#i was only allowed to do art for school homework for like 4 months

[sunnys-side-upside-down]

Dakota, my boi!!

[ladyvialana]

Fic: Better Raise Your Ears (4/4)

Stranger Things fic. Mike & Max. Mike-POV. Gen.

Summary: Mike and Max aren’t friends. But they’re not not friends.

Or: Max doesn’t open up, Mike doesn’t push, and things don’t get better. But they do manage to find some sort of calm amidst the chaos, even if it’s not enough to do more than postpone the inevitable.

Relationships: Mike & Max, Max & Billy, Max/Lucas, Mike & Lucas

Notes: pre-S4, grief, past character death, friendship, music references, mentioned Mike/El, implied one-sided Mike/Eddie (Mike’s got a crush)

Also on Ao3

Previous Part (3/4)

Part 3

The remainder of winter passed much the same way as those first few weeks. Max showed up when she felt like it and Mike played through Billy’s catalogue. She didn’t talk often – occasionally asking questions about homework or assignments when she bothered to bring her schoolwork or ragging on Mike for the state (and smell) of the Wheeler basement. They grew more comfortable with each other – with sharing silences, tense and boring alike – and with each other’s moods. Mike learned Max’s micro-expressions – knew which meant he could push and tease a little and which meant he should shut up until she calmed down.

It was easy – easier than their relationship had ever been.

But Max still didn’t open up. Never brought Billy up more than in passing. Never mentioned the move to the trailer park – her mother’s new job, the second job, the alcohol Mike heard Karen gossip about in outraged whispers over the phone with her own glass of red in hand.

Mike didn’t open up either. Didn’t mention his own dark moods and the days he skipped school to stay in bed. Didn’t mention the letters to El that made his stomach twist as he wrote them. The calls to Will that never connected. His own nightmares that kept him up – probably not as often as Max, but obvious the next day nonetheless.

They shared an unspoken pact of deliberate ignorance. Maybe it wasn’t healthy, but it helped to have a moment of calm where Mike didn’t have to think about how he presented himself to the world. He could just listen to music and feel like no one was judging him or pushing him to open up or be or do something he didn’t want to.

Well, Max was still Max. She made an art form of judging him, but it was all superficial stuff like his hobbies, or the time he tripped down the basement stairs and spilled their chips, or Eddie’s growing influence over his fashion choices.

Mike kind of enjoyed this new dynamic. Felt like, even though he wasn’t saying anything, that they were still connecting and understanding each other on a deeper level.

It actually felt like they were real friends.

***

Spring break approached and Mike’s plans to visit California – to see El, to see Will – solidified. His parents presented him with plane tickets on the proviso that Mike would forfeit his allowance for the next few months and his upcoming birthday presents to help pay the airfare. His joy was overwhelming enough that he forgot about the time difference and called the Byers home as soon as his parents told him after school. Of course Will (and El) wasn’t home to answer, still stuck in school for another few hours.

(That he only considered the time zones as the reason for the unanswered call long after hearing the busy signal again was irrelevant.)

He decided to write a letter to El instead. He was long overdue on his latest response anyway. It was getting harder to come up with things to talk about that meant anything. His upcoming visit would be an easy way to fill up a page or two.

It wasn’t until he heard familiar footsteps on the basement stairs that Mike remembered his plans with Lucas and Dustin in the library after school.

“Shit,” he said when he met Lucas’ unimpressed stare over the railings. “Sorry, I got caught up with my letter to El.” Mike glanced down, realised he’d lost his train of thought with the interruption, and decided to leave the letter as it was. “Let me get my bag.”

Lucas snorted, making his way over to the old couch and flopping dramatically into the middle of it. He stretched his arms across the full length of the backrest.

When did he get so tall? Used to be that all four of the boys could cram onto the couch for sleepover movie nights, but Lucas was taking up almost half the couch now by himself.

(When did they all grow up?)

“No rush,” Lucas said, dropping the annoyed look from before. “We figured this might happen. Dustin went home first to grab a few extra books and a snack. We’ve got about half an hour.”

Mike glared at him over his half-open backpack crammed with random books and sheets of paper. “Don’t think I don’t notice that you and Dustin have started planning around me.”

Lucas just returned his glare with a smirk. “Don’t think we haven’t noticed that you seemed to have forgotten how to use a watch.” He looked pointedly down at Mike’s old digital watch – the one he’d had since he was ten. (The one he’d been so excited to receive after Will had shown off his own new watch, so similar to the one Mike had been staring at longingly in the store window on Main Street and pointedly talking to his mother about before his birthday.)

“Whatever.” Mike huffed and returned to packing his bag – neater this time, with a closer attention paid to what exactly he would need to bring to catch up on his assignments.

Mike was basically finished – just searching around for his chemistry book, which he swore he just had on his desk earlier – when he heard Lucas’ sharp inhale from the couch.

Startled, Mike turned around from his inspection of the mess on his desk to see Lucas clutching a notebook in a tight grip.

Mike frowned. That wasn’t his book.

Oh. Oh no.

“Lucas.” Mike’s voice trembled as he tried to get his friend’s attention. Lucas didn’t look up. His grip tightened instead.

Shit. This was bad.

“Lucas,” Mike tried again, leaving his bag and moving over to the couch. “It isn’t what it looks like.” What a stupid fucking thing to say, Wheeler. Couldn’t have sounded more suspicious if you tried.

The ridiculous comment finally had Lucas turning away from the book in his hands towards Mike. But the implications of Mike’s words seemed to have eluded him. He stared at Mike with wide hopeful eyes and asked, “You’ve seen her?” He took a shaky breath, holding back tears, and smiled. “She’s okay.”

Mike closed his eyes, as though he could hide from Lucas’ sudden vulnerability.

Of course this would be how Lucas reacted. Not even caring that Mike was hiding something from him or how it might have looked that Mike was meeting with his ex-girlfriend behind his back. Lucas just cared that Max was okay. That she had a friend. Someone who cared about her and could look out for her when Lucas couldn’t (when Max wouldn’t let him).

Lucas loved her. Fuck, he loved her so much he didn’t care that he was two seconds away from crying in Mike’s basement holding a goddamn notebook filled with more random doodles than notes on Spanish grammar to his chest.

Mike couldn’t help but think about the unfinished letter to El on his desk. He hadn’t even mentioned Max – hadn’t written about her at all in his correspondence over the last few months – or anything about what was happening at school or with the way the Party was drifting and how Mike felt about that. He never talked to El about anything more serious than the latest movie he watched or whatever campaign Eddie had cooked up for them. Compared to the way Lucas was staring at the cheap red book in his hands, Mike’s scrawled words on ripped notebook paper (not even matching El’s personal rainbow stationary) felt lacking. Superficial.

This was too important not to deal with.

“Yeah,” Mike said, putting himself as close to the line that he and Max silently drew around their meetings without crossing the unspoken boundary. “We don’t really talk, but she comes by. Once or twice a week.”

He readied himself for a punch at that admission. Sure, seeing Max occasionally without telling Lucas might have been forgivable, but this was repeated and deliberate. He can only imagine how it would feel for one of his closest friends to keep a secret about El from him for this long.

(He refused to think about Hopper, about screaming into his chest, about the tight hug and breaking down in Will’s room. This wasn’t about Mike right now.)

But Lucas didn’t punch him. His eyes just widened, as though encouraging Mike to continue – begging him for whatever scraps of information Max would allow.

Mike cleared his throat and gestured to the box on the side table, cassette tapes splayed out in a random mess from his latest search for the best homework mood music. “We just listen to music. Hang out. Do homework. She, uh, needed a place to stash some of Billy’s things and it just kind of sprung from there.”

At that, Lucas flinched. “She gave you Billy’s tapes?”

Mike frantically shook his head. “No! Nothing like that. I just had room to spare.”

“She could have come to me.” And the tears were seriously threatening to fall now. Mike hated this, hated seeing Lucas so vulnerable when he was always so steady.

“It wasn’t like that,” Mike said, trying to reassure him. “Maybe she thought going to you would matter too much – tell you how much she cares, not just about you but about Billy and what’s going on with her. Maybe with me, she can pretend like it doesn’t matter because she doesn’t care about me as much. Maybe it hurts less.”

Lucas didn’t look completely convinced, but he frowned contemplatively, thinking Mike’s words through. He was obviously still worried and upset, but just took a steadying breath and asked, “You’ll look out for her?”

It wasn’t really a question, because he knew what Mike would say. Mike didn’t try to explain the complexity of his and Max’s relationship – that he didn’t push her to open up, never asked her anything that really mattered. He didn’t say that he was worried about Max not sleeping properly, maybe even eating less. He couldn’t tell Lucas that all he was really capable of doing was just existing alongside her and hoping that even the slightest comfort his presence offered might help.

“Of course,” he said instead, confirming Lucas’ hope. The tension drained from Lucas’ posture, leaving him limp and exhausted. “She’s one of us. And,” Mike paused here, unsure if his candour would be appreciated but unwilling to let this go unsaid, “you love her.”

That last piece of honesty was what finally caused the tears to flow.

Lucas sobbed and Mike didn’t hesitate to breach the remainder of the space between them to pull him into a tight embrace. He let Lucas lean on him, cling to him, as Lucas cried on his shoulder.

Mike couldn’t do much to help his friends these days. But this? This he could do. This he would always do. Stand by them, support them, with whatever they needed.

Still, he ached for simpler days when he didn’t know anything about heartbreak and loss.

***

Spring break crept closer and Mike's excitement distracted him. He got caught up in daydreams about what he would do once he got to California, seeing what El looked like now (she’d mentioned growing her hair out long enough to braid), and finally getting to talk to Will again. He was nervous too. He hadn’t flown much before – only once when he was very young (before Holly) when his family visited distant relatives in Florida. Between that and Eddie’s super-long, super-involved, super-brutal campaign that was drawing to a close, it could almost be forgiven that Mike didn’t notice right away that Max’s visits had started to dwindle in frequency.

About a week before spring break, Mike was playing Iron Maiden as he worked through the final draft of his English assignment. He belted out a few fast-paced lyrics that lead into an even faster-paced solo before realising what he’d done. He whirled around, ready for the teasing comment from Max about his good mood (and possibly his pitchy vocals) but found himself alone in the basement.

It was Thursday. Max should be there.

Mike turned back around to his work, mood dipping – not even Iron Maiden’s energy enough to raise it back up.

Maybe she was caught up in her own stuff. Midterms were killing everyone. He hadn’t seen Dustin outside of Hellfire or class for almost two weeks. Lucas too, though it was nearing the end of basketball season and the team was so close to reaching the championship this year that it was all anyone in school could talk about, even with exams.

Max was probably just caught up in her own study. She didn’t always come by anyway. It wasn’t a big deal.

Mike kept trying to convince himself of this all through the night and the next few days. But, at school on Monday – the last Monday before break – Max could barely be found anywhere. It felt eerily reminiscent of their first weeks of high school. Mike didn’t have Math on Monday, but Max avoided him in Spanish. She looked exhausted and Mike hesitated to draw closer. She didn’t look like she’d appreciate any company, curled up at her desk with her headphones jammed over her ears.

It was fine. She probably just needed a bit of space. Mike understood having bad days. He’d try again another time. Or she’d just show up in his basement again like nothing happened.

It was fine.

***

It wasn’t fine.

Mike didn’t speak to Max at all that last week before break. He’d wanted to ask if she wanted him to tell El anything for her – even just a “Hi, I miss you”. But the closest he ever got to talking to her was to ask if she was okay when her nose suddenly started bleeding during Math on Wednesday. She brushed him off with a glare, though she still snatched the tissue he offered her to wipe the blood away.

She ran out of the room as soon as the bell rang. She’d done that a lot during the week. Mostly, he caught her running into the bathroom.

What if she was sick? What if it was serious?

Mike desperately wanted to run after her but, before he could try, he was dragged away to lunch by Dustin who had decided to catch up on all the socialising he’d missed while cramming for his exams. Halfheartedly listening to Dustin’s rambling about his speculation for what Eddie had in store for them on Friday, Mike kept scanning the corridors for any sign of Max but didn’t see anything before Dustin led him into the cafeteria to sit down with the rest of Hellfire.

Maybe he’d see Max tomorrow. It was the last Thursday before he flew out. She might be feeling a little sentimental about it and show up even though she missed last week.

***

She didn’t show.

Mike didn’t bother playing anything that afternoon and actually gave into his mother’s insistence that he should pack because he wouldn’t have time tomorrow. He’d hoped he might have something from Max to pack as a gift to El or Will in addition to Lucas and Dustin’s presents.

His stuffed duffel bag felt too empty without anything from her.

***

On the flight, Mike tried to forget about his concern for Max and focus instead on what it would be like to see Will and El again.

Yet, as much as he was looking forward to the reunion, his mind kept drifting back to Hawkins – about how fractured the Party had felt all year (without Will and El). He thought about his irrational bouts of loneliness – he wasn’t the one who’d moved away or lost someone or had his heart broken, why was he so upset? – and the few moments of light from the last year. He thought about Metallica’s new album – the first one he was going to buy with his own money (as soon as he could have an allowance again) – and how excited Eddie had been the first time he heard it. He thought about the way Eddie confided in him – only in Mike, like a gift rewarding him for his newfound love of metal – that he was learning to play Master of Puppets. Mike had watched, enraptured by long skillful fingers, as Eddie practiced after Hellfire – not caring about the mistakes Eddie made as he learned, only awed by Eddie’s dedication to the music he loved.

He thought about what Max might think of the album. Thought about how it might be a way he could actually try and talk to her about Billy and how she was feeling. Thought about how she’d probably just roll her eyes before he even got a word out to roast his taste in music again.

Mike thought about seeing her again after break, full of stories about California for her and memories with El he’d share with her so Max didn’t miss her as much (though, they might well make her miss El even more). He wanted to share parts of his life with her – that was what friends did. He wanted to tell her she was his friend and that he cared about her. Out loud. Honestly. He wanted to make her squirm with how emotional he was acting and know that, even if she complained, his words made her happy.

Smiling, now that he had a game plan for when he got back, Mike tried to make himself more comfortable in the rigid airplane seat and focus on the familiar people and new experiences that awaited him when he landed.

[END]

Notes: Thank you everyone who read this fic and liked, reblogged, left kudos and comments. It's been a while since I finished a fic this long, so I'm very appreciative of the love.

[limetarte]

How about a student strike?

I hear many teachers talk about how they don’t like the way students get treated and stuff like that, but their strikes only ever bring some better treatment to teachers and school staffs, never to students. Students should go on strike. I understand it would be hard to do, that’s why we need organizers. “You” could be an organizer if you want. The government is unlikely to do anything to help students unless students themselves say what they want or show it. That’s why I’m thinking about a strike.

What I think the demands should be:

1. No exams, or no exams impacting your future. We don’t need exams to test someone’s knowledge nor to learn. Students will forget the vast majority of what they learned for an exam once they don’t need that info anymore, which is most information that school teaches.

2. No mandatory homework, homework only if the person wants to and that won’t impact someone’s future.

3. Different ways of teaching. Not being forced to sit still all day and do and learn everything a certain way. Being able to choose to learn outside, inside, online, etc. Research based teaching, being taught in ways that are proven and shown to work best or well.

4. Being allowed to go to the bathroom whenever you want to and for whatever reason without ever having to ask for permission.

5. Being allowed to choose when you learn something, so at what time of the day and what days and months.

6. Bullying not being tolerated.

7. Classes about diversity, inclusivity, race, sexuality, privilege, oppression, systems, politics, consent, etc.

8. Classes about survival and nature: learning about different kinds of plants and their uses, which ones to stay away from, how to cook, how to clean, how to survive in nature, how to repair stuff, what to do with meat, critical thinking, etc.

9. Classes about whatever you want a class of, examples: dancing (cultural, etc.), languages that you choose, different arts, sciences, skills, etc.

10. School not being focused on written language and written words, written language doesn’t really matter and is just used as a tool rather than a mandatory skill.

11. Not getting punished or abused, instead learning in a positive and safe environment with positive reinforcement.

12. Choosing how much you want to be taught about something, especially about unnecessary subjects, like grammar, etc.

13. Classes about actual history and no whitewashed history, not most of the history focusing on privileged groups, being taught history about different minorities and different cultures and communities.

14. Classes about how to treat people, nature, animals, plants, etc.

16. Classes about equity, equality, respect, mutual aid, kindness, community, etc.

17. Classes about different religions and different spiritualities.

18. Classes about relationships: how to make friends, how to get to know someone, how to end friendships, how to make boundaries and respect others’, how to end relationships, how to start relationships.

19. Being allowed to eat food and drink water during classes. Being allowed to stim, draw, make noise during classes.

20. Not being forced to do anything, and that includes not being forced to attend school.

Am not a student anymore, so will share ideas and give support. Students generally are around my age, and I was a student up until recently, so I feel like this is also my thing.

This info should be spread throughout students, so that many get the word and so that a strike can actually happen.

[marrys-dream-world]

lovers alone wear sunlight (chapter four)

Chapter One  Chapter Two  Chapter Three

Read on AO3

Notes: There’s ladynoir angst because this is a season 4 fic, I don’t make the rules. So it’s the ladrien/ladynoir chapter (you’ll get your turn, Marinette). This is where the fic starts to tie itself together so you should read the previous chapters first. This is for Day 4: Disguises @ladrienjune

Adrien Agreste had no reason to be upset.

His father had breakfast with and even talked to him, even if the conversation was a little stilted and about the interview for the apple juice ads that would be coming out soon. He had been allowed an extra bowl of fruit, mangoes and pineapples, today and that reminded him of his girlfriend. Adrien had also gotten to school early and talked to Nino, who was making a Ladybug-themed playlist for Alya’s birthday party, which, of course, reminded him of his girlfriend too. Then, he met Aimee, who thanked him for coming to her art expo and shyly suggested that he and Marinette could accompany her to the superhero art contest she was going to participate in. He said, sincerely, that he would love to go, mind filled with red and black again.

But that was fine. He loved thinking about his girlfriend, the memory of being wrapped in her arms the night before only making his day better. 

I told them. No, that wasn’t Adrien Agreste’s problem, he had no reason to be upset. 

But it looked like Marinette had.

She looked a bit messy today and more than a little tired. It wasn’t something new, she had been like that the past week, her pigtails crooked and her usual jacket and shirt combo replaced by a comfortable sweater. What was new was the frown on her face as she stared at her locker like if she did it hard enough, it would tell her the secrets of the universe. 

“Hey, Marinette.” He said lightly, trying to not spook her. It didn’t work as she jumped a feet in the air.

“Adrien!” She exclaimed, cheeks pink. “Hi, hey, good morning, ha- how are you? Hello.”

He chuckled. Classic Marinette. “I’m fine, thanks for asking. But are you?”

She blinked slowly, looking a lot like an owl. “Am I what?”

“Fine? I don’t want to pry, but you looked like you’ve been tired all week and today you seem… well, frustrated. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Oh, Adrien, you’re the sweetest.” Marinette said as a pretty smile blossomed on her face for a moment, before a more somber expression took over. “I just have to do something that I’m scared of doing tonight, but that’s okay, I’ll figure it out.”

“What is it that you have to do?”

She paused. “I did something hurtful to a friend, but they don’t know that yet. So I’ll tell him tonight, I can’t let this go any longer.”

I was alone with my best friend and she was being so understanding I just… told her. No, stop that, not Adrien Agreste’s problem. 

“I’m sorry, Marinette, I know you didn’t mean to hurt them.” It was true, she was one of the kindest and most well-meaning people he knew.

“But I did.” She said solemnly. “So I’m going to fix it.”

The classes passed in a blur, which was unusual to him. He found out early in his school years that being around people his age stimulated him a lot, so learning was actually fun and he understood things easier. However, his heart wasn’t in it today and he spent most of his time doodling ladybugs on his notebook and trying to pretend he wasn’t paying attention. Thankfully, Ms. Bustier didn’t try to call on him. Marinette, though, was scolded twice by the end of the day, and everytime he chanced a glance at her, she was wearing the same frown from the locker room. 

