#nonmagical au

[dominimoonbeam]

Hallway Romance

The rest of the Darlin/David fic from the wonderful ask the other day! It feels like it's been forever since I've written a fic. This felt really good to get into again. <3 <3

tags: neighbors au, first meeting, first date, flirting, total au, non-magical au

Hallway Romance

It started in the laundry room.

They’d been living in the same building, on the same floor, in the same corridor for the last year but never spoken—not until that evening in the laundry room.

David was putting a load in when the other tenant came downstairs, no basket in hand, just an armful of t-shirts, underwear, and towels. He tried not to watch but it was impossible. He’d caught plenty of glimpses of them over the months, in the hall and on the elevator. They were a storm wearing skin and a leather jacket.

With a huff, they crammed the ball of fabric into a machine and then peeled their shirt off and kicked off their boots, huffing annoyance as they unbuttoned and squirmed out of their jeans.

There was no way they thought they were alone in the room. David was not the sort of man that went unnoticed. He slammed the lid on his machine just in case.

The other tenant pulled their phone from the pocket of their jeans along with a wad of cash, and put it down to the side before closing the machine.

David raised an eyebrow and looked at them, really looked at them, wearing nothing but underwear and stepping back into their boots. They were lanky, all muscle and bruises. One hand rubbed the back of their head, ruffling their hair while jabbing the buttons to start the machine. “What?” they snapped, not even looking at him.

Their knuckles were raw and bloody and their side looked splotchy, like those ribs would be bruised tomorrow.

“Bad day?” David asked the scrapper.

They huffed again, this time grinning and turning enough to look at him. They had blood on their teeth and in their hair. “Nope.” They picked up their phone and the crumpled bills, both of them walking out of the laundry room and down the long hall to the elevator.

David followed them into the lift and waited. They jabbed the button for their floor.

They both walked down the hall, almost together.

The scrapper peeled off first at their door, only a handful of steps before David’s. They shared a wall. He only realized they weren’t carrying keys when they opened their apartment door. They hadn’t even locked it.

What a mess, he thought with a smile.

He saw them again when he was on his way to the basement to move his laundry to the dryer. They had showered and were wearing a pair of sweatpants.

They leaned against the dryer after starting it and watched him, not unlike how he’d watched them when they were stripping down an hour ago.

David let them. He’d called most people out on eyeing him in his life but this seemed like fair turn around. They started their machines and took the hall together again. This time, in the elevator, their stomach growled.

The scrapper rolled their eyes like it was a familiar nag and not a biological function reminding them of hunger.

He wasn’t sure what made him do it. He wasn’t exactly known for making the first move in making friends. “Do you like enchiladas?!

The door plinged when it opened and their neighbor looked over their shoulder at him, one eyebrow raised. The brow was split by an old scar. “What?”

“I made enchiladas yesterday. It’s too much. Do you want some?”

They were walking again, both of them moving a little slower than usual down the hall toward their doors. “Is that your way of inviting me in?”

He snorted. “I’m not inviting you in. You’ll get blood on my rug. I’m asking if you want some of the leftovers.”

Their smirk sharpened. “Do you think I don’t have food?”

He bit back a laugh, suddenly willing to bet their fridge was empty. “Forget I asked.”

They were at their door but paused.

He felt their gaze on him, considering him. He unlocked his apartment and was one step in when they suddenly said, “Okay.”

He looked back at them, standing in the hallway outside their door. They looked unsure and suddenly younger, softer. He could see the echo of what he imagined they’d been like as a kid, before they got tough. He nodded. “I’ll grab you a plate.” He held out his hand. “My name’s David.”

Their gaze flicked to his hand like trust didn’t come naturally, but they closed the distance and took it. “Darlin.”

He smiled before he could catch himself.

Luckily, they smiled back. “I know. Either my parents had a really different idea for who I’d be or they were assholes.”

David shrugged, dropping their hand after maybe a second too long of holding it to duck inside and make his way for the kitchen. “Maybe it suits you,” he said.

Darlin laughed, leaning against his open doorway. He didn’t mind if they came inside but he wasn’t sure they were willing to. Interesting. They’d leave their door unlocked but they weren’t quite ready to walk into a stranger’s apartment. “Yeah. Like calling someone tall Shorty.”

He laughed and pulled the dish out of the fridge. He cut a few enchiladas free and scooped them onto a plate. He would have wrapped it if he wasn’t sure they were going to eat it right away. He paused with it in hand and look at them. “Do you need to borrow a fork?”

Darlin’s expression bloomed in a huge grin. “Fuck you,” they laughed, holding out a hand for the food.

He crossed his apartment to put it in their hand. “See you around, Darlin,” he said.

They nodded, still smiling when they walked back to their place and inside.

