#but idk something about her seems colder

[alchemagiks]

these kids having to be their own emotional support... beatrice is way too fucking cold for me.

[skrunksthatwunk]

peak dash tonight but i gtg do like. something productive

[specshroom]

°~ A MAGE IN THE JUNGLE ~°

Includes: Use of she/her, Slimy naga dick, Size difference, strangers to...fucking? Idk.

In which: Our Mage searches the jungle for a rare species to add to her "research".

She curses as her boot clad feet catch on another root, almost sending her tumbling into the dewy jungle ground. Deciding to stop for a short break, she swats at the buzzing mosquitoes, taking her hat off to fan herself futilely while eyeing the map she bought.

The vender who sold it to her was an eccentric type, which is always a good sign in her eyes. If you're going to scam people at least commit to the whole "mysterious merchant" bit. The old hag managed to make her cough up 7 copper coin for this "traveler's essential". 

Her goodwill has not been paid back as apparently the map was more unreliable than she expected. The mage curses herself as she glowers at the useless map, trying to decipher where the hell she is.  

After a few more minutes of squinting and pointing to random places on the map, she just scrunches the flimsy paper in her hands and sets it on fire, burning it up before the embers could even reach the floor. She wasn't looking for anything any cheap map could show her anyway. 

She came here to follow an urban legend about a deadly beast that stalks the jungle. The creature has many different variations depending on who's telling the story but what is consistent is the shining gold scales adorning the creature. Stories vary widely from village to village, some say it's an old wrathful god sent down to punish those greedy enough to seek it out and some say it's a beautiful maiden with a golden tail here to bring good fortune to those deserving of it. 

Which ever story is the truth, she just couldn't hold back her fanaticism. A strange creature that apparently nobody has seen before but for some reason is being spotted closer to nearby villages more and more? That is absolutely right up her alley. 

Now if she could only find the damn thing. The villagers seemed almost relieved that someone else was going to try and find this thing, so getting information was quite easy. While the area has been narrowed down, it's still a huge chunk of jungle. At this point it would be easier if the monster just came out and tried to eat her already. 

The mage percs up when they hear water flowing and walks in that direction until she stumbles on a river. She kneels down by the waters edge, it looks pretty deep or maybe the water is just too murky to see the bottom. She hums and pulls out the flask she enchanted, fills it with water and waits for the magic to properly dispose of the dirt particles and bacteria before taking a long gulp. 

This river is wide and the water flows slowly but surely past her. She places her hand in the water, curious to see if she can see the bottom or perhaps any fish to eat. 

She softly chants an incantation, forcing the dirt particles away from her hand. This proves harder than she thought as she's never had to cleanse flowing water before. 

She leans in closer to concentrate her energy and eventually the water becomes clearer and she can see something glistening at her from the water. Is that really treasure at the bottom of the river? Could she be that lucky?

 She squints and leans closer to get a better look, the golden specs glinting in the murky water blink at her through the surface. 

She freezes and the blood in her veins turns colder than the depths of the river. 

Before she can even move a huge clawed hand shoots up from the  surface and clings onto her arm, tearing through her cloak, undershirt and skin. There's no time for a painted scream as she's pulled into the water with great force. She can feel the waters resistance against her body as it's dragged into the murky depths. 

Before this beast actually drowns her she manages to force her other hand against the current to grip onto the beasts scaly wrist. She casts the first spell she can think of, Combustion. 

Suddenly the surface of the water explodes outwards, splashing water high into the air. She propels herself upwards and breaks the surface to hover above the water. She curses and looks around frantically, she can't lose the monster now. Panicking, she summons her hat and starts chanting, willing the plentiful vines of the jungle trees to plunge into the river and search for the beast. 

When she feels a tug she wills the vines to pull the heavy struggling mass to the surface. The huge mass writhes and thrashes in its confines as it rises from the water. 

She can finally see just how massive this thing is as it fights and snarls at her. It's much bigger than any Naga she's seen before, the human half is near orc sized! The bottom half being even bigger with the long thick tail thrashing in the water below. She reinforces the vines to bind the rest of the ridiculously large tail and sets the beast down on the ground next to the river. 

When her feet meet the ground, she sighs and wills the water out of her soaked clothes. She checks her bleeding arm and sucks in a breath at how deep the gashes are. 

"Now look what you did. Fucking hell, thats deep. How long are your claws?!"

Of course she can heal it but it's such a pain. The monster on the ground hisses and spits in response. 

She takes a better look at it, or him, she discovers. His scales really do shimmer like gold with black scales painting a pattern all the way down his back and tail. His white underbelly fades into something resembling human skin as her eyes move up his rapidly moving chest. The gold scales fade into a darker black down his shoulders to the tips of his clawed fingers. Her eyes flicker to his intense stare, pure gold flickers in his irises. His drenched black hair gets in the way of his glare. 

"Wow."

She can't help but verbalise her awe. She carefully moves around him to look at him in a different angle.

"I knew you were a naga. I knew it."

She summons a book into her hand, not her spellbook but one for these special cases. She flips to a new page and licks the tip of her pencil. She crouches down to look at him expectantly,

"Do you happen to know how much you weigh? What do you eat? Most nagas are some sort of omnivorous but I'm assuming you eat mostly fish. How many fish do you have to eat to stay this size?"

She gestures incredulously to all of his giantness.

He just growls some more, quiter this time as his confusion overtakes his anger somewhat.

"Come now, I know you can understand me and I know you can speak."

He stops growling to stare at her incredulously. How could she possibly know that? The giant snake man tries to readjust but hisses again, this time in pain. She jolts up and immediately goes to assess the wound on his wrist, which is tied tightly to his back. She cringes at the red, fleshy wound she created on his body. So much for first impressions. Without much warning she immediately starts with the healing spell. This creates great discomfort for him, as his cells rebuild themselves but she knows this is better than dragging it out for longer.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry."

She coos at the massive man almost like he's a child or a small animal. This woman evades him. Once she's done and his wrist is good as new she springs up and clears her throat, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Sorry about that but...you did try to eat me so..."

He looks like he wants to say something but doesn't know how exactly. By the scowl on his face it doesn't look like it would be anything good. She crouches down again, peering down at him.

"Do you still want to eat me?"

He growls, nothing but hatred in his beautiful eyes as he hoaursly spits out,

"I want nothing more in the world."

"..."

The mage tries and fails to hide a girlish giggle behind her hand as she rocks back and forth on her feet. She reacts as if he'd just complemented her outfit. The Naga man pulls his mouth into a snarl and huffs in irritation, hating how this woman continues to confuse him.

After composing herself she summons her little reaserch book again, holding it against her crouched thighs to write.

"Have you actually ever eaten a human before? Be honest."

The Naga writhes in his bonds to eventually turn away from her so atleast he doesn't have to face his captor. He lies there for awhile just squirming every so often, he's already tried to cut the vines with his claws but she must have done some kind of reinforcement magic when she healed him. Damn witch.

While he devises an escape plan, he can hear scratching on paper from behind him. The mage seems to be writing quite a lot in her book. When the Naga looks back at her he catches her gaze staring intently at the intricate patterns on his back, the way the scant black scales blend with the bright gold makes for a very unique pattern.

"How much will you sell it for"

She stops sketching and looks back up at his eyes. She lets out a confused "hmm?"

This only makes him angrier.

"My hide! It must be worth a fortune! That's why you're here!"

Her gaze softens a bit, kicking herself mentally for being so unthinking towards the man. He might be big and intimidating but that doesn't mean he can't be scared for his life.

"Look, I don't want your hide. It would be much easier to just fake one anyway since nodoby knows what you actually look like. I just want to ask you a few questions and then let you get back on with your day. I'll even cook you a meal as a thank you."

The snake man is obviously skeptical, all he does is stare back at her with those gorgeous eyes.

She sighs and opens her book back up, flipping over to a particular page.

"Researching rare and perculiar creatures is a hobby of mine."

She rolls down onto her stomach and shuffles closer to the massive Naga. She leans on her elbows to show him the open page as if they were best friends at a slumber party and she's showing him her dairy.

"You're not even the rarest or most sought after Naga species I've met."

She points to a drawing she sketched of a male Naga, this one with the torso and arms of a human but the tail and head of a snake. There's a bunch of scribbles and descriptions around the drawing in a language he can't read.

"Where he's from people worship him like a god. He's a very rare species that can hypnotise someone just by looking into their eyes."

She chooses to leave out the part where she willingly let the Naga hypnotise her and use her as he pleased for weeks.

He doesn't have a response to give the mage, staring blankly at the pages as she rattles on about other species she has in her book. His skepticism somewhat dampened by these sketches of Naga just like him but with characteristics he's never seen before.

The mage notices how dark the sky has gotten, catching a few stars glinting overhead. She gets up and starts assembling the tent she brought. Pulling thick fabric out of her infinitaly deep satchel.

The Naga man just lies there watching, wondering if it would be so bad to comply with this mage. They don't seem dangerous or malicious at all but the magic they wield is still a concern. She talks to him as she works on building her temporary abode.

"Y'know, the village folk are quite nice. If you want I could talk to them, I'm sure they would rather cohabitate than live in fear of a man-eating monster in the jungle. Since you're definitely a rare species this part of the jungle could even be named as a conservation zone."

She keeps yapping stuff the Naga man doesn't care to listen to. The mage erects her shoddy little tent, does some sort of chant and then hurriedly crouches inside the small space.

She stays inside there for a while to the point where the Naga man thinks she might not return for the night. He smells something absolutely devine and realises it's cooked beef coming from inside the tent.

The damn mage walks outside with a steaming bowl of that devine smelling concoction. She stabs a piece of meat with a fork and offers it to him after blowing on it a little. She doesn't really give him time to react before poking the fork into his mouth. His taste buds are lighting up and he almost moans at the taste.

The mage grins at how he accepted her offer and stands back up.

"I just want to ask you a few questions. I'm sorry for causing you trouble but I didn't come all this way for nothing. I'm more than happy to repay you for your troubles if you just come inside."

After that she turns and walks back into the tent. As she walks away the vines binding his body loosen until they fall from his body entirely.

He's free. She's giving him an out. He could just leave.... But he can still taste the meat on his tongue. Nothing has happened to him yet so atleast he knows it's not poisoned or spiked. He turns to where the dark water of the river calls to him and turns back to the fire light coming from inside the mages tent. He sighs and hangs his head. As if the jungle itself is trying to urge him, a cool breeze blows past that seems to urge him closer to the tent.

The Naga sighs, stretches his sore limbs and slowly slithers towards the tent. He takes a deep breath before parting the fabric of the opening and crouching inside.

As he expected, the tent is much bigger than it appears on the outside. Bedding and pillows cover the floor and there is a fire with a pot over it in the middle.

The mage is humming to herself while pouring more steaming hot stew into two bowls. He sits across form her coiling his tail into a pile to sit on top of it.

She holds out a steaming bowl to him and waits patiently for him to take it. He hesitantly accepts the offer and, after watching her eat a fair portion of her own bowl, starts slurping up the meaty stew.

After the first and second serving the mage places her empty bowl aside and picks up her book. As the Naga pours himself a third helping she clears her throat, making him look up at her expectant gaze. He huffs but nods, lazing back against his tail to keep enjoying his meal. The mage gleams across from him.

"I don't know how much I weigh, I eat mostly fish and I've never eaten a human."

The mage scribbles all this down as he speaks, very pleased with his cooperation.

"How often do you shed?"

The Naga rests his arms on his tail like it's a comfy backrest. He takes a generous gulp of his stew before answering,

"...Once every season."

"So you grow moderately quick then? And you're still growing? Or do you think this is how big you'll get."

"I still shed, so I'm still growing."

The woman nods and jots that down.

"You're a constrictor type, right? No venom or hypnotising?"

He gives her a deadpan stare, as if to say "What do you think?". She gets the idea and confirms her own theory.

she chews her lip, deliberating something before she finally asks.

"Can I measure you?"

He gives her an irritated look before he slowly unwinds his tail from it's bunched up state, unfurling it out on the floor as he lies on his stomach.

The mage wastes no time springing up and pulling a rolled up tape measure out of her hat. She holds it out to him and says,

"Hold this at your head, please."

He boredly does as she asks and she carefully walks back the length of his body. He doesn't know why but he straightens his tail as much as possible while looking at her over his shoulder. When she gets to the tip of his thick tail she exclaims some numbers in a measurement he doesn't know but from the look on her face it's clearly impressive. She hurriedly scribbles that in her book.

The measuring roll disappears and the Naga goes back to his meal. He pours what's left in the bowl into his awaiting mouth before he feels a soft touch on his tail and freezes.

He slowly looks behind him at the culprit. He watches her with a predatory gaze as she hesitantly tests his patience. He watches her, as if daring her to go further and so obviously she does. She inches higher up his tail to where is gets much thicker, lightly tracing the patterns on his reptilian skin. She softly touches his golden scales as if they're fragile.

The mage gets more confident and crawls higher up his tail, getting more inquisitive and bold.

"Is the underside more sensitive?"

She asks, genuinely curious. He doesn't answer, just keeps staring at her with a look that says "Try it", so that's what she does. She looks into his eyes and slides her hand down the side of his tail towards the white underbelly.

He strikes before she can even blink. He has her on the floor coiled up in his tail as he entraps her whole body with his. She doesn't offer much of a fight besides some squirming but his tightening hold on her body forces her to still.

"Is this what you want mage?"

She says nothing, only looks up at him with those same curious eyes. He can feel her heart beat as he squeezes her rib cage, it beats steady and bold. She's not scared of him at all and that intrigues him more than he likes.

The Naga looms over her, he reaches out to grab her jaw tilting her head around to look over her face. He's tried to ignore it but he's also quite curious about her and her own species. He pinches his fingers slightly so that it makes her lips pout together before he reaches out with his other hand to take her pink tongue in between his thumb and pointerfinger. She just stares up at him, offering no resistance.

He strokes the small wet muscle with his thumb, rubbing over where it would split into two if she was a Naga like him. It's so small compared to his fingers and much warmer than he anticipated, probably due to the warm meal they just shared. He sticks his tongue out to lick the air and pauses when he smells something unfamiliar but unmistakable, coming from the Mages lower parts.

He's smelled it once before when he caught sight of a human woman bathing in the river, he couldn't help but linger in the brush and watch the human as she touched herself. He feels the same need now that he felt then, a curious burn in his stomach.

The mage struggles in his hold,

"I know you're curious too..."

She says up at him, almost hopefully. She slowly struggles her legs free to wrap them around his wide torso, squeezing him between her thighs. As he looks down at her the snake man feels her warm body heat radiating off of her seeping into his skin, the movement of her chest, her pulse. He can feel his cock poking out from the slowly parting slit on his white underbelly.

He licks the air one more time before his mouth catches hers in a needy kiss. She immediately kisses back with fever, fidgeting more in his hold making him tighten the heavy coils which only makes her let out a pleasured cry into his mouth. His tongue feels so odd on her own, it's much longer than hers and he pushes it down her throat with abandon.

His tail slithers around her body, lifting her shirt up. When she first feels his cold skin against her warm stomach she's filled with need to feel him against every inch of her skin. She struggles in his hold, kissing him with more need and trying to grind her neglected cunt against something.

The Naga huffs a laugh and watches her kick her legs helplessly.

"Do you have other clothes?"

He mumbles against her lips, she nods into the kiss.

His claws tear her pants and underwear away as if the garments were made of tissue paper, doing the same to the neckline of her shirt and undershirt. She groans at the feeling of his cold skin against hers and the humid night air on her cunt.

She feels a slick substance drip onto her pussy and groans loudly.

"Show me. Let me see."

She pleads and struggles even more. He chuckles and nibbles on the skin of her neck,

"Little thing like you should be scared. What if it's too much for you?"

His concern is real even if he's insanely turned on by this situation. Her body might not be able to keep up with her inquisitive mind.

"Try me."

She looks into his eyes with determination, he looks back. One of his hands go to stroke his growing cocks as they unsheath from their slit. She stretches to pear over his tail wrapped around her. There's two, one big cock clearly meant for insemination, the same colour as his white underbelly and a second reddish coloured one, she assumes is meant for extra stimulation. The Naga strokes the big one with one hand, both cocks have slick ooze spilling from them and they're dripping with slick which she guesses is produced from the slit they come out of.

She worms her hand over one of his coils to grip onto his tail, she whines loudly at him. She wants it inside her so bad. He chuckles at her again as more of his precum drips onto her pussy lips.

He can't deny her pleas for long and against his better judgement he prods at her entrance with his cock, rubbing the tip up against her hole.

She grinds up into him and he takes that as the go ahead to slide inside her. The slippery tip sheathes inside her rather easily, it's the rest of him he's worried about. He struggles to hold himself back from pounding the hot tight pussy squeezing around him, he truly doesn't want to hurt the Mage.

Said Mage is almost in tears at being unintentionally edged by him. She squeezes her thighs around his massive waist, squirming around as much as she can. The Naga finds he likes the way her soft naked body wriggles in his coils, he especially likes the way her thigh muscles tense and relax. His sharp claws gently caress the fat of her thighs, curiously squeezing and jiggling the fat slightly. She whines again and he decides to be merciful and slides his cock further inside her while gripping her thighs.

He's too slow, too cautious and she just can't take it anymore.

She mumbles a little spell and the Nagas body feels a sudden force pulling him closer to her making him hiss as his cock is suddenly thrusted to the hilt. The smaller cock is rubbing up against her clit delisciously and the slick coating his cock seeps out of her pussy.