“Are you okay, kid?” Plagg had asked as soon as he arrived in his room after dinner. Alone. This morning must have been a fluke. “Look, I know you said you didn’t want to talk about what Pigtails said last night…”

“I have to finish my homework before it’s time for patrol.” Adrien said, feeling bad for cutting him off but not wanting to deal with the elephant in the room. 

“Kid…”

“I’m fine, Plagg, really. You should charge before we go.” He said, throwing a piece of camembert in his direction. 

Plagg caught but didn’t immediately start vevouring, taking his time looking at Adrien before sighting and settling inside his favorite sock. He left Adrien to staring blankly at his paper, eyes unseeing to the text in front of him. Soon, patrol hours came.

“Plagg, claws out.”

Usually, being Chat Noir felt liberating, an escape from his stifling room, stifling schedule, stifling life, but today it just reminded him of the weight on his shoulders that had bothered him all day because…

Someone knows my identity.

Chat Noir had a problem. 

“Good evening, my lady.” He purred, giving the girl in front of him a slight bow. 

A problem he wasn’t even supposed to know about yet. 

“Hey, Chaton.” Ladybug said, giving him a faint smile. If he didn't know something was wrong already, her posture would have told him. “Ready for patrol?”

It was a calm night. He jumped through roof and talked to some civilians, Ladybug checking if her anti-akuma charm worked well with Mr. Ramier and Chat Noir having an enlightening conversation with Mr. Banana about how to avoid chafing when wearing a suit for a long time. They calmed down a girl who had sprained her ankle and was crying about being benched from a track competition she would have soon, kindly promising to show up to the first competition she would have after healing. The whole time, Chat Noir could feel the glances Ladybug was stealing from his direction.

They eventually stopped at their usual rooftop, where they finished patrol if everything was fine.

“Fur-tunatelly, it looks like Shadow Moth is taking a break today. First time this week.” Chat Noir said, slumping against a wall. “All in all, it was a successful patrol.”

“Yes, it was.” Ladybug said absent-mindely, before her eyes focused again as she turned to him. “Can we talk? I have something very important to tell you.

“Of course, my lady.” He said, staring intently at her.

She took a deep breath. “I know you noticed I hadn’t exactly been myself a few weeks after we fought Miracle Queen.”

“The impromptu trips to the pool gave me a hint.”

Ladybug snorted. “Not one of my best moments. I wasn’t dealing well with being the guardian, Chaton. I was always scared that Shadow Moth would find out who I was and come after me and get the miracle box and—”

“Ladybug.” He said, using the soothing tone from the night before when her breath started to pick up speed. “Count to ten with me?”

“What— I, ah… One, two, three…” And by the time she finished, she looked closer to her normal again. “Thanks, I don’t know what’s going on with me these days.”

“You’re just stressed, Shadow Moth was on a roll this week.” Chat Noir said, carefully placing a hand on her back, which she leaned into. “Go on, my lady.”

“Well, the guardian responsibilities were just eating me alive, Chat, I broke up with the guy I was dating because of all the lies and I almost lost all my friends. If I hadn’t been able to make up an excuse, I would be alone.”

“You’re never alone, bugaboo.” He whispered. “You should know you can always count on me.”

“I know. “Does she? “But it’s not the same. So when my best friend told me I could always count on her, I… I wasn’t in a good place, Chaton. I told her I’m Ladybug.”

Chat Noir looked at her blankly. Although she told Adrien that she would tell her partner today, he didn’t think she actually would. It seemed stupid in hindsight, Ladybug wouldn’t lie and he wondered why he even doubted her.

Maybe because I don’t know her as well as I thought I did. Chat Noir thought, before stomping on the bitter feelings rising in his chest.

“When did this happen?” He asked, keeping his voice carefully neutral.

Ladybug winced. “About two months ago.”

“Two months?!” This time, he didn’t have to fake his reaction. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I-I didn’t know how to tell you.” He hadn’t seen her stutter, as Chat Noir, in a very long time. Unlike other times, he couldn’t find it in himself to think it was cute. “Look, I didn’t want to hurt you…”

“This isn’t about being hurt.” Chat Noir said. From the look of her eyes, he knew she didn’t believe a word. Neither did he. “We’re partners, Ladybug, I have to know if there’s a chance of your identity being leaked.”

“She would never tell anyone.” Ladybug said, serious. But her eyes were pleading for him to believe her. “She’s the most loyal person I know.”

“But she can still get akumatized! Have you at least given her the anti-akuma charm?”

“Of course I did, I’m not stupid!”

“I’m not saying you’re stupid, I just don’t get what you were thinking! She can still be affected by akumas, we literally fought one that could force you to tell the truth. Your friend is another person Shadow Moth can make reveal your identity, which is worse than him knowing mine because you’re the freaking guardian.”

“Well, Chat Noir, it’s too late for that now.” She spat out defensively, now frowning. Never that patient, his partner.   “I told her. I didn’t plan on it, I was having a meltdown and I needed someone to know. Maybe it wasn’t the best decision, but what can I do about it?”

“You could at least pretend that you actually think I’m your partner and trust me, how about that?!”

“You are my partner and I do trust you!”

“It doesn’t feel like it! You didn’t tell me what was bothering you, you waited months to tell me someone knows your identity, the biggest security breach we could have right now, and even now, you probably won’t tell me your identity because it’s ‘too dangerous’. You won’t let me help you. Did I forget anything?”

Ladybug’s eyes were wide and her mouth halfway open, skin shades paler than it was a few moments ago. A sting of guilt made its way to his chest and for a second he wanted to take it all back, apologize, say it didn’t matter and that everything would be alright. But he didn’t, grabbing his baton instead. 

“Maybe we should schedule more solo patrols for some time, Ladybug.” Chat Noir said, taking advantage of her being shell shocked to leap away into the night. 

Usually he would take more time to enjoy the feeling of wind on his hair and the freedom of being out of his stifling house, but the suit suddenly felt confining and made him feel small. For the first time, he didn’t feel like being Chat Noir.

“Claws in.” He called as soon as he got into his room.

Plagg flew in front of him hurriedly. “Kid—”

“Not now, Plagg, please.” Adrien took a shuddering breath. It felt like it would only take a wrong touch and he would break. 

He carefully sat on his couch, staring sightlessly at the city lights from his window. His kwami had quietly, for once, inhaled a piece of cheese before settling against the crook of his neck. Adrien was truly glad he did, his whole body felt numb and the only thing grounding him was Plagg’s warmth against his skin. He spent countless hours, but probably only a few minutes in that position, before a familiar sound of knocking brought him out of it.

There stood in front of his window, Ladybug.

“Ladybug?” He said softly, opening the window. Plagg, way ahead of him, was nowhere to be seen. She immediately jumped into his arms, sobbing. "What 's wrong?”

“I messed up, Adrien.” She managed to say through her tears. “I went all wrong with this and I hurt Chat and now he hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you, my love.” He didn’t even know how to. 

“Yes, he does! He doesn’t want to patrol with me anymore! He doesn’t want to see me.”

Adrien winced. That had been something he said because he knew it would hurt her at least a fraction of what he was feeling at that moment. 

“He didn’t mean it like that, Ladybug, he probably just needs time.” He said. “Chat Noir just needs time to… to…”

To his embarrassment, tears started to pool in his eyes.

“Adrien?” Ladybug said, raising her head from his chest. “Is everything okay?”

He meant to say yes, really, he did. But as soon as he opened his mouth, he sobbed and his legs decided to stop working. Ladybug reacted fast, supporting him with her strong arms and guiding them both to the couch. 

“Shhh, it’s okay, my prince, it’s okay.” She said, hugging him tightly. Her comforting expression was at odds with her red and tear streaked face. 

“I-I’m sorry—”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” She said firmly. After a few moments of him crying in her arms, she said. “Tell me what happened?”

“I had a fight with a f-friend.” He said vaguely.

“Nino?” Adrien shook his head. “Hum, Marinette?”

He shook his head again and she hesitated, probably because he only had four friends and two he wasn’t on speaking terms with. Poor, lonely Adrien Agreste, she must be thinking. 

“A friend from work.” He said. “We´ve been working together for almost a year now and I thought we were on the same page on our friendship, but I guess not.”

“I’m sorry, my prince.” She said softly, running her hands through his head.

I can’t look at you right now. He thought. 

Please don’t ever leave. He also thought. 

“We’ll fix it.” Adrien said, leaning into her touch. “Don’t worry about it, my love.”

Just not today. He thought, as he held the reason for both his pain and joy in his arms. 

[summerstardust]

Did You Miss Me? Part 4

Dhawan!Master x Reader - Previous Missy x Reader

Summary: The Reader finally copes with the loss of Missy, and now The Master, thanks to their TARDIS. Did You Miss Me? Masterlist

Warnings: mentions of character death and alcohol

Word Count: 3290

The Doctor had let you keep The Master's TARDIS, piloting it into your apartment, making it look like an ordinary old wardrobe in case of visitors. You requested that she land the TARDIS parallel to the wall that faced your bed, so the ship would always be watching over you. Surprisingly, given The Doctor’s recent  reluctance to let you get close to the current regeneration of The Master, The Doctor understood how there was no place like home. Despite The Doctor seemingly understanding that you needed the comfort of The Master’s main possession, she and the fam tried to reach out and keep in touch with you an annoying amount of times, but you became very flaky in responding to them. You didn’t feel comfortable with them anymore. You decided to put yourself into your work and school, however, eventually making friends with some people there, but probably not to the extent The Doctor wished.

You understood that standing with The Master was questionable, but you knew, where The Doctor and the fam did not, that The Master would never force you to take part in his schemes. The last moment you were face to face with the fam and The Doctor was when they took you back to your apartment after the events of the Kassavin. You could see, then, that they were disapproving of your relationship with The Master. You would rather spend time with those who could at least try to understand your feelings for The Master and his feelings for you, instead of blindly following The Doctor’s view of him. SO you just decide to ignore their demeaning remark to The Master and your relationship with you.

You didn’t need The Master to tell you that he was acting out because of something. You assumed that it had to do with being left behind by The Doctor on that adventure where you were not present, causing Missy to regenerate into this new Master. But when he spoke of knowledge he had gathered on the subject of Gallifrey’s founding, you didn’t question his acts because you knew of his past and the trauma that was inflicted on him and even The Doctor by the elders of the planet. The Doctor didn’t inform the fam about her past, you could tell when you bring up something about Gallifrey or the Timelords or The Master, and they looked onward to you, confused but intrigued. It was difficult to not find The Doctor’s secret keeping annoying, only making your wish to stay away from that environment increase with each passing day. 

With the lack of communication with the fam and The Doctor, and little involvement with people at your school and job, you and the TARDIS  became very close. She would brighten up when you were near, the both of you grieving over the same individual. She was used to The Master’s changes and schemes that could get out of hand and leave her stranded, but she knew how you were not accustomed to this lifestyle. Missy, if she were to ever get lost, once she found her TARDIS she would always fly back to when she last saw you. From your perspective, it was always the same Missy, but to her, sometimes it was a couple of months since she last saw you, in extreme cases it would be years. When The Doctor has brought her back to Earth within the Vault, it had been almost fifty years since she last saw you.

The Master has obviously watched over you as O and during the 77 years stay on Earth, but unfortunately for him and his relationship with you he was more absentminded than Missy, resulting in him getting lost in his schemes and not landing back at the most available time. So it was now the TARDIS’s responsibility to look after you.

After a rough and stressful day at university, you went searching through the TARDIS, trying to find The Master’s bedroom. The TARDIS had led you to multiple doors, purposefully leading you to them, but also not letting you stay too long in the first few because there was still more to show you. The first was your private room from right after Missy told you who she really was, she gave you the opportunity to go to that room later whenever you felt overwhelmed and needed alone time. The second was the room you and Missy shared whenever you would stay in her TARDIS compared to your apartment at school or family home. The third room was the room you stayed in O’s Australian home, in the exact same state you left it in, messy bed and all.

The final room the TARDIS led you to was The Master’s, it was much larger than the previous rooms combined. It housed a cluttered desk, a large, four poster bed covered in purple and black blankets and pillows and purple curtains, and tall bookcases covering the walls. A ladder leading up to an open attic layer in the corner of the room caught your eye. Curiosity got the better of you, and an extra push from the TARDIS, caused you to climb the ladder. The room was dark, but clean and filled with large trunks neatly labeled in Gallifreyan. You tried to understand the circular writing, but to no avail. Some words were comprehensible, thanks to what the TARDIS had taught you, but not enough. So you decided to just open the trunk closest to the attic opening. 

Inside, you found Missy’s old clothes. She rarely let you wear any of the items, only when she was protective of you or jealous of a stranger getting too close to you, or when the two of you were intimate, would she let you borrow one of her coats. With the latter circumstances she might have let you borrow one of her corsets. Generally, however, she preferred to see you wearing clothes that she commissioned for you, still allowing her to be possessive, but making you more comfortable in an outfit perfectly designed to your figure.You quickly shuffled off your top and replaced it with Missy’s purple coat, it was always your favorite. You dug through the trunk, moving away more clothing items until you found a couple of small, ornate boxes.

Inside the boxes, there were various items. It took you a moment to realize that these were all mementos of your time together. One of the boxes, larger than the others, was filled with multiple journals and bound photographs of the pair of you. You packed up the small boxes and carried them out to your room, still wrapped up in Missy’s coat. 

You stacked up the journals in chronological order, the oldest on top, then removed the ties holding the photographs together. You noticed very quickly that all of the photos were taken on either your phone or one of your cameras. There was one outlier, however, which was a photo of you glaring at Missy who you remembered was trying to prove to you that her alien camera technology was better than your primitive human technology. You didn’t really respond to her taunting, you liked and were used to your human belongings, but were open to the new science you were being introduced to on a daily basis. But you grew shocked when you found photos that you had never seen before contained within the stacks Missy had collected. There were pictures of you asleep in your arms, or you when you were working on your homework or art, or even you doing everyday chores in your apartment. On the back of each photograph, you could read Missy’s elegant handwriting describing the photo and the date it was taken.

As you delved deeper into the contents of the boxes, rereading miscellaneous notes and letters from you and gifts you had given her, your home phone rang, but you let it go to voicemail, more consumed by Missy’s memories. You forgot about the answering machine message on your home phone until you heard it, it was Missy’s voice, “Why hello, lovely Human! You seem to be calling at an inconvenient time, turns out the owner of this home is in the middle of a very private act” she audibly gasped before laughing. You heard a younger version of yourself yelling at Missy to put the phone down. Missy only continued to laugh at the younger you’s shocked attitude before saying, “Do whatever it is you Humans do on this primitive device.” You don’t know why you never changed the outgoing message. The mementos the TARDIS let you see plus this moment of actually hearing Missy’s voice again broke you. You couldn’t hold back the tears streaming down your face, even with the reassuring beeps emanating from the TARDIS. The only thing that broke your concentration was the person calling you.

“Hi, Y/N.” It was Yaz. “I tried calling your mobile, but you didn’t answer. The Doctor said that this was your home number. I just wanted to check in and see how you were.” You weren’t going to respond, at least not yet. You would just say that you were busy with school work. Missy was the only important thing right now, especially when you had the opportunity to read her words and encounter her thoughts and beliefs again.

You opened the journal you had placed on the top of the stack, the first date recorded being the day your first met. She wrote of when she first saw you often, constantly referencing back to that moment well into the journal, always referencing how she knew she needed you from that date, how everything you did caught her eye. How quietly you entered the shop Missy was working at in an attempt to be seen as human, how you shyly searched the aisles, moving out of the way and turning your head down to stare at the floor whenever another person would pass you. She described you as young, you were. You were barely old enough to drink when you met Missy. But she could see something within you that was not present in other people your age she would come into contact with. She was the person who was attending the cash register when you finally retrieved all of the items you wished to buy. You recalled how flirty she was toward you, as you read how she loved seeing your cheeks grow warm and red as you would bashfully giggle and look toward your feet. You had left the shop with a hopeful Missy declaring that the two of you would see each other again. You were unaware, until you returned to your dorm room, of the note Missy had snuck into one of your shopping bags containing her number. 

You hesitated when responding, no one had ever expressed any interest in you before and you were naive and unaware of how to go about this without seeming desperate or juvenile. You read Missy’s account, how hopeful she was, how she saw something special in you and she didn’t want to be disappointed. She wrote how anxious she became when you never contacted her, that was definitely something to learn. You had never really seen Missy as anxious, she hid it very well except when pressed.

You remember thinking that it would be better to confront Missy in person, rather than call her. So, despite not needing anything, you ventured out to the shop to look for her. You saw her eyes light up when she saw you, but she quickly put on a face of  confidence. She asked what it was that you were intending on buying today, but you quickly told her that you weren’t here for anything to buy. Then you quietly asked if there was a time when she was free so the two of you could talk. Missy noted in her jornal that if anyone else was on the receiving end of your statement, they would have assumed that you were disappointed or annoyed or about to tell them off because of your tone. However, Missy was able to read you well, and knew that you were just shy. 

Once her shift was over, she took you to a fancy restaurant, too fancy for the everyday clothes you were wearing. She paid for everything, not worried about the money. You looked around the restaurant occasionally, everyone appeared to be a powerful business person or politician, you couldn’t help but wonder why they were not glaring at you and Missy for your daily wear . WHen you turned back to Missy, she always wore a knowing smile that simultaneously scared you but drew you in. You wanted to know what she knew. 

After your meal, Missy asked if you would like to come home with her. You were hesitant, having had a couple of glasses of wine already, but you eventually agreed. Her home was quaint, but incredibly elegant. More elegant, you assumed, than what a home owned by a shopkeep would have. She led you through her home, briefly stopping in her kitchen to retrieve two wine glasses and a bottle of wine similar in price to the one she ordered in the restaurant, she then showed you to her room. You stopped in the doorway, worried by what Missy wanted. 

When she turned around, wondering why your footsteps stopped, she laughed when she saw your scared face. She stopped and sighed saying sweetly that the two of you would only do what you were comfortable with. She only led you here because her chairs and sofas were more for appearance rather than comfort and her bed was the only comfortable place in the home. On later occasions when you sat in those chairs, you agreed with her and said that she should think about comfortable furniture in the future. Which could explain O’s Australian home and then his console room and the abundance of sofas available. The night ended by you drunkenly falling asleep in her bed beside Missy’s adoring face. You awoke, however, alone, but to the smell of various breakfast food. Before you could get out of bed and meet her in the kitchen to help her with the food, Missy carried in a large tray containing various foods for the both of you. She forced you to eat and manage your hangover, even though you said that you were fine and she didn’t need to do this, but she insisted. After eating, Missy gathered up some clothes that were magically your size and allowed you to shower before she drove you to your school building. Before leaving the car, you made sure that you enjoyed your evening and that if she wanted it, you would like to continue seeing Missy. She smiled brightly before leaning in to place a sweet kiss to your lips before saying that she would love that and she would pick you up in a couple of days. Looking back on it, this moment felt so long ago, both you and The Master had changed so much since then, how the two of you grew together.

Going over these events and reading them through Missy’s words, you couldn’t help but see similarities between how she treated you and how The Master treated you. Eventually your mind wandered from Missy’s memories and you couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have mementos with her new regeneration. Would he push away your camera when you want a picture, or would he strut and pose like Missy did? From what you had read, Missy cared about you more than anyone else, but she was quite reserved emotionally and tried to stay stoic and and constantly expressing the essence of regalia to keep you in a constant state of flustered bashfulness. She loved seeing your blush. Would The Master? Would his new regeneration try to separate his feelings, or would he let you see all of him, even the broken parts. You were shocked when you read how long Missy would be away from you on some occasions and how you were so unaware of what Missy had been though. You remembered Missy just falling in your arms on some nights, and you figured that a failed adventure or scheme would explain that. You wondered how long it would take The Master to come back. You hoped that it would be no where near 77 years. You wish you had known of Missy’s collection, how intense her love was for you, and how much she did to protect you and keep you safe from her past. You might have acted differently around The Master, stronger and more forceful in protecting him, because he needed to be cared for too. 

You hoped that The Master was safe. Despite fear present in The Master’s eyes before he was taken by the Kassavin, you believed that he was still alive. You had to believe that he was still alive. Other than the TARDIS, the thoughts of him being alive was all you had. You hated how short your time together was. Reminiscing on the few days of knowing O and this new incarnation of The Master, you knew that he not only loved you, but loved you deeply. You, as a Human, had very little understanding of the effects of regeneration, however, you imagined that a love carrying on through the change of every cell in a body was a big deal. 

