#orion: you know what that’s fair

[soup-of-the-daisies]

to name your firstborn son after the loyal dog (man’s best friend) (man’s companion) (man’s tool) who accompanied the hunter you were named after (killed for something not his fault) (killed for competency) (killed by the gods for catching a goddess’ eye) to the night sky for eternity, forever chasing, forever hunting, never catching- is, in all honesty, exactly the kind of dramatic and theatrical arrogant shit you’d expect from a black

[metalomagnetic]

Missing scene from 'It runs in the blood'

It takes place after Arcturus' death, but before Helix is born.

This was not supposed to ever be published, but people on discord convinced me, so forgive me if it's a bit rough! Just a fun little scene with the kids.

***

“Father?” Orion comes barreling into the office, and the rest trail after him.

“Knock, first,” Sirius reminds him.

“Yes, Draco. Knock.” Lucius fixes Draco with a stern look.

“Alright,” both boys agree, but judging by their tone, they don’t take it seriously.

“I tried to stop them,” Harry offers, but his grin suggests otherwise.

“Father,” Orion goes on. “When you die, I’ll get all the gold and the houses, right?”

Lucius chokes on his firewhiskey.

Sirius blinks. “Where is this coming from?”

“Daddy!” Marvolo looks so upset. “Orion says I’ll be poor! That I won’t get anything, because I’m just the spare.”

Lucius is trying hard not to laugh beside Sirius.

“What is going on?”

“I’m picking a husband,” Elara explains. “And I want to marry the rich one.”

“That’s me, not Marvolo,” Orion shouts. “Tell her, Father!”

Sirius opens his mouth, closes it again, then glares at Lucius, who starts laughing. 

“That’s why Malfoys stop at one son,” he whispers.

“You didn’t even want to play with her,” Sirius reminds his sons. Just an hour earlier, they were all having tantrums that they don’t want to pay with the girls.

“Well, no, but if we are forced to play, then I’ll be the husband, obviously,” Orion says. “It’s the most important position in the game, so I’ll have it.”

“No, stupid, the bride is the most important,” Elara tells him, rolling her eyes. “It’s my big day, I’m the most important.”

"Why don’t you go ask Astrid, yeah? She’ll sort you out,” Sirius says, trying to shoo them away.

“She doesn't know about gold,” Orion dismisses the idea. “So, tell her I’m the richest one.”

“I’m the richest one,” Draco intervenes. “When Father dies, I’ll be richer than Orion.”

“That’s lovely, Draco,” Lucius says.

Draco shrugs. “And,” he adds, looking at Elara. “I’m also the oldest. And the tallest. You should marry me.”

“Just you wait, Draco! I’ll grow up taller!” Orion hisses, enraged. 

“I’m already rich,” Harry points out. “I don’t have to wait for anyone to die. I already own my vault, right, Sirius?”

“That’s right,” Sirius agrees. 

“Father, why does Harry already have a vault?” Draco whines. “That’s not fair!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Orion snaps. “I’ll be Head of house Black, that trumps everything.”

All the boys start fighting.

“I am the Head of House Black,” Sirius says, loudly. “I’m the tallest, the oldest, and the richest-”

“Actually,” Lucius says. “I’m the oldest and the richest.”

Elara glances between them. “Are you?”

“I am,” Lucius assures her, with a smile.

“Hmm.” She tilts her head, but then she shrugs. “You’re not a Black, though.”

Lucius rolls his eyes, mutters something about incest.

“So,” she adds, turning to Sirius. “You’re right, Uncle. You’re the best choice- I’ll marry you.”

“NO! ME!” Orion stomps his foot on the ground.

“I’m flattered,” Sirius says, “but I’m already married, sweetheart.”

Elara waves it away. “It’s only pretend wedding. For the day. I’m only doing it so my new husband can buy me a wedding gift. And I bet you can buy more stuff than Orion and the rest. It’s settled. I’ll marry you. Come, we’ll have the ceremony and then you can give me the gifts.”

“Wait, wait!” Lucius says. “You need to negotiate first. Make sure you get a good deal.”

“Oh,” Elara falls pensive. “But I don’t know how to do that- contracts. And Daddy is at work-”

“I’ll help you,” Lucius offers.

“Fine. Uncle Sirius, I want one Abraxan pony, three dresses, and a baby dragon. Oh and two dolls! One of those new ones we saw in Rome, that can talk!”

“How about ten dolls, and six dresses, but you drop the dragon and the pony?” Sirius suggests, lifting her into his arms.

“Alright,” she agrees.

“And that is why you should never get married without your father’s approval,” Lucius says. “Sirius is ripping you off.”

“Regina,” Orion yells, when they all reach the living room. “Regina, I’ll marry you. Father stole Elara.”

“I don’t want to get married,” Regina says. “It’s Elara’s wedding, not mine!”

“You’ll get dolls out of it,” Orion says, impatient. “Here.” He takes off his necklace and gives it to Regina. “I’m sure it’s expensive, at least it would buy you a doll.”

“Fine, then,” Regina agrees, tossing her red hair over her shoulder.

“Found a husband,” Elara announces from Sirius’ arms. “Don’t worry, Astrid, I’ll give him back after he gives me the gifts.”

“I thought the plan was to get one of the boys,” Evy says with a laugh.

“Someone,” Sirius glares at Narcissa, “taught her she has to pick the richest.”

“You picked badly, in that case,” Narcissa says, shamelessly. “Lucius is the richest, Elara.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!”

“Sirius, language!”

“Apparently, I am worth nothing because I’m not a Black,” Lucius says, sitting beside his wife.

“Then you should have picked Draco,” Narcissa admonishes, when Sirius hands Elara over, so she can have her dress charmed. “He’s part Black and he will be very rich, indeed.”

“I’ll marry Draco next year,” Elara decides, trying to twist her hair around her finger.

Orion makes an infuriating sound.

“What?” Elara glares at him. “You picked Regina!”

“Alright,” Sirius says, loudly, when another fight is about to start. “Who is going to be my best man? Harry?”

“Yes, please!”

“Marvolo, you are mine,” Orion orders.

“No way! You told me you’ll disown me and I’ll have to live under a bridge when you’ll be Head of House.”

“You told him that?” Sirius smacks Orion over the head. “You are going to get it, boy!”

“Not now, Sirius,” Regina begs. “I want to get my dolls, so after the wedding, please.”

Eventually, after Elara gets her play wedding and she makes Sirius dance with her, and then all the boys, too, everyone calms down, though Orion is still snappy with Marvolo for a while. Harry intervenes between them often, trying to placate them both.

“You best be nice and quiet,” he tells the baby, a hand over Astrid's stomach. The baby kicks. “Please, be good. I can’t take another crazy one.”

When Regulus finally returns from the Ministry, all the children have calmed down, and Evy already took her little demons back to their home.

“I got married,” Elara says, running to Regulus. “My gifts are coming tomorrow.”

“Who did you marry?” Regulus asks, letting her climb on his lap.

“Uncle Sirius. He could buy me more dolls than the others.”

Regulus snorts. “You should have consulted me first. I’d have gotten something better than dolls.”

Elara giggles. “It’s fine, next year I’ll marry Draco. You can do the contract thing and get me more stuff, then.���

Eventually, everyone but Regulus retires to bed, and Sirius enjoys the first minutes of silence in what had been a long day, even if he can hear the faint fight Orion is having with Marvolo upstairs.

“Your daughter is a menace,” he informs Regulus.“I pity the poor soul who’ll end up with her.”

Regulus frowns. “Orion can handle her.”

Sirius blinks at him. “What?”

“Well, they are getting married, aren’t they?" Regulus looks surprised that Sirius is surprised. “It’s what grandfather wanted. Everyone knows it. I thought it was settled.”

“Merlin’s cock!” Sirius stands. “You’re all fucking crazy. Stop it with the incest already! And grandfather changed his mind before he died!”

“You’re spending too much time with Lucius; you sound like him!”

“They’re not getting married, don’t be an idiot!”

“Why not?”

“Why not? For- Regulus, they’re kids!”

“Well, not now, obviously. Eventually. Where are you going?”

“Somewhere where I can find sane people!” Sirius snarls at him. “So, a muggle bar!” 

[chlobliviate]

Wolfstar Microfic - World

Words: 977

@wolfstarmicrofic

🌙✨🌙✨🌙

Sirius loved his job. He loved working with tiny humans. He loved being one of the people who introduced them to the world outside their home. To show them nature, read stories, and chat with them while they drew scribbly pictures.

The plan had been for him to go into politics, like his father, and grandfather. And great grandfathers, back further than he cared to think about. But even Orion Black couldn’t get on board with his gay son inheriting his seat in the House of Lords. So they swiftly moved onto the spare, until they pushed him to rebellion too. According to the last email, Regulus was running a vineyard in France and was stunningly happy, which made Sirius happy in turn.

Each year he got kids from all walks of life. Kids with two moms, disabled kids, kids in care, kids with more energy than they knew what to do with, kids whose passions were adorably wild for four-year-olds, like cooking or cricket. His godson had just started in his class and was proving to be a handful, as he knew he would be. Any child that was half James Potter and half Lily Evans, with a healthy dose of Sirius’ influence could be nothing less.

But when he got word that he had a student starting the school year a month late, he mentally assigned Harry as his buddy. Within minutes of having Teddy Lupin in his class, he knew it was a good decision.

He’d been in a meeting when Teddy arrived. He’d meant to have a chat with Teddy’s parent. Dad, he seemed to remember the paperwork saying, with a name almost as ridiculous as his own. Roman? Something like that. He’d have to catch him at the end of the day. His teaching assistant, Dorcas told him that the dad seemed as nervous as Teddy, but that he was cute and sarcastic. If she said that with a pointed look at him, he pretended not to notice.

Teddy let Harry show him around the classroom, the reading nook, the ‘pretend area’ that was set up as a cafe this week, the toy cupboard and finally their table. Teddy asked lots of questions and Sirius took this as a good sign. Better he ask than feel like he couldn’t.

Once the class was settled, working on drawing their house and family, Sirius crouched next to Teddy’s desk.

“How’re you getting on, Teddy?” He said quietly.

“Good, I think.” He stuck his tongue between his teeth as he concentrated on drawing. “I only have to draw me and my dad.”

“That’s not fair!” Ron moaned from the other side of the table. “I think I need more Paper!”

Sirius chuckled, “But think how much your mum and dad will love this drawing, with all of you on it!” He’d taught Ron’s twin brothers a couple of years ago, and he knew for a fact that they had not produced any pictures like this for their family, so it would be a nice change of pace for them. He turned back to Teddy, “If you need help or anything at all, just let me know. There are no stupid questions, ok?” Teddy nodded, not looking away from his drawing.

🌙✨🌙✨🌙

Teddy was the last to collect his belongings at the end of the day, and Sirius helped him put his water bottle into his tiny backpack before they headed for the door. “Oh, wait! Your lovely drawing!” Sirius grabbed it off his desk. “I bet your dad is going to love this!”

“He does drawing. For a job!” Teddy shared, gleefully. “I want to do that.”

