#Felix has terrible luck

[knifedancer]

Dancing In The Rain

Prompt: Rain In which Felix learns that Paris at night is much more beautiful when he dances in the rain…with Marinette.

~~~~~~~

It was a rainy Saturday in Paris, the city of love and magic, of superheroes and villains… One would expect to be charmed by a gentle sprinkle on such a lazy day! However, standing under the sopping café umbrella that threatened to snap shut under the weight of the current downpour, we find a boy who feels the polar opposite. Felix Fathom was unimpressed and just plain irritated with Paris – he didn’t even want to be here! It was not the city itself but his week that had put him in such a foul mood. He took stock of his life up to this point and was convinced he was on a bad luck streak – one that built with each passing day until this very moment.

Why, you may ask?

Monday he was shipped off to Paris by his mother to visit his oblivious cousin for two days. Two days of pretending he didn’t know Gabriel was Monarch. Sure, what could go wrong?

Well, he must have jinxed it or angered a random omnipotent god because this week must be divine punishment…

On Tuesday, he discovered his favorite fountain pen had exploded all over his new book and the contents of his book bag.

Wednesday his mother joyously announced he would be staying for the whole week due to work obligations on her part. Phenomenal.

Thursday he was targeted by an akuma – which, in all honesty, he had instigated the akumatization… but only because that damn waitress had dumped his iced coffee into his lap!

If the akuma seemed a little too hostile, well, Uncle was likely gunning for him…

On Friday, he discovered Gabriel had someone ransack his room – likely looking for the peacock miraculous. Felix suspected it was Uncle Gabe himself because half his clothes were ripped asunder by someone expressing a lot of frustration! And he was not sure what that awful odor rubbed all over his boxers was!

Although he was unsure what his uncle would have burnt to leave a random trail of ashes on the floor…

But this morning?

Oh ho ho, this fucking morning was the pièce de résistance!

Saturday brought forth quite a surprise! He awoke in Adrien’s bed, in his cousin’s pajamas, and a note on his forehead from said conniving cousin telling Felix to ‘fill in’ for him on a photoshoot while he spent the day with his friends. Felix had no idea how the model had gotten out of the house, although he assumed that he would find some of his own clothes missing from his closet if he checked. How did Adrien even get him from his room down the hall without waking him?!

That wasn’t even the worst part.

Halfway through the boring photoshoot on the outskirts of Paris, there was an akuma attack. Stormy Weather appeared after being slighted by the meteorologist at the news station – something about Stormy’s predictions being wrong? He didn’t fully know, he only caught part of her monologue before running for cover. They had been hit by hurricane level winds, sleet, and snow so suddenly that half the equipment had to be left behind. Le Gorille had rushed him to the car to make a quick getaway however, just eight blocks away, they had hit some black ice and popped two tires on the curb. Gorille sent him to go find a place to shelter while he called the auto club, but nothing was open due to the attack. So, Felix made the executive decision to walk back. He was about halfway across Paris when the wave of ladybugs purified the area. Finally, his day was looking up!

Felix pulled out his phone to call Le Gorille…only to find the battery dead. Great.

He was stranded, in the middle of Paris, with a dead phone and no money to even hail a taxi with. ‘This day could NOT get any worse!’ Felix thought in a huff.

That was when the rain started.

You see, Stormy Weather – Aurore, whatever – had predicted an unseasonable rain coming that day and the chief meteorologist had scoffed at the teen. Felix was suddenly very supportive of the akuma’s desire to correct the idiot! The blond ran down the street to a café, only to find it was closed due to a shortage of staff. Luckily there was a left-out patio umbrella that he could take shelter under until the rain lightened up.

Except that it didn’t. It grew heavier by the passing minute and Felix found himself huddled under a flimsy, soddy, dripping umbrella in seemingly the worst rainstorm to hit Paris since the Great Flood of 1910. The wet blond mused over the fact that somehow, someway, this was not caused by an akuma. If that were the case, then could all these linked bad events just be coincidence? Or was he simply that unlucky? Once he returned back to London, he would definitely need to ask Duusu if kwamis could curse people…

Just as Felix was about to settle for getting drenched in the rain, a flash of pink caught his eye. There, across the street, moved a lone hazy figure with a polka-dotted umbrella and pink galoshes. As he turned to look at them fully, he realized this figure was not walking down the street but dancing; kicking up puddles on the sidewalk while humming a little ditty as they crossed the intersection nearby. As the figure got closer, he could make out dark hair pulled back into pigtails… pigtails that reminded him of…

“…Marinette?” He hadn’t seen her since that disastrous night at the Diamond Dance!

The girl jolted with surprise when she heard her name, her bluebell eyes taking in the damp blond boy huddled beneath the dripping canopy. He looked exhausted and just as shocked as she was.

“Ad-Adrien? W-what are you doing out h-here?” she squeaked, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

‘Ah, she thinks I’m Adrien again…perhaps I could trick her into letting me borrow her umbrella,’ Felix thought strategically.

He plastered on his imitation model smile and approached her as far as his sparse covering would allow. “I uh… I had a photoshoot today, but then there was that akuma attack? Then my phone died! And, well, it’s a long story...” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Wow, talk about bad luck. But are you lost? Your house is this way,” the young designer pointed in the opposite direction that Felix had been headed.

The blond blinked and muttered a curse under his breath. “I guess I got lost with everything going on… Would you mind if I walked back with you?”

“Oh…um…s-sure,” Marinette lifted her umbrella to accommodate his taller frame. He ducked under but quickly discovered that she would shrink slightly from their proximity and cause the umbrella’s armatures to smack him in the head. With a gentle smile disguising his irritation, he offered to hold it for her, and she quickly acquiesced. They fell into a companionable silence as they walked. He knew he needed to say something, Adrien would obviously be chatting with her…

“So…what were you doing out in this storm, Marinette?”

“Oh…uh, I was out running a delivery for my parents.”

“Really? In this dreary weather?” Felix asked with obvious surprise.

“Dreary? No, I love the rain! There’s something magical about it…like having a million sparkles falling from the sky!” He watched as her eyes twinkled and he could almost imagine the raindrops glistening just from the brightness of her smile. “It’s special to me,” she finished with a blush.

“Is that why you were dancing in it when I saw you?” He chuckled remembering her hops and twirls on the sidewalk.

Her cheeks flushed dark red, her eyes dropped to her fidgeting hands, and her smile faded with her embarrassment. “Ooh…you saw that? I just…,” Marinette paused, unsure of how to proceed. “I’m not any good at dancing but…it’s fun,” she finished with a whisper.

Felix frowned at the change in her behavior, he clearly recalled their short dance together and her natural grace on the dancefloor. Perhaps she was just self-deprecating because she was intimidated by his cousin? Adrien would surely attempt to cheer up his friend – perhaps girlfriend – wouldn’t he? With not a second longer in hesitation, he stopped and held out his hand to the bluenette. She stared at it for a moment before turning her impossibly blue eyes toward him. “Could I have this dance?” Her eyes widened and she blushed, taking his hand bashfully. He handed her back the umbrella to hold over his shoulder as he wrapped her in his embrace. With a soft hum he began to lead her in a gentle waltz down the sidewalk.

Slowly but surely the warm smile returned and brightened before his eyes as he guided her into bigger and faster spins, keeping them both in tempo to the steps long ingrained in his limbs by dance instructors his mother had insisted he learn from – much to his dismay at the time. ‘I guess I’ll have to thank her now that those silly lessons were finally of some use,’ he thought while a grin spread unwittingly across his face. He lost himself to the movements of their dance, a comfortable warmth growing in his chest. In a rather large puddle he spun Marinette, her foot fanning out in a way that caused the standing water to splash in a great wave over the curb before she settled back into his arms for another set of steps with a giggle. The warmth grew as Felix dipped her, watching as her radiant smile turned up towards the heavens as raindrops danced across her face.

They progressed down the street, both of them smiling and laughing as their hair and shoulders were moistened by wayward drops that missed the umbrella. Eventually they slowed to a stop as they waited for the crosswalk light to change; he gazed down at her – noting the flushed pink cheeks, sparkling eyes, and wide smile. Felix wasn’t sure what came over him. He glanced down at her lips, parted and panting from their energetic dance, and suddenly wanted to know how they felt. With hooded eyes he leaned forward, his arm tightening around her waist as he felt her rise up slowly on her tip toes as if to meet him halfway…the umbrella dropped from her fingers as they slid to the short hairs on the back of his neck, but neither could find it in their minds to care about the rain falling on their heads…

Just as their lips were about to touch, a car came careening around the corner and hit the large puddle forming at the blocked drain. Felix quickly rotated them so that he would shield her with his body. Within seconds a massive, brackish tidal wave splashed over them both and left them drenched. Feeling the cold, dirty water sliding down his spine, the blond let out a string of English curses that even his mother would be ashamed of. Marinette seemed to jolt at the noise and stared at him while he pushed the very wet hair from his face – unconsciously putting it back into his normal style – as the heavy rain continued to pour on their heads. He missed the calculating look she gave him before that gave way to a small smile, then to a chuckle, then a full belly laugh. Felix looked at her dumbfounded before he, too, began to crack up at their situation.

“You look ridiculous,” she giggled out.

“You look like a drowned mouse!” Felix laughed back, unable to contain himself.

“At least I don’t look like an overgrown komondor!” They laughed harder, tears springing to their eyes as the rain plastered their hair to their heads.

‘When was the last time I laughed like this?’ both thought to themselves wryly.

They both eventually calmed down, wiping tears and hair from their eyes. He fished the umbrella from the sidewalk and shook some of the water free before offering it to Marinette. She shook her head and motioned for him to keep it. “My house is just a couple doors down from here. You need it more than I do. The mansion is just up this street,” the blue-eyed girl pointed down the adjacent road.

He furrowed his brow slightly, realizing that their stolen time was coming to an end; he found the warmth in his chest had turned to an ache – he would miss her presence. “You’re sure? At least let me walk you home.”

Marinette quickly shook her head, her wet pigtails flinging droplets of water with the motion. “I’ll be fine, besides you need to get back, so you don’t catch a cold.  We’re both soaked to the bone!” He watched as she hesitated for a moment before sliding in close, pulling him down by his shirt collar, and kissing his cheek. “Th-thank you for the dance, Felix.”

With a distant clap of thunder, a red flush crept up his neck and onto his face as her soft lips pressed against his cheek. In the seconds that it took for him to register her words, she had taken off at a full sprint and disappeared into the heavy rain – returning to the pink blur he first saw by that café. Felix stood there in the rain, speechless and flustered as he touched his cheek. He couldn’t say how long he stood there, staring off, but it was long enough that the downpour had finally become a light drizzle. He looked down at the umbrella in his hand as if looking for proof that this had not been a dream… He gripped the handle a little tighter. It was solid, tangible, real.

A small smile spread across his face. Perhaps his luck wasn’t so bad after all.

