#Nora Hart

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

New Gossip Girl 2021 ocs

All I'll say is blame @cecexwrites for enabling me

(gossip girl besties I'm also very here for crossovers 👀 @the-witching-ash @manyfandomocs @ginevrastilinski-ocs @cecexwrites )

Aislin Hart in Social Suicide

Lowkey James Locke 2.0 but her mom doesn't love her; parents pushed her into performing from a very young age, bit of a child star (child actor to popstar) to trainwreck situation Homeschooled for most of her life but starting high school (or as a sophomore) there was a push from part of her team for her to go to a real school for “relatability” reasons, gets enrolled at constance billard, starts to befriend the gang but then lockdown happens and she is pushed by her parents to be basically 24/7 content machine no matter what, just as she hits her breaking point, schools reopen for real She's trying so hard to be caught in a scandal where she'll be told to "take a break from the public eye" and not have to be 24/7 content creating but it keeps not working and she's going insane about it

Chloe Branson (Anna Cathcart) & Nora Branson (Lana Condor) & Milton Milo Aston in Fortune & Fame

The Branson sisters gre wup middle class. Nora is used to a relatively normal life, mostly raised Chloe because their parents were always working. Their parents recently got very very rich from an app her mom made or something details still tbd, kids are transferred to Constance, parents are still never around. Nora befriends some of the core group but thinks they’re very out of touch, Chloe has just started high school and gets totally swept up in all of it Milo Aston is Nora's eventual love interest, popular jock, close with Aki & Obie because of sports, everyone thinks he’s this spoiled rich brat but actually his dad is rich & pays for school but he grew up with his mom who was solidly middle class and lives outside of the city. His parents agreed for him to start living with his dad as a sophomore because St Jude’s had a better chance of getting him sports opportunities in college, he got very caught up in the flashy lifestyle for a while but has generally settled down until gossip girl gets involved

Gabriela Caparros in Reputation

Rafa's younger sister, parents are very not involved in her life, Rafa is semi raising her but also very emotionally absent so Gabriela is used to just taking care of herself, she struggles to open up to anyone let alone to ever let anyone help her. She and Max have had an on-and-off fling for a long time before he set his eyes on her brother. Gabi knows Rafa and knows his tendency to sleep with students just after they become of legal age, tries to warn Max away from him but Max thinks that she’s being petty & jealous

Jazz Ellis in Doll Heart

Davis Calloway had a history of getting women drunk and coercing them into sex: he didn't know he got one of them pregnant. Jazz's mom had been Davis' assistant and an aspiring singer, one too many late nights working led to him offering her a drink, then another drink, until Jazz's mom was wasted, they had sex, and Jazz was conceived. Needing an escape from New York, her mom moves to LA andstarts her music career there instead. Jazz grew up between LA & being on tour with her mom, they moved to New York only three months before everything went into lockdown. Pre-lockdown Jazz became a part of the group, not knowing the Julian connection. She learns the truth during the pandemic and returns to school carrying this heavy secret but not knowing how to bring it up, or even if she should

Sasha Davenport in Material Girl

all vibes so far but Paris & Obie's third musketeer, daughter of a very influential lawyer and equally influential politician who expect constant perfection to maintain the family image

[jjspina]

Books Read and Reviewed in September 2023!

Here it is already the end of another month. Where does the time go? I have been busy as usual reading some wonderful books for the month of September of 2023. Here are the 11 books I read and reviewed for September. I might have read even more if I didn’t have a few WIP. But I always seemed to have a WIP! That fact never stops me! I hope you enjoy reading these reviews. I love sharing my…

[bookishfeylin]

Black Fantasy TBR Part 1

It's taking so long to compile all my books that I might as well release my tbr one portion at a time. This isn't really that organized, but here's the first part of my fantasy (and a little bit of scifi) tbr listed out for people who are curious and/or want to see more fantasy books with Black protagonists:

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton

Nubia: The Awakening by Omar Epps and Clarence A. Haynes

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

Abengoni: First Calling by Charles R. Saunders

Across the Broken Tide by Lakase Cousino

Iron Cast by Destiny Soria

That Self-Same Metal by Brittany N. Williams

Kingdom of Feathers by Deborah Grace White

Priestess of nKu by Milton J Davis

Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Queen of Zazzau by J.S. Emuakpor

Elysium by Nora Sakavic

Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron

Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

Dream Country by Ashaye Brown

The Reluctant Sacrifice by Kerr-Ann Dempster

She Steals Justice by J. Clark

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender

The Hope of Aferi: The Wolf Queen by Cerece Rennie Murphy

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy

The Blazing Star by Imani Josey

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne Brown

Bones to the Wind by Tatiana Obey

Treachery of Water by Angela J. Ford

Wings of Ebony by J. Elle

Beautiful Nightmare by L.C. Son

Conquest by Celeste Harte

Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye

The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin

Magic Dark, Magic Divine by A.J. Locke

Shadow's Dissident by Ariel Paiement

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

A Conspiracy of Stars by Olivia A. Cole

This was mostly stand-alones and duologies, so the next part of my tbr should be mostly trilogies and longer series.

[herzlak]

Tatort Dortmund: Cash (REWATCH)

second time trauma :)

one thing about jan is, dass er in jeder szene entweder aussieht als würd er gleich heulen oder als wär er auf drogen

okay stopp hatte der fussballer n pride schweissband?

JA OMG! here's to tortmund's gay hint tradition

"was du heute kannst entsorgen" und dann cut to jan pawlak is my favourite thing about cash

triggert mich so hart, dass jan rosas anruf wegdrückt... like girl, du hast echt NICHTS aus liebe mich gelernt

dieser kleine ktuler mit der "ich hab schon ganze zwei neue neue deutsche welle songs geschrieben" frisur ist scho cute

"ach??" "wirklich???" "wir gehen!!!!" ROSA I LOVE YOU

to quote my bestie "jan ist wie so n nerviges kleines kind, dass dich dauernd fragt, ob du spiele auf deim handy hast"

finds so lustig, dass ihnen nach drei jahren mal wieder eingefallen ist, dass rosa ja mikromimik lesen kann

"aufmachen! polizei!" HALT DEIN MAUL JAN DU UNLUSTIGER SAFTSACK

NIEMAND würd dich vermissen!!! *proceeds to miss jan very much*

"und noch n zwanni fürn automaten" OH MEIN GOTT SEI EINFACH LEISE

der macht mich so aggressiv der pawlak

okay aber als ob jan so ne musik hört

für mich hört der mac miller und ekkstacy

schatzi, der jan greift dauernd leute tätlich an, der hat nora geschubst, der hat ella und rosa und auch dich am arm gepackt

"fick dich" lol king

fabers ermittlungstaktik isses einfach seine enemies anzuschwulen

"was ich privat mache" als wär seine arbeit nur so n hobby nebenbei junge

counting "pferderennen" as masken reference

spuckt der auch noch aufn boden ey

wollnsiemichverarschenoderwas?!?!

allein wegen jan gibt's jetzt immer klare sprache version vom tatort

ok "aber an mir lässt sies aus" hab ich definitiv überhört letztes mal

"können wir nich abhauen?" auch

wenn jan zumindest körperlich anwesend wär

wieso isn rosas pinker textmarker eigentlich in jan stiftehalter?

mir egal was die enraged boomers sagen, ich finds ganz toll, dass rosa gendert

und, dass faber es versucht lol

so süß wie sie in der ecke steht und sich die nase reibt like "hihi :)"

ich hab rosa einfach so lieb, es is unreal

missed opportunity, dass rosa und faber sich nicht den ball zugepasst haben

sevilla, digga.

counting the "hey" as heile welt ref-

"meister :D"

"was sachste?" "was sachter?"

"den ess ich noch" FABER I LOVE YOU

ich LIEBE diese parallelen bei den verhören im dortmund tatort, die sagen immer irgendwas, was man auch aufs ermittlerteam beziehen kann

ey rosas erste frage ist "hast du was mit der?" UND DANN BIN ICH VERRÜCKT, WENN ICH HERZLAK SHIPPE?

dieses lila colour grading in der szene........

now kiss!

was soll denn jan für überstunden abfeiern??

drehbuch so: *rosa relieved "endlich isser weg" exhale*, dann *rosa ptsd "fuck ich werd wieder verlassen" exhale*

finds ganz wundervoll, wie oft wir in cash rosas dutt von hinten sehen

important fact: rosa ist irgendwann nach liebe mich umgezogen

faber einfach die therapeuten pipeline hingelegt

macht mich soo glücklich wie rosa da so sau wütend auf das auto einschlägt :>

verständlich, dass das steffi liebste szene war

"ich teil halt gern mit meinen freunden" mhm

okay wait, ist des das zweite mal, dass jan sich blöd verplappert hat und deshalb noch wer ermordet wird? zorn parallel?

cash ist echt ne einzige parallele, i love it

"turteltäubchen" AND THEN YOU EXPECT ME NOT TO SHIP THEM-

faber so: get in line, ich hab schon viele leute wütend gemacht

rosa ist so richtig schön zickig in cash, ich liebs so sehr

bin immer noch der meinung, dass jan trotzdem abgerutscht ist und das nicht alles gespielt war

seriously, guckt ihn an, der lappen kann niemals so gut schauspielern

"frau dingenskirchen" <3

"wir sind immer noch ein team" rosa, nein :/

funfact: rosas sweatshirtjacke ist die von jan aus tollwut, sie hatse nur versehentlich zur grünen wäsche

(funfact: der funfact war gelogen)

hol den baseball schläger, fabermaus!

nimm den baseball schläger mit, rosamaus!!!

dünnes eis, iramaus

die is so kackendreist die frau

"weinen hilft nicht" doch???

hachhh jan mit rosas armband <3

andere seniorinnen häkeln oder machen kreuzworträtsel, britta zeigt wöchentlich ihren schwiegersohn an

"wenn du hilfe brauchst, dann..." :(

tut schon weh, wie lieb jan sie anlächelt

alles an dieser szene tut weh tbh

steffi und rick spielen einfach zu gut :<

rosa sieht aus als hätt sie die halbe nacht geheult :|

sie guckt so süß aawwww!! :3

okay graf tot, abakay eingekastelt, wen soll faber jetzt anschwulen?

die tatsache, dass die klasnic ihren kaffee mit deM STIEL VON NER GABEL UMRÜHRT

dass jan n armband von rosa dabei hat, bedeutet mir scho so n bissl die welt <3

gps. hat sie gesehen. mädel, du wirst auch noch kommissarin

honestly, ich will in fünfzehn jahren jana giesel irgendwo als lead role im tatort sehen, die spielt jetzt schon so toll

HALT DIE FRESSE MIT SEVILLA JAN DU DISAPPOINTMENT AUF ZWEI BEINEN

ich hoffe er kriegt fett sonnenbrand der elende vampir

und ich hoffe, er kommt irgendwann wieder zurück für die allerletzte folge :(((

nächste folge wissen wir dann nicht, wen wir zuerst mitm baseball schläger kloppen - die klasnic, matuschek, haller oder die bütow

(am besten alle, weil gewalt ist therapeutisch wie wir gelernt haben)

[simelvia]

Sim download

Nomi Marino

Meet Nomi Marino, San Myshunos own diva. As the younger sister to residential 'It girl' Nora Marino, Nomi's ready to paint the town red with her charm and charisma. With a legacy of socialite stardom passed down from her mother, she's on a quest for luxury and won't hesitate to flaunt her fabulous self – Watch out world, Nomi coming through!

Other info

• She/her

• Young adult

• Outgoing/High maintenance/Beauty lover/Glamorous/Materialistic

• All outfits included

Tallulah Hart

Introducing Tallulah Hart, the effortlessly chic sensation of San Myshuno. The up-and-coming somebody everyone's talking about right now. Her laid-back, cool demeanor makes her as elusive as a shooting star. Every guy yearns for her, yet no one can quite catch her. Get ready to have your heart swayed as Tallulah captivates the city with her charm – But watch out, this singer/actress will be hard to keep in your bedroom!

Other info

• She/her

• Young adult

• Creative/Ambitious/Vegetarian/Noncommittal/Self assured

• All outfits included

♡

Love you lots,

Ava

How to download sims

Download (patreon)

[posi-pan]

2022 books with pan rep 📚

At the time of posting previous lists, there were 57 books in 2020 and 141 in 2021. This year, there are 176!

30 Things I Love about Myself by Radhika Sanghani

Ablaze by A.H. Cunningham

All I’m Asking by J. Marie Rundquist

Apparition by Zahlia Amin

Attraction (Mobsters + Billionaires #3) by Kelly Fox

Bad At Love by Gabriela Martins

Barcelona (Circus After Dark #3) by Chloe Adler

The Barkeep and the Bookseller by V.L. Locey

Barnabas Bopwright Saves the City by J. Marshall Freeman

Bartholomew (The Temple Brothers #2) by Elle Sparrow

Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra

Bishop’s Opening by R.S.A Garcia

Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai

Blood Bound (Youkai Bloodlines #3) by Courtney Maguire

Blood Legacy (Avators of Ruin #2) by Tej Turner

Bloodmarked (Legendborn #2) by Tracy Deonn

Bound (Fangs with Benefits #3) by Aveda Vice

Bound (Kozlov Chronicles #2) by Elena Sobol

Carnal Cryptids 2: Southeast (Carnal Cryptids #2) by Vera Valentine

Changing the Rules (Rules of the Game: Evanston River Otters #1) by Brigham Vaughn

The Chasm (Finding Humanity #2) by Branwen Oshea

Cold Cases and Bitter Enemies (Cold Case Unit #3) by J.M. Dabney

A Cosmic Kind of Love by Samantha Young

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

A Cruel and Fated Light (The Hollow Star #2) by Ashley Shuttleworth

Dance with the Devil (Mercenary Librarians #3) by Kit Rocha

The Darkest Edge by Lyra Blake

Dead Draw by Layla Reyne

Death by Society by Sierra Elmore

Dinner with the Schnabels by Toni Jordan

Dominance of the Heart by Char Dafoe

Dragon’s Honor (Irresistible Dragons #2) by Nora Phoenix

Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak (Unstoppable #2) by Charlie Jane Anders

D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chenica C. Higgins

The Edge of Being by James Brandon

Electric Idol (Dark Olympus #2) by Katee Robert

Epilogues of Lost Gods (Unwritten Runes #2) by Cat Rector

Errant Vol. 1 (Errant #1) by L.K. Fleet

Eternal Hoptimist by Lee Blair

Every Word You Never Said by Jordon Greene

Exodus 20:3 by Freydís Moon

Extra Witchy (Fix-It Witches #3) by Ann Aguirre

Fabricated by Zoe Lee

The Fae Keeper (The Witch King #2) by H.E. Edgmon

The Fake Date by Trisha Bradley

Fate in Suspension (Horn & Haven #1) by Archer Kay Leah

Fault Tolerance (Chilling Effect #3) by Valerie Valdes

Fight + Flight by Jules Machias

Fighting Monsters: Part One (Fighting Monsters #1) by Sam Hall

Fighting Monsters: Part Two (Fighting Monsters #2) by Sam Hall

Forward March by Skye Quinlan

Furious Heaven (The Sun Chronicles #2) by Kate Elliott

Going Public (Jade Harbor Capital #2) by Hudson Lin

Got Me Looking (Vet Shop Boys #3) by Casey Cox

Griff by Ana Night

Grim and Bear It (Love Me Dead #2) by Heather Novak

Grounded for All Eternity by Darcy Marks

The Heartbreak Handshake by J.R. Hart

Her Stubborn Warrior by Kaylee Pike and Kyra Keys

His Heart Knows by Riley Long

The Hourglass Throne (The Tarot Sequence #3) by K.D. Edwards

Howl Down the Moon by Layla Dorine

How to Love a Dragon (Dragon Tamer #2) by Lila Mina

How We Ricochet by Faith Gardner

I Am Sebastian by Cameron James

I Bought Him, So He’s Mine by Kaylee Pike and Kyra Keys

Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

I F-ing Dare You by Emm Darcy

If I Were A Weapon (All These Gifts #1) by Skye Kilaen

The Immortality Trials (The Immortality Trials #1) by Madison Nicole

Incandescent by Christina Lee

Indigo: Nights (Indigo B&B #2) by Adrian J. Smith

Inked Temptation by Carrie Ann Ryan

In the City of Time by Gwendolyn Clare

Irresponsible Puckboy by Eden Finley and Saxon James

It’s Not Unusual To Be Loved by an Alien by Chloe Archer

Jamison by A.N. Waugh

Jilted: Jaren (The Foster Brothers #1) by Nora Phoenix

Just a Touch Away by Jae

Just One Date (Castleton Hearts #5) by Chelsea M. Cameron

Kieran by Avery Tu and Kota Quinn

The Kindred by Alechia Dow

Kink Camp: Hunted by A. Anders

Know It In the Dark (All These Gifts #2) by Skye Kilaen

Kostya the Fallen Star by Melissa Polk

The Last Hero (The First Sister #3) by Linden A. Lewis

Last Resort by Helene Gadot

Lead Me Astray by Sondi Warner

Let Me In (Gods of Hunger #3) by R.M. Virtues

Let the Light Shine Through by A. Marie

Lipstick Lies (The Order Duet #2) by Kris Butler

Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings

London (Circus After Dark #4) by Chloe Adler

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly

Love Me Gently by E.M. Dennings

Love You Like That by Scarlett Cole

Lunar New Love by Ophelia Silk

Man o’ War by Cory McCarthy

Match with the Demon by Chace Verity

Meet Me on St. Patrick’s Day by Bryony Rosehurst

Moon Dark Smile (Night Shine #2) by Tessa Gratton

MumFest & Murder (The Java Tavern #2) by Elizabeth Garver

Music Lights & Never Afters by C.L. Matthews

My Roommate Romeo (First Times #1) by Billie Bloom

Nestor (Green Hill Pride #6) by Catherine Lievens

Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino

Not Your Type by Elizabeth Jeannel

Odder Still by D.N. Bryn

Omega’s Study Partner (Sweet in Silford #3) by Hope Bennett

One Night With You by Laura Jane Williams

One Night With You by Sky McCoy

One Step at a Time by Lily Seabrooke

One Week with His Stepbrother (Daddy Tales #3) by Kelex

The One Who Loves You the Most by Medina

Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie

Paris (Circus After Dark #1) by Chloe Adler

Pitcher Perfect (Tap That Brewery #1) by Lee Blair

Playing for Keeps by Jax Calder

Play Me (Dragons Love Curves series #10) by Aidy Award

Pull (Love Is Love #1.5) by Nyla K.

