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#asian Emmeline
remuslupinkinnie1979 · 8 months
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Let's make February the marauders non-men month like last year!!! For a calendar (which day is for who) search death boy (Taylor's version) on tiktok.
Today is Emmeline Vance day so I wanna share some of my headcanons:
One year older than the marauders
Halfblood
Vietnamese
Ambulatory wheelchair user, but still can fly and is quite good at quidditch (seeker)
Hufflepuff
Her mother was very strict and put a lot of pressure on her to academically succeed, so she was an overachiever
Had two older sisters who were both in Ravenclaw (her mom was very disappointed when she was sorted into Hufflepuff)
VERY hardworking and loyal
Childhood friends with Emma Vanity and Benjy Fenwick, roommates with Amelia Bones and Hestia Jones
Lesbian - she/her
This is more Emmary, but I 6th year (Mary's 5th) she was helping Lily prepare for the OWLs and Marlene with Mary joined after some time. Then her and Mary started to fall in love and even send secret letters over the summer. Their first kiss was in November 1976 in a.... BROOM CUPBOARD!!! (ik VERY original)
Her parents were homophobic and toxic, so she kinda cut ties with them after leaving hogwarts (she still kept in touch with her sisters)
Between the wars she was training new aurora (including Tonks)
She died trying to protect others and the Prime Minister
Mary was heartbroken after her death
That's it for now! If you've got any questions about the wheelchair one I think they have some wizarding accomodations so she can fight in it and stuff.
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rewritingcanon · 25 days
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bitches could have the whitest names on the planet and bitches will still headcanon them as asian (its me im bitches)
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enbysiriusblack · 3 months
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People that headcanon Emmeline to be Ravenclaw are fine until one realizes they also HC her as Southeast Asian and she is their only SEA HC. Ick. Thank you for HC-ing her as a Gryffindor.
she's such a gryffindor to me!! my underrated gryffindor lesbian preppy fashionista girl <3
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Headcanoning Emmeline Vance as Asian is cool! Headcanoning her as a Ravenclaw is cool too! Headcanoning her as both is probably that "Smart Asian person" stereotype. Of course your only Asian HC has to be a Ravenclaw... Whether you do it consciously or not, it's a problem. Please stop, as a South Korean Marauders fan, this just makes me sad :(( RB for Awareness!!
ᯓ★
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ihatehomework · 3 months
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if the marauders were asian but specifically east and south east asian
the blacks: theyre so chinese coded idk but maybe korean
remus: malaysian. he handles spice like a fucking pro
lily: she is japanese and she is a kawaii type girl and shes fucking adorabld
marlene: white washed chinese or japanese
james: china but specifically guang zhou or hong kong cause he just gives cantonese vibes also hes very very very whitewashed
peter: singapore kiddo and therefore can speak like 5 languages/dialects
pandora: shes just korean skincare girly
evan: also korean but more nerd aesthetic yk
barty: wasian if he really has to be
dorcas: shes not asian in any universe imaginable ever
rita skeeter: same with her tbh
mary: whitewashed (but can still speak the language) i havent decided for her but i think vietnam kinda suits her
emmeline: shes already asian/wasian idc what anyone says
alice: shes white but shes very accepting of asian culture and is obsessed with kpop
frank: korean or (for some reason) thai
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I have A LOT to talk about so this is going to be a very long ask!! I’m gonna go topic by topic to make it easier!!
Racism In The Marauders Fandom
I know another anon already mentioned this, but often times people in this fandom headcanon characters as random raves without thinking about how those characters would be as those races. They ignore the overall cultural backgrounds and traditions. They make James Desi and Emmeline Asian but also just completely ignore the cultural and racial backgrounds that they would have as those races.
Also, a big thing I wanna talk about is the racism with fanon Remus:
Werewolves were based around and are metaphors for BIPOC. The fanon version of Remus is a very stereotyped “strong, aggressive alpha male who abuses his boyfriend and is a bitch to everyone”. A very racial stereotype towards many BIPOC. BIPOC are seen as “aggressive” or “abusive” in a lot of cases. Same case for werewolves. And you’re just putting him into those racial stereotypes and acting like it’s all fine because “oh, at least Sirius is getting his ptsd triggered fucked😁”
Ableism In The Marauders Fandom
People complete ignore disabilities in this fandom unless they can use it to sexualize someone. They give Regulus autism, but it’s ALWAYS the stereotyped “oh I’m just a little baby who doesn’t know what sex is😖” autism. It’s always the little baby child who’s too innocent for the world. That’s ableist. No, it’s not “projecting”, it’s ableist.
Also, never paying attention to the absolute PAIN that Remus goes through every month, but using his disability as a way to make him an aggressive top in order to sexualize him? That’s ableist as well.
Sexualization In The Marauders Fandom (Specifically sexualization of minors)
Going back to what I said about Regulus and the autism thing, people always make Regulus a “sweet immature little autistic baby😖” and then make James pound the fuck out of him. Why can’t Regulus be the top? Oh, because he’s a little child? Because he’s your little baby that you have to sexualize?
Why are you making literal minors fuck anyways? Making SIXTEEN YEAR OLDS FUCK? That’s disgusting. “Oh but they already know about sex—“ NOPE, still illegal. “Oh, but I’m a minor as well—“ DOUBLE DISGUSTING AND ILLEGAL!!
Don’t even get me started on this weird ped0 “Professor __ with student __” fics, which are also illegal and disgusting.
Fetishization
Notice how they ALWAYS oversexualize the trans characters or the queer characters or the BIPOC characters or autistic!Regulus? Yeah, that’s cause they’re fetishizing them. “Oh but—“ NOPE!! You’re fetishizing them!!
This fandom needs to wake the fuck up and realize that this type of behavior is absolutely fucking disgusting.
i love it when ppl are smart, thank you for your opinions! very interesting read!
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lupiinist · 2 months
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Hey!! I dont know if you're aware but I saw you headcanon Emmeline Vance as Asian and also as a Ravenclaw. You may be pushing that smart Asian girl stereotype. There's not a lot of Asian HCs in the fandom, and Emmeline is often made out to be that smart Asian girl in Ravenclaw. Maybe unconsciously, but still. It really hurts me and other Asian people in this fandom to see :( This isn't a callout by any means, you don't have to answer this publicly. I just wanted to let you know! :)
oh, i'm so sorry :( it absolutely wasn't my intention to make emmeline a stereotype! i do hc her as asian and a ravenclaw, yes, but it was never really with the intention (at least not consciously) to make her the 'smart asian girl', so take you so much for pointing it out! i'll keep that in mind when i'm writing her c:
my idea for emmeline in ravenclaw was that she is smart, of course, but she's more on the creative side of her house (with special interest in clothes and hairstyles!)
i only ever saw asian emmeline hc once, and gladly it wasn't in a stereotypical context, so it really stuck with me and i wanted to put it more out there!
sorry for making it look stereotypical, i'll be more aware not to let it happen again :]
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bambxsstuff · 1 month
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TW: shitty writing
I wake up, take a shower, change my clothes, and head to work. It’s always been like this. My name is Mary Macdonald. I am 27 years old, I live in London, by myself, and I work at a small cafe.
I don’t remember much from my teenage years, or my childhood, but that doesn’t worry me… yeah, it doesn’t.
