#The Rain Wife only has one short appearance

[violet-eng]

Neuvillette and his arranged marriage with fem!reader - NSFW

Summary: so... Furina is such a gossipy and she's kinda boring so she wants Neuvillette to marry to some random girl that can be a challenge for him... would he like this traveler?

TW: smut. Has a plot. Kinda angst? p i v. Breeding kink, praising. Unprotected sex with this daddy judge. I think that's all... MINORS DO NOT INTERACT PLEASE JUST KEEP SCROLLING.

🎨: @zlidbhypy/@zljdbhypy

💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦

The judge had lived long enough to be carried away by appearances, his image in society was expected of a man with his profession, with his knowledge and his stature. However, in the eyes of Lady Furina, as much a lover of spectacle and scandal as possible, the great judge needed a slightly more modern image to present to the citizens of Fontaine-and perhaps to bring a little gossip as well.

The idea had consumed her so much that at the moment she met you she could think of nothing else but arranging an engagement with Monsieur Neuvillette. You were the living image of what she was looking for: a young woman of society, a foreigner with a wide knowledge of the vast continent and above all, ambitious. 

There was a flash that Lady Furina highlighted in you, a furious soul difficult to tame, a challenge for the great judge. How fun it would be to see that: the distinguished gentleman try to control the disdain of his future wife, lover of saucers with spicy mixes, so friendly to those with vision Pyro... almost as contrary to him.

You met Neuvillette a day before the wedding, when Lady Furina had given him the wonderful news that he would marry you. He could not refuse, not the Archon, and she was aware of that-that made the matter more fun.

Neuvillette looked serene during the announcement, did not give the Archon the joy of a grimace of disgust... of course not, he was not like that...

On the wedding day rain fell so much as to drown the neighboring nations, tormenting those present of the ceremony. Monsieur Neuvillette was outside the compound, admiring the horizon, yearning for the freedom he possessed years before. To this had its existence been reduced? To be a puppet for the entertainment of the Archon? To tie himself for life to a woman he didn’t even know? If only he could return to his old form... spread his wings and get out of that place...

"The rain is wonderful," you exclaimed beside him, tearing from his chest an impression he managed to hide. "I hope the tears of the Hydro dragon are of happiness for the wedding and not of misery".

"They’re just legends, stories for children," he said, though an inch of him, deep down, was delighted by the idea that unlike the rest of Fontaine’s inhabitants, you didn’t dislike the rain... the one he was provoking...

"All legends have some truth in them," you whispered, giving him a sincere smile.

The ceremony had been short because of the rain, yet your happiness was overflowing. Your dress was drenched, your hair was alike... Everything was ruined, Lady Furina kept saying it, and yet you seemed to be living the best day of your life. Neuvillette could not look away from you at any moment, you had bewitched him, a single phrase had sufficed to achieve that...

The room was spacious, exquisitely decorated, illuminated to depth, the details and finishes seemed measured with hard effort... very much like the great judge. You had been unwise to ask if you had separate rooms, that had upset him for a moment... You certainly didn’t seem to have the same scruples as him.

You opened the window of the room, resting your elbows on the frame and sucking the dew that the rain brought with it. Neuvillette stood still in his place, looking at your figure, analyzing every detail of your silhouette, trying to perceive your essence, your energy... There was definitely something special about you.

"Can I come out?" you asked, were you asking permission?

"You must not ask for my consent to be free in the place" actually, he did not think it proper from you to ask permission for something… he perceived you from the first instant as a free being in tune with nature.

"It’s my way of asking you to go out with me to enjoy the rain," you said, approaching him and extending your hand. 

The thick drops of water hit the roofs, the fountain of the courtyard was about to overflow with water, the surface covered of the leaves that the wind had brought with it. You got rid of your coat and your shoes, went into the fountain and sat in the middle, above the water level, your legs dipping, you picked up the dress on your knees. The fabric was thin, almost transparent now that you were soaked and uncovered. Neuvillette scanned the surroundings, hoping no one would look at you, you were his wife... was he jealous? No, it was a simple sense of duty now that he was a married man...

"Come closer" you said from your position, pointing your finger at the place in front of you. Neuvillette, almost hypnotized by your loud attitude, dragged his feet towards your spot, sitting across from you, likewise, his legs underwater. The familiarity of the rain on the current that had formed under his feet was pleasant, almost satisfactory, so much so that it incited him to move his hands on the surface of the water, forming figures that allowed his hydro vision. You smiled at the small spectacle he displayed for you, admiring the sublime movement of his hands, the way his fingers flexed on the leaves and the drops of water ran down his hands.

You leaned toward him, taking him by surprise, joining your lips with his. He did not turn away, but, on the contrary, he dropped his hand against your neck, drawing you closer to him, tasting the nectar of your lips and your tongue.

"I want something to be clear" you dictated separating yourself from him, "we’ll have children... not because the charlatan Archon wants it for her entertainment, no... we will have children because we both want it, it was clear?".

For all the Archons... those words coming out of your mouth, pure poison, so hostile to the Archon, calling her in a way that he could never, with your face framed by your soaked locks and your lips swollen by the kiss... There was nothing he could want but a woman like you. 

The matter of your affinity for the falling flood, added to your folly of calling the archon such a derogatory name... you were an interesting, exceptional creature whose behavior went beyond his control and knowledge. You were a challenge... his challenge... and his enthusiasm grew in his chest as well as in his pants.

You had both returned to the room in sultry form, between kisses and gasps, getting rid of your clothes on the way. He cornered you on the wall of the entrance, his hand in fist resting above your head, his forehead against yours, the other hand holding your chin, joining his eyes. Neuvillette’s chest rose strongly, seeking air, bewildered by the growing ecstasy, the desire among you that was born. 

Taking you by the waist, he turned you against the wall, your face crashing against the cold marble and your palms resting at your sides. You felt his breathing on your neck, his chest against your back, his hands sliding over your curves, right to your hips, over your panties. You let out a soft moan as you felt the fabric slip under your legs and fall to your ankles.

"Monsieur..." you whispered trembling as the cold pouring through the room brushed your thighs and bare ass. 

"You don’t look as bold as you did a few minutes ago," he whispered... low, almost growling, you swore he was smiling, you sensed it in his voice.

"It’s... just... ah~" you cut the phrase in half when you felt him slip into you, separating your folds, forcing you to suck it. Your hands in fist, your hips rising, trying to avoid its passage inside you, your shoulders gathering at the sensation that flooded your center, your sex. 

"Monsieur~" you moaned, your forehead wet against the marble, your hands scratching the wall looking for something to soothe the burning between your legs, the feeling of its length between your damp walls.

You didn’t think the judge would be so vocal. When he slipped into you, he grunted, so pleasantly your legs seemed to melt. You felt the breath of his groan in your ear, your name coming from his lips.

"So soft" he whispered, resting his hands on yours, his forehead on your shoulder, "so tight..." continued advancing, rising to the bottom, "so mine"...

Neuvillette fucked you against that wall as if he was in heat-and perhaps he was-as if you were going to escape at any time from his grip, though you couldn’t. 

The moans and gasps were embarrassing, thanks to the rain they did not cross the walls, the sound of wet skin crashing during each penetration was burning, lustful. The words that came out of the judge’s mouth every time you girded your limb were a sea of incongruities, just as the phrases that your mouth dropped when he caressed your clitoris, that little lump had become his favorite toy.

The onslaught was strong, your breasts pounding against the wall every time he burst into you, rubbing against your delicate interior, which seemed made for him.

"You take me so well," he groaned, as he continued his beat against you, your breasts rising and falling down the wall. You were trapped between the wall and the monster of pleasure the judge had become.

"I will fill you with my seed, I swear..." he gasped again, his voice raspy, with flashes of hunger and lust.

"Neuvillette~" you let out a high-pitched moan, had touched your point, that felt so fucking good, the way he arched to hit that gummy dot on your cervix. He kept going, and kept going, you didn’t want him to stop. Fuck, he was so good at it, who’d say a gentleman of his countenance could be taking you like an animal in heat.

He kept hitting that delicious spot inside you, stroking your sensitive organ, one, two... three times, you suddenly felt a knot forming in your belly.

"Oh my~... don’t stop Neuvillette~..." you begged, eyes closed, lips separated by groans. The sound of his gasps flooding your eardrum... you both were close…

His onslaught lost rhythm, the intensity was almost unbearable, he came out one last time to get into you, fucking you so hard that you felt your orgasm burst and you let out a scream. He would not take long to reach his climax similarly, unloading all his seed inside you

The bed was warm, you needed it after what happened... Neuvillette lay beside you, caressing your cheek, watching the way you fell asleep. 

He looked out the window, the rain had stopped. He was completely happy... so long ago that he did not feel the fullness he had at the time... 

He placed a soft kiss on your forehead, curling your head in his chest, feeling the warmth of your gentle breathing. He closed his eyes, falling asleep beside you, yearning to tell you one day about his identity... someday…

#genshin smut #genshin #genshin impact #neuvillette #neuvilette genshin #neuvilette x reader #neuvilette smut #genshin impact smut #smut

[bellarkeselection]

Breathe With Me

Request from @val2557 imagine of Kayce Dutton and he is helping the reader when she has a an anxiety attack when there is a lot of people at a dinner they are attending?

Everybody that knew who the Dutton family were had started making their own judgments about my relationship with Kayce. His father John always asked his kids to show up to the Livestock dinner party but it was rare that they all showed up. Beth didn’t see the point in it, Lee was focusing on running the ranch, Jaime was trying to run for office and that left the reason Kayce didn’t go to them….me.

I wanted to attend the dinners I really did. There was just one problem. I had anxiety when it came to large crowds who I felt were judging me. Running my hands down the light orange dress I was wearing I sighed letting my mind wander with my thoughts. “Come on Y/n. You can make it through this.”

“Y/n, are you ready….wow.” Whipping my head around I heard my boyfriend’s voice enter the bedroom.

I turned around making my short brown boots screech against the wooden floor. Normally I had my hair up in a braid but I decided to leave it loose and just put some curls on the ends. “Is it too much. I don’t know how you dress for a livestock dinner.”

“It’s not that. You….damn you look good.” Kayce gasped slowly crossing the floor until he was standing in front of me.

I smiled eyeing him in a tux for once. “You clean up rather good too, Dutton.” He had his normal black cowboy hat on his head paired with a white dress shirt and a black suit jacket.

“Are you sure you’re up for tonight. We can just stay home. My father will understand why.” He suggested to me.

I teased him trying to not have the conversation. “You just want to stay home so we can lay in bed all night.”

“I mean you weren’t complaining last time when we had sex for hours….but I am being serious about not wanting you to be nervous.” Kayce pointed out to me with a smirk on his face leaning closer to me kissing my forehead. He wrapped his arms around my waist tugging me against his chest gently.

Shaking my head in disagreement I draped my arms over his shoulders kissing his cheek. “I’ll be fine, Kayce. Tonight is important for your father and he want him to keep liking me if you ever want to put your mother’s ring on my finger.” He nodded looping his arm through mine leading me to his truck since we said we would meet him there later.

The drive wasn’t that bad since we just listened to county music until we parked the truck outside the building. He helped me out of the truck and we walked in together not holding hands since I wanted to appear confident during the dinner. Kayce had me walk in front of him opening the next door wheee I gulped coming into contact with a room of livestock members all talking. “Hey, look at me. Just tap me if you need to go and we will.”

“I got it, Kayce.” I nodded moving through the crowd of people finding our table and name tags at the very front.

John walked out onto the stage nodding his head down at us as a silent thank you for being here the second we sat down in our chairs. Lee was there but Beth and Jaime’s spots were still empty. “Since 1886 every Dutton who died is buried 300 yards from my back porch. My great, great, grandfather, to my wife, and someday I will be there myself. When a tree grows on my ranch, I know exactly what fed it. That’s the best we can hope for because nothing we do is for today. Ranching is the only business where the goal is to break even. Survive another season. Last long enough for your children to continue the cycle, and maybe just maybe, the land is still there when a tree sprouts from you…lord god give us rain and a little luck and we’ll do the rest, amen.”

I smiled, watching his speech feeling fine until I heard someone next to our table whispering. "I can't believe they came tonight."

"My boys were joking that they don't come because she might be pregnant." Another mumbled to their friend.

Reaching for the fork on the table I attempted to push past the tightness I could feel beginning to surface in my chest. "But there is someone I'd like to recognize tonight because she has been a great member of the family for a while now. Y/n L/n, I appreciate everything you do for this family."

"Hey are you okay?” Kayce shifted his gaze over to me seeing my chest heaving up and down. I was also clutching the fork in my hand until my fingers were almost turning white.

Lee glanced our direction beginning to clap at the end of his speech. “Congrats to Y/n and my father.”

Everybody around us joined in the clapping and cheering while John made his way over to our table. He sat down in the chair next to me. I shifted my gaze around the room quickly in a panic seeing my vision start to get blurry. “Y/n?” Kayce calls my name the second I dropped the fork and it clattered to the floor and I jumped up rushing through the crowd to the bathroom.

Shutting the door quickly I gasped for breath sliding down onto the floor to catch my breath. Gripping my hair in between my fingers I was so annoyed at myself. I shouldn’t have ran out of the room like that but I didn’t know what else to do. “Y/n, darling. Can I come in?”

“Yeah…” I croaked out wiping away the and getting up from the ground floor when he opened the door and shut it so nobody would see me crying in there.

Kayce stared at me silently for a moment seeing that I was shaking in my boots. Wrapping my arms around myself I felt like I still couldn’t breathe even though the tightness in my chest had gone away. He opened his arms and tilted his head telling me to com here. “Sssh I’ve got you. I’m right here…it’s gonna be okay.”

“Is it….how badly do you think I embarrassed your father leaving like that?” I sniffed through tears gripping onto his dress shirt as tightly as possible.

He just keeps me close to his chest resting his chin on top of my head. He knew that I was going to worry about this when there was something more important like my well being going on. He wasn’t concerned with what the others out there thought, he just wanted me to be okay. “It doesn’t matter right now. Just breathe in and out with me until you’re better. Can you do that for me?”

“Mmm.” I made a noise barley breaking the hug where he was holding onto my forearms since I still didn’t have good balance. Taking in a couple of long breaths in and out I finally started feeling better where I laid my head back down on his chest and he kissed my forehead.

Kayce smiled lightly squeezing my hand in his. “Let’s get you out of here. I’ll explain what happened to my dad later.”

“Are you sure he won’t be upset?” I questioned him where he leads me through the hallway and out to his truck. He helped me back into the vehicle before getting in on his own side.

He reached over taking my hand in his once more. “I’m sure, baby. I just want you to feel better.”

“Thanks Kayce.” I smiled laying my head on his shoulder and we stayed in the parking lot just enjoying the silence before we went home for the evening. Both calm in the others presence and away from the busy livestock diner.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

#kayce dutton #kayce dutton x fem!reader #kayce dutton x reader #kayce dutton imagine #luke grimes #yellowstone series #yellowstone #yellowstone imagine #yellowstone masterlist #yellowstone fanfic #yellowstone x reader #ask box is open for anything #requests open #comments really appreciated #anxiety attack #yellowstone one shot

[trialserrors]

A very short oneshot about Michael carrying Evan’s body in the car, with the rest of the family, to the hospital.

Sheets of rain weep and pour and slide down the speeding, deep violet car, its purple a weak blight in the absolute darkness outside. as it races, the jarring orange lights overheard it beams down, momentary as it speeds past, becoming a bright blur. 

It’s driver grasps tightly on the steering wheel, navigating to the hospital. His visage is avoided by the car’s passengers, who wonder, frightened, if the look in his eyes might be unbearable. His wife, eyes shut tight neglectfully, faces only the window, which’s clear image has been unconsidered by the unforgiving rain, as its tears streak down it slowly.

She does not take a second away from her forceful ignorance. She gently murmurs artificial comforts but she does not dare look. She can feel the after-sting of tears on her cheeks. 

Her daughter, abruptly turned youngest child, sits stiffly in the back seat, her quivering hands balled into fists. She stares, intensely, down at her feet. She does not say a word. She does not know if a strangled, hateful scream would come out of her mouth, or a frail sob. 

Her brother, maybe her only brother now, has a tiny dead body in his arms.

Tears stream candidly down his face, but he does not make a sound. He fixes his eyes, wide, onto his little brother’s limp form, onto the open scar, onto the scarlet that has stained all around him. His mouth is open, as if to speak. His older brother’s is too. They are both silent. Evan will forever be silent.

Elizabeth sprints up to the stage and shoulders past Mike harshly, as the adults, who paid no mind of Mike’s cruel parade until now, until it had gone so unthinkably wrong, rushed up to the scene, Father prying Evan from Fredbear’s jaws and carrying him away composedly, though Mike could see his hands tremor feebly when he turned away. 

What did you do to him? Mike! His sister demanded.

He is still alive. Father reasoned calmly. He was the only one appearing calm in the building. 

Elizabeth snaps at him, which is surely a crime in the Afton household, I didn’t ask you. I want to know what happened! I asked- 

“Michael,” His mother attempted to soothe, “It’s alright. Evan’s going to be okay.” Continuously, she would try to console him, his sister, his father, who had been deafeningly silent, who they all had shied away from.

Mike didn’t respond, his trembling finger tracing along the fresh wound on Evan’s head. His mother was not a solace, she had been missing and unfamiliar for too long, and she still refused to look at him. He felt as though obsidian pebbles had been placed beneath his skin and below his eyes. 

Elizabeth’s gaze sluggishly wanders towards Mike’s hands, and she is tempted to slap them away and order Mike not to so much as go near Evan, incase he breaks her little brother even more. 

The family falls silent. The car continues going. Mr. Afton keeps driving. Evan’s life nears its end. 

#fnaf #five nights at freddy’s #elizabeth afton #the crying child #evan afton #michael afton #william afton #clara afton #mrs afton #william fnaf #purple guy #the afton family #drabble #writing

[synthetickitsune]

you write a lot for soohyuk, i was wondering if you’d consider writing for park joongil? his mom was awful in that past life and i can imagine her wanting to marry him off again and that relationship with his second wife would be so painful and sad and your guidelines say you are open to writing angst so if you do consider this thank you very much!

Anon I love you for this idea?? I wish my writing skills were better to do it justice but this concept is the perfect angst material?

Park Joonggil (Tomorrow) | Married again angst | 0.7k TW: mentions of suicide

Watching your husband, separated only by a few steps as the cold air makes its way inside the house through the open door, there’s a tight feeling crushing your chest.

