obaaaa

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread    

Godkiller

High fantasy world where gods are outlawed after a devastating war

A god killing mercenary, a knight turned Baker, a 12yo girl and the little animal god-of-white-lies bonded to her, end up traveling together to the destroyed city at the centre of the conflict

queer & disabled characters

[alexa-fika]

Hello again I thought of a request

How about the scene in the Baratie Arc

So mihawk attacked Don Krieg because he kidnapped winged reader (wr)

But wr managed to escape and steals a small boat

he's starving and finds the Baratie but he doesn't have money and we see his interaction with Sanji

And at the end he goes with his dad

This going to be a long one 😂

🐼💕~

Escape, Friend, Return ( Zoro,x male!child!reader x Sanji)

A/N: You were not wrong this was long 😳, at least compared to what im used to. When I was writing I was like this wont be so long, and then I was oh…

Dividers by @/saradika

Reader squeaks, avoiding another cannonball heading his way as he flies away

Finally, he managed to reach his destination, an emergency boat intended for use if the main ship sank.

Reader, however, had a much different intention for said boat, intending to escape his captivity at the hands of Captain Krieg.

Don Krieg's face drops as he watches the ship take off.

"Shoot the little rat down!"

Another shriek escapes him as he raises the sails, giving the small boat speed and creating distance from Krieg and the incoming cannonballs

'Shoot for the sails!'.

Don-Kreich and the rest of his crew frantically fire their remaining cannons.

He flinches as one of the cannonballs lands dangerously close, the small boat shaken by the force of the waves created in turn

He sighs with relief as he makes enough distance from the main boat to be out of range of the canon

“I did it…” he mutters, the reality of what just happened to him hitting the young boy as they slowly sink down, rogue tears gradually increasing until a river of tears fell from his eyes, sobbing for his father and the safety on his embrace, exhaustion catching up to him as sleep enveloped him.

Reader was woken up by the ship impacting with a much bigger boat

“Ow,” he whines, rubbing his head, looking up and awing; he had stumbled upon a giant ship if one could call it that, a fish making the underside with a building in the middle.

“B..?” he squints at the words in front of the weird shape, unable to make out what the collection of letters read; he flutters up and into the vast ship.

He sneaks all the way towards where he sees bustling of people, hiding behind a pillar and peeking out, spotting a blond man smoking on the railings of the ship

He squeaks as the man turns his head his way, and he quickly dart back behind the pillar

“Hmm?” Sanji watches the strange sight, tilting his head

Reader peeks his head out again, taking a glimpse at the man, darting back once they see the man staring at him

Sanji watches the child curiously before heading over to the person of interest

He squeals as he peeks out again, only to see the man right before him, slowly backing away, tears welling in his eyes

Sanji looks at the child, his expression softening

“Hey, what are you doing out here all alone?”

“I-I I “

Sanji kneels down in front of the boy.

“Are you alright?” he asks

“I -I want my daddy.”

Sanji looks concerned. “Do you know where he is?” he asks

He shakes their head

“Oh…how about you just come with me to my kitchen then…we can get something to eat at least,” Sanji says

He stares at his hand hesitantly

“Hey, I won’t hurt you, alright? You look like you could use a nice meal. C’mon,” he says, offering his hand

He slowly puts his hands over his

Sanji gently takes the little hand as he starts walking, headed to the kitchen

“What’s your name, kid?” he asks

“Reader”

“And where are you from, Reader?”

“Ummm, im from Papa’s island!”

“Hmm…and how did you end up all alone out here?”

“A bad guy took me,” he said, stretching his wings out

“I see…let’s see if we can find you some food then, ok?” Sanji takes the boy to the kitchen

“Okay!”

Sanji puts the little one on a chair before making them some food

“Here…” Sanji gives him a warm bowl of soup

“Thank you, Mister!”

“You’re welcome…” Sanji says kindly

“That was really yummy, Mister.” he smiles, kicking his feet and lightly flapping his wings in content

“Umm, what's your name, Mister?”

“My name is Sanji…nice to meet you, Reader.”

“Hi, Hi, Sanji!”

“Oi Assitant Headchef Sanji! We need you on the floor! We don’t have any waiters! They ran off yesterday!”

Sanji looks up from his workstation and then turns back to the child; he sighs

“I gotta help these idiots out there. Could you wait for me on the platform? You have a nice view from there; once im done, I‘ll help you find your father; does that sound good?”

“Okay! But you have to promise to come back and help me find Daddy!”

Sanji smiles.

“Do not worry, im a man of my word. Go on now and wait for me there; I’ll be there shortly.”

"Okay." he smiles flying toward the upper balcony

The next hour was a blur to the small child, from meeting the future King of the pirates on the balcony to seeing him comedically try to convince Sanji to join his crew to laughing joyously as Luffy and Zoro quarrel to a feeling of fear and dread enveloped him as the familiar gold armored man came barging in, carried by the hungry man, asking for food and pummeling Sanji to the ground and shooting all the chefs when he received the food but did received refusal to his demand of handing the restaurant To him.

He now found themselves crying in the hands of the blond cook as he soothed down his loud sobs and cries.

Sanji sighs softly as he takes a handkerchief and gently wipes his tears

"Hey, Hey, it's okay; he's not gonna touch you again, darling."

"H-H-he came back, he came back, and Mister Sanji and the others got hurt!"

"Hey now, I will never let anyone hurt you, alright?" Sanji pulls the child close to him

He grunts as Don Krieg starts demanding food for his crew; needing food to feed a hundred people, he gently passes over the kid over to Zoro, who happens to be the closest to him; once they had managed to calm down the child, their sobs now simply reduced to heavy breathing.

"Stay here, Darling, i'll be right back

"Where are you going?" a chef questions

"Im going to the kitchen to prepare enough food for a hundred people," he mutters, taking a drag from his cigarette as chaos erupted in the restaurant once again, punches being delivered until Zeff walked out and handed a bag full of food for Krieg's crew

Zoro rolls his eyes, glancing down at the child. In his arms

"Oi, where are your parents?" he questions

"I don't know where Daddy is."

"Who is your dad?"

"Umm, Daddy!

"Of course," He grunts

"....That hawk-eyed man whose glare is sharp enough to kill a man," the hungry man mutters as they both tune in back to the conversation

"That's Daddy!"

"What?!" he said, ruffling through his pockets and pulling out a wrinkled old paper with a familiar face on it

"Is this your father?"

"That's Daddy!"

"You're the child of H-

His discovery Is cut short as a tremendous force cuts the huge galleon in half, making the baratie sway violently.

"Look out!" He growls, moving reader out of the way as the swaying throws the chairs and tables around, almost taking with it Reader.

He squeals at the sudden collision and movement; they look up a Zoro

"Are you okay?"

He, however, does not respond, eyes glued in front of him, staring at the ship that was slowly sinking to the sea, and in front of it floated a raft with a familiar man sitting on it.

"DADDY!" he cheers, wriggling out of Zoro's grasp to fly towards their father, barreling right into him

Mihawk catches the young child, gently holding him in one arm.

"There, there..."

"You're here," he mutters

Mihawk nods, gently running his fingers through his hair

"I am," he says, looking down at him

"Are you unharmed? Did they hurt you?" he said, gesturing to Zoro and their aquentainces.

He shakes his head

"They helped me, they gave me food, and they took care of me."

He hums at their answer

"Damn you, what did we do to you?! Why the hell did you have to follow us all the way out here!" a crewmate of Krieg sneered, pulling out two guns and shooing the swordsman

"Why? What impertinence to ask such a question; I came because you had the nerve to take something from me," he said, deflecting the bullets from him and his child with ease.

"You really are the strongest... I set sail to meet you," Zoro says, slowly stepping closer

Mihawk glances at him and then down at Reader.

"Stay here; I will return shortly," he said, placing him down in the raft and stepping into what remained of Krieg's ship towards the ex-pirate hunter

They engaged in a few words and then engaged in the one-way battle, Mihawk not moving from his spot as he easily bested the green head with his tiny dagger; impressed with his ambition, ferocity, and conviction, he asked for his name, and gave him his respect and honor of bringing him down with all of his force, using Yoru.

"Stand Strong, Roronoa; I will wait for you at the top. No matter how many months or years pass, I will wait for you to surpass my sword."

He smiles as he watches as Zoro raises his sword and promises Luffy never to lose again

"You make a good team; I'd like to see you in the future. You have my thanks and respect for taking care of Reader while I was gone," He says, walking away to his raft and scooping said child, smiling again as they giggle and nuzzle into them.

"Farewell

Okay, y’all im not used to something this long especially for it to be following canon so closedly so idk I feel like its a flop, I don’t feel that usual 🥰 vibe, ya know? I did have to start skipping and resuming some parts, cause well I don’t want ya to read a manuscript of the manga…

Taglist:

@imaginarydreams

@amethystviolin

[raenegade-accio]

Beware the following mindless deranged rambling that randomly hit me at 3am, but I can't be the only one who felt this way when playing for the first time...

Not having Officer Singer conspiring with Rookwood was a big fat missed opportunity

And whether it was intentional or not, it was all perfectly laid out for a plot like this since the start!

From her first theatrically heroic appearance in Hogsmeade:

As a Magical Law Enforcement Officer, I assume Singer is equipped with the basic knowledge of evacuation procedures e.g. steeling all persons away from the ongoing threat and ensuring they exit the area safely.

But what did she do instead?

Luring the massive troll into rampaging further into Hogsmeade, leaving a pair of 15-year-olds completely out in the open, vulnerable to new imminent dangers. And sure enough, as soon as MC and Natty/Sebastian were alone, another troll bursted in, mere seconds after Singer left the scene.

What's not to say she was only there to clear of any potential civilian witnesses, using the first troll to scare them away under the guise of doing her job, while the second troll quickly comes crashing in, with MC being served up in a silver platter.

Later we saw Singer comes running back and is understandably surprised to see MC unscathed. We get this strange piece of dialogue:

She didn't bother assessing, or at least securing the crime scene when it's literally the first step to ensure an initial investigation can later be conducted properly. Instead she does the complete opposite by having someone else to practically wipe it clean of anything worth further investigating; there definitely would’ve been debris or bits of damaged armour with lingering traces of dark magic, now all gone. Then she just vanished, leaving a couple of teenagers alone in an deserted area, again.

Later we meet Rookwood for the first time.

From here we learned that Rookwood watched the whole incident unfold, implying he planned to abduct MC at the first chance he got, one which Officer Singer very conveniently provided. The only thing stopping him was seeing the new kid had absolutely Thanos-ed a troll using an unfamiliar form of magic.

And he wasn't exactly discreet either. Rookwood, an infamous criminal gang leaders was allowed to so nonchalantly wander around Hogsmeade in the broad daylight and it was clear he could to barge into public establishments whenever he wanted while openly threatening a pair of minors. A Dark Wizard who was now actively stalking a literal child got to walk away scot-free. Pretty lenient...

At this point it wouldn't be too outrageous to say Singer is systematically participating in organised wizarding crime. Here's an interesting piece of dialogue from Rookwood:

"Favours." now we have proof that Rookwood somewhat has a little power in the Ministry. There could've been a transactional relationship between Rookwood and Singer too.

British policing wasn't exactly well liked; venal and corrupt as it was, elite officers colluding with criminals weren't new.

Assuming it applied to the Wizarding World too.

At the era HL takes place (the 1800s), bribery and cover-ups were daily occurrences, which could garner favours that often came from the very criminals from whom corrupt officers have collected in exchange for "turning a blind eye".

This one's a bit of a stretch to be honest, but it may have explained how Rookwood evidently was able to be as active as he was for "months." And it certainly would make more sense in how Singer maintained keep her position a lawwoman that's reputable and admired by the locals as long as she did despite her blatant inactions, considering the possibilities he helped pulled some strings.

It'd be too easy to claim Officer Singer was never fired simply by theorising the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were as unfit, unintelligent and incapable as the forces from the Victorian Metropolitan Police.

But it's later found out the locals felt very differently:

People trusted her, relied on her. They felt safe whenever she's near and all have nothing but praises for her.

Imagine the potential - the level of public outrage and betrayal - among the common folk, that the person who was supposed to defend them has been aiding the Ashwinders extorting, threatening and bullying them this whole time, possibly allowing said group access to all the needed private information to terrorise them even further (e.g. their names, private residences, workplaces and occupations, and all that of their loved ones, too)

This can easily be backed up by Natty’s questline: A Basis for Blackmail

We meet a few of the victims - targeted by Theophilus Harlow, another notorious Ashwinder leader and Rookwood’s right hand man - most notably Mr Isko Rabe and his wife.

Harlow knew their names, where Mrs Rabe worked (Gringotts), what she and her husband do for a living (bank security and curse breaker) and where they lived (to plant the threatening note and destroy their garden). Both careers are as high profile as they are dangerous, so it’s not surprising Mrs Rabe was approached about extorting the bank itself. What is disquieting was that their private homes were infiltrated a little too easily, especially concerning her husband is a talented curse-breaker.

Interestingly, Mrs Rabe and officer Singer were likely colleagues (as per the cutscene of the first Hogsmeade troll attack, you can see Mrs Rabe following closely behind Singer). Someone with Singer’s position would have all the necessary connections and know-how to learn all she needs to someone of lower rank, especially when divulging them to a powerful gang leader she may had been conspiring with…

—

I got so excited because I was convinced there would be a twist of some sort, where we may get to pull a Houdini or a Scooby-Doo then unmask Singer as another sleazy dark witch that's been undercover and lying to the locals for years, secretly exploiting with Rookwood and manipulating the same people she's meant to protect.

I was so mentally prepared for the scandal, already so gleefully imagining the reactions of the villagers, the teachers or students from the sheer betrayal after speaking so highly of her and putting so much trust in that woman.

Imagine my disappointment when I find that she really was just hilariously incompetent 😂

Shit, even MC themselves pointed this out ( after local businesses were being extorted and a student was just kidnapped by a group of adults:

I can always incorporate this post in the fic, that'd be fun.

[youatemylollipop]

What types of girls do u think the tokrev boys would like (separately), what type would u match the up with?

A/N: Not quite sure if I had understood your questions correctly, but here’s a list of TR boys and their dream girls based on my interpretation of your request.

Ft: Haitani Ran, Hanemiya Kazutora, Matsuno Chifuyu, Mitsuya Takashi & Sano Manjirō (Tokyo Revengers).

Part Two: Haitani Rindō, Hitto Kakuchō & Terano South ➵ Tokyo Revengers

Haitani Ran

➵ I can imagine our little Wednesday Addams being interested in two types of girls.

➵ The first type would be the “high-maintenance” type, obviously someone with a lot of demands and requirements that he cannot meet.

➵ She would be confident with a very high self-esteem and probably very fashionable, walking with her chin held high as if she owned the place.

➵ She would be mischievous and flirtatious, but still loyal.

➵ People would sometimes wonder who the bigger player was between the two before they started dating.

➵ The second type that I can see him being interested in is the quiet and reserved type.

➵ However, she still needs to have high standards and be confident in herself.

➵ The fashionista aspect is not that important, but there has to be something that caught his attention.

➵ If anyone has watched the series "The Queen's Gambit," then you must be familiar with the main heroine, Beth Harmon.

➵ When I say reserved, that's the type of reserved that I truly mean.

➵ The one who seems very shy, only to be interpreted as the incarnation of Satan once she's spoken her mind.

➵ Which could also be seen as the “freak behind closed doors” type.

