#Country Map Riddle

[naijasunspire]

Few things irritate me more than Nigerians (particularly older ones) looking down on aspects of "oyibo culture." "Oh, we don't address our elders like Oyibo people, we have our culture."

Beloved, has your culture given you 24hrs light? Has your respect paved your streets?

[yuurei20]

Short Translation from Twisted Wonderland the second novel: Yuuya in Class

"‘We’ve got that strategy meeting at lunch today—Yuu, Grim, you two gotta come, all right? No running off. The Housewarden isn’t mad anymore, so don’t be so freaked out.’

‘I’m not freaked out!’ Grim declares.

Yuuya opens his mouth to explain all that happened yesterday, but then stops himself. No matter how he phrases it, it would damage Riddle’s pride.

‘Yeah, I know,’ Yuuya replies.

Deuce smiles as well, nodding in response. 'All right. So meet up in the cafeteria at lunch,’ he says, facing forward in his seat to prepare for their first period class.

After homeroom is Magical History. Trein’s classes are both difficult and strict, requiring thorough preparation.

Ace snickers at the serious-looking Deuce. ‘Turning on us just like that. Not that it’s doin’ ya any good.’

‘Shut up. Maybe you should try it, too.’

‘Nah. I don’t like stuff that needs a bunch of memorizing.’

‘Me neither,’ agrees Grim.

As Grim messes around with Ace without so much as taking out his textbook, a nearby Heartslabyul student says, ‘Grim—isn’t Trein going to be calling on you today?’

In an instant, Grim’s expression becomes serious.

‘You make Trein mad again and you’re really in for it.’

Grim nods repeatedly in response to this stern advice.

When Yuuya thanks him, the student responds with an awkward chuckle. ‘You’ve sure got a rough time of it, Yuu.’

‘Come on Grim, we need to study properly. You might even get assigned extra lessons again.’

‘Ugh…what a hassle.’

Grim reluctantly allows himself to be coerced into facing forward, and Yuuya opens his reference book. 'Coming to Know Twisted Wonderland.’

It is a thick book, but at long last he is more than halfway through. Still on his first read-through he cannot remember much, but the shock of seeing a world map entirely different from that of earth has stuck with him.

He now recognizes the names of the larger countries, and even the hometowns of the people he is closest to.

Night Raven College is on Sage’s Island, of the Land of Dawning. Despite the island’s diminutive size it is home to two prestigious schools: Night Raven College and their rival, Royal Sword Academy. Ace, Deuce, Trey and Riddle are from the Queendom of Roses, which seems to be a group of islands to the east of Sage’s Island.

Cater is from the largest country, the ‘Land of Pyroxene.'

Due to what his family does for work he has moved frequently, and he taught Yuuya the names of various cities.

Leona, from yesterday, is a member of Sunset Savanna’s royal family according to what Deuce has said. Yuuya confirms in the book before him that Sunset Savanna extends into the south from Sage’s Island. It is described as ‘a vast country with abundant nature,’ with a photo of grasslands and a blue sky as an example of the climate.

The book also contains details about the country: in the past, there were lawless territories where the rule of its own kings did not reach. While, now, there are beautifully developed urban areas, there are also large slum towns, and significant economic disparity.

Over half the population consists of beast-people. The region is inhabited by many rare, wild animals. Out of respect for nature and to avoid reckless overdevelopment, there are limits on urbanization.

While Yuuya looks over the map Grim, at his side, stares at his lesson materials for the day with a groan. ‘I don’t get none of this.’"

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 20 April 1914, the Ludlow massacre took place when US troops opened fire with machine guns on a camp of striking miners and their families in Ludlow, Colorado. 12,000 miners had gone out on strike the previous September against the Rockefeller family-owned Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation (CF&I) following the killing of an activist of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). They then demanded better safety at work, and to be paid in money, instead of company scrip (tokens which could only be redeemed in the company store). The Rockefellers evicted the striking miners and their families from their homes, and so they set up "tent cities" to live in collectively, which miners' wives helped run. Company thugs harassed strikers, and occasionally drove by camps riddling them with machine-gun fire, killing and injuring workers and their children. Eventually the national guard was ordered to evict all the strike encampments, and the morning of April 20 they attacked the largest camp in Ludlow. They opened fire with machine guns on the tents of the workers and their families, who then returned fire. The main organiser of the camp, Louis Tikas, went to visit the officer in charge of the national guard to arrange a truce. But he was beaten to the ground then shot repeatedly in the back, killing him. That night, troops entered the camp and set fire to it, killing 11 children and two women, in addition to 13 other people who were killed in the fighting. The youngest victim was Elvira Valdez, aged just 3 months. Protests against the massacre broke out across the country, but the workers at CF&I were defeated, and many of them were subsequently sacked and replaced with non-union miners. Over the course of the strike 66 people were killed, but no guardsmen or company thugs were prosecuted. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9243/ludlow-massacre Pictured: a striker's family in front of their tent https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=612124227627463&set=a.602588028581083&type=3

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

The Man from a Different Universe

In the chronicles of unexplained mysteries, the story of the Taured Man stands out as a baffling and enigmatic tale that has puzzled minds for decades.

It all began in the mid-20th century when a well-dressed and confident Caucasian man arrived at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, eager to embark on his journey. However, it was at the airport's immigration desk that this ordinary-looking traveler would reveal an extraordinary claim that would forever shroud his identity in mystery. Upon being asked the routine question of his country of origin, the man, with unwavering conviction, declared that he hailed from a place called "Taured." To the bewilderment of the Japanese immigration authorities, there was no record of such a country. The traveler was asked to produce identification, and that's when the plot thickened. In his possession, the Taured Man held a plethora of official documents, each more puzzling than the last. A passport, driver's license, and a stack of business cards – all issued by the non-existent nation of Taured – were laid out before the astounded officials. The documents were meticulously crafted, bearing all the hallmarks of authenticity, complete with visas from multiple countries, hinting at a history of international travel. As if this weren't perplexing enough, there were other curious details that further fueled the mystery. The authorities, grappling with disbelief, questioned the man about his homeland. His unwavering response was that Taured had existed for a long time, situated in the border region between France and Spain. This contradiction, however, only deepened the enigma, as no such country appeared on any maps or records. It was as though the Taured Man was a visitor from an alternate dimension or an elaborate hoaxer.

The confusion escalated as the man was escorted to a hotel room, still under the vigilant gaze of Japanese immigration authorities. While they were determined to solve the riddle of his identity, they were left with more questions than answers. The next morning, an eerie and baffling development occurred – the Taured Man and all of his belongings, including the Taured documents, had vanished without a trace. There were no signs of forced entry or exit, leaving investigators and airport personnel dumbfounded. It was as if the enigmatic traveler had simply vanished into thin air.

[foxglovepng]

Race Headcannons 🥀🌼

Requested: Nu uh I just felt like it

CW: Race, Rook Slander, Ortho spoiler Idia's part.

Characters: NRC students

These are my Race Headcannons for the NRC men. Some of these I just went by feeling a lot of these I did research about the movie setting although with the fishes + beast men I went by geography.

Some of these I'm unsure of (Heavy on Sebek) If anything is incorrect or you want to share your thoughts go ahead I'm always open to corrections and hearing others. (PROOFREAD FOR ONCE)

(Updated Epel on 5.12.24)

🌼

Heartslabyul

Riddle (British)

I don't really have an explanation for this one other than the Red Queen in Tim Burton's version she was British and had a big goofy forehead (I have not seen the animated one help)

Trey (German)

Would you believe me if I told you I whipped out a map closed my eyes and threw a dart and it landed on Germany??

For this one I went with somewhere in Europe and I picked Germany because it just made sense to me I was gonna say Polish, but his Green hair was telling me German.

Cater (Scottish)

It's his ginger hair tbh.

Ace (Japanese)

A lot of people headcannon him as Filipino, but me personally I wanted to be quirky and different /j

This one doesn't really have any evidence I just went by feeling. I also headcannon it that he would love Jojo and Junji Ito.

Deuce (Mexican)

As a fellow Mexican I KNOW ONE OF US WHEN I SEE ONE OF US. He is Mexican and I WILL DIE ON THAT HILL.

Savanaclaw

Leona (Kenya)

I actually googled it and Lion King takes place in Kenya which is a country in the eastern part of Africa. For obvious reasons since he is based off Scar it made sense to make him Kenyan.

Ruggie (Multiracial)

I may get a lot of heat for this one, but this man got blonde ass hair and blue eyes, HOWEVER for the geography of spotted Hyena's I feel he is light skinned. He's got some Kenya in him but he also got some white genes. Geography wise I believe he is also part Arab since there are Arab countries in Africa. So therefore I believe he is white, black, and Arab.

Jack (Bircial)

Another one I may get a lot of heat for.

From what I remember Jack is from the same country as Vil? So, I believe Jack is part black, but also part European. It also isn't explicitly stated what movie he is from we just know he is a wolf.

Pop off Jacob Black (not sorry)

Octavinelle

Azul (Cuban) + The Twins (Filipino)

I googled Coral Sea locations and I came to these conclusions.

There are different Coral reefs going from Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Maldives. With the Twins I thought how funny would it be to make them Australian, but Filipino just kind of felt right like a gut feeling. The Carribean sea also has coral reefs so I made Azul Cuban. I was going to make him Venezuelan however I ended up going with Cuban, but I feel like both fit him in a way.

Scarabia

Jamil + Kalim (Arab)

I don't really think this one needs an explanation Aladdin quite literally takes place Agrabah which was based off of Baghdad, Iraq (source: Google)

HOWEVER

There is an article that says the Architecture is based on the Taj Mahal which is Indian.

There is also a mention of Allah in the animated version BUT because I don't fully understand religion in general (And also Disney back then was kind of racist) I don't want to use religion as a justification to where specifically they are from. So I will simply just say they are Arab.

Pomefiore

Vil (German)

Snow white was based in Germany. (I have nothing more to say :Skull:)

Rook (French)

Self explanatory

Epel (Sami)

The Sami People are people who are indigenous to Sapmi which is in Northern Europe. (Todays Russia, Sweden, Finland, and Norway).

From doing a bit of research the Sami people seem to be dying out and their language too. (If you want to feel free to Google the Sami people there's a lot to learn about them and it's really interesting. There was basically a bunch of policies put in place to kill them and mistreat them it's really sad)

So in short Epel is Sami Indigenous (If I'm correct he's the first Indigenous character we got so far which is nice representation) (I also hope my research was correct please correct me if not)

Ignihyde

Idia (Greek)

Based on where Hercules takes place and because Hades is quite literally Greek Mythology he is Greek.

Ortho is just a robot, but when he didn't drop dead he was Greek.

Diasmonia

Malleus (German/French)

I am not really getting a clear answer as to where Sleeping Beauty takes place so I made him a French German. He slayed tbh

Lilia (Romanian)

Dracula's castle is in Romania that is the only explanation you are getting

Silver (French/German)

I am being told he is based off Sleeping Beauty so I am making him the same race as Waka Sama.

Sebek (Biracial)

When I first was thinking of a race for him I was thinking Slavic kind of fits him (atleast to me) or possibly Asian. However I had a really hard time guessing so I made him SlavicAsian. Maybe possibly Slovakia and Vietnam?

If you enjoyed Likes and Reblogs are very much welcome. If you want to request something go ahead just read my rules first. <3

[bonpocalypse]

can you please tell me your headcanons for the nationalities of the twst boys pretty pretty please 🥺 also any other headcanons you have!!!

I love love love nationality headcanons, they're so fun to think of!! A reminder that these are my headcanons, I'm not here to start arguments. If anything does come across as offensive/innapropriate please let me know! I'll gladly fix it :)

For the most part, I based the Twst Character's nationalities off of where their stories take place (I'm not all that skilled in headcanons, apologies!!)

Alright, going in dorm order here:

Heartslabyul

Riddle Rosehearts: Icelandic/Britsh

I have him as Icelandic purely because of LeafSheep's "Begin at the Beginning," the King Said!! Nordic Heartslabyul has my heart. and ofc since Heartslabyul is based on Alice in Wonderland, he's half-British in my headcanons

Ace Trappola: British

Alice in Wonderland :)

I don't have much to say about Ace, I kinda don't think about him all that much

Deuce Spade: Irish

In coming up with nationality headcanons, I wanted to explore more areas in the British Isles for the Heartslabyul students and eventually decided on Deuce being Irish! I had more reasonings but its 5 am and I cannot think for the love of me.

Cater Diamond: American with English/German heritage

I see myself in Cater. He's one of my highest kins, so he's 100% from West Coast USA. It also makes a lot of sense he'd be American looking at how similar some nations in the Twisted Wonderland universe are to nations in our own world! Pyroxene is really similar to the United States from what I've researched, and Cater's valley accent in the English version of the game really hits the mark :)

As for his heritage, he's English because of Alice in Wonderland and German because I feel it fits him very well

Trey Clover: British

I don't think about Trey often enough sorry :(((

I love him though he's so silly

Savanaclaw

Leona Kingscholar: Kenyan

The Lion King takes place in the Kenya area, and so I put him there!

Jack Howl: American with Kenyan/French heritage

Another Pyroxien!