A month after I started working here, really strange stuff has been happening, specifically, people I've never met before coming up to me and asking if I know them…
The first time this happened was with a man named Remus, he was all scarred up, and skinny, and looked really unhealthy. After I asked for a name, for his order he said this:
“Mary…”
“That’s me,” I smile awkwardly,
“Do you remember me?”
Of course I didn’t, but his name made me feel… I dunno, made me feel like I knew him, and his face, three large gashes from the left side of his forehead, barely missing his left eye, across his entire face until the right side of his jaw.
Anyway, another time there was this girl, I’ll never forget her... She came in once and when she saw me at the register a tear dropped from her eyes and she asked the same question that Remus guy did.
“Do you remember me?” Her voice was… it was like a welcoming fire, when I heard it I felt like I was at home, her slight accent made me want to shiver. I said no, and asked for her name and she said-
“Emmeline, Emmeline Vance… you used to call me Emmi,” another tear dropped from her eye. I got scared, was she asking for help? I asked if she’s alright, she was practically bawling at that point. She ran out before I could even give her her drink.
Then another guy… he kept visiting, and whenever he did he had a look of overwhelming guilt in his eyes. He’d always order the same thing,
“White Mocha,”
It was a quiet day, a Sunday I remember. He didn’t even get to speak. I knew his order by heart, anyways when he was waiting for his drink he came up to me, and opened up his wallet, he took out a picture.
It was a graduation photo, “with class of 77’” written on top. I could instantly recognize Peter, he was the chubby blonde one on the left, next to him, I couldn’t even begin to process them before the words came out of my mouth.
“Remus…” Peter’s head looked up at me, with a slightly surprised expression. “He came in one time… asked if he knew me…”
“What did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything,” I lied, I looked further, their names popping up in my head. I got to the girl between a ginger- Lily Evans and an Asian blonde girl- Marlene McKinnon. I couldn’t stop staring, she looked so familiar…
“Is that me?” I looked up at Peter- or at where Peter was supposed to be. He vanished. On the table, was £10 for the drink, and more photos,
Me and Emmeline, hand in hand
Me, Lily and Marlene, making flower crowns with Pandora
Me and Peter, painting each other's nails, drunk.
‘How do I know these people?!’
-
It’s been eleven years. It's May 2nd 1998.
I didn’t know why, but I just know they’re dead. For sure, all of them, and it made me want to bawl my eyes out and breakdown.
A young lad comes in, he looks like he was just at war.
“Hello! Could I get a name for your order?”
“Harry,” I looked into his green eyes for a millisecond.
My heart stopped.
“Lily…”
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lunawish · 7 months
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ill never find a face claim for her and I've accepted that but my shadowheart isn't a white girl she's wasian uwu (arnell is white, emmeline is asian) and I just need a quick five seconds to picture her in smth like a hanfu or yukata and being at a lantern festival
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OKAY SO A RANT FOR YOU
I'll do it on my hcs of the marauders ethnicities and nationalities hehehe since we were talking about it earlier
starting off with the girls because LADIES FIRST/lh
Marlene— I see her as German or Korean (maybe both for that matter) I saw her as German first originally, and like I love it
I also saw her recently being hc as Korean and I thought that was fitting as well
and I think she was born and raised in England, but her parents always took her on trips back to Germany or to Korea to learn about the cultures and see their extended family as well
she would definitely be bilingual, but no one would realize until one day she just whips it out, and everyone is stunned
Dorcas— Haitian/cuban, she is a Caribbean girlie all the way
Dorcas can fluently speak créole and Spanish, French as well
She was born in Haiti and her parents had her live there until she was like 5 and then brought her to live in England with them
Lily— English/Irish, born in england
but I like to think that her father was born and raised in Ireland and had the thickest accent and so because of her growing up with her mother's English accent and her father's Irish accent, she has this combined accent from the both of them
Mary— I think she could be Nigerian, though I haven't thought too much about Mary (Shame on me ikik 😔)
She was born in England but she lived with her grandmother for a while bc maybe her parents died(?) and then when she got older she moved back to England for school
Emmeline Vance— I actually know nothing about her so I'm open to whatever hcs ppl have for her
I usually see her fancasts being Asian but I'm not sure where in Asia I think she'd be from
Pandora— Mexican/French or Brazilian/French
u told me about Mexican rosier twins earlier and I can't not get that out my mind
I love it sm
they were born and raised in France though, moving to England when they were 12-13 maybe
Sybil— I got no clue here, I'm thinking maybe polish? I'm not sure
she was born as raised in England tho, that's for sure
Bellatrix— Haitian/French
I HAVE A WHOLE THING FOR THIS
Cygnus had an affair(a one night stand) and the woman got pregnant and then came bellatrix, and because she technically had Cygnus' blood, she was partially "pure" so he had to take her in
but the rest of that family is white(you can't convince me that the older generations of the Black Family weren't racist— ironic bc of the name but I digress) and therefore Bellatrix always stood out yk
but she could fluently speak French, her French is honestly better than her English (bc she wanted to be accepted so badly she leaned more into learning french bc it was what her family valued)
she was born and raised in England
Narcissa— French, born and raised in England
Druella was french, Cygnus was French and there you get Narcissa (this sounds so plain after every I wrote for Bella but 😭)
Fluent in French and English
Andromeda— French, born and raised in England
Can speak French, but not as well as her sisters, but knows more than enough to get by
Alice— Italian, born and raised in Italy but moved to England for Hogwarts
idk why but she just seems Italian to me
Rita— kill me but she's so american, in terms of nationality
I think she'd be Greek and dutch ethnically though, but can't speak either of those languages (she can read and write Greek tho, just can't speak it well)
BUT SHE'S SUCH AN AMERICAN 😭😭😭 IM TELLING I (sincerely, an American)
she moved to England though, cause 1. her parents are loaded and 2. she begged hard enough
okay I think that's all the girls (I will sob if I missed one—)
now for the dudes
Remus— Welsh/English, born and raised in Wales
Idk where I got this from it's just always been there
but if I may
can I propose German Remus? cause I can see it yk
Sirius— French/Italian, born in italy and lived there for a bit, then moved to England
Idk which parent would be which bc I honestly don't care enough about Orion or Wallburga, but I have converted to Italian Black brothers and I couldn't give it up Im telling you
it's just too perfect
Sirius would lean more into learning Italian than French but would be fluent in both, as well as English
his accent is strong but he's good at covering it
Regulus— same as Sirius, French/Italian, but born and raised in France
Id like to think Orion and wallburga were separated for a bit bc they couldn't tolerate each other's bullshit LMAO so they both separated(without anyone knowing ofc) and took the boys to France and Italy for a bit until they had to show their faces together a couple years later
So regulus is ofc fluent in French, as well as Italian, but he doesn't have as strong of an Italian accent, as well as English ofc
he also stopped using Italian a lot more after Sirius left
James— HE'S EITHER INDIAN/BENGALI OR CUBAN/PUERTO RICAN
there's no in between for me he's either Desi or Hispanic LOL (I mean he can be both ofc he can but I always see him as one or the other)
He's fluent in Spanish or Bengali and knows some hindu (but his parents were from West Bengal and Bangladesh so they mainly speak Bengali) and English
But sorry y'all, despite this, his spice tolerance is not great, sue me(/lh)
he still eats it all anyway bc all that food is DELICIOUS OMG(I love food, can you tell)
he was born and raised in England tho
Peter— I think he's Scottish for some reason, born and raised
and he has an accent too hehehe
sorry Peter, you're quite simple when it comes to this imo 😔🎀
Barty— we've all decided he was Italian haven't we