Hanemiya Kazutora

➵ The "a literal angel" type is the kind of girl that our little banana boy is drawn to.

➵ He wouldn't be interested in just any girl, however.

➵ The only type that would catch his eye is one who is exceptionally gentle and patient, with a natural inclination towards helping others.

➵ The kind of person who can't walk past someone in need without offering a helping hand.

➵ Her kindness is not performative, but instead comes from a genuine desire to make the world a better place.

➵ Sometimes I wonder if this girl even exists.

➵ Someone who is very shy and sweet.

➵ She might have a tendency to blush when she's happy or flustered, which only makes her more endearing.

➵ Her voice is soft and soothing, the kind that could calm anyone down with just a few words.

➵ Can also be referred to as the "can't even hurt a fly" type. But to our banana boy, she is so much more than that.

➵ She is an angel in human form, a symbol of everything that is good and pure in the world.

Matsuno Chifuyu

➵ The "extreme badass" type.

➵ While Chifuyu is the type of guy who can get along with different kinds of people, he is instantly drawn to the badass type.

➵ He just thinks that she's so cool and can't help but admire her.

➵ I swear to god! This boy is such a big simp!

➵ Pretty much like Baji, she can be unhinged and have serious mood swings.

➵ She can also be very sweet and bubbly.

➵ However, she's still the cool-headed and collected type of girl who manages to dominate any man she meets.

➵ Her aura is warm and inviting, but also cold and haughty.

➵ Blunt. Extremely blunt, but also surprisingly mature.

➵ She probably reminds him of a stray cat in a way, which is mostly because of her tendencies to go missing for a few days.

➵ Because of this strange combination of characteristics she can also be seen as the “self-contradicting” type.

➵ Overall, she is a walking oxymoron whom any other person would have problems getting along with.

➵ Well… anybody but Chifuyu.

Mitsuya Takashi

➵ Mitsuya would probably be attracted to two types of girls.

➵ The first is the “mother-like” type.

➵ One who is extremely mature, sweet, and caring.

➵ She is excellent with children and takes school very seriously.

➵ She’s a good cook and his sisters love her.

➵ Very hardworking to the point that he sometimes has to ensure that she is not overworking herself.

➵ She can also be seen as the “selfless” type because she tends to place others’ needs before her own.

➵ He would like her because they share a lot of common ground in their interests and values.

➵ The second type is the “she-devil” type.

➵ She’s mischievous and loves to fluster him on a daily basis.

➵ Makes sure to flirt with him and send him compliments and is very bold in showing her attraction.

➵ Still very good with kids and enjoys teasing him a lot.

➵ I think this would be seen as the opposites attract trope due to Mitsuya’s constant need to be like a parental figure for his sisters.

Sano Manjirō

➵ The “too strange for this world” type.

➵ When our little taiyaki (as well as dorayaki) lover had met her, she had immediately piqued his interest.

➵ Because it's a well-known fact that Mikey doesn't get interested in 'ordinary' people.

➵ She had most likely said something utterly ridiculous or done something weird.

➵ And even if she didn't, she probably has a unique sense of fashion that makes her stand out from the crowd.

➵ Typically, she's the type of girl who has an odd way of thinking, and most people can't grasp what she means.

➵ Mikey obviously finds her amusing.

➵ The “dreamer” is the other type that Mikey would most likely get attracted to.

➵ She is the one who has been held hostage by her overly strict parents and wishes for her prince charming to whisk her away.

➵ Or rather, her knight in shining armor, because let's face it, Mikey is nowhere near as sophisticated as a prince is supposed to be.

➵ But it doesn't matter, as long as he’s that somebody that’ll 'show her the world', take her on various adventures, and save her from monsters—or the evil wizard/witch that has been keeping her in confinement.

➵ As you can see, she is the biggest romantic on earth, and Mikey finds it adorable and would happily bring some new colors to shower her world with.

[capitalmaudios]

Bodie and the Beast

With all the insane(ly good) angst that's been dropped in the Gator Boys fandom recently, I wanted to share something a little more lighthearted. Back when I had my D&D game with Bodie, I shipped him with another party member and, in order to torment/amuse the other player, I wrote out a Beauty and the Beast parody fic of the two. In case they don't want me to talk about their character, I've gone ahead and changed their character's name and pronouns to Bug (they/them), but here it is! And pardon the... strange writing style. When I say frantically written, I mean it! Enjoy the laugh!

So, the local village struggles with fishing/resource gathering out of fear of this big bad beastie in the neighboring swamp.  Bug is a skeptic about this monster being as dangerous as they say (debunks many of the claims people make and doubts its existence).  They get fed up with it and venture into the swamp to prove their theories.

They end up getting caught in one of Bodie's nets that he has set up for catching fish.  Nothing that could actually hurt them.  They're stuck there for a while until he comes to check the net.  It's potentially been so long that she's fallen asleep.

He takes them home and gets them settled and all that jazz, but is cautious about letting himself be seen, leaving food and notes for them (in his awful handwriting and spelling).  He knows he freaks people out and doesn't want this to be the same.

They get curious and check out the place, discovering books and materials that they've never seen before (probably because of how deep in the swamp you have to be to find them and knowledge that only his family has had till now).  Instead of going home right away, they decide to try and stay to collect more info and determine the nature of this person.  At this point, they still aren't convinced he's a beast, just a hermit.

Suddenly the handwriting is different and is more.. inviting?  Complimentary?  The tone has changed.

One of them eventually invites them out (not explicitly a date or anything, just like a "hey, wanna see something cool?" invite).  They decide to find out what this is about and head to the designated spot.  It's absolutely beautiful with lots of plants they've never seen and covered in fireflies and the gentle hum of cicadas.  Suddenly, there's a splash and their gaze is drawn to a rather small looking humanoid trying to dash out of sight.  They carefully walk over and catch a gator man, Timmy, trying to set up some more decor.

He explains that he's not the one who picked them up and that the person who did is very shy about meeting them.  Timmy here has been trying to help encourage him to just come out and say hi and set this up for them both to have the best introduction to each other.  He also drops hints that the creature thinks they're very pretty and very smart and is very curious about what they do considering their interest in his books and such.

Bug is a bit flustered by this revelation, but shoves those feelings aside and asks Timmy to tell this person that they would like to meet him too.  Timmy grins and just yells out to the trees.  "Y'hear that, Bodie?  They want to say hi too!"

Anywho, there's more rustling and whispering.  Timmy and someone else are arguing back and forth.  Suddenly, Bug hears Timmy shout at him to GET OUT THERE AND SAY HI, YOU DOLT and a huge beast is shoved out from behind the trees and faceplants in front of them.

He gets up as fast as he can, clumsily splashing mud around, even hitting Bug with it.  They wipe the muck off their face and looks up to get a good look.  It's a HUGE gator person, much larger than Timmy.  They would have expected someone who looked like him to seem large and intimidating, but his posture and expression gave the impression that he was extremely nervous, like a mouse.  If they'd moved to stand, they were sure he would dart off again in terror.

Bodie finally composes himself enough to make introductions and notices the mess he's made of the area and Bug.  He stumbles over to try and help clean it up, apologizing the whole way.

Bug is a bit annoyed at the mess, but is too intrigued at the discovery of these people to let it get to them.  They assure him that it's fine and invite him to sit and talk.

He stops trying to fix things (and making them worse in the process) and takes a seat.  The two sit in silence for a few moments before Bug decides to take the initiative and introduce themselves formally.

Bodie is still stumbling over his words, but clearly trying his best to talk and make a good impression.  Bug picks up on this and directs the conversation so that he can give the answers he clearly wants to give and provides openings for questions they're willing to answer.

Bug also makes sure to ask about their discoveries in the cabin, questioning him on how he came to acquire this knowledge.  Insert sad story about the families that used to inhabit the swamp.  Bodie admits he doesn't know much about the books due to his reading skill, but he's trying to understand them and learn what his family knew.  A long time ago, there was even a human settlement that the gators used to be friends with.  Then one day, a visitor showed up and proclaimed the gators were monsters who were secretly planning to destroy the humans there, earning their trust and making them susceptible to attack.  A number of the humans believed what this visitor said and they started attacking the gators.  A war broke out between the two people.  The surviving gators went deeper into the swamp for safety, while the surviving humans left with the visitor to live in their village.

Turns out that visitor was an ancestor of the person running the town right now.  Our Gaston-like figure.  He's been pushing for Bug to commit to an official government position in town, but they've turned him down multiple times as they feels it would restrict their studies too much and potentially censor their findings (it's no secret that he objected to their expedition in the first place).

Bug, being the smart cookie that they are, manages to put two and two together between Bodie's story and not-Gaston.  They thank Bodie for taking care of them and stick around a bit longer at his cabin, sharing their own knowledge about his stock and helping him understand his books.  After about a week, they determine it's time to go home, reveal the results of her expedition, and put a stop to the rumors about this "dangerous" beast.

After making a new friend, Bodie is sad to see Bug go but naturally does not stop them.  After they left, Timmy scolds him for not making a move or trying to get them to stay.  Bodie denies any deeper feelings and Timmy just sighs with frustration (he sees the signs from both of them and it's KILLING HIM).

Bug makes it back home safely and asks to meet with not-Gaston.  Not-Gaston takes this as a sign that they're FINALLY accepting his offer as they've never made an appointment with him before.  He smugly greets Bug upon meeting, prepared to sign paperwork and they SLAMS a pile of notes and evidence on his desk and absolutely goes off about the town's history and the people of the swamp.  They demand reparations be made and an agreement drafted so that she can continue to study along with Bodie without interruption from any folks who still harbor bigoted opinions about them.

Not-Gaston is COMPLETELY thrown off guard by this.  Of course, he's aware of the town's history with the gator people but, being the asshole that he is, doesn't give a FUCK about making amends about it.  Instead, his anger at this situation leads him to not only kick Bug out of his office, but form a whole-ass militia to finally put an end to the gator people so they can just take the swamp as a whole.

Seeing what's about to happen as people gather in the plaza while not-Gaston shouts a scarily motivating speech to the people, Bug tries to push through and counter his words with their own discoveries.  The people are unmoved (Bug is such a cold person to everyone, why should they listen to them?) and they're thrown in jail to keep them out of the way.

Unknown to the people, though, Timmy has made his way into town to do what Bodie couldn't.  He witnesses everything and sneaks off to rescue Bug so that they can go warn Bodie together.

Bug and Timmy make a stop at their home first so that they can grab some of their own supplies for use in deterring the mob.  They grab as much as they can and rush off using Timmy's shortcuts to beat the crowd.

They arrive and find Bodie sitting calmly, looking a bit sad and fiddling with a flower, one of the materials Bug had taken particular interest in.  He notices them and quickly hides the flower and stands up to greet Bug (while also mildly scolding Timmy for forcing them back).  Bug explains the situation and the three immediately set out to defend the swamp.

Bodie and Timmy get to setting up more nets and Bug creates various deterrents: smoke bombs, stink bombs, etc.

(Actually, maybe during their time with Bodie, she realized that it was some of the experiments Bodie's family had done that turned them from normal people into gators?)

The battle ensues and they manage to trap not-Gaston.  The gators round up the militia per Bug's direction and they administer this potion to not-Gaston to prove her point: that these people aren't truly monsters and deserve the respect and reparations they demanded earlier.

Some of the people make a break for it, but others are in shock.  One of them mentions an old story his grandmother used to tell him that sounds similar to the one Bug shared.

Most of the folks are absolutely not ready for a full on treaty at this point, but they're convinced enough to cease their attack.  They go home (though one or two stick around and hang out with Timmy who's happy to show off his skills and scales).  Timmy nudges Bodie to GO FUCKING TALK TO THEM AGAIN and ensures they have some privacy.

Bodie, in his usual awkward way, thanks Bug for helping get rid of the mob and convincing the town to stop trying to destroy what's left of his home.  Per their characteristic pragmatism, Bug cools his optimism and explains that he's not safe yet and they still have a lot of work to be done before he could be welcomed into town properly.  He ignores the realism and hones in on the implication of them working together and being welcomed.

Bug lets themselves inside his cabin to clean up after the fight and he follows, ready to cook up a storm in celebration.  Gonna need a lot of gumbo so the townsfolk can get some too!

[romana-after-dark]

The Wrong Way: Chapter 5

Dark!Joel Miller x Fem!Reader Tommy Miller x reader (secondary)

Masterlist

Spotify playlist

Summery: You are sold to Joel to clear up some of your fathers' debts, and he takes you back to his house where him, Tommy, and high ranking members of his raiding trope stay. Joel is mean, cruel, and hash, but had small moments of softness that confuse you in your venerable state. Over time, you get to know him and Tommy, and see different sides of each, an both are hiding secrets. Was it possible to fall in love under these circumstances? Or was that just another way Joel was fucking with you?

Aka: my mom sold me to One Direction

WARNINGS FOR FULL FIC, NOT CHAPTER BY CHAPTER UNLESS SOMETHING NEW IS ADDED AFTER MASTER WARNING LIST: DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT!!!! Fic contains graphic depictions of sexual assault, rape, molestation, dubcon/non con. Blow Jobs, PIV sex, lose of virginity, sex trafficking, past incest, death/people dying everywhere, Stockholm syndrome, falling for your rapist, victim blaming, torcher, branding, physical abuse, rape (not Joel), somno, dub con on tommy? idk he's not really into it but feels like he has to, self-harm/depression/suicidal thoughts (not a lot) but fair warning, major age gaps, love triangle, pregnancy/birth, threats of abortion, major character death

New character alert! Face claim, of course, is Oscar Isaac, specifically his look in Drive 🥰

****************

Dandelion

A million little wishes float across the sky

But it's a waste of breath and it's a waste of time I know

Cause just like him, you always leave me cryin' dandelion~Danelion, Kacey Musgraves

“So then Luke goes to Dangobah to find Yoda”

“Wait, whose Yoda? Is that another Jedee?”

“Jedi, but yes”

“Why?”

“Old Ben told him to”

“Isn’t he dead?”

“Yes, but he came to Luke at the start of this movie?”

“What? When?”

“When Luke was in the cave”

“Are we sure he wasn’t hallucinating?”

“I- No, no it was Ben. Jedi can come back in visions, like ghosts”

“Well, that’s awfully convenient”

“The force makes a lot of things convenient”

Joel was doing as he promised, explaining the Star Wars movies you had never had a chance to watch so you could understand the collection of comics he had found. You weren’t particularly interested in the comics, but they seemed to excite him, so you were going to read them, hoping to continue in conversation about it. This was the first time you two had talked about anything other than The Horrors for longer than a short back and forth, in fact, this was the only piece of personality or hints of before he had given you, the rest you had gleaned from Tommy. Joel was curled up with you on your mattress, having held you close all day yesterday and last night, and after what happened with Nick, after all Joel did for you, you happily accepted it. Joel had been soft before, absolutely, but not like this, and never this long… it bordered on Tommy territory. Slowly, you noticed little similarities, small phrases or mannerism that said yeah, these two are brothers, despite the drastic differences.

He played with your hair as he laid with you, tender in his touch, it was damn near domestic you almost forget where you are.

“Do you wanna go outside? Go for a walk?” Joel asks, his voice strangely soft in your ear.

You can’t help but smile at that. “That would be nice, thank you.”

Joel instructs you to stay put, and goes into his room and comes back with shoes he must’ve gotten and kept hidden from you; you’d get farther if you ran away wearing shoes. He knelt down beside you, lacing them up and tying them for you. He, of course held your hand tightly the entire time.

