#but we got our magic boy back and he brought us our world tree!!!!! fuck!!!!!!!

[asterdeer]

THE WORLD TREE !!! YEEESSSSSSSS THE FUCKING WORLD TREE AAAAAAAAA [AIR HORNS] YGGDRASIL I MISSED YOU BABY AAAAAAAAAAAAAA WE'RE SO FUCKING BACK [AIR HORNS]

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Mind the Gap: Three

Shang-Chi laid you carefully on the bed and leaned over to kiss you on the forehead, smiling a little when you fuss at him sleepily. “It’s okay,” he murmured, brushing a lock of hair out of your face tenderly, “I’m only going down stairs.”

When you sit up. Bolt upright suddenly, he reels back. It takes a moment for him to realize that you’re not what’s staring at him. Your eyes are the same unearthly silver they had been. “Let her sleep,” he ordered sharply.

“We,” a voice that is your but… Not yours replies haughtily, “Do not sleep. We are eternal.”

“Not without a body you’re not,” he fired back, frustrated. You just got to sleep. You were just so close to feeling better. Your face doesn’t change, not really. There’s an absence of expression. One that he’d taken as seriousness in that empty field, but now realizes that the Archive probably doesn’t… care enough to make you appear “normal” when speaking. Still, even if the Archive wasn’t sneering at him where he could see it, he could feel it.

“Have care, boy. Our vessel will not belong to you.”

And before he could reply, You fell backwards onto the bed, your head hitting the pillow with a soft thump.

“You’re right about that,” he says quietly, not sure if it can hear him or not. “She doesn’t belong to me. She doesn’t belong to anyone… You might have saved her life once, but now you’re just squatting.” He shakes his head and pulls a blanket over you, carefully tucking you in before turning and heading back downstairs.

__________

Downstairs, he finds party preparations in full swing. There’s food being cooked and more food being ordered from town to be picked up. There’s a small army of people moving tables and arranging lights and torches and building bonfires. It was cozy looking. And impossible for him to tell how many people were coming.

“How is she recovering?”

Shang-Chi turned and faced his father, smiling ruefully, “Not as fast as I’d like. But at least she’s asleep.”

He nodded and gave his son a sympathetic look. “They’re all worried,” he cautioned.

“We should start a club. Y/N can make us jackets.” When his father gave him a look, Shang-Chi smiled a little. “It spoke to me,” he said after a second.

“The Archive? What did It say?”

“It told me that she didn’t belong to me,” he said, restraining an eye roll with effort.

Wenwu frowned, “It challenged you?”

Shang-Chi shook his head, “It wasn’t a challenge. It was a warning. She never even woke up.”

They stood for a long moment and considered the implications of that. But neither one of them had a chance to say more when Katy burst through the screen door with Xialing on her heels. “You have got to see this! There’s fucking werewolves!”

“Werewolves? Kai is a werewolf-”

“No. What? No- I-” Katy is bouncing on the balls of her feet and bolts back out the door.

“A pack,” Xialing said rolling her eyes, more fond than irritated. “Specifically her father’s pack.”

And it’s curiosity more than anything that lures Shang-Chi outside. You never talk about your parents- Not that he can really blame you. He hadn’t talked about his family with you at all. And now? He has the gift of staying in your childhood bedroom. And seeing the things that made you into the woman he loves. Still. Werewolves? He assumes your mother is a witch but- If this going to be a fight? Is it going to upset you?

He walks down the steps to see Kai and who he assumes is your father. You have the same lazy half smile and the same warm eyes that you share with your brother. And for just a second, he wants to turn around and bolt. He’s seen you dismember demons. He’s faced creatures from other dimensions. But somehow? Meeting his Girlfriend’s dad is more terrifying than both those things.

He’s a big man. Tall. Imposing. A solid wall of muscle. A shock of curly dark hair… It was almost like the universe had distilled his every idea of a werewolf into one person. Except for the jaws. And slobber.

“Good Luck,” Xialing snorted quietly.

“Gee thanks,” he said taking a deep breath and stepping forward. He’d been seen, there wasn’t any escape now.

The huge man stepped forward, “I’m Renaud,” he said. His voice a deep rumble, like Thunder. “You, must be Shang-chi.” He took the hand that was offered and shook it, not as roughly as Shang-Chi had expected. And he hadn’t missed that his name had been pronounced correctly. “Thank you, for calling my son… Just because Y/n can handle things on her own doesn’t mean she should.”

“So you found her?”

“Of course,” he said, smiling, “I always know how to find my kids.”

Shang-Chi smiled in spite of himself. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since you’d seen your father. But somethings seemed to be universal. “My father-” he started, But Renaud made an impetuous gesture.

“We’ve met,” he chuckled, taking the hand that Wenwu offered.

“Several times, in fact,” Wenwu said. “And I hope-”

The Werewolf released his hand and rocked back on his heels, “The sins of the father and all that,” he said with another impetuous gesture. “I learned long ago that telling a witch what to do is always a bad idea.”

Shang- Chi looked from one to the other and glanced at Katy and Xialing for help. He had the distinct impression that he was rapidly helping to establish some new international thing. When both the girls shrugged at him at a loss he glanced at Kai who gave him a small nod.

“Dad,” Kai said, “I’d hate to interrupt whatever work meeting is about to happen but… Hospitality Law. You know Grandma and Lea like to et all the stupid formal things out of the way up top.”

Renaud looked at them apologetically and turned to his son, “And then I’d like to see your sister.”

“So far as I know she’s asleep,” Kai said leading him away, the other three wolves that had been standing there watching followed after.

“It’s the middle of the day,” he protested.

“Not for her. She’s still at least a day behind the rest of us.”

Shang-Chi watched them go and let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “At least no one at me,” he said, looking back towards the house.

“Werewolves haven’t done that in public for 300 years,” Wenwu snorted.

___________

People arrive steadily. Bringing kids. And food. And drinks. Shang-Chi watches in fascination as all the tables Kai had hefted into place filled with things. And the Coolers he had helped Lea to fill with Ice started keeping drinks cold.

So many faces and names. It’s a whirl and a blur. Still. It doesn’t take long for the kids to warm up and claim him, and Katy as their new playmates. Like all children they’re susceptible to a good story and an infectious laugh. Except for one. There was a little boy. He stayed near an oak tree. A Book over his lap. And he seemed to be watching the goings on, all the flips and little bursts of magical energy with irritation. He didn’t want to play. At least not with them. And while no one bothered him, it was clear that the other kids didn’t want to play with him either.

At least- At least for a while.

When you appeared, a little bleary eyed with your hair in a messy bun and some fresh clothes. His whole face lights up. Shang-Chi hears the shout and watches, grinning as his book goes flying and he launches himself at you, clinging onto your torso like a spider monkey and burying his face in your neck.

And suddenly, the silent boy with the great big book is talking. And talking. And he can’t seem to stop smiling.

“She’s his person,” Lea said smiling a little, handing Shang-Chi a glass of cold lemonade. He looked at her in askance and she smiled a little, “They both understand what it’s like to be the weirdest person in a room full of weirdos,” she explained. “Emmet had no magical ability. And Y/N hears voices and can tear out a Vampire’s heart with her bare hands.”

“Fair enough,” he says nodding, watching you greet the kids with hugs and kisses and declarations that they’re all too tall. “It’s good to know I’m just a novelty.”

Lea grins, “No one can ever take her place with them… It was Kai with the last crop. But Y/N was always his buddy. She’s had him wrapped around her finger since the first time someone put her in his lap.”

“So you’re telling me I should expect a big brother lecture?”

“Maybe. But. It’s more likely that he figures she could take you in a fight and there’s not much point.” The redhead’s eyes sparkle with mischief though. And Shang-Chi chuckles.

“You think so?”

“If she can’t, the Archive can.”

That was a sobering thought. And Shang- Chi took a deep breath. “What- what happened?”

The woman looked at him and for the first time, he considered that she was probably older than her face. Despite the lack of lines her eyes seem… Ancient. “I don’t know if I should tell you. I’ve spent… A long time keeping those details a secret.”

“I just-”

“I know,” she says softly. “You should know. If only… If only so you know she wasn’t always this way. She used to want… She wanted to be in the Olympics. She wanted to be a rockstar… She didn’t want to be this.”

Shang-Chi was quiet. Waiting. He didn’t really know what to say.

“Her mother- When she was born her mother was furious,” Lea said after a long moment. “600 years and so many babies I’ve brought into the world… And the was the only time I’ve ever seen That. She refused to even hold her.”

“Why-”

“Because she was powerful,” Lea said. “I knew- We all knew- the second she took her first breath that she wasn’t just a Witch. And for Clara? That was a betrayal. Clara had spent DECADES trying to amass more power. And here her daughter just had it? Absolutely not. It was unthinkable.”

Shang-Chi winced. “So then-”

“She sold her,” Lea said bitterly. “Put her on the black market and handed her off to the highest bidder.”

“No-”

“What she sold her to though? It was a… a cult. A fringe group. They took children like her and tried to- to change them. And if torture wouldn’t change it, burning. Well. The holy fire would at least make sure they went to heaven.”

He felt himself waver and he leaned against the tree that was at his back. “What the fuck-”

“Indeed,” Lea said nodding. “To make a long story short, It took Kai, Renaud, and her Great Aunt Jet to bring her home. And it cost Jet her life… It was a price she would gladly pay but not everyone feels that Y/N was worth the effort. Including Y/N.”

He looked back towards you, watching as you tossed one of the kids up to Kai who tickled them and tossed them to one of the waiting werewolves who promptly pitched them off the dock and into the lake. But on the edges, he could see the barely masked disapproval. And he knew you. He knew that you knew it was there.

“Lenora has been trying to keep things at bay but… I’d be lying if I said I blamed Y/N for keeping her distance. She loved Jet. We all did. And it’s- it’s hard for her, knowing that if it weren’t for her- She might still be here. She might be able to control the Archive. Instead of being controlled.”

And all he can do is watch you. And hurt. He hurts for who you are now. And for the little girl that you had been. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.

“Shang- Chi,” Lea cautioned, “She says she doesn’t remember but-”

“You don’t know?”

“No. We don’t. And if she’s trying to protect herself-”

“I won’t ask her,” he said, “I don’t think I’d want to remember that either.”

[alyss-spazz-penedo]

So this is not actually the next part of the unedited v!Wind fic but I got the sweetest anon ask in my inbox and like, suddenly *m o t i v a t i o n,* y’know?

So have this sort-of one-shot, set in some nebulous hypothetical future of that fic. Idr if I’d brought up the possibility of Phantom traveling with the boys before (I really need to find time to reread what I’ve written), but this would be set after they'd been past that point for a while.

Nonny, I hope you enjoy <3 This one’s for you! (And the amazing @w1lmutt, of course.)

TW: cursing, bleeding and self-inflicted harm. Nothing graphic, I promise. (Also, the hero boys being stupid martyrs, but that’s practically par for the course.)

They manage to make it to camp before Phantom explodes.

"What the fuck, old man!" the boy snarls. He grabs Time by the collar and drags the taller man down to his level. Time lets him, which only serves to incite the boy further. "What the hell do you think I am? Some kind of charity case?" He spits.

Time says nothing. He doesn’t even have the decency to wince when Phantom jostles his broken arm.

"Look. At. Me!" the boy demands, punctuating each word with a small, ineffectual shake. "I am more than just another one of your failures! I make my own damn choices! I can deal with their consequences! You are not responsible for me, who the fuck do you think you are?"

Time shakes his head, still too calm to be doing their youngest’s temper any favors. He doesn’t look at Phantom like the boy’s a perfectly capable hero in his own right, and Phantom cannot stand that. "I understand that you-" the man begins.

Phantom decks him.

"That’s enough!" The others step in then, pulling them away from each other. Time, however, won’t stop looking at him like that.

Phantom rips himself away, snarling. He needs to get out of here.

He stalks off before he can do something really rash, like go for his sword.

~o0o~

"You here to lecture me?"

Phantom kicks his feet in the air from the branch he’s perched on, eerily reminiscent of the first time the heroes had met him. His eyes are dark.

"Not gonna lie, I was expecting the captain or the puppy," the boy drawls.

Four sighs. With a quick burst from his Roc’s cape, he climbs his way up to a branch nearby, settling so they’re vaguely facing each other. "You did go too far."

"Fuck off," Phantom growls, jabbing his blade at Four threateningly. “He was asking for it.”

Four eyes the blade, then its wielder. "You shouldn’t point that at someone you don’t intend to use it on. It’s a weapon, not a toy."

"If you think I’m merely playing around, then man have I got unpleasant news for you."

Four sighs. "I know being babied sucks, but watch what lines you cross," he tells the younger boy bluntly.

"Oh, shut up. What would you know?"

"Who do you think got the brunt of the group’s mother-cucco tendencies before you came along?" Four points out, dry. In the ensuing silence, he ticks off, "I'm the shortest of the lot, and sometimes that means they like to pretend I’m not mature enough to handle ‘adult things’," he makes air quotes with his fingers. "Meanwhile Hyrule regularly overextends himself, but he’s got one of the best senses of when to cut and run, so he’s better about tolerating the fretting and gets hurt less frequently than, say, the Champion. And Legend gets out of most of it by being an asshole." A pause. "Though even he has the good manners to thank someone who saved him, however roundabout the Vet might be about it."

The boy looks nearly contemplative, under the stubborn mulishness. Four lets the silence sit for a minute. Then, lightly, he tacks on, “Though if you’re trying to pull a Legend to get out of being fussed over, I should warn you: that ship has long sailed for you.”

Phantom stares at him with that fantastic pissy face he makes sometimes. “Was that a boat joke,” he deadpans. Four grins at him, quick and impish, and the boy rewards him with a groan. "The sailor puns are getting really old."

"You're not the one who gets to decide that," Four giggles. Then, "Feeling better? Ready to face the music?"

"Absolutely not." But the kid climbs out of the tree anyway, no threats or violence necessary. Four will count it as a win.

~o0o~

Back at camp, Phantom marches up to Time. With everyone else not-so-discretely looking on, he makes a show of leaving his sword out of easy reach and points at the ground.

“Sit,” he orders, as though the armored hero were a very large dog.

Time stares down at him. “If you mean to hit me again, I’m afraid I’ll have to decline,” he says wryly. Phantom scowls.

“Sit, you big lug. I know a spell for that arm of yours, and I’m not doing it with you standing over me. You’re too tall.”

Time lowers himself to the ground obligingly, even as he prods, “A spell, hmm? What exactly does it do?”

Phantom, somewhat alarmingly, snaps his fangs over his fingertips hard enough to draw blood. “It’s not quite a healing spell, but it’ll get rid of that shiner I gave you, and probably patch up your arm too. Gonna use your magic to do it, though.” He lifts bloody fingers to his own face, dabbing marks on his skin with a hesitance that speaks of relying on borrowed memories, before pausing. “Close your eyes, old man. I’m not teaching you this spell, you’re an idiot who’ll misuse it.”

“So pushy today.” Time closes his one eye, reluctant but confident that the others will stop the boy from attacking him if it comes down to it. “I don’t see what the problem is. It sounds useful; it’d be good to take some of the burden of healing off Hyrule.”

“You would think that,” the boy huffs, right before wet fingers brush at his cheek. Time twitches away with a faint grimace.

“Are you bleeding on me now,” he asks, plaintive. Phantom huffs.

“Don’t be a baby; it’ll flake right off. Quit moving.”

The man exhales slowly, obviously uncomfortable. But despite his suspicions and reservations, Time doesn’t move and he doesn’t ask. He merely lets the boy do as likes, lets him keep his secrets. This, Phantom knows, is Time’s own kind of apology.

He’s not above taking advantage of that.

The former villain dots a final smear under the hero’s eye, then immediately presses his wide sleeve over his work, obscuring the design from the curious eyes of their audience.

“I’m starting it now,” he warns.

Time feels a tug on his magic—much smaller than he was expecting. A song on his Ocarina might cost him the same amount. The pain in his eye and then his arm ebbs away, pulled somewhere by the spell, and the dampness on his face ashes off right off, as promised. Time raises a hand to scratch at the lingering itch even as he opens his eyes.

“I still don’t see why-” he begins. Stops.

Phantom turns away swiftly, but the boy is standing too close to hope to hide the bruising on his face. Bruising he did not have before.

Time seizes the boy by the arm before he can flee. He drops that arm just as quickly when Phantom yelps in pain, registering too late that it’s the same arm Time himself had just had broken—had just had healed.

“What have you done,” he hears himself ask, even though he already knows.

Phantom rocks back on his heels, trying for nonchalance and failing badly at it. “This isn’t something I plan to do often,” he huffs, refusing to look Time—or anyone—in the eye. Time clenches his jaw hard enough for his teeth to creak. “You can suffer from your own mistakes. But if you’re gonna take a blow meant for me, again-”

“This isn’t happening again,” Time cuts in, cold down to his bones. He needs to nip this in the bud, right now, or it'll only get worse as their battles grow harsher. “I forbid it.”

Phantom gets a mulish look on his face. Time feels his horror mount as the younger hero growls, “Just try and stop me.”

Time grabs the kid by the shoulder—the uninjured one this time. What does he need to do to make the boy see sense? “Do not use that spell again, Phantom.”

“Let go of me,” Phantom snarls, futilely trying to claw his way out of the older man’s grip. Unfortunately, Time doesn’t think he could make his own fingers loosen if he tried. “You’re such a fucking hypocrite. Don't pretend you wouldn't do the exact same thing if literally anyone got so much as a scratch on them."

"That's-" different, he almost says, but he recognizes that it would be exactly the wrong thing to say right now. He deflates ever so slightly, just enough for Phantom to rip himself free and start rubbing at his arm, shaking faintly. A distant part of himself remembers the boy's issues with touch guiltily. "What made you think that was remotely acceptable? Why do you even know a spell like that?" He demands, side-stepping the accusation with what little grace he can scrounge up in his rattled state.

In his own display of blatantly dodging around a topic, Phantom looks away and snaps, "Gee, I wonder why Ganondorf would possibly know a spell that let him pass off wounds to hapless victims. Such a mystery for the ages."

The silence is deafening. Too late, Phantom snaps his mouth shut, realizing he's said too much.

"Are you saying you used a fucking torture spell on yourself-" someone begins.

"Why in the world would you even-?"

"Are you actually out of your mind-!?"

"When I said 'thank him' this is not what I meant-!"

"We're not all this bad, are we? It's just the two of them?" Warriors groans loudly, looking pained. At his words, Twilight whips around just in time to catch sight of the terrifyingly thoughtful look on Wild's face.

"Cub, don't you even think about it-!"

"ENOUGH!"

The bellow comes from, surprisingly, Hyrule. The boy scowls at them all disapprovingly.

"Wild, dinner's burning," he starts, very evenly. The aforementioned hero takes the chance to duck his mentor's fretful clutches, scampering over to the fire.

"Phantom, congratulations, your arm's broken," the wandering hero continues, voice more than dry enough to make up for his homeland's lack of a Gerudo desert. "That means I'll be working on you instead of our leader. Do not-" he interrupts preemptively, jabbing a finger forward and speaking over the boy's attempts to protest. "Just. Don't. We're out of potions, and that means I look over everyone that gets hurt. I'd be looking at that arm if you'd gotten your injury naturally. I'd be looking over Time right now if you'd been a bit less hasty with your ritual. And I think we'd all prefer it if you didn't use that spell again, or teach anyone how to do it."

A glance around the clearing reveals a show of nods, no one disputing Hyrule's words.

Phantom tries to cross his arms before dropping them with a wince. "You can't actually stop me," he sulks at them all. The pout really brings out the bruising on his face.

"It would be hard to, yeah," Sky agrees, soothing. "But it should be fine if there's no need for you to use it, right? Because Time," he shoots a Look at their stoic leader, "isn't going to do something reckless like throw himself in front of a monster with no shield again, right?"

Time grimaces faintly. "I'll try," he promises, which—from the looks on his companions' faces—isn't nearly good enough. But they all recognize that it's entirely honest, and the best they're going to get out of him tonight.

So ends the incident; they let the matter lie there, awkward and ignorable, and move onward with their evening.

OMAKE:

Phantom corners Twilight during his watch shift.

"Tell me you have blackmail on that idiot," he hisses. His request comes out like an order.

There's no need for their youngest to clarify who he means. The rancher pats the kid on the head, just once, like he thinks Phantom's cute but also knows he bites. "I'm not giving you blackmail on Time," he replies cheerfully. The younger hero has far too much influence on the man already. "You'll use it for evil, which I'm afraid goes against my personal code of honor. So sorry."

Phantom narrows his eyes, letting the needling slide entirely. "So you do have dirt on him," he divines.

Twilight rolls his eyes. "Leave him alone, brat. Do we need to have this talk again? Quit tormenting him."

"I'm not. Blackmailing him into self-care will only be good for him, promise."

"You can't honestly think that'll work." A pause. "Or that we haven't tried it already. It doesn't work."

"Bet you I could do it." Phantom's eyes have that disturbingly obsessive gleam in them again. "Bet you I've thought of something you haven't."

"Uh huh. And what would that be."

"All have to do is threaten to snitch on him." The boy's grin widens mischievously. "To you."

"..."

"Come on, think of it," the sailor wheedles. "He hates you fusing over him. It's why you never give me those don't-touch-my-almost-dad talks while he's still in earshot, yeah?"

Twilight's face does a funny little twitch.

"I know it, you know it, and I'd bet good money the others know it too," Phantom presses on. "How much more self-preservation do you think we could squeeze out of him if we pretend that the alternative is me giving you more reasons to shoot him worried looks all day and do that hovering thing you like to do?"

The older hero appears to consider this seriously for a long, long moment. Phantom leans in, eyes wide and imploring.

"...Nope. Still not telling you anything." Twilight tries to keep his face stern, even as a traitorous twitch pulls at the corner of his mouth. "You're not going to trick free blackmail out of me that easily."

The boy deflates. "Screw you," he grumbles. "It would've worked. I know it would've worked."

Twilight ruffles the grumpy kid's hair. "It was a nice try," he offers, and accepts the kick to the knee he gets in return as his due.

(In his bedroll across the clearing, pretending to be asleep, Time feels something tight and anxious in his chest finally begin to relax. He's nearly giddy with the sheer relief of his epiphany.

That's how he'll keep Phantom from pulling stunts this stupid again. Tell Tetra.)

[sweetsubharry]

do have any mpreg fics? (harry gets pregnant ofc)

Yes I do!!  💖 also of course ;) there’s about 54 in this list if I counted correctly!! so it’s a long one! 

Please stay safe and read the tags everyone!!

Worth the Wait by lovelarry10

“Harry, you’re scaring me. Why did you need me to come home? I don’t mind, not if you need me, but… tell me what’s happening, love.” “I…” Harry cleared his throat, but still the words wouldn’t come. His shaking hand reached down and pulled out the picture, his breath coming in shallow pants as he handed it to Louis, who took it from him, frowning down at it.

“Whose is this?”

Louis’ blue eyes met Harry’s green then, and Harry knew he had to tell the truth.

“It’s mine. Ours. I’m pregnant, Louis.”

*****

Louis and Harry had long ago come to terms with the fact they couldn’t have children. Rapidly approaching their forties, they’re settled at work, and more than happily married.

Life, however, has other plans for the Tomlinsons.

Fill My Heart With Sweetness by loopdelouis

Harry's a late bloomer, but since his luck is shit, it's no surprise that he'd be the last to get a heat, but the first to get pregnant. In high school.

Count The Wolves And We'll Sleep Tonight by scribblewrite

Louis's the Alpha of a powerful pack and Harry's his omega.

When Harry's taken by rogue alphas, Louis will do anything to bring him home safely.

yes, you make my life worthwhile by orphan_account

Harry whispers to him that this feels like every dream he’s had for the last three years and Louis kisses his temple, behind his ear, across his cheeks and by the edge of his jaw. He runs the back of his finger across Winnie’s sleep-warm cheeks and sighs, the weight of the world finally off his shoulder.

Louis' a pediatrician, Harry's a preschooler teacher, and they're having a baby.

Weigh Us Down (We're In Love) by orphan_account

Harry’s eyes widen slightly at that. “We’re friends?”

Louis nods eagerly, smiling even wider. “Of course we are! You’re like, my first ever friend here. We just moved in, you see. Did I already tell you about that? Anyway! Maybe you can stay for dinner and I can show you my toys?”

Harry smiles. “You’ll let me play with you?”

Louis nods again, excited. “Of course!” He looks thoughtful for a moment, and then he’s slipping off the couch and crouching in front of Harry. “Oh, and Mum always kisses my wounds after she fixes them up. It makes me feel loads better all the time, so.” He leans forward and puckers his lips, pressing them over the bandage on Harry’s knee.

(harry and louis first meet when they’re eight and ten. this is their story throughout the years.)

love is so good when the love is young by drunkonyou

Louis falls for his pregnant best friend who has a bit of baggage. They make it work though.

fell in love in the morning sun by lumineres

“I'm going to die,” he wails. After about ten minutes of being in the car the discomfort got to be too much and Louis had to pull over so he could get on his hands and knees in the back seat, the only position that seemed to appeal to him. He let's out another pained cry, then grits out, “But not before I fucking kill you. This was your idea, I swear, what the fuck Louis.”

Louis does not correct him this time, he'd made that mistake two contractions ago and nearly lost his head. It had actually been Harry's idea, he'd told Louis that he hadn't forgotten the condoms, he wanted a baby. It really wasn't any trouble at all for Louis to oblige. Within a month of trying (what a wonderful month, honestly), Harry was full of Louis' baby. Like magic.

or, harry's in labor for 30 hours. louis believes in magic.

Vanished by FicNess

Harry loved Louis, Louis loved Harry. It was perfect. But after a small slip-up during some rather poorly planned sexytimes, Harry made the decision to run away. He was pretty good at hiding but Louis was also pretty good at seeking. And when Louis found him he also found a little surprise.

resolutions and lovers in the kitchen by orphan_account

Their dinner’s probably going cold, but this feels monumental. So instead of sitting them down on the table and talking about it face to face over chicken and pasta, Harry just puts his hands over Louis’ where they’re settled on his lower stomach, not letting the moment slip past them. He takes a deep breath, carefully arranging his thoughts. “She looks really lovely, Louis. Positively glowing. Her bump’s so big, and…” he trails off, breath hitching slightly when Louis lifts his hand higher, settling it right over Harry’s stomach, and that’s—

“And what, baby?” Louis asks, voice now dropped to a whisper, and Harry has to take a moment to collect his thoughts.

“She, um. She knows about you, of course, and she asked me when we’re—when we’re having a baby of our own.”

(harry teaches little kids and louis writes sports articles. they're trying for a baby.)

I'll Stand By You by harrystanslouis

Harry and Louis have been hooking up for two years. What happens when an unexpected surprise is thrown into their world?