Kenyan because Savanaclaw was based on the Lion King and that's set in Kenya

French because I have a sneaking suspicion Jack is based on the wolves from Beauty and the Beast

Ruggie: South African

Ruggie was hard to find a headcanon for, but I eventually just took someone else's headcanon that said he is South African

Octavinelle

Azul Ashengrotto: Italian/French/Danish

All come from where the Little Mermaid is set in both the movie form and the Hans Christian Andersen form. The movie itself was set in the Mediterranean Sea, and I headcanon Azul's family to be from around the Nice, France area of the Mediterranean

Danish comes into play from the original source material for The Little Mermaid and the fact that the Coral Sea in Twst gets cold. Also to note, the Coral Sea on the map of Twisted Wonderland is close to the coast of the Queendom of Roses, which is pretty far north!

Jade and Floyd Leech: Danish

Putting these two together because twins

Pretty much the same reasonings as Azul, the book's settings and the Coral Sea :)

Scarabia

Kalim Al-Asim: Saudi Arabian

I'm going to be so honest, I don't think about Scarabia like... at all. So for Kalim, I'm going straight out of where Aladdin is supposed to be set

That also came as a problem, because the movie has a habit of mashing Middle Eastern cultures together. Though I did find that the movie takes place in the Arabian Desert which narrows where Aladdin was filmed to a myriad of countries, one of which is Saudi Arabia

I decided to go with Saudi Arabia since a majority of the desert does reside within that country.

Jamil Viper: Saudi Arabian/South Asian

Same thing as for my headcanons with Kalim, and I got the South Asian headcanon from a mutual on TikTok

Pomefiore

Vil Schoenheit: American with German heritage

Hollywood star here, folks!

German heritage because of Snow White's setting :)

Epel Felmier: Finnish

Ok for this headcanon I went off of the Harveston event

(hey future Bon edit here when its not 5 am and running off of no sleep)

Rook Hunt: Australian

This headcanon is for shits and giggles

It's a running joke between me and my friend that Rook is not French and is faking the accent to sound more "beautiful"

I don't know why we chose Australia specifically but it came to fruition

He can't speak proper French he's literally calling Vil the King of Fish

Ignihyde

Idia and Ortho Shroud: Greek

Hercules is set in Greece!

Diasomnia

Malleus Draconia: French

For Diasomnia I went off of movie settings once again, and Sleeping Beauty is heavily implied to be set in France!

I really feel like I should explain more but that's really most of my headcanons for them, where their movies are set

Silver: French

Silver is tough to pin down since we don't know if he's even originally from the Briar Valley, but I went with French as well

Sebek Zigvolt: French/German

(Bon please please please come back to this)

Lilia Vanrouge: French

I actually have so many nationality headcanons on this dude its not even funny

I imagine him as French, Romanian, and Dutch

And for funnies:

Royal Sword (and Rollo) (excluding the dwarves)

Neige LeBlanche: American with German/Finnish Heritage

Che'nya: British/Russian

Rollo Flamm: French

[starchaseriseverything]

James has just arrived at the address he was given to babysit. According to Google Maps, the house is called Grimmauld place.

A woman answers the door a few minutes after James knocks. She has long, black, unruly hair. She looks frantic. "Hi, hi, sorry. It's a little crazy in here. I'm Bellatrix Black-Lestrange. Nice to meet you."

"James Potter."

"Right, Sirius told me about you." James makes a confused look. "The one who hired you, his name is Sirius."

"Like the star?"

"Yeah. I'm surprised someone knows that."

"I've always been fascinated with the stars. You're named after one, too."

"Yeah, I am. Most of my family is."

Fleamont - James' dad - taught James all about the stars when he was four. He was always fascinated with them since he was born. He thought they looked like the little specks of paint that Euphemia - James' mother - drew.

"Anyway, come inside, it's cold."

As soon as James walked inside, he was hit with a water balloon. "Ted Remus Lupin!" A man with the same long, black hair just more tamed yells. "I'm so sorry. My son is a prankster. Anyway, I'm Sirius Black-Lupin." Sirius looks James over. "Hey, Reg! Can you get a towel!"

Another woman walks up with long, white, and black hair. "What happened, Siri?" She looks over at James. "Oh, hello. I'm Narcissa Black-Malfoy. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too."

A boy comes up to hug her leg. She smiles. "This is my son, Draco."

"Another star. You really meant it when you said most of your family."

"Yeah." Bellatrix says. "It's crazy and hectic." A man with short black hair walks up with a towel in hand. "Finally, Reg. Took forever."

"Shut up, Bells. At least I can't get pregnant."

"Why is that your insult?"

"Who would want a second kid? Apparently, you."

"Whatever." She takes the towel from the man and hands it to James. "Sorry, that's Regulus Black." The man - Regulus - leaves.

"Reg! Are you coming with us!?" Someone from the other room yells while James drys himself with the towel.

"No!" Regulus answers. "And take B and Ev with you! Their sickening!"

Yet, another woman comes in with a girl and a man trailing behind her. She has - thankfully - tamed, brunette hair. "I'm Andromeda Black-Tonks. This is my husband, Ted Tonks. And my daughter, Nymphadora Tonks."

"Nice to meet you."

"You, too."

Two more men come in. "Rodolphus Lestrange."

"Lucius Malfoy."

"James Potter."

Three men and two women come in. The first woman that has red hair speaks up. "I'm Lily Evans-Rosier."

"The Lily Evans? The one that Marlene keeps talking about?"

"You know her?"

"Know her? She's my best friend."

"Anyway," The dark skinned girl with blonde highlights says, "I'm Pandora Rosier. This is my twin," she gestures to a dark skinned boy, "Evan Rosier."

"And this is my boyfriend, Barty Crouch." Evan gestures to a boy with blonde tips.

"Sup."

"I'm Remus Lupin. Kids! Come here!" Four kids come running in. "Teddy Lupin, Draco Malfoy, Nymphadora Tonks, Harry Rosier, Luna Rosier, and Tom Riddle Jr." Remus gives an apologetic looks. "I'm sorry there's so many, but we need a break."

Bellatrix speaks. "Regulus is upstairs if you need anything. It's.... three so, we'll be back around.... ten?" Everyone nods. "Ten. Is that ok?"

"Yeah. Of course it is. I babysit Aries and Artemis for 2 days and their.... monsters?"

Lily smiles. "Fair enough. Anyway, instructions are on the fridge. If you need any help, feel free to ask anyone, yeah?"

Everyone says goodbye, and now it's James and the kids. "So, have any toys?"

Luna squeals. "I'm gonna like you."

James smiles. "Well, I hope so."

***

"Hey! That's cheating!" Harry yells.

"Nuh uh." Luna says.

"Yes, it is."

"Nuh uh."

James sighs. "Alright, who wants to go to the park?"

"Yeah!" Everyone yells.

***

James has finally riled up the kids at six and is now finally in the house at six-thirty.

Seven rolls around, and the kids have been fed.

Eight rolls around, and it's time for bed.

"I wanna say goodnight to Uncle Reggie." Luna pouts. "I do it every night."

James sighs. "Alright. Go say goodnight."

"Yay!" Luna grabs James' hand and starts running down the hall to what James assumes is Regulus' room. Luna stops in front of a door and knocks. The door opens, and Regulus appears with messy hair, pajama pants, and no shirt.

Fucking hell.

"Uncle Reggie!" Regulus looks down and picks up Luna. "You forgot to come say goodnight."

Regulus smiles. "I did? I'm sorry. I won't do it again." He gives Luna a kiss on the temple and sets her back down. "Alright, bedtime." Regulus leads Luna to her room and tucks her in.

"Goodnight, Uncle Reggie. Goodnight, James."

***

James decided to sit down and scroll through TikTok on his phone. Apparently it's been an hour because next thing he knew Regulus was walking down the stairs and he looked at the clock.

9:00

James goes back to his phone for another ten minutes before Regulus comes into the room. He stands right in front of James - which he didn't even realize either - and speaks, "Have you eaten anything?"

James jumps. "A little warning next time would be nice. Also, no."

"You should eat something."

James eyes him. "You're one to talk. You didn't even come down for dinner."

Regulus rolls his eyes. "I don't like eating with the kids. And anyway, I'm heating up food right now."

"Ok, good." He pauses and waits for Regulus to leave. He doesn't. "Is that all you wanted?"

"Mm. No, actually. I think you're cute." He walks away and leaves James flabbergasted.

Unfortunately, Regulus goes back upstairs with his food and doesn't come back down. Not even when James leaves. Luckily, James has sticky notes in his bag. He grabs his bag and excuses himself to use the restroom. He grabs a bright yellow sticky note and a pen and writes, 'I think you're cute, too' and sticks it to Regulus' door - he remembers from when Luna wanted to say goodnight.

***

"Artemis, no! Aries, stop! You little -" James' phone rings.

Sirius Black

"Hello - Aries, Artemis! I'm going to call your mother! Better yet, I'll call your mama!"

"No, no! We'll stop!"

"Thank you, now be quiet."

"Yes, Uncle Jamie."

"Sorry about that. What's the problem?"

"We need someone to babysit again, and Reg won't do it. Plus, they seem to like you." It's been two weeks since he last babysat them - for the first time. "Please." He begs. "If you need any help, Reg is here."

"I'm sorry, Sirius." Sirius told him to call him that. "I'm already babysitting my niece and nephew."

"You can bring 'em! We don't care. As long as you come, please."

James sighs. "Alright, I can take them anywhere I want, anyway."

"Thank you."

"Ar, Art, who wants to go play with other kids?"

"Yay!"

***

"Alright, I'm going to need you to be good, ok?"

"Yes, Uncle Jamie." Aries says.

James knocks on the door, and Pandora opens it with Luna and Harry beside her. "Sorry, their being clingy."

"James!" They both yell.

"Hey!" Artemis yells. "That's our Uncle Jamie!"

Pandora has a panicked look on her face. "Oh god. You already have a babysitting gig? Are you supposed to take them out?" She wispers the last part.

"I'm their Uncle. I can do whatever I want, and Marls won't care. Have you not met them?"

"No, should I have?"

"Not necessarily. Ar, Art, you guys have met Lily, your mama' friend, right?"

"Yeah, she's nice. We call her Aunt Lily." Artemis says.

"This is her wife, Pandora."

"Really?" Aries asks. "She looks pretty. Way prettier than you, Uncle Jamie."

James smiles. "Wow, thanks."

"Well, it is true," Artemis agrees. "Uncle Jamie."

"Fair."

"Anyway, come inside. It's cold out there."

Hmm. James thinks. Less chaos.

Apparently, Pandora knows what he's thinking because she says, "Remus is giving them a talk."

"Hey, Uncle Jamie." Aries says. "How many kids we talkin'?"

"Six and counting."

"Wow! Uncle Jamie, you hit the jackpot."

"I don't wanna." Artemis says. "Uncle Jamie, can we go?"

James squats down to her level. "Come on, you don't have that many friends. You need to make more. Your mama and I had so many friends by your age."

Artemis groans. "But I'm not like Mama."

"I know, you're more like your mom."

A voice comes from the doorway. "Aren't they the same people?" Regulus.

"No, their not. They have two moms."

"Do we have to? Can't you just drop me off with Mom or Mama?"

James sighs. "Marlene is working her hotel, and Dorcas can't have any distractions when she's painting. So, no. I'm sorry, babes."

Artemis sighs. "It's fine."

"Come on, sis. It'll be fun."

"For you, maybe. You're better at making friends."

"You know," James starts, "you remind me of one of my friends."

"Who?"

"Peter. He couldn't make friends very well until I walked up to him. After that, he made friends quite easily."

"Really? You really think I'm just like Uncle Peter?"

James nods. "Absolutely. You just need a little push by your brother. Aries? Help your sister, ok?"

Aries salutes him. "Yes, Uncle Jamie, sir." James rolls his eyes, and Aries laughs. "Of course, Uncle Jamie. I always will."

James gets back up. "Ok, so, here's two of kids. Luna and Harry. Their siblings just like you but their twins."

"You mean just like Aunt Lily talks about her friends who are twins."

James smiles. "You've already met one of them. Pandora is one of them."

They both gasp. "Really!? Two twins in one day!? Best day ever!" Aries yells.

Andromeda comes in. "What's all the yelling for?"

"Sorry, they were excited. Aries, Artemis, remember."

"We know. We're sorry."

"See. Good kids when they want to be."

"You're kids?"

"No. I've been single for years now. I think I'm probably gonna stay that way at this rate. Anyway, these are my best friends' kids."

"Uncle Jamie!" Aries yells. "Look, they both have blonde hair - really blonde."

"Yeah."

"You have a sibling?"

"No, none. Marls and Cas just like to let their kids talk freely. So they decide to call all of our friends Aunt and Uncle."

"That's pretty nice, actually."

Artemis walks over to James. "Jamie, bag."

"Magic words."

"Uncle Jamie, could I please have your bag so we can play?"

"Better." He hands her the bag that has all kinds of toys and coloring books he put together the first day he started this business. Aries and Artemis helped, of course. They run off into the other room somewhere.

"You're really good with them." Regulus says.

"I was there the day they were born. Through everything. I was waiting outside with the rest of my friends' kids. But I was still there."