~~~ BONUS SCENE ~~~

On Friday after school, while Adrien took care of his extra Chinese lessons and the others were out of the house, Plagg decided to do a little reconnaissance. He carefully zipped across his holder’s room and phased through the wall, floating down the empty hallway until he got to the end. Once there he passed through the door and ducked behind a garbage can while he surveyed the room. A wicked gleam and mischievous grin lit up the kwami’s face; the room was empty!

It had been about two months since Tikki told him about the Adrien knockoff showing up with Duusu and making a mess of things. The London blond had been very combative with Ladybug but oddly protective of Marinette. Tikki was hopeful that Felix might be reformed and join their side – his other half was so optimistic like that. The cheese wheel was always half full with her!

Plagg though? He was a ‘it’s a half a damn wheel of cheese’ type of cat – he jokingly liked to say he was an ‘optipissed’: pissed off optimist. Could things go right? Sure, but things could also just be what they appear.

Plagg didn’t know if Adrien’s cousin was redeemable and didn’t care to figure it out; planning was Tikki’s thing. He preferred results. That’s why he decided to curse that fluffed-up popinjay with a little bad luck! Well, that was mostly because the tiny cat god wanted revenge. Tomato, potato. Right now, the cat kwami intended to get results by taking the peacock miraculous and get it to Pigtails ASAP. Plagg hoped that Felix had left it behind in a hidden compartment or spot in the room while not in use. If it was on his person, the black cat wasn’t sure what to do!

“Duusu!” the black cat called, “Hey Duusu! You in here?” There was no answer.

“Tsk. If I was a feather-brained, pompous, jerk face, where would I hide a broach?” Plagg asked himself as he looked around the room. He decided to check the desk first – rifling through the neat stacks of paper and pens – before dive bombing into the bed to phase through the mattress and pillows. No dice. He proceeded around the room, passing through lamps, tables, and books with increasing irritation. He didn’t even sense the miraculous nearby! He swatted a pillow with his tail in agitation.

Well, if he wasn’t going to get what he came for, he might as well enjoy himself…

Just then the door opened and Plagg hid himself inside a lampshade, watching with great suspicion as Gabriel entered the room to do his own snooping. The cat kwami stayed silent as his holder’s father dug through the closet and dresser, ripping apart jacket and suitcase linings in search of something. After about five minutes, Gabriel let out a soft growl and stalked back across the room to the door. With one last glance around the room, he slammed the door behind him.

‘Seems he didn’t find what he was looking for either!’ Plagg thought suspiciously, he wondered what the kid had stolen this time.

The black cat kwami slowly exited his hiding place, making sure no one would be near to hear his next actions. Then he phased into the closet and began to toss the remaining collection of trousers, vests, and pristinely pressed shirts all over the floor while he cackled with glee. When it was in proper upheaval, he gathered up one each of Felix’s socks from the dresser, called upon his cataclysm, leaving only a small pile of dust on the floor as evidence of their existence. Plagg then burrowed into the underwear drawer, intent to claw some holes in the materials there when the door opened again…

“Plagg?” came Adrien’s hesitant whisper.

Popping his head out the leg of a pair of boxer briefs with a cheesy belch, the kwami called back, “hey kid, I’m over here!”

Adrien quietly closed the door and stalked across the room, tripping on a shirt and unconsciously kicking up the small pile of ashes as he recovered his balance. Plagg watched with satisfaction as the ashes settled to litter a bigger portion of the floor. “What the hell are you doing in here? Felix will be home any minute!”

“Just lookin’ for the miraculous, kid. Figured we know sourpuss has got the peacock, perhaps he’d leave it unattended, then we could get it back to the guardian.”

“Did you have to make such a mess?” the blond pressed his hand to his forehead as he looked over the random piles and ripped items on the floor. “I’m already stuck doing that photoshoot tomorrow instead of hanging out with Nino; if Father thinks I destroyed Felix’s room, I’ll probably be grounded for life!”

Plagg landed on Adrien’s shoulder, “About that kid… I got an idea. Why don’t we…,” as he whispered quietly in his ear.

