#personally I think you're all weak. 'oh so you think she's evil and hate her' no actually I

[tilthedayidice]

Hey welcome back to my BG3 Hot Takes

While I have your attention, here's a cool site to help Palestine, all you gotta do is click it daily.

This session was inspired by @lipsie, gettin me ttalkin way too much. Yes I am aware that the tadpole changes things, and they have to make it balanced for the game blah blah blah- let a bitch complain.

Screenshots sourced from the Baldur's Gate 3 Wiki

Gale is the only character I feel is spec'd correctly, He's smart but fiuckin stupid, he has autism rizz, mam could not lift any box you asked him to, the only reason his constitution is 13 is because he's been dealing with the Orb and he's used to it by now.

Karlach should start with 20 strength and you CANNOT convince me otherwise, her charisma should be higher also, she's a ball of sunshine and could put the fear of god into anyone, and the line "Gods I wanna ride you til you see stars" will never leave my brain. Give this bitch a 15. She do be a little dumb I'll give you that.

Shadowheart is just funny to me, How can her wisdom be a 17 when she's been cloistered away for so long? Her wisdom is only a 17 in ONE SPECIFIC SUBJECT, a subject where she's forced to give up her memories. Memories are where we get our wisdom. Wisdom is gained through lived experiences, I'd give you the 17 for endgame Shart, but not start of game Shart. I'll take the 8 CHA cause she's a bitch (said with love, me too babe) but she knows enough to get what and where she wants so I think we should nudge it up to like 10.

Lae'zel.... I think it's unfair to put Lae'zel's intelligence at 10. Her wisdom being low, yeah i get that she's been cloistered away in a society that believes its the only way, it's all she knows. But intelligence? No. She might know much about Faeruns culture and people, but she knows EVERYTHING about the stars. And there's far more of that than there will ever be of Faerun. She's the funniest person we know, give her 9 CHA.

Wyll my beloved, do you airbrush those abs on? Do you wake up every morning and contour them? I DON'T BELIEVE YOU DO!!!!!!!!! SO WHO'S THE ASS WHO DECIDED YOUR STRENGHT WAS A FUCKIN 8??????? THE BLADE OF FRONTIERS SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST A 13. He deserve a 15 but I know they won't give it to him. Lipsie and I were talking about him and they're right, WHEN WE DUMP THE BITCH HE SHOULD RESPEC INTO BARD.

Astarion..... oh Astarion.... you're such a disaster. Such a wet cat of a man. Such a pathetic little mew mew. I shit on him a lot, but I do really love his character and development lol. LESS STR MAKE HIM WEAK, he has been starved and living off rats and shame, he can have his measly 8 AFTER he drinks... uh "Thinking" Blood. His CHA being 10 is perfect actually no notes. I personally think his actual INT should be lower, not too much lower, maybe 11/12, I knooooow he was a magistrate, but you can't tell me he's not giving himbo... no what was that word on the meme graph? Himbim? Himbim.

Halsin.......... 10 STR? 10?!?!?!?! You built him LIKE THAT and give him 10 STR?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!? What in the nine hells...... Weaker than Karlach of course, but 10????? Give that man 15 at least 8 INT???????????? 8???????? LARIAN WHY DO YOU HATE HIM???? Is it because he isn't Gale? Mans has been studying the mindflayers on his own, he's been studying the shadow curse... on his own. HE'S A MASTER HEALER?!?!?! AN ARCHDRUID?!?!?!?!?!?!? That takes time, study, and dedication. You wanna assign him himbo so bad. He's just a whole well rounded man with autism,. (Not a dig on himbos, quite literally my favorite genre of Man). This is just 'cause he fucks isn't it.

Minthara she's so much smarter than Larian gives her credit for. While I agree with the WIS, that's more a product of being so closed off, Her INT is much higher. I'd give her a 14? She cunning, just because it's used for Evil deeds doesn't mean she hasn't been she hasn't put a lot of thought into her work. She lived in Menzoberranzan for Gods' sake. She had to be smart or be killed?!? She's said so on multiple occasions! Just because she's Evil aligned doesn't mean she not smart. (She's just as smart as our average Bear according to Larian)

Minsc...... First off let me say that I love that they chose this image. A Bad Bitch. Anyways, anyone who doesn't find that dumb happy face charming is either lying or literally has a stick up their ass.... 12 CHA. Also why is he so weak? I know he isn't like actually weak... but mans chunked that mimic? Let him have 14.

Jaheira I'll give you the 10 STR, she's complained about her knees like three times in my most recent session. 8 INT? So what I'm getting here.... is anyone not an origin character is just baseline 8? Lazy. Especially considering she was ALREADY GIVEN STATS IN TWO PREVIOUS GAMES. In both BG1 and BG2 she has an intelligence of 10, and if anything she's only gotten smarter over time. I wasn't gonna do this... but left is 1 right is 2.

15, 14, 17, 10, 14, 15, and 15, 17, 17, 10, 14, 15

Make it make sense. I know she's old at this point, but in my game she killed Sarevok again so idk man.

Rip me apart in the notes ;)

But do it nicely...

[allgremlinart]

idk. how I look knowing about 10,000 interesting conversations about Zuko and Azula and sibling abuse dynamics are permanently inaccessible and implausible because any insinuation that Azula ever exhibited abusive behavior will get me 10,000 people in my inbox asking me why I hate her:

[aspoonofsugar]

Hi! Where do you think Alastor's arc is going? Redemption or villainy?

Hi!

Thank you for the ask, I loved watching Hazbin Hotel and I am happy I can write for the series :)

As for now, I think Alastor will spiral and hurt Charlie very badly, but he will eventually redeem himself (probably in a key moment). That is because Alastor is framed as Charlie's Jungian shadow.

What is the Jungian Shadow?

According to Jung, the shadow is what a person represses, both positive and negative. So, it can be one's violent tendencies, but also one's potential and energy. It really depends on the person.

So, why does Alastor fit the Shadow Archetype? Well, first of all:

Alastor's powers make use of shadows. Not only that, but Alastor's own shadow is very expressive and shows the demon's repressed feelings. In other words:

On the one hand Alastor embodies the shadow, in the sense he represents what Charlie refuses to face

On the other hand Alastor himself represses his emotions behind a smiling face:

Alastor: Just because you see a smile, don't think you know what is going on underneath. A smile is a valuable tool, my dear. It inspires your friends, keeps your enemies guessing and ensures tha no matter what comes your way, you're the one in control.

This is a good characterization for a jungian shadow because the shadow grows stronger and more dangerous, when it's ignored. So, the most one refuses to face their feelings, the most these feelings fester and grow powerful and dangerous. This fits Alastor both when it comes to others and to his own character:

He takes advantage of an emotional unstable and vulnerable Charlie to strike an abimguous deal with her. Similarly, he uses Husk's gambling addiction to steal his soul. He uses people's weaknesses an unsolved problems to take over.

He suffocates his feelings, which symbolically manifest in his powerful shadow-tentacles. His design and abilities are representative of his psychological coping mechanism, which is nothing, but repression.

As written above, though, the Jungian Shadow can be both negative and positive depending on what one hides. This duality is shown in Alastor's two roles in Charlie's arc:

He is a demonic archetype (even moreso than Lucifer, the titular devil), as he waits in the shadows for a chance to manipulate Charlie

He is an evil mentor, as he genuinelly likes Charlie, sees her potential and wants to guide her towards greatness:

She's filled with potential that I could guide

This isn't a contradiction, but complexity. Alastor is chaotic and mixes negative traits and intentions with positive ones. Just like what people repress can be both bad and good, usually at the same time.

This is clear when it comes to the Princess of Hell:

Charlie to Alastor: What's that you said about smiles?

Charlie is similar to Alastor in how she represses herself behind her pollyanna persona and her smile. This doesn't mean she is faking her altruism and generosity, but that she is using these traits to hide something else:

Lute: The only reason you're still here is that Daddy gave you and your Hellborn-kind a pardon from an exorcist's blade. How does that feel? To know how little you matter.

Deep down, Charlie invests herself in the Hazbin Hotel project because she wants to matter. She feels powerless and unimportant, as a result of her parents' neglects and of Hell's difficult situation.

So, our protagonist has strong self-issues that she refuses to face:

Husk: Princess is a bleedy heart who wants to solve everybod else's problems, 'cept her own.

That said, this isn't the only thing Charlie represses. The Princess of Hell hides:

Every negative emotions she feels, like her self-hate or her anger at Vaggie for hiding her true identity:

Rosie: How does that make you feel? Charlie: Just... angry? Because we share everything! Because she always supported me, and my ideas, and now I don't know whether or not that was just more of the lies... Oh no, that's a horrible thing to think! Do I think that? Yes! No? Kinda?

Her most violent and aggressive side, which makes so she is unable to make full use of her powers:

Vaggie: Well, I mean... You're the princess of Hell, but you don't really use the power that comes with that. Mybe you can, I don't know? Command a little more... authority. Charlie: But that's so mean.

In short, by repressing her negative feelings, she also represses her potential. It is only by facing herself as a whole, that she can fully grow and bloom into her most powerful and complete self:

This is made clear in Charlie's quest in Cannibal Town. There, our girl is at her lowest, but she is pushing herself forward for the sake of her loved ones. She is trying to imitate Alastor by smiling, even if she is sour inside. However, things do not go well and it is only through her heart to heart chat with Rosie, that Charlie is able to pull herself together and inspire her people. Symbolically, she gets through them not with a 100% optimistic song like "Inside of every demon is a rainbow". Rather she opens her speech, by showing vulnerability and honesty:

It's a feeling like a rumbling in your gut That you could finally be faced with A billion needy faces I guess what I mean to say is For the first time in my life I might have to be ready for this Ready to be the one who's leading from the front Gotta come into my own Gotta come into my throne Gotta take charge and defend my only home And although I kinda feel unsteady Now I need to be ready for this

She affirms who she is and her willingness to grow into herself:

For the first time in my life Maybe I can be ready for this I can be the marshal leading the parade I can come into my own And I think I've always known My destiny could never be postponed When Adam brings the battle here I must appear like I'm ready for this

So, it is only by tapping into her own shadow that Charlie can be successfull. It is through expression and not repression that she can reach her goals.

What about Alastor?

He is the same, but so far he has been refusing to open up to others:

Angel: He's been here a while and he's still a big, creepy mystery.

That said, his time at the Hazbin Hotel has had an impact on him. He is forced to deal with others without killing them:

Vaggie: Pentious's eggs are all over the place. I need you to get rid of them. (...) Humanely!

He is shown cutting ties with a poisonous friend:

He openly admits he likes the people of the hotel:

Alastor: Ah, an enjoyable collective to be around. I admit one could get accustomed.

However, he still refuses to openly show vulnerability and ends up like this:

Let's highlight that Charlie and Alastor are foiled in The Show Must Go On song.

Both stand in the ruins of their homes/dreams.

The Hotel:

I took a hotel, and I destroyed it I know I could have done better Better, instead of letting you down

The Radio Station:

This place reeks of death There's a chill in the air And I barely escaped being killed by a hair

And both decide not to give up and to keep pursuing their objectives. However, Charlie is framed positively, while Alastor negatively. Why?

Charlie sings about her feelings openly and is supported by her father and found family:

Alastor sings about his pain privately and even then he barely shows his desperation before going back to his villanious mask:

Symbolically the moment Alastor reunites with the Hotel Crew, he sings:

And we're doing it with a smile!

He is back in control of himself, ready to hide everything behind his neverchanging smile.

So, Alastor is both Charlie's negative foil and Jungian Shadow. As her negative foil, he is bound to spiral. As her Jungian Shadow he is bound to be saved. Why is that so? Two reasons.

The Jungian Shadow can't be killed, but needs to be integrated with.

The main themes of the series are redemption and love, so it is improbable that Charlie won't help the person, who co-founded the hotel with her.

If anything, it seems that our princess is progressively asked to forgive, inspire and see the good in more and more complex cases.

It starts with Angel, who willingly stays at the Hotel. It goes on with Pentious, who infiltrates the Hotel, but makes no real damage. Then Lucifer, whom Charlie loves, but that has been absent from the majority of her life. Finally, Vaggie, who breaks Charlie's trust.