"You'd be a good father someday."

James smiles as soon as Evan and Barty come in. "Who's kids are those?" Evan spots James. "You have kids?"

"No, those are my best friends' kids. You know what, it'd be easier if I said yes. I might start doing that." James peeks his head into the other room. "Hey, Ar, Art," they look up at him, "how 'bout, I just start tell people you're my kids?"

"Wouldn't be much of a lie anyway."

"As long as Mama and Mom are still our moms."

"Deal."

"Why did they say 'it wouldn't be much of a lie'?" Barty asks.

"I was both of their sperm donors, but they came out looking like both Marlene and Dorcas. Hey, Lily' here, right?"

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen."

"Great, I'll be back." James walks in the kitchen and sees Lily cooking. "Hey, Lils."

"James. You remember, don't you?"

"Yeah, sadly. But I got better."

"Not much, I see." James' eyebrows fly up. "I can see the scars on your wrists." Lily sighs. "It's been years, Jamie. Why can't you stop?"

"Because they were my whole life, Lils! You know that. And this whole thing is what made you disregard me from your life."

"You can say it, James. I broke up with you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." James sighs. "I got better than I was before, though. When Artemis was born, I stopped doing it all over and just on my wrists." James closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in and out. He opens them again. "I'm sorry, Lils. I'm sorry I can't get over my parents' death. But I'm not sorry that we broke up and you found someone better. She's good for you, and I'm happy just seeing you happy."

Lily smiles. "Thank you, Jamie." They hug.

"You know, you could have told me they call you Aunt Lily." They break apart.

"Who?"

"Aries and Artemis. They told me a few minutes ago."

"You got here a few minutes ago - oh - they're here?" James nods. Lily - and James - runs past everyone - who is now where James left only four people - and into the sitting room. "Aries, Artemis!"

"Aunt Lily!" They both yell and rush up to her.

"Aunt Lily?" The other kids murmur.

Lily smiles and pulls apart from them. "Jamie will tell you why they call me that. Alright, you two, I'm going out with my family, and I need you two to watch over your Uncle and these other kids. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Lily gets up and walks to the door - James following close behind.

"Um, Lils, you can't leave me with explaining that."

"Sure I can. I'm doing it right now."

"Ok," Bellatrix says, "anyway, the instructions are on the fridge. If you need anything, Reg is upstairs."

"Bye, Jamie, love you."

Love you, too." Pandora makes a confused look while James ushers them out. He smiles at Lily. "You make me explain, I make you explain."

"James." Lily warns. "I'll get you for this."

James just smiles in return. When they were all outside, James says, "Lily and I dated," and closes the door. James could hear yelling coming from the other side as they walked farther down the sidewalk.

James turned around and saw Regulus wide-eyed. "You - you dated Lily?"

"Yes?"

"Uncle Jamie!" Artemis yells. "I wanna call Mama! I want to tell her I made friends!"

James walks into the room. "Sure, come here, Mis." Artemis walks up to James and plops herself down on his lap. James grabs his phone and dials Marlene.

"James? What's wrong? Are they hurt?"

"Their fine, Marls. Mis just wants to tell you something."

James hears a sigh over the phone. "What is it, babes?"

"I made friends!"

"How - you - James, where are you?"

"Babysitting."

"Mama, we saw Aunt Lily."

"James, you can't babysit that many kids."

"I just added two more. Plus, when we're not at home, they behave."

"You know their terrors, James. You can't do that by yourself. I'll be there to help in a little bit."

"No, Marls. You need to stay at the hotel. You have a job to do. So do I. And this is mine. I'll be fine. And if I need any help, I'll call Pete, or Frank, or Alice, or even Mary." James hears Marlene sigh.

"Alright, but if anything happens, you call me no one else until I say so, got it?"

"Yeah, Marls, sure. I love you."

"I love you, too. I love you, Artemis, Aries!" She yells the last bit so her son can hear her.

"I love you, too, Mama!" They both yell. James hangs up.

"Artemis, go play."

"Ok." She gets off of James' lap and runs up to her brother and their new found friends.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"You and Lily."

"Why would I? We're not friends."

Regulus raises an eyebrow. "The sticky note you left says otherwise."

James avoids Regulus' gaze. "I have no idea what you're talking about." James hears footsteps coming closer, and Regulus comes into view.

He leans down and tilts James' head upwards. "Are you sure?" He wispers.

James nods.

Regulus grip tightens. "And you're so sure that if I show you proof, you will still deny it?"

James' eyes wonder down to Regulus' lips for 2 seconds, and then go back to his eyes. He nods again.

Regulus' hand disappears from James' chin. "Well, then, come on." Regulus holds out his hand, and James takes it.

Regulus leads James up the stairs before James speaks, "I shouldn't leave the kids."

"They'll be fine." Regulus leads James to the end of the first hall - which he didn't realize last time - where Regulus' room is.

There are three halls - as far as James knows. One for the girls, one for the boys, and the third one for the parents (and Regulus).

"Your house is a little bigger than mine."

"A little? I'm assuming - comparing to yours - it's a mansion."

"My mum always liked to build more and more rooms, so yeah, a little bigger." Regulus opens his door to his bedroom, and James is in awe.

James sees pictures of the Black', Regulus and his friends, and a picture of six people he doesn't recognize, standing with the Black'. James walks up to the photo and takes a quick once over.

The two beside Sirius and Regulus are their parents. The two beside Andromeda, Bellatrix, and Narcissa are their parents. And the last two standing beside Pandora and Evan are their parents.

"These are your parents? You look just like them."

"No, we don't."

"What are their names?" Regulus eyes him. "Just curious."

"If I tell you, will you let it be?"

"Yes."

"Pandora and Evan' parents are Adele Jacob - Rosier and Axel Rosier. Andromeda, Bellatrix, and Narcissa' parents are Cygnus Black and Druella Rosier - Black. And Sirius and I' are Walburga Irma - Black and Orion Black."

James' eyes go wide. Walburga Irma, as in Mum' ex- girlfriend!?"

"What?"

"Euphemia Braithewaite."

"What about her?"

"She's my mum."

"Really? My mum - a cold, heartless, bitch - dated your mum - the sweetest person alive?"

"How did you know she was so nice?"

"With how you turned out, both your parents had to be nice."

"Fair."

Regulus goes to his nightstand and pulls out a bright yellow sticky note - the one he left. "You kept it?"

"Yeah. I did."

***

"Kids, time for bed."

"But Uncle Jamie."

"No, none of that, Aries. Come up here on the couch, both of you." They do, and they immediately fall asleep.

"The rest of you, time for bed."

The final one for the night is Luna. And she always has to go to Regulus. They knock on the door, he opens it, and picks up Luna. "Hey, ma filleule."

James almost passes out from the use of French.

He doesn't know why, but French coming from Regulus' mouth, is heaven. And he's heard people speak French before but coming from Regulus, that's something he can't stand.

"Goodnight, Luns." Regulus puts Luna back on the ground.

"Come on, hermosa chica." She takes James' hand and leads them to her room. He tucks Luna in and she falls asleep almost immediately.

"You're good with kids."

James jumps. "Jesus, Regulus. You scared me."

"You can't speak Spanish and not expect anything to happen."

"Oh, you mean this? Eres tan hermoso y guapo. Quizás no pueda quitarte las manos de encima por mucho tiempo."

Regulus groans. "No, stop."

"Vale, está bien, Regulus. Adiós."

***

The door opens, and everyone comes in. "Thank you so much for watching the kids." Bellatrix says. "Even though you were already watching some. It means so much to us. Thank you."

"It was no big deal. All of them are not as much work as these two alone." James looks down in his lap where Aries and Artemis are laying. "Aries, Artemis, come on. Get up."

They run to the other side of the room to grab James' bag and run back to James while James grabs his phone.

Cas

Bringing the kids home. See you soon.

Thanks, Jamie. I love you.

I love you, too.

"Alright, Cas should have your food ready by the time we get home." James walks to the door, looks up at the stairs where Regulus is watching him, and yells out, "Fairwell, Black's and Rosier's. Goodnight!" And he walks out with Aries and Artemis only looking back once at Regulus' window where he's watching James walk down the sidewalk and to his car.

***

"Thank you, Uncle Jamie!" They both say. "We love you!"

"I love you, too!" James yells back from the car.

Just as James was about to leave, Marlene' car pulls up, and she gets out. "James Fleamont Potter! Quit cutting yourself!"

"What?" James asks, surprised as Marlene leans in the window.

"Lily called me. She said she saw your cuts."

"That little -"

"No, don't blame her. This is all you. I thought you said you got better when Artemis was born?"

"I did, sort of. I mean, I started only doing it in one place."

"Your wrists." Marlene closes her eyes and takes a deep breath - a little habit Marlene picked up from James, which he picked up from Effie. "James, you can't keep doing this to yourself. It's been five years since Mis was born. Ten since Effie and Monty died. You need to stop. It's not healthy."

James sighs. "I can't, Marls. You know how I feel."

"I do, James. I really do. But you can't keep beating yourself up about it. It wasn't your fault."

"If I was there! If I was there, I could have gotten them out in time. Instead I decided to ignore them over a stupid fucking fight." James starts to tear up. "The last thing I ever said to them was, 'I hate you. I wish you would die.' That's the very last thing, Marls. How could I 'get over it'? It's my fault. If I was there, they wouldn't have gone after me."

"It was the drunk driver, James. It wasn't you. I promise." Marlene opens James' door. "Come on. Stay with us tonight. Please? I'll make sure no one bothers you."

James scoffs. "But you."

Marlene smiles. "That's only because you're my best friend, and I care about you." James sighs and gets out of the car with his wallet, phone and keys. Marlene locks it and leads them inside. "The world would be a dark place without you, Jamie. You're our sun, and everyone knows it. Even Aries and Artemis. They'd miss you too much."

***

Al

Jamie, Frank, and I want to go out. Do you think you could watch Neville?

Think I can? I'm a god! (At babysitting, of course) Yes, yes, I will.

Number

Hey, James. I got this number off of Sirius' phone.

Hey, Regulus.

How did you know?

😒

Right, nvm. Anyway, I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out?

Hang out, really? After everything?

Ok, I'm sorry. I'm not really good at asking people out.

So, you want to go on a date?

Yes.

Great! When?

Now?

I can't. Babysitting.

Who?

One of my friends' kid, Neville Longbottom. Alice has been my friend since school years, so I'd do almost anything for her.

Almost?

The rest I'd do for Marlene.

Fair. Um. What if I come with you? To the babysitting gig, that is.

I mean, if you want. Where do you want to meet?

Come pick me up at my house?

Yeah, I'll be there in 10.

"Hey, Marls. I got a gig."

"Who?"

"Alice and Frank."

"Frank...."

"Longbottom. You know, the dude that Al married?"

"Oh! Franky! Yeah, got it."

"Hey, who's watching the kids if we all have work?"

"You. It'll be only three kids this time. You'll be fine."

"Yeah, about that. Someone is.... tagging along."

"Tagging?" Marlene gasps. "You mean like a date? Like someone who wants to help you work, kinda date?"

"I guess."

"Who?"

"Not telling. At least, not yet, ok?"

Marlene sighs. "Fine. Meany." She mumbles the last bit under her breath, but James still heard her and smacked her up the top of her head.

***

James pulls up to the front of Regulus' house and pulls out his phone.

Regulus

I'm here.

Come inside real quick.

I can't. I have Aries and Artemis. Sorry.

It's ok.

I get it if you don't want to come.

No, I do. I'll be out in a minute.

"Ok, you two have to be on your best behavior. Play with Neville, I don't care. Just don't be brats. Ok?"

"Yes, Uncle Jamie. We promise."

"Good."

James sees Regulus open the door and walk down the sidewalk. "Hey." Regulus says when he opens the car door.

James digs around in his bag and pulls out two figets. "Ar, Mis, here's you figets."

"Yay!" Aries yells. "Thank you, Uncle Jamie."

"Can we go see Aunt Alice now?"

"Yes."

James turns the car back on and starts driving to Alice' house. She's only ten minutes away from the Black'.

"Uncle Jamie, can we play music?" Artemis asks.

"Yeah, here." He grabs his phone and reaches behind his seat where Artemis is. She takes it.

Their favorite artist is Sarah Maddack, and that's exactly what starts playing - the Coffee Shop Bop.

I hoped into a coffee shop

And then my jaw dropped in shock when

I saw a girl who had cool pants

They made me want to dance

"What kind of music is this?" Regulus asks.

"It's their favorite artist." James answers. "Sarah Maddack."

"Still doesn't answer my question."

"It's the only answer I got."

By the time they get to Alice' house, that Playlist has run through at least three times. James knocks on his friends door with Aries and Artemis in front of him and Regulus beside him. Frank answers. "Hey, James. Alice is upstairs with Neville."

James gives the bag to Aries, and they both run inside. He smiles. "Sorry, you know how they are."

"I do." He looks over to Regulus. "Who's this?"

"Regulus Black."

"Nice to meet you."

"You, too."

Frank steps aside and gestures for them to come in. James can hear Aries and Artemis in the other room. Alice comes down the stairs with Neville on her hip. She's wearing a long black dress with sequins. It has one strap on the right side and a leg slit. "Al, I think I could date you."

