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gameofdrarry · 3 years

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Wizards Hearts Recs: Alpha/Beta/Omega

Wizards Hearts was a four-month-long Drarry reading fest. Players were given a playing deck of 52 tropes, and were asked to find 52 different fics to read and comment on to fill their decks. To prevent the same few fics from being read, fics were restricted to only being used for the game three times before being considered ineligible for further points. The tropes and submissions list can be found here.

Check out the masterlist of fics for this trope below the cut!

📜 The Songbirds of Avebury Manor by Tessa Crowley (tessacrowley) Rated: Explicit Words: 18237 Tags: Omega Verse, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Omega Draco Malfoy, Alpha Harry Potter, Class Differences, Soulmates, Sexual Tension, Mating Cycles/In Heat, First Time, Knotting, Implied Mpreg, Victorian Attitudes, Well sort of Victorian attitudes, Like Victorian attitudes except A/B/O, It makes sense in context I swear Summary: Harry Potter presents as alpha at fifteen, and it is supposed to change his life for the better. Instead, it leads him to a beautiful noble omega he cannot have, a political plot he cannot escape, and a threat on his life. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Dissident by Constance1 Rated: Explicit Words: 182162 Tags: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Creature Fic, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, nundu, Angst, Romance, Dubious Consent, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Violence, Knotting, dark at times, but not really, Some fluffy moments too, Mpreg, Falling In Love, Omega Harry, Alpha Draco Malfoy, Drama, Claustrophobia, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Protective Draco Malfoy, Animagus, Christmas Summary: In a world of Alphas and Omegas, Harry is surprised to discover that he is a rare male Omega. He assumes his pull towards Draco Malfoy is because the Slytherin is an Alpha, but there is more at play here than even Harry knows. My own twist on the Alpha/Omega-verse. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Work to be done by PollyWeasley Rated: General Words: 1145 Tags: 2 years later, Slice of Life, alpha council Summary: Harry has to be away from his family to help other family, but his heart is still with his loved ones. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Embers by shiftylinguini Rated: Explicit Words: 41216 Tags: Post-Hogwarts, First Time, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Draco Malfoy, Omega Harry Potter, Werewolves, Heat Companion Harry Potter, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Masturbation, Knotting, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Scent Marking, Scent Kink, Come Marking, Dirty Talk, sexual negotiation, H/D Career Fair 2017 Summary: Werewolf Alphas aren't meant to be alone, or to suppress their ruts indefinitely like Draco has been since he was bitten eight years ago. He needs company, companionship, to knot ― he needs an Omega Heat Companion. At least, that’s what the Healers say, and even Draco can admit contacting the person they’ve referred him to might be nice. Of course it turns out to be bloody Potter. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Broken Heart (It Kens Nae Second Spring) by grahamhannah53 Rated: Explicit Words: 18220 Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, omega!Draco, alpha!Harry, Auror Harry Potter, Undercover Missions, Smut, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Anal Sex, Rimming, Knotting, abnormal rut behavior, we hate the dursleys, Angst with a Happy Ending, except the happy ending is in the next part of the series Summary: Harry Potter is an Auror, just like he'd always wanted to be... except no one will give him a mission. When he finally gets one (with Draco Malfoy's name on it), he almost wishes he hadn't. Malfoy is everything Harry hadn't expected him to be, and out of the shambles of Harry's common sense arises a friendship that threatens to be more. Can Harry keep his mission secret from Malfoy? And even if he can do that, is it even possible for him to keep his hands off of Malfoy when he offers to help Harry through a rut after learning that Harry is exceptionally aggressive and violent during them? +++++ I have already completed this fic, I will be posting once, maybe twice weekly, depending on how well-received it is! I am also working on the second part, and have it half-way written. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Second Spring by grahamhannah53 Rated: Explicit Words: 19629 Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, alpha!Harry, omega!Draco, Mates, Getting Back Together, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anal Sex, Rimming, Light Bondage, BAMF Draco Malfoy, BAMF Harry Potter, Implied Mpreg, Making Up, Unspeakable Draco Malfoy, Head Auror Harry Potter Summary: Years after their disastrous breakup, Draco Malfoy comes back from France with a much sought-after skill set and a brilliant resume-- one that even Harry Potter could envy. Harry resolutely decides that staying away from Draco is the best option, forcing himself to resist the almost magnetic pull to his mate in favor of carrying on with life as normal... but when Draco ends up in his interrigation room in the middle of his heat, things get... dicey. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Puppy Breath and Money by GeorgeOaks Rated: Explicit Words: 18802 Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Harry Potter, Omega Draco Malfoy, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Please Don't Hate Me, Abused Draco Malfoy, nothing graphic happens, Healing, A healing fic, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, Omega Hurt, Tags May Change, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Draco Maloy is conditioned, Allusions to rape and being controlled, Protective Harry Potter, Respectful Harry Potter, going into heat, It's not as dark as it sounds?, he gets better and starts calling people names again, Dobby (Harry Potter) Lives, Fred Weasley Lives Summary: Harry Potter had spent the last three years terrified for Draco Malfoy. Everyone knew what it meant when Malfoy didn't return to Hogwarts for his fifth year. Harry had done a spectacular job at denying it at first, of course. Tried convincing himself that it was just because Voldemort was back. That the Malfoys probably just ran off with their Dark Lord, or, what he had hoped most, had run away from him. It wasn't until Hermione gave him that look that said that if he didn't pull his head out of his arse soon, he was going to be absolutely hit upside the head, that he had to accept it. Malfoy hadn't returned to school because Draco Malfoy had presented Omega. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 A Late Presentation by SouthronWildling Rated: Explicit Words: 10661 Tags: AU Canon Divergence, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Severus Snape Lives, PWP, First Times, light dub-con due to a/b/o dynamics Summary: Draco Malfoy presents as an omega during his Hogwarts Eighth Year. Shameless PWP, with a little humor, a little fluff, and a little of Draco being bitchy. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Malfoy's Bitch by dragontara Rated: Explicit Words: 6668 Tags: Creature Fic, dub-con, Graphic Sex, Knotting, Alpha/Omega, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Top Draco, translation in Chinese available Summary: Bitten by a werewolf doesn't always mean that you'll transform into a werewolf but it definitely increases your animalistic instincts and behaviour. Harry will learn that at first hand. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Heat of the Heart by carpemermaid Rated: Explicit Words: 6433 Tags: Mildly Dubious Consent, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Draco Malfoy, Alpha Harry Potter, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Auror Partners, Auror Harry Potter, Auror Draco Malfoy, Werewolf Draco Malfoy, Light Dom/sub, Bottom Draco, Top Harry Potter, Seduction, Voyeurism, Exhibitionism, Masturbation, Fingerfucking, Blow Jobs, Rough Sex, Marathon Sex, Stubble Burn, Accidental Marriage, Accidental Bonding, Love Bites, Cuddling & Snuggling, Romance, Dirty Talk, Scenting, hung harry Summary: Draco was recently bitten by a werewolf in the line of duty as an Auror. He'd been dealing with it as best he could, but then his first heat came on hot and fast in the middle of filling out reports with his Auror partner, Harry Potter. Luckily for him, Potter has a knack for saving his arse. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Tuxedo Angel by ryslora Rated: Explicit Words: 25497 Tags: Mildly Dubious Consent, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Dark Magic, Mpreg, Crossdressing, Genderbending, HP: EWE, Case Fic, Community: hd_holidays, Torch Singer, Singing, Harry Thinks Malfoy Is Up To Something, Bonding, Cursed Bond, Old Magic, Living Together Summary: Harry and Neville are looking for the infamous Dragon Lily, a Dark witch active throughout Europe and Asia. Instead, they find the Tuxedo Angel, a beautiful witch performing in Rome. Harry quickly discovers that the Angel is not what she seems, and fights his attraction to her, while both he and the Angel are drawn into a web created by ancient magic that pulls them together, whether they are ready for it or not. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Rise Above the Moon by Queenie_Mab Rated: Explicit Words: 15930 Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Verse, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Pack Feels, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Knotting, Explicit Sexual Content, Illustrated, Bottom Draco, Bottom Harry, Topping from the Bottom, Switching Summary: It's not easy to make a living when your past misdeeds colour your life, but when the saviour of the wizarding world offers a possible way out, Draco Malfoy isn't stupid enough to let the opportunity pass. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Turn, Drop, Fall by Tessa Crowley (tessacrowley) Rated: Explicit Words: 29056 Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Draco Malfoy, Alpha Harry Potter, Mildly Dubious Consent, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Arranged Marriage, Infidelity?, Brief scenes of heterosexuality, (sorry) Summary: In his father's world of staunch traditions and strict gender dynamics, presenting as an omega is the worst thing that could happen to Draco, although accidentally bonding to Harry Potter and being forced into a marriage with Antonin Dolohov both come in close second. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Mine To Own, Ours To Keep by bumble_Bree Rated: Explicit Words: 69033 Tags: Alternate Universe, Alpha Harry, Omega Draco, Bottom Draco, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Rimming, Licking, beastiality, Wolves, alpha/beta/omega, Smut, Porn, Rough Sex, Mpreg, Knotting, Fluff, Romance, Heat Cycles, Miscarriage, Younger Draco, Delicate Draco, Powerful Harry, Self-Lubrication, facesitting, Love, Felching, Child Birth (non-graphic), Lactation, Male Lactation, Dry Orgasming, Oral Sex, Lactation Kink, Fisting, Size Difference, Smaller Draco, Larger Harry Summary: When Draco is bought at a slave market, he fully expects a difficult road ahead of him. What he does NOT expect is to find himself in a world unlike any he could have expected - a world where the feared and respected Harry Potter is his Alpha, his one true soulmate. Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J.K.Rowling and Bloomsbury and I seek no profit from this work. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 What Happened to Draco Malfoy by ghostlynimbus Rated: Explicit Words: 43053 Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alpha Harry, Omega Draco Malfoy, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts, Healing, Auror Ron Weasley, Sex Trafficked Draco Malfoy, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Unreliable Narrator, POV Alternating, Mpreg, Pregnancy, Pregnant Draco Malfoy, gratuitous use of wandless magic, medical/hospital scenes, Knotting, Overstimulation, Hung Harry Potter, Praise Kink, maybe? a little, Dubious Consent, kind of, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Angst, Rimming Summary: Draco Malfoy has been missing since the end of the war. Harry has moved on, mostly. But when, years later, Draco is found in an auror raid of an illegal omega trafficking ring both their lives are changed. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 in heat by M0stlyVoid Rated: Explicit Words: 4196 Tags: Past Rape/Non-con, Minor Character Death, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Draco Malfoy, Alpha Harry Potter, Masturbation, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Hung Harry Potter, Knotting Summary: Draco’s been getting by just fine despite his unfortunate little genetic gift. Until Potter decides to barge in and muck everything up, that is. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Let Out the Beast by acupforslytherin Rated: Explicit Words: 9649 Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Sex, Knotting, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Scent Kink, Explicit Consent, Self-Lubrication, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Professor Harry Potter, Professor Draco Malfoy, Alpha Draco Malfoy, Omega Harry Potter, Top Draco Malfoy, Bottom Harry Potter, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, H/D Sex Fair 2020 Summary: In the wizarding world where alphas are looked down upon for their lack of control and unseemly aggression, it is generally accepted that they are not allowed to work in places like schools and hospitals where their nature could risk the people there. When Draco Malfoy suddenly shows up at Hogwarts smelling strongly like an alpha, Harry is beyond baffled. The fact that no one else seems to catch his scent only adds to his confusion. But, of course, the most puzzling part is how Harry’s body reacts to that scent. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 This Is How by bixgirl1 Rated: Explicit Words: 6508 Tags: Friends to Lovers, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Harry Potter, Omega Draco Malfoy, Scenting, Claim Biting, switch POV, Partial Second Person POV, Falling In Love, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Rimming, Oral Sex, Knotting Summary: Omegas are long gone, or so everyone thinks. This is not how things were supposed to go. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Silver Moon by JBankai89 Rated: Explicit Words: 58199 Tags: Werewolves, Werewolf Harry, Alpha Harry, Top Harry, Bottom Draco, Slightly Dark Harry, questionable morals, Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, dubcon, Fluffy Ending, Violence, Mild Blood and Gore, Drama, Soulmate elements, Harry raises Teddy Summary: Five years after the war, peace has fallen upon the wizarding world. Draco Malfoy has begun to find peace in the strangest of places, and now as a junior Potions Master after a mere four years, he finds his mind quieted from the horrors that scar his world in the deep and dark of the forests, where he goes to collect ingredients his master requires. Unfortunately, one trek into the woods brings him close to werewolf territory, too close, in fact, and he finds himself captured. He expected to be devoured by these brigands, but the truth of his fate turns out to be far more confusing and terrifying than he ever imagined. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 you killed me on the moon by epsilonargus Rated: Explicit Words: 4906 Tags: Alpha Draco Malfoy, Omega Harry Potter, King Harry Potter, Top Draco Malfoy, Identity Reveal, True Mates, Attraction, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Captive Prince Fusion, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, H/D Sex Fair 2020 Summary: ‘You barely know me. We do not know each other.’ ‘Beyond this overwhelming need to submit to you, completely and utterly?’ Potter raises his eyebrows, stretching his scar. ‘Beyond this bone-deep awareness that you are made for me, and I for you? That our destiny was written in the stars, in the very foundation of our known world?’ An A/B/O Royalty!AU wherein a desperate Slytherin prince faces a proposal from the conquering Gryffindor king. ❤️ Read on AO3

#game of drarry #drarry #drarry recs #wizards hearts #wh masterlist

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nanoland · 3 years

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title: Compass Rose

series: Lucifer (TV)

pairings: Mazikeen/Eve

summary: In which Mazikeen exercises her renowned patience.

warnings: Lucifer is kind of a dick in this. Not intentionally; he’s just young and colossally self-centered.

Also on Ao3!

“You. Demon. What’s your name?” asks the Morningstar, looking bored and depressed, as usual.

She straightens up, brimming with nerves and excitement, feeling her acidic blood bubble happily because he’s so handsome! And he’s talking to her! Her siblings will shriek with jealousy when they hear of this. “Mazikeen, my liege.”

“Mazikeen,” he repeats, mispronouncing it. “Great. Maze, do something about… all that, would you? It’s dreadfully grating.”

He gestures to the sea of damned, miserable human souls milling around the base of his throne, calling up to him for help or mercy.

“Yes, my liege,” she says, her bright mind already hard at work planning the next few millennia of punishment.

“Maze, is there a letter from Amenadiel?”

Mazikeen is now four hundred years old and in all that time, not a single letter has arrived in Hell, from Amenadiel or anyone else. Regardless, her handsome king asks every week.

It’s fine. She’s far too mature and cunning to feel even the slightest scrap of envy towards some pompous old angel she’s never even met, regardless of how obviously Lucifer loves him.

Regardless of how obvious it is that he loves no one in Hell half as much.

“No, my liege.”

“Hmm. Fine. Whatever. Fuck him, then. Brothers – who needs ‘em?”

She nods. She herself has many, many brothers, and sisters, and siblings who are neither or both, and she certainly doesn’t need them.

(Sometimes she longs for them, especially when she’s weary from the years and years dedicated to building and securing Lucifer’s kingdom, but she never needs. Needing is for the weak.)

It occurs to her that that king might be cheered by stories of Tradiusis, her most treasured and most useless brother, who is prone to chatting with the damned and asking them about all the silly human indulgences they enjoyed in life, like movies and theme parks and hot dogs. Fool that he is, the mere thought of him always brings a smile to her face.

But she decides against it, suspecting that if she were to begin telling Lucifer about her family, he’d get that same dull, faintly irritated expression she sees every time she reads him a report about the number of new arrivals and how various parts of Hell will need to be restructured to accommodate them all.

(She wonders what will happen when Hell is full – does he have a plan? Is she expected to have a plan?)

(How long, exactly, are they supposed to keep doing this?)

(Surely this can’t be all they were made for?)

“Maze, get me a drink, would you?”

Mazikeen is Lucifer’s right hand, his bodyguard, the highest-ranked demon in Hell, named the Lady of Pain, the Whirlwind, and the Blood Dancer by her peers and underlings.

Pouring drinks is… new to her.

But this is what he wants; this club, this loud music, these inebriated humans constantly demanding attention and entertainment, constantly needing to be managed. And he’s her king.

She pours him his drink and listens to him play the piano, until some wretch attempts to grope her and loses two fingers.

Running a nightclub is, it turns out, complicated.

There are all sorts of rules and regulations regarding what can and cannot be done inside it.

At one point, Lucifer decides it would be fun to have white tigers roaming the dance floor. After a few days spent looking into that option, she has to explain that they may to have settle for waitresses dressed as tigers. He pouts like it’s her fault and goes back to the piano.

She’s also not allowed to kill anyone, which is, honestly, ridiculous. Mazikeen is an ancient being, a warrior nigh unparalleled, with centuries of experience contending with the worst the human race has to offer, and every single night she endures treatment from at least one of Lucifer’s guests that, even to her vast, reasonable, and patient mind, clearly warrants swift annihilation.

If murder is, indeed, illegal, how do all the mortal women in this city who serve drinks cope?

“You block it out, I guess,” says Suzy, a waitress with thick red hair and tired eyes, after Mazikeen has had to save her yet again from a patron with wandering hands (and now broken hands). “You know, just… don’t let it get to you. Grow a thick skin.”

Mazikeen considers the half of her body that has no skin whatsoever and snickers inappropriately. Then she gifts Suzy one of her knives.

Chloe gasps. “Maze! No! Absolutely not!”

“Why?” she asks, annoyed but also genuinely curious.

“I can’t just torture a suspect to get information, Maze. It’s wrong.”

Mazikeen considers saying: You already torture people. You lock them up in tiny boxes until their minds break and their lives are utterly ruined. How is that different? I don’t understand.

