#the idea of two people destined to be mortal enemies meeting and becoming best friends and choosing not to fight

[leonamelody3]

So like, Trixie’s definitely the harbinger right?

[your-mom-friend]

Some series I think people should read AKA Book Recs

Magonia - By Maria Dahvana Headley

Synopsis: Aza Ray is drowning in thin air.

Since she was a baby, Aza Ray Boyle has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name. Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found by another. Magonia. Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—but as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war between Magonia and Earth is coming. In Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

My experience: This book is ALL sorts of weird. It’s has a strange writing style and there’s weird formatting and quirks that just add to the experience. Definitely not something you could read aloud because there’s elements that you just can’t say. The book OPERATES on the vibes you get from reading it.

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs

Synopsis:  A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

My experience: Definitely worth a read but definitely not for everyone. Uses semi-creepy images taken from auctions to illustrate a lot. More people have seen the movie than read the book. Please don’t trust the movie they couldn’t even get the names right. This fandom exists so don’t @ me it just deserves so much more love than it has. 

Legend - Marie Lu

Synopsis:  What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

My experience: I’ll admit I didn’t want to read this. More out of stubbornness than anything else because my sister forced me to. Bu it’s a REALLY good book. As the first in a trilogy it’s amazing. Marie Lu is one of my favourite authors. Which brings me to my next book

The Young Elites - Marie Lu

Synopsis:  I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside. Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites. Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all. Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen. Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her. It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

My experience: This series had me HOOKED. If you want moral endings and noble characters you may not like this one. Adelina has every reason to be angry and bitter and she makes it known. She has such a vague moral compass and even her powers are rooted in darkness and she succumbs to it, as much as she may try to run. The series is full of POC’s and amazing world building. If you want something outside of the usual story, I recommend this with no hesitation.

Rebel of the Sands - Alwyn Hamilton 

Synopsis:  Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic.  For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female. Amani Al’Hiza is all three. She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead. Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.

My experience: This series again is absolutely incredible. I love the use of language and the world building and the characters. A lot of the world building was really close to my heart because it’s rooted in Arabic and Islamic traditions. Amani is one of the best characters I’ve ever read about and I only WISH I could buy the rest of the books soon.

[domestic-harry]

Hi, could you please do your 24 fics to take to vacation with, please. Dance to distortion is defo in my list already. Thank you.

Ooooh I like this idea! What an honor you added dttd :’) This will be a mix of adventure, feel good, angst longshots and some of my favorite pwp smut fics because you never know what you’ll be in the mood for.

24 Fics to take with you on Vacation

Walk That Mile : A Route 66 AU where falling in love was never part of the plan.

Escapade: In the grand scheme of things, finding a date for a wedding should be no problem for Louis Tomlinson. He’s rich. He’s handsome. He’s reasonably well behaved. But when the wedding is for his lifelong best friend (and former boyfriend), and is happening in under a month, finding a date for the ceremony and accompanying festivities becomes more of an adventure than he ever could have planned for.

Atlas At Last : He doesn’t know what he had been expecting out of the road trip itself besides burping contests and too much shitty gas station food with Oli and Stan, but in the brief moment before Harry ambles up his driveway, Louis idly wonders if this is about to become some sort of Gay Coming of Age story.Maine to California in ten days. In which Zayn’s an open-shirt hippie they meet somewhere in Ohio, Liam’s the pastor’s son running away from home, and Niall’s the number they call on the bathroom wall.It’s 1978. Harry and Louis are just trying to get to San Fran in time for the Queen concert.

Baby Look What You’ve Done To Me : Louis moves into harry’s old flat. harry gets a lot of mail.

Cupid’s Defence : In which Harry is Cupid, Louis and Liam own a law firm, and they’re all getting sued.

Perfect Storm : What do you do when your best friend asks you and your (now) ex to be the best men at his destination wedding? You can either tell him the truth, tell him you’re not together anymore, and deal with the consequences, or you can pretend you’re still together and roll with it, just pray you don’t spiral. Fake it ‘til you make it. You know, for the sake of the wedding.Harry and Louis choose the latter.

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast : A Survivor All-Stars AU in which Harry and Louis are just in this game to win the million dollars, but they end up with something better.

I’ll Fuck You Like The Devil : Harry is 17, dresses as an angel for Halloween, and attends Louis’ Halloween party. Louis fucks him

Turning Page : Harry Styles tries to get lost in a place he’s never been.  Louis Tomlinson has been perfecting the art of being lost for years. What they don’t expect to find is each other.

Switch Out The Batteries : Two years after meeting in a sex shop, Harry’s just returning to Louis from a month-long tour in the States, and they come up with a wholesome bonding exercise.

Through Eerie Chaos : For as long as anyone can remember, Old Hillsbridge Manor has always been believed to be haunted. Everyone in the village agrees and keeps a respectful, fearful, distance. New in town after a bad breakup and an internship that led to disappointment rather than a permanent job, Harry Styles figures taking pictures of the decrepit building could be a great new creative project. Or at least a much-needed distraction while he searches for a job and crashes at his parents’ new house. No one warned him about the apparitions though; about the music, the laughter, the people who flicker and vanish when you call after them, the echoes of a past that should be long gone… Harry has never believed in spirits but even he can admit that there’s something weird going on. What starts as mere curiosity evolves into a full-blown investigation and soon enough, Harry finds himself making friends with an aristocrat from the 1920s and struggling with finding the best way to tell him that he’s dead.

This Wicked Game : An AU in which The Bachelor is gay, Louis is a contestant, Harry is the bachelor, everyone drinks a lot of champagne, the entire world gets to watch them fall in love, and no one plays by the rules.

Down : Sometimes all Harry really wants is to play with Louis’ arse.

Never Be : The one where Harry Styles moves to Connecticut from England for nine months as a part of a study abroad program, and he just so happens to move in with Louis Tomlinson and family.

Here In The Afterglow : 1970’s AU. In a tiny town in Idaho, Louis’ life is changed forever by the arrival of a curious stranger.

Wild Love: Two best friends try to date each other for forty days. It’s supposed to be fun until emotions make it complicated.

Loving You Is Free : Louis is a workaholic record label CEO who hasn’t been on a date in nearly a year. Niall and Liam make an account for him on a sugar dating website as a joke. And then Louis meets Harry.

Baby Shut Your Mouth and Turn Me Inside Out : And it’s good. It’s really, really good. Except they haven’t really talked about any of this and Harry can’t muster the courage to bring it up. Niall’s words at the bar run through his mind nearly every day. Fresh meat. Is this a thing Louis does, then? Find a toy to play with for awhile until he gets bored?He knows Louis, though. He’s been friends with him for months now and he knows that he’s not just some heartless asshole. But he doesn’t know if this is just a nice convenient hook-up to him or something more, like how Harry feels. And he knows he should ask, but he’s not brave enough. Not brave enough to possibly ruin everything when Harry can take what he’s being offered without complaints.

Unbelievers : It’s Louis’ senior year, and he’s dead set on doing it right. However, along with his pair of cleats, a healthy dose of sarcasm and his ridiculous best friend, he’s also got a complicated family, a terrifyingly uncertain future, and a mortal enemy making his life just that much worse. Mortal enemies “with benefits” was not exactly the plan. 

Jump in the Deep End : Louis’s arse is a sensitive subject, so Harry approaches it gently. With his tongue.

Adore You : Against his wishes, Harry spends the holidays at his family’s summer estate, and is reluctantly pulled into a courtship he didn’t ask for. Harry doesn’t want to get married, but Louis does. They don’t fit, but then again they really, really do.

Wings to Break Your Fall : Strip club AU. Harry’s work and family are keeping him busy. He really isn’t looking for a relationship, doesn’t want one. He just wants Louis. Problem is, Louis has other plans.

Finding Lou : Louis is the nomadic stranger who wanders into Harry’s bookstore. Harry is the skeptic who falls for him.

Tainted Saints and Velvet Vices : A self-fulfilling Hogwarts AU in which Louis is new to seventh year and Harry is the resident devil-may-care Slytherin set to make his entire experience a living misery. Due to less than favourable circumstances they’re forced to forge an unwilling, tentative relationship for their own survival. Repressed emotions, decidedly unromantic ballroom dancing, Triwizard Tournament tasks, creative jinxes and twilight flying above the Forbidden Forest ensue.

