#i can talk about glinda for so long | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wicked-secretsanta · 4 months

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Merry Christmas @gliyerabaa!

Special message: Happy holidays! Thank you for being such an awesome person in the fandom <3

Read it on Ao3

“You have to help, Glinda, I keep leaving late because of her. It’s so unfair.”

“Late?” Glinda asked. “You close at eight, don’t you?”

“Yes, technically, but I can close earlier if no one’s here and no one is here after six except for her. Not to mention she always stays until after eight, it’s ridiculous. Every day? I mean, every day? How many things are there to read in this place? Surely she must’ve gone through everything already and—”

“Peace, Milla.” Glinda raised a hand as if that could fend off the rambling. “Elphie is just—”

“Oh, Elphie,” Milla scoffed. “I'm sorry, I forgot you two are joined at the hip nowadays. I don't care what Elphie is doing here, I just want to go home. It's the weekend!”

Glinda’s face burned as Milla dragged her through the library. “Now wait a moment. What makes you think I could possibly—?”

“Figure it out. And get her out of here!” Milla finished her sentence by pointedly shoving Glinda towards the stairs to the second floor.

“Gee.” Glinda huffed as Milla walked away, still mumbling angrily to herself. Something about the library's end shift not being as easy as she thought it would be. “Talk about an attitude.”

Glinda threw her hair over her shoulder and climbed the stairs purposely taking her time. Not that she wasn't sympathetic to Milla's plight, but she didn't appreciate being made fun of. She and Elphaba were definitely not joined at the hip. The nerve.

The second floor had many tables and benches near the balustrade, and in one of those tables was Elphaba in her natural habitat, hunched over, notebook in front of her, stack of books by her elbow, splayed books in front of her, quill in a hand that was looking so cramped Glinda winced in sympathy.

Elphaba didn't notice her arrival, too engrossed in her work.

“Elphie,” Glinda called softly, not wanting to startle her, feeling as if she was approaching an idle animal.

Elphaba looked up, startled, blinking beady eyes and then squinting, then removing her spectacles to rub her eyes with ink-stained fingers. Her braid was all messy, strands framing her face as if she'd raked her fingers though it repeatedly, and she had an overall frazzled look about her.

Glinda swooned, but just a little.

“What?” Elphaba’s voice was a little hoarse from disuse. “What are you doing here?”

Glinda cleared her throat. “It's late, Elphie, I've been sent to bring you back to the dorms.”

“Oh.” Elphaba leaned back in her chair. “Late? But it's only—” Then she looked out into the window at the back of the room, and was greeted with the darkening colors of sunset crossing over the sky. “Oh. I lost track of time.”

A smile played on the edges of Glinda’s mouth. “As you often do. C’mon, get your things, Milla is going to kill me if I don’t get you out of here in the next minute.”

“But I’m not done.”

“You can come back tomorrow,” she said. “And God knows you will come back tomorrow. Aren’t you tired?”

Though the question was redundant, she knew at this point that Elphaba was always at least a little bit tired. She had been ever since Dr. Dillamond was murdered, just like Glinda had been permanently tired since Ama Clutch fell ill.

“I have something to show you.” Elphaba came to her feet suddenly, not even bothering to answer the question, but looking more alert than she had just a second ago.

“Didn’t you hear me?” asked Glinda. “We have to leave. Milla is—”

“Milla won’t care for a minute or two.”

“Milla is about to have a fainting bout, Elphie.”

“She can have one after a minute or two.” She closed her notebook and stacked her books and put a bunch in her satchel, then threw it over one shoulder and grabbed her little lamp, the only light source other than the natural, dying sunlight breaking through. “Come on, it won’t take long.”

“What?” Glinda blinked, but followed Elphaba deeper into the rows of bookshelves. She had to follow her, Milla be damned, because Elphaba never included Glinda in her comings and goings in this place, the chance was too good to pass up. And to be fair Elphaba was taking her things with her, so she clearly intended to leave once she was done showing Glinda whatever she wanted to show her. “What is it?”

“Have you ever been here?”

“To the library? Sometimes. Why?”

“Just follow.”

“I am following.”

“There’s a lot of books that aren’t accessible to us on account of our unfortunate circumstance of being girls.”

“Unfortunate?” Glinda muttered, but Elphaba went on.

“I’ve been bribing Boq and Crope and Tibbett to find me real material from the Briscoe library. Well, I used to bribe them, but now they just do it.”

They trudged through a great number of bookshelves, moving through the rows and hallways as if going deeper and deeper into a maze. “I suppose that’s what happens when you become friends with people.”

The soft glow of the lamp caught Elphaba’s adorable grimace. “I suppose. The point is that they’re good at what they do, but I cannot walk around with the books on my person. Who knows what would happen if Morrible were to corner me, and I know she’s had her eye on me, that disgusting little tiktok creature follows me around when she thinks I’m clueless.”

It wasn’t the first time Glinda heard about this. It had started happening after the murder, and in her grief-stricken state Glinda had attributed it to Elphaba’s paranoid and conspiracy-loving mind, but she didn’t think it was so farfetched now. She had caught glimpses of Morrible’s mechanical servant in places where it shouldn’t be.

“You keep them here?” Glinda asked. “The books, I mean.”

Finally they stopped in front of a random shelf at the back, not any different than any of the others, spines and spines of weathered leather forming a wall that extended from floor to ceiling.

“Yes,” said Elphaba, and reached for one of the books. “No one ever searches here because what could the good girls of Crage Hall possibly be hiding in their library of all places?”

Glinda smiled. She wouldn’t have encouraged breaking the rules in the past, but she was beginning to see some rules only existed for the wrong reasons. “Right. Good society girls usually hide their prohibited things in their drawers or under their mattresses.”

“You would know about that,” Elphaba teased, then handed the book over. “I thought you may be interested in this one.”

Glinda squinted at it in the low light, for the sun was almost under the horizon now, and Elphaba’s lamp was quite small. From what she could gather it was some dusty, ancient spellbook.

She closed it after realizing what it was.

“What?” Elphaba asked. “Isn’t sorcery your preferred area of study?”

“I— well, it used to be. But it’s complicated now.”

“Because of Ama Clutch?”

“Because of Ama Clutch.” Glinda put the book back where it belonged—well, not where it belonged, but rather where Elphaba had smuggled it into. “What if it was my fault?”

“That’s—”

Then they heard the screech of a heavy door, and the unmistakable click of an even heavier lock.

“Oh, she didn’t,” Glinda whispered.

And finally, as if on a timer as tight as Milla’s schedule, the sun finished setting, and the two of them were thrown more or less into darkness in the middle of the most remote corner of the library, perhaps the most remote corner in all of Crage Hall, with only Elphaba’s little lamp to go by.

They looked at each other briefly, Elphaba scowling, Glinda rolling her eyes, and made their way out and into the main floor.

“Did your friend just lock us here on purpose?”

“Friend is a very strong word right about now,” said Glinda.

The library’s main door was indeed locked, no amount of pushing or pulling would make it budge.

Elphaba smashed her shoulder against it, fruitlessly, then banged on it with her open palm. “Milla! Are you still out there? Open the door right this instant, if this is a prank—”

“It’s not a prank, unfortunately.” Glinda grabbed Elphaba’s hand before she could mangle it. “She probably saw your things were gone and assumed we left without her noticing.”

Elphaba turned to her, bewildered. “And she would close up the place without being certain?”

“Oh, sure. I don’t think you understand how upset she was about having to stay here this late.”

“It’s not even closing time!”

“You don’t have to fight me about it,” Glinda grumbled.

“Come.” Elphaba grabbed Glinda’s wrist and tugged her away from the door, still holding her lamp in her other hand. Was it gas or oil, Glinda wondered, and just how much light did they still have left?

They stopped in front of one of the windows, and Elphaba handed over the life-saving lamp. “Hold this for a second. I’ll get this open and we’ll just jump through—” Elphaba trailed off.

Glinda leaned closer to the window to see what she was seeing, just as water began pattering against it, and just as the sky lit up briefly with a flash, followed by the low rumble of thunder.

“Great,” said Elphaba.

“God forbid things are ever easy for us.”

“You could still leave if you don’t mind getting your clothes wet,” Elphaba said. “You won’t melt like a sugarcube the way I would. Though I suppose if I step outside my ‘melting’ would be quite more graphic and bloody than that of a sugarcube.”

Glinda grimaced. “Must you be so morbid? And I’m not leaving, Elphie. I would hate for you to be all alone in here with the storm going on, who knows when it’s going to let up.”

“You don’t have to worry, I’ll be perfectly safe. It’s not like I never spend time alone in here anyway.”

Elphaba was never going to let this go as long as she saw it as Glinda doing something for her, she had that funny way about herself where accepting someone else’s assistance was a ludicrous concept.