Mazikeen considers saying: You let Lucifer violate peoples’ innermost selves to obtain information. How is that better? I don’t understand.

Mazikeen considers saying: I don’t want to be good. I don’t care about being good. So why do I seem to put so much more thought into how to be good than you do? I don’t understand, I don’t, I don’t.

Instead, Mazikeen rolls her eyes and says nothing.

“Maze! No! What were you thinking?” cries Linda, rushing over to the cradle. “You can’t give that to a baby!”

She snatches away Mazikeen’s present; a blade, small and silver, just right for tiny hands, the same blade Mazikeen herself received from her favourite sister on her fourth birthday. It has tasted the blood of over a hundred enemies.

Charlie starts to cry and Linda puts the blade aside so she can pick him up and comfort him.

“Children need to be able to protect themselves,” Mazikeen insists.

“No, Maze. Children need to be protected.”

“No one protected me.”

Linda doesn’t say: Exactly. Why would I want my son to be anything like you?

Because Linda is kind.

But Mazikeen is perceptive and she sees it in her friend’s eyes all the same.

“So then, then it turns out that Jon Snow is actually Daenarys Targaryen’s cousin, right, which makes him – oh no! – a rival contender for the Iron Throne, and…”

“Ugh,” Mazikeen groans, cutting Ella off. “I thought this was a show about dragons! Why does it waste so much time on people either fucking or killing their relatives?”

She laughs at Mazikeen’s exaggerated annoyance. “It’s not just about dragons. There’s a lot of stuff about politics and war and, yeah, fucked-up family dynamics. Honestly, that’s one of the reasons it grips me so much. My own family’s always got a ton of drama going on, too. I mean – no incest. Not that I’m aware of. But you know all about my brothers.”

Mazikeen is about to ask what the dragons look like – whether the show’s version bears any resemblance to the beasts she’s ridden into battle – when Ella tilts her head sideways and squints at her. “Huh. Now that I think about it… I’ve told you all about my brothers but I’ve never asked anything about your family. That was shitty of me! Can I ask now? Or is it, like, one of those things you don’t talk about? Like where you’re from and how you met Lucifer?”

Fiddling with a lock of her hair – it’s straight and black today – Mazikeen says, “I don’t mind talking about it. Just… most people don’t care.”

Ella frowns, briefly (cutely, curse her). “Well, I wanna know! You got any brothers?”

“Yeah.”

“How many?”

“A lot. I’m not actually sure exactly how many there are now.”

“Oh, right. Gotcha. Are you close to any of them?”

“Not these days. But when we were young, we were pretty tight-knit. Didn’t really have anyone besides each other.”

Ella asks her more questions and though she has to keep her answers extremely vague, Mazikeen finds that she likes talking about her home and her childhood. Prolonged exposure to the human world has begun to make her feel insubstantial; a tool, a disguise, a thing without roots or history. Lucifer’s been no help with that, for he’s only ever known her as his servant (and, sometimes, when he’s in a good mood, his friend, by virtue of the fact that friendship with someone who works for you – who can do nothing but work for you – requires no tedious emotional labour whatsoever).

It’s nice to remember that she has, in fact, been other things. That she could, perhaps, be other things in the future.

“So,” Dan slurs, hunched over his beer. “You got whores… hordes… horns? Thought demons had horns.”

She’s busy applying a fresh coat of candy-pink lipstick to match her powder-blue bob. “Some do. I don’t.”

“Well, that sucks. That’s not fair! You deserve horns. You’re cool, Maze.”

Because that provokes a twinge of genuine affection, she says, “Wanna see what I have got?”

“Hell, yeah!”

He grins drunkenly.

“You need to promise not to scream.”

“Oh – oh, man, is it scary? Is it gross?”

She shows him her true face.

After a moment of owlish blinking, he shrugs and returns to his beer. “Eh. S’not that gross. Lucifer’s grosser. Wanna play pool?”

Amenadiel presents her with a beautiful black sheath. “I crafted it from my own feathers. It will keep the blade contained until he’s old enough to wield it safely.”

She slides Charlie’s knife into it. “Someone will need to teach him.”

“Who taught you?”

“Me? No one. They just threw us at one another and clapped for whoever survived. But… well. He’s not like me, is he?”

The angel places the sheathed blade down beside Charlie’s stuffed rabbit and plastic truck. “Maybe not now. With any luck, that will change.”

“Ma-aaze,” Lucifer groans, flopping back in his armchair with his long legs artfully folded and his hand over his eyes. “I’ve had such a tiresome morning. Pour me a drink, would you?”

“Pour it your damn self,” she suggests, standing on his penthouse’s balcony and admiring the view. His throne in Hell was about as tall as this building. From up here, all the little people down below look exactly the same.

He pouts and fetches a glass – and, to her surprise, one for her as well.

Mazikeen brings an abrupt, efficient end to the bar fight by slamming her palm into an assailant’s solar plexus.

He drops like a ton of bricks, joining the pile of groaning men, broken furniture, and smashed bottles. (Shit; it’s going to take ages to clean all this up. If Lucifer didn’t have infinite money, Lux would have gone bankrupt eight times by now.)

She turns to see Eve staring at her, beautiful mouth hanging open, and braces herself for the “Maze! No!”.

“That was so cool,” Eve breathes, and rushes over to leap into Mazikeen’s arms, only to draw back at the last second. “Oh no! You’re hurt!”

There is, indeed, a small cut on Mazikeen’s left hand.

“Don’t care, doesn’t matter,” says Mazikeen, reaching for her, wanting badly to be kissed.

But Eve drags her into a quiet back room where she applies disinfectant and bandaids with cartoon cats on them.

“I really wanna learn how you did that thing with your elbow,” she chatters, wiping away a few spots of blood with a white handkerchief. “The way his nose just went crunch! – man, it was fantastic.”

“I can teach you. If you like.”

Eve’s dark eyes are fond. “You’re always offering to do something for me – to teach me how to fight, or to carry something, or to protect me. It’s… like, I love it. But you know you don’t have to, right?”

“Yeah. I do.”

“I wanna do stuff for you sometimes. Oh! That reminds me. Lucifer was going to take Chloe to a wrestling match but then they had another fight and he’s back to being sad, sooo I stole the tickets out of his jacket. Wanna go?”

“I love you,” says Mazikeen, even though she’s said it five times today. She likes the way it sounds in her mouth. She likes the way it makes Eve’s whole face sparkle.

“I love you too, babe.”

#mazikeen #lucifer #lucifer morningstar #eve #chloe decker #dan espinoza #linda martin #ella lopez #my fic

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written-on-the-trees · 4 years

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Yungblud Fan Fic - Finding Love Is Better Than Finding A Gold Mine

The Trees’ October 2020 Writing ChallengeDay 7/31

Prompt: Dragon (barely applies but oh well)

Word-count: 1500 words

Content Warnings: none

Summary: As all his friends move on with their lives, Dom's feeling lonely...but maybe he's found someone he can be lonely with.

A/N: So, just as to let everyone know how little I plan this shit out, I wrote a dragon-inspired story about MGK because it was what came to mind when I got the prompt for 'gold', and then five days later I got a prompt for 'dragon'. Clearly I need to learn to look forward a little more...but since I'm back on the subject, enjoy a sort-of sequel to Not All That Glitters Is Gold.

Dom smiled as Colson proudly introduced his human to the assembled group of dragons. He was about two seconds away from picking the small woman up and showing her off like a trophy, but she didn’t seem to mind. Dom didn’t think he would either; the way the Colson looked at her said it all - he adored his human. It shone from him like the sun: obvious to anyone who so much as glanced at the couple.

Dom was overjoyed for his friend…but he was also envious.

Everyone he knew was settling down, finding partners and having hatchlings, and Dom just…wasn’t.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t looking: he really, really was! It was just hard to find someone that wanted him. Humans were scared of him because he was a dragon, and dragons thought he was just…well, weird. Which was fair; Dom was weird for a dragon, given that he spent more time in his human form than he did in his scales, but he didn’t see why that bothered so many people. It made him feel good, and it wasn’t like he hurting anyone else!

He was just doing what made him happy, but apparently that made him incredibly unappealing to other living beings. Sure, Tom, Adam, and Colson had never minded, and they were all great friends, but none of them were romantically interested in Dom, and Dom wasn’t romantically interested in any of them - at least not seriously, especially since they all found partners. It was more than a little depressing, although he didn’t have time to dwell on it, not with the way the whole cave had just fallen silent.

A tall figure had paused in the entrance of the cave, shrouded in a black cloak that covered her from the top of her head down to her ankles, leaving only her bare feet exposed. Not that anyone needed to see any more than that.

They already knew who she was.

“It's the Messenger.”

“What does she want here?”

“Shh!”

The whispers died down as the Messenger looked around the cave, curling her lip in distaste as she took in the crowd that Colson had invited…and obviously finding them all lacking.

It wasn’t new; the Messenger was an odd member of the magical community. She was a neutral figure: the only one trusted to communicate and mediate between different supernatural groups, which meant that she didn’t have any enemies - but she didn’t have any friends either. It was a lonely job, and from what little he knew about Messengers, they often went one of two ways: retreating into themselves, or becoming…hostile. The current Messenger had gone down the second path.

And, apparently, she was feeling particularly hostile tonight.

“Well, quite a glittering crowd you’ve invited today, Baker. Dragons, the Fey, some were-animals, and - oh, how quaint: even the rabble.” She sneered at the small group of witches gathered in the corner, before turning back to Colson: “I really felt quite distressed at not receiving an invitation.”

Colson glared at the witch: “You weren't wanted.”

“Not wan- oh!” the Messenger clasped a hand over her heart, mockingly pretending to be upset: “Oh dear…what an awkward situation. I had hoped it was merely due to some oversight…well, in that event, I'd best be on my way.”

Dom could see where this was going - and tried to smooth it over before anything kicked off: “You're not offended, Messenger?”

“Why, no, of course not.” she smirked.

Dom could tell she wasn’t lying…but something about her smirk didn’t ring true with Dom. When she swept out of the cave, ignoring the gathered beings watching her leave, Dom followed her out into the night.

He knew it had to be lonely having no friends. Dom was lonely, and he had loads of friends - he just couldn’t find a partner. The Messenger had no partner and no friends and now people were refusing to invite her to things even out of politeness, as was custom.

She had to be lonely…he’d bet half his hoard on it, if the speed she was moving away from the party was any indication.

For a woman on bare feet, she moved through the forest with ease. Even with eyes that allowed him to see well in semi-darkness like the moonlight night around him, between the swiftness she moved through the trees and the long black cloak she wore, Dom struggled to keep up with her. It was only thanks to sheer determination that Dom managed to stay on her trail. Determination, and a sudden certainty that nobody should be feel lonely in a world full of people. Not her, not him, nobody.

And he was going to fix that - at least for the Messenger and himself. As soon as he caught up with her.

Which she is not making easy for me.

She really wasn’t…until all of a sudden she was, coming to a dead stop a few feet in front of him: “Why are you following me?”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Of course I’m okay.”

Dom knew he probably shouldn’t poke the metaphorical bear…but he’d come this far, so he wasn’t going to back down now: “You sure? I mean…I thought you might be a bit lonely.”

Nothing in the Messenger’s body language changed, but the air around them suddenly felt charged, just like it did before lightning was about to strike - though when she spoke, the Messenger’s voice was icily calm: “And why would you think that?”

“Because I am.”

Slowly, the electric feeling in the air faded.

The Messenger’s body language relaxed…and then slumped, like she was suddenly carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Dom knew better than to push - at least not anymore than he already had - but seeing an infamously powerful woman look so defeated, even through the shroud of her cloak, was sadden. He wanted to reach out to her, to comfort her, but he didn’t dare. He wouldn’t touch anyone without their permission, but especially not witches like the Messenger, who could flatten him with one spell.

At least not until he saw her shoulders shudder in an unmistakable sob.

Dom didn’t think, he just wrapped the Messenger into a hug. Up close and personal, she was a lot shorter than she appeared, short enough that he could tuck her head under his chin when he wrapped his arms around her.

He was honestly worried about her…smiting him of something for a few seconds, but instead she buried her face in his neck, and stayed there mutely. She was shuddering, but Dom couldn’t hear anything, or feel any wetness soaking into his shirt, the Messenger just silently cried into his shoulder until she was done.

“Better?” Dom asked, allowing her to pull away to gather herself.

The Messenger didn’t answer, just shrugged slightly: “Honestly, I don’t know what came over me. I apologise.”

“Nah, you don’t have to apologise.” Dom reassured: “We all have bad days.”

“Yourself included, apparently.”

“Yeah, myself included.”

Slowly, as if she wasn’t sure of herself, the Messenger reached up and pushed her hood back, revealing the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

Even with puffy red eyes, her wary expression, and the darkness obscuring the true colour of her hair and eyes, the Messenger was still stunning.

“You seem nice.” she mused: “I don’t understand why you’re lonely.”

“All my friends are settling down with partners, having hatchlings, moving on with their lives…and I’m not.” Dom explained, trying to keep his tone light, but not quite pulling it off: “It’s not as bad as having no friends, I know, but…”

“But at least having no friends would make you used to the loneliness. Sometimes it better not knowing what you’re missing…”

Dom didn’t know about that…but he supposed it didn’t matter too much; the Messenger had a friend now: “Well, neither of us have to be lonely now. We have each other.”

The Messenger looked at him for a few seconds, with eyes that seemed to be able to see right into his soul, but Dom didn’t flinch.

He wanted to be her friend - if that meant he had to deal with a few unsettling stares, then so be it.

“You’re a dragon.”

It wasn’t a question, but Dom answered it anyway: “I am.”

The Messenger nodded: “Dragons don’t start drama. You just sit on your gold mines and keep yourselves to yourselves.”

“Doesn’t make us bad friends.” Dom pointed out.

The Messenger smiled: “Far from it. I think I’d like to be friends with you, Dominic.”

Dom grinned, happiness bubbling in his chest – and the boiling over when she leaned up to press a kiss against his cheek.

“Maybe we can try the getting together thing too.” she whispered to him: “I think dragons might be good at that too…or, at least, you might be.”

#The Trees Writes #The Trees' October 2020 Writing Challenge #Yungblud fanfic #Yungblud fan fiction #Dominic Harrison fanfic #Dominic Harrison fan fiction

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detectivegabor · 4 years

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Awkward Lunch Date || Discord Para

FEATURING: Sven Bjorgman, Felix Fix, Bianca Gabor, Bernard Newhart (( @svenhq, @icanfelixfixit, @detectivenewhart ))

RATING: G

BRIEF SUMMARY: An awkward lunch date between four people who have way more connections between them than four people should even in a small town. Takes place a few days after the festival.

SVEN: The text thread with Bianca was a delight and in all honesty it brought amusement to the day as he headed into the Golden Dragon to pick up the order he had phoned in for Bianca and himself that day. Though he knew Bernard and Felix would be there so he doubled it to be a sort of share party in case they were hungry.

Sven walked into the office never having been there before and asked to see if Bianca was available or on her lunch break yet. As he couldn’t just walk into the back like he owned the place, instead taking a seat as he waited for either her to come out or for her come get him which is when Felix walked in; “Oh hey-...just in time”

FELIX: Felix had spent a while trying to figure out what shirt to wear. He wanted to look nice, but not too nice for lunch with a friend and a friend(?) and a friend(?)'s partner he'd heard about but never met. He eventually settled on a plaid button up with short sleeves, along with his usual jeans and boots. He was slightly later than intended but still managed to be on time.

"Heya, Sven." He noticed the bags Sven had. "Ooh, Golden Dragon. That'll be tasty." He took a seat next to Sven. "Do they know we're here yet?"

BIANCA: After the festival (and the revelations that followed), Bianca had pretty much settled back into her normal routine as if absolutely nothing significant had happened. She had always been good at understanding her own emotions and accepting them, and never had that been more useful to her than when she decided to drag her partner along to a lunch with Sven, i.e. the other participating party in some compromising surveillance footage he had recently helped her erase.

What she had not been prepared for was to see said person's boss with him when she walked out to greet them. Bianca had only ever seen Felix in passing, and now that she knew exactly how... well-acquainted he was with Bernard, she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about him. Maybe she was the tiniest bit jealous, but even that was an emotion that she acknowledged, accepted, and then ignored as she approached them both. "We do," she said with a warm smile, reaching to hug Sven and give him a kiss on the cheek before offering her hand to Felix. "Hi, you must be Felix. It's nice to meet you. I'm Bianca."

BERNARD: With the festival having passed, a lot of the busy body work had become stagnant over the last few days. There were only so many leads they could follow for so long until they dried up completely. While he was still a bit mortified over his actions at said festival he was grateful things with Felix had been made all right for now. They were friends plain and simple, which is what he needed right now. Even Bianca's mission impossible with the tapes had settled without much dispute. For now the office was drama free which he was grateful for as he worked at his desk going over interview reports.

He spotted Bianca walking off, glancing at the clock he noted the time and figured she was grabbing their lunch for the day. Take out seemed to be the go to when lunch was her turn he learned over the years. Not that he blamed her, it was quick and easy to have at the station. Still after a few minutes he wondered how much food she'd ordered for her to take so long. Walking out to join her he spotted Sven and remembered their lunch meeting was today. Bringing his hand up he was about to wave before he spotted Felix sitting next to Sven. He almost didn't notice Bianca greeting Sven before moving onto Felix; feeling like he'd missed something he opted instead to put on his best poker face. "Hey Felix," he greeted cheerfully before glancing at Sven and extending his hand. "And you're Sven, right? I'm Bernard Newhart," he said. Well lunch would be interesting but he was nothing if not polite. Glancing at Bianca he cocked his head to the side, "We commandeering a table in the break room or going on the hunt outside for seating?"

