#they’re all idiots and this is why teenage boys everywhere don’t wear coats

[merlinsear]

Why do so many men refuse to wear winter coats? It’s 26 degrees outside (feels like 23) and I just watched a middle aged man walk down the street in a zip up sweatshirt. Is there something inherently feminine in admitting it’s cold outside?

[ibelieveinahappilyeverafter]

Boku no Hero Academia - wear your heart on your sleeve (and treat mine gently)

I apparently only wrote two drabbles for my Patreon in 2020, but given the state of the world at the time, I hope I’m forgiven for that. A new year is here, however, and that means last year’s writing can now be seen by all of you! If you want to see more stories like this before next year, then consider pledging to my Patreon!

Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Characters: Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Kayama Nemuri | Midnight, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead

Rating: Teen Audiences

Alternate Universe: Magical Descent and Mythical Creatures

Summary:  Original Prompt (Given by Patron Istas): And, hmm, for something different. Aizawa/Yamada Selkie AU. I've been loving the mermaid stories starting to float around, but you can never have too many Selkies. Wasn't there a post a while back about someone who casually gave a person their coat back and ended up Selkie married?

Word Count: 2,626

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Yamada Hizashi liked to think of himself as a remarkably unbothered teenager who didn’t often feel self-conscious when it came to his day-to-day life. Why would he, after all, when he was confident in himself, his abilities, and who he was and what he could do? He was a selkie who attended U.A. -- the best school in the country for those of magical and mythical descent. 

While U.A. wasn’t the only school, it was by far the most popular one, as well as one of the few who helped students control and harness their powers instead of just teaching them how to hide them away. Hizashi had made it into the school on his own merits, too, even with his… unique family heritage. He had nothing whatsoever to be ashamed or embarrassed about. 

At least, he thought he didn’t, until he had gained a best friend in the form of Kayama Nemuri, a classmate and succubus who enjoyed seducing people way too much and had no filter whatsoever when it came to destroying his hopes and dreams.  

“Seriously, Yamada, you’re such an idiot.” As it was, Kayama was once again yelling at him as they ate lunch, Hizashi picking at this food more than actually eating it. “You can’t just go around dropping your coat everywhere and hoping someone will find it and enter into some magical true love spell with you!” 

“Okay, first of all, that is not how it works at all.” Hizashi stabbed viciously at one of his sushi rolls, wishing he could throw it at Kayama’s head. He would if he knew she wouldn’t just try to kill him for it. “And besides, it’s not like I lost my coat or dropped it. I just… strategically draped it somewhere where someone was likely to see it and return it.” 

“Dumbass,” Kayama snorted, stealing one of his sushi rolls for herself. “You’re a selkie. You need your coat to use your most basic powers. The teachers are gonna keep getting pissed at you if you keep ‘draping it’ somewhere and not having it for classes.” 

Hizashi huffed, looking down at the spotted, fur seal coat that he had tossed across his legs after giving up hope for the day. It seemed to be radiating as much defeat as Hizashi felt. “Well, then, excuse me for trying to find my true love.” 

“Hey, did I ever say there was anything wrong with trying to find your true love or mate or whatever?” Kayama looked insulted, pointing her chopsticks at him with a scowl. “I am in full support of true, absolute love, but in your case your coat just magic mind controls whoever picks it up-”

“It does not!” Hizashi snapped, fearing his glare looked more like an upset pout than anything else. Kayama’s smirk certainly seemed to make it seem like he was pouting rather than glaring. “That’s not how selkies -- or selkie magic -- works. Yeah, sure, there are stories about it, but a selkie’s coat can’t be stolen.”

“Really?” Kayama blinked, looking surprised before she set down her chopsticks and gave him her full attention. While anyone else would be a babbling idiot at having the full attention of a succubus -- even a teenage one -- Hizashi only rolled his eyes. “Alright, then, explain it to me. Why do you keep leaving your coat around like that?” 

“It’s… We can give our coats to other people to hold onto, if we choose to, but only a few people can touch a selkie’s coat without experiencing extreme pain.” Hizashi pursed his lips, crossing his arms as he thought back to when he had first been told about what having his coat really meant. “I think Mom described it like lightning if you touch a selkie’s coat without their permission and aren’t meant for it.” 

“Alright, magical matchmaking coat. I’m with you so far,” Kayama laughed, which, alright. That was a lot better than her mocking him or accusing his coat of magical mind control. “So only you and your ‘true love’ can pick up the coat without feeling that pain?”

“And the parents of the selkie,” Hizashi put in. “Sometimes siblings, but only close siblings, I think, and only when they’re young. But, yeah, it’s- It’s destiny. Our coats… They’re like a part of our hearts.” A part off their heart and a piece of their soul; that was how their coats worked.

Hizashi dropped his hands to run through the fur of his coat, feeling warmth and safety and home as he closed his eyes and took the feeling in for a moment. He couldn’t help but to remember the stories his Mom had told him about what would happen when the one he was destined to be with picked up his coat. 