He asked if you wanted to see him. You knew what he meant.

Joel had kept him strung up, hanging from the oak tree, and although you had seen many horrific things in your short time on this god forsaken planet, the sight of a man you knew, hanged, skinned and swaying in the crisp spring Wyoming breeze… this was one of the worst. Somehow, however, you couldn’t find yourself feeling any guilt. Nick had done what he did knowing full well what Joel was capable of. The risk he took was calculated, but like you, it seems he couldn’t do math.

You felt Joel slide up behind you, unsurprisingly hard, no doubt recalling last night as his hands slide around your middle, his lips beginning to graze your neck and you couldn't help but remember how he had fucked you while telling you the graphic things he had done to your rapist.. “Do you still wanna cut off his dick?” He nudges your eyes to Joel’s switchblade still in Nick’s heart.

The idea was sexy while Joel was fucking you, but the reality of it was, frankly... Icky. “Can you?”

He kisses your cheek. “Happily.” Joel directs you, his long arms reach around, taking the blade out of his naked body and, with the aid of rigor mortis, he swiftly cut off the bastards dick. Stabbing the switchblade back into Nicks cold chest, Nick’s cock between the blade and his skin. “Feeling better, little one?” His arms are quickly back to you, the hand that held the switchblade playing above the line of your sweatpants. 

“Yes, Joel” You sighed, leaning your head back into him as his hand went between your legs. You did feel better actually. The whole situation you were in was fucked, but you did feel better…

He began finger fucking you, and although you realize he hadn’t washed his hands since skinning Nick, you weren't bothered. You were about to fuck about two feet away from a rotting corpse... “Let's go back to the house.”

“No” You whispered, and Joel looked at you curiously. “Here.” You get yourself situated against the tree trunk, and you swore you heard Joel chuckle; he had you whipped.

“Good girl” He adjusted you as needed, you brace against the tree Nick was hanging from, his body feet from you, and Joel pushed your ass out, pulling down your pants before slamming into you. “Good fucking girl” He pace was immediately hard and fast, and at this angle you swore…

“Joel.”

He didn’t stop. “Hm?“

You grab his hand, placing it over your stomach, where he could very very clearly feel himself entering you, his hard cock protruding out your stomach. “You feel that Joel?”

The hand on your hip was painfully tight, he growled and bite into your neck. “Fuck, fuck baby, you like me pounding you like this? Out in the open where anyone can see you?”

“Yes” You whine, having to  rest your face on the rough bark, sweat prickling at your skin even in the cold, his hands making you feel so, so warm. “I know you’ll protect me”

He moved one hand to the tree trunk, protecting your face from the scratches, his other moving to your clit, although right now you were certain he could make you cum just from just dick right now. “I’ll always protect you, little girl, always. Won’t let nothing bad happen to you ever again.” The irony was clearly lost on him, seeing as most of your suffering was at his hands but, fuck, if it wasn’t starting to get lost on you too… He was so tender when he wanted to be, the good was so, so good, and the sex… fucking hell. He pulled your ass out a little more and suddenly you were blinded, a brand new feeling making you cry out “Right there, pretty girl? Stay still, I’ll take care of you. Look at him” Joel turned your face to the decomposing body next to you. “Look at him, little one, I’ll always take care of you”

Why did this always make you feel so fucking warm? “I know, Joel, I know, J-Joel, fuck!” You rest your face fully on his large, veiny hand, protecting you from the tree, protecting you from Nick, protecting you from everything…

For a few weeks, things go better than they had been for years. Sex with Joel kept getting better and better, and he was opening up more. Not much from before, just little bits like telling you the plots of his favorite movies… you hadn’t been in his room, nor Tommy’s… Tommy had shifted a bit too. He was more and more affectionate with you, with the door closed of course… He held you in his arms, missing you brother, or when you called out to him in the middle of the night from nightmares and he pulled you onto his lap and cradled you when you cried… sometimes he went away from days on work as trusting more that Joel wouldn’t hurt you again and none of the men would dare. You were on dangerous waters, you knew, but sometimes you could only sleep when you smelled Tommy’s skin… but again, dangerous.

That’s why, when no one came into your room with breakfast, or lunch, or to spend time with you or fuck you… you were worried. Not as worried as you were when the door finally opened and a new face appeared with food.

You scramble to stand up, images of Nick and early days of Joel flashing in your head, and you open your mouth to scream for Tommy, but he cuts you off.

“Relax, sweetheart, Nick’s body is still rotting out there, I’m not tryna match him.” He spoke with a thick accent you’d heard before; your brother, Zach, had said it was from somewhere east, one of the big cities, but wasn’t sure where. 

“What do you want?” You ask, still shaking.

He set down the food. “Tommy’s paying me to feed you today”

You narrow your eyes at the sandwich. “You’re not doing very well, missed a meal.”

He shrugged with a small, smug smile. “Didn’t pay me enough for that.” He watched you still eying the food suspiciously “You wanna talk to him?”

“Where is he? Where’s Joel…” You can’t imagine they would let a random man in your room if one was able to do this…

“Food poisoning, we think.” 

You look at the sandwich again. “I’m not eating that”

He laughed, obnoxiously loud. “Smart girl. Come on, you can make yourself something” He nudged out the door.

You couldn’t help perk up at that. You get to leave? You get to make your own food? You weren’t sure who the man was, but you were happy to take the little bit of independence. You wouldn’t do anything that would make Joel mad, just put together a sandwich or heat up some soup! How strange your life had become that these were the little pleasures. 

The man watched you intently as you managed to make some soup. He was short; taller than you still, but short none the less, a few inches under Tommy. His hair was buzzed as was his beard, dark hair to match dark skin, and large eyes that watched you like a bug.

It was fun, cooking again… You had rather enjoyed when you still were living with your dad, your mom taught you well, you were a good cook… you wondered if Joel might let you cook more… you save soup for them when they were feeling better, maybe they’d like it enough you could continue? You toast some bead on a frying pan, demand (well, ask, but with a little force) to see Joel.

When you tentatively peaked through the cracked door and Joel saw you, his eyes went wide and you saw he was about to get up, no doubt thinking you got loose, so you opened the door to reveal the strange new man you hadn’t seen around the house before. “It’s okay, he’s with me. I wanted to check on you… can I come in?” Joel lays back down, tentatively, obviously not thrilled about being seen in a vulnerable position. He was clearly sick, his tanned skin looking pale, his eyes bleary and you couldn’t help but feel bad for him… even as you placed your hand on your hip, feeling the JM etched into your skin… a reminder of what he could do… You kneel down before him with the toast. “Can you try and eat some of this for me?”

He shakes his head. “I feel like shit”

Opting to sit by him, you gently play with his hair. He looked so young like this… “I know, sweetie… but you gotta try and eat… keep up your strength. Toast won’t be so bad on your stomach…” You try to coax, and look up to see the man watching you, eying you… was he confused, wondering how the little kidnapped girl was playing nurse to her capture… but he wouldn’t understand. You weren’t sure you could explain it yourself… but this was the position you were in, and you were doing what you could…

“What are you doing?” He grumbles, taking a small bite.

“I’m helping you”

“Why”

Great question. “Because you help me”

“I hurt you” another bite.

You were taken aback by that, absolutely… he was right, he did… “But you can also be so, so good to me.”

He wouldn’t look at you. “I don’t deserve you” 

You sigh, just a little bit… deserve wouldn’t be the word… but you wouldn’t say he didn’t deserve you… he was good to you, wasn’t he? He fed you, brought you nice things, little treats, he treated you good in bed… maybe he deserved you? He did everything right… how you got here didn’t really matter, and he was right, months ago, this was better than the strange men that mouth raped you and beat you senseless… he took you away from all that, he made a better life for you… in a way, he saved you.

“You do deserve me, Joel.” You kiss his forehead, hair stuck to it with sweat from the food poisoning. “I’m gonna check on Tommy, then I’ll be back to nurse you back to health, okay?”

Joel smiled at that. “Okay, little one”

A groggy Tommy looked at you and the man, then flopped his head back down on his pillow. “I see you met Lorenzo”

So that was his name. “Yeah, when he finally decided to bring me food.”

Tommy groans. “I told you to feed her, not bring her here”

Getting on the bed, you brush Tommy’s long hair away from his face. “It’s fine, I saw Joel, he’s okay with it as long as he watches me.”

Tommy couldn’t even open his eyes. “I feel awful, honey. Fucking awful. Never eating chicken again”

You can’t help but laugh a bit as he groaned on about how much he ‘odia pollo’ as you coax him into eating a bit of toast.

You spend the day helping the Millers feel better, whipping their faces with a cool clothes, feeding them bites they could eat, cleaning up the bowls they puked in, all while Lorenzo trailed around you, no doubt in charge of making sure you didn’t run away… you couldn’t help but admit you like this, you liked taking care of them, even if you couldn’t be as affectionate with Tommy as you wanted to. The other men, it seems, were all out sick, leaving just you and Lorenzo, and of course, like everything, it was a deliberate move… There were no coincidences.

Of all the things you expected to see as you rounded the corner back to the kitchen after having left Tommy’s side, your brother was not one of them.

“Zach.” He was alive, Joel didn’t kill him… but how had Tommy not known- oh. Tommy knew. He had to have, as did Joel. They would have begun collecting from your dad again, they had no know...

He rushed over to you, taking you in his loving arms that held you so many times before, whispering your name. “Thank god you’re okay”

You blink, brain still trying to catch up. “Wha- what are you doing here?”

Zach begins to pull you away, towards the door. “I’m rescuing you, we’re leaving”

Leaving? To go where? No doubt he had a plan, but he had no idea, no idea what happened, what things were like now, how bad they had been but it had gotten so, so much better. You stop. “Zach wait!” You whisper harshly, and he turns around at you, confused.

“I have somewhere to go, I got a plan, it’s okay, everything will be fine, I promise” 

You believed he believed it… but there were 1000 things in your head right now. First, if you leave and Joel finds you… he might actually kill you, but the things he would do to you if he didn’t were much worse. Secondly, “He’ll kill you, Zach.”

“He won’t catch-”

“He won’t let me go! He won’t drop it! He will hunt me down as long as it takes and skin you alive like the last man!” 

You could see the fear in his eyes as he hushed you, grabbing your arm. “Shut up, or he’ll kill us both! Just, god, just trust me. No one will notice until morning, we’ll be hours ahead.”

You stayed firmly in place… there was the third reason you wanted to stay… the fact you’d grown comfortable here, the fact you were, despite your better judgment, falling in love with both of the men here and- wait, where was Lorenzo? “I can’t, Zach. You don’t know what he’s capable of”

Rolling his eyes like only a brother would, he tugged you. “Of course I-”

You pull down your pants just enough on the side, revealing the brand. “He did this the last time I tried to leave, fucked me on the table in front of all the other men, then left me there for them to all rape!” You didn’t tell him that Tommy had saved you, that Tommy had tucked you in and how tenderly Joel had treated you the next day, how both had bandaged you up, cared for you, even though you had been so bad. “It’s calmed down, he doesn’t hurt me, I have more freedom… I don’t want to throw this away”

Zach was panged, desperate, eyes watering as he tried to take you away from what you knew he thought of as your hell, but was truly where you had felt most at home since your mothers death. “I won’t let him hurt you again, I’ll protect you.”

“Like you protected me against dad?” It came out fast than you’d expected, no chance to block it… it wasn’t fair, you couldn’t and didn’t blame Zach for that but it was true. Joel saved you, cared for you, Joel killed men that hurt you… Joel wasn’t who you needed to be protected from, Joel was the one who protected you. You yank your hand away from your crying brother. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that, I don’t blame you… but I’m staying”

He opened his mouth to argue, but all that came out was a desperate 'please'. You shake your head. You belonged with the Millers now. “You change your mind, you find a way to escape, I’ll be at the ranch, and I swear to god I will keep you safe this time.”

Now you were crying too as you went to hug him. “Thank you, Zach” Alone in the kitchen, you back up against the fridge, sink down, and cry, cry, cry… keep crying until Lorenzo appeared in the doorway

“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?”

 Of course. Of course you didn’t avoid the shitshow. “Okay so you saw that. You gonna tell Joel, rank up, get whatever it is you want.” You sniffle as he leans against the doorway, crossing his arms. 

“No, I already got my payment for this shitshow“ You look up at him, wet and puffy eyes telling him to go on. “He paid me to give everyone food poisoning so you guys could leave, and you fucking wasted it. No skin off my back, but Jesus. You know, pre-outbreak, we had a word for girls like you, who stayed with men who beat them”

“Joel doesn’t-”

“You wanna know what that word is?”

You sigh. “Wha-”

“Dumb bitches”

Lorenzo was pissing you the fuck off, but there was something else that was pushing your repressed anger up… You stand, shoving Lorenzo aside and storm down the hall to Tommy’s room, bursting in.

He smiled lazily up at you as you close the door. “Hey honey, the tea helped-”

“You fucking knew” Pointing dramatically at his sick figure on the bed, you watch the confusion on his face. “What? What did I know?”

“That my brother is alive, asshole!”

As he slowly realizes whats happening, he forces himself to sit up, despite the dizziness and nausea, his hand open palmed and out towards you. “Okay, just relax, tell me what happ-”

You were angrier that perhaps you had a right to be, feeling betrayed and hurt by the man you had trusted, however foolishly. “Don’t use your ‘Calm down Joel’ voice on me! You knew my brother was alive and you didn’t tell me!”

He almost argues. He almost says no, no I didn’t know, this is news to me too… but you’ve already figured it out. “If you knew he was alive, you’d try to leave again, and you’d get caught, and God knows what he’ll do to you if you run away” his eyes were pleading with you to understand, but he was not asking for forgiveness… you knew he’d do it again.

You step closer. “How many times did you hold me while I cried, missing him, wanting him-”

“That’s just it!” He stands now, towering over you, but you know him better than to think it’s a threat, so you don’t back away and simply look up at him, glaring. “You wanted to be with him, and I couldn’t let that happen”

“So you kept me away from my family, because you’d miss me?”

“No it’s because you’d be dead!”

You shake your head, not quite believing his motivations… “I don’t think so. I think you want to stay because you just want me here so you can play knight in shining armor”

Wide-eyed and hurt, he looks down at you. “No, that’s not it-”

In your anger, you shove him; it doesn’t go very far considering his sturdy stance and strong shoulders, but the action caused what you wanted it to. It hurt his feelings. “Fuck you, Tommy”

Tommy put his hands on your shoulders, not backing down despite the wave of nausea threatening him. “Honey, I swear to you, I’m just trying to help, all I wanted to do this whole time was help you.”

Tears welled up in your eyes, but you couldn’t pull away from his touch yet; you never could. “Fuck. You!”

Frustration boiled over before the vomit did. “What is the big deal! Joel knew too!” At that, he gently pushed you back as he dropped to his knees, violently throwing up in his trash can, his whole body wracked into heaves. He did the hard part for you; you weren't sure if you were strong enough to disengage his touch.

You watch him, wanting so badly to kneel by his side, to rub his back and keep his hair out of the puke as you had done all day today… but you couldn’t. You need to have something, something, for your anger to hold onto, even if it was Tommy, even if it was just for a night. “You are the one I was supposed to trust!” You scream, not caring who heard you. “I was supposed to be able to believe in you, but you held me as I screamed, and cried and you didn’t tell me! Fuck! You!” Your face was soaked as you screamed, screamed at Tommy for every rape, every violation, every beating and branding that he had only every tried to save you from, and took it out on him for one small thing that he actually did. Because he was Tommy, because he was supposed to be different. 

