#we’ll see more of it in chap 24

[valleynix]

Idk if this will be in the next chp or not, but what were the dimis reactions to reader being brain dead, like Cassandra’s reaction to them falling unconscious

it will be! i’ll refrain from answering this in detail for now because it’ll be in the next chapter, but here’s the gist of their reactions:

Cassandra thought they were dead. literally. to fall like that and not answer her, to be completely dead weight against her… she knew something was after them and she wondered if it had finally succeeded.

Alcina, the next who saw them, was very unsure how to react. she kept her calm when she saw how panicked Cassandra was, but when Reader was safely placed in their room, she broke down. she didn’t understand how it had happened, WHAT had happened, and where to go.

Bela was just frozen. what was she supposed to do now? she’d never seen them so lifeless - not even when they’d first met. was she supposed to believe they would never wake up again, that she’d never interact with them?

Daniela, the last to know, already felt like something was wrong. maybe it was the way everyone was acting different, but she had this sinking feeling it wasn’t right. when she saw them lying in their bed, lifeless, she tried talking to them, hoping that they would hear her cracking voice and wake up for her.

[gracexthoughts]

of violent delights chap 24

burning embers

21 november 1996

Euphemia's POV

I rub at my eyes wearily and yawn, stretching my arms up and over my head as I sit up from my books and homework; a rather frustrating alchemy assignment that is due this week. My watch reads 12:55 AM and I sigh. Sirius is supposed to be meeting Harry and I at one, which is the only reason I’ve stayed up this late doing homework on a Saturday night. 

As I stand up from my desk, the door to my room burst open, Harry running through gasping for breath. “Dragons!” 

“What?” I exclaim, rushing to my brother’s side. 

“Hagrid-- forrest-- dragons--” Harry pants, seemingly having run all the way from the forest to her. 

“Haz, catch your breath. I can’t understand. Does Hagrid have another baby dragon?” Harry’s first year at Hogwarts, Hagrid had tried to raise a baby dragon in his mostly wooden hut. Harry shakes his head as he takes in gulps of air.

“Dragons, that’s the first task,” he says once he catches his breath enough. 

“Dragons?” I repeat, trying very hard to not show fear in my eyes. Harry nods solemnly just as the clock on my desk strikes one and a gasp emerges from the embers in my fireplace. 

“Mia! Harry!” Sirius calls out quietly and Harry and I scramble over, kneeling in front of the fire to see Sirius’ face in the low burning embers. 

“Sirius! How are you?” Harry asks. 

“Nevermind that, I’m worried about the two of you,” Sirius grumbles, his face much fuller than the last time we saw him, although his eyes still have a haunted quality about them.. Harry and I exchange a look and I nod, encouraging Harry to go ahead.

“I- well uh, fine I guess but, Sirius, Hagrid’s just shown me what the first task is. I’ve got to fight a dragon!” Harry stammers out, fidgeting with a loose thread on his jumper. “Malfoy’s right, I’m not going to last five minutes!” 

“Harry, since when do you listen to Malfoy?” I remind him. 

“Dragons we can handle, we’ll get to that in a minute. I haven’t got long,” Sirius says, pulling out focus back to the embers. “I broke into a house for the fire but they could come back any minute and I have to warn you.” 

“‘Bout what?” I ask. 

“There are Death Eaters at Hogwarts, Igor Karkaroff to be specific. He was in Azkaban with me but got released and I suspect that’s why Dumbledore has brought Moody in,” Sirius explains, in a hushed tone even though we are alone in my room. “He made a deal with the Ministry and gave up names of other Death Eaters but trust me when I say no one, no one, stops being a Death Eater.” 

“But Voldemort’s dead,” I say slowly, “Even if Karkaroff is still a Death Eater, what would he have to gain from coming after Harry? I mean it’s not like he could be in high favor with the Death Eaters if he traded names for freedom.” 

“We don’t know that he is dead for sure, Mia,” Sirius says but before I can protest he forges on ahead. “Now from what I can tell from the Daily Prophet, reading between the lines of that bloody Skeeter woman, it seems like Moody was attacked the night before the start of term. Like someone tried to stop him from making it to Hogwarts, probably knowing their job would be harder with him around.” 

“So what? You think Karkaroff put my name in the Goblet and is hoping the tournament kills me?” Harry asks and Sirius hesitates for a moment, looking between the two of us. 

“Strange things are happening,” he says after a moment, “The Death Eaters are becoming more and more active. They showed themselves at the World Cup and cast the Dark Mark. We have no proof that Voldemort is actually dead, there was no body.” 

“Dumbledore told me he was probably hiding somewhere my first year, that he was probably too weak to carry on but if Pettigrew found him,” Harry says, and my gut twists at the thought. 

“So what? Karkaroff managed to get himself out of prison how many years ago and now Voldemort has forgiven him for turning in his followers and given him the task of killing Harry?” I ask dubiously, looking between my brother and his godfather. 

“I’m thinking that the tournament is perfect cover for someone to attack Harry and make it look like an accident,” Sirius says bluntly. “Mia, Remus wrote to me. I hear you’re dating the Riddle heir?” Sirius’ eyes bore into me and I sigh; I’ve already received a letter from Remus warning me off Mattheo so I should’ve expected Sirius to know as well.

“I’m starting to get really fucking sick of people acting like Mattheo put me under a love potion or something and that I can’t take care of myself,” I snap, grateful Mattheo didn’t sleep over in my dorm tonight. 

“I didn’t say that-”

“You might as well have. I’m an adult Sirius and Mattheo knew his father as long as Harry and I did ours and he harbors no love for him either. I know him, you don’t, so I’d appreciate it if everyone would stop treating me like some fool blinded by a pretty face. I would have thought that you and Remus of all people would understand looking past someone's reputation and seeing them for who they actually are,” I cut Sirius off, reiterating what I wrote back to Remus. Sirius watches me for a moment, his eyes sad but a soft smile turns his lips up slightly. “What?” 

“You just look very much like your mother,” Sirius says softly but before I can ask more about my mother, Sirius forges on, “Listen, I’ll trust you if you say he is trustworthy, but I want you to be careful. The Riddles are a dangerous family, and even if his father wasn’t included in his upbringing, Voldemort’s blood still runs in his veins. Mattheo you call him? He very easily could have a hand in all of this-” 

“Well he doesn’t!” I snap. 

“I-I agree with Mia, Sirius… He’s got a bit of a nasty streak to some but he’s good to her, and me,” Harry says hesitantly, looking between me and the fireplace and gratitude floods through me for my brother. Sirius watches us for a moment, searching my face carefully. 

“Okay, if you trust him… just please be careful. Your father trusted Peter until the end and Lily spent many years defending a Slytherin friend of her own, only for him to turn his back on her when it served him,” he says solemnly and I grit my teeth at the reminder and I wonder silently at the story of our mum and her friend.

“Can we get back to how to get Harry through this first task?” I ask, afraid if we keep arguing about my love life I’ll stomp Sirius’ face of embers out and I’m not sure if that would actually hurt him or not. 

“Yes, right well there is a way, Harry. Stunning spells will be useless; dragons are far too powerful. You’d need about a dozen wizards in order for that to work,” Sirius says, turning his attention back to his godson. 

“No shit, I just saw one and it took nearly twenty!” Harry exclaims loudly, causing Sirius to glance back behind him. 

“Well could you fly? You’re an excellent flier,” Sirius suggests. 

“We’re not allowed anything but a wand,” Harry shakes his head glumly. 

“Well there’s a quite simple spell you could use to summon-” But before Sirius can finish his explanation, a noise sounds from behind him and Sirius startles. “I have to go, I’ll write again soon!” And with a quiet pop, his face disappears and Harry falls back on the floor next to my couch with a heavy sigh. 

“Great,” he mutters but my eyes are still trained on the fire, trying to figure out what Sirius was going to suggest. 

“Summoning…. Of course!” I sigh, jumping up excitedly. “Harry, have you learned the Summoning Spell yet?” 

“What?” Harry asks, looking up at me from where he sits. 

“Accio, have you learned it yet?” Harry shakes his head. “Well it’s quite simple really. You can’t take your broom with you but you could summon it to you! Then you can fly around the dragon, I doubt they’ll let it fly freely around Hogwarts grounds, they’ll have it chained down.” 

“But Mia, I don’t know the bloody spell!” Harry snaps, sitting up. 

“Well I’ll teach you, we’ve got till next weekend to practice. It’s far simpler than a patronus and its a fourth year spell anyhow so I’m sure you can get it no problem,” I say, kneeling back down in front of my brother. “You can do this, Harry. You heard Sirius, you’re an incredible flier.” I grab Harry’s face to make him look at me, still looking very unsure of himself. “Listen, you can do this. I know you can but for now go up and get some sleep. We can start practicing tomorrow, ‘kay?” 

“Okay,” he says tiredly and stands, reaching down to help me up as well before turning and heading for the door. “Hey Mia?” He asks, turning back to me. “If Voldemort… did come back, well- do you think….” 

“He’s not like that, Harry. I know everyone thinks he is but he’s not… He’s a good man, I know he is. I wouldn’t be with him if I thought he wasn’t,” I say earnestly, and it’s not just because I’ve fallen hard for Mattheo and everytime I think I couldn’t fall any further I do.

“I trust you, Mia, and if you trust him then so do I,” Harry nods. “No one else’s opinion’s matter, right?” He says with a soft smile and I nod. 

“Right, just ours,” I agree with a smile. “Go get some sleep.” 

“Yes, Mum,” he teases lightly, causing us both to chuckle as he exits my room, closing the door gently behind him. 

I crawl into bed, pulling the covers high up to my chin and try to sleep but worries keep my mind racing. It’s nearly three in the morning before I sigh and sit up. My bed feels so big and empty and cold without Mattheo and I’ve found that he is the only thing that never fails to calm me down. It’s as if my brain shuts off when he wraps his arms around me, keeping me safe and allowing me to relax even for just a moment. 

Before I know it, I’m standing before the snake statue that guards the Slytherin Common Room entrance and whispering the password, puritas, which means purity in Latin, as in pureblood. Typical of the Slytherins; according to Mattheo it always has something to do with blood purity or magic power. I creep through the thankfully empty common room and to Mattheo’s door towards the back of the common room. 

The doorknobs on all the prefect doors have flesh memories in them, similar to Golden Snitches, but the doorknobs can be charmed to keep certain touches from entering or only open for certain people. Mattheo and I both have full access to each others rooms so I open the door slowly, and creep into his room. 

The Slytherin dorms always seem much colder to me, and even though our rooms are set up in similar layouts and with all the same basic furniture, Mattheo has very little in his room. A muggle record player, a few books- some muggle and some magical- scattered around, his Nimbus 2001 leaning against the far wall, but very little else. No pictures or keepsakes littering the surfaces like the chaotic ensemble of my room. Sometimes I wonder if the slight mess of my room ever bothers him, but he never complains. 

I move to the four poster bed, rich dark green curtains and bedding adorning the bed looking black in the dark light, and I pull the blanket back carefully. Mattheo stirs slightly, his eyes blinking slowly open as I lay down next to him. Curls fall across his forehead haphazardly, his blankets tangled around his limbs.

“Mia?” He asks groggily. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” I whisper with a sigh. 

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” he says, looking at me worriedly. 

“Nothing, I just couldn’t sleep,” I say, gently pushing a curl away from his forehead. Mattheo shifts his position, opening his arms for me to curl into. As sooqn as my head touches his chest, his arms around my shoulders, my brain quiets down instead focused on his heartbeat. 

“I’ve got you, princess,” Mattheo mumbles sleepily, and soon his breathing evens as he is pulled back into his dreams, and I follow soon after, the rest of the world disappearing beyond the four wall surrounding the two of us. 

a/n; this is poorly edited so im sorry

taglist; @purplegardenwhispers @somethingswiftandstyles @weasleyreidstyles @mayamonroem @girlbooklover555 @abaker74 @stxrsberkshire @helendeath

[bnhaobservation]

I sent the Shouto ask about checking up on his father - oh yes I definitely don’t think he is hiding his connections at all, I was more referring to how in the final chapter he was no longer being referred to as Endeavor’s son 😅 sorry if that wasn’t clear! That’s interesting to know in terms of culture, but yeah it definitely feels like a different views in culture because I don’t feel like Shouto would fail or be neglecting them if he were to not live with them and just go check on them regularly but that’s obviously my cultural bias! And honestly that’s how I like to think it went - Shouto living independently but checking in on them regularly!

Honestly, I always pictured it as Shouto living independently eventually but checking up on them often, and kind of pictured it being Fuyumi who stayed behind to live with Enji 😅 given how much she helped him and was worried when he said he built a separate house for them. I guess we’ll never know, it’ll be up to us to interpret it how we want unless Hori like mentions something in the fan-book! Thank you for your time!

Your ask was this one, right?

The way I see it, the part about Endeavor’s son is likely in reference to how Shouto was viewed by people’s before. If you look back at the sport festival (Chap. 25), the moment Shouto shows his ability people comments on how it’s natural since he is Endeavor’s son and has the blood of the Number 2 Hero, as if Shouto’s ability wasn’t the result of Shouto’s efforts but merely a result of being Enji’s son… which was also a reminder of how Enji saw him as his upgrade… because, to oversimplify things, that’s how Japanese society uses/used (things are changing) to see children, like extensions of their parents, born by them, owned by them and meant to fulfill their dreams and ambitions (Enji’s ideas weren’t born in a void but were a product of his culture). The situation got even worse though, when Dabi turned out to be Enji’s son.

You see, the blood link between father and son in Japan works both ways, because Shouto is Endeavor’s son, he’s expected to naturally be strong… but because Touya is a Villain, Enji, who is the father of said Villain, is also seen as ‘villainous’ even if he never attacked society (society doesn’t give a damn of what he did to his family) and if Enji is seen as such then this also gets passed down to Shouto. Shouto must be potentially evil too, who’s to say he won’t turn out like his brother, after all Dabi was Endeavor’s son and Shouto is Endeavor’s son too…

So Shouto not being seen by society as Endeavor’s son anymore free him of both the implications, Shouto is good not due to his father but due to his own efforts, and it doesn’t matter what negative things people think of Endeavor, if they see him too as a Villain, Shouto is not like his father, he’s not going to turn out a Villain. Shouto is now his own person and no one sees him through the fact he’s related to Endeavor.

I wouldn’t feel it like a failure on Shouto’s part either if he were to leave home but well, I’m not Japanese nor Buddhist and therefore I’m not taught to practice Oyakoko (親孝行 “filial piety”) the same way Japanese people are taught it.

Traditionally, daughters leave the family home to get married and might move to their in-laws home.