It wouldn’t just be warmth and safety, but it would be fierce devotion, and understanding, and the knowledge that this person, whoever they were, would want to stay by his side; no matter what. It wasn’t ensnaring someone, but it was finding the one person that he knew he would be able to love with no fear or doubt. 

Looking back up at Kayama, Hizashi lowered his voice to something more serious, “It’s not just ‘true love’ or ‘my mate’ it’s…” Hizashi trailed off, fingers digging into his coat more tightly. “It’s the one person who will never doubt me, or leave me, and always stick by me for me, no matter… no matter who I am.” 

There was a moment of silence, Kayama clearing her throat and patting his shoulder lightly, “Well, hey, then you’re in the perfect place to be looking, don’t you think? U.A. is full of cute, sweet little nerds who would love to be your one true love. Why, I bet the next bubbly-eyed, gap-toothed cutie that we see will be your true love, no doubt about it.” 

“You think so?” Hizashi knew he sounded weak -- vulnerable -- but he couldn’t stop himself from asking the question. Kayama could be a lot, but she was also one of the few he could call an honest friend. She knew what it would mean to him to have more of those, even if she joked about it. 

“Absolutely,” Kayama said sincerely, giving him a small smile. “Have a little more faith, lover-boy. You’ll find your true love before you know it.” 

It was just what Hizashi wanted to hear and believe in more than anything else. 

It was also, he knew, something that wasn’t likely to happen soon. 

Not considering who he was. 

Not at U.A. 

“Well, hey, if it isn’t our favorite little mutt.” Hizashi grunted as his back hit the wall hard enough to force him to bite back a yelp of pain, instead putting on his best glare. “Aw, what’s the matter, mutt? Aren’t you happy to see us?”

“Yeah, c’mon, Yamada, isn’t it nice to finally have someone who’ll talk back to you?” The three who had him surrounded were all upperclassmen who Hizashi had never bothered to learn the names of. They were also complete and utter assholes who believed he didn’t deserve a place in U.A. Well, not many did, but most chose to at least not say anything about it. “Not many want to talk to a siren, after all.” 

“Hey, now,” one of them frowned mockingly, voice ‘sympathetic.’ “He’s only half siren, you know.” The look aimed at him turned cruel, but it was nothing Hizashi hadn’t seen directed at him before. “Then again, considering the other half is some dopey little fuck who can barely do anything, I’m not sure if that’s better or worse.”

They all laughed, as if something hilarious was said, Hizashi gritting his teeth as he glared down the one holding him, growling out a quiet, “Let me go.”

“Oh! The mutt has some balls!” With that he was twisted around and thrown to the floor, Hizashi swearing as he felt a jolting pain from his wrist where he caught himself as his coat slid off his shoulders and bunched around his arms, tangling and trapping him on the floor. “Come on then, mutt. You gonna finally fight back for once?” 

The laughter started up again, one of them grinning widely, “Think he will? If he fights back, we can get him kicked out so fast. What’d that look like to the parents, you think, a siren mutt attacking a bunch of kids?”

“I think it’d look pretty bad,” the obvious leader said, taking a step forward. Before Hizashi could panic and try to scramble away he, and the other three it looked like, were all startled by the black cat standing in front of Hizashi and giving a warbling cry. “The fuck is this?” 

The cat looked like any other cat at first glance, but a closer look screamed magic. Hizashi doubted it was a shapeshifter student, since shifting wasn’t allowed in the halls, but a familiar, maybe? He didn’t know any kids with a cat familiar, though- 

“Oh? That’s unfortunate.” A new voice echoed down the halls, the bullies whirling around in surprise while Hizashi leaned to the side to peek around them. Half a dozen feet away was a kid he had never seen before, maybe a first year or possibly even a second year like him. His hair was long, shaggy, and black as the cat in front of Hizashi, red eyes piercingly looking between each and every one of them as a sharp smile climbed up his face. “Looks like a black cat crossed your path.” 

“Yeah? Is that a fucking threat?” Jeez, how unoriginal. Hizashi couldn’t believe these were the bullies he got stuck with in the drama that was his life. Couldn’t he have gotten tormented by someone with at least two brain cells? “Doesn’t seem like you know how things work around here.”

“Really? Seems just like any other school to me,” the kid drawled, eyes flicking over to once more look at Hizashi. “A bunch of self-entitled kids with rich, demanding parents with expectations that can’t be met, so instead they take it out on whoever makes the easiest punching bag.” 

Damn. That was harsh, but, well, it wasn’t exactly untrue. Stigma worked against Hizashi just enough that anything blamed on him would usually be believed. Looking back at the cat, Hizashi blinked at seeing the cat staring back at him with equally red eyes. A soft purr left the cat a moment later and Hizashi had to resist the urge to coo and draw attention to himself. 

“-if you don’t get the fuck out of here, kid.” Ah, verbal threats. So effective and witty, truly. The new guy, whoever he was, seemed to think the same, giving a snort of laughter. 

