get out of your own way, hype yourself up like the bad bitch (m/f) you know you are, and go get what you want, despite any criticism or rejections from others, trust that you will intuitively know the difference between ✨constructive✨ and useless 🗑️ criticism. Opinions are like assholes 🧡

Charms:

Star of Fame 🌟 on Knight of Cups is something big, and romantic. For the love it could be going above and beyond, making it clear and obvious you’re interested, doing special things that really catch the attention of others. For music, love would be your area of focus, to get the attention you’re seeking. If you love things, be open about those things and you can find others that love them too! Speaking kindness and life into others, love songs, kind actions towards others will always be celebrated by all people. If you want romance, SAY so! Be that, in order to attract it back towards you.

Treble Clef 🎼 on Great Adventure is music, hobbies, concerts, whatever makes you feel excited and alive, do more of that. Take more risks with things you’ve maybe never done before but have thought about or would love to try. You’re the only one stopping you here.

Sagittarius ♐️ on Start is what I said about Sagittarius already, and could be very specific depending on you & your story. Think positive. Sure it might not work, but it could, or it could give you an even better idea that DOES. It’s a whole process, don’t fear failure before you start, just fear giving up or losing motivation, and keep things handy to perk you back up if and when you feel like you’re going to. This is a sign that does whatever tf they want, and unapologetically so, others will either meet you on your level or watch you walk towards what does 💯

Tree of Life 🌳 & Dead Tree 🍂 on Strength literally shows you killing your chances before they even have a chance to bloom or go full circle. The beginning and the end, and you may have already gone through a whole cycle of something you fear repeating, that’s why you hold back. But it only burdens you further because it keeps you in Hermit energy. Wands do not belong in Hermit energy for more than a short period, they have got to be social or they go bananas 🍌 If you’re looking for love, take amazing pictures and create a profile on some site. Tell your friends to set you up - with Collaboration. FLIRT, and be open to having a good time, even if they’re not “it” - Sag energy. Even if it’s getting someone back, if that’s the thing weighing on your heart and you picked this, then you’ve got a real shot, but you’ve got to show up, make moves, and impress. Be romantic, be sexy, be confident, show off. Be YOU, authentically, confidently. I don’t think this would come out, and you wouldn’t have picked it, if you were really doomed to failure. But you have to try, or keep trying! Listen to those around you too, the positive people, collaboration & 3 Cups can show well meaning and helpful friends around you that can help you get to where you want to go. They make you feel good. Only spend time with people that make you feel good!

Pile 2 - Gold 🏆

The Dream: Progress

The House: 3rd

Signs: Heavy Pisces, Gemini, Virgo & Sagittarius, Jupiter/placements in Aquarius

Oracles:

38 Limits

Know that limiting attitudes are often formed as protective reactions to past events.

18 Start

You must start from where you are, examine your situation, and take a chance.

61 Happy Accident

Fortunate accidents can act as guides to edit and be open to where you should go next.

36 Generosity

You can afford to be generous with the gift of your time and attention.

What can you do right now to prepare?

I don’t see a specific dream, you JUST want to know if there will be some progress where you are! For most of you it’s probably career related, and for others it can be friends, coworkers, contacts in your life that just do not help you out as much as you wish they would. Knight of Pentacles shows you as on your grind, every day, without fail. You may have already put quite a lot of time into a job or project, and this reading is saying more time is needed. Not “no” just “not right now”. For some it’s due to the current Jupiter transit in Taurus, which seems to be the star of your reading. The sign pulled was Jupiter Aquarius, you could have this, lucky people in your life could, or this is showing that your “luck” is squared right now in some way, and things are changing in the background that will inevitably work in your favor. But might not seem that way at first.

Once Jupiter moves into Gemini in a year (05/24/2024), it’s feeling like that’s when things can really start moving in the direction you want them to, at least for this pile. You want cooperation, and you want your ideas to be heard, to feel valued and appreciated for all the work and effort you put into something. I see a Tower ahead, if it hasn’t already happened, every card connected to this Tower is happy and fortunate for you. Again, you may not feel that way at first. There are a lot of worries and anxiety you’re carrying needlessly, much of this feels out of your control. It’s possible you will/need to decide to leave some things behind. Uncooperative people, fake “friends”, even ideas of yours that aren’t going to stay exactly as they are. You’re in a cycle of big change, and you feel like things aren’t moving, but they are.

It could be your career is in a cycle of big change, they may be cleaning house and getting rid of people you’ve been manifesting OUT of your life, and way. If you lose a job, I see you finding a better one. If you lose friends, I see you finding better ones, more aligned to your path. 3rd House can refer to siblings, neighbors, people around your neighborhood you see from time to time, casual connections, even people from early childhood or school days. This feels very positive and like the sort of people you should involve yourself in or around more often, they could be beneficial to you, or end up being great friends of yours. A “Happy Accident” will be the beginning of a beautiful new beginning for you, and in the meantime, know that you’re stuck temporarily with the Limits, that your continuous grinding loyalty is still required with Knight of Pentacles, and that it’s out of your control for now, but for your highest good - Wheel of Fortune. Watching Clouds ☁️ in the meantime, wear earbuds, work on your inner self, find people that make you feel good and have some great conversations that really stick with you - 3rd House, and tune out the negative people or those that get on your nerves. Yes, there will be progress.

Charms:

Guitar 🎸 on Watching Clouds is connecting with music or hobbies to pass any free time and make you feel connected to yourself. These can refer to relaxation techniques as well, music can be one, the card has a hammock, books, and a cup of tea. Yes you’re working hard, but you should also be enjoying yourself as much as possible. It’s not like you’re being cursed, it feels more like you’re being gifted with this transition period. Get inspired by feeling good and use that to really think & dream about what you’d like to see happen.

Clover 🍀 on Wheel of Fortune is a repeated message that the things that will be changing are for your highest good. I don’t see lottery wins, but by all means Happy Accident with this are probably all I would need 😆 Buy some tickets. If things make you worry or stress, have faith that everything is going to work out for the best. And relax. You’re on the lucky side of the changes that are coming.

Fractal Leaf 🍃 on Ace of Cups shows many different elements of growth to these changes that will turn out to be a new beginning for you. This can be a lover, a hobby, a new dream (or several), good connections with newer people coming into your life. It’s new and it’s positive, but there are several different shocking or changing factors that get this to happen in the first place. When you do things, put your heart into them, or do things that you feel a deeper connection to, talk to people that love the same things as you do.

Starfish ⭐️ on 9 Swords tells you to calm your fears, worries, sleepless nights, constant anxiety. You need healing and regeneration, this can be watching videos on your similar situation from others who have been through it, going to counseling, seeking advice from people close to you that understand you. It really feels like you’re looking for your tribe, along with some career success you’re hoping to have as well. The message is not to worry, and focus on healing the thoughts and triggers that cause you to worry in the first place.

Peace ☮️ on Happy Accident & Generosity is beautiful energy, taking things as they come and seeing the higher purpose to everything if you can. Being kind, loving, peaceful in your attitude & outlook, and generous to others is what will likely win a lot more people over to your side, especially those ruled by the 3rd House. Your local waitress, trash man, cashier, next door neighbor, siblings and possible in-laws or nieces & nephews. Anyone you communicate with. The more you give, the more you’ll get in the long term.