Frank raises his eyebrows. Alice rolls her eyes. "You probably would if you weren't gay."

"True. I mean, when I saw Frank, I just knew." She rolls her eyes again.

"Take your nephew."

"Gladly." Alice hands Neville over to James.

"Uncle Jamie! You're here!"

"Yeah, so are Aries and Artemis." Neville gasps while James puts him down, and he runs to the other room. "So, Al, I didn't have time to take a shower this morning with Cas and Marls."

"You'll do it either way."

"Sure as hell I will."

Alice sighs. "Fine."

"I love you, Al."

"I love you, too, Jamie. Goodbye."

"Adiós, mi amor!" James yells before Alice shuts the door. James laughs. He walks to the other room, Regulus trailing behind him. "Alright, I'm going to take a shower. Reg, are you good for a few minutes?"

James looks at Regulus, and he's blushing. He didn't even realize he called him Reg. James smirks. "Reg? Reggie?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine."

James walks over to Artemis. "You think you could all stay in here for ten minutes? Regulus and I have something to do." She nods. "Thank you, babes."

James walks over and grabs Regulus' hand, dragging him up the stairs. "James, they can't be unattended."

"They'll be fine." He walks into Alice and Frank' room and into the bathroom. When the door is shut and locked, he pins Regulus to the door. "Did you like that? Reg."

He blushes again. "Stop that."

"I don't think I will." He kisses Regulus' cheek, then the other one, then is chin, then finally his lips. He kisses back.

Regulus pushes James back to the toilet - luckily, Alice always insists on closing it - breaking the kiss in the process. He straddles him and starts kissing James again.

James breaks the kiss. "Reg, I need to take a shower."

Regulus groans. "No."

"Yes. Come on, Reg. Please?"

He groans again. "Fine." He gets up, kisses James again, then leaves.

***

Alice stumbles in the door with Frank behind her. "Jesus, Al." James says. "What did you two do?"

"Bar."

James walks over to his friend and helps her get up the stairs. He lays her down on her bed and tucks her in. She falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow.

He goes back downstairs to see Frank and Regulus talking while Aries, Artemis, and Neville are playing. "Nev, bedtime."

"But, Uncle Jamie."

"No, it's bedtime."

"Fine." James walks over to the three and picks Neville up and does the same he did for Alice except Neville wanted a bedtime story - Goodnight Moon. Neville is passed out before James even finishes the book.

He goes back downstairs, and Aries and Artemis are asleep on Regulus. Aries on one side with his head on Regulus' leg and Artemis on the other side with her head on Regulus' other leg.

Frank must have gone upstairs at some point because he's nowhere in sight.

James smiles. "You look cute like that." Regulus looks up.

"Really? Do you think I'd be a good dad?"

James hums. "Yeah, I do." James walks over to them and picks up Artemis. She stirs a little but goes right back to sleep. He does the same thing with Aries, and he also goes back to sleep. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Can you grab my bag." James looks around. He spots it at the corner of the room. "It's over there." He nudges his head in that direction.

"Sure."

Thankfully, Aries or Artemis don't wake up when James puts them in their car seats. Neither do they wake up when he gets them back out of the car seats and into their beds.

"Ah, fuck. I forgot Marlene and Dorcas aren't going to be home for a few hours. Do you think you could stay for a little while?"

"Yeah, sure. What do you have in mind?"

"We could watch a movie or something."

Regulus humms. "That sounds nice."

So, they did, in fact, watch movies, eat some snacks, and maybe some other little things - that couldn't go far because of Artemis and Aries - until Marlene and Dorcas came home.

James hears the door open, signaling that Marlene and Dorcas are home. "Hey, Jamie!" Marlene yells. How'd your so-called date go!?"

"It's going pretty well." James hears footsteps, and Marlene comes into view.

She smiles. "Babe! Jamie brought a boy!"

James hears more footsteps, and Dorcas comes into view. "He did what?"

James gets up with Regulus behind him. "Kids are in bed. We'll be going now."

"No," Marlene says, "you can't do that."

"Yes, I can. I'm going back to my apartment and you can't do anything about it."

Marlene smiles and twists her foot a little. "Ow! Jamie, I twisted my ankle."

"Your wife is right there. Right, Cas?"

"Mmm. I don't know, Jamie. I don't think I can carry her."

James sighs. "You two are assholes and you're lucky I love you." Marlene climbs on James' back. "Cas, don't do anything."

"Definitely won't."

"Don't!" James yells as he starts walking. When he gets to the stairs, he drops Marlene on her feet. "Alright, be a nice little, Marlene, and tell me what you're up to."

"No, I don't think I will."

"Marls."

"Dorcas is having a little chat."

"Marlene Elizabeth McKinnon! You are a little cunt!" James walks back to where he left Regulus and Dorcas. They're not there.

"Dorcas Eileen Meadows!"

"James Fleamont Potter!" Dorcas' sarcastic voice comes from the kitchen. James storms in there with Marlene right behind. Regulus nowhere in sight.

James points at Dorcas. "Your a fucking cunt just like your wife. I hope your kids don't turn out like either of you."

"Who else would they turn out like, dipshit?"

"Oh, I don't know, Marls. Maybe their sperm donor, me."

"Why would they turn out like you?"

"Because I'm always here!"

"Because you don't know how to take care of yourself! Cas, have you seen his wrists lately? Lily told me."

"Lily has no fucking say! She left me when things got too hard!"

"James, that was ten years ago. When Effie and Monty died."

"They were my parents, Marls! How could I be normal?"

"It's been ten years!"

"And it feels like ten seconds! Marls, they were my whole life."

"I know that, Jamie. They were my parents, too."

"You had parents! And they were mine."

"Jamie, you can't keep doing this to yourself."

"Why the fuck not!? I don't belong here!"

"Yes, you do! Your our sunshine, Jamie. We'd all be in darkness if something happened to you."

Dorcas cuts in. "Aries and Artemis would never be happy again."

James closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah, you're right." He opens his eyes again.

Dorcas clears her throat. "Uh, Jamie. Behind you."

"What?" He turns around and spots Regulus. "Fuck." Regulus looks at him with pity in his eyes. James sighs. "You heard the whole thing." He nods. "I'll- um - take you home now." He turns back around, and Marlene tosses him his phone, keys, and wallet. "Thanks, Marls. I won't be back tonight."

"Going back to your apartment?"

"Yeah. I love you both."

Marlene looks at him. "Jamie,"

"I'll be fine. Ok?" She nods. "I love you."

"We love you, too."

James and Regulus make it to his car. The whole time, neither of them spoke. James starts the car and starts driving. James usually puts on music when he's driving, but this doesn't feel like the right time.

About five minutes into the drive, Regulus speaks. "James,"

"Can we not? I've already been through this a million times. I get it. You never want to see me again. This is exactly why I don't date."

"I - wait, you think I don't want to date you?"

"That's how these things usually go. Isn't that where this is going?"

"No, of course I want to date you. Why would this lead me away?"

"That's what happens every time."

"Well, not this time. I promise." James parks the car of the side of the road. "What are you doing?"

James turns to him. "Why? Why are you staying?"

"Because someone shouldn't leave when things get hard. Especially when it's something like that."

James' breath hitched. "You mean it? You're staying?" Regulus nods. "Can I kiss you." He nods again and James leans in.

At some point - after the make-out session - James drives to the Blacks.

"Thanks. For staying - I mean."

"I don't know why anyone wouldn't. You're too beautiful and kind to pass up." James smiles and leans in for another kiss. Regulus opens the car door and gets out. "I'll text you?" James nods.

When James gets home, he erases his 30-day mark of not having any suicidal thoughts and puts down zero.

James started that when his parents died because he always had them a lot. The farthest he's ever got was two months. Marlene always thought it was stupid until she realized he always wrote down how many days. Then, she was always around to check the board - even though she thought she had made a good excuse, James still knew.

Marls

'How you doin'?'

'He didn't leave.'

'Really?'

'Yeah. I think I might finally have found my true love.'

'I'm glad, Jamie. You really needed one.'

'Wow. Thanks.'

'You're welcome.'

James rolls his eyes.

'I'm going to bed now. I love you.'

'I love you, too.'

If James was thinking about Regulus all night, no one needed to know that, only him.

***

It's been a month since Regulus and James started dating and a month since he last babysat the Blacks. James is pretty sure Regulus hasn't told anyone because no one has gave him the shovel talk. Marlene, Dorcas, Alice, Mary, Peter and even Frank gave Regulus the shovel talk, but no one has him yet.

James has learned a bunch of things about Regulus. Like, his favorite flower, - Acrtic Willows - color, - green - food - a chocolate soufflé - and many more.

Regulus has been around a lot in the past month, and Artemis, Aries, and Neville like him a lot. One time, they even asked if they could call him Uncle Regulus. Of course, James said no. That would be too much pressure. But if Regulus stays longer, then they most likely will.

At this point, Regulus has stayed over at James' at lot. He even stayed for a week once. But every time, he's always went back to his family. But every time, he always comes back to James.

With Regulus around, James' board has 30 days suicidal thoughts free. Surprisingly, Regulus never asked about the board. And even Marlene has accepted that Regulus is much better for James.

When his thoughts get too much, he still cuts his wrists, but lately, it's been a lot better.

"Hey, Reg." Regulus humms in response. "Have you told your family about us?"

"No. I didn't think you'd want to deal with that." They're laying in James' bed cuddling.

"I'll be fine. I promise. Just tell 'em."

"Ok. Well, we can tell 'em later today. Oh, yeah, Siri wants me to babysit. Can you?"

"Sure, Reg."

"Thank you, baby." He leans up and kisses James. "You're the best."

***

"Before you guys go, James and I have something to tell you."

"You're dating." Pandora states.

"How -"

"I know everything, James. But I didn't tell anyone. Besides, Lily."

"Yeah, and I already knew. It was obvious, Jamie."

Sirius makes a surprised face. "I didn't! That's my baby brother!"

"Ok, and?" Bellatrix says. "That's our baby cousin."

Barty purses his lips. "He's just my best friend."

***

James found the perfect place for Regulus' surprise. It's a greenery with a bunch of Regulus' favorite plants and trees.

"Regulus Arcturus Black, the first time I set eyes on you was the most spectacular thing I ever witnessed. You might have been mean to me at first, but I must have grown on you because, well, we're in this spot right now. So, Reg, Reggie, the love of my life, will you forever be with me for eternity? Make me the happiest man alive and make me your husband?"

Regulus smiles. "Yes, James, of course I will."

***

Regulus and James have found the most beautiful place to raise their family. James' childhood home that he never sold. And good timing, too. Aries, Artemis, and Neville started calling Regulus Uncle. And the same thing with James. Luna, Harry, Tom, Nymphadora, Teddy, and Draco started calling James Uncle, too.

***

"So, who's getting married?" A woman asks.

"We are." James says. "Me and my fiancé."

"You two?"

What? Never had a gay couple?"

"No, sorry. Tuxedos or dresses?"

"Tuxedos."

***

"Dorcas, my other beloved. Will you be my bridesmaid?"

"Yes, James."

"No scream?"

"I'm not like Marls but just for you." She screams.

"Alice, my wife, will you be my bridesmaid?"

She smiles. "Of course I will, Jamie."

"Mary, my life, will you be my bridesmaid?"

She jumps up and down while screaming. "Yes, yes, yes!"

"Frank, my husband, will you be my groomsman?"

"Yes, James."

"Peter, my love, will you be my groomsman?"

"Yes, James. Why wouldn't I be?"

"And, finally, my beloved, Marlene, will you be my maid of honor?"

She screams. "Yes! I knew you loved me!"

***

"Barty, will you be my groomsman?"

He smiles. "Do you really love me that much?"

Regulus rolls his eyes. "Yes or no?"

"Yes."

"Evan, will you be my groomsman?"

"Of course I will, Reg."

"Pandora, my beloved, will you be my bridesmaid?"

"Yes, Reg. Of course I will."

"She gets my beloved?"

"Shut up."

"Andromeda, Bellatrix, Narcissa, my dear cousins, will you be my bridesmaids?"

"Yes, Reg."

"You like me."

"Of course, Reg."

"Remus, the husband of my brother, will you be my groomsman?"

"I guess." He says sarcastically. He laughs. "Yes, I will."

"Finally, my dear brother, will you be my maid of honor?"

Sirius' mouth falls open. "You want me to be your maid of honor? I knew you liked me. Yes, Reggie."

"That boy really made you a sap."

***

Bellatrix gave birth to twins, Aliana and Mattheo, and had four more kids after. Two belonging to her husband, Cara and Mandy. One belonging to a man named Charles, Lorenzo. And one more belonging to Tom Riddle Sr., Delphini, and her siblings, Tom, Aliana, and Mattheo.

Regulus and James had three kids, Lillian, Leo, and Rose. Remus and Sirius had more kids, Hermione and Violet. Dorcas and Marlene had another kid, Jack. Narcissa and Lucius had another kid, Lila. Andromeda and Ted had another kid, Nina. Evan and Barty married and had a few kids, Lucas and Nicholas - which they said they'd never have any. Pandora and Lily had one more kid, Eclipse. Alice and Frank had twins, Juliana and Nicky. Peter married a woman named Elizabeth and had no kids. Mary married a woman named Emmeline and had one kid, Penelope.

