#a big reason i put her in top oc this year was to make myself think harder about what shes up to and build up a better story around her

[smittyw]

Have you ever made a human version of kita?

yes!! lately since ive been thinking about her a lot, i came to the realization that in current canon her AI would only be somewhere in the range of 5-10 yrs old at most. im not a tech person so i tend to fudge details, but i think of her initial application being akin to those early chatbots that could barely hold a coherent conversation, and by the time she got advanced enough to learn much more rapidly she also started clinging to bits n pieces of self identification. she used to live in da computer & then noemi would let her bonk around in different little robots until relatively recently when the new body got finished.

all that to say, i imagine shes still very teenish in her behaviors despite having endless trivial knowledge (and misinfo) flooding into her head all the time. part of that is bc she was around noemi all the time when she was also just a teen, partly also bc she hasnt had much experience being 'alive' in the world at large. so i tried to make her seem more teenish here

(the design is not new but just edited- i drew her as a human 2 years ago to jumpstart a more original looking redesign, so it actually slightly predates her robot look)

[cherryberg]

Also. This is your sign to introduce an OC. Here and now

hi ardate :] this is a bit late but, since i did it, i might as well introduce her now in this post

for my april fool's day joke, i did a little trick on the find everything discord server where i made a handful of screenshots showing a new (fake) character:

this is Myla Warper, a Whatsit Woods NPC

i don't have much on her at the moment, and i suspect a lot about her lore will become obsolete when 0.3 comes around, but essentially, she's an engineer and the inventor of the Warp, the in-game fast travel system. she spends a lot of time at home, but is getting out a little more, using the Warp and a range of mobility aids

she managed to trick a few folks (which, looking at how the first find everything hoax, wouldn't've been a hard thing to pull off) but, shortly after - though, in retrospect, it could've been left revealed until the end of the day, i revealed the prank with:

anyway, i'll put the fake screenshots under the cut and maybe post Myla concepts in a reblog :] + notes. there'll be notes. i've got notes

i don't remember when exactly i conceptualised Myla, but it might've been between when 0.2 was released and when the developers streamed their 0.2 launch stream a few days later. this is because i had this thought of Myla living in that old abandoned house, working away at her tech (in the early stages, Myla's outfit in my mind would be a the classic tanktop and half-worn jumpsuit where the top half was tied around her waist, you know the look), but obviously had to be just a fun scrapped idea when it was discussed on the stream that Old Man Majig lives there

still, Myla being hidden away in this corner of Whatsit Woods is reminiscent of that idea i guess. it is also just a very good spot for something you could've missed, especially since the community had been combing through save files looking for the second fun value, but it does sort of make her following dialogue a little strange as she's not near any Warp pads

this bit is meant to, like, mirror dialogue from "tutorial NPCs" who casually introduce new concepts to the player. having worked hard on drawing Illie last year for Halloween, i had her a lot in mind, with Illie also being a tutorial NPC. looked over her 5 lines of dialogue a lot to try and get the vibe down right (of course, she wasn't the only one, but she was the main one) .. i can wrap my head around the Find Everything art style, but writing stuff that matches the FE vibe got me stumped so i hope it didnt stand out all that much

originally, those first two lines where different and. stiffer for a long while ("I actually make a few Warp Drives myself!"/"Er… Let's not be humble, maybe more than a few. Maybe all of 'em."), but i think it worked out in the end. the very first bit of dialogue was also changed ("Hey there, blockling! Just on a walk.") to just be combined with the next line but i just really wanted to preserve that "blockling" here. i know it's just the species name of like. the Roblox character, but it also reads as a little endearing term to me

ahh, the reason why i sort of thought up Myla in the first place. see, a big contention in the find everything community is Whatsit Woods being the only major area in the game without a Warp Drive, despite there already being Warp pads by its entrances in two neighbouring areas. the lack of a Whatsit Woods Warp is very likely to be changed with the 0.3 map rework, but i always thought this (and the Construction Zone Warp.. ) discourse was stupid. Myla going "No. Why? I live here." is like. cathartic to me.(??)

but regardless, she and Watcher Macallit are kind of ocs born from asking "why is this the way it is?" why is there no Whatsit Warp Drive? what makes a Thing a Thing? just ocs to play with and sort of expand worldbuilding, and i love doing this

[ash-etherwood]

does anybody on this godforsaken planet remember atroCITY, the superhero story i conceptualized with @lost-in-the-sorceress about 8 years ago;;; i hope not. <3

this sketch is actually from last year around this time, but i got obsessed with these characters again this year and decided to colour it after clawing myself out of my artblock again and well. i still cant stop thinking about them. jackson is one of these ocs that i made during a super influential time in my life and that i learned a lot about myself from and uhhh. i hate him he is a sick little garbage man but i also love him with all of my heart.

i dont feel like rambling too much rn but ….. top left is jackson tracey, an unkillable demigod (: (unkillable meaning he can die by old age but not be killed by anything else except he will die but come back to life immediately and also heal his body extremely fast to the point that you can decapitate him and he will simply grow a new head,,) he is an obsessive stalker boy who likes to play with knives and has a BIG crush on a football jock guy whose sister bullies him but he is weird so he doesnt care and also embodies my fave guilty pleasure specific trope which is 'immortal hardcore masochist has extremely fatal and violent sex that kills him everytime but he likes it so its ok' yeah. the obsessive tendencies are because of the bloodline curse btw. not elaborating on that. ^w^

below him is atlas hellway (who is actually jessies son) and he is well. the pointy chin football jock jackson is obsessed with. he is homophobic and bisexual and a fucking idiot who doesnt respect women and also kills people for money. they make each other worse. <333 oh hes also a demigod but his powers are a lot less cool.

top right is eris hellway, atlas' twin sister and the literal devil she is literally so vile. <333 she loves ruining lives for fun, she kills for sport (and money) and calls her brother slurs when shes bored. she is a giant girlboss problem i want to put her in a blender and drink her like a smoothie.

bottom right is thalia no last name yet and she had a pretty minor role in the original story but i wanted to make her more important so i did!! she is jacksons best friend (rip to her) and a genius hacker and her biggest motivator is SPITE. <3 she feels like the straight man friend at first but then does something completely insane for no reason just to prove a point and i love that for her. she has survived eris for far too long and should be really proud of that!!

yeah im thinking about those guys a lot lately maybe i should reblog an oc ask meme again soon;;;; ^^;

[nctscenarios]

Chapter 2 ✦Exciting news... aren't always good news.✦

authors note

I condemn hatred towards the aespa girlies irl but I did need antagonists and they fit the role perfectly for a number of reasons. I'm a MY , myself, and this is just fiction so pls don't be mad and don't forget that this is just a story babes. anyWAYS, hellur again and welcome back, this is the second chapter of my new NCT x OC fanfic. It's a idolverse fanfic and it features a lot of SM idols ( NCT, WayV, RV, EXO...) as well as other idols. I will identify which ones on the further chapters :))

on the following chapters, this one and maybe the following two I'll be sharing the backstory, keep in mind that the present storyline is 2022 and the backstory is in 2020. I'll always identify the date in the beggining of the chapters <3

I hope you guys enjoy it ! send me feedback because I want to write something fun and hear your opinions :))

p.s: IF ANY OF YALL TALENTED BABES WANTS TO MAKE A CUTE HEADER FOR THIS FIC HIT ME UP <3 becuz I tried and they turn out HIDEOUS. k bye

1st Chapter

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10 Feb. 2020 ( Two Years Ago )

At SM

It was early in the morning, four girls waited anxiously seated in a big black couch in front of their CEO's office. One of the younger girls bounced her leg up and down, and nibled on the nail of her thumb.

The sound of people passing by on the halls, and phones ringing every five minutes could be heard along with the traffic outside. One of the girls, got up and approached the secretary in front of them and tapped on the desk lightly to call the woman behind it.

" Hi, I'm sorry to bother but... do you know if the president arrived yet?"

The woman covered the speaker of the phone she was holding to her hear and glanced at the girl.

" He should be here in 10 minutes Jimin-ah, wait a little longer please. He will meet you any moment now."

Jimin, the girl with long black straight hair bowed and returned to her seat, putting an arm around her nervous friend, a cute chinese girl that had her hair in two braids.

" Can you please stop shaking your leg? Its driving me crazy MinJeong..."

Minjeong slanted her eyes at the girl that talked to her and began to shake her leg even more.

" Go crazy then."

" Petty" the girl scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Minjeong! Hina! Behave for gods sake, we are about to have a meeting with the CEO and you choose to bicker now of all times? Do you guys, WANT to make ME get yelled at? Yesterday after your little fight in the practice room, our manager warned me that if he caught you fighting again we wouldn't be able to use our phones for two weeks. So, behave, or else."

The two girls lowered their heads and turned away from each other, while Jimin crossed her arms and got up, walking from side to side.

Not even five minutes later, in comes the CEO, Jimin recognized her managers and some other staffs and a girl that looked about their age. Their manager signaled them to follow everyone inside the office and the girls hurried inside. As everyone settled and sat, they stood there uncomfortable, not knowing very well why they were called in so suddenly, and on top of all, to talk to Lee Soo Man himself.

" What are you guys doing, sit!" their older manager ordered, signaling some chairs, where they sat, looking around and trying to read the room.

A few minutes passed by, the big tv on the office was now turned on with a slide being shown "NEW GIRL GROUP DEBUT 2020". Hina felt a shiver down her spine when she read those words on the screen, she looked at Jimin, that had a confused look on her face. With a warm smile, after some time in silence, the chairman turned to the girls and greeted them.

" Good morning girls, how have you been? I'm sorry for rushing you here on a Sunday morning when you should be practicing but as you can see we have some exciting news to share."

Trembling from head to toe, the four girls put on their best smiles and nodded, not being able to say a single word from how nervous they were.

" Of couse, exciting news... aren't always good news. You see, we're making some changes. I don't think you've had the pleasure to meet Aeri have you?" the chairman said while he stopped behind a girl, the girl Jimin saw earlier sat on a chair with a big smile on her face, she had a exotic look and anyone could notice she was a foreigner. She gave them a small bow and whispered a "Hello" in english before turning to the chairman, smilling. " Aeri is from Japan, like our Hina." Hina felt it again, the shiver in her spine. She couldn't tell why but since she put her eyes on Aeri she couldn't take them away from her, she had a bad feeling, and the more the chairman talked, the worst that feeling became. " Our Team is going to share with you the plans for our next debut, pay a lot of attention to this, it's truly an amazing concept." The chairman sat in his comfy leather armchair watching the presentation.

The team explained the concept, something about AI and a multiverse kind of thing within the SM Universe, connecting all the existing groups and concepts lined up for the next comebacks. They played the songs chosen for this girl group and some visual inspirations aesthetic wise. The girls nerves were now replaced with excitment, Minjeong's leg bounced again up and down, but that was because she couldnt sit still in her seat, Jimin was still shocked, with her mouth slighting open but with a glint in her eyes, Ning YiZhuo, the chinese girl and youngest one gave big reactions while the slides played and the team explained the details one by one, but Hina, she remained still. Expressionless in her chair, her eyes glued to the girl a few chairs away from her. Something told her, that the "bad news" applied to her and that they had to be related to the new Japanese girl.

The presentation felt like it lasted hours, people's voices entered Hina's ears with an echo and bounced up and down in her brain. The room began to feel stuffy, and the lights were hurting her eyes. In the screen, photos of Jimin, Minjeong and YiZhuo began to being displayed one by one with some details by their side, one of the details was their new artistic name. Hina heard Minjeong whisper and chuckle beside her " They agreed on Winter wow...".

After NingNings (YiZhuo) slide was finished, a new slide appeared, with a name, a doll like the one present in the slides of the others, it was the AI member, Hina had learned. But there was no photo.

The room that was lively and filled with excitment went silent again, and Hina could swear that all eyes were on her at the moment. With some courage she turned her head and her eyes landed on the chairmans. The middle aged man took a sip from the mug in front of him, and then ordered the manager that was controlling the slideshow to reveal the next slide. It was exactly the same thing, but a photo was there now. " Giselle" was next to a photo of Aeri.

The room remained silent and everyone could understand what was about to unfold.

"I- I don't understand." was all that Hina managed to say.

" Hinata, after a long discussion we have decided that you do not fit the theme for this concept, and you don't really fit in with the other girls. You're very talanted, and you've been with us for many years, I know this is something hard to hear but you won't be debuting in Aespa. Aeri has been training under our company for three months now, in Japan. And the company thinks that she is a better element to add to the group. From today on, you four ( he said pointing to the Jimin, Minjeong, YiZhuo and Aeri) are a girl group, and we'll be handeling your debut preparations as soon as possible, congratulations. As for you Hina, don't loose hope, we'll take care of you, and you will debut too, sometime in the future."

Hina didn't know what took over her, but she got up as fast as she could, making the chair fall in the floor with a loud bang, that startled everyone, she looked at Aeri with a nasty look and to the girls next to her. Minjeong had a slight smile in her face, almost like she was enjoying the whole situation. Hina wanted to punch her in the face, she wanted to scream at the CEO and give him the middle finger, she wanted to slap the smile away from the girl who stole her spot, she wanted to scream and throw a fit. It had been five years since she started training, in a foreign country away from her family, hardly with any friends. She wanted to bawl her eyes out and break everything in front of her.

But she didn't.

She turned around, picked up her chair and placed it neatly in its place. She gave a big bow to the CEO and the team.

" I wish you, a lovely debut, from the bottom of my heart." she said with a fake smile to the four girls. Then she turned around and walked calmly out of the office.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------GROUP CHAT

SMRG <3 4EVER

Hina sent a voice message

" They... kicked me off the line up. They're debuting a girl group in a few months. All of a sudden this new japanese girl shows up and they kick me off, telling me I don't fit the concept and don't fit in with the other girls, and...and they kicked me off guys. I have never been this humiliated in my entire life. AND I'VE BEEN HUMULIATED PLENTY. I'VE BEEN A TRAINEE FOR FIVE YE-" *reached the limit time for voice message.

Hina sent a voice message

" ...five years. Of blood, sweat, tears...only to be replaced by a random ABG that trained anonymously for three months and suddenly she's qualified to debut and I'm not. I hate this place and I hate them all. I miss you... it should be us debuting... it should be us."

Lami is typing

Herin: YOU.HAVE.TO.BE.KIDDING.ME.

Koeun : Hina?? where are you? I hear cars!

Lami: Hina... I'm speechless. I have lunch break in an hour! I'll skip class and meet you somewhere.

Hina: Idk I just started walking and I don't know where I am...

Koeun: Turn your location on right now, I'll pick you up! Go to the nearest coffee shop Hina.

Hina: Koeun you don't have to, you have college!

Hina: Lami! Don't you dare skip class 😟

Koeun: Not debatable. I'm leaving as we speak, location, now.

Herin: I'm.😤fueming.😤

Herin: Who even is this b*tch??? 😡😡😡

Herin: I'm about to board the plane in a bit

Herin: Babes my flight lands at 7pm, lets all gather in my house. I DON'T WANT NO FOR AN ANSWER. Be there, periodt.

Koeun: Hina, I'm on my way, I'll call you when I get there.

Lami: Pick me up too!

Koeun/Hina/Herin: You're not skipping class young lady.

Lami: boo... I'll walk there then 🙃.

Koeun: 🙄 I'll be there in 20 Lami... you better be quick before I change my mind.

---------------------------------------------------

At Herin's house later that night

Hina met Koeun, Lami and Herin a few years ago, they were also trainees in SM and the four of them were part of a group called SMRookies along with some guys that were now part of NCT.

At the time the girls saw how good the boys were doing and how fast they debuted, innocently, they hoped that the same would happen to them but the years passed by andit began to feel like a dream that was farther and farther away from them. More girls started to join the company, and they began to get more attention, leaving the SMRookie girls neglected and forgotten.

At some point, one by one, they started to quit. It was enough, the mistreatment was enough, the hours spent crying, overworked, the pain, all of it was just, not worth it.

Herin was the first one to leave, going back to England and finishing high school before enrolling in Uni.

Lami followed her and joined a middle school to finish her studies before entering high school.

Koeun tried to stay, but when she turned 22, she said she had enough and felt like she was losing her life to an unachievable childhood dream. She left and enrolled in Uni, majoring in Nursing.

The four former trainees placed blankets and pillows on the floor, in Herins living room, she was spending her semester break in Korea and had the house all to herself. She ordered some pizzas and they formed a circle while eating, listening to Hina vent about what went down earlier in the morning.

" Where did she come from ? Like, she jus fell from the sky? Like, the second coming of Jesus Christ???" Herin questioned gesturing with her pizza slice half bitten in her hand.

Hina shrugged her shoulders. " Never even heard of another japanese trainee... it was so unexpected."

" I wish I could say that I don't believe they did this to you but..." Koeun began "...we all know I'd be lying."

"I don't believe they're debuting avatars when they have a basement full of talented humans..." Lami said while she picked olives out of her slice and put them in Koeuns. " You're serious? Avatars...?"

" Beats me." Hina claimed while standing up and grabbing a bottle of coke. "I think its time for me to go home. I can't go back. I don't even think I want to go back." she filled her cup and took a sip from the bubbly beverage.

"Don't say that Hina, you can't quit now, I mean, they said they'd take care of you. Maybe this was for the best, you didn't even like those girls. What if they put you in a group that is better?" Lami said with a glint in her eyes.

"Hina... Lami is right. And even if you did quit, we know you, you'd regret it forever." Koeun added. " Besides, if you left what wou-"

A phone started to ring cutting off Koeun mid sentence. The girls looked around to check whose phone it was. Herin picked up the call.

" Mark Lee, what do you want." she said in a demanding way more than a question.

" Yo, you land and don't even say hello?"

" Why would I?

"Auch..."

" Hey Herin, did you have a safe flight?" a voice on the other asked

" Hey Taeyong I did! Thank you for asking, how are you?"

" Dude get off my call. Anyways, do you have plans for the 14th?"

The girls started to woo and tease Herin, Lami picked up the phone from her hands and put the call on speaker.

" Mark Lee are you asking out Herin on a DATE on VALENTINES DAY? KYAAAAAA" she started wiggling her legs and giggling.

" Lami? What are you doing there? I- I- NO, Like it's not like that dude. "

"Dude?" Lami said in a tease "DUDE?

"DUDE, aaaaa, Lami, are you like, with the girls?"

"yES she is with the girls Mark, now gather some speech skills and tell us what the hell you want." said Koeun while Herin rolled on the floor laughing by her side.

" Oh dang, you're all there? sweet! then listen! Jaehyuns birthday is on the 14th and we're throwing him a thing, like a surprise thing, and it would be cool if you guys came, we'll have food and drinks, we can hang out, it's been a while since we saw each other right?"

The girls remained silent and exchanged looks for half a minute, bitting their smiles and giggles before a familiar voice was heard through the phone " Be there of be square mah ladies"

"JOHNNYYYYYYY" they all screamed.

"That's right, your favourite boy is here and I want to see my fam so you guys better come, its a yes, right?"

"We'll be there, send me the details. Byyeeeee" Herin said before hanging up.

"Hey Heri-"

"BYE MARK." she cut him off hanging up.

Hina found herself smiling for the first time in a while, it felt good to see her friends all gathered, and she was excited to meet the boys. A party was exactly what she needed to lift her spirits up.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the SM Office

" I watched your audition ten times now I think miss y/l/n. I'm very impressed. We're going through a ... rebranding here in our company. Let's call it that. SM Entertainment wants to be number one in all aspects, and we think its time to change. My company has always been the number one, the reference for others. What people do now business wise, I did first. So I can't lose the opportunity standing in front of me, to sign an amazing and talented your individual like you. I have big plans for the future and there's a place for you in then, if you want." the chairman Lee, spoke in a calming and paused manner, he had a cup of tea in his hand, and a small spoon in the other. He stirred the hot liquid while keeping eye contact with the girl that sat in front of him, with a contract on the table.