Each conflict Charlie has challenges her in a different way and helps her discover herself and grow. She is bound to meet new struggles when Lilith becomes a broken pedestal and finally when Alastor betrays or hurts her. Still, she is going to forgive and to understand them.

Charlie is going to see the good in Alastor and to better understand herself as a result. As a matter of fact Charlie's journey is one where she is slowly discovering a world, which isn't black and white:

If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie If angels can do whatever, and remain in the sky The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again

Just like people aren't black and white. Just like she herself isn't black and white. By saving Alastor, she is gonna save herself too. Together with the whole universe.

And what about Alastor? Well, he needs to work on himself, as well. He too must integrate with his shadow, who is embodied by a certain character:

Husk is a powerful overlord, who lost his soul to a demon. Just like Alastor:

Husk: Big talk for someone, who's also on a leash.

Alastor and Husk are both on a leash. Still, Husk admits it and starts working on his shortcoming:

Husk: You're a loser, just like me

Alastor instead affirms his willingness to be in control and to pull the strings:

Once I figure out how to unclip my wings Guess who will be pulling all the strings?

Alastor is a loser, just like Husk. Just like all the characters in hell. Sinners vs Winners. And yet, he refuses to admit it. This is why he makes no progress. Similarly, he wants freedom, but enslaves others. This isn't going to work out, which is why I am fairly certain he will eventually set Husk free. Probably by doing so, Alastor will make the first real step towards his own freedom. He will start integrating his own shadow.

Thank you for the ask!

[thechekhov]

Dungeon Meshi Quick Reacts

CH.30 (Good Medicine)

I kind of assumed that things would get worse from here...

...yeah, there's no 'but' to that. Getting Falin back so quick was too good to be true.

Aren't those the ghosts Falin talked to? They could be friendly.

"ee gads! a hairless little man!" I'd be frightened too if Chillchuck was suddenly behind a door I'd just opened.

Chillchuck, buddy, less than 24 hours ago you threw a knife directly into a dragon's eye. You can take care of some worgs, right?

Senshi's a card carrying member of the smells-okay-to-me-chief club.

Orcs be like 'oh, dragon's gone? Hm. Curious' and then just carry on. Wouldn't you be worried that something took out the dragon? Could be even more dangerous than the dragon itself.

I feel like at this point Falin might be just that.

MOUTH TO MOUTH RESUSCITATION!

Marcille, I don't think you have a lot of options.

......just realized those moose antlers are holding up her rack. Talk about a pushup bra. Damn. Respect.

Wait go back to that "create monsters to do their bidding" thing again. Was that the little mini dragons or does that include larger monsters like the dragon itself?!

OR something that was IN the dragon, controlling its actions and make it act irrationally? Is that why the Sorcerer wasn't surprised to see Falin as a separate thing outside the dragon? Was the assumption that whatever THING it was had escaped and become Falin?

And for all we know... it kinda had. It had merged with her spirit....

Or maybe I'm way off.

Congrats on the larger story plot! :D You're now in even more danger! Hoorah!

Chillchuck, a normal person would just go 'I'm leaving, pay me'. You're giving yourself away, worrying for them.

I can't hate him for the reasoning here. The deeper you go, the less likely you are to be found. The only person who cares enough about Marcille and Laios and Chillchuck to find their bodies are.... each other. So if they're dead here, they're likely dead-dead.

I want to nestle into her bosom and live there as a little creature.

Moreso than when she was literally in the gullet of a red dragon?! Come on, be reasonable. At least she's alive now. And remembers who she is.

Ooooh friendly ghosts. Makes sense why Falin was so chill about them.

All the more reason to believe there's something to be done!

Love the doggo yawning behind Chillchuck.

He's a coward, but being afraid isn't necessarily a sign of weakness. It's a sign that you realize how dangerous a situation is. Cowardice isn't stupidity, no more than ignorance of danger is bravery.. I think the orc leader is maybe realizing he's not doing it for completely selfish reasons. Mad respect to her though.

It WAS Falin, wasn't it? It wasn't as if it was a thing pretending to be her. She was there, and she was revived successfully, and then the soul confusion thing happened.

......damn. What a small holiday they got, before the next horrible thing happened...

hey, Marcille is not dumb! She's got loads of braincells! they're just all focused on doing evil stuff and being gay.

🎯

That's right! It's just like you, Chillchuck!

Was that... there before?

Oh, okay, no, it was. Hm.......

This stupid man is about to full a Falin and jump out a window to go look for her, isn't he.

Gods, this sucks for him so much. For all of them. Because they.... they WERE successful! They rescued Falin! They brought her back from the head! They DID that!

But now, instead of getting the reward of it, she's just gone. Is it better, because she's alive?

Or worse, because the threat is even more nebulous?

If they all died, would it be worth it?

who's the coward...? he's ready to go back.

For Falin, they went down there. They risked themselves.

For them, after talking to him only a bit, the orc leader went from 'hey, nice snack for my dog' to 'we're helping you get that girl back'.

It's about the CONNECTION!!! IT'S ABOUT HELPING EACH OTHER AFTER LEARNING TO UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER!!!

[misseviehyde]

BIG CUCK

"OMG - dude, our bully has turned me into a perfect physical copy of your hot girlfriend Jenna. Why the fuck would he do that to me? I'm your best-friend and he does this to me?

He must be up to something evil. That asshole is so manipulative and evil. He loves to play games.

He's been trying to get Jenna to sleep with him for months but she loves you too much. We can both see that she has real chemistry with Aaron and she's come so close to fucking him, but her love and loyalty to you is the only thing stopping her.

Now he's used the magic remote to copy her exactly onto me. I have her tits, her long blonde hair... even her sexy tan. Oooh shit, that's not all I have. This thing has copied her personality and desires onto me - they're starting to catch up with me. I can feel my mind changing.

Dude, I feel so fucking pretty and spoiled. My skin feels like buttermilk and my body is so tiny and perfect. Ooooh, I feel like totally feminine and girly. Jenna's personality fits like soooo nicely over my own.

I can even feel an echo of her love for you growing in my heart. Oh my God, I fucking love you. I love you so damn much.

Oh shit, here comes Aaron. Don't worry baby, I won't let that asshole hurt you.

What the fuck do you want you bastard? Why have you turned me into Jenna?

You're going to make him enjoy being a cuckold so that he'll encourage the real Jenna to fuck you? No... that's evil, and it won't work. Jenna loves him and so do I.

What do you mean you're gonna corrupt me so I love you instead and I become an evil whore? Nooooo, don't ugghhh point that remote at me... ahhhh fuck what are you doing?

Ugggh dude, you have to get out of here... he's melting my brain... making me uuuuuhhhhhh slutty and mean. I... I... I'm trying to fight it, but it feels so good. I can feel Jenna's love for you being, uuuugghhh twisted and corrupted into something wicked.

Ohhhh fuck, yessss, I like boys. Nnnn nooo I like MEN. Alpha Men. N...nooo that isn't right is it? Mmmmh, it feels kinda right though.

Ohhhh no he's making me bad and I can't ughhhh fight it. Twisting my sexuality and my mind. He's making me into evil-Jenna and I like it.

Mmmmh, yessss... only big cock will satisfy me. Only bullies make me WET. I'm a bully too? I am? Oh yeah, of course I am. I love being better than other girls. Yessss, I'm a fucking BITCH. I fucking dominate other girls. I dress like a fucking bitch, I AM a BITCH!

Hahah, ohhhh fuck this feels good. To have this smoking hot body... tight and smooth, feminine and powerful. To know men lust and desire after me. No one can understand why I'm dating such a pathetic loser for a boyfriend. Even I can't unders...

I... oh yeah of course. I date you because you're pathetic and weak. You're SO in love with me and think I'm an angel. I use you to get what I want. You pay for my clothes and my makeup. You give me lifts and cook me dinner. You even do my homework for me. But the truth is I fucking h... hate you.

Ugggh, noooo that isn't mmmmmh right, I lll..lllov... NO. NO, I can't fight it. It feels too good when I say it. I... I HATE you. I fucking hate what a weak pathetic loser you are, but it makes me wet to date you and enslave you and fuck other men. Better men.

Men like Aaron. Yeah, that's right. I like his big fat cock and his bullying attitude. He turns me on... he makes me wanna be a slut for him.

And you like it too don't you loser? You know I'm not the real Jenna, but this is how she really feels. Deep down inside she despises you and uses you to get what she wants. But really she wants to fuck other boys and you want her too.

The thought of being a cuck excites you doesn't it? Of kneeling between my legs and licking Aaron's cum out of my tight pussy. You wanna watch him fuck me. You wanna see me fucking scream and cum all over his cock.

He can pound me in ways you never could. You can only last a few seconds inside me, he can go for hours. HAHA ohhhh fuck yes, it makes me so horny to be evil to you. I love what a bitch I am.

Now then loser are you ready to watch Aaron put his strong hands all over my tight body. He's gonna bend me over, pull my panties to one side and slide that big dick into my tight little pussy.

I'm gonna fucking ride him for hours, pumping my pussy up and down on his cock. I'm gonna suck his balls and swallow his cock deep down my pretty throat. I'm gonna make you watch as he fucks me doggy, then lets me ride cowgirl. Every position, every possible type of sex - he's gonna show you how much better he is than you.

When he's done and I'm dripping with his cum, you'll never forget how hot I look - how happy and satisfied. When you see the real Jenna you'll not be able to stop thinking about her covered in Aaron's spunk. You'll do anything to help her become like me. You want to see the evil-Jenna take control.

This is the beginning of your addiction. Now get ready loser - because it's time for Jenna to get railed.

I can't wait for you to become a big cuck as I take this big cock...

[mrsbrookemunson]

I have a Sebastian Sallow request for you!!! Reader and Sebastian are the top two duelers at Hogwarts, and they’re each others enemies. They always bicker and try to one up each other. Everyone is sure they hate each other. But then comes the last championship day of duels, and in the duel before she’s supposed to fight Sebastian, she gets really hurt and Sebastian panics and rushes her to the hospital wing. They realize they actually like each other and perhaps some love confessions??

You're a real one for this - aka one of my favorite writers 💕 I changed up the request a little to make it more angsty—I still hope you like it 🥹 Also - hey guys! I am new in the Hogwarts Legacy writing community, but I've been known for my James Potter and Remus Lupin fics - along with some other fan favorites.

Warnings: *Not Proofread*, Canon violence (blood, injury, fighting), insecurities, slight dark!seb in this, mentions of gameplay (slight spoiler warning), fem!reader, she/her pronouns, "MC' insert, heavy angst in the beginning and a bittersweet ending (can be left up to interpretation) This is like a complete alternative of what happened in the game. Be warned *insert evil smile*.

Word Count: 2343

Darkness.

That's all she saw in that moment. She could hear her own heartbeat, the blood rushing through her veins, her own slow, shaky, weak breaths as the pain of breathing soon subsided into numbness.

Where did it all go wrong?

The image of his eyes nearly black as the night sky, and that haunting smirk on his face that she grew so fond over.

Fond. Now that was one way to describe. No - she didn't hate him, but he hated her. Her feelings were quite the opposite, that soon behind each bicker and snicker grew a warmth in her chest - a fire that she learned to contain within herself, it would've only been a matter of time till she burnt herself.

Was it love?

It felt like life threw her warnings left, right, and center - that love only causes pain. She didn't think the pain would be so bad to the point where it led to her death. Though, as she slowly accepted the darkness behind her eyelids, she thought... maybe death wouldn't be so bad if it meant escaping the reality of heartbreak. Until she was drawn back out again.

Where did it all go so wrong?

They've been together through so much. He was the only person - besides Professor Fig - who she thought listened to her.

Oh how he listened to her...

"Let me see if I've got this straight. You have Ranrok and Rookwood after you because of something you found at Gringotts - where you ended up via a portkey. You can see traces of ancient magic that you think Ranrok is trying to harness. And now you've been witnessing memories left by 'keepers'? Oh! And this house belonged to a Hogwarts professor - who was one of these 'non-quidditch' keepers - hundreds of years ago." He shifted on his feet. "If I didn't know you - " His smile, it could send her over a million times. " - I'd think you were pulling my leg."

In that moment she couldn't believe her ears - had there really been someone in her life that truly listened to her?

"You're not listening to me!"

"Why would I listen to someone so ignorant?"

She cursed at herself, hearing the slight crack in her voice, and from her vision becoming blurry with tears. "Maybe your uncle was right... you don't know when to stop."

