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2 years ago

Hi! Just followed your blog and I love your art. I was wondering if you had any recommendations for getting into Black Cat comics? I’ve mostly only seen her in Silk and wanted to get into reading her storyline more but don’t know where to start. Do you have any recommendations?

Ahh omg tysm!!! I definitely have recs for Felicia!! 😸 I’m not going to include every appearance she’s ever had but my rec list is gonna be pretty heavy bc she’s my fav 🫶🫶 I’m also gonna include some non-canon comics, miscellaneous media, and fanfics I enjoy because i have so many recs LMAO

Earth-616

I’m gonna try to keep these in order but no promises!! This begins with Fel’s first appearance and ends with her latest appearance.

Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #22 (This is just a little background on Felicia’s creation and design, but to save you a little time you can read about it here.)

Amazing Spider-Man #194-195, #204-205, #226-227

Spectacular Spider-Man #74-79, #84-91

Amazing Spider-Man #246, #256-258

Spectacular Spider-Man #94-100, #112, #115-117, #119, #123

Amazing Spider-Man #288-289

Spectacular Spider-Man #128-129

Amazing Spider-Man #329-331, #341-343, #346-347

Web of Spider-Man #80

Spider-Man Unlimited #11

Amazing Spider-Man #369-371

Spectacular Spider-Man #204-206

Felicia Hardy: The Black Cat #1-4

Web of Spider-Man #113, #128

Sensational Spider-Man #29-30

Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do (This is probably my most rec’d comic of all time definitely read this)

Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1-12

Sensational Spider-Man (2006) #25-27, #33

Amazing Spider-Man #606-607, #612, #621-622

Wolverine & Black Cat: Claws

Heros for Hire #2-4, #6-8, #14

Marvel Divas #1-3

Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat #1-4

Amazing Spider-Man #630-633 , #648-651

Wolverine & Black Cat: Claws 2

Amazing Spider-Man #677

Daredevil (2011) #8 (This is the issue the “my super-villain origin story” panel comes from el oh el)

Superior Spider-Man #20

Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #1-6, #16-18

Patsy Walker a.k.a Hellcat (2015) #7-14

Deadpool: Back in Black #3

Silk #9-10

Spider-Man (2016) #5

Star-Lord: Grounded (2016) #1-6

Power Man and Iron Fist (2016) #10-15

Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2016) #15-21

Venom (2016) #159-160

Defenders (2017) #1-9

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #300

Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #9-10, #16-17, #20

Symbiote Spider-Man #1-5

Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #77-78

Death of Doctor Strange: Spider-Man #1

Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #87, #89

Women of Marvel #1

Black Cat (2019) #1-10

Black Cat (2019) Annual #1

Black Cat (2020) #1-10

Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond #1

Iron Cat (2022) #1-5

Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #6 (She also is in #5 & #11 but I actually wouldn’t recommend this run and am only including #6 because it has the Peterfel B-day kiss that I thought that art of was cute 😿)

Mary Jane & Black Cat: Dark Web #1-5 (Only #1 & #2 are out atm but I’m including the next three issues for future reference!)

Non-Canon/Not Earth-616

Spider-Man Noir (2009) #1-4 and Spider-Man Noir: Eyes without a Face #1-4 (Obviously I wouldn’t be a Peterfel main if i didn’t suggest SM Noir. My user is literally Earth-90214 I basically have to.)

Marvel’s Spider-Man: The Black Cat Strikes (This one’s actually a tie-in with the Insomniac Spider-Man DLC: the Heist!!)

Spider-Gwen #5, #26, #33 (Black!Felicia is a pretty popular hc and one both me and my mutuals use so a canonical black Fel variant is definitely on my rec list.)

Exiles vol 3 #9 (Another WOC Felicia Hardy and probably one of my favorite Felicia variant suits! She’s not a major character but I like her panels so I’m including this on the list.)

What If…? #4 (1989) (Follows Felicia after Peter dies because of bonding with the symbiote suit.)