Adrien’s eyes lit up and he chuckled, gathering up a few pieces of clothes from the floor to use as his disguise in the morning. “That’s sure to put him in a fowl mood!”

~~~Author's Notes: yes I referenced a historical event (Great Flood of 1910), a specific breed of dog, and made a peacock pun.

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[silence-ofthe-llamas]

More Mech Au-Au!

Swindle-orientated chapter, with sprinkles of TexAid.

Swindle smiled at everyone.

He smiled at those he was happy with, he smiled at those who had pissed him off, he smiled at those he was making deals with, the list was endless.

The only time he didn’t smile was when he was on his own. The door would click closed behind him, the lock automatically engaging, and the facade would slide from his face.

This all had to be worth it. It had to. He’d risked so much already, he was gambling at stakes he couldn’t pay. Failure would mean death, death for all five of them, and as such, failure was unacceptable.

He’d promised Onslaught.

Vortex was a source of pride for him - a prototype mech who had survived against all odds, plumping up his resume handsomely. The only surviving AI from that round and the round that came after - against all odds, Vortex had persisted. He hadn’t self destructed like his own cohort had, he hadn’t lost his sense of reality, he didn’t completely lose himself. He remained exactly who he was, for better or for worse. The discussions of destroying him once he’d begun to show his more aggressive tendencies were terrifying, sending Swindle scrambling for ways to extract Vortex from the mech. They didn’t get this far just to be treated like they were disposable. Had they forgotten that they were real people they’d trapped within the metal? What did it matter that they were slated to die anyway? That didn’t mean they could just be destroyed when they became inconvenient, there was supposed to be a due process. They were owed that much.

Swindle hung up his hat and ran his hand through his hair. Fuck. They’d gotten so lucky with that boy – Felix, right? That was his name, and Swindle has a vague recollection of his name meaning luck. Good for them that he lived up to it – they were lucky that he was persistent and determined, lucky that Vortex seemed to like him. His teammate liked to play with his food, and it seemed he was settling in to give First Aid a good long chew. Which was good! It meant Vortex was unknowingly buying himself some more time whilst he looked for ways to extract him and put him in something else. Anything else would do at this point - shit, he could be his toaster and burn his toast for eternity. At least he’d still be alive and he wouldn’t be left alone again.

Shit. How depressing. How did this become their only option?

Swindle kicked off his shoes, neatly placing them away onto the rack, and shrugged off his jacket

“I want to make them burn in hell.”

He’d done it because he had to. He took no pleasure in what happened to his team after he gave the wrong people the right intel - but it was this, or they’d all be dead. Like, dead-in-the-ground-dead. Skullfucked by maggots dead. Not on ice, not in giant suits of armour with guns and swords bigger than buildings, dead. Dead and forgotten, and it would be all five of them. Nobody alive to fight in their corner, nobody to keep them as safe as they could, nobody to do what needed to be done.

The screams didn’t haunt him like they used to. While they were still alive, skulking around the research centre with tags and monitors and cables and cameras on them at all times, people did terrible things to them. Trepan was the most frightening. He was enraptured with the idea of creating super soldiers. That’s what they’d tried at first - they’d needed warm, fresh, and living bodies - and who would notice if a mercenary group went missing? Everyone would just assume that they had died, and that would be that. They wouldn’t even look for their corpses.

Vortex had been the most difficult one for them to deal with. He was rude, unruly, and dished back what he was given. At one point they’d had to strap him down Hannibal style just to give him his injections - after they’d removed his prosthetic arm when he’d slashed through the restraints and three researchers with the hidden blade, he’d taken to biting down hard enough to rip chunks of flesh from the researchers instead. Vortex would laugh through the blood that dripped down his chin, but he’d always ended up screaming.

Brawl was freakishly quiet. He would press his palms to his temples, his eyes dull and face gaunt. Swindle would never admit how it made his insides churn, how guilt had ravaged him into sleepless nights. They all screamed, they all cried through the agony of it, but it was the worst when they were quiet. His team wasn’t meant to be quiet. They were always doing something, saying something. Vortex was always pissing off Blast Off, winding him up like a younger sibling did to an older one. Brawl was always playing music far too loud in his headphones. Onslaught was much quieter, but he was his own kind of orchestra of sound. A gun being cleaned, turning pages, the squeak of leather.

They weren’t in the research facility. They were shadows of themselves.

Onslaught had always given Swindle his looks though. No blame. No fault given. Thankful. They’d made a promise, after all. They’d agreed that this was what they would do, how it would happen. Anything that gave them longer to figure out what the fuck they were going to do.

The experiments were a failure. All it gave them were broken men. But that only gave them perfectly usable test subjects for something else, for another failing project.

Trepan had asked Swindle personally who he would volunteer as their first test subject. Who did he think had the best chance of success? Who did he think would make the best immortal warrior?

The cockroach, he’d replied. Vortex was fucking impossible to kill. He’d seen him getting himself blown up multiple times. He’d had to pay to fix his face, he’d had to pay to fix his spine, he’d had to pay for that damn prosthetic and every single hospital stay to stitch him back together. And not once had the man been touched by death. If a nuclear bomb were to fall on them, he was convinced Vortex would emerge unscathed and demanding a cigarette.

He was also extremely resistant to control. He despised being told what to do. Onslaught was an exception because he had actually made an effort to build a rapport with him, it was a relationship built on mutual respect and understanding. And Trepan? Every single scientist in this building? Vortex would rend them to dust and ash if they even entertained the thought of controlling him.

It was a hopeful moment, a glimpse into an optimistic future. Vortex would lose his humanity, but they would all regain their freedom.

But good things didn’t favour terrible men.

Fuck, he wanted a cigarette.

The photoshoot with Blurr was overrunning. It was already eleven o’clock at night - they’d been at this since 10 in the morning, working hard to get their perfect shots. The photogenic mechanics (paid actors). The intelligent engineers (more paid actors). The trustworthy medics (yet more paid actors). Their only non-actor was Blurr, but even then he was just their show dog. He wasn’t actually a pilot, not in the traditional sense. He wasn’t deployed, he was paraded.

Blurr would want to talk after, to natter away about something or other, to get a drink together and maybe a bite to eat, but Swindle just wanted to go to bed. He was tired. Exhausted. Going into his teammates lockers to grab a photograph had just dug up old memories from where he’d buried them, and he’d woken up with Vortex’s screams in his native tongue ringing in his ears, unable to get back to sleep. He could still hear it between the sounds of the camera shutter.

First Aid seemed to be a nice enough kid. He got on well with others, he did his job without complaint, and he was efficient. He didn’t dally around when he was to clamber into Vortex, he was quick and to the point - and, Swindle noticed with growing curiosity, he studiously avoided touching his controls.

If only the pilots were smart enough to pick up on that. Shame, really. It was starting to get real expensive to keep this quiet.

So it was with quiet horror that he watched as First Aid was trapped within the cockpit, the medic accompanying him collapsing to the floor as blood spurted up the glass from where his leg used to be.

He found himself hissing through his teeth. Don’t do anything stupid, Tex!

When First Aid stumbled out looking like his first pilot he’d ever had did, Swindle felt a grim mood take over him. How hard was it to fucking behave? To not do something so unbelievably stupid? To not get himself killed? Apparently it was too much for Vortex to fucking control himself.

But First Aid had been okay. The next day he was as chipper and chirpy as ever with full recollection of the previous day. He’d thought it was funny.

And that’s when Swindle knew that the boy was their chance. If he could survive Vortex, if Vortex was allowing him to live, then they had to seize the opportunity they could.

Nobody listened. Nobody fucking listened. They were repatriating children in biohazard bags, not even a hand left intact for their loved ones to hold as they said goodbye, and they weren’t listening to him.

They needed Felix Anwyl in that mech. Now. He was sick of watching lambs being offered up for sacrifice. Vortex was a malicious bastard but even he would get bored of it all eventually - and from where Swindle was standing, he saw a much better chance of getting their brothers online if Vortex settled down and stopped acting like he was possessed by the devil.

Seeing Felix sprinting towards Vortex in a pilots suit that didn’t fit him, Swindle discretely cleared the way. He distracted the officers with him, had them avert their eyes for a second to let him pass. He redirected people, he gave distractions, he delayed who he could to buy First Aid much needed time to get to the mech before that cadet took a single step inside. Vortex would kill them for the intrusion, he’d explicitly had enough of it and was demanding what was his. His words in the morning memos were enough.

Swindle was out of options. He needed to get First Aid into that mech before they stamped the paperwork to render the supposed AI obsolete and for the scrap heap.

He didn’t have a toaster ready for him yet.

Prowl had looked thunderous on the catwalk. So had Pharma. He had to fight to keep his grin at bay - he had to press his hand to his lips to hide it when Vortex began yelling ‘mine’ through the walkie talkie.

Oh, he really liked this one.

Pharma had kicked up the biggest fuss. He didn’t want to lose his precious medic.

Swindle checked his file. First Aid hadn’t been on any major medical assignments since the previous year, and there was no record of why. No particular displeasures, no signs of any faults or major errors, any need to retrain, or competencies lapsing and requiring reassessment. Pharma had just decided to force First Aid away from his job in some bizarre, inexplicable act.

He’d grabbed him by the collar and hissed into his ear that the blood was on his hands. That if he wanted to keep First Aid, then he could be the one to clear the mech out, that he would be the one to write to the families and explain what had happened.

Pharma had opened his mouth and begun to say something about a punishment, but Swindle placed his finger to his lips and shook his head.

“It’s not on his record.” He reminded him, tapping the file. “Do you want to incriminate yourself? Right here?”

And so he’d received the stamp of approval that evening. The ink was still wet as he shook Pharmas hand, the man holding his too tightly.

First Aid seemed to like Vortex too.

Pilots didn’t usually go and hang out with their mechs. They liked to be near them – apparently there was something about the connection that had them bond in such a way that they liked to be close to them, that they’d feel drawn towards them, but First Aid’s seemed to be almost excessive. At every free opportunity, he was there. If you couldn’t find him, the advice was to check Vortex – he’d probably be in the cockpit reading a book or listening to music, or he’d be elbow deep cleaning out the joints from the gunk the clean up crew didn’t manage to get. If it was a meal time and he wasn’t in his room or in the cafeteria, he was with Vortex.

His secondary role on base was still, technically, a medic – but Pharma had made it clear that he wasn’t welcome back in the medical bay. He’d made his bed, so to speak – if he wanted to be a pilot, then he’d be one, but it was at the sacrifice of his oath to medicine, so he wasn’t allowed to perform it. He was left to spin his wheels, to attend training sessions when they could run them for him (it was an open secret that he wasn’t a pilot, but a secret it was) and scratch his arse until the alarm went off and he was marked for deployment.