“I don’t want to get my hair wet,” Glinda said. “I spent a lot of time curling it this morning.”

And that was that.

“Fine, then.” Elphaba sighed. “Let’s try to put on the fireplace, it can get chilly in here, and something tells me we’ll need the light to go by.”

“You’ve been here all day,” said Glinda as they made their way back through the main floor, led by Elphaba's singular lamp. “Did you eat?”

The fact Elphaba had to think about it was hilarious, and also a little sad. “No, but it’s fine. I’m not hungry.” She was betrayed by the sudden and spectacularly well-timed growling of her stomach, because that was just the way things went.

“Mhm.”

Elphaba flushed a darker green, and cleared her throat. “It’s because you made me think about it. I wasn’t hungry a moment ago.”

“That’s entirely sensible.” Glinda nodded seriously, though of course she didn’t think it was sensible at all. “You handle the fire and I’ll make sure you don’t starve.”

“There’s nothing to eat here, food and drinks aren’t allowed.”

“Oh, Elphie,” Glinda said dramatically. “You wound me by being so distrustful! Don’t you worry about that, I’ll find you something to eat.”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Fine, go hunting and gathering inside the library, that’s a swell idea. Just know that I don’t eat books, contrary to popular belief.”

“I’ll be back in a clock tick.” Glinda smiled at her, and they went in their opposite directions, Elphaba towards the fireplace and Glinda towards the front desk.

Milla’s front desk, to be exact.

She got to keep the lamp so she didn’t have to stumble her way through, but she would know where to go and where to search even in total darkness.

At this point Glinda had spent enough time with Milla—more time than either of them had ever spent with Shenshen and Pfannee—to know the girl’s habits pretty well. If she had to stay four hours a day in this place then there was no way she would do it without anything to eat in the meantime.

Glinda had only to rummage behind the front desk for a few seconds before she found what she was looking for. A half-eaten bag of almonds and peanuts, a little box of breadsticks, and nougat and other non-perishable little munchables. Perfect.

Glinda grabbed all of it, then frowned, then her eyes widened and she chuckled.

“Ah, Milla. You scoundrel.”

Behind the little pile of snacks and hidden under some stacks of papers was an innocuous dark glass bottle. Glinda pulled it out, and took out the loose cork and sniffed it, then wrinkled her nose.

Well, she supposed that was one way of coping with always having to leave on time—which for Milla meant leaving late.

She gathered all of Milla’s pastimes in her arms and made her way back to find Elphaba crouching by the fireplace with a stick, fumbling around in the darkness as she tried to get a flame going.

“C’mon, you useless—”

Glinda dropped her spoils on the nearby couch and set the lamp down on a low table, then snapped her fingers and the fireplace properly roared to life.

Elphaba stumbled back, startled, then looked over her shoulder with her typical scowl. “A little warning could’ve been nice.”

“Where’s the fun in that? I rarely get to surprise you with anything, let me have this.”

“I thought you weren’t that interested in magic anymore.”

“I said to let me have this.”

Elphaba dusted off her hands then came to her feet, overseeing everything Glinda brought. She glanced at her lamp, but it was a little redundant now. “Where’d you find all of this?”

“Milla’s not-so-secret stash.” Glinda winked. “It's not exactly a proper meal but at least you won't die of starvation.”

“I think I could've managed a few hours without—”

Glinda tossed her the brown bag of peanuts and almonds, and it comically hit Elphaba square in the forehead.

“Thanks for that,” Elphaba deadpanned, and the bag fell right into her waiting hand.

“So you can say thank you! Very good, Elphie.”

“I—” Elphaba blinked. “I have been terribly ungrateful, you're right. I'm sorry. Thank you for the food, and for staying with me while I’m trapped here.”

Glinda's eyes lit up. Goodness, she kept swooning just because Elphaba was being a decent person.

“You're welcome, Elphie.” This little infatuation was proving difficult to manage and also quite a bit embarrassing. “This is tonight's grand prize, however.”

And she lifted up the liquor bottle and gave it a little shake.

“What in the—” Elphaba snorted. “Where’d you find that?”

“Also Milla’s not-so-secret stash.”

“No wonder that ninny can never help me find a single book. I know the school pays only in extra credits but honestly, a little effort would go a long way, and—are you even listening?”

“Sorry.” Glinda finished taking a swig. It was kind of awfully strong. Was it moonshine? Ugh. She never would've expected that from Milla of all people. “Did you want some?”

“Give me that. And I’d offer to sit but I’m kind of sick of staying in one place. Do you want to walk around? I can show you the library. I don't think my lamp has a long lifespan left but there's enough windows and moonlight to go by.”

Glinda wouldn’t say no if her life depended on it. “Fine by me.”

“But—” Elphaba raised a palm between them. “Are you sure?”

“Sure of what?”

“Sure of staying here, I mean,” Elphaba said. “You don’t have to, it’s really not that long of a walk to the dormitories, you can deal with a little bit of water—”

“Elphie,” Glinda cut in slowly, more like a warning than anything else. “I'm staying until it's safe for you to go outside, and that's that. You hear me? That's that.”

“But—”

“That's that. I don't want to hear another word about it.”

Elphaba blinked for a moment, just staring at Glinda, then nodded as if unsure of what she'd just heard.

If nothing else it truly felt like progress. Glinda had been ready to argue for a while longer.

She carried the lamp so Elphaba could munch on the ‘borrowed’ food as they walked, but they did share the bottle of moonshine between them, passing it back and forth as they went along.

Yet Elphaba never grimaced at the strong aftertaste and she walked in a straight line, her eyes sharp even after Glinda started refusing any more of it because she was getting lightheaded.

“You can really hold your liquor, Elphie.”

She shrugged. “I suppose. Can you?”

“It depends on the liquor. Just never give me wine—unless you want to have a really good time.”

“I don't know who'd say no to a really good time.” Elphaba smirked at her, and Glinda blushed something fierce.

Was Elphaba even aware of what she was doing? Why would she answer with something borderline flirtatious to Glinda’s innocent and playful comment? Or, perhaps, just perhaps, Elphaba’s intention wasn’t to flirt and she was just being her normal self. Ugh.

Glinda hated this, she was definitely not an overthinker. Why would she be? She never had problems with the objects of her affections before, but Elphaba was—different than the rest. None of the other boys Glinda held interest towards really even came close.

Glinda was now recognizing her interest for those boys was more intellectual curiosity than actually driven by any sort of emotion. It was logical to find certain boys handsome, right?

Well, no.

Elphaba defied logic as much as she tended to defy all expectations. Glinda liked her, really liked her. Liked her in a way she understood intellectually was the way she was supposed to like boys, but nothing about her feelings for Elphaba were intellectual, they were just warm and humane, driven by pure sentiment instead of logic.

She sighed, walking beside Elphie these halls that smelled of paper and ink and dust and noticing that Elphaba moved through them with an ease that Glinda had never seen.

She hoped the storm would never let up, or that at least it would last the whole night.

“You look right at home,” Glinda said. “More than you ever look at home in our dorm.”

“I never spent too much time in rooms, not even as a child.” Elphaba talked without looking at her, her eyes instead scanning the bookcases. It was eerily quiet this deep into the library, even the sound of the rain was a distant thing. “Libraries, though—well, when I could. The one in Colwen Grounds is quite extensive, yet it's private, it belongs only to my family. All that knowledge—” Her fingers trailed over some dusty spines. “And it's not shared. And even if it was, there's simply not enough time to know it all. I used to spend hours upon hours upon days trying, reading whatever I could get my hands on and trying to understand what I was reading so I could— I’ve just rambled like a madwoman, sorry.”

“If anything, you don't talk to me enough, Elphie.” Milla may call them ‘joined at the hip’, yet Glinda would spend even more time with Elphaba if that was possible.

Elphaba looked at her puzzled, her head tilted to the side as if Glinda had said something entirely incomprehensible.

“What are some of your favorite things about this place?” Glinda asked because she was growing flustered yet again. “Show me.”

She realized that for Elphaba this wasn’t only a place to come in and do research or do her homework. She liked being here, and whether that was because it reminded her of her childhood or because of something else Glinda would like to know.

Elphaba smiled at her, the silvery moonlight giving her a sort of sheen that was quite entrancing, even if she was otherwise so disheveled. Yet another thing Glinda wouldn’t mind doing for her, fix up her braid and wipe the ink stains away from her fingers.

How odd it was to want to take care of someone in such gentle ways, usually Glinda was the one craving to be pampered, but Elphaba’s unkempt edges—which in the past had seemed ghastly to her—were inviting.

“Let’s go, then,” Elphaba said. “There’s one thing you may want to see.”

“Other than illicit books?”

“Other than that.”

At the back of the main floor, in a space cleared of books, was something that looked very out of place for a library of all things.

It was a piano.