She smiled and picked up the silver pen that was on the table beside the piece of paper. With a swift hand movement she signed a couple of times.

Lee Soo Man placed his tea cup and got up from his seat, he stretched out his hand and the girl shaked it.

" I promise you, you're going to be a star." he said with a sweet smile and squeezing her hand lightly.

Y/n couldn't believe herself , her dream was about to come true.

What she didn't know was how much of a bumpy ride it would be until she reached stardom.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

authors note

besties 😎♥ I hope you enjoyed this I have no idea of what I'm doing but as long as you like it. I knoooow that there's not a lot of NCT content in these two first chapters but it gets better I promise <3 tell me how you guys feel about this story so far pls I love receiving messages aaaa

[lubdubsworld]

Change of Heart ( Taehyung ) ( Complete.

Chapter 1   Chapter 2    Chapter 3     Chapter 4     Chapter 5   Chapter 6  Chapter 7   Chapter 8    Chapter 9

Summary : Times are changing. After years of being oppressed, werewolves are taking a stand against humans , demanding equal rights and fair treatment. Heading the movement is Kim Taehyung, the breathtaking heir to the Kim fortune and one of the few remaining Alpha werewolves in the country. His disdain for the human race is well known and well warranted. They killed his family after all….. He wants to change the world , to put humans in their place but when his five year old daughter takes a shine to their very human neighbor , maybe he has to start with a change of heart , first.

: Pairing : Taehyung x OC / Werewolf AU!!

Genre : Romance, Explicit Content

Chapter 10

“Baby....you up?” Taehyung sleep heavy voice against my ear made me stir, blinking groggily as I tried to make sense of where I was. The window was still dark and I groaned. 

“What time is it?” I whispered and I felt the press of his lips against my shoulder, gentle and wet. 

“It’s a little past five in the morning.”

I whined in disbelief.

“Why would you wake me up so early?” 

I could barely see him in the darkness and I felt my breath catch when he moved to straddle my hips, hovering over me before grabbing the back of my thighs, spreading my legs apart and leaning down till the head of his cock pressed right up against my entrance. I felt myself clenching in anticipation and my body thrummed with the need to be filled, although I was still so sore from last night. 

“I’m sorry.... I need to head out but i wanted to...” Taehyung whispered, and I moaned when he kissed me  lightly, groaning when he slid right in, cleaving a way inside me, my walls pulsing around the hard length of. I flinched, the dull ache of it making me whimper a little and it took some effort to ground myself, to relax and not seize up against the intrusion. I could feel my heartrate speeding up, the last vestiges of sleep fading into the air. 

Taehyung, pressed gentle fingers to my waist, stroking my skin before running them up my torso, soft little touches to my ribs and up to my breasts, cupping the warm weight of them before rubbing his thumb over the tip till my nipples hardened. 

“So pretty...like this...” He whispered, pulling out and pushing back in and the movement jarred my insides , drawing a pout onto my lips. 

“you’re too big..” I complained and he responded by moving his hands to my knees, gripping the back of them and drawing them up and apart till I choked, spreading me so wide that my thighs screamed in protest, and he laughed at the look on my face .

“We should join a yoga class or something. Your flexibility is atrocious.” He commented mildly and I gasped, affronted. 

“What on earth-” He cut me off with a kiss, before grabbing my ankle and throwing my leg over his shoulder and pressing in closer, his cock sliding in even deeper. I choked out, laughing in sheer disbelief because I wasn’t made to bend like that. Nobody was. I was sure of it. 

“You’ll get used to it...” Taehyung laughed, “ Get used to me... Get used to my kisses and of course get used to my fat cock in you every damn night. ” he growled and the filthy words made me clench down on him, so hard that i almost cramped up. 

He kissed me slowly and I wrapped one arm around his neck, trying to breathe through the stretch of him fucking into me, each push and pull abrasive but amazing. . 

I stared at his beautiful face, trying to drink in the features, and I felt myself fall deeper, the look of affection in his gaze somehow so much more arousing than the things he was doing to me. And i realized how badly I wanted this...This and him for the rest of my life. 

And in the wake of it came the reminder that +my father was out there. 

A powerful man. 

A dangerous man who wanted Taehyung gone.

“Are you going to be in danger?” I whispered, pressing my palm against his face and he chuckled. He lightly grabbed my wrist and pressed a kiss to my palm before bringing my hand down to his shoulder and kissing me gently. 

“I always am.” He reminded me , lips brushing mine . It was far from reassuring and I gripped his shoulders harder, trying not to let the anxiety take over. 

“But you’ll be safe, right?” I demanded, willing him to look me in the eye and Taehyung gave me a soft smile.

“Would you miss me terribly if I was gone?” He grinned and I felt my entire body go ice cold at the very prospect of it , my lips parting and my mouth going sandpaper dry.  Taehyung’s smile faded at once, his arms tightening around me. 

“Hey...hey... I was just joking...baby. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have joked about that. Rae, I’m going to be fine... Look at me. ” He whispered urgently and I curled my fingers into his shoulders, trying to breathe. 

“Hey...Come on, Rae.. Don’t look so scared. ..” He pressed kisses to my cheeks and I swallowed.

“Don’t underestimate my father. Tae....“ I said hoarsely.” He has so much more to lose than you do. He’s desperate and I don’t want you to be blindsided by anything. “ I whispered. 

He nodded.

“i know. i won’t. Now come on, let me make you feel good, yeah?” He kissed me again and I hugged him. He picked up the pace, thrusting into me faster and I closed my eyes, gripping his waist and hanging on as he sent my senses into overdrive. 

My mind was still too worried to experience any sort of overwhelming pleasure but I liked this. 

Liked having him like this, over me, inside me and wrapped all around me,. 

It meant he was safe. At least for this moment, he was here and he was safe. 

I felt the moment his orgasm hit him, warm wetness spilling into me and I closed my eyes at the sensation, blushing for some reason.

This time i felt him swelling inside me again and I froze, panic starting before I could stop it and he hugged me closer, lips pressing soothing kisses as he stroked my skin, gently soothing. 

“it’s okay baby... You’re mine... You were made for me. it won’t hurt... I promise.” He whispered, holding me closer, and I swallowed, bracing myself . 

“Oh, God, Taehyung... “ I whispered, burying my face into his shoulder as he pressed in a little deeper and he was right. It didn’t hurt, it felt overwhelming, like it was too much and like I was going to absolutely explode but it didn’t hurt. ....

Taehyung trembled a little, as he tried not to move, his knot lodging itself deep inside me, so deep that the smallest movement sent pin pricks of sensation all over my body. It didn’t even feel weird or animalistic anymore I thought , awed. it felt normal. Felt like us. Him and I locked together. Felt natural.  Or maybe the early morning grogginess was making me mellow. Maybe once i had my head on straight, I’d be more terrified. 

He groaned into my shoulders, body going lax on top of me and I choked a little because he was heavy, but there was a dull throbbing pleasure in it, the weight of him grounding me. 

I stared up at the ceiling, stroking the back of his head as he shuddered a little inside me. 

Time seemed endless as he stayed inside me and I felt my eyelids growing heavy, even as I heard his breathing even out.

Wasn’t he supposed to leave? 

But I couldn’t bring myself to wake him up. 

For a few more minutes, I stayed still, watching the windows grow lighter and as the first rays of the morning sun began spilling into the room, I felt sleep take over. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I won’t be going in at all. The Narcotic department is going to handle the whole thing. You know Namjoon and Seokjin right? They’re the one who’re going to be there and they’re going to make sure things go smoot. I’m going to be safe ...in the comfort of my luxurious office .... “ Taehyung’s voice  sounded completely steady and firm through the phone and i willed myself to trust him. 

Luna sat in my lap, happily sketching on a drawing pad as we sat cross legged in front of the huge French Windows in Jungkook’s apartment. Jungkook himself was in the kitchen, whipping up some milkshakes for us. 

I sighed deeply.

“ Can we come over today then? It ends today right?” I asked urgently. I buried my nose in Luna’s hair and the sweet scent of green apple and strawberries made me melt. She turned around to flash me a wide grin, eyes dancing with happiness. 

Taehyung didn’t respond for a few seconds. When he did, his voice was low and soothing. 

“I’m not sure Rae. These men, they aren’t the kind of people I can take lightly. There are going to be repercussions and I don’t want anything to happen to you or Luna. You’re safe there. Jungkook’s going to stay with you till I come get you and I’ve hired enough men to keep watch. I just need to hang around long enough to make sure we end this cleanly. “

“Okay. I love-”

“Don’t.” He said softly. 

I blinked.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s the first time I’m hearing you say that. I’d rather hear it in person.” Taehyung said softly. 

I laughed.

“You’re such a sap.”

“Only for you. Now, what is my feral daughter upto?” 

“Luna, Dada wants to talk to you...” I handed the phone over to her and she squealed.

“Hi Daddy....” She said cutely. “ When are you coming home daddy?” 

I couldn’t hear his side of the conversation but the pout on her face told me that she wasn’t pleased.

“But that’s soooo long....”

“I was drawing . RaeRae showed me how to draw a wolf. It looks angry like daddy.”

“No daddy, I’m being a good girl. I ate a bowl of rice and veggies too.” 

“I don’t miss daddy because RaeRae’s here.” 

And then she giggled.

“Of course not daddy...you’re both number one.” 

A sound at the door made me look up and Jungkook held the door in place with his leg, flipping the doorjamb down before carefully carrying the tray of milkshakes in. 

I gently maneuvered Luna off my lap before moving to help him. 

“Smells delicious, Mr. Jeon.” I grinned, taking a sip of the chocolate concoction. “Ooh..that's really good.”

“Its a premade mix I added water to.” Jungkook grinned. I laughed. 

“ Still a great cook !” I turned to watch Luna who was now flat on her back on the rug and going on about how Jungkook had let her borrow his sketching tab. 

“She’s adorable.” He commented with a smile and I hummed.

“When are you heading back to the preserve?” I asked gently and he shrugged.

“Not for a while. Taehyung told me they’re not yet sure how far this whole drug thing has spread. There’s going to be a lot of arrests and protests in the next few weeks. Messing with a wolf’s ability to scent his mate...that’s terrible stuff, Rae. Wolves are gonna be fucking furious. There’s going to be a huge fall out over this and we can only hope it wouldn’t be too violent.” 

I swallowed.

“Do you think I could get my job back, at the preserve?”

Jungkook looked surprised.

“You’re not gonna be with Tae?”

I turned to stare at Luna.

“Of course I’ll be with Tae but.. i love my job. I made a difference there. I’m not going to make a good trophy wife. I want to be able to help people in someway, not just hang around in the backdrop.” I said desperately.

Jungkook looked worried. 

“I’m not sure if Tae will agree to that Rae. You know how he gets about his job. As his wife you’ll have plenty of stuff to do as it is..,....”

“I’m not his wife...” I muttered under my breath, although it was kind of a useless statement.

“ Umm...you know he’s going to ask you to marry him as soon as possible? You’re already wearing his mark. in fact , in our world you’re already married as far as we’re concerned,” Jungkook pointed at my neck and I rubbed the small scar on my shoulder where he’d bitten me. 

“I can still do the things I want to do right? Taehyung isn’t going to lock me up , is he?” I laughed.

Jungkook tilted his head, watching me carefully.

“You don’t know him very well, do you Rae?” He said quietly. 

My heart flipped over in my ribcage at the words and the tone with which he said it. 

“What-What do you mean?:” I asked , nervous. 

Jungkook opened his mouth to respond, only to be interrupted by Luna’s laugh. 

“RaeRae!!! Daddy wants to talk to you!!” Luna came bounding over with the phone held out and I took it from her.

“Tae?”

“I’m going to head in now. We’re going to be coordinating with Seoul PD and they’ll send the guys in around 2 hours. You’re going to  okay right? I’ll call you when it’s over?” 

“Okay, Tae. Stay safe.” I whispered.

“I’ll be just fine. Don’t worry about me. Love you. Both of you. ”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jungkook and i sat on the couch, eyes glued on the TV as the news played out watching the entire country erupt in chaos. 

“Fire broke out today on a popular resort in Jeju Do, owned by  Hotelier Cha Eun Woo..... Interestingly, the resort had been closed for the weekend with minimal staff and only a few VVIP customers . So far there have been reports of nine casualties, all of them guests including billionaire philanthropist Yoon Jae hyun....”

I felt the breath shudder out of me, equal parts relief and disbelief. Taehyung had closed the whole thing down with minimum fanfare and with no one any the wiser. I knew that the eight men were the major distributors in the entirety of Korea, and that with them gone, it would only be a matter of time before the entire racket collapsed. 

“These guys are good.” Jungkook commented mildly and I stared at the screen, fascinated... The whole thing was being written off as an unfortunate tragedy, a gas leak or something.  

A small crowd of people in uniforms stood huddled in a corner and I squinted, grinning when I caught sight of Kim Seokjin’s golden blonde head and Kim Namjoon’s tall figure, dressed like waiters. .

I felt my lips quirk at that. 

The phone rang just then and I exhaled, “ Taehyung...”

“Did I do good?” He whispered. 

I laughed. 

“ I think I know now, why you’re an amazing politician Kim Taehyung ssi. “ I said softly. 

Taehyung chuckled.

“Real life isn’t like the movies baby.... I suppose you were looking forward to some good old fashioned action sequences and a lot of alpha posturing?” He teased. 

I smiled.

“I’m just glad you’re safe. “ I whispered. 

“I’m sending a limo to Jungkook’s place. You should  come over to my condo.  I have a present for you. Will you come? ” He said gently. 

Curiosity piqued, “ Of course. I’ll be there. What is it?”

Taehyung laughed softly, his voice deep. 

“I think you’ll like it.”

I stared at Jungkook, who could probably hear the conversation.

He had a very odd expression on his face. Part resignation and Part worry. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.. I’m just thinking that I’m lucky...”

“Lucky?”

“That I didn’t think about pursuing you. “ 

I laughed. 

“What do you mean?”

“I’m just saying. i wouldn’t want to be on Kim Taehyung’s hit list.” 

I rolled my eyes. 

“Don’t be dramatic.” 

“I’m not. Be careful Rae. He’s a very dangerous man.” Jungkook said quietly, picking up the smaller glass of strawberry milk and lifting Luna up into his arms. i watched him laugh and carry her to the balcony. 

And i wondered what that was about. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So , what’s the present?” I asked impishly , wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him soundly. He hugged me close, reciprocating with fervor and I moaned into his mouth. I could kiss him forever.

“Patience , little one. It’s on the way. First , tell me is your brother alright? I’ve been trying to reach him but i can’t.” He sounded worried and i felt warmth bloom in my chest.

“Yuggie’s fine. He left his phone somewhere ...i spoke to him on the way here. He’s upset of course but for now, he’s not going to come anywhere near the family business. My father handed things over to his nephew a few years ago is what I heard. Yuggie’s heading back to the States after the funeral.”

“What’s his name? This nephew...do you know? ” Taehyung asked thoughtfully.

“Kim Ji Hoo. He owns a bunch of casinos across the country. When I was in college i once heard him talk about getting girls from somewhere to my dad. I don’t remember where .... ” I said apologetically. 

“That’s fine angel. Thank you for telling me... I’ll keep an eye on him.” Taehyung said with a smile. 

“So this is it? The drug racket is down??” I asked nervously and he sighed.

“Hardly. We don’t know a lot of things but the Narcs caught a lot of evidence today from these idiots and their laptops and phones. Seokjin and Namjoon are going to head the investigation. We’ll probably not reveal anything to the public until we know the true extent of the operations.”

“Which would be once you get to the local dealers.”

“Yes.... but that is out of my jurisdiction so I’m going to respectfully step away and let them do their job.” He smiled. 

“And the whole sex trade thing in Eun Woo’s hotel..What about that?”

“We rescued the girls earlier. There were seventeen of them, three of them underage.” His voice shook a little. 

“He’s a monster. I’m glad he’s dead.” I whispered. 

A knock on the door made us pull away from each other. 

“Speaking off, your present’s here...” He smiled. 

Grinning , i turned to the door.

And then the smile froze on my face when I saw who it was. 

Seokjin stood framed in the door way, dragging another man in front of him. I couldn’t see who it was because of the black bag over his head. 

“Special delivery for Alpha Kim.” He grinned, shoving the man forward till he crashed to his knees in front of me. Seokjin pulled the bag off . 

“Taehyung.” I froze in disbelief, staring at the familiar man in front of me , on his knees , bloodied and battered, wrists caught in handcuffs and face swollen and gagged..

Cha Eun Woo was almost unrecognizable. 

Taehyung stepped right up behind me wrapping both hands around me in a warm back hug, chin resting on my shoulder as he peered down at the beta wolf. 

“Do you like your present?” He whispered, kissing my neck gently. 

“Taehyung, what is this?” I said , my fingers shaking a little, my skin icy cold because of how cruel Taehyung looked and sounded, talking down to Cha Eun Woo. 

“I thought you’d enjoy a little action, angel... Life get’s boring sometimes if I don’t indulge my wolf once in a while, don’t you think, baby?” 

 “Tae, no.” i said desperately. “ Let him go. please don’t...”

Taehyung hummed. 

“Are you sure baby? You don’t wanna see how us wolves solve things?” 

I shook my head frantically. 

“No.. No I don’t wanna see you kill another man.” I laughed, voice just a little hysterical because why did this even have to be said. When Taehyung said present I was thinking a bottle of champagne and some roses.... not the prospect of cold blooded murder..... . “ Please.,.just... Don’t.” 

Taehyung pulled away from me and moved forward. I stumbled back and away, watching as he reached Eun Woo, hand reaching out to hold the man by his hair, the veins in his hand pulsing from how tight his grip was. 

Eun Woo whimpered, moaning out slurred syllables that were impossible to understand because of the gag in his mouth. 

“Are you sure angel? “ Taehyung pouted, holding one hand out.. I flinched when his claws popped out , three inches long and sharp as razors. 

My throat went dry as he grabbed Eun Woo by the shoulder, claws digging straight in with so much force that blood spurted out .

I whirled around, looking away , pressing my hands to my eyes, a scream forming at the back of my throat threatening to spill out.

Taehyung groaned in disappointment. 

“Fine. I won’t kill him.” He said boredly. “ Seokjin...” 

I turned back around , staring at him. Taehyung looked as he always did , a soft smile playing around his lips, eyes kind and warm ,  his voice even tempered and gentle. 

But the unconscious man at his feet, the pool of blood spreading out over the carpet , the mangled shoulder..... they didn’t fit into the picture. 

And suddenly, I understood just why everyone was afraid of him. 

Seokjin appeared at the door. He glanced at Eun Woo and wrinkled his nose.

“Did the bitch pass out again? i swear to God, my grandmother has a higher tolerance for pain than this fucker...” He glanced at Taehyung.

“Tie things up yeah?” Taehyung said evenly and Seokjin nodded, dragging the prone body away. 

“You look terrified.” Taehyung smiled, moving to the mahogany sideboard and grabbing a bottle of water. i watched as he casually washed his hands , getting rid of the blood. 

“You... Would you have killed him? If I didn’t ask you to stop?”

Taehyung stopped scrubbing under his nails, giving me a look.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you.. do you do this often? Kill people?” I said shrilly. 

Taehyung laughed. 

“You were plenty happy when I killed your father.” He pointed out. 

I swallowed. 

“That’s...That’s different.. He’s... He deserved it...” 

“And Eun Woo doesn’t? Come on , Rae...what he was doing with those girls was filthy.” 