You removed your mind from your sadness over him and brought yourself back to reading Missy’s journals. You were currently reading about how she loved to watch you sleep, cradled in her arms and pressed flush against her body. She said that in those moments time stopped, the outside world didn’t exist. It was the two of you in a cocoon of love, acceptance and big fluffy blankets. Your moment with O in his Australian home popped into your mind when you read that, despite you wanting to focus on Missy. This would explain why you saw his eyes lite up so brightly when you asked him to stay with you that night. You wished that The Master had listened to you to take a break when looking for The Doctor, then the two of you could have had a moment alone. If all you did was take a nap together, at least the both of you would have some time alone away from the stress The Doctor placed on your relationship.

But you became distracted when you heard a loud bang come from outside your bedroom window. You quickly rushed over to see what could have made the noise, but from where you were there was nothing below your apartment window that could have been the source of the sound. You returned to where you were sitting on your bed. You continued to search through Missy’s old journal and the photographs, reminiscing on the positive moments you had with her. 

You ended up falling asleep whilst reading Missy’s journal, still wrapped in her purple coat, having reached her accounts of the events that occurred after Missy revealed who she truly was to you. You slept soundly that night, which had been an unusual occurrence since you lost The Master again. But finding these artifacts of your time with the love of your life calmed your mind. You now had something to remember her by, along with The Master’s TARDIS, these items were a comfort to have in this time of grieving. However, in your heavy sleep, you were left unaware of the shadowy figure watching you from the balcony outside your window.

[violetwolfraven]

Crossover Headcanons

((I know I have requests in my inbox but I just had to get this out of my head. Also I probably won’t be posting those requests for a while because my writer’s block is only barely starting to lift, so...))

Anyway this is gonna start off from one perspective and go to more later. Enjoy. 💜

Tw: past death, nightmares

...

So this is a... spin-off? Of the reincarnation au? An alternate timeline? A variant? Whatever it is the newsies are reincarnated and remember their past.

Also somehow most of them are going to the same college here, (I’m not going to say which one because I don’t want to research colleges right now) even if they’ve got a wide range of majors.

There’s only one dorm building even if people are only allowed to share a room with someone of the same gender.

This works out well for Elmer, because he’s pretty happy to be rooming with his boyfriend, Buttons.

But then he gets up to the floor their dorm is on and almost drops the box he’s holding.

Because it’s fuckin her. His national-level math nemesis since 11th grade. They’ve only faced off twice, the first time with her team winning and the second with his winning, but they’re each the only one who can beat the other in a math competition.

Elmer can see the shock in her eyes as she recognizes him and shouts YOU and then she’s stomping over to him aggressively enough that he’s pretty sure she wants to throw down physically.

Jack (who’s also on that floor with Davey) figures that too, and steps in front of him before she gets too close, but that girl acts like she doesn’t even notice him and shouts I WAS HALF A SECOND BEHIND YOU SOLVING THAT PROBLEM!

Elmer is kinda terrified but he defensively shoots back well I still solved it first and moves around Jack because this is his math nemesis and his fight.

The girl scowls at him for a couple more seconds then just sticks out her hand to shake, and Elmer realizes that he doesn’t actually know her name beyond the surname he’s seen on the back of her mathletes jacket. She introduces herself as Cady Heron.

Elmer Kazprzak, he responds, and Cady looks like she’s trying not to laugh, but he figures that’s probably fair, with how ‘Elmer’ was a common name in 1885 but not so much in 2003.

Jack clears his throat so Elmer introduces him but forgets that this isn’t their high school so things like oh this is Jack. He’s basically my dad. are weird.

Cady definitely thinks it’s weird but she doesn’t question it. Instead she just asks where Elmer is living, and it turns out, of course, he and Buttons are right next door to her and her roommate, Karen.

(I say Cady is living with Karen because Gretchen wanted to live with Regina and rules be damned Janis is with Damien.)

Elmer isn’t completely sure he’s not going to get murdered in his sleep but he guesses if he could handle the 1899 Newsboy Strike and World War I he can handle Cady Heron.

Meanwhile Katherine is going to Harvard so Sarah is rooming with someone she’s never met and she’s a little nervous.

And in stomps a girl who declares I’m a lesbian and if you have a problem with that tell me now so I can switch dorms.

And Sarah responds with my girlfriend out at Harvard would be pretty pissed at me if I did have a problem with that.

The girl lets her guard down, explains that she comes from a small town, and says her name is Alyssa Greene.

After that little bump, they get along good. Alyssa explains that her girlfriend, Emma, registered late and couldn’t get a dorm with who she wanted.

And Sarah’s just kinda like wait Emma as in Unruly Hearts Emma? Alyssa’s just like yeah!! I’m so proud of her!!

Sarah brags a bit about how Katherine is studying to be a journalist with a specialty in queer stories and long story short they become besties and eventually Alyssa introduces Emma for real and Sarah introduces Smalls and Sniper.

Emma and Alyssa are a bit thrown by the whole nickname thing but hey whatever now they have a Lesbian Club!

They do meet up with the boys occasionally but the Lesbian Club meets on a video call with Katherine every Saturday.

Anyway Jack meets Janis in art class and initially they kinda think each other is weird because their styles are very different but then they get in an actual conversation and get along amazingly.

Jack is definitely a fan of Janis’s philosophy of when someone hurts your friends you attack and grind your foe into the ground.

Janis tells her new bestie about Cady and Damien (and Regina, Gretchen, and Karen, though she still keeps Cady and Damien closer than the former Plastics) and she’s honestly shocked by the amount of friends Jack tells her about.

She does recognize some names, though. Romeo and Damien are both theatre majors and they’ve become friends.

But anyway Jack and Janis are like. Super good friends. Art buddies. Mlm/wlw solidarity. Protective friend pals.

Janis is pretty surprised when she introduces him to Cady and they’ve already met, and apparently oh fuck your math nemesis is Jack’s Elmer???

Jack’s just going oh fuck Elmer’s math nemesis Cady is Janis’s Cady???

Also Regina met Spot and Sarah at the gym and now they meet up with a few other people every other week to throw down like their own personal fight club.

At first Regina was just angrily trying to fight with no technique, but don’t worry, Spot and Sarah teach her.

There weren’t a ton of out gays at Northshore High, so yeah the Mean Girls crew definitely gets along with the Newsies crew out of solidarity.

Janis and at least one of the Plastics but I can’t choose which one(s) join the Lesbian Club.

Meanwhile Race is super hyped to meet Emma cause like I choreographed a dance to your song wanna see???

Emma is flattered but kinda weirded out and she mentions her friend Angie who’s a dancer too and Race is just *error 404*

Cause of course he saw the news story and knows Emma knows these 4 big Broadway stars but it just. Hasn’t connected until this moment that she like has their numbers.

He tries not to freak out too much cause he knows that’s weird but Emma eventually goes do you wanna meet her? And Race goes do I wanna meet her? She’s only my IDOL!! she’s been dancing like 20 years and she’s still got it!!

Emma calls Angie partially because she likes her new dancer friend and wants to make him happy and partially because she wants to prove to Angie that people do appreciate her zazz and despite how she was just a chorus girl until a few months ago this random boy from New York has been a fan since he was 12.

Angie can’t exactly fly over at the drop of a hat but she watches some videos on YouTube of Race dancing and like holy hell this kid is good. And his friends are too but this kid right here has zazz off the charts.

When she finds out he’s an orphan she’s lowkey can I adopt him??? but then she finds out he already has an adoptive mother and it’s Medda Larkin.

Medda Larkin who did more than a few shows with Angie when they were young but left Broadway to open her own theatre.

They fell out of touch years ago but still follow each other on Instagram and stuff.

But Angie shows Barry and Dee Dee and she’s super excited like remember Medda Larkin??? THIS IS HER ADOPTIVE KID AND HE’S AMAZING

And they watch YouTube clips of Emma’s new friends in high school shows and like wtf these kids are fuckin talented why aren’t they on Broadway???

They almost tell Emma to tell her friends to drop out of college and come straight (haha not that straight) to Broadway but Trent is like wtf no education is important.

Whatever the actors aren’t that relevant.

Sarah has a nightmare about her death one night. And with the others it’s not as big of a deal because they’re all rooming with each other, but Sarah’s roommate isn’t one of them.

She thinks Alyssa is asleep so she calls Katherine crying about how scared she was, how guilty she felt to be leaving her brothers and friends and Kath without a goodbye.

And Alyssa isn’t quite awake, but she’s awake enough that she hears Sarah whisper about how everything is just so stupid complicated. I shouldn’t be afraid of dying when I’ve done it before—when we’ve all died horribly—but I still am, Kitty. I can’t stop being afraid.

Alyssa is out of it enough that she falls back asleep, but when she wakes up she knows what she heard. That her roommate thinks she had a past life and died and implied that all her friends did.

Emma notices she’s acting weird and when she asks what’s wrong she tells her.

They both know it sounds crazy, but...

Emma tentatively points out some weird things about their friends from New York.

She’s study buddies with Race and occasionally he points something out she got wrong on her history homework. Something so small and inconsequential that it would’ve been almost impossible for him to know unless he was there and remembered from experience.

Smalls and Sniper have a habit of jumping apart if they were so much as holding hands and someone walks in on them, even though they come from a mostly accepting city with an accepting friend group.

That whole group straight up skipped history class the whole week they were learning about World War I and refused to make up the work.

They bring the half-baked theory to Janis who immediately remembers all the times she’s seen Jack draw small war-torn towns in France and dirty city streets and an outdated skyline as if seen from a rooftop, all of them too detailed to be anything but directly copied from something Jack has seen before.

But the question is if they’re drawn from a reference photo or a memory.

Cady realizes, upon hearing the theory, that Elmer and Buttons never take her up on offers to come to football games because they don’t like the noise.

More specifically, she remembers the look on her nemesis/frenemy’s face when he said he didn’t like fireworks.

Aaron notices that Davey always solves math problems by hand. He never uses a calculator unless someone reminds him it’s an option. And half the time, he defaults to using his right hand with terrible handwriting even though he’s left handed. Almost like he was raised with the whole ‘left hand devil’ thing, which doesn’t make sense because he went to a public school; not a religious one.

Damien realizes that Romeo has a habit of correcting the costume department, like he knows the period clothing for Hello, Dolly! better than they do. It annoys the hell out of them because upon some research, he is always right.

Regina notes how Spot and Sarah fight like they’re fighting for their lives in a street brawl. She knows that because she started taking karate in an attempt to win fights. She noticed months ago that her friends use technique that’s barely sustainable, like they’re just trying to stay alive until they can run or backup comes.

However all this is just fun and games, a crack theory they’re all mildly creeped out by but don’t really believe, until Gretchen finds it.

An article on the Newsboy Strike of 1899.

There’s a copy of the Newsies Banner, written by Katherine Plumber, which references strike leaders Jack Kelly and David Jacobs.

But they could write that off as just a creepy coincidence if not for the photo.

It’s the one Katherine and Darcy took that first day, which is in black and white and not the greatest quality, but clearly shows a lot of familiar faces.

A later story by this Katherine Plumber documents lives of street kids with interviews from kids with the same odd nicknames as the group they know.

Regina was the most cynical about this theory and even she can’t deny it now. There’s just too much evidence.

Especially when Karen finds Crutchie’s obituary, but Regina stops her from showing it to anyone else because that’s just too creepy.

The Mean Girls crew and Alyssa and Emma are... unsure if they should confront their friends about this, because a) this is freaky and b) the newsie gang is clearly still harboring trauma due to their deaths.

Plus, as Damien points out, being gay was illegal in 1899. Do you think they want a reminder of how they had to hide their feelings for each other back then?

Emma and Alyssa share a knowing look because they know what that’s like.

In the end Karen lets it slip when she asks Davey a question about her history homework involving World War II, mistakenly believing he was there.

Davey naturally questions her about it and she spills the entire story about how Alyssa heard Sarah’s phone call and they figured everything else out from there. She even shows him the article with the 1899 photo and the Newsies Banner.

And... shit, there’s a lot of memories behind that picture. And that’s them, over a hundred years ago, when they were kids and they weren’t all the same age like this time around.

The old Davey looks so big compared to Romeo and Elmer and god was Specs tall for a 15-year-old.

Davey didn’t even meet Smalls and Sniper in this lifetime until they were 16, but in that picture they’re only 13 and they’re so small.

A sidenote on Katherine has a picture of her in a hairstyle he hasn’t seen her in since 1917.

It’s a mixture between ptsd and nostalgia and Davey can’t decide whether to freak out or be happy.

He takes the article to Jack and tells him about how Gretchen found it and their non-reincarnated friends know.

Jack’s silently cursing the fact that he really should have been more careful with what he drew around Janis, but it’s kinda a relief that they know, honestly.

He shoots a quick text to the group chat and then turns his phone on do not disturb mode while he sits Janis down for a little chat.

He doesn’t go into graphic detail, but he does tell her an abridged version of everything. How they were basically a family and all lgbt+ in the early 20th century and how they died before their time and got a second chance.

It’s more than a little freaky for Janis, but it does explain a lot.

Such as how Jack demonstrates on a dare that he can still do some parkour because once upon a time, he used it to run from the cops.

Elmer tells Cady he’s so quick at math because he used to have to calculate change quickly and later had to help Jack and Davey come up with battle plans based on numbers vs tactics and terrain.

Regina definitely trusts Spot’s combat advice a lot more now because he was essentially a gang leader as a teenager and it has literally saved his life.

Race admits to Emma that her song made him cry because... in this lifetime he might not have had to be closeted, but in his last he was constantly worried about getting arrested or worse if people found out not just about him and his boyfriend, but his friends. His family.

Emma may or may not collaborate with him after that to write a song about how much it hurts to be closeted for your own safety and how much better it feels to be free to be who you are. Race dances in the music video and many of the other newsies make appearances but it’s mainly him and Emma. Spot and Alyssa cry when they see it. Damien does, too.

Who am I kidding everyone cries.

They get like 4 million hits on YouTube and it’s amazing.

The title is probably In the Light or something.

Also Cady, Aaron, Kevin, and Elmer form their own college level mathletes team and no one can beat them.

(Kevin’s not as close with the main group literally only because I don’t know that much about him as a character.)

(Also Stacy, Kailey, and whatever their boyfriends’ names are might be there somewhere but I don’t know them either.)

Katherine does get to meet the new kids in person eventually. And also I didn’t mention this earlier but Specs goes to Harvard too and he comes to visit too.

The power when the Lesbian Club finally gets to meet all in person? Unparalleled.

:)

[bnhaficsforthesoul]

BNHA College Au - Aizawa

Major: Psychology

Minor: History

Sports: Nope

Clubs: Nope x2

So shouta fully intends to become a teacher, he’s had a rough upbringing and cause of that he wants to help kids in any way he can

This is one of the reasons he chose to major in psych, other than the topic being very interesting he wants to have a good understanding on psychology so that he can be as helpful as possible

He’s planning on becoming a high school teacher cause he feels like that’s the age group he would work best with and also he could help the most there

He works at a local high school too as a tutor, decided he might as well get some experience in and tutors students (mostly first years) on whatever he can help with, he’ll go there on days he doesn’t have any classes

He’s honestly just minoring in history because it’s always interested him, he finds learning how everything has developed over time into today interesting

Him and nemuri definitely have nerdy conversations about history, even though she’s more interested in the art aspect of it, they still talk about it all the time while hizashi and oboro are usually just stuck there listening to them ramble

Anyways, back to him working at a high school, you also work there

You’ve obviously seen shouta multiple times and knew he was from your college, but you didn’t really bother trying to talk to him at first because you just needed to focus on your job

However, one day when shouta was helping a kid on his math homework, they came upon a problem that neither of them knew how to solve, and seeing you in the room the kid called you over to ask if you could help

Cue lowkey blushy shouta because you instantly ran right over and tried helping the kid with a smile, and you had this cute concentrated look on your face as you read over the problem a couple times

Eventually the problem was solved, and the kid had to go leaving you and shouta alone

You didn’t want to be rude and just walk away, and there was no one else needing your help right now so you sat down next to him and started talking to him

It was kinda awkward, you were very much carrying this conversation

“You go to UA right? What’s your major?” its a simple question that has the poor man almost panicking, but he muttered out a “Psychology.”

He’s got the kind of voice that makes him sound like he’s just not interested, but you can tell from the look on his face that he’s flustered, but it doesn’t seem like he wants you to leave

So you keep talking, mainly about your majors and career paths, but you don’t mind - it’s fun talking to the shy boy

Eventually it’s time to leave though, and you have plans elsewhere, so you go your separate ways

But now when you two are working at the same times, neither of you are so hesitant to talk to each other, and any time you have a break you spend it chatting about anything and everything

Of course, being the best friend that he is, hizashi found out about ‘the cute person at work’ that shouta’s been talking to (since after a couple days you finally exchanged numbers and suddenly your conversations weren’t limited to only being at work)

Hizashi is practically begging shouta to ask you out, literally on his hands and knees like “shOUTA PLEASSE YOU GOTTA DO IT!!!! JUST ONE DATE!!” he just wants his friend to be happy and not limited to only hanging out with him oboro and nemuri

But shouta’s too scared to, no matter how cute and nice you are he’s too worried that you’ll say no and he doesn’t wanna ruin the friendship you two have formed

So what does hizashi do? He asks you out for shouta (which almost gets him strangled when shouta finds out)

He took shouta’s phone while he went to shower, and of course he knows the password, so he just opened it up and texted you “hey, can I take you out for coffee tomorrow?”

He gets so excited when you say yes lmao and gives you all the details, then shouta walks back in and is like “the fuck are you doing?” and hizashi gets this huge grin on his face and responds “I got you a date~”

Hizashi barely even saw shouta move before suddenly the phone was ripped out of his hands so that shouta could frantically look to see just what his friend did, and the glare he sends hizashi has him almost regretting everything

Shouta debates telling you his friend sent those texts, but he sees how excitedly you said yes and decides he might as well see how this goes

He wakes up so early the next day lol he’s nervous, and he spends a good hour fixing his appearance, like he considers shaving and putting his hair up but he doesn’t want to look like he’s trying too hard at the same time, so he eventually decides on just wearing nice black jeans and a black long sleeve - going “it’s not even an actual date, it’s just coffee, it’s not that serious”

A couple hours later, shouta’s waiting in the cafe, sitting at a little table waiting for you since he got there a little early. He’s just texting hizashi, who’s offering shouta a bunch of encouragement since he knows he’s nervous, and eventually you walked in, immediately spotting shouta in the corner and going over to him

He’s so cute he sees that you dressed nicely for this too and he tries to be cool when he goes “you look nice” but the blush on his face betrays him, not that you mind, and the blush deepens when you compliment him back

He buys you your coffee, and you sit in your little corner of the cafe - just talking. Even though you guys basically do this all the time at work, now it feels more personal, and it has you both talking about your lives more. Nothing too specific, just funny stories and about your interests other than work or school related things

Once youre both done with your coffee, or when you both notice that you’ve finished it since you were so deep in conversation, he offers to walk you back to your dorm - he doesn’t want to keep you for too long

You let him, but once you get to your dorm, you tell him “I had fun, I hope we can do it again sometime” to which he can’t help but get excited for - you wanna go out with him again! Yay!

After that, it was a bit easier for him to ask you on dates, and you still saw each other at work constantly, and so you guys grew even closer pretty quick

You went on maybe 4 or 5 more casual dates before finally, after work one day, he gathered up all his courage and asked you out officially

“Hey, y/n, would you - would you go out with me? For real?” 

Baby looks so hopeful behind that generic bored stare of his, and of course youre ecstatic! You’ve had a small crush on him basically since day one, and now he’s actually asking you out! So of course you agreed, letting out an excited “of course I will!”