Project Himbo by S.J. Whitby

Promote (Shattered Pawns #3) by Jennifer Cody

Pushing the Limits (Secrets Kept #2) by Riley Hart

Queen of Queens (Our Fae Queen #5) by Traci Lovelot

Queen’s Hope (Star Wars: The Padmé Trilogy #3) by E.K. Johnston

Reaper Hospital: Code Hot Nurse (Their Repear #2) by Lacey Carter Anderson

Recast (Handled #4) by Romilly King

The Redemption by Alexia Chase

Ripped (Kozlov Chronicles #3) by Elena Sobol

Rookie Mistake (On the Board #1) by Anna Zabo and L.A. Witt

Royal Exposé by Jenny Frame

Royal Lines (Boston Rebels #4) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey

Sasha and the Butcher (The Moretti Family #1) by Stephanie Kazowz

The Savior’s Rise (The Windermere Tales #2) by Talli L. Morgan

Scorpica (The Five Queendoms #1) by Greer Macallister

Seize the Castle (A Knight’s Revenge #2) by Elizabeth Dear

Shake Things Up (Love at Knockdown #2) by Skye Kilaen

Silent Secrets (The Secrets of Sorlphi #1) by Miranda May

Silhouette and the Shadows (Silhouette #1) by Delaney Andrews

The Society For Soulless Girls by Laura Steven

So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens

Spin the Damn Bottle (All the Games We Play #2) by Emm Darcy

Stiletto Sins (The Order Duet #1) by Kris Butler

Stitched (Kozlov Chronicles #1) by Elena Sobol

Stone Wings (The Gargoyles of Arrington #1) by Jenn Burke

Storm the Gates (A Knight’s Revenge #1) by Elizabeth Dear

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

Sugar Girl by Emma L. McGeown

Sweet to the Core (Lighthouse Bay #3) by Amy Aislin

Temptation Cove (Hot Takes #3) by T.S. Ankney

Tempt Me Tonight by Natasha Washington

A Tended Garden by J.P. Jackson

Thank You, Next by Andie J. Christopher

That Good Mischief (The Nine Worlds Rising #3) by Lyra Wolf

This Cursed Crown (These Feathered Flames #2) by Alexandra Overy

This Wicked Fate (This Poison Heart #2) by Kalynn Bayron

Tracking Trouble (Spellster Universe #2.5) by Aldrea Alien

The Trow of Duncaster by Melissa Polk

Twilight’s Touch (Prairie Smoke Ranch #2) by V.L. Locey

Two Rights Make a Wrong by Chloe Liese

Undeniable (Bainbridge University #4) by Andi Burns

Uninhibited (Bainbridge University #3) by Andi Burns

Unlikely Savior (For the Gods’ Amusement #3) by Catherine Lievens

Untitled (The Councillor #2) by E.J. Beaton

Us Against the World by Shayne Prescott

VAMPS: Fresh Blood by Nicole Arend

Venice (Circus After Dark #2) by Chloe Adler

Violet is Nowhere by Faith Gardner

Warrior Queen (Our Fae Queen #6) by Traci Lovelot

Warwick (Rebel Sky Ranch #4) by Kelly Fox

What’s Mine Is Yours by Willow Renee

When the Walls Come Down by Harper Robson

Wicked Beauty (Dark Olympus #3) by Katee Robert

The Wicked Love by Pru Schuyler

Wrong Hunt by J.S. Harker

Have you read any of these books? Or books with pan rep at all this year? Let me know! Happy Pan Week!

[catharsis-in-darkness]

Grief of Hearts Pt.4

pairing: Ricky Olson x OFC Iris & Vinny Mauro x OFC Iris

warnings/tropes: slow burn, enemies to lovers, angst, fluff, smut, language, mentions of cancer

summary: Iris' passion has always been passionate about music, specifically her band. What happens when she gets to open for her favorite band of all time and finally gets to meet her heroes?

author's note: This is a little bit of a longer chapter, but we finally got some action!!! I hope you guys enjoy :P

word count: 1925 words

Iris Hart 

Thankfully, the sound check went off without a hitch. We were currently getting ready in the green room waiting for our turn to go on stage. The nervousness was bubbling in my stomach already. I was finishing Arlo’s makeup while Nora was doing Carter’s. We heard the door open, making us all look up. Chris and Ryan walked grinning. 

“How are you guys feeling?” Chris asked us, wiggling his brows. Ryan took a seat on the couch next to Carter. 

“Are you guys nervous?” Ryan asked, hitting his mod, blowing the smoke in my direction. I laughed lightly. 

“Just a little, we’re used to smaller crowds.” I shrugged down playing my feelings. My body was slightly trembling. I was absolutely fucking terrified. This needs to go well so we can prove to them we’re good enough. I need to make Ricky Olson eat his fucking words. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We were about to get on stage. All of us adorned in our stage makeup and outfits we did a quick huddle. 

“Alright guys, this is going to be the best show we’ve ever fucking done!” I cheered, hoping my words poured some confidence into them. 

“We fucking got this guys!” Carted nodded along with me. 

“I love you guys.” Arlo said, making my heart soften. 

“Forever in our hearts.” Nora said, twirling her drum sticks. 

“For Logan.” I smiled. I turned to let Nora walk to her drum kit first. Arlo and Carter soon followed. I was about to walk onto stage when Vinny rushed up to me. 

“I just wanted to say good luck.” He said shyly. 

“Thank you Vin.” I smiled, kissing his cheek. I heard the first chords of Psychopath being played and ran out onto the stage. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ricky Olson 

You thought you left with no consequences.

You thought you could tear me in two. 

But now you’re showing your defenses. 

And you’re the one with the petty lies. 

It’s hard to escape the reality.

That you were never mine. 

You wasted my time, you were nothing. 

But I know how this story ends in your eyes. 

I couldn’t lie to myself any longer. She had a good voice, an amazing voice. She captured the crowd's attention immediately. She sang softly to them at first. She looked good, too fucking good. I don’t know why I’ve been an asshole to her. Something about her was so alluring and it fucking scared me. She reminded me of her at first, but seeing her now. Everything changed. The red lights casting down on her made her look powerful. Her dress flowed around her as she moved across the stage. She sounded like a siren and I was entranced in her voice. God this was fucking bad. My heart was pounding like crazy. 

Go and tell them all what happened.

But don’t leave your sins out.

Tell them all that I was crazy.

That you never understood me. 

Let them know,

That in the end. 

I was a Psychopath. 

She was now screaming and I couldn’t force myself to look away. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Seeing Vinny standing next to me, I forced a scowl on my face. He nudged me. 

“I told you they were good.” He said cockily. I saw the way he was acting with Iris earlier. He looked like a lovesick puppy. I couldn’t ruin this for him. He was happy, even happier around her. I was his fucking best friend and I was thinking about the girl he clearly liked, standing right next to him. 

“They’re still not as good as they should be if they’re touring with us.” I grumbled, turning around and forcing myself away from their show. This was fucking wrong. I walked back into the green room, slumping onto the couch. I ran my hands over my face letting out a sigh. Shaking the thoughts of her out of my head, I sat there waiting for our turn to go on stage. 

Vinny Mauro

She was beautiful. Her confidence seeped into everyone around her. As their first song finished, we made eye contact and her smile brightened. The things this girl was doing to me, it’s been so long since someone has made me feel this way. She made my chest feel warm. It was a weird but welcomed feeling. I gave her an equally warm smile and blew her a kiss. She silently laughed and started talking to the crowd. When I caught Rick watching her, a part of me felt threatened. He was looking at her like he didn’t absolutely hate her guts. Contrary to what he all wanted us to think. He looked at her the way he used to look at Jaime. I’m really hoping this doesn’t go the way I think it’s going too. 

Iris Hart 

The adrenaline was still coursing through my body as we got off of stage. We played our asses off. I was so pumped that when I saw Vinny standing on the side of the stage, I ran straight into his arms. 

“Whoa Princess! Excited to see me?” He smirked. I giggled before kissing his cheek and pushing him away playfully. 

“Maybe I did.” I shrugged before pulling him into a more gentle hug. He wrapped his arms around me pulling me in tighter. 

“You guys did so good.” He murmured into my hair. He was in his stage makeup and damn. He looked amazing. 

“Guys we fucking rocked that!!!” Carter said, jumping around us. I laughed pulling him and the rest of the band into a group hug. We did a lot better than I expected, considering that we had never played in front of that many people before. The show went off without a hitch. I loved them all so much. Tears started pooling in my eyes. I quickly pushed them down before cheering along with my bandmates. We were definitely celebrating tonight. Arlo was the first to break from the group, wishing the members of Motionless in White a good show. I gave Vinny another quick hug. 

Back in the green room we all sat down on the couches. We were exhausted but there was so much excitement running through our bodies we couldn’t sit still. My body was still buzzing even 30 minutes after. 

“Carter get offffff.” Nora said, pushing him off of her lap. Arlo and I exchanged looks before laughing at their shenanigans. Arlo was sitting next to me scrolling on his phone, he looked deep in thought. 

“How’s momma Lancaster doing?” I questioned, turning my body towards him. He shrugged. 

“She just got finished with her last chemo treatment. The doctors are hoping she’ll go into remission after this.” Arlo’s mom was one of my favorite people in the whole world. When we would all go to parties in high school, she would come and pick us up. Never getting mad at us for being normal teenagers. She witnessed my first heartbreak and was there to pick up the pieces immediately. When Arlo found out she was diagnosed with Stage 2 lymphocytic leukemia, he was heartbroken. He started retreating back into the boy I grew up knowing. He became quiet and reserved again. My bandmates were crazy, always have been. Arlo was always the one to balance us out. These days, it was harder for him to be away from home. 

“I’m glad, hopefully when we come home she’ll be doing better.” I laid my head on his shoulder. He leaned into me, responding with a nod. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We all decided to go out tonight to celebrate the first successful show of the tour. Nora and I were currently in our room getting ready. Nora tossed something at me as I was picking an outfit out. 

“Wear that.” She winked, making me look down at the red fabric in my hand. My eyes widened. 

“Absolutely not!” I threw it back at her. 

“Riri, I’ve seen the way you and Vinny have been acting! Maybe you’ll get some action tonight.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me. 

“We’re just friends!” Her face deadpanned. She grabbed the lingerie again, throwing it at me, this time hitting me directly in the face with it. I eyed it as it fell onto the bed. 

“Friends my ass! He calls you princess!” Nora exclaimed, looking at me with disbelief. 

“Look I know you haven’t gotten laid since you and you know who. Let yourself have this!” She shrugged, walking back into the bathroom. There was no way I would be fucking Vinny tonight! We’ve known each other for all of two days. Yeah, he’s hot and not to mention a sweetheart, but I am not messing up this early into the tour. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Time Skip)

We have two weeks left of tour and thankfully nothing has gone wrong. The tension between Vinny and I has become suffocating. We haven’t talked about our feelings towards each other, but we along with everyone else knew there was something going on. Ricky’s hate towards me has only grown the longer we’ve been around each other. We’re constantly bickering over stupid shit, making arguments out of nothing. He was insufferable. The rest of MIW was more accepting than he was. Chris and I grew a sibling-like bond. Even Arlo had started coming out of his shell more. We played a show almost every night and I think the exhaustion was starting to get to everyone. 

“Princesssss.” I heard Vinny drawl from next to me. I looked over to see a pout on his sweet face. We were sitting in the green room, just scrolling on our phones. 

“Yessssss.” I countered, raising my brow at him. He smiled innocently, before tackling me. My back hit the couch we were sitting on as I looked up at him, giggling. His gaze softened as we locked eyes. I saw his eyes flicker to my lips but he quickly averted his eyes back to mine. 

“You’re so pretty.” He said in a low tone. My face became hot, making me look away from him. I felt a soft hand on my cheek directing my face back to his. He inched closer, making my breath hitch. 

“Let me kiss you.” He whispered. Shock filled my body. We’ve cuddled before after the shows when we would watch movies, but that was the most we’ve done. I simply nodded. Soon after I felt his warm lips descend onto mine. My body was on fire. My heart felt like it was about to explode out of my chest. I melted into him, his tongue swiping over my bottom lip begging for entrance. I let him in, almost moaning at the taste of him. I tasted the starburst he had been eating beforehand and I savored it. He overwhelmed all of my senses, the smell of his cologne invading my space. He slowly pulled away from me, running his thumb across my lips. 

“Wow.” He breathed. I chuckled lightly, knowing exactly what he was talking about. 

“Wow.” I mocked him. His eyes turned to slits before he brought his ring covered hands down to my sides to tickle me. My body started curling up into itself from the invasion and loud laughs left my lips. He stopped soon after, staring at me softly again. 

“Let me take you out on a date, Princess.” He smiled goofily. I leaned up pressing a quick peck to his lips.

“I would love that.” I smiled at him. He cheered victoriously, before attacking me with his lips once again.  

[expectodragons]

Bitter Water || Chapter 6

✦ Summary: Guided only by a thin paper trail and a promising job offer, Catherine Hart returns to the school of her youth. Taking on the mantle of Beasts professor, the young witch must find a balance between her lessons and her continued search of the Highlands. Especially when under the watchful eye of the Potion Master. ✦ Pairing: Aesop Sharp x Female MC ✦ Word Count: 15,500 ✦ Rating: Mature, 18+ only - minors do not interact. ✦ Tags / Warnings: Age difference, colleagues-to friends-to-lovers, dual POV, language, mild injuries, slow burn. ✦ Story Playlist: Listen here ✦ Read on: AO3 || Tumblr (continue below)

The merriment of the holiday season had faded like warm breath on a window pane and all that remained was the bitter sting of January’s fury. It doused the valley in snow drifts higher than one’s knee. Pointed icicles threatened to plunge down upon anyone who dared walk under an archway or a line of barren trees – frozen in the silence like toy soldiers amongst the desolate winter landscape.

While Catherine found herself eternally grateful for her late Christmas gift from the potions professor, even the furious heat from the warming charm in her new gloves did little to battle off the wretched chill of the stinging wind.

She hurried through her morning chores each day – finding comfort at the Fire Crab’s enclosure more often than not, though she certainly didn’t dare to stand too close. As though she needed another third-degree burn marring her skin.

Most days the courtyard remained empty apart from the students coming to and from her class. Sometimes, she would spot the bright robes of the quidditch teams as they made their way across the snow-packed path to the pitch. In a world washed out by white and gray, the blur of color was a welcomed sight.

As she fed or groomed the Unicorns and Kneazles, she would sometimes find herself lost in the practice runs and mock games of the teams.

On one particular morning, before the sun had even fully risen, Catherine was out braving the cold. Wrapped up in the warmest clothes she could manage, her eyes alone peeking out from the soft fabric of her scarf. The last of the Mooncalves were out in their paddock, prancing through the snow when she approached with their breakfast.

She checked over all sixteen of the furry big-eyed creatures. Nora’s bandages would need changing by afternoon from the looks of it. And Harold would require another bout of supplements lest he fall ill again.

“Yeah, go on then,” she says softly, patting the head of June – the newest member of the cluster.

They disappear off into their covered enclosure – likely refusing to come out until their lunches are brought about.

With a flick of her wand, the large woven feed sack floats out from the shed and levitates across the yard to the unicorn’s paddock, where five usually stoic creatures were just beginning to rise from their slumber.

“Come on, come on. Before I catch my death, thank you.”

Sometimes, she missed the temperate weather of the lower continents. As much as she had complained of the overbearing direct sunlight during her time in the Golden Coast and Cairo, she would give just about anything for a warm ray of natural light these days.

As she begins portioning out their specially mixed feed into the long wooden troughs, she hears a distant shout from the neighboring quidditch pitch.

“Come on, Parson!”

The Gryffindor team had been out practicing before even Catherine roused to tend to the beasts. She had watched the whirl of red robes ducking in and around the stadium’s towers with a belated interest. They stood a decent chance at the Cup this year if their training was anything to go by. That was, until…

“Watch out!”

She barely has time to lift her head up when a noticeable thump crashes into the top of the classroom’s wards and bounces off into the canopy of trees before slamming down onto the forest floor.

The young professor slashes the warding in an instant and takes off towards the small figure crumpled near the bottom of a towering Scots Pine.

With her scarf now tugged down to her neck, she asks in a harsh breath, “Are you alright?”

The girl tries to roll to her side but lets out a rather pathetic moan.

“Okay, easy now.”

She takes a quick visual assessment of her positioning – nothing twisted, nothing noticeably broken – before she eases out the girl’s legs. Now fully on her back, the young player lets out a long breath, her hands resting on her chest as she stares up at the empty canopy above her.

“I’m fine… I think. Just… wind knocked out of me.”

Catherine pulls up onto her knee, staring down at the student.

“No wonder, flying like you just did.”

The girl’s eyes roam across to her, a thin smile on her face, “New broom.”

With a nod, she extends her hand out to the prone player.

“Think you can stand?”

Another jerk of her head and then Catherine’s hauling her up onto her feet. She casts a wary eye upon her, almost expecting a sudden injury to emerge. After a moment, the girl reaches down to grab hold of her forgotten broomstick – a flush creeping across her cheeks that the young professor assumes isn’t from the sharp sting of the wind.

“I… I better get back.”

“As long as you think you can manage.”

She mounts the broom, looking momentarily hesitant before she gives herself a reassuring nod and kicks off.