“Yes.. yes but...” i was so confused, my brain refusing to come to terms with the fact that Taehyung, the man i loved, actually killed people. Personally. 

“Anyway... you told me to stop and i stopped. Didn’t kill him, right?” He smiled. 

I nodded. 

“Thank you for letting him live.” I whispered , turning away . I could feel a head ache come on. .

“Oh, i didn’t let him live.... He’s still going to die.” Taehyung said casually. 

I whirled around , gaze clashing with his as my lips parted in surprise. 

“You.. You said you weren’t going to kill him...” I said hoarsely. 

Taehyung blinked at me, looking confused. He grabbed a pure white towel, wiping his wet hands carefully. 

“Yes, I said  I  wouldn’t kill him. Seokjin will.” He said casually. 

My entire body went cold at that, sweat gathering on my hairline because of how scared I suddenly was. 

“Taehyung ...this isn’t... this scares me.” I whispered, taking a step back. 

He laughed at that, moving closer and reaching for me.

“Come now, angel. You know i have to right? Men like Eun Woo don’t change... He’ll find something more vile and awful to do , probably even try to get back at me by trying to hurt you or Luna... i can’t have that can I?”

“So you just...you kill people who get in your way?” I felt like I had been dipped in a vat full of cold water. Taehyung drew me into his arms, hugging me close.

“Only when I am protecting something i value.” He said softly. “ I can’t afford loose ends, Rae. They get tangled together and trip me up. As my wife, i expect you to trust me. Trust that i won’t do anything without reason.” 

“I’m not your wife.” I said dully, feeling just a little overwhelmed.

“Semantics.” He brushed my words off easily, pulling back to rub his fingers across my cheeks.

“I’m being sworn in officially, tomorrow. I want you by my side on the podium. You and our daughter. I know its going to be new to you... My world. But I think you’ll like it. I’m the king there and I want you to be my queen. ” He kissed me gently. 

I stared at him, this man who i loved because of the side of him I had seen so far. The kind, considerate father, the passionate leader and the tenderly sweet lover. 

But then i remembered the cold cruelty with which he had dug his claws into Eun Woo, who was after all a childhood friend of his. Was this the other side of Kim Taehyung’s perfection? Was he also a ruthless , heartless man who would do anything to protect his interests , destroy anyone who got in his way?  

I pulled back an away . 

“Taehyung are we rushing into this? I... do you think we should slow down? Maybe date a little and-”

He didn’t reply, his face unreadable. 

“And where do you intend to live?” He said quietly. “ You don’t have a job.”

“The preserve....”

“....no longer hires humans. The law came through last week.” 

It was like a knife slashed right through my insides. 

“What?” i whispered, confused. 

Taehyung inhaled sharply. 

“We talked about this? There are a lot of qualified weres who don’t have a job, who cannot find work here in the mainland.”

“And what about me? The preserve is the only place where there’s a laboratory studying werewolf microbiology which is kind of what I’ve majored in. I can’t work anywhere else .” I said softly.

Taehyung sighed.

“Baby, hear me out... As my wife, you’ll be heading charities, working with the most intelligent people in the country , running organizations that directly help improve quality of life for underprivileged weres everywhere. It is so much bigger than anything you could accomplish in that tiny laboratory in the island. “

“So, I just move in with you right away?” I asked quietly, already knowing the answer. 

Taehyung gave me that same, maddeningly rational look. 

“The customs department is going to go through your father’s assets... Everything he owned is going to come under scrutiny and I’m sure his wealth is going to dwindle to nothing once they’re through with him. As it is, I know he wrote you out of his will. If you’re going to insist on working some minimum wage job , living in a dilapidated apartment somewhere just because you think, we’re going too fast...” He smiled, “ I’m going to have to put my foot down.” 

And in a moment of startling clarity I just knew exactly what he’d done. 

“You planned this didn’t you? “ I blinked at him. “ It’s surreal, all these pieces falling into place so perfectly..... You knew I would want to  go back to my job in the preserve . That i would never agree to marry you so quickly. Why else would you rush a law like that? “ 

Taehyung didn’t reply. 

“i know how laws are passed Taehyung. You must’ve put quite the pressure on your bosses, to pass such a mundane law so fast...” 

He stared back at me without an ounce of guilt in his gaze. 

“I won’t apologize for wanting my mate by my side.” He said evenly. 

“Will you apologize for being a cunningly manipulative bastard, then ?” 

“you’re over reacting...” He said calmly. 

“Am I, Taehyung?” I said sharply. “ It’s been a week since I found out i was your mate. A week.... And now suddenly, i have your mark on my neck, no possibility of getting my job back and no other option but to cling to you.... I’d say I’m reacting how any woman would react.... You played me like a fiddle and I’ve been dancing to your tune all along. “ 

Taehyung sighed. 

“You make it sound like I’ve done something terrible. “

“ Haven’t you?? “ i demanded. 

“ No, I haven’t. I love you. I care for you deeply and so does my daughter. She needs you as much as i do and she loves you so much. Your own family is almost non existent right now. your brother is three thousand miles away and I am here offering you my love, my home and the chance to be a part of my family. Tell me what are you losing out on? Tell me what it is I’ve taken away from you?” 

 My choice,  I thought with clarity. You’ve taken away my right to make that choice. 

 He held my face gently, thumbs brushing across my cheeks. 

“I know you’re frightened. But trust me. I’m going to be here by your side. Eun Woo dies today, not because of those girls he destroyed but because of  you. Because he dared touch you , knowing you were mine . Tomorrow the whole country will know it and no one will dare to even breath wrong in your direction. Because they know what your mate is capable of.” 

He pressed a kiss to my forehead and I let him hug me, staring over his back at the opposite wall. 

The painting on the wall caught my eye. 

A beautiful, dainty gazelle, cornered against the edge of a huge cliff,  staring down the barrel of a hunter’s gun. And on her side, a big beautiful wolf , gorgeous and tempting as it seemed to call for her. And it was obvious that in her panic , she was going to run into the arms of the wolf. 

Not knowing that the wolf was just as dangerous, just as deadly as the hunter and the cliff edge. 

I closed my eyes hugging him tight. 

I was so tired. 

“Tell me you’ll marry me. “ Taehyung’s hypnotic voice wove its spell over me, soft and soothing and filled with all the reassurances a naïve young girl would ever need.  

I took a deep breath, trembling in his arms when i exhaled. 

And then I replied. 