Pile 3 - Indigo 🌌

The Dream: Page of Wands

The House: 6th House

Signs:

Libra, Aquarius, Cancer, Venus in Cancer

Oracles:

4 Recycle

Learn from the past and apply it to creating your vision of the future.

24 Partnership

Once you have decided to walk your path in partnership, you must put the relationship first.

44 Transformation

Allow the energy of fear to be transformed by love, creativity, and compassion.

31 Communication

The clarity, interactivity, and timing of communications is critical.

What can you do right now to prepare?

You have some heavy family dynamics that you haven’t healed from, nor have they, and your dream according to this - is a message that you receive (not send). Yet I get the feeling that even if you received one, you wouldn’t be receptive to it. The signs here show up as signs that can have a hard time setting firm boundaries with loved ones, you have experienced feeling fully responsible for someone else and being taken advantage of. Or perhaps you’ve done this to someone else.

Some of these wounds could be healed, and some of them are too far gone. Recycle is you needing to determine what is what. If someone has abused you or been cruel to you, then you owe them nothing & same for anyone else. 6th House being the House of Service shows you feel like you have to “serve” those close to you, work for them, dote on them, no. Nor do they. Only if you want to, and if others abuse this kindness, it ends 💯 There is clearly some unfinished business here, that either you wish someone would come forward and discuss, or you want to send a long message with all of your feelings inside…and just don’t, or haven’t. You’re afraid of feeling guilty, or indebted to someone else, afraid of feeling used or manipulated, and your fears work overdrive when it comes to this situation. Especially if you are somehow at fault. Does everyone hate you? Do they think you don’t care? If you talked to them, could it change?

For the last question, I get a clear yes.

Only if you want to. For the relationships that are worth saving, Recycle, Transformation, and Communication all show 4444 together, which is stability, home, security, feeling safe. Positive and stable relationships. Partnership rounds it out, as something you know you should do, and also something you fear…being stuck or trapped to a situation you don’t want to be in due to “loyalty” or family. Some of you will be like “absolutely not” regarding healing and transforming these connections, you know you best. This being the dream though, if you resist it, why do you want it?

The advice on either side is to decisively choose to free yourself and heal your heart. Speaking your mind and feelings to those that need to hear it, whether it’s “I miss you” or a “fk you for hurting me”, whatever you keep locked up tight and refuse to actually express. Whether healing the connection or not, this conversation you want to have will heal YOU. I don’t see you being unkind though, even if you were hurt, and 3 Swords rev shows you were, and have healed. You’ve kept yourself trapped in your head in an emotional prison of wounds you don’t speak about, that have hurt your relationships, whether deserved or not. So speak your truth. Some can heal and change, some aren’t as bad as you fear they are, and some just need to hear it because you’ve never told them. If others are receptive, transformation is inevitable, and if they’re not, now you know, but either way this can be laid to rest.

Charms:

Crown 👑 on Mystic Healer is your gift, it’s likely for most of you that on your own journey of healing you could heal others that surround you, those in your family, your friends, anyone that spends time with you. If you haven’t already spiritually ascended, you’re heading in that direction, where you fully understand the inner workings of everyone in your life and how it flows (or doesn’t) with you, plus how to help others take steps towards doing this for themselves. Especially with 6th House, you really are a helper, and a healer, for other people, it’s something you feel you “owe” to others, society, and yourself too. Some of that energy could be used towards the home and family for this pile.

Rocking Horse 🐴 on 10 Cups indicates children, connected to avoidance, lying, sneaking, cheating and deceiving. Could be your own children, some in your family, friend group, traumas from childhood, childhood friends and companions. It can be so many things, you’ll have to apply this to your story however it fits. Some of you may be avoiding having/wanting kids due to family trauma and wanting to end your bloodline, feeling you’re cursed or something. I really don’t get that being true, but it’s these sorts of thoughts and feelings that need to be brought to light & discussed. Some of you have childhood wounds to heal. Some of you may have walked away from children or had others walk away from you as a child…deep wounds are indicated.

Regrowth 🌳 on The World rev looks dead, just like The World looks done, but neither actually are. The tree is growing leaves, slowly, and The World is reversed, waiting on something to fully close this cycle for good. It comes in the form of a message to someone you either really want to talk to, know you need to, or can’t rest until you finally do.

Hamsa Hand 🪬 (down) on Transformation talks about blessings, gifts, abundance, wonderful things coming your way. The universe wants to give you positive transformations and healing, you have nothing…irrational to fear. Again if you know a person is no good and your gut says NO, listen. Most stories I get here aren’t tragic, and can be healed with some honest communication, accountability, and vulnerability. It all feels very positive. If this person is evil then the closure needs to come from yourself, still maybe sending a message, or talking with others that have gone through this same experience.

Locked Heart 🔒 on 8 Swords rev is you releasing yourself from a self imposed prison that you’ve held yourself in who knows how long. If you can’t forgive and change the relationship with a person, okay. Forgive yourself, speak it out loud to whoever needs to hear it. For some, you may keep painful secrets from a partner or family members. Release those too! Open up to those that love you and nothing bad will come from that, only support and understanding. You have to choose to heal though, you can’t avoid it anymore. Once you do, who you are will completely transform into a more self assured, confident, happy & healed person. For some, a “homecoming” is in store. For everyone, all you want the most is to release this feeling of guilt, avoidance, not speaking your truth and hiding your pain - which will take a conscious effort, and courage.

For a very small portion of you, this is a relationship you just want to end, and leave, but you feel guilty about it, or like you owe them your time, loyalty, all of you. Or there is some aspect that keeps you unhappy and you need to address this. You could have kids together, or one of you does and there is a bond there regardless. Again some can heal, with communication & opening up about how you really feel, and some just want to finally let it go and feel free again. Speak your desires into life, or your pain into awareness, attempting telepathy often leads to wrong assumptions, fear winning, foggy understandings & confusion. Is it intuition or is it just projection of my own fears? Moon energy 😵‍💫 If your behaviors, fears, accusations, etc. match the energy in your 7th House, then it’s possible you’re a part of the problem and that’s what you’ve avoided facing, not speaking your truth to resist hearing the truth of others as well. 7th House is who we attract and what we project (our shadow 😈 side) and everyone has a side. Again, if abuse is involved, fk their side, no one gets to defend having abused you and no one deserves to be abused, you only owe yourself an apology for beating yourself up about it 💜 But that’s not everyone here, it’s a mixed bunch in this pile, some just want to do the right thing, some are wrong, some have never gotten clarity and have built walls for nothing, and some have been wronged.

Pile 4 - Blue 💠

The Dream: 10 Pentacles

The House:

Story 1: 9th

Story 2: 10th

Signs:

Sagittarius, Scorpio, Virgo, Capricorn, North Node & placements in Leo

Oracles:

Story 1:

64 Actualization

You will achieve your full potential by virtue of your creativity and your honest pursuit of truth.

30 Capable

You can deal successfully with whatever challenges and circumstances arise.

Transformation

“A fresh new way of living emerges.”

Story 2:

54 Visualize

When we develop out abilities to visualize, we can manifest maximum influence on our experience of reality.

50 Sacred Space

Use beautiful art, music, and creativity of all kinds to put you into a sacred space.

62 Delay

Confront the natural tendency to delay the finishing of a creative endeavor.

