Queen's Cannon

(I can’t promise I’ll write this into a fully fleshed out one-shot because it’s been AGES since I did anything fandom related, but I’m in so much pain and need my babies okay and happy)

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gareth+emery+i+could+be+stronger

The song provides the landscape for the scene in mind. 

Picture it with me. Hawkins survives Vecna and the Mind Flayer’s attempts at overtaking the human world. It’s a narrow escape but it’s something. The gang make it all out alive, but there are casualties they can’t escape. Mostly Max not regaining her regular sight and remaining totally blind, but she retains the second sight El accidentally gifted to her that allows her to see any cracks in the fabric of reality where the Upsidedown could leak through. It’s her and El’s job to spot the fissures and close them. 

Dustin takes over as permanent DM for the Hellfire Club and names Erica his Lieutenant. He has plans to visit Suzie over summer break and once he goes away to college, he’ll hand Hellfire over the Erica permanently. 

Will and Mike…well, that’s a little complicated. It was El who decided to end things between her and Mike after the final battle. Her reasons are her own and she doesn’t share them openly often, but she could feel the connection the two boys shared and realized, through her own displays of power and overcoming her literal demons, she’s too young and wild to settle down with anyone long term. She knows so little of the world, and Mike’s heart has always belonged in another’s hands, so she makes the hard decision to end things amicably. Mike was understandably upset but even he realized after a small bit of sulking that El was right. He was just too blinded by social pressures and his own awkwardness to see the gift Will had given him. The gift of his heart. They are taking things slow, he and Will. It’s all new for Mike but he’s learning and gradually accepting his feelings.  

El is thriving in new and exciting ways as she learns about the wild world outside Hawkins and the shadow of the Upsidedown.

Nancy, Robin, and Steve decide to room together to help mitigate the cost of living (despite property in Hawkins being dirt cheep) and to also pose as each other’s beards. Being queer in the late 80′s is hard enough thanks to the AIDS epidemic still raging, but Nancy can’t close off her feelings for Robin any more than she can close off her feelings for Steve. They are both her anchors, so they enter into the strange yet fulfilling world of polyamory. And oddly enough, they wind up unofficially-officially adopting a certain blind redhead who finds herself without any strong mooring in a frightening new world.

Hawkins takes over a year to rebuild. Eventually, the gang goes back to school to finally graduate. It’s tough but they manage to wiggle back into some semblance of normalcy. And while everyone seems to be able to fit into their respective roles well enough, Max struggles. With her achingly new disability. With the memories she can’t escape. With losing her family to the Upsidedown in more than one way. It seems impossible she’ll ever feel “normal” again, but Lucas is there between each breath. Helping her stand. Helping her learn. Helping her remember how to smile, and then it’s not just Lucas there but El literally at her elbow at all points. El taking up the slack when Lucas is tired or needs to be with his friends or just needs to feel human for once and crumble. El helping Max feel like a teenager again but most importantly helping her see.

It’s not much. It never is because El’s powers are enormous and if she’s not careful she can overwhelm Max (she did this once and Max passed out for a solid 5 minutes only to come back to shouting, Hopper picking her up, Joyce calling 911, and Lucas having to be restrained by El who was sobbing just as hard as he was. Not a good day). But when El is able to pinpoint her focus and trigger the second sight Max gained after she escaped Vecna’s mind, El can make her see in a world of colors never before imagined. It’s like looking through technicolor lenses and the first time Max catches a glimpse of this brand new sight she cries for hours.

So life moves forward and the school year grinds on. Christmas break is the best it’s ever been. Max and El spend it with Robin, Steve, and Nancy then heading over to The Byers residents where Hopper makes them all food, sings horrible, and hands out gifts in a very un-Santa-like fashion (despite Joyce donning elf ears and a red and green hat). Spring comes and with it the prospects of prom. It’s a bitter sweet moment for Max. She never wanted to go to prom when she first enrolled. It was cheep and cheesy and just not her vibe, but now? Now all she wants is to be able to go back in time and pick out a dress that Lucas would match and relive the happiness of the Snowball. Her melancholy is picked up by Nancy who hatches a plan with Robin, Steve, El and the rest of the gang. Lucas is sworn to secrecy and it kills him to keep quiet about this, but he’s over the moon about the idea. 

And so, come May, Max’s new family kidnap her for the day. El feigns she wants to go get her hair done and even if Max can’t see she wants to feel some semblance of normal, so she agrees. And doesn’t exactly understand why her hair’s being pinned up or makeup carefully applies or…are they getting her nails done?! Nope, she draws the line there until El gentle takes her by the shoulders and whispers close to her ear “Just trust me”. Max can’t argue. El is both her best friend and other half. The second body to her holy trinity. So with reluctant agreement, she lets this weird process happen and only realizes something amazing is about to happen when she carefully steps in to a dress that fits her like a glove. A dress El shows her with a tiny push from her powers. 

Tears well in Max’s cloudy eyes. She can see herself so clearly in a whirl of colors like oil on water. Hair beautifully styled and studded with crystal pins that make her look like the night sky. Body hugged by fabric as soft as silk cut into a stunning off the shoulder design with a neckline that might not be proper for someone her age but Nancy insisted. 