Swindle didn’t know that Pharma could hold such a grudge. He’d made a mental note to never piss him off.

A few times, when Swindle couldn’t sleep and was on a walk, he’d seen First Aid slipping into Vortex. He’d raised his brows at that.

Swindle didn’t know how Vortex hadn’t squished him yet.

Vortex fell back into the Shatterdome, rain thundering down on his armour sounding like the roar of a passing train. Sparks erupted from the gaping hole where his shoulder used to be, two of his back blades torn free and the remaining hanging on by rapidly breaking cables. The mech fell to its knees, catching itself on its remaining arm, its visor flashing a single message over and over.

OBJECTIVE ONE: PROTECT THE PILOT.

For the first time, Vortex had obeyed the objective embedded into each of their mechs. Protect the pilot. More than that, he’d brought him straight back to them.

Swindle watched him in quiet awe.

Wow. He really liked this one.

When the radio had cut out in a roar of static, Swindle had half expected Vortex to stay out on the front and continue his slaughter like he usually did when his pilot died, but instead he watched as the red dot that symbolised Vortex on the screen instead turned around and began sprinting back to the Shatterdome, ignoring all of the targets around him, ignoring when a quintesson got a good hit on him, barrelling past the other deployed mechs. Mission Control received multiple communications from the other pilots out in the field, confused calls from the crews of the helicopters monitoring from above - Vortex wasn’t responding. Vortex was moving entirely independently - his pilot was unresponsive and his life signal was so weak it could easily have been the electricity from the cables exposed to the elements being detected instead.

His walkie talkie crackled as Vortex looked directly at the large room Mission Control sat in overlooking the hangar. A voice he hadn’t heard in years ground out.

“He dies, everyone dies.”

Swindle swallowed hard, and nodded.

“Tex?” The voice was weak and unrecognisable. Swindle realised it must have been Felix. He was alive and conscious enough to speak - Swindle was already waving off people trying to get permission to do things, motioning for them to just get fucking on with it.

“Get that pilot out!” He hissed at them.

“It’s going to be okay.” Vortex promised. Swindle didn’t know his voice could get so soft.

“Stay put, Tex. Don’t move a muscle and unlock your emergency escape, the medics are here.” Swindle spoke into the walkie talkie. He received a few weird looks from those around him, but he ignored them. He’d field their curiosities later - for now, he had to focus on keeping Felix alive and figuring out how they were going to safely contain Vortex.

Fuck. He wished Onslaught had been activated. He’d know what to do. For a brief moment he wished their positions were reversed. He’d have handled all this shit so much better. Swindle would never tell him or ever admit it, but Onslaught was always the brains of the unit, he always had a plan. He’d probably have had all of them activated by now, brought the whole team back together again.

He chewed his bottom lip until it bled, the taste of copper stinging on his tongue.

The medic had to live. He had to. There was no protecting Vortex if he went on a murder spree - they could just about justify the pilots being pulverised inside of him, the difference between the cost to spec up and build and test a mech that was his equal vs the cost to train a new pilot was extraordinary. Vortex could, in theory, chew through a few hundred more pilots before they’d start to wonder if they should have just built a new mech. But to destroy a whole base?

Yeah. No. It would be significantly more difficult to justify it as a misidentified ‘protect the pilot’ protocol. Sure, he could argue that the base failed to save his pilot, but how would the mech know? Why did the mech identify the Shatterdome as a target? Clearly it was faulty, glitched, and needed to go.

Vortex was not one to be reasoned with. Swindle knew that all too well. There wasn’t going to be the opportunity to talk him down from his decision.

They succeeded, or they failed. That was it. One or the other. Felix survived, or everyone died.

God, he prayed that Felix was as much of a cockroach as Vortex was.

[sports-on-sundays]

i NEED some pedri enemies to lovers where the reader is dating joao felix and he is really abusive to her and when pedri finds out in a party he defends the reader

got your back / Pedri González

Summary: Pedri x female!reader - Pedri hates you. Well, that is, until he's faced with a situation to genuinely be concerned with you. Then? Of course he doesn't hate you!

Warnings: mention of sexual abuse/crossing boundaries, discomfort, language, unwanted physical/sexual action being pushed, mention of sickness, having to fake happiness/being fine, physical abuse, anxiety, fear, don't read if you could be sensitive to anything here- I'd hate to hurt anyone or bring back any pain or anxiety anyone might have - read at your own risk!

Author's Note: I got nothing against João, so instead of using him, I just made the guy an unnamed La Liga player, because I don't want to paint anyone in a terrible image, and I'm sorry if I have done that in the past, but I don't feel comfortable with it. I hope this makes sense and you understand! Thanks for the request!

Requested?: Yes.

You and Pedri hate each other. You've known each other forever, and from the very beginning, your personalities clashed. At times, things were better, but after fallout after fallout in your friendship, it's come to a point where both of you decided that what's done is done, and it's likely just the best for both of you to leave each other alone and stay out of each other's lives.

You don't think about Pedri. Not often, anyway. Now with your new relationship, too, anyway, and all the struggles that are coming with that, you're glad you don't have to worry about all the arguments you and Pedri used to have.

Your boyfriend really wanted you to come to this specific match, though. Against Barcelona. You tried to explain to him that you really would rather not go to a Barcelona game to watch him, simply because of the stress of possibly running into Pedri, though you know how unlikely that really is.

But with your bad luck, who even knows?

Well, the match goes alright, but, admittedly, your boyfriend's team gets hammered by Barcelona, so you suppose you're supposed to be disappointed.

You're walking out, waiting to meet up with your boyfriend, when suddenly, your bad luck strikes.

Of course.

Well, it really has nothing to do with luck, or the lack of it. Though you don't know that. You don't know that Pedri made the effort to find you when he saw that you're at the game.

To you, your bad luck is just making you run straight into Pedri.

"Y/n!" Pedri says as soon as he sees you, stopping in front of you.

You roll your eyes, looking away from him, murmuring simply, "Why are you talking to me."

He stares. Those stupid, stupid eyes, sharply bearing into you. He snorts, saying, "Jeez. Because I know you?"

"Didn't we agree it'd be best to go our separate ways?"

He stares, before snorting, saying, "Doesn't mean I have to treat you like a stranger."

You bite your lip, looking up. "After what you've done to me, I'd rather like it to be that way, actually."

He stares, almost dumbfounded, before the anger sets in. "Oh yeah, and what have I done to you? Get over yourself, you're acting as if I traumatized you! It was never that bad!"

"Pedri, I don't want to talk to you," you say simply, shoving past him as you see your boyfriend start heading down the hall towards you.

He snorts, shrugging, and snaps, "Well, alright, then! You fuck off, too, if that's what you want me to say back!" And with that, you both walk away, feeling angrier than you really have to be.

"He was bothering you?" your boyfriend asks, raising an eyebrows, his arms snaking around your waist.

But it doesn't provide much comfort, considering that probably part of the reason you reacted so harshly towards Pedri is because of the stress already welling up in your chest about your boyfriend himself.

He's over half the problem. In fact, he might be one hundred percent the problem, or at least close to it.

You don't want to be here. You don't want to be at your boyfriend's flat, either. In fact, all you want right now is to be in your own home, alone, in bed, with your pajamas on and a blanket enveloping you.

But instead, you have a drink in your hand, are wearing a black, lacy dress, and are thoroughly exhausted with having to stand there, arm linked with your boyfriend's, looking nice and pretty next to him.

It painfully feels just a little bit too much like all clout.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't done what he did to you last night after the match. He had forced you to do things you certainly weren't comfortable with. Especially not only four months into dating. It was too much for you.

Maybe for other people, it wouldn't have mattered. Maybe other girls would have actually loved that.

You? You've been feeling sick to your stomach for the last twenty-four hours, completely uncomfortable with your boyfriend, and having to fake it all the while. That hasn't been the first time something like this has happened. This time was just the worst.

You should've seen it coming. It's like on top of it all, regret is nawing at you as well.

The night is superficial and empty already, but your stomach lurches as soon as you get a glimpse of none other than Pedri González. You turn your head away, hoping for him to not recognize you, feeling even sicker than before, if that was even possible.

Your fucking luck, huh.

It's then, that, though you really thought things actually couldn't get any worse, that they really do.

Your boyfriend leans in and whispers close to your ear, "You look pale. Bored?"

You swallow, shrugging, "I guess."

"The night's still young, but there's nothing here for us." His hand on your lower back slips down a bit. You swallow as he continues, "We could step out and spice it up a bit."

Your jaw clenches. "Oh, no, that's okay..."

He chuckles. "Trying to be all neat and prissy? Don't play that game. C'mon," he murmurs, taking your hand and starting to lead you away through the groups of people around at the party.

"No, no, really... it's okay..." you murmur weakly, feeling dread and, frankly, fear sink in.

No, no, no. Not this again.

What's he going to do?

He seems to ignore you as you slip into a narrow hallway where some bathrooms are. Not the main bathrooms, though. You didn't even know there were bathrooms back here.

So no one promises to come this way.

Which means it's completely private.

You swallow.

It's then that he pushes you against the wall, getting close, and murmurs, "I could make this night very interesting for you, honey."

You turn your head away, looking down, towards the floor. "U-hm... You sure this is a... safe idea?"

"No," he grins. "I know it's fucking dangerous. But I also know it's a fucking good idea. Now, stop all this coy shit."

With that, he grabs your chin, shoving it up, making the back of your head hit the wall. "Ow-!" you murmur, your face crinkling with a quick grimace.

He hums. "Oh, get over yourself. You know you want this just as much as I do..."

"I-" you begin, but are interrupted by his lips meeting yours in a rough kiss.

It doesn't even feel good.

Your brain is screaming, your head pounding.

Fear grips your chest.

He moves his body against yours in a disgusting way, and every single cell in your body frantically searches for some way to make it stop.

It's then that you feel his hand stroking your thigh, grabbing at the bottom of your dress. You pull away long enough just to say desperately, "No- Please, no- Not here... please."

But he slaps your thigh, hard. You bite back a yelp as he murmurs, "I can do what I want to y-"

"And I can do what I want to you, too!" a voice suddenly says, before, in a flash, you watch as a hand slaps itself across your boyfriend's face. He stumbles back, which means you stumble forward, but there are arms there to catch you.

Not your boyfriend's, though- he's holding his face, looking absolutely shocked at-

You turn to see who has his arm around you from behind.

Pedri.

"What the hell?!" your boyfriend roars.

"Ask yourself that, asshole! Didn't she tell you to stop?"

"None of it is your business!"

"It is when you're doing it in a public area, for God's sake!"

You watch as your 'boyfriend' gulps and murmurs, "Let go of her."

"How about we stop talking as if Y/n isn't here? Y/n, do you want to fucking stay with him?"