Protected By Angels

“You are cherished by the angels.”

What can you do right now to prepare?

Two clear stories here that are night 🌙 and day ☀️ but both represented by 10 Pentacles, the solid family or business foundation on which we stand, what most of us are working towards, ideally.

Story 1: You are very religious or spiritual, your beliefs run deep. I don’t see a Hierophant to show them being super conservative or not, that may vary between you all. But there has been some element of “sin” in your family, either a specific person or this could be a generational trauma of some kind that is just too eerie to be a coincidence. It probably relates to things of a sexual nature, addictions, known issues & Devil related topics, and either judging these things yourself or being judged for them. I’m getting the message that if you’re a true believer, it’s not your job to judge. Give it to God, or whatever you believe in, and on your side, forgive this person for whatever it is you’re holding against them. It can be as simple as a crop top, a flirty text, or a teen pregnancy scare & the abortion/birth control debate, it could be an extremely religious background, ideals, goals, that you want your family to be a part of, or absolutely do NOT. But there is Judgment being cast where it’s not your place to cast it, it’s your place to forgive, support, and “stay in your lane”. Or break free from it altogether, if you’re the one that is being judged by people that don’t get to do that.

Whatever this is, it’s not about you anymore, it’s about the legacy you’re leaving behind for the rest of your family. Your values, your beliefs, you want to protect them and also want to stand solid & strong in your personal morals. It’s got a righteous ring to it, for some, others are genuinely the more volunteer/helper of the community sort of people. Those dealing with addictions and other problems like that. You want to heal your family lineage and teach them the “right” way to be, whether your kids, spouse, siblings, parents even. There is a fine line there. You are best to lead by example and allow others to follow, be patient & forgiving, not pushy. Your oracle cards show you as a fierce warrior of truth & spiritual values. Always be careful to only judge yourself, and everything else here is beautiful and positive for you. If healing family wounds is your goal, you have more than enough ability to do so, for some of you that’s your true calling in life, and you already know that. Transformation is a beautiful energy, and with N Node Leo, whatever work you’re putting into spirituality, a church perhaps, rehabilitation, social work, you name it, it’s going to receive a lot of positive attention. You can’t get better energy for what you want to do. But you can’t immerse yourself in a community if you’re on a pedestal looking down on them, that’s what this whole message is saying. Some won’t choose your way, and you have no control over that, but you can love them anyway. Jesus didn’t feast with the wealthy & righteous. How is such a conservatively religious sort of message coming out on this blog, like I get it and it’s useful & true, but I’m just lost. Not all of you are religious, or some of you were raised that way and reject it, but still act like this towards others. Or you may be dealing with people like this and need to spread the message. There is no one way, no one direction is the right direction, everyone has different paths, values, talents, interests, beliefs, etc. It’s safer to assume most of them are right if they all have the same basic idea right, just don’t be a shitty person 😁

Story 2: You want to start your own business, re-open an old family one, or reimagine an old idea of the family’s. Possibly keeping one going, but I see this more for the ones with an idea and little else so far. You want to create something lasting and beautiful that you can pass down through the generations. But you’re only at 2 Wands, the early planning stages, and Delay shows you as easily distracted, talking yourself out of things, procrastination, and a lack of faith you needn’t have. You have Protected By Angels, which is funny because story 1 is all about religion, and you have the angels 😇 That’s because they already know they have them. You don’t. But…you do 🩵

All of the energy here shows you having amazing visualization skills but you really have to put time into mediation and creating what you want to have inside of your head first. Your manifestation abilities may be very powerful and you don’t even realize it. You want success, your family to share in your success, enough money to handle the bills and some for vacations and stuff too, it’s your dream. You have all of the tools to create exactly what you want, the only things you need is 1. A plan. 2. Money, for supplies, a workspace, etc. 3. Research 💯 and 4. Execution. Queen of Pentacles shows you’ve got this, because she’s got this, running a business or the financial ties to her world (10 Pentacles) are what she does best. You could be a single parent that wants to work for themselves and spend more time at home with your kids. Once you have everything picked out, decided, saved up for, and ready to go…North Node Leo is destined for success, attention, fame on some level is likely - even a local level, positive recognition from others and a great, well-known reputation for something everyone wants, that you do best. It’s something you will have to work for, but it all starts inside of your own head.

Charms:

Story 1:

Alice 🐇 on 9th House could be showing children specifically as your target audience, maybe instilling spiritual or moral values into them, you could be a teacher or family psychologist of some kind, or that’s the goal. This could also include fairy tales. I gotta throw out there, with Moulin Rouge too and this heavy sense of moral JUSTICE, you could be concerned about things regarding child abuse, and that’s being shown by the author of this particular story. Idk for sure, but we’ve all heard he’s suspicious. Being a protector of children could be a high level priority for you, and bless you for that. Or with Transformation, you may take things like fairy tales and modernize them in some way. Could be 1000 things but that’s what I got from this. If your children do not believe what you believe or do what you want them to do…they have their own path. Same for you with your own parents. Some of you need to get in touch with your own inner child, there’s a lot of learning that needs to happen here, whether it’s regarding control, spirituality, right vs. wrong or old vs. modern, maybe a combination of all of these things. From what I’ve gathered in these readings, everyone is going to experience the path that is for them, regardless of what others think or believe about it. So you decide to help, or hurt, the inevitable.

Moulin Rouge 💋 on Judgement is difficult, because Temperance is having patience and understanding with those that are very different from you. You could be easily triggered by things like sex workers, models, drug addicts, alcoholics, gamblers, etc etc. The religiously righteous of you have to toe the fine line of what’s best for you, giving with a pure heart, and battling the deeply ingrained judgement that you want to pass out, or have to experience. Constantly having to keep yourself in check and also not being too soft that you don’t have boundaries. Some of you are reformed addicts etc., have a past, and want to turn things around, some of you have been “saved” by whichever God etc., and now want to spread the word & help others. Again some of you are advocates for children or protective of them being put in these situations, and bless you for that 💯🙏

Sword 🗡 on Capable is similar to Ace of Swords, which is absolute truth, honesty, fairness, and decisively making the best choices for you, your purpose, your message or whatever you’re needing to do. It’s separating “the point” from the extras of a situation. It’s the same sword of Justice that cuts off what is not necessary or conducive for the purpose or outcome you need/desire. The meaning behind this whole story is wholesome, and yet you’re fierce. 10 Pentacles could show you working with families as a counselor with the goal to keep them whole. Kids are here more than once. For some, it’s your inner child. Or your own children. Some of you may have been victims of painful experience, and only want to make life better for your own children, breaking generational curses and any trauma you had experienced, so you & life can be better for them. Setting the example of what family should be. Some of you may be projecting fear onto children and unknowingly causing unnecessary fear & damage, or even manifesting your own fears into reality, if that’s something you’re constantly focused on. Thoughts become things. Kids rebel. Open honest conversations are needed to bring clarity on all sides.

Story 2:

Spider & Web 🕷 on The Magician is a beautiful message of being able to spin the reality you desire in whatever way you want it to be, the same message of The Magician, but in case you missed it the first time. You can create your reality, and there is nothing stopping you but you, that I can see. If you feel like you can’t, this is saying you’re wrong, with love.