Standing right under the edge of the roof, only a breath away from the falling rain, Joonggil’s just a husk of his past self. You’ve heard about the fate of his late wife - who hasn’t. So many see it as the best thing that could happen, his own mother included. You’ve always wondered if they’re all blind. Because as tragic as death inevitably is, the loss of life before one passes is all the more painful.

Blind but not stupid, nobody expected your marriage to be easy. On the contrary, however, it’s been smooth sailing so far. Perhaps you’re sharing the last speck of fortune that you were given.

Anyway, the marriage works well. You were never suited to be a wife, to carry and care for a child, the household, and so when Joonggil approached you on your wedding night and as respectfully as he could expressed that he won’t be able to give you a child, nor the love you’re worthy of, it came as a bittersweet relief.

You care for each other, sure, but that’s about the extent of it. You’d be lying if you said you haven’t developed any feelings at all for the man. They’re a luxury you can’t afford, a guilty pleasure to indulge in whenever Joonggil brings you a gift from the travels duty sends him on. When he hands the objects to you, the smile never reaches his eyes. You’ve wondered more times than you can count whether there was ever an unspoken this made me think of you behind the gesture, or if they are just to keep appearances. 

You’re not naive enough to hope.

A part of you, one set on hurting you, wishes you could’ve met his previous wife. Joonggil never speaks of her, which is understandable, and you don’t push him, you don’t ask. Nonetheless, you’re curious. How unique that person must’ve been to capture Joonggil’s heart so? How wonderful she must've been that her death left behind a hollow shell of a man? You've only stopped doubting love is real after you've witnessed his devotion. How painful it is that you're not the object of it.

Sometimes you believe he wishes he'd have died with her. Other times you wonder whether, maybe, if you died people would believe him cursed and finally let him be alone and mourn the loss of the love of his life as he wishes. Even if that was the case, however, you could never take your life. You know that his mother would only push for another wedding. And more importantly, you could never do that to him. 

He still gets woken up by nightmares. Even tonight.

You know he can feel your eyes on him and so you get up. He's not stupid. You know he knows. But you have to keep up the charade. You're careful not to dirty your clothes as you step outside.

"y/n, go back to bed. The night is cold," he speaks without turning towards you.

Your name. Not wife like he used to call her - an information bestowed upon you by his mother. Apparently all that she does and says has to have a victim. Something to torment.

"Come back inside, Joonggil," you ignore his advice, "You're leaving tomorrow and you need strength."

He sighs.

"I'll be just a minute," he finally looks at you, giving you a slow nod. You return it, and just like that, you do as he’s told you.

Polite, short conversations, the usual. Come morning, he'll be gone before you can wake up. It hurts. Night seems to be the only time you can talk freely, without curious eyes and ears spying you. The rejection stings more for that.

Maybe it's for the best that he's leaving.

You’ll dutifully play the role of a wife missing her husband and you’ll play it well. It's the only role you play without pretending.

#tomorrow #mbc tomorrow #park joong gil #lee soohyuk #lee soohyuk scenarios #lee soohyuk imagines #lee soohyuk x reader #drabble #angst #requested

[recentadultburnout]

Info for writer in Thai series fandom : Chapter 19 Mythical creatures

As the title says, this chapter will be about mythical creatures, specifically Himmaphan's creatures. There are a lot of himmaphan's creatures, some more popular than others. In this chapter, I won't list all of them here, just some, and I will just do a quick introduction and some random points I can think of, not their full myth.

The link below is to the Wikipedia page for Himmaphan. In there, there are also links to some of the himmaphan's creatures too. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himavanta

This mythology is pretty famous and known across many regions, so there are a lot of resources in English already. So I think, just after a short introduction, anyone who is interested will be able to get more information quite easily.

There may be some differences between each region's version of it, but from what I saw, the differences are not that great. Especially if we look at only the character characteristics and not the entire epic.😆👍

นาค  naga

Naga is, in short, a big fantasy snake. There are quite a few types or ranks of them. They have four ways that they can be born. Opapātika, born and grows up immediately. Sansetcha, born from ashes and accumulated matter. Chalapucha, born from the womb. And āṇṭhāca, born from an egg. Water is their element.

Personally, I suspect that some of Nega's tales are of different origins from Himmaphan's tale but got mixed up when cultures merged. And that is the reason why there are so many more tales about them than about other mythical beings. But right now, I'm too lazy to actually drive in and try to verify that theory.

ordain บวชนาค When a man wants to ordain, there will be a short period during the ordain ceremony when the will gets called naga. The story involved is that back then, when Gotama Buddha was still alive, there was a naga that wanted to be a monk, but, in the end, as one of its requirements was to be human, he couldn't. So we incorporated this into the ceremony to honor him. There is a step in the ceremony where the person who is ordain has to confirm that he is, in fact, a human, too.

Water amount There is a belief that rain and water come from nagas, and the amount of water we get each year is determined by how many nagas are in charge of giving it. The more naga, the less water, because when there are more nagas, they start to be unwilling to do the work and want to push the burden on others. The maximum number of naga is seven per year.

Nakee is a pretty iconic drama about Naga. I never fully watched it, but if you are interested in Naga, this drama might be a good choice.

ครุฑ  Garuda

Garuda's appearance is part bird, part human, with a human's torso and arms and a bird's head, wings, and legs.

Garuda is a sibling of a different mother of Naga and an enemy. Their mothers are also siblings and enemies. In fact, the reason why Garuda and Naga are enemies is because their mothers made it that way. There is a lot of family conflict in this story. Garuda also eats Naga.

Garuda is one of the king's symbols. Culturally, the king is an avatar of Narayana, and Garuda is Narayana's vehicle.

(I tried to translate the word for this concept, สมมุติเทพ, but it seems like there isn't any word in English that fits.)

Queen Kakati กากี

Garuda Is one of the important characters in a famous tale about Queen Kakati. The story is that Garuda disguises himself as a man and goes to play a game with a king, and when he sees the king's wife, Queen Kakati, he wants her. So then he kidnaps her and brings her to his Chimplee Palace.

He slept with her there, and then one other guy also slept with her there. So the name Chimplee occasionally got used to hint at sexual things.

The name of the heroine also gets used for slut-shaming.

Just a warning if you want to read the whole thing. The story is heavily victim-blaming. All the guys in this story are trash, at least in the Thai version.

กินนร kinnon

Kinnon is described as a half-bird, half-human creature, or a creature with a human-like body but with detachable wings and tail.

Kinnari and kinnara are words that are also used to refer to the same mythical creatures.

We have a lot of variant words for each Himmaphan's creatures, actually. I think it's for poetry.

Suthon and Manora

Suthon and Manora is one of the stories that features Kinnon. Manora, the female protagonist, is a kinnari. She got captured one day when she removed her wings and tail during her bath with her sisters. After that, she met and fell in love with Prince Suthon. But later, Prince Suthon's family wronged her, making her flee back home. This tale is linked to the other tale. It says that Suthon and Manora's past lives are Phra Rod and Meree.

ปลาอานนท์  Anon fish

A giant fish that can cause an earthquake when it turns over.

นารีผล  Nariphon

Naripon is composed of two words: Nari (woman) and Phon (fruit). It is a fruit that resembles a beautiful girl. They have 7 days before they rot away.

คนธรรพ์  Gandharvas

Heavenly musicians and singers. Servant of a greater deity. They are pretty flirtatious beings and like to take a ripe nariphon for themselves.

I feel like they are always the asshole in every tale they feature.

นกหัสดีลิงค์  Hatsadiling

It looks mostly like a bird, but its beak looks like an elephant's trunk. The Hatsadiling is often used for decoration in cremation ceremonies because it is believed that it can carry the soul of the deceased to heaven.

There is evidence of the use of the Hatsadiling-shaped crematorium in the Lanna and Lan Chang cultures. But in Ubon Ratchathani, there is a specific tradition where they will have a person act as Sita performs the traditional Hatsadiling bird-killing ceremony.

There are a few versions of the tale that influence this tradition, but the highlight is that the woman named Sita kills a hatsadiling that has been causing trouble via arrow.

มอม  mom

The Mom creature looks similar to a mixture of many animals, including dogs, cats, geckos, lizards, monkeys, tigers, etc. It has long arms and a long, stretched body similar to that of a reptile. The color of the body will vary depending on the artist. This creature is prominent in Lanna art.

มกร  Makorn or Makara

It's statue is usually in a state of spitting something out of its mouth. It's look pretty similar to Hera. Often got mixed up with Hera. Some sources say that it IS the same creature as Hera, just an alternative name. 

เหรา   Hera

A mix of naga and (Chinese?) dragon, or a crocodile-like creature. It has four feet, and its face has both fins and a crest. It is sometimes described as a different mix, like with Garuda or a horse.

It's tale is that it tries to eat a naga but fails....

There is a statue of Mom and Hera that went viral awhile ago. It's an amateur DIY cement stair railing by a monk. It came out looking very adorable. they even got fan art and goods.

^Mom

^Hera

^The good in question.

สิงห์  lion

There are four types of lion-like creatures in the Himmaphan universe. (Not included the lion mix with other creatures.)

Kraisorn Rajasribody is white like conch shell. Mouth, belly, and feet are red like it is painted with cinnabar mixed with mercury and sulfur dissolved in lac water. Live in a gold or glass cave. It is faster than sound and has a voice as loud as thunder.

Kala Sriha is black and despises being a lion-like creature. It is an herbivore. Not that it is harmless, though.

Tinna Sriha has a red body like the legs of a pigeon and is as big as a bull. Also an herbivore. Tinna means grass.

Bantu Rajasribody is like the color of a yellow leaf. This one is carnivorous.

We use them in government logos, and some of the universities (4) have them as Faculty of Political Science logos. Each university uses a different one.

I found this website when I searched for the English spelling of Kraisorn Rajasri, and it is amazing. So this chapter ends here, lol.

And this website is for art that was created for the King Rama 9 funeral.

https://phramerumas.finearts.go.th/group-items.php?grpID=15

^ from the Fine Arts Department

^ from the Thailand Foundation

Index

#thai culture

[writingcold]

Hi there.  Welcome to Chapter 16.  We’ve had some fluffy healing.  It’s time to start buckling up.  We have a few chapters left of Act II, and Act III is… fast.  

If you are just joining us, you can find the Master List to the series here

A very huge hug and thank you goes out to @lvnterninthenight, @gardensgatedaisy and @whitesuitjake.  You’ve heard me gush about them all the way through, and there’s still more to go.  Yeah.  Pretty amazing humans there.

This is a work of fiction, and is totally mine.  Please do not take it for your own personal use.  I’ve put in hours of research, hours upon hours of writing, re-writing, screaming, yelling and vomiting over this epic of a story.  But it is mine.

Content warning:  Again, just saying this is an 18+ story for a reason.  This has elements of violence, so please be ready.  There is harm to women, there is harm to two major characters.  

Word count: approx. 6000

Chapter Sixteen: Dark Horizons - Cora

     Late Autumn storms shedding rain and snow had descended on Kingsford.  The last week of October was encroaching.  She felt like she blinked and six months had culminated in so much life that she scarcely believed it ever happened.  To be away from the farm and to be free of Kilbourne was a feat unto itself.  But to have the love of Jacob was unbelievable.  To have found an equal footing and beginning of a friendship with Joshua made her smile.  This family had welcomed her without hesitation, without warrant, supporting her, sheltering her and her own.  Jacob wanted a family - with her.  The notion filled her with something she had very little of six months prior: hope.

      “Morning, Joshua!”  she called as she walked through the back door, tucking her key into her bag.

      “Morning, lovely,”  he called back, his nose already buried in work.

      “Going to have lunch with Jacob today,”  she said as she started pulling out her first tasks.  “Are you going to come along?”

      He appeared in her doorway.  “Actually, I have lunch planned with the Reading brothers.”

      They laughed.  The Reading brothers owned the feedlot that Josh had offered to purchase several times.  It had become a running joke that the brothers so enjoyed Josh’s free lunches only to turn him down when it came time for him to pitch his deal.  Josh would shrug it off and continue laying in wait for the time that he would offer half of his original purchase offer and they would have to take it as they had no one else interested in their fading business.

     Cora settled in at her desk.  Josh had asked her to start looking into the balances of the bank in prior years, essentially making sure that the business of the bank itself was sound.  She had been reading line by line entries in the bank’s records, noting anything that looked odd or did not line up with accounts.  Though she had come across a few errors, she had yet to truly find anything that would be considered riveting. 

     Sitting up and looking away to refocus her eyes, Cora felt a shiver.  The bank was awfully silent for the hour at hand.  There seemed to be no customers in the lobby at all - a true rarity.  Closing her eyes to rest them just for a few moments, she felt her brain readjust.  Standing, she went to the bookcase by the door to retrieve the next ledger.  The scent of tobacco struck her nose and a grin tugged at her mouth, thinking perhaps Jacob had arrived early.  As she turned back to the desk, another scent struck, it was dark and mildewy.  The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as a chill touched her cheeks.  Pain flared at the back of her head as a hand grasped hold of her braided bun, yanking her frame backwards.  A surprised yelp was cut short as another hand wrapped around her throat, crushing the air from her.      “Where’s my wife, bitch,”  Harold Archer's voice filled her ears.

     Her body slammed against him but he slapped the side of her head.  Her ear exploded in a fit of ringing while stars cast across her right eye.  He yanked her backwards once more, dragging her from her office into the short hall.

     “Are you really this stupid?”  Josh’s voice came from behind.

     Archer spun them around, his free hand moving out to steady them.  She gurgled for air, her body flinching with shock.  

     “Think it through, Harold,”  Josh said calmly.  “This cannot end well for any of us if-”

     Cora felt something sharp run across her forearm like a thousand bees were being dragged by their wings, followed by pain that forced a whimper from the bottom of her gut.  Josh’s face grew hard.  His dark amber eyes went flat with rage.  Cora gritted her teeth as the sharp point was pushed into her ribs as she started to be dragged away from Josh, Archer’s hold on her tightened as he laughed over the situation.

     “Come on, little man.  Come on out here so that we have more room to play,”  Archer taunted.

     “Fine, Harold,”  Josh replied, his voice kept low and calm.

     Cora’s insides twisted and jostled as panic began to pool in her feet.  She could feel her arm bleeding, the shock of injury making it feel hot and itchy.  Once to the main area of the bank, her eyes went right to the tellers.  Both ladies were behind the locked counter, their faces wild with fear, but both seemed unharmed.  The windows were all covered.  Cora’s breath began to stutter as her own fear began to stab and twist in her, much like the knife that was digging in her side.

     “Cora,”  Josh called out, trying to get her attention.  “Cora, listen.  Don’t fight.  Hear me?”

     Archer laughed.  “Oh, I think she’s gonna want to fight.  If she knew what I wanted to do to her, she'd want to fight.  She owes me a wife, I can just take it from her.”

     Her body quivered.  This was Junie’s daily experience.  This man who presented such respectability was a monster.  Involuntarily, she strained, only to have him dig the blade deeper.

      “Cora,”  Josh soothed, despite his eyes widening with emotions.  “Please…”

      “On your knees, Kiszka,”  Archer seethed.

     She watched as Josh complied, sinking to his knees, hands out before him.  Her heart raced, but she stayed as still as she possibly could as the hand slid away from her neck, down her chest, grabbing a breast in a painful clutch.  She did not give him the satisfaction of a reaction, keeping her eyes directly on Joshua.  For a moment, there was comfort.  Whatever Archer planned, Josh would ensure they survived together.  She ignored the shredding of her pretty blue dress - the one that Molly had given her and had insisted she wear it on the last day of shop trial, and wear it for Jake.  She ignored the man’s hand as he attempted to humiliate her before Joshua.  However, the sight of Josh’s face flashing panic as he lunged forward cued icy fear to flood her brain.  Archer kicked him, landing a solid blow to his face.  The clerks screamed.  

      “You should’ve been mine,”  Archer oozed.  “That twin of his has been fattening you up, hasn’t he?  You’re not all skinny like your sister.  Has he put his cock in you yet?  Shown you what a man is?”

     “Harold!”  Josh said sharply, rising up again.

     Archer kicked him again, this time in the ribs.  Before she could move, Cora felt something sharp stab into her right buttock.  She hissed over the stark sting.  Archer laughed before planting a wet kiss against her cheek.  His body shifted against her as he reached into his pocket.  The knife dug against her side causing her to gasp.  Archer slammed his hand against her mouth and nose.  Cora choked as powder invaded her, chalky and bitter.

     “Yeah, I think I’ll enjoy taking that,”  he said crudely.

     “Please, no,”  she whispered, tears hitting her cheeks as Josh struggled forward once more, blood smeared across his face.

     “Cora?”  he asked, his eyes full of fright.  Each letter seemed suddenly drawn out, like she was watching him speak in symbols.  “Cora?  Lovely, stay with me.  Keep your eyes…”

     Pain exploded against her side as she was shoved down.  She brought her hand up, unable to understand the fluid that was so sticky that covered her hand and arm.  The world started to dim, as if colors were beginning to not exist.  Her head felt heavy and her neck could no longer hold the weight.  She shivered.  Her whole body felt cold and hot in intermittent waves as she struggled forward.  She knew Joshua was calling out to her, but the words made her eyes want to flutter.  She needed Jacob.  Her Jacob.  She needed his warmth and gentleness.  Each time her eyes drifted closed only to open again, leaving her more confused if it was real or dream.  Nightmare or hell.

Chapter Sixteen: Pt. 2, Jacob

     The sky was heavy with clouds that would eventually spill snow as he walked towards the bank.  He had set up Mr. Thornaby in the Tiger.  He had dropped in on Sam as he continued to make adjustments to the Moon now that he could take the time to really study and experiment on the rig.  When he arrived at the Northern Trust door, he was startled to find it locked.  The curtain on the main window was drawn obscuring anything that may have been going on.  His gut twisted.  His breath steadied as he listened to anything that may be happening on the other side of the door.  The quiet made his mind sizzle with panic.

      “You’re one of them Kiszka brothers,”  a voice called out.  “I’ve been waiting to get in there.”

      Jacob looked up at the man that was walking towards him.  “Oh, so sorry.  I’ll get right on that, sir.  It’ll only be a few more minutes.”

      Turning, he walked across to the post office, all the while trying to make his face look calm.  The clerk behind the counter looked up as he entered.