"Oh, I do know when to stop."

It felt like it only got worse after that. He was always disagreeing and trying to start arguments with her. Not thinking before acting. Who once always listened to her soon became a brick wall. Maybe she should've voiced her worries, maybe then she would've been able to salvage the already broken pieces of their friendship.

But, she didn't.

Instead, she chose to turn her back on him and walk away. She chose to avoid him - to ignore him. The number of letters that he sent increased every day when she simply tucked them away without reading them. Her stomach twisted and turned doing so - but it was better than the outcome that most-likely would've happened if she chose to stay.

And when the year ended, winning the battle against Ranrok, losing Professor Fig, she had the slightest sliver of hope that he would've spoken to her - grieved for her - oddly enough, she wanted him to yell at her for being stupid enough to go into such a war without his help. But, he didn't - and she felt foolish for thinking he would.

Would they ever speak again?

"MC, Mister Sallow - up onto the dueling platform," Professor Hecat instructed.

She swore she heard him grumble something under his breath. She noticed how Sebastian's physique changed over the summer after their fifth year. He became taller, his voice got deeper, his eyes became darker, and his skin got paler. Merlin, he looked sickly.

She glanced at him, cautiously before stepping up onto the platform.

She lost. He laughed. How cruel.

"She thinks just because she won a battle against Ranrok, she's the best dueler at the school."

It spread like wildfire.

Lucan was all over it. It seemed as though the two best duelers competing against each other was his way of keeping students engaged in his little 'unsanctioned' club.

It became much bigger than that.

Darkness.

"MC?" she heard a voice call out. "MC?! Wake up!"

"What have you done?"

Time slipped away from her. Seventh year came around, and no progress was made between her and the boy she desired in a way that was almost like a lucid dream. He was right there, she could touch him, feel him if she wanted to - but she knew, if she gave in - she'd wake up.

She didn't want to wake up.

Her own body didn't listen and her eyes cracked open. It was too bright to truly process her surroundings and the pain came back as if she was hit by a train. Her head hurt and it became hard to breathe again.

Why couldn't she breathe?!

Sobs escaped her when she felt something sticky on her hands. She looked down and saw blood soaking through her dueling clothes. She started to hyperventilate.

Hands came to grasp her face and she was met with brown eyes. Not the dark - nearly black - she found herself getting used to. No. Brown. Brown like honey, golden like the sun, melted chocolate she wanted to drown - merlin they were beautiful. Such eyes didn't deserve to hold tears nor look so broken, they deserved to be crinkled by smiling and closed by laughing too hard.

"S-Sebastian?" she called out in a rasp.

He shushed her and ran a hand down her head to soothe her wild, untamed hair. His eyes then widened when he pulled his hand away abruptly to glance down at his fingertips. That's when tears began to fall down his rosy, freckled cheeks. "It'll be okay, we're getting you help, okay?"

She couldn't quite understand him, like she was underwater. She felt dizzy and her eyes were getting heavy again.

"No - no - no, don't close your eyes." He patted her face. "Please, don't close your eyes. I need you to stay awake... help is on their way," he paused. "Stay awake from me."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Why would I do anything for you anymore?" she whispered.

His face contorted into one that expressed such hurt. "Wh - what?"

"After everything... why do you even care? You hate me."

His eyes widen. "H - Hate you? I never said - "

"Don't lie to me..." she cried. "You - you did this, didn't you?" She grew angry. "And to think I would've given you the world if you had just listened to me!" She struggled to raise her voice causing her to violently cough. "To think I loved you..." Her head rolled and he instinctively readjusted to keep her head steady.

"MC? MC?!" He shook her as he cried. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry - you're right - it's all my fault - "

"Step aside! Let us through!" Professor Sharp shouted over all the students panicked filled voices.

Professor Weasley, and Professor Hecat followed him.

Sebastian held onto her tight and attempted to wake her up once more. He pressed his fingers to her wrist, but couldn't find anything. Panic struck him like lightning, he leaned down to press his ear to her chest. Her heartbeat barely there. He watched as her skin was losing its color and he suddenly felt sick.

What had he done?

A couple days had passed and MC had not woken up, yet. But, she was alive... surrounded by gifts and 'get well soon' cards. Sebastian hadn't left her side and practically begged the professors to induce a punishment after she had woken. In this moment, he felt the need to be by her side.

The guilt was eating at him alive, already have gotten a lectured from the professors, Ominis, Natty, Poppy, Imelda - Hell, even Lucan was scolding him, adding the point that his club is ruined because of his actions. He couldn't stop thinking about what she said before she knocked out.

She loved him...

That thought sent butterflies throughout his whole body. And Merlin, he wishes she'd wake so he could say it back a million times over between apologies. Loved... Did she still love him? That dawned on him. He gripped her hand tightly in his as the fear crept in - this could be the last chance he has to ever act of feelings rather than insecurities.

When did it all go so wrong? he wondered.

"I love you too," he whispered to her in the dark infirmary. "I've loved you since you beat me in that duel to be honest." He chuckled, dryly. "My new charge." He smiled fondly over the memory. "That day we fought that troll, I must admit I was a little jealous. I wanted to prove to you that I could be your... 'knight in shining armor' as awful as that sounds..." He frowned. "But, you didn't need me. You never needed me." He shook his head. "You are stronger than you know." Tears began to flood his eyes. "I'm sorry I hurt you - I hurt you more times than I can count and - " He swallowed. "It will haunt me everyday pass death. Every time I close my eyes, it's a replay of what I did, a neverending nightmare where I see my reflection of who I've truly become. To the point i can't sleep or eat." He weeped. "Everyone was right. I don't know when to stop. And because of that I lose everyone around me... Maybe my uncle was right about me. Maybe I should just leave and never return." He raised her hand and gently kissed her knuckles. "As much as I'd miss Ominis, and Anne, and you - I'd probably be for the best... I'm just a disaster waiting to happen."

MC began to stir on the bed, her eyes fluttering open to meet his. "I did need you, you know," she whispered. "I needed you when it came to Ranrok, and when I lost Professor Fig - you were the only person I truly wanted to be there with me, but you weren't. And part of that is my fault... for so long - I just wanted you, it didn't matter what you had done, but I knew if I went to you my love for you would only grow and I knew that wasn't in the cards for us. You wanted so badly to save Anne, I knew I couldn't fit in there and it would've been selfish fo me to."

"I would've preferred you to be selfish rather than you shut me out."

"I never did such a thing! I tried talking to you but you'd never listen to me."

"Because i was angry - I was angry at where my life had become and who I was becoming and I knew if I opened my mouth I'd ruin everything between us."

"There was nothing between us!"

"I wanted there to be!"

"Well, I guess it didn't matter because look where we are now!"

He pulled his hand away to drag it over his face, using both hands to rub at his eyes. "What went so wrong between us?" he questioned, defeated.

They sat there in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable - but tensions were high. Thoughts coursing through both of their minds at a frantic, overwhelming pace.

MC closed her eyes to try and steady herself mentally. She sighed, "Sebastian I - "

"I want us to start over again, from the very beginning."

She looked rather surprised to hear him blurt out such a thought. "And what? Forget everything that's we've been through together?"

"No, but... we can at least try to move on." He sounded so hopeful. "At least give me a chance."

She laid back in her bed and observed him in silence. The way his eyes were practically pleading her to say yes, to give him relief of what she could tell had been weighing him down for the last two years.

"We'll get it right this time, I promise," he begged and reached out to grab her hand again. His dark circles became more prominent as they were glazed with tears. The moonlight seeping through the windows made him look like a crestfallen angel. "Please."

Her heart squeezed at the sound and sight. With hesitation she spoke, "My name is MC, I started in Hogwarts as a fifth year and crazily enough I can see traces of ancient magic and am known as the 'Hero of Hogwarts' because I defeated Ranrok and ultimately ended the Goblin War."

His smile left her breathless. Weak, yet so powerful. His shoulders lowered drastically with a shaky exhale. "That is a lot to take in... but I wouldn't mind listening to you talk for hours on hand if that's what if takes for you to tell me everything I missed."

"Quite the commitment you're willing to make..." she paused. "And your name is?"

He smiled a little wider. "Sebastian Sallow - and as a note - I am known for committing to something till the end. I don't easily give up."

She returned the smile. "Good to know."

"And to add onto that - I'd wait for you as long as the Earth spins until you are ready to accept me once again as who I once was."

She gave him a rather mocked look of suspicion. "You won't go changing on me, will you?"

He shook his head, hastily. "Never, this - what you see right here - this is what you're getting, nothing else."

She was crying along with him at this moment - but more in relief that she didn't have to carry the burden of her true feelings any long. And she knew - deep down - it would take time, step-by-step opening herself up to him as he would to her. But, she'll consider it yet another quest that she couldn't wait to finish, knowing it'll lead to the next part of their lives together. So, with a soft grin -

"How can I refuse?"

The end.

Should I make a part two - almost like an epilogue?

If you'd like to be part of my Sebastian Sallow taglist let me know!

| Requests Open |

[archivalofsins]

I love when people try to discuss Kotoko, saying she wasn't persecuted by like-

Being sorta ableist and conflating persecution to trauma. Subtly pushing forward this idea that normal people don't turn out like her. Come on, now. Just listen to what's being said for a second.

Firstly, everyone has trauma. Like literally everyone, there is no such thing as a person devoid of trauma. Regardless of how big or small another person may believe someone else's trauma to be, no one goes through life without dealing with some distressing or disturbing events.

So, anyone who truly on some level believes having trauma can be used as an excuse/justification for her acting the way she does or only people with certain sorts of trauma who went through certain sorts of things that possibly have certain types of diagnoses are the only one's who would behave like she does...

May want to start tackling their own internalized ableism before they fall into stereotyping. People using Kotoko's answer about persecution to highlight that she herself has no issue admitting she's never received what the fuck she dishes out and her having trauma are two seperate things. I don't even know how they ended up being connected to begin with.

Sure a person can have trauma from being persecuted, but being persecuted isn't the source of all trauma. That's why they're two different words.

That's why the question was phrased like this.

Q.18 Have you ever personally been persecuted in the past?

Kotoko: I haven’t. But are you trying to say that if you haven’t had those experiences you can’t hate evildoers?

Because it was asking about whether Kotoko experienced the same persecution she put others through. Her answer was no. Where exactly does trauma come in here? This is a bad faith reading of this situation, but I can't view this talking point as anything other than people attempting to consistently show off that they think/believe people who have experienced incredibly traumatic things are not normal and therefore are the only people who would end up like Kotoko. Causing me to consider that the only reason people want Kotoko to be traumatized is so they can point at that trauma and say she can't be like me I can't end up like her because she's fundamentally different from the average person. An average person wouldn't be like this.

I think this because no one, not even the question discussed, ever brought trauma into this.

Now, I have personally stated to people who claim Kotoko must have trauma to be the way she is, that she admits to not being persecuted. To state why I personally doubt she has trauma to the extent that others want her to have it for some reason. Because she explains what she views as evil in her first voice drama, the persecution of the weak and innocent, bullying, torture. The translation I saw which is on YouTube, specifies bullying and torture. For her to state she has not been persecuted directly after stating what she defines as persecution in her first voice drama paints a pretty clear picture.

Along with the fact that she literally gets defensive about stating she hasn't been persecuted. Literally stating,

"But are you trying to say that if you haven't had those experiences, you can't hate evildoers?"

So, it's clearly a sore spot for her. She didn't go, "No, I'd never be a victim." She literally went, "Oh, are you saying I can't hate evil because I haven't personally been persecuted by it? Is that what you're getting at? I know an evildoer when I see one."

That's a weird way to lie. It's weird to lie about not having something done to you and then in the same sentence point out and attempt to combat how that may be weaponized against you. Because if she recognizes it could be used to imply that she isn't fit to do the things she's doing due to the fact she has no firsthand experience with being persecuted then she honestly could have and should have lied. Because that's exactly what saying this highlights and she not only knows but calls that it to attention herself in the same answer.

So, why would I not believe she's being honest? She highlights exactly how this won't benefit her while answering.

Well, but- See Gunsli you brought trauma into it just now! You're admitting that right here and continuing to debate it. Yes, because I don't fundamentally believe a person has to have certain types of trauma to behave the way Kotoko does. She is a very normal person.

