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sasaranomiya · 2 years

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Koukyuu no Karasu Volume 1 Chapter 4 - Praying to Glass (Part 1)

First update here! I wanna give a big shoutout to everyone who followed me here. Your support means a lot to me!

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A nightingale was singing. It was able to sing peacefully because the inner palace detested owls and didn’t keep them. It was said that Wulian Niangniang disliked them, so they would die even if they were set free. Jusetsu opened the latticed windows. The lanterns on the palace’s eaves were unlit as usual, so it was completely dark outside. The gentle spring night air glided over her skin. She felt like she was going to melt into the night and become one with it.

“I wonder if His Highness will visit tonight,” Jiujiu said as she arranged the pillows.

“He need not come.”

Koushun always came suddenly. There was no warning beforehand. It was bothersome to entertain him, so it would save her the trouble if he didn’t come.

“You’re saying that again. And yet you’re opening the windows and waiting for him impatiently.”

“…” Jusetsu closed the windows. Jiujiu was misunderstanding things. She thought Koushun was coming here to lavish money on her.

“Listen to me, Jiujiu. I am the Raven Consort who does not serve the emperor.”

“Yes, I understand that.”

Jusetsu had a feeling she didn’t understand. She had Jiujiu retire for the night and opened the windows again. She sat on the edge and exposed herself to the night air.

On the streets, people were discouraged from walking around at night. That was why when the sun set, the gates were closed and everyone was confined to their own residences. That was because it was believed that Yeyoushen would appear. It was customary for parents to force children back home, saying, “Yeyoushen will kidnap you.” The same was true in the imperial palace, where the more than a hundred gates, large and small, would be shut, and no one was allowed to come and go. However, there were always exceptions to this rule, and the inner palace and the pleasure quarters were the exceptions. Taking advantage of the custom of avoiding nighttime outings, secret meetings and shady business deals took place.

“Kidnapped by Yeyoushen, huh…”

Jusetsu muttered as she stared into the darkness. She spotted a single dot of light in the distance and got down from the edge of the window. ——Incorrigibly, he was visiting her again.

Jusetsu closed the windows, walked past a frenzied Xingxing, and went inside the curtains. She sat down on her bed and stared at the doors. After a while, they opened. Koushun and Ei Sei had arrived. Ei Sei blew out the fire of the candlestick in his hand.

Jusetsu stepped out of the curtains. Koushun sat down in a chair by himself.

“What is your business here today?”

“The only time I came to see you because I had some sort of business was at the very beginning.”

She turned upon him. “If you have nothing to do here, leave.”

“What did you do with the sipaotang from before?”

“I gave them to Jiujiu and the others.”

“I see. Then, what about these?”

Koushun took out a wrapped bundle from his pocket and placed it on the table. A faint sweet scent drifted out from it. Jusetsu sat across from Koushun and opened the bundle. There was another paper-wrapped bundle inside, and when she opened that up, she found fuliubing inside. It was a sweet made by kneading flour and baking it, and then dipping it in white honey.

“You assume that all will be fine as long as you bring food.”

“You don’t want them?”

“If I did not, I would have driven you two out long ago.”

“As long as you like them.”

“I did not say I like them.”

“I did have some business with you when I came here today.”

Koushun advanced the conversation of his own accord. You should have said that from the start, Jusetsu thought.

“It seems that a ghost has appeared in the inner palace.”

Jusetsu frowned.

“I tire of hearing that sort of talk. Why now?”

“It is a little late for that, I know, but listen anyways. Apparently, this ghost doesn’t always appear. Do you know that there’s a willow tree to the south of Enou Palace? It’s said that the ghost appears in the shadow of the tree night after night when the flowers are in bloom, and it no longer appears after the willow fluff fly away.”

“…Might it not be a willow spirit?”

“No—” Koushun hesitated a little and glanced at Jusetsu.

“Apparently, it’s a silver-haired ghost.”

Jusetsu stared back into Koushun’s eyes. He didn’t say anything more than that. –He means that this was a Ran clan ghost.

“…’Tis a pointless rumor with unclear veracity.”

“I haven’t seen it with my own eyes either. But, it seems that the rumor about the ghosts of the Ran emperor and his family appearing in the Flame Emperor’s bedroom was true.”

“You cannot be serious.”

“Apparently, they were exorcized by the previous Raven Consort. Have you heard about it?”

“…I have not.”

Reijou hadn’t told her about anything like that. Jusetsu hadn’t been born yet during the Flame Emperor’s lifetime. She wondered if she hadn’t told her about it on purpose.

“If the willow ghost is a member of the Ran clan, it would be a ghost that didn’t appear to the Flame Emperor. I wonder what it’s doing under the willow tree if it didn’t appear in front of the person who killed it.”

Jusetsu was deep in thought.

“…Is that ghost male or female?”

“I don’t know. It seems to have long disheveled silver hair and red garments, but no one has seen it any clearer than that. ——What are you thinking about?”

“I wonder if the ghost is Hyougetsu.”

He was the ghost who appeared before Jusetsu and threatened her, saying that he had a request. In the end, she didn’t find out what his request was.

“Do you know any more about Hyougetsu?”

She had asked Koushun about him before. He nodded lightly.

“He is the son of the emperor’s youngest child, and he was an imperial family member who stayed away from politics, there aren’t many records about him. However, there are several anecdotes about his eccentricities as a sorcerer. He was said to have seen through a curse placed on the empress, transformed disrespectful eunuchs into fish in the inner palace’s pond, and found a lost item for the princess. Also, it was said that he was one of the most, if not the most, beautiful people in the imperial family.”

He seemed to be a man who left his name more in the realm of romances than official history.

“And there are also stories that said that, for whatever reason, he was going to be adopted by his sorcerer master as his successor, or he was already adopted by him.”

“Adopted—”

In other words, he was removed or about to be removed from the imperial family. Being a sorcerer was largely a matter of personal talent, so lineage had nothing to do with it. Therefore, there was no need to carry on family names. So what was the reason for this?

“…You said that ghost appears when the willow flowers bloom.”

That occurred during this season. Rather than thinking about this and that, it was quicker to confirm with her own eyes. Even if it wasn’t Hyougetsu, if it was a ghost, she had to send it to paradise. Jusetsu stood up.

“Take me there.”

“Alright.”

Koushun made no complaints but assented without expression and headed towards the doors. In his place, Ei Sei looked like he wanted to voice a hundred complaints.

The candlestick was lit, and they went into the night with Ei Sei leading the way. The moon was out tonight, so their surroundings had a faint tinge of blue when their eyes became accustomed to the dark.

“I heard that Yeyoushen can’t roam about on nights with a bright moon. Is that true?”

“Indeed. They despise bright light.”

“Is that why the pleasure district and the inner palace are brightly lit?”

Koushun glanced at the neighboring palace that was some distance away. The lanterns hanging from the eaves of the walkway and palaces cast a bright light. It was completely different from the perpetually dark Yamei Palace.

“You would not know anything about the pleasure district.”

“I’ve heard stories about it.”

“The pleasure district is bright on the outside, but there are not many lights inside.”

“Is it to prevent fires?”

“It is so that faces cannot be seen clearly. The inelegant reason is that thick makeup and wrinkles cannot be concealed by bright lights.”

“Oh ho,” Jusetsu couldn’t tell if Koushun was impressed or amazed. “I’ve learned something new today.”

“Yeyoushen hides among the people from time to time. Even when you walk in the inner palace, you might find them mixed in with your accompanying eunuchs. Be careful.”

“Is that so? I will.”

He spoke seriously, but not knowing if he was only humoring her, Jusetsu knitted her brows.

“I am not jesting.”

“I didn’t think it was a joke, though.”

It seemed that he wanted to say he found it regrettable, but it was difficult to tell because neither his expression or tone changed. I cannot grasp his mood no matter what when it comes to this man, Jusetsu thought bitterly.

“You have never threatened people with jokes, and you don’t say things that aren’t for the sake of others. I know I can trust you to say what you mean.”

He answered plainly. Jusetsu felt strange. She felt the same way when Koushun called her by her name.

Jusetsu fell into silence, and Koushun said nothing more either. They walked quietly to Enou Palace, and then further south. The scent of rugosa roses hung in the air. Koushun removed the knife hanging from his sash and cut off a rugosa rose branch. He removed the thorns with the tip of his knife and wordlessly offered it to Jusetsu. Enticed by the flower’s scent, Jusetsu accepted it.

“Is it true that flowers don’t grow at Yamei Palace?”

Koushun asked Jusetsu, who was sniffing the flower. “’Tis true.”

“What’s the reason?”

“Because Wulian Niangniang loathes them,” She didn’t know why she was answering honestly right now. As expected, she was knocked off balance when she was dealing with Koushun. “She only likes the peonies I make.”

“…I’ve heard that Yamei Palace was originally a temple dedicated to Wulian Niangniang,” Koushun said, sounding doubtful. “Is it still dedicated to her even now?”

Thinking that she spoke too much, Jusetsu closed her mouth. Hesitating over whether or not she should toss the flower away, she tucked it in her sash.

“Dajia,” Ei Sei stopped walking. “The tree is just ahead.”

At the end of the rugosa rose hedges, there was a forest. It seemed to be a peach grove. As they walked on, they saw a row of willow trees in front of the peach grove. They were just in bloom, and their ears were hanging down. They seemed to glow faintly in the moonlight.

Jusetsu exhaled slightly. There was a single shadow between the hanging willow flowers. Its silver color swayed and gleamed. The moonlight made that silver-clad figure stand out, as though it was sprinkling it with scales.

A woman with long flowing silver hair was standing there. Her pale face, tinged with melancholy, was slightly hanging down, but they could tell with a single glance that she was beautiful. She was dressed in a crimson ruqun and skirt—no, they weren’t crimson. It was blood. Her clothes were dyed in blood. Looking at her closely, there was a gaping wound across her slender neck with blood gushing from it.

Ei Sei muffled a cry and covered his mouth. Jusetsu had noticed this before, but he seemed to not be good with this type of thing. Koushun was calm.

Jusetsu gazed at the ghost carefully from top to bottom. The unbound silver hair, the gash that split her neck open, and her luxurious clothes. Her silk ruqun had phoenixes woven into it, her skirt was printed with a pattern of large waves, and her shawl was dyed in seven colors. There was a beautifully polished gemstone affixed to her waist.

The willow flowers swayed without a wind. At that moment, the ghost disappeared like a puff of smoke.

“…So it was a woman,” Koushun said. Jusetsu nodded. It wasn’t Hyougetsu.

“There’s no mistake that she was a member of the Ran clan with that silver hair, but…she was a princess.”

“Her clothes have phoenixes woven into them,” Phoenix garments were the symbol of a princess. “Do you have any inkling as to who she is?”

Jusetsu asked. Koushun stroked his chin.

“There were three princesses at that time. It’s hard to know for sure without investigating it. I heard that when soldiers stormed the inner palace on Grandfather’s orders, there were those among the women of the inner palace who chose to kill themselves rather than suffer disgrace and humiliation.”

Was the gash on the ghost’s neck something she did to herself?

“That ghost from earlier seemed to be wearing an agate stone. I’ve seen it in the treasury at Gyoukou Hall.”

“Gyoukou Hall’s treasury?”

“Treasures are stored inside. Including the treasures of the Ran clan.”

“Even ornaments torn off from corpses?”

Jusetsu hadn’t known about it and took on an accusing tone. Koushun was silent. It wasn’t something that he did, so there was no point in blaming him for it. Jusetsu turned her attention to the willows.

“If you have it, then you know who that ghost is?”

“There is an offerings book. It will say who it belonged to.”

“I see. Then, show it to me.”

“——The offerings book? To you?”

“The inside of the treasury. That would be the quickest way.”

Koushun had government affairs to look after. If she waited for him to be available, the blooming season might end and the ghost would disappear by that time. Then they would have to wait until next year to send her back to paradise.

“That…would be difficult. The rule is that only me and Ui—the eunuch in charge of managing the treasury—can enter.”

“No one would know if you kept silent about it.”

When she said that, Koushun was silent, his mouth open. Ei Sei glared at Jusetsu, his eyes seeming to say, “What are you saying?”

“——How far does the Raven Consort’s authority extend…in the codes…”

Koushun muttered, folding his arms. “Lady Raven Consort,” Ei Sei whispered to Jusetsu in a suppressed tone.

“Please stop imposing unreasonable demands on Dajia. He is a sober and serious person, so it will only trouble him. To say nothing of instigating him to break a rule like that—”

Jusetsu paid no attention to Ei Sei’s grievances and stared at the willow tree. She wondered why that ghost was loitering there.

“All right. You can do as you please,” Koushun said. Jusetsu turned to him. “I’ll come and get you before dawn. I have a council meeting, but I’ll give you the key so you can investigate it all you like.:

And then, Koushun peered intently into Jusetsu’s face.

“——If the Raven Consort can have everything if she but wished for it, then taking a look at the treasures in the treasury shouldn’t be a great issue.”

So Koushun did receive a report from Onkei. Jusetsu didn’t answer him and simply looked up at him. For a while, the two stared at each other silently.

It was Koushun who looked away first. He looked towards the willows.

“Why does she only appear in the season of the willow flowers?”

He changed the topic. Jusetsu went along with it.

“She could only appear with the help of the willow flower spirits. I know not if she had a connection with that willow before her death.”

“I see. So there are all sorts of ghosts.”

“Dajia,” Ei Sei, who was looking discontented but barely interrupted until now, opened his mouth. “You should discuss that matter with the Lady Raven Consort.”

“Discuss?” Jusetsu looked between Ei Sei and Koushun. “What do you mean by that?”

“I thought that was what you were going to discuss with her tonight.”

“Sei, that’s enough.”

“But, if things remain as they are, your body will—”

“I said that’s enough.”

At his quiet voice that didn’t allow for any retorts, Ei Sei bowed and said, “My apologies.”

“What are you talking about?” Jusetsu asked, but Ei Sei had already closed his mouth tightly like a shell and didn’t answer her. Jusetsu turned her gaze towards Koushun.

“Has a ghost appeared to you as well?”

One of Koushun’s eyebrows twitched up, but he didn’t say anything.

“—So I am right?”

“I don’t need you to do anything about it.”

Koushun turned his face away. Jusetsu stared at his profile.

“…Is it your mother’s ghost, or your friend’s?”

She guessed that if it was a ghost he didn’t want her to do anything about, it would be one of those two ghosts, and it seemed that she was right. Koushun still didn’t say anything, but that was akin to an affirmation.

Jusetsu looked at Ei Sei. He spoke quietly, as though afraid of Koushun hearing him.

“Dajia is not sleeping well recently…”

Now that he mentioned it, Koushun’s complexion was dull. Ei Sei seemed to be incredibly worried about it.

“That’s enough of that talk. We’re leaving, Sei.”

Koushun said and quickly began to walk away. Jusetsu watched his back as he left, deep in thought.

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#koukyuu no karasu #shirakawa kouko #koukyuu no karasu 1 #translations

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musicals-n-cartoons · 1 year

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For the Future Reaction

I actually watched the episode on the day it released (thank you vpn!), but other things have distracted me from writing. Here is my second-to-last Owl House reaction!

Before the special

I have no self-control when it comes to spoilers so I spend the first day the special was leaked looking thru spoilers before promising myself to start avoiding spoilers. this turned out to be surprisingly easy for me. I don't use Tiktok or Twitter, and Youtube was very obliging in not recommending spoilerific videos (in fact, I suspect that Youtube just straight-up forgot that TOH was an interest of mine). the only difficulty was making sure to ban the right Tumblr tags

anyway, I learned that Boscha and Kiki were surprisingly the main antagonists, and that Luz's palismen wAS A CAT-SNAKE I KNEW IT! YES! I mean, the cat was unexpected, but I have been rooting for either bat or snake since the beginning, so this was nice

From the teasers, I learn that the people of the Boiling Isles were turned into puppets, so that explains what happened to them. the Collector is playing dolls with them I presume

The special

oh, we are starting from the "big sister" scene again

Collector theme, what a jam

we seem to be following King's pov

Raine's rhapsody!

the song evolves into a theme for a wordless montage of what's going on in the Boiling Isles

the In-Between! why is Luz here? where is everybody else?

wait there is a weird golden ghost in the distance, what could this mean? are they trying to contact Luz?

Willow loving the red grass is too cute

Hunter meanwhile is a little on edge

in general, the witch kids are happy to be back

aww, Camila is trying to like the Boiling Isles for Luz's sake, she's so sweet

Luz appreciates this but is unmoved

Belos lashes out at a ghost? hallucination? of Caleb

Camila is so lost in dealing with Luz that she is asking children for help

Willow's advice is to say that it is ok to fail, which seems too easy to me to work

ooh? looks like Willow is refusing to show weakness

finally, we learn what Amity's palismen means. she wants to forge her own path, eh? yeah that jives with my understanding of the character

wait, Eda already?!

"where's your titan" ironically, he's with the Collector

it looks like the Collector's playing the hero in a land of puppets

not Eda, just Terra playing as her

Terra sucks, both as an actor and as a person

I can't help but get the impression that the Collector wants to be Luz

Matt?

turns out that the kids of Hexside were spared

MAN-THOLOMULE I CANT-

New Hexside: teenage wasteland

poor Braxas

Camila does not appreciate what the kids have done to the place, fair

the kids commemorate principal Bump the only way they can: as the raddest principal alive

"who's tall Luz" snerk

the Hexside kids reconnect with their squad

Matty's last name is Tholomule?!

it's funny how Belos just says no to all attempts at ghostly guilt tripping

one last!? you are telling me that Belos makes multiple grimwalkers at a time?!

this was in the second teaser, but someone pointed out that the Collector is hovering around like a jpeg

Mama-Dalia?! the Collector got no taste

Mama-Dalia doesn't want to be no mama

The Collector bedroom is on the moon, cool

huh, is the implication that the Collector was an outcast and thus lonely? lot of Collector/Luz parallels here

Boscha's mad with power

Despite her current low mood, Luz can't help but act in a dramatic and heroic manner

so Boscha got a pair of evil advisors

don't worry, Luz got an alternate path, use the memories in her mind!

Eda! you're alive! and she can't help but test the boundaries of the rules

there is a whole Clawthorne hiding place here

Matty's a surprisingly good leader

plan "possess a grimwalker" failed

is Belos' new plan to possess Odalia?

OH GOD, RAINE

lotta memories

Willow tries to cheer Hunter up with a "one of us", but it doesn't work

Boscha's trying to get under Willow's skin again

The advisor was Kiki all along! I forgot about her

Belos strikes, but the Collector blocks!

oh here he goes manipulating again

"no ideas of her own" Luz is tired

botched ice glyph, call back

Boscha pulls a "we can rule together" with Amity

Reminds me of that old theory that Boscha cares more about her relationship than Amity did, guess this confirmed it

Willow is freaking out man!

Titans can cancel out Collector magic, no wonder the Collectors tried to wipe them out

finally a Noceda heart to heart

UNDERSTOOD!! this whole scene was great

Willow finally allows herself to cry

Magic of Flapjack, the theorists were right

Ha, I see that Willow blush moment!

Willow vs Boscha rematch when!

wait, that's not a catsnak- omg it can shapeshift! TOH crew done it again

"snakeshifter" I love you already Stringbean

the Collector pulls that sinister "I want a new game" trick again

Wait, it's over already?

Reaction to other reactions

the owl house tag reached number 1 with 4300 notes (interestingly enough, ts4 was at number 6. was simtimates really that exciting?)

people are meming on Boscha's crush, I haven't even thought of that, that makes it so much funnier

the fact that only the kids are surviving in the Collector's playground... man

"Philip Wittebane has been diagnosed with late-stage Puritanism (incurable)."

someone pointed out that lucity aren't falling apart from casual touching anymore, that's sweet how comfortable they are with each other

ooh, good eye noting that callback to "die in your arms" "this is make-believe” moment. it's not make-believe now

Raine really is possessed this time, they can't get a break

oh, that ghost in the In-Between does look like a titan trapper

some people are saying this was a little slow? I felt that it was actually too fast, it kept jumping from moment to moment

someone pointed out the Boscha-Wrath parallels, I aspire to this level of analysis

Someone pointed out that Luz got a very villainesque aesthetic, what with the dark purple magic; I can see it, and I am here for it. I love how Luz looks like an edgy jock but is actually a sweet nerd. no more villain queer-coding, we're queer villain-coding

lmao at Stringbean taking Luz's "I want them to be whatever they want" literally

someone imagined Amity giving the break the shell of the world speech and now I can't stop imagining it also

Predictions for the next special

the next special needs to fulfill two requirements imo: the final climax that solves all the problems and completes the main themes; and a satisfying epilogue so we can say goodbye to all the characters. the problem is that these two requirements conflict with each other. if the epilogue is too long, the special would seem weirdly off-balance, with large chunks of the runtime having little to no conflict. but if the epilogue is too short, how are we supposed to process the show's ending? I guess the showrunners can try another montage...

anyway, predictions. first thing first, no major character is going to die, dear god, this is a children's show. At most, someone is going to sacrifice themselves and come back

I think that the Collector would be talked down at the climax, probably by Luz relating to them, really connecting to a troubled kid one last time

Belos would probably be defeated after the Collector. Luz going "eat this suckers" to Belos would be fun

then I guess Luz has a discussion where she finally accepts that she belongs to the Boiling Isles? or she could realize this in the lead-up to the Collector. I imagine that she would build a new portal and commute between realms (remember she mentioned in "yesterday's lies" that building the portal is easy once you know what to do, you just need a power source. like a certain star child...)

let's see, anything else... oh right! that in-between guy! they will probably be important to Luz's development (considering she's the only one they want to contact) but damned if I know how. maybe they are a lost titan who will reveal the secret Titan/Collector lore that will give clues on how to deal with the Collector?

I am guessing that Luz will meet up with Eda fairly quickly, for that early burst of heartwarming. I would love to see Camila and Eda interacting and bonding over Luz

I wonder how rigged the "new game" that the Collector want will be, and what will be the stakes. who will be King's best friend forever? control of the Isles? their lives? actually, judging by the misconception of King's intentions that made the Collector believe Belos, it might be over whether the Collector will go back to the in-between or not. it could tie into the loneliness themes

speaking of themes, this season is going to be about grief apparently. maybe they will show the Collector being sad over being the only collector? maybe even survivor's guilt? many possibilities

#the owl house #owl house #toh #the owl house spoilers #owl house spoilers #toh spoilers #toh reactions

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sapphicwhxre · 3 years

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ASTERIA'S 2.5K FOLLOWER FIC REC LIST

i read fics just as much as i write them so here are some of my favourites. tysmsm for this milestone, i love you all <3 quick note: i didn't re-tag anyone if i recommended more than one of your works because of the tag limit.