"If I want you to stop, I can make you. Stop, pussying around fuck me."

He stares down at her with blown out eyes, she stares up at him so determined while still being thoroughly bound in his hold. His breathing is more ragged and a grin finds it's way on his face. He looks almost feral and it makes the mages pussy clench around him which makes him reactively thrust back.

She's spun around suddenly in his hold, his tail unwinding until her arms are free and there's one coil left around her waist. Her arms are quickly bound by his own hands, gripping her much smaller arms. He gives a hard thrust into her cunt and growls in her face as she moans back up at him.

He starts a rough pace, having thrown all cation to the wind. Her tight human pussy squeezes him so tight like he squeezes around her body with his tail. The loud wet slapping sounds his hips make against hers make everything even more erotic. His coiled tail around her grips her waist tightly and he groans when he can feel his own cock bulge against her stomach where his tail holds her.

He brings the end of his tail to wrap around her wrists binding them together while his ramming into her soaked pussy.

He speeds up even more and places his palm on top of his smaller dick, pressing it against her clit. His other hand is gripping her under thigh so hard she's pretty sure his claws have pierced her skin. The stimulation on his sensative cock makes him frantically thrust into her until he releases deep inside her. He shakes and spasms as he empties himself into her. If he was more conscious he would be embarrassed at how needy he must have looked.

His orgasm lasts quite awhile longer than she expected, she realises he must have been really pent up as his cock just keeps shooting seed into her every few seconds. The poor Naga looks exhausted when his orgasm finally ends. His eyes are closed, breathing deeply with strands of black hair fall delicately around his face. The tail around her wrists loosens and she immediately goes to pull him down into her embrace, clutching his sweaty body into her warmer one.

He hums into her neck, enjoying her warm softness. His tongue flicks out occasionally to lick her salty skin and smell her on the air.

"Did I tire you out, big guy?"

She jokes, while her hands caress the comparatively massive expanse of his back. She tries to remind herself that he might be inexperienced and more sensitive than usual, she doesn't want him to feel bad about getting overstimulated.

The Naga lifts his head from her neck, his body casts a shadow over hers as he looms over her again. He gives her a sharp fanged grin.

"Don't be so cocky, Mage."

The end of his tail slowly comes from behind to wrap around her neck as the coil still wrapped around her waist lifts her torso up high. His softening cock slips out of her dripping cunt as he lifts her up with his tail. She groans low as she feels the copious amounts of slick and spend fall from her pussy to the floor.

The naga curiously runs his thumb up the length of the mages pussy, gathering up the fluids. He feels a strange urge to keep as much of his cum inside her as possible. Careful of his sharp claws he opts to push his spend back into her pussy with his tongue, feeling the way she squirms and clenches around his forked tongue. The Naga hisses lightly in delight and smooshes his face into the fat warmth of her thigh while looking into her eyes. She peers at him with a dazed look, loving the way his tail lightly squeezes her thoat.

"I'm far from done with you."

As it turns out she didn't get to ask him many questions that night. Not that she complained about it much.

[itadorey]

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐏? — wriothesley

pairing: wriothesley x reader summary: after months of pestering, wriothesley finally gives in to charlotte's request for an interview, only to be surprised when you arrive at the fortress of meropide in her stead. genre: fluff, strangers to romance, kinda love at first sight, slightly awkward interactions notes: inspired by that line where charlotte says it's impossible to get an interview with the duke, i think wriothesley is def ooc but i also think he would be a decent flirt idk he has those vibes like he can definitely tease wc: ~4.2k

a shiver runs down your spine as the elevator you're on descends deeper underground, and you waste no time in exiting when you finally come to a stop and the doors open.

you carefully step out into the large hall, intuitively following the path as the elevator doors close behind you. the air feels even colder now that you're actually in the fortress of meropide, and you do your best to ignore the curious glances sent your way as you finally approach the front desk.

"hello! can i help you?" the receptionist, monglane, asks with a friendly smile. you take a moment to answer, too busy studying your surroundings as you lean forwards against the desk.

"um, yeah," you begin to say, pausing to shake your head lightly and give her a smile in return. "i'm with the steambird. i'm here to see the duke."

the receptionist's smile tightens considerably, and you manage to catch a glimpse of the mildly annoyed glint in her eye as she turns to shuffle some papers. "i'm afraid the duke doesn't have time for interviews today. you can always try requesting an appointment some other time."

"oh no!" you say hurriedly, waving your hands in an attempt to catch her attention. "i actually do have an appointment."

the skepticism in monglane's eyes is as clear as day, and you find yourself shrinking back when she studies you closely.

"so," she begins, hands dropping the papers she had previously been holding. "if i were to go get the duke and ask him if he has an appointment with the steambird today, he'd say yes?"

"yes," you respond confidently, tilting your head up slightly in a silent challenge. monglane sighs at your words, her lips parting to say something before someone else interjects.

"are you the reporter from the steambird?"

both you and monglane turn to face the newcomer, and the first thing you notice is how shockingly blue his eyes seem to be. you shift in place as his eyes trail over your form, studying him in return and barely registering the half-hearted smile he sends you before turning and giving monglane a nod. she nods once in return before giving you an apologetic smile, holding out her hand to press a visitor's pass into your palm.

"i am," you finally say, standing awkwardly as the man continues to stare at you. there's a slight clearing of the throat from monglane, and the soft noise seems to snap the man out of whatever thought he'd been lost in.

"you're not charlotte," is all he says, curiosity tinging his words as he motions for you to follow after him. you give monglane one last wave before trailing after him, reaching for the pen in your pocket as you introduce yourself. he repeats your name quietly, and you find your cheeks growing warm when you notice the look he sends you as he does so. "that's a pretty name. i'm wriothesley."

"it's an honor to finally meet you. charlotte sends her apologies," you say, choosing to dismiss his comment in an attempt to remain professional. you're scared a flirty remark might leave your lips otherwise. "she's recently fallen ill and asked me to go through with the interview for her. she walked me through all the acceptable topic and she also sends her thanks. she's aware that you're a busy man and both her and i want you to know that we're incredibly thankful you finally gave us the opportunity interviewing you."

"i thought it was about time," he says in return, shooting you a teasing grin as he leads you out of the tunnel. he sighs to himself as he wonders if you're deliberately ignoring his compliment, or only doing it to preserve your professionalism. the way you flush at his smile suggests that it's the latter. you remain silent as you finally step into what seems to be the center of the fortress of meropide, pausing in slight shock as your eyes take in the large structures around you.

the large tower in the center immediately catches your attention, and you let yourself turn in a slow circle, your eyes tracing the upper levels and taking note of the tunnels that seem to lead in and out of the central hub. you straighten up when you finally notice wriothesley standing in front of a door, his arms crossed as he watches you with an amused smile.

"may i take some pictures?" you ask sheepishly, tucking your pen back into your pocket before grabbing your kamera. you gesture vaguely to the room around you, unintentionally doing another turn and drawing out a soft chuckle from wriothesley. "i'm sure some pictures would only help people realize that the fortress of meropide is quite different from what they expect it to be."

"sure, knock yourself out," wriothesley says, nodding as he leans against the door behind him. you give him a smile in return before snapping a few pictures, doing your best to imitate charlotte's style of photography and capture images you think she might like. by the time you finish, wriothesley's eyes are still on you, and you find yourself unable to do anything but give him a sheepish smile.

"don't worry, i made sure that you're not in any of the images," you say quickly, nodding firmly as he gives you an unreadable look. "i know that was one of the interview requests."

"i don't mind," wriothesley blurts out before he can stop himself. he does his best to refrain from slapping his palm to his forehead as you give him a pleasantly surprised look, and he hopes that you don't notice the way he inhales sharply as you give him an excited smile. "i mean, as long as it doesn't end up on the front page."

"well then, may i?" you ask, fumbling with the kamera when he nods. you step forwards to position him in front of the door, making sure there's enough light to get a good picture. you're quick with your work, and before you know it, you have a picture of wriothesley standing in front of heavy metal doors, his arms crossed and the hint of a smirk on his face as he looks at the kamera.

it's a good picture, and you can't help but notice how handsome he looks in it. you're half tempted to disregard his words and put him on the front page anyways.

"shall we continue?" wriothesley asks, snapping you out of your thoughts. you nod softly, following after him as he finally pushes the door open and immediately being engulfed in cool air. you thank him when he holds the door open for you, stepping into a smaller room and waiting for him as he shut the door behind him.

there's a brief silence as the two of you stare at each other, and you're suddenly very aware of the fact that you're alone with the (incredibly handsome) duke of the fortress of meropide.

"shall we continue?" you repeat softly, causing wriothesley to clear his throat and nod before going up the stairs. you follow after him, holding on tightly to the railing. the staircase lead to another room, and you take note of the bookshelves lining the wall behind a large desk, which seems to be covered in scattered papers. you avert your gaze as wriothesley darts forwards to gather them all up, placing them neatly into a drawer before gesturing towards the sofa.

"we can take a seat over there," he says calmly, taking note of the respectful way you avoided looking at his documents. he follows after you as you make your way towards the couch, settling into the comfortable cushions before bringing your pen and notepad out. a shiver makes its way down your spine as you make yourself comfortable, and you find yourself absentmindedly wondering if the entire fortress is as cold as wriothesley's office.

"are you cold?"

you let out a distracted hum, turning to face wriothesley as he looks down at you with a soft frown. a slight shake of your head is all you give when you finally process his question, only to receive a disbelieving look in return.

"it's okay," you reassure him, flipping your notepad open to the questions charlotte had prepped in advance. "nothing i can't handle."

"i can make us some tea, if you'd like?" he asks, reaching for the teapot sitting on the coffee table in front of you.

"oh no!" you protest, shaking your head as you reach forward in an attempt to stop him. your hand closes around his forearm, and wriothesley finds himself frozen in his spot as you smile up at him. "i wouldn't want to be a bother."

"i assure you it would be no bother," wriothesley says in an attempt to reassure you. he reaches forward with his free hand, picking up the teapot as you let him go with a quiet apology. "if anything, it would make sense to chat over a cup of tea, would it not?"

"well, if you insist," you respond softly. a comfortable silence ensues as as he busies himself with preparing the tea, his movements smooth and almost graceful as he feels your gaze on him the entire time. you're half-mesmerized, watching him as he prepares everything and ends up with a pot of steaming, perfectly brewed tea.

he almost stops in his tracks when he turns around and immediately meets your gaze, the sparkle in your eyes almost causing him to lose both his confidence and his grip on the tea tray. he hurries towards the couch to avoid any potential embarrassment, smoothly pouring out two cups of tea before settling into the couch.

you flinch slightly when he half-accidentally, half-purposely lets his thigh press up against yours.

"let's get started?" you ask after taking a sip of your drink. you take the opportunity to scoot a bit away from wriothesley, trying to maintain your composure as you set the teacup down and reach for your pen and notebook. you flip through the pages until you reach charlotte's neatly written inquiries, and you inwardly cringe at the thought of marring the page with your slightly messier scrawl.

you angle yourself in wriothesley's direction, raising an eyebrow in silent question when you don't receive a response. he nods his head hastily when he realizes he's been silently staring at you, and he puts his cup down next to yours before making himself comfortable. your mouth goes dry as he sinks back into the couch, and you avert your eyes when he casually throws one arm across the back of the couch.

"so," you begin, clearing your throat before leaning back against the armrest. "to start us off: what do you think makes the fortress of meropide different when compared to other prisons?"

there's a moment of silence as wriothesley ponders your question, and he tilts his head to side as he tries to come up with a good response.

"to begin with, i think people tend to forget that prisons aren't just made for criminals to serve out their punishments," wriothesley says slowly. you nod along to his words, glancing up at him every so often as you try to jot down everything he says. "people are sent here to serve out their sentences, yes, but this place also serves as a type of... rehabilitation, if you will. as you could probably tell, there has been a community established over the years. people do what they can to contribute and earn credit coupons and it's become a place where they can feel like they finally belong."

you hum in acknowledgment as you scribble down his response, the scratching of your pen filling the silence between the two of you. wriothesley takes the opportunity to observe you more closely, taking in the way your hair shines in the dim lighting and the way your eyebrows furrow in concentration. he fails to avert his gaze when you finally look up, too distracted by the way you fiddle with the notebook pages to realize you're asking him another question.

"pardon?" he spits out, tilting his head towards you slightly. "can you repeat the question?"

the corners of your lips twitch in amusement, and you simply nod before taking another glance down at your notes. "a lot of people credit the success of the fortress of meropide to you. would you agree with them?"

wriothesley nods absentmindedly, freezing slightly when he realizes his response can come off as a little cocky. you try your hardest to keep yourself from giggling at his actions, simply choosing to wait and see what else he has to add.

"i mean, i wouldn't take full credit," wriothesley finally says, nodding to himself in approval. "i can admit that the place wasn't the best when i first arrived, and after i got to the position i'm in now, i thought i owed it to myself and the others to help that sense of community grow. a lot of folks here aren't as bad as they seem, and i think that if they really want to atone for their crimes, who am i to make their life more difficult? besides, it's always helpful to have people like sigewinne around. they always do the most to keep the place running smoothly."

"that's very admirable," you comment, shooting him a quick smile. there's a pause in your words as you take another drink from your teacup, and wriothesley is quick to copy you, his knee bumping against yours as he leans forwards for his cup. the two of you freeze for a split second, and wriothesley feels his heart speed up just the slightest bit when you don't move away from him. a smile threatens to spread across his lips.

"why did you choose to stay down here and take on the role of warden instead of heading back up to the surface?" you ask once the two of you have emptied your cups. wriothesley freezes at your question, and you give him a confused look before you take another glance at the notebook only to freeze as well.

there, scribbled in the margin next to the question, is d.n.a.

d.n.a. do. not. ask.

you feel yourself flush with embarrassment as you scramble to apologize, half formed words leaving your mouth as you try to avoid looking at wriothesley. you curse yourself for not paying close enough attention, worry flooding your veins as you think about how charlotte might react to your interview fumble.

"i am so sorry. please forgive me, i didn't notice charlotte's note saying not to ask that. we can move on to the next question or we can even end the interview here if you'd like," you manage to say in one breath. there's a noticeable tremor in your hands as you neatly gather all your notes and shove them into the notebook, not even waiting for wriothesley's response before acting. you only stop when his hand wraps around yours, halting your movements and drawing your attention back to him.

there's a tense silence as you wait for him to speak, and you find yourself wondering if his eyes are more blue or silver. it should be easier to determine considering how close the two of you are, but the dim lighting make it harder for you to decide. you fail to notice the way his gaze briefly drops down to your lips.

"it's fine, i'll answer the question," wriothesley finally says. you're brought out of your thoughts when you hear him speak, and your eyes widen in surprised as he leans back and makes himself comfortable again.

"are you sure?" you ask softly, letting out a soft sigh when he raises an eyebrow. "i just mean that you don't have to if you don't want to."

"i'm sure," is all he says. he gives you a reassuring nod when you don't make a move to reach for your notebook, and you gingerly remove your hand from his when you realize you've been still for too long. you try to channel your professional persona once more, but the embarrassment from earlier still has you faltering slightly as you uncap your pen.

"alright, go ahead."

"as i said earlier, things weren't always the best down here," wriothesley begins, immediately capturing your attention when you notice his softer tone. "having credit coupons is incredibly important if you want to survive, and although sometimes people don't always recognize it, having connections is equally as important."

there's a brief pause as he waits for you to scribble down his words, and you nod firmly when you catch up, eager to hear what else he has to say.

"you also tend to get used to life down here," he adds, his gaze now focused on the teapot in front of him. "a lot of people don't want to return to the surface because their afraid of being judged for their actions. down here, it's as if they got some kind of new start. it becomes a sort of save haven for them, and they might even get to live a life they can say they're satisfied with.

"i had a rough experience when i was still serving out my sentence and thought i could change things for the better. as i said earlier, who am i to make their lives more difficult if they're willing to put work in. these people just wanted somewhere to lead well-ordered lives, and i gave them the 'tranquility' they required," wriothesley reiterates. "by the time my sentence was up, the position of warden had mysteriously opened up and i thought i could do a pretty good job at cleaning up and running the place. i've been able to fix most of the things that were wrong here when i was still an inmate and i haven't had many complaints yet."

"you haven't," you agree, nodding softly before giving him a smirk. "even neuvillette has been known to sing your praises from time to time."

wriothesley barks out a laugh, earning an amused huff from you as you continue to write. he watches you for a while before softly speaking up once more.

"why did you choose to work for the steambird?" he finally asks, interest lacing his tone as he leans forwards. you blink at him once, twice, before bashfully shaking your head, aiming your gaze back down to the notebook to finish writing your thoughts down.

"im afraid my story is nowhere near as interesting as yours," you murmur, glancing up when wriothesley huffs out a laugh.

"i'm sure that's not true," he replies easily, a smile tugging at his lips. "regardless, i'd still love to hear about it."

"maybe after we're done with charlotte's questions," you say noncommittally. the rest of the interview goes smoothly, your earlier blunder forgotten as your confidence returns. there's a lot of soft smiles and banter exchanged between the two of you, and you find yourself wondering why wriothesley always refuses interviews when it's clear that he's great at giving them.

you don't even entertain the notion that the only reason he's so willing to speak is because you're the one asking the questions.

"well, that's it," you finally say, scribbling a few more comments before carefully shutting the notebook. you look towards the other end of the room, catching sight of the large grandfather clock and doing a double take when you notice the time.