What If…? #21 (1989) (What if Peter married Felicia)

Misc Media

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Spider-Man: Edge of Time, and Insomnic’s Spider-Man: The Heist/ Silver Linings DLC are all games that have Felicia in them!! I believe that the Spider-Man 2 (2004) game and TASM games from 2012 & 2014 also have Fel in them but I haven’t watched those play throughs so I can’t say for certain how much content there is.

There are some cut scenes from TASM 2 that feature Felicity Jones as Felicia working for Harry Osborn! Unfortunately we never get to see her in costume but she still does a great job and I wish we got her as Fel in TASM 3 🥲

Spider-Man: the Animated Series (1994): s1 eps 2-7 & 10, s2 eps 1-2/6-10, s3 eps 4-6/12-13, s4 eps 2-7, s5 eps 1/7/8-12

Spectacular Spider-Man: s1e10, s2e12

Spider-Man (2017) s1ep4, s2ep1 (I actually can’t stand this show, but its the only adaptation that portrays Felicia’s glowing, cat-like eyes seen in her first appearance so for that, it gets a pass.)

Fanfics

Felicia has a pretty small ao3 tag with <1,500 works, but there are some fantastic fics that I definitely suggest reading (and authors you should definitely follow)!!

@the-cat-and-the-birdie has a Post-NWH Peterfel/PeterMjFel fic that I’ve really been enjoying and is currently ongoing!!

@seek--rest !! Seek’s mostly an mcu/spideychelle writer but has some really fantastic Felicia-centric/Felicia appearance fics up that i definitely suggest.

Both of @traincat’s Insomniac Peterfel fics are great reads that are on my (very short) list of fics i regularly re-read.

@justmattycakes’s Insomniac Peterfel series is another series on my re-read list! 10/10

any fic in @splendidnothings’s peterfelweek ao3 collections/works. Going thru the @peterfelweek blog or tag in general is a great place to find fics and art.

Naturally I have to suggest myself as well 🤭 I just started a new Peterfel series that I’m looking forward to updating soon! It’s a comic au without a solid timeline and is mostly just interconnected oneshots that center domestic Peterfel. I’m also working on a Felicia-centric fic based on a really cool headcanon that @peterbwatsonparker sent me about psychic/medium Felicia that I’m hoping to post in the next few weeks!! I also have a decent amount of headcanons posted on my blog that never made it into full fics, but my most popular ones (and my personal favorites) are my Mutant!Felicia headcanons.

Obviously these are just my personal recs, so I’m definitely missing some stuff, but if you’d like a complete list of Fel’s mainstream comic appearances you can find that here!!


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1 year ago

Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Walpurgisnacht Rising Trailer


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4 months ago
If Your Toxic Yuri Isnt Toxicyuri-ing To Your Tastes, Store Bought Works Just Fine

if your toxic yuri isnt toxicyuri-ing to your tastes, store bought works just fine


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2 years ago

WHAT

THERE ARE

DIFFERENT SIZES????

AND FONTS ??????????

WHZVHZHRHZ HOW

SMALL GREY LINE BELOVED

i love this place so much I'm gonna spend the rest of my life here


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2 months ago
I Adore Gin, She's Genuinely Cute, So I Put Her In Few Different Outfits. I'm In Genuine Belief That

I adore Gin, she's genuinely cute, so I put her in few different outfits. I'm in genuine belief that she's a shoujo girlie.


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1 year ago

i love midam sharing a body. i cannot get enough of it. its honestly one of my major dislikes when an author has them in seperate bodies.

no shame to anyone who does like them in seperate bodies, but it is so not for me.

like. that is THEIR body. its THEIR house.

youre telling me, after like 1200 years in the cage, where they were each others only solstice, they arent just a little codependent. they arent just a little bit nervous whenever they're seperate. that they dont find inherent safety and comfort in being able to feel each other's essence at all times.

and thats even before they were forcibly ripped apart by chuck. i cant even fathom how much worse it is after.