Fuyumi remaining behind in her home in place of Shouto would worry me as it would likely mean she never managed to get married/find love, a realistic possibility considering she’s already 23 and going for 24 (in Japan you should marry before 25 or you’ll be mocked as an “unsold Christmas cake”) and now, in addition to be related to a criminal, her face is also scarred, which is a big deal for a person in many countries but it seems to be a particularly terrible sin for a woman in Japan.

So Fuyumi not only would never get her big, happy family, because her own birth family is broken, Touya being dead, Natsuo having left it and Shouto too, but she couldn’t even get her own new family either, busy playing caretaker for her birth family.

While by remaining home she would be exercising Oyakoko, her position in Japan would be seen praiseworthy but pitiable and would make Shouto look less of a good person as he passed a burden that should befall on him on his sister.

It’s possible Horikoshi planned to go for this route, he’s not really invested in the female Todorokis so why not to sacrifice Fuyumi in order to let Shouto live his own life, after all Fuyumi was already willing to take upon herself such burden to help Natsuo live his own life but still it’s something I’m not fond of and, I think, Shouto wouldn’t like it either. I would see him more like someone who would say ‘big sister, now you should live your life and I will take upon myself the duty to care for the family, don’t worry for mom and the old man, but if you still want to still stay home and take care of them, I’ll be happy to share such duty with you.’

That of course, is pure speculation, as I said, Horikoshi might have just decided to ‘sacrifice Fuyumi’. Compared to Natsuo he gave her some very visible scars, so he could easily blame the fact she remains unmarried and on parent duty on them and on the fact she wanted to have her family back so it might even fit with her psychology.

This is, of course, the feeling I think the story would give out if it were to go in such a direction from what I read of how things work in Japan. As I’m not Japanese though, I might be mistaken.

Personally, if the story wants to tell me it's okay to leave the parents live alone,

Thank you again for your ask!

[the-sky-the-stars-the-sea]

Yah dude 92sies Race is awesome with kids. He’s always playing around with the little ones. In Carrying the Banner right before the Delancey’s come in, at “and we’ll be out there, carrying the banner man to man” he’s playing with Tumbler, and when Les is claiming that Jack “is just fooling ‘em” when he becomes a scab, Race is the one who humors him, saying (albeit very flatly) “sure, kid. He’s just foolin’ ‘em”

And before David runs off after the carriage with Jack, he doesn’t say “guys, please watch [Les]”, nuh uh, he says “Racetrack, watch him.”

And we’ve seen David with Les. When he didn’t trust Jack at the beginning he wouldn’t Les come near him with a ten foot pole . He wouldn’t have just left Les with Race if he didn’t think Race could watch him.

And how does Race react? He pulls Les closer to him. He has a serious face. He understands that David is trusting him with someone very important to him. We usually see him as a guy who never stops joking and can’t take anything seriously. Well, here we can see that being the designated babysitter is something he takes very seriously.

And then there’s that part you mentioned, which is one of my favorite Race moments: The World Will Know Reprise.

I just-AHHHHHHHH MY HEART

No more words. È perfetto 🤌🤌

But here’s the thing. Why is Race so good with kids? He’s a gambler. He’s a loner. He’s the jokester. In theory it doesn’t sound like a good idea to leave a kid under Race’s supervision. So why, in practice, is he great with kids?

I think we have Max Casella to thank for making 92sies!Race good with kids. For one thing, he was in fact 24 during the making of the movie, and he was in fact around a lot of people younger than him. Maybe Max had a soft spot in real life for kids. Also here’s a picture of him with two of the extras:

(Screenshot of another tumblr post)

I have also heard that Max taught the young ones how to gamble he truly is Racetrack Higgins

Another thing: here’s a link to an article written during the time of the strike, one of my favorite ones:

I’m going to copy an excerpt of my favorite part of this article, partially because the writer wrote about him like a lot of fanfic authors do, but also another soft fact it reveals about Race’s life:

“A characteristic feature are his eyes. They are dark and handsome, but there is in them a curious combination of defiance and tenderness. The latter was exemplified by his care of the “mascot” referred to. This was a long-haired and delicate-looking boy of four or five. Evidently it was his brother, but the tenderness with which he put one arm around the little chap while he emphasized his talks was almost motherly. Very likely behind that care there is a bit of life history that an occasional sad look in Higgins’s eyes suggests, but in no way reveals.”

The real Racetrack Higgins had a younger brother.

I just-ahhhhhhhhhhhhgssgksgksgjsjsj

I literally go a little crazier every time I remember Racetrack had a younger brother. And I die every time I remember this article described him as being “almost motherly” 🥹🥹🥹

So how does this tie into 92sies? Well I do know that Max Casella was said to “have moved into the library” because he spent all his time in the public library researching his character, to try to learn all he could about him. How much he found I don’t know, and I don’t know if he ever came across this specific article, but we can’t entirely rule out that the two never crossed paths.

Sorry for overtaking your post op, in short, I love Racetrack, I love Max’s portrayal of him, happy early/belated/on time birthday, you are right he is good with kids 👍

Felt like posting because it’s almost my birthday

Race is somewhat mildly good with kids. LIKE FIGHT ME ON THIS ONE. LOOK AT HOW MOVIE RACE IS TREATING LES IN THE WORLD WILL KNOW REPRISE, YOU SEE?

[whatisthismandoinghere]

Hogan’s Heroes/The Office series

season 1 episode 5 The Flight of the Valkyrie

*LeBeau brings Baroness Lili von Schlichter into camp, Hogan informs her they will be getting her out by plane (which the heroes are building)*

LeBeau: I’m so excited to have a woman in the camp! But who am I kidding, Colonel Hogan always gets the girl. *eye roll*

Hogan: LeBeau can pout all he wants. I can’t help it that I’m so irresistible. 

Lili: The plane was strange enough, but they do these little interviews too?? *Cameraman: What is your opinion on Colonel Hogan?* Oh, well *blushes* Are your questions always so invasive? 

*Klink calls Hogan to his office, introduces Colonel Crittendon who is now the senior POW officer*

Klink: Oh the look on Hogan’s face was priceless! With Hogan no longer the senior POW officer, things should run a lot smoother in my camp. There’ll be no more tanks flying out of the recreation hall. *Cameraman: Do you have proof it was Hogan though?* Silence!

Hogan: It doesn’t bother me at all, I’m fine, everything’s fine… Can you believe the nerve of Klink!! Why I ca- *camera cuts to black*

Crittendon: Oho! I see we have a nice little set up here. This shall be a great way to record my many successes here at Stalag 13, yes? Looking forward to working with you ol’ chap. *enthusiastically shakes hands with cameraman, who we just barely hear muttering “I want Colonel Hogan back”*

*Hogan is cleaning out his quarters, Crittendon comes in and is shaking things up, grabs Newkirk and Carter to help him start digging a tunnel to escape, Crittendon is very against spying, sabotage, etc.*

Crittendon: Can you believe there hasn’t been a single escape from this camp?? Bad show all around. Good thing I’m in charge of things now. *cameraman gets up and starts to leave* Where are you going? We have tunnels to dig lad!

Newkirk: Me? Dig tunnels for him?? He’s mental! What is this war coming too? *lights a cigarette*

Carter: I really wish I hadn’t “volunteered” to dig tunnels with Crittendon. *sigh*

Kinch: *makes a face Stanley would make on The Office*

*Newkirk and Carter complain while in the tunnel, Crittendon digs his way into the heroes tunnel, Hogan "accidentally" drops something on his head and knocks him out*

Newkirk: *Cameraman: How's your head? (chuckles)* Leave off! *rubs the back of his head where he hit it while digging Crittendon's tunnel and quietly adds* Still hurts.

Carter: Where did Crittendon learn to dig a tunnel?? We're much more advanced here at Stalag 13.

Hogan: It just slipped out of my hand… *shrugs* *Cameraman: Riiight* It did!!

Kinch: Did I see Colonel Hogan drop something on Crittendon’s head? Well, in the words of Schultz, “I see nothing, NOTHING!”

*Newkirk and Carter bandage Crittendon up after his accident from the "cave in", Crittendon tells Hogan that they should set up a diversion while he, Newkirk, and Carter cut through the barbed wires and escape*

Newkirk and Carter: Newkirk- It's a shame the tunnel caved in. Carter- Yeah, we were doing so well. Newkirk- You don't think we'll have to escape with Crittendon, do you? Carter- Boy, I sure hope not! Colonel Hogan can't do that to us! It’s gotta be against the Geneva Convention.

Crittendon: Hogan's a bit dense, isn't he? No worries, he'll get the hang of it someday and I'm sure he'll make a beautiful escape. *audible sigh from cameraman*

Hogan: Oh if only you knew, Crittendon. If only you knew.

*Hogan is playing the kettle drums, Schultz spots Lili walking around the camp and returns her to Hogan, Crittendon sees Lili and gives them 24 hours to resolve everything*

Schultz: I don't know how much more of this I can take. Being a traitor isn't easy, you know.

Hogan: Never thought I'd say this, but Schultz is a good guy to have around. *plays rimshot on his kettle drums*

Crittendon: A woman in the camp! What kind of nonsense is this? I should've turned her in, but she is rather beautiful.

Lili: I'm very thankful to the guard for not turning me in. How do you manage it though? *Cameraman: Schultz sees, hears, and knows nothing.* *visible confusion from Lili*

*Schultz finds out there's an airplane under the tent, Crittendon cuts the wires causing the entire fence to fall down (proceeds to call Newkirk a disgrace and is answered with an enthusiastic "Right sir!"), Hogan and Lili kiss before she leaves, Klink enjoys the music but the escape not so much*

Schultz: Why did I have to go into the tent?? I just had to see what they were up to. You know what? I see nothing!

LeBeau: See, I told you Colonel Hogan always gets the girl. What about me?? I'm so charming. And I'm French!

Hogan: *quietly wipes lipstick from his face and grins*

Lili: It's a shame I have to leave the country, I was rather fond of Hogan. *Cameraman: Yeah, we noticed.*

Crittendon: I've never seen such a thing! That Newkirk is a case!

Newkirk and Carter: Newkirk- Wouldn't be the first time I was called a disgrace *nonchalantly lights a cigarette* Carter- *visibly distressed* Newkirk, no!

Klink: What is going on in this camp??

*Klink wants to know what happened, Crittendon is transferred back to where he came from*

Klink: Crittendon was way more trouble than he was worth. It did make Hogan upset though, so maybe it was worth it…

Hogan: *loud cheering and he runs off to the tell the others the good news, followed by more cheering, cameraman included*

Crittendon: *in the cooler* This camp's going to fall apart without me here.

[razberryyum]

Scumbag System (SVSSS donghua) Episode 10 Thoughts (spoilers)

(covers SVSSS chaps 24 - 26, BC Novels Translations)

And thus the first season of the SVSSS donghua comes to an end...rather weirdly abruptly to be honest, but more on that later. Obviously I love the donghua. It was not perfect, but it still exceeded my expectations. I truly appreciate what they were able to do within their budget constraints and I think they captured the spirit of the source material perfectly, which is really all I hope for when it comes to adaptations.  The writing was strong, the humor hit the spot always (for example, when poor Shizun got motion sickness from sword riding, I guffawed), and they also gave us some of the most beautiful characters I’ve ever seen on screen, especially with Shen Qingqiu, Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge. I really, really hope they release official figurines for them. I’m going to start saving my money now just for that possibility.

Even though their time together in this episode was short, the BingQiu love was definitely strong. They gave them a combo move that was not in the source material: for someone like me who grew up watching Cantonese dramas, two characters who have a combo sword move (”雙劍合璧”!) are usually a couple so I was especially tickled by this addition. I am always thankful to the donghua team for the little Easter Eggs they give us for BingQiu, like the way Binghe's eyes lit up when he sees SQQ... 

or when SQQ touches him...

Once again, for those not in the know, it can easily be interpreted as a disciple just being devoted and filial to his Shizun. But for those of us who have read the novel, of course we know it’s indication of Bingmei falling in love with SQQ. I love how subtle yet significant these little expressions of Binghe’s are, and I hope they continue on with these little touches even in the next season. 

Of course then there are the more obvious gestures, like that HUG:

It lasted for a good 15 seconds and oh my God look at the Binghe’s hand placement!  There was totally nipple groppage happening there! This wasn’t in the book by the way...SQQ didn’t get woozy and Binghe most definitely didn’t have to catch him like some fainting damsel, so we have the donghua team to thank for this wonderful moment of (sexy) physical contact between the two of them. 

The donghua team was also especially generous in this episode since not only did we get some BingQiu love, but we got a pinch of LiuShen and QiJiu love too.

LQG’s eyes were on SQQ the entire time! And then Yue Qingyuan as usual took any opportunity he got to touch his Qingqiu.  So all shippers were fed. Hell, they even threw in some more straight-baiting again so peeps who are watching the show for the “straight” romance between Luo Binghe and his never-to-be-future-wife Qin Wanyue were fed too since the scene where Binghe gives her the handkerchief to wipe away her tears were not in the chapters of the book for this episode, and racking my brain I don’t even think it was in the book, period. I’m trying to remember if that handkerchief even holds any significance but even if it does, it’s all for naught since we know Qin Wanyue is at most just a minor side character. She does pop up again later on but then is mostly forgotten, so...not quite sure what that moment was all about other than to, I don’t know, throw off the censors?

I’m also not sure why we spent so much time with Liu Mingyan and Gongyi Xiao in this episode. Nothing against them personally, I like both characters very much (despite my previous complaints about GYX’s character design), and it’s not that they don’t deserve more screen time, but this was the season finale! Even though the next season has been announced, God knows when we’ll see it next year and how many episodes it would be, so every minute of screen time matters! That’s why I was a bit puzzled that they used up half of the episode showing LMY basically facing the same perils with her group of fellow disciples as before and GYX just running from that huge serpent. Even if that thing DOES turn out to be Zhuzhi-lang, it was still a bit much. They weren’t exactly character building scenes either so...why? Budget reasons? Didn’t have enough money to pay SQQ’s voice actor (Wu Lei-laoshi) so they had to stick in miscellaneous scenes to lessen his screen time? 

I’m kidding of course. God I hope that wasn’t the reason because that would just be sad.

Speaking of miscellaneous scenes though, what was going on with these two dudes?

I gotta admit, I’m a bit salty that these two mob characters got to do what our main couple can’t. What’s their story? Why do they get special privileges? Damn these nobodies. XD

All kidding aside, I have to say, of all the episodes this season, this might be the weakest one, not only because of the “filler” scenes, but also, the way the episode ended was so odd, especially for a season finale. The season basically ended on a scene transition. Not a cliffhanger, just a scene transition, and then cut to credits. What?? Why??? It’s almost as if they just ran out of time so had to stop the show all of a sudden. And then as if to make up for it, they added post-credit scenes which, honestly blew me away because it was so unexpected. It was indeed almost enough to make me completely forgive the weakness of the episode as a whole and that weird-ass ending.