You stare ahead, feeling so caught off guard by what has just happened, and the question that Pedri is apparently proposing for you to decide.

As unfortunate as it seems to you, you know which of them you trust more, despite all the trouble you've had with Pedri over the years.

"Listen," you say to your boyfriend, swallowing back tears. "I think you just better go now... I'll pick up my stuff from your flat in a few days... I think it'd be best- best to just end it here, now. I just don't think I'm the kind of person who's right for you."

As you ramble on anxiously, the rage builds up in his eyes more and more, before he yells, "Fine!" slaps you hard across the face, and leaves, walking off.

You stand, staring, your eyes watering in pain. You swallow.

"Y/n, are you okay?"

"I- I don't know."

Pedri folds you into his arms. "You can come back with me to my hotel room, if you want."

You sniff, holding back tears, before nodding. "I- Okay... Let's go."

Once there, you broke down. Sat on Pedri's hotel room bed and cried. And he sat there with you, being that shoulder to cry on. And your rivalry and friendship fall outs and all the other garbage between the two of you seem to slowly fade away. For now. At least just for tonight.

It's the least of your problems.

Now you lay, staring at the wall. You hear Pedri exiting the bathroom. Walking across the room. The weight on the bed shifting as he gets on.

"Y/n..." he says gently.

"Yeah?"

There's a few moments of hesitation, before he says softly, "Mind if I lay with you."

Now hesitation on your part. "Go ahead."

You feel him lay down next to you. His arm gently, tentatively wraps around you.

You lay together, in silence for a while.

"I'm sorry," Pedri suddenly says after long enough.

"For what? You helped me."

"For every single thing I did wrong over the years. I'm sorry for the fact that every time, I screwed it up again."

"It wasn't just you. I was fifty percent of the problem."

"I guess I just... I just like you a lot, you know? I just don't know what to do with that. I didn't realize it until you've been out of my life for six months now."

You nod slowly.

"I'm glad I found you when I did."

"I am, too," you say simply back.

"Seeing him do that to you... That... it's like all I could feel was pure... rage."

You don't have much to say to that, so just whisper softly, "Thank you... for helping me."

He nods slowly. Pulls you closer.

You don't mind. This kind of thing; it feels comforting. Not scary.

You lay there in more silence, before Pedri says softly, "Can we try this again?"

"Can I trust you?"

He sighs. "I think I finally realized how much I can't live without you. How much I care about you."

You snort, yawning. "If I didn't know better, I'd think that almost sounds romantic."

More silence, before he finally says, "Maybe it is. But even if it were, would that even matter right now?"

You shrug, looking back at him with sleepy eyes. "I reckon not. But it might matter someday."

He smiles softly, kisses your nose, and silences himself fully before sleep takes the both of you.

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

Rating the Blue Lions by how good at sex I think they are only I'm a huge bottom so this list is biased a bit. Though I did try to consider other perspectives.

Dimitri - he's very nice and very sweet and loving but he probably refuses to top because of his super strength. He doesn't mind that but you're out of luck if you wanted him to top you. Sorry. 5/10

Dedue - okay so easily one of the best ones here. He will be everything you need, though he'll be hesitant to be mean to you. He's strong but he knows how to deal with it and use it in a hot way (rather than to accidentally break your spine during backshots L Dimitri!!) 9/10 but he's only not a 10 because yeah he probably would have a hard time being mean to you even if you're into that.

Sylvain - okay maybe it's the Sylvain hater in me talking but he'd be terrible man. His dirty talk sounds right out of the worst heterosexual porn you will ever watch and his actual actions don't really make up for it. At best maybe if you're into bratty subs you could gag him and then go at it but I don't think it'd be enjoyable for most people. 3/10

Felix - okay so he probably would be able to be mean to you which is cool if you're into that only like... I feel like he'd get too real with it. I think you'd have to be like a hardcore masochist to enjoy it. I think if you're a dom you could try the gagging thing on him too, but idk if he'd agree to that tbh and obviously you gotta respect that. 4/10, he gets the edge over Sylvain because I think that in terms of technical skill when it comes to the fucking he'd be better.

Ingrid - she'd be a tryhard, but not in a fun way. It'd just be kind of sad. She'd also be probably a little awkward and it might kill the mood. 4/10

Ashe - he would also be a tryhard, but it would be in a fun way. He just wants to do his best to please you but he's not like super awkward and stiff about it like Ingrid I don't think. He's very enthusiastic :) 6/10

Mercedes - okay so she's the best one here. She has the stuff Dedue has (minus the strength) only I think she'd be willing to be a little meaner to you if you asked (not her natural inclination, but I think she'd be more willing.) 10/10

Annette - I'm not entirely convinced she's like at all interested in sex??? Idk I just cannot picture her in any sexual scenarios whatsoever. But she'd probably be fine? She'd be trying her best and like good for her. 5/10

Other houses coming soon like and subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit that bell!!

.

[volterran-wine]

Through The Ages || Demetri & Felix

𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 @mywinterivy: "Could I please request just some friendship HCs for Demetri and Felix or the terror trio? I wanna know more about the dynamics and what they get up to x"

Greetings friend, I feel I owe it to you to to finally reply to this request; after all it has been some time. I decided to answer this by revealing different memories/happenings during this friendship instead of going indept into the emotional aspects.  Fun fact; I will do The Terror Trio in another post, because I do believe that friendship deserves a bigger spotlight on the blog.

!𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒! Some mild angst.

𝐀𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰.

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

—  𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐈 & 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗

Their first meeting did not herald a close friendship whatsoever, in fact, Demetri ran when The Volturi showed up in Egypt to barter his inclusion into the guard. It was of course Felix who ran after the spooked Vampire, neatly apprehending him and bringing the tracker back as he kicked and screamed. Demetri watched Aro and Amun's discussion with Felix's hand gently wrapped around his neck, convinced he would never like the older vampire.

While Felix's Greek has never been the best, he made an effort of trying to only converse with Demetri in his mother tongue when he first joined The Volturi. The tracker was terribly skittish in the beginning, and Felix made a point out of ensuring that he was as comfortable as he could be. About six months into service Demetri finally told Felix why he was acting the way he was.

Once upon a time the two of them were ambushed by a Child of The Moon due to a mistake Demetri made. Felix ended up with a scar on his arm that would ache from time to time. Two weeks after the incident Demetri showed up to one of the feedings with a shockingly similar scar on the opposite arm, no one dared ask how he managed to do such a thing.

The two of them has masqueraded as courtiers in several royal courts over the centuries, their favourite time to 'be alive' was during the Renaissance in Italy. Never had Demetri felt like he learned more than during that time, and Felix gladly sat through every excited rambling

Whenever Demetri needs to clear his mind he runs straight for the sea, walking along the shore in all sorts of weather, regardless of season or warnings. Felix is always twenty steps behind him if he is able to come along.

One time the two of them got raging drunk on one of Corin's stronger batches of Blood-Wine they nearly passed out in the piazza outside of the palazzo. They talked for so many hours they did not even notice the sun coming up, they barely dodged some early bird tourists and kept the secret intact through sheer luck. They never spoke of the incident again.

The two of them have matching rings that they always wear over their gloves. While the band is rather discreet, it has one peridot gem set into the gold—Demetri found the gemstones when he was once tracking a wayward nomad in the middle east.

It is Felix that predominantly takes care of Elizabeth when Demetri is out during longer tracking missions. While Heidi is more than capable of taking care of both Elizabeth and Gustav, the trackers little diva can always be found curled up in Felix's quarters.

[sitp-recs]

Hey Liv,

My friend had the most chaotic day today. She left on holiday and ended up packing at the last minute. Cue bags overflowing in every room, a dog to get into the car, a kid to pick up at daycare and no time to spare.

THEN her husband’s car broke down so she had to go pick him up almost two hours away with both dog and baby in the backseat….

All this so say: she might need a pick me up.

Do you have a Drarry rec where either of them (or both) are absolute chaos/ are under a bad luck spell /…?

Love love love ❤️

Omg your poor friend! 😱 I’m sorry things have been wild for her, that sounds super stressful and overwhelming! I hope everything was okay in the end. This story actually led to a really interesting ask, I did a mix of curses, pranks and bad luck with a touch of angst at the end - hope they work for what you’re looking for!

Humor/Fluff:

Bad Luck, Red Pants, and Broken Washing Machines by @the-starryknight (T, 2k)

After his five year sentence of magical suppression, Draco Malfoy got used to working without his wand. It's just days like today when nothing seems to be going right that he regrets his life in the Muggle world.

Special Affinity by @skeptiquewrites (E, 4k)

Auror partners Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy seem to have a special affinity for getting into convoluted accidental bonds. Once is a mistake, twice is bad luck, and five times...well five times seems like carelessness, doesn’t it?

Bubbles, Baths, and Bad Luck by manixzen (E, 5k)

A poisonous potion covering Professor Potter nearly head-to-toe would normally be a pretty big deal. It should be as bad as his day gets. But that’s before he’s informed that the cure involves a steamy, hot bath with an unrequited crush.

Then Comes a Mist and a Weeping Rain by Faith Wood (E, 21k)

It always rains for Draco Malfoy. Metaphorically. And literally. Ever since he had accidentally Conjured a cloud. A cloud that's ever so cross.

At the Crossroads There We’ll Meet by firethesound (E, 24k)

Potter keeps dying; Draco keeps saving him.

Rarely Pure and Never Simple by birdsofshore (E, 28k)

Harry never thought taking a job as Draco Malfoy's bodyguard was going to be easy. Add in a curse that makes Malfoy even more of an obnoxious git than usual, and Harry's got serious problems.

The Four Ds of Apparition (or: Destination, Determination, Deliberation, and Dicks) by @eidheann, @firethesound (E, 36k)

After transferring to the Apparition Department, Harry's life becomes one big dick joke. And all his friends are arseholes. So is Malfoy, but what else is new? AKA Harry Potter and the eighteen twenty dicks.

Draco Malfoy, It's Your Lucky Day by Faith Wood (E, 38k)

Even though he's unarmed, injured, lost in the Forbidden Forest, and facing a possible murder charge, Draco Malfoy gets lucky.

Skybound by @xanthippe74 (T, 61k)

No matter how much Harry Potter wanted to believe he’d left danger behind when the war ended, it found him again anyway. All he had to do was step out his own front door on a Tuesday morning. A Drarry re-imagining of Howl’s Moving Castle.

Tea and No Sympathy by who_la_hoop (E, 70k)

It's Potter's fault, of course, that Draco finds himself trapped in the same twenty-four-hour period, repeating itself over and over again. It's been nearly a year since the unpleasant business at Hogwarts, and Draco's getting on with his life quite nicely, thank you, until Harry sodding Potter steps in and ruins it all, just like always.

Angst:

Super Rich Kids by @thusspoketrish (E, 81k)

Draco Malfoy has become disillusioned by the glitz and glamour of the scandalous lives of the Post-Second Wizarding War Pureblood Elite. Enter: one existential crisis, one group of thieving cynical friends, and several terrible, terrible decisions.