[musubiki]

Got any hcs for white? Her starter, her journey, etc? And like. Fws hcs?? 👀👀👀

K HERE WE GO MY SECOND FAVORITE GIRL EVER(this is gonna be long bc. i like them too)

➞

white chose tepig as her starter. this is actually a GREAT match because Gus is really rash and hasty and stubborn fist fighter just like her

white has never lost a battle. that was her goal it was never really to become champion or anything (she didnt care for all the responsibility that came with it) her goal was to be undefeated. which did not bode well for cheren, who wanted to be champion, and lost every battle against her

“well this is discouraging”

she really loves bianca!!! and cheren!!!!! she has the least patience and sense out of the three. cheren has to keep her grounded so she doesnt do weird shit

white is physically the strongest out of the protags. its mysterious. she als o has the best hair 

when she first meets N he is. a creep. im sorry. even i see it like that when you first meet him hes weird. when she first hears the team plasma speech in the first town, shes like boiling already. why would anyone listen to the knights of the round table?! this is weird. she kicks N’s ass first battle.

her problem from here on out and throughout the journey is that. she was the opposite of N. she thought that everyone treated their pokemon nicely and no one could ever hurt a pokemon. she learned she was wrong fairly quickly, and tried to fix and embrace reality instead of N, who tried to change the world all at once.

this is why shes the hero of truth and hes the hero of ideals. 

i dont have a lot of solid hc interactions between them (mostly bc i havent played in a while jfklas i abandoned my boy) but throughout their journey they. actually talk. and argue. and they both equally learn things from each other. and despite him being kinda weird (she thinks) shes actually kinda concerned for him

he makes her think about things she wouldnt otherwise. not just the fate of pokemon but about the future and the whole world. because of him she actually has this moment, where she has all of her current team out. and she realises that she is, like what he says and just makes her pokemon fight. of course and loves and cares for them, and she just. asks them real solemly like. “Do you guys even want to fight? Like do you even like being here?” 

and she already decided that if any of them didn’t want to be there, she would let them go.

luckily, her whole team is full of pokemon just like her and they enjoy the fights, and the adventure, and spending time with her, and shes thrilled. after this she asks pokemon she catches that she wants to keep if they wanna stay with her

i love N a lot ok. whenever N talks to white she always says something that surprises him and makes him look at the world differently. eventually he finds himself actually seeking her out and deliberatly looking for chances to run into her. he gains a lot of respect for her. whenever he talks to her he takes his hat off and nervoulsy kinda. holds it in his hands and shes kinda “?”

when she first finds out hes king. of team plasma. shes pissed. shes ready to TIP TH DAMN CART THING IN THE FERRISHWEEL AND HAVE A FIGHT RIGHT THERE. HES TELLING HER TO CALM DOWN AND SHES LIKE HOW DID YOU EXPECT ME TO REACT??????????????

shes angry bc hes the king of this. horrible orginization. and as far as shes seen all they do is steal and abuse pokemon. the next few times she talks to him he tells her that theyre nothing like that, and that they only look after pokemon

this is actually true. some of the grunts fully believe in the true cause. but most of them follow ghetsis. and N has no idea that his grunts are actually abusing and stealing (i keep thinking about the dreamyard because that scene was what the fuck????a re you doing????)

she begins to realize this. that he has no idea. and that he actually believes in this cause. and as she gets to know him she realises he is. the purest person. and he has no idea. and she feels kinda bad bc she was kinda mean to him before, but hes still plasma so shes confused about how she should treat him because he always treats her and her pokemon pretty nicely. 

N is actually a very nice and gentle soul. he’ll put up a fight for sure, but especially towards white hes the sgtwytwytws weetest thing im sorry i have a soft spot for him. lowkey he wants her approval.

if youve ever seen miraculous ladybug, i imagine N to be kind of like adrien(without the chat side to him) like hes just. nice. and gentle and. cute.

i hc that they have way more interactions than the game gives you

the best thing theyve ever had together was this celebration in Iccirus city (similar to like…the 4th of july kinda thing..) and whites pretty alone. cherena and bianca are off doing Arceus knows what and shes like. alone. and she finds N outside the city with some pokemon. 

so she goes and talks to him. questions why hes out here all alone in like, the cold. shouldnt you be with your family or something? its a holiday. and she caught him off gaurd and he immedatly like stands up and hes kinda happy to see her. he doesnt question why but hes. happy. when shes around. 

he tells her his father never really cared for these kinds of celebrations anyway, and that he usually spends these kinds of days alone. he doesnt think this is a big deal but whites kinda,.. lonely too. so she proposes “Listen, no one should be alone today. And I don’t really have anyone to hang out with either, so what do you say we just, forget about the sworn enemies thing for the night and go have some fun or something” 

and hes. surprised. here she goes again. always saying something new and pleasent and hes. like beaming hes so cutnhejfje so he agrees. 

and this turns into. a pretty great night for them both actually. like they actually get along great when theyre not arguing about the future of unova. they play a lot of booth games and. 

hdj white loses at one of those ball tossing games(she usually loses and then harasses the booth guy with “Booo its rigged” but she just likes to have fun) and N. is determined. he fuckin. calculates wind direction and all this weird shit and gets. a record high score and shes like how the fuck did you do that. he smiles and answers its all in the wrist. 

he gets her some stuffed animal thing. shes like this is the best day ever shes thrilled. they go and get food and like by the end of the night theyre actually. like friends. and she didnt think this would happen but she actually likes hanging out with him. at some point she wins a seashell necklace that she wears for the timeskip outfit

so theyre sitting there at the edge of the festival whatever eating caramel popcorn and ice cream and hot dogs laughing and telling stories about weird people theyve met and crazy things theyve done.

and they talk about his family. and why hes with plasma in the first place. and where her parents are. and why they believe in the things that they say and do. it turns out theyre both orphans. the only difference between them is that hes alone

at some point (i forget how this comes up) he asks white if theyre friends. she pauses for a while because she doesnt know how to answer it. yes, she thinks, when she’s with him like this. when she forgets that hes leading a region-wide organization aiming to seperate people and pokemon. but she settles with a yes, and jokingly adds that if they were destined to be mortal enemies they could hang out more, and he smiles

she spots a pair of plasma grunts, looks like theyre doing some shady things, but her head flashes back to the conversations shes had with N. he doesnt know what his grunts do. so she tells him to stay there and she’ll be back. hes kind of confused and worried, so he follows her from a distance.

she follows the grunts into a cave/grotto/area. yep, here they are abusing some poor purrloins or something, trying to get something that ghetsis claims he needs. she has her stountland right beside her and angrily questions what they think theyre doing. 

when they snarkily and confidently answer that they do whatever they want, she asks why theyre even a part of team plasma at all if theyre gonna treat pokemon like this. she tells them to go join team rocket if theyre looking for business like that. N is outside listening to all of this

they say something like “You think this about money?” and she asks what else and they answer “This is about power. We don’t give a damn about freeing pokemon for justice! When all the pokemon are gone plasma will reign supreme!!” 

she clutches her pokeball. shes pissed. not just because, these fuckers got issues, but because they are deliberatly. disobeying N, and everything he stands for. so she tells them to get out of there before they end up regretting it. they laugh and tell her they dont even listen to their own King, why would they listen to her.

(white is a huge badass by the way. shes the more hardcore and probably coolest protag)

then N steps in and they. fall silent. and they are terrified. the stutter and stammer about how it was all a misunderstanding, and it wasnt their fault, and they didnt mean it, and every excuse they could come up with but N. is kind of like leaf in this sense because he is. angry. but his anger comes off cold and heartless and man he is cool.

so they, because they know theyre screwed already, decide that they wont take this shit anymore and challenge them to a fight. figure if they manage to beat N, maybe they could rule plasma instead. (this is my excuse to get N and White to double battle) and they rock. theyre the perfect tag team. truely the two sides of the same coin

when theyre defeated. N forces them to release their pokemon and they run away, never to show their faces to plasma again. They stand there in silence for a while, and N asks “Why did you tell me not to stay there?”

shes quiet for a while before answering “Because…you believe in what you do” and “I didn’t want you to see the worst of what was going on.” 

he thanks her for her concern, and tells her not to think like that, because now he finally sees what shes been trying to tell him about plasma, and maybe he can do something about it now that he knows. ignorance is never bliss, he adds, and she knows hes right. she just didnt want him to be hurt, she thinks

she asks what hes going to do, and he answers he’d try to weed out whatever corruption was in plasma. he hopes what the grunts say wasnt true, and that this was just a small mutiny, not rooting from the very top.