And all them kids, made for a great family reunion and stories in a few years.

[writingintheshadowsforever]

Imagine Okoye confessing her feelings for you

Three months that's had long you had been gone, and still there was no word for when you might return home. It was the most dangerous mission you'd ever accepted in your ten year career as a War-dog.

The objective to bring down the entire operation of a war criminal. He was number two on the list of notorious criminal overlords, and so far five War-dogs before had attempted the same mission. All of them came back in body bags, and the crazy thing about it was. Your superiors didn't even suggest the mission. You walked into their office and offered to take on the challenge yourself. They thought you were kidding and nearly laughed in your face. But once they realized you were serious they questioned you wondering if you were trying to prove something. You weren't because you had nothing to prove, your home was riddled with badges and medals of honor. For all that you'd accomplished over the years. What set you off was a box filled with letters from grief-stricken mothers, who lost their young sons to the war criminal. If not taken by force to serve in his army when villages were raided as they were gunned down. Letters from people who were making one last plea after losing their families to these raids. You couldn't make it past the third later without bursting into tears.

It took a recommendation from Nakia who was a top War-dog, and one of the best to ever do it. She understood why you wanted to do it, and recognized the look of determination in your eyes. She knew there would be no stopping you. So she put it a good word for you, and off you went. Once you successfully infiltrated his operation, and was undercover. You went radio silent cutting off contact with everyone including Okoye. The only thing that brought her comfort was the small earring that Shuri equipped you with. So if anything did go wrong they could at least track you. But it brought her little comfort considering she still couldn't hear your voice.

The General hadn't been the same since you left, but only the people closest to her could see the subtle changes in her behavior. T'Challa would catch her looking at a hologram map every now and then. It wasn't a map of Wakanda but another country with one small orange dot on it. Ayo noticed the little stumbles in her sparring matches, and even though Okoye was quick to recover. Usually the General didn't make mistakes especially such small ones. Shuri started to become suspicious when Okoye made it habit to stop by the lab everyday and, ask for her to pull up the status reports for all active War-dogs.

Nakia could tell her long-time friend was upset with her for the simple fact Okoye avoided her like a plague. She had only seen her a few times since you left, and whenever she did catch sight of the General. It wouldn't take her long to disappear before Nakia could even say hi. Eventually she got tired of it and cornered her while she stood guard over the Princess one night. There was nowhere for her to go at least not without abandoning her duty. Okoye would never do that.

"Is there something you want to get off your chest Okoye?" Nakia asked her taking stance by the woman.

"No why would you assume that?" Okoye replied continuing to look straight ahead.

"The silent treatment you've been giving me for the past three months speaks volumes sister." Nakia shot back placing a gentle hand on her arm. "Talk to me please."

"How could you sign off on suicide mission for y/n?" Okoye finally caved in.

Nakia did a double take a bit surprised that your mission was the reason for Okoy'e strife with her. She knew you and the General were pretty close, but it never occurred to her that there was more to it. "Y/N was going to go on that mission regardless of rather or not I approved of it. She would've disobeyed orders if that's what it took."

"Your superiors sent her to her death" Okoye whispered angrily.

"She is more than capable" Nakia disagreed.

"So were the last five War-dogs who are now six feet under after trying to bring that man down." Okoye demanded whirling around to face Nakia.

Nakia saw something in her eyes that she hadn't seen since Killmonger threw T'Challa into the falls. Fear and not just regular fear the kind where you think someone you love isn't going to make it home. She saw the same look in her family's eyes whenever she announced she has taken on a particular long and dangerous assignment. "Oh sister you've fallen for her haven't you?" Nakia stated softly.

Okoye looked away not giving a reply.

"Oh she's in love alright I haven't seen someone this worried since brother when you use to leave" Shuri yelled from below.

"Shuri please" Okoye whined.

Nakia had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. She didn't think The General was capable of such a sound. Shuri chuckles came from below.

"Rest easy Okoye she is more than capable and will be home before you know it. Just some advice tell her how you feel, and she just might stay a little longer" Nakia said rubbing her back.

Okoye gave her a nod praying that she was right about you being okay.

Two Weeks Later

Your tracker went dead somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. Okoye was awoken to sound of Shuri's frantic voice telling her you might be in danger. The General came to life at the mention of your name, and it took her all of thirty seconds to get suited up. T'Challa and Nakia insisted on going with her knowing it could've be anything. Either you got made and they took you out to the desert alone to kill you, or you were on a raid and simply just lost your earring.

It turned out to be both one of his men who used to work for a human trafficking dealer that you brought down. In the early days of your career and he was one of the few who escaped. He finally realized who you really were, and instantly alerted the big boss. He ordered for you to go down with the village. When one of the gunmen turned his weapon on you. A woman let out a warning cry and you ducked just in time avoiding a shot to the back of the head. You swept his feet out from under him, and was on him the second he hit the ground. You ripped the machine gun from his hands, and slam the butt of it into his face knocking him out. After that it was a shootout none of the men cared about the villagers anymore, and you told them to run for it.

You retreated into the forest losing your earring at some point, and with no time to stop for it. You kept going only slowing down when a bullet lodged itself in the back of your shoulder. You turned to fire off a few rounds hitting two men, before going on the run again. One of them were able to get another hit. This time it was in your abdomen, and you went down in a ditch for cover. For an hour you waited each of the gunmen out, taking the kill shot whenever they got close enough. Eventually it was just you and finally you were able to pull yourself out of the ditch to crawl to a tree. Those bullet wounds had done too much damage to your body and caused a substantial amount of blood loss. Your head was spinning you knew you wouldn't be able to get help on your own.

Somehwere just a few feet from where you were propped up against a tree. Leaves were crunched under someone's feet and a branch was snapped.

Crap you thought you got all of them.

"Y/N are you here" a familiar voice called out.

You let the gun drop to the ground with a small grin when T'Challa walked out of the bushes in his suit. "About damn time your highness."

His helmet disappeared revealing his worried face. "You're hurt" he said rushing over.

"Oh please I've had worse" You said trying to play it off, but then a ferocious cough rips itself from your body. T'Challa shakes his head and puts his arm under your legs. That's when Okoye appears from the bushes spear armed ready to go, but when her eyes land on you. She freezes and the spear clattered to the ground.

Nakia is right behind her eyes riddled with worry when she saw the General let her spear go. When she saw the state you were in guilt hit her like a ton of bricks. It wasn't too long ago she was insisting that you would be fine.

T'Challa had lifted you into his arms and walked over to them. "Get the jet over here we need to get her back to Shuri now."

Nakia had to be the one to send the signal out to the jet considering Okoye was still focused on you, and your shallowed breathing. Once they were back on the ship she finally went into action using her kimoyo beads to stabilize your injuries. The trip back to Wakanda was long and stressful with Okoye not leaving your side for a second. She held onto your hand like it was a lifeline praying to Bast that you made it.

When they touched down Shuri was all set up for when they arrived with you in their lab. She went to the work extracting the bullets from your body carefully, and using her technology to treat the wounds. You stayed unconscious for the entire process, and when she was done. Shuri advised everyone to let you get your rest now that you were off death's door. All of them left the lab except Shuri who wasn't too faraway working on a project, and Okoye who stayed by your side throughout the night.

You came to the next morning waking up feeling a weight on your chest. You sat up carefully to see it was Okoye who was fast asleep resting her head on you. One of her hands were holding onto yours in a death grip even why she slept. You smiled and laid back down not wanting to wake her yet.

"You know she froze right" Shuri whispered walking over to the sand table. Her kimoyo beads started vibrating the second you woke up alerting her off your vitals. She wanted to check up on you making sure you weren't freaking out or anything.

"Well I was in pretty bad shape when they found me" You replied softly.

"No she still would've froze" Shuri argued. "Your wounds are completely healed by now, but there might be some soreness. I would suggest you take it easy for the next couple of days."

"You don't have to worry about that after the way my mission ended. There's no way my supervisor lets me out into the field for a while" You said.

"Y/N I will chain you to my spear if you attempt to leave Wakanda on some death trip for the next three months" Okoye chimed in.

You peeked downward to see her eyes open and boring back into yours. They were filled with relief but you could tell she was still worried. She lifted her head from your chest and turned to the Princess. "Can we have a minute?"

"Of course General good luck" Shuri said before getting on the elevator to go up.

"Was that for me or you?" You asked.

"I think it was for both of us." Okoye was on her feet now standing right over you. "I thought I was going to lose you. Why did you go on such a dangerous mission alone?"

"I'm a War-dog Okoye it's my job" You answered without thinking about it.

"You could've died and my heart would've followed you to your grave y/n." She exclaimed lifting your hand to kiss your knuckles. "I love you and I know this is your job, but please just proceed with more caution for me. You don't have to be a one-woman army."

Her confession brought a soft smile to your face as you attempted to sit up, but she pressed a firm hand to your shoulder pushing you back down. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to say that" You said with a light chuckle. "Are you going to kiss me? or do I need to do somethi-" Your empty threat was cutoff when she leaned down pressing her lips to yours. You brought a hand to the back of her neck lifting your head up a bit to lean more into the kiss. Her lips moved in sync with hers for a while as she cupped your face. It wasn't until the sound of the elevator coming down Okoye pulled away pressing her forehead to yours breathing heavily.

"Stay" she pleaded.

"For you of course my love" You whispered.

[catastrophic-crisis]

It's the February Steam Next Fest, so here's some potential game demos to check out this weekend!

Hollowbody | Press Kit

It's a Shipper's biggest fear. You're grounded in the exclusion zone, twenty miles of death and decay sealed off by the towering, suffocating walls erected after the collapse.

Hollowbody offers early 2000s-style survival horror, citing titles like Silent Hill 2 and 3, Rule of Rose, and Kuon as inspiration. As you ascend the apartment building to try and make contact with outside of the exclusion zone, the demo makes use of a blend of dynamic and fixed camera angles. This approach extends to combat, which strikes a nice balance between a more classic style in which you must work with the camera angles, striking fear in you when you can't quite see what is in the room with you, just offscreen, and making movement and fighting feel natural.

If you were craving horror of a particular period, Hollowbody strives to capture that with its visual presentation, and with a particular update to the demo, Hollowbody now has the option for tank controls.

Rusty's Retirement | Press Kit

For a more casual player, Rusty's Retirement is an idle-farming simulator that lives at the bottom of your screen while you work, watch, chat, or play. Automate your farm with the help of robots, and produce biofuel for them with the plants you grow.

The game includes a cameo from Haiku the Robot, as the two games share a creator. Haiku can be found helping your automated farm :)

Crow Country | Website

The year is 1990. It’s been two years since the mysterious disappearance of Edward Crow and the abrupt closure of his theme park, Crow Country. But your arrival has broken the silence, Mara Forest. If you want answers, you’ll have to venture deep into the darkness of Crow Country to find them…

Another throwback third person survival horror game with an armed female protagonist, Crow Country establishes an atmosphere switching between "tension and tranquillity", trying to steady your aim at the head of a shivering, approaching enemy and the warm glow of the fire in a save room. The game places an increased emphasis on puzzles and riddles, and as you try and manage your resources and slip past enemies (the game emphasizes that you don't have to defeat every enemy you come across, which could bring trouble later) you'll be able to absorb the whimsy and detail of every region and room.

If the creatures around every corner frighten you, or you'd just like to be able to absorb every detail of the theme park uninterrupted, the game offers an "Exploration Mode" difficulty for you to enjoy.

Trash of the Titans | itch.io

What if your turn-based fantasy tactics had an urban mammal element and was very, very purple?

Enter this roguelite to fight a rat gang over dumpsters, upgrade your skills, and play trash-eating Tetris to get stronger. Learn your abilities and how to utilize the antics you can pull against the waves of rats (large rats, small rats, caster rats summoning demon rats).

Your party is a Badger Barbarian with a charge attack that increases damage the further away she is, a Raccoon Rogue that uses stealth to rack up kills and move across the map, a Skunk Wizard that casts more than just poison spells, and a Possum Ranger with a ricochet that will stack up the RAT CRUE kills.

Find surprises like the fact that your Possum Ranger's "turrets" in fact refer to possum babies, and their ability to retreat along a path back to her upon defeat can be used to your advantage.

Magical Delicacy | Press Kit

A wholesome pixel art platformer. Cook magical delicacies from a vast collection of ingredients in your own shop. Explore an unfamiliar town and deliver tasty treats to the townsfolk. Learn new ways to traverse, discover secrets, and experience a unique witchy world.

If you like cute titles where you cook and manage a shop but craved a little more verticality, Magical Delicacy offers you a platformer with witches and a dash of intrigue. The game offers cooking, gardening, shop management, and double jumping your way across a surprisingly formatted town.

Hey, you're a witch with a red bow going out for deliveries. Sounds familiar.

[metatemu]

Who Am I? An Introduction: Setting the Game Board.

“You are the only Yuugi Mutou in the whole world.” 

This is, perhaps, the most important line in the series. A penultimate affirmation, a triumphant declaration. There is, in this line, the knowledge of standing across from someone, and being able to see them as themselves. To be able to know the answer to “who are you?” To look at someone, and be able to answer that question. 