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1 month ago
I Just Got Home From Rehearsing/for/fun The Play "Balada Pro Banditu" And I Just Had To Make A Tf2 Gay

I just got home from rehearsing/for/fun the play "Balada pro banditu" and I just had to make a tf2 gay romance drawing for it dude :] (it's a musical)


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3 months ago
𝐗𝐎𝐋𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐔𝐄Ñ𝐀 𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐙
𝐗𝐎𝐋𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐔𝐄Ñ𝐀 𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐙
𝐗𝐎𝐋𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐔𝐄Ñ𝐀 𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐙
𝐗𝐎𝐋𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐔𝐄Ñ𝐀 𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐙

𝐗𝐎𝐋𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐔𝐄Ñ𝐀 𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐙

Favorite Season (20%), Season 1-Season 2. COBRA KAI.


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1 month ago
Krux Smoked Pot So True Send Tweet
Krux Smoked Pot So True Send Tweet

Krux smoked pot so true send tweet

As for the second one.. I realised that, with my own timeline, Morro may have actually met some of the old elemental masters, so now I’m just kinda considering what chaos to cause with that…

Ref images below

Krux Smoked Pot So True Send Tweet
Krux Smoked Pot So True Send Tweet

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1 month ago

Guys. HE WON HEHEHHAHAHA

Gotta make a fanart of him now.

oriondrawsstuff - The eggirl who drew stuffs
oriondrawsstuff - The eggirl who drew stuffs

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4 months ago

MARVELLLLLLLLLLL ADD JOHNNY STORM TO MARVEL RIVALS AND MY LIFE IS YOURS


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1 year ago
Day 2 Of Drawing Maul Until Someone At Disney Gives Me A Job Relating To Maul

Day 2 of drawing Maul until someone at Disney gives me a job relating to Maul


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3 months ago
Victor Vale Drawing Practice
Victor Vale Drawing Practice

Victor vale drawing practice

((sorry for not drawing him that much compared to Eli, I just hate rendering blonde hair lmao))


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6 months ago

I'M BACK, I'M ALIVE, AND I BRING ART! (〜 ̄▽ ̄)〜✨✨

I'M BACK, I'M ALIVE, AND I BRING ART! (〜 ̄▽ ̄)〜✨✨

Not a super big piece or anything, but I saw one of my roommates sitting like this, but they were asleep, and the only things I could think of was 'God that can't be comfortable', and 'Macaque would totally unironically lay on a couch like this'. So using my magic artist powers, here we are XDDDD


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1 year ago

Please? 🥴

One For The Long Nail Loves.

One for the long nail loves.


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1 year ago

NINJAGO 15 DAYS OC DRAWING CHALLENGE

NINJAGO 15 DAYS OC DRAWING CHALLENGE

Hi guys! Starting from July 16th till July 30th I'm starting the "15 days OC" Ninjago edition. I made this sheet special for this fandom. It would be great if you join the challenge, you can also do it whenever you want.

During the challenge, draw your Ninjago OC:

Day 1: In OC's favorite gi.

Day 2: In favorite non-combat clothes.

Day 3: Practicing spinjitzu/airjitzu.

Day 4: Elemental power manipulation.

Day 5: Training with 2 other ninjas.

Day 6: As a child, due to Garmadon's spell.

Day 7: In charge of doing chores.

Day 8: With favorite Ninjago citizen.

Day 9: Reaching the true potential.

Day 10: As a villain.

Day 11: Riding the elemental dragon.

Day 12: Possessed by Morro.

Day 13: With an oni mask.

Day 14: Spending time and chill with best friend from the team.

Day 15: With the whole ninja team (or 3 at least).

I'm looking forward to this challenge and hope to draw a lot of great arts with you all! Challenge sheet is free to use. Good luck and have fun! 😉💫


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5 months ago

I need this today. 😂

Speechless


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4 months ago

in 2025 let’s bring back being enthusiastic on ao3. leave a comment on every chapter. leave kudos and, if necessary, leave “double kudos” in the comments. tags and notes on bookmarks. the whole nine yards. let’s show fanfic authors how much we love them.