     “I’m sorry to be a bother,”  he said, forcing his voice to sound friendly.  “I’m -”

     “What can I help with, Mr. Kiszka?”  the gentleman asked.

     “I need to borrow your telephone,”  he said, looking back out the window across the street.  “I fear I have forgotten the key for the bank and it was my morning to open the doors…”

      “Oh, of course.  Here, step this way,”  the clerk said with a wave of his hand.

      He waited until the man moved out of earshot to call the garage phone.  Sam picked up, his tone annoyed.

      “Get heavy back up and meet me at the center with keys,”  he said firmly before hanging up.

      He flashed his biggest smile.  “Thank goodness for baby brothers, right?”

      He paused to glance out the window once more.  The thought that it was Archer in that bank with Cora and Josh prickled just underneath his skin.  There was no telling how long the man had been inside and what damage he had already been entailed.  He dug in his breast pocket for his cigarette holder as he crossed the street.  By the time he was rounding the back of the building in the alley, he had one out and lit.  He paused at the windows, listening for whatever was going on, only to be met with silence.  The minutes felt like days as he waited for Sam and Marcus and anyone else his brother would be able to rouse.  

      Two smokes lay crushed to the pavement beneath his feet.  Jake’s panic was beginning to choke his throat.  A muffled scream from inside chilled his heart.  His brain could not identify if it was Cora or someone else in the bank.  Was it one of the clerks?  Was it Cora?  His brain registered the tone as feminine sending his blood to raging.  His thoughts raced faster than his body could keep up with them.  Just as he was about to say the hell with it and break the door down, Marcus jumped down from the running boards of the Kissel as Sam parked.

      “What the hell is going on?”  Sam asked, holding out the keys.   

      “Everything’s locked up, windows are covered,”  Jake said, moving towards the doorknob.  “It’s gotta be Archer.  I can’t hear anything, and it’s been too long to be a fucking bank job.”

      Marcus stopped him, his face hard.  “You two stay behind me.  Jake, no matter what you see, do not feed into him.”

      The vein in his forehead began to throb.  Marcus had been the darkness of an enforcer for so long for the Diamante family that nothing surprised the man.  Jake nodded, turning the key in the knob as slow as possible to not make sound.  They moved through the short hall into the rear offices of the bank.  Jake noticed that Cora’s door was open and the room empty.  Josh’s door was closed, but it was easy to figure out that he was not in his office as Jacob heard his brother’s voice sharp and cold in the main lobby of the bank.  The words were followed by a hard slap and grunt.  Marcus had his pistol out.  The man’s grizzled face was hard with the duty at hand.

      He crouched his frame down and nearly crawled to the edge.  Jake and Sam followed suit.  

      “Don’t know what the fuck you think you’re going to get out of this Harold,”  Josh muttered, his voice thick.  “No one will trust you after this.  No one will allow a sick assed bastard who likes to hurt little girls to be a part of their community, let alone the head of their largest bank in town.”

      Jake felt Sam flinch as Josh was struck.  He couldn’t see anything around Marcus.  Mentally, he tried to picture anyone who would be in the space aside from Josh and Archer and Cora.  There would be two clerks.  Or, would there only be one…  His brain fuzzed over as he heard Archer hit something, but no sound followed except for Josh growling and spitting venom.  Marcus looked back at him hard.

     “Jacob, no matter what, do not come around this corner until I say.  Do you understand?”  the elder said, his voice thin with anger.

      “What the fuck did he do-”

      The man’s eyes held death.  This was the enforcer that Sastrato Torello had sent to them for protection of his daughter for a reason.  Jake felt himself melt into the wall behind him.  Sam held onto his shoulder as Marcus snuck out into the main space.  Archer was absolutely rambling in his fury.  He anticipated a gunshot, but instead was surprised by the sickening crunch of bone, followed by screaming.  Screaming of the women behind the counter bounced off the walls.  Screaming of a man in pain pierced the ears.  There were wet thuds that made his stomach turn.  

     “Marcus,”  Josh’s slurred voice called out as another hit landed.  “Marcus stop…”

     “Fuck it, Sam,”  Jacob hissed standing up.

     “Marcus!”  Josh called again, his voice a little stronger.

     Jake stepped out into the open with Sam right behind him.  The narrow room froze as his heart pounded like it was lurching from his chest and back.  Sam rushed forward as Josh was trying to reach out to Marcus.  The youngest grabbed hold of the enforcer’s arm to capture his attention, nearly incurring the man’s wrath.  Archer was gasping for air beneath him.  Josh was holding onto his ribs, cheek pressed to the wood floor.  Wild-eyed, he searched for Cora.  Following his twin’s gaze, he discovered she was hunched over between the wall and counter.  Her eyes were closed and her head was slumped against the brick of the wall.  No air reached his lungs.  His jaw grew slack.

     “Jacob,”  Josh groaned as Sam dragged him up to sit upright.  “I don’t know what he doped her up with, but I wouldn’t let him touch her, Jake.  I took it.”

     He looked at her, realizing that her dress was in pieces on the floor.  Shrugging out of his coat he started to move quickly towards her, but her head snapped up, panic in her face.  There was no recognition in those blue eyes he so loved.

     “Sam, go get Sheriff Moore,”  Josh was saying behind him.

     “Finch,”  Jacob whispered, holding his hand out to her.  He wanted to weep as she tried to claw herself away from him.  “Baby, it’s me.”

      He tried to hush and soothe.  All the while, he wanted to turn and rip the skin from the sick fuck that lay in a bloody mass behind him.  The fury that bubbled in his stomach made him want to vomit.  Cora’s body folded once more and took advantage of her weakness, covering her body with his coat and wrapping his arms around her.  He repeated his love over and over as he smoothed her hair.  

     Gentle hands came down on his shoulder.  He moved slowly so as not to startle Cora.  Mrs. Cooper and Miss Klass were behind him, their weary faces full of concern.  He was about to turn back, but Mrs. Cooper held out Cora’s long, lined coat.

     “This might work better, Mr. Jacob,”  she said.  “Can we help?  Maybe get her to a chair.  Marit, go get her chair from the office.”

     The younger lady moved away without a word.  Jacob slid himself backward, while trying to keep his hands soft on her.  The emotion choked him at the sight of the blood on her hand, arm, and on her side that seemed to be from a deep slice.  His breath rushed from him as her eyes flared but her mouth remained mute.

     “Steady, Mr. Jacob,”  Mrs. Cooper whispered, as she moved to his side, her hand wrapping around Cora’s other shoulder.  

     Together, they got her from the small space.  Cora started shrieking, clawing at the air, her blows landing on Jacob’s back in hard thunks.  Mrs. Cooper tried to catch the flailing arms, but could only catch one before the other broke free.  Marcus moved around to come behind them, clutching Cora around the middle.

      “Jacob, sit down,”  he directed.  “You’ll have to hold her.  Move that chair over, close to the wall.  She needs a small space.” 

      Jake sat down, uncertainty pounding through his body as Marcus lowered his girl into his lap.  He held on as tightly as she would allow.  He caught Josh’s gaze.  He could not hide the heaving emotions that pushed at him.  The fear that pulsed in his brain, to the love that quivered in his chest, all of it lay bare for everyone to see as Cora writhed against him, her whimpers piercing him like blades.  Marcus draped her coat over them, effectively covering her, and tucking it around her frame for modesty.  

      “Miss Klass, go fetch Doctor Boone.  Tell him it’s an emergency,”  Mrs. Cooper ordered, her voice firm, despite the tremble of fear that still resided in the moment.

      “Marcus,”  Josh said, his voice thin.  “You need to get out of here.  Sheriff Moore can’t see you.”

      The enforcer’s eyes closed for a few beats of breath.  Jake watched as the man was struggling.  

      “You take care of her, Jake,”  he said quietly, the hardness evaporating from his face, replaced by concern. 

      “I will,”  he whispered.  “Tell Rosemary for me.  Tell her mama that I will care for her.”

      He watched as Marcus moved quickly out the back door.  Cora’s cries softened.  Her body shook under his touch.  His eyes landed on the fabric of her dress, the swirls of color on silk that lay hidden just beneath the chiffon.  The tip of his tongue pressed against his upper lip as if trying to hold back the anger, the fear that was merely the front for the guilt that loitered along the fringes of his thoughts.  

      He vaguely recognized that Sheriff Moore had entered with Sam, a few deputies were with them.  Martin quickly posted the extra men around the front to control the crowd that had gathered.  At the sight of Archer, the man needed little explanation of events.  Josh was fading fast.  Jake kept whispering against the soft perfume of Cora’s hair, trying to will her back to him through the drug haze that the monster had unleashed on her.   

      Doc arrived.  One look at Cora and he was dismayed.  There was no telling what Archer had shot her with.  The hypodermic needle that he utilized would be helpful, but only if they had some notion of what was in it prior to injection.  The doctor identified the wounds as being knife stabs and slashes that needed stitches.  The puncture on her ribs was going to need attention.  Josh was in rough shape.  He had broken ribs, the left arm was dislocated at the shoulder, a few fingers were snapped.  Archer had yet to rouse from the beating that Marcus had unleashed.  Jake silently thanked the man for each shattered bone, each break of the skin, each bruise.  The remorse that he was not in the building pounded only as bright as the shame he felt for wanting to have been the one to dole out the terror that had been unleashed by Marcus.

     Josh’s sharp yelp brought him out of his thoughts.  Doc had popped the arm back into the socket.  He watched as his twin slumped to the floor, eyes closed, nearly mirroring the unchecked mass that Martin stood over.  Boone wanted all three to the hospital, just to have a quieter stage to clean everyone up.  Jake had not realized the noise outside the bank.  A crowd had gathered, some panicked about not being able to get inside the bank, others loudly yelling about a bank robbery.  Martin had the deputies load up Josh and help Jake get Cora into the Kissel.  Sam drove across town, leaving the sheriff and his men to figure out what to do with the now destroyed Harold Archer.

Chapter Sixteen: Pt. 3, Cora POV

     She could feel sunshine - cold - but sunshine on the skin on her face.  Her mouth felt like sand had been poured inside until she could hold no more.  She barely moved and her body erupted in hot, throbbing pain.  Cora instantly froze, keeping her eyes closed.  She drifted into the silence.  Sleep rolled across her like she pictured how waves would feel if she were ever to visit Lake Superior, or dared to really travel and see the ocean.  She could hear Jacob’s voice from time to time, leaving her to wonder if it was just in her dreams or if he was really talking to her but she was unable to answer.  Mingled in, she thought perhaps she heard her mother.  All the while, she longed for Junie.  The brutality that she faced - alone - was unforgivable to be put through such a state and still call her family for what they still needed to be: family.

     Cora wanted to move.  She wanted to whisper through the thick mud that resided in her throat.  Her limbs felt like concrete; heavy and unmoveable.  Her brain wanted nothing more than stillness.  She felt drawn under once more.  The dark was rich and velvety, like Jacob’s voice when he would whisper to her in the night against her ear.  The way he would talk to her as they made love.  The way he would tell her he loved her.  Her heart swelled over the notion that this man chose her.  This man saw his life with her.  The quiet stretched into dreams filled with color and warmth.

      The next time she surfaced above the sleep waves, she could hear Joshua talking.  His voice seemed so distant.  He had been her protector for as long as he could.  She wondered if her body accepted Archer in her frozen state.  If her body allowed him to be inside.  If her body betrayed her heart and mind.  How was Jacob going to look upon her when she did fully wake from her haze?  She wondered if she would still be the object of love for him.  She wondered if Josh would have to explain it to his twin what he was witness to.  The thoughts tore at her spirit.  How that monster clung to the fringes of her - did he have to touch her?  Did he have to violate her?  Would she even know fully what he had done not just to her, but to her sister?  They were not questions she needed to truly answer… did she?  Instead, she allowed the wave to carry her away once more, settling into remembrances of the way Jacob walked at her side, treating her as equal.

     “You would’ve been proud of her, Jake,”  Josh’s voice echoed through her thoughts.  “She gave that fucker no satisfaction of any kind of reaction.  She was beyond brave.”

     “I don’t want her to…”  Jacob’s voice cracked.  “Josh, I don't want her to remember.”

     There was silence.  Cora focused on the hurt in his voice.  The strain.  Whatever Archer did after the end of her memory must’ve been awful.  

     “Why would she need to?  He -”

     Josh’s words tumbled through the abyss as she plunged downwards once more.  How one could feel like they were underwater but walking through the desert at the same time was beyond her reckoning.  There was blood here.  There was pain.  That monster’s laugh pierced her with each twist of his knife.  But Joshua was there.  Those eyes, so much like her Jacob, but more like dark caramel, more bits of gold and mischief.  Those eyes kept her rooted, kept her with him.  It was not just her blood, her pain, was it?  He barked and badgered, insulted and whined, anything to bait Archer away from her.  So much of those moments were shrouded in gauze that was stickier than spider silk.  

      Sunshine on her face.  She could see the light on the outside of her eyelids.  It was a warm, fuzzy light that beckoned her; welcomed her home.  She experimented with sliding her arm up to touch her face.  Then she flexed her toes.  The pain wasn’t so bad.  She turned her face against the pillow, hoping to breathe Jacob’s scent in, but it was a sterile smell, one that was foreign.  Blowing out a breath, she tried to clear the debris from her throat.

     “Finch?”  Jacob whispered, his voice next to her.  

     Her fingers landed on her throat.  She tried to form words, but she was so dry.  The grit of whatever dirt was in her windpipe kept her from saying anything.  Instead, she tried to open her eyes to look upon him.  Sharp rays of sunshine stabbed at her and she was quick to shut them back out.  He pressed his hand to her shoulder and the sunshine dimmed against her.

     “Finch?”  he whispered again, his face close enough for her to feel his breath.  

     Cora tried again, opening her eyes to a haze of light.  Her eyelids felt like each one weighed tons, fighting against herself to look around.  His fingers touched her mouth before sliding across her cheek.  He let out a soft laugh as she struggled to focus.  She could only imagine what she looked like with her eyeballs feeling like they were moving in opposite directions.

     “I’m so glad to see you, baby,”  he whispered, planting little kisses across her face.

     She tried to say something… anything…  Only air escaped through the throb that pulsed on the inside of her throat.  She tried to whisper, to get something out, but the air caught, leaving her gasping to fill her lungs.

     His brows knit together as he shook his head.  “It’s all right, Cora.  Doc said things are bruised in your throat.  Don’t force it.”

     Joshua appeared behind Jacob’s shoulder.  His eyes were warm as he looked at her with a little wave.  His face was swollen and cut and bruised badly.  If he looked like that, she was sure she looked similar.  

     “Hello, lovely,”  he whispered.  “I’ll let you have your fella, hmmm?”

     She felt the corner of her mouth tug.  She grimaced as she tried to move, to create space.  Jacob tried to stop her, but  she frowned.  Cora continued to slide and rock until she was on her side and there was enough room for Jacob to lay down next to her, belly to belly.

     “Oh, Finch,”  he sighed, brushing back her hair.  “Are you sure?”

     She tapped against the pillow.  He smiled as he carefully lay next to her.  

     “You’re probably wondering where you are.  You’re in the hospital.  You’ve been here for two days.  You scared the shit out of me, baby.  I’m so glad you’re awake.”

     He was careful in where he set his fingers, where he touched and brushed against her.  However, each touch was full of light and love just for her.  Cora stared into his face, searching for what he saw in her in the moment.  There was only concern and honest joy.  He whispered against her, telling her about how Rosemary had stayed through the nights with him.  He had the boys at the house, sleeping in the parlor after too much sweets and hot cocoa each night.  Sam was already honed in on educating Matthew about auto engines and Jon about actual engineering.  It had been two days that she had lost.  Two days that she had slept.  She managed to ask about Joshua and Jacob smiled.

     “You find a scrap of voice and you ask about him?”  he teased, brushing his thumb across her bottom lip.  

     Broken fingers.  Fractured right arm.  Left arm was dislocated.  Four broken ribs.  Stabbed in the thigh and left arm.  She wanted to weep.  Joshua had placed himself before her as a sacrifice.  Jacob’s voice warbled as he whispered his love for her.  His fear for her.  His regret that he hadn’t been fifteen minutes earlier.  

     The next time she awoke, she was in her own bed, in her own home.  She remembered being wheeled out of the hospital and Jacob helping her into the Kissel.  She could recall Matthew grabbing Georgie’s collar and holding him back when she caught her toe as they moved through the front door.  She could remember her mother telling Jacob to take her into the bedroom and how his cheeks warmed as he helped her sit down on her bed.  When she stirred, she could hear the boys swarming around the house, and the base of Jacob’s voice calling to Matthew from the kitchen.  

      “He slept on the sofa last night,”  Rosemary whispered as she was buttoning up her dress.  Cora frowned, unsure of if her mother disapproved.  The woman smiled softly as she was reaching for her brush.  “He stayed with you the whole time.  By the time we got you here, he was completely exhausted.  He sat down and was asleep in moments.  I dared not wake him, and neither did the boys.”

      She smiled as her chin dipped.  The idea that he would not be far from her made her heart skip a bit.  Rosemary twisted her hair up into her typical thick bun before moving towards her with the brush.  She grimaced as her mother started on some of the blood matter in her hair.

     “Tell you what, I’ll get the boys through breakfast, then I’ll run you a bath,”  she said with a gentle squeeze on her shoulder.  

     “Thank you, Mama,”  she whispered through the fire that still burned in her throat.  

     “Still pretty raw,”  Rosemary remarked.  “I’ll send Jacob out for some honey.  It will help your throat and we can put that on the …  on the …”

     “Cuts, Mama,”  she answered, hurting over the struggle that her mother allowed herself to show.  “I’m sure he would be happy to.”

     ��Rosemary continued to brush through the thick hair, her fingers holding firm to each section.  “I do not expect you to understand fully, Cora.  To have one daughter harmed by my choices, only to have a second fall prey to the same hands…”

      Cora stopped her mother’s hands, looking up into her face.  She appeared old and young at the same time.  The woman had aged considerably since the loss of her husband, but all the more so in the past weeks after the plight of her daughters.  

     “I can send you and the boys to Junie if you wish,”  she whispered, enclosing her mother’s hand with her own.

     “I won’t go until my whole family can,”  Rosemary answered, her blue eyes sharp with care.  “And I don’t just mean you and the boys, Cora.”

     Her chin dipped at how her mother had brought back her own words, but tailored it to her own fashion.  “Thank you, Mama.”