“Who am I?” 

“I am the only Yuugi Mutou in the whole world.”

This is the axis in which this world turns, to answer the questions “who are you,” and “who am I?” Taking a lens to this question--that is, the question of “who am I?” and how it is explored through the series Yu-Gi-Oh!--lands on the walking metaphor of identity, memory, history, and personhood that is the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, and how this character is used as a lens of identity--particularly in contrast to the main character himself, Yuugi Mutou. 

This essay series itself will seek the answer that question for the Spirit of the Puzzle, not in a literal sense (for his birth name, Pharaoh Atem, is well-known enough of a spoiler that Duel Links features his name in the DSOD map, spoken by Yuugi) but in a sense of identity exploration, relationship exploration, thematic exploration, as well as a literal history and personality exploration that the series keeps purposefully vague, in the name of presenting the character the same way he is experienced by the characters in the story--as a person whom is gradually uncovered. As the heart of a mystery, as the unanswered riddle of the majority of the story. 

(“Something you can see, but you can’t see.”)

This is the riddle at the heart of the story, answered in different ways and by different characters, 

and one of the ways this riddle is answered is by the name Atem.

But first, every game has rules. 

First and foremost, this world is simply not the same as our own. Nightmare Masterclass put it better in his video on “This House Has People In It,” (which I advise for understanding the lens of magical realism, and how it is used in the genre of fiction) but I will be working in the genre of magical realism as a way to analyze this story. I simply have no interest in doing a CinemaSins style ding! for every time the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! does not match with the understanding of our own world. Going into this story, you simply have to accept that Seto Kaiba has the influence and money and resources to buy out an entire city for two days, build a space station with a space elevator, and hold a death tournament on live broadcast and walk away without a care in the world. You have to accept that Destiny Draw is a duelist skill in this world, and that it is a recognized thing within the setting. You have to accept that every game is an expression of a battle between wizards over destiny, and that there is no such thing as a casual game between friends as long as magic exists in this world. You have to accept the roving Yo-Yo! gangs, children getting their hands on guns and holding people at knife point over toys, and the fact that the systems we know about (mental health, law enforcement, government, etc.) simply do not come into the picture at any point in this story. There will be no speculation on why this is, or why the characters did not act on these systems. Any discussion will be a pre-emptive argument on why these systems were not used or acted upon in the minds of characters or the powers in place that would, in our own world, step in. The world, as it is set in Yu-Gi-Oh!, is a world where games decide the outcome of the fate of countries, governments, and the fate of humanity itself. It was laid out on page one. This world runs off of games, all other systems of power come secondary to the mystical and magical nature of this world system. 

Following that, the story will also be analyzed with an understanding of the logic of the world and characters determined by their own thoughts, feelings, and actions, as well as the system that the story decides to judge characters on, and why it is done that way. It will be up to the reader to decide why and how a character should be judged. For example, a reader might find Sozoji (the bully from the karaoke chapter) much more sympathetic than Pegasus, because Sozoji objectively did less damaging things than Pegasus. However, that is purely up to the reader to decide. This series of essays will not be written to lecture a person on characters, whom a person should like, whom a person should dislike, or, following that, any judgment on a person based on that. A person’s own values are determined by their own life circumstances, by their own truth, and by their own heart. A person’s past and future are things that are only held inside themselves. That is what I wish to uncover and explore. Through understanding someone in their totality, you tend to understand yourself better. That is the thing I find most interesting, and what I want to explore--the difficult process of understanding yourself through understanding someone else. Yuugi came to understand himself better by helping Atem recover his identity. This is the thing I wish to present to you, any thoughts and opinions or feedback is very welcome. I am not seeking to convince you of anything--only seeking to tell you and share with you the love I have for this series, and how much it has given me.

I will be engaging with this series through both the Watsonian perspective, and the Doylian perspective, and I will try to make it clear when and where I am using both lenses to engage with the story. For example, I take into account what Takahashi says often, which puts a lot of commentary on the series into the “Doylian” perspective. I also, naturally, try to engage with the world in the view in which the characters see it, which is the “Watsonian” perspective. The author’s views are invaluable as a look into the story. I will be taking interviews, Takahashi’s comments on the new releases, and Takahashi’s comments on the original volume releases into account. I will also be pulling from as many sources as possible to be sure on the proper translations. Quite a lot of fan translations exist online, and I’ve used quite a lot as well, but the only objective source I can use would be the Viz Media release for the original run in Shonen Jump!, since I have no access to any more sources that are not unofficial or fan released. I love reading commentary on fan translations, but I cannot fully rely on them, so the best I can do is use the official release. Another important thing to note is that I, of course, am not an expert. I have never met Takahashi, never worked for Konami, and the most I can do is read the intentions of the author, and interpret them. I am not an official source for canon, and I will not be speaking as an official source. All I can do is present my findings, and trust that someone will find them worthwhile.

I will be exclusively using the manga as a source for all of this work. The anime has some great supplements (I am a particularly huge fan of the additions given to Mana and Mahad in the world of memories, as well as the Capsule Monsters spinoff) but I will not be using any other source for any official writings. I do have my preferences to some changs (putting Mana, Mahad, and Atem in the same age group, as well as the theme of making Dark Yuugi into Yuugi’s literal shadow in the Toei adaptation) but those are adaptations based on the original source material. The source material, and the source material alone will be the basis of this writing. I may look at the second anime adaptation later, but for this essay series, I will not be looking any further than the manga. 

All of that being said, I will be releasing the parts slowly over time. I am doing a final reread of the series, and I have compiled my topics together. After this final reread, I will be releasing the first topic: Atem’s relationships with the core friend group (Jounouchi, Anzu, Honda, Otogi, and Ryou) followed by an analysis on the truth behind Memory World. 

I hope you enjoy it!

[dracomort]

Except the full redemption from tom point what according to you is the main difference between tomarry and taco ?

The main difference is that one of them is a crack ship and the other one isn't.

Jokes, but actually it is true. Harry and Voldemort are the hero and villain, protagonist and antagonist, etc. Not only are they enemies, they're fated enemies. Harry carries around a piece of Voldemort's soul in his head for seventeen years; Voldemort spends seven years fixated on killing Harry; Harry learns everything he can about Tom Riddle; Voldemort killed Harry's parents (hot 🥵) etc. etc.

Draco holds a very different role in the narrative. Instead of hero or villain, he is very much positioned as a representation of pureblood wizards as a whole—their bigotry, privilege, cruelty and elitism. He's the youngest Death Eater, sure, and perhaps the only Death Eater of his generation, but recruiting teenagers is hardly a new game for Voldemort and in this case has more to do with Voldemort's anger at Lucius than with Draco himself.

Despite Tom and Draco both being Slytherins with similar views on Muggles, they're far closer to polar opposites than Tom and Harry. Tom was raised in poverty by Muggles in a group home with no knowledge of his magic; Draco was a coddled wealthy only child raised by magical people with little if any exposure to Muggles. Draco grew up in a sprawling manor home in Wiltshire, Tom grew up in the most populated city in England (country mouse, city mouse 🐭).

Harry and Tom start from similar positions and diverge. Draco comes in on the opposite side of the map to both of them. He's far closer to what Tom wants to be than who he was born as. Harry can bring counterarguments to the table that Tom can't dismiss because Harry has also seen some of the worst Muggles have to offer and yet still has no hate for them. Draco, raised in his safe, sheltered, Muggle-free home can never raise any sort of ethical argument that Tom will respect because he has no lived experience.

However, these similar upbringings might actually stifle Tom and Harry in a relationship. Harry doesn't experience unconditional love (that he remembers) till the age of eleven. Tom never experiences it. They're both majorly emotionally stunted and dating each other would not help that 😂. Maybe this is part of the appeal, but it's certainly going to be difference between Taco and Tomarry. I can see Harry as the 'heart' of his relationship with Tom, but only in an ethical sense, not an emotional one. Just... go read the Madam Puddifoot date scene with Cho.

Side note, there's also an interesting indirect-grooming element to Taco which I noticed the first time I wrote the ship. Harry has grown up in a world where he didn't even hear Voldemort's name till he was eleven years old. In contrast, Draco grew up at the heart of the cult. Draco might have tolerance for Tom's behaviour or share views with him not because of his nature or even normal pureblood attitudes, but because all of his family and friends' parents are Death Eaters. Imagine the mindfuck of every adult male role model in your life carrying the Dark Mark. I think it adds a fascinating dimension to their relationship in a time travel context.

[best-hohenzollern-ruler]

Bonus Round: Best Chancellor

Otto von Bismarck (1871-1890)

The Iron Chancellor

With a man as talented and powerful as Otto von Bismarck, it is hard to know where to start when outlining his accomplishments. His rule over Prussia and later Germany totaled a combined thirty years, during which he upended the global order and reshaped the map of Europe as we know it today. His title of "The Iron Chancellor" originates from the iron grip he had over both German and international politics, as well as one of his most famous speeches.

Bismarck's greatest accomplishment was no doubt the unification of this great state of Germany, which he accomplished through both shrewd diplomacy and skillful warmaking. His wars against Denmark, Austria, and France propelled Prussia to new heights and allowed for the declaration of the German empire in 1871. As Bismarck had said 9 years prior to that exalted date, "the great questions of the day will not be decided by speeches or majority decisions, but by iron and blood"

Nations that claim power on the world stage by way of military might or economic excellence still kneel before Germany when it comes to care for their citizenry. Under Bismarck, Germany passed groundbreaking laws providing aid for injured or sick workers who could not earn a living for their families. Later, those benefits were expanded to aging or disabled citizens, creating the first social welfare program in Europe. It is my hope that countries with prospering upper classes may take a page from Germany's playbook and allow the government to care for those workers which have ensured its economic success. (Real subtle - T)

Leo von Caprivi (1890-1894)

A moment's pity for the poor man who must stand in the footholds of giants. How can one hope to compare to the eminence of Otto von Bismarck? Caprivi gave his answer by ripping to shreds one of Bismarck's foreign policy achievements, our former Reinsurance Treaty with Russia. This was a treaty that protected Germany from her greatest fear: a two (or three or perhaps even four!) front war, the Gallic rooster to our West and the Russian bear to our east. Why, then, would he not reinsure this treaty? Perhaps Russian reproachment with France was already a foregone conclusion; maybe he placed more value on Austria-Hungary and Italy than Russia; one scholar I've become familiar with has proposed that maybe his brain was "riddled with the worms of idiocy." The histrionics of the critics has never moved me. War will not come between Germany and Russia. A piece of paper changes nothing.

Caprivi realized that Germany would maintain her pre-eminence in Europe through either war or trade. For the first time, we chose industry. Commercial treaties were forged with an assortment of European nations including Austria-Hungary, Italy, Belgium, and Spain. He even ended a trade war with Russia, giving Germans access to cheaper Russian agriculture products. (What? Were the Merkel jokes too easy? -L)

Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1894-1900)

Perhaps the greatest thing to say about Hohenlohe is that he was nobody's first pick for the job. Other names had been floated, but those picks proved too controversial. Hohenlohe, albeit aged, was a safe choice and caused the Kaiser no scandal. He served inconspicuously, which is to say without distinction. His cabinet was shuffled and reshuffled without his input and he found the winds of change blowing past him faster than he could react. A chancellor in name only, disempowered to enact any sorts of policies in the vein of predecessor. The most he achieved were reforms to the Prussian Military Law and the Law of Associations. In 1900, Hohenlohe took himself out of his misery and retired. Like his reactions to cooling relations with Russia and Britain, it came too little, too late. He died a year later.

Bernhard von Bülow (1900-1909)

The position of the Chancellor in the early 20th century increasingly seems like an ornate title for the caregiver of the Kaiser. After Wilhelm II inflamed tensions between Germany and France during the Morocco Crisis, it fell upon von Bülow to clean up the debacle. He represented the Kaiser at the Algeciras Conference, a meeting meant to defuse the tensions of the aforementioned crisis. Germany was humiliated, her terms discarded and the alliance between Britian and France was strengthened. When von Bülow defended his work at the conference, he became so overwhelmed that he collapsed.

Much like the first of his office, von Bülow's career came to an end in a conflict with Kaiser Wilhelm II. In a conversation published by the Daily Telegraph, the Kaiser attempted to court the affection of Britain and her king. Perhaps Herr Freud could say something in regards to His Majesty's love for his mother's country. (Note: Please never imply something like this ever again - T). Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect. The British public was appalled at the Kaiser's words, which read more as the ramblings of a madman than as the diplomatic forays of an emperor. Perhaps the outcry could have been prevented had von Bülow properly reviewed the text before it was published, however, he did not. The Kaiser viewed this as a betrayal and forced him to resign.

[yuurei20]

Hello! I'm sorry if this question already been asked and answered but have any character mentioned about going to elementary before coming to the NRC?

Also, have they ever explained about whether there is elementary, middle and high school in twisted wonderland?

Thank you!

Hello hello! Thank you for this question!

There are references to Riddle, Trey, Deuce, Jack, Jade, Floyd, Azul and Epel all attending elementary school!