───────── girls ─────────

hermione granger

tuesdays - @stupxfy

probably one of my all time favs for hermione. it's just so well written and adorable and fluffy and yes.

if i could tell her - @hellounicorn

pining, pining, PINING. the way these emotions and hermione's described is just... art. perfection. there's a happy ending and it is so worth the build up.

darling dearest - @dracolvr

fluffy goodness. read to be hopelessly in love with hermione ─ which, let's be real, we all are.

november rain - @pansydaisy

uhm i love this one sm. it's so simple but amazing ─ everyone has their days like this and having hermione to cure them? it's what everyone needs.

i need more - @15-dogs

i sobbed the first time i read this. it'll break your heart but it's so amazingly written that it's worth the sadness. actual gut wrenching / mindblowing writing.

how the potter girls react to you in lingerie - @pottersanime

the title. need i say more?

honeyed eyes - @minty-malfoy

HEAVEN. being hermione's first kiss as friend? but both of you idiots liking each other? oh my god, sign me up.

hugging her from behind - @pastanest

again, the title. read to feel 🥺💙

grey days - @pepperimps01

PANSMIONE 😌😌 it's angsty with a happy ending and i love it sm. this does such a perfect job of capturing pansy and hermione's relationship growing and having its ups and downs with just a few paragraphs. honestly so good

grenade - @hellounicorn

another one that'll make your heart shatter. but in the best way. these are the fics i live for where the you can't help but feel like it's really happening to you and hermione and god it's so fucking powerful. underrated writing right here in general. and also pansmione is the loml so it hurts in that way.

honeybees - @pansydaisy

fluffy aesthetic heaven.

lead the way - @teacup-tai

more pansmione but this is pure filthy thinking and satisfies all the sexual tension dreams pansmione shippers have.

two queens in a king sized bed - @shysneeze

domestic christmas morning with hermione and it's angelic.

would you still love me if i turned into a worm? - @minty-malfoy

one of those blurbs i never imagined i'd read or love so much. not to mention it's spot on and adorable.

pansy parkinson

right and wrong - @starrkidmalfoy

a first kiss and the overdone trope that i will never get sick of, the bitch who's soft only for you. the descriptions in this are perfection and the writing is beautiful <3

messed up - @writseo

toxic, messed up love fics will be the death of me. insane how well you captured it all and i just yes damn fucking props.

pansy parkinson imagine - @moonlight-imagines

*screams* THE BEST FRIEND BANTER + THE ENDING OH MY GOD OH MY GOD ─ I SCREAMED WHEN I FIRST READ THIS. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT.

dating pansy would include - @lotsoffandomimagines

ABSOLUTE POWER COUPLE SHIT and to this day, pansy saying "jealous much?" when being scolded for pda remains iconic.

grey days - @pepperimps01

as i said before: PANSMIONE 😌😌 it's angsty with a happy ending and i love it sm. this does such a perfect job of capturing pansy and hermione's relationship growing and having its ups and downs with just a few paragraphs. honestly so good

new rules - @silversslytherin

excuse me this is immaculate ─ pansy is the best friend and the second you see that she's also the best s/o, you're done for. perfection.

study "dates" - @turning-dreams-into-chaos

the title is self explanatory and this whole thing is fluffy heaven <3

how the potter girls react to you in lingerie - @pottersanime

read the title, thank me later.

lead the way - @teacup-tai

more pansmione but this is pure filthy thinking and satisfies all the sexual tension dreams pansmione shippers have.

traitor - @hufflepuff-writings

a masterpiece where pansy chooses the wrong side in the battle of hogwarts. this ties up so well and the writing is so powerful.

back alley love potions - @a-simple-imagine

this actually hurts but in a beautiful way. watching pansy give draco a love potion is such a fucking concept and this is executed incredibly.

my little bunny - @emmamarie7708

pansy making you do this is so dirty yet she's slightly sweet and i am a sucker for it. god is a woman and her name is pansy fucking parkinson.

pansy parkinson imagine - @moonlight-imagines

i'll let pansy beat people up for me all day. they put me in madame pomfrey's, feel my girlfriend's wrath.

ginny weasley

blissful - @enyastasia

fluffy ginny goodness. the friends to lovers? the amazing kiss? 🥺🥺🥺💞💞 this fic lives in my heart <3

bubble pop electric - @hunnypot-imagines

this is hotter than a lot of actual smut and the chemistry is so... wow. ginny weasley owns me.

dear ginny - @alyssamalfoy

how does this short ass letter manage to make me feel so much. it's sorcery but i don't even care, it's beautiful.

wildflower - @pansydaisy

will i ever get tired of cheeky i love yous? not when loves like ginny weasley and ayli's so so pretty writing exist.

all i want - @hellounicorn

ouch. fuck you harry :) quite possibly the best ginny fic i have ever read. insanely talented writing, i genuinely feel every touch of emotion you put down and you need to know how amazing that is. keep breaking my heart.

linny hcs - @bluebirdlinginthenest

who doesn't need good linny content in their life?

how the potter girls react to you in lingerie - @pottersanime

sexy bitch, fuck me up.

willow - @padmeamiala

ginny is the loml. her brothers can cry about it.

bellatrix lestrange

attempting to bake with bellatrix - @carters-coffee

MY FAVOURITE BELLA FIC ─ there's not enough bellatrix fluff out there but this makes up for the lack of. heaven.

bellatrix prompt - @carters-coffee

this gives me chills. she knows she's a bad bitch and that's what we love about her.

change of plans - @dumb-sbian

why THE FUCK have i not had a rainy morning with bellatrix? she can sleep and mumble something just like this and i'm still head over heels for her.

being tortured as bellatrix's girlfriend - @writings-of-a-british-fangirl

definitely a concept BUT this makes me feel some type of way and i recommend giving it a minute of your time 😌

bellatrix finding out you're a muggleborn - @carters-coffee

the beauty, the nuance omg. this is art.

bellatrix prompt - @carters-coffee

yep jealous bella. trust me, im all yours mommy <3

sex with bellatrix would include - @onegayastronaut

so short but... sign. me. up.

luna lovegood

never leave - @/deactivated

luna smut is hard asf to come by and this is my favourite. it's so luna and the pain over her not knowing, not getting that closure about how you feel until this is an amazing rollercoaster.

she - @hunnypot-imagines

the beauty of falling in love with luna, through this majorly talented writing. ten out of fucking ten. i will not elaborate but there's also majorly good association in this imo.

silver berries and flickering fireflies - @duskgrangers

i love this fic so much. she's so herself and that is why we ✨ simp ✨ and the scene set just sounds so prettyy

how the potter girls react to you in lingerie - @pottersanime

luna + this title? yes please, ma'am i am simping.

would you still love me if i turned into a worm? - @minty-malfoy

put me in your pocket luna. im begging you.

dancing in the rain with luna - @/deactivated

only luna would get you a dress to go dancing in the rain and this is the stuff of blissful, fluffy dreams.

hugging her from behind - @pastanest

short and cute, do me a favour and read it :)

dating luna lovegood would go like - @glossymalfoy

life is NOT worth it if you don't read these cute little headcanons and imagine dating ravenclaw's baddest bitch.

linny hc - @bluebirdlinginthenest

like i said, who doesn't need good linny content?

cho chang

strawberry kisses - @pansydaisy

the only cho fic i've been able to find and it's SO WORTH IT. the cutest, it flows so well, and i absolutely love it. i need this with cho tbh.

fleur delacour

toutes les etoiles - @coffee--writes

im in love with fleur and this amazing writing. and for the first time since i started high school, my three years of taking french feel good for something.

being best friends with fleur would include - @harrypotter-imaginess

not romantic but actually so sweet pls. i want this friendship in my life so bad.

nymphadora tonks

dating nymphadora tonks would include - @imaginesforgirls

dating her + that warm little feeling of bliss that only HCs can give you

taking care of her after the war - @random-imagines-blog

this kind of hurts in that good ass way and i lovee it. they're simple hcs but i feel for tonks so much and then there's that warm lil feeling when you're the one to put her back together aand now my primary life goal is to help this woman heal.

───────── boys ─────────

harry potter

phosphenes - @minty-malfoy

ok shakespeare, the fuck?? this fic will never not get me right in the heart. the angst, holy fuck. and for once, the reader doesn't hurt harry and let draco walk all over them and it's just done so well. the transition from a toxic relationship to a sweet, loving one PLEASE. it's beautiful.

happy memories - @15-dogs

how does this manage to be so. smutty and fluffy at the same time? this is one of those short ones that has lived in my head, rent-free since i read it. and tbh any fic that includes expecto patronum is guaranteed to be good.

come back to me - @wondernimbus

right from the beginning, it's a mess of emotions both good and bad. that kind of good ass writing that hits you in the heart <3

making out with harry potter would include - @badfvith

read this title. done? now thank me later.

harry prompt - @thoseofgreatambition

harry x a sarcastic swooning bitch is an elite trope idc. short and sweet, i'm marrying this fic.

keep your eyes on the prize - @rowema-ravenclaw

first of all, showing harry up and second, pure fluff (and a little steam) right after. i also love how she writes harry in general because he's totally safe/in love with the relationship but still has that awkward lovable shyness and i just... *sighs*

always - @pansydaisy

uhm i will always love him and always reread this a thousand times so its a fit title + a good read.

late night studying - @lumosandnoxwriting

fuck studying, let his hand stay in my shirt. once again recommending fluffy bliss in the form of a short read that makes me feel things <3

would you still love me if i turned into a worm? - @minty-malfoy

he's so stupid. but he still loves you + this is from our resident perfectly talented writer so its a win.

cuddling after a rough quidditch practice - @badfvith

harry james potter is : b a b y

gryffindor's victory - @rowema-ravenclaw

make me gryffindors fucking cheerleader because HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT. AND THE WRITING IS IMMACULATE PLEASE. just read it, you won't regret it.

draco malfoy

silent treatment - @slytherinwh0re

andy's mad talented and this is just... insert a cheesy chefs kiss. unbelievably adorable but so fucking hot and an actually good smut plot (which is rare lmfao). remind me to give draco the silent treatment every time im upset.

rewards - @malfoysstilinski

so hot PLS. hype him up for the match and get your reward, bye. so good.

reading between the lines - @minty-malfoy

i've said this a thousand times but that's what happens when you've got a mad talented mutual BLESSING everyone with beauty like this. butterflies and warm feelings all around when i read this 💓

point of view - @draconisxcaput

its angst for hermione and fluff for you but overall ethereal writing. i am never going to recover from the pure talent that this is.

im not kidding im dying - @malfoysmatrioshka

i hate being sick with a passion but this... this would make it worth it.

hogwarts express - @/deactivated

draco fucking you because he knows harry's watching. the shit of legends and god is it hot.

draco laughing at you because you can't walk after sex - @glossymalfoy

*motions to the title* fluff with this loser 😌

the cheeseburger - @slytherinwh0re

really short read but this is one of those things i just. didn't know i needed. you're missing out and haven't even realised it if you haven't read about introducing him to cheeseburgers. and that ending is so funny/in character to me i fucking love it.

four am - @malfoysstilinski

domestic draco 🥺 but also sad draco 🥺 and then fluffy draco 🥺

hugging him from behind - @pastanest

real short and it'll brighten your day <3

would you still love me if i turned into a worm? - @minty-malfoy

how is it that this is so stupidly adorable. i love it 💘

ron weasley

heather - @hellounicorn

always making me cry with your fics i swearrr. this is a must-read. having someone but them not really being yours is a beautiful trope and this fic absolutely does it wonderful, poetic justice. your angst is addicting.

apple pie - @pregnant-piggy

ABSOLUTE DOMESTIC BLISS I AM IN LOVE. i don't even like kids or baking that much but this made me so soft. the whole cozy, heavenly vibes from this fic yes yes yes.

jealousy - @writeroutoftime

cliché jealousy turns friends to lovers and i am a sucker for it all over again <3

shaking and trembling - @ronsbadidea

if ron doesn't finger fuck me and then make a cheeky comment about it in class later then WHAT IS THE POINT :(

mixed signals - @iamthecabbage

i've always figured ron is this awkward idiot cutie with a crush and yea, this is it.

fred and george weasley

i love you, but you don't - @george-fabian-weasley

fred's a character i really don't read for often but goddamn. it's the saddest, most beautiful mix of rejection and pain and fred desperately caring but not in the way you want him to ─ an angsty masterpiece.

cockwarming george - @roonilwazlibimagines

because of this filthy gem, i one hundred thousand percent believe that he could make me cum without even fucking me and this is just... it's a good fucking read.

would you still love me if i turned into a worm? - @minty-malfoy

their responses are so wonderfully chaotic and adorable and GOD you're missing out if you haven't read these lil blurbs.

─

#harry potter x reader #hermione granger x reader #pansy parkinson x reader #luna lovegood x reader #ginny weasley x reader #draco malfoy x reader #fred weasley x reader #george weasley x reader #cho chang x reader #nymphadora tonks x reader #bellatrix lestrange x reader #ron weasley x reader #fleur delacour x reader #harry potter #fic recs #masterlist #smut #fluff #angst

2K notes · View notes

masterweaverx · 3 years

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RWBY Parents from Best to Worst

That’s right, everybody, I’m a-going to rank how terrible these people are to and for their kids! For the sake of covering as many parents as I can, I am defining ‘parent’ as either ‘legal guardian’ or ‘the one that gave birth to you’, and excluding relationships that are explicitly something else. That does mean that we’re going to miss out on some very important people, though, so before we begin, let’s have some Honorable Mentions!

Yang Xiao Long and Winter Schnee: Professional Momsisters

“That’s why big sisters come first, to protect the ones that come after.” I don’t know who said that to these two, if anybody actually did, but it’s a quote that most definitely applies to them. Not only would they take a bullet (or a sword, or a fireball) for their younger siblings, they took the time out to give them affection and training that they needed when their own parents weren’t quite doing the job. If I absolutely had to rank one of them as the better momsister, I’d say Yang, but that’s really only because Yang had less to deal with overall; a depressed single dad not being able to pull himself together just doesn’t stack up with an abusive powermonger, a self-loathing drunkard, and all the institutional bigotry and pressure of Atlas. Plus, you know, Winter went into the military for a bit. Still, pretty good track record considering!

Klein Sieben: Doing the work of seven good dads

Look, there is only one reason Klein wasn’t listed before the momsisters, and that reason is that he is technically the hired help (and could therefore become the fired help). He is, hands down, a better surrogate parent than Yang and Winter, providing guidance and care to all the Schneeblings and very effectively undoing the damage Jacques Gele (HE DOES NOT GET TO BE CALLED SCHNEE!) did to them. And he even helped out Willow! If he was allowed to do more, he would absolutely be My Real Dad of the year.

Qrow Branwen: “The only one that gets to be sad in this house is me!”

Qrow has a lot of flaws. Like, so so many flaws. As Yang said in a noncanon spinoff, he’s cool but not exactly a role model. Thing is, you don’t have to be a role model to be a good parent--you just have to make sure your kids (or nieces in this case) get good advice and the opportunity to grow into the best versions of themselves they can be. And when Qrow’s not beating himself up or drowning his sorrows, he’s actually very good at helping Yang and Ruby. Honestly the only reason he’s not on the actual list is because he’s technically not a parent.

Uncle Copper: Adopting a blind kid automatically makes you cool

So here we have a character that appeared in a single flashback in the novels, but from what we do know he was pretty likely to be a good guy. Like, raising a blind kid is hard enough; raising a blind kid in a desert after their actual parents got nommed by sand is so, so much more difficult. And yet, this guy said ‘If nobody else is going to adopt this kid I will!’ and by all measures he was a very caring and loving guy. Also, shout-out to the tribe, who took Fox in after Copper got killed by some maniac (and also killed said maniac). Fox has had a rough life, but it’s been filled with supportive people. Not everyone can say that.

Starr Sanzang: She put up with Sun

Sure, she’s only had one scene in one novel, but Starr showed patience and caring and... probably did a lot to make sure Sun stays as aggressively cheery and patient as he is. Plus she’s got a dojo in Vacuo now... okay, I’ll be honest, I don’t know nearly enough about her to really assess her. Still, as far as cousins go, Sun Wukong could do a lot worse. And there are the implications of their motifs to factor in...

Rhodes: If you’d done even just a little bit more--!

So, reasonably, what would you do when you see a little girl enslaved with a shock collar? Would you (A) get the girl out of there, (B) arrest the woman doing it, (C) try to get the girl therapy, or (D) all of the above? If you picked (E) secretly train the girl in swordplay so she can join a huntsman academy when she comes of age, then congratulations! You’ve given her hope! Good for you! And what if she snaps after five years of literal torture, kills her abuser, and then turns to you for comfort and/or approval? Welp, obviously she’s an irredeemable criminal and you have to bring her in, crushing all the faith she had in you and herself.

Seriously Rhodes, dropped the ball hard on that one. I’m only mentioning you because you had such a serious impact on Cinder’s development.

Brother Gods: Creating and destroying entire species

Like, okay. Look. These are the two that made humanity, so an argument could be made that they’re humanity’s parents. But, by the strict and arbitrary rules I have selected, they aren’t parents. And even if they were, they would be just the worst sort of parents possible. Darkbro is bad enough, what with viewing only strength as valuable and creating the Grimm and, you know, annihilating humanity that one time, but he’s at least honest and honorable. Not like the cryptic Lightbro, who doesn’t bother making sure people understand him, who doesn’t even keep his own promises to his brother... I get that they’re basically overpowered children. Yeah, they are. Still... kinda terrible.

So, now that that’s all done, let’s get to the actual list! After the break, so you don’t get stuck scrolling a lot. RWBY parents, from best to worst, are as follows:

23. Saphron and Terra Cotta-Arc: Two moms are better than none!

If I’m rating all the parents, and I am, then I have to acknowledge their flaws. And... these two don’t have any! Okay, fine, they used Adrian in a criminal scheme that one time (and that was literally just asking him to cry on command) and maybe Terra’s overworked and, to be fair, parenting a young kid is a lot different than parenting a teenager. But not only did they support their kid, they helped out all the kids that needed to room with them for a while! Saphron may also qualify as a momsister, depending on how well the Arcs managed their massive-numbered horde of kids. Look, the point is: Excellent parents. Bam.

22. Yatsuhashi's Parents: Their slipups weren’t their fault

When your kid can wipe your memories and you don’t know about it, you’re bound to get a few mistakes down the line. Luckily for everyone, after the whole incident with Hiyoko Yatsu came clean, and his parents made absolutely sure that he understood (A) that having such an ability was a big responsibility and (B) that even though he really screwed up he was NOT evil. Given the man that Yatsuhashi is now, I’m pretty confident in calling them great parents--even if they only appeared in a book flashback.

21. Coco's Dad: He exists!

That’s... honestly all I really know about him. He’s mentioned once in the books, and Coco has a few brothers. I’m kind of just assuming he’s a good parent from that, even if he didn’t figure out how to help Coco with her claustrophobia. So... yeah, shrug, Coco’s got a dad.

20: Ghira and Kali Belladonna: Actually marvelous people

Loving. Caring. Mentoring, protective. You may be asking why these two aren’t lower on the list, given that they are absolutely great for Blake, and I’ll have to admit that they only really made one slipup--letting Adam talk with Blake.

And okay, look. The thing about people like Adam is that they don’t start out showing their true colors. It’s always a slow, gentle broil. Blake was young and stupid, Adam was cute and edgy, and these parents want their daughter to be happy. So not twigging on what Adam really was--or at least not being able to properly convince Blake--that’s entirely understandable. And they did instill her with a strong enough moral code to leave when enough was enough, and they absolutely welcomed her back with open arms. Frankly, if the lower-listing parents didn’t exist, I would happily say they are the best parents in the show.

19. Pietro Polendina: He took Penny’s death flags

When you carve out part of your literal soul to bring your girl back from the dead, you get MAJOR parenting props. And even beyond that, Pietro is an absolutely caring and supportive father to everyone’s favorite bundle of sunshine. Even when she’s put in the rough position she was in, Pietro did his best to help her out. His one big flaw, though, is being overprotective and a bit presumptive. He does want Penny to live her best life, but he also can be just a touch too quick to say he knows what’s best for her. To his credit, when he’s called out on it, he does mend his ways. And he’s at least better then the GENERAL...

18. Salem and Ozma: Good parents, surprisingly!

Sure, Salem decided that world conquest was a good idea and wanted to put down anybody that wasn’t directly from her bloodline. Sure, she psychologically manipulated her husband when he had doubts. And, being fair, it’s highly likely that her four daughters were killed in the crossfire of her and Ozma’s little tuff. But! That was likely an accident, she’s been shown to still clearly mourn their passing, and before that point she absolutely loved and adored the girls. Ozma gets points for being a generally good person who fell in love with her before she became unstable and, honestly, was just trying to help his girls escape... and hey, he blames himself for their deaths. As does Salem.

Just because they’re kind of directly responsible for a LOT of Remnant’s woes doesn’t mean they aren’t good parents!

17. Will and Meg Scarlatina: Estranged but loving...

Yes, I know Rooster Teeth hasn’t officially confirmed that Bill is Will. I still believe though! Also it makes for a great picture, in any case.

Look, you can be the best and most loving parents ever--and from what we saw in the novels Will was definitely loving--but if you split up, your kid is going to get a little stressed. And hey, it’s not like these two were terrible people! Velvet’s just got a lot going on because of things entirely out of her control. Parents are people too, but sometimes the stress of one situation will leak out into another. Just... give people time to adapt.

16. Nicholas Schnee: The man, the legend, the titan!

Nicholas Schnee is the rockstar success story of Remnant. Some guy from Mantle put in all the work to make the SDC, and honestly from what little we know about him he was probably a great guy! But if we’re registering parental goodness, well... he wasn’t quite smart enough to warn Willow away from abusive gold diggers, and he’s not present when the story starts. So, yeah, even if he was a good parent otherwise--and I think he would be--he kinda... didn’t put in the work to prevent Willow breaking later. Still. Not deliberately terrible!

15. Li and An Ren: Don’t die in front of your kids, folks!

Seriously, it traumatizes them, especially if there’s a Grimm assault going on at the same time. Oh, double-especially if you reassure them that everything will be fine literally the second before the roof collapses on your head. And... well, okay, you couldn’t help your son and some random girl being the only survivors...

In all seriousness, that whole situation was absolutely out of their control. And before their deaths they were shown to be loving, wise, giving good advice to Lie Ren and helping him understand what the right thing to do was. Honestly, if they hadn’t died in front of him he’d be a lot better, mentally speaking. His trauma is not their fault. Plus Li went out distracting the big Grimm so Lie could run. No greater love hath man, indeed.

14. Summer Rose: Loving mother, ticking trauma bomb

When she was around, Summer Rose was probably the best mom Yang and Ruby could ask for. Sure, everyone could be exaggerating a little on how great a person she was--fond memories and grief can do that--but even taking that into account, she was probably a great and wonderful woman to be raised by. And hey, it turns out the reason she vanished was to go confront basically the Devil Herself so her kids wouldn’t have to live in a world where she existed! I can totally get the logic behind that.

And to be fair, “I’m going to do this on my own so nobody else suffers” is a pretty common character flaw among the RWBY cast. There are entire arcs where each character learns to overcome it. Still, wandering off on your lonesome without telling anyone was not the smartest move, Summer. Especially if you expected to die--which, you know, Devil Herself, high probability. And you know, if you had died, that would be bad enough, but now Ruby’s practically certain to have to fight your grimmified self. At least she figured out what happened to you before Salem decided to hammer in the trauma button, so she’ll be a little more ready, but... seriously.

13. The Arc Parents: Look, you try juggling eight kids!

To be fair, neither Arc parent has appeared on screen, but we can derive some of their traits from their kids. Jaune’s father said women like confident men. Jaune’s mother said strangers are friends you haven’t met yet. Jaune’s sister moved out of the house and (it’s implied) was happier for it. Jaune himself took his family’s ancestral weapon and ran off to Beacon to become a hero without any training whatsoever....

I get the impression that these two are not horrible parents, but they aren’t really stellar ones either. They slip up, don’t understand their children, give some really bad advice (as well as really good advice), and... look, it’s kind of middle of the road here. The Arcs could be wonderful people that just weren’t ready for the complexities of raising eight kids. I come from a big family myself, I know it can be stressful. And their kids turned out well anyway, so...

12. The Mother of Pyrrha Nikos: You taught your girl too well

Hero complexes are funny things. And Pyrrha Nikos... in retrospect, she was really hiding a lot of insecurities under that facade. Laying it all at this woman’s feet is unfair, I’ll admit, a lot of that came from being The Mistral Champion. But... with stories and fairy tales of heroes, it’s not hard to imagine a genuinely loving mother making sure her daughter knew right from wrong, always knew to act with mercy and protect the weak, and made her hardline into being a hero at the cost of her own... sense of self. It wouldn’t even be something either of them noticed, really. Good people can make bad choices sometimes.

11: Ilia's Parents: Oh god, can good people make bad choices...

So the idea of getting Ilia up to Atlas for a better life, that rocks (if you assume the propaganda to be true). And I’m certain her parents absolutely did what they did out of love. But what they did, you see, was tell Ilia to hide a very important part of herself from anybody who could find out, since it was likely she would be kicked out of the school she was in if people found out she was a faunus.

Which actually, did a lot of damage.

I mean look at Ilia now! She has trouble expressing herself until she explodes, she follows a crowd instead of her own morals, she broke down in tears when she finally did the right thing... Conceal Don’t Feel is never good advice, and these two went on and said ‘Honey, because of racism, you have to hide the fact you literally change color when you have emotions.’ Oh, and then they died offscreen--again, not their fault, but boy howdy did it give Ilia a complex.

10. Taiyang Xiao Long: Slumped at just the wrong time

Honestly, Tai as he is now is a wonderful dad. Supportive of his daughters in their time of need, able to lift their mood with a tasteless joke or two, frankly if we were assessing just how they were in the moment... I’d still be a little critical of his refusal to talk about the girls’ mothers, but hey, that’s minor. Compared to, you know...

Okay, so this needs serious addressing. Taiyang cannot be blamed for falling into a depressive slump. People can hurt, and need time to heal. That said, his depressive slump is at the root of Yang’s many issues, and frankly if she hadn’t had to pull herself together for Ruby she would be a major mess. It’s a bad situation all round, even if it’s not his fault.

9. Willow Schnee: “Kids, don’t wind up like me.”

Drowning her sorrows isn’t the best way to handle being stuck in an abusive marriage, but it was the best way Willow could think of. And, yeah, that really cut into her skills as a mom... but despite that, she did her darnedest to make sure her kids had what they needed to free themselves. Heck, once Jacques was out of the picture, she even pulled herself together and risked her life to save them! A broken women, to be sure, but not a shattered one.

8. Neptune's Mother: She exists!

Being fair, there’s not a lot to go on here. We know Neptune’s mother is a lawyer (insert evil lawyer joke), that their family are famous swimmers, and that his brother caused his hydrophobia by tossing him into the water. It does paint a bit of a picture, though, of everyone having expectations for Neptune that he was not able to live up to. Pretty poor parenting, if it’s true.

7. Nora Valkyrie's Mom: Come get your girl!

Literally the only factoid we have about Mama Valkyrie is that she abandoned her to the Grimm. We don’t know when this was, and it’s feasible it’s a case of ‘Oh No I Lost Track Of My Daughter In The Panic!’ But given we see young Nora scavenging for scraps of food... I’m not optimistic on her parenting skills.