SVEN: Sven felt like it was best to ask Felix to come with him, he had been in the hospital for a day or two, had probably way too many hassles come his way with work and the festival and probably needed a distraction to take his mind off of it. Besides with the way Bianca had invited Bernard he felt slightly awkward just being there with a good friend of his and someone he didn’t know very well but knew Bianca had him in her life for a good while. “Oh yeah, Bianca likes Chinese food and I still had that flyer that the owners daughter gave me so it look like it came in handy!”

Seeing Bianca come in the room, another behind her which he could only assume to be Bernard as he stood up leaning in and offering her his cheek smiling as he showed her the bag; “I told them to make it extra hot-... and yes-... this is Felix I hope you don’t mind me bringing him, he was in the hospital the past day or so and figured he could do with a change of scenery” gesturing to his boss before greeting Bernard; “Ah yes, the guy from her t-shirt at the festival. Makes sense now-... but the table seems fair right. Considering this might not go down well unless we sit on grass and brace the cloudy weather outside-...it looks like it might rain actually”

FELIX: "It came in handy?" Felix pointed double finger-guns at Sven. "I thought that was my thing!"

He stood up to accept Bianca's handshake. "And very nice to meet you too, Bianca." A pretty face and polite smile with surprisingly firm hand grip definitely lined up with what he had heard about her. He was feeling pretty good when Bernard walked over. His friend Bernard! Just his friend. Like they had agreed. Definitely no other feelings involved, nope. He waved back to Bernard and waited to see where they'd go to eat.

BIANCA: "Of course I don't mind," Bianca replied, glancing first from Sven to Felix, then from Felix to Bernard, and then back to Sven again. And she didn't mind, really. Or at least she didn't want to mind. But the longer that she stood there, letting the full scope of the situation sink in, the more she was starting to regret agreeing to this lunch in the first place. Ironically, she had initially suggested that she bring Bernard along with her because she thought that he would be a good buffer for any potential residual awkwardness with Sven, but that was before she realised that her and Sven were definitely the least awkward part of this. "The more the merrier. And I agree, we should commandeer a table in the break room. Just follow me."

Making her way toward the break room, Bianca picked up her pace in order to pull slightly ahead of the group, if only so that she could have just a few seconds to herself to process her thoughts and feelings. And by process, she meant acknowledging them, skipping the acceptance part, and heading straight for ignoring them. Because she had already decided that it didn't matter how she felt. Because Bernard was her friend, first and foremost, and she didn't begrudge her friends good things. She was being wholly supportive of Sven and Anita. And that was the same thing, right?

BERNARD: Bernard had overheard Felix's pun and snorted a fond smiling forming on his face at the man's antics. Eyes flickering back to Sven while everyone was introducing themselves he chuckled at the mention of their shirts. "That be me, Chief was trying to pull a joke on us but he underestimates how far Bianca will take this." Thought it wasn't like he hadn't worn it out of his own pettiness, but he also liked the fact that it was a further sign of them being best friends.

With everyone voting for a table Bernard let Sven walk after Bianca first, like always she made the first move. He was content to take the rear making sure no one gave them trouble for having two civilians join them in the break room. This also put him a position right next to Felix. He smiled warmly at the other man, after all after the hospital they'd agree to be friends, something he was grateful they'd both agreed to with little fanfare. "You know when I said I'd be happy to meet up again I didn't expect to see you quite so soon," he joked, "Have you been feeling alright?" the last question asked a bit more hushed to conserve some level of privacy. It hadn't gone past his notice the occasional pair of eyes watching them enter and sit around a break table. Office, police station, they were all the same, people loved to gossip.

SVEN: Sven followed Bianca. It was nice to see him finally meeting the guy that she always spoke about and honestly it made sense now. Usually you didn’t need a whole year with a person to pick up vibes on how two people act around each other and Sven was one of them. He could sense how close they were and from what Bianca has mentioned it just put everything all together for him in his head; “Felix that was a me level kind of joke” maybe the dude had been hanging around him too much. Or the other way around considering he worked for him.

“Oh you two know each other?” He turned to see Felix and Bernard communicating seeing this as a good thing and that he had picked the right person to come along not understanding all of the connections between the four of them; “Honestly I loved it. The t-shirts were great idea. I had to admit it was my first introduction to you at the same like in person so it’s like meeting you again!” Entering the lunch room where all the tables were plopping they food down in the middle; “help yourselves guys!”

FELIX: Felix could feel a bit of awkward tension under all of the cordial small talk, which was a bit warranted, for several reasons. One additional reason, though, was revealed by Bernard's comment. "Honestly I thought Sven told you both that I was coming? I'm sorry about that," he smiled awkwardly. "I'm feeling fine now, it's all pretty much worn off." That was only partly a lie; any instance of feeling not-fine wasn't caused by the drug at this point. He could feel his heart rate pick up as Bernard walked closer to him, as much as he wished it wouldn't. Just friends, like they had decided. Bernard was his friend, who happened to be very charming, and handsome, and had a great di- dammitnostopit.

He managed to shove those feelings back and lock them up when they got distracted by the food. He grabbed the plastic silverware sets from the bag and passed them out. "Do you guys have plates in here?"

BIANCA: By the time that they had reached the break room, Bianca had successfully managed to talk herself out of feeling awkward and uncomfortable about the whole thing, although it remained to see how long that feeling would last. Turning to Felix, she nodded in response to his question. "Yeah, let me get some," she said with a smile, heading off to the little kitchenette and grabbing four plates before returning to the table and placing the stack somewhere in the middle of all the food.

At this point she was pretty much working on autopilot, falling back on her instincts as she took a seat and grabbed the top plate from the stack, handing it to Bernard before reaching for a container of egg rolls and proceeding to count the amount of them that was inside the box. "So, how have you both been doing?" Bianca asked casually, looking up once she was satisfied that there weren't thirteen of them, pushing the container in Bernard's direction, and going for the next countable thing.

BERNARD: Glancing forward at Sven Bernard settled for a half truth unsure of how much of his personal business Felix had told him. "We use to be drinking buddies, least before we both went back to being complete workaholics." Turning back to Felix he scrunched his brows, "To be honest I completely forgot Sven was coming, work and all that, and I'm honestly glad you're here too." Pausing he glanced between the two men, "Two people who don't look stressed as hell this week is a welcome change of pace. Thanks for bringing us lunch and some nicer company." The general feel at the precinct was tense to put it lightly, that and while he would have been happy to keep working he was grateful to both for being able to make Bianca slow down this week.

Letting Bianca get them set up with plates he went to the fridge pulling out various soda cans and setting them in the middle to let everyone have their pick. "Not the first time we made use of a Christmas gag gift," he said taking a seat across from Bianca at the table. He sent her a grateful smile as he pulled out an egg roll for his own plate before adding some noodles. With her around he had been able to get past his own phobia, while it still bothered him he very rarely went into panic about it now.

SVEN: Sven didn’t know that they all knew each other and it was all so foreign to him, the fact that he knew Bianca and Bianca knew Bernard and Bernard knew Felix and Felix knew Bernard. How did this situation come about? He had no idea but he was in for a ride.

“So let me get this straight. I went out on one outing with Bianca and you guys went out drinking?” He joked “I don’t know if I should be laughing at the fact that we both happened to be in the company of cops. Who happened to be partners. Who our also our friends-... the irony there is fantastic” Sven sat back with his plate of food picking at it

FELIX: Felix scrunched his eyebrows. "I thought I told you that I knew Bernard a few days ago, at the hospital?" Felix had kind of bared his soul to Sven; he didn't go that in-depth talking about his feelings very often. That hurt a little bit but, eh, Sven did seem like the kind of guy to forget things from a few days ago. It might be better if he didn't remember so many details, too. "It's definitely wild that we know each other separately like that, though."

He grabbed a plate and one of the boxes and served himself some fried rice. "I'm doing pretty well, Bianca, thanks for asking. Feeling a lot better than a few days ago, that's for sure." The physical and most of the mental aftereffects had worn off, but the overthinking habit was sticking around a bit. Or maybe he overthought things before, and was noticing it more now? Wait, now he was overthinking how much he was overthinking. "How are things going here? Y'all aren't going too crazy with all the work, are ya?"

BIANCA: Drinking buddies. Bianca almost snorted out loud at the description, but managed to remind herself at the last second that it was entirely up to Bernard and Felix how oblique they wanted to be about how they knew each other, and it was none of her business either way. Was she dying to know exactly what Felix had told Sven about Bernard at the hospital a few days ago? Of course. But it was still none of her business.

It was only after she finished counting a box of dumpling and pushed that in Bernard's direction that she started serving food on her own plate, telling herself once more that if this were any other situation with any other friend, she would be curious and excited about it. She would want to get to know Felix better. And at the end of the day, a good friend was what she was first and foremost, and that was the only thing that mattered. "Might be going a little bit crazy," Bianca replied with a soft chuckle, scooping noodles and a whole lot of hot sauce onto her plate before looking up at her partner. "Of course, this one is as sane as ever. No idea how he does it."

BERNARD: Alright so they all knew each other, he honestly felt like he should be more surprised than he was. Then again this was a small town, he'd be surprised if these were the only connections they shared. Especially considering the three of them were way bigger social butterflies than himself. "You talk about me now?" Bernard asked looking at Felix curiously, an amused smile on his face. Thinking on it he could only think of one other person who may know about the two of them from sheer coincidence. It wasn't like he was bothered by it more surprised than anything. After all it barely been a couple days since he'd told Bianca about him and Felix.

Adding dumplings and rice to his own plate he took a few bites as he listened to the various conversation bits happening around him. Smirking he shot Bianca a look, "You're crazy enough for the both of us, one of us needs to be able to keep things on track." Glancing between their two lunch guests he cocked his head the side, "I'm glad you're feeling better Felix, but how bout you Sven? Feeling alright since the festival?" Opening a can he took a sip of soda, his mind drifted for a minute to what Bianca had said about the festival and that tape. His mouth felt dryer than usual as he drank to relax, he assumed what bothered him about not having been there was that he hadn't been able to help Bianca. While he doubted anything close to what happened between him and Felix, or her and Sven would have happened between them, it bugged him that she'd been a vulnerable position and he'd been away from her. Pushing those thoughts away he set his drink back down refocusing on the conversation to keep the positive mood going.

SVEN: is currently spacing out, probably thinking about Anita's wet shirt

FELIX: Felix almost felt like he'd just been caught when Bernard asked his question. "Ah, yeah, I just mentioned how we saw each other at the festival for the first time in a while," Felix chuckled. There was no need to go into detail about exactly how much he went into detail. He figured, based on how Bernard always talked about Bianca, that he'd already told her about what happened at the festival, but he didn't want to make any assumptions and air out more laundry than he needed to.

"Yeah I figured as much." Felix nodded before taking another bite of rice. "It's just a whole thing. So many people got hit, and I can't imagine you could get any exact numbers." He grabbed a couple of egg rolls. "I shouldn't be telling you what you already know, though. Have you been doing much outside of work?"

BIANCA: Bianca was trying her best. Honestly, she really was. She had been trying her best for the past couple of days, with what she personally thought were fair to middling results; and while there had been a handful of moments since that night she'd gotten drunk with Anita that made her feel like she had to struggle a little more than usual, none of them had anything on how hard she felt like she had to try during this particular lunch with these particular people. Which made her feel bad, because she didn't like this side of herself. Somehow, being bad at putting her personal feelings aside felt worse in this situation than when she was bad at doing it for work.

"Wait, people actually do things outside of work? Woah, hold on. This is a novel concept to me." She was joking, of course, but as soon as she said it she immediately started wondering if it had been too much to joke about her (and Bernard's) workaholic tendencies with Felix when she had just met him. After which she started wondering if maybe she was thinking about this too much. "Jokes aside, I had drinks with a friend the other night. Actually, Sven over here knows her too. He helped fix her shower." As she thought about the night in question, Bianca's gaze instinctively moved from Felix to Bernard, drunken memories playing in her head before she shoved them back into the dark drawer where they belonged. No. Not now. Now was the worst possible time to be thinking about that.

BERNARD: Bernad's face heated up at Felix's words, his mind flashing back to what had happened between. It wasn't like he hadn't enjoyed themselves, but he hated the fact it had been under the influence of a drug. He was a logical guy, he'd kept his thoughts on Felix fairly controlled during their fling and even after it. Pixie dust had forced him into a corner he didn't enjoy being in, having to work things out with Felix to make sure they were on the same page. Bernard wasn't in a point in his life where he could place someone before his work, that and the Calhoun situation. He thought the two would compliment each other well, and they both deserved something good like that. "Right," he said nodding at Felix's words, "We didn't really get much of a chance to talk and catch up before the Chief called. We should though, could get craft beers." He didn't like them but Calhoun and Felix seemed to, he could work with that.

Bernard glanced at Bianca while quietly eating his own lunch. He couldn't put his finger on it but she seemed slightly off. She seemed tense? That didn't make sense, glancing at their lunch guests the wheels in his head turned slowly. At her remarks about who he only knew could be Anita he wondered if she really was completely fine with it. Even if she wanted something he could see her giving it up for a friend. Glancing at Sven again he raised a brow in surprise, "Were talking about Anita right? She actually let you help?" He couldn't hide the surprise in his own voice. The times he'd gone out with Anita and Bianca she was very much do everything herself kind of person.

SVEN: Sven had zoned out a bit, he didn't know it had happened and he didn't know how it happened but his spine relaxed against the seat, his mind drifting off a million miles away thinking about that moment with Anita, how their eyes connected, how it wasn't just one of those moments where you look at someone and that was it. There was something else under lying there, and that moment - that one specific moment kept replaying inside his head. It couldn't stop. Anita's face, those eyes and those lips and by god that t-shirt-... he swore the lord was testing him that day and slowly but surely a smile spread across his face as he thought about the brunette.

Almost thinking that he had heard her name on accident; "Oh yes-... Anita-..." god he was loosing it, he was well and truly loosing it, sitting up straighter, his features brighter and his energy that more intense as he came to speak about the other; "I did and my god was it funny, so like I went over to her house because she needed help and yes, she did it herself, like I was all for coaching her on how to do things" he had come so alive and so animated when telling the story, the smile never leaving his face once as he did; "and like I was telling her how to unhook the old shower head and as she did-..." pausing to laugh at the situation before telling it, he needed a moment; "water just starts spraying everywhere, like we literally both got soaked and she got so angry with herself because of it-... but I found it so cute as she started laughing-...." that laughter that could cure any problem in the world-... Sven swore he heard it in his dreams; "It was such a good day-... so good"

FELIX: Felix caught Bernard's eye and gave him an apologetic look before the conversation continued on. "Yeah, we really need to get together and properly catch up at some point." He laughed at Bianca's joke. "Oh I feel you there. Running what's technically two businesses really limits my time for socializing."

He rolled his eyes a little and smiled as Sven checked back into the conversation and started talking. He had already heard a bit about Sven's day with Anita - he made everyone report back to him with how house calls went. "And I emphasize again, if you're going to end up seeing her romantically, make sure it's off the clock next time," Felix laughed.

BIANCA: As she had predicted, Sven took the bait and Bianca breathed the slightest sigh of relief as the conversation moved on to Anita. She could feel Bernard glancing toward her as she twirled noodles and hot sauce onto her fork, and she knew that the reason he was doing it was to check that everything was fine; but even if she wanted to reassure him, she just couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. Because she knew that he would clearly be able to see that everything wasn't fine. God, sometimes it was really infuriating to have a partner who could read her that well.

"Well, if it's on the clock, then you're going to have to charge her," Bianca joked, looking from Sven to Felix and offering the latter an amused smile. Just because she was a little bit (a lot) jealous didn't mean that she couldn't at least attempt to bond with him. Infuriatingly enough, he seemed like an extremely nice guy. "Your boss over here is trying to run a business, after all."

BERNARD: Bernard's brow furrowed half tuning in and out of Sven's commentary on Anita. It wasn't like her not to meet his gaze. He felt a sinking feeling form in his stomach, he couldn't remember the last time they fell out of synch like this. Glancing at her again he looked back at Sven. She had asked about Anita sincerely enough so that likely wasn't the issue. So what was then? Honestly when was the last time he'd wondered about her mood like this? Since the tape incident it felt like something had shifted without him realizing. Now wasn't the time to ask though he'd just have to keep an eye out on things.

Catching Felix's look he gave him a small smile to let him know they were still good. The last thing he wanted was to deal with two people pulling away from him. Then again maybe that was it he thought briefly, maybe this was all just in his head or the issue was just him. Forcing those thoughts away, he tuned back in catching the tail end of the story chuckling at Anita's reactions. Sounded about right to him. He was tempted to ask Bianca if he could get Anita's side of the story to see if was as rose tinted as Sven's. "Make sure she's being charged for handyman work at least," he joked, "Anything else and we might have to actually haul you in, and doubt Felix wants to bail you out for that."

SVEN: Sven had to laugh at what Felix had said, to be honest he didn't want to charge Anita but at the same time he knew that Felix had a business to run; "I know I know, I mean to be honest I didn't want to but I promise you-... I'm a respective employee, she actually made me dinner too-... it was amazing" he didn't plan on being there for as long as he did but he was and to be honest he would go there again.

"Dear god, no-... I mean so many people have been commenting on my appearance but I don't think I could be a stripper or actually pay anyone for that" now he was getting red and rosy in the cheeks especially thinking about sex in general with Anita; of course he had wanted that but there was still a lot to go with them and they had already just begun; "If Felix won't bail me out I'm sure Roger would-... call him up like 'Hey lover boy-... I'm in need of some assistance here' though he might think I'm talking about something else so that might not actually be a good idea" he laughed it off

FELIX: Felix had just started taking a sip of soda when Bianca and Bernard made their jokes, and he nearly choked. He coughed and cleared his throat before responding. "That - that certainly wouldn't be good for our reputation, that's for sure."