And because he was Tommy, he let you. 

You slammed the door when you left. 

Lorenzo was in the hall, watching you with crossed arms as you left Tommy for Joel’s room, muttering again about you being a dumb bitch, but you don't care.

Joel’s room was dark; he didn’t open his eyes, and for a moment you thought he was asleep and began to retreat away when he spoke. 

“Come on in, little one”

You slink through the door, closing it behind you. “Can I sleep here tonight?”

He opened his eyes at that. Today was the first day you had even seen his room, did he even want you in it? You watched him consider, before opening up his blanket for you. With a smile, you crawl in, and he tightly wraps you up in the blanket and his arms where you were growing more and more comfortable.

“Everything okay? I heard yell’n. Couldn’t tell if I was dream’n or not.” He asked, sleepily, nestling his face into your neck.

You considered the options… best to not lie completely. Safe and secure in Joel, despite the chaos of today, you began to relax in him. “Yeah, Tommy just pissed me off, that's all” 

You could feel Joel smile against your skin.

****************

Not nearly as high drama as the last few by next week we're back!!!

I've seen a few of you saying you have theories and i want you to know I WANNA HERE ALL YOU'RE THEORIES!!!! Drop them in my ask box so i can share them with the class and everyone csn share their thoughts!

Also as I stated above, I GOT A PLAYLIST GOING! if you have a song you think matches, comment or send in an ask and ill add it if i think t fits!

Also, i've moved to 10 chapters + the alt ending for the series! I'd love to here all thoughts and theories you have <3

Thank you alllllll for the reblogs and all the kind words!!!! It really means the world to me

LMK if you'd like to join the tag list!

@my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @howaboutcastiel @tidlewav3 @bunnnyy-dummy @slutfortimotheechalamet @foggymoonbanana @dinsbaby @miraclesabound @jenna-ortega @primosworld @marclovers @threeheadedlamb @secretwriterpp @the-fox-den

@bitchyglitterfox @0bsessedwithfictionalcharacters @alloftheboysivelovedbefore @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog @lunar-ghoulie

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Hi! First, I want to say I love your theories! Each one is so compelling to read♡♡♡

Second, I was thinking about holidays breaks at Hogwarts and it lead to "wait, is there some sort of magic 'religion' or have I read too many fics?"

Like, they celebrate Halloween and Weasleys celebrate Christmas, but isn't it a contradiction? I know Halloween has celtic roots, but as it is today, it's "All Hallows' Eve", a christian celebration like Christmas. And both the Catholic and the Protestant Church weren't the ones involved in witches' trials? Shouldn't they avoid each other like plague as a general rule?

Maybe they have some pagan rituals and festivals, like the eight sabbat, and they call it Halloween at Hogwarts instead of Samhain due to muggle influence over time?

I don't know, it's just a thought, but it'd be interesting to see your opinion on it

Thank you so much! 💓

Honestly, I was thinking about this a lot, like, wizards and religion, particularly Christianity. And in the books pure-blood wizards like Ron, Neville and Hagrid use the word "hell" as a swear:

“Oh, she was perfect, obviously,” said Ron, before Hermione could answer. “Perfect deliberation, divination, and desperation or whatever the hell it is — we all went for a quick drink in the

(Ron in HBP)

“I’ll join you when hell freezes over,” said Neville

(Neville in DH)

So their language has borrowed terminology from muggle Christianity. They also celebrate Christmas and Halloween at Hogwarts, as you mentioned, in addition to celebrating Easter as they have an Ester break at Hogwarts. So it appears wizards in the UK are Christian.

If we look at the Dumbledore's funeral:

A little tufty-haired man in plain black robes had got to his feet and stood now in front of Dumbledore’s body. Harry could not hear what he was saying. Odd words floated back to them over the hundreds of heads. “Nobility of spirit” . . . “intellectual contribution” . . . “greatness of heart” . . . It did not mean very much. It had little to do with Dumbledore as Harry had known him.

(HBP, 643-644)

The little man in black had stopped speaking at last and resumed his seat. Harry waited for somebody else to get to their feet; he expected speeches, probably from the Minister, but nobody moved. Then several people screamed. Bright, white flames had erupted around Dumbledore’s body and the table upon which it lay: Higher and higher they rose, obscuring the body. White smoke spiraled into the air and made strange shapes: Harry thought, for one heart-stopping moment, that he saw a phoenix fly joyfully into the blue, but next second the fire had vanished. In its place was a white marble tomb, encasing Dumbledore’s body and the table on which he had rested. There were a few more cries of shock as a shower of arrows soared through the air, but they fell far short of the crowd. It was, Harry knew, the centaurs’ tribute

(HBP, 645-646)

We see a wizard who acts as a priest, and we see speeches for the deceased are allowed along with other tributes. We also know most wizards (like James and Lily) are buried in regular muggle Christian graveyards. They are buried in tombs or coffins like Christians. This all leads to wizarding funerals in Britain being like any muggle funeral in Britain with a bit of a magical flare on occasion.

The fire engulfing Dumbledore's tomb is a surprise to the audience because it's Fawkes doing it and not a wizard customer. The same goes for the Centaurs' arrows (the Centaurs seem to have a different religion).

Then, we also see a wizarding wedding with Bill and Fleur, which looks like any Christian wedding:

A great collective sigh issued from the assembled witches and wizards as Monsieur Delacour and Fleur came walking up the aisle, Fleur gliding, Monsieur Delacour bouncing and beaming. Fleur was wearing a very simple white dresses and seemed to be emitting a strong, silvery glow ... “Ladies and gentlemen,” said a slightly singsong voice, and with a slight shock, Harry saw the same small, tufty-haired wizard who had presided at Dumbledore’s funeral, now standing in front of bill and Fleur. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls . . . ” ... “Do you, William Arthur, take Fleur Isabelle. . . . ?”

(DH, 127-128)

Bill has a best man, Fluer goes down the aisle with her father, wearing a white dress and she has two bridesmaids. The wedding is officiated by the same wizard priest from Dumbledore's funeral. And they have the regular "I dos".

Sure there is some magical spectacle afterward, but it's after the ceremony and just that — a spectacle and not part of the proceedings of the wedding.

So, overall it seems like wizards in the UK have a variety of Christianity (most likely most are Protestants (Anglican) due to the whole history of Christianity reform in Britain but I'm not going into that). And it makes sense too, because they lived very close to the muggles (same villages and much more intermarriages) up until 1692 when the Statue of Secrecy was officially established. Even the Malfoy family had close business ties with muggles:

Historically, the Malfoys drew a sharp distinction between poor Muggles and those with wealth and authority. Until the imposition of the Statute of Secrecy in 1692, the Malfoy family was active within high-born Muggle circles, and it is said that their fervent opposition to the imposition of the Statute was due, in part, to the fact that they would have to withdraw from this enjoyable sphere of social life. Though hotly denied by subsequent generations, there is ample evidence to suggest that the first Lucius Malfoy was an unsuccessful aspirant to the hand of Elizabeth I, and some wizarding historians allege that the Queen’s subsequent opposition to marriage was due to a jinx placed upon her by the thwarted Malfoy.

(From Pottermore)

By 1692, Christianity was the main religion in the UK. It stands to reason it'll be the most common religion among the British wizards because of how closely they interacted with the muggles back then; from business to marriage even among supposedly pure-blood families like the Malfoys.

As such, I assume wizarding religion varies just like muggle religion, where different magical cultures would have different religions depending on where they are in the world and the common muggle religion in the area. It doesn't really seem there is a proper "magical religion". I think there were just a lot of influences going back and forth. As you mentioned, Halloween has Celtic roots and probably had some magical roots in the HP universe. The word "hell" originates in Norse and Norse mythology but traveled into English and Christianity. Catholicism especially is very influenced by Roman Paganism, etc. Religions are influenced by each other and no one exists in a vacuum, so it makes sense wizards would just practice the common religion where they are with perhaps some magical embellishments (as we see in the wedding). Similarly, the muggle religions were probably influenced by magic and some muggle religious rituals and ceremonies probably have their roots in magic and wizardry that the muggle world has forgotten about.

As for the witch trials in Europe, in the real world, the church didn't function or involve itself in witch trials until the 15th century. During the Medieval Era, the church defined believing in witchcraft as heresy since you believe in magic that doesn't come from god. Attacks on supposed witches went actively against church doctrine at the time.

During the 14th century, witch trials became more common in France, England, and Germany, but still not a full-on frenzy. The trials then weren't exactly witch trials either as the accusations were of diabolism, heresy, and nocturnal orgies, not exactly witchcraft. Witchcraft accusations grew more common towards the end of the century and in the 15th century, we actually start seeing more of the typical witch trials whose popularity grew with the publication of Malleus Maleficarum in 1486. This book redefined how to recognize a witch and fueled the already growing unrest. This led to more witch accusations as paranoia regarding witchcraft grew.

Only afterward do we see the church outright getting involved in witchcraft and the association of witchcraft and devil worship. This led to the peak of witch trials in Europe between 1560–1630. Even during these trials, many figures in the church (both Catholics and protestants) have cast doubts over the trials and their legality and outright oppose them. The frenzy of the witch trials in the 15th century also lines nicely with the Statue of Secrecy that was drafted a few decades later when the trials were winding down.

The point of all this is that the witch trials weren't led by the church in many places and for most of the trials' history it was considered heresy to even believe in witches by the church. So, I don't think the wizarding world would have an issue with Christianity over the witch trials, but an issue with muggles, which is actually what we see in the books. Also, whole communities don't tend to change their religion overnight, if they were Christian before the witch trials, they'd likely stay Christian after them.

I think a magical religion can be fun to explore in fic, but in the books, they are clearly Christian with a magical coat of paint (at least in Britain).

(There are probably a few British wizards who aren't Christian, just like in Muggle Britain. I personally headcanon Anthony Goldstein is Jewish since his last name is very Jewish)

[lets-try-some-writing]

The Grim Dark Archives: Statement #005 Named Cybertronians

[Statement taken from [Redacted] on [Redacted: Sensitive data] regarding known Cybertronians. They were asked to elaborate on the Cybertronians that have been recorded as being present on Earth after the alien known as Cliffjumper was killed in action. We know very little about the event, but supposedly Cliffjumper was deployed to search for Decepticon activity.

According to the report given to us by Optimus Prime, Cliffjumper found where Decepticon agents were mining energon and promptly initiated combat. This resulted in his capture by the Decepticons, and although a corpse has yet to be recovered, the Autobots reported that his vitals flatlined.

High command saw fit to use [Redacted]'s knowledge to try and gain an understanding of just how many aliens we could possibly be dealing with in the near future. Thankfully [Redacted] was more than willing to speak on the matter and has already expressed an interest on elaborating more on certain individuals.

Statement begins.]

══════════════════

Oh this is the kind of question I will gladly answer. Collecting data on people, organizations, a various beliefs is my specialty. Now, since you are already familiar with the Autobots, I shall begin with them.

Let's start with the two wheeler. Her designation is Arcee, as you know. She is of a small sub-class of Cybertronians known as 'femmes' and well known for her abilities. Let me warn you now, femmes are some of the most terrifying Cybertronians out there, and not for the reason you may think. They may be small and seem feminine to you organics, but our femmes are built with strange and unique abilities alongside their differing processing methods. I will go more in depth regarding Cybertronian femmes a bit later. For now, all you need to know is that they latch onto the mentally or physically weak amongst our kind. And at that point, they claim the mech in question and slowly prepare to use their ability and... improve them.

Don't question it right now. There will be time for explanations later. For now, we are doing an overview aren't we? Anyway, her records do not go back to before the war, but personal investigation leads me to believe that she likely worked for the High Council in some capacity. She has ties to the Primacy but largely sticks with the Prime because he likes having a femme around to throw at enemies. Femmes are vicious creatures. Honestly considering how much Arcee liked him, Cliffjumper was a dead mech walking anyway. He's lucky to have been killed by the enemy rather than face the fate of those chosen by femmes. I've been the subject of a femme's interest once. I barely made it out alive. Thank Primus the Archives took me before she did.

Cliffjumper is rather irrelevant now, but I will go over him anyway in case he somehow manages to walk off whatever the Decepticons did to him. He actually doesn't have a ton on his record. He was a regular recruit, one recorded signing on sometime around the height of the war when factions had to be picked. There was nothing out of the ordinary about him, and in fact, he fell below average strength levels for most soldiers. That is probably what got Arcee interested in him. Poor mech came from one of the outer cities and probably didn't know what in the pits a femme even was. Its unfortunate that he's dead, but I honestly do think it was likely in his best interest. He would have dealt with so much suffering otherwise.

May he rest at peace as one with the Allspark.

Next up is Bulkhead. You know? The one who beat me into scrap? Don't play stupid. I am no fool. I am well aware you saw that footage. We will be discussing that later. Now about him, he is a Wrecker. His augmentations are specifically made by Wreckers for Wreckers and he will die for the organization. All those who join the Wreckers are bound to them forever. There simply is no escape once the augmentations are finished. Most don't want to leave, and Bulkhead falls into that category. I can go into more depth about the Wreckers and their... beliefs, a bit later. At the moment, let it be known that he does not give a flying frag about you squishies. He follows the creed of his kind and thankfully for all of you, that creed does not permit unnecessary damage to native lifeforms of foreign worlds. Last I checked, he serves the Prime because that is part of his duty and Prime gave him the means to deal with a grudge of his. He has a personal investment here on Earth because he heard that there was a rouge Wrecker here somewhere.

No I will not elaborate right now. You lot need to be paying close attention to what comes next, so I will not linger on topics at the moment.

Ratchet is the resident medic. I believe I have expressed my fears before, but seriously, medics are DANGEROUS. I cannot emphasize that enough. The insane fraggers hyperfocus on one field and one faction and they stick to it like glue. They cling to their alliances and progeny like a parasite and will fight and even maim one another over patients. Ratchet is one of the best and worst medics I have ever encountered. His genius is legendary and he is one of the few who have ever been able to absorb all medical knowledge without focusing too hard on any particular field or falling to medical madness. Yes that is a real issue amongst my kind.

He also is not quite as insane as the others because of his upbringing out in the middle of nowhere during the age before the Quintessons came. But with that said, his motives are dubious at best. He is loyal to the Prime alone and would gladly frag over anyone who is not a medic or an Autobot. He also is not fond of you fleshies, but he does his job and should probably not be too bad so long as you don't catch his interest. Honestly getting the interest of any of my kind is a bad idea, so I suggest just not doing that. Medics in particular have one pit of a subculture that makes them a pain in the aft to understand, even for the average Cybertronian.

Now, moving on from the mad medic, Bumblebee is the team scout, and for good reason. He is totally unaugmented. He has no attachments whatsoever. No commlink, no programming, no battle codes, no inbuilt weapons, no specializations, nothing at all. He is practically a civilian and has to work himself half to death just to keep up with the rest of our kind who get augments nearly the moment they are old enough to handle them. If you are looking for the safest Autobot, you will find it in him. He is still one of my kind, but possess a great ability to empathize, or at least offer aid without expecting something in return. He never got any alteration programming, which may explain his more reasonable disposition. But of course, there is a reason for that.