6. Raven Branwen: "I wasn’t part of your life, how could I ruin it?”

Raven is just not a good mom at all. And, surprisingly, she seems to know it. Or that’s one interpretation of her character. The thing about Raven is that she plays her cards close to chest. We still don’t know why she left her daughter, and we only have inklings about the reasoning behind her behavior once they reunited. In the end, though... she did concede to Yang, she did apologize for something, and there’s a very deliberate indication that a lot of her behavior is a mask to both others and herself. So, terrible mother, for the moment, but self-aware.

5. Salem's Father: Explicitly noted as cruel

We get a bit more about Salem’s father from ‘Fairy Tales Of Remnant’, how he became possessive of the last remnant of his wife and locked her away in a tower. From what we know of him, that’s all he did--lock her away and not let her go. Still makes him a terrible dad. And with this, we transition firmly into the most definitively abusive parent figures. Everyone before this might have the excuse of not realizing what was going on or having their own damage, but now we’ve got parents actively deciding to make their kids’ lives worse.

4. Jacques Gelé: HE DOES NOT GET TO BE CALLED SCHNEE!

His children are property, to be manipulated and traded for the benefit of the company he married into, and any defiance is to be quelled instantly. He is manipulative, scheming, abusive, and frankly the worst sort of scumbag to ever wear a white suit. He does have the single redeeming quality of only leaning into the punishment if it benefits him; nobody would ever accuse the man of being needlessly cruel. His name is Jacques, and you will hate him... especially on the rare occasions he actually has a point.

3. The Marigolds: There’s no peppy tagline, they’re just mean

There’s not a picture of these jerks on the wiki, so you’ll have to make do with the woman that is no longer their daughter. See all that empty space around her? That’s about as close as they ever got. May spells out how much they hated her for having a heart, and how little they cared about her as a person, in one epic line. And even if they have other redeeming qualities (unlikely) we can tell they’d probably still be terrible parents because of how sleazy May’s cousin is. Honestly, for once I’m glad some characters don’t get pictures. They don’t deserve to be remembered. They aren’t even the cool kind of evil, they’re just... gross.

2. Marcus Black: Look if you train your kid to be a killer...

...you’re going to have to expect them to kill you. I mean, you basically ripped apart Mercury’s legs, man. He had to get cyberlegs. Also, you used your semblance to steal his. Which, given that semblances come from aura, and that aura is a manifestation of the soul, is kinda... that’s a deeply personal and intimate violation. Sure, you got your assassin kid. And can we talk about the fact that Marcus was an assassin? It’s not a pretty job. I guess I can see all the abuse--physical and mental--as a good way to train up another assassin, but... geeze, if that’s your goal, why did you use your own kid?! Why not hire some angsty teenager?! Yeah, no, Markus Black stood high on my list of parental monsters... and was only toppled by the arrival of one other.

1. Madame of the Glass Unicorn: She only appeared in one episode and she rocketed to the top of this list, that should tell you something

Let’s be clear here: What Madame did to Cinder is bad enough. It was literally slavery. Enforced by a shock collar. And because the collar looked like a necklace, she pulled it off in front of I don’t know how many clients. Granted, said clients were racists, why else would they be customers at a ‘We Do Not Serve Faunus’ hotel, but keeping her torture just out of the public eye very clearly shows both that she knew what she was doing was illegal and that she was clever enough to avoid detection.

Oh... and then there are her birth daughters.

With Cinder, she was abusive to a dangerous degree. With her daughters, she was permissive, not only allowing but encouraging them to bully their adoptive sister. The whole point of parenthood is to teach your children how to become the best version of themselves, but Madame didn’t even bother to instill a semblance of morality in these girls. She used them as extensions of her will, and they obliviously played along because that was all they knew.

You’d think the biggest monster on the show would be the Grimm woman, but no--it’s some random lady with a hotel.

#RWBY #Analysis #Ranking #I had the urge to make this #Feel free to disagree #Some of this is opinion-based

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inkandpen22 · 3 years

Text

Shared Minds and Shared Souls (1/?)

Pairing: Spike x Female!Reader

Warnings: Angst, mentions of death, swearing

Word Count: 2.9k

Story Summary: Driven by the power she posses as a witch and psychic, Y/N returns to Sunnydale to pay a visit to her family after she has a vision about Dawn. She isn’t exactly like her duty first and justice before all else cousin Buffy as Y/N follows her own rules. She offers her aid to the Scoobies during their drama with Glory. Y/N doesn’t plan to stay long until she experiences an unparalleled connection with a certain vampire from North London.

Masterlist

I never imagined myself visiting a small town like Sunnydale. I’ve lived in many places, but never California. The west coast isn’t exactly my style. For one, it’s hot. Two, the hippy-dippy happy-go-lucky attitude makes my eyes roll. Finally, Los Angeles reminds me of Celia, my cousin. Buffy, Celia, and I were inseparable as children. Dawn tried to tag-along in our make-believe games, but Buffy grew annoyed with her quickly. I haven’t been back in California in a decade for this very reason. Everything about California reminds me of a time when we were just kids. Before everything went to Hell in a hand basket.

Blasting Green Day in front of the hospital, I park my 1967 bright red Mustang. I take a minute to collect myself before barging in. Buffy and Dawn don’t exactly know I’m coming, but there’s something I have to warn them about, something so crucial that I drove here all the way from New York. The funny part will be explaining to Buffy that I know she’s the Slayer. To her knowledge, I’m just her ordinary cousin who she hasn’t seen since we were ten. In reality, I’m a psychic witch, have been since birth. Well, I’ve been psychic since the womb, the witchy part came later. Oh, and I can’t forget seeing the dead part, I always do. That little twist comes with the psychic part. Yeah, imagine a little ten-year-old me seeing my recently deceased cousin at her funeral… fun times. It explains the whole discomfort toward California. Low-key traumatized, but all good. Any who, I should probably stop the hesitation and just head inside.

As I stroll down the bitter cold hospital hall, I grip the leather straps of my backpack nervously.

“Hi Buffy,” I rehearse under my breath. “You probably don’t recognize me, I’m Y/N… your cousin. It’s great to see you- God I sound so stupid!”

I follow the signs on the wall toward the Neurology unit. Hospitals, cemeteries, funeral homes, old buildings, all great places to bump into ghosts. The things I do for family, boy do these guys owe me.

As I turn down yet another peach colored hall- geez this place is dated- my eyes land on a familiar blonde in the waiting room at the far end. Oh great, here we go. Buffy doesn’t notice me right away, being too occupied with doting on a sleeping Dawn resting her head on her lap. I take note of the blondie boy sat beside her. I’m guessing he’s with Buffy. Good for her, a strong seven out of ten. I would rate him higher, but he’s not my type, too All-American boy-next-door.

“Looks like I’m right on time,” I determine once I’m closer, thus making my presence known. Buffy peers up at me and her eyes widen steadily. Blondie next her looks between me and Buffy. Her surprised reaction makes him tense, I nearly assure him I’m not a threat.

“Y/N?” She gentle shakes Dawn to wake her as she rises from her seated position. “What are you doing here?”

“I heard about your mom… ” I explain vaguely. In truth, I saw it in a vision and a lot more beyond that, but I’ll just say my mom told me for now.

Buffy makes long strides and warmingly embraces me. I can sense the desperation in her touch. Her ora is all out of wack. I could see the mess her colors are from yards away. It seems like I did really arrive at the perfect time. Buffy needs me now more than ever.

“Y/N!” Dawn gasps behind us.

Buffy and I part, her eyes stare into mine pleadingly. Yeah, we really need to have a chat. Preferably somewhere we can be frank, truly frank, no bullshit like I’m spilling right now.

“Oh my God!” Dawn squeals, rushing down to greet me. She squeezes me like a stress ball as she rambles on about how much she’s missed me. Then, Dawn starts to ask the tough questions as usually does. The girl has never quite had a filter. “Where have you been?”

“New York mainly,” I laugh.

“How come you’ve never come to see us before?” She rushes out as Buffy continues to stare at me in awe. It could be she thinks she’s dreaming this.

“Dawn, I-”

She cuts me off, “how’s aunt Lolly? Are you college? When did you get in?”

“Dawnie!” I laugh, “I will answer all your questions, promise. We’ll catch up! For now,” I look at Buffy. “I need to have a chat with your sister…”

The girl scoffs, rolling her eyes dramatically as she crosses her arms over her chest. “Of course, you’re for Buffy… everyone is always here for her. No ever visit me,” she grumbles.

“I’m here for you too,” I assure Dawn. “I just… it’s important I speak with Buffy right now. It’s about something-”

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” Blondie interrupts, his face covered with confusion.

“I’m Y/N,” I introduce myself. “I’m Buffy and Dawn’s cousin.”

“I’m Riley, the boyfriend,” he offers me his hand.

Wow, quite the introduction. I’m not much of a contact-person, but this seems like the perfect opportunity to gather information on G.I. Joe. As I shake his hand, I’m able to visualize memories and emotions from him. They come as flashes before my eyes. I hear his thoughts, see through his eyes, and feel what he’s felt. All I see Buffy, moments they’ve had. At first, pleasure and immense happiness consumes my head. Then, it’s replaced with doubt and self-deprecation. The obsession with Buffy is replaced with desperate longing. He feels her slipping.

My visual is cut-off when Riley removes his hand. I’m brought back to current moment, surrounded by chaos of the hospital.

Dawn frowns, curiosity etched across her features. “What’s so important that you had to come all the way? Does it have to do with Mom?”

“You came all the way from New York?” A male voice questions behind me.

What is this an interrogation? The sooner someone tells me where Buffy is the sooner I can head back home. Believe me, I don’t want to be here longer than I have to be. I glance over my shoulder, Willow and Xander stare at me in confusion. We’ve never met, but I know of them, the visions. I’ve been keeping tabs on Buffy and the family since… well… since Buffy became the Slayer.

“Yes,” I answer Xander directly. Turning back to Buffy, I not so discretely tell her it’s urgent. “Please, Buff, do you have minute? I know this isn’t exactly opportune but-”

“Of course,” she swallows hard. “We can uh… we can talk outside. There’s a courtyard just over there,” she gestures down the hall.

“I’m coming with,” Riley declares next to her.

“I’m sorry, is your name Buffy?” I sass, much to his frustration. “What am I going to do her? She’s my cousin. I’m only borrowing her for a second, then you can toss the leash back on her.”

“Y/N…” Buffy mutters for me to stop.

Riley narrows his eyes at me- oof, I’m real scared now! While I giggle at her boyfriend’s expense as the two of us start down the hall. I’ve missed Buffy, we used to be like two peas in-a-pod. Once all this drama I’ve seen in her future is over, perhaps we can be close again. I refuse to settle in Sunnydale though. At least we have phones and email.

Once outside, and we’re certain we’re alone, Buffy cuts to the chase. “Not that I’m not happy you’re here, Y/N, I am but, why are you here?” She hasn’t changed a bit.

I snicker, peering up at the sky as the sun it starting to set. Gosh, I hate the day. That sounds weird because what human hates daytime, but I do. I’m much more… in tune with myself when it’s night time. I thrive off the moonlight and stars. The sun and its rays are hot, too hot. I like the cold and darkness of night.

“Fine, let’s get right to it,” I smirk at my cousin wickedly. Reaching into my back pocket, I pull out my pack of cigarettes, feeling a bit anxious. “You mind?” I ask her, not really caring but figure I should check.

Timidly, she shakes her head. Her arms are securely crossed in front of her as she watches me take a smoke. “Those things will kill you,” she advices the cookie-cutter phrase.

“So can a car accident, yet we still drive,” I remark with sass. “What’s life without a little risk?” I wink.

Buffy shifts on her feet as her jaw clenches. Her aura is shifting again, Black to red, I’ve never seen someone change on a dime so fast. That’s change is funny, she’s either angry or afraid of me, maybe both. I can’t blame her, I’m not exactly a Care Bear. My black and red attire doesn’t scream comforting.

“Then again, you would know all about death, right Cuz?” I suggest subtly.

Her eyes lock with mine and I start to see the wheels turning her head. ‘Does she know? How could she?’ She’s likely thinking to herself. One touch and I could hear for certain what she’s thinking.

“What are you talking about?” She mumbles, barely meeting my eye.

I scoff, tossing my head back, why can’t this be easier? You know what, fine! Growing impatient, I hold my hand out, palm to the sky. “Light,” I verbalize and within seconds a bright orb floats above my palm.

Buffy stares at my magic stunned. Yeah, I was sort of expecting that kind of reaction.

“How… How…” She stutters.

“If you’d like a mini bolt of lighting I can do that too,” I offer. “I kind of prefer them, far more powerful!”

She doesn’t share in my excitement as she slowly steps closer still in awe. “You’re a witch?”

“Yep!” I smile, rather proud. “Have been for a while now, gotten pretty good at it too, not to brag or anything…”

“So…” Buffy continues to process everything. “You know about demons, vampires-”

I hum, “all of it. Including that you’re the Slayer, congrats by the way! Fun shit,” I compliment with a snicker.

“Not exactly how I’d describe it,” she mutters defeatedly, her eyes still on the orb.

Closing my fist, the orb disappears and I place my hand on Buffy’s shoulder. Her eyes meet mine solemnly.

“How long have you known?” She asks unfazed.

“Since forever,” I answer truthfully. “Sorry I never called or have come to help. I’ve sort of been cheering for ya from the sidelines. In all honesty, I’ve been away perfecting my magic with a coven. I’ve met some pretty interesting people along the way, all dazzled when they find out I’m related to the Slayer,” I gush.

She pays no mind to my compliments, still in a daze. “Does anyone know? Does your dad?”

I shake my head and sternly tell her, “he can never know! He thinks I’ve been away at school in Boston. In truth, I’ve been in New York with a coven.”

Buffy nods in understanding, though I know Joyce is aware of the supernatural world. My mom could never handle it. “Did you come all the way here to tell me that?”

Okay, here’s the hard part, the real hard part! I finish my cigarette, pondering the last relaxing bit of it before tossing it to the ground. “Okay, so here’s the deal,” I begin. “There’s a this big nasty bitch I’ve seen in my visions- I see visions by the way-” I add in passing, having forgotten it. Then, I remember I can’t forget the ghosties bit. “Anyway, you’ve already bumped into her, Glory. Yeah, she’s a real charmer from what I can see. I’m here to help because based on my visions, she’s kicking your asses.”

I leave out a crucial bit of information, a part of the visions I’m not sure I can share. One important thing about being a psychic is not changing fate. As much as I want to tell Buffy everything, I know I can’t, not if I don’t want to mess with the world.

“So, you’re here to help us stop Glory?” She clarifies.

“It gets real fucked at some points,” I tell her, hoping that doesn’t reveal too much.

“And I take it you know about Dawn…” she insinuates.

I nod my head slowly, “you mean that she’s The Key? Then yes, I do. She’s about as human as the Teletubbies, but of course I won’t mention that to her. Who all knows?”

“As of right now, me and Giles. He’s my Watcher,” she explains. “Did you already know that?” She’s catches on quickly.

“Kinda…” I answer hesitantly. “Sorry if that’s weird. I’ve tried not to pry with my visions. If it makes you feel better, I didn’t know who Riley was! He mustn’t have been around the last time I checked in!”

“When was the last time you… ya know… checked in?” She asks, unsure of how to phrase it.

“Well, I’ve been away with the coven. I joined them right after high school, so I suppose it was when you started at UC Sunnydale. I know all about Willow and Xander, they seem nice from what I’ve seen. Angel, his in-and-out appearance in my visions was confusing for a while until I realized he was doing that in real life too,” I laugh.

“So you saw all of the Spike drama and my mom finding out about me too?” She asks.

I frown, I saw Joyce learning about Buffy and that whole conversion, but I’ve never heard of a Spike. Based on my expression, Buffy predicts the answer.

“Spike is the biggest pain in my ass,” she groans. “He and Angel used to be all vampy together. Then, Angel gained a soul and Spike got worse from what I’ve gathered. He’s killed two Slayers, so we’re not exactly friends. We met when he tried to kill me. He’ll show up and leave again, kinda like Angel but less helpful. Except now, he’s acting all infatuated with me and sticking around.”

I snicker, “oof, so you have a psychotic vampire lusting after you? How did I miss this?!”

Buffy rolls her eyes, “believe me, it’s not fun.”

“Is he hot?” I inquire, always interested in a troubled bad-boy type.

She stares at me with narrowed eyes of disapproval and scoffs, “oh my God… never ask me that again.”

“He must’ve showed up and gone between visions,” I determine. “I wasn’t able to check in much after you started at UC. Which reminds me, your roommate Kathy- not a fan of her,” I confess with a bit of humor.

“Turned out to be a demon,” Buffy explains, much to my surprise.

I gasp, “no way! Ugh, I saw you move-in, some interactions here and there, but that’s about it. I knew there was something up with her!”

Buffy laughs, actually smiling for the first time since our reunion. It feels great having someone know I’m a witch who isn’t a witch themselves. Being away in New York with the coven was great and utterly freeing. They were the first people who I showed my true self to. Now, finally, someone I care about knows the real me. I have so much more to share with her!

Buffy takes my hand gently, “I’m really glad you’re here. Lately… lately things have been more difficult than I could’ve ever imagined,” she confesses, swallowing back her tears and looks at the ground. “With Mom and protecting Dawn, I’m not sure I can do it all on my own. I mean, I have my friends, Giles, and Riley but…” she meets my gaze, tears puddling in her eyes. “I needed you, I just didn’t quite know it. I needed my other sister,” she weeps.

Immediately, I pull Buffy into my chest and hug her tightly. I should’ve come sooner. I should’ve felt Buffy’s pain. I guess I was so caught up with the coven and I forgot to check on her, so I missed the signs. I’m here now, that’s all that matters. Now, I can help. Seeing Buffy so upset makes my blood boil. Anyone who fucks with my family gets knocked off this planet, which means Glory has another coming at her in the form of a powerful witch.

__________________________

Masterlist

#spike #btvs #fanfic #spikexreader #dawn summers #buffy #buffy s 5 #buffy summers #spike fanfic #spuffy #spike x buffy #spike x reader #btvs imagine #btvs fanfic

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javistg · 3 years

Text

A Second Chance CH 4.

Chapter 4 is ready!

I want to thank you all for your messages and support. I can't believe you've stuck with me and my story for this long and I'm incredibly grateful.

Also, I have added one more chapter to the story.

The next chapter is almost ready, but it won't be very long. It's just a short epilogue. Still, I hope it will be enough to answer all those questions I haven't answered so far.

In the meantime, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy. ❤️

Based on prompt 110: A time travel AU: Katniss from Mockingjay, (any part of the book, it's up to you), winds up back the day before her sister's first reaping. What does she do now that she knows what's coming? Now that she knows how Peeta feels about her, and she knows how desperately she needs him, and what they could share? What on earth could she, or should she, even do/change? And what is she should lose it all again? [submitted by @wingletblackbird For EFE 2019]

Want to read from the start? Go to AO3 or FF.net

CHAPTTER 4.

Claudius Templesmith’s voice booms all around the arena. “Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!”

As soon as the clock runs out, Katniss jumps from her platform and makes a beeline for the nearest backpack.

She’s almost at the tree line when she feels the impact of Clove’s knife sticking into her bag.

Right on cue, Katniss thinks as she slips into the woods.

Relying on her memory, she runs through the narrow paths and slopes until she reaches the lake. Getting on her knees, she shrugs the backpack off her shoulders and makes a quick inventory of its contents.

One thin black sleeping bag that reflects body heat. A pack of crackers. A pack of dried beef strips. A bottle of iodine. A box of wooden matches. A small coil of wire. A pair of night-vision glasses. And a half-gallon plastic bottle with a cap.

After filling her water bottle to the brim, Katniss starts walking again. She doesn’t want to go too far from the water —she refuses to deal with dehydration once more. Still, she tries to keep to the route she followed the first time she was there.

As she retraces her steps, she eventually comes across a familiar tree. A willow that’s not terribly tall but set in a clump of other willows, offering concealment in its long, flowing tresses.

She climbs up, sets her sleeping bag, straps herself to the branch, and waits.

The sky has already gone dark when she sees a small fire begin to bloom.

Katniss curses under her breath. Even now, she can’t bring herself to feel any sympathy for the tribute who’s decided to advertise their location in a place full of predators.

A few hours later, the Careers come traipsing through the forest. They’re about ten yards from her tree when an argument breaks.

Katniss grabs onto her branch and holds her breath in expectation.

Peeta’s words cut the bickering. “We’re wasting time! I’ll go finish her and let’s move on!”

Up on her tree, Katniss presses her lips together to contain her smile. The cameras are on her, watching her every move, and she stubbornly refuses to let the Capitol see her relief.

As Peeta walks away, she tries to conjure up all the anger and hurt she felt during her first Games so she can glare at him as he disappears from view.

XXXXX

Katniss runs through the woods, crushing branches and trampling down leaves and flowers in her rush to escape her nightmares, but it’s no use.

As the tracker-jacker poison courses through her veins —turning the world into a big shimmering bubble— Katniss berates herself for her carelessness.

She can’t believe her bow and arrows ended up stuck in Glimmer’s hands again; or that she needed Peeta’s warning to start moving.

Now, as she rushes through the forest trying to fight the ever-growing hallucinations, she knows that, once more, her clumsiness has placed Peeta’s fate in Cato’s hands.

Katniss turns a bend on the road. The earth shakes beneath her feet with the force of an explosion. She knows it’s not real, but she can’t fight it anymore. She sinks to her knees, exhausted, doomed.

Her nightmares have found her, and all she can do is give in.

XXXXX

Katniss wakes up a few days later to find her bow and arrows placed neatly by her side and Rue hiding behind a tree.

Together, the girls hunt and forage and --just like the first time-- their fast, easy friendship blossoms.

When the time comes for Katniss to leave to blow the Careers’ supplies up, she hesitates. Maybe I should take Rue down to the river, she thinks. We could dig Peeta from the mud and start treating him. The three of us could hide in the cave and…

With a shake of her head and a heavy heart, Katniss gives up. Thanks to Peeta’s intensive training for the Quarter Quell, she knows how that story ends. Alliances in the arena never last.

She would only be postponing Rue’s death. And for what? So that she can end up holding her mutilated body after a strange mutt kills her? The thought makes her shudder.

I need to weaken the Careers, she reminds herself as she walks towards the Cornucopia. Otherwise, Peeta and I won’t stand a chance.

XXXXX

Katniss is perched up on a tree, waiting.

A part of her mind is still consumed with Rue. Images of her, bloody and speared, play on a loop behind her eyes. She tries to block them out, to distract herself with something else, but she doesn’t have the strength; she’s too disgusted with herself.

Overcome by despair, Katniss hates the choices she’s made.

She hates that, despite having a second chance, she’s still helpless to do better, that she still thinks she has to put her life first.

As the sun sinks behind the trees, her mind flies back to Peeta. He’s somewhere out there, hurt, slowly bleeding to death by the stream.

She wants to drop this stupid pretense and rush to him, but she can’t.

There is one way out of this arena, and she needs to stick to her past actions to find it. So, Katniss wraps her arms around herself and waits.

She’s almost reached the end of her rope when the sky finally lights up. No deaths.

Her heart nearly jumps out of her chest when she hears the trumpets. Eager, she perks up in anticipation.

Claudius Templesmith’s voice blares down from overhead, congratulating the six tributes who remain. “There’s been a rule change in the Games. Under the new rule, both tributes from the same district will be declared winners if they are the last two alive.”

Claudius pauses, giving his audience time to digest the news. He repeats the change again, “Two tributes can win this year. If they’re from the same district.”

He’s barely finished speaking when Katniss reaches for her belt and begins unbuckling herself. The last time she was there, she waited for day to break, but she can’t do that this time. Not when she knows Peeta needs her.

With quick fingers, Katniss packs everything in her bag and slips the night-vision glasses on.

“Hold on, Peeta,” she says as she shimmies down the tree. “I’m on my way.”

XXXXX

As soon as she reaches the edge of the water, she realizes her mistake.

It’s a cold night. A bright round moon bathes the arena in pale light but, even with her glasses, that's not enough to make her way through the slippery mud.

Muttering obscenities under her breath, she backtracks until she finds a tree to spend the rest of the night.

With the first light of day, Katniss heads downstream.

After a while, the stream begins to curve to the left into a part of the woods where the muddy banks, covered in tangled water plants, lead to large rocks that increase in size.

Keeping her eyes to the ground, she spots a bloody streak going down the curve of a boulder.

Her heart picks up speed. Hugging the rocks, she moves, as quickly as she can, in the direction of the blood.

The blood trail stops. There’s no sign of Peeta.

She knows he’s close, though.

Crouching down, she whispers, “Peeta?”

The voice that answers back is hoarse and weak, but she would recognize it anywhere. “You here to finish me off, sweetheart?”

Katniss whips around.

“Peeta?” she whispers, biting back a smile. “Where are you?”

There’s no answer. So, Katniss creeps along the bank. “Peeta?”

“Well, don’t step on me.”

Katniss jumps back.

His voice is right under her feet. Still, there’s nothing.

Then his eyes open, unmistakably blue in the brown mud and green leaves.

Katniss’s gasp is rewarded with a hint of white teeth as he laughs.

“Close your eyes again,” she orders.