"i believe i'm still owed an answer to my earlier question."

you turn to see wriothesley giving you a playful look, and you huff out a laugh before standing.

"i'm sorry but i hadn't realized it had gotten so late," you say quietly, eyebrows furrowing as you give him an apologetic look. "i'd love to stay but i have another interview in an hour and i was hoping to ask sigewinne a few things as well before leaving the fortress."

"that's quite alright," wriothesley states as he stands up, motioning for you to follow him. "i suppose we'll just have to reconvene at a later date. come, i'll show you to the infirmary."

you can't help but smile at his words before trailing after him, following him down the staircase and out the heavy metal doors as you reemerge into the central hub.

"if you really want those answers, perhaps you'll consider scheduling another interview with me and charlotte," you propose airily when you're in the elevator, noticing the amused glance wriothesley shoots you out of the corner of your eye. "i'll answer your questions if you're willing to answer more of ours."

a chuckles leaves wriothesley's lips as he leads you out onto the upper level of the fortress, heading towards the right and passing one of the pipe tunnels. "is that so?"

you hum in agreement to his question, following him up a set of steel steps that lead into the next pipe tunnel. you steal a glance at him when he slows down to walk besides you, raising an eyebrow when lets out a breath.

"how about we talk over a cup of tea?" he asks, eyeing you briefly before continuing. "but just you and i? perhaps i can show you my favorite cafe in the city?"

the two of you come to a stop in front of the entrance to the infirmary, and you see sigewinne wave at the both of you before tidying up the table in front of her.

"i think that sounds marvelous," you chirp, unable to fight the grin spreading across your face.

"great," he says, unable to keep from staring at you.

"great," you parrot, feeling your cheeks heat up under his gaze.

"it's a date," he states, smiling when your eyes widen in slight surprise. he wastes no time before turning away from you, facing the head nurse who has been pretending not to hear your conversation. "sigewinne, i trust you'll help our guest with whatever they need? i'll take my leave now if there's nothing else you need."

you nod at his words, cheeks still feeling abnormally warm as you walk past him and enter the infirmary. your hand comes up to squeeze his arm in passing, and now it's wriothesley who finds himself with a faint blush tinting his cheeks. "thank you for your hospitality, wriothesley. it was a pleasure getting to interview you."

"trust me, the pleasure was all mine."

sigewinne resists the urge to turn around and give wriothesley a knowing look.

"so? how did it go? did you manage to get on his good side?" charlotte asks, her eyes sparkling with excitement even as she lays under a large pile of blankets. you barely have one foot in the door before she begins to interrogate you, and you laugh lightly as you approach her bed.

"i think so," you murmur in response, reaching out to feel her forehead and humming in delight when you notice her skin feels cooler to the touch. "your fever has broken."

"yay!" she giggles, wiggling underneath the blankets as she takes the glass of water you offer her. there's a moment of silence as she drinks, and you take the time to organize her notebook and neatly place your rewritten notes within the pages. you're so engrossed in your actions that you almost miss charlotte's next question. "but what do you mean by 'i think so'?"

"you tell me," you answer slyly, holding out the leather notebook. charlotte takes it from you eagerly, skimming through the pages and reading your notes. her jaw drops when she sees which questions had been answered, and she wastes no time before fixing you with a bewildered stare.

"he answered one of the questions on the 'do not ask' list?" she nearly shrieks, kicking her feet underneath her blanket in excitement. "i would've added a few more questions if i knew he'd be so willing to share!"

"i'm sure he wouldn't mind being asked a few more questions if they aren't too personal or invasive," you respond breezily, trying to make your next words seem casual. "maybe i could take some time and ask him the next time we meet for tea."

you easily take the glass from charlotte's bedside table, moving over to the carafe you had left on her dresser and refilling the cup. when you turn back around, you're met with an expression of exaggerated shock.

"what!" she hisses, hands tightening considerably around the notebook. you fight back a smile when she flings it to the side, motioning you towards her and waving away the glass of water. "what does that mean?"

"i may or may not have a date with wriothesley sometimes next week," you admit, smiling bashfully before turning and rummaging through your bag. "oh! before i forget, here's your kamera. i wanna get your opinion on the pictures i took."

"forget the pictures!" she exclaims, tossing the kamera onto the pillow next to her. "you have a date?"

"yes, a date," you confirm nodding and breaking out into giggles at the same time as charlotte. the two of you gasp for air as you finally settle down, and you find charlotte giving you an impish look. when you raise an eyebrow in question, she simply dissolves into giggles once more.

"a date! wow, who knew i was such a great matchmaker!"

ty for reading!! reblogs are appreciated <3

[rose-tinted-kalopsia]

casually adding onto this with my thought process for writing "don't let me love you" but—kieran's character is one hell of a ride guys i swear to you. i'm genuinely impressed at the layers they gave him liKE????? it's like there are so many calculated moves from him, but also so much of his character seems to lean into the role he has of serving sylus that it's so. fun to look into his dialogue?!

and like. first of all. his words are always so... sharp. he feels definitely like the harsher of the two, and as far as first impressions go he doesn't seem to be very fond of mc whereas his brother feels more open to the idea of her being around, he even goes so far as to take luke's taunting further with regards to the hallway which like,, idk that stuck out to me bc this was right after he witnessed luke get threatened and played 😭

and more than that, he also feels the most loyal/obedient to sylus. he seems to put sylus and sylus' orders first, mostly focused on duty before anything else—when we first see the twins he: (a) makes sure to injure mc's captor first and (b) simply walks off once sylus steps in (a la "my job here is done" vibes). it's a big contrast to luke who approaches mc first instead, and also lingers a lil to watch/taunt as sylus' evol strangles the guy

BUT SIMULTANEOUSLY . he's also always the first to extend a hand to mc, even if it means potentially going against sylus' wishes? which is so interesting to me. because luke might be more prone to expressing concern through words, and his tone of voice comes off warmer in comparison, but—

kieran, despite being generally colder/harsher with his tone, seems to show appreciation through acting on it.

in all three of those situations, he was able to garner that mc wasn't okay with certain things—(1) being "trapped" (although they were leading her to sylus anyway), (2) not knowing how to find the brooch (although the items they gave her were only jokes), (3) being wary of sylus and his intentions. and he's the one acted to provide some comfort, first.

in the first, luke might have tried to reassure her with words that it's better for her to stay, but kieran is the one who opens the door enough to ease her anxiety about it. in the second, kieran is the first one who speaks and suggests helping her at all, and granted, it gave her enough courage to do something risky, even if the given items were fake. in the third, kieran is the only one who addresses her doubts about sylus and deliberately chooses to reassure her—without intending for sylus to know of it, despite the loyalty he seems to have for him.

i.e how i wrote it in dlmly;

like do you. DO YOU SEE. do you see how many layers they haVE DESPITE BEING SIDE CHARACTERS AND HOW INTERESTING KIERAN'S PATTERNS ARE DESPITE HOW LITTLE DIALOGUE HE HAS. IN THIS ESSAY I WILL—

[last-starry-sky]

put your ear to my heart // or set your teeth against my throat

shifter/monster!price x f!reader (this was written for @the-californicationist's nameless challenge, so he isn't named, but Price was def. my inspiration!)

[NSFW - MDNI - MIND THE WARNINGS: ~1k, mentions of murder, blood and gore, minor character death (reader’s bf), pet names, implied abuse of power, kidnapping, monster fucking (extra hair, claws, and teeth mentioned but nothing specific), unprotected piv sex, biting, crying, noncon/dubcon, mating press, cumming inside, unsanitary sex? (idk what to say here lmao), breeding kink (mentions of rutting and pregnancy), fingering, oral.]

Something lives in these woods.

A shapeshifter. A monster. Something you should stay away from. It lurks in those hills. Made a home somewhere in those thousands of dense trees in the forest around the mountain. This place has been it’s home for ages longer than this area has been a national park, you see. 

It belongs to him. Not to you.

It doesn’t mind making one or two of those asshole "campers" or "hikers" disappear when they wander into his home, disrespecting his land either. This thing, it’s careful too. Nothing like how an animal would kill. Too smart. Too clean. Something that leaves nothing behind but an abandoned campsite. A smear of blood on a tree. A forgotten boot in a stream. A missing persons report growing colder by the year.

You don’t have to worry though, miss. You seem nice enough. You take only photographs, leave only footprints when you visit. Every single time. You stupid, silly thing. I guess it’s for the best that the loud, stupid man that you brought with you - he was your boyfriend, you said? shame - never came back from taking a piss in the middle of the night. 

See, he didn’t follow the rules. Put out the fire. Stay on the trails. Never go anywhere alone. He didn’t care to learn that they weren’t your rules. They’re his rules, and now it’s too late for him.

It’s okay, little lady. I know you’re scared. It’s only natural when things like this happen in the dead of night! So how about you pack up your backpack and I give you a ride to the nearest ranger station? Doesn’t that sound like a good idea? It’s about to get awfully cold, and with your friend - sorry, boyfriend - missing, I can’t leave you alone out here. 

The cabin is nice and cozy. I know you’ll like it. I’ll radio in the missing person - never mind that it’s supposed to piss rain for the next few days. The search team will never find what’s left of the body - and make you some hot cocoa. Strip down, let your soaked clothes dry by the fire, then you can curl up in my bed, sleep off this whole terrible situation. 

Shame how those two people went missing last summer. That couple, remember? They found the guy a couple miles from the campsite I heard. Nasty stuff. Probably a grizzly or wolf from the damage. The rangers didn’t have much to show the cops by the time they were able to get there. Shit like this always happens right before the worst fucking weather, I swear. It was enough for a death certificate at least. The poor girl was never found, though. Heard she was a pretty experienced hiker. Loved that park, too. I sure hope they find her one day, even just to give her parents closure.  

Meanwhile; you, miss missing person, are curled up safely in the strong, hairy arms of the thing that took rescued you that night. He covers you in flannel and furs, with enough wood next to the fire to keep it going through the night. No need for you to even think of leaving his hidden little love nest. He likes to hold you, your naked bodies twined together. He pets your hair and whispers sweet nothings about how perfect you are, how lucky he is, while you sleep curled into his chest.

His claws and canines emerge unintentionally at the thought of your shit-bag dead boyfriend. The thought of anyone besides him ever having you, of taking you away from him, it makes him see red. Makes him want to howl at the moon.

Don’t worry though, pet. He’ll slake the worst of his bestial need far away from you. Tear into some flesh, drink their warm blood. Their dying screams a background hum to the pounding in his ears. 

You enjoy seeing him after a kill. He’ll return to you: sauntering up bold and naked, hair matted to his body with sweat and gore, mud spattered up to his thighs. He’s still in the in-between: thick body-hair not yet all the way receded, claws clacking the wood floor, mouth full of long, sharp teeth. 

How sweet it is when you wipe their unworthy blood from his mouth before you tiptoe up to kiss him. 

You act so gentle then, but he knows you’ll keen and cry for him to take you harder. Let his claws dent your soft flesh. Leave love bites, wet and red, down your neck. So open and soft and destructible for him. He loves to tear into you, cock pounding you speechless. Sometimes you cry, wet rivers running down your flushed cheeks, breathlessly begging too much. Your cunt doesn’t lie though. You’ve been soaked from the very beginning, only getting wetter once he pushed your legs to your chest to rail you into the bed. He’ll cum with a long, low growl, nuzzled into your neck. His cock emptying against your cervix. 

Blood, mud, cum, sweat, rain, slick. It coats his happy trail, hair painting your belly as he fucks you. He loves seeing the mess he makes of you. His hands grip your thighs, holding you open, as he watches his cum ooze from his woman’s raw hole. Fuck he can’t wait to breed you. Come fall his rut will hit with those first long, cool nights and then you’ll be his. Permanently his. He’ll watch you grow round and ripe day by day, his little monster inside you, as you tuck in for the winter. 

For now, though, he’ll have to be content with fingering your ruined pussy open. His tongue lapping over your neglected clit, sucking at you slowly until you quiver beneath him. You try to push him away, but he won’t move until he gets his fill. He’ll grunt, ignoring you to focus on slurping every bit of sweetness from your folds, leaving you clean and perfect once again. 

He may be an animal in the shape of a man. He maims and murders. He kidnapped you, forced you to live this life. He never gave you a choice. Never will. But he will always eat you out until you’re shaking, crying out his name into the night air. You’ll always look at him so softly after, patting his cheek or ruffling his hair, as he catches his breath against your belly. It doesn’t matter how rough he was, how much blood is caked in his hair or mud there is underneath his nails. Right now, laying together sweating, panting like dogs: he is yours and you are his.

He’ll silently pull you to curl up in bed with him. Just like he always does. And you’ll fall into the warmth of his body, like you always do. Caressing your body, running his fingers through your hair. You sigh and sound so at peace. It makes him wonder if you would leave if you had the chance. Maybe, just maybe, this is right where you always wanted to be.

a/n: i SWEAR i was just trying to get back into the groove of writing daily, just wanted to jot this idea down in my random ideas doc, and this happened :x thank you very much to @gemmahale for linking me to the challenge! I hope you all enjoy and have fun guessing the entries!

The title is from the song “the garden” by the crane wives.

[luizd3ad]

She's My Religion | Lily Evans x Fem!Reader

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 ࣪˖⤷ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ ࣪ ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 ˖ ⤷

Pairing: Lily Evans x Reader WC:8,636 CW: mentions of abuse, self-doubt, cursing, little bit of homophobia and use of homophobic slur, use of the word Mud-Blood (not used by reader), use of Y/N, Reader is implied to be a Slytherin but not directly specified, mentions of violence, death threats, It’s kinda angsty, but cute at the end. Author's Note: I’ve never wrote for Lily so I’m sorry if this is out of character or something idk I tried this is also the longest fic I’ve written I didn’t mean for it to be this long😅. Summary: What happens when Sirius Blacks little sister and Regulus Blacks twin sister starts to fall for the intelligent and beautiful Lily Evans?

I made this cute little mood board idk I just love this tbh

⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳

Y/N Black had always been seen as the colder Black out of her and her two brothers and that was saying something especially considering her twin, Regulus. 

Regulus and her had been close their whole lifes. Their eldest cousin Andromeda would say they were thick as thieves. Always doing everything together refusing to go or do anything without the other. 

But after years of abuse from their partners and then it only getting worse when their older brother Sirius left she closed up, to the point of even icing Regulus out to an extent.

When Regulus made the choice to mend the bond between him and Sirius, Y/N made it clear that she wanted no part in it. 

In Y/N’s eyes Sirius didn't care, he didn't love her. She knew he didn't. If he did, why would he leave them? Why would he leave her? Especially with those people.

Sirius had always protected Regulus and Y/N as much as he could. He would take punishment, sneak them food if they were forced to go without. 

Eventually protecting them ment having Regulus go to The Potters with him when there was talk of an arranged marriage for Regulus.

Regulus left 12 Grimmauld Place during winter break in their 5th year, Y/N being left once again.  

At that point she'd separated herself from everyone who'd cared for her, admittedly it was mostly her brothers but also the few friends she and Regulus shared.

Sirius had tried many times to talk to Y/N but she never budged, she'd rarely spare him a glance. He was shattered, Sirius felt as if he'd lost his baby sister. 

Regulus took it worse not that he'd admit that to anyone who wasn't Sirius. He had hoped that she'd forgive them at some point and that she'd join them or at the very least understand why they left but she didn't. 

Y/N wouldn't speak, look, or even be in the same room as Regulus if she could help it. 

Regulus lost his twin, his other half, his life line and she didn't even seem to care. 

But she did care she cared so fucking much. 

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

Despite Y/N being cold and dark to those around her, she was smart.

Some would say smarter than Regulus, definitely smarter than Sirius. 

So it came as no surprise to her when the summer between her 5th and 6th year Y/N got word that she was to join the 7th year potions class.

Honestly she didn't care, Walburga was as pleased as she could be and Orion unsurprisingly couldn't care less.

But that's how she found herself being in the potion class the year above and being assigned partners with her. 

Lily Evans. 

Y/N didn't know much about Lily other than she was friends with her brother and his friends, she was smart, a Gryffindor and muggle-born.

Now Y/N didn't care for blood statues. It never made sense to her, the hatred that so many purebloods held for half-bloods or muggle-borns.

It all seemed barbaric and honestly a waste of time.

So, no Y/N didn't care that she was partnered with someone who was a muggle-born. 

She did care however that she was partnered with a friend of Sirius's. And it wasn't just a friend that he would see around and chat up with sometimes no, they were close friends.

This was going to be a problem.

“Hi, I’m Lily! Your Siris’ and Regs’ little sister right?”

Lily stuck out her hand for you to shake with one of the brightest smiles you think you've ever seen. 

You simply roll your eyes and dismiss her hand shake. 

“I prefer to be called by my name, Y/N, rather than being referred to as Sirius and Regulus' sister.”

Lily drops her hand and her smile falls just a tad, not enough for most people to notice, but you did. 

“Of course. I'm sorry, truly.”

“It's fine Evans.”

You say coldly, giving your undivided attention to Slughorn.

The rest of class was spent taking notes mostly with Lily attempting to make small talk every so often. You ignored her for the rest of the class.

You knew Lily was only trying to be nice but you also knew she was only trying to be nice so she could bring up your brothers.  

And talking about them was one of the last things you wanted to do.

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

Days started to pass turning into weeks, weeks turning into months.

You and Lily had been cordial.