     “You just sit back and rest.  I’ll have one of the boys bring you a plate,”  she said as she tied the thick hair back in a simple plait.

     She felt like a stranger in her skin.  Slipping underneath the blanket once more, Cora stayed up, sitting against the headboard, her hands quiet in her lap as her eyes drifted closed.  Her whole body still ached.  The wounds pulsed.  Not quite as bad as when they were fresh, but they throbbed in a way as if they were calling out to her attacker like he could hear the pain they still caused.  She focused on bringing breath in and pushing it back out as her ears took in the sounds of breakfast beyond the door.  Jacob’s voice wove in between Matthew’s and Jon’s with Georgie’s trill over top in excited bursts.  She sighed.  Jacob sitting at the table with their children trickled through her thoughts.  The smile that would grace the man’s face would incinerate the room in joy.  She felt herself drift upon that hope, her mind focusing on each detail in dreamlike quality as her breathing evened out and tugged her into the stillness of her heart's desire.

     The warmth of him drew her from her slumber before his touch against the ridge of her cheek.  Sleepily, she opened her eyes as she leaned into his touch.

     “Hey, Finch,”  he whispered.

     She realized the house was silent.  Her brows pinched as she sat up.  “Where is everyone?”  

     “Rosemary needed to get to work, the boys left for school,”  he said, trailing his fingers down her bare arm.  “You fell asleep and your mother did not want to wake you.  I volunteered to stay until after lunch.”

     Her gut began to sink as she continued to wake.  “She was going to run me a bath.”

     “I can do that, although I told your mother that Molly could help you,”  he smiled, his eyes soft with care.  “In fact, I don’t think it would be good to miss getting those cuts cleaned.”

     He stood and disappeared for a few moments.  She could hear the tap clunk on and the water hit the bottom of the enameled tub.  Jacob returned with a towel and a sleepy grin.  He helped to get her night dress off and covered her lean frame in the towel.  Into the tub and he knelt down beside it, keeping his fingertips at the water to make sure it stayed the right temperature.  He helped to take the linen bandage off her side, a near inaudible hiss escaping him at the sight of the bruising, puncture, and gash that marred her ribs.  

     Cora reached out to him, her fingers sinking into his hair as he rested his forehead against the rim of the tub.  “Jacob?”

     “I’m sorry I wasn’t there, Finch,”  he whispered.  “I’d give anything for your body to not know violence.”

      When he looked at her, the emotion that was etched in his features stirred her, strengthened her.  He moved around her, washing her hair and limbs and body as if he loved each piece, each perfect and each flawed morsel of her.  He dried her and redressed her wounds before following her back to her room to help her dress.  

     “Rosemary left you some biscuits and jam.  Does that sound good?”  he asked as she finished buttoning up.

     When she nodded, he kissed her cheek before leading her out to the dining table.  He was talking about nothing important as he rummaged around the kitchen.  Cora just listened to his tone, the rumble of his words as they escaped him.  The vibration of him washed over, comforting, vanquishing the harm within and replaced it with a softness that was only for him.  She watched as he finally settled down next to her.  He reached for her, touching her cheek with the tip of his finger.

     “I’m glad I picked you,”  she whispered.  The sight of the joy in his eyes made her smile wider.  “I’m so glad you picked me.”

     He leaned forward, kissing her forehead.  “Always, Finch.  You’re my always.”

Yeah.  That just happened.  I hope you stayed with me through this chapter.  Like I said at the top, we only have two more chapters until the end of Act II.  Now that I said that, I guess I should say that there’s 25 total chapters and an epilogue.    So, we have a lot of story left, and much of that is going to be rough.  Be aware the violence only amps up as our characters hope to survive leaving Kingsford.

I do have a tag list - you can find it here

@lvnterninthenight @doodle417 @luverleaver @jakesgrapejuice @fictional-duchess @whitesuitjake @milkgemini @positivegvfthings @songbirds-sweet @streamingcolors-gvf @gretavanbitches @samsurfgreenbass @gardensgatedaisy @babyhoneygvfarchive @myownparadise96 @josh-iamyour-mama @starcatchercarol @loveisonaroll @jakesstarlight @reesetrippingthelight @builtby-gvf @ignite-my-fire @ohgodthefeeling-gvf @wetkleenex-gvf @gold-mines-melting @starsasone @puzzle-gvf @mysticalstarcatcher @montenegroisr @takenbythemadness @way-to-go-lad @cal-a-bungaa @lightmylove-gvf @thewritingbeforesunrise @leftjudgeempathsuitcase @brokenbells11 @imborrowedshesblue @vanfleeter @sammysvanfeet @jakekiszkasbuttsweat @jaketlove @redsierra1960 @gvfmarge @becinabubblegvf @wildbluesorbit @sinarainbows

#greta van fleet #gvf #jake gvf #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #josh gvf #sammy gvf #sam gvf #daniel gvf #danny gvf #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van fleet fanfic au #greta van fleet au fic #greta van fleet x ocs #bootleggers and wildflowers

[papacopia-crucified]

After Dark pt 4

( I maybe had the inspiration from Queen of the Damned….. idk.)

Previously:

“Nobody messes with my Amore Mio, like this pathetic fragile human being.” That’s when he stepped into the light. His lips were ruby red from the warm blood and it was dripping down to his chin, down to his neck. His eyes never left yours.

“Copia?”

You cannot move, your legs did not cooperated with you, but wanted to run as far away as you could. Copia just stared at you, and you did back, neither of you spoke a word. His expression turned into a worried one as you were at the verge of fainting.

“Say something Amore Mio!” He almost demanded but a word cannot leave your already trembling lips. His footsteps echoed as he got closer and closer to you, making you frightened with fear. “P…Please. I….I did not want to kill him, mio topolino. You have to believe me.” He was so close to you, like the books in the shelve, no space between them. Your heartbeat increased and he felt it, saw it through your body. Through your rib cage, even saw your scar, the scar he’s known too well.

“C…Copia….”

“Yes, mia dea?” He grabbed your hand and hold it to his lips, kissing it with his cold, still bloodied lips. It sent shivers down your spine.

“I…I.” Your word suddenly shifted, legs collapsed under your weight, and as you waited to meet with the cold tiles of the alley, it did not happened. Copia catches you bridal style, secured your warm body to his. He was in pure bliss, that he can finally hold the love of his life. His Prime Mover, technically his wife.

“Don’t speak amore della mia vita. I’ll get you home.” You only heard the first sentence of his speech, cause you passed out after. Maybe it was the shock. That’s when suddenly Dew and Rain approached him.

“What’s going on Papa? What happened?” Asked Dew and he was not surprised that this happened. They saw that how Papa saved you from that thug. Not shortly after the other ghouls appeared.

“Poor man. Did he really deserved it?” Aether was standing over the man’s bloodless body and moved his gaze to Papa.

“He was an asshole. You too saw what he has done to (Y/n).” Cirrus spoke up

“I don’t care anymore about him. Dispose his body, nobody can see it.” Papa was already walking away…

“Wait, where are you going?” Shouted Aether

“I’ll take her home. I’ll be back.” That’s when Copia disappeared from their sight, taking you home. The way to your house was short, due to his supernatural abilities, easily jumped up to your window, which was already opened and set you down onto your bed.

“Copia.” You stirred in your sleep and exposed your neck to him, that’s when he saw your artery. He was still hungry, for blood. But not for yours. He can’t do it again…. That’s when flashbacks come back to his mind about you, how you laid in his arms as you were slowly dying from your wound. He sat down slowly next to your sleeping form and put a stray lock behind your ear.

“You cannot remember me the way you saw me. It’d break my heart. Mio topolino. Forgive me. I’ll always be here for you, always watching over you. Ti Amo mia cara. Sempre e per sempre. (Always and forever)” he kissed your lips on a feverish way, and you quickly regain consciousness. And when you realised that he was kissing you, you kissed him back. Grabbed him by the back of his neck and deepened the kiss. His hand found it’s way to your waist squeezing it a little, a moaned escaped your mouth.

“Copia.” You panted and looked into his mismatched eyes, oh how they were so perfect.

“Mia dolcezza.” He sighed but he cannot say any words, your mouth were on his again. Your hands hugged him by his neck, his body was on yours pressing to yours is a sweet touch. This was all you can ask for. Time froze, only you two were living in the moment.

“We have to stop, cause I fear I cannot stop myself. Please for your safety. Mio topolino ( I’m obsessed with this so bare with me.)

“Y..yeah. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry for what you’ve been craving. I’m here now.” He rolled to his back and moved your body next to his, your head on his chest, hugging you with his hand.

“For how long?” He sighed

“Just for tonight. I know it’s a lot to take in mia cara. You had a dream not long ago, sí?”

“Yes, but how did you….?”

“Ever since I stepped into this town I had this flashback about us. The whole me becoming a vampire and your death, it’s just breaking my heart again and again to see it. But you’re here now.” He confessed and hugged you even tighter.

“So… it happened….. in real life?” You sat up and looked down at him in disbelief.

“Yes……”

“I’m a vampire’s daughter…. Not any….. the FIRST vampire that have ever existed??!”

“Yes… you’re a Tepes.”

“H…How? I… I just don’t know what to think about this Copia….”

“I understand that it’s a lot to take in. Please mio topolino just take a deep breath and calm down.”

“So my dream was not a dream? I really got shot? And you…..you are my….”

“Yes mia cara. You’re my Prime Mover.”

“I’d rather prefer the term wife. Ow… what am I saying.” You sighed and grabbed the pillow both with your hands and pressed it to your face. He chuckled and grabbed the pillow and lowered it to look at your rosy cheeked face. It was truly a sight.

“Hmm…. My wife. I like it mia dolcezza.”

“Aaaa. Stop it with the Italian Copia!” You tossed the pillow at him and he caught it easily.

“Why? It turns you on mia regina (my Queen)? Ohh… it is. I’ll keep that in mind.” He winked at you and something just flashed in your mind.

“Satan! You…. You’re the bat! H…how? I… I cannot even think straight.”

“I didn’t even said thank you for taking care of little ol’ me.”

“It…. It was nothing. I just did what everybody else would do.” You tucked your hair behind your ear nervously.

“I shall reward you (Y/n).” He was now looking at you with hunger in his eyes, like he wanted to devour you on that very spot you were sitting. Suddenly he grabbed both of your hands and moved it, so you didn’t have a choice but to sit on top of him, your hands on his chest, his hands on your hips. A little moan escapes your already dry lips and it made him worked up. You looked anywhere but down on his face.

“Amore please look at me.” And you did, sure you were embarrassed but cannot deny Your Papa’s orders.

“Papa.”

“Amore, when you call me that…. It’s hard to restrain myself.” His grip tightened on your hips.

“Please!”

“Please what?”

“Please Papa, fuck me.”

And you wake up, sun’s shining, birds singing, on the other hand you were devastated.

“Why is this happening? I was so close to be fucked, by the man I desire. What day even it is today?!” You angrily grab your phone from your nightstand, it read Tuesday 9 am. Your Lock Screen made you remember your dream again. It was Papa. You heard Penelope’s squeak from her aquarium.

“Well good morning Penelope.” Legs dragging you to her and pick up to hug her to your chest. “Looks like were alone, no Papa, no Copia, no no one. I’ll grab you some food, be right back.” You set her down and went to the kitchen to grab her favourite food and water for her tank. And that’s pretty much how your day was. Scrolling through social media, listening to songs, until it was working time again. It was rather cold that night, so you decided to dress up in more clothing. You were lucky cause when you arrived at the workplace it started to rain.

“There you are! How are you?” Michael held the door for you.

“Thank you Mich. I’ve been better.” He lifted his eyebrow up.

“You did not like you favourite band’s performance?”

“I…. Of course I did. It was just a rough time yesterday.”

“I understand. Now get in. The witch is already here.” He laughed and it made you laugh too. Made your way into the dressing room and changed into your work attire, that’s when Marge came in and greeted you.

“What’s up? I saw that you rather enjoyed yourself yesterday.. I knew that you’re not going to the bathroom, are you think that I am dump?” She dropped his arse off on the sofa and crossed her arms in front of her.

“Marge, look….”

“It’s fine (y/n). You just had to say where you’re going. I know your obsession with Ghost. Chill.”

“Thanks…. I guess.”

“You owe me 20 dollars whatsoever.”

“What? Why?”

“Cause.” You hand her her money and it put a smile on her face. “Thank you. I’ll go and set up the bar equipment.” Marge said and didn’t even wait for your answer, she just left you there. It was for the better cause you wanted to ease your mind. To forget what had or had not happened. You knew you have to survive this night shift, even if you wanted to to just go home and lay down on your bed, just relaxing. Your thoughts were interrupted when Michael came into the room, a letter in hand.

“It’s for you (y/n).” He said and handed you the envelope and bid goodbye.

“Huhh….? Strange.” You opened the envelope, and read it. When you finished it, a long sigh escaped your mouth, you did not even realised that you were holding in your breath.

You, daughter of a monster!

I know who you really are!

I’ll revenge my family, whom you father killed

Many decades ago. Made me a monster that I am.

And your Papa’ll know what it’s like to lose someone.

I’ll find you, don’t worry.

X

#the band ghost #cardinal copia #ghost bc #papa emeritus iv #tobias forge #ghost #ghost the band #papa emeritus iv x reader #cardinal copia x reader

[yikesitskennawrites]

Transitions-Chapter Forty-One: A Break With Your Friend

Series Masterlist

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Pairings: Steven Grant x (platonic) Reader, Marc Spector x (platonic) Reader, Jake Lockley x (platonic) Reader, Layla El-Faouly x (platonic) Reader

—

Laurens apartment smells like sage and rosemary, the sight of the incense sticks resting on the second from the top shelf of a bookcase tucked against the far wall as soon as you enter the apartment is the source of where the smell is coming from. You give her a soft smile as she holds open the door for you and tells you to take off your coat and hang it on the coat rack behind you. Your fingers wrap around the straps of the helmet as if the thread would warm your hands. 

“You look like a drenched rat,” She tells you and you laugh despite it sounding like a rude comment. You know she means well and it was pouring down rain on the way over to her apartment on the back of Layla's Vespa. Even when you took off the helmet for just a minute, once you got off of her bike, you were even more blinded by the rain. 

“Well, it’s raining hard outside.” You tell her as you peel off Marc's jacket and place it on the hook before resting Layla's helmet on top of it. You shiver, your teeth chattering lightly together and she frowns a bit at the sight.

“You want some tea?” She asks as she shuts the door and locks it. You know just by her tone alone that it wasn’t a question, she was going to force you to drink something warm and you are going to welcome it. Anything warm sounds good right now. 

“Sure, thanks.” You say as she makes her way towards the kitchen and disappears from view. Your eyes trail to the couch, looking for her wife to greet her so you wouldn’t seem rude despite how awkward you feel being in someone else's space. She wasn’t on the couch and neither were the children.

“Where’s Kris?” You ask, peeking down the short hallway as if you would see her poking her head out one of the doorways simply because you said her name. You walk towards the kitchen and stand awkwardly as you watch her grab the kettle from the stove top and fill it with water from the sink. 

“She’s doing some overtime for work.” She says over her shoulder. She places it on the stove top and flicks on the burner switch before leaning against the counter. “The holidays are coming up and we’re trying to save some money for Christmas gifts. We both thought that this would be a good day to make the extra money since you’re helping me take care of the children.” You hum and allow yourself to lean sideways against the counter, slightly hoping that the comfortable look will make you seem not as tense in her home. You aren’t worried that she is going to harm you or some intruder or god will appear, but more like feeling comfortable in a place you have only been to once before. 

“They’re napping right now. They’ve been so cranky today that I thought that it would be best that they have a chance to sleep it off so you wouldn’t have to deal with too much of that…” She trails off and you watch her eye the kettle for a moment before she says softly, “Maybe it will be just you and me today, if that’s alright. I really need a break from them. I love them, but I just need a break…I hope that doesn’t make me sound like a terrible mom.” You shake your head. You feel something tense in your body relax a bit, you didn’t realize how stressed you were for taking care of her children until now.

“Nah, I think you’re great. You can still love your children and need a few hours away from them and to yourself.” You shrug. You feel a little bad about not visiting her sooner when  she invited you back in October. So much has happened between then and now that you know you couldn’t have visited her sooner because of how you would have acted. You wouldn’t be able to hide anything from her and you know she would pry information out of you like it was nothing. 

You add, “Maybe we can do something together soon? Just you and me.” She perks up a bit.

“I would love that.” She smiles genuinely. “I’ve been wanting to do something with you outside of work forever.” A ping of guilt hits you and you try to act like you haven’t been a terrible friend to her. There is so much shit that you are hiding from her that if she were to ever find out about it, it would be best to ghost her completely before she calls the police on you.

“I know but things kept coming up and we just didn’t have the right time…” You trail off and she nods in agreement. You are a bit surprised that she agrees that the timing wasn’t right. 

“I could tell that something was wrong and different about you.” She admits. “I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to pressure you into telling me if it got too bad and I became too worried for you.” You bite your lip and trail your eyes away and to the steam beginning to come out of the kettle. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but just so you know, I’m here to listen and support you. Lord knows how many times you listened to my rants about my own life. I’m available day and night.” 

“Thanks,” You say. You know you have no intent to tell her what happened over the last month but the offer for her to be a listening ear was nice. You would rather keep her out of the life of cults, Gods, and murders, to make sure her and her family are safe. Besides, you don’t think she would take anything that you have been through within the last fifty days well. You lived through it all, she would only listen to your tales and perhaps send you off to a mental hospital for help, maybe she wouldn’t even believe you and tell you to sod off and laugh, that would be the best outcome if she were to find out your truth. 

“I’m deadass,” She tells you. You spare a glance at her face to see how serious she is. A small smile spreads across your face at the lingo she picked up from you. 

“I know you are,” You grin. “But, I would like to escape from that for a while.” A break from everything sounds really nice.

“A break, right?” She asks and you nod. She wants a break and you want a break. “So, you wouldn’t mind if I don’t wake up the children and it’s just you and me?”

“What children?” You ask and she returns your grin. “All I see is you and me in this apartment and a comfy couch and some tasty tea.” You both deserve a break from everything even if that meant throwing out the plan of learning how to take care of two toddlers.

“I’m going to go get you a towel,” She states. “You’re dripping all over my floors I just cleaned.” You can tell by her tone that she wasn’t bothered by it but rather teasing you.