Dragonfly 🪷 on Sacred Space shows a transformation being necessary, and it’s directly connected to delays. If you spend most of your time in crowded spaces, around chaos or constant playing phones, tvs, computers, chatty people, it’s not good for what you’re trying to do here. You’re easily distracted, and part of you uses that as an excuse. This says you need to create (or transform) a space that is entirely for your creative manifestation ideas and thinking. A thinking spot. Like Winnie the Pooh 🍯 but with a vibe that’s soft, tranquil, and mimics what you want for this bigger idea, your space should get you into this mindset of what you want because it also is a part of what you want, but a smaller part. Vision boards could be very useful for you.

Axe 🪓 on Delay mirrors the Dragonfly, you have to recognize the things that distract you, whether it’s phone calls or loud tvs or social media etc., and figure out how to work around those things or get away from them entirely. It’s like you can’t even think, and you don’t make yourself. You need the equivalent of a man cave, except a whatever, “a tranquil sanctuary of Italian music” if a restaurant like that is what you’re going for. Something that inspires you to immediately imagine your idea, and make you ready to get started on a regular basis. An office. A nook. It’s a priority.

Pile 5 - Pink 🎀

The Dream: King of Wands

The House: 11th

Signs:

Aries, Scorpio, Taurus, Libra & Saturn in Taurus

Oracles:

Story 1:

80 Go Deeper

Expressing the deeper meanings in life, while staying attuned for childlike wonder, is at the heart of all great art.

2 Push

Don’t feel inadequate; forget how to quit. Push on, no matter how things look.

Uncovering Treasure

“Beneath the surface lies great bounty.”

Story 2:

19 Growth

Feel open, willing, and proud of your desire to explore new opportunities for self-development.

57 Worry

Worry is attachment to a particular outcome and the fear that it will not come to pass.

Unknown Territory

“You are exactly where you need to be.”

What can you do right now to prepare?

You’ve chosen the pile that wants a sexy, confident, amazing lover that leaves you speechless (or out of breath) and makes all of your dreams come true. They’re your best friend, lover, confidant, they want to marry you and spend the rest of your lives together. Masculine & Feminine energies both dominate, Mars signs and Venus signs are both the focus here, no matter where you fall gender wise you want a lover, THE person of your dreams. In your head, they’re incredibly attractive and possess more Mars/Aries qualities, very forward & direct, confident, flirty, commanding & dominant, they make the first move, they get attention from everyone in the room because they’re a larger than life sort of personality - for half. The other half are dark, mysterious, watch you from across the room with a deep & almost obsessive stare, immediately infatuated with ONLY you. Scorpio. That HEAT 🔥 passion, smoldering, lusty, “love at first sight” kind of feeling. But also, one that lasts 💯 I’m getting more Venus energy from you.

Here is where the story splits - half of you feel like you know this person already, you’re story 1. The other half are waiting to finally meet them and it’s killing you like come ON already, you’re story 2.

Story 1:

You’re madly infatuated with someone in your world, 11th House shows they could be a friend right now, or you’ve only recently started dating, you could have met them through friends, networking, social media/online, or dating apps. The chemistry is on fire, and you want things to go to the next level. They’re acting like they’re at a 3, casual and friendly, not pushing too hard or going too fast, and you’re at a TEN BABY 💍 Put a ring on it, give me babies, I got an appointment to look at a nice area rug for our living room. Chop chop. I feel for most this is all NEW, and you crazy 😆, but for some of you it’s been enough time (years) to where this energy makes more sense. They’re everything you’ve ever wanted, imagined, hoped for. Even more than that. You’ve probably never been so stuck on someone like this. So what’s the problem?

The waiting is killing you, this whole dating game dance, you’re dying for this person to direct, lead, “pleaaaase tell me what you want” sort of energy. What you can do to help this along right now, is be very clear…strategic, but clear, about how much you’re into them. What are your goals, what are theirs? What inspires you, and them? What are they hoping for this relationship, are they just living in the now or do they have hopes for longer term love? Communication is everything, I’m getting the more you let them know how crazy about them you are, the more they’ll reciprocate, if this is the right one for you. Opal on The Emperor can show a dominant sort of person yes, and also they’re kind of shy! Or weird with opening up. They can ask you if you want a drink, or tacos for dinner, but in heart matters, it’s your turn to take the lead. You both have to take turns being the aggressor and the more receptive & vulnerable, it’s a balance, that’s what Mars & Venus are showing here, not gender or even signs really. Maybe. Saturn Taurus, if not a literal placement of someone, is showing a need to be patient and give things/people the time they need to naturally unmask themselves, open up, dig deeper, commit, feel things, etc. You’re being encouraged to act on your feelings, open the door, start asking the right questions and be transparent about how you feel and what you want…no pressure though. Balance. You feel like you’ve found some treasure, you have, and the more you learn the crazier about them you are or will be 🩷 But what do they want? Get answers. Unless you just met them last week.

Story 2:

This smoldery sexy partner is what you’re dreaming of day in and day out, you’re manifesting them like crazy, obsessively, and it’s not showing up for you like you’ve asked for. You’ve waited and waited for someone to approach you, ask you out, where is this dream lover, you’ve done all of the manifestation work and it’s like it hasn’t worked for you. You’re losing patience or starting to believe maybe this isn’t in the cards for you - with the Worry card here. All of your Oracle cards show that this person you dream of isn’t coming, because *that* person isn’t actually compatible with who you are! It’s what you want, but you don’t yet know what you NEED. If this person walked into the bar tonight and was very forward & direct, or silent and stalkerish, be honest, you’d probably get creep vibes or some red flags signaling (helpppp!). In your head, in movies, it’s great, it’s hot. In reality, this doesn’t seem like the right person for you. You’re in the middle of a big shift, realizing who you really are, and what you really want, and that’s the advice here.

You want something long lasting, possibly a “friends first” sort of connection. This could also be hinting that the person you’re looking for is or will be a friend first. With Unknown Territory & Worry, I get your “dreams” or standards actually being kind of a problem, you may have a laundry list of qualities that aren’t feasible or don’t actually work for you. Some of your standards may be unreachable, or even unlikely for the sort of person you’d actually be happy with. Whoever the right one is, I get that they don’t match anything you’re thinking of, and they’re nothing like whatever you’ve experienced before. Clearly that’s a good thing, because what didn’t work - didn’t work for a reason, they’ll be your person. While you’re working on growing and changing, maturing yourself and going after the things you want & enjoy, you’ll find this person eventually, many signs point to friends. You could meet them through a friend, a gathering with your own friends, definitely something social with 11th House & 3 Cups. But that list you’ve got of what they look like (smoldery), how they make you feel (lust), all of that forces you into a role that complements that type, and that’s not who you are. Stalkery fkery. “Bad boys/girls”. They’re bad for a reason, probably in jail right now 😆 In your case it’s like you’re chasing a venus/mars dynamic but really it’s an intelligent & funny sign that loves to chat that’s more your style. Not necessarily, but I’m definitely picking up more of a Mercury ruled sort of person, that would be Gem/Vir in placements or risings. They’re not smoldery, they’re chatty, straightforward, honest, transparent, and super friendly. Like you? If you go for tattoos, maybe they’re more simple & straightedge, if you’re more long hair & grunge, they could be neat & simple, if you’re more bougie & expensive, they could be more shell necklaces, organics and locs. Be more willing to try new experiences & see what happens. Again with Saturn Taurus, same as the first story, things taking some necessary time is what’s going to drive you bonkers, or you/they could have this placement. This position would also nod towards having a narrow lane of vision that needs to expand because it only works against you. If you have a “type” it hasn’t worked before so…maybe it’s time to let that go 💘

Charms:

Courageous ♈️ and Scorpio ♏️ on King of Wands is describing “the dominant male” or the “powerful vixen” in your typical movie style archetypes. Make sure your reality matches your ideals, it’s not just lust, and you’re not just projecting fantasies onto someone that isn’t actually how you may be seeing them. That’s why time & getting to know them is necessary. You definitely want someone that makes the first move, but you also have to be open to who does that. Some of you just need to say that to your person, and others of you can’t pretend to know how that’s going to show up for you. Likely unexpected.

