#my life could not possibly get weirder at this point

[partycatty]

so i made a post about revenant johnny and i’m totally aware you saw it so what about a smut fic with revenant johnny??

i’m not entirely sure how we’d get to that part and i’d like to think we aren’t a revenant. im not entirely sure what the plot would be but i really just need to get my back blown out by revenant johnny

love ya 💙💙

EAYRBAUHRJAJFLAMTLMSMF

revenant!older!johnny cage > join me

revenant johnny meets you after his turning. the carnal desire never vanished.

warnings: kinda angsty, not explicitly consented to, you get SLAMMED TO POUND TOWN AND BACK. NETHERREALM AND BACK. OUTWORLD AND B— oh also lore adjustment to mk9 and mk11 :3

[ masterlist ]

you didn't think recent events could get any weirder, truly. just five years prior you lost the love of your life to a corrupted sindel, and with the knowledge that his cursed corpse sauntered beside a sorcerer such as quan chi, you honestly felt like coming face to face with a younger version of yourself was the most normal thing to occur. your job as a leader of the special forces was to capture and eliminate all threats to earthrealm, including but not limited to your former husband.

now under the command of a previous timeline's raiden among others, you had built enough of an army to counterattack what you lovingly called the zombified versions of your once-friends, liu kang and kitana. kronika was a force beyond your understanding but you knew that losing all you'd come to build would be a loss greater than... well, no. it was everything you'd lose.

at the bow of kharon's ship, you stood with a loaded rifle alongside a band of people you'd grown to admire; jax, jacqui, cassie, raiden, liu kang, kitana, kung lao, fujin, nightwolf, and of course a younger version of johnny. he nudges your side, aiming his own rifle at the sky with a hand on his hip.

"i hope we don't die out there, i'd love to tap that someday," he coos into your direction, perhaps louder than intended and earning horrified looks from everyone - including your fatherless daughter. you stomp on johnny's foot. perhaps you would have fallen for his charms in the past, but dear god was he more punchable than ever in that moment. even still, you miss his quips and jabs. what you wouldn't give to see the color return to his cracked, hellish skin.

"it is an honor to fight alongside most of you," you call out, facing forward as your subtle dig at younger johnny makes him frown. "raiden says it better. may the elder gods protect us."

it's not long before the large boat scrapes against the shore of the island, and your entire army charges into battle. guns, swords, and fangs spill so much blood, you could smell more iron than when you were riding down the crimson sea. your thoughts are cut short when a path opens, and you shoot a glance to your comrades.

"i see an opening!" you shout, pointing. "i'm going in!" a chorus of encouragements and cheers fill your ears atop the war cries, and the one that stands out most is cassie. your daughter's voice raises, slipping into grief mid-battle.

"if you find dad," she cries, praying to the gods that she won't lose both parents. "tell him i love him!" the knowledge that this battle will end in only one of you making it out alive terrifies her beyond belief but she does all she can to keep a strong face and salute you as you disappear in the crowd. cassie knows that a revenant version of johnny wouldn't fully understand, wouldn't fully accept her love, but she couldn't die or have him die without expressing it one last time.

you weave, shoot and slash through the crowd and end up in a castle-like structure. perhaps if you were to rise to the top you could use the position as surveillance or sniping. you could possibly even find a weak point. the building is just distant enough for the war to hardly reach the inside. your breathing and the sound of boots hitting stone are all you could focus on as you turn a corner.

blood rushes to your ears and you could feel your vision become glassy at the sight of the figure at the end of the hallway. even after all this time, you knew that shape. johnny stood in the dead center of the long hall, arms crossed and waiting like he predicted your arrival. maybe he did.

"no, nonono," you pant, leaning against the wall as your brows furrow. "not you. not now." the grief you thought you conquered washes over you.

"well i'll be damned," johnny smirks, pulling his sunglasses from his face and tucking them into his shirt. "long time no see, sugar." he takes long strides to you and your legs feel embarrassingly weak when you slide to the ground, gun clattering to the stone surface alongside you.

"anyone but you—" you're muttering under your breath, trying to ground your spiraling thoughts. "please."

johnny's in front of you now, kneeling down to meet your gaze. his skin is paled and crackling with a hellish glow, and his eyes are a heinous reddish shade. the outfit he wore was similar in style to his usual, but darker in palette and slightly edgier. in any other context, it was a good look.

"you look just as good as the day i left you," he grins, dismissing your grief and turmoil for flirtation. you want to fight back so bad, to shove him away and put an end to this but dammit it was the first time you'd heard that voice, that damn voice.

"why did you leave me? cassie?" you're involuntarily sobbing now, full of conflict. "why are you doing this?"

"you're the one causing this entire problem," johnny's defensive, jabbing a finger to your chest. "kronika's new era can save us. neither of us join the military. can you imagine it? white picket fence, two dogs and a daughter, home cooked meals every night and none of this bullshit—!" johnny's arm extends out to a nearby window, giving you both a view of the demon-human-demigod war on time. "—baby. join me. we could have everything we've ever dreamed of." his tone isn't as desperate and loving as it should be. it sounded... pushy. frustrated that you're disobeying what he wants.

"no," you choke out, tears flowing freely now. "you're being played a fool, johnny." he doesn't like your answer, and instead wraps a large hand around your small neck. he slides you back up the wall and spins you, your front now pressed up against a wall.

"you know what i'd miss more than your stubbornness?" he growls into your ear. his hand pressing hold on the back of your head is brewing a headache that quickly fizzles away when his other hand tugs your hips toward his front. you swallow, afraid to reply. "this sweet ass."

his cold, dead hand plays with the fat of your ass which spills a growl from his lips. instinctively rutting into you makes you spill an involuntary whimper out, craving his touch after so long.

"always a pain in my ass," johnny groans, slapping a cheek and watching it bounce. "i've gone years without it, i was practically losing my damn mind."

"johnny—" you barely breathe out. you're not entirely sure what you were going to say anyway. the warmth of his hardness shocks you as it slides up and down your clothed ass.

"mm?" he hums, transfixed on the way your behind fits his cock nicely. it was clear he wasn't fully listening and instead relishing in your presence once again.

as if he could read your thoughts, johnny chuckles to himself and kicks the rifle away, only stopping his humping momentarily to remove your defenses. your legs slightly part to try and catch the gun with your foot, accidentally giving him more access to your embarrassingly needy cunt.

"yeah, fuckin' speechless," he growls, hissing at the sight of your soaked bottoms. "bet you missed my cock, yeah?"

you could hardly even whimper from the onslaught of emotion. johnny's hand snakes to the front of your neck, forcibly arching your back as he pulls to lean into your ear.

"join me," he demands coldly.

"no."

johnny's hand dips under your waistband.

"join me," he demands again, tone getting progressively more animalistic as he tugs downward.

"no."

your pants are practically torn off as he grabs a fistful and tugs them to your knees with his mind-numbing strength. you weren't sure if he ripped your panties or tugged them off too. you hear something unbuckle on his end, and his hot, wet tip tickles your entrance.

"last chance." even though his hand returned to shove you into the stone wall, you could hear his cocky grin.

"go fuck yourself," you spit, realizing your grave choice of wording.

"i'll do you one better." he slams his entire cock inside of you, and it immediately settles into your walls like it was made to bury itself there for all of eternity. even still, going without dick that good leaves your pussy burning and on the verge of crying for other reasons.

he bottoms out quick, leaning back to admire how nicely he settles inside of you.

"well fuck, look at that," he says with genuine amusement in his tone. "you look so pretty stretched out on me like this, it's a sight for sore eyes."

your fingers claw at the stone, eyes rolling back as you take his full length without verbal complaint. as you pathetically attempt to protest, all you can sputter out are disconnected syllables. johnny's thrusts start off slow but he snaps into you as he reaches the base inches.

"all this whining but you're fuckin' soaked," he laughs, snapping into you harshly to hear you cry out. "you're a horrible liar, you know. you wanna join me, i can f — haah —" his own cocky nonsense is cut short when you clench around him. he lurches forward in shock, moving both hands to your hips to deepen his grip. "i can feel how tight you are for me."

in little to no time, johnny's cock is pounding into you at a breakneck pace, a horrid slapping sound echoing off of the castle walls as they mix with your obscene moans and his deep grunts. you're sure he's piling more unholy words into you but they feel so far away when he's plowing into you like a dying man — well.

his cracked, grey fingers grope you shamelessly, pinching your nipple through your uniform or rubbing rapid circles into your clit. the pleasure is too much too quickly and you feel a warmth pooling in your stomach as your juices coat his shaft.

a gasp escapes your lips with each thrust, your husband quite literally knocking the wind out of you each time he slams into you.

"i missed you," he purrs out, and just like that all hesitation and guilt you had flew away as his words made you cum hard. a glimpse of his humanity poured through at your orgasm, and while it was flattering, you had bigger problems to worry about then, including just how hard you came.

each wave of pleasure was met with an extra thrust for good measure, a pulse shooting to your clit that makes your knees buckle. what you quickly realize however is that your zombie husband isn't done with your body quite yet.

"oh, no no no," he tuts, thrusts getting wilder and filling you to the point of tears. "you're done when i'm done. this is what you get."

your sensitive walls continued to shamefully take every inch he forced into you, and you could writhe and twitch as a drop of drool spills from your lip. this revenant was fucking you stupid, using your body for all it was worth in the moment. you hated yourself for falling for his undead charm all over again. your vision was going black and starry before another orgasm rode up on you again, johnny's back shots doing nothing to soothe the overstimulation that was racking your body. it's not long before he's whining too, which turns into his signature whimpering when he fucks into you harshly, spewing his cum inside of you like he owns you. you cum with him this time, flooding with your own juice mixed with his cum that now coated your walls nicely.

tears still burned in your eyes, and so did your pussy from the unexpected stretch. johnny panted above you, face turned up at the ceiling as he tries to compose himself.

"holy..." he pants, wiping the sweat from his face with his arm. he wraps an arm around you and slaps at your bare pussy, making you yelp and jump back against his dick that's still buried inside. you swallow thickly and nod, too hazy to make sense of it all.

"i..." what the hell were you going to say? what is there to say after all of this? you're dumbfounded, fucked silly but torn apart by grief. as you crane your neck to look at johnny, you find that he's already looking at you with a coy expression. like he robbed you of something. tore your very being apart piece by piece and was proud.

"hope you're not mad at me for the whole dying thing, by the way."

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt for Marina; Tucker is having a normal one. (( chrono || non-chrono ))

So yeah, definitely coffee, Tucker decides. Sam'll catch up, again. Which–also again, right now they're probably the ones who need to catch up to her, considering. Her and the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick, specifically. Tucker always misses the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick when it’s not on deck, but he seriously misses it when it’s not on deck in situations like these. 

“So yeah, fyi, while we’re doing the running thing we gotta find my backup, she’s somewhere in the hall out there being a badass,” Tucker informs his hopeful weekend plans, pointing towards the door. “And possibly also our other friend, who she and I were looking for when we found you. So like, it’s very interesting, actually, that they were keeping you where they would’ve kept him, all things considered.” 

Very interesting. And probably concerning? Like, considering? 

. . . also possibly hot, though, Tucker realizes. Like, he’s very into situations like Sam going full anti-creep stick on the GIW and Jazz yelling down murderous ghosts and literally everything Val has ever done in her entire life, so if he’s more bisexual than previously assumed and this dude is, like, some kind of terrifying badass ecto-experiment with weird ghost powers or whatever, statistically speaking, Tucker is probably gonna be into that. And like, given the batshit sedative doses Tucker pulled and how quick the guy woke up and also the whole, like, literal flying thing, “weird ghost powers” seems pretty likely at this point. 

Well, forewarned is forearmed, he guesses. At least if Allegedly-Alive Amor is secretly some kind of dangerous anti-ghost weapon, Tucker’s gonna get to enjoy the experience of watching him get beat down by Danny. Like, as soon as they find Danny, he means. And also–

. . . actually, is it weirder that Tucker kinda wants to see this guy get a little messed up, now that he’s thinking about it? Like just in a minimally violent but definitively rumpled kind of way, maybe, or like, maybe kinda flushed and sweaty and out of breath and–

They should find Ecto-Babe some pants, Tucker decides privately, patting the guy’s chest in an attempt to distract himself and doing the actual exact literal opposite of distracting himself. 

Yeah, pants would be a good idea right now. 

Pants, fortunately–unfortunately, Tucker means–do not actually happen, because what actually happens is the guy takes off and zips out into the hall with Tucker all bridal style/princess carry in his wet, naked arms, and Tucker really needs to have a moment about that but definitely does not have the time to. Another reason to rip the security footage later, though, he figures as he types furiously at his PDA, making sure all his programs are still running in the GIW’s systems and showing the agents all the fake ghosts a Fenton could shake an anti-creep stick at. 

Probably he doesn’t actually need to check that, though, since they don’t make it through thirty yards of this surprisingly comfy high-speed flying experience before they’re coasting quick and easy over the heads of a hallway full of yelling and screaming agents who’re shooting each other more than any of the ghosts said agents think they’re seeing. 

That’s really unfortunate for them, gee. Tucker will have to send ‘em a “get well never, you xenophobic assholes” card. Maybe a fruit basket. One with nothing but cantaloupe in it, because the GIW deserves nothing but cantaloupe. Old cantaloupe, even. Like just old enough they’ll feel like they have to eat it before it spoils outright, but also the texture’ll be weird and–

“Uh, should we be worried about all that back there?” New Ecto-Boo asks, looking skeptically back at the GIW agents they’ve already passed–and also looking really fucking hot, still.

[kiruamon]

Don't wake me up - AU Introduction

Cooking up another au idea. So first take these sketches and my info dump will follow further below. Also this feels like one of my more darker aus when I look at the amount of angst involved.

Sun

Moon

Y/N

Soooo... I was thinking of an au with dreams as a theme. Sun and Moon being an entity or guardian of dreams. While Sun stands for the good dreams Moon is in care of nightmares.

And into this setting I decided to throw a Y/N who has only very recently gone blind. They had always loved to create art. So to suddenly being unable to see was shattering their whole world. What's making it worse is that they always had been very independent and pride of what they achieved soley on their own. The thought to be dependent of others was something they never had liked.

But now even in their own home they don't feel any longer in control or autonomous. It's a struggle to navigate around. Bumping into furniture. Memorizing the distance from the bed to the door. Not knocking anything from the desk by accident or crawling under it if it does happen and feeling around for their keys without being able to use their vision to find them. It's frustrating and makes them feel like a stranger in their own place that should usually feel safe and familiar. But now it's all: Where did I put my phone? Was the grater in the drawer under the silverware or left from it? Did I grabbed a spoon or a fork? Which of my sweaters am I holding right now? Hopefully not the ugly christmas sweater I got four years ago? Does the shirt even match the rest or are the colors clashing with each other? Everything feels slowed down and like a big pain since things are still so fresh. Even worse that they have to let a stranger into their life to help them out that is supposed to teach them how to slowly cope with their new situation. It doesn't matter much to Y/N that said caretaker isn't human. They want their vision back so badly. And if that's not possible just to be left alone. Feeling overly emotional over the smallest things and then quickly burnt out. Every little thing is just too much. Being so stressed out and all... their only safe place for them is their dreams. It's where they feel the most normality and comfort. To sleep and to dream means for them to be free. To enjoy the colors and shapes of their dream environmental without any restricts that hold them back.

And that's where they meet Sun during one of their dreams. Not thinking too much of the strange encounter at the start. After all, it's just a dream. There could be much weirder things as a tall animatronic that claims himself to be a dream guardian. It's just odd how often they start to met since their first encounter. But Sun's nice. A very friendly and jolly fellow with an optimistic personallity that's kind of delightful. And Y/N finds himself quickly warming up to their new dream friend. Strolling through the dream realm with Sun and having some silly fun adventures without Y/N needing to worry that they could run into something by accident like in reality. But with time passing by Sun is starting to ask questions about Y/N. Questions that feel like hitting to close to home to them. That they don't want to answer. That they do not want to think about. After all they are hiding into their dreams to escape reality. Not to face their problems. Sun means well, but when he starts prying with his questions Y/N gets defensive and at some point snaps at him. And with the negative emotions flowing over their dream starts to shift. Bringing up more of their hidden fears and tinting it to become more of a nightmare.

Y/N finding themself suddenly alone in an eery nightmarish place. Full of dulled and muddled colors. Their surroundings looking close to a multi layer paper cutout full of symbols that represent their fears and worries which they had tried to desperately deny. The place gives them the shivers. Their shouting out for Sun. But he doesn't seem to be anywhere anymore. So they start running. Searching for him just to fall into a pitch-black pit that feels like it grows deeper and deeper with every second they are into it. Heart rate is going through the roof and panic is spiking up. That's when someone pulls them out. But before they can have a look at them the person they wake up from their nightmare. Next time when Y/N is back to sleep Sun is immediately there and telling them how worried he had been about them. Taking them in their arms and apologizing over and over for upsetting them. At the question where he had disappeared to last time he tells Y/N that he had been looking for them as soon as the dream had been shifting. Aside from that he seems a bit reluctant to tell them more about it. But from that day on Y/N finds themself a bit more often faced with nightmares and feeling as if someone was watching them during those times. Which turns out to be true as he spots a hooded figure at the edge of his vision a few times before finally being able to confront them. Feeling already unsettled and in fight or flight mode Y/N settles for the first option when catching Moon sneaking around them once more. Unbeknownst to them that Moon and Sun are practically one and the same entity. Just that Moon is in charge of their body in the realm of nightmares and Sun in the realm of good dreams.

Moon is more annoyed with Y/N's defensive and stubborn attitude as Sun is. But it might also not help that Moon himself is very tight-lipped instead of trying to explain things. So the two aren't off with the best start. And Sun has some explaining to do when he and Y/N meet the next time. Despite this rough start with Moon Y/N will find out that the more grumpy dream guardian is staying close to them whenever they find themself back in a nightmare instead of hiding like before. Giving them a bit closure with their presence and words and helping them to guide them slowly out of their nightmares back into more peaceful dreams where Sun will take over again.