I will not go into detail right now, but Bumblebee is kept from receiving augments on purpose. It is easier for mecha without augments to receive the Matrix of leadership and live reasonable lives under its control. Optimus is by no means loving, but he cares for what he sees as his. Bumblebee is being trained to be physically stronger than the others and mentally hardened so that he can bear the burden should Optimus fall. Either that, or he is being prepared to carry the weight of our people's history if another is found more suitable. The Prime is currently a walking databank for all of Cybertronian knowledge. One way or another, Bumblebee will carry the weight of one station, be it that of the Archive or the Matrix. He cannot escape, but it does not seem like he wishes to. He is loyal to his Sire and to the cause after all.

As for Optimus Prime himself? He is a whole series of statements on his own. To give you the thousand mile high overview, he was originally a dock worker. He was normal, much like Bumblebee. He had the attention of a femme, but he seemed to have a reasonable lifespan on him regardless of that fact. Then the Archive took him, and there he became one of theirs. He was one of the many sets of optics and frames which belonged to the Archive. And yet, he took interest in Megatronus, the leader of the Decepticons. Orion Pax, as was his name at the time, had his reasons for being involved. However through a series of accidents, he found himself being prepped for war. He was offered as a sacrifice, and the last resort relic that is the Matrix of Leadership was given to him. Since then he has led the war and done everything in his power to take what he sees as his.

He is a master at manipulation and adaptation. He can and will find information on every subject and devour it like a starving mech. If he finds you interesting, he will tear you apart to gain every last fact and iota of information. There is no escape from him, and until he gets what he wants, he will not allow anyone to stand in his way. His goals are complex, and even I do not fully understand. But he fights all the same and will kill you regardless. Be wary of him. He is by far the most dangerous simply because he has lived so long.

Primes do not last longer than a few millennia. And yet Optimus has lived for over four million years. That should be a sign that he's clever and has ways to bypass what we have always assumed was a death sentence.

For the Decepticons, there have only been three confirmed units and one unconfirmed thus far. I will explain any others as they become relevant. To begin, there is Starscream, the Lord of Vos. He is a seeker, a subsection of flight class Cybertronians that do not fall in line with normal standards. Seekers were complete isolationists before the war, even going so far as to have their own ever moving city, language, and culture. They do not use modern technology, they do not worship Primus, and their rituals are savage even by Cybertronian standards. I will go into more depth on them later, but for the time being, just know that Starscream being the Lord of Vos essentially puts him in the position of Shaman for his kind. He is a follower of nature and seeks to keep things in balance while remaining faithful to his culture. Due to how little is known about Vosian culture and Seekers as a whole, he is unpredictable. His motives are almost entirely impossible to figure out and he will fight in the way of the ancients. By all accounts the Seekers should have been wiped out eons ago, but their methods are... surprisingly effective.

Cunning and strange, Starscream's methods are unorthodox and his loyalty is all but void. He serves whatever it is he worships, his people, and himself. That is all. He has no mortals or ethics even amongst our rather loose ones. The only benefit you humans will find in his nature is that he is not fond of killing without reason and likely will leave you alone if you don't bother him. But of course he is a spontaneous mech and could just as easily turn up in the dead of night and slaughter you all will no explanation. Leave him be, that is my suggestion.

Soundwave is Megatron's second in command, at least behind the scenes. He joined up with the Decepticons long before they were official and knows more than I care to bother explaining. Not a spark actually knows what he is, but him and others like him, such. as the Autobot Blaster, have an ability that gives them an edge. He is able to house symbiotes, beings that I have no real clue where they come from. Soundwave and those like him are recorded appearing out of the blue randomly only to then latch onto mecha of interest in a manner like femmes. Those mecha proceed to live out their lives normally, but usually just before death, Soundwave and his kind will drag them off never to be seen again. Within a few vorns, a new symbiote can be noted running around. I hypothesize that whatever is done to the dying plays a role in the creation of symbiotes, but I do not have enough information. Soundwave serves Megatron, that is what matters.

He can get into just about anything and very little is known about him as a whole. No known motives, no known origin, no known anything really. He is a stranger who appeared in the pits alongside Megatron and simply never went away. Keep clear of him if you can. He is a mech that even the average Cybertronian tries to steer away from.

Vehicons are clone soldiers that might as well be civilians with toy blasters attached to them. They are normal mecha who are held together by some grand communication array that I am not familiar with. They are mass produced, hold very little value, and oftentimes do not have much personality aside from the one that they all share. They work without question and die in droves before being promptly replaced. Honestly your biggest concern is possibly being stepped on. The Vehicons are untrained newsparks at worst and competent but low level ground units at best. Until they develop more as individuals, they are not too great a threat save for when they are sent out in waves.

Lastly there is Megatron, currently MIA Lord of the Decepticons. He came from the mines of Kaon and somehow managed to work past the slave coding installed in him long enough to simply wander out of the pits. He was a scumbag in the redlight district for a while before spontaneously ending up in the pits as a Gladiator. There he gained a following and did his best to fight for his cause before ultimately turning to war to make things more faster. This backfired horribly if you can't tell. Now he is a mech who seems lost more often than not. He has been noted having patchy memory, more so after every interaction with Optimus Prime. He is only as cruel as was normal in the redlight district and his most concerning trait is his astounding lack of care for anything orderly or organic. He hates programing or augmentation and only tolerates it in his soldiers to win. Augments enrage him to such an extent that he has been noted acting out of normal parameters in response to heavily altered individuals. He wants chaos, that is what you need to know.

If he thinks it would further his ends, he would gladly wipe this planet off the map. However he does nothing without reason, and so unless you garner his attention, you should be fine. Stay away from him, don't mention anything related to the Archive or the Matrix, and all should be well... for the most part.

I can tell you more later, but for now, you best keep your organic optics on the happenings going on. If Cliffjumper is dead, it means there is a very real chance things are going to spiral and do so fast.

══════════════════

[Statement end.

The timestamps have been removed from these reports in response to [Redacted]'s information on the Cybertronian known as Soundwave. What information we have is critical for our survival, and we simply cannot risk it being destroyed even if the alien able to do so with ease likely won't ever bother to damage our files.

We expect [Redacted] to be giving us much more data soon, especially since they have begun to warm up to me and my fellow agents since their repairs were completed. They have also requested to be referred to by masculine pronouns, perhaps as a sign of trust? Whatever the case, we are making progress. Hopefully we will have a reasonable way to fight back against the aliens soon, at least if their guns settle on us.

Agent Witwicky signing off.

Recording ends.]

[the-meme-monarch]

ok my genuine thoughts on uty it was very cool and fun ! i love all the animations!! I’m not good at verbalizing Things I Like About Things so this post is kinda just nitpicks. but overall i really like the game ! don’t get it twisted!

I appreciate that every route has new information to offer but something About exactly that feels off. in ut no mercy there’s not really any important story information you’re Missing. in pacifist dalv mentions he thought you were a specter haunting him, I didn’t learn until watching a no mercy run that he was talking about how he witnessed the integrity soul’s murder. I don’t think we learn about their murder at all Except in no mercy. a lot of people don’t Like playing ut’s no mercy and they’re not missing anything by not doing so, so to put an important bit of information like that in a route I didn’t even want to watch originally WHILE I UNDERSTAND it’s a free fangame and they want you to Play It, it felt. Strange. like if you only play pacifist there’s just a lot of information you’re missing and things you don’t get answered. like finding out that flowey was the reason you fell through the floor only in neutral. pacifist actually feels kinda incomplete

on that note i LOVE how the game focuses on its own character and areas, the areas they Do reuse from ut being different Parts of those areas. i love how they make the underground feel bigger by utilizing the fucking Cityscape Skylines of new home and the ruins that you see in ut. but i didn’t like how little time you spend with toriel and how she never gets closure on What Happened To Clover after falling through the floor. her speech in ut to frisk about “they come, they leave, they die” didn’t feel Reinforced with clover, they didn’t even make it to toriels actual House. the collection of shoes in varying sizes doesn’t include theirs. clover didn’t really leave any tangible mark on her At All. i was anticipating clover to talk to her about the missing poster they’d been holding. and also i would’ve liked to have seen asgore in pacifist, not fighting him ofc, but maybe just walking around, in ut they mention he used to do that, maybe your friends could try to keep him from seeing you. i was hoping clover would at least Have Seen the guy they would end up surrendering their soul To

also i know it could’ve come across Bad and reductive bc axis is a robot but i think it would’ve been funny for clover and ceroba to present axis The Trashcan Parter With A Bow and he goes “NOT INTERESTED” that after the fight where they try again he goes “HEY MAN. IM AROMANTIC” source: im aromantic. anyway axis was maybe the funniest part of the game he made me outwardly laugh like two or three times

[strawberry-spectre]

Kieran Valentine Analysis

I love Valentine so damn much because although everything we know abt him is so limited he's still such an interesting character with so much depth. (buckle in cuz this a long one-) (￣y▽,￣)╭

The way he kept stealing love because he thought that's what he was suppose to do caused by his struggle between his sense of morality and what he felt compelled to do is always so interesting to me. Even more so since the reasons for this type of struggle could be caused by a feeling of dissatisfaction with his own life. It makes sense because in his diary, esp May 3rd, it implies that the only reason he was stealing love was to fit in and his lack of identity as an emotional vampire. I find it interesting however, that he wrote 'I thought that's what emotional vampires were supposed to do', does that mean he came to that conclusion himself or was he influenced by other, more expeirenced vampires? Maybe he saw how some of the blood drinking vampires took as much blood from their victims as they wished without feeling guilty about it and applied that to his situation? Maybe he wasn't shown any better way so he took what he could and ran with it? Another thing is how he wrote 'But I was just a real pain in the fang to everyone and made a fool of myself'. While it obviously is talking about the Drac 1600th event I wonder if he has also felt this way before that? Like 400, 600, even 1000 years ago? Also, if he knows internally, all along that what he was doing was wrong, how did he feel when he saw that shelf of broken heart trophy collection? In the movie he was pretty smug about it but what if it's another facade?

This is a pretty far fetched theory but what if those 3 gigachad clouds are the physical embodiments of Valentine's thoughts and expectations he has for himself? I mean some of the symbolisms that clouds carry are:

burdens

secrets (like an invisible message)

emotions (how fitting-)

difficult times

Of course clouds also have positive symbolisms like transition, which is kinda funny because once he started to realise what he was doing, and chose to change his ways, those clouds also disappeared. And if those clouds are the embodiments of his expectations then it makes sense why they always follow Valentine around, always says something that compliments what Val says, and why Val always seems to be putting on a performance when they're around (its a subtle difference but it's there).

And now Valentine is healing from all of that, I really love how he runs into trouble along the way but manages to fix it because it's so realistic and I love it sm. I also love how even after he realises what love really is, makes atrempts to better himself, make it up to the people he's hurt and meet a new friend (Spelldon), he still has those days where he's depressed (I was tempted to stay in my room today and treat myself to a monstrous blue funk), but he still chooses to make the decision of walking aimlessly instead of staying in his room. Like bros better than I could ever be and it shows how the path to healing isnt just 'boom I'm happy I'm fine' but rocky and filled with ups and downs.

When he met Whisp, he tried to use his wishes to solve his problems for him but it didn't work. Because you can't just fix all your problems and pretend like it never happened, you have to accept it and try to be better. Just a little analysis on this one sentence ''I've never had a friend like her, and once my last wish is granted, the lantern will move on, and I will probably never see her again''. It feels strangely depressing in a way that I can't explain, esp the 'the lantern will move on, and I will probably never see her again'. Is this implying that Valentine was afraid that Whisp would forget him? Or maybe that he sees Whisp as better than him and will succeed in becoming a better monster while he sees his attempts as futile? I think that Valentine was afraid that Whisp was simply doing her job and didn't see him as a friend (even tho thats not true), so could this be a sign that he's still struggling with insecurity with his self-worth? I mean it's only been like 3 months but still-

Like I think the reason why I love him sm is because he's such a deep character with the 5 bits of info we got on him and I see so much of myself in him :,)) I honestly don't think any of this was planned by the MH team and it was a 'oh haha it fits' thing but still (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)(;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`) And I love how Valentine ends his diary with "Yes, Mother, I'm talking to myself down here." like bro canonically talks to himself he's so me (✿◕‿◕✿)

watch this flop lmao

[soakedmilkgt]

Diana short story pt.2

The city

First part

Word count: 1,424

_________________________________________

“I expected this to be less boring.” groaned Diana. the fairy had been pestering her companion for a few hours, but could he even blame her?

She wouldn't have been so insistent in going if she had known how dreadfully slow it would be “Yeah, it's almost as if I hadn't considered you before getting ready to leave.” Luke was still a bit salty regarding the fairy’s intrusion into his trip, “But, didn't you bring a book or something?” Luke had a big collection of books in his place, but none of them really interested Diana, though she was so bored that she would do anything to distract herself “I'm driving, I can't read,” he replied “but I have an idea of something you might like.” Diana watched as they approached a gigantic building with metal columns and an incredibly tall ceiling but no walls, the building was mostly empty except for some weird machines and a few humans wearing uniform, seeing so many humans was such a strange experience for her.

She figured it was a good time to put on her ring and watched the humans loaded some rubber tubes into a hole in Luke's truck “What are they doing?” Luke was confused by the question, he was a little surprised at realizing Diana had truly never seen human society “Uh, it's gas so the car has energy” even if he couldn't see her he saw tiny hand prints in the glass of the window, it was a little cute seeing someone so otherwise loud just admire the wonder of this new place “Well, you can wait in the car while I get something from the seven eleven” the fairy didn't respond nor asked what was a seven eleven, even though she had absolutely no idea,she just kept sinking in this strange new environment, watching people walk and the different shapes and sizes of their vehicles, and also the weird emptiness of this busy place, there were no trees or animals, she couldn't hear the wind blowing or the leaves moving.

“Hey” The fairy let out a tiny squeak of surprise, much to the human’s amusement “I bought snacks” she watched as he got into the car with a big cup with a fluorescent colored drink. “I got you a slushy.” He explained while signaling to the big cup.

Diana took out her ring and stored it in her bag, excited to try this new stuff before realizing a small detail “How am I supposed to drink from this straw? It's thicker than my arm.” Diana asked, then Luke pulled out a smaller straw and a tiny plastic cup, and served her with that fluorescent ice drink.

“alright!” The fairy snached the tiny cup, (though it was still about as big as her) and started drinking the slushy “it feels,” she searched for a word to describe the strange sensation “like spicy? But not really, I mean like it has spicy air in it and it burns my throat but it feels, good?”

“Glad you like it,” Luke watched as she was about to indulge in her massive beverage and put his finger in her forehead, stopping her from having more “you shouldn't drink too fast though.”

“Fuck you, I do what I want, just you wait and see, I'll drink this faster than you have ever seen anyone–” Luke put his finger over her mouth “alright, alright,” he lifted his finger “but, shut up”

“Asshole” Diana started sipping her drink before stopping and groaning “my head hurts like hell, what does this have?” Luke laughed “it just happens when you drink something cold too fast, a shame no one warned you.”

Diana wobbled on the passenger seat “I need to lie down, I was already kinda dizzy but this is making it worse” she fluttered up to Luke’s scarff “are you cold?” He asked, “Do you want the scarf?” Then Diana comfortably sat on Luke's shoulder snuggling between his flannel and his scarf “nah, you're like a giant heater."

Luke didn't protest, he was kind of flattered that she trusted him enough to do that, Diana no longer spoke, The carpenter stiffened in order to not disturb the sleeping fairy as he heard her little snores, and looked into the road ahead.