Glinda frowned. “I thought this place was supposed to be quiet at all times.”

“It’s a showpiece more than something you’re meant to play,” Elphaba said. “Let me show you.”

Glinda didn’t understand how such a common piano could be a showpiece. It wasn’t much different from all the other pianos she had ever seen in parties or receptions, or in her own lessons from when she was a little girl. It was sleek and black and it stood on four legs, more shiny than she expected from a place otherwise so dusty but utterly ordinary.

“It doesn’t look like much,” Glinda said.

“Watch.”

They sat together on the piano bench, which was small, so it meant that they were quite together and the closeness was not helping Glinda’s growing case of being disastrously in love with her best friend.

She cleared her throat. “Do you know how to play?”

“Well, no,” Elphaba said, lifting the covers off the keys. “But that's not entirely necessary for what I want to actually show—”

So Glinda was the one that played. She wasn’t an expert by any means but she remembered her lessons well enough she could conjure up an old child’s lullaby, a slow rhythm. It was a little clumsy, but overall not too terrible.

“I didn’t know you could do that,” Elphaba said softly as if not to cut through the music with her voice.

“There are a lot of things I can do that you don’t know about.”

There was that sly smile again. “Like what?”

“Like—” Glinda faltered a little, then she just stopped altogether to turn her head and look at Elphaba directly.

It really was a small bench, made even smaller by the fact Glinda had to sit somewhat in the middle to have access to the pedals below. Her thigh pressed against Elphaba’s almost entirely, and their arms brushed together as Glinda took her hands away from the keys.

Glinda licked her lips. “Um. What did you want to show me this piano for, anyway?”

It took Elphaba a second to process that she was being spoken to. “Right. Here.” And she leaned around the side of the piano and did something, and then there was a click and a soft buzz.

And then the keys and the pedals started moving on their own, repeating to perfection Glinda's slightly imperfect rendition.

“What in Oz?” she murmured, her eyes wide. “It's—a tiktok thing?”

“Yeah,” Elphaba said, satisfied. “Like Morrible's little servant, only much less unsettling. It helps that you’re good at it, if I’d been the one playing we’d be stuck with a much more disastrous loop.”

Glinda recalled Elphaba saying the library could get chilly without the fireplace, but she couldn't imagine how that would be true, she had never felt warmer in her life, the heat expanded from her cheeks and intensified where Elphaba was pressed against her. Elphaba’s body felt like an open flame next to her.

“I wouldn’t say I’m good,” Glinda said in a rush. “Most girls I know can play a song or two.”

“My father tried to put me in lessons, too.” Thankfully, Elphaba wasn’t looking at her. “He wanted me to play hymns on the organ for the church at home.”

“And what happened?”

“I think I bit a priest or a maunt, I don’t really remember.” She grinned. “But there was blood and after that no one was so willing to teach me.”

Glinda grinned right back. “Incorregible.”

The music kept playing, a constant loop of the same song over and over, and Elphaba reached for the bottle she had set on the floor again, then frowned at it.

“What’s the matter?” asked Glinda.

“Look at this.”

Elphaba tilted the bottle a bit to catch the light of the lamp, and it glinted off the inscription at the front.

“Today you’ve shown me all sorts of things,” Glinda said with a smile. “What is it?”

“This thing is a gift from Boq.”

“From Boq?” Glinda took a closer peek at the engraved letters.

“He’s taking some arts and crafts electives, look.”

Glinda arched her eyebrows, but indeed the markings at the front of the bottle she thought were nothing but branding were actually a message in a nice script. Could we share the next one? Love, Boq.

“Oh God.” She laughed. “That’s extremely corny for someone like Milla, I can imagine the face she made. But of course she would never say no to some moonshine.”

“I didn’t know they had a thing for each other.”

“A thing,” Glinda repeated, amused. “Boq’s been hovering over her shoulder for a while now.”

“I thought he was sweet for you instead.”

“He hasn’t been in months, Elphie.”

“Huh. The more you know.”

“You’re absolutely clueless.”

“I’m not ashamed, sometimes it’s good to be clueless about certain things.” Elphaba shrugged. “You’re not upset that your admirer found someone else to admire?”

“Are you kidding me? Not whatsoever. Good riddance to him. I never should've let him kiss me but in retrospect perhaps that was the beginning of the end.”

“You let him kiss you?” Elphaba put the bottle back on the floor, frowning at Glinda now. “Why?”

“A regrettable and terrible moment of weakness. Besides, I was upset, and that proved a distraction—albeit a boring one. Kissing boys has got to be the most boring thing in the world.”

“But why were you upset?”

Ah, Glinda definitely did not want to get into the complicated maelstrom of complications that’d been the day at the Caprice and Pines, when Shenshen and Pfannee thought it would be hilarious to impersonate Glinda in a letter and invite Elphaba there for a lark.

A lark at Glinda’s expense, mind you. She still couldn’t believe her feelings for Elphaba were so evident that even those girls could tell. It’d been so mortifying to be so known.

“Uhh—” She couldn’t tell any of that to Elphaba, however. “Never mind all that!” She leaned against Elphaba in the small bench, defaulting to just keeping her close in hopes of distracting her.

“Regrettable, you said?” Elphaba chuckled, but she wrapped an arm around Glinda’s shoulder as the slow music kept playing.

The gesture brought them even closer together, and Glinda fully rested her head on Elphaba’s shoulder, her entire body relaxing in the low light, with the slow music, with the nearness.

She longed to be even nearer.

“How come I never knew?” Elphaba asked.

Glinda really didn’t want to keep discussing that. “Have you ever kissed anyone, Elphie?” Way to divert the conversation.

Elphaba snorted. “Don't be absurd.”

“Why is that absurd?”

“Not all of us can have the entire university pining for us.”

“Wait a moment.” Glinda’s brow furrowed. “Are you talking about me? I don’t have the entire university pining for me.”

“Of course not, just Boq, and Fiyero, and that idiot Avaric and—” She shut her mouth abruptly, and Glinda tilted her head back just to catch a glimpse of the way Elphaba’s cheeks darkened.

Glinda’s heart fluttered briefly. Should she dare hope?

“Who’d want to kiss me, anyway?” Elphaba muttered darkly. She was as adept at diverting the conversation as Glinda was, clearly.

The lamp on top of the piano flickered once, twice, and then went out completely like a whisper, total darkness enveloping them save from the dim moonlight barely illuminating the edges of Elphaba’s face.

Between their closeness and the darkness, Glinda decided to let herself hope.

She licked her lips. Her cheek was pressed against Elphaba’s shoulder, she lifted a hand to carefully brush a strand of hair away from her neck, briefly brushing against Elphaba’s pulse point. It was quick like a hummingbird’s wings.

“I can think of someone who’d want to kiss you.”

“Oh, really?” Elphaba’s scowl got even deeper with disbelief, her voice thick with sarcasm. “Well, I'd love to meet that person.”

“You actually know her well enough. She is, quite literally and figuratively, all over you.”

“She—” Elphaba's brain visibly malfunctioned, looking down at the way Glinda was basically draped over her in this cramped little piano bench. “She—you—” Her eyes widened a bit, and Glinda gave her a moment. “Are you serious?”

“As the grave.”

“But—”

“Actually, never mind,” Glinda said suddenly, pushing away as her nerve abandoned her just as quick as it had arrived. “I just realized how odd that was, so let me just—”

“No! No, wait, wait.” Elphaba’s hands went on to Glinda’s shoulders so she could keep her there. “You’re serious?”

It was good that the place was otherwise so dark, because Glinda did not want Elphaba to see how red her face was. “Yes! And please don’t ask that again. Yes, I’m serious. I guess the question now is do you want to kiss me?”

“Glinda, everyone wants to kiss you.”

“But you’re not like everyone, Elphie.”

It was quiet for a moment, one of Elphaba’s hands on her shoulder slowly made its way towards Glinda’s hair, and she twirled a stray curl around her finger. Glinda had never been so unmoving in her life, she was nearly holding her breath.

“I think that when it comes to you,” Elphaba’s voice was a whisper, a soft rush of air. “I am more like everyone else than you think.”

The world came to a stop for a moment, and when it resumed motion it did so gently, like so: Glinda's lips parted just a little, mostly in surprise, and Elphaba's eyes flickered down.

And then Glinda leaned towards her, not even conscious of the frantic beating of her heart, not anymore. And then, and then, and then, she kissed her.

Other than the clumsy and slow song still playing, the place was silent and still, and kissing Elphaba was nothing like Glinda had expected—and she hadn’t had expectations at all, truly. It was never a thought Glinda liked to indulge in because she thought it would never happen.

Except that now it was happening, and it was better than anything she could’ve tried to picture anyway. Elphie tasted like that awful moonshine but Glinda didn't really care, nor did she care about the spectacles barely digging into her nose. There was no room to care about anything like that.