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2 weeks ago
Trent Reznor Compilation: Green 💚
Trent Reznor Compilation: Green 💚
Trent Reznor Compilation: Green 💚
Trent Reznor Compilation: Green 💚
Trent Reznor Compilation: Green 💚
Trent Reznor Compilation: Green 💚
Trent Reznor Compilation: Green 💚
Trent Reznor Compilation: Green 💚
Trent Reznor Compilation: Green 💚
Trent Reznor Compilation: Green 💚

trent reznor compilation: green 💚


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2 months ago

trust me that taste is NOT worth the c@ls.


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3 years ago

i just want a girl to look at me and hope i’m gay


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2 months ago
Happy Monday From Lieutenant Neptune

happy monday from lieutenant neptune


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1 year ago

It's Valentine! That means... 😏

Snowbaird valentine event!

Thanks to @snowbaird-events and @burntblueberrywaffles and all the snowbaird server for this beautiful event! 😍

There are seven prompts and I decide to write some little short stories all in the same "au". There will be plenty of fluff, silliness and happy ending. Also, this is a fix-it. I will post even on ao3 in the collection and I will link the story at the end.

So, let's start!

Here is the first story

1. Valentine

The first time he heard this he thought he had misunderstood.

"... Valentine..."

He looks up from the newspaper he is reading and sees Lucy Gray and Tigris confabulating on the other side of the living room. They giggle, see that he is looking at them and turn away, covering their mouths with their hands and lowering their voices further.

I wonder what they are up to , thinks Coriolanus. He doesn't give it much thought, even though the male name pinched his ears uncomfortably, since it was Lucy Gray who pronounced it. With a lot of enthusiasm.

Mentally, he shrugs his shoulders. It must be a model from Tigris' new atelier or something. He has nothing to fear anyway.

Right?

***

He seems to hear it everywhere.

This time he went out, with Lucy Gray and Festus and Persephone. A nice double date.

He is coming back from the bathroom when he sees Lucy Gray half lying on the table, leaning towards Persephone and saying something to her with a bright, amused air.

"... Valentine..." it's that name again. His ears perk up and a shiver seizes him and he marches determinedly towards the table.

"What are you talking so cheerfully about?" he asks, smiling quietly.

Persephone chuckles and Lucy Gray returns to sit composed, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Nothing interesting, sweetheart," she replies to him, "Persephone was telling me that her parents will probably give her a cat for her birthday."

A cat named Valentine?

Coriolanus watches her, quiet. Something doesn't add up.

He realizes only later, when he goes with Festus to pay: Lucy Gray was acting. She was not authentic.

She is hiding something from him.

***

 Even with Clemmy - even with Clemmy!

Lucy Gray stopped by the university after a morning of errands downtown and he caught her talking under her breath to Clemmy on the threshold of the chemistry room.

"... Valentine..."

Clemensia smiles and giggles, which is quite unusual for her.

"Good morning, girls," Coriolanus greets them, trying to smile but feeling his face get stuck in a paresis. He is starting to get irritated.

He doesn't like the excited glow in Lucy Gray's face.

Who the heck is this Valentine?!

Lucy Gray laughs and is already in his arms. She stands up on her toes and kisses him ardently.

Immediately Coriolanus calms down. Surely it cannot be anyone special if Lucy Gray continues to seek him out in this way, even in public, even when it would be better to avoid it.

***

Then suspicion sets in again when even Festus gets involved.

This time he catches them together. A very stupid thing, at the supermarket. He passed by almost by chance because of an unforeseen gap in university schedule to buy a treat for the evening, because he knows Lucy Gray loves them. And he has seen Lucy Gray and Festus so close that they almost brush against each other as they look at the pastry shelves.