I teared up!  The scene was kind of chopped up, didn’t even flow that smoothly, but I still got emotional! I’m sure when I see this scene in its entirety next season I am just going to be destroyed. I think they made it even more gut-wrenching than it was in the novel. Looks like the donghua team really aren’t gonna hold back when it comes to delivering the BingQiu knives. 

We also got to see Mobei-jun appear in the post-credits scene; I guess they had to stick him in there since he was featured in the poster for this season, so it would have been weird if he didn’t at least make an appearance.

I immediately thought of him as Sephiroth’s younger cousin when I first saw him on the poster and I still feel that way. Anyone related to Sephiroth, I will approve and instantly have affection for. For the MoShang shippers’ sake, I hope the Shang Qinghua they create for him will be just as pretty. I think I can now safely discard my guess from last time and also that moon-faced bearded ojisan others have guessed. We actually got a glimpse of the real deal in this sequence:

They strategically made him blurry so you can’t really make out his features, but what we still can tell from there is that he does not have facial hair (hence, he cannot be the ojisan) and the hair crown he’s wearing is silver and different from the twinky sect leader. So I guess we’ll be getting a fresh out of the microwave Airplane Bro instead of any of the no-name potential cannon fodder we’ve already seen. 

We’ll probably get the abyss opening up in maybe even the first episode of next season but that’ll still leave a lot of ground to be covered in just 10 episodes (rumored). There haven’t been any talk about a third season, but I really hope it’ll happen, even though it might take them a while to make it. I know it’s premature to even think of a third season when we haven’t even gotten an actual release date for the second, but I’m greedy because I already miss the donghua. This season was over so quickly, I’m already mourning the lack of new episodes. I hope we get the second season in the first quarter of next year and then by some miracle, a third or even fourth to properly finish out the story. I know we will never get the FULL story, but as long as they keep the spirit of BingQiu’s love and continue to hint at it like they’ve been doing this season, I will be more than satisfied. 

And while I’m wishful thinking for new seasons, I hope we also get a BingQiu duet and character songs. I love the opening and ending theme this season, if they want to save money I totally don’t mind if they just use the same OP/ED themes in the next season as well, but I hope they throw in a good BingQiu insert song and then release some individual character songs as well. I’m still not a fan of Binghe’s voice, but maybe they can have someone else do his vocals for the songs. SVSSS is the older son of MXTX’s works, I feel like it already got short-shrifted in terms of adaptation since it got the lesser budget compared to MDZS and TGCF. Hopefully with how popular the donghua is this season, it will be given a bigger budget next season so they can bring to life all the subsequent proceedings from the book properly. And whatever they’re paying Wu Lei-laoshi, SQQ’s voice actor, they should double it because that man is just amazing. I worship his voice and performance. I wish he would read the audiobook version of the the novel. I would listen to the hell out of that.  I have always loved SQQ, but if I’m going to be honest, I came into the show just a little more excited about seeing Bingge being brought to life. I still love Binghe of course, in all his phases, however, now,  because of Wu Lei-laoshi’s stellar voice performance (and of course SQQ’s beautiful looks), I’m leaving this season absolutely head over heels about SQQ/Shen Yuan. Also thanks to the show, I’m completely obsessed with Liu Qingge as well.  So for those two reasons, I will eternally be grateful to the donghua team.  

[nanas-teatime]

What do you think is the REAL reason crowley gave yuu the ghost camera ( I just know it has to be something bigger than just capturing the students lives and whatever )

Hi anon.

First of all, I have a theory not related to the main story but the game itself, in this first anniversary the devs made some improvements, one caught my attention:  

11 ) (improvement) There is now a tap for animation feature on the status screen (after leveling up for ex.) from @twstupdates insta.

According to Crowley in prologue chap. 19 “Depending on how close the subject and the photographer are, the picture could move like a video, or bring to life the situation in the photo. Fascinating, right?”

What about if the ghost camera can be used to get those animations? I don’t know if you’ve ever played Obey Me, but in theory, the game visuals are based on the phone D.D.D they give you in the prologue, so you can receive calls and chats, well, it can be something similar in twst but using the ghost camera to “take moving pictures” of the boys. 

We’ll see in a few days, I can be completely wrong… and I think I am, but still, the animations sound so good!

My second theory, of course, is related to the main story.: 

Deuce: “Bring the photo to life? It's like a ghost photograph!” 

Crowley: “Yes. Therefore it is called a "ghost camera".

They say it was made before the time of videos for when people wanted to leave behind vivid memories... Spade was correct; in the past, people would scream "ghost!" in surprise when the memory came jumping out. They were paralyzed with fear at the thought of having a photo taken with this camera.”

(...)

Crowley: “Please take photos of Grim and the other students to leave behind many memories of your lives in this academy.”

“...Especially, always make sure to get "Memories" when someone steps out of line.

It's the most suitable way to report to me, right? Keep an eye on your surroundings and take memories as the supervisor. To generously give you a rare item that can be used by non-wizards... Does my graciousness know no bounds?”

First of all, Crowley knows something about MC, about US that we don’t know and I bet it’s about the blots and how MC is needed to control them OR to trigger them. However, how I understand these lines and it’s basically my theory, Yuu or Supervisor should be taking pictures of the Overblot incidents, “..Especially, always make sure to get "Memories" when someone steps out of line.” NRC students are problematic, we all know that most of them don’t work together, fight, and are rude, but Crowley didn’t mean that kind of behavior or the supervisor would be taking pictures 24/7, nope, he meant the kind of behavior that leads the boys to an overblot. 

The bad thing is that MC is not taking pictures at all or it seems so, we don’t really know if they do that or not. From our perspective, the first picture they took...was Mickey’s.

Here my third theory, NON RELATED TO CROWLEY. Crowley said: “Furthermore, the most interesting part of this magic camera is that the souls of the photographer and the photographed become deeply connected and the Memory in the photo comes jumping out!”

Can you tell me who was the first person Yuu took a picture of? yes, our lovely Mickey. However, he’s not a person, right? hahaha. Yuu and Mickey are connected, and more now that they took the picture, BUT IT’S MORE, what about if the picture can actually move? It’s the proof Yuu needs to show the others what’s going on and not only that, it’s the chance for Yuu to tell everyone about the dreams they have been having.

The problem? SPOILER ALERT Yuu is unconscious on the colosseum’s floor and maybe they’ll keep unconscious for a while, not being able to tell anyone what happened UNLESS the one who finds MC cure them with magic, I can see three students doing this: Malleus, Leona and Ortho (especially the baby robot) 

But yeah, that’s basically all I have in mind. I’m excited about that Mickey picture but for some reason, I don’t want Crowley to know that, I trust the boys more, tbh.

Translation

[johannstutt413]

How’s the queue lookin, boss?

1. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Blemishine/Nian (working on this one now)

2. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Tails Club II: Fluffier than Ever

3. (requested by calligomiles) Gavial/Zima II, Tomimi’s Reaction

4. (requested by calligomiles) ShiraYuki/Scavenger II, The Date

5. (requested by anonymous) Doc/Whislash

6. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Blemishine x Eunectes

7. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Blemishine x Chiave, Blemishine calls Whislash auntie one time too many

8. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Shining andor Nightingale doting on Blemishine

9. (requested by mathmaticalknight) The Doctor talks to Blemishine about the fact she is the only person at Rhodes Island willing to attack sleeping enemies, and that she considers it mercy.

10. (requested by calligomiles) Platinum/Nearl/Gravel

11. (requested by anonymous) Just after Maria Nearl, the Kazimierz Media’s hatchet job...and a little more besides

12. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Aosta/Bibeak

13. (requested by greenone170b7) Shining and Liz cheer on their wife while she kicks ass to save her sister

14. (requested by greenone170b7) Maria and Platinum start dating (and Margaret is suffering because of it)

15. (requested by greenone170b7) Zofia is lamenting her single status in the bar when she gets swept off her feet by a gorgeous fem!Doc

16. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Broca/Click

17. (requested by anonymous) Ifrit joins Reunion...and Saria and Silence have to stop her [GODDAMNIT SADFIC ANON]

18. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Blaze x Saria

19. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Surtr and her talking sword

20. (requested by anonymous) Mudrock/Fem!Doc

21. (requested by anonymous) Hung is a dudebrochadmyguy

22. (requested by calligomiles) Zima/Leto in this timeline

23. (requested by calligomiles) Rosa/Istina in this timeline

24. (requested by calligomiles) Jackie/Grani/Absinthe Poly-cop-ule

25. (requested by anonymous) Doctor/Gavial during Great Chief, Tomimi no likey

26. (requested by calligomiles) Jackie/Swire (OkaKoro!)

27. (requested by calligomiles) Mudrock/FrostNova

28. (requested by calligomiles; continuing from this) Mudrock/Gummy/BP

29. (requested by calligomiles) Mudrock/Rosa

30. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Nian/Whisperain [I see what you’re doing here]

31. (requested by calligomiles) Zima/Glaucus

32. (requested by calligomiles) Istina/Deepcolor

33. (requested by calligomiles) Rosa/BP

34. (requested by calligomiles) Leto/Specter

35. (requested by calligomiles) Gummy/Skadi...V? Likely with all of these Abyss/USGG couples coming together at a meeting or some’n

36. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Warfarin, Pramanix, Conviction, and Ansel learn to helidrop

37. (requested by anonymous) Specter/Doc

38. (requested by calligomiles) Rosa/Gavial 2

39. (requested by mathmaticalknight) ChenPipe 5ish (Ch’en working Command Center accidentally brings Bagpipe and Reed into contact)

40. (requested by anonymous) Jaye/Utage, Resting Terror Faces come together

41. (requested by calligomiles) Utage/Zima

42. (requested by calligomiles) Utage/Gummy II

43. (requested by calligomiles) Flint/Zima

44. (requested by calligomiles) Flint/Leto

45. (requested by emburbaguette) Doctor/Rangers

46. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Angelina/Utage II

47. (requested by calligomiles) Absinthe/Zima

48. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Doctor gets TP’d to G&K

49. (requested by calligomiles) Rosa and Talulah, bonding over shared rejection of nobility

50. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Saria/Nian 5, meet the family (Dusk)

51. (requested by calligomiles) Swire/Rosa III

52. (requested by calligomiles) BP/Andreana

53. (requested by anonymous) Blue Poison/Astesia

54. (requested by calligomiles) Saga/Archetto

55. (requested by calligomiles) Saga/Absinthe

56. (requested by calligomiles) Dusk/Deepcolor (“I’m not worried about collateral damage”)

57. (requested by calligomiles) Ifrit/Rosmontis/Eyjafjalla

58. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Ceobe walks Dusk’s paintings freely

59. (requested by calligomiles) Skadi/Gummy 6: Someone’s Gonna Die From Sugar Overload

60. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Dusk burns Nian’s movie collection, Shaw is the most upset

61. (requested by mathmaticalknight; continuing from this) Archetto joins the group

62. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Franka gets Liskarm to help with her biggest prank ever

63. (requested by calligomiles; continuing from this) Rhine Labs Sandwich

64. (requested by calligomiles; prequel to this) Mayer and Magallan’s Meeting

65. (requested by lonewanderer2033) Operation: Nine-Tailed Frog [Suzuran gets Blue Poison an outfit similar to hers]

66. (requested by mathmaticalknight) “Hey Dusk…Why don’t you fight like you did during your event?”

67. (requested by calligomiles) Rosa/Nearl III

68. (requested by calligomiles) Beeswax/Mint

69. (requested by mathmaticalknight) One of the gang [from Dusk’s event] learns Dusk has the worst physical results of any non-robot Operator

70. (requested by anonymous) Surtr vs Platinum – Who Wins the Doctor’s Heart?

71. (requested by anonymous) Ch’en/Doc post Chap. 8

72. (requested by calligomiles) Horsebucket II: It’s All Coming Together

73. (requested by anonymous) Skadi/Suzuran/(maybe Specter too)

74. (requested by wealmostaneckbeard) Tachanka becomes the USSGG’s surrogate dad

75. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Utage becomes the Great Chief

76. (requested by calligomiles) Swire/Rosa IV: Sweet as Honey

77. (requested by calligomiles) Swire/Talulah (in a world where Koschei doesn’t exist that fucking prick)

78. (requested by anonymous) Blue Poison and/or Platinum in the Arknights equivalent of this scene [Mr. Incredible’s part at least…anon feel free to clarify, it’s been a while since I’ve seen this movie]

79. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Someone starts worshipping Dusk or Nian (…probably the Doctor honestly)

80. (requested by calligomiles) FrostNova/Alina/Talulah, in an idyllic setting (similar world setup as Talulah/Swire imo)

81. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Ceobe and Saga, maybe a couple, maybe just being hungry doggos together, we’ll figure it out when we get there

82. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Iris returns something to Whisperain from before her last reset

83. (requested by mathmaticalknight) Dusk/Whisperain

84. (requested by mathmaticalknight) What If…Nian made Chen’s sword?

Yes that is 80+ fics deep. No that is not intimidating. *shivering*

[backtothestart02]

If Only She Knew - 9/10 | westallen fanfiction

A/N: It’s been a million yeaarrssss!!!! But finally I got this chap out. I hope you enjoy it as much as it stresses you out. lol. Happy reading!

Commissioned by @shalanda83 

...

Chapter 9 -

Barry was wrong.

He was so, so wrong about Iris.

He’d thought he would have to combat her being super touchy-feely like they were as far back as he could remember. If things were really back to normal between them, that’s exactly what he would have had to endure.

Not that it was bad, of course. It was just inconvenient, awkward and embarrassing with him getting aroused at literally anything Iris did that was remotely close to him or in his line of vision. It happened with other girls too, of course, but to a much lesser degree.

Anyway, as it turned out, he didn’t have to worry about her so much as brushing her knee against his leg, because Iris made it her mission to stay as far away as possible from him in the backseat of the car.

And he knew it was her mission, because he could feel the tension rolling off of her in waves from the minute he refused to stretch out in the backseat of the car due to his injuries, in which case she would’ve simply sat in the front passenger seat across from her dad.

His brows had furrowed instantly with suspicion.

“I’ve got Neosporin and bandages on, Iris. I don’t think I need the whole backseat to stretch out in.” He continued before her parting lips could interrupt him. “Besides, it feels better when my knees are slightly bent. And I wouldn’t be able to put my seatbelt on either.”