Opal 💗 on The Emperor shows the Aries/Libra opposition, yin & yang, masculine and feminine, chaser & chased. There is no one story here, everyone wants something different. The Venus signs are softer, more receptive, “the chased”, ruled by love, friendship, dating, etc. The Empress. The Mars signs take initiative, are more aggressive, chase what they want (prefer to), typically more dominant & powerful personalities. These two being together can show balance is needed, not wanting one more than the other, and also accepting that these roles will need to flip back and forth sometimes. No one can stay in their masculine action or feminine receptivity every second, it’s necessary that both of you can instinctively shift into the other role too. Or it can become a more toxic energy, like for masculine, you don’t want a total aggressive meathead that can’t show emotions at all right? Or for feminine, one that expects you to initiate, plan, act on everything and they just accept or don’t make any moves ever? No, it’s needing a balance of both. Knowing which energies you tend to be more comfortable in, and what you need in another person to balance out your own personality, plus what they want too. It can come in an unexpected package that don’t have anything to do with these planets. If you are comfortable with one energy, this can be saying do the opposite and see what happens. And if you have a person, what is their own energy, you’ll have to balance with them or speak the need for them to do the same with you 💯

Spider & Web 🕷 on Ace of Swords is manifesting exactly what you want, having the tools to do so by using communication, ideas, the truth, being upfront and honest about who you are and what you want. For Story 1 it’s opening up to this person, for Story 2 it’s clarity about yourself that’s needed.

Starfish ⭐️ and Treble Clef 🎼 on Ace of Cups show music, hobbies, and following your passions in life and doing activities involving those things are what will lead you to healing any past wounds you still carry, and any fears you may have. You could meet your person through doing some of these things, especially where friends are involved, or if you know them already, getting them around your friends would be a good idea. Like parents, friends know who you are and can vibe accurately with your new date a few times, they’ll always tell you the truth you may not see. So long as you agree.

Rose 🌹 on 6 Pentacles is beautiful growth in yourself and your relationships with equal give and take. No one person is doing more, giving more, receiving more, it’s an equal exchange of energies. Today my person is planning everything and working hard for me to enjoy them, tomorrow I’m cleaning & detailing our cars because they don’t like to, etc. They asked me out last time and I didn’t respond, let me ask them this time. Doing life together & making each others lives easier and a happier, being open and honest about what you want and how you feel = happiness. When your person is sick, you step up, romance is a two way street.

Pile 6 - Purple 🔮

The Dream: The Fool

The House: 8th

Signs:

Capricorn, Sagittarius, Libra, Cancer & Scorpio

Oracles:

3 Share

To help you make progress, it’s a good idea to share what you have and what you care about.

39 Direction

Switch gears, reboot, and try a new and different direction.

10 Wish Granted

Believe in your abilities as a Magic Maker manifest your wishes; they will soon be your reality.

13 Innovation

Have fun and experiment, inventing something that surprises and has never existed before.

What can you do right now to prepare?

This pile is pretty vague, but 9/10 people choosing this pile probably hate their job more than anything else - specifically. You’d all love to pick up the phone, call in, tell them to fk off and you’re never coming back GOOD DAY. Biiiitch 😆 You won’t of course, you’re too responsible for all that, and that’s the issue.

The dream itself is taking very fast, impulsive action, just waking up and deciding you’d rather do anything else but go back to this same place yet again to do the same shit yet again, to just be not appreciated and overly burdened. The only part I’m seeing you not being able to do, is the impulsive part, which you already know. But that is the dream. King of Pentacles describes you, you’re the career oriented, business running, every I is dotted and T is crossed kind of financial planner personality, it’s a wonderful thing and your biggest burden. You may be the type to act guilty if you take “you time”, vacations, sick days, overworking yourself to death…for what? There is no reward for that. Money sure, but it won’t matter if you’re dead because you can’t be bothered to take lunch breaks, nourish yourself, needed vacations and time off to just live. Everyone knows it’s the charming yes men that can’t math actually get the promotions 😁 Not the ones willing to die on the same hill they came in on. Which is part of your advice here, with Libra.

That isn’t shade @ Libra, everyone knows they’re charming & persuasive, Share with their charm is showing you needing to embody that energy a little more. Be chatty, friendly, seek to make a friend out of everyone, and always get your own personal bugs (ideas/desires) in everyone’s ear. Libra knows it takes cooperation and networking to move up the ladder, and it often works for them. People help them, because they like them. Your energy comes up more as Capricorn, regardless of actual signs. “I don’t deserve nice things and I’ll slave until I die to earn them.” Balance 🙏 That personality can be taken advantage of a lot, because they know you’ll always show up, and they can slack off. Why would people try harder or move you up, if you’ll willingly run the whole show as just Cashier #5, no no, you’re good where you are. Forever 🫠

The advice can be a couple things. If you have the money, take a vacation. You need a break. It can be that simple, save up some money and just do it. Then when you come back refreshed, make yourself a whole new person while alone, daydream yourself into a reality where you are in a position that’s valued, respected, and well paid. It starts with valuing yourself. Get inspired. Meditate. Then when you come back, start speaking up and charming everyone around you until you get word of a new position. They don’t tell you the “shmoozing” is silent in “promotion”. But that’s who always gets promoted, and you’ve got it, so use it.

Others of you are really entrepreneurs at heart, and your desire could actually be starting your own business, which I see very positive things for. Not impulsively 💯 But by perfecting an idea, putting in the time and work, saving up the money, networking, getting it all going in whichever ways this applies. You want it to be fast, but it won’t be fast. If it was, you’d be fast and broke, and you don’t want really that. Don’t just quit tomorrow, but start prioritizing honing these skills and crafts, whatever is your idea. There’s a whole period of trial and error, and making changes you maybe didn’t even see the first time around. If your own business is the dream, I see it having enormous potential to grow into something long lasting. Or this can be a hobby, a side hustle, an investment, any number of things but financial rewards are possible with it.

Your advice is to spend a lot more time on your own, making the necessary space and prioritizing yourself, so you have the time you need to really get clear on what you want, what it should look like, how you can schedule that in, how will it benefit you and what does it require of you? Getting feedback, with Share, is also a good idea, which doesn’t mean spill your ideas to the world but looking for other people who have done this already - tell their stories. Get inspired, network, make friends & contacts in this world you want to jump into. Then by the time you actually make moves, you’ll have more confidence, knowledge, helpful suggestions and good business sense.