“Am I supposed to be scared?” That smile was nothing except threatening, not even fading in the slightest when the main leader of the trio raised his hand, palm extended outwards, with a smirk. Hizashi didn’t bother hiding his wince as, while he didn’t know what the kid was exactly, he knew he had fire powers. He had felt them far too many times to not know how much they could hurt.

Whoever this new guy was, Hizashi made a note to find him and try to help heal his burns after he ran off -- except he wasn’t running off. He wasn’t getting burned, either. He was just staring at the bully in front of him, smile growing while the bully looked more and more terrified as the seconds passed. 

There were no streaks of flashing fire and there was no smell of burning air and ash. There was only a terrified face and gleeful red eyes followed by a quiet, “I’ll ask you again. Is that all?”

Just like that the trio of assholes were running off and disappearing around the corner, Hizashi not too surprised by their reactions. He’d be pretty terrified, too, if he had someone angry at him that could block his powers. Actually, he might still end up being terrified, depending on how the kid felt about mutts. 

Hesitant in looking back at him, Hizashi frowned to himself as he noticed the boy had gray eyes instead of the red ones that he swore he had seen. Maybe that was a part of his power- “You alright?”

“Huh? Oh-! Yeah.” Hizashi raced to stand up, tripping and struggling over his coat before he managed to get himself free. “Sorry- Sorry, uh, yeah- Thanks, I mean. For, um… helping.” Hizashi tried to keep his head up instead of turning around and slamming his face into the wall like he so desperately wanted to do. 

“Good to hear,” the kid laughed, a smile twitching on his lips as his cat -- familiar? -- raced over and up his side before curling around his shoulders. “Aizawa Shouta. I just started here.” 

“Hell of an entrance,” Hizashi laughed, wincing at how breathless and smitten he sounded -- which he shouldn’t. The guy was just being nice- Aizawa Shouta was being nice. “I- Yamada. Yamada Hizashi.” 

Clearing his throat, Hizashi fumbled over his words for a few moments before nervously approaching Aizawa and skirting around him, “I’ll just, uh, go. You know. To class. And stuff.” He was a disaster. Why was Hizashi allowed to exist around others? He was half-siren and the only thing he could charm were the neighborhood cats when he fed them tuna!

“Yamada.” Freezing in his steps, Hizashi hesitantly looked behind him, eyes going wide as he saw Aizawa heading towards his coat which he had stupidly left on the floor after standing up and letting it slip off him. Before he could even open his mouth to warn Aizawa to not touch it, he was bending down and picking it up and… 

His mom hadn’t even begun to explain the feelings of the right person touching his coat. It was warmth and safety, but it was as if every good feeling at once was swirling through him, heady and overwhelming and enough to take his breath away. It was every bad feeling he had ever had brushed away, wiped clean from his mind like they had never existed in the first place. 

It was peace and the simplicity of being and sand spilling between his toes and ocean water lapping at his feet and salt sharp and bitter on the tip of his tongue and a fire roaring away in a hearth and the moon rising far across the waves where the sun had disappeared long ago.

It was a shy, soft smile with fingers that brushed against his own as his coat his skin his heart his soul was given back to him with such care and concern. It was Aizawa Shouta, his husband his true love his mate his friend, greeting him with a soft, “It was nice to meet you.” 

“Ye- Yeah… You, too.” Hizashi watched as Aizawa gave him another smile before walking past him down the hall. Hizashi didn’t waste a heartbeat before he was ripping his phone out and pulling up Kayama’s number, texting her desperately and they needed to go ring shopping as soon as school let out because he had just met his husband and his husband was amazing and deserved the best ring that Hizashi’s, admittedly, small allowance could buy. 

Looking up from where Kayama was texting him and calling him an idiot, Hizashi felt his heart skip half a dozen beats as his husband, starting to round the corner, turned to look back at him. When he saw Hizashi looking, he gave him another small smile and a little half-wave before he disappeared, and, yeah… 

Hizashi was so in love.

[asterekmess]

S3A - E2

Here we go, Episode 2 of the rewatch. Honestly, even if you guys really don’t care about these, I’m gonna write them anyway, cus I need to get my FEELINGS out.

Anyway. Read More as a symbol of my love.

Thoughts:

Your pen is dry, honey. Try a sharpie.

So Stiles has literally known Heather since he was born? Nursery school is from 0 months to 5 years old, apparently. And Scott doesn’t know who she is? How does that even happen? It’s not like Stiles hasn’t seen her in ages, she recognizes him Instantly from across the room and he recognizes her back. So, Scott just never met her or asked about her or anything? Stiles never told him?

If anyone was curious, apparently Heather’s friend is named Danielle (according to Amazon Prime’s “X-Ray” thingy). She’s the same girl from Lydia’s birthday party, I think. The one who woke Stiles up? OHmygod that would be so fucking interesting. If he invited her and Heather to Lydia’s party. Maybe Heather couldn’t go, but Danielle showed up.