As things progress there comes a time where Y/N will hardly want to get out of bed anymore. Just wanting to sleep. To go back into this world of dreams where they feel free instead of struggling all day without knowing what for. They are at a rough place. And they find themself wishing to stay longer and longer in their dreams with Sun and Moon. The world where they feel whole.

Of course Sun and Moon notice what is going on. The dreams after all depict the things that are going subconsciously and consciously on in Y/N's mind. It's hard for them if the two bring up their blindness. Or that they have to wake up instead of keep dreamig on forever. To start to live their life again. It's a messy time for them all and a lot of ups and downs. But with those confrontations and growing closer to the two guardians Y/N finds themself also becoming more vulnerable and slowly opening up to them. Admitting that they are scared. That they feel useless and like having lost so many things. Not knowing what to do. It takes a lot of time, patience and comfort from Sun and Moon as well as some firm words to slowly convince Y/N to start working on their fears in the real world. Y/N's dreams during this time are very unstable and easily shifting often between good and nightmarish during the course of one night. But they are slowly trying to work things out.

It takes a lot of them to ask the animatronic that had been assigned to take care of them for help. Not only because Y/N feels pretty shitty for having lashed out verbally in the past for a bunch of minor little things that had got them riled up during this time, but also because it's still hard for them to rely on someone this much. But all their conversations with Sun and Moon have teached them that's okay to ask for help. And so they do. Slowly finding their way back into life. Learning how to cope with their blindness. What tools to use to navigate better through their daily life. Learning that's okay to be vulnerable. It's a little surprise to Y/N when they find out that the name of their caretaker is Eclipse. A very patience and kindhearted animatronic. The round head plate with the triangular rays feels all so familiar under their fingers when he allows them to run their hands over them. Eclipse is the one helping Y/N out in their daily life. Cooking together and giving them all kinds of tips and tricks. Guiding them with his directions and gentle voice. He even brings up things like tactile art, sculpting and other things Y/N hadn't thought of before since they had believed they would have to give up on art completely. But slowly there is new hope found. And with each little achievement Y/N will find themself more independent over time. Finding joy in creation again and even some new things. While they always had liked music they also find a new interest in audiobooks. Even though they enjoy it even more when Eclipse will read for them while they sit together on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate in their hands and leant against him. Since Y/N grows more and more fond towards Eclipse to a point where they even found their more cheerful side back. It comes as a shock when Eclipse is telling them someday that he will soon quit his job as their caretaker. Since he feels that Y/N has grown independent enough again for not needing a full-time caretaker anymore. It leaves a bitter taste for Y/N as they had started to grow so used to having the other around and now feeling as if losing Eclipse again. Questioning the fact if they even had been friends or if they had been just another job for him. But at the same moment they start having those insecure thoughts they feel guilty about them. After all Eclipse had done so, so much for them and they don't want to taint their last time with him with acting like an upset or ungrateful child. So Y/N decides to just tell Eclipse how thankful they feel for everything he has done for them and that they wish him the best. Just for Eclipse to chuckle softly and telling them that he doesn't intend to make this their last meeting. He swiftly explains to Y/N that he only wants to quit the job in order to be able to be their friend without it feeling like he is paid to be nice to them.

Aaaalso some side notes to Sun and Moon. While they are like a dream entity or like I call them the guardians of dream it's not like they can do whatever they want in the dream realm. Besides their transformation they can not just wave their hand and change what happens in a dream. Their influence on the dreams is more subtle and depending if they are able to calm down the dreamer. So it's more like their interactions and words with the dreamer will affect the dreamers thoughts and subconcious and that will influence the dream. So if Sun for an example senses Y/N getting upset he will most of the time swiftly change topics and trying to use distraction as a method to keep the dream nice and peaceful. Asking about things Y/N likes and that feel safe to adress. Since Moon is just there when the dreamer is already in a nightmare his method is more about showing support. Staying close to them as some form of protection. He will take Y/N's hand or later on take them in his arms. Brushing over his back and keep talking with them in a calm voice. Letting them vent about their fears while giving some guidance if needed.

So it's all more about their skills in interacting and subtle manipulation via words (in a more healthy way) as having some magical superpowers.

Ooookay, that was a lot. And I hope it's not too confusing to follow my line of thoughts. There will be a second post entry that focuses more on some sketches that I did for this au and that will show some of the things mentioned here.

[siconetribal]

Put it on My Tab (20)

Pairing: Jason Todd x Fem!reader

Warning: Interview pressure, No filter

A/N:

Please comment/like/reblog. If you’d like to be tagged moving forward, please let me know! I’d also greatly appreciate it if rebloggers remember to add the tags (or some at least).

As always, a huge thank you and shout out to @harlequin-hangout for the amazing banners you made for me.

If you’re new to the story, please check out the master post for the rest of the chapters.

An ache started at the base of the back of her head. How long had she been standing here with her neck craned back, looking up at the tall justice building that held the Gotham City Police Department. Y/N could count the number of times she had been her on one hand. This visit was not breaking that record, but she hoped this would be the only one needed. She appreciated the department as a whole, but like all places, it had rotten personalities. 

And now weirdos like Dick Dick. She snorted at the little nickname she had for the detective she was working with on the claim case. “Well, I guess he really isn’t all that bad. There are weirder people in this city, like criminals with themes.” The mumbled words were hers alone to hear as she rocked her head side to side to ease the tension before walking in. The ‘enthusiastic’ receptionist barely moved when pointing to a hall of doors, she eventually found her way to the right place and was led to an interview room. 

“Y/N, good morning, glad you could make it.” The young detective flashed her a swoon worthy grin. She was not sure if he was trying to charm or disarm, so she gave a small polite smile back.

“Well, it was either come or possibly have a warrant out for my arrest for fraud. As dull as everyday life can be, I like not having a noose around my neck. Plus, my boss would fire me, and I lack a sugar daddy for that luxury.” The casual shrug was in stark contrast to the wide-eyed shock that currently adorned the face of the handsome detective. His brows were so high that they were slightly covered by his bangs that swept across his forehead. “Everything ok?”

“No-yes, sorry, yes. I was just trying to figure out if that was a good morning or something else.”

“Did I forget to say good morning? Where are my manners, good morning…and now you can tack all that I said after that.” She said with a triumphant smile, taking a seat. “Have a seat, let’s get this statement down, and I’ll be out of your well-kept hair and back to grinding coffee beans and whipping up crazy drinks for overly privileged teens.” She motioned to the seat that was clearly meant for him to take. 

The corners of his mouth twitched as he pulled out the chair and angled it to face her better. He was thrown off. This was good for her, a little victory for her in all this. It was only fair that he be equally thrown as she, a normal Gothomite, would feel while in a room like this. “I’m guessing your dream job isn’t being a barista.” He chuckled.

“What job could be more satisfying than slaving away in a tiny spot with a few others, a single counter keeping you from the rabid coffee-addicted zombies that come rushing in impossible demands that they don’t even know they want?” She raised a brow at him, her voice was flat and dry. He chuckled again.

“You make a valid point, working for the public is not fun.” He briefly raised his hands, palms facing her, before resting on the table again. “Shall we get started then? As you know, this meeting will be recorded. It’s nothing serious, just formality and procedure. We can stop whenever you want, you’re not under arrest or being interrogated.” He placed a tape recorder on the table between them and clicked the red button. “If you don’t have any questions, we can begin.”

“Oh, one question Dick Dick, Nightwing gave me a tip that evening, do I need to hand that over to you as part of the claim or do I just keep it as a usual tip from a customer?”

Dick Grayson sat frozen in place, the reels of the tape slowly turning as it caught all of her words. This was the second time today that this odd young woman rendered him speechless, but this time was different. He was not sure if he should be laughing at her words or at himself. She had not said anything wrong, and he knew that. It was informal, possibly derogatory to some, and very old-fashioned. It was something he never expected, and yet he knew he was at fault for forgetting he was currently speaking with the very young woman who had his usually grumpy little brother even grumpier than usual. 

But did she actually say that on purpose, or was that a slip of the tongue? She was calling me Detective Grayson up until now. Did I miss something? I can see why he’s all knotted up, she really knows how to throw a guy. He watched the slow realization of her words dawning on her. Her eyes widening, her back going straight as she sat taller, and her jaw silently opening and closing until words finally started coming out. A series of apologies and reassurances that she had no ill intentions.

“Can you strike that from the record? Like erase it?”

“I can have it stricken from the transcript, yes, but not from the audio recording, no. That’s, that’s going to be staying on here forever. It’ll just be disregarded, since we’re officially marking it as struck from the record.” He swallowed the laughter that threatened to take over him as she slumped forward with her face hidden in her hands. Her words were low and muffled, but he was certain he heard a few more apologies in there before she forced herself back up and looked at him. “As for your question, a tip is a tip. You said you gave them coffee, they decided to give you a tip. It’s got nothing to do with the claim, since all that’s being asked to be covered is the restoration of the window. Now, shall we officially begin?”

As soon as the interview had concluded, Y/N was out the door before anything else could be said, mostly by her. The last thing she needed was for the detective to try to pry out anything more embarrassing from her. Her heart rammed into her chest as her mind so mercifully replayed her words and the look of horror that came across Detective Grayson’s normally jovial expression on an infinite loop. The flirtatious cop had shrunk away, and the look had to be disgusted, what else would he feel after someone called him something so utterly ridiculous. Regardless of his highly unprofessional dalliances, he never actually crossed a line with her. She, who kept it completely professional throughout the time, had blown everything up to the high heavens.

Because clearly, my mind is willing to give up the idiotic things that come to me, for free. Slapping a hand over her eyes, rubbing up and down a few times before combing her fingers through her hair. “Don’t say it, Y/N, don’t say it. If you say it, something worse will happen.” Climbing up the steps of the bus, she quickly took one of the few available seats and plugged in her earbuds. She sank into the uncomfortable seat, actively pushing the mortifying memory that would haunt her for the rest of her days, as she increased the volume. With her favorite playlist playing on shuffle, she mindlessly went through her phone and realized she was now staring at the old text conversation between her and her ‘capeless crusader’. Automatically, her thumb moved to close the screen, but the finger hesitated. It hovered between tapping back to her home screen and the input box in the chat. 

Maybe he’s a bigger dumbass and thinks I’m happy he’s out of my hair? She bit her lower lip as she warred with what to do. There’s no harm in texting, right? What’s the worst that can happen? He doesn’t read or leaves me on read? He wasn’t the best at texting right away with his work schedule. Not only that, but he could be busy. She reasoned in favor of him. “What do I even text him? It’s not like I’m living an exciting life.” She grumbled when one word from the chat came into focus. 

<Hey, I know this is late, but thanks again for helping me out. I let my brain just shut down and enjoy the first few days of debt-free life. The brownies you made were amazing. Didn’t peg you as the baking type. Books, bikes, and now baking? You’re a triple B threat, Boy Wounder. Are you still planning that meet up, or should I quash my hopes before they’re dashed?> She reread the message several times, tweaking the tiniest of things. It got to the point that she was getting frustrated herself and just hit the arrow to send and shoved the phone into her pocket. It was done and there was nothing more she could do except wait for would inevitably feel like an eternity or will actually be an eternity, if he decided not to reply. Nothing to worry about, but why would her mind side with logic? Today was to be a day of mental anguish, all thanks to herself.

Tags:

@vbecker10 @wordsfromshona @harlequin-hangout @harpy-space @tild3ath @gone-batty-fics @princessbl0ss0m @dakotall @antiquecultist

[petew21-blog]

Could you do an Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland body swap

Friendly neighborhood Peter

Andrew P.OV.

We have just finished the last of the promon pictures for our new upcoming movie for Marvel. What a great and nostalgic ride that was. It has been years since I last wore this costume on set and I have to say I miss it. It makes me sad that some stupid conflict many years ago ended our third movie, which could've been amazing.

Tobey has left to meet with Kirsten. Me and Tom were left alone together to chat about our lives. What a great kid, he's so talented. It's hard for me to admit that, but I envy him. The attention is nice, I won't deny that, but I just loved making those movies. I would do anything to trade with him. Does that sound mad? Sorry. Another daydreaming episode. I have to think about my own life again now.

Tom's P.O.V.

I want to stay here and talk to Andrew about acting and working as an actor for the role of Spider-man. I truly do. But I am already nervous about all the paparazzi out there. Recently they have made my life horrible. I haven't had privacy for years. I am proud for the movies and the work we all have put into them, but the other side of this is just exhausting. Andrew says, that I should enjoy it while it last, that fame fades out and the work eventually gets finished. Maybe it's too selfish at this point, but I would like it to end. I would do anything to trade with Andrew and have a kind of life he has.

The two "Peter Parkers" had no idea what it meant for them that night. Just a stupid simple wish at the back of their head. Well, someone is lucky today.

Tom's P.O.V.

Either this is a very bizarre dream or someone did a very elaborate prank on me. I am looking at Andrew. But I am looking in the mirror, where usually my reflection stares back at me. How is this even possible?

I calm down and after a while I get out of bed. I am in Andrew's apartement. His place looks nice, neat, surprisingly. I take off a shirt and put it on. While sliding it on my new torso. I notice my new biceps. Damn, Andrew, you're not so bad. I thought you gave up body-building. But this is quite nice.

The exploring didn't stop there. I dropped my or (Andrew's?) boxers to get a nice view. I was welcomed by a hairy co 7 inch long dick. Not bad again Andrew. I started to jerk it. While enjoying the body of a 40 year old in a great shape, some woman came into the room and with no expression just said:"If you wanna come to the premiere you gotta speed up and get dressed. Be ready in 30"

Oh shit. Was that his girlfriend? Or maybe a manager. I don't know what is worse. The indifference or the fact she saw me like this.

I might have some explaining to do when I see Andrew in my body at the premiere.

Andrew's P.O.V.

What was weirder, I didn't recognize my body. I had bigger muscles, lean chest and nice 6 pack. I could even feel the stench of a younger body. Even my skin was visible younger.

I got up from the bed to find out that this body sleeps naked in bed.

I went to the nearest mirror. Holy shit. It's Tom

I was shocked at first, but then I remembered what I thought about last night. Maybe, this is a way from the universe to show me if I truly hate my life or if this is the life for me.

I went back to bed to rest. Well... maybe not rest, but whatever. It's nobody's bussiness how many times I have jerked off Tom's dick. It's also nobody's bussiness to ask how long was I in the shower afterwards and if the scream were of pain or pleasure

Shit. I love Tom's style. His wardrobe is filled with such nice clothes. I don't even know what to pick. Even showing of his abs looks amazingly stylish

Andrew and Tom bumped into each other right in front of the journalists.

"How you feeling man?"

"Young! And the best I have felt in years. Your body was a nice surprise. How are you holding on?"

"Well, I have to say that I can't complain either. I mean, you have a much more calmer life than I do. Wouldn't mind if we had this for a few weeks."

"Oh, I don't think I would mind either. It would be an honor for me to take care of your life Tom"

"Don't call me like that now, TOM! People might think you're on drugs. Haha. And yeah, let's make it a deal. We don't even know how to swap back, but when we do find out we swap back on our own terms. Deal?"

"Deal!"

The two of them embraced each other in a hug and laughed about it

This couldn't have worked out better for the two of them

[nebbyy]

A list of my most unpopular ASOIAF opinions and theories

Please remember this is all based on the books alone, and there also might be SPOILERS for Fire and Blood and the Game of Thrones book series.

ALSO I might open the requests for Game of Thrones fics and headcanons, and maybe for Baldur's Gate as well once I get back into it.

Okayyy so here we gooo.

1. Maegor's story doesn't add up

Don't get me wrong, he must've obviously been a horrible king and a shitty husband, but reading the chapters that talk about him in Blood and Fire, it all just felt like a list of rumours and versions of all nefarious crimes he would've committed. There are about five versions of whatever he did with each wife of his, each of them more depraved than the one before.

Again, I don't think he was an angel or anything, but my theory is that his history was written by biased sources. His reign was made illicit by Jaehaerys, so it would've been in his best interest to have him remembered as nothing more than a viscious monster.

It's a form of "damnatio memoriae" that we've already seen, in a way, with Mushroom and the Dance of Dragons. When in a conflict, and especially after a victory, each side wants to depict the side they beat as badly as possible Caesar did a similar thing in "De Bello Gallico", the book about his conquest of the modern French and Swiss territories. In this book he excuses his conquest with the supposed preparations for an attack by the Helvetians, a fact that was proven to be misinterpreted as it was a mere pacific migration. And again, he did the same thing when he accused them of cannibalising each other while being under siege, another untrue fact made up to just make them seem worse.

So in a way, Maegor's reputation could've been made worse by following historians to legitimate Jaehaerys' reign over Aerea's claim.

2. Incest has no effects on Valyrians

Okay, this is a bit weirder. My theory is that Valyrians practised incest because it had no effect on their offspring.

Looking at the Targaryen family tree, I noticed that the cases of madness increase the more Targaryens marry with other houses. Baelor the Blessed was the first mad Targaryen, and he had a grandmother of house Harte and a great grandmother who was half Arryn.

Before Baelor, Helaena is questionably considered mad as well, which would prove my theory furthermore had it not been for the amount of trauma she endured in her life so I'm honestly not gonna count her as "mad". Rhaegel Rargaryen was the second confirmed mad Targaryen, with a Martell mother; his daughter Aelora is questionably considered mad too, and her mother is an Arryn.

Aerion Brightflame was another mad Targaryen, with a half Martell father and a Dayne mother. The last two mad Targaryens were Aerys II and Viserys III, but at this point, the bloodline was mixed with others enough to make the Targaryen madness an unpredictable factor.

3. There is no good or bad in the Dance of Dragons

So I think we could theorise that Valyrians can perform incest so long as it remains within pure Valyrian blood.

Edit: some of you have pointed out how there were other signs of incest complications in the Targaryen family such as malformities and stillborn babies. I really am no biologist and I don't want to dwell into that "Valyrian race supremacy" craziness, but those cases are once again always correlated to marriages between Targaryens and other houses, for example all of Maegor's stillborn and unborn children (as 5 out of his 6 wives were not Targaryens/Valyrians) or the following cases.

Rhaenyra had a claim on the throne because of Viserys' will, but Aegon had a claim on the throne because of the laws of Westeros themselves. You can argue that Alicent wasn't the nicest stepmother, yet you can't look me in the face and tell me a woman in the middle ages married to a KING to whom she had given THREE SONS wouldn't complain when the king dismisses all of them and their claims in favor of his firstborn daughter.

