#well I mean. two times now that I've sketched her getting all up in our wizard's business

[blujayonthewing]

me: [has a hundred other drawings I want to do or sketches I want to finish]

me: hmm time to draw my bard being aggressively flirty with an npc who's never shown any particular interest in her or in anything at all other than being a big nerd

[deblklesb]

[Head Over Heels — Abby x Reader Oneshot]

[rugby player!abby, artist!reader, fluff, pining]

cw: reader is a total mess, abby is brother's friend. there's not explicit content but still MDNI.

a/n: I've put my whole simpussy in this, like... reader is a loser lesbian and this fact is totally self-inserted, sorry not sorry. again, so so sorry for the wait! this is just some fluff with reader being a simp, a mess, all over the place for abby anderson teheehee 👉🏾👈🏾, i hope you like it anon!!!

word count: 3,4k | not proof read

!reblogs are highly appreciated!

The cool winter wind was reaching your face as you pedaled to your class, high speed across campus because you were late. The alarm didn't clock, you took too much time eating breakfast, and now you wish to all the heavens the teacher has not arrived yet.

Your brother was very much confused when you started to run around the house this morning.

"I didn't know you had class, you usually wake up first so I assumed…"

"The alarm didn't clock", you yelled from the bathroom, brushing your teeth as fast as you could, but decently.

Now, the open buttons of your shirt allowed the wind to come in so you wouldn't be as sweaty. Fixing your hair after parking and locking your bicycle, you greeted someone working and headed to the room, so frustrated to get late to your favorite class.

"You're lucky our model for today is more late than you", the teacher said as soon as you got inside.

"Sorry, Ms. Addams", your smile was weak. You wanted to disappear, that was your favorite teacher.

The only tripod available was in the front, no one liked it because the lightning from there was so confusing it messed up every sketch. Lucky for you, during winter the sun isn't that bright, so you fixed your stuff and just got a moment to breathe. Being a teacher's pet didn't mean sitting in the front, that was new for you.

"Hey, what happened?" Gloria, your friend, reached out. "You're never late"

"My alarm", you shudder, sighing. "Well, I'm here now. We just have to wait for the model"

"I heard is some girl from the rugby team"

Well, that's news. Your teacher is doing some work indeed, trying to expose her students to different body shapes and all.

"Nice. Perhaps she's nice and will carry me around, my legs are burning from pedaling so hard", it was a joke, a silly one, but as soon as a woman who wasn't enrolled in that class got in, you knew she could definitely carry you around. You also knew that because you knew her.

She was probably the biggest woman you've seen in person, and absolutely the most beautiful.

Freckled, creamy skin on her arms and face, honey-blonde hair in a braid that fell on her shoulder, a firm and strong body worthy of an athlete. Her clothes were simple, just cargo pants with a plain shirt and boots, but boy, oh boy, she was looking gorgeous. As always.

"Sorry for the time, boss, I had to get out later from early practice", for some unknown reason, her voice, too, sounded too good to be true and made you melt inside with just a simple phrase that wasn't even directed to you. "Hope it doesn't mess around with the class"

"It's okay, Abigail. And you don't have to call me boss, we've talked about it", your teacher smiled fondly, hugging the tall woman and making obvious the size difference. You were probably the same height as the dark-skinned woman, so that means you were as high as Abby's chin. Being next to her on other situations made you very self-aware of that fact.

This useless information would always make you squirm. This time it was on the chair in the middle of the class, hoping for all the God's nobody noticed.

"Kids, this is Abby. She will be our model for today and two other classes, so make use of the anatomy to study properly", she was very comfortable next to the rugby player, which made you deduce they knew each other well. "Well, now go prep yourself, darling, we have to start"

"Do I… Take everything, or something?" Just the mention of her being nude made your mind buzz around and it wasn't a good sign, considering you had to focus to draw.

"Keep your underwear, please", the older woman smiled sympathetically, turning around and heading to the back of the room, her usual initial spot in every live reference class.

Abby took off her boots and left next to an empty chair, starting to undress then.

Nobody was looking at you, but you tried to keep it cool and professional. Ignoring the heat on your face and the sweat arising on your palms, you looked at Gloria to hide your embarrassment and noticed she was looking back at you trying not to laugh.

"You're very gay", she whispered, making you roll your eyes and then look at your empty sketchbook. She wasn't wrong, though, you were very much a lesbian and it was obvious.

Those type of reactions were normal whenever Abby was around, but you could definitely go through that class without it.

You put effort into abstracting the sensations and feelings that make room into you as soon as Abby stands in the small, lifted platform in the center of the room, the ambient light hitting her just right. She positioned herself in a simple form, waving briefly at you from there when she spotted you in the front. You did the same back, a small smile to be nice - but not too big to give it away that being around her made you almost piss your pants - and then you all started to work

It was a figure drawing training, something you usually hated because you had to think too much about form, proportion, perspective and lightning. You loved to do loose sketches and grew very fond of gesture drawing, too much for your liking, so that now that you had to stick to the forms and not the rhythm and movement, your mind froze a little. Despite that, you loved doing art and loved that class even though it had nothing directly linked to your major.

Abby had strong features, in the sense of focus. The muscles of the arms and legs, the shape of her face, the abdomen and her whole posture caught your attention too much. It wasn't just the imagery, but a whole set of little elements that formed a distinctive energy. Even the braided hair was part of that, and at each second, each line traced and marked shadow, you tried to remind yourself that it was a class.

After 10 minutes or so, she took a break - admittedly, you had no idea how those models stood still for so long. While she stretched and relaxed her muscles, people started to talk with each other around the room, the small buzz of conversations surrounding, as you turned to Gloria.

"I'm dying here", you whispered, stretching your hands and fingers a bit. "She's so pretty"

"I have to admit… She is very handsome. I don't usually hang out in your brother's dorm so I don't see her often…"

"They're together all the time, I am very lucky to have my face shoved into a book all the time because then I don't have to have buckled knees around her" Gloria laughed at your despair, the whispers almost a cry for help.

"Let's gather our focus, people", Ms. Addams called, and just like that the break ended.

Although the object of analysis was Abby's body and structure, you just had to make a small drawing of her face. Shading and putting too much effort, you ended up doing another one. And by the time the class ended, you had a main figure drawing of her body in the first pose, two others of her face and another simple sketch. A very productive class, and you felt yourself bursting with inspiration still.

"I have a class in five minutes, so I'll have to go now, boss!", the blonde reached to her clothes as people started to pack their stuff. You tried not to look at her figure too much, but took your time putting the material in place just because, y'know… Care. It had nothing to do with the possibility to look at her from afar a little bit more.

"That's okay, Abigail. Thank you for your help, same time next week. Send a hug to your father!", Ms. Addams waved goodbye.

"Hey" you looked up from your backpack when Gloria tapped your shoulder. She pointed to the door, where Abby was standing, ready to go. The blonde was looking at you, a smile on her face. "Tell your brother he owes me twenty bucks. See ya!"

"Okay, bye", you nodded and chuckled lightly at the comment, imagining the type of bet they both must've done this time.

As soon as the other students started to get out, your friend gave you small punches in the arm, giggling.

"Stop!", you felt your face warm, it was so fucking ridiculous to be like this around her every time. And the worst part is that she didn't even notice you that much, so you were a head over heels with zero hope.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

"What do you mean you were naked around my sister?!" You rolled your eyes with the discussion, ready for the mess your brother was about to make.

"Nobody was naked, I had underwear!" Abby's voice was playful, but you knew your brother was two steps from going serious about it.

"Stop being a drama king, asshole", you grunted while going to the kitchen, not even looking at them to escape the risk of drooling over the tall woman sitting on the couch.

"Hey, I'm the big brother here, I was supposed to be looking over you!" His voice started to get a pitch higher, you could imagine the indignant face already.

"You don't even give me rides home, too busy with your flings", you shout from the kitchen now, filling up your bottle.

You were trying so hard to focus on studying a subject you were not interested in, ready to throw it in the air to watch some Ghibli movies instead. Filling the water bottle was almost an excuse to get out of that madness, but having to hold your reactions because of Abby's presence was not ideal.

"That's right, get him again! Get him for me!" And now her voice is closer, almost like she's in the kitchen with you. It makes you flinch slightly, almost dropping the bottle before you turn around to see her strong figure on the entrance.

"Look, you touch her and I will fucking throw that rugby ball right into your face!"

"Jesus Christ, Matt, shut up! Nobody is keeping you from your shit, leave me alone?! It's just Abby!"

Your mom would be annoyed to be around you both, good thing you lived together alone.

"Yeah, Matt, it's just Abby!" She repeats.

You finally look at her properly. She has a simple shirt on and sweatpants, it's casual but it looks too good on her - as usual. Her hair is down - you loved her hair down - and a scrunchie lies on her wrist. Her freckles are so visible from where you stand, it's almost like cute details painted directly on her face to compose the most beautiful work of art.

"I would like to see it, by the way", you snap out of your trance with her words directed to you.

Her hips touch the kitchen counter when she's one step closer, a sympathetic smile making your hands tingle and her tone weaker now that she's just talking to you.

"What?"

"Your drawings. From the class"

"Oh-", you look away, trying to come up with an excuse. "But… We still have other classes to go. It's better to see it at the end and all… And they're not even that good", you're holding that water bottle for your dear life, afraid that it slips from your hands due to the sweat.

"You don't wanna show me, that's fine", she chuckle, hands up in acceptance.

"It's not that, it's just-"

"No, I'm not being funny, it's serious. If you don't wanna show me, it's okay. Was just curious y'know, after all I'm just standing there. Don't know how you do whatever you're doing"

That's the most you've ever talked to Abby, and she's so nice. Genuinely trying to make you comfortable. And it makes you fucking sick, you just wanna spit out that you would like to have her posing for you every day for ever, to have her like your muse, to kiss her face after drawing it millions of times- You're such a loser.

"Oh, I get it…" you nod, trying to come up with a good response. "Well, I guess after the classes, I mean when you stop posing for us, I could show you whatever I did. Just wanna be more confident, it takes a little bit more of time to be familiar to the subject"

"If that's your saying, boss lady, I absolutely believe it", she's smiling wider now and you just wanna scream into a pillow about how incredibly cute her cheeks are.

"Okay, ahm… I have to go back to the room… To study other stuff that is not art, unfortunately", you point to the corridor, mind going blank with the mere proximity between you both. "So, uh… See you later?"

"Hope so. Good study session", Abby gives you space to get out of the kitchen.

The rest of the afternoon you keep repeating that interaction in your mind. Analyzing you every word and wondering if she thought you were, like, embarrassing.

Still, the image of her cute cheeks when she smiled at you and the way she seemed really interested in your drawings took over your attention, it was all you could think about the rest of the day because you're such a simp and she's so beautiful. Fuck this.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

It's now game season, which means that the college campus is a mess. Everybody seems so agitated, a buzz surrounds each corner while posters adorn the walls and murals, calling for the next big rugby game.

The hype around the event kinda mobilizes you too, even though you're not even that into sports. You're actually so out of this type of entertainment, but eventually if you sit to watch with your brother you get so excited and exalted that it almost looks like you've been following the teams forever. Matt actually thinks it is so funny that you keep asking him the rules and then start to scream at the TV once you'd pick it up enough to finally enjoy the match.

"If they don't kick their asses I'll actually lose fifty bucks" Gloria reveals as you both enter the building for the art class.

"Fifty?!" Your eyes almost jump from your skull. "Do you have that much faith in our team?"

"Well, don't you?"

"I don't know", she laughs. "Really, I don't follow them… But if you bet fifty bucks, they must be at least decent"

"Your girlfriend is a good player, if that's what you wanna ask", the taller woman smiles at you with that suggestive manner.

"I didn't ask!"

"But you were thinking about it"

"Shut up." You definitely were. "And she's not my girlfriend" Unfortunately.

As you both enter the room, early enough this time, you recall the fact that it's your last class with Abby as a model. Something inside of you mourns the future absence of such a big source of inspiration for you. Your sketchbook (the personal one) has pages filled with drawings of her - you didn't tell anyone, but you went through her instagram page and used some gym photos as references.

One night you brother stormed in your room and you had to close the book as fast as possible, trying to mask your embarrassment. If he knew that you were so into Abby, he would be a hundred percent more unbearable.

"Hey, teacher", the tall woman soon walked in the class, backpack and a massive bottle of water on one hand. "Last day, uh?"

"Yes, dear", people started to settle for the beginning of the session, fixing materials and angles. "I would like to thank you for your time and disposition, I imagine it isn't easy to stand in front of a class of stranges that are meticulously looking at you", everybody chuckled. Abby took her shirt in the corner, putting the clothes on a chair. Against your will, you absolutely checked on her. But life wouldn't let you have it, and so, like being conscious of your actions, the blonde glanced back at you, which caused you to face away immediately. Jesus fucking Christ, could you be more obvious? "So thank you, again, and I hope you somehow enjoyed the experience"

"I certainly did, boss" She smirked friendly, going to the small platform in front part of the room and standing with arms on her back, legs slightly spareted. Why on earth was she so good looking? "I don't really mind the looks, after all there are dozens of people staring at the games and judging us all the time, so… Well, thank you too for inviting me, it was truly nice! Needing againg, I'm here for it!"

You felt a tap on your shoulder and looked to the side, Gloria was smirking like she knew something you didn't.

"You'll get your pages wet with all the drooling", she muttered.

"Wanna see who gets the pages wet?" You playfully put a hand on your own watter bottle, having her giggling.

"Well, let's begin, shall we?"

Einstein for sure had a point with relativity, because that class flew away like a lightning for you. The biggest pity of all, since Abby wouldn't be there after that day.

Once again you end up doing a main drawing of her body, using the remaining time to put some doodles of her face around it. It was like this for every class, different than the ones she wasn't the model. However, by that time you were already used to sketching her - hence the alone sessions in your room - so you could do much easier work now. You hoped no one noticed this fact, because a question about how you got so instinctive when drawing Abby would be blatantly dodged.

You already could tell in detail the difference between her arm muscles and the last model, for example, but not only the imagery of it: you thought about the biological singularity of her muscle development.

As soon as the class ended, you closed the sketchbook and tried not to think too deeply about the whole situation. It would be fine. Abby would stop being the model and so you would see her less, consequently thinking about her less and moving on so easily. Like, so easily.

"Hey", you froze with her voice, more specifically when noticing that it was almost next to you. Her face was the first thing you saw when looking up from your backpack. "Are you coming to the game tonight?"

"Should I?"

"Well… I could use some cheers", she was still shirtless. Heck, she was still in her intimate clothes.

You were not thinking about how she used a simple bra and nice black boxers.

"I thought you had plenty. With all the staring", why were you being so sarcastic?

"Your staring is kinda different, if that's what you wanna hear", she smirked, crossing her arms. Good lord, save me from barking in front of her with all this attitude. "And I would like you there"

"So maybe I'll go", you shrugged, trying to be cool about it. Something inside of you said that maybe you were being too cool about it, maybe she would think you don't really care; that's not what you want her to think. Shit, were you doing this wrong?

"Don't tell your brother I asked you this while almost nude, I don't think he would let me get close to you ever again", her chuckles were so cute, she was so cute. You were so done.

"Oh, do you want to get close to me again?" Abby stepped back while still smirking, everybody seemed to be out already - though you couldn't tell exactly, she was still your main focus.

"Maybe" Now she shrugged, finally getting close to her clothes again. "Preferably when he's not around"

What was that? Oh, probably your heart skipping several beats.

"Talking like that, I might as well think you're hitting on me, Abby" The most surprising thing was how you weren't laying down on a puddle at this point. Instead, you were chuckling back, hands sweaty and stomach twisting in a rush.

"Am I?" She grabbed her pants. "You'll probably have to come to the game and see!"

After another smirk from her, you just shook your head and walked away from the room with a simple "See you later then".

The interaction started to play again in your mind, Gloria was standing outside with wide eyes and a smile fighting to appear. That adrenaline rush made your mind a whirlwind.

"What the fuck was that?!" Your friend whispered, holding your arm and following your steps.

[png dividers by @cafekitsune]

[taylor-titmouse]

Julia is sick of working late. She's sick of being disrespected, and most of all she's sick of her boss. Lance is a burned out, smooth-talking playboy, but he also happens to be the son of the CEO.  When Lance pushes her buttons once too often, Julia is tempted to put him in his place – but is it worth throwing away her career for a moment of satisfaction? Content: -F/M -dom -degradation -small penis humiliation -directed masturbation -power play 5k words,  EPUB and PDF format Only $3, Releases later tonight! you can go read the first two pages on the shop page!

i've mentioned a couple times now that my editor and the author of roger crenshaw: the dogs at duskfall @mortalityplays is now available for freelance work for people other than me, but i don't think i've made as big of a deal how he's ALSO going to start releasing his own smut shorts on the last friday of every month! he is SUCH a talented writer on top of being an excellent editor and it's my absolute delight to work with him on the cover for his first release. FINALLY i have a great answer when asked "is there anyone else writing smut like you?"

and since this was the first time in a while i went through a cover design process that wasn't just me making one for myself, i thought i would go into how it went!