FYI SHES NOT SUPPORTING PLASMA at this point she still hates plasmas ass for doing what they do, but shes seen now the way some trainers treat their pokemon (in and out of plasma) and she thinks that if this cause was done right, it would help the world a lot

unfortunaly N is a fool lol and wants to liberate ALLLL THE DAMN POKEMON. 

ofc after this. ghetsis goes and. poisons his mind again with how shes a fool and shes trying to manipulate you and why would you doubt your own father. and right after this N. becomes the hero of ideals and they become worse enemies than theyve ever been. she becomes the hero of truth and he smiles because suddenly. everything makes sense. why hes always so happy to be around her. why it feels like she completes him despite all their differences and he. loves her he just doesnt know it 

and she knows for a fact that ghetsis is behind all of this but because N is the king, she has to go through him first. 

and she really cares for N. she actually ends up realising after he leaves that yeah, she pretty much loved him. and she hates his ass for leaving. so she goes to chase him down because cheesy as it is, these two are literally soulmates. they both acknowledge that meeting and growing with the other has made them better and stronger people and white refuses to let that go.

(i love their story and dynamic)

i dont have a set reuniting scene for them yet, the only one i have is.,.,. a part of that other story im lowkey working on..,.,. but she slaps him thats for sure LOL. hes like a puppy hes so happy to see her again hes like “White!!” and shes. PISSED. she has tears in her eyes and CATCH THESE HANDS. leaf and green are probably there and theyre like WHOA WHAT

green actually relates to white bc of this bc yeah, i waited for like 3 years for the love of my life too

[peanutbutterjelly-pie]

Part 3/3 of my Masterlist, a compilation of Supernatural AU stories - with special mentions of “Witches/Familiars” and “Fantasy”!!

Also watch out for the other two parts:

Canon!verse/Canon Divergence

Alternate Universe

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS

Broadway Musical by Griftings

This is the day that marked the Holy and Blessed Union of Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle.

The merging of prominent bloodlines is always a grand occurrence, but breeding pedigree hunter families like Winchester and Harvelle is something to be rejoiced. It is also something to be meticulously planned, which thankfully the Host is very good at.

Or, the romantic comedy where Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle are destined to get married, Castiel is given the task of playing matchmaker and fails terribly, the entire Heavenly Host becomes a sitcom audience, God warns against male pregnancy, and Jimmy Novak is incredibly unimpressed with angels in general.

(Words: 12k)

A Brief Glimpse by cloudyjenn

Castiel is utterly convinced he can't love anyone, but Sam, so when a strange occurrence at a carnival shows him otherwise, he doesn't know what to do.

(Words: 12k)

Earth is a Tourist Trap by Annie D (scaramouche)

When Castiel's offered a senior position in the Heavenly Host, he decides that before he commits himself he'd better take that holiday on Earth he's always wanted. So he does, and he meets Dean.

(Words: 15k)

Worth the Fall by Desirae

The angel Castiel was stationed on Earth to observe, not interact. When he takes it upon himself to intervene in an accident that would have claimed the life of Kindergarten teacher, Dean Winchester, there were consequences.

Stripped of most of his powers, Castiel is forced to live as a mortal for one year. But after getting to know the man who led to his fall from grace, the angel soon discovers that he has a choice to make. Return to his post when his punishment is over and never see Dean again, or give up his near immortality to take a chance at a life on Earth with the human he has come to love.

(Words: 25k)

Like Lightning Under Your Skin by A_Diamond

Desperate for a way to save his brother from a demon’s clutches, hunter Dean does the unthinkable and seeks out a supernatural creature for help: a powerful lightning elemental, the kind he and his family should be killing. When his attempt to bind the elemental goes awry, he finds himself psychically connected to it instead. The creature’s emotions bleed into his; its pain echoes into him.

Rather than finding the solution to saving Sam, Dean’s given himself a new and even more time-sensitive problem. He has to find a way to master the bond before the rest of the hunters decide he’s too far gone and put him down. The trouble is that the more time he spends connected to the elemental’s thoughts, the more he starts to wonder if they don’t have it all wrong. Maybe the creature, which calls itself Castiel, doesn’t deserve to be slaughtered; maybe the rest of its kind hadn’t deserved that, either.

Or maybe that’s just Castiel’s voice in his head.

(Words: 25k)

Purgatory's Angel by Ltleflrt

In an act of heroism Castiel sacrifices one of his wings to save lives. But he isn’t sure he wants to live tethered to the ground, never to dance in the sky again. Two stubborn Winchester brothers have faith that his future isn’t quite so grim, and that flight may be possible someday. Castiel thinks they’re full of shit, but in the face of Dean’s cheerful optimism it’s hard not to believe.

(Words: 27k)

Catch a Fallen Star by the__magpie

Dean Winchester would do anything to convince Lisa Braeden to marry him, even if it means venturing beyond the wall near his village to bring her a star that they watched fall from the sky. What he does not expect, though, is to end up dragging a grumpy, uncooperative star named Castiel through a strange land of faeries, magic, and flying pirates. Pursued by an ancient witch and two nobles vying for the throne, Dean and Castiel find themselves caught up in an adventure beyond what they could have ever imagined.

(Words: 31k)

Trade All My Tomorrows by 3988Akasha, ElDiablito_SF

Dean Winchester had a human family once, but he doesn't ever remember not being a demon. Not particularly aligned to either Hell or Humanity, he drifts through the world, mostly at his own pleasure. Until, that is, he's caught in the middle of a turf war between Abaddon and Crowley, which forces him to choose sides - and leads him to a Man of Letters named Castiel Novak.

(Words: 32k)

The Request by cloudyjenn

When Sam Winchester prays for his brother, Castiel is finally sent on his very first assignment. But what should be a simple love match turns into much more and Castiel finds himself risking everything to ensure the happiness of his extremely frustrating charge.

(Words: 37k)

Good One's Gonna Be by remmyme

Castiel Novak receives a rather alarming text message from an unknown number, and what started as a simple misdial quickly turns into the greatest friendship Castiel has ever known. But Dean has many secrets, dangerous truths about the life he lives, and would like to tell Castiel exactly none of them.

(Words: 37k)

Convenient Husbands by Annie D (scaramouche)

"It's only temporary, right?" Dean says. "Just until you're healed up, and then we'll never have to see each other again. So what do you say, Castiel, do you want to marry me or not?"

(Words: 39k)

Fortune Cookies by destieldrabblesdaily

Dean and his best friend Jo own a bakery together. When a salesman named Crowley visits Dean to make a deal, Dean has no idea of the consequences, and his world turns upside down when an actual angel literally crashes into his life. For the first time in his thirty-year-existence, Dean is overwhelmed by real companionship, wings, and most of all... love.

(Words: 44k)

It's a Small World (aka the Worst Ride at Disneyland) by ireadhpinenochian

Dean's life didn't start out great. With his mom dying and his father taking him and Sam on wild goose chase after wilder goose chase to track down her killer until Sam couldn't take it anymore and ran off, it pretty much sucked. But now he has Cas. And Cas is great--perfect, even--definitely the best thing that's ever happened to him, even if he isn't quite human. He's been living so long in domestic bliss that he completely forgot to be worried about waiting for the other shoe to drop. Which is, of course, when his giant of a brother strolls back into his life sending Dean into a panic that he and Cas will have to uproot their perfect apple pie life if Sam finds out Cas' big secret.

(Words: 45k)

Closer to Fine by sheron

As an empath, Castiel has always been different. Whether he liked it or not, since childhood he has felt the emotions of people around him. There is only one exception to the rule, a man whom his powers don't affect at all: Dean Winchester. With Dean seemingly just a regular guy, with a tough past, what makes him special? Can Castiel stop himself from falling for him regardless? And why has his brother Gabriel suddenly returned, wanting to rebuild their broken relationship...

(Words: 45k)

Just Your Heart, In Exchange For Mine by noxsoulmate

Dean owns a bakery and Castiel loves his pie. This could be such a cute little bakery love story – if it weren’t for the fact that one was a retired hunter and the other one a powerful witch. There’s also the matter of the black little cat Dean finds in front of his bakery one cold and rainy night. Not to forget the crazy witch on the loose, ripping out other witches’ hearts.