He didn't much care to know about the sex lives of his employees (except one, but he wasn't going to go into that), so he tried to make himself tune out a bit as Sven kept on the subject. The lunch was going well so far. There was still the slightest hint of awkwardness between himself and Bernard, but as long as Felix could keep those lingering feelings in check, they should be fine as friends. Speaking of, thinking about Bernard with the topic of the conversation at hand brought up some memories that he pushed away as quickly as they sprung to mind. The phrase "just friends!" had become his internal mantra at this point.

BIANCA: A small, amused smile tugged at Bianca's lips when Bernard continued riffing off her joke, and without really thinking about it, she turned to look at him in order to convey her appreciation (and perhaps a little bit of that shared secret amusement at the situation as a whole that she was used to communicating with him without words) . It was such a reflex for her that she didn't even realise that she was doing it until she felt her heart ache in her chest and she suddenly looked away.

"Hmm, I'd argue that Roger is a little bit too preoccupied these days to be helpful in any situation," she replied with a grin, reaching for her glass water before shaking her head to herself. "Men. Honestly, you're all the same. No offence, Sven." It was said endearingly and in jest, after which her gaze flitted toward Felix and she wondered, for a brief moment, if he felt as awkward as she did. A pang of guilt hit her, followed by a wave of sympathy that managed to eclipse all of the less generous thoughts that she was having. "Of course, I don't know you well enough to include you in this somewhat scathing indictment, although from what I can tell, I probably wouldn't even if I did."

BERNARD: He had been slowly working his way through his food before he caught her gaze. The effect was almost instant, he relaxed a bright look on his face. Has she just...was that a flinch? Dropping his own look he hid the hurt by picking at his food and sipping at his drink. What the hell was that?

Hearing Felix he glanced up and without thinking patted the man's back to help him out. Once he settled he rubbed his back, "Think we almost broke Felix there," he joked giving the man's shoulder a squeeze before going back to picking at his food. Glancing at Sven he raised a brow opting to ignore whatever that sinking feeling was. "From what I've been hearing it be a miracle to pull Roger away from his new girl."

SVEN: Sven was totally oblivious to what was going around him, the tension between Bianca and Bernard and Bernard and Felix. It was almost like he was in his own little bubble and no one could stop him. It was actually quite sad to be this hooked on a female but yet here he was; "Oh god dammit, I am gonna have to kill someone aren't I?" there was a running joke with Roger and Sven and of course Sven could never actually kill anyone the joke was out there.

"Oh wooops-... I said that in a room full of cops and my boss-... couldn't have been at a more worse time" it was all for jokes and laughter and he would never actually kill anyone but he did turn to Bianca; "Still not going to put me in handcuffs yet?" a slight smirk on his face as he held up his hands, wrists bound-... "Bernard?"

FELIX: Felix was initially appreciative of Bernard's actions, but when the back pats tuned into back rubs he tensed up and almost started coughing again. That was way too tender for Felix's current mental state to handle at the moment. He was grateful that Bianca's comment was able to distract him. "I'm glad I give off that impression. Hopefully once we get to know each other better I can prove it true." Bianca seemed nice, and he really did hope he might become friends with her.

He gave a bemused grin to Sven's antics. "Oh, I dunno, you know Sven. You might wanna book him now before he does anything crazy."

BIANCA: Bianca offered Felix a smile and an affirmative nod in response to his comment. She did genuinely want to get to know him better. At least, the part of her that was Bernard's best friend wanted to get to know him better, and the other part of her didn't matter in the long run. It was a can of worms that she had accidentally opened and was now desperately trying to reseal in spite of how impossible it seemed to her.

"Oh, don't tempt me," she replied, still looking at Felix before turning toward Sven. "You, don't drag Bernard into this. That handcuffs thing is between you and me." Bianca paused, closing her eyes and shaking her head to herself, before looking up again. "That came out wrong."

BERNARD: Still poking at his food he listened to the conversation that continued around him. He was glad that Felix and Bianca seemed to be getting along, they were both friendly so it wasn't too surprising. At Sven's comments he slowly scooted his chair away from him, that was Bianca's to deal with. Glancing at Bianca he raised a brow, "Someone's off their game today," he quipped.

Out of habit he gave her their usual smile, though this time it was his turn to look away quickly. Looking at the middle of the table he reached for a fortune cookie in the center. Popping it open he glanced at the lucky numbers happy to not see a 13 before reading the fortune out loud, "Keep your eyes open. You never know what you might see, here's hoping it's about the case."

SVEN: Sven was enjoying the lunch for what it was, just a group of people coming together to eat Chinese Food, but this was probably because he wasn't subjected to the awkwardness the other three were and didn't pick up on it thanks to Anita and the situation earlier that was on his brain.

"Protective are we?" he turned to Bianca who had gone on the defensive over the handcuff joke that he had brought up; "You better watch out Felix you know how nuts I can get, remember the April Fools Jokes I did?" referring to the little pranks he did that had Felix probably looking at with him all shades of confusion and most likely frustration

"Oh god I am literally so scared to see what mine says-... it probably will be like-... 'look behind you, you're next' or something" always having a strange thing with Fortune Cookies. “Your love life will soon be happy and harmonious.” reading that had Sven blushing immensely Anita immediately coming to mind; "Whelp-... guess I better call her"

FELIX: "Oh lord, April Fool's. How could I forget?" Felix grimaced, remembering how one of the chairs hadn't been properly looked over at the end of the day, and he'd sat down hard on a whoopee cushion in front of a particularly high-buying customer. Luckily she had good humor about it, but Felix had been incredibly close to taking the possible lost sale out of Sven's paycheck.

"Ooh yes, fortune cookies." Felix had never put too much stock into fortune cookies, but he found the whole practice to be fun. He grabbed one of the two remaining cookies and cracked it open. "Mine says-" He cut himself off as he read the fortune. A good friendship is often more important than a passionate romance. His face felt like it had just been blasted with a heat gun. "I-it says that my business endeavors will be successful this week," he lied. "That's good news for both of us, huh, Sven?" He attempted to deflect any attention away from himself.

BIANCA: Bianca glanced back at Bernard, catching the tail end of that smile (her smile, although it wasn't really hers, was it?), fully prepared to offer him a playful eye roll and a snarky retort when he suddenly looked away. She blinked slowly, trying to process what had just happened, before deciding to simply shake off the uncomfortable feeling and focus on the fortunes being read. Which was easier said than done when Bernard opened his and read out that. If it weren't for the fact that she would look insane to everyone around her, she might have burst out laughing from the sheer irony of it; not because she thought that it was funny, but because she didn't know what else to do with all of her frustration and pent up emotions other than laugh.

In the end, she managed to delay her reaction enough to pass off the soft chuckle that escaped her lips as amusement at Sven's antics, before turning her attention to Felix as he read out his fortune. Or didn't read out his fortune? Bianca couldn't quite tell, and she wasn't quite sure what motive he had for lying, but she felt enough sympathy for him that she quickly reached for the last fortune cookie in order to help deflect attention away from him. Cracking the cookie open, she unfurled the piece of paper inside. "It says 'The greatest risk is not taking one'," she read out loud, looking up instinctively at Bernard while wondering what kind of cruel prank the universe was trying to play on her now. "Well. I do agree with that." Mostly.

BERNARD: Whatever weird tension was going on between Bianca and him would have to be solved later. They still had work after this lunch ended after all, hell maybe work would help fix whatever was going on. They were a team and he couldn't imagine working this case with anyone else. "Never really was a fan of pranks," Bernard admitted. Too many hazing rituals from his fellow officers his first year had given him enough for a life time. He managed a small laugh at Sven's fortune, well good luck to him he thought. He'd either end up on a date with Anita or under her heel, which based on his earlier comments wouldn't be an issue either way.

At Felix's he was half tempted to ask what the fortune really was. He'd spent enough time around the other man to know he was a horrible liar with an even worse poker face. Still he seemed flustered enough, anymore teasing and he'd just alienate the other man. "Well looks like we're all having a good week," he said before catching Bianca's fortune. Shaking his head he actually let out a genuine laugh. "I think ours got switched B, when the hell have you ever not taken a risk?" He quipped playfully.

SVEN: This is where Sven started to drift again, kind of just looking at his fortune cookie while everyone just chatted wondering if he should call Anita-... he had been thinking about her alot and he didn't want to come off too strong because he knew that it didn't work with literally any one in the past so this time he wanted to take it different; "I am just gonna go-... call someone-... you guys continue without me"

He seemed distracted and in a haze as he stood up and exited the scene, he really wanted to be in it with the other three but this girl was getting to him in the best way possible and this fortune cookie only really solidified that as he took his phone out putting it to his ear while the others conversed and chatted animatedly in the background hoping that he was able to hear her voice.

FELIX: Felix was looking to Sven to respond to the comment he made when the other excused himself and got up. Alrighty then. The guy who invited him here just walked off to talk to a girl he'd met days prior. Felix was no stranger to pleasant small talk with strangers, but one less neutral party made things feel even more dire with Bernard.

"Yeah, some good luck this week would definitely be welcome after everything." He attempted to stealthily shove his fortune into his pocket to prevent any follow-up questions. He happily sat back and let Bernard and Bianca quip back and forth while he attempted to compose himself.

BIANCA: Bianca was still holding the fortune in her hand trying to process what she had just read by the time that Sven suddenly stood up and excused himself from the conversation. It was enough of a distraction that she looked up and watched him leave the room before turning her attention back to Felix, lifting her shoulder in a small shrug and smiling sympathetically, as if to say 'well, guess that's that then'.

"Hey now, I don't always take risks," she quipped back at Bernard with a wry smile, injecting a level of lightheartedness into it that didn't feel entirely genuine, but was mostly there to spite the part of herself who knew exactly which risks she didn't take. Taking a deep breath, she looked between the two remaining participants of their lunch date and offered up another, softer smile. "Well, we should probably get back to work," she continued, before her eyes settled on Felix. "Do you want a cup of coffee, or something? We could grab one on the way out while waiting for Sven to finish up his call."

BERNARD: "Yea that's only true 5 percent of the time when you actually listen to me," he quipped back a smile that didn't really reach his eyes on his face. He raised a brow watching as Sven rushed off, well now that was for Anita to deal with . Glancing at Felix he couldn't help but frown a bit as Sven ducked out. "Well thanks for bringing lunch," he said figuring Felix could pass it on later before adding in, "It was good seeing you again, here's to beers later."

Standing up he started gathering up the stray containers and plates. "I'll clean up if you wanna lead them out," Bernard said casually and keeping his head down. He wasn't sure what was up with them but he also couldn't handle another weird flinch. Cleaning up kept him busy and he tried to shake off the weird feeling the lunch had created. He tried rationalizing it out in his head. Sure they were best friends and all, but they could have off day, plenty of people did all the time. This wouldn't be permanent afterall. Right?

#c: sven #c: felix #c: bernard #p: awkward lunch date

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drev-the-procrastinator · 4 years

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1, 8, 12 and 52 for the writing thingy!!!

Look at me finally answering these after like a whole month lol

Thanks for the ask!

1. Tell us about your WIP!

Which one lol, I’ve got many of them. Too many. Really. That, coupled with the fact that I am a slow writer because I keep getting distracted and procrastinating (like with answering these asks,,,,) means that pretty much everyone on this site will die of old age before I finish like any of them :’D

Anyway, I guess I’ll give brief summaries of all of the… main ones. This is gonna be a long one, fellas! I guess in the order I came up with them? Or the order I’m pretty sure I came up with them in.

TT: My original story I’ve been low-key working on and reworking since… 2012…? It’s a fantasy story, and it is… way too long probably. Also needs a lot of work. Worldbuilding and character building and plot building… At the moment, I guess I could summarise it as, our world gets wrecked for some reason, and the main characters, these two girls, who got saved into another, fantasy world with like… a bunch of other survivors, leave the Earth-refugee camp and get tangled with like, politics? Of that world? Well, politics and then eventually like, a war type thing… I didn’t say it was good, and I did also say it needs a whole lotta work. I’m pretty happy with some names younger me came up with though! Also it has dragons, so. Yup.

Fantasy fanfic: I am very good with names, as you’ll come to notice. Anyway this is a.. Hetalia fantasy fic..? I came up with in, like, 2014. I’m not actively working on this one at the moment, but I would like to maybe write it one day, and my most beloved OC originated in this story, you may have seen me mention her in my tags? I haven’t managed to come up with a name for her, but I call her the Asshole Goddess, because she’s a goddess, and also an ass. So.

Anyway this one’s pretty cliche, and it’s like, an absurdly large cast of Hetalia characters ending up in a fantasy world, where a bunch of other characters, who’d gone missing earlier, have apparently been taken to? Then it’s a journey to find and get them back, friendships are formed and magical things are encountered, but uh oh! They’re mortal here and can die! And many do. You may note I was 14 when I came up with it, so. Well. It is quite edgy. Had some good concepts though!

Kingdom AU: Great with names, as I said. This one is also a Hetalia fic, because that is the fandom I’ve been stuck in forever, though mostly just because I’ve so many fics for it. This is the odd one out in my fics though! This is like, a royalty AU of an rp AU me and my friend made by accident one time? The RP, not this AU, this is all my invention. It’s really just for me and my friend, since it’s based on that strange RP and the main thing in it is like and OC x canon character ship? That’s also why it’s the weird one, I don’t usually have much romance in my fics because I’m not big on ships and just prefer gen stuff, but this one is like primarily romance? Lots of pining. And it’s very soft. And I love this AU with all my heart. It’s also got a whole lotta angst!

Basic plot is the more or less classic, kinda cliche, peasant girl goes to get a job in the royal palace to help her poor family and meets the crown prince, and they become friends, and slowly fall in love.. Except, well, this is weird also in that the end point isn’t them getting married or confessing their love or anything, that’s like...Maybe the midpoint? There’s also politics, kinda worldbuilding? It’s set in like a 1700s type setting, I think, And while it’s not really a fantasy world since no magic, it’s not like, a real world setting. Anyway, yeah, this is near and dear to my heart.

The Home Front Fic: This! This is the one I’ve been trying to work on lately! It’s about life on the Finnish home front during WWII, and yes this is uh, also a Hetalia fic. Sorry. Though to be fair with this one and the previous one everyone’s probably gonna be so OOC and the setting is so different they might as well just be original works lol. Anyway, it’s a human AU, and also had a lot of OCs for that reason because it’d be tough to make a story of this scope with like. Three characters.

Basically! Tino is a 8, soon to be 9-year-old boy living in the Finnish countryside in 1942. His dad’s gone off to war, as well as the farmhand they had at the farm, and his mom and grandma can’t take care of the whole farm by themselves. So when they hear a nearby factory and some other farms in the area are getting extra work force in the form of Soviet prisoners of war, they decide to ask for one, too. They get a worker, his name’s Ivan. It takes some time, since they’re technically enemies, right, but eventually Tino befriends him and slowly he kind of becomes a part of the family… But you know what happened when the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union ended in September 1944? :) Well, I’ll just say that Stalin did say “There are no Soviet prisoners of war, only traitors.”

This one also has angst. But it also has found family! I like it a whole lot, I wish I’d written it already, but I have been having such a hard time starting it. :(

That BNHA Fic: I can call it that because I’ve only got one so far! So this is a My Hero Academia fic, and hmm. I haven’t talked about it too much, but I do like it, even though my focus has been pulled back to the Home Front Fic again. I do wanna write this one!

So this is like a future fic? It’s canon divergent because some stuff happening in the manga rn is not gonna work with the plot, I guess it’ll diverge at least from like… all the New Year’s chapters? I don’t remember what the number is.

Anyway, the main character is Eri, who’s been going to like this boarding school meant for kids with volatile quirks. She wanted to go there herself when some years ago her quirk had gone bonkers, she thinks? Something like that, she doesn’t remember that well anymore, but anyway, she’s going to apply to UA! Just the Gen-Ed, her quirk isn’t any good against robots. She’d love to be a hero, though, she knows so many heroes and she just wants to help people, but her quirk is no good. :( Anyway she’s back in Musutafu for the summer break in her last year of middle school, and she meets Mirio and Aizawa at the train station, and they go around the town meeting everyone! In the entrance exams she meets Kouta, who for some reason doesn’t want to be a hero though he’s got a really good quirk for it, and he’s proud of his parents who were famous heroes! They both get into UA, and she manages to convince him to try to get into the hero course through the Sports Festival, and he does! She doesn’t get that far in the festival though, because even though she’s practiced using her quirk, she’s scared to use it on people when in battle and stuff. Anyway, she’s very upset about it, and when she tells Mirio about how she wants to help people, but can’t, because her quirk sucks, he gets this look on his face and later tells her that he knows someone who could help. They go to meet this scarecrow lookin’ dude, and oh wait, is that All Might?? Why’s he refusing to help her out from Mirio’s request?? And later, what’s this One For All Mirio’s talking about?? And whose kind arms does she keep dreaming of in her sleep???

So yeah. That’s the BNHA fic. One more WIP to go!

Space Fic: Back to Hetalia, and this is technically an older fic but I decided to someday actually write it just recently. So it’s my Historical Human AU No. 3. It’s based on a space facts video fact, where it said that in 1963 Kennedy had proposed the USSR and US go to the Moon together, and Khrushchev had been meaning to agree, but then Kennedy died and the plan was abandoned. This story idea was like, but what if they’d gone through with it? And then, because why not, what if they’d included other countries as well? And this WIP was born. It’d be like, the main characters would be representatives of their home countries, sent to take part in the program and they’d all be candidates for going to the Moon, but there’d be only 3 spots on the rocket so like, they’d kind of have to compete for the spots? And the ones that wouldn’t pass would take part in the mission on Earth. So then there'd compete, there’d be personal drama, their personal relationships would be affected by the relationships between their home countries, but overtime friendships would be forged, and they’d all just become… one big ole found family. A space family. A big ole found space family. And the Overview Effect would also play a part. This is kind of on the back burner, this’ll need lots of research and the Home front fic also needs a lot of it, so I’ll try to.. write that first, I guess? We’ll see.