The End 

~~~~~~~~

Author’s note : Tell me how much you hate me. 

Taehyung isn’t a saint wbk. So of course there’s going to be a sequel.

Soon. Hopefully. 

Taglist : @veronawrites

@ladyartemesia

@bumb1e-bee

@jeonlovescoffee

@bonyg

@unicornbabylover

[iron-parkr]

Hi, y'all.

Not sure if anyone'll see this or if anyone cares tbh. That's not me trying to get pity points or anything, I just know I've been gone for a hot second. I didn't mean to disappear for so long. This little hiatus was very much unplanned and unintentional but is not permanent. I'll explain under the cut.

You don't have to read all of this but long story short, the last couple of months have been A Lot.

Content warning up ahead for vague mental health stuff, animal death, medical stuff, broken bones, and religion (if anyone needs a warning for that)

I originally probably stepped away from Tumblr for a minute by accident because I got overwhelmed by the March OC Bingo stuff on top of my school stuff and whatnot. I'm hoping to maybe retroactively fill my Bingo card, but I honestly can't make any promises. The next few weeks are really busy, but I'll get to that in a second.

A big reason I accidentally pulled away is that my family had to make the incredibly difficult decision to put my dog to sleep in April. We'd had my dog for about 11 years and he literally felt like a third brother to me. Saying goodbye to him was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I was incredibly lucky that I was away at school and surrounded by friends on the actual day it happened, but I won't lie, it was fucking awful. My mental health was absolute shit. I got extra lucky that day because I was on a spiritual retreat that weekend and it helped guide me toward rekindling my relationship with God, which brought me a lot of peace exactly when I needed it. I'm by no means religious, even after the retreat, and I would never ever try to shove my nebulous beliefs down anyone's throat, but I personally have begun to find comfort in God again after years of struggling with faith in the wake of religious scandals and difficulties with organized religion, and I attribute that with keeping me sane after that weekend.

Reason #2: A little under two weeks ago, I had a little accident and ended up fracturing a bone in my foot and spraining my ankle (on the same leg). I was on crutches for a few days, but luckily I'm able to put weight on it in a boot, so I'm more mobile now. Overall, it's been genuinely one of the most frustrating things I've ever experienced. Not only are the broken foot and sprained ankle physically painful beyond belief, but it's just mentally and emotionally draining because I'm the type of person who hates having to ask for help and I've had to force myself to suck it up and ask for help so many times. I have no idea how long I have to wear the boot, and there's a chance I might need to do physical therapy after I'm cleared to take the boot off, it's all kind of up in the air.

Reason #3 is a bit more exciting - I'm graduating college! I finished my last semester of classes and exams this week and tomorrow (Saturday) I'll be graduating from my university summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA in both semesters of my senior year (hopefully, still waiting on a couple grades but it's looking good) and making the Dean's List all 8 semesters of undergrad. So, yeah, the last few weeks have been hectic with senior events, finishing up classes, and getting ready for graduation. It honestly still doesn't feel real. When I was 15, in high school, I swore up and down I wasn't going to go to college because the future seemed so overwhelming and terrifying, and now I'm only a few hours away from graduating. It's just... absolutely insane and I can only hope 15 y/o me would be proud of 22 y/o me.

Even though I haven't been posting or creating any edits on Tumblr, I've continued to write this whole time. I created an OC for Dragon Ball Z because it's my current hyperfixation and I'm currently working on the first draft of her second chapter. I've also been spending a lot of time on Kate Winchester, my Supernatural OC, rewriting the chapters I'd previously written and outlining a roadmap for the portion of the story that takes place before Supernatural begins. And I finally started looking at and working on Maggie Stark's next chapter, which feels really good considering I have a better idea of how to connect the cliffhanger from Chapter 5 (which was unplanned, surprisingly enough) to the plan/roadmap I already had. As an aside, I have a feeling that I'll also end up semi-hyperfixated on HP and Aquila, Liza, and Gracie once I get down to Florida and visit HP World at Universal Studios, so that's another fun thing to keep an eye out for.

I'm hoping to ease back into posting here on Tumblr, but I can't guarantee that I'll have pretty edits and gifsets out the wazoo. The next month or so is hectic but really exciting. I'm home next week, then I'll be in Spain and Rome on a pilgrimage trip until the beginning of June. After I come home, it'll be prep time because I'm supposed to start my Disney College Program at Disney World in mid-June. The broken foot may throw a wrench in those plans, which is a definite worry, but I won't know for sure until I see the doctor next week.

All that to say, I'm sorry for disappearing. You know life, it kinda sucks sometimes. And if you made it this far, thanks for reading and caring. But I'm hoping once I'm finished with school, and then once I get settled into life as a Disney World cast member, I'll be able to be more present on here <3

[grokebaby]

OC ASKS ATTACK!!

1.- Imagine all of our ocs had to fight eachother. Who'd win and why?

2.- Favourite and least-favourite oc? Why?

3.- Oldest oc? Newest oc? Could you explain a bit of their story?

Yo nice attack bro

1. (I assume you meant to type "Your" and not "our" bc unfortunately I don't know your ocs sorrey) Ooojjj my god. Disastrous multiverse crossover. Even imagining all the characters of one story in a big tournament would be.. Well badass tbh but messy lol. For me personally it'd be a whole entire discussion in itself to just list who would win in a fight against who (new ask game anyone?)

If I had to list like the one character I know would survive everything, regardless of if they technically "lose" or "win" any battle, I'd probably say that's Della/Dave the Illusionist. Bc she's a resilient little fuck who won't die despite everything (being a paradox does that to you)

2. GOSH I'm bad at picking just one of anything but that's a juicy question. I do have some favorites I'd say but who I'm most interested in at any time fluctuates. I like to keep it fresh. I'd call my least favorites those who I have very little interest in 😅 but it's not always even that personal. I think I automatically have some fondness for older characters who've stuck around through the years. Will expand on this under a read more bc it'll be rambly

3. I've answered this oldest question before a few ways. Newest tho? Uhhhhh. Torpor? I whipped her up on a whim some few nights ago. Concept and design at once, although the design is still pretty wip. I do also have the case of having 'new' ocs but they've been in progress (like having a design but lacking everything else or stuff like that) for some time, so I have yet to really introduce them

Here's a peek of Torpor for you btw. She's one of Unjust's family along with Hysteria. I'm working on an introductory post for her so I won't get into it in detail rn, but basically big living meat cocoon and embodiment of how executive dysfunction feels

Expansion on Q#2 below

Out of all my antagonists so far Ngah has to be among my favorites tbh. She stems from my own experiences and getting to grapple with her kinda helps formulate some things. Also I'm just glad to have a lady villain who isn't motivated by love or romance. Familial love maybe, but you get my point. She isn't oppressive and small-minded bc of her love for her children (although that affects her motivations), but bc she has oppressive and small-minded views on the world. Also, I like that she's arrogant and a fucking powerhouse. She deserves to get nerfed though lol. I'm also fond of Lamera and the relationship between him and his mother.

Grandefel has always been a fave. I haven't given her enough spotlight admittedly but I just like her alot regardless.

Unfortunately I'd have to put ZZZ in my least favorites, which is concerning bc I should give them more development and appreciation in the story. Unfortunately I can't make myself extremely invested in their story and character. It just doesn't hit me all that much, but I wish it did. ZZZ deserves so much better

Outside of lack of interest I'm not sure if I'm entirely comfortable discussing my least favorites bc I'd say those are related to actual irl bad memories and I don't wanna get into that w my current mental health.

Outside of the damn angels tho:

Ebony! I'm a big fan of hers! I love!!! Ebony!!!

Jetter/Peaches gets an honourable mention, she's still with me after all these years and has shared pain with me. And grown and developed into something better on top of it. Diane also gets an honourable mention, props to her for being the only reasonable and tolerable person in her family lmao

Kern. I like her. I just like her and think about her and Hael fairly frequently. Nothing too special I just like

Unjust funny and awful :)

Syöjätär. Nobody knows this one and I won't elaborate

Alby will always be so fun to draw but I'm not sentimental over him. Call him a mascot maybe.

Twig, I think they should get to beat people up <3 although I'm a little halfway on Twig, on one hand meh but on the other hand, such a compelling character. It's complicated

Theo, who's a pretty miserable wet rag guy but I grapple with my compulsions through him. He has those too, although they're different it's still at the core of the issue

Dave/Della the Illusionist probably, I can't get anywhere w/o mentioning er

[nowandajenn]

Blue Christmas-Seven

 Pairing: Chris Evans/OC Kelly

Summary: After almost three years of marriage, everyone would tell you that Chris and his wife Kelly are the most stable, solid couple they know. But behind closed doors, things are tense as they keep trying for a baby, to no avail. When a secret threatens to shake their solid marriage to it’s core, will they be able to pick up the pieces?

Warnings: major angst, language

I do not consent to have my content, whether it be this story or anything else of my creation, posted by a third party on any other platform other than right here without my permission. This blog is 18+ and is not intended for minors. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Heed the warnings.

*this chapter has been completely rewritten.

Christmas Day

One day I’ll wake up and I won’t want to immediately feel like I’m going to die. Today is not that day, apparently. 

When I blink my eyes open, the very first thing I see is Dodger’s furry face. He’s laying on the bed next to be with his head on my chest, staring intently at me like he’s been waiting for me to wake up. He does this constantly to Chris and I, and we always find it hilarious. 

“Hi, baby.” I whisper, my voice hoarse from all the crying and the whiskey last night. I’m in our bed and to my immense relief, I’m dressed in a pair of soft sweats and a T shirt, which I have no memory of putting on. 

After we got back here last night, I went straight to the liquor cabinet and poured us both a drink and put on A Muppet Christmas Carol and cried and bitched and ranted about how much of a bitch my mom was, and Chris just kept quiet and let me vent. At some point I remember almost falling asleep on the couch and Chris nudging me awake, and then....nothing. 

I glance over at the nightstand and see that Chris plugged my cell phone in for me to charge overnight and there’s Advil and a gatorade sitting there. I don’t know how much good Advil is going to do since it feels like there’s an elephant sitting on my head, but what the hell. 

After peeing and brushing my teeth and hair to at least appear somewhat human, I make my way to the kitchen and stop in my tracks. Lisa is standing at the stove making what looks and smells like french toast and bacon, and there’s coffee brewing. Chris is sitting at the dining room table (after the debauchery that occurred on top of it a week ago, I’m sincerely hoping that Chris went at it with a ton of Lysol) looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. 

My fight or flight urge kicks in and I’m two paces into going back into the bedroom when I feel something soft but sturdy hit me in the back. 

In a flash, Dodger is at my feet, devouring the croissant that Lisa threw at me. 

“Not so fast. Get in here.” Lisa says. The look on her face and the tone of her voice leaves no room for argument. I turn back around and walk into the kitchen, leaning in to give Lisa a hug. 

“I’m sorry. I should have called.” I say softly. 

“Yeah, you should have. But that’s not why I’m here.”

The food finishes a a few minutes later and I help her plate it up and bring it to the table. Once we’re all seated, Lisa looks from me to Chris. 

“So, who wants to tell me what the hell has been going on the past few weeks?”

“Mom-” Chris starts. 

“No, save it. Something big is going on, and you’ve been lying to me about it. And I know you’re lying because you suck at it. And Scott knows what’s going on because every time I ask him about it, he looks like he’s about to puke. Now here’s what I know: you guys apparently had a fight. Kelly’s been staying with her brother in the city. I can’t get either one of you to tell me anything, which is a HUGE red flag, because neither of you have ever been shy about coming to me about anything. Now what is going on?”

I lace my fingers together and rest my fists under my chin. 

I know this is going to kill Chris. And it’s going to kill Lisa. And it’s going to kill me to have to fucking hear the words come out of his mouth again. And there’s a good possibility that Lisa will kill Chris, or at the very least beat the piss out of him.There’s a whole lot of killing that’s going to happen. 

Chris looks at me with such a profound sadness in his eyes that it nearly breaks my heart. 

“Just tell her. Get it over with.” I say sadly. 

“The reason Kelly hasn’t been here is because......” I watch as his eyes shine with tears and his adams apple bobs up and down in his throat. I close my eyes and try and brace myself for the words that brought my world down a few weeks ago. “I slept with someone. I cheated on her.” Lisa’s jaw drops and she looks to Chris, who’s barely keeping it together and then to me, my jaw clenched tight and my eyes closed. 

Seconds pass without a sound. Then a minute. Then two. 

“YOU DID WHAT?!”

Her gaze swings to me and I can see her eyes brimming with tears. She reaches across the table and grabs my hand, squeezing it tightly. 

“I didn’t want anyone to find out until after the holidays. I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s Christmas.” I say softly. 

I watch Chris swallow thickly. 

“Honey-”

“No. You don’t get to talk right now. You were raised better than this. I raised you to be better than this. I’ve been proud of you you’re entire life, but right now.....right now I’m so disappointed in you I can barely stand it.”

I take my coffee and my plate up to my office on the second floor, not wanting to be there or listen as Lisa lays into Chris. As it is, I can still hear her yelling without hearing what’s being said. 

I knew everything was going to come out sooner or later. I just really wished that it would happen after the holidays. Between the disaster with my family last night, I guess it’s only fair that Chris has his turn. 

There’s a knock on the door as I’m finishing my coffee, and Lisa opens the door a bit, and I can tell that she’s been crying. 

“I don’t even know what to say.” she tells me softly as she takes a seat in the comfy armchair in the room. 

“I don’t know if there’s really anything TO say.” I whisper. 

“Honey, why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you talk to me? You didn’t have to go through this all by yourself.” 

I pull my feet up on my chair and wrap my arms around my knees and look up at her. 

“I could barely begin to process any of it myself. When he told me, I kind of just went on autopilot. I didn’t want to be alone; part of me was afraid of what would happen if I was alone. I knew that if I went to you or Shanna or Carly or any of our friends, it would all come out, and I wasn’t ready for that. I couldn’t stay here with him. So I fled to Connor’s. I kind of trashed the studio, then just shut down. That’s why Scott knows. Connor called him because I physically couldn’t get out of bed for four days. He came to check on me and laid with me for a few hours. I was ashamed. I AM ashamed.”

“Kelly, the only person here who should be ashamed is my son. He didn’t tell me any of the details, and honestly, I don’t want to know. I don’t know what the hell was going on in his head. I am so, so sorry about everything. I just....I can’t believe any of this.”

A thought pops into my head and I turn to her. 

“How did you know I was here?” I ask. 

“I didn’t. I had Scott start on dinner for today, and I came over, determined to get the truth out of Chris once and for all, no matter what. He told me you were here sleeping. He gave me the Cliffs Notes version of what happened at your parents’ last night.” 

I scoff and roll my eyes. “Yeah, it was one for the books. I just couldn’t be around any of them last night. I just wanted to be here, at home.”

“What about now? Where do you want to be now?” Lisa asks. 

“I don’t know. I’m so sorry for all of this happening on Christmas. I hate feeling like the holiday is ruined. I hate that you and Chris are fighting. I hate that Scott and Chris are fighting. I just wish we could have a nice Christmas and just pretend that everything is normal.” I tell her. 

She takes my hands in hers and rubs them, warming them up. 

“If that’s what you want, that’s what we can do. God knows I could wring Chris’ neck right now, but it’s Christmas. If you think you can handle it, and handle everyone, we can do it. I’ll hold everyone off on the questions for today. But you know eventually.....you and Chris are going to have to sit down and talk.”

“I know.”

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Kinktober 2020: @saiyanprincessswanie​ @superquirky-blog

[terry-perry]

Here We Go Again pt. 3

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Odinsdottir!Reader

Warnings: Parental angst (if that’s a thing)

OC: A.J. Rogers, Daisy Rogers, Natalie Rogers

A/N: Previous parts HERE and HERE.

Tags: @prettysatan​

Enjoy!

He didn’t know what was going on with her. At first, he thought it was about work. He knew how stressed she could get when the council couldn’t reach agreements on certain issues. But then, he began to do some more thinking. Was this about the girls leaving for that mission?

She was still having a bit of a struggle with accepting the fact that they were now part of the next generation of Avengers. They were still her babies, in her eyes. Only 17 and 19, and they were off fighting crime and putting their lives on the line to save the world. How could she not worry?

Whatever it was that was bothering her, she shouldn’t keep it all bottled up. He wanted to be there for her as best as he could.

“Thor?” Steve approached his brother-in-law at the cliffs overlooking the waters. It was always a favorite spot of the God’s who now looked over his shoulder to offer a welcoming smile.

“Something I can do for you, brother?”

Even after all these years, it felt rather strange for Steve to be referred to as such. When imagining the possibility of future in-laws, he didn’t exactly prepare himself to have any that were of royalty. And in this case, space royalty. Still, it didn’t deter him from seeing Thor as family. It was why he was coming to him, after all. 

“I don’t know,” Steve said, not knowing how else to start. “I just-- I’ve been worried about Y/N. I’m sure it’s nothing; maybe she’s just stressing out over work. But it still feels like she’s closing herself off from everyone. It’s not my business, but did she mention anything to you by any chance?”

After hearing this, Thor was now the one unsure of what to say. Guess Y/N hadn’t told him the news just yet, leading him to this suspicion. This alone made Thor want to spill everything to him, but it wasn’t his secret to tell. No matter how much it concerned Steve. 

“Well, what do you think she might be concerning herself with?” He decided to take a different route by trying to see if Steve could figure it out himself.

It seemed to have done the trick as he pushed his brows together to think about it. “The most recent thing I can think of is the last time we talked to the girls. They have to stay where they are, longer than anticipated. It’s been getting Y/N more anxious than she already was.”

“That must be it then!” Thor attempted to make it look like he came to this conclusion as well. Laying on the enthusiasm a little too thick. 

Steve didn‘t notice, thankfully. Now busy feeling guilty for what Y/N has been going through by herself. And it wasn’t that he hasn’t been missing Daisy and Nat either. He missed them like crazy. But they had jobs to do, just like the ones he and Y/N had.

He figured it was hitting her the hardest since when the kids were growing up, she had been the parent that mostly worked and stayed active even after retiring from the Avengers. He himself took on a more Fury-like role by helping to recruit new members and resolve any disputes there may be between the government and superheroes, but he still spent most of the time at home. 

Now he wanted to do what he could to help her through this emotional time.

But what?

She continued to pace around the living room, seeming to get more antsy by the minute. This was getting to be too much. Pushing on the verge of ridiculous. She just needed to be upfront about it now. 

“Mom?”

And as if she needed to add more to her inner stress...

“Darling,” she greeted A.J. as he walked in looking concerned. Deja vu. 

“What’s going on? What happened at dinner?”

“I was wondering that myself. What happened with you? You looked quite sick.”

“You’re one to talk,” he retorted, his worried stare having yet faded. “You were covering your nose and face. Was there something actually wrong with the food?”

“No,” she stated, sighing. If she was wanting to be more upfront about this, might as well start now. “The thing is...I’m pregnant.”

She could hear the way his breath caught in his throat. And if that didn’t give away his shock at the news, his suddenly big eyes certainly did. Though it only seemed to last for a second or two, his expression than changing to one of curiosity and intrigue as he glanced down at her stomach.

“Huh, that explains some things then,” he mumbled more to himself.  

She tilted her head, wondering now herself what he could mean by that. “Like what?”

His eyes went back to hers to explain. “Well, at dinner, I think I felt something like a presence? Like someone else was there besides you, me, and dad. And maybe that explains why I felt sick. Because you were feeling sick. Is that possible?”

Her confusion and worry then changed into feelings relating to elation and pride. 

“A.J.!” She squealed, approaching him with these emotions in hand. “You’ve inherited your grandmother’s gift.”

“Her gift?”

It could go without saying that Frigga was a powerful witch with many talents. Which is why it can also be said that her powerful empath abilities could easily be overlooked. It was what helped her in being a wonderful wife and mother as well as a selfless and understanding queen, beloved by all. Being able to channel others’ emotions and auras. Could A.J. have gained this skill too?

“Your grandmother was a powerful Empath that could read the feelings of others,” Y/N went on to explain. “And if powerful enough, they can take on the energy of others. Even feel things before they happen due to having a strong intuition.”

“So, like a mind reader?” A.J. asked.

“In a way. Except instead of thoughts, you’re able to read emotions. The energy level of others. Perhaps what you were sensing at dinner was the presence of your future sibling as well as my troubling emotions. Not to mention, my nausea.”

A scoffing chuckle was what she was met with along with “Well, I’m happy for about the baby and the cool stuff I gained, but I don’t know if I’m looking forward to feeling everything you’re gonna feel these next nine months.”

She was happy to learn about this new development about his son, but he certainly had a point. How would this effect him on a personal level? How did Frigga do it exactly? This wasn’t something either her or any of her siblings inherited fully. Perhaps Mantis would be able to lend hand on this, given she was an Empath herself.

“We’ll find a way to help you control your powers,” she assured him. In the meantime, she was glad that he didn’t seem put off by the other news. “So, you’re okay with the baby? Truly?”

“Yeah,” he said, smiling before giving her a small, reassuring hug. “It’s a surprise, but it’s awesome. But, I take it Dad doesn’t know.”

She looked embarrassed as she shook her head. “Haven’t had the spine to tell him. Scared of how he’d react. But now I’m feeling guilty for putting it off. Doesn’t help that your Uncle Thor and Aunt Brunnhilde already know.”

She released a heavy sigh after spewing all this out. On some level, she wanted him to judge her for acting like a frightened child. But all he could give her was a sweet, comforting look that had him look so much like Steve.

“He’s gonna think this is great news,” A.J. assured her. “He’ll be shocked, sure, but he’ll be happy.”

“You think so?”

“Absolutely,”

The third voice that came into the room immediately caught her off guard, realizing who it was in an instant. She spun around to find Steve had entered their home. That same reassuring and loving face.

“A.J., you mind giving us a minute alone?” Steve requested, directing his head towards the front door.

A.J. understood right away and gave one more smile before making his exit. Leaving his parents alone. One that was biting her bottom lip an fiddling with her fingers while the other wanted it to be known that everything was okay. It would be, anyway.

“How much of that did you hear?” She began with, still afraid to look him in the eye fully. 

“Only all of it,” he teased lightly with a shrug. He walked over so he pull her into his arms and let her see how genuine his happiness was, now that it was up close. “This is great, really.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” she still felt the need to apologize and open to him the way a wife was meant to do with her partner. “I was scared. For many reasons, if we’re being honest. I mean, it’s been so long since we’ve been in this situation. Will we still be good at this?”

“Of course! Y/N...” he pressed her closer as he ran his hands along her sides. The way his fingers traced his back and lightly massaged her got her shivering a bit. “If we’re being honest, I’m scared too. But, it’s a good scared. Like when I realized I was in love with you. Or, even when you were pregnant the first time.” He paused to give a kiss to the top of her head. “This is gonna be great for us. We’re great parents. You, especially. It’s why I thought you were so upset in the first place.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” he took a deep breath, now feeling like the embarrassed one. “I thought you were feeling depressed about the girls being gone.”

“Oh, darling. I mean, of course I wish they were here, but I know they have a job to do. I’m proud of them.”

Steve could only smile brighter as he pressed a kiss to her hand. “That right there. That’s how I know we’re going to be okay. Y/N, you care so much about the people you love and do your best to understand them. It’s why you’re such a great mom. Why I love you so much.”

Her eyes couldn’t help but fill up. He knew. It was true that most of her worry derived from her own anxiety. It’d been a mix of things like her past worry from her family’s history and how she wasn’t the most present parental figure that she wanted to be. But he was right. They got this.