(Words: 47k)

Kiss You When It's Dangerous by zoemathemata

When his partner Uriel, betrays him, Federal Agent Castiel Novak is saved from becoming a ritual sacrifice by brothers Dean and Sam Winchester. Discovering the world of the supernatural and learning about werewolves, wendigoes, vampires and things that go bump in the night also leads to learning more about Dean and the strange life he and his brother lead. The more he learns, the more Castiel finds himself drawn into Dean’s world and toward Dean himself.

Until Uriel wants to complete the ritual he started.

(Words: 58k)

Whitechapel Monster: The True Story of Jack the Ripper by Andromytta, Deancebra, nealinor

1888. A madman is murdering prostitutes in the poor neighborhood of Whitechapel in London. Scotland Yard has assigned the case to their finest detective team: Castiel Novak and Charles Bradbury. The two launch into the investigation which is interrupted by one Dean Winchester, who seems to turn up each time a murder occurs. Is this man the Ripper or does he know something that the Detectives don’t?

Dean Winchester is following in his father’s footsteps and has become a hunter of monsters. He is drawn to London following the trail of unnatural murders. While the detectives look for a man, the hunter is looking for something far more supernatural. Assisted by his brother Sam, he tries to investigate the crimes himself; however, the lead Detective, Novak, is dead set on keeping him away.

Will the two men find a middle ground to face an enemy that has more than murder on his mind?

(Words: 60k)

Man in the Wilderness by OneHundredSuns

Dean Winchester is fresh out of Purgatory along with every other Tom, Dick and Wendigo that called the cesspool home. As the monsters lay waste to the Earth and eat anything they can get their hands on, Dean sets out to find his only remaining family so that they can hunker down and fight the assholes head on. He doesn’t mean to stumble upon Castiel Novak and his adorable twins in the middle of the apocalypse and he sure as hell doesn’t mean to offer them a ride to wherever they are trying to get to. But the world is a dangerous place now and he’s always been a sucker for blue eyes and cute kids. So he’ll help them out and just hope it doesn’t get him or them killed in the process.

(Words: 69k)

Let the Altars Shine by tiptoe39

For the sake of his family, Dean agrees to marry an angel he's never seen. He's not expecting true love, nor to uncover the mystery behind why the angels are taking husbands in the first place. But sometimes in marriage, the unexpected happens.

(Words: 70k)

The Mensch by Aerlalaith

Sam and Dean are (maybe) Men of Letters. Castiel is something else entirely.

(Words: 73k)

A Beginner's Guide to Communing with the Dead by suspiciousflashlight

Maybe it's the little girl whose disappearance turned into a murder, and whose murder turned into a cold case, and who has now apparently decided to move in with him. Maybe it's the unacceptable hole left in his life when his dumb best friend and partner in (the prevention of) crime decided to go and get himself killed. Maybe it's his brother, whose high-profile career and fantastic girlfriend and first-child-on-the-way are steadily leaving Dean in the dust. Pick one. Pick all of them. The why doesn't matter so much as the what, and the what is this: Dean is pretty sure he's going completely, certifiably insane. Sure, he hasn't started wearing all his clothes inside out, and he still showers on a regular basis (anyways, that's not crazy, just a little eccentric); but there's no getting around the fact that he just threw away his life, his career, and his reputation by dragging out his mom's old necromancy book and summoning a Class A Forbidden Entity to his attic. A cranky one, too. With horrendous bed-head.

(Words: 77k)

Passing Ships by quiettewandering

When Castiel commits a crime unforgivable, he is demoted from distinguished guardian angel to the role of cupid. His assignment: to pair Dean Winchester and Lisa Braeden together as soulmates. Adamantly against the idea, Dean proves to be a challenging assignment for Castiel - especially when he falls in love with him.

(Words: 78k)

The Ghosts of Blackthorn Hall by linoresearch

In 1843 Castiel Milton leaves his life of quiet faith and duty to take up employment as tutor to the young ward of one Mr Dean Winchester, at Blackthorn Hall. Set deep among the Yorkshire moors, Blackthorn is a place of mysteries – a wild place, where pale faces appear at the windows, and mad women laugh in the night. Castiel is drawn to the enigmatic Master of Blackthorn and they form an attachment neither of them expected. But there are secrets hidden behind Blackthorn’s stone walls, truths that threaten to destroy their fragile happiness, as they are forced to confront the ghosts of their past.

(Words: 95k)

Saved by Slanguage

The only thing Castiel Novak ever knew was how to hunt monsters—ghosts and werewolves and demons and everything that goes bump in the night. With the help of the man he secretly loves, Dean Winchester, and Dean’s little brother, Sam, the three of them had been a force to be reckoned with. But, in a last-ditch effort to save Sam’s life, Castiel sold his soul to Hell, and the hellhounds dragged him down to the Rack when his year was up. Now Castiel is being tortured—physically by the fiendish Alastair, and mentally by the memories of what he had.

Until one day a young woman with red hair appeared in the middle of Hell, and she asked him if he wanted to be saved. And, without realizing the consequences, Castiel said yes.

(Words: 110k)

Cursed Or Not by Ltleflrt

While experimenting with magic when he was a kid, Sam accidentally cursed Dean. Now, Dean is forced to wear a spelled amulet constantly, or he'll turn into a random animal. For a little over a decade, he's learned to live with the curse, and has even found it useful in some cases, but he sure would be happier without it.

When he meets a witch named Castiel, he's offered a deal. Instead of assuming all witches are bad, Dean can spend a season getting to know him. If at the end of the season, Dean still thinks he's evil Castiel will send him away with his memory wiped of the whole experience. But if he learns that Castiel is not the monster Dean assumes he is, he'll lift Dean's curse.

It's an offer Dean can't bring himself to pass up.

(Words: 115k)

Hunting for Faith by perunamuusa, riseofthefallenone

It starts a few days earlier.

Castiel first notices it in the middle of the night when the dreams of fire and screams have kept him awake. He’s kneeling before the altar, praying, when the glass in the windows start to shake, the very air vibrating around him. Castiel is on his feet and reaching for the gun tucked into the back of his pants as the shutters over the windows start to rattle.

(Words: 271k)

Not Part of the Plan by Annie D (scaramouche)

Castiel's spent most of his adult life keeping his head down and staying out of trouble. This is a deliberate choice on his part, because as a cousin of the King, he'd rather stay unimportant and forgotten. This changes abruptly when King Michael decides that he has a better use for Castiel: he is to be wed to a noble member of the neighboring Republic, as part of an agreement between their two nations.

Castiel knows he has to obey, but that doesn't mean he won't rebel in what small ways he can. Unexpectedly, his actions end up having far-reaching consequences.

(Words: 318k)

Angel's Wild by LimonadeGaby, riseofthefallenone

But that’s the whole reason he’s here, isn’t it? He’s not out here hunting Humans. He’s not even hunting deer, or bears, or anything else that featured in Bambi. He’s out here, freezing his nuts off every night, because he’s hunting Angels.

Sometimes Dean wishes that Angels were like how they’re described in the Bible. How people from time too old for him to care much about thought Angels were messengers and warriors of God, protectors of Humans. He knows that how they’re really described in the Bible is actually pretty terrifying, but at least they were told by God that they’re supposed to love Humans, right?

That’s a thousand times better than what Angels really turned out to be.

(Words: 389k)

*  *  *  *

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: WITCHES/FAMILIARS

Pumpkin Spice

Dean’s new neighbor is a blue-eyed nature witch with forget-me-nots in his hair.

(Words: 3k)

Memory Lane by K_K_TiBal

Dean’s best friend Castiel is a genuine, bonafide witch with potions and magic spells to prove it.

You’d think he’d have learned by now to be more careful around Castiel’s things. 

(Words: 4k)

Enchanted Tea Emporium by mazedoodle, violue

As an experienced witch, Castiel has seen many captivating sights in his life. However, nothing he's seen has ever had him quite as entranced as the sight of the man in the flower shop across the road, unloading items from the back of a truck.