Awww, was Heather Stiles’ first kiss? Did they play winery as kids? Hide and seek? did they break a stupidly expensive bottle of wine?

I have personal issues with Stiles supposed canon age. I refuse to believe he’s not 17 and a year older than the others, because of repeating a grade when he was really young. I just refuse to believe otherwise. XP

PLS STOP making fun of girls asking for guys’ consent. This show would be awesome for like ten whole seconds if they stopped RUINING the girl’s asking for consent by having the guys laugh at them or treat it like a joke.

Allison, Scott’s not gonna have a single fucking clue what you’re talking about when only you hold out your arm to show the bruise.

Also. I believe in Big Dick Stiles Stilinski, bc he’s too smart not to know that wearing too big a condom is like the worst possible idea and can render it basically useless, and he wouldn’t have grabbed one (which we see he did in the next episode or something) if it wouldn’t fit. Therefore. XXL for our boy. XP

Hold up. So no one heard Heather screaming? Was she hallucinating the wine bottles breaking? Maybe it was an illusion, cus there’s no mess when Stiles gets down there? But still, the screaming is real. Scott should’ve heard screams like that even from outside the building.

Also, I feel p fucking bad for Stiles. As far as he knows, she bailed on him. What if he thought it was a prank or a joke or something? Or, even worse actually, since he’s known her for so long and she left her shoes down there, I bet he’d be worried instantly.

*snort* I looked up Derek’s loft set for research. They had to do so much editing to make it look grudgy and out of the way. This building is in the middle of town and it’s Massive and Gleaming. It’s a place where you can rent office suites. XD

I love everything about Isaac’s little venting session over getting Peter’s help, except the part where where he mentions Scott. Fuck scott. (whoops, now I need the tag. Like you didn’t see that coming?)

I find it hilarious that Peter’s intro is Rock Music. Also. “Fair enough.” I do love this man. (took me a while though.) Like, he’s honestly pretty simple to understand most of the time. He just wants people to be honest to him, say what they wanna say to his face.

Look at Peter, giving us one of the very few hints at werewolf history. Presumably, the ability was meant to be used to share memories with pack, locations of dens or images or even scents of other packs. And though mostly Alphas do it, clearly not just Alphas do it. This is fucking Interesting, I want MORE.

Aannnd, we discover that Scott’s been lying to Allison this whole time and letting her think that Derek just randomly attacked her mother. Love it. Also, I’m still not over Allison’s behavior in the last season? Waiting on an apology, hun, and it better be good.

OH. OH NOW You can sense the werewolves, Scott? SERIOUSLY?

Why do they make every single scene with Finstock have something to do with Stiles’ sex life? Like....it’s awkward. Stop. Also, can you imagine Stiles getting a rep around school for having a big dick bc of this? Is that something that actually happens in high schools? I had no friends, I would not know.

“No play.” The first time Scott decides that neutrality is better than actually doing something useful. I’m salty. *nods* yup. I am. I know what this scene does later on, and I hate it.

Also, can I just say that I literally hate that EVERY SINGLE time Stiles is having a good time, they make it Horrible? Stiles makes a lil joke about Derek being a Sourwolf? Derek gets claws through his lungs and spits blood. Stiles gets to play on the team?  Across town Erica and Boyd are being tortured. Stiles is about to have sex? The girl he’s supposed to have sex with is being traumatized downstairs. Stiles is about to play a stupid fucking game in class? He gets taken in for questioning because his friend since birth has been kidnapped. They literally refuse to ever let Stiles be happy without making him look like an idiot or an asshole for having a single good emotion. It makes me so MAD. You can literally measure the show! If Stiles is actually smiling, then someone’s about to die.

OH MY GOD. Really? Another moment we didn’t get to see? “Derek says it’s easier to turn teenagers” WHEN DID HE SAY THAT? I‘M SO CURIOUS. Also how does Stiles know what Peter and Derek tried to do to get Isaac’s memories back? Are they reporting to Stiles? Letting him know what’s up? STILES IS HALE PACK I WILL FIGHT YOU.

I’m getting really sick of Deaton somehow knowing more about werewolves than the two born werewolves. Like, it’s really fucking annoying? They know their own species, or at least they should? It was the same with Chris helping out on the hunt. He doesn’t know werewolves better than they know themselves and I’m fucking tired of it. Let Peter and Derek have their own fucking history and knowledge about their own fucking species.

*snort* i paused at just the right time and the water effect made Derek and scott’s foreheads Really big. XD

I enjoy Stiles getting distracted now that his job is done. I feel that in my soul. The only difference between us is that he has the confidence to just Grab the shit he wants to play with, and I never did so I just zone out staring at it.

I’m not stupid. I see them suddenly throwing in the work ‘risky’ everywhere. But I still appreciate Derek reminding Isaac that he doesn’t have to do the ice tub thing.