So that’s all my WIPs. There are other fic ideas that I haven’t put much thought into yet so they’re not on the list, but yeah!

8. Do you have any writing buddies or critique partners?

I don’t have any one person who I’ve talked to about all of my stories, but I have discussed my stories with a few people! Both online and irl. I’m also on a couple discord servers that are for writing or where people talk about writing, even though for the most part I’m too shy to talk much on any of them ;u; But the people who’ve been awesome enough to listen to me ramble about my stories have helped me a lot!

12. Which story of yours do you like best? Why?

Aaaa, don’t make me choose between my children! ;__; I love them all,,,

Well, I am very fond of TT, since it’s my own original story and I’ve worked on it the longest… Then again, the Kingdom AU has a lovely aesthetic and those two pining idiots in it… But also, that BNHA fic has some really nice plot and character moments? But also I’ve spent so long researching for the Home front fic and it’s got my boys in it! And the atmosphere in it is so nice, and it has found family,,, But then also… Space??? And even the fantasy fanfic has the Asshole Goddess in it?? And a nice storyline with Liech?? See I can’t choose ;_;

To be fair, the story my dumb brain takes interest in changes every now and then, for example lately I’ve been mostly thinking about TT, the Kingdom AU and the Home front fic, so I guess those would be my favorites at the moment? But a couple weeks ago I was really into the Space Fic, and at the start of the year it was the BNHA fic. So it depends! But I do love them all.

52. Who do you write for?

Well, primarily probably for myself. I do often find myself in a situation where I’m looking for fics or books to read but none of them really click, and then I realize I’m looking for my own story. Which I haven’t written. So that’s definitely a big one! Then, to some extent, I also write for the people I’ve rambled about my fics to, so they might maybe someday get to experience the whole thing through something other than just my ramblings :’D But mostly for myself, I think.

Thanks for the ask again and sorry for taking so long!

#it's been 84 years.....#long post #drev's fics #did i have an ask tag? i don't remember

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samstiels-deactivated20201212 · 5 years

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This is a really good article. Idk how much people know about Cogman, but he wrote the episode where Sansa was raped, and was immediately chased off all social media by angry fans. There is an incredible paragraph explaining his reasonings for the scene, and Sophie Turner’s as well. Cogman also wrote most of Jaime x Brienne scenes, and was the driving force behind most of the actual plot that makes sense, including Brienne being knighted.

Vanity Fair gives 3 free articles per month, then requires a subscription, so you’ll find the whole article under the cut.

Before the cast and crew of Game of Thrones threw themselves into their final season of grueling night shoots, dragon rides, and death scenes, they gathered in Belfast for one last table read. It was the largest group ever assembled for such an occasion, all crammed in around a massive conference table made from the soaring gates of the show's lavish Season Two city of Qarth. HBO executives and trusted friends of the show lined the edges of the room as, over two days, everyone finally learned how the saga of Westeros would end.

Kit Harington had tears streaming down his face; Liam Cunningham, who played the salty Ser Davos, was cursing a blue streak. Halfway through the read, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau reached out to squeeze the shoulder of co-executive producer Bryan Cogman, who had started trembling as the body count on the page started to rise. In the end it was Cogman—who had read out every stage direction at every table read since the first in 2009—who had the final word that day: “End of Game of Thrones.” More than a year later, Sophie Turner still isn't over it. “That motherfucker,” she says with a laugh.

“It was a lovefest,” Cogman says of that table read, when the often brutal conditions of shooting seemed a world away. “And then we went and made the show and wanted to kill each other 11 months later.”

Turner, who began playing Sansa Stark when she was 13, says Cogman is the backbone of Game of Thrones. Coster-Waldau, who played Jaime Lannister, refers to him as the “walking encyclopedia.” But George R. R. Martin, who wrote the books that show-runners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss adapted into what may be the last universally agreed-upon hit TV show, leans on his own Westerosi mythology to pay the highest compliment: “Dave and Dan—even though there were two of them, there really needed to be three. Bryan was the third head of the dragon.”

Hired as Weiss and Benioff's assistant when Game of Thrones first began production, Cogman wrote 11 episodes of the series—second only to the show-runners and more than Martin himself—and as a producer has three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series displayed in his living room. Martin personally asked Cogman to pitch a Thrones prequel series to HBO; when the network passed, he moved on to a deal at Amazon Studios, where, to borrow another phrase from Martin's books, he can cast a very large shadow of his own on this post-Thrones universe.

“You're only number two on the biggest show of all time once,” Cogman says, aware that Thrones-sized success may be a thing of the past for television as a whole. “So what do you want to do with that opportunity when the show ends? You try to see if you can tell your own stories.”

More than 10 years ago, Weiss and Benioff had finally convinced both HBO and Martin that they were the right pick to turn Game of Thrones into what they called “The Sopranos meets Middle-earth.” But they had a problem: neither of them knew the first thing about TV. Luckily, Benioff knew someone who did—his nanny's husband.

Once just another Juilliard-trained actor struggling to make it in Hollywood, Cogman first caught Benioff's eye with a script about, well, struggling actors trying to make it in Hollywood. Fed up with jobs that include a telemarketing gig in the Valley selling toner cartridges—a job that theater nerd Cogman describes as “like Glengarry Glen Ross, but worse”—and with watching former classmates like Lee Pace and Anthony Mackie smile down at him from 14-foot billboards, the then 28-year-old Cogman was attempting to re-write his way out of a familiar story of Hollywood despair.

Benioff, best known at the time for well-received novels such as the one he adapted into the 2002 Spike Lee movie 25th Hour, liked what he saw but didn't have a job for Cogman yet. So he called in a favor to his childhood friend NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman and landed Cogman a job as the executive's assistant (there were two others) and driver. Cogman nearly wrecked Silverman's car on his second night behind the wheel.

“You're a terrible driver,” Cogman recalls Silverman saying, “but I like hanging out with you.” Perhaps in an attempt to protect the paint on his other cars, Silverman eventually got his driver a writers'-assistant job, fetching coffee and the like, on an NBC show: My Own Worst Enemy, which ended after just two months, in December 2008.

However short-lived, the show was an education for Cogman in the basics of breaking a story for television. When Weiss and Benioff snapped up Cogman as their own assistant, they set up shop in a dingy suite of now demolished offices on the former Pickford-Fairbanks Studios lot and asked the guy who thought he was just there to fetch lunches where they should start.

“I got my marker and David sat in his chair and Dan sat in his,” Cogman remembers. Without any other staff hired, the three of them went to work figuring out how to introduce TV audiences to the scheming Lannisters, the honorable Starks, the looming Wall, Daenerys Targaryen and her three baby dragons. “None of us knew really what we were doing. No one was really bothering us or telling us we were doing it wrong. We cooked up Season One, the three of us in that room in the winter and early spring of 2009.”

Cogman still likes to joke that the only reason he got the job is because Benioff—who was about to set off to Europe with his wife, actor Amanda Peet—wanted to hold on to the excellent child care provided by Cogman's wife, actor Mandy Olsen. “That backfired! As soon as I became a TV writer, she quit,” Cogman says, laughing. “Joke's on you, Benioff!”

Tipped off by his wife to Benioff's early interest in the books, Cogman had read the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series in the hope of a small role in the show—“Maybe I'll get to play a guy with a spear!” By the time he was in the room with Weiss and Benioff, Cogman had started re-reading—he estimates he's read the first book, A Game of Thrones, at least 20 times now—and boiling down the dense and complicated world of Westeros into digestible outlines, family trees, and quick little summaries. “We thought we knew the books pretty well, but Bryan was just on a different level,” Weiss and Benioff wrote in a joint e-mail. That work landed Cogman a seat in every meeting and was a godsend to every confused HBO executive, director, production designer, and actor.

The show-runners quickly deviated from the Hollywood norm of treating their assistant like a glorified errand boy; while working on Season One, they surprised Cogman with an offer to write his own episode, “Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things.” As Weiss and Benioff recalled, “We'd never written a season of television before, and we'd underestimated how long it would take. Then we looked across the room and there was Bryan. Smart, tireless, passionate Bryan. Sure, he wasn't experienced, but hell, neither were we.”

Martin's review of Cogman's work was straightforward: “An excellent episode! Straight from my books!”

Weiss and Benioff dubbed Cogman “lore master”; Gwendoline Christie, who played Brienne of Tarth, jokes, “I have never once seen Bryan with George R. R. Martin, and the rumor is that they could be the same person.” Martin, for his part, likens Cogman to the helpful and well-read character Samwell Tarly, a comparison the author usually reserves for himself. As the series grew bigger and Martin repeatedly delayed the release of his final books in the series, the author grew noticeably distant from the show, with no writing credits after Season Four and no recent appearances at the splashy premiere events until the final one, in April. Responding on his LiveJournal to a controversial Season Five scene that differed dramatically from the books, Martin described the show and his work as “two roads diverging in the dark of the woods, I suppose … but all of us are still intending that at the end we will arrive at the same place.”

Martin hasn't commented much on his relationship with HBO and the series, but he is unreserved in his praise for Cogman: “I feel simpatico with Bryan,” Martin says. “He's helped keep the show true to my books, and the characters true to the characters I created, which may not be important to everybody in the world, but is certainly important to me.”

In the beginning Cogman clung doggedly to some less essential parts of the books. (He's now mortified to recount a fight he picked over cutting a minor Season One character named Marillion. “Nearly in tears! Over Marillion! And I was the fucking assistant.”) But he also used his book knowledge to suggest killing off Ned Stark in the ninth episode of the first season, rather than saving it for the finale, a shock that went on to define the high stakes of the series. Cogman, a lifelong student of drama, knows how differently stories can play when acted out. So while others may compare Cogman to Samwell Tarly, he favors another character: Varys, the slick spymaster who uses political maneuvers and access to the most powerful players to keep himself in the game. Or, at least, he says, “I'm the good parts of Varys.”

From the very start Cogman homed in on the basic character details that made Thrones a success beyond its spectacle. “It's about one buddy going back to his old buddy's house for dinner,” he says, describing the simple power of the pilot. “If you don't have that, then you have a lot of other imitators that have come along since and haven't been as good.”

Production on Game of Thrones was massive from the start, and Weiss and Benioff quickly put Cogman in charge of some pivotal scenes at the end of Season One, featuring Peter Dinklage's Tyrion Lannister and his scathing father, Tywin Lannister, played by Charles Dance. Cogman, who claims he didn't know any better, wielded so much authority that director Alan Taylor just assumed he was a producer. “Why the hell have I been taking orders from you the past few months?” Cogman recalls Taylor joking when he discovered the truth.

The show sprawled after Season One, with at least two units—named the Dragon and the Wolf—shooting simultaneously. Weiss and Benioff leveraged their titles to take charge of the sets in exotic and temperate Spain, Croatia, and Morocco, leaving Cogman as their man on the ground in Belfast, where the show filmed the bulk of its interior scenes.

In Belfast, Cogman worked on behalf of Weiss and Benioff as fastidious keeper of the script, earning the nickname “Shakespeare” from Dance when he insisted that a line be read word for word. As a former actor, Cogman developed a reputation as an actor's writer. “He gets the life of an actor,” Coster-Waldau explains. “He's extremely respectful when it comes to not getting in your way.” Adds Turner, “Bryan's lines are always the ones that affect me the most.”

When it came time to divvy up who would actually write each episode, Weiss and Benioff preferred season premieres, finales, and the big, splashy set pieces in between.

Cogman, on the other hand, preferred the performance episodes, full of scenes, he says, of “people talking in rooms.” He wrote the two key moments of the Jaime and Brienne love story, from the Season Three bathtub scene in “Kissed by Fire” to the emotional Season Eight climax “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” which sees the former Lannister antihero knighting the unlikely lady warrior. These quiet, shared moments stood out among all the dragon fire, shocking deaths, and big-budget battle spectacle.

“He has been a champion of my character Brienne and actually of me as an actor,” Christie says. “He had a real understanding of the trials the character had to overcome in order to achieve a sense of self-worth and how far we sometimes have to travel to move the narrative society has prescribed to us.”

“I can't imagine what it would have been like without Bryan,” Coster-Waldau says. “Thank God I don't have to.”

In Season Five Cogman volunteered to write what would become one of the show's most controversial episodes, in which the sadistic Ramsay Bolton rapes Sansa Stark, with Theon Greyjoy looking on in horror. Cogman, a father of three, had always taken a particular interest in protecting the show's younger performers on set. Turner compares him to a father figure, and Cogman felt he owed it to her to write the episode himself. “Why the hell did I choose ‘Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken’?” Cogman asks years later, then responding, “Good question.”

The scene was lifted from another character's story in the books and incorporated into a larger gothic nightmare plot of Sansa's being held prisoner in her childhood home at Winterfell—a practical, and carefully considered, way to give Sansa, who isn't in the fifth book at all, a bigger role in the story. Weiss and Benioff suggested closing the bedroom door on Sansa, Ramsay, and Theon rather than showing the act itself. “I am the one, God help me,” Cogman says, “who said, ‘If we do this are we being dismissive of what that real horror would be behind that door? Are we being disrespectful of the severity of that situation?’ But we, of course, never wanted to make Sophie go through a graphic scene.”

The result was still graphic enough to spark immediate online backlash and heated think pieces; then senator Claire McCaskill publicly declared she would no longer watch the show. HBO issued no official response to the controversy, and Weiss and Benioff have never commented publicly, even deleting a question about it in e-mailed responses for a recent Rolling Stone story.

Cogman stands by the scene, though he acknowledges it served as a pivotal point in a larger cultural discussion about sexual assault on-screen, which had also been used as a plot device on Mad Men and Breaking Bad, among others. “I will never presume to tell someone how they should feel about the scene itself. And believe me, I really tried to listen to all the criticism surrounding it and will continue to listen,” Cogman says. “I do take issue with the presumption of bad faith on our part—the idea that we treated Sophie or the character or the subject matter callously. I think if you watch the scene and see how it fits into the character's larger narrative arc over the subsequent seasons, you'll see that's not the case. At least I hope so.”

“It was a very difficult scene to write,” Cogman says. “It was a very difficult scene to shoot.”

“You see Bryan standing there, crying and wanting to hug you, he did that often,” Turner says. “He was the one that held me afterwards and we both cried together. He's apologizing because he wrote the scene. It was kind of beautiful. It felt like I was safe and not exploited in any way because I was with him. He's always been something of a protector, so it's really special to have him there.”

The controversies around Season Five, which saw many beloved characters used, abused, or shipped off to Dorne, did not dampen the show's popularity. That September Cogman and his fellow producers picked up the first of three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series, among a pile of others the show won.

As Game of Thrones headed toward its conclusion, it also moved away from the intimate, theater-like moments Cogman excelled at—partly a function of the large-scale conflict built into Martin's story, but also the TV landscape that Thrones transformed, bringing C.G.I.-heavy blockbuster spectacle to the small screen and daring other networks to keep up. HBO underwent a transformation as well. Once best-known as a boutique home for prestige TV, the premium cable channel was acquired last summer by AT&T, and an executive revealed plans to increase HBO's output of original content by 50 percent in 2019.

For a while, Cogman thought one of those new shows would be his to run. He had no ambition to do any kind of Thrones sequel until Martin asked him personally at a dinner with Weiss and Benioff in May 2017. There was a particular story he felt only Cogman could tell. (Many fans have guessed that it's the Targaryen-centric Dance of the Dragons tale, but for now Martin and Cogman are keeping it to themselves.) “The logical heir was Bryan,” Martin says. “He had been there since the very beginning.”

Despite himself, Cogman yielded to the excitement of the project. But the timing couldn't have been worse. Cogman had to pitch HBO his prequel idea while the final season of Game of Thrones was in production, and he was in a bake-off with four other writers, some of whom had also worked with Martin. Weiss and Benioff gave Cogman their blessing but were busy wrapping up their own time in Westeros, which meant any advice they gave was incidental: “Every now and then we'd discuss something or other while we were shivering in the writer's tent in Northern Ireland,” they wrote.

Collaborating with Martin on the prequel pitch, Cogman felt both a pressure and an arrogance that came from being the only contender in the race who had both worked on the original series and was handpicked by Martin. He spent the bulk of the final season's shoot under the impression that this wasn't truly his final season. “I wasn't really doing the kind of emotional, cathartic work one needs to do to say goodbye to everything,” he says.

Cogman found out he didn't get the job in spring 2018, and that Jane Goldman would, instead, be helming a series centered on the earliest days of Westeros. At the same time, his wife—who had put her own acting career on hold for most of a decade to support Cogman's work—was suffering from a herniated disk. Disappointed and suddenly having to move his family out of their home in Belfast, Cogman has no memory of his last day on the set of Game of Thrones: “I was exhausted and Mandy was hurting. We were packing up our lives of 10 years.”

“It hit me hard, not because I thought there was any great injustice. I'm sure Jane's show is going to be great,” Cogman says. “But all the insecurities come up: What, I can't even write Game of Thrones now?”

The story Martin so favored may live on at HBO, but Cogman is ready to try new things. Last September, Amazon Studios snapped him up and put him to work—the day after he picked up his third Emmy for Thrones—consulting on a hotly anticipated project he can't yet disclose. But, most exciting for Cogman, he will be developing a whole raft of shows that may have nothing whatsoever to do with dragons.

Martin still texts regularly with Cogman, and has offered occasional friendly input as Cogman searches for new books that Amazon might adapt. “I hope to work with him again someday if the various corporate entities that we work for allow it,” Cogman jokes. But Martin himself is locked into an overall deal with HBO, and Cogman, finally, is ready to move on. He attended the splashy Game of Thrones Season Eight premiere at Radio City Music Hall in April, but the following Monday he was back to work at Amazon, with a large-scale poster of a trio of his favorites—Arya, Sansa, and Brienne—watching over him.