Catherine watches her go – swaying back and forth through the trees before she dips down over the crumbling castle wall toward the pitch. With a shake of her head, she walks back over to the paddocks and finishes up her rounds.

It just so happens that she’s walking back to the castle at the same time the Gryffindor team is trudging along – likely heading back in an attempt to grab breakfast before classes were due to start.

“The hell are we gonna do?”

A blonde-haired player lingers back alongside a stout boy who strides forward with an air of confidence.

“She just needs more training – one on one.”

“Fat lot of good that’ll do. Are you sure we can’t convince Miles to –”

“That’s a null and void conversation. Don’t even bother.”

Her eyes travel through the group – counting them all off – before she realizes one sole player is missing from the troop. She glances back at the pitch and spots a tiny blur of red still circling the stadium.

As the team heads inside, Catherine pauses near the frozen fountain.

It’s a split-second decision that has her wandering through the snow drifts away from the warmth of the castle.

Standing in the middle of the field, she watches the young girl fly lap after lap – her eyes never straying far from a small glittering winged ball of gold. Only once she’s able to nab hold of it, does she even look down to see the bundled-up witch in the center of the pitch. She swoops down just a foot away from the professor.

“So, you’re the new seeker then.”

The girl’s fingers tighten around her broom’s handle as she gives a quick nod.

“Teller, well, his Mum and Dad weren’t too happy with his last grading report before Christmas and they had Professor Weasley kick him off the team. And no one wanted to try and take on the position – he’s been on for the last five years now, you know. And, well…”

“And here you are?” Catherine surmises.

She nods again.

The young witch stares down at the third-year – spotting a familiar look in her nervous features. A soft smile graces her face as she beckons the girl forward – the two beginning to walk back to the castle together.

“You know… I was Gryffindor’s seeker in my seventh year. Never even played the game before they had me doing laps at try-outs.”

She can feel the sudden gaze at her side, “Really?”

“Mhmm. Plenty of talented players, people who knew every bit of trivia about the game – all the tactics and high-profile people on the National Leagues. Felt like I was a Porlock in a sea of Graphorns.”

Catherine glances down, spotting the curious look on the girl’s face.

“What… what did you do?”

Staring forward, toward the approaching castle doors, she replies, “I put my heart into it. Studied everything I could between classes, and started following the big teams in the papers each week. And practiced. Every free moment I could spare.”

A contemplative look befalls the young student’s features. A frizzled brow and a scrunched nose.

“I don’t know if that’d work for me.”

“Why not?”

With a steadying breath, she finally says, “I know all the moves. I follow the Harpies and the Tornadoes every play. It’s just… when I get out there with the rest of my team, I just…”

Her expression grows distant and a brief moment of understanding crosses Catherine’s mind. At last, they climb the steps to the Bell Tower. But before she can push the door open, the professor pauses.

“You know, as a fellow Gryffindor and an ex-player, I would have every right to offer my… wisdom, should your captain welcome it?”

A smile, slow at first but soon stretched wide in awe, greets her.

“Would you?”

She smiles down at the girl in return.

“I’m sure something can be arranged. Miss…?”

“Parson. Laura Parson, professor.”

Aesop peers up from the cauldrons currently resting under a stasis charm in a secluded corner of the classroom at the sound of a gentle rapping of knuckles against the door. He finds himself fighting to contain a smile as the young woman crosses the room, beaming back at him in return.

Though classes had resumed on the fifth, he had scarcely seen the Beasts professor since her arrival back from her winter holiday in France. There had been passing words in the staff lounge, of course. A curt greeting when they happened to cross paths in the tapestry corridor. But a full conversation had been waiting in the wings ever since that last chaperoning trip to Hogsmeade together in December.

“Hello again, properly,” she smiles as she crosses the flagstones.

He watches as stray snowflakes fall from her hat and the shoulders of her cape, toppling to the floor as they leave a melted trail of droplets all the way from the door to where he stands.

“It has been some time,” he admits in his gruff tone of voice.

“Well, hopefully, what I have here will more than make up for that!”

His eyes flicker down to the bright white of her smile as she licks her chapped lips and unceremoniously deposits her leather bag on his desk. Aesop folds his arms across his chest, peering down at the pouch as she begins to pull two small containers out.

“My fifth-years just sorted these this afternoon. Don’t worry – the Gryffindors collected them while my Ravenclaws handled the actual grinding.”

He doesn’t even attempt to smother his smirk as she easily pokes fun at her own House. Grabbing hold of one of the jars, he holds it up to the candlelight and examines its contents with an assessing dark eye. The Unicorn horn was a fine white powder with barely a blemish to be found within the granules.

“It was quite lucky, actually,” she continues on, unprompted. “I noticed the beginnings of shedding Saturday evening and sure enough, this morning I had three unicorns rubbing against the fencing trying to rid themselves of their own horns. Two weeks early, at that! I just hope the other two hold on long enough for my other fifth-years to get a chance at it as well.”

Sharp gives a hum of acknowledgment as he sets the container down, “My compliments to your teaching skills, Hart.”

That makes the young witch quirk her brow as a roguish smile graces her pale features.

“Oh?”

“Clearly you’ve instructed your students well. Perhaps better than even my own attempts…” he trails off, considering the state of some of his older students under his tutelage and their inability to properly slice, dice, and grind ingredients after several years of instruction.

“Ah, that. Well, I merely explained that part of their grade for this quarter was dependent on how well their potions professor found the quality of their ingredients. That might have done the trick.”

He feels his own brows rise at that.

“I mean,” she begins twisting her fingers together as her blue eyes leave his face to gaze down at the floor.

“Creature handling is usually thought of in such limited terms, but there are so many different aspects to it that I think some of my students forget. Like harvesting byproducts for potions, or rehabilitative work, even healing situations – there’s a whole branch of veterinary work out there. It’s not just all – ”

She flaps her hands out for a moment, trying to tie together her next words as if they were an invisible item just out of reach, “– pet the Puffeskein, play with the Kneazles, and earn an Outstanding. You know what I mean?”

A half-smile graces his lips, “I believe so.”

She stares up at him then with this… unreadable expression on her face. It makes him feel both put on the spot by it and equally lost in the warmth of its intensity.

And then she smooths her hands over her trousers and says, “And on that note, I do actually need to go groom some Kneazles right now.”

Collecting her bag and resettling her powder-blue hat upon her head, Aesop watches as she prepares to leave and he finds some inner part of himself reaching out – a phantom hand trying to grab hold of the invisible strings that lay between them like dust in the sunlight. They had not shared a common space and been able to fill it with familiar conversation in so many weeks that he was reluctant to see her walk out the classroom door just yet.

Just like Mirabel, Abraham, and Dinah, he found himself drawn to her presence and welcomed the warm interactions they shared together. He could not say that for many other members of the faculty. There was just something about her that made him seek out her candor. Finding a smidgen of pride bubbling up in his chest whenever he managed to pull a genuine laugh from her lips.

“I never did thank you.”

That makes her pause mid-step as she slowly twirls back around, her face struck with an air of curiosity.

“For your gift,” he clarifies.

A rather amusing blush crosses her cheeks as she looks toward the adjacent brewing station before she meets his eyes once again.

“I know it probably seemed a bit out of place from what you usually get, or what I assume you usually get.”

He smiles down at her, resting his hands behind his back, “All the more reason I enjoyed it as much as I did.”

A swell of pride swoops through his chest at the smile she bestows upon him. And he finds himself falling down a path of rambling thoughts before he can even blink back to awareness at his surroundings.

“I assure you, Hart, it was a welcome change from the stacks of brewing books and paperweights that are typically sent my way over the holiday. I must admit, I found myself looking through the portraits well past the midnight hour that evening.”

Slowly, she lowers herself onto a stool – swiping her blue pointed hat from her head, her eyes never leaving his – as if in a trance.

“Which was your favorite, if I may ask?”

Aesop ponders this for a moment as he joins her at the empty station – this was their shared free period at the end of the day, there was little more to do now besides grading papers – with his right foot resting on the spindle of the stool and his left foot placed on the ground beside the corner of the station.

In his mind, he can see many of the images from the book in near clarity. A few notable favorites, some less so. But finally, he settles on an answer.

“A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Manet.”

And then he blinks and he finds himself focusing in on the lazy smile on the woman’s face as she stares up at him with another unreadable thing flickering around in her crystalline blue eyes.

Clearing his throat, he asks, “Out of curiosity, do you have any opinions on the art movement?”

She straightens up, resting her hands on the table as she leans forward with this ringing air of excitement, “Yes, absolutely! While I’m partial to Monet’s Water Lily Pond, I actually favor more of Van Gogh’s work.”

“Really?” he asks, leaning forward as well – drawn in by her enthusiasm.

“Yes, his Starry Night –”

Aesop gives a playful groan, rolling his eyes for the full effect.

“Why does that not surprise me, Hart?”

Her brows pinch together, clearly taken aback, “What?”

“A typical museum-goer could point to a handful of classical renderings. The Mona Lisa, or Girl with a Pearl Earring, or… Liberty Leading the Peoplefor example, and claim it to be their favorite simply by having such a limited range of exposure to the arts.”

She bites the corner of her lip and gives a little roll of her shoulders that makes it seem as though she’s preparing for a battle on an artistic plane. He finds himself even more intrigued.

“Okay, Sharp,” she begins, leveling him with a steely gaze.

“I was about to say my favorite Van Gogh is Starry Night Over the Rhone, even though it’s typically overlooked by the more famous Starry Night painting. I find the subdued colors more appealing, for a start. And his work with the lighting is impeccable: the way he has the stars reflect off the water. And the texture! It practically jumps off the painting to the point where I feel like I could actually touch the waves as they were truly there on the canvas.”

Slowly, a curved smirk rises from his lips as he folds his hands together into a fist on the countertop.

“All right, that’s a marginally reasonable answer. But you can’t deny the fact that Van Gogh wasn’t actually an Impressionist painter.”

With an audible groan, she rakes a hand through her ice-blonde tresses, “At the beginning of his career he was! Almost every Impressionist moved onto the Post-Impressionism movement beside Monet.”

“And if I might say,” she jabs her finger on the table for emphasis. “Impressionism in itself uses color as a way to represent landscape and how light affects it. Post-Impressionism just uses color to convey emotions. You can’t tell me that Over the Rhone is a post-impressionist landscape.”

“And yet, as a whole, it is Monet who is frequently accredited with the first movement. While Van Gogh is solely recognized in the post-movement,” he surmises.

“Actually,” she interrupts. “Manet is the sole founder of the movement. Does Le Déjeuner sur l'herb ring any bells?”

Aesop finds himself momentarily stunned by the graceful way the French title falls from her lips before he grins – pressing forward with another retort. He hadn’t enjoyed a conversation this much in ages.

“Which further shows your inability to accept the fact that your precious painter is not in fact a part of the Impressionism movement itself. Merely inspired by the true artists in Paris. Was it not Van Gogh himself who admitted he was completely unaware of the style until he visited the city in 1886?”

“Well, yes, but –“

“And while one could argue that an artist’s style is capable of changing over time, perhaps it can be said that Van Gogh was never a member of the original movement, merely a user of the muted Dutch palette of the time.”

Hart shakes her head in disbelief, muttering to the table’s surface, Merlin give me strength, before she fixes her gaze on Aesop and starts back up.

“Well, one could say, that Monet became stagnant in his process of painting hazy pastel landscapes while the rest of the artists in the original Impressionism movement moved on with the times and adapted their styles accordingly. Which isn’t to say I don’t enjoy some of Monet’s work, because I do – but the point I’m trying to make is –”

A flicker of fight dies from his lips as he finds his curiosity piqued.

“And which paintings would those be?”

He watches as she exhales through her nose, the frightening height of her argument brought back down to a respectable level for polite conversation – though he almost immediately misses the blaze of determination in her eyes.

“Woman with a Parasol and Bordighera.”

With a quirk of his lip, Aesop adds in an easy, soft sort of tone, “I find myself partial to Van Gogh’s Almond Blossoms and Café Terrace at Night.”

They both stare at each other for a breathless moment before Hart tips over with her wide smile and ringing laugh – one that Aesop finds himself quick to replicate with his own low chuckle.

“So,” she wipes a stray tear from the corner of her eye, her face still flushed with laughter. “What I believe we’re both agreeing to is the fact that we’re capable of enjoying many artists despite their reported in or out status within the Impressionism movement?”

Shaking his head, unable to hide his smile, he says, “I believe so.”

He looks at her then, truly looks at her. At the near-permanent smile on her face, the flicker of amusement dancing in her eyes, and something else. Something he can’t quite put a name to – there, in the depth of her expression when she blinks and looks up at him – her closed smile growing impossibly wider.

“So…” she breathes out, giving a little shake to her head as an errant curl falls across her cheek. “Is your stance firmly settled on just Impressionism, or do you have varying opinions on other eras?”

Aesop bares his teeth in a wolfish grin, “I find Impressionism to be one of my least favorite movements, in all actuality.”

Her eyes bulge and a frown begins to form on her unblemished face.

“Not to say that I don’t enjoy it, obviously,” he makes quick to explain. “But out of several centuries worth of painting, I can hardly claim it to be my absolute favorite, now, can I?”

“Okay then,” she crosses her right leg over her left knee, leaning back to fold her arms over her chest. “Let’s hear it then. Where do your loyalties lie?”

“Baroque has its merits, of course.”

She scoffs, “If you’re interested in a darkened palette and exaggerated movement, I suppose.”

“You find fault with it?” he raises his brow, sensing another well-placed debate brewing in the downturn of her lips.

“Obviously.”

Aesop smirks, folding his own arms across his chest as he stares at her.

“Then, by all means, enlighten me. What era do you find more appealing?”

She seems to mull it over for a moment, as her tongue peeks out to wet her lips before she finally settles on: “Rococo.”

He chuckles, “You’ll argue against the merits of Monet but you find Rococo-style works to be just fine?”

With a shrug of her shoulders, she says, “I prefer the palette, for one. And the more natural movement. Baroque-era styling just feels so… dramatic; heavy. Whereas Rococo brings a more, I don’t know… easy-going sort of feeling. I suppose you’d also be so bold as to say that Classicism holds a special place for you as well?”

“Nat as much, but there are some portraits that I find… welcoming on the eyes.”

Hart gives a little nod, “And your thoughts on the Renaissance era?”

At that, he snorts, “Over-rated.”

“Oh, thank Godric,” she sighs, placing a hand over her heart as if she had expected him to tell her the worst sort of news. “You’re still capable of some common sense, that’s truly a relief to hear.”

Raising a lone brow, he dryly says, “I’m pleased to find that I’ve met your high standards.”

She lets out a short laugh, shaking her head as she says, “Hush. I was just afraid you would sit there and spew some snobbish nonsense to me about how that style is far superior to any other in the entire history of the world of art.”

“Decidedly not.”

She offers him a small smile then, flicking her gaze from his face to her hands on the countertop of the brewing station.

“So… if that’s not a favorite of yours, then what exactly would you say is?”

Aesop stares up at the curved stone arches of the classroom ceiling, pondering the question for just a moment, before he replies.

“Romanticism.”

Catherine blinks; once, then twice. Her mouth forms a curious little o shape before she presses her lips together and asks, “Really?”

“Is that somehow surprising?” he wonders, uncrossing his arms as he stares down at her – trying to place the pieces of the puzzle that was her expression.

“Well, I thought perhaps you would say something more… I don’t know, obscure? Like Tonalism or something of that nature. But, Romanticism, genuinely?”

He hums in return, finding his gaze lost in the dumbfounded look upon the woman’s face.

“Wha– uhm, what artists do you favor?”

“Well,” he lingers on this for a moment before finding the answers rather easily. “Friedrich, J.M.W. Turner, Eugène Delacroix – of course –”

“Of course,” she murmurs along.

He nods, “And, perhaps… John Constable.”

“Oh, his stuff is quite good,” she agrees.

“Indeed.”

They sit there for a moment in the draping silence of the conversation before several thoughts cross through Aesop’s mind. The first of which, he is quick to voice.

“You never said.”

At the lift of her eyebrows, he reiterates.

“Your favorite style.”

“Oh.”

Hart looks away, twisting her fingers together once again. He finds a desire to uncover the reason for the strange response. Leaning forward, offering a warm expression, he teases.

“Come now, Hart. Afraid I’ll tear apart your answer as you did mine?”

She looks up, eyes bright and alert, “No, of course not. It’s just… well, it’s not a common answer.”

He gives a little hum, “Consider me intrigued then.”

Readjusting herself on the stool, he can feel the light brush of the toe of her boot against his left knee – nothing hard, or discomforting. But a gentle press as she bounces her foot in thought.

“Have you ever heard of Ukiyo-e?”

Perhaps he had been expectant of too common an answer, some strange little movement of the American or Eastern European variety. But he has to shake his head in response, “I’m afraid I have not.

“It’s a, uhm, Japanese art style. Usually in the form of printed woodblocks. Two summers back, I was trekking through Imperial Japan, and I happened upon a village in the mountains. This muggle sutler had these blocks displayed out across a cloth sheet on the ground and I was just immediately entranced by them. The color, Aesop. It just pops off the wood. The lines were so crisp, I don’t even know how to properly describe it to you.”

She shakes her head then, giving a little laugh that seemed to stem from some sort of place of embarrassment, though for what reason he’s not sure.

“I actually have one on display, down in my room. It’s a copy, obviously.”

Aesop leans forward, steepling his index fingers together.

“How did your interest in the arts come about?”

Hart lets out a low breath, leaning back on the stool once again. Her gaze grows distant for but a moment before the electric blue of her irises meets his eyes.

“Traveling, in all honesty. Certainly didn’t have the time or funds to go to a museum when I was younger. And obviously being here at the school changed those prospects for me quite a bit as well.”

She absently chews on her lower lip, teleported back to the memories of her youth. And for a moment, Aesop is reminded of the clear and undeniable fact that the girl who was once his student is in fact a fine young woman now. He would have never imagined, nearly a decade back, that he would be sitting here with the new fifth-year having an in-depth conversation about art, of all topics.