More reflections...what’s with the reflections in this season so far?

Also, is this how people sound when they’re hypnotized. I’m on Stiles’ side actually, giving this the side-eye with Isaac’s constant “They’re here” thing. It seems really weird and overdone.

God, this scene is such fucking bullshit. Derek would never put Isaac in danger like that. Isaac’s the only Beta he’s got at the moment. He wouldn’t do that and it’s fucking Stupid to make him be so vicious and scare the shit out of Isaac. I fucking hate it.

I think it’s sweet that Isaac looks to Stiles for answers when everyone’s acting weird.

Ten hours of research, and Stiles has a little pinboard on the floor, the prototype for his big one Awwwwww.

Papa Stilinski comes through ONce Again!

If they’re supposed to meet at 5 and get to work at dark. Why is it dark when they get to Dereks??? WORK WITH ME HERE.

WHY would they patch the wall (Which is stone, so wtf did they patch it with? Concrete?) if they closed the bank down right after the robbery???

IT”S THE SCENE *heavy breathing* “Big bad wolf, yeahhh, lookatdat” Peter looks SO DONE “I’ve been dealing with this for months, make it stop”

aaaand again. “Risk” Since when does Peter care about risk? I never understood this scene. We have evidence that Peter cares about family, and according to werewolves, pack is family. He flipped shit to find Derek when Derek was missing. This is exactly the kind of thing he would do. I just...I don’t get it. Don’t like it, either.

“Yeah, if you want me to come” “NOT you” I love this scene, because it shows not just that Stiles is fucking raring to go and help, but that he didn’t offer before only because he thought Derek wouldn’t let him. We know Derek doesn’t think Stiles is useless. He put Stiles in charge of researching this entire bank. Which means it’s not that he doesn’t think Stiles could help, it’s that he doesn’t want Stiles to get hurt. And apparently Stiles knows that Derek feels that way, and knows Derek is vehement enough about it that he didn’t even bother bringing it up in the first place. That’s some serious trust and understanding, and even respect right there that Stiles is showing. Understanding what Derek would feel before he did it, trusting that Derek knew better about what was too dangerous for Stiles to involve himself in, and respecting him enough not to bug him about it anyway.

personal preference, I hate how much time is wasted just showing people walk down halls with weird lighting effects, or showing Allison trip over debris and pull her coat closed. Like...it’s really not needed?

Sup, Morrell? 20 seconds to get hidden? Is that 20 sec before the alphas get in hearing range or 20 sec before they actually get there? And how did the Alphas know that Derek was coming tonight? As far as they knew they took Isaac’s memory away and killed Braeden.

KALI WEAR SOM EFUCKING SHOES YOU NASSTY.

Smart girl with the bleach. I mean, I don’t know why the sudden scent of bleach didn’t tick kali off, but sure, whatever works.

I’m not even kidding. When I saw this scene for the first time I fucking burst into tears. Just that little glimpse of Erica and I was a mess

I really love Stiles and Peter chatting though. Like, Stiles gives no fucks, and Peter sounds just so used to it. Also, Derek’s couch looks sooooo comfy. I wanna sit on it. And Peter halfway through calling Stiles annoying is just like “Shit. He’s right. Again.” and there’s no physical distance. Peter once dragged Stiles around by his neck all night and nearly killed Lydia. But Stiles has no qualms about walking right up into his space and helping him out. PLUS, when Peter realizes Stiles is right, there’s no insults. Not even frustrated ones. When STiles describes the walls of the loft, Peter doesn’t say, “No, you idiot, the bank vault.” or make a quip. He’s immediately looking to Stiles for the information and trusting that he has it and will know where it is.

Then we have Scott just...whatever the fuck he’s saying. I don’t wanna hear it.

Okay, that is way more space behind Derek and Scott than Stiles said. And how is the moonlight even getting in? They had to shimmy through a shaft in the walls, there’s no windows in the walls. AND HOW THE FUCK would the ALpHA PACK KNOW THEY EVen KNOW WHERE THE BANK IS???

Derek should be able to hear the phone call. Just. Yes. That’s how that works. Also, Peter, now is not the time for gladiator analogies.

And the tears are back. All it takes is one fucking word. “Cora?”

IT DOESN”T MAKE SENSE. HOW WOULD THE ALPHAS KNOW??? If Marin hired Braeden and told her to get a message to Derek about the bank they were being kept at, then that means that it was all this really dumb double-double cross. Her making it look like she double-crossed the Alphas by telling Braeden to give up their location, but actually doing for the Alphas to trap Derek and Scott. What the absolute fuck?

FINALLY Someone holds Scott accountable. THANK you Derek.

Also, hello Lydia, I’m so sorry honey but you’re about to enter a whole new nightmare.

Final thoughts: I’m very long winded, and very frustrated and very fucking sad. I am just so goddamn sad and the next episode’s gonna make me feel even worse so I’m taking a break.