David thought about that smile and that laugh all day afterward and the next time he saw them in the hall they talked more and Darlin had him wait in the hall to bring him the plate. They’d even washed it and promised they’d used soap and not just licked it clean. He tried to ignore the jolt that mental image sent through his whole body, but something about the way they bit their smile suggested they’d seen it too.

-

A few months later, he heard them drop their keys in the hall. He wouldn’t have guessed it was them until they cursed. Darlin didn’t lock their apartment. He’d noticed and even pointed it out but they made a joke about not having anything worth stealing.

So why the change?

“New TV?” David asked, walking past them in the hall to his own door.

Darlin straightened, surprised before grinning and unlocking their door. “Nah, just a wad of cash under the mattress.”

He snorted, unlocking his door.

“Oh, hang on. I have that casserole dish of yours…” they said, throwing their door open and ducking inside.

He waited in his doorway, watching that dark rectangle of their place. He’d never seen inside, the entrance a narrow hall with no table for keys—just a hook on the wall for that one leather jacket of theirs.

They came back, smiling wide and holding the glass dish. “Here. It was great, by the way, thanks.”

He shrugged the way he always did.

“You’ve got to let me treat you to dinner some time, to try to make up for all the free meals.”

“Wouldn’t be free if you did,” he pointed out, but his heart beat a little faster at the idea of eating together. Were they asking him out?

“I’m single,” they blurted out.

David stared at them, and they stared back, cheeks slowly turning red, the old bruise under their eye becoming even more splotchy. He had wondered if they were a cage fighter for all the bruises they carried around, but right then he could only think about those two words. “I’m single.”

Darlin heaved a breath with a self-deprecating laugh on it, pushing the dish into his hand and launching themself a step back. “Wow. Okay. I’m going to go—”

David caught their arm before they could get completely out of reach and vanish back into their apartment.

Their breath caught behind their teeth and their eyes flicked up to his, waiting.

He stroked his thumb against their skin, as if thinking when really it was more like reveling in that first contact. “You’re single,” he repeated. Their arm flexed under his grip, their whole body seeming to fight the instinct to run away. The idea made him smile because Darlin didn’t look like someone who ran away from anything. All that wiry muscle was made for running at things. “Me too,” he offered and watched their eyes widen and that smile start to pull at the corners of their mouth.

Darlin nodded slowly, as if to say “So…what do we do about this?”

“Where are you taking me for dinner?”

Darlin exhaled a laugh. “Am I wine and dining you?”

David shrugged, still holding their wrist and feeling their pulse under his thumb. “I mean, I’m not going to just make you a bunch of meals and then put out. You’ve got to put some effort in…”

Darlin grinned outright and took a step closer, pushing into his space for the first time since they started talking. They touched the doorframe just above his shoulder. “I’ll put effort in,” they promised, voice low and eyes full of something he absolutely refused to call smolder.

David bit his tongue to keep from biting his lip.

Darlin nodded slowly and then stepped back. “Okay. I know a place. Are you free tonight?”

David let go of their arm and nodded, still leaning against his doorframe, more than a little shocked by his own role in this conversation. He was usually the one making plans and taking the lead. How did this end up turned around? “Six okay?” It would give him an hour to clean up and change.

Darlin smiled, taking backward steps to their door. “Sounds great. I’ll be here.”

David watched them go, almost dropping the casserole dish in his hand when he forgot he was holding it.

-

He wasn’t sure where he’d expected Darlin to take him, but it hadn’t been a nice restaurant with a reservation list month out. He’d been there a couple times but only in the late hours when it turned into a club.

Darlin talked to the manager like they knew him and David watched it all like he was solving a puzzle, waiting to ask until they were seated with menus and scotch.

Darlin grinned. “I used to be a bouncer here,” they explained. “It was a few years back but the owner’s asked me to help out with a few things since.”

David was both impressed and worried. “What do you do?” he asked, because somehow they’d made it this far knowing so little about each other.

Darlin rolled the scotch in their glass. “Are you worried?”

“A little.”

They smiled wider and then shrugged. “I did a lot of odd jobs, got to know a lot of people, and then sort of fell into private work. Recover stolen shit, find missing people, keep an eye on someone while they’re in town… that sort of thing.”

David almost laughed. “You’re a PI?”

Darlin grinned and downed their drink.

“You’re kidding. I run a security company.”

“Oh, I know,” Darlin said, still smiling like they’d been waiting for this conversation to happen for days. “And you don’t just run it, you own it. I looked into you after you started feeding me your leftovers. I was expecting you to be a chef…”

David did laugh then. “Are you trying to flatter me or intimidate me?”

“Flatter. Not sure I could intimidate you.”

They looked at each other.

David threw his drink back and picked up the menu.

They ordered and talked, filling the time easier than he would have expected. David usually dreaded this part of getting to know anyone. He wasn’t great at it. He didn’t usually like talking and he was always a little worried someone new would say something he couldn’t ignore.

Darlin was easy to talk to. They ended up trading stories, first from work and then just from life, comparing fights and friends and childhoods. They were similar in a lot of ways and opposite in just as many.