(Words: 10k)

You Found Me by through_shadows_falling

Dean is a Witch without a Familiar because, unlike everyone else, he’s never experienced the Call that brings Witches and Familiars together. But that’s fine, really. He doesn’t mind not being able to use his magic, and he definitely isn’t jealous of other Bonded pairs. Nope, not him. Which makes it all the more incredible when an Unbonded Familiar—a crow named Cas—smashes down on his windshield with a broken wing. Dean’s mother is able to heal Cas’s wing, but they’ve got a bigger problem: Cas’s Grace has been stolen, which prevented him from ever initiating a Call. He believes Dean is his Witch, so they embark on a journey to get his Grace back with the hopes that they can officially Bond as a true Witch/Familiar pair.

(Words: 16k)

These Roses Sing by K_K_TiBal, whelvenwings

Dean and Castiel have absolutely no reason to meet.

Castiel is the stepson of the mayor, the second son of the most important family in the city. Dean, meanwhile, has just started learning about mechanics from his father. They belong to different worlds - but when chance brings Castiel into Dean's father's workshop, they meet, with incredible consequences. All it takes is a single flower - a rose - to awaken a power within them that they don't know how to understand or control: they can cast spells on anyone, absolutely anyone, with the gift of a flower.

But can they learn how to be brave, how to take the gift that's within them and use it well - and can they find their way back to each other?

(Words: 25k)

Unfamiliar by riseofthefallenone

“We all know that Familiars will be the closest to you. Your bond with a Familiar will transcend family, friends, and even your future husband or wife. A Familiar becomes a part of you, and you a part of them.” Mr. Adler’s dull tone rolls across the auditorium and it’s clear to everyone that he doesn’t care about the topic. It makes Castiel feel bad for his Familiar. “Now, can anyone tell me why Witches need Familiars and why they need us?”

(Words: 29k)

Willowsbend by miss_grey

In the town of Willowsbend, the Supernatural police unit went by the name of Dean Winchester. Unfortunately for Dean, the Supernatural population of Willowsbend was zero. So Dean spent the majority of his time calming paranoid housewives when their pipes rattled and chasing off wildlife that over-zealous citizens were sure must be shifters. It’s a tiring job, full of false-starts and hysterical old ladies. It’s a rare day that Dean has to deal with anything truly Supernatural. That’s about to change, and it all begins with the arrival of one Castiel Novak.

(Words: 51k)

Hedge Witch by EthneDragon, palominopup

Castiel moved to the woods of Wyoming to practice his white magick without his family's interference. He lived a simple life with his cat and a gray wolf as his only companions. The people of the small town across the river know what he is and are protective of him.

Dean Winchester is a hunter. He is deep in the wilderness searching for a wendingo when he falls through the ice. Before he loses consciousness, he sees a huge gray wolf-like creature.

Castiel brings the near frozen man into his home and nurses him. Will the distrust Dean has of all witches stop him from falling for the man who saved his life?

(Words: 75k)

Unbound by through_shadows_falling

In a world where Witches and Familiars depend on each other to survive, Dean Winchester remains Unbound, and his magic—and life—is dwindling. Dean has accepted his fate, even if his family hasn't. After all, what can he do about it?

But then a man stumbles into his life who just might be Dean's Witch, but for some mysterious reason, refuses to Bond. On top of that, there's trouble brewing on the horizon, and it seems that Dean's caught right in the thick of it.

Can Dean convince the stranger that they need each other, before it's too late for the both of them—and their world?

(Words: 85k)

*  *  *  *

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: FANTASY

The Prince and the Pauper - but not really by Niitza

It's the classic fairytale: Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away, there lived a beautiful Princess, beloved by her people. Unfortunately her Evil Stepmother, who desired the throne for herself, had her kidnapped on a moonless night and locked in the highest room of the highest tower of a lost castle. From then on the Princess' only hope rested in the coming of her Prince Charming to the rescue…

Except for the fact that the beautiful Princess is actually a Prince who has better things to do than wait in that tower, the Evil Stepmother a bunch of Evil Conspirators who really haven't thought things through, and the Prince Charming nothing but a Commoner hoping to make some money from grateful parents and ending up with something else entirely.

(Words: 9k)

Happily Ever After by darkforetold

Prince Dean lives in a world where princes can only marry princesses and live happily ever after. The problem is, he's in love with Prince Castiel, his awkward (ridiculously handsome) best friend. Dean thinks it's his destiny to settle down with a princess, but when Dean goes after the famed Sleeping Beauty, things change. Instead of facing off with villains, Prince Dean decides to fight social expectations and go after his one true love: Prince Castiel.

(Words: 12k)

Walking Through Fire by the__magpie

Castiel’s life as a prince isn’t perfect, but it’s certainly preferable to being kidnapped by robbers. All he wants is to go back home safely and forget about all of this, but his brother is refusing to pay the ransom and the leader of the robbers, Dean Winchester, is annoyingly good at making Castiel trust him.

(Words: 24k)

His Shining Glory, James Castiel Emmanuel Novak, Sixth Prince of Celestine by A_Diamond

When a mysterious blight devastates the kingdom of Celestine's farms, it allies with its neighbor through a trade treaty: Americana will send food north, and Celestine will send its youngest prince Castiel south to wed the American heir, Dean. It's not love at first sight, but that turns out to be the least of their worries. From culture shock and misunderstandings to conspiracies and assassination attempts, the two princes have a lot to overcome before they can try for a happily ever after.

(Words: 34k)

a world above water by museaway

Castiel’s hope for freedom is threatened by a chance encounter with the Crowned Prince of Lawrence, who is trying to avoid an arranged marriage.

(Words: 35k)

See the Sunrise by Carver Edlund (goshcas), Zerda

He didn't know what he expected. Maybe piles and piles of gold and treasure, closely guarded by a massive scaly beast, red or blue or black and breathing fire. Maybe with wings, maybe not. Maybe it would have red eyes and maybe it would attack as soon as it saw Dean. He was expecting—well, he was expecting a dragon.

Not... this.

"This" being a young man with dark hair, too blue eyes, and a tilt to his head. He didn't... look like a dragon. He just looked confused.

(Dean/Castiel fairy tale AU in which Dean is a prince who goes to slay a dragon, and Castiel is cursed to turn into a dragon every night.)

(Words: 37k)

Castiel Enchanted by ANobleCompanion

When Castiel was a baby, the angel Naomi blessed him with the gift of obedience. Despite the curse, Castiel grows up with a strong mind and heart. To keep people from discovering his secret, Castiel spends most of his childhood without a close friend - until he meets Dean, Prince of Fell. Together, they will learn about friendship, love and what it takes to find your own free will.

(Words: 53k)

True as It Can Be by whelvenwings

Growing up in a small town in Kansas, Dean learned from a young age that there was only one rule that couldn’t be broken, one place he couldn’t go - through the forest, to the long-abandoned Angel’s Hollow. But when Sam disappears, Dean’s left with no choice but to follow his brother's tracks through the dangers of the wood; little does he know that the most dangerous creature of all lurks not among the trees, but in the Hollow itself. Dean sets Sam free, at the cost of his own liberty - and, bound by magic, resigns himself to living out the rest of his days in the Hollow, at the mercy of the being within. The angel of Angel’s Hollow, however, has a story - is a prisoner, too, as much as Dean is. Only one thing can free them both - but it is impossible. For, after all: who could ever learn to love a beast?

(Words: 72k)

The Watcher and the Warrior by superhoney

The kingdom of Esporia has been at peace for many years, under the protection of five powerful enchanters known as the Watchers. From his tower in the east of the kingdom, Castiel, the Weather Watcher, controls the winds and the rains, and never expects to be needed for anything more.

In the capital city, Dean Winchester, long-serving member of the Royal Guard, is due to be elevated to the rank of Captain, rewarded for his dedication and leadership these many years.

But as dark forces begin to move against the kingdom, a chance meeting will bring these two men together, and their destinies will collide in ways neither of them could ever have predicted.