“Well based on today’s artwork, I think you’d be a fantastic artist!” He smiled down at Teddy, who beamed up at him. “Come on, let’s go find your dad.”

Teddy’s Dad, who Dorcas was, annoyingly, definitely not wrong about, was waiting on the playground alone, looking nervously at the door. He visibly sighed in relief when he saw them and walked towards them.

“Dad!” Teddy ran towards him and was swept up into a hug. “Dad! I did art!”

“You did?” Teddy’s dad asked earnestly. “Can I see it?” Sirius held out the drawing, which he took and examined. He crouched next to his son. “You drew the new house. Wow! That’s so much detail, Teds. This is amazing. We’re going to put this on the wall in the kitchen!”

Teddy grinned at his dad, and then back at Sirius. “Thank you for Today.”

Sirius’ heart melted a little bit, “Thank you, Teddy! Can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”

“Why don’t you go and play on the swings for a minute, while I have a quick chat with Mr…”

“Black.” Sirius supplied, “Sirius.”

Remus nodded as Teddy ran to the tiny swings on the playing field. “Was he alright? No trouble?”

“No trouble at all, he’s a good kid.” Sirius smiled, “His art skills are so advanced for his age. I honestly wouldn’t blink if you told me a ten-year-old drew this. Must be genetic.”

“Ah, he’s been bragging about me?” His cheeks flushed slightly and it was possibly the cutest thing that Sirius had ever seen.

“Yeah, seems he wants to follow in your footsteps.” Sirius paused, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t ask your name.”

“Remus. Lupin.” Remus. That was it. Remus’ cheeks grew pinker. “Well, thank you. I was so nervous about him starting late. He’s my world, but we had to move back. My mum.” Sirius understood. “But it seems he’s... in good hands.” A slight smirk teased the corners of Remus’ mouth.

Sirius had plenty of single mums flirt with him over the years, but this was new. “I’ll tell you what, Remus. Why don’t I give you my number, just in case.” He dragged his eyes up Remus’ torso.

“Sounds good,” Remus said, breathlessly.

[inkspiredwriting]

Starlit Promises

Five Hargreeves x Fem!reader

Warnings: none

The sky above was a canvas of deep navy, dotted with countless stars that twinkled like diamonds. Five Hargreeves had chosen this secluded spot on a hill, far from the city's artificial lights, for its unobstructed view of the heavens. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the nearby trees, and the faint hum of nocturnal creatures filled the air. It was the perfect setting for a quiet, intimate night.

Five and his girlfriend, y/n, lay side by side on a soft blanket, their hands intertwined. Y/n's head rested on Five's shoulder, and her eyes were wide with wonder as she gazed up at the stars. Five, who was usually more accustomed to chaos and danger, found a strange but welcome sense of peace in this moment.

"Look, there's Orion," Y/n pointed out, her voice soft and filled with awe. She traced the constellation with her finger in the air.

Five turned his head to follow her gaze. "The hunter," he said, his tone reflective. "Funny, I never really took the time to appreciate things like this. Always too busy trying to save the world or fix the timeline."

Y/n's eyes sparkled as she turned to look at him. "Well, tonight you get to be just Five Hargreeves, star-gazer. No timelines to fix, no apocalypses to prevent."

Five chuckled softly, the sound blending with the night air. "That sounds nice for a change." He tightened his grip on her hand. "You know, I brought you here because there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about."

Y/n's expression grew curious. She shifted slightly to get a better look at him, propping herself up on one elbow. "What is it?"

Five took a deep breath, the seriousness of the conversation he was about to have weighing on him. He turned his gaze back to the stars, using their distant light as a way to anchor himself.

"I've seen so many things," he began, his voice steady but tinged with emotion. "Most of them are grim, filled with loss and pain. When I met you, I found a reason to hope for something better. But I also realized how terrified I am of losing you."

Y/n's expression softened, and she reached out to gently stroke his cheek. "Five, you don't have to worry about losing me. I'm here, and I plan to be here for a long time."

Five smiled, though there was a trace of sadness in his eyes. "I know that now. But my life... it's complicated. I’ve been to places and seen things that are hard to come back from. Sometimes I wonder if it’s fair to ask you to be part of that.”

Y/n leaned in closer, her eyes locking onto his. “Five, everyone has their own battles. Yours just happen to be a bit more... unconventional. But that doesn’t mean you have to face them alone. I want to be there with you, no matter what.”

Five’s heart swelled with emotion. He turned his body slightly to face her, his free hand reaching up to cup her face. “I love you, y/n. More than I ever thought I could love someone. And I promise, no matter what happens, no matter what the future holds, I will always support you and be there for you.”

Tears glistened in y/n’s eyes as she smiled warmly at him. “I love you too, Five. And I promise the same. Whatever comes our way, we’ll face it together.”

They leaned in, their lips meeting in a tender kiss that seemed to seal their promises under the watchful eyes of the stars. When they finally pulled back, they remained close, their foreheads touching, basking in the intimacy of the moment.

As they settled back onto the blanket, their hands still entwined, Five felt a sense of peace he hadn’t known in years. For the first time, the future didn’t seem so daunting. With y/n by his side, he believed they could face whatever came their way. They lay there under the starlit sky, talking about dreams and plans, knowing that no matter where the winds of time took them, they had each other.

The night grew colder, but the warmth of their connection kept them close. And as the first light of dawn began to creep over the horizon, Five felt something he hadn't felt in a long time: hope.

[in1-nutshell]

Hello! First time requester and long time lurker! Just wanted to request a story for a opposite personality kid buddy with megatron (tfp) similar to the optimus and Ratchet ones you have done! They are my new favourite thing lol

Also would love some possible best uncle soundwave bits in it!

Its fun to see the Bots and Cons interact to their daughters with opposite personalities, but I saw this request and chose pain. Fair warning there may be tears or not.

Megatron is not going to have a fun time when he realizes that his daughter's personality is a little like someone he knows...

If this isn't what you wanted, please let me know!

Hope you enjoy!

Megatron with a daughter who has the opposite personality of his own

SFW, Angst, mention of injuries, Platonic, Famialil, Cybertronian reader (Buddy is a minicon)

TFP

Buddy was Megatron’s dumpster baby.

Literally.

Megatronus was out in one of the dirty alleys of Cybertron when he heard a noise coming from the piles of scrap.

He thought about ignoring it… but something told him to at least check it out.

There sticking out of the pile like a beacon of light was a tiny sparkling. Perhaps a minicon sparkling.

All alone dirty and crying.

Megatronus didn’t have the spark to leave them their alone and picked it up.

“Hello there little one.”--Megatronus

Sparkling stops crying and just looks at him with her big optics.

“Some one left you here? No surprised with how everyone is… What should I do with you?”--Megatronus

Sparkling grabs one of his digits.

“There is always the sparkling care unit…”--Megatronus

The sparkling yawing and curling into his servo to take a nap.

“…Great… I’ve gotten attached to it… but you can’t stay with me in the gladiator’s quarters just yet. Too small for your own good. But there is someone who can help.”--Megatronus

Orion opening up the door to his habsuite revealing Megatronus holding a small sleeping sparkling in one servo.

“…Megatronus… please tell me you didn’t kidnap this sparkling.”—Orion

“What! No!”--Megatronus

The two mechs created a plan.

Orion would watch her while Megatronus was at work and the Megatronus would come by and pick her up during the free times he was now given with the rising status as a gladiator.

Orion in the meantime would house and help feed her. There would be times where he had to take her to work, but no one seemed to mind.

The sparkling was quiet and to top it off had become increasingly interested in some of the data pads in Iacon.

“Orion? What do you have there?”—Alpha Trion

Orion holding Buddy in one servo and an energon cube in the other.

“An energon cube?”--Orion

“Pax you know what I mean…”—Alpha Trion

It was a bit rough at first, but they made it work.

Buddy was her given designation after her friendly nature around bots.

Megatronus didn’t mind it at all.

Soon enough Megatronus started introducing some of the gladiators to Buddy, though he wasn’t quite ready to have her move in with him. It still was no place for Buddy.

Out of all the gladiators Buddy got to meet, she clearly had a favorite.

Soundwave.

Having already a small team of minicons with him, Buddy was easily welcomed into the group.

Some even made jokes about Buddy being Soundwave’s kid too.

Soundwave loved Buddy’s light.

He swore an oath to protect her.

During the first meeting.

“Buddy, this is one of my closest friends, Soundwave.”--Megatron

Buddy from behind Megatronus’s pede peeping out.

“Go on, just like we talked about.”--Megatronus

Buddy slowly walks up to Soundwave.

“Hello! My designation is Buddy! I like blue, red, and purple. You’re purple, I like you.”--Buddy

Soundwave internally promising to offline anyone who harms the little one.

Orion soon introduced the sparkling to Ratchet.

Ratchet loved seeing the little sparkling around he thought it was Orion’s sparkling for a while.

Until he saw the clear favoritism the sparkling had when she saw Megatron.

Ratchet watching Buddy speeding over to Hug Megatronnus’s pede.

“Wait she’s not yours?”--Ratchet

“No? What made you think of that?”--Orion

Ratchet remembering the number of times he ‘s seen Buddy sleep over at Orion’s place, go to ‘work’ in the archives, near identical friendliness.

“…No reason… but… did he kidnap her by any chance?”--Ratchet

“Ratchet!... Well, I thought that too, but no!”--Orion

Then the debates with the Senate began.

Megatronus felt so betrayed by Orion’s words he stormed off, enraged.

So filled with hatred and betrayal, he almost forgot that Buddy was with him.

There was no way that he was going to let Buddy anywhere near that traitor again.

“Where’s Uncle Orion?”--Buddy

“We are not seeing him again.”--Megatronus

“What!? Why?!”--Buddy

“He has done something unforgivable. I will not have him influence you.”--Megatronus

“What did he do?”--Buddy

“…He betrayed me. He is no longer your ‘uncle’, Soundwave is your only ‘uncle’.”--Megatronus

“Can… Can at least say ‘good-bye’?”--Buddy

“Life doesn’t let you say ‘good-bye’ Buddy. Learn from that.”--Megatronus

“But—”--Buddy

“NO!”--Megatron

“…okay…”--Buddy

Then the war started.

Megatron made sure that Buddy was going to be always stuck to his side.

Other times it would be with Soundwave.

As Buddy grew up in the dark corridors of the Nemesis, she decided to pick up on basic patch work.

Maybe do something to fix her father.

She had been told hundreds of times that her uncle Orion, now Optimus Prime, had started the war.

He was the cause of all this destruction, of all this death.

Buddy believed it for a while.

But as she got older the more, she would begin to hear more unfiltered pieces from the Autobots. More things from their side.

She knew that the truth wasn’t going to be pretty by any means… but she just wanted to know what happened to her sweet uncle Orion.

Megatron soon began to be haunted by the ghost of his former brother in the shape of his own sparkling.

Their personalities were scarily similar.

Too similar.

Megatron tried to change this in his own way.

He began training Buddy to fight, but this didn’t help too much.