I wouldn’t get to sit next to you floated around in his head, but he didn’t say it. He didn’t know if that would be too touchy a thing to say after they’d just gotten past – or so he thought – the kiss that he should have reciprocated.

Because for all his fears of embarrassing arousal, Barry still wanted to sit next to his best friend. And he did love her. He just had to find a way to tell her without her shutting him down.

“What’s that about not putting on a seatbelt?” Joe asked, as he approached the car.

“Nothing,” the two of them muttered.

“Uh-huh. Backseat. Both of you,” he ordered, and Barry did not think he’d ever seen Iris be so grumpy to sit in the backseat with him before.

Now Barry did stretch his legs out a little bit into the floorspace on Iris’ side. His legs were quite long after all, and he did need them at a certain angle for his wounds, even with antibiotic cream and bandaids couldn’t dim the pain of completely.

“Sorry, Iris,” he mumbled, as Joe started the car. “I guess-”

“No worries,” she insisted brightly, though an I told you so was probably stifled with the rolling eyes she didn’t think he saw.

Iris knew best, he guessed, but he was still glad she was in the back seat with him.

When a good five minutes passed, and Iris hadn’t so much as kept both butt cheeks in her seat, practically plastering herself against the door and sticking her head out the window awkwardly, Barry grew impatient and had to say something.

“Iris.”

She started humming. That, in addition to the wind blowing over her ears and through her wild locks, should’ve been enough to convince him that she couldn’t hear him. And so she wouldn’t be at fault in the least for not responding to his saying her name.

Or at least that’s what she was probably hoping he was thinking, but he was not stupid. Iris had excellent hearing. It was why she insisted she’d be a great cop one day. One of the reasons at least.

“Iris,” he said again, fighting the urge to tense up and pull her all the back into the car.

Touching her was a bad idea, but so was her ignoring him.

She only hummed louder, and that was all the confirmation Barry needed to know it was deliberate.

He kept his fuming at bay, and instead took a risk and reached for her knee. He’d just been planning to briefly touch it to get her attention in a way she couldn’t pretend to be unaware of. But just as his hand hovered over the gentle curve, her head swiftly turned back to look at him, unintentionally wacking her head on the top of the window frame.

“What are you – ow! – doing?” She rubbed her head, coming back inside and hesitantly sitting all the way down on the seat.

“Trying to get your attention,” he said. “Are you okay?” He frowned.

“I’d be just fine if you hadn’t tried to touch me,” she growled, and a moment later she seemed to realize she’d said the words out loud instead of keeping them in her head, because horror flashed across her face. He knew she was afraid she’d ruined everything again.

“Oh, Barry, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s okay, Iris,” he said. “I just uh…your seatbelt, the top part, it isn’t across your-” He started to blush a deep red as he realized his eyes were glued to her chest. He forced his gaze up into her eyes, but that was almost worse. He squeaked when he continued. “It’s behind you. Shouldn’t…Shouldn’t it be in front?” He cleared his throat, so his voice would normalize. “I mean, for safety.”

Iris stared at him as if she hadn’t heard a word he’d just said. Then the words apparently clicked, and she responded.

“Right. Of course.” She forced a smile. “Thanks, Barry.”

“Uh-huh.”

He looked up towards the front and found Joe staring at him through the rearview mirror.

“We almost there, Joe?” he asked, willing the red in his face to disappear at least to a very light pink.

“About halfway,” Joe said. Barry could hear the suspicion in his voice, but he didn’t say anything more, and for that, Barry was grateful.

Iris licked her lips beside him.

“Why don’t you roll down your window, Barry? It’s nice outside.”

“I’m too tall, Iris,” he whined, not bothering to analyze how that made a lick of sense.

Iris frowned but said nothing more and leaned back against her side of the car, not sticking her head out again but not paying attention to Barry either.

Barry decided it was for the best, since he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He didn’t want her to catch on, so he didn’t watch how the wind blew through the hair framing her face or the slight goosebumps that decorated her arms. No, instead his stayed glued to the knee he’d almost touched and the thighs just above that he imagined were smooth as a baby’s bottom.

An interesting metaphor, but he couldn’t think of another one.

He wanted to touch her.

He wanted to touch her so badly.

And she thought he didn’t like her.

Fuck, he thought, not even feeling guilty when the swear word passed through his mind.

Because truly, fuck.

…

On arrival, Hope Town Mountain did look pretty spectacular.

There were shops and boats and carriage rides, bicyclists and kayakers and shops galore. There was a long road of vendors that ended and began with a large log cabin gift shop that included concessions, and the lake was absolutely stunning as it sparkled in the sun.

Barry knew Iris would want to go shopping, and that he couldn’t go with her because of his knees. He frowned on the realization, because even though he wasn’t particularly fond of carrying a multitude of bags on his arms, he loved seeing Iris buzz with energy and be overcome with the happiness of new discoveries. And he was going to miss that.

“I vote we go boating!” Iris announced, and Barry wondered if she’d seen his downcast face. “You have your boating license, right dad?”

Joe grinned, turning around in his seat after parking the car.

“I sure do. We can take one of the bigger motorboats out into the middle of the lake, and you two can relax while I sleep.”

“Iris, are you sure?” Barry asked. “I mean, we’ve been sitting for half an hour. Don’t you want to stretch your legs? Do some shopping?”

She pushed past it immediately.

“Nope. I can shop any time,” she insisted. “I want you to have a good time too.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but this time Iris stopped him.

“Trust me, my dad does not want to follow me around for an hour while I shop to my heart’s content and he carries my bags.”

“No thank you,” Joe concurred.

Barry managed to laugh at that.

“Alright. Let’s go get a boat then.”

Excited now, Iris grabbed his hands and squeezed them, making his stomach flip and his heart flutter. He swallowed inconspicuously so she wouldn’t notice.

She squealed and released his hands, spilling out of the car with one hop after she unbuckled her belt. He did the same, but it was slower, more gradual, and he winced slightly when he was standing again.

“Is it far?” Barry asked.

Iris frowned. “Just down the way… my Dad will help you.”

Joe stepped out of the car, locked up, and wrapped one of Barry’s arms over his shoulders.

“Come on, son, we’ll get there.”

…

It was a little trickier than expected, and in the end Iris wound up wrapping her arm around Barry’s waist to assist somewhat.

“Oh, Iris, you don’t have to-”

“Shut up, Barry. I’m helping.”

He groaned, hoping her arm wouldn’t slip down to his hip or lower on accident – you never know! Because then he��d be a dead man walking. Or falling rather. Because he would fall, flat on his face.

“Don’t tell that girl no, son,” Joe remarked, chuckling, and Barry wanted to die.

He let them assist to the halfway point though where the first dock on the lake was located. Then Joe left to rent out the boat and get the lifejackets and pull the boat over to this side of the lake so Barry wouldn’t have to walk much farther.

“This is going to be great, Barry. You’ll see.”

He looked over at her and managed a smile with how happy she was acting.

“You’re happy,” he noted.

“Of course I am,” she said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well…considering the last 24 hours…”

She shook her head. “I’m past that.”

“Are you?”

“Yes, of course.” She looked nervous though. “Why are you even asking?”

“The car ride,” he blurted.

Better to get this out now than later when it could potentially cause problems.

“I just didn’t want you to think I was trying to come on to you again is all,” she mumbled, but Barry heard every word.

“Iris…” He took her hand, and she let him. “We’ve always been close. Since we were kids. It’s not weird for me when you touch me. It’s weird when you don’t.”

She laughed a little nervously, then tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

“Noted.”

She looked up into his eyes and smiled. He looked back, all the love in his heart pouring into his gaze.

God, I just want to tell you…how I feel…how you make me feel!

Then, do it, the ornery voice in his head combatted. And don’t mess it up this time.

“Iris, I…”

He started to lean in before he could tell her what was in his heart, and much to his surprise Iris’ expression wasn’t troubled but elated. She was hopeful, that they were finally on the same page maybe. Or so she hoped. He hoped too. Oh, wouldn’t it be just so perfect if-

A horn blasted just as Barry was about to close his eyes, and a bicyclist sped by. What felt like a millisecond later, Joe drove up in the boat and called out to them.

Barry was still processing the interruption.

“Oh, there he is! And look, we don’t have to walk too far!”

“I-Iris, wait!” he called out after she took off.

“Oh, right, I forgot.”

She came back and helped him to his feet and together they started to hobble over to the dock.

“I was going to” He sucked in a breath. “Tell you” He sucked in another. “Something.”

“So tell me,” she ground out, fighting for her own breath as he put some of his weight on her.

This was how he was going to tell her? With him clumsily bearing his weight down on her as they hopped over to the boat where Joe was waiting for them?

He couldn’t do that. It had to be special.

But what if he waited too long and lost his chance?

He couldn’t do that either.

“Here you go!” Joe flung two lifejackets at them once they reached the dock.

Somewhat agitated, Barry put his on. Iris was in the boat with hers on before he could blink.

His brows furrowed, then he registered both Wests holding their hands out for him to grab onto.

“Come on, son,” Joe said, and Barry refocused on the task of getting into the boat with wounded knees.

It hurt, but he managed it, and soon enough he was sitting with Iris in the front of the boat while Joe steered it out into the huge lake from the back.

“Okay, what were you going to say?” Iris asked, turning to look at her best friend, her eyes gleaming.

“Huh?” Joe called.

“Not you, Dad!” Iris rolled her eyes. “Barry was about to tell me something.”

“Oh, my bad. Carry on.”

Barry felt his face grow hot again. He couldn’t do it like this either. Not with Joe here possibly eavesdropping. And he couldn’t wait till he fell asleep either, could he? A snoring Joe West as background noise to his love confession?

Impossible.

So when Iris shook her head and laughed before sobering up and asked him to tell her again, he knew with every fiber of his being that he was going to ruin it.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he said, his lips thinning as his eyes avoided hers.

“No, come on, Barry, you can tell me.”

Her eyes pleaded with him to tell her, as if she somehow knew or hoped she knew, and if he didn’t tell her now she was going to doubt his all over again.

He swallowed.

“No, really, Iris. It’s nothing important.”

Her smile fell. “Oh.”

“Nothing that can’t wait,” he said.

She nodded and forced a smile then, taking his hand as she relaxed into the seat and urged him to relax too.

“Friends then.”

He hated, hated, hated himself as he let the word spill out of his mouth.

“Friends.”

...

*will be posted on AO3 and FFnet when beta’d.

[earthblooded]

Just a drink - Rayllum Modern AU

Rayllum - Modern AU

Rating: M

Warning: Suggestions to adult-themed content, but nothing explicit.

Synopsis: Rayla's roommate, Nyx, convinces her to take a break from work for a night out, leading to a fun night, but eventual regret.

This is a fic that's been in my head for way longer than any other fic I've written for TDP but I never really had the time or energy to write it. I still technically don't have the time to write it, but I sure did find the energy tonight.

It'll probably turn into a multi-chap fic at some point, but I'll hold off uploading to ao3 until I intend to do so

“C’mon Rayla, you work yourself to death.”

Rayla sighed, leaning away from her laptop. She wasn’t a workaholic as many people pegged her to be, she just liked to keep herself busy. Getting any work done was becoming more and more challenging with her roommate breathing down her neck. This was the fourth time she had asked her to go out drinking.

“I can’t Nyx, it’s a Sunday and I need to be up early for work tomorrow.” Rayla chewed on her lip, glancing at the time – 8 pm – she still had time to get some reports finished before an early night.

“Well, everyone says Sunday is the new Friday, so maybe you should just come out.”

She stopped typing to raise her eyebrow, casting a skeptical look at her friend. “Who says that?”

“People.” Nyx answered, before waving her hand dismissively, “and anyway, you need the time to chill out. You’ve clearly been stressed because you keep snapping at me about dumb stuff.”

Rayla considered this, wincing when she recalled several occasions on that same day she had been short with Nyx about housekeeping, turning off music, her poor habits... “Fine, I’ll come out, but you can’t pester me about this again for another month.”

“Deal.”

Rayla gave her a week to break that deal.

____________________________________________________

“I thought we we’re just going for drinks.” Rayla said, as they queued to get into a club.

“I think they do drinks here.” Nyx nodded, pointing to a poster for drink deals on the wall. “Look, 2 for 1 on shots.”

“You know what I mean – like beer in the local, not clubbing.” Rayla watched a group of young women staggered out, giggling. “Nyx, you know I hate this, please can we go somewhere else?”

“No was Jose. You’re going to let loose tonight and tomorrow you will thank me.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

_____________________________________________________

Heaviness was the only word she could use to describe how she felt waking up the next day, her ringtone blaring in her ear. She wasn’t hungover, she barely drank anything, but she was tired – having arrived home at ridiculous-o-clock.

Home... no not quite, she realised, as she opened her eyes. Her bedroom didn’t have stacks of canvases and paint pots on every available surface. She sat up suddenly as her eyes scanned the room, trying to identify anything familiar to give her a clue as to where she was. Her clothing was scattered about the floor, her purse and contents among them. Light cast in through floor-to-ceiling windows, adorned with vine plants wrapping around the curtain poles. Sheer white curtains hung from them.

She pulled the duvet around her shoulders, feeling exposed despite still wearing underwear. She had a fairly good inkling as to what happened but there was one thing missing...

��Oh, you’re awake!”

Ahh. This is what happened.

She was greeted by a man in the doorway of the room, his brown hair ruffled, pupils blown wide as he regarded her and his t-shirt neckline was askew revealing the pink mark she had left him on his collarbone. This along with the state of the room, painted a fairly clear image of what had happened, even to those not involved.

In his hands, he held a tray with a small French-press, a couple of mugs and a plate of some sort of pastry. He crossed the room, setting down the tray on the bedside table as he sat opposite her.

“Coffee?” He offered, pouring a mug.

“Hmm,” she smiled, accepting it. As their fingers brushed, her mind flashed to the night before – his breath in her ear, lips on her skin, hands and body tending to her needs – she shifted uncomfortably as she felt that same heat rise up in her again. “Is this how you treat all the girls you bring home?” She asked, her eyebrow raised.

“I’ve never really had a one-night stand, so no... but maybe I’ll start.”

“Oh, just the one night we’re having, is it?” Rayla said, feigning offence. She’d never felt so bold before, but with this guy, she felt comfortable.

“Not if I can help it.” he replied, his eyes landing on her lips as he leaned forward.

Rayla’s ringtone blared again and the man’s head dropped into the crook of her neck as he groaned. She laughed, consoling him by smoothing down his shaggy hair as she picked up her phone.

Nyx was calling... holy shit 6 missed calls.

Her eyes flicked to the clock in the corner of the screen – 8am.