Nor All That Glisters by @sweet-s0rr0w (E, 110k)

Lonely and frustrated on house arrest, with no prospects for the future, Draco begins brewing Felix Felicis in an attempt to improve his lot. Just in the short term, of course. He isn’t a total idiot.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

what do you think about unicorn blood? specifically whether drinking unicorn blood affected voldemort in any way?

Hmm... honestly, I don't think it affected him at all. I think the unicorn blood was consumed by Quirrell, for Quirrell, and not Voldemort.

When Harry describes the figure drinking the unicorn blood, he mentions the mouth under the hood on the side Quirrell's face is on, not the back of his head:

The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry — unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward Harry — he couldn’t move for fear.

(PS, 185)

And Voldemort explains why Quirrell would need the unicorn blood:

“Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals — snakes, of course, being my preference — but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic . . . and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long. . . .

(GoF, 653-654)

The hosts he used kept dying on him, and Quirrell was also slowly dying as long as Voldemort possessed him. Voldemort is fine, he has his Horcruxes, if Quirrell died, it'd be like any of the other snakes he possessed before — he'd return to his wraith form and move on.

The only reason he had to get Quirrell unicorn blood is so Quirrell would live long enough to get the philosopher's stone and get himself a body of his own. Because Voldemort would live regardless of what happened to Quirrell. Which we see, as Quirrell dies, but Voldemort is fine (well, relatively, he's still a wraith)

As for what I think it does, well, Firenze explains it as such:

“Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?” “No,” said Harry, startled by the odd question. “We’ve only used the horn and tail hair in Potions.” “That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn,” said Firenze. “Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.”

(PS, 186)

So, unicorn blood keeps you alive, if barely. It would just keep your body moving and breathing.

As for what exactly it curses you with?

We have no real way of knowing for sure. Quirrell seems worse for wear for most of the year, and he has been drinking unicorn blood for a while before Harry sees Quirrellmort in the forest, so it's hard to tell what are the effects of being possessed versus the unicorn blood curse.

If I had to guess what this half-life means, I'd say it correlates to the unicron's purity. Because Firenze states the curse is the result of killing something as pure as a unicorn. So, the curse would correlate, like karma for the death of the unicorn, and not the act of drinking its blood. So it's not the unicorn blood that curses you, but killing the unicorn, like slaying something holy.

I think of it as something like Odysseus' men killing the divine, immortal cattle of the god Helios and having various gods proceed to destroy their ships and curse their journey with bad luck, like the opposite of Felix Felicis. So, if I had to guess what's the curse of killing a unicorn, it'd be something along these lines.

[sexualtensiongrowing21]

As The Sun Set // Amortentia // Part Three

TW: Physical abuse

Part Four

In the beginning of Slughorn's lecture I am standing next to Hermione in the front of the class. A loud bang comes from the door to the classroom Slughorn abruptly stops to address the two boys making the commotion, Harry and Ron come stumbling into the room. Making their way to the book cabinet they are fighting over the last two books. Hermione rolls her eyes next to me as I start to snicker.

“Now, as I was saying, I prepared some concoctions this morning. Any ideas what these might be?” He asks searching around the classroom for an eager student. Of course Hermione is the only one raising her hand. Swot. “Yes, miss…”

“Granger, Sr.” she clears her throat. “That one there is veritaserum. It's a truth telling serum.” She says matter of factly.

“Yes Miss Granger, That is current. How about you miss….” he points to me

“Oh uh, Johnson, Sr.” I stutter over my words. Why on Crices name did he pick me?

“Ah Miss Johnson. Go on. Do you know what potion this one is?” He gestures to the cauldron on the right. Pink mist slowly evaporating out the top.

“Yes. This one here is Amortentia. Terribly tricky to create. It is the most powerful love potion in the world.” I look around me. Hermione is smiling in my direction indicating that I took the words right from her mouth.

“It is rumored to smell differently to each person according to what attracts them.” I lean over just a step to be able to smell the potion. “For example, I smell fresh limes, violets, and tobacco.” I blush while taking a step back to aline with Hermione.

“Very good Miss Johnson.” He claps his hands together. “This last one here is Felix Felicis. Otherwise known as liquid luck. The rest of the class you will be brewing an acceptable Draft of Living Death. Recipes can be found within your textbook. You may begin.” He dismisses us students back to our table to proceed with the brewing of the potion.

Getting all the necessary ingredients to my table next to Theo I start to brew the potion. Typically am great in potions. It is one of my favorite classes. Draco, Hermione, and I are the highest scoring students in our class. But for some reason these instructions seem off. Looking around the room I see that both Hermione and Draco are also having issues brewing this particular potion.

“Scar, are you having some trouble?” Theo asks snidely from next to me. My forehead is starting to sweat. Theo has a huge grin on his face next to me.

“This just doesn't seem right… I cannot get it right.” I am frantically looking around the classroom.

“Maybe you're just not as good in potions as you thought” He laughs.

I shoot a death glare at him. “Well if that's how you feel you’re more than welcome to get a new partner.” Theo is a great potions partner. Though I'd rather work with Draco or Hermione, Theo listens to my instructions and does what I say. So I cannot complain much.

“No, no. I would much rather keep you as a partner. You are much nicer to look at all of class compared to Drakey over there.” He snickers. I blush as my glare softens as I continue to try and brew my potion.

Fresh limes and violets. Adrian smells like grass…. so that doesn’t makes sense. But I have never been around him when he smelled like limes or violets. Theo though.. He smells of limes. Is it possible for my Amortentia to smell like more than one person?

“So, Pans told me she found you and Adrian in bed together last night. Does this mean you two are back together?” Theo asks as he stirs his potion.

Damn Pansy. I knew she couldn't keep her mouth shut. “Of course she did.” I say rolling my eyes. “I think so? He apologized and said he loves me. I love him too, you know. It's just hard to forget those feelings.” Talking about my relationships with Theo has always been sort of uncomfortable. Not because I am uncomfortable around him, but because of the crush I have had on him the past couple of years.

“Well, If he makes you happy love, then I am happy for you… Even though I hate the git.” he smiles at me as he grabs my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “I will not hesitate to curse him if he hurts you though” I laugh, protective as always.

As the class ends to everyone's surprise Harry is the one who finished first and received the vial of liquid luck. I walk up to Harry confused but I congratulate him nonetheless and make my way to my next class with Draco giving Theo a smile goodbye as we walk the other direction.

“Scarlet, I was wondering… Would you be able to help me tonight? With my DADA assignment.”

Draco asks as we are walking towards herbology. He has his hands in his pockets staring straight ahead.

“DADA assignment? I didn't remember Snape assigning any-” I stop myself mid sentence. Snape did not assign anything for DADA. Draco was referring to the task that the Dark Lord gave him. I told Draco before we left the manor I was going to help him with his task. “Of course I will.” I say putting my hand on his shoulder trying to be comforting. I know he has been stressing himself out over this task since he was given it. Fix a broken cabinet so that the Dark Lords lunatic followers may invade Hogwarts and potentially kill our professors? Sure why not?

“Okay, after dinner maybe? I don't have practice tonight. Blaise and Theo are going to help Pansy with her flying so they will be busy.

“Oh, uh can we meet in the common room a little after dinner? Like an hour or so… I have plans to study in the library.” I have plans to snog my boyfriend for a good hour after dinner.

Eyeing me suspiciously, “I guess so. Who are you studying with? Maybe I can join and we can go after?” Damn Draco is really trying to cockblock me right now.

“Uh…” Quick who would Draco hate most to study with. After a second or two I finally respond “Hermione. I am studying with Hermione.” I say as my green eyes graying slightly as I increase the locks on my occlumency doors.

“Scarlet… You forget that I know you more than anyone else. I know when you’re lying and when you are occluding. You can’t hide it from me.” Draco can always tell when I'm lying. I've never been able to keep a secret from him. All of a sudden he stops and pulls me into an alcove just before we reach the Herbology classroom.

“You're meeting Adrian.”

Not a question.

A statement.

Extra locks.

I try to pry his hand from around my forearm. His grip only tightening. “I thought I told you to stay away from him.”

Another statement.

Eyes dull. Fully gray now.

“He’s a prat Scarlet. He cheated on you once, what makes you think he won't do it again?”

His grip is hurtful. He is hurting me though it isn't his intention, but his fingers are digging into a burn that has yet to heal properly. I wince away from him and his entire demeanor changes. He lets go of his grip on my arm, to wrap around my shoulders pulling me into a hug.

“I love him, Draco. He's the only other boy who has loved me besides you. I forgive him.. Why can't you?” When he finally lets go he notices all emotion leave my face, his own walls come down a little and his face gets softer.

“He will never be good enough for you Scarlet. But I will not say anything more about him. I do not like him and never will. We are not friends. But, I will tolerate him. For your sake. But if he hurts you again. He will answer to me.” he says with one last squeeze of my shoulders and a slight smile on his face.

“Loud and clear.” A smile creeping back on my face. As Draco walks to the class room I quickly fix my make up and the puffiness of my eyes and follow behind him. Draco doesn't like Adrian and that's okay. At least he can be civil.. I hope.

—————————————————————————————

Tonight's dinner is roasted chicken, carrots, broccoli, mash potatoes, rolls and salad. As I am putting food on my plate I spy Adrian walking in and wave him over. Now that all my friends know we are back together might as well try to integrate him back into the group.

I scoot closer to Pansy allowing him to sit next to me. Draco, Theo and Blaise are across the table from us. All of them are wearing a similar face of disgust. I kick Theo under the table and give him a look that says ‘play nice or I will kick higher next time’. He seemed to understand as we whispered to the other two and the looks morphed into disinterest.

“Hello Angel” Adrian says as he plants a kiss on my head while sitting down next to me.

Theo continues his conversation of the ridiculous potions assignment while Adrian starts to pile food onto his plate.

“You should have seen her hair! It grew 4 times bigger than usual! Scar was getting all flustered and Draco! He looked as though he was going to tell the cauldron “his father would hear about this’. Best class ever!” Theo says, clutching his side as he laughs.

“Oh whatever. I am just glad that Slughorn didn't make me smell the Amortentia. No Idea what I would have said but I rather not have my deep secret crush be revealed.” Draco adds, quirking his eyebrow up at me, as if he is insinuating something.

“My amortentia would smell like grass, broom polish and sugar quills.” Adrian says as he is shoving his face with his chicken.

Pansy eyebrows are furrowed in confusion as she looks around the table. “That’s funny. Scarlett doesn’t smell like any of those things” She says matter of factor.

“What did your amortentia smell like Scar?” her face now turned into a smirk as she studied her nails.