He does, and his mouth too, and completely disappears.

Katniss kneels beside him. “I guess all those hours decorating cakes paid off.”

Peeta smiles. “Yes, frosting. The final defense of the dying.”

“You’re not going to die,” she tells him firmly.

“Says who?” His voice is so ragged it makes her chest hurt.

“Says me. We’re on the same team now, you know,” she tells him.

Peeta’s eyes open. “So I heard. Nice of you to find what’s left of me.”

Katniss pulls out her water bottle and gives him a drink. “Did Cato cut you?”

“Left leg. Up high.”

Her heart drops, she had hoped Peeta would fare better this time around, but it seems that they’re exactly in the same situation as before.

At least I didn’t leave him lingering here while I had breakfast, she thinks as she helps him take a few more sips. “Let’s wash you off so I can see what kind of wounds you’ve got.”

“Lean down a minute first,” Peeta says. “Need to tell you something.”

She leans over and puts her good ear to his lips, which tickle as he whispers. “Remember, we’re madly in love, so it’s all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it.”

Katniss bursts out laughing. “Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind.”

Remembering how hard it was to move him, she decides to skip that part and strip and clean him right where he is.

“Alright, let’s get you cleaned up,” she says as she begins digging into the mud and plants which seem to have imprisoned him.

To her surprise, Peeta shakily pushes his upper body away from the ground. A little push from her, and he’s sitting up.

His new position doesn’t last long, though. With a pained grunt, Peeta slumps against a nearby rock.

“How do you feel?” she asks, brushing the matted hair from his face.

“Woozy.”

Using her two water bottles and Rue’s water skin, she begins cleaning him up. It’s slow going. The water is cold, and he’s so caked with mud and matted leaves that she can’t even see his clothes.

When she’s done, she gently unzips his jacket, unbuttons his shirt, and eases them off him.

His undershirt comes next. It’s stained, but at least it’s not stuck to his skin.

“Can you lift your arms?” she asks.

Peeta complies, lifting one arm at a time and dropping them limply by his side as soon as he’s done.

With one last tug, Katniss pulls the undershirt over his head.

Tears well up in her eyes when she takes him in.

He’s badly bruised. There’s a long burn across his chest and a superficial cut on his arm. There’s also a bit of good news, though.

Only one of his tracker jacker stings looks bad. The skin around it is swollen and angry. The other three have been treated, Peeta's covered them with wads of chewed-up leaves.

“Did I do OK?” Peeta asks.

“You did great,” she tells him as she gently peels the dried leaves from his skin. “You only missed one.”

Peeta closes his eyes. His head lols back. “Where is it?”

“Right under your ear.” Carefully, she pours some cold water on the spot to clean it. Just looking at it makes her chest hurt. “Hold still,” she says as she digs the stinger out of the lump.

Peeta winces, but the minute she applies a fresh batch of chewed-up leaves, he sighs in relief.

Cleaning his clothes seems pointless right now that the sun isn’t hot enough to dry them. So, she uses the cleaner side of his undershirt to pat him dry and applies some burn cream to his chest.

His skin is warm but not excessively hot. This feels like good news but, Katniss isn’t sure. They’re out by the stream, and the nighttime chill hasn’t dissipated yet. The cold weather could be masking Peeta’s fever.

Since they can’t afford to waste any time, Katniss keeps going. Standing up, she shrugs off her jacket and gently drapes it over Peeta’s shoulders to protect him from the cold. Then, she digs through the first-aid kit she got from Marvel until she finds the pills that reduce temperature.

“Swallow these,” she tells him. Peeta obediently takes the medicine. “You must be hungry.”

“Not really,” says Peeta.

“We need to get some food in you,” she insists. Remembering what happened last time, she forgoes the groosling and gives him the dried apple instead.

“Can I sleep now, Katniss?” he asks after he’s had a few bits.

“I need to look at your leg first.”

Gently, she removes his boots and socks and then very slowly inches his pants off of him.

Her heart plummets when she sees the tear Cato’s sword made in the fabric over his thigh. Gritting her teeth, she keeps going.

As Peeta’s leg comes into view, Katniss gasps.

The wound isn’t exposed. Just like the tracker jacker stings, it’s been covered with leaves.

With trembling fingers, she carefully removes the green plaster.

The wound is terrible, a deep inflamed gash, but Peeta’s done a better job of taking care of it. It’s not oozing as much blood or pus as it did the last time.

“Pretty awful, huh?” says Peeta. He’s watching her closely.

Katniss shrugs. “I’ve seen worse,” she tells him honestly. “I just need to clean it well.”

Scooting her square of plastic under him, Katniss begins washing down his lower half.

Except for Cato’s cut, Peeta’s legs have fared pretty well. There’s one more tracker jacker sting, which he’s also cured, and a few minor burns that she treats quickly.

After pouring a few water bottles over it, the wound doesn’t look any better but, at least, it doesn’t look any worse.

Katniss applies a handful of chewed-up tracker jacker leaves to the wound. Within minutes, pus begins running down the side of Peeta’s leg. She repeats the process. This time, very little pus comes out.

“What next, Dr. Everdeen?” Peeta asks.

“I have a bandage I can use, but there’s something I need to do first.” Reaching behind her, Katniss pulls out Rue’s backpack. “Here, cover yourself with this, and I’ll wash your shorts.”

“Oh, I don’t care if you see me,” says Peeta.

Katniss sets her jaw. Anger and humiliation rush through her veins as an image of Johanna --stripping in front of Peeta-- comes to her mind.

Fixing him with a blistering glare, she growls, “I care, all right?”

With an aggravated huff, Katniss stands up and turns to look at the stream.

As she waits for Peeta to shimmy out of his undershorts, his words come back to her. “For the Capitol, you’re pure,” he had said, clearly trying to mollify her. “For me, you’re perfect.”

Placated by the memory, Katniss sighs.

As soon as Peeta’s undershorts splash into the current, she turns to look at him.

There he is, her boy with the bread, so strong and fierce and brave. He looks small right now, pale and weak and vulnerable, but she’s not worried. Peeta's done better this time, and he’s going to push through. Just as he always does.

Katniss walks over to him and puts a few dried pear halves in his hand. “I'm going to wash your clothes. In the meantime, you eat these,” she says before heading down to the stream.

XXXXX

Katniss holds the small vial of sleep syrup in the palm of her hand. She doesn’t like what she’s about to do, but she knows she has no choice.

Peeta’s condition is not as critical as the last time. She’s managed to keep his fever from spiking, but the wound on his leg isn’t getting any better.

Besides, if she doesn’t go to the feast, Thresh won’t kill Clove.

With grim resolve, she gets to work. She mashes up a handful of berries and adds some mint leaves for good measure. Then she heads back up to the cave.

“I’ve brought you a treat,” she tells Peeta, “I found a new patch of berries a little farther downstream.”

XXXXX

“You better run now, Fire Girl,” Thresh tells her.

Katniss doesn’t need to be told twice. She flips over, digging her feet into the hard-packed earth, and runs away from Thresh and Clove and the sound of Cato’s voice.

She reaches the woods and keeps going. Blood pours into her eye, but she just swipes it away.

After a few minutes, she hears the cannon. Clove has died.

When she finally reaches the water, she slows down. She’s fairly certain Cato headed out after Thresh. Still, she doesn’t want to waste any time.

Katniss pulls off Rue’s socks, which she’d been using for gloves. Setting them aside, she splashes water over her forehead to clean the cut.

Moving quickly, she presses the socks to her forehead to staunch the flow of blood.

She knows the socks will be soaked in minutes. So, she reaches for the bandage in her small backpack and wraps it, as tightly as she can, around her forehead.

That should do the trick, she thinks, standing up to continue her trek downstream.

She makes it back to the cave in record time.

After squeezing through the rocks, she pulls the little orange backpack from her arm, cuts open the clasp, and dumps the contents on the ground—one slim box containing one hypodermic needle.

Without hesitating, she jams the needle into Peeta’s arm and slowly presses down on the plunger.

Exhausted, Katniss sighs. Her head is throbbing.

Her hands go to her forehead. When they drop back on her lap, she sees they’re clean.

After taking one of the fever pills, Katniss snuggles next to Peeta and drifts off.

XXXXX

Cato rushes through the woods, making a beeline for the Cornucopia.

Without question, Katniss follows him.

Her hands have just landed on the metal at the pointed tail of the Cornucopia when she turns back to look at Peeta. He’s not that far behind, but the mutts are closing in on him fast.

She sends an arrow into the pack, and one goes down, but there are plenty to take its place.

Peeta waves her up the horn, “Go, Katniss! Go!”

Katniss starts climbing, scaling the Cornucopia on her hands and feet. The pure gold surface has been designed to resemble a woven horn, so there are little ridges and seams to get a decent hold on. But after a day in the arena sun, the metal feels hot enough to blister her hands.

Cato lies on his side at the very top of the horn, twenty feet above the ground, gasping to catch his breath as he gags over the edge.

Katniss stops midway up the horn, loads another arrow, and points it at him, but just as she’s about to let it fly, she hears Peeta cry out. She twists around.

Peeta’s just reached the tail, and the mutts are right on his heels.

“Climb!” she yells.

Peeta starts up while Katniss keeps her eyes on the mutts. When one of them places its paws on the metal, she shoots her arrow down its throat.

Peeta reaches her feet. She grabs his arm and pulls him along.

Remembering Cato is waiting at the top, she whips around. He’s still doubled over with cramps and apparently more preoccupied with the mutts than with his fellow tributes.

This is my chance, Katniss thinks. She’s replayed this moment hundreds of times in her mind. She’s ready.

At the bottom of the Cornucopia, the mutts are beginning to assemble. Katniss can hear their calls for blood. She knows they won’t stop until they get it.

She tugs Peeta’s arm to get his attention. “Think you could push him over?”

Peeta glances at Cato. He still hasn’t regained his feet, but his breathing is slowing. Soon he’ll be recovered enough to come for them and hurl them over the side to their deaths.

“Shoot straight,” Peeta says before taking a step in Cato’s direction and crouching.

Katniss aims her arrow at Cato’s head.

In. Out. Katniss breathes as she tries to block out the sounds of the mutts sniffing and tasting the metal, scraping paws over the surface, and making high-pitched yipping noises to one another.

Smirking, Cato pushes himself up and ducks his head under his arm to deflect the attack.

Katniss’s arrow flies and reaches its mark, piercing right through Cato’s unprotected hand.

Cato cries out and doubles over in pain just as Peeta slams against him.

Knocked off balance, Cato plummets to the ground.

XXXXX

“Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed,” Claudius Templesmith says. “Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.”

Katniss looks at Peeta in dismay. She’s exhausted. She just wants the whole thing to be over.

“If you think about it, it’s not that surprising,” Peeta says softly as he pulls the knife from his belt and throws it into the lake.

Katniss doesn’t falter. She immediately drops her weapons.

“No,” Peeta says, reaching for her bow and pressing it back into her hand. “You need to use this now.”

“I can’t,” Katniss says, shaking her head. “I won’t.”

“Do it.” Peeta tightens his hold on her wrist in a silent plea. “Before they send those mutts back or something. I don’t want to die like Cato.”

“Then you shoot me,” she says furiously, shoving the weapons back at him. “You shoot me and go home and live with it!”

“You know I can’t,” Peeta says, discarding the weapons.

He turns to look at the lake. Frustration drips from his voice as he says, “This is why I didn’t want you to go to the feast, why I didn’t want you to risk your life for me. I knew it was pointless, that in the end, they were going to make us choose.”

Peeta drops on one knee and begins untying his shoelaces.

Katniss scowls; this is something new. “What are you doing?”

“I think I’m going to go out for a swim.”

Panic rises within her. The lake isn’t too deep, but Peeta doesn’t know how to swim. What if the Gamemakers decide to create waves or a strong current?

She needs to think. Fast.

Katniss kneels next to him. “Peeta, please don’t!”

“Katniss,” Peeta reaches for the end of her braid and gives it a little tug. “This is my choice. It’s what I want.”

“You’re not leaving me here alone,” she says, reaching out to grab a fistful of his jacket.

“Listen,” he says, pulling her to her feet. “We both know they have to have a victor. It can only be one of us. Please, take it. For me.”

Katniss swallows thickly. This is the opening she was waiting for.

Her fingers fumble with the pouch on her belt, freeing it.

Peeta’s eyes widen. His hand clamps on her wrist. “No, I won’t let you.”

“Trust me,” she whispers.

He holds her gaze for a long moment, then lets go.

Katniss loosens the top of the pouch and pours a few spoonfuls of berries into his palm.

She fills hers. Her heart races in fear and anticipation as she asks, “On the count of three?”

Peeta leans down and kisses her once, very gently. “The count of three,” he says.

They stand, their backs pressed together, their empty hands locked tight.

“Hold them out. I want everyone to see,” Peeta says.

Katniss spreads out her fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun.

She’s not afraid this time. If the Gamemakers call their bluff, she and Peeta will have a quick death. Protected by their anonymity, Prim, Gale, and the rest of District 12 will be safe.

Still, as she gives Peeta’s hand one last squeeze as a signal, she hopes it’s not a goodbye.

They begin counting.

“One.” Did she get it right?

“Two.” Maybe this do-over is not for her but for Snow, who’s wanted her dead from the start.

“Three!” She’s about to find out.

Katniss lifts her hand to her mouth.

The berries have just passed her lips when the trumpets begin to blare.

The frantic voice of Claudius Templesmith shouts above them. “Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you — the tributes of District Twelve!”

XXXXX

The tribute train speeds back to District 12.

Alone in her compartment, Katniss washes the makeup from her face and puts her hair in its braid.

As she stares in the mirror, she tries to remember who she is and who she isn't.

My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games. I escaped. The Capitol hates me, but I came back. Peeta is safe. Our families and our district are waiting for us.

With a steady hand, she pins the mockingjay back on her shirt and adds, Snow’s days in power are numbered.

The train makes a brief stop for fuel, and they’re allowed to go outside for some fresh air.

There’s no longer any need to guard them, so Peeta and Katniss walk down along the track, hand in hand.

As soon as they’re out of earshot, Katniss leans into Peeta’s side and asks, “Have you talked to Haymitch?”

Peeta shakes his head. “About what?”

Remembering how poorly this conversation went the last time, Katniss grabs his arm to keep him close. “He told me the Capitol didn’t like our stunt with the berries.”

Peeta’s body tenses under her touch. “What?”

“He says it seemed too rebellious.”

“Seemed?” Peeta deadpans.

Katniss’s jaw drops open. This is not the reaction she was expecting.

“Come on, Katniss, you can’t be that surprised. We basically forced their hand into doing what we wanted. It’s no wonder they’re upset.” Anger and suspicion quickly flash through his eyes. “Why didn’t he tell me anything?”

Afraid that he’s going to storm away, Katniss tightens her grip on his arm. “Because he didn’t want me to mess up in front of the cameras. He was afraid I’d be all prickly and aloof. So, he told me I needed to act like I was so madly in love that I wasn’t responsible for my actions.”

She knows she’s messed up the second Peeta takes a step away from her. “Act?”

“For the interview,” she quickly clarifies. “Only for the interview.”

The explanation seems to placate him, but he still asks, “So, what you did in the Games, was that—,”

“That was not an act,” she tells him. This time it’s the truth. Her only hidden motive was to bring him out with her.

Peeta nods but, before he can say anything, Haymitch appears by his side.

Even in the middle of nowhere, the old mentor keeps his voice down. “Great job, you two. Just keep it up in the district until the cameras are gone. We should be OK.”

“Thanks for the update,” Peeta growls under his breath.

A deep frown settles on Haymitch’s face. “What’s up with you?”

“I just told him what you said about President Snow,” Katniss whispers.

“Why didn’t you tell me anything?” Peeta asks.

Haymitch lets out an exasperated sigh. “Since when do you need coaching on how to act in front of the cameras, kid? You’re smooth and personable, and you always know exactly what to say.” Hunching closer to the two victors, he adds, “Besides, the walls have ears, even here. I didn’t have that many openings, you know?”

Mollified, Peeta nods. Katniss knows it's just a reprieve, though. Peeta's never liked being kept in the dark, and he'll probably go after Haymitch once they're back home.

“Alright,” Haymitch says, “fun’s over. Time to hop back on board.”

The three victors head back.

Katniss is already on board when she notices Peeta has fallen behind.

Alarmed, she whips around to look out of a window. Peeta’s just a few steps away. A smile splits her face when she notices the bunch of wildflowers in his hand.

As soon as he climbs up the stairs, he presents the pink-and-white flowers to her.

Katniss bursts out laughing. Her eager hands reach for the offering. “You brought me lunch, how thoughtful!”

Peeta tilts his head in question. “Lunch?”

Katniss nods. With soft fingers, she traces the edge of a pink petal. “They’re wild onions. Gale and I gather them sometimes.”

Peeta’s face turns serious. “Katniss, I’m sorry about earlier, I didn’t mean to snap—,”

“No,” she cuts in, “I get it. We’re a team. We’re in this together.”

Peeta reaches for her hand, interlacing their fingers to bring their palms even closer. Hope lights up his face when he asks, “Together?”

Katniss nods. Standing on the tips of her toes, she presses a soft kiss to his lips and whispers, “Together.”

XXXXX

The Tribute train pulls into District 12.

Katniss and Peeta stand side by side, watching their grimy little station rise up around them.

Through the window, Katniss sees the platform’s thick with cameras. Everyone will be eagerly watching their homecoming.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Peeta extend his hand. His eyes are warm and soft, her safe place in the storm that’s about to be unleashed.

Smiling back at him, Katniss takes his hand and holds on tightly as she prepares for the cameras. Her heart feels full, grateful for the fact that she won’t ever have to let go.

XXXXX

On the first Sunday after the Capitol cameras leave, Katniss sneaks out of Victors’ Village.

Partially hidden by the dim light of dusk, she quietly walks to the Seam.

A part of her wishes she could sneak under the fence and go to her and Gale’s meeting place like she did before. She mises the sounds and the smells of her woods and longs to hold her father’s bow, but she knows the rock ledge isn’t safe. Not today.

President Snow has eyes and ears everywhere, and she can’t afford to repeat her past mistakes. Not when what she has to say is this important.

Two blocks away from Gale’s house, she finds the perfect spot; a narrow corridor that stretches between two shacks. Despite being open on both ends, it’s dark and much too small for foot traffic or lampposts —which makes it a perfect hiding place— and it faces the street Gale uses to go to the woods.

She’s only been there for a few minutes when a silent silhouette walks past.

“Gale!” Katniss hisses as loud as se dares.

Gale stops on his tracks and turns towards the sound, leaning slightly into the small dark corridor.

Smiling fondly at her friend, Katniss lifts her hand and wiggles her fingers in greeting.

The glimmer in his eyes tells her he’s surprised to see her there, but he doesn’t hesitate. In two long strides, he’s by her side with open arms.

Just like she did the last time, Katniss jumps into his embrace.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembers crying —sobbing in Gale’s arms until she began to hiccup and tremble— but she doesn’t cry now. She doesn’t have time for that. Instead, she buries her face in his jacket and breathes him in, letting his fresh, clean scent comfort her and give her the strength she needs to carry on.

Pulling away from her friend, Katniss smiles. “Hi!”

“Hey!” Gale points his thumb back towards the woods. “I was on my way out to meet you.” Dropping his hand, he turns around and inspects their tight hiding place. “What are you doing here?”

“I knew you’d pass by.” Her smile drops. “We need to talk.”

A dark cloud passes through Gale’s eyes. “What’s wrong, Catnip?”

Grabbing a fistful of his jacket to keep him from storming away, Katniss begins to talk. As quickly as she can, she tells him about President Snow’s anger.

“He’s mad at us for showing the Capitol up in the arena and turning it into the joke of Panem,” she says. “It’s something that wouldn’t have mattered much before, but Snow’s control over the country is slipping. His enemies are gaining strength, and he can’t afford to look weak in front of them.”

Anticipation lights Gale’s eyes. “His enemies?”

“Rebel forces are organizing all over the country,” Katniss says, “even the Capitol has a few dissenters, but Snow’s biggest problem is District 13.”

Gale takes a step back. “Thirteen? There’s no Thirteen. It got blown off the map.”

“No, it didn’t,” Amused with the look of shock on Gale's face, Katniss smiles. “District 13 is still there. That footage we’ve seen, with the rubble and the ruins, is always the same shot. The Capitol just uses it as a backdrop for its TV presenters.

“The people of Thirteen have spent the last 74 years living underground, and they're done waiting. They’re eager to get rid of Snow.”

Gale shakes his head, still too disconcerted to fully grasp what’s happening. “How do you know all this?”

“I heard about it while I was in the Capitol,” she lies, convinced that this is the only possible explanation she can give him that will make some kind of sense. “I overheard some conversations during my training, and then, while I was recovering, I was... approached.”

“Approached?”

Katniss nods, hoping Gale won’t press any further. She’s ready to tell him what she knows about Eight and a few other districts, but she doesn’t want to go into any specifics in case someone decides to check up on her info later on.

Luckily, Gale is a man of action, and his hatred for the Capitol runs deep. He has all the information he needs. “So, what are you going to do?”

“Well... All eyes are on me right now, so there’s not much I can do —not if I want to keep my family safe— but I was thinking...”

Katniss looks up, silver eyes bright with trust and hope. “Nobody knows who you are, Gale. No one is following you. You could go. You could just sneak under the fence and march down all the way to Thirteen and tell them everything I know."

"Wait a second," Gale says, raising his hands as if to shield himself from her plan. "If what you're saying is true, District 13 must have agents in every district. So, why would they need me to relay your information?"

Katniss shakes her head. "Thirteen is in contact with a few people, but they don't have access to every district. My information is not very detailed, but it comes from every corner of Panem. The leaders of Thirteen might be able to use it to band the rebels together before Snow sends his Peacekeepers to start cracking down on us."

Pulling his shoulders back, Gale backtracks until his arm touches the cold cement wall. Looking past Katniss, he stares at the empty street at the end of the corridor.

Enveloped by silence, she sees his mind working, turning, and churning ideas as he tries to come to terms with what he’s heard.

“What about my family?” he finally asks.

“I’ll take care of them,” Katniss promises, “just like you took care of mine.”

When Gale looks back at her —full of fire and determination— she knows, clear as day, that she’s made the right choice.

Gale Hawthorne wants the revolution more than he wants anything else.

“I’m going to need a few supplies,” he says, his mind already thinking ahead.

“That’s not a problem. I’ll help you get whatever you need.”

Crossing his arms, Gale tilts his head to study her closely. Uprisings and rebellions are far from his mind when he asks, “So…you and the baker’s son. How long has that been going on?”

Katniss shrugs. What should she say? A year and a half? A month? A week? She doesn’t really know when to start counting. So, she sticks with the vaguest thing she can think of. “A while.”

A mirthless chuckle escapes his lips. “I can’t believe I never noticed.”

“Well," Katniss slips her hands into her pockets. Discussing Peeta with Gale --or Gale with Peeta-- has always made her uncomfortable. Luckily, her friend's tone is a lot more subdued than it used to be. "We weren’t exactly shouting it over the rooftops, you know?”

Raising a questioning eyebrow, he locks his gray eyes with hers. “I thought you didn’t want to get married.”

“I changed my mind.”

As soon as the words pass her lips, she knows they’re true.

She still doesn’t want to have children. If her trips to the Games have taught her anything, it's that Panem is not a safe place to live. But she doesn’t want to be alone anymore, not when she can be with Peeta.

Hoping to put the conversation to rest, she lifts her chin and adds, “Peeta changed my mind.”

Gale nods, slowly taking her in as if he's seeing her for the very first time.

In the small space, Gale offers his hand. "OK, Catnip, I'll do as you ask."

Smiling, Katniss reaches out to shake it and seal their deal.

Katniss heads back to Victors' Village feeling lighter than she has in weeks. Her plan is in motion. Gale is going to District 13.

As she reaches the steps of her new home, a thrilling thought crosses her mind.

She's back on uncharted waters. The future is about to become uncertain once more.

#things I write #a second chance #time travel!everlark #Everlark Fic Exchange #camp nano april 2021

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firemanwhenthefloodsrollback · 3 years

Text

Who Saved The Day? Season Two

time for instalment 2 of my eight part series Who saved the day? where I will be counting up who saves the day in each buffy episode. we all know who's gonna come in first but I am genuinely unsure who'll place after that in the final leaderboard.

at the end of season 1 the totals were:

Buffy: 10

Angel: 1

Sid: 1

season two is longer, more complex and more emotional than season 1 though I don't think anyone is coming for Buffy's top spot. while I don't think anyone is likely to argue with me about my calls for season 1, season 2 might get more controversial. let's see!

1. When She Was Bad: Buffy

A strong argument could be made for Buffy causing all of the problems in this episode, but she also solves them, and no one else arrives with a sledgehammer to kill the master's minions and grind his bones, so she gets the point.

2. Some Assembly Required: Chris

Another supporting character getting a point, which I'm finding quite exciting whenever it happens. Chris stops Daryl killing Buffy, and Daryl follows up by destroying himself for her.