Immediately a burning anger invades him and closes his stomach.

Really? Just what... Four months in the capital and Lucy Gray is already cheating on him with one of his friends? With his best friend?

And then he feels it again, as he is pinned down at the beginning of the lane, unable to advance towards them - and maybe it's just for the best, because right now he just feels pervaded by a murderous rage.

"... For Valentine..."

What is that, a code name? The name Lucy Gray calls Festus by in some moment of passion?!

The idea is so ridiculous that it almost distracts him, and then it is Festus who notices him.

He smiles like it's nothing, approaching him perhaps too quickly, leaving the cart behind.

"Coryo! Don't you have class with Gaul now?"

There it is, the admission of guilt. You wanted me to be busy, didn't you?

"She's absent," he replies, flatly. Lucy Gray emerges from behind his back.

"Isn't that an odd coincidence? I wanted to buy a treat for tonight and ran into Festus instead."

She's acting, too. Again.

Coriolanus merely looks at her and nods, without smiling.

“Then I think I'll go back to the university. I came for the same reason,” he replies, without any inflection in his tone of voice, and turns his back on them and leaves before either of them can retort.

***

It is the fourteenth of February and Coriolanus has spent a sleepless night, pondering in fevered fantasies whether to make a scene to Lucy Gray and leave her, whether to behave stoically and leave her before she can do so and face his own pain alone, or whether to go down on his knees and beg her forgiveness for whatever he may have done and, above all, for the return of his love.

Pathetic.

He gets out of bed because he has nothing else to do and goes through the bathroom to settle down. His expression is terrible. It's been so long since he's sulked with someone that he almost struggles to recognise himself.

Pathetic. And it's all that damn Valentine's fault.

He still finds it hard to believe that it's a nickname for Festus - by the way, does he have to say something to Persephone? Maybe she has some idea what's going on? Or is he going to come across as a paranoid lunatic?

(... But, on the other hand, Persephone might also be involved. Festus is too libertine to settle for a monogamous relationship, yet he is so happy with her. Surely there is something going on).

(Ok, now he's definitely losing his mind).

He goes back to his room and gets dressed, elegant as usual. In less than an hour he has to be at the university. He will think about his own heart problems when he gets home, assuming he can stand up all day after the sleepless night.

A delicious smell comes out of the kitchen. Something chocolatey. Perhaps Ma’ might have outdone herself...

When he enters, however, he finds only Lucy Gray and a gorgeous, huge heart-shaped cake on the table.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" she exclaims, jumping in excitement.

Coriolanus's heart sinks and begins to pound at the same instant. What does that mean?

He asks her, almost in despair.

"What does it mean?! "

Lucy Gray rounds the table and throws her arms around his neck. She kisses him and her mouth tastes like chocolate.

"It's a Covey tradition," she explains to him, "An old lost holiday. Valentine's Day, the fourteenth of February, the day of lovers. And it's customary to exchange chocolate treats."

The relief is so great that it almost makes him bend his knees. Coriolanus pulls her close to cling to her.

"So... In these weeks..." he murmurs.

Lucy Gray laughs and kisses him again, this time for longer.

"I was telling everyone about the tradition" she replies to him “I made sure Tigris took Grandma’am away this morning, with an excuse. I explained it to Percy so she could organize something for Festus and I told Clemmy so she would spread the word among the girls, at the university, to bring back the tradition. And finally, I asked Festus what your favorite chocolate dessert was and for help in choosing the ingredients”.

Coriolanus starts giggling, hysterical.

Hell! He was hysterical. All in his mind, as usual.

A celebration! Valentine's Day.

The celebration of lovers.

Only Lucy Gray could come up with something so absurd and romantic at the same time.

"Do you want to eat the cake?" asks Lucy Gray, after his outburst.

Coriolanus tilts his head, observing her.

"You said Tigris and Grandma’am aren't here, right?"

Lucy Gray widens her smile and Coriolanus kisses her again.