Buddy frame shaking from exhaustion.

“Get up! We can not have the Future Leader of the Decepticon’s kneel on the floor!”--Megatron

“Megatronus—”--Buddy

Megatron looking at Buddy, for a split-second seeing Orion in her place.

“…Can I please have a break? We’ve been at this for more than 2 hours.”--Buddy

“No.”--Megatron

“But—”--Buddy

“I said no!”--Megatron

“Megatronus—”--Buddy

“I SAID ‘NO’! WHY CAN’T YOU LISTEN TO ME, ORION!”--Megatron

“… Megatron… Its me Buddy, Orion is not here.”--Buddy

“… 5 minute break then we are going back to training.”--megatron

Even if she was a minicon, Megatron treated her like any other soldier.

He began sowing the seeds of the future into her helm. About leading the Decepticons if anything were to happen to him.

He had subconsciously placed a near unbearable weight upon his daughter’s shoulders.

She did talk to her Uncle Soundwave about this.

“What is he thinking Soundwave? Me? The future Leader of the Decepticons? Yeah right, like Starscream or some of the others would take orders from a lowly minicon like me.”--Buddy

“You—Have—Soundwave.”--Soundwave

“I know that, but why… just why…”--Buddy

Buddy started to sniffle, Soundwave wrapping his arm around Buddy as she buries her helm into his side.

“Why… why…”—Buddy

“You—have—Soundwave—everything—is—going—to be—fine.”—Soundwave

“… I miss your voice sometimes Soundwave. I know you wont because of the oath… but I do miss it.”--Buddy

“…”—Soundwave

Soundwave just holds Buddy closer.

Soundwave grew a bit more protective of Buddy seeing as not many minicons could survive on their own for long.

He should know…

Sometimes he’ll have Lazerbeak watch her or keep her company when he is unavailable.

Then Megatron disappeared.

Buddy never felt so much pressure or sense of guilt in her life.

As Megatron’s successor she automatically assumed control as Leader of the Decepticons.

Soundwave always by her side as was Starscream.

Soundwave never let Buddy alone with Starscream under any circumstance.

Starscream did find some insult in this but understood. He was constantly trying to overthrow Megatron, even going with murderous attempts.

But even he had some standards as to not killing the kid… yet.

Buddy did attempt to contact the Autobots while in command to talk, but all attempts never reached them. She wanted to make some peace negotiations before any more energon could be spilled.

All her hard work went down the drain when Megatron came back.

“Megatron! Meagtron you’re back!”--Buddy

Buddy going in for a hug, but Megatron moving aside completely missing Buddy’s hug.

“Megatron?”--Buddy

“How have the troops been?”--Megatron

“Everything is good, just as you left them. But shouldn’t we get you to Knockout? Just to make sure that everything is okay with your systems.”--Buddy

“No.”--Megatron

“Megatron, its highly—”--Buddy

“I’m sorry did you just speak back? You are no longer the Leader of the Decepticons anymore, learn your place.”--Megatron

Every Decepticon within hearing distance optics going wide.

“…Right, my apologizes… Lord Megatron.”--Buddy

“Better. Now get ready for our sparring session. You’ve grown soft and we cannot have that.”--Megatron

Things only got worse between them after the reunion, after he plunged the dark energon into his chassis.

Megatron seemed more and more obsessed with Prime. He nearly ignored more and more of his duties as Leader. Buddy, Soundwave and Starscream had to pick up after him.

The sparring was getting more and more intense.

Many of the Vechicons had reported to Soundwave or Breakdown to get down and stop the sparing matches because of the screaming they keep on hearing. It sounded more and more like a torture session than sparring session.

Knockout organizing his wax bottles when Breakdown and a Vechicon come in. Buddy in the Vechicons arms near limp.

“What happened!?”--Knockout

“Take a guess.”--Breakdown

Vechicon placing Buddy on the med slab.

“Thank you, Steve…”--Buddy

“Commander Buddy—”--Steve

“Don’t call me that okay. We’ve talked about this Steve. It’s just Buddy. No titles, no nothing, just Buddy.”--Buddy

“Okay… Buddy.”--Steve

“Okay Steve you can resume your duties, thanks for the help.”--Breakdown

“Of course, Breakdown. Bye Buddy.”--Steve

Buddy trying to wave back but wincing.

Knockout is already getting his tools out.

“Training, I’m guessing.”--Knockout

“Yes…”--Buddy

Silence in the med bay as Knockout finishes up the patch work.

“Megatron is lucky this time it looked worse than what it was. He needs to be more careful… we only have so many minicon parts right now…”--Knockout

“It’ll be all right Knockout.”--Buddy

“And how do you know?”--Breakdown

“Hope. Cause that’s all we have right now. Hope and a whole bunch of ammo.”--Buddy

“Heh. Guess you’re right about the ammo part.”--Breakdown

“Yeah!”--Buddy

“And… your done! Now don’t go and ruin that finish missy!”--Knockout

“Or what? Its not like Optimus Prime is going to ruin it.”--Buddy

[noideasforausername]

crumpled letter.

description: sirius black x literally whoever (self-insert or existing character, anything works)

word count: 0.7k

warnings: angst? (basically all I write is angst are we even surprised at this point)

───────────

Sirius was used to being on the receiving end of an absurd number of letters – written confessions – on the regular. It had been admittedly entertaining at first, grown rapidly concerning and ended up becoming quite bothersome. By his sixth year, he’d taken the habit of simply throwing them away: the dizzying shades of pink an eyesore, particularly first thing in the morning.  

Blue, black, red and occasionally gold ink, all conveying one clear message through their various deviations from the boring “I like you” (that is, of course, with one singular and minuscule heart over each individual i). 

That particular morning, things were about as outwardly ordinary as possible: the nauseatingly colourful pile dropped next to Sirius’ goblet a testament to this statement.  

It seemed that the owls’ brief period of strike was over – for Hogwarts had seen this rare phenomenon earlier that year, the animals having reached abnormally high levels of annoyance with the repetitive act of carrying the garish mail to a less-than-grateful black-haired student. 

Sirius had half a mind to leave them there. Maybe that would give his faceless – and nameless in some cases – admirers a hint. But he didn’t. Instead, he crumpled them all up with a flick of his wand, a motion he knew by heart, and stuffed them in his pocket (the waiting room before they’d inevitably find their home in the depths of the nearest trash can.)

Amongst them, a white envelope. One so ordinary it should have stood out from the pile. Black ink on a standard piece of parchment.

 

“Here it goes. I have tried writing this with flourish and charm, but this is my last piece of parchment and I fear I will chicken out if I do not send this now. 

I’m aware the chances of you reading this are slim. Perhaps that’s why I decided to write you in the first place. But I have tried everything. And being a small speck in the sandstorm that causes that frown to appear on your forehead every morning seemed a fair price to pay.  

Let me start, or better yet continue, by clarifying one thing: this is not a love letter. I am not writing to beg for a chance of your eyes meeting mine in anything more than a passing coincidence. Instead, I hope that this will end up at the bottom of your pocket, and that the rage I hold will burn a hole right through that expensive black silk, setting the rest of the letters aflame and silencing the voices you crush daily with the barest swish of the wrist. 

You, Sirius Orion Black, are infuriating. Your face is irksome. Your grin is positively maddening. The curve of your cheekbones, the angle of your jawline, the glint in your eyes, the way you so effortlessly carry yourself – as if taking up space is what you were born to do. I’ve come to believe that you are taunting me indirectly.  

And I wish you would stop. Or maybe what’s even more aggravating is that I can’t picture a life in which you do. It is unfair, that we are unable to look at the sun for too long without being blinded, and yet no matter how long my eyes rest on you, my vision stays intact.  

I have made it my mission to ignore you. But not only has this proven impossible, my stubborn nature has blown this situation out of proportions, resulting in a pair of invisible, unmovable binoculars that constantly seek you out having replaced my eyes.  

I have no explanation, no enchantment ever recorded matches the effect you seem to have on me. This slow, torturous, pit in my stomach knowing that somewhere between these walls, your chest is rising and falling in rhythm with my own.  

I have many more insults to throw your way, but I am running out of paper. All that to say, though you may believe you dispose only of devoted admirers, there is someone in this very castle whose life has been thrown off its axis for no apparent reason other than your very existence. I hope that getting this off my chest and sending it your way will break this unbearable cycle. If not, this is my formal way of telling you to fuck off Sirius Black. Fuck off and put my life back the way it was.” 

[volturiprincess]

I Will Always be Able to Find You

Demetri x Fem reader

Warnings: Mentions of death, angst, friends to lovers, fluff A/N: This takes place before Demetri was turned but it takes place in the 15th century (I know thats not when he was turned). I made reader from a Latin heritage, its not exactly specified but the word tito and tita are mention (Its a nickname for grandpa and grandma in Spanish). Also the instrument that Demetri plays is called a Vihuela, it is said it was mostly used in Spain and Italy and develop mid 15th century but in this case it somehow got to Greece 🤷‍♀️. Also the song I used in this is called "I love you too much" from Book of Life. Here are the links if you want to hear it English or Spanish. Enjoy💙

Word Count: 2k+

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(These are just some reference pictures on what i was picturing during some scenes)

Flashback

Age 5

“You can't catch me metri!”

He is almost as fast as my brother Orion but I believe Orion is fast because he has long legs and is rather tall. Maybe if I were taller I could run fast. I kept running as fast as my little legs could carry but I felt a touch on my back. I stop running and see a blur of blonde hair run off into the distance. 

“Not fair your taller than me”

He’s only a head taller than me but he is the fastest boy in town. I chased after him as our laughter fills the atmosphere of my tita’s backyard. I love my tita’s house, there is so much space to run around, enough room to play with my best friend Demetri. He happened to be my neighbor. One day when I was sitting in the doorsteps of my house I saw another child sitting on his doorsteps like me. He looked at me and gave me a silly look, it made me giggle. I in return did a silly face and from that our friendship blossomed. We would play for hours, from fighting with sticks we found on our walk to my tita’s house, to him being a type of monster chasing after me. 

We would stay at my tita’s house while she made us her famous “chocolate caliente”, it was always freshly made. Just the scent would send me and Metri running to her little kitchen.

Age 10

Holding my breath is harder than it should be. I ran a good distance from my tita’s house to get a good hiding spot. Metri was always a good seeker, but he is also a really good hider, it would take me a while to find him. It was not until I was in tears and begging Demitri to come out of his hiding spot that I was able to find him, he would tease me saying what a baby I am. 

“How do you even find me, I thought for sure I had you”

With his sweet smile he would reply “I will always be able to find you”

He would go hunting with his dad and my older brother sometimes throughout the year, they would be gone for as long as 2 weeks. In that time I would miss him, I had no one to play with but my tita would distract me with stories and we would carve animal figures out of wood. My tito and I would do that along with Metri until he passed away. I never knew how he passed away, even as I got older my brother never told me and tita didn't tell me either. I just remember having to wear a black rebozo my brother got me from one of his trips to the other lands. Demetri was with me the whole time, he even pulled me away and we went to go play in the nearby woods.