but but what if I hit you with Italian/German barty
I saw it in a post the other day and I loved it LMAO
he was born and raised in Italy but moved to England in his teens
can speak Italian, and German fluently, his English is good but his accents are all over the place at times
Evan— exactly the same as Pandora, Mexican/French or Brazilian/French
Frank— tell me why I see him as Asian (probably bc of Frank from Percy Jackson but that's not my fault—)
but he'd probably be half Chinese and half English
born and raised in England
Lucius— Russian or French, or half and half
it just seems right to me
he was born in raised in Russia until he was ten, then he moved to France, and then finally, they ended up in England for him to go to Hogwarts
fluent in Russian and French, and his English is good enough to get by, his accent is THICK though
Snape(I just realized.... we don't call him by his first name do we 💀)— but ummmm hm
Italian/English
born and raised in England and does not speak Italian
Xenophilius— french, born and raised
can speak French fluently as well as English
Rodolphus(Lestrange)— I can't remember what exactly me and my friend hc them as but ik he was half Romanian
(I think the other half was Russian)
Rabastan(Lestrange)— same as his brother
and... I think that's everyone
everyone that we rlly talk about anyways LMAO
this was a long one hehe
OMG SO SO SO COOL THNAK YOUU FOR TELLING MEEE
I agree with a lot of these hehe
I get where you're coming from with Bellatrix, I've somehow always seen her as part italian for some reason lol, cus of the whole affair thing that I completelyyyy agree withhh
And yeah rita is Definitely American, any idea what state she could be from? I feel like she could also be german/American just for fun
I think xenophilius would be French but I also think he'd maybe be some other European country, maybe like Belgium or maybe Greece? hehe
I LLOVEE THE IDEA OF SIRIUS AND REG BEING ITALIAN AND FRENCH OMG
but sadly I kinda don't think it fits a bit ? IDKK
but yes it absolutely works I'm just veryy used to French black brothers loll
hehe ^_^
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mrsfrecklesmarauders · 2 months
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Thoughts on the Hufflepuffs of the fandom? Hestia, Caradoc, Emmeline, Benjy, Amos? I've seen You do so many for the other Houses! I Like them a Lot! XD
Hello Anon! It really depends on the AU I am thinking about. I normally post about the characters that are popular in my Muggle AU (if you have questions about it, I would love to answer) and these don't feature, I'm afraid. Except for Emmeline.
If we are talking about Canon, I don't think I put all of them into Hufflepuff. Hestia is a Gryffindor for me. Black plus sized girl. Feminist. Realist and rule follower. With good morals. She is in the dorm with Lily, Marlene and Mary. She is not really their friend. Because she is very opposite to Mary and really they can't stand each other. But I think Hestia and Lily were friendly.
Emmeline is very Ravenclaw for me. She is a very upfront girl. Asian background. She is butch and Bisexual. I imagine her with lots and lots of tattoos. Quidditch fanatic and maybe the Captain of the Ravenclaw team. I have the headcanon that she had a crush on Remus for a long time and asked him out but he was gay so he didn't reciprocate. But they stayed as friends.
Caradoc, Amos and Benji are a lot older than the Marauders for me. And maybe not even from Hogwarts. I like to believe not everyone in the Order went to Hogwarts or was even British. I see Caradoc as a funny guy, just making good impressions of people and making everyone laugh. I see Benji as nice and easy going. But more serious and quiet than Caradoc. Maybe Benji and Caradoc became friends during Order Meetings because they were closer to age. And they are from different parts of the world. Caradoc is maybe Russian or Polac. And Benji is Jamaican or Philippinese.
The only one from this list that I see in Hufflepuff is Amos. But still a lot older than the Marauders. Pretty clumpsy and shy. I don't remember if he was in the Order (I don't think so). But if he was, I am pretty sure he would be a good target for the Marauders' pranks.
I know this is probably not what you were expecting. And that your headcanons about these characters are very different. But I hope you found this interesting. Of course this is just my opinion and you are free to believe in the headcanons that you like!
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marlesbian · 1 year
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How i perceive Alice Fortescue
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Basics:
Alice Cathal Fortescue
- she/they
-born on october 21st, 1958
- Bisexual
- Gender queer
- Gryffindor (a year ahead of the core 4)
- SHE WAS PLUS SIZED!!!!!!
-english and jewish/french/eastern asian/ portuguese (i like all of these hcs tbh)
Life, family and history
-She had two dads (i don't care that it's impractical she gives me 'i was raised by two dads' vibes)
-One of her dads is irish and he chose for her the name "Cathal" meaning along the lines of battle ruler, a mighty warrior.
- Florian Fortescue, the ice cream shop owner, was her uncle. She worked there while on vacations and they grew up there eating ice cream
- Their family was the most adorable and healthy. Her childhood was the best, they grew up with loving and supportive parents, they had a traditional game night every thursday where they played muggle board games (because they wanted to keep up with muggle culture) They always tried to defy the blood supremacy in any way possible.
- She was childhood friends with Emmeline and of course, Caradoc, he was their best friend. They always hung out together as kids at Diagon Alley, since both their families had shops there.
- Alice loved quiddich and books, she spent many afternoons at the second hand bookstore next to the shop, reading all the books she could put their hands on. The owner had a soft spot for her.
- Alice was a radical leftist.
- She loved reading muggle literature, specially horror ans suspense books, such as King and Thomas Tyrion, but she read every kind of book.
- They were extremely passionate about cinema and movies. They had many cameras and usually shot short films with her friends.
 - She studied a lot about movie direction and script writing and cinematography. Alice did it all, one of their dreams for after the war ended was to study visual arts and cinema.
- Her favorite movie was 2001.
- Alice played cello, viola, the drums and acoustic bass.
- Her music taste consisted of a lot of Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Kiss, The Beatles, Billie Holliday and Patti Smith.
- Her parents were always experimenting new ice cream flavors for the shop 
Hogwarts years:
- Alice, Caradoc, Emmeline, Benjy and Edgar were inseparable friends at hogwarts. They were always together studying, training for quiddich or just hanging out. They loved watching muggle movies together on vacation, always found a way to visit one another in the summers.
-Alice loved plants (either muggle or magical) and professor Sprout had a soft spot for them.
- Alice's house was THE hangout place. They lived in a house in a small muggle town close to London, it was adorable, full of plants, a big garden and backyard where one of her dads grew wizard plants and some regular fruits.
- Alice played quiddich as a seeker (but was on the bench, she preffered watching and studying the technical side)
Physical appearence:
- Around 1,67m tall, plus sized, with thick thighs and curvy body, they had plump cheeks and a round, kind face.
- Straight thick dark brown/black hair and brown eyes.
- She never had hair below her shoulders, but when it was longer she used a fringe.
-She loved changing their hair, she dyed and cut it all the time. Lily shaved their head on her last year, and after that, they only kept it as a pixie cut. Alice hated having long hair.
Random Headcanons
-Loved to paint, but wasn't very good at it. She loved history and museums.
- She was a voracious reader and very smart, on the top 3 of the class in almost every subject.
- Best dueler in her year, awesome in defensive and offensive magic (especially hexes)
- They formed a dueling club while in 5th year, where she taught other people how to fight
- Whenever she and Lily were bored, they violently dueled each other just for funsies
- Was obcessed with butterflies
- Their favorite directors were Hitchcock, Scorcese and Lumet. She absolutely adored Annie Hall and Taxi Driver (She had a crush on De Niro)
-Alice was one of the most gryffindor people to ever be born, she was brave, daring, loyal, smart, chivalrous. Everyone stopped to listen to what they had to say, she just had that leader aura.