Otto may have manipulated Alicent, but that was just how a Lord was supposed to act in that situation: have her marry the best candidate (the king), have her birth at least a son (she did) and make sure those children are first in line for the throne (as it should be, by the laws).

Viserys shouldn't have remarried if he already had his heir, period.

At the same time, Rhaenyra had every reason to fight for her claim and try and go against the actual laws of Westeros, but it was inevitable that many would've seen badly her attempt at claiming what was Aegon's birthright.

Lucerys was an asshole for mutilating Aemond and never showed remorse, quite the opposite. Aemond was an asshole who shouldn't have had all the power he had, plus I hardly believe his and Alys relationship was really consensual so there's that..

In the end, they all had their rights and wrongs, but that doesn't matter at all. The only point about the Dance is the fact that a pointless conflict led to the downfall of one of the strongest families in Westeros history.

4. Rhaegar didn't love Lyanna

I hate the series for making them marry. Like, seriously, have D&D ever read the books? Have they not read what happened between Maegor and the Faith when he took another wife??

Never, not even in the most twisted of universes, would the faith let Rhaegar kidnap and marry a Stark girl while he was still married to Elia. That just wouldn't be plausible.

And I also don't think he'd just fall in love at first sight with a random girl at a tournament. She was a beautiful soul and had many qualities, but she had nothing that could truly make a man throw away his whole life to pursue her.

He needed another child. The dragon has three heads. He had Rhaenys and Aegon, but Visenya was missing (I just made up the name for the third possible child considering he was naming them after the three conquerors lmao). He needed Lyanna to have that third child, and he knew how to get her to get what he wanted.

Perhaps we'll find out this isn't true. Perhaps Rhaegar really was head over heels for Lyanna, but I honestly really really doubt it.

5. There is no certainty on who the Prince that was Promised is

No matter what the show wants us to see, we still don't know who it is. It could be Daenerys, it could be Jon, it could even be Stannis and we're not gonna know it until Martin reveals it.

I honestly think Daenerys is Azor Ahai, but I'm still curious to see why we would need to revive Jon then. And considering Stannis' sword possibly being Azor Ahai's sword, is it a fake one made by Melisandre to get what she wanted from him, or does he actually possess the original sword?

Well, these are the first theories and opinions I could think of right now, I might post more in the future. Again, please don't slander me in the comments, these are just my personal opinions and I respect all others.

[nomoreusername]

Bless You

Pairing:Newt x female reader

Summary:After crawling through the vents you end up meeting a cute British boy.

Aris and I are the only ones left from our Maze. We've been told all of our friends are safe and happy. We'd believe it if we were complete idiots.

Now we spend our nights on look-out for any clues we can find. Any possible escape routes, our friends, or ideas of where the bodies go is quickly noted.

"I swear we're just going to fall through these things one day,"I mumbled, crawling next to my friend.

"That isn't even funny."

"It wasn't supposed to be. I'm just adding more terror to this already horrifying place. Maybe you can put it in your list of fears."

"We have enough of those,"He pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'm just saying-"

"Stop,"He hushed, putting his hand out. I gave him a questioning look, but he only shook his head.

"Go back,"He mouthed, pointing behind us. This was understandably confusing and irritating, but I didn't ask him about it. I'm sure I'd get an explanation later.

Apparently, that came sooner than I would have hoped. Someone sneezed, and I did probably the most idiotic thing in my life.

"Bless you,"I said, absentmindedly. Aris looked at me in disbelief. It was then that it clicked in my mind how much I just messed up.

"What? Who's there?"Someone asked.

"Let's go,"He mouthed again.

"What if we just see who they are?"I suggested.

"No. Go back now."

There was the rustling of bedsheets. Aris was silently begging me to leave. I know I probably should, but maybe we could trust this stranger.

Actually, now that I'm thinking it through that's a bad idea. Quickly but quietly we got ready to leave.

Everything next happened in a flash. The vent cover was off, and some strange boy climbed from his bunk into the ceiling. We all sat there staring at each other. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion while I just was frozen with wide eyes.

"Who are you two?"He asked after a minute of dead silence. While there are a thousand other questions probably running through his head that's probably the most obvious one.

"You're dreaming,"I blurted out. Aris gave an exasperated sigh from next to me.

"No. I've definitely seen you before, and I doubt I'd dream of strangers."

"I'm just the girl of your dreams,"I shrugged.

"Y/N, you are terrible at excuses. Listen, I'm Aris, that's Y/N, and we're just trying to figure some things out."

"Are you taking a bloody midnight stroll through the vents?"The boy asked. It was clear now that he had an accent. It was strangely nice to listen to. That's probably not something most people would think about when a stranger is sitting across from them in a vent, but nothing about this situation is normal. There's no way any thought could make this weirder than it is.

"We're doing some things. Before I explain why we're in a death trap do you want to tell us your name?"I asked, tired of referring to him as stranger in my mind.

"What?"He asked quickly.

"Y/N, that's a terrible thing to say,"Aris scolded.

"It's the truth. Now tell us your name stranger,"I repeated.

"I'm Newt. Now what are you talking about?"

"I like your name. Well, since you've disturbed our mission we'll explain tomorrow. Meet us at our table. You'll find it in no time."

"But-"

"So long Newt. Have a great sleep,"I said before he could get another word out. Judging by the paranoid expression on his face I don't think that's happening, but we pretended not to see as we made our way back to our rooms.

"Seriously Y/N? That's the way we get caught? Because you said bless you?"Aris whispered.

"It's a reflex. It's not my fault I have manners,"I defended.

"We know nothing about him. He could think we're insane."

"We know his name is Newt,"I reminded him.

"That's not what I meant. Tonight think of how we explain this to him. I'll do the same. I'll see you tomorrow Y/N."

"Will do. Goodnight Aris,"I responded, before making my final stop of the night.

Carefully dropping into my top bunk I laid down and stared at the ceiling. All the while I thought more about the random boy I had just met. Something tells me the mysterious blonde with a cute accent will believe us just fine.

[mintawasalreadytaken]

i saw in ur pinned post that ur into horror & am curious if you’ve extended that into fics at all? do you have recommendations?

i recently got SLIGHTLY into drarry + horror-ish vibes in fics and only read a few but i fell in LOVE with “Yours Is The Earth (Hold On, Hold On)” by chickenlivesinpumpkin - and it was like just the right amount of fucked up & just the right amount of like ‘holy shit??? DAMN’ with normal drarry in it.

was wondering if u had any similiar spooky time recs for drarry fics- maybe??

(‘: thank u so much ( ur works are so large they scare me a bit but i’ve bookmarked them for a less coward me in the future )

🦇 SPOOKY DRARRY RECS! 👹

hullo and THANK YOU for this rec! i am dearly thankful to get 100k+ of deliciously dark writing to sink into!

unfortunately, while i know i've read some really great drarry horror, it's lost to my AO3 history instead of bookmarked, so i'll be damned if i could remember or find any of it ☠️ my bad.

instead, i asked some fandom buds for their spooky drarry favs. in no particular order, here they are:

🔪 cruel blade by @wheezykat

Drowning in his grief after the murder of his husband, Draco will do anything to bring him back.

But this is not Harry. This is something else entirely.

🧠 mastermind by @schmem14

Draco Malfoy has been with Hermione Granger, is currently dating Harry Potter, and he's determined to have Ron Weasley at any cost. He has to complete his set of three, after all…

🌊 saltwater stain by @the-starryknight

Seven days stuck on a boat investigating a rogue ghost wouldn't be so bad if Harry didn't want Draco so much. Draco has his rules and Harry's content to follow them, but the air feels different away from the shore. Is it possible that the sea could offer Harry something impossible on land?

📚 i demand a soft epilogue by @the-starryknight

James didn't arrive on the Hogwarts Express, and so Harry hasn't slept in a week. Something has brought him back to the stoop outside a building marked "Library" in gold letters. He's going to go inside. Maybe the Librarian can help.

🩸 in our blood by @secretsalex-blog

Draco is an accomplished pure-blood curse breaker, and Harry is tasked with accompanying him on his latest job—cleaning up the Van Boer mansion, which has been under a devastating fertility curse for seven generations.

🎃 the other cottage by @corvuscrowned If Pansy wasn’t shagging Ginny Weasley, Draco would never have been dragged to Luna’s ridiculous Halloween party in the first place - meaning he wouldn't be sitting in the corner of the room with Harry Potter all night.

But when a strange comet passes overhead, things start to get even weirder than usual.

As the night unfolds, Harry and Draco are forced to grapple with strange realities, reckon with new sides of themselves, and find their way back before the comet finishes crossing the sky.

👻 on the last day by @thusspoketrish

Draco is still mourning the recent loss of his mother when the Wizarding World is struck with the tragic news of Harry Potter’s untimely death. It’s just his luck that Potter not only comes back as a ghost, but seems intent on haunting Draco as he’s the only one that can see him. It’s a race against time to retrace the last few days of Potter’s life in order to find his body before he’s lost to the living or spiritual realm forever. On their journey, they’ll uncover secrets, betrayals, and a horrific truth that will disrupt both the living and the dead.

🏚️ the manor by @kittycargo

There was something wrong with the Manor.

✨bonus points / non-Drarry✨

🐓 tidewracked, sidetracked by @vukovich (Luna/Theo)

A Cursed professor. An attractive Cursebreaker. A hut that grew chicken legs and rampaged around Hogwarts.

☁️ flour & flesh by anon (Pansy/Hermione) The cottage on the hill is shrouded in clouds like a secret. Our secret. In some muggle neighborhood lore, I’m sure we’re the witches inside, granting a glimpse of the future in exchange for a rusted penny. And no one else could find us unless they knew the way.

i'll shamelessly self-rec my whumptober collection and this erotic body horror fic replete with puns for you to sample as well.

do you have a fav spooky drarry fic to share? leave your recs in the comments/links in a reblog!

thx to @prolix- @kittycargo @the-starryknight @fictional @schmem14 @nv-md @citrusses @vukovich & @kittycargo for the recs xo

[doctorbunny]

MILGRAM T3 Wildcard predictions

Theories are fun but I'm also a daydreamer, so I invite you to see my wildest predictions I have Zero Concrete Evidence for, not all of these are good but they are things I've thought of:

Haruka's plan is going to immediately go wrong before it begins because he's going to try attacking Jackalope (since all the prisoner's think he's just Es' pet rabbit) and end up maimed/killed

Haruka and/or Muu will have apparently died at the start of T3, and all the prisoners are going to be pissed at Es for it, then about halfway through the season, Jackalope is going to drag them back to milgram, revealing that they discovered the MILGRAM exit (as teased at the end of the second novel) but escaping milgram isn't so simple (Kotoko may also know about the exit but was stopped before she could fake her death/use it and just stayed quiet since she doesn't like the others) Haruka and Muu's MV/interro will end up being later in the season than normal because of this

Bonus points if the milgram exit leads you to: An endlessly vast landscape that you can wander through forever lost without a Jackalope guide to show you the way; the moon; a replica of the Titanic's sister ship in the middle of the Nevada desert; MILGRAM HQ; or the college Yale

I've talked about it before but I think Kotoko is going to get attacked by Shidou, Mikoto's amnesia may be exploited to frame him for it (since attacking Kotoko in Mahiru's room seems to have lead him to mistakenly believing he's the reason Mahiru is so injured even though no one else has even brought up the possibility he attacked her) and it'll be a test of whether Kazui will tell the truth or keep the cover up going

I've got a few different Mahiru ones: 1) Shidou stops being able to give her care, but then that mysteriously causes her to recover more than when she was under his treatment 2) She is revealed to be pregnant or even gives birth. It is either the fault of Shidou or an immaculate conception (I'm sure weirder stuff has happened in milgram) Yuno helps take care of her/the baby and for better or worse it causes her a lot of complicated feelings

Bonus points if it turns out Es was also originally a milgram baby and got raised by jackalopes or something for the day they could be used in an experiment (Also cue the dramatic custody battle for this child)

Someone is going to try attacking Amane before she can attack Shidou and she'll narrowly escape, implied that it was only possible because she wasn't restricted by a second guilty vote

Either she or Fuuta will stop the attack by revealing a weapon hidden in her backpack (in T1 me and Gunsli speculated she could have a gun but based on her T2 MV it could be the purge march taser)

Especially if Fuuta is the one to defend her I think there's a chance of the attacker dying/being seriously injured and that'll be traumatic for them both but especially Fuuta since his murder was more hands off originally and now he's actually hurt someone

Es confronts the prisoners on their future plans: If they are spared what will Life After MILGRAM be for them?

Shidou makes moves to take in Es and/or Amane but neither of them want to live with him because he has no respect for them as human beings and not just Children™

[wallbeatjournal]

If they'd have chosen to just be straight up about it, when in the canon timeline do you think is the most likely place narratively for hirarchie to have gone sexual?

i've said before i think season 2 is already a grooming narrative with a subtextual consummation, but if i'm actually script-doctoring what we've got across the whole series to have hirarchie fuck nasty as a shocking and trashy and high-aesthetic plot development, i'm going to argue that it's more satisfying if we don't have an explicit archie cheating plot at this stage in the story. it works better as an emotional affair. (saying this bc to the characters i think it would be first and foremost about the complication of cheating, not bc that's the biggest problem with hiram/archie.)

imo riverdale should have done it as a mid-seasons escalation in season four. give us a season or two to really sit with how unhinged and obsessed hiram is about archie and then decode it in the worst and most extreme bad taste like the second archie turns 18.

putting my season 4 hirarchie proposal below the cut since it got quite long:

the s4 dodger plot is...extremely uneven and feels a bit cobbled-together on the fly by a writing team grappling with the death of luke perry and the in-universe death of fred andrews, and whether it would be respectful to keep being super weird about hiram in the wake of all that. but there are still useful components in the dodger arc - archie is the oliver twist in the oliver twist riff happening*, a boy "orphaned" without reliably engaged, aware parents who was groomed into criminality and doesn't see a way out without a wealthy benefactor. lean into that!

it can happen as hiram starts working out at archie's gym, mysteriously ill in a dickensian sort of way. riverdale's favorite weird incestuous overtones come into play especially hard if we're considering season four hirarchie, when it can really only be largely about fred for archie and holding on to/deepening a relationship with the sometimes-father-figure he has left. archie has been trying so hard to be a good brick in this monument of fred's legacy but it feels impossible because the only tools that come naturally are violence and sexuality and appealing to benefactors, so why not get a little nihilistic-horny with it.

he's also frankly already being a pretty bad boyfriend to veronica this season, it's stale, they're bickering, they don't have emotional intimacy the way he used to have emotional intimacy with hiram during what he probably still unfortunately remembers as their best days......i just don't think he'd be guilt-ridden about fuck-nastying veronica's dad at this point the way he would have been in season 2 when fred's cheating was the big looming legacy beat to avert and goodboyism seemed like an achievable and real thing archie could prove to others.

this is also i think when indulging in fuck-nasty hirarchie would be least damaging/difficult an option for hiram - he's ill and wants to feel vital again, he's ill and he wants archie to remember and honor him when he's gone the way he remembers and lionizes fred (he knows this isn't possible and that makes him resentful and apt to grasp at another form of intimacy that wasn't available to fred). he's feeling aggression towards his daughter, who is leaving him (by going to college) as much as he might be leaving her (by dying of a mysterious illness). it's a big complicated sick emotional motivations stew and both archie and hiram are looking at getting left behind to cook in it while the rest of the core four move forward in life.

and it would be hot. archie and hiram in the gym "personal training" (gone sexual) with weird grief-hate-reconciliation-validation sex would be hot. archie and hiram doing vigilante violence and then making out in sketchy alleys would be hot. are you kidding me?

all of this would make archie even weirder about hiram's illness and tenser in discussions with veronica about what to do about hiram's illness, and i do think barcheating would still happen - it's escapism/avoidance from what's going on within varchie, it's escapism/avoidance from what's going on within hirarchie, and archie is primed to be impulsive. so we still get barcheating fallout but MORE.

does veronica find out archie hooked up with her dad when they all thought her dad was dying? maybe! maybe she feels more sorrow and guilt (irrationally, about being the conduit bringing hiram into archie's life in the first place) than personal betrayal. or maybe she does feel very betrayed and that's an additional factor in everything (especially archie choosing to run away to the military. sorry everyone i know i've disappointed you all deeply and am very fucked up. instead of talking it out i will simply Leave).

all of this fuck-nastyism of course would make hiram's reaction to the barcheating that much more intense and outsized. veronica was feeling her relationship with archie wane already but hiram was IN IT. he's getting well, he's fighting again, he's offered archie a job, archie is about to be his main special interest while veronica and hermione drift and archie would CHEAT on him?? he's only supposed to be cheating WITH him!!!!

and then we segue into season 5 post-timejump when the riveradults are all kind of weird with each other but moving through it, and hiram has been behaving like a jilted ex throwing a temper tantrum for 7 years. and he will certainly continue.

*i think everyone notices but the dickinson crew is mostly named in reference to the gang of thieves who adopts and trains oliver - the artful dodger, fagan, bill. intertextuality, yippee!

[steddieas-shegoes]

For the requested writing: Jancy apologizing to Steve for the things they did; Jonathan for taking the photos without consent & Nancy for the harshness of her words at Tina's party. And Steve realizing that someone (you can choose however you want but for some reason I really want it to be Mike) gave them a reality check on how inappropriate their actions were.

MY HEART MY LOVE LIGHT OF MY LIFE!!! This was really intriguing, and I wanted to give Mike a little redemption that he deserves and the Duffer brothers better give him or I will riot. I didn't quite make Steve have the realization because I don't think he would get there within the time span of a conversation (bless his heart he isn't always keeping up with the people around him), but I hope this works for you :) - Mickala ❤️

-----------------------------------------------------

Steve was hallucinating. He had to be.

The concussions had finally caught up to him.

Jonathan had only been back in town for a day, there was no reason for him to be standing on his doorstep, especially not with a nervous looking Nancy next to him.

There was too much chaos still happening in the wake of Vecna, too many things left unknown. They were all supposed to be resting so they could get back together as a group, come up with a plan as a group, win as a group.