3. School Hard: Buffy

I would love, love, love, love to the moon and back to give the point to Spike for killing the anointed one. I would love it more than you will ever understand but alas I have rules to follow. Buffy for saving Joyce and the other parents at the school I suppose.

4. Inca Mummy Girl: Buffy

A big part of me wanted to give the point to Xander, because I feel like Ampata getting so weak she turned back into a mummy only really happened because she hesitated over killing Xander and he put himself in her way knowing that was what could happen, but Buffy actually fought her, so I can't give Xander the point.

5. Reptile Boy: Buffy

Nice and straightforward. Awesome work killing the frat lizard.

6. Halloween: Giles

Yes Buffy fights Spike and wins the fight there but the real issue in the episode was the curse on the town and Giles solves that in an immensely stylish way. Giles' first point!

7. Lie To Me: Buffy

Holding my darling Drusilla hostage and letting the cult weirdos get away.

8. The Dark Age: Angel

Another point for Angel. Letting Eyghon into his body so that the two demons could fight was an unexpected and clever ending to a dark and excellent episode.

9. What's My Line 1: Giles (?)

The day is literally not saved here. This episode makes me regret my commitment to needing to pick someone for each episode because it... just doesn't work here. I'm giving it to Giles for working out what was going on? I suppose? I thought about giving it to Buffy for fighting Kendra but she didn't save or win anything so I didn't think it counted. Idk. Comment or message to change my mind and I'm fully ready to change it.

10. What's My Line 2: Buffy

I'd have preferred to give Kendra the point because I think my gorgeous, wonderful, underserved by the plot girl deserves one, but Buffy gets Angel out so it's got to be her.

11. Ted: Buffy

You go girl, end that dodgy episode by whacking the monster with a saucepan.

12. Bad Eggs: Buffy

Using a pick axe to hack the mother creature to death from the inside out: ingenious and also icky.

13. Surprise: Buffy (?)

Man I don't know. She gets the arm in the box and escapes the vampires at the dock and... no one else gets the point. This just wasn't a day-saving episode.

14. Innocence: Buffy

Nothing ever has or ever will make me feel as happy as Buffy kicking Angel in the balls here. Never.

15. Phases: Willow

First point for my heart's darling! Shooting wolf Oz with the tranquilliser gun is a big victory for my brave girl. Buffy bends the werewolf hunter's gun and sends him packing, but Willow saves everyone from the wolf demon and earns the point.

16. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered: Giles

Giles and Amy both lift the spell, but it was Giles' idea, he had to force Amy to take part and only one person can have the point.

17. Passion: Buffy

I spent a good twenty seconds staring into the space above my laptop feeling my pain when I remembered this episode. I go to a world of pain when I think about Passion, Willow's crying and Buffy's face through the window at the end. Buffy rescues Giles from being tortured but it's a hollow point for this one.

18. Killed By Death: Buffy

A straightforward monster-killing of a straightforward monster of the week.

19. I Only Have Eyes For You: Angel

Angel breaks the cycle and makes the speech that Grace needed to hear. Everyone learns a lesson about forgiveness and is saved from demonic ghost bees (I interpreted the buzzing cloud as ghost bees?).

20. Go Fish: Xander

Xander's first point! I wasn't really sure here as Xander and Buffy fight the coach together, but Xander knocks him on the head when stuff isn't looking good for Buffy so I think he gets a point for that.

21. Becoming 1: Kendra

Feels a bit ghoulish giving Kendra her only point in the episode where she dies, but there wasn't a lot of competition in this episode where everything that can go wrong does go wrong and she does arrive with new knowledge and a magic sword.

22. Becoming 2: Buffy

I would have loved to give Willow the point because she was awe-inspiring doing magic from the hospital bed in this episode. But Buffy closes the portal to the hell dimension and I can't argue with that.

Totals

So at the end of season 2 the cumulative totals stand at

Buffy: 23

Angel: 3

Giles: 3

Chris: 1

Kendra: 1

Sid: 1

Willow: 1

Xander: 1

All the scoobies and angel have at least one point now, and we have a few more for non-regulars as well. I'm imagining that as the seasons go on we'll get more points for characters who aren't Buffy but I imagine she'll end up with more than a hundred episodes by the end, unless something very major that I've forgotten about changes.

We had a few 'no one really won here' episodes which I think we'll get more of with time, and a few 'dramatic speech' savings of the day which I think will increase with time too.

in season 3 I anticipate things only getting more complex and weirder. I'm excited to get there soon!

Read the rest of the series: my intro post, Season 1, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5, Season 6, Season 7

#who saved the day series #buffy #btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #buffy meta #season two

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ickle-ronniekins · 4 years

Text

tongue tied

request from anon: Asgfaafhjlkfsdgj I loved your George x reader where they’re shy and flustered it’s so cute!!!! Could you write one with a similar shy reader but with Fred? Accept Fred’s just extra loud and funny when around her to impress her?

pairing: fred x gryffindor fem!reader

word count: 4.9k yikes

A/N: I LOVE FRED AND GEORGE WITH FLUSTERED READERS, GAAAAD, i’m sort of emotional, if you can’t already tell—also, i’m allowed to make fun of choir geeks because i, too, am a choir geek and know precisely just how dorky it is

tag list: @mintlibri @seppys-return-to-madness @how-do-life-does @fopdoodledane @fredd-weasley @iprobablyshipit91 @semmelsemi @bobduncanlover @cottageoflove @laneygthememequeen @snakesonaplane-7 @lupinsx @keoghans @helloallthethingsilove | message me if you’d like to be added my loves

Fred Weasley normally doesn’t even try this hard to impress someone—or anyone, for that matter.

But as of late, he’s been racking his brain and planning some over-the-top prank only to catch your attention—the shy, sweet Gryffindor girl who seems to have caught his eye when he found you, late one evening, sneaking out of the portrait hole in the common room.

“Where’re you off too this late?” he asked cheekily. “Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

You thought about this, not sure if you should respond, but then decided it’d be best to just tell him the truth—guys like him would do their best to find out, anyway. His heart soared when he realized that you already knew a bit about him, “You’re not the only one who sneaks to the kitchens to grab a late night snack.”

He’d always found you pretty; perhaps, maybe you were the prettiest girl Gryffindor had even seen. And now, knowing that the pretty girl in Gryffindor tower also tends to break the rules from time to time, he finds himself head over heels.

Since that moment, he’s been focused on one thing and one thing only—get you to notice him. Or, at least, get you two talking.

But why is it, he asks himself, that the one time he wants to impress you with some type of outrageous ordeal, it’s the one he gets caught doing? Although, he admits to his twin later that evening, replacing some classroom entrances with biting doorknobs in the hopes that Malfoy or one of his cronies gets their fingers sliced off was probably going a little bit too far—especially when Filch is on the receiving end of it. Even George can agree on that.

McGonagall grabs a fistful of Fred’s robes and pushes him toward the stairs with George on her other side. “You’ve given me no choice, Mr. Weasley. My office, Saturday morning—detention.”

“C’mon, Professor—” Fred says, craning his neck over the crowd to try and find you, “We were just having a laugh—we would’ve stopped someone anyway before it got too far, promise!”

The Headmistress cocks her head to the side and folds her arms across her chest. “Saturday, the both of you.”

The crowd begins to roar with raucous laughter as Fred and George bask in all their glory on the staircase, fellow Gryffindors and students from other houses cheering for them despite their upcoming weekend in detention. And then he sees you—pressed against the wall near the entrance of the Great Hall, standing beside some statue, trying not to be noticed, but watching the both of them with—is it admiration, or confusion, perhaps? He just hopes it isn’t disgust. Fred can’t read your expression over the crowd, and it’s killing him. The students begin to disperse, and when he finally makes his way through the sea of people to where you’re standing, you’re already gone.

He finds himself worried now, which is, to say the least, very unlike him. Fred Weasley? Worried? The word isn’t even in his day to day vernacular. But has this very funny—albeit, sort of stupid—prank gone over the top? Was it a bit too much? Has he scared away the shy girl he was trying so desperately to pursue, and he didn’t stop to think about his actions?

He follows his twin begrudgingly back to class.

“You two really could’ve caused severe damage,” Hermione tells them later at the feast, “people have gone to St. Mungo’s for treatment after being on the receiving end of a biting doorknob! You’re lucky McGonagall only gave you—”

“Oi, give it a rest, Hermione,” Ron says and she turns a bright shade of pink, “they were only having a laugh, weren’t they?”

Fred slumps back in his seat, picking at the food on his plate. “Who’s idea was this, anyway?” Ginny pipes up.

George, Ron, and Harry all turn to look at Fred, who grins at them cheekily and says, “Yeah, yeah—not one of my brighter ideas,”

Ginny smacks Fred playfully with her book. “What on earth—”

“He’s got a crush to impress.”

Fred shoots a look at his twin, who’s cackling in between bites of a cauldron cake, when Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione all peer at Fred quizzically. George nods in the direction of you, sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table with a few fellow friends, laughing slightly over something in someone’s notebook.

“No way,” Ron laughs haughtily, coughing a bit on a piece of half-chewed tart, “Y/N? She’s the exact complete opposite of you.”

Fred digests this. “Meaning?”

“Well, for starters, she’s not a complete git—”

When the boys fall into a fit, Fred flicks some food at the three of them, casually placing his hands behind his head, as if this is going to help relax him. It doesn’t. “Well opposites attract, don’t they, Ronniekins?”

Skittishly, Ron steals a glance at Hermione, who has seemingly chosen to ignore the conversation, as she is now immersed in her spellbook in front of her. Ron falls very silent and turns a bright shade of red, resembling that of a tomato, as he sinks into his seat.

“Besides,” Fred tells the group, taking a long sip of his pumpkin juice, “we’ve got more in common than you think.”

Harry laughs when George says, “Do tell us.”

“Y/N likes to cause a stir now and again. Bend the rules a bit.”

“And how,” Ginny begins inquiringly, trying her best to hide her interest, “d’you know this?”

Fred pauses and considers this for a moment. He reckons that you probably won’t be the most happy to know that there are other Gryffindors besides him that have learned of your late night sneak outs to the kitchens. He decides to keep it to himself. “I have my ways.”

“Well, good luck, mate,” Ron says, color flooding his face, “because the likeliness of you two snogging in a corner somewhere is about as likely as you and George becoming Prefects.”

The table roars with laughter, and Fred notices you turn your head, along with other students, to see, again, what all the ruckus is about. As his friends continue to cackle maniacally, Fred’s eyes meet yours, and he freezes. It’s a very fleeting moment before your eyes are darting toward the food in front of you, trying to avoid any and all eye contact. But when you look up again, Fred’s still peering at you. You furrow your brow slightly, and then send him a soft smile from across the way.

His heart is hammering in his chest, but he sends a smile back, as well.

Okay, so he hasn’t completely lost his chances—not yet, anyway. You’re not completely repulsed by the boy who lands himself in detention more often than not, even if his latest prank was one of the most reckless he’s ever pulled. Fred snaps back to reality when George is teasingly pinching his cheeks, and Harry’s shaking his shoulders. “Oh shove off, you lot,” he replies as the hysteria finally dies down. He swears he sees you glance over at him again.

The steps up to the Owlery are slippery because of the light snow dusting Hogwarts awoke too, but it doesn’t stop Fred from flying up there to send a letter to his brother in Romania.

To his surprise, though, he catches you at the top, hastily writing a name on a bit of parchment, and it’s probably the thickest letter he’s ever seen.

“Oh,” he says, taken aback by your presence, “sorry—didn’t realize anyone else was up here,”

“No worry,” you reply with a shy smile, handing the letter to your owl and patting him softly before he takes off, blending in with the snow covered grounds.

With the realization that his friends are far away in the castle and would have no chance to tease him about his flushed face when he sees you, Fred seizes this opportunity of alone time together. “Quite a long letter you’ve written.”

You turn to look at him as you swing your bag over your shoulder, kind of shocked that he’d noticed the length of a letter not meant for him. “Oh—erm—yes, I do tend to ramble on quite a bit when writing to loved ones,”

Fred feels his insides tighten, and why his mind immediately goes to boyfriend, he doesn’t know—but he hates it. You continue before he can ask anything, “I’m Muggleborn, you see.”

Fred did not know this. His eyes pop open in admiration, and he’s excited that he’s finally learning more about you.

“I’m sure your family has lots of questions.”

“My mum, yes,” you reply, nodding your head in agreement, “she just likes weekly updates, you know, to make sure classes are going well, I’m staying safe—that I haven’t been.. eaten by a dragon, or anything.”

Fred laughs at this, taking you by surprise. He runs a hand through his hair and tells you, “Something all Muggle parents should worry about, of course.”

“Of course,” you bite your lip, pausing to consider the conversation. After a moment, you continue, “However—if you’re going to go, getting eaten by a dragon is probably the most wicked, d’you reckon?”

When he wandered up to the Owlery that afternoon and spotted you, discussing being eaten alive by dragons was not exactly how he expected the conversation to go. But he took it. He was talking to you, anyway. He replies, “I mean—can’t be any less exciting than being pummeled by the Whomping Willow,”

A laugh escapes your lips, and it’s sweet as sugar, as far as Fred is concerned. He can feel his entire body go numb at the sound of it.

You nervously tuck a piece of hair behind your ear and say to him, “Hope McGonagall isn’t giving you and your brother that hard of a time in detention.”

Fred feels his face flush red, but—it’s not like the entire bloody school hadn’t seen them get scolded, right? But hearing you say it, recognize it—it makes his entire body tense up.

“Oh, you—you saw that, did you?”

“Think the entire school did, I’m afraid.” You both pause, taking this in, and Fred laughs nervously. “But, hey—it’s not like anyone got hurt, right?”

“Right,” he replies, finally remembering the letter he needs to send. He places it into the beak of a barn owl, who hoots appreciatively and flies off into the sky. “I suppose we’re used to it, and I reckon McGonagall is, too.”

You peer down at your shoes, doing your best to try and suppress quite a large grin, and Fred notices this. You both make your way down from the Owlery, not speaking, but the silence is comfortable, and Fred graciously offers you his hand when you nearly slip on the way down. Gratefully, you take it, and he’s pretty sure his heart stops beating for a moment. When you both enter the castle, he has to stop himself from melting in front of you when you remove your hat and gloves, noticing the pinky-gold color of the tips of your ears and nose. He’s brought back to reality when he hears a cackle from the Great Hall.

“Well,” you tell him, removing your coat and slinging it over your shoulder, “was nice chatting with you,”

Fred is sad your time together for the day is coming to an end, but he reckons it’s enough to get him through until you undoubtedly bump into one another later in the common room, “Yeah, it was—maybe next time you can tell me some other things Muggle parents worry about when it comes to the Wizarding world.”

Without skipping a beat, you reply, “Like getting fingers bitten off by a biting doorknob,”

He furrows his brow and laughs slightly, unable to read your expression until you, too, giggle sweetly. He swallows thickly before you say, “Well—have a g’night, Fred.”

“You, too.”

He doesn’t even care if you catch him watching you—he can’t help but keep his eyes on you as you walk swiftly up the steps, until you disappear from his sight completely.

His heart is still hammering in his chest when he thinks of your hand wrapped inside of his, and he can hardly focus on all of the questions coming his way from his siblings. Physically, he’s seated in the Great Hall, his chin resting on his hand, a slight glaze over his eyes—but his heart and mind have followed you all the way back to the Gryffindor common room.

Fred is absolutely loving all of the free periods he’s getting this term as he watches all of the younger students speed off hurriedly to their next glasses. He and George stand together, nothing but free time in front of them, when Ron comes trudging down the corridor with a glazed look on his face, Harry and Hermione on either side of him. No doubt coming straight from Divination.

Hermione waves quickly before heading off in a different direction, when Ron and Harry bump into the twins and lean against the wall. “Bloody hell, that woman drains me,”

“Your choice to take Divination, mate,” George says and pats his younger brother on the shoulder, “could’ve told you you’re out of your bloody mind.”

“Where’re you two off to, then?” Harry asks.

“Free period,” the twins chorus together, and both Ron and Harry grunt miserably. Fred continues, “Have some plans up our sleeves—reckon a bit of mischief this afternoon would do us some good, eh, Georgie?”

But before George can answer, Harry elbows Fred a little bit harder than expected, and before Fred can yell out in pain, Ron nods toward the other end of the corridor. Fred turns around, and the pain in his ribcage is flooded by nerves—he’s not sure which he’d rather have, to be honest—but he spots you, chatting up a Ravenclaw, a pile of books in your hands. All pain seems to subside at the sight of your toothy smile.

“On second thought..” Fred says to nobody in particular, leaving the boys behind as he hastily makes his way through the crowd, running on not much other than coffee and adrenaline. “Hey, Y/N!”

You turn toward him, surprised to see him clambering his way through fellow students in order to get to you. “Hi, Fred,” you say brightly, reaching out to fix his askew tie, and he’s pretty sure that the entire world can hear his heart pounding. You realize what you’re doing, and quickly retreat, looking around the corridors as if the sheer fact of you brushing your hands against Fred Weasley’s clothes will kill you with embarrassment. He can’t help but grin goofily at your nervous state.

“How are you? No dragons today?”

You bite down a smile, and Fred knows he’s said the right thing. “No—not today. Though I daresay I narrowly escaped one in the girls lavatory before.”

“So that’s where they’re hidden,” he replies, elated beyond belief to hear that laugh of yours again. The unmistakable sound of mock laughter from his friends bounces off the walls as they walk past you both—albeit, rather lethargically.

Fred rolls his eyes before sticking a hand out, as if he’s displaying them, “My lovely brothers,”

George, Ron, and Harry all introduce themselves to you before George begins, much to Fred’s dismay, “Might I just say, Y/N, that the effect you have on him is wonderfully entertaining, if not comical—”

He’s cut off by a sharp blow to his shin, but he laughs through gritted teeth. You grin inquiringly, “And.. what kind of effect is this exactly?” you ask Fred, who opens his mouth to speak, but sputters.

“Oh—erm—nothing? I mean—they’re just having a bit of a.. a laugh,” he tells you, suddenly feeling incredibly uncomfortable in his own skin, and this annoys him beyond belief. Maybe it’s because he’s worried his twin will spill his guts, or maybe it’s due to the fact that Ron and Harry are now admiring your beauty too, or maybe it’s because he’s afraid the mere expression on his face will tell you everything you need to know.

“Now you’ve got him tongue tied!” Ron calls to you from the end of the corridor, where the boys are now disappearing. “Fred Weasley.. tongue tied.. the bloke who can never shut the hell up, who’d’ve thought it?” Their voices float for a moment between you both, until the bustling sounds of other students drowns it out.

Fred kicks at the ground, nerves engulfing him, as you wait with baited breath for whatever he’s about to say. “Sorry about them,” he tells you as he slams his hands into his pockets, “they’re a bunch of gits..” Looking to change the subject as quickly as possible, he asks you, “So—you free for a stroll?”

Thankfully, it seems to Fred as though you’ve forgotten all about his brothers’ snide comments. To his dismay, however, you reply begrudgingly with a twinge of guilt to your voice, “Oh, I’m sorry, Fred, unfortunately—have got double Transfiguration—but I’m now second guessing my choices of why I signed up for this in the first place..” Your voice drifts off and Fred feels as though he’s forcing himself to hear more, he wants to hear your voice more, “See you soon? Stay out of trouble.”

You raise a hand to him and continue down the emptying corridor, and he watches you enter McGonagall’s classroom. The Deputy Head is standing on the opposite side of the hall, chatting animatedly with Professor Flitwick before heading inside to begin her lesson. Suddenly, a weird feeling floods through Fred’s body—is he actually thinking—? No, he couldn’t be, he has a free period now, and why would he give that up?

Yet, he finds his legs carrying him across the hall and his mouth is sputtering out words to McGonagall before he can barely even register what he’s doing.

“You look like death.”

Fred slumps into an armchair in the common room, barely able to keep his eyes open, and chucks a throw pillow at Ron. “Thanks, mate,”

George sits down beside his twin. “Where’ve you been? You ran off and we haven’t seen you since!”

“Double Transfiguration,” Fred says sleepily, resting his head on the side of the chair, and not opening his eyes.

“Double Transfiguration?” Harry and Ron say together. “Since when d’you take Double Transfiguration?”

When Fred opens his eyes, he can already tell they probably look incredibly bloodshot. Next to him, George is grinning at him cheekily.

“Look at you,” George begins mockingly, his eyes narrow slits due to his suppressed laughter, “taking up extra classes just to spend time with this girl.”

The unmistakable sound of Harry snorting bounces off of the walls. “Blimey, there’s not enough gold in the world—you’re off your rocker, Fred.”

“Have you two even kissed yet?”

“No, Ronald,” Fred replies a bit angrily, “we haven’t. Not that it’s any of your business, but—‘m taking my time. Don’t want to push her into anything. I’m still trying to feel it out. This isn’t something you can rush into, lads. Reckon I’ll get her in the end.”

“In your dreams,” Ron says quietly through gritted teeth, and he’s stunned when he receives a thick whack! to his head from his older brother.

But Fred doesn’t care what they think. Even in his delirious state, all he can remember is the twinkle in your eye when he slid in the seat next to yours after McGonagall gave him the go ahead to enroll in her afternoon classes. All he can think about is the confused, flustered smile you gave him when he said, ‘Hi there, darling,’ as he opened his textbook and McGonagall began her lesson. And all that’s flooding through his head, now, as you climb through the portrait hole looking incredibly elated, is the amount of times he caught you, not paying attention to the lesson in front of you, but instead peering at him with dazed eyes and a lazy grin.

It’s strange to see the Great Hall so empty, with the exception of just a few students. He’s going to be so easily caught if he’s found. Fred is already sort of regretting this plan.

Until he spots you, that is.

When you walk into the Great Hall, he’s thrown off by seeing you in jeans and a blouse instead of your school robes—something he’s never noticed before, since you normally spend your weekends in quiet sanctuaries, and he’s off creating some sort of chaotic mischief.

“Hey,” he says brightly, bumping gently into you.

You shoot glances in every direction. “Fred,” you whisper, confused, eyes shifty, “what are you doing here?”

“Just joining you for the afternoon.”

He’s feeling confident today. The norm. You fold your arms across your chest and ask him, “Oh really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“And what part do you sing?”

Fred hadn’t really thought this through. When he found out you were a member of the choir, his first thought was that choir is pretty much the dorkiest thing anyone could be a part of, and then he thought—if your singing voice is as beautiful as your laugh, he was in for quite an adventure.

“Erm—you know,” he trips over his words, slamming his hands into his pockets, “the—alto.. tenor—been singing since I was little.”

You nod sarcastically and bite your lip and make your way toward the front, where the rest of the choir is now congregating. The other members eye him conspicuously.

“Um, Y/N,” a Slytherin girl calls over to you, looking rather peeved off, “what’s he doing here?”

You fidget uncomfortably in your seat. “He’s—just—joking, it’s alright, Lena, lay off,”

Fred snorts embarrassingly and peers over your shoulder at your sheet music.

When Professor Flitwick walks in, Fred scrunches next to you, trying not to let his very tall frame and bright red hair stand out. So far, so good. He bites down a grin when he notices the nervous twitch of your eyes. It’s just about the cutest thing he’s ever seen. Then you turn toward him and whisper through gritted teeth, “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

“Just want to spend some more time with you,”

“And Double Transfiguration isn’t enough of a fill for you?”

“Can’t help myself.”

“You’re ridiculous, you are.”

“Don’t act like you don’t love my company.”

“Well—you certainly don’t make it very bloody difficult, do you?”

You look back down at your sheet music, fighting a smile, and Fred notices your cheeks turn a bright shade of pink.

Professor Flitwick taps his baton on his music stand and fixes his glasses before raising his hands to conduct. His squeaky voice echoes throughout the nearly empty Great Hall, “Let’s start with some warmups, shall we?”

And Fred’s right—your soft soprano range nearly has him melting into a puddle right next to you. He opens his mouth to belt out some obnoxious, offkey note, but is taken fully by surprise—you’ve actually left him silent. He can’t seem to find the words.

You turn toward him, furrowing your brow and stopping your vocal runs at once. Tentatively, you ask him, “What?”

Fred can feel his insides tighten at your gaze; Flitwick is saying something, but he doesn’t listen—he’s drowning in your eyes, your soft silky voice washing over him like a cool tide. He blinks. “N-nothing,” he begins sheepishly, clearing his throat, “—you’re going to leave me speechless, you are.”

“Weasley!”

Both of you jump at the sound of his name; Fred’s hand immediately grabs at your knee, and before he can even process what’s happening, he’s standing up amidst the students, still silent and sort of, well, flustered.

“What’re you doing here? You’re not in the choir.”

“Sorry, Professor,” Fred says as he removes himself from the congregated group, bouncing toward Flitwick. He places a hand on the back of his neck and says awkwardly, “Just had to come and see the most beautiful girl.”

The choir coos, and Fred is delighted to see that you’re still grinning like mad despite all of the eyes on you. You shake your head slowly, peering up at him over the top of your sheet music. Professor Flitwick squeaks, “Ah—yes, yes, we all adore a good love story, Mr. Weasley, but if you don’t mind, we’ve got a rehearsal to get to!”