I say I don't think she has trauma to people who say she must because I recognize that it is ableist to assert she must simply because of how she is, and it does nothing to benefit her narrative to me. The reason I use this question to highlight that is because people who have trouble discerning ableism will instead be tripped up by the question than ever ask if being persecuted and having trauma are the same thing.

Even if Kotoko's lying here and she has heaps of persecution and there are people slandering her name every day and judging her for what she did-

Q.10 What were you called online?

Kotoko: A lot of things. Cause there were people who supported me, and then there were also morons who just didn’t understand.

That would not equate to trauma, and given her first written interrogation, she does not consider what she just stated here a form of persecution.

Even though it is having a ton of people discuss you negatively in spaces that you can see would count as the second definition of persecution,

Persistent annoyance or harassment.

To annoy with persistent or urgent approaches (such as attacks, pleas, or importunities): Pester.

Though the public to our current knowledge didn't know of Kotoko by name. She still had to experience the exact same thing Futa did at the end of Bring It On. That is people online judging her for what she'd done. Something I would count as persecution, but again, Kotoko doesn't and did not count that when asked last trial. Because her definition involves active bullying and torture. It involves physically injuring someone.

She personally does not view herself or any of the experiences in her life as facing the same persecution as the weaklings she claims she wants to protect. Full stop, that's what her answering in that way means. Anyone can claim she's putting up a tough front, but that's what saying that means when placed alongside everything else.

We know nothing about Kotoko's home life. It isn't shown in any of her videos. Barring some massive change in trial three, I don't see it having much to do with her crime. She's with the child from the warehouse more than we see her with her family, which isn't a hard bar to pass because her family doesn't show up at all.

Hell, maybe since we saw Amane's trauma after she was voted, Guilty Kotoko enjoyers who are interested in her trauma should just vote her guilty. Apparently, being guilty will unlock that trauma real quick. Still, even if in the end we find out Kotoko has heaps of persecution and oodles of trauma.

Having trauma alone does not make anyone more likely to turn out how Kotoko did or like any of the prisoners, for that matter. They made the choices that got them here and have continually said so. Kotoko's main thing is jumping people she is the sole instigator of every conflict we've seen her in. She could have called the cops and told them this guy's whereabouts. She could have chosen not to jump that other man on the street. She could've been in law school. Instead, she chose to drop out or go on leave in favor of prioritizing tastelessly larping as Jason Todd from the fucking Batman comics.

So put the trauma strawman back in the cornfield where it belongs. Actually read that question and really analyze how having trauma would change anything about Kotoko's narrative. Ask why some people would like others to believe having trauma in this case is a get out of jail free card a reasonable justification and explaination of her behavior. Is it really about adding depth or making others feel bad for Kotoko.

Really recognize how behaving in a way that indicates one believes only individuals who have gone through trauma can do the things Kotoko has done actually comes off to people who have experienced trauma. People who may simply not project on this character as many others do. People who, due to their trauma, may recognize that even at their worst moments, they didn't do the things that any of the prisoners in Milgram decided to do. That due to that recognition even if Kotoko did have trauma even if she has gone through a lot there would still be some people who'd say that's no excuse.

Just like with Amane. People saw her trauma on screen in Purge March and dismissed it. She has one of the closest verdicts of trial two. So will having trauma really help Kotoko or make her look like more of a lost cause. Have people considered what they're asking for fully?

Most of the prisoners have said they've had normal lives in some capacity. Yet no one has said that means any of them have not had trauma. Because again, having a normal life and having trauma is a given. These are two things that exist together. No one lives a life that's trauma free. Distressing and disturbing things happen on every level even when someone is well off.

It's the specific sort of trauma people are trying to put on Kotoko, why, and how they're going about doing that, which makes it gross to me. Literally Kotoko could go, I have a normal family and the audience will go we're gonna have to pull another Yuno don't listen to Kotoko she doesn't know about her own fucking life. Despite her life and childhood not really being connected to her crime. It's not like she was jumping family or classmates. She only knew about these people from news outlets.

Her songs don't show her complaining about her upbringing or life circumstances at all. They do allude to jer not having the best self-esteem. Through her covers being Anti Beat, Streaming Heart, the lyric about laughing and being able to like herself, how she begins to visualize herself over the course of Deep Cover.

I'm not going to argue about if she had trauma outside of asking what exactly changes if she does? Because I don't give a damn if she has trauma. Everybody does. Her feelings aren't her fault but how she acts on them are her fucking responsibility. Stop insisting that only the wrong sort of person ends up in Milgram. People ended up in Milgram. Whatever trauma they may have is not an excuse for killing people.

End of story. But Amane Gunsli but Amane-

20/06/13

Amane: ……what’s wrong, Shidou-san? Your hand has stopped marking. This is mathematics, so there’s no questions about the answers. If I got something wrong, please mark it with an X.

Shidou: I…… I just don’t understand. If everything about MILGRAM is true…… why did a child like you have to become a murderer? Just imagining what sort of circumstances must have led to that, it makes me so sad……

Amane: ……*sigh*. Is that right. I don’t think I’m going to get along with you, Shidou-san. I don’t agree with the fact you refuse to acknowledge that-

I have my own free will, and that I should be held accountable for my actions, just because I’m a child. I may have only been alive for 12 years, but all the choices I’ve made, even if they weren’t the best ones, were entirely my own. What point is there in you getting sad when I have no regrets myself?

……please give me back my test. It seems you don’t have the concentration levels required to be my teacher. I’m going to get Kotoko-san to teach me instead.

Shidou: Amane…… I don’t think that’s true. However smart you may be…… you’re still just a child.

I once again ask why so many in this fandom are comfortable with treating the child like an adult but keep treating these full ass adults like children? To the point that the child we judge understands accountability better than any of us! Amane has never used her trauma as an excuse for her behavior. She won't even use her age because she already knows what she did was not the best decision and has said so from the start. What has Kotoko said?

Oh, but if we just don't believe anything that Kotoko says ever or pick and choose when we do, we can all just build a better Kotoko. Man, I really can't wait to see how that turns out since we've already got a character who has been treated like that.

[stevie-petey]

hiiiiiiiii honey <3 could we get a blurb about bug telling steve about jonathan’s outburst towards her after he took the pictures of nancy and steve’s reaction to learning about it???? it would be so so appreciated by me <3 you’re the best ever <3 MWAH

(i am being held against my will to write this jonathan sweetie im so sorry) (i love u val) (u are evil)

i know this isnt necessarily what u MEANT but ,,, ive been dying to expand upon bugs kindness and how it may seem annoying and pathetic, but its hers ! its her kindness !!!

enjoy <3

"no way you guys havent wanted to strangle each other at least once." steve remarks one day as he watches you and jonathan work side by side at the cash register.

jonathan had been bored today and decided to join you and steve at work, something that you're very happy about, honestly.

"oh, ive definitely wanted to strangle jonathan," you say, writing down a new shipment receipt while the boy next to you doodles.

steve rolls his eyes. "old married couple squabbling doesnt count. im talking, like, full on betrayal and hurt here. you guys are always so... you, and it has to be an act."

jonathan snorts. "shouldve seen the fights we had last year. surprised y/n didnt kill me with her bare hands."

"i dont believe you."

"no, hes right." you look up at steve. "he threw a jacket at my face last year and then told me we werent family the night he took those pictures of nancy. then cried in my arms like a day later."

steve stares at you, shocked.

"i also then slept in nancys bed and lied about it. and tried leaving you behind a few times."

"that you did," you flick jonathans ear, causing him to wince in pain. "you deserved that."

"i did."

during this entire exchange, steve hasnt said a single word. hes still stunned, baffled by the fact that jonathan could be so cruel to someone so wonderful.

"wait a second," he looks between you and jonathan. "and youre still friends?"

"yeah." you both say at the same time.

steve cant fucking believe it. you do anything and everything for jonathan, that much is obvious, and sure. steve has seen jonathan do small acts of kindness towards you, devote the same back, but to throw a jacket at you and belittle you? and now here he is, joking about it alongside you. as if it was all okay in the end.

"youre too nice sometimes, y/n." the words leave steves lips before he can stop them. once he realizes what hes said, he looks up at jonathan and panics. "sorry, man. im sure you guys talked it out and... yeah."

jonathan shrugs. "no, youre right. she is and i was dick."

"im right here, you know."

steve winces. "sorry."

"its fine, honestly." you go back to scribbling shipment orders. "i am indeed too nice, but i dont ever really see the point in holding a grudge? i mean, jonathan apologized and i understood the stress he was under. sure, it didnt erase all the hurt he caused, but after almost dying immediately after being mad at him for not including me in something... i dont know. it felt silly to hold onto that anger after. childish, even."

jonathan and steve share a look, for once both seeming to think the same thing.

shes too good.

you hate that they do this. you hate that people view your kindness as a weakness. after the hell youve been through, long before monsters even came to hawkins, youve learned the hard way just how rare kindness is.

now you try to be kind to everything and everyone, no matter what it may cost you.

the kindness is yours, no one elses.

and if that makes you weak, then at least it made you better.

you tear two pieces paper from your notebook, scrunch them up into balls, and then throw them at steve and jonathan. "stop pitying me. im kind and i love that aspect of myself. i dont care if it makes me vulnerable or pathetic. its a piece of me, and i wouldnt change it. if you dont like it, then that belittles me even more than emotional outbursts ever could."

jonathan sighs. "youre right, bug. youre a very kind and lovely person and its what makes you a joy to be around, paper balls and all."

steve plays along. "definitely a better super power than spider-man, dare i say."

"okay, lets not get ahead of ourselves now," you giggle, appreciative of both the boys. they may not understand or like the way you view the world, but theyre at least trying.

its all you could ask for.

even if steve later on that day pulls you aside to whisper, "i think i can kick jonathans ass this time, if you ever need it."

and its enough.

[lowkeyerror]

The Villain's Hero pt 2

Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Word Count: 1.8k

Notes: Graphic depictions of violence, redemption, gets pretty soft at a certain point, 1st person

Summary: Wanda does what said she would. You try to piece your new life together.

Part 1 | Masterlist

I was strapped down. I had no leeway to move. I could feel the material against my arms. I wish I couldn't move, I couldn't talk, and my vision was blurry.

" Did you think she was going to stop me?"

My blood ran cold.

" I don't fail. A trait that must've skipped a generation. Your little hero wasn't anything to me. I crushed her."

I struggled against the restraints. I could hear my father's laughter echo around the room.

" Oh? You don't believe me. Let me show you what happens when I handle things by myself."

My vision cleared, and I was met by the image of Wanda's bloody body slumped over in a corner.

" You're next."

My body jolted straight up. I was drenched in sweat and my breathing was labored. I was in the same room I was in earlier. This time, there was no Wanda to greet me.

Though my being was in shambles, I tried my hand at getting out of the bed. This time I was successful. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

My stomach and thigh were wrapped up. My nose had been reset and there was a small bandage to cover the gash. The bruises were still turning, but it could've been worse. It would've been, if Wanda hadn't patched me up so well.

The house was quiet. I looked around for the hero, taking in the home as I did. It seemed like she lived alone. Everything was neat and clean. I tried not to panic at the lack of her presence, but after that dream I was on edge.

I had a bad feeling in my gut. The type of feeling, that meant I had to find Wanda. She had been in my mind, which meant she knew where to find my father.

He wasn't always an evil man. He was my dad, I didn't think he could hurt a fly. Then mom got sick. Things took a turn for the worse. Her health was rapidly declining, but she still wore a smile.

It wasn't fair. She was a sweet woman, who only wished to help others. She should've had more time.

My father and I agreed on that. We were both messes when she finally passed. I remember feeling so much anger. I developed so much hatred in the world, because a world that would take my mother from me wasn't a world I could respect.

I was young then, impressionable. So the anger that I felt only multiplied under my father's rage. His sanity slipped away day by day, bringing him closer and closer to a life of crime.

Wanda was right, I was his weapon. I never questioned him, he was all I had. I'd already lost my mom, I refused to lose him too.

Part of me wished he'd fought for me, like I fought for him. I did everything I could to make my father happy. No matter how wrong it felt, no matter how much I bled, I did what he asked.

This is the one thing I couldn't do, and he hated me for it. I hated myself for it.

But I knew there was no world where I'd willingly slay Wanda. She had a good point earlier. The hero was my other half.