-An mpreg, A/B/O AU featuring stupid boys in love, lots of pining, and a happy ending.

So Long I've Been Waiting by kikikryslee

Niall held up his glass in a toast. “Cheers.” Harry stared at Louis as he brought the glass up to his lips, unsure of what to do. It wasn’t like he could refuse the drink, but he certainly didn’t want to have any champagne. Louis monitored everyone else, and as soon as they all had their heads tilted back, drinking their mimosa, he reached out and knocked Harry’s glass right out of his hand, sending it crashing to the floor. “Oh, no!” Louis pretended to be shocked at what had just happened. “Harry, you’re so clumsy. You dropped your glass.” “Yes,” Harry said seriously. “I am very clumsy.” --- Or, the one where Harry and Louis are having their first baby, and keeping it a secret until the end of the first trimester is a lot harder than they thought it would be.

We Made These Memories for Ourselves by supernope

Breath held, Harry squints his eyes open and focuses on the first stick. A blue line. Harry breathes out an unsteady breath. He’s pretty sure he read that one blue line is a negative, but he fishes the box from the bottom of the pile just to make sure.

“Negative,” he confirms, voice echoing around the small room. “Next.”

Now that he’s feeling a little less shaky, he scans the rest of the tests at once, is met with a headache-inducing mixture of pink plus signs and blue double lines. His heart rate picks up until it’s pounding triple-time in the base of his throat and the pit of his stomach, thundering in his ears and throbbing in his temples. He flips over the rest of the boxes slowly, but he knows what they’re going to say before he even looks.

[or, Louis is a footballer, Harry owns a bakery, and they're having a baby.]

Nothing I'm Running From by swallowsmateforlife

The odds are one in a million. Chances are it's not going to happen to them.

or

It does happen to them and Harry Styles is pregnant.

deep in my heart i know there's only you by ballsdeepinjesus

"Will you do it?” Harry whispers. Louis has to lean closer just to hear him. He furrows his brows and shakes his head, not knowing what Harry means. “Would you donate for me?”

Louis is dumbfounded. “I’m sorry, I thought you just asked if I’d donate my sperm. Can you repeat yourself?”

[harry and louis are best friends who engage in some platonic baby-making. very platonic.]

hard to confess by hereforlou

One, they only did it without a condom once (and a half) and not during his heat. Never during his heat. Two, he never once forgot to take his birth control (he’s almost sure). Three, his plan is to be married for a year before he even starts trying for a baby, and not only is he very, very single, him and Louis aren’t even sleeping together anymore. Which brings him to reason number four why this can’t be happening: Louis. Louis doesn’t want a baby with Harry.

(Or, the one where Harry knows he messed up and Louis knows nothing.)

Piece by Piece by SadaVeniren

He rubbed his hand over his lower stomach and closed his eyes. Louis was going to lose his fucking mind.

(aka Harry tells Louis he's pregnant and it goes as expected)

Fallen Far From the Tree by SadaVeniren

“I’m so excited.”

“Me too,” Louis said. “Just think, it’s gonna be you and me forever.” He even managed to sing song the end of the sentence.

Harry snorted. “That’s not how the line goes. And besides, it’s not gonna be you and me forever. It’s gonna be you, and me, and this little one.”

He could see the smile stretch across Louis’ face. “Yeah. You’re right.”

(aka Harry and Louis go through the ups and ups of pregnancy)

Right Here Waiting by lovelarry10

Louis and Harry are expecting a baby. Harry's heavily pregnant and nesting madly, determined to make their home ready for their baby.

(i didn't mean to) fall in love tonight by zouisclimax

Harry texts him back a thumbs up emoji before leaning forward and throwing up again. He groans, but stands after he’s done, wiping his mouth with toilet paper, and flushing the toilet.

He washes his mouth out as best as he can before steeling himself and heading back to class, trying his best not to cry. He tells himself that there is no point in worrying when he doesn’t even know if there is anything to worry about yet.

He still feels sick.

[or, the American boarding school AU where Harry's infatuated with Louis and one night flips his whole world upside-down]

you fit me better than my favourite sweater by brightbluelou

Harry didn't mean to fall in love with his best friend, and he definitely didn't mean to get pregnant. Despite that, it’s probably still the best thing that’s ever happened to him. And after that, well. It just kept getting better.

or; the one where Harry and Louis are friends-with-benefits and Harry unexpectedly gets pregnant. Harry never wants to stop getting pregnant after that, but Louis thinks seven kids is probably enough.

Running Down To The Riptide by sweaterpawstyles

"I can't give you your present yet, Lou."

Louis furrowed his brows. "And why is that, my love?"

Harry smiled at his lap. "Because your present is under my sweater," he pulled his free hand that wasn't laced with Louis' and gently laid it on his stomach. "I'm pregnant."

Or

It's New Year's Eve and Harry has a surprise under his sweater

When I'm Lost I feel so very Found by sweaterpawstyles

Louis posted a picture a few minutes later of Harry kissing his cheek and captioned it as "My baby is having our baby :)"

It ended up getting almost a million likes in just a few hours and Louis' phone was blowing up with texts of congratulations from his friends. Harry couldn't stop blushing.

Or, the one where Harry is an average university student who winds up pregnant with rising actor Louis Tomlinson's child

Gasoline Stars by galacticlourry (orphan_account)

It reminded him of stardust, of the history of suns, and he supposed that was what the boy asleep on his shoulder had been created out of. The history of suns.

...

Or, an AU where it's all nice and innocent until someone ends up pregnant. (That would be Harry.) Also known as the Mpreg AU I've doubt you've read before.

Answer All Your Wishes by SadaVeniren

Harry and Louis met when Harry was thirteen and as first impressions go theirs was memorable enough to start a life long romance.

AKA a Tom Fletcher/Giovanna Fletcher AU where Louis is part of One Direction, Harry is the love of his life who blogs, and they have many, many children.

Claire de lune by Neondiamond

"We're having a baby Lou." he heard him say softly.

"We are babe, we are." Louis whispered into his husband's curls. "We're having a baby."

OR: Harry and Louis have wanted a baby for a while now, and now Harry's finally pregnant.

we've got a lifetime to kill by louislovesharry

harry and louis have a three year old daughter, evie, who is their whole world, and another little girl on the way. when harry falls and is put on bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy, louis and evie must adjust - but it is all worth it for their newest addition to the tomlinson family.

Dirty Little Secret by therogueskimo

“Can’t let Gemma … she can’t find us,” Harry gasped against Louis’ lips, kicking his jeans off.

“Why?” Louis breathed against his mouth, working his lips down along the line of his jaw and onto his neck.

“Just … I don’t want to – god, Lou – don’t want to deal with her reaction. Just want it to be us.”

“Our dirty little secret, eh?”

_____________

Or the one where Harry and Louis fall in love, but can’t figure out how to tell Gemma. That is, until Harry gets pregnant, and they don’t have much of a choice.

Come In and Change My Life by lightswoodmagic (sarah_writes)

He’d had the same neighbours since he’d moved into the building, a lovely, wealthy couple in their late sixties who had always invited him around for tea on Sundays. Martha had dropped off homemade biscuits the day he’d moved in, so Harry figured he may as well repeat the sentiment. He could hear someone getting closer to the door just as a flush ran through his body; oh fuck. His heat was close, too close to be knocking on a potentially unknown alpha’s door, but it was too late. The door swung open, and Harry’s mouth dropped. He’d never been overly interested in football, couldn’t find the fascination in watching men run around after a ball for hours aside from their uniforms, but he knew who this was. Louis Tomlinson, alpha, captain of Manchester United, star in a number of Harry’s heat addled fantasies, was his new next-door neighbour.

Or, Harry and Louis become friends when Harry looks after Louis' cat during away games, until one night at a party changes everything between them. It's just a shame Louis' going to be away for the FIFA World Cup for three months.

Put It Into Words by orphan_account

“It’s a good storm though, our families,” Louis says, flopping down on to the bed and cuddling close to Harry. He tucks his arm around Harry’s waist, kissing his temple. “The Cheshire house is perfect to raise the baby; your mum’s close, and my mum can stay in the guest bedroom when she visits.”

“And until then we have the long weekend to ourselves.”

Or, Harry and Louis go on a babymoon.

I Get To Love You by lovelarry10

A one night stand leaves Harry with a permanent reminder of the night he spent with a stranger.

Louis has no idea who the handsome stranger he took to bed is... until his friends make a shocking discovery.

A baby is on the way, and Louis and Harry have nine months to get to know each other before they become a family...

Dancing Shadows by SadaVeniren

The house was quiet by the time Louis walked up to it. He’d been away for a week and while it wasn’t the longest he’d ever been away from the pack, it was the longest he’d been away from Harry and the kids.

A Perfect Reason by Chelsea Frew (chelseafrew)

During a visit to a charity he'd like to support, Prince Louis--next in line to the throne of the United Kingdom--meets Harry, the man of his dreams. Trouble is, Louis is not out, and the law says his heirs can only be born of a woman. Louis is determined not to let that stop his pursuit of Harry. His determination doubles when Harry accidentally becomes pregnant. He and Harry will have their little family--and change the monarchy while they're at it.

Another Constellation to Trace by screwstyles

Louis wiggles his eyebrows. “I’m winning that bet.”

“What bet?” comes Niall’s excited voice from behind them, followed by footsteps. “I wanna be in on the bet!” he shouts, prompting Harry to quickly roll down his shirt sleeve and straighten his shirt where it’s still crinkly after Louis’ hands.

Niall takes one look at them and purses his lips in a tight line. “Were you guys making out again? Isn’t the fire meant to die down a bit after eight years?”

“Trust me, the fire is still very much alive,” Louis winks at Harry. “One could even say it’s cooking something.”

-

Mpreg AU: Louis and Harry bet on who can keep Harry's pregnancy a secret for longer. Neither of them is particularly good at it, and it doesn't help that their soulmate tattoos make it even harder.

Made From Love by lovelarry10

It's almost Christmas, and amongst the preparations, Louis' realised something about his husband Harry.

Harry, however, seems to be oblivious.

Louis' determined to open Harry's eyes and make him realise the real magic that's happening this Christmas...

years go by, whether you want them to by louislovesharry

A girl. They were having a little girl, and Harry couldn’t be happier. He had dreamed of having a daughter for as long as he could remember. A tiny little angel that he could dress up, have tea parties, pick flowers with. And if that wasn’t her thing, Louis could play footie with her, they could teach her how to play guitar and play with toy trucks. There was nothing Harry wanted more than to have and hold this beautiful creature that they had made together out of pure love, and nurture and cherish her for always.

The 'Oh my God it's twins!" Drabble. by FicNess

The 'Oh my God it's twins!" Drabble.

another pair of feet by honey_beeing

where Harry is pregnant and Louis is an oblivious idiot.

I will Only have these eyes for you by Dysia

Harry's pregnant and Louis' more in love with him than ever.

Don't ever let this day stop by Dysia 

Louis comes back home earlier than he was suppose to and he's surprised with the best present ever. 

i will rearrange the stars (pull 'em down to where you are) by orphan_account

Except-- the antibiotics. They'd fucked to celebrate Harry finally feeling better and not being contagious after his fight with strep-- but the antibiotics had likely still been present. And everyone knew suppressants and birth control didn't work when on antibiotics.

"Lads," Harry repeated once again, blinking slowly as his eyes filled with tears. Liam and Niall were staring at him in bewildered silence. "Lads. I'm, like, ninety-eight point seven percent sure I'm up the duff."

Alternatively, the one where Omega!Harry gets pregnant

To Carry Love by dimpled_halo 

During One Direction's hiatus, Harry becomes unexpectedly pregnant, and Louis does his best at becoming the most supportive husband he can be.

Fists Alongside Hearts by mpregharryqueen

Louis is a superhero protecting New York City. He never planned on having a sidekick and especially never planned on having a baby with said sidekick.

AU based very loosely on the cinematic masterpieces, Sky High and The Incredibles.

On His Way Home by denisemuriel

“Ehm, yeah.” Harry looked down onto his lap, fumbling with his fingers. “It’s Louis’.” He replied quietly. “Oh my god.” A voice that didn’t belong to his sister Gemma replied. When Harry looked up from his lap, he saw Lottie standing across the room in the door frame and his eyes grew as wide as hers. She was Louis’ fucking sister, damn it. And now she knew that he was pregnant with her brother’s baby. “Lottie, your fucking brother got my baby brother pregnant!” Gemma exclaimed.

Or the one where Harry is set up on a blind date with his sister's best friend's brother

We Were Made to Love by supernope

“Everything all sorted? Need help with the buckles? I know they’re a bit tricky in this compartment.”

The voice startles Louis out of his daze, and he turns toward the voice to let him know he figured it out. When he catches sight of the owner of the voice, though, his response dies in his throat. Whatever he had imagined the conductor of a children’s train that rides around the shopping centre in Leeds would look like, this is certainly not it.

Leaning through the window, arms folded across the sill, is a green-eyed angel with cherry red lips stretched wide in a smile and dimples flirting in his cheeks. A black conductor’s hat is the only confirmation that this is not some gorgeous stranger who’s come to flirt with Louis through the window of a children’s train, but is just a man doing his job.

[or, Harry drives a kiddie train in the shopping centre for the summer and is obsessed with babies, and Louis never stood a chance.]

Baby, What a Big Surprise by kiwikero

As Harry settles into his seat, self-consciously adjusting his shirt over his slightly distended stomach, he can’t help but wonder how he got himself into all this. But he knows, of course he knows. It isn’t exactly easy to forget the moment that changed his entire life forever.

It all started with a party.

Or, the one where shy, quiet Harry has no idea he's a carrier, and a one night stand with the most popular boy in school shows him just how wrong he was.

Featuring Lottie as Harry's best friend, Niall as her boyfriend, and, of course, Louis as the popular boy with a soft spot for his little sister's quirky friend.

here comes the sun by orphan_account

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Louis promises, his pink, chapped lips moving slowly in the cold. It matches the beanie on his head—pink, because they found out this morning that they’re having a girl and that’s just.

Harry’s going to be a dad. To a little girl. Five months from now he’ll be holding her in his arms, and she’ll be so lovely and small.

They’re going to have a spring baby and she’s probably going to have Louis’ eyes. What a blessing that would be. Harry crosses his fingers on the hand inside his pocket, hoping that she does. He’ll love her either way—blue or green or even brown eyes, it doesn’t matter—but he’d really like them to be blue, he thinks.

[Harry is a pediatric specialist, Louis is a neurosurgeon. All they want is a baby.]

and the sun shines upon your face by rosegarden

“It's just – it feels weird. To tell her that her twenty year old closeted son got knocked up in the middle of a stadium worldwide tour.” Louis laughs and Harry's heart squeezes at that beautiful sound. “Well it does sound weird when you put it like that.” “I don't 'put it like that'. It's the truth.”

or

the one where Harry really, really likes making plans but plans don't really like him, Louis is an overprotective-future-dad-to-be and Niall, Liam and Zayn race to be the godfather.

everywhere (i wanna be with you) by itiswhatitisbutterfly

Harry and Louis meet because they have terrible friends, they fall in love because something feels right in a world of uncertainty and shifting grounds. Louis is an actor and Harry is a model at the top of his game, the best things in life are the most unexpected ones and the things that hit you when you are least expecting it.

Featuring winter in London, nights in Paris, early mornings in New York, burning heat in Monte Carlo and an enduring love spent transcending four corners of the globe.

kiss full of color, makes me wonder where you've always been by louislovesharry

after a rough day dealing with his three kids and louis being gone, a very pregnant harry is exhausted. louis helps make things better, always.

you make my whole world feel so right when it's wrong by orphan_account

“Curly?” Louis says, stepping into Harry’s sight. “You okay?” Harry looks up from where he has two things in his hands, a thick winter coat sized for a newborn, and a sweatshirt fitting a grown man such as himself. He looks up at Louis, stricken, and holds them out for him to see. “They’re the same price,” he says. “They’re both forty dollars! Forty dollars for such little material.”

(or, Harry is pregnant and stops at the mall to buy cheap baby clothes. Louis has extra money from working a long shift, and he can't think of a better way to spend it than on him.)

i'll be your sunflower by scagnetism

“What do you think’s gonna stop us now?” Harry says cheekily, laughter in his voice as he looks up at Louis. “Something’s gotta get in our way like always, doesn’t it?”

“Ha,” Louis grins, kissing his cheek and holding open the door for him as they make their way toward the car. “Nothing’s gonna interrupt us this time. ‘S gonna be perfect, just like Pumpkin.”

Or, a few interruptions aren't going to stop Harry from having a perfect pregnancy and having the family he and Louis have always dreamed of.

The Original Mpreg!Harry by Chelsea Frew (chelseafrew)

series

i'll put my future in you by louislovesharry

series

Picture Perfect by LittleBubbleStyles

an AU where Louis Tomlinson is a misunderstood football player, and Harry Styles is a misunderstood photographer. Somehow, they're understood together.

*just a note to say this is a wip but it is almost completed and updated regularly!

[amerrierworld]

in dreams (pt 1)

The Hobbit fanfiction

note: just for fun, this tid-bit takes on the classic ‘reader falls into middle-earth’ trope during the hobbit. you’re in rivendell, with the Company, and then the most beautiful elf in the whole fucking world appears. wohoo!

Summary: You meet the Lady of Lothlorien for what you think is the first time, but she’s already very acquainted with who you are.

Characters: Galadriel x fem!reader, the Company, Gandalf

Word Count: 1,123

You dangled your feet into the cool water of the fountain as a rugged group of dwarves around you stripped with no care in the world. A few kept some clothing on, but others, like the younger, brassier ones, didn’t really worry about anyone, especially you, seeing them in their birthday suits. 

You’d been their traveling companion since the beginning of this quest, and you quickly grew fond of them, despite their loud and medieval behaviour at times.

“Lass, quit yer staring!” Dwalin shouted at you. You snorted with amusement, because you hadn’t been staring anywhere inappropriate, but rather watching the low sun in the distance.

“Aye, what’s on our ol’ lass’ mind, then?” Gloin asked. “The Elven wine get to yer head?”

“By Durin, if you could even call that shite wine,” Dwalin responded. “Give me ale over fruity elf drinks any day!”

You chuckled, “they’re really not that bad, I really don’t see why you all have such a problem with Elves.”

“Oh, that tale goes back centuries, dear,” Balin said, squeezing droplets of water from his snow white beard. He was doing the same as you, rolling up his trousers to stick his feet in the water while lounging on the stone edge. “Now’s not the time, unless you want a few heads to start rollin’ around on the floors here.”

You continued, “I mean, sure, Elrond can be a bit prickly with you lot, but that’s because you’re all feasting on his food and drink like pigs.”

“He’s not as bad as the other one,” Fili shouted. 

“That one’s just a prick and nothin’ else,” Kili cackled in response, clapping his brother on the back and proceeding to wrestle him under the water. You were sprayed with a haze of water as they thrashed about.

“Who?”

“Thranduil,” Balin sighed, nodding to Thorin. The Dwarf King-in-exile snarled in response to the name, crossing his arms over his chest from where he was leaning against the edge of the fountain.

“Oh, well, yes, he’s a real asshole, obviously,” you said, earning a few chuckles. “So, Elrond’s a bit uptight, Thranduil can go die in a hole, but, what about Lothlorien? The other Elven realm,” you picked at your thumbnail, “what do you know of that leader?”

“Strange, I’ve heard,” Gloin piped up. “A real elf witch if ye ask me. Ye do so much as make eye contact with her, and yer under her spell for the rest of time!”

“You don’t say. I’d like to see that happen,” you grinned.

A glimpse of white light caught your eye. In the distance, crossing one of Rivendell’s bridges was a tall blonde being dressed in impeccable white. You could barely catch a glimpse of her face, but instantly you knew who she was.

Blushing, you wondered if she had heard everything that the Company was speaking of. 

“Anyways, why are you so interested in the Elf leaders? Getting tired of us Dwarves? We’ve got plenty of kingdoms to talk about, you know,” Kili threw his hands in the air and splashed you, as if you’d betrayed them in the most devastating way.

“Don’t be absurd!”

“I don’t believe her, boys. Come on!”

Fili and Kili lunged forward and before you knew it, your arms were being tugged and you fell face first in the water with a startled shriek. When you came up, soaked, your first instinct was to whip around and see if she was still standing on that bridge. 

She was. You turned beet red, because now she was staring at your strange party, frolicking in the water after you no doubt attracted attention due to your undignified scream.

“I’m gonna kill you,” you growled at the two brothers, eyes twinkling. You splashed more water at them, and they spluttered indignantly before moving to chase you again. 

-

Standing on the bridge, Galadriel stared at your strange party for a little while, before moving out of sight slowly, like wading through molasses. Her mind was racing. Your appearance in Rivendell had, quite honestly, startled the Lady of Light. She hadn’t expected you to be real. 

Your face and voice had only appeared in deep sleeps of hers, haunting her steps with your laugh, and yet you were never close enough for her to truly see or encounter you. 

Celeborn had been concerned for his wife, when she’d wake, restless, pondering. She’d barely spoken of you to him, but it didn’t take a genius, especially being her husband, to figure out what she was dreaming of.

“It is not uncommon to bond with more than one in a lifetime, my love,” Celebron had muttered during one dark and late night.

“Celeborn, this is not a bond like that of those married,” she’d retorted haughtily. “Whoever this is, isn’t real. She cannot be. I do not even know her.”

It went on for months, years. The sight of you here had frightened her to the point where she avoided greeting the Company altogether, no matter the importance of their quest, because how could you be here? Real, breathing and seemingly thriving. She had believed you didn’t even exist. 

And now here you were. A human from some faraway place, dazed by the sheer beauty of Rivendell’s magic, surrounded by burly and loud companions.

Galadriel wrung her hands. She made her way to stand on one of the balconies overlooking Rivendell’s forestry. Trying to tune out the shrieks and laughter of you and the Dwarves in the distance and keeping her own stoic, noble appearance.

“Something on your mind, my lady?” Gandalf had approached her and stood next to her on the ledge as the sun slowly set behind the trees. He leaned against his staff as a cool breeze wafted over them, ruffling his beard and her golden locks.

“Your human companion, Mithrandir,” Galadriel began quietly. “Who is she?”

“Oh, Y/N? Why, she’s quite a lovely companion, actually. I’m still not entirely sure how she came about our quest, and this place, but here we are. I do believe she was meant to be on this journey with us, but for what reason I do not know.”

The Lady remained silent. She felt young, and small, and unsure, as if she weren’t thousands of years old. You had unearthed an old and surprising feeling that not even her husband, her best friend of many centuries, had brought up in years. 

Butterflies. 

She cleared her throat, heat rising in her cheeks, yet she remained vigilant.

“My lady?”

“Will you bring her to me? I would like to get acquainted with her myself. Her circumstances seem odd and I wish to discuss them, learn more of her,” she drawled, eyes kept on the horizon. 

“Of course, Lady Galadriel.”

“No others, please, my friend. I do not wish to be judged by some lowly Dwarves who think I am a witch. And do not tell her it is me she is seeing. I do  not want to frighten her.”

“It takes a lot to frighten her, my lady, trust me,” Gandalf chuckled. “But I will do as you say. Hopefully you can make more sense of the girl than I can. I may be wise, but I am old and confused with the things she tells me.”

Galadriel’s face pulled into a smile and she breathed a little deeper. 

“Thank you, Mithrandir.”

-

A/N: hi, yes, welcome to me: procrastinator extraordinaire. I will post my scheduled fics soon! This was just to get myself back into the game because real life is hell, wouldn't you say? Bear with me, friends. Also, vote, if you’re American :3 I’m not, but I still think it’s important. Stay tuned for pt 2, lovelies <3

[narrators-journal]

The most dangerous game

I know I’ve been hella dead, but I return with my usual! Stano smut! I dunno why I adore writing these two so much, but I guess I’m attached, so yeah. Ya’ll get content.

CW: Predator/prey vibes, Xeno gets chased but there’s no real big acknowledgement of it.