The Prompt

R/L wanted something that didn't visually describe the characters, because he had deliberately avoided that himself in the text. these characters are archetypes, ideas of characters: a woman who works in an office and her playboy burnout boss. for an erotic fantasy scenario, not going into detail can be ideal, as it allows the reader to project their own fantasies onto the characters. but what does that mean for a cover, when showing off the characters is often the point?

The Thumbnails

it means silhouettes, babie! if you're a reader of romance you've probably seen this approach a few times. silhouettes allow you to give the impression of a character without actually specifying them. HOWEVER! that can only go so far. note the female silhouettes in the left and right thumbnails--one with a pony tail, one with her hair down. these two very minor design elements say completely different things about the character, and pin her design down into something specific. (there is a whole line of feminist thought about this, that there is no such thing as an "unmarked" woman, or rather a woman whose presentation does not say something about her, ie a woman not wearing makeup is not perceived as neutral the way a man not wearing makeup is).

so anyway including her in the cover in full doesn't work for the prompt, because how she wears her hair or how she dresses would say something about her that we don't want to say. thus: we chose the middle design!

a man in a shirt and tie are super archetypal, and """neutral""" enough to not say anything specific about lance, our male protagonist, other than he has a job and is of average size (which are of course not technically truly neutral, but for our purposes, are functional as symbols). and while a long, narrow, leg does still say something about julia, it is abstracted enough to simply represent the concept of "woman" without projecting an overall image of her in the reader's head. she has a leg, and she wears high heels. that's all you get!

The Sketch

now we can move on to the sketch stage! this is the point at which the palette and text are figured out. i tried a few fonts before landing on one that had the retro paperback all-caps feel that i liked, and i used what i believe to have been a risograph print texture from retrosupply.

we went with the text up top rather than at the bottom, because it lends weight to the shoe and balances out the blacks in the pants. it also allows the figure to take up more of the cover, which is ideal. honestly, not a whole lot to say about this bit that i didn't cover in thumbnails: which is the point of doing thumbnails in the first place!

The Finish

well you can just scroll up to see that one. the final colors ended up a little less saturated, a little cooler, to bring it home to the retro paperback look i was going for and tie the colors together. i'm very pleased with it and had a lot of fun. cover design is one of my favorite parts of putting out books, and it was especially fun working with someone else to bring their vision to life.

anyway, you should go buy this book! it's only three dollars and i want to make more covers for these! your purchases would prove that i am a very good investment as a cover artist >:)

[angel-of-the-moons]

A Rose Under The Moon

Moon Knight System (Marc/Jake/Steven) x Fem!Reader

TW/CW: Mentions of sleeping aids, some alcohol

A/N: For this chapter I've given Layla a helmet one for protection and two, like... I have this badass design in my head I plan on sketching out. But imagine it slides over her head like this. Also, featuring another hobby headcanon for the boys done by the lovely @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction!

Taglist: @bad4amficideas @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @shirukitsune @lokisremainingsanity @mundivagantsoul @furblrwurblr

🌒🌒🌒🌒🌒🌒🌒🌒🌒🌒

Chapter 6:

Whiskey Rose

Layla put her hands on her hips as she paced back and forth on the rooftop.

"There is just no way they haven't figured it out at this point. No absolute damn way!"

Taweret sighed, her hands clasped in front of her as she refrained from smiling at Layla's frustration.

"Well, dear, we both know how--ehm--daft those boys can be, at times... It doesn't surprise me that they haven't noticed their soulmate has been living down the street from them for ages..." She said.

"Ugh!" The woman said, ruffling her hands in her curly hair. "I know that! But her? How could she possibly be so blind? She's smart! Did they not even notice that she just happens to have vegan-friendly items on the menu? Marc's favorite coffee? Steven's favorite tea?!"

Layla tossed her hands up in the air, sighing. "This is ridiculous! It could all be a coincidence, sure! But her hand! Her hand, Taweret!"

Layla grabbed the same hand that you had burned, the same hand Marc felt pain in the day you said it happened. "No way is it a coincidence on that!"

"Well yes, of course, there is that..." The goddess smiled finally, her tone even and soft so she could soothe her frustrated Avatar.

"But you can't always force soulmates to realize these things. They just have to happen naturally. Maybe because they haven't realized it yet means that they're not ready to realize it yet?"

Layla stopped in her tracks and squinted up at her.

"You said you were going to help me on this."

"I am."

"You're literally contradicting that promise by basically saying it's "not their time, yet"."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. I could just be helping in a different way."

Layla made a frustrated laugh and rubbed at her temples. "Why are Egyptian gods like this?!"

"Part of our charm, I s'pose, dear." Taweret giggled.

"Okay, okay, fine. I'll drop it for now." Layla sighed, looking up at her with a tired smile.

"But you're not off the hook for this." She warned playfully.

"Oh, but of course, my dear!" Taweret replied, her hand over her heart in a dramatic gesture. "I would never break a promise to you!"

Layla shook her head and snorted in an effort to keep down the fit of laughter that wanted to escape. She lifted her gaze and looked out on the cityscape of London, the grimy dirty streets that were teeming with life.

But also teeming with crime and cruelty. It was like lifting a rotted log; look in the right place and criminals will scatter like bugs beneath the surface.

"...I wish they boys could talk with Khonshu like I do with you. Their lives would be so much easier." She murmured, crossing her arms.

"I know, darling." Taweret sighed softly, her ears flattening in distress. "That old codger! He's so... so rough with them! I would hate to see how poor Steven gets spoken to. He's such a sweetheart!"

"Oh, trust me... Steven, when he wants to be, can be very, very, very sassy." Layla smirked playfully up at her. "From what Marc has told me, he can give as good as he can take verbally, especially to Khonshu."

"Oh? But Steven is such a doll! It's hard to imagine him saying such things." Taweret gasped in surprise. "I would love to see it if he ever does snap at the old bird, though!"

"Oh, definitely. Next time it happens? I'm having Marc spill everything. Or Steven. Whichever feels like talking."

"Oh, I'd rather be a fly on the wall next time it happens!" Taweret giggled, rocking on her heels.

She had such a cute appearance and personality, despite being a large gal, her little physical tics just served to endear her to Layla even more. She was so sweet; the only thing she was missing were tiny little glasses at the end of her muzzle and a little bonnet to complete the look of an adorable cartoon animal mum or grandmum.

"Ugh, so do I!" Layla laughed along with her, laughter finally tumbling out from where she kept it held in.

The two laugh amongst one another for a moment, until their levity dies down. After a pregnant pause, Layla looked back up at Taweret and sighed deeply.

"Well... Should you do the honors?" She asked. "But... Let's keep our suspicions about her a secret from him. Last thing we need is the old bastard using her as a bargaining chip with the boys like he tried to do with me."

"Of course." The goddess replied, giving a curt nod of her head.

She lowered her head and closed her eyes, her hands clasping in front of her once again.

When her eyes reopened, they were glowing with a soft golden light, her ears flicking about.

The moment stretched on for what felt like an uncomfortable length of time. She finally blinked and the light went away from her eyes.

She looked back at Layla and let her gaze. "He should be here momentarily. Though, I will warn you he is very cross you "took" the boys from him for the night."

"Oh, please! They need sleep! They can't go out every night and do his dirty work for him and he just expects them not to suffer from sleep deprivation!" Layla scoffed.

"I know, but he seems more angry that it wasn't brought to his attention first..."

"If that old bastard has a problem with it, he can--"

"I can what, Layla el Faouly?" Khonshu's gravelly voice rumbled out, a chill sweeping through her body.

Layla frowned and glared at him where he sat, perched on the edge of the roof, his staff resting casually against his shoulder.

"You can shove it and go get your kicks somewhere that isn't at my ex-husband and his alters' expense! Or better yet I can kick your ass!"

"I'd like to see you try, little bug." Khonshu sneered.

She knew he couldn't emote, with that stupid, dessicated skull that hovered in place of his head. But she could feel the condescending expression he surely would be fixing her with just by his tone of voice as well.

And boy, did it piss her off.

"Oh yeah? Why don't you keep trying that shit with me. I'm not Marc, or Jake, or even Steven. I will fight your bony, mummified ass!"

Khonshu stood, taking lumbering steps towards her.

"You insolent little worm. I will--"

"Do nothing. Layla is my Avatar, Khonshu." Taweret said, her tone unusually hard as she stepped between Layla and Khonshu.

Her motherly role decided to come out. And nothing was scarier in the animal kingdom, logically, than a pissed off hippo.

Let alone a pissed off hippo goddess who happened to be one of motherhood.

"You will not lay a finger on her. You are still in deep trouble with the Ennead for the stunt you pulled with the night sky, and having Jake kill Ammit and Harrow. Do you really want to push your luck by attacking another god's Avatar because you can't take a few quips?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously, a sharp glint to the normally kind and warm depths.

Khonshu leaned back a bit, turning his head with a scoff, rolling his shoulders.

"Fine. Now, tell me why you have taken my Fist from me this night. Tell me why you two kept them from performing justice on those who have harmed the innocents under my protection."

Layla had to physically bite her tongue to call him out on his hypocrisy.

"Because, Layla and I agreed we would arrange a deal with you. Whilst Layla is here in London, she will handle the dispatching of justice on those you deem need it." Taweret huffed.

"The boys need rest. You are overworking your Avatar to a dangerous degree. Lack of sleep can and will kill. Then what would you do? You can't exactly serve justice without your Moon Knight. And the time you spend looking for another deserving of the title, too many evildoers will slip through your net, yes?"

Khonshu stamped his staff on the rooftop, not speaking.

Layla smirked.

'You go, Hippo-Mama.' She thought. 'Tell that bastard what-for.'

"But you will understand that Layla will only kill if she absolutely has to. If it is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, she will leave those individuals for the authorities, understand?" She jabbed an authoritative finger at him.

Khonshu was silent for a long moment, his grip tightening on the bleached wood of his staff.

"...Very well. I agree to your terms. I will let Marc and the other two rest. For now."

"Now that all the unpleasantness is out of the way..." Taweret rubbed her hands together as she spoke. "Who do you want Layla to go after, first?"

"There are individuals tied to the trafficking group that Jake Lockley eliminated not too long ago. They will be what you start off with. They have already moved on to other groups and are already stalking their next kidnappees." Khonshu grunted.

"I want you to stop them before they move. Start at the Avernice Packing Plant. It is a front."

"Human trafficking, eh?" Layla sighed. "Disgusting. I'll help, like we promised."

"Yes, you will." Khonshu growled.

He stomped his staff twice and disappeared in a puff of mist.

Layla cracked her knuckles, "Well, let's get this done."

"Oooh, of course! You go get em, babygirl!" Taweret said, pumping her fists in encouragement.

Layla turned and stepped to the edge of the roof. Shrugging her shoulder softly, a golden and bejeweled helmet slid in place, her hair tucked safely away inside.

"Let's go save those people."

She threw out her arms, her gleaming golden wings slinging out from her sides as she leapt off the rooftop.

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For the next few days, Layla would come to visit you, chatting you up and listening to you talk. You had the feeling that something was bothering her, but you didn't want to pry. It seemed to be weighing on her a little bit.

Perhaps you'd ask about it. Later

Today, on the other hand, Layla was already there, perusing your stock for any more books she may have been missing. You were happy you had already set the kettle to boil and had the coffee freshly brewed before she arrived.

You'd given her a polite smile as you passed, carefully balancing the tray of tarts you had finished, and Layla gave you a small wave and smile in return, plucking a book off the shelf in front of her.

What you didn't expect however, was to spot a man in one of your nooks.

He sat like a dark shadow being cast; a golf cap hanging low over his forehead, raven hair slicked back beneath, a dark leather jacket and worn leather gloves made up most of his attire as he sat with his fists balled on the table, watching people walk past the windows of your shop.

Like Marc, he looked a dead ringer for Steven. But unlike Marc and Steven, this man looked absolutely miffed about something as he sat in quiet thought.

This must be the third brother. Jack, or something like that? Marc had told you about him but his name slipped your mind. He mentioned they were triplets or something like that, so... maybe...

He had dark bags under his eyes, making him look exhausted and... well... pissed about something.

You decide to forgo your usual greeting and leave the man to himself, carefully slipping the fresh treats into the display case.

Then, you turn and walk over to the counter that held the mini fridge, coffee machines, and tea kettles along with all the proper dishes you'd need to serve such things you had on your menu.

You grab the pot from the coffee machine and pour the bitter black brew into a freshly cleaned mug.

Something tells you to skip the sugar and cream, leaving it black.

You take a half a step before looking at the small drawer beneath the checkout counter.

You decided to add something after all.

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Jake sat, glaring out at the passerbys as they went about their daily lives, never the wiser about the evil creatures that walked amongst them.

The monsters that were laying in wait to pounce like a predator on their prey the moment the sun went down. The very monsters that he wanted to protect everyone from.

The very monsters Khonshu gave him bidding to hunt each night.

Except he hasn't been hunting them all night. Not as often as before. Not since Layla decided to come to London and stay for a while, taking the load off their shoulders a bit.

Jake knew Khonshu was pissed that he and the other two gave in to Layla and Taweret's urging that they rest. As much as he hated passing the reins off, as much as he hated not doing his duty, he relented. They were indeed overworked and exhausted.

It wasn't easy to go against Khonshu's will, let alone without warning him first.

But Marc and Steven welcomed the rest, even if they weren't precisely well-rested. The nights they were used to prowling the streets, they couldn't help but wander the flat. Steven would clean, or cook new things, Marc would watch recorded sports events, and Jake would sit in the recliner by the window and knit. He decided on making something for Layla, as a bit of a thanks.

He knew she didn't trust him still, not very much anyways, but she deserved to be rewarded for her hard work covering for them and trying to help. Maybe he could even knit something for Taweret...

However, their respite didn't last long. The three of them were in agreement that they didn't want Layla to bear the burdens of dispensing Khonshu's justice alone. That while her intentions were noble, she simply couldn't do it alone. She wasn't used to it like they were, and the short time she was doing it, the strain was already taking a toll on her.

So, the past few nights they'd all been up well into the wee hours, hunting criminals, fighting and defeating them together.

Jake was a bit overbearing at times, but it was only because he didn't want Layla to get hurt. Even before Marc or Steven or even Layla were aware of him, he did what he had to do to protect them. To protect her.

Like killing Harrow and Ammit.

She just didn't fully understand that he wasn't cruel, or callous. He simply knew what--

His thoughts were cut off when a mug was placed in front of him, the steaming dark contents waiting up into his nose.

He lifted his gaze to meet yours, and your sheepish smile.

"Uhm... Sorry to interrupt you. But uh. Here..?" You said to him a bit nervously.

"...Thanks." Jake muttered, taking the mug, feeling the warmth seep through his gloves.

"So, uh... You're... Er..." You tried, your expression twisting slightly.

John? Jack? Joe?

"...Jake?"

He nodded, looking back up at you, raising a dark brow in curiosity.

"Sí, I am." He told you.

You couldn't help but grin.

"So we have the Brit, the American, and the... Spaniard?" You tried to joke.

He laughed tightly, almost like dry leaves blowing in the wind. A bit chilly, but not entirely devoid of humor.

"Something like that." He said, tipping the mug to his lips. He was impressed. Most people tended to put cream, milk, or sugar in it despite his wishes. Insisting he needed flavor. It looked like you left it entirely black, for him.

Only... You didn't. He could taste it.

He pulled the mug away, looking down at the coffee and back up at you.

"...Did you put whiskey in this?"

"Well... Um. Yeah... I keep a flask under the counter for... uhhhhh... emergency... purposes..?" You saif, your sheepish smile returning.

It looked cute on you.

Jake blinked at you in shock. He reached into his pocket and fished out an old, beat up and tarnished flask.

"I... was actually going to add some of my own." He replied.

"You kinda looked like you needed it..."

Jake stared at you in shock for another moment more, his jaw clenched not in irritation at your assumption, but in an effort to keep it from dropping.

'...I think I'm in love with this woman.'

"So, um. Welcome to my shop..." You tell him, introducing yourself and the name of your store.

He repeated your name under his breath, finding that it blended well with the taste of the smokey honey whiskey and coffee he'd just sipped.

"It's nice to meet you. My... Brothers and Layla have told me about you. I'm Jake. Jake Lockley." He offered you a hand to shake in polite greeting.

After you pulled away, you noticed his sleeve ride up a bit on his wrist and spot the edges of a tattoo? Or maybe... a mark?

It wasn't any of your business... You only just met the man, after all. You pushed your curiosity aside.

"It's nice to meet you too, uh, Mister Lockley." You replied curtly.

"Ah, just Jake. Please, señorita. "Mister" just sounds awkward and too formal." He chuckled.

You giggled softly, "Er... Yeah. Sorry about that. So uhm. Are you looking for anything in particular today? Or did Layla drag you along?"

Were you... teasing him? He couldn't tell.

It takes him a moment for him to come up with something. Deciding to ignore how you might look at him, he goes for it anyway.

"I was looking into making a gift for someone." Jake said to you.

"Oh? You're looking for craft books then? Something specific?" You chirped, your eyebrows raising.

"Eh... Knitting, if you can believe that. I'm looking for patterns I haven't tried before, and I hate looking them up online. Because at the start of those stupid articles..."

"Someone writes a ten page essay about their god-forsaken childhood?" You finished with a smirk.

"Exactly." Jake grinned at you, flashing his white teeth.

"Well, I actually don't know if I have anything on knitting in particular, but I can check for you."