Okay so his friends adore you, they love seeing shouta so happy with you

You two just sit around in your dorms cuddling whenever youre not busy, hizashi acts like it’s gross, your roommate probably does too - but no one can deny how cute you are together

Even the high schoolers you tutor, of course they eventually got wind that you two were dating and they all ship it like crazy

Most of your dates consist of small things, like going back to that cafe, or taking a late night walk in the park, he doesn’t like doing anything too grand

Its fun watching as his beard grows out during finals, he’s too busy studying to shave and youre trying to kiss him but he’s all itchy, and he’s just like “Kitten, I’m sorry I promise I’ll shave later” every single day until he finally does, but then again if you like his beard youre probably thriving during this period 

During one of those late night walk dates, you guys came upon a small black cat under one of the benches. You barely even saw it with how dark it was, but you saw the glint of its eyes and went to investigate and saw a little kitten

He didn’t have a collar, and you didn’t see what could have looked like a momma cat or anything around, and you didn’t want to just leave the poor thing out there in the cold. So what did you and shouta’s dumb asses do? You adopted it. 

Even though cats aren’t allowed in dorms

But that wasn’t about to stop you guys - and you figured it would be better to keep the cat in shouta’s dorm because everyone was already used to hizashi being loud so you could excuse any meowing

Hizashi going “what the fuck guys, you’ve been dating for 4 months and you already have a kid? Smh my head” but he’s also a supportive uncle lmao he loves the kitten too

Oboro loves taking polaroids of you two and now you both have tons of photos of each other/you together in your rooms and its really cute - and also polaroids of your son too of course he’s part of the family

[wherearemyglassesbro]

May I get some human au single dad Arthur headcannons where he's raising the America and Canada (both nyo! And normal, or just one it's up to you) please and thank you!

Yes!!!

So Artie became a single dad at 24, the mom left when the twins were 3. So Art was stuck with Amelia, who cried and cried for weeks cause he missed his mom, and Matthew who was in the middle of a ‘I’m gonna smack food out of my dad’s hands’ phase

Matthew was always a very easy baby to handle! He didn’t really get messy unless he joined in some scheme with Amelia and he didn’t cry much at all. But he DID enjoy slapping spoonfuls of sweet potato out of Arthurs hand or throwing his own food across the kitchen for the dog to get. Arthur was not a fan

Amelia was a very loooooud baby. She cried, screamed, banged on things, screamed some more. When they lived in an apartment still, they got plenty of noise complaints. Arthur is a strong guy emotionally but he spent a few nights crying himself to sleep with Amelia in his arms after finishing a 4 hour tantrum. Other than all of that, she was good. She played great with other kids and got along very well with the dog! She also loved Matt and stayed by his side as long as she could

Arthur always felt judged when he walked pushed his twin stroller around. He felt like everyone could tell that he wasn’t the best dad. He was always trying so hard!! He made going to the laundromat a game for the babies, he made grocery shopping bearable by letting them bring a toy each, he put on the Beatles while they were stuck in traffic to distract them, he put colored soap in the bath to entertain them! He did so much to try and make their toddler years as good as they could be!! But he knew it wasn’t the best and that haunted him. “Dad! Dad! Matt!” “Yes I know Amelia, I see the dog too”

Art felt super judged when he put the kids on leashes. Once they learned how to run, BOTH kids insisted on running away on multiple occasions. Art grew like ten grey hairs in the process...he aged like 20 years from the STRESS of it all!! So he got them monkey backpacks with leashes on them so the kids could walk and he could make sure they didn’t sprint off. He used to make fun of parents with leashed kids. Now he understood them

As they grew, they had events at school and Art always recorded them and NO he did NOT cry that would be very unmanly of him thank u very much...>:’( He always made sure to tell them how proud he was of them and how much he loved them, he thought it was very important to tell them that! And ofc it is!

When the twins were 8, Art had enough money to finally get out of his lease and move the kids to a small ranch house outside of the city! They were so excited and thankful that they now had their own rooms!!! And a back yard!!! Art spent a whole day while they were at school building a swing set in the backyard! They still have that thing all set up :)

Art was never math smart but when it came to books or history or even science, he was able to help his kids with their homework! But math? No way. Math had changed way too much since his days in school. He had no idea what the ‘box method’ was or how to do it even though Matthew patiently walked him through it like ten times lmao. Matt usually spent a half hour or so every night helping Amelia with her math homework since he understood it and she didn’t. Art always thought that was very sweet of him :’)

Wrangling the kids has kinda always been a bit of a struggle. It was just the three of them but somehow everyone managed to lose soemthing right before they were about to leave or someone had the wrong socks on or ‘hey dad you didn’t pack me a lunch!’ ‘Dammit...’ the Kirklands now have a routine of getting up an hour earlier than they would need to just to be POSITIVE that no one forgot anything

Amelia had done softball since she was allowed to play and she took tennis in the summer. Matt played hockey in the fall and winter and golf in the warmer months. So his kids were very involved with sports! He had plenty of games to attend. The worst part though is that he’s only one man....And if they have games the same day, he has to choose between them which always makes him feel like garbage :( But he calls in the Kirkland clan (his brothers and parents) and all is fine!

Arthur literally wouldn’t have made it as a sad without his family’s help. His mom watched the babies when he was at work, his brothers took the kids to lunch when he had a doctors appointment or some adult thing to do, they even watched the kids while he went on blind dates which....didn’t really work out too well...obviously

As the kids got older they insisted on thrusting their dad into the dating world....he is still there trying lmao

Amelia wants to be an Olympian and Art supports her but kinda doubts her deep down cause she isn’t really one to commit to things. Matt wants to be a financial lawyer and Art is very surprised by that but he supports him!! Every day he’s surprised that he’s managed to raise such amazing kids. And when they get older, they’ll realize how much Art did for them :’)

[official-weasley]

The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley: Pt. 1, Ch. 8

PART 1: WHERE IT ALL BEGAN Chapter 8 - The Potions Hero

Penny

It was about a month before we would have to take our first-ever final exams. I was so excited as I was good all year, did all my homework plus some extra credit work in Potions, of course, and I just couldn't help to feel prepared.

Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for my friends who were oblivious to the fact that the final exams were coming. I have been warning them for about 2 weeks now but the replies I got back, made me think that they were going to be in big trouble if I don't nag them even further.

“Oh, come off it Penny, we still have plenty of time.” Tonks said to me one morning as I tried to slip the final exams into our conversation as we were meeting our friends for breakfast in the Great Hall.

“Penny, you are overreacting.” Tulip rolled her eyes over dinner the next day. “We have plenty of time and besides we are not doing so horrible at school that we ought to be worried about exams! How much harder than a few essays can they be?” She sounded really confident.

Charlie and Nova gave me the most trouble as I could hardly catch them as they spent more and more time outside. Nova kept relying on my notes more and more and when I heard that they are thinking of skipping a History of Magic lesson to go to Hagrid's I flipped.

You should have seen the look on their faces when the whole Courtyard turned in our direction as I was practically yelling at them that they simply can't be that irresponsible.

Nova's mouth was open and I could see guilt in her eyes and Charlie blushed so much that he looked like a tomato with red hair.

After I've threatened them that I will not lend them my notes for the final exams, they finally started to listen to me and now I take every opportunity we spent together as a group to remind them of the exams.

—

One morning, when I woke up and Tonks' bed was already empty and nobody was outside the Hufflepuff Common Room entrance and nobody was at the Courtyard or in the Great Hall, I was beginning to think that they have started avoiding me for nagging them so much.

Then an idea came to my mind that was almost impossible to believe. Could they be in the Library? I thought incredulously. I grabbed a quick bite in the Great Hall and hurried to the Library.

I've made sure to be as quiet as possible entering as Madam Pince would have my head if I spoke a word too loud. I looked around and at first thought that they weren't there after all. But then I spotted 2 redheads at the table in the far back. Charlie and Tulip were sitting with Nova and Tonks. They were all facing the bookshelves, their heads stuck together.

For a moment I felt proud as I thought they were finally studying but as I got closer...

“Okay, so what's the plan?” I heard Tonks whisper to the best of her ability.

“I reckon we should just ask her nicely.” Nova said, scratching her head.

“Are you mental, did you forget how she yelled at us in the Courtyard for being irresponsible wanting to skip History of Magic that one time, because I haven't? Her voice is still haunting me at night.” Charlie's voice shook a little.

“Well, what else can we do? It's not like we can force her?” Tulip said and gasped as if she couldn't believe what she just said.

“We can try!” Tonks already warmed up to the idea.

“Tonks, don't be ridiculous! Penny is our friend.”

“Shhhh!” Madam Pince shushed them as Charlie said the last sentence a little too loud for her taste.

“I am confident that if we apologize to her and ask her nicely, she would love to help us.” Nova felt confident.

“Hi guys, what are we whispering about?” I decided to play a little joke on them and stuck my head next to Tulip's who was on the left side of the head-sticking group.

“Ahhh!” There was a loud bang as they all jumped up and Tonks hit her knee at the table, their hands on their chests as I scared the living ghosts out of them.

I had to put both hands over my mouth not to laugh too loudly but it was in vain as Madam Pince was next to our table so quickly as if she has apparated.

“You either leave right now using your legs,” she glared at every single one of us, whispering, “or I will drag you out by your loud mouths.” She crossed her hands on her chest and pointed her long finger to the door.

I followed the lot to the Courtyard, them looking quite embarrassed but for me, this was the pranks I wanted to pull on people, not the ones Tulip, Tonks and Jae usually had in mind. Mine at least won't get us to lose House Points.

Tulip, Tonks, and I sat on the bench while Charlie and Nova sat on the ground in front of us.

“Soooo,” Tonks looked as if she swallowed a chili pepper, “how much have you heard?”

“You are planning something that might or might not be forced upon me.” I giggled, still amused, their faces frightened.

“Well,” started Nova, while scratching the back of her head. I bet she got that from Charlie, as he did it every time he was too shy to say something, “it has dawned on us that the final exams are approaching.”

“Oh, really?” I responded in a sarcastic tone.

“And we were,” Charlie continued, doing the same scratching motion as Nova, “we were wondering if you could help us study for our Potions exam?” He said as quickly as his tongue allowed him.

“Just for the Potions exam?” I was skepticalabout that.

“Yeah, we were talking and we are doing pretty good with Herbology. We are already doomed in History of Magic as even you haven't been taking notes. Nova will help us with Transfiguration and Charms, while Charlie helps us with Flying and Defense Against the Dark Arts and I will lend everybody my notes and hand when it comes to Astronomy.” Tulip revealed their plan.

“So you have all been studying?” I couldn't believe that they actually had a plan.

“Of course, we have, Penny!” Charlie exclaimed. “You've nagged us so much that we didn't have a choice, now did we.” He chuckled.

“As much as we don't want to admit it, we do care for school and our exams, Penny.” Tonks grinned.

“Tonks and I have been studying Herbology and Astronomy in the Kitchens for the past week.” Said Tulip proudly.

“That's what you've been doing in the Kitchens?” I couldn't help but be startled.

“Mischief isn't the only thing we do, you know.” Tonks sounded offended.

“Yeah and Hagrid has been helping Nova and I study for the Defence Against the Dark Arts. We studied so many beasts this year and he knows so much about them. That's why we were planning to go to Hagrid's the day you yelled at us at this exact place.” Charlie pointed a finger behind him to the middle of the Courtyard.

“You weren't going to go to Hagrid's to ask him again if he can take you into the Forest?” I asked incredulously.

“Nah, we gave up on that. It's almost the end of the year and he did promise to do it once we are in our Second Year so we decided to give it a rest. Make him forget about it a little.” Nova grinned.

“Sure!” Tonks and Tulip replied at the same time, giggling.

“Wow, I didn't think you were taking me so seriously.” My hand on my mouth as I couldn't help but be astonished at their achievements. “You even wanted to skip a class to study for another class.” I extended my arms at Nova and Charlie, proudly.

“We got your hint, Penny.” Chuckled Tulip.

“So will you help us study Potions?” Asked Tonks, now all 4 of them looking at me like Fang when he wanted scratches.

“Of course I will help you study!” I exclaimed. “I would help you lot even if you didn't start yet.” I admitted and they squeezed me into a tight hug.

We decided that we would start the next day and I stayed up all night to make them each notes on the most important things that I was confident are going to be on the exam. I also made them sheets that would help them remember potion ingredients and their most common uses. As for myself, I've made a plan what I would teach them, how, and where.

Obviously, Madam Pince wouldn't let us in the Library all together probably until the next year. So, in the morning when we all met for breakfast and I gave them everything I've prepared for them, we decided that staying at one of the tables in the Great Hall was going to be our best option.

After a few days, Nova and Tulip were doing the best. Nova had all the potion ingredients for all 3 major potions we worked on this year memorized. Tulip exceeded my expectations as she gave me not 7 but 8 reasons why Firecrab cauldrons are not as important as one might think. As much as Tonks was trying she still couldn't memorize the right ingredient sequence for the Sleeping Draught and Charlie was struggling to understand why do we need 5 reasons why a potion has to be stirred in a specific direction and why the other way around could be very harmful.

—

Later that week we got our Final Exam Schedule.

I've read it aloud:

“Monday – morning Charms theoretical exam, afternoon Charms individual practical exam

Tuesday – morning Herbology exam, afternoon History of Magic exam

Wednesday – morning Flying practical exam, midnight Astronomy practical exam

Thursday – no exams

Friday – morning Potions theoretical exam, afternoon Potions practical exam

Monday – morning Defense Against the Dark Arts theoretical exam, afternoon Defense Against the Dark Arts individual practical exam

Tuesday – morning Transfiguration theoretical exam, afternoon Transfiguration practical exam”

“Defense Against the Dark Arts practical exam?” Repeated Charlie. “We didn't even do any practical spell work in class!” He felt offended.

“I guess Rakepick assumed we would learn them on our own.” Nova shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, to be honest, we did learn some of the same spells in Charms, haven't we.” I thought out loud.

“I guess.” Charlie rolled his eyes. “It's nice to know that we have until Friday to study Potions, though.” His mood recovered.

—

I have to say that I was very proud of every single one of my friends as they were all fairly prepared for their Potions exam on Thursday night. We did have to shake Tulip awake a couple of times when her eyes started to shut as she was repeating different kinds of cauldrons in her head.

Of course, our study group didn't go unnoticed and by Wednesday afternoon Murphy, Jae, and Andre, who stopped to talk to Tulip and Nova as he was a Ravenclaw, joined.

On Friday, nobody except me and Charlie, who was obviously a nervous eater, ate breakfast as others rather nibbled on their nails, lips, or mumbled words to themselves as they were revising before the hardly anticipating Potions exam.

Nobody wanted to talk about the theoretical part, they saw it as a waste of time as they wanted to prepare themselves for the practical part of the exam. I was leaning on my hand in the Great Hall, looking at them as I was listening to their murmurs, counting on fingers, and rubbing the sides of their foreheads. I knew I had amazing and smart friends but I couldn't help but smile as I was so proud of how much effort they actually put into their least favorite subject.

[fanfictionaries]

Oh So Many Years: Ch. 4 - I’m Alive

Pairing: Hermione Granger x Fred Weasley

Summary:

The tournament has been announced! Hermione expresses some conflicted feelings, and Fred and George make a harrowing discovery.

Warnings: Swearing, Death, Smut/18+ NSFW

Author’s Note: I will now be updating this story every week before midnight on Sundays (US MST)! Please feel free to like, comment, and reblog! xoxo

Masterlist

<< Chapter 3

If I should break My silent streak Will knives come out To cut my cheek?

  Hermione couldn’t help the swell of pride in her chest at Fred’s acknowledgement of being bested. Truly, it wasn’t a thing to be proud of. There was no joy in winning a game amongst idiots. What was the muggle phrase again? Play stupid games, win stupid prizes? Either way, the last thing she ever expected to fill her with smug glee was Frederick Weasley’s approval. No. She shook her head. It wasn’t his approval that made her feel this way. It was the glorious relief of getting the prat to shut up once again, that’s what it was. But if that were true, then why was her mind drifting back to last night’s conversation and the gentle banter the two shared? She felt it then too. The glowing sense of satisfaction that he not only approved of her mental prowess when it came to the art of repartee, but that he also found amusement in it.

Unable to ponder on the thought for long, she turned her attention to Dumbledore as he announced for the year’s sorting to begin. Hermione watched as the group of frightened first years filed into the Great Hall; their eyes wide with wonder. She remembered her first moment seeing the magnificence of Hogwarts. No amount of reading had prepared her for all that the school had to offer. The sorting went by quickly, Hermione clapping and cheering politely when one of the new students joined their table. Some students, especially the Gryffindor students, got quite into the sorting, seeing it as some competition. Hermione was all for house pride, but she really didn’t see it necessary to boo when a child was placed in Slytherin or laugh when placed in Hufflepuff. Glaring over at Ron, Harry, and the Weasley twins, Hermione wished they would conduct themselves with a bit more civility. Honestly, the school could do with more house unity in her opinion. Still, they acquired quite a fair number of new Gryffindors, including the Collin Creevey’s little brother who was already gawking at Harry like he was some kind of god.

Hermione snorted. She imagined they wouldn’t feel that way if they ever had to help him with his Astronomy homework.

Once the sorting ceremony was over, Dumbledore stood up again, his midnight blue robes sparkling with silver stars. Hermione always secretly wondered where he got his robes. They were the most ornate and intricate pieces she’d ever observed in the wizarding world. Surely, they didn’t sell them anywhere in Diagon Alley. At least, she never saw anything quite like them in Madame Malkin’s shop. Perhaps Twilfitt and Tatting’s. She watched as their headmaster adjusted his half-moon spectacles and cleared his throat.

“Good evening and welcome back to another fantastic year at Hogwarts. I would like to begin with a few announcements. First, as many of you know, the forest on the grounds is strictly prohibited to all students. Second, the wizarding village of Hogsmeade is also off limits to students below their third year or for those without permi—” Dumbledore was cut off by a loud crack of thunder and the groan of the large Great Hall doors opening. All heads turned towards the entrance, confused by the sudden interruption. What they found was a short and stalky man standing haggardly as the heavy wooden door closed behind him. A sense of unease washed across Hermione as she watched him enter the hall slowly. His long, patched robes hung heavy on him, dripping water onto the floor as he limped towards the head table. He leaned heavily on a thick, wooden staff and grunted with every step. Wet, tangled grey hair hung in his face – a face marred with thick and grotesque scars. But it wasn’t the grueling number of scars that unsettled her. It was his eyes. One eye was small, dark, and beady, while the other was a striking blue that never seemed to stop moving. It swiveled around in all directions, never focusing on one spot for long as he kept his pace towards the headmaster. As he approached, Dumbledore smiled unfazed. They shook hands briefly across the table in a familiar manner before the mysterious wizard limped to take a seat at the spot usually reserved for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

“What good timing my old friend, I was just about to introduce you!” Dumbledore exclaimed delightfully. “This year, the Defense Against the Dark Arts position will be filled by a very dear friend of mine, Alastor Moody. Alastor?” Dumbledore motioned to the scraggly man. Moody stood and gave a curt nod to the mass of students. A spatter of confused, yet polite applause greeted him. Hermione stared at the man speculatively. She had read about Alastor Moody. Some called him Mad-Eye Moody, which observing him now, she could see why the nickname was appointed. A famous auror and dark wizard catcher, he was renowned for his part in catching most of the known Death Eaters currently in Azkaban. However, over the past few years he had become known for his increasing paranoia. If the rumors were true, Hermione wondered if he was truly qualified to be teaching young children.

“Right! Lastly, I have the unfortunate duty of informing you that our annual Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not be taking place this year,” announced Dumbledore. His announcement was met with numerous cries of outrage from the tables of students. Some of which were most loudly emanating from Oliver Wood down the table. Hermione frowned sadly in his direction before looking to Harry and Ron who seemed equally as devastated but more entirely confused. While Hermione was disappointed for them, she couldn’t help but feel a small jolt of glee. At least she wouldn’t have to spend hours in the cold watching Harry try to kill himself on a broom.

“This is due to a very special opportunity—” Dumbledore went on “—Over the coming months, our school has the honor hosting an event that hasn’t taken place in over a century. It is my pleasure to announce that Hogwarts will be home to the Triwizard Tournament!”

“You’re joking!” Fred Weasley exclaimed, his voice ringing loud through the hall. Hermione turned to glare at him for his incredibly rude outburst, but ultimately rolled her eyes when the entirety of the hall began to laugh, including Dumbledore himself.