If your family is what is demanding so much of your time and energy, you could need a separate space for “you stuff”. Your own thoughts, your break from chaos, everyone should have a space and you deserve one too, your family can learn that when you are in this space, leave you alone for awhile. Running isn’t the answer here, prioritizing yourself is, and this Fool can relate to you setting necessary boundaries in your life with people who think they are owed all of your time, your attention, your money, no. I don’t see kids, but in the case you have them plz don’t leave them alone to burn the house down - obviously. Within reason, you can set aside time for yourself and others have to honor it just like you would for them. If you work at home, then a workspace dedicated to you & work, and respecting these boundaries is required with you. Many people throw their weight around with their demands, expectations, preferences, yada yada ok sure. You get to have some too. Everyone does 💜 We work around & respect those boundaries and desires when we care about someone, it’s not hard. It’s more you realizing you need it. For work, they are exchanging your life for pay. Give them what they pay for, no more, and make your expectations of reward or higher status clear…in a friendly way.

Charms:

Capricorn ♑️ on The Fool is a total contradiction, jumping headfirst into something unknown with the sign that crosses every T and financially budgets the plan with very little leeway in order to achieve maximum return on their investment, yeah we don’t do foolish or impulsive things here. Probably why you want to be like that, it’s unheard of. This is really saying risks are fine to take, you’re too calculated & practical to jump into shark infested waters, so even more than most you’re actually fine and shouldn’t hold yourself back so much. Do your research sure, get reviews, find the most cost effective option, all great, and then JUMP.

Charming ♎️ on Share seems to be qualities you do possess that you ought to highlight more. You’re friendly, sociable, like getting feedback from other people, and you have a way with others that make them feel special and genuinely cared about. In turn, that makes them want to help you, talk to you, be your friend. It’s like you have this quality but you don’t turn it on, unless you have to. Choose to, consciously, on purpose.

Happy Cloud ⛅️ on Wish Granted is a daydreamy energy, manifesting the thing you want into your life by having the necessary time to really dig deep and figure out what that is. You’re going to have a dream come true, this card shows it as being a definite thing.

Dragonfly 🪷 on The Hermit is metamorphosis, change, evolution, a spiritual awakening for some being The Hermit. The more you know yourself, your talents, and what you need, the more authentic and successful your next move will be. You know you best, never question that or take “Share” so literal that you’re malleable to others’ input you may not actually agree with. Be friendly, and also yourself. You may do your best work alone and also are a social creature, both wolves need feeding.

Comb 👱‍��️ on Innovation could talk about experimenting with your look, the look of a business, the physical characteristics of things. This could be a nod towards an idea you have, something you need, or generally something that would revitalize your spirit and make you feel inspired to change/transform yourself now from how you’ve been before. 8th House is intense energy, there will be a necessary ending, but it feels more about what you will & wont accept, and what you want & don’t. Make the outside things look like your inside ideal.

#PAC #pick a card #august 2023 #follow your dreams #dreams #astrology #zodiac signs #tarot #pick a pile #all signs

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bettsfic · 21 days

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Hi Betts,

I recently listened to an interview with an author that said “when they decided to get really serious about writing and their dreams they made a ten year plan.” So me being the planner that I am, said maybe I should do it too, especially since this writer is pretty successful. Have I made a decent enough plan? No, because being real about your dreams and committing is scary af.

But I have developed this thinking that each story I have to work on has to be “publishable” and if I can’t immediately envision its success I need to push it away. For some people this is fine. For me, I’m pushing aside every idea and am constantly writing for an invisible audience. Which has its pros and cons.

I want to become efficient so that I can be a good author. One who meets deadlines and puts out work they are proud of. But I’m wondering if it’s even possible to try to work to be an author and still create work that is fun and true to you? If a decision isn’t meaningful I won’t include it in my outline. It feels like the only time writing can be fun is when I was young and had no clue about market and rules and just assumed my dreams would come true.

you know, what i keep finding over and over again is that i was right about a great many things before i had any idea what i was doing. i just didn't know why i was right, i had no context or evidence for my rightness. granted, i was arrogant, but arrogance isn't wrong; it's just uninformed. when you inform arrogance, it becomes confidence. you become informed by getting a lot of feedback on your work and giving feedback on work; having your work accepted once or twice and accepting someone else's work; having your work rejected hundreds of times and being the one to reject. maybe you've done all those things already, in which case you're firmly on your path and there's not much you have to do besides keep going.

i definitely relate to what you're saying, though. i would be lying if i said i wasn't just days ago in a phase of berating myself for my failures and wishing i could work harder and more efficiently. i've cultivated some confidence about my work, but there are some ways in which i'm too arrogant and others in which i'm too humble. i have a long way to go still in informing myself about my work and the process of making it.

you'll be in positions where you have to make creative concessions for the sake of publishing, but don't make them before you get anything on the page. listen to your own ideals and make those ideals happen in your work. a year ago, i finished a novel that was my favorite thing i'd ever made, and i was so proud of it, but i knew it wasn't publishable in the state it was in. even though i'd worked a year on it, it was still an early draft and bore the marks of an early draft, but i couldn't see that because i'd never taken any project further than that one. i'd never felt closer to a project or more intensely toward it. and when i was done, i went through six months grieving it, in a sense, because i knew i'd have to rewrite it. i had to kill the thing that it was in order for it to become what it needed to be. i came to accept that, and the next six months sat on the frustration of not knowing what direction to take it, but having the wisdom to know i couldn't rush it or force it.

and then the fix came to me all at once. the fix involves getting rid of many things that were once dear to me. not even darlings, but entire themes i felt were meaningful, that were the very things i want to share and explore in my work. i don't feel so bad about giving those things up now. what i take out will be put into something else eventually, and what i keep will stand out more starkly. the new parts i write will fit better and serve the story itself, even if it's no longer the story i originally intended to tell.

when you're drafting, your work is in a private conversation with yourself; it's about you even if it isn't. but it can't stay about you. eventually it has to stand on its own. and you might think, well why can't i just write something that stands on its own to begin with? but if you do that, writing is just work, it's business, and it may be more efficient but it's also less meaningful. there's no such thing as efficient creativity. it takes as long as it takes, and if you force yourself on a ten year timeline you might as well focus that energy on something more lucrative and within your control. there's so much about writing that's just chance and discovery and failure and faith.

so i think you should go back to assuming your dreams will come true and not thinking too much about anything except the work itself until you get to the point where you have to. and it will hurt. it may hurt more than anything hurt you've ever put yourself through. but trust you'll get to where you're going, even if it takes longer than you intended.

#writing advice #publishing #concession #process

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seeingteacupsindragons · 5 months

Text

Commenting on Meta: Quick-Start Guide

Inspired by a convo with @hergan416, I realized that while meta writers (me, at least) do still like comments/feedback on their writing, a lot of people probably don’t know how to respond to it very well. Responding to fiction can be easier.

But here’s a cheat sheet for, “Things I Like to Hear About” on my meta writing. I can’t guarantee all meta writers will agree, but I think at least a fair amount of it also applies.

This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, but to give you ideas of where to start if this is a thing you’d like to do more of this, and maybe some general guidance on how to approach it.

This is divided into three categories: General Comments, If You Agree With the Meta, and If You Disagree With the Meta.