“Shit!” Rayla sprang free from his embrace and his lips on her neck. She bundled her clothing in her arms and hurried to the door. “I’m sorry, I have to go - I need to go home and change before work.”

“Wait, what about your coffee?”

“Sorry... you drink mine. You’ll need it after the night we had.” Really not the time to flirt right now, Rayla she chastised herself, lingering by the door as she watched him rise to protest further.

“What about breakfast? My aunt always said that breakfast was the most important meal of the day.” He raised an eyebrow, in an attempt to tempt her... and it almost worked.

“I don’t have time. I’m sorry – we'll do this another time and we’ll have breakfast, okay?” He sighed, but nodded in agreement. “Great, where’s your bathroom?”

Rayla came out a few moments later, having dressed and made herself semi-presentable for the commute back to the apartment. She found the man in the hallway, a brown bag in his hand held out to her.

“What’s this?”

“You should never miss breakfast.” He smiled, placing the bag into her waiting hand. “Here’s yours, to go.”

___________________________________________________

It was almost 10am and Rayla was sat in her office, staring at the reports she had yet to finish. The ones she should have finished last night if Nyx hadn’t have dragged her away.

Nyx. Rayla had just enough time to change and freshen up when she got back before heading to the office, but hadn’t caught up with Nyx yet.

The dial tone rang twice before she picked up.

“Oh, my gods, Rayla?”

“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t have time to call you back and you weren’t home when I got in.”

“I went to work early. Are you okay?” She asked, but gave little time for Rayla to answer before she continued. “When you didn’t answer for the fourth time last night, I assumed you’d been kidnapped. Police said I had to wait 24 hours before reporting you missing.” She grumbled the last part and Rayla shook her head in amusement. Rayla felt lucky to have someone who cared so much for her, even if she was a bit ridiculous sometimes.

“Sorry for worrying you. I was with a...” she grimaced, knowing full well how Nyx would react “guy.”

Nyx squealed on the other end, but Rayla knew to hold the phone away from her ear and had prepared in time. “Tell me everything! Who is he?”

“Some guy from the club.”

“What’s his name?”

“I don’t know”

“Okay... great.” She said sarcastically. “Well, I know you never ever put out on the first night, so what happened? Were you drunk?”

“No, Nyx, I had that one tequila shot you forced me to drink and that it.” Rayla heard a knock at the door, and glanced up to see Soren wave at her through the window. She raised a finger, indicating she just needed a minute. “Look, I promise I’ll tell you everything later. I need to get back to work.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Nyx said before hanging up.

Rayla sighed – telling Nyx was definitely a mistake she’d live to regret.

“Hey Soren, come in.”

“Happy Monday, boss.” Soren said, striding in, as chipper as he always was. He was her second-in-command in their team. His up-beat attitude meant that she delegated a lot of the more hands-on work to him, while she worked on the nitty-gritty in the background. “New guy is here; you want me to send him in?”

Recruitment wasn’t something that she usually delegated to Soren – she had little faith in his judgement based on his previous hires – however, she was called away to other meetings on the day of interviews and so the responsibility fell to Soren, begrudgingly.

Rayla picked up the neat stack of documents on her desk, ready for the new recruit to sign his life away. “Yes, please – Callum, is it?” She read from the contract at the top of the pile.

Soren nodded, beckoning the new starter in. From her peripheral, she saw Callum walk into the room and she raised her head to greet him.

“Callum, sorry I missed the...” she trailed off as familiar forest-green eyes met hers. He was a lot more put together than he was a mere two hours ago – his hair smoothed tidily, the shirt and jacket concealed any marks of passion. His expression stayed neutral but Rayla saw the recognition flash in his eyes as they swept over her.

She fought back a shudder as the heat rose in her again but before her mind ran wild with memories, she realised how wrong it all was. She was in trouble.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Quick outline of the changes in Golden Kamuy Vol 24

Here is a general outline of the more relevant changes that take place in Vol 24 compared to the magazine. Note that as usual I won’t dig into minor changes or redraws unless they seem to be relevant for the plot or characterization (or I really like them).

So now let’s start.

WARNING: I hadn’t had the chance to check dialogues yet. I’ll probably do it during Christmas holidays. If there are changes in them that are relevant I’ll update this post as soon as I can.

We spend a moment on the cover, which, like the previous, shows us a character who has never appeared on a cover before and who’s also one of my fave, our charming Roger... I mean Kikuta Mokutarou.

It’s an action scene in which he’s making good use of his beloved Nagant while wearing Toni’s scarf... and he’s not alone on this cover.

Ariko is also with him, ready to fire at his opponent. The background is Sapporo as we can recognize the building as appearing in chap 232 when the characters are in Sapporo.

Really, I love this cover and I was hoping so bad to have a Kikuta cover...

Anyway this is our updated list of covers.

Noda please, give us a Boutarou cover as well!

We then move to the colour page.

It’s the image with Tsukishima and Koito that was used as a cover for chap 251. It’s a fitting image considering this volume starts with the chapter in which the cooperation between Tsukishima and Koito began.

A colour cover that was in the chapters included in this volume and that instead isn’t shown is the one of chap 234.

Maybe Noda will use it later.

No summaries for this volume. Pity.

This volume counts 9 chapters only and changes are pretty tame but, as usual there are additions of extra pages and panels to expand scenes that already were in the magazine version so we can better understand what’s going on and of scenes that are redrawn, either to improve their quality, correct mistakes or add to the plot.

Note I’m not going to add them all but only those which are plot relevant (or that I particularly like). Also no scanlations this time as the changes aren’t so characterization or plot relevant you’ll need to read a scanlation to get what’s going on. I’ll add a dialogue explanation though. Keep in mind I might be wrong.

Let’s start with chap 232.

We start with a new opening page for the chapter in which the box says we’re at Asirpa’s grandmother’s house near Otaru and we’re shown that Tanigaki is next to Inkarmat.

As many already know Noda has enlarged Tanigaki’s neck as he watched Osoma and changed a little his expression so, although I know Sensei pays a lot of attention in improving Tanigaki, I won’t show you that.

A line is added to Tsukishima’s dialogue. Now in addition to saying that it might be that Tsurumi doesn’t have a true goal he adds that it might be a lie that Tsurumi is acting for the sake of the dead comrades and for the prosperity of Japan.

Tsukishima’s memory of Tsurumi having finger bones now is enlarged and that shows clearly Tsurumi’s naked feet.

Naked feet had been used to foreshadow the death of a character so is this meant to hint at how Tsurumi too will die?

As everyone knows I’m partial for Ogata I’ll show him adjusting his bandages. I wonder, does he have the glass eye already and he’s trying to get adjusted to it?

Asirpa and Boutarou’ hair had been redrawn, which makes them better but it’s nothing big.

We move to chap 233.

After Ueji manages to disappear noda added more dialogue between Sugimoto, Shiraishi and Asirpa.

Sugimoto asks for confirmation that the boss they met was called Wakayama and Shiraishi asks Asirpa if she’s certain that guy said they would never be able to find the gold. Asirpa says that’s what it sounded like and Shiraishi asks what they will do now, wondering if they should go after the candy seller or continue to pursue the pirate. Sugimoto thinks he should have stripped the candy seller and Asirpa wonders if maybe she heard wrong.

Noda also expanded the scene with Boutarou and the old Ainu. Now Boutarou is no more heavily shaded at the start and his men are more active.

Pirate Boutarou’s main henchman (子分 ‘Kobun’) now has a name, Gontō Kōjirō (權堂 公二郎は) and he’s better drawn. 

The old Ainu says Boutarou won’t find the gold because his sons also went looking for it but it wasn’t anywhere.

Those are very good improvements, if you ask me.

Chap 234...

...continues the tradition of better drawing Boutarou’s hair (which are also often drawn longer than previously) and also gives him a better pose.

The postman also has a name now he is Nozawa Niheiji (野沢 仁平治).

Shiraishi is definitely more worried when he meets Boutarou.

...but Boutarou looks even happier to meet him, while his reaction catches the captain’s attention.

The sailors are better drawn and there’s even a new small panel of a sailor trying to catch Sugimoto’s rifle.

Sugimoto gets an extra page in which he’s shown throwing the sailor off the boat...

...and then some more panels as he fights the other sailor as well.

Really Noda is so good at drawing fighting scenes...

He also expanded the scene of Boutarou talking to Shiraishi about Sugimoto.

...and redrew Gontou with the other henchmen, who’re shown wet because they too had previously ended up in the water.

Really, a lot of additions for this chapter and I love how Noda tried giving the henchmen some characterization now, despite them being merely plot devices.

We continue with chap 235.

I’ll say in the cover Noda better drew the water. It’s not terribly relevant though, so I’m not showing it, i just love the man for the care in this details.

Better image of best boy Shiraishi...

...but there are also a lot of images that are better drawn.

The order of the panels is switched a little as in the magazine the bandits would knock at the door, then we would see Shiraishi praying the boat would hurry then we’ll go back to Asirpa and the postman.

In the volume first we see Shiraishi and Sugimoto praying the boat would hurry then we go to the bandits knocking and then to Asirpa and the postman, with the scene mostly redrawn.

Noda actually put a lot of care in redrawing the postman who now to me look even more like Clint Eastwood.

The shooting fight also gets better drawn and so the boat crashing against it. But my fave redrawn is the one of Boutarou and Shiraishi cheering, which now shows a much more happier Shiraishi and a childishly cheering Boutarou. I love those two!

Noda then proceeds to show how Boutarou is very angry at the idea 3 of his men were shoot... which better explains why he took an anchor and attacked without regard for the people. Similarly to Sugimoto, when he’s furious he’s dangerous... and it’s possible he grew so angry because he was fond of those men.

We then see Boutarou take matters (and an anchor) in his hands...

Another redrawn is in the Boutarou/Sugimoto confrontation.

And with this to chap 236 we go.

Again, some scenes or expressions are drawn better here.

Plus we get some redrawing when Boutarou explains things.

We’ve a new panel of Sugimoto turning down Boutarou’s idea.

Then we get more interaction between Boutarou and Sugimoto as Sugimoto’s reveal of his past now involves more Shiraishi and Asirpa.

And we better dig into Boutarou’s connection with Sugi.

Sugimoto’s expression after he pet the cat is much more dramatic...

...his eyes losing their light.

Chap 237 continues expanding things.

We get a flashback in which Boutarou remembers the cigarette case was Heita’s.

The volume shows us the gold is a lot more than the one we see in the magazine version.

The scene about Botarou trying to kill Sugimoto and Shiraishi is expanded.

Boutarou seems genuinely shocked when Gontou is hit by the spinning wheel, stretching is hand as if he were wishing to bring him aid.

Differently from teh magazine he won’t be smiling when he tries to drwon Sugimoto...

...and the two will fight a lot more. Sugimoto tries to kick Boutarou a lot and Boutarou uses his long hair to tie Sugimoto’s foot and pull him down.

It’s beautiful and definitely worth buying the manga.

We are at Chap 238.

A small panel about Asirpa explaining Sugimoto about Heita.

We’ve then more interaction between Boutarou and Asirpa.

I find interesting how again we’re show Sugimoto saying hinna but not Asirpa.

And so we reach chap 239.

Jack/Ostrog’s face is still kept in the dark at first, but his clothes are much more visible. The battle between him and Usami is expanded and sorry, no, I’m not going to show it. Still Noda is more comfortable showing him, his face partially visible (and Kikuta too as his eyes were back in the magazine).

And it’s when Kikuta see him we’ve the big reveal and it makes A LOT MORE SENSE having it here than as late as it happened in the manga. And honestly that lateness feels it was due to Noda not having chosen yet how to characterize him.

We can also see that on his genitals there’s a birthmark... which explains why Kikuta comments on getting a look on his face and member, because now he can recognize him either by looking at his face or by looking at... something else.

So yeah, Ostrog/Jack stops being a dark silouette.

Noda let us hear his thoughts after he killed those two women.

We’ve a flashback from Kikuta, showing Jack/Ostrog’s face and how he had a birthmark in a... peculiar area, which is why Kikuta remarked it was relevant he saw it.

And now we move to the last chap of the volume chap 240.

Ostrog is now clearly visible where before he was just a dark shadow.

A new panel showing how Kirawus... well, he didn’t quite disguise himself, albeith he did something, he tried to sell fireworks.

Another new panel showing how Kadokura in his disguise, can’t pick up coins.

When Ishikawa explains about Jack the Ripper Noda added people walking in the image of the city he drew and also showed a nespaper talking of Jack. The writing on the newspaper explains how in Japan the case became a hot topic in 1888 and how in 1900 they started to call the killer ‘Kirisaki Jack' (切り裂きジャック “Jack the ripper”).

We’ve another image of Ostrog/Jack when Ishikawa talks about him.

And we finish with the last page which shows the faces of Ostrog and Ueji.

And that’s all.

Well, actually no. The one thanking the editor is...  I’ll let you see for yourself.

And that’s all for this volume. While there’s nothing drastic in terms of new content, it better flashed out the relationship between Boutarou and his underlings, giving a name to the main one of them, better showed how Boutarou fought underwater and handled Ostrog/Jack WAAAYYY better than the magazine version where it seems Noda remained undecided on his character design for a much longer time and that’s why he obscured his face, making the reveal pretty anticlimatic as nothing big justifying it happened.

Here instead it’s just perfect so really, I recommend you to buy this new volume of Golden Kamuy, either in Japanese or as soon as it comes out in your country!

[janisarkisian]

We Fell in Love In December

Merry Christmas @nova-artino !!!! I was your gifter from the discord gift exchange :) I wrote a novissa one-shot for you a little over 2000 words. I hope you like it!!

Word Count: 2189

Pairing: Novissa (Nova Artino x Narcissa Cronin) 

Nova could barely remember what Christmas was like. Sure, she had celebrated it with her family, but the Anarchists had encouraged her to banish those memories from her mind. Acknowledging them would only make her hurt worse. 

“Hey, Nova!” Ingrid called to her hastily from the other train car. 

“Yeah?” She responded. Getting her thoughts interrupted by Ingrid had become a normal occurrence. There was always more training to do, fewer memories to remember. More errands to run, less time to relax. 

“Could you run down to the Cloven Cross Library to get me some bombshells?” Ingrid asked her. 

Nova, fifteen and eager to help, immediately responded yes and grabbed her flimsy coat. She had outgrown being cold long ago. Now she skipped straight to numb. They had never had enough money to go buy a real coat anyway. 