Elphaba held onto her shoulders rather gently, a touch that was just barely there, just like the touch of their lips, a soft press that was feather light and careful, for Glinda was still aware of the fact it was Elphaba's first ever kiss—she didn't want to be overwhelming.

But there was no reason to worry about that. Elphaba tackled most things in her life with the same intense drive, and this was no different. She said she had never kissed anyone before, and yet she kissed Glinda like she never wanted to do anything else.

Glinda shifted a little, smiled into Elphaba's mouth and that was taken as encouragement. They kissed for a long, long time. Longer than Glinda had ever kissed anyone before, which suited her just fine, and in fact she was oddly giddy to be sharing a first time of her own with Elphaba.

So long in fact that it eventually stopped raining, but neither of them noticed for a while.

Until whatever mechanism kept the piano going finally stopped and that broke the spell the two of them found themselves in, and they realized that it was just a little too quiet inside the library.

“I think—the storm’s over,” Elphaba said softly.

Glinda blinked slowly at her, dazzled. “The what?”

Elphaba snorted, one thumb brushing the side of Glinda's mouth, perhaps trying to fix her smudged lipstick but all she did was make Glinda's heart do a somersault. “The storm, my sweet. We can leave through a window now.”

“What did you just call me?”

“Sweet.” Elphaba now pressed her thumb over Glinda's lips. “That's how you taste.”

Glinda had to kiss her again after that. She had to. What else was she supposed to do?

Luckily Elphaba didn't complain.

But this time Glinda didn't let herself get carried away, she was the first to pull back and stand up with haste because being so close to Elphaba was making her only want to stay close to her for the rest of the night, and they really had to leave.

“That eager to run away from me?” Elphaba asked with some amusement. “You wouldn't be the first.”

“Oh, hush, you seem to have no idea of what you've done; you'll never get rid of me now.”

“I won't complain about that.”

“Get up.” Glinda laughed softly. “We should hurry in case the storm comes back.”

“Suddenly I'm not so keen on leaving.” Elphaba’s braid was basically nonexistent and totally shapeless at this point. Glinda would really have to fix it for her later once they were in the safety of their shared room.

But first thing's first, they had to get out of there. And then she would make sure Elphaba carried an umbrella wherever she went.

“Let's go, Elphie, don't kick up a hard time about it.” Glinda paused, and decided a different tactic. “Nothing will stop us from kissing again once we’re back, you know.”

Elphaba had never gotten to her feet faster.

#gliyeraba #gifts'23 #wickedsanta23

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goldenstrikeheart · 9 months

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do you have any headcannons about Lost in oz? the fandom is really small and its hard to find stuff about it online about it

I do have headcanons! I actually made a post about 5 of them a while back (You can find the post here).

Here’s some more just for fun:

Scarecrow. Under no circumstances can he stay quiet for a long time. He’s a Scarecrow, his presence is to be known and call attention to himself (because real life scarecrows are used to scare away crows and such, it’s supposed to be seen to scare them away.) Another reason why he’s expressive and such, he speaks with arms and hands (quite literally if you watch the show a lot, he moves them a lot. Especially in the season 2 in the first couple of episodes.). It’s meant so people notice him in some way. The real only time he wouldn’t move and/or talk at all is during night time, but as shown in the show, he sometimes fails at not talking to himself. (I like to think he got this off of being alone in Glinda’s castle for so long.)

Glinda knew the original Dorothy and thought of her somewhat like a daughter, so when the Dorothy from the present appeared, it was like an immediate emotional adoption. Because of this knowing, she feels more inclined to protect and help Dorothy around Oz.

Can be said the same for Scarecrow, but his memories are messed up so he doesn’t really remember the original Dorothy. Also, Scarecrow adopts every kid in the show he sees. Dorothy? The moment they met. Roquat? No problem, he’s been adopted while in the deadly desert together. West? The moment Cyra was in trouble he and Glinda zoomed in as step-in parents. Reigh? Has been somewhat adopted as well. They spend their time talking about Reigh’s theories for Oz. Every child he sees. Especially the ones that have no dads.

Reigh has definitely done some illegal hacking and sneaking around before. Of course, nothing to the extreme level of being an undercover villain or anything, but enough that he stumbled on something important and caused him to be even more paranoid most of the time. I also like the thought that Reigh is the Cowardly Lion’s descendent, and to that I say: Yes. He is. (I have an AU about this that I will later post about if I am have time and energy to draw it.)

A fun one that’s just a joke: Fitz ended up going back to school on a traveling study. Now he gets to explore the world while going to school.

#lost in oz #wizard of oz #glinda the good #dorothy gale #headcanon #fitz fenucrook #the scarecrow

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gretavangroupie · 6 months

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I would like to share something extremely and truly deep... emotional and devoid of any exaggeration.

Vigilance saved my life. and that's it.

I've been a Grestie since 2016 if I remember correctly, Greta Van Fleet played a very important role in my life, their love, their dreams and achievements, seeing them blossom, their music often pulled me back from the voids that always chased me.

At the beginning of the year I found myself again in a pure and cruel void where nothing made sense, recently diagnosed with bipolar depression, I faced the words "Sometimes you'll be fine, sometimes you won't. This is for life." and despite it being something treatable, I was still told that there is no cure, so not even GVF's songs were helping me anymore, simply my hope of being "normal and happy" was ripped away from me.

So I found myself simply looking for something that would make me at least stop thinking about the negative side, something that would distract me, so I thought "What do I love most after music? Stories. And who knows, maybe I can mix the two worlds and experience 'fanfics' and 'one shots'?" So I started reading about them and guess what I found? Vigilance.

And it was just at the beginning of the story, but I was intrigued by the writing, the description of scenarios, the feelings... And it brought to the surface feelings that I hadn't felt in a long time, sometimes the voids lead me to become "numb" from any emotion so when I came across the way Vigilance brought these feelings to the surface with such ease, I was surprised, intrigued, enraptured, it gave me strength to look for what else could bring me "back to life", the little things, words, moments and people.

So, it's been 8 months, is that correct? that I have been reading Vigilance and this has helped a lot in the healing of my heart, mind and soul. Less and less I face the voids and, when I do, the duration is shorter than the last time and so I continue.

I can only thank you and @gretavanmoon for this and I have a feeling others out there might say the same, we'll never know.

I finish by saying that with the last chapter of Vigilance, I begin another in my life, a chapter that was only possible thanks to you.

Thank you for giving me life. With love - V

Anon,

Thank you so much for sending this in, as I know it was probably not easy for you to talk about. I said from the beginning that if this story could help even just one person, it would all be worth to me. So thank you for taking the time to share this with us and giving us the gift of knowing we made an impact.

We received tons of love on this last chapter and we appreciate each and every message, like, comment, reblog etc. But THIS, by far, is the best thing we could have hoped for with the completion of this story. Helping someone feel empowered to make a change.

I am so happy to hear that we helped you, even in this tiny insignificant way, and that you're on the path to happiness, but as Glinda told Dorothy, "You've always had the power my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself."

#vigilance

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squeakyfir · 1 year

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I'm your huckleberry (Tombstone 1993) (Doc Holliday)

Description:

The joys of modern inventions and miracles are often taken for granted. Your hungry or thirsty? Get something from the fridge or make it. You need to go somewhere? Drive or call an uber. Your hurt? Go to the doctor.

Your bored? Watch a movie, play video games, watch videos on the internet, talk to people without ever leaving your house.

Some much time is in our hands... but back in the 19th century... you wouldn't last very long.

Diseases are rampant, gun violence is higher, no modern technology, barely any good medicine, almost all of your favorite food doesn't exist and most of the people are rude as hell. But... That doesn't mean all of them were so bad. Love was not something most people in this time really cared about. At least, in the town of Tombstone, Arizona.

After falling asleep with a nice looking stone you bought at a small stand at the carnival, your whole world becomes the opposite. Six people from the past discover you unconscious and alone in the blistering heat and offer help but it was their help that let you meet the most amazing man you've ever met.

John Henry "Doc" Holliday.

Chapter 1

Time is not a thing, but it keeps things in balance, and it never stops. You learn new things every day. Like today, you bought a ticket to go to the local carnival and once you entered, you started to regret the decision. There was a lot of people, more than you can handle, and it was still a bit damp from the rain earlier. The sounds of people talking, the cliche carnival music and game sounds were definitely a sight to see.

The carnival also had small kiosks and shop stands. There was one doing face paints and another selling cheap jewelry. But there was one that caught your eye. It was definitely out of place for all of the bright and flashy colors of the carnival. It was illuminated with dark orange light and had a small sign that read, "Mrs. Hatches shop".

No one was there and from strictly looking at it, it looked like a witch shop. It was a bit odd for it to be here but you still went towards it. The strong smell of incense burners and herbs were very potent and made the little shop very eerie.