General:

Meta writers typically use different writing techniques than fiction writers, but they do still use them. A lot of it will be in the persuasive or rhetorical category which people are less familiar with, but if you notice them: say it!

Any comments about writing style/voice. Personally, I mix a lot of creative techniques in mine, and there are jokes and asides in there. If they made you laugh: tell me, I wanna know! If a turn of phrase haunts you or really hit you well: let us know!

Things like tone: some meta writers are more clickbait-y or aggressive, some are more wishy-washy, some more authoritative, some more authoritarian—and all of that impacts how it’s received. They might be putting a lot of effort into it.

What is the meta writer’s general approach to meta/analysis/fiction—stuff about that!

Anything you notice that seems like it took a lot of time or effort. They will appreciate you noticed!

Agree:

"I never put those together!"

"I've never seen it that way before.”

“I've never been able to put my finger on this and now it makes sense"

“I’ve never been able to articulate it”

“This would be interesting to explore in fic.”

“I wonder if this could tie into XYZ, too…”

“I wonder where the series might go with this.”

"This also has XYZ implications, too!”

“This is a similar concept I saw somewhere else"

“I really like the way this part of the story was written because XYZ”

“This is well put together because…”

Disagree:

Not all meta writers are gonna want these comments, but personally, I’m okay with them…in some circumstances. If it feels like you’re writing your own meta post, then…a little weird. If you’re opposed to my approach in general, okay, that’s frustrating. But you know what I do like?

Questions about how I got there!

“I’ve always seen it as ABC because of XYZ.”

“How do you think XYZ factors into this?”

“Do you think XYZ changes this?”

“XYZ is what I made of that.”

Stuff like that. Usually I can comment back on that and have a discussion. It’s totally possible we both have valid and yet different takes and both readings are valid! There’s a conversation to be had here!

I'm totally happy to discuss other valid readings and talk about what different readings add and why we might prefer one or the other!

The Most Favorite Comments I get on writing meta tend to be:

Anything about how this changed how you read or write, or think about reading or think about writing/writers

Anything about taking the time to sit down with stuff I write—in this world of infinite scrolling and quick bites, knowing I can entice someone into stopping that for a few minutes is better than gold

Anything about how you got more excited about writing/reading

Anything about what it makes you think of me as a fiction author (I mean…hey, I’m a person and a writer, too)

Anything about how this made reading/writing different or more fun for you

Anything about sharing my meta to discuss with other people

Anything about it making you love the media more

In Conclusion:

There’s lots of ways to interact with your meta writers, and they probably want you to.

#writing #meta #fandom

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latibvles · 4 months

Text

SAD, BEAUTIFUL, TRAGIC.

beautiful, tragic // to be in it with you.

i’ll find a million ways to say it before i say that i’m in—

masterlist | gallery | taglist

TAGLIST: @liebgotts-lovergirl , @softguarnere , @brassknucklespeirs ,@monalisastwin , @mads-weasley , @eugene-emt-roe

SUMMARY: Reaching the Eagles’ Nest makes the day special in more ways than one.

WARNINGS: None!

Picturesque mountains, sun warming her skin, her eyes crinkle at the corners on a squint as she peers at it for a moment. She didn’t think she’d have much time for sightseeing in a war, but here she is — a working draft of a letter balanced precariously on her thigh as she writes out a thank you for the well wishes from her mother, men and women alike all idling on this road etched into the mountainside. Beside her, Jane is also leaned up against the jeep, gray eyes shut to soak in the rays warming them like stones on a riverbed.

“Your French still any good?” she asks, out of the blue cracking one eye open. That was one thing Daisy began to notice about Jane. When she was feeling chatty, she could never anticipate what the girl was going to say or ask. Daisy raises an eyebrow, looking at her sidelong and gives her a shrug.

“It’s alright, I guess. Why d’you ask?”

“Cause I can’t remember a lick of shit since Belgium but I wanna tell the French to haul ass and get rid of the roadblock.” At that, Daisy snorts at the mild irritation edging in Jane’s voice as she says it, folding up her paper and putting it in her pocket.

“What, don’t wanna beat the French to the nest?”

“I don’t give a damn who wins, I just want to get up there already.” Distantly, a sound of an explosion echoes down the road they’re all sat upon, and Daisy snorts. Last Daisy checked, they were getting quite… creative with how they intended to blow the roadblock sky high. Namely, combining explosives like a high-risk middle school science fair. Grenades, dynamite, bazookas, all which translated in Daisy’s mind as some idiot having too much fun and losing a couple fingers if they weren’t careful enough.

She’s hoping that the joy found in blowing things up might’ve died down a little bit with the war apparently coming so close to an end — but part of her knows that’s just her own foolish optimism.

But it is, admittedly, nice to know she still has some of it left after all this.

“Someone’s antsy,” Daisy can’t help but snicker, and Jane rolls her eyes.

“Ever the astute observations from my fearless leader.” She watches Jane shake out a cigarette and fish through her pocket for the lighter, lights it, and brings it to her own lips before letting smoke escape. Then she offers it to Daisy.

“Yeah well, that’s what they hired me for.”

“Your wise remarks?” Jane asks as Daisy takes it from her, bringing it to her own lips. They share a look as an engine roars and a jeep whizzes by them further up the road.

“My astute observations,” Daisy concurs, “Also, I think you might’ve gotten your wish after all, Gray.”

The town was dead quiet before they came in. An eerily empty place save for the rumble of engines, emblazoned in the red banners that make her entirely angry now. The moment their feet hit the ground, anything that gleams is fair game — for combat nurse and soldier alike, it seems.

Which is to say: Daisy’s bag is heavy with things that weren’t even hers, nor were they things that she necessarily picked up herself. She didn’t expect Rita to have such sticky fingers, but when the argument was that they’d need nice silverware for the apartment they’ve yet to get, she couldn’t exactly argue with that sound logic. And when Easy Company gets fired up to head further up the mountain — she allows herself a moment of childishness, sticking out her tongue to her friend who would be staying behind in town for the moment with the rest of Fox.

Okay, so maybe she got her pick of a couple candleholders in town, and maybe she was just a little bit eager to see if the stone mountain retreat had anything nicer than that. Which it should, because the damn thing had a gold plated elevator.

She’s greeted with lush couches and carpets, champagne in buckets of water that likely was ice, at one point, and the sound of popping bottles as everybody in the place helps themselves to the stash. Daisy wanders, curious as the men chip pieces off that big stone fireplace. She’s on one of the many balconies the retreat holds when Liebgott finds her first. He smacks one of those fireplace chunks unceremoniously into her hand. Then, he offers her the glass-green champagne bottle he’s carrying with him.

“It’s a special day, after all, don’t say I didn’t get you nothin’,” he hums with a knowing glint in his eye. She takes the bottle by the neck, glances up at him with slightly wider eyes and parted lips.

“You remembered?”

“What kinda dumb question is that?” He asks with a bit of a scoff. “‘Course I did, kid, now hurry up before I take the damn bottle back.” Daisy rolls her eyes and takes a swig, champagne bubbles popping on her tongue and going down smooth. It tastes expensive. She grins as she licks the excess from her lips and gives him the bottle back, and then he takes a swig from it himself before ruffling her hair. “Atta girl. Make any wishes?”