Age 15

As me and Demitri got older we started to have more interest in other stuff. We stopped playing hide and seek but instead we would read books. My brother got us a book on constellations, he always brought us a different book each time he returned from his trips. My favorite being about flowers, actually when I got that book Demetri started calling me tulip. I ask him why once 

“Because your one in a million”

I thought he was being romantic but he said he only views me as his best friend. Since we got that book on constellations me and him would spend hours at night outside my tita’s house. My mission is to locate the Lupus constellation while Demetri wants to locate the Draco constellation. We have been searching each night for the past months, it's a bit difficult because we have no idea how to do this and we are not exactly experts. Demetri has managed to locate other constellations which I envy a bit but I can see in his eyes that he is passionate about the stars. 

The particular night of my brothers funeral, me and Demetri were as always laying in the grass but I wasn't really paying attention to the sky until Demetri exclaimed with excitement 

“Tulip look, I found the Lupus constellation, and look it's even near the Orion constellation”

I saw where he was pointing and small tears started to fall, he’s right, near the Orion constellation. It's like If my brother wanted me to find it. 

I think I might be falling for my best friend...

Age 18

Since that night I started to develop small feelings for him, feelings of wanting to be more than best friends with him. He knows me better than anyone, and with that sweet smile of his he makes me feel warm inside. But the way his voice sounds makes me want to create a bubble so only I can hear it. It's husky but sweet at the same time but what if he only sees me as a friend and just a friend? When we would go to town to buy some items for my tita I would see how the other girls our age look at him, of course he’s gorgeous, Apollo himself should envy him.

I have heard those said girls say that he is the reincarnation of the Greek god Apollo himself. I of course cannot disagree. He really is a handsome man, he is like sunshine in human form, his eyes when the sun hits them would sparkle an olive green. 

The way the ocean needs the moon, Demetri needs the sun, that's when he truly shines. His pearly white teeth are as white as the seashells we would pick at the beach. His hair almost looks made of gold, and his physique has been built nicely recently for the months of working with his dad either by the dock or how he would carry the latest kill from his hunting trip on his well built shoulders. A truly beautiful man, handcrafted by the gods indeed.

As I was getting ready for bed I heard a soft strum of a Vihuela. Music has always been a part of my life thanks to my tita, but who is playing it at such an hour? As if on cue I heard the sweet voice of my childhood best friend singing from the heart.

“I love you too much To live without you loving me back I love you too much Heaven's my witness and this is a fact”

I walk to my opened window to see him there strumming the Vihuela expertly, he looks perfect with the moonlight shining on him. I didn't even know he knew how to play it.

“I know I belong

When I sing this song

There's love above love and it's ours

'Cause I love you too much”

“I live for your touch

I whisper your name night after night

I love you too much

There's only one feeling and I know is right”

“I know I belong

When I sing this song

There's love above love and it's ours

'Cause I love you too much”

As he finished his song I wiped some small tears I didn't even realize were released, he smiled lovenly at me. I ran out of my room to where he stood and he pulled me into a soft tender kiss. His arms that were wrapped around me felt like they were meant to be there, they snapped into place like two puzzle pieces. His lips even fit perfectly against mine. When we pulled away I said to him in a soft voice

“I love you too much Demetri”

But like any fairy tale, they must end. We only got to spend one night together as one united soul because the next day he was off with his father on a grand voyage to some far out land. He tried to convince me to go with him but I said I had to watch over my tita who is already old and not in a state to be left alone. If only I went with him…

Present

Age 20

It’s been two years since I last saw Demetri, my heart has not stopped calling out to him. I catch myself humming an all too familiar tune from that night. But the words have been slowly slipping, the only phrase I can remember the rhythm to is “I love you too much”. The tears that have escaped me would be enough to create a water canal that can save the drying garden of my tita. The two of us have even moved to another town, thinking that would help me get out of this heavy cloud of sorrow but how can one forget their true love? How can someone move on when their heart calls to one person and only them?

I even have had suitors sent my way but none of them can even compare to him. He was in my life for 13 years, if only I had confessed sooner about my love for him. Maybe he would have not taken that trip and he would have stayed with me. We could have gotten married, had children, grown old, seen our children have children and then one day be buried side by side along with our other loved ones. But no, life took away the only person I truly loved, life first took my parents, then my tito, then my brother and now Demetri.

Oh Demetri…It hurts to say his name sometimes. Everywhere I go, I'm reminded of the man who has my heart. Nobody knew what happened, there were speculations that maybe everyone on that ship was killed at sea. But can someone explain to me, what do I take for the sorrow? My body walks alone, my soul went with him the minute he left but it's not his fault why I feel like this, I just never got used to the feeling of being separated from him. 

I would sit at my balcony every night hoping for some miracle that he would be there on the pavement smiling up at me like that night. At night is when that song plays in my head the most, how his voice felt like a spell. Sometimes I think that he never existed, that he was a figment of my imagination. I like to believe I'm still dreaming and when I wake up he will be there with the sun hitting him, making his irises basically glow a lighter shade of olive green. But that only hurts more when I wake up and I'm faced with the hard reality. 

Even if he somehow came back, how will he find me? I moved to another town, it took about three days to get here. I missed my old town, the memories I have built there with Demetri is everything I have of him. As of now I am getting ready for bed in slow manner, it's not my favorite part of the day because that is when I am truly alone with my own thoughts and feelings. And once again I am humming to the line of our song. I try to remember the rest to it when suddenly I hear once again the voice of an angel with the Vihuela accompanying said voice

“I know I belong When I sing this song There's love above love and it's ours 'Cause I love you too much”

Can it be? Do my ears deceive me? I run to my balcony but don't see him yet until I hear our song change chorus a bit.

“Heaven knows your name, I've been praying To have you come here by my side Without you, a part of me is missing Just to make you my own, I will fight”

My eyes widen at the sight of him, dressed in foreign robes with the moonlight hitting him perfectly as always. My true love is there singing once again.

“I know I belong When I sing this song There's love above love and it's ours 'Cause I love you too much”

He walks up my little steps to my balcony as he’s still singing, up close I can see the face I've been dreaming of for the past two years. His eyes still sparkle but wait they aren't that olive green I love so much, no they're red instead. 

“I love you too much I love you too much Heaven's my witness and this is a fact You live in my soul Your heart is my goal There's love above love and it's mine 'cause I love you There's love above love and it's yours 'cause I love you There's love above love and it's ours if you love me As much”

As he finished the song he was already in front of me with his sweet smile he would give me since we were children. He wiped away my tears and he pulled me into an all too familiar kiss, full of love and tenderness. But it's slightly different. His lips are cold this time, nevertheless his lips feel like home, I know I belong to him.

We pull away, instead of asking where he was or what happened to him I ask 

“How did you find me?”

“I will always be able to find you my love”

Just with that we are now able to spend forever as it was always meant to be. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it, this one is hands down my favorite one, the song I used is so sweet, well I think the Spanish version is better in my opinion.

[veritas-scribblings]

fair - @bartylusmicrofic - words: 669

[partly inspired by @deathnguts’s post]

Evan arrives early and finds them an empty carriage. This is always a strategic decision: partly because his father is a drunken, abusive arsehole and Evan takes himself to Kings Cross as early as feasibly possible; partly because Evan is intimidating and has the ability to scare anyone away with a directed glare, so he claims the territory in honour of them all.

Barty throws the carriage door open with a huff and shoves his trunk under the seat. And then, with another huff, he all but crawls into Evan’s arms and stays there quietly, twitching and shuddering every once in a while as the tension and desperate loneliness starts to loosen.

Evan says what he always says at the start of a school year: ‘Two years.’ Two years and counting down. Two years and then they’ll bust the fuck out of their prisons and run away. Two years and then they’ll be free.

‘Regulus’s first,’ Barty murmurs against Evan’s chest as he always does. ‘Then yours. Then mine.’

Regulus’s first because if Orion and Walburga suspect something is up, they’ll tighten their grip and never let go. Barty has every intention of pissing on their graves. Evan’s second, because Barty relishes the idea of feeding Rosier Senior his own cock. Barty’s last, because his father will always underestimate him and that will be the old man’s undoing.

Evan nods and hums in agreement. His arms are loose around Barty, not really holding him but more just letting himself be held. Evan’s never quite known what to do with physical intimacy. Really, that’s okay by Barty.

Regulus enters the carriage less dramatically than Barty did. Barty shuffles away from Evan a little, because he knows what Regulus will do. It’s what Regulus always does. Without so much as a word, Regulus tucks his trunk under the seat and climbs directly into Barty’s lap to wrap himself around him. 

He doesn’t acknowledge Evan. He never does at the start of a school year, because he never needs to. And Barty will never not be jealous that Evan and Regulus get each other over the summer holidays while Barty is left all alone, a prisoner in his own house. 

The Rosier and Black families are on good terms, what with being part of the pureblood aristocracy. The exclusive social class. So Evan and Regulus have each other. They see each other frequently. They’re not all alone over the holidays, not the way Barty is. And Barty loves that for them. He’s glad they have each other. And he hates them for it all at the same time.

Barty holds Regulus to his chest, burying his face in Regulus’s hair. He breathes in deeply the scent of Regulus: the lemongrass and coconut of his shampoo. The hint of a scent underneath it all that is sweet and musky and familiar and all Regulus. 

Regulus is tense the way he always is after the holidays, clinging to Barty like he’s been terrified that what he had feared, that he would never see Barty again, would come true. Like the start of the term had been so, so far away.

Or perhaps that was Barty’s fear. 

Barty presses a kiss into Regulus’s hair and then tilts Regulus’s head so he can press a kiss against his lips. ‘Reg,’ he murmurs. ‘Love you. Two years.’

Sighing, Regulus wraps his arms around Barty and buries his face in Barty’s neck. Two years is a comfort to Barty. Barty can handle two years; it’s two years that Barty can plot and scheme and prepare to make sure everything is carried out smoothly, without a hitch. 

Two years, however, is not a comfort to Regulus. Two years for Regulus is an eternity. It’s two eternities.

Running his hand up and down Regulus’s back, Barty inhales deeply to sync their breathing. He nuzzles into Regulus’s hair and glances sidelong at Evan. Evan will keep watch for them and chase away any intruders.

And Barty and Regulus will stay like this for a while. Maybe forever.

[therealvinelle]

From what I can tell, in the actual books there's just one line from Sirius saying Alphard left him some gold, and not much other canon mention of him. How did Alphard become such a big character in your fics/Tom Riddle's love interest?

You know, that's a very good question.

The true and full story behind how Alphard Black became an important character in our fics is laden with a lot of spoilers and back-and-forth, though I will say it wouldn't have happened at all if @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin hadn't already used him in When Harry Met Tom. When we later then needed to add a character for The Man Who Would Be King, Alphard's name lent itself easily and on discussion we found he was the only that really fit the role we needed a character to play. He went on to become a surprisingly large part of secret fic, now we've imprinted on him like baby ducks and he's in everything.

So, what makes Alphard Black so fitting for what we need him to be?