"Ah, gracias señorita."

It wasn't until you walked away, that he realized Layla was looking at him, a wide, shit-eating grin on her face.

His expression immediately soured as he sipped at his spiked coffee.

"What're you looking at?"

"Nothing." She hummed, opening her book to flip the pages innocently.

"I see you're reading another one of your bodice-rippers." He sneered softly, jabbing at her preferred genre of romance.

"And I see you were gawking at the store clerk." She shoots back, not looking up from her book.

"Maldita mujer tonta! I was not!" He hissed, careful not to slam the mug down too harshly.

He feels a presence envelope him, a pressing feeling like someone just sat on either side of him.

Marc's voice comes from within.

(Jake. We heard you.)

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Chapter 7: Link

[rascalentertainments]

Wish Granted 🌟👩🏾🎶 (Wish Reimagined)

Chapter 6: Welcome to Rosas (Part 2)

Chapter 5

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"Don't be shy now." Magnifico insisted.

Flazino faked a laugh badly. "Whaaaat? No, no, no. They're nobody! I mean, they're obviously somebody, but they've been here before!" he stood in front of them to block the king's view.

Magnifico raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? I don't believe I've seen them around town before." He looked over Flazino's shoulder and noticed the girl in purple looked rather familiar to him.

"Oh yeah, yeah! They're from the far side of Rosas, you don't make a lot of trips there…" Flazino blurted on, making up this story as he went along.

As the apprentice continued, Star had sensed something was off about the king. He didn't seem to have a joyful vibe despite the smile on his face. And what was up with his staff?

The starboy's thoughts halted when he felt something tighten around his arm. He looked to his right and saw Asha's expression had changed. She wasn't happy to see the King at all. She looked as if she was hiding her fear, but Star could see it in her eyes. Asha was terrified of Magnifico.

She saw Flazino use a hand signal behind his back to tell them go, quickly.

"Star, we need to go. Right now." she whispered to him.

Star wanted to keep looking around town, but the fear in her eyes made him change his mind. "All right." He responded. For the first time, he was taking this seriously. He picked up Valentino, who was slightly shaking.

They quietly backed away, careful not to make a noise to alert the king.

"…So they were just passing by. They're probably gone by now!" Flazino raised his voice slightly in hopes the two of them had finally left.

The king's eyes looked up and the two leaving, his suspicions were confirmed.

"Ah, I see. What a shame. I'll have to meet them later on." Magnifico shook his head in pretend disappointment. "I came down see how some of my loyal subjects are doing. You know, really get to know everyone. Speaking of which, I have something in mind for you."

"Um…me, sir?" Flazino asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I've realized that I've neglected my duties as your teacher. Its time that you had more…advanced training." he said with a smile as green fire emitted from his hand.

"Y-you're actually going to train me? I mean, advance my training?" The boy had been waiting for this moment for years, but…the Hamlet mattered more. "Sir, I don't know how to say this, but-" he started as he rubbed his arm.

"No need to thank me, Figaro!" Magnifico exclaimed as he put an arm around the teen and laughed.

"It's Flazino…" He muttered, but the king continued on like his apprentice hadn't even spoken.

"You can thank my darling wife Amaya for that once she returns! She caught on to that and insisted I take extra care of you for our next lesson!" the king explained as they headed back to the castle.

"Uh, sure. But can we make it a short lesson? I really have other duties to take care of." Flazino said as he threw blue powder behind his shoulder while the king wasn't looking. The smoke traveled from his hand and slithered on the ground like a snake and traveled through the crowd.

•◌•◌•★•◌•◌••◌•◌•★•◌•◌••◌•◌•★•◌•◌••◌•◌•★•◌•◌••◌•◌•★•◌

We end up going all the way back to the Hamlet, with the people already out doing their morning routines.

Sabino slept a little later than normal since the incident last night and needed the extra rest. Now that he felt refreshed, he took a deep breath, and was ready for a new day.

The old man hadn't seen Asha yet, but assumed she was already out finding inspiration for sketches. So he went out by himself. Sabino greets a few of the neighbors, one of which was leading some of the livestock to the nearby river.

Sabino waves to the man with a smile and continues towards the water well, but he over hears a conversation.

"I'm telling you, one of the squirrels said 'Good morning' to me!" A man told his wife who putting out the laundry. She rolled her eyes. "Next you'll be telling me a bear when asked for a pot of honey."

"THAT HAPPENED TOO!" the husband exclaimed.

Sabino hoped the guy wasn't going senile at such a young age, not even he heard something like that. He walked over to his usual spot at the well and noticed it felt different when he got there. He felt a hint of such joy from that spot, just like he did last night.

The camera shows beneath his feet there's a very faint glow from the leftover stardust. "What in the…?" He started, but was interrupted by Sakina's call.

"Sabino! Have you seen Asha? I've been looking for her all morning, but I haven't seen her. Valentino is missing too." Her voice had a slight panic in it.

The man grabbed her hand gently. "Now, now. Don't worry, I'm sure she's around here. Perhaps she went a little further in the forest than usual. You know how she tries to find new things here."

"Actually, she left here last night." A kid's voice chimed in.

The two of them looked around for the speaker, but no-one was near. "Down here!" The voice spoke again.

Sabino and Sakina looked down and saw a small grey rabbit looking back at them. It waved its little paw at them and said "Hi there!"

"…."

"Sakina, I fear that I'm finally losing my mind." Sabino said, still in shock of the talking rabbit.

"….We might both be losing it, saba." Sakina responded, the same as Sabino.

The rabbit laughed. He hopped onto the well so they could see him better. "Last night Asha was singing to the star in the sky, and it then came down, turned into a guy, and made us all talk! Then he sang a song too and then he said he wanted to help her save the kingdom, and then he turned into a horse and they ran off to a place called Rosas. It sounds fun!"

The two of them stared at the rabbit for a few moments. Then Sakina fainted.

"Is she okay?" The rabbit asked, concerned.

"Well….I guess she took my request rather quickly." Sabino laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh dear…."

Cutting back to Asha and Star, they continued in the opposite direction. Asha finally breathed after they were far away enough. "That was too close. If he knew who we were…" her voice trailed off, not wanting think about what could've happened next.

She took out her sketchbook and started flipping through pages. "Looks like talking to Flazino won't work. They might be onto us already."

"So then, what do we do now?" Star asked, slightly distracted by the passerbys.

"Luckily I wrote down a little map here based on how Flaz described this place to me. I just hope its accurate enough..." She hoped.

The three of them slowly continued, with Star and Valentino following Asha closely. The little goat kept watch in case a guard or Sabor was near. A quick shot from the rooftops showed something moving quickly across the screen.

We quickly cut to a shot at feet level where the smoke is quickly catching up to the trio, sliding between several people.

Goingg back to the trio, Asha studied her map. "First, we'll need to get to the back of the castle somehow."

Behind her, Star quickly moved out of the way of a woman pushing a wheelbarrow full of stacks of flour. "Whoops! Sorry about that, buddy! Coming through with a delivery!" she had quite a chipper voice and whistled while she worked.

"Wow, she seems happy!" Star noted.

Asha continued looking through her book. "There should be a secret entrance somewhere around here, but we'll have to go further and try to circle around so we don't alert any guards."

Someone tapped Star on the shoulder. He turned and saw a girl holding a few daffodils in her hands. She looked a bit shy as she avoided making eye contact with him. "Um, I'd like to ask for you for a favor." she spoke in a soft, whisper-like tone. "Since you were kind enough to take the last of the flowers I couldn't sell, would you mind giving these to a boy named Safi?"

Star took the flowers and gave them a sniff. "Aw, sure! By the way who-" he looked up and the girl seemed to vanish into thin air.

"No need to be bashful! I don't mind doing it!" Star yelled, hoping that wherever she was, she heard him.

Asha quickly ran back to Star. "What are you doing?! Do you want to get us caught?" she grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

Before they proceeded further, a tall lanky blonde stepped in front of them. "Hey, you guys must be new around here! How about I give you a free show? The name's Dairo, by the way." He offered as he pulled a few colored balls from his pockets. He began to juggle them effortlessly in the air.

Asha had completely ignored him. Star on other hand... "Yeah, sure!" Valentino groaned and tried to push him away from the stranger.

"All right, prepare to be amazed!" The tall teen started to increase the amount of balls from 4 to 7 and was slowly walking backwards. "How you like this?"

Star had sparkles in his eyes. "IS THIS EARTH MAGIC?! I LOVE IT!"

"Hehe! Well, I'd like to think so- Whoawhoawhoa! Yaaah-hoo-hoo-hooey!!!"

Dario had stepped on a empty glass battle on the ground and was rapidly going backwards, still juggling the balls. He eventually went so far backwards he ended up falling into a barrel of water. "I'm okay!" he assured the concerned bystanders and gave a thumbs up.

Asha sighed as she let go of Star's hand. "What a dope. I can't wait to get out of this place. No one minds their own business." she grumbled.

"You know, I get what you've told me about that guy stealing wishes. But….is it really that bad?" Star asked in sincerity.

Asha looked at Star in surprise. "What?"

"I mean aside from a few of them looking sleepy a lot, this place looks great! And you're surrounded by tons of people and try something new all the time!"

Asha scoffed. "You can't be serious! My family had to run away from this place because of him!" She slightly raised her voice. "Don't be fooled by all this. That man and his wife are pure evil, and the sooner we take them down, the better."

Star didn't quite understand, but he went along anyway. "Sorry. I guess I was just thinking that this was better than where I was before now."

"How could this be better than being in space where you had the freedom to go where you wanted?" Asha argued.

"Because....at least I'm not alone like I was up there..." Star hesitated. His smile faltered as his eyes casted downwards. We see the glow in his hair completely faded.

Valentino looked up in concern. "Baaaah?"

Asha''s expression softened. She never thought about how Star felt up there. She just assumed he was just as happy in space as he is on Earth. But bringing it up seemed to bother him. Now she understood why he was so excited in the city. Seeing him down like this...it really bothered her.

She stepped a bit closer and reached a hand out to his face. He looked up to her, with widened eyes.

(Thanks to @ishadow246 for this little doodle, it was perfect for this! Just pretend he has a hood here, K? 😅)

"I'm sorry, I-" she started, but then a small cloud of blue smoke appeared in front of her face.

Both of them jumped and exclaimed in fear, Valentino hid behind Star's legs.

(imagine this, but blue)

"Sorry about that, Asha. Magnifico is practically breathing down my neck right now." The smoke had two cartoonish eyes and a mouth, while the voice coming out was Flazino's. "Glad I learned this communication spell last month. I guess he did teach me one useful thing." The voice sounded a bit like he was in a large room with an echo.

"Could've waited a few more minutes, but all right..." Star mumbled.

"Does this mean you can actually help us? I did draw out a map, but I'm not sure if its totally accurate." Asha said as she showed the blue cloud the pages of her book.

It took a brief look and smiled. "Actually, its pretty spot on, nice going! But it'll be a different story once you're inside. The king keeps the wishes in a room at the top of the castle."

The smoke then floated up as it took a look of the path leading to the castle. The coast looked mostly clear, with only a few guards around.

"I'll take you there, but you'll have to be quick. Mags has been acting strange since that big light last night, and he might be getting suspicious." he warned them.

Star and Asha shared a knowing glance. "You think he's talking about me?" He whispered to her.

The two of them quickly followed the blue ball down a path that led away from the town square. They could see the castle getting closer into view. The camera then cuts to a faraway shot where we see something large moving quickly across the rooftops.

"When we get inside, you'll have to be quiet, the guards doubled since last night." Flazino continued. "Once you're in his study, there's a big door that leads to the Wish Chamber, but you can't open it unless-"

The voice was cut off by a large animal that pounced onto the blue cloud. It came down so quickly, the three of them barely had time to react.

The lynx held the ball in his paw and began to squeeze it. "Sabor! No, no, no, bad kitty! Bad-" POOF!

The smoke ball disappeared and nothing but blue ash was left in his paws. The lynx slowly turned his head towards Star and Asha with devilish grin.

It flashes back to Flazino who's eyes were glowing blue until the connection was gone. "Nonono, that's not good. Not good." he started to panic as he began to look for the ingredients in the lab to make another spell.

"Is something troubling you?" Magnifico asked from behind him. His staff was beginning the glow, just like his eyes. "Perhaps you lost touch with someone?" He teased as he pointed his staff at Flazino's back.

The boy was too afraid to look back, but he knew the man had an evil grin.

Jumping right back outside, from around the corner, Amaya elegantly stepped into view. "Well, well, if it isn't the brave little girl and boy, or should I say starboy?" she let out a small chuckle.

The two of them took a step back in horror, with Valentino still hiding behind them.

"How-how did you...?" Asha couldn't even finish. They were so far ahead of her. How did she find them?!

She spread her arms as if she was inviting them in for a hug. "I see you made it quite far. But I'm afraid your journey stops here. Welcome to Rosas, my dears!" The queen's eyes glow green as she finishes.

Star could only said one thing. "Oh shtars-"

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Wow, its been a loooong time, hasn't it? Looks like most of the fandom was on break and working on their rewrites at the same time, lol. There were times I felt like the dog that was left alone for a few hours and I just went crazy by going into all my friends AUs and then my own stuff. I think was actually shorter than planned.

But yeah, at long last we got Chapter 6! I'll admit this was a little harder to write this one. One because I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and write, and two I've had a ton of art to make on the side when I can. So now more of my characters can get some art! Now for this one, I had A LOT going on, mostly because there's so much I want to tell, and this story will probably be about 20 chapters or less. That's usually the length of my stories, even in non-fan work, so strap in.

So not only did we get the rest of teens (which will fully assemble later on) more of a focus later after Star has his first confrontation with Mags here. We also get more of Flazino, who's got his own storyline at this rate, lol. As you can see he can perform a bit if magic himself, but only small doses. (really playing into the double agent thing now, I'm really surprised how quickly he got fans)

His entire mood between chapters 5 & 6 (I'm sure he's fine…):

(George here is pretty much the base of WG!Flazino so it fits)

And I had to gave you a sprinkling of ship teasing with Asha and Star. I say sprinkle because the ship's gonna get stronger in the next chapters. Chapter 7 will be LONG, and we need a point where Asha can sleep, she's just been going nonstop and might end up like Flazino if she's not careful.

I'll give you some details on what's coming next: Dahlia and the teens will all come back in Chapter 7, and we'll see how she knows Asha. Our first magic battle between Star and Mags who finally meet, that traitor amongst us scene from the original film, Flaz needing therapy and of course SHIPPING!!

As for things outside this chapter, I'm posting a DTIYS challenge finally, so I hope you'll like to join it!

Thanks for reading!

@signed-sapphire @oh-shtars @annymation @chillwildwave

@uva124 @ishadow246 @tumblingdownthefoxden @your-ne1ghbor

@mythartist21 @gracebethartacc @emptyblog7 @spectator-zee

@lazytitans-world @emillyverse @flicklikesstuff @kenihewa

@snackara @wings-of-sapphire @natsuki208

[starzioo]

𝐁.𝐙 ❦ 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒?

This is pt.1 of my 4pt series. The next part will be posted a few mins after this!! I need need to quickly edit some things! This is a pretty long one and it took me AGES. Sorry if the plot carries on for too long, I rlly tried here. :,)

No warnings just fluff!

==========

You're a 6th year Ravenclaw dating Draco Malfoy. You aren't the stereotypical Ravenclaw, although you are academically smart, you were extremely street smart. You and Blaise have been friends since your 2nd year at Hogwarts. You two are close, but you grew apart after you started dating Draco.

THIRD PERSON:

Blaise, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle are all sitting in the Slytherin common room. "Pansy is so fine...I think i'm gonna try to get with her..." Draco says as he sits on the couch. "Don't you have a girlfriend?" Goyle says laughing. Blaise sits on the chair across from Draco, glaring. "I mean...who said I can't have two girlfriends?" Draco says smugly. "I don't know man, that seems kinda wrong, and plus aren't Y/n and Pansy friends?" Crabbe says eating a muffin. "Well, I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be smart...and if she can't figure out what i'm doing then maybe that's just a personal problem for Y/n." Draco says shrugging. "You know that she will find out eventually? I've known her since 2nd year trust me...when she finds out, you'll be sorry." Blaise says with a dead tone to his voice. "Well..I'm gonna go to sleep see you guys tomorrow..." Blaise says as he walks to his dorm. "What's his problem?" Draco asks scoffing. "Well they have been friends for a while now, I mean i wouldn't be surprised if he told Y/n..." Goyle says shrugging. "Let's just hope he knows better." Draco says dead tones.

TIME SKIP : 2 WEEKS LATER IN YOUR DORM

You and Cho share a dorm.

-------------------

"Cho...I got a question." You say as you roll to lay on your stomach. "Hm?" she says looking up from her sketch pad. "Do you think Draco actually likes me? I mean...like I know we've been dating for 7 months now but these last couple of weeks it's been different. I mean he doesn't even sit by me in charms anymore." You say resting your head on your hand. "Well...I know for sure when you guys first started dating that he liked you. I mean you two were inseparable...he was even trying to find a way into our common room." she laughs "but I just feel like he'a losing feelings..." you say flipping through pictures of you and Draco. "I don't wanna hurt your feelings Y/n..." Cho says turning around in her desk chair. "It's okay...I kinda already know your answer anyways." You say lightly smiling. "He's a player...he's known for liking a girl for a couple months then getting bored of them. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already found another girl. He just isn't a good person or boyfriend. I don't see what you see in him. You're such a sweet girl and if I was you I would be with someone whose not as vile and repulsive as him....but that's just me." Cho says closing her sketchbook. "I'm gonna go to sleep now and just let you think about what I said." she says getting tucked into her blue silk comforter. "Ok...thank you for everything Cho...goodnight." you says giving her a warm smile. "Goodnight Y/n, sleep well..." Cho says as she turns over.