“When I was assigned to an encampment in France, at the beginning of my tenure with the Ministry, they placed me with a man – Edmund Hughes.”

Aesop found the name familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it to any particular face in his mind.

“Anyway, we kept busy most of the days we were there. At the time, we were tracking down this aggressive Bretagne Vouivre Dragon that was encroaching far too close to a muggle town. Well, one night, we were stuck dealing with negotiators from the French Ministry who felt they were better equipped to handle the situation, even though the Department had requested our assistance with the matter in the first place. Uh, sorry. Anyway…”

She waves her hand as if to clear the memory from the air.

“Hughes knew we were stuck with our thumbs in our pockets, as it were, for likely the next week or so while bureaucratic dealings went on. Just up and decided – after downing a lovely French port of wine, of course – that we should enjoy the evening on our own terms. He rounded up our little team and we apparated to Place Cachée. Led us straight down to the Louvre.”

Hart gives another little bubble of laughter, “I had never stepped foot in a museum before that night.”

Aesop feels his own heart clench at the admission. Admittedly, his own upbringing had brought about many opportunities – perhaps a few that he hadn’t been completely grateful for at the time. Not necessarily a silver spoon sort of life, but well-off in many senses of the term.

A no-nonsense governess had given him his first introduction to the world of art at the tender age of five. He was well-versed in all the classical wizarding artists: Monsieur DeBlanc, Cetus Barringer, Andorra van Kemp. It was only thanks to his own natural pursuit of knowledge that he became acquainted with the greats of the Muggle world.

While wizards and witches had the astounding ability to create life-like moving portraits, the muggle world was restricted: forced to make a painting capture a single moment, a multitude of emotions. Aesop almost considered that feat more awe-inspiring than that of their wizarding counterparts.

“Have you been to many others since then?” He wonders, his tone softened by his musings.

“A few, if I’m given the chance,” she admits with the crack of a proper smile.

“Over your travels, have you ever found your way to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square?”

“I’m afraid I have not,” Hart sighs in admittance.

Aesop gives a half-curved smile in return, “You should go: if you find the time to do so. I find it to be an appealing institution dedicated to the arts.”

“Perhaps I should,” she gazes up at him under the flutter of her fair-colored eyelashes.

It was not unusual to find the Beasts and Potions professors walking together for dinner in the Great Hall most nights. In fact, it was a very common occurrence, one that the general populace rarely – if ever – took note of. In the same way, Professors Ronen and Weasley could be seen making the journey together during the lunch period. Or, in the opposite case of Professor Onai and Shah, who avoided each other like a severe case of Dragon Pox.

No, it could be said that the sight of Sharp and Hart walking into the Hall together right after the food graced the tables was nothing to pay much attention to.

But tonight, Catherine noted, several curious eyes followed their path as they breezed past the outer section of the Slytherin table. She only noticed it given the fact that she had looked away from Aesop to laugh in another chastising tone.

Their conversation from that afternoon had continued, nearly non-stop, well into the evening hour. When the final period bell had sounded for the day, they had both made attempts to resume their duties and go their separate ways. Until she made a follow-up comment to something he had said earlier in their little debate, and then they were both drawn back to the brewing station – tucked into yet another conversation.

And it hadn’t let up.

They were well past the point of reasonable small talk or friendly collegial conversation. But neither one of them seemed particularly interested in bringing an end to it. And so, it continued on, all the way to the Great Hall several hours after it had first begun.

“I find quite the inspiration from Delacroix’s printing techniques.”

She snorts, “You would.”

Sharp shoots her an amused look with another hitched eyebrow as they make it to the table, “Meaning…?”

Catherine presses past him as she finds her seat. Aesop pushes in her chair for her after she sits down before he moves to the vacant spot to her left. She stares after him for only a second more.

“Meaning…” she begins, portioning out bits of roasted garlic potatoes and rosemary-scented asparagus onto her plate. “That I find it fitting that you would see greatness in a French printmaker’s work.”

She can feel his curious expression gazing into the side of her face, though she thoroughly ignores it. There’s a bitter-sounding scoff of disbelief. She thinks she can even see the shake of his head – the billowing of his chestnut-colored hair.

“Is that all?”

Finally affording him a look, she continues, “An outdated technique is where you find your muse. You have an interest in older art movements, it’s truly not all that surprising.”

Aesop snorts, “I’m not sure I would consider it to be outdated if one could still find it in use within nearly every newspaper currently in circulation.”

She faces him then, “Printmaking, in itself, is not an outdated technique, Sharp. If it was, I most likely wouldn’t be calling Ukiyo-e a current favorite art movement. But as it is, that is a form of relief printing. Whereas what you’re referring to with Delacroix’s portfolio is lithography – a far older version of printmaking that is far less frequently in use than you’d like to believe it to be.”

With a huff of self-determined breath, she looks at her companion. There she finds the darkness of his eyes staring back at her, though there’s a warmth radiating from them that leaves her feeling less than discontent.

“And the reason you find printmaking – sorry, lithography, so foul is –”

“What I mean to say is,” she sighs, placing her spoon down and leaning towards him, “It’s rather silly that a Frenchman had taken up printmaking techniques when the near entirety of the artists in his country were devoted to oil painting at the time. Now, sketches I could understand. But where was he hoping to advance the realm of lithography?”

Aesop’s lips curve into a slight smirk, giving another shake of his head, and then he picks up his own cutlery once again, “I merely said I found inspiration in those particular works, Hart. Certainly, you can’t find fault in every statement I make.”

At that, she grins.

“I most certainly can, and will, if you keep making such ridiculous statements.”

There’s a lapse in conversation, but it lasts perhaps two bites worth of food more before it continues right back up again.

Her gaze rarely strays from the man next to her, if only for a moment to look away with a laugh spilling from her lips or to give another wry shake of her head. But, she is at least aware of the instant the noise in the hall begins to fade as the students lift themselves from the benches and begin to head toward the corridor once again.

“I believe,” she leans over to say with another tired smile. “That this is a conversation we’ll need to continue another day.”

Sharp seems to agree as he stands up and offers her a hand of help – one which she takes with a grateful look.

“Professor,” he bows his head, his eyes trailing back up to her face – focusing on her own eyes for just a second more – before he takes his leave of her, heading down the stairs and making his way out of the Great Hall.

Catherine watches him go for a moment more before she redirects her attention to the remaining faculty members. A memory of her ongoing lists of things to accomplish before the weekend jolts to the forefront of her mind when she spots Aragon pressing past Satyavati.

“Oh! Headmaster? Could I have a word, sir?”

The older man’s face lights up with curiosity.

It wasn’t a particularly common occurrence for Catherine to seek out candor with the Headmaster, if ever.

“Something I can do for you, Hart?”

Even though she was nearing thirty, standing before any sort of authority figure, like Aragon, still made her body awash with nerves. As if she was about to be on the questioning of a lifetime for some accused thing she had no part in.

“I was wondering, sir, if there were any particular rules in place that would keep an outside source – say… a professor – from assisting one of the Quidditch teams.”

That inquiry clearly takes him back, but it’s a smile that graces his face as he seems to ponder over the question.

“Well…” he drawls. “To the best of my knowledge, there aren’t any rules that keep a non-player from offering assistance to a team. So long as nothing is being done to give an unfair advantage in the form of, say… self-braking brooms or charmed uniform pieces that enable higher aerodynamics, for example. Or, obviously, the use of illegal substances such as Felix Felicis. No, I should think there would be nothing that would keep a professor from offering their help.”

He pauses for a second, giving her a bitten-down look of amusement.

“Any particular reason you asked?”

Catherine can barely contain the smile that wants to shine on her face, but she makes a valiant effort at it.

“Perhaps… sir.”

An appearance of understanding falls across his face and he gives a short nod, “Of course, of course. Send my regards to Mr. Spinnet, yes?”

He then gives her a gentle pat on the shoulder before he departs.

Schooling her features into something resembling a normal expression, she heads down to her quarts with a slight skip to her step. She had a letter to write.

Catherine rouses even earlier that following Friday, keen to finish her work in the classroom before her meeting time with Arthur Spinnet was set to take place. Bundled up in two pairs of trousers and a heavy woolen sweater, she collects her gloves and a warm hat before she ascends the stairs to the courtyard with her broom in tow.

Just as she’s finishing up her rounds with the Porlocks, she hears the familiar warble of voices across the grounds. Grabbing hold of her broom, she wanders over to the Pitch.

Spinnet already has the team working through a series of exercises up above the field when she arrives, while the young man stands contemplatively still in the center of the stadium.

“Merlin’s balls, Bell! My gran can fly smoother than that!” he calls out to a lanky-looking boy sailing by.

With a smile, she approaches the ambitious fifth-year.

“Mr. Spinnet.”

His eyes drop back down to the ground and he quickly uncrosses his arms, extending out a hand, “Professor! Thank you for meeting with me.”

She had shared a series of three notes with the Gryffindor boy over the past week. The first expressing her willingness to aid in any form of advice or training. The second was an agreement for a day that would best suit both parties. Catherine didn’t have a first period to teach today and she was already planning on taking the free hour to massage her sore muscles after whatever hell she went through at this early morning practice.

Taking on a vigil beside the boy, she watches the team up above. Their flying was fine, by all appearances. The two chasers and two beaters flew together in near synchronicity. It was the lone, small-statured player at the rear that seemed most out of place from the rest of them.

“I stand by what I said in my first correspondence, Mr. Spinnet,” she says, keeping her eyes trained on the players overhead. “It’s not just your new Seeker who needs a spot of extra help.”

He snorts, crossing his arms once again.

“I’ll believe it when I see it, Professor. No offense, of course. But this team has been a solid front for the last three years.”

“Complacency in that idea is what is causing your stagnation, Captain. Take my word for the next two hours and we’ll see how everything plays out, as agreed upon. Yes?”

With a jerky nod, the boy shoves his fingers into his mouth and lets out a sharp whistle – alerting the players to make their descent. Once the group of six students lands and takes up a half-circle formation around her, Spinnet gives a vague the floor is yours gesture and backs up to join his team.

“Good morning,” she smiles. “I’m sure your esteemed Captain has informed you all as to why I’m here today. I come offering only advice and wish to impart a bit of time-earned wisdom upon you all. I think we can all agree, we want to see Gryffindor take the Cup this year.”

“Yeah!” two boyish voices holler at once, followed by several nods of enthusiastic agreement.

“All right then,” Catherine claps her hands together, pocketing her broom in the crook of her right elbow. “Let’s see how well you know one another’s positions, yeah?”

Several confused looks are spared her way as she assigns each player a new position. Spinnet, for his part, takes it all in stride – following upon the terms of her agreement to do this little training session with them today.

“You’re a good team – I’ve seen you practice these past few months. But a player who’s only capable of doing their position to perfection isn’t a team player. You need to know the moves of your fellow players. Anticipate how your next action affects them.”

Throwing a beater’s bat to Georgina Wilkes, one of the three chasers, she pairs her off with Cassius Diggory – one of the actual team beaters. Melinda Mason takes on the role of Keeper for Theodore Bell. While Laura Parson switches places with the team captain.

When she tosses the Quaffle into play, the ensuing match is chaotic – to say the least.

While the chasers merely have to score against a single Keeper and have no real outside interference, their technique is severely underpar. But this wasn’t an attempt to watch them fully succeed at another position, Catherine wanted to press home the point that every role on the team mattered. That they needed to work together in harmony if they stood any chance at winning.

Wilkes sends the bludger directly at Bell’s head, while Oscar Clark fumbles the Quaffle and watches it fall for several feet before Parson soars after it.

She lets them go on like this for several minutes – scoring only one singular goal in the process – before she calls them back down to the field.

“Well, that was entirely pointless,” Clark whispers to Bell.

“Was it?” she asks just as dryly.

When she’s met with a mixture of sheepish and questioning looks, she rests back on the handle of her broom.

“Mr. Clark, I would hope you would gain an appreciation for the skill it takes your Chasers to garner to successfully handle a Quaffle. Perhaps, instead of begrudging newcomers to your team, you could take a moment to offer wisdom.”

Referring to the conversation she had been privy to last week when he had been bemoaning his frustrations over the new Seeker to Spinnet, seems to make the boy blanch.

“A well-oiled team knows the intricacy of every team member’s position. If your strongest player is incapable of filling in for another, then what is the point of proclaiming you are the best team in the school?”

Giving them a purposeful look, floating to every player, she continues, “Yes, you succeeded in past years. You had wonderful victories. Don’t let that keep you tethered to mediocrity. I have watched the other teams practice – they all move in cohesion. While I can offer you tips and plays, I can not turn you into a perfect machine. That’ll be up to you to manage. But for now…”

Her eyes roam across the team until they land on Laura Parson.

“I think I agreed to teach your new seeker a move that no one else at this school knows.”

The girl’s expression immediately brightens under the glow of the morning sunrise.

After a beat, she asks, “How many of you follow the international teams?”

Bell slowly raises his hand, “Sure. I went to Sydney to watch the World Cup last year with my Da.”

A few similar nods follow his statement. Catherine gives a knowing smile.

“And outside of the largest sporting event in the game’s history?”

Silence meets her in return and she grins.

“Well, it looks like this might just be a new play for you all. Has anyone here heard of the name Josef Wronski before?”

She spends the next hour introducing Parson to the Polish tactic. It was only introduced into the world of the sport seven or so years back and hadn’t truly taken off in many places outside of its country of origin. Catherine had managed to catch a game when she was passing through the country on her way into the German Empire back in 1897.

It’s a different sort of freedom when she’s flying around the pitch with the team. While her flight times with the Hippogriffs last semester had been a liberating experience, with the wind whipping against her frozen cheeks today, she felt a determined thrill ringing throughout her body. An old sensation buried after graduation. Maybe she could convince Matilda to start up a faculty league.

“That’s it, Laura!” she shouts behind her as the girl gains speed on her. “As far as you can go, come on!”

It was a matter of zigging and zagging across the pitch before taking a sharp dive down to the field – almost to the point of crashing – before you managed to pull your broom up at the last possible second. The intention was to have your opponent crash or become so distracted that they didn’t notice the true location of the snitch.

Parson had been doing beautifully in replicating her moves and as she glanced back at Spinnet, the team captain seemed equally impressed down on the ground.

After touching back down beside him, she instructed the chasers on an old tactic that had worked for her team a decade ago. Apparently, it was one that Spinnet said had fallen out of use over the years and might just prove to be a game-changer against the other houses.

In the end, there’s a group of sweaty, exhausted, but completely exhilarated students who wave their thanks to her as they trudge back through the snow to the castle. Both Parson and Spinnet offer her another few words of gratitude, and the captain gently hints at having another possible training session in the future.

“We’ll see,” is all she says in return – beaming at the feeling of tired muscles and aching bones now plaguing her body. It wasn’t every day the twenty-eight-year-old powered through a full morning of training, after all.

With how many paces she was putting her broom through these past few days, Catherine found herself in Hogsmeade on a blustery Saturday afternoon to purchase a new set of flying gloves. While her Christmas present from Aesop had been a true treat for the winter weather, their grip wasn’t quite what she needed for early morning training sessions with the Gryffindor team. The frost had a nasty way of clinging to the handle of her broom before the sunlight managed to melt away the ice crystals.

The wizarding village was rather emptied out for a Saturday, though she placed the blame on the dismal weather entirely.

While the Christmas season had brought the joy of shopping for friends and loved ones which enticed several people to go out and peruse the local wares, January had no such draw.

In fact, most people would prefer to stay at home near the fire if given the choice.

And she would have too if it wasn’t for the need of new gloves and a particular desire to converse with the tavern boy at the Hog’s Head again.

Though, unfortunately, Aberforth had no amount of news to share with her. A sad fact that was piling up in her private life as well. There had been nothing from any of her contacts and she was trying to place it further from her mind – devoting her attention to classes, Quidditch training sessions, and art debates (of all things).

But the fact was, Catherine was desperate for a new lead in her case. Every new smuggled shipment could be her ticket. But almost all of the major operations on the northern coast of the country had ceased shipping – finding new, hidden, locations most likely to resume their trade.

Which did not bode well for her mission.

“Oh! Professor Hart, are you headed up to the Three Broomsticks as well?”

She whips around at the call of her name over the windy street. There, near Ollivander’s doorstep, stands Mirabel all bundled up in a thick cloak and a knitted pastel scarf. Her nose is as red as a rose petal as she offers up a stiff arm in a sort of wave.

“I wasn’t planning to, no. But I couldn’t say no to a warm Butterbeer right about now,” she smiles as she crosses the street to meet the other woman.

“Honestly, I was thinking just the same,” her words form a billowing stream of frozen breath.

With a nod, she finds her arm looped through the herbology professor’s who quickly leads them both up the road to the tavern in question.

The instant rush of heat once they step through the doors feels strong enough to melt the frost that clings to their outer clothes and hair. With an almost visible sigh of relief, the two women look toward one another before eyeing the vacant table near the roaring fireplace. If ever there was a place to thaw out in front of, it would be there.

For a weekend afternoon, the inn is surprisingly empty. Another thing she’ll blame the weather for. But with ripe pickings and fast service in return, Catherine can’t find much of a reason to complain.

“Helga’s heart,” Mirabel sighs after taking a sip of her steaming drink. “I feel as if I haven’t seen you since last month. Are you usually this terribly busy?”

Catherine gives a laugh as she wipes a bit of frothy foam from her upper lip. She didn’t want the news that she was assisting the Gryffindor team in their training sessions to become common knowledge. So, instead, she comes up with another easy answer.

“No, I’m afraid the Mooncalves have kept me rather busy as of late. I don’t know how they manage to injure themselves so frequently, and yet, here I am every day bandaging up one and forcing a healing draught down another.”

“So, is that why we never see you for breakfast?”

The blonde witch gives a slight shake of her head, resting her elbows upon the wooden tabletop, “That’s all thanks to my morning chores. Even if I have a first-period class, I’m still responsible for getting the creatures sorted out first thing.”