“Sorry,” You say as she brushes past you. She waves you off and leaves you with the beginning to boil kettle. Your eyes trail over the kitchen, taking in your surroundings. It was just like it was last time, not much has changed in the apartment from what you remember but you do notice pictures from the trip Lauren and Kris took back in September framed and hung up on a few tacks. You only know it was from months ago because Lauren showed you almost every photo that they took when they came back from the trip. You stare at the photo with Kris and Lauren who was laughing in front of the gardens with some form of pink flower in the background. Kris was staring at her with a look of love and adoration on her face, you don’t think you ever seen anyone look like that since your parents passed. 

You sometimes would catch your dad looking at your mom with that same expression, but it's been so long since you saw it on anyone that it nearly threw you off to see it captured in a photograph. You look away and to the counter, your eyes trailing over the granite and to the various items on top. Envelopes that you assumed are bills, receipts from stores, a couple of toy cars and a Barbie doll missing a pink shoe, empty packets of tea bags, and a flier for Daniel Williams. You step forward a bit to get a closer look of the missing teenager. You saw the same flier of his in the elevator just above the buttons for the floor when you entered it. It was an updated version from the one you saw months before. It was the same photo of him smiling into the camera. His green eyes were bright with crinkles at the corner of them while his blond hair was short and a little messy. 

A description of his eye color, hair color, his birthday, weight, and any other way to spot him through scars and birthmarks were listed underneath the photograph. According to his birthday coming up in December he was younger than you by just a couple of months. This kid was missing and his family has not stopped looking for him since he disappeared. A couple of weeks ago, Lauren was talking to Richard upstairs, he generally runs the business by doing paperwork and ordering supplies for the toaster oven that would occasionally break down. You think she was asking him about hanging up some of the fliers in the workplace for her missing neighbor because the next thing that you knew, she was taping it to the entrance double sided. So anyone who entered or exited the building would see his face.

“He’s been gone for a long time now.” She says, causing you to jump a bit. You turn to look at her as she hands you a towel with Paw Patrol characters decorating it. You mumble a thank you and begin to pat your pants with it. “I think he’s dead and I think his mum knows it too. But, she won’t stop looking for him until the truth comes out or she finds his body.” You watch her lean against the counter in the same spot she was previously as she eyes the paper. “He was a good kid, he brought up some soil for Kris when she wanted to make a garden. He and Molly played a few times when she invited him over for tea parties. I think you would have loved him, he was just like you.”

“What do you mean?” You ask quietly. 

“He was quiet and reserved until you got to know him and he was one of the kindest and funniest people I knew.” She says just as quietly as you asked. You think that if she spoke any louder, she would break and cry. “He just…he went out at random times of the day, his mum said he would leave late at night and come back weeks later with sun burnt skin and dirt underneath his nails and…he just wasn’t the same kid. She told me that the boy who came home at two, sometimes three or four in the morning, was not the boy she raised and recognized.” She pauses at the sound of the kettle beginning to whistle before she quickly removes it from the burner. 

You both turn to look at the hallway leading towards the bedrooms and waited a few moments for the sound of small footsteps to come from that area. You look back at her and notice that her shoulders drop a bit before she begins to pour the water into some mugs. Neither of the children were woken up by the sound of the kettle. 

“He was a good kid,” She finishes as she reaches into a cabinet and pulls out a box of tea bags. You can’t read what type they were from how her hand was placed over the box, but you can tell it was nearly empty once she opens the lid and places one tea bag into each cup. It must be good tea for the box to be almost done with.

“I think I would have liked to meet him.” You say and she gives you a watery smile. If she thinks he’s so much like you, maybe he decided to fraud papers and move to North America or some other country. Maybe he’s living in New York and working at the shawarma restaurant or a sandwich shop. Maybe he’s acting like an adult when he actually is a kid. What caused him to disappear from everyone's lives? What happened to him to cause him to act like he did before suddenly dropping off of the edge of the Earth?

You add, “He sounds like a good person to be around.” She nods and you know that she was keeping quiet because of her worry for if she were to speak she would end up sobbing loudly. She passes you one of the cups, this one decorated in pink, blue, and yellow stars with small rainbows on the surface. A small smile spreads across your face at the sight of it, Molly must have decided to take it upon herself to decorate the surface and neither of her parents were able to get the stickers off completely. This was evident because there were bits of paper still stuck to the cup that neither Kris or Lauren were able to scrub off all the way.

You follow her to the couch, this time leaning all the way back against the cushions instead of sitting on the edge as you allow the cup to warm your cold hands. 

“What are you planning on getting your kids for Christmas this year?” You ask. You hope that the question will distract her from the grief she has for Daniel. 

“Molly wants a phone, a real one.” She rolls her eyes a bit at that and you let out a chuckle. “Jamie wants a doll house, you know those massive ones that we don’t have room for. I think he wants the dolls that come with it more than the house though…” She says. “We went through the clothing store not too long ago and he wanted the sparkly dresses. He’s nearly three, of course he’s going to find anything bright and glittery, cool and exciting. I just worry that other parents will see two lesbian mums dressing up their son in gowns and think that we’re trying to influence him into being gay or something.”

“Nobody is gay simply because they like the opposite gender things.” You say. “And who gives a shit about what others think because of what things your child likes to wear. If he wants to wear a dress one day and the next day he wants to wear a shirt with a monster truck, let him. It’s not harming anyone and he might grow with confidence to wear whatever he wants to when he’s older if he realizes he has an awesome support system.” She smiles in thanks towards you and you sip the tea, half-hoping that the liquid was cool enough that it wouldn’t burn your mouth. It tastes like mint and raspberry, a slightly weird combination at first until you swallowed it and realized that it wasn’t bad. 

“Do they know about Santa?” You ask. You were told when you were twelve that Santa doesn’t exist, that he’s just a make-believe character really created to keep children in line for the holidays. But, you already figured it out by the time you were nine when you noticed the bar-codes on a candy bar your parents put in your stocking. You didn’t push them about the topic because you were worried that you might be wrong and Santa would stop visiting your apartment because you no longer believed in him and your parents would somehow communicate with him to stop coming by. Maybe you still somewhat believed in him but were skeptical about it.

“They know that he leaves gifts for the good children and gives coal to the bad ones but they don’t know anything past that.” She says. “We give them the more expensive gifts while Santa gives them the cheaper ones, that way when they get older and want a phone it will be from their mums rather than Santa. I want them to…” She pauses, looking down into her cup of tea for a moment before saying, “I don’t want them to think about how unfair it is for other children to get books and socks from Santa while they got a phone or a gaming console. That’s pretty unfair of Saint Nick to give them these devices while their classmate got a coat for winter.”

“I get it.” You tell her. “I think that’s smart of the two of you to do that rather than let Santa take the credit for the expensive gifts.”

“Shut up,” She rolls her eyes and you giggle at her. “We’re trying to humble them.”

“I know you are.” You grin. “I think it’s pretty selfish of the man in the red suit to take the credit for the things that they will enjoy the most.”

“You think Jamie will enjoy the dollhouse more than a pair of fuzzy green socks?”

“Most definitely.” You nod, “You think when Molly is, like, ten that she will love a coloring book over a phone?”

“She better because there's no way we’re buying her a phone at ten years old.” She says, causing you to breathe out a short laugh. 

“If not now, when?” You ask, “She’s going to harass you for years about a phone so when is she going to get one?”

“Later,” She says. You smile into your cup as you sip some more of the drink. “Do you like it?”

“It tastes good,” You say. “Thank you. I’m just surprised that you got tea with more than one flavor. Didn’t you get lemon tea from the café when you bought me coffee months ago?” She scrunches her brows in thought. 

“I did,” She says after a moment. “Are you making fun of me?”

“Never.” You grin and she picks up a balled up piece of paper from the end table behind her before throwing it lightly at you. You giggle as you swat it out of your way and it lands on the floor softly.

“You’re an ass.” She tells you and this time your laughter is loud enough that you’re worried you woke the kids. You try to quiet down as Lauren looks past you and down the hallway with a small smile on her face. 

You both wait for the pattering of feet for a couple of minutes before she says, “We have a Christmas party on one of the Saturdays next month at the shop. Are you coming?”

“It depends.” You shrug as you remove your right hand from the mug and press the towel into your pants a little harshly. 

“You didn’t show up last year, you should come this year.” She says. You bite the inside of your cheek as you look down at your pants. You didn’t go last year because you didn’t have enough money for the bus ride and back, besides that parties aren’t your favorite thing to go to. Maybe you’ll show up this year for an hour before going back to Layla's place, but that seems like a waste of gas just to spend a short time there. 

“I don’t know…” You trail off. “Parties aren’t my thing.”

“C’mon,” She groans. “When was the last time you went to a party?” You pat down your pants roughly as you think back on it. The last time that you remember you went to a party was for your best friend's thirteenth birthday, which was SpongeBob themed. You spent the night at her house and stayed up until the sun was beginning to glow its first morning light on New York. It’s been years since you went to a party, and you know that a Christmas party isn’t going to be like your best friend's birthday, but it might be good for you to go and hang out with people who aren’t associated with deities and cults. Look at you, thinking like Layla and trying to encourage yourself to go out and have fun and step out of your comfort zone.

“Okay, I’ll think about it.”

“Not a ‘I’ll think about it for two minutes before saying no,’ actually think about this.” She tells you. 

“Best I can do is think about this for three minutes.” You say. “Maybe two-and-a-half.”

“Sod off.” She replies. You look at her, wondering if maybe she took your joke seriously but she was rolling her eyes playfully and showing clear wrinkles at the corner of them from her smile. “Before I forget, when's your birthday, again?” You fake a look of shock.

“Don’t tell me you forgot, Lauren.” You say.

“I’m sorry, I am a very busy woman.”

“Lauren!”

“I don’t think you even told me!” She defends herself and you nearly reach down onto the floor to throw the crumpled up paper at her. You know that you haven’t told her when your birthday is because you don’t want her to find out and feel like she has to celebrate, besides that you don’t care for the celebration of the day of your birth.

“You don’t know when my birthday is?” You place your hand against your chest and open your mouth a bit. “My favorite coworker doesn’t know? How fucking rude.” You bring your cup up to your mouth and take a drink. 

“Perhaps, I’ll find out in your background check.” She says, you nearly choke on the tea but manage to swallow the liquid. She has a look of surprise upon her face and you don’t have to be a genius to know that she didn’t mean to tell you about that. 

“My background check?” You ask quietly. 

She looks down at the couch cushion as she says, “Richard asked me to help him since the manager is still on maternity leave.” She picks at a loose thread on the cushion she sat on. “Nobody is supposed to know so, you know, keep it between us please?” You nod, you weren’t planning on telling anyone. “It’s been a couple of years since the last check for everyone. It’s really just to check to see if anyone got arrested or did some criminal activity that law enforcement or the employee hasn’t reported to the business.”

You pick at the pink star sticker on the cup nervously. Everything should be fine, they shouldn’t find anything on you but still you were anxious that they would find something. Maybe they’ll notice some wrong information on the papers you faked and look further into it or maybe they’ll type your name into Google and find that you are a missing person in New York. It wasn’t hard for Marc to find your old Facebook account and family members, he has a blue folder on you sitting on Stevens dining table. You should have changed your first and last name, you should have done something to throw them off the trail. Soon you’re going to be found out and arrested and Lauren will hate you for lying to her and allowing you to be around her family when she didn’t even know you- oh fuck-

“Is there any crime you committed that we should know about?” She asks, cutting off your train of thought. Your heart pounds against your chest and you feel all the blood drain from your face. Oh god, what if she already knows and invited you over to come clean? What if Molly and Jamie weren’t in their bedrooms sleeping but Kris took them away from the apartment so they wouldn’t get in the crossfire of the United Kingdom's equivalent to the United States SWAT team barging in and arresting you? Your hands shake and this time it isn’t because of the cold. 

You feel your stomach churn and you think you’re going to throw up the tea and this morning's cereal. She says your name gently and you try to give her a smile, hoping it didn’t turn out as a grimace. She purses her lips at the sight of you and you try to hold down the tea and cercal as you say, “Besides being this-?” You gesture to yourself,. “I am a crime in itself.”

“Are you feeling okay?” She asks with concern, “You look flushed.” You take a deep breath, the room suddenly feels ten times hotter and you keep your eyes trained on the mug you hold. 

“Peachy,” You mumble. “I think-” You cut yourself off as you gag. “I don’t feel very good.” You tell her. Her forehead creases in worry and you try to not throw up on her couch. That's the last thing she needs from the person she thought she knew. 

“I think there's the flu going around, Molly might have it and knowing how it worked last time, everyone is soon to have it.” She says. She leans forward a bit and presses the back of her hand against your forehead. “It doesn’t feel like you have a fever.” She pulls her hand away and leans back against the armrest. You try to stop the guilt from slamming into you like a basketball as you try to get your stomach to settle down. 

“Drink some tea,” She says. “It might help.” Despite figuring that it would do the exact opposite, you drink some of it. She places her elbow on the back of the couch and leans her head against her arm as she looks down at the towel in your lap. “The forecast said there's a chance of snow next week.”

“In November?” You breathe out. She hums. “It’s not going to stick.”

“That’s what I said, but who knows maybe we’ll be surprised.” She says. You watch her eyes trail past you and look down the hallway, with the pounding in your ears finally settling back into normal, you can hear the sound of footsteps behind you. You look over your shoulder and  see Molly standing in the entrance of the hallway with a large wet spot on her Paw Patrol pajama top and her face flushed. She looks absolutely miserable. 

“Mum I frew up,” She says. You look back towards Lauren and she sighs softly. 

“I knew it.” She says. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you might want to get out before you get the sickness spreading around in this home.”

“It’s okay,” You say. “I think it would be best to have my-” You pause as your stomach churns and this time everything that you were holding down comes up and all over onto the living room floor. You breathe out deeply, staring down at the liquid you consumed and the Lucky Charms you tried so hard to keep in your body. 

“I’m so sorry,” You say as you feel a hand on your back, rubbing soft circles into it. You can’t help but feel embarrassed even though you really did try not to throw up. 

“It’s okay,” She says. “It happens.” She sets her tea onto the coffee table and stands up, “I’m going to get you a washcloth and then we’ll call your uncle.”

“Aunt,” You say as you close your eyes and listen to her walk towards the kitchen. 

“You and your uncle had another argument?” She asks as she gently tilts your head upwards and presses the warm cloth to your mouth, wiping away whatever vomit was surrounding it. 

“Unfortunately.” You mumble as you open your eyes. She presses her lips together. 

“Your aunt it is then,” She smiles softly. It was too kind for you to face the knowledge that she might find out about you in the upcoming weeks. “I’ll call her for you after I take care of Molly, okay?” She gently pushes you back onto the cushions. “Just rest until then, love.” You stare at the ceiling as you listen to her walk down the hallway to take care of her child before you allow the tears building up behind your eyes escape. For a woman who doesn’t truly know you, she is too kind towards you. Soon, she might find out about you and you don’t want that day to come; and if it does, you don’t know what you will tell her.

—

Taglist:

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[mysteroads]

🍂🎃THE GRAND FINALE!🎆🎇

A Little Party Never Killed Nobody... but it sure makes 'em scream! A link to the finale chapter of my Halloween-themed fic. (Warning: a dramatic death scene, a dance scene, a 1950s romper, adrenaline-fueled smooching, and a sandworm appear in this chapter.)

Gonna put my favorite scene down here for your viewing pleasure. It's a riot. 😆 Dratted clone totally stole the show, and I absolutely love him.

CHAPTER 7: THE GRAND FINALE

Eyes wide, Lydia and Beetlejuice rushed to the edge of the roof and looked down. One of the windows has exploded outward, unleashing a torrent of… “Is that glow-in-the-dark elephant toothpaste?” Beetlejuice asked, nonplussed. “I thought the witches were making moonshine!”

Below them, they heard more cheering and cries of “More!” and “Again!” 

“The fuck?” Lydia asked, feeling a little out of body. This was a lot in a very short amount of time. Beetlejuice put a steadying arm around her waist, letting her lean on him, so she felt it when he stiffened. “What now?”

“It never rains but it pours,” he groaned. “I just got a message from my clones. I put two on the road to watch for Chuck and Delia.”

Lydia felt herself pale. “Oh shit.”

“Don’t panic,” he told her. “They’re stallin' your parents, and they’re two of my best. They were made for the stage."

~*~

“Hold on, Little Bug!” Delia cradled the blood-splattered clone in her arms as it spasmed in the stark illumination of the headlights. “Stay with us!”

Charles paced back and forth, pulling at his hair, frantic as his wife. “What do we do? What do we do? I can’t call an ambulance! BJ is going to go crazy when he hears I hit one of his clones!” He groaned. “I thought those things couldn’t be hurt!”

Gasping in indignation, Delia clutched the clone to her bosom. In her angel costume –tinsel halo and wings bobbling– it was a fitting image. “He’s not a thing!”

“I know that! But we still can’t take him to the hospital, now can we?!”

The blood-soaked clone jerked out of Delia’s hold, sitting up, reaching toward the moon with one dramatic hand as it clutched its heart with another 

“Ah! No! Don’t go towards the light!” Delia cried, her hands fluttering wildly. “Charles!”

Charles rushed over, knocking his glowing devil horns askew in his haste. Together, they attempted to support the clone’s trembling body as it struggled for life. It stared into nothing, mouthing the word, “Rose…bud…”  

The wail of a siren distracted them all from the death scene. A police car came flying up the road, lights spinning, but did manage to screech to a halt  when they saw the Deetz car. One of the policemen stuck their head out the window. “Everything alright, folks?”

The clone in Delia’s arms glanced toward the back of the Deetz car. Another clone popped into view and gave a double thumbs up. In response, the one covered in blood abandoned its act and sprang to its feet. It gave the policemen and the Deetz a theatrical bow, then bounded into the surrounding foliage. 

Everyone stared after it, then Charles let out a long, long sigh and picked up his fallen devil horns. “Yes, officer, everything is fine. Just some kids playing a not very funny prank.”

The officer nodded, then the car sped away. 

Charles helped Delia to her feet, then they went back to their car. “What was that all about?” Delia wondered, eyes still wide. 

“I’m not sure, but I’m also sure that it wasn’t an accident,” Charles said, and eased the car off the side of the road. The car jerked and groaned, sending their hearts into their throats  again and causing Charles to hit the brakes hard for the second time that night. Immediately after, the car informed them that the back tires were low on pressure. 