“Oh. Uh it smelled like fresh limes, violets,, and tobacco.” Pansys’ eyes grew wide as she looked at me. I quirk a brow up at her as she starts to silently giggle and she makes a quick look towards the boys.

“Those smells sound awful together. I don't smell that bad do I?” Adrian asks as he snakes his arm around my waist to pull me closer. I rest my head on his shoulder. “Of course not darling.”

As dinner continues they are all talking to Pansy about her flying lessons. Draco's eyes are fully gray. He's occluding. Does he really hate Adrian that much?

As dinner starts to wind down and everyone is getting ready to leave we wave the group goodbye and make our way down to the dungeons to be alone in his dorm.

—————————————————————————————-

Draco is spread out on the black leather couch in the common room. Potions book perched in his hands. Fully immersed in the section that he is reading.

I walk around to stand in front of him. “Nice to see you can pull yourself away from sucking face to meet me.” he says not looking up from his book.

I roll my eyes and put my hand on my hip tapping my foot against the hard stone floor. “Well I'm waiting.”

Adrian and I started a heated make out session which then led to him trying to shag me. Seeing as I had to meet Draco soon we didn’t have enough time. This sent Adrian into a right fit.

Which, incidentally led to me fighting back tears the whole way down the hall to the common room.

After a minute or two he finally finishes whatever section he was reading and puts the book in his bag and leads us out of the dungeons.

“How was flying lessons with Pansy?” I ask as we make our way to the room of requirement.

“She's getting better. Still trying to figure out who she is trying to impress. I bet 20 galleons on Goldstien.

I snort at his answer. “Why would it be Goldsien? He's a Hufflepuff!”

“Well I know it's not me. I do not think it's Blaise, and it's definitely not Theo. No one else would make sense.” He says as we round the corner at the end of the hall.

“I don’t know. Maybe I will ask her.” I say following behind him as we near the door. “She originally asked to keep you boys distracted while I talked to Adrian, but I have no idea why she is still making you all help her.”

I am lost in the thought of who Pans is actually trying to impress with flying skills, as I wait for Draco to make the door to the Room of Requirement. As soon as it did he put his hand on the small of my back guiding me inside. Only once the door shuts do I stop to take in all the room has to offer.

While looking for the cabinet I keep talking. “Wait. Why ‘definitely not Theo’? He's cute and funny. Plus he loves to fly!”

“Theo is very complicated. Unfortunately, his thoughts are very loud. Pansy believes he fancies another, and I agree.” Draco says while walking in front of me searching for the cabinet.

“What? I didn't know Theo fancied someone? Since when? Who is it?” I rush out as I am trying to keep my cool.

Theo hasn't fancied someone in a long time. He's had hookups every now and then and is very flirtatious with loads of girls but hasn't fancied anyone for two years, and even then he wouldn't tell anyone who it was. He was quiet for most of last year. Distant. I really missed my friend.

“Look, over here.” Draco says while ignoring my question and leading me to the reason we came here in the first place.

Pulling the sheet off, a large oak cabinet with brass embellishments stood in front of us.

For the next two hours me and Draco spend our time trying to understand the spells that are written within the structure in order to try and figure out why it's not working.

After Draco nearly pushes the thing over while slamming the door closed out of frustration. We take a break and try to come up with a plan for killing Dumbledore..

We decided on cursing a necklace we found in the room and wrapping it neatly in parchment to be delivered. As much as Draco wants to please his father and Voldemort, he doesn't have what it takes within him to kill someone…

Once we finish cursing the necklace and he carefully wraps it in brown parchment and places it in his bag we head back down to the dougeons.

Being so exhausted once I finally reach my room I put on my pajamas and crawl into bed. Finally, allowing myself to fall asleep.

Outside the air feels warm. Letting the sun shine on my face as I lay in the garden with Ditty the house elf. It took alot of coercing for him to come lay out here with me. But father and mother are away god knows where, so I decided that Ditty can take time off and just relax. Letting the smell of the grass and the violets flood my nose. Ditty is giggling at the shapes of the cloud above us. All of a sudden his giggle stops and I feel the pull of magic as he apparates away.

“And what is it that you are doing here on the ground little girl?” Bellatrix asks as she sneers at me with her yellow crooked teeth.

“I'm sorry. I was just… Um, enjoying the sunset.” I say as I hurry to my feet.

“Rodolphus requests you in his study for your afternoon training.” She says as she watches me very closely. “NOW.” Pushing towards the house.

In his study, father is sitting at his desk. Cigar in hand. “Scarlet. It has come to my attention that your occlumency is weak.”

With shaky hands I look down at the ground. “I am working on it, father.”

He lifts his head up to look at me “It's pathetic, just like you.” He slams his chair back when he stands up. “Maybe I just need to give you some motivation”. “Give me your arm.” He holds out his hand waiting for me.

“No... Please father...Please don't…” I choke out holding back a sob.

“Look at you already shaking and I haven't even begun. Pathetic. You can never get a hold on your emotions. Now I will NOT ask again. GIVE. ME. YOUR. ARM.” he roars.

In one swift motion he takes ahold of my arm, and slams it down on his desk. “Now hold it in.” Slowly he takes his cigar and presses it in the crook of my elbow. I internally hiss. He picks it up again, takes a drag and presses it into another spot on my arm. This repeats for 5 more burns.

Finally when he's satisfied and I have made no noise he lets go with a forceful push. I pull my sleeve of my cardigan down and stand there and wait for further instruction.

Suddenly I hear another presence in the room. When I look over I see bellatrix. Her grin is wide as she holds an old knife between her fingers I've never seen before.

“Is it my turn dear? I have something very special for her.” She says trying to be sweet but her eyes are filled with hatred.

“Of course. Let's see if she's as strong as she pretends to be.” He says using a spell to throw me to the ground.

My head slams on the floor, pain blurring my vision. I feel the hem of my dress is pulled up just enough to expose my right upper thigh.

“What were you calling her love? Pathetic?” The tip of the knife digging into my thigh. P “That's fitting.” A “Aching for our love.” T “Our approval.” H “Nothing you do will be good enough.” E “You’re worthless” T “Nothing but a useless whore” I “You are path-----”

Gasping for air I spring out of bed. Looking around the dark room I see no movements so I try to ground myself. I see Pansy in bed. I see my wand on the ground. I see a grindylow swim by. I hear the lake hum against the window. I hear the light inhale of pansy across the room. I hear footsteps of students walking by. I can move my fingers. I can move my legs. I can move my hands.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Once my breathing has settled I slowly pull off the blankets and look at the word marked onto my skin “Pathetic” I trace over every letter. Severe distress or pleasure causes the disillusionment charm to wear off. I charm away the cut that goes across my left eye and the light bruising on my right eye, wrap the rest of my body under the blanket Molly made me and get out of bed to head outside.

While walking to the lake I see another figure sitting by the water. Familiar curly brown hair and broad shoulders sit with their legs spread out in front of them. Smoke rings floating above.

“Fancy seeing you here. Dracos snoring keeping you up?” I say, as I settle in next to him, ensuring my blanket stays closed. “His snores are the worst. Can hear them across the hall back at the manor.”

“Well hello to you too, bed head.” He bows from his position on the grass making me giggle. “Our little Dracy was quietly sleeping when I slipped out. Though, that more than likely isn't the case anymore.” Walking around him to sit on his left he continues

“What are you doing out here at this hour?” Theo asks while looking at me with a smile.

I try to smooth my hair out while keeping the blanket wrapped around my body. “I couldn't sleep.”

“Couldn't sleep huh? Looks more like you woke up from a nightmare.” I furrow my brows confused. How would he know that?

“Your eyes. They aren't as green. You’re occluding again.” he points at my eyes the cigarette gently nestled between his index and pointer finger.

“Right…Um yes I guess you could call it that..” I gestured for him to pass the cigarette to me.

“Want to talk about it? You know, instead of locking it up?” He gave me a sympathetic smile. Theo had known about my system of locking up my emotions ever since he had asked me to help him learn occlumency.

“I'd rather not… I'm fine though, really. Just a silly dream.” I say trying to give a reassuring smile back but it faulters some. Placing the stick between my lips and inhaling the smoke.

“So, where do you stand on the whole Pansy Goldstien debate?” I ask Theo, changing the subject from me and before handing him back the stick.

“Draco got you on his side too? I think it's a female. Or rather I want it to be.” He raises his eyebrows seductively. “Weslette is rather fit nowadays and a fantastic flier.” He says while smirking at me.

“While it wouldn't surprise me that pans would swing both ways, I think it's someone closer to our group. Perhaps a certain curly haired brunette?.” I say while giving him a wink.

“It is not me. Trust me Scarlet. Besides, I would be a horrible boyfriend. ” He chuckles lightly.

“Any girl would be lucky to call you their boyfriend, you're a great guy. Even if you don't think so. I have met a lot of terrible guys.. You, Theodore Nott, are not one of them. You're one of the good ones.” I grab his hand and squeeze it reassuringly, he blushes a little at my comment.

Once the cigarette is put out I reach over his lap to grab the pack and pull out another one. While lighting it the movement causes the blanket to shift some.

Unbeknownst to me, my right thigh is visible now along with the inside of my arm through a crack in the blanket. From the corner of my eye I feel him tense with his vision on me.

Taking an inhale I hand him the stick as I joke “I have heard that you fancy someone as well. Are you gonna tell me who this time? You must know, they need my approval to date my Theodore.” While bumping my shoulder into his.

Looking up to his face I see that he is staring straight ahead. Vision unmoving. His jaw tensed. His fist is clenching and unclenching.

Clearly my question made him uncomfortable. “Hey, I’m sorry Theo. I was just joking. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.” I say watching him take a large inhale.

Holding it in some before finally letting go. His entire demeanor changed within a matter of seconds… Did I do something wrong? We always joke around. I try to back track but before I am able to say anything he hands the stick back to me before standing up dusting off any left over grass from his trousers.

“You're not pathetic Scarlet.” He says barely a whisper as he looks directly at me then down towards the ground where my wand rests in between my legs.

Did he just say pathetic?

How-

Wha-

Eyes wide at what he just said trying to ask him where that came from but my voice is caught in my throat. I follow his line of sight to see that my entire right thigh is out in the open as well as my arm. I didn't disillusion any of it as I planned on being alone and was covered by the blanket… I rush to cover myself once again.

Slamming the doors shut.

Locking them.

Adding extra locks.

“Yes. Yes I am.” I whisper back, so quietly I know he didnt hear me as he started to head back into the castle.

Fuck

[strangegutz]

whats ur favourite thing abt each of your ocs?

God that's so hard to answer... I love how goofy each one of them is at their core, theyre all a bunch of dumb assholes.

For Eddie I love that he's made for human companionship, to be emotionally intelligent and a caretaker, but he's not all there in the software anymore so he just forgets stuff like How Full Of Blood People Are. He's fucked up and weird and has crazy eyes but he's so charming you gotta go along with it