(Words: 108k)

[muggle-writes]

@dionian-gayce asked me to ramble about world building and i can't save answers as drafts and tumblr ate my last (very long but not as long as this) attempt to answer. and while it's probably for the better that you'll get a more coherent answer I'm also very frustrated that I put a lot of time into an answer that I didn't get a choice in throwing out. That's not your fault though

Thanks for asking! I'm sure you made that post offering to ask people questions thinking of the (if your blog traffic is anything like mine) 3-10 other blogs that regularly interact with your original posts, and instead it had something like 350 notes by the time i saw it, so I'm impressed you're still following through.

world building is one of my favorite things to be honest. I write mostly fanfiction anymore and very few of them are canon compliant because I love pushing boundaries and exploring "if I make xyz change to that universe, how does that affect how the characters behave?" (tl;dr like 70% of my fic-writing is answering those world building questions, and the rest is when i have specific ideas about how certain characters will interact, and then I will write the rest of the fic to set them up for interacting)

the most visible example(s) I have of this is my surprising variety of soulmate AUs. I'll describe some of the thought that went into the published parts of Sphygmoid and Stripes of Fate, and end with some spoilery bits about the process of world building for The One I've Been Looking For (which was originally titled Colors and I'm going to call it that for the remainder of this post because that's a shorter title without having to abbreviate to The One or an acronym my phone won't recognize as a word)

I think of soulmate AUs as the easiest example of world building because there's something big and obvious and visible differentiating that universe from ours or canon. and while it's possible to write a soulmate AU with no thought as to "why" people are soulmates with each other, just for the fluff factor, or to get the OTP to think of each other romantically sooner than canon or ever, I usually prefer to explore all the interesting questions that brings up. like "how does the prevalence of soulmates affect social norms?" and "what does it really mean when people are soulmates?" alongside "what do people think it means to be soulmates, and how accurate are they?" I also generally have a preference for soulmate AUs that connect you to more than one person, like 'strings of fate' AUs that connect you to your inevitable best friends and long term partners and sometimes even mortal enemies, though I haven't written one of those yet.

so, going from least world building to most, in Stripes of Fate, the premise is that everyone has a patch of skin on the inside of their wrist that is the exact color of their soulmate's hair, and changes whenever they dye it. Saguru (the main character) speculates (and eventually his soulmate confirms) that if one of them changes the color of only part of their hair, the other's mark changes to a matching pattern. as I mentioned, this is probably the soulmate AU I've put the least thought into (they're soulmates because i like the ship and one of them, in fanon at least, changes his own and his classmates' hair colors often, if not regularly so there's something interesting to bring them together. and I haven't specified anyone else's soulmates) but even so I worked in some fun world building: how do societal norms change because of the prevalence of soulmates? well one country's norm is to wear the mark visibly and for young adults to change their hair color frequently as a way of identifying themselves to their soulmates. another country's norm is to keep them covered and private. but I left other questions unanswered, like since soulmates are rarely the exact same age, does the older one have a mark from birth? what about people who won't live long enough to meet a soulmate, do they have a mark at all? what about the soulmates of people who don't have hair at all, for any reason besides shaving? those answers aren't relevant to the story as written, but if I were writing any more in the same universe, I'd want to decide those answers, just in case.

Then there's Sphygmoid. Sphygmoid is more the style of soulmate AU I like to read (and write, obviously), because the prompt specifies that people have marks from many of the important people in their lives, not just their soulmates (who get a different color). I really enjoyed exploring the mechanics of these soulmarks, and unlike many soulmark AUs, which feature marks or strings which are either there from birth or appear all at once, these vary in brightness based on the state of the relationship. (Ran had a childhood friend who she had a mark from but after that friend moved away and they grew apart, the mark faded back to almost nothing). it's also interesting: the original prompt specified that people have marks from their soulmate and from people they love, but I initially misread it as "from people who love them". and even after i realized my mistake, I decided to keep it that way because I liked the mental image of children being born with several bright marks already because their parents and grandparents and older siblings loved them even before they were born. For the most part, the difference between "you love them" and "they love you" is negligible because in most cases, the care and affection are reciprocal, but given that the main character of the anime gets adopted into his best friend's home under a fake identity, using the "they love you" metric makes it interesting because I'll get to explore the questions of can Shinichi distinguish between Ran's love for him vs her love for Conan just from his mark(s) from her? does it matter that she thinks they're two separate people? how does that compare to his marks from his parents once they know the truth? likewise (and also a reader commented to ask and I was thrilled that someone else cared about the same sort of thing) what does Ran think when she doesn't get a new mark from Conan after they take him in and he's been in their family for a while? I've got partially solidified ideas of how to answer these, but aside from his parents finding out the truth and immediately loving their son in every form, love grows slowly over time, so I've got a while to decide and build up to those answers. in the meantime I'm stuck on chapter two which I want to be mainly from the pov of a character that I don't have a good handle on her voice, let alone her internal narration. But overall, yes the entire focus of this fic is to explore how soulmarks grow and change as the characters do.

And then there's Colors, which I'm probably most proud of the world building in. it's ironic that this is the fic I've thought the most about because I decided one night "hey I've got tomorrow off, someone prompt me and I'll write at least (minimum length) on the topic," and by 11pm the following night, I had picked someone, been prompted with a pairing and a style of soulmate identification (you see in grayscale until you meet your soulmate, and after that everything is in color), and then worked out a majority of these world building details and wrote a one shot that became the first chapter.

spoilers ahead for things hinted at but mostly not revealed (yet)

did that work as a readmore?

I can't actually tell

So the prompt was Harry/Ginny, and when I asked for preferences, suggesting i make other canon ships each other's soulmates, the requestor agreed. But for this one, I really sat down to think: what makes a soulmate a soulmate? now I'm ace and arospec so I wasn't particularly interested in the classic "the one perfect romantic partner for you" interpretation, though I saved that for the answer to "what does society think soulmates are?" because otherwise why are they called soulmates instead of something else? Instead, I decided that soulmates (of which any one person typically has many potential matches, people just don't notice a change from color vision to... more color? when they meet subsequent possible soulmates.) are people who, by adulthood, will support you and enable you to become your best self. For many people this is an ideal romantic partner too, but that's only the case when both people expect their soulmate to be a romantic partner (which is most people, given society's assumptions about soulmates, it kind of turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy that a majority of soulmates are also "the" perfect romantic partner for each other) but arospec people and others for whom romantic compatibility isn't a priority, don't tend have soulmates who are destined to be romantic partners.

So with all that decided, I had to decide (a) why are people's canon endgame partners the first potential soulmate they'll meet, especially for people like Bill and Fleur who met as adults, when many people, especially within a small community like the British Wizarding World, meet a match in their school years? and (b) why don't more people notice "one-sided" soulmate situations when someone's potential soulmate thinks they already know the one soulmate they should have. The latter was easy: power of suggestion again. when people assume they will only have one soulmate, and they know who that one person will be, they are hostile to people who claim to be their soulmate, and assume they're liars. that makes them not as supportive to the potential match as they could otherwise be, so mostly they just don't match. which of course reinforces the misunderstanding that there's exactly one soulmate per person. however, particularly selfless people will find themselves a match to nearly anyone who is reasonably supportive in return.

for Bill and Fleur, and why neither of them met a potential soulmate before each other, Fleur was easy: she's part Veela, and too many people judge her for her heritage rather than on her own merits as a person, so they're not supportive enough. for Bill, I decided he has too much wanderlust, and the British Wizarding community, small and insular as it is, doesn't tend to inspire much of a desire to travel for longer than a week of vacation so none of Bill's Hogwarts peers would have been up for traveling with him and encouraging and supporting him in that long term.

then of course I had to decide whether every canon couple was soulmates, and obviously I decided not. Charlie, being the most popular aroace headcanon, obviously wouldn't be surprising to not meet a soulmate at Hogwarts where everyone assumes they'll marry their soulmate, so it's okay to have him not have a soulmate or meet one (someone with similar priorities of dragons!) at the Reserve

on the topic of the Weasleys though, you can't have nonromantic soulmates and not make Fred and George each other's soulmates. you just can't. they're so in sync and so thrilled to do everything together, and you know they'll support each other perfectly for their entire lives. even Harry and most of the fandom (and Molly, facing a boggart), think of George and Fred as a unit. however, given the usual assumption all the characters make, that soulmates must be romantic, means that sibling soulmate bonds are treated as scandals that families hush up. (thus not publicly contradicting society's narrative that soulmates are guaranteed romantic. I decided that, while this doesn't happen for every set of twins, it still occurs in many families. they just never find each other because shame keeps them silent on the matter.) however, given that multiple soulmates are a thing, most sibling-soulmates are identified by non-family soulmates, and even if they don't believe their other soulmate's claim, they usually accept the "convenient misunderstanding" and marry their newly-met soulmate. This is exactly what happened with George and Lee, and Fred and Angelina. the twins assume their friends are mistaken, and the rest of the Weasleys assume Lee and Angelina are soulmates and are covering for the twins because they know they're "actually" each other's soulmates.

after the most recent chapter, (in which Harry asks the twins if they've met their soulmate it was Lee who answered for them, despite how willing the twins otherwise are to talk about themselves. because Lee knows he's not lying or mistaken, but all the Weasleys in the room hold onto a sliver of doubt and hate to "take advantage" of their friend by "falsely" making claims about his soulmate.) someone commented on how they were sure I was setting up to reveal the twins as each other's soulmates and Angelina and Lee were a curveball. and I kinda was leading up to that. but even if soulmates were unique in this universe, what stops Lee from lying to protect his friends, like the Weasleys mostly assume he is doing? characters don't always tell the truth! anyway that comment made me feel good, somewhat, about my foreshadowing skills, but also made me realize if I want people to know these details, I have to give them a reason to "naturally" come up. Like, Charlie is going to come pick up Norbert, still, and that'll be a way to bring up non-romantic soulmates (Charlie comments on the color of Norbert's flame as an indicator of health, and then demands the others not tell Ron, because Ron can't keep a secret from Molly, who's overbearing about insisting all her kids find their perfectly respectable soulmates and get married and produce lots of grandbabies, and Charlie's really not interested in most of that and his partner (name and gender tbd) agrees.