We fought, we hurt each other, but there was an abundance of respect underneath it all. The woman was a light, perhaps the only one left standing.

She was a beacon of hope for people everywhere. I couldn't take her away from them. She's everything I wished I had to look up when I was younger.

I had to stop her.

Wanda was a person of her word. There was only one place where I thought I could find her, a place I didn't want to go. However, pride moved my feet, or maybe it was fear.

Fear that my nightmare would become a reality.

Much like the night before, I let my feet carry me. I didn't want to think about what I'd find when I got there.

" You are weak. A pitiful excuse of a father and a worse excuse of a man."

Wanda had him by the neck. She was squeezing him so tightly that the wound I made yesterday was leaking. He was in bad shape. It looked like she had beat him quite badly.

His eyes met mine, and he mouthed," Save me."

" Wanda, put him down."

Her gaze was focused on him," He deserves this."

" This isn't your fight, hero," I try to be gentle with my voice.

" He could've killed you," her grip intensified.

My eyes pool," He's all I've got, please."

Wanda doesn't waiver," He doesn't care about you, Y/n. He doesn't even want to claim you as his child. He's used you years to do his bidding."

My heart tightens in my chest. I force myself to look at my father, " I tried so hard after mom died. I tried to be everything you asked for. In fact, I was everything you wanted me to be. You never cared, I don't even remember the last time you told me you loved me. I was supposed to be your daughter, and you were supposed to be my dad."

His eyes were blank as they bored into mine," You were the worst thing to ever happen to me. I hope you know you'll be nothing without me. She'll turn you in after this, and you'll rot because that's all you know. I raised you like that for a reason. You will never be able to exist without-"

The crack was viscous. My hands shot over my mouth in disbelief. Tears were wildly streaming down my face. His body hit the floor like a sack of potatoes. The eyes were still open, looking at me with disgust.

Wanda stood still, she was staring at her hands.

" W-wanda?"

Her attention turned to me. She approached me and for a moment I felt fear. My father's last words rang through my ears, what if this was it for me.

" I told you, I'd kill him for what he'd done to you. I don't want you to believe anything that piece of shit ever said to you."

I couldn't take my eyes off of him," He's right, who am I without him telling me who I have to be?"

Wanda shook her head," That's for you to figure out. You could be whatever you want to be."

" What if…" I didn't finish the sentence, my insecurities were getting the best of me.

" We'll figure it out together," Wanda’s doe eyes bore into yours.

I shook my head," I still don't understand why you're helping me."

" You're my other half. Now, let's go."

" What about-" I didn't finish my sentence. When I looked at where my father had just been lying, lifeless, he was no longer there.

" Let's go," Wanda repeated.

With much effort, I followed the woman outside and back to her house.

Wanda gave me something I had never had before in life, a chance. The opportunity to be more than just a criminal. She never pressured me to be a hero, but with my skill set it was almost normal to me.

There were certain things from the past I couldn't let go of. However, there were a lot of people who had switched sides, for whatever reason.

I didn't think of my father a lot. Sometimes he'd slip into my mind, when I was at my lowest, but I didn't let it ruin what I had worked for.

I was on the right side of the fence, thanks to Wanda. I was grateful, but I couldn't convey it too much. I had to keep up our banter and faux-hatred of each other.

Though, the rising tensions between the two of us only seems to grow. It was easier to ignore when we were on opposing sides. However now, I find myself able to admire her up close. This complicates things.

Unfortunately, I have found myself to be in love with the hero. I call myself by the same mantra now, but I cannot erase my villainous past. It will forever taint the legacy I decide to build for myself.

" You look a little lost there, hero."

I frowned," You know I hate when you call me that."

Wanda laughs," It's the truth. You're a hero."

I shake my head to disagree," I'm just doing what I can to right my wrongs."

Wands rest her hand on my shoulder," You're doing more than that Y/n."

" Doesn't feel that way. I feel like… I'm wearing a mask, hiding my true intentions."

" What are your true intentions?"

I paused," I don't know. I just feel like an imposter, Wanda. You know I'm no good."

" Even when we were on opposite sides, I never thought you were bad. You held back and showed too much remorse to truly revel in the darkness."

I chuckle," You think so? I hurt so many-"

" You regret it. You would change it if you could. I watch you beat yourself up everyday over it. You're not the monster you're trying to make yourself out to be."

I closed my eyes as I felt her hand begin to massage my shoulder. I let out a deep breath," I hate letting you see me like this."

" I like it when you show me that you're more than just a sarcastic asshole."

" Glad my weakness brings you happiness."

She gently hooked her finger under my chin, our eyes met," Your weaknesses make you human. However, your emotions will never be a weakness."

It was hard to believe her. My father's words echoed through my head. He was still haunting me. The only thing that gave me any pause was that I was certain Wanda wouldn't lie to me. It wasn't in her character.

" I guess you make me human then," I swallowed hard, almost wishing I contained my words.

" I make you weak?"

My hand shakes as it caresses her face," You make me feel things I never wanted to experience. Wanda, you're the only one I refused to kill. You've shown me kindness when I was undeserving, you protected me when I refused to believe I was in danger, and you saved my life."

" Y/n-"

" You make me feel so weak yet, all I want to do is relish in feeling."

Her lips met mine first. Her grip on my chin didn't waiver, neither did my hold on her face.

I didn't want to let her go. I was afraid that when the kiss ended, whatever we had we would go with it. I thought I had ruined things with my words.

" Stop thinking," she whispered against my lips.

I obeyed her command, my mind was empty. The only thing I was focused on was her. I needed her, and for once that didn't make me feel weak.

She smiled, breaking the kiss," Y/n, the thing you seem to keep forgetting is that you're my other half. That means, I need you just as much as you need me."

My eyes widened in surprise at her words. She giggled and I smiled.

" You never cease to surprise me, hero."

" That's a good thing."

I pecked her lips, unable to help myself.

" It truly is."

[maxwell-grant]

thoughts on Tekken8 so far ?

Not too many, I have mostly mixed feelings on Tekken stuff but:

Okay this rules, this is a killer fucking idea for a fighting game story mode. I was actually just thinking the other day about how a lot of modern fighting games with big story modes can't really integrate the tournament structure into the story, so it's either not there or it becomes a schrodinger's tournament. But here there's no mistaking it, there is a King of Iron Fist tournament being held and fighters the world over are invited to join with their lives and with the lives of their ENTIRE COUNTRIES riding on the line. This rules, this fucking rules, I'm pissed Street Fighter didn't do this first because this is the most M.Bison idea that is also a way better plot than anything M.Bison ever did, fuck yeah.

I've heard this described as Tekken doing the Cell Games and having never watched Dragon Ball I'll have to take their word for it.

Don't care about Jin, never have really, but I am at least marginally curious as to how they'll square "Jin you are the light and hope of this world you are the hero of everything you must save us all" and "you totally fucking killed millions of people for no reason with that WW3 stunt dude". Love that Kazuya throws this in his face like, you weak little shit, you think you're putting me down? You think YOU have some kind of body count? Well it's just gonna keep growing watch this *BWOOOOOM

Tekken has spent a loooot of games running in a loooot of circles around the Mishima bloodline drama so this game promising to blow things out of proportion, with Heihachi dead (so far) and Kazuya cutting loose and the entire world seriously on the line, well okay that has my interest.

Gotta be honest folks, up until now I actually hated Azucena. Decent design, Peruvian representation is extremely rare and I was super on board for that, really liked for a beat how her fighting style's meant to abuse Tekken's 3D space with a lot of dodging and swaying... but then the character started talking and, oh great, she only talks about food, she's a gimmick character that only talks about her gimmick, here comes the next annoying latin-american stereotype that the gringos just find sooo charming and sexy and funny, here comes the next El Fuerte/Laura/Zarina, and all my interest died.

And then the latest story trailer revealed that she's happily teaming up with the G Corporation (and by extension Kazuya, you know, the guy currently raining fire and murder on the entire planet) because they make for "better brand optics for my coffee" and, huh. Well. Turns out she's a total piece of shit! The "beloved for her innocent personality" thing was a dead giveaway looking at it now. Turns out she's a business major cracking winks and poses while tanks and soldiers steamroll the land and people around her. You hear a lot of stories growing up here about plantation owners being cutthroat ghouls and I must admit, it's pretty great seeing that as the twist on a typically obnoxious Disney inclusivity cartoon person, feels very topical. Maybe it is just a rehash of Lucky Chloe's twist but Lucky Chloe wasn't that inspired to begin with where as this feels a bit more thought out. I expect to be ultimately dissappointed but it sure got me almost kinda liking her a bit.

Big year for evil women in fighting games.

Feels like Tekken was just bound to have a Nick Fury at some point with other fighting games elevating characters to that position, but it is pretty weird that this a thing, right? I guess when they're going more into world-threatening stakes and characters teaming up being treated like an Avengers gathering you kinda need a Nick Fury or several to glue that nonsense together. Anyway, Victor's pretty cool. Kinda shocked that he's the first French character in Tekken apparently.

It's not easy to make me like espionage-themed characters in fighting games but he's got enough style to him that I appreciate. He's just Vincent Cassel if he was a John Wick guy with a weird Final Fantasy sword but that's not like a bad combo by any means, really just seems like Harada really wanted to put a guy he likes from da movies in there. It's the Kojima impulse but hey, if it works and the voice acting isn't terrible (like a certain other studio, seriously how do you manage to get such lackluster material out of J.K Simmons doing Omni-Man), I'm cool with it.

I'm not too sure what to think of Reina? I feel like that's gonna be entirely dependant on her role in the game, because the other two are fairly throwaway characters where as her they seem to be putting a lot of stock in. I kinda like her design although I appreciate it better in fan art that lets her actually emote and look mean, the in-game face is just way too dull for what she's doing. I like the ego she's got and that she can back it up, that she's this new mystery newcomer with potential arriving to shake up the scene. I think a lot about her would be very generic and forgettable if it wasn't backed up by her mean punk personality and power, which I really appreciate. She kinda feels like if Asuka wasn't a joke. I'm just curious as to what her actual role is gonna be, and while I don't think she's gonna be a full blown villain the way Kazuya is, I'm gonna be pretty dissappointed if she just immediately slides into being a hanger-on hero. So I'm just waiting for more on her with cautious optimism.

I hope Heihachi never comes back because A: it's just wrong to have him without Unsho Ishizuka to voice him, and B: I hope they never ruin the humor of "Yeah he's dead dead but he has at least 20 bastard children all over the world and at least one of them is gunning for the throne so if you thought he was done causing problems or that the Mishima Bloodline would end with Jin, lmao"

[imsogayyippee]

playlist anon back again here's the highlights

Butch 4 Butch - Rio Romeo

I Love You Like An Alcoholic - The Taxpayers

Laplace's Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!) - Will Wood (you ever see those videos of cosplays where one person is sitting on a chair and the other person is walking around them kinda pushing them around while this plays? Yeah that.)

Baby Hotline - Jack Stauber

Trees II - McCafferty (this is just vibe but I think it makes sense)

Choke - I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME (my friend says this is THE timlex song)

505 - Arctic Monkeys ("I'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck" / "or I did last time I checked")

Milk Carton - Mercy Necromancy

GAHHH sorry im gonna yap about butch 4 butch n more gay shit i hope youdont mind.

this song is SO FUCKING ENTRY 54 TO ME. AUGHGUHDUSHGS.

"My sweetheart's piano is rat filled/And mine is infested with bugs/The music we make is unnatural/But it sounds just like falling in love"

DO YOU GET ME. CAN ANYONE HEAR ME.

"Tomorrow we'll dig through the garbage/And we'll fish out all kinds of neat trash/And when we go back to my apartment/She'll probably kick my fucking ass"

"I sing her songs in my garage/And make her fall in love with me/And once we're done/The sun is gone/We both just sit so nervously/I talk real slow/And speak real low/Hoping she'll lean into me/But we just laugh cause/What was that/We can't take ourselves seriously"

"She makes me go weak in the knees/But I can't let her see me swoon/Or else she will think I am sweet"

IM SICK IM SICK AOAIUAHGU THEY MAKE ME SO SICK.

--

anyways. i love you like an alcoholic

"Cast that first glance: your smile, my veins"

entry 84. it was love at first sight btw. yeah im right it's canon.