There is a mistranslation on EN about Kalim and Jamil attending elementary school together when they did not: Jamil went to school while Kalim was homeschooled until NRC.

(EN does not have the best track record with subject pronouns. Jamil does not technically say "I" in his sentence, but as he was sharing a story about himself, we know he is the subject.)

We also have lines about Riddle, Ace, Deuce, Jade, Floyd, Azul, Jamil, Epel and Sebek all attending middle school.

I have not been able to find a line from Jack about attending middle school, but he does say that his younger brother is.

I was not able to find any reference to what schools Vil attended before NRC. Interestingly we are given the labels of "child-Jade" and "middle-school Jade" for Azul's overblot flashback in order to track how long Jade, Floyd and Azul have known each other, but during Vil's flashback there are no such hints about what ages or grade levels Jack and Vil were at when they first met.

Jack says that they went to school together for "a year a two," but does not mention what level of schooling.

Cater mentions changing schools often before NRC, but might not reference elementary- or middle-schools directly.

Malleus says that he received teaching from tutors.

Like Kalim, Leona says he was also taught by tutors at home, while neither Ruggie nor Silver had any official schooling at all prior to NRC, with Silver studying at home (often alone) and Ruggie's education being limited to "practical life skills."

What is fascinating is that the game does not use the Japanese-language words for elementary/middle/high school, using English-language words instead!

It is established in the novel that the language being spoken in the universe is not Japanese, and the game may be using the English language as if it were a fantasy-world language like Elvish (re: why all the countries have two names, and why the in-game map is not available in Japanese).

In the prologue, for example, Ace uses the Japanese-language word for kindergarten, but in the novel this was updated to the English-language word, "elementary school."

The English-word "kindergarten" is not as ubiquitous amongst native Japanese-language speakers as "elementary school."

This meant that the writer had to choose what was more important: staying faithful to the game, or upholding the continuity of "only English-language-words are used for pre-NRC educational institutions." And they chose the latter!

The English word "high school" is used to describe NRC itself.

(Words like "high school students" are kept in Japanese but grammar differences mean that we cannot just drop "high school students" into a Japanese-language sentence and have it make sense, so it is possible that this was a compromise for the sake of comprehension.)

And this might all come back to Twst's unique school system!

It is not 100% Japanese, English or American, taking inspiration from all three without recreating anything literally (which is often also true of the characters themselves).

The game seems to have combined the UK's two-year, pre-university "college" system with American four-year high schools, used the English-language title "Night Raven College," and then had the characters refer to it in-game as a "high school," using English to establish it as a foreign system!

[paigelts05]

The Final Containment of William Afton [FNAF, Renegade AU]

https://www.deviantart.com/paigelts05/art/The-Final-Containment-of-William-Afton-FNAF-1019973107

Renegade File Server Location: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52491037/chapters/135909397

Published: Feb 11 2024

William Afton is being contained. Permanently.

The truth behind how William was finally contained and kept out of Faz Ent's hands is a story that Fazbear Entertainment frequently dramatises and frequency paints in a fantasy light, but such tales have little effect on either the public opinion, or the individuals involved.

The reality was down to earth and hectic, but Cassie, Cassey, Ness, and Sylvia make a great team.

Cassey and Ness's forced William into the game in order to weaken him, causing him to hide within Princess Quest 4 and get captured by the red king. Cassie and Sylvia solved riddles to find the collectables that the mimic was hiding from them in order to access the arcade and pick up William from the red king in order to take him to Ness in this weakened state. Then, Ness was finally prepared to take on the duty of keeping William Afton contained, acting as a human prison.

And even though Ness and Cassie didn't see eachother in person that day, they knew the other was just as happy as they were to have William contained.

=°•.🌹 Story 🌹.•°=

°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•🌹•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°

Desmond and Cassie had moved all the way across the country to live with Sylvia 'officer Vanessa' Blake in order to escape Fazbear Entertainment.

When a cardboard box that bore Faz Ent insignia arrived in the mail, Desmond felt nauseous; since his daughter's hospital stay after the Ruins incident revealed a chip in the back of her neck, he had known that when Cassie's sleeper side had told him many times that 'they will always find me, no matter where I go' meant that she had known from the start that Faz Ent had some kind of tracker implanted into her before she came into his care, but he never thought they'd actually use it.

As Cassie and Sylvia carefully opened the box, they found a VR headset, a game box, and a note addressed to Desmond.

After seeing the contents, yet before he read the note, he froze in a terrified daze; this was the VR equipment from his old apartment; the exact things that Faz Ent had sent him before: the VR headset, the external casing cracked from him lobbing it across the room, the controllers, hand prints visible where he had held them in a vice grip, and VR training game, that cursed game that had forced him to hand Cassie that mask.

He wanted to run away, he wanted to throw up, he wanted to go somewhere his former employer would never find him. He passed out.

Sylvia had been briefed on his experience with that VR training simulator prior to her discharge from the hospital, as Desmond being used to make the map bot function was a major part of the investigation into what Faz Ent had been doing in the ruins of the megaplex, so she wasn't surprised that he'd pass out at seeing the game again. She had also helped him move out, so she was aware that he had purposefully left all this behind at his old place, aiming for the police to pick it up.

Instead, someone at Faz Ent had sent it to his new home.

After making sure that Desmond was just out cold and nothing more serious, Sylvia and Cassie read the note.

U LN BIR AYEW QGI QUKK EWLS RGUA VYR UR UA VEUWD LBS BIB-CURLK.

RGUA FLNW UA RGW JWT RI GUA WRWEBLK XIBRLUBNWBR.

KWE RGW BWQ OEUBXWAA RLJW RGW XEIQB.

"This looks like a scrambled mess," Sylvia sighed as she looked at the mish-mash of letters on the paper.

Cassie shook her head. "It's encoded with using the keyboard letter to the left of the actual letter. Easy to decode once you know it, but enough to throw someone through a loop. I'll read it." Cassie cleared her throat before continuing, "I am not sure who will read this but it is brief and non-vital. This game is the key to his eternal containment. Let the new princess take the crown."

Some metaphorical gears turned in Sylvia's head as she processed the words as well as some rabbit shaped graffiti-like markings painted on the plastic cover of game box, so an addition made by the sender and not a part of th official print, and her eyes lit up. "I know this is going to scare the shit out of your dad, but I think you need to play the game. I think that Cassey T and my sister need you for something."

Cassie now bore the confused expression. "For what?"

"Remember what Des told us about that game. What is in it. We have reason to suspect that William will take refuge in here, hence these markings as a warning." Sylvia picked up the game box as she spoke and pointed to the rabbit graffiti.

"Yeah, the mimic is also in there. It's the thing that forced my dad to pilot the mask bot to hand me the mask," Cassie replied, "That training sim is the space that that weird short exec guy used to stick GGY, Clone William, and Mimic1 in the code blender so it wouldn't be found out until he downloaded it onto that endo I destroyed. Why would William hide in the same space as something trying so hard to copy and kill him."

"As I said, he's not actually in there yet," Sylvia replied, "I said he will be forced into there."

"Forced in?" Cassie inquired.

"He managed to possess my sister and her dad's ghost has been keeping him in, but she told me she has a plan." Sylvia grinned, "She'd get help from an insider to anonymously mail us what we need, and once the plan is in action, he will be forced to take refuge in there."

"And that insider is me."

A voice that didn't belong to Cassie or Sylvia spoke up, and the duo turned around to see Desmond standing and speaking in a voice that sounded wrong for him.

"I am Alistair. You may already be aware of me from my involvement in the VR environment. I could have shipped this in a blank box, but I needed my brother unconscious to fill you in on the details, as having any kind of paper trail from here on in will stop this plan from working."

"And this plan is…?" Sylvia inquired.

"Take the memories from the hand of the disembodied. Use them as the bait. Take up the mantle and lure the wizard into the witch's trap." Alistair spoke slowly and calmly, as if reciting a story.

"Cryptic," Sylvia grumbled, "Can you tell us anything else?"

"The hand may take up the wand and robes of the destroyed, but it is not wise enough to use it yet," Alistair replied, adding a final piece of information to her story, "it would be dangerous to say any more."

"Got it." Cassie said as she begun to set up the VR equipment.

"I get the gist; take what bad entity 2 has nicked to bait bad entity 1, and we can worry about the fallout later." Sylvia nodded as she begun to help Cassie.

By the time Cassie and Sylvia had set up the VR environment, Alistair had silently left and let Desmond wake back up.

"What's going on?" Desmond wearily mumbled as he pulled himself to his feet.

"We're on a mission," Sylvia answered, "Your sister filled us in on the details."

"That explains the pain…" Desmond grumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to soothe a phantom pain. "I'll assume that's why the box was used - so she didn't have to fight me."

Sylvia flinched at how Desmond described the whole possession thing. "… Are you OK?"

Desmond nodded. "Alistair and I don't always get along, but she needed to convey a message I guess, and by the looks of it, an important one."

Cassie nodded as she held the VR headset above her head.

"Time to grab some memories and lure an evil wizard to his death."

Once in the training simulator, Cassie knew that she'd get very little further direction from Cassey and Ness, and no further instruction from Alistair. She also knew that Sylvia was about as much in the loop as she herself was, so she'd have to rely on herself to find these 'memories' that if her interpretation of the mission was correct, the mimic would be hoarding.

If it was Mimic1, Clone William, GGY, or a mix of the three was yet to be discovered, but she knew that with the exception of the GGY component, it would likely see her as a traitor. Her managing to 'kill' clone William back in the VR environment before she could rendezvous with the other Gregory Getters branded her a traitor in his eyes. Her managing to destroy the endo the mimic had been downloaded onto in the real world during the Ruins incident branded her a traitor in Mimic1's eyes. Two thirds of it were likely against her, so she had two choices: appeal to the possible third segment, or the better options.

Allegiance against a common enemy.

With the mimic relegated back to code, and likely a disembodied hand if the mission briefing was being literal, William had gone from being the lesser threat of the two to being the greater threat of the two. With how her sleeper side had managed to drive the mimic back in a bare-fisted brawl back during the Ruins incident, she knew that it knew that she was a capable fighter who is skilled way beyond her years. She could claim a mercenary motive for her actions. Whether it'd beleive such bold-faced bullshit was another question, but she hoped it wouldn't come to that.

She hoped it'd see her as being indistinguishable from any other player. The other better option, and probably the best.

As she loaded into the lobby, she felt as if words were being injected directly into her mind, words that linked back to what Alistair had told her. It felt like someone was giving Sleeper further instruction on what to do, and in turn, Civ instinctively felt as if she knew what to do as well.

She needed to find a way to play Princess Quest 4. That is where Ness would be waiting for her to deliver William to her.

The note in the box had been to tell Cassie that she had to be the one to play the game, likely because of the message Ness wanted to send would only be able to reach someone like her, and Alistair had to deliver the extra details so she would have the preconceived notions necessary to fully understand the even more cryptic message that Ness sent.

Cassie received the message loud and clear.

She was ready to create the key and do all that was needed to let Ness enact her plan.

"He should be in there…. ETA NOW!" Cassie heard Sylvia yell. She was loud enough to get through the headset, and that's all she needed to hear.

It looked like the game was officially afoot.

She followed many cryptic hints for hours and hours, taking each doll from the disembodied hand that lurked, and after collecting the final doll from Fazerblast 3, a minigame that she was sure was the embodiment of the mimic's own want to eliminate William, if only to take the man's place in the world, she claimed her prize and returned to the main hub where she found the purple Faz-token that had now spawned in.

She knew exactly what to do with it.

After taking it from where it floated, she made her way over to the Princess Quest 4 arcade machine and inserted the coin that it needed to begin.

Taking a deep breath, she begun her part of this journey of leading the princess through the castle, making use of a teleport ability that felt very similar to typical VR movement mechanics.

As she played, she had some time to think: Princess Quest was not a Faz Ent IP. It was solely a Silver Parasol IP. One they released as an app and an arcade machine. It was a monument, a record, and an escape key. The fact a Princess Quest game was in this at all was a sign that Cassey T, Jeremy B, Ness, and Sylvia had managed to scheme their way into getting in on the development of this game.

Ness and Cassey were waiting somewhere on the other side of this game, ready to strike.

Heading deeper and deeper into the castle within the arcade, she noticed something odd.

"That looks like the room I'm in!" She heard herself exclaim as she saw a figure hunched over an arcade machine on the screen.

As she looked up, she saw that the room around her was dark. Looking around more, she saw the princess. An 8-bit sprite, as she expected, but it felt odd, but also as if it was meant to be.

On instinct, she directed the princess towards her and pressed the only interact key she knew of: the attack key.

Everything went white, but she felt nothing from it, and when everything cleared, she was in a place she didn't think the game expected her to be. It was dark, and the only distinguishing feature was the checkerboard floor lit by a golden glow coming from somewhere in front of her. In front of her stood Cassey Tapper, holding the glowing golden sword. Meanwhile, she also saw Cassidy hovering slightly behind the programmer.

Cassie looked around, and finally saw the ghost that had been possessing her hovering nearby as well.

"You must be Charlie," she said.

Charlie just nodded and pointed back towards Cassey.

Cassie nodded back and looked back towards the programmer who was possessed by the one William should not have killed.