In Molly's defense, as far as she knows, of her eldest five children, the oldest two haven't met soulmates by an age most purebloods have, one is fine, and the other two are each other's soulmates which is absolutely scandalous. she's worried that Percy is going to be the only one with a real soulmate, and that'll not only draw negative attention to the family, but to her children as individuals, with further attention drawn because of the pattern of a "lack of soulmates", and none of them deserve society's judgment.

anyway back on topic, I had to decide if canon endgame ships were going to be each other's first soulmates in all cases, and tbh I decided "not always". because I love the idea of Sirius and Remus being soulmates even if Tonks and Remus get together after Sirius' death, and they obviously met before Tonks was born.

so from there I decided to keep canon ships and decide if they're soulmates on a case by case basis and justify it if not. Voldemort/Bellatrix is plausible (she'll definitely support him in his endeavors and he clearly respects and trusts her enough to bear his child.) on the other hand she's also soulmates with her husband but the Lestranges are just open-minded enough for Bellatrix to accept the status boost of his claim and Rodolphus to support her whether or not they believe him, so they don't question it publicly or privately. obviously their version of supporting each other isn't something the rest of the world particularly appreciates but I like it. alternately (though these aren't mutually exclusive options) I think it's likely voldie had another soulmate he met young but he rejected her due to his biases at the time and never gave her a chance. I'm not sure either option will ever be plot-relevant on a Hinny story so it almost doesn't matter (except it does because I hate JKR's "he's so evil because he can't love, and he's incapable of love because he was conceived under a love potion" and all the unfortunately implications of both those statements. I prefer to think he ignored or rejected the resources and chances for growth that could have made him a less evil person. regardless he has a soulmate or several to just not get into demonizing people for not being "able to" love.) The other notable canon relationship I've specifically decided on is Vernon and Petunia. and honestly, I can't remember a single instance in the books that he did a thing to support her. at most he didn't fight harder to kick Harry out at various times, when her decision not to was reluctantly made based on letters from Dumbledore. and to be honest, I can't imagine him being a supportive partner to anyone. he holds Dudley to high standards, and praises him whether he meets those standards or not, but that's not the same as a mutually supportive/healthy adult relationships. so Vernon is the only person who specifically hasn't and won't meet his soulmate ever in the course of the fic. but if I'm saying that then what about Petunia? given how I've focused soulmates on potential to support each other, I've made the arbitrary decision that Petunia and Peter Pettigrew are soulmates. if they'd given each other a chance they would have initially bonded over their feelings of inferiority next to Lily and James, but they would have seen the best in each other's abilities and encouraged each other out of that bitter spiral. Petunia of course admires and envies everything about magic, which encourages Peter who's used to being seen as the tagalong who isn't quite as good as James and Sirius. and in return he admires her for not letting having no magic at all stop her from accomplishing her other goals, and for her homesteading skills that he never mastered, with or without magic. I acknowledge it's an odd pair, but in terms of potential, it's there. as for why they didn't talk it out and give each other a chance when they realized they were soulmates, that's probably a short I'll eventually write, from both of their perspectives.

anyway i count most of this as world building instead of character development because it's rarely if ever going to show up in the fic (as if Petunia would admit to Harry that she's soulmates with one of James' buddies - she isn't even sure which one) but it informs characters' behavior and background events (Harry would still notice that she always insisted on doing the laundry and flawlessly matches socks to each other for Dudley and Vernon, and her outfits are always color-coordinated and she'll often find an "unrelated" excuse to correct Vernon's outfit when his has particularly uncomplimentary colors)

anyway alongside all that character-focused development, I also thought about what changes that makes scientifically and to society. obviously, since most kids won't see colors yet, the color names won't be taught in classes in younger years. they'll give everyone a take-home reference to study on their own time for after they do meet a soulmate. (Harry wishes for this and remembers Vernon binned his and Dudley's copies, saying it was propaganda). muggles get little reference books with all the basic colors and references to books with more colors, wizards have a magic magnifying glass shaped thing that will overlay color names of whatever is visible through the lens (Harry borrows Ron's on the train). since there's a strong chance that a large subset of the population can't see color, traffic lights are all different shapes, in addition to being different colors, and house/sports team colors have other designs worked in, so that they can be recognized by shape too (Harry observes something like this in the house banners at Hogwarts). scientifically, one of the few details I've come up with is that all color vision is magically granted, which means that even peripheral vision has color (which it doesn't in the real world due to the relative density of rods and cones in our eyes). and accordingly the usual variety of "colorblindness" that exists in our world doesn't exist in this fic, color is just all-or-nothing. (people frequently comment on how true grayscale vision "isn't" a type of colorblindness in the real world but I know someone in person who has that exact form of colorblindness it's just rare in our world, especially in comparison to other forms)

and I was going somewhere else with this, but it's been over a week and when I read this draft to remember what not to repeat I keep getting distracted by the character-backgrounds stuff so I think I'm just going to post this as-is. I feel like it's more than sufficient as an example and attempted explanation of my thought processes.

[thebookrat]

I mentioned in another post recently (actually, maybe this is going up first, so maybe I will mention in another post... I've been writing and scheduling in so many posts - for me - that I don't honestly know!) that I have a goal of featuring more books more often, and in more ways, as a general rule on this blog. One of those ways -- and let me know if you like this idea -- is to do a monthly post highlighting some of the books that are coming out that month, that would be my top picks if someone handed me a bookstore gift card and said, "Go crazy." So here are my picks for April. Some are already out, and some will be out very soon. A couple of these are either on my shelves, or will be featured in some other way around these parts very soon. (Ahem, giveaway of one of these coming soon and/or possibly already up, depending on when you're reading this, and when I've scheduled things for! See note above... ;D) Take a look, let me know what you think, and if I've missed any April, 2018 releases that I DEFINITELY need to have, please tell me in the comments! And of course, each cover is >clickable< so you can find out more or pick a copy up! This is in my TBR for this month!

A captivating novel about two extraordinary teens, and the unsolvable problem of life after high school. Sophia is smart, like genius-calculator-brain smart. But there are some things no amount of genius can prepare you for, and the messiness of real life is one of them. When everything she knows is falling apart, how can she crack the puzzle of what to do with her life? Joshua spends his time honing magic tricks and planning how to win Sophia’s heart. But when your best trick is making schoolwork disappear, how do you possibly romance a genius? In life and love, timing is everything. Published April 1st 2018 by Peachtree Publishers

I mean... everyone's buzzing about this.

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations. But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems. Published April 3rd 2018 by Balzer + Bray

I was a big fan of McCarthy's You Were Here.