You tried your best not to be completely rude to her since she always tried to make small talk and she was kind to you.

You actually grew quite fond of her over time but you didn't think that the two of you were friends by any means.

But you were acquaintances.

And you did like being in her presents.

It had been three months since school had started and Slughorn had announced that there was a project that was due in 2 weeks, right before christmas break would start and you were to work on it with your partner.

You sighed and looked to the side to see a smiling Lily. 

You weren’t upset that you had to do a project with Lily considering she was very smart and you liked being around her, but you were upset knowing that you'd have to spend time with her after class and knowing that where she goes her friends were not far most of the time.

Which meant there was a possibility of seeing her friends, which meant a possibility of seeing Sirius and or Regulus more than you'd like.

“Okay Evans we’ll meet at the library after classes are done so we can just get this done. Please refrain from bringing your friends.”

Lily knew what you meant by that, you were asking her to keep Sirius and Regulus away from you.

Lily chuckled and shook her head.

“They go where they please.”

Translation. She couldn't stop either of them, more specifically Sirius, even if she wanted to. 

“I see. I'll see you later Evans.”

You sigh once more gathering your things to walk away. 

“Bye Y/N.”

It always caught you off guard when she would call you by your first name instead of your surname. 

First names were meant for friends, yet she never called you Black. 

She only ever called you Y/N, as if you were good friends. 

You supposed that was just the type of person Lily was. She was nice to everyone unless they gave her a reason not to be. 

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

After classes you find yourself entering the library. You were expecting to have to wait for Lily but to your surprise she beat you there.

You walk to the table she was occupying, setting your things down.

Once she notices you she looks up from her seat smiling at you.

She had a very beautiful smile, one that made you feel your heart skip a beat for a moment. But you chose to ignore the feeling, deciding, hoping, it meant nothing. 

“How were your classes Y/N?”

Lily asked with genuine curiosity in her eyes. 

Did she actually care? She couldn't possibly care about my day. No, she didn't care, she was just asking to be polite. That was all. You tried to convince yourself.

“It was fine… How about you?”

Lily then went on about her day. She told you her favorite thing she learned that day, a joke her friend Mary told her that made you actually crack a small smile. 

You couldn't help but hold on to every word that came out of her mouth. 

Without you even realizing it Lily talking was easily becoming your favorite part of the days that followed.

You spent every day that week meeting with Lily at the library and you realized you actually really liked spending time with her. She had managed to make you smile a few times which was a rare sight.

Lily had this light to her that you couldn't describe. She was just everything good in the world. 

She was funny, smart, sweet, kind, beautiful and you wanted to spend every moment you could with her. 

You realized as the weekend grew closer you wouldn't have a reason to see her for two days. That bothered you and you couldn't figure out why. 

The two of you were working late in the back of the library. The library was practically empty.

“There's a Hufflepuff party tomorrow night. Are you going?”

“No. Parties aren't really something I enjoy. I’m assuming it’s safe to assume you're going?”

You say giving Lily a small smile.

“Yeah. We're all going… you should come.”

You knew what she meant. Sirius and most likely Regulus were going to be there.

Over the week of working with her she would make little suggestions now and then about seeing or talking to your brothers without blatantly saying so.

You just shook your head looking down at the table.

“I'm okay, thank you for the invitation.”

“Okay well, I'm going to Hogsmeade on sunday. Usually no one comes with me since they're all hungover. Would you like to join me?”

You felt yourself stop breathing. You didn't know why you felt this way. 

It was just Lily, but you've never spent time with Lily outside of an academic setting. 

Was this for the project? Or were you supposed to hang out as friends? Or was it.. More?

Did you want it to be more?

Before you have the chance to answer or contemplate further, your conversation was interrupted.  

“Oi, Black! Three blood traitors wasn’t enough for your line? You decided to become one yourself?”

Avery said, making Mulciber laugh. 

You look up at them about to get up but Lily grabs and squeezes your hand telling you to let it go. 

So you did.

“Aww isn't that cute? You’re shagging the Mud-blood now? Merlin your whole family is full of a bunch of fuckin’ poof-”

Before he can finish his sentence you have him on the ground holding his nose. You felt what some people would refer to as ‘The Black Family Madness’ cloud your mind. 

You thought it was just pure fucking anger, but what did you know?

You look down at Avery while having your wand pointing at Mulciber to keep him where he is, not showing any emotion on your face.

“I could kill you, you know? I could kill both of you. Make it look like self defense. ‘Oh i was so scared they cornered me and I- I didn't know what to do. I was scared for my life'.”

You say the last part in a mocking tone you then crouch in front of Avery looking him dead in the eyes.

“No one would even blink if you two died. Did you know that? I won't do it though because I refuse to risk myself being thrown in Azkaban. Especially for the likes of you, do you know why? It’s simple really, both of your lives put together don't even measure up to mine alone in terms of importance.”

You stand up straight looking at both of them.

“Now you're going to apologize to Evans for caller her such a vile and disgusting name, and if you don’t I will have a letter send to my mother by the end of the night about how I walked in on you two shoving your tongues down each other's throats and how I ‘just don't know what to do!’ and then we can see how your fathers react to just the idea of having ‘poofs’ inside they're line.”

You give them a small smirk while Avery and Mulciber look at each other debating if they're willing to have a rumor like that go around especially since it was a lie.

“And if you think my mother won't believe me. I reassure you, she will. Why would I lie? It wouldn’t benefit me as far as she's concerned and I am as close to a ‘perfect’ child as she'll ever get and if it comes out that the two of you might be shagging then the dirty looks get taken off The Black Family’ and move to The Mulcibers’ and The Averys’. So let's play this one smart boys.”

That seemed to convince Avery enough that he stands up and looks at Lily and forces out an ‘I’m sorry.’ 

Mulciber is a little more hesitant. You send a Stinging Jinx Mulcibers way, he falls to his knees with a small hiss and looks at Lily.

“I'm sorry Evans, really really sorry.”

Mulcibers cried out

“Now. You're both going to leave Evans alone. You are going to keep her name and both of my brothers' names out of your mouths. Am I understood?”

You say with no emotion on your face once again. 

They both let out quiet ‘yes’s’ while scrambling to leave.

After the ‘Madness’ had cleared from your mind it hit you what you did. You didn't feel bad about what you did but you realize you did it all in front of Lily. 

You don't even look at her as you start to gather your things.

“I’m sorry Evans, really. I-I should go.”

You ramble out while trying to walk away. Lily grabs your arm stopping you in your tracks.

“I won't lie and say I agree with what you did, but I don't blame you. I also appreciate you standing up for me. I'm not mad or scared of you Y/N.”

“I should have never done that in front of you. I'm sorry, really.”

“It's okay. I promise. Lets stop working tonight, yeah?”

You nod at Lily.

“Yeah. Okay” 

“So about Hogsmeade?”

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

You were sitting by the entrance of Hogwarts looking down playing with the matching serpent ring that Regulus had got for you and him a few birthdays ago. 

You've never taken it off.

You were just wearing some plain jeans and a jumper you had stolen from Sirius years ago. You find yourself wearing it when you think you might need moral support and you didn't know why but you felt a need to wear it today.

No matter how hurt you might be from your brothers leaving, you still loved them so much. You didn't necessarily blame them for leaving the house or the family, you just wish they were still with you.

You’re taken out of your thoughts when you hear footsteps coming your way. 

You look up and forget how to breathe for a moment. 

There she was. Lily fucking Evans walking towards you she was wearing a white long sleeve shirt and a plaid skirt it was so simple but she looked amazing.

Why are you feeling like this? Why does it feel like every time you're in her presents you feel like you can't breathe?

You've never felt this way before.

“Hey Y/N ready to go?”

“Yes.”

You felt like your words were stuck in your throat. 

She was just so fucking beautiful. 

You didn't talk much on your walk to Hogsmeade. You were too caught up in your head and Lily had noticed that.

“Are you okay Y/N?”

“Yes, I'm fine. How was your party last night?”

You asked, trying to change the subject. LIly knew what you were doing and she let you get away with it.

“It was actually a lot of fun. It would have been a lot more fun if you were there.”

Lily said, sending you a smile. 

You just rolled your eyes playfully with a small smile of your own, letting Lily go on about the things that happened. She told you everything that had happened as if she didn't want you to feel left out. You didn't realize how much a little act like that could make your heart speed up a bit.

By the time you had gotten to Hogmaede Lily was laughing at a story about something her friend Marlenne had done, you were just smiling. Whether you were smiling at the story or at her laugh you didn't know and you didn't want to think about it. You just wanted to enjoy the time with her.

At some point Lily grabbed your hand holding it as you went through multiple shops, you tried not to pay too much attention to how her hand felt in yours. There were a few disagreements here and there when you insisted on paying for the things she wanted.

She in her words 'didn't want you to waste your money’ and you just responded with ‘it's not a waste if it's you.’

She finally stopped fighting you after you told her that you loved spending money on things you knew your mother and father wouldn't agree with. It was one of your little acts of rebellion. Which was true but a part of you also just wanted to spoil her.. But she didn't have to know that.

By the time you two had gotten back to the castle it was almost dark. You walked Lily to the Gryffindor tower still holding her hand.

“You know you could come in right? They want to see you.”

Lily said, squeezing your hand gently to reassure you.

Since the school year started and you wouldn't talk to Regulus he stopped coming down to the dungeons if he could help it, he started to stay in the Gryffindor tower. So other than the few classes you shared and the occasional glances across the great hall you haven't seen your twin in months.

It killed a part of you but you were still so angry and hurt.

“Me and you both know that's not a good idea.”

You said looking down. Lily was about to disagree when the portrait opened out walking James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and last but not least both of your brothers. 

You could hear a pin drop in the corridor outside of the Gryffindor common room.

Sirius and Regulus stare at you without saying a word. No one moves, no one says anything.

You look back at Lily with your jaw clenched and drop her hand, putting your hands in your pockets. You didn't miss the hurt that flashes through her eyes but you didn't focus on it. You just had to get out of there.

“I'll see you later Evans, Yeah?”

You say to Lily mustering up a very small smile at her so she knew you were not upset with her. 

You started to walk away not even acknowledging the presents of anyone else. You do your best to keep walking away ignore the sound of talking down the hall, trying your best to not spare your brothers another glance

You just weren't ready to talk to them and you didn't even know if they actually wanted to talk to you.

So you just continue walking to the dungeons 

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

The next day Lily rushed into potions class, saying how sorry she was and explaining that she didn't know that was going to happen. It was all just poor timing.

All you could do was smile at her and reassure her that you didn't blame her.

You knew she wouldn't do something like that to you,

As the days passed by getting closer to the middle of the week you and Lily continued to get closer. You both would still meet up after classes in the library to finish up your project, the project that you both knew you could have finished, days ago.

You were coming to expect that you possibly had feelings for the girl but you knew she most likely just saw you as a friend.

You both were packing up for the night, you had finally finished with your project with two days to spare. It was a bittersweet moment.

“Y/N, what are you doing tonight?”

You looked up confused but you had a spark of hope in your chest.

“Nothing, probably go to my dorm, read, sleep… Why?”

“I have rounds tonight till 8:30. Do you want to meet after?”

“Um.. Okay? Yes, I'd like that. Um where should we meet?”

Lily then gave you one of her breath taking smiles obviously excited that you agreed.

“I'll come get you after I'm down, just meet me in front of the dungeons around 9?”

“Okay, Yeah.”

You were caught off guard when Lily walked over to you and hugged you.

The only people to have hugged you were your brothers and even then it had been years. You didn't know what to do for a moment so after some hesitation you hugged her back.

You felt her relax into you for a moment. You could smell her perfume, Strawberries and vanilla.

You reluctantly pulled away after a moment. You could see a light blush on her face and you couldn't imagine that you were any better.

“I'll see you later Evans.”

You say giving Lily a small smile and walking away with your things in hand.

Once you left the library you all but ran to your dorm. Your thoughts consume you.

That was a friend hug right? It had to be. Lily was just nice like that. Are friend hugs supposed to last that long though? You wouldn't know you wouldn't ever let anyone you were friends with hug you.

So then why did you let Lily hug you?

Why did you want to do it again?

Before you knew it it was 8:55 and you were waiting in front of the dungouse. You were still over thinking the hug.

Why was something so simple as a hug throwing you off? It didn't make sense.

You continued to think while absentmindedly playing with your ring. You were so lost in thought that you didn't even notice Lily till she put her hand on yours, stopping you from fidgeting.

You look at her and smile slightly.

“Where exactly are we going Evans?”

You ask, raising an eyebrow.

“Now why would I tell you that? Come on.”

Lily gave you a smirk and grabbed you hand leading you to wherever she was taking you. You couldn't help but blush at her holding your hand but you didn't pull away or protest it.

You let out a little chuckle when you finally realized where Lily was leading you.

“Really Evans? The astronomy tower? Seems a little cliché doesn’t it?”

You say with a teasing voice all Lily does is roll her eyes at you as you make it to the top of the tower.

When you get there you see that a few blankets and pillows are lying out.

You just blush again and Lily drags you over and has you sit with her in the pile of blankets and pillows.

“So why here?”

You ask leaning back on your hands.

“It’s just one of my favorite places. I like the stars.”

She says with a little shrug.

“Do you know about Cassiopeia?”

You ask, looking at her as she looks into the sky. Lily just shrugs and looks at you.

“Admittedly I’m not very good at astronomy. I would usually have… um Sirius do my work.”

Lily says looking scared that just mentioning your brother will have you running for the hills.

“Cassiopeia was the queen of Ethiopia; she was married to King Cepheus. One day she had angered Poseidon, she claimed that her and her daughter, Andromeda were more beautiful than the daughters of Nereus. So the sea nymphs, Nereids, asked Poseidon to send a monster to destroy King Cepheus's coast. To appease the monster, Cassiopeia and Cepheus chained Andromeda to a rock as a sacrifice, Perseus rescued Andromeda, but Poseidon still punished Cassiopeia, he took her and hung her in the heavens. Cassiopeia sits on her throne, but during part of the year, she appears upside down in the sky.”

Lily looks at you slightly shocked.

“How do you just know that?”

You chuckle and shake your head lightly.

“Evans, I’m a Black. It’s basically a requirement to know about the stars.”

“Okay fine, tell me about that one.”

She says point at a random constellation.

You tell her about every constellation or star she points at for a while, not noticing that the two of you have subconsciously been moving closer and closer. Eventually your shoulders are touching hands brushing against each other every so often. 

“Okay how about that one?”

She pointed at one of the clusters of stars you hoped she wouldn’t have pointed out.

Then again it was bound to happen.

“Canis Major the ‘great dog’ it’s built around Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the sky.”

You say looking down, playing with the ring on your finger.

There’s a silence for a moment, it’s not awkward but not necessarily comfortable either.

“They miss you, you know?”

Lily says, looking at you.

“I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

You say not looking at her at all.

A part of you knew you couldn’t look at her because if you did you’d tell her anything she wanted to know.

“They really do. Sirius and Regulus ask me how you're doing all the time Y/N.”

Lily says grabbing your hand to stop you from playing with your ring once again.

“Lily please.”

You say looking up at her. 

Your breath gets stuck in your throat for a moment once you realize how close the two of you are.

You're so caught up in the moment, so captivated by the most beautiful pair of green eyes you've ever seen that you didn't even notice.

You didn't even notice that you called her Lily. Not Evans. 

Just Lily.

“You know you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen?”

Lily says, staring at your eyes.

“Funny. I was thinking the same thing.”

You said with a new found confidence. Lily looks down at your lips for a moment and then you both start to lean in slowly.

“Ooooo naughty naughty.”

You both jump at the sound of the most annoying Poltergeist known to man.

After a few minutes of Lily somehow convincing Peeves to not tell on us for being there. You found yourself walking Lily to the Gryffindor common room hand in hand for the second time in a week.

“I hope you had fun tonight, I’m sorry Peeves kinda ruined the night.”

Lily said, stopping in front of the entrance to her common room.

“It's not your fault. You didn't know he would be there. I still had a good time.”

She just smiled at you, not letting go of your hand. 

“I had a lot of fun too.”

You desperately didn't want the night to end but you didn't know how to express that. You weren't blind you could tell Lily most likely had some kind of feelings for you. There was just a part of you that was still so scared of being rejected or left.

“It's getting late so we should go to bed.”

You say ruining your thumb over her knuckles.

“What if I said I didn't want to go to bed yet?”

Lily said, stepping closer to you. 

You just smile and let out a little sigh looking her in the eyes.

“I would then say that as much as I don't want this night to end, we've already been caught once and it's late, we have class tomorrow and I wouldn't want to see you tired… though under different circumstances I would love to see you tired.”

You say to her while smirking at her with confidence that you didn't know you had.

Lily just looks at you speechless blushing more than you think you've ever seen her before. You then dare to kiss her cheek softly.

“Goodnight, Lily.”

You whisper while sending a small smile towards her, not waiting for a response you start to walk away.

This had been one of the best nights of your life.

 · · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

Even though you had finished your projects you and Lily found yourselves still meeting in the library after classes leading up to break.

You both had been more affectionate in your own ways, Lily had started bringing you little snacks and water because she thought you didn't eat enough or drink enough water.

You were just constantly holding her hand or hugging her when you got the chance. It didn't go farther than that physically but you two started shamelessly flirting more often.

Finally it was the day before everyone would leave for christmas break you had just turned in your project to Slughorn.

You were gathering your things to leave for the next class when you were hit with an idea.

“Lily, do you want to.. Maybe hang out tonight?”

You asked nervously while a faint blush took over your face. You don't know why you're so nervous. You had hung out with Lily so many times at this point, it should feel normal.

She smiled at you and nodded.

“Yeah. I'd like that.”

“Okay. meet me at the astronomy tower. Around 8?”

“Really Y/N the astronomy tower? How cliché.”

Lily says in a teasing tone.

“Hahaha, just meet me there okay?”

You gave Lily’s hand a little squeeze, sending her a smile.

After classes that day you got together a little picnic basket of all the candies and food that Lily had told you she liked at one point or another. 

You had gone and set everything up so you went back to your dorm to change into your favorite outfit. Finally it was time to meet Lily you found her eventually and smiled at how beautiful she looked.

“So where are we going?”

Lily asked as you walked up to her.

“Wouldn't you like to know?”

You say sending her a small smirk as she rolled her eyes.

“Yes I actually would.”

“You'll find out soon, calm down.”

You say grabbing her hand and leading her up to the third floor of the astronomy tower, you then let go of Lily’s hand walking in front of the blank wall while Lily looks at you curiously. 

Soon the door for the Room of Requirements appears and the look Lily gives you is priceless.

“Is this the Room of Requirement?”

You nod while opening the door for her.

“Yeah. I found it in my third year. It's my own little part of the school, where no one can bother me unless I let them. You're the first person I've brought here.”

The room is full of books and a big fireplace with large comfy couches and a record player with all your favorite records next to it.

Next to the fireplace is the little picnic you had set up. Lily lets out a soft gasp as she sees the set up.

You both sit down and look at each other for a while. It's a soft moment, it feels like you both just needed to take each other in for a moment.

“So it's your last christmas here. Are you going home?”

You ask, taking a bite of a chocolate wand after.

“No. We all decided to stay here for our last christmas. Are you staying?”

“Yes. I'd rather spend Christmas in the dungeons then go back to Grimmauld Place.”

You say shaking your head with a sigh.

“Y/N, I know you try to avoid talking about this but just hear me out and if you don't want to talk about it after, I will leave it be, okay?”

You sigh already knowing where this conversation is going but you decided to hear Lily out anyway. You nod your head letting her know that she can continue.

“You said it yourself. This is mine and Sirius’s last Christmas at Hogwart. This is probably the last chance the three of you have to spend a Christmas together. They miss you Y/N, honestly they do. My sister doesn't talk to me anymore because I'm a witch and I miss her everyday. I don't want to see you go through that. I don't want you to regret not seeing your brother when you had the chance.”

You take a moment to think about it. You already knew if you didnt make up with them soon you'd regret it. Hell you already regretted it. 

You remembered how heartbroken Narcissa was when she found out that Andromeda had a baby. Narcissa knew she would never be able to meet her niece. You didn't want that. You didn't want your brothers to have families and you not be involved. You knew that if you didnt get over this pettiness that there was a large possibility that that was exactly the path you were heading down. 

“Okay. when everyone leaves tomorrow. I'll see them.”

“Really?”

“Yeah Lils. You're right after all. I don't want to not be a part of my brothers’ lives.”

Lily just gives you a hug whispering how proud of you she was.

Lily understood how hard this was for you. She knew you were hurt even if you never flat out said it to her.But it was time for you to get over it before you lost the only family you ever really cared for.

You and Lily spend the rest of the night talking and laughing. For a moment you forget the anxiety that will consume you tomorrow.

You'll be fine. As long as you have Lily by your side you know you'll be fine.

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

You waited at the entrance of the Gryffindor common room anxiously playing with the ring on your finger.

Why did you agree to this? Were you really ready to face your brothers? What if they hated you? What if they wanted nothing to do with you?

You were so caught up in your thoughts you didn't even notice your favorite red head till she touched your hands stopping you fidgeting with your ring one again.

You looked up at her, the anxiety obvious on your face. 

“They want to see you. I promise.”

She gives you a comforting smile keeping her hand on yours.

“What if I fuck this up? What if I lose them for good?”

You feel the burning behind your eyes trying not to cry.

“They love you so much Y/N. All you have to do is try.”

You nod, keeping Lily’s hand in yours letting her lead you into the portrait of Elizabeth Spriggs aka ‘The Fat Lady’.

Once you walk into the common room you notice it seems uncharacteristically quiet. 

You look and see two matching sets of gray eyes looking at you. You take a deep breath still trying to hold back the tears.

It's been close to a year since you talked to Sirius, quite a few months since you talked to Regulus.   

“Sirius, Regulus.”

You say in a neutral voice not making eye contact with either of them.

There's a moment of silence and stillness, a part of  you considers running out of the room but before you can act on that though you're being tackled into a hug by your eldest brother. You couldn't help but let a few tears fall as you hold Sirius and you can tell he's crying just the same.

Sirius cups your face with both of hands after a few moments to look at you with tears streaming down his face.

“I'm never letting you go again, you hear? I'm not losing my baby sister again.”

You let out a little sob and hug Sirius again putting your head on his chest.

“Sirius, Y/N why don't we go somewhere with a smaller audience.”

Regulus said in all his stoic glory. 

“Yeah. Regs right. We'll go to my room, alright?”

You give a small nod to Sirius then leads you to his shared dorm room while Regulus follows behind. 

You honestly didn't even notice the other people in the room until Regulus said something.

It wasn't many people, it was just ‘The Marauders’ as they call themselves and Lily but Regulus knew you would be more comfortable with just you three and you knew Regulus felt the same.

Once you get to Sirius room you look at Regulus for the first time in months.

“I’m sorry Regulus. I really am.”

You say trying to hold tears back once again.

“You ignored me. You ignored me for months Y/N.”

You look down ashamed playing with your ring once more.

“I know Regulus and if I could go back I would but I can’t. I was just hurt. Sirius left and that hurt so fucking much but at least I had you. Then you left, and I understand why you did but then I was just by myself. It nearly killed me to be alone with mother and father.”

You said taking a deep breath.

“I told you to come with me. Why didn’t you come?”

Regulus said with so much hurt in his voice it felt like someone ripped your heart out.

“I was afraid. I was afraid that I was too much like them. That if I would have gone, I would have tainted whatever good you made for yourselves.”

“You are nothing like them. Neither of you are. I made sure of that. Y/N if you were like them you wouldn’t be friends with Lily and Regulus if you were you would have never reached out for help.”

Sirius says while holding you against him once again.

“I really am sorry Reg.”

You look up at regulus with your tear stained face.

Regulus’s eyes softened and before you knew it, Regulus had taken you from Sirius arms and hugged you tighter than you had ever been hugged before but you didn’t mind.

You both cried into each other's arms for the first time in years. 

Sirius hugged both of you and for a moment you just sat there in your brother's arms enjoying every second of it.

“So, you and Lily huh?”

Sirius says in a teasing voice. You pushed him away and glared at him.

“Shut up.”

You say with a slight pout. Regulus and Sirius just give each other a knowing look as you roll your eyes and scoff.

“I hate you both. Did you know that?”

“Nah, you love us too much baby sister.”

Sirius says ruffling your hair as you swat his hands away.

“Wait. Is that my jumper?”

“… No. You’re crazy. The Black Family Madness is catching up with you Siri.”

Sirius and you start to argue as if no time had passed. Regulus just smiles at you two feeling grateful to have this back.

You spend the rest of the break with your brothers mostly but also with the marauders and Lily.

You got to know them all. 

You took a liking to Remus quickly bonding over your favorite books.

You and Peter got along well enough playing chess together often, since he would insist on rematches because you would continuously beat him.

James admittedly was harder not that you didn’t like him but a part of you had blamed him for Sirius leaving for so long that it was hard to get past that and it showed. It wasn't until christmas eve when James had pulled you aside for a moment when you felt yourself grow comfortable with him.

“You know, you don't have to go back there right?”

“What do you mean Potter?”

You looked at him with raised eyebrows as he sat next to you on the couch you were now occupying. 

“You don't have to go back to Grimmauld Place. You could be with your brothers again, I already wrote mum and dad. They said they'd be more than happy to have another Black join the Potters. I mean what's another one, yeah?”

James said with a small smile, lightly bumping your shoulder with his.

“Are you sure? I don't-”

“Yes. I know. You don't want to over step or be a burden and I know you don't think you deserve it, but you do. Merlin's beard, you and your brother are just the same. I will never understand the treatment your parents put the three of you through. But what I do know is that you three deserve good things in your lives. You deserve so much more than what your parents put you through. You are worth so much more than what they made you believe you were. You deserve to be loved, to be safe and to be happy. Y/N you will always have a home with us, plus… I've always wanted a little sister.”

You didn't say anything, you just hugged James and nodded your head.

Off to the side watching the interaction between you and James was your brothers, for the first time in years Regulus and Sirius knew the three of you would be safe and they couldn't be happier.

They liked seeing you interact with the people that they’ve grown close with and getting to see you actually happy every so often was just a bounce. 

But your brothers weren’t the only ones who liked it. 

Lily loved seeing you interact with all of them. 

You seemed so alive.

She’d never seen you act like that with anyone but her. She loved seeing you smile and laugh. She loved seeing you and your brothers truly happy.

This was her favorite Christmas so far.

You had made it her favorite Christmas.

· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·

You felt better than you had in months, no, years. 

You had your brothers back and for the first time in years. The three of you were getting along and you knew you would finally be safe.

You also knew it was because of Lily as well. 

She was the fire in your darkness, she gave you light, warmth and she felt so happy and safe.

Everything felt good for once. But if you knew anything, you knew that wasn't going to last.

“You don't actually think she loves you do you?”

You turn to see none other than Severus Snape leaning by the entrance to the dungeons. You raise your eyebrow at him questioningly. 

You don't really talk to Snape unless it was necessary you never really liked him or the company he kept in recent years. So for him to start any conversion with you was rare.

“What are you on about Snape?”

“Lily.”

He states as if it's obvious.

“What about Lily?”

Your interest obviously peaked at hearing the name of your favorite Gryffindor.

“She'll never love you. She loves Potter.”

He says in a monotone voice. You scoff rolling your eyes. 

“I don't know why I'm bothering with this nonsense.”

You turn to walk away muttering to yourself. 

“She and Potter kissed, you know. The other week, at a Hufflepuff party. I saw them. Potter has been pining for Lily since our first year. It seems he finally got what he was after.”

You stood there shocked, confused, frozen with your jaw now clenched. 

That couldn't be true. Lily wouldn't do that and if she did she'd tell you right? I mean you were… whatever you are, right?

And James wouldn't do that. He had all but flat out asked you to be his sister.

Snape was lying, he had to be. He was spreading lies about Lily. He just had to be. You wouldn't stand for that. You felt ‘The Madness’ creep in once again.

In one swift motion you had Snape pinned against the wall with your wand pointed at his neck. 

“You will not speak of Lily again. You will not look at her, speak to her. You will not breathe the same air as her and if you do. I will kill you. Do I make myself clear?”

You say with murderous eyes. 

Snape would never admit it but he was scared. He's only ever seen you as cold, emotionless. This was far from emotionless. 

“Crystal.”

Snape said, trying to hide his emotions as best as he could. 

You walk away without another glance stuck in your head. 

He had to be lying right? But why would he lie? Nothing made sense. Maybe he wasn't lying.

Stupid. You were so fucking stupid.

How could you think someone like Lily Evans would like someone like you. 

Lily brings life to everything she touches, she was sweet, caring, kind she was fucking perfect.

You were a Black, enough said.

You were angry, mean, rude, it was in your blood to ruin everything you touch. 

It wasn't her fault that you thought you might actually have a chance, that you developed a stupid crush, it was your fault for being stupid enough to think that it was ever a possibility.

I mean maybe you and Lily were just friends. Maybe you misunderstood?

You couldn't blame her but that didn't mean it hurt less. 

The first person you started putting your walls down for the first time in years obviously didn't care about you the way you cared for her. 

So you did what you did best when people would hurt you.

You avoided and ignored her. You managed to avoid Lily for a few days skipping potions class, leaving the library when you would see her walk in. 

Sirius was quickly getting irritated with your antics. He had been pestering you as to why you were avoiding Lily but you wouldn’t tell him or Regulus. 

If they knew she would find out.

So you just kept avoiding her and avoiding answering any questions your brothers would ask.

Eventually she found you and tried to talk to you which led to you ignoring her. It killed you to see the look on her face but it was necessary to protect yourself. You tried to convince yourself that it would be easier after a week. 

It wasn't.

For either of you apparently. 

Lily had managed to find you in the library while you were looking for a book to distract yourself with. You had put your guard down for a moment. You didn't even know she was there till she spoke.

“Y/N.”

She had said to gain your attention, when you realized there wasn't anywhere for you to go you decided to just get it over with to stop avoiding your problems for the first time in your life. 

You rolled your eyes and sighed looking at her for the first time in a week.

“What the hell do you want Evens? Shouldn't you be with your boyfriend, Potter?”

You say to Lily in a monotone voice looking her in the eyes.

“What are you talking about? I'm not dating James, I don't want him!”

You felt all the anger and insecurity start to cloud your brain. She was lying. How dare she lie to you. You were damned if you were made a fool once again. 

“You're such a liar Evans. Snape told me everything about how Potter has been pining for you for years! How he saw you two kiss at the Hufflepuff party! I can't believe I was stupid enough to believe you'd actually like me. I can't believe I was stupid enough to think Potter would actually look at me as a sister.”

You whisper yelled with your jaw clenched while the back of your eyes burned trying to hold back tears. 

“Me and James didn’t kiss I swear-”

You scoff, turning to walk away deciding you were done with this conversation, but Lily grabbed you by the arm, tapping you against the bookshelf.

“I didn't kiss James.He's a great friend but nothing more to me, and he does care for you, I know he does. But I don't want him, I want you. I've wanted you since the first time I laid eyes on you. I love everything about you. I love how loyal you are, how even if you didn’t talk to your brother you'd never let anyone speak ill of them. How despite being raised to hate someone like me you never held something as stupid as my blood statutes against me. I love how smart you are. How you cover your smile when you laugh. How your eyes light up when youre reading a book you enjoy. How when you get anxious you play with your ring. Everything. Can’t you see that?”

You searched her eyes trying to see if there was any lie, but all you saw was the truth. She meant every word and it scared you. 

Lily then cupped your cheek wiping away a tear you didn't know was there.

“Why would you want me? I'm cold, rude, cynical and angry all the time. I'm not a great person...”

Lily scoffs playfully while smiling.

“You're no angel but you’re my everything Y/N. To me you light up the room, you don't take shit from anyone, you stand up for what you believe and I hope you'll never change. You showed me that I'm enough. I'll never stop wanting you. I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.”

Lily whispers the last part brushing her nose against yours.

“What if I hurt you?”

You whisper your voice breaking a little.

“You'll probably hurt me a few times and I'll probably hurt you a few times but that's okay as long as we work it out together, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

The anger and insecurity finally unclouding your brain letting you take in how close you two are. 

Lily's hand is still cupping your cheek while her other hand is on your hip pressing you slightly in the bookshelf while she's pressed against you.

Lily's eyes flicker down to your lips and you nod softly letting her know it was okay. 

You both lean in, your lips touching for the first time.

You felt warmth go through your whole body. It was beyond a spark or fireworks. It felt as if a bomb had been dropped on you. 

That kiss broke something in you. 

But it wasn't bad. 

It had broken down every wall that you spent years building up brick by brick. 

In just a moment Lily Evans had managed to do something to you, that you and so many other people thought impossible. 

She healed a part of you. 

Her lips were so soft they felt like silk against yours. 

It felt like she was made to be with you.

It's soft and sweet, at first. Then it felt consuming. She was all around you and you didn't want it to be any other way. 

You could only feel her, her hand squeezing your hip as your hand was on the back of her head pulling her closer. 

You could only smell her cherry and vanilla perfume. It made you dizzy with how intoxicating it was.

You had forgotten that you were in public for a moment that was until you heard a throat clear. 

Both of you pulling away with hot faces you look to see a very amused and smirking Remus Lupin. 

“Finally. I was afraid neither of you would ever actually make a move. Just wait till Sirius hears about this.”

You groan, throwing your head back against the bookcase while Remus and Lily laugh at your expense. 

You never expected for anyone to be able to break down your walls, to fall for someone. 

Especially not someone like Lily. 

But fuck were you happy that she did.

⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳

[dummie-writes]

the party walkers

self insert ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* school bus graveyard

words: 4.08k

previous part: a demon inside of my skin

next part: over the horizon, somewhere

note: woah hey I'm back so soon whattt, anyway. sorry that chapter was kinda more scene setting, we only got to interact with the group at the very end 😭 also, I'd like to say this is gonna be pretty self indulgent for the time being bc idk where I want the story to go 🧍‍♀️keep in mind that while I'm trying to keep it gender neutral, at times y/n may lean more feminine,and this is because I am more feminine. please enjoy :3

ii. a rescue mission

again, there's a tension. there has been for the past minute you've been sitting here. after telling them your name and settling down cross legged on the classroom floor, you kinda expected some questions or something. that blonde kid and ashlyn are still having that weird little staring contest. it's as if everyone wants to start, but no one knows how. like you've passed a test, but they aren't sure if you'll actually pass their little assignment or whatever. you were having nightmares, and eerily, the blonde knew to ask you about them even when you hadn't said you'd been having them. so, they were also having nightmares. at least, from what you could infer. 

“um, okay,” a sandy brunette boy with glasses begins. he's not looking directly at you, but instead at your bag beside you in a spaced out manner, his thumbs tapping the wooden pencil in his hand. “nightmares, monsters, right? what kind of monsters?”

     “like, gray ones? they're kinda big? sharp hands?” you say, still somewhat confused. a robotic voice comes from next to you, and as you turn your head, the tallest of the group has his phone held up, the screen facing you. on it, in black lettering, it asks “humanish?”. you blink, and then nod at it. not much of a talker, apparently. the girl who originally spoke to you, sitting next to Tyler and who you've quickly remembered is his twin sister, though you don't remember her name from the beginning of the year, opens her mouth to speak, but then ashlyn cuts her off. 

     “well, that's weird. what notes do you have on savannah?”

     a second of slight whiplash from the subject change, everyone (except for tyler) gives the freckled girl a weird look. they hadn't expected it either, but they aren't going to interfere. she has a colder tone - not entirely mean, but like she knows how to stick to decisions that she makes. actually, you'd seen her before - this town wasn't where you grew up, but you'd been here since middle school. ashlyn always kept to herself, for what rare times you did see her. the only words that you'd really ever heard from her were “excuse me” “thanks” or just glowering. you didn't know when she got all these friends. 

     you also had friends - unfortunately, they weren't really happy with you at the moment. with the whole “several hours or so in hell” situation, you hadn't really been the greatest companion. one too many times had you had to stay home from a group putting, or just slept straight through. they had a right to be upset with you, especially when you wouldn't communicate and were crabby. 

     “again, not really my fault! what am I supposed to tell them? that I'm bleeding out in the bathroom all night?” but, you know, whatever. 

     you pulled out your notebook, reading through the few notes you had written down since the start of the group project. you wouldn't argue right now. maybe they were just weird, maybe they were all in the same boiling pot you were. either way, the six of them didn't seem open to talking about it, which means another lonely night in the bathroom for you. 

     not for them, though. as you tried to be as quiet as possible on the cold, tiled floor, and then moving to the shower so the blood from your back would trickle down the drain instead, they would have a rather rambunctious evening. 

     “tyler, seriously. if they're here too, we need to get them!”

     “that isn't a risk we should be taking!”

     ash cringed just slightly at the volume of tyler's voice, and picked at the peeling fabric of the bus seat she was in. this argument had been going on for about an hour, stopping them from any sort of progress in terms of supplies, information, or anything, really. aiden was seated in the seat across from herself, foot dangling as he rhythmically tapped the seat, smiling as he usually did. his red eyes swung back and forth between the aggressors, not saying much except for the offhand comment or joke. 

     “guys, what if it was one of us? what if it was taylor?”

     “fields, don't even think about using that kind of an argument. it's cheap, and that's my sister. not a random classmate - who, by the way, might not actually even be here! they could just be having bad dreams! but, no, i’m the crazy one, right?”

    ben shifted uncomfortably, tensing and releasing his fists. tyler was defensive, that much was for sure. truth be told, he in fact did not actually like the idea of possibility leaving you stranded somewhere. it wasn't moral. but he was right, he knew he was right. they didn't have the actual information needed, the possibile required resources, and he wouldn't put taylor in any sort of unnecessary danger like that. not when you lived almost four blocks away from where they already were. despite not saying so, ashlyn agreed almost entirely. she wouldn't lose her entire team saving one person. at the very least, not until they were positive you were actually I'm this other dimension. 

     “remind me again why we didn't just ask them if they were here?” aiden questions, his cheeks rising a little as he stared at tyler in an almost dare to reply. 

     “we won't even tell our parents what's going on. if they're just having nightmares, they'll think we're crazy or on drugs. and in that case, who knows what they'll tell the school, or the police,” ash replies in an even tone, raising an eyebrow as her eyes meet aiden's, and then to taylor as she speaks again. 

     “but it isn't right. you know it's not right. and there was that unexplained scream you heard at the hotel, ash,” taylor points out, throwing her arms out as she paces back and forth. her hair was starting to tangle from all the moment, and a stern look in her eyes told everyone this isn't something she would let go of. at least not thus far. 

     ashlyn sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and looking down. a quiet pooled in the bus as the ginger thought through the possibilities and risks. taylor was right. they couldn't just leave you wherever you were to rot, possibly die. even if she wasn't a people person, she wasn't a monster. she couldn't let any phantoms hurt you or anyone else in good spirits, that would just be horrible and wrong. she knew tyler wouldn't mind getting you either, if it wasn't such a huge risk, and a major liability if you actually weren't there. 

 

   a small glow emitted from a couple feet away from her, looking up to Ben's phone screen as her hand slid to hold up her head. “we need more info”.

     logan tapped his foot tentatively, his face soft but unagreeable. he had been making a more logical argument, but was emotion driven nonetheless in his words. having another person would be an advantage. it would come with its own challenges, yes - explaining why they had another person hanging out with them to ashlyn's already suspicious parents, keeping track of an entire other human being, the extra general supplies - but having another person who wasn't a phantom on their side was also a benefit. another pair of eyes, hands, ears. more supplies could be carried. 

     not to mention, you are not just a video game character. you're an actual human being, with a life, with sentience. in the end, that's the defining factor. they can't abandon you. but they won't come looking for you without being sure you'll be there when they search. 

     “this is a stupid argument because we aren't actually arguing about saving them, but about when.” 

     taylor looks up to ash, lightening from how upset she was previously, and her shoulders beginning to drop. an unspoken understanding passes through them as everyone else mumbles something of agreement. 

     “and how the hell are we supposed to pull that off? do any of you even have their phone number? we didn't add them to any group chats because we were still in our own world when class ended,” tyler huffed, crossing his arms and leaning back into his chair, a sour expression in the creases of his face and eyebrows. 

     “I could run over there,” 

     everyone stared at Aiden for a second as he smiles in excitement before tyler thwacks him in the back of the head. not hard, but audibly. aiden’s mouth opens slightly, his smile unwavering but now wider as he scoffs in hubris.. “that's not happening, you moron.”

     that next morning is a hard one for you. for one, trying to clean that horrible slash with isopropyl alcohol isn't working. it's making things worse, in fact; the flesh around it is red and dry, it throbs when you move too much, and every so often, it'll crack further down your back because you moved too quickly. not to mention, it hurts like a bitch when you do so. not cleaning it runs the risk of infection, but honestly, you're too exhausted to care anymore. your mind is messed up, clearly. talking to a psychologist isn't an option, you'd get put in an asylum before you could finish your sentence. this was just your life now. and you would properly clean it later. 

     walking into class, you felt the jab of a finger at your back. jumping, you turn around to give a dirty look at whoever was giving you a difficult time, before realizing that it was aiden, from your group project. you take a breath and smile. “hey, how are you?”

     despite it being a very normal question that usually results in a “im fine”, aiden clark is not a normal person (to be fair, you aren't at this point either), and answers with a much more winded explanation. 

     “oh! I'm doing pretty great, haha. last night's homework wasn't all too difficult or anything, and since you're having trouble with your work, you can copy off mine if you'd like. speaking of last night, how'd you sleep? you know, with sleeping issues and everything? sorry about my friends yesterday, they can be a bit argumentative. it think it's funny lol.”

     at this point, ben, who you remember now as being introduced as aiden's cousin and is walking behind, looks at you, nodding and giving a small wave. you, in return, smile widely at him. 

     “well, aren't you just a ray of fucking sunshine or something,” you hear an irritated, grumpy voice from next to you, and then a yelp, followed by “ow! don't pinch me!” and a “then be nice!”

     turning to taylor and tyler, the long haired of the two smiles in a nervous apology. “sorry, he's always kinda cranky in the morning. he didn't mean that, I swear.” as taylor tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and chuckles softly, you notice she has a soft sparkle in her eye. that, and the fact that she has been nothing but kind to you in the entirety of the while you've interacted with th pushes her to be your favorite for the time being. 

     “it's okay, i'm not all too great for the first couple hours too. coffee helps, would you like some? do you have a cup or something?” you're being a little over-nice on purpose, mainly to make him feel bad for being a bit of an ass- but it's a genuine offer. he wasn't downright cruel, just a little mean. and the eye bags on top of his cheeks tell you that taylor wasn't lying about him not being a morning person. 

     tyler scowls, wrinkling his nose and glancing at the thermos you have on your desk. it's your favorite color, and the metal is warm with the creamy, light brown coffee inside. for a second, his face drops a little, and he looks like he's genuinely considering your offer, before rolling his eyes scoffing. “I'm good.”

     rough start for a group that hasn't entirely accepted you as part of their project, but he didn't cuss you out a throw a shoe at you, so you'll count it as a win! you don't have much time to process, because you turn your head again and jump at the bright write paper, half an inch from your face. holding it is a pale hand, and connected to that hand is aiden, wide eyed. actually, that might just be his face. you're starting to think he looks like that more than he doesn't. oh, yeah, actually, that's the homework he was talking about. you had only gotten a couple questions done last night before giving up, and trying to comfort yourself with hot chocolate before midnight arrived. 

     aiden was still looking at you expectantly, so you gingerly pinched the paper, smiling at him again as you took out your own unfinished work, and compared them side by side so you could at least not down most of them before mr. thomas got to class. as you did so, a bright yellow post-it note caught your attention, and in messy handwriting, it reads:

     “what are your nightmares about????”

     your eyebrows knit themselves, and glancing up at aiden, he's already looking at you. he turned away to talk to ben about something almost immediately, but it makes you wonder if he knows something you don't. you peel it off, filling out a few of the questions before glancing at the note again, and flipping it over to scrawl down your response of “why do you want to know so badly”. instead of a blank back, you find a phone number, which you can only theorize belongs to aiden. snatching up your phone, you pat the number in, and then hurry to finish what of the homework you can. after filling out what you think will get you a passing grade, you roll up the work and tap the blond on the shoulder with it. 

     he stops mid sentence to turn toward you, smile widely, take his homework back, and then continues talking to ben. all just as mr. thomas walks through the classroom door.

     actually, the fact that he gave you that post it note makes you giggle a little. it looks like an ad for a psychic. you nonchalantly doodle and scribble on your paper during the lecture, nearly falling asleep a couple times before you're all dismissed to sit in groups. you pause for a moment, glancing to your old group. brandy looks in your direction, smiling and standing up to walk over. oh wait what no don't -

     “hey! listen, so, about yesterday,” she whispered speedily, a note book in her right hand, tapping her pen on the cover with her left. you purse your mouth, nodding. awkward. “I'm sorry if I was being mean. I failed this class last year, and I can't repeat it again. I know that's harsh, but I'm not taking any chances.”

     a silent, uncomfortable nod and pause later, she continues. “I copied down a bunch of my notes for you, because I hope you can still pass. I'm sorry if I made you mad. I'll just, go, um, yeah.”

     a second later, you're holding a few pieces of lined paper to your chest and watching her run off and back to her group. a sinkhole opens in your chest, and you bite the inside of your cheek. would ashlyn's group be expecting you? would they talk to the teacher about getting you removed too, since they might not have wanted to fail as terribly as they already were? your eyes find their circle, where three pairs of eyes are looking to yourself, and there's a large enough gap by taylor's seat for your own. 

a soft grin presses onto your cheeks, relief emanating from you when you sigh, grabbing your chair to haul it over. at least you had a solid group for your project now, even if it was going to fall apart. and, even if your group members were a tad, let's say, bold in how long they stared at you for. not in an entirely creepy way, but in a puzzled way, like you were something to be figured out. 

     “um, he gave you his phone number, right?” logan confirmed, pushing his glasses up his nose with his index finger while he spoke. after the glint from the ceiling light left his glasses, you realized his eyes weren't entirely blue, but had a twinge of turquoise to them. or aqua. something like that, either way, they weren't a strict blue. you acknowledge his question by pulling your phone from out of your jean pocket, shaking it a little. “yep, it's all right here.”

     “good! be-”

     “we have something we should really talk about with you. a few questions.”

     “oh my fucking - you're making it sound like we're a cult.”

     “aren't we kinda?? at this point lmao??”

     “aiden, you're not helping.”

     “excuse me?” your features are slightly scrunched in both confusion and amusement - you're assuming this has something to do with the whole weird “what's in your nightmares” note, and on its own this exchange might actually kinda freak you out. but the way tyler looks like he's about to pop a vein has you beaming and nearly laughing. not to mention, aiden is just kinda, weird. a bit creepy too, but mostly weird. 

     “hey idiots, shut up! it was your guys’ decision to do it this way, and now you won't even talk with them about it properly!” tyler gives everyone a dirty look, noticeably glancing at ben and then not glaring at him. ben has a flat expression, and just glances at aiden, who is already chuckling to himself and looking back at him. 

     “ahem,” ashlyn clears her throat, pointing her eyes at you. as you turn to face her back, tyler huffs, crossing his arms and sitting back in his seat, glaring daggers at you even though you. haven't actually done anything. “so, these nightmares.”

     it's interesting that she's the one to bring this all to a head, after specifically dodging the subject yesterday in class. 

     “tell me about them.”

     when she puts it like that, it feels a lot more individual. you haven't really talked a whole bunch to ashlyn banner, even when you guys have been paired together. she was sorta… floaty. 

     “well, uh, what do you want to know?” you feel stupid for asking, but they were the ones who put you on the spot. and who are also glaring down at you, mostly in a friendly way. you think, at least. it's starting to get a bit stuffy. 

     “what color are the skies?” 

     “kinda, red. typically. but I feel like that's sort of normal. for nightmares.”

     this was weird. this was so entirely strange, actually. maybe you were too sleep deprived to actually notice, but the fact that they're dissecting you like a bug isn't normal. especially when they keep sharing glances like that! 

     “okay, hold on. what's going on? I think I should get to know why you guys are trying to scoop my soul apart with your eyes or something,” you stab a dirty look at tyler, who rolls his eyes and looks away. the rest kinda lose their gaze, sights now wandering the classroom- of course, this is excepting aiden, who's still staring at you. oh well. you kinda expected that at this point. 

     ashlyn gives a low sigh, clenching her teeth together and crossing her arms. her fingers tap on her jacket, and aiden leans over to smoosh himself into her shoulder- which she seems irritated by, but doesn't do anything to push him off because he starts speaking. 

     “I don't think we're getting anywhere with guessing games guys.” his eyelids are low, and he puts his hands behind his head, crossing his legs to put them on ben's lap like he's relaxing. that's when ash gives him a hard shove with her other arm, and he lands swiftly on the floor, drawing a giggle out of taylor. “hey! I'm right! don't push me :(.”

     “I hate to say it, but we might need to be just straightforward here,” tyler interjected, glancing at ash. “that's not a good idea, wh-”

     “hello! hi! I'm still here!” you interrupt, your palms facing upward out you wave your arms around. disbelief crosses your face, and you're about to laugh because, what the fuck? what do they know, and what are they not telling you - and why are they being so rude about it! “I would appreciate someone being straightforward with me! actually! if my opinion matters at all here!”

     “of course it matters!” taylor responds almost immediately, her shoulders dropping and her eyes becoming soft. ben stops for a second, signing “yes” in consensus. for the first time, logan speaks up, his words muddled together too quickly for you to understand for a second. 

     “yeah okay so theresthislike alternative dimensions thingandwedontactuallyknow what'sgoingonbutwould youhappentoknowhatwe're talkingabou-”

     “dude, breathe, what the fuck,” you answer, eyebrows tilted in more concern than anything else. while logan wasn't the type to talk so quickly he didn't enunciate his sentences, he didn't want to be stopped by any of the group - specifically tyler, who, surprise, you'll never guess, was glaring at him. 

    

     “... did you say alternate dimension?”

     “yeah lol.”

     “and what exactly does he mean by that?”

     “exactly what i, um, said. there's a shift, it starts at midnight, and we're there for seven hours. only seven minutes actually pass, but, uh, no one actually gets any sleep at that point.”

     that is… exactly what your little nightmare issue sounds like. 

     “the red skies, the phantoms-” who you're assuming are those demon things. “-they all match with our little, uh, nightly problem. the only thing that doesn't match up is how on earth you're there too. we know what caused us falling through - but why are you there?” logan asks, and the more he talks, especially about something he knows, the more he seems less shy. tentative, sure, but more confident in his words. it makes your heart drop into the pit of your stomach. 

     if he's serious about this, maybe they aren't playing some joke on you- which was already unlikely, but you've gotta cope somehow. if there are who knows how many other people in that little hell hole of an evening, then it isn't only you that you need to worry about, and you can't just hole up in the bathroom if there are others too. 

     “when did you start going?” aiden asks, poking you in the back again so you turn to him. 

     “that night at the hotel after the field trip.”

     “hmmm. anything weird happen?”

     “i mean, I went with my group. and I was kinda lagging behind and got tossed up with another group who was touring some haunted house because the lady thought I was with them.”

     “... what house?”

     “ummmm, seed house? something weird like that? ‘s’ somethi-”

     “the sorrel weed house. “

     that time, ashlyn didn't ask, but stated. it was a ghost of her usual, stronger tone. 

    

     “you must have gotten tossed up with our group.”

     the cold bathroom tile that you sat on was uncomfortable when you awoke that night, but the air was chilled with excitement. you were getting busted out. you'd have to do the more difficult part of maneuvering out of the house with what ashlyn and her group called “phantoms”, as well as trying to grab some stuff on your way out. blankets, first aid supplies, food, bags- anything you could really get your hands on. but escape was everyone's first priority. which is why your ear is pressed so hard to the cheap wooden door, and your breathing is as quiet as you can force it to be. you're listening for footsteps. or tapping. or whatever other noises might hint to otherworldly existence. 

     you hadn't been out of this bathroom in your entire time here. had you been hungry? yeah. but… what else were you supposed to do? you didn't exactly have a group to watch your back while you grabbed a lunchable from the kitchen. 

     nothing. nothing for the past ten minutes. the others should be here in about twenty. that's how long you have. so, with that in mind, you focus on your first location: your bedroom, where your phone, backpack, and blankets were. 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

that's right, get part 1'd. hope you enjoyed

next part: over the horizon, somewhere

[fleurdelily]

౨ৎ thinking about this trope but with aeon.

it really made me think of a few passages. First in re6 where’s leon, after watching the video tape of a clone of ada emerging from a cocoon (which is none other than clara).

you can read his confusion in his facial expressions, which later joins his questioning.

later, after seeing Leon and Helena both confused by what's going on, ada watches the "happy birthday ada wong" tape. The first thing she says after watching it is : " no wonder leon is confused. " he didn't need to verbally express his confusion to her; she already knew how he reacted.

this goes back to the fact that she knows him, despite everything. like in the boat scene in the remake of re4, where Leon glances at her, seems to want to say something, but doesn't take the first step and ask her directly.

leon is the first to look at the other on the boat. He gives her a quick glance before turning his head and looking away. Just after, ada turns her head slightly, to look at him too, before turning her attention back to what’s in front of her.

leon then seems to want to look at her again, with his head tilting to one side then back to the other, but doesn't do so. He's hesitant, not sure how to approach her, or ask his question.

it’s ada who breaks the silence, noticing his confusion, his hesitation. She can easily tell what he's thinking, it goes with ada's perceptive, observant nature. This idea of " i know you " can be seen just after where she tells him : " you haven’t changed, you just think you have. "

despite leon’s colder, more distant demeanour than before in raccoon city, she knows that deep down he’s still the same leon. The same leon who wants to protect the innocent, help people and make a difference.

i personally love this trope and these details in their relationship. the fact that ada and leon meet most of the time on missions, in very harsh, traumatic conditions (like raccoon city, las plagas...). and so she sees a part of him that few people get to see.

she always seems to read him pretty easily. Perhaps it's their traumatic experiences that connect them, both having been through the same missions, knowing what the other has been through. It's a bond that they share. It also made me think of the lyrics "where you go, i go, what you see, i see" and i think it suits them well. (help idk if it makes any sense)

[anxious-bisexual-0]

Episode 1: out of the shadows

Portia just walking and waving to buy stuff is so funny

Aww pen admiring the debutantes is so cute

MADAME DELACROIX SUPERIORITY

Gregory is a king

Hyacinth you are amazing

I love how no one knows it’s Francesca playing except for kate…

I do wish there was a “wow Bath really changed you” or something

Benedict knowing what Fran was playing is amazing

Ya know I knew he traveled and you can’t get out of England at that time without a boat but seeing Colin walk off the boat sparked something in me

Aw poor pen just wants love

“Squawking” hyacinth you’re lovely

Colin is a whore I’ll say it now and no doubt I will say it again

I don’t think Colin actually saw her,,,, he would have gone across the street to speak with her if he did.

YESSSSSSS INTRO SLAYYYYYY

I love how they change the intro with each season

MMMMM half naked Colin yay

“Sturdy” I love it

The queen being bored is so me

Those poor debutantes

So miss Stowell is the one who uses BSL but then is hearing for the rest of part 1? Maybe HOH? Idk but slay for representation

Colin where were you

The shock with “style of the season” is fantastic

Aw poor violet seems so sad with Fran wanting to leave

Fran is so lovely. Beautiful and relatable.

Brimsly slays always I can’t ever hate him

Colin what????? stop winking you weirdo

HARRY DANKWORTH IS JUST A PRETTY IDIOT I LOVE HIM

Poor aunt petunia

“Without any man telling us what to do!” -Finch and Dankworth looking at each other 😬😐

“Hiding jars of coin under the floorboards!” -like your daughter, Portia????

My poor pen, you deserve so much better with that outfit and hair

Cressida makes me want to scream idc how much they make me sympathize with her

Pen baby you can’t hide behind that bird thing I’m sorry love

Kate is as always ABSOLUTELY STUNNING I love her and her bond with violet

“Lady Bridgerton” “yes?” I LOVE THEM

Colin no doubt practiced those lines in the restroom or something

Him wearing green and pen’s colors is KILLING MEEEEEE

“Flowers in bloom. Each one of you.” The only flower you care about, my dear, is the WALLFLOWER who you’ve known your whole life SHUUUUT UP

The cowpers always sucked

The Featherington girls always steal the show I love them

Colin you think you’re not flirting with her? You absolutely are.

PEN READ HIM HIS RIIIIGHTS BABY

prudence shut up

Philippa makes me so happy I love her

Again, dankworth just being pretty and in love is fantastic

PORTIA GO AWAY

I love pen just laying in bed restless about her wardrobe cause that was me this past month and I just bought so many new clothes and I love them so much

Does madame Delacroix know about pen’s love of Colin?

THE BOW

“I lost count, in truth” -no you didn’t you liar

Wait don’t Colin and Pen name their daughter Jane after Jane Austen???? (In the books????)

“And what of Penelope?” -you’re obsessed

Eloise very heavily implied that Pen was LW and Colin didn’t catch on, the beautiful idiot

PENELOISE

also Rae is a queen I love her

“I wish you very well, Penelope” kills me

Ben says “Purpose” and Colin wants to cry

“A very cold lady.” “She is colder now, im afraid.” I love him idc

SLAY BARON OF KENT

Anthony is a munch yet again

YES PEN GLOWUP

She is so gorgeous I can’t even begin to describe it

I love how everyone looks at pen except Colin. And Eloise being in awe. AND ALBION BEING A PROUD BIL

Colin your jaw is on the floor stop drooling

I ACTUALLY LIKE EMBROIDERY

Pen, baby love, maybe you should have practiced the chitchat before you got there

Eloise just wants to talk to Pen I can feel the yearning ugh

Colin you idiot you should have gone to talk with her before she left the ball

How did the Queen not recognize Pen? Wasn’t she on those cards last season for unmasking LW?

I would like to see a zebra ball

Fife and those other assholes talking to Fran makes me want to SCREEEEEEAM

Kate what did you to do Anthony he’s so calm

I love seeing pen and Fran together

Ugh Nicola Coughlan is so short I love her so much

The way Debling read her so quickly is so funny to me

Cressida, as always, an asshole

ELOISE SAY SORRY LOUDER

Colin saw pen run away and IMMEDIATELY had to find her. Couldn’t continue to make conversation while she was in distress

“Charming dress” “the color rather suits you” GURL SHUT UP

yes you tell him, pen

I wish they spoke about the letters more this season

SHOCK HIM BABE HAHA BITCH SHE HEARD YOU GET OUTTA HERE

pen really shouldn’t have gone home so angry,,,, she needed to BREEEEEATHE before writing that Whistledown

Dundas talking to portia like that is kinda confusing,,,, isn’t this situation kinda similar to the Mondrich situation?

What happened to the cherry pit, dundas?

Cressida why are you boasting about being a bitch

I don’t think we’d heard Cressida talk this much

I love Anthony’s little ear flop

That’s a strong desk.

The house is so large that Fran and violet in the drawing room can’t hear kanthony fucking is so silly

I love violet making music metaphors without knowing much about music

Fran it’s ok I love you

COLIN YOU ARE INSANE

SO HE REMEMBERS THE COMMENT HE MADE.

the way his voice wavers a bit at “ashamed” kills me

“Very good friend” as he looks down and can’t make eye contact. That is a sign of a man in love. He doesn’t understand his feelings and he’s so confused

CHARM?? BABY THIS IS A CHARADE

“THE ONE PERSON WHO HAS ALWAYS TRULY MADE ME FEEL APPRECIATED” WHAT THE FUCK

The smile and second hand wrapping around hers? Killer.

She’s so happy and relieved and then

BAM

OH SHIT WHAT DID I WRITE LAST NIGHT OH NO

Mondrich family slay

Poor little baby lord Kent he’s so shocked

I love the tennis references. Cause tennis goes at least as far back as king henry VIII

so Philippa knows that pen loooooves colin?

Eloise not telling Colin is noble but also really stupid????

Colin calm down you drama queen it wasn’t that bad

“I will never forgive her” and Eloise trying to see if he knows that it’s pen, knowing that he will forgive her.

HELL YEAH YOULL RUIN HER (not in the way you think,, buddy boy)

[queen-of-hellfire666]

Evil [Joel Miller X FAB!Reader] part 1

You guys asked and I promised. Writing begins now! Have a Joel Miller x reader my filthy little demons ❤️ this one was asked by quite a few so I’m incorporating 3 ideas/asks. Please if you feel uncomfortable at all with this do not read! Other than that please Enjoy! Ps. This one is lengthy and I might make it two parts. Looks like this is two parts people.. please enjoy. Idk how to feel about it.

Warnings: mentions of smut (flashbacks), attempted SA (I’ll add a trigger warning to the part ) FLUFF, some angst, fluff and comfort!! Age-gap, cussing. (Obv)

2 months since Joel left. He was traveling with that girl, taking her somewhere. You had went off on your own, leaving the QZ was the best ting you could have done. You loved Joel but knew he’d never love you the way you love him. The girl amused you for the short time you knew her. She was.. mouthy.

The woods were dark and tiring. You had to stop and rest a few times but you were back on the trail. It had gotten colder now, probably about to snow in the mountains. You just hoped for Joel’s safety. There was a village ahead, possibly could be something good. They looked like they had a fire so what’s the harm?

You walked right up into the camp and was greeted by a man.. the preacher there. Something seemed off with him from the jump but it was warm there and you needed a place. “Hello, My name is David. Welcome. You must be hungry! Let’s get you inside and get you warm dear!”

Dear.. how that made you uneasy. “Thank you for your kindness but I just need some supplies and I’ll be on my way.” The boys around you have a chuckle. “Oh no!” David insisted. “You must stay! It’s been awhile since we have had a guest! Especially one as pretty as you!”

The food tasted different here, something off. Everyone eyeballed you in a way that made you uncomfortable. You took up sleep for the night in a small room by yourself. David insisted you stay longer but this place seemed fishy.

By the time you woke up the next morning David and his men had left out to hunt. Not for food. They had brought back a deer, causing people happiness but they were on a man hunts you heard the talk, the people were strange. ‘It’s almost like a cult..’ you thought to yourself.

It took awhile to pack all your stuff up including new items you traded with them for. As you finished up David opened the door. “Y/n was it? I really wish you wouldn’t go..” he shut the door behind him. His demeanor was menacing.. evil. “Now.. we could work out.. these woman around here don’t understand like you do.” He got closer, leaving no room. “David I-I’m not very interested in anything.. I have someone waiting-“ you started.

“Someone better?” He reached out for your face, you flinch in the process. He grabs your hair and strokes it. what was this man on? “God brought you to me for a reason.” He started. “Stay with me and be my wife.. we can lead these sinners..”

“Get off of me.” You growled. “See.. I don’t think that’s what I want.” He smiled. “I won’t be your wife, or have any part in your cult.” You spit back at him. “What a shame. I liked you.” He snapped his fingers and the door opened. Two men grabbed you, one knocking you on the head.

Your vision was blurry.. you slowly came to in a cell. A little girl on the other side.. she looked familiar. “Holy shit.” She mumbled. “It’s you.” She got up walking over. “Y/n? It’s me! Ellie? From QZ and Marlene?” She shook you. “Ugh.. yeah yeah.. hi kid..” your head was spinning. Everything didn’t register. “Wait.. where’s Joel?”

She took a big gulp. “Shh.. they can’t know. He’s injured bad.. I got him some medicine but he’s hidden.” She whispered lowly. “Look these people are crazy.. the guy wants to marry-“

“Marry you?” You finished her sentence. “How.. how did you know?” She asked, taking a seat next to you. “I was the second bride.” You teased with a flinch as your head felt dizzy.

“That gash is pretty bad..” Ellie seemed concerned. For the first time you realize why this was so important to Joel. Joel has a soft spot for this girl. She was important and it impressed you how grown up she acted. Before you knew it the girl was up and yelling at David and his men. “Look fuck you guys! She’s hurt and she needs help!”

“Ellie.. Ellie it’s okay.” You reassured. “Y/n no it’s not! Joel would kill me if anything happened to you!” You looked up confused. “What are you talking about?” You used the bars to steady yourself and get up. “Your all Joel has thought about! I hear him say your name in his dreams.. when he got hurt you were who he talked about. Said some nonsense of sweet words and nights or something.”

-Flashback-

“Joel this is wrong.” You giggled as he hoisted you up on the counter. “You sayin’ we should stop?” His southern drawl had a small hint of teasing. “No god no.. just.. get these off me.”

“Easy now tiger.. there’s people around here.. not just us in this building.” He teased again.. like he was dragging it out. Your lips crashed on his, everything felt so warm.. so right. Before you knew it he was inside you, everything felt so right.. everything in the moment at least..

-End-

“Earth to y/n!” You snapped up looking at Ellie. “Dude- Dude.” She stuttered. “A-A finger!” James and David both came back in. “Grab her.” David ordered. James grabbed Ellie and threw her on the table. “WAIT NO!” You squealed. “STOP!” David smiled. “Don’t worry, you’ll get your turn.” David laughed out a sick laugh. “NO WAIT! IM INFECTED!” She screamed out. Your eyes went wide.

“Really?” David growled. “So are you.” Ellie breathed out. “Roll up my sleeve! LOOK AT IT!” She yelled at them. “I’ll play along.” David rolled up her sleeve after stabbing a knife next to her head. “What’d you say? Everything happens for a reason right?” Ellie sighed.

David and James bantered back and fourth Ellie grabbed the knife and stabbed James in the face, grabbing the door to the cell as she fell. “Y/n!! Come on!” She screamed. Ellie ran out as David shot at her, you grabbed some things and chucked it at him.

“Ellie hide.” You whispered. You both ran into a locked room, no way out. “No wait out girls.. the doors are locked.” Somehow in the midst of the moment a piece of firewood caught fire after Ellie threw it. You both hid as he locked the other door. “Ellie I got it.. when I grab him and throw you the keys.. run.” You whispered to her, giving her a quick hug. The girl was scared.. in shock. “Ellie… y/n..” he called. “YOU DONT KNOW HOW GOOD I AM!”

“You see I’ve changed my mind, I’ve decided you do need a father.. both of you.” You ran out and grabbed David from behind, he slammed you down, laughing at your failed attempt. You were weak, worn down. he kicked you in your side, making you yep. David grabbed both your wrists with one hand.

(TRIGGER WARNING NOW)

You wiggled and screamed, tears rolling down down your face. “I thought you knew? The kicking and fighting is the part I like the most!” He grabbed your pants, yanking them down. “NO!!” You screamed digging your heels down. “There’s no fear in love.” He had his pants unbuckled and almost off when Ellie comes from behind, knocking him off. It gives you time to grab a knife and plunge it into his chest.

Over, and over.. and over. Blood was all over you.. you looked up to see Ellie frightened.. you let out a blood curing scream as Ellie unlocked the door. Ellie ran out, looking for someone to help anyone.

(END OF TRIGGER WARNING)

The flames around you burned.. you laid there, crying. You didn’t know why. It made you feel sick. “JOEL!” Ellie yelled and grabbed him, hugging him. “Joel please.. y/n-“ Joel’s eyes widen. “Where is she?” Ellie brought him back to you quickly. “Y/N?!” You heard him yelling. You couldn’t register anything. Your head was spinning. Everything hurt. You felt someone grab you, screaming and kicking as they dragged you out. He grabbed your face as you were in the snow.

“Hey, hey it’s me.. hey it’s me.” He held your face, tears freezing to your face as your screaming stopped. “I-I..” words were gone. He pulled you into a tight hug. “Shh.. I got you baby girl.” You sobbed as he hugged you. His words were soft, sincere. “Joel..” Ellie whispered. He nodded and slowly got you up from the ground. “Come on.. let’s get you somewhere warm.”

[lady-margaret]

bridgerton season 3 episode 1 screaming thoughts (unedited)

colin oh my fucking gOd

KATE AND VIOLET ARE SO CUTE

YAY VISCOUNTESS KATE

COLINS SO ANNOYIBG WAJHSAJXBSNBXJSJDAKHDSJ CAN HE STOP

i like sassy pen more like yes be straightforward to all these idiots to their faces

PORTIA 😭😭😭😭

yES while i love yellow, the shade pen uses is so earth shatteringly ugly on her so YES BURN THEM all

gasp she still cares about colin’s opinion cuz of the fashions in france comment

FRANCESCA IS SO BEAUTIFUL

Anthony is so dad

where the hell colin getting all this money OMG POCKET WATCH

eloise :(((( so beautiful tho

ABC HIHIHUHIHI

“she is colder now, i’m afraid” IS SO FOUL

NEWTON oh god kathony are at it again

kathony hand kink ? oh god hfedgdgdg

YES PENELOPE FUCK IT UPPPPPPP also her lady’s maid seems like such a real one

they need to pay more attention to franny methinks

YESSSSSSSSSS PENELOPE FUCK IT UPPPPPPPPP SO GORGEOUS cant wait for eloise and her to be friends again

pen……………. 😭😭😭😭😭😭 PENNN 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

eloise loves her sm 😢

PEEEENNSHSHSHSJDBNDBD 🫨🤣🤣🤣

lord fife they could never make me like you

anthonys so WHIPPED

franny is so violet ledger coded

franny i love u

GASP its lord debling

yo debling got rizz…… 😳

oof oof oof OOF 🙃 this is sad OH lol here she goes

pen’s pen game be like 🔥🔥🔥🔥

portia’s nervous hair touching tick is iconic atp

featherington’s always stressed abt something (im actually interested in their storyline this season cuz it makes sense i didnt need them that much on screen as last season)

cressida girl its your fault ur bad at making friends JFC

JONATHAN UR SO HOT anthony ur too horny oml

….????? kate this isnt you HAHHAHAHAHHA ????????????????? idk abt this yall HAHAHAHHAHAH ????:)/₱:₱:!,

kate will prolly be forced to step up at one point in the season

franny’s getting married this season or at least will meet john im almost sure of it

we get it colin youve changed 🙄

PEN 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 she wrote something about colin or someone didnt she

honestly colin…. valid

[theycallme-ook]

HOO sci fi au that spawned of the jasoning but idk what to call it now.

Ok so nondescript non affiliated sci Fi universe. Homebrew. Just clarifying for the sake of fandom.

The main quest is: monetary (trade, resources, something) dispute between a few big companies/govs (not necessarily Greek/Roman split but group the gods by their personal affiliations and add diff planets/cultures into the mix) that leads to a few of them contracting their own hand picked operatives/mercenaries to go find Gaia, who's at the heart of the recent tension and force her to negotiate, or other motives their employers aren't disclosing

The main cast is:

Percy: roguish navigator from a largely aquatic planet. Half human half sea person (i’ll come up with a name) he’s too human to be considered a true heir to his father’s power so he was raised both above water and below, giving him a set of skills easily transferable to space travel (good w colder temperatures, good at filtering for oxygen, lots of practice navigating). He’s gone on a couple off-planet journeys, the first starting when a girl named Annabeth crash landed near his mom’s island and no one could stop him from helping her and eventually helping stop a crazed paramilitary faction from overthrowing the galactic council). He gets roped into this mission bc Annabeth is contacted about it and then all of a sudden his father wants a representative there too. He’s down for it though bc it seems like a decent romp with a nice paycheck at the end that’ll let him get Estelle some sweet new toys. But watch out.

Annabeth: baseline human from a very industry focused industrial planet. As eager heir to her mother's trade “empire” she's very ambitious and has sought out anything that can better her standing in her mother's eyes since day one, leading her to jump at any chance to gain skills (such as tagging along for negotiations, inspecting facilities, finding specialized teachers, etc) which is how she ended up leading a surveying expedition that went wrong as a teen, landing her and Grover, her attendant, on Percy’s planet. That's the start of her leading a series of missions that are crucial to stopping all out war from breaking out, finding out Luke was leaking info to Kronos, etc. That experience is what gives her confidence to lead the Argo II and her crew when one of Kronos’ mysterious backers starts stirring up trouble in an atmosphere that just started to return to normal. A confidence that is shaken when some truths are revealed about her inheritance and what it will really mean.

Piper: technically a noblewoman from a planet known for its supercontinent ringed by beautiful beaches with a massive desert in the center. She doesn't personally put much stock in aristocracy and has no interest in pleasing her mother, though she is happy to use her abilities from her side (she's half beach species half desert species and used to being shunned on either side for that and has grown fiercely independent as a result, only letting in a few close to her heart like her bestie Leo who she drags with on this mission (as if he isn't stoked to come on an all expenses paid probably dangerous space journey. Just like the two of them have been doing on their own but without the paycheck. He's the most disappointed when that part becomes precarious). She's the medic of the ship, though her mom's species’ abilities of psychic manipulation might have one assuming she'd do better in communications, she likes to keep a low profile lest her mother finds she's volunteered for this mission and drags her back to her duties. She and Leo are the only ones with a previous with Gaia though, which is leverage she used to come, and it may turn out more useful than anticipated when things get turned around.

Leo: fire resistant/pyrokinetic species that kinda look like magma humans. His species is from a different planet but his mom migrated to work as an engineer in an industrial center in the desert of Piper's home planet. They met when he was working to repair a ship docked in a shipyard she was conducting her mischief in, didn't rat her out when he probably should've and they've been besties ever since. When she needed someone to help her rescue her dad from a servant of Gaia once he all but forced himself along. He was packed to come on this one too practically the moment the thought crossed Piper's mind, besides they need an engineer and he's the best out there (aside from his mama, ofc). His wide network of friendly droids and ships helps them sneak around a lot despite his appearance not being very subtle.

Frank: non-human shape shifter (critically he hasn't told anyone this. Appears near human) from a very cold, mountainous planet where there's a lot of mega fauna as a result and he's used to being the smallest in the room, making this crew an adjustment for him. He's the only newbie on the ship and constantly underestimates his abilities bc of this. Jason and Leo both take him under their wings in their respective ways (one for official stuff and the other for chilling out) bc he's just so damn awkward. He's from Roman space (? Still working on the logistics of that) so initially he clings to Jason and Hazel before branching out. His role on the ship is as the communications officer and he's known for his soft hearted determination to peaceful resolutions, which is why his grandmother voluntold him for this trip. He's constantly been told this is a weakness but it will soon prove vital when they suddenly have a lot more enemies to worry about.

Hazel is not supposed to be here. A nocturnal species from a planet where the habitable zone has very long and dark winters she's plenty suited for space travel, it's just that she definitely had all her records and qualifications faked to make it on this team. She's a stellar pilot, that's not the lie (and also cook, though no one officially has that role) but a 3rd party player had reasons to believe this mission would be the boil over point for a lot of shit that had been building and the crew needed a person in the know for when that happens. She's already had her life ruined and had to start over on a new planet thanks to said powers that be, which makes her the perfect candidate to really start leading when they cross into unknown territory. The others don't know that she's in communications with Nico the whole time, but that's going to come in handy when things go to shit even if it does put her position and trust with the crew in limbo for a bit. This advantage is what gets them out of that fateful confrontation with Juno.

Jason: straight laced golden child of Juno’s elite legion (I imagine she’s part business woman part royalty). Baseline human from an average planet & all that. He dutifully fulfils his role as fighter, part time medic and second in command on the ship (originally there was a fight from both sides over who should be captain, but Jason cut it short by agreeing Annabeth should lead, which was off script for him and the beginning of the two liking each other). He’s good, won his distinction honestly by leading the defeat of Kronos’ biggest general, but the most plain and forthright so no one thinks he has any secrets until they’re back on his home planet midway through the book to ask Juno for something and she, thinking she can get something out of this arrangement by capturing (killing?) them here and now, reveals her trump card. Jason is actually implanted with a highly advanced, non-visible series of cybernetics that enhance his abilities and, most damningly, make his body unable to refuse any command that comes from Juno. This “throneroom confrontation” as I’m calling it, is what shifts the story from “oh we gotta track down some 3rd party bbeg and save the day” to “oh shit all of our sponsors are also bbeg’s in a way and in order to stay true and actually help people we need to become outlaws.” which is fun

Nico: might classify as side but- shows up in the second half once shit goes down. Price of a recently fallen kingdom on a moon of the gas giant Asphodel. From a small species with limited teleportation and a folk perception that they have an affinity for death (really their noses are just very sensitive and they can smell something wrong, giving them a scarily accurate omen maker) He was actually around Jason a lot as they grew up and is one of the few who knew about the unethicality happening and has been looking for years to thwart it (the only friendly face able to be around him during the long hard days of installation and testing thanks to shadow travel). Slowly amassing a network of informants and such to his ghost king thing to get back at the ppl who did all of this. That's where he met Hazel and why he works so hard to send her on this mission but not appear connected, he can't have Juno discovering he's involved.

Side characters include:

Thalia: got badly injured on the same mission that killed Bianca and spends a few years with her body on life support while her consciousness is plugged into and runs the systems for Chiron’s wayward station for runaways in need, a role she's much happier with than what she had as crown princess of a kingdom (Beryl is a concubine of Zeus) she despises, esp after her younger brother “disappeared” one day and she felt the investigation wasn't thorough enough. Her increased awareness of the corruption over the years is what led her to impulsively join Annabeth and Luke on a quest before he's revealed to be a traitor. Absolutely ready to murder Zeus when she gets back and finds out what really happened to her brother (was traded over to Juno (Hera’s sister?) in exchange for exclusive access to resources and not having crown secrets exposed. He already had an heir, after all)

I haven't gotten to the others yet. This is already almost 2k worth of notes in roughly 24 hours so bear w me

Plot cont. & notes:

It's not like the govs etc are organizing some grand conspiracy to end all conspiracies, rather that it's the usual type of corruption, greed and control that happens at these levels and our main characters are only now being exposed to the wrong side of it. Most of them, anyways.

Gist being that up until now they've all been working in the system to get stuff done, with maybe some roguishness involved, but they were mainly focused on their job/not dying/preventing a lot of other ppl from dying. But by not complying with the whims of expansion they suddenly align themselves against the interests of many imperial/colonial forces they rise very quickly up the kill list and find out just how many killers ppl have on their payroll. From there on the mission turns into a self-appointed take down a bunch of corrupt officials and prevent another war galavant. With aliens

Droids and cybernetics being fairly common, there's a level of banality and assumption of use ppl in this society have about mechanical parts. It's understood to be by and for the user, nor is the tech (usually) undetectable. Might even give a main or side character some regular cybernetics for contrast. The twist has to hit the audience as well as the characters, is the point ig

[becomingpotatoes]

finished the teal mask and oh boy do i have thoughts…

(SPOILERS FOR THE NEW DLC IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILERS PLS DO NOT READ)

god. kieran. kieran is so refreshing from a character perspective. kieran is like the anti-hop. it kind of feels like he’s the protagonist and we’re the classic jerk rival, doesn’t it? this guy clearly has Issues and i really like that, im enjoying this sort of “why can’t i beat you” rival trope that gamefreak’s been doing lately. they nearly did it with hop but with kieran they’re really going full in. the character arc that kieran went through in this dlc was actually difficult for me to watch, seeing this poor boy destroy himself mentally. the first time i battled him for the final time i actually lost, and i was hoping that he would get to keep ogerpon because altho shes cute and i adore her, i felt so bad. but ofc thats not the way the cookie crumbles. kieran is socially awkward, he doesn’t know how to communicate, and he’s never had a true friend. then florian/juliana comes along and suddenly there’s someone who seems to genuinely enjoy hanging out with him that isn’t, yknow, related to him. but then that person that he was so eager to trust goes along and begins befriending and helping a pokemon that hes adored all your life behind his back. i relate to kieran a lot and ofc yknow the absolute maniac arc hes about to go through is probably not healthy but i rlly hope this ends up being good for him. he idolized ogerpon because of how he related to her story, not because of the actual living creature she is. i wouldnt be surprised if it turns out he doesnt value his pokemon as actual living creatures either. i could see him being like a reverse silver, as he grows colder growing to not even care about his pokemon.

on the other hand, carmine! carmine was such a delight, i was genuinely not expecting to enjoy her as much as i did. sure, she also has Issues and has probably been a negative effect on her brother, but at the end of the day she is also just a kid. she probably has no idea what shes doing, and i dont think shed ever hurt kieran. she went through a lot of growth in the dlc and i can see her trying to become a better person with the help of florian/juliana and repairing her odd relationship with kieran.

also, it seems like she kind of has to play a parental role for kieran, as its implied that their parents arent around. thats another thing that separates kieran and carmine from siblings like hop and leon (and oh my god im just realizing all the parallels between hop and leon and kieran and carmine). its implied that the galar bros had a good childhood, and hops Issues dont start until hes set off on his journey and leon is a full adult with an actual life. with the kitakami siblings, if you read between the lines you can tell that theyve had a harder time growing up. with carmines comments on tourism and how it’s negatively effected their town and give her Trust Issues, that obviously fucked them both up a little, seeing that people only valued their hometown as an attraction, and that they themselves were a part of that attraction. and of course we dont know what the issue was with their parents. also, why are they going to school in unova? (side not oh my god it is so obvious that we’re going to get bw remakes in gen 9 or a legends unova game)

kitakami is such an interesting region. obviously its tiny, it has one town and then everything else is just untamed land. i feel like something Else is going on here. or maybe its just small idk

i love ogerpon a lot i think shes adorable and i love that we got to run around with her before she joined our team and it makes the whole “ten year old catches legendary thing” feel more realistic

also why are ogerpon and the loyal three legendaries i feel like they should be mythicals them being legendary feels Wrong

anyways these were my silly thoughts on the dlc and i hope kieran turns out to be the bb leagues champion (pulling a blue) and also i dont trust briar now time to finish my pokedex and talk to legends arceus pandering i mean perrin and if i see anyone call carmine a terrible person i will trade away your ev trained competitive team ok bye

(also this scene made me emotional)

[nerdylilpeebee]

Found a thing on Twitter where someone was talking about the idea that Cyn was being controlled by the Solver. As in, Solver is an entirely separate entity and Cyn is basically just a puppet right now.

But... I mean... We don't have proof of that. XD

We know the Absolute Solver is a separate program from a drone (be it DD or WD). But we don't know that it has its own consciousness.

In N's memories, Cyn directly turns into the tentacle monster thing, and refers to herself as "the Solver of the Absolute Fabric." I think people take this to mean Cyn is not in control of herself, but I don't think that's what it means.

Cyn, as far as we can find, is a... Idk how to describe it... More "basic" AI than the rest of the drones? She doesn't seem less sentient or anything, just.. I guess the best way to describe it would be "disabled." She (seemingly) walks with more difficulty, speaks with a basic AI voice even narrating her actions, and from what we've seen of her in N's memories she has a sort of disconnect between herself and the other drones (not caring that N is being killed because "she has back-ups".)

Now it is odd how she seemingly goes from being this kinda cute little sister archetype for N, being shy and nervous to boot (literally clinging to N in the Gala scene), to telling the humans they can't throw everyone out anymore, to just... Not caring that N is being killed. But this doesn't necessarily mean she's being controlled. I personally view it as her seeing how little these humans care for the robots and deciding she no longer cares about the humans. She clearly has a different perception of things even leading up to this. So what most likely happened is she saw the cruel views of Tessa's parents and being the more basic AI she is, she decided this means she really doesn't need to care about them. Maybe this even helped her decide that she would go through with her plan. Maybe she initially wanted to go to the Gala so she could find a reason to want humanity alive.

And we do have a reason she could have started thinking this way. We know from the dialogue that even Tessa didn't fully treat Cyn with absolute kindness. She locked her in the basement as a time out. Repeatedly apparently. And J repeatedly "forgot" to let her out. Tessa seems like a very kind and caring person, so I personally think she was doing this partially because her parents hated Cyn, and partially because Cyn was seemingly so cold in comparison to say, N.

Which, tbh, I think is a bit of a parallel to how people can view Autistic people. Unintentionally coming off as colder or even creepy is something I've noticed can happen with some cases of autism. And tbh, I do get an autism vibe from Cyn.

But anyway, to summarize: Cyn being controlled by the Solver isn't something we actually have proof for. XD I think it's more the solver came into her system, and as she got these powers circumstances gave the mindset to view herself as superior to the other drones (not caring that they die, cuz she has back-ups) and to view humans as unnecessary life forms.

I'm not saying it's impossible she's being controlled. But we have no proof of that.

[womanexile]

i’m sorry but i have to bring it up: I haven’t seen anyone connecting Coney Island to H. I feel like it’s pretty obvious especially after 1989 vaults. But please correct me if someone has.

“Did I close my fist around something delicate, did I shatter you?”

“I’m sitting on a bench in Coney Island wondering where did my baby go?” When i think of this i think of the pictures of her sitting on the bench in NYC alone eating froyo after they broke up.

“The fast times, the bright lights, the merry-go.” Merry go rounds go around and around in circles. seems to be connected go “watch us go round and round each time.” and let’s go ahead and say “i go round and round, satellite” and “spinning fast than the plane that took you”

“and it gets colder and colder, when the sun goes down” could reference their accident. “when the sun came up, i was looking at you…you were looking at me”

then in Aaron’s verse he sings “do you miss the rouge who coaxed you into paradise and left you there?” could be talking about her leaving him on the island, was supposed to be a vacation before she left and they ended things.

“We were like the mall before the internet, it was the one place to be.” everyone wanted to be her, everyone wants to be his girlfriend (idk), they’re relationship was very much talked about by everyone.

“The mischief, the gift wrapped suburban dreams” I’ve just been hearing Suburban Legends is about their relationship.

“Were you waiting at our old spot, in the tree line, by the gold clock.” obviously is referencing a secret meeting spot and we have long speculated they secretly met up to hang out after their relationship ended, away from the public eye.

“and when i got into the accident the sight that flashed before me was your face, and when i walked up to the podium i think that i forgot to say your name.” the accident is pretty self explanatory, she saw him in the accident because they were together. she won awards for 1989 and did she forget to thank him when she gave her speeches?

IDK MAYBE IM JUST CRAZY. but i’ve been listening to evermore a lot recently and i know everyone says coney island is just about her albums and rerecordings but i feel like the song screams H.

You are not crazy. I have always thought Coney Island is Haylor. I know we’ve talked about it some here & there but I haven’t seen a main post about it. These new vault songs have just connected so many more songs to Haylor that a lot of us have felt were always Haylor. I need to start working on post about them.