[rosalind-of-arden]

Ink and Bone Reread Chapters 12-13

Hunting for interesting bits involving Morgan, Wolfe, Santi, worldbuilding, and whatever else catches my eye.

This is the fucking train of male nudity. So far, we’ve had Jess in the shower, Jess’s robe falling open, Wolfe and Santi half-naked, and now here’s Dario shirtless. And Jess wants to hit Dario very hard while Dario is shirtless. Boys, boys.

Santi requests backup troops specifically from “the nearest available base with a commander I can trust.” Sounds simple enough, but there has to be a fair bit of planning behind this. Now I don’t know how much information about local High Garda commanders Santi could pull up from the Codex in this sort of situation. Maybe he looked up who was nearby. Maybe he had to research this ahead of time, knowing the train route and finding out what allies might be along that route in case he needed them. Either way, Santi has connections going through the High Garda not only in Alexandria, but also in France, at least. At a bare minimum, he knows enough about French High Garda commanders to know by reputation who he can trust. I get the feeling that this is a thing Santi has thought about quite a lot, and wherever he and Wolfe go, he has a “what if the Artifex tries to kill Wolfe” plan including potential allies.

Wolfe and Jess running into the burning train together to rescue Morgan. Jess is an idiot teenager in love, but Wolfe knows exactly what he’s getting into. Notice that Wolfe doesn’t seem all that surprised to learn that Morgan is alive: he accepts the news very quickly. More relieved than surprised, I’d say. It’s probably a possibility he considered. Interesting parallel here to how he reacts to the news that Thomas is alive: he suspected, he didn’t think he could do anything about it, but the minute he can do something, he’s jumping right in.

Wolfe knows where to find that mask. Again, seems like he’s pretty familiar with this train.

Dammit Jess, quit being so disoriented and obsessed with Morgan and not seeing how Wolfe got out of the train. Santi carries Morgan out and Thomas carries Glain. Dario and Khalila have no serious injuries and get themselves out. So did Wolfe wake up long enough to drag himself out of there and then pass out again? Did one of those unnamed and vaguely numbered soldiers help him? It would be very interesting for Santi to leave Wolfe there and take care of Morgan first.

Wolfe and Santi, bane of Medicas everywhere.

Jess missed another conversation between Wolfe and Morgan, in which Wolfe told Morgan about the rescue.

Ugh, missed this when I was doing the timeline: “It was a pretty blue-sky day outside, with a crisp turn of autumn in the air.” Argh. The time gaps are vague enough in this book that it could totally be fall here. November, probably? Maybe very early December? But then this throws off the other books. If it’s November here, it’s May, June at the latest in Paper and Fire, but then it’s fucking fall in Ash and Quill, and I have no fucking clue how that works. Time to go play with the timeline.

Santi has once again arranged for them to go with a High Garda commander he trusts. Really thinking he has put some time and effort into figuring these things out.

Wolfe hasn’t been wearing Scholar’s robes “for some time.” Is that just the 6 days in France? It didn’t really say what he was wearing in Oxford, maybe the same gold coats the students wore? I’m assuming it would be that or Scholar’s robes at the train station since he was on duty as a Scholar there. So why is Wolfe skipping the robes here? My theory is he and Santi were considering running away and leaving the Library, maybe even bringing Morgan with them (other students who might be considered at risk as well?) I can see either one of them being the one to suggest leaving, and either one being the one to decide to stay; it could be something they both felt conflicted on.

Wolfe also describes the class as “a year’s class”, but I will ignore that for timeline purposes, as it does not necessarily indicate that the class would occur over a full year (I don’t think we can push the time gaps quite that far). Even if the class was supposed to last a year, there’s no reason to think that this terribly irregular class did.

Morgan and Jess are the last ones to join in the students’ show of gratitude and respect for Wolfe. Does Morgan have the tracker back on at this point? The timing isn’t clear on that: Jess wonders if she has one while he’s still in the Medica tent, but it isn’t confirmed that one is on her until dinner later.

Wolfe and Santi are guarding Morgan closely here, but it doesn’t seem like they were before, during the 6 days of Jess and friends hanging out and playing chess.

Drunk Wolfe! He’s on his third bottle and Santi still doesn’t start looking worried until he starts making anti-Library comments. This is definitely an unhealthy coping mechanism Santi is used to dealing with.

“as it broke ours years ago.” Is Wolfe just talking about Rome here? It’s been around 2 - 2 1/2 years at this point since he was arrested. Or does he mean other things also?

“If you don’t care about your future, think of theirs. Think of mine.” This is probably a reminder to Wolfe of how their discussion of running away ended, and also a reminder of fights they’ve had about Morgan and the other students. Going back to Alexandria means Wolfe is making himself completely dependent on Santi to maintain good enough standing with the Library to keep them both safe. Possibly financially dependent as well, unless gold band Scholars get paid even when they aren’t working. They’re putting everything on Santi’s career in the High Garda, and that’s got to be tough for both of them.