Mirabel gives a warm chuckle, “You sound so similar to myself when I first started on. I’m not sure even Matilda could pull me from the Greenhouses before or after any of my classes. There was always something to be dealt with before my students arrived.”

“I suppose plants and beasts are almost one and the same with the sense that they require a constant form of care.”

The other witch gives a soft hum of agreement.

For a short while, as they work through their mugs of Butterbeer, the two women converse on all matters of topics. From Mirabel’s current fascination with foreign tea blends to Catherine’s assessment of Mr. Macnair and how she believes the boy will surely fail her class.

Tucked into the warm corner of the tavern, the heat radiating off of the crackling fire, the Beasts professor feels truly at ease. Even when Professors Kearney, Weasley, and Kogawa walk in. With a wave of her hand, the three women join their comfy spot in the corner of the room.

“It’s rather brisk out there today, isn’t it?” Matilda comments, rubbing her arms as a sudden chill sends her body into a shiver.

“A good sort of cold though. Good for the lungs,” Kogawa smirks, resting her arm across the back of Catherine’s chair.

“So,” Roslin beams. “What are we gossiping about then?”

Catherine gives a roll of her eyes, though her sense of amusement does not fade, “We were just trying to figure out which of our students will be repeating a year and which will fail out entirely.”

Kogawa snorts, slamming her glass down, “If we’re placing galleons on it, I’d put them all on Mr. Collins. That boy still can’t hold an ounce of control over his broomstick. It’s been almost three years’ worth of remedial classes.”

Matilda, ever the mediator, gives a courteous thin-lipped smile, “Let’s save the betting for the next quidditch game, shall we?”

“Fine then,” the flying instructor sulks, crossing her arms over her chest. “But don’t be surprised when that boy’s held back for another round of third year.”

“Oh, that boy,” Mirabel sighs – rubbing a tired hand over her forehead. “I want so badly for him to take on my help. I’ve offered afternoon sessions and everything. He’s got a thumb as black as they come, I’m afraid. Even the Tentaculas shy away from him. Please tell me he fairs better in your class, Matilda.”

The older witch gives a sigh, followed by the slightest shrug of her shoulders.

“That bad?” Catherine muses, lifting her second mug of Butterbeer to her lips.

“Well,” the Deputy Headmistress smooths out her robes for a moment as if pondering the question with great consideration. “He’s not currently at a Troll if that’s what you mean. He… oh, I really shouldn’t say this, but… he’s quite on the edge of it, as it were.”

Roslin then gives a soft cough, which causes four sets of eyes to peer over at her.

“It’s just, well, if we’re referring to Benjamin Collins, I have him every Thursday as part of the choir. He has a real talent there – quite a natural actually.”

“Hmmm,” Chiyo hums. “Maybe all he needs is a recommendation to the Academy of Dramatic Arts?”

“Not the W.A.D.A, surely?” The Deputy Head says, fully aghast.

“Why not? If he can’t fly, and he can’t care for a plant, and he’s barely passing Transfiguration –”

“Poor sod,” the Beasts professor sighs with a shake of her head as she lifts her mug to her lips once again.

Matilda’s hazel eyes seek her out, almost imploring, “You don’t have him in any of your classes, Catherine?”

“No,” she snorts. “I get the likes of Adrian Macnair – ”

The mention of the seventh-year Slytherin’s name brings about a few curious reactions: pointed disgust, a compassionate grimace, and shock – which certainly said more than words could manage.

“– and Nereus Bulstrode.”

That name also pulls a similar reaction from her colleagues.

Even though she’d been teaching for barely even five months at this point, Catherine was all too aware of the fact that those particular boys were just barely scraping by in her class. No thanks to their own prideful egos that gave them a disturbing boost of assuredness that they knew more on the subject matter than the actual creature expert.

Their behavior had become so abhorrent that she found the need to split them up during the practical lessons. Usually with one sent to muck out a pen and the other sent to handle the feed.

Some people were considered naturals in the field of beasts. Others were more interested in the academic aspects of the class. Those two, however, she couldn’t quite pin down. And that thought kept her frequently on her toes whenever they were around.

Even with students like Mr. Kettleburn, she knew her animals were in safe hands. With Macnair and Bulstrode though… well, that was still to be fully determined.

“Oh, such awful boys,” Roslin frowns, downing a shot of whiskey with not so much as even a grimace.

“Talented,” Weasley placates. “But with wasted whims, perhaps.”

“Trouble’s more like it,” Chiyo mutters.

Catherine nods, tapping her glass against the flying instructor’s, “Here, here.”

“Now, now,” Matilda chides lightly. “It is our role as educators to guide them down a higher path. Not just forsake them to the wolves.”

“Wolves would be a merciful fate,” Chiyo snorts into her ear, causing Catherine to cover her mouth with her hand to avoid openly laughing.

“Matilda,” the music professor laments in a drawn-out whine, her accent coming out in longer grasps as she finishes off a third shot. “Ye can’t exactly fault us in our beliefs when someone like Abraham even finds nothing of promise to say about ‘em.”

“If it came from Aesop, perhaps it’d be more understandable,” Mirabel chimes in.

The young witch feels her brows rise as she quickly butts in, “Why’s that?”

From across the table, the redhead meets her gaze with a rather curious quirk on her lips, “Well, Aesop never speaks too highly of any particular student – even within his own house. It takes a true talent to get him to sing any sort of praise.”

“A certain Hero of Hogwarts, you might say,” Matilda grins none-too-subtly as she sips from her glass.

“Now that I find serious doubt with –” she starts to say.

“Oh no, it’s quite true. It must have been after the well…” Mirabel blinks, clears her throat, and changes her angle of approach. “After your fifth year. I think all of our opinions of you changed quite a bit, Catherine.”

At that, she stares down into the bottom of her mug where a thin layer of amber-colored drink resides.

Her silence must settle a little too heavily over the group because Matilda is quick to clear her throat, “So, what are the going bets for next week’s game? I want to know who’ll be going up against me this round.”

She drowns out the debate over the two teams – Gryffindor and Slytherin, quite the infamous match-up if ever there was one.

Instead, she shuffles the glass between her hands. Letting the warm drops of condensation slip between her fingers as she contemplates the earlier conversation. The title had followed her up until graduation, even trailing a little further on to her job at the Ministry. In fact, it had been some time since she had last heard the name being directed her way.

The name, that silly godawful name that the Prophet had coined twelve years back, had taunted her. She certainly hadn’t felt much like a hero in the aftermath of the repository battle.

Catherine raises her near-empty mug in agreeance when Matilda claims Gryffindor will be victorious, but otherwise keeps to her thoughts for the remainder of the meet-up.

So much has changed since then. Perhaps too much.

From a factory girl to a witch overnight. Destined to fight a war she didn’t know she was signing up for. Taking on a goblin rebellion at fifteen. Was it any wonder her professors looked at her differently after Fig’s memorial? They had been truly oblivious to her… extracurricular activities at the time.

Maybe they just thought she held promise – discovering magic so late on in life and having to work incredibly harder than her peers to catch up to five years worth of studies.

But no. She had just been fooling them all. Taking classes by day, a few supplementary lessons here and there to catch her up to speed, and then there she was taking down poacher encampments and goblin mining facilities by nightfall.

Was that the act of a hero or an act of reckless insanity?

Even after all this time, she’s still not entirely sure.

“We really must do this again,” Mirabel smiles as the five women finally push up from their seats, grabbing hold of their cloaks.

Matilda nods, “This was quite fun, really. Just us girls.”

Catherine hums in agreement as she wraps her blue cloak back around her shoulders. Pulling her chestnut-colored gloves from within her pocket as she braces herself for the bitter wind outside of the tavern’s sanctuary.

The swoop of wind catches her breath as the tip of her broom handle slams into the ground, rocketing her forward into a somersault that leaves her head aching and her bottom even worse off.

“Professor!” someone screams from behind her.

With a quick shake of her head, she brushes her tangled curls from her eyes and peers up at the triumphant smile of the young third-year floating just a few feet above her.

“You pull that off tomorrow, and you’ll be sure to win,” she smiles.

It takes a moment, pushing up onto her left foot before she manages to fully stand upright once again. Oh, there were certain to be bruises come morning.

“Are you all right?” Melinda Mason questions with a clear voice of concern.

Catherine supposes it would be rather unfortunate to be the cause of injury for one of your professors. But she turns and gives the girl a warm smile.

“I promise that I’m quite well, Ms. Mason. I have sustained far more grievous injuries in my time than a flying fumble.”

As Parson dismounts, holding the snitch in her tight grasp, the Beasts professor surveys the team with a pleased eye and a nod of approval.

“I think you’re all more than prepared for the game. But, if I may offer a final parting piece of advice?”

Spinnet nods quick and sure. The young captain had, admittedly, surprised her. She had expected a certain cockiness, perhaps similar to her own team captain back in her seventh year. But this boy was destined for something great in the future, she was sure of it.

“Never underestimate the power of deception.”

When she’s met with a sea of confused looks, she elaborates.

“If you come into the Hall acting like you’re the kings of the game, they’ll double down even harder to get you knocked out of the match. But, if perhaps, a rumor was to be placed around the school… your dismay at the prospects of your new player, or the state of your team without your old seeker? Then their guard will be lowered and you’ll have the higher ground when it comes to the actual game. They won’t know what hit them.”

Sly smirks and secretive glances finalize her words into a proper plan. To be fair, her advice had been intended to bolster the team, but it would also give her and Matilda a bit of advantage with the betting that was to take place in the faculty stands tomorrow.

But the Gryffindor players certainly didn’t need to know that fact.

Her advice clearly met the landed mark she had hoped it would, as when she appears in the Great Hall the following morning for breakfast – passing by the Slytherin table – she notes that the green team is looking particularly smug as they sit together. While the Gryffindor team is dispersed across the length of their table, looking thoroughly annoyed with one another.

Catherine knew it was an act, despite what the rest of the populace would believe.

She had watched the way that they had bonded these past few weeks during their training sessions. Parson had been accepted as part of the team and their synchronicity was almost unparalleled.

“Ah, Hart. What a rarity.”

Offering a smirk toward the potions professor, she takes her seat beside him.

“It would be a shame if I was ever fully predictable.”

She can feel his turned gaze upon the side of her face as she fills up her bowl with porridge and syrup. His black coffee steams in a mug beside her left hand, the aroma of roasted beans filling her senses.

“Would it be right to assume you’ll be attending the match today, or would that be too predictable?” he muses in a rich, gravelly tone of voice.

“No, in this case, it would be completely predictable. And rightfully so. I intend to watch the dismal expression that will crest your face when Gryffindor wins.”

His warm chortle feels like wading through honey.

“Oh, quite the optimist today, aren’t you?”

She hums in return, savoring another spoonful of her warm meal.

“Is it wrong to have pride in one’s house?”

“Maybe not. But if you have any intention of keeping your money purse full, perhaps you’ll avoid the betting pool this time around.”

Catherine lets her gaze fall upon his dark eyes for a moment, as she sighs, “Meaning…?”

Aesop scooches his dish forward, the plate nearly cleared of his breakfast, “Well, if you must know, word travels rather quickly through the castle; even in the dungeons. Though perhaps you don’t hear it all the way out there in your paddocks.”

She blinks, curious to see where this will go.

“The prevailing rumor seems to be that your team has had quite the trouble filling their seeker position after the holidays. In fact, I don’t even think they’re speaking to the poor girl,” at that, he points his chin toward the Gryffindor table where Laura Parson is sitting, dutifully, alone – pushing her eggs around her plate.

Playing the part exceptionally well, actually.

Catherine snorts, returning to her meal, “I never placed much faith in rumors, Sharp.”

“Yes,” he murmurs. “Of that, we’re quite in agreement.”

Their conversation takes a momentary lapse as the sound of owls hooting in the rafters takes their focus. The great birds swoop down over the tables, depositing mail and packages. A large gray owl drops a rolled-up Prophet onto Aesop’s empty plate. Nothing arrives for Catherine, much to her dismay.

She had been hoping today would be the day she would get another tip-off.

Pulling the twine free, she watches as the potions professor unfurls the newspaper. On the front page, a rather large moving image captures her attention – making her lean across the table, shoving her head beside his shoulder, to peer at the article.

SON OF MERLIN KILLER CAPTURED

There, on the front page, the repeating image of the distressed-looking man with his hands tied behind his back with shimmering strings of magic screams on the front steps of a dark shopfront. Beside him stands two stoic-looking Aurors in their work robes and the very familiar face of one of her dearest friends.

“That’s Natty!”

Sharp seems to scrutinize the image for a second more before he looks across the staff table.

“Mudiwa, you might wish to seek out your own copy of the Daily Prophet.”

The seer smiles, waving her hand in dismissal, “Bah, I already know all about that.”

“Of course,” Catherine groans – the woman probably knew about it weeks before it even happened.

“Natsai sent me a letter last night. She wished to keep me from happening upon it myself in the morning edition.”

Oh, well, that was slightly surprising.

“Shall we be expecting the wedding invitations soon then?” the young witch calls out to her.

Mudiwa merely offers her a knowing smile as she resumes drinking her tea.

Aesop offers her a bemused look before the two of them begin to read the article together. He at least has the courtesy to angle it to the right so she can see it without straining too far out of her seat.

“A man has been arrested in Knockturn Alley in connection to a series of killings that have plagued the Great London area for the past year, authorities announced in an interview with the press late Friday evening.

Robert Dryer, 38, was arrested overnight while “out celebrating,” said lead investigator Natsai Onai in an interview with the Daily Prophet with Minister for MagicVenusia Crickerly and Head Auror Simon Hendrick. He was discovered outside of The Golden Thestral pub in an inebriated state where he was heard, by passersby, saying he was going to “carve up every [redacted slur] witch this side of the Channel.”

Dryer is facing several charges in regard to the 47 bodies that have been discovered in the city baring what investigators called his “signature” – a series of dark runes that Dryer burned into all of his victims. The last victim, a Miss Eugenia Drood, 25, was found near the banks of the River Thames, which required the assistance of Obliviators after the local Muggle police force happened upon her branded body.

Aurors confirmed that he is the sole suspect at this time.

During the interview, Investigator Onai revealed that Dryer has lived in London for nearly six years. He has a criminal record, though Aurors did not reveal the details of his past crimes.

According to trustworthy sources, Dryer holds criminal convictions in both Scotland and England for charges such as: performing magic in front of Muggles, improper use of Horklumps, drunkenness in a public venue, and destruction of private property.

Minister Crickerly said that the public will now be able to move on without fear and that public safety is her number one concern after obtaining office.

“Let it be known, to the people of Great Britain, your world is safer now than it was yesterday. When the wizards and witches in our community work together with our law enforcement agencies, anything can be accomplished. The scrum of society will be cleaned off our streets and people will know peace once again.”

Dryer will be facing trial at a later date while he is held in Ministry custody. Head Auror Hendrick said that the Wizengamot is working to determine the charges against him.

Officials are still unsure of the extent of his intentions behind the killings but said his patterns were consistent.”

“Godric’s heart,” Catherine sighs in disbelief as she watches Natty’s stern, but clearly pleased, expression as she watches the other Aurors lug Dryer down the steps, over and over again.

“I’ll be surprised if he’s not sent for the Kiss itself after his trial.”

“Or,” Catherine nods. “If you don’t see one of the victims’ family members trying to enact justice beforehand.”

Aesop gives a sullen hum of agreement, folding the paper in two.

“What horrid business,” she finally settles on, pushing the paper as far away from herself as she can manage.

“But, he’s in custody now. At least tonight the people of London can rest easy.”

“And perhaps receive some justice in a few months’ time,” she adds.

Sharp gives a nod, “Indeed.”

Looking out over the hall once again, Catherine notices the empty seats dispersed across the tables as more and more students head out into the corridor.

“The match should be starting within the hour,” Sharp comments dryly, offering her a pointed look.

The change in conversation washes over her like a cleaning charm, pulling with it the awful images that the article had created in her mind.

Allowing a teasing smile to befall her lips, she looks over at him, “Well then… shall we?”

Sharp stands before she can even scoot her chair back, pulling it away from the table for her as he offers up yet another hand of assistance.

On the way out to the pitch, wrapped in a warm cloak and a fur-lined coat, respectfully, they pass by several students on their way to the stadium. With painted red and gold or silver and green faces, carrying felt flags, and large hand-made banners. She can hear cheers for both teams from large groups of teenagers.

“We are the Lions!”

“Mighty, mighty Lions!”

“We’ll kick your arse in!”

“Better flying Lions!”

“They really could do better than that,” she teases, looking over in Sharp’s direction to gauge his reaction.

The potions professor shakes his head, calling out over the large pack of students, “That’ll be twenty points, Mr. Bartlett, for the use of foul language!”

The boy in question flushes a brilliant shade of red as his friends all tug him in, ragging on him like he’s a triumphant gladiator in the ring and Sharp is nothing more than a maniacal Roman emperor.

“Twenty points, really?” Catherine gently pushes against his right arm. “Are you just trying to start a feud before we even get there?”

Sharp scoffs, glancing down at her, “I don’t recall hearing any Slytherins shouting profanities at the top of their lungs, Hart.”

No, they were more than likely setting up dungbombs in the Gryffindor stands before the match began. Or perhaps enchanting a cloud of rain to follow around certain students. Gryffindors, for their part, were loud and brash when it came to their gloating. Slytherins were far more subdued and tactful about their approach.

The path to the pitch is slick with ice. The recent snowfall masked the dangers, though many students were wise enough to press through the drifts along the sides of the path instead.

Catherine was barely that lucky, as she felt her boot glide across the frozen ground with absolutely no traction. Her heel lifted up and nearly sent her tumbling backward if not for Sharp’s quick hand flying out to catch her arm.

She stares at the blanket of gray sky above her as snowflakes begin to settle across the grounds. Her chest heaves with the exhilaration of almost falling when she looks over at her savior.