“No, Mr. Weasley, I am not joking,” the headmaster stated before continuing to inform them all on the history of the Triwizard Tournament. Hermione of course, knew all about the tournament. There was a whole section in Hogwarts, a History dedicated to the event. While the competition was a great opportunity for selected students to show off their magical abilities, it was also quite dangerous. In fact, the whole reason the tournament hadn’t taken place in centuries was because of the overt amount of deaths it resulted in. She warried a glance at Harry across the table. This was exactly the kind of thing he would find himself mixed up in.

“I’m going for it!” she heard Fred whisper down the table. Rolling her eyes, she doubted he had half the knowledge and strength it took to win something as monumental as the Triwizard Tournament. As Dumbledore went on, the hall became restless. Student voices, excitedly discussing the tournament and all it had to offer, soon rose in volume that Hermione deemed quite inappropriate.

“Now, now, I know all of you are understandably eager to participate and win the Triwizard Cup for Hogwarts—” lamented Dumbledore “—however, as one of the compromises made in order to bring the tournament back, myself, the heads of the participating schools, and the Ministry of Magic have all agreed to place an age restriction on this year’s event. Only students seventeen and older will be allowed to enter their names for the Triwizard Tournament. This, is something that we feel is necessary as the tasks will be incredibly difficult and will require the education and experience of older witches and wizards, to complete.”

Hermione gave a great sigh of relief at this revelation. Thank Merlin. That fact alone meant everyone she knew at Hogwarts personally was safe. Even Fred and George weren’t seventeen yet. However, looking around at the disappointed and even angry faces at her table, showed that only she was happy about the rule change. She didn’t let their disappointment ruin her mood though. Instead she listened contentedly, until next thing she knew, her was done and dinner was served.

Dinner went by uneventfully, conversation filled laments of summer trips, general gossip, and theorizing about the upcoming tournament. Hermione was thoroughly stuffed by the time the tables were magically cleared and their group departed back to Gryffindor Common room. Hermione trailed behind Harry and Ron as they walked with the twins through the halls, thinking about her classes the next day when George’s voice broke her concentration.

“You know, Freddie, I reckon we could find a way to get past whatever Dumbledore will use to enforce the age restriction,” George said enthusiastically.

“How do you suppose they’ll pick to decide who gets in or not?” Harry asked. Hermione thought that was quite a good question. In her reading, it was never explicitly stated how the competitors were chosen. It simply stated that they were.

“No idea, but it’ll be them that we have to fool—” stated Fred, his chest puffing in confidence “—I think a few drops of aging potion should do the trick.”

“But Dumbledore knows you aren’t old enough,” Ron piped up as they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room.

“Yes, but whoever is deciding doesn’t. It seems to me that they’ll just choose whoever is best from each school. Dumbledore is just trying to stop us from getting our names in is all,” George replied to his younger brother.

“And you two aren’t the least bit concerned that people have died in this competition before?” Hermione inquired, feeling irritation bubbling up below her calm façade.

“Not a bit,” the pair responded with cheeky grins.

Fred and George’s response irked Hermione quite terribly. Were they really that immune to the idea of potential imminent death? Fred definitely wasn’t – no matter what he said. She knew that for certain just from her memories of the Quidditch World Cup. He had been just as afraid as her, she saw it on his face. That fact alone gave her comfort when she continued to endure the agonizing nightmares revolving around that night. Rubbing at her eyes, she cursed at just how bloody tired she was. When she nodded off in the Weasley kitchen that night sitting across from Fred, it had been the first peaceful sleep she’d had in weeks. Unfortunately, the peace did not last long, for as soon as her head hit the pillow in Ginny’s room the nightmares were back again. However, the comforting thought that she had not been the only person scared and panicked that night reassured her that she was not overreacting. Even though everyone had all but forgotten the events of the Quidditch World Cup. Hermione wanted to forget as well.

“Well if Fred and George figure out a way to enter their names, I want in,” said Ron as they sat in the common room. Upon entering the tower, Fred and George made swift exits to their room, most likely to start on their idiotic aging potion idea. It wasn’t going to work, Hermione knew that, but she doubted anything she said to them would get through their thick skulls.

“You most definitely will not Ronald Weasley!” Hermione scolded the freckle-faced boy sitting across from her in front of the fire. He rolled his eyes at her, ignoring her objection.

“Oh, come on Hermione. Everyone knows the age limit is insulting. Us three have faced loads of dark magic already. Especially Harry! You don’t think he’s capable of winning a silly little competition? Tell her Harry!” Ron looked over at Harry for support, but all the bespectacled boy could manage was a conflicted expression before Hermione responded.

“I think Harry has faced enough life-threatening situations for a lifetime, thank you very much. I’d rather you two lose the opportunity of fame and fortune, than risk your necks again. To do so would just be stupid. No one can evade death forever!” Hermione rose from her seat and stormed out, leaving the two boys to gawk at her retreating form.

Hermione huffed and puffed about her room, slamming books down and pulling on her sleep clothes more aggressively than usual. The other girls in the room continued their babble, paying her no mind as they were too engulfed in whatever the latest gossip was to care about her bad mood. She crawled into bed and drew the curtains closed, blocking out all the light from her roommates Pavarti, Lavender, and Fey. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to sleep – to block out all the frustrations of the day and to most importantly not have nightmares. Truth be told, she shouldn’t be so upset at Ron. It was all trivial. In the end, the twins would never figure out how to enter their names into the tournament and thus neither would Ron nor Harry. This might end up being a perfectly normal year after all. There was no magical item with the ability to keep one alive forever taking up residence in the castle; there couldn’t possibly be a second mysterious chamber hidden under the school housing a deadly snake; and there wasn’t an escaped Azkaban prisoner seemingly attempting to murder her best friend – that she knew of. No, this year they would be the spectators. They would watch as three experienced and skilled students, they were not close to, risk their lives in the tournament. Maybe a Ravenclaw or a Slytherin would compete for Hogwarts. Whoever it was, it wouldn’t be them and they would watch from the stands, getting a thrill from the entertainment. Then they would return to the common room, talking about who they thought would win. They would study hard and pass their classes. They would end the year happy and safe, and looking forward to the next year.

Everyone would be safe, happy, and together.

    No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. It had to be there. It had to! Fred tore through his trunk again, this time physically removing the items one by one and throwing them onto the dormitory floor around him. However, much to his dismay, he reached the bottom empty handed. Standing abruptly, he rushed over to George’s trunk and began to do the same. He was halfway through its contents when his brother came in, followed closely by Lee Jordan and Kenneth Towler.

“Oi, Freddie, mind telling me why you’re scrounging through my personal things?” George asked, staring down at his brother with a curious gaze.

“It’s gone,” Fred answered gravely, continuing to tear through George’s trunk.

“What’s gone?” asked Lee, hopping over the growing pile of things on the floor and landing clumsily on his bed.

“I swear I just saw it the other day and now it’s gone Georgie!” exclaimed Fred in a panic, sitting back on his heels when he, once again, reached the baren bottom of the trunk.

Towler sighed, walking through the mess, and placing his school bag down next to his neatly made bed. Airily he pulled out a few textbooks and laid down before remarking, “I always knew one of you would lose it. Personally, I always thought it would be George.”

George cast an unamused expression in Towler’s direction before crouching down next to his obviously distressed twin. “Get ahold of yourself mate—” George shook him roughly “—just tell me what’s going on.”

“The money!” yelled Fred, breaking away from George’s hold and moving to his wardrobe. “It’s gone! I’ve looked everywhere for it and it’s gone. Last I checked it was in our money pouch and now it’s not there.”

“Wait. You don’t mean the money we won, do you?” George asked, rushing to Fred’s side, and grabbing him by the arm. He pulled him roughly, forcing Fred to cease his search and face his twin. Fred swelled with irritation. He didn’t have time for this. He needed to find the missing galleons. Fred didn’t need to respond for George to know that it was, in fact, the money they won from their bet at the world cup. George’s eyes widened in disbelief and then, he too began to tare wildly through his wardrobe, all the while chanting a desperate mumble of “No, it’s impossible.”

“Two hundred galleons do not just up and walk away Freddie!” cried George, abandoning his wrecked wardrobe, and lying flat on his belly to look under their beds.

“Where on earth did you two get two hundred galleons?!” asked Lee incredulously. He sat up in his bed, showing a larger interest at the mention of money the two had seemed to misplace.

Fred sighed, sinking to the floor, and leaning against the open door of his wardrobe. Closing his eyes tightly, he banged the back of his head against the wood as he tried to think.

“We won it,” answered George, now pulling back the covers on his bed.

Fred smirked sadistically, knowing it was a lost cause. He already checked there.

“Won it?” asked Lee again, clearly both confused and impressed.

“Yeah, we bet our dads friend all our money and a bloody fake wand that Krum would catch the snitch, but Ireland would win—” Fred rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms in frustration “—he was pretty surprised when we were right, but he paid us. We’ve had the money locked up in my trunk ever since. We were going to use it to upstart our business.”

‘Were’, was the important part of that sentence, thought Fred. Now without the money, he had no clue how they would fund their business after school. They could get jobs he supposed. He and George could work in a shop and save up until they had enough. It wasn’t the worst scenario, but merlin, it wasn’t what they imagined.

“Well I didn’t touch it,” said Lee, holing his hands up to signify his innocence.

“You couldn’t have taken it even if you wanted to,” said Fred. “I put so many wards on my trunk, you’d think I was trying to keep Dumbledore himself out.”

“It has to be here somewhere Freddie. Are you sure you didn’t take the money pouch out for something and then, I don’t know, leave it somewhere?”

Fred looked at his brother in irritation before snapping, “Actually now that you mention it, just the other day I was sitting on my bed and I thought ‘Gee, you know what would be an excellent idea? Taking two hundred galleons for a bloody walk.’ Of course, I didn’t take it out for anything! What do you take me for, Georgie?”

“I’m sorry, you’re right. That was a stupid question. I just don’t understand what could have happened to it.”

“This friend of your dads, he wouldn’t happen to be Ludo Bagman, would he?” asked Towler from his bed, nose currently buried in his transfiguration textbook.

Fred and George froze, so still they could have easily been mistaken for victims of a well-placed body bind curse. They looked at their second roommate with suspicion.

“Why?” the two questioned in unison, staring hard at the sandy-haired boy.

“My dad says he’s a real bilker. He’s always making bets and never paying up – still owes my dad two galleons and seven sickles from a game of cards almost a year ago,” said Towler, looking back at his book with a bored expression.

Fred took a moment to process his words. Kenneth Towler was many things: swotty, boring, killjoy to name a few, but he wasn’t a liar. So that meant if he said Ludo Bagman was a renowned cheat, then it was probably true. Still though, he had paid them the money. Almost immediately even. If he was constantly broke, then where did he come up with the galleons to pay them off? Unless…

George seemed to have the same thought he did because it was his turn to sink to the floor in abject horror.

“Leprechaun gold,” they said in distraught realization.

It was the only possible explanation, thought Fred. While possessing the exact same features as a wizarding galleon, leprechaun gold had one little thing about it that made it unique – it vanished after twenty-four hours. Fred cursed under his breath, standing, and beginning to place his things back into his trunk.

“Of course that slimy git would try to con us out of our well-deserved money. We should have known!” exclaimed George, throwing his hands in the air.

“Maybe it was a mistake,” Lee offered kindly.

Fred and George snorted, “That’s likely.”

“Well it never hurts to make sure,” said Lee, taking off his shoes and kicking their things out of the way as he shuffled to his wardrobe to pull out his sleep clothes.

“He’s got a point Georgie,” said Fred, pausing his cleaning to grab parchment, a quill, and his ink bottle from the ground.

Dear Mr. Bagman,

Fred and George Weasley here! We’re sure you remember us from the world cup. We were the two incredibly dashing twins that won all that money off you.

Speaking of the money, it seems there was a slight mistake and you paid us in leprechaun money instead of real money.

We’re sure it was just an innocent error on your part and therefore would hold no ill-will against you as long as you respond to this letter with the amount in full.

Sincerely,

Fred and George Weasley

Founders of Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes

Fred penned the letter as George stood over his shoulder reading aloud and making suggestions. When they were satisfied with the tone and contents of their letter, Fred folded it neatly and placed it inside an envelope, addressing it to Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic.

“Do you suppose we have enough time to make it to the owlery before curfew?” Fred asked, kicking the rest of his things out of the way, and pulling on his shoes.

Kenneth Towler snorted rudely from his bed, “When have you two ever cared about curfew?”

“He makes a fair point Freddie. Come on, let’s go then.”

“Oi! Aren’t you two going to clean up your mess?” Lee shouted at them as they made their way to the door.

The twins yelled a shifty “Maybe” over their shoulders as they exited the dormitory and made their way down the stairs to the common room.

Fred held tightly to the letter, hoping against all hope that it was all just a big misunderstanding. Perhaps Ludo had been a bilker in the past, but recently changed his ways. Perhaps he had every intention of paying them in full. Perhaps he’d be embarrassed upon opening the letter and realizing his mistake. Perhaps George would sprout a tail overnight and he would shit out a pig.

Still, it was worth a try. Not only were they short the two hundred galleons Ludo owed them, but they were also down the 37 galleons, 15 sickles, and three knuts they originally gave him for the bet. It was all the money they had to their name. They needed that money. Fred rubbed a hand through his hair and gripped it tightly at the roots behind his left ear. He honestly didn’t know how it would all turn out, but one thing became apparently clear as they reached the owlery.

If Ludo Bagman didn’t give them the money he owed them, then it was more important than ever that they get their names into the Goblet of Fire and have their chance at the prize money.

Chapter 5 >>

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Sketchbook (Peter Parker x Stark!Reader): Chapter 4

Peter Parker x Stark!Reader (Female)

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

Summary: (Y/N) never understood science-based subjects, despite putting all her efforts into studying them. Kids at school bullied her, her father, Tony Stark, was disappointed in her, and the Avengers looked the other way. Peter Parker, her best friend, and secret crush for almost two years, was always there supporting her when she needed someone. However, since he became an Avenger and her dad’s ‘favorite kid’, (Y/N) doesn’t know how much longer he’ll be around. 

You find yourself struggling to exist with everything working against you, and instead of asking others for help, you turn to your sketchbook.

Warnings: Slight angst, a very bad cliffhanger (I’m so sorry)

A/N: Hello! I’m not dead!

School’s literally been kicking my behind, so I apologize for such a long wait. I never forgot about this story, and I never forgot about you guys. Some of you have sent me messages asking about when the next chapter would come out, and I want to thank you guys for keeping me motivated to write. 

I finally have a solid story planned out for Sketchbook, and I believe it will be an 8 chapter story. Once again, I ask that you stay patient with me as I continue to get all the chapters out. Feel free to send me any feedback as well, it helps me know what you guys are thinking. 

Without further ado, the long awaited chapter 4!  

Chapter 4: CADD

Words: 2764

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Sighing with satisfaction, you take a look at your most recent art piece. 

A week has passed since your father took away your training privileges, and not only has he gotten stricter with you around the compound, but he was also talking to you less. He never spoke to you too much beforehand, but recently, he only seems to ask you questions about school. 

You absolutely hate it. 

At first, you would sneak into the training room late at night, and get some practice with your whip, loving the feeling of finding your perfect weapon. However, after a few nights of practice, you found your father waiting for you in the training room, sending you straight back to bed. After that, you didn’t chance it. 

School life wasn’t that glamorous either. Flash remained relentless, talking to you almost everyday about your grades and questioning why you're still at Midtown. No matter how many hints you gave him, he wouldn’t stop his belittling. When Peter saw these interactions, he’d get him to leave you alone. But you hated how you had to rely on Peter to get bullies away from you. He already has enough to deal with, and you were tired of being a problem in his life. 

While you spend more time isolated in your room attempting to study, life in the compound went on without you. The team didn’t really acknowledge you much unless you just got back from school or you were with Peter, and even then your father would ask his prodigy to leave you alone. Sometimes, when homework became too much (which was basically everyday), you’d sneak out of your room and watch what was happening around the compound, getting inspiration for your sketchbook. Everything was per usual, Bucky and Sam constantly duking it out, Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Thor all having their own matters to attend to, Vision and Wanda spending time together, and Bruce, Peter, and your father spending hours in the lab. 

When you saw Peter in the lab, you felt a stabbing in your heart, both longing to be with him and longing to take his place. Seeing Peter so focused on building things normally gave you a sense of admiration, but for the past week, you felt nothing but envy and hurt. It especially stung when you saw your father interacting with your crush, patting him on the back and smiling at him, smiling the way he’s never smiled at you. 

Life without you in it seemed rather perfect for everyone. 

Trying to shake the negative thoughts out of your head, you turn back to your artwork. Your final class of the day was studio art. The art department at Midtown was rather desolate, but the few people who were taking the classes really dedicated themselves to their craft. The teacher who ran the department, Mr. Miller, was one of the more kinder ones at the school, and you could tell he didn’t care that you were a Stark, but instead cared about your work. MJ was also in this class with you, and you’d always bounce ideas back and forth. Needless to say, this class was heaven on earth. 

Looking at your work, you actually feel proud of yourself for once. For the past month, you chose to focus on digital art, having already learned most of the adobe suite. In Photoshop, you created a digital painting of yourself. The image consists of you looking into a mirror in front of a counter covered in makeup, applying some red lipstick on your lips. However, the lipstick on your lips formed a perfect drool line that was dangling from your lips, looking like blood ready to splatter. The room in the image was dirty, and the clothes you wore were torn up. 

A perfect representation for how you felt. Trying to be seen but never looking good enough. 

“Wow, that’s insane!” You look up from your work to see Mr. Miller admiring what’s on your tablet. “May I take a closer look?” 

Sending your favorite teacher a genuine smile, you scoot back from the table you were working at, and allowed Mr. Miller full access to your work. He spent the next two minutes complimenting your technique, use of certain Photoshop brushes, and story within the image. He also gave you some pointers on spots that needed a little touch up, and you wrote down his thoughts in your trusty sketchbook for reference. 

“Hey, before I forget (Y/N), do you have a little time after school today?” Mr. Miller asks handing your pen back. 

“Uh, I normally get picked up right away, but what’s up?” 

“I’m meeting with Mr. Mortia, the school principal, to talk about some developments in this department, and I’d really love for you to be a part of the conversation. I think you’d find what we’re talking about quite interesting.” 

Biting your tongue, you try to suppress the smile forming on your face. This being the first time any teacher of yours has asked to talk academics with you, and not for poor grades! Despite the excitement bubbling inside, you try to stay cautious and calm, unsure of what Mr. Miller ultimately wants to talk about. 

“I’d love to be there. May I message my ride and tell him to pick me up later?” 

Mr. Miller gives you permission to send a quick text to Happy, asking him to pick you up an hour after school ends instead. Happy responds immediately, no questions asked. For the rest of the class, you found yourself lost in thought over what Mr. Miller wanted to discuss with the principal, and why on earth he wanted you to be there. 

Hopefully they don’t bring up any grades. 

------------ 

Walking down to the principal’s office, Mr. Miller opens the door for you. Upon entering the office, a familiar sense of dread takes over your senses. Normally, you’d be sent to the principal’s when your father was asked to come in to talk about your grades. Mr. Mortia would always try to talk to you about “other schooling options”, but your father would always find a way to counter his arguments, sometimes asking you to leave the room to have private conversations. No matter what was said, you’d keep your enrollment status at Midtown. 

This time however, things were different. 

Glancing around, you notice Mr. Mortia talking to a woman you didn’t quite recognize. “Ah! George, I see you were able to bring Miss Stark with you.” Mr. Mortia said getting up from his desk and approaching the two of you. “It’s good to see you again.” He extends his hand to you. 

Raising an eyebrow but trying to remain polite, you shake his hand. “You too sir. Is my father here as well?” 

“Oh no, we didn’t ask you here to talk about your grades,” Mr. Mortia assures, giving you a sense of relief. He then motions to the woman behind him, the one he was talking to just a second ago. “Miss Stark, I’d like you to meet Mrs. Tyrance. She’s an architect, and she actually helped designed this building.” 

Turning your attention to her, Mrs. Tyrance sends you a warm smile and extends her hand. “It’s a pleasure Miss Stark. You can call me Jasmine.” 