- Everyone wanted to date her, to be with her, they were so beautiful and caught everybody's eye, all jaws dropped wherever she passed.
- Alice loved kissing, she thought it was fun and didn't see much meaning into it.
- She always thought of the right and correct thing to be done, about the ethics of people's actions and choices, her moral compass was the most trusted of everyone.
- Have i mentioned she was gorgeous??
-Everyone in the years below looked up to them, she was an example of what to do, how to act on school and in life.
- But don't think she was a saint who never broke the rules. They did it all the time, they ignored curfew, smoked, drank loads, pulled pranks, did drugs (but all with conciousness, being carefull). She could fool everyone with that angel face. 
- They loved art, her favorite movements were reinassance, romantism, ukiyo-e and expressionism.
- They loved to sing and dance, loved all things classic (except music, she only liked music with lyrics but she did love Tchaikovsky)
- Their bedroom was incredible and full of stuff, she loved keeping and collecting things, she loved souvenirs and porcelain and just small decorative items.
- They had an AMAZING vinyl colection, everybody was jealous of it.
- They adored the sound of rain, but didn't like rain itself. Her favorite season was sping
- She loved smoking while drinking tea
- They were extroverted and social but also loved and could only recharge by being alone and having their space.
- She loved ballet.
- She started dating Frank while in auror training, after having graduated. At Hogwarts they hung out and were very good friends, but she never saw him like that before, he was a year older than her and she looked up to him, just like everyone else. Frank was a great person, a great leader and athlete, very smart and brave, he was sweet and caring and just had major dad energy. They worked well, they were very similar in many ways, their marriage years were fun and exciting, they loved each other very much (or else they would not have had decided to have a fucking child in the middle of war)
-they loved crochets, cardigans, anything denim, jackets she loved layering the clothes.
- They loved gardening and the earth, feeling dirt under her nails, sensing the energy of nature, being able to create and help develop a life. She loved flowers.
- She was so fierce, so decided and so confident, so sure about everything. It was impossible not to like her.
Style
- Very goth fairycore and kinda dark academia (these were her vibes at least) long skirts, crop tops, short sleeve shirts. SHE LOVED OVERALLS, especially jeans overalls.
- Color palette: brown, green, white, beige, pastel yellow and black.
- Only wore light make up.
- She liked boots, sneakers and doc martens but mostly she liked walking barefoot.
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(my fav alice ships are wonderflower, fralice and emmalice but i can see the alicissa vision)
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biglisbonnews · 2 years
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A Sweet Spin on Lunar New Year Treats THIS ARTICLE IS ADAPTED FROM THE JANUARY 28, 2023, EDITION OF GASTRO OBSCURA’S FAVORITE THINGS NEWSLETTER. YOU CAN SIGN UP HERE. Since 1924, customers have faithfully lined up at Eastern Bakery, the oldest continually operating bakery in San Francisco’s Chinatown. “A lot of people come over and tell me, ‘Thank God that you’re still around after 99 years!’” says owner Orlando Kuan. Eggy custard tarts, glazed pineapple buns, and sweet sesame balls line the cases here. Many of the recipes are closely guarded secrets, which have remained virtually unchanged for the better part of a century.“The sesame ball is something [bakers] have been making for 2,500 years—how are you going to change that?” Kuan says. “We just use the highest quality ingredients and do our best to make them right.”Many of the mom-and-pop bakeries in Chinatowns across the United States have their roots in baking styles popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Jewel-like mooncakes, beloved in mainland China since the Tang dynasty, sit alongside flaky egg tarts, which originally made their way to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macau via Portuguese merchants. Then there’s the airy chiffon cakes, an American invention from 1927 that’s since gained a firm foothold in Asia. “The older, immigrant generation bakers tend to stick to what they know and they are good at that,” says Heather Wong, the founder of Flouring LA in Los Angeles’s Chinatown. “You can rely on these bakeries to provide cakes that taste exactly like the ones you remember from 30 years ago.” As much as Wong loves the confections found in traditional Chinatown bakeries, she and other young Asian-American bakers are also putting their own spins on traditional sweets. For Lunar New Year 2023, she’s preparing a whole assortment of sweets, including cake bars filled with either crunchy black sesame butter or sweetened adzuki beans. Growing up, she remembers adults insisting on very light, not-so-sweet desserts. “We want to please the elders, but also we grew up in America,” Wong says. “We've grown up on Twinkies and doughnuts and things that are much sweeter and more substantial.” Her desserts draw on her experience in French and American patisserie, as well as the flavors from her childhood. “It’s a natural evolution of Asian desserts.”For Emmeline Zhao, managing partner at Silver Apricot, a contemporary Chinese-American restaurant in New York, traditional Chinese sweets served as a jumping-off point. “A lot of Chinese pastries and cookies are specifically designed to be consumed with tea, so they don’t necessarily stand alone,” Zhao says. “What we really wanted to do was to take that element of American cookie craveability and combine it with the inspiration of Chinese sweets you’d have for New Year.”For Lunar New Year, the restaurant is offering cookie tins filled with a mix of sweet and savory nibbles like scallion pinwheels and Pu’erh tea shortbreads. Lacy, crisp doilies are Zhao’s riff on hup toh soh, the crumbly walnut cookies. Meanwhile, black sesame palmiers are a nod to tāngyuán, glutinous rice balls stuffed with black sesame paste swimming in a light syrup.“Black sesame tāngyuán is so symbolic of Chinese or Lunar New Year, we wanted a representation of that in the cookie box,” Zhao says. “We felt like a flaky, sweet palmier was a perfect vehicle for that.”Aside from the fact that they’re delicious, tāngyuán are a popular snack for the Lunar New Year because their name sounds like “reunion.” “The Lunar New Year is, over the course of roughly two weeks, the largest migration of people in the entire world,” Zhao says. “That's because the Lunar New Year is about unity. It's about the coming together of friends and family.” Eddie Zheng, who co-owns The Little One, a dessert shop in Manhattan’s Chinatown with his wife Olivia Leung, has particularly strong memories of Lunar New Year. In between passing out red envelopes and watching the lion dances, much of his family celebrations revolved around meals. “Lunar New Year celebrations and traditions mean a lot to the both of us,” Zheng says. “That's because that was usually the only time our hard-working parents would take a day off, relax, and enjoy each other's company with an abundance of food. For us, the eating begins the night before Lunar New Year, when multiple generations of family get together.” For the Year of the Rabbit, Leung and Zheng are baking pineapple pinwheel cookies inspired by Taiwanese pineapple cake, as well as peanut butter-strawberry spritzes that nod to Chinese peanut candies. Yuzu linzer cookies are their inclusion of citrus, which is a traditional symbol of good fortune.“We look to offer what we liked to eat during our childhood and bring that little bit of nostalgia as well as showcasing Chinese culture,” Zheng says. The couple also teamed up with Kopitiam, a Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown, to collaborate on a very special cake. “Kyo [owner of Kopitiam] and us were just hanging out talking about the upcoming Lunar New Year festivities and she became homesick,” Zheng says. “We remembered her telling us that she would eat these pandan chiffon cakes back in Penang and we wanted to surprise her by making her some.” The result was an incredibly light, golden confection with faintest pale green tinge and a hauntingly sweet aroma. “For us, we were excited to work with pandan as it is very underrepresented,” Zheng says, describing it as “fragrant with this sweet grassy aroma.” For Daniel Corpuz, founder of his eponymous shop Daniel Corpuz Chocolatier in Canal Street Market, sleek bonbons in the shape of miniature rabbits are on display for the Lunar New Year. As a Filipino-American, Lunar New Year celebrations were not part of his family traditions, but Chinatown has always represented an important community space for him. Whether traditional or remixed, sweets for the Lunar New Year are ultimately meant to be shared across the generations. Both traditional sesame balls and black sesame palmiers would feel right at home passed around a communal table. “In Chinese culture, the coming together of friends and family is also centered around having meals together and making meals together,” Zhao says. “Food is always at the center. Food, in our culture, is love.” https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/lunar-new-year-chinese-bakeries
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simplyrose8 · 3 years
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marauders headcanons that are actually canon
because i said so.