You couldn't go to sleep that night. Cho's words stuck in your head. All night all you could think about was the fact that the boy you loved could be cheating on you. Everything you done for the past 7 months had been for Draco. All of it, your entire life, was Draco. You changed so many things about yourself just to fit his needs. You quite quidditch so you could go to his games. You spent your spring break with Draco in France, instead of visiting your mom in Spain. You even cut off Blaise...your best friend since 2nd year. A man that understood your emotions and thoughts. The only person who knows why you love astronomy, the only person who knows why you cover your face when you laugh, the only person who really knows why you love hugs so much. Blaise was the only person you had told such personal things to. Stuff about you that's so sentimental you didn't even tell Draco. You had never realized how much of your life was revolved around his happiness. You were giving your all into a boy that was giving you nothing in return.

THE NEXT DAY

===================

"Y/n! Y/n! Wake up! Its 8:45! You're gonna be late for charms class!" Cho says shaking you awake. "OH SHIT!" you say springing up from your bed. "Thank you so much for waking me up Cho!" You say as you frantically run to your vanity. Then you look down at your wrist watch.

𝟞:𝟛𝟘♥AM

"Ha.Ha. Very funny Cho." You say turning around in your chair sarcastically clapping your hands. "Did you really think I wouldn't wake you on time?" She says lightly laughing. "Thank youu, you know that I appreciate it." you say as you start taking your hair out of its curlers. "Perfecto~" you say when you see the first curl in your hair. "Cho you know what that means...perfect hair day equals a perfect day over all!" "Yeah yeah well last time I heard that phrase you fell in a puddle" Cho says giggling. "Yeah, but after I fell in that puddle I cast a perfect Patronus charm." You remarked as you continued getting ready for the day by doing you're skin care and makeup. Then putting on your gold earrings and necklace. "Hey Y/n, I think we should head out now if we wanna make it to breakfast in time to eat?" Cho questioned. "Yeah, ok, just give me a second I gotta get my charm bracelet on." As you are putting on your bracelet you remember that Blaise was the one who bought you it, in your 4th year.

FLASH BACK

=============

That day Blaise had asked you if you wanted to go to Diagon alley with him to go shopping. You and him had wandered around the alley going into every shop looking at brooms, sweaters, shoes, but most importantly you both went into a jewelry boutique. You and Blaise looked around until you came across a gold charm bracelet that had a dark blue diamond butterfly charm. "Ouuu, Blaise look at this bracelet!" you said as he wandered back over to you. You looked at the bracelet in awe;while as Blaise looked at you in awe of your beauty. "Uhm excuse me? How much is this charm bracelet?" You asked the worker who stood behind the counter. "I don't think you kids would be interested in that one...It's 80 galleons." The worker says looking at you two with pity. "Hey Blaise I think we should get back to Hogwarts...it's getting late anyways." you said bummed out. "Yeah...you can head back without me there's a couple of things I still have to take care of down here." Blaise said softly. "Okayyy, be safe though on your way back okay?" You said as you walked out of the store. When you were about to walk back into the common room you heard Blaise yell "Y/N! Wait!" You turn around to see Blaise running up to you. "Shhhh! You're gonna get us in trouble!" you whisper yell at him. "Okay okay! But I got you something..." He says as he pulls the gold charm bracelet out of his back pocket. You gasp "BLAISE! REALLY?! AHHH YOU DIDNTT" "Shhhhh!" he says covering your mouth with his hand. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" you exclaim ingulfing him in a hug. "You're welcome, now go to sleep. You should've already been in bed." Blaise said smiling. You went to sleep that night thinking that Blaise bought the bracelet. Blaise went to sleep that night knowing he stole it. But it just so happens that, that day was a good hair day.

END OF FLASH BACK

=================

"Y/n!" Cho says waving her hand in front of your face. You finally snap out of your thoughts. "Geez you zoned out for like 30 seconds!" Cho says mildly worried. "Heheh, sorry I didn't realize" you say finishing putting on your bracelet.

TIME SKIP TO CHARMS CLASS

============

As you walk into charms class, you sit in your regular seat. You see Draco walk in, he looks at you, then walks to sit on the other side of the classroom. Although there was no actual assigned seats in Charms Class Draco had sat by you in every class you've had up until now. Instead of sitting by his girlfriend he decides to sit by Pansy? You were on your final straw with the way Draco had been treating you. All you can feel is your throat starting to burn. All you could do was stare at him conversating with Pansy. You wanted to get up and slap him across the face but for some reason your body stayed in the same place; you couldn't bring yourself to do it. As you continue to get lost in your thoughts, you feel a hand on your shoulder. A familiar aroma surrounds you - the smell of red wine, a almost musky scent - "Are you okay?" a low voice asks you. You look up to see Blaise. You take a moment to fully realize it's him. "Yeah...sorry I guess I just zoned out for a second.." you say slightly embarrassed. "I noticed" he says lightly laughing; he sits down next to you. You and Blaise sit in a comfortable silence and Professor Flitwick teaches the class how to cast a Auguamenti charm; the spell to make water. Everyone was working in partners. While Blaise was working on casting the charm, you couldn't help but stare at Draco trying to flirt with Pansy. "Y/n, it's your turn to try casting the charm." Blaise says monotonously; he takes the bowl and places it in-front of you. With a flick of your hand you cast the charm nearly perfect. "Wow! Miss. Y/L/N , perfect! Nothing less than what I would expect from my star student!" Professor Flitwick says happily. "You and your partner may have the rest of class off!" He says making a arm jester to the door. As you're heading out of the classroom you feel Draco's eyes staring at you. "Hey... wanna go chill in the court yard or something?" Blaise says nodding his head in the direction of the court yard. "Mmmm, Sure..." you say smiling lightly. When you and Blaise sit down on one of the stone benches he turns to you like he has something to say, "Can I talk to you about something real quick?" Blaise says with a unsure look in his eyes. "Mhm, of course" you say curiously. "I feel like we've uhm grown apart I guess...we used to be best friends but now I feel like we don't even talk to each other, you know? I don't know...we've just been friends for so long and I uhm.... i just don't wanna lose you...I guess what i'm trying to say is that I miss you, I miss talking to you, I miss sneaking around the castle late at night, I miss going to Hogsmeade with you, I just miss everything about our friendship." Blaise says avoiding eye contact with you. "Blaise i'm so sorry" you say feeling a tight burning sensation in the bottom of your throat, you feel the tears building up in your eyes. It was rare for Blaise to open up like that; he has a habit of keeping his feelings tucked away. You hug Blaise, your arms around his neck; with your head tucked into the crook of his neck. He hugs you back. "I'm so sorry Blaise...Draco said he didn't feel comfortable with me being around you so much...I should've never let it go this far..." You say with tears rolling down your face. "It's okay. I figured it was something along those lines." He says un wrapping his arms from you. He wipes a tear off your cheek with his thumb. You smile and rest your head on his shoulder. "Hey Y/N there's one more thing I need to tell you." Blaise says. "Hm?" You say keeping your head on his shoulder. He pauses. "Draco...he's cheating on you...or atleast he's trying to. About two weeks ago he was saying some dumb shit about how he's gonna go after Pansy." He says dead toned. "I know..."

=========

I reached the max character limit oml. T.T

[bingbongsupremacy]

The Letter Pt. 1

Pairing: Ellie Williams x fem! reader

Warnings: She/Her pronouns used, Outing

Summary: Ellie and Y/N are in two very different social groups at school. One day when Y/N's crush is cruelly exposed in front of the whole school, Y/N is brutally shot down. Finally, five years later the two run into each other again.

High School AU

Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3

*Not Proof Read* TLOU Masterlist

*****

Ellie. Williams.

Star basketball player and Student Council Vice President, all while being in multiple clubs. There's nothing she can't do.

Ellie's done literally everything. She's played every sport, been in every club, been in multiple art shows. She's one of the coolest people there is. Obviously everyone loves her. Who wouldn't? She's talented and pretty.

" You're staring again. " Dina teases.

" Oh shut up. " I grumble, poking at my suspicious school lunch. I'm not quite sure what it is but I don't think I want to find out.

" Just go ask her out already. What's the worst that can happen? " Jesse asks between mouthfuls of a sandwich. " I mean, I asked out Dina and here we are three months later. "

I roll my eyes. " It's different. I don't even know if she's into girls. "

" Just ask. " Jesse states in a 'duh' tone.

Dina shakes her head. " Jesse stop. Let Y/N take her time. "

I glance back at the long table across the room. Ellie eyes crinkle slightly as she laughs at something one of her friends says. She slaps the guy on the back, her short hair falling into her face.

She's so pretty.

I've heard rumors from my classmates. I've heard about her hooking up with a couple of the cheerleaders after games. She's never had a girlfriend though. At least one she's talked about.

Even if they weren't rumors, would she go for a girl like me? We run in two different circles. She never hangs out from anyone outside of her clique unless it's to help tutor other students.

Even then it's because it looks good on college applications, not because she wants to. She's admitted it when helping me out with science homework.

The bell rings and students begin to scatter. I make my way towards one of the small rooms behind the library where our study sessions our held. I pull out my notebooks and get ready to see Ellie.

I pull out my sketch book, flipping through the pages. One page catches my eye.

The Letter.

I spent all night working on it, figuring out the perfect thing to say. I ended up deciding not to give it to her when I saw her hanging out with some guys from the football team. I chickened out.

Maybe some day.

I turn to the next page, deciding to doodle while I wait.

" Hey! Sorry I'm late. " Ellie drops her bag onto table next to me, starting me. " Had to grab my books. "

" Fuck. " I mutter, blinking.

Ellie smirks at my shock.

" It's fine. " I shut the book, pushing it to the side.

Ellie sits down next to me, pulling her chair next to mine. " Alright, where were we? "

_____Third P.O.V._____

" I'm gonna go to the restroom. Be right back. " Y/N hops up, heading towards the door.

Ellie nods, not bothering to tear her eyes away from the textbook in front of her.

" Hey, Els. " A voice greets.

Ellie glances up to spot one of her friends. " Oh hey, Viv. " Ellie greets.

Vivian glances around the room. " Tutoring another dork? " She asks, picking at Y/N's items.

Ellie frowns slightly. " Well, yeah but I think she's okay, ya know. Like, she's pretty smart. Just not doing so well with AP physics. "

Vivian rolls her eyes. " You're too...nice, Ellie. You're too kind to say what everyone thinks. " Vivian lifts up a small black book. She flips through the pages in, clearly unamused at what's inside. " She's no Davinci. "

Ellie's unsure what to say. Sure, what Vivian's doing is fucked up. She'd hate it if someone looked through her shit, but she worked so hard to make it into the popular group. She spent months trying to fit in. She wasn't going to lose it now on a random girl because she feels a little bad.

Deciding not to feed into Vivian's antics, Ellie remains silent.

" Oh my god. " Vivian's eyes widen as she pauses at a page.

" What? " Ellie asks, curiosity getting the best of her. Whatever Y/N drew can't be that bad, right? Then again, she didn't really know the girl. Maybe she had some fucked up mind or some shit. She seemed normal though. How bad could it really be?

Vivian shakes her head, a giggle slipping through her lips. " This is Y/N's book, right? " She tears out a page from the book before setting the book back where it was before.

Ellie slowly nods. " Yeah...why? "

Vivian smirks. " No reason. You'll find out at the assembly. Speaking of assembly, I've gotta get to the gym. It's gonna start soon. Be there. Make sure Y/N's there too. " Vivian turns to leave. " She's not gonna want to miss this. "

Ellie doesn't respond. She watches as Vivian leaves the room with the paper in hand. What the fuck was on that paper?

Y/N makes it back into the room a few minutes later. " Alright. " She grins. " Let's get the worksheet done. "

Ellie nods, her mind otherwise occupied.

The next ten minutes seem to fly buy quickly. All Ellie can think about is the paper. What was Vivian going to do? What did Y/N have on that paper? Should Ellie bring Y/N to the gym? If she didn't, what would Vivian do?

The bell rings, signaling the end of study hall. Y/N and Ellie gather their things.

" Hey, are you going to the Assembly? " Ellie asks, trying to keep her tone calm.

Y/N shoots her a smile. " Yeah! I am. My friend's in the orchestra."

Ellie nods. " Nice. I'll see you there? "

Y/N's heart begins to quicken. Usually their conversations don't stray further than homework or classes. " Yeah. I'll keep an eye out for you. "

Ellie shoots Y/N a small smile, causing butterflies to erupt in Y/N's stomach.

The two break apart for their next class, both of their minds racing. One mind full of excitement at the thought of possibly running into Ellie at the assembly and the other full of dread at what's to come from the assembly.

------- First P.O.V.-------

I look around the gym, my hands slightly clammy. I eventually spot Dina in the corner, preparing her violin. I quickly send her a small wave before returning to my search.

" No need to search. You're favorite person's arrived. " Jesse jokes, taking a seat next to me.

I roll my eyes. " Ha ha. You're just who I was looking for. "

Jesse's eye brows quirk in surprise. " Really? "

With a laugh I shake my head. " Fuck no. "

" Ouch. " Jesse places a hand over his heart. " Straight to the heart. "

I grin. Finally I spot a familiar auburn haired girl a few rows below. Beside Ellie is the Vivian Logan, the student body President. Aka the school's resident bitch.

Ellie doesn't seem to notice me. She takes a seat next to Vivian, immediately crushing my soul.

I knew it was a long shot she'd sit next to me but a girl can dream, right?

" Finally. It's starting. " Jesse grumbles impatiently.

The orchestra and band play their pieces ending in the school erupting in applause. Finally, the principal makes his way towards the center of the gym.

" Students! Thank you all for joining us today! I'd like to welcome this year's student body who helped put together today's assembly! Give them a hand, will you? " Principal Clark claps while the student body filters down to the middle of the gym. " Now, your president, Vivian, has a few words to say. Take it away, Vivian. "

Principal Clark hands the microphone over to Vivian who accepts it happily.

" Hey guys! First of all, I just wanted to say I'm so excited to be up here today! " She excitedly states.

" So excited! " Jesse mocks.

I gently slap his shoulder. " Be nice. " I chuckle. " She hasn't done anything. "

" Yet. " Jesse mutters. " She always pulls something. How the fuck did she get elected? "

" Because she was voted hottest on the hottest vs nottest list last year. " I remind him. Stupid list. Why the fuck would someone waste their time making something like that?

" Guys...I know last week was the talent show but we have a late entry. A very late entry. " Vivian pulls out a small piece of paper. On the back is a familiar drawing.

A snake.

My heart stops.

No.

No fucking way.

How the hell could she get it?

It has to be a different paper. Right?

Unless...

" This person wrote something so beautiful I just had to share. This is actually to you, Ellie. " Vivian looks over to Ellie who furrows her eyebrows in confusion. " Lucky ducky. "

" Jesse. " I whisper.

" What? " Jesse asks in confusion.

I never told him about the note. I never told anyone. Fuck fuck fuck.

" I wrote that. " I begin to panic. " I fucking wrote that. "

Jesse's eyes widen. " What? Fuck, are you sure? How do you know? It could be anyone's. We haven't even heard it yet. "

" It's mine. Jesse it's fucking mine. "

Everyone's going to know what I fucking wrote.

Vivian clears her throat. " Let's begin. " She smiles brightly. " Dear Ellie, gosh, I'm so nervous writing this to you right now. I just can't keep it in. I feel like I need to tell you. I've thought about telling you for months. Actually for a couple years. I've just been so nervous. " Vivian mocks. With every word she acts it out, her words exaggerated. " I really like you. I don't know if you like me back. I just feel like I need to tell you. Whenever I see you my heart begins to race. I really like you Ellie Williams. And if there's any chance you possibly like me back, please let me know. Sincerely, Y/N. " With that, Vivian points at me.

I feel the stares of everyone around.

Giggles and whispers flood the room. The sound of people mocking me bounces off the walls.

" Fuck, Y/N... " Jesse says, obviously mortified for me.

None of that matters though.

All I can focus on is the horrified expression on Ellie's face. Her eyes stare straight into mine, burning a hole into my body. Her body is tense and unmoving underneath her jeans and open button up.

Vivian's laugh brings me back into reality. " Ellie, what do you have to say to this out burst of love. Do you feel the same? Personally, I think it's cute. She has a little crush. A little cringy but hey, it's flattering. " Vivian shoves the microphone in front of Ellie.

Ellie's cheeks turn a dark shade of red. She blinks. " No! Fuck no. " Ellie shakes her head, taking a step back. " Y/N, this would never fucking happen. " She gestures at the two of us. " No fucking way. No, Y/N. You're not my type. "

My heart shatters. She's not gay. She doesn't like me. Fuck.