You shake her hand. “Nice to meet you Jasmine. You can call me (Y/N).” 

“Why don’t we all take a seat?” Mr. Mortia suggests, gesturing back to his desk. Like clockwork, everyone on the room grabs a chair, you conveniently sitting in between Mr. Miller and Jasmine. “So George, have you informed Miss Stark of what’s going on or shall I do the honors?” 

Mr. Miller nods his head. “Go for it.” 

Mr. Mortia turns his full attention to you. “Miss Stark, I don’t suppose you’ve taken any of the C.T.E. classes Midtown High offers, have you?” 

You shake your head, feeling a little more embarrassed than before. “No sir, are you talking about the career specific classes?” Teachers have definitely talked about them in class before, trying to get certain students to sign up for classes that would appeal to them. No one’s ever recommended a class for you however. You could barely pass a regular science class. How could you pass a more advanced class? 

Mr. Mortia nods. “Well, Mrs. Tyrance is here because we’ve been working on bringing some new courses into the program, and one of which would be for computer-aided design and drafting, or CADD for short.” 

Raising your eyebrows in curiosity, you look towards Jasmine, who nods to confirm what your principal is saying. “(Y/N), have you done any CADD work in the past?” She asks.

You immediately shake your head. “No mam, I’ve never even heard of CADD.” 

“Really?” Mr. Miller interjects, making everyone turn towards him. “I’m surprised, and not just because of your father’s industry,” Of course your father comes up, even when he’s not here. “You’re also a talented artist.” 

Taken aback, you blink multiple times, wondering if you were in a dream. “I’m sorry?” 

“I’m serious!” Mr. Miller says. “All the work you’ve produced in my class thus far has been some of the best I’ve ever seen. You have a very creative eye, and you definitely have the aptitude to take your skills beyond painting and sketching. When I found out about this new program, I instantly thought of you and how I feel this would be a great program for you to take and be an advocate for.” 

Many thoughts start to run through your mind. On one hand, you were utterly confused. No adult in your life has ever complimented you like this on an academic level, and hearing praise like this from a teacher felt so foreign to your ears. 

On the other hand though, you felt complete and utter excitement. Art was always an escape for you, a way to distract yourself from a life you felt was pointless. In your sketchbook, you felt like you could have any ideas you want with no judgement, rules, or privileges. You never really thought about how you could use your artistic skills for more than just fun. You didn’t even know that was an option. 

“In the architect world, we draft blueprints for buildings on computers, and it’s great because we can get as detailed as we want, and find good structure with our design and files,” Jasmine explains. “Mr. Miller has shown me some of your work, and I have to agree with him about your talent. I want to teach a CADD class here at Midtown, and I think you’ll be very successful as my student.” 

Could the smile forming on your face get any wider? 

For the next hour, you spent time discussing the implications of this new program with your teachers and principal, and how it was supposed to utilize more creative and artistic skills at Midtown. It surprises you how much these three adults valued your opinion on how to bring more awareness to art and design into the school, but nevertheless, you brought up ideas that they eagerly accepted. If you’re being honest, you’d never felt this valued before, not even with your father, and this conversation brought a new sense of life into your soul. 

------------ 

Running into the doors of the Avengers compound, you almost slam into the automatic doors. The excitement of finding a class that can help you develop skills that you’re actually good at had you bouncing in your seat throughout the ride home with Happy. Not wanting to lose the energy, you chose to wait until you saw your dad to talk about this new exciting opportunity with your father. 

As you anxiously wait on the elevator ride to your father’s lab, you can’t help but wonder how he’ll take the news. Will be finally be proud of you once he’s seen the work you do outside of school and the opportunity you’ve been presented? Sure, you didn’t build a robot or cure cancer, but you found something you were passionate about that had a potential to become a great career. Hell, you could even work alongside him if you find success with CADD. You can practically hear your father saying the words you’ve always wanted to hear. I’m so proud of you. 

That all changes when the elevator doors open. 

Instead of seeing Bucky and Sam playing games, Wanda and Vision around the kitchen area, or even your father taking a business call out in broad daylight, you see the Avengers, in suit, gathering their things as they prepare for yet another mission. With all the hustle going on in the common room, no one seems to register you entering the room. You completely forgot that your father would be leading a mission this weekend. You knew it had something to do with a Hydra base, but due to all the studying your father makes you do and the lack of acknowledgement you get in general, you didn’t know many of the details. 

“(Y/N)!” You turn to see Peter running up to you, Iron-Spider suit without the mask and a duffle bag over his right shoulder. He smiles at you as he opens his arms for a hug that you accept without a second thought. 

“Hey Peter, have you seen my father anywhere?” You ask, pulling away from him and looking around the compound. With everyone running around, you couldn’t see if he was even here. 

“Oh, he’s gathering stuff up in the lab before we leave,” he informs you. You grab Peter’s hand, butterflies erupting in your stomach, and start to drag him towards your father’s lab. You were practically running, and Peter was surprised that he had to keep up with you. “Well, it looks like someone’s excited.” 

“Something happened at school, and it had to do with my art.” You practically brag.

Peter’s eyes widen in surprise and curiosity. Before he could respond however, the two of you make it to the doors of the lab, where you see your father gathering weapons and putting them in cases for the upcoming mission. You knock on the door and your father looks up to see you and Peter hand in hand. With his eyebrows raised, he walks over to the door and opens it. “(Y/N), Peter, I see you have something to tell me?” He gestures to the two of you. 

At first you were confused, but Peter and you suddenly realize you had been holding hands the entire time. Blushing madly, you both let go immediately, practically jumping a foot away from one another. “Oh! Uh… nothing like that Mr. Stark!” Peter stutters our, embarrassment evident in his voice. You felt a pang in your chest, secretly wishing the scenario was real. 

Your father simply stares the two of you down before brushing off what just happened. “Alright Peter, bring these to the team and start loading them in the jet. I want to talk to my daughter alone for a minute.” With that, your father hands Peter two black cases. 

“Right away sir!” Peter chirps out. With that, he was off, leaving you alone with your father. 

You shake your head, trying to snap yourself out of any bad thoughts and trying to remember the great news you had to share. “Dad! Something happened at school today and I’m actually-.” 

“Oh yeah, speaking of that, I want to talk to you about school before I head out for the weekend,” your father interrupts. With that he’s walking back into the lab, putting various things away as he continues to talk. “(Y/N), you’ve been going to Midtown for almost 2 years now, and you have shown very little improvement academically.” 

A sudden wave of sadness fills your mind as you were reminded of how poor your grades were. You hate being reminded of that. Especially by your own father. “I know dad. But there’s a class I’m in that I really enjoy that’s startin-.” 

“Just because you enjoy a class doesn’t mean you’re doing well in it,” your father interrupts again, not realizing you were talking about your art class. “I feel like the longer you stay at Midtown, the worse your grades get. I keep vouching for you to the education board to keep you at school, but I’m just so tired of constantly doing that. I don’t know what to do anymore.” 

Your heart starts to beat faster. “What do you mean?” 

“I’m taking you out of Midtown. For good.” 

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-Sketchbook Tag List-

@randomfanders-blog // @freestarlight // @depressing-as-shit // @sweetmilki // @supernerdycookietrashblr // @supermassiveblackhope // @starksthunder // @multi-fandom-headcanons // @adri1ii // @futureauthor03 // @maddie-laufeyson // @thejourneyneverendsx // @noakantor14 // @fangirlbookworm // @awesomedara // @motherhyuckerdude // @itswhiskeybitch​ // @kickstartmyheartmc​ // @deansbbysblog​ // @whatareyouhidingpeter​ // @aquaastrid​

-Peter Parker Tag List-

@sweetcoffeeblandtea // @house-arya // @jovialpeanut // @bookstoreblossom // @jackiehollanderr

-Marvel Tag List- 

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Y’all we gotta do something about the education system

I’m not just talking about the American school system, I’m talking about every one. I saw this post and it just tRigGEreD me to the core:

YALL WE GOTTA STEP IT THE F*** UP. CLAP YOUR HANDS IF YOU LIKE SCHOOL. HEAR THAT? NO YA DONT. literally everyone hates school and why?

We aren’t passionate abt what we’re learning

Information is forced upon us in an unhealthy process

The work is unreasonable and most likely things we won’t ever use again

Lastly, it teaches us to fit into little cut out spaces and fill roles that society expects from us.

Let’s dive deeper, shall we

Passion:

We’ve all heard this before, and yet none of us have taken a stand in any way that makes a difference. Listen, I know we all need basic math skills, and probably should read that Shakespeare book, and I agree. However, it doesn’t make sense that every year it’s MATH, HISTORY, SCIENCE, ENGLISH, and a sport or something. Like, how much do you think I’m gonna remember guys?

And none of us are into it. Personally, I love English. I could read and write and depict novels all day. On the other hand, I hate science with a passion. It does not make sense. Many students are like this, better at other subjects and maybe not as good at something else. Why is that so bad? I find myself dozing off in class bc it’s so boring. The way we’re learning isn’t learning at all. It’s being damn good at memorizing and cramming things last minute. THAT ISNT LEARNING which leads me into my next point

How we learn

First off, I’ve had 5 good teachers in my life. 5. I’m a sophomore in high school. The only reason I know weird things about how geometry works is bc of my 6th grade math teacher. The only reason I get human geography is bc of my AP human teacher. You wonder why I don’t understand biology? WE TAKE NOTES FROM OUR TEACHERS PAGES AND LISTEN TO HER READ OFF THE SCREEN. You wonder why my homework is excellent and my tests are failures? BECAUSE THEY ARENT TEACHING AT ALL, THEYRE EXPECTING US TO KNOW BC WE STUDY, AND THEREFORE ARENT DOING THEIR JOBS.

Secondly, students don’t learn the same. There’s this art piece of a monkey, a fish, and an insect or something and they’re all asked to climb a tree. This is the education system. Sometimes, people can learn easily bc they get it. For others, it’s impossible bc it’s not who they are.

And it’s unhealthy

get up at 6. Get off at 4. Have 3 hours of homework. Go to sleep at 9. Repeat. Do you know how unhealthy that is for teenagers? I play a sport and I have to go to practice at least two school nights a week. And on the weekend, teachers pile on everythingggggg. You wonder why we procrastinate? Cause we are unmotivated, tired, and physically unable. I take all AP classes bc it’s fun to learn, if you think about it. I’d love to know about the ecosystem and the planets. I think science is fun! I soak up facts about our ancestors and how our world came to be. I think history is fun! But the busy work, the stress, the never ending due-dates, finals, and homework make it unbareable.

Y’all have heard this before: we won’t use the work in the future.

No we won’t. The only thing I’d need it for is helping my kids with their homework, because the education system doesn’t change despite how awful it is. Honestly, it just keeps getting worse. Ted talks and posts about this are endless, so I won’t go into detail, you get the just.

Societal Roles

School is meant to enhance our creativity and our uniqueness, but it does the exact opposite. It discourages our individuality by making us take tests and work for meaningless grades. Think of the billionaires who didn’t go to college. Think of the successful people who are mathematicians or scientists. Everyone that comes to mind when I think of someone successful, probably didn’t use any of their prior high school knowledge to achieve their dreams. I’m tired of being anxious all the time. Even as the school year nears I feel myself becoming depressed, scared, and stressed already. What a shame.

Solution:

My first solution is that we have Fridays as half days, and start school at at least 9, but 10 would be better. The school day should still end at 4.

Why?

This will decrease stress dramatically and allow students proper time to rest. Having that delay will allow students to have healthier sleeping schedules and more time to do homework. While this does decrease time for actual learning, I believe schools can make it work. Having A/B schedules where students have half their classes on A day and the other half on B day should suffice nicely. As for Friday’s, the school should get out at 12 and be kept open until 3 for students to come in for tutoring. Teachers will then have to work until 4 bc we need our grades in and this allows them up to 4 hours to sort everything out.

Next solution, from Kinder through 8th grade, the four main subjects should be enforced as they are just basic means of education (but kept the same as they already are). High school should allow students to have 3 years of each, so that they can pick which classes they want to take that year.

This allows more room for endorsements and sports throughout your high school years. Personally, high school is already a drag for me and if they’re gonna continue the work load, then they’ve gotta cut the time we have to endure it. Everyone I know is so anxious all the time, they’ve turned to drugs and alcohol and juuls. Honestly, I think it’s bc it gives them an escape, but I wouldn’t know. On top of that, everyone’s depressed. I can blame about 70% of this on education alone. Imagine having the freedom to grow into a person you want to be. With this schedule, I really think we can. We have more time to figure out who we are and what our passion is through picking classes that suit us instead of the main 4. Plus, teachers will benefit as well. They get to teach those who want to learn their subject and will strive for it.

Last solution, work load needs to be fixed.

I’m not just talking homework, I’m talking busy work, projects, and tests. I’d rather learn than do that crap, bc, what a shocker! It doesn’t help. Tests should be once every two months, with quizzes enforced every two weeks. Quizzes should be no longer than 20 questions, and tests no longer than 40. Half the amount of homework we already receive should become optional, and a study resource more than a grade. I get about 5 pages a week in math alone, not to mention the amount I get from other classes. Let’s cut that to about 15 questions and have 3 pages of optional study work that help you understand the subject.

And for busy work, let’s make that a thing once every week, and for a short amount of time. The rest should be practicing with the teacher or optional station work.

Projects, on the other hand, should be given once every month. They shouldn’t be huge projects, but just simple ones to cover the unit. Nor should they be useless. I’m not gonna go design a topographic map at home and waste my money on poster paper or connect a baseball game to a mathematical equation. Give me a few key materials to research and a few options on how I want to complete it such as, google site, video, presentation, or creative side like drawing. Whatever benefits the student.

See how I’ve included every students needs and ways of processing the material, along with setting realistic expectations to uphold them to? Not that hard.

Please feel free to add more! I’d love to hear y’alls opinion on school and what you think of my solution! I’ll probably make a legit paper on this bc I kinda just threw this post together lol

[pip-n-flinx]

Among Us

So this is going to get long, this is going to get personal, this is going to be about prejudice and race and self-serving bad-faith arguments and flawed rhetoric. And for all of these reasons I’m going to leave the rest of this under the cut.

As a few of my friends will know, earlier this week I was delivered an ultimatum from my landlord/roommate. He disguised it well, telling me he was ‘concerned for my mental health’ that my ‘negativity was dragging the whole house down’ and that I was simply too filthy to live with. I won’t pretend I’m a neat freak, and I can honestly say that I have taken some pains to clean more since, to his surprise and delight, though its particularly hard to take coming from him.

“You’re always so down. It’s making you lazy and thin skinned” You know its funny you should say that, now specifically, because I’ve actually been on the up and up this last week and you didn’t mention this at all in January when I was actually at my worst, or February when I was afraid I was going to have to quit my job, or back during the holiday season when retail work was breaking my back... Only now do you think to check in on me?

“You left a pair of gloves, a letter, and a small wooden trinket on the table!” Indeed I have, as you have left your pair of gloves, well over 21 letters, and regularly set your packages on this same table, including today two packages to be returned to amazon. I didn’t realize I didn’t get to use the table the same way you do.

“You don’t do dishes! except that you did this week, which is cool I guess but still!” You do realize that I actually hand-wash every dish I use within 24 hours of using it, right? And that often the dishes you come to me bitching that I never cleaned are in fact your fiances, yes? Ok good, next question.

“You’re always complaining about work. I don’t mind that you vent, but its all you talk about anymore!” I have either lost or walked away from 4 jobs in this last year, and that has not been easy, or fun. I have worked essential retail jobs the entire pandemic thus far. Additionally, in the months leading up to you storming out of your 75k a year salaried sales job, I had told you to leave it because I could see that it was killing you. You got so fed up with the job that for 4-5 months before you left your grandma-paid-off-my-second-mortgage capitalism-knows-best-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps-ass spent more time playing valorant and league of legends on the clock than doing actual work. Need I remind you that every time I stepped into your office, or simply stepped upstairs to get ready for work, you would complain about how awful your managers were, or how shitty someone had been to you over the phone? DID I EVER BELITTLE YOU FOR ANY OF THESE THINGS????

The real kicker was that the spark, the moment that started this (at least for him) was me trying to explain why racism and ‘cultural supremecy’ was bad. I had brought to him something I thought we could both agree on, that we could both laugh at. I brought him a series of tweets about how problematic Van Gogh was for studying and imitating traditional japanese painting techniques. He took this, and immediately turned into a piece of the culture wars. Now, I agree, this is an egregious example of trying to ‘cancel’ someone. How cancelling a long dead artist who couldn’t sell his art while he was alive is important is beyond my comprehension, its not as though the market value of these comes up very often, and almost no-one will ever have a chance to buy or reject a Van Gogh. But to him this was emblematic of ‘liberals’ cancelling Seuss and Rowling.

He even went so far as to say that Van Gogh probably ‘did it better’ than the artists he was studying/imitating. Now, this is a huge red-flag to me because this is straight out of the Nazi playbook. This is William Shenker, proposing a theory of music to proof ‘German cultural superiority.’ This, if you will pardon my language, is the real culture war: trying to supplant other cultures art and history with western figures and events.

Now, for those of you who don’t know who I’m talking about, this man is sexist. He doesn’t believe women are equal, complains about women’s sports, and rejects a woman’s right to choose. This man is a transphobe, questioning the logic of ‘safe-spaces’ and allowing people to change their pronouns. This man is a Trump supporter, and voted for him twice. And all of these things I found out years after we became friends. I have in the past contemplated what it would take to cut him out of my life wholesale. Despite our wealth of shared experience and our shared interests, we’ve been drifting apart as he drifts further and further to the right. And he has been drifting. He’s parroted more bad-faith arguments from Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson in the last 6 months then he ever did when I first moved in with him.

I have been trying to push back, especially when he says the quiet parts out loud. I try to let him know that it is not acceptable to say he would rather an unarmed black man die that risk that a police officer might be injured. When he compares the people in control of Seuss’ intellectual property and works choose to stop printing less than 6% of his published works to the book burnings in Mao’s china. When he says that its more important to protect teacher from students trolling them by changing their pronouns than it is to protect trans or NB kids. When he espouses his belief that trans and NB kids are ‘just mentally ill.’ Whenever he says any of this shit, I have pushed back. I have tried to halt, or at least slow, his descent towards eugenics and white supremacy and fascism.

It has been to no avail.

And to be honest its exhausting. I wanted to believe that he would trust me, not just to be a moral and thoughtful person, but to be educated and informed on these issues. We went to school together, spent countless hours solving homework and trying to crack games together. If I don’t know the answer to his questions immediately, he often jokes ‘C’mon, you’re supposed to know everything!” and has frequently told me that I’m selling myself short.

But apparently all that trust and all that respect goes out the window when I challenge him. Suddenly I’m ‘overly negative’ or ‘too sensitive’ or he’ll ‘need to look into that, but...’

And the thing is, he is capable of great acts of kindness. He offered to rent me a room in his completely paid-off house, no mortgage at all, simply because he could see living at home was killing my mental health. He offered me 50-75% off of market rate. He buys gifts all the time, has landed tenants job interviews, set people back on their feet, and refused to press charges for several major financial loses he’s taken on the determination that it would do more harm to the defendant than he could ever recoup from it.

But he does not extend this kindness, this generous soul, to everyone. And lately, his circle grows smaller, and his kindess has waned, and it’s been so devastating to see him slip further and further towards his own worst impulses.

I know there will be people who think I should have cut him out of my life years ago, who can’t believe we never talked enough to know that he voted for Trump in 2016. I think back then he was genuinely ashamed, or at least guilty, about that vote. Now? It’s almost a matter of pride for him. I can’t tell you the number of times in the last 4 months that he’s told me that Biden “couldn’t possibly” be as “great” a President as Trump.

And he hides behind this “praise them when they do good, cuff them when they do bad” line and I used to take comfort in it but now... Now it’s clear that it was just a front or excuse for liking these abhorrent people.