remus and sirius are in love (duh)
sirius was in denial about his feelings for remus, afraid of tarnishing the Black name more than he already had. remus gradually helped him feel more comfortable in his skin
james knew before anyone else did that remus was gay
james is the mom of the group
after sirius and remus started dating, james would often be lookout while the two were snogging in empty classrooms and closets
remus is dyslexic
regulus is asexual
sirius loves david bowie
remus claims he hates ABBA but they're secretly one of his favorites
sirius and remus didn't know how to act around each other when they first met. sirius was so outgoing and couldn't get enough of his new friends. except remus. remus was cold and quiet, only hanging around them because he had no one else and james seemed to accept him. he was a mystery sirius was dying to solve, yet he was afraid to get too close. remus thought sirius was obnoxious and unnecessarily loud. it wasn't until they eventually dicovered their similar tastes in music that they started to bond and consider each other as real friends rather than just mutual friends of james.
marlene's a lesbian
lily has thick thighs and curves
lily was the only person remus ever told about his 'furry little problem'. (the rest of the marauders worked it out themselves)
sirius came up with all of the marauders' nicknames
the map was remus's idea
remus had the biggest potty mouth of them all
lily would never shy away from a drink
sirius has bpd
regulus is bipolar
regulus and pandora met in slytherin house and soon became secret best friends
pandora was a seer
years after the first war, pandora had discovered something that made her question dumbledore and everything that had happened in those years. after she confronted him, dumbledore tampered with one of her spells, causing it to "backfire", which lead to her death
peter is amazingly good at chess
peter loves watching quidditch and isn't bad on a broom, but never had any interest in actually playing it other than for fun with james
remus, however, can't stay on a broom to save his life
remus is either wearing a cardigan or platform doc martens - there is no in between.
remus grew up poor and on the streets. he sometimes would have to steal to get by (but never from small businesses)
TW: ABUSE!!      walburga was brutal. she was physically and verbally abusive to her sons (mainly sirius), occasionally stooping so low as to use the cruciatus curse on sirius when he stepped out of line. orion on the other hand was stone cold toward his sons, hardly even acknowledging them
james thinks cigarettes are gross and criticizes remus and sirius for smoking all the time
remus introduced sirius to cigarettes
peter is indifferent about them, but occasionally has one when he's drunk and remus offers it to him
james knew peter before hogwarts and introduced sirius and remus to him, allowing him into their friend group
remus and peter had a weird bond, as they were often the quieter ones of the group and looked out for each other when james and sirius would have otherwise made them feel left out
remus was extremely close to lily, marlene, and mary. the other marauders often teased him of leaving them for the girls
marlene was one of the best beaters the gryffindor quidditch team ever had
marlene was a leather jacket lesbian™
remus realized lily had a thing for james when she started watching quidditch practices
emmeline vance is actually asian she told me herself
marlene didn't date anyone until seventh year when she met yaz, who would later have twins parvati and padma patil (yes this is straight from atyd but i latched onto it so much i need it)
yaz (see above) is a raging bisexual
marlene and dorcas started dating after hogwarts and their relationship only got stronger until they were both murdered in 1981
regulus died thinking about his brother, hoping he was making him proud. (don't think about how sirius never found out how regulus died, and therefore never knew he was in fact on their side in his final days)
remus argued with dumbledore about what happened on halloween 1981, because he simply couldn't believe sirius would do such a thing. he never suspected peter, though, and eventually convinced himself to face the "truth"
though remus respected dumbledore after everything he did for him, he still never fully trusted him
remus had a major drinking problem after the first war (understandably so). he likely would have died because of it had his wizard immune system not been able to fight off the alcohol poisoning
sirius also began to depend on alcohol after azkaban, as it was the only thing that could help him forget about those horrible twelve years
when sirius reunited with remus, he realized how much those twelve years in isolation took a toll on his mind, as he had lost a lot of his memory and could no longer decipher what was real and what was one of the many scenarios his mind had conjured up to keep him sane. in the end, it only made him question his sanity.
tonks is actually a lesbian. she realized this after a one night stand with remus - but it was too late. even though they weren't attracted to each other that way, they were still very good friends and were eager to raise little teddy together, but they never got to
early on, sirius and lily didn't really like each other, but as time went on, with lily's relationships with james and remus, sirius began to think more highly of her and before long they became someone they could each confide in and go to for advice. when harry was born, it was lily who suggested sirius be the godfather.
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marlymckitten · 3 years
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Hogwarts Marauders Era girls headcanons
(Personal headcanons about my best girls)
Lily is the mom friend TM. She's super protective of all of them and is constantly the voice of reason in the group.
She and Dorcas are the most responsible and usually need to prevent Mary and Marlene (and occasionally Alice) from doing dumb shit that will land them in detention
Although she can be a bit strict, she's not a complete saint and loves to tease her friends whenever possible
Marlene's the head of the rebellious department. You can count on her to get herself into trouble at least once a week
Since both she and Dorcas are quidditch players, they're always chatting about international players, new strategies, and the idiots (ahem James and Sirius) they have to deal with on the gryff team
She's a party animal and is often the person behind all the gryffindor house parties thrown after quidditch matches
Somehow has a super-liver. Alcohol does not affect her at all.
Mary is a muggleborn and was always a little self-conscious about it
However, her resilience broke her out of that soon enough
She's the Hogwarts "popular girl". Constantly up to date on the most recent muggle fashions she's always commenting on her friends outfits and giving advice. Basically everyone in gryffindor if not the whole school agrees that she's a fashion icon especially since in canon wizards can't dress like muggles for shit
She's also the most photogenic one of the group
Such an extrovert. Part of the reason why she and Marlene get along so well
Her laugh is the most contagious thing you've ever heard. Its a full on cackle and can be heard across hallways.
Her family is South-East Asian and they immigrated to England when Mary was really young. (Her father is English though, hence the traditionally English last name)
Her family always finds a way to smuggle some traditionally South-East Asian food into her trunk whenever she's returning from the Christmas or summer breaks
This girl is so so gay and super proud of it
She had a little crush on Marlene sometime during 2nd and 3rd year but grew out of it
Is now happily dating Emmeline Vance in Ravenclaw
Dorcas is Black
She was born and raised in England but her grandmother lives in France so she learned the language at a young age
She rants in French whenever she gets super pissed at something
She comes from a long line of purebloods but not from any of the conceited families
She's by no means a "goody-two-shoes" but she doesn't like the spotlight and is extremely logical about things.