But he hadn’t gotten any rest. He didn’t think any of them had.

But he still didn’t expect to see these two at his door.

He looked behind them to see if any of the kids were with them, suddenly more nervous when he realized they were alone.

Had something else happened?

“Can we come in?”

“Uh, sure.”

Steve opened the door to let them in.

Dustin promised to radio if there were any changes with Eddie at the hospital, so it couldn’t be that. Hopper was doing near-constant rounds, already driving by Steve’s house three times in the last 24 hours to ensure he was safe. If a message needed to get to him, he would have told him on one of those stops.

He closed the door when they were inside, nodding for them to continue to the living room to sit on the couch.

He didn’t remember the last time either of them had been inside his house. Even when Nancy dropped off Mike for hangouts with the kids, she didn’t usually hang around to chat.

He preferred it that way.

And after the way they had sort of awkwardly flirted against his best judgment in the Upside Down, he definitely didn’t want whatever this is.

He told Nancy after that it was just a heat of the moment thing, that she was kind of just there, that he was past that point of his life and had feelings for someone else.

That someone else being the guy currently still suspected of murder in a coma in the hospital.

They sat on the couch while Steve took the armchair.

They stared at him.

He stared back.

“So we came here to say something.”

“...okay?”

“We both wanted to apologize,” Nancy said on an exhale.

Jonathan nodded along.

Steve was confused.

They hadn’t done anything. At least not that he was aware of. Now he was worried they’d hid something from him.

Was Eddie dead?

“Steve? Hey, it’s okay man,” Jonathan said, starting to stand up from his spot.

“I’m sorry for what I said at the party!” Nancy said quickly.

Now, Steve was even more confused, if that were possible.

He hadn’t been to a party in ages, not since…

“When I said we were bullshit, I didn’t mean that. I shouldn’t have put my pain on you like that when you just wanted to try to get through your own pain. I knew you were doing your best and I chose what would hurt you the most and I’m sorry.”

Steve felt like he was probably making a hell of a face right now. Couldn’t even begin to know what it was doing.

And then it got weirder when Jonathan spoke.

“And I’m sorry for playing a huge role in all of that. I shouldn’t have taken the pictures, I shouldn’t have fought you, I shouldn’t have tried to make a move on Nance when she was still with you. I’m so sorry.”

“Um.”

Steve didn’t really know what to say or do. Sure, it was nice hearing an apology from them, especially because he still hated hearing the word bullshit and anytime he thought about how quickly Nancy moved on to be with Jonathan he wanted to cry.

But he kind of didn’t know what to do with it? It’d been long enough and he’d moved on mostly.

He thought he had anyway.

“Mike told us you still seemed kind of stuck on it?”

“Mike did what?”

“Don’t be upset with him. He just said that it seemed like you couldn’t find happiness with Robin because of being stuck on everything that happened with us. He was just looking out for you.”

Mike didn’t even like Steve. He practically hated him. And he definitely didn’t care if he was upset about something his sister did.

Did he?

“He’s been worried about you for a while. Said you seemed off for the last few months.”

Once the kids settled into their first year of high school, he hadn’t seen them very often. They were busy with school of course, but they also found their groups and extracurriculars. The only one who visited on his own was Dustin and that became rarer the more time he spent at Hellfire.

“Mike was worried about me?”

Nancy and Jonathan gave each other a look, then turned back to Steve.

“Yeah. Should he be?”

“No. No. Just surprised is all. He’s never liked me much.”

Nancy smiled.

“He doesn’t really like anyone. He’s the moodiest teenager I’ve ever met,” Nancy replied, fondness in her voice. “But he knows how to care about people he loves. I guess you made it on the list.”

“Huh. Weird.”

“So are we good? You think you can let it go enough to be with Robin?” Jonathan asked, hopeful smile pointed at Steve.

“I can promise you nothing will get me to be with Robin.”

They clearly weren’t expecting that response.

“What? But you guys are perfect for each other!”

Nancy was standing now, pacing back and forth like she was going to explode if she stood still.

“I mean, we’re definitely perfect friends for each other. But nothing more. Not ever.”

“Does she not feel the same for you?”

“Neither of us feel that way about each other.”

“No way!” Jonathan exclaimed. “You guys are always together.”

“We work together. I’m her ride everywhere. We’re best friends.”

“But…”

“Plus, I’m currently working on some feelings for someone else. Someone I never thought I’d even be friends with, let alone like.”

“Who?”

Nancy was a naturally curious person and it would kill her not to know.

But Steve wasn’t quite ready for anyone to know. He would tell Eddie if, no, when, he woke up. Then he’d tell a few others.

Maybe.

“I’ll tell you when I can talk to them first.”

Nancy’s brows furrowed as she considered who that could possibly be, but Jonathan just nodded, accepting Steve’s answer for what it was.

The radio went off from the coffee table, making Steve jump out of the chair.

“Steve! Come in Steve! Over.”

“I’m here! What?”

“He’s awake! Over.”

Shit.

“Be there in 10!”

“You gotta say over man. Over.”

“Sure. Over.”

He looked up to see Nancy and Jonathan looking at him with knowing smirks.

“Guess you better go see Eddie.”

“Probably should talk to him, too.”

Steve blushed but nodded.

“I will.” He leaned in to give them both quick hugs. “Um. Thank you guys. I accept the apologies.”

They followed him out the door and got in Jonathan’s car, probably heading back to check in with Hopper.

Steve got in his car, buckled his seatbelt, and took a deep breath.

Time to move forward.

[mins-fins]

five chronicles — ricky shen

the five most important moments of their relationship in ricky's eyes.

tags :: ricky shen x m!reader , chronological but also non-chronological , ricky is super in love , specific descriptions bc i love them , ricky-centric , reader is a bundle of joy , they're made for each other , fluff start angst end

ONE. ( their first interaction )

of course, meeting someone for the first time is an important staple in any new relationship, but on a survival show, it's way weirder.

ricky wasn't really close to anyone but his fellow yuehua trainees, and he didn't even know if he would make friends, due to how awkward he was. he wasn't even sure what was going on when y/n first approached him.

now y/n, y/n is very pretty, like— super pretty, all ricky could do when he was talking to him was stare at his face, there seemed to be absolutely no mistakes on it, like he was carved by the gods.

"hi! ricky right?"

ricky pauses for a moment, clearing his throat as he gathers his thoughts. "um, yeah, yeah that's me" he responds, sounding much more awkward than he wanted to.

the unknown boy smiles. "sato y/n, it's nice to meet you!" he extends his hand for ricky to shake, and he takes it, noticing the major difference in their hand temperatures.

"i watched your introduction video, your very hilarious".

ricky feels his face burn red, he doesn't know for what, though. he just wasn't used to such words from random pretty boys, but he genuinely finds the compliment endearing.

"i.. thank you" he says, voice much lower than he intended. "that's very nice of you".

"ah, it's really no problem, complimenting people is just a second nature to me".

ricky simply laughs, waving his hand. "it's fine, i just admire your nice nature".

it was weird for someone to just walk up to him out of the blue, compliment him out of nowhere. ricky only really received compliments from his parents' friends, or random people on the street, not someone so much like him.

he always thanks himself in his head that y/n had approached him, because he didn't even realize how much of a turn his life would take from this point.

TWO. ( dream team )

"ah, were on the same team! how exciting!"

y/n comments unconsciously, addressing ricky, he doesn't look to him though, which confuses ricky greatly. he looks towards the male, who just rocks back and forth, whistling.

"you were talking to me?"

"yeah" he responds, smiling politely at the shen. ricky simply blinks, eyes stuck on his figure. he can't help but stare, he's pretty, super pretty, he has this soft smile on his lips and his brown eyes look like they hold universes in them.

is it bad to stare? he might look like he's glaring, and that would just be a field day for all those mnet editors. he sighs and looks away, putting his hands behind his back.

they were on the same team, performing back door by stray kids. it was safe to say that ricky was nervous, but y/n seemed to be confident. ricky wanted to have that kind of attitude, but he just couldn't.

he found his hands shaking almost constantly, his stomach felt all over the place, and as he found himself backstage, he felt his fight or flight instincts kick in as he almost bolted away.

"jesus, are you cold?"

"no, i'm worried" he admits rather openly. y/n hums at the words, understanding.

"you have nothing to worry about, your going to do great" he whispers, and though ricky wants to believe the words, there's this thing that just makes him not want to.

"i want to believe that, but i can't".

"you can't?"

his hands start shaking almost faster as he's asked that question. they're up in a few minutes, he can't possibly explain it now.

still, he'll try.

"i don't know, it's like theres this barrier stopping me from feeling any kind of confidence, it's like it's making all of my anxiety escalate".

y/n doesn't interrupt him, just lets him talk, lets him pour out whatever feelings he has. he hums again, taking ricky's shaking hand. "alright, i get it, you feel anxious, take a deep breath".

the older male instructs, squeezing his hand as a way of encouragement. ricky doesn't know why he feels his anxiousness already going away, but he nods, taking in a deep breath, then exhaling.

"you know you shouldn't doubt yourself, right? everyone knows how amazing you are, and you did amazing during that practice, your gonna crush this performance, i'm sure of it".

y/n smiles at him once again, rubbing his hand for a moment before letting it go. "thank you, i really needed that" ricky mutters, not knowing what this strange fluttering feeling in his stomach was.

"it's really no problem, i just want to make sure my teammates are alright".

ricky nods, feeling his face go red once again when y/n pokes his cheek, giggling. "well, you better crush that stage".

THREE. ( a somewhat-strange conversation )

y/n had found his way into ricky's room, and eventually ricky's bed. it seemed to happen in a flash, where he had just woken up and now there was just this random pretty boy in his bed.

not that he was complaining, of course.

y/n looks up, his head still laid onto ricky's pillow. "so" he begins, starting another one of his somewhat strange conversations, he rolls over as he stares at ricky's figure.

"so?" ricky asks, craning his neck to turn and look at y/n, who was staring back with that signature smile of his. "so what?"

"what do you plan to do after the show? if you don't debut that is.."

ricky shrugs, fully turning around so he could get a better look at him. "i'll probably just go home, my parents want me to take over their company".

y/n snorts, amused. "ah, so you're that kind of rich, you could buy mnet if you wanted to!"

ricky laughs, and y/n continues. "you really took young and rich way too seriously".

he nods, enamored by the males words. "and what about you? what do you plan to do?"

y/n hums, flopping back down onto ricky's bed. "i'll probably just go back to school, i almost quit for this shit".

"i have no doubt you'll debut" ricky says almost unconsciously, the words had been on the tip of his tongue for what seemed like forever.

the older male laughs. "i have no doubt you'll debut" he emphasizes the you'll, as if he's saying a completely different sentence. "you've got this".

"you have a lot of confidence in me, but you never talk about yourself" ricky questions, yet it doesn't really come out like a question, more of a blank statement.

"if it happens, it happens, i'm just moving with the flow" he responds simply. ricky doesn't really understand that whole mentality, but he just laughs at y/n's words.

what a spectacle he is.

FOUR. ( favorite couple )

"whose your best friend, n/n?"

y/n hums, pretending to think when he knows his answer will be ricky. the two of them are clearly pretty close, he's the type of person to become best friends with someone after only a few hours of knowing them, and his answer was almost obvious if anything.

"ricky! right? were very close" he replies, the answer on his mind, almost rehearsed. ricky freezes, as if he didn't expect that. he had spent the past few days with him, just talking to him, he enjoyed his company, and y/n showered him with hugs and affection.

"me? i've never really been someone's best friend before" he mumbles, the gratefulness in his voice clear.

y/n giggles as he intertwines their hands. "well, your mine now! you can't get rid of me!" he yells, leaning onto ricky.

ricky simply stares, a habit of his whenever y/n is around. he captures his attention so easily, not even having to do anything spectacular to. it's not everyday someone he'd just met no more than two months ago makes him feel so.. weird.

he simply found y/n endearing, amazing. he was the epitome of joy, so grateful for his opportunities and everything given to him. he's patient, doesn't force anyone into anything they don't want to. he loved everything about him, his eyes, his voice, his personality, his humor, his smile, his laugh, his—

oh, he's rambling now isn't he?

he just loves how he feels around him, he doesn't feel any of the other platonic feelings he's felt for the other trainees, he feels love, and not just in a friendship way, but in a genuinely romantic way.

y/n is just amazing like that.

"i don't plan on getting rid of you anyway" he teases back, leaning his head onto y/n's. the two look so cute, like a newly wed couple or something.

"aww, they look like a couple" junhyeon teases, earning boisterous laughter from taerae, who definitely agrees.

they just seem made for each other.

FIVE. ( our final goodbyes )

ricky was originally stressed.

he had been scratching his hands all day, worried that he might not be able to debut, he was so worried that he'd barely gotten any sleep the previous night. everything in boys planet had led up to this, and it was an obviously stressful day for everyone.

fortunately, y/n was right there.

"calm down, ricky, nervousness makes your posture bad".

he runs a hand up and down ricky's back, and ricky can't fathom how he's so calm. "how are you so calm? you should be biting off your nails by now".

"as i said, if it happens it happens, just don't stress yourself out about it so much, i'm sure you'll make it".

y/n was right.

as ricky sits in his chair, having won at p04, he crosses his fingers in hope that y/n's name will somehow be called next. he finally made it, but he wanted to make sure y/n did too, he wanted to at least debut with him.

p03: seok matthew.

p02: sung hanbin.

p01: zhang hao.

there's really only a sliver of hope left, anyone could be called for p09, anyone could become the final member of the group, and he hopes to god that y/n makes it, he doesn't know what'd he do if he didn't.

"and rank p09 is.."

y/n y/n y/n y/n y/n y/n y/n y/n y/n y/n—

"han yujin!"

oh.

ricky closed his eyes. he's grateful, but also angry, so angry. at himself. he made it and y/n didn't. after all he did for him? after he encouraged him to do his best? after he made sure that everyone felt alright and were in their best head spaces for the performance?

he wants to cry.

he can't.

he wants to throw up.

he can't.

ricky went into this survival show stuff thinking nothing of it. he didn't expect to debut, he didn't expect to be loved, he didn't expect to fall in love.

and, he didn't expect to be so heartbroken over y/n not debuting with him.

he finds it even harder to accept as he watches y/n cry, hugging junhyeon in the crowd. his face stays still, not moving, as if he's unaffected, but he truly can't bring himself to come to terms with it.

all he wanted to do was to talk to y/n.

he immediately began searching for him when he stepped into the crowd to say goodbye, giving both jay and jeonghyeon hugs as he searched for the seemingly invisible boy.

"there you are" his voice whispers. ricky sighs, smiling, although disappointed.

"here i am" he replies, face not moving. y/n has dry tears on his face, but he's still smiling. "i told you, i was sure you'd make it".

ricky bites his inner cheek, the words only having been told to him a few hours ago. "yeah, guess you are a fortune teller".

"i couldn't tell my own fortune though".

even if he's trying to cope with humor, it seems to not work, as tears start welling up in his eyes once again. "i'm so proud of you, you know that?"

"y/n—"

"i became friends with you because you were cool, i seriously do still think your cool, i was so amazed by everything you did, and when you agreed that i was your best friend, it made me feel special, you made me feel special".

ricky isn't sure how he keeps his composure, even with all the shouting and chatter going on around him, y/n is the only person he sees, the only one he hears, his only focus.

"i wanted to debut with you.." he mumbles, taking his hands, probably for the last time.

y/n smiles, and ricky wipes the tears from his face. "me too, but you did it! go on, have fun with your group".

it felt like a piece of him was being broken away, as if this was one of the most heartbreaking moments of his entire life. he takes a deep breath and wipes y/n's tears away.

ricky pulls him into a hug, sighing. "i'm so sorry, i— i failed you".

"you didn't" y/n chuckles, running a hand up and down his back. "it's okay, you made it, that's all that matters".

but you matter too, he wants to say. the words are on the tip of his tongue, he wants to say them so bad, but he couldn't, like he was being prevented from doing so.

"don't think it's your fault, i'm still proud of you, okay?"

ricky nods, he doesn't want to let go, but he has too, because he has to go, everything has to end eventually.

he finally lets go of y/n's hands after what seems like forever, but he still can't seem to step away.

"you know i love you, right ricky?"

the words seem so random, but y/n is random, even through tears and with everyone else talking in the background, he still finds the confidence to say those words.

"i love you too" ricky replies.

that was probably the last time he'd ever say those words.

AUTHORS NOTE — HOLY MOTHER OF GOD this was tragic!!! i genuinely felt like sobbing while writing this wtf ╥﹏╥

[crimsonedquill]

Two Snakes And A Badger: Chapter III

Pairing: Imelda Reyes x f!MC x Poppy Sweeting

Summary: Poppy faces down her past. A bond is strengthened, and consummated. (Or: The Sexual Awakening of Poppy Sweeting)

Word count: 12.4k

Content warning: NSFW (18+). Minors DNI. Very soft and wholesome smut, cunnilingus, fingering, threesome, fluff, lots of feels, angst, confronting past trauma, sunflower trio being my absolute life force

Link to Chapter I Link to Chapter II

A/N: I just realised the past chapters each took me like a month but I've been so much looking forward to writing this one that the words just kept flowing and... here we are.

I'll be honest, this might just be the most wholesome piece of writing I've ever penned down. It's got angst, fluff, really steamy and soft smut... just happy feels all around. I hope those of you who have been following this series (or are maybe just discovering it) enjoy reading it as much as I did bringing it to life 🖤

You turned and twisted in your bed, letting out a frustrated sigh as any hope of sleep kept eluding you. You tried to think of anything to wear out your mind, even resorting to reciting potion recipes at one point, though you knew it would be of no use. Whatever attempts you made, your thoughts kept drifting back to that big, nameless void deep inside you, plaguing you with doubt, making you ask the same questions over and over again.

It wasn’t that you had anything to be discontent with – far from it, in fact. Over the past few months, your relationship with Imelda and Poppy had steadily blossomed, giving you something new to appreciate almost every single day. You were enjoying each other so much, always spending time together after class, studying on the stands during Imelda’s trainings or laughing at each other as you took turns trying to catch a Diricawl. There had been the curious looks and the expected rumours, of course, but over time the general Hogwarts populace seemed to have accepted the idea that you were just really an odd bunch of close friends. It probably also helped that Imelda didn’t shy back from threatening to curse anyone who dared to speak as much as an ill word of Poppy – which had turned out to be a source of ample amusement between you and the Hufflepuff.