"Hello" you called out.

"Aah, a customer"! An old voice said. "Come in my dear".

"Who's there"? A shadow moved from the corner and as it stepped into the light, a very old lady with a wooden cane came forward. She was a bit shorter than you and her skin was very pale with veins appearing near the surface. Her gray hair was put up in a bun loosely with loose hairs being freed and she wore and black woven dress with what appeared to be an emerald ring. "I am" she said as gently as she could. "Who might you be"?

"Uhh... I'm (Y/n)".

The old woman quickly took your hand and examined it. "What are you doing"?

"Reading your palm".

"Ok, great" you said in a slight sarcastic tone, "But please don't touch me".

"Hold still now" she said like a mother scolding her child. "Hmmm... Oh yes, yes, yes! How wonderful"!

"What? What's so wonderful"?

"When I read people's palms, I can tell what their fortune is".

"What is it" you asked curiously.

"Come, I will show you"! She quickly went over to a table that became visible when she lit an old oil lamp. On the table was a glass sphere sitting on a marble stand. "Let me guess" you said sarcastically, "A crystal ball"?

"I know people believe that these are not accurate but I assure you my child, this is what it seems to be". She motioned for you to come sit and you hesitantly did. "What's your name, anyways" you asked.

"Glinda Hatches"! As soon as she said her name she rubbed the glass sphere and smoke appeared inside the sphere and was illuminated with white light. "Wow".

"Now, you may ask one question".

"Why only one"?

"The first question is free but any other questions will cost $5".

"What"?

"That'll be $5 since you already asked two questions-"

"Alright alright alright"! You sighed and you did have cash on you but you were gonna save that for some funnel cakes but after seeing this, you were still very curious. You couldn't think of anything. "Would you like some suggestions"?

"Sure".

"You can ask things such about your family, your past life, your soulmate, you can see things that you can't remember-"

"Wait" you said interrupting her. "Did you just say soulmate"?

Glinda grinned. "Would you like to see you soul mate"?

"Sure".

Glinda rubbed the glass sphere and you muttered, "This should be interesting". The light inside the sphere turned bright white and revealed an image of a man with a black hat, a short-hair moustache and goatee. His skin looked really pale but he looked like a very capable man. "Ooh, he's cute".

"Oh my" Glinda said, "I have never seen this before".

"Seen what"?

"Your soulmate is already dead" Glinda said in disbelief.

"How is that possible? That doesn't make sense". You looked back at the image of the man. "Who is he anyways"?

"His name is John Henry Holliday. As in Doc Holliday. He was a famous gunslinger and poker player".

"Ooh, I like him already! But how is he my soul mate if he's already dead"?

"I'm not sure. But hold on, I have something that may help you". Glinda stood up and rushed over to small chest rummaging around inside. While she was doing that, you took in the features of your supposed "soulmate". He looked very serious and you could see his eyes, he looked so tired. It looked as if his eyes had dark circles around them. He was truly interesting and you decided to Google more information about him but Glinda came back before you could and handed you a small stone.

"This will help you".

The stone was white with black blotches on it and was smoothed out with a silver frame around it. "How does this help me"?

"When used correctly, it will bring your soulmate to you".

"Uh-huh. Sure" you said sarcastically.

"Do you want it or not" Glinda asked.

"Well" you examined the stone and decided that it was good enough for a necklace at least. "Ok. I'll take it".

"Great"! Glinda gave you the stone and said, "That'll be 35$".

"WHAT!? Why"!?

"Remember what I said, 5$ per question". You knew you only had 20$ cash but the rest would be paid with a card. You were about to deny the purchase but you saw a literal crystal ball and had a feeling that everything she has shared with you was factual. "Do you accept credit and debit"?

"Yes, here". She pulled out a chip reader and charged you the exact amount but then had the nerve to push a glass jar near your hand that read "Tip Jar".

"Are you serious"?

"This is how I make my living" she said honestly.

"Tell you what" you said, "If this really does work, I'll come straight back here and give you a 100$ tip".

"Will you" she asked doubtfully.

"I will, I promise". You took your card back and left. That was all your cash and some of your money from your card but you decided to just go home. You were very confused. Going through the large crowd of people to get back to your car felt like an eternity. You would just go home and sleep instead. When you got into your car, you examined the stone more closely, it really was a nice stone and you think you could actually make a necklace out of it. You just put it in the pocket on the dashboard and drove home.

It didn't take long to get home and you were greeted by your dog, Gracie, a golden retriever. Happy to see you as always. You didn't even bother to change into your pajamas and fell onto your bed with Gracie quickly joining you and plugging your phone into your solar panel phone charger. It was odd to have that but your original charger was broken and this solar panel charger had back up power on it to still keep itself powered. You examined the stone on your bed under the dimmed light from the moon and just fell asleep with it in your grasp.

Not knowing, it would literally change your life...

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irresistiibles · 11 months

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beneath the cut is a far too long event starter/plot call! feel free to like this and i will come bother you on discord probably tomorrow. this is also a starter call, though i definitely tend to prefer plotting first you're welcome to just hop in and request things with that being said i'm working on clearing out a lot of my older threads. if you request two people we previously had a thread for i will probably drop the old one unless it is extremely plot heavy, and in general i am going to use the event as a way to clear out my older things that have been reaching an end.

amber: not too worried, but could definitely get it in her head that she should go out and play detective to help people and try to drag others into the nonsense as well

asami sato: she pays for a good security system and knows several different ways to defend herself. she's a little on edge just because it's yet another thing and she's tired, but is mostly feeling alright all things considered.

ciel phantomhive: also pays for good security and isn't letting himself stress out too much, or at least that's how he's coming off. will be pretty dismissive towards anyone that brings it up but potentially go looking for answers on his own.

starters (1/?): lizzie midford

columbina: she's amused more than anything i'm afraid. really, if you're going to kill someone she thinks you should do it with a bit more tact or care, but she's got morbid interests and could definitely be found looking for, or even tampering with evidence, more for amusement rather than answers though.

emily daivs: very unhappy and a little harsly paranoid about it. she's already worked way too hard to survive, she is not letting just some nobody in washington take her out. with that said she's going to be pretty careful around jsut about anyone. if she doesn't know you she doesn't trust you and she wants you at least five feet away from her at all times.

esther mckinnon: tired of these things happening, but not making too many changes in her life to be careful. she's going to text the family and try and make sure they're all good but beyond that she doesn't want to let some weirdness change her day to day life and make things unbearable. it's not that she doesn't care but she can't halt her life every two months when washington gets wild

starters (1/?): marlene mckinnon

gerard of greenleigh: anxious frog dad continues to be anxious, sort of. listen, murders aren't exactly new considering the life he was living back home, but still! everyone here is making it sound like a big deal so he feels like it's a big deal!! he is not investigating at all. he is trying to make sure ylfa and ros are safe and then just keep his nose out of it

starters (1/?): ylfa

glinda upland: honestly? she knows she is not the type to solve a murder. she is trying to stay out of it, and just not be lurking around alone. will drag people to do just about anything with her so that there's safety in numbers, but that's about it. she's not getting too worked up by it. she'll talk theories with some people but she won't be good at it and may just confuse everyone involved

starters (1/?): irina denali

gu zi: concerned for sure, but also doesn't know what he could actually do about it. checking in on the people he knows, but otherwise is trying to stay out of it and let the authorities handle it

inej ghafa: so many concerns. first and foremost she's looking out for her people, especially the unaware ones who might not be able to defend themselves as well. after that she's definitely doing a lot of lurking, trying to grab whatever information she can. she means well and will try and help people if it's ever needed, and is sort of looking into things, but from a much more quiet point of view. she's not throwing herself into it for everyone to see

starters (1/?) : jesper fahey

jin ling: tired! will threaten to fight if you seem weird even though he shouldn't! trying to keep track of seven thousand family members. not going anywhere without his dog who will attack on command. he's worked up but what else is new

starters (1/?): wei wuxian

lily evans: trying!! to stay out of it. she's nosy, and has a good sense of judgement, so she could wind up looking into things and being involved even though she knows it's not the smart thing to do, but her intention truly is to keep her distance and let the authorities handle it.

luo qingyang: another one who would like to avoid drama as much as possible. this isn't her problem, though she'll definitely be a little more defensive. carrying her sword around more than normal and will pull it out if it feels necessary, but not running around trying to solve and fucking mysteries.

madoka kaname: very stressed! wants to help but doesn't really know how. honestly she's mostly staying out of it but if you catch her near a murder sight or evidence she would be very easy to talk into investigating cause she wants to do the write thing

starters (1/?): homura akemi

mei nianqing: tired. looking for jun wu cause man is convinced he has something to do with all of this, but isn't doing a lot to actively solve or fix anything outside of that. this is a problem for younger people

nico di angelo: mostly uncaring. he doesn't think anyone's gonna come kill him and even if they do like ? cool he apparently comes right back. he's worried about his sisters but beyond that man is truly chilling with mcdonalds. life goes on.