“We’ve all got scars. Don’t show them here.” Hey, it’s a line that could possibly refer to Santi being tortured when he looked for Wolfe. Yes, yes, among about a million other things. Also, here’s another case of Santi encouraging one of Wolfe’s unhealthy coping mechanisms: Wolfe suppresses memories and feelings related to Rome, and here he was potentially starting to open up and talk about it. Sure, he was drunk and doing it in a terrible context, and from a strategic and survival perspective, Santi absolutely could not let Wolfe keep talking here. But still, another case of their bad habits feeding off each other in the absence of better options.

Morgan’s tracker was “double-locked by an Obscurist.” Where did they find an Obscurist to do that? Can it be done remotely? Wolfe: Dear Mom, Fine, you win, you can have my student. If you can keep her from taking this tracker off, that is. Are they lying about this?

We’re down to 5 soldiers out of an unknown number who went into Oxford (Jess saw 80 when they got to England, 12 died in Oxford, Jess observed not many were left, now only 5). We’re looking at potentially a lot of deaths among people Santi cares about and feels responsible for. He may be used to this sort of thing considering his 20+ years in the military, but still.

Santi is awfully angry when he confronts Jess about Morgan. Jess thinks Santi is drunk here, but we already saw that Santi didn’t have a lot of wine with dinner. Two possibilities: He’s not drunk, he’s just that upset, or whatever conversation he had with Wolfe after they left, or after they got the message about Morgan, inspired a lot of drinking.

Wolfe and Santi were going to let Morgan get away. They set up the opportunity for her very well, really. Put on a show of watching her and reminding her about the tracker, conveniently not be there when she gets away. Have the troops ordered to catch her, but not necessarily placed to actually succeed.

Santi thinks Morgan has no journal because her father is a Burner, but he’s wrong. She had one back in Alexandria, which she was probably writing very carefully in. The real reason she doesn’t have one is presumably that she can see the mirroring scripts.

“They can do anything they like. To anyone.” Hey, look, another line that could be about Santi’s torture. Yes, and lots of other things too.

Santi interrupts Jess and Morgan kissing to arrest Morgan. Revenge for their cockblocking on the train?

Glain has been chatting with Wolfe and Santi about Jess and Morgan. Why must Jess miss all the good conversations?

Here’s the Obscurist stabbing Thomas in the back to advance her own schemes. Risking Wolfe, too. Mother of the year material right here, I’m telling you.

[ferryboatpeak]

Original mpreg anon here, please continue this I love it!! And I LOVE it being end game gryles. Maybe once Harry realizes he’s actually pregnant he moves in with nick, unofficially, like he did back in 2012, and when nick halfheartedly protests he explains that it’s really all nick’s fault that he took the test ‘without you none of this would have happened nicholas’. even though he’s pretty sure that’s not how pregnancy works he can never say no to harry, self preservation be damned...

It’s you, the real hero! Thank you for checking in, and thank you for this premise that I have completely taken astray!

[links to previous six installments here]

I am so sorry to have to tell you that Harry does not move in with Nick. This is partly because I’ve already written pregnant Harry moving in with somebody and I want something different. BUT ALSO because Harry is rich as hell, and I do not want to deny him the pleasure of nesting the fuck out of Erskine House. This is what he was waiting for, back when he was a teenager buying a house because he thought he had to, even though it felt too big, too lonely, too much. He wasn’t expecting it to happen this way, of course, but it all makes sense. This is the moment he’s been waiting for. He’s gonna finish that nest, and he’s gonna hatch a baby.

It’s good to be back in London, hanging out with his London friends and enjoying a long stretch of time with no official appearance. He figures he’s got at least a couple of months before he’ll be showing that much, if he buys himself some time by eating smart and keeping off the weight that’s just post-tour laziness. So when he and Nick are shopping one afternoon, he drags Nick into a couple of posh baby shops and buys some very expensive but very adorable little outfits. (Decisions about clothing a girl baby present a painful struggle between Harry’s love of pink and Harry’s love of gender fluidity.)

Of course, a blurry cellphone photo makes the rounds on twitter and tumblr. Harry’s in thousand-dollar trackies, holding up a striped onesie to get Nick’s opinion (#gryles baby shopping #get married already #put a baby in him). Liz gets fifty anons and starts a moodboard about it. But everyone just assumes they’re shopping for one of Harry’s or Nick’s millions of godchildren.

Harry’s favorite scruffy white boys come over to the house for writing sessions, laying the groundwork for the second album. Harry pours all of his pregnancy feelings into his songwriting, and the results are pretty fucking weird. Obscure instruments, references to waxing moons and ripening fruit, and an extended Virgin Mary metaphor that just does not work. But there’s also a couple of hormonal rage tunes that really bang. Tyler and Alex emerge shaken. Mitch takes it in stride. (Harry’s even more cuddly than usual.)