Hell, even your sex life didn’t leave much to be desired. Imelda had always been a feisty vixen, but having an audience seemed to have brought out an even wilder side of her that was capable of doing things you had never thought humanly possible. And that didn’t even include how much of a turn-on it was for you to have Poppy watch while you fucked each other senseless. Perhaps it had taken some getting used to, but nowadays it was weirder to not have her there than the other way around. Also, you had to admit it was kind of hot to have Imelda constantly snog you and pinch your arse in Poppy’s presence as a way of teasing you both. You were glad she was comfortable enough to be part of your dynamic like this, even though maybe it wasn’t as intimate as it could be.

So what was it then that was bothering you so much? Was there any way in which you had failed them? Was there anything you hadn’t been completely honest about, either to them or to yourself? Were you really happy with the way things had been going between you three?

Your thoughts were interrupted by a weight shifting onto your bed, sliding behind you under the sheets. You felt a firm presence pressing up to your back as an arm wrapped around your waist. A warm breath tickled your ear.

“Bad dreams?” you whispered, your words slipping into a smile.

“I figured you could do with some company,” replied Imelda. “I have a sense for these things, you know.”

“You’re so considerate,” you chuckled, snuggling closer against her. “Almost makes me think you’ve gone soft.”

“Right. The sacrifices I make,” She lifted her head, planting a soft kiss right below your ear. The physical relief grounded you, allowing you to focus on something other than your thoughts for a moment. “In all seriousness though, are you all right? I’ve noticed you’ve been a little out of it lately.”

So she had caught on too. You weren’t truly surprised, but you weren’t immediately eager to tell her the full truth either.

“I don’t know,” you said. “It’s probably nothing.”

Imelda snorted. “Yeah, you always say that when something’s up. You can talk to me, you know. I’m not actually allergic to feelings.”

Part of you wondered whether there was any use to making up an excuse, but then again, you weren’t sure why you were always so resistant to being open about your emotions either. It wasn’t like you were doing a very stellar job handling them yourself, after all.

You sighed, taking hold of her hand. “I suppose it’s just… Mel, do you think I’ve been doing the right thing?”

Imelda was quiet for a few seconds before answering. “Elaborate.”

“Well,” you said, turning over so you were facing her, “I tell myself that I’m happy, and I am, though I keep wondering… have I been taking the right approach? Isn’t there more I could do to make this easier for you two?”

She cocked an eyebrow. “You make it sound as if we didn’t want this as much as you do. We’re in this all together, MC.”

“I know that. It’s just… I suppose I feel responsible, in a way. I was the one who suggested we get together in the first place, and even though I know you wanted it as well… I can’t help but feel like I dragged you along in something that perhaps none of us were really ready for.”

Imelda was silent for another minute, turning your words over in her head. Soon enough though, she shrugged. “Maybe we were, maybe we weren’t. I don’t see why that matters now. We’re happy together, aren’t we?”

“I guess. But, you know, aren’t you slightly regretting that we never got to see where our relationship would have taken us?”

This time it took her a bit longer to answer. Her eyes darted down before meeting yours again. “No,” she said. “Like I told you, I don’t think it was a relationship I would have been happy with. And in fairness, I did take a risk on you the first time, so it wasn’t too big of a leap the second time around.”

Even though you had not truly expected her to harbour any regrets, it was still a relief to hear that Imelda wasn’t blaming you for anything. Noticing your pensive look, she brought a hand up and lightly touched your chin. “Hey, this was as much my choice as it was yours. It’s not some thrill thing I was after, if that’s what you’re thinking. I wanted to be a part of this because I love you, both of you.”

You smiled softly. “I’m glad. I… well, I hope Poppy feels the same way.”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t she?”

“Well… it’s just that I remember how big of a step it was for her to come out of her shell and even trust me… so I merely hope that I didn’t rush her into anything. I know that this must be more daunting for her than for either one of us.”

“I think you underestimate her,” Imelda countered. “For all the bad your little fuck-up did, it did bring us a lot closer together. After I talked her out of feeling guilty over what happened, she confessed how much she envied our relationship – you should have seen her face when I told her I wouldn’t mind if she started dating you as well. I think, letting her be a part of this – of us –, was the greatest gift you could have given her.”

“You really think so?” you asked, hesitatingly. “I don’t know… it feels like she’s still holding back sometimes. She only ever watches when we’re getting intimate, after all.”

“I thought you liked it when she watches,” Imelda replied, adding a playful smirk.

“Shut up,” you said, giving her a light shove. “You know what I mean.”

“Look, you just need to give her some time. Our relationship was all about sex before it turned into something more. I think she wants it to be more than that. She’ll come around when she feels ready to.”

“I suppose you have a point.” You knew she was right, actually; as tempting as it was to fret about all the things you could do better, you also knew that some things just couldn’t be rushed.

“Hey,” she said, touching your cheek to draw your gaze. “Stop worrying your pretty little head so much. We both see all the effort you’re putting into making this work. You just need to remember that you can’t keep carrying the entire world on your shoulders.”

“Yeah, I know,” you sighed, finding a new sense of strength in her assurance. “You’re right, as always.”

“Just you remember it.” She planted a tender kiss on your forehead. “Now, go to sleep. Nurse’s orders.”

You smiled as you turned over once more, wrapping yourself into her warm embrace. “Will you stay and hold me like this for a bit?”

“Of course. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Soothed by her promise, you allowed yourself until the clutches of sleep were finally coming for you, carrying you away to darker depths. Imelda’s arms were like a comforting blanket, keeping you safe from the doubts and the anxieties, reminding you that sometimes all that mattered were the simple things in the world – and there was plenty for you to have.

––

The next morning, the two of you got dressed and headed out to the Great Hall to see Poppy, as usual. When you arrived, however, you noticed to your confusion that the Hufflepuff was neither sitting at the table with her housemates, nor waiting for you at the secluded spot you sometimes used for sneaky greeting kisses. You and Imelda looked around for a while before meeting back at the Slytherin table.

“You haven’t seen her either?” you asked.

Imelda shook her head. “Not at the usual places. I’ll go ask Adelaide, maybe she overslept.”

While your fellow Slytherin set out to inquire after Poppy’s whereabouts, you tried venturing some guesses of your own. You weren’t instantly assuming something was wrong – after all, she might have merely come down with something – but it was hard to ignore the voice nagging at the edge of her mind. It was difficult to imagine industrious Poppy Sweeting oversleeping, or being late to anything, for that matter.

Fortunately, Imelda returned with at least some news. “Adelaide says she left their dorm early this morning. Packed up a bunch of things and bolted without saying where she was going, apparently.”

It was as if a cold fist closed itself around your heart. “Oh Merlin,” you cursed. “I know where she’s headed.”

Imelda looked at you questioningly. “Care to fill me in?”

“There’s no time. We’ve got to get to the Forbidden Forest, now.”

She didn’t need another word; the urgency in your voice had told her all she needed to know. “We can use my broom,” she said, already starting towards the flying grounds. You followed close behind, desperately hoping that for Merlin’s sake, you wouldn’t be too late.

––

“Mind finally telling me what we’re looking for?” Imelda yelled over her shoulder. Beneath you, a sea of meadows and the occasional cluster of trees zipped by as you soared across the highlands. Your eyes were fixated on the perimeter of dark oaks held back by a small, meandering river, searching for any sign of life amongst the crooked trees.

“She should be around somewhere,” you yelled without looking away. “She often uses this stretch as a staging area! Look for Highwing!”

Imelda gave a small nod in understanding, leaning forward on her broom to accelerate. You were trying very hard to channel all your attention into finding Poppy, though even so, it was difficult not to feel upset at the entire situation. Why had she not mentioned anything to you or Imelda? Had she felt that she couldn’t trust you for some reason? It didn’t make sense – you had accompanied her many times before, so why had she decided to cut you off now?

Finally, you noticed a shift in Imelda’s trajectory as you started plunging downwards. Strengthening your grip on her waist, you peeked over her shoulder and noticed the welcome sight of a white Hippogriff against the tree line. Imelda made a dive right for the spot, not slowing down until you nearly crashed into the ground. You wasted no time in climbing off the broom and running towards Highwing. The creature lifted its head to look at you as you approached, emitting a single surprised-sounding squeak.

Imelda came to stand next to you. “So? Where is she?”

“She must have already entered the forest,” you concluded. “But she can’t have gotten far. Come, let’s find her.”

The two of you formed up in a single line and made your way into the forest. The trees quickly began closing in on you, forcing you to light your wands to make out your surroundings. You were at least thankful Poppy had made little effort to cover her tracks, leaving you the occasional small footprint in the mud to follow.

“I’ll tell you what, she could at least have found a more decent place to host a surprise party,” Imelda growled behind you.

“I’m just dying to know what’s gotten into her,” you sighed, shaking your head. “I knew she could be reckless, but she’s never blindsided me like this before. Why didn’t she at least tell us?”

“Perhaps because she predicted we would insist on coming with her? It’s not that complicated, you know.”

Your fist tightened around your wand. “Well, she didn’t have the right. She can’t just put her life on the line like this and expect us to do nothing.”

Driven by a sudden bout of anger, you were so caught up in your marching that you were a little thrown off when Imelda put a hand on your shoulder and forced you to stop. “Hey, I’m not saying that I disagree,” she said, looking you straight in the eye. “But remember to count to ten before you open your mouth. You don’t want to say anything you’ll come to regret later.”

The irony of Imelda Reyes telling you to cool it was not lost on you, though you ultimately knew her to be right. After all, you had made a promise, and you doubted whatever reason Poppy might have had for surprising you like this was worth jeopardising your relationship over.

You pushed her hand away, letting out a sigh. “Let’s just concentrate on finding her, all right? I just want to make sure she’s safe.”

Without waiting for her reply, you continued pushing forward. As you made your way deeper and deeper, you started to get increasingly worried about the possibility of something having happened to the Hufflepuff, though before you had any chance to properly panic, Imelda forced you to stop again.

“What is it now?” you asked, annoyance growing in your voice.

“Hush,” she hissed. “I heard something. It might be –”

Without warning, a bright flash shot right past your ear and struck a tree behind you. You immediately swivelled around, flinging a curse of your own in the direction the spell had come from. Unsure of whether you had hit your intended target, you and Imelda assumed an offensive position, wands pointed at your mysterious target.

“Whoever you are, you better come out before we blast you to pieces,” Imelda called out. You held your breath as you waited for a reply, the sound of your heart beating madly in your chest the only disturbance, though the response wasn’t exactly what you had expected.

“MC? Imelda?”

You lowered your wand with an audible sigh of relief as a small figure appeared from the trees. She pulled her hood back, revealing a pair of confused brown eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like?” you responded, slightly more aggressive than you had intended. You felt Imelda throwing you a cautious glance, though she didn’t say anything. “What were you thinking, coming out here by yourself? You’re pursuing poachers again, aren’t you?”

“Would you please keep your voice down?” Poppy snapped back, the commanding tone in her voice catching you off guard. “They might have a patrol nearby. I’d rather not have you draw them straight towards us.”

After taking a minute to calm yourself, you nodded to signal to her that you were ready to behave. She took a deep breath and looked up to meet your eye. “Look, I meant to tell you, and I would have. But my window of opportunity was closing fast, and there was simply no time to ask you along, so I did what was necessary.”

“Why didn’t you at least let us know where you were going?” you asked. “It wouldn’t have been too difficult to leave us a message.”

“Because…” She hesitated, briefly, before proceeding, “Because I didn’t want to make it easy for you to follow me.”

So, there it was. She really had not wanted you to find her. But why? What was the reason for this stunning betrayal?

“Poppy, I don’t know why you think you can’t trust us, but –”

“You misunderstand,” Poppy said. “It’s not a matter of trust. It’s just that… this is something I needed to do on my own.”

“But we’re your friends. You can’t possibly expect us to –”

“I understand,” Imelda said.

You and Poppy immediately fell silent at the voice of the Slytherin. She looked straight at Poppy, leaning on her broom. “Really, I do,” she said. Obviously this is important to you, so much so that you felt you could only rely on yourself to handle it. I used to think the same for most of my life – only trusting myself, pushing away everyone because they would never be able to be as serious as I was. You might think of it as a strength, but it won’t feel that way when it really matters. I wish I had found that out for myself sooner.”

Rarely had you heard her speak with such a solemnity before – the last time, as far as you could remember, was that night when she had opened up about her feelings for you in the Slytherin common room. You knew her message was more directed at Poppy than you, of course, though that didn’t mean you were any less stirred by it.

You turned back to the Hufflepuff. “Please,” you urged, “we know it’s not for us to interfere. But at least allow us to protect you. It would destroy us to see you get hurt.”

At last, and to your great relief, Poppy nodded. “All right then. But we must be quick about it, and I would ask you to follow my lead at all times.”

“Of course.” You were pretty sure you would have agreed to any condition at this point; so relieved you were that she had at last decided to put her faith in you.

You resumed your journey together, Poppy in front, Imelda behind. You walked in silence for a while, keeping your ears peeled for any unnatural sounds from the forest around you. After a few moments, Poppy slowed her pace to allow you to catch up with her.

“I would have told you, truly,” she whispered.

“I know,” you replied. “I’m sorry I reacted so harshly. I was just worried sick about you.”

A spark of gratitude shimmered in her eyes. “To be perfectly honest, I was already having regrets from the moment I departed the castle. For what it’s worth, I was relieved to see you both, even if I didn’t say as much at the time.”

“Well, all of that doesn’t matter now. We’re in this together. And we will always look out for you, no matter what.”

That being said, you couldn’t help but feel some lingering uncertainty about her lack of elaboration. You thought back to the conversation you’d had with Imelda last night, the reservations you’d expressed about Poppy’s part in your relationship. You figured it would at least be worth prodding a little.

“By the way,” you said, “if for whatever reason you feel as if you need to prove something to Imelda and me –”

Poppy shook her head. “Oh no, that’s not it at all. My motivations are strictly personal, as with the other times… it’s simply about righting wrongs. Making up for the destruction my parents have wrought.”

You felt an instant pang of sympathy. At the same time, you knew it would be useless to try convincing her that her parents’ choices weren’t in any way her fault, having had that conversation many times before. So instead, you asked, “Clearly this time is different, though. This isn’t some simple rescue mission, is it?”

Poppy hesitated before replying, “I… I managed to intercept a communication a few days ago. I had been tracking this group for a while, so I easily deduced that it must have come from them. But the peculiar thing was that the note bore a seal I recognised – it was the same seal stamped on several letters my Gran kept at her home. That’s when I realised… the seal meant that this particular group was affiliated with my parents.”

Your eyes widened at the discovery. “That’s…” you said, trying to find the right words, “does that mean –”

Poppy shook her head. “They never stayed long with any group. They were a paranoid lot, rightfully so – always worried someone would tell on them or try to steal their… ‘merchandise’. But that doesn’t mean I have any less of an obligation to burn every trace of them to the ground.”

The belligerent fire in her voice may have surprised Imelda, but not you; at last you understood. This was not some heroic effort, or even a selfless rescue mission, for that matter. Poppy was here to bring cold vengeance – and you were merely along for the ride.

After trekking through some more miles of dense forest, the three of you finally reached the edge of the poacher compound. You managed to find a secluded spot up on an elevated stretch of terrain that allowed you a good look at the camp’s layout. Beckoning you closer, Poppy pointed out the difficulties you would face in your approach. “See how they’ve clustered all the cages at the centre? Very clever – they’ve made sure to cover every path leading into the camp. It’s most likely that their patrols are randomised as well, so even if one were to be able to sneak past their defences and get to the animals, they’d almost certainly be caught if they tried to make their way out.”

“Doesn’t seem like they want to make it any easier for us,” you grumbled. “So, what is your plan? We can’t exactly go in wands blazing.”

“Quite simple now that you’re here, actually. We cause a distraction.”

“But how? You just said they will be able to see us coming from every direction.”

“But not from the sky,” said Imelda.

You assumed she was merely trying to lighten the mood at first, but when you saw her clutching her broom with an all too familiar look in her eyes, you honestly wished she had been. “Don’t even think about it,” you said firmly as you shook your head, “it’s far too dangerous –”

“No more dangerous than if we were to storm in there together,” Imelda countered. “It makes perfect sense. I can swoop in and out before they even realise what hit them, which should give you enough time to release the beasts and make your escape.”

“But there must be some other way,” you maintained. “You can’t be out there risking your neck all by yourself –”

“Be realistic, MC, it’s not like we have the luxury of being picky here,” Imelda snapped back, her tone growing more annoyed. “It’s the best option we have right now. You know that they won’t be able to catch me as long as I stay on my broom. I won’t take any unnecessary risks.”

You knew she made sense, of course; even Poppy conveyed as much by not saying anything. You sighed before conceding. “All right. But at the first hint of trouble, you turn back and get to safety. Don’t try to pull off any stupid heroics.”

She didn't say anything, which you supposed was as good as you would get from her. After exchanging one more look with you both, Imelda turned around and snuck away through the bushes.

The two of you turned back to spying on the compound, trying to find the best route for approaching. As the gravity of the situation finally started weighing down on your shoulders, though, you couldn’t help but keep looking up at the sky now and then, anxious to see a sign of Imelda.

Perhaps in an effort to calm your nerves, Poppy said, “She’s a very brave soul, that one.”

“I don’t know if it’s so much brave as reckless,” you sighed. “I truly hope she’s not going to try anything stupid.”

Poppy placed a hand on your wrist. “She’s as safe as she can be up there. We will be facing the greatest risk – we will need to be ready as soon as she launches her distraction.”

“You’re right,” you nodded, grateful that the Hufflepuff at least had a better sense of mind than you did. “Just… let’s try to be swift about this, all right? I know how much this means to you, but I don’t want you to get hurt.”

You were afraid to look at her, expecting to see that vengeful flame burning in her eyes, though a wave of relief washed over you when you saw a familiar sparkle of innocence. She flashed you a soft smile, briefly touching your cheek. “Don’t worry, I won’t try anything rash. I… I’m glad I’m not facing this alone, MC.”