“Yes, sir,” Fred replies, saluting his professor before making his way toward the exit of the Great Hall. And then, in a loud, sing-songy proclamation, a “Yes, siiir!” escapes his lips in an off key, pitchy, albeit—weirdly adorable—note.

And once more before he leaves completely, he spins around, instantly spotting you in the mess of the choir, not at all able to focus on the vocal runs Professor Flitwick has asked you to practice as a warmup. You’re still trying your best not to meet his gaze, but the tension is rising and eventually you lift your head, your eyes meeting with his, and he winks before vanishing in the corridor.

Fred is very, very nervous. Not only is the team playing Slytherin today, but you’re also in the stands. Watching. Spectating. Expecting something great, he presumes.

He knows this because of your prior conversation the two of you held in Transfiguration the day before.

“We’ve got it in the bag.”

“Slytherin’s got a good lineup this year.”

“Yeah, but Gryffindor’s better.”

That smile. Your damn smile. “Okay—impress me, then.”

He’s feeling particularly less confident than he ever has before, and he’s busy bouncing his feet up and down on the carpet as he tosses his broomstick between his hands. He didn’t eat breakfast. He’s running purely on caffeine and nerves alone.

The rest of the team meets up in the common room before heading down to the pitch. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny are all there, as well.

“What’s the matter with you?” Ginny asks him.

George slings an arm around his twin and answers for him, “Nerves.”

“Nerves?” Ron and Hermione chorus together. “Can you even properly feel nervous—you? Is that even.. possible?”

Fred shrugs his brother off of him as they begin to chuckle lightly. Then Ginny prods, “Cat got your tongue, Fred?”

He shrugs and kicks at the carpet.

It’s the first time in, well, forever, that Fred Weasley cannot seem to find the words to say.

“Merlin’s beard,” Ron says suddenly, a lightbulb going off in his head, “she’s left you.. speechless.”

“Has Freddie finally found a girl that actually makes him anxious?”

Their teasing and jokes don’t do anything to help him, and he’s finding it hard to sit still. Finally, Angelina leads the way to the pitch, and the cheers erupting from the stands send chills down Fred’s spine—you’re there, you have to be, right? Angelina elbows him curiously, “Dunno what’s going on with you and this girl—” she raises her eyebrows mockingly, “—but please, for Merlin’s sake, don’t let it affect your playing today, yeah?”

Great, thanks, no pressure at all, he thinks as he runs a hand nervously through his hair. To his left, he sees George, who rolls his eyes as if to say, Ignore her, and this helps Fred regain a little bit of his confidence.

During warmups, though, as the team flies aimlessly around the pitch and tosses the quaffle back and forth, Fred looks absolutely wrecked, and cannot seem to focus on anything except you—seated in between his sister and other fellow Gryffindors, your scarf wrapped tightly around your neck, your hands absentmindedly tapping against your knees, waiting for the match to begin.

All the players are hovering in the air, Fred can feel his teeth chittering, Malfoy is making some stupid joke about Harry, and Madam Hooch is walking out toward the middle of the pitch, just moments before the match is to finally begin.

But Fred, thoughts elsewhere, just needs to do it already, he reckons. He flies toward the Gryffindor section, his sister and teammates eyeing him suspiciously, and lands in the middle of the crowd—desperately searching the sea of eyes before him, but not finding the familiar pair he’s looking for.

And then he finds you.

And he’s fighting his way through spectators left and right, while the rest of his team calls to him from the pitch to hurry up, the match is about to begin, when he finally gets to you and places his hands on your shoulders.

It seems as though you’re saying this to him for the millionth time, but he doesn’t care. Your eyes flutter back and forth between him and the pitch, “Fred,” you begin softly, “what’re you doing?”

“Something I should’ve done a long time ago,” he replies breathlessly.

And he cups your chin in his hands and pulls you closer toward him, pressing his lips gently to yours. And there it is. Fireworks.

He can feel your shock against him, and he’s finding it hard to not smile completely against your lips. It’s slow and easy and warm, the way the tide feels after having swam all day—muscles de-tensing, body limp. He can feel your eyelashes brush against his cheekbones, your fingertips brush his hips. And slowly, very slowly, he pulls away, hovering for a moment before breaking completely.

This time, you’re the one who’s left speechless.

You know, the funny thing, Fred wants to tell everyone, is that when a kiss comes at the right time from the right girl, it can lighten the entire mood of the atmosphere, change your outlook on life—things of the like. It sounds dramatic in his mind, but he doesn’t care.

Interrupting the stillness between you both is a quick whack! to his head from the Quidditch referee, obviously annoyed at the delay in the beginning of the match. Fred rubs his head in the spot where it’s stinging and glances at you before erupting into laughter—there’s that nervousness again, the skittishness, your shy self shining through with rosy cheeks.

“Wait for me,” his lips brush against your ear.

You swallow thickly over a lump in your throat, listening intently. “What d’you mean?”

“Next time you sneak out,” he smiles at you, remembering that late night in the common room all those months ago, confidence now engulfing him yet again. “I reckon we’d have a bit of fun if I accompany you, yeah?”

#fred weasley #george weasley #fred and george weasley #weasley twins #weasley twins imagine #weasley twins fanfiction #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley reader insert #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley fanfic #fred weasley fanfiction #hp imagine #hp fanfiction #hp fanfic #ron weasley #ginny weasley #hermione granger #harry potter

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lifeofroos · 3 years

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Part 61: You know that headcanon that Nico knows the leaders of other underworlds? Ye...

In short: Nico gets therapy from Dionysus. In this chapter, Hades takes his son to Helheim, for a learning experience. The rest is on AO3 and on FanFiction.net! Also in Tumblr tags like Dionysus, Nico di Angelo, fanfic etc.

This might be crazy: Chapter 61: I wouldn’t drink that if I were you

‘I don’t know if Dionysus would allow this.’

Dad gave me a look. ‘I am your parent and I allow it.’

‘Fair enough.’ Also, I really wanted to come.

We were in a part of the palace I hadn’t been to often. ‘You might notice this place feels particularly gloomy,’ my dad explained. ‘This is because it keeps people away.’

‘Very well designed. Yet, may I ask, what kind of place are we going to that it needs that kind of protection?’

‘To Hel.’

‘Oh. Fun.’

‘I mean Helheim.’ I nodded, with my eyebrows raised. ‘I felt like you should see how they rule there. I thought, maybe it’s interesting, that you could learn something from it…’

‘So basically take-your-child-to-work-day?’

‘That’s a thing?’

‘I heard of it.’

Hades shrugged. ‘Hm. We’re here.’ He pointed at a small, black door om our left.

‘This leads to Helheim?’

Hades twisted the knob a few times. ‘It does if I set the knob in the correct setting. Otherwise it’d lead to Duat, or to Christian Hell, or another underworld.’

‘Ah.’ Cool, actually.

Hades opened the door and got through. I followed.

There was yet another dark, cold hallway behind the door, yet this one seemed to be even colder and slightly less dark. Luckily, it wasn’t very long.

Helheim at the same time looked a lot like Hades and not at all. It was gloomy and dark, but instead of sand, willows and affodils there were ice, rocks and pinetrees.

My dad grabbed my shoulder. ‘Don’t stray. Don’t talk to random people. Remember that they are here because they died a dishonourable death.’

‘I thought some of them died of old age…’

‘Shh! That doesn’t matter!’

‘Okay, Okay!’

‘Behave.’

I shut my mouth. We walked down a white path, which led to quite a magnificent palace. ‘She should be in here,’ Hades explained. ‘Don’t worry about Hella. She isn’t scarier than Persephone.’

I stiffled a laugh while we walked inside.

We were guided into a throne room by a ghost (Not by a skeleton, like in Hades). The throne room was both huge and beautiful. Or, well, throne room. Instead of a throne there was a couch. A woman wearing a big victorian gown and a mask over half her face was draped over it.

She got up when she saw us. ‘Hades... Who's this?’

‘Nico. He’s my son.’

‘And you brought him along because?’

‘I wanted him to see how Helheim is run.’

Hella shrugged. ‘Okay. As long as he doesn’t destroy anything.’ She pushed her gown straight.

‘Why did you call on me?’ Dad inquired.

Hell pushed a few curls out of her face. ‘Hellheims’ infrastructure needs to be renewed.’

My father blinked. ‘You want my help with infrastructure?’

‘In recent years, Haides has gotten a wonderful new infrastructure. If you don’t mind, could you enlighten me on how that happened?’

‘That way. A talented architect, eh, recently died. I had him reshape the infrastructure from before, to hold back the traffic jams that used to stop the flow of recently deceased coming in...’

I zoned out and took a good look around room. It was built in a style that held the middle between baroque and Scandinavian. Just like in the Greek Underworld, there were doors running to different parts of the castle. Through little windows you could see where they went. I narrowed my eyes and tried to peak through one.

‘Hadesson!’

With a start, I turned around, ‘Wha… I mean, yes, your majesty?’

She studied me for a second. ‘Could you go get us something to drink? There is a cooler in the back behind the door you were trying to peak through.’ She pointed a gloved hand at it (I could see her bony wrist sticking out from under the glove).

I made eye-contact with my dad for a second. He nodded, which I took as a sign that it was probably safe enough to do as she asked.

I nodded, turned around and walked through the door.

As soon as it fell close behind me I was ambushed by a spirit, who grabbed my ankle. I jumped and he let go of my leg, at which point he was shoved away by another spirit.

I kept on walking, ready to fight whatever else would come at me. I saw only a few ghosts around me, but it felt like I was wading through a sea filled with them.

There was a cooler in a small kitchenette at the end of the hallway, but it certainly did not have water in it. Instead, it held a stinking brown-blackish liquid. I got three paper cups from the stack behind it. I filled two and thought for a second, before deciding I was good.

‘Ghhh...’ A random soul popped up next to me. They slowly stroked my leg. I almost lost all of the fluid in the cups.

‘Eh...’

‘Gggguhh...’ they pointed at the cooler.

‘You want some?’ I handed them one of the cups without knowing if that was a good idea. ‘Guhhh...’ They downed the whole thing, deeply bowed for me and left. I waited for a few seconds. It didn’t seem like anything happened.

I filled another cup and walked back to the throneroom. Dad and Hella were still talking to each other, Hella on her couch, Dad on a chair a few feet away.

‘Hadesson,’ Hel announced, while I handed them both a cup, ‘Thanks.’

‘You’re welcome.’

‘Your father and I have discussed the basics of the infrastructure exchange,’ she told me, as if it was supposed to mean something to me.

‘That is good to hear.’

She looked at me for a few seconds, before turning to Hades. ‘I think we should stop here. Talk to this kid first, then we’ll see.’

Hades nodded. I wondered what was going on, but I didn’t ask. I could do that in a second or so.

They both drank their cups empty, after which dad and I left. I bowed to Hel, who bowed her head back to me.

My dad put his hand on my shoulder when we got back. ‘What she meant is that she thinks you should do the small runs, to see if everything is going alright with the infrastructure there. She doesn’t like it if other gods come into her domain.’

‘She, and you, want me to… be a messenger sometimes, basically?’

‘It would be handy. She prefers it and our underworld is already a mess. Yet, I only want you to do it if you feel better. It shouldn’t be an extra burden.’

I began to snicker. ‘I think it might be funny to see what the gods are up to sometimes.’

He shrugged. ‘I will see what happens. It would be the best if it was you, for Hell at least, but I am not sure if I want it.’

‘I’ll hear it. I don’t think it can be that bad.’

‘Hm.’

‘I reckon Daedelus will be going to Helheim now?’

‘Yes. I think he’ll sees it as a challenge.’

I nodded. ‘True.’

Hades sighed. ‘Perhaps you should be going back to camp now. You should eat and drink.’

‘Eh, yes.’ I hadn’t done that in a bit. ‘Okay then, see you next time!’

‘Only now realise how hungry you are?’

‘Yes, actually.’ I gave him a hug before I ran down the corridor. For one because I was hungry, but also because I had a lot to think about.

A/N: tfw you are writing and there is this giant mosquito monster on your wall

Also it is hot in the Netherlands it shouldn’t be 27 degrees in this country my north-European body can’t handle that

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rwbyremnants · 3 years

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WARNINGS: FREEZERBURN: alcohol, skinny dipping, outdoor sex.

So there's been a lot going on with me. Not all of it good, not all of it bad; I won't bog you down with all the details. But I am glad to be getting back to work here! More fanfics coming soon, I promise!

=Chapter 35

The first thing Blake did the next morning was draw a bath and follow through on her promise. Weiss jokingly offered to “help” and received a glare of blistering death for her trouble.

Delicious smells lured her downstairs while waiting for the bathroom to free up. Kali made an incredible breakfast for the four of them, and her mother looked delighted with the spread - and she had a suspicion they had been working on it together for at least an hour. It was sweet and domestic… even if strange that two women were so domestic together.

Not that they were together together. Just cohabitating.

That sounded even worse in her head.

“Morning, sweetie,” Willow greeted her with a little wave, sipping her coffee. “How did you sleep?”

“Not… as well as I hoped,” she admitted truthfully as she dropped into her chair. “New room and everything. But that will probably get better soon.”

Kali arrived to set down a platter of bacon - a full platter of it, overflowing and sizzling. “Blake didn’t keep you up too late, did she?” The eye that Willow couldn’t see winked at her playfully, and Weiss was glad she hadn’t started eating yet or she might have choked.

“No,” she told her stubbornly.

“Good. I noticed when I looked in on you that the two of you were snug as bugs in a rug.”

While Weiss was busy trying not to blush - and ignoring the smirk that lingered on the other woman’s face - her mother was cooing, “Aww, that’s just the most precious thing! I felt so sad when you agreed one of you would sleep downstairs… that’s no way for two young girls to get along.”

“Mmm,” Weiss hedged as she tried her own coffee. Not that she made a habit of drinking it.

“Well, they were all wrapped up in each other when I saw them,” Kali commented casually as she finally sat, the breakfast spread complete. “Makes a mother proud.”

“A mother like you, yes.”

Her eyes danced as she raised her own cup to her lips. “I don’t follow.”

“Suuuuure you don’t.” Then she turned to smile at her mother. “How did you sleep? Does Mrs. Belladonna hog the covers?”

“No, not at all,” she reported pleasantly. “She was… this was the first good night’s sleep I’ve had in years that wasn’t because I was too drunk to wake up. Sleeping beside Jacques made that impossible; sorry, Weiss.”

“Don’t apologise to me! I know how awful he’s been, and… and I’m glad we’re away.” She didn’t sound completely convincing. What she really wanted was for her father to be a good person, to treat his family with respect and affection instead of trying to rule them with an iron fist. But that wasn’t in the cards.

“I’m glad you are, too,” Kali put in, abandoning her teasing to reach over and pat Willow’s arm. “This might be temporary, but I would be alright with hosting you indefinitely. Anything to protect you from that.”

It wasn’t clear if “that” was Jacques or from the situation. Either one worked. Weiss decided to let them have their moment of comfort and camaraderie, and focused on tucking into her breakfast.

Nearly an hour passed before Blake joined them, and she was freshly-scrubbed and in a pleasant mood. Weiss caught her eye and smiled, and she rolled her eyes, trying to avoid confronting what they both knew had taken place in that tub.

“Sorry for taking so long,” she sighed. “We’re probably gonna be late for school.”

“Probably. But I think it’s alright after yesterday.” As Blake nodded sleepily, picking at the cold breakfast, Weiss added in a casual tone, “So apparently, you were snuggling me again this morning. You’re a clingy sleeper, I guess.”

Blake paused with the rasher of bacon halfway to her lips, eyes wide.

“It was like a Rockwell painting,” Kali teased with a smirk playing around her lips. That only made Blake’s cheeks flush even brighter. “I wish I had a photograph of you two, all cozy like that.”

“Mom…”

“Aww, me too,” Willow added, and Weiss giggled. They were all going a bit overboard teasing Blake, but it was fair play after Blake had been so heated about their parents spending “too much” time together. And besides, this teasing was all in good fun; everyone knew she was dating Yang and unavailable.

“Do you want me to have breakfast here or not?”

“Alright, alright,” Kali chuckled. “Sit down and eat before I have to tan your hide like I used to.”

“OKAY, MOM! ENOUGH!”

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

Eventually, they made their way to school. It felt a little odd to be riding on Blake’s bike instead of Yang’s - especially after how close they got during the dead of night. Someday, she would have to get her own bike… but that day was going to be in the far future at the rate they were going.

Her family was penniless. Jacques Schnee no longer counted as her family as far as she was concerned; Whitley was debatable. But she and her mother were destitute, forced to depend on the kindness of a family friend to keep from winding up in the gutter. It was a bleak future. Still, at least they were alive and healthy, and had a network of strong women around them. Might as well keep her eyes on the horizon and try to make the best of a bad situation.

“Hey, uh… watch where those hands are going, Schnee.”

“They’re not going anywhere weird!” she protested, redoubling her grip around Blake’s stomach. “I have to hold on, don’t I?”

She sighed impatiently as they came to a stop at an intersection. “Yes, but you keep moving them around! And you almost grabbed my boob a couple of blocks back!”

“Oh, you’re exaggerating.”

“I am not!”

Things continued in that way all the way to the school - good-natured bickering over where the boundaries of propriety lay when they were both forced to be so close to each other. They dismounted and greeted the other Dragons with waves and smiles. Emerald was there, even though Cinder wasn’t quite recovered enough to be discharged - mostly according to Cinder, of course.

But Yang seemed to have something up her sleeve. A paper bag was clutched in one hand that was a lot larger than one for lunch, and must have been quite unwieldy to carry all the way there while driving a motorcycle.

“You bringing lunch for everybody?” Coco chuckled.

“Sit on it, Adel.” Her eyes swivelled to find Weiss, who took a step away from Blake on instinct. That was stupid; they hadn’t done anything wrong. Or at least, not while conscious.

“Hey,” Weiss said with a slight smile.

“Hiya. Wanna talk to you.”

Dread flared in the pit of her stomach. “Oh?” But when Yang opened the bag and pulled out a large bouquet of flowers, she felt the dread turn into butterflies. “Ohhhh… what’s this for?”

“For you. I, um, I wanted to ask… if you maybe… wanna go with me to the homecoming dance?”

The other Dragons sent up a chorus of wolf-whistles and cheers, punctuated with laughter, and Yang grimaced as if fighting down a blush. Weiss did feel a little embarrassed, as well, but mostly she was beyond pleased that she had been asked at all. Though one or two boys had asked before she went to the hospital, they were turned down flat - she didn’t want to lead them on, especially if they had zero chance of progressing past a polite dance.

Speaking of people with no chance…

“I’m happy for you two,” Blake said with a fairly convincing smile, clapping for them along with the rest. Weiss knew she wasn’t happy, but that she was at the same time; she would have to give her an extra hug later. “And for the extra steamy time you two are going to have in the locker room that night.”

“What?” Weiss asked in some surprise. “Steamy time? Why would we go to the locker room?!”

It was Coco who answered, smile casual and bemused. “Well, the gym is where the dance happens. And the locker room is right off the gym… and nobody will be thinking about two girls necking in there when they’re so busy watching for boy-girl couples. So…”

Weiss and Yang exchanged a bashful glance. It was the surprised princess who said, “Oh.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Emerald snorted, elbowing Coco. It seemed that now the dust had all settled, and she realised how hard Weiss had been trying to help everyone instead of actively setting things on fire, she was back to regarding her as something resembling a friend. “You two could just have a good time sock-hopping and then neck afterward. Don’t let Adel talk you into anything.”

“I’m not!” Coco protested, hands on her hips. “Just want everybody to have the best time possible. And we could all have it in the locker room.”

Blake squinted at her. “Will you stop trying to get that to happen? Nobody’s buying what you’re selling.”

“What?” Weiss asked in some confusion.

“Don’t worry about it,” Yang sighed in annoyance. But when Weiss still looked confused, she relented. “Oh, Coco wants to try a, uh… ‘petting party’ kind of thing. Been trying to talk us all into it ever since that night some of us tried Velvet on for size - which was a completely random situation! And we’re not all loose women like you are!”

Coco scowled. “Hey, I’m not ‘loose’; I am highly selective about who I pet and who gets to pet me. I just so happen to think all of you qualify, that’s all.”

The penny finally dropped, and Weiss held up a hand. “Wait, wait - are you talking about… about all of us having sex in the same room?!”

“I’m talking about all of us having sex with each other.” She glanced at Yang’s glower and rolled her eyes. “It was an idea, Xiao Long. Cool it. Pardon me for wanting to give my girl a big sendoff, okay?”

Velvet was already flushing scarlet. “Y-you do remember that I felt awful after the last time, don’t you? It w-wasn’t anyone’s fault, but…”

Her hands came to rest on Velvet’s shoulders, caressing up and down to soothe the timid little bunny. “Cinder’s fault, a little bit. But you’ve come a long way, baby. Like I said, I’m only interested if anyone else is; they aren’t, so I’ll drop it.”

“Thanks,” Yang sighed, reaching over to knock her shoulder gently. “Sorry, I’m just kinda… I dunno. Not really into that whole thing, and not into making Weiss try it on for size when she’s so green.”

Conflicting feelings rose up in Weiss at those words. She was very slightly irritated at Yang speaking on her behalf… but also found it satisfying. Yang was so protective, and always looking out for her interests. It was nice.

“Me, either,” Blake said, looking between Yang and Weiss. “Though it could be fun, it could also be really strange - and make all of us feel ooky afterward. Let’s just not and say we did.”

Then they heard the bell ring. “Back to the salt mines,” Coco sighed as they made their way toward the building. “Let’s go, spoilsports.”

But Weiss saw Blake looking morose as they moved off. She wanted to ask why, but decided it would keep until later.

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

And later arrived.

“What do you mean by that?”

Shrugging in a would-be nonchalant way, Weiss leaned her elbows back against the china cabinet in the Belladonna dining room. “Nothing. I’m simply asking if it’s really alright if she-”

“What else am I supposed to do?” Blake shot at her tiredly. She looked as if she had just run a marathon, merely because of Weiss asking the question. “You two can’t walk on eggshells around me all the time. It’s better if I start getting used to you going around together. Like I have been trying to do. For weeks.”

“But we didn’t know you were swooning over Yang when we started! Now we do- or I mean, at least I do, and we don’t have to-”

“Hey, come on. Cut that out. I’m not a baby, I can handle myself.”

“I never said you were a baby!”

“No, but you implied that I-”

“Girls, girls,” Kali laughed as she edged through the kitchen door with a meatloaf sizzling in the pan, caught between her oven mitts. “What’s all this commotion?”

Sounding even more petulant than she looked, Blake turned away and muttered, “Nothing.”

“Sounds familiar,” Weiss muttered herself.

Blake’s mother rolled her eyes. “Well, it sure is a whole lot of noisy nothing. Come on, it’s time for dinner.”

So they ate. It was a nice meal, and both Blake and Weiss could let the matter drop for the time being, instead focusing on tales from school, and Kali’s work. Willow tried to participate as best she could, but her day had consisted of either sitting around or crying, so she mostly kept her silence while encouraging the others to go into detail about their stories.

“Your mom’s nice,” Blake admitted later when they were doing the dishes.

“What?” she gasped theatrically. “Can this be? Blake complimenting a Schnee?”

“A one-time event, you jerk. But… yeah, I’m…” Handing another dish over to be dried, she relented completely. “I’m even more sorry now about telling you to stop setting her up with my mom. Especially since…”

Weiss waited a few seconds before prompting her, “Since?”

“Since you might be right. They’re close, but I haven’t seen ‘sparks’. Just two good friends, and someone your mom needs to lean on. My mom needs more companionship her age, too.”

“To keep her from trying to get the baby Dragons into bed.”

“Yeah.” They both chuckled, and Blake smiled fondly at her. It was a real, honest-to-goodness fond smile, and it was directed at Weiss. She seemed to realise it a moment later because her eyes snapped down to the dishes and she scrubbed a little harder than was necessary. “You dodged a bullet there.”

“Oh? And how did I do that? You saying your mother isn’t good company?”

“No, I’m saying she’s too good company. And she doesn’t really do… monogamy. As in, ever since Dad died and Raven cut her out of her life…” Discomfort crept into her eyes. “Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this stuff about my mom. It’s probably not nice.”

“I won’t tell her, I promise.”

“Well, okay. It’s just that I’ve never seen her get serious about any woman. Raven, she might have, but we’ll never know now because of how everything hit the fan. Any other girl she’s played with has just been that: playing. Like a toy a little kid forgets about two days after it comes out of Santa’s stocking.”

Frowning down at the dish she was still drying long after it had been cleared of water, Weiss set it down. “That’s really… sad. I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for? You didn’t kill my father or make Yang’s mom a bitch.”

“Blake!” she gasped, but Blake only let out a cruel little titter. “Good golly, you can’t call her that - she’s an adult, and she’s-”

“A bitch,” she repeated firmly. “If anyone deserves that word, it’s Raven Branwen. And you know I’m right.”

“Maybe. Still not very nice - especially when we both know she's been trying harder lately.”

Amber eyes rolled toward the ceiling. “You're such a goody two shoes. But… I guess that's not such a terrible thing.”

Weiss tried not to let her smile look too overly pleased as they went back to washing.