We have little to go on from canon, but compared to some of the other characters fandom has decided on characterisation for, we at least have something to go on when we make stuff up. Oh, we have to conjecture, fabricate, and headcanon away, and for every possible Alphard Black we draft up someone could have used those same clues to create a different Alphard, but we would both be following certain constraints.

By contrast, characters like Alice Longbottom or Abraxas Malfoy have very strong fanon characterizations, a lot read into them, but I'd argue we have just as much, if not slightly more, to go on with Alphard Black.

With that said, here is the information we have on Alphard and how Muffin and I used every bit of it to make up as much as we could.

Teen pregnancy 1.0: Pollux edition

Alphard's sister was born when their father Pollux Black was twelve, and his father married her mother. Going by his young age, I assume this was so Walburga wouldn't be a bastard. Walburga, by her painting's ravings, appears to have spent all her life in 13 Grimmauld Place, she feels a connection to "the house of my fathers" and always had a strong sense of Black identity she tried to pass on to her sons: I think it's a very fair assumption that the Blacks raised the baby, and not her mother's family (as her mother would have been in Hogwarts as well or else a statutory rapist, either case spells a grim homelife for Walburga).

Now, Alphard's birthdate is unknown since he's struck off the family tree, but it was sometime between 1925 and 1938.

Muffin and I have decided that he was born the next year, since this gives Tom a dorm mate, and more importantly it gives Alphard a teen father, one who learned nothing from last year and assumed no responsibility. Tom now has a fucked up dorm mate, and we didn't have to (completely) invent a character.

You now have two kids raised by family members not their parents since their father is a literal thirteen-year-old, and the generational age gap is so narrow that when Walburga starts school her paternal aunt Dorea is canonically a fifth year. They want for nothing materially and the family does step up, but the complete parental absence in their life has an impact.

For the sake of funny, we thought Arcturus Black, who is already raising Lucretia and Orion, is our candidate for raising his cousin's spawn. Now Walburga's marriage to her second cousin is to someone who was raised alongside her, which is funny and so awful. Another feasible candidate is Cygnus Black, Pollux's father and currently raising four kids, but... not as funny.

Teen pregnancy 2.0: Cygnus edition

Cut to 1951. Alphard is a happy bachelor, his father has stopped having kids (legitimate ones anyhow), Walburga's happily married to their cousin, and then... their brother Cygnus does a booboo.

Bellatrix is born, Cygnus is thirteen. Andromeda's birthdate is unknown, but must have been while he was in Hogwarts because Narcissa is born in 1955, while he is still seventeen.

The same problem as with Pollux arises with Bellatrix: who wants baby? And, as with Walburga, I think a fair argument could be made that the Blacks took her in, not the Rosiers.

There are many options here (and can't rule out the Rosiers), but I think it's fair to assume Bellatrix went to live with close family.

Per the Black family, this gives us three options that I find feasible: Walburga, Alphard, and Pollux.

I don't think it was Walburga, I think that would inevitably have come up in canon, either as Walburga lost her shit when Andromeda eloped, handled her grief differently after Regulus died if she had surrogate daughters, or Sirius had a different dynamic with Bellatrix. The Orion-Walburga-Sirius-Regulus family unit doesn't come across at all as having had three nieces raised alongside the boys, so Walburga's a no.

Which leaves us with Alphard, Pollux, someone in the Rosier family, or extended Black family raising Bellatrix.

Pollux, per his wild youth, might not be topping the lists. One could posit that Pollux wants a second shot at parenting and would take in his granddaughter based on this, but he already has Cygnus if he wanted a second shot at parenting. Still, he's a candidate.

So is Alphard, however, who is living alone and has no wife to worry about, no children of his own, and a pile of gold. Per his choice to give Sirius gold after he ran away, one can also assume he's one to come through for family, which fits with taking in his much younger brother's daughter.

TL;DR: we can't prove Alphard Black didn't raise the Black sisters, or at least care for them in their early years, but someone must have and it might as well have been him.

Let there be no pregnancies and no marriages

We then enter the bit that had Muffin go "oh, gay. I will use him in my fic" long before any of the detective nonsense to come up with the above, which is that Alphard did not marry. Now, that could mean anything, perfectly straight people don't marry and gay people do marry.

However, from 1938 through 1960, no Black heirs are born. Which isn't necessarily a long time, on the contrary, Cygnus has been supplying the family with children for years now, luck just had it so they're all daughters who can't pass on the family name.

Still, taking a step back, Orion, Walburga, Alphard, and Lucretia (who married a Prewett) are all adults who are just not having any children. The Orion and Walburga are perhaps not even married, we don't know when they married, and it could be they married specifically because neither of them had found anyone else to marry and there were no sons. Alternatively, they married earlier but then did not have children until they were in their mid-thirties. Considering Lucretia's childless marriage, it might be some Blacks struggled with infertility.

A bit of nerding about why I think Walburga waiting so long to have children is odd

The tldr for Western European demographics is that if you can afford to have children and provide for your family, you will marry and have children early. The upper classes have historically married and had children much younger than the lower classes because of this. The mother's education will also impact when she has children - higher education means having children later.

I think we see this reflected in the wizarding world, in that education is both low (arguably nonexistent, considering the curriculum at Hogwarts) and in magic making material considerations Muggles must make obsolete. And we do see a lot of young parents - Lily and James are both 20 when they have Harry, Andromeda is maximum 24 when she has Nymphadora Tonks, Molly Weasley is 20 when she has Bill, Narcissa is 25 when she has Draco, Fleur would have been 23-25 when she had Victoire, Harry and Ginny are 26 and 25 when they have James Sirius, Hermione and Ron are 26-27 when they have Rose...

Young is the norm.

And with the Blacks, who were lineage obsessed, and where Walburga is never reported to have had a career keeping her busy, I find it very interesting that Walburga doesn't have children until she's 35.

There are three possible explanations I can see:

Walburga and Orion didn't want to have children, and waited for Alphard or Cygnus to get on with it, only for Cygnus to only have daughters and Alphard to have no children at all (bit unlikely since they had two sons, a couple who pointedly did not want children would have called it quits after the first)

They had fertility issues

Walburga and Orion did not instantly marry, but waited for years until it became clear Orion wasn't going to find anybody else, Alphard apparently not either, and Cygnus said "fuck you all, I've contributed three kids already", at which point Walburga and Orion were both single, both cared about the lineage, and went for it.

We've gone for option 2 since it's just funnier to have a pair of cousins all over each other at Hogwarts, "Aren't they-" "Yes and they're very happy together :)", but I think option 3 is pretty feasible too.

Either way, you can read into Walburga and Orion from the late births of their children and you also get free Alphard characterisation, because his choice not to marry starts to look rather pointed.

Back to Alphard

While the Blacks were not dying out at the time, they also weren't swimming in children. Only Cygnus was passing on the family name, and that was exclusively to daughters, and he went on to have no more (legitimate) children after leaving school. Pollux wasn't having any more (legitimate) children, and while there are and grandfathers uncles on the family tree who could do the deed they were quite old, many unmarried, and most importantly they canonically had no children.

We're down to Alphard, Orion, and Cygnus having to pass on the family name, with Orion and Walburga a decade into their marriage with no sons to show for it. Sure, Cygnus could have sons, but that would be placing all their dragon eggs in one dragon basket (and indeed, he had no sons).

Why doesn't Alphard marry?

The family must have brought it up, if not pressured him. Alphard not marrying in a world where arranging a match would have been the easiest thing in the world looks to me like a deliberate refusal.

The giving of the money to the Sirius

This all brings us to the one thing we know for sure that Alphard did in his life: he willed money to Sirius after he'd been disowned.

We know Alphard was not a blood traitor prior to this, or he'd have been burned off earlier.

I frankly take this to mean Alphard most likely subscribed to pureblood supremacy, or at least he did not mind it enough to do anything else to cross his family. Giving money to Sirius isn't a political act, it's an uncle providing for a family member who has suddenly lost everything.

(And, if we assume Alphard himself is gay: it's an uncle who sees his nephew run away from home to be with his best friend, and perhaps drawing a few conclusions of his own about the strength of Sirius's friendship to James. There are many ways to interpret his choice to support Sirius financially, is what I'm saying.)

It also seems a distinct overreaction to me that Walburga would burn him off the family tapestry for something like this, and... it seems very much like one angry, mourning, woman's way of hurting a brother she can no longer confront. If she had been hoping Sirius wouldn't make it out in the wild and be forced to return, then Alphard giving him money would be a betrayal of the highest order.

Walburga putting a cigarette to her wallpaper isn't the same as the entire Black family disowning Alphard posthumously, it's an act of grief and anger.

Where we make things up wholesale

I'll go ahead and assume Alphard was gay, had a good and stable but slightly fucked up family life, and got overly attached to his dorm mate Tom Riddle as a stranger to all of this who perhaps seemed above it all. I also vote he raised Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Andromeda, because it's a more interesting option than Pollux. (In case you didn't notice, Muffin and I subscribe to the Black family being as fucked up as we can reasonably make them.)

Vinelle, what was the point of this?

My point is that we may not have any canon appearances to go on with Alphard Black, but we do have dates, biographical facts, what he did with his will, a few statements from Walburga's insane painting and other characters, and a whole lot of imagination. And an obsessive tendency.

And a willingness to say "Mm, no. Can't read. Sorry, that fact's just wrong." when we don't like things (more specifically, Sirius's phrasing making it sound like Alphard died not too long after Sirius ran away from home, which would make him dead for The Man Who Would Be King, a fic that takes place in 1982. We will assume Sirius meant "gave", not "left".)

Wee.

[joanvisitsrome]

stars between us - ch.4 - h.c

i'm challenging myself to get something out later tonight so def stay tuned y'all (it's a hazel oneshot) Comment on this if you'd like to be added to the taglist!

Summary: You and Hazel play some truth or dare with the others, and then go and look at the stars, high as fuck on edibles.

(im thinking like talk too much by renee rapp for this? idk)

Contains: fluff, an almost kiss, use of drugs/cannabis products, a game, talk about the kiss with hazel and PJ

“Who’s ready for some truth or dare? Huh?” PJ pats the floor beside her. You and Hazel look at each other, shrug, and sit down.

“Okay. So. We’re going to spin this bottle, based off whoever’s turn it is, they get to spin the bottle. Whoever it lands on has to do a truth or dare. If they don’t want to, they have to kiss whoever spun the bottle.”

“That’s not horrible,” you admit, nodding. Hazel nods as well, agreeing with your statement. PJ spins the bottle first, which lands on Hazel.

“Truth or Dare, Hazel?”

“Um, Dare.” Hazel says, after a moment of contemplation.

“I dare you to have one of the edibles.” Hazel exhales, taking one in her hand. She stares at it.

“You know, you can just say no and kiss me, Hazel,” PJ quips. That’s when Hazel immediately puts it in her mouth.

“You’ve kissed me once, and I’m sure as hell NOT doing that again. Things were so weird after.” Josie explains that PJ tried going after Hazel after that happened, to which Hazel very quickly rejected PJ.