Before you could respond, you heard a loud screeching sound, followed by a blast that nearly knocked you off your feet. You turned just in time to see one of the tents exploding in a large ball of fire, a barely visible shadow shooting through the black fumes.

“Well, she certainly didn’t waste any time,” you cursed under your breath. “Let’s move!”

And so you set off, using the cover of the distraction to make your approach. Imelda reduced a few more tents to ashes as you slipped through the bushes and past the makeshift fortifications, which were quickly all abandoned. The poachers had devolved into a complete state of disarray, shouts of panic and rage filling the air as shadows sped past you, paying no attention to you at all.

You managed to reach the cases without too much trouble, only having had to dispatch one stray trapper with a Body-Bind Curse. Poppy quickly turned to you, holding out her hand. “There’s no time to catch them all. Hand me the Nabsack, I’ll rescue the weakest while you set the other ones free.”

You nodded in understanding, conjuring the bag and throwing it over to Poppy. After you split up, you hurried over to the cage holding the Mooncalves, pointing your wand at the lock and disposing of it with a well-aimed Unlocking Charm. As you watched the quirky creatures practically jump over each other in their rush to escape, your thoughts returned to your girls, wondering how they were faring. Your heart was pumping rapidly, adrenaline flowing through your veins, panic threatening to overwhelm you at every turn. Something was wrong. You hadn’t heard anything from Imelda since she had attacked the camp, and freeing the animals was taking far too much time for your liking. You should return to Poppy and make your escape; you couldn’t allow yourselves to get caught.

No, you thought, slapping some sense into yourself. Your collective success depended as much on you as the others; the best way you could protect your friends was by moving fast, and ceasing this meaningless maelstrom of dread.

So you set about finishing your mission, moving from cage to cage, opening the doors without wasting a single second. The risk of being caught at any moment pressed on your mind, though you simply ignored it, not allowing yourself to fall victim to your own hesitance.

At last, you reached the final cage, which contained a large Thestral and a smaller one – presumably a family. You removed the lock with a flick of your wand and pushed the door open, but the mature Thestral didn’t budge, merely looking at you before she went back to nursing her calf.

“Well, come on then,” you hissed, beckoning the pair. After your call went unanswered again, you moved into the cage, trying to see what was wrong. You had to circle a few times before you finally noticed the calf was limping; approaching cautiously, you discerned a large gash running down one of its hind legs.

“Animals,” you growled under your breath. The wound did not seem to run deep, though you had no way of knowing whether it was infected, and you lacked the expertise to apply any sort of treatment. Poppy would need to have a look, but this meant that you would need to find a way to get the creatures out of here, fast.

Aiming your wand, you stood back and tried to get the larger Thestral’s attention. “Step away,” you said, hoping at least your meaning would get through. But the mother was defiant, letting out a snort as she refused to leave her young.

“Listen, I wish to help you,” you tried again, enunciating each word. “But you have to step aside so I can move your young one.”

Still no response. Well, this clearly wasn’t working. Seeing as you had no other option, you pocketed your wand and strode over to the small Thestral. The mother eyed you warily, but you gently placed your hands on the black leathery skin to make your intentions plain. “See, I mean you no harm. Please let me help.”

You saw your reflection captured in the misty orbs, nostrils flaring, though there was no protest as you moved to lift the calf from the ground. The young was heavy, but you somehow managed to pick its delicate body up in your arms, carefully adjusting your hands so as not to inflict any needless discomfort. The mother followed close behind as you began carrying the creature out of the cage. By now most of the compound was covered in thick black smoke, obscuring any landmarks you might have been able to use to find your way back, so you simply kept pressing forward, hoping you wouldn’t run into any poachers. Every once in a while a yell in the distance would cause you to increase your pace, gritting your teeth against the weight of the body in your arms, which started to feel even heavier with every passing minute.

Finally, you reached a clearing which you seemed to recall connecting to one of the entrances of the camp. You hurried along, ignoring the wailing Thestral in your arms, feeling the breath of its mother down your neck. Just a few more meters… almost in the clear… you would have to –

“Stop right there!”

A red curse shot right over your head, causing you to freeze in your tracks. A gravelly voice called out to you, “Looks like I caught myself an intruder. Are you just going to leave without saying goodbye, you little pest?”

Turning around slowly, you faced the poacher, the mother Thestral taking shelter behind your back. You sensed her anxiety, the sound of her rapid breathing and the silent cries of the young filling you with rage. You wouldn’t have minded an opportunity to renovate this brute’s face with a Blasting Curse, though unfortunately you were unable to reach your wand like this.

“I already suspected you were just a bunch of pitiful vermin,” the poacher scoffed, keeping his wand aimed at your chest. “Where are your friends? Ran off back to school?”

“Like I’d ever tell someone as vile and cruel as you,” you spit back. “You’ve lost. We’ve released every single one of the creatures you took back into the wild, where they belong.”

The poacher’s expression hardened, a scowl etched into a solid rock. “Creatures can be recaptured. You, on the other hand –” he lifted his wand – “I think we’ll just have to write you off.”

Your sense of time eluded you, slowing down every single movement. An almost serene tranquillity washed over you as you watched the poacher prepare to kill all three of you with one simple incantation. This wasn’t supposed to happen. You hadn’t made peace with your fate yet, not really; after all, there was so much more of your life to live, so much to be explored. There was Imelda, fierce and brave like the valkyries of old tales, and Poppy, sweet Poppy with her kind heart and her majestic strength. Would they be able to live on without you? They would still have each other, after all, but it was hard to imagine anyone living with that kind of hole in their heart…

Just as you braced yourself for the green flash and the light to disappear before your eyes, then, suddenly a different voice cried out, “Expulso!”

The poacher managed to deflect the curse just in time, but was nevertheless forced backwards by the sheer power behind it. From the black curtain at the edge of the clearing emerged Poppy, clenching her wand, her eyes blazing with a kind of fury you had never seen before.

“Leave them alone, you bastard!” she yelled.

The poacher, having recovered from Poppy’s surprise attack, bared his teeth. “Well, if it isn’t little Poppy Sweeting, all grown up. You must be a special kind of foolish to come back here, girl.”

The Hufflepuff didn’t back down. “I’ve sat by and watched all of you inflict your terror upon innocent beings long enough. I’m not going to let you hurt my friend as well.”

They began circling each other, Poppy moving in front of you and the Thestrals. You contemplated grabbing your wand to come to her aid, but you feared any unexpected moves would only provoke your adversary.

“Your parents were right about you,” the poacher said. “Such a disappointment you grew up to be. If you were of my own blood, I would have put you down where you stood.”

The fire in Poppy’s eyes grew stronger. Tears burned in their cores. But her voice was powerful, never once breaking under the strain of countless emotions.

“Disowning me was the kindest thing my parents have ever done for me,” she spoke. “I was nothing but another piece of merchandise to them, ready to be cast aside the moment I no longer wanted to serve your evil purposes. I won’t allow you to carry on their hateful legacy, even if I have to destroy every last bit.”

“If only you fought as well as you talked. Let’s see it if you’re willing to do what it takes, then.” the poacher growled, and with the last word he flung a spell at her, which she barely managed to parry. She immediately followed up with a curse of her own, though he was quick to deflect it.

“Pathetic!” he yelled. “Come on – fight me like you mean it!”

Another exchange of spells lit up the clearing. Poppy held her own, but the poacher was better. You felt so useless watching her, wishing there was some way you could offer her help, but you couldn’t risk the Thestrals’ lives.

A Blasting Curse forced the small Hufflepuff backwards, nearly knocking her over. She was panting heavily, trying to keep her wand steady, keeping her eyes on her foe. Merlin, you couldn’t bear to watch this much longer –

“You were never able to do what��s necessary!” the poacher yelled. “You’re a pathetic, weak little girl, and I will break you like a twig –”

But then it happened. Poppy changed, transformed almost, the fire in her eyes spreading to envelop all of her body. Your breathing shallowed as you regarded her in all her furious glory; she was no longer a shy, small girl, but a stunning young woman, exuding all the power of a fierce warrior.

“Enough!” she screamed, and she unleashed a barrage of spells on the poacher, her wand becoming an invisible blur as it flicked up and down, firing off curse after curse. Eyes bulging, the man tried deflecting her attack, but then let out a cry of rage as a spell hit him squarely across the chest. He stumbled backwards and gripped the front of his robe, his eyes merely red orbs as he looked up at the Hufflepuff. “You’ll pay for that, you miserable –”

“Hey, arsehole!” came a voice from above. “Fire in the hole!”

The poacher’s roar was lost in a massive blast as the ground behind him exploded, the impact sending mud and patches of grass flying everywhere. You weren’t particularly eager to wait for him to get up again, so you snapped out of your reverie and yelled for Poppy. The girl seemed to return to her old self again as she blinked and quickly pocketed her wand, rushing to help you. “Wait, let me –”

She took the Nabsack and caught both of the Thestrals, finally allowing you some relief. Your breath was not to be wasted on talking, though. She grabbed you by your elbow and the two of you started running away from the compound, not looking back for one second, expecting to hear the yelling of pursuing poachers any moment. Your heart stopped when a large shadow fell over you, panic quickly turning to elation when you saw its owner.

“Highwing!”

The Hippogriff let out a triumphant cry, swiftly striking down a few meters ahead of you. Poppy quickly mounted her and pulled you up, and before you knew it you were safely up in the sky, the traces of black smoke behind you slowly shrinking on the horizon as you glided across the sea of dark leaves.

You relished in the feeling of the soft breeze against your cheeks, your heartbeat slowly assuming its normal rhythm. When you noticed neither of you had said anything ever since you escaped, you softly tapped Poppy on her shoulder. “Hey, are you all right?”

To your relief, you noticed the innocent spark had returned to her eyes, though it almost was as if something was different about it – it seemed brighter, more alive.

“I couldn’t be better,” she smiled. “Thank you.”

You were suddenly interrupted by a laugh, and Poppy you and both turned to see Imelda flying next to you, looking as if she had just come straight off a victorious Quidditch match. “Let’s fucking go!” she yelled, slapping her broom. “We properly kicked their arses, didn’t we?”

Chuckling, you concluded, “I suppose we make a pretty good team.”

“I’d say we do,” Poppy replied, her sweet laugh filling the skies.

––

“There, good as new.”

The Hufflepuff stepped back from the Thestral calf, which curiously sniffed at the new cast around its leg. It tried walking a few steps, and then suddenly burst forward, frolicking joyfully around the bog as its mother kept a watchful eye.

“Looks like we’re not the only ones with an appreciation for your talents,” you chuckled as you observed the peaceful scene, leaning against one of the trees with your arms crossed. Poppy tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at you. “I’m just glad I could help. You did all the heavy lifting, quite literally.”

“What can I say, I was glad to do my part,” you shrugged. She grinned sheepishly before suddenly being alerted by the loud croaking of one of the Giant Purple Toads. Swivelling on her feet, she let out a cry of surprise. “Oh no, naughty girl! You can’t eat Walter!”

You could hardly resist the temptation of a giggle as Poppy hurried after the calf, who was now happily chasing the toad through the vivarium. Tearing your gaze away from the hilarious sight for a moment, you noticed Imelda approaching through the entrance, dressed in casual attire like the rest of you.

“No need to worry about our absences today,” she reported once she reached you. “I told Kogawa I had you two help out with a special Quidditch training. She scolded me for not clearing it with her beforehand, but I think she bought it.”

“That’s the second time you rescued us from certain demise today,” you laughed. “There is such a thing as overdoing it, you know.”

“Oh, shut up. You love it when I get to act cocky.” She wrapped an arm around your shoulders, pulling you close. You smiled as she kissed your cheek. “In fairness, you weren’t so bad yourself,” she said.

“Hm? Had any more ‘interesting’ thoughts while you watched me give it to those big bad poachers?

“Honestly? I was more concerned you would end up getting yourself killed by accident. But I’m glad you had enough luck to pull through.”

“Yeah, fuck you too.”

You shared a chuckle between yourselves. Leaning her head on your shoulder, Imelda looked at Poppy, who was shepherding the excited Thestral calf back to its mother. “I will say, that feisty badger… never knew she had that side to her. She was like a Hungarian Horntail out there.”

“I don’t think she ever meant for us to see that side,” you said. “Though I’m glad that we did. It takes a lot of courage to face down your past like that. And yet she never showed anything but strength… everything around her seemed much less real, as if she was the only thing that truly made sense.”

Imelda gave you a sideward glance. “Sounds like you have a little crush on her.”

You smiled back. “Don’t you?”

At last, Poppy returned. A vibrant, healthy glow made her face seem almost ethereal, and she flashed you that particular kind of toothy smile that made you feel warm and fuzzy in your stomach. “Imelda! I’m so glad you’re with us again.”

“I couldn’t leave you alone with MC for too long, now, could I,” Imelda grinned. “How are our new guests settling in?”

“Oh, they’re doing just wonderful! The injured creatures are all patched up and should be back on their feet soon. The Thestral is an excited little rascal, though, so I merely hope she doesn’t exert herself too much before we are able to remove the cast.” She skipped a beat before adding sheepishly, “Of course, they all have you both to thank.”

“Don’t be silly,” Imelda retorted. “They’d still be stuck in their predicament if it wasn’t for you. We just did what you told us to do.”

Poppy gingerly rubbed her elbow. “Even so, I can’t ignore what you have done for me. You put yourself in harm’s way, risked your lives… all for me.”

“Of course,” you said. “There’s no way we would have let you face this alone. We share a bond. Wherever you go, we go.”

When she looked up to you again, you seemed to notice just the flimsiest mist of tears in her eyes. You couldn’t exactly fault her; a strong sense of love was filling you as well, making you feel tingly all over.

“I admit… seeing you two display so much bravery… makes me want to be brave as well,” she said, her voice solemn. “I’ve given this much thought, but I now feel that my heart is ready. So, I have one more request to make of you.”

You felt your chest tightening. Was this really…? Could it be…?

“Name it,” said Imelda, who hardly sounded any less excited than you were. Poppy stepped forward, taking Imelda’s hand in one hand, and yours in the other. She looked at you both, her gaze filled with love.

“I would like for you… to be my firsts,” she said.

Merlin, you couldn’t have been more ecstatic even if you tried. At last she was ready to become even closer to you, to give all of herself to the both of you. Understanding the solemnity of her wish, you cast a look at Imelda, who returned your gesture with a grin.

“Well, I suppose we can’t really say no to that,” you smiled. “Will we do it… now?”

“Might be as good a time as any,” Imelda said with a nonchalant shrug. “Who cares about school, am I right?”

Poppy let out a nervous giggle. “I would very much like for it to happen now. I can’t bear to wait any longer… I want to be with you.”

“All right then,” you nodded, elation adding to excitement. “Though we probably should find a more private place. I know I said I like audiences, but…”

“Say no more,” Imelda said, letting go of Poppy’s hand to lead the way back to the vivarium entrance, “I know just the spot!”

You looked back at the Hufflepuff, meeting her gaze. “Shall we?”

She nodded eagerly, which elicited a chuckle from you. So pure, so innocent she was – you could hardly wait until you would be able to explore her in all her precious, bare glory.

Taking her by the hand, you led her out of the vivarium, following Imelda towards the bedroom on the other side of your Room of Requirement.

“I’m so glad you decided to share yourself with us,” you said.

Poppy smiled softly. “I confess I feel a little nervous, but I’m also relieved. Before, it would always feel like I was intruding on you two while you… you know. I suppose that’s what made it exciting. But I realised that I wanted more, and now I know that I have nothing to fear with both of you around.”

“Of course not.” You leaned over to whisper to her. “To be perfectly honest, I’ve wanted you ever since that first kiss.”

The revelation made her tremble with delight. You couldn’t resist a mischievous smile, squeezing her hand affectionately. This was going to be better than you could have ever imagined.

You walked into the large bedroom together as Imelda went around lighting the candles with her wand. A flick of your own wand made the deep blue curtains of the four-poster bed slide open, the altar of your imminent bonding revealing itself in all its glory. You felt Poppy’s grip tightening at its sight.

“We don’t have to rush it,” you assured her. “How about I start kissing you and we’ll see where that takes us?”

She looked up at you with a deep blush blooming on her cheeks. “I-I’d like that very much.”

You smiled as you gently cupped her face, dipping your head to reach her lips. You started slow, like always, giving her ample opportunity to set her own pace, though once you sensed she was ready for more you let the tip of your tongue slip through to press for entrance. She parted her lips, a sigh melting into your warmth before your tongue slid into her mouth.

Merlin, she tasted so sweet. Her moves were a bit hesitant, and the way she awkwardly danced around your tongue betrayed more than a fair amount of inexperience, though the passion with which she latched onto you made more than up for it. She emitted a cute little whimper when you closed your lips around her tongue, causing the corners of your mouth to rise up into a smile.

“Well, look what we have here,” a familiar voice purred. “You weren’t thinking of keeping her all to yourself, were you, MC?”

You begrudgingly broke off to see Imelda standing next to you, arms crossed. You didn’t really want to stop; it was so much fun to kiss Poppy. If the Slytherin hadn’t stopped you, you might have just ended up devouring her.

But you knew you had to play fair. Sharing was caring, and besides, it seemed like there was plenty of Poppy to go around. So you gave her away, enjoying the longing gaze in her lovely brown eyes before she turned her attention to her other lover. There was not a single shred of envy or jealousy in your heart as you watched them start to make out. You relished the way Imelda closed her eyes and slightly twisted her head to have better access as she draped her arms around Poppy’s neck; the way Poppy moved her hands to Imelda’s hips as she moaned softly, a sign of her growing confidence. It was like witnessing the sprouting of a seed you had planted a long ago; the blossoming of a beautiful sunflower.

The whole experience was perfectly topped off with a surprised yelp from Poppy when Imelda slapped her perky arse. You shook your head, laughing. “Never been one to behave yourself, have you, Miss Reyes?”

“Can’t fault a woman for having good taste,” she retorted. “Now come here, you.”