They sat so long that the club opened and the music rose around them, trying to swallow them. Darlin drained their last drink and caught his hand, leading him downstairs. For a second, he was worried they’d want to dance. He hated dancing. He hated clubs. The times he’d been before, had been because Asher dragged him along.

Darlin wove through the crowd with expert ease, making way and leading David toward one of the back doors. A few more turns and they were free of the club, on the street behind the building. Darlin kept his hand and fell into an easy stride toward their building.

They were just past tipsy, not quite drunk, and David marveled at how Darlin still took the lead, grabbing the elevator door for him and hitting the button for their floor.

“You really took this wining and dining thing seriously, didn’t you?” he asked.

Darlin tried and failed not to smile in the hall. “You wanted effort.”

David nodded. He had said that.

Darlin walked him to his door and smiled like a fox, tipping their head back to look up at him. “Can I kiss you?”

David swallowed, his body suddenly very awake and that buzz gone. He wasn’t sure anyone had ever asked him. He usually did the asking… “You think you buy me one dinner and I’m going to put out?” he joked.

Darlin leaned closer. Were they on their toes? They smelled like scotch and leather. “I think you made me about twelve dinners… and I’m going to put out,” they explained.

David groaned low in his chest.

Darlin grinned and closed the distance between their mouths.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

mmmm thinking about... every element having a variety of expressions. thinking about an aesthetic of handedness, w/ certain expressions of each element being sinister and others being dexter, while the "root" of it can be used with either. this is also me thinking abt the aesthetics of mages having physical signs of their magic use, that grow and deepen as they become more proficient in casting. marks on their hands and arms. this would probably be agnostic to the mage's usual dominant hand, or maybe it's even that a right-handed mage who focuses mostly on sinister magic will become left-handed over time. ambidexterity is almost as rare in magic as it is irl, since it's usually difficult to be truly equally good at both kinds.

this is working backwards from the typical positioning of the twins wrt each other but i think dexter magic tends to be predominantly active, easily weaponized, very direct. conversely sinister magic is gentler, more easily used subtly for healing or manipulation. or possibly it's the other way round! i'm thinking of it as them casting with their 'free' hand since emmet seems to generally stand to ingo's right, but the thing is they do quite a lot, maybe even most? of their gesturing with the hand closest to the other, so it might be the inverse.

i also do really like the "one giant adventuring party" idea i pitched a lil while ago bc i think that's fun. with protag as the sort of nominal party leader, who is in a sort of weird position of being a very powerful mage who has no idea how to do magic. it's immediately visible from looking at them bc both arms are covered in glowing rainbow swirls, suggesting near-perfect ambidexterity in apparently every magical class, but every time they cast a new spell they're just as surprised by it as everyone else. and their giant party of mostly mages and then 1 or 2 physical fighters (someone pls help me balance teamcomp my squad is dying) is also there trying to help them learn how to actually. do magic not by accident.

[flashhwing]

Carver having to be dragged off the battlefield at Ostagar because he went into a frenzy fighting to protect his family is so good in canon

in a Warden!Hawke au, where he believes his sibling to be part of the army that’s been wiped out? painful

[myprongsfootera]

I wrote a Bachelorette AU for Prongsfoot/Bambibelle!

Summary: Sirius and James are both cast as contestants on the Bachelorette. Although their stated goal was to woo Lily and capture her heart, they don’t quite manage it. They fall for each other instead.

Words: 14,944

Rated G, No Archive Warnings Apply, Alternating POV

Excerpt:

There were only a few gentlemen present so far. Most of them were preening for the cameras, not talking to anyone but just trying to appear as appealing as they could to win screentime.

Two seemed to be jostling for the attention of one camera in particular, and Sirius had to bite back a laugh.

Only one of the young men had a remotely genuine expression on his face. The smile that crossed his face at the sight of Sirius was nothing short of charming, and lit the room up. To hell with the preening, what could it hurt to go over and say hi? Sirius didn’t need to make himself seem sexier, he already had that in the bag.

As he walked towards that smile, he took in the rest of the man. He had wild, disorganized wavy black hair. Sirius would never let his own hair get that chaotic, but somehow it worked. He had on large round glasses that emphasized his eyes, in a way that was entirely flattering. It was a good look on him. He was also wearing the requisite suit, and it was tailored immaculately to his frame, emphasizing that underneath a sculpted athletic body must be hiding.

Sirius wondered if there was a pool and they’d ever be in bathing suits. He was curious what was hiding underneath, so sue him.

As he got closer, the man’s deep brown eyes twinkled in the lights.

“I’m Sirius,” Sirius said without preamble when he’d come to a stop, “Sirius Black.”

“James,” the man - James - said with a grin, “James Potter.”