“You mind if I have and edible as well?” you ask PJ. She hands you one, to which you pop in your mouth. You see Hazel smile, glad that you had remembered your little pact from earlier. Hazel spins the bottle, to which it lands on Isabel.

“Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Isabel replies, pushing some of her hair behind her.

“What caused you to join fight club?”

“Well, Hazel, I overheard you talking about female solidarity, and I realized that I didn’t have a lot of that. I wanted to be able to defend myself the way Josie had defended me at the fair that night, and I knew that fight club was going to be how I built up my confidence.” The night goes on, the same sort of thing happening. PJ at some point gets bored, and decides to end the game. By then, you and Hazel’s edibles have taken full effect.

“Oh my god, we never got to look at the stars!” Hazel yells out of nowhere, shaking your arm.

“You’re so right, we never got to see the stars!” The two of you grab a blanket from the bed and lay it down nearby the cabin outside. The two of you lie down.

“Wait, tell me about that one.” Hazel points to Orion and Artemis.

“Okay, okay. So basically, that one and that one fell in love with each other, but that one’s twin brother hated her lover, so he tricked her into shooting him with her bow and arrow. She didn’t know though, and when he became washed up on the beach, she put him as a constellation so she could see him and visit him with her chariot.” Hazel, wide eyed, turns around and looks at you.

“If you died. I’d totally think of you as a constellation. Like, you’re so pretty.”

“But have you seen yourself? You’re like the prettiest. Like, right now, I can’t stop staring at the bump in your nose. It’s beautiful.”

“Why are you looking at the bump in my nose?”

“Because…” you answer, holding your hand in the air, “you have really pretty details.” Hazel holds your face in her hands, rubbing your cheeks with her thumbs.

“I feel so light and happy right now. I feel like I’m a little kid again.” she says, as honest as ever.

“Sometimes I wish I was a kid again,” you admit. “All of this post-high-school stuff is scary.”

“We’ll stay in touch though, right?” Hazel asks, “like after this trip and after high school?”

“Of course, Haze.” The two of you are very close to each other. Your noses brush against each other as she leans in, and you do too. However, Brittany opens the door to check in on you two.

“You guys, it’s getting late, and we have to get up early to pack. How about we head inside?” The two of you begrudgingly go inside, taking the blanket with you. You both plop down on the bed, with no care to even put a blanket over the two of you, begin yapping to each other about the future again, and fall asleep in each other’s arms.

taglist: @at1nyzen @slaughtercarrie @sophia2414 @canmargesimpson

[thebubblesareevil]

A Deal is a Deal…

I haven’t really posted any danny/kaldur in a bit so here you go

Danny was having a really long, really stupid day.

First he was late for his exam because he woke up to kitty and johnny fighting in his apartment. By the time he got that sorted out he had to rush to campus.

Then, by some miracle, the proctor let him in despite being late only to realize he was in the wrong exam halfway through. (He decided to finish the test and turn it in rather than admit his mistake.)

Then he finally managed to stop and get a truly unholy cup of coffee that he topped off with his last bit of ecto shot only for someone to run into him, spilling his coffee.

Which really didn’t make the blind date Sam set him up with anywhere near bearable. She was nice, don’t get him wrong, however Sam has two types of friends outside of Tucker and him. He was pretty sure he would have preferred hearing about the deforestation of the Amazon than have the heavily pierced girl get wayyy too excited when she realized he was from Amity Park. After he finally escaped with the excuse of feeding his dog Sam decided to call to find out how the date went.

“She did the thing Sam.” He stated bluntly as he struggled to unlock his door.

“And which thing would that be Danny? The one where she’s interested in your personality or the thing where you might need a restraining order?” He groaned, thumping his head on the door before checking the hall for neighbors. With the coast clear he phased through, once more leaving his arch nemesis to fight another day.

“The second one, or at least that definitely seemed where it was heading. She kept asking about all my favorite cemeteries back home.” He threw his keys on the counter, dropping his bag to the floor.

“Well did you tell her about the one near the old clocktower? I’m sure she loved that.”

“Sam, she wasn’t asking about nightly walks and talking to ghosts. She made some not so subtle hints about what she liked to do there.” He could hear Sam wince through the phone.

“Eww, sorry Danny. She really seemed like someone you would click with.” He sighed as he looked through the bare cabinets.

“Not your fault, to be fair things were going great till that point. Plus most people don’t see half as much as I do in graveyards. It could have been worse.” He grinned.

“Oh yeah, what are you thinking?”

“Do you remember that guy from the protest you set me up with awhile back?”

“You mean Orion? What about him? You said he tried to gas light you.” Sam almost sounded offended on behalf of her semi-cannibalistic friend.

“Oh he did more than that. He followed me home.”

“No!”

“Yep, apparently I was being stingy and he thought I owed him so he tried to steal my bike.” He laughed.

“Ugh, don’t worry I’ll be sure to pass the word on to his new partner Marcy. I guarantee he’ll regret it.” He shrugged as he ate a piece of plain bread.

“It’s whatever, at least he didn’t try to kill me.” Sam sighed.

“It was one time!”

“Oh really?” He said as he munched. ��If I remember correctly it happened twice.” He could hear the sound of Sam smacking her forehead.

“The first time doesn’t count, that was an accident! Besides Valerie tried way more than I did.” She huffed.

“Yeah, I know.” He yawned, heading over to the bathroom, discarding his socks and shoes along the way. “Some how neither of you are even my worst exes to date.” Sam snorted.

“No I think that title belongs to that crazy Viking that was convinced you were going to start Ragnarok.” Danny felt a small tug at his core as he brushed his teeth.

“What can I say? She was charismatic!” He claimed after spitting into the sink.

“Yeah well Miss. Charismatic nearly talked you into a war with her brother just because he flirted with you.” The tug on his core got stronger. “Personally I would have gone with the brother.” Danny nodded as he nearly tripped walking to his bed.

“I mean, that was never in question. Regardless, I’m swearing off Vikings for the next century.” Danny began struggling to take his shirt off without setting down the phone. The tug on his core was stronger than ever, try as he might to ignore it.

“You really suck at this dating thing, I killed you twice and somehow I’m still not in your top ten-” Danny struggled to escape his stupid shirt as his core PULLED, sending him tumbling to the ground. With a groan Danny finally gave in and just pulled the stupid shirt through his body only to come face to face to someone that was distinctly NOT his bed.

He looked around,coming face to face to someone he was actively avoiding.

“Ello Phantom? How’s death going for ye.”

John Constantine, accompanied by what appeared to be some of the newer members of the Justice League.

Danny decided the best option for this would be to do his best impression of a confused, semi-hungover college student.

“Look man, I don’t know who you are, or what you want but do you have some coffee or something? I’m dying over here.”

“Yet not foolin anyone mate. Need a favor from you. Or rather your better half of you don’t mind.” John replied vaguely as he rubbed his hands together before blowing some kind of powder all over Danny.

Danny stood there flabbergasted, as a rain of dust? Covered him head to toe. He stood there for a minute before his face started to twitch as John began to chant a spell. Danny took a deep breath and-

“AACCHHOOO” John jumped back as the sneeze disrupted the dust.

“What the hell man?” He scolds as he rubbed his nose. John grunted.

“Stubborn little shit huh? Too bad we need the Phantom and he’s coming out one way or another.” Once more he began to chant, Danny however chose to ignore this fact as he took in the faces surrounding the circle. They were clearly some of the younger heroes, even a few apprentices by the looks of it. But Danny really didn’t have time for this, he had another exam tomorrow.

“Look man, I’m not sure what you’ve been smokin or how I got here but unless you’re gonna help me study for my engineering exam, then I gotta go.”

“Please wait.” Danny spun around to face the hero standing behind him, stopping him before he even started to leave. The handsome hero stood tall, clearly he was the leader of this group, which begged the question of-

“Why? What you guys possibly want from me?”

“Allow me to explain. I am Kaldur’ahm, though I am also known as Aquaman. We are seeking the help of a spirit of hope and protection that goes by the name of Phantom. We need his help.” Danny gave the gilled hero a considering look.

“With what?” Kaldur’ahm somehow managed to stand up even straighter.

“A powerful magician by the name of Zatanna was pulled into the Infinite Realms. We need to help of Phantom so we can venture into the realms to retrieve her.” He replied with a barely noticeable sense of urgency. Danny raised a brow.

“You want to go to another dimension? With help from a ghost named Phantom? And you want my help to what? Summon him?” John scoffed, completely ignoring the glare Aquaman sent his way.

“Don’t go playin dumb mate. How exactly do you think you got here.” He pointed to the floor “ That there is a summoning circle, invoking Phantom by name. Now here’s how I figure it. Either you’ve gone and disguised yourself or you decided to take this poor sod for a joy ride.” He smirked. “So which one is it mate?” Danny glared at the Englishman.

“Whether you’re Phantom or not we need help.” Danny sighed as he looked back at the hero.

“Well what’s in it for me? You dragged me from my apartment and you want my help, give me a reason.” He announced.

“Name your price demon.” Danny rolled his eyes at the annoying sorcerer.

“Not a demon.” He paused, trying to figure out what he could ask for as the little heroes started to get nervous. He was gonna help them one way or another, ideally they would give up on him and send him back to his apartment. It would be easy enough to get a magician out of the realms. Danny took one more look around the circle before grinning.

“How about a date?” He said, looking directly at Kaldur’ahm with a grin. He laughed before he continued “Just Kidd-”

“Deal.” Danny choked on his own spit as his cheeks lit up like a Christmas tree. John shouting from the other side of the circle.

“What the bloody hell kind of request was that?!?”

“ I didn’t think he’d say yes!!!!” Danny covered his cheeks as the handsome hero smiled at him.

“A small sacrifice to help a friend, though not a difficult one.” Danny’s face turned a darker shade of red as green started to bleed into his cheeks. ‘Was this guy seriously flirting with him right now?!?’ The hero raised a single smug brow at him, tilting his head just slightly to the side.

“Do we have a deal?” Danny took a deep breath, coughing into his hand.

“Uh, yeah sure, I’ll get your friend back from the realms.” Kaldur’ahm smiled, Danny blushed. “I guess I’ll just… yeah.”

“We shall begin preparations immediately. Once Phantom arrives we should head out immediately, the less time Zatanna spends in the realms the better.” His face closing off as he got serious, Danny couldn’t deny it was cute before he realized what he said.

“Oh, yeah no, you guys aren’t going.” John practically growled causing the hairy green kid to back up.

“Like hell we aren’t! Just because you claim to be a spirit of protection doesn’t mean I trust ye.” Danny turned a steely glare on the sorcerer as he walked towards him. He made it all the way to the edge and the look of confidence he’d been sporting during this whole ordeal dropped from his face as Danny stepped over the edge of the circle.

“I don’t give two shits if you trust me! You aren’t welcome in the Realms John Constantine. Not until you get that piece of patchwork you call a soul sorted out!” He looked around at the rest of the people in the room. “Besides, it’s against the rules to bring the living into the Realms and I’d rather not have to deal with Walker today, thank you very much.” John glared.