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

The weekend finally arrived. Even though everything with her father still loomed over her head like a black cloud, establishing a routine at the Belladonna household definitely helped both Weiss and her mother regain some sense of normalcy. The single bathroom tended to be a bit more clogged with four women always vying for its attentions, and Kali had to adjust her recipes to be a bit larger, but they were all such relatively easy fixes and everyone seemed more than ready to try.

That said, she still felt a bit grateful when Yang showed up out of the blue on her motorcycle, commanding her to hop on. Waving to the two mothers, she slipped on her jacket and headed out the door.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise!”

“Why so many surprises lately?!”

“That’s a surprise, too!” But the gales of laughter that floated out of the blonde afterward told her that she was just playing around. As usual.

Once they got out of the city, Weiss began to truly worry, but they didn’t go much further until they crested a hill and a beautiful meadow stretched out before them in the late morning sunlight. Yang quickly guided the cycle toward a little copse of trees along the side of a lake and around it, leaving them mostly shielded from the road. Only the lake lay out before them.

“Hey, what is this?” Weiss asked with a little smile as the driver took off her helmet. “Either we’re going fishing, or…?”

“Got the answer riiiight here.” Yang reached into the copse and pulled out… a picnic basket.

“Huh?!”

Still wearing that coy little smile of hers, she carried it a little ways from the trees and opened the top, pulling out a chequed blanket and spreading it over the ground. “Well, it feels like I don’t get to see you all that much lately. Lot of crazy stuff happening. Plus if we don’t do it now, it’ll be too cold to do stuff like this pretty soon. Wanted to have a picnic with you while we could.”

Heart melting, she quickly flitted over to Yang’s side and leaned up to peck her on the cheek. “Awwww!”

“Alright, alright,” she giggled. “Help me get everything set up. Grab a couple of rocks from the pond, willya?”

Weiss complied, and Yang used the rocks to anchor the corners of the blanket against any winds that might try to upset their little lunch. One at a time, she began to take out little Tupperware containers of various foods.

“How long have you been planning this?”

“Just since last night,” she told her, popping one of the containers open. It was full of ambrosia - Jell-O mixed with marshmallows and nuts. She closed it again and reached for a different one. “I dunno, I really wanted to do something. You were pleased as punch about me taking you to homecoming, which is great, but… it kinda reminded me that everything’s been so wild around here lately. We need to fix that.”

“We definitely do.” She snuggled into Yang’s side as she retrieved chicken salad, a loaf of bread, a wedge of cheese. Then the last item emerged and Weiss gasped, “Yang!”

“What?” she laughed, reaching back in for a corkscrew. “I mean, we won’t be driving again for a few hours. Besides… I really want this to be a real date.”

Smiling even as she rolled her eyes, Weiss helped hold the bottle steady while Yang opened it. “We don’t need wine for it to be a real date. But… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. I’m just not as much of a fan lately.”

“Yeah…” She shrugged as the cork popped out and she tossed it and the screw back into the basket. “I know, your mom and all. But we’re not her, and it’s not the wine’s fault. That was just… y’know. How she dealt with things. But I can pour it out if you-”

“No, no,” she cut Yang off quickly, kissing her cheek to reassure her. “I want to share this with you. All of it.”

So they set about making themselves little sandwiches, hacking the bread and cheese up with the knife she packed. Yang kicked off her boots, and Weiss followed suit by shedding her saddle shoes. They laughed and ate and talked, mostly about school and Dragons business. A little about their parents and Blake, but those subjects were a tad touchier so they didn’t dwell nearly so much.

By the time they were into the ambrosia, passing the spoon back and forth, they had reached the topic of Ruby and Qrow. Though Yang wasn’t thrilled with it, she was a little too inebriated from the wine to put up much of a fight.

“You’re totally right,” she admitted begrudgingly after swallowing. “I should maybe try not to be so… so mad, I guess. And I’m already trying with Ruby! Isn’t that enough?”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t. Just that you could try… getting along with Qrow, see if he’s open to starting over. He’s family, right?”

“My uncle. Doesn’t make him a good person. Enough,” she cut Weiss off before she could protest as she set the bowl down, hands on her hips as she stared out over the lake. “Promise I’ll try harder, okay? But I don’t wanna think about that right now. I want… to swim.”

Weiss was still blinking in surprise when she saw Yang tossing her jacket aside, then reaching for the waistline of her jeans. “Swim? But… neither of has bathing suits.”

“Sure don’t,” she told her, casting a wicked little grin over her shoulder as she pushed them down to her ankles, taking the socks with them. Her bare, firm ass was on display.

“YANG!”

“Come on, nobody’s around for miles. That house on the other side of the lake? It’s abandoned. Everybody moved into Vale, or down the road the other way.” Her hands unbuttoned her blouse the rest of the way and dropped it to rest in a pile with the other clothing, leaving her wearing nothing but a bra and a foxlike expression. “Just us.”

Swallowing hard, she gazed up at the perfection that was Yang Xiao Long. That hourglass figure that was only strengthened by her formidable muscles, not diminished, and legs that seemed built both for kicking down doors and modelling pantyhose at the same time. “Wowee…” Then she pushed to her feet as well. “Want some help with that?”

“Yeah, I would.” Weiss made quick work of the clasp as Yang asked, “Does that mean you’re gonna join me?”

Heart leaping into her throat, she was quick to hiss, “What?! NO! Jeepers, I couldn’t- I mean, out here in the- I would be naked!”

“That’s the idea, Schnee,” she laughed as she turned, displaying everything God had given her to the nervous paper shaker. “Let’s get you out of that dress.”

“But…” Her cheeks were already flushed from the wine, and they only got worse. “W-well… did you even bring a towel?”

“Nah. We can dry in the sun; there ain’t a cloud in the sky.”

Chewing her lip, she looked around at the lakeshore again. She was right; the only house she could spot was very far away, and looked like it had half-crumbled. “Ohhh… I… alright, but…”

Yang stepped on the toes of Weiss’s socks, reaching up to hold her shoulders. “Go on.” She walked backward out of them, trying not to giggle at the slightly ticklish sensation of their toes fighting with each other. The minute she was barefoot, Yang reached down to the hem of her dress and whispered, “Are you ready? I’ll only do it if you say ‘yes’. Not gonna throw you in the water if you don’t want me to.”

“Fine, go on,” she sighed irritably, and Yang laughed as she helped her out of it. Hands roamed instead of assisting with her underwear, so she swatted Yang’s shoulder. “Cad.”

“Hey! I’m allowed to do a little heavy petting with my own girlfriend!”

“Is that in the rules somewhere?” They both chuckled a little as Yang finally did unclasp Weiss’s little bra. She always felt so self-conscious when their chests were on display to each other, since hers was so much smaller, but Yang didn’t seem to mind at all. “I can’t believe we’re skinny dipping, I feel so childish…”

“Really? Because you look like a real woman to me.”

Pleased more than she wanted to let on, Weiss pursed her lips to keep from grinning and finally stepped out of her panties. Yang had already seen her, after all - it just wasn’t in such a public setting. “Okay, there. Let’s get in the water so I don’t feel like such a… a degenerate!”

“Wow, touchy,” she chuckled as she stuffed the clothing into the basket. Then she turned and scooped Weiss up in one fluid motion.

“HEY!”

“Okay, so,” she began as she took long strides toward the water, “I may have told one teensy… little… FIB!”

Then she tossed Weiss into the water.

“AAAAH!” she cried out. “IT’S COLD!”

“Too bad, Schnee!” she cackled, beyond pleased with herself. Of course, it wasn’t particularly deep there, so it only took a few seconds of floundering and sputtering for her to get her feet under her and stand up, shivering and glaring daggers at where Yang was wading in, taking her sweet time.

“I’LL SHOW YOU!” she shouted - as she tugged her down into the water with her.

“No fair!” Yang shouted, though she was already laughing. Of course it wouldn’t work quite as well on her - she might have known.

The two paddled around for a few minutes, just laughing and splashing. Weiss had to admit she was having a lot of fun; both because of the whole trip, and because it was such a bold and obscene thing to do. Her mother would have kittens if she knew! Yang’s mother probably would even have something to say about it, about how foolish it was to let down their guard that way, even if she didn’t care about the nudity part. It was quite freeing, having nothing between her body and the water, even though it also felt unsettling having it ripple past certain sensitive areas.

“So,” Yang asked some time later - she couldn’t be sure how much. “Great idea, or greater idea?”

Shaking her head, she muttered, “So full of yourself” before pushing at Yang’s head. The blonde only laughed more. “But… okay, this is fun. Next time, I think I would prefer a bikini, even if you don’t think we needed one.”

“Awww, but I like knowing I get to do this whenever I want,” she purred, reaching out to poke Weiss’s nipple. She recoiled instantly, covering her chest. “Hah!”

“Don’t do that!” To retaliate, she did the same, and Yang also let out a little gasp before laughing. “See how it feels?!”

Biting her lip, she fluttered her eyelashes before whispering, “Feels pretty good. Do it again.”

“No.”

“Come on…” Unable to stay mad, a smile escaped Weiss’s guard as she poked a second time. “Oooh… you really have the Midas touch.”

Drifting a little closer, she began to caress over Yang’s ample bosom more earnestly, and saw the shift in the taller girl’s expression. The playfulness remained but muted, moved to behind a wall of pure lust. Her other hand grazed past the Dragons brand in the center of her chest on its way to the other breast, grazing over the erect nipple - as if they could be anything other than erect in such frigid waters. This felt like a terrible idea but she couldn’t help herself around Yang sometimes.

“O-okay,” Yang said with a shaky little laugh. “Maybe… we should take to this to the shore.”

“What’s the matter?” she teased, grinning at being the pursuer instead of the pursued for once. “Thought this was the whole idea.”

Shoving her hands off, Yang grinned wolfishly. “Giving me a run for my money, Schnee. Nah… I really did want to swim with you.”

That made her feel all warm inside, despite the chill on her skin. “And I’m having a great time.” She pulled her in for a deep kiss, hands ghosting up her back. It felt weird with their legs swirling around each other in the water, feeling wet skin slip and dimple under her fingertips, but it was oddly wonderful. New and beautiful and full of magic.

After another hour or so, they paddled back to the shore and stretched out on the blanket. The sun beat down on them from almost directly overhead, warming their bare skin. She glanced down along Yang’s body, at her sizable mounds and the flat plane of her stomach, the thatch of golden hair that disappeared between her legs. Every once in a while, one of them would twitch their foot over to poke the nearest one of the other person, just as a way to check they were still there.

“How long did you want to hang around here?” Weiss finally whispered, as if not wanting to break the comfortable silence that had grown between them. The sounds of the birds overhead and the gentle lapping of the lake water demanded their attention.

“Don’t worry, I’ll have you home in time for Perry Mason. Or whatever you watch in Casa Belladonna now.”

“I used to watch What’s My Line? with Father. But now… I don’t know, it won’t be the same anymore. Even if I did try it.”

Yang’s hand drifted over to pet up and down Weiss’s trim little abdomen. “Sorry. I know you didn’t want life to turn out… well, like this. And it’s kinda my fault.”

“No!” she cried, rolling to face her. “Come on. I may have lost my father, but… I got my mother back. I’ve missed her so much! And even if I never met you, I’m sure something else I did would have set him off, and… and I would have had no big, strong Dragon to help protect me. You or the others. So… I mean, yes, I’ve had a few pity parties about the whole thing, but for the most part? This is for the best. Really.”

The smile on Yang's face told the whole story. She already felt the same way, but couldn't help the lingering guilt from flaring up since she had started her down this path of deviance and iniquity. She pressed a gentle kiss to Weiss's lips, pulling back to gaze down into her eyes.

“Love you.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered, reaching up to grasp her by the hair and yank her down for another kiss, and another.

It wasn't long before their nude bodies were entwined as their lips danced, enjoying the warmth and the familiarity. The warmth built until it blazed, thighs slipping between thighs and rubbing against where the heat seemed to be collecting. It always seemed like Yang's was much hotter than hers. The more their bodies shifted, the slicker the trails they left behind until it felt like they had never left the lake at all.

“Weiss…” Their lips only parted long enough for that one word to slip out, and yet it was enough to double the passion for the young Schnee, rolling to perch atop Yang's body as their hips began to slam harder and harder. That broke the kiss for good, as they were beginning to need more and more air to keep going. “Weiss!”

The few people who ever got to see the mighty Yang looking so open, so submissive and given over to her own pleasure, should count themselves lucky. Weiss certainly did.

Within a few more minutes, the two of them were completely spent and lying curled around each other, catching their breath. Nothing had changed while they let passion take over. Birds still chirped in the trees and circled overhead, and the water still moved, and the wind still stirred the blades of grass surrounding their little blanket-island.

“Okay, so…” Yang began petting up and down her stomach again. “This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I brought you up here.”

“Liar.”

“Really! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't secretly hoping for it, sure, but… I also just wanted to have a nice day with you after all the craziness.”

Chuckling lightly, Weiss leaned up to press her lips into Yang's cheek. “Mission accomplished. I've been having a great time. Whoopee or no whoopee.”

“Who still calls it ‘whoopee’?” she chortled, earning her a hearty pinch on her ribs. “OW! Hey, hey!”

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

They took their sweet time in getting dressed and the picnic packed up. Partly because Yang kept trying to undress Weiss again, and she had to take time to swat her away - even though she spent the whole time grinning. It was exactly what the two of them needed after so much strife in their lives lately.

“Wish I didn’t have to call it a night already,” Yang said over the road noise as they got back into Vale proper. “But… I kinda promised myself I would.”

“Promised yourself?”

Yang looked a little awkward. Weiss loved seeing her that way; it made her feel less like the only fish out of water in their relationship. Seeing her girlfriend display some vulnerability reminded her that they were both human, both figuring things out as they went.

“Well… your mom has had a really rough time, y’know? I don’t want to keep you out until all hours and make her worry.”

“Oh…” Her lips turned up into a small, pleased smile. “Yang, I… I didn’t think you ever thought twice about my mom. Thank you. I mean, on her behalf. That’s really sweet of you.”

Looking somehow proud and embarrassed at the same time, she dipped her head slightly. “Awww, it’s nothing.”

“No, it isn’t.” She leaned forward and squeezed her girlfriend a little tighter. “You’re a real gem.”

However, when they turned the corner and saw someone waiting on the Belladonna lawn, their little bubble of happiness receded - not completely, but the confusion definitely intruded on their bliss.

“Ruby?” Yang asked the worried-looking girl when she arrived. “What are you doing here?”

Stepping forward, the diminutive little sister tried to speak, but it came out more like a squeak than a speak. “I’m s-s-sorry if this is a bad time… but… do you have a minute?”

#princess and the dragons #freezerburn fanfic #freezerburn smut #rwby fanfiction #rwbyremnants #nsfw-Text

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creacherkeeper · 4 years

Note

Welcome to the tOH fandom!! What do you think of ADHD! Luz (and maybe Eda too!) and autistic!Amity (and maybe Lilith as well)?

thank you!! okay listen this show is so so good for ND headcanons WEIRDOS GOTTA STICK TOGETHER and im like *cries* yea

adhd luz is great. i love it. she’s eager and never runs out of energy, strong emotions & very expressive, can definitely act immature for her age (i saw something saying she’s 14 but idk if thats canon?), has a hyperfixation on learning magic & her azura books. her inability to choose a magic track i would argue could be read as indecisiveness or decision paralysis. and sometimes her own feelings cause her to miss cues from others (like with eda, amity, & king at the carnival). even the way she has to learn magic works as a metaphor - the way other people learn doesnt work for her so she has to adapt and have accommodations (something to draw on). we also see a few instances that suggest she’s not good at reading how trustworthy people are

im totally down for adhd eda but i think i like autistic eda better. she has unusual style (the ripped dress, big earrings, gold tooth - not to mention the times she puts on ‘human fashion’). her speaking voice is unusual too, but is often at a flat effect (absolutely not a dig at the actress i’ve had a crush on her since i was like 9). special interest in owls & weird human objects. learns differently & thinks outside the box, but is still extremely gifted as a witch, she just has to do things her own way. uneven motor skills - very powerful witch & good at sports but also like, just fumbles her staff all the time. seems to get along better with demons (king, hooty, and i’ll count owlbert here too) over other humanoids. did NOT fit in at school. has trouble connecting to and empathizing with people, often says rude things whether she means to or not. tends to show affection through gestures (training, making the cloak) over words or physical affection. does NOT understand why she should have to follow the rules (school, witchcraft, society at large) because they seem arbitrary to her

also - not an nd headcanon and FAR from a perfect metaphor - but my chronically ill ass was just sitting there like 8O SHE HAS TO TAKE HER MEDS OR SHE’LL GO INTO A FLARE and i was just pretty excited about that

jury is still out on lilith for me. i can see autistic lilith though. she’s got flat effect, dulled emotional expression, gifted in her craft, trouble seeing eda’s pov, seems to be low empathy, and from what we see may be fairly gullible. i need to see more screen time from her before i make it an Official Headcanon though. 100% up to hearing other peoples arguments about this

amity is a little harder for me but here’s my headcanon (cw child abuse)

she very well could be autistic. i didnt get a strong Vibe from her one way or the other. but her behavior, to me at least, seems to line up a lot more strongly with childhood trauma. specifically parental abuse. granted we haven’t seen much of her parents yet, but that’s the vibe i got and i’ll explain why

amity is extremely driven and perfectionistic, but it does not seem like she’s self-motivated. it seems like she’s trying to live up to her parents high and strict expectations of her. she wants to be friends with willow, and then later luz, but she can only keep the friends her parents deem are worthy - theyre controlling of her social interactions far more than is normal. she has very low tolerance for her own mistakes, and gets extremely upset when she’s embarrassed or gets into trouble. to me that’s a thing a kid learns at home - mistakes are a big deal (and could be punished in some manner). she’s very awkward at trying to make real friends, which makes me think she doesnt have good role models & her emotional development was not prioritized. in the beginning we see her bully people and gee wonder where she learned that. when she’s training, it’s not her parents or even lilith who are training her - its her older siblings who she doesnt get along with and dont even seem to be on the same track as her? so even though expectations for her as a witch are extremely high, the actual adults are neglecting to help her

when both lilith and eda cheat at the covention duel - amity doesn’t get upset at lilith. she gets upset at luz who is not an adult and is an easy target. lilith and eda are really the ones that embarrassed her, but she doesn’t feel she can get angry at either of them and takes out her emotions lower in the pecking order. we also see that she quit grudgby forever because she accidentally hurt her teammates - which makes me think her anxiety & guilt in general is pretty high. when she does decide luz is cool, she gets Very Attached Very Fast which can definitely be a trauma thing - here is a Safe Person i am now incredibly invested in. when they go into willow’s memories, she’ll do anything to keep luz from seeing how she hurt willow, probably because she’s afraid luz will be disappointed in her (and what? abandon her for not being perfect?) and even her parents in the memory are just shadowy figures and not real people. her biggest fear (which, yes cute gay stuff was happening) is being rejected, which makes me think besides the grom there is an actual threat of that in her life

so ALL IN ALL yes some of these things overlap with autism & i definitely wouldnt argue against an autism headcanon, but to me this just is so strongly childhood trauma stuff that i personally wouldnt hc autism until i know more

also LITERALLY ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE ND thank you for coming to my ted talk good day

#owl house #toh #toh spoilers #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #eda the owl lady #lilith clawthorne #amity blight #nd headcanons #you: owl house nd hc??#me: *cracks knuckles*#Anonymous

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wanderingworldwarrior · 3 years

Text

Of Twisted Emotions - Chapter Twenty-Five: Judgment

Loki has little interest in the prison’s ongoings. Time seems to pass in a blur, leaving smudges in his memories.

His name, though, he still reacts to that when he so chooses. And when he hears it bellowed from across the hall, his gaze is drawn towards the vaguely familiar voice.

The man is spitting mad as soon as he catches sight of Loki. He violently jerks against his wrist restraints as he attempts to throw his guards and barrel towards the imprisoned Asgardian. He looks wild and unwell (though admittedly not as unwell as the prince himself), and yet Loki recognizes him.

Halvar cannot stop himself from swearing at the wretched prince. He has forgotten where he is and where he marches, each step closer to his sentencing. All that he has lost forces itself to the forefront of his thoughts, and he stares at Loki, the man who watched as he stepped backwards off the Rainbow Bridge.

“Wicked, vile bastard! Traitor! Loki!” Halvar ignores the demands of the guards as he gives voice to his rage. “He’ll have your head! He’ll order your flesh stripped from your bones! I cannot wait for the day!”

“Ha!” Loki does not bother to rise from his seated position on the floor. The idiotic barbarian is not worth the effort. “Hold a moment, men. The mongrel wishes to speak. It’s only right to let a dead man voice his final grievances.”

“We don’t take orders from you anymore,” one of the guards says, but another speaks at the exact same time, exclaiming, “Yes, my lord!”

The pair looks towards one another, conflicted. The rest of the guards waver, eyes darting between Halvar and Loki.

Halvar cackles, the sound echoing in the dungeon halls and riling up nearby prisoners. “I am no dead man!”

“You are naïve, you bumbling oaf,” Loki says. “Each step you take is towards death.”

“He’ll come for me,” Halvar says, beady eyes reflecting the golden barrier’s light. “He promised. Asgard’s palace will be fenced with pikes, a head for each.”

“And who doesn’t make empty promises when the need suits them?” Loki asks, laughing once more. It feels surprisingly good to laugh. “Thanos does not care about the life of an insignificant pawn.”

“You speak of yourself!” Halvar exclaims through a manic smile of bared teeth. He jerks his arm out of a guard’s grasp. “You failed him, not I!”

“And you are assuredly a beacon of success,” Loki says, noticeably surveying the Asgardians surrounding Halvar. “You’re a fool to make these claims. There is no rescue waiting for you, barbarian. Only Odin, who is surely running short on mercy.”

“Move it!” a guard demands, shoving Halvar in the back. He staggers a few paces, his neck craned towards Loki, straining.

“You’re known for your lies, Trickster! You cannot shake my faith! Thanos has a plan, and you are meant to be snuffed out before its completion!”

Loki fixes him with a cold stare. “A trickster, yes, though I do not only speak in lies. Listen well, for here is your truth. You will die, Halvar Magnuson. And you will die alone, by the hand of Odin.”

Halvar laughs.

He laughs as the guards drag him away.

He laughs as he climbs from the depths of Asgard’s dungeons.

And when he reaches the end of his march, standing before the Allfather’s throne, Halvar’s laugh dies with him.

- - -

You can feel Loki’s thoughts at the back of your mind. Hints of words that will surely come through clearly if you focus on them. He gives you a choice, and your decision is solid.

You continue to shut him out.

You aren’t ready. Not yet.

You’re too preoccupied with other thoughts, as it is. You’ve been waiting outside of the throne room doors, palace guards on either side of you. They accompanied you from the infirmary. You had been expecting them for a while now, and have not spoken a word since they cuffed you.

It is undignified, but you know why it must be so.

Asmund is preparing to leave when the grand doors open once more. When he sees you, his feet still.

He had been asked to attend Halvar’s sentencing and give testimony as a witness to the man’s crimes. He had not been asked to stay, though with every eye on you and the guards, he doubts anyone will notice.

Your gaze is downcast, and the chains between the cuffs around your wrists clink softly. More for show than for function, Asmund guesses. He doubts they’d be any real hindrance. After all, he remembers the Bloody Warrior emerging victorious from a swathe of dark woods, a camp of dead men behind her. Mere chains should be nothing to you.

He watches as you walk towards the Allfather and stop short of where the mad barbarian stood not ten minutes before. Asmund frowns as he realizes you seem quite sickly, slightly swaying on your feet. Your fists tremble, and he notices that you wear a black glove on only your dominant hand.

You kneel. Asmund’s heart jumps into his throat when the guards knock you down into a proper bow. You let out a hiss of pain and your eyes narrow.

Odin Allfather is a terror to behold in his rage.

He states your name, and you look up at him. Your eyes slide from him to Queen Frigga, who stands at the king’s side. Her gaze is serious, and yet you somehow feel bolstered by the expression on her face.

Odin’s council murmurs to one another, and there’s a quiet hum of voices from the gathered nobles who have come to bear witness.

Thor is nowhere to be seen.

“You stand before us, charged with endangering the Nine Realms,” Odin says, thumping his spear, Gungnir, against the marble floor. At once, the room falls deadly quiet. “You mounted an assault against Midgard. You purposefully wielded a weapon of destruction with malicious intent. You acted in poor faith and tarnished your name while under fealty to Asgard.”

You make yourself keep his thunderous gaze.

“How do you plead?” the king asks you.

You swallow and try to quietly clear your throat. You know what you have to say, especially if you want things to end well for you. “Guilty.”

Such an ugly word. It tastes as ugly as it sounds.

Odin grunts and shifts in his throne. “At least you are aware,” he states.

You open your mouth to say more, to explain, but catch movement from Frigga. The queen subtly shakes her head when she locks eyes with you. You force your unsaid words back down your throat.

Odin speaks once more. “I was gifted knowledge from your companion, known to us as Willow. She recounted her experience with the aforementioned weapon. The golden scepter.” He pauses, scrutinizing you. “As I understand it, these acts occurred when you were not of your right mind. Is this true?”