"Kissed that first night/And then the rain opened up the sky to get"

RAIN??? LIKE ENTRY 54? 😦😦😦😦

"I need you like I need a broken leg"

adding this cause it's funny

"Some handsome dark stranger/You were standing there on the corner/You had those compelling magnetized/Eyes you must have lost when you got older"

um. what role did alex immediately give tim when they met. yeah

"Seven blocks in, my fingers brushed your hand/I blushed and you laughed/But you seemed a little sad/I ain't one to jump a ship/But I absolutely knew/I was six steps in when I fell into you"

I HATE THEM I HATE THEM I HATE THEM!!!!! /nsrs

--

anyways i listened to laplace's angel (i didn't remember which song it was even if i had heard it bfore. btw no i havent seen those videos sorry 😭😭) and um. kills them with my mind

"Could you take a look at me?/Am I bad, am I bad, am I bad, am I really that bad?/And now we're singing, ooh, whatever you think of me/If you were in my shoes, you'd walk the same damn miles I do"

PARALELLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"It doesn't take a killer to murder/It only takes a reason to kill"

AUGHGHSH THEY MAKE ME SICK. ALEX FUCKING KRALIE.

"The only ones in need of love are those who don't receive enough/So evil ones should get a little more"

I THINK I HAUVE COVID.

"If you were in my shoes, you’d see I wear the same size as you"

FALLS HITS MY HEAD AND DIES.

--

sorry i would talk about baby hotline but the kind of lyrics it has are kinda hard to "analyze" like im doing with other songs 😭

--

"Cute guy, nice face/Wrong time, wrong place/I knew in a matter of a minute/His face was smashed/His skin was burnt/His shirt was torn in the dirt"

oh. ok then,dies

"I need you more than you need me/You're beautiful and smart and kind/While I am ugly, full of lies" "And I can't be with you anymore/I can't live like this anymore/I can't hold your heart anymore/I need you to go on without me"

.🙁🙁

--

read the lyrics of choke um. yeah i see it. all i have to say is toxic old men yaoi except theyre not old

--

"I'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck/Or I did last time I checked" "But I crumble completely when you cry/It seems like once again you've had to greet me with goodbye"

.🙁

--

"When you put a knife to my neck/My stomach doesn't fill with dread/It's fill with butterflies instead/And when you threaten to do things to me/I don't scream"

ANON WHEN I GET YOU. /VPOS

anyways. that's it i hope yuo liked me talkig about gay peopel like and subscribe for more!!!!!!

[sparklecryptid]

/pfft/ Sorry, just - the mental image of Ace and Luche Regisdaughter coexisting *in the same 'verse*. It would be a *glorious* train wreck - and Ardyn would coo over his new niece (so adorably vicious and spiteful!). (Ace: Uncle, do not kill Shiva. Uncle, Uncle NO -) (Luche: Actually, it'd be great if he killed Shiva. Ace: You're not helping!)

@hamelin-born

(rubs hands together like an evil gremlin)

have a thing?

-

Luche knows of her brother. No, not the prince locked away in Insomnia, not the King of Light and Life.

The other one.

The one weighed down by the loss of his home, the one who is loved regardless of who his uncle is or personal failings. The one whose magic reeks of ozone and petrichor. The one who does not want to be found.

The one who Luche could lose track of easily. She could let him go, she could make her way to Insomnia without ever meeting him.

She doesn't. Luche takes a Hunt that would be risky for anyone else - anyone without magic in their blood - and she makes sure to appear distressed when she leaves.

Her brother will find her, he just needs to be pointed in the right direction.

-

Her brother is dangerous. There's a thread of darkness in him that Luche knows Ardyn could stoke, could turn into a raging fire.

Luche wonders why Ardyn hasn't, Ace is possessive, overprotective and quick tempered. He would be easy to sway. Take his friends, take his lover and he would fall so easily.

Luche thinks it would be something beautiful. Ace burns bright enough that it makes her wonder - even with her Sight - what it would take to douse the flame

(She cannot see him when he is with their uncle. She cannot see how Ace dies.

She merely knows Ardyn has a hand in it.)

Ace is odd. His silver eyes know too much, they reflect light in way that Luche has seen too often in her own family. He knows something.

She can't see what he knows, but he knows something.

"Do you know the play?" Luche asks while on their way back.

Ace tenses. His sharp silver eyes zeroing in on Luche.

"You're a Lazarus?" Ace knows their reputation as well as anyone on Galahd. "What do you know?" How have I changed things is what he means.

"You should have died," Luche tells him, "You have died many times before leaving the islands. But there are times you don't. There are times where you don't even exist at all."

Ace's lips quirk upward in a bitter smile.

"Yet I'm here."

"You are," Luche says and she wouldn't be so casual about this, she wouldn't trust anyone else so easily but she knows she is young and she knows her heart is her weakness, "Your soul is too old for your body. Twice-born. Lightning Marked. Prince of Ruin. King of Shades. You have too many titles."

"I don't have half of the ones you just said."

"You will. Your uncle loves you too much not to give you his Kingdom."

"Ardyn hates me."

"Then why did he save you?"

Ace is silent.

He doesn't have an answer for that.

-

"Stay with us," Ace tells her later, "You're family."

"I'm a Lazarus," Luche says, "And a traitor." She knows that Ace knows what she is. She knows this. Ace can't want a traitor by him.

He can't be that foolish.

But he is.

He brings her into his little family and she is accepted, quirks and all.

It can't last.

It can't last.

But oh how she wants it to.

(Is this what it's like to feel loved?)

[incomingalbatross]

"The Librarians and the Disenchanted Forest":

I think Eve is trying to give Flynn's resignation the benefit of the doubt by saying "it was to cut down the number of Librarians," but A) you don't know that because he didn't talk to you, B) Jenkins, who DID hear more of his doubts pre-resignation, thought he was mainly freaking out about the tethering (which, to be clear, is valid but different), and C) Eve. Why would you TELL the children about the Librarian Civil War like it was a legitimate concern, this isn't helping.

And again, if Flynn were really willing to resign over the civil war concerns, there are better solutions than "make the others resign too"! You have three left then—one can tether, one can be the mortal Librarian, and the one left should at least see if they could get reassigned to Guardian. Then you have two pairs, one active, and one tethered, and everything is status quo.

(Though, again, I really don't see WHY this is such a concern. Yes, one of them could go evil! A sole Librarian could also go evil just as easily, right? What, because the joint Librarians were corrupted last time, they automatically will in this case too? I'm with Jenkins, this whole thing is silly.)

Yes, Eve, talking SENSE. As I expected! Fate and Destiny and Prophecy are immeasurably weaker than Eve's stubborn drive to hold on to her family. That's how it works.

HOWEVER. Genuinely and unironically responding to her magic family-team's internal Fate and Destiny and Prophecy-fueled internal crisis by dragging them to a team-building retreat is SO FUNNY. And somehow also very Eve.

I mean yes, technically the Library sent them to a team-building retreat, but Eve is using it.

"I hate camp" Ezekiel, have you... have you been to summer camp? When? How?

Cassandra "my urge to recapture my missed childhood is drowning out literally everything else" Cillian is a very refreshing switch from the Crisis.

Throw three geniuses and one very competitive Colonel into a puzzle competition and everything else is instantly forgotten. Of course.

Yyyyeah, telling Spooky Indian Campfire Stories around Stone is not going to go smoothly. Saw that coming.

Okay, Ezekiel's starting to genuinely not have a good time I think. Maybe two pranks is his limit.

"When did I become the adult?" Good question, Ezekiel! Precedent suggests some kind of personality-altering magic may be at work on everyone else.

Stone: "OH NO. A PRETTY GIRL QUOTING POETRY. MY TWO WEAKNESSES"

I... think this is the first time Ezekiel has ever said something he was doing wasn't fun. Wow.

Oh right, I guess DOSA does still exist. :/

Oh hey, a Lois Lane! They're always trouble.

Aww, Ezekiel and Cassandra. :( I see where they're both coming from... (and honestly, I think they're just two different responses to the same problem of No Childhood)

Oh, the trees are attacking? Fun if true.

Ezekiel has at some point taught Stone to pick locks.

...Combined with the fact that we know he gave Jenkins lockpicks for Christmas... has Ezekiel at some point given Lockpicks and Training Therein to all his teammates? Was this his one-size-fits-all Christmas present one year, or did he just do it gradually as occasion arose?

Eve: HOW DARE ROMANCE EXIST. ROMANCE IS BAD. ONLY THE TEAM EXISTS

"I took Flynn back every time" Eve, I love you, Flynn absolutely should have talked to you, and also I understand you're not obligated to be a 100% reliable narrator right now. But... half the time you break up with him.

Bro, you can't show the investigative reporter the Magical Secret World she's been searching for and then tell her she can never reveal its existence. That's not fair.

"Librarians can't have personal lives" I know Flynn is a convincing case study, but. Charlene was married for a while. I think it's at least possible for your everyday Librarian to work out something sustainable.

[boyakishantrinity]

IDK: Trigger warning, abuse, violence,sex. 18+ for gore and shit.

"Y'know something?"

Tongue clicking, woman sitting at the bench top, glass in hand, snarling to herself as she looked at the mobster.

"I really fucking hate it when some lazy ass bitch comes in and insults my friend."

Looking back at the girl, mouthing questions at the woman. Dark hair cascading her shoulders, a nice face, rack. Eyes shifting as she continued.

"So I suggest you get your greasy ass out of her door before I bleed over her FUCKING CARPET."

Blood erupting across her body, mana compressing, hardening around her as her voice howled. Glaring at the woman, one hand pulled back as a smile formed over her face.

"Oh? And-"

THUNK.

"That wasn't a fucking request. Now get. OUT."

Downing the rest of the glass girl looking hopelessly confused, mobster giving a smile as she gripped the table.

"I don't think you're listening-"

"I don't think you hear me. Get your greasy... That's a soul contract."

Eyes trailing the paper, breathing in, cogs turning as she skimmed the paper.

"Yes... One of many, this one is one your friend signs that effectively-"

"So if I killed you?"

"... Excuse me?"

"If I killed you, you dense motherfucker? If I thrust this goddamn knife through your throat. Other than your weak-ass dying, what'd happen?"

Looking between iron blade, polished as she smiled at the queen pin. A grin forming over her face.

"... your friend would die."

Swishing the inside of her face, stabbing her face before drawing the now glowing knife.

"And now?"

"Did you even listen you stupid... That's Heaven's insignia."

"Yeah, now answer me."

"... Look, if you kill me-"

"What makes you think I give a shit about some weak willed slut? i'm doing this more because I hate your kind."

"... My kind?"

"Your kind, the kind that hides behind bullshit contracts, exhibits power over others because they're incapable of controlling themselves. Those who's sin only hides who and what they are, remaining ignorant to the evil they truly are."

"... As opposed to you-"

SHUNK.

"As opposed to me? A girl who tried again and again in vain when I was alive, to do what you fucker left my friends behind. Abusing person after person. Jose. Ignoring your mother's teachings, leaving her to die in a nursing home meanwhile I killed people. Shot down person, people, anyone I judged as sinners, finding them down here years later with only one exception that I don't think even count"

"... and what? You don't-"

Fist sending jaw flying, smile forming over her face as she rips the knife from her stomach. Blood pouring out, growling like an animal as she slashes her face.

"Even care? So what? Working for ideals, morals, beliefs all of it is a flawed way of thinking, a way to get corrupted, but if you corrupted yourself. Deluded yourself into living in reality. Well, the only evil is what others believes and why should I care about some weaklings? That's the logic you've used right? Throwing aside your best friend since birth, twice. Finding a new slut- Fuck off Thea, go hide in your room and cry like a bitch because that's all you can do right? Go cry like a bitch, grow a fucking spine and do whatever you want. I'm done."

A small laugh came from the porn queen, a giggle, shaking her head as she laughed. Voice flowing despite her imminent death.

"You think this changes anything? You do everything we do, but worse, you're the scum of our society, something that without us-"

"I'd live a much happier life, working to spread equality through my beliefs instead of hiding behind them like a coward. Don't think we're done you bitch, I'm not going to just stop at your death. You're going to call your FUCKING BOSS. RIGHT NOW. Not your GODDAMN SUPERVISOR. OR I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD I WILL BRING THEIR GODDAMN HEAD TO BEAT YOUR SKULL IN."