He chuckles as he pulls her upright, “Careful.”

She blinks once, twice at him before the embarrassment clouding her vision simmers.

“I do endeavor to be, Sharp.”

“Of course,” he smirks, offering his arm to her once again.

She lets her gloved fingers grip the fabric of his gray coat sleeve before they begin forward. The journey is slow-paced. Not just in thanks to the man’s noted injury, for once. But it doesn’t matter, as only a portion of the stadium is filled out when they arrive at the faculty’s section.

Together, they find a spot to sit in the center of the allotted seating, where a clear divide can be drawn once the other professors join them.

Rubbing her gloves together, Catherine pulls her cloak tight over her shoulders so it can drape across her knees which she presses together as the wind picks up over the valley. Beside her, Sharp radiates off a warm aura of heat that she finds herself leaning into.

They do not speak, as there is nothing further to stumble through. The silence is comfortable, as it usually is between them. And she can sense his gaze when he looks down at her over the bridge of his nose. She can feel the rumble in his body when he clears his throat, or the press of his foot against her own.

Slowly, one by one, familiar faces make their way up the stairs. With the majority of the staff choosing to sit beside Sharp, showing their clear favoritism in the betting pool this time around.

Next to Catherine, Matilda, Mirabel, and Mudiwa find a spot to sit. Maybe it would be more apparent where the outcome of the game was set to lie when the noted seer chose your team. But alas, she watches as the rest of the staff fills up the left side of the wooden benches.

“All right, all right,” Roland beams as he stands on the lowest level of the stands. “Let’s hear the bets, people!”

The blonde witch watches as her colleagues quickly place their easy bets for the match.

“Put me down for 10 galleons, Sterling,” Crestwell grins, leaning back on the bench as he nudges Waterford.

“And eight for me, please.”

Sharp glances down at her, “You still have time to switch sides, Hart.”

She fixes him with a sturdy glare before she calls out, “Forty galleons on Gryffindor!”

“Forty?” Sterling exclaims, furiously writing it down on his pad of paper. “Willing to risk it all today, are you?”

Catherine settles back on her seat with a knowing look at the stadium. She can feel Aesop’s warm breath on her left shoulder as he stares down at her with a scrutinizing eye.

“What do you know?”

With the most innocent of expressions, she looks up at the potions professor.

“Me? Why, nothing more than house pride, Professor.”

Sharp lets out a huff of breath, biting his tongue as he looks away, “That remains to be seen.”

“Mark me down for twenty galleons, Roland, if you would please,” Matilda says in a rush of excitement, looping her arm through the Beasts professor’s.

Perhaps Aragon had let his Deputy Head in on Catherine’s plans to assist the Gryffindor team after all. And what could a true lionheart like Matilda Weasley do if not place down a heavy amount of money on her house’s team?

Mirabel, noticing this, quickly adds twenty-five galleons to the pot and offers a cheeky wink at them both.

The other faculty members, sitting firmly on the Slytherin side of the staff tower, fix the three women with equal looks of bewilderment and – in Sharp’s case especially – suspicion. But Catherine merely holds onto Matilda’s arm as the student announcer settles into place.

“Welcome to the first match of the new year: Slytherin versus Gryffindor!”

Cheers of enthusiastic team pride ring out through the stadium and she can’t help but smile as the wind picks up – sending her blonde locks billowing backward – as fat snowflakes rain down on the pitch.

The dark green robes of the Slytherin team fly out first, in a perfect arrow formation as they glide past their house members down in the lower stands. Beside her, she can barely make out the predictions being laid out by the male professors, though Sharp remains oddly silent. With his arms fixed across his chest, he flexes his fingers as he watches the students slow to an easy glide in the center of the pitch.

What starts out as a dull throb of noise turns into raucous shouts as Gryffindor soars out onto the field in a surprisingly synchronized V-formation with Spinnet leading the charge.

They fly directly over the heads of the Slytherin team – earning more cries of excitement – before they turn into a left-flanked spiral, breezing past the Slytherins in the stands. They turn their heads away in a clear sign of disinterest as they zoom towards the opposite side of the stands where the noise level is at its highest.

Red and gold banners blur together as the student section cries out.

Catherine can’t help but clap in delight, sharing an equally excited look with Matilda who gives a quick shout of encouragement toward the team.

As Kogawa flies out into the center of the pitch – her light-colored robes barely visible against the beginning of a true blizzard – Sharp leans toward her. Lowering his mouth close to her ear so that his words can be heard over the noise.

“What did you do?”

She glances over at him with another doe-eyed blink, “Why, whatever could you mean by that?”

“Mhmm,” he murmurs, eyes trailing back to the start of the match.

The young witch beams when he pulls back, unable to contain her joy.

“And it’s an immediate fight for the Quaffle as Captain Cygnus Black secures the ball! Ooh, that’s quite a hit by Macnair – Gryffindor better watch their backs this match. The Slytherin team will not be holding back this time.”

Catherine can feel her breath catch in her throat as Black soars past, nearing the goalposts. But as the storm picks up, Bell swoops down and kicks the Quaffle away before it can make it through the hoop.

“Yes! Come on!”

“Spinnet’s in possession of the Quaffle now. Can the Gryffindor captain keep a better hold of it than Black? Here come Mason and Wilkes, forming a blockade on either side of their captain. Will Slytherin be able to break it down?”

Warrington and Macnair team up, smacking one of the bludgers at the trio of chasers, but Cassius Diggory flies up at the last moment and sends it right back at the two Slytherin beaters.

“Gryffindor scores! That’s ten points on the board!”

Matilda lets out a whoop of pure thrill at the announcement. Catherine can’t even look away to spy on her fellow colleagues’ faces as the three Gryffindor chasers begin tossing the ball back and forth between each other.

“Tabitha Walsh is on a collision course with Spinnet, and she – yes! She has the Quaffle. Quite the nasty concussion for the Gryffindor captain.”

A line of Slytherins careens down across the lower half of the pitch, avoiding the Gryffindors who were soaring much higher above them. But as they approach the goals, they’re slowly picked off one by one as Wilkes kicks Cygnus Black directly in the stomach – sending the poor boy spiraling into a freefall – with the Quaffle back in her safe grasp.

“And that’s another ten points!”

Blasts of ice and freshly fallen snow are tossed up into wide arcs across the stands as the players fly past – desperate to maintain a hold of the ball for more than a minute. Catherine’s cloak is coated in a thin layer of snow and flakes dangle from her eyelashes as she blinks furiously to see through the blinding white blizzard.

“Yes!” Aesop gives a sharp call, followed by thunderous claps as Slytherin makes their first goal of the game.

She glances over at him, at his newly decorated snow-white beard and hair. The flakes cling to the fur of his coat, though he doesn’t seem to mind as he squints to see through the storm.

“Third-year seeker Laura Parson has spotted the snitch!”

Catherine freezes in her spot as she watches the blur of red robes soar across the stadium at lightning speeds, with the trailing of green not too far behind her. And then, to the gasps of shock from the stadium, she takes an immediate nosedive next to the Slytherin’s central goalpost.

Swirling around the metal pole, she drops to dangerous heights with the Slytherin seeker immediately on her tail.

With a giant whoosh of snow flying up on either side of her, Parson pulls up at the last possible second. Even having a moment to spare as she looks behind her, just in time to see the other seeker slam into the ice-covered ground.

“Marcus Vance is out! And, what’s this? Has Parson lost sight of the snitch?”

An immediate grin of victory crosses Catherine’s face when she realizes that the young seeker had just played the entire stadium, as she leisurely glides past, offering a wave to the Beasts professor in the faculty stands.

“What on Earth –” Matilda begins, staring at her with wide brown eyes.

“That was the Wronski Feint.”

“Oh! How clever!”

“Yes,” Sharp sneers to her left, fixing her with a pointed dark gaze. “Very clever.”

Before she can form a proper retort, the announcer calls out yet another goal for the Gryffindor team.

“That was a close call for Parson! Macnair is not happy that their seeker’s been fooled.”

With bated breath, Catherine watches the back and forth as the two green-robed beaters send bludger after bludger at the Gryffindor team. Determined to strike one of them out of the match entirely. After Parson’s little play, the other team holds absolutely no punches back as the game becomes increasingly bloody.

By Gryffindor’s seventh goal, Spinnet is sporting a blooming purple bruise over his right eye and Wilkes has a massive seeping cut across her cheek. Bell gives a roar as he slams the Quaffle right back into play, repelling yet another attack from the Slytherins.

Warrington goes after the Keeper then, zooming past the rest of the players as he sends the next bludger directly at Bell. It slams into the boy’s helmet, tossing him back into the goal and he nearly slips off his broom.

Dangling by a single hand, Cygnus Black manages to throw the ball through the right-hand post before the Keeper manages to straddle his broom once again – a clear face of annoyance on his features as he claps his hands together, ready for another assault.

“That was a little too close for comfort,” Matilda worries her hands together, watching with a concerned gaze as Spinnet soars past Berle and Walsh – knocking the Quaffle from her hands.

“That’s eighty to twenty! It’s anyone's game now with the snitch still in play. Though how anyone can see it out there in all this mess is a mystery to this announcer!”

Catherine couldn’t agree more as the sky opens up with another torrential downpour of thick snowflakes that nearly whites out the entire pitch. Her body shivers against the bitter sting of the prevailing wind – even under the canopy of the tower. She holds onto Matilda’s arm even tighter as Mason goes careening past – having been hit with a bludger straight to the back.

The girl slams into a neighboring tower, ripping through the outer fabric, before falling several stories down to the ground. Her unconscious form topples out onto the snow-covered pitch. Both her and Matilda stand up then, peering over the edge of the stands with gasps of worry.

“Gryffindor’s now one chaser down, but Spinnet isn’t calling for a substitute! He’s barreling toward Black now with clear intent! Yes, ooh, that’s quite the hit! Another ten points!”

Blainey, down on the ground, bundled up in a thick red coat, levitates the seventh-year girl off the pitch on a stretcher as the match continues on above them.

“Kogawa has called on a foul on Macnair! That’s five points from Slytherin and the Quaffle is back in Wilkes’ possession!”

Blasting through one another, the chasers battle for the ball. The duo of Black and Berle manage to toss Slytherin ahead two more goals, while Diggory and Clark send an onslaught of bludgers at the opposing chasers. Their keeper, Rosier, ducks out of the way to avoid a particularly powerful swing, giving Spinnet another shot at the goal.

“Vance has spotted the snitch!”

Her gaze flies across the pitch just in time to catch the Slytherin seeker soaring after the tiny ball that even her own eyes can’t quite see through the whipping winds of the snowstorm.

Like a shot of lightning, Parson takes off after the boy.

“Come on, come on,” she mutters under her breath, standing up to watch as they travel across the pitch – circling the blue and bronze flag of one of the Ravenclaw towers.

Shoved together, side by side, the two seekers zoom past – sending up an arc of frigid cold winter air. Catherine cranes her neck to follow their path. Up and over the Slytherin goal posts, down into a near nosedive in the center of the pitch. Parson leans forward, her arm extended out.

“Warrington has sent a bludger at the seekers! Did he intend to knock out his own teammate? And there goes Black, soaring after them both – what on Merlin’s magic does he plan to do?”

Vance kicks at Parson’s broom, sending the girl off course for just a minute before she manages to righten herself back. Behind them both, Cygnus Black is flying at breakneck speeds to catch up to the pair.

Pulling her hands together to her lips, Catherine mutters a silent prayer.

Black slams his foot into Parson’s broom, giving her side a shove as well.

“In a never-before-seen move, Captain Cygnus Black has doubled up with the Slytherin seeker to nab the snitch!”

Beside her, Aesop and the rest of the faculty stand, watching as the Gryffindor team throws the Quaffle to the ground and zooms down in an immediate dive formation after the two players in green.

Vance jerks his broom to the left, before making a near 180° turn. Shouts of anger and determination can be heard from the cheers of the student section as Spinnet throws himself off of his broom and tackles Black in midair. Kogawa’s whistle blows, but no one on the pitch pays any heed to it. Diggory slams his bat into Vance’s broom, just as the rest of the Slytherin team joins the fray.

“Fucking hell,” Sharp swears from beside her and it shocks Catherine so much to hear the potions professor properly cuss that she swivels her head around to stare at the man.

He shakes his head in disbelief as Macnair sends a bludger at Wilkes' head, with the poor girl barely being able to twist her broom out of the way, just for the vicious ball to slam into his own teammate’s right arm. Tabitha Walsh gives a howl of pain as she loses grip on the handle of her broom – falling to the pitch as the madness of the other players plays out over the top of her.

Kogawa charges down to the mess – trying to grab hold of arms to pull the students off one another, but she gets kicked back much to the absolutely outraged look on her face.

And, on the other side of the pitch…

“Vance and Parson are in a sprint to the snitch! Not that the rest of their teams have noticed!”

No, in the chaos of the other players trying to bludgeon one another to death, only Spinnet had managed to look up for a second – before Warrington slammed his fist into the captain’s head – to notice the two seekers.

“Yes, yes!” she cries, watching as the two robes of red and green blur together across the spray of blinding white snow.

But Vance slams into Parson’s side and the girl’s grip on her broom slips and she tumbles off the side, over a hundred feet in the air.

Catherine grips Aesop’s arm, slamming a hand over her mouth.

Laura feebly flings her arm out, kicking her legs as she tries to regain control over the broom, but Vance twists to the side – pressing into her once again, and then the seeker falls.

Matilda lets out a cry and Mirabel gasps as they watch the girl, with one hand still on her broom, fall for several feet.

The stadium grows silent as she careens to the ground just before she manages to righten the handle and twist her body in such a way that she straddles the broom once again.

Followed by many cheers from the Gryffindor stands, Catherine finally feels like she can let out a single breath of relief.

Parson flies down, managing to surpass Vance who is still several feet above her, reaching her hand out just in time to nab something from the air!

“After her almost death plummet, Parson has caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins, 270 points to Slytherin’s 65!”

Matilda immediately grabs her arm, pulling her off of Sharp, as she hugs the younger professor with nothing short of pure happiness.

Across the stadium, cheers of joy ring out. With the announcement, the scuffle on the pitch finally comes to an end with the majority of the players looking far worse than a normal game would cause. Kogawa has both Spinnet and Black by the arms, tugging them down to the ground before unceremoniously dragging them off the pitch with cries of discomfort.

But Catherine can’t stop smiling as Parson does a quick lap around the pitch, holding the snitch up like a trophy. When she comes past the staff’s tower, she does a little bow to the Beasts professor – which Catherine gives right back to her in return.

“So, you’re to thank for their sudden abilities,” Sharp muses in a thin voice as he peers down at her.

“Well, as far as the official rule book goes, there’s currently nothing in place to stop a professor from aiding a team. Didn’t you know?” she gives him a wink before she turns back around to Matilda to give a little squeal of delight.

In the end, Sterling dismally hands the three women forty-seven galleons, each. She finds it a little bit funny that Sharp gives her a bemused smirk as she pockets her winnings, but he says nothing further to her.

Together, Catherine and Matilda walk arm-in-arm back to the castle, following the roaring cheers from the crowd of Gryffindor students who swarm the victorious and bloody team.

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

[blogger360ncislarules]

The Cooper family has signed off the air for good.

After seven seasons, Young Sheldon aired its moving, two-part series finale on Thursday, May 16. Cast members including Iain Armitage, Raegan Revord, and Annie Potts paid tribute to their time on the CBS comedy, showing their love on social media.

Armitage, 15, who played young Sheldon Cooper, posted on Instagram, "I’ve always wondered what this day would feel like and now it’s here! Thank you for a wonderful ride. I will miss everyone so much and I want you to know that it’s been an honor to play this part, and it’s been a joy to work with people I love so much."

"I’m excited to see what’s next and I hope you’ll join me on the next chapter, whatever that is. ❤️ I truly hope you enjoy the finale. It was made with a lot of love," the actor added, alongside a photo of himself posing on a couch.

Revord, 16, who played Missy Cooper, posted a video featuring moments from their time on the show, alongside the caption, "Over the years I’ve watched a lot of my favorite shows have their series finales and one thing I always thought about is how heartbreaking it must be to say goodbye, never thinking about my own because it seemed so far into the future."

"Here I am on the day of my own finale heartbroken. I love this cast, our incredible crew, and these characters so much not having them in my life everyday seems impossible. But I’m also filled with wonderful memories, a beautiful childhood, a family forever, and gratitude," Revord continued. 

"Thank you to those that have tuned in over the years and for loving these characters as much as we do. I hope you enjoy the finale tonight, it’s some of the most beautiful episodes of TV I’ve ever watched. ❤️"

Sharing a photo alongside Coach Dale Ballard actor Craig T. Nelson, 80, Potts, 71, who played Meemaw, wrote, "❤️Love and Gratitude for 7 great seasons #YoungSheldon."

Caleb Emery, 30, who played Darren, posted a grab of him and Armitage on his Instagram Stories, writing, "Congrats to this guy! What a run! Glad I was a part of it!"

Pastor Jeff Hodgkins actor Matt Hobby was among those posting about the finale, writing alongside two photos, "My first day at Young Sheldon, and my last day at Young Sheldon."

"I’m so grateful to have been a part of this wonderful story for 7 years. I will miss these kind, genius, loving people. I’m so proud that this will always be a part of my life. #youngsheldon," Hobby added.

Wyatt McClure, 15, who played Billy Sparks, added, "Bittersweet day today. Series finale of Young Sheldon is on tonight. Although the end is coming I have made lifelong friends forever."

"Get your tissues ready. Thank you to everyone on the show who made this the greatest 7 years possible. Looking forward to the next chapter!#cbsyoungsheldon #cbs," McClure added.

Melissa Joan Hart, 48, who directed a handful of episodes of the show, shared multiple snaps with the cast on Instagram, writing, "Bittersweet post about the series finale of @youngsheldoncbs tonight!" 