“I was number two to the captain, and now I've gotta see if I can sit in that captain's chair,” Cogman says. “I'm looking forward to finding my people the way Dan and David found theirs.”

#got #bryan cogman #i would fucking pay to have him work on WoT

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notmjbad · 3 years

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Materia Prima: Who You Could Be (I) [Summary]

There is a picture at the beginning of this chapter that can be described as follows: an ancient alchemist's in-depth depiction of what a person could be, as such. It features a 'winged' sphere at its base, with a dragon atop. Standing on the dragon, a human figure with two heads - one male (masculine; Sun), one female (feminine; Moon). In between and above the heads is the symbol for Mercury: god, planet, and metal, all at once. Many other symbols adorn the rest of the picture, all being inside an egg-shaped container. Thus, the image is a plurality of things inside a singularity. It is labeled materia prima (Latin for primal element).

The alchemists thought of what this image represents as the basic stuff from which all else, i.e., matter and spirit, evolved. It represents the potential (chaos) people face when the future is confronted, i.e., our future selves, or that which people criticise themselves and others for wasting. It is also the stuff, or information, that people build themselves (and world) with, as opposed to the matter of reality itself. Each view has its use.

What does this all mean? For example, when you get your mail, think exactly what it is 'made of'. Objectively, it is nothing more than the physical, paper letter itself. Though, this is largely irrelevant. It would not matter if the message was digital, voice, or in code. The content is the matter. Meaning that the mail is the container of content, i.e., information positive, negative, or neutral. The mail may be a notice of investigation from the tax office. Meaning, despite the mail's apparently harmless presence in your hand, it is truly and deeply linked to an incomprehensibly large structure that may not have your best interests as its imperative. Alternatively, the mail is not this, but rather something positive from someone unexpected (j), or a long-awaited pay-cheque. This perspective proposes the envelope as container, mysterious (potentially), from which whole newness might emerge.

This idea is universal, if not always realised. A tax letter such as this will have a physiological effect on you, whether you like it or not. This is an instinctive response: fight or flight. Now, you must decide whether or not to face what is 'inside' the letter. Having done this, will you face the problem, or ignore it and allow the 'dragon' to grow beyond your control, paying the psychophysiological price, all despite your obvious emotional response? The former route requires voluntary commitment, to confront this 'dragon', abstractly, and become stronger and more integrated. The latter route will leave the problem be, growing until you are frightened completely by its presence, as predator is always to prey in the darkness.

The bottom third of the image is completely filled by the winged sphere, covered with a square, triangle, and the numbers 3 and 4. It is also known by the ancient alchemists as the 'round chaos'. In no simple way, it is a container - of the primordial element, what the world or psyche (as domain) consists of before it is differentiated. This is the aforementioned potential, or information. It is what attracts your attention unconsciously, before what it is that grabs you is truly seen or known, compelling you to attend to it. It is when and where the novel enters into the predictable and certain (for better or worse); what flits about you, with little voluntary control - as if it is something winged - as your imagination and attention move unpredictably from one association to another; and it is what you are looking at when you have no idea what it is you are looking at (or, what to say about it). Ultimately, it is what you are not able to look away from when possessed by horror, even as this potential for horror simultaneously adds vital interest and value to life.

A synonymous storyline can be seen in the Harry Potter series. The game of Quidditch defines and unifies Hogwarts. The point of the game is to drive the Quaffle, a ball, through one of the three hoops guarded by the opposing team, while flying about the playing pitch on enchanted brooms. Scoring a goal gains the scorer's team 10 points. While this game is happening, an almost separate one is also occurring, between the two Seekers of either team. These particular players are selected for their particular proficiency in attention and flight, and are tasked with locating, chasing, and capturing a winged ball, the Snitch, identical in appearance to the previously described winged chaos at the bottom of the alchemist's picture. The Snitch is golden - indicating its exceptional value and purity - and zips around chaotically, at a very fast rate, darting, weaving, bobbing, and racing the Seekers as they pursue it astride their brooms. If a Seeker catches the Snitch, their team gains 150 points (typically enough to ensure victory) and the entire game comes to an end. This indicates that chasing and capturing whatever is represented by the Snitch - and, by implication, the round chaos - is a goal whose importance supersedes any other. Why is this game structured in such a manner, and what does such an idea signify? There are two, interrelated answers to these questions.

Firstly, it is held here to be self-evident that the true winner of any game is the one who plays fair. This is because playing fair, despite any games' multiplicities, is a higher-order accomplishment than simple victory. Striving to play fair - in the ultimate sense - adhering to the spirit of the rules, as well as the letter (i.e., careful interplay) - is an indication of true personality development, predicated as it is on concern for true reciprocity. This is to say that the Seekers of the Snitch must ignore the details of the game of Quidditch (meta-game), of which they are still a part, while making their perilous attempts to catch the Snitch, exactly as the player of a real-world game must ignore the particularities of that game while attending to what constitutes truly ethical play, regardless of what is happening on the playing field. Thus, the ethical player, like the Seeker, indomitably and definitively pursues what is most valuable in the midst of complex, competing (difficult) obligations (i.e., the ones who keep their eyes on the ball, even if truly in a dark forest, will catch it).

Secondly, the ancient alchemists associated the round chaos with the winged god Mercury, who served as a messenger from the realm of the divine, guide of souls to the underworld (Death?), and bringer of good fortune (Rebirth). For this reason, the symbol of Mercury is located at the very top of the image (the most important location, most high). It is an attempt to indicate what guides the process that the picture represents. Centuries prior to the dawn of modern chemistry, this god Mercury represented what inspires most deeply or attracts interest involuntarily. He was the spirit who possessed a person when his or her attention was drawn irresistibly to some person, situation, or event. This is to say that there are very complex processes happening in your mind unconsciously, highlighting events of potential worth and distinguishing them from everything else constantly unfolding around you. These processes have complex and integrated personalities, which are alive. This is Mercury, truly incarnate. The draw he exerts on our attention reveals itself in a sense of significance - in the sense that something happening happening around you is worth attending to, or contains something of value. The Seeker - in real life, or in the (meta-) game of Quidditch - is he or she who takes that sense of significance more seriously than anything else. This is to say that the Seeker is the one who plays the game that all others are playing, disciplined and expert at it, but also plays another higher-order game, i.e., the pursuit of what is of primary significance. The Snitch (like the round chaos) can therefore be considered the 'container' of that primary significance (meaning), and, therefore, something revelatory when pursued and caught. The Golden Rule echoes this: 'And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise' (Luke 6:31). There is nothing more important than learning to strive under difficult and frustrating circumstances to play fair. This is what should be chased, so to speak, during any game (even though it is also important to try to obtain victory in the game). It is also interesting that the metal mercury is used to mine and purify gold, notable for the symbolism that mercury is used to collect gold, or what is most noble, as gold will not bind to other chemicals or create an oxide.

Each of us, when fortunate, is compelled forward by something that grips our attention - love of a person; a sport; a political, sociological, or economic problem, or a scientific question; a passion for art, literature, or drama - something that calls to us for reasons we can neither control nor understand (try to make yourself interested in something you just do not care about and see how well that works). The phenomena that grip us (phenomena: from the Greek word phainesthai, 'to appear, or to be brought to light') are like lamps along a dark path: they are part of the unconscious processes devoted to integrating and furthering the development of our spirits, the furtherance of our psychological development. You do not choose what interests you. It chooses you. Something manifests itself out of the darkness as compelling, as worth living for; following that, something moves us further down the road, to the next meaningful manifestation - and so it goes, as we continue to seek, develop, grow, and thrive. It is a perilous journey, but it is also the adventure of our lives. Think of pursuing someone you love: catch them or not, you change in the process. Think, as well, of the traveling you have done, or of the work you have undertaken, whether for pleasure or necessity. In all these cases you experience what is new. Sometimes that is painful; sometimes it is better than anything else that has ever happened to you. Either way, it is deeply informative. It is all part of the potential of the world, calling you into Being, changing you forever - for better or worse - in consequence of your pursuit.

A dragon sits at the top of the round chaos. This is almost to say that what is interesting, meaningful, novel, and unexpected, manifests itself as something that is dangerous and promising simultaneously, particularly when its grip is intense and irresistible. The immortal, predatory reptile signifies the danger, and promise beyond is only tentatively hinted at, as a dragon typically guards a great treasure. This is to say that the drawing respectively represents psychological progression. First, you find yourself interested in something. That something (round chaos) contains or is composed of potential, or information. Out of this information, we build both the world we perceive and ourselves as perceivers. So, the round chaos represents the container from which both matter (the world) and spirit (our psyches) emerge. On the sphere itself is the number 3, with a triangle, both of which are associated with spirit (Holy Trinity), and the number 4, with a square, associated with the world of matter (earth, water, wind, and fire). The dragon therefore represents the danger and possibility of the information within.

Standing on the dragon is a Rebis, a single body with two heads, one female, and one male. It is a symbol of the fully developed kind of personality that can emerge from forthright and courageous pursuit of what is meaningful (the round chaos) and simultaneously dangerous and promising (the dragon). Its symbolically masculine aspect stands for exploration, order, and rationality (Sun), and its symbolically feminine aspect stands for chaos, promise, care, renewal, and emotion (Moon). Typical socialisation demands that one of these aspects be more developed than the other (males as masculine, females as feminine, both as biologically inclined). Nonetheless, it is possible - with enough exploration, enough exposure to the round chaos and the dragon - to develop both elements. The alchemical intuition poses this as an ideal.

Out of the unknown - the potential that makes up the world - comes the terrible but promising form of the dragon, peril and promise united. This dichotomy is echoed by the two final symbols on the right side of the image: Jupiter, positive, and Saturn, negative. Out of the confrontation with peril and promise emerges the masculine and feminine aspects of the psyche, working together in harmony. Guiding the process is the spirit Mercurius, i.e., meaning in the world, working through unconscious means to attract exploration to what will unite the various discordant and warring elements of the personality. This can all be read, appropriately, as a story of the development of the idea personality - an attempt, in image, to describe what each of us could be.

Peterson, JB 2021, 'Rule II | Imagine who you could be, and then aim single-mindedly at that', in C Pyette & H Healey (eds), Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life, pp. 58-67, Penguin Random House Ireland, Dublin.

#jordan peterson #summary

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waterlilyvioletfog · 7 years

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Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 5: Eastwatch, A Summary, Warning: Full Spoilers. (You didn’t want to be spoiled? Well sorry, KAREN.)

Me: ... If Jaime doesn’t come back I’ll fucking murder you.

Bronn: *bursts out of the water*

Jaime: *bursts out of the water*

Me: Oh thank god.

Bronn: wHy ThE fUcK DiD yOu ChArGe A dRaGoN?!?!?!?

Jaime: Because I’m an idiot sandwich with a metric fuckton of PTSD.

Bronn: NO MORE CHARGING DRAGONS. You’re NOT allowed to die! That fucking dragon isn’t allowed to kill you! You’re not allowed to kill you! YOU ARE HARRY AND I AM VOLDEMORT AND ONLY I CAN KILL YOU. EVER.

-Meanwhile, Dany has “KILL THE UNBELIEVERS” still on her to-do list-

Dany: Yo. Ben D. Knee.

Lannister Soldiers: *still confused as they recover from severe smoke inhalation*

Drogon: DID MOMMY STUTTER? BEND THE FUCKING KNEE!

Lannister Soldiers: *get it now*

Randyll: I made my bed, I’ll lie in it until I die.

Dany: Fair warning, I will munch on your bones.

Tyrion: *seriously concerned* Well, I guess you could join the Night’s Watch!

Randyll: Did I fucking stutter bitch? DANY NOT MY QUEEN 2K17!

Dickon: No wait! I’m a good son!

Tyrion: We’ve already exterminated the Freys and the Tyrells this season, we don’t need to kill the Tarlys, too! You’re even more inconsequential! Bend The Knee like a good boy!

Dickon: DID I FUCKING STUTTER BITCH? I’M A GOOD SOOOOOOONNNNNN.

Tyrion: I hate you so much.

Dany: *murders Dickon and Ranyll via Drogon, though admittedly she looks very sad and disappointed in them while doing it, so wtf are Tyrion and Varys worried about? Jeez. Jon Snow wields a sword. Gendry Waters wields a war hammer. Dany wields her dragons. Fact. What, did you think she was gonna pull out Longclaw and use it on them? Nah bitch. Nah.*

-Meanwhile, in King’s Landing-

Jaime: We’re fucked.

Cersei: WE HAVE GOLD THO!

Jaime: WE’RE FUCKED. THIS GIRL HAS DRAGONS.

Cersei: Well, Dany won’t just let us go. Tyrion might try and get a redemption arc for murdering Joffrey and dad, but-

Jaime: Olenna Tyrell told me that she murdered Joff, not Tyrion.

Cersei: ... Tyrion ... did ... not ... kill ... Joffrey? DOES NOT COMPUTE.

Jaime: It computes, darling. It computes.

Jaime: Also, WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE.

Cersei: THEN I’LL GO DOWN SCREAMING AND FIGHTING BECAUSE I’M CERSEI LANNISTER AND I AM EXTRA.

-Meanwhile, there is ever more fresh hot goss at Dragonstone High-

Jon: *brooding on the edge of a cliff, cape flapping in the wind, looking sexier as a sad-faced zombie than most people do in their entire lives*

Drogon: HAI. MOMMY SAYS THAT YOU’RE MY NEW DAD. WE SHOULD PROBABLY HAVE SOME FATHER-SON BONDING TIME.

Jon: *pats Drogon’s head softly and probably offers to take him to a Mets game*

Drogon: *purring* *thinking* *oh hai targaryen, you can pet me, it’s okay*

Dany: I am both bewildered and extremely aroused.

Dany: WELL, you passed the kids test.

Dany: Also, are you a zombie-

Jorah: HAI HONEY I’M HOME, I CAME BACK, DON’T YOU LO-

Jon: Who the fuck is this bitch?

Dany: Jorah! *hugs for her sweet bear/ bro friend, who is, btw, like three times her age in the books just as a gentle reminder*

Jorah: DANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *hugs his WIFEY, who is, btw, like a third of his age in the books just as another gentle reminder*

Jon: wHaT tHe FuCk iS hApPeNiNg?!?!?!?!?!?

-Meanwhile, Bran has to do SOMETHING this episode-

Bran: *wargs into like a bajillion ravens so we can have some TRULY gorgeous shots this episode*

Night King: HAAAIIIII BITCHES I’M ON THE WAYYYYY!!!!!!

Bran: Oh fuck.

Bran: GUYS WE HAVE A PROBLEM.

-Meanwhile, we didn’t see Sam last episode so time for Citadel drama!-

Maesters: *refuse to believe in shit people keep telling them is real which they have no reason to believe is real*

Sam: UGH! Stupid maesters! LISTEN TO WHAT WE’RE TELLING YOU.

Maesters: Sam, we’re skeptics, we’re not going to listen, don’t be stupid.

Sam: I HATE YOU ALL.

Maesters: Well that seems a tad unreasonable.

-Meanwhile, there is ever more drama at Dragonstone-

Tyrion: *trying to rationalize his behavior*

Varys: Like, I know dragons are her thing and “FIRE AND BLOOD” is also her thing but like I didn’t think she meant it literally. Also, stop trying to rationalize your behavior, it makes you sound stupid.

Tyrion: Well, at least she’s not as bad as her dad.

Tyrion: ... So what’s in the raven.

Varys: It’s a sealed scroll for the KitN.

Tyrion: ... And?

Varys: Fair point. It says the world’s going to end.

Jon: MY SIBLINGS ARE ALIVE, YES. Also we’re all gonna die.

Jon: *turns to Dany* Bitch, I’m going home.

Dany: BUT YOU DON’T HAVE ENOUGH MEN! *internally screaming STAY STAY STAY*

Jon: So give me some.

Dany: Can’t do that. Cersei.

Tyrion: Well, if we were to prove it to her she’d come north. We capture a wight, we can bring it south and show it to her. I can talk to Jaime, he can talk to Cersei, and boom! We have our proof. Davos can row me into KL. We just need someone to deal with the wildlings and acquire a wight.

Jorah: I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE. *screaming internally KHAAAALLLLLEEEESSSSIIIIIIII*

Jon: *protective older brother instincts flair* *cockblocking instincts flair* The wildlings will never listen to you I WILL GO YES.

Dany: YOU CAN’T GO, I’M HOLDING YOU HOSTAGE. *STAY STAY STAY*

Jon: Fuck you, I’m a king. *gives another inspiring speech about trusting strangers that makes Dany look REALLY small actually* I’M GOING.

Dany: I hate you. But like, I also love you.

-Meanwhile, in Winterfell, the showrunners are DICKS-

Lords: WHERE IS JON. JON’S NOT HERE. CLEARLY WE WERE WRONG ABOUT ELECTING HIM AS LEADER. YOU SHOULD BE LEADER.

Sansa: NERP. JON’S KING. DAT’S DA WAY IT IS. IN THIS HOUSE WE RESPECT JON SNOW. (except she said it politely and in such a way that contextless Arya and anti-Sansas can bitch about her plotting)

Sansa: I did warn Jon. *sighs*

Arya: Those sons of bitches, plotting against Jon! We should cut off their heads! Not sit and listen politely!

Sansa: Watching this show for six seasons has taught me one thing: beheading people who give you support because they dissented is a REALLY FUCKING BAD IDEA. Being polite to everyone means that nobody hates you and you don’t get red-wedding-ed.

Arya: AHAH! I KNEW IT! You’re plotting against Jon, too!