_______

“Hey” Luke gently poked Diana's back “wake up sleepyhead” She slowly got up and positioned herself to be sitting on Luke's shoulder “what” her voice was hoarse “we’ve reached our destiny” The fairy stood up “wait” Luke pushed her down “do your invisibility thing”

“Oh, right” Diana put on her ring and sat on Luke’s head “wow this place is so…rectangular” she sounded disappointed "you don't sound precicely amazed” of all the possible reactions Luke didn't expect her to react disappointingly “it's just, I guess I expected something more like the fairy colonies, everything is organic and unique, there are plants everywhere, I didn't expect to–” this was a getting a little too real now Luke didn't need to know about the colonies, she herself didn't want to think about her home, or how much she missed it, “to what?”

“Nothing important, this is just different from anything I've ever seen” Diana avoided giving a real answer, “It's cool though” Luke gave a sigh of relief “I can't leave you here in the car so you will get to see the amazing world of the supermarket, the we'll get to the fun stuff” Dianas eyes quickly moved between the different building some talk and some short, excitement began to bubble inside her “Alright” Diana was glad Luke couldn't see her right now.

Luke spent a few hours showing her different places in the city, he took her to a park, mall, previously mentioned supermarket and they got dinner from a fast food restaurant. when it was getting dark they got back on the truck, “so what do you think?” Diana excitedly fluttered, now visible since it was already dark and there weren't many people around “first of all, I WAS SO FUCKING SICK OF NOT TALKING,” with that out of her system she continued “still, wow you humans have it good, I didn't expect some magicless giants like you to live comfortably, explain how do you make air cold without magic!? I need to take notes or something, and the food!” her happiness was contagious “all the food you give me are veggies and healthy stuff, the food here is much better”

Luke was so happy to see her like that, he could always tell she was happy or excited when she talked very fast like she was right now “Yeah, I don't think someone of your size should eat fast food often”

He drove to the nearest motel

“Tomorrow I need to go to deliver some commissions, it will be quick so you can stay in the car for a while,” Luke parked his truck in the motel’s parking lot “meanwhile we'll be crashing here”

______

Luke got to their room and feel into bed he curled himself into ball and covered himself with the blankets “I didn't think you were that tired” Diana muttered Luke looked at her but didn't respond, instead curled up tighter and closed his eyes.

the fairy wasn't really tired but Luke wouldn't let her go anywhere so she stayed awake for a while on top of the pillow besides Luke, the fairy felt his warm breath ruffle her hair before giving up on sleep, she didn't have much to do, Diana went to the window on the side of the room, the outside wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but she still observed it with amazement, the sky felt empty and dark but the night in the city was still shiny, the lights from buildings illuminated the streets, some people walked through the sidewalks, some cars would pass by. After a while the fairy grew tired.

It was only when she turned around that the disturbing sight of a giant watching her in the dark became visible “how long have you been watching me?” Luke turned to lay on his back “sorry, it's just that your wings, they glow and I couldn't help but take glimpse” Diana now sleepy, layed on Luke's chest and covered herself with the blanket he was using “yeah,” she yawned “fairies glow in the dark” Luke moved sideways and Diana fell right between his chest and is arm, now completely surrounded by her friend she began to drift into sleep “Goodnight Luke.”

_________________________________________

Writing something long is harder than I expected, we are almost getting to the main thing I want to write.

[julietthereaper]

A Not-So-Hollow Christmas

~ A PrinceFox fanfic ~

Author’s Note -

prompt I seen from @jackstheprinceofhearts ! their account is amazing, especially if you are in some desperate need for broken heart content. thank you for posting your wonderful prompt! It was too cute for me to pass up

this IS my first post on tumblr, although this fic will also be posted to my ouabh collection on wattpad (my handle is jennacanread if ur interested!). I haven’t read tbona since the release date so I hope no one’s too out of character?

(obviously) spoilers for tbona | minor uses of swearing | set during the Hollow chapters and briefly after the end of tbona | not canon compliant

Summary -

After discovering Jacks isn’t the biggest fan of Christmas, Evangeline plots to turn him into a festive softy, even if it means making a few extra deals with a Fate.

Evangeline always had a sixth sense, just like how bells did. Although her sixth sense wasn't nearly as helpful as it was for bells. She could sense it when she woke up that morning it was time to start celebrating her favourite holiday of the year.

Christmas.

She squealed giddily as she launched herself out of bed, choosing a pretty Christmas-red dress to get festive, her pink hair blending nicely with the red silk. Evangeline slipped on some gold jewellery to spice it up before heading to the main area in the Hollow.

When Evangeline passed by the dining room, Jacks was already sitting at the table, sipping on a mug of spiced cider. He arched an amused eyebrow at her. "What's got you grinning like a fox?"

Evangeline snickered lightly at his wordplay. "It's Christmas season!"

Jacks amused expression fell. "Oh, of course you're one of those people."

"You don't like Christmas?"

He set his mug down on the table. "It's all awful singing, terrible gifts that no one wants, and distasteful decorations."

Despite Jacks's bahumbug attitude towards the holidays, it did not dampen her mood. In fact, all that rang through her mind was challenge accepted.

Evangeline was going to make Jacks enjoy Christmas, no matter what it took.

She took hold of his cold wrist, tugging him up. "We need a tree."

"We already have some outside."

"A Christmas tree, Jacks. We need to go hunting for a Christmas tree. A big one, to fit in the main room."

"Absolutely not."

Jacks was, unsurprisingly, being difficult. Evangeline had planned for this. "Alright, Prince of Hearts. I'd like to make another deal."

"You haven't even completed your first one." Although his tone was low, his mouth stretched into a grin.

"Think of this like a side quest. What do you want in exchange for a Christmas tree?"

He hooked a finger under her chin, tilting her head back slightly. Her heart picked up in speed. "Another night."

Evangeline's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. But before she could ask, he continued.

"Another night of you being mine."

Evangeline could have sworn her heart was going to explode from her chest.

Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea-

Evangeline hushed that voice in her head. She held out her hand. "Deal."

Jacks shook it. "Haven't you heard the warnings about making more than one deal with a Fate, Little Fox?"

"I'm choosing to ignore those warnings in favour of Christmas spirit."

Jacks bent his head to nibble the shell of her ear. "Bad choice."

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

It was the first time, Evangeline had realized, that she had been a distance from the Hollow since she arrived. They needed to find a Christmas tree farm so they could find the perfect tree.

Evangeline noted how rigid Jacks was beside her, his jaw was set, shoulders tight, and his gaze kept flicking towards her. Was there danger somewhere? Had she said something wrong since they left the Hollow?

Evangeline bumped him with her shoulder. "Why are you so tense?"

Jacks' eyes narrowed at her, blue eyes searching hers analytically. "Do you feel any different?"

"About what?"

His eyes fleeted to the sky a moment as they walked. "In general. Do you want to run away from me, Little Fox?"

Jacks was acting strange, and she didn't understand why. She tried to ease him with a joke. "Not anymore than usual."

He exhaled, breath visible in the chilled air around them. Jacks' lips formed a smile. His shoulders relaxed and his steps came more natural than soldier-reporting-for-duty.

Evangeline liked him a lot when he was happy. She tried not to. Tried telling herself that he was a Fate and it was such a bad idea.

Instead, she grabbed his hand.

Her mouth went dry and her head emptied as she realized what she had done, the only thing she could think about was his hand in hers.

Jacks removed his hand from hers quickly. "What are you doing?"

      His words sent her mind in a panic. Despite the snow falling and how cold it was, hot embarrassment fled to her cheeks, face aflame. "I was just... forget about it."

      Evangeline gnawed on her cheek, keeping her eyes ahead and refusing to look his way.

       That was when rough fingers fiddled with her hand until both of their fingers were intertwined.

       She looked up at Jacks. His eyes softened as he caught her gaze from the corner of his eye.

        Her lips parted into a wide smile that Evangeline couldn't contain. Jacks was holding her hand. There was something so intimate about the action, it shushed all of the warning voices in her head. His palm pressed to hers warmly, their arms lightly swinging in unison.

      Evangeline looked up from their hands to see Miller's Tree Farm.

        "We're here!" Evangeline exclaimed excitedly, pointing at the sign with the hand that wasn't holding Jacks'.

       "Alright, go pick one out." Jacks nodded towards the trees.

       "You have to help, too. It's part of our deal."

       He groaned as Evangeline tugged him forward.

       "Come on, you stubborn prince!" She laughed, using her strength to drag him.

       "Only because I never fail to uphold my ends of deals."

       Evangeline secretly hoped that he actually wanted to pick out a tree with her.

      "We have to find the perfect one, Jacks. It can't be any old tree. It has to be the tree."

      "Are you even hearing yourself right now?"

      "You'll know it when you feel it."

      Reluctantly, Jacks trailed beside her, hands still attached as they walked through the farm. Evangeline spotted a pretty tree around the corner. She dropped his hand to dash towards it.

      Evangeline heard him mutter Dead Saints, Little Fox, under his breath. She inspected the tree when she reached it, pine needles lightly prickling her hands as they moved along it.

      A mischievous thought popped up in her head when she realized it wasn't the right tree. She bent down to scoop up some snow in her hand before Jacks reached her. She stood up abruptly, hiding the snow behind her back.

      "What's wrong with this one?" Jacks looked it up and down.

       "It's too tall. But that one over there..."

       When Jacks turned his back to find the tree she nodded towards, Evangeline lanced the snowball at his fur doublet.

       Jacks' body went still. He slowly turned around, lips parted as an offended demeanour took over his face. He tilted his head at her as Evangeline brought a cold hand up to her face, trying to stifle her giggles. She failed.

      "You better run, pet."

       A deep belly laugh emerged from her mouth as her feet sunk in the snow quickly. It slowed her down, but it didn't stop her from rushing away from him. She dodged trees, weaving in and out of them as she tried to escape Jacks.

      The ice cold hit her back before the hard thump did. Evangeline squealed, her hand reaching at her back, freezing nipping at her hands. Melted snow slowly seeped through her cape as she turned around to see Jacks smirking proudly.

      She quickly formed a snowball in her hands, whipping it at Jacks swiftly. He dodged it with ease before stalking towards her, already hitting her again with another snowball.

     "No, no, no!" Evangeline eventually found a tree to hide behind, gathering her breath. She made another snow ball, waiting for Jacks to come from where he last seen her. But he wasn't in sight.

     Her heart pounded in her ears as her eyes darted around the farm. A flash of blond hair emerged and Evangeline ran towards him. She threw the snowball at his side, but the moment it hit him Jacks tossed one at her in exchange, landing in the middle of her chest.

      Jacks chuckled deeply, she imagined from how quickly her mouth drooped down.

      "I wasn't even ahead of you for five seconds," Evangeline whined, walking towards him in defeat.

     "Say it, Little Fox. I win."

     She sighed. "You..."

      Evangeline smooshed snow into his blonde hair. Jacks' mouth formed an o shape as his eyes squeezed shut, melted snow running down the back of his neck.

     "...Are tied with me," Evangeline finished, flaunting a pearly grin in his face.

     Jacks pulled her in by her waist, Evangeline's heart skipping a beat. "Trust me, pet, there will be another round, and you will lose sourly." One of his hands drifted to her rose gold hair, tangling it in his hand before tilting her head back. “And you’ll be sorry you pulled that stunt with the snow in my hair.”

     His fingers massaged her scalp briefly, a challenge lit up in his eyes. Just as Evangeline began to respond, she peered up at the tree they were standing in front of. "This one, Jacks. It's perfect for the Hollow!"

      He shifted his head to examine it. "You like this one?"

     "It's the right size, it's branches are in lovely condition, and it has a nice memory tied to it."

      "Then this is the one we'll get."

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

     After Jacks used his magic to persuade the owner to ship the tree over to the Hollow for free, Evangeline attempted to persuade Jacks to get decorations for the tree.

     "It's not a Christmas tree without ornaments, it's just a pine tree. You agreed to getting a Christmas tree."

     "I taught you too well," Jacks grumbled, shoulders brushing as they walked into the town square.

      Little sparks ignited everywhere Jacks touched her accidentally.

      Evangeline beamed in success. "Enjoying Christmas yet?"

     "No, still hate it.”

      Town square was decked out in every inch with Christmas decor. Lights glowed everywhere, trees, pine or not, were littered with all different sorts of ornaments, tinsel was strung everywhere, and a small band was playing Christmas tunes beneath a street lantern.

      Evangeline took it all in, joy filling her up from head to toe.

      "The North takes Christmas pretty serious."

      She twirled around, delighting in the festivity. "You're from here. What has Christmas ever done to you to make you such a scrooge?"

     Jacks shook his head. "Why do you like it so much?"

     "Stop deflecting the question."

      "I'm not. I'm giving you the answer."

     Evangeline worried her bottom lip between her teeth as they neared a shop selling decorations. "It gives everyone a reason to be merry. You get to spend time with your family, give and get gifts, amazing food, silly carols, funny, romantic kisses under the mistletoe..."

     Evangeline realized why Jacks did not like Christmas.

      "By all means, Little Fox, keep going. I just love those funny, deadly kisses underneath the mistletoe. It's a romantic experience as women drop dead in front of me." He gave her a wicked twist of his mouth, as if he enjoyed killing women, as if it truly didn't affect him. Jacks didn't even touch on the matter of family.

      But Evangeline noticed his eyes. Her father used to tell her how you found people's truths; in their eyes. She seen the forced smile in them, the hurt hidden behind it.

      "Jacks-"

      "We're at your ornament shop."

      Evangeline exhaled deeply, kicking the snow off her boots on the steps of the store before entering. Jacks did not have the same care about trekking snow in the store.

     "Pick out some ornaments for the tree," Evangeline urged him, searching for pretty ones too.

     "That wasn't part of our deal." Jacks side eyed her.

      She turned so that she was directly facing him. "Please, Jacks."

       He stared at her intently, but she did not break his gaze.

      "I'll make you cookies," Evangeline offered brightly.

      Jacks looked away, groaning. "For Fates' sake."

      She clapped, knowing he gave in to her. "Pick out some pretty ones!"

      As he walked away from her and to a different part of the store, he tossed his head over his shoulder. "They better be good cookies."

      There was an extra pep in Evangeline's step as she walked around the shop, finding some lovely green and red ornaments. She stuffed the box underneath her arm and continued her search.

      Fake icicles caught her eye, and Evangeline was entranced by them. They glittered when light hit them at the right angle, reflecting little rainbows. She tucked those under her arm too.

      After getting a basket and finding a few other ornaments, including a star topper, Jacks returned to her.

      He only said one word. "These."

       Evangeline peeked inside the box, eyes widening at his choice of blue and pink ornaments. There were even little foxes painted on some of them.

      "Aw, these are adorable!"

      Jacks glared at her. "Call them adorable one more time. I dare you."

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

     After popping cookies into the oven at the Hollow,  Evangeline spent the rest of her evening decorating the Christmas tree. The minute she tried to convince Jacks to help her, he scoffed not this time, Little Fox, and strutted away.

      Although he was hiding it well, Evangeline knew Jacks was starting to warm up to Christmas. Even if it was just the smallest hints of it, it was still something. But her challenge wouldn't be completed until Jacks truly enjoyed Christmas.

      After placing the last of the tinsel and ornaments on the tree, it was time for the star.

      Evangeline set her hands on her hips, contemplating how she would reach the top. She tried jumping, she tried dragging a chair over, but it was still just out of reach.