"It's going to be up to you; you're going to be able to pick up where we left off." Cassey knelt down and held the sword out in front of her as she spoke, resting the point on the tile.

Cassie instinctively grabbed the hilt, and Cassey placed her hands over the girl's. She noticed that her hands actually looked like her hands, and her arms looked like her arms. It didn't feel like she was in a VR game anymore, but that her soul was somewhere else, temporarily in some kind of secret meeting place. Cassie turned her attention back to the sword; she had never welded such heavy weaponry before, only using knives and at most a machete. A sword, albeit virtual, was new, and even with Cassey holding it steady, it still felt as if it was going to topple, but she didn't panic. She smiled as the golden glow illuminated herself and the room she was in.

Cassey gave one last smile as she let go of the sword, letting Cassie be it's sole bearer, before she stood up and walked into the darkness.

Cassie knew that this was all the help that Cassey and Cassidy were able to provide; William knew them too well. But Cassie? The last time they met was on terms neutral to the both of them; the old man would not suspect a thing.

The screen went white again, and when that too faded, she was back in front of the arcade machine. The princess stood unarmed next to her. The sword was on the arcade's screen, and the words "take it" were below.

As she took the sword, she knew that it was for certain that her encounter with Cassey had not been in this VR world, but had been elsewhere, merely facilitated by the VR equipment. It was most likely that it had been a temporary digital consciousness transfer so that they could meet in secret and Cassey could pass her part of the torch onto her.

And now she was back in VR.

Cassie knew that once this was all said and done, Cassey, Jeremy, and most importantly Ness would have thier hands full with the finer details of William's containment. Whilst Sylvia was a part of that team, she also had the most experience dealing with the components of the mimic, having been involved in the Ruins incident. It was clear that Sylvia would be the bridge that kept the containment of William and the pursuit of erasing the mimic connected, and that from everything that has happened so far, Cassie could tell that Sylvia already knew her role. Why else would everyone at Faz Ent fearfully refer to her with all sorts of words that in some way meant 'Knight'.

The cavalier, the woman-at-arms, the duellist, the chevalier, the knight; all refering to this woman.

They also called her 'Don Quixote', though Cassie felt as if she and whatever exec had called Sylvia 'Don Quixote' and had called Luis 'Sancho' hadn't read the same book that she had. Faz Ent probably hoped that Sylvia's knights quest was simply the insane endeavour of a woman already driven to delusion, but Cassie had watched everything from the shadows, and despite Sylvia seeing a fantastical fantasy form of the world half the time - a condition Sylvia believes was caused the the remnant her bosses had sneakily injected into her system - she had managed to stay grounded enough in reality thanks to her friends and her drive to protect them.

And with Cassie taking up the mantle of the princess of light, she too would now need a knight at her side, as even if the Princess's Quest appeared to be the adventure of a single girl on the surface - a single player game - the player had always been there as a guide, as the knight.

This sword felt lighter than the one Cassey had passed her. She knew what she had to do.

She maneuvered through the game around her; the training sim that had become Princess Quest 4 was her battlefield as she slew foe after foe, fighting towards the core of the castle within this game.

First, she found a key. It opened the door she found herself next to, and through it, was a pit, similar to the one the princess had decended on the arcade machine.

She decended through the pit herself, slaying any monsters she met along the way. Once at the bottom, she found herself in a long corridor. The beasts were an afterthought as she made her way down the red carpet that lead out into what was both a courtyard and graveyard; the only place in this castle that was outdoors.

The puzzle was easy to solve; a simple case of lighting the torches in an incrementing numerical order. But she followed a different pattern and unlocked a secret basement underneath the courtyard. The chest held a familiar mask.

Whilst her dad had his father's retro Bonnie mask, the familiarity felt more visceral.

Sleeper must be the one familiar with this mask.

The door at the far end of the courtyard opened anyway.

The door lead to a grand corridor, devoid of monsters.

At the end, she met the red king. She traded her Vanny mask for the plush toy that William had hidden himself within. He had been holding William prisoner in this plushie form since he had fled here to escape the hand that lurked. It seems as if even though the mimic had been reduced to a hand, the destructive potential William saw within it terrified even him.

Then a door opened. To the elevator of the rental service warehouse. The ride didn't last long, as the walls came down and she saw that she was now inside a claw machine.

She knew this was her destination.

She saw Vanny outside, giant, yet to Cassie, not imposing.

She was finally face to face with Ness.

All that was left to do, was simple.

She handed the plush doll that William was trapped within over to the moon, who delievred it to Ness.

Whilst William had freed himself from his plush prison and had resumed his Glitchtrap form, it wasn't long lived as Ness crushed him in her hands.

Ness then looked over at Cassie and waved as she dipped into the darkness. She could tell that on the other end of whatever system was connecting them, that Ness was smiling.

Cassie waved back at her aunt, and she couldn't help but smile.

They had all done it.

Ness had captured and contained William.

Everything was on her terms now.

And as Cassie removed her headset and dealt with her eye strain and minor disorientation, she couldn't wait to see how this would all play out.

°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•🌹•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°

[heartstringsduet]

All the pretty places (pt.3)

More of the Italian honeymoon. Time for the beach. [pt 1] [pt 2]

It’s midnight in Austin, and they’re on the road by the time the sun rises in Rome. With it they leave behind the long list Carlos had prepared the moment they’d agreed on Italy for their honeymoon. The best family-run bistro for tagliatelle, TK’s favorite pasta, and the best café to stock up on espresso for low-energy between the sights they’d wanted to see. He’d reserved a table for their third night in Rome at Il Convivio Troiani, a Michelin starred restaurant, and watched travel vlogs for hidden gems to explore before then.

It’s all out of sight now, as they make their way up the country. They take the scenic route. Everything is so close here anyway, unlike Texas. And they have time. Time to watch the pale brick houses, the dusty orange roofs all familiar looking after a while but unique in their shapes, settled in a green that’s seeped warm too, less lush but dreamier for it. 

They have no concrete plans other than to make it to Saturnia by tonight. Carlos is guiding them, arm relaxed on the steering wheel of the classy European convertible that has their hair messy and them talking loudly over the whizz of air. 

The mood feels ripe for music, so TK finally manages to get the old radio to work, twisting one of the knobs until static becomes static-riddled-music becomes oldie music. He crosses his arms on the board and turns his head to the left, orange sunlight glittering on the horizon where water meets sky.

It’s only more beautiful with his husband in the foreground of it. 

“Can we stop by in the next bigger town?” TK asks when the sea is hidden by fields and houses again.

“Sure,” Carlos says. “Are you hungry?”

“I could eat, yeah.”

Carlos’ eyebrows fold low. “Sorry, I didn’t think to-”

“I actually wanted to stop for something else though,” TK quickly assures him.

“Oh? For what?”

“You know in Rome I felt very,” TK leaves a dramatic pause, “American.”

Carlos glances over at him. ““American how?”

“I mean, we sure look American.”

Carlos frowns, clearly glancing down between the street and his outfit like he’s not sure what he put on too-early morning. They hadn’t really slept well. Maybe he truly doesn't know. “How are jeans and button-downs ‘very American’?”

“They so are.”

It’s not actually that obvious and it is very much an excuse for TK’s next attempt to make this a honeymoon without anything weighing them down. To weave spontaneity into the fabric of life. Carlos sighs but indulges him, of course. 

TK grabs Carlos’ phone from the dashboard and just zooms out on maps. There is a little round half-isle coming up that immediately calls to him. He puts a pin in it and puts it back on the dash.

Driving up to the peninsula, it looks like a postcard; houses set into the foot of a hill that appeals like it grows out of the bottom of the sea. The water that only twinkled in the background for now stretches on both sides of the bridge to the peninsula. It’s so blue, so vivid in the earthy tones of Tuscany, it nearly looks fake. 

The city is still waking up, their car nearly a disturbance. 

A café close to the parking space is still open. They drink it, sitting by the harbor of Porto Ercole, the best espresso TK ever had and a flaky pastry with vanilla custard in hand, bitter and sweet, salt air in their lungs and seagulls for music.

Up close, the sea is at once the bluest and the clearest he’s ever seen. A miracle you can dip a toe in. Once they've made it to the small strip of a sandy beach their feet sink into with each step, TK can't resist the pull of gentle waves.

"Wait, really?" Carlos asks when TK already holds onto his forearm to not lose balance as he pulls off his shoes and white socks. 

TK only gives his husband a look, a grin that says it all and will always melt Carlos into joining him. He steps from foot to foot while he waits for Carlos to get rid of his shoes. As soon as he is barefoot, TK grabs him by the hand and pulls him into a small sprint. 

"Our pants-" Carlos yelps when the water splashes up. TK's laugh quickly catches on, washing away annoyance. Though they wade in no further than their calves they get soaked up to their knees. 

"This is colder than I thought it would be." In truth, The water is icy. The sun hasn't reached over the hill of the isle yet but it's warmer where Carlos’ foot slips in right next to his. TK looks at their toes in fascination.

"Really?" Carlos mocks him.

“Come on. We're at the sea, so we were going in," TK says.

He runs a thumb up the back of Carlos' hand. Then he pulls it up, holds it against the blue of sky and sea. The gold on Carlos’ finger glints against it. Husband, TK thinks, in awe. How can looking at a hand make him feel warmer than Italy’s sun and sweep him up in currents quicker than Italy’s sea?

Carlos snorts at TK’s newest antic but lets him get his fill of looking. 

“You promised to take care of my wild heart, correct?” TK asks, taking his eyes up to the dark warmth of Carlos’.

Carlos raises an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“How about taking care of my cold feet by carrying me back to the beach?”

Carlos rolls his eyes and turns around with a grin on his face, walking back to the beach and intending to leave him freezing in the water. But no, that’s not how this will go. 

TK takes a leap and jumps on his back, nearly toppling him, but then Carlos has his hands cradling the back of his knees, like it’s automatic. He hops to settle TK onto his back, holding him safe. Lately, TK had wanted nothing more than to carry any and all of Carlos. He still does. But there’s something about jumping and knowing he’ll be caught that makes him feel like he’ll never be scared of anything ever again. And there is something about Carlos taking a plunge knowing TK is carrying him in other moments that makes him feel like they’ll survive anything together.

[twistedminutia]

Also, im not sure who turbulent the weather is in Twisted. But, how funny would it be if Gray (don't know where she lives in The USA), but I know that the weather there is weird or turbulent. Like if there is a tornado? welp time to go to the tornado room earthquake? casually walk out the building quickly and crouch down (safely), or in go to under the table and stay away from the dangerous shit. tsunami? grab the nearest student with good competency to fly and force them to fly.

Or Gray knows the danger of some animals, and knows what to do or deter them away. Like seeing apes, don't look at them, don't smile, and don't give them a reason to hate you. Hears a mysterious crying in woods, likely a bobcat. Sees a moose, be far away, don't disturb it. Heck, I have seen a video of a Moose walking on water briefly, while the original poster was canooing on a river.

So Gray comes from a similar area in the US that I do, meaning northeast coast, so she actually has pretty mild weather. Most she’s ever dealt with are like some bad storms in summer and a couple nor’easters in winter. So I think SHE would be the scared one when it turns out NRC does semi-regular tsunami drills!

Yes, I headcanon that they do tsunami drills. They are on the very edge of an island. Admittedly, they are also pretty high up, from what I can tell in the maps of the campus, and they probably have magic defenses, but I say they get run pretty often as a safety measure anyway. (I have Thoughts on the safety measures they should have in place at NRC but I’ll save that for another post.)

As for other weather phenomena… The Queendom of Roses has tsunami drills as well, though that is partially dependent on what area you live in (Riddle canonically lived inland and therefore didn’t have any until he went to campus). They also get hit with tropical storms sometimes, although usually only the southern portion of the island experiences these. NRC is a bit too far north to really get much in the way of tropical storms.

The Sunset Savannah and the Scalding Sands both experience droughts, and I had canon that the area Kalim and Jamil live in gets earthquakes semi-regularly, though not super strong ones. The Sunset Savannah also has a wet season, which can cause flooding, so there are a lot of flash flood warnings at that time of year.

The Shaftlands has the most diverse weather patterns of all the homelands, with the mountainous and northern areas getting avalanches and blizzards, and tornadoes appear more toward the south. The Coral Sea obviously doesn’t have the same weather patterns, being under the water, but it does freeze in the winter, causing an ice floe season.

Briar Valley benefits from having some extremely powerful draconic rulers who are able to somewhat control the weather, preventing too many serious storms from crossing their borders, Briar Valley also suffers from having some extremely powerful draconic rulers who are able to somewhat control the weather, causing serious storms if they lose control of their magic. Also, it’s decently far north, so it’s got some frigid winters. (Do you ever think about how Sebek canonically hates being cold but also he’s from a country that’s super far north???? Poor guy!)

All that to say, Gray probably doesn’t have more knowledge than an average student, and would need to follow the drills, same as everyone else. I think it would be similar for animals- she actually would know a little more than average, compared to some students (like Ace or Deuce) but she’s certainly going to know less than, say, Rook. But she could at least guide people out of an animal attack. Or she’d just throw herself in front of them to get eaten while her friends run away. She’s self-sacrificial like that.