It was likely because Xeno had developed a persistently wonky sleep schedule that he got so many night time jobs. That, he supposed, was why he was once again out at night hunting another Vampire, despite having told his boss of his run-in with a particularly pretty vampire. However, at the moment, Xeno somewhat wished he was dealing with Stan instead. At least with him he could rely on his need to flirt and toy with him to give him away. But no, the scientist wasn't hunting Stanley, but instead a completely different vampire who was proving his dislike for hunting the blood sucking monsters. Taking advantage of how dark the night was, the human's weaker vision, and whatever ninja techniques he had learned from the internet, the young vampire had hidden annoyingly well in the thick blanket of shadows and clutter on the streets. So, the white-haired college graduate was poking around at every rock and thicket of grass or bushes along the sidewalk before the boiling irritation in his veins got to be too much and he let out a mix of a groan and a scream like a tea pot. Stomping over to one of the few flickering street lights on the road, the hunter stood in the light and dug out his knife, then used it to slash at his stomach to fill the air with the alluring scent of fresh blood. With a pained hiss and the new wet feeling of blood dripping sluggishly down his pale skin, the trap was set, and all the hunter had to do was wait for the shallow cut to work its magic. Which, didn't take long. All Xeno had time to do was get one of his metal stakes from his pocket and extend it, then he was set upon by the vampiric ninja-wannabe. However, despite his skill at stealth, the vampire was young in both a human and vampire sense. Freshly turned at a young age, he'd become a problem because he had yet to grow out of his pubescent hormones quite yet, and giving him a predatory draw and increased strength had only encouraged him to turn hard into the bad boy persona. Sadly, being a new vampire wasn't all improvements. It also meant an increased hunger and little control of your newfound strength. Which is what had led the young man to be targetted by the monster hunter association, and swiftly wiped out by a stake through the throat via Xeno Wingfield. With a grunt, the monster hunter threw the freshly dead young man to the sidewalk, wincing at the burning and itching sting bending down to yank the stake from his throat brought to his stomach. For a moment or so, he felt bad for the creature. He'd been young, and he'd let his newfound powers obviously go to his head after a lifetime diet of anime and movies, the silver haired hunter could understand his over excitement, but he also had little to no patience for dumbasses who couldn't register that they weren't in Naruto. So, his sympathy was brief, and he was soon just dragging the young creature's corpse into some bushes and calling the cleaning crew to come collect him. Then. He spoke.           "God damn, Doll. You're quite attractive when you're being lethal." Stan hummed, hopping down from his hiding spot in a nearby tree and giving the hunter a charming smile that he refused to admit brought a little heat to his face.         "Oh, so you're just gonna become a full blown stalker now? Did you follow me from my house, or was this another 'coincidental' run-in." Xeno's words dripped with sarcasm and venom, but the vampire simply rolled his glacial blue eyes,          "Actually, I'm here because I smelled fresh blood," At the mention of fresh blood, the scientist glanced down at his work shirt, spotting the tiny stain of blood his cut had left,          "Oh." He inwardly winced at how disappointed he sounded, but tried to recover with a sniff, "I had trouble luring the bastard out. It was quite the shock for me to find out that not every vampire would want to chase me down and prowl around my house for the entire fucking night." Stan simply snorted, fishing out a pack of cigarettes and lighting one before he spoke again,          "Nah, that's just my thing, doll,"         "Quit calling me doll! You have my name now, fucking quit." The vampire put his hands up in mock surrender, though his smirk didn't falter under the scientist's withering glare. For a moment, they simply stood in the cool night's darkness, the hunter with his arms crossed and dark eyes narrowed, and the vampire returning his malicious look with his own nonchalant, half-lidded one while he breathed whispy smoke from his dark mouth. Both men seemed to dare the other to say something or do anything, each looking for an excuse to make some sort of contact until the smaller male spoke again,           "Are you expecting me to run away? Because I told you the first time we met, I'm not likely to do that," He huffed, but Stan simply shrugged,           "I'm just messing with ya, doesn't matter to me if you run or not." He grinned more at the lightning fast moment of irritation on Xeno's face, but the hunter schooled his facial features back into their usual disdain-filled glare, only broiling with frustration on the inside. He hated this man's relaxed demeanor. He was a monster hunter, the tall, hypnotically pretty predator should be avoiding him at all costs. Yet here he was, needling at him as if he couldn't end him just as quickly as he had the younger blood sucker. Okay, well, not as quickly. Stanley had a good four inches on the monster hunter at least, and had a body that had been frozen at the prime of his life, toned and pruned like an artfully shaped shrub through the years into a gorgeous, powerful example of why humans were the apex predators of the world. Or, well, they were, but with his change into the more monstrous his status as the perfect predator had only increased. Stan was perfectly built to hunt humans. Not only did he have a supernatural magnetic beauty to him, but he'd been human, so he knew how humans behave first hand. He was a nightmarish wet dream. Xeno gave his head a good shake to banish those thoughts from his mind when he realized he was looking the vampire over with the hunger of a sugar baby sizing up their next piggy bank.           "Hey, Xeno," Stan hummed, but the hunter refused to look back at the man, which he simply took as a greenlight to continue, "you wanna play our little game tonight?" The hunter snorted in response, staring off into the darkness while his cheeks cooled,           "I thought you were only here to bother me, not play a game of fucked up tag," He said calmly, only looked back at the man when he heard him walking closer, only stopping when he was about two feet away, maybe within reach, a grin on his pretty face,           "Well, I thought it'd be a bit more polite to offer that rather than just asking if I could drink your blood outright." he reasoned, amused at the edge of poutiness that he seemed to sniff out through the veil of aloof indifference the hunter spoke with.            "No thanks to either offer, I don't want to be chased tonight." Xeno sniffed in response, simply adding a thicker layer of ill temper to cover how excited he was at the thought of being pursued a second time. The first time had, admittedly, given him a thrill, but he wasn't ready to voice such to the annoying vampire in front of him. However, Stan seemed to have picked up on his kryptonite from that first round,              "But aren't you curious to see what happens when you add the scent of blood to the mix?" The purr in the man's voice annoyed Xeno immensely, but the thought of maybe learning just how sensitive vampire instincts were, and how quickly one would succumb to them. Obviously young vampires are more prone to being controlled by their need to feed, but Stanley isn't a new vampire, that curious voice mused, already setting Xeno on a very likely stupid and dangerous path, It'd be immensely helpful to know just how easy it is to bring out those base urges in him. If he's going to follow you around it's best to know what to avoid so he doesn't go feral. It further encouraged, stoking the flames of the scientist's natural curiosity until he hummed,              "I suppose it would be useful for the association to know exactly what triggers a vampire to go into a frenzy of some sort. Fine." The vampire grinned at that,             "You do know that I can't promise my feeding instinct is the only one that'll come to the surface," he pointed out, making Xeno blink and raise an eyebrow at him,             "What? Why would any other instinct come into play?" turning red as Stan laughed,               "Well, in simple terms, I find you too attractive to promise that when I catch you I'd only want to drink your blood~" Xeno's face warmed up more at that, getting huffy and tripping over his words in his rush to snap at him.               "You can have a five minute head start, just like last time," he simply assured, "Just need a bit of blood, because your original scratch has closed," He laughed more when Xeno pulled up his shirt to see that his shallow cut from earlier had in fact begun to heal, no longer bleeding and instead beginning to scab over. The hunter only responded with a glare at that point as he plucked his knife from the sidewalk where he'd dropped it and wiped it off before leaving another cut along his stomach, this one a bit deeper than the first, but not enough to linger for more than a day or two. With that, Stan gave him a charming smile that showed his extending fangs, his blue eyes already getting a hungry gleam to them. So, without further conversation, Xeno took off down the street. The cuts on his stomach stung and itched more from his running, but he pressed on. His main concern was regulating his breathing and energy so that he could get as far away from the vampire as he could in his small window of time. Naturally, his plan wasn't to just run in a straight line and wait to be caught, not only would that likely be dangerous, as a vampire in a feeding frenzy was much more violent, but was less likely to fulfill the goal of bringing those deadly instincts to the surface at all. So, instead, he sought out other people, a crowded area, maybe a shop, that way it wasn't as easy for the predator to catch up to him. This is insanely stupid, that voice of reason finally spoke up, not only am I playing with fire by instigating an instinctual reaction, but I am woefully under prepared to run from Stan. He realized, filling his veins with icy terror when the weight of his situation fully sunk in, The first time we did this I barely survive on pure panic and him toying with me. If he really loses his shit and goes into a frenzy, I can't outrun him. The reality of the thought hurt, but it was sorely true. Despite all of his training as a monster hunter, Xeno had never been one for good cardio, namely in the stamina category. He relied on his wits and pure speed, not his ability to maintain those speedy response times or pace for long periods. but it's too late now, he reminded himself, thinking back to the way the vampire's fangs had extended so soon after he'd given him a fresh source of scent. Nope, he couldn't chicken out now. He had no choice but to stick to his plan and push the panic and fear aside. Instead, he simply focused on the route ahead of him and locked onto the light of a store further down the street, which he headed for instantly. The bright, artificial light blinded the pale scientist for a moment when he stumbled into the store, but he was swift to regain his barrings and dash down the aisles and through the crowds of night owls and whatnot that were still up at this hour. He knew that his five minutes had ended a minute or so before. Meaning he didn't have long before the vampire would be on his ass. So, thinking quickly, he swiped his hand over his wounds, then smeared the blood on his palm onto the tile flooring in an aisle. Once he had that down, Xeno ran off deeper into the store. He had very few places to hide. The bathroom was basically a dead end with no windows and only one door, he couldn't climb up the shelves or to the rafters in a timely manner, so he forwent that plan. Instead, he did the next best thing. leaving as distracting a trail as possible before bolting out one of the fire exits.            "Shit," he wheezed when the fire exit triggered a screaming alarm through out the store. If Stan was in there, he'd definitely know he got out now, but that only meant the scientist had less time to think of such things. He had to focus on running. So, Xeno ignored the way his legs throbbed, and his lungs ached from gulping down the cold night air. He focused entirely on getting home, or at least to a more residential area. He could feel his limbs getting heavier, threatening more and more to give out with each step, but his grit his teeth and bared it until the threat became reality and the asphalt bit into his skin. And there he laid for a few seconds, gasping for air and scraping up as much energy as he could to push himself to his feet. As he did, he glanced back down the street, and sure enough. Stanley was coming out of the alley Xeno'd run out of, his glowing blue eyes locking onto the scientist in an instant. With another curse spat out through gritted teeth, Xeno took off again. His legs still screamed from exhaustion, and now his hands stung viciously from the fall, but he kept going. He could hear Stan closing in on him, which gave him a final burst of frantic energy that carried him to at least the park near his home before the vampire finally tackled him to the grass. The scientist could only wheeze in response, letting the vampire crush against him and push his face into his pale neck with a growl. That seemed to snap him out of the exhaustion cloud, and in an instant, Xeno was squirming and forcing himself up once again. The only way he managed it was because the vampire was taken by surprise, so he was able to slip from his grasp and scramble up, but he only got a few more steps before he had to lean against a tree for support so that his legs didn't crumble a third time. Then, just as quickly as he'd gotten away, Xeno was back in Stan's luke-warm arms, trapped against his needlessly heaving chest with his fangs hovering over his jugular once more. However, he didn't bite down. To the contrary, the feral vampire seemed to hesitate for a moment, seemingly weighing his options of what to do with the hunter before settling on a choice and swiftly switching to almost slamming him against the nearest tree.           "S-Stanley!" The hunter wheezed, more surprised then anything, pushing back so that his face at least wasn't forced into the course bark and he could look back to try and see the blonde behind him. Said blonde was keeping him in place with a hand on one of his shoulders, looking Xeno in the eye and almost relishing the dawning realization that painted his pale cheeks before he used his free hand to hook into his pants and tug them down pretty roughly. Then, he was back at the man's neck, but this time he bit with his blunter teeth, sucking at the skin until Xeno's mewls and hums were pulled out and he was satisfied with the hickey he'd left. The scientist, meanwhile was a bit ashamed of how quickly he accepted the turn of events. He tried to save some face by muffling the noises bubbling in his throat, but Stan's mouth at his neck, paired with the way he ground his groin into his now-bear rear drug a few noises out. Though, it also bat back the fog of hormones and lust long enough for the hunter to realize that he was very likely to get hurt if he didn't intervene. So, he whined and reached up to tangle his fingers in Stan's messy hair, tugging at it until he finally relinquished his throat from the second hickey he was dedicated on leaving. Carefully, Xeno turned himself around with what little room he was permitted between the vampire's muscular chest and the much-less-forgiving tree. Once they were face to face though, the college graduate's brain no longer seemed to work, so, the two simply stood there, panting a bit from the chase, before he finally gave up on using words and instead simply sunk down to his knees. Keeping his eyes glued to the glowing blue pair above him as he went. Luckily enough for him, his actions at least intrigued the vampire, because he was allowed to tug his bottoms down just enough for his member to spring free, which earned him a noise somewhere between a growl and a hum. With Stan's pants down and his member now standing erect in front of him, Xeno hesitated. Should it matter if I'm any good at this sort of shit? I just need some sort of lubrication, and he shouldn't really care about anything beyond...mating, so surely he won't give a shit, right? He asked himself, puzzling over the predicament before Stan reached down to grab onto his shirt, reminding the scientist of his lack of patience. So, Xeno threw his insecurities to the wind and grabbed onto the base of the shaft so he could slip Stan's impatient member into his mouth. The vampire moaned in response, and Xeno took that as a sign that he'd bought a bit more time for himself. So, he slowed down, bobbing his head at a medium sort of pace to work himself up to taking as much of the length as he could, which, thankfully for him, was almost all of it thanks to years of speed-drinking coffee and energy drinks and eating at record speeds in college. He also found that once he actually got to moving, the embarrassment of his lack of skills faded away, and part of him simply enjoyed the groans he got out of Stan while he moved his lips up and down him at a steady pace. He simply continued to work him as much as he could until the vampire let out a little hiss and gripped onto the scientist's shirt until he pulled away and let his throbbing member go with a coy 'pop'. Suddenly, Xeno was yanked back to his feet and whirled around again to be slammed back into the tree. His pants were tugged down once more and his feet were kicked apart in rapid succession so the monster hunter only got a moment's break before Stan pushed into him. And while it hurt still, the white-haired man found that he didn't mind as much. As the vampire began thrusting into him, one hand clawing into his hip, the other on his shoulder, Xeno moaned out curses and did his best to grab onto the tree or Stan's neck to keep steady under the merciless thrusts of the blonde. It was shameful how hot his body got, but with how Stan was hitting that sweetspot within Xeno, his face back to being buried in his neck for more marks, Xeno couldn't care less.        "Mmmm, fuck! ah, r-right there, please!" he plead, tangling his fingers back into Stan's hair as he moaned, giving another lewd noise when his pursuer did as he asked, swiftly learning that doing so got more needy noises from the hormone-addled hunter. With that, Xeno lost all coherency as euphoria further fogged his mind, and soon brought him to his peak with a whine of the vampire's name. Though, Stan didn't stop when Xeno came, he just kept thrusting into him, still flooding his pale body with more and more pleasure while his hot puffs of breath tickled his hickey-littered neck. The continued rough treatment was beginning to sting, but the edge of pain only seemed to bolster Xeno's pleasure back to its peak, pushing a second orgasm from him before Stan finally grew sloppy with his thrusts and soon gave one final movement before emptying himself into the hunter. After that, the monster hunter let himself melt against the tree, relying on Stanley to hold him up because he was on the verge of passing out after that night's activities. The last thing Xeno remembered was giving a thumbs up to what he assumed was the question 'are you okay'. Then, he let his exhaustion take him into dreamland.

[sadoeuphemist]

Stories I thought about writing, but didn’t:

my voice is poisonous, a gift from a strange god my parents once befriended. I’m careful not to speak, but I know they’re afraid.

A poison-voiced girl is born to deaf parents, but falls in love with a hearing boy. Their courtship is marked on her end by a thrilling restraint, biting her lip, knowing she could kill him with an indiscretion; he, on the other hand, longs to see her act without inhibition. He manages to make her laugh, sigh, gasp out in wonder - each time he falls ill from the poison of her voice, but is undeterred even in his convalescence, returning renewed in his goal to tease another sound out of her.

Her parents tell her to break it off; she’ll kill him. She reluctantly agrees. He refuses, pleads with her, grasps her hands so she can’t sign. In anguish she cries out his name — but lo! he does not sicken, does not die. It turns out his repeated exposures to her voice have mithridatized him against it. She can speak around him freely! They both agree that this development has taken a lot of the excitement out of the relationship, but it has been replaced with a greater casualness and intimacy that balances it out.

I can see the angels in their true form, a thousand splendid eyes and all. They think it’s funny, and have taken to hanging around my apartment 

The angels start making excuses to keep showing up at my apartment, in the manner of the annunciation, but for increasingly trivial reasons. They come bearing tidings about how I should definitely get the turkey wrap for lunch, which brand of fabric softener I should buy, how that quarter I’ll find on the sidewalk is a sign that I am favored by God. They come bearing bad tidings too: The Lord has heard of all the evil in your printer, and has sent us here to jam it. Their presence becomes completely overbearing, but they are insistent. There’s a reason you see us in our true forms, they say, all their splendid eyes shining. Is it so hard to believe that the God that formed every atom of you in the womb should watch over you always, that every mundane moment of your existence in this world is shot through with the divine?

There was a body in the river, ice cold and snow white. Sometimes it was all the way dead. Sometimes it sat up and talked to me.

A king has declared that whoever can complete the following tasks shall marry his daughter: 1) to recover a lost treasure stolen from his family hundreds of years ago; 2)  to name the start of the pact between men and horses; and 3) to find a cure to the plague ravaging the land.

Our plucky folk hero helps an old lady who sits by the river; she tells him of the snow white body within, who has sat up and spoken to her at odd times throughout her life. It is the spirit of the glacier: the glacier melts, and forms the river; layer by layer the past frozen in it is uncovered, parts of it living and parts of it dead. Our hero builds many bonfires and melts the glacier faster; the body lives and dies and lives many times over and tells him the three answers. 1) The thief fell into a crevasse and was frozen over; the ice is melted now, and the treasure can be recovered. 2) Iron horseshoes frozen in the glacier reveal the pact is many thousands of years old. 3) The plague is an old one, frozen and released anew with the glacier’s melting; it is carried in the livestock, and they must be slaughtered.

The hero solves the king’s tasks and marries his daughter. Presumably the new king is then faced with the challenge of the rising sea levels; no idea how that plays out.

“We’re all nice to each other here,” they told us, “we’ve got angels in the hills. They like it when we’re nice. And they see everything.”

This one’s tough to summarize adequately. Two men are going door to door, seemingly taking a survey of the religious beliefs in a small town. They finish, sit together in their car. People have been very cooperative. One of the men remarks that the local religious beliefs are disappointingly unremarkable: yes, they believe in angels watching from the hills, but most people believe in an omniscient God watching over them, and whether it is God or his intercessors, does it make a significant difference?

They sit in the car. Perhaps they smoke in the lazy sunlight. They have finished their survey ahead of time. One of them proposes: Suppose we have a picnic lunch up in the hills?

They park at the base of the hill and walk up. Lovely day. They spread out a blanket from the car, stretch their legs out on the grass, take off their coats, loosen their ties. They’ve brought their packed lunch, sandwiches, a thermos of lemonade. They talk about how pleasant all the people were. Their kind of religion seems so ... brittle, one of the men remarks. If I thought there was someone waiting to punish me the moment I stepped out of line, I’d want to do something horrible just to get it over with.

You think so? says his partner. I think just the opposite. The grand problem with religion is that there aren’t enough consequences for wickedness. I know if I saw the wicked being smote down on a regular basis, I would very satisfied in my religion indeed.

Well, of course you would; you’re a sadist.

Me? A sadist? Hardly.

You’re a sadist, his partner says teasingly. A sadist and brute.

They smile at each other. Idle conversation. There is a suggestion that they have visited many such towns and cities, asking the same question, but have yet to receive a satisfactory answer. At one point one of them notes that there’s something in the trees, but this remark is ignored and nothing is ever made of it. The conversation turns back to whether the angels in the hills are real or not. The ‘sadist’ stands up, declares his intent to do something wicked to test them. He marches around, swinging his arms, then looks around at the trees and puts his hands on his hips and laughs.

You know, up here away from society, he declares, I can’t think of a single wicked thing to do!

(Maybe a conversation here about how he could tear branches from trees, despoil the scenery, find an animal to kill; but then again animals in nature strip bark from trees, kill each other bloodily all the time, tear each other to bits, so how wicked could that be, really?)

He looks down at his partner still lying back on the blanket. Unless, of course, I were to do something wicked to you.

Whatever happens next, it is very leisurely. The scene is easy, very relaxed. Lovely day. Calm. Bright blue sky. Clouds float across it, white like feathered wings, and then pass, leaving not a trace behind.

None of us can imagine what life was like before the Clocks came, before clockwork cities, and all their technology. They rebuilt our crumbling society, in perfect, mechanical order. 

Brief musings on a hypothetical pre-Clock society. A society built around the sun, all buildings roofless, everyone’s necks craned upward. Cities built running north to south so as not to block anyone’s view of the rise and set. A society built around hourglasses, everyone judging the passage of time by the sand puddling around their feet, knees, waists, clambering up onto growing dunes, waiting for the flip, for the sand to slowly drain away and the furnishings of their homes to be uncovered. Perhaps this was our unimaginable life before the Clocks came: sands stretching far away and bare, the hypothetical counterpart bulb of an hourglass reflected invisible above us, empty and vast with unrealized possibility, waiting to be reset.

When I was very young, I met a bear at the edge of the woods. Before I could play dead, it bowed to me.

Jokey little fic where a child is instructed on the etiquette of bears: when to bow, when to curtsy, when to raise your hands and make yourself as large as possible, when to climb a tree, when to play dead. (Note that grizzlies are territorial, so if they attack you and play dead they’ll leave you alone because the threat is neutralized; whereas black bears are not territorial, so playing dead will do no good because a black bear will only attack if it deliberately wants to fuck you up.)

I was given very specific instructions. Go to the rosebush on a clear night. As the moonlight turns the roses silver, feed them three drops of blood.

After years of trying for a child, a couple turns to an old witch to help. The woman is instructed to eat a rose from a magical rosebush. If she first pricks her finger and stains the rose red with her blood, then she will have a son, ruddy and robust and bold in battle; if she visits the bush on a clear night and eats a rose painted silver by moonlight, then she will have a daughter, as pale and graceful and elegant as the moon.

The woman is uneasy with the implications of this binary, and says so. The witch smiles and gives her a new set of instructions. So she pricks her finger at night, her blood painted black by the moonlight, and nine months later gives birth to a child as black as a rose, who is neither boy nor girl.

Never manged to come up with a plot for this one. The kid grows up to have a career fulfilling all those “Neither man nor woman” prophecies? Eh. Kinda corny. There’s something about gender roles in fairy tales here, but I couldn’t put it together.

Not for the first time, the company time loop drill had gone very, very wrong.

I did actually write a response for this one, but it got too long and I gave up on it. Summary of the rest of the idea I had:

Time resets. Nagle confirms that it is both an actual time loop and a drill; the company is doing a controlled time loop to prepare them for the real thing. People complain. What’s the point of a drill when an actual time loop would let you keep doing things over and over until you get it right? Nagle points out that could take years, subjectively, and that this is a controlled experience where he has a code to abort the exercise if anything seriously goes wrong. He insists they try to make it work.

They go through a bunch of loops. Don’t succeed. It’s highly technical stuff that none of them are trained for. Morale drops. People start complaining, they’ve spent hours at this, they should be off duty by now. Nagle points out there’s a ruling, established with VR training, that companies don’t need to pay their employees according to their subjective experience of time, and officially they’ve only spent 34 minutes at this.

More loops. Morale drops further. People start demanding Nagle use the abort code, threatening to quit. Nagle points out that while they’re in this time loop, their actions are consequence-free, but once he ends the loop they’ll have to live with their decisions for the rest of their lives. Are they sure they really want to quit?

At that point someone loses it and kills Nagle. Shock. Panic. Some satisfaction. He’s reborn the next loop, starts screaming about it - someone kills him again. Complete social breakdown. Eventually some people decide, fuck it, let’s just live in this loop forever. Killing Nagle becomes a standard thing they do at the start of every loop, so that he can’t input the abort code. They go through various reconfigurations of their social group - orgies, riots, open paranoia where everyone colonizes a different part of the building, regressing to primitivism, open warfare between various sects, rebuilding of society along different axes of thought. Everyone starts thinking of themselves as immortal, they start calling themselves things like ‘Chronobog of the Infinite Plane of Despair’ or whatever; the narration gets increasingly surreal.

After god knows how many cycles of this, everyone finally achieves an equilibrium of perfect enlightenment. They know what must be done. They leave Nagle alive, he watches as they move in perfect unison to unlock the server room and overcome all the obstacles and repair the tachyon servers, loop is finally terminated, normal flow of time resumes.

Nagle stands up, gives a speech, starts congratulating them on completing the drill. As he talks, everyone can feel the rapport they’ve built start to slip away - they no longer understand each other perfectly outside of the context of those 34 minutes. Time is moving forward again, and with it introducing unfamiliarity, uncertainty, an impossible onslaught of variables that they cannot predict or prepare for, and they are all moving inescapably further from each other even as they glance around and try to catch each other’s eyes and keep holding on to that feeling of perfect unity - but it’s too late now, they are strangers behind familiar faces, all of them heading in their own directions, going to be returning to their own separate lives; that moment of solidarity they had is past.

And then Nagle claps his hands at them and says, “OK, drill’s over, everyone back to work!”

[simplyswooningk]

Fanfiction Teaser: The Strategist| Coming April 2021 to FF.net and A03 | Chapter One, “The Professor & The Madman”

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Ron and Hermione

Premise: Begins Post Half-Blood Prince. “Wars are not for children,” Arthur said with a deep sigh. 

“It’s a good thing I’m not a kid anymore, isn’t it, Dad?” 

                                                     The Strategist  

“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”-J.R.R Tolkien

“The Minstrel-Boy to the War has gone! In the ranks of death, you will find him. His father’s sword he hath girded on and his wild harp slung behind him. ‘Land of song,’ said the warrior-bard, ‘Though all the world betrays thee. One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard. One faithful harp shall praise thee.’”-Thomas Moore

                                                    One:

                          The Professor & The Madman

Ronald Weasley had never seen Hogwarts so silent. The place seemed frozen, stuck, dead. He shuddered at his train of thought. It had been barely an hour since Albus Dumbledore, largely regarded as the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had ever known, had been laid to rest.

His murderer, Professor Snape, was gone, had left like the ruddy coward he was along with the rest of the Death Eaters. Snape had never been anywhere near Ron’s favorite teacher, but he never could have imagined anything like this. To make matters worse, Dumbledore had trusted Snape. That mistake had cost him everything.

Ron found himself sitting on the Quidditch Pitch. It was empty, no one had a thought for Quidditch. The days of worrying about his Keeper abilities and how to pass his N.E.W.T.S seemed as far away as his life before Hogwarts.  

His parents were catching up with old friends, but they had announced that they would be leaving in two hours, his mother was especially was eager for him and Ginny to be at home. He didn’t have the heart to tell her he wouldn’t be staying long.

Dumbledore had given Harry Potter a mission. You Know Who had a secret, several of them it seemed, and they had to find them all and destroy them. Horcruxes.  

He, Harry and Hermione Granger were setting off a mission to find and destroy each of those Horcruxes. Seven of them. Two had already been dispensed. And one would only be gone when He Who Must Not Be Named popped his clogs for good.

 Apparently, they could be anything. One they knew about. It was the locket of Slytherin. But who knew where they would find that?  

And then there was this mysterious R.A.B character who had somehow stolen the locket.  No one had the foggiest idea who he was. So, they were heading headlong into disaster without a clue as to what to do.

He honestly shouldn’t have been surprised. After his first year at Hogwarts, having to deal with a giant, living chess set and then a murderous diary, a violent tree and a killer snake in his second had pretty much taught him to be prepared for anything.  

There was a part of him that wanted to just go home. A part of him that wanted spend a quiet summer at home, go to Hogwarts for his seventh year and start life in the real world.

But he knew he was kidding himself. With Dumbledore gone and You-Know-Who gaining ground every second, if they didn’t end it, there wouldn’t be a real world. So, he would fight. There was nothing to do but fight. He knew Hermione felt the same way, but if he could’ve kept her away from it all, he would. More than anything, he wanted to keep her safe.  

Harry had disappeared somewhere off with Ginny, and although he had had his reservations about their relationship, there were far worse guys for his only sister to date. Although she couldn’t have picked a more troublesome bloke.  

Then again, Ginny had always liked trouble. She'd be coming back to school next year. Ron couldn’t imagine what Hogwarts would be like without Dumbledore.  

He looked up to the window where the old Headmaster’s office had been. It was hard to imagine anyone else ever being there.  

Hs eyes fell to the window where Potions class was. Snape had taught there, pretending that he wasn’t a Death Eater, pretending that he could be trusted. The whole thing made him want to vomit and then punch something.  

And then he thought of Slughorn. He apparently had written a fucking book for Voldemort: How To Make A Horcrux: A Guide for Fucking Demented Psychopaths. His mother had often told him that not all Slytherins were evil, but the whole lot of them seemed to be nothing but trouble.  