Suddenly everything feels worse. The laughter gets louder. The points and stares become more obvious. The room seems to close around me, leaving me trapped in a room full of people making fun of me.

" That's enough! " The principal shouts.

His voice seems far away.

It's too late. The damage has already been done. Everyone knows I like Ellie. Everyone knows I like girls. What the fuck am I going to do?

I feel a strong arm pull me up.

Jesse leads me down the bleacher stairs. He pushes open the doors and ushers me out. The laughter of my classmates slowly dies out as the door shuts. Not completely though. I can still hear bits and pieces.

" Fuck, Y/N. Are you okay? " Jesse asks while rubbing my shoulder to console me.

I shake my head. " My life is over. "

My life might not have actually been over but at that moment it truly did feel like it was.

[oliversrarebooks]

The Rare Bookseller Part 4: Oliver's Exam

Masterlist

September 1925

TW: Restraints, slavery, non-sexual nudity

Lot Seven. That's what he was to these vampires, a commodity to be purchased for his desirable blood. The door clicked and locked behind him, and he was well and truly trapped in the auction house.

He kept up the pace behind the vampire as she led him by the leash, stopping to knock on a door. "Cecily! I've brought Lot Seven! Are you free to process him?"

The door popped open and a sickeningly cheerful looking woman poked her head out. "Of course! I'm dying to see this one."

Oliver felt utterly humiliated as a tall vampire woman emerged from the room and began looking him up and down as though he were an object. Even if he could pull free of the leash, there was nowhere for him to go. He took a deep breath and tried to keep his nerves steady. The only possible way out of this would be to look for a good opportunity, not blindly panic.

"Let's get you processed and checked in," said the new vampire, Cecily, as casually as though she were checking him into a hotel room. She led him by the leash into a room, which looked a bit like a medical clinic, surprisingly sterile for a place run by vampires. There was a thin man in a white coat in the room, writing something on a clipboard. 

Cecily pushed him down onto a wooden chair, attaching his leash to a ring in the wall. She pulled up a chair as well. "I have a few questions to ask you for our records."

"Why should I answer them?"

"They're to help you find a good placement."

"You mean sell me to the highest bidder."

"Of course," she said. "So what's your name?"

He sighed. "Oliver Pines." He could hear the scratch-scratch-scratch as the man with the clipboard wrote it down.

"Age?"

He briefly wondered if young people commanded higher prices. "Thirty-two."

"Any health conditions?"

He wanted to say that he had some kind of deadly, contagious disease, in the odd chance they'd throw him out, but the words couldn't form. He opened and closed his mouth wordlessly a few times, feeling quite stupid, before saying, "No, I'm quite healthy."

"My ability forces you to tell the truth," she said to his unspoken question. "Now, drinking, smoking, any other vices?"

"No."

"Isn't it too bad? You could've indulged in all of those things if you had known you were going to end up here. Just as well, though, being a teetotaler raises your value."

Her words stung. If this was indeed the end of the line for him, there were so many things he could have done. He didn't exactly regret not indulging in vices, but... he could have at least gone to his favorite cafe more often, taken that trip to the mountains, bought finer food and clothes instead of saving for a future that would never come...

"What was your occupation?"

Oliver didn't miss that she said "was". "I own and run a shop specializing in rare and antique books."

Scratch-scratch-scratch went the pen against paper. "Interesting," Cecily said. "That's an interest some vampires share. Any other notable skills?"

"None, really. I had mostly devoted my life to books. I do enjoy sketching, but I'm not that good at it." All the things he had wanted to learn and do... "I should have taken up vampire hunting."

He expected anger or offense from Cecily, but instead she laughed. "I was a vampire hunter, you know."

"You? But..."

"It's often the fate of hunters to be turned," she shrugged.

"And now you're here. Processing humans like cattle."

"And now I'm here," she agreed, clearly not wanting to elaborate. "Speaking of processing, it's time to get those clothes off so we can give you a brief medical exam."

"My clothes?" he said, shrinking away.

"It's nothing lascivious, it's a medical examination. Now stand," she said, gesturing. "And I don't recommend trying anything with two vampires in the room and the door locked."

They were always warning him, weren't they? Don't do this, don't do that, it's futile. The logical thing to do, he thought, would be to bide his time and save his strength until he had an actual chance at escape, and not wear himself out and suffer punishments from pointless struggle. But maybe that's what they wanted him to think. Every step along the way a little more freedom had been lost, and now he was locked in a basement and about to have his clothes removed.

He couldn't take it. He needed out. He couldn't stop his legs from bolting for the door.

He didn't even reach the end of his leash before Cecily grabbed him. "Really, you're choosing to do this now? And you were doing so well..."

"Let me go!" he shouted hysterically. "I want to go home! Let me go!"

"Just calm down, you're not going anywhere --"

"Let me go! Let me go!"

"Thomas, get the sedative."

"No!" He pulled at her arms, desperate. "No, I don't want to be drugged. Don't do it, please!" The thought of being rendered unconscious in this hellish place, of being even more at the mercy of these monsters, was unbearable.

"Then behave yourself," said Cecily. "I'll give you one chance, but only because it's easier to process you if you're awake."

She relaxed her grip, and Oliver slumped over, his sudden burst of fight gone. He had been right in the first place, to try and survive and hope an opportunity presented itself. He'd always been physically weak, but he had his mind, and he had to preserve it as much as possible, even if it meant suffering indignities. As long as he stayed sharp, didn't give into despair, avoided the drugging and conditioning as much as possible...

"Much better. Thank you for your cooperation," she said cheerfully.

"Get it over with, monster," he said bitterly. None of the vampires seemed to particularly care about impudence, which he feared was a bad sign. Taking offense at the words of their captive would have belied insecurity. These vampires, however, were all supremely confident in their business, acting as though processing humans was no more than a day at the office. They didn't get angry about anything he said because it was nothing more than the harmless barking of a dog to them.

And perhaps they didn't care about anything he said because they fully expected to "correct" him with conditioning later on.

As he ruminated, Oliver was led to the center of the room, his leash detached from the wall and attached to a pole, as though he were livestock. Cecily produced a large set of metal shears and began to cut his shirt away.

"Is that really necessary?" he said. He liked that shirt, it was soft and a very fetching shade of blue.

"All of your clothes are being burned anyway," she said matter-of-factly. She removed his shirt and cut away his undershirt as well, exposing his chest to the room, which was at least warm. "We'll set aside your shoes and valuables and give them to your new owner upon purchase."

"How thoughtful."

"You can keep your glasses for now if you wish."

"Yes, I do," he said, surprised to be even allowed that. Being able to see properly was one small mercy, although he expected that he was only allowed to have his glasses because it was in some way more convenient for the vampires.

She removed his shoes, putting them down on a table, and pulled off each sock, the lovely blue argyle socks that he had mended so many times, their final fate to be burned. Next was his belt, and he winced as she removed it, wrapped it up in a neat coil and set it next to his shoes. He braced himself, reminding himself that he couldn't fight or he'd be drugged again, as she pulled his pants off, picking up each foot. She pulled his beloved pocket watch and chain out, admiring it for a moment before putting it aside. And then his shorts were tugged off as well, and he was standing naked before the vampires. He couldn't stop himself from letting out a pathetic whimper.

Cecily and Thomas were all business, though, looking over his body and scratching things down on the clipboard. Thomas pressed a stethoscope to his chest and ordered him to breathe in deep; Oliver could only manage a shallow, ragged breath, but it didn't seem to matter. He took a penlight and shone it into Oliver's eyes, examined his ears, forced open his jaw and looked at his teeth, checked his hands and nails.

"What's the verdict? Am I healthy enough to be a meal?" he said, trying to distract himself with dark humor.

"Easily," said Cecily. "But neither of us can afford you."

Oliver swallowed hard. As a child, he'd had a secret wish to be special, to be involved in the supernatural. Being some rich delicacy for vampires was not the way he would have wanted it to play out.

Part Three >> Masterlist >> Part Five

[jpitha]

Just a Little Further 30

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

We sent the Venusians home today.

We left them enough thruster to travel to the Gate and traverse, enough environmental systems to keep them alive - so long as they stuck to their quarters and the Command Deck - and... that was mostly it. Oh, we did take the entirety of their weapons. I even had their weapon lockers stripped. We now have a good supply of high quality rifles and small arms. I gave a few to Sep and asked them duplicate them and begin training. I also promised to stop by later and give some tips in the finer points of their operation.

When I saw their faces when they saw what I was sending them home in, I admit I cackled just a teeny bit. We made sure it was survivable and they won't be injured, but their ship looks like a joke. Large pieces are missing from the hull, whole rooms exposed to vacuum, the thrusters we left them are undersized for what would normally be used, and so on. I imagine they are going to have an... interesting time going through joint human/K'laxi space.

The wormhole generator was destroyed in the explosion, so they can't link home, so what they'll do after they reach human space an the end of the Gates is a bit of a mystery. They won't be trapped though, there are plenty of human Starbases or colonies they could reach via the Gates and ask someone to link a beacon to Venus so they could get a ride the rest of the way.

They don't use AIs at all either. Their ships run with only human crews, so it's not like we left some poor AI behind to drag their own corpse home. It's just a ship.

Well, it's 65% or so of a ship.

As for Raaden and Emery, I did wind up going with the option Ava and I discussed. We found an empty apartment building that was close - but not directly next to - the Royal Dawn. It had two empty apartments and we put Raaden, and Emery in separate apartments quite a long distance from each other. The apartments are guarded all hours of the day, and meals are sent up.

It feels like I just stuffed them into a corner and are trying to forget about them, and I guess I did, but I that's what having hostages is sometimes. I'm trying to make sure they're comfortable and well taken care of. Emery has seemed to accept his lot. He mostly reads and sketches. When he asked for art supplies he seemed excited when we brought him paper and pencils that were native to the Reach. He spends his time looking out the window and sketching what he sees. I've seen a few of them; the drawings are actually quite lovely. I have a feeling he's pretty used to being stuck in a corner somewhere and told to entertain himself.

Raaden... hasn't accepted her lot so easily. She's tried to escape twice already and the only thing that has prevented it was her unfamiliarity with the locks. After the second attempt I had to use my Voice to make her stop trying to break out. Now she just sits in her apartment and alternates between seething and sulking. I almost wish we had a hibernation cabinet to put her into. She'd be less of a problem if she was just on ice the whole time.

Wait a moment. I wonder if Omar can print one? I'm sure there are plans for one in the printer database we got from FarReach. I should ask.

Ginny we put up in the Royal Dawn. Not right near our rooms, but in a room in the hotel. I did use my Voice to order her not to talk to Raaden and Emery and to not have any contact with Venus without our permission, but she knew why and accepted the order.

Yes, we did decide to let Ginny stay. Of all of the people we interviewed she was the only one who actually wanted to be here. Everyone else was indifferent to it or was being actively ordered to be here. That was what finally convinced Ava, Omar, Um'reli and Starlight. We won't give her the Builder package for a long time, if ever, but that still doesn't mean we don't need the help. We don't have her doing much right now, but she is shadowing Sound of the City and they love that they have a helper and someone they get to show the Reach. Maybe I'll take her with us when we go to the Wilds of Besmara. She might enjoy that.

I'm just finishing up breakfast in the Royal Dawn when Omar comes in. "Melody, what are we going to do with all the parts we took from the Lavinia?"

I can't help myself. "Put them on a Starship, Omar."

"Melody. Which Starship? High Line and Sun Dancer are done. We'd have to put them back into the dock to add things to them, Immar IV isn't done, but do we want to put all the parts on that one?"

Ah I see. If we put the Venusian parts on High Line or Sun Dancer, then that delays how long before we can go to the Wilds of Besmara.

"Let's keep them off High Line and Sun Dancer for now. I do want to go to the Wilds now that we've dealt with Venus. Once we're back and Immar IV is done, why don't we start construction on a whole new ship?"

"A whole new ship?" Omar sits down at my breakfast table and looks off into the middle distance, thinking. "Yes, we could do it. I think we have a handle on how things work now. We would add the Venusian parts, of course. That would save a lot of time. I'd make a dreadnought of our own - smaller than the Venus or other human ones - but it would still pack a punch."

"See? What a great idea I had." I'm laughing, but I mean it. I think it's high time we make our own Starships. I wish we had more printers, we could really get production going, but it's not like we need a whole fleet right away. Slow and steady progress is fine.

"Omar, do you want to pilot High Line when we take it over to the Wilds? I want to go next week, and we need to figure some things out. You piloted it during the shakedown, but this will be our first Gate traversal since we came here."

"Yes, I'd like to drive if you're okay with that. We should have the others take a turn so we all get experience with it - it's different than being the Reach - but for now, I'll take us over. Who is going to come? We should probably leave at least one Builder here."

"I agree. I wanted you and Ava and Starlight to come, and we can let Um'reli run things while we're away. I want Ginny to come too."

Omar breaks his reverie. "Ginny? Why?"

"I want to show her she's not a prisoner like Raaden and Emery. She was the only one who wanted to be here. Might as well start treating her like that. Plus, we could use a reactor tech on High Line."

"You make a good point. Fine. Ginny can come too. We don't really need much of anyone else. With Builder systems I can run most of High Line from the chair. I wonder if it feels the same when an AI runs a ship? I'm doing a similar role."

"I don't know. If we ever get back to our side of the Galaxy we should ask." I really find lately I'm missing stuff from home. I hope once were done visiting some Starbases on this side we can go home, just for a visit. "I'd like to open up some lines of trade too. I bet people over there would like some of our foodstuffs and I sure could use some coffee." I looked wistfully at my cup of tea on the table. I hadn't had coffee since talking with the Venusians. I was trying to save what little she had for special occasions, but it's so hard!

"One thing at a time, Melody. Let's do see if we can figure out what happened at the Wilds. Then, see if we can find any other Starbases or colonies. We could finish the exploration that FarReach abandoned."

I looked up at Omar in surprise. "That's it. We can continue the mission! Just because FarReach declared Captain Q'ari unfit and left doesn't mean that there isn't good things to learn out here." I jumped up and gave Omar a hug. "Thanks Omar. It really helps to talk things out sometimes."

"No problem Melody, glad to help."

I leave the Royal Dawn and start walking towards the Throne, thinking while I walk.

We're going to go to the Wilds of Besmara with the refurbished High Line and see what's up. Last time we went there was some kind of field that grabbed FarReach and started to pull it in. Maybe it was an overzealous landing field? I don't know. Either way, if it happens again, I think we want to let it take us in.

Also, that warning. I know now it was in the Voice, but it was over radio which - for me at least - commands in the Voice don't work. I wonder how it was in the Voice, I thought that was just an Empress thing. Maybe it was a recording? All these mysteries. We just have to go and find out for ourselves.

I take a long way to the Throne and say hello to people as I walk. When I first got here, people were so frightened of us, but now people tell me hello, they give me little bits of news from their world, I even get to meet families! More than once I've been told how nice it is that I was able to increase the food deliveries. As plain old Melody I was often intimidated making small talk with people and would try and avoid it, but when I'm Empress, I find it's much easier. It almost feels like I'm pretending to be the Empress; like it's a persona to put on and take off. When I'm with Ava in our room I'm just Melody, but when the gown comes on and I walk around I'm The Empress.

It's hard to explain. I wish I knew more people that had gone though this to see if it's normal. I guess, when you're the only Empress around, anything you do is normal, by virtue of the fact that you're the one doing it.

I make my way to the Throne and settle in. Ava, Um'reli and Starlight are there already. I can feel Um'reli and Ava showing Starlight how to work things.

"See Starlight, if you just look... over here... you can see the transit network."

"Yes, yes, I see. It looks like we have the trains on schedule and... wait, what's that one on that siding?"

"That's Melody's Royal Transport. She likes to use it when she feels like showing off, or if she needs to get somewhere after hours or when things are too busy to wait for a scheduled train."

Mentally, I look up at them "I don't use it to show off. I use it when I want to make an entrance."

"Okay, so when Emp-Melody's not showing off, she stores it over here?" I smile to myself when I hear the smirk in Starlight's tone. When I made them a builder, I let them call me Melody. I decided it would be weird for Ava, Um'reli and Omar to call me Melody, but Starlight has to call me Empress, and I didn't want to make everyone call me Empress as well, so Builder Starlight can call me Melody. They're still getting used to it.

"Um'reli, you're okay with staying here and running things while the rest of us go to the Wilds of Besmara to see what happened to them?"

"Sure Melody, it's fine. I have reports to go over on reactor efficiency. We have enough of a power surplus now we should look at taking down the reactors one at a time for refurbishment. I don't think it's ever been done!"

"What do you mean, take the reactor down for refurbishment?" Starlight looks curious as Um'reli and I talk.

"So, at least with our reactors, they need regular maintenance. We usually build our systems with enough overhead that they can run with one whole reactor down so we can work on it, or if one fails we can swap it out without inconveniencing anyone. Before we got here, the Reach had enough power, but I wouldn't have dreamed of shutting a reactor off. Now, I think we can turn one off, make sure it's in good condition and then turn it back on, move on to the next and so on."

"That's impressive, Builder Um'reli. You have found so many ways to improve efficiency."

"Just Um'reli is fine, you're a Builder now too, remember. But, thank you. I enjoy working with the reactors. I hope we can get Ginny up and helping us too, it will be useful to have someone else - someone who actually took some training on this and isn't just an enthusiastic amateur - take a look at things."