IDk, what y'all think?

[bigbutchtalks]

Big Butch Talks Movies: So I Married an Axe Murderer 1993 (rewatch)

Watched 9/30/23

“So I Married an Axe Murderer” directed by Thomas Schlamme

General likes -> Mike Myers’ silliness, costuming of Harriett (Nancy Travis), the dad, Rose’s (Amanda Plummer) creepiness and his friend’s (Anthony LaPaglia) whole interactions with his captain.

General dislikes -> general misogyny in such films but that’s how shit is :/, parts of this movie may be very hard for ppl who are effected by seeing meat and butchery. Also I hate any scene where ppl see someone naked accidentally bc I’m a big dweeb.

Ramble/disorganized thoughts -> I think any bit with the dad is so funny I could scream. I’m embarrassingly weak to Mike Myers’ silly physical comedy. As always, healthy communication would terminate any actual problems in the romantic and familial variety.

Detailed synopsis (INCLUDES SPOILERS) -> Slam poet Charlie MacKenzie (Mike Myers) is a serial non-committer in relationships and finds things wrong with any woman to the dismay of his gossip-magazine loving mother. He lives a dream life of fuckin around and being silly while chit chatting with his cop friend who is also easily persuaded. He comes across this beautiful butcher who specializes in international meats, gets haggis from her for his scottish immigrant parents, of which the father’s antics fill me with fucking joy. (The father is played by Mike Myers as well, another joy detail 4 me) “Oh, I hated the Colonel with is wee *beady* eyes, and that smug look on his face.” "Oh, you're gonna buy my chicken! Ohhhhh!” . . he puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes ya crave it fortnightly, smartass!” “I'm not kidding, that boy's head is like Sputnik; spherical but quite pointy at parts! . . . Now that was offside, wasn't it? He'll be crying himself to sleep tonight, on his huge pillow.” <- comedy gold I tell you. Charlie becomes enamored with Harriet and bc of his mother’s silly gossip-rag, starts believing she is “Mrs. X” a black widow who kills her husbands on their honeymoon. He becomes so sure of this he immediately breaks up with her but eventually can’t stay away. During their wedding his alarm bells go off and so do his cop friends as his friend desperately tries to alert Charlie to his new wife’s evil past, charters a small plane and gets chauffeured to their honeymoon hotel. Charlie is losing his marbles in fear and his wife is terrified he’ll leave her like her past relationships. It turns out Rose, her sister, has been crazy-person-murdering Harriet’s husbands and leaving her with a note to make Harriet believe they’ve left her. Alls well that ends well and this movie ends how it started, with a silly poem about love.

Ending thoughts -> would I recommend this movie? Yes, especially if you have a silly sense of humor. If you’re expecting something gripping and dark, not the movie for you. If you love a silly voice then go baby go.

[thewidowsghost]

The Unknown Muggleborn - Chapter 13

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

3rd Person POV

It was Quirrell.

"I knew it!" (Y/n) gasps, her right hand tightening around her wand in her pocket.

Quirrell smiles. His face isn't twitching at all.

"Me," he says calmly, then his gaze fixes behind (Y/n) where Harry had just walked through the black flames. "I wondered whether I'd be meeting you two here, Potter, (L/n)."

"But I though - Snape - "Harry stammers.

"Severus?" Quirrell laughs, and it isn't his usual quivering tremble either, but cold and sharp, making (Y/n) stand taller. "Yes, Severus does seem to type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swooping around like an over grown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?"

Harry can't take it in so he blurts, "Snape tried to kill (Y/n)!"

"No, no, no. I tried to kill her. Your friend, Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at that Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with her. Another few seconds and I'd have got her off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a countercurse, trying to save (L/n)."

"He was trying to save her?" Harry asks, bewildered.

"Of course," says Quirrell coolly. "Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't do it again. Funny, really . . . he needn't have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he did make himself unpopular . . . and what a waste of time, when after all that, I'm going to kill you both tonight."

Quirrell snaps his fingers. Ropes spring out of thin air and wrap themselves tightly around (Y/n) and Harry.

(Y/n)'s arms were behind her so she pulls the knife carefully out of it's sheath and begins to saw quietly at the thick ropes. This turns out to be quite difficult considering the fact that her hands are bound.

"You're too nosy to live, (L/n)," Quirrell says. "Scurrying around the school on Halloween like that, for all I knew, you'd seen me coming to look at what was guarding the Stone."

"You let the troll in?" (Y/n) asks, a note of surprise in her voice.

"Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls — you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off — and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly," Quirrell complains. "Now, wait quietly, Potter, (L/n). I need to examine this interesting mirror."

It was only then that Harry realizes what is standing beside Quirrell. It is the Mirror of Erised.

"This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell mutters, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this . . . but he's in London . . . I'll be far away by the time he gets back."

All Harry can think of doing is to keep Quirrell talking and stop him from concentrating on the mirror.

"I saw you and Snape in the forest - " Harry blurts out.

"Yes," says Quirrell idly, walking around the mirror to look at the back. "He was on to me by that time, trying to find out how far I'd got. He suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me - as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side . . ."

(Y/n)'s breath hitches as she stabs herself in the hand with the knife.

Harry glances over at her and she tells him with her eyes to keep Quirrell distracted.

Quirrell comes back from behind the mirror and stares hungrily into it. "I see the Stone . . . I'm presenting it to my master . . . but where is it?"

Harry struggles against teh robes binding him, but they don't give. He had to keep Quirrell from giving his whole attention on the mirror.

"But Snape always seemed to hate me so much," Harry says.

"Oh, he does," says Quirrell casually, "heavens, yes. He was at Hogwarts with you father, didn't you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you dead.

"But I heard you a few days ago, sobbing - I thought Snape was threatening you . . ."

For the first time, a spasm of fear flits across Quirrell's face. (Y/n) finally cuts herself free from the ropes, and for first time, she tries to shift.

(Y/n) had been working on becoming an Animagus for a couple months now, and this was the first time she tried to shift.

Harry stares at her in shock as she shifts into a large lioness. (Y/n) slinks into the shadows as Harry asks another question.

"You mean he was in the classroom with you?" Harry asks with a gasp.

"He is with me wherever I go," says Quirrell quietly. "I met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was.There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it. . . . Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. He has had to be very hard on me." Quirrell shivers suddenly."He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me . . . decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me. . . ."

Quirrell's voice trails away. Harry is remembering his trip to Diagon Alley - how can he have been so stupid? He'd seen Quirrell that very day and talked to him.

Quirrell curse under his breath.

"I don't understand . . . is the Stone inside the mirror? Should I break it?"

Harry's mind is racing.What I want more than anything else in the world at the moment, he thinks, is to find the Stone before Quirrell does. So if I look in the mirror, I should see myself finding it — which means I'll see where it's hidden! But how can I look without Quirrell realizing what I'm up to?

He tries to edge to the left, to get in front of the glass without Quirrell noticing, but the ropes are too tight: he trips and almost falls over. (Y/n), still a lioness, darts over and steadies him before slinking back into the shadows. Quirrell ignores them.

He is still talking to himself, "What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"

And to Harry and (Y/n)'s horror, a voice answers, and the voice seems to come from Quirrell himself. "Use the boy . . . Use the boy . . ."

"Yes - Potter - come here," Quirrell claps his hands once, and ropes binding Harry fall off. "Come here," Quirrell repeats. "Look in the mirror and tell me what you see."

Harry walks towards him, keeping his eyes on (Y/n). I must lie, he thinks desperately. I must look and lie about what I see, that's all.

Quirrell moves close behind him. Harry breathes in the funny smell that seems to come from Quirrell's turban. He closes his eyes, steps in front of the mirror, and opens them again.

Harry sees his reflection, pale and scared-looking at first. But a moment later, the reflection smiles at him. It puts it hand into its pocket and pulls out a blood-red stone. It winks and puts the Stone back int its pocket - and as it does so, Harry feels something heavy drop into his real pocket. Somehow - incredibly - he had gotten the Stone.

"Well?" asks Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"

Harry screws up his courage. "I see myself and (Y/n) shaking hands with Dumbledore," he invents. "We — we've won the House Cup for Gryffindor."

Quirrell curses again. "Get out of the way," he snaps.

As Harry moves aside, he feels the Sorcerer's Stone against his leg. Dare he make a break for it?

(Y/n) slinks forward towards Harry, keeping her eyes on Quirrell.

They hadn't moved five paces before a high voice speaks, though Quirrell isn't moving his lips.

"He lies . . . He lies . . . Get the girl . . ."

(Y/n) quickly shifts back into herself, slipping her knife back into its sheath.

Quirrell claps his hands (Y/n) steps forward to stand in front of the mirror.

(Y/n) studies the surface, becoming bewildered when her reflection isn't hers anymore. She sees herself, Harry, Hermione and their parents, the Weasleys and a familiar figure standing behind them, (H/C) haired woman with emerald eyes.

"What do you see?" Quirrell snaps.

"I see my family," (Y/n) murmurs. "My parents, my sister, my friends."

Quirrell lets out a frustrated noise.

The high voice speaks again. "Let me speak to them . . . face-to-face . . ."

"Master, you are not strong enough!" Quirrell answers.

"I have strength enough . . . for this . . ."

(Y/n) and Harry feel as though the Devil's Snare had returned and it is rooting them to the spot. They couldn't move a muscle. Petrified, they watch as Quirrell reaches up and begins to unwrap his turban. The turban falls away. Quirrell's head looks strangely small without it.

Then, he turns, slowly, on the spot.

Harry and (Y/n) would have screamed, but they can't make a sound. Where there should have been the back of Quirrell's head, there is a face, the most terrible face (Y/n) had ever seen. It is chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.

"Harry Potter . . . (Y/n) (L/n) . . ." it whispers.

(Y/n) takes a step backwards in shock.

"See what I have become?" the face asks. "Mere shadow and vapor . . . I have form only when I can share another's body . . . but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds . . . Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks . . . (Y/n) saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in teh forest . . . and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own . . . Now . . . why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket, Harry?"

So he knows. The feeling sudden surges back into Harry's legs and he stumbles backwards.

"Don't be a fool," snarls the face. "Better save your own life and join me . . . or you'll meet the same end as your parents . . . They died begging me for mercy . . ."

"LIAR!" (Y/n) suddenly shouts, moving back to stand shoulder to shoulder with Harry.

Quirrell is walking backwards towards them, so that Voldemort can still see him. The evil face is now smiling.

"How touching . . ." it hisses. "I always value bravery . . . Yes, boy, girl, your parents were brave . . . I killed your father first Harry. He put up courageous fights . . . but your mothers needn't have died . . . They were trying to protect you two . . . Now give me the Stone, unless you want them to have died in vain."

"NEVER!" Harry yells.

Harry springs towards the flame door, but Voldemort screams "SEIZE THEM!" and the next second, (Y/n) feels Quirrell's hand close on her wrist. At once, a needle-sharp pain seers across (Y/n)'s scar; her neck feeling as though her head had been chopped off; she yells, struggling with all her might, and to her surprise, Quirrell lets go of her. The pain lessens and she screams at Harry to take the Stone and go.

Harry glances at his friend then sprints through the fire, the Sorcerer's Stone still in his pocket.

(Y/n) looks wildly around to see where Quirrell had gone, and sees him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers - they are blistering before his eyes.

"Seize him! SEIZE HER!" shrieks Voldemort again and Quirrell lunges, knocking (Y/n) clean off her feet, landing on top of her, both hands around (Y/n)'s neck. (Y/n)'s scar is almost blinding her with pain, yet she can see Quirrell howling in agony.

"Master, I cannot hold her - my hands - my hands!"

And Quirrell, though pinning (Y/n) to the ground wit her knees, lets go of her neck and stares, bewildered, at his own palms - (Y/n) can see that they look burned, raw, red, and shiny.

"Then kill her, fool, and be done!" screech Voldemort.

Quirrell raises his hand to perform a deadly curse, but (Y/n), by instinct, reaches up and grabs Quirrell's face -

"AAAARGH!"

Quirrell rolls off of her, his face blistering, too, and (Y/n) knows: Quirrell can't touch her bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain - her only chance is to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough pain to stop him from doing a curse.