The streets of Gatlon had a new air about them. There were decorations, for Christmas she assumed, and everyone seemed happy. Why were they all out and around? Didn’t these people have to train? It was so easy for her to see why everyone was so incompetent. The Renegades only existed because people were too lazy to help themselves, and to be honest, the Renegades were a dictatorship. They made idiotic rules that they just expected everyone to follow. No one would ever even bother to help themselves because they had the Renegades. What would happen to the poor souls of Gatlon when the Renegades didn’t come? She knew there would be a day. It had happened to her, and she was sure it had happened to others. 

If she were to compare the cheer from the Cloven Cross Library to the cheer of the streets of Gatlon, the competition would be non-existent. There was a huge wreath on the door, and the small pine trees that were in front of the Library had been decorated more than Nova thought the little trees could handle. The white Christmas lights were in just enough areas to really make the aesthetic, but they didn’t overdo it. The whole area just had a cozy feeling that living in the subway tunnels had always lacked. Frankly, it seemed even more inviting than the cathedral had been. Then again, maybe that wasn’t saying much. 

The only thing that didn’t seem to be inviting was the large closed sign that hung over the antique door. 

There was absolutely no way that she could go back to Ingrid without those bombshells, and there had to be other alternatives. If Leroy were here, he could easily concoct a serum that would break the lock, but she was by herself. Normally, she carried a bobby pin on hand, which was very helpful for picking locks, but she had forgotten one in her haste. Her only hope was that maybe The Librarian had left one of his backdoors open before leaving for Christmas. Though it was very unlikely, she went to check the front door too. 

One of the things she had always admired about the Cloven Cross Library were the small windows that surrounded the door in the shape of an arch. From the inside, you could see the dangerous weather and know you were safe. From the outside, you could see friends reading, couples cuddling, and the fire roaring. 

Today, as she peered through, only one figure was pleasant from her cozy fantasy. Narcissa Cronin, the librarian’s granddaughter. She was a sweet-looking girl who was probably a year older than Nova herself. Her speckled, gray eyes were perfectly framed by her flaming red hair that shone under the light of the fire. Her lips looked effortlessly soft unlike Nova’s which were always chapped.

Even though she had initially had plans to try the back doors, Nova suddenly felt compelled to talk to Narcissa. She was curled up reading a book with a mug in her hand and Nova didn’t think she had ever seen anyone look prettier. Slowly, Nova raised her hand to the door and knocked. 

Narcissa looked up and started to shake her head no, but after a moment, Nova could see the realization in her eyes that Narcissa recognized her. She could see the small smile in Narcissa’s eye, the kind of thing that seemed like a dream and a perfect reality all at once. Or maybe she was just imagining it. 

As Narcissa walked to the door, Nova felt her breath hitch and for a moment, she couldn’t breathe. Narcissa started to get closer and she tried to compose herself. She was here for bombshells, not to look at pretty girls. 

“Hey, Nova,” Narcissa opened the door to the library and gestured for her to come inside. 

“Ingrid needed a few bombshells,” Nova replied lamely, unable to fully comprehend everything happening around her. 

“No-can-do,” Narcissa grinned, “Grandpa and I closed the library and the side-hustle yesterday.”

“Christmas?” Nova responded. Why would anyone close a shop for Christmas? To her, it was simply an overly-glorified day of the year and nothing else. 

“Yeah, Christmas.”

Nova watched as a look of something near pity spread onto Narcissa’s face. At first, she was a little offended. She didn’t need anyone to pity her or have feelings for her in general. It was just the Anarchists vs. Renegades and nothing more. Then, she realized Narcissa cared, something she had never felt before either. Sure, the Anarchists cared for her, but not in a way like this. The look on Narcissa’s face was so purely genuine that it nearly made her heart melt. 

Nearly.

“Well,” Narcissa spoke slowly and Nova turned her attention over, wanting to hear her voice, “I was going to do some fun Christmas-themed things before I meet up with Grandpa for Christmas Eve Dinner. Do you want to come?” 

It sounded fun. Fun. It was something the Anarchists would never approve of, but for once, just once in her life, she wanted to do something fun. Something that would piss them off. Something that would show them they didn’t own her, and that she could do anything and everything she pleased. 

“Sure,” she said firmly, though she could feel her face heating up. She had a feeling that this could be one of her best Christmases yet. 

***

Narcissa had taken her to a grimy mall on the South Side of Gatlon. The neighborhoods around here were mostly abandoned, and she felt the Anarchists would fit right in. 

The two of them had been in comfortable silence for a while when Narcissa spoke up. “So all I really came here for was a fluffy blanket, but if you want, we can go to some more stores. Do you have a favorite?”

Nova shook her head no. The only places she had ever really liked to go were hardware stores, and that was strictly for tools. She had never been allowed to buy real clothes of her own, mainly because the Anarchists had never had any real money. They had only ever had just enough to buy basic necessities like food or an occasional outfit. Things like fluffy blankets had always been out of the question, considering they could barely supply themselves with basic needs. 

“Wait!” Narcissa blurted out, suddenly struck with a new idea, “Not to be rude, but this mall sucks. Let’s go to my favorite 24/7 diner and get funnel cakes with hot cocoa or maybe egg nog. I mean, if you’ve never had either before hot chocolate is definitely the way to go. It’s like warm chocolate with whipped cream, and you can get it with peppermint if you like that.” She sounded so excited, and it warmed Nova’s heart. For the first time in fifteen years, she felt good enough to let her guard down. Even with Mama, Papa, and Evie, things had never been that way. She had always fought for survival. 

“That sounds really fun,” Nova felt herself blushing. Slowly but surely, her walls were crumpling and she knew the only reason for that was this girl, Narcissa Cronin. 

***

Walking into the diner, Nova’s senses were flooded with all different sensations. By a normal person’s terms, it might have been considered crappy, fast food. But this was the first real restaurant she had ever gone to and suddenly, she was starving. She hadn’t eaten in over twenty-four hours and she hadn’t intended to eat again until tomorrow. Narcissa walked over to a booth that was relatively far away from where they were standing, so Nova assumed it was a favorite of hers. She gestured for Nova to take a seat, so she slipped in, feeling the comfort and somehow homey feeling of the diner. 

She had expected Narcissa to slide in on the other side of the booth, but surprisingly, she slid in right next to her. Instantly, their shoulders brushed and they were close. Very close. She had never been this close to anyone before, especially people she wasn’t related to. She could practically feel the heat radiating from Narcissa’s body, and she had the urge to move closer. 

“Hey, Narcissa!” An excited waitress approached their table. In a way, the women reminded her of Ingrid, with eyes that could pierce her soul, but the energy was very different. She had an excited air about her, like she wanted everyone to be happy. To Nova, she looked like a huge Renegades supporter. 

“What can I get for you two today? Our Christmas-related specials are on that side menu. Should I go ahead and mark you two down for some of our special hot cocoa? You look pretty chilly.” 

She went to grab the small menu sitting near the wall of their tight booth, but Narcissa was too fast. 

“We’ll have two cinnamon funnel cakes and two hot cocoas with extra whipped cream and add some chocolate drizzle on hers,” Narcissa gestured over to Nova. She nodded in return to Narcissa, seeing that she was doing all the talking. Plus, being around Narcissa had taken away most of her ability to think. All of her thoughts had been mushed, and she hadn’t even taken her normal precautions like counting possible exits or looking for security cameras. 

“Oh wait!” Narcissa added before the waitress left, “Can we get it to go? I want to show Nova town square.” By the way she was grinning, Nova knew that she was in for a treat. 

***

Boy, had she been right. Town square was sparkling. There was a huge Christmas tree, decorated with more types of ornaments than she could ever imagine. The hot cocoa in her hands warmed her whole body, practically making up for the flimsy coat. And having Narcissa near her was the icing on top of the cake. She felt giddy, something that she had never experienced. Narcissa Cronin was the best thing that had ever happened to her. 

“So, what do you think?” Narcissa grinned, curious. 

“This is definitely the prettiest I’ve ever seen it. I don’t really get to come out often, and when I do, it’s with the Anarchists. Don’t get me wrong, I love them. I mean, they’re the only family I have. But sometimes, I want to do things on my own. So thank you Narcissa. You’ve given me an experience I would have never gotten.” 

It gave her a small joy to see Narcissa start to fluster. She looked like she was about to say something, but it ended up just coming out as a small “Thanks” and then her changing the topic. 

“So, is there anything else you want to do before I have to leave? I don’t want to keep Grandpa waiting.” 

Nova racked her mind. “No, I think I’m good.”

“Well,” Narcissa took a step closer to her, “There is one thing I want to do.” 

Suddenly, her heart rate sped up, and her pulse started to flutter. She wasn’t completely oblivious. She knew Narcissa wanted to kiss her. The Anarchists would never approve, but at the same time that was exactly the reason she wanted to kiss her back. 

“I think it’s the same thing I want to do,” She replied, her breath shaking, taking a step closer to Narcissa. 

They were barely inches apart now. As she gazed into Narcissa’s gray eyes, her breath hitched, and whatever knowledge she had left was no longer functioning. All she wanted to do was kiss Narcissa Cronin, and never go back. 

Narcissa breathed slowly. “Can I kiss you?” She asked quietly, her tone sending thousands of butterflies into Nova’s stomach. 

She nodded, but didn’t give Narcissa time to respond before she kissed her. It was a soft, dreamy kiss that sent Nova breathless. Narcissa’s lips were so soft, and they tasted like the hot cocoa they had been drinking. She could briefly taste the cinnamon from their funnel cakes too, a scent that made her stomachs do flip-flops just thinking about it. 

Finally, Narcissa pulled away. She put a firm grip on her hot cocoa and started to walk away. “Merry Christmas, Nova Artino,” She said, walking away, only to leave Nova exploding. This truly had been her best Christmas yet.

[ourloveisforthelovely]

In the Dark 3

Harry Potter (Marauders Era)

Characters Sirius Black x Reader 

Link to Chapter 2

Rating: M 

_______

After your grand walking out of the great hall, James turned to Sirius who was frowning. James wanted to make a comment about Sirius looking like someone had stolen his ice cream. James raised an eyebrow and knew it was time to let Sirius know that he knew. He had sat back and watched the relationship between his best friend and sister turn into a slow burn that needed some kind of push to go anywhere. While James was thankful that Sirius was taking his feelings as your brother into consideration; it was time for the two people he cared the most about to be happy!

“What did you do to her?”

James asked. Sirius rolled his eyes. What the hell was he supposed to say? Sorry mate, I am in love with your sister and apparently really hurt her feelings because I am a flirt. That sounded like a great way to get punched!

“I’m an idiot.”

James raised an eyebrow before meeting Remus’ annoyed gaze. It was evident that Remus knew and was as annoyed as James.

“Why don’t you ask her out already?”

“What?”

Sirius choked out, clearly surprised by James’ comment. James started laughing. When he met Sirius’ stunned expression he laughed harder.

“Come on now Sirius! I know that the two of you have been crushing on each other for a long time. Remus and I have been taking bets on how long it will take for the two of you to get together.”

Sirius was totally surprised by James’ comment. He had expected his best friend to get mad and punch him in the face or something.

“So you are okay with me being with Y/n?”

James nodded.

“Yes! Please! Go date her! Please! Go right now!”

James said as Sirius quickly got up and quickly walked out of the great hall. Sirius didn’t look back as he stalked down the hallway. Now that he knew that James was okay with everything Sirius had everything that he needed!

10 minutes later, Sirius climbed to the top of the Astronomy Tower. He was relieved when he saw you sitting a few feet away. Sirius also felt like a royal asshole as he looked at you closer. You sat with your knees drawn to your chest. Your face looked truly depressed.

“What are you doing here?”

You asked as Sirius sat down beside you.

“I wanted to talk to you.”

You didn’t look up for a moment before finally getting brave enough. Sirius wasn’t his normal happy self. His eyes actually looked like he was in pain.

“About what? I figured that you would be with that blonde bimbo. I don’t think you have had your hands on her yet.”

Sirius winced at the acidity in your tone.

“She’s a moron. Y/n, I didn’t come here to talk about my being a manwhore. I think we both know well enough about that.”

“Then what do you want to talk about? I don’t really feel like talking about Slughorn’s potion essay.”

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Y/n, I love you!”

You stared at Sirius for a moment wondering if this was some weird joke?

“Sirius, I am feeling really vulnerable right now and I don’t think I am up for jokes.”

Sirius stood up and started pacing.

“Merlin, I am not joking! Y/n, I have been in love with you since we were kids! I just didn’t want to ruin our friendship or my friendship with James! Y/n, you know me better than anyone else! I’ll do anything to be with you. I’ll change...you can watch me 24/7 if you like. These other girls...they mean nothing. Nothing compared to what I feel for you.”

You quickly stood up and threw your arms around Sirius’ shoulders. He seemed a little shocked at first but quickly wrapped his arms around you.

“Kiss me already.”

You replied. Sirius stood motionless just a moment before leaning down to kiss you. The kiss was soft at first before turning desperate. You didn’t object when Sirius pushed you against the opposite wall and pressed his body against yours.

“Is this what you want?”

He said in a low deep velvety voice that made you clamp your legs together. Reaching up, you tangled your fingers in his silky hair. Tugging gently, you smiled when Sirius moaned.

“Naughty girl.”

You weren't sure how far this would go and at the moment you didn’t care. If Sirius wanted to have his way with you on the top of the Astronomy Tower...well...he may get his way. Did you want your first time to be in the torrid fit of passion of your first kiss? What if someone walked in on you two? That would be detention for...a very long time!

Sirius’ hand closing around your breast pulled you from your thoughts. He smiled against your mouth before licking your bottom lip.

“How far do you want this to go, darling?”

Before you could respond, James, Remus, and Peter appeared at the doorway. All three stood in shock with their mouths open. It wasn’t a surprise to see Sirius making out with someone but this time it was with you. Maybe it was the fact that Sirius was still cupping your breast while your leg was thrown over his hip.

“Oh gross! No one wants to see that!”

Sirius quickly let you slide down his body and stepped away. You turned the shade of a bright red strawberry seeing your brother and friends. James looked straight horrified! Remus was looking at his feet blushing as well. Peter, meanwhile, was watching Sirius and yourself as if he was living vicariously through your boyfriend.

“What are you lot doing here?”

Sirius snapped, clearly annoyed. James put a hand over his face as Remus spoke.

“We wanted to make sure that you two were okay.”

“Which clearly they are!”

James added. Remus patted James on the back.

“Come on buddy. We’ll go get you some butterbeer or something. Let's go, Peter.”

James wasted no time in running back the way he came. Remus reached out and tugged Peter after him. He knew if he didn’t make Peter come along the other boy would stand weirdly and watch the snogging session at hand.

“Did you see how her shirt was all messed up?”

You heard Peter question as he disappeared around the corner with Remus. Giggling to yourself, you glanced at Sirius who was rolling his eyes.