[desperatepleasures]

ok I need to read something non-tactics in order to calm down now. somebody show me the fruits

[thehowlinthenight]

After a couple of years hiatus, it’s back! I always enjoy searching for Christmas fics I can share with you! I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

24 Days!

All I Want For Christmas Is You

Of_stars_and_moon | Teen and Up | 7,927 words

Sirius Black meets a cute stranger on his way to the music lessons everyday. He is not aware that his life is going to change forever.

[daintyys]

all i wanted was you

fem!reader x touchy bestfriend!james potter, 500 words

modern/nonmagical au. pls send james reqs!! also this isnt proofread i needed to post it urgently. ps happy thanksgiving

"Have you eaten yet?" James asked, leaning in the doorway staring at you. Your cramps were unbearable, and the only way you could get any sort of comfort was curling in a ball on the bedroom floor. You mumbled a response, which he didn't hear. He made his way over to you, and sat on the floor next to you.

"Your period?" He questioned, rubbing your arm. You nodded and closed your eyes. His touch was so comforting. "I'm sorry, love." James whispered, helping you sit up.

You groaned, and wrapped your arms around your stomach. "I want to stay on the floor, James." He shook his head and took your hand, standing you up. "You need to eat, come here." He said, putting his hand firmly on your lower back.

He took you to the kitchen of your flat and you sat at the table. You tried not to cry as your cramping became worse. You laid your head on the table and brought your knees to your chest, trying to relieve pressure in your abdomen. "I know it hurts but you need to eat." Your best friend said as he put a bowl of soup in front of you. He sat beside you and adjusted his glasses so he could see you better.

You ate slowly, and once you were done, your cramps hadn't gotten much better. "Feel any better, Y/N?" James questioned, intertwining your fingers with his. You shook your head. "Nothings working, Jamie." You groaned. Standing, you made your way back to your bedroom and flopped on your bed. James followed, and crawled into bed with you.

He laid in between your legs with his head on your chest, keeping you warm. You sighed, his warmth was helping with your cramping. "Feels good, doesn't it, love?" He cooed, twirling your hair in his fingers. You nodded and smiled as you traced his spine. He laughed appreciatively and looked up at you.

"You're beautiful, y'know." James flattered.

You blushed, and kissed his forehead gently. "Most would say that was flirting with me, James." You hummed.

"It was." James crooned, moving his hands under your back to hug you closer. You hummed in approval and ran your fingers through his hair. "'M sorry you feel so sick, baby." He sighed. "I feel better now that you're taking care of me." You admitted. James squirmed a little, adjusting his position to look up at you again.

"A kiss would take all the pain away, Y/N." He grinned, and his glasses were lopsided on his face. You nodded, and he cupped your jaw in his hands, gently kissing you.

He pulled away, face burning red.

"You're right, that did help a lot." You smiled at him. James giggled nervously , and hid his embarrassed face in your chest. "Don't be embarrassed," You whispered. "I like you too."

You felt him laugh against your chest, and you soon found your bodies intertwined, being each other's one sense of complete comfort.

[my-castles-crumbling]

modern au - @wolfstarmicrofic - word count: 348

(I'm taking modern to also mean nonmagic so...come for me).

"Fuck," Sirius whispered, peeking around the corner to the bar to see the man he'd been planning to meet off Hinge.

He was there alright. Wearing the purple shirt he'd promised. Only he looked nothing like his picture.

Well, that wasn't true. It was just...Gilderoy had clearly used an even more expensive version of Photoshop because he looked about ten years older in real life.

Not that looks were Sirius's main requirement. But the lying? No, thanks.

So he turned, trying to leave the restaurant quickly before his date could see. He was so intent on making a quick escape that he didn't even notice the man walking in the other direction until he'd walked into him, catching himself on the man's elbows.

He swore again. "Sorry, mate! Sorry, I-" But he cut off as he looked up into beautiful chocolate-brown eyes only slightly covered by light brown fringe. The face in front of him broke into an apologetic smile.

"Sorry," the man said softly, straightening Sirius up.

"No! No," Sirius stumbled over his words, eyes wide. Okay, maybe looks were important a little. At least enough to know that he wanted to talk to this man. "I-"

But at that moment a loud, booming voice cut across the room.

"Sirius, right? You're here for me, obviously!" Gilderoy had seen him. The self-involved look of joy on his face, like he was glad to grace Sirius with his presence, made Sirius's decision easy.

"Erm, no," he said, staring back into the other man's eyes. "I'm not."

"But you're Sirius aren't you? We've been talking on Hinge, and-"

"No!" he shook his head, still not tearing his eyes away. "I'm-"

"He's here with me," he other many interrupted, finally breaking eye contact to turn toward Gilderoy. "So stop hitting on my boyfriend, yeah?"

Gilderoy instantly deflated, murmuring an apology and skittering back into the bar room. But as he left, the other man turned to Sirius. "So I take it you're single? Maybe...want to go for a drink?"