(Y/n) jumps to her feet, catches Quirrell by the arm, and hangs on as tight as she can. Quirrell screams and tries to throw (Y/n) off - the pain in (Y/n) is building - she can't see - he can only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of, "KILL HER! KILL HER! KILL HER!" and other voices, maybe in (Y/n)'s own head, crying, "(Y/n)! (Y/n)!"

She feels Quirrell's arm wrenched from her grasp, knows all is lost, and falls into blackness, down . . . down . . . down . . .

Something gold is glinting above her. The Stitch! She tries to catch it, but her arms are too heavy.

She blinks. It isn't the Snitch at all. It is a pair of glasses. How strange.

She blinks again.

The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swims into view above her.

"Good afternoon, (Y/n)," says Dumbledore.

(Y/n) stares at him, the she remembers. "My friends! Are they okay!"

"(Y/n), please relax, or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out," Dumbledore says.

(Y/n) swallows and looks around her, then realizes that she's in the hospital wing. She is lying in a bed with white linen sheets, and next to her is a table piled high with what looks like half a candy shop.

"Tokens from your friends and admirers," says Dumbledore, beaming. "What happened down in eh dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat." (Y/n) grins at the words. "No doubt they though it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it."

"How long have I been in here?" (Y/n) asks.

"Three days. Mr. Ronald Weasley, Mr. Harry Potter, and your sister will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried."

"Sir, what happened to the Stone."

"I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to get it. Harry got it to me just before I reached the door. You were doing a very good job keeping Quirrell distracted."

"You got there? You got Hermione's owl?"

"We must have crossed in midair. No sooner had I reached London that it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived just in time to pull Quirrell off you-"

"It was you?"

"I feared I might be too late."

"You nearly were, I couldn't have kept him distracted from the Stone much longer."

"Not the Stone, you - the effort involved nearly killed you. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed."

"Destroyed?" asks (Y/n) blankly. "But your friend - Nicolas Flamel -"

"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" says Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You did do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it's all for the best."

"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"

"They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die." Dumbledore smiles at the look of amazement on (Y/n)'s face. "To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, tot he well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all —the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."

(Y/n) lies there, lost for words. Dumbledore hums a little and smiles at the ceiling.

"Sir?" asks (Y/n). "I've been thinking . . . Sir - even if the Stone's gone, Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who-"

Call him Voldemort, (Y/n). Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"

"No, (Y/n), he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share . . . not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, (Y/n), while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time — and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."

(Y/n) nods, but stops quickly, because it makes his head hurt. Then she says, "Sir, there are some other things I'd like to know, if you can tell me . . . things I want to know the truth about . . ."

"The truth," Dumbledore sighs. "Is it a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie."

"Well . . . Voldemort said that he only killed mine and Harry's mothers because she tried to stop him from killing us. But why would he want to kill us in the first place?"

Dumbledore sighs very deeply this time.

"Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day . . . put it form your mind for now, (Y/n). When you are older . . . I know you hate to hear this . . . when you are ready, you will know."

And (Y/n) knows it is to good to argue. "But why couldn't Quirrell touch me?" she asks.

"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign . . . to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed,and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."

Dumbledore now becomes very interested in a bird out on the windowsill, which gives (Y/n) time to dry her eyes on the sheet.

"And sir, there's one more thing . . ."

"Just the one?"

"How did Harry get the Stone out of the mirror?"

"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone — find it, but not use it — would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes. . . . Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them —but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?" He smiles and pops the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he chokes and says, "Alas! Ear wax!" (Y/n) smiles.

Madam Pomfrey, is very strict, (Y/n) notes a little later that day.

"Just five minutes," (Y/n) pleads.

"Absolutely not."

"You let Professor Dumbledore in . . ."

"Well, of course, that was the headmaster, quite different. You need to rest.

"I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey . . ."

"Oh, very well," she gives in. "But five minutes only."

And she lets Harry, Ron, and Hermione in.

"(Y/n)!"

Hermione looks ready to fling her arms around (Y/n), but (Y/n) is slightly glad that Hermione holds herself back as her head is still sore.

Hermione sits down beside (Y/n)'s knees, studying her sister's pale face.

"Oh, (Y/n), we were sure you were going to - Dumbledore was so worried -"

"The whole school's talking about it," says Ron. "What really happened?"

It is one of those rare occasions when the true story is even more strange than exiting than the wild rumors. (Y/n) and Harry - who adds somethings in as the story progresses - Quirrell; the mirror; the Stone; and Voldemort. Ron and Hermione were a very good audience; they gasp in all the right places, and when Harry and (Y/n) tell them about what is under Quirrell's turban, Hermione screams out loud.

"So the Stone's gone?" asks Ron finally. "Flamel's just going to die?"

"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that — what was it? —'to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'"

"I always said he was off his rocker," says Ron, looking quite impressed at how crazy his hero is.

"One good thing did come out of this whole situation though," (Y/n) murmurs with a grin. She glances around to see of Madam Pomfrey was watching, and then she shifts in to lioness quickly before shifting back.

"That's so cool," Hermione whispers excitedly, taking (Y/n)'s hand and squeezing it gently.

"So, what happened to the three of you?" asks (Y/n).

"Well, I got back all right," says Hermione. "I brought Ron around - Harry showed up during that process - and we were dashing up to the entrance hall - he already knew - he just said, '(Y/n)'s gone after him, hasn't she?' and hurtled off to the third floor."

"D'you think he meant you two to do it?" asks Ron. "Sending you Harry's cloak and everything?"

"Well," Hermione explodes, "if he did - I mean to say - that's terrible - you two could have been killed."

"No, it isn't," says Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give us a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could. . . ."

"Yeah, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," says Ron proudly and (Y/n) laughs. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course — you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you — but the food'll be good."

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustles over. "You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT," she says firmly.

After a good night's sleep, (Y/n) feels nearly back to normal, though Hermione had forced (Y/n) to put on her brace - like she needed it.

"I want to go the feast," she tells Madam Pomfrey as she straightens her many candy boxes. "I can, can't I?"

"Professor Dumbledore says you are to be allowed to go," she says sniffily, as though in her opinion Professor Dumbledore didn't realize how risky feasts could be.

(Y/n) makes her way down to the end-of-year feast alone that night. She had been held up by Madam Pomfrey's fussing about, insisting on giving her one last checkup, so the Great Hall is already full. It is decked out in Slytherin colors of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the House Cup for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covering the wall behind the High Table.

When (Y/n) walks in, there is a sudden hush, and then everybody starts talking loudly at once. She slips into a seat between Fred and Hermione at the Gryffindor table and tries to ignore the fact that people are standing up to look at her.

Fortunately, Dumbledore arrives moments later, the babble dying away. "Another year gone!" Dumbledore says cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were . . . you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts. . . Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

A storm of cheering and stamping breaks out from the Slytherin table.Harry can see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It is a sickening sight.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room goes very still, the Slytherins' smiles fade a little.

"Ahem," says Dumbledore, clearing his throat. . "I have a few last-minute points to dish out.Let me see. Yes . . . "First — to Mr. Ronald Weasley . . ."

Ron goes purple in the face; he looks like a radish with a bad sunburn.

". . . for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor House thirty points."

Gryffindor cheers nearly raise the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seem to quiver. Percy can be heard telling the other prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"

At last, there is silence again.

"Second - to Miss Hermione Granger . . . for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor House thirty points."

Hermione buries her face in her arms; (Y/n) suspected that she had burst into tears. Gryffindors up and down the table are beside themselves, they are eighty points up.

"Third - to Mr. Harry Potter . . ." continues Dumbledore. The room goes deadly silently. ". . . for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house forty-five points."

"Fourth - to Miss (Y/n) (L/n)," the room seems to go even quieter. ". . . for outstanding loyalty and the best potion made this year," (Y/n) flushes at the comment, "I award Gryffindor House fifty-five points."

The din is deafening. Those who can add up while yelling themselves hoarse know that Gryffindor how had four hundred and seventy-two points - exactly the same as Slytherin. They had tied for the House Cup - if only Dumbledore had given (Y/n) just one more point.

Dumbledore raises his hand and the room gradually falls silent.

"There are all kinds of courage," says Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud is the noise that erupts from the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stand up to yell and cheer as Neville and (Y/n), white with shock, disappear under a pile of people hugging them. Neville had never won so much as a point from Gryffindor before. Harry, still cheering, nudges Ron in the ribs and points at Malfoy, who couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if he'd just had the Body-Bind Curse put on him.

"Which means," Dumbledore calls over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration." He claps his hands. In an instant, the green hangings vanish and a towering Gryffindor lion takes its place. Snape is shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible, forced smile. When he catches (Y/n)'s eye, however, he gives her a small, genuine smile - shocking the others.

Harry had almost forgotten the exam results are still to come, but come they did. To their great surprise, both he and Ron pass with good marks; (Y/n), of course, had the best grades of the first years, Hermione only behind from (Y/n)'s brilliant Potions grade. Even Neville scrapes through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one. They had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as stupid as he was mean, might be thrown out, but the had passed, too. It is a shame, but as Ron says, you couldn't have everything in life.

And suddenly, their wardrobes are empty, their trunks are packed, Neville's toad is found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes are handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays ("I always hope they'll forget to give us these," says Fred sadly.); Hagrid is there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sale across the lake; they are boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the countryside becomes greener and tidier; eating Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans as they speed past Muggle towns; pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross station.

It takes a while for them go get off the platform. A wizened old guard is up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they don't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.

"You must come and stay this summer," says Ron, "all three of you - I'll send you an owl."

"Thanks," says Harry with a laugh, "I'll need something to look forward to."

People jostle them as they move forward towards the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them call:

"Bye, Harry!"

"See you, (L/n)!

"Still famous," says Ron, grinning at the two of them.

"I wasn't famous in the first place," (Y/n) says, waving her hand dismissively. "Nobody else knows."

"And not where I'm going, I promise you," adds Harry. He, Ron, Hermione, and (Y/n) pass through the gateway together.

"There he is, Mum, there he is, look!" It is Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she isn't pointing at Ron.

"Harry Potter!" she squeals. "Look, Mum! I can see-"

"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point," Mrs. Weasley smiles down at them. "Busy year?"

"Very," says Harry.

"Thanks for the fudge and the sweater, Mrs. Weasley," (Y/n) says and Mrs. Weasley smiles, as (Y/n) was wearing said sweater.

"Oh, it was nothing, dear," Mrs. Weasley answers.

"Ready, are you?"

It is Vernon Dursley, still purple-faced, still mustached, still looking furious at the nerve of Harry, carrying an owl in a cage in a station full of ordinary people. Behind him, stands Petunia and Dudley, looking terrified at the very sight of Harry. (Y/n) raises an eyebrow at the man, Marvel's black and white form jumping onto her shoulder.

The others watched, amused, as the two have a sort of staring contest and Vernon finally backs down.

"You must be Harry's family!" says Mrs. Weasley.

"In a manner of speaking," says Uncle Vernon. "Hurry up boy, we haven't got all day." He walks away.

"Hope you have - er - a good holiday," says Hermione, looking uncertainly after Uncle Vernon, shocked that anyone could be so unpleasant.

"Oh, I will," says Harry, and they are surprised at teh grin that is spreading over his face. "They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun withe Dudley this summer . . ." At the words, (Y/n) lets out a laugh.

Harry, smiling, grabs Hedwig's cage and his trunk, follows the Dursleys out to their car.

Someone places a hand on (Y/n)'s shoulder, and she looks up to see her parents standing there, along with a man with dark brown - almost black - hair, a clean shaven face, and dark brown eyes.

(Y/n) waves shyly to the man and he smiles back. "You must be (Y/n)?" he asks, and (Y/n) nods. "Would you minded if we talked?" he asks and (Y/n) looks over at her parents, who nod.

Mr. Granger takes (Y/n)'s trolley and (Y/n) gives Marvel a quick pat on the head before turning towards the man.

"I'm Tony," the man says, and (Y/n) shakes his offered hand. "I've heard from your parents that you're very smart."

(Y/n) flushes a little but nods in agreement.

"How would you like to pick up an internship with me," Tony says and (Y/n) considers it for a moment.

"Where?" she asks after a moment.

"Stark Industries."

Word Count: 5686 words.

So, yeah, it might be a little bit until my next chapter. It strays a little from the HP universe, but I hope that's okay with y'all.

See y'all soon!

Love y'all!

Kaitlynn 😍❤️