“I don’t know how we acquired his weird-ass. Now...where were we?”

Reaching out, you pulled Sirius to you by his tie.

“Right here.”

Much to James' displeasure, he had a front-row seat to watch Sirius and yourself snogging almost non stop.

“So are your lips chapped yet?”

James asked with a smirk one morning as Sirius came skidding into potions 5 minutes late. Lucky for Sirius, Slughorn didn’t seem to notice. Sirius smirked as you dug your book out of your bag.

“We have chapstick.”

You muttered. James faked a gag as Remus laughed quietly and muttered something about the two of you being wild.

“Mr. Black and Ms, Potter so kind of you two to join us. Any amusing story on why the two of you are five minutes late?”

You felt that all too familiar blush coming over your face as Professor Slughorn turned around. Sirius smirked.

“We lost our books and we were looking for them.”

“It was probably hard finding anything in the closet the two of you were making out in.”

Lucius Malfoy said idly. Both Sirius and yourself turned and scowled at the group of Slytherins who were giggling and Malfoy’s comment. Slughorn shook his head, clearly displeased.

“The two of you are lucky that I like you both so much. Moving on…”

You turned your attention back to the lesson at hand trying to ignore the feeling of being watched. When you finally looked up. Severus was giving you a glare of contempt from across the room. Apparently, he missed the memo that you were actually dating Sirius now. You felt a little guilty that you hadn’t even talked to the other boy in a few weeks. “Remind me to hex Malfoy later.”

Sirius muttered to James who was nodding eagerly. You glanced at your boyfriend with your own look of annoyance.

“No, we only have a few months of school and he isn’t worth it. Don’t risk graduation to his ass.”

Sirius smirked.

“What will happen? I’ll be put in detention that I am so fond of. I think McGonagall misses seeing me. I haven’t seen her in a good month and a half.”

You took a breath before writing a note on a piece of parchment and sliding it under Sirius’ arm. The last thing that you wanted to do at the moment was disturbing class anymore and end up on Slughorns’s bad side. You knew that wouldn’t happen since he adored Lily and yourself but it was better to be safe than sorry!

Sirius, meanwhile, took the paper from you and casually looked down.

“Instead of tormenting Malfoy, why don’t we visit the room of requirement?”

Sirius looked up at you and raised an eyebrow. If you were suggesting what he was hoping...Malfoy just earned himself a night without any calamities.

You gave him a silent nod as he quickly wrote something and passed it back to you.

“Teasing isn’t nice.”

He whispered. You reached down and bravely slid your hand across his thigh.

“I’m not teasing. It's been enough time.”

Sirius chuckled, trying to ignore James who was now watching the two of you.

“You are only wanting this because I was going to curse Malfoy and your Slytherin buddy Snape.”

You shook your head.

“That’s not true! All the snogging has gotten to be not enough. From what I have felt pressed against my thigh, I think you are waiting for something more too.”

You were pleased when Sirius smiled. He had that glint in his eyes that meant he was up to something.

“Fine, if that’s what you want darling. We’ll have it your way.”

Meanwhile, Remus leaned over to James. The other boy was shaking his head. James had expected the two of you to be all over each other but that didn’t mean that he was actually ready to see it...fully.

“10 Galleons says that they will be married by the end of the summer.”

James looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking Remus’ hand.

“I’ll take that bet.”

Later that night, you waited until the other girls in your dormitory were sleeping before slipping down the stairs. Sirius sat on the couch obviously pretending to be studying. He looked up when you came downstairs. When seeing you, Sirius shut the book and quickly stood.

“I was wondering where you were. Are you really wanting to do this?”

You nodded.

“I told you yes. I’ve been wanting this for a while.”

Sirius intertwined his hand with yours and started toward the door. Sneaking through the corridors, you held your breath as Sirius led the two of you in silence. You silently hoped that no professors would run into the two of you!

When the door to the room became available, Sirius gave you a smirk.

“In you go, love.”

________

@brokencasbutt67-writer

@authoressskr

@fandom-trash-worth-it

@hankypranky

@summer-novak

@wontlookaway

@untoldshortsofthefandoms

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts

@marichromatic

@maggiolim

@shitfaceddaniel

@mycuddlycorner

@deanwherescas

@shaylybaby2032

@stuckinsaudi1

@sprnaturallover

@emiwrites3reads

@knight-of-gleefulness

[bouncyirwin]

20-25 if you don’t mind for the writers ask :)

20. Do you write in your native language?

Not anymore, I used to write fic in it from 8-12 I think before I moved on to learning and writing in English.

21. Do you ever want to write a novel/original work?

Yes! I have original ideas that I’d like to turn into novels/scripts in the future but I’m more interested in fanfics atm.

22. Favourite part about writing fanfiction?

I would say the emotional connection to the characters that makes exploring them so much fun. And the pre-existing story acts like a sandbox. It’s fun to shape it the way you want.

23. Least favourite part about writing fanfiction?

Hmm ... I’m not sure honestly. Sometimes the self-doubt though I don’t think that’s strictly a ‘fanfic’ issue—more a writing issue than anything. There’s also the fact that sometimes you get an idea and a few chapters into writing it you realise someone else is writing something with the same elements and you feel a bit bummed out. And, I guess, it’s annoying that a large group of people view fanfiction as something ‘lesser’ than normal writing. It’s really not

24. How many unfinished works are in your drafts?

A lot. I’m notorious for having an entire closet of WIPs and for not finishing many things I start (I’m yet to finish a multi-chap. Hasn’t happened ever). I used to be hard on myself about that but honestly some ideas are just meant to be poked and prodded for fun and don’t necessarily need to become a long complex story. I enjoy writing them and then I move onto other things and when I reread them I still enjoy them even when they’re unfinished.

25. An neglected work you wished you would finish?

I have 2 I’ll be working on finishing soon. Starting with The Story of Another Us because we’re near the end. And Wish I Knew You because life distracted me from it and I still love the premise. Finishing them is not easy, I’ve neglected them far too long that part of me feels I need to rewrite them from scratch but we’ll see how it goes.

Thanks for those lovely asks and your interest 🙈❤️

Writer’s Ask

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Guardian of creatures; AU! Queen x oc female x reader Chap.5

*Author’s note*

And here we go with the next chapter. Again not much warning here but I do ask you guys to listen to the music I have set up for you all to listen as you read the scene that follows :) So until the next update my lovelies and I hope you enjoy this chapter (and yes I use Harry Potter spells in this cause I can’t make up words to save my butt that’ll sound like real spells).

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@simonedk​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@kinole009x​

@queensdivas​

@queen-paladin​

@dancingcoolcat​

@queendeakyy​

@geek-and-proud​

@wormzteef​

____________________________________________________________

Chapter 5,

The lessons begin

Monday evening, just as the sun was beginning to set, you had arrived back at the mansion of magic (kinda a cool name for it huh?) with your stuff packed. John and Serafina insisted that since you were to be studying magic, it would be wise to just go ahead and move in with all of them, so as to not draw attention to yourself as you practice the spells and incantations you were about to learn.

Brian and Roger greeted you outside the mansion and as you opened up your car door and shut it Brian tells you.

“We’ll take your things to your room. John and Serafina expect you in the library right away.”

“Are you sure you don’t need my help taking in my stuff?” you ask the Elf and the Nokken.

“Child we’ve taken down large ships and giant trolls long before you were born. I think we can manage a few dozen boxes.”

“Okay. But it’s not a dozen boxes. Just seven or eight really.”

“Alright, now go on. They’re expecting you.” you head on inside and walked towards the same library where you first found out the truth about the young couple.

The two of them sitting together with Serafina on the same red velvet chair she sat at last time while John was leaning against it with his back.

“You’ve arrived. And right on time to. Be thankful you weren’t at our school. If you were even a second late, you were punished with detention.” John said.

“Believe me. My elementary and junior high schools definitely didn’t take tardiness lightly. Once my teacher in the 4th grade would literally smack your hand for every minute or second you were late with her ruler.” You shudder at the memory.

“Be thankful it was just a ruler. When Serafina was late one class, she was forced to work in the Forbidden forest with the grounds keeper for a week.”

“At nighttime. But it wasn’t all bad. Hagrid was fun to be around.” Serafina said.

“Hagrid?” you ask.

“An old friend of ours back in school. He first worked the school grounds during our 1st and 2nd years but by the time Year 3 came around he was promoted to Professor of the Magical creatures class.” Serafina responds.

“But enough of that. Are you ready to begin your lessons?”

“I’m ready.” You said confidently before turning around to walk out.  That’s when John says to you.

“Uhh where do you think you’re going?” you turn back around and say.

“Aren’t we going out into the garden or something to practice some magic? Like flying or levitating stuff.” The two of them then started to laugh.  At this point you were confused.  Why were they laughing? You thought you were actually gonna be learning magic and the point of learning magic was to actually do it.

“Oh sweetheart. I think you’re mistaken. So long as John and I are your professors, you will be learning the same way we were first taught.” Serafina turned to John and he nodded before going straight to the bookshelves.

His long yet elegant fingers stroked across various book spines till he would pick out a book and levitate it in the air before going onto the next one.  The book would follow right behind him as he would continue his search for more books.

Occasionally he’d blow off some dust from a book before joining it on top of the growing stack.  Finally he picked one last book before walking towards you.  He allowed the books to fall gently onto the table beside you before walking back towards Serafina and taking her hand in his.

“Let us know when you’ve read all of those.” He said as he guided Serafina out of the library.

“All of them?!” you exclaim.

“Basics darling. Always start with the basics.” Serafina’s voice soon called out.  You turn to the six Encyclopedia-sized books and let out a groan.

“And I thought I could kiss homework goodbye after I graduated.” You whined quietly.

‘If you’d like I can give you some cheese with that whine.’ John’s voice suddenly said in your head.  You jump back fearfully looking around. ‘Telepathic connections. You’ll learn it if you get cracking on those books. And if you’d want my advice, it’s best to read all the books at once. Saves time.’ Then all went quiet.

Read all the books at once? How was that even gonna be possible? These didn’t even look like a full book series.  But John is your professor now so if he says it’ll save time, then I guess I don’t have any other choice.

Plus reading all those books one by one will take forever. Hell it took you 2 months just to finish Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. You pick up the books, oh god how you have not missed lugging around textbooks! And set them down at the desk nearby.  You pull up the chair and spread the books out one by one and you read each title.

The BOOK OF NOIR

The Incantations of Azarath.

The Enochian and Demonic hieroglyphs

Mythical creatures: Their origins and weaknesses

Hexes, charms and potions

Origins of magic

Okay then.  You turn the desk light on and open up each of the books and you start your reading, beginning with the “Origins of Magic”.

You decided to read at least seven pages for each book before moving onto the next one.  After reading the “Origins of magic” page limit you then turned to the ‘Incantations of Azarath’ which talked about white witch magic and how it can be used in battle as well as healing.

After that you proceeded with the Book of Noir which talked about the history of black magic and forbidden curses.  Followed by the Hexes, charms and potions, Mythical creatures, and stopping with the Enochian and Demonic hieroglyphs.  Page by page you devoured each and every single word and symbol.  You also took down some notes to ask John and Serafina to go in more depth about when you didn’t understand something.

You practically swallowed every bit of information you could. Of course Serafina would come in when it got so late that she felt you deserved a break and you could continue your readings tomorrow night.  Exhausted and tired from only reading a quarter of all six books, you allowed her to guide you back to your room and you just passed out right there on your bed. Not even bothering to change out of your clothes.

Weeks passed and by around the second week of May you finally finished reading all the books that your new ‘Professors’ had assigned you to do.  At first you thought they would then teach you how to do magic but wrong-o! Now it was quiz time.

Thankfully it wasn’t a written quiz, but your worst fear was that it was oral.  The three of you would walk around the gardens or go down to the lake and they both would quiz you on things from each of the books.

Like today for instance, you three were at the lake walking all around the perimeter of it and John asked you.

“True or false: A witch or wizard can freely mess with time without consequences. Say if they were to meet themselves from a past experience they had a week ago like talking to yourself when you had pizza?”

“False. It is forbidden for a witch of wizard to be seen by anyone at all when they mess with time. Terrible things can happen to wizards and witches who mess with time.” You answer.

“Correct. And—who was the first ever wizard to exist in history?” he asked again.

“Merlin. Born at the beginning of 24 AD. And he had three apprentices that made up the royal wizard bloodline that exists today.”

“And who were the three apprentices?”

“Balthazar, Morgana, and Archimedes.”

“That is absolutely correct.” John said impressed.

“Little fun fact, John here comes from Balthazar’s bloodline.” Serafina said.

“Really?”

“Yep. He is John’s great, great x11 grandfather.”

“So you’re like one of the royal wizard’s? That’s so cool!”

“It’s really not. Believe me I never really liked my own family history. At least up to a point. Don’t get me wrong Balthazar was a powerful wizard and a good one too. Never dabbled in black magic unlike Morgana the traitor. Thank god I’m not related to her.”

“I think we all are.” Serafina said.

“What about you Serafina? Are you tied with the royal bloodline?”

“Oh no, no. Not at all. My family—” she trailed off as she looked down at the lake.  Her eyes distant and solemn.  But quickly she recovered herself and said, “my family came around after the ties were broken. Long after Morgana’s betrayal.”

“After sealing Morgana away and burying his mentor and brother’s bodies, Balthazar was the only leading wizard to teach the rest of the witches and wizards of England. Soon families just started sprouting out but each of them had destined tasks to perform for the kingdom of Balthazar.” John explained.

“Now onto your knowledge of mythical creatures.” Serafina now took over for the quizzing. “Name the two weakness of a harpy.”

“You first need to strike them at the heart, but to fully be rid of them, you need to burn the body with fire.”

“Mm-hmm. Now which dragon is known to be the strongest? Fire or ice?”

“Fire.”

“Ahh! Which one? Blue fire or normal fire?”

“Blue fire because it’s hotter than even a bolt of lightning.”

“Correct. I dare say you must be as clever as I was when it came to magical creatures.”

Play video

“I’ve got a question.” John suddenly spoke up. “What is the one way to kill a Nokken?” we then heard an offended nicker as just ahead of us was a horse.  But it was made of pure water.

“John Richard Deacon! You know how Roger hates you asking that question.” You turn and could see Roger’s pure white glowing eyes narrowing down at John.

“I’m merely just asking a question. And Nokks are known to have one weakness and I’m curious to know if (Y/n) knows it.” The two of them turned towards you and you say.

“Well uhh—their one weakness is. Wait don’t tell me don’t tell me I know it!”