"Okay, good. Omar is going to drive, I'll sit in the Command chair, Ava can monitor systems, Starlight can let us know if there's anything we're missing with local information and Ginny is coming along to prove to her that she's not just another hostage like Raaden and Emery."

Ava looks up from the report she's reading. "I like it Melody, it seems like a good plan. Ugh, I wish there was something we could do about Raaden. I don't trust her as far as I could throw her."

"I know! I was thinking about it on the walk over. What if we printed a hibernation cabinet for her? I know that Starjumpers carry them, and that FarReach used to be one so I assume their printer database has the plans."

"Actually, I think that could work. Let's ask Omar how tough it would be to print one up. On the one hand, I don't like the idea of just sticking her in a closet until we decide what to do with her, but on the other... I don't know what to do with her. She'll never trust us, and we can never trust her."

"Exactly."

Starlight looks like they are warring with themselves over something. After a moment, a decision is made. "Melody, why did you keep her anyway? If it was me in charge, I would have declared her culpable for Rapid River Roaring's death and had them executed."

Now everyone is looking at me. "Starlight, for right now, she's worth more to us alive than dead. If we killed her and sent the Venusians home with their ship stripped and them humiliated they would have come right back with all their dreadnoughts and just fired upon us as soon as they traversed the Gate. No radio, no opportunity to use the Voice on them, just kaboom. This way, with Raaden, their Archduke and Crown Prince Emery, they have to think twice about whether to come in guns hot or not."

"Ah, I see. Yes Melody. You are making it so that we are too valuable to outright destroy. But, what do we do when they want their crown prince and their archduke back? Or worse, what if they don't want them back?"

My shoulder slump. "I don't know yet. As soon as we figure out a deal and we give them Raaden and Emery they don't have a reason to not come in and destroy us."

Starlight's eyes are bright. "Well then. We just need to be better armed then they are by then. We can then repel them the regular way."

"Hah. That's the best idea I've heard so far Starlight. For now, we'll go with that plan. Once we come back from the Wilds, Omar was going to look into building a dreadnought from the parts we... liberated from Venus. Do you know of any Aviens plans for large warships?"

"Actually, yes. I believe we have some plans for a ship like that. We should try and reach out to more of my people. Ever since our ancestors were trapped here, we have not heard from any other of our kind."

"Starlight, I was wondering, what did trap you and the Mariens and others here all those years ago?" Um'reli and Ava look up at Omar's question. I guess we were all wondering it.

"I wish I knew Omar. My parent's parents were the original ones left here, but they wouldn't talk about it. From what I can gather, there was... a war, or something like it. The last Builders left the Reach to... do... something and never returned. My parent's parents did mention that the first few years after the Builders left were very difficult."

"Another mystery to solve then. I want to get going. Hey Omar, do you think you can print a hibernation cabinet?"

"Probably Melody, what for?"

"For Raaden. I just don't trust her to be awake and around while we leave to do explore the Wilds of Besmara. I was thinking of putting her in a cabinet and sticking her on board in hibernation. Crown Prince Emery seems fine, we could probably leave him here under guard."

"Melody that's brilliant! We don't have to deal with her trying to escape and we can carry her around as a kind of... talisman against Venus attacks. You just have to get her into it."

"Leave that part to me."

It actually only takes Omar a few hours to print the hibernation cabinet. When you have printers that can make a whole starship in a few weeks, one small hibernation cabinet is hardly a feat. It comes out gleaming and white, looking like a long lozenge or pill from the medical department. On the top is a clear window to see the face of the resident and on the side is a small readout of vitals. I ask Omar to let me borrow some people, and an Aviens and Azurian wheel the cabinet behind me as we walk.

In front of the apartment complex it's clear that the cabinet is much too large to bring up to Raaden's room. "Wait here please. I will be down with them in a moment."

Upstairs, I nod to the guards and knock on the door before opening it. "Raaden, come here please."

"Go to hell mmmmmm-Empress."

I don't have time for this. "F̷̗͝o̸͔͌l̷̺̊l̴̨̃o̶̦̾w̵̡͠ ̶͔͘m̷̢̒ē̵̬.̸̹̊ Raaden." She gets up out of the other room and robotically walks to me. Her eyes radiate hatred, but she follows none the less.

We get to the bottom floor and I open the door to leave and she catches a glimpse of the cabinet. Raaden's eyes go wide and the snarl of hatred on her face is replaced with a new emotion.

Terror.

"No! No no no no! You're not going to put me in one of those! Please! Please Empress! Don't put me in a hibernation cabinet! I won't escape! Please! Don't put me in there!"

I stop and turn, surprised. "What? Why not Raaden? It's just a hibernation cabinet. It's brand new. Omar printed it up from our copy of FarReach's printer database. It's not even a local design, it's one of ours."

She's standing in the doorway, shaking. She is legitimately terrified of the hibernation cabinet. "I-I-Its a form of punishment in Imperial Venus. For people who have... displeased the Emperor. A person is placed into the hibernation cabinet and then they... manipulate the settings. They change the person's sense of the passage of time. A day can feel like centuries."

You know, I actually feel bad for Raaden right now. That sounds like a horrible punishment.

"Raaden, I'm not going to manipulate your perception of time. We're going to run you deep enough that you won't have any perception of time passing. It'll be just like when people were put in cabinets for Starjumper trips before the wormhole generators. You'll go in, and then you'll awaken on Venus when we've worked out the details with the Emperor."

"Possibly, or else I'll never wake up for my failure. Or worse, I will but it will be after ten thousand years subjective and I'm a gibbering mess. Empress, I am actually begging you." She gets down on her knees in the door way and bows down "Please. Please. Don't put me in hibernation. I will literally do anything else." She puts her head up and her cheeks are wet with tears and she's shaking. She whispers. "Please, don't."

I... I can't. It's too cruel. I look at her and try and concentrate. Is she just acting? No. I think she is completely terrified of going into hibernation.

Ugh.

I sit on the cabinet and reach out to my Builders. "Hey. Raaden is like, wet her pants terrified of going into hibernation. She's literally begging me not to do it."

Is it a put on, is she just really good at acting?

I don't think so. My heightened body language processing says she's being honest.

Just order her to do it anyway, use your Voice.

Doesn't that seem unnecessarily cruel to you? We'd be leveraging a legitimate phobia just to make things easier on us. She'd never forgive us.

You still think she'll forgive us?

Hey, we have a responsibility to treat our prisoners humanely, and that includes not torturing them. This would be torture for her.

They wouldn't have the same consideration of us.

All the more reason for us to treat her better.

Okay then, what do we do with her?

Take her with us.

WHAT?

Take her with us. She'll still be on board, I can order her around with the Voice and we'll still bring the cabinet. If she causes trouble I'll order her into it and we'll be done with it. This is her chance to show us how much she doesn't want to be in the cabinet.

Or for her to show us how good of an actor she is.

Ava, I'm pretty sure she's not acting.

Ugh fine. She can come. Let me get a room ready and strengthen the locks on it.

Thanks Omar.

I look up. Raaden has gotten up from the floor but her eyes are still wide with fear. She is working very hard to control it, but fear of the cabinet is still very strong. She truly is terrified of being put into it.

"Raaden. I won't put you into the hibernation cabinet."

As I complete the sentence, her body relaxes and she starts breathing heavily.

"Yet."

She tightens up and holds her breath again.

"You're coming with us on the High Line to explore the Wilds of Besmara. I need insurance against Venus, and if you won't get into the cabinet then you'll come along. I will also bring the cabinet so if you cause us even a small amount of trouble I will just order you into the cabinet and be done with it."

I narrow my eyes and meet her gaze, "Do you understand?"

She stands straight and tall and matches my gaze, looking me in the eyes. "I will not betray you, nor will I attempt to escape, nor will I sabotage any aspect of your mission. So long as it keeps me out of that thing, I will be good."

"See that you do." I jump off the cabinet and gesture to my helpers. "Bring this to High Line. Omar will show you were to put it. "C̵͖͋o̷̤̒m̶͉̍e̶̩͛ ̶̰̎R̷͈̅ä̵̮å̷̡d̴͍̒e̶̙͝n̷̬̓.̶̀ͅ, I will bring you back to your apartment."

She follows me without struggling this time. I stop at the entry to her apartment. "We'll be back tomorrow morning. Do you have any requests for food or drink onboard?"

She blinks. "You're asking my opinion?"

"Well yes. You're going to be onboard with us for at least a week, if not more. You deserve to have some input."

She runs her hand through her close cropped hair, surprised. "Uh, I don't like coffee, so don't bother giving me any. I know you love the stuff, so don't waste any on me."

Oh nice. More coffee for me then. "Thank you. We'll be by tomorrow after breakfast."

She nods and moves to close the door. "Until then."

After the door closes and I lock it, I look at the guards and they acknowledge me. "Empress" they both say, and then face forward, silently.

Part 31

[coraline-jones353]

I'd Love to Dance with You

Part 1

This is a part 2 to this no more will be added to this series as of now.

Prompt: Soulmate Au where you see each other in your dreams.

Summary: After Jackie moved in with the Walters she really missed her best friend Evangeline. After hearing from Katherine that Jackie is having a hard time adjusting she thinks it's a good idea to pay her best friend a visit.

Warnings: Cursing, kissing

I didn't know what to write for a part 2 bc it's been so long so this is what y'all get haha

Let's just say there's been an awkward feeling around the Walter house since I've arrived. I don't think anyone knows what it is but I'm sure everyone feels it. Nathan is the only brother I've told about "the incident". I don't know if I should tell Jackie or not, I mean he's my soulmate but, he just makes her so happy. But maybe this will help her decide to be with Cole instead. But what if she thinks I'm just making it up because I think he's cute too. There are so many things that can go wrong! Ughh.

Imma just ignore him, yeah that's a great idea. Well it was a great idea until one night I found out I talked in my sleep. And guess who heard me? Cole. Apparently I said that Alex is my soulmate in my sleep, talk about stress sleeping.

"Just tell her!" Cole says walking along one of the many paths. "But I can't just tell her, she likes him, and you! What if she thinks we are in cahoots with one another and I'm only doing this to make you two date." I say walking slowly to make sure we don't arrive at the house too early. "I don't think she will think that much into it. Just tell her." "Fine." I say seemingly making up my mind. I'm telling her tonight and if she has a problem with it I will show her the sketches I've made of Alex's face since I was 12. That will surely convince her.

After Cole and I arrive back at the house we get questioning looks from all the kids but I just brush them off and head to Jackie's room. After I knock for a few minutes she finally opens the door. "We gotta talk." "Shit Evie that's never a good way to start a conversation, especially when you say it so seriously." She says already seemingly regretting opening the door.

"I found my soulmate..." I start the conversation. "Omg, wait now? Who is it you have to tell me! Shouldn't this be good news why do you look so serious! You met the love of your life." Jackie says starting to pace around her room. "It's bad because it's Alex." I say looking at the ground.

"You gotta be joking." She states looking at me "Shit you're not joking are you?" "Remember when I used to draw my soulmate a lot?" I say bringing out my phone. "Yeah?" I show her pictures I've drawn of my soulmate over the years. The last one being 10 months ago.

"Omg you weren't kidding." She says looking through the photos. I nod still not making eye contact with her. After seeing what she needed to see she hugs me. "Go get your damn soulmate." She says pushing me towards the door. As soon as I open the door Alex comes stumbling in obviously listening in on our conversation.

"Hi." "Haha heyyy. I definitely was spying." I just roll my eyes at his antics. "Kiss me." I mutter under my breath. "What?" "Kiss me." I say again louder and braver.

He leans in and kisses me.

Sincerely, Coraline Jones 🐈‍⬛

[faithfromanewperspective]

Okay so I'm about to be real annoying about autism and biology(specifically genetics) real quick-

So first off, just because Ty has autism doesn't necessarily mean that Livvy does. Yes they are twins but they are fraternal twins, ie two eggs and two sperm, which means they only share about 50% of their DNA like regular siblings. Because that's what they are canonically, regular siblings who just so happened to both be conceived in a roughly 2 week window of each other and born at the same time.

Same with Mark and Helen. Only they share about 25% of their DNA with the other Blackthorn siblings.

Now autism is genetic, this is scientifically proven to be true, and as of 2023 1 out of 100 children has autism. Those chances increase if a sibling or a parent has autism because they share genes, and if one person has the gene then it's likely to assume that someone else in the family does as well.

Take my family as an example: my grandfather is autistic, so was his brother, and his sister's daughters(identical twins) were both autistic(because they share 100% DNA so if one is autistic likely the other is too), and so were their kids. So even though my great aunt is NOT autistic, both her brothers are, which meant she carried the gene for it, and it passed down to her kids and grandkids. Now none of my grandfather's kids got the gene, but all of us grandkids did. Because even though our moms weren't autistic, they carried the gene.

Now, there's not too much proven scientific evidence for how autism works genetically other than it is passed down and can even skip a generation or two. But because of how society is, especially how afab people are raised in society, there could genuinely be a significant amount of people who just haven't realized that they are autistic, not to mention the over a million people who aren't able to get a diagnosis. So please take what I've said above with a grain of salt.

NOW onto my personal headcanons with the Blackthorns-

I truly believe that Lucie Herondale is autistic and I will die on this hill. Which means that the gene could carry all the way down the Blackthorn line, all the way to present day. And since we know almost nothing about Andrew and Eleanor, we don't know if either one of them had the traits or if they just carried the gene.

Let's start with the oldest(s) and work our way down, shall we:

Mark: the nature audhd, he loves everything plants earth related and spend almost too much times researching flowers and berries that can be grown in California. He much prefers a date to the botanical gardens rather than to a movie theater(too loud) or a library(too quiet). But he loves concerts(jumping up and down bass boosted music).

Helen: the coffee autistic, she loves everything in the world of coffee, and if she wasn't so debilitated by her enhanced hearing making her uneasy out in public she would open her own coffee shop just so she could make coffees all day everyday. Aline gifts her different coffee scented candles for anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays.

Julian: the art autistic, he loves the feeling of paint on his fingers, and has spent an hour rubbing a new and soft brush over his palms and face(much to Emma's amusement). His go-to stimming behavior is sketching something either on scrap paper or with his fingers on the table or on his thigh. He loves drawing over his arms and hands with pen, and he also loves drawing all over his families' hands and arms as well.

(Ty is canon, so I'll skip him)

Livvy: the theater audhd kid, she loves reading Shakespeare and obscure off-Broadway plays. Once a week she puts on a one woman show for her siblings(mostly Dru and Tavvy) entertainment. She collects playbills, cds, records, merch, and autographs from shows she sees(she goes with Jocelyn or Tessa at least once a week) and covers her room with them.

Dru: the thriller audhd, she loves everything that gives her a fright and makes her adrenaline and blood pressure skyrocket. Her favorite "dates" are amusement parks with Thaís and Jaime, she makes them go on every terrifying ride. She, Livvy, and Emma have movie nights where they binge vintage horror movies and play indie horror games. She went bungee jumping for her 18th birthday.

Tavvy: the music autistic, he loves everything in the music realm: instruments, songs on the radio, Broadway musicals, and Julian humming while he cooks. He learns to play over 16 different instruments and uses each one to stim depending on what environment he's in(if he's at Cirenworth then it's violin or piano, but if he's at the NYC Institute then it's drums or guitar, his favorite is playing the pan flute on the LA Institute rooftop with Mark and Kieran).

I also hc that Livvy is trans that her and Ty ARE actually identical but apparently it's weird to say that😒

Sorry if this doesn't make any sense I just woke up from a nap😅-

dude. this is such a detailed ask. shaking screaming silently in excitement that i get to answer this!! all of this detail for me!! this is such a fascination of mine! anyway ANYWAY SO

I love your hc's about the blackthorns especially tavvy, idk why i see him as a musician as well but it just FITS. and hey, they are in LA right?? he def spends his teens sneaking out to see live music and he def gets SUPER into like a handful of artists and spends hours just playing around with their songs, remixing them or whatever (do i do this? am i talking from experience? do i have a sideblog dedicated to it?) and dru is absolutely that kind of adrenaline junkie. so am i! i say she gets really into lead climbing (rock climbing, but the rope is below you instead of above and when you fall it's TERRIFYING) and it helps her get really comfortable with her body esp when she goes with mundanes and downworlders and shadowhunters all mixed up. and i love theatre livvy, i really do, but her canon thing is computers and maths isn't it? maybe she's both. i can see that, different sides of her personality: she's into STEM a lot as a kid but realises she also likes to act when she's a bit older. you're dead right with julian, tbh what he was going through in the tda era makes it hard for me to see his neurodivergence clearly but yeah i can see it, and he's a cassandra clare male protagonist after all, he's gonna remind me of a bunch of people i know irl who are--slowly realising their neurodivergence, shall i say. mark and helen are dead right too. i see it. never did they come across as neurotypical to me.

and i do know, genetics of fraternal twins--if you're referring to the 'twin thing' or whatever i said i was meaning the bond between them and how they communicate so naturally! which is in part due to their proximity being together since the womb, but also because they are naturally so similar and also complimentary and actually, the fact that they both 'adopt' kit into their group is just another neurodivergents unite moment. like, it just works. so naturally.

and i 100% agree with you that yeah, sure maybe they're not ALL autistic in the family but with underdiagnosis and stuff and genetics it does make sense. Also irl i do think that 1% is a MASSIVE understatement (idk what the actual number could be, but the way i go out in public and in community with people i've known for years even when we're not brought together by things in common, and i just get the vibe of people, i'm pretty sure a lot more than 1% are autistic). now, with lucie. i never was quite sure with her, she's very much a could-never-have-been-neurotypical-herondale but the more I think about it the more it makes sense. it's really interesting to see her and james interact as siblings bc they're SO different but there's this common thread of likely being autistic, in fact a specific genre of autistic that clearly runs in their family (and i could say the same of anna and christopher, but that's for another post). anyway. just for fun. I reckon we can trace it back up both sides of their family to Linette Owens on the Herondale side and to Aloysius Starkweather on Tessa's side. and cassie invented genetics again.

but seriously, i fondly summarise tlh as 'bunch of neurodivergents adopt biracial traveller who doesn't fit in anywhere'. like SO MUCH of the cast is autistic coded, trust cassie to do that, there's also a heap of rep of adhd and cptsd and bipolar in the mix and then. there's cordelia

I also have to say I do love your trans livvy hc!! the more i think about it the more i'm like, oh, that could make sense. in the way she presents her femininity (which trans women don't have to!! I know!) and imagine her bonding with diana over it! anyway that's all i have to say. slightly differently coloured features to ty--that's just a technicality right? no, this could definitely work.