"I had the absolute honor to direct a handful of episodes for this groundbreaking show with this incredible cast and so many icons coming thru the door as guest stars as well! What's a ride and congrats to all my friends on a show that made people laugh, cry and come back to appointment television! #YoungSheldon."

Nora guest star Kate Flannery, 59, wrote on Instagram, "Congratulations @youngsheldoncbs What a great run! Thank you @iain you are a smart, funny, and very kind soul. It was so great working with you. A finale is a graduation! Thank you for letting me be a small part of this lovely show a few short years ago. ❤️ You did it!!"

Vyvy Nguyen, who also guest starred on the show, then shared a cute clip on Instagram of her and Armitage having an "oink-off," writing, "I had the absolute best time working on the show, playing the mother to Tam, Sheldon’s high school best friend, and it’s been so fun to receive messages from people discovering it on Netflix. Congrats on seven wonderful seasons! #youngsheldon."

Jim Parsons, 51, and Mayim Bialik, 48, also starred in the show, reprising their roles from The Big Bang Theory, portraying adult Sheldon and his wife Amy, respectively.

In exclusive interviews with PEOPLE at PaleyFest 2024 in April, the cast reflected on the years they spent together filming the beloved CBS comedy. 

“It's been very bittersweet. It's not an easy thing to know that something that's been so wonderful for us is coming to an end,” Zoe Perry, 40, who played Mary Cooper, said. “But I think I can speak for everyone that we're all just really grateful that we've gotten to tell this story, tell it for as long as we have, get to experience the audience reactions and how wonderful they've been. I think we're just so appreciative. Truly.”

Montana Jordan, 21, who played Georgie Cooper, described his castmates as a true-blue “family,” even when the cameras weren’t rolling as they did activities together outside of work. Revord in particular, bugged him “all the time” via text “to do stuff."

"I got two older sisters in real life, and on the show I got a little brother and a little sister, so I got the best of both worlds,” Jordan said, adding, “We've been a family ever since the first day we met — and we're still a family. Just because the show's ending don't mean we're not going to continue being a family. That's what kind of bond we got.”

Potts, for her part, grew emotional when PEOPLE asked her at the same event about her experiences working with Young Sheldon's younger actors.

"They were this big, and now look at them,” she said. “My God, they all turned out so beautiful and so sweet, and we feel like we had a hand in raising them … When we started out, they would sit in my lap and just play with my fingers and kiss me and tell me they love me all day long. That, and they still do actually."

[avalonicons]

Requests are open!!

RULES

TV SHOWS

The Vampire Diaries/The Originals:

Damon Salvatore

Stefan Salvatore

Elena Gilbert

Bonnie Bennett

Caroline Forbes

Tyler Lockwood

Jeremy Gilbert

Klaus Mikaelson

Rebekah Mikaelson

Elijah Mikaelson

Kai Parker

Outer Banks:

JJ Maybank

Kiara Carerra

Sarah Cameron

John B. Rutledge

Pope Heyward

Rafe Cameron

Teen Wolf:

Scott McCall

Stiles Stilinski

Liam Dunbar

Derek Hale

Malia Tate

Kira Yukimura

Issac Lahey

Theo Raeken

Brett Talbot

Eli Hale

The Wilds:

Fatin Jadmani

Dot Campbell

Martha Blackburn

Rachel Reid

Shelby Goodkind

Nora Reid

Toni Shalifoe

Leah Rilke

Yellowjackets:

Lottie Matthews

Shauna Shipman

Jackie Taylor

Natalie Scatorccio

Van Palmer

Misty Quigley

Taissa Turner

Pretty Little Liars:

Spencer Hastings

Hanna Marin

Emily Fields

Alison DiLaurentis

Aria Montgomery

Mona Vanderwaal

Caleb Rivers

Toby Cavanaugh

Jason DiLaurentis

Mike Montgomery

Julie and the Phantoms:

Luke Patterson

Alex Mercer

Reggie Peters

The Umbrella Academy:

Luther Hargreeves

Diego Hargreeves

Allison Hargreeves

Klaus Hargreeves

Five Hargreeves

Ben Hargreeves

Viktor Hargreeves

Lila Pitts

Atypical:

Casey Gardner

Izzie Taylor

Stranger Things:

Max Mayfield

Mike Wheeler

Dustin Henderson

Robin Buckley

Lucas Sinclair

Nancy Wheeler

Steve Harrington

Jonathan Byers

Eleven/Jane Hopper

Eddie Munson

Wednesday:

Wednesday Addams

Enid Sinclair

Tyler Galpin

Bianca Barclay

Movies

MCU:

All three Peter Parkers

Kate Bishop

Scream:

Sam Carpenter

Tara Carpenter

Chad Meeks-Martin

Mindy Meeks-Martin

Kirby Reed

Ethan Landry

Quinn Bailey

The Faculty:

Zeke Tyler

The Lost Boys:

Michael

David

Dwayne

Paul

Marko

Fear Street:

Deena Johnson

Samantha Fraser

Kate Schmidt

Simon Kalivoda

Ziggy Berman

Harry Potter:

Hermione Granger

Harry Potter

Ron Weasley

Fred Weasley

George Weasley

Neville Longbottom

Luna Lovegood

Cedric Diggory

Percy Jackson & the Olympians:

Percy Jackson

Annabeth Chase

HOCKEY

UMICH:

Mark Estapa

Luca Fantilli

Rutger Mcgroarty

Gavin Brindley

Dylan Duke

Nolan Moyle

Ethan Edwards

NHL:

Adam Fantilli

Luke Hughes

Jack Hughes

Quinn Hughes

Owen Power

Matthew Tkachuk

Kirby Dach

Nick Suzuki

Ryan Suzuki

Auston Matthews

Mitch Marner

Matthew Knies

William Nylander

Alex Nylander

Mathew Barzal

Kaapo Kakko

Nico Hischier

Carter Hart

Mikko Rantanen

Trevor Zegras

Jamie Drysdale

Thomas Bordeleau

Brock Boeser

Brendan Brisson

*FRIENDLY REMINDER TO PLEASE READ MY RULES BEFORE REQUESTING*

[famefckrmoved]

WELCOME TO SHADYSIDE. shadyside, ohio is not a town like any other. things happen here. bad things. from the very first day the fears moved into town from new orleans, the town has not known peace. the year is 2023 and a documentary film crew has made their way into town, looking for an exposé on the town's horrors and the members of the infamous fear family that still live here.

but not everyone is thrilled to have a film crew in town. upending lives, causing traffic in the sleepy little town, and bothering people while they're trying to exist in the day to day. a documentary on the history of fear in shadyside might seem like it's a good idea for a major film studio who's seen what a based on a true story film can achieve, the residents aren't ready to give up their quiet for armchair detectives poking around in their business.

what's a resident to do when their business is about to be blasted all over the front pages of magazines and spread all over social media?

this is a dual timeline verse. in fact, it's a multi-timeline verse. all eras of shadyside will be involved with plot drops. characters will have the ability to come from their own era to 2023. you are more than welcome to apply with a character from any year, as the first planned plot drop has to do with shadyside's time traveling secrets. this verse is a discord/tumblr hybrid group, so you can rp on either platform with ease. you must be mutuals with famefckr/inspotlight to join this verse. no godmodding, etc. basic rules apply.

meet the residents and move into town:

name, age, pronouns:

character's name, age, & pronouns:

character's fc:

what era does your character belong to? and what is their occupation?:

send this info here.

who's already in town?

brendan fear, 20, fear family historian, 2023 era, fc: thomas doherty, played by hales | @famefckr

corky corcoran, 19, sophomore at ivy state, 1994 era, fc: dove cameron, played by hales | @famefckr

nora goode-fear, 21, homemaker, 1900 era, fc: katherine langford, played by hales | @famefckr

maya hart, 19, sophomore at ivy state, 2023 era, fc: sabrina carpenter, played by hales | @mayapenelopes

nini salazar-roberts, 20, junior at ivy state, 2023 era, fc: olivia rodrigo, played by hales | @inspotlight

ricky bowen, 20, junior at ivy state, 2023 era, fc: joshua bassett, played by kenna | @melodyplucked

ginny field, 18, psych major at ivy state, 1978 era, fc: virginia gardner, played by august | @fiielded

[jjspina]

Books Read and Reviewed in August 2023!

Here it is already the end of another month. Where does the time go? I have been busy as usual reading some wonderful books for the month of August of 2023. Here are the  9 books I read and reviewed for August. I might have read even more if I didn’t have a few WIP. But I always seemed to have a WIP! That fact never stops me! I hope you enjoy reading these reviews. I love sharing my eclectic…

[leavememorieshere]

I kind of want to write a Nora and Max fanfic 👉👈 it would be like my Henry and Piper hart fanfics/hyper-fixation.

But the thing is, I dunno what to write about them 😭 I’ve tried like two times to write about them but I could not get pass the first sentence.

So if anyone has ideas to help me out that would be great, thank you:) !!

[lordkingsmith]

Okay, I saw the blurb reference for ask, and now I GOTTA, just because: Matt Cook + All of his OC babies~ (we all know WHY)

lol yes we know why. I was debating whether or not I cover Matt dear, so thanks for deciding for me XD

canon children:

none that we know of

OC Children:

Kimberly Hart:

Kelson Hart. Aged 21. Older Twin brother to Kira Hart. Kim’s a single parent, raised her kids mostly on the run after Matthew died when they were four, but she and Matt never got married. More of a friends with benefits thing, off and on until she got pregnant with twins. Kelson has nothing to do with his family. Intergalactic diplomat at 21. Does not live on earth, but shows up every Christmas. He is not associated with any color. He blames power rangers for a lot of his family and planet problems actually. He loves his mom and sister and family, but he can’t bypass their glaringly massive differences in opinions.

Kira, aged 21, younger twin sister to Kelson, green ranger on SPD B Team. She’s often her brothers body guard when he’s on earth for official business, but they bicker constantly when they actually speak to each other outside of work. He blames the power rangers for everything, she thinks he’s an idiot. The reason Kim was on the run in the first place was an unreformed Zedd heard about the kids and as Matt used to work for him, decided those kids were his, actually. As payment. Matt died killing Zedd. That wasn’t power rangers fault, that was Zedd’s fault.

Billy Cranston;

When Billy loses his ranger status and goes to work for Grace, Matt is also there as the green ranger. Billy keeps his distance for a while; the guy is more or less a massive dick. Especially over something that wasn’t Billy’s fault. Billy’s also not taking pot shots at his friends or Zordon over it with Matt. They start dating after the War, and Matt’s final betrayal. More because he finally wore Billy down, but Billy had a good time hanging out with him again. And then both of them had the rude realization at the same time of “I am attracted to this man-fuck he noticed-oh he’s into it” which snowballed. They adopted one kid, and had another via help from alien technology mixed with a little magic. Nora, aged 26, is a professional hockey player. Matt decided he was going to support her sport even if it wasn’t his sport. Billy quickly developed a love of hockey at one of her events when she was little. Mostly because this game is ridiculous. Though he does worry about her on the ice. A lot. They adopted her when she was five, and she’s loud and enthusiastic and very rarely is she ever sad or genuinely upset. Her opinion on things is mostly “be friendly at it or challenge it to a fight” and generally speaking the options work enough she’s never needed to figure out other plans of action. She met her wife during a game. She’s from an opposing team. Nora gave her a concussion; she knocked Nora’s front teeth out. This was par for the course and they bonded in hospital. Billy’s still trying to figure out HOW. Matt thinks it’s hilarious. Is the green dragon ranger. She is legitimately feared by most and can solve most problems without suiting up. The threat is enough.

Their other child is Abner. He’s socially transitioning, he’s 18. He wants to be a writer. He and his sister have a very loving if slightly antagonistic relationship. When Abner came out to her, Nora’s response was “well now you don’t need to steal my clothes. Give them back” which lead to an argument but not the one Abner was expecting. They negotiated the clothing situation. Abner’s not giving back a pair of boots; they look way too good on him. Matt and Billy both support him. Matt sometimes slips up with name, however he’s quick to correct himself. Billy helped Abner choose his name, and was the first person he came out to. Abner is a little self conscious about his looks, and about his public image. More in regards to if he’s going to make his family look bad. Like Matt he tends to brood and focus on negative details way too much. Like Billy he tends to strive for perfection and his vocabulary makes it hard for people to understand him.

Eugene Skullovitch;

Matt dives head first into the villain persona, and is happily doing so. He's thriving. Until he's forced into an ultimatum; save Bulk and Skull from certain death by the hands of Goldar, or vanquish the Solar Rangers. Against his better judgment, he saves Bulk and Skull. Skull, unfortunately for timing wise, had said he'd kiss whoever saved their lives minutes before Matt saved them. He's a man of his word, but he also punched him in the mouth immediately after. Matt's confused as hell. So instead of chasing after Kim, begins chasing after Skull because what was THAT. This leads to a very weird redemption arc because Matt has realized 2 things; he likes being kissed by Skull and he does not want Skull mad at him anymore. Cut to fifteen years later; they've got a kid of their own and no actual idea how they got there really. But, they're happy, don't hate each other's guts, their kid's thriving, it's all good. The entire empire of evil absolutely hates them though and Matt somehow managed to get himself on the shit list of Thor. As long as he doesn't go out while it's thunderstorming he should be fine.

Their son is ten, his name is Jude Cook. Jude is one of the weirdly luckiest kids alive. He's survived an insane amount of attempts on his life, falls, kidnappings, and things he should otherwise not survive. His parents have stopped asking how. Loki helped give them a son, which is partly why Thor's pissed, so they've at this point accepted demigod baby is just gonna do what a demigod baby do. It's probably for the best. Spike's his older brother, and is training with Loki to be some sort of spirit of shapeshifting mischief. They both love causing mild trouble. Like Skull, Jude's got a fear of flying which makes things a little interesting. Skull's got his sons and his partner on a very very strict promise; if the shenanigans could cause an enemy of something power, walk away. Walk far away. Neptune exists. We don't want to get on the bad side of Neptune.

in a tangential version, Billy coparents with the two, and studies demigod ten year old, and deals with the Norse gods being in his business. At the very least nobody's been sucked into Ares' prison jar, so that's good.

*Bonus Poly of Billy Cranston, Matt Cook, and Eugene Skullovitch has all above children mentioned. They live in a large house, Eugene's a famous rockstar and restaurant chain owner, and they actually use every room in said house. In this version they met via Matt asking the only person he knew with experience in bdsm for some help with his newly realized kinks; Skull's payment was pizza nights and then Billy got dragged in because he was certain Matt was abusing Skull, but realized it was fine, actually. And fun.

Tommy Oliver;

Tommy and Matt did not really like each other at the beginning. Matt blames Tommy for so so much, but can't do anything about it, and Tommy's missing Dragon Green something terrible and dealing with massive amounts of PTSD for related but different reasons than Matt. Rita trapped them together in a gladitorial area of the Dark Dimension, and Tommy and Matt managed to talk to each other and get into an understanding. When they started dating, it was actually Grace who saw an opportunity, not Rita. But it’d be three more years before she could enact the plan. She didn’t tell Terona, and she was intending to eventually get every coin as well, for a full set.

Verdun Cook is 24, he’s the green dragon ranger, and he’s never met his dads. He’s a top agent for protection of earth. He thinks his parents gave him up to Grace. They think he died in infancy, an unfortunate complication in how he was made. They also think the dragon dagger was destroyed as well, around the same time. When parents and son finally meet, Tommy and Matt are furious. Billy’s furious. Terona's furious. He got Verdun to Tommy and Matt when he found out, even. Everyone’s furious. Matt and Tommy have Verdun live with them to acclimate to civilian life, and get used to being a person. His entire life has been as a weapon; he’s trying to very rapidly learn how to be human. It’s not like he was a success in the program either; the plan was a whole team of legacy rangers in their parents Colors, and he was the only one they could get.

Currently the only people allowed to mess with Tommy and Matt’s DNA is Billy and the Aquitarans and, hilariously, Zedd. He only made a clone. He was very transparent about what he was intending for the clone. Tommy knows where the clone is. He DIDN’T know where his son was, that he was alive, what Grace was intending or what he was doing. He and Matt are in agreement; If they had to chose they’d choose Zedd with their DNA.

When they thought their biological son had died; they adopted. Ricky is fifteen, not associated with a color, and is trying to get used to this with along with their dads. Ricky really is trying to be nice as well, but his overenthusiasm and attempts at bonding are often coming off too strong and borderline antagonistic. He doesn't mean to be. But the bright side is Ricky’s got someone to hang out with. And better yet, Verdun knows nothing about video games, pop culture, or really anything. So. Who wants to watch Star Wars? Ricky's got mixed feelings about his brother, but they're ranging from sad to excited, there's nothing jealousy related. Their dads are awesome, and he's sad Verdun never got to grow up with their dads. And he's excited to be able to have fun with his brother. Ricky is very excitable, and works on the school newspaper. He does volleyball, and has goals to be valedictorian when he graduates. Friendly, upbeat, can sometimes take things too far, but he tries to make those moments right.

They’re all making up for lost time with Verdun. It’s long overdue. At least both kids get along.

Trini Kwan;

Trini smacked sense into him after the upteenth pity party. She also forced him to come along for a mission in space with the Solar Rangers. He wanted to be let in on the whole thing? Fine! They could do that! Welcome to space Matt, everyone you meet is going to die or kill you! Have fun!

After, he put the dagger up, and he and Trini actually talked about what happened on the moon. She also retired from being a ranger, and they focused on taking a page from Bulk and Skull; being helpful as civilians. Matt asked Trini to marry him, and Trini said no. They made a game of it for a few years before she finally did say yes, when they were both financially stable.

They have Minh, and do foster parenting. Currently fostering JJ Oliver, due to unforeseen events leading to both Tommy and Kat unable to care for their kid for the time being. It’s hard being s foster family, but it’s nice being able to see the kids go back to their parents or move on to hopefully better situations. Matt’s at peace, and Trini is too. Trini is a plane mechanic; Matt is a fireman.