I’ve had a couple of hard conversations with some of our mutual friends about what this means for me, and how I interract with the whole group of friends as a whole, in the last 3 days. None of our mutual friends seem to take any of these things as seriously as I do, with my oldest friend even telling me that he ‘can’t imagine’ breaking a friendship off over politics.... I know I know, the caucasity of it all, yes ha ha. And it does make me genuinely worried that I’ll wind up losing the 5-6 close friends that I actually rely on these days over this horrible sonuvabitch. But all this personal venting aside, there’s something bigger here I want to address:

I sat down this evening to watch Last Week Tonight and I was struck by this piece about Tucker Carlson, because while I knew some of what was said on his show, he is remarkably confident for a man who spouts the quiet parts of racism/sexism/homophobia on TV. I have a hard time imaging a more blatantly racist thing to do then declare that a woman who suggested ‘dismantling systems of oppression wherever they are found’ wants to dismantle the American system...

And I have to say, we should go back to punching Nazis. I want these fuckers afraid. I want them to crawl back to the furthest reaches of the internet, relegated to be laughed at for their bigotry by pundits of every political ideology. I want their vile vitriol hidden away where it doesn’t embolden others. I want them to know that they are out of line, out of touch, out of time. I want them to feel ashamed, like the relics of a bygone and worse era that they are, and for them to quietly fade to an ignominious death. I’m tired of seeing them on National News. I’m tired of Pewdiepie’s channel and influence refusing to die despite all the horrible things he’s said and done. I’m tired of Ben Shapiro spouting off about a woman’s place and rights, as if he has any fucking authority on the matter. I just want these people to lose their platforms and their followers. And for me the fact that they haven’t yet is so incredibly discouraging.

I know I didn’t offer any answers here I’m just tired of being alone with this defeated attitude and I guess I needed to get this off my chest as I try to disentangle myself from the losing battle of trying to save a friend from alt-right radicalization.

[devintrinidad]

Now a modern CAW au because why not.

1146 is a rich kid from a rich family of world famous doctors. He’s naturally expected to become a doctor himself one day and is a total nerd for biology. He has a very… Strong appreciation for white blood cells (for some reason he just really loves learning about them). He goes to a bording school and shares his firm room with 2001. Their dorm neighbors are 2626, 2048 and 4989. They’ve all known each other their whole lives and the others come from, not as wealthy, but still prestiges families.

2001 and 2048 are from Euroasia (and some made up country, shrugs) and the rumours are they come from a line of nobility. They neither confirm or deny it but they are gifted in various languages and are excellent in all areas of study. 2001 particularly excels in business math and law and 2048 in history and anthropology. They’re the smart ones and study nerds of the group. 1146, 2626 and 4989 aren’t dumb. But they are joked as being the dumb jocks of the group because they’d rather play sports then study in all areas besides what they like most. 1146 loves philosophy and molecular biology. 2626 likes programming and english. 4989 loves trigonometry and physics. 

But yeah outside those things those 3 have no ability to put in the effort beyond just barely passing in other homework assignments. They often plead to 2001 before big tests to please have mercy on their dumb inferior minds. 2201 always says they have themselves to blame. Then he caves and spends the whole night before the big test to help them prepare. It’s a vicious cycle that 2048 always escapes because he always finds excuses. At least initially. 2001 quickly gets fed up even though 1146 points out he’s never seen him sleep once despite always complaining about being tired. 2048 is the one who always riles the other 4 up to doing stupid stuff before any big test (after he’s done studying) so 2048 is the one who should be responsible for them. 

They’re also all part of a mixed martial arts after school club. No one else will join because they’re likely too scared since these boys are INTENSE. 

The boys are around 14 or something (do I know how bording schools work? No). 

The boys, 1146 in particular, get easily misunderstood. Most kids see then as violent nutcases because at the start of school they got into a huge bloody confrontation with the bullies (yep, human versions of viruses) that landed all of them in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Despite good intentions that event and the rumours surrounding the darker side of their families dealings get blown out of proportion. The boys are popular and seen as cool in a sense. But people keep their distance from them as assign exaggerated stereotypes to them. Girls from another bording school across the lake from them send valentine gifts to them and secret admirers like sending them notes. But no one wants to date or get to know them. Essentially besides some cool teachers, the 5 boys only have each other. They choose to not let it bother them (too much) and let their sense of justice drive them into battling the sneaky bullies who are honestly psychos who shouldn’t be allowed in society. But they are smart and never get caught so the boys can’t get caught challenging them or stopping their plots against the student body (see what I did there, puns). 

The killer T’s are the hall monitors and the boys are constantly either having alliances with them or sneaking past them for various reasons (stopping bullies or just goofing off). It’s a complicated relationship. 

Commander T is the president of the school council. 2001 and 2048 are members of the council and Killer T thinks that’s the only reason Commander T won’t let him bust that group for their obvious crimes against their authority (he’s mad 2626, 4989 and 2048 have pranked him in the past. Nothing personal, but he can’t stand 1146 being popular despite having just a scary reputation as he does). 

The lactic bacteria exist as dogs in this setting. Technically they’re owned by the philosophy teacher Basophil (the one teacher 1146 idolizes so much his friends worry it’s a mental disease. Eosinophil idolizes him too. But she’s in the other school and can only see him when she visits 1146. They’re 2nd cousins or something. Before the bording school, Basophil used to be their tutor when they were much younger) and run loose around the school. But they end up spending a lot of their time with 1146. He takes care of them a lot and they listen to him as much as they do Basophil (they’re either very Dumb dogs or very disobedient ones as. They go back and forth about not understanding the simplest commands to figuring out complex problems like opening doors or the refrigerator by themselves). 

The bording school has recently decided to have girls start attending (some fire happened and they want more students. Idk). Despite female students not offically attending  until a year later. One exception gets made.

Enter 10 year old 3803.

Both 3803’s parents were war medics who later became agents to a secretive defense group who track down foreign spies and take them out. They retired when they had 3803 and made a living as a cleaning service. One day 3803 gets kidnapped and her dad dies saving her. Her mom decides it’s too dangerous to be with her and makes the hard choice, for the time being, to give 3803 to a friend until she can hunt down her enemies (momma us Macrophage). 

3803 is given a new identity and sent to the bording school for her own protection. The friend who is taking care of her is 1146’s dad. He’s 1110 (their teacher from canon. That’s his number right?). He’s been in love with Macrophage ever since they met and fought in a war together. Unfortunately he was in a arranged marriage set up by his parents and she fell in love with someone else. His own marriage didn’t work out since his wife left him to pursue her own stuff. 1146 was left with abandonment issues from that and because his mom was always cold to him and didn’t hide the fact she never wanted him.

1110 is a very warm and affectionate father to 1146. Wanting to make up for lack of love he received from his mother. 1110 is very supportive and happy to let 1146 experience life in matters his own strict distant parents never allowed him. But he worries because 1146 likes to act like he’s fine but he’s very closed off. 1110 worries 1146 will never open up to anyone besides the select few he grew up with. 

To 3803, 1110 quickly sees her as the daughter he never had with Macrophage. He becomes very overprotective and nurturing of her. Wanting her to feel safe and hopeful her mother will someday come back alive. He also hopes beyond hope that his son will one day fall in love with her (when they’re much older) because he really wants her to be his daughter. Pretty much why he refuses to adopt her despite Macrophage saying it would be a good idea (he thinks it’s too much like giving up on Macrophage surviving her ordeal. He wants to believe Macrophage will live and come home to 3803 again. Ecspecially after everything she’s doing to protect her daughter). 1110 spends 3 months helping 3803 recover enough and explaining her new situation. He chats with 1146 over a secret line (yes 1146 was taught by his military dad how to have secret phone calls) about 3803 and her situation. He doesn’t expect anyone to come after her or figure out she’s there (he’s doing a lot of work on his end too) but he still wants his son to look after her and be her friend.

When 1146 sees her, he thinks she’s younger then she actually is. She’s dulled eyed and looks ready to jump out of her own skin. Which he can imagine why after everything she’s been through and now, for the year, being the only girl in a all male school (1110 in a sweet tone threatened to take down the entire school of she wasn’t properly cares for). When he approaches her, she immediately perks up and asks if he’s Mr 1110’s son. After that 1146 isn’t sure how he ended up walking her to his club while she chatters faster then a hummingbird hums and latching on to his hand and swinging it back and forth.

1146 updated his friends on her situation so they know they’ll most likely be seeing her a lot and to be extra nice to her. Because he’s self aware enough to know he’s going to be bad at it. He already made her almost burst into tears when he replied with a maybe after Killer T laid down the laws and threatened to throw anyone who breaks them into confinement. He also knows he can trust his friends with such a big secret

She’s really clingy with 1146 initially. It’s weird and a new thing. But he doesn’t dislike it.

1146 and 3803 first really bond (after a few awkward weeks) when they’re alone and he’s studying for his anatomy class. She keeps asking him what the pictures are about. He explains what each cell does and gets more and more excited to talk about the topic when she gets more and more amazed. His friends tease him about his fascination with cells and think he should have been one instead. 3803 is the first to genuinely be very interested in listening and sharing his desire to talk about them. Afterwards 3803 declares she loves red blood cells and is going to be like them. A mailwoman who gets her packaged delivered no matter what. It’s the first time both really smile at each other and he feels a connection with her. 

After that he realizes he misses her a lot when she’s gone and almost gets jealous when she starts clinging to his friends too.

3803 loves to clean because She used to help her parents clean all the time. The boys mixed martial arts club is a pig pen to say the least. Completely dirty and just about unsanitary. Never been washed or dusted. Trash of junk food is littered everywhere. Dirty clothes just left hanging around. 3803 almost can’t believe what she’s seeing. She spends the next 3 days cleaning the entire club by herself and she won’t even let 1146 and the others come in. When they finally can it’s like a whole new room. They didn’t even know they had white wood floors. From then on 3803 becomes the club’s little cleaning lady. When 1146 tries to help her or tell her it’s not nessecary. She replies he’s not good at it and she likes to clean because it reminds her of mama and papa.

3803 ends up being a kindred spirit to the boys, 1146 in particular. She doesn’t have a bad reputation like they do. But for some reason she’s one of those people you expect to have a million friends but can’t even make one. She’s sweet and tries her best. But she gets overlooked easily for not standing out and she can’t find a way to connect with anyone her age. Even if her follow students are nice to her, no one invites her into their group. She’s also really bad at academics. She has to work twice as hard to be just average. This causes her a lot of stress. When 1146 comes by to check up on her after her math test (she studied really hard and holed herself up in her room so much she forgot to eat). He sees her dull eyed and unhappy, like she’s too sad to cry. A mean kid makes a snide comment she’s just naturally too dumb to change herself. Before he can intervene, 3803 determinedly says she can and she will and runs off to the library to study more. 1146 pats the kid on the shoulder and says nothing. Just stares until the kid pales in recognition of one of the Beserkers and flees like his life friends on it. From then on 1146 drags 2626 and 4989 to the library to be her study partners. If she’s determined to be good at everything she can be (and she says herself she’s not good at anything) then they can work harder to improve themselves on areas they’re weak in too. 2048 and 2001 will join them too (and be far more helpful at helping 3803 study then they will be with the other 3). 

3803 ends up becoming the club’s mascot. 4989 and 2626 dresses her up in a kendo outfit (then take the bokun sword away when she accidently hits 1146 in a… Sensitive area.  They don’t explain to her why it was so painful for him). 

3803 gets a pen pal from the other school. It’s 5100 and the two quickly establish a close connection. 5100 often sends seperate letters addressed to the boys, outraged 3803 isn’t getting the girl stuff she needs. 5100 proclaims not only is she going to be visiting her but she’s decided to transfer to their school next year so they better have 3803 involved in stuff she would be doing if she had girl friends who liked the same stuff.

She sends them a list of things 3803 told her she missed doing with her momma and wished she had 5100 here with her already. They are a bunch of dumb boys who don’t know a thing about girls. They do the best thing they can. They youtube how to do everything on the list. 

(In this au 3803 has longer hair for this scene alone). 2626 takes over hair stuff. Her momma used to make her hair pretty and put it in all sorts of styles and decorations. He nearly has a heart attack when she says Ow when he brushes her now messy hair too hard. He’s not brave enough to trim her hair and layer it. So he gives himself a pat on the back when he can put her hair into a ponytail. His next goal is pigtails. 

2001 takes her to cutesy maid cafes where where they drink tea and eat cookies. 2001 gets fawned over by the maids because they think he’s hanging out with his cute sister, who they take pictures with and give free samples to. 2001 isn’t sure what to do when the maids want his phone number for a tip so he leaves a gwnedous amount of cash and walks away really fast while while 3803 skips along holding his hand and begging to go back there again (he thought he got the easy one. Liitle 2001 isn’t as cool headed as adult 2001).  

2048 takes her clothes shopping. He first ends up picking out clothes he likes. But when she gets mistaken for a boy a few times he decides to let her go solo. She picks a onsie cat suit for pajamas. Cute but not exactly the clothes he was told to get. Eventually they wander into girl sports area and a worker has mercy on him and helps him pick out cute sports shorts, shoes and shorts for girls her age. 3803 is very energetic so she likes them a lot.

Both 1146 and 4989 are in charge of baking sweets. The most they know is throw a ramen cup into the microwave after adding water so their first attempt is kind of bad. She has to stop them from adding olive oil instead of vegetable oil to a cake mix. They can’t remember if the mix used to be a vanilla or chocolate cake after baking it. They find their groove when 4989 discovers youtube channels about making awesome designer cakes. One about a cake shaped like a boat and layered with Kit Kats charms all three of them. After that 4989 become a baking fiend! Except his food is never good because he focuses more on creative design then taste. 3803 has to be there to remind him what actually tastes good.

All of them engage in axe throwing (Macrophage would definitely make axe throwing a mother daughter thing). 3803 actually has really good aim. But she sadly says mama could throw a perfect aim backwards (that is a thing. It’s awesome). All of them compete to see who can learn that maneuver first in order to teach 3803 (3803 says mama’s rule is 3803 can’t learn a axe move unless it’s from someone else who’s mastered it).

They all treat 3803 like a little sister. Except 1146. He sees her as a kindred spirit he can relate to and see as his equal. He’s the only one who notices when she’s sad and that she stays up late at night, staring out the window in endless starry darkness. It reminds him a lot back when he used to wonder what he did wrong to ruin his family (it took him a long time to believe he wasn’t the cause of his family falling apart). He knows 3803 is feeling the same thing. At first he just watched her secretly. Then he moved to sit next to her and silently sat there together until she was ready to move. Eventually they both opened up about how they want to feel like they can be better again. 

One day 3803 gave them all salty treats. She said she wanted to give them something good for this day and she knows they prefer salty and bitter over sweet stuff. Months later they realize that day was Valentine’s day and she received NOTHING from anyone. They panic and start cooking up a grand present to give her in both thanks and apology. 3803 didn’t mind and wasn’t expecting anything from them. She actually got a ton of heart shaped chocolates from 1110 and 5100 so she felt good that day. 

When next year comes so do the female students. Among them are 5100 who instantly starts mothering 3803 and going big sister/best friend mode. Eosinophil who joins the Mixed martial arts club and, with 5100, joins the hall monitors for the female part of the dorms. Alongside her is NK. Who quickly butts heads with Killer T and establishes she’s the top hall monitor now and her people (5100 and Eosinophil) will be smarter then his (they have a history. Their families thought about a arranged marriage for them. But all it took was one meeting to nope out of that) in catching bad behavior. 

3803 always looks to NK for safety or help as far as the two lead hall monitors go. Even if Killer T is right there. He tries not to feel irritated (he fails) or bad that that’s probably because she’s scared of his rough attitude. NK at least acts competent and only yells at people who insult her first (unless it’s Killer T). 

When the girls go to a overseas trip somewhere. 1146 isn’t panicked at all and us perfectly confident she’ll be fine in the older girls care. That is until she’s gone and he syarts reading news reports on abduction or lost tourists and he calls his dad to bring up the helicopter. His dad is like sure son I was on my way to do this on my own. Lets make following her around a father son thing. Sure dad thanks for being on the same page! They spend the whole break trailing her and making sure she has a great time and doesn’t get lost or mugged. 

For while now 3803 has been trying to gain the reputation as a reliable delivery person. She always offers to take things for teachers and students from the council to other places and people. She gets lost in such a big school. But she slowly gains the cred she is willing and able to be trusted with jobs. It gets to the point she will be sent outside of school to deliver or pick up packages and it becomes a official student job. She has her own bicycle.

1146 secretly picked up sewing and knitting to make 3803 a beret hat (the one she has in canon) after she complained about how bright the sun is. He spends a long time on it. But he’s able to give it to her own her birthday. He even made it shaped like a red blood cell so she can be inspired. She loves it and never takes it off. She even sleeps with it.

Near Christmas the rivalry between the bullies and the squad gets more and more intense. It reaches it’s boiling point when they start picking on 3803. They see how she cleans up after the squad and treats them to baked goodies. They offer her payment of not bothering her 8f she does the same for them. But she refuses because the squad hates them and she’s scared of them too. They retaliate by grabbing her from her bedroom at night and locking her in a shack on the woods. Unfortunately for her It’s both a deadly blizzard that night and she starts freaking out because the last time she was abducted her dad died. She’s very afraid whoever got her (she knows it was the bullies. But they wore masks and she has no physical proof of them doing it) will hurt her friends. She breaks out if the shack and tries to find her way back as she can still see the school. However that’s when the blizzard starts and the school goes on lockdown mode. 5100 checks in on 3803 but finds her bed empty. Soon enough everyone is trying to find her. 1146 remembers the bullies messing with her earlier and, screwing consequences, corners the leader and starts wailing on him with his fists. Demanding to know where 3803 is. He tells 4989 to alert the teachers and and heads out into the dangerous snow storm to find her. Luckily for him Basophils dogs saw and followed her and one of them stayed with her while the other found 1146 and lead him to her. She’s not responsive to his calls. Her tears are frozen and she’s vshowing no signs of life. He carries her back by following the dogs and seeing the search lights ahead of him. She’s sent to the infirmary for the night and then taken to the hospital first chance they get in the morning.

Needless to say everyone goes berserk and the two groups really go at it. The teachers can’t even break them up at first. When things die down a bit and Killer T’s hall monitors help the teachers break up the fight. Everyone is sent to the infirmary to recover. Days later, after 5100 tells them about 3803’s descriptions of the masks, NK and Eosinophil show up with the masks matching 3803’s descriptions and having found them in the bullies club room. The bullies get expelled and are forced to fave the law.

From that moment 1146 decides to not become a doctor. He knows his true calling is a cop and tells his dad right away when he shows up to visit them. 1110 right away starts telling him he’ll research whatever he needs to fullfil his dream. 2001, 2626, 2048 and 4989 also decide to follow 1146. They all want to know how to protect people better (hey look I’m sneaking in the famous cop and mailwoman au!). 

When 3803 finally comes back everyone is excited! Then the boys realize in the time she was gone they let the club become twice as dirty then it was when she first cleaned it. They spend the entire time trying to clean the club to perfevtion because they know she’ll insist on cleaning. Eosinophil is the biggest slob of them all so she works extra hard to annihilate her filth. 

1146 makes it a habit to check on her every night and every morning. One morning she’s gone and he freaks out and nearly knocks 5100 down when he runs into her and tells her 3803’s missing! She calmly leads him to NK’s room and opens the door to reveal a snoring NK with a 3803 curled up like a kitten in bed with her. 3803 had a nightmare and went to the girls room to spend the night with one of them. 

When everyone but 3803 graduates years later, she promises to keep the club going and find people who will join it because she’s the mascot. To everyone’s shock, 2001 is the one who gets teary eyed first. She has to tell the boys not to cry only to start crying herself. They’re all going to miss each other.

3803 rooms with 4201 and the two end up running for school council,and recruiting people into the mixed martial arts club. 3803 and 1146 stay pen pals as he works hard to become a accomplished cop. They manage to meet later when 3803 is a young woman who’s graduated and about to attend her first job at the postal services. 1146 does a double take because 3803 is a woman. 2626 dryly points out duh obviously. But 1146 really sees her in a new light.

Yeah that’s it. I kind of plopped whatever thought came into my,mind all day so maybe there’s more. This ends the school life and morphs into the popular cop and mailwoman au. 1146 gets flustered by this new dynamic where he’s falling hard for her. She’s trying to sort out her adult life. Cancer probably shows up and there’s a murder mystery. Maybe 3803’s mom shows up or 3803 is confronted with the fact she’s probably dead. 1110 is a doting papa wolf who’s totally his son’s wingman. Shrugs. 