[saskiavalentineapologist]

SO

saskia and belialah. the empress and her shadow.

...im breaking my own rule of not posting any more original creations here but idgaf---i'll post some sketches and if there's interest i can throw this fic i'm working on up on ao3 for the monsterfuckers in the audience

so, backstory on THESE TWO:

i'm gonna go in real life order of events and talk about some of the inspos that went into some of these moments and where they were in our real life timeline of Experiencing these two

under the cut bc i must remain polite in the face of my hyperfixations

HELLO I MAY BE POLITE BUT IM RABID LETS GOOOOOOOOO

ok so, canonical order of events: saskia (matriarch) and belialah (demon lord) meet, they establish an alliance, belialah does stuff for saskia. at some point, saskia starts amassing her generals (we'll get there) and chooses belialah. somewhere in here as well, saskia splits from the empire and starts doing her Evil Deeds for her Evil Plans. I'm not sure which of the last two came first. in either case, lost later meets belialah, we haven't seen her (physically) since (but that's not a good thing i don't think)

irl order of events:

Saskia throws a Fit, kills her nephew, and withdraws from the empire at large. we make fun of her because though she's the big bad, she's also weirdly wet and pathetic. we hate her. she's so sucks. and also so sexy. its bad

time goes by, things happen, eventually there's a big party with all the matriarchs!!! yaaaaay

lost and gilt go because ofc we do, and there's a big dance where everyone keeps changing partners. at the end of the dance, lost gets belialah

...elven ish woman. obviously weird. too pale skin. black hair. disheveled appearance. ill-fitting dress. holds herself weird. talks with a tremble and a breathiness to her voice that immediately makes us uncomfortable (my mans can do some fuckin VOICES and don't get me started on the sound effects). belialah says she's a huge fan---of lost's father. the being from before creation whose whole thing is "immortal life but not in the good way" instead of "you won't die" it's "you can't die" there is no death to escape from life, no matter the suffering.

so--red flags.

she tells lost that she's one of saskia's generals, and that saskia sent her to give lost a message: saskia is so excited for her to come home, and that lost should bring her brothers (6 beings of various otherworldly heritage like lost--saskia has a type and it is monsters) when she comes home. Lost tells her to tell saskia, from her and gilt, to fuck off.

belialah goes...monstrous. red eyes start popping open all over her skin and she gets quiet and threatening about how lost is disrespectful and how--yeah, she will tell saskia that. and she leaves in a cloud of black vapor

i turn to chase. i say "oh they're fucking"

and he hits me with "...belialah would probably like to!"

and i hit the ground running. sprinting. i was off into the distance without another fucking word. little roselyn-shaped dust cloud left behind.

fic. art. works. stuff. so much. headcanons. throwing everything at the wall. attempts at first time. attempts at canon. saskia bitchiness. belialah wanting to smash despite the great danger to her personal health. weird fetish fic. modern!au. headcanons about modern!au. deep dives. analysis. narrative foils. sex. so much sex.

it's everything. they're everything

i want them to be terrible together. that's all i want. that's all i've ever wanted.

i set about creating for them in a frenzy--it's been love and war time for...since early may of last year?? some coming up on a year, now (again---150k words written in this time, with april's word count unknown but already above 10k. jan ALONE was 32k). love and war time means that it's always love and war--it's just different people inside the campaign. oh it's saskia oh it's freya it's gilt and lost let's bop over to adele what about gilt's parents-

FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR

it's been great.

Chase messaged summer and i a few weeks ago like "hey. i got a belialah meeting saskia inspo video, but i need to show you in person bc i need to get your reaction live."

he showed me this

we had a moment of "...oh my god its from a gacha game?" and then i made him play it three times in a row just Absorbing the vibes

chase: it's saskia and belialah when they first meet, with belialah thinking she has the upper hand and saskia proving that she is very, very wrong. but i don't know what a ball in the abyss looks like...

me: say no more

and i hit upon them meeting at an event where it's basically like---demons from all over gather, have a civil time---when bloodshed eventually happens (which it always does bc they're literal actual demons) it's a free for all and it's expected to be a bloodbath, that's part of the appeal

belialah's there, as you do, and saskia's there to talent scout from the pool of winners for her big evil plans. belialah's like "wtf is a stupid little mortal doing here why are you unaccosted where is your collar" kinda behavior and goes over there, they talk, they dance (also a ploy for power among demons, it's a sizing up thing instead of a fun thing), saskia reveals that she's got 1/8th of the power of a god in her soul and belialah's like "cool im fanatically devoted to you now i've never wanted to smash a mortal before can we make out"

and that's how they start their history

with me writing books about this campaign (again--pipe dream) i've been deciding on when and where i want these two to get highlighted, bc, again---we've never met saskia in person, she's spoken to lost and gilt directly once, and we've seen belialah once outside of saskia's bitchy announcement to the empire at large where she reveals she's got 12 generals and you better not try shit bc we're at WAR now (she's stupid i love her dearly)

and recently i've been working on their...first time? an epilogue for one of the books. the actual thing won't have sex in it if it gets to be part of the book for realsies, but im not stopping there bc IM ME

and i've been tinkering with like...ok how do we show in isolated little epilogues and snippet scenes that saskia and belialah have INSANE sexual tension so that when they do get together, its weird but satisfying bc again---belialah is a demon. she's got a human form. that is not her true form. i've drawn it, it's sexy to saskia, i'll post it soon.

but i need these two to snark at each other with saskia resisting belialah's advances bc "im trying to take over the world stop distracting me" while belialah's like "SASKIA LEMME SMASH. PLEASE" until eventually it happens because they're terrible and i love them and it needs to happen, frankly. im overruling my boyfriend. at the point we are at, they are fucking already. he does not have a choice. im overruling him.

chase, if you're reading this--the goal with this first time fic is to make it plausible enough that you accept it as canon. thank you.

bc like--they're terrible. they're perfect. they've both got bratty younger sibling/cocky hotshot who thinks they're invincible kinda energy and belialah has no doubt in her mind that saskia can achieve her goals and saskia is getting someone who will stroke her ego and is having the thought of "im being recognized for how amazing i am it's about time"

the generals have made deals with saskia---saskia is planning on following through with 0% of these deals. belialah is the only one who didn't--she's here by saskia's side of her own free will.

they're fucking. at this point, they are fucking. decades of sexual tension kept alive by distance and "hello old friend" energy is suddenly coming to head with Belialah Always Being Around and saskia having to plan out her evil deeds with her being nutso devoted 24/7 and listen, man. this woman has an ego the size of the planet. she's gonna smash someone who inflates her ego, it's just how she works

ok lore dump over. sketch time now.

[comet-wire]

Hey! I hate to ask for handouts and don't mean to come across as such, as that's not what this is for necessarily. I've been meaning to work on commissions, as in actually setting it up and working on the info itself and with the unexpected passing of my father on Jan 30th, I'm going to try to do just that when I have time or if it comes down to it, if we're stable before or as I'm getting a job it'll be different, there's a hiring freeze at the place I'm trying to get into so the guy will get back to me whenever he can. Right now I'm spending time with family during this time as my mom and I figure stuff out during our free time. My dad was the one who covered the mortgage payments so I just want to help my mom pay for it so we have a roof over our heads, I don't have a job yet and am waiting for a slot where my parents worked and my mom is taking time off and using vacation/sick time to be paid before she has to go back. Issue is, her last paycheck is coming up. We're also trying to figure out stuff with a grief counselor, but I digress. It's only my mom, me and two cats now. The mortgage is a little over $700 a month and I don't want her to do everything by herself and be alone. So, if I open commissions and I'm still drained as it's been hard for me to even pick up a pencil I will start off with small things (like sketch comms, MLP comms, etc) just to get things started. I still have to figure out if I want to open a shop of my own or mess with sites like redbubble, I'm still figuring out Kofi for tips and payments there. I will update with the full information soon once everything is settled if I can. I'm just tired and mentally exhausted, possibly still going through shock, so I haven't felt the energy to keep up conversations so if you think I'm ignoring you, I'm not! I apologize if it's ever come off as such, things have been hectic. Anyways, I wish you all the best and hope all is well!

[nomoreusername]

Silent Coffee Dates (Part 1)

Pairing:Sonya x female reader

Summary:When you go to return Sonya's book, you end up staying the night.

The routine hasn't changed for two years. Every Saturday morning at six I show up at Camila's Coffee, ordering every meal there as well, before coming back at seven in the evening. Approximately eight hours after me Sonya shows up. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I come here at four in the afternoon. She shows up around an hour later. After that I'm here any moment I can for the rest of the days knowing she won't be making an appearance.

That routine didn't stop today either. I was sitting at our booth in the very corner with my headphones in and sketch pad out. Beside me was a cup of hot chocolate. After all, I'm here for the peace. Not to taste a bitter drink.

Eventually, I only started showing up because she did. She sat across from me with either her book or her homework out and whatever drink she had decided to pick for the day. While she focused on that I lightly sketched her features. Occasionally, I would turn to other drawings and ideas that I had abandoned. Most of the time though it was her face I had on my paper since we were only together for a few hours. That isn't a lot of time for realism, but by now I'm sure I could draw her with my eyes closed.

As the sun started setting in the horizon she sighed before packing up her things. I just remained seated as I fixed the way I had drawn her hair just a little too dark. Without so much as a goodbye or see you later she was out the door. That was what was expected though. Despite being in our own little bubble at this place it was always popped when she left.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the already almost vacant shop completely filed out I packed my things. Once I slid out of the booth I saw a red book with no cover on the front. Giving into my curiosity I picked it up. The spine was cracked as if someone constantly folds it while reading. It also has that old book smell. The one that seems to be a mix of dust and ink.

Deciding that maybe I could discover the owner of I took a look I opened it and peaked inside. Written on the front was the name Sonya.

Now even though we've never exchanged any words I knew her name. I've seen her write it on paper, and now that I think about it I do recall her bending the spines when she reads. At least, she doesn't dog ear the pages. That would be a true tragedy.

One other thing I knew about her was where she lived. Before you assume anything I'm not a stalker. While we live in opposite sides of town I used to ride her bus when I would babysit this little kid. He's in middle school now, but I suppose that's unrelated to the story.

Thinking it through for a moment I slipped it in my bag and headed out the door. Seeing as it's growing dark and I'm a teenage girl I should really hurry up. If I'm going to give it to her I'd prefer not getting kidnapped along the way.

Getting on my old bike with its creaky wheels and rusted bell I slung my bag over my back. Putting up the kickstand I pushed off.

As the evening, autumn air brushed past my face I resisted the urge to burry myself in my old sweater. For one, I like being able to see. Second, I'm still in a hurry. Besides, if I hesitate to do this I may not do it at all.

While normally I would give it to her the next time I see her she brings this one with her every time. Clearly, it must have some meaning to her. Even if it doesn't she has to carry it with her for a reason. After all, my sketchbook goes everywhere with me. If I lost it I would tear my entire apartment apart until it was safe in my hands. If it wasn't there I'd go through every inch of my school, neighborhood, and everywhere else you can think. To sum it up I won't let her be worried that something happened to the item she's so attached to. Our silent coffee meetups indirectly meant we were friends. It just so happens we don't actually communicate.

It's better than nothing though. I'm much too used to having nobody. It doesn't seem like Sonya's leaving though, and that means a lot to me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As I was in her neighborhood I really took in the difference between ours. Before you make any assumptions I don't live in the ghetto. Not that I judge people who do. Some people are just in unfortunate situations.

To put it lightly my family's pretty broke so being back in this area that was hardly one step below a gated community is sort of like a culture shock.

As I carefully started walking my bike alongside me in fear of accidentally running into someone I heard quick shuffling and an irritated hmph. I turned around to see an older woman glaring at me. With a sigh and an eye roll I kept walking. How dare I walk in her big, fancy neighborhood when my clothes aren't all nice and ironed. My black hoodie obviously means I'm a criminal mastermind.

People like her really need to get a life. It doesn't seem healthy to be so worried about strangers. As I stated earlier I'm a teenage girl. What could she possibly be thinking that I'm capable of?

As I rounded a corner I spotted someone I hadn't seen in a while. While his hair was still in unruly curls, and he was as happy as I remembered, he had grown a significant amount.

"Hey Chuck,"I called. He snapped his head towards me before his eyes lit up.

"Hi Y/N,"He excitedly waved. Deciding it couldn't hurt I headed over and put my kickstand down.

"What have you been up to? How's middle school treating you?"I asked.

"It's alright,"He shrugged. "I kind of miss you getting to babysit me though,"He admitted, putting babysit in air quotes. He was a good kid so I basically just made dinner, made sure he was got to bed on time (which was negotiable on weekends) and made sure he didn't do anything dangerous. Sometimes, it felt more like hanging out with a friend.

"You're twelve now. You don't need me to look after you,"I reminded him, ruffling his hair. He swatted at my hand while still wearing his bright grin.

"I'm not twelve. I'm twelve and a half,"He defended.

"Of course Chuck. I'm sorry for forgetting,"I chuckled.

"What are you doing here anyway?"He asked, cocking his head to the side.

"I'm returning something to my friend,"I explained.

"Can I come?"He quickly asked, almost bouncing on his heels.

"It's getting late, Chuck."

"Please. It's a Friday."

"I just don't want you to be out after dark,"I explained.

"But I'm chivalrous, and I'll listen to you,"He promised.

"If your mom says so then I guess I'll let you come,"I gave in. He sprinted to his house before yelling though the door.

"Can I go walk around the neighborhood with Y/N?! Please!"He begged. After a moment she came outside and looked for where I was. When she spotted me she walked over and hugged me.

"You've grown so much. Look at you. You're almost taller than me,"She exclaimed, pulling away. If I'm being honest she's sort of like a second mom to me. They're pretty much my other family. This place was my home away from home. Even though I don't work for them anymore I know they wouldn't mind having me over. Not that I would ask though. Requesting things from someone isn't something I do.

"Where are you going? Especially, when it's getting late. You don't exactly live a short walk away,"She pointed out.

"I'm just returning something to a friend,"I explained. "And Chuck was asking if he could go with."

She looked at me before looking back at her son who was still practically begging. With a nervous sigh she shook her head.

"Not tonight, but if you'd like we'd love it if you stopped by after. Even better, I could drive you?"She offered.

"Thank you, but I'm alright. I'll come over another time though,"I promised.

"Are you sure? It's not a problem,"She reassured me. Knowing that she meant her words I still had to decline.

"Okay dear. Be safe, and if something happens you know where we are."

"I know. Goodnight Chuck. Be good."

"I will,"He responded, a hint of disappointment in his tone. After repeating that I would stay for dinner another day, I got back to my original goal.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When I approached her house the streetlights were already on. Despite this place being safe I was quick to get to her door. Ignoring the chills running down my spine I rang the bell. I just enjoy being able to do that since we don't have one.

The sound of a dog barking and muffled talking sounded through the thick wood before someone finally opened it. Instead of it being Sonya or even her parents it was her brother. He eyed me up and down before looking at me in a curious way. I suppose that's valid since I generally don't interact with many people.

"Sonya left her book,"I explained, pulling it out of my bag. Just as I handed it to him she appeared from behind him with a big, white dog trailing behind her.

"Y/N?"She asked.

"Yeah. I gave Newt your stuff. You left it at the shop,"I repeated.

"It's pretty late. Did someone drive you?"She asked, seeming more concerned about me than relieved about her returned item.

"I biked. Anyways, I'll get out of here now."

"It's dark out. Why don't you stay?"She offered, holding her dog back from bolting out the door. Why is everyone trying to do things for me today?

"No. It's honestly fine."

"So you're going to go all the way to your home but yourself? It takes me twenty minutes just to get out of my neighborhood. Being all alone at night is not a good idea,"She pointed out. I just shrugged as I kept my hands in my pockets.

"At least, call your parents and wait for them."

"I don't have a phone,"I admitted.