Zack Taylor;

During everything Zack and Matt were friends with benefits, though Matt tended to use Zack as an emotional scapegoat as well. Zack finally had enough after a bit, and told Matt either he got his head out of his ass or they weren’t continuing. He was serious, too, and Matt got left in the lurch for a little while before actually looking at himself long and hard and deciding whether or not his grudge was worth losing Zack again. It wasn’t. His parents loved Zack, Kira loved Zack, and most importantly he loved Zack. He came out to his parents and family, and then put in the effort to get over himself to get Zack back. One daughter by surrogate parent, and Matt owes Kim big time. She’s made it clear though. This was for Zack. He gets this, and accepts he and Kim are probably never even going to be friends. His and Zack’s daughter is Layla Cook-Taylor. Layla is sixteen, tiny firecracker of positivity. She has her low moments, but she’s never down for long. She likes swimming and playing guitar. She dances with Zack in dance classes and Matt adores her so so much. She’s frank and earnest and tries her best. She doesn’t give up easily if ever. White ranger. Saba loves her, too. Yes Matt has gotten in arguments with the uppity dagger why do you ask?

Jason Lee Scott;

Getting with Jason felt a little like leaning how to breathe again. Jason came home and Matt quickly got into sparring with him every weekend, like old times. It devolved into a lot of pent up rage related sex. And then all of that was gone…and there were two angry hurt teenagers who didn’t know how to be healthy about love or sex. Cut to fifteen years later, Jason’s a mechanic, Matt’s an accountant. And nothings changed. In between then and now, Jason had a kid. He doesn’t remember who the mother was, and anyway Diego Scott was left on his porch basically. He’s four. Matt likes the way Diego likes piggy backs. And dinosaurs and zombies. Matt likes how whole he feels with Jason and Diego. It’s pretty late in life, but he’s willing to make a go of this, if Jason is willing. And so far, he is. Diego keeps the two on their toes, being ready to get into the thick of everything and anything. But he's four, that's typical, and he's Jason's. And Matt thinks the kid's the best.

Sharkie;

Surprisingly the two manage to click and gel together really well. Three kids, two boys and a girl. Lexie Cook aged 24, Gavin Cook aged 19, and Quincy Cook, aged 17. Sharkie and Matt bonded over being left behind by their friends, though Sharkie doesn’t have any ill will to Bulk or Skull. Stuff happens. The first time he morphed he did it to impress Sharkie and she laughed in his face. He then spent the rest of his life trying to impress her, and stumbled into becoming a better person in the process.

Lexie Cook works as a radio host for a popular music station. She has a popular segment where she runs down the monster of that week and ranks it’s strengths and weaknesses and how to avoid it while putting out a prediction for the next week’s. She does this in between her music playlist, and she’s been right in her predictions a few times. Starts and ends her show saying hi or goodbye to her parents. She has a huge sweet tooth and will do anything for sweets. Lately her brother Gavin's been Off, so she's been adding him in the hi and goodbye, and a 'hang in there bud' as well. not associated with a color

Quincy “Flea” Cook is one of the punks at school, and one of the comedy duo. He's antagonistic to the 'goody twerps' Matt just knows is the power rangers, and neither he nor Sharkie really know if they should step in or just let this play out. Currently letting it play out. Quincy’s grown a lot since the current team's shown up, and he's gotten braver, less self serving, and a lot more noble. Matt's just made sure he's well aware he needs to get out of a situation if buildings are falling. No exceptions. He can grab the person closest to him but he is staying out of the area. Sharkie is making sure he also knows when to stop antagonizing, and know who and what all monsters are. Quincy is in love with art but he's got a Reputation. He's gotten a reputation for being spraypainting sides of buildings. His murals are always well done, but with a sense of humor, and often calling out the villains. Something's up with his older brother though, so he's been trying to figure out what. not associated with a color

Gavin Cook's currently working for the villains. Mind controlled, he's not really even interested in power rangers, normally. Evil ranger sixth ranger, he's been living with a roommate since he was eighteen in an apartment near his parents house and sister's apartment (the reasoning being this is his first try at being properly independent, and if he needs help they're near him to assist if need be). They don't spend enough time with him to know anything other than he's not acting right. Quincy's actively trying to figure out what's wrong though, and Gavin's dreading the day he's going to be told to attack his own family members. He's the villainous Maximum Ranger, and he's waiting for the good rangers to free him and his roommate so he can get back to not caring about power rangers. and hug his family. and go get therapy because yea...he needs to Unpack This. When not a mindcontrolled villain, Gavin's pretty chill. He lets Quincy hang out to get away from their parents, and usually is playing music while watching his brother. He really doesn't give a damn about power rangers, could care less. Matt was one, and that's fine, he's not anymore and Gavin doesn't care about the legacy. He works at the local coffeeshop, which is where the good rangers love hanging out. He hates spying on them, he used to love the atmosphere, and he knows his dad and his job is why he's currently here. All his parents know is he went missing for a week and came back, well, off. They're there when he asks for help, the kicker being, right now Gavin literally cannot.

(maximum is a shade of green)

Marleau Eskin;

He got with her in high school to get back at his former friends and ex girlfriend. It was a joke, turns out he’s the joke. But he and Marcel don’t talk to Marleau anymore. Matt’s a sports reporter, and Marcel’s a professional esport gamer in his late 20’s. Matt sees his kid on the weekends for weekly lunches and check ins. Had to take a second when Marcel said he’d started dating Minh Kwan. Had to decide if the anger was worth it. It wasn’t. He’s not talking to the group still, but Marcel’s got his blessing, and he's fine with Marcel seeing Minh. That has to count for something. Matt was able to prove without a shadow of a doubt that Marleau was a negligent parent, and had left their kid in frankly dangerous situations when he was young. Marcel broke his arm left alone at a park, and Matt was never more happy or enraged. But, it lead to Marcel being genuinely happy as the son of a single parent, so Matt's happy to let him live his life. Also somewhat relieved Minh or her family heard the last name 'Cook' and is still letting this happen. Marcel is not associated with a color.

Stan Skullovitch;

They were kidnapped together and replaced with putties. They were tortured together, and formed a trauma bond. Stan had enough sense to say 'no' to a relationship with someone who 1) hated his brother and 2) was still in highschool. However they kept running into each other over the years. When they did get together, it was when Matt had his head out of his ass a little, and was in a stable job. Stan was a singer at a lounge, and the trauma attraction had settled into a healthier flavor. Everyone's got their opinions on the two getting together but it seems okay right now? Rita as Mystic Mother used magic to give them a child because as Matt pointed out in a confrontation with her; she kind of owed them big time. Ulysses "Bones" Skullovitch is twelve, and kind of a natural wanderer. It's not unusual for him to leave the house at dawn and come back around dinner time with all sorts of things in his pockets. He's not loud, but he's not shy. Prefers watching than acting, though will step up if need be. Stan finds it hard to not worry about him, but Spike and Spike's friends keep an eye on Bones while keeping their distance. He's alright, he's just the kind of person that likes being by himself playing. However he might be getting some friends, and Matt's starting to wonder if power rangers is a genetic thing. Bones will be a red ranger when old enough.

Violet Arias;

she slapped him. Then yelled at him, then apologized because his cheek was swelling and her nail had accidentally caused a cut on his eyelid. He had to wear an eye bandage for two weeks and she gave him flowers. Then he apologized for, well. everything. After that they started dating, balancing his ranger status with school and her trying to be okay with it. They've been in hiding with their kids since Zedd put a price on Matt's head. Myrtle and Tyrian are fifteen and ten, respectively. They don't know their dad was a green ranger and still is when called to be so, Matt's not going to put them in danger over this. As much as he can help, anyway.

Myrtle Arias plays the trumpet in the school marching band. She's extremely good at coded cyphers, and wants to be the president of the united states one day. She's also on the chess team. She has no opinions on the power rangers or the monsters that seem to constantly show up. She's just trying to get through school without being shoved in a locker. Hard to connect to her dad, who was a popular kid, so it's easier to talk to and connect to her mom. is not associated with a color.

Tyrian Arias learned his name's the actual name for the color royal purple (named after the snails whose shells are used for the pigments) and decided he was going to make this his entire personality. He is a ten year old sixth ranger, he is not hiding this. His only saving grace is that he is constantly telling so many tall tales his parents aren't entirely sure if he's telling the truth (and if he is there will be WORDS with whoever gave him Purple), and everyone else thinks he's just an exceptionally imaginitve kid. Matt is...hoping the extra excitable new ranger is not, in fact, his son. However, deep down he knows it's Tyrian and he's freaking out.

-

if there's others I'm not thinking of or missed, please let me know :)

[annabellelux]

Favorite Books of 2022📚

I had so much fun doing this for 2021–so I’m back at it with a list of my favorite books of 2022!

I’m not going to lie to you, I didn’t have a great reading year. I read significantly less than last year and a lot more mindless books since this year I was overwhelmed with graduating law school, taking (and passing!!!) the bar exam, and starting a full time job at a busy (but amazing) law firm. BUT I did find some diamonds in the rough:

Without further ado, the 5 books I read this year that I would ABSOLUTELY recommend under the cut:

5. The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

a bunch of sociopaths cross paths and the result is lots of murder

the characters were all amoral and all SO INTERESTING

i weirdly have a crush on the MC. i want whatever she wants, even if that’s blood on her hands. like i don’t care how many people she’s killed she’s hot 

lots of twists and turns you don’t see coming. the one halfway through the book absolutely FLOORED me 

lots of really good Plotting from literally every character

the improbability of some of the coincidences is made real by the authenticity of the characters. like (hopefully) no one actually relates to them but you get them and why they’re so amoral 

the last line took my breath away

read when you wanna believe you could get away with murder 

4. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

fantasy You’ve Got Mail with a sunshine undertaker and a grumpy demi-god 

enemies to lovers!!! you know that I’m always here for that 

Hart is so fucking morose that I physically cannot. King of angst. He’s so lonely and prickly but also a sweetheart 

Mercy has got true eldest daughter syndrome and I, for one, get it 

the relationship progression was perfection!!! the book keeps the tension really really well 

the cafe scene was so heart-breaking. you will get that lurching feeling in your gut when you read it

I actually loved all the side plots. there’s a LOT going on in this book but it all weaves together really well 

there’s this interesting juxtaposition between a kinda terrifying world and the mundane reality of small-town life. it’s weirdly heavy and light-hearted at the same time??? 

this book is doing a lot but i loved everything it did 

read when you want your small town romance to have a bit of blood & magic in it

3. Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

two women pretend casual will work for them. however, they are absolutely useless sapphics. so you know where this is going

Delilah is honestly a whole fucking mood. queen of peaking AFTER high school 

Claire is a sweet angel. I would have fallen in love with her too tbh

honestly i would kill for Delilah’s experience of having her step-sister (who she hates)’s best friend unknowingly hitting on her in the bar and not recognizing her. it’s icon moves 

but seriously Claire and Delilah are adorable. and hot 

my parents were having a party while i was upstairs in my bedroom listening to this audiobook. I was washing my face in the bathroom hallway listening to a SEX SCENE, and a 50 year old woman came up to use my bathroom. i cannot describe in words what we felt in that moment.

despite that mortifying context, the sex scenes were passionate and hot and well-written

there’s really good girl group representation here that i’m super into. the friendship is just as strong as the romance here, which I LOVE

i haven’t gotten to book 2 yet but this is gunna be a sapphic trilogy!! gods bless

read when you wanna feel sapphic euphoria 

2. Book Lovers by Emily Henry 

two colleagues who previously disliked one another keep running into each other in the small town they’re in for the summer and find out they’re actually the same person  

the prologue is so hilarious and genius and well-written that i knew instantly this book would be a favorite of the year

Nora is the Hallmark Christmas Movie Villain Girlfriend. The foil to the doe-eyed, small town girl that always gets the guy. She’s the one who keeps getting DUMPED by that guy. And honestly? I’ve ALWAYS related more to that girl. Seeing her get her happy ending is what I needed for my own career driven, type A soul

Charlie is a brooding book lover. Need I say more? (I was in love within 50 pages)

childfree rep!!! not at all common in romance books, and i love to see it 

miscommunication actually well-done. it all feels reasonable given the circumstances  and doesn’t make you want to punch them. rare 

i really, really enjoy Emily Henry’s adult romances. they’ve just got a depth to them that romances can easily lack. and her Emily  metaphors REALLY get me. she’s an instant-tbr author for me now 

read when you want to feel the mortifying ordeal of being known 

1. Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales

A bisexual disaster goes on a reality television show to re-date her ex in order to destroy him, but ends up falling in love with her ex-boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend

John Tucker Must Die but make it sapphic 

A little bit of Charm Offensive vibes (which was a 2021 top favorite!) 

Maya’s revenge plot is so fucking poorly planned but hilarious

Skye’s mommy issues and refusal to open herself hit a little too close to home but in the best way 

Jordy is such a perfect awful ex. It was so much fun to pray on his downfall 

Isaac is my hero. I will not elaborate if you know you know 

After Perfect on Paper, I knew Sophie could write GOOD bisexual rep. This book confirms that she knows what she’s about — she gave me not ONE but TWO amazing bisexuals. 

Reading this will make you laugh and blush and blast Taylor Swift songs on repeat 

Read when you wanna light your ex’s house on fire and then make out at red lights with a hot girl in the getaway car

And that's the best five out of the 110 books I read. See you in 2023 (hopefully with a top ten!) Cheers to another year of reading too much!

[roxwritings]

-Characters-

This list is the list for characters that are from their original media that I like to write or have had extensive practice writing. All characters alphabetical* by the way.

*Marvel and Sword Art Online are the only excuses, just due to how many characters I can write in SAO and how similar names are in Marvel

? = I don't have 100% confidence in them

-RWBY: Amber, An Ren, Arslan Atlan, Blake Belladonna, Cardin Winchester, Cinder Fall, Coco Adel, Emerald Sustrai, Fiona Thyme, Fox Alistair, Grimm, Gwen Darcy, Harriet Bree, Ilia Amitola, Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, May Zedong, Mercury Black, Neopolitain/Trivia Vanille, Neon Katt, Neptune Vasilias, Nora Valkyrie, Penny Poledina, Pyrrha Nikos, Qrow Branwen, Raven Branwen, Roman Torchwick, Ruby Rose, Salem, Saphron Cotta-Arc, Sienna Khan, Summer Rose, Sun Wukong, Taiyang Xiao Long, Terra Cotta-Arc, Velvet Scarlatina, Weiss Schnee, Whitley Schnee, Willow Schnee, Winter Schnee, Yang Xiao Long, Yatsuhashi Daichi

-DC: Batgirl, Batwoman, Beast Boy, Black Canary, Bumblebee, Cassandra Cain, Catwoman, Cyborg, Damian Wayne, Enchantress, Harley Quinn, Jessica Cruz, Katana, Lois Lane, Nightwing, Poison Ivy, Raven, Red Hood, Robin, Starfire, Supergirl, Tim Drake, Zatanna

-Overwatch: Ashe, DVa, Echo, Emily, Genji, Kiriko, Mei, Pharah, Sombra, Tracer, Widowmaker, Zarya(?)

-Resident Evil: Ada Wong, Chris Redfield, Claire Redfield, Ethan Winters, Jill Valentine, Leon S Kennedy, Rebecca Chambers, Rosemary Winters, Sherry Birkin

-Silent Hill: Heather/Cheryl Mason

-Marvel*: Aero(?), Amiko(?), Araña, Black Cat, Danika Hart, Gwen Stacy, Mayday Parker, Silk, Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Anya Corazon, Spinneret, 2099, Peni Parker, Venom (Symbiote, not the attached being)

-Zootopia: Judy Hopps

-Soulsborne: Doll, Emma The Doctor/Gentle Blade, Fire-Keeper (DS3), Karla the Witch, Lady Maria, Maiden in Black, Melina, Melania, Ranni, Sellen, Shanalotte (Emerald Herald),

-League of Legends: Ahri, Akali, Ashe, Caitlyn, Elise, Evelynn, Irelia, Jinx, Kai'Sa, Kayla, Kindred (Lamb), Leona, Lux, Miss Fortune, Morgana, Neeko, Nidalee, Quinn, Samira, Senna, Seraphine, Shyvana, Sona, Vayne, Vi, Xayah, Zeri, Zara

-Valorant: Fade, Jett, Killjoy, Neon, Reyna, Sage, Skye, Viper

-Sword Art Online: Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito, Yuuki Asuna | Asuna, Shinozaki Rika | Lisbeth, Hosaka Carina Tomo | Argo, Alice Zuberg | Alice Synthesis Thirty, Ayano Keiko | Silica, Sachi, Hoshiyama Midoriko | Zeliska, Takamine Momiji | Kureha, Kirigaya Suguha | Leafa, Strea-MHCP002 , Yui-MHCP001, Asada Shino | Sinon, Afasys | ArFa-Sys, Premiere, Nanairo Arshavin | Seven, Karatachi Nijika | Rain, Shigemura Yuuna | Yuna, Takemiya Kotone | Philia, Quinella | Administrator, Honda Koharu

-Genshin Impact: Amber, Barbara, Beidou, Collei, Eula, Fischl, Ganyu, Jean, Keqing(?), Kujou Sara(?), Kuki Shinobu(?), Lisa, Mona(?), Noelle, Raiden, Sucrose, Xiangling, Yae Miko, Yelan(?), Yoimiya(?)

-Guilty Gear Strive: Elphelt Valentine, Ramlethal Valentine, Giovanna, Baiken, Millia Rage, Bridget, I-No

-Rainbow Six Siege: Ash, Alibi, Azami, Buck, Caveria, Doc, Dokkaebi, Echo, Ela, Finka, Frost, Gridlock, Hibana, Iana, IQ, Lesion, Lion, Mute, Nøkk, Sledge, Solis, Thatcher, Thermite, Thorne, Valkyrie, Vigil, Ying, Zofia

-Tekken 8: Alisa, Asuka, Azucena, Jun, Lili, Nina, Reina, Xiaoyu, Zafina