Can be a little shy and quiet but whenever she is looking out for her friends, she can and will get aggressive
Never gets drunk and always looks out for the rest of her friend group when they do.
Trying to peer pressure her is like trying to kick down a brick wall; it just ain't happening. Because of this, she is usually sitting quietly somewhere in a corner reading a book at house parties but she truly doesn't mind, shes really quite the introvert.
Even though shes super sweet, she can be intimidating because of her tall and muscly physique and has a resting bitch face that can kill.
She's bi and although she was a little hesitant about coming out at first, she's out and happy now. Still a single pringle though
She is an athlete in every sense of the word. She constantly reprimands Marlene on all the alcohol she consumes at parties and Lily for her sweet tooth and Mary for her bad smoking habit. She never yells at Alice because Alice is an angel and doesn't do dumb shit that is bad for her health
She's a super early bird and wakes up at like 5 in the morning to train for quidditch (she's the best beater gryffindor's had in ages)
Much to Marlene "the night owls" dismay, she's extremely loud in the morning and proceeds to wake everyone in her dorm up along with her
This girls got muscles. All the time she spends swinging that beaters bat around has really built her biceps. Can crush the gryff guys in an arm wrestle and on the pitch any day
Hardcore quidditch fan and often gets into quidditch debates with Marlene and James.
Alice is a cupcake in human form. Sweet, adorable, and usually styles her cute pixie cut like the frosting on top.
Shes always doing thoughtful things for her friends.
Particularly skilled in hair-color-changing charms so her hair is always a different color but she usually favors a platinum blonde or warm brunette (both compliment her honey brown eyes nicely)
Is regularly tugged into all the shenanigans Mary and Marlene get into and spends the whole time complaining about how they will get caught. However, if you get her even a little tipsy she can be quite impulsive and loose.
She has the outward appearance of a sweet girl because of her fashion taste, quiet smile, and soft/high pitched voice but can be quite the little devil at times. (Something really mischievous can hide behind that angel smile).
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argylemnwrites · 3 years
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Fight or Flight  - Chapter 15: Hiccup
Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)
Book: The Royal Heir (canon divergent from the end of book 2)
Word Count: ~4300
Rating: PG-13 (brief language)
Summary: Almost four weeks since The Walker Absconding
Author’s Note: And we’re back! Since it’s been ages... Previously on Fight or Flight - Hana had learned that Barthelemy and Godfrey were working with Auvernal from Kiara, but Liam didn’t seem motivated to take much action regarding that fact. Leo had gotten money and belongings to Riley, who shared an intimate moment with Drake when she returned to their hotel.
This series follows the Walkers, their friends, and Cordonia as a whole after they flee the country with their daughter during Barthelemy Beaumont’s attempted coup. To catch up on this series, check out it’s masterlist. (link can be found via my bio - sorry, Tumblr is once again not putting my posts with links in tag searches)
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Liam let out a sigh as he changed the channel back to CBC. He needed to be actively watching, probably should be taking notes, in all honesty. This hour of programming consisted of discussion with three of the most connected political pundits in the country. It was the easiest and most reliable way to get a feel for the leanings of both the journalists and the common citizens, and it aired every weekday, so it was far more up to date than waiting for the biweekly polling.
The issue was that the panelists were revelling in the recent turn of events with such glee. It was understandable, he supposed. This was the most exciting political turn of events this country had seen in centuries. It put the mild speculation that he was Bridget’s biological father, a rumor had surfaced around the time of his announcement that Drake and Riley’s child would be heir and had briefly flared again at Bridget’s first public appearance when people had seen that she indeed looked like a child with some East Asian heritage, to shame. This wasn’t just baseless gossip and stirring the pot to increase ratings. This was true turmoil, plain and simple. There was a relative unknown carrying the power of the Crown, the current Queen-regent had been “kidnapped” and not seen in weeks, citizens were protesting daily, and this was all expected to last for months until the Conclave, where all the tension and drama would culminate in a vote among the five major noble houses to name a new monarch. The journalists and talking heads had a seemingly endless feast in front of them. All of it at his expense.
He took another sip of his scotch as he tried to focus on the screen ahead of him. If he could figure out how to gain a majority of the public’s support, then he could apply some pressure to Kiara and Landon prior to the Conclave vote. Not that he was naive enough to think that would be enough to assure that he would regain his title, but at least it would be one more piece of ammunition in his arsenal.
“The protests outside of the Capital aren’t going to be as easily quieted as the ones in Valtoria, Victor,” Francine Giorano stated, leaning forward and gesturing across the table to Victor Blussé. Blussé was the moderate on the panel, while Giorano was a staunch traditionalist. “They have had fears about the role the essentially-American Walkers played in our government for years, and look how right those fears turned out to be.”
“How is any of this the Walkers’ fault, Francine? This can all be traced to Barthelemy Beaumont!”
“The Conventus Nobilis was written into our foundational laws for a reason, Victor,” chimed in Willa Hyllop, the final member of the panel, added to the program in the past year to bring in a more modern, pro-democratic viewpoint.
“Surely you aren’t saying you are on the side of Beaumont, Willa! He represents an even less progressive faction than Liam Rys ever did.”
“I may not agree with everything he stands for, but I will always support measures that place some checks and accountability on our monarchy,” said Hyllop with a shrug. “Besides, the fact that Rys surrounded himself with yes-men and granted titles and appointments on the basis of friendship since he ascended the throne did little to convince me that he was the ‘progressive king’ he swore he was. He was more of the same, just without the aggressive rhetoric of his father.”
“And look how that turned out! Lest we forget, he stood by while Auvernal brought warships to our shore last year,” added Giorano.
Liam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Giorano and Hyllop were never on the same page about anything, and here they were, agreeing that he had been an ineffectual king. He tuned out Blussé’s response, knowing that some lukewarm rebuttal from him was going to do little to bolster his confidence. The fact was simple - his fall from grace was widespread. There were few left who saw him as worthy of the title of king. He had failed, completely and entirely.
 “Liam?” Olivia’s voice cut over the television. 
Liam opened his eyes to find her staring at him from the lounge’s doorway, a frown cutting across her face. He forced a smile as he gestured for her to join him. “Just taking a little break from hearing how incompetent I am.”
Olivia’s green eyes narrowed at his poor attempt at humor, but she strode over to him, joining him on the couch, undoubtedly taking in the blank notepad, the untouched stacks of documents, and the glass of liquor that sat on the table in front of him. “Well, that’s the perception we’re going to have to work to change.”
He tipped his head to rest along the back of the couch, sighing as he did so. “I know, Liv. It just seems so impossible at the moment.”
She didn’t say anything for several excruciating seconds. He rolled his head to the side, taking in her face, concerned eyes boring into him as she slid a hand around her neck, her blood-red nails digging into her skin. “We’ve got months still, Liam. Calling our goal impossible is premature.”
“You’re right. I know you’re right, and I’m all ears if you have any recommendations for where to start.”
“Well, I got confirmation that Landon and Emmeline’s driver is loyal to us, so Ray is going to approach him at the Derby this weekend to see if he might be willing to earn a little extra cash by divulging some secrets. And their new head of kitchen has a brother with significant gambling debts, so that’s another lead worth pursuing.”
“Sounds good, Olivia.”
“Now, as far as next steps for you, I was hoping you might give reporters a few minutes for questions before the derby.”
Liam swallowed, his brain scrambling to come up with a reason, any reason, against her suggestion, when his phone vibrated on the table, the name “Bastien” flashing across the screen.