“I’m so lucky,” she summed up these thoughts by simply stating that before burying her face in his chest. 

He chuckled softly and continued to hold her tight. They stayed that way a little while longer until he brought up a surprise of his own:

“We should probably head outside. I called the girls, and they managed to conjure themselves up for a visit. Let’s tell them the good news.”

[sweetyyhippyy]

Part of You. Spencer Reid x OC! Character. Chapter 17.

Chapter 17: Positive

(Not my gif)

Summary: Things haven’t been easy since Spencer’s arraignment hearing. Bridgett has been having a hard time without Spencer. When Penelope comes to check on her best friend, Bridgett realizes her timing is off.

TW: Mentions of murder. Spencer going to jail. Mentions of pills. Mentions of alcohol. Mentions of throwing up. Pregnancy. Putting pregnancy at risk.

Word Count: 3.2k.

A.N: The italicized paragraph in the beginning is a flashback..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the day...

The day of Spencer’s arraignment hearing. Nobody knew what he was going to plead, not even Bridgett… she didn’t even think Spencer knew. Once Emily got the call that the Mexican authorities had found the knife used in Nadie Ramos’ murder, everything went downhill from there. At first they were offering if Spencer pleaded guilty that he would do 5 years, if he chose to plead not guilty, he was looking at 25 years to life. Fiona gave him both of his options, but Spencer decided then and there that he was going to plead not guilty.

“Can I have a minute alone with him please?” Bridgett asked, turning to Emily and Fiona.

“Of course. We’ll both be outside.” Fiona says, grabbing her briefcase and walking out of the room with Emily behind her.

Bridgett stayed quiet, staring at Spencer, waiting for him to explain himself. His eyes stayed on the table between them, not wanting to have the conversation with his girlfriend.

“Do you know what you’re putting yourself up against by pleading not guilty? You could go to prison for a long time, Spencer. Think about all the evidence.”

“Scratch has been very thorough with making sure things don’t look good for me.”

“Yeah, and a jury isn’t going to see that you were set up. They’re going to see that all signs point to you. They don’t know Scratch like we do.”

“Do you think they’ll convict me?”

Bridgett sighs heavily, shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know. But if you plead guilty… 5 years isn’t the worst. You can come out of prison and still have a life.”

“Yeah but not as an FBI agent. I’ll be a convicted felon.”

“But you would be free. You and I could still have a life together.” Bridgett replies, already tearing up.

“And while I do want that, you know that the FBI is where I belong.”

“But you don’t belong in prison, baby. If you want to roll the dice, and take your chances with going to trial, 25 years might as well be a life sentence.”

“If this whole thing has been orchestrated by Scratch, I know the team can get him.”

“Without a doubt we will. I know we will. But.... what if we can’t prove it this month, this year… or this decade. Spence, we can’t figure it out by tomorrow for your arraignment.” Bridgett lets out a sob.

Spencer shakes his head, sniffling and dropping eye contact with Bridgett.

“What do I do?” Spencer says, his voice straining to keep from crying.

Bridgett sighs shakily, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I don’t know, baby. I don’t know. But I’m here, okay? Whatever you decide, I’m going to be here either way.” She brings him in for a hug, letting him cry onto her shoulder.

***

The whole  team was in the front row on his side, watching as the bailiffs walked in with Spencer between them in handcuffs, walking him to the desk in front of them and helping him sit down. Bridgett was right behind him, giving him a warm smile when he turns around to look at the team.

“How do you plead, Agent Reid?”

Doctor.

“Not guilty.” He says sternly.

Bridgett’s heart jumps at his decision.

Okay… that means we’ll go to trial. But we can get through it.

Penelope held onto Bridgett’s hand while Fiona and the defense attorney went back and forth about why Spencer should and should not have bail set. At one point, both Bridgett and Penelope wanted to hop over the railing and beat the attorney up for the negative accusations he was saying against Spencer. Luke could tell Bridgett was getting agitated, but he took her other hand and gave it a squeeze of comfort. The judge was being less than understanding when Fiona offered the team as character witnesses to speak on Spencer’s behalf, not feeling “in the mood” to hear what they had to say.

“Bail is denied. Defendant will be remanded to federal custody pending trial.” She fires, banging the gavel.

Bridgett’s whole heart falls into the pit of her stomach, hearing that Spencer wouldn’t be coming home with her. She looked in horror at Spencer as he looked to her, just as scared as she was.

“How long until his case goes to trial?” Emily asks Fiona.

“It’s a complicated case. We’re looking at maybe 3 months.”

Bridgett reaches for Spencer’s hand over the railing, he takes it and pulls her in for a hug.

“I’m sorry. So sorry, Bridge.” He whispers.

“I love you. Please be careful.” She says back, trying to take in his embrace one last time, trying to commit to memory his smell and how he held her.

The two bailiffs pull Spencer back from Bridgett’s embrace, taking one of his hands behind his back. Before they get the other hand Spencer points to the top of his sternum and mouths “I’m right here.” Alluding to the necklace he gifted her years ago.

Bridgett sniffles and grabs the moon pendant and rubs it with her thumb, nodding her head.

Spencer turns around one last time as he’s being escorted out, looking at his family; lost and scared to be leaving them. After the door closes, Bridgett sobs, gripping the railing under her to keep her standing. Everyone’s worst nightmare just came true... Spencer was going to prison for something he didn’t do, and they still had no physical evidence of him being set up. Bridgett drops her head as she feels Luke grab her, bringing her in for a hug.

This isn’t really happening. He wasn’t actually going to prison. This was all just a big mistake.

“Bridge, come on, let’s go outside.” JJ says, rubbing her arm.

Bridgett lifts her head from Luke’s chest, wiping her eyes. “I need to go home. I can’t… I can’t be here.” She cries, scooting past Emily and Penelope and walking out of the courtroom.

***

Bridgett’s eyes flutter open, looking at the empty space in her next to her that Spencer always slept in when he was over. Her eyes filled with tears again as she touched the dark grey sheets next to her, feeling the tears go over the bridge of her nose and rolling onto the pillow under her head.

The muscle relaxer she had taken a few hours prior had knocked her out, it was the only way she was going to get sleep. She hugged the body pillow tight, wishing it was Spencer that she was hugging instead of the damn pillow. It had been 2 weeks since the hearing and Bridgett was going through a serious depression. She hadn’t been  back to work since the hearing, Emily said she needed time to get into the right headspace, which usually Bridgett would argue with being away from the job, but now it wasn’t a fight.

A possibility of 3 months. 3 months. 90+ days before his case went to trial. How was she going to get through 3 months without him? The prison wasn’t allowing him visitors just yet for whatever reason. Emily was hopeful that within the next week or so that they would allow them.

Finally, Bridgett grabs the throw blanket at the foot of her bed, wrapping it around herself before getting out of bed and walking into her living room. Her head felt fuzzy and dizzy as she shuffled out of her room, a definite side effect of the pills and alcohol she was consuming everyday for the past 2 weeks.

She stood in the middle of the room, closing her eyes to try to get the spinning to subside. The spinning made her feel nauseous, a bitter taste developing on her tongue, one of her queues that she was about to throw up. Bridgett hurries to the kitchen, going through her pantry to find some crackers to snack on, needing some sort of substance to fill her stomach. She chewed slowly through the saltiness of the cracker, sipping on a glass of water as she chews.

Bridgett’s phone chirps from the other side of the counter, she sees a text from Penelope.

Hey I’m less than a minute from your place, I just want to see how you’re doing.

Bridgett shuffles to the living room, opening the apartment door to wait for Penelope in the hallway. It was the first time she had been out of her apartment. Once she sees her blonde hair and the red as black patterned dress she was wearing, she half smiles, stepping back inside.

Penelope shuts the door behind her, embracing Bridgett right away. “I miss your beautiful face, Bridgy.” She says, squeezing her tightly.

“I miss you too. You know you don’t have to come check on me, right? I’m… fine.” Bridgett shrugs.

“How long have I known you?”

“10 years.”

“And don’t you think I know when you’re not okay? Your man being in prison means that you’re definitely not okay.”

Bridgett sighs, leaning back on the couch. “I feel like if I tell myself that I’m okay, at some point my mind will believe it and I’ll start being okay.”

“Eventually you will be. It’s just going to take a while. It’s been 3 weeks since the hearing, you’re still getting used to life.”

“3 weeks? It’s been 2.”

“No, it’s been 3. The hearing was on the 20th.”

“Wait, it’s really been 3 weeks?” Bridgett mumbles. She quickly sits up on the couch, trying to do math in her head, but she was already so scatterbrained at the moment that things weren’t making sense. She hops up from the couch, going to the calendar on her desk to try and figure it out.

“Bridge? Hey what’s wrong?” Penelope asks, following after her.

Bridgett puts her pointer finger up in her direction, counting the weeks for the fourth time. There was no way.

“Bridgett, what’s wrong? You look scared.”

Bridgett’s heart started to beat out of her chest as the realization sunk in that her math was spot on. She sinks down onto the chair, covering her mouth in shock.

“I’m late.” She mutters.

“Oh!” Penelope gasps, her eyes growing wide.

“I was supposed to get my period the week after Spencer got arrested, but it never came. I thought it was all the stress. It wouldn’t be the first time my period just doesn’t show because I’m stressed out because of the job. And I figured it still hadn’t come because I’m beyond stressed out, but it’s been almost 2 months since I’ve gotten it. Eventually my body is like ‘okay just give the girl her period now’.” Bridgett runs fingers through her tangled hair, her leg bouncing up and down feverishly. “Oh my god, I can’t be pregnant. Not now.”

“Yeah, probably not the best time, but it’ll be okay. You know you have all of us to support you.”

“Penelope, you don’t understand. I’ve been drinking everyday since Spencer’s hearing, taking pills to help me sleep. Oh my god, I’m an idiot. I should have known with how long it’s been since I’ve had my period. Shit.” Bridgett cusses.

“You didn’t know, Bridge. It’s not your fault.”

“Spencer and I were trying for a baby for almost a year and a half before he brought Diana to live with him. We put it on hold, but… what if now that we stopped trying, I really am pregnant?”

“Okay, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to go down to the drugstore down the block and get you a pregnancy test, and we’re going to find out if you’re actually pregnant before we panic, okay?” Penelope says, grabbing her purse and hurrying out the door.

Bridgett sighs, biting at the hangnail on her pointer finger. If she was pregnant, she was at least 2 maybe 3 months, but that was not likely. She hadn’t been careful with consuming alcohol, especially after the hell she had been through the past month and a half.

Bridgett being the overthinker and worst case scenario on her mind all the time type person she was, she got onto Google to ‘Risks of consuming alcohol during pregnancy’. Most of it was common knowledge, but it was almost as if her mind needed to punish her for the horrible thing she was doing to her possible child.

“You didn’t lock the door after I left?” Penelope scolds her, walking back in the door.

Bridgett turns around, sighing. “I uh… no sorry. Can I have the test?”

“Oh, yeah, I bought you this water in case but you do you. Think happy thoughts.” She says with a smile, handing her the plastic bag with the box inside.

***

“I didn’t know you and Spencer were trying for a baby.” Penelope says, sitting next to Bridgett on the couch, handing her a glass of water.

Bridgett takes a big glup, trying to focus on anything else at all. “Yeah we went through a scare about a little over a year a half ago. It came out negative but then we talked about trying. Nothing came of it… until maybe now. How much longer?”

Penelope looks at the timer on her phone, “45 seconds.”

Bridgett sighs, gnawing at the inside of her cheek. “What am I going to do if I am pregnant? I put this baby at risk by being so irresponsible.”

“You stay here, I’ll go get the test and then we’ll go from there before we panic.” Penelope says, getting up from the couch and walking to the bathroom.

Bridgett takes several deep breaths, trying not to give herself a panic attack as she waits for Penelope.

“Okay, so what we’re going to do is… uh, I have a friend who’s an OB, and we’re going to get you an ultrasound to check the baby out, okay?” Penelope says, holding a pair of Bridgett’s shoes in her hand and the test in the other.

Bridgett’s eyes grow wide, her jaw dropping. “Wait, I’m… it’s positive?”

Penelope nods her head slowly, offering the rest to her. Bridgett covers her mouth with her hand, gasping into it. The tears flow hot down her cheeks as Penelope hands her the test. She sobs as she sees the word “PREGNANT” on the screen, a cold shiver running over her body.

“Oh my god. Oh my god.” Bridgett says over and over, sniffling.

“Honey, everything is going to be okay.”

“This is my fault, Penelope! I should have known I was pregnant! And now… shit, how am I going to tell Spence?”

“We can’t worry about that right now. We need to worry about getting you to see someone to check on my future god child.”

***

“Miss Mendez?” A petite red headed lady walks into the room.

Bridgett smiles at her, still completely terrified. “Yes, you can call me Bridgett.”

“My name is Dr. Clark, I’m going to check you and your baby out, okay? Penelope said you were worried.”

“Yes, I… I went through a hard time the past month or two and I’ve been drinking and taking sleeping pills. I had no idea I was pregnant, I lost track of time and didn’t realize I was so late until today. I figured it was all the stress I’m under.”

“So what I’m going to do is first see how far along you are, and see if the baby is developing normally, the brain, heart, all the organs are developing normally as well, okay? And I’m going to tell you something, there are lots of women who don't realize they’re pregnant and drink, smoke, do a lot worse things that they shouldn’t do. You’re not the first, and you’re not the last. What matters is that now that you know you’re pregnant, you stop all of that immediately.”

Bridgett nods her head, fighting back tears. Obviously Bridgett was the biggest cry baby before pregnancy, but she couldn’t imagine how much worse it was going to be with pregnancy hormones.

The doctor squeezes a gel onto Bridgett’s belly, her body covered in goosebumps at how cold it was. Penelope was smiling from ear to ear next to Bridgett as she sees what actually looks like the shape of a baby on the monitor.

“Oh my god, Bridgy, look.” Penelope says with excitement.

Bridgett looks at the monitor in disbelief, it didn’t look like a baby, but like a large bean.

“So you’re measuring about 8, almost 9 weeks. And the measurements look spot on for where the fetus should be.”

“Oh thank god.” Bridgett says.

“With that being said, do you want to hear the heartbeat?”

“I can do that?” Bridgett asks, smiling at the doctor.

“Yes! Let me turn this on, and find it for you.”

The room is filled with a loud and fast rhythmic thumping. Bridgett’s jaw drops hearing how quickly the thumping was going.

“Healthy heartbeat.” The doctor beams.

“Oh my god.” Bridgett smiles, looking over at Penelope who was now crying too.

“Congratulations. I’m going to print some pictures for you to take home with you.”

“Thank you.” Bridgett replies, looking at the screen in awe. “That’s my baby. Mine and Spencer’s baby.”

Penelope smiles, “Baby genius on the way.”

***

Penelope and Bridgett go around her apartment, throwing away all the empty bottles of liquor that she had accumulated throughout the past few weeks, tossing them in a garbage bag.

“Can I ask you something? Are you going to tell Spencer you’re pregnant?” Penelope asks.

“Not now. I’m going to wait. I don’t want me being pregnant to be something he worries about while he’s in prison.”

“What if…”

“I don’t want to think about that. Worst case scenario, I’ll tell him before he goes to trial. I just want to be able to see him.”

“Emily told us this morning that they’re allowing visitors starting tomorrow. I took it upon myself to make a chart of who’s visiting Spencer and when, but obviously you get first priority.”

“Okay, I’ll go see him tomorrow. But I’m going to keep it to myself just for now. That means that you, Penelope Garcia, need to keep a secret. You can’t tell the team that I’m pregnant, okay?”

Penelope nods her head, crossing her heart. “I promise I’ll keep you and my future god child, a secret.”

“Thank you. We both appreciate it.” Bridgett rubs her stomach. “It’s crazy to think that I have a baby growing inside me. Even crazier to think it’s Spencer’s baby.”

“You two are going to be the best parents ever. I can’t imagine how much love this baby is going to be surrounded by.”

Bridgett smiles, getting a little emotional over the fact that her and Spencer were going to be parents. “Do you think he’s going to be happy?”

“Who, Spencer? Are you kidding? He’s going to be so excited. I’m going to get going, do you need anything?”

“No, I’m okay. Thank you so much for being here, Garcia.” Bridgett says, hugging the woman tight.

Penelope takes the garbage bags with her as she leaves the apartment, closing the door behind her.

Bridgett sits on the couch, taking the ultrasound pictures in her hand and looking at the black and white blob in the picture. Her hand drops down to her stomach, nowhere near a baby bump yet and rubs it.

“Hey in there. I’m mom.” Bridgett laughs. “Your dad is away as I’m sure you know with how much I’ve been crying over it. But you’ll meet him soon and he’s going to love you so much. I can’t wait to meet you. And I promise I’m going to take better care of you. I’m so sorry for hurting you before, but now that I know, I’m going to protect you.”

[bnhaohmy]

Bunny

Summary: You transferred to UA, being shy and not very talkative. With this, not many kids wanted to talk to you except for 3 third years, one of which falling for you once he laid his eyes on you.

Words: 2.6k

Warnings: fluff, very soft, it's kind of a jumbled mess but I love it

A/N: I hope you all enjoy this story! Also I gave the reader a cat quirk like my own personal OC. So you're kinda like Tsuyu but with Cat features.

You sit quietly at your desk, looking around the classroom to everyone else who were all much more focused on their conversations to notice the new girl. You were thankful for it, your anxiety would not be able to handle an entire class' focus being on you.

You played quietly with your fingers, small little lesions showing up as your blade like nails scraped at your skin. You looked up as 3 students walked in right as the bell rang, two of them talking and laughing loudly as the other kept his head low and only contributed whispers to the conversation.

The girl was the first to spot you, letting out a large gasp as she did. "Ooh! And new student! I'm Nejire!" She spoke, her hands clasped behind her back as she tilted her whole body to the side as to smile at you. You freeze instantly and shakily waive at her "Y-Y/N..." you spoke softly, catching the attention of the two males with Nejire more than you had had before. "Aw, you're like our little kitten Tamaki! I'm sorry for being so straightforward with introducing myself Y/N and for getting attention on you." She spoke, her tone getting softer as to make everyone look away from you.

You smile gently at her actions "it's okay..I just don't like the attention or meeting people to be honest.." you murmur out as he glance over to the navy haired boy whose eyes were focused on you. Once his eyes met your gaze, he blushed and instantly looked away as his body began to shake.

Nejire nods before she points to Mirio, "this is Mirio" she said with a smile as the blonde male waves "hey there!" He said before sitting down at his desk with Nejire following after. You watched them and smile gently before looking to boy you now knew as Tamaki. The first thing you noticed was his pointy ears, your smile growing softly as you felt your own cat ears flatten against your head.

Soon enough your home room teacher stepped in and you pulled your notes out to start doodling. Soon you felt a small tap on your shoulder from Nejire "so, Me, Mirio and Tamaki have to head to the first years to explain work studies and talk with them. From what everyone has been saying...you were the top third year at your old school?" She asks and tilts her head, her hair following behind her head.

You look up and nod "I was. I think I'm number 4 at this school behind you 3" you speak softly and smile.

"Awsome! Why don't you come with us and talk with the first years. You still have your work study right? That's the reason you transferred was to get closer to it?" She asks softly with a bright and happy smile

You nod to her words "that would be amazing Nejire. And yes, I transferred to be closer with my work study. Now that I think about it, there was another third year from U.A. in the agency I got approved for.." you speak softly.

Mirio and Tamaki both perk up hearing this "who did you get approved by Y/N?" Mirio asks as he turns to look at you

"Ah, Fatgum" you say softly and smile at him "I just don't know who all is under the agency yet" you speak softly

Tamaki hesitantly opens his mouth "I'm the other third year..." he speaks quietly as he keeps his head down. You turn and smile "well...at least I have met you then" you speak softly and rub his shoulder which only made him tense up more.

You pull away slowly and offer a gentle smile toward the timid Male before focusing on class until you and the other three left class for head down to the first years.

Once you all had finished introductions, you all went to the gym as Mirio wanted yo see just how tough this class was. Tamaki was almost instantly glued to the wall as his anxiety had sky rocketed with all the kids.

You quietly walked over to him and leaned against the wall as you sighed "are they always like this?" You ask softly and he simply nods "Mirio had a reason for this, he must gets carried away" Tamaki murmurs to you as he turns and looks at your face.

You nod before playing with your hands "will you introduce me to everyone at the agency?" You ask softly as he bit down on his swollen and chapped lip, nodding shortly after "O-Of course.." he whispered

You walked quietly beside Tamaki through the school halls, the two of you not wanting anything to do with the gym training that Nejire and Mirio were doing with the Students that had taken under their wings so to speak.

Tamaki kept his eyes on you the whole time you walked together, your entire presence captivating the male. He was so intrigued to find someone who was like him, that wasn't loud and outgoing and that was really sweet as well.

"Does that sound okay with you Tama?" You ask, snapping Tamaki from his daze.

"H-Huh?" He asks softly as he looks down to hide is embarrassment of missing your entire question.

"I asked if it sounded okay for us to go to my place to study since you brought up that you needed somewhere quiet to study. Mirio and Nejire don't know my dorm number yet so we would be in a safe and quite place~" you chime out to him, a smile dancing it's way across your lips

"T-That sounds perfect Y/N..I would r-really appreciate it" he says, looking up to me your happy gaze which only causes a small smile to tug at his own lips.

You giggle softly and nods "come on then slow poke. We have to get there before everyone starts coming home.." you say softly and hold you hand out for him, offering another gentle smile to the male.

Tamaki blushes but takes you hand and starts walking a bit faster as to keep up with you as you lead him to your dorm room. You smile and rub the top of his hand with your thumb as you could still feel his nerves going crazy.

Soon enough you were at your dorm you and you opened the door before moving to let him in. "It's a little messy but we can still get work done.." you murmur as you follow behind him before sitting down on your bed, him following and sitting next to you.

You smile up at him and pull all your homework from your bag before starting to work on it. You felt his gaze on you, but didn't want to make him more anxious so you kept your gaze on your work.

After a few hours of working, Tamaki looks up when he feels a sudden heavy weight on his left side, mainly his arm. He looks down and his face flushes when he sees you had fallen asleep on him, pencil still in hand. "Y-Y/N..." he whispers and shakily brushes your hair from your face.

He bites his lip and slowly sides your homework from your lap and moves it to your desk. He then puts his back in his bag carefully before laying down onto your bed. He pulls you with him as he curls up to keep you warm as your blanket had been moved to the floor already.

He sighs softly and smiles gently as he looks at your sleeping form "you look like a little bunny more than a kitty.." he murmurs to himself before his own eyes close and he falls asleep with you close in his arms.

You yawn as you wake up, looking around before you finally felt the weight of someone next to you. You started to panic before looking up, your mind instantly easing when you saw Tamaki sleeping soundly next to you still. He curled up close to you, his hair covering half of his face but you could still see how cute he looked as he slept.

You slowly get out of his arms and pull your phone from your bag, looking to see a few messages from Nejire.

🦄 Nejire-Chan

Hey have you seen Tamaki? (8:30 pm)

Y/Ninnie? Mirio and I cant get a hold of Tamaki at all...I'm getting worried (10 pm)

Ah, he finally answered! Sorry if I woke you two~ didn't know you were having a little date! Don't get wild on our Kitten okay? (2 am)

You roll your eyes at the messages before grabbing a hoodie from your floor before heading down to the common area to make breakfast. You finished up cooking and headed back up to your dorm, not wanting to eat downstairs where it was all quiet and alone. You opened the door to your dorm and smile to see Tamaki awake, rubbing his eyes.

Once his eyes landed on you, his face flushed red "Y-Y/N...why do you have my hoodie on?" He asks softly

You look down and blush "ah I-I had just grabbed one from the floor. I'm sorry Tama! I'll take it off." You say softly but he stops you before you can even set your food down "K-Keep it on. You look c-cute" he said with a big smile.

After a few weeks and getting to know everyone in the agency, you were allowed out on patrols with Tamaki. He was very hesitant at first to have anyone but Fatgum with him, but with Kirishima now in the agency, someone had to help and train the first year.

You happily walked next to Tamaki and looked around, "it's different doing Hero Studies over here. My last hero study was just paperwork.." you sighed out, your tone of voice much louder since you were just around Tamaki, spooking the male a bit.