Sirius had never agreed so fast in his life.

[dark-elf-writes]

So we have transmasc Percy who has been pouring out offerings to Dionysus since before he believed the gods to be real and now I’m thinking of the moments in Titans Curse and Mark of Athena when Percy gets help from Dionysus/Bacchus and-

God in this AU getting Percy to say please in Titan’s Curse is both easier and harder.

He’s more used to asking for Dionysus’s help after all. Had asked time and time again over the years. But he only ever asked silently. Not to his face. Not to Mr D’s face. The plea sticks in his throat. Catches behind his teeth. Gagging him. Choking him.

He had taken two bullets in their mad dash west. One caught by the leather coat he got off the Nemean Lion that he quickly tossed over Grover’s shoulders to protect his best friend. But the other…

The other had taken him full in the chest, knocking him down and leaving his bruised ribs screaming in pain but… otherwise unharmed. The others had gaped at him, uncomprehending, but Percy knew. Felt the familiar thrumming warmth under his shirt. The binder he had almost convinced himself to leave behind for a too small and distinctly nonmagical version still tucked away in his cabin after his argument with Mr. D. The gift left anonymously for him after he came back from his first quest as if the person leaving it had known just how much his old one had been hurting him during their quest to find the master bolt. (Of course he knew. It was his job to know. The one domain he wasn’t locked out of in his decades long timeout.)

“Please,” He finally bites out, shocked the word didn’t chip his teeth. “Dionysus, please.”

Not Mr. D.

That’s not the god he was praying to.

They both knew it.

For a second the face in the iris message flickers. For a second instead of a middle aged man looking back at him it’s a beautiful nymph. Instead of an uncaring camp director it’s the god that has been protecting and blessing Percy Jackson for years.

It hangs between them. Heavy and unspoken. Forever unspoken if the two of them have anything to say about it.

Then comes the sound of pure insanity from the kill squad currently creeping ever closer to them.

Percy was going to have to find some Diet Coke… or maybe a thing of boxed wine to accidentally spill.

[lunar-serpentinite]

modern nonmagic uni roommates AU STEM student (maybe forensics) harry vs architecture student draco is like

draco : don't you have a dead body to carve

harry : idk dont you have a banister to stress over

draco : 😐

[jlhynde-insanitybrilliance]

UDLTTOM WORLDBUILDING RAMBLES: American Wizarding Society vs British Wizarding Society

This is like the 3rd installment of what is quickly becoming a series of long ranting posts about the lore surrounding Harry Potter & a current time-travel au I'm writing on AO3. But you don't need to have read the previous two posts to understand this one. (I still link them for those interested: pt 1, pt 2, pt. 3.) .

I think it's been fairly established that JK doesn't have much awareness of anything outside of Britain when it comes to world building. I've seen posts discussing how unrealistic the magical schools are and such. (Which obviously there can't be just 11 schools. I refuse to believe it. It exceeds my suspension of disbelief.) But this post isn't about that, but the whole societal structure of the American Wizarding society as a whole. I recently started watching my through the Fantastic Beasts films (I know I'm late to the show.) and as an American I can't help but to address some of this...

There's a lot to address & I'm sorry if this post gets a off on some tangents. But I'm just gonna jump right in with the things that bother me most.

1)The MACUSA reeks of British colonization.

As we all know, North America wasn't unpopulated when people from Europe started arriving. Native Americans, the Mayans, the Aztecs, Inuit people, and while some of them were nomadic others had established cities & advanced communities for that day in age. It was the religious zealot Protestants, aka Puritians, being driven out of England that pushed into these communities and brought with them this harmful religious dogma and pushed these people out of the homes and their lands. Like if you read into any of these cultures and their histories, you'll see that these communities were accepting of magic and in the HP world were probably very much wizards themselves.

And so the MACUSA doesn't make sense to me having been founded before the American Revolution, but after the Salem Witch Trials because in all likelihood wizards were being persecuted long before all that. Like I can't believe that the indigenous communities wouldn't have formed some sort of collective in order to combat these foreign invaders from overseas—Especially if they were wizards.

I mean so there had to be something before that, right? Like in all likelihood what I see happening is that these British wizards pushed themselves in with the Puritians (for whatever reason) and in the process brought with them their backwards views on muggles & blood politics & classism which wasn't a part of the original society. Because if you look at the indigenous histories you'll see that medicine men/women were respected members of their communities. Wizards and Muggles lived alongside each other just fine. But then the colonizers came & ruined that harmonious dynamic between the magical and nonmagical.

And that it's called the Magical Congress of the United States of America...It doesn't make sense unless that name came about after the American Revolution. Because before that it was referred to as the 13 colonies. Then it also took some time after the American Revolution for the 13 colonies to expand into the United States. (American didn't get all 50 states until 1959 with the purchase of Alaska from Russia and the forceful occupation of Hawaii.)