nie huaisang: keeping up with the news but beyond that staying out of it. this is an art student, what the fuck is he supposed to do about it. if you approach him and he thinks you seem shady he will absolutely start screaming at the top of his lungs with zero remorse. he would rather be an annoying idiot than dead. can talk theory and be pretty smart about it if you make him focus long enough.

pearl: this is a human problem which means it's not her problem, though she also doesn't respect the cops and would tamper with evidence on the basis of like "i can definitely figure this out faster how has no one been caught yet." will investigate if she's around the area or someone asks her to but isn't going out of her way to do it

princess zelda: is this her problem? no. is zelda a nosy little know-it-all who will have a hard time completely staying away from it? absolutely yes. she knows it's not the smart thing but will keep trying to head around areas where bodies were found and look around. someone please either get her to relax or encourage the bad behavior.

shang qinghua: highkey staying out of it. this just is not his problem, and he's not investigating murders without any money being offered. honestly, he is not that worried. like he'll carry a knife with him in case but he's surprisingly good at surviving, and he doesn't consider himself particularly fun to murder. just don't sneak up on him for the next two weeks or you might wind up with an accidental stab wound

starters (1/?): qi yan

shi qingxuan: trying to stay out of it. a little worried that one of the two morally dubious people she's close to could be involved somehow but absolutely does not want to ask. qingxuan is head empty though and is relatively still way too trustworthy throughout this whole thing and would be way too easy to murder.

starters (1/?): ling wen

toph beifong: relatively unbothered. toph can take care of herself and knows that. confident she could body like anyone in washington if need be. if someone wants to play detective they'll take backup for fun, but isn't going to run in and do anything herself out of the blue.

starters: (2/?): ty lee, katara

victor nikiforov: another fool who is way too casual about the whole thing. sure there's murderers out there but he's still gonna go out and do his thing. why would they come after him? he's too handsom to be murdered. someone should probably attempt to talk some sense into him. he's not investigating, but if he comes across anything that feels weird he will post on instagram about it

yin yu: he's not investigating unless he's explicitly told to. he tries to be a good person, but he's pretty sure you don't need to jump into solving a murder to qualify for that. a little careful because he's the type to keep to quieter areas and the shadows and probably realizes that maybe he has to go out into crowds more until this is handled, but that's his biggest struggle. will tell people to chill and not run in and play hero if he has to

zagreus: speaking of running in and playing hero, this man absolutely would be like "alright, i have to lend and hand and solve things!" sticking his nose anywhere and everywhere, sharing theories with people, being way up in people's faces about getting things solved. he's annoying but he means well.

zhongli: another tired old man. he's trying to keep the people he cares about safe, especially since a lot (if not all) of them are young and reckless and he knows they're going to run head first into this stuff. he's not investigating, but does have a lot of knowledge and is happy to sit and talk theories with anyone who is.

starters (1/?): amelia shepherd

#i will add sections for the starters as i need them #i got real lazy with formatting on this one tbh #hw: starter call #hw: plot call #hwevent15 #murder mention tw #death mention tw #weapon mention tw #violence mention tw

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sloppy-sybarite · 25 days

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A huge part of experiencing life is talking to people and getting to know them, even if you’re weird or come off as shy. It’s so important to take the time to work on your social skills, to get to know people, and to spend your time around others. Humans are social creatures and we were made to be around others, we were made to communicate and spend our lives surrounded by friends, and we don’t do well when we’re isolated from the world and out on our own. The lone wolf mindset is so lame and it’s best to not stand by that in your early twenties and late teens, everyone needs friends and self imposed solitude will destroy your mental health in time.

I get a lot of questions about men, how to read them, how to date them, and how to make long lasting and meaningful connections with them and the answer is socialising and having the social skills necessary to maintain conversations and create a connection. Men are easy to read creatures, they tend to wear their expressions on their faces, men from similar areas tend to have had similar experiences, and it’s easy to talk to men when you’re confident in socialising. You can’t go from 0 to 100 overnight and expect to stun and be wildly desired and it takes hard work to acquire the social skills that are necessary to create and maintain solid relationships.

I’ve spent my life speaking to people and I think I’m decently good at it by now. I’ve always been comfortable with starting conversations and approaching others, I’ve lived in countries with customs that differ from the customs of my own, I can say that I’m only as comfortable as I am because I don’t agonise over my failures and I look for ways to keep going while I’m in the moment instead of letting things die out and gong silent. It can be awkward and hard at first but if you are genuinely personable or know how to put on a good act, you’re comfortable with making your own introductions, you either know how to make eye contact or feign it, and you don’t mind biting into sour apples in the pursuit of finding a sweet one.

I’ve talked about this all the time and I won’t stop now but you don’t get anywhere without having solid social skills; I talk about the song “Popular” from Wicked all the time because Glinda refers to the fact that politicians and heads of state get by not because they're particularly smart, but because people like to hang out with them and want to know them. There are exceptions to every rule and you’ll meet people who are beautiful and have no social skills but the vast majority of people I’ve met are popular because they’re genuinely interesting and know how to carry a conversation, they’re adventurous and willing to leave their comfort zone, and they’re able to draw people in and keep them enamoured with talk.

Most of the conversational skills and social skills I use from day to day were learned in high school, during my sorority days, and during my time abroad and they have served me well. I’ve always been observant and I was raised by a woman who had the social and conversational skills of a God; I’ve always aspired to be less gauche and more refined so observing and learning what worked for me before making my move is the path I’ve always walked. Books do not work for becoming socially literate, I legitimately believe that quality social skills cannot be learned from anything but social experience and you have to be willing to risk a little bit of failure in order to gain that experience. The only thing that will get you there is working your ass off and finding out what works best for you.

#sloppy-sybarite

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talkfastromance4 · 1 year

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authors note: hello there! So so so so so sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written about our flower family. Life has been crazy, writers block has played a special part and the start of writing for Top Gun (and I had covid) but I had to write this! Halloween is my favorite and this family is my favorite to write. I still have other one shots to write so near the end of this one won’t make sense right now but I promise it will soon!

Word count: 2.3k

Warnings: none

Masterlist

Luke&Lily masterlist

Feedback is always welcome! Happy Halloween!

****

Since Lily’s birthday fell on a Thursday this year, it was only the Hemming’s family that celebrated the day of. After school, the five of them went to dinner at Lily’s favorite restaurant, went out for ice cream and then finished the night watching a movie while eating the cupcakes you made for her. Posy sang the loudest for Happy Birthday.

Lily wanted to have a big birthday party with her friends from school and ballet and with her whole family so it was decided between you and Luke to host it on Halloween weekend. You love Halloween so in the weeks leading up to it you were constantly running to the store for decorations and to get all of your costumes.

Luke helped you decorate the house and picked up the cupcakes for the party, Lily accompanied him. The party was set to start at four o’clock and you were just finishing up with Lily’s face paint. She wanted to go as a witch and since you love dressing up as a family, you asked if she’d be okay going as the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz.

Oliver was already in his little lion costume sleeping in his crib for his nap, and Posy kept clicking her red shoes from her Dorothy costume all over the house. You could hear her talking to the stuffed dog Toto she carried around in her little wicker basket.

“I don’t have to be mean like the witch, do I mama?” Lily asks as you fan over the green paint on her face.

“No, it’s just a costume but you’re still you underneath it,” you smile. “Do you want to hold your flying monkey or have him wrapped around your waist?”

“My waist! I want to carry my broom!” she bounces on her feet and you grab the stuffed monkey animal. It’s the kind that has super long arms, she got it from the zoo at Posy’s birthday, and you wrap it around her waist. She grabs her broom.

“And the final touch…” you place her witch hat on top of her head and she smiles at you. “There! You’re the perfect witch!”

“You have to get dressed mama!” Posy announces, her ruby slippers clacking on the floor.

“I’m going, I’m going!” you say and they follow you into your room where Luke is changing into his scarecrow costume. He has the outfit on with tufts of hay sticking out of his pants and shirt and he’s staring at his reflection in your vanity mirror, a brush in his hand.

“I need help,” he spins around. “I can’t do the face paint.”

“Let me,” you smile taking the brush from his hand.

Lily and Posy stand on either side of you watching as you paint the face of the scarecrow on Luke.

“Do you think I could have some glitter on my lids?” he asks.

“I think I have some yellow glitter…” you shuffle through the Halloween makeup you bought and find the compact. “Close your eyes.”

He does as you say and you apply the shimmering glitter to his eyelids, it pairs well with the brown eyeliner you added.

“Woah…” Posy sighs when he opens his eyes.