But then again, if he’d wrote the book, he might have the answers. 

He made his way back into the castle, grabbed the Marauder's Map from Harry’s trunk and searched for Slughorn’s name. He was in a part of the castle Ron had never ventured. But there was no time for trepidation now.

He made his way to the Teacher’s Wing. He found himself outside Slughorn’s quarters. He knocked, but there was no answer. Normally, he would’ve turned away, but it was no time to waste on civilities.

He walked in. “Professor? Professor Slughorn?”  

He heard some shuffling about and he instantly reached for his wand. These days, no one could be too careful.

“Oh, Mr. Wemby!” Ron fought the urge not to roll his eyes. This man literally had taught generations of his entire fucking family and he couldn’t remember his last name. It wasn’t as if they all bore a strong family resemblance and had the same hair color.  

Oh, wait a second, it was.

What made it worse was that he’d nearly died because of Slughorn and a box of Love Potion-tainted chocolate cauldrons.  

“How are you, my boy? Avoiding more poisonings, I hope?”

“Doing my best, sir,” Ron said with a smile. “If I might have a word?”

“Certainly, my boy,” said the aged professor and Ron noted that he took a rather pointed look at his hourglass. “Although I am in quite of a hurry.”

“You’re leaving Hogwarts?”

“Oh, no. I couldn’t dare. Now, with everything that’s happened. You-Know-Who will come for this place, I guarantee you. Someone will have to help watch over the students. No, I was just heading down to the greenhouses. With Death Eaters knocking on every corner, there’s a couple of plants that I should like to have on hand.”

Ron nodded and squared his shoulders. “Well, I won’t take up too much of your time, sir. Sir, I’m aware of what you gave Harry about...You-Know-Who.”

Ron watched the professor’s face go white. “Sir, believe, I’m not here to give you a hard time about it,” he said quickly. “I just want your help with something.”

Professor Slughorn’s back straightened. "I've already given Harry everything.” His voice was stiff and dismissive, but Ron didn’t have time to get upset.

“I know. But I was just wondering, is there anything else you know that might be helpful. You see, Harry’s going to try and destroy all of the Horcruxes. That’s right, he did make Horcruxes, sir. Six of them, apparently.  I'm going with Harry. Me and Ms. Granger. Is there anything you know that may be able to help us? Anything about Horcruxes, anything about You-Know-Who. Dumbledore said you were his favorite teacher.”  

The professor scoffed. “Ah yes, my claim to fame. The favorite teacher of the Darkest Wizard our world has ever known. What a nice epithet that will be, I’m sure. Of course, Harry would go for the Horcruxes. He’s Dumbledore’s man through and through.” Slughorn turned thoughtful for a moment. “That may not always be a good thing, mind you. Sit down, Weatherby.”  

Ron did as he was told.  

“I really shouldn’t tell you much,” the professor began. “It would be quite... well, I suppose none of that will even matter.” He sighed and Ron thought he was looking at a man who was clearly at war with himself.  

“I’ve often thought about that night, the night I told him about some of the darkest magic known to Wizarding kind. I believed his curiosity natural, admirable. How wrong I was. The first thing you ought to know is that none of the items will be insignificant. They'll be things that were important to him.  But they’ll also be things considered magically significant. He likes power, he like things connected with the past. Dumbledore—,” his voice caught briefly as he mentioned the old Headmaster, “may have told you as much. And his favorite place is this school. It is the only place he ever felt at home.”

Ron’s eyes widened. “Do you think one of the objects is here, sir?”  

“Well, there could be no better hiding place, could there?”  

“Sir, do you know how to destroy one?”

Slughorn sighed. “I have never learned the spell to create one. But a good wizard is curious about such things. But only curious. What I can tell you is that making horcruxes is not an easy business, my boy. Destroying them is far, far worse. There's only a couple of things in the world that can do so and most of them will kill a wizard just as easily. Basilisk venom, for one. I don’t think I need to tell how hard that is to come by. And no, I haven’t got any. If I did, I'd give it to you. There’s also Fiendfyre. It’ll destroy the Horcrux but if you’re not careful, it’ll take you right out with it. And then there is a Potion.”

“A Potion?”

Slughorn nodded. “Horcruxes, my boy, can be anything. Including flesh and blood. Now normally, you’d just kill the living thing and the Horcrux inside it right along with it. But, if for some reason, you want to remove the Horcrux without killing the host, there is a potion for that.”  

Slughorn got up from his chair and walked back to a cupboard, shuffling about for a moment before picking out a small vial with a reddish-black liquid. He brought it back to the table and handed it to Ron.

“This is Actuscaria. It's one of the rarest potions in the world. It's incredibly tricky to make and it has about a thousand different uses, one of them is destroying Horcruxes inside of living things.”

Ron looked at the potion, fascinated, more fascinated than he’d ever been by a potion before. “How does it do that, sir?”

“Actuscaria can only be made by love.”

Ron looked at the professor, blue eyes clouded with confusion.

“As in the act of love.” Ron still looked perplexed. “As in making it, Mr. Weasley.” 

Understanding dawned in Ron’s eyes, he turned bright red and eyed the bottle curiously. He was so fascinated that he didn’t realize that Slughorn finally got his blasted name right.

“But not just any act of love Mr. Weasley, the first act of love. To put it into frankly, the potion is made from the blood of a virgin witch.” Ron turned even redder, but if Slughorn noticed, he didn’t let on.  

“The blood that is shed during the act of deflowering.” Ron blushed again, this time the color of a ripe tomato. “Also, the blood has to be combined with the seed of the wizard who has deflowered her. Given that she has been deflowered, this combination happens rather naturally. Also, you need the entire fingernail of each of their left hands. Combine that with three drops of phoenix tears, brewed in a cauldron made from dragon’s eggs and the fire lit only with elm wood for eight days and seven nights. But the most important part of this is that the witch and wizard must be in love. Not some childish, silly infatuation, but truthfully, truly in love or it will not work. Horcruxes are formed by murder, a violation against nature. But the act of love, true love at its purest is the very affirmation of nature. It’s Old Magic, you see, nothing more powerful. Guard it, Mr. Weasley, with your life. Even if you never have cause to use it, it’s worth five times its weight in gold.”

Ron reached out a slightly trembling hand to grasp the potion. It seemed so unremarkable, so ordinary. It didn’t look revolting like Polyjuice or deadly like Night of the Living Death.

“Thank you, Professor...for everything,” Ron said, standing up. “I’ll need to finish packing.”

Professor Slughorn nodded and Ron began to walk away. Right before, he reached the door, he turned around.

“Professor, is there anything, anything else at all that you can tell me?”

The aged potions master looked up from his desk. “Yes. Godspeed, my boy. Godspeed.”  

Ron nodded. That wasn’t terribly helpful but he knew he meant well. Which considering the circumstances, was probably the most anyone could do.

“Mr. Weasley,” the professor called out before Ron had reached the back of the classroom. “Before you go, if you have a moment, feel free to take whatever you’d like from the Potions Storeroom. If you’re going to try and stop...him, you never know what you may need.”

Ron nodded and with one final farewell, he left the Good Professor to ponder that one fateful conversation. Ron had learned this year how much damage one action could cause.

As he headed back to Gryffindor Tower, he thought of everything the Professor had told him. Was it possible He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had hidden a Horcrux at Hogwarts? He didn’t pretend to know how the psycho thought, he left that up to Harry.  

But if you were going to hide something you never wanted anyone to find, where else would you hide it?  

He arrived in the Gryffindor common room, which was all but deserted. Hermione was sitting on the couch her legs propped up on her trunk, clearly deep in thought.

 He was supposed to meet his parents and Ginny in the Great Hall in a hour and a half. Hermione would be coming with them and then taking the Floo Network back to her house.  

She looked sad, she looked worried. She looked beautiful. All he wanted to do was hold her.

It hadn’t been the best year for their friendship. Theirs had always been a friendship of push and pull. But the past year, there wasn’t any pushing, only pulling away.  

He honestly didn’t know where it had all gone wrong. Okay, so he did.  

Jealousy, immaturity, insecurity, Ginny’s goading, Lavender’s sudden attention, Quidditch fears and Quidditch glory; it had been a toxic cocktail.

They were back on good terms finally. Near death experiences tended to make people forget pettiness.  It was nice to know that they could never really be angry with each other. He never doubted her being there when it counted. He hoped she thought the same.

But that was part of the problem...he didn’t know what she thought...of him. He could read her moods like the back of his hand, could tell when she was angry, moody, stressed. He knew how to piss her off like nobody else. But he hadn’t quite worked out how to make her happy.  

He had just begun to realize that was what he wanted to do, possibly, probably, definitely more than he wanted anything else.  

Denial had long been his picked poison when it came to his feelings for Hermione, but now, now he didn’t want to hide them anymore. But there were a million reasons he had to.

There were a lot of things unsaid. It didn’t make sense to say them now, not when the whole world was at stake. If they lived, there would be time to say it all. But of course, that was a very big if.  

“Hey,” she said with the smallest of smiles. He returned her smile and came to sit beside her.

“Where’s Ginny?” he asked. “Mum and Dad are going to be in Hogsmeade in an hour.”

“She’s down at Hagrid’s...with Harry. I think she wants to spend as much time with as she can.”

Ron nodded and then shook his, not needing that particular image in his head. Harry had been his best friend for the better part of six years, but still there were just some things one didn’t want to imagine about their little sister.

“How are you?” he asked. “I mean, really?”

Hermione shrugged. “Fair,” she responded. “It’s a lot to do. A lot to plan. I’ll be coming to the Burrow next week.”  

“So soon?” he asked. Not that he minded. But Hermione usually didn’t come to the Burrow until the last week of summer.  

“Yes,” she said rather quickly and he got the distinct feeling that there was something she wasn’t saying. “Is that all right?” she asked, brown eyes searching his.

He turned red. “Of course. Of course, it’s all right. I just thought that maybe with everything that’s going on, you’d want to spend more time at home...with your folks.”

Hermione shrugged. “With everything that’s going on, I'd love to never leave home. But that’s not really an option, is it? No use in prolonging the inevitable.”

“Have you thought of what you’re going to tell them?”  

Hermione didn’t answer for a long moment and then just shook her head. “I don’t know how to have that conversation. But in any event, have you thought of what you’re going to tell Mrs. Weasley? That's the real dangerous one, isn’t it?”  

Ron, despite his worry and trepidation, laughed. “You’re right about that one,” he said with a grin. She grinned back and for a moment, everything was okay.  

“We’ll be okay, Hermione,” he told her with confidence he couldn’t quite justify.

She scoffed slightly. “You sound certain.”  

“Well, you’re coming, aren’t you?”  

She smiled, the first one he could remember seeing that reached her eyes in a long while. Then he remembered his conversation with Slughorn.

“I went to speak to Slughorn,” he said. “To see if he knew anything that could help us.”

Hermione frowned at that. “Ron, we’re not supposed to tell anyone! You could put him in danger.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Hermione, for Merlin’s sake, Harry already told him something. And in case you didn’t notice, all of us are already in fucking danger.”

Hermione bit her lower lip and exhaled loudly, the way she always did when he was correct and she didn’t want to admit it. “Well, what did he say?” she asked finally a long pause.

Ron proceeded to say tell her the gist of his conversation with Slughorn. Although, he left out the part of the instructions for Actuscaria. There were some things he just didn’t feel comfortable talking about. Not with her.  

Besides, Hermione being Hermione, she would, at some point, look up the recipe anyway.

“Basilisk venom,” she said once Ron had finished his story. “Where on earth are we going to find Basilisk venom?”  

Ron thought for a moment. “I know where. Come on,” he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. They had no time to waste.

He dismissed the way his heart was beating as nerves and anticipation and not having anything to do with the way her hand felt in his. No, that had nothing to do with it at all.  

They stood there for the briefest of seconds, hand-in-hand, eyes searching into another and for a second, the never-ending fast-fowarding tape that had been their experience at Hogwarts seemed to pause.

But that moment, like all moments akin to it, ended too quickly.

“We’ve got to hurry,” Ron said blinking rapidly, breaking the intensity of their eye contact.  

“You mind telling me where we’re going?” Hermione asked as they raced down the steps of Gryffindor Tower.

“Girls’ lavatory on the second floor.”

“What?” Hermione asked as she ran beside him, their hands still tightly clasped. 

“Chamber of Secrets,” he said in a hushed whisper though the halls were nearly deserted.

They got there in record time. Ron had never known it to be so easy to sneak around Hogwarts. Without Dumbledore’s presence, nothing felt safe.

He didn’t like that feeling. Hogwarts’ had been his family’s home from home for centuries. Despite everything he had been through in his six years there, he had never felt truly, truly at risk.

Of course, the Ministry would do everything they could to keep everyone safe. But if he was going to judge by the stories Bill had told him about the early days of the First War, he wasn’t exactly filled with confidence.

But now wasn’t the time for his fears to get the better of him.

He gripped her hand tighter as they entered into the bathroom and found themselves facing the row of sinks.  

He felt for the Snake-shaped clasp hidden since Tom Riddle had walked these halls. It felt weird doing this without Harry, he had to admit. But he had a feeling had things were going to get dicey, Harry would need all the help he could get.  

“How do we get in?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Parseltongue,” Ron said as he thought back to the last time he’d been there. Parseltongue always sounded creepy and disturbing to him, but Harry mumbled it a lot in his sleep. Ron had only picked up on it subconsciously, but he hoped he had enough not to botch it.

The whispery, slithery words felt unnatural and harsh on his tongue, but it worked. The tap began to move and Hermione gasped in awe.

“Oh, my god,” she whispered as the tunnel to the Chamber of Secrets opened.

“Come on,” he said. “We’ve got to jump,” Ron told her. “You may want to hold on.”

Hermione peered down the tunnel, eyes wide. “Hold on to what?” her voice was highly confused.

“To me,” he said motioning to his shoulders.  

“Oh,” a blush crept across her face and Ron pretended he didn’t notice as he fought his own burning cheeks. Her arms wrapped around the top of his chest and he prayed that she couldn’t feel his heart beating, though he knew it was pounding.

Her little hands clasped around him, delicate and dainty but he knew what damage those hands could do. The contrast simultaneously amused and aroused him. But he shook himself of those thoughts. Focus, focus, she’s only a girl.

But of course, even as they jumped down the tunnel, he knew he was kidding himself. She was The Girl. The Girl He Wanted, The Girl He Needed, The Girl He Loved. Love?  

It seemed so foreign, yet as they whooshed down the tunnel, he could think of no reason to dispel it. He loved her. When the fuck had that happened?

It was unsettling to be with the notion of love as they were sliding down a dark, creepy dangerous tunnel in preparation of an even more dangerous mission where the best-case scenario was if they won, they most likely be dead as a result.

They slid down the tunnel and Hermione rapped his shoulders tighter as their speed increased.

Ron cast a silent Cushioning Charm because the memory of barreling into hundred thousand mouse skeletons was far from his favorite thing.

They landed with a thud and Hermione’s hands instantly left Ron’s shoulders. He was surprised by how instantly he felt the loss of her touch and how much he longed for it again.

“Oh, my God,” Hermione said as she looked around. There was rubble, dust and ash everywhere.

“We’ll have to bombard our way through,” Ron told her pulling out his wand. “Three tons of rock dropped last time, so let’s be careful.”  

Hermione nodded and pulled out her own wand. “I’m right behind you,” agreed with a grin.  

He took her hand in his. “If we need to make a quick exit, Side-Long Apparation?”  

She nodded and they pressed forward until they reached the Chamber Door.

Another round of Parseltongue from Ron later, the door opened and they found themselves in a room which they had only heard about secondhand from Harry and Ginny.

“Do you have any idea what you’re saying?” Hermione asked as they entered the Chamber.

Ron pulled a look. “Are you serious?” he asked. “Yes, I've spent my free learning the secret language of psychos.”

“Not all Slytherins are evil, Ronald.”  

“Name one you like.”

He had her there. She gave no answer and merely shrugged.

They both paused when their eyes fell upon the basilisk skeleton.

“Bloody hell,” whistled Hermione as she took the whole thing in.

“Hey don’t sweat it. It's dead. We’ve got living monsters to worry about. What's that Shakespeare quote you always say, ‘Hell is empty and all the devils are here’?”

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. “I said that once three years ago. You remember that?”

Ron colored slightly and shrugged in reply. “I guess. Let’s get the fangs.”  

He started to kneel down, reaching to grab a fang.

“Ron, wait! We should remove those with magic. What if you accidentally scratched yourself?”

Ron had jumped back at her words. “Oh, right. Brilliant, you are.”  

She smiled at that and pulled out her wand. They carefully magically removed twelve basilisk fangs from the remains of the vicious snake. Hermione conjured up a backpack for them to place them in.

“You know, Ron,” Hermione said as she zipped up the backpack. “This is going to be really dangerous what we’re doing.”

He nodded, as she rose to stand right in front of him. “Have you thought about it, if we don’t make it?”  

She nodded and then shrugged, though he thought he saw the beginnings of tears in her eyes. “I have. But it doesn’t really matter, does it? What matter is—,”

“Harry,” he finished for her. “Harry has to make it through. That's what the prophecy said.”

Hermione sniffled. “Harry,” she agreed. “God, if I had known that we may not be coming back next here, that we may not be coming back at all, I would’ve done so much so differently.”

He looked at her for a long moment, wondering if she was talking about what he thought.  

He looked down at his shoes. “Me too,” he began rather meekly. He lifted his face to meet hers again and smiled. “I think about all that time I spent worrying about Quidditch. Like that matters now.”

“Ron, I’m sorry about the birds, if I never apologized for that before.”  

He grinned. He hadn’t been expecting her to say that. “Thanks,” he said honestly. “I’m sorry about...everything.” Although, he couldn’t remember what he apologizing for. But he figured it was best to cover the bases.

She chuckled lightly. “You don’t know what you’re apologizing for, do you?”  

He shook his head, amused by her ability to see right through him. “Not really, no. But I figured it couldn’t hurt. I'm sorry about Lavender.”  

She shook her head. “Don’t apologize,” she said. “It wasn’t your fault she fancied you. I just overreacted...a bit.”

He raised his eyebrows. “A bit?”

“All right, a lot. I just I can’t believe you fancied her.”

“Well, I didn’t...I mean not really.”

“Ronald, that’s horrible.”  

“I know,” he said somewhat guiltily. “It’s just she fancied me, and I guess I fancied that and before I knew it, it had gotten out of hand. Then you weren’t speaking to me—,”  

Hermione scoffed. “Oh, so you were trying to stick it to me by snogging her? Real mature, that is.”

Ron found his ire rising. “Oh, and just what the fucking hell were you doing with McClaggen, then? Research into the mind of right arrogant pricks?”

“Well, I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t!”

“Well, I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t....” he trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.

But Hermione was having none of that. “If I hadn’t what, Ronald?” she folded her arms and waited and he knew she would wait. Because the only person more stubborn that him was her.  

He knew he wasn’t about to admit to rational behavior, which is why he did not want to admit it.

“Ginnyutoldmeukissedkrum,” he said quickly and primarily to the floor.  

“What?”

He sighed. He didn’t want to have this conversation. But maybe, just maybe, now wasn’t the time to leave things unsaid.  

“Ginny told me you kissed Krum.”

Hermione blinked very fast for a few moments, the way she always did when she was thinking. She looked confused, then she looked agitated, then she looked annoyed. Very annoyed. At him.  

“You mean two years ago?” she asked her voice dripping with derision.  

His eyes looked at the floor again. “Well...yeah.”

“Let me get this straight: you started snogging Lavender because Ginny told you about me and Viktor?”

“Well, I started snogging Lavender because she started snogging me, but I can’t say that didn’t have something to do with it.”

Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes. She raked a hand through her hair. “This is all so silly. You could’ve talked to me about that, you know?”

“I can’t talk to you about him,” he said honestly. “It makes me crazy.”

“Why?!” she exploded. “Why does it drive you so mad?”

“Because,” he snapped, just as heated. “Because,” he said somewhat more calmly once he saw the look in her eyes. “I just...it’s the thought of him with you...instead...instead of me.”

He hoped he didn’t look as crestfallen or as foolish as he thought he sounded. But he was sure he saw pity in her expression.

“Oh, Ron,” she said softly. She shook her head again and he knew she was thinking that he was an idiot. “You didn’t even know I was a girl back then.”  

He colored. “I did. I knew you were a girl. I just didn’t know back then that you meant something to me...as a girl, you know, not just a friend.”  

She blinked and her face lifted in kind of a smile. “It’s all right,” she said. “I understand.”

“You do?” he said, surprised.

She nodded. “I go red with rage when I think about you and Lav-Lav.”

“I noticed,” he said wryly thinking of birds pecking his flesh.  

“You know, all this could’ve been avoided if we had only spoken to one another,” she said with a resigned sigh.

He nodded. “You’re right. You're always right.”

“Not always.” She looked  

“You know if I had known if we weren’t coming back here next year, if we might not be coming back at all...I would’ve asked you to the Yule Ball. I would've gone to Slughorn’s Christmas Do. But in my defense, I didn’t know you were asking me out.”  

She raised her eyebrows, but he didn’t give her a chance to respond.

“I mean maybe I thought or maybe I hoped but it doesn’t matter. The point is if I had known how high the stakes were going to get, I would’ve done a lot of things.” He took a breath, not wanting the moment to pass. “Most of all, I would’ve done this.”  

He leaned forward, way, way, way forward, since compared to him, she was practically house-elf sized. He waited for her to stop him, waited for her to push him away or flee from the expanding closeness between them.

In the back of his mind, he didn’t know if he had the right to do this, after all, no admissions of feelings had passed between them. Then again, maybe when you knew each other as well as they did, words were a little less necessary.  

He kept leaning until their faces were inches apart. He could feel the blood rushing in his ears, his heart pounding dramatically.

His lips brushed against hers, softly, slowly asking a question. He thought he felt her gasp or shiver or something he couldn’t quite name. Her lips were soft and they tasted like honey. He pressed his against her lips harder, asking the question again.

She answered, her lips playing over his in return. God, he was kissing Hermione. And she was kissing him back. It was nothing like those lung-collapsing snog marathons with Lavender. It was soft and sweet and...intimate.  

He dared himself to be bold, there was no point in turning back now. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. She felt small and frail against him and a wave of protectiveness ran through his veins, barely reined in by his desire to keep kissing her.  

Her mouth opened and suddenly her taste was everywhere, on his tongue, in his mind, in his heart. Her hands clasped around his shoulders, bringing him deeper and he heard her moan slightly.  

That one, little breathy exhalation went straight to his cock. All the things he wanted to do to her rushed through his brain in a series of flashes. Suddenly his lips were on her neck, chasing the sound that fell from her lips. Her skin was feather-soft against his lips and all he wanted to do was mark it, claim it as his own.

His lips lingered on a spot underneath her chin which caused another raspy moan, louder than the one before to fall from her lips.

Ron felt himself harden, and they were close enough where he knew she could feel it. Something in the back of his mind told him to stop, but he couldn’t. He was addicted to having her in his arms, on his skin, and the sounds and shudders she made as he touched her. His lips sought hers again for another deep, nearly bruising kiss.

His hands began to roam up her waist, she shifted closer to him, her foot kicking the backpack. One of the basilisk fangs fell out and clattered to the ground.

That one sound snapped Hermione back into reality. She pulled her lips away abruptly. Her hands left his shoulders and she moved an inch away.  

Ron’s eyes shut open, afraid that he had gone too far, pushed past the limit. He waited for to say something. Waited for the inevitable heartbreak he knew was coming.  

“We can’t do this,” she said softly.

He instantly deflated but tried to hide it. “You’re right,” he said, hoping his voice didn’t sound shaky. “I’m sorry, I should have never. I didn’t mean to...take advantage of you and I can’t blame you if you want to slap me or hex me or send more birds but I've still got scabs from that so if you could lay off—,”  

“Ron, what are you talking about?” She looked up at him, confused. “You didn’t take advantage of me.”

They both blushed as the weight of their action sunk in.

“Soooo,” Ron tested the waters. “You don’t want to hex me?”

She laughed softly. “No, no, quite the opposite actually.”

He couldn’t help but beam at that. She placed a hand on his face, cupping his cheek. “We can’t do this...not now,” she quickly amended. “Right now, we don’t matter. The only thing that matters is—,”

“Harry,” interjected Ron. “The only thing that matters right now is Harry. Harry has to make it through.”

She dropped her hand from his face and matching sad, resigned smiles crossed their faces.  

“We could die,” Ron said briefly. He wasn’t sad, or even upset about it. He knew it was a fact.  

Hermione nodded. “We could. But that really doesn’t matter either, does it?” She shook her, frustration clouding her features. “You know, this year was a waste. When I think that we could’ve just...”

“Spent all year snogging,” Ron suggested for her. No use in beating around the bush anymore  

She rolled her eyes. “You did spend half the year snogging.”

Ron shrugged sheepishly. “Well, yeah, but she wasn’t you.” He enjoyed the smile on her face at his words.

“Are you scared?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Not of dying. I’m more scared of what’ll happen if we don’t win. But I was scared of dying before I lived.”

“You’re not anymore?” she seemed surprised.

“Nope,” he said with a rakish grin. “I’ll get to remember the last five minutes for as long as I live. So, if You-Know-Who pops my clogs tomorrow, that’d be all right.”  

She laughed. “You’re impossible.”

Ron grinned. “Yes, and you love me.” He had meant it as a joke, it was supposed to be a joke. But she didn’t laugh. She just stared into his eyes for a long pause.

When she did speak, her was clear and earnest. “I do.”  

He felt like he’d gotten hit with a Stunning jinx. But then she was staring up at him with her huge brown eyes, a hint of fear at the edges and he realized she was waiting for him to say something.  

“I do too,” he said quickly. She smiled and reached for his hand again, their fingers intertwined.

A long, sincere beat passed between the two of them. But it ended all too soon. “So, if we win and we don’t die,” she said an edge of humor. “Can I get one of your Weasley sweaters?”  

He laughed. “You can have them all.”

“And your Quidditch jersey?”  

“Let’s not get carried away,” he said, mockingly scandalized.  

They stared at each other again and All Ron wanted to do was kiss her again. He thought she was thinking the same thing too, but she looked away.

“We’ve got to go. Your parents will be ready to leave soon.”

He nodded. She was right. “Yeah, yeah, we should. Oh, I totally forgot. Slughorn said we should go to the Storeroom, pick out whatever we think we may need.”

Hermione went straight into Hermione mode. “Ronald, why didn’t you say so? We haven’t got all day, have we? Let's go!”  

She picked up the backpack, shrunk it down and stuck it in her pocket.  

“Ronald, come on!” she beckoned him forward and out of the Chamber.