“I’d need candles for that.” He grins again and gives her a shrug.

“Sure we could work somethin’ out. Not like ol’ Adolf’s gonna need them. Y’know this place has a goddamn kitchen? Fully stocked.” He says, a sharp bite to the words. Daisy snorts, partially in disbelief.

“What, you're gonna make me a cake or something? I don’t know if I trust you around a stove while you’re drinking.” Joe laughs, a full sound accompanied by another ruffle of her hair. “Tell you what, you find me candles and I’ll make all the wishes in the world.” That seems to satisfy him, the grin not faltering as he looks up and past her. There’s a clearing of the throat, and Daisy turns around.

Ron stands in the doorway, straight-faced and looking between them, before his gaze focuses on Liebgott.

“I need to speak to Lieutenant Clarke, Liebgott,” he informs in that non-negotiable tone of his. As if they had important business to attend to among the pretty scenery and loungers arranged to overlook the woods below. Joe isn’t an idiot, so he nods, resigned.

“Yes, sir,” he responds with a salute, he walks back inside, disappearing into the building and Daisy watches as that stern look on Ron’s face practically melts away.

He’d been the first one up, with Malarkey and Alton. So it didn’t take a genius to know that wherever he’d stored his gear in this place — it would likely clink and clatter until it made its way to Vest at the post office to get all boxed up. He reaches up to tuck some of her hair behind her ear, shorter strands that had fallen from its braid. Something about the mundaneness of the gesture makes her smile.

“One hell of a day,” Ron observes, giving her a knowing look.

“That’s a way to put it, yeah,” Daisy points out with a curious smile. He tilts her chin up with his knuckle until she’s looking at him completely.

“Make any wishes?”

“Didn’t you hear while you were creeping in the shadows? You can’t make a wish without candles.” She points out, and Ron rolls his eyes as he leans down to kiss her, her chin between his thumb and pointer. His lips taste like whiskey, and she can’t help but think back to the last time he drank — all weepy in her lap and dramatic in the morning. The grin that makes it onto her lips is enough to break their kiss. He gives her a half-hearted narrow-eyed look.

“I don’t creep.”

“Lurking then, it’s not a bad thing,” Daisy amends, and she can tell Ron is biting back what has to be a smile as he fishes around in his pocket.

“Fine. Lurking. Doesn’t matter, I got you something.”

“If it’s forks, I’m afraid Rita might have you beat there. I think the drawers might burst if we get any more.” Ron shakes his head immediately with a soft chuckle.

“Not forks, but good to know.”

What he produces from his pocket is much more delicate than the silverware or the candle holders or the hand mirrors.

It’s a sapphire pendant on a thin, silver chain. Delicate and pretty in a way that makes Daisy’s lips part on a gasp. She’d passed quite a bit of jewelry, but none of it were things she’d ever wear so she left it behind for someone else to take. It was all too chunky, too demanding of attention, too weighty in her hands. This was the opposite. Silver curls around that deep blue sapphire, holding it in place, but it was still the centerpiece in spite of the embellishments.

“Happy birthday, Dais,” he says simply. Daisy reaches up, fingers grazing the cold metal in awe. She then looks up at him, a million questions and statements all posed on her tongue.

“Can you put it on me?” is what she decides on, and to that he nods, and she turns around.

Fingers graze the back of her neck as his fingers work to fasten it. She doesn’t care about how he got it, where it came from — just that he’d picked it up not to mail home, but to give to her. And she shouldn’t expect anything less from him, but everything he does still manages to fill her with something that can only be described as pure wonder.

Ron is wonderful.

It’s not an epiphany of any sort, if anything, she feels like it’s the most obvious statement she could make. Of course he’s wonderful. Because Ron remembers things about people and makes a point to apply it. Ron knows everything about her, he listens to her. He could’ve given her any of the countless too-chunky rings and necklaces left abandoned in town or in this building. But he doesn’t. He finds the thing he knows she’ll wear and gives that to her instead.

So maybe, she’s just a little bit awestruck at how he could love a person like her in such a way. With such careful precision.

She turns around, throws her arms around his neck, and kisses him. His hands find her waist immediately, holding, squeezing as he returns her kiss with ease, remnants of champagne and whiskey mixing on their lips for a moment before they pull away — barely so, because her forehead presses against his and she makes a point to bump their noses.

“I love you, you know that, right?” Daisy breathes out without thinking. But she doesn’t pull away upon realizing what she’s said. She’d rather stare, and she’s glad she doesn’t look away, because he smiles. The rare one, where his eyes crinkle at the corners. Beautiful, breathtaking, rare but still Ron.

“Yeah? You love me?” Ron asks, his voice edging on a tease. It’s like watching years come off him in the span of seconds. He looks so boyish. She nods, cheeks flushing a bit at his tone, but his arms only wrap around her tighter.

“I do.”

He leans forward to kiss her again, briefer than before, but still firm against her.

“Then I love you too,” he mutters, then another kiss. “And when we go home,” kiss, “You know I’m marrying the hell outta you, right?”

Her heart skips a beat.

“Been thinking about that one for a while?” She asks, and Ron squeezes her hips, hazel eyes moving across her features as he examines her face.

“Figured to wait, that you’d want a ring that’s shiny and new and all yours.” And then he waits, leaving it open for her to contradict him — for her to object in any way she sees fit, but she doesn’t.

“You might have a point there.” She watches the way his smile returns.

“So is that a yes?”

Daisy reaches up to take his face in her hands, coarse stubble beneath her palms as she glides her thumbs over his cheekbones. Her turn to begin a sentence with a kiss.

“Ask me again in front of your mother with a ring that’s all mine, and then you’ll get an answer. Promise.”

Marriage. The thought had always been there — she’d wanted to get married, at some point, to somebody. As a teenager the idea scared her a bit — the thought that she could pick the wrong person clashing with the fantasy in her head of white wedding gowns and her father walking her down the aisle. It only worsened when she found out about the cheating. If she dared think about anything that wasn’t work, or the war, or James, it would tread into territory of her future spouse wrapped up in a secretary or something. Loving someone that wasn’t her.

Ron isn’t just somebody. And the thought of marrying him doesn’t scare her at all. It’s like a piece snapping into place, something sound and correct that she can envision clearly, even if the details are hazy.

One day in a not-so-distant future, he’s going to ask her to marry him. And she’s a hundred percent certain that she’s going to say yes.

The door opens and with that, the whooping and laughter from Harry and Nixon bounce off the walls, bottles of what she can assume is whiskey on ice in a bucket tucked into his arm. She catches Ginny behind the two of them with a small smile on her face, shoulders shaking in laughter.

“There he is! We aren’t interrupting something, are we?” Lew asks, more hypothetical than anything as Ron lets his hands fall to turn around. Ginny, on the other hand, eyes the new piece on Daisy’s neck and gives her a knowing look.

Lew doesn’t wait for an answer, he throws himself on the lounger with a catlike grin, and Harry reaches for one of the bottles.

Ron gives her a look as Harry pops off the cap, and all Daisy does is laugh.

#fic // sad beautiful tragic #ronald speirs x oc #ronald speirs x ofc #band of brothers oc #band of brothers fic #hbo war fic #hbo war oc #hbo war ofc #told yall it would be at the end of the month #which like totally snuck up on me #but HERE IT IS!!

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