It makes more sense that there was a power struggle between two or more opposing Magical governments for the control of the Americas. And this would lead to a sort of Wizarding Civil War. Between the indigenous magical communities and the British, & Spanish, & French Colonies. It's a big place, huge. & it would be diced up and divided I think much more than than the muggle/no-maj community/government is.

The MACUSA being only on the East Coast makes more sense to me. (It also explains how there can only be one wizarding school in MA.) And how that school is a sister school of Hogwarts & how they are structured so similarly. Because watching the Fantastic Beasts films I don't feel like I'm watching American wizards, it more feels like I'm watching British Wizards with American accents.

And then the rest of the country is split up into districts or regions (much like it is in real life with: East Coast, Deep South, West Coast, Midwest.) where the indigenous practices and cultures are still prevalent.

I also don't buy into this idea that France and Spain would abandon their stake on the Continent. So in reality, it's more believable that Spanish Wizards would control Florida and expand all the way up to Arkansas, French wizards would Have control of Louisiana & Mississippi, East Texas, parts of Oklahoma, the British Wizards would have the colonies & maybe parts of the Great Lakes area like Illinois or Ohio, and then the rest of North America would be divided up into different territories amongst the indigenous communities.

Which then brings me to the second thing that bothers me: Rappaport's Law.

2) Rappaport's Law is a heavy-handed allegory for Jim Crowe & Segregation Laws.

As a white person, there's a lot in this topic that I am likely under informed and underqualified to unpack. It is a subject that would be better dissected by someone who understands the cultural histories and nuances better than me. But I read up a lot on random histories (because my Adhd brain leads me down some interesting research rabbit holes & I find myself fascinated by lore histories and folktales.) And I've learned a bit about the various histories pertaining to the Trans Atlantic Slave trade and how things like Voodoo made their way to America through the enslavement of various African tribes.

And again back to the British colonization, slaves were sold to the British by rival tribes & then some of those people made their way to North America when the colonies were formed , but that there was also a significant number of slaves that were indigenous to North America as well.

But how the indigenous communities were structured and how the tribal communities were structure were not all that dissimilar from each other. They both have an awareness of magic and similar spiritual practices. Again magic coexisting with muggles and what makes the most sense was that rival tribes would in fact sell the wizards into slavery and keep the squib/no-maj members of the village because they were less of a threat.

Which in turn would lead to most of the magical communities in North America being POC. Like honestly, I think they are the majority in the Americas. And the Rappaport Law, preventing the intermingling of no-majs & wizards would be heavily criticized because of the similarities to Jim Crowe and Segregation Laws.

And you might try to argue that because of the Statute of Secrecy, wizards wouldn't have any awareness of those muggle laws. But I argue that because of Slavery and most of the wizards being either slaves or negatively impacted by the European settlers would be very, very aware of those laws and prejudices & be actively fighting against them.

Like it was wizards creating and maintaining the underground railroad. It was wizards getting other wizards out and getting them away, regardless of whether or not they were magical because they were all slaves. And they would in fact still have muggles living side-by-side with them in these magical communities and spitting in the face of the Statute of Secrecy. And entire generations of no-majs would live and die in these communities and possibly even leave these communities to assimilate with other muggles and what not, but the American wizards would not be as cut off from the no-maj world like their British counterparts are.

3) Blood Politics would never be able to take root there.

Because most of them are unable to trace back their own bloodlines. It's why Americans don't have house elves working for them because it's Slavery, which they spent centuries combating and trying to escape. And why Grindelwald couldn't gain a foothold there because he was European and was actively killing muggleborns, squibs, no-majs like that wasn't their own people.

And this would also mean that, technologically, the magical communities in North America are more advanced. They are not stagnating like they are in Britain. Wizards are not a dying breed. They have a healthy growing population and low inbreeding rates, and advancements in magic and no-maj sciences. It's the sort of strength Grindelwald and Voldemort would want to recruit for their causes, but with how the majority of the continent is structured would never be able to.

[thank you for coming to my tedtalk.]

[saturdaysky]

idk if I could handle Vivienne and Essek in the same room (intelligence and style off the charts)

I would LOVE to see them in the same room. As enemies, allies, cats sniffing each other under the door, you name it. I would be so fascinated by them.

HONESTLY (getting on my soapbox here) if they were in AUs, I think Shadowhand Vivienne and Court Enchanter Essek would be the most fitting and interesting role swap for them!

Shadowhand Vivienne is unconsecuted. It's a secret that was leaked to discredit her—of course she's a brilliant mage, but she's an outsider! Too young! Too ambitious! She hasn't even finished out her first life, and she's refused a second! And now she has the Bright Queen's ear?—but she's turned it to her benefit and wielded it like a knife. She's canny and very, very used to making the best play with a limited hand.