Tamaki looks to you and tilts his head "really?" He asks as he looks down at you "t-they should at least let you watch patrols even if you don't do anything. F-Fatgum trusts us rather well but most heros get to do patrols by their third year.." he spoke and then looked up when he heard a scream that was just around the corner.

You both rushed around the corner and Tamaki instantly looked around before he saw a woman on the ground. He walked over and began to assess the wounds she had as you looked around to find any culprit. Soon enough, you had your answer as you were grabbed and pulled down the alleyway.

You squeal and try to fight back before looking to Tamaki, making eye contact and seeing his body start to panic before everything went black as a hand holding a rather soaked rag was placed over your nose an mouth.

Tamaki stood still in shock, his body unable to move as he watched you get taken. He shook himself back to reality and instant pulled his phone out to call Fatgum and then Neijire and Mirio.

"W-what do I do..?" He whispers into the phone as he starts rushing around to see if he could spot you at all.

"Well, calm down first off. You won't do anything good when you're panicking Tamaki. We all know that.." Nejire said as she sighed, Mirio leaning to speak up once she was done.

"You need to look down alleys and inlets mostly. It sounds like the villain that took Y/N doesn't have a quirk since your victim had been cut and then Y/N was drugged. He couldn't have gotten that far.."

Tamaki only nods before shakily sighing into the phone "w-what if she's really hurt..its our first patrol and she's already gotten taken and she's gonna be hurt and hate everything." He said as fast as his mouth would allow him and felt tears start streaming down his face

"Tama...calm down. Me and Mirio will come help look for her as well as some of the other heroes okay? She'll be just fine!" Nejire said as she tried to cheer the anxious male up, but it only made his stomach churn when he heard the words "She'll be fine". He knew you would be fine but he could only think of the worst and he didn't want you to hate him or not trust him anymore.

After 5 hours and a few pros coming in to help, you were finally found. You were bruised and bloody, but mostly okay. Tamaki looks at your body and starts whimpering, his whole body shaking as tears start falling down his cheeks.

Nejire looks over and runs to hug him, pulling his face down to her shoulder to let him cry. "She's okay Tamaki...I promise. I know you care for her but you need to calm down. Everything will be okay..." she murmurs and runs his back before taking him over to one of the cars that had been called "let's head to the dorm.." she whispers and pulls him into the car with her.

Weeks pass and you were still holed up in your dorm, not able to do anything as you were waiting on your broken ankle to heal. Nejire and Mirio were persistent on bringing you any homework you guys had, and always told you what had happened in class before giving you an apologetic look when you asked about Tamaki.

You knew he had felt bad for what had happened but you missed him, you didn't know why exactly as you had never felt this way about anyone but your heart hurt when you were away from him. You had never thought about loving someone as you were focused on school but you just felt complete around Tamaki and you needed to see him.

You grab you phone and pull his contact up, before hitting the video call button. You attempted 3 times, the first 2 times being rejected before he finally answered.

"W-What do you want Y/N?" He asks quietly as he laid his phone on his desk, so you were only able to see the ceiling of his dorm.

"I want to talk to you and I really want to see you Tama.." you say softly and adjust yourself on you bed. "Come to my dorm..please" you whisper and get a pouty tone.

"Why..? I-I let you get hurt and y-you're broken now..." he said and you could hear his hiccups, your heart breaking know that he was crying.

"Tamaki, broken bones heal and bruises disappear...please come see me..I need to see you..." you whine out "I don't like hearing you cry..."

You were only met with the video call ending. You looked at your phone surprised and sat there stunned on your bed before you heard a knock at your door and then the door opening. Tamaki walks in quietly and looks at you before he completely breaks. He starts shaking and crying, covering his face as he does.

"Oh Tama...come here.." you speak out and open your arms, the male instantly coming over to hide in your neck, his sobs calming down as he did.

"Its okay...I'm here okay? I'm not dead...I'll be fine soon." You hum before looking down to him.

Tamaki looks up to you and whispers "Y/N...I'm so sorry. I didn't want to see you because I felt so guilty about getting you hurt but the guilt was worse than just that. I-I think I l-love you.." he finishes and his face flushes red. "My h-heart started hurting when I let you get taken and not seeing you for these weeks has only made it worse.." he whines out

"I love you too Tamaki...my body can't handle being away from you. I hope you will come see me more now..." you say with a gentle smile

Tamaki nods "I-I'll come see you if you'll be my little bunny?" He asks with a sweet smile

You laugh and nod, smiling brightly as you press a kiss to his nose.

"Of course I'll be your Bunny.."

[footballfanfictions]

The thrill of the chase - Chapter Three

Pairings: Mason Mount/OC, Ben Chilwell/OC

Authors Note: Apologies again for how long this has taken to write, life has been absolutely manic the last couple of weeks. As always, I hope you enjoy this and feedback is gratefully received.

--------------------------------------------------------------

 He’s pinning me down against the bed, leaning over me. His hands are everywhere, touching and caressing me wherever he can reach and his mouth is on my neck, sucking a patch of skin to mark me.

My hands are in his hair and I’m tugging at it to get him to look at me, so that I can connect our mouths again, but when I pull his face to mine, it isn’t Ben anymore. It’s Rory.

I wake up from the fantasy in a cold sweat, my bed sheet stuck to my slick back and my pyjama top crumpled. I put my head into my hands and sob quietly. I’m not crying because I’ve had some sex dream about a footballer that snogged me. I’m crying because once again, I*’m thinking about my ex boyfriend and it’s becoming obsessive.

I sit up in bed and find myself checking his social media. His facebook has him check in to some fancy hotel in the Cotswolds with his girlfriend. They had met not long after we broke up. In fact, the gap between us breaking up and them supposedly meeting was so slim that it made me wonder if he had been talking to her before we called it quits. I had no proof of that of course, but that didn’t make me feel any better about any of it. I imagined the two of them sharing a bed together in their hotel room, enjoying the comfort of sleeping next to someone. It had been so long that I barely remembered what that felt like. 

I almost texted Bri, she would have been happy to talk even if I woke her, but I wasn’t quite ready to share what I had been thinking about recently. It would be hypocritical of Bri to judge me for thinking about Rory when all she went on about at the moment was making her ex jealous. That made me think of Billy and how much he liked her. I had this awful feeling that if he did ask Bri out that she would use it as an opportunity and not give him a fair chance. Billy did not deserve to be used like that. 

I ran my fingers through my damp hair and collected it into a ponytail, tying it with the band that I had kept around my wrist since letting my hair down before bed. I had this weird habit that whenever I was feeling stressed, needed to really concentrate on something or make a decision, I would always tie my hair up. Rory had always thought it was nuts. I had noticed from their instagram pictures that his girlfriend never really wore her hair up. I always called her that, his girlfriend because giving her a name would make her feel real, and maybe there was a part of me that didn’t want her to be real and still clung onto the idea that we were just on a break, exploring our careers and travelling only to come back together again, get married and have three kids and a dog. 

My parents had tried really hard to hide their devastation when I told them about the break up, telling me that there were plenty more fish in the sea and that the timing just wasn’t right for me to meet someone. They had then of course both reminisced about their university partners which had led to a row when my dad spoke about his university girlfriend Mandy a little bit too fondly. 

I stared down at my phone, deciding that I needed a distraction, and the best distraction was work. I logged out of my own instagram account and clicked on the first saved profile in my list. It was the player that I had been posting for the other day before Billy had his accident. I checked his recent posts and likes and nothing seemed to be out of place, except perhaps for the fact that it was around 3am and he was getting regular messages, the name Sam appearing on my screen once again.  By this point in my maddened, ex-stalking state I will admit that I was curious. I clicked the icon that took me to his inbox and began to read. 

They were conversing about his impending separation from his wife and about how they couldn’t wait to be together. I felt like throwing up in my mouth that one of the players that I worked with would behave like that, although I hadn’t really met this player in particular. His name was Jorginho and he was known as somewhat of a joker.  I kept out of his way for that very reason, not being a big fan of practical jokes and pranks.

I was about to close his inbox when another message came in.

What do we do about Ben?

I blinked and re-read the message several times. Ben? 

What on earth could Ben have to do with Jorginho cheating on his wife and leaving her for this woman, I wondered.

I clicked on her profile then and scrolled back through her pictures. She was a stunning brunette and her posts were mainly bikini pictures with the odd paid promotion thrown in here and there. I scrolled until a picture stopped me dead in my tracks. It was a picture of her with Ben, both smiling into the camera, their arms around each other and a caption that read ‘my everything’.

There were a few more pictures of them together and it was very evident that she had once been Ben’s girlfriend. At first I felt a bit numb, then I felt a pang of jealousy, and then I felt angry that she was conducting an affair with one of his team mates right under his nose and probably planning on lying to him about it.

I didn’t know what to do with this information.

He never has to know. I’m spending one more season here then my contract expires and we can go anywhere. 

I read his response, that confirmed what I feared. They were going to sneak around and hide this from Ben, probably until the divorce was finalised and then they would disappear off to another country and Ben would be left to read about it in the press. Unless i did something about it. 

 --------------------------------------------------------------

I had a meeting with Marina this morning. She commented that I seemed really distracted and I commented that I needed content other than Mason Mount to post onto social media. Marina had laughed and said that he was increasing our social media engagement and that we had new fans and shirt sales as a result of his appeal. I muttered something rude under my breath about what I thought about his appeal.

Marina and I had a really good working relationship and could banter with each other whilst still acting professionally and having a great deal of respect.

We had decided that I could capture my own content for our social media whenever I liked and would be provided with equipment such as a camera to enable me to. I had agreed to this to get me out of just posting Mason, but it did mean extra work for me, doubling up on the job of the club photographer and that I would need to spend more time outside on the pitches with the players, something I wasn’t sure I particularly fancied doing.

I hadn’t spoken to Ben since he kissed me, and now I felt even worse about it because I had been thinking about Rory, and had discovered that his ex and his team mate were sleeping together.

It was only the first of September, but I had started thinking about content for Halloween and maybe even thanks giving as we now had an American player at the club. 

I was just messing around with different shades of orange in photoshop when there was a knock on my office door. 

I got up from my desk slowly, silently praying that it wouldn’t be Ben because I couldn’t face him without blurting out the secret. 

Instead I had the displeasure of opening the door to find Mason Mount stood there.

“What do you want?” I sighed. 

“God you are sunshine and rainbows this morning. You look like you haven’t slept.” he said grinning. He was trying to make me laugh by jokingly insulting me and then cupped my face with his hands and started to stroke beneath my eyes with his thumbs. I was about to ask him what the bloody hell he was doing when he said “just smoothing out the wrinkles”. 

I shook him off and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Sorry.” he mumbled. 

I let him in then rather than the two of us just standing in the door way. He walked over to my desk and perched on the end exactly like Ben had done before he had kissed me. Except surely Mason wasn’t going to do that.

“What can I help you with?” I asked, trying my best to be polite to him. He had tried after all to make me laugh. It wasn’t his fault that I was so worried about everyone and everything else going on around here.

“I have a bit of a problem. My girlfriend is in this girl band and they are doing a music video next week that she wants me to be in so that they can get more views. The thing is, I’m not sure it really fits with my brand.” he explained, looking down at his shoes and the carpet, his eyes darting back up to me every few seconds while I considered a response. 

“Well footballers have been in music videos before without it affecting any of their sponsorship or brand deals.” I responded, thinking about the music video Fernando Torres had been in for a spanish band years ago. 

“Maybe it’s not my image i’m necessarily worried about. I feel a bit used but don’t know how to tell her.” as he spoke he looked vulnerable for the first time and the cheekiness was all gone. 

“So if I’m getting this right, they’re a band kind of breaking through and you being in the video would get them a lot of views and might get them really famous. Don’t you want your girlfriend to be successful?” as I asked him, he looked thoughtful, and then sad.

“I don’t really want to be with someone that now only wants me because I’m famous, and wants to leech fame from me.” he shrugged. 

I remembered the rant I had at him about how privileged he was for being rich and famous at such a young age, but I now started to consider that it must come with some drawbacks like not knowing if the people closest to you actually like you for who you are or if they want to use you for fame and fortune. 

“Well if you like, if they ask us for permission I will say no and that i need you for one of our campaigns whenever it is scheduled for and that it’s non negotiable because the club pays your wages.” He grinned and hopped off the edge of the desk. 

He made to step towards me but I held out my hand to stop him.

“No need to thank me.” 

He nodded and proceeded to head towards my office door. I stopped him just before he grabbed the handle by saying “Can I give you some advice? I don’ think that you should be with someone like that either.”

Without turning back to me, he sighed and responded “I don’t think that you should be with someone like Ben Chilwell”.

Before I could say anything else in response he opened the door and left

 ------------------------------------------------------

By lunchtime my brain was completely scrambled. I had busied myself with my idea for a thanksgiving tribute to Christian Pulisic the American player and planned special catering for the day to include a full turkey dinner in the canteen for him. That would of course give me the perfect opportunity for a post about how we are so thankful for him and want to make him feel at home. Marina would love it. 

I thought about hiding in my office until everyone returned to their jobs or their training and then going to the canteen, but I knew if I did that there would surely be no food left.

I was just loading my tray up with small items from the tapas menu when someone tapped me on the shoulder. Looking over it, I saw that it was Billy. His smile was 50-watt and could light up any room.

“Hey Billy, are you okay?” I asked him.

“Oh yes.” he nodded. “I’ve got a plan to ask ye friend out. Wanted to run it by you if you’re free?” 

I looked around and most of the tables were free so I agreed and said we could sit together and talk about it over lunch and that maybe Bri would join us if there wasn’t some kit emergency keeping her away. He smiled at that.

We sat down at a table by the window, a nice amount of sunshine came through it which warmed my back and the back of my neck nicely.

Billy went off immediately into explaining his plan to ask Bri out. He was going to have one of the lads accidentally rip his training shirt during the morning session so that he would have an excuse to go and see her.

“Hang on - tell me what day you’re planning this and I can distract her dad for a bit.” I interjected.

“Already got that covered sweetheart. He’s on a conference all of next week!” he grinned.

I looked puzzled and he laughed at the expression I was pulling. What kind of conference would a kit man need to go to? Were they brining out a new range or under armor or something like that?

“I know it sounds mad.” 

“It doesn’t just sound mad, it sounds like a good opportunity, go on.”I encouraged him.

He was going to fill one of the old unused offices with flowers and somehow convince Bri that she needed to follow him there so that he could ask her. It was so sweet and completely something that Bri would go for so I told him that his plan sounded brilliant and that I would help him in any way possible.

“I’m going to get her thinking about you in preparation you know.” I said, showing Billy a freshly edited picture of him on my phone screen that I was planning on posting that afternoon when I got back to my desk. “This beauty is going on all our social media pages. By the way, why did you never tell me that you used to model?”

He blushed bright scarlet when I brought up his modelling career and then we both descended into fits of laughter over it.

“You’re a really good friend, you know” he smiled. “If I can call you that.”

“Of course I’m your friend Billy.” I agreed.

“Well seeing as we are now best pals, do ye want to tell me what’s on your mind?” he asked.

I gulped, my mouth and throat suddenly feeling dry and uncomfortable. I couldn’t tell him what I had learnt about Jorginho, but maybe I could at least be honest about Rory.

“I had a really bad break up about a year ago and it’s still bothering me. Just you know, seeing other people happy and wondering what could have been.” I shrugged, trying to seem not fussed. I was bothered though and talking about it made the pain in my chest when I thought about him that little bit worse. I felt tears threatening to form.

Billy put his hand over mine and squeezed it.

“If you’re still following him or still friends on facebook, you need to delete him so that you can move on. Do you want me to do it for you?” he offered, holding his hand out to me for my phone.

Billy was right, I needed to let go of the part of me that still missed Rory, the part that felt jealous every time I saw what he was up to, and I could never get over that while it was accessible to me. 

I gave Billy my phone and told him Rory’s social media names even though he was the top person in all of my search history.

“Oh Katie, I’m sorry. It can’t have been nice to see him announce his engagement on here.” he said sympathetically.

It took a second for my brain and heart to catch up with each other and I felt sick to my stomach as I ask him to repeat himself.

I hadn’t heard him wrong and he showed me the post. I must have missed it by being so preoccupied with Ben’s situation. He had taken her to that fancy hotel in the Cotswolds to propose to her. Their grinning faces staring back at me from the picture didn’t feel like people I knew anymore.

“That’s that then. The end of that chapter of my life, officially.” I scraped my hair back and tied it up quickly.

“He’s gone from your virtual life too now.” Billy said, passing the phone back to me. 

“Thank you.” I said quietly. 

It’s hard to describe how you feel the second your hope for something shatters. The reality was that Rory was never going to realise that he had made a mistake and come back to me, because the reality was that we weren’t the same people we had been when we had first met at university and we had genuinely drifted apart. I could point the finger and blame him for possibly cheating, sure, but what good would that do me? Truth is we weren’t meant to be together and he hadn’t made a mistake. He had done the right thing to lead him to the person that he was supposed to be with. I just wished that I didn’t feel this way. I was sure that if I had moved on and met someone else my reaction would have been different. I might even have congratulated him. 

That evening I went home and cracked open a bottle of wine, and once I reached the bottom of it I cried myself to sleep.

[lov3nerdstuff]

Voluptas Noctis Aeternae {Part 7.36}

*Severus Snape x OC*

Summary: It is the year 1983 when the ordinary life of Robin Mitchell takes a drastic turn: she is accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the struggles of being a muggle-born in Slytherin, she soon discovers her passion for Potions, and even manages the impossible: gaining the favor of Severus Snape. Throughout the years, Robin finds that the not quite so ordinary Potions Professor goes from being a brooding stranger to being more than she had ever deemed possible. An ally, a mentor, a friend... and eventually, the person she loves the most. Through adventure, prophecies and the little struggles of daily life in a castle full of mysteries, Robin chooses a path for herself, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more, and two people abandoned by the world can finally find a home.

General warnings: professor x student, blood, violence, trauma, neglectful families, bullying, cursing

Words: 3.4k

Read Part 1.1 here! All Parts can be found on the Masterlist!

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"And that is?" Robin raised her eyebrows at him in question and curiosity alike, immediately catching onto the spark of hope that came with the prospect of an advantage indeed.

"Me." He replied as simply as that, with an entirely, if not too straight face, and Robin couldn't help her snort in return

"How very humble of you…" She said smoothly, but with a smirk on her lips nonetheless. He was right though, they did stand two against one after all, and they always would. The thought, as always, served to calm Robin more than any piece of saving history or weapon could.

"I am entirely serious about it." Snape added however when Robin's humoured expression didn't cease even after a few seconds, and thus her smile vanished to make way for her utmost attention to his words again. "Since there have always been mutual affections between the Morgan and the Bennett heir up to this point, as well as going by the few accounts of various incarnations of the prophecy, it is safe to say that there has never before been such a disturbance. Both heirs have as of yet always opposed each other alone, because neither was free in their choice to seek out a different partner."

"And you think that whatever anomaly it was that made me not have any curse-inflicted positive or negative emotions for Morgan is the reason why the prophecy will end differently this time?"

"I believe you are the best chance to end the prophecy once and for all that the Bennett line has had in over five hundred years." He replied in open sincerity, and Robin's heart skipped a beat before it was captured by both hope and adoration. "And I can state the facts as they are: I was never meant to be part of this prophecy, nor am I part of it now. I am the anomaly in this scenario, and as we both know, anomalies tend to lead to a different outcome than the predicted one, even in any controlled environment."

"Did you just use potions logic to explain why we will win against Morgan?" Robin couldn't help the affectionate smile that took over her features once more; phrased like he had just now, it really did sound like she had a chance. She couldn't put into words how much she loved him for always cheering her up. For giving her hope, and every strength she could possibly need.

"It appears so." He mused in return, quirking an eyebrow up along with his words as he studied Robin in the flickering light of the flames. "Yet the fortunate preconditions will not change one of the core problems of the entire prophecy: in order for you to live, we will have to kill Morgan instead."

Robin's heart fell in an instant, as did her smile, and even her stomach picked up the all too familiar churning once again. For a few seconds she avoided Snape's eyes by staring into the flames, before at last her gaze returned to him in all the unfathomable sadness it brought along. "I can't kill him, Sev. I had every possibility and reason to today, and yet I… I can't."

"I know. And we will see to it that you won't have to." He replied quietly, then seemed to be lost in his own thoughts for a moment until he spoke on. "Though I admit I do not entirely understand how the prophecy treats the subject. From what I understand, Morgan will have to die at your hand and only yours, even though or especially because I am not part of the prophecy. Otherwise I would gladly have volunteered to end him myself in this very instant."

A huff, both bitterly humoured and indignant, escaped Robin's lips, and she found herself rolling her eyes at this stupid prophecy. Of course it had to be her… everything else just would've been too easy, wouldn't it? But then again… "I wouldn't have wanted you to do it either way." She said. "I will gladly spare your soul that torture at any cost."

"Morgan's death is inevitable if we want to keep you alive, you know that."

"Nothing is truly inevitable. It can't be." Robin shrugged with another sigh, then finally gathered her wits to speak up about another thought that had fostered in her mind ever since this afternoon. "You know, I looked at him while he was at my mercy today, and I realized something that only now makes sense to me. At last."

"Enlighten me."

"Do you remember what my boggart turned into, in my third year?"

"How could I forget… It was a deeply concerning and unsettling occurrence." Snape scoffed, but then sighed and motioned for her to continue.

"I think it was the prophecy that made the boggart change into that dark version of myself which we both saw. And it's also what turned my nightmares in my fourth year into such a horror show. Remember Morgan's words, at the ball: he sees in me the hollow darkness of inevitable death." Robin took a deep breath, then finally got to the point. "The boggart and my nightmares showed me precisely what will become of me if I kill Morgan like I am obviously meant to. It was my destiny in the prophecy that the boggart and the curse found in my being, not my deepest fear. Even though it might as well be one and the same thing at this point."

"That-..." Was his only reply for a few long seconds, until surprise was followed up by understanding in his expression. "I believe you might just be right about that."

"I don't want to become that thing we saw back then, Sev." Her voice took on an almost pleading tone, low and far too breathy for Robin's liking, but it was the price for keeping it from breaking entirely. "But I would, if I kill Morgan. Perhaps it's part of the curse… or perhaps it's just my own stupid weakness. But we both have seen what will become of me, and I don't want to be that person. I can't be. I can't kill him."