Despite everything, the danger they were in, the uncertainty of the future, and the deranged, powerful psychopath who wanted to destroy everything he held dear, all he could think of was if and when he’d ever kiss her again.

[theydontknowaboutusimagines]

This Christmas - A Harry Styles Series (Part 12)

Two life long friends. Secretly in love. Home for the holidays. Will they risk everything by telling the other how they feel? Or will they spend another year loving from afar?

Read these first    

Prologue   Part 1    Part 2   Part 3    Part 4   Part 5  Part 6 Part 7   Part 8   Part 9   Part 10    Part 11 

Waking up the next morning alone in your childhood bedroom was a little disappointing. It was a strange feeling not waking up with the warmth of Harry by your side. The fact that it had only been a couple of days meant you were in for a rude awakening once you went back to your flat in London. Speaking of which, neither you or Harry has brought up what would happen next, but it looks like you’ll have your trip to discuss it.

After washing your face and brushing your teeth, the realization it was Christmas morning and the aroma of your mother’s traditional Christmas morning breakfast taking over the house quickly brought your spirits up. Once you were done, you went straight downstairs, still wearing your Christmas pajamas, and your mouth watered at the sight of food on the table.

“Happy Christmas!” you smiled, hugging your mother.

“Happy Christmas, honey,” she smiled. “Everything is almost done.”

“Awesome, need any help?” You asked.

“Want to grab plates and then get your father?” She asked.

“Sure thing,” you smiled.

You went over to the cabinet taking out enough plates for everyone and placing them on the table. You decided on going ahead and getting everyone drinks as well before going in search of your father, who was in his office getting the present for your mother. It was something he always did. He had to wait to put it out last minute because if she knew he had purchased something for her, she would make him take it back.

“I really think she’s going to like this one this year,” he smiled, holding the box in his hands.

“You say that every year and while she does usually like them, she still complains,” you laughed.

“True, but she only stays mad at me for a couple of hours and then she lets herself enjoy the gift,” he shrugged.

“Traditions, right?” You smiled.

“Gotta love ‘em,” he said.

After stuffing your face with all Christmas breakfast, it was time to open up presents. You all took turns opening your gifts. Thank yous, gasps, laughs, and a few tears were shed with each opened present. At the end of it all, there was nothing but wrapping paper and empty bags and boxes scattered around.

“How is that we have grown children and there’s still a mess on our floor on Christmas morning?” Your mother laughed.

“Because everyone’s a kid at Christmas,” you smiled.

Next up on the family traditions was watching another Christmas movie before getting ready to head over to Anne’s. This time you picked How the Grinch Stole Christmas. You helped your mother clean up the mess while you watched the movie and spent the rest of it cuddled up on the couch, drinking yet another cup of hot chocolate.

When the movie was over, you went up to your room to get ready. You always wanted to look nice on Christmas, spending extra time on your hair and makeup and wearing a nice outfit. However, this Christmas you wanted to look extra special. Luckily, you packed a new deep shade of green dress that fit you perfectly. It wasn’t too tight, but it still flattered your figure, which you loved.

You paired it with red heels and a deep, red lip. To add in a little extra festiveness,  you put on your Christmas tree earrings. They were definitely a little much, but you loved them. When you met your parents downstairs, they both smiled at you.

“What?” You blushed.

“You look absolutely beautiful,” he smiled.

“Thank you,” you smiled.

“Okay, ready to go to the in-laws?” Your mother smirked.

“What?” You laughed.

“Well, now that you and Harry are dating, we’re all officially family, right?” She smirked.

“We’re only dating, Mum, not getting married,” you laughed.

“Not yet,” she winked.

You shook your head with a laugh before following them out the door.

**

Harry woke up yet again to a pillow being thrown in his face.

“Go away, Gem!” He mumbled, throwing a pillow towards the direction of his sister.

“Harry Edward Styles it is Christmas morning and it’s time for you to get your ass up,” Anne scolded.

“Mum?” He snapped up, instantly regretting the sudden movement.

“Yep. You have five minutes to be downstairs,” she smirked.

“Sorry!” He called out after her.

Harry groaned laying back in bed trying to wake himself up. He had gotten back only three hours before and he was slightly regretting his decision on sneaking out of the house. But who was he kidding, it was well worth it. Any time spent with you was worth more than lack of sleep.

Finally sliding off the bed, he goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wipe his face. Looking into the mirror, he noticed a few remnants from the previous nights. Your lipstick stained his lips and various places across his chest and neck. He smirked, remembering the details of each one as he took a washcloth to try and get the red smear off. He would have loved to keep them there for the time being, but he didn’t need to advertise his whereabouts only a few hours ago.

When he made it to the living room, piles of presents were separated based on the three of them. This was always their thing. All the presents under the tree would be piled together based on who they were for and then they would each take turns opening a present. It would have been easier to just let one person go and open all their presents, but it made the magic of opening presents last a little longer.

“Happy Christmas,” Gemma smiled, hugging him.

“Happy Christmas, Gem,” he smiled, hugging her back.

“MY babies!” Anne smiled, wrapping her arms around both of them and pressing kisses to their cheeks.

And that was something she has done every single year and probably will continue to do when both of her children are well into their fifties.

“I can’t believe it’s Christmas,” Gemma said, sitting down on the floor next to her pile of presents.

“I know. The fact that another year’s over, too,” Anne said.

“Okay, John Lennon,” Harry joked.

“Smart ass!” Anne laughed, throwing a pillow at him.

“For fuck’s sake, I’m taking all the pillows in this bloody house and hiding them forever,” He laughed.

“Hey, we don’t get to do this very often, so we have to make it a good one,” Gemma shrugged.

“And what’s that? Bug the piss out of me?” He asked.

“Exactly,” she smirked.

He rolled his eyes, getting himself some coffee, before sitting back down near his own pile of presents. He enjoyed getting presents, but he enjoyed giving them the most. He loved being able to buy his family things they wouldn’t be able to purchase for themselves. He was happy he was in a position to help his mother and sister whenever they needed it. Of course, being who they are, they didn’t need it quite so much, but it was there when they did.

After presents that included multiple gag gifts causing them to laugh uncontrollably, they all sat around eating breakfast and talking about different Christmas memories. Next, everyone went up to their rooms to get ready for everyone to come over. Of course he was the first one back downstairs, so he started getting things ready to cook while he waited for his Gemma and his mother to get back down.

Anne came down first and the two of them got going on the cooking. Harry’s job was to slice and dice everything, while Anne did the rest of it.

“So,” Anne said. “Are you and Y/N official?”

“Um… yeah, we are,” he smiled.

“And you’re happy?” She asked.

“The happiest I’ve been in a long time,” he smiled.

“I know,” she smiled. “I can tell.”

“I don’t even know why I’m asking this because I’m pretty sure I already know the answer, but are you happy about this?” He asked, throwing chopped veggies in a bowl.

“Honey, all I’ve ever wanted for you is to be happy and to live a life that you want,” she said. “I’ve always thought you and Y/N would be each other’s person, but I knew I couldn’t be the one to tell you that. You two had to figure it out on your own and sometimes the only way to find your way to who you’re meant to be with… you have to be with other people.”

“So, you’re saying it was probably  a good thing for me and Y/N to just now get together?” He asked.

“I do,” she nodded. “Think about it Harry, when all of this… when you were in One Direction you were still so young and traveling around the world the majority of the time. You weren’t ready to have a serious girlfriend and had you and Y/N tried back then, it really could have fucked up any chance you two might have had. And then what? You two would have missed out on a life together.”

“Wow, I guess I didn’t think of it like that,” he said.

“Which is why I’m happy you two are trying not to focus on the past,” she said. “I know it’s easier said than done, but everything has its way of working out. It may not be when we want it, but it’ll come when we’re ready for it.”

Harry smiled, wrapping his arms around her, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she smiled. “And next time you want to sneak out and in the house in the middle of the night, please just use the front door like a normal person.”

“Uh… you know about that?” He winced.

“You’re needy son, I’m surprised it took you that long to sneak over to Y/N’s place,” she joked.

“I really don’t understand why everyone keeps saying that like it’s a bad thing!” He laughed.

**

When you arrived at Anne's house, you suddenly felt a little nervous. You weren’t sure why, but wondered if it was because this would be the first public outing for you and Harry. And it wasn’t even public, just close friends and family. You hated to know what it would feel like when you actually did accompany him in public, which is something else you would have to discuss.

Before your father could even knock, Harry had opened the door with a huge smile on his face.

“Happy Christmas!” He cheered.

“Oh boy, someone’s already had a few glasses of wine,” your mother jokes.

“I’ve not!” Harry laughed.

“Well we’re bloody in for it when you do,” she laughed, kissing his cheek. “But Happy Christmas to you, too.”

You giggled when Harry looked at you, “I don’t know if I should be offended or not,” he said.

“If you have to ask, you already have your answer,” you said.

He smiled, slipping his arm around your waist, “You look beautiful…. And those earrings… are lovely.”

“Smooth,” you laughed. “This is my Christmas earrings. I’ve worn them every year for like four years.”

“That doesn’t exactly shock me,” he said.

“I might have to get you a pair,” you smirked. “We could match.”

“I’d love to, but sadly I don’t have any piercings,” he sighed, dramatically.

“Oh, we can change that with a sewing needle and a trip to the bathroom,” you said. “It’s not stopped you before.”

“You heard about that?” He winced.

“Of course, I heard about it. You act like I’ve been living under a rock for the past six years,” you rolled your eyes.

“Sorry, sorry,” he put his hands up in defense.

“Anyway, how was Christmas this morning with your family?” you asked.

“Entertaining,” he laughed, handing you a drink. “Yours?”

“Traditional,” you joked. “And also very entertaining.”

“Maybe one day we’ll have our own entertaining tradition filled Christmas morning,” he winked.

“Can’t wait,” you smiled.

**

The rest of the day is filled with games, food, laughter, and drinks. You were having the best time and it felt even more special having Harry at your side. Eventually, Anne brought out Christmas Home videos and you all laughed at the memories. But there was one you had forgotten all about. It was of you and Harry probably about five or six. You two were cuddled up together, holding hands, and watching a Christmas movie.

“Who is your best friend in the whole world?” Anne smiled, pointing the camera at Harry.

“Y/N!” He smiled.

“And Y/N who is your best friend in the whole world?” She asked.

“Harry!” You smiled.

Both of you wrapped your arms around each other in a great big hug.

“That’s when I knew,” Anne smiled.

“Knew what?” Harry asked.

“That one day she would be officially a part of this family,” she smiled. “And on that day, I would give her this.”

Anne held out a wrapped box, the one Harry was supposed to have given you the other night. You looked at her confused before ripping off the paper and opening it up. Inside was a stocking with your name on it. The same exact stocking and font that match Anne, Gemma and Harry’s stocking hanging on the mantle.

“You always wanted one,” she smiled. “And now you have it.”

You smiled, tears forming in your eyes, as you wrapped her up in a big hug. “Thank you,” you whispered. “I love it.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” she smiled.

**

As the night died down a bit, you and Harry headed outside to the backyard.

“Christmas day is such a bittersweet feeling,” you sighed.

“How come?” He asked.

“Because once it’s here… it’s over and soon after the magic of Christmas… the feeling of Christmas is gone until next year,” you sighed.

“Well, at least we’ll have each other,” he smiled. “And we’ll know it may have been the magic of Christmas that brought us together.”

“Okay, how many Hallmark movies have you been watching?” You laughed.

“It’s true,” he laughed.

“Yeah, it is,” you smiled, wrapping your arms around him. “Whatever the reason, I’m glad we’re finally here, together.”

“Me too,” he smiled, holding you close.

And to make the moment even more romantic, it started to snow.

“Oh wait! I forgot, one more present,” he said.

“Harry, seriously, I’ve had enough,” you giggled.

“I think you’ll like it,” he said, handing you a box.

Inside the box was mistletoe, causing you to laugh.

“What’s more romantic than this… kissing under the mistletoe while it’s snowing on Christmas Night,” he smiled. “Merry Christmas, baby.”

“Merry Christmas,” you replied with a smile before pressing your lips against his.

And that is how This Christmas quickly became your favorite.

**

THE END! I hope you all enjoyed this series and look out for the companion series coming soon! :)

[prettywarriors]

Fate The Winx Commentary

Good morning internet! Today is the drop of Winx: Riverdale edition! I sure hope you're ready for my aggressive and unnecessary commentary, because it is coming for you either way!

The netflix landing page lets us know:

Fate The Winx Saga

6 episodes, 48-53 minutes each

"Genres: Fantasy TV Shows, Teen TV Shows, Italian TV Shows"

"This show is: Emotional"

As mentioned elsewhere, my Winx knowledge is limited, so I will be coming into this fairly fresh and will try to be unbiased. As I have seen trailers, the keyword here is Try.

Episode 1

'To the Waters and the Wild'

CW: Animal Death, Swears, Implied Child Death, Blood, Implied Teen Sex, Burns, Weed, Fatphobia, Whatever the term pussie falls under

Episode 1 TL;DR: We meet everyone, learn their dynamics, have the basics of the magic system beat into us, meet our monsters, and name drop Harry Potter. Standard first episode stuff.

I do want it on record before we start that I got about halfway into the first season of Riverdale, and the first season of Netflix Sabrina. They were, well, bland and boring imo? I did get through a few seasons of Teen Wolf, but that's because it was capable of Fun and Jokes. My current expectations are a few unintentionally funny lines, maybe some almost decent magic effects, and because it's 2021, one whole gay character (I did hear one of the boys (there are boys?) is bi, but also an asshole so I'm hoping for some wlw)

TV-MA LANGUAGE AND SMOKING OH FUCKING BOY Almost full moon (waxing) in opening shot- I Will be tracking moon inconsistencies if it keeps showing up that is a pet peeve but hey look a bunch of sheep That's a good start (it's ominous though. don't hurt the sheep) Swears count: Feckin' 2 Mystical portal barrier. Oh yeah s5 of the magicians is on netflix now WELP THOSE ARE SHEEP GUTS RIGHT OUT THE GATE HUH For CW it's up a tree, and the dripping blood is a good warning of what's about to be seen :( oh and then the man who was looking for the sheep dies offscreen save for a spray of blood. THIS ISN'T YOUR CHILD'S WINX CLUB it seems to say. I assume. How much blood was in the original winx because this is already at least a full cup. (Also the monster noises for whatever was chasing the man (werewolf it was a werewolf trailers are bad guys) were not very good)

Opening credit scene is 5-6 different blooming elemental wings. They're pretty, but it's unclear if the last one is secret 6th member wings (because the second to last ones are fire which is the main character's element right?) so maybe we'll get a late 6th addition? (I am in I.T. please give me the most relatable character you cowards)

KIDS IN THE CORNER BY AMBER VAN DAY PLAYING I like where they shot this but that might just be european woods pretty. The opening location was nice and mossy save for the sheep blood Fancy big stone school establishing shots (it's nice, and huge) and we land on a red head who seems less than pleased to be here Courtyard shot of... whatever the name of the replacment plant girl is, holding a tray of various potted plants for an older man (father? first day of school send off maybe?) Aisha(?) walks by, not talking to anyone, Stella(?) is taking Magical!Selfies with at least 3 other girls, Musa(?) has a suitcase and headphones and smiles at a passing girl Oh boy a boy with a pocketknife doing little tricks with it! Nothing says edgy like an actual knife edge. Gonna take this moment to point out I have some level of face blindness and while the girls all look fairly different from one another, if there is more than one tall blonde white boy as I fear there may be, I WILL NOT be able to tell them apart. Not through maliciousness, just general incompetence, so anything I say about the boy characters (I want to say they're the knights to the girl's faeries? is that right? this whole thing smacks of gender) should be taken with a heap of salt I've come to accept tv just. displaying text messages on screen as a storytelling method. It's never my favorite but it just Is a modern story element. Also Bloom needs to meet stella at the alfea gates Alfea I presume is the school- does the name mean something? It sure feels like the word elf and therefore fae but I don't feel like googling anything this early in Oh look two more blondish tall white boys. Pocketknife was wearing something else i think, one guy has a brown jacket and pink shirt (bad combo), the other looks old even by tv highschool/college standards and his jacket has a jock vibe. Jock jacket also has an earring? Is this the bi character who is an asshole? From this one second of him, only in profile, I will assume yes, he is an asshole I like Bloom's backpack Pink shirt looks at Bloom from across the quad. I am already tired of this romance Cool he walks up to someone he has identified as lost, and is 'impressed with [her] confidence in the face of complete ignorance' COMING OUT OF THE GATE WITH A NEGG HUH PINKY He even states he wasn't offering help Then Why Are You Talking To Her Jackass Subs are going with the fairy spelling, and Bloom confirms she is a fairy and we confirm this is College. Unless this is a european thing where they call schools different things. I think that's just for public and private? And maybe just england? I'm American all they teach us is 1492-ww1 over and over for like. 10 years sorry Rest of the World 'What Realm are you from?' 'California' Speaking of ameri-centric, I'm gonna Guess that original Winx, the italian cartoon, didn't have their main character be from cali usa? I am presuming this is a side effect of making this property for a more global distribution than I'm guessing winx was originally conceived as back in the early 00s The Otherworld. I assume this is the fairy realm and whatnot? And the magic school. Seems to be located behind a magical barrier in the earth realm?? If that's right it seems weird if basically everyone who goes to the school is from the otherworld Pinky doubles down on his rudeness but in a Fun and Cute way because :/ and the Specialist hall is Very Pretty, oh and there's a fairy hall. Are specialists the boy...things? magi knights? bros of the blade? guys who wear those 'here come a special boy' sneakers from that one comic? Stella sees this conversation which is great because they drop the term mansplain. why would otherworlders know that term even??? Edgey(?) sees Pinky and they hug it out Stella knows Americans are the type to wander off so I guess there's a lot of inter-world connections?

Miss Dowling- is this teacher going to be like the pedo in riverdale who got *checks notes* killed off by one of multiple serial killers later on? Dowling is the headmistress, gotta keep the otherworld a secret from earthers, time and place for portal making. all standard fantasy stuff so far, nothing to make this stand out Stella has a gateway ring, and frankly isn't too nice? all the backgrounders clothing is Bland and very normal 7 realms of the otherworld, Solaria is where Alfea is, i like magic globe Incase you forgot this was a modern tale, people update their insta stories here. 'I was kindof bummed I didn't see a single pair of wings' YOU AND ME BOTH BLOOM 'We had wings in the past, transformation was lost, tinkerbell was an air fairy' This is either a cop out for your glittery cowardice, or a set up for the main girls re-finding transformation magic later. I did like the Tink bit Bloom is a fire fairy and the subtext of this conversation is that bloom's magic did Something bad. I hope it was burn down her old school's gym a la buffy movie I like miss Dowling but in the I wouldn't Be Surprised if you turned out to be Evil way, and I guess Alfea is a very privileged upper crust school. What types of college do normal fairies go to then huh? damn privileged fairies 'our students have gone on to do amazing things like re-discover long lost magics' We Get It. You will give me Wings, but Only If I'm Patient Dowling throws a jab at Bloom about power control, but I like her necklace so It's Fine

Bloom video calls her parents while unpacking in the dorm, which may have come pre-fit with a heck ton of board games? Love it. Or new plant girl brought them along with her many plants Stella has a fancy mirror and lots of jewelry and fashion photos and makeup, Musa has a laptop and apparently not much else, gotta get those establishing personalities down I guess 'Ladies of the Flies honey don't be sexist' Bloom's dad for feminist of the year (these jokes are bad but i guess we can call it a dad joke as justification) Asiha gives Bloom a look and saves her from the call with her parents- yay friendship step one achieved Blooms parents think she's in the alps because magic secrets and what not Aisha asks bloom if she's never read harry potter and I guess Bloom is a potterhead (that's the term right?). Is this self awareness that all magical school fantasy series have the same basic bricks?  Bloom is a ravenclaw sometimes slytherin, Aisha is a Gryffindor Stella is changing because she's the fashion one and has a fun pastel rainbow skirt, and uses magic to make a real aggressive lamp. She's also a mentor (maybe older than the others by a bit?) I am assuming Stella here is something along the lines of a diplomats daughter the way she talks about appearances. She better get down and dirty later on to show her growth about how some things are more important than looks yada yada Fairy magic powered by strong emotions, i am waiting for bloom's backstory to be movie x-men rogue style tragedy Terra! Which. Of course is the Plant Fairy's name. Stella is a little mean to her about the plants and she takes it with a smile and some subtle snark back using classic literature Oh that's fun Terra points out the name-plant thing, and name drops her cousin Flora. That's. The one they replaced with Terra right? Terra's dad works in the greenhouse at the school which explains earlier (and her mum is named rose) Stella is indeed a second year and Musa's eyes change for. Lie detecting magic? and loves her headphones (Overstimulation?) Aisha wants somewhere to swim and we cut to a 'pond' by specialist training. Assuming she wants to sim because she's a water fairy, why Don't they have a pool? also this pond looks. Unpleasant for swimming

Girl specialist! Does that mean we have boy fairies? Boys. Fighting. Talking about girls. All gingers are nuts. Thanks edgelord AMAZING SHAGS THOUGH 'I didn't realize your hand was a red-head' it's not truly edge if we don't talk about sex every 10 minutes Subtitles earlier only said boy 1 boy 2 but now pinky or edgy is Riv Edgy smokes weed, and pinky is a big brother figure to him, and the head? of the special boys doesn't like edgy. Me neither older guy Bit of swordplay, more girls, every specialist has black training outfits, very military Pinky is Sky who is son of Guy of Place. an important lad. without context this is meaningless to me There's a giggly boy who laughs at the idea of a war in the future and gets a talking to. I suspect this boy will be re-occurring enough to die- he has those tertiary character elements with his intro and such (and he's black so I am prepared for your standard racist murder choices) Burned Ones exist outside the barrier, which makes me wonder if dead shepard was in the otherworld? There was nothing establishing that he was in any type of Other place but :/ Oh look edgey is having a smoke cross the barrier while we learn about the creatures that live beyond it. Time to find out these creatures no one young has ever seen are still kicking Specialist leader had to kill his own pa after a burned one got him. They also. Used a shotgun when trying to fight it. Do specialists even have powers or are they just good with weapons? Edgey finds the shepards corpse. Mostly blood 'it's been 16 years since the last sighting' 'Rosalind killed all the burned ones' ahh magical creature genocide hey when is abarat 4 coming out. and is rosalind hot?

School, gossip, Aisha and Musa are snarking at Tera for thinking the guy died of natural causes because we need to have these characters not actually like each other to make it stand out when they do Aisha talks about how she eats a lot and if she didn't swim she'd be massive and we cut to the plus sized tera looking uncomfortable are we really doing this? Tera points out that Musa was ignoring her earlier and it's all just uncomfortable and not great character conflict (but I thought I saw Musa holding an honest to god ipod? it's blue but it could be a phone case. Her hand is in the way) tera and dad interaction is nice, i'm also convinced they couldn't afford more than 3 magic adults

Girl with braids and metal in her hair! There were witches in winx right? Like 3 minor antagonist girls? I assume this is one of them. Because she has alternative fashion and is therefore evil /s Beatrix. Names in this series leave something to be desired (that something is subtly. I get it, they're carry overs from a series for a younger audience, she-ra had the same issue, but i can still poke fun) Swear count: Arsehole 2 Bollocks 1 Shit 1 She's a weird ass kissing with clearly ulterior motives

Bloom is Studying and her notebook is just FAIRY MAGIC POWER = EMOTIONS LOVE FEAR? HARTED? FIRE FAIRY CONTROL? in case you weren't paying attention Oh a flashback already to the magic triggering event? Her mother had pointed out she's an introvert, and past!Bloom doesn't Party. She goes Antiquing and is a Weird Loner (her 'basic bitch' of a mom's words) Swear count: Bitch 1 Bad daughter count: 1 Bad mother count: 1 Magic glowy eyes for Bloom: 1

Bloom Hates Parties and asks Pinky I mean Sky where she can be Away from People and he fears he'll be Mansplaing to her to. vague that it's dangerous outside instead of saying 'hey there's monsters and someone was just killed by possible one of them stay in the barrier' Stella wants to talk to Sky because they have History. I did hear there was a love triangle between these three. I am bored and everyone at this party is a nosey bitch who is watching their tense conversation. Also Something? Happens when Stella gets upset [mystical warbling] Random magic effects in the (very pretty) forest Bloom is trying to practice her magic on her own, and to do that she's gotta look at sad teen pics. And look, her burnt bedroom from her first power usage The fire magic is pretty good. I think fire is like. the opposite of water when it comes to cg where it almost always looks pretty good, while I swear i've seen the actual ocean look like a shitty render Magic out of control, bloom can't control her emotions, Aisha can stop her with water magic which makes some nice steam Bloom is angry at aisha for saving her. So far 3 of the 5 girls are abrasive at best remember when people made characters likeable? Swear count: Shit 1 (but it doubles as the literal meaning because of flooded toilets) Swear count: Bitch 1 Ass 1 Taking away your teen's door is. Really shitty. Not almost burn down your house worthy but damn cheerleader mom I do not understand sleep shirts with buttons. That seems painful if you lie the wrong way? Her mom was seriously burnt by first magic usage that's a backstory Shit count +1 Main character aspect time: dormant fairy blood line? awfully strong magic for that. baby who died day after it was born and now she's here? ...I was going to say changeling thanks aisha A Barbaric practice loving hints at long term world lore Hell is a bad word for kids!! Cutting to headmistress and her secret passage after finding out bloom is secret pureblood? this really is a harry potter thing

edgelord offers giggly some booze, and says pussies twice because he's Edgey and does peer pressure Tera calls him out and knows he's a sad nerd in disguise not a 'badass' and he says she's 'three people in disguise' because fatphobia shit +1 arehole +1 tera. chokes out edgelord with a vine because she's had enough of this shit. good for her edgelord is Riv, and he lived

OBLIGATORY GOOGLE SEARCH FOR THE TERM CHANGELING REMEMBER BELLA'S VAMPIRE GOOGLE GOD I LOVE TEEN FANTASY AND THEIR INSTANCE ON GOOGLING COMMON FANTASY TERMS OH hey the lamp bloom brought with her is the one she was fixing at home that's a nice touch Stella bonds with Bloom about homesickness, and the takes a selfie Musa is a mind fairy. So she. Is a telepath with purple eye magic? Oh there's types of 'connections' Memory, thought (others but i am cut off from the lore) Stella did Something to someone who Talked To Her Man last year and now lent Bloom her teleportation ring to send her some because miss mentor really cares more about her shitty man then helping the girls she's in charge of First World- earth Old Cemetery? Very Sexy. and bloom sweetie don't leave a mystical gateway open, and how will you explain to your parents how you're back so fast Wait she's only 16? SO this really is some european college where that's a funny way of saying High School Fire guilt, bad feelings about life shattering revelations, better connection with mother. I gotta say I have low expectations of this show carrying the family connection through the rest of this. That conversation felt more like a Hey We Made These Movements Onto Other Stuff Now

Lighting choices are interesting, with green, orange and purple for creepy warehouse. THE Creepy Warehouse where she would sleep without her parent's knowledge wow right that GIRL DROPS THE DAMN RING AT THE FIRST SIGN OF burned one looked more alien than werewolf-y here Decent Horror movie looks, and dude stole her ring. Rude. Saved by the headmistress, and tera/aisha/musa are here to great her Stella can't be here though because she has to greet a half naked freshly showered sky because life is suffering and producers insist people like to see teens half naked (who. Who?) shit +1 and she dumped him. pity part of one and using it to try to get your bone on. HEY A SONG I KNOW. IT'S WHATSITCALLED FROM THE BAYONETTA COMMERCIALS WAY BACK WHEN. in for the kill la roux. I do wish netflix would either commit to telling you what song was playing or didn't tell you at all

Riv offers Beatrix a hit from his joint because what Is a Bad Kid hasn't changed in like 70 years Blowing pot smoke into someone's mouth isn't as sexy as ya'll seem to think it is Musa has cute sleep socks with little pom poms, and I love Tera's floral jammies Tera offers a bluetooth speaker so they can listen to music together Musa also calls out Tera's fake happiness this is the good shit character interaction i live for Musa Empath Mind Fairy 'somber indie music'

If you kill a burned one in the human world Something? Extra bad happens? So the headmistress knows Bloom's a changeling, and ohhh that's the last time a burned one was spotted. Is Rosalind the famed Monster Slayer the birth mother of Bloom? Tera text flirts with Giggly who IS NAMED DANE and has a thing for. Sky? Riv? I told you these boys all look the same to me so if it's a half naked pic on fairy insta i'm out of context clues. Crymeariv is the insta name that answers that. Is this the slow burn enemies to lover mlm i can't finish this sentence i don't care riv is a dick Stella and Sky are in a bed and she doesn't seem to have a top on so Implied sexy times? MYSTERIOUS HOODED AND ROBED FIGURE CROSSES THROUGH THE BARRIAR AND SHOOTS THE BURNED ONE WITH LIGHTNING MAGIC OH IT'S beatrix

alt-J – Adeline as an ending song

[quasieli]

top six: fictional characters that give you gender envy, flowers, little things that make you happy and d&d moments :D

Ooh lotsa questions!