The couple exchanged meaningful looks, then stared in the direction the police car had gone. It only just now occurred to them that there were very few houses in that direction. “Definitely not an accident,” Charles said grimly. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I know that someone is going to be in a lot of trouble when we get home.”

#a little party never killed nobody #beetlejuice the musical #beetlejuice fanfiction #my fanfic #beetlebabes #musical babes #funny #beetlejuice the musical fanfiction #dance #songs #dance numbers #halloween #halloween party

[ameagrice]

Capsize

chapter ten

freefalling | Percy Jackson x fem! Reader.

Two full days on a train with an ADHD Percy Jackson, a snipey Annabeth Chase, and a snoring Grover Underwood was the definition of boring.

You slept, woke, talked and ate. And repeated. Sometimes you’d wake in the night and find Percy drooling on your ankle where he lay, or Grover muttering in his sleep about plastic cans and caravan curtains. Once, you even suffered an awkward silence when yourself and Annabeth were the only two awake. You acted as if it didn’t bother you, casually reading through a magazine to pass time, but inside you desperately wished to run away.

When the two days came to an end, you had never been happier to set foot on concrete. If your life were a movie, you’d have certainly span in circles with your arms out, dancing to some silly, sunshiney song wearing a pretty dress. Maybe Percy would come and join in as well, and together you’d sing until it rained, and end staring into each other’s eyes—

Something sharp hit your eye. You flinched, eye now closed, trying your best to see the culprit of the attack. Percy, standing sheepishly ahead of you, shifting his eyes. Annabeth and Grover pondered off in the distance.

“You good?” He asked. Percy jabbed his thumb in the others’ direction. “Uh—we need to go. Sort of.”

Ah. So he was talking to you now.

Was this Percy’s shit attempt at a make up session?

You shrugged. “Sure.”

Adjusting your backpack as you walked by him, the two of you set off together in silence. You didn’t mind the quiet with Percy—he’d break it one way or another—and took in the views. The fumes of the train exhausts, tourists looking around aimlessly, whistles blowing. It was a bright shiny day, the sky dotted with clouds, and the air was that perfect combination of dry and warm. Maybe today would be good. For once.

You’d shoved your hair into a high half-up half-down style, and your leggings had dust covering them in places from the dirty train seats. But you couldn’t have been happier walking beside Percy. It was peaceful.

“We’ve got three hours before Denver,” you said, turning your head as you walked to talk to Percy. His wife-eyed awkward gaze turned pink-cheeked. “Why don’t we do some sightseeing?”

Percy’s thin shoulders shrugged. “Sure. Annabeth said the same thing, about visiting the Gateway Arch.”

Your face dropped and you blanked him. “Let’s not sightsee.”

“You can’t just change your mind because someone—your sister—has the same idea as you.”

“I can and I will.”

He sighed dramatically, groaning. “Don’t start.”

You flayed your hands, scowling. “I’m not doing anything!” You protested.

Percy rolled his bright eyes, latching his fingers around your wrist. “Let’s go. Sightseeing it is.”

The Gateway Arch looked very much like a giant shopping handle glued into the ground. Annabeth banged on about how she wanted to go all the way to the top, to which for once, you agreed. Sightseeing was a leisurely stroll in your eyes, and there was never any harm in it.

“Why don’t we, then?” You asked the group. They blinked at you. “What?”

“You’re agreeing with Annabeth. That’s a first.”

“And a last,” you continued. “Are we going up or not? It’ll be fun.”

The others exchanged looks. Percy was the first to nod, dark hair bouncing. “Sure.”

“I’m in!”

Annabeth was slow to answer. But in the end she nodded. “Fine. Let’s go.”

Your group trekked to the line to queue, which was short and quick to move at this time of day. Under the hot sun slowly making an appearance, you were grateful, and soon enough, you found yourself at the front of the group, traipsing through the museum on the way to the Arch. History had always fascinated you, and the artefacts on display didn’t go amiss, as you dragged Percy from pillar to post babbling all about the things before you. Once or twice you caught him smiling small as you talked, in the glass reflections of the display cabinets. And it made you smile, too.

The time finally came to head up to the Arch. Annabeth looked giddy with excitement, Grover continuously sniffed the air, and Percy was turning pale. You had to admit; now that you were this close, and were really about to go up, you weren’t so sure you wanted to do it…

Shoved into the elevator with a happy chihuahua and a fat lady who smelled weird, your stomach was doing somersaults. You leaned over to Percy and whispered, staring at the dog.

“Is it me, or is that dog giving me the evils.”

The chihuahua growled and bared it’s teeth, pawing at the ground. You snickered but backed away.

“Dude,” Percy nodded, “the dog hates you.”

“Oh, don’t worry!” The lady exclaimed. You yelped and smacked back into the glass of the elevator. She was smiling, peering at you with beady eyes like her dog. “No parents?”

Without a beat, Annabeth answered. “They’re below. Scared of heights.”

“Oh, the poor things. Some people aren’t cut out for them.”

The dog howled and began trying to sniff toward you. The tried to become one with the wall.

“Now, now, Sonny,” the woman scolded. “Behave.”

Or I’ll kick you out the elevator, you thought.

“Sonny? Is that his name?”

The woman smiled. “No.”

As if that was any clearer. The wall was definitely your best friend, now.

At the top of the Arch, the observation deck gave off the vibes of a tin can with carpeting. Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other. Thankfully, the woman from the elevator was nowhere to be seen since you got out.

“Don’t worry guys,” you muttered as the four of you walked across the carpeted floors. “She comes near us again, and the dog gets it.” You feigned some karate moves, promoting a choked laugh from Percy and even a smile from Annabeth.

You’d hoped it would be peaceful up here. But once more, the tides were against you, and all you get was an ingrained fear and urge to run, spilling through your bones. Thankfully, you were only up there for a few minutes, as Percy soon declared he thought it was time to go.

And then…

“Next car, guys. Take a few minutes. That alright?”

Before you could say anything about the elevator being too full to fit yourself and Percy in, the boy’s hand fell to your wrist.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “We can wait.”

“Want us to get out and wait with you?” Annabeth asked. Grover nodded in agreement.

“Nah, it’s alright. We’ll catch you guys down there,” Percy dismissed.

And soon enough, they were heading down the Arch.

You anxiously scratched your arm. “Idiot,” you muttered, looking around. “We need to go. Something doesn’t feel right.”

He threw his arm around your shoulder and squeezed until you tapped out. “Don’t be stupid. You’re just anxious after last time.”

“Just to clarify, this was your idea.”

“Sure it was.”

“If we get in a fight it had nothing to do with me this time.”

The only people left were yourself and Percy, a little boy with his parents, and the lady from before, with the dog. Percy’s arm remained around your shoulders loosely.

She looked over at you and Percy, and smiled, forked tongue flickering between her teeth.

It hit you first. You jolted, shoving backward into Percy, who grabbed your hand. “Go. We need to go! Move, we have to go!”

“You saw that too?!”

The dog began barking, small barks first, before they became louder and heavier and deeper, and you frantically searched the place for somewhere to go. But of course, you were hundreds of feet in the air.

No way out.

“Now, now, sonny,” the lady said. “Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here.”

“Doggie!” said the little boy. “Look, a doggie!”

His parents pulled him back.

The Chihuahua bared his teeth at you both, foam dripping from his black lips.

“Well, son,” the fat lady sighed. “If you insist.”

You both still shrank away. Percy spoke first. “Um, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?”

“Chimera, dear,” the fat lady smiled. “Not a Chihuahua. It’s an easy mistake to make.”

She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, you saw that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were sideways slits, like a reptile’s.

The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. First to that of a Doberman, then a lion. The bark steadily became a roar.

The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster.

The Chimera was now so tall its back rubbed against the roof. It had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamondback growing right out of its shaggy behind. The rhinestone dog collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was now easy to read: CHIMERA—RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS—IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS—EXT. 954.

“Is—is—” your words wouldn’t come out. “Sword’s in camp.”

“Your sword…is at camp?” Percy repeated way too calmly. You both backed away, staring at the monster in terror.

“Y-eah,” you choked.

The lady smiled. She’d grown too. A total monster. It was a horrifying look, and it would never leave your memory.

“You have the pleasure of being killed by me, demigods. Any final words?”

Your mouth gaped, throat dry. You whispered.

“Anybody that can hear me, send help. I’ll pay you right dollars when I get my first pay check.”

The chimera roared, and fire came along with it. The stench was so bad it sent you woozy, and Percy yanked you down to the carpet. Together you crawled as close to the ground as possible over to the emergency exit, away from the woman and her devil dog. The family and the ranger stood terrified, the child crying, as you looked around for something that could help.

Percy was dealing with the defence. You had to find the escape route. With each sound of Percy’s sword on metal or monster, you got closer to the giant, melted hole in the side of the Arch. And watched as the water below glittered in the boiling sun.

“We have to jump…” you whispered to yourself unconsciously. Then, louder, more aware. “We have to jump.”

Something slid past you and out through the hole. Percy’s sword.

“They just don’t make heroes like they used to,” the woman advanced with her dog. That’s when you noticed Percy standing at your crouched side, pale and swaying. Swordless.

You found your feet, determined, and set your hand around Percy’s elbow.

“You’re right,” you said firmly, taking a step back, shaking. “We’re better.”

And with a sharp kick to the edge of the ground, you threw yourself off the Arch, taking Percy with you.

Taglist:

@Bl6o6dy @embersparklz @lilyevanswhore @hawkeye12 @rottenstyx @rory-cakes @i-am-scared-and-useless-bisexual @marshmallow12435 @Luckydragontriumph @lantsovheiress @distinguishedmakerpandapatrol @bugsys-bubble @twsssmlmaa

[nastya-sokolova-2002]

Chester is the son of Rory and Gadget, and the younger brother of Amelia. He is 12 years younger than his sister. This robot was born on July 15, 10065. From birth, he is very different from his father and sister in that when he was born in the hospital, the doctors told Rory and Gadget that during the womb the baby had a program error. Rory and Gadget asked in horror why, but the doctors replied that they could not understand the reason. But little Chester was still loved and raised by his family. Chester as a child is strongly attached to his entire family. But one day, when Amelia started dating Adler, Chester at that time had the question in his head "why is he different from his father and sister?". Somehow, he found out the reason that the doctors did not understand and decided to run away from his family, despite the fact that it was raining outside at that time. When Gadget noticed that her son went outside, she told him, "Chester, son, go home." But he answered her: "NO. I WILL LIVE ON THE STREET AMONG THE LEAVES AND FEED THE ENERGY OF THE SUN RAYS!" And he ran away forever, and Gadget began to cry. After a long time, when it was still raining, and Chester felt that he was wet and would soon break, and noticed that he had run very far, suddenly lightning struck him, and Chester fell and broke, and a current sparked through his body or a short circuit. But luckily Chester didn't lie on the ground for very long because a man found him and took him to his house and fixed him.

Let's break a little. I forgot to say that Chester is different from his father and sister in that Chester has such abilities that Rory and Amelia do not have and this: hover above the ground like Iron Man from the Marvel Universe; only charges when he sleeps (Rory and Amelia charge by eating electricity, like a phone on charge); his mouth can open and close while speaking (Rory and Amelia's mouths in 035 are always open, but not in the mouse version); if he feels that he is rusting, he drinks car oil (Rory and Amelia, if they turn into mice, they won't drink that); when he cries, tears also appear in him, not only in the form of emotion in his eyes, like in his father, but also appear just like in a person; and the last thing is that Chester's emotions are distinguished by the color of his eyes. Like this.

Chester's emotions (Do not ask why his photo with white eyes in two collages):

First collage:

White eyes - feels good or he has no feelings yet

Green eyes - happy

Red eyes number one - angry

Orange eyes number one - uncomfortable

Orange eyes number two - broke, out of charge

Red eyes number two - dissatisfied

Purple eyes - focused

Yellow eyes - embarrassed, shy

Yellow eyes with a blush - the same thing, but when he is embarrassed in front of the one he fell in love with

Bright blue eyes (or light blue eyes) - inspired

Yellow-green eyes (well, like that color) - energized

Simple blue eyes - confident

Crimson eyes - playful

Blue eyes (or dark blue eyes) - sad, crying

Second collage:

Dark crimson eyes (well, like this color, or remember the color of the noses of Julia Brain and Larry Brain in the mouse version) - feels that he is scared, afraid

Gray eyes - feels bored

Green eyes number 4 and 5 - he winks

Closed eyes - he is sleeping or charging

Pink eyes with hearts or number one -he fell in love, he just likes something, flirty

Pink eyes number two - vulgar

Chester's abilities and emotions were not invented by me, but simply taken from the Servobot character from game "The Sims 4". I also took the colors of emotions from the same game. For more information on servobots and emotes from The Sims 4, see The Sims Wiki Fandom.

But we will move on.

So, the one who saved from the rain and repaired the broken Chester was just an ordinary person named Alexei. Chester opened his eyes and saw that he was in a house unfamiliar to him and also noticed not only Alexei, but also his wife Tina and Tina's mother named Bria. Chester, after the rain, or his memory only temporarily disappeared, could not remember what happened to him, but fortunately he remembered only himself. Bria suggested to her daughter and son-in-law that they adopt him, since Alexei and Tina could not make children in any way. And they ended up adopting Chester. Alexey worked as a roboticist and sometimes did technical checks on Chester, Tina was a lawyer, and Bria was just retired. Later, a week later, Tina was finally able to get pregnant by her husband and later gave birth to a baby girl. They decided to name the baby Peggy. Chester himself was glad that he had an adopted younger sister. He happily began to babysit Peggy and immediately had a very good relationship with her. He sat with baby Peggy when Tina could not quit her job and was afraid to be on maternity leave because she was thinking about her career. Seven years later, when Peggy started going to school, Chester was happy to help her with her homework.

Chester and his foster family in the form of Gacha Club

During Peggy's studies, Chester somehow walked through the park and met a certain girl named Dora and immediately fell in love with her, and she answered him, but not immediately.

Dora and Chester had a very good romantic relationship, he enjoyed going on dates with his girlfriend on weekends or holidays when Peggy didn't have to go to school. But then trouble happened in Chester's foster family. Bria died unexpectedly when Peggy became a teenager and was in her last grade. Chester could not expect this and for two days he cried without leaving the basement. After this grief, Chester again went to meet with Dora and help his family. He hoped that such horror would not happen again. But he was wrong, because when Alexei and Tina became old, and Peggy graduated from college, Alexei also died of electric shock while trying to fix one device. After this loss, Peggy decided to study at the university and live in a hostel during her studies, because the university was far from their home. Tina told Chester to go there with her because she didn't know what could happen to her daughter because she was afraid of being alone. Chester sadly agreed and thought that if he did, he would lose his love. But he decided to leave Dora only for the sake of his mother.

Chester, telling Dora the reason why they should part, Dora could not believe it and told him that she had already begun planning a wedding with him, but Chester told her that family was more important to him and that he doesn't want to upset his mother. While studying at the university and living in a hostel for students, Chester was offended by many guys just because he was the only robot among them, but Peggy defended her brother by telling the bullies to leave him alone. Peggy told her brother to ignore them and that he was doing well in his studies. Peggy studied at the university as a psychologist, and Chester as a programmer. When they graduated, two passed with excellent marks. Chester, when he and his sister were packing to return home, said that he had to leave, because lately his grief has not gone away because of this city where he is. Peggy told him that everything would be fine and that they and their mother would have a new better life. But Chester said that it was unlikely and said goodbye to her, telling her to tell their mother that he was happy that he was adopted and loved like a family. After many days, he ended up in another city, where there were also ordinary people, but he did not care who lived there. Finding an empty house, he began to live there. Later, Chester found a new university and began to study there, but did not feel joy at all because of his sad memories. But on the first day at the university, Chester noticed that among not only ordinary students, but also there are robots, with whom he later became very good friends with them. And most importantly, these robots in terms of abilities and emotions were exactly the same as he was. And Chester was no longer so lonely.

Chester's robot-friends:

1)Eve is a kind girl with a heart of gold, very smart, ready to help everyone especially Chester, Chester's second love, does not know that Chester is in love with her after meeting

2)Alice is Eve's friend, has her boyfriend

3)Serebro (do not confuse with Cerebro, Brain's great-grandson, because they are different names) - he is in love with Alice and dates her, Chester's first best friend, his name comes from the Russian word "Серебро" and it is known that he was born in Russia, like Smart AI, but only he was born in Moscow

4)Kodex is Chester's second best friend, unlike his friends and other iron creatures, he is very lazy and likes to watch TV for a long time, but despite this, he does not refuse to come to the rescue, he is very much in love with Afina

5)Afina (don't ask why she has blue hair because she was born like that) is the opposite of Kodex because she is very hardworking and loves to always be on the move, the best friend of Eve and Alice, in love with Kodex despite the fact that she scolds him for his laziness.

I also took the colors of Chester's friends from the Sims Wiki Fandom, as it is written that after creating a servo robot, you can choose one of several colors for it. I decided to use almost all colors for Chester's friends. Well, for Chester himself, too.

It is further known that during Chester's friendship with his new friends, Dora somehow found out that Chester had a new love and decided to take revenge on him. Namely, Dora wants to take over this city with the help of one song, and soon a parody of three episodes of "Brainwashed" from "Pinky and the Brain" begins. Chester and his friends have to save their city and in the end they managed to do it.

Interesting fact: If Chester manages to admit to Eve that he loves her and marries her, then they will have a daughter named Mitzi as in this photo.

Chester and Eve and their future daughter

It is not known what kind of children Chester and Eve's friends will have.

Chester in two fanfictions about Pinky and the Brain in my AU, he appears only in mentions and as a cameo in the form of his portrait on the family tree in the house of Pinky and the Brain, which hangs in their hall.

#scp containment breach #scp fanart #scp foundation #scp fandom #gacha club #scp 035 chester #scp alexei #scp tina #scp bria #scp peggy #scp dora #scp 035 eve #scp 035 alice #scp 035 serebro #scp 035 kodex #scp 035 afina #scp 035 mitzi #scp information #interesting facts about scp in my au

[iamnotawomanimagod]

Okay so bc I’m lazy i just decided not to keep watching the house of jay z so pls could you spoil the entire show for me? 🥺🤭

"House of Jay Z" lmfao Nins you're so fucking funny

Okay, here we go! Also I'm sorry this is SO long, I tried to keep it short, but a lot happens!

Just to refresh your memory - the first episode sets up a few storylines.