"I'll just taste the chocolate like this, for now," he tells her, taking her in his arms and pushing her towards the table, well away from the cake "And then, if there's time left over, we can eat the cake too."

Lucy Gray, in response, grabs him by the hair and pushes him back to her lips, squeezing her legs behind his back and trapping him against her.

Exactly in the one place he wants to stay for the rest of his life.

💖💖💖

Link on ao3:

archiveofourown.org
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

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1 month ago

Blood, the Blood of Grapes

Fandom: Percy Jackson Rating: Teen Characters: Pollux; Caz (Castor); OC daughter of Dionysus; Lee Fletcher; Will Solace

Summary: The maenads, the raving-ones, the noise-makers. They had always loved the Children of Dionysus. Sometimes his children loved them back. (The youngest member of Cabin 12 is called like a fey to the revels in the wood)

CW: minor threat of cannibalism; blood imagery

A/N: Agatha is 11 here. Caz and Pollux are Scottish

Theo had been at camp three months before she dared to ask about the music. 

It was faint at first, lone notes snatched on the winds gone the moment she stood still to listen. 

She went to bed with it in her ears, rose with it on her tongue. It papered her skin with gooseflesh.

Then came cymbals. In the rustle of leaves, the salt-brine waves, the knives and forks at dinner. 

At night she heard laughter. The other cabins perhaps. But when she pressed her nose against the cold glass of her window it was only dark. The stars above swilled wine-drunk and gold. 

It grew louder. Like feet under the hills, like the thud of swords against leather, like the thump-beat-thump of her own heart.  

She rose early, one morning, mouth metallic, jaw aching for the taste of strawberries and found the satyr cross-hoofed cradling Pan’s reeds to his lips. He winked, a wild eye, and she swallowed his tune down her gullet.  

After that it never left her; sweet and strange, it poured through camp thick like syrup. She found it on her plate curled round her cup, felt it in the soil and the worm-dark dirt, heard it in the amphitheatre in the argument of voices, saw it in the long twigged hands of the tree-people as they waved to her, the pipes the cymbals the drums. 

The question fell like baby teeth as she climbed into bed. 

Pollux grinned lopsidedly as he tucked Bunny into her blankets. ‘What music?’ 

‘The pipes. The drums.’ She shook her head, ‘They chant, why do they always chant?’ 

The twins exchanged a look, one of their silent conversations she cannot read. 

‘Faun-song,’ said Caz softly, ‘Da’s followers. Don’t worry’ 

They double checked the latches on the windows that night, tested the lock on the door.

She didn’t tell them that she wasn’t afraid. 

The chanting swelled louder, the pipes never stopped. It was not enough. The pipes were not enough, the drums were not enough. The cymbals of the sea and the bearded bleats of goats were not enough. She started humming it, needed to feel it inside her, in her mouth, in the glut of her stomach, greedy, greedy, she hummed. 

It was not enough. Her fingers hurt, her chest hurt, her ears hurt. Like it was a noise that could not be contained, condemned, to be still. She wanted to dance. Wanted to stomp her feet like the music halls of her childhood when she was young enough to twirl her skirts and spin. 

At the firepit she grew restless. The flames were high, Phoebus’ children bright, summer was coming and everyone crowed and still it was not enough. Sedate. Quiet. 

She wanted to dance. Wanted to move, wanted to tear her hair and shout MORE MORE MORE. 

May’s nights were long and warm. She dreamt of bull horns and absinthe and grinning green masks. She woke with the smell of fennel. 

It surprised her, in the end, how long it took her to go to the Forest. But Caz and Pollux had said it was out-of-bounds, told of monsters. She had promised never to go in. 

But that was before the music. 

Theo was supposed to be doing chores. A Saturday, no classes. Just polishing her leather breast-plate before Greek with Caz. She was not even supposed to be there but she’d tried for a half-remembered shortcut, misremembered, twice-remembered. She did not remember. Because here at the greenwood edge, the music came. 