Gender Envy:

1) Bow from She-Ra (2018). Something about buff athletic dude who wears crop tops and is soft as hell is very Gender to me.

2) Vax from Critical Role. Pretty boy, kinda goth rogue? That’s sexy as hell and I wish that was me. 

3) In a wildly different idea of gender envy, I’ve been thinking about it lately and @quantum-lesbian’s character in the Frostmaiden game I’m in with them, Ambrose, is Big Gender. Beautiful non-binary drow with a starry and kinda witchy aesthetic that dresses super grandly and ostentatiously no matter the occasion? Yes please.

4) Pete from The Unsleeping City, specifically season two. I adore season one Pete but season two Pete that works in a queer bookshop and has a teapot arcane focus, is artsy and is unapologetically a trans man who doesn’t give a shit about gender roles? Sign me the fuck up.  

5) Beau from Critical Role. Buff GNC lesbian mixed with academia, but like academia from the prospective of a grad student with ADHD trying to learn everything about their special interests? A+, I love her and I’m jealous. 

6) I’m gonna cheat a lil bit for this last one. I know the prompt is fictional characters, but Julia Lepetit and Jacob Andrews in their Hitman streams? Simultaneously both of them were Gender for me. Jacob esp felt like that for me, which is weird cause dresses can make me dysphoric, but I am also slightly envious of the Dude in a Dress type of gender presentation. 

Can you tell that I’m a confused trans masc enby

Gonna put it under the cut from here cause oof, there’s still a lot more.

Flowers:

1) Big slut for Sunflowers, always have been, always will be.

2) Fun fact, my dad’s family used to own a flower shop (in like the 70s, so I never got to see it :(), and one of their big things was hydrangeas. My dad has always loved them and now I love the snowballs too!  

3) A recent favorite, the Baker’s Globe Mallow. It’s a type of flower that only grows from the soils of forests that have been affected by wildfires. It’s a simple little flower but I love the idea of something beautiful rising from the ashes after tragedy. A little dramatic, but I’m queer, ofc I’m dramatic.

4) Roses are another important flower to my family (Rose was a family name for a couple generations), and ya know, they’re a classic. 

5) There’s this beautiful magnolia tree in front of my house that blooms with the most beautiful white and pink flowers every spring, and it’s one of my favorite things to see every year. 

6) There’s so many different types of Lillies and they’re all very pretty, but the Purple Stargazer is prob my favorite.

Little Things That Make Me Happy:

1) My cat, Maddie. She may be a cranky girl at times, but she is also very sweet and will always be my baby (even though she is 12). 

2) Not a little thing really, but my best friend. Just getting a sweet/silly text from her or the two of us chilling in a room, sitting in a comfortable silence because we just like being together, nothing better. 

3) Baking, esp if I’m doing it for others. I’m not much of a sweets person myself, a little treat every once in a while type person, but I love baking. It’s a very relaxing process for me, even when it can sometimes get stressful, but seeing people enjoying something I made, especially something that brought me great joy to make, is simply the best. 

4) In the same sorta vein, crafting and other art, but that’s a bit more personal. I love making things for others, but art, particularly drawing, is something I do more for me. It’s such a great feeling when you can get into a really good art mood and just sink yourself into a project. I love it.

5) My plush toys. Yes, I am a 23 year old, no I will not stop loving my plushies. I just got a few new friends, which I made a post about recently, and they such good cuddle buddies. However, there is one king amongst them all. I have this old, beat up christmas puppy beanie baby, on his tag named Jingle Pup, but I just call him Jingle. I had one version of him since I was like 6, but he currently lives on a shelf cause he is very beaten up and fragile, but his “brother”, who I got when I was 8, is still in kinda good shape and is currently chilling on my chest as I type this lol.

6) Again, not a little thing, but it’s important to mention; D&D. The game itself is such a joy, but truly the best part of it is the people. I love creating stories and memories with people through this weird little game. Truly one of my favorite things to do.

D&D Moments:

These are all gonna be personal moments, rather than anything from actual play shows/podcasts. RC is Reforged Campaign, where I play Saube, and FM is Frostmaiden, where I play Sparks.

1) RC - Meeting Mahety, Saube’s girlfriend. We met her way back in session 12 and we are now up to like session 73. Saube saw her and was immediately big heart eyes at her but also felt a bit awkward and shy. So, being a game a dice, I decided to roll. 10 or higher, Saube would talk to her, 9 or lower, she’d stay put. I rolled a 17, 17 is now a lucky number for me. I love Mahety and I’d die for her. 

2) FM - This was an insane fight that should not have been so crazy, but in a fairly early session, my group went up against an angry druid and her awakened animals. So much batshit stuff happened in that fight, and we unfortunately lost our bread loving bard (RIP Agneyis), but one of my favorite combat turns happened in this fight. Our artificer, Omaren, has a robe of useful items and one of the patches on it creates a large pit. Thinking quickly, Omaren tore off the patch, slid it under one of the dire wolves we were fighting and created a looney tunes style pit under it, allowing us to take it out easily via pot shots. Such a clutch move and such a funny visual, especially because the dire wolf kept failing the checks to get out of the pit.  

3) RC - Saube’s Zebrith (I will never remember how this actually spelled RIP). So, for context, Saube ended up with a death curse (long story) that mechanically meant they had disadvantage on any death saving throws. Scary as hell, need to get that fixed! So, Saube and their party had to be smuggled into another country to talk with some religious leaders of a goddess known as The First, the goddess of death. They were told that Saube would have to go through the aforementioned ritual, which included her soul leaving her body for a short period of time. During this ritual, her friends had to call back to her, to say things that would bring her back to her body and I still cry thinking about that game. That ritual was not only important for Saube bodily, but spiritually as well. After that ritual, Saube officially became a cleric of The First! 

4) A real sappy one, RC - Saube meeting all of her friends. Anyone who follows along with the rantings on my blog probably knows how important this game is to me. I met this random group of strangers on tumblr and formed a D&D party with them and now, a year and a half later, I honestly think it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I know that sounds silly and dramatic but not only has this game brought me so much joy and comfort, but I also gained a group of really amazing friends who have been nothing but amazing since day one. As much as Saube knows she can depend on SICL, I know I can depend on my group of weirdos lol. We both love our friends very much and even though we’ve all been through some crazy shit, we wouldn’t change it for the world.    

5) RC - Just playing Saube in general. I really didn’t intend for it to be this way, but Saube is very much a reflection of myself. She is the first long term character I have ever played and so much of me is in her. I try not to treat D&D like therapy, because that’s unfair to my DM and fellow party members, but playing Saube has allowed me to work through some of my own problems, especially social anxiety, in a lot safer of an environment. It isn’t so much that I’m asking this game to help me fix my life, but playing out these scenarios that, in the real world, would make me anxious or make me freak out, I can stop, take a moment to breathe and work out these issues in a way that makes sense to me. Playing her has led me to understanding myself a bit better, as well, and that’s truly such a wonderfully unexpected gift from this whole experience. 

6) Lastly, a silly one: RC - Getting a crit 6. The last session of this game got real interesting. Saube’s party ended up in the ethereal plane and magic got real fucky there. So, any time any of us tried to cast a spell, we’d roll a d20, not look at the result, and then try to guess what number rolled. The closer to the number, the better the result. A few times, a few people managed to get within like 3 or 4 of their roll, but oh the power I felt when I rolled a 6 (on Saube’s die!) and guessed it correctly! So, not only did the spell (Bless) work, but it worked super well. So instead of getting +1d4 to attack rolls and saving throws, Saube and two other party members got +2d4 to attacks, saving throws and skill checks. So powerful I broke the rules of D&D lmao. 

[kyloswarstars]

The Shelby Family Teleported Through Time • Part 2

„Into the 21st Century“

Peaky Blinders • Series AU • Shelby!Reader

It seemed like all of your siblings barely had any time left for the family. You wanted to fix it all up and get back to what the Shelby siblings once were. At the Lee’s campsite you are gifted an ‚enchanted amber‘, along with the promise that it would help you get closer to your siblings again. Never did you think it would teleport you into another time: being faced by more problems than before.

Words • 4.8k

A/N • Lemme know what you think about it 🌚

TSFTTT • masterlist

/////

When the first fighters reached their opponents, their swords were going down. You shut your eyes, expected an intense amount of blood to spill, but when you squeezed one eye open you couldn’t see any blood. Confused, you were watching two men yielding their swords at each other. One of them hit a shield and the other one was laughing when his blade came down to the neck of his enemy – and didn’t chop the head off. The guy, whose head should be rolling on the floor, let himself dramatically fall to the ground and joined in with the laughter of the man who just murdered-not-murdered him.

„Where the fuck are we now?“ John was the first one to speak after being ripped awake from his sleep to this weird sword fight.

The confusion of jumping through time was probably even bigger than the first time. Your siblings were all still fighting their sleepy eyes, except for Tommy and you. John was watching the fight with the most dumbfounded look you had ever seen him wearing on his face.

Arthur spoke with a crooked voice what you were thinking. „Why is no one dying in this battle?“

The guy who died but wasn’t dead, got up of the ground, and stood with his opponent and a warrior woman, looking in your direction.

„Guys.“ Finn dragged the word again for longer than necessary. „They are coming over! What should we do?“

John stood and held the rifle at ready. „Get all behind me. They don’t have a chance. Gun fucks sword.“

You gathered behind him like his children usually did. Something about the people coming up was off but you couldn’t pin it down. Only when they came to a halt a few feet away, you saw their battle gear looking incredibly fake – those were not real knights. If you didn’t teleport to the Middle Ages… where did you teleport to then?

„Nice costumes, lads!“ The dead man spoke first. „Today is the medieval role play battle, though. The staging of World War One should be next weekend.“

Their words went right over your head. Stealing a glance at your siblings you noticed them being more confused than ever. Good, that you weren’t the only one. You also noticed the boys growing stiff with the mention of war. 

The three in front of you were waiting for you to speak. Besides wearing fake knight armours they seemed a little older than you and Finn. Maybe in their twenties? What was going on?

„You’re playing civilians, right?“ The woman was offering a smile as she gestured at your appearances.

„Yes?“ Arthur questionably answered, placing a hand on the gun John still aimed at them and pushing it towards the ground.

Ada stepped out, even in front of Arthur and John. „We came a long way for this… staging.“

„You really didn’t know it’s only next weekend?“ The girl was looking at you with a compassionate, up cheering smile. 

Simultaneously, your siblings and you shook your heads. 

The dead guy seemed sympathetic as well. „Are you driving back home or do you have a place to stay?“ Guy number 2 still didn’t say a word, just stared at you like you stared at them.

„Unfortunately, I think it’s impossible for us to drive back home.“ Ada was doing really good with speaking for the whole pile of confused siblings. 

The three of them were looking at each other, shocked. They gathered together, arms around each other’s shoulders and heavily discussed something with their heads stuck together. A few minutes later they parted and came closer.

„We don’t have much space left but you’re welcome to stay. Cosplayers help cosplayers?“ They tried a smile again, even guy number 2.

„That would be truly generous, wouldn’t it be, family?“ Ada turned around, her eyes as big as the moon on the night sky and a finally-agree-expression. Everyone mumbled some sort of agreement.

„Cool! I am Boomer,“ the dead guy said, „this is my girlfriend Eliza.“ He delicately grabbed her hand and smiled at her with the most adoring glance you had ever witnessed.

„And I am Otter! Eliza’s brother!“ Guy number 2 who had killed dead guy, Boomer, nervously managed to smile at you and then glanced back to the ground. His mouth opened once more to say something but, other than some stuttering, nothing came out. He reminded you a lot of Curly.

Ada introduced all of you and sparked a conversation with the strangers who just invited you to stay with them. She tried to cover her question but for you, being time a sensitive topic lately, her asking ‚What date do we have?‘ raised a red flagg inside of your brain.

„September, 27th.“ Otter answered immediately.

„And the year?,“ Finn skipped in. Holy shite, Finn. Make it more obvious please, yeah?

Boomer, Eliza and Otter looked at you like they didn’t really know if Finn was joking.

Otter was again the one who answered. „2021.“

This time difference hit differently. Instead of jumping two-thousand years into the past, you went a hundred years into the future. A future each one of you Shelby’s would be dead in right now.

Ada tried to lead the conversation in another direction. Tommy helped her.

„Isn’t it a bit reckless of them to take six strangers in?“ Arthur whispered and you hit him, gesturing as to what the heck he was doing. You could be glad they offered you a place to stay. If your brother scared the shite out of them you could find out on your own how this damn 21st century worked.

The three of them weren’t a threat. They were passionate ‚cosplayers‘ taking part in a role play fight and started to walk you to their home after Ada and Tommy found out that 2021 was slightly better than 2020 – which had been ‚absolute horror‘.

You followed your three new friends and didn’t really know how to feel. Instead of back home, you had brought your family to this weird place. 

Walking downhill, through trees and slowly leaving the small forest you had crossed,  Arthur sped up right behind Otter. You saw him examine the sword he carried.

„Wait, is this sword made out of cardboard?“

Otter sighed in desperation. „Well, yes… I had a replica of Gandalf’s Glamdring but Boomer decided it would be fun to cut his sandwich with it and destroyed it on the way of my room to the kitchen.“

„That’s a bummer, son. That Gandalf a friend of ya’? Maybe he can get ya’ a new one, eh?“

„Gandalf is not a friend of mine.“

Arthur, being a little between confused and puzzled, let himself fall back to you and Finn. „Otter is–“

„Like Curly,“ Finn pointed out and shut up whatever Arthur wanted to say.

Their small, really worn-down house was settled right at the end of the village, which wasn’t too far from the little forest. You entered the property through the backyard and the house through a not locked backdoor. So much for being scared of strangers in their home. 

Otter was storming off as soon as he got inside. Boomer was backing away into the hallway, letting you stand in the entrance like some statues. „We’ll peel out of our costumes quick and be right back. Make yourselves at home. Beer is in the fridge!“

To be honest: everything was a shock. Until reaching their door, your surroundings didn’t vary as much to those in your time. But inside of the house… your siblings were, once again, just as shocked as you were.

Following your siblings into a room, you at least recognised one thing: a sofa. You let yourself fall into it and were welcomed by its comfy cushions. It felt like it’s been years since you sat on one when it’s only been a day.

„Uh, what’s that?“ Arthur picked up a black casket with a lot of tiny keys on it like on a typewriter. He pushed one of them. A framed, black rectangle hanging on the wall suddenly came to life and showed a woman. Your heart made a jump. Good, you were sitting down already. Arthur let out a quiet scream but then stepped closer to this woman who was talking about the weather. This frame was like the pictures. Only smaller and with colors.

Tommy snapped the little casket out of Arthur’s hand and vividly pressed down to it until the woman disappeared again.

„Oi, listen up!“ He waved for you to gather around him and it was a torture standing up from that way to comfortable couch. „Fact is: We’re in the future so we might see stuff we never heard of. No. weird. questions. About anything. Behave, adapt, survive.“

Okay. Made sense to you.

„And Y/N!“ Tommy pointed at you, with the heads of your siblings turning and staring you down once more. „No fucking time travel without our permission. Who knows where we will end up next. Let us figure out some stuff first, eh?“

You nodded. 

Eliza was the first to come back. Instead of her fake armour she was wearing a shortsleeved shirt and some blue trousers. Those trousers looked so awesome you wanted to rip them from her and pull it on yourself.

„You don’t have to stand there like that. Come over to the kitchen,“ she waved at you to follow and you all did, entering a room that didn’t look like the kitchens you were used to. „Alexa, kitchen lights on,“ she said and a light on the ceiling magically brightened up the room.

Finn beside you stood there with his jaw dropped to the floor but could bite back a question like Tommy had ordered.

Eliza opened a closet – WHICH HAD LIGHT INSIDE OF IT – grabbed some bottles and opened them. 

„Finally something I recognise,“ Arthur went over to her and snatched a bottle. He read the label, shrugged, and drank. Your siblings, confident with Arthur being the first one to stir out of that reservation you had all been in, broke into some chatting and gathered around Eliza.

Finn and you didn’t. He looked at you, you looked back. With a nod you went to that closet and pulled the door open.

„What is this?“ His whisper made you chuckle.

„I don’t fucking know.“ You touched some of the things you found inside. Yogurt, ham, a can with ‚coke‘ written on it? „It’s cold, Finn. It’s a cold closet.“ Amazing.

John stuck his head between the two of you, noticing the red can. „Oi, Boomer. Can I try the coke?“

„You never had coke before?“ Him and Otter had come to the kitchen as well.

„Of course I did,“ John smirked and fished the can out of the cold closet. You closed it afterwards, watching him open the can and sniffing at it. „I think it’s a drink,“ he whispered. When he put it at his lips and sipped at it, his eyes grew wide. You lost track of how many times you saw your siblings eyes get big, or feel your own doing it, because it was worthless to even try counting.

He passed the can over to you, gesturing to take a sip as well. So you did. Your eyes grew wide. Nothing like the coke at home but incredibly awesome. When you handed it to Finn – who would’ve guessed – his eyes repeated what yours had done when he drank.

„Are you guys hungry?“ Boomer’s voice was able to silence everyone else’s.

Otter was brushing past you to the cold closet and got himself a coke. „Can we get pizza?“

„Sure. Pizza okay for everyone?“ Boomer earned a lot of agreeing yeses – not really knowing what you agreed to specifically but Tommy looked pleased with your way of ‚behave, adapt, survive‘.

Boomer pulled something out of his pocket which had all of you shook. He tapped at a really small, glowing whatever and then held it to his ear. Boomer spoke into it and asked for nine pizzas. Should this be a 21st century telephone? Jesus Christ, help me.

It were some crazy sixty minutes that followed. Basically everything was different and new and you couldn’t comprehend what people invented in only a hundred years. Ada and Tommy tried to gave reasonable answers to all of their questions. 

‚You are all siblings that liked to take part in role plays?‘ Yes, absolutely. Your dad introduced you to it because he was good with playing. Especially with hide and seek. He was the undefeated master of staying hidden. 

‚Where‘s your luggage?’ Well, you left in a hurry, thought you wouldn’t make it in time to the role play.

‚How did you get here?‘ No answer, just eh’s of Ada and Tommy. 

When Otter finally asked the most interesting question of why you couldn’t return home and come back next weekend – maybe he didn’t like strangers in the house but Boomer and Eliza outvoted him – the doorbell rang. The pizzas were delivered right to the front door. Each one of them in a cardboard box.

Tommy’s words were running through your mind. Behave, adapt, survive. You were all spread on the living room floor because the kitchen table wasn’t big enough to fit all nine of you. Luckily, Boomer dived right into his pizza so you could watch his actions and adapt them. You had exactly one bite which you already choked on it, laughing. Your siblings had done the exact same thing: watch and adapt. And as weird as this all was, it was too funny seeing them be little pupils in primary school.

„Are you okay?“ Boomer was sitting next to you and had already finished his first slice.

Nodding with a full mouth, you saw Tommy sending a warning glance at you.

„She’s just a little chaotic, our little Y/N.“ Arthur seemed to enjoy his pizza. He was ahead of Boomer.

You pulled a grimace for your brother and were relieved with the topic remaining only how great the pizza was throughout the rest of the pizza eating.

/////

Sweatpants, you learned, were the most comfortable piece of clothing you had ever worn. They were loose around your legs and no coldness could sweep under the skirt of your dress. It was beautiful when you laid down to sleep. 

Boomer, Eliza and Otter spread some mattresses and blankets in their basement. The Shelby campsite as Finn referred to it. And it totally was. Your siblings were laying next to you, kicking at each other for more space when they should sleep instead. 

You stared at the pocket watch you always carried with you. The concept of time differences were clear to you but you couldn’t recall anymore for how long you were actually gone from your own time. The thought about those you had left behind didn’t hit you before. Not until now. And now, it was eating you alive. Had you just vanished and the time back home carried on? Did it stop? What must they been thinking? 

Another time you were unable to fall asleep while your siblings were snoring next to you.

Did Zilpha know what would happen? If she knew she could’ve given you a warning. Would’ve only been fair.

At some point you fell asleep. The exhaustion was winning. Only to be woken a second later by Ada who was wearing a pair of that blue trousers Eliza wore yesterday.

„Where did you get those?“ You pulled at the trousers as you sat up. It was only Ada and you left in the basement.

„Eliza. You can have some too if you want.“

Thinking about it for a second you rather stayed in those sweatpants for now.

„Breakfast is waiting,“ she smiled and left for the stairs.

„Ada?“

„Yes?“

„How are you feeling about this? All of it?“ You didn’t have the chance yet to ask her about it.

She came back kneeling down and sighed. „To be honest I didn’t think something like this could be possible. Ever. I’m scared for Karl and the others. I’m scared we won’t get home. But all we can do right now is be patient and figure it all out.“ Ada reached out for your hands and pulled your sleepy body up with her. „But other than that… being in the future is the most amazing thing ever.“

„The fridge!“ You pointed out as she said it in the same moment as well.

„Come on,“ she linked her arm with yours and led you upstairs to the kitchen. The scent of freshly brewed coffee was welcoming you and you couldn’t wait to have a cup in your hands. Your brothers were behaving decently, adapting to the breakfast preparations in the 21st century and –  currently – surviving.

The kitchen table fit six. John was sitting at the window, Finn and you on the kitchen counters. You almost dropped your cup when Otter, once again, asked the question as to why you were unable to return home.

„It’s too far away,“ Tommy stated.

Otter wasn’t really irritated by his answer. He continued. „What’s your surname again?“

„Shelby!“ John was munching on a toast when he shouted it proudly over from the window.

Otter pulled out his own glowing, tiny telephone and touched at it frequently. He looked from his phone up to Tommy then back to his phone. He repeatedly did this with everyone of you. When he finally looked up for good again his eyes grew wide.

„You are all Marty McFly’s.“

You were what? The confusion was strong in your family. It wasn’t with Eliza and Boomer, though. They dropped their toasts and looked at Otter in shock. What was going on?

They jumped up, gathered behind Otter and looked at his telephone, still with their jaws dropped.

„Bloody hell!“ Boomers hands were clutching at his head in an unbelieving realisation.

„This makes so much sense.“ Eliza squeezed her brothers shoulder.

They were losing themselves in a conversation you just couldn’t follow. They were first of all talking way too fast. Then, using sentences like ‚maybe their flux capacitor isn’t working‘ and ‚what is their flux capacitor even‘. Last but not least: Finn was anxiously swaying back and forth next to you, creeping you out with it and you almost pushed him off the counter for it.

When their hectic conversation slowly faded, your attention was pulled back to them again. For a minute there was only silence. Shelby’s were holding their breaths, as well as the 21st century’s.

„Are you actually from… another time?“

You dropped the mug out of your hand and heard it shatter on the floor. If you ever would’ve wanted to apply for the MI5 – they would never accept you in. Where did you mess up with behave, adapt, survive?

Your siblings were dead silent. And this silence lasted for as long as it took for John to get out of puberty – which had never happened.

Hopping of the counter, you kneeled down to pick up the pieces, the cup had decided to break into, not without some intensely shaking hands, though.

Slowly, the silence got awkward and Finn decided to put it to an end. „Y/N teleported us from 1925 to the fucking Roman Empire invading England and then to here and–“

Five ‚FINN!‘s were shouted through the room and shut him up.

„Bloody hell!“ Boomer exclaimed again. „This. Is. Awesome!“

„It is?“ John huffed. „I think it’s a nightmare.“

Otter jumped from his chair and came over to you, kneeled down and looked at the broken mug. „Eliza, there are shards,“ he said and stood up again. Otter patiently waited with his eyes closed until Eliza came over and helped you pick the rest of the cup up. When the broken pieces were making their way into the bin, Otter opened his eyes again. „How were you able to teleport through time?“ Eliza next to him was watching you in fascination. „Do you have a DeLorean?“ He asked further. „Nah, you can’t have one, it wouldn’t fit all of you in it.“

„I…“

„She brought us here with a cursed stone,“ Arthur threw in from the table.

Tommy looked like he wanted to ban dessert after dinner for all of you because you willingly engaged with the 21st century’s who just randomly asked if you were from a different time. He stood up and made his way over. „How would you even know we’re from a different time?“

„I googled,“ Otter shrugged. He pulled out his telephone, showed a glowing picture of Thomas as proof and immediately shoved the machine back into his pockets. Why would he not let you look a little longer at the photo of your brother?