White is great because she's this scary thing, all edgy, death themed, super serious, but she's like a "big beefy dumb goon" personality in the body of a jack russel-like tiny butch lesbian. she is not smart. she longs to bite you. she is crushing glass bottles with her robot hand to impress women and it is working

Felix is supposed to be this smart man with noble blood but literally none of his life skills help him in the rural west. He won a supernatural curse/blessing of luck when he played russian roulette with the devil. sounds sick as fuck but the powers that be are just desperately working to keep him alive- terrible things happen to him, but he'd be dead without it, so net win?

Zeki is. Zeki. He isnt even actually an outlaw until he makes up a situation in his head that he gets so mad about that he decides he needs to become a criminal about it. He's a diabolical queen and we love him. he's treated like a do-no-wrong misunderstood sweet sweet baby boy while he's out there milking rattlesnake venom for "recreation" and fantasizing about killing Felix with hammers

Felix and Zeki are by @fullmoonboyfriend who is great at making dumb as hell characters.

[thatoneluckybee]

Ahem. More Propaganda.

@fruit-gummiees HELLO.

Not So Shoujo Love Story: Rei is unashamedly obsessed with manga, particularly the shoujo genre. She spends her time ignoring real life and schoolwork and dreaming of the day the perfect boy will fall for her, and life becomes perfect! The best part? She knows exactly what everyone’s role is! Hansum Ochinchin (google translate his name <3) is the most adored, hottest boy in school, and Hanna, the most popular girl, will be her love rival! That is… until Hanna professes her love for Rei, and her shoujo dream is thrown for a loop! This Webtoon is really cute and absolutely HILARIOUS I’ve cried from laughing at this. Hanna is a proud and self-proclaimed pervert. The bullies (FOUR-AM!) practice dramatic poses in the bathroom. Rei gets a love rival for Hanna against her will. Hanna’s father is an st avid cosplayer. You never learn what exactly Hansum is, but he can photosynthesize. It’s a wild ride and genuinely so enjoyable I love it.

Homesick: Recommending this one since you’ve read School Bus Graveyard! It’s almost a “sister series” in that the fanbases overlap lots and the creators have done collabs too! Disclaimer that it’s mature for a reason. It covers a lot of dark topics and is a HORROR FOR A REASON. If you do choose to read it I can provide trigger warnings, though it may spoil some plotlines a bit. Rayne (my pfp!) wakes up on a rooftop with no memories at all and meets a boy named Samael, who quickly informs her that it’s the apocalypse. Cannibalistic creatures called murks roam the land, feeding on anything that makes eye contact. Rayne and Samael form a deal to survive, but things get really, REALLY messy when they encounter someone from Samael’s past and get wrapped up in something that might just be worse than the apocalypse. On top of it all, Rayne has noticed some strange things about herself, including terrible headaches that warn her of murks… (It’s so good I love it but good lord it gets dark. I really want to say more about it but the story doesn’t jump right into the main action or plot right away so I CAN’T WITHOUT SPOILING IT SOB.) FULL POST:

Our Walk Home: Fake Hating Trope, that’s it, that’s the description. Suisha Academy and Higasa High School have always been rivals, bitter ones at that. Akihiko Shiraishi is the top student for his age at Suisha. He’s the perfect student: charming, polite, smart, athletic, and kind to everyone. In reality… my poor guy is the most anxious little mess with no idea what he’s doing. Worst of all, he’s now being forced into the role of “rival” to Harumi Kurose, top student of Higasa, cold, terrifying, and maybe just enough to defeat Shiraishi. When we meet him, though, he is also literally just some guy, and neither really care about the “rivalry,” so they become fast friends. Whenever they’re with classmates, they’ll have to keep up the masks or golden boy and ice prince who hate each other, but when they’re just walking home, it’s a breath of fresh air to both. But if anyone else outside of school found out, their lives will become a living hell and be ruined forever… maybe this rivalry is a bit too intense. (Still int he early stages but this one is cute!)

Deathsitter: In this cutesy, cartoony, Easter-themed world, dying is a business. Beings called Reapers work tirelessly to ensure YOUR loved ones have a nice death! Felix, described as a “deadbeat drug addict with seemingly supernatural luck,” can’t stop annoying the life out of the local reaper, Lloyd, every time he nearly overdoses. Lloyd himself is an ever-busy, stressed-as-heck single father, and due to unfortunate circumstance and flakey relatives, must rely on Felix as a babysitter. The only rule? DO. NOT. OPEN. HIS. DAUGHTER’S. DOOR. Yeah Felix screws up immediately and thus ensues one the most chaotic, tragic, and comedic series of events as he reaps (ha ha) the consequences of his actions. It’s amazing. Definite trigger warning for violence, language, drug use, and blood/gore (I’m a squeamish person so it’s not bad + anything is all the cutesy pastel style lol.) FULL POST:

Castle Swimmer: Can’t reveal TOO much of this ‘cause spoilers but it’s a really really good story. In this society of “Mers” (merfolk), every kingdom has long awaited the day a mysterious, mythical being known as the Beacon arrives. He will grant each kingdom’s prophecy, be that granting them fortune or saving their lives. When the Beacon arrives, though, turns out he’s literally just some guy named Kappa who has no idea what he’s doing. Siren is the prince of the shark kingdom. The kingdom of the sharks have a curse that will cause them to suffer and become covered in scars and eventually die. The only way they can break the curse is whenever the Beacon arrives—and Siren, as predicted, will kill him. The only problem is that Siren REALLY doesn’t want to be a murderer, and Kappa REALLY doesn’t want to die, and they both are pining HARD. It’s a super entertaining series. There’s a bunch of evil witches who feel guilty if you get them a gift and they don’t get you one back. There’s a sea bunny. Kappa’s only weak spot, romantically, is teeth. There’s living sponges. There’s a Jellyfish who’s dream is to Kill. It’s glorious.

School Bus Graveyard: Ashlyn Banner is happy as a loner. Socializing is tired, and people are loud, which hurts because she has extra-sensitive hearing. Because of this, she hears “phantom noises,” or auditory hallucinations. She doesn’t plan to change, until two cousins move to school, and the MOST extraverted child on earth, Aiden Clark, decides to befriend her no matter what. She unfortunately gets partnered with him for a school project (as well as Ben, Aiden’s silent and reserved cousin, Logan, a sweet but shy nerdy kid, Tyler, a short-tempered jock character, and Taylor, Tyler’s twin sister who is so sweet and so amazing.) Everything is fine until one wrong stop causes the six to begin visiting a terrifying world in their sleep, and they begin fighting for their lives against monstrous entities whenever they sleep. (SO GOOD.)

[ceebit]

BOYFRIEND ( OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT .. ), TEASER ﹕ wc 800~ genre fluff content minho being a little shit™️. little shit shenanigans ensue <3

the gleam in minho’s eye is nearly childish, accepting the transaction with a terrible accent in his opinion, his sickeningly sweet thank you grating against his ears. han sighs, brows furrowed in disbelief as he sinks back into his chair. his pride is beyond wounded. his soul is crushed, his spirit beaten and battered to a hopeless pulp, and he doesn’t know when he’ll ever smile again. truly this was the absolute worst way to end a long day of grueling classes, most of it being material he’s sure he’ll never even use on a day-to-day basis. like exponents and finding x on a triangle.

“look on the bright side!” felix pipes up on his left, hair newly dyed blond falling over his face as he leans over. “now you’ve learned that betting on speed dating is a terrible idea and you now know not to do it again!” han starts to whine, especially when seungmin agrees with a muttered it kind of was an easy cash grab. hello, his dignity is still kind of present, ouch.

“let’s all agree that betting on romance isn’t ideal.” chan places his hands out to appease him, smiling apologetically on behalf of the second eldest considering what to buy with his new assets to changbin in a stage whisper. “yeah? agreed?”

a chorus of agreement rings out and han sulks into his sandwich.

it’s not like his luck was that terrible—he, too, loved to gloat when miss fortune smiled down on him and granted him a win once every full moon. it just seemed that she favored everyone else but him, and he was at his wits end with losing nearly all the time. if she wouldn’t have mercy on him, then please forgive his wallet. his heart physically aches when he checks his account, and he swears he saw a fly buzz out of his wallet once.

but because minho was, well, minho, he kept his mouth shut, gaze flitting between his food and something behind his head. once could be classified as a coincidence, but multiple times during different conversations was enough to stoke the wounded part of him.

“what are you looking at?” he huffs, mouth full of lettuce and meat. it’s not the best picture of (purposely ill-mannered) confusion, and hyunjin’s face turns up in disgust out of the corner of his eye. “i know i’m good looking, but you know staring makes me uncomfortable.

minho doesn’t react to his jab, instead choosing to look over his head again, so he grumbles and turns to look as well, half annoyed and fully disgruntled. all he sees are other students peacefully enjoying lunch or studying, essentially doing nothing worth his friend’s excessive glancing.

“two tables down to the left,” he finally speaks. poking at his rice, his gaze slides over the chan—rude—who looks mildly interested in whatever antics he’s up to despite issuing a light warning. “i think they’re new. never seen that face before.”

the whole table collectively turns to look, causing a commotion that ends with hyunjin leaning out of his chair a little too much for comfort and changbin loudly chiding him for it, but minho’s target is eventually spotted. head bent over an obscenely large textbook, brow furrowed in concentration, and altogether the perfect picture of what his high school teachers said college would look like. he starts to feel bad, because the more he looks at them, the more he starts to think his earlier impression of concentration is actually stress, and stress is not good. stress is the fucking worst.

“oh, they’re in one of my core classes! real smart and kinda quiet. not really the talking type.” chan shrugs, “as is everyone at first. but they were super helpful during group discussions after warming up to everyone.”

chan also says something else, but it quickly becomes background noise or something because he’s tunnel visioned and can only see you. suddenly there are manga-esque flower petals floating in the wind, the chatter and bustle of the lunch hall has blurred around you, and leehi’s ‘only’ plays softly in the air. han’s eyes widen, and it’s then does he remember his compromising state, quick to turn around with his mouth still full.

half eaten lettuce falls onto his plate. hyunjin audibly gags, but he’s the least of his concerns right now.

love at first sight is entirely plausible—just only in his romance animes and the romcoms his artistic friend likes to watch so much. falling in love with a stranger based on attraction was selfish and incredibly fake! but it doesn’t stop him from turning to take a peek again, which unfortunately doesn’t go unnoticed.

minho utters two words, a shit-eating grin bordering cheshire-like ever so present, and the entire table descends into chaos once more.

[felixferitas]

@ourpretender: inside a single bathroom of a place of service; restaurant,  store,  club etc. ( ollie & felix / older!au ? where felix lives and they went their separate ways and some ? 15 year reunion dinner for oxford graduates pulls them back together and it's . sparks all over again ? the place of service could be a restaurant near the campus and the nostalgia could hit . . . )

to everyone's disbelief, his parents in particular, felix grows up. when he fell back into old self-destructive patterns, blowing through girls and drugs and money, it seemed as if he might never. but he lives to learn from his mistakes. some more life-altering than others, he thinks, absentmindedly rubbing over the pale strip of skin where his wedding band used to sit. tying the knot with the first girl to make googly eyes at him after graduation had not been a smart choice, but an honest one, with his ex-wife trying and failing to take half of his assets with several rounds of meetings with