“Look here you dead piece of sh-”

“HALF-dead thank you.” He interrupted as he started to float off the ground. “Now buzz off before I change my mind.” John looked as though he intended to reply when Kaldur’ahm stopped him.

“Enough Constantine, we need his help. For Zatanna.” The British asshole grumbled to himself as he scurried off to the side. Danny stepped back on the ground, making his way over to the Atlantean.

“Hey Kaldur’ahm, before I get your friend, you don’t actually have to go on a date with me.” He looked away as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I was gonna help you anyway, I just wanted to get under Johnny boy’s skin.” He just looked at Danny with a smile.

“I thank you, however a deal is a deal, it’s too late to back out now.” Danny’s jaw dropped as the Atlantean grinned. “And please, call me Kaldur.” Danny coughed into his hand to try to force himself to talk.

“Okay… well… okay then… um…” he studdered, dying a little more inside. “I’m gonna go get your friend we can…uh… talk about the details after.” Kaldur nodded as Danny reached a hand behind him to open a portal.

“Agreed, and please be careful Phantom.” Danny paused.

“You can, you can call me Danny.” He back with a slight stutter.

“Very well Danny.” He smiled. Danny blushes as he backed up into the portal, tripping over his own two feet as he fell through. Once on the other side he quickly reached out to find the intruder in his domain. She was easy enough to find, he didn’t even bother transforming. She was standing on an unclaimed floating island only a few miles from where he opened the portal.

Armed with the knowledge that she regularly worked with superheroes he thought it would be best to announce his presence before he surprised her.

“You wouldn’t happen to be a magician by the name of Zatanna would you?” The fierce woman turned, her wand posed, ready to send a flurry of spells at a moments notice.

“And if I am?” Danny smiled.

“A friend of yours asked me to come get you.” She looked at him suspiciously.

“And which friend would that be?”

“A cute Atlantian with a killer sense of humor, named Kaldur.” She raised an eyebrow at that.

“I’ve never heard him described as having a sense of humor.” Danny chuckled.

“Yeah, I told him I’d come get you in exchange for a date. He didn’t even hesitate. Like he’d actually wanna go on a date with a ghost!” He replied with a laugh. Zatanna however did not join in and instead looked Danny up and down before looking him dead in the eyes. She grinned.

“Gotta say I can’t exactly blame him. It’s not often he gets asked out by handsome shirtless men.” Danny squinted at her confused before looking down. His eyes went wide as he realized he hadn’t been wearing a shirt the whole time!

[solitaire-sol]

Marauders Fandom Vent Post

CW: The following is anti-Regulus, anti-Barty Crouch Jr, anti-Slytherin Skittles, anti-Death Eater whitewashing, and a little general ranting about canon vs non-canon.

I should be finishing my Moonchaser Week fics but I made the mistake of browsing around and wow wow wow there are some truly terrible takes and I kind of really hate it.

"Regulus was abused and--" Really? Was he? Because all the info we get on him in canon is that he was Orion and Walburga's 'golden boy,' probably after Sirius started getting rebellious, definitely not reason enough to be Voldy's No. 1 Cheerleader until he was personally offended by the pursuit of immortality/mistreatment of Reg's house-elf. Just because ten billion fics follow-the-leader'd a handful of Big Fics where Sirius and Regulus were regularly Crucio'd on the daily from early childhood (and were still somehow functional when it landed Neville's parents, two adult and experienced Aurors, in the madhouse) does not make it canon. REGULUS WAS NOT A POOR ABUSED KITTEN AGAHGAHGAH

Oh, and speaking of the Longbottoms: "There's no proof Barty Jr really tortured anyone and he probably didn't even do anything at school so we don't know--"

Yeah, I guess that's fair. I mean, he was a dyed-in-the-wool Deatheater and was sent with two known murder-y/torture-y Deatheaters specifically to "take care" of the Longbottoms, who were as mentioned tortured into madness, but maybe Barty Jr was just sent along to take minutes or serve tea or something! No-one desperate to avoid Hell Prison might try to avoid it by saying they were innocent of the thing they did! We should believe the fascist fanboy who hangs out with other murderous and torturous fascist fanpeople.

"But Barty Jr was under the Imperious by his father! He was abused so--"

Yes, because his father stupidly broke his son out of Hell Prison as his wife's dying wish, tried to hide said son and couldn't control him because Barty Jr was a Voldy fanboy who kept trying to rejoin/restart their little Dark Magic gang! I'm not defending Barty Sr, he made a lot of very poor decisions throughout, but he Imperious'd Barty Jr to keep him from wandering off and doing Death Eater things like, oh, torturing and murdering Muggles and Muggleborns! There's no indication that Barty Jr was Imperius'd or cursed or abused or anything worse than having an emotionally distant workaholic father before he went into Azkaban, and there are lots of kids with emotionally distant parents who don't join hate armies and try to resume said activities after, again, his dying mother sacrificed herself for his freedom. Shockingly, Barty Jr is actually terrible!

I know, I know, it's fandom, do whatever you want, but I just don't understand this bizarre dual-vision myopia. Either canon doesn't matter, you can do what you want and ignore whatever's in the books, in which case why bother citing canon events at all? Or canon does matter, in which case your wildly speculative and sometimes outright incorrect 'facts' should at least be acknowledged as exactly that, rather than stretching the intended meaning of the phrase 'it could happen' so far that it snaps! Why are people so desperate to whitewash these murderous fanatics, they aren't even actually hot, their fans have decided they're hot and therefore should be whitewashed and I don't understanddddddd

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

Knives and the House of Black

You know who loves knives? Members of the Black family, that's who. In my newer writings, I've been exploring knives and what they can do for the Black family. This is based in canon - Bellatrix has her handy dagger, which kills Dobby and wounds Hermione (and who knows who else), and Sirius gifts Harry a knife that can open doors (until the blade is destroyed). Personally I love the idea of the Black family having a love affair with knives.

In my micro fic for the @ladiesofhpfest's mini yesterday in honor of Bellatrix Black Lestrange, I introduced a tradition of Black family witches and wizards getting knives on their 13th birthdays. This tradition came out of the world building I'm doing in my Tedromeda/Remadora AU, Supernova. I've pre-written a good bit of the work, which includes some knife head canons. I'm happy to share them here, and if you're reading Supernova, you'll see how they all fit into the story as it goes on.

HCs for Black family knives:

Knives are goblin-wrought and imbued with a ton of familial magic. Droplets of Black family blood are folded into the silver to create a particular blood magic that prevents Black family members from harming each other with their knives. The blade dulls if it touches another family member.

How related do you have to be? The magic holds with concentration, so once you get past grandparents, it's lethal. E.g. Scorpius Malfoy and Teddy Lupin couldn't hurt each other because their grandmothers were Blacks, but their children could hack each other apart if they wanted to. This also means that Black family members' spouses are fair game - e.g. Bellatrix can play with Rodolphus as much as she likes (and she really likes).

The knives have magic of their own: when they're 13, the knives have the basic Black family magic, but when they turn 17, the knives have gotten to know their owner enough that a new, unique type of magic is revealed. (See below for each of their magics!)

The knife *always* returns to its owner unless its magic is modified or the owner is deceased. If the knife is stolen or lost, it'll come back the next day.

Black family witches wear their knives around their thighs. The holsters are lightweight and barely noticeable. The holster is made of leather and the blade cleans itself within. Black family wizards keep them on their arms or in their pockets. The witches usually get daggers and the wizards usually get pocketknives. Either way, they're self-cleaning so they don't have to worry about dirty blood on their bodies.

The Black family magic can't be taken away, even if someone is disowned.

The knives are long enough to pierce the heart, or can be extended to do so.

The witches' daggers tend to be very ornate looking, with flowers, stars, or other patterns engraved in the handles. They're innocent looking until you're being stabbed and losing consciousness. Yay!

The wizards' knives are handsome and practical-looking. They look like ordinary pocketknives most of the time until you realize that they're about to shank you.

Now, for specific HCs on what the knives can do for each family member when they turn 17 (this is an incomplete list - it's what I have so far for Supernova, which is mostly centered on the Black family witches):

Walburga: her knife BURNS. If she's stabbing you with her dagger, it's going to scorch your skin and make your blood boil. Ouch.

Orion: his pocketknife is Walburga's opposite. It freezes, so imagine getting stabbed in the heart and then having your heart grow cold at the same time. Goodbye life.

Alphard: his pocketknife is a dual-purpose compass. It can give him directions as needed, but also points to what he most desires (think Jack Sparrow's special compass).

Cygnus: his knife temporarily blinds its victim. Not only can he stab you, but you'll be blinded for a hot minute, which makes it hard to escape.

Bellatrix: her knife ALWAYS leaves a mark. She can carve whatever she wants into whoever she wants. That scar is never going away.

Andromeda: her knife doubles as an escape. She can swish it around and create a quick bubble with which she can Apparate away as needed.

Narcissa: her knife changes shape according to her wish. This is useful with potions, but extra useful if she wants to inflict maximum damage on someone by using a serrated blade.

Sirius: his knife is the pocketknife that opens any door. He's clever enough to change the magic on it so he can gift it to Harry, because he's had enough of his family and Harry has more use for it now.

Regulus: his knife becomes invisible to anyone but him. It's an excellent way of being able to sneakily attack someone. You think he's going in for a hug or a handshake and boom, bye-bye life.

Nymphadora/Dora: this is particular to Supernova, my story, as she's being raised under different circumstances. Her dagger will heal her. When she runs her blade against a wound on her body (and her body alone) it will seal itself.

It's all fun, games, and knives, until one of them is fucking you up with their knife and having a fabulous time doing so.

[starchaseriseverything]

James looks at Regulus' beautiful sunlit face. The sun is rising, and birds are chirping. It's the best day ever.

James resists the urge to kiss down Regulus' body until he wakes up. Instead, he gets dressed and shuts Regulus' door behind him.

James hears a door open at the other end of the hall. He turns toward the sound slowly and sees one of his best friends. He lets out a breath. It's not Sirius. Thank god.

James thinks for a minute.

That's Sirius' room.

Remus just came out of Sirius' room.

James laughs quietly. "I knew it." He whispers. "I fucking knew it."

"Shut up, James." Remus says, stalking over to him.

James smiles. "I knew it."

"What are you doing here?"

"Everyone already knows. It's obvious."

"Sirius doesn't."

Another door opens. Alice? James smiles in victory. "Knew it."

James and Marlene talk every week and when they start to get suspicious of someone, they take guesses to who their shagging.

Apparently, so far, James has got them right. Alice and Narcissa, Remus and Sirius, Mary and Lily, and even Dorcas and Marlene. He couldn't believe he got that one.

"You knew what?" Alice asks.

"I knew that you were shagging Cissa."

Alice rolls her eyes and walks over to them. "You're both standing in front of Regulus' door. I'm assuming James is the one shagging him and Remus is shagging Sirius." James eyes go wide. "It's obvious."