She was adopted into a Den when her aptitude was discovered, and she's proven a loyal and valuable addition since. Her Den's social standing has improved as she brings them along with her. She has a tight grasp of power and is fully at home navigating the labyrinth of Kryn politics and theocracy. She doesn't even mind throwing parties and schmoozing! I don't think she'd go in for treason the way Essek did, but I think she'd have her own secrets which she guards just as militantly.

Court Enchanter Essek politicked his way to his position, buoyed by his aristocratic name and prodigious talent. Those make him seem dangerous to the nonmagical Orlesian court, but since he has the Empress' favor, the peerage decides to view him as an impressive jewel in their collection. Essek is not terribly motivated by the plight of his fellow mage—after all, he won the game, as far as it can be won by a mage—but he's aware of the precariousness of his title. He continues to politick and network and schmooze even though he hates parties. He'd hate being restricted even less.

Plus, there's the treason, because you can't tell me that Essek "why shouldn't the brilliant mages have all the power? Maybe the Assembly was right" Thelyss wouldn't look at the Tevinter Imperium and see like-minded (if distasteful) allies. He's definitely collaborating with them, and he has his own incredibly illegal magic experiments going on in secret, as well. Time travel or rift magic seems his style. His position affords him the shield of respectability so long as his secrets and ties never come to light.

Vivienne, by contrast, is a Kryn loyalist, even if she doesn't necessarily believe in all the tenets of the faith. I think she'd honestly do very well in this AU, whereas Essek's wizard hubris disease would spell out his eventual fall from grace, just like in canon.

[wilhelminacisse]

ATLA Harry Potter au

No!!!!! Every time I see an Avatar the Last Airbender Harry Potter au it's so wrong. Please let me enlighten you

But we’re still going to pretend that the European schools are the only ones that matter

Sokka is a squib. LISTEN!! Sokka doesn't have powers guys he's not gonna have magic. So no he’s not going to go to a magical school. And Katara would be a half-blood since her dad is also nonmagical.

Katara would go to Hogwarts. But she'd be the only one from the gaang that does. She is also NOT a Ravenclaw, I don't care about the colours, Katara is a Gryffindor with Slytherin tendencies. Of course she hates Slytherins, everyone does.

Zuko would have gone to Durmstrang before being "banished" and Toph would go to Beauxbatons because of her parents.

And I mean obviously the Fire Nation soldiers would be like the equivalent of the Death Eaters. The Order of the White Lotus is like the Order of the Phoenix but better obviously.

Ok now that we've got background, I'd say they wake Aang when Katara is home for Christmas Hols. Their trip is like a Deathly Hollows type adventure, so no Katara won't be going back to school. Instead of Running from Snatchers they're running from Zuko and his crew.

I'm not trying to write a whole book here so that's it thanks

[deathnguts]

hi hello forgive me for yapping nonsense pls plss <33

okay so, you know how people write that Regulus would run away to the Potters with Sirius?? Okay, I call bullshit (respectfully). But anyways, thoughts on Regulus whose safe space is instead, with the Rosier twins (or just Evan if you like). Specifically, it's a run-down treehouse behind the Rosier's house. It's nothing fancy, the wood is old and seems to be on the verge of breaking, there's mold and fungi in the corners, cobwebs, dust over old things left behind through the years, and a thin mattress with holes, escaped feathers, and dirty stains from the twin's experiments.

Regulus likes it there, it has this melancholy yet disturbing feeling to it that he finds a sort of comfort with. He likes to spend his summers and breaks there if he can with the Rosier twins, just sitting there while Evan and Pandora look at the interesting, beautiful, and grotesque things nature can offer. Sometimes there is music playing and sometimes it's just them breathe with some mindless chatter scattered about. That is his safe space, that's where he wants to be.

okay that it's, cant say more cuz i gotta go byeeeee :D

Holy shit I haven’t checked my ask box in decades I’m so sorry

But I for sure agree that If regulus were to run away, it would be to the rosiers. Like in an ideal, nonmagic, no Voldemort world, it would be to barty (I’ve read a few very good fics with Barty being the savior here, and they’re all in like a better world usually modern AU) but that can’t happen because Barty is also under his abusive parents’ thumb, an abusive parent who doesn’t like the Blacks for being dark. So he’s not a good choice in the ‘canon’ but the rosiers, while supporting the Blacks and not being good parents themselves, I don’t think they’re helicopter parents like the Blacks and the Crouches. Like, I think they actually have a decent amount of kids, like 5+ at least, and just pay no attention to any of them. So you can get away with a lot in that house, including smuggling an entire person.

And you’re vision of liek an overgrown, smells like dirt and moss, sort of area is very cool. I also like it because it takes away from yhe idea that regulus is such a haughty rich boy that he’s like scared of dirt. I get him being unknowing or averse towards certain stuff because of his life being lived in wealth, but I feel a lot of people take it a bit far. Like he’s unable to live without silk or something. I feel that regulus is someone who is very fascinated by the grotesque, macarbre, or simply unsavory like this leans more towards.