"Then we will find another way to end the prophecy. Without anyone dying."

"What other way could there possibly be? You said Morgan's death at my hands is inevitable, it's always gonna be either him or I. No third option. I kill him, or I die."

"Just as you said before, nothing is truly inevitable." He returned, as calmly serious as ever. "While I would not hesitate to end Morgan in a blink, I will also not hesitate to spare you from doing so yourself. We will find a different way, because we always do. Because we have to."

"Alright." And again, as always, Robin couldn't help believing him in the end. A half smile tugged on her lips as she looked up at him once again, in the knowledge that they would be alright somehow. "We will find a way, before it's too late."

"That we will." He sighed under his breath, then placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and yet held onto her a little more tightly in return. They weren't optimists, no… but they had as of yet gotten out of even more impossible situations than this, every single time.

Robin's smile brightened ineffably as she allowed herself to be tugged closer against his chest, his head coming to rest on top of her own, and for a moment they simply enjoyed the silence of the night. It was terribly late, and there was no doubt that they both were beyond exhausted. Perhaps detention and almost dying weren't quite comparable in what they did to one's body and mind, but it was safe to say that this day ought to come to an end for both of them nevertheless. It had been too much… Hogsmeade, the room of hidden things, Morgan's office, dinner, their office, Morgan's rooms, the astronomy tower, and finally the entire struggle with the prophecy right here and now. Good gods, Robin's head felt like bursting with all the things she had just learned. They had uncovered so many horrible truths today… but they finally had gotten a step further in understanding the big picture. A step further to bringing it all to an end.

"Is there any more we can do now?" She asked after a while. "I feel like we forgot something crucial, but I can't grasp what that might be."

"We should rest, for now. Everything else can wait until tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be." He replied with a subtle sigh, and finally pulled away just enough to look at Robin once more. "Perhaps we should see the bright side of things, too, for once."

"And that would be?"

"I can keep you here with me all night without any remorse."

A loud snort escaped Robin as they both got up from the ground to get ready for bed at last, and she couldn't help the smirk that just then tugged at her lips. "As if you've ever felt any ounce of guilt over that before…"

"Officially, I have."

"Officially, I shouldn't even be here in the first place for you to feel guilty over."

"Good thing we make our own rules then."

"Indeed."

… … …

Falling asleep that night, surprisingly, turned out to be less troublesome than Robin had anticipated. Once they both were curled up under the soft covers, wrapped tightly into each other's arms in the fierce comfort of utmost protectiveness, they were both out like a light within seconds. While it still hadn't been often that they'd gotten to spend the night like this, it currently was the reassurance of each other's presence that made it possible to find sleep in the first place, and while Robin would've found more excitement in it under different circumstances, it was the calmness that gifted her a dreamless sleep for what was left of the night to rest.

The morning, however, was everything but calm in return. It was Sunday, sure, but when they woke up five minutes after breakfast had started, the world came crashing down on them rather abruptly. In all due haste, it took them only a few minutes to get ready and hide the box of parchments in one of the shelves before they quickly made their way towards the great hall. Together, for once, since Snape had absolutely refused to let Robin wander through the empty hallways alone, and Robin had given up her protests before she had even gotten properly started. When Snape had set his mind to something, there was little to nothing she could do about it. And honestly, she found herself rather glad about that.

As always, they did go separate ways once they reached the doors to the great hall though, and Robin didn't hesitate to make her way inside and towards the Slytherin table already, while trying to catch her breath after almost having to run to keep up with Snape. At some point, when there wasn't such a pressing reason to hurry, she would have to remind him that his legs were about double as long as hers, which made it nigh impossible to keep up sometimes. Or at least it felt like that; she would have to remember to bring it up at some point. Unfortunately, it was only when Robin spotted Gideon and Michael that she remembered something else, namely the thing she had forgotten about last night. Their challenge, which really hadn't been one in the first place. Oh bloody hell… she had forgotten to take a proper look into her memories to check the stupid order of the stupid items on Morgan's stupid desk. But seriously, there had been so much more urgent matters at hand! Bloody fucking hell though, for she still couldn't tell them that. She still had to put on a smile and joke as if there wasn't some ridiculous life changing prophecy at work. Great.

"Got up on the wrong foot, eh?" Gideon greeted her with a smirk right when Robin reached their little group in the middle of the long table. "You look like someone's turned your shower cold while you were still under it."

"Something like that, yeah." She sighed in return, then dropped down into the seat between Jorien and Simon that had been saved for her. "Anyway, good morning to you, too."

Granted, her friends did try to cheer her up during breakfast, and Robin found herself sighing inwardly more than once while she put on a fake smile and, sometimes, could even muster up a real one. Her occasional glances towards the head table were kindly ignored like always, her 'hmm's for an answer as well, and at last she almost believed that the boys had forgotten about the challenge for good when after twenty minutes still nobody had asked about it. But of course, fate or whatever entity was currently messing with her wasn't as kind as to let her off the hook that easily.

"So, when are we finally going to talk about yesterday's evening activities?" Cas asked with a beaming and giddy smile that made Robin want to strangle her in an instant. Honestly, she loved Cas, but the girl had the most awful timing known to human history.

"Oh yes, right!" Gideon jumped right onto the train of thought, and even dropped his toast while his gaze flew over to Robin. "Where's that proof you promised, huh?"

Under different circumstances, Robin would've straight up snarled at the boy's smug expression and quieted his every inquiry with a single glare. But she had more or less promised them proof, and she had most definitely promised herself to keep her friends out of this mess. So she had to live with the consequences now, even if they majorly annoyed her. Sighing inwardly, she tried to recall the details about Morgan's desk, what it had looked like, what items he kept on there… Perhaps a rough description would have to do. Or, perhaps indeed, it would only take one single detail, a detail that almost nobody could know of. Well, unless they had carefully searched through his desk like she had, of course. Yes, that certainly would do to serve as proof for the boys! Why on earth hadn't she thought of that before?! With a mostly feigned mischievous smile, Robin leaned onto her lower arms and over the table, closer to Gideon and Michael. Unsurprisingly, every single one of her friends followed suit and leaned in closer to her as well. The fact that they were already so used to her antics rendered her smile a little more real, and a little less bitter.

"Alright, but don't judge me before you've checked the facts yourself." She started, once she was sure that all five of her friends were listening. Even Jorien and Simon, who had shown absolutely no interest in the entire endeavour last night, were intently paying attention now. "In the locked drawer in his desk, Morgan keeps a book on beautifying spells 'for the modern gentleman'."

It took a second, but then Michael and Gideon burst into laughter, while Simon and the girls simply gaped at Robin as if she'd told them that a spaceship had crashed in Hogsmeade. Admittedly, both reactions amused Robin quite a bit in return, which served as a most welcome distraction from the morning's hasty gloom. The book had indeed been an amusing discovery, now that she thought of it. One that she had previously simply ignored in order to focus on the greater good, the bigger plan, the more important matters. Well, perhaps it did her some good now to remember that there were other things in life than the big problems. That Morgan was also just a human being, with flaws and secrets and weird mannerisms. It certainly made breathing a little easier for now.

"That is absolutely hilarious." Gideon snorted a moment later, after he had finally managed to catch his breath. "I honestly hope it's true."

"Of course it's true!" Cas snapped back at him, even though the fact still seemed to irritate her at the same time. "Robin doesn't lie…"

"Thank you." Robin gave the girl a half smile and a nod, then turned back towards the boys across from her. "I consider this inane challenge completed now, but you are of course free to verify my claim."

"I believe you." Michael shrugged with another humoured huff. "Would explain why the guy's always so…"

"Pretty?" Gideon suggested with raised eyebrows, and Michael nodded in agreement. "Pretty is a good way to describe it."

"Petty would be even more like it." Robin sighed under her breath, but her own thought made her snort a second later nonetheless. Arrogance wouldn't help her, but if she was stuck in a limbo between confidence and fear already, she might as well enjoy the highs for now before the lows came back to haunt her.

"Speaking of petty, you won't believe what that pillock Justin did last night!" Gideon said, and Michael just groaned in return before shoving his friend and rolling his eyes.

"Who the frick is Justin?" Jorien asked with an indignant frown in return, which almost made Robin snort again, for the girl, as so often, displayed a copycat version of Robin's own thoughts.

"Some guy in their house." Cas answered with a roll of her eyes, but more at the subject than because of her friend's question. "He should be in Robin's year, actually, but knowing her, she probably has no idea who he is either."

"Caught me. I still don't care about the people in my year." Robin shrugged with one shoulder and kept her eyes on her toast, but she didn't cease to listen curiously to the elaborations around her at the same time.

"Anyway, Justin was helping us with our charms essays last night. Or rather, he was supposed to help us, but ended up being a stupid pillock about it." Gideon went on to explain.

"Yeah, he is really good at charms." Michael continued in a sigh where Gideon had stopped. "But he didn't even try to help us! Properly, I mean. He could've just answered our bloody questions, or pointed us to books that would have helped, but no, he had to make it all even more difficult by giving us even more questions! Questions and problems and… ugh! He honestly just made it more difficult for us to get the bloody essay done."

"I bet he didn't even want to help us." Gideon made a face, and Micheal nodded once again in agreement. "He probably just wanted to make himself look clever in front of the girls in the common room. Honestly, next time we'll just do it by ourselves."

"Or ask Robin."

"Right."

Robin nodded; of course she would help them with their stupid essays if they asked, she always did, but that was entirely besides the point right now. Her thoughts were already drifting off into another direction entirely, to something they hadn't even said, and that yet their rambling had triggered in Robin's mind. A thought, an idea… a perspective! A rush of adrenaline started burning down her veins, and her eyes just as her thoughts inevitably moved away from her breakfast and her friends, towards the head table, then towards Snape. It took but a few more seconds for his eyes to meet hers, and another for his mind to reach out to her.

'That look on your face is not about the dunderhead gang, is it?' He asked, straight to the point, which Robin was as always grateful for.

'No. We need to talk. With words. Now.' Her reply was a mere staccato, phrased like that in order for her request to even come out clear over the mess her thoughts had become once more. Going by the look on his face, he had understood her nonetheless.

'Astronomy tower. In five minutes.'

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[official-weasley]

Meant to Be (Charlie Weasley x OC)

What happens when Bill brings home a girl and Charlie is completely awestruck by her?

WARNINGS: mentions of alcohol, curse words, angst

Chapter 9

Charlie

On the Saturday after the week Rhylee found out about the trial, I woke up early. I looked through my window and saw a cloudless sky. It was the perfect opportunity to hike up to my favorite spot and watch the sunrise. I have been so busy all week that I simply didn’t find the time to do it and I missed it so much.

I got dressed and made myself some coffee. I stretched and went outside. I took a long whiff of fresh air. It does wonders to the lungs. I loved that it was getting warmer. The Summer breeze was just around the corner. I started walking toward the hill.

I loved living here because it wasn’t as hot in the Summer as in most places. After all, we were surrounded by mountains but at the same time, we didn’t get that much rain and it was rarely windy because we were in the valley, hidden from the rest of the world.

Surrounded by nature, magic, and dragons. What a perfect life.

I felt so energized this morning. I don’t know why, but I was in a better mood than I was most days this past week. I slept well and I was excited to watch the sunrise. I wish Aami was still just a baby, I would love to bring him along.

I did it once. Nobody knows about it because Peter would probably kill me but since Aami can’t fly, I couldn’t resist. He walked around, his eyes on me as I explained why I liked to sit on a rock and stare at the sun. It was one of my fondest memories of him.

I came to the top and put my hands on my knees, panting. A week without hiking or going for a run and I was already out of shape.

Come on, Charlie!

I looked up, to see how the sun was progressing and wanted to take a step closer to the place where I usually sit when I stopped.

I stood frozen on the spot as if someone stupefied me. It was Rhylee. She was sitting on the same boulder, waiting for the sunrise as I usually was. Why was she here?

Wasn’t it enough that I was spending so much time with her already? I know I brought it on myself when I offered to help her with the case but I couldn’t say no to her. I couldn’t gaze into those beautiful eyes of hers and tell her that I won’t help her.

But I was not okay with this. She can’t take this away from me too. This was my happy place. The place where I came to empty my head and forget about my worries. The fact that I had feelings for her was one of my biggest concerns these days and her being here meant I can’t let go of that.

There is no way she saw me. If I turn around and sneak away she will never know I was here and I can go find a new spot from where to watch the sunrise from.

Yes, that’s what I’ll do! I turned around and started walking back down the hill.

“Charlie? Is that you?”

Fuck. How did she hear me?

I slowly turned back around, cursing my heart for not obeying me to just beat normally, and waved at her.

“Hi.”

Could I be more awkward? Charlie, you’re such a git!

“Is this the place you were describing when you told me you go sunrise watching?” She said gently. I can’t believe she remembered that I told her that. I just nodded. “Want to join me?”

Not really, Rhylee.

I would rather roll myself back down to the village than sit next to you and watch the bloody sunrise.

Did I do that?

No.

Her smile won. It always does.

I can’t resist her lips curving into a hopeful expression, indicating that she would love to spend time with me. I’m too weak and I didn’t care. I hated myself for it but I couldn’t help it. Most days it felt like an invisible string was drawing me toward her and I couldn’t get away.

I wanted to be around her all the time. I wanted to talk to her and make her laugh. I wanted to hug her and touch the soft skin of her cheeks. I wanted to kiss her forehead and hold her hand.

I wanted to be with her.

“Charlie?” I blinked at her when I heard her say my name. “Join me.”

She said, more determined this time, and patted the spot on the rock next to her. I moved as fast as my legs allowed me, which wasn’t very fast at all. They felt like jelly. I wanted to melt, that’s how beautiful she was.

I awkwardly sat down next to her, looking straight at the sunrise. I know she was scanning me with her eyes, waiting for me to look at her but I couldn’t. Every time I did, I started overthinking. She always looked at me differently than the rest of our friends.

I always felt as if she was trying to read me, to know what I was thinking. I constantly felt like she wanted to talk about everything else with me but our job or dragons but she always stopped herself as if she was afraid she would say something that she isn’t supposed to.

I know I was an idiot but I didn’t do anything about it. I felt the same way for Merlin’s sake! But I couldn’t talk to her. I can’t. She’s my co-worker and it’s been more than 2 years since we slept together.

It’s also been two years since I saw Bill.

Just thinking about it made me sick. I despised myself for the fact that I didn’t visit him. That I couldn’t talk to him. That I couldn’t tell him. I don’t even want to know what my family thinks or if he said anything to them about me.

I went home for Easter last year just because I knew he wouldn’t be there. How horrible does that make me? I think I reached rock bottom a long time ago and I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to come back up.

I think about taking a few days off and visiting him every single day.

Every. Single. Day.

And yet I never bring myself to do it. After 2 years, what would I even say to him? He was the nicest and the most forgiving person I know but he wouldn’t forgive me and I wouldn’t blame him.

Why would he?

First, I sleep with the girl he likes, and then I disappear off the face of the Earth for 2 years. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that’s how much it hurt. I basically tore my family apart.

My family. People who meant more than anything to me in this world.

“You’re quiet today.” Rhylee’s gentle voice and nudge to my shoulder brought me back to reality.

“Huh?” I turned to her. “Yeah. Sorry. A lot on my mind.” I smiled weakly, feeling the heat on my cheeks.

“Anything you want to share?” She asked, concerned.

“No.” I said quickly. Too quickly.

That wasn’t the word I wanted to use. I wanted to say yes. I wanted to tell her how I feel about her. I wanted her to know that I still feel guilty about what I did to Bill. I wanted to tell her that I wish we would’ve met under different circumstances. How much I wish I was the one who met her first. How beautiful she was and how she takes my breath away no matter what she wears or what she does. I wanted to tell her all of that and so much more but instead…

“I usually come here to clear my head, that’s all.” That’s what I said instead.

Because I’m an idiot.

Because of all the guilt that I can’t let go of.

Because I don’t deserve her.

Because I am absolutely and without a single doubt in love with her.

“You want me to leave?” She started to get up.

“No.” I grabbed her wrist to make her stay. “I’m just not used to anyone else being up here.” The first truth that came out of my mouth today.

“I can’t believe nobody is.” She shook her head in disbelief. “I felt like exploring this morning and I stumbled upon this place just as the sun started to rise. It took my breath away.”

Like you take mine?

“It’s just so calming. Makes you forget about all your troubles, you know.” She glanced at me but quickly looked away.

She took a deep breath and I could feel her moving a bit away from me.

“Thank you for putting so much of your time to help me, Charlie.” She said with a husky voice after I didn’t say anything back. “I wouldn’t be able to do it without you. You give me so much hope.”

Don’t say that, please.

“I…”

I turned my head to her.

There it was. That look in her eyes. The look that told me that she had so many things to say but no words to express herself. She had moments like this every now and then when we were alone. As if she remembered something and wanted to talk about it but couldn’t for some reason. As if something stopped her. As if she was afraid of what I might say back.

“I just wish life was easier, you know.” She sighed and leaned on my shoulder.

I tried hard not to react to her touch. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of our bodies touching. It was the most I will ever get the chance to experience.

I hummed in response. I didn’t know what she meant by that. I didn’t know what she was referring to. To be honest I don’t think I wanted to know. I wasn’t ready. I don’t think I’ll ever be.

“I asked around and there is a big library in the village over that mountain.” I pointed my finger to our left.

I could feel her head moving to see where I was pointing but she didn’t pull away from me. It felt as if she wanted to be even closer.

“I was thinking of going there on Monday during lunch. Perhaps find some books that could help our case. Your case.” I quickly corrected myself.

“Thank you for being such an amazing friend, Charlie.” I felt something shatter inside me when she called me her friend but at the same time, I felt relief.

I can finally stop questioning if there is something between us and stop overthinking all of her gestures and looks. I can relax around her and just be myself because I know she sees me as a friend. No more pressure. No more feeling guilty. Who knew I would love to be in the friendzone. Now that she said it, she can lean on my shoulder and hug me as much as she wants to.

I have been stifling my feelings for 2 years. I was used to it by now and this was my sign that I was doing the right thing. At least someone didn’t hate me.

“No problem and right back at you.”

Seriously, Charlie? This is the best you can come up with?

We sat in silence and admired the sunrise until we had to go to work. We walked down the hill in silence too. If I think about it, I don’t think we said a single word to each other the whole day.

I joined the boys in the tavern after work and she wasn’t there. I had this strange feeling that it had something to do with this morning but I have to stop thinking about it. I have to change some things about myself. I was too young to go through so much bullshit and I only got myself to blame for it. I have to stop beating my head over her. I have to stop bringing myself down. I have to stop feeling so guilty and own up to my mistakes.

I have to get my shit together and talk to Bill. I need my brother back. I need my best friend back. I have been so selfish, feeling sorry for myself that I didn’t even think how he must feel about all of this. Who goes from spending Christmas together to not seeing his brother for 2 years?

“Charlie, you alright, mate?” I turned my head to John, sitting next to me.

“Yeah. A bit tired.” I yawned. “Been busy with Rhylee’s trial case.” I lied.

The last time I talked about my feelings to them was that night when Rhylee started working here and if I have anything to do with it, it will never happen again.

“You two have been spending a lot of time together.” Theo winked at me, moving his glass from his right to his left hand.

“As I said, we have been working on the case together.” I acted unphased by his mockery.

“Come on, Charlie! We’re not blind.” Andrew joined in.

Great. I love when they corner me like this.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I sighed and gulped down my whiskey.

I didn’t drink enough to have a conversation of this sort and I will do anything to stop it.

“Right.” Peter rolled his eyes. “Let’s all pretend like Charlie does that nothing is going on between him and Rhylee.”

“You mean how they look at each other when they think the other person isn’t looking?” Evan smirked.

“Or the fact that they keep blushing every time they see each other?” Added John.

“Or how they just can’t stop their smiles from spreading across their faces when their eyes meet.” Theo made a kissy face.

“Are you done?” I poured myself another drink.

“Oh, we can go on all night, that’s how much is going on between you two.”

Peter, you might be my boss but I will strangle you. Next on the list was my heart which was now beating so fast that I started shaking.

“As I said…are you done?” I said without a single ounce of interest in my voice.

“Why do you keep denying it?” John cried.

“I didn’t say anything.” If they can mess with me I can mess with them back.

“You really like to torture yourself, don’t you?” Evan frowned at me.

“Mhm.” I said with a clenched jaw.

I was a rat’s hair away from standing up and leaving.

“Charlie, this is not some silly crush anymore. We know you have feelings for her.” Peter never sounded so serious before.

“We know you like her, Charlie. A lot.” John put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s all over your face, mate.”

“Like her.” I scoffed.

“You’re seriously going to deny it?” Andrew rolled his eyes. “You’re going to say you don’t like her?”

“Like her?” I raised my voice. “I don’t like her, Andrew! I…” Damn, they made me mad sometimes! Why do they have to be such noisy gits and why do I feel like talking about Rhylee to them? “I’m in love with her.” I said under my breath but I know they could hear me.

“Then what are you doing here sitting with us and not telling her that?” John said gently after a long pause.

I think they were shocked that I admitted it.

I looked up at them. They were patiently waiting for my response. They weren’t serious, were they?

“I can’t just knock on her door and tell her how I feel.” I shook my head and chugged down my whiskey.

“Yes, Charlie. You can!” They said together.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I poured myself another glass of whiskey. I drank it as fast as I could, their eyes following my every move.

“Fuck it.” I stood up and they started clapping.

I was already miserable and at this point had nothing to lose. Might as well try right?

I walked over to her hut as fast as I could before I would change my mind. I stopped on her front porch and I wanted to bang my head against the wall.

Can I do this?

Am I really doing this?

Am I actually that insane?

I knocked on the door and turned on my heel. I wanted to run. I can’t do this. My chest was rising and falling fast from my heavy breathing and my heart is going to jump out of it any second now. This was taking too long. She’s obviously not home. I’m leaving.

I put my hands in my pockets, ready to head home when…

“Charlie?”

[lifeofkaze]

When Stars Ignite - Chapter 1

HPHM Rockstar AU

A/N: After much hype, many sleepless nights and WAY too much fun, today is the day. I can’t believe it’s here. Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the first chapter of Part 1/5 of Al’s and my HPHM Rockstar AU. Katriona Cassiopeia belongs to @kc-and-oc

General Warning: This whole fic has a general warning of being NSFW / 18+. We will give specific warnings for every chapter in itself, but several adult themes will be more or less present in every chapter, may it be explicitly or in mention. These include sexual topics, drug abuse, (ab)use of alcohol, smoking and a whole lot of cursing. They’re rockstars after all.

Specific Warning: Mentions of alcohol, swearing