You all were so focused on your answer that you didn’t see Roger slowly walking up towards the three of you still in his water horse form. He silently snuck up and stood behind John who had no idea just who was behind him.  You stop answering as you just stare at John.

In a split second, Roger grabs John by the sleeve of his shirt and threw him in the lake.  John let out a cry as he was thrown like a ragdoll into the water before coming up for air.

Roger then pranced around behind Serafina whinnying out what sounded like a laugh.  He then reared up as he continued to neigh and whinny.  Both you and Serafina couldn’t help but laugh as Serafina said.

“I told you love. He doesn’t like that question. Especially coming from you.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah ha-ha you got your laugh. You happy now Roger?” Roger set back down and his head bowed lowly, but his eyes still narrowed slightly at the wizard.

“That’s a Nokken’s weakness. Saying their name. In some aspects it’s been known to be the very thing to kill them. But for this cheeky stallion here it gets him to calm down.” Serafina tells you.

“Now this may not be my place to ask but I’ve gotta know. I mean Rog did kinda say it but I wanna hear it from you Serafina. Has he ever won at winning you over? Cause the book said that Nokken’s power over women is impossible to break. Even married women who have claimed to love their husbands have fallen prey to the Nokk’s powers.”

“I’ll admit when I first met him he was—charming, attractive, and cheeky. Like he is now.” Roger then came over nickering softly as he gently nudged her back with his head. “And I’ll also admit I did fall for his spell so it’s not like I was immune to it. But my love for John was stronger. And when I called out a few various names to free myself from this cheeky stallion’s control, I called out the name Roger and from there I was freed. He let me go. And returned back to the waters, never again to take me as his prey.”

“But he still flirts with you whenever he can. Much to my dismay.” John says as he finally gets himself out of the water. “Even though he was one of the witnesses to our wedding.”

“Yes but it’s a playful flirt. Trust me my love when I say that I’ve seen him flirt. And what he does around me is not flirting.” Roger nudged her head softly with his as he nickered lovingly.  His glowing eyes closing and his ears bent backward as she placed a hand under his muzzle, stroking it.

Roger then suddenly melted away.  His horse shape turned into nothing but a puddle but you saw it move right underneath Serafina’s feet.  Soon his horse form came back as she was now riding on top of Roger’s back.  She giggled and said.

“Not now you cheeky stallion. Maybe later, right now (Y/n) needs to continue their quizzing.” Roger huffed annoyed and looked up at her with pleading eyes. “No, no, no. No. No and no.”

“You know he’s not gonna stop. Why not you go and indulge him for a while, I can handle the quizzing for today.” John said as he snapped his fingers and dried himself off.

“You sure?” she asked him.

“Yes, yes, yes no go on before I change my mind. Besides he could do with the exercise, he’s gotten fat in this form.” Roger then roared in John’s face.  His tail twitched in anger as he also snorted in John’s face.

“Steady Roger, steady.” Serafina eased him as she stroked his strong and powerful horse neck.  Roger immediately calmed down as he closed his eyes once more and straightened himself up. “That’s my boy. Now you want to go for a ride?” Roger huffed pridefully. “Then give me a ride I won’t forget.” Then with a flick of his water-like body, Roger and Serafina took off running down the lake and soon disappearing out of sight.

“And you’re sure that wasn’t flirting?” you ask him.

“He just does that to irk me at times. But I trust Serafina, plus all that there was just him wanting to get his way like a child having a tantrum.”

“It’s just from how you and Serafina are with each other, I’d hate to think a so called friend would get in the way of that.”

“I appreciate that someone at least agrees with me but you shouldn’t worry yourself over. A Nokken’s name is a powerful thing, once one has power over it, their spell is broken. And since Serafina spoke his real name, he won’t try anything. It’s their law. Come along, I think we’ve had enough fresh air for today, we’ll continue the quiz inside and wait for them to arrive back.” John then guides you back to the mansion and you proceed with the quiz inside.

*May 19th, 1926*

A month into the magic lessons, it was then you were finally deemed ready to perform some real magic.  First up was basic levitation spells.  With Serafina’s old wand, you and her were outside in the garden trying to levitate a feather.

“Now remember; the key to getting the spell to work is not just pronouncing the spell correctly, but also in the wrist.” She waved her wrist before flicking it downward in a fluid motion as she said. “Wingardium Leviosa!” soon enough the feather levitated in the air then as her hand glowed red, she allowed the feather to dance around in the air.

She set it back down and said.

“Okay, now your turn.” Taking a deep breath in then exhaling you follow the motion she did before to get the spell to work.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” you point her wand down at the feather but it just sits there.  Still as a statue.

“Again.” She told you.  You try it again but again the feather doesn’t move.

“It’s not working!” you whined.

“It takes time. John and I didn’t get it on the first try. No witch or wizard does. Plus I think I know what the problem is.”

“What?”

“It’s the way you’re saying it.”

“But I’m saying it the way you told me to say it.”

“Yes but that’s not what I was referring to.” She tells you. “You’re saying the spell like you’re impatient at a dog or cat when they keep doing something wrong. You are the only you in this whole universe, which makes your own form of magic that much unique. So John and I can give you the books, teach you the right spells but that last 1%. Comes from you.”

“So if I mean what I say, the spell will work?” she nodded softly. “How do I find that out?”

“It’s in there somewhere. You just have to concentrate and reach deep down. Now deep breath in.” you inhale deeply. “Slowly out.” You exhale slowly. “Wand at the ready.” You raise your hand and point it at the feather. “Concentrate. Reach deep within, and say it.”

“Wingardium Leviosa!” you say proudly.  Soon enough the feather slowly raises itself up.  You stand there with bated breath as it continues to raise up before finally dancing along the breeze. “I did it.” You mutter.  You let out a laugh, “I did it! I actually did it!”

“Well done, (Y/n). You’re on your way to becoming a bonified (witch/wizard).” Serafina praises as she catches the feather with her left hand and places her right hand on your shoulder.

“I wouldn’t have done it without you and John. Thank you, Professor Serafina.” She nods at you with a soft smile.

[thelittlesttimelord]

The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of the Eleventh Chapter 24

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of the Eleventh Chapter 24 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 24/? SUMMARY: Elise Smith is now a teenaged Timelord. In addition to losing the Ponds, the fields of Trenzalore are calling. But first they have to figure out exactly who Clara Oswald is.

The Doctor stormed into the TARDIS and pulled the monitor around. “She's just a girl. How can she be?”

The monitor showed them the girl from the Dalek Asylum, along with a number of different photos from the current Clara’s past.

“She can't be. She is. She can't be.” He shoved the monitor away. “She's not possible.”

“We’ll figure it out. We always do,” Elise reassured him.

They picked up Clara and set off on her first real adventure.

“So we're moving through actual time? So what's it made of, time? I mean, if you can just roll through it, it's got to be made of stuff, like jam's made of strawberries. So what's it made of?”

“Well, not strawberries. No. No, no, no. That would be unacceptable.” The Doctor straightened his bowtie.

“And we can go anywhere?”

“Within reason. Well, I say reason…” He’d ended up in a myriad of odd places.

“So, we could go backwards in time.”

“And space, yes.”

“And forwards in time.”

“And space. Totally. So, where do you want to go, eh? What do you want to see?”

“I don't know. You know when someone asks you what's your favorite book and straight away you forget every single book that you've ever read?”

“No. Totally not.”

“Well, that's a thing that happens.”

“And? Back to the question?”

“Okay. So…So…So…” Clara ran towards the doors. “So I'd like to see…I would like to see…What I would like to see is…” She spun around. “…something awesome.”

The Doctor ran around the console and then led Elise and Clara out of the TARDIS.

Clara had her eyes closed.

“Can you feel the light on your eyelids? That is the light of an alien sun. Forward a couple of steps. Okay. Are you ready?” the Doctor asked Clara.

“Yes. No. Yes.” Clara opened her eyes.

“Welcome to the Rings of Akhaten.”

The Rings of Akhaten was an asteroid belt orbiting a huge star.

“It's…”

“It is. It so completely is. But wait, there is more.”

“More what?”

“Wait, wait, wait.” The Doctor looked at his watch. “In about five, four, three, two…”

The asteroids parted to reveal a golden pyramid.

“What is it?” Clara and Elise asked.

“The Pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten. It's a holy site for the Sun Singers of Akhate.”

“The who of what?”

“Seven worlds orbiting the same star. All of them sharing a belief that life in the universe originated here, on that planet.”

“All life?”

“In the universe.”

“Did it?”

“Well…it's what they believe. It's a nice story.”

“It’s beautiful,” Elise said.

“Can we see it? Up close?” Clara asked.

The Doctor held out his hand.

Clara took it and they ran back to the TARDIS.

Elise stood there looking at the star.

Clara grabbed her hand and pulled her into the TARDIS.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They stepped out into a marketplace.

It was filled with a wide variety of alien species, some of which Elise had never encountered before.

“Where are they all from?” Clara asked.

“Oh, you know, the local system, mostly,” the Doctor said.

“What do I call them?”

The Doctor started to point out the different alien races. “Well, let's see. Ah! There go some Pan-Babylonians. A Lugarlirakush. Some Eukanians. A Hooloovoo. Ah!” The Doctor walked up an alien and started speaking a language that sounded like gibberish to Elise and Clara. “That chap's a Terraberserker of the Kodonian Belt. You don't see many of them around anymore. Oh! That's an Ultramanta! Do you know, I forget how much I like it here. We should come here more often.”

“You've been here before?” Clara asked.

“Yes, yes, yes. I came here a long time ago with my granddaughter.” He grabbed Elise’s hand and pulled her over to a stall. “I brought you and Amy once.”

Elise furrowed her brows in confusion. “Did you?”

“You don’t remember?”

“I think I would have remembered this place.”

The Doctor shrugged.

Clara caught up to them.

He picked up a basket of blue orbs. “Exotic fruit of some description.” He scanned them. “Right. Non-toxic, non-hallucinogenic. High in free radicals and low in other stuff, I shouldn't wonder.”

Clara and Elise took a bite of it.

Clara shook her head, but Elise on the other hand felt like she’d tasted it before. The Doctor said they’d been here before so maybe she ate one as a child? The memory was there. She could feel it, but she couldn’t remember it.

“Do you like it?” the Doctor asked.

Elise nodded and the Doctor handed her the basket.

“You actually like it?” Clara asked Elise.

Elise shrugged. “Alien food.” Elise pointed to herself. “Alien.”

“So, why is everyone here?” Clara asked the Doctor.

“For the Festival of Offerings. Takes place every thousand years or so, when the rings align. It's quite a big thing, locally, like Pancake Tuesday.”

They kept walking and Clara ran into an alien who started snarling at her. “Oh! Er, Doctor!”

The Doctor walked up and started barking at the alien.

“What's happening? Why is it angry?” Clara asked.

“This isn't an it. It's a she. Dor'een, meet Clara and my daughter Elise. Elise, Clara, meet Dor'een.”

“Dor’een?”

“Loose translation. She sounds a bit grumpy but she's a total love actually, aren't you? Yes, you are. No, actually, she's just asking if we fancy renting a moped.”

Clara barked and the Dor’een barked back. “So, how much does it cost?” Clara asked.

“Not money. Something valuable. Sentimental value. A photograph, love letter, something like that. That's what's used for currency here. Psychometry. Objects psychically imprinted with their history. The more treasured they are, the more value they hold.”

“That's horrible.”

“Better than using bits of paper.”

“Then you pay.”

“With what?”

“You're a thousand years old. You must have something you care about.” Clara walked off.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and shook his head, putting it back. He looped his arm threw Elise’s and they ventured back into the marketplace. The Doctor watched Elise marvel at all the wares around her.

“I always thought I loved it on Earth, but you know what? I think I like this more,” Elise told him.

“Because it reminds you of Gallifrey?”

Elise’s steps faltered for a second. Never let him see the damage. “We may look human, but we never will be.”

The Doctor patted her hand.

They kept walking until they found Clara near the TARDIS.

“What have you been doing?” the Doctor asked her.

“Exploring.”

Elise grabbed Clara’s arm and dragged her along with them.

“Where are we going now?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They entered an amphitheater that was facing the pyramid.

The ceremony had already begun, so they quickly took their seats.

“Are we even supposed to be here?” Clara asked.

The Doctor hushed her.

“But are we?”

The Doctor hushed her again.

The girl on the pedestal turned around and smiled before starting to sing.

A song was coming from the pyramid too.

The Doctor pulled out a brochure. “They're singing to the Mummy in the Temple. They call it the Old God. Sometimes Grandfather,” the Doctor explained.

“What are they singing?” Clara asked.

“The Long Song. A lullaby without end to feed the Old God. Keep him asleep. It's been going for millions of years, chorister handing over to chorister, generation after generation after generation.”

Everyone around them held out their hands.

“What are they doing?”

“These are offerings. Gifts of value. Mementos to feed the Old God.”

The offerings dissolved as everyone around them started to join in with the song, including the Doctor.

Hearing the Doctor try to sing along brought back many happy memories of him singing her to sleep. Elise set her head on her father’s shoulder.

There was a rumbling noise and the singing stopped.

An energy beam grabbed the little girl and pulled her towards the pyramid.

“Okay, what's happening? Is that supposed to happen?” Clara asked.

“Help!” the little girl screamed.

“Is somebody going to do something? Excuse me, is somebody going to help her?”

The Doctor and Elise got up, running back into the now empty marketplace.

“Why are we walking away? We can't just walk away. This is my fault! I talked her into doing this,” Clara said.

“Listen. There's one thing you need to know about traveling with us. Well, one thing apart from the blue box and the two hearts. We don't walk away.” He walked over to Dor’een and talked to her for a second, before turning to the two women. “I need something precious.”

“Well, you must have something. All the places you've seen, there must be something,” Clara said.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. “This. And I don't want to give it away, because it comes in handy.”

“You're a thousand years ole and that's it? Your spanner?”

“Screwdriver.”

Elise rolled her eyes and took off the bracelet she was wearing, the one she never took off for anything.

The Doctor grabbed her wrist. “No.”

“We need a moped and you don’t want to give up your screwdriver, so what else do you suggest?”

“Your mother gave you that. Do you really want to give up the last thing tying you to your family?”

Before the two could argue about it even more, Clara took off one of the rings on her hand and dropped it in the box.

The two Timelords stared at her.

“It was my mum’s.”

The Doctor released Elise’s wrist and refastened the bracelet. He placed a hand on her head and kissed her temple, before Elise shoved him away from her.

She looked at the bracelet, trying to conjure up memories her parents. But she couldn’t. Nothing existed before her life with the Doctor.

There was nothing tying her to her birth family. She only wore the bracelet because it like it was a part of her.