Sansa: Oh for Christ’s sake. Just go away and let me nurse my chamomile tea as I do actual work to help defend the North.

-Meanwhile we have a quick trip to KL before we can go on our wight hunt-

Jaime: *being a reasonable general*

Bronn: Nope. You have too much family drama for any of that right now.

Tyrion: Hi Jaime. Long time no see.

Bronn: ... gonna step slowly away now...

Jaime: You killed Dad. I hate you.

Tyrion: That’s reasonable. But we do need to talk. Dany’s gonna win the war and you know it.

Jaime: Cersei will never kneel.

Tyrion: She doesn’t need to. We can have an armistice [you who don’t know what that is, it’s a cease-fire. It means I don’t like you and you don’t like me but we’re not allowed to fight because of reasons.] as long as she listens to us and doesn’t murder Jon.

Gendry: *exactly where we met him. huh. would’ve thought he was still rowing*

Davos: Hi.

Gendry: HAI DAVOS. YOU’RE HERE FOR A REASON. SIGN ME THE FUCK UP.

Davos: But it’s dangerous-

Gendry: I’VE BEEN GONE FOR FOUR SEASONS. I’M READY. I AM SOOO DONE WITH KING’S LANDING YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW. I HATE THE LANNISTERS. THEY KILLED DAD. [that’s kinda ooc of you to gaf gendry but ok] THEY TRIED TO KILL ME.

Davos: Fine. Grab a sword.

Gendry: Bitch, do I look like a fancy-ass knight to you? I’m a blacksmith, and a Baratheon. I’m using a goddamn hammer.

Davos: *sighs* Kids these days. So fucking EXTRA.

Davos: Okay, but don’t tell anyone Robert Baratheon was your dad.

Trouble: *proceeds to appear in the form of gold cloaks, but Davos pays them off to shut up and then Tyrion turns up so Gendry smashes their brains in and we’re all just like “damn Gendry.”*

Qyburn and Cersei: *plotting*

Jaime: Hi. I just talked to Tyrion.

Cersei: ...okay?

Jaime: Dany wants an armistice. Because zombies are on the way. And apparently soon they’ll have proof for us.

Cersei: Huh. Didn’t expect the conversation to be that but okay.

Jaime: ???

Cersei: Oh sweetie. I know everything.

Jaime: ?!?!?!

Cersei: I want to talk to her. It’s in our immediate interest to have her leave us alone. But in the meantime, you should know that Imma kill everything in our way. Because I’M PREGNANT, Y’ALL!!!

Jaime: ... am I the father?

Cersei: Yup! AND we won’t hide it.

Jaime: That’s a stupid idea.

Cersei: DADDY TOLD US TO IGNORE THE BULLIES AND CRUSH OUR ENEMIES TO DUST

Jaime: Fair point. *hugs Cersei*

Cersei: *smiles and hugs back* Oh and don’t ever betray me again.

Jaime: *thinking* *oh that’s riiiight, I fucked a crazy person*

-Meanwhile, as always, there is drama on Dragonstone-

Davos: DON’T TELL ANYONE THAT ROBERT BARATHEON WAS YOUR DAD. YOUR NAME IS CLOVIS.YOU’RE A SMITH. YOU’RE JUST HERE TO BE POLITE UNTIL YOU GO BE THE SMITH IN WINTERFELL.

Gendry: Got it.

Gendry: HAI JON SNOW. I’M GENDRY WATERZ AND I’M BOBBY B’S ILLEGITIMATE KID AND I’M HERE TO HELP YOU FUCK SHIT UP IN THE FAR NORTH. OUR DADS WERE BROS. WE CAN BE BROS TOO.

Jon: ... You know how to wield a sword?

Gendry: Nah. I wield a hammer. And I’m a badass.

Jon: ... okay.

Davos: Nobody mind me. All I’ve ever done is be the best person in existence and outlive literally everyone. Like, dude, I’m by far the oldest dude on this show.

Tyrion: Bye Jorah. I missed you. Not even Grey Worm can glower quite as well as you. Though Jon Snow has you beat in the brooding sadface category.

Dany: Good bye.

Jorah: Bye Dany. *kisses her hand and walks away because he sees Jon and knows he has to prove something*

Jon: Well. At least you won’t have to deal with me anymore if I die.

Dany: Pls don’t die. I want your babies.

Jon: ... okay. I’m still not your boyfriend though. *gives the trademarked goodbye which certified badasses give to people they respect*

-Meanwhile we need to reveal important exposition-

Gilly: *dithering on about boring ass shit*

Sam: *annoyed at her dithering on and also at the maesters and also at everything ever in the entire world*

Gilly: Oh, what does “annulment” mean?

Sam: It means a divorce.

Gilly: Huh. Says here that some Prince “Ragger” was given a divorce by the dude who wrote this book so that he could marry someone else in a secret ceremony in Dorne-

Sam: *EXPLODES IN RAGE at Gilly because he’s annoyed even though she didn’t do anything wrong* THAT’S IT. WE’RE LEAVING. THE MAESTERS ARE TOO STUPID TO BE AROUND.

Gilly: ... Okay?

Sam: *steals some extra books* *grabs Gilly* *grabs little Sam* *steals a horse I think????* *leaves because he’s BORED*

Gilly: You’re not gonna fulfill your life-long dream?

Sam: NOPE.

Gilly: Well that’s sad, but we’ll go with it.

-Meanwhile Arya vs. Littlefinger is on-

Arya and Littlefinger: *attempt to out-sneak one another*

Littlefinger: *OUT-SNEAKS ARYA?!?!*

Me: wtf I hate everyone and everything, stop it.

-Meanwhile, we have a new location! EASTWATCH-BY-THE-SEA-

Tormund: We’re fucked.

Jon: Indeed.

Thoros, Beric, and Sandor: HAI can we all go on this suicide mission together?

Suicide Squad: *establish that they all’ve got beef with each other*

Jon: Well screw that. We’re all alive, which means that we’re all in this together.

Suicide Squad: *walk out into the snow together, looking so fucking badass and I’m so excited!!!!!!*

#game of thrones #summaries by vi #game of thrones season seven episode 5 #game of thrones season seven #game of thrones spoilers #gots7e5 #game of thrones recap

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girl-next-door-writes · 7 years

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Work For Free - part 2

Characters: Reader, Fili, Bilbo, Bard, Faramir, Smaug, Eowyn, Tauriel, Eomer… anyone else I fancy just throwing in.

Summary: Here is the tale of a day, just one day, confined within the four walls of a small but perfectly formed Tea Room. There is drama and romance and probably a bit of slapstick thrown in to break it up a bit but I’m not promising anything.

Word Count: 640 words

Prompt: Coffee Shop AU (I may have taken a little bit of a liberty with this.) and Neglected Characters from the Tolkeinverse.

A/N: There are some ideas that just take hold and won’t let you go until you have captured them on the page. This is one of those ideas. There is no way I will ever be 100% truly happy with this series because it is a sprawling epic in my head BUT what I have written, I hope, is entertaining and I would LOVE any feedback. So, thank you @little-red-83 for coming up with such an inspirational challenge for me.

Part 1

Through a door in a wall there was a tea room. Not a nasty, sticky, damp tea room filled with incontinent old ladies complaining and the faint smell of wee, nor yet a minimalist, ironic hipster take on a tea room with beanbags you can’t get out of and strange ergonomic chairs that dig into your spine: it was Bilbo Baggins tea room, and that means comfort.

He had been stopping by and getting his morning tea on his way to work for the past three years. It had been a grey, damp morning and he had been in his usual bad mood as he hurried along the sidewalk, irritated by the jostling of strangers. Looking up in frustration he was surprised when a wooden sign in the shape of a cup and saucer proclaiming a tea shop caught his eye. Mr Smaug was an observant man and he wondered why this little shop had escaped his notice until now. Pushing open the door the warmth of the place hit him and very nearly brought a smile to his face. From that moment, a visit to the tea room had been worked into his daily routine and today was no different.

The bell tinkled announcing his arrival and he joined the short queue of customers, all eager to purchase their hot beverages. His eyes scanned the familiar surroundings, the scruffy looking man who was constantly sat with his laptop in the corner, the blond server who was swiftly making his way into the back, a few unfamiliar faces sat at random tables. He liked things to be ordered, exactly as he expected them to be. There had been a number of staff here over the years and each time someone new served him he felt a wave of anxiety flow over him. There had been the brunette boy who he was fairly sure used to occasionally put things in his drink although he was unsure why, the blond boy who looked somewhat familiar who frowned and could never quite get the order right and now simply refused to serve him. He looked up and was relieved to see the girl was serving. It had taken her seven attempts but now she always got his order perfect and he had grown quite fond of her in his own way.

His eyes followed her every movement. He had often wondered why producing a decent cup of tea seemed beyond the skill set of Americans. They could produce several thousand variations on coffee but a simple cup of Earl Grey proved to be far too complex. His fingertips drummed on the counter as he watched the girl carefully take the temperature of the water before pouring it into the cup and he nodded his approval. Smaug found interaction with people difficult and confusing. He wanted things just the way he liked them and couldn’t understand people who didn’t strive for the same level of perfection. That is why he preferred antiques. He had built up his fortune ‘acquiring’ the beautiful, glittery and unique from the elderly, something which had earned him his fair share of disgruntled heirs but he didn’t care. He lived in the old Durin estate, hording his finds like a dragon would hoard treasure but he conducted his business from a private office in the centre of the city and today he was once again meeting with his lawyers about some accusation that he had robbed some old lady. Placing his money on the counter in a neat pile he nodded politely at the girl as she handed over his tea. He inhaled the scent of his tea and the corners of his mouth twitched up for a fraction of a second. There was nowhere in the world he would rather buy his morning tea than at Bagend Tea Emporium.

TIMEZONE REBLOG.

#myfic #something I wrote #nomoreneglectedcharacters #middleearthcoffee

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gameofdrarry · 3 years

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Wizards Hearts Recs: Potions Master!Draco

Check out the masterlist of fics for this trope below the cut!

📜 esto quod es, fortis et liber by DragonGirl87 Rated: Explicit Words: 29,453 Tags: Animagus, Wolves, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit Sexual Content Summary: One fateful late-night run ruined Harry Potter's life...or did it? When the wolf in him threatens to turn life as he knows it upside down, he's left with no choice but turn to Draco Malfoy for help. Can his former Hogwarts nemesis fix his problem? And more importantly, will they be able to keep their hands and paws off each other? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love by aibidil Rated: Explicit Words: 80466 Tags: Auror Harry Potter, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, Politician Hermione Granger, WWW Owner Ron Weasley, Case Fic, Potions, Potions Theory, Amortentia, Love Potion/Spell, Lust Potion/Spell, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Pensieves, Consent, Consent Issues, Enthusiastic Consent, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, Wizarding Literature, Legal Drama, Courtroom Drama, Wizengamot, Wizarding Politics, Wizarding Law, Wizarding Traditions, Potions Attack, Politics, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Feminism, Men's Rights Movement, magical university, Magical Internet, Science, Chemistry, Communication, Soul Bond, Sexual Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Pining, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Explicit Sexual Content, Explicit Language, Post-Hogwarts, HP: EWE, Dildos, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Oral Sex, Falling In Love, Patronus Summary: In which a group of wizards' rights activists goes on the offensive after a prohibition against love potions, forcing the magical world to confront the horror of magic's role in sexual assault and the murky legal nature of consent. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Draco are swept together to solve the case, and in the process they're made to confront their own love and lust—with and without potions. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Cup of Tea by undercoverwarlock Rated: Teen and Up Words: 18976 Tags: Professor Harry Potter, Professor Draco Malfoy, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, Ten Years Later, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Minor Character Death, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Harry Potter Has PTSD, Complete Summary: Professor Harry Potter knew Draco Malfoy had changed in the ten years since the war. He was only beginning to find out just how much. A multi-chapter fic of tea dates, comfort and finding each other after years of being alone. Complete work as of 17 August 2020. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Dragon's Arms by ani_mage Rated: Explicit Words: 22650 Tags: Post-War, PTSD, odd jobs!Harry, Potioneer!Draco, tattooed!Harry, Trans Character, Clubbing, Grimmauld Place, Secrets, references to canonical child abuse, Angst, Happy Ending, Coming Out, Face-Fucking, Rimming Summary: Since the war, Harry’s been living on the fringes of the Muggle world and alienated from the Wizarding world. Draco’s struggled his whole life to satisfy his father’s idea of what it means to be a “Malfoy Man” in the Wizarding world, never comfortable in the role. Can they help each other find a place where they feel at home? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 what the body wants is coolness by lastontheboat Rated: Teen and Up Words: 13428 Tags: Day At The Beach, Established Relationship, First Time in Public, draco overthinks things, harry is affectionate, Beach Quidditch, no smut just fade to black, HP Drizzle Fest 2020, Community: hp_drizzle, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE Summary: "Are you done primping yourself yet?" Draco asked, feeling mulish. "We can still meet your friends on time if we leave now, but we'll have to walk quickly." Harry rolled his eyes. "It's a beach day, Draco," he said patiently. "Not a pureblood society event." "Yes, well, not all of us have the goodwill of the rest of the wizarding world to fall back on when we commit acts of social barbarism." ~~~ Draco and Harry have been seeing each other for months, and Harry decides the best way to tell their friends is to bring Draco to a group beach outing. Draco's given up enumerating all the ways this plan could go wrong. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Fountain of Youth by nebulyre Rated: Explicit Words: 85912 Tags: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hogwarts Professors, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Harry Potter, For Science!, Potions Accident, Explicit Sexual Content, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love ,Humor, Romance, Happy Ending Summary: Fifteen years after he left, Draco Malfoy returns to Hogwarts as a Potions Master for one purpose: to find an ancient potion rumoured to be the Fountain of Youth. Everything is fine. ...Until he meets the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and some odd potions experiments keep throwing them together in compromising situations. "Draco’s heart had skipped a beat. Despite the mess, and the dirt, and the sweat, and the tatters, Potter still looked...good. He wasn’t supposed to look good. He was supposed to be covered in warts and boils and missing all of his teeth and turning into a troll and...not this. Lean and muscled and delicious and fucking devouring Draco with his eyes. Merlin. Had he been looking at Potter like that too?" ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Of Green Eyes and Namesakes by glitteringvoid Rated: Teen and Up Words: 10639 Tags: Potioneer Draco Malfoy, Angst, Panic Attacks, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Hurt/Comfort, Animagus Harry Potter, Happy Ending, Getting Together, Oblivious Draco Malfoy, Pining Draco Malfoy, Cats, H/D Fan Fair 2019, Secondary Theme: Pet Fair Summary: Who would have thought that Draco Malfoy could grow to like having a cat around, especially an obnoxious one with eerily familiar green eyes? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 We Take Care of Each Other by keyflight790 Rated: Explicit Words: 54308 Tags: BDSM, bdsm club, Dom Neville Longbottom, Dom Draco Malfoy, Top Draco Malfoy, Top Neville Longbottom, Bottom Harry Potter, although it might seem like hes a dom at first, Sub Harry Potter, Teddy Lupin makes an appearance, as does Luna and Rolf, but not...sexually, Set in 2009, So Teddy is turning 11, just for context, Draco is the only one who penetrates Harry though, in case you were concerned, but Neville is there.. a lot, Flogging, Rimming, Will tag all of these in chap notes as well, for squicks and such, this is pretty indulgent, For the Writer, learn all of keyflights kinks, by reading this fic, note: every BDSM club is slightly different, so if this isnt your experience, no problemo, but please don't judge the writer on their experiences, and notes and research, More tags to follow, dom/sub dynamics, Safewords, Sex Toys, past trauma discussions, TW: Panic Attacks, Panic Attacks, draco is a bit of a switch, but he doms in this fic, Spanking, Daddy Kink, TW: spousal abuse (Narcissa and Lucius mentioned in chap 10), TW: Breakdowns, daddy Neville Longbottom, Little Theodore Nott, Anal Sex, Praise Kink, Choking, Masturbation, self love, did i mention theres spanking?, theres spanking, harry gets spanked by, Daddy Dom Neville Longbottom, Talks of Death, Suicidal Thoughts, discussions of dying, Harry talks about his canon death and rebirth Summary: Draco has been having panic attacks for years, until his best friend, Pansy, welcomes him into a whole new world. And he thought being a wizard was neat. Being a dom was even better. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Hello, Hogwarts too? by countingcr0ws Rated: Teen and Up Words: 12988 Tags: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Professor Harry Potter, Professor Draco Malfoy, Post-Hogwarts, Hogwarts Professors, Auror Harry Potter, Curse Breaker Draco Malfoy, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, Good Narcissa Black Malfoy, Obsessive Harry Potter, Obsessive Draco Malfoy, Banter, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Romantic Soulmates, Epistolary, Snarky Draco Malfoy, Snarky Harry Potter, Sexual Humor, Undercover Missions, Harry Potter is Obsessed with Draco Malfoy, Humor, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Smitten Harry Potter Summary: "Hello, Hogwarts too?" Harry is stumped by his first words soulmark. If they don't recognise him, surely they're not from the UK? So he packs up and goes searching. Two jobs and a recurring injury later, he decides to settle down. Working through his jealousy of his friends, he also reunites with Malfoy, who is now teaching seventh year Potions in Hogwarts. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 his hand (in mine) by musingsofaretiredunicorn Rated: General Words: 1126 Tags: Humor, Secret Santa, Hands, this turned into so much hands oh god, Hand Massage, Smart Harry, who is Aware of what Draco is doing, but does not mind it one bit ;), draco is a bit of a disaster, but he gets it together eventually, Professor Draco Malfoy, Draco teaches potions, of course, Professor Harry Potter, Flying Instructor Harry Potter, he also does tutoring sessions for the smol children who struggle w flying Summary: Draco makes an attempt at Secret Santa. He’s not quite clear on the details. Aiming for nonchalance, Draco says, “Oh, look. You’ve finally got something to help those dreadfully chapped hands.” He wants to feel good about that delivery, but he doesn’t. Harry squints at him. “Yes, Malfoy, thank you, Malfoy, I’m forever in your debt, Malfoy.” ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 It's Been Draco For Awhile by oceaxe Rated: Explicit Words: 15562 Tags: Mutual Pining, auror!Harry, Potions Expert!Draco, Partially Epistolary-ish, "Love Potion", Friends to Lovers, oh my god they were roommates, Second person POV Summary: What harm can a love potion do if you're already in love? In which Harry finds out that it's not a love potion but it can do quite a lot of harm, and Draco finds out how fiendishly difficult it is to fend off his flatmate's advances when all he wants is to give in to them. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 the best kind of bad by M0stlyVoid Rated: Mature Words: 3040 Tags: Drarry Discord Writers Corner Drabble Challenge, Secret Relationship, Kinda, Morally Ambiguous Character, Case Fic, Auror Harry Potter, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, Fire, Crimes & Criminals, References to Drugs Summary: Neither of us were known for our ability to be subtle, and it wasn’t long before the Deputy Head Auror’s relationship with the department’s primary Potions consultant was a universally known, if politely unacknowledged, truth in the whole of the Ministry. Hermione shook her head at me but said I looked happier than I’d been in a long time. I was. It wasn’t until Draco’s biggest rival in the Healing Potions sphere went up in flames that I began to wonder at our recent string of luck. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Teenage Wasteland by GallaPlacidia Rated: Mature Words: 51212 Tags: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Post-Hogwarts, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Sexual Abuse, Werewolf Harry Potter, Down and Out Draco Malfoy, fear of Hell, Veritaserum, H/D Erised 2020, Hurt/Comfort, Domestic abuse (not between drarry!), mild Church of England conversion, alcoholism of an oc character, look I know the tags are scary but I promise it's not as dark as you're thinking, srsly it's actually quite uplifting by the end, Harry Potter plays the Piano freakishly well, potions master draco, Feminist Draco, a decent amount of teenage girl angst, prolonged and continual jokes about the 2000 classic film Coyote Ugly Summary: Draco never thought he’d end up as the sole guardian of a troubled teenage girl. Harry never thought he’d end up a werewolf. Being twenty-two is hard. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 An Everlasting Rain by triggerlil Rated: Teen and Up Words: 1410 Tags: Amortentia, Potions, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Harry Potter, Professor Draco Malfoy, Professor Harry Potter, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Tumblr Prompt, Getting Together, Friends to Lovers, POV Draco Malfoy Summary: Soon the potion had turned a pearlescent white, and as steam rose from the cauldron, he waited—slowly, as if with tender trepidation, the potion unfurled. Or the story in which everything comes together accidentally, slowly, and then suddenly, all at once. ❤️ Read on AO3