And I think that teh rosiers enjoy seeing him in a such a place. His almost uncannily aristocratic and perfect look with this rotted and forgotten place as the backdrop is a very good thing to them. I can’t say much for pandora because I don’t write about her much, or personally fully agree with the rosier twin headcanon, but I definitely see it for Evan. I write him to be obsessed with regulus to a degree where he doesn’t exactly want to control or jar it but he wants to re-contextualize what makes regulus beautifuk to be his in a way. And this is literally his area with a world no one’s watching, where they can be alone and consumed by it. And not even in just a dark way, like it can be a lighthearted get away from the world too.

Yeah no one asked me to yap all that but there it is, I like your ideas and your aesthetic for them is always very cool and intriguing to me :)

[lilybug-02]

Since apparently none of the classes in "the chara timeline" teach a lot about humans, does that mean that some of the students have harmless assumptions about humans?

Like, do some of them think all humans have red eyes, since the only two humans that have been to town have red eyes?

Yes, I do think Monsters have their own beliefs and assumptions of Humans. (And vice versa). This goes for my theories on the game and my AU.

Education regarding humans is EXTREMELY MINIMAL in Hometown. (Presumably for all of monster kind?)

Examples:

Window Child implies to have next to no human knowledge, while also implying Monsters do not contain blood:

The Human Book in the library was constantly used by Toriel. Suggesting she had little to no information on humans before hand. Seemingly, there are few books to carry information on humans:

The only other book mentioning Humans is The History of Humans and Monsters written by Historian/Teacher Gerson. This book is in Kris’ house, presumably to further educate the house about Humans:

Even Ralsei is perplexed by the actions of Kris the Human:

(Could this imply that Humans are just seen as that NonMagical? Weird dialogue…)

Overall the blatant disregard and lack of human information is VERY STRANGE, but INTENTIONAL. Monsters obviously fear Humans to some extent, as Noelle mentions.

———

Now regarding my Chara Timeline AU…

The biggest reasons for Humans and Monsters to isolate themselves from one another, is war and cultural suspicion.

Cities in my AU are better integrated and Colleges now allow Species co-op. But there is still A LOT of cultural unrest between the two races.

So yes, many of the Monsters in Hometown assume humans have red eyes and wear striped shirts… and possibly have a knack for being creepy. It’s all they really know…

[mxlfoydraco]

hi!! do you know any fics where harry and draco are friends as kids? like, grew up in the pureblood milieu together? as a hinny fan i see a lot of jily lives fics where hinny are close from a very young age and im wondering if theres a drarry equivalent!

Funny coincidence, I’m reading childhood friends Drarry right now. I think this trope is less common for HD. Some from my Drarry + Wolfstar & Drarry + Jily and Everybody Lives AUs could also fit here so I’m adding on,

Childhood Friends

The Moonlit River by JBankai89 (121k)

Harry Potter was only four years old, but for someone so young, he was very mature. For example, he knew that hitting people was not nice, and when his uncle hurt him very badly, he decided that going on an Adventure was a much more fun idea than waiting around to be hit again. However, little does Harry know that this one small decision will lead him to so many things—love, family, friendship ...And a whole lot of trouble.

Draco's Boy by Empathic Siren (186k)

Nonmagic AU. A mysterious little boy named Harry moves in next door to Draco Malfoy, and he's determined to make him his friend and learn all of his secrets. Years later, he's determined to make Harry more than a friend.

Hogsmeade Harmony Preschool for Young Witches and Wizards by DracoWillHearAboutThis (3k)

After the war, Dumbledore creates a preschool branch of Hogwarts to mend the broken relations between wizarding families all over Britain and bring children together young and unprejudiced. Harry and Draco become best friends, much to Lucius and James' chagrin. - In this universe, Voldemort dies in the first war and Harry grows up with his parents. -

We’re Already Married by @xx-thedarklord-xx (3k)

"Our whole lives we have always told people that we were married. I knew that it wasn't exactly normal but it was always something that filled me with so much affection for you. I have loved you for so long. Longer than I ever realized." Harry took a deep breath as he looked into shining silver eyes. Or... Three-year-old Harry asks little Draco to marry him and they insist to anyone who will listen that they are indeed already married.

Harry Potter and the Perils of Daycare by @teddylacroix (4k)

In a world without Voldemort, five year old Harry has to face a different sort of peril: daycare. And a wispy-haired, silver-eyed bully.

Through The Fire by SongAngel (212k)

Minerva McGonagall checks up on little Harry Potter and finds that not all is as it should be. She makes a decision that will change everything for the Boy Who Lives.

Blackberry Jam by JulietsEmoPhase (36k)

10-year-old Harry and Draco are evacuated from London during the Blitz, and through a logistical error, end up sharing not only a home but a bed. Follow them as they grow up against the backdrop of the war, discovering who they really are and slowly falling in love.