     "What, pray tell, are you trying to accomplish?" Jacks leaned against the door way to the main room, arms crossed as he regarded her amusedly.

      "I'm trying-" Evangeline hopped, "to reach-" she leapt, "the top!" She ran out of breath.

      She came to the realization that Jacks might put the star on top for her. He would decorate the tree with her!

      Maybe.

      "As much as I'm enjoying you bouncing all over the place, there's a much easier approach to this, Little Fox."

     "Uh huh," Evangeline raised her eyebrows challengingly. "And what's that?"

     Jacks took four large steps towards her, and when she thought he was going to take the star from her hand, he grabbed her waist gently, lifting her up and on top of his shoulders.

      Evangeline let out a gasp, heart picking up again.

      "Hurry up, your dress is in my face." Jacks' voice came out muffled.

      Her thighs were also around his neck.

      Evangeline quickly placed the star on top, breathing quickly. "I'm done!"

     He placed her back on the floor, brushing a cool finger over her cheeks. "It's so easy to make you blush."

      Evangeline poked his nose in turn, Jacks swatting her hand away. "Admit it. You're beginning to like Christmas."

      "Has this become a personal mission for you, pet?"

      A quiet ding interrupted them.

      "The cookies!" Evangeline grinned, rushing to the kitchen, slipping on a pair of oven mitts and removing them from the oven.

      She stepped back, admiring her work.

      "Christmas cookies?" Jacks' tone was flat and unamused.

      Despite how hot the cookie was, Evangeline picked one up between her fingers, ignoring the slight burn. "Ha! Look, it's Santa."

      Jacks darted his head quickly towards her and took a large bite out of the cookie she held. "Headless Santa now," he mumbled as he chewed on the sugar cookie.

      "Fiend," Evangeline retorted.

      Jacks reached for another one, but Evangeline smacked his hand. "I need to decorate them!"

      "Someone's going on the naughty list. It's not nice to hit people, Little Fox."

     "It's not nice to bite cookies out of people's hands, Jacks."

      "I'm already on the naughty list, why should I care?"

      "Shoo, unless you're going to help me decorate these."

      "I'd almost mistake you for a Fate with how many deals you're trying to make." Jacks walked away, obviously not interested in decorating.

      Evangeline sighed. She picked up the bag of icing she'd prepared earlier, piping little designs onto her first cookie. Her festive mood was beginning to dampen. Jacks really wasn't going to come around to Christmas, was he? Of course, no matter how hard she tried, she failed. He was a Fate after all. Why had she expected Jacks to look at Christmas different for her?

      One decorated cookie later, strong arms wrapped around her waist and a head leaned against her shoulder, the smell of apples and something distinctly male filled her senses. Evangeline could have melted into his touch, despite her earlier frustration.

      "I thought you didn't want to decorate. You know, since you despise Christmas."

      "Hush, Little Fox, or I might change my mind."

     Evangeline couldn't fight the smile on her face. He grabbed the icing bag, still leaning on her shoulder and reaching through her waist. Jacks tried to pipe a design, but he squeezed too hard, a bunch of icing coming out at once. He growled.

      Evangeline giggled. "Here, I'll squeeze, you keep your hands on mine, guiding the bag, okay?"

      Jacks grunted in acknowledgment, placing his hands over hers. He guided her slowly, drawing little snowflakes on the snowman shaped cookie.

      A warm feeling rose through Evangeline. "Next one."

     This time it was a tree. Jacks drew ornaments and lights, actually taking it seriously. They continued like that until all the cookies were decorated, and Evangeline couldn't have cared less that she only decorated one. She was elated that Jacks had partook in something festive without motivation. It also helped his hands were on hers and how his body fit with hers.

     He set down the piping bag, grabbing her hand and twirling Evangeline around, leaning her against the counter. "Happy?"

      "You have no idea."

      Jacks leaned in close, close enough that they were breathing the same breaths. His lips were dangerously close to hers. "Remember your part of the deal."

      Another night of you being mine.

      Evangeline hadn't a problem with it. She was already his, anyway.

      "I couldn't forget."

      Jacks laced his fingers with hers again, leading her to his room. On their way, Evangeline pulled him to a stop.

      "Mistletoe, Jacks."

      He looked up quickly at the strategically placed mistletoe above their heads. His eyes creased with worry. "Little Fox-"

      Evangeline stood on her tip-toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, letting her lips linger on his cool skin. She hadn't known whether or not a lip-on-lip kiss would follow them outside the Hollow, and she didn't want Jacks to have to deal with that guilt, so she opted for his cheek instead. Evangeline had desperately wanted to feel his lips against hers. She wanted to have a true mistletoe experience with Jacks. But, as fate allowed, Evangeline would settle for a peck on the cheek.

      "There," Evangeline whispered as she pulled away. "Now you have a pleasant memory under the mistletoe."

      Jacks looked at her, really looked at her, with a vulnerability in his eyes that he rarely showed. His arms engulfed her and his head buried in her pink hair.

      "When we leave here for good, Little Fox, please do not forget this."

       "I'll never forget this," she mumbled into his shirt.

      He pulled away to look at her. "Mine."

      "I'm yours," Evangeline repeated as she had a few nights ago.

      Jacks scooped her up, carrying her to his bedroom, holding her close to his chest. She loved how delicately he held her, how careful he was.

When they reached his room, Jacks tugged on the hem of her dress in question.

Evangeline nodded wordlessly.

He lifted it off of her, leaving Evangeline in solely a tiny slip that didn’t leave much to the imagination. Although she was sure Jacks had seen much more of her when he bandaged her up a few nights ago. She reached for the buttons of his shirt, popping them off until the item of clothing was removed completely.

Jacks then laid her down, falling on the bed beside her.

Evangeline brushed a soft lock of blond hair from his face. "I know you hate Christmas for good reasons, Jacks. But the holidays are about spending time with people you care about. I know how good you are at hiding it, but I think deep down, you care about me, at least a little bit. So I hope I changed your mind about Christmas."

Jacks knotted his hands in her hair, bringing her head close. "I care about you a lot." He frowned. "More than I should."

Evangeline's eyes fluttered closed. "I care about you too."

"I know."

Their limbs began to tangle together as they shifted in the bed. Jacks held her as if she was about to be ripped from his grasp. Evangeline nuzzled her head in his chest, letting herself lull to sleep.

"Little Fox?"

"Mm?"

"Christmas isn't so bad."

"Jacks!" she whined against his skin.

"Fine. I like spending Christmas with you."

Jacks’ reluctant words reverberated through her head a million times. Finally. Evangeline had warmed him up to the holidays, even if it took a bit out of her. It made her cheeks hot that she knew she was the reason for his new take on Christmas.

She tilted her head up to look in his eyes. “I knew you’d come around.”

“Don’t you dare start up carolling, pet, or I will take back my previous statement. The tree in the main room will be destroyed before you wake up in the morning if you pipe up with those god awful tunes.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of annoying Jacks of the Hollow.”

His hand smoothed over her hair idly and his voice was soft from tiredness. “Good.”

Evangeline waited until his eyes fluttered shut before murmuring quietly, “Deck the halls with boughs of holly fa-la-la-la-la-”

The hand that had been in her hair moments before clamped over her mouth. “Shut up,” Jacks groaned.

She laughed behind his hand, amused by his distaste for carols. Once her giggles died down, he removed his hand and closed his eyes again.

“‘’Tis the season to be jolly-”

Jacks rolled them over so that she was underneath him, his chest over top of her mouth. Despite her voice being incredibly muffled, she still sang.

“Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.”

“Are you done yet?” Jacks moved into a plank position, uncovering her mouth.

“Maybe.”

“You are insufferable.”

Evangeline smiled brightly at him. “Will you change your mind if you found out I got you a present?”

One of his eyebrows raised. “When?”

“When you weren’t looking. It isn’t much, but it’s something.” Evangeline shifted to reach beside the bed, pulling the small box out of her dress pocket. “Merry Christmas, Jacks.”

Evangeline didn’t think she’d ever seen his features so soft. Blond eyebrows knitted together, and his eyes regarded the present with a delicacy he’d only ever used with her. He moved them so that they both sat up, hands carefully holding the box she handed him. She bit her lip in anticipation of his reaction.

“Open it!” She urged, hoping he wouldn’t hate the gift inside.

Jacks pulled the ribbon around the box until it untied, popping the lid open and peering inside. His lips curved into a smile.

“I couldn’t think of what to get you, but you’re always dressing fancy, so when I saw those golden apple cuff links, I immediately thought of you.” Evangeline watched as his finger brushed over the cuff links curiously. “Everyone deserves a Christmas present, no matter how far down they are on the naughty list.”

His eyes flashed to hers, amusement laced in his expression. Still, Jacks hadn’t said a word.

“Well? Do you like them?” Evangeline demanded, palms beginning to sweat. She hoped from the bottom of her heart he adored them. That every time he would wear them, he’d think of her. His Little Fox.

“I do.”

Jacks spoke those two words with so much gentleness, yet so much force that made Evangeline believe there were a billion other things he wanted to say.

He set his gift on his nightstand, pulling Evangeline back down into a lying position. Jacks moved his lips over her neck, sucking and biting at her skin. She let out a moan at the feeling, at how fast he could send her brain into a frenzy.

“Thank you, Little Fox.” His words tickled her neck.

She hadn’t thought him capable of the words thank you.

“I’m glad you like them,” she whispered back.

Evangeline swore to never forget how soft he was at the Hollow. With her. How his expression turned so breathtaking when he looked at his present. At her. How badly Evangeline had wished she was his true love. She finally let herself fall asleep, a deathly pair of lips on her mind as sleep claimed her.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Jacks looked up at the winter night sky sourly, wondering if the stars were laughing at him. How many times had they watched happily ever after be wretched from his hands so despicably?

This one hurt the most.

His teeth clashed together as Jacks grind his jaw, thinking of the way Evangeline had been taken from him. Jacks had briefly pondered over if things could have been different if he’d realized Donatella hadn’t meant to him what he thought she did sooner.

He’d never loved Donatella. She was never his true love. That Jacks was sure of, he felt it all the way down to his cold bones.

Evangeline. Sweet Evangeline.

Nothing had ever meant as much to him as his Little Fox did.

Jacks touched his golden apple cuff links, taking a small comfort in how the cold metal felt against his finger. He had many regrets over all of the things he never said to Evangeline. He especially wished he’d told her how much the gift meant to him. How much she meant to him.

No one had given him anything remotely close to a present in centuries. Jacks couldn’t even remember the last time someone had did something selfless for him, like giving him a present. It meant Evangeline cared about him, almost as much as he cared for her.

She hadn’t even done it in the presence of the Mirth stone. She’d been far from it when retrieving his cuff links. Evangeline had simply wanted to give him a Christmas gift.

Jacks was taken from his thoughts as the crunching of boots trekking through snow hinted at his ears. He turned towards her, hidden by the brick building beside him and the darkness it provided.

She sniffed loudly, the back of her hand coming up to wipe her nose.

“Nothing makes sense,” she cried to the sky. “Things aren’t adding up, no matter how hard I try. Every time I think I start to remember something important, it’s like I run into a wall!”

Jacks wanted to go to her, pull her close, whisper in her ear that it would be alright. How he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. He’d torture whoever tried to lay a finger on his Little Fox.

“Apollo says he loves me, and I love him, even if I can’t remember. But… that feels like a kind of thing that the heart would remember. I just feel so alone. So empty. I don’t even know if I should trust him. He is my husband, so I should.”

Evangeline kicked the snow in frustration. “I don’t even know who I’m talking to. The stars?” She laughed humourlessly. “It just truly feels like I have no one.”

You have me, Little Fox.

Evangeline spun around. “Who said that?”

Fuck. He hadn’t meant to project his thoughts.

“Hello?”

Jacks closed his eyes, leaning into the wall so Evangeline couldn’t see him. When he first discovered she didn’t remember him, Evangeline became terrified of him. He was a fool to think Time let him off of the hook for how much pain he suffered. A bloody fool.

Jacks swore to himself he’d do whatever it took to return Evangeline’s memories to her. He would disembowel whoever had done this to her. Jacks vowed to become their worst nightmare. He would become the exact monster the stories about Fates made him out to be.

He heard Evangeline sigh. “Now I’m crazy, too.”

He felt sick for her. Jacks knew this was ultimately better than her being dead, but why couldn’t he just be happy for once? Jacks always knew Time would never have allowed them to exist, he should have never let himself hope that it might be different.

Hope. Hopeful Evangeline.

Jacks remembered when he was like her. Back before he realized he was never meant to be happy. Not for long, at least.

But he was happy with her. It was why he knew, in the end, they would never work. Curses couldn’t be deceived. They knew the truth. No matter how much one tried to hide it.

It was one week and one day from the end of Cold Season, marking it Christmas Eve. In a perfect world, he and Evangeline would be at the Hollow, curled up by the fireplace. Jacks would be kissing her breathless, and her heart would still be beating, beating fast for him. His would do the same.

He’d get her a gift that she’d squeal about, blushing furiously like the helpless romantic she was. They would both be happy together.

Instead they were here, in this awful mess.

“Evangeline, my heart, there you are!”

Jacks had felt the overwhelming urge to slash a knife through Apollo’s throat, to watch him beg and bleed mercilessly for how he was taking advantage of his Evangeline-

“Apollo! Sorry, I just… wanted to catch snowflakes on Christmas Eve.”

Apollo wrapped his arms around Evangeline’s waist, pulling her flush against him. Jacks should have walked away, saved himself from this pain. But it was as he told Evangeline before; broken hearts constructed masochists.

Apollo laughed. “How darling you are. Come inside, we’re about to sing holiday carols by the piano.”

Jacks remembered when Evangeline sang for him. She did it to annoy him, but Jacks always looked forward to her pushing his buttons. He would listen to every foul, off pitch, Christmas carol Evangeline sung if it meant that she would remember him.

Jacks had a fleeting idea.

Don’t trust him, Little Fox. He is not your friend. He is not your lover-

“That sounds lovely, Apollo.” Evangeline’s words were loud and held a warning to them.

It meant she heard him.

He just hoped she would listen.

Jacks really needed to stop hoping.

He watched as Apollo led Evangeline inside, a wet sensation trailing down his cheek as Jacks’ eyes burned.

Using the back of his palm to rub at it, his eyes quickly caught the gold flecked blood that now stained his skin. Jacks hadn’t even realized he was crying.

His breath shook as he inhaled. He closed his eyes, the image of Evangeline flashed before him. Jacks imagined her saying don’t lose hope, Jacks. Not when you just got it back.

There was nothing of equal value to him than her. He established that already. Jacks needed to get a grip of himself.

He would find Honora. She would be the best person to go to when it came to cures to curses like this. Although every time he seeked Honora’s help, it always ended miserably. Fate be damned. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Jacks would rack in his favours he built up over the years, and fuck it, Jacks was going to hope.

His fingers traced over his apple cuff links.

This Christmas would not be his and Evangeline’s last.

[lem-de-lemon]

English: (Translate)

I had already uploaded one of these on Amino, but it was just Elijah. This is a second, less literal version of a "Reverse AU"?

So...

Sydney Sargent: The Architect.

Sydney is a nurse's aide at Camp Here & There, Lucille saved him when he was a child and despite his difficulties he dedicated his life to being useful to her and staying by his best friend's side keeping him safe. He is affectionate although somewhat distracted so he can sometimes seem distant, but he does not stop loving others. He spends his days mostly in his office recording his progress on a "project" on cassettes and as a hobby he also likes to take care of a small garden of wild plants. He has a special interest in fungi so part of his library is about them. He suspects that he may be ill, but he has not said anything about it.