She’s going to prom, she realizes, and suddenly can’t breathe.

It’s only after more than an hour of pep talks and gentle reassurances she climbs into the back of Steve’s car beside El (who insists she’s in an equally beautiful dress with an equally beautiful date on her arm and Max suddenly feels warm in new and frightening ways she’ll explore later) and the two arrive at the newly refurbished Munson gymnasium. El guides Max through the door and at first the music is overwhelming. Max knows there are dozens of people there and her claustrophobia spikes until she feels a familiar hand slide around her waist and a gentle set of lips against the side of her head. 

“Hey there Mad Max.”

Lucas. She relaxes immediately and takes his offered hand. El extricates herself to wander and observe (she does a lot of that) and maybe take up a few dances with Mike (for old time’s sake) and Dustin. Even Erica a few times, the two laughing and spinning like fools while people look on. 

Max can’t help feel out of place. She’s never been a dancer on this caliber and Lucas doesn’t push until a song comes on that literally stops Max’s heart. Kate Bush’s “A Deal With God”. And suddenly she’s shaking and flashing back to those horrible moments under Vecna but also the blissful balm of feeling Lucas hold her tight. Holding her like he’s holding her now and gently swaying. Max didn’t even realize she was dancing with him until she felt his hands settle on her waist, their foreheads almost touching. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he breathes and she can hear the smile on his lips. “We make a kickass couple right now, I hope you know.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” she snorts back a little bitterly, but then she feels it. A tiny tug at the base of her skull she’s come to associate with El touching her with her powers and suddenly the gym is awash in colors so vibrant and vivid Max gasps and pulls back. Only its not the colors that pull her heart into her throat but the sight of Lucas. His ebony skin lit around the edges in hues of blue, purple, violet, and pink. His eyes glowing like a gentle sunrise that’s mirrored in his smile because he knows, he knows, she’s seeing him fully and he can’t help it. He looks like a celestial being come to earth, glowing with a light that can only be described as pure radiance, and she’s in complete awe. 

“You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen,” Max whispers with tears in her eyes and hitch in her voice as she traces fingers across Lucas’ face.

“The moon only glows when the sun shines,” Lucas says back before kissing her, and the radiance bleeds into Max, making her smile until her cheeks hurt. She’s crying but that’s okay. So is Lucas and so is El who isn’t so far away with a wad of tissue discretely shoved into her bleeding nostril. Nancy wraps an arm around her slender shoulders and kisses the top of her head. Steve bumps her with his shoulder, proud papa of six watching one of his most broken children have her Cinderella moment.

The MC has the mysterious ability to enter paintings, which they often use to simply relax in beautiful landscapes. Their serenity crumbles when they discover the bodies of the recently deceased hidden in the scenery of the paintings.

- Lynn

It’s just not a good story, okay? It’s… about the time I met someone.

Cait:

CALLING ALL SAPPHICS/QUEER GIRLS, COME GET FED!

April 1st, my sapphic take on Beauty and the Beast debuts!

UNDERGROUNDER follows Alex and Leanna, two women from opposite worlds colliding in a time of crime and crisis that could tear their respective worlds apart or bring them together in unimaginable ways.

What to expect?

✨Disaster journalist ✨Cinnamon roll monster girl ✨Hidden worlds ✨Deadly secrets ✨Bed-sharing ✨Bit of magic

Pre-Order Now! Amazon 

Marvel fandom:

CALLING ALL SAPPHICS AND WLW!! COME GET FED!

Can I interest you in a modern, sapphic take of Beauty and the Beast? The story follows Alex Bailey and Leanna Farrow, two women from opposite worlds colliding in a time of crisis that will either bring them together or tear both worlds apart.

Amazon

Twitter @/artist_ele

There is a monster in my house

It eats neither flesh nor bone

But leaves gouges on the soul shaped like teeth impressions  

I creep with hesitant steps so the monster doesn’t hear, treading lightly, a ghost trapped between four expensive walls. I watch my footing and the floorboards, avoiding the creeks so the monster doesn’t stir.

There is a monster in my house

It eats neither flesh nor bone

But it’s sour Medusa glances takes the warmth from the room

I erased my existence. Clean up my messes. Hide away the evidence that there was anyone else who lived in this home. I am footprints fading in the sand. Here but forgotten. Safe when not noticed.

There is a monster in my house

It eats neither flesh nor bone

But it’s quiet words are hollow fangs sucking the happiness from my blood

“Watch the tone of your voice,” I say to visitors wary enough to enter. “The monster has sharp ears. It will lie dormant until you leave and then rise for the hunt.” What I don’t say is, “You won’t be the prey because you’re not trapped in this cage.”

There is a monster in my house

It eats neither flesh nor bone

But it’s two-way faces make it hard to determine which way it will lung 

Vigilance is exhaustive but a body copes. It learns to read the signs like hunting trails. Passiveness begets aggressions, be wary. Words have double meaning, always watch the face. The sound of mundanity hide threats, and flippant words are venomous.

There is a monster in my house

It eats neither flesh nor bone