Her head tilted, as if she might see into the leafgloom better. Her armour trailed on the ground. There was laughter, spilling like a drink, frothed and loud and merry. It reminded her of the after-show parties back home. Sequined girls still in their costumes, men handsome and moustached. 

It took her a while to see the woman. Greenskinned and tall, taller than Pollux even. Ivy trailed from her hair, her wrists, her dress was fawn skin. 

‘My child.’ Her voice is the best of honey. It stuck Theo’s tongue to her mouth. She swallowed, drily. 

‘The music...’

‘Ah.’ The lady smiled, a heady thing, ‘You like to dance?’ 

Theo nodded. 

She held out her hands, a coy tilt of the chin. ‘Come. Join us.’

‘I - I can’t.’  Theo had made a promise to the twins. The forest was dangerous. (But the music, how could it be with the music?) The pipes the cymbals the drums were loud.

She had taken a step before she realised it. 

‘Come,’ the lady lulled, ‘come ye child. Taste and see. We will not harm you.’ Her voice was the voice of many. The voice of pipes.

Theo took her hand. They ran. 

A whoop. A holler. A cheer. The woods raised up, loud and braying, the sound of a crowd. 

‘Evohé. Evohé’

It was a prayer, a hymn. The clap of hands, the stomp of feet. A hundred figures ran, a hundred figures writhed. Tree-men and women of holly and fir, satyrs with rolling eyes and naked legs, red berry creatures with horns and tails, leopard folk and boys with the heads of panthers that lapped the milk from the wet dew grass. 

The trees poured wine, the flowers dripped with honey. The air smelled of tanned hide and incense, sounded of cymbals and drums and flutes.

They kicked their heels, they keened their throats. And when they saw her, when a hundred eyes looked and saw, they cheered. 

A garland was summoned, ivy and vine leaves, wound in a crown, pressed to her head. her hands were taken, pulled into the crowd, she span, she twirled. She danced like she had not danced for years, back when her mother was alive, when the brass bands played what she asked, when life was smoke and powder and brandy.

‘Sister.’ They cried. ‘Priestess.’ 

Theo’s grin was wicked. ‘We dance.’ She said. She compelled. And they did.

The pipes the cymbals the drums the feet the cheer of a crowd that loved her. They laid flowers at her feet, tossed ivy to the ground, and when she threw back her head and howled they howled with her. 

She wanted more. Needed more.

‘Evohé,’ they cried, ‘daughter of Ours, where do we go?’ 

To the mountains, the mountains. Called the chorus. To the woods. 

Theo pointed, there was a staff in her hand, pinecone tipped and sharp. Onwards, deeper, deeper. They followed, the crowd of frenzy, the men and women who raved.

Their song was the rage of animals, the tears of sap, the blood of grapes.

Blessed are the dancers of the dance of god

A goblet was pushed to her lips, blazed gold and gleaming, and she drank deep and long. Rubbed a hand from her mouth, speared liquid across her cheeks. They cheered. Theo flushed, hot and thirsty and threw the cup to the ground. Where it struck, the earth bled wine.

‘Sister. Daughter of the god of joy.’ 

Daughter of the god of noise

She howled, they howled, the woods howled. They were hers now. Tree and stone and root. 

That was why she noticed the fault. The crack, the break, the wrong-quiet note in the good-loud noise.

A spy upon god’s possessed

‘Stranger! Spy! Watcher in the Woods!’

For doom for deed. Smite til the throat shall bleed

‘Feast’ Someone called. ‘Beast. Lion. Spy.’  

Their lips foamed, their eyes leapt like fire. Their hands tore at roots, at flesh.

‘Bring them. Find them. Rip them. Lionspy.’

Theo’s head spun, her stomach ached.

‘Eat it drink it suck the marrow dry. Yes. Yes. Feast until they die.’ A shout. A whoop. A holler.

A Scream.

Part two --

(Part of a larger story universe)


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