Fandom and first love collide for Iris on the film set for her grandmother’s famous high-fantasy triology—perfect for readers of Fangirl! Unlike the rest of the world, Iris doesn't care about the famous high-fantasy Elementia books written by M. E. Thorne. So it's just a little annoying that M. E. Thorne is her grandmother—and that Iris has to deal with the trilogy's crazy fans. When Iris gets dropped in Ireland for the movie adaptation, she sees her opportunity: if she can shut down production, the Elementia craze won't grow any bigger, and she can finally have a normal life. Not even the rascally-cute actor Eamon O'Brien can get in her way. But the crew's passion is contagious, and as Iris begins to find herself in the very world she has avoided her whole life, she realizes that this movie might just be amazing… Published April 3rd 2018 by Sourcebooks Fire

*tries not to want book solely based on cover* *fails* *reads synopsis and still wants book, is happy* *realizes book is only in AUS, is sad*

Two very different girls, and one giant hoax that could change – or ruin – everything. Harriet Price has the perfect life: she's a prefect at Rosemead Grammar, she lives in a mansion, and her gorgeous girlfriend is a future prime minister. So when she risks it all by creating a hoax to expose the school's many problems – with help from notorious bad-girl Will Everheart, no less – Harriet tells herself it's because she's seeking justice. And definitely not because she finds Will oddly fascinating. But as Will and Harriet's campaign heats up, it gets harder for them to remain sworn enemies – and to avoid being caught. As tensions burn throughout the school, how far will they go to keep their mission – and their feelings for each other – a secret? Published April 2nd 2018 by Hardie Grant Egmont

I don't know that I've ever come across a more unique-sounding book.

In an alternate reality a lot like our world, every person’s physical size is directly proportional to their wealth. The poorest of the poor are the size of rats, and billionaires are the size of skyscrapers. Warner and his sister Prayer are destitute—and tiny. Their size is not just demeaning, but dangerous: day and night they face mortal dangers that bigger richer people don’t ever have to think about, from being mauled by cats to their house getting stepped on. There are no cars or phones built small enough for them, or schools or hospitals, for that matter—there’s no point, when no one that little has any purchasing power, and when salaried doctors and teachers would never fit in buildings so small. Warner and Prayer know their only hope is to scale up, but how can two littlepoors survive in a world built against them? A brilliant, warm, funny trip, unlike anything else out there, and a social novel for our time in the tradition of 1984 or Invisible Man. Inequality is made intensely visceral by an adventure and tragedy both hilarious and heartbreaking. Published April 3rd 2018 by Amulet Books

Welp. I need it.

The ancient land of Éirinn is mired in war. Ciara, Princess of Mide, has never known a time when Éirinn’s kingdoms were not battling for power, or Northmen were not plundering their shores. The people of Mide have thankfully always been safe because of Ciara’s unearthly ability to control her enemies’ minds and actions. But lately, a mysterious crow has been appearing to Ciara, whispering warnings of an even darker threat. Although her clansmen dismiss her visions as pagan nonsense, Ciara fears this coming evil will destroy not just Éirinn, but the entire world. Then the crow leads Ciara to Leif, a young Northman leader. Leif should be Ciara’s enemy, but when Ciara discovers that he, too, shares her prophetic visions, she knows he’s something more. Leif is mounting an impressive army, and with Ciara’s strength in battle the two might have a chance to save their world. With evil rising around them, they’ll do what it takes to defend the land they love…even if it means making the greatest sacrifice of all. Published April 10th 2018 by HarperTeen

Sometimes I just really crave romances that are fraught with tension and obstacles and SO MUCH HEADBUTTING.

A teen werewolf finally meets her destined soulmate only to discover that he's not quite what she expected in this steamy debut romance. She's met her mate . . . and he's met his match. Megan Ross has been waiting her whole life for her mate to come and sweep her off her feet. But the wolf she meets on the beach is NOT the sweet gentle boy she's been dreaming of. Instead, he's a warrior, one whose suffering has led him to lock his heart away in a prison as cold and hard as a diamond, who fights to resist the bond and their deep sexual attraction. Far from home, with a soulmate who is still a stranger, Megan learns that the path to true love isn't quite as straight and easy as she thought . . . Published April 10th 2018 by Swoon Reads

Spare, windswept, western -- these words didn't make it into my buzzwords list. But they should have.

Ten years ago, a horrifying disease began spreading across the West Texas desert. Infected people—shakes—attacked the living and created havoc and destruction. No one has ever survived the infection. Daisy Wilcox, known as Willie, has been protecting her siblings within the relatively safe walls of Glory, Texas. When Willie’s good-for-nothing father steals a fortune from one of the most dangerous shake-hunters in town, she finds herself on the hook for his debt. With two hunters, including the gruff and handsome Ben, to accompany her, she sets out across the desert in search of her father. But the desert is not kind to travelers, and not everyone will pass through alive. Western meets horror for this riveting story about survival, family, and inner strength. Tense, short chapters propel readers from one action-packed scene to the next, while Willie’s distinctive, introspective voice deepens the emotional stakes with every turn of the page. High concept and character-driven, Emma Berquist’s debut will satisfy fans of The Magnificent Seven, Rae Carson’s Walk on Earth a Stranger, and HBO’s Westworld. Published April 10th 2018 by Greenwillow

Psst! You can enter to win this!

Fourteen-year-old Avery Armisted is athletic, rich, and pretty. Sixteen-year-old Kayla Butts is known as “butt-girl” at school. The two girls were friends as little kids, but that’s ancient history now. So it’s a huge surprise when Avery’s father offers to bring Kayla along on a summer trip to Spain. Avery is horrified that her father thinks he can choose her friends—and make her miss soccer camp. Kayla struggles just to imagine leaving the confines of her small town. But in Spain, the two uncover a secret their families had hidden from both of them their entire lives. Maybe the girls can put aside their differences and work through it together. Or maybe the lies and betrayal will only push them—and their families—farther apart. Published April 10th 2018 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers

I am just so. damn. fascinated. by everything about this.

How do you live after death? Julie Nolan is a pretty average girl with pretty average problems. She’s been in love with her best friend, Lorelei, ever since they met in grade three. Only Lorelei doesn’t know about it — she’s too busy trying to set Julie up with Henry, her ex, who Julie finds, in a word, vapid. But life gets more complicated when Julie comes home to find her mother insisting that her heart is gone. Pretty soon it becomes clear: Julie’s mom believes that she has died. How is Julie supposed to navigate her first year of high school now, while she’s making midnight trips to the graveyard to cover her mother with dirt, lay flowers and make up eulogies? And why is Henry the only person Julie feels comfortable turning to? If she wants to get through this, Julie’s going to have to find the strength she never knew she had, and to learn how to listen to both her mom’s heart and her own. Published April 10th 2018 by HarperCollins

Again, love the cover, only in AUS. =/

Kit Learmonth would rather die than grow up and leave Neverland … When she was twelve, Kit Learmonth watched her parents drown in a storm as their boat sailed over the Tranter Sink Hole. Now seventeen, Kit doesn’t remember the incident, and she doesn’t want to. In fact, her only clear memories from before her parents’ death are of the fantastical stories of pirates and mermaids that she and her dad invented about the small island where she grew up, a place she calls Neverland. Following Kit’s parents’ deaths, her uncle and guardian, Doc, transformed the island into a boarding school for mentally ill teenagers and sent Kit away to school on the mainland. But when Kit tries and fails to end her life, Doc brings her home to the island and places her in the care of his colleague, Dr Hannah Ward. Resisting her treatment, Kit instead pulls her friends deeper into her world of make-believe. It’s only when Kit and her new boyfriend, Rohan, take the fantasy too far and land themselves in very real danger that her faith in Neverland is shaken, and Kit must find a way back to reality. Published April 1st 2018 by Penguin Random House Australia

Am I the only one getting serious dark fairy tale retelling vibes from this?

Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Queen of Flame and Fury, was murdered before her eyes. Ten years later, Theo has learned to survive under the relentless abuse of the Kaiser and his court as the ridiculed “Ash Princess.” Pretending to be empty-headed and naive when she's not enduring brutal whippings, she pushes down all other thoughts but one: Keep the Kaiser happy and he will keep you safe. When the Kaiser forces her to execute her last hope of rescue, Theo can't keep her feelings and memories pushed down any longer. She vows revenge, throwing herself into a plot to seduce and murder the Kaiser's warrior son with the help of a group of magically gifted and volatile rebels. But Theo doesn't expect to develop feelings for the Prinz. Or for her rebel allies to challenge her friendship with the one person who's been kind to her throughout the last hopeless decade: her heart's sister, Cress. Cornered into impossible choices and unable to trust even those who are on her side, Theo will have to decide how far she's willing to go to save her people and how much of herself she's willing to sacrifice to become queen. Expected publication: April 24th 2018 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Did I miss anything amazing? Or is there a book coming up in the next few months that you're dying for?  Let me know in the comments! via The Book Rat