“How does daddy look?” he asks her.

“Pretty!”

“You look just like him!” Lily exclaims with a bright smile.

“Okay, now I need to get dressed. People will be arriving soon,” you say and move to the closet where your Glinda dress and accessories are.

“I wanna help!” Posy skips in the closet behind you.

“Can you hold my wand for me?” you hand her the pretend wand, her eyes light up and she sits on the pouf you have in the closet.

You pull the dress out of the bag, it’s a pretty good mock-up of the original. It’s the same pink chiffon with lots of sparkles but the sleeves and skirt of the dress aren’t as bulky as the movie. You strip out of your clothes, put on the strapless bra and step into the dress. You’re aware of Luke and the girls watching you but ever since you had Lily, you’re not embarrassed to get undressed in front of them. Being a mom comes with no more privacy.

“Can you help me with the zipper?” you ask Luke.

He shuffles behind you and pulls the zipper all the way up to your back. You adjust yourself in the dress and slip on your shoes. Thankfully, you did your makeup earlier because you knew you’d be helping the rest of your family with their costumes. So all you had left to do for the costume was put on the crown and take your wand.

“Well,” you spin around and do a little pose, “what do you think?”

“You look like a princess!” Posy claps her hands. “Toto thinks so too!”

“You look incredible, lovie,” Luke shakes his head as his eyes take you in. “You should wear that all the time.”

“I don’t think so,” you scrunch your nose then hear the waking whimpers of Oliver. “Olly’s up–”

“I”ll get him. You relax, you’ve done enough for today,” Luke smiles.

“Lily, let’s make sure we have all your goodie bags ready.”

As you’re doing a final sweep through of the house and the backyard–there’s a large table decorated with pink pumpkins, a caramel apple station, games, and a bunch of other fun decorations–the doorbell rings.

“I’ll get it!” Posy sprints inside.

“Wait for your father! Luke!”

“I got her, lovie!”

Ashton and KayKay are the first to arrive dressed as Fred and Daphne from Scooby-Doo. KayKay has on an orange wig that Posy is absolutely obsessed with.

“Wow, y/n you look fantastic!” KayKay compliments when she sees you in the backyard.

“Thank you,” you smile and do a small twirl.

“Where’s our special birthday girl?” Ashton asks holding Posy in his arms. He searches the yard and then Lily jumps out from behind one of the bushes.

“Here I am!”

“No! You’re not Lily, last I checked she wasn’t green…” he peers at her speculatively and she giggles.

“It’s me Unca Ash! Mama painted my face!” she laughs.

“Oh! It is you!” he crouches down and pokes her nose. “Happy Birthday, darling.”

“Come see all the games!” Posy says tugging him along, Lily follows with her broom.

Calum and Rayna are next and they’re dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Incredible.

“You do look incredible in that outfit, Rayna,” you say. With her dancer’s body, the tightness of the suit really accentuates her curves and muscles.

“That’s what I told her,” Calum grins before kissing her sweetly.

“And your muscles look amazing in this,” she compliments him.

“Unca Cal!” Lily runs across the yard straight into Calum’s awaiting arms.

“Hiya Lils,” he smiles hugging her close. “I love your witch costume.”

“Thank you, I have a broom and my monkey,” she points out her props.

“I love your monkey, Lily,” Rayna says kneeling next to Calum.

“Thank you Miss Rayna,” Lily twirls in her dress.

Roman is the first to arrive of her friends from school and they immediately run off to play some of the games. Posy is their little shadow following them around. More and more little friends arrive. Luke is holding Olly while you make sure the kids are all right playing the games and decorating the caramel apples until you hear him crying.

“Go on, I can watch them,” Ashton appears next to you.

You lift up your skirt and jog to where Oliver and Luke are, they’re on the patio by some of the decorations you put up. One of them was a skeleton with red glowing eyes.

“I think the skeleton scared him,” Luke says bouncing Oliver in his arms. Tears are streaming underneath his glasses and upon seeing you, his arms are reaching for you.

“Oh, it’s okay honey, mama’s here,” you croon hugging him close. His arms are tight around you as he cries into your shoulder. You kiss the side of his head multiple times and he hiccups as he calms down.

“Sorry we’re late,” Crystal announces as you sway Oliver from side to side. “Chloe spit up on her costume and I had to clean it in the wash.”

“You guys look awesome!” Luke smiles at their costumes.

Crystal and Michael are dressed as Mary Poppins and Bert while Chloe and Maddox are in matching penguin costumes.

“Thanks,” Michael smiles then frowns when he sees Oliver is upset. “What’s wrong with my nephew?”

“The skeleton scared him,” you explain rubbing at Oliver’s back then you whisper in his ear, “your uncle Michael is here, baby. Do you want to say hello?”

Oliver lifts his head then smiles at Michael.

“Hi buddy! Let’s get away from the big scary skeleton,” Michael opens his arm and takes Oliver from you. “Let’s go show your cousin Maddox the apples over there.”

Michael shifts his arms so both boys are settled comfortably in them and walks away towards the other partygoers.

“y/n, this dress is to die for!” Crystal gasps at your outfit.

“Look at you! You look like you just came from the movie!” You laugh. “The twins are so adorable as penguins.”

“I thought so too,” Crystal smiles. “I’ll go find Lily and say hello.”

“Have fun.”

You and Luke watch everyone for awhile until the doorbell rings. The two of you go answer it together to find Cory, Ella and Violetta. Cory and Ella are dressed as Flynn Rider and Rapunzel and Violetta is Pascal.

“Oh my God, Violetta is the perfect Pascal!” you gush as she waves her arms at you in greeting.

“She has a little tail, too,” Ella smiles shifting her body so you can see the curled tail.

“That is the cutest thing,” you smile. “Come on in, everyone is in the back.”

Before dinner, you have all the kids play ‘pin the spider on the web’ game and Lily is the first one to go up. Luke spins her three times and she takes very careful steps towards the wall, Posy is trying to direct her from her spot on the floor. Lily places the spider way up above where the web is but when she took off her blindfold, she was still smiling.

At seven o’clock the parents’ of Lily’s friends arrived to pick up their kids so they could trick or treat in their neighborhoods. When they were all gone, Lily and Posy ran to get their pumpkins so you could all go trick or treating but before you did, you all took photos of your costumes.

Calum and Rayna volunteered to stay at the house so they could hand out candy and your big group were off in the subdivision to collect candy. Lily and Posy held hands as they walked up each driveway and Lily needed Luke or Cory to go with her a few times because the house was scary. By the fifth house, Chloe and Maddox were fast asleep and Oliver was asleep in your arms.

Back at the house you all sang to Lily and she opened her presents on the living room floor. Oliver and the twins were fast asleep in his room and you started to get uncomfortable in your dress.

“Are you okay?” Luke asks in concern. There’s chatter in the living room from Lily opening up a gift.

“Yeah, I’m glad I didn’t get a corset with this thing. My boobs are killing me,” you grumble and tug at the fabric over your breasts.

“They’re killing me, too,” Luke’s eyes widen as he gazes at your chest. “Your boobs look fantastic right now.”

“Shush,” you laugh bumping his shoulder. “The kids will hear you.”

“No they won’t,” he shakes his head still staring at your chest. Then his eyebrows furrow together. “Why do your boobs look so good right now?”

“Because of my bra,” you shrug, “It is a push-up but…”

Your sentence fades away then Luke’s eyes meet yours. One look and you share the exact same thought but before you can discuss it further, Lily calls for you.

“Look what I got, mama!” she runs up to you holding a box of an American Girl doll.

Luke kept looking at you for the rest of the night and when you finally put Lily and Posy to bed once everyone left, he asked you.

“Are you–?”

“I don’t know,” you say quietly as he helps unzip your dress. It falls in a big pink pile at your feet and you’re quick to remove the strapless bra. You took a deep breath as that fell down to the floor as well and Luke wraps his arms around you.

“What if you are?”

“I don’t want to get our hopes up,” you shake your head resting your hands on top of his.

“Okay,” he mumbles into your skin. “How late are you?”

“Now that I’m thinking about it…a few weeks,” you answer slowly. Luke sighs then kisses your neck.

“Let’s get ready for bed and we can figure it out tomorrow,” he says.

“Okay,” you nod.

The two of you wash your faces in silence in your bathroom. Your mind is reeling because of the last several months you and Luke have endured. From therapy and a loss and even more therapy because of that loss, you didn’t want to ruin the progress you’d made. Plus with Oliver still not talking…you can only tackle one thing at a time.