“It is,” you say.

“I am also to understand Frigga Allmother bid you go to Midgard, in an attempt to return with our son, Loki.”

“She did,” you say.

The gathered crowd begins murmuring again. Questions, scoffs, statements of innocence or doubt.

“We are gathered here today to pass judgement upon you, warrior,” Odin states. “I have made my decision.” The murmuring stops.

You wait, heart pounding. You try to remain calm, but doubts run through your mind. You haven’t been able to fully test your portals. How much has your power been altered by the light? Will you be able to escape, should Odin choose to imprison or kill you?

You can tell you’re working yourself into a panic, and you feel Loki try to speak to you once more in reaction to your fear.

As you stare at Odin Allfather, you allow his lost son to hear your judgement at the same time you hear it yourself.

“I have chosen to pardon you.”

Far beneath the throne room, Loki lets out a long, slow breath.

Odin’s eye is boring into you, as if he, too, is peering into your thoughts.

Your countenance shows no signs of relief, although Asmund thinks your posture relaxes slightly. He himself feels as if a great weight has lifted.

“You are not exonerated from guilt,” Odin continues. “You are hereby banished from Asgard upon the conclusion of this sentencing. You are to be stationed with our troops at the edge of the realm. Should you take any other action or disobey an order, you will be treated as an enemy of Asgard. Should you not accept these gracious terms, you will be treated as an enemy of Asgard. Should you vanish from our realm and return in an attempt to avoid the consequences of your actions, you will be treated as an enemy of Asgard.”

You wonder if the offer will remain, should Odin learn you are not the powerful soldier you once were.

“Do you understand these terms?” the king asks you.

“Yes,” you say. “I understand.”

“Then it is so,” Odin states. “The guards will escort you out. You are to leave at once.”

As you get to your feet, Loki’s presence in your mind slowly fades…. Too slowly. It’s as if he does not wish to let go. The absence leaves a chill you aren’t expecting, and you wonder why it makes you feel so alone.

You know you have to decide right now. Will you leave and not return, or will you accept Odin’s ruling and join the patrols at the edge of the realm.

I can choose to leave later, if I want to, you think to yourself. May as well stay here.

Just in case.

You allow the guards to lead you out of the throne room, chains still clinking around your wrists.

- - -

It is a long time before you hear from Loki again.

- - -

Much longer than you imagined it would be.

- - -

Warrior?

The air is dusty, although you try not to focus on it. The patrol is as boring as ever. Few fights have taken place since you joined Asgard’s border forces, and those fights were easily won. You want more. They’ve been good practice.

You can wield the swords you create with only one hand, so as a backup you wear an Asgardian short sword on your hip. It is issued by your captain, Destin, who is still fairly green and desperate to prove himself.

He takes his position as your babysitter very seriously.

I know you hear me.

You slow with the rest of the patrol as you all round the corner. The Asgardian camp is full of movement and boisterous voices, which means it’s not just you feeling restless.

You follow a familiar path towards the back of camp, where you usually lurk. The rest of the patrol group tapers off, one by one, to their own companions, fires, and food. As the last two soldiers break away and head towards Destin’s tent, you continue on alone. You try to convince yourself this is a good thing, but solitude does not give you as much solace as it once did.

You never thought you’d long for the days of companionable silence with a fellow soldier.

Bjorn.

The thought makes you frown. Sigrid has shared with you what happened while you were away, and you wonder again if things could’ve been different had you been there. You surely would’ve marched with Bjorn and Obasi. You would’ve chosen to group up with the half-pint.

Maybe they wouldn’t have….

Maybe Fandral wouldn’t be….

You unbuckle your sword belt and carefully set it aside as you plant yourself in the dust next to your small fire pit. The sounds of camp seem to dull as you light the wood, sparks springing to life with a wave of your hand. You sling your bag off of your shoulders and briefly search it for your rations and your notebook.

Willow has answered you.

It has been good to keep in touch, although you know you have nothing interesting to say. Guilt weighs heavy every time you read her updates on Earth and the Avengers.

The team has split up, apparently, which troubles you. But according to Willow, things have been going pretty well.

Her update is the usual, and you write back to her with your usual as well. Magic shifts within the book’s pages when she answers you, and you watch her handwriting form.

Glad to hear you’re alive and well. Quick question – what was your plan in New York, anyway? Tony kept asking for specifics last time Steve and I saw him, and he made me promise to ask you.

You stare at the notebook for a moment, your heart suddenly drumming faster as the question settles in your mind.

You feel like laughing. Your head hurts. Your dreams are still full of the frightening blue, and thinking back on it all makes you feel like you’ll fall apart.

And yet… you know you owe everyone an explanation if they ask for it, no matter how uncomfortably awkward the subject is.

Uh, you write, hesitating. It already feels like it happened a long time ago, your memory fuzzy and unclear. Well, I guess… destroy Earth, take everyone I gave a shit about to Asgard, take over Asgard, make Loki watch while I took the throne…. You pause and stare at your sentences. You add, Looking back, I feel like most of this plan was motivated by spite.

You can’t hear Will’s thoughts, but you can practically sense her eyes roll a realm away. I can tell, she writes.

You tap your pen against the opposite page, nervous energy needing an outlet. You want to say you’re sorry again, but you know it isn’t what needs to be said.

Miss you, you finally write. I’m doing better.

I know you are, Will writes back. I miss you, too. We miss you.

Who’s included in this ‘we’? Rogers? Stark? You suppose it’s a nice sentiment, regardless.

You’re not an enemy of the Avengers, and that’s all you can ask for.

You close your black notebook.

Not yet, then?

Loki’s words are hushed, barely audible in your mind. You lose the sound of them in the crackling of the fire.

Night is falling. The off-duty soldiers will have started drinking, and Destin will be looking for you. It’s time to check in, and then sleep, and then get up to do it all over again.

You bite your bottom lip and stare into the flames. Not yet, you answer him.

And all is quiet.

---

Hiatus tldr: Got divorced. It was not fun.

Thanks to everyone who's helped me get back to the person I am today. Special thanks to my best friend, ShootingStarSojourner, as well as my internet best friends LittleMissSyreid, agentpiku, and chibi-lioness.

I love you guys ♥

@littlemisssyreid @thedoctorlivesthroughbooks @imthinkingaboutthis @verryfuckingpunny @shadows-echoes @auria223 @white-chocolate-mocha-fan @agentpiku @bookscoffeeandracoons @lokibarncs

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#loki x reader #loki odinson #loki fanfiction #fanfiction #Loki/reader #reader insert #marvel #OTE update #of twisted emotions

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randomcactaceae · 3 years

Note

Damie prompt: Jamie needs a au pair to take care of her niece and nephew, Miles and Flora. She's an closed and dark person and likes to be alone, that's why she has so many rules in her mansion. But Dany Clayton needs the job.

This prompt is so good! Thanks anon!

Here it is! I hope you like it :)

Friendly reminder for everyone reading: feel free to comment/suggest/give feedback on any of the fics, as well as feel free to ask/drop a prompt!✌ (sorry for annoying y´all with this, i sometimes need reassurance bc anxiety)

*******************************************

-"How many times did I told you to clean your shoes before you enter the house? I had just cleaned and it's all dirty now. Now you and Flora better clean this mess up"-

-"sorry aunt Jamie"-

Jamie Wingrave was a very closed woman. She liked everything to be methodical, organised, planned with detail. And she didn't expected her niece and nephew to break her rules. Since her sister and brother-in-law passed away, the kids, Miles and Flora, were looked after by her. It was hard at first, but they soon started to adapt to her rules. Jamie lived on a gothic-style manor on the countryside. Far away from people, as she liked it to be, she had a perfect life, at least for her. She had her own garden in which she spent the most time in, and she lived a relatively peaceful life, until the kids came in. She liked them, though, but they needed attention and time, so her alone time transformed into supervising the kids. The only good thing she thought she had is that she felt less alone in some way. Just by knowing there was someone else in the same house she was. She surely enjoyed being alone, in fact, she preferred to be sitting on a bench in her garden than hanging out in the bar. But sometimes she felt empty inside. At least these kids have each other, she thought.

After the kids finished cleaning, she went to the large couch in the living room and read the newspaper, as always. Suddenly she saw an advertisement about an au-pair agency. Maybe it was time to take a big step and find someone to take care of the kids, even though it involved accepting a stranger into her house, and probably changing her own routines and schedules.

After several minutes of thinking, Jamie took the phone and dialed the number. A man answered. She asked for the details, and finally she accepted. The new au-pair was arriving on Monday.

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

-”I can´t wait to meet her”- Flora exclaimed. She was six years old. For her, receiving the new au-pair seemed like the best idea ever. The older kid, Miles, was excited as well, but he was a little more reserved. Jamie had still many doubts about the idea of receiving an unknown woman into her life. What if she doesn´t stick to her rules? What if it´s all a fraud? All she had to do now is wait.

There was a knock on the door. She´s here, she thought. She opened the front door, and there she was. She seems nice. She´s very pretty, too. Nevermind.

-”Hi, i´m Danielle Clayton, the new au-pair. You must be-”-

-”Jamie. Jamie Wingrave. Nice to meet you.”-

Jamie was cold and closed, especially when it involved meeting new people. She was kind at heart, though, but she didn´t liked to be seen as sensitive and vulnerable. On the other hand, Dani, the au-pair, was the other way around. She was extroverted, confident, and had a light soul.

As soon as the children listened, they rushed downstairs.

-”Hey, you must be...”-

-”Flora. Flora Wingrave. And he´s my brother Miles”- Flora said as she shook Dani´s hand. Miles did as well.

-”Nice to meet you, guys!”-

-”Here are their schedules. They need to be in bed by 9:30.”- Jamie said frankly as she handed Dani a paper filled with timetables and instructions.

-”Okay, no worries, it will al work out”- Dani said with a smile. Jamie proceeded and showed her the guest room, as well as the main rooms of the house. Jamie noticed Dani´s goodwill as she came into the house. She looked so heartwarming and pure. Maybe she will be just what the kids needed to lift their mood. They were happy, but they had a hard time since their parents´loss.

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

Dani seemed to stick perfectly well to the schedules Jamie had. In fact, Jamie wasn´t at all bothered by her presence, which she found weird, because she got easily overwhelmed by interacting with people. But Dani was different. She made her feel at peace somehow. Maybe she shouldn´t be so hard with her and try to make her feel comfortable as well.

After Jamie finished her afternoon tea and her reading, she went outside to the garden, where Dani was playing with the kids. Jamie smiled to herself, as she hadn´t seen her niece and nephew so happy in a long time. It was also nice to see the joy Dani brought into the house.

She stood leaning towards the front door, and Flora waved at her.

-”Come, aunt Jamie, we´re having a picnic!”-

She smiled and walked slowly to where they were. They had set a tablecloth on the grass, put some snacks in small plates, and made some tea. For Jamie´s strict way of living, it caused her anxiety to have glasses on the grass, as well as ceramic plates, but she believed Dani and the kids were careful, or at least they tried to be.

-”We´ll clean everything after we finish. Don´t worry about it”- Dani said, as if she was reading her mind.

She sat down on the grass with them.

-”Flora, come, I bet you can´t climb the willow as fast as I can”- Miles screamed from afar.

-”I bet you can´t”- Flora said as she ran towards him.

-”Miles, take care of your sister. And don´t you dare taking off your shoes, you two. I won´t let you in if you do”- Jamie told them. She constantly reminded them that they could have fun, but they needed to follow her rules.

-”How you don´t get tired of them? They´re like little demons”- Jamie said

Dani laughed. -”I don´t know. I´m just patient, I guess”-

-”I wish I was like you. I get tired of people very easily, you know”-

They both stared at the horizon. Dani didn´t knew what to say. Does that meant she got tired of her?

-”So are you having a nice stay? Is everything good over here?”-Jamie said, changing the topic.

-”Oh, yes it is. The house, the kids, you. Everything is great”-

Jamie smiled. Did she just said she was actually nice?

-”I´m glad. See, I know sometimes it´s hard to stick to the routines and schedules, but I haven´t been bothered at all by your stay. In fact, it´s nice to have you here. So I just wanted to thank you for bringing happiness to the kids”-

Dani had a wide smile upon her face. Jamie was so closed and cold that it was very reassuring to hear those words from her.

-”You´re more than welcome. In fact, thank you for accepting me here.”-

Jamie just smiled back at her, staring at her big blue eyes.

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

Days went by and Dani adapted perfectly into the way of living Jamie and the kids had. It almost felt like she was there all the time, except for one thing. She somehow turned the gloomy athmosphere that was often around into moments of joy. Not just for the kids, but for Jamie as well. She felt less alone with Dani around. And she enjoyed her company. In fact, sometimes she even craved for spending more time with Dani.

-"Hey, i'm going to take the kids to the lake, wanna come?"- Dani asked, bubbly as always.

-"Sure"- Jamie said with a smile, for Dani's surprise.

They got their things ready and headed to the lake. As the four of them were walking, the kids started to run, leaving Dani and Jamie alone.

-"Do I need to run after them?"-

-"Don't worry. They know the way. They used to come here a lot with her mother."-

Dani's smile dissappeared for a while.

-"I'm sorry"-

-"It's okay. I had many time to get over it, well, to try to get over it as much as possible"-

They kept walking in silence.

-"So Dani, why did you chose to come here, may I ask? You left everything behind"- Jamie asked, making a small pause in her walk.

-"Well, it's a long story, but I just needed to begin again, you know? I needed to find a new happy place."-

-"And have you found it?"-

-"Well, I have. I like it here. It makes me happy and peaceful"-

Jamie couldn't help but smile after those words. Someone actually found a happy place inside her way of living.

-"I'm glad you did"-

-"And may I ask, have you? Have you found your happy place?"- Dani asked, hesitant to know more about Jamie.

-"For years I thought I had. This was my perfect life. Just me, the nature, and the calm that comes from being alone. But sometimes I've felt lonely, you know? Even though Miles and Flora brighten me up, I sometimes feel something's missing. And I feel lonely."-

Dani was about to say something but she was cut off by Jamie.

-"But you know, Dani? Since you came here I started to love my life again. I'm not going to lie, since your arrival, you've brought joy to my house. For many time I didn't enjoy the rainy afternoons, the laughter of the children, or my morning coffee. But with you here, it just feels right."- Jamie inmediatly felt the regret of saying those words. She learned with life that it's not very good to establish strong bonds with people who may not stay. But with Dani it was different. She felt at home whenever she was with her.

Maybe Dani was her happy place, after all.

*****************************************

Well, there you go! I hope that was close to what you had in mind.

Remember i'm always open for any feedback on this fic or my other ones, as well as tips/suggestions/comments/ or more prompts!

#i hope this is actually good #kinda cottagecore #i tried my best tbh #damie fanfic #damie fic #bly manor #damie #dani x jamie #jamie x dani #the haunting of bly manor #the haunting series #the haunting universe #dani bly manor #jamie bly manor #thobm #thobm fic #bly manor fic

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im-a-meteorite · 4 years

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i’ve been marathoning the harry potter movies since im in quarantine and i’ve been taking some notes. i’ll post them all bc why not

sorcerer’s stone

harry knowing that there’s no post on sunday,, a genius

hedwig’s theme playing when harry looks out of the window and sees an owl flying by, very nice

hagrid doing magic at the house on the rock thing,, wouldnt the ministry be able to track that?? since there’s no wizard that lives there, they should be alerted?? or did they remove the trace from hagrid once he got expelled?? like does it work by the trace only or? bc if it doesn’t work by location then how would they know that a muggle witnessed the magic?? idk anymore

the kids staring at the nimbus 2000 and saying its the fastest model yet,, then the camera zooming on the handle w/ the background blurred -> the most straight forward foreshadowing

hagrid is actually the worst person to take harry on his tour situation,, like bro literally left him in the middle of a train station

the weasleys and harry going to the platform while theres a shit ton of ppl walking around,,, statute of secrecy where??

the great hall is on the first floor?? i thought it was on the ground floor

ew the hats

i wish the movies had dumbledore’s weird few words speeches

“theres not one witch or wizard that went bad that wasnt in slytherin” broooo

mcgonagall is so savage i love her

snape is an asshole

a crap ton of chessboards in the great hall study hall scene,, foreshadowing the challenges?

madam hooch really yeeted herself out of neville’s way

✨🥰 oliver wood 🥰✨✨

harry really wiped the troll buggers on his robe,, disgusting

snapes hair is lowkey on fleek tho,,

making most of the slytherins ugly bc they’re the “evil” house is just a disservice to all the inbreeding

hermione setting snape on fire is truly iconic and very extra tbh like sis why tf would u know a spell like that

seasonal transition wasnt that great tbh

overall the directing style is kinda basic

“not in the restricted section,,” rule breaking hermione is the best hermione

dumbledore’s handwriting is so extra and loopy like tf?? but it fits his character

the hedwig flying season transition was good

“immortal?” “it means you’ll never die.” “i know what it means!”

50 points each for being out of bed??? wtf is this point system

filtch saying there’s werewolves in the forbidden forest,,, thats illegal sir

hagrid calling the trio by their first names but draco by his last,, we love favoritism

harry’s thoughts r so ridiculous,, “snape doesnt want the stone for himself, he wants it for voldemort!” lmaoo wtf,, evidence pls sir,, u don’t even know he was a death eater. was it the bad vibes?? bc same

harry figuring out that the person who gave hagrid the dragon egg is voldy,, a genius

“kill us faster?? now i can relax!!” ron is so iconic i love him

“lucky we didnt panic!” “lucky hermione pays attention in herbology”

how is it that harry’s hand burned quirrel but not the skin on harry’s neck?? that shit makes no sense

yeah i really cant imagine this dumbledore fighting voldy in movie 5

hermione’s headband in the reunion scene is so cute i love it

chamber of secrets:

how is dobby even allowed to just jump on the bed?? like is it bc harry isnt his master that he can do smth like that

“dobby has heard about harry potter’s kindness” or whatever,, bro u work for the malfoys either the elves gossip or draco is waxing poetry about harry

aunt petunia saying “we have ice-cream” after that whole affair is just ridiculous

DIAGONALLY

this seems like the extended version bc i dont remember the borgin and bruks scene to be that long

the close ups with lucius and ginny’s books r insane lmao like chris columbus made it so obvious

also mr weasley’s acting is so funny like its so exaggerated

lucius malfoy is so dramatic and extra we love it

also lucius knowing hermione’s name and “draco’s told me all about you”??? bro whats with draco?? lmaoo

snape really got mad with the whole car business

mandrakes r fucking weird bro how did jkr come up with that

PERCY WALKING WITH PENELOPE CLEARWATER??? HOW DID I MISS THAT??

omg colin had so many lines?? wow

omg erol with the fucking howler,, iconic

ron’s facial expressions?? pure comedy, rupret is so good

LOCKHEART REALLY SAID “GOOD GIRL” THEN WINKED AT HERMIONE

“pesky piksy pescinomy” this bitch dumb

“why is it always me?” poor neville

omfg ✨🥰 oliver wood 🥰✨

ahh using the seeker position for fighting

ew draco used the m-word

the shit the basilisk is saying is so lame lmaoo

how does harry not recognize that he’s hearing a different language?? or does parsaltongue act weird

HOW IS THE WHOLE SCHOOL IN THE SAME CORRIDOR???

“i know the counter-curse that could’ve spared her” bitch the dirty looks he got?? omfg

the movies would’ve been 500% better if they had lee jordan’s iconic quidditch commentary

“scarhead” “TRAINING FOR THE BALLET, POTTER?”

“what did you expect?? pumpkin juice??” madam pomfery is a queen

dobby is dumb dumb

“who am i, hedwig? what am i?”

“reading? i didnt know you could read?”

“look at my face” “look at your tail!”

“you can’t cancel quidditch!”

“oh harry, if you die down there, you’re welcome to share my toilet”

lockheart: do you live here? ron: no *smacks him in the head with a rock*

“voldemort is my past, present and future” are all slytherins this dramatic??

the tension between hermione and ron in the last feast was insane

justin filtch fletchy is so ugly im so sorry i cant

prisoner of azkaban:

im sorry but harry doing underage illegal magic pisses me off every time

aunt marge 🤢

“do they use a cane boy?” “oh yeah, i’ve been beaten loads of times”

that whole scene is so chaotic

“you cant do magic outside of school!” “oh yeah? try me”

sirius really dumb for barking at harry like it makes no sense

the knight bus is probably one of the best things in this movie

“whatcha doing down there??” “i fell over” “whacha fell over for?” “i didnt do it on purpose!” “well come on then, lets not wait for the grass to grow”

harry leans over and looks for the grim, stan: “whatcha looking at?”

“yeah take it away ernie,, its gonna be a bumpy ride”

this whole thing is written and directed so perfectly

i hate how they replaced tom bc it really made no sense

all the bits of magic in the leaky caldron is so genius

fudge reminds me of trump but like dumber

the blue lighting and coloring is just great, it fits the colder vibe of the story (not like HBP with the hazy/blurry effect)

ugh the glass and mirror transitions are one of my favorite things,, alfonso curon really did that

i love the weasleys,, also everyone looks great in this movie

omg the scene with arthur talking to harry about sirius with the sirius poster always being in sight?? amazing

contrast of light and darkness just echos the whole dementor vs patronus situation

i dont even understand why remus took the train other than for the nostalgia

the lights slowly turning off in the different carriages?? amazing

the visual representation of the dementors’ effect is great

REMUS!!!

i wish there was more emotion from remus when he’s talking about sirius,, like that was one of his only friends

snape clapping literally twice for remus,, ajhshsh

ahh the placement of the slytherin and gryffindor tables right beside each other to increase the tension and further the plot

oh yea the new dumbledore, also cool hat he has

omg the new fat lady painting

omg the candy scene?? so cute i love lads being lads. that scene just echo’s dumbledore’s light in the dark quote bc its storming outside at night and they’re creating a happy environment within the dark especially with the dementors

ah yes the clock references + following the bird to show us important parts of hogwarts and putting the whomping willow in the forefront

ron’s reading of harry’s tea leaves,, still on point tho. ron really has a knack for divination

buckbeak! omg drapple

draco is so hot especially with that ring also the slytherin pins??

“oh yeah, terribly funny, really witty. god, this place has gone to the dogs”

the kids look so messy i love it + harry’s uneven tie

HERMIONE CLINGING TO RONS ARM!!

“its killed me! your gonna regret this, you and your bloody chicken”

omg the boggart lesson

“riddikulus!” “this class is ridiculous”

fuck snape!

draco really pushed someone with his bandaged arm

remus is such an amazing professor i love him and i just miss him so much

ugh harry in this hoodie?? amazing

remus and harry’s conversation with the music :(( lily :((

wtf is that eye painting??

percy screaming about being head boy,, bro stfu

sirius is such a dramatic little bitch i love it

seasonal changes marked by the wimping willow

“turn to page 394”

what a fucking rude ass bitch,, i hate snape

harry really be seeing the grim everywhere

i wish they had “wheres wood?” “trying to drown himself in the shower”

winter transition with hedwig! + clock tower

“come and join the big boys”

i just adore this scene of the twins giving harry the map (bro i really want a series about the marauders)

whos that skinny bitch with draco???

harry’s way too rash tbh

also mcgonagall being also too nonchalant about the whole marauder’s situation?? like those werent your students

remus is a soft boy dark academia icon

if only dumbledore wasnt a dumbass,, remus could have been uncle moony raising harry with sirius

ron’s nightmare scene?? iconic

“my dad didnt strut. nor do i” umm james potter was also a drama queen sooo probably strutting

“you, YOU FOUL LOATHSOME EVIL LITTLE COCKROACH” “hermione no, he’s not worth it”

sirius’ dog form really looks like a rabid dog omfg

the part where hermione grabs harry while she’s on the wimping willow omfg

“only one will die tonight” YOU DRAMATIC BITCH UR NOT MAKING THIS BETTER

“finally the flesh reflects the madness within” “well you’d know all about the madness within, wouldn’t you remus?”

why the fuck is the shreaking shack is swaying in the wind??

QUARRELING LIKE AN OLD MARRIED COUPLE

why the fuck didnt they knock peter out?? like tf?? they’re actually dumb dumb there were so many ways for this to go right

this man really sent 2 13-year-olds on this dumbass mission

buckbeak really beat up remus,, “professor lupin’s having a really tough night”

harry’s a fucking psycho with this patronus bullshit,, i cant

can they stop screaming while flying on buckbeak?? someone might hear them

im still mad sirius didnt get his name cleared,, so much would’ve changed

“we did it” “did what? goodnight” i fucking hate dumbledore and his mindlessness omfg sometimes i wanna punch him in the face

fuck snape for outing remus as a werewolf,,, but also he really didnt have to resign. like istg wheres the marauder energy when it comes to defying everyone??

i wish the movies had went into the marauders’ history :(( its one of my favorite aspects of the series

#harry potter #harry potter movies #philosopher's stone #chamber of secrets #prisoner of azkaban #hermione granger #ronald weasley #remus lupin #sirius black #severus snape #albus dumbledore #minerva mcgonagall #movie marathon #notes #harry potter notes

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