You didn’t have to be told twice. Surrendering yourself to her embrace, Imelda rewarded you with the steamiest kiss she’d ever given you, chewing on your bottom lip as if she were trying to draw blood. After you separated and affectionately held each other for a little bit, you were eager to get back to Poppy. She gingerly pulled the tie from her neck, dropping the garment on the ground.

“Here, allow me,” you said, stepping up to her to help her with her blouse. You noticed just how tense she was as you started undoing the buttons.

“Hey, look at me.” You lifted her chin with your finger. “You needn’t be ashamed. You’ve seen us naked before, haven’t you?”

“I know,” she replied, flashing an apologetic smile. “It’s just the nerves. I’ve never shown myself to someone else like this.”

You tenderly kissed her forehead. “You’re gorgeous. I can’t wait to see all of you.”

Reassured by your compliment, she allowed you to proceed, shivering a little as the white fabric slipped off her bare shoulders. How delicate she looked; your gaze wandered down from the light dusting of freckles on her shoulders to her small chest, encased in a yellow lace bra. Figuring you needed to take a few more minutes to put her at ease first, you removed your own blouse before kissing her again, tracing a line from the corner of her mouth to the upper end of her jaw. She sighed with every brush of your lips, whispering a quiet “Yes…” when your hands travelled from her hips to her back. Her arms instinctively shot up to shield her chest when you unclasped her bra, but then she lowered them, and the garment fell away.

Poppy’s breasts were a sight to behold. They were smaller than Imelda’s, though they had a cute perkiness to them that you found hard to resist. She nodded shyly when you asked for permission to touch them, letting out a gasp when you cupped one of the supple globes, rolling the rosy nipple between your fingers.

“I might have a hard time controlling myself like this,” you chuckled. “You’re such a sweet little treat.”

“I agree,” Imelda said, suddenly appearing next to you. She reached out and took hold of Poppy’s other breast, forcing a tiny squeak out of her as she started fondling the soft mound. You smiled as you watched her respond to your combined touch, her breathing quickly picking up.

“Does this feel good?” you asked her, kissing the tip of her ear.

“Yes…” she whimpered, “it does…”

“I know something that’ll feel even better,” Imelda said, before sinking to her knees and leaning in, closing her lips around the nipple. This drew an audible moan from Poppy, her forehead creasing as the Slytherin suckled on her breast. “Oh, oh… Imelda…”

Hearing your one lover moan the name of your other in desperate bliss was enough reason for you to follow Imelda’s example. You knelt next to her and stuck out your tongue, wetting the hard bud before taking it between your teeth. Soon you had the Hufflepuff panting both of your names as she nursed you, the two of you gently purring against her warm bosom.

After a few minutes of licking and tugging, Imelda let her treat go with a wet ‘plop’ and rose to give Poppy a long, seductive French kiss. She then pulled you up and repeated the gesture, letting her dark gaze wander from you to Poppy, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. “I can already say this is the hottest thing I have ever done,” she laughed, before leaning over to you. Her husky whisper never failed to make you feel weak in the knees. “I think I’ll hang back for a little bit. Why don’t you warm her up for me, dear?”

There was no way you could ever have said no to that, especially if it meant getting to have Poppy to yourself for a few minutes. But first things first. You reached back and unclasped your own bra, wasting no time in bridging the short gap between you and Poppy to press your tits together, catching her moan with your lips as you did. The feeling of her body was even better than you had imagined; you felt her heart beating inside of her chest, her flushed skin rubbing against yours. Your hands sneaked around to her arse, not able to resist a quick squeeze as you moved together.

When you pulled back, you couldn’t help but notice she was once again very entranced by the sight of your breasts. She looked up at you questioningly. “May I… touch them?”

“Yes please,” you smiled. “Tonight is all about you, baby girl.”

The use of the pet name did not fail to elicit another shudder from her. She reached up to place one of her small hands on your full breast. Her movements were more like groping than a soft fondle, though you didn’t mind either way, softly cooing as she played with your tits.

Eventually, you slipped your hands down, fingers hooking into the band of her skirt. Poppy froze, though she didn’t protest either, giving you her silent approval. You slipped the piece of clothing down her thighs, baring more yellow lace inch by inch. You were delighted to find a sizeable moist patch at the location of her slit.

“I see you’re already very wet for us,” you complimented her. “Very good.”

A flush swept up from her neck to her cheeks, colouring her freckles a delightful shade of red. Sinking to your knees once more, you started planting open-mouthed kisses in the valley between her breasts, slowly trailing down the light curve of her torso. You kissed around her belly button, then moved down to her thighs, covering them in small pecks as you looked up into her half-lidded eyes. Her breath was shallow, her chest rising in a quick rhythm as you tended to the sensitive skin. You felt her muscles tighten as you inched closer to her throbbing core, though you weren’t ready to go there just yet. Standing up, you took her hand.

“Are you ready for the next part?” you whispered, your lips hovering close to hers.

She nodded eagerly.

“Good.” Smiling, you led her to the bed, where you slowly pushed her down on her back. You took a moment to admire her as she lay there, your precious angel of innocence, chestnut hair spread out around her head, clad in nothing but her yellow underwear and her black knee-high socks. Merlin, she was so precious, so perfectly sculpted in every way. You were so lucky to be with her like this.

You made a show of stripping out of your skirt and throwing it aside with a flourish, causing her to giggle. Then you climbed on top of her, giving her a slow kiss before you put a finger on her lips, tracing down to her chin.

“Are you all right, baby girl?”

“Very much so,” Poppy smiled. “I had no idea it would feel like this. I’m feeling all warm and tingly inside.”

You let out a chuckle. “It’s going to feel even better soon, I promise. But first, I’d like to touch you some more.”

Meeting with her approval, you settled against her side and started to tenderly stroke her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in your wake. You were content just lying with her like this for a while, watching the steady rising and falling of her breasts, counting the small imperfections in her skin as you petted her. You loved the way she squirmed when you drew circles around her nipple.

“I’m the luckiest girl in the world right now, you know?” you whispered to her. She bit her lip as she looked at you from the corner of her eye. “Y-yeah?”

“Mhm. Getting to pamper you like this, showing how much I care for you,” you nuzzled the crook of her neck, “giving you all the love you deserve.”

She made a sound like a small whimper.

“Because you do,” you continued. “You deserve to be loved, and cared for, and cherished –” you planted a little kiss on her temple – “to the end of your days.”

It was not so much a spell to arouse her as a sincere promise. The events of today had only solidified your resolve; you weren’t certain what the future held, or what your life after Hogwarts would look like, though you knew it was one you would share with Imelda and Poppy. Whatever doubts or differences may have existed between you had fallen away, becoming part of a past you no longer cared for; all that mattered was right here beside you, melting away under your loving touch.

Your fingers travelled across the soft landscape of her belly to her thighs, caressing every bit of skin you happened to come across. Feeling you so close to the dripping pit between her legs must have shocked her out of her trance, for she suddenly looked up at you. “What about Imelda?”

You locked eyes with the Slytherin, who so far had seemed very content with just watching the two of you. She had taken one of her breasts out and was twisting and pulling the dark nipple, licking her lips as she pleasured herself.

“What about her?” you asked.

“Will she… you know…” Her blush darkened. “Eat my pussy?”

It was a little jarring to hear such vulgar a word from the usually proper Hufflepuff’s lips, though then you smiled to reassure her. “Of course, baby girl. But first I need to spread you open nice and wide to prepare you for her. All right?”

She nodded softly. “Will it… hurt?”

“You’ve touched yourself before, so you shouldn’t feel any pain. You might feel a little fuller than normal, though, so I’ll go slow and you can tell me when you’re ready for me to go further, okay?”

“O-okay…” She offered you a thankful smile. “Thank you for being so considerate.”

“No need to thank me.” You pecked her lips. “Now, be a good girl and lift your hips for me.”

She did as you requested, raising her pelvis to allow you to work her underwear down her thighs. Poor angel; already you could tell she was so painfully swollen that you were honestly surprised she wasn’t crying out for your relief yet. Her pussy was like a perfect red flower, lips gleaming with slick desire. You discovered she had kept her landscaping in order as well, observing the most adorable patch of fuzzy brown hair above her fleshy hood.

You indulged the temptation of tracing a few teasing circles around her folds, delighting in the way her flesh quivered under your fingertips. You had no intention of making her wait any longer than necessary, though. She gasped as you finally put your middle finger at her entrance, hazel eyes shooting up to look at you as her hands gripped the sheets.

“Are you ready, my love?”

She yielded her assent before her mouth fell open and her eyes widened. “Oh, Merlin!”

She was tight. Very tight. Her walls clung to you from the moment you pushed into her, practically sucking you further inside her velvety depths. You fought the urge to go all the way, instead occupying yourself with brushing away the strands of hair that were matted to her forehead. You smiled when she opened your eyes to you. “Is it… all the way in?”

“Not yet,” you said. “You’re doing very good so far. Are you ready to take more of me?”

Blessed with her nod, you pushed even further, feeling her walls tighten around your digit as you just kept sliding and sliding into her throbbing heat. You supposed she had never used more than one finger judging by how she had a little difficulty accommodating you. Her uninhibited flow of juices helped ease you along though, and soon you sank in to the knuckle, holding perfectly still for a moment as you allowed her to adjust.

“There you go,” you cooed to her. “I’m inside of you, baby girl. How does it feel?”

She slightly shifted her hips, groaning through her teeth. “It definitely feels a bit fuller than normal. I can feel you stretching me out. It’s a good kind of feeling, though.”

“I’m glad.” You placed another kiss on her temple. “I’m going to start moving now. Tell me if at any time you want me to stop.”

You waited a few seconds before you started withdrawing, alert for any reactions from her. It wasn’t made any easier by the fact that her cunny was very much trying to keep you in place, but you persisted nonetheless, and thankfully Poppy didn’t seem to be experiencing much discomfort. She had closed her eyes again, mouthing your name over and over as you withdrew up until your fingernail, then started pushing back in again.

Seeing as she didn’t say anything, you soon ventured further. Starting with tender strokes, you commenced pumping, wet sopping sounds mixing with her moaning. The change of pace was enough to lure Imelda, who soon joined you at the other side of Poppy, propping herself up on her elbow.

“Look at our precious little thing,” she chuckled, lightly stroking Poppy’s arm. “How does she feel, MC?”

“Oh, very snug,” you smiled back. “But we’re getting her all nicely stretched out for you, aren’t we Poppy?”

She nodded with pursed lips, lacking the words to muster a response. Imelda kissed her cheek, hovering close to her ear, “I can’t wait to feel you on my tongue. I wonder if you taste as sweet as you look.”

That coaxed another whimper out of her, her pussy twitching around your finger as you kept bottoming out. You noticed her lips moving, trying to whisper something to you.

You leaned in closer. “Yes, my love…?”

“More…” she murmured, “please…”

You had not expected the request so soon, though on the other hand, you were hardly in any position to decline. You freed up your index finger, swirling around her clit before you added to the finger already pushing inside of her, stretching her slick little lips even further. By now Poppy was coming properly undone, letting out a high-pitched whine before Imelda smothered her mouth with her own.

You settled into a steady but forceful pace, eager to induce her release. As you watched her body move on the rhythm of your fingering, your thoughts drifted back to past times, all the adventures you had been through together. Just a few years ago, it seemed like such an unlikely pairing; a serpent and a badger, strangers meeting by some weird twist of fate. And yet, as it had turned out, you were more similar than you could have ever realised. Both burdened by a fate that was greater than you, having to find your way in a hostile world. You were grateful for Imelda too, of course, and there was no vision of the future that didn’t include you three sticking together. But the shy, brave Hufflepuff had stolen your heart from the day you met her in that afternoon Beast class.

And here she was, grown into a beautiful young woman, ready to cum at a twist of your fingers. Once more, you leaned closer to her, your breath warmly rolling across her face, “I want you to come for me now, baby girl. Come, come for us, show us what a good girl you are…”

As to stress your command, you used your thumb to press down on her clit, making her back arch off the bed. She let out a short series of hiccups, her heat growing almost impossibly tight around you before she slowly relaxed again. You carefully removed your fingers from her folds, essence that had been plugged up spilling out as you did. You brought your fingertips up to your mouth to taste her, only to find yourself surprised when she grabbed your hand and cleaned herself off you instead.

You smiled, kissing her moist lips. “You did so well, baby. Now, are you ready for Imelda to slide her tongue inside you?”

“I am, but just give me a minute,” Poppy replied, giving you a crooked smile. “I think you might have done just a little too good of a job warming me up.”

“Of course she did,” Imelda huffed. “MC always ends up breaking things because she can’t contain herself.”

“Are we sure we aren’t talking about someone else here?” you laughed.

“I don’t know what you’re on about.” Imelda got up and crawled over to the end of the bed, positioning herself between Poppy’s legs. “Everyone knows I never fuck up.”

“Right. You’re definitely fucking something else, though.”

“Don’t fight now, please,” Poppy interjected. “I’m sure you both have something better to attend to.”

You and Imelda shared an amused look before you broke out into a burst of lighthearted laughter. “Sounds like our girl has gotten a bit of an attitude,” Imelda said, lips breaking into a mischievous smirk. “I suppose we should do something about that, huh?”

You slightly worried this meant she would go a bit rougher on Poppy than the Hufflepuff might have been comfortable with, though as she laid down on her front and hooked her arms under Poppy’s thighs, her dark eyes swiftly met her gaze. “Tell me if you need me to go any faster or slower. I want you to get the most out of this.”

Poppy nodded. “You can start slow now, please.”

As Imelda got herself ready, Poppy turned towards you. “MC, will you… talk to me while she eats me out?”

Seeing as that had been very much your idea, you were eager to agree. “I’ll make you feel as good as I can,” you assured her.

At last, Imelda was ready. Poppy sought your hand as the Slytherin moved in, squeezing it tightly as she shuddered at the feeling of Imelda’s breath on her clit. As promised, she started slow, her tongue flicking at Poppy’s fleshy petals before she moved to a rhythm of quick kitten licks.

You kept a close eye on your precious angel, watching her lips part as her breath started to quicken again. “Does it feel good, baby girl?” you asked her.

“It does…” she sighed. “I can feel her tongue… it tickles a bit,”

“You’re probably still a little sensitive.” You kissed the small bit of skin just below her ear, the tremble of her body confirming your assessment. “It will start to feel much better soon. Just relax, let her set the pace.”

Imelda kept licking, gradually building up towards bigger strokes until she was properly lapping away at Poppy. You turned to fondling her breasts again, tickling her nipples, caressing the smooth flesh as you observed the determined expression on Imelda’s freckled features, the way she fully threw herself into pleasing her lover, just as dedicated as she would be out on the pitch. Merlin, what had you done to earn the love and blessing of these horny little nymphs?

You met Imelda’s gaze, a flash of understanding passing between you. So you once again nestled into the crook of Poppy’s neck, nibbling on the skin, adding to the sensation of Imelda’s tongue finally sinking into her tight slit. Poppy cried softly, her neck craning back as you kept nursing her, her hips raising from the bed as Imelda devoured her whole.

“Tell me what she’s doing to you,” you ordered her.

“I can feel her… inside,” she moaned between gasps, “she’s – oh, gods –“

You chuckled against her throat, sucking a hickey into her neck before you pushed yourself up on your elbow to take in all of her flushed visage. Her hair was sticking to her forehead, cheeks blazing crimson red as a never-ending mantra of breathless prayers rose from her open mouth

But her eyes. Those sweet, chocolate brown eyes, peering out at you from under their hoods, luring you in with their innocent gaze. You felt like you would drown in them if only you looked at them long enough.

Moving your hand down to join Imelda’s tongue in servicing her sensitive nub, you whispered sweetly to her, “You won’t ever be alone again… you will always be loved, always be cherished. We will comfort you, make love to you… you can have us whenever you want…”

You cradled the Hufflepuff against your breast, feeling her hot breath on your skin, the sound of her desperate cries like music to your ears.

“We’re together now… and always will be… We'll have our own little family, somewhere safe, and happy… imagine it, bearing our children… us taking care of you just like this as your breasts swell with milk and your belly grows with our babies –”

Imelda’s muffled grunts blended with Poppy’s, forming a growing stereo as you laboured together to bring about her inevitable climax, the vivid pictures you were painting with your words only adding to your harmonious ecstasy.

“We are your home now… we’re yours… and you’re ours. So come for us, baby girl. Let us see you come undone.”

At last, she did. Her release arrived in a tidal wave that swept all of you away. She buried her face into your chest, letting out a deep groan as every part of her body shook and trembled with pure blissful energy. You saw Imelda pushing her mouth into her folds, not wanting a drop to be spilt. Just as you thought the high has passed, however, a soft, gurgling sound came from Poppy’s pussy, followed by a spray of essence that hit Imelda squarely in the face.

To her credit, she didn’t retreat, but you definitely couldn’t keep yourself from bursting out into a hysterical giggle as soon as you figured out what had happened. Poppy quickly rose from your chest, cheeks red with embarrassment. “Oh goodness, sorry, I didn’t mean to –”

“It’s all right,” you reassured her, still chuckling. “That happens sometimes. Besides, I don’t think Imelda minds.”

The Slytherin removed herself from Poppy’s core with a wet sucking sound, sitting up as she wiped her eyes. “I don’t, but next time, maybe give me a heads up before you decide to hit me between the eyes.”

That could count on a spirited laugh from all of you. As the charged energy from your lovemaking slowly dissipated, you briefly left the bed to gather a couple of plushy towels. You offered one to Imelda before turning to Poppy, relishing in the way she lovingly looked up at you as you dabbed her face.

“There, all clean,” you smiled, pecking the tip of her nose for good measure. You then settled back against the pillows, Poppy snuggling up to you as you watched Imelda freshen up.

“Well, I guess we know who won tonight’s round,” Imelda said after she had disposed of the towel and settled against the other side of Poppy, wrapping an arm around the Hufflepuff’s small frame.

“I’d say we did,” you replied. “She obviously was the loudest with me.”

“Oh, come on. I was the one who made her squirt!”

“You should both be quiet,” Poppy piped up. “I think it’s very clear that I’m the undisputed winner tonight.”

You flashed a cheeky grin, letting out a chuckle. “I suppose that settles it.”

“Oh, fair enough,” Imelda said, feigning exasperation. “Are we getting a consolation prize at least?”