Jedidiah Martin: The Muse

Nurse at Camp Here & There. He has a good heart, but the children run away from him despite his attempts to help the other camp counselors. He is in charge of giving the announcements in the camp, he doesn't seem to be doing too badly. For some reason he seems to be very interested in clocks, he has a small collection of several of them in different and extravagant designs from around the world. Lately he feels watched, he is not very religious but he claims to be persecuted by a guy with a goat mask (The others don't know whether to believe him or not and those who do have very strange theories about satanic cults. Sydney doesn't have an opinion on that , in fact he seems a little uncomfortable and prefers to avoid the topic.) He has a slight allergy to rabbits.

(Up and) Adam: A stranger in the woods.

He was once a psychology student, but one day he disappeared in the woods and no one cared enough to go find him. He has a strange obsession with Jedidiah Martin, he believes she may be the solution to his problems. He doesn't like Sydney, but he has offered Jedidiah sessions to talk about him (Gaslight?). He's weird. When he takes off his mask he makes the others feel sleepy, sometimes it amuses him to wake Jedidiah up by making a lot of noise with his tambourine. Probably cannibal. "Bone Apple Teeth"

Elijah Volkov: A demon with a PhD.

A "nice" nurse demon, he walks around in the dreams of others (especially Jedidiah and Sydney) causing them to have quite strange nightmares. He wears part of a pink suit that would not at all give you the feeling that you were talking to a doctor. Why study medicine? He really isn't sure, maybe he wanted to understand the camp nurses a little more, maybe he was bored or maybe he just finds it funny to correct others so they call him "Dr." He has a strange relationship with Sydney, possibly it has to do with his medical condition or why Jedidiah went from looking like a dead person overnight to looking better than ever when they were kids. He has a strange taste with elephants, he would put stickers of them in other people's notebooks and the others would find them on random pages everywhere.

Español: (Lengua nativa)

Ya había subido uno de éstos en Amino, pero solo era Elijah. Esta es una segunda versión menos literal de un "AU Reverse"?

Asíque...

Sydney Sargent: El arquitecto.

Sydney es un ayudante de enfermería en Camp Here & There, Lucille lo salvó cuando era un niño y a pesar de las dificultades dedicó su vida a serle útil y permanecer al lado de su mejor amigo manteniéndolo a salvo. Es cariñoso aunque algo distraido por lo que aveces puede verse distante, pero no deja de amar a los demás. Pasa sus días mayormente en su oficina grabando sus avances sobre un "proyecto" en cassettes y como pasatiempo a parte le gusta cuidar de un pequeño jardín de plantas silvestres. Tiene un interés especial en los hongos por lo que parte de su biblioteca trata sobre ellos. Se sospecha que pueda estar enfermo, pero no ha dicho nada al respecto.

Jedidiah Martin: La Musa

Enfermero en Camp Here & There. Tiene un buen corazón, pero los niños huyen de él a pesar de sus intentos por ayudar a los demás consejeros del campamento. Es el encargado de dar los anuncios en el campamento, no parece irle mal. Por alguna razón parece interesarle muchos los relojes, tiene una pequeña colección de varios de ellos en diferentes y extravagantes diseños del mundo. Últimamente se siente observado, no es muy religioso pero dice ser perseguido por un sujeto con máscara de cabra (Los demás no saben si creerle o no y los que si lo hacen tienen teorías muy raras sobre cultos satánicos. Sydney no tiene una opinión sobre eso, de hecho parece algo incómodo y prefiere evitar el tema.) Tiene una leve alergia a los conejos.

(Up and) Adam: Un extraño en el bosque.

Alguna vez fué un estudiante de psicología, pero un día desapareció en el bosque y a nadie le importó lo suficiente para ir por él. Tiene una extraña obsesión con Jedidiah Martin, cree que pueda ser la solución a sus problemas. No le gusta Sydney, pero le ha ofrecido a Jedidiah tener sesiones para hablar sobre él (¿Gaslight?). Es... extraño. Cuando se quita la máscara provoca que los demás se sientan somnolientos, aveces le divierte despertar a Jedidiah haciendo mucho ruido con su pandereta. Probablemente caníbal. "Bone Apple Teeth"

Elijah Volkov: Un demonio con doctorado.

Un "simpático" demonio enfermero, se pasea en los sueños de los demás (Especialmente Jedidiah y Sydney) provocandoles pesadillas bastante extrañas. Porta parte de un traje rosa que para nada te daría la sensación de estar hablando con un doctor. ¿Porqué estudiar medicina? Realmente no está seguro, quizás queria enteneder un poco más a los enfermeros del campamento, quizás estaba oburrido o quizás simplemente encuentra divertido corregir a los demás para quelo llamen "Dr". Tiene una relación extraña con Sydney, posiblemente tenga que ver con su condición médica o porqué de la noche a la mañana Jedidiah pasó de verse como un muerto a estar mejor que nunca cuando eran niños. Tiene una extraña afición con los elefantes, pagaría stickers de ellos en los cuadernos de los demás y los demás los encontrarían en páginas random por todoa lados.

[broodwolf221]

welcome to dadwc!! I love the look of varric/solas so how about 'obfuscate - to muddle; confuse; bewilder' since they're both such splendid deceivers?

thank you! this was a fun one uwu ended up being a collection of dialogue btwn them, getting a little shippy right at the end~ @dadrunkwriting 487 words

A series of small deceits.

“So, Chuckles, what prompted all the Fade-walking you do?”

“Hm? Ah, well. There was little of interest for a mage in the small village I was in.”

“Really? I mean, I’m no expert on mages, but they seem more than able to find a purpose wherever they are.”

“Pleased to surprise, Master Tethras.”

“I’m sure.”

-

“Varric, you knew the rebel mage, Anders?”

“Blondie? Yeah, I knew him.”

“Your book, Tales of the Champion, is purposefully vague on what became of him.”

“Well, it made for a better narrative than ‘I have no clue where Anders is.’”

“Hm.”

-

“Okay, I know, dreaming and Fade-walking and all. But seriously, how do you know so much about the ancient elves?”

“I have traveled deep into the Fade. Deeper than most Dreamers dare go.”

“Fortunate for us, I guess.”

“So it seems.”

-

“I find it strange that you’ve named your crossbow, Varric.”

“What’s so strange about it?”

“It is a weapon. I’ve not named my staff. Bull has not, as far as I know, named his greataxe. Is the crossbow named for its inventor?”

“If it was, I wouldn’t tell you. No offense, Chuckles, but we’ve talked about this - I’m not keen on this type of weapon ending up in the wrong hands.”

“An understandable precaution.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“However, it seems... unwise, to possibly name your weapon after it’s creator.”

“Ah, but you don’t know that I did, do you?”

“Will the uncertainty stop people from seeking this ‘Bianca’?”

“Chuckles, you can’t swing a nug in Orzammar without hitting a ‘Bianca’.”

“Ah.”

-

“You seem awful confident about what Corypheus is planning.”

“It is not confidence so much as it is observation.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve seen his like in the Fade, right? But isn’t he a little different?”

“A tyrant is a tyrant, Varric.”

“Sure, but he’s not just a tyrant, he’s apparently a Magister. Or a darkspawn. Or both. Oh, and I helped kill him. And he’s maybe immortal? Don’t you think that sets him apart? How can you predict someone like that?”

“He is not the first to seek supremacy over other beings. His nature seems less important than his motivations, and how he will seek to achieve them.”

“Sure, Chuckles. You keep telling yourself that.”

-

“So, Varric.”

“Yes?”

“I noticed you speaking with another dwarf yesterday.”

“Yeah, and?”

“You called her Bianca.”

“Well, that’s her name.”

“Is she the Bianca? The one you’ve named your crossbow after?”

“I told you before, Chuckles-”

“I know, I know. Can’t swing a nug. Not sure why one would try, but that is beside the point.”

“Not my fault that Orzammar isn’t very clever about names.”

“Hm.”

---

“So, Chuckles, you still haven’t unpacked.”

“I told you, I haven’t committed to staying here.”

“Right... yeah, you did tell me that. Two months ago.”

“Your point?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. What’s mine is yours, after all.”

[dumbfinntales]

A few years back I randomly found an indie RPG called Dread Delusion and got it for early access. I have a bad habit of buying early access games when they're on sale and they sit on my account for years waiting for full release. Well Dread Delusion was fully released and I just beat the game. What a fun and unique adventure! More below.

Dread Delusion is a first person RPG inspired by games like Morrowind and Kings Field. It's set in a very fascinating world with equally as fascinating lore. Imagine a world where people waged war against their own gods and eventually won, allowing humanity to advance. That's why you got technology and medieval fantasy themes side by side. Then a strange event wrecks the world and all that's left are a bunch of ever moving floating islands where humanity lives. Intriguing, eh?

It is honestly a very unique world with a rich history. The characters and sidequests you come across are interesting, and there's plenty of thoughtful and humorous dialogue. I also adore the designs of all the god creatures and monsters, 10/10 design. Most quests have at least two outcomes and some quests really made me rethink if I did the right thing, like a certain quest where you had to decide the fate of a sentient pile of flesh.

In my playthrough I went full on with magic and decided to help all god entities I came across, even though in this world it's illegal. I mean makes sense, they fought a whole war against them. But I felt like each god I came across just ordered something good to the people who worshipped them. Some gods were cruel, but the ones I came across really seemed to help. The god of life was weirdly grotesque, but even if people turned into weird monsters it seemed to be a good thing? More power to them I say.

The world was intriguing and fun for sure, but I kinda feel like the rest was kinda iffy. The RPG elements for example. You don't gain XP, but you have to find collectibles in order to get levels. You also get some levels from sidequests which is nice, but killing monsters is pretty much pointless. I was half magic half strength type of guy, but I was still able to do almost everything in the game. I added a few points in the lockpicking stat and used a lockpick hat throughout my playthrough and I was able to lockpick everything despite not dedicating to that stat. The only thing I couldn't do was the charm doors and dialogue as I didn't have enough points for those. So there's a little variety I guess per playtrough, but most likely for just two unique playthoughs and characters. I also wish there were more unique weapons and armors. I used the lockpick hat and mage robes 90% of my playthrough.

Talking about monsters, while their designs are perfetto, combat feels almost pointless. There are a ton of different designs, but the whole game essentially has just two enemies. Close combat melee types and ranged types. Every enemy can easily be taken care of by just walking back and spamming charge attack, and you never die because the game showers you with potions and enemies tickle you. Only towards the very end of the game there was one miniboss that seemed unique. It had a very long ranged melee attack and it cast some spells, and healed itself. It's sad that something this simple feels unique, but it is compared to every other enemy just running up to you and swinging at you.

I was honestly disappointed by the lack of bosses in this game. Even the final encounter is super easy and the final boss behaves just like any other humanoid enemy. I know it's an indie game and they don't have infinite budget, but oh what could have been. Imagine if you could have fought any of the god beings if you didn't side with them? Most of them are likely just dealt with simple dialogue choices.

But I can't say I regret playing Dread Delusion. It was an ever intriguing world that kept me interested from beginning to the end.

[littlenephilim999uriel]

Imagine Rex sneaking into your room one night finally confessing his feelings.

It was late at night when she heard a knock on the door. „I wonder who needs me this late at night?“ (y/n) mumbled to herself as she walked over towards the door. While she had no clue who it could be the Senator certainly did not expect to look into the eyes of the Captain of the 501 st. Oh what a rather pleasant surprise that was „Captain… how can I help you?“ Rex seemed to be rather nervous. One didn‘t need to be a Jedi to notice that. „May I come in Senator?“ Rex muttered quietly as not to be caught. (y/n) nodded at that and stepped aside to let him enter. The door quietly closed behind the both of them as Rex slowly turned around to look at her. „What is it then?“ (y/n) asked again to which Rex only let out a sigh. He seemed to be thinking about something before he took a deep breath and looked at her. „Tell me to leave.“ She just raised her eyebrows at that. „I‘m sorry?“ Rex let out a almost sad chuckle. „Tell me to leave or I‘ll say something we‘ll both regret.“ Now that made her even more curious. What could be so bad to make her regret a Visit from her favorite Captain. She couldn’t help it as a chuckle escaped her lips. „Now you have gotten my interest. What could be so bad to tell me to have you this nervous.“ Rex let out yet another sigh. „I-… I mean… I just..“ now this was a strange sight to see. The calm and collected leader was a nervous and stuttering Mess. What was he so scared of? „Rex, you can tell me everything. You know I would never judge nor harm you.“ Her (e/c) eyes met his holding this warm and loving glint she always seemed to save up only for him. A soft laugh left him as he nodded. „I know that it is just hard for me to say.“ The Senator only raised her eyebrows at him urging him to keep going. „I‘ve started to feel different around you… I can‘t seem to keep my eyes away from you. I am always trying to be close to you. I just… I just want to be by your side all the time.“ She just blinked at him. It actually took the Senator a good minute before she finally could grasp what he just said. „So you‘re in Love with me?“ She finally answered. Rex only nodded his head at that. Rex could feel himself getting even more tense. His stiffness finally seemed to catch the Women’s attention as a small soft smile started to spread on her lips. „Well, Captain. I must admit whenever you are not close to me I seem to miss you.“ She then took a step closer to which Rex out of reflex took a step back. „I always am looking for you in a room full of People.“ And another step forward and another one backwards. Rex was soon stopped from walking any further by the wall behind him. He swallowed nervously as his eyes met her curious ones. „I must admit I am in Love with you as well.“ She was now standing so close to him, she actually had to look up to meet his eyes. He didn‘t even try to hide his surprise but soon after Rex started to smile. Without uttering another Word, afraid that if he spoke this Moment would disappear, he gently reached out to touch her cheek. Not even thinking about it (y/n) leaned into the touch. Finally all of her beloved’s Captains attention was all on her and only her. Rex slowly leaned even closer their Lips now almost touching. She could feel her Eyes slowly starting to close. Almost there… if she just leans up a little bit more they will finally be…

„Captain.“

Huh strange that almost sounded like Fives. It sounded so far away. Far to focused on each other they didn‘t really acknowledge the Voice until-

„Rex! Where are you!“

It sounded a lot louder this time making the two of them jump apart. Rex let out an annoyed sigh and answered his comm. „What?“

„The Men are looking for you. We wanted to go to 79‘s remember? You owe me a Drink Captain.“

(Y/n) raised her eyebrows at him letting out a soft laugh. Not really knowing what else to say he just answered with a short ‚on my way‘ before ending the call. Rex rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. „I need to-„ (y/n) nodded at that. „Ah yes of course your Men are waiting.“

„I‘m really sorry.“ The Senator gave him a reassuring smile. „Don‘t worry about it. Here let me show you out.“ With a nod they both walked towards the door but before Rex could put his Helmet back on (y/n) stopped him. He looked over at her but before he fully could turn his head he could feel her lips on his cheek. After that she then quickly took a step back and gave him a sweet smile. „Have fun Captain. Though I must say.. if your lovely Legs don‘t carry you back to this room later on, we both will have a problem. Am I clear?“ Rex could only nod at that still a little bit dazed from everything that had just happened. He quickly put his Helmet on and almost ran his way down the hall to embarrassed to look back at the giggling Senator standing by the door and watching him leave. God how he wished the Evening at 79‘s had already ended.