One is the trial against Fortunado, with prosecutor Auguste Dupin leading the charge. During the trial's opening remarks, he indicates that there is an informant among the Usher family. This immediately causes a lot of paranoia and distrust, which impacts a lot of the decisions the characters make.

Another storyline with Auggie and Roderick takes place after the deaths of all of Roderick's children. That's where the two men are talking in Roderick's broken down childhood home.

Third, we've got Roderick's "miracle drug" - Lidogone. It's meant to be a non-habit forming pain reliever and he's made his fortune primarily from its sale. Big shocker - Ligodone is absolutely addictive, and Roderick knows that all along.

Another key to understanding what happens is Carla Gugino's character, aka Verna. She is present and/or involved with all the deaths of all of the Usher children. She's basically a sort of devil/karma collector/god of death. Also, Verna is an anagram of Raven, which is a reference to Poe's "The Raven."

So all the Usher kids die in different horrible ways, which is revealed in the first episode, right? And Verna is there to give each of them an out - but only if they take it, which none of them do.

1 - Perry/"Prospero"

The youngest of Roderick's children (he's 25) dies in an abandoned warehouse party/orgy he's throwing, because he hooks the sprinkler system up to some tanks on the roof, not realizing those tanks are full of illegally stored acidic waste. (The building is owned by Fortunado, Roderick's pharma company, so it's kind of Roderick's fault too.) He wants water to fall on everyone to make the orgy sexier, and plans to turn it on right at midnight.

Before midnight, Verna appears (looking a lot like Red Coat from PLL lmao) and tries to tell Perry that he can end the party early (implying he doesn't have to die in such a horrible way.) But he doesn't really understand her, blows her off, and goes back to the party.

Verna tells all of the waiters/bartenders etc to leave before the acid rain falls. She also tells Roderick's wife, Morrie, who is there in secret because Perry invited her, but Morrie doesn't go. As a result, Morrie is also burned horribly by the acid, but she's the only survivor of the party and is rescued and sent to the hospital. Keep that in mind for later.

Perry dies horribly with all of his friends/lovers, everyone getting burned by the acid together into a big gross pile. He was a bit of a shit, as he was recording the whole party and intended to blackmail everyone there with the footage, so it's not a big loss. One down, five to go!

2 - Camille

She dies because she's snooping on Victorine's work, trying to prove that Victorine is the informant for the prosecution. She gets mauled to death by one of the chimps Victorine is testing her medical device on - a heart monitor thing that will not only assist with keeping heart rate steady, but can also map arteries and capillaries, making it possible to catch things like clots and strokes earlier.

Camille is a PR person, and is often the one who spins the family's scandals and losses as positive things. She also "knows everything" about everyone, but seems to resent Victorine for reasons no one else really gets.

Camille goes to Victorine's lab and discovers that Victorine has faked all the results of her miraculous heart device, and she pumps the chimps full of adrenaline to make it seem like it's working.

Verna, pretending to be a security guard, tries to warn Camille away, and tell her to leave, but Camille doesn't go. Verna corners her in the room with all the chimps, and gives a big speech about how horrible animal testing is. Then basically "becomes" the chimp that mauls Camille to death. Another one bites the dust!

3 - Napoleon

He dies because he goes insane, and starts hallucinating a demon cat in his home. He is the most emotionally distraught at the deaths of Perry and especially Camille, as he was closest to them. He wakes up one morning after they've died, and finds his boyfriend's cat (named Pluto) completely butchered, and Leo has blood on his hands.

So Leo convinces his boyfriend that the cat must've just gotten out, and he goes out and adopts a cat that looks *exactly* like Pluto, and tries to pass it off as his boyfriend's cat.

He adopts the cat from a shelter worker - but it's Verna. She does give him the same opportunity to die a less gruesome death, as she attempts to get him to adopt a different cat (but not one that looks like Pluto.) This would've meant coming clean to his boyfriend about killing the cat, though, so Leo doesn't listen.

Throughout the episode, no one else ever sees the cat Leo adopted. It turns out that it's just Verna, basically baiting Leo into destroying his own apartment and eventually, himself.

He ends up throwing himself off his balcony in an attempt to catch the cat - who is just a figment of his madness.

It's also revealed at the end that the real Pluto is totally fine, was never killed by Leo (he just accidentally got let out of the apartment,) and all of the violence against the cat in this episode was in Leo's head.

4 - Victorine

This storyline is based on "The Telltale Heart" by Poe, and is probably one of my favorites in terms of the stories Flanagan adapted for this miniseries.

Victorine is approached by a woman with a type of heart failure that is very hard to treat. This woman is actually Verna, of course.

Victorine thinks this woman is a perfect candidate for human trials for her heart device, even though Victorine knows that the device doesn't actually work. The woman is very vulnerable and uncertain about the procedure, but Victorine insists it's all good. (That was Verna attempting to give Victorine an out, and a less painful death.)

She still moves forward with setting up the procedure, even going so far as to forge her partner's signature (who is a talented heart surgeon) on the pre-surgery documents. When her partner finds out about this, she is super pissed and breaks up with Victorine. She says she's going to expose everything Victorine has done.

In a fit of rage, Victorine throws a little decorative sculpture thing at her partner and her partner gets hit in the head and dies. Victorine doesn't remember this, however, and spends the rest of the episode trying to call her partner and get her to do the surgery.

All the while, whenever there is silence, Victorine keeps hearing the little chirp of the heart device. She starts listening to very loud music to drown it out.

Roderick (her dad) eventually goes to her to talk to her about human trials on her device (he's dying of a brain disease and wants the device for himself.)

But when she turns the music off, he can hear the chirping too.

They go to the next room and find Victorine's partner with her chest cut wide open and the device wrapped around her dead heart. Victorine realizes what she's done and stabs herself with a scalpel. (But don't worry, Roderick makes sure to do surgery on her partner himself to get the device out so the cops don't take it. This family sucks.) Four down, two to go!

The remaining Usher children are from Roderick's first marriage to a woman called Annabel Lee.

5 - Tamerlane

Tammy is having a very hard time sleeping, and in fact hasn't slept in weeks. She is also certain her influencer fitness bro husband is cheating on her. That's because Verna keeps appearing in the background of her husband's videos to make Tamerlane paranoid.

Tamerlane fires/breaks up with him, and tries to do the big launch of her Goldbug luxury subscription packages herself. She hallucinates that Verna is there in the front row of the crowd, thinks she's the "other woman" that her husband is cheating on her with, and throws a microphone stand at her.

It turns out to actually be Juno, Roderick's very young wife, who was there to support Tammy, because Juno is a sweetheart and is way too good for the Ushers.

Tammy returns home after the disastrous launch, but starts seeing Verna in all of her mirrors. Verna keeps telling her to go to sleep, to get some rest, to stop being so paranoid and looking for enemies everywhere (her way of trying to give Tammy a peaceful death.)

Tammy starts smashing her mirrors in an attempt to get Verna to stop taunting her. This leads her to her bedroom, where she has a mirror on the ceiling and as her headboard. She smashes the ceiling mirror and the falling shards of glass kill her.

Just one last Usher child remains...

6 - Frederick

Freddie is the eldest child of Roderick Usher, and the final one to die. He's the worst, and imo he could've died a lot more painfully.

When he finds out that his wife Morrie was at the party where Perry died, he goes full asshole abuser mode, in the worst possible way. He removes Morrie from the hospital early and makes a sickbed for her at home. He tells his daughter Lenore (the only grandchild of Roderick) that he's going to get doctors and other help for Morrie, but Lenore never sees anyone coming in or out of the house.

That's because Frederick is essentially keeping Morrie captive and denying her medical treatment. He's using a paralytic to keep her immobilized and unable to speak, but completely aware. So she's just suffering and in horrible pain from the full-body acid burns, and he's using that to punish her for going to the party and presumably cheating on him.

He eventually prints out a million pictures of them on their wedding day and puts them all over the walls in her sickroom. He makes a speech about having to "put his house in order" and about how much he loved her smile when they met.

Then he rips all of her teeth out with some pliers. (This isn't shown, thank god.)

Lenore is growing more and more suspicious of her father and his treatment of her mother. He starts telling her that Morrie is too unwell for visits. When Lenore confronts him about it, he forbids her from checking on Morrie and then leaves the house.

Lenore breaks into her mother's sickroom, finds her being held captive there there, and calls the police. Morrie is rescued and returned to the hospital. We'll talk about what happens with Lenore later.

Frederick left the house to go oversee the demolition of the warehouse where Perry died. It's happening at night, under the table, without any proper permits. He decides he wants to go in and take a piss on the spot Perry died.

It's important to note that he's been doing a shitton of coke for several days now. Earlier, after ripping Morrie's teeth out, when he was getting ready to leave, he was scooping some more coke into a little baggie. We later see that Verna was behind him, urging him to take "more." It turns out that the "more" in question was actually some of the paralytic powder that Frederick was using on Morrie. So he does a bump of his "coke," unzips his fly to pee, then goes rigid and collapses to the floor, paralyzed.

Verna appears, impersonating a construction worker, and explains what's happening to him. She was going to give him an out, just like she did with his siblings, until he ripped Morrie's teeth out. Verna decides then that Frederick will not get the chance for a peaceful death. So she makes sure that he's got the paralytic instead of the coke, waits for him to be alone in the warehouse, then mimics his voice on the radio and calls for the demolition to begin.

Frederick dies paralyzed on the floor, with his dick out (embarrassing,) as the building collapses around him. A big metal piece of the rafters breaks free, swinging like a pendulum, and slowly cuts him in half. Still too good for him, if you ask me.

So now all of Roderick's children are dead! But we're not done, we've still got the terrible twins to contend with.

7 - How Madeline and Roderick fucked over Auggie Dupin

Back in the late '70s, Dupin used to be an investigator for Medicare fraud. He uncovered a conspiracy where higher-ups at Fortunado were forging the signatures of their lower-level employees (like Roderick, at the time,) and their patients, making it seem like the patients had signed off on agreeing to medication trials. They took advantage of a lot of sick, elderly, and mentally unwell people to do so.

For months, Roderick acts like he's going along with Dupin's investigation and plan to ruin Fortunado. He agrees to be a whistleblower and testify that Fortunado forged his signature and lied to their patients.

When the trial finally happens, Roderick lies under oath, says he did sign those papers, and insinuates that Auggie has been harassing him and his family into helping bring down Fortunado. Roderick is very briefly arrested, but quickly set free by Fortunado lawyers. Auggie is left with no case against Fortunado at all, because his key witness and whistleblower betrayed him.

When Roderick's very good, sweet first wife (named Annabel Lee, after the Poe poem) finds out about this, and that Roderick planned to turn on Auggie all along, she is devastated and angry. She leaves Roderick.

It's later revealed that Roderick basically bought their children (Tamerlane and Frederick) away from her by showing them a lavish lifestyle that she couldn't compete with, and Annabel Lee eventually kills herself from the loneliness.

(In the present-day timeline, Auggie admits that the only reason he trusted Roderick was because of Annabel Lee being a genuinely moral, kind person.)

8 - The Deal with Verna

Back in the late 70s, once word gets out that Roderick lied to save the company from litigation, Roderick is considered set for life at Fortunado. His horrible boss, Rufus, keeps talking him up at this big New Year's Eve party, telling him how everyone knows that Roderick is Rufus's number one man.

Later on at this party, Madeline lures Rufus into the basement. She and Roderick then brick him into a wall that's under construction, Cask of Amontillado style. They also poisoned him with cyanide for good measure.

Because Rufus talked up Roderick so much, it's almost guaranteed that Roderick will inherit Rufus's position/title when Rufus turns up missing.

Madeline and Roderick leave the Fortunado party to establish an alibi elsewhere. They find a small, relatively uncrowded bar. It's here that they meet Verna.

Important to note - Madeline was the mastermind behind all of this. She convinced Roderick to betray Auggie. She came up with the plan of trapping and killing Rufus, letting Roddie take his job. She is absolutely the smarter of the two, and is basically always pulling Roderick's strings in the background.

Everything that Roderick is, he owes to Madeline's ruthlessness, cleverness, and total disregard for everyone else but herself and her twin brother.

And to one other thing...

The terrible twins are the last people at the bar, and are talking about their ambitions and dreams while they drink with Verna. As the conversation goes on, Verna reveals that she knows what the twins did to Rufus just hours before, which should be impossible.

She then gives them an offer, and makes it clear that it's not a hypothetical, but a deal that she wants to make with them.

If they accept, their family will never again be able to be convicted of any crime, including the murder the twins literally just committed. No legal charges will ever stick. They'll achieve anything they can imagine, and have a lifetime of money, luxury, and comfort.

But the trade-off is their entire bloodline. When Roderick and Madeline reach the age where they would've naturally died anyway, all of their offspring will die before them.

Obviously, they took the deal. Madeline never has children. Roderick pops them out left and right. And one of his children has a child, too - Lenore. And the trade-off is the entire bloodline.

9 - Lenore

Roderick loves Lenore very much. He considers her the best of the Ushers and has faith that she will be a good person. And the narrative makes it clear that this is true, as Lenore is shown constantly questioning the older members of her family about what's right and wrong, and why they're doing the things they do.

After the joint funeral of Tamerlane, Frederick, and Victorine, Roderick's brain disease makes him collapse on the street. Lenore stays with him that night to keep an eye on him, because Roderick's very young wife, Juno, has left him. (We'll get into that later, as Juno is a key part of the ending.)

The night Lenore stays with Roderick, Verna appears to her and tells her a story about Morrie. Because Lenore intervened, Morrie will make a full recovery. Then she'll go on to start a non-profit foundation for victims of domestic violence. That foundation will go on to help millions and millions of people. Morrie calls it "The Lenore Foundation."

Verna apologizes to Lenore, says she doesn't want to do this part of her job, and then gently touches Lenore's forehead.

Lenore basically goes to sleep, dying peacefully, but she's also not even 18 yet so it's a big bummer. (One of the implications of this is that all of Roderick's children could have died this way, too, but they were assholes so their deaths were gruesome and painful.)

Roderick is obviously very distraught by this. He goes to his childhood home and asks Auggie Dupin to meet him there.

10 - The Deaths of the Terrible Twins

As he finishes telling him the whole story, the question of whether or not Madeline and Roderick really believed that the deal with Verna was real or not comes up. Roderick admits that he believed it, and that he knew that he would "climb to the top on a pile of corpses" and that he didn't care. He chose to do it all anyway, knowing how many people would be killed by his drug.

All throughout their conversation, Auggie keeps hearing some clunking noises in the basement. Roderick tells him "it's just Madeline."

We then find out that Roderick brought Madeline to their childhood home and shares a drink with her. He actually poisons her. After she dies, he takes her eyes out and replaces them with blue stones, mimicking the burial of Egyptian pharaohs.

Madeline, either back from the dead or having never really died, comes up from the basement wailing, her eyes gone and replaced with stones. She runs straight for Roderick and begins strangling him. At that point, the storm that's been brewing all night reaches a frenzy, lightning strikes the crumbling house, and it starts collapsing.

Auggie flees the house just before it completely falls. Madeline and Roderick are buried beneath the rubble. And so, all the Ushers are finally dead.

Epilogue - Juno

Some background - Roderick met Juno in a hospital. She was there after suffering a serious heroin overdose, which including losing her leg. (The actress playing Juno is a real amputee, so that's a fun bit of representation.) She's in a coma when Roderick hears about her - a young woman who suffers from a terrible heroin addiction and has no family, prospects, or assets of her own. Juno is given the highest dosage of Ligodone that anyone has ever received. She wakes up in no pain. She and Roderick fall in love and get married, and she continues taking the highest dosage possible, at Roderick's insistence.

Juno believes their love is real. As the show goes on, she starts expressing interest in weening herself off Ligodone. Roderick forbids her from doing so, asking her how it would look in the midst of Fortunado being on trial. When she insists, saying it should be easy since it's non-addictive, Roderick reveals that it's VERY addictive and that recovery will be a slow, painful, years-long process. He also admits that the reason he loves her is because her body is so good at processing Ligodone, and she's taking so much, that she "basically is Lidgodone." He even compares himself to Dr. Frankenstein and her to his monster. This is when she leaves him, telling him that she'll endure three years of pain and discomfort over a lifetime with him.

And then, with everyone else being dead, Juno is the only person left in the will.

She completely dissolves Fortunado and gives most of the money away. She also manages to overcome her addiction to Ligodone, slowly and painfully, but on her own terms. The heroin addict - "junkie slut" as his kids so often called her - wins it all, dismantles the horrible pharma company, and gets to live her life without the Ushers.

Auggie's final scene is him standing at the graves of the Usher family. He says: "Goodbye, Roderick. I'm going home to my husband and our kids and their kids. I'm the richest man in the world, you know?" SO on the nose and cheesy, lmao. One of the criticisms that I do have of this show is that it's pretty heavy-handed and can be very preachy at times. But putting that aside, I really enjoyed it!

Anyway - in the final scene, we see Verna placing objects of importance on each of the headstones for all of the deceased Ushers: the mask Perry was wearing the night of his death; Camille's phone (for her PR job); Pluto's collar for Napoleon; Victorine's heart device; Tamberlane's "Goldbug" pendant; Frederick's baggie of coke (lmao); the blue stones that became her eyes for Madeline; and a whiskey glass for Roderick. Lenore gets a beautiful raven's feather, wrapped in a white ribbon.

As she places these items, Verna speaks in voice over and recites the Poe poem "Spirits of the Dead."

There ya go! That's the basic meat of the story and as many details as I could include. I honestly skipped over SO much and left out some characters entirely, but I think this'll give you a good idea of what happens plot-wise.

Love you, Nins <3

#asks #nins tag #h-f-k #tfothou spoilers #this is specifically for Nins and not meant for the fandom fyi

[glamorouspixels]

Hello! Do you have any recs for fics that center Jane and Phryne's relationship? I love the show but I feel like Jane as a character needed more attention.

Oh, I am delighted that you would come to me with this, thank you! I know you asked specifically for Phryne & Jane stuff, but the second part of your question (giving Jane as a character more attention) can be interpreted to include Jane & Jack fics too, so you're getting both! :D

Phryne Fisher & Jane Ross Fanfic Recs

a safe place to land by missymeggins

This one is about Jane struggling to feel at home at Wardlow, and feeling restless and having an almost instinctive desire to leave. It focuses 100% on Phryne and Jane's relationship. Because of her own past, Phryne can relate to Jane's experiences and she helps her feel more comfortable at Wardlow. I'm really in awe of this fic. It's super nuanced and full of feelings!