"Then, use ours,"She suggested. Tired of the way she was so persistent on helping me out I finally accepted as Newt awkwardly gestured for me to come in.

"Do you know the number?"She asked.

"Yeah. Where's your landline?"

"Our what?"Newt asked, speaking his very first words to me.

"Your landline. You know? The home phone connected to the wall?"

"We don't have one, but you can use my cellphone,"She said, unlocking it and handing it to me. After mumbling a thanks I typed in our number.

It rang once then twice before a beep was heard. Despite that usually mean somebody answered I still waited to see if it really was that.

When not even the hint of breathing was in the other end I knew it was just malfunctioning. I hung up before handing it to her.

"No luck so I guess I'll just bike home,"I shrugged.

"Just stay the night. We have the room,"She assured me. That wasn't the problem though. Accepting help isn't something I know how to do.

"I don't have any extra clothes,"I explained. While that didn't really matter I was looking for an excuse.

"You can burrow mine."

"I don't have a toothbrush."

"We have an extra."

"I don't have-"

"Anything you're worried about we have. Just stay until morning,"She repeated.

"But your parents-"

"Aren't home and wouldn't mind. Besides, you really want to go out there alone on a Friday night?"She pointed out.

"I guess not,"I mumbled.

"So?"She asked.

"So I'm staying the night,"I gave in.

All I wanted to do was return a book. Now I think I really should have waited until Monday.

Sonya's P.O.V

I showed Y/N to the bathroom so she could shower before going to find some clean night clothes for her. While digging through my drawers Newt quietly entered my room and expectantly looked at me.

"Why do you know Y/N?"He asked.

"We hang out at the same spot,"I vaguely explained, pulling out a pair of black sweatpants and a plain top.

"Is that why you're gone all those days?"

"Maybe. Does it matter?"

"If it's her then yeah,"He whispered.

"There's nothing wrong with her,"I defended.

"Really? Come on Sonya. We've all heard the stories. Everyone knows her name. She skips school to do who knows what-"

"Which isn't anyone's business. They're just rumors, and even if they're true we don't know the full story,"I pointed out.

"What good reason is there for that?"

"I don't know, and I'm not going to ask. Whatever she does she has her reasons, but she's not a bad person Newt. Don't judge her when you've barely heard her voice,"I sighed.

Just as he was about to reply the water turned off. Quickly shooing him out of my room I knocked on my bathroom door. She held her hand out through a small crack, and I handed her the clothes.

Taking a seat on my bed I pulled out the book she had returned while I waited for her. Coming all this way to return it was an odd decision to say the least. Especially, if she had to get here in foot. Still, it's a sweet gesture.

"I'm dressed,"She said, walking out of the bathroom and twisting her damp hair into a loose ponytail. She shivered in the tank top subtly rubbing her hands together.

"Hold on one second,"I instructed, going to my closet. Glancing around, I looked for something warm but not too tight or completely unfit for bed. After a moment I found a plain, purple sweater. Running my hands over the fabric, I was relieved when it was a soft texture.

I headed back out of my room and handed it to her. Without a word she slipped it over her head. Thankfully, it fit like a charm.

"Thank you,"She mumbled, her voice seeming naturally soft. Hearing her speak was different but in a good way. It is a bit unusual that she seems less shy when she's not speaking, but it doesn't matter. Honestly, I'm just glad that she's staying the night.

"We should still have leftovers. Are you hungry?"I asked.

"No,"She answered quickly. Before I could respond her stomach growled, showing the exact opposite.

"Okay. A little bit,"She admitted.

"You should have told me. Come on Y/N. Let's get you something to eat."

"Yeah. Okay,"She agreed, following me down the stairs.

This is seriously the girl people say is trouble? Yeah right, and even if she is there's always a reason people are the way they are. All I care about is that she has a kind soul, and she definitely does.

All Parts

[lavender-silk-sheets]

Oh oh OH! I have been obsessed over my silly little guys and I need to get them OUT of my freaking System!!!!! Waaaaaaa!!!!

Okay okay so I'm making a little story and it's all about loss and war and change and the want to go back to some sort of "Normality". Like, how you can make your own normal, even through the chaos. Make a new better normal as long as you try and put the work into it..!

Oh it's so personal to me and it's been such a good outlet for my brain and AHH!! All of those good things and now I just want to show off the too many works of art I've made

Okay okay okay so first I need to go RAHHH about my main gay- I mean guy. (I should probably say now that none of the characters have names yet!! I want to wait a bit so I can give them names with meanings even though there's a chance I miiight not haha!) ANYWAY my deer boy oh how I love him so and his silly little egg shaped head I mean just!! Look at him!!! Ahh!!!

As you'll see soon all the other characters have alt outfits!!! He will soon too but I'm still working on them!!!!! I just finished his drawing for me to add outfits too not that long ago :]

He's got tons of baggage and trauma up his sleeve it's almost funny. Dead dad, dead mom, and he's searching for his lost sister who ends up dead anyway? Poor boy. But it's okay because all of that was caused by a war his soon to be boyfriends dad started wahaha!!

And here's a quick glance at his sister for a moment.. her design is very much subject to change! I think I might change her outfit a bit and tweak a few facial features :]

And now onto her little found family replacement basically! This goober of a computer head is new to emotions and the world. She's just trying to get by while making her own clashing outfits :D

She's still in a bunch of development (as is much of the rest of this world and story!) And at first I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep her! I'm still not sure.. a little worried she'll be in the way. But I imagine her as a sort of comedic relief character.. one that's silly but helps in the story in her own weird way!

Enough about her though.. We MUST talk about the Prince! Another gay who also has trauma! A dead mom, and unfortunately an alive dad who is NOT very supportive or kind in any sense of the word.

His mother was part of the royal DragonKin line (better name still in progress). A family history that arose from two ancient God like creatures, a Dragon and a Demoness, who gave birth to a child adorned with the twos features. As a gift to their kid, they made a whole new race based on his image. EXCEPT none shared his purple hue, for he was the only one allowed to adorn the color. As did his kin and their after. The more purple you are, the higher class you are basically.

MY that was alot and not even on the Prince theirself! He's very talented and well trained in many ways due to his father being a prick. He fights, plays piano, reads all sorts of books for his studies. A very jack of all trades character. Knows alot about what's going on, about war strategies, about why there's a war in the first place. He's a great foil for our main deer boy protagonist who knows NONE of that stuff.

And for a good little end point here's concept sketches for the Princes dad.. Though not true royalty, he's higher class since he was born into a noble knight family. One with high enough statis that once he became head of the gaurd, he was given the opportunity to marry the princess at the time :]

[sunnyie-eve]

18 | Birthday, Yes

Series: Valentine Addams | Wednesday

Paring: (Xavier Thorpe x OFC Addams! Tyler Galpin x OFC Addams!)

Word Count: 2370

Warnings: giving in to feelings

17. Under Arrest | 19. Split Up?

I was just chilling in my bed when a note slid under my door. I get up to see it read, If you want answers, meet inside Crackstone's crypt. Midnight. I leave my room and run into Wednesday and Enid, "Did you get a note as well?" I ask her and she nods her head. 

The three of us head out with our flashlights to see what it was about. Wednesday and I go in while Enid stayed outside. There was slight movement but no one we could see so we called out to them. "Try anything and you'll lose limbs." Wednesday adds. 

"Surprise!" Divina, Xavier, Kent, Ajax, and Yoko come out singing happy birthday while Enid brings out a cake.

"I should have known you were behind this." Wednesday flashes her light at Thing then tells him she wanted no party. 

"I thought my cake design was pretty inspired." Xavier smiles. 

"The pink balloon was my little touch. Why don't you two make a wish?" Enid asks but something else catches Wednesday's eyes. 

"Fire will rain, when I rise." She reads. 

"That's not really a wish." Enid tells her. 

"Wait, we're never eating that cake, are we?" Ajax speaks up. Wednesday gets a vision confusing everyone but Xavier and I. When she comes back she leaves us all.

"Thank you guys for this but Wednesday doesn't care for good happy birthdays." I let them know. 

"You still wanna make a wish?" Enid holds the cake out to me. I close my eyes then open them.

"I'm not telling it or it won't happen." I give her a smile. 

"So can we eat the cake without Wednesday since we have Valentine?" Ajax adds. 

"Why not?" I say so we eat the cake together and hangout before going to bed.

-

"Birthday girl." Xavier smiles as I walk out to head to town. 

"Please, don't call me that." I give him an ugly look. 

"Sorry. Where you off to?"

"Into town." I tell him and he just nods his head. 

"To do?" He puts his hands into his pockets. 

"See Eugene then swing by the Weathervane for a drink and a snack. I don't plan to doing much today. Normally on my birthday, I isolate myself. I like it that way." I explain to him. 

"Okay, I hope you enjoy being alone." He chuckles. 

"I will." I leave his side.

I swing by the hospital to check up on Eugene and every time I came by to see him I would get upset even though I knew he was going to be fine. "Don't worry about your babies. Wednesday and I have been taking care them for you. I can't wait till you wake up." I give him a smile then leave the hospital. 

Walking into the Weathervane I take a seat in a booth resting my head on the table before pulling out my sketchbook. As I sketch Tyler comes up to the table, "I know you only drink hot chocolate, but I've been working on this all week." He sets my drink down that says happy birthday as he sits across from me. 

"Let me guess, Thing told?" I put my book down. 

"Who do you think delivered the cake? Yeah, I went with the 98% dark chocolate ganache knowing both of your preferred color palette."

"It was alright... I normally don't like dark chocolate though. It's too bitter for me but it was still good. Thank you, now I don't want to drink this because it will get messed up. I mean you said it took you a week." I look at my drink. 

"I'll be more hurt if you don't drink it. Enjoy my hard work." He motions to it so I do. 

"Not bad." I make him laugh. 

"What's your birthday plans for the day?" He changes the topic. 

"Went to see Eugene in the hospital then came here for a drink and snack. Then I plan on isolate myself away. That's now I normally spend my birthdays after the stupid songs and cake and party." I explain to him. 

"So, if I asked you out to a non-birthday, song-free dinner... would that be something you're interested in?" He asks with a slight smile.

"That means you really like this boy, dear. Don't be afraid to act on them... especially romantic ones." I hear my mothers words replay in my head. 

"That does sound like something I'm interested in." I give him a smile causing him to get the biggest smile ever. 

"Really?" He scans my face trying to see if I was joking or not. 

"Yes, Tyler. I would like to go to a non-birthday, song-free dinner." I chuckle at his face. 

"YES! SHE SAID YES!" I hear him screaming to himself on the inside making me laugh me. "Great. I should get back to work then." He gets up from the table happily.

I continue to stay at the Weathervane since I got alone time to sketch. Wednesday ends up coming in at some point taking a seat across from me. "You go visit Eugene?" I ask her so she just nods her head reading a Pilgrim's Journey. 

"I know you're usually a quad kind of girl, but I've been working on that all week. Valentine can confirm since she saw hers earlier." Tyler brings her one taking a seat next to me. 

"Birthday, yes. Happy, never." She tells him. 

"He delivered the cake. He went with the 98% dark chocolate ganache knowing both of our preferred color palette." I add making him smile at me. 

"Is that Enid's gift?" Tyler looks at her gift. 

"It's perfect if you're fleeing a war-torn country on foot." She tells him. 

"I haven't gotten one yet and I've been her friend longer." I mumble to myself.

"Come on. Don't you like a day that's all about you?" He asks her. 

"Every day is all about me. This one just comes with cake and a bad song." She tell him. 

"Got it, you both hate celebrating your birthdays." He nods his head. 

She looks at her book before sliding him a drawing of the gate, "Have you seen that before?" She asks as he looks at it. 

"Uh... What's that supposed to be?" He makes her take it back. 

"It's a gate, you dummy." I give him a look as she goes back to reading. 

"I'll leave you two alone then. Text you later." Tyler gets up leaving us. When the Sheriff comes in Wednesday goes over to him while I get my stuff to head back to the school.

"Enid!" I shout walking into the room. 

"Oh, here's your gift! You went in to town before I could give it to you." She rush over handing it to me. 

"Thank you. So I have a dinner tonight with Tyler." I say making her squeal. 

"Let's go find an outfit." She drags me to my room to go through my closet. "Everything is black." She groans. 

"You don't say."

"This is a cute dress." She pulls out one and I agree. "Then you're wearing this tonight." She hands it to me, "Well put it on so I can see how you look in it." She snaps her fingers at me. Once I was in my outfit she smiles, "Perfect." She claps her hands.

"I need you to do me a favor." Wednesday walks into my room then eyes me. 

"A favor?" I tilt my head. 

"Yes, see if Xavier has seen this." She hands me the drawing of the gate. 

"Why me?" I ask confused. 

"I don't want to talk to him." She leaves the room. 

"I'll finish getting ready after I go on a quest for my sister." Enid and I leave my room. 

As I walk to Xavier's shed, Thing joins me making me roll my eyes, "She send you?" I ask and he gives me a thumbs up. When I get to Xavier in the shed he didn't hear me come in because he was listening to music loudly. He catches me out of the corner of his eye so he looks over at me eyeing me.

"Wednesday sent me to ask you for help." I tell him walking over holding out the drawing she did so he turns off his music. 

"Her line work's a little shaky." He jokes. 

"She wants to know if your recognize it." I tell him so he motions to the one he did on the wall. "When did you draw that?" I ask him. 

"Couple days ago. The dreams started again." He lets me know. 

"Do you know where that is?" I look at him. 

"Yeah. It's the old Gates mansion. I pass it when I go running. Why?" He looks at me. 

"She saw that in a vision." I say before Thing snaps to get our attention.

He pulls a sheet off a painting to show a big art work of me drawing alone outside Wednesday and Enid's bedroom window. The only two who knew I ever did that to escape from the world really late at night. I walk over to look at it and had mixed feelings. 

"Okay. Listen... After the dance, I just wanted to forget about you, but I couldn't. So I started painting and that's what came out." He tells me, "I've happen to see you a few times when I go out on the roof to get air when I get nightmares." He sighs then makes the painting move. Me in the painting does certain motions I do when I'm focused. "You just look happy when you're alone in your own little world away from everything." 

My phone goes off and I see it was from Tyler saying what time he would pick me up. "I have to go finish getting ready and tell Wednesday about the mansion." I head for the door, "Thanks for the help."

"It's the Gates Mansion... and I'm never doing you a favor again when it comes to Xavier." I walk in putting the picture on her bed then leave to finish getting ready. 

-

When it was time to meet Tyler outside the gates, Enid tells me good luck and enjoy dinner. As I walk closer I see Tyler waiting outside the car leaning against it on his phone. "Why are you waiting outside the vehicle?" I ask walking up to him. 

He looks up from his phone to look at me and smiles, "Thought it was more polite to wait this way. You look better than me." He chuckles. 

"I always do." I joke with him. 

"You know what, I change my mind. I don't want to take you to dinner anymore." He reached for his handle and I decided to play evil. 

"Okay, I'll just see if Xavier wants to go out." I turn around making him grab my wrist pulling me into his chest accidentally because of how he pulled me.

"That's rude." He looks down at me as I look up to him. 

"Let's go, I'm hungry." I walk around to the other side and he rushes to open the door for me. I shake my head at him getting in and as he walks around to the drivers side I mess with my fingers getting nervous. 

We drive to a diner in town Tyler gets the door again then pushes me in when we get seated. "You don't have to try so hard." I let him know. "

I just want to make a good impression and want you to enjoy tonight." He takes his seat grabbing the menu to look at. 

"A good impression? I've known you for months now, Tyler. And I don't need you to act like an extra gentleman for me to enjoy my night. I'm already enjoying it. You're actually making me like my birthday for once." I give him a smile. 

"I'm honored."

Once we get our food we talk about things I don't normally talk about with people not even my family making me realize I 100% have opened up to him. I let him in... I always said I would never let anyone through my walls I've put up to keep the world out. He's seen me for me deep down... at my best and worst moments. 

"You okay? You look like you left this world." He awkwardly chuckles. 

"I just realized something so yeah I kinda left this world." I tell him truthfully. 

"What did you realize? You seem concerned." He scans my face. 

"I've let you in and opened up to you. You know things I don't even tell my family. You know parts of me I hide... I let down my walls for you." I laugh at myself.

"Do you regret it?"

"No." I shake my head, "If it was going to be anyone, I'm glad it's you. I trust you." I tell him and his smile slightly faded looking sad before going back. 

"I'm happy you chose me accidentally." He grabs my hand that was resting on the table, "I've let my walls down around you as well. I feel comfortable around you. Like you won't judge me." He squeezes my hand. 

"I would never judge you...unless you do something really stupid." We laugh.

As we head out we were laughing because on the way out Tyler ran into the door trying to beat me to it to open the door for me. "How about we swing by the Weathervane before you take me back? I don't want this night to end yet." I put my hand out for him to take. 

He takes my hand into his and we walk down the sidewalk enjoying the silence. "You know that door hurt my nose." He makes me stop walking to look at him. 

"Well it looks the same. No blood so you're all good." I study his nose. 

"Why do you make me act this way?" He smiles staring into my eyes as he brings his hand to my face. 

"Because you like me." I try to keep a straight face but can't help smile. I feel him start to lean down and I lean up to meet him but a crash makes us pull away to see the mayor got hit by a car.