Harry’s seeing his medical team regularly, with all the secrecy you’d expect: after-hours appointments, entering the hospital at the loading dock and being escorted to the clinic down back hallways, and so on. The perinatologists and internists who are overseeing his care don’t have any day-to-day concerns, aside from the overarching question of where the hell this is going.

But the doctor that Harry gets the most attached to is his original OB. She’s the one who’ll listen attentively to his rambling questions and patiently answer whether he can have peanut butter and why he’s taking so much folic acid and whether hot yoga is allowed and what position the baby might be in if Harry feels a kick right here, no, a little more on the side, yeah, like there, do you think she’s facing front or back? Can she turn? What if she turns?

The other doctors, the specialists, are fascinated by Harry’s case, but he’s a lot to deal with day to day, you know? They’re relieved to wave his questions off to the OB whenever they can. At one evening visit to the imaging department, somewhere around week 26, everybody realizes that Harry hasn’t taken a gestational diabetes test. The hospital doesn’t have a supply of the glucose drink, it’s late, and the doctors just want to get home. Everyone decides that Harry can just drop by the OB’s office tomorrow to do the test.

Harry and Nick meet up for brunch the next day. They’ve got some time to kill before Nick’s due at work, so Nick ends up going to the doctor’s office with Harry. It’s November, which means that Harry’s got on a hoodie and two shirts and a giant shearling-lined coat. He doesn’t look pregnant, he just looks bundled up for winter. (However, Harry definitely looks pregnant when he’s only wearing pants. He’s slept over a couple of times, snoring on his side of Nick’s bed with a furry pillow doubled over under his belly, and it’s seriously fucking with Nick’s head.)

Nick laughs at Harry’s grimace of disgust when he downs the glucose drink. They sit in companionable silence, messing about on their phones, while they wait out the prescribed period before the blood draw. Nick makes tattoo jokes to the phlebotomist. Harry passes the test and is predictably smug about it, and Nick tells him that of course his system’s great at processing sugar, he’s had enough practice, hasn’t he.

On their way back to the car park, someone shouts at them to hold the elevator. Harry gives Nick a nervous glance, even as he sticks his arm out to block the door, because Harry’s got to be a nice guy even when it creates the possibility of an awkward elevator fan encounter. The source of the request clatters into view down the hallway: a woman pushing a toddler in a stroller, with an overloaded diaper bag slipping off her shoulder, hustling toward the elevator as fast as she can when her kid is obviously due to have a younger sibling in the very near future.

Slow down, it’s all right, we’re not leaving, Nick and Harry call out. She makes it to the elevator and between huffs of breath she thanks them several times and explains that her husband has the car today, her bus is leaving in a few minutes, if she doesn’t catch it she’ll be waiting around with the baby in the cold for an hour. Then she starts fussing with the diaper bag, clipping it to the handles of the stroller, and Nick and Harry exchange a look of relief when she doesn’t give any indication that she recognizes them.

Harry shifts position so he can grin and wave at the baby in the stroller. Nick’s heart does something funny. Shopping for baby clothes, seeing the silhouette on the ultrasound… all of that felt vaguely fictional, like the most extreme version of all of their old pregnancy jokes. But watching Harry’s face light up as he says a big exaggerated “hiiiiiiiiiiiii” to the baby, that really makes Nick realize that Harry’s going to have a baby sooner rather than later. Harry and a baby. Nick wants a baby, in an abstract but real kind of a way, and somehow Harry got there first. He got there without Nick.

The elevator reaches the ground floor and Nick and Harry step out of the way so that the pregnant mum can dash to her bus. But she only makes it a few feet before the diaper bag comes unhooked from the stroller and hits the ground, spewing its contents everywhere. A sippy cup goes rolling halfway across the granite floor of the lobby. She swears sharply, clenches her fists, and bursts into frustrated tears. The toddler in the stroller follows suit.

Harry immediately crouches down and tries to amuse/distract/comfort the baby. Nick scrambles around the lobby, retrieving the sippy cup and shoving wipes and baggies of snacks and the woman’s phone back into the diaper bag. He tries to loop it back over the handles of the stroller and she says no, no, she’ll take it, she was such an idiot for putting it there in the first place, god, this has been the worst fucking day.

Nick gives her an awkward hug and says something comforting that feels entirely inadequate. She sniffles against his shoulder. Meanwhile, Harry has converted the toddler from tears to hiccupy giggles. You guys are so nice, thank you so much, says the woman, and she and her kid head off to the bus stop.

Nick and Harry don’t think anything more of it, until a few days later, when one of Nick’s occasional visits to the gryles tag makes it clear that somebody in the lobby got some photos of them that day. Harry talking to the baby, Nick hugging the woman. There’s lots of speculation about the identity of the mystery mum, but nobody seems to have found her. Thank god, Nick thinks, the poor woman.

He puts it out of his mind. But the next day, the professional media picks up the photos, and Nick’s confronted with his face on a tabloid and a headline that feels like a kick to the chest:

Harry Styles and Nick Grimshaw Visit Doctor With Their Surrogate