~~~

Find the masterpost here, the previous chapter here and the next one here. The songs featured before every chapter can be found on this pretty badass playlist here.

~~~

This work is a collaboration with @the-al-chemist

Taglist: @slytherindisaster

Light it up, light it up, now I'm burning

Feel the rush, feel the rush of adrenaline

We are young, we are strong, we will rise

Cause I'm back, back, back from the dead tonight

~ Skillet - Back From The Dead ~

The colourful patterns of the spotlights sweeping over him, Orion Amari let go of the neck of his guitar with a flourish of his arm. He couldn’t see most of the huge crowd filling the vast space that was London’s O2 arena, but he could hear them going wild at the solo he had just finished.

The bright lights burning down on him and the other members of their band were erasing all faces except for the first rows, but he could feel the presence of the crowd; the sound of the joined voices in unison with the music was reverberating through him, amplifying the beat of his heart until he could feel it in every remote corner of his body, his heartbeat and the rhythm of the song one and the same.

He let the music carry him for a moment before he put his fingers onto the strings of his instrument again and joined in with the rest.

It was their first show back after a four week break, marking the beginning of the last leg of Equinox’s biggest European tour so far. The final shows would be taking them all around the U.K., to end their tour where everything had begun so many years ago.

He shook his long, black hair out of his eyes and moved across the stage towards Skye Parkin, the bassist of the band. She was jumping up and down to the music, her blue hair flowing around her like a coloured halo. She greeted him with an enthusiastic grin as he stood across from her, both their fingers dancing over the necks of their instruments in patterns which had become second nature to them.

When Skye turned away to engage with the crowd again, Orion let his eyes wander over the stage, drinking in every precious second before tonight’s show would be over in a few more moments.

Merula Snyde, keyboardist and backing vocalist of the band, had her head bowed deeply over the keys of her instrument. Her short, wavy hair with the signature blonde streak hid her face from Orion’s view, but he knew how her brow would be creased over her eyes, which were so blue they almost looked violet at times. She was probably biting her lower lip in concentration, too; Orion had known Merula since they had been children, and even back then, she had been able to fade out everything else but the thing she was concentrating on.

Skye, on the other hand, was fully immersed in the music, shaking her head enthusiastically. She was singing along on the top of her lungs and Orion was glad his in-ear monitor allowed him only to hear what he needed to. While Skye was a brilliant bassist, her singing often had him grind his teeth; not that she was caring in the least.

Next to her, the frontman and lead singer of their band, Jason Everett, was trying his best to make the girls adoring him from the front row swoon. He flashed a smile at one of them; the poor thing started to cry hysterically while her friends were shaking her. He had his guitar pushed to his back and his hands were clasped around the microphone, his dark, warm voice floating through the heated-up air.

Feeling slightly embarrassed at the scene, Orion averted his eyes. He turned around and wandered back to his own designated spot where his other guitars and pedals to control the musical effects were set up.

His eyes swept over the raised pedestal at the back of the stage where the huge drum kit of Lizzie Jameson, the lively drummer of Equinox, was situated. A smile tugged at his lips as he watched her maintaining the compelling rhythm of the song with breathtaking speed. Her drumsticks were dancing over the set faster than his eyes could follow.

During a short break, she dipped her head back and sang along, her light brown ponytail messy and tangled from playing. She was swaying her body to the familiar tunes, her eyes closed, a smile on her face.

The music wasn’t merely in her blood; the pounding of the drums was synchronised with the beating of her heart.

Orion watched with a smirk as she opened her eyes and spun one of her drumsticks between her fingers before letting them dance over her kit once more. He had never known anyone quite like her.

She was rhythm incarnate.

And what was more, when all was said and done, when the last spotlight had gone out and the arena was empty again, he knew that she was his.

~~~

When Orion entered the green room after it had been his turn to take a shower, everyone else was waiting for him already.

Merula was quietly eating the dubious looking Chinese food they had ordered, whereas Lizzie and Skye were busy joking around with each other; Everett sat lounging on one of the leather sofas lining the walls of the room, a bottle of beer in hand and looking as glum as was usual for him these days.

His dark blond hair was still damp and his eyes followed Orion as he made his way over to where Skye and Lizzie were sitting. Orion could almost feel his piercing gaze in between his shoulder blades; upon turning around, their eyes met for a split second before the lead singer looked away again.

All of their attention was drawn towards the entrance of the room when Ethan Parkin, former rockstar of times long gone and now the manager of his daughter’s band, strode into their midst with a beaming smile on his face.

“What a show, what a show indeed,” he proclaimed, slowly clapping his hands together. “That may have been one of your best shows so far, and after such a long break as well! The fan store was practically raided afterwards. I’m so proud of you!”

Orion fought the urge to sigh; of course, the first thing Ethan thought of was always the amount of profit made. Granted, it was part of his job to have the financial aspects under control, but Orion wished it wasn’t such a prominent feature on his mind. After all, money had never been the reason they had decided to share their music with the world.

When Orion saw the door opening again and the three main members of their tech crew entered the room, he rose from his seat and smiled into the round of tired looking faces he considered his family.

“I welcome all of you back,” he began the introduction to their usual feedback round that was happening after every show. “I know we already saw each other earlier today, but it is only now, with the echo of our music still in the air that we are back, that we are where we truly belong. With our energies recharged, our performance was as splendid as we could have hoped for it to be.”

He brought his fingertips together and inclined his head. “Speaking for myself, there is nothing I found faulty tonight, may it be from our part or the technical department. But my perception is solely my own and I cannot speak for all of us; if there is anything any of you feels the need to make note of, now is the time to do so.”

Everybody was silent for a moment, nobody wanting to be the first one to speak up.

Eventually, Merula shrugged. “Not a big deal, but could the green spotlight be adjusted tomorrow? It was shining right into my eyes whenever it turned, couldn’t see a bloody thing.”

She was looking expectantly at the woman with the strawberry blonde curls sitting opposite her. Katriona ‘KC’ Cassiopeia, head of the lighting department nodded and scribbled something down on the clipboard she was carrying.

Contrary to the rest of the crew, she wasn’t wearing the signature black shirt with the logo of the tech company, but a simple dark tank top underneath a black cashmere sweater. As one of the two owners of Aurora Tourealis, the company who was providing Equinox’s touring crew, she had no need to showcase her affiliation with the band; every person working with them knew both her face and her attitude.

Murphy McNully, her partner in business and in life, leaned over to her from his wheelchair and pointed to something she had written down. They exchanged a few quiet words and she crossed something out. Looking up from her notes, her blue eyes swept the room.

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do about the spotlight. Anything else on the technical side?”

Everyone was silent again, until Everett came out of his slouching position, downed the remains of his beer and looked at them out of narrowed eyes.

“Is no one going to address the giant fucking elephant in the room?” he asked incredulously.

Orion’s shoulders tensed at his words; there was no need for him to speak so harshly. “Speak your thoughts and you’ll be heard.”

Ignoring him, Everett leaned forward, underarms resting on his thighs and nodded at the broad shouldered redhead leaning against the wall next to Lizzie.

“We should be used to it by now, but as always, the pyros were a joke today. One step closer and I’d be short of my eyebrows.”

“That’s what we put the markings on the floor for,” Charlie Weasley replied sharply, not impressed by Everett’s unfriendly tone. “I don’t spend all day crawling around on stage for you to ignore them and then get pissed off with the results. Don’t criticise me when you can’t follow directions.”

Sitting upright, Everett opened his mouth to shoot back but Lizzie hurriedly cut him off. “To be totally fair, Charlie, the sound mix on my in-ear monitor wasn’t ideal either,” she said softly.

She placed a hand on Charlie’s arm as she continued, the aggressiveness in his demeanour lessening almost instantly. “It was alright and I could play without problems, but I had trouble hearing Merula at some points.”

Contrary to his reaction to Everett’s critique, Charlie looked at his childhood friend apologetically. “Why didn’t you say something during the soundcheck?”

Lizzie shrugged. “You were busy setting up the explosives, so I figured it would do.”

“But it doesn't,” Ethan chimed into the conversation. “If something is not perfect, you have to say so, Lizzie; it’s his job and he didn’t deliver properly.”

His attention turned to Murphy and KC, who were looking a little more tense than usual. ”How you manage your staff is none of my business, but if Charlie wants to manage the sound he should do so and not dabble with the pryos; this is not acceptable.”

“I’m not dabbling,” Charlie huffed, earning him an elbow into the side from Lizzie to shut him up.

Ignoring him, Ethan continued speaking with Murphy, “You still don’t have a new pyro tech to replace him, even though you had four weeks after you kicked the last one out. I’m not used to such unprofessionalism coming from you.”

Her face darkening, KC opened her mouth to put Ethan in his place, but Murphy quickly placed a hand on her knee to calm her down.

“I know that we had a suitable amount of time to hire someone new,” he explained matter-of-factly. “But as it is, doing an interview with possible candidates is not even 34.8 % of the battle. You need to see them working in action with the crew to properly assert whether they’re suited for the job.”

His gaze flickered to Charlie, who had crossed his arms in front of his chest; his freckled face had gone dark at the mention of his replacement. Murphy stifled a sigh, returning his focus to the discussion at hand.

“In fact, we’ll be reviewing another applicant first thing tomorrow morning. You know our rate at perfectly delivered jobs lies at 97.6 %, the rest being subjected to unexpected events and bad luck. There’s a reason you have worked with us for such a long time. We’re going to get the situation under control.”

Ethan gave him a hard stare. “You’d better.”

Before the tension in the room could get overboard, Orion cleared his throat. “It is good to see how we can learn from each other in our strive to achieve the best possible result for our fans. But even the most creative of minds cannot work properly if not in balance with the rest of the body. I suggest that McNully, KC and Charlie finish their tasks, while we go and let the day sink in.”

He eyed the container of Chinese food Merula was still holding sceptically. “I, for one, could use something real to eat.”

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

MORE

@anastasian-dreamer mentioned to me they didn’t think I had ever thought about how the vigilante/villian and hero system worked. I went: Actually I have a rough idea… and here we go.

Vigilantes

First, let’s do the differences between villains and vigilantes… intent.

 That’s like actually it. Intent is the only thing actually separating villains and vigilantes. They break the law just like villains and they are hunted by the police and often heroes like villains…

 Like sure there’s vigilante laws but at the end of the day it’s just intent separating them.

 Even then there’s a fine line for how the police classify them. If someone is simply helping out using their Quirk, not like actively looking to fight anyone and just does stuff like help rescue people or help during a villain attack, then it’s minor vigilantism and not that big a deal. Honestly a police or a hero would go: Don’t do that, finger wag and move on their way. 

 If you actively look for fights, but do not engage until the first punch is thrown at you, then it’s more moderate vigilantism and you will be arrested but let go as you rely on the self defense laws which do actually allow you to use your Quirk. If they can prove you went looking for a fight, then you’ll get a fine or community service.

Now if you go looking and act like a hero by interfering before they throw the first punch then it’s actually vigilantism. Now this is where it gets tricky and the fine line appears.

If you do not do harm that is more then a few bruises, or knocking someone out or tying them up then you are still a viglante. 

If you break bones or wound them badly enough to bleed TECHNICALLY you are a villain. But this is actually a technicality and you probably won’t be tagged that unless they die. 

As for how ranking goes- honestly it’s just who the police are actually worried about. Most don’t care really. Unless you’re going out and actively hurting people on purpose, they’re more worried about other criminals.

 It’s the heroes who fret the most because technically vigilantes are threats to their jobs. If George from accounting can use his Quirk to stop a robbery, they’re out of a job. So it’s heroes who go after vigilantes more often.

 There is a program for vigilantes to become heroes as well, but that’s a hush-hush no one talks about it and they only become underground heroes so like no one cares. 

 If a vigilante does attract media attention, that’s when the police actually get involved more and try to get them. And if the media attention is overwhelmingly positive then the vigilante might get publicly offered a hero position… which yes I have another OC for this.

Blank Spot- a vigilante who evaded police and heroes for three years and not only routed out two villain organizations, but managed to change a slum into a booming neighbourhood. 

 Now, lets go into Quirkless vigilantes.

 Technically they aren’t. I think this is fanon- and it is- but there isn’t actually a canon law saying you have to use a Quirk to be a vigilante… and I like it so:

Vigilante: Defined as ‘using their Quirk in a matter restricted to those who hold a Heroic Licesnse or a Job Specific Permit given to police personal or emergency responders.’

So technically, a Quirkless person isn’t a vigilante which is what then the Quirkless people call the golden rule because it enables them to be able to go around and help their neighbourhoods if needed.

 They can though be charged with assault so most let the villains hit them first.

 Most stick to low level stuff and just keep to themselves, so heroes don’t care.

 The only one who managed to get fame? Blank Spot and even then NO ONE knows who she is. Blank Spot got an Underground License and while she is ranked at 300 in the hero ranking, she mostly sticks to infiltration missions.

Villains

We now get into villains. Villains are those who use their Quirk with an intent to cause harm to others or property.

 That’s like it. 

 The bag snatcher in episode one isn’t actually a villain though, he’s a criminal. 

 Yes there’s a difference.

 The difference is in fact how much damage is cause as well as intent. Large-scale damage will term you a villain. Bad snatcher technically is on the edge but his intent wasn’t to do that, it was just to snatch a bag. 

 Someone breaking into a store to steal things? Criminal because the intent to be a villain isn’t there and the damage isn’t widespread.

 Breaking into multiple stores? Still not a villain.

 Purposely doing so to then fund a criminal organization? Villain.

 So there is a bit of a fine line.

 Funnily enough- Gentle Criminal and La Brava technically are more criminal than villain because their goals are more for fame than actual villainy. It’s a big grey area though and they got marked as villains because ‘hey. They’re calling themselves that, let’s just do it and call it a day.’- as per the very annoyed analyst who had to deal with Nezu and the yearly argument over his Class 1 Quirk designation which gets shuffled around the various agencies because it is so annoying.

Now, villain ranking… it actually isn’t a thing. Sure, they have people they are more interested in catching but the idea of a ‘ranking’ is more of a media term because it’s dramatic.

 You ask a police officer, an analyst, an intelligence hero or any like government official? They’ll sigh.

 “We don’t have a villain ranking. We have villains we are interested in catching more than others.” 

 Some limelight heroes call it a ranking but that’s more to play to the media and often have their staff chucking things at them in annoyance.

 At most, the top ten villains have ranked only to demonstrate how interested they are in catching them. AFO for example is ranked one because he is without a doubt the one who needed to be caught. Shigaraki then moves up.

 Then we get to villain organizations.

 I refuse to believe that villain organizations are rare. It’s just usually it’s only like five people working together and the idea of a huge organization is less common. These organizations also operate more like yakuza or gangs and will claim parts of a city to be able to rule.

 Meaning that really, underground heroes are the ones dealing with them rather then limelight. 

 The LOV is uncommon enough that it draws attention from the entire public. And it is actually now drawing attention from people wondering if they should rank villains as well.

So like any: oh this villain is ranked whatever is actually Media or heroes just pulling it out of their ass or an analyst making shit up because they’re BUSY Karen.

However- I want everyone to look at what I said. Using a Quirk.

 THUS! Quirkless people can ONLY be criminals and not villains legally, a loophole that is used by Quirkless people to get much lighter sentences as villains are the ones who have the heavier punishments compared to criminals!

Hero Ranking

Okay so using some research stuff: in 2017 there were 296,700 police personal in Japan. This however isn’t JUST officers (as in foot police which I equate heroes with). 

 Now I don’t think there would be more heroes then police, actually I think that there would be two-thirds of the amount of police. So two-thirds of 296,700 is 197,899 (numbers rounded). 

 Note, I legit just pulled that out of my ass myself but it makes sense that there WOULDN’T be the same amount of heroes compared to police and two-thirds sounds reasonable! 

Alright, so there are 197,899 people involved in the heroics career. This doesn’t just mean heroes. It also means people like PR managers, official analysts who work with the heroes, support people who work with heroes, business managers… so, let’s shorten this amount some more.

Now as there are at least 411 hero rankings (Wild-Wild Pussycats are there) I think it’s reasonable that there are a lot of heroes. So… thinking about this a bit more… I’m just gonna say there are 100,000 heroes in Japan because like there are independent ones who probably don’t have an entire agency with them. I also doubt said agencies are actually that big. At most a couple hundred people maybe are part of the agencies. It’s not like Microsoft or McDonalds or anything where they have multiple franchises and employment stuff around the world. No, agencies just have one building and that’s like it. So… yeah. 

 There, done. I’m happy. 

 Now then… how many are actually heroes with licenses though? 

 As I mentioned before many people who have sidekick licenses remain sidekicks for the rest of their lives and never advance past that. So… this has me halfing the amount because fuck it I can. (Also, because sidekicks can act as a hero, they just cannot act independently so… fuck it.)

So 50,000 people are actually heroes with licenses. Of that 50,000- 10,000 of them are underground heroes. Like actual underground heroes and not like Blank Spot, All Might or Nighteye who have underground licenses but act as limelight heroes.

 That gives us 40,000 limelight heroes who can be ranked.

I highly doubt the ranking system goes that far. As mentioned, there are at least 411 hero rankings. I have come to the decision that it makes sense there would be 1000 rankings. Most only care about the top 500 though.

 When a hero goes limelight their names are put in the system and then they can be added to the ranking list depending on: how many missions they have logged, how much patrols they do, amount of arrests they have accomplished and their popularity.

As such…. IT DOES NOT MAKE FUCKING SENSE THAT MT LADY IS RANKED 23 AND KAMUI WOODS IS 7 WHEN THEY FUCKING ARE TO NEW. MT LADY ONLY HAD HER DEBUT BARELY A YEAR AGO AND KAMUI WOODS IS REGARDED AS A ROOKIE. MAYBE THEIR EFFORTS DURING KAMINO WARD HELPED BUT FUCK THIS SHIT THIS IS FUCKING STUPID. I REFUSE TO FUCKING BELIEVE KAMUI IS HIGHER THEN RYUKU. THAT IS FUCKING BULLSHIT.

 AS SUCH: I respect canon has made a decision, but as it is a STUPID ASS DECISION I have elected to ignore it!

So fuck that shit. Kamui Wood is in the top hundred along with Mt Lady for their actions but that’s it. 

The top ten are the best of the best with the top three being actually… 100000% rigged. 

The top three aren’t just titles either but actually come with jobs. Number One is responsible for checking the HPSC records and making sure things are above board and legal. Number Two is supposed to be a police watch dog, and Number 3 is supposed to be the… honestly they’re supposed to be the watch dog of the top two. 

 Of course, as it is right now, how it is set up before was good for the HPSC which is why they partly wanted Best Jeanist killed by Hawks because he would have noticed if they weren’t doing their jobs properly. Endeavour is bribed by HPSC hiding the abuse he gave his family, and Hawks is owned by the Commission so they can’t do anything. 

 They then would have called for a new ranking and oooh, sorry Edgeshot, but we found some stuff so instead Crust is number 3. 

 But stuff happened! 

 So… there. That’s how I see things going!