“Why is he calling you?” Olivia asked. All Liam could do was shrug as he leaned forward, grabbing his phone and swiping to accept the call.
“Bastien?”
“I don’t have long,” he started, not even taking the time for a greeting. “I don’t know if you are in touch with Drake, but if you are, you need to let him know that they need to get out of Athens.”
“What are you-”
“Rashad is negotiating with Greek authorities right now to allow the King’s Guard to be the ones to make the arrest. We are waiting on the tarmac for clearance to fly to Athens.”
“How-”
“He’s requesting Greek surveillance of their hotel until we get there. They need to leave now.”
“Bastien, what-”
“I have to go.” And then, the line was dead.
Liam sat there, numb and frozen, trying to process the slew of information that had just been dumped into his lap by his former head of security. 
“What the hell is going on?” Olivia’s voice drew him out of his daze, prompting him to set down his phone on the couch, digging frantically through the stacks of papers.
“I need my burner.” He heard his voice as if he were an outsider observer. It was thin and shaky, frail and panicked. His hands shook as he felt around the table in front of him, knocking over a pile containing reproductions of the accounts of the last Conclave, dozens of papers spilling onto the floor.
“Liam, what the fuck did he tell you?”
“They know where they are. We have to warn them.” All his frustrations and pain related to Drake and Riley suddenly felt so petty, so ridiculous. The stakes were higher for them, always had been higher for them. They were about to get arrested over wanting to keep custody of their daughter. And while they left him to fend for himself, left Cordonia in a state of political upheaval, he knew that was a price that was wildly unfair.
“Who knows where they are? Rashad?”
“Yes,” said Liam, shoving more and more documents around the table. Where was his burner?
“How does he know?”
“I don’t know! Where the fuck is it?” Liam swiped his arm across the table, books and papers flying, the sound of glass breaking echoing through the room as his scotch tumbled to the ground.
A strong set of fingers with sharp red nails slid around his wrist, holding him still. He took a rough breath as he turned to face Olivia, who was eyeing him as she tugged her own burner out of her pocket, only breaking his gaze to glance down at the screen, tapping three times before holding it to her ear and looking back at Liam.
The few seconds of silence on her end were maddening, but then she was speaking, her voice curt and all business. “Drake, authorities are coming. You gotta go. Now.”
Liam tried to rein in his rapid breathing, tried to calm his heart rate down to something more human. “The King’s Guard is flying into Athens. They are leaving now. Rashad asked for Greek surveillance until-” but Olivia nodded at him, cutting him off.
“I don’t know how. But your hotel is about to be under Greek surveillance until the King’s Guard arrives, so you guys have to get moving. Good luck.” She hung up at that, letting out a massive sigh. “Shit,” she breathed out after a few seconds, her eyes bouncing back and forth before she slammed them shut, clearly planning and preparing.
Liam felt her fingers trembling around his wrist for just a second, but then she let go. She pushed herself off the couch with a flourish. “Find your burner. I’m gonna make some calls, but we need to destroy any evidence that we were in contact with them,” she said, nearly jogging towards the door.
“Olivia…”
She spun around and let out a little breath before walking back towards the couch. Her hand settled on his shoulder with a gentle squeeze as she gave him a nod. “We warned them as soon as we could, but we need to be the ones worried about the big picture right now. And things will only be worse for them if you and I are arrested, right?”
All he could do was nod. She was 100 percent correct.
“Okay, so find your burner. I’ll be back in a little bit, Liam.” And with that, she was off, a woman on a mission, leaving him sitting there, shaking on the couch, just trying to find his footing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Hana shook hands with the final citizen, a woman in her late 40s who had been born and raised in Valtoria.
“Thank you so much, Your Grace,” she said, smiling as she returned the handshake.
“Of course. Just because our country is going through a period of transition doesn’t mean that I am going to ignore the needs of Valtoria’s citizens.”
The woman thanked her again before turning and exiting the formal dining room, the location Hana had chosen for the first Citizen Open Forum she’d scheduled. The large table provided ample seating, but the room was close enough to the main entrance to make it unlikely that anyone could wander into private areas of the estate without being caught by staff. 
Olivia had been irritated when Hana had told her she was opening up the estate to the public. “You are giving Barthelemy’s people free access,” she told her. But Hana knew that she couldn’t just sidestep her duties as a duchess. Not only would that weaken people’s perception of Liam by association, but morally she just couldn’t do that. The country was in such turmoil because of a few members of the nobility trying to wrest power from some other nobles. For her citizens to be left neglected due to the whims of the highly privileged was ethically something she couldn’t allow to happen. So she’d hosted the forum, hearing directly from Valtoria’s residents what she should prioritize to improve their lives, but made sure to instruct her staff to notify her immediately if anyone was caught wandering too far from the dining room or bathroom. It was the best she felt she could do under the circumstances.
However, the last citizen had now vacated the estate, and Hana couldn’t help but let out a contented sigh. It had gone well, she thought. She had clear budgetary priorities to request at the upcoming meeting between the social season’s derby and the stop in Lythikos. Plus, one of the leaders of the protesters in front of the estate had come, and conversation with him had been productive. Obviously, she couldn’t outright tell him that she wished she could be right out there with them, carrying a sign that said “She’s their kid,” but he had given her a knowing smile when she told him she saw no reason to intervene when Cordonia citizens were just exercising a right to free speech. He had all but promised her that the protests would stay peaceful and would not target her for her assumption of the role of Duchess of Valtoria.
As she wandered into the kitchen to make herself some tea, she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She turned on the tap to fill the kettle with one hand as she moved to answer the call with the other.
“Olivia, how are you?” she asked, watching the kettle fill.
“Do you not answer your phone anymore?”
Hana frowned, pulling the phone away from her ear and swiping the screen. “I don’t have any missed calls, Olivia.”
“Not this phone. I’ve called you no less than ten times.”
She turned off the tap and set the full kettle on the counter, a nagging thread of anxiety and fear worming its way into her heart with that statement. “What’s wrong?”
“Turn on the news.”
Hana spun around, finding the remote laying on the island and turning on the television mounted in the eat-in nook.
“-these exclusively obtained photos show a woman who appears to be the former duchess, Riley Walker, conversing with the former Crown Prince, Leo Rys, at a bar in Athens.”
The screen filled with a low-quality image, clearly zoomed in several times. The lighting was a sort of orange color, and the faces were grainy and fuzzy, but there was Riley, although her hair was clearly dyed a much lighter color. Leo’s face was only seen in profile, not as identifiable, but he was obviously talking to her. The screen changed to a new photo, Leo a bit more recognizable in this one, passing Riley something.
“Oh no,” said Hana, leaning against the counter.
“-clear evidence of collusion between the former Crown Prince and Riley Walker, who has been charged with treason and kidnapping of the monarch,” the anchor droned on, but Olivia’s response drowned out the quiet volume of the television.
“Yeah, that’s an understatement. So what was so pressing that you were ignoring your burner?”
“I had the forum with the citizens, and I thought if I was carrying two cell phones, that might-”
A massive groan from Olivia cut her off. “Whatever. Well, you need to destroy your burner. Now.”
“But what about Riley and-”
“I warned them. Hopefully they are able to get out of Athens, but nothing else we can do there. It’s time to protect ourselves.”
“Olivia, what-”
“I gotta go check on Liam. Destroy the phone, Hana. And don’t call me.”