„You can find us with that, eh?“

„Sure. I can find whatever I want.“ Otter seemed proud of being able to do that.

„Can you find horse racing results as well?“

Um, Thomas? What about the how-could-you-find-us?

„Of course,“ he pulled out his phone again and waited for Tommy to tell him what he should look for.

„Check the Epsom racetrack, maybe 1928.“

That was three years from now. Holy shite.

„No, stop that, Otter!“ Eliza, probably having the same thought as you, intervened and stole the phone from him. „This is morally highly questionable. You’re basically giving him his own personal almanac.“

Once again, wide eyes were growing in the room but Otter continued anyway. He wasn’t questioning the fact you were from 1925, he just really wanted to know how you were able to be with them right now. So, you told them. How you got the stone, what Zilpha said, what happened when you were sitting in the kitchen. It almost took an hour because one of your five siblings constantly interrupted with their own personal view of the events. It turned out, all the stuff you didn’t understand, which Otter and the others had been talking about, was from a movie about time travel. They tried to figure out logical parallels between the movie and what had happened with you.

Throughout the whole morning, everyone was highly invented into figuring out all the questionable things. The previous hesitation of Tommy with revealing your identities was wearing off because they knew who you were anyway. That Google knew it.

It was a wild ride and it was giving you a headache from overthinking it all. But it was relieving to have the extraordinary productive help of these ‚nerds‘, they called themselves. They were understanding way better what had happened than you, who had been through it.

„Okay, I think we should head to the supermarket. You need toothbrushes,“ Eliza stated. She divided the group and picked John, Finn and you to go with her to the store. „Because I won’t be able to carry all the stuff we need with that many people in the house.“

Tommy was standing up and called Finn and John over. „Boys, give me your watches. For all the expenses we’re causing.“

John picked his out of the waistcoat and stared at it for a moment. „Why don’t you give yours?“

„I gave this one to you for Christmas so it technically is mine, eh?“

Finn just handed his over, not even caring anymore. John did eventually, too. When Tommy gave them to Eliza and told her to sell them later and use the money for all the inconveniences, John couldn’t bite back. „You’re getting good money for those. I mean they’re um… a hundred years old but still new. Don’t sell them below value!“

Shaking your head at him, you helped Eliza gather some stuff to head out. She said you would drive to the supermarket. She didn’t say cars looked like that a hundred years in the future.

John freaked out seeing it and wanted to drive but Eliza didn’t let him. Luckily. Finn was constantly opening and closing his automatic window while driving to the store. You were absolutely fascinated by the music coming out of the tiny speakers.

So far, the 21st century was amazing. And it got even better when Eliza showed you the supermarket. She said you acted like ‚aliens‘, starring at everything, touching all the fruits and trying every sample you could find. You didn’t care.

John and Finn were pushing carts and scooting them down the aisles of sweets.

„Try it yourself, Y/N,“ Finn was waving you to him and you came over but weren’t sure about it.

„What if I crash into the shelf?“

„Okay,“ he turned around for your brother. „John, help me here a second, eh?“ Before you realised it, they were picking you up from the floor and sat you in one of the carts. Finn took a run-up and pushed your cart flying down the aisle. The sudden rush of perhaps getting called out for doing this and the possibility of crashing into a shelf made you laugh out loud. And Finn was joining in.

He helped you out of the cart again when you reached the end of the aisle and didn’t destroy anything.

John packed a lot of coke into his cart. Eliza was trying to pick as many healthy things she could find and at some point you lost Finn but found him in front of a huge variety of chocolate again.

The supermarket was a great experience. So was the car ride back. John was screaming at all the other cars you passed. Finn was playing with the windows again.

Back at their place, you ordered your other brothers to come and help unload all the groceries. It was a lot.

They filled you in on all the theories and solutions they’ve been going through while you were gone. The conclusion was: When you channeled your strongest wish, in this case your siblings being siblings again, the enchanted amber was somehow able to make you and your siblings jump in time randomly. Maybe your wish was somehow connected with where you were traveling to. That didn’t make any sense to you, though. The second time you did it and appeared here, you wanted to go home but didn’t.

Your siblings were convinced you should try it again tomorrow. You just shrugged and went to the bathroom. 

Their concept of toilets was awesome and still fascinating to you every time you flushed it. On your way back to the kitchen, you heard Otter talking to Eliza about Wikipedia entries and if he should tell you about them. Eliza said no and that was that. 

After having dinner in the evening and watching that time travel movie on their colourful rectangle – which had been absolutely fascinating – you found yourself collectively brushing teeth with your siblings and stepping on each others feet when you were done with it.

Otter’s cardboard sword was leaning at the stairs to the basement. You picked it up and went downstairs to your siblings.

„Fight me but I can’t be the only one enjoying this, right?“ You yielded the sword, imitating what you had seen Otter doing, and fake stabbed Arthur in the stomach. He played along, falling down to the blankets and coughed as if he was actually dying. „Actually, no. Don’t fight me because you’ll die.“ 

You turned to the next brother nearest to you, Tommy. With the sword on his neck, ready to fake chop his head off, he just stared at you. You stared back for a while. 

He let you win and pulled that infamous half-grin when you gave him his quietus. „Kids these days,“ were his last words when he let himself fall back to the mattress.

Tonight, you were finally able to sleep.

/////

Everyone was preparing for the next time jump. Saying goodbyes and thank yous. To be on the safer side this time, you sat on the grass in their backyard when your fingers wrapped around the amber.

Channeling your strongest wish. Okay.

You closed your eyes, channeling something was probably easier that way. Those two times before you didn’t know what you were doing. Boomer had told you to not think about it too much but Eliza said you had to think about it a lot.

All you wanted was to go home. It was scary to be teleported two-thousand years into the past. It was awesome to see the future. You didn’t really want to fall into a time where you probably wouldn’t meet such nice people as Boomer, Eliza and Otter.

But most of all, you still wanted to get your siblings back. And with that, another time, your insides were turning upside down and you could sense your surroundings shifting even though your eyes were closed.

[windarcher]

I rarely use this side blog which is a shame, so fuck it, let’s take advantage.

And today we have - my revised essay on why Millennial Tree and Wind Archer are not canonly related, under the read more because it’s a long post! I posted this a while back under a different blog, but I think I can do better. I’ll be honest, 90% of the reason I’m writing this is for fun and to just talk about them because I love these two so much.

Look, I don’t care if anybody headcanons that they are related. If you do? Great! If you do and use that as an excuse to throw hate on people who ship them? Not Great!

So here we go.

1. The Characters

Wind Archer and Millennial Tree!

Millennial Tree was introduced in Ovenbreak, while Wind Archer was around back in LINE. They have a very similar protector/protected dynamic to Knight and Princess. (We’ll be talking about them more later.)

Wind Archer has, as of this post, his main description and three costume ones. I’ll list those first, and we’ll do a bit of unpacking.

Wind Archer - Originally, this Cookie was the wind who loved the green of the forest. This wind delightfully spent its days spreading fresh and sweet fragrances across the forest. In order to save the paradise in peril, a mysterious being granted it the power to purify the Darkness. This transformed the wind into Wind Archer Cookie, the protector of the forest. As long as Wind Archer Cookie's heart keeps hope, he'll carry on his duty.

The interesting thing about this one is that it mentions a mysterious being who transformed him from the wind to the Wind Archer we all know and love. This, I think, is what led a lot of people to head canon him as Millennial Tree’s son- they take the mysterious being to be MT. Put a pin in that one, because we’ll be coming back to it.

Guardian of the Millennial Tree - Long time ago, in a deep dark forest, lived the guardian of the Millennial Tree. The Legend is almost forgotten, but his mission is as eternal as the light of his gem, the Emerald Heart. And it is calling him once again!

This one is interesting because it implies that Wind Archer has been around for a long, long time. Technically it doesn’t disprove the head canon, but it doesn’t help it either.

Night Raven - Wind Archer Cookie embraced the Darkness to become the merciless Night Raven. 

... Yeah this has nothing to do with the theory, but here it is.

And finally, our newest costume!

Zephyr of Life - The Winds of Life gently caress the Dessert Forest. Wind Archer Cookie lands upon the fields and looks upon the horizon. A mysterious power has enveloped the land and granted a blessing to the guardian of the forest. Each arrow leaves a bloom of flowers on flight.

A mysterious power. Sound familiar? I think we can tie that into our mysterious being from before. Still, that doesn’t technically count out MT, right?

Well...

Like I said before! Wind Archer was around in LINE Cookie Run. He’s mostly the same except for one notable difference.

There, the mysterious being that created him was named.

The Sugar Swan.

Now, the Swan hasn’t appeared in Ovenbreak. Yet. But I believe that, with the newest event, we’re getting ready to see her. I know you’re tired of hearing this, but we’ll get to that later. She’s gonna have her own section.

Now that we have a grasp on Wind Archer, let’s move on.

Millennial Tree doesn’t have much, but we’ll still give him his share of the spot light! He doesn’t have any costumes yet, but here we go.

Millennial Tree - Deep inside a secret grove, there was a majestic ancient tree. Its roots went deep inside the ground and far to the very corners of the world. When the scarlet curse devoured the grove, the tree sealed itself in a magical slumber to resist the dark sorcery. With the help of the Cookies, Millennial Tree Cookie's silence was finally broken. Once again he is ready to vanquish the Darkness and make the world a blooming garden it once used to be.

Notice - Not once does this describe him as mysterious. That’s the main tie in to my little theory here.

Now. Moving on.

2. What they think of each other.

Thanks to relationship tags, and a few other tidbits, we DO have an idea of what these two think of each other!

First off - the Relationship Tags.

WA, about MT - “I shall protect the Tree forever!” (Admiration)

Note that there is a Family tag, and note that it is not used for either of their relationship tags.

MT, about WA - “My faithful guardian, my curse is not your fault.” (Trust)

Fun fact: Admiration and Trust are the same relationship tags that Knight and Princess (respectively) have for each other.

There are not just these, however! There are a few more tidbits here in their loading/home screen messages.

WA - “I will protect the Millennial Tree!” “The Tree knows everything.”

MT - “My faithful wind guards me.”

Nothing we don’t already know, but that helps with my point. There’s nothing that implies a familial relationship.

3. New Content/The Mysterious Being

Oh boy oh boy did this new update give us a lot to unpack.

First of all, the costume I mentioned earlier.

Secondly? Though she hasn’t been spotted yet, there are SO MANY hints about the Sugar Swan! Who, might I reiterate, I’m sure is the mysterious being that keeps getting brought up.

Here she is, located in her Galaxy Lake, which was located at the tail end of the Dessert Paradise map. Does that sound familiar?

Well it should if you’ve played the new story event!

The very first line of the event?

“Vixey! Cubby! Let’s go play near Galaxy Lake!”

And, if you take a look at both Wind Archer’s New Costume - The one that ties in with being blessed by a mysterious power- and the lobby design that comes with it...

Here we have the updated version of the galaxy lake. And Wind Archer’s new costume is designed with lots of the same purple tones as the lake/the swan. It also has a much more feather design then his Guardian of the Millennial Tree costume. The trees are very clearly the same as in the version above, pale with stripes. The sky is, unfortunately, a bit hard to see, though there are still stars there.

These aren’t themed around his usual stuff- This costume is themed much more... birdlike then usual. Granted, it’s not the only one that has wings/feathers, but it features them and the color scheme most promisely.

But the BIGGEST part of the new update that makes me certain the mysterious being CAN’T be MT?

In one of the segment of the update, we get this from Churro Cookie -

“The wind was commanded by the Tree to travel far from paradise and protect a mysterious being.”

With all the other hints, I’m certain that the mysterious being has to be Sugar Swan. She’s the one who turned the wind into Wind Archer. She’s the one who blessed him and further enhanced him into the Zephyr of Life.

And MT had nothing to do with creating Wind Archer. So, they are NOT related!

4. Extra Stuff

This does quite fit the rest, but I thought I might as well add it.

There’s one more cookie that has some heavy implication to the importance of swans.

Whipped Cream Cookie!

And again, the cookie description!

“A graceful Cookie, decorated with the tender, sweet whipped cream and shiny pearls. This Cookie spends days looking at his own reflection on the surface of the lake and practicing fouttés and pas. It is said that Whipped Cream Cookie has learned the elegant ballet movements from the beautiful white swans. This romantic ballerino's eyes are filled with pure light, and smile is so gentle and serene, it can calm the most furious storm. May his graceful ballet dance continue forever!“

If you read this with the perspective of searching for hints on Sugar Swan, it’s got quite a few! He danced at a lake- IE, the Galaxy Lake He was taught by swans - and the character gushes about swans by calling him the most graceful beings.

And while that doesn’t technically mean that he’s tied in, well... We do have one connection to the whole situation up above.

He and Millennial Tree know each other!

WC about MT - “The Millennial Tree watched my first performance!” (Friendly) MT about WC - “In my dreams, I've seen this Cookie dance...” (Friendly)

There’s nothing technically there. Just some extra tidbits that fuel my own person parent/child head canon that Sugar Swan is Whipped Cream’s mom-

ANYWAY

5. Conclusion

Millennial Tree was not the one to turn the Wind into Wind Archer. That was most likely Sugar Swan, and the devs seem to be building up to her coming back with this new event!

This means these two are not canonly related, and if you enjoy shipping them like I do, fear not! There’s no reason not to!

[awesomerextyphoon]

Charred Briar Roses - 7

Recourse

Summary: You finally see Karim and an old friend.

Paring: Orc!Bucky x Black!Reader, Orc!Steve x Black!OFC, Orc!Sam x Black!OFC 

Word Count: 1596

Rating: 18+

Warning: Not much for this chapter

Back to Masterlist

“Karim! What happened?! How are you-”

“Easy there, cousin. Drink this,” he handed you a water bottle, “You’ve been out for three days. Take it slow.”

Three days?! FUCK! How did-

“How did you save us? You never studied magic when were kids,” you remembered a more poignant point, “How are you still alive?!”

Karim sighed deeply and his eyes were downcast, “After Sophronius’ failed coup and resulting battle, he asked the demon lord for ‘more fire power’,” he unbuckled his armor and rolled up his right sleeve revealing a shadow demon seal,”and the demon lord delivered. I was his first successful guinea pig. The sealing was the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced. He and mother fought for weeks until she finally tried to escape with Amani. They were caught and,” Karim lips quivered as he tried to hold back his tears,”he sacrificed my mother and bound Amani to an enslaved succubus.” He gasped out the last part and the dam burst.

You pulled him in for a hug as he sobbed for a couple minutes. Even though you didn’t have the best relationship with Amani (she was resentful of the attention you and your sisters got and in turn you ignored her), both she and Aunt Photine did not deserve their fates.

You wanted offer Karim some comfort, so you continued to hold him while aired out his emotions.

Once Karim calmed down, he returned to his tale, “I still don’t know where he took Amani, but I still remember her cries. The next day the shadow demon took over and it was like I was in this abyss like place, my only window to the outside world was through the demon’s eyes. I’m still haunted by the screams of the innocent while I went along with that abomination’s plans of conquest.”

“How did you escape?”

Right then, another figure came into the clearing. She was a dark elf! Her long silvery platinum blonde hair was in a french braid with delicate bangs on either side of her face, framing her spring green eyes beautifully. Her skin was a lovely shade of midnight purple which contrasted nicely with her powder blue and light sand outfit.

Karim turned to the approaching elf and pulled her in for a comforting hug and a kiss, “I was saved by Dáiríne, my mate.”

Neat.

“It is pleasure to meet you, Y/N. I’ve heard so much about you and your sisters. I just wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Dáiríne was a spy for the remaining Fae and the Resistance. She was able to stop me from killing her and freed me from the shadow demon’s and my sperm donor’s influence. We’ve been assisting the Resistance from afar ever since.”

Well, it great to see someone in your family have some happiness. There was still one thing bothering you, “What happened to the Fae?”

Before Karim or Dáiríne could answer, the moon hit the willow tree just right and it began to glow in a color similar to the Nephrashim Crystal. The reeds pulled themselves apart and 10ft mirror appeared at its base while a stone path rose from the water.

Karim motioned you to walk towards the willow tree and when you got close enough to see your reflection, a figure appeared in the mirror.

It was Aoife! Or rather, what remained of her. Aoife’s once lustrous strawberry blonde hair was now a dull yellow almost gray. Her youthful face was haggard and her vivacious body was now a corpse, barely holding itself together.  

Tears welled up in your eyes, “Aoife, what happened?”

“My sweet summer child, I had almost lost hope oof see you again. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to greet upon your matches breaking the spell. As you can see, I’m stuck in an enchanted mirror.” Aoife laughed bitterly and sighed,”To answer question, I’ll have to go back to your 18th birthday.

When you and your sisters fell, Sophronius took that moment and killed your father. He would’ve killed your mother if was not for a stable boy who was in the right (or wrong) place at the time. Your mother used the commotion to escape and gather a surprisingly large force to fight Sophronius. It took three days and the loss of three of my sisters, but we were able to drive that demon asswipe away from the Crystal and you.

We were able to form the Resistance with your mother at the head and we had some successes...but it did not last. Within 150yrs, Sophronius either killed or captured all of the Fae. I was the last free Fae left when Doireann was killed at the Battle of Skull Ridge.”

“What about the Titania?”

“She was the first one to be captured as a means to let everyone else escape. Although, considering how this started, we might’ve deserved our fates.” Aoife lamented.

You shot her a puzzled look.

She gave you morose smile, “About 5,000yrs ago, the Nephrashim Empire was just a small kingdom. It pretty well for itself, but it was always attacked by raiders and natural disasters. One day the Crystal fell from the sky a few hundred meters from the kingdom’s walls. The current king had it brought to the central square and the entire kingdom was bathed in its glow. Soon the people of Nephrashim was able to create marvels of science and technology the world has never seen.

Everyone in the kingdom was enjoying unbridled peace and prosperity. All was well...until a king, Bashar, five generations down took the throne. He wanted to share the kingdom’s knowledge and wealth with the world. At first, we were glad. We’ve been saying that it was rude for Nephrashim to hoard all of their progress to themselves and the kingdom was only place the Fae were truly welcomed.

But his mind turned to conquest.

We remained loyal to Nephrashim royal line despite the atrocities.”

You balled your fists in anger, “Why didn’t you or the rest of the Fae do anything!”

Aoife bowed her head in shame, “Most of us didn’t feel the need to do anything since we weren’t the ones doing it and it didn’t affect us.”

Why is almost everyone in your pre-cursed life either psychos or cowards?

Fuck.

“How I do stop Sophronius?”

“The Nephrashim Crystal. It is the heart of the empire and the key to Sophronius’ plans. In the throne room, there’s a key that opens a staircase that leads to the underground chamber where the Crystal is being held. You will need your sisters as you are the last ones of the direct royal line since Sophronius lost the duel for the throne.

I am truly sorry that you and your sisters must bear the burden of our apathy, but you are the only ones who can stop Sophronius.

I know that this is hard, but know that you are not alone in this fight. Trust your loved ones.”

“Why does this feel like you’re leaving us?”

“Because I am. I only had enough power left to give you this message. I am sorry my little chipmunk,” and with that the glow enveloping the willow tree faded and the mirror vanished.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

You fell to your knees and sobbed until Karim scooped you up and carried you back to shore. Dáiríne got you something to eat and got you up to speed on the Resistance, “Your sisters have been captured by Sophronius and the Resistance is mourning the loss of Olanma and Chetachi. If this keeps up it won’t be long before Sophomore wins.”

“Thanks for the boost. You have any good news?”

“I have something you’ll like,” Dáiríne smiled, “But first, what are you going to do?”

“I have to get my sisters and destroy the Nephrashim Crystal. It’s the only thing I can do now.”

Dáiríne stood up and led you away from the kitchen, “Well, you’re going to need some help. Now, before you ask, Karim and I have already contacted the remaining members. They’re not happy about what happened with you, but they’re working on a plan. Let’s see here,” she stops in front of set of metal doors, “Go on, Y/N.”

You cautiously opened the doors to find Bucky on a bed, his left arm replaced with a metal one made of vibranium and mithril weaved with both magic and biomedical engineering in the Nephrashim fashion.

It suited him, and it somehow made him sexier.

“I’ve been trying to wake him for hours, but I think you might fare better,” Dáiríne whispered as closed in on Bucky and gave him a kiss.

He was unresponsive for a moment before he grunted and smirked against her lips,”I guess the tables have turned. Huh, sweetheart?”

––––––––

You and Bucky stayed with Karim and Dáiríne for a few days while Bucky got used to his new arm when the Weeping Willow was engulfed in flames.

“Shit! The Horde! Dáiríne, take Bucky and Y/N to the rendezvous! I’ll hold them off!” Karim barked as he activated his demon seal release.

“No! We can’t leave you here!” you yelled back.

“Quickly you two!,” Dáiríne ordered as she dragged you to the workshop and locked the doors. She got the portal ready right as the Horde group leader, one of the demon lord’s sons, started to break through.

“Get in!” Dáiríne shouted as the Horde leader started firing at them.

“But-”

Dáiríne gave you a heartbroken smile, “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she pushed you into the portal.

Taglist: @giorno-plays-piano​ @lookiamtrying​ @retroxvailles​ @hurricanerin​ @saiyanprincessswanie​ @chris-evans-indian-fanfic​ @pseudonymphet​ @rosalynshields​ @imdarkinme​ @macheregrace​ @anyatheladyclown​ @buckysbunny​ @marvelfansworld​ @mcudarklibrary​ @moonstruckbucky​

[shigarakis-fifth-hand]

Mha Scenarios

I recently found your blog and i'm in love with your writing! ❤ So, since we are in May... could i request individuals scenarios for Deku and Mirio with the theme mermaid reader x pirate? You can invert roles if you prefer ^^

Haha I got bored and mixed in some yandere vibes and magic!! Hope you don’t mind!

Deku

Deku was the co-captain of the UA or Unified Anchor, one of the most respected and yet also most feared pirate ships in the world. They were known for putting a gun to everyone’s head, taking the treasure, and then leaving without a single casualty. That’s why Deku liked it, he didn’t have to get his hands dirty to have the sweet reward. Some called it lazy, but honestly they were jealous that they hadn’t thought of it first.

The captain was All Might, the strangest pirate captain on Earth. He was a kind simple man, but with the protection he felt over his crew, and his too-large-to-be-possibly-real-right? muscles, he was deadly to all but his crew. The ship crew was like a family, and he was going to pass it on to Izuku Midoryia once he grew too old.

“Deku! Get rid of the sail!” Ochako called out from the deck of the boat as Deku pulled on the rope, pulling the sails up and out as the boat began to surface on the island. “Look, it’s land ya hoes!” Denki grabbed Deku by his foot and swung him around playfully, helping the guy get down from the tall ledge where he stood.

The kids and All Might walked onto the powdered sand of the beach, shining like a crystal. “I know there’s something around here that’s gotta be worth taking. Refill the water buckets and harvest all the food we can get from this place. Bakugo! Midoryia! Search the island! It’s not that big, and surely you can see it all by midnight.” All Might pulled the boat onto the shore to resist the drag of the waves and then pulled it entirely onto the beach. 

“Set camp for us Shoto! Denki, I need you to load whatever we don’t need off the boat and get rid of it. This island looks as if it has plenty to offer.” All Might explained while Deku and an angry blonde boy began to walk into the forested area of the island. Izuku ruffled his dirty green hair and fixed his red shoe with a hole in it. All Might had offered to get him new ones, but these shoes were like his trademark in life. He needed them, and they needed him to feel as one together.

Izuku, using his sword, slashed through the palm trees and bushes in his way, before hearing a scream from nearby, as well as yelling. It was a girl’s scream. Deku ran as fast as he could through the forest, until he saw Bakugo pulling the hair of a girl on the ground. “Kacchan, what the hell do you think you’re-” Deku stopped cold, looking down to see that from the girl’s waist and below was a fishes tail.

“She’s a fucking mermaid! Stop moving bitch, I’ve got to find a net or something!” Bakugo was about to run off before Deku pulled him back angrily. Katsuki stared at Izuku, confused by his sudden change in personality 

“She can’t breathe asshole! Come on, it’s okay.” Deku took out his canteen filled with water and began pouring it on the girl’s neck where she was gasping from, as he saw the fish gills under her chin. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re going to help me get her back home.” She began coughing through her mouth, finally able to breathe once more.

Bakugo groaned, but accepted as he walked back to her, receiving a devil’s glare from the mermaid. “Where do you need us to take you?” Izuku asked as she gestured with a nod of her head towards the forest. Izuku smiled lustfully at her pretty face as he picked her up bridal style and began to walk that direction, Bakugo following slowly. 

With a few glances and nods of her head, she was able to show them back to a lagoon that came off the ocean bay. “Here.” Izuku set her in the water, not caring that his shoes were getting wet. As soon as he buried her into the calm water, he saw her mouth open and vibrancy return back to her body as she popped up, staring at his with stars in her eyes. “You saved me. How can I thank you?”

Izuku froze, blushing at how beautiful her voice was. So enchanting, so luring even. “Um...” Izuku paused, thinking of it would be selfish to ask for gold or something. “Our crew would love some of your mermaid treasure! Whatever you can spare, we’ll take it!” Bakugo exclaimed, receiving an annoyed side eye from the fish. “I would never do anything for you, but for you.” The mermaid looked back at Izuku with hearts in her eyes.

“I’d do anything for you!” She smiled, making the green-haired blush. “Then yes, if you have any treasure it would make our job a lot easier.” Deku smiled back as she nodded, before she grabbed Bakugo’s shirt. “Follow me boys. It’s just in the cave.” Before either of them could react, she pulled Bakugo into the crystal-clear water, and deep into the water beyond Deku’s sight. “Kacchan!” Deku screamed, before diving into the clear sea and swimming after her into the cave. 

Just as he was about to run out of air, he felt a hand grab him by the shirt and speed him inside a cave, bringing him up for air. “Izuku!” The mermaid brought him to the land inside the cave, pressing up and down on his chest. As Deku began to wake up, she wrapped her arms around him. Goodness, you should have waited for me to come back for you! Humans can’t swim fast enough to get here before running out of air.” She explained as Izuku nodded, looking up to see Bakugo wringing the water out of his shirt. “Bitch... getting me all wet...”

The mermaid got off of Deku, allowing him to get back on his feet. “Are you alright? You swallowed a lot of water.” As the mermaid hugged Izuku, he felt her heart beating fast. The two slowly began to come together, their lips pressing slowly as Izuku was enchanted by her beauty and the seduction of her fantasizing voice. Just as their lips pressed, the two were startled by Bakugo’s loud screams.