Luke pulls you to his chest once you’re settled in bed, he sings your song ‘Stuck in Gravity’ softly in your ear. It lulls you to sleep along with the gentle rubbing of his hand on your belly. His mind is reeling too, he barely sleeps because he thinks by rubbing your stomach will keep you and the possibility of a baby safe.

taglist: @calpalirwin @calumance @in-superbloom @karajaynetoday @wiiildflowerrr @sunshineeluke @littledrummeraussie @suchalonelysunflower @hoodhoran @fobodob @thew0rldneedsmcreycghurt @sunshineeashton @ashtonsunflower @mymindwide @itjustkindahappenedreally @seanna313 @mulletcal @pandaxnienke @hellasblessed @gwynethhberdara @in-a-world-of-fandoms @prentisswrites @princesslrh

#luke & lily fic #luke & lily oneshot #luke & lily fluff #luke & lily #dad!luke #dad!sos #uncle!sos #5sos writing #luke hemmings writing

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wickedlyqueer · 9 months

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Do you think musical Glinda would become bitter after doing her best for Oz for a long time considering her lost? she doesn't have any friends (that matter), no one she can talk to, I only see misery (You've been here for a long time so I'm sorry if you already talked about something similar.)

Oh. Oh yeah. I think we already see some of that during the musical itself. Glinda tries of course, to keep up hope and positivity, if only to upkeep Elphaba's wish. That's what the Ozians see too, her upbeat persona. But deep inside? She's honestly rotten to the core. During Act II we already see she doesn't want this life. Not really. And that's the tragedy of the musical, frankly. Glinda only gets what she thought she wanted, not what she truly desired and needed (an equal who understands her and pushes through her bs). And I'll never be over that.

Or as Glinda put it herself, she has "to grin and bear it".

#wicked #wicked meta #sam's asks #also im sure ive talked about this loads one way or another #but as long as im in this fandom i'll still enjoy talking about it (even if i repeat myself sometimes)#so no need to apologize for that!

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wearykatie · 4 months

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Journey Into the Wild Beyond Chapter 5: The Palace of Heart's Desire (Part 1)

If I drank alcohol, this is where I would insert a gif of me setting The Wild Beyond the Witchlight book down, picking up a bottle, flicking the cap off, taking a swig, and then picking up my dice.

Also, this is endgame spoiler territory, and I’ll be talking about one of the campaign’s big deal surprises as well as its ending in these final parts. If you want the bail out now to run the campaign or play it yourself, feel free. I understand. Have a great rest of your day and enjoy what is a really fun and interesting campaign.

For the rest of you, here we go.

Nice Job Breaking it, Hero

Despite the worries of some party members, killing Endelyn didn’t cause the arcane anchors holding Prismeer together to deteriorate. They had begun failing the moment Zybilna was frozen in time, it was just really convenient narrative timing that they started to demonstrably fail right after the last hag died. The hags were never powerful enough to maintain the domain. After all, it took all three of them working together and using Zybilna’s own magic against her just to cast the spell that froze her.

The party had heard most of this already, but learned additional information from Charmay who was getting ready to GTFO. She saw the writing on the wall and she didn’t want to be around when Zybilna woke up. Why? Charmay, or rather Skylla as she’s actually known, is a warlock whose patron is Baba Yaga, the mother of the hags, and she knows some things.

Zybilna is Iggwilv, aka Natasha, aka Tasha, adopted daughter of Baba Yaga. And if she wakes up, she’s not going to be happy.

So all of that stuff about the arcane anchors? I made it the fuck up. There are floating stones surrounding Prismeer, seen on many of the outdoor maps, and those are where I took the inspiration. The book credits the cartography to Stacey Allan and Will Doyle, and I don’t know their intentions behind some of the unmarked things on the maps, but I like that they included little unexplained things. It got my imagination going, and I imagined those giant stones as a sort of summoning circle for the domain and currently serving as the anchors maintaining its presence in the chaotic untempered raw magic of the Feywild.

Why add the bit about Prismeer falling apart without Zybilna? Well, because honestly, the book doesn’t really give a very convincing argument for freeing her. The hags suck and Prismeer is better off without them, but once they’re gone you go into Chapter 5 and learn that Zybilna is potentially just as bad if not worse.

Tasha’s Cauldron of Bullshit

So who is Zybilnda/Iggwilv/Natasha? Well, if you’ve played a spellcaster and you’ve used Tasha’s Caustic Brew, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, Tasha’s Otherworldly Guise, or any other spell with her name in it, that’s her. She reached demigod levels of power, studied demonology in the Abyss, she had a love-hate relationship with a demon prince, had a few kids, made more than a few enemies.

Now, a bit of research on the Forgotten Realms Wiki tells me that Tasha and Iggwilv weren’t originally intended to be the same character, but Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk retconned that, and her entire history as Zybilna seems to have just come up in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. The final chapter of Witchlight brings back a lot of characters from D&D lore, so that’s not surprising, and retcons are fine if you can make them work.

I just feel like this is trying to turn the Wicked WItch of the West into Glinda the Good Witch. Or maybe they were going for a White Witch thing. Either way, Chapter 5 really presents Yassified Witch Queen in a pretty dim light. I feel like maybe they were going for a more morally ambiguous character, but the lady has a prison in her castle where she slow dips prisoners into a sludge that turns them into mindless demons and the hallways outside has a 40 foot long Rug of Smothering that attacks you if you don’t take a flower from a nearby vase.

Threading the hell out of that “Chaotic Neutral” needle, Z.

What I’m saying is, there isn’t a lot of reason to free Zybilna and fewer reasons to trust her. Yes, a few NPCs speak favorably of her, and there’s the enemy of my enemy thing with the hags, but there’s no reason to free Zybilna after the hags are dead. And finding out her history may deter the party from doing just that. Sure, she can send them home or offer them a wish with the Wish spell, but that’s a gamble, and if the players have been exploring, they might have found one to four ways home already.

And so, I made it so they had to free Zybilna. Figure out if she’s worth a damn after she fixes Prismeer.

Shamelessly Ripping Off Everything

The party borrowed a couple of flying machines from Motherhorn and headed for the Palace of Heart’s Desire, Zybilna’s home. Outside, they found a massive army of arcane constructs led by Warduke.

They mocked Warduke for just being called Warduke. I made a point of telling them that it wasn't on me. Someone else made and named that character. Not my circus, not my monkeys…okay, I’m kind of borrowing the circus and the monkeys, and I’d feel bad about changing a character like that.

“But Katie, didn’t you just say you changed a lot of this chap–?”

ANYWAY, BIG ARMY. This is something else I added because for the entire campaign, the party had been making friends and helping people. People they didn’t even need to help. Even those they gained nothing from helping. So there four young people stand face to face with an army they can’t possibly defeat…

And then they get a telepathic message from a pixie they befriended in Thither. Portals start opening all around them and friends they’ve made from all over Prismeer step through: Jingle Jangle, the harengon brigands, the bullywugs of the soggy court, Tsu the innkeeper, Lamorna and Elidon, Will of the Feywild, Juniper the owlbear, the korreds, the brigganocks, Amidor the Dandelion, Gleam and Glister, the theater crew from Motherhorn, and the carnival hands of the Witchlight Carnival, including Mr. Witch, Mr. Light, and a now-human Diana the carousel operator, riding atop her warhorse.

With the Army of Prismeer at their command, ready to attack at any moment, what did the party do?

They talked. They convinced Warduke to stand down through intimidation. Have I mentioned how proud I am of my players?

The scene was a cheeky nod to Avengers: Endgame, but I had players who would get a kick out of the reference, and I wanted to reward how all of them had played the game so far with a grand display that showed off just how many allies they had in their corner. Also, I use Spotify for background music, and for that scene, I played “The Shepherd’s Boy” by Murray Gold, one of my favorite bits of music from Doctor Who, and amazingly, my narration of the scene lasted exactly as long as the song. I don’t know if any of the players noticed, but that was icing on the cake for that moment.

I Hope Your Desire is to Have No Idea Where You’re Going

Did I just spend this entire part talking about setting up Chapter 5, just to get the party through the front gate? Well, I have mentioned before how difficult this chapter was. Everything from the characterization of Zybilna through her backstory to the environmental storytelling of the Palace of Heart’s Desire complicates the narrative, but the layout of the palace is downright baffling in a lot of places. Navigating it is difficult, there’s little logical structure to suggest it’s a functioning home for anyone, and the DM might have to retcon things to bail out the players if certain choices are made.

I like this campaign overall, and even Chapter 5 has some high points, I just find this chapter lacking half the time and frustrating the other half. I don’t know if maybe they ran out of time and had to rush the chapter or if there was a mandate to include certain lore characters that never got fleshed out. When the chapter is good, there’s a grand hall full of glass statues that dance about, each depicting a mortal Zybilna aided as a fairy godmother.

When the chapter is bad, you get a 3000 square foot room with only a small table and three jars.

Creative liberties were taken, and I will talk about them more next time.

#d&d #d&d 5e #dm #gm #journey into the wild beyond #the wild beyond the witchlight

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