[hpdabbles]

Kindness and Remorse Part 4

“Harry, did you finish your homework?” Dudley asks while placing a plate of white eggs and extra crispy bacon- just the way Harry likes them- before his cousin. His parents have yet to wake, but that would change in half an hour or so. They always wake at seven-thirty, jump in the shower, come down for breakfast and then rush everyone into the car so they could drop off the boys at school and get to work.

Petunia takes a little longer to put on her make-up and iron out the wrinkles in Vernon’s suit jacket and her business skirt.

“Yes Ley, I did,” Harry said rolling his eyes fondly. He patted the star theme backpack near his feet.  “I even put it in my bag and everything.”

“You mock my worry but I remember someone forgot his math packet in his room the day it was due not too long ago. Which was half the class grade.”  He’s still sleeping in the smallest room and the cupboard is only used for storage now. As it should be

“You’re forgetful once and you never live it down.” 

“Ha ha. Eat up. Mother and Father will be down soon.” 

Harry grin at him before digging into his food, taking his time but not without taking a glance at the clock. Dudley knew he did it every morning just to assure himself that he had time to actually enjoy his meal. 

Not that he had to worry. The youngest Dursley always woke before anyone in the house, exactly one hour before his parents and thirty minutes before his cousin. 

This is enough time to make sure Harry has a balanced breakfast and make sure his cousin could do any homework he’s not been able to complete. His parents still tried to sabotage his grades, so the kids had to get creative to not allow him to fall behind. 

Thanks to this system, the pair of cousins were one of the best in their class. Not the top but definitely in the top ten at the least.  

It’s the only reason Dudley could force himself out of bed at six-thirty every school morning when he had never been a morning person in any of his lifetimes.  

“Can we have chocolate chip drop scones tomorrow?” Harry asked around his egg. 

“Sure. Mother has an event coming up soon so she won’t mind something sweet. Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“Sorry.”

“What did I just say?”

Harry giggles but mines zipping his mouth closed after stuffing a forkful of eggs into it. 

Dudley is glad he was able to convince his mother to join the Neighborhood Council two years ago. It took longer then he liked for Petunia to see the light but it got her out of the house and helped her husband make powerful connections. It also finally let her use that degree of business that she let rot away the first life-time.

Yes, it was only four times out of the week- longer closer to holidays or special events- and the pay wasn’t something to survive on but it gave her a purpose. Vernon was especially proud of her whenever she spearheaded events, always bragging that his wife was the perfect woman to anyone that was close enough.

She takes so much pride in her work and was actually good at it which surprised him greatly. If there was one thing Petunia liked more then winning the Homeowner's Garden Award it was organizing it. 

Not to mention the charity events she put together. Oh, but how she glowed under the praise she earns at the number of successes she was brought in for those events.  

It also meant she wasn’t around the house yelling at Harry all the time. For those four days, Monday to Thursday, she would have the neighbor Ms. Figg watch the boys as she didn’t get home until seven pm at the same time her husband did.

 Dudley was able to convince the adults to have her babysit them in his house, claiming the cats made him feel funny- which was true.  Something about her animals made his skin stand on end and even become somewhat itchy. His parents had taken him to a doctor but oddly enough he had not developed allergies.

Ms. Figg’s cats were the only ones he was effected by and he learned to avoid them as best he could. Thanks to the redness upon his skin he’s parents haven’t pushed for him spending too much time over the fence. By proxy neither did Harry.

Since his parents both worked, Dudley took it upon himself to start helping around the house without being prompted. This not only earns his parent’s adoration but also lessens the workload on Harry. 

They couldn’t expect him to clean something Dudley had already done so himself. Now the chores were evenly split between them, and when his parents weren’t around, he asked Harry to switch duties per week. This way no one was stuck doing the hard ones all the time. 

After all, it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Not that he liked cleaning the loo but someone had to do it, even if it was only biweekly his turn.

One chore he refused to trade however was cooking. Dudley didn’t care that he was the same physical age, Harry was much too young to be near the stove. He was too young when he was four and he’s still too young at age ten. 

He had to throw fits every once in a while but over time the kitchen became his domain. Dudley cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinners, spending too many hours before the telly watching those cooking channels with a notebook and pen. At least he can say his food was actually tasty. 

Life skills, his name is Dudley Dursleys, and he is owning you now.

His passion for the culinary arts was part making-sure-they-don’t-starve-my-cousin and part Hey-this-is-actually-fun. Harry has been his very happy guinea pig.

He’s going to miss the little guy. 

Only a few months left. Dudley thinks while turning the egg meant for his father in the pan Soon Harry will be getting his letter and he’ll be off to Hogwarts, where someone else will make sure he’s eating. 

Trying not to let the thought bring him down, the time-traveler takes a deep breath through his nose. Mentally chanting It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. He prepares his own plate after making sure his parents’ were done. He joins Harry at the table and stares at him.

The last four years have been better for his cousin. He’s still tiny but thankfully not overly so. Maybe a few inches shorter then Dudley now instead of the head height difference of before. The clothes they wear are almost the same size, with Dudley’s build being a bit bigger compared to Harry’s naturally lean body. 

Over the years Dudley took notice of Harry’s preference in clothing making sure to buy them before “getting bored” of the shirts or jeans after one wear or two. It was the closest he could get Harry to new clothes. The backpack Harry used was one he saw him staring at in the store and bullied his father into buying, then a week later bullied his mother into buying the plain black one he used. 

Dudley thinks Harry caught on to this years ago but his cousin has yet to say anything about it. Sometimes, he forgets just how clever and aware of his surroundings Harry really is.  

His glasses, on the other hand, were a problem Dudley couldn’t get fixed without getting into a screaming match with his parents. Which he did. But it had no effect. 

He tries as much as he can but some things he can’t make better. His cousin already knows his Aunt and Uncle don’t love him despite the amount of affection and care they shower onto their son. 

He claims it doesn’t bother him, but that leaves mental scars. 

It’s still emotional abuse.

“What?” Harry asks raising a brow.  “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“No reason,” Dudley says blinking his eyes dry.

“I think there is. You don’t just stare at someone like that for no reason.” Harry glances around before lowering his voice into a near whisper  “Did I do something, you know, weird again?”

Dudley tries for a smile. He lowers his own voice, not wanting his parents to hear him even if he knows their alarm clocks haven’t gone off yet.  “No. You didn’t do any accidental magic. I think that only happens when your emotions are out of control, or you focus hard enough. And don’t call it weird. It’s not. It’s a gift.” 

“I don’t know Ley.” Harry waves his fork a little, having developed the habit of speaking with his hands after seeing Dudley do the same over the years. “This doesn’t feel like a gift when I make papers flout every time I hum or when I end up on the roof trying to play a game of tag with Piers.”

“It’s just that you don’t know how to control it yet. Trust me, it’s perfectly normal.”

“Oh yeah? Name one person who can do what I can.” Harry challenges him. 

Fumbling for names and then realizing he’s not supposed to know these people yet, the de-age male scrambles to save his cousin’s feelings. “Um, well maybe we don’t know they can do it, but there has to be-”

“You see! I’m a freak!” 

“Don’t say that! You are not a freak! You’re just doing magic, and it’s by accident. You can’t help it.” 

Harry bites his lower lip, glaring into his plate before he deflates.  “I just wish I didn’t have magic. We don’t even know if it is magic, maybe it’s something sinister.”

“It’s not,” Dudley says firmly. “It’s magic. I know it.”

“How can you be so sure? You read it in one of your books?” 

“Yes.” 

Harry eyes him a little longer before shrugging his shoulder. While doing so there is a hum in the air right before Dudley’s eggs explode into his face.  

A startled gasp rings through the room seconds after the food splats onto his skin. “Ley, I’m so so sorry. I’m so stupid. I didn’t mean-I swear I didn’t think it would- I’m sorry!”

Laughing Dudley waves away his worries wiping his face with a napkin. “Oh don’t worry. Josh used to do this all the time.”

“Who’s Josh?”

“What?”

“You said Josh threw food into your face. Who is he? Is he bullying you?” Harry looks downright murderous at the mere notion that anyone would dare. It’s quite touching.

Harry has taken to being his defender against their school mates and while doing so earn their scorn all over again. Piers is the only other little boy he’s on friendly terms with. Sadly they were more acquaintances than friends since Piers did not want to gain the other kid's disproval for being too nice to Harry and his lame nerdy cousin. 

Since coming back to the past Dudley had gone from ruling the playground to being the kids’ favorite target instead. He doesn’t mind it too much, after all the insults they think sting is more adorable then painful and he finds that being the outsider gives him more time to read. He’s too mature for their taste, too odd with his boredom of games, love of the library, perfect manners, and chubby body.

He’s not fat, but he’s not thin either. To the kids in his classroom, the difference means nothing. 

School is a nightmare but this is mostly due to him being bored and if there is one thing he can’t wait for when Harry leaves for Hogwarts it finally being able to show his “bright” mind. Hopefully allowing him to finish his education quicker before he goes completely mad.

There are only so many “How many apples do you have if you give five away in groups of two” a man can take.

“Don’t worry about it, Harry. Really, I’m fine.” He says smiling widely. His cousin doesn’t look mollified, opening his mouth to no doubt demand more information on  Josh.

Looking at the clock, he claps his hands before his cousins can insist. “Mother and Father will be up in ten minutes. Hush up, and eat your food.”

After a beat of silence, his cousin does as he’s told though he seems displeased. This means that Harry will be glue to his side for the rest of the day in hopes of seeing Josh and stoping him from bullying Dudley.

I’m really going to miss you, you little angel. Duddley thinks fondly. I’m going to miss you so much. 

An alarm clock goes off over their heads. Another day has officially begun.

“Popkins, darling, can you make Mama a cup of coffee?” Petunia calls down the stairs her voice laced with drowsiness. 

“Yes, Mother.” He yells back just as Harry finishes off his plate. The two clear the table, sticking the dishes into the sink, and Dudley pours his mother her coffee. He eyes the pile he needs to wash after school today, sighing to see that the dishes have somehow doubled since the last time he looked.

His mother pads down the stairs in her bathrobe, the shower starting to go as his father gets ready. This means he’ll be down in ten since he got to the washroom first. 

“Good morning Popkins!” Petunia says with a bright smile, rushing towards him with a hug and kiss. Dudley side steps the full hug, turning it into an awkward one-handed embarrassed. He can’t dodge her kiss sadly.

“Morning Mother. Your food is ready.”

“Thank you, love. It looks so tasty!” 

Harry slips into the background, throwing a look of envy at them before disappearing into the living room. Dudley bites back a grimace. 

These are one of the mental scars he’s worried about. What if Harry and he end up like Mother and Auntie Lily? Friends in their youth but turn bitter by jealousy, and their relationship broken beyond repair well into their lives. 

He can’t do anything about it. He can only hope. 

Dudley tries his best to ignore the lead sitting in the pit of his stomach as he places the plates on the table for his parents. He grabs his black backpack, and follows Harry into the living room, switching the telly on for some morning cartoons before school.

Harry offers him a smile when he stops on his favorite channel.

________________________________________________________________

The school year ends more rapidly then he thought possible. Before he realizes it sumer break is upon him. He eyes the calander staring at his birthday knowing that around this time Harry will be reciveing his letter. He doens’t know what to do with himself.

Over the years he prepared for the day Harry would go join his world again. It’s harder, however, then it was for when Daisy left. Maybe it was because, for her, he had to accept it as it was happening while Harry has an actual date. 

Or maybe it’s because with Daisy she arrived in peace times. Harry would not only be joining the wizardly world, but he will also be joining a war. It kills him to think he’s going to allow the boy to walk into a battlefield without being about to do anything.

Hell, Dudley can’t even warn him about anything. He’s not part of that world. He never will be.

Dudley didn’t know anything about the Second Wizarding War. The Harry of the future never spoke of his school days, his friends just as tight-lipped about it. Most of them didn’t like him enough to have a conversation.

George Weasley couldn’t even stand being in the same room as he. Once the older man had cornered him to hiss. “I was old enough to remember and understand what you put him through. Don’t think I’ll ever forget the day my brothers and I had to rescue him from your house, even if Harry does.”

George then spat at him leaving Dudley stun in the corner of the party wondering if he could gather his kids and run like he wanted to. He didn’t blame him. Instead, he thought it was nice Harry had in-laws who cared so much for him.

This memory does nothing to make him feel better about the war Harry would soon be apart of. Heavens it felt like he was sending his child to the front lines. 

There were books based on these years of course but Dudley only had to open to the first page to realize they were rubbish.

The author had thought Harry was raised fighting dragons, rushing on some daring adventures with lavished mansions and wealth ever since defeating the Dark Lord the first time. It had made him sick.

Wizards and Witches read books of Harry having the best life a young wizard could only dream of having, his fame sky-rocking with each and every ridiculous fantasy in his book series while his cousin was starved and abuse. 

How could he then, trust those books on the retelling of Harry’s Hogwarts days? I mean fighting a troll, finding the Chambers of secrets and sleeping with the entire Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Quidditch teams all before he was seventeen? Honestly who came up with such dumb ideas. Did the writers just pulled out papers from a hat, and slapped the name Harry Potter onto it to make it about his cousin? 

“Ley, we’re going to the zoo for your birthday tomorrow! Aren’t you excited?” Harry appears at his door, clad in his pajamas startling the blond from his mental ranting.

Harry is all but jumping in place, obviously won’t be able to sleep tonight until much later. He always comes to wish Dudley a good night before bed however so here he is. 

“I’m very excited.” Dudley tries.

“You don’t sound it. What’s wrong?”

“...I had a nightmare.” He settles lamely unable to explain the anxiety coursing through his body. Suddenly his bed shakes and flies into the ceiling with a swirl of silver sparkles. 

“Son!? What was that!?” Vernon screams from down the hall.

“Nothing Father, I just was jumping on my bed!” He calls back “Everything’s fine!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! Really don’t get up. Everything fine!”

“I’m sorry,” Harry whispers looking pained at the disrupted bedding. Luckily Dudley’s bed frame seems to be intact. “I don’t know why but it’s been getting worse lately.”

This is true. Lately, Harry’s magic has been acting up more than he thought was normal. Just today he somehow managed to burst three-light bolts, have one of Ms. Figg’s inflate like a balloon luckily out of her sight, and had their dinner exploded. 

Dudley had no idea why either. Neither Daisy or Josh was like this.

“It’s okay Harry.” He reassures not liking the way his cousin is curling his fingers into his shirt. “This is just a reaction to your emotions. Just try to stay calm alright? Nothing bad happened. Everything is fine.”

“If you say so. I’m still sorry. I don’t mean to.”

“I know. I promise. It’s okay.”

There is a long pause while the boys put the bed back as best they can neither sure how to point out that Harry’s magic is getting stronger and stronger with each passing day.

 “Want to sleep in here with me? I don’t want to be alone after my nightmare anyway.” Dudley asks once everything is settle again.

Bright green eyes still look unsure but his cousin nods. They have been sharing a bed for years now as Harry couldn’t crawl into his uncle and aunts bed after a nightmare, Dudley took it upon himself to be the one he could turn to during the darkest of nights.

They wake up before his parents meaning the adults are none the wiser. Just as they weren’t aware of all of the accident magic going on in their home. Both agreeing the adults wouldn’t understand. 

After Harry crawls under the blankets and the lights go off. Dudley can only hope they can keep the accidental magic a secret for a few more weeks more. Just until Harry can get the proper help he needs with his magic and he won’t have so many outbursts.  

“Goodnight Harry.”

“Goodnight Ley.”

Dudley doesn’t even remember the zoo too much, other than Harry hissing at the snakes -honestly why?- and the fact that all the glass of the reptile house faded away causing mayhem of terror as everything got out, it was a dull event. 

No, what really shocked and terrified him, was the day Harry’s Hogwarts acceptance letter arrived in the post. Dudley always got the mail once he finishes cooking breakfast so he was the first one to see the letter.

Along with another copy address to him.

“Well, Fuck me.” 

[st3llaton]

My recovery!

I want to share my story of recovery, and talk about my experiences with mental health

TW: this post will contain sensitive topics such as s*lf h*rm, s*icide, ed, anxiety/social isolation, and depression. If you are sensitive to these topics please read with discretion or avoid this post completely.

This will also be quite long as I’m ready to share my whole story but I hope someone can find hope in this, or if anyone who is currently going through something similar, knows that they aren’t alone and things always get better.

Thank you :)

-

I’m gonna say it now and rip off the bandaid, but I tried ending my life 4 months and 5 days ago, and I’m so glad I survived.

2019 was not a good year for me at all. I was suffering in silence and if I spoke about my mental health, I would always feel guilty. I always felt awful speaking about my health, in fear of losing people around me, scaring them away or afraid of my tone and coming off as manipulative. I promised myself to never ever tell anyone how I was feeling, not to my close friends or my ex who I was dating at the time. Because of this insecurity, I felt like I was losing control of my life, which resulted in me controlling my eating and was vulnerable to an eating disorder at the beginning of the year. 

It really started to go downhill in June, I went on a school camp which fuelled my insecurities of feeling rejected and unwanted. Because of that experience, I went into a depressive episode which I thought would end in a few days after the camp but I was clearly wrong. At the beginning of the new term, I had a relapse and avoided everyone in my life, I was texting my close friends as often and for a few days, I sat by myself at school. 

During that term, my ex broke up with me and I wasn’t going to let that bring me down, and a few days later after the breakup, I was genuinely happy and was excited to rebuild myself for the coming year and focusing on my education. But I fell harder than I did before. 

Not only was I trying to grieve a failed relationship, but I was also trying to grieve the death of a pet and trying to balance both school life and my personal life. I felt like I could only cope through a relapse, and was constantly on the verge of a mental breakdown.

At one point in September, I felt as if the universe was out to get me. Every kind deed I did would backfire, I wanted to make people happy but not only was failing at that I was also making myself miserable for not focusing on my own problems. At the end of September, I felt like I had pushed everyone around me including my family, they knew something was wrong but I blamed it on schoolwork. I also stopped seeing my current psychologist at the time.

October was the last straw, at this point I was looking for one more thing to push me off the edge and to finally end it all, I had my final goodbyes ready and one day it happened. On October 21st, I almost committed suicide. It was the most traumatic experience of my life. Even writing this now I still get emotional, admitting that I was almost successful and a chance of me not existing now as I write this. 

I didn’t tell anyone for a week, my depression had never hit me as hard as it did. I felt so numb but had to push through and not let anyone know something was off. For the rest of that term, I shut off. I didn’t try in my assessments, I didn’t do my work and I wasn’t making art I was proud of. I finally told a school counselor and my mum, both took action immediately, and within two weeks I was already seeing a new psychologist. 

At the end of November, I’d had enough of my school and told my parents I needed to leave as I was not thriving in my year level and had a deep dislike for my school. Within three weeks I was enrolled in my current school, and it has been one of the best decisions of my life. I enrolled just in time to make it to transition week, and it was the best four days of my life at that point. I was reunited with my friends who left my old school, and we reunited with familiar faces, and not forget I loved my subjects straight away. 

The summer holidays were hard, with family issues and anxiety surrounding year 12, but I kept optimistic even if I was feeling suicidal out of fear I ruined my life by moving schools, but I’ve never been more wrong.

It’s now February of 2020, and my only problem at the moment is procrastinating my English homework right now as we speak haha, I’m still struggling with making new friends but the ones I’ve made so far are honestly so amazing, I love my teachers so much and am excited about my future. If 2019 me knew that life will be good with time, she would have counted every day to 2020 with anticipation of a new start.

What advice can I give to someone who is struggling now? I know it’s super cliche but time heals and it gets better. Your feelings matter and you do not need to feel ashamed about your struggles, you are human and allowing yourself to feel them is healthy. It isn’t some easy fix, it takes time and I am still recovering but I’m in such a better headspace than I was months ago. Please reach out to people you trust, a friend, a family member, a teacher or if you can, a counselor. There are many online services and hotlines you can access if you want to remain confidential too. 

I hope my story has inspired some of you to seek help. Thank you for taking the time out of your day/evening to read this. Thank you again :)