“Why can’t I-”
“-Liam is definitely going to be questioned since Leo is now known to be involved. We can talk at the derby, but if they start monitoring our phone records, I don’t want to give them any reason to think we are scheming.”
Before Hana could as much as tell Olivia she understood, she heard the line click dead. Taking a few seconds for some calming breaths, she centered herself before she climbed the stairs to her quarters, a pit of dread cementing itself firmly in her stomach with each step. She reached her room and opened the top drawer of her dresser, pulling the burner phone out from underneath her nylons. Sure enough, she had dozens of missed notifications from Olivia, and a couple from Maxwell as well. Well, she knew what those were regarding. No need to deal with them at this point. Instead, she walked over to her dressing table and grabbed her manicure kit.
She wandered down the hallway towards the lounge, taking in the quiet and calm. It was odd; the estate probably had more people in it currently than it had for most of the time Riley and Drake had lived there. Hana didn’t feel compelled to aggressively minimize the staff presence like they had, far more used to having employees around from her upbringing. But staff were expected to be as discreet and silent as possible, to make themselves scarce, particularly in the private quarters. 
No one had ever called Riley quiet. There was a certain vibrancy she brought to any room, and her voice and laughter were always echoing through the halls. And even though Drake wasn’t the most talkative, he certainly would quip, snark, and joke in the privacy of his own home. Of course, once Bridget was born, there was more noise and energy and life than ever before. Now, it was just Hana and the corgis. The estate felt hollow and soulless.
Once in the lounge, Hana shut the door behind her firmly. Anderson glanced up, but quickly draped his head back over Vera, all the dogs curled up on their giant cushion in the corner. Hana knew that the maids had cleaned the lounge yesterday, so she was unlikely to be found there. She sat down in one of the armchairs, and pried the cover off the back of her phone using her cuticle pusher. All the electronic components stared up at her, ready for her to do her worst. But before she could bring herself to kill the only connection she had to her best friend, she flipped the phone over and sent one last message to Riley.
I love you all. Stay safe. I’ll find a way to get in touch when I can.
Letting out a sigh, she turned the phone back over. She spent the next 15 minutes prying off motherboards and any chips and cards she could find, dropping them one by one into her container of acetone nail polish remover. Then, she removed the battery before placing the remaining elements into the fireplace. She would just have to store the battery under her floorboards until she could figure out how to safely dispose of it. 
She started a fire, then curled up on the couch, tugging a quilt over her lap as she watched her only connection to the first person to show her unconditional love melt and warp, eventually turning to ash. Tears started trailing down her cheeks, dripping onto her blouse and the quilt, but she didn’t care. She was devastated - for herself, for her found family, and for her country. At some point, Anderson jumped up to join her, nestling in against her legs.
“I miss them so much,” she said, dropping a hand to the top of his head. “So, so much.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Bridget was wailing in her crib, but Riley didn’t have time to calm her. She needed to pack. Now.
When Drake had called her, she knew something bad was happening. He’d left with their passports this afternoon to take them to a cousin of a friend of someone Drake had met at the restaurant, someone who was supposed to be able to help with fake documents and forgeries. The plan had been to change their names and their country of origin, allowing them to catch a flight to the States without getting stopped at the airport. The final destination once there hadn’t been decided. Drake had wanted to go to Texas, but Leona’s presence scared Riley. She had already sold out their safety for a quick payday once before.
But that debate was a moot point now. So was the uncertainty about this unknown forger on whom they were relying. Drake had called, frantic and alarmed, clearly running and somewhat out of breath as he spoke to her. Telling her Olivia had called to warn them they were about to be arrested. Telling her to pack. Telling her they needed to run.
So Bridget was unceremoniously dumped into her travel crib as Riley tried to shove everything into the duffel bags from Leo. She knew she should leave the impractical things, like the framed photos, but those would incriminate their friends. So they had to come with. Toiletries seemed essential, too. Some of the clothes were going to have to get left behind. Some of the toys as well. She had to be able to carry everything in one trip. She had to get to the car as quickly as possible. 
She knew it had probably been less than five minutes since Drake had called, but it felt like she was moving too slowly, taking way too long. Drake hadn’t given her any sort of time frame. Who knew if Olivia had even given him one. But for all she knew, police were rounding the corner, waiting for her in the hallway, about to burst through the hotel door. So she shoved and crammed and squeezed everything she could into the duffel bags and the diaper bag. Those would go over her shoulders, the crib would collapse and go in one arm, Bridget in the other. That would have to be good enough. 
Once she was sure that the bags were as full as they could be, she pulled Bridget out, placing her on the floor as she scrambled to collapse the crib, fumbling with the locking mechanism for just a few seconds before it folded in on itself, allowing her to tuck it into her elbow. By some mad miracle, Bridget was hanging close by, not trying to crawl away to explore and cause trouble. Maybe she was frightened by the way Riley was acting. Regardless, it was a blessing.
Knowing she was as ready as she was going to be, she loaded everything up and grabbed Bridget, pausing just briefly to juggle their possessions as she opened the door. She didn’t bother closing it behind her, just moved as quickly as she could with her load down the hallway, down the stairs, through the lobby, and around the corner to the street where their car was parked. No one tried to stop her or talk to her, so she took the time to toss everything on the ground and properly latch Bridget into her car seat. Then, she threw everything in the hatchback before climbing into the passenger’s seat and locking the doors behind her. Bridget continued to cry, but there was little Riley could do to comfort her at this point. All that was left to do was wait for Drake.
Drake had told her to meet him in the car, but she didn’t like feeling exposed, sitting where anyone could see her during broad daylight. Add to that the fact that she was in the passenger seat, so she wouldn’t even be able to make a quick getaway if need be. Her piss-poor driving skills were just one more area where she was making their life harder, but there was no way to fix that right now. All she could do was hang tight. She was contemplating what in the car she could use as a weapon if it came down to it when her phone buzzed. She swiped to answer instantly when she saw it was Drake’s number.
“Drake, where are you?”
“Around the corner from the hotel. You in the car?”
“Yeah. How did-” but before she could get her question out, she saw Drake through the driver’s side window. She let out a little yelp of surprise before reaching over and unlocking the door, handing him the keys as soon as he sat down. 
He didn’t even bother to say anything, just started the car and eased off the clutch as he shifted into first gear, pulling out onto the road. Bridget quieted soon after they got moving, but Riley didn’t feel any better as the yelling and screaming subsided. She just stared at Drake, one hand braced on the steering wheel, the other on the gear shift, his neck and shoulders so tense and coiled, he looked ready to burst.
“Where are we going?” she finally chanced asking.
Drake shook his head, never taking his eyes off the road. “I don’t know. Out of Athens.”
“Then why are we making so many turns?”
“Don’t know if we were being watched or followed. Gotta lose anyone who might be tailing us.” His voice was clipped and frayed. He sounded about five seconds away from losing it completely. Riley wanted to hold his hand, to comfort him in some way. But she didn’t want to distract him, both from driving and from the tiny amount of control he had over his emotional response to everything that was unfolding. After all, they weren’t safe yet. So she just nodded and grabbed her phone off her lap.
“I’ll pull up some maps, okay?”
He nodded and let out a rough breath at that. “Thanks, Walker,” he said before flipping on the radio. “Can you try and find us a news station?”
“Drake, I won’t-”
“I’ll translate.”
And so they were off, unsure where or how far they needed to go to be safe. All they could do at this point was keep moving forward.
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