"Fair enough." Another door opens, and out comes Emmeline Vance, a Ravenclaw. "Emmeline Vance. Nice to see you." Emmeline turns around so fast that James thought she had to have had whiplash. "Pandora? Really?"

Emmeline Smirks. "No, don't even start that sentence." Remus says, holding his hand up to stop her.

They hear footsteps around the corner, and before they could hide, Ted comes into view. "My god." Emmeline says. "Andromeda. Definitely."

"Yeah, definitely." James replies, agreeing with her.

"My god. I thought you were Orion and Walburga." Ted says startled.

"Good for you, we're not." Alice says. She pauses. "Good for us too."

"What are you all doing here?" A voice asks. Rita.

"No way!" Emmeline shouts.

"Shut up." James says.

"Sorry."

"Bellatrix. You're shagging Bella." James smiles. "Marls owes me so much gallons."

"Can we not?" Another voice sounds. Barty.

"I'm even more rich." James says proudly.

"How good are you at guessing?" Alice asks.

"Pretty good, actually. I even guessed Marls and Cas."

"Damn." Barty says, surprised.

Multiple doors open, and Evan, Pandora, Narcissa, Bellatrix, and Andromeda come out in the hallway. "What is going on?" Bellatrix asks.

Pandora smiles. "Panda? What are you smiling about?" Her brother, Evan, asks.

"Nothing."

James purses his lips. "Yeah, I'm gonna go before Siri comes out. Right Al?"

"Yep, coming."

Narcissa grabs Alice' arm. "Not so fast. We're going back in. Yeah?"

While Alice is debating, James hears another door open but doesn't see which one. "Mon soleil?" Regulus asks. "Holy shit."

James turns around and sees his boyfriend. "Hey, mi estrella."

"What is going on?"

Barty smiles. "Sirius is about to come out any minute."

Sure enough, Sirius comes out of his room. "Mon crossiant de lune?" Sirius looks around. "Alice!? James!?"

Alice purses her lips. "I'll take you up on that offer now." She says to her girlfriend, and they go back in Narcissa' room.

"What the fuck?"

Remus walks over to Sirius and starts pushing him slowly back in his room. "Let's go back in, fy nghariad."

Sirius grumbles, turns around to go back in, and stops. "We will talk about this later, Prongs." They go back in.

"So, that happened." Pandora says.

"I say we do the same and go back in our rooms, yeah?" Emmeline says.

They all agree and go back in. "Come on, mon soleil." Regulus says.

"I should really go."

Regulus starts kissing up James' jaw line. He stops. "Are you sure?"

James grumbles and drags his boyfriend back in the room.

[khwxbeeda]

Sirius leaned his hip against the kitchen counter and breathed out, letting his eyes fall shut. He wrapped his arms around himself and tipped his head back, controlling his breathing till it was a perfect time period— 4 seconds in, 6 seconds hold, 8 seconds release. Repeat.

The kitchen was silent.

It was a rare thing, a silent kitchen— the Order met here for meetings, dinner time was best described as utter chaos, Molly bustled around banging the pots and pans and yelling at her children. Grimmauld Place had a perpetually noisy kitchen, except now, in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep.

The silence was… relaxing.

He breathed out and opened his eyes, slowly turning his head to take in the entirety of the dingy but clean room. The dinner table was spotless, the mahogany wood gleaming with the new coat of polish he and Harry had layered onto it a few days ago. Next to him an empty goblet stood on the counter, emblazoned with the Black Family crest and motto, glaring up at Sirius for daring to use it to drink a few sips of late-night wine. Sirius ignored its presence and picked up the bottle of Nebbiolo red that he had poured from. It wasn't wise to drink more than one glass if one couldn't sleep, and Sirius knew better than most what alcoholism did to people.

"Sirius."

He looked up, and smiled.

"Hello, Harry," he murmured, and Harry gave him a tight smile in return. The expression made something curl unpleasantly in his ribcage, and he kept the bottle back down to walk over to Harry. Close up, there were dark bags under his eyes and his skin was paler than death, and his eyes… Sirius did not want to think about how similar that look was to the one he saw in the mirror.

He wanted to fix everything. He wanted to give Harry a good home, a good life, a good family. He wanted, with all his heart, to have a chance at making everything right. He wanted to drag Harry into a hug and tell him that he was loved, that he deserved better, that he could just say the word and Sirius would take him far away from Britain and its shit politics.

"I didn't hear you come in," he said instead.

Harry shrugged and stuffed his hands into the pocket of his worn-out black hoodie, blinking slowly at the bottle of wine.

"I didn't know you drank," he said quietly, and Sirius almost smiled at how similar he sounded to James when he had been going through puberty. Harry's voice was low, a little raspy, and it suited him well. The thought of James sent a pang of grief through his heart, as usual, and he ignored it in favour of shaking his head.

"Never more that a few sips," he answered as he set it back down, silently pulling out two chairs and gesturing at Harry to take a seat. "Orion drank a lot. Those were never good moments."

His voice echoed around the kitchen, the silence of the night raising the volume so it seemed like he was speaking from all corners of the room. Harry slumped into the chair next to Sirius and looked around, and Sirius swallowed at the gleam in his green eyes. It was… he wanted to make that haunted look go away.

"You know," he murmured, and the boy's eyes snapped towards him. "People keep saying you look exactly like James. With your—"

"—mother's eyes, yeah." Harry looks away, jaw clenching and relaxing. "I know."

Sirius smiled. "It's not entirely true."

Harry looked at him, eyes suddenly sharper than a dagger, and Sirius felt his heart ache at the familiarity of the expression. He nodded at Harry's look of disbelief, smile growing wistful.

"The shape of your lips is all Lily," he explained. "James had a wide-set, smiling mouth. You and Lily, though— little rosebud mouth. James always said Lily was one of the Celtic Fair Folk because of her narrow face."

Harry smiled at him, wonder shining in his eyes, the shadows a little less dark compared to a few minutes ago. Sirius considered that a win, and kept talking.

"And your eyes.. Lily had forest green eyes, with hints of brown and golden if you were close enough to see it. Calm and serene most of the time, till she got angry. Then it felt like she could stab you with just one look."

Both of them huff out quiet little laughs, and Sirius tilted his head up to stare at the ceiling. He could barely get the next words out through the lump in his throat. "You, though— the most brilliant green eyes ever, the exact shade of the Killing Curse. You have your grandfather's eyes."

The sharp breath Harry sucked in echoed through the air like a gunshot.

Sirius twisted his head to glance at him. His expression was unreadable, but there was something… Sirius felt his blood boil.

"Nobody told you about your grandparents, did they?"

.

Tag list: @roalinda @impishtubist @in-flvx @narcissa-black-supermacy @padfootastic @gracelesslady23 @mycupofrum @fiendishfyre @prongsfoot-wolfstar @siriuslystarbucks @strwbi-laces

[transformersbrainrot]

MegOp is making me crazy as usual, but now I have some new, specific inspiration!

So it started with @that-fanperson-meg saying this under a post I made about the Transformers account posting a TFO MegOp edit.

I recognized the name of the song but had never actually listened to it, and hooooo boy, it activated something in the part of my brain that thinks about MegOp... So, I'm listening to this song, and I have the clearest vision that it's about Megatron's mindset/thoughts during his mental health's lowest point in the worst depths of the war. (fair warning, my analysis/brainrot is based on my own personal continuity/au, so there are some minor references to that, but it's all fairly standard, and I explain it a bit, so just go with it, and you shouldn't be confused.) Ok, preamble over. Time for the lyrical analysis:

I hope that our few remaining friends Give up on trying to save us I hope we come up with a failsafe plot To piss off the dumb few that forgave us I hope the fences we mended Fall down beneath their own weight And I hope we hang on past the last exit I hope it's already too late

Megatron assumes that Optimus is in just as bad of a place as he is. He's wrong, of course, OP certainly isn't enjoying himself, but he has an actual support system that he feels comfortable leaning on. On the other hand, Soundwave is the only thing even approaching a friend for Megatron (and he is waaay too closed off at this point to admit it). Starscream is a backstabbing, power-hungry sycophant with his own heap of baggage (I really gotta make a post about my version of all that sometime); Shockwave is purely logic-driven as usual, only interested in advancing the Cybertronian race via the Decepticon cause. By this time, Megatron feels like both sides are too deep into the war to even consider peace. He honestly can't fathom it.

And I hope the junkyard a few blocks from here Someday burns down And I hope the rising black smoke carries me far away And I never come back to this town again in my life

Megatron has always wanted to escape the path that was decided for him. But now, after losing what he and Orion had and the resulting fallout, he won't go quietly into the night, not before causing some irreparable damage first. And the war will do just that. He hopes the destruction the great war causes keeps pushing him forward, even out beyond Cybertron. At least then, he won't ever need to face the past and who he used to be. He couldn't recognize himself now if he tried, so he doesn't even try.

I hope I lie And tell everyone you were a good wife And I hope you die I hope we both die

Even though it's clear to him that they hate each other and are not good for each other, Megatron still has some form of loyalty to what he and Orion had. If somehow, someday, someone were to ask him about them, he wouldn’t tell them about all their problems, but instead that they were good together. Maybe if this hypothetical future version of Megatron doesn't mention all the pain their split caused, then maybe it was a little less real. He knows that as long as Optimus is around, he won't be able to stop fighting; he's just too hurt and angry. He wishes Optimus would just die, that they both would.

I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow I hope it bleeds all day long Our friends say it's darkest before the sun rises We're pretty sure they're all wrong I hope it stays dark forever I hope the worst isn't over And I hope you blink before I do And I hope I never get sober

Soundwave, the only even semi-positive influence on him right now, is the one telling Megatron it's darkest before the sun rises. Soundwave is a true believer in the original cause of the Decepticons, probably the last one in High Command; everyone else is either using the cause as a means to take out their pain (Megatron and Starscream) or as a means to an end (Shockwave). Megatron is finding it harder and harder to believe Soundwave with each passing day, and yet again assumes Optimus is doing the same. He's starting to hope it never ends. He's comfortable with it now; the war fills the hole that his old life left in him. All he really knows is that he can't bring himself to yield to Optimus and doesn't think he ever will. If he did, he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

And I hope when you think of me years down the line You can't find one good thing to say And I'd hope that if I found the strength to walk out You'd stay the hell out of my way

Megatron is hoping that Optimus is suffering too, since he is, and doesn’t want him to feel anything positive through this since he cannot. But at the same time, he’s trying so hard to be a bastard so that it won’t hurt as much. He does still want to speak well of their past if he gets the chance, so some loyalty or fondness remains deep down. If there were good times to look back on, there would be sadness that those times are over. If Optimus has nothing good to say about him, all he would feel is relief that that part of their lives is over.

I am drowning There is no sign of land You are coming down with me Hand in unlovable hand And I hope you die I hope we both die

Megatron can't see any way out of where he's gotten them. To him, there's no path to peace anymore. The only solace Megatron can find is the hope that Optimus falls with him. Even now, the two of their fates must be interlocked, as if it were a universal constant to him - simple common sense. He just wants it to be over, even as he can't bring himself to stop.