Bon Goût non Raffiné by QuailiTea

Phryne helps Jane with her French lessons by introducing her to a scandalous and surprisingly sexual etiquette book. I just reread this one and I'm in love with how Phryne-esque Phryne's parenting style is 🥺🥰 It may be unconventional, but it works and she clearly knows just what Jane needs to feel better.

Friends and Relations by @rain-sleet-snow

Mac wants Jane to have more positive role models in her life and starts tutoring her in science. What starts out as weekly after-school lessons turns into an adorable friendship. The focus is more on Jane's relationship with Mac than with Phryne, but it's still Jane-centric and I would highly recommend it!

In Time with Miss Jane by @aurora-australis-tumbles

In this one we see Jane interacting with almost everyone, but Phryne keeps appearing all throughout the fic. It's about six different expressions of love portrayed through six different interactions between Jane and various members of the Wardlow family and all of the scenes are wonderful 😍

All Wrapped Up in Each Other by @omgimsarahtoo

While not exactly Jane-centric, this fic contains what is probably my all-time favorite exchange between Phryne and Jane so I'm putting it on the list. It's a wonderful mix of family fluff and romantic Phrack moments, including a pre-Christmas weekend getaway where Phryne and Jack manage to stay naked the whole time. We also get a brief hint that Jane might be into girls, which is an idea I have a massive soft spot for myself <3

Jack Robinson & Jane Ross Fanfic Recs

of fate and plaits by @leliesblou

A university-aged Jane has an injured wrist and needs help with her hair, and Jack, being the only one around, gives her schoolgirl braids. He tells her about his sister and nieces and "contemplaits" (pun stolen from the fic's summary) his family. Yep, it's just as adorable as it sounds and you should go read it :D

Unconventional by @rubycaspar

*dissolves into a puddle of fluff and feelings* Jane runs into Rosie at a book sale. Without knowing that she is Jack's ex-wife, Jane tells Rosie what Jack means to her 🥺🥰 Jack shows up a short time later. He and Jane eventually return to Wardlow with a ridiculous number of books, and they talk about who they are to one another, which results in the cutest and most heartwarming conversation everrr. Go read iiit as soon as you possibly can!

Mistaken by Skald_of_Askr

Please don't be scared away by the fact that this is incomplete. The two chapters currently posted can be read as standalones and they're both wonderful. The premise of the fic is that Jack slowly realizes that he's Jane's dad, and it's told through various slice of life-type of scenes. The two chapters posted are wonderful. I especially loved chapter two, in which Jane gets sick and Jack takes care of her, but both chapters are amazing.

Basement by whosrickygoldsworth

Jack and Jane get trapped in a basement and they use the opportunity for some father-daughter bonding time while they wait for Phryne to rescue them 😂 Jack teaches Jane about Shakespeare, which means the fic is both fluffy and educational!

Old-Fashioned by @gaslightgallows

This one could fit into either category. I'm putting it with the Jack & Jane fics because it involves Jack's Christmas present to Jane, but it's really about the three of them as a family and it is heartwarming and adorable. They're all sleepy and soft and wearing pajamas, and there are hugs and hot cocoa, and by now I've read it more times than I can count 🥰

The Way You Roll Your Eyes by yours truly :D

Another "Jane is queer" fic with Phrack elements set at Christmastime! Jane and her friends are throwing a pre-Christmas party. Jane's invited over one of her friends, whom she has a crush on, so they can get ready together. Because Jane is nervous and she's never done another person's makeup before, she asks Jack if she can practice on him. While the first half consists almost entirely of Jack & Jane bonding time, chapter two is when Phryne comes home and discovers that she rather likes the sight of him in makeup 😇

#sorry this took me so long it's because i spent way too much time on it 😂 #also i enjoyed putting together this list so if anyone has more mfmm rec list requests i can do them #mfmm #miss fisher's murder mysteries #phryne fisher #jane ross #jack robinson #phrack #mfmm rec list

[hiacainth]

All My Fics!

I pretty much only write toh fanfiction lol. All of my fics can be found on my Ao3!

Multi-Chapter Fics: 

I (Can’t) Love You (M): Eda Clawthorne has just finalized her divorce. As amicable as it was, she is still feeling the sting of the end of the relationship. She clearly isn't interested in finding love at the moment until an old friend from her school days appears in her life again scorned and left in tatters after a messy divorce of their own.

Seamus & Isidora Short Story Collection 18+ (E):  Seamus and Isidora are navigating their relationship one sexcapade at a time. Co-Created by @rosie-darling 

Do You Hear The People Sing? (M): Fire Lord Belos has been slowly making headway in his war against the rest of the world. After a party gone horribly wrong at the Northern Water Tribe, a formidable force that remained neutral is now thrown into the depths of wartime and now newly realized Avatar Luz Noceda, along with a scrappy group of allies has to fulfill her duty to restore balance to the world.

Confess Your Sins, Sister (E): After an exorcism gone wrong, Eda now has a demon with a charming smile following her around and they make her hot in all the right places.

One-Shots

The Dragon Taming Witch (GA): This is a fic for the Raeda Fankid Mini Bang! This is a story about Aine Clawthorne-Whispers and her dear Dragon, Ryoko and their journey to becoming companions told in a series of record logs and incident reports.

Holding out for a Miracle(s) (GA): After three years of marriage and multiple negative pregnancy tests, Raine is still trying to hold out hope for a baby one day.

Incessant Pest (Affectionate) (GA) : This is an Aladarius commission! Darius thought his life would be worry free after the Day of Unity, but now it’s not what’s plaguing his thoughts but who.

Dates and Deceit (GA): This is a fic for the 2023 Raeda Exchange! Raine needs a date to Grom, Lilith and Darius need a source of entertainment. What could go wrong?

She’s Ethereal (E):  Raine and Eda have been adjusting to parenthood, but some insecurities with Eda, gives Raine an idea on how to fix it while also pleasuring their wife.

Burning Anger & Sigils (GA):  Aine and Aria Whispers-Clawthorne are two sisters who are VERY different. They're close as can be, but their differences cause strain in their relationship. Their most recent argument: Aine says she's ready to join the Beast-Keeping Coven instead of being wild like her sister and mother. Co-Created by @rosie-darling 

I (Can’t) Love You 18+ Scene (E): This is a one-shot detailing the red hot events of chapter one of I (Can’t) Love You that wasn’t suitable for a Mature rating. 

What Are We? Not Lovers But Not Friends (E): Raine and Eda decide to do other things rather than communicate like adults.

The Body Remembers What The Heart And Mind Forget (E) :This is an alternative to Eda showing Raine the music tape during Follies :)

Calamity and Dewdrop (GA): This is a work for Raeda Week 2022! Raine has been crushing on their best friend Eda for a while now, and after some meddling with Eda’s sister Lilith and a Hexside championship title, they may have to confess their love after all.

This is a live list and will be growing as I create!

Key: 

T: Teen 

GA: General Audiences

M: Mature

E: Explicit

#the owl house #toh eda #raine x eda #toh raine #toh raeda #raeda fluff #fanfic #raeda fankid #raeda angst

[aquaticsoul]

An Assortment of NPCs/Side Muses

Any of these characters can receive asks at any time! Additionally, they may make frequent or semi-frequent appearances in pieces of writing and whatnot. I'll add images of them once I actually have art of them. I am just very new to drawing so I take a while- ANYWAY. Enjoy!

Also, he has a TON of other important relationships (such as his twin sister, all his coworkers/soul family, and his student/almost-son) over on my pal Kira's blog (and soon, another friend will swoop in with Sielu's favorite cousins >:3), and neither Sielu or any of these beloved muses would exist without his help. I recommend popping over to @shiroi---kumo if you get the chance to show some love to his worldbuilding. Send him an anon, brighten his day, etc. etc.

Iiriksen Sade | Iris Rain

Ask emojis: ☔️🪁

Sielu's beloved father, who helped foster his love for music by simply existing. Sade was calm, caring, doting, and loved his family above all else - even his cherished afternoon nap time. He worked as a music librarian and occasional violinist for a long-standing local community choir, which he did bring young Sielu along to. He had deep purple hair and Mist with blue eyes and horns of a deep emerald. It's also worth noting that he was a short man for a Misterican, standing at only 5'5", but his heart more than made up for it. There was never any question at all about how much he loved his kids, though he was often questioned by peers about why he seemed not to be proud about their accomplishments. In reality, he cared very much, but he was of the firm belief children are not bragging points and his relationship to them and to his wife took priority over any material thing. Rarely did he speak to strangers of their many talents, but often did he talk about how much he enjoyed their latest afternoon spent together.

Keskiyön Siipi | Midnight Wing

Ask emojis: 🦋🪁

Sielu's beloved mother. She was, at one point, an extremely talented percussionist and met her husband through them being in the same ensemble during the Misterican equivalent of high school. They quickly became best friends, then started dating a couple of months later. Her mother was killed in the war against Windaria when she was 19 and her father had always been extremely ill. Sade (20 at the time) and his mother ended up basically moving in with her part-time to keep her company, as Mistericans are not adults until 25 and Siipi was struggling to figure everything out. With her father's dying wish two years later to see his daughter have security and a family to love her, she married Sade just before she turned 22. She turned her family house into a comfortable home again with Sade's help, and until the day she died, she worked day in and day out to keep it that way for both of her children. While Sielu remembers her as the stricter (and "overly worried") parent, he also remembers her as a fiercely devoted mother and one of the kindest people to ever exist. Additionally, he always considered her the better chef and attributes her baking to the reason he's a bit of a sugar fiend. She had very light blue hair and deep blue eyes, with three horns resembling lepidolite.

Ukkonen Pauhu | Thunder Roar

Ask emojis: 🌩️📣

Sielu's most-adored music teacher. The man was a bit out there, but his material was always engaging and he had a great rapport with Sielu even well into Sielu's adulthood. He taught choir to the kid in high school, but he also ran a community choir that he'd taken over from his family that Sielu had been a part of since he was about four years old. He had orange eyes, lightning yellow hair and Mist, and looked at all times as if he'd stuck a fork in an electrical socket and survived. Many of Sielu's teaching methods come from him.

Vihreä Terälehti | Green Petal

Ask emojis: 🍃💚

One of Sielu's best friends from childhood, Vihreä was unfortunately an easy target for childhood bullies. Seeing the fellow six-year-old crying off by himself, Sielu went and sat with him, trying to cheer him up with jokes and singing. He didn't listen to a word from his classmates, instead choosing to go against the crowd in typical Sielu fashion to befriend the other boy. Soon, they were joined by a third party, being one Oranssi Lento, who only added to the attempts at joking around. As they grew up and Sielu got more bold, Terälehti was often the one keeping him from getting into too much trouble and bringing him home after any incidents. He had "the most beautiful amber eyes [Sielu had] ever seen", and dark green hair.

Oranssi Lento | Orange Flight

Ask emojis: 🪶🧡

Where there was a young Sielu, so also was there a young Lento. While Terälehti tried to be a voice of reason, Lento was entirely encouraging of her friend's antics and often helped to plan them. She followed Sielu into their community choir when she was nine, and still credits Sielu for helping her find things to do outside of being maliciously compliant. Her fiery personality and willingness to absolutely verbally destroy her declared enemies reminds Sielu of sunlight - gentle and warm to those who need it, but a powerful force of nature to those who deserve it.

#dealing with the paperwork ; ooc. #guest muse: sade #guest muse: siipi #guest muse: lento #guest muse: terälehti #guest muse: pauhu #death tw #war tw #illness tw #arc ; sing dear bird (misterica)

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

I’m writing some stuff from Amos’ point of view just to get a handle on him, since he’s much more present as a character in the Redux and every few seconds I’m just like. AMOS. Please. Christ on a bike man. 

Here, have some Amos describing random things including, but not limited to, his children, the bad habits their grandparents have given them, that one time he killed a man, and the pleasures he has in life: 

--

My son would say that I am a present man. I believe I’ve heard him say as much to friends. He’s a flighty boy, prone to speaking before he thinks and acting before he thinks to think. But he’s sweet, in his way. Ruthless, too, which I am pleased to see develop for ours is a world cutthroat and merciless. I’d not relish a weak child. There’s something abysmally bleak in the thought of raising this being from babe to adulthood only for them to be eaten alive by the hounds of life.

-

Height—I suppose that is my most prominent feature. Strong nose and chin and jaw. Eyes are something or other—hazel, I think is what my wife has termed them upon occasion. Hair is mud. Netty has the better looks and I’m pleased our children took what they did from her. I’m also pleased they did not receive her nerves. Stalwart and stubborn rather than mousey and, at times, fearful. Of what? I asked her once. She just said, Well there’s that man out there killing women in their own homes. And I told her that she’s perfectly safe and to be reasonable about the entire situation. What is the likelihood of him choosing our family? While it’s not a zero per-cent chance, it’s still low. I had meant to add that this nerviness of hers predates Quayside Killer so I’d appreciate it if she wouldn’t lie to me. But it hadn’t been worth her clamming up for a week straight. Sometimes, she shakes like a leaf when she thinks no one is looking.

Still, despite this, she mothers and wifes well so I’ve no complaints.

 -

There was one night when William would have been seven or eight and he woke but I didn’t hear him come half-down the stairs to sit and grip the railing posts and stare through into the kitchen which is where I was finishing up work. There had been flooding—a bad summer, much rain, no irrigation, river banks do what river banks do which is to say: give way. My office was out of commission as a result so I had taken to doing work on the slab of a wooden table in the kitchen. Single lamp. Books open. Abacus out. &c.

There had been trouble at the docks. Rival merchants out for each other’s skin—we’d make suits of each other if we could. I was having none of it. It’s bad for business and I loathe all things bad for business. Anyway, one such individual had it out for me—Joss informed me only the night before. We had been at the Swan & Sword for a swift pre-supper drink and he said, Harry McGuire’s going to send someone after you.

Assassin? I asked.

Nothing formal, Jocelyn replied.

Timeframe?

Imminent. He finished his ale. Offered to get us another round which I accepted and let him take himself up to the bar. He has a horrid habit, and he keeps it wrapped up most of the time, but I track where a man’s eyes wander when he thinks he’s not being observed, and I see where Joss’ go from time to time and it’s unfortunate. Still, I suppose he knows his business and what risks he’s willing to take and the perversions he’s willing to allow in his own life. At the very least, he is discreet and limited.

Anyway, he returned and gave over my pint saying, Just keep some good men about you, in case. McGuire’s tenacious. You might have to send his messengers back to him in pieces.

So I was not surprised when a man appeared at the back door then he was inside the kitchen and at the table and held a knife and then I made sure he ended up on the floor and roundly beat his head in. It was short, sweet, to the point. Like a well-crafted missive.

I had thought I was alone until I heard a stair creak and lo’ there was William watching from between bannisters with big child eyes and I felt concerned that I might have disturbed him. For I should hope he knows he has nothing to fear of me. I told him to go to bed and he duly retreated upstairs after which I took care of the McGuire Messenger who proceeded to have an accident and fell into the river.

-

William has never asked me about it. The next morning I expected a question or two on the matter but he didn’t inquire. He ate his breakfast with his usual gusto and went about his day as a cheerful seven-year-old.

 -

The gods blessed Netty and I with four children who survived childhood—three girls, one boy. Magda is our eldest and takes after my side of the family in terms of her general appearance, save that she thankfully has her mother’s delicate facial features. Which are more appropriate for a girl. Then there is William who looks much like me save he has his mother’s colouring in his eyes and hair, so black and dark reddish-brown. I believe he also has her ears and his maternal grandfather’s easy temperament. Laure is our third. She’s a queer thing—lighter in her colouring, quiet, watchful, the opposite of her siblings. I have jested to Netty that Laure is a fey-child and Netty tells me to not be cruel about our girl. Sicily is the youngest of the surviving four and is much like William in appearance, save she is small how Netty is small. She’ll grow to have the head of a man, though, of that I’ve no doubt. Her husband had best watch himself. If her flaming rows with William are anything to go by. Savvy, cunning, if she had been born a son I would have her lined up to succeed me and let William do whatever it is he wants to do.

Which is, frankly, a mystery. I doubt that boy has any concept of the future beyond a month out at best. I have oft’ complained of this to Netty and Joss. Both have informed me that this is a perfectly normal situation to be in for a sixteen-year-old. I do not recall being so listless and wayward in my intentions at sixteen but I was less coddled than he.

 -

My father’s spirit occasionally comes to me at night and tells me I spoil the boy. But I cannot help it—I attempt firmness but then he pleads and argues and makes a fit before going into sweetness and charm and it’s all very, well, sweet. He’s an affectionate child, or wishes to be, though I’ve no real knowledge of how best to respond. Thankfully, he stopped attempting to hug me goodnight when he was seven.

 -

I shall quickly document my pleasure’s in life, which do include some vices I have attempted to drop but cannot seem to: cards & dice; strong cheese from Quirm—blue and stratified like a cliff face; the nature poetry of Randolph Turza; music—particularly that which is played on cello, fortepiano, and the lyre (William has taken up the guitarra and lute for reasons I have not come to completely understand but there was some talk of: boys who play such instruments are “hot stuff, father.” Laure plays the fortepiano beautifully, as does Magda. Sicily—well, least said about her aborted music lessons soonest mended); theatre—historical dramas and tragedies (I suffer comedies once a year on Netty’s birthday for that is her preference); fishing & hunting; attending the races; good, rich Brindisian wine; the touch of fox fur lined cloaks; a well-made cup of tea.

There are strange & private pleasures best not documented but if I were forced to, they would include Netty rolling down her stockings; the shape of the lips of the first girl I kissed; that strangely pleasurable pain that comes after a fist fight at the docks when every part hurts; scrape of sea salt on skin; Netty’s breasts; some bed-side things that happen between husband and wife that need not be spoken of save between the two parties involved; the feeling of someone whispering a secret which is the same as when someone with a Genoan accent speaks softly whilst explaining something with great intent and focus.

-

My father died when I was four-and-thirty. My mother when I was four-and-forty. Ten years and four days apart. My mother would have appreciated the symmetry of it. My children know better their maternal grandparents who are in and about giving them bad-habits such as hiding boiled sweets in a small pouch up sleeves and smoking strong-smelling tobacco and singing in the midst of supper.

#writing #discworld #thus always the redux #this isn't going in the final version so I'm sticking in here #lord downey