#potions master draco #drarry #drarry recs #game of drarry #wizards hearts #wh masterlist

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higuchimon · 7 years

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[fanfic] Fair Won Prize: Chapter 2

Mizael wasn’t entirely asleep. He could taste something wrong in the drink, and he hadn’t taken much of it. He’d considered asking for something else, but slowly and surely, his eyes began to slide together, and he couldn’t quite seem to make words anymore. So he stayed where he was, presuming it would burn off sooner or later.

He’d never had beer before. It wasn’t something that appealed to most elves, though he’d known some who enjoyed it. Elves differed in their tastes just as humans did, though perhaps not as widely or as often.

So only when he managed to grasp vaguely that almost everyone else at the table was also drifting away into slumber did it click into his mind that something aside from taste buds were at fault here.

He could hear footsteps coming toward him. They weren’t familiar, and sounded more like heavy-nailed boots than anything else. He couldn’t be certain of how many there were, only that they came closer, far more so than he wanted, especially now that he couldn’t defend himself. Every instinct he had urged him to get up, to call Jinlong, to just get away from there.

But not a single muscle moved as he wished it to. He strained his ears, hoping for some detail that would stir him up enough to get out of there. What he heard certainly got him angry, but not enough to move.

“You’re right, brother.” That was the tavern keeper. “They’re definitely worth a lot of money. I know a few people who could use a good minstrel. Maybe that one there could be a gladiator. He looks tough enough for it.”

There was a low bark of laughter. “Wonder if he’s an escaped gladiator. Doesn’t Spartan City have an arena? Take him back there and see if he’s worth anything extra?” That was the one that Ryouga laid out in one punch.

“That’s a long way from here,” a third voice, slightly more brittle and precise. “I know one or two cities not that far from here that have an arena and are always on the lookout for good fighters.”

“The big one would probably do for a hard laborer. Looks like he’s done plenty of that, and he’s definitely not suitable for anything else.” The tavern keeper judged.

Mizael tried to work his fingers, hating them so clinically discussing how to dispose of them. But it worked through his head what the problem was: they’d been drugged. Likely a sleep potion, which was why it hadn’t worked so well on him. If he could just get his lips and tongue to work, just to say one word, just to say Jinlong.

But he couldn’t. Not so much as a whisper.

“Looks like she’s a priestess. Those are tough to sell anywhere.” The clinical voice spoke on that score. “Any suggestions?”

“If I’m right, she’s a water priestess. So, send her to the desert? There’s a couple of sects out there that can keep her under wraps and probably retrain her, too. They pay good money for new recruits.” The tavern keeper opined.

“And I know a few places the other two would score a lot of money at,” his brother declared, a smirk in his words. Then Mizael heard him coming closer. “But this one I’m keeping for myself for a while. I bet he could use some good training...and he’s too pretty for anything else, anyway.” A raucous noise that Mizael guessed shoud be a laugh. “Can’t wait to see how much fun he’ll be!”

Given how many of the others he’d mention, Mizael found himself certain that this person was talking about him. He tried to twitch and still failed.

Then he could feel a hand on his hair, slowly stroking it.

“It’s like silk!” The muscled man declared. “Like living silk.”

“You’ve never touched silk in your life,” the tavern keeper laughed. “But if you say so.”

Again the other stroked and Mizael began to detail out how many parts he’d shred this fool into once the drug wore off.

“Let’s get them out of here.” The would-be slaver tilted Mizael’s head up. “Can’t wait for you to wake up, pretty.”

“Neither can I. I don’t think he’s going to like what you’ve been saying about him.”

Vector?! Mizael managed to pry his eyes open the tiniest but, just in time to see a slice of silvery blade in between him and the man touching his hair. For a moment there was absolute silence, then something small hit the table between them.

And then there was an all-mighty roar of pain and rage. “You cut off my hand!”

“It was where it didn’t belong,” Vector said as he rose up to his feet. Mizael dragged his eyes open just a little more and saw Vector had his sword ready. “In fact, none of you has any right to touch him – or any of us – in any way whatsoever.”

“You don’t have the right to cut off people’s hands!” The tavern keeper squawked. Vector turned toward him. From the way they were standing, Mizael couldn’t see the keeper all that well. He didn’t really need to.

“I have the right to defend myself, and since my companions aren’t available to do it – thanks to you – to defend them as well.”

Then Vector’s voice dropped low and only an elf’s keen hearing enabled Mizael to hear what came next.

“Especially since you dared to lay a hand on him. I heard what you had in mind. That will never happen.”

It took Mizael a moment or two to make the connections. They’d all known that Vector wanted him, but he’d kept himself more or less polite, making the occasional compliment, offering small gifts of things Mizael liked.

Vector wasn’t at all a nice person. They knew that, too. But just the fact he’d kept himself polite and restrained put him head and shoulders above these folk in Mizael’s opinion.

All of that took less than a heartbeat to flick through Mizael’s head. In the next moment, Vector surged forward, sword darting here and there. These people weren’t fighters at all, weren’t used to going up against someone trained in multiple forms of combat like Vector.

Mizael found himself wishing that he could see exactly what Vector was doing, aside from slicing their would-be assailants into small pieces. He didn’t love carnage all that much but he did rather enjoy seeing people who’d caused harm to others getting their just desserts.

Soon enough the last of them dropped, and Vector turned back to the others. He tilted his head to the side, considering what to do next. No one seemed in any real danger, and they’d probably sleep for a little while longer. Only here wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep.

Slight motion caught his eye and he spied Mizael trying to move. The elf wasn’t doing a very good job of it, but he tried anyway. His eyes seemed a fraction open and he twitched a finger.

He also had blood in his hair, from where Vector first de-handed the fool who’d touched him. Vector kept his hands to himself, trying to ignore the urge to wipe it out.

Instead, he moved closer and leaned down. “Mizael?”

The ranger breathed in an unsteady breath, eyes still not all the way open and what Vector could see of them remained foggy and unfocused. Vector worked his way around to where he could get hold of Mizael, and started to work him out of there. The others would be fine; Mizael was waking up and would be annoyed at the blood more than likely. Plus, he would need someone to help him clean up this mess.

People were so rude, failing to die in a clean and neat fashion. If they’d known who he was, they likely would’ve fallen all over themselves trying to avoid his anger.

They rode on the edges of Don Thousand’s lands, after all. And the son of Don Thousand commanded respect.

But that would’ve risked all the others knowing exactly who he was, and Vector didn’t want that.

He managed to get Mizael out of the tavern. The storm had passed by now, and the sun edged closer to the horizon, throwing long fingers of shadows over the land. It looked like it would be a pleasant evening, and more so if they got to spend it somewhere that wasn’t here. It would depend on how long it took everyone else to wake up. Vector sadly decided that would be much later in the evening. Far too late for it to be worth riding onward.

A stream wended its way behind the tavern and he helped Mizael there, finding a place low enough for both of them to splash their faces in an attempt to wake up, and get some of the sweat and blood of battle off of Vector. He still wouldn’t touch Mizael without permission.

But then the ranger looked up at him, his eyes clearer and more focused now. “Can you get that out of my hair?” He gestured toward the streaks of blood still there. Some had landed on his face as well, now cleared away by the water, but he’d need more effort to get to his hair.

Vector lifted his hand warily. Mizael gave him a harsh look.

“I said, could you get that out of my hair? You don’t have to act as if I’m going to bite you if you get too close.”

Vector’s lips twitched and he started to work on getting the blood out, tearing a piece of shirt off to do so. He needed to get it out of there before it dried, otherwise they’d need either magic or some kind of proper soap to get rid of it, and he doubted Mizael would want to put up with that.

“I think that should do it,” he said at last. He did what he could not to think a great deal about how close he was to Mizael and how much he enjoyed being close to Mizael. He wanted him; he’d known that since their first adventure together. He’d wondered at times if he’d get what he wanted if he had to take this long way around.

So being so close to Mizael, and Mizael agreeing to let him do things for him, wasn’t something he was all that used to.

The sun drew closer to the horizon, darkness falling softly all around, as the two of them made their way back to the tavern.

“We should’ve noticed something,” Mizael grumbled. “It’s a little too far from t here.” He indicated the closest village with a jerk of his head. “Most taverns are in the middle of town.”

Vector shrugged. “The rain.” He hadn’t liked the storm then and he didn’t like it now. Well, he liked it a bit more because it had moved on, even if it were too late for them to leave already.

Mizael surveyed the tavern and shook his head. “Unless we plan to move them all out of there, they’re staying in there for the night. And so are we.”

“We are?” Vector turned to stare at him, not entirely certain that he’d heard that correctly. “Why?”

“Because this tavern might be the only one around here, which means some of the locals could be involved in this.”

The smile on Mizael’s face reminded Vector that this man not only belonged to the forest and the wild creatures thereof, but his truest companion was a dragon.

Vector liked that.

“If they try anything, we’ll be there to explain to them not to.”

Vector liked the sound of that, too.

“You have some good ideas now and then,” Vector praised. Mizael said nothing for a few moments, his gaze thoughtful and distant.

Then he tilted his head back and spoke a single word that echoed into the night.

“Jinlong.”

Sudden cold sweat leaped into existence up and down Vector’s back. He didn’t dare move, though. Mizael would want to know where he was going, and he didn’t want to say anything about how much he disliked the giant dragon, who swept down from the skies and perched himself in front of Mizael.

“Yes?”

Vector couldn’t hear what Mizael said, and from the accents he could pick up, he wouldn’t have understood it if he did. He knew two or three languages, but the language of dragons wasn’t one of them.

Jinlong rumbled back at Mizael, eyes shifting over to Vector, who stared back at him. He didn’t like the dragon, he didn’t trust the dragon, and he wanted nothing at all to do with the dragon.

But he also dared not show fear of the dragon. He waited for Mizael to finish, admiring the slope of his shoulders, the freshly scrubbed gleam of his skin, and the way the sun set Mizael’s hair off so beautifully. He could gaze at such a view forever…

Then Jinlong spread his wings and leaped back into the air, vanishing out of sight in a matter of moments. Mizael came back closer to Vector, a pleased smile on his lips;.

“So what was that about?” Vector wanted to know as they started back to the tavern.

“I wanted him to know he shouldn’t eat you tomorrow. Or any other day.”

Vector blinked a few times at that. “I didn’t know that was something you had to remind him of.” He didn’t think he liked hearing that, either.

“I don’t. But I suspect he might need a reminder in the near future.”

Vector hadn’t fully wrapped his mind around what Mizael said, until the other caught his arm and met his eyes.

“You’ve been trying to court me.” Mizael said. Vector frowned; why bring this up now? But he nodded and the ranger continued. “For the moment, I accept your courtship gifts, with the acknowledgment that this isn’t a permanent mating, and either of us can end it at any time, for any reason whatsoever.”

Again that took some time for Vector to process. Then the side of his mouth quirked.

“So, friends with benefits?”

Mizael sniffed at that. “I wasn’t aware that we were friends.”

“So, just benefits.”

A long, heart-felt sigh fell from Mizael’s lips. “If you’d rather not take this seriously...”

“I do.” Vector reached to take Mizael’s hand in his own. “I’ve never courted anyone before. If you want to just… entertain each other, that’s fine.”

So far as Vector truly cared, he would decide when they no longer shared a bed, and that would be when he got bored with Mizael. As attractive as he was, he couldn’t imagine losing interest any time soon, especially since there was so much else to learn once this relationship achieved a level of intimacy. But there wasn’t any way he would tell Mizael that. He could have more fun with him like that.

He tightened his hold on Mizael’s hand, and Mizael returned the grip before looking into his eyes. For a few moments they stood there like that, then Vector leaned forward and pressed his lips against Mizael’s, thoroughly enjoying the sweet taste and the way Mizael returned it, their arms sliding around one another.

A soft, startled cough came from the tavern and both of them turned to look, arms still entwined about one another. Gilag stood in the door, rubbing his eyes, staring at them.

He stood there, staring at both of them, then turned and marched back inside, closing the door behind him. His voice floated through, clear as if he hadn’t done that.

“I didn’t see anything.”

Vector chuckled, still entwined around Mizael and not inclined to move at all. “Because there’s hardly anything to see.” He shot a quick look back into those lovely blue eyes of Mizael’s. “Whenever you’d like to change that...” In his opinion, that couldn’t come too soon at all.

The side of Mizael’s mouth lifted up into an amused twitch. “Not here. And not if they’re waking up.”

Vector started to pout; they’d already begun so nicely and now Mizael wanted to be prudish about it?

“It would be much more comfortable in a proper bed,” Mizael pointed out, much to Vector’s minor relief – and still annoyance, since he should’ve thought of that first. “And with the proper supplies.”

Oh. Right.

He sighed and made himself step away from that lovely embrace. “All right.” They’d probably reach a suitable bed the next night anyway. He could wait that long. Even though he didn’t really want to.

Mizael stepped briskly into the tavern itself, Vector by his side. What first met their eyes was Gilag, checking the small fireplace, and the rest of their team still sound asleep.

“How are you feeling?” Mizael wanted to know.

“Still a little sleepy, but I’ll get over it.” Gilag shrugged as he picked the kettle there up and headed for a half-hidden back door, emptying it into what was probably some sort of trash pile. “Since they’re out of it,” he said as he came back in, “looks like I’m going to have to put together some kind of a dinner.”

Mizael nodded, glancing around at the poorly stocked supplies on display. The former tavern keeper clearly specialized only in what could be drunk, none of which any of them trusted anymore.

“I think we have some things I can cook in the supplies,” Gilag muttered, heading out that way to check. He didn’t seem to be avoiding them, but he was also not exactly looking at either of them either.

Mizael checked on the group again, hints of concern that Vector didn’t find all that appealing in his eyes. He said nothing, though. He might’ve won Mizael – to some extent – but the other wouldn’t stop caring about other people. How annoying.

At least, he reflected as he made rounds around the room, this meant that Mizael would also care about him. And the idea of what the others would do when they woke up and found out what happened amused Vector quite a bit. He imagined so many scenarios where they simply stood, jaws hanging, while Vector thoroughly and intensely kissed Mizael and Mizael kissed him, and then matters turned to far more than just kissing…

“I don’t think they’ll wake up until later tonight. Maybe not until tomorrow.” Mizael broke into his fantasies without warning. Vector bit off a sigh and headed over to him.

“But they’ll be all right?” Gilag asked as he entered, bags of their supplies in his arms. Mizael nodded.

“As near as I can tell. I don’t know enough about healing or drugs to judge anything else.”

Gilag nodded himself. “Well, Ponta and I know a little bit about that, and as far as I can tell, they’re just asleep.”

Vector lounged himself against the nearest wall. “So that gives us tonight all to ourselves.” He wasn’t looking at Gilag, who hurried over to get dinner going and muttered something about sleeping outside with Ponta and the horses.

That suited Vector just fine.

To Be Continued

Notes: The actual intimacy will happen in chapter four.

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #ygo zexal #mizael #vector #vector x mizael #mizael x vector #miseryshipping #chapters: fair won prize #series: order of the outcasts

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