Poppy giggled before giving both of you a loving kiss on the lips. You felt the fatigue of today’s whirlwind of events finally beginning to weigh on your eyelids, letting out a yawn as you settled in for the night. Before you could even drift into sleep, however, you sensed Poppy’s weight shifting on your chest, prompting you to open your eyes to meet her warm brown gaze.

“Are you all right?” you asked.

She smiled. “I am. Tonight was wonderful. Thank you… for giving me this.”

“I wasn’t any trouble at all, my love.” You kissed her cheek. “Like I said, we are a part of each other now.”

She briefly lowered her eyes, contemplating a thought. Then she looked up to you again. “MC, what you said about beginning a family, did you really mean those words?”

The question took you a bit by surprise, but you supposed she was right to ask. Truth be told, there was a lot to contemplate about your future after the way your bond had changed tonight. You didn’t want to pretend to have all the answers, though at least you were certain about one thing.

“The only future I want is the one that has you two in it,” you confided. “What it will look like, I cannot yet say… but if settling down and starting a little family of our own is what will make you happy, then so will it be with me.”

Her eyes brimmed with love and understanding, a kindness you had witnessed countless times, but now appearing even more profound and potent. She finally put her head on your chest, closing her eyes. “I love you, MC.”

You planted a kiss on top of her head. “I love you too. Both of you.”

[lu-is-not-ok]

Hope no one hasn't asked for Faust's hex nail before 🙏

But it's really intriguing to me as it has very weird sin resource requirements (literally only six envy) and it's also a weirder, yet somewhat telling sinner choice in my opinion

I really want to see what you (and possibly other people) think about it

Hoo boy, it's been a while hasn't it? Sorry for keeping everyone who sent asks waiting, but at least we're back!

It might take me a moment to get back into the groove, so if this analysis is a little bit weird structurally, uhhh... Sorry!

Now then, under the cut we go!

Alright, before we can get into Hex Nail, we first need to look at the Abnormality it comes from, Hurting Teddy Bear, as well as the Abno it's an Abberation of, Happy Teddy Bear.

Let's start with that last one. Happy Teddy Bear's main theme is abandonment, child-like innocence, and the loss of that innocence due to the passage of time. It's a plush toy that was left to tear and rot after its previous owner grew out of playing with it, and now it fears being abandoned again, hugging the people it grows attached to until they die out of its fear.

Interestingly enough, Happy Teddy Bear itself has not lost its innocence, unlike its owner. It doesn't seem to actually Want to kill people, it simply doesn't want them to leave, not being able to understand the idea that they could come back.

Now onto Hurting Teddy Bear. While Happy Teddy Bear seems to have been treated well by its owner before they left, Hurting Teddy Bear seems to have gone through the opposite. It's noted to have spent a lot of time in pain, and a lot of emphasis is put on its "emptiness".

The holes where its eyes should be are empty. The cavities left after pulling out the nails are called an "empty void". If the nails are dug deeper, the plush looks down but doesn't seem to notice anything is actually happening. Interestingly enough this reaction makes the narrator wonder if the plush is simply unable to feel pain, seemingly contradicting its initial description noting how its bloodstains are a sign of the pain it went through.

An interesting thing about Hurting Teddy Bear is how its hugs are described, and how little emphasis is put on them. When Happy Teddy Bear's hugs are noted, they are explicitly said to be something that the plush Wants to do, how it's something it Loves. They're actually noted quite often, as it's something the Abno is explicitly known for. For Hurting Teddy Bear however, its hugs are described only once, and specifically as a "duty" it has to fulfill.

So, here are the themes I think we're dealing with here.

First of all, loss of innocence, in this case specifically the loss of innocence caused by abuse. Physical abuse, if we take the bear's damage literally, and emotional abuse, if we take the idea of them piercing through the bear's heart more symbolically.

Another theme I think is good to note here is the idea of learned helplessness and/or obedience caused by abuse. The way Hurting Teddy Bear's hugs are described as a "duty" combined with the emphasis put on how empty the bear is gives me a picture of someone who has become a husk of their former self, going through life on auto-pilot and accepting the abuse they're put through without complaint.

With both of these in mind, let's look at the main point of interest here.

Faust. And Hex Nail.

I'm going to focus on the animation and dialogue lines first, since I think it's the kind of stuff anyone could analyze without delving deeper into Sin Analysis territory, and I think that's what I'm gonna try to do in future E.G.O Analyses as well.

The Awakening dialogue line, "Pierce... to the profundities of the heart.", is of particular interest of me due to Faust's delivery here. Noticeably, she seems to uncharacteristically whisper a part of it, implying it's something that emotionally means a lot more to her than the rest of the line. Perhaps it brings back a notably bad memory, or has her feel anxious enough to not want to say it out loud?

I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

Through my expert analysis (throwing the original korean version of the line into google translate and seeing what the individual parts of the line translate to), the part that makes Faust emotional here is the act of Piercing.

Remember how we mentioned that the theme of abuse plays a major part in the Abnormality this E.G.O is derived from, and how the nails pierced through it can be interpreted as either physical or emotional abuse, depending on whether they're taken literally or symbolically.

Considering how Faust here specifies the act of Piercing is being done to a heart, specifically to aim for its "profundities" (which means great depths of insight or knowledge), I think its fair to interpret this as more symbolic, thus implying more of an emotional kind of abuse.

If the act of Piercing here is meant to represent this abuse that Faust has potentially gone through, it would make sense why she would whisper it like she does. The phrasing used regarding what is being pierced to is quite interesting. Profundities aren't just any depths, it's specifically intellectual depths, fitting for Faust, yet odd considering we're talking about the heart, something that is more often symbolically connected to emotions than intelligence.

Was Faust's emotional intelligence the target of this Piercing? Was this Piercing trying to harm that part of Faust, or was it trying to expose it? Considering how Faust notably lacks social awareness as well as self awareness, I'd go out on a limb and posit it's the former.

Something else notable about Faust's Awakening here is the animation itself. The way she stabs the nail through her target is notably aggressive and violent, with her face even being covered by a shadow. It feels like a Major departure from her other Awakening animations, which show her attacks be seemingly more calculated and slower-paced. I think this just further proves how deeply this E.G.O touches Faust, and how truly personal it is to her.

Next, the Corrosion. This is the one other time we get to see Hurting Teddy Bear's hugs be referenced at all, and it's in an interesting form. Faust's line here, "Come here... I'll hug you tight...", is again notable from her vocal delivery. Faust sounds Very Emotional here, her voice almost trembling and by the end it edges to sounding like she's about to cry.

Considering how Hurting Teddy Bear's hugs are considered its "duty", it paints a very interesting picture of Faust's own potential duty. Perhaps following her given purpose causes her pain and suffering, but she pushes through it regardless.

Something I find important to note is another contrast between the hugs seen from the two Teddy Bears. For Happy Teddy Bear, the hugs by themselves aren't actually fatal, it's the bear deciding it doesn't want to let go that hurts the one it hugs. For Hurting Teddy Bear however, it's a completely different story. We see in Faust's Corrosion animation how this bear's hugs are inherently painful to the reciever, as it causes the bear's nails to pierce whoever it decides to hug.

I wonder, could this be interpreted as a symbolic representation of the cycle of abuse? The same nails that hurt the bear cause it to harm those it tries to show affection towards, perhaps also partially because that affection is not genuine, as the idea of giving hugs being seen as its duty suggests.

Perhaps Faust doing her job inflicts the same kind of suffering to others as she herself went through? Considering how we know she's the one behind everyone's contracts, yet had to have also been given a contract of her own to become a Sinner herself, it might not be too far off.

Then, there's the last little bit of the Corrosion animation we need to talk about. The box of cereal that falls out of Faust once she stops her attack, which proceeds to bleed on the floor. The imagery here is very easy to interpret as a symbolic representation of a miscarriage, and I don't think it's something that can be ignored in this analysis.

While the easy way to interpret it would be to say Faust is a mother who lost her child and leave it at that, I don't think it's nearly as simple as that. No, I think there's something else going on here that's a bit more abstract.

My personal interpretation here is that the box represents some part of Faust. Some form of child-like innocence and wonder that she loses each time she goes back to her duties. Every time she perpetuates what she herself has been through, she loses another part of herself, becoming further like the empty husk that Hurting Teddy Bear is.

Of course, I could be completely wrong here. We genuinely don't know enough about Faust to be sure.

Now, let's get to the part everyone actually knows me for. Sin Analysis.

Hex Nail is a Fascinating E.G.O, as it's all about a single Sin - Envy. Its Sin Affinity is Envy, and the Resources it needs are an obscene amount of Envy.

I hope that with all the prior analysis we've done, this actually starts making A Lot of sense.

Hex Nail is a representation of the abuse Faust has gone through at the hands of other people. Whether it's Limbus's higher ups, whoever gave her her own contract, or some other person we don't know yet, one thing is clear. Everything about Hex Nail screams the influence of other people.

It represents her learned helplessness, her obedience under others, her causing the same harm those she's obeying cause her... It's all about how her actions have been influenced by people who have authority over her.

It's Envy, the Sin of being influenced and controlled by other people, in its purest form. It truly shows how Faust lacks any control, how she's just a plaything being used by someone else, and how she passively accepts and follows whatever they put her through.

I think the fact that Sloth is not included in the resources despite the clear themes of obedience presented here further drives that point home. There is no resignation in the part of Faust that Hex Nail represents. It's all due to the influences of other people, adding to that image of an empty husk. Faust has no say in the matter. She has no control. Can it really be called resignation when you're so empty that you can't even resign yourself to your fate?

And as some extra icing on the cake, there's something poignantly cruel about Hex Nail Faust being fatal to Lust and Pride. The Sins tied to actions for one's own sake, whether for emotional fulfillment or tangible benefits, are the ones that hurt Faust the most in the state that reminds her of how few of her actions are actually truly her own.

A lot of this post is just blind speculation on my part, as Faust is one of the more mysterious characters within this cast. I could be completely off on some things for all I know, but I get the feeling I might be onto something here, even if it is just. A general direction, I suppose.

Also this post ended up. Much longer than my other ones, since I decided to go a bit more in depth than I usually do. However, I will also blame Flaw Peacock for this, as I recently got through one of his videos and the way he explains and notes things might have done something to my brain.

Either way, hope this one was enjoyable for you guys, as a return to my longass analytical postings.

[abnormalityjoseph]

SAGAU Idea Part 2: Electric Boogalo

SAGAU, but [Reverse] Isekai type beat

Can you imagine the Genshin Characters being thrown into the reader’s world instead of the other way around?

The chaos

The way I’m thinking of is more like.. some of the characters suddenly appear in the reader’s house world. Like they broke out of the game

Temporarily, ofc. At least initially

Since, while they’re in the reader’s world, that character(s) presence seems to disappear in the reader’s game.

Just— the reader vibing, watching some anime or smth, then Thoma just walks out of the closet confused as hell

“Hello there!” “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE??”

Both parties confused as hell

Are they dreaming? Are they dead? What?? How??

Since this is SAGAU the character(s) that show up prob think they’re dead. Since they’re meeting their creator/overseer/the player and that shouldn’t be possible—

But… Funny slice of life opportunities? Where the reader has to house whatever character shows up until they leave

If the reader does want to help them figure out a way back or not…can vary

And the point in time the characters show up could vary as well!

Like, you can meet a Post-Sumeru Scara, Raiden Shogun before the Inazuma Quest, Signora before she goes all Crimson Witch, etc! At all can vary!

That also means the interactions can differ. Awkward, funny, angst, crack-fic-esque, angst, angst/comfort, you get the idea.

The amount of time a character is in the Reader’s world can also be insanely different. You’ve got Thoma there for less than a day, and then Razor’s there for a whole week. It’s wild

Not to mention if there’s more than one character that showed up—oh boy, that’s gonna be hectic to manage.

When the character(s) return home, it can be weird for the reader

But it’s probably weirder for the Reader if a character keeps coming back with all the memories of what happened before

So it’s not a dream or hallucination. Lovely.

If the Reader gets Isekai’d into Teyvat, they would get a very big welcome party. And a lot of people who would be willing to show them around, as you did help them while they were in your world.

But if the Genshin Cast get’s isekai’d into the Reader’s World?

Oh boy..

They’d have to teach everyone about the world.

Some of them have to work, because you can’t support such a large group without help.

Also have to explain to the cast just how popular Genshin Impact is, so they’re going to be seen as cosplayers if they don’t change up their identities and looks.

Ofc the cast has been aware they’ve been in a game, but this is…a lot to take him

And probably a big ego boost for some of the characters, since people seem to love them so much.

The cast have to realize that, divine or not, they’re all now on an even paying field.

Not to mention they can’t use their visions openly, lest more suspicions are made by the Reader’s Neighbors

Tbh, the entire cast could do a ‘group Cosplay’ channel where they’re all ‘cosplaying’ Genshin Character’s to do vlogs and possibly make some cast.

And use of their visions can be passed off as video effects

If they do that, the cast would probably be very popular in the Genshin community for being the Cosplay Icons.

Bonus points if you also have to explain the fandom shenanigans

“What’s a Scaranation? What the fuck?”

“Is there..a reason? Why all of the anemo boys care being called an idol group..?”

“[Reader], what is a ‘simp?’ And why are there so many of them?”

Extra bonus points if whenever a new character enters the Genshin story they show up at the Reader’s house as well.

You’ll need one big ass house to keep all the Genshin Characters under one roof. Rip to the wallet.

Now, imagine the crossover potential in SAGAU

Reader is from the Bungo Stray Dogs Universe, Port Mafia Executive. Cool right?

Not cool when characters from the Reader’s favorite game (Genshin) start materializing in the real world.

Try explaining that to the rest of the PM executives. Good lord.

Random opinion but I think Scara would love Q to death.

Meanwhile the Armed Detective Agency is investigating the strange case of ability users, that look like characters from a video game, are appearing in the city.

Oh! Or a Twisted Wonderland Crossover type beat! People that the Reader knows, who many assume are also from their world, started appearing and now Night Raven College needs a new dorm to house all of them.

For these crossovers, imagine if the worlds were actually merging. Or well— mixing in some ways

People are getting visions, slimes are causing havoc, teleport waypoints are appearing along with the statues of the seven

And the only way to revert it would be to send the Genshin Cast back.

How would they react? Would there be a permanent gateway established, or would it be a one way thing? Would the Reader choose to stay in Teyvat with them?

Oh but someone would totally say “Hell no” and start trying to prevent any progress of sending them back.

[lilithblackwood]

Lan’s Relationships

The poll results have officially declared my next post be lore about “Lotus of Rebirth”, so I figured what better way to give you just that than Lan’s relationships with the show’s cast! Keep in mind that I will purposely keep some vague to avoid spoilers, and even redact those that will contain too much information, so read carefully ~

MK: One of her best friends for as long as she could remember, Lan’s always acting as the voice of reason when it comes to being dragged into his antics. She’s always overwhelmed by all the crazy situations she keeps finding herself in thanks to his uncontrollable ability to find danger, but if push comes to shove, she’s perfectly willing to step out of her comfort zone to lend him a hand.

Mei: Her best friend along with MK, Lan is a polar opposite to Mei because of her meek and socially awkward nature contrasting against the dragon girl’s optimistic and outgoing attitude. One way to describe their dynamic is the popular girl to Lan’s quiet girl. Despite the differences in their auras, Lan is always more than happy to have Mei’s back and vice versa, even if it means allowing herself to be filmed on her livestream to “show off her cuteness” (Mei’s words, not hers). However, it doesn’t exactly stop Lan from being the tiniest bit jealous of her when it comes to family matters…

Pigsy: As the adoptive father and boss of one of her best friends, Pigsy is similar to that of a grumpy uncle figure to her. She occasionally delivers him vegetables she’s grown herself for his cooking, which the pig demon appreciates immensely to the point where he uses her as an example of hard work to MK whenever he slacks off his job…which is a lot. Even she’s not spared from his constant yelling when it comes to all the recent chaos she’s dragged in, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s just as protective of her as he is of MK.

Tang: Lan easily bonds with Tang when it comes to trying not to get dragged into danger as much as possible, the two sometimes acting as the brains of the group when it comes to being the only sane people in general. Though, it doesn’t really stop her from actually getting annoyed at him whenever he suggests running away when things get too messy.

Sandy: Lan immediately befriended Sandy on their very first meeting when she saw that not only was he a true pacifist, but also incredibly therapeutic with the number of cats he owns and the exceptional tea he brews. Whenever she gets too stressed or is simply having a hard time trying to find peace with herself, she’s always quick to go to him for comfort, and the blue giant’s more than happy to brew her a fresh cup of tea for her issues (even if she can be a little too…intense with her anxiety).

Sun Wukong: At first, the Monkey King was perfectly casual with her when they first met and even let her play with his fellow monkey friends on Flower Fruit Mountain when he saw how attached they were to her. But as Lan’s powers get stronger and her dreams get weirder over time, it’s not long before she starts to suspect that he may have some kind of connection to her previous life…

Red Son: To say that they did not have the best first impression of each other would be a major understatement. Only five seconds in, the demon prince proceeded to burn her beloved flowers in front of her, right before he started chasing both her and MK around all over the city like a lunatic during the pilot. Fire and plants were never meant to mix well, but who’s to say things will turn for the better over time? (Fans of the “Opposites Attract” trope here?)

Demon Bull King: Was not above including her in his targets to destroy when she accidentally awakened her powers and used them against him as soon as he was freed from the Underworld. The only reason he decided to spare her and instead focus on capturing her in the beginning was because of his wife’s suggestion…along with her history with the florist’s previous life.

Princess Iron Fan: The former celestial maiden seemed to recognize Lan upon first sight, her suspicions being confirmed when she accidentally awakens her powers in front of her. Whatever history she has with whoever Lan was in a past life seems to be important enough for her to convince her husband not to kill her, instead urging him to take her as a hostage instead to utilize her powers for themselves. At least, in the beginning…

Macaque: [HEAVY SPOILERS; WILL BE CONFIRMED IN LATER CHAPTERS]

Mayor: [HEAVY SPOILERS; WILL BE CONFIRMED IN LATER CHAPTERS]

Nezha: [HEAVY SPOILERS; WILL BE CONFIRMED IN LATER CHAPTERS]