“Lord, you weren’t joking! Come on Deku, stop thinking about your dick and look at all this!” He yelled as Deku got off his knees, blushing as he looked over at what Bakugo was talking about. In front of Bakugo’s feet was a pile of gold coins, tiaras, swords, and clumps of jewels and gems. “Oh my god! Now this is a treasure! Come on Deku, let’s grab what we can and scram!” Bakugo began grabbing the treasure by the handfuls and stuffing his pant pockets.

“Don’t hesitate Izuku, this is the dumpster where we put the treasure we don’t want. My sisters use it for luring pirates like yourself to their death, or trading with the other mermaid colonies who can’t find good treasure like we do.” The mermaid explained as Izuku’s eyes widened at her words. “You... kill pirates?” Deku asked, ignoring his crewmate stuffing his pockets and mouth to the brim with coins and jewels.

“Not me, but my sisters. It’s one of the main jobs of our kind to lure pirates who have treasure that we want to their death.” She confessed as he nodded, his eyes still wide. “Not you, though. My sisters have left on a trading mission to the North, so you won’t have to worry about mermaids around these areas for months.” The mermaid smiled sweetly, cupping Izuku’s face with her soft palms. “Now go, get as much as you can carry Izuku.” She blushed as he slowly left her side, walking to the treasure.

You watched him slowly walk, loving the look of his legs walking. You wanted to see how he would look swimming... “Wow Kacchan, this is too good to be true!” Deku exclaimed as he finally had filled his pockets as much as possible. “Alright fish girl, take us back to the surface! Maybe we can come back once I empty out, we can bring back our crewmates!” Bakugo yelled, walking back over to the mermaid. “What? There are more of you? Tell me about them Izuku.” The mermaid smiled as he joined Kacchan, grinning at her. 

“Oh, you’d love them! Ururaka would love how soft your hair is, and Mina loves swimming so she’d love you!” He exclaimed as the mermaid’s eye twitched creepily, but only Bakugo noticed. “Oh, there are girls? Do you like any of them?” She asked as Izuku blushed, shaking his head. “Oh no, they’re just friends! Although I did kiss Ururaka once when we were young, but we liked each other just because we were dumb kids.” As Izuku and the mermaid continued to talk, Bakugo began to feel uneasy.

“Ahem, Izuku. Stop talking and just get us out of here. I don’t like this place.” Bakugo whispered as the mermaid began to get angry at him. “Oh Kacchan, I’ll take you back up right now. Wait here Izuku, I’ll come back for you.” The mermaid grabbed the blonde’s hand and began to pull him back into the water, being careful to not spill any of the gold coins out of his pockets. Izuku sat on the sand, playing with it’s soft texture as she soon returned. “Did Katsuki make it back safe?” Deku asked, standing and preparing to leave.

“Oh yes, he promised to get every single one of your crewmates to come to the shore in a few minutes. I can’t wait to meet all the girls.” She smiled as Deku lowered his hand, ready to leave. “Oh no, you’re not leaving Izuku~baby.” She smiled as his eyes widened, confused and now worried. “What do you mean?” He asked as she smiled wider, her eyes filling with evil and lust. “Why would I let you go when you’re going to go back to the girls? I need to keep you here, so no other girl will ever look at you again! You’ll be all mine!”

Izuku began backing up, shaking his head upsettingly. “N-no! When you bring them down here, they’ll bring me back!” He shouted as she began laughing, rolling around happily in the water. “Oh silly, don’t be such a dummy! I’m not bringing them down here!” She exclaimed as Deku’s eyes widened at what she meant. “I’ll drown each and everyone of your crewmates! My sisters will be so proud of me! My first mission was your crew, and I’ll get every single one of them!” She smiled as Izuku began crying, fearful and upset.

“Oh, and then once they’re gone you’ll be all mine! God, you’re going to stay here until death! I’m so excited!” She smiled, reaching for his shirt to grab him by and hug him. “I’ll bring you food three times a day, and never leave your side! I’m so in love with you! It’s thanks to you that my kill count will meet the requirements to become queen! Once I kill 20 people, I’ll be allowed to take the crown! You’ll be my king Izuku~Baby!” Deku crumbled to his knees, unable to believe the fact that it was his fault that his entire crew would die.

Mirio

Togata was a pirate, but one of the lowest class. He always did the night shifts with his witch friend Nejire, and his friend Tamaki who was training to become the captain. Mirio didn’t have much to do at the time, and could only wait until Tamaki became the captain so he would be promoted like Tamaki had promised. Until then, Mirio was living life day-by-day, bored out of his mind and looking for more.

“Ahh, we’re here Mirio! Look!” Nejire pointed to the island approaching, a cove, waterfall, lagoon, and a lush forest all appearing to his eyes. “Wow, look at that. I call the lagoon, I missed swimming without having to worry about sharks.” Mirio smiled as Nejire smacked him playfully in the back of the head. “Fine, Tamaki said that All Might needed more coconuts, I’ll get some of those.” Nejire smiled back, finally being able to climb onto the sandy beach.

Mirio grabbed his bag and got off the boat himself, walking along the shore towards the water. Looking back, he saw everyone pile off and look around, unknowing of what to do next. All Might had always been one to let the crew do their own thing. As Mirio entered the area of the water, he began to strip himself of his clothes. That was, until he heard a noise from a far. A sort of... gasping?

He turned and began swimming quickly to the shore where he heard the noise, getting out of the water and running to where the noise came from. Shocked, he gasped as his eyes laid upon a girl struggling, a rope wrapped around your neck tightly. As you grasped and pulled at it, Mirio ran to your side, scaring you As he pulled out the knife and put it to your neck, you began hyperventilating in fear of him trying to kill you. When he cut the rope and threw it from your body though, you realized what he meant to do.

You rolled into the water, splashing as you began to get away from Mirio. “W-who are you?!” You demanded to know, swimming slowly away from him as he put his hands up. “I’m not trying to hurt you! I saw you were stuck and wanted to help!” He explained as you stopped, looking down at the knife in his pocket. Noticing that he still had it out, he quickly tucked it away into his pocket. “T-thank you. What’s your name? I didn’t know humans were on this island.” You asked as his eyes widened. Had you just called him a human? Weird.

“U-um, human? What do you-” As his eyes peered down her body, he was left to not look upon legs beyond your waist but a fish tail. No, a mermaid tail was more precise. Looking at you again, he noticed the shell necklace, voluminous yet wet hair, and the starfish on your head. He realized now that all that wasn’t just a coincidence, but a design choice. “Y-you’re a mermaid.” He muttered as you giggled happily, doing a flip in the water, showing off your light teal tail. 

“Yes? Now what’s your name human pirate?” You asked as he smiled, unable to remove his eyes from your happy emotion. “W-well, I’m Mirio Togata, but you can call me Miri.” Togata turned on his charm, allowing you to smile at him. “I’m Y/n, like to meet you Miri.” You grinned as he could help but blush at your cuteness. Y/n was such a beautiful name... “So, where’d you come from human boy? If you were on this island, I would have heard about it.”

He grinned, sitting down on a rock on the shore close to you, and began to explain. “Well, my crew and I just got here. They’re unpacking, but I have nothing to do so I thought I’d come here and swim.” You nodded, your eyes sparkling at the idea of others. “Well then you should swim with me! It’d be so much fun!” You began to tug at his arm playfully, laughing happily with him. “How long can you hold your breath? How fast can you swim?!”

Mirio felt his heart smile at your enthusiasm as he stripped himself of his shirt and pants embarrassingly. “Come on slow fish! Come on in!” As Mirio was about to protest, you smacked her tail against the water, spraying him with the sea water. “You’re on!” He yelled before diving in, coming up to face you. You two began splashing each other happily, and Mirio couldn’t help but feel weird about how fast he had connected with this random girl- eerrrrrr, mermaid? 

“Mirio! Where are you dummy?” Mirio and you turned surprised, hearing Nejire’s voice near them but hidden away. “Dang it, I don’t want to go back already.” He mumbled, beginning to swim to the shore before you grabbed his arm. “Do you trust me?” You asked, holding his arm tightly as he looked at you with a questioning stare. “Answer me Miri.” As he looked into your innocent e/c eyes, he nodded hesitantly.

In that moment he was swept under the water, and quickly pulled under the waves. As he went deeper and deeper, the amount of light began to quickly decrease until he was in pitch darkness. He held his breath though, and in a few moments later he was brought to the surface, your grip still holding his arm firmly in her grasp. “Good, you weren’t moving for a minute and I got scared. Here we are!” You exclaimed, motioning to the small amount of land you were on.

Looking behind you, Mirio saw a waterfall hiding you two from the rest of the world, allowing him plenty of room to lay on the beach. “You can stay here for as long as you want, I come here to hide too.” You smiled sadly as he slid onto the sand, leaving his legs in the water. “What do you have to hide from?” Mirio asked curiously as you glanced at him, sadness in your eyes. “D-don’t make a big deal about it, but I’m becoming queen of my territory next week. My dad is insisting that I need to get married, but I just can’t seem to find someone who I like who also likes me.”

You sighed, resting your head in his lap as you continued your stressed rant. “I come here to hide, where nobody is pestering me about royal duties or my dad isn’t setting me up with every other guy in the ocean. Here, the water is so loud that you can just scream, and nobody will hear you.” You smiled before feeling his arms wrap around you tightly. “It’s okay, I promise you’ll find someone.” You turned to him, hearts in your eyes as you stared at him.

“You think? That means a lot coming from a stranger, but you just don’t know me. I’m childish and I play pranks on the butlers when my dad isn’t in town to lecture me. Sometimes, I feel like I have no purpose, and I’m just waiting for my dad to give me a reason to stick around. Ya know?” You explained as Mirio’s eyes lit up. You were just like him, like he was waiting for Tamaki to hand him a position to give him a reason.

“Actually, I’m just like you. My pal is going to become captain in a few months and then give me a job, but until then I’m just waiting for something to happen and make my time worth-while.��� He explained as you smiled, suddenly wrapping your arms around his neck. “Oh Miri, you’re the greatest. If you were a merman I’d have no issue finding someone to marry.” You smiled at him, before your face went all red as you backed away, realizing what you had just said.

“I... uh- what I meant to say was that I wish you were a merman. Then I could give you a purpose like marrying me and then helping run the kingdom... until I were to find someone, which would probably never happen.” You tried to save yourself, but the damage had been done. As Mirio was about to comment, he heard his friend once more, except now Tamaki was with her. “Mirio! Buddy?” Mirio rolled his eyes, beginning to stand. “Y-you’re leaving?” You asked as he shook his head, putting a finger to his lips to tell you to be quiet.

“I’ll be right back, I just need to tell them I’m okay.” He smiled, walking out into the water past the waterfall and out of your sight. You smiled sadly, resting your head on the shore as you thought about the blond and his dreamy blue eyes. Mirio walked up to his two friends, smiling and waving. “Ahh, there you are! I saw your clothes by the rocky side of the bay and got nervous.” Nejire explained as Tamaki chuckled. “You okay there bud? Your face is really red.” Tamaki obliviously commented as Mirio sighed, knowing there was no point in hiding it from his friends.

“Actually I-” His sentence was cut short by yelling coming from the cave inside the waterfall, your voice to be certain. “Mirio! No, please! Wait a second! Miri!” All three of the pirates began running to the waterfall only to find scratch marks on the sand and rocks, showing signs of struggled that lead to someone being dragged into the water. Immediately, Mirio’s mind went into immediate panic mode as he turned to Tamaki and Nejire. 

“Nejire, do you know how to turn someone into a mermaid?!” He asked as she looked at him with the most bizarre expression before nodding. “You mean just a tail and the ability to breathe underwater? Of course.” She nodded as he smiled, gripping her hands. “Listen, I can’t explain now but I need you to turn me into one. Please, I’m begging you!” He exclaimed as she began waving her hand, muttering a spell.

“I’d hurry if I were you, I’m making the temporary one that lasts 20 minutes. The permanent one involves a potion and all that.” She explained before continuing to mutter the spell, Mirio feeling his legs go to Jello as he fell into the water. Looking down, his long legs had been changed into a red merman tail like Y/n’s. “Alright, I’ll be back soon.” He gave them a thumbs up before disappearing into the water, leaving his friends alone and very confused. Dipping into the water, Mirio had one mission. Save you from whatever had taken you.

Left and right, he followed the pebble path on the ocean floor while learning the mechanics of the tail before gasping. In front of him was a village, houses surrounding one large castle. You must have been taken there. In the distance, he could hear your voice as he began to race towards you, going faster than he ever thought possible. Once he was inside the village, he kept his head down, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention. He continued to follow your voice, until finally seeing you.

At the gate of the castle was you, two guards grasping each of your arms, and who he thought of as the King and Queen. “Y/n!” He yelled out, receiving you to look his way and watch his eye, your face lighting up. Without even having to try, you pulled your way out of the guard’s grip and raced towards him, enveloping him in a tight hug. “Y-you’re a merman? No, this is a spell! You would probably have a blue tail if it was a potion...” 

You murmured, continuing to look him up and down as the guards, King, and Queen began slowly swimming your way. “I came after you once I heard you screaming. I thought you could possibly be in danger, I got worried.” Mirio explained as you smiled, tears coming to your eyes. “I... I didn’t want to lose you.” He confessed, his cheeks highly tainted red as you smiled, kissing his cheek. “Y/n... who is this?” You father asked as you turned to him, smiling like an idiot.

“This is the guy I want to be my King.”

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars LXX (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: I’m currently back in school and I’m not happy– Also, I’ve been re-reading the whole story bc I need to see if I’m not fucking up my plot and shiiit the first books just plain suck with all those typos lmao I’m suffering -Danny

Words: 2,983

Warnings: None!

Series’ Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Chapter Five: Bulgaria vs Ireland.

Once the night sky was setting, they strolled around the field to look at the souvenirs several wizards were selling.

"Wow, look at these!" said Harry, hurrying over to a cart piled high with what looked like brass binoculars, except that they were covered with all sorts of weird knobs and dials.

"Omnioculars," said the saleswizard eagerly. "You can replay action... slow everything down... and they flash up a play-by-play breakdown if you need it. Bargain — ten Galleons each."

"Wish I hadn't bought this now," said Ron, gesturing at his dancing shamrock hat and gazing longingly at the Omnioculars.

"Four pairs," said Harry firmly to the wizard.

"No way you're buying me those," Mel frowned, pulling out her own money and buying her own pair, which technically left her without money to spare, but she wasn't going to admit it. "No, don't even try to insist. This year you won't outdo my Christmas present and that's final."

"Don't bother," Ron also tried to reject Harry's offer, but it was too late for him.

"You won't be getting anything for Christmas," Harry told him, giving Mel a pointed look. "For about ten years, mind. Hear that? If you had accepted my gift, Mellow, you would've had ten years to outdo me."

"Fair enough," said Ron, smiling down at the Omnioculars.

"Oooh, thanks, Harry! And I'll get us some programs, look —" Hermione walked over to the next stand.

"I know you're lying," Mel whispered once Ron and Hermione were far from earshot. "There's no way you'll stop giving them presents, you're too nice."

"And you're too stubborn," He replied with a smile. "But I'll find a way to outdo you, anyway."

When they went back to their tent, Mel threw two little green pins at Fred and George.

"I got you those, considering you wasted all your money on a stupid bet."

"It won't be so stupid once we win," George said, pinning the souvenir to his jersey. "Then you'll feel stupid."

"I'm looking forward to it," She grinned.

And then a deep, booming gong sounded somewhere beyond the woods, and at once, green and red lanterns blazed into life in the trees, lighting a path to the field.

"It's time!" said Mr. Weasley, looking as excited as any of them. "Come on, let's go!"

They walked for about five minutes (Mel convinced Charlie to give her a piggy back ride) and talked animatedly about the game and their expectations. In front of them, there was the biggest stadium Mel had ever seen.

"Seats a hundred thousand," said Mr. Weasley. "Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again... bless them!"

"Prime seats!" said the Ministry witch at the entrance. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go."

So they climbed all the way up, Mel caught a glimpse of some annoucements that were magically appearing across the field.

'The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family — safe, reliable, and with Built-in Anti-Burglar Buzzer . . . Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain! . . . Gladrags Wizardwear — London, Paris, Hogsmeade . . .'

"Look at that!" Mel said in amazement, taking a seat next to Harry.

But Harry was no longer looking at the field.

"Dobby?" Harry asked loudly.

Mel turned around, behind them there was a creature tha looked a lot like a mix between a very big doxie and a really ugly cat. It had huge brown eyes and a big round nose.

"Did sir just call me Dobby?" The elf squeaked.

"Sorry," Harry replied, "I just thought you were someone I knew."

"But I knows Dobby too, sir! My name is Winky, sir — and you, sir —" Its eyes fixed on Harry's scar. "You is surely Harry Potter!"

"Yeah, I am," Harry smiled awkwardly.

"But Dobby talks of you all the time, sir!"

"How is he?" said Harry. "How's freedom suiting him?"

"Ah, sir," said Winky. "Ah sir, meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favor, sir, when you is setting him free."

"Why? What's wrong with him?"

"Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir. Ideas above his station, sir. Can't get another position, sir."

"Why not?"

"He is wanting paying for his work, sir." Winky replied in a very low, very frightful whisper.

"Paying? Well — why shouldn't he be paid?"

Winky looked quite horrified at the idea and closed her fingers slightly so that her face was half-hidden again.

"House-elves is not paid, sir!" she said in a muffled squeak. "No, no, no. I says to Dobby, I says, go find yourself a nice family and settle down, Dobby. He is getting up to all sorts of high jinks, sir, what is unbecoming to a house-elf. You goes racketing around like this, Dobby, I says, and next thing I hear you's up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, like some common goblin."

"Well, it's about time he had a bit of fun," said Harry.

"House-elves is not supposed to have fun, Harry Potter. House-elves does what they is told. I is not liking heights at all, Harry Potter," She gulped. "But my master sends me to the Top Box and I comes, sir."

"Why's he sent you up here, if he knows you don't like heights?" Harry frowned.

"Master — master wants me to save him a seat, Harry Potter. He's very busy," said Winky. "Winky is wishing she is back in master's tent, Harry Potter, but Winky does what she is told. Winky is a good house-elf."

"So that's a house-elf?" Ron examined Winky carefully. "Weird things, aren't they?"

"Dobby was weirder," said Harry.

"They have their own charm," Mel said absentmindedly.

Ron pulled out his Omnioculars and played around with them for a bit.

"Wild!" He said, turning the replay knob. "I can make that old bloke down there pick his nose again... and again... and again..."

"Oh, stop it," Mel pushed down his Omnioculars, though she was grinning.

" 'A display from the team mascots will precede the match,' " Hermione read aloud her program.

"Oh that's always worth watching– National teams bring creatures from their native land, you know, to put on a bit of a show." Mr. Weasley added happily.

After a while of waiting and watching the stands get a little bit more crowded, the Minister arrived to their booth, he introduced a few people to Harry, holding a fatherly attitude towards the boy.

"Harry Potter, you know," He was talking to the Bulgarian Minister. "Harry Potter... oh come on now, you know who he is... the boy who survived You-Know-Who... you do know who he is —"

The wizard saw Harry's scar and pointing at it excitedly.

"Knew we'd get there in the end," said Fudge. "I'm no great shakes at languages; I need Barty Crouch for this sort of thing. Ah, I see his house-elf's saving him a seat... Good job too, these Bulgarian blighters have been trying to cadge all the best places... ah, and here's Lucius!"

The whole Malfoy family arrived at that moment. All wearing the same sneer.

"Ah, Fudge," said Mr. Malfoy. "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?"

"How do you do, how do you do? And allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk — Obalonsk — Mr. — well, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind. And let's see who else — you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"

"Good lord, Arthur," Mr. Malfoy said in what sounded like the most false kindness she'd ever heard. "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"

"Lucius has just given a very generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur. He's here as my guest." The Minister said almost at the same time, not really listening to the man.

"How — how nice," said Mr. Weasley.

"Guilty, that's what he is," Mel leaned to whisper in Harry's ear. "That man thinks he can fix anything with money..."

Harry barely nodded, his eyes fixed on Mr. Malfoy.

After they moved along, it didn't take long for Ludo Bagman to appear, looking rather excited and jolly.

"Ladies and gentlemen... welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

The spectators screamed and clapped. Thousands of flags waved, adding their discordant national anthems to the racket. The huge blackboard opposite them was wiped clear of its last message

(Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans — A Risk With Every Mouthful!) and now showed BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce... the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

The right-hand side of the stands, which was a solid block of scarlet, roared its approval.

"I wonder what they've brought," said Mr. Weasley, leaning forward in his seat. "Aaah!" He suddenly whipped off his glasses and polished them hurriedly on his robes. "Veela!"

"Excuse me?" Mel leaned closer to the edge, alarmed. "Those aren't mascots– those are women!"

But after looking at them for about five extra seconds, Mel understood that those couldn't possibly be just women. They were too similar, same skin color and hair– they moved as if time went by slower around them. They were, in the most fascinating way, extremely ethereal, like the fairy godmothers of her fairytales.

The veela started to dance around the field; something warm spread over her chest. She felt at ease. She felt too at ease, actually. Something was wrong.

She remembered what Dumbledore had told her on one of their many lessons, 'Beauty in magic almost never equals good or safe.' Things that shone too brightly were often that way so it would blind you from its actual intentions.

She shook her head, blinking rapidly and noticing the movement on her left. When she turned she saw Harry, trying to climb the wall that protected them.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Hermione asked harshly.

Mel reached for the back of his shirt and forced him to sit down. Beside him, Ron was sitting stifly on his place, and he was destroying his Ireland hat.

'Sirens' was the first thing she thought. Even though she now knew that mermaids didn't look at all like a veela, she was pretty sure the effects were meant to be similar. Luring humans to their deaths... and Harry had fallen right into their trap.

"Honestly!" Hermione rolled her eyes, sinking further on her seat.

"Really?" Mel frowned. "Is that all it takes for you to lose your mind?"

"What?" Harry looked at her in a daze.

"Nevermind," She groaned, directing her gaze towards the field again to watch the veela stand aside.

"And now," roared Ludo Bagman's voice, "kindly put your wands in the air... for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

Next moment, what seemed to be a great green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A rainbow arced suddenly across the field, connecting the two balls of light. The crowd oooohed and aaaaahed, as though at a fireworks display. Now the rainbow faded and the balls of light re- united and merged; they had formed a great shimmering sham- rock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands. Something like golden rain seemed to be falling from it —

"Excellent!" yelled Ron as the shamrock soared over them, and heavy gold coins rained from it, bouncing off their heads and seats.

"Leprechauns!" said Mr. Weasley.

"There you go," Ron shouted, giving Harry a handful of gold coins, "for the Omnioculars! Now you've got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!"

The great shamrock dissolved, the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from the veela, and settled themselves cross-legged to watch the match.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome — the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you — Dimitrov!"

A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Bulgarian supporters.

"Ivanova!"

A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out.

"Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand — Krum!"

"That's him, that's him!" yelled Ron, following Krum with his Omnioculars.

"And now, please greet — the Irish National Quidditch Team! Presenting — Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand — Lynch!"

"They all have Firebolts," Mel gasped. "There's no way Bulgaria can beat that!"

"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"

"Theeeeeeeey're OFF! And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!"

Her heart was leaping every so often she could hardly remain still. They game was thrilling, she even thought that a person like Erick, who didn't like Quidditch that much, would enjoy a game like this one. One could tell it was professional players out there, they moved around the field which such simplycity that even caused her to long for flying.

She thought about it for a second. Maybe, just maybe, she could try to join their school Quidditch's team this year. Harry said she was good enough, perhaps he wasn't lying.

The veela had lost control after watching their team losing by a great amount and transformed into some type of harpies, Mel thought Dumbledore would've been proud of her deduction skills, having figured out the veela on her own.

Krum, Bulgaria's seeker, had been severly injured, but that wasn't the only thing happening.

"Look at Lynch!" Harry yelled abruptly. "He's seen the Snitch! He's seen it! Look at him go!"

Both seekers were now heading towards it at great speed.

"They're going to crash!"

"They're not!" roared Ron.

"Lynch is!" yelled Harry.

Right at that moment Lynch fell flat on the grass, Krum had suddenly flown up into the air.

"The Snitch, where's the Snitch?" Charlie yelled

"He's got it — Krum's got it — it's all over!" Harry yelled back.

Krum, his red robes shining with blood from his nose, was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint of gold in his hand. The scoreboard was flashing BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170 across the crowd, who didn't seem to have realized what had hap- pened. Then, slowly, as though a great jumbo jet were revving up, the rumbling from the Ireland supporters grew louder and louder and erupted into screams of delight.

"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted, who like the Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match. "KRUM GETS THE SNITCH — BUT IRELAND WINS — good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"

Mel turned at the comment, locking eyes with George who sent a pleased grin her way. Those two, she couldn't believe they were so lucky.

"What did he catch the Snitch for? He ended it when Ireland were a hundred and sixty points ahead, the idiot!" Ron said in disbelief.

"I thought he was a genius," Mel snorted.

"He knew they were never going to catch up! The Irish Chasers were too good... He wanted to end it on his terms, that's all..." Harry explained.

"He was very brave, wasn't he? He looks a terrible mess..." Hermione said, peering to the field were the team was now standing.

"I love Quidditch!" Mel beamed. "Have you seen anything as impressive and breathtaking as that?"

"I don't think so," Harry replied, smiling.

He wasn't looking at the field, though.

"Vell, ve fought bravely," someone said behind them in a very thick accent.

"You can speak English!" said Fudge, looking at the Bulgarian minister with wide eyes. "And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"

"Vell, it vos very funny," said the minister.

"And as the Irish team performs a lap of honor, flanked by their mascots, the Quidditch World Cup itself is brought into the Top Box!" roared Bagman. "Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers — Bulgaria!"

One by one, the Bulgarians filed between the rows of seats in the box, and Bagman called out the name of each as they shook hands with their own minister and then with Fudge. Krum, who was last in line, looked a real mess. Two black eyes were blooming spectac- ularly on his bloody face. He was still holding the Snitch.

And then came the Irish team. Aidan Lynch was being sup- ported by Moran and Connolly; the second crash seemed to have dazed him and his eyes looked strangely unfocused. But he grinned happily as Troy and Quigley lifted the Cup into the air and the crowd below thundered its approval.

At last, when the Irish team had left the box to perform another lap of honor on their brooms (Aidan Lynch on the back of Connolly's, clutching hard around his waist and still grinning in a be- mused sort of way), Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, "Quietus."

"They'll be talking about this one for years," he said hoarsely, "a really unexpected twist, that. . . . shame it couldn't have lasted longer. . . . Ah yes. . . . yes, I owe you . . . how much?"

For Fred and George had just scrambled over the backs of their seats and were standing in front of Ludo Bagman with broad grins on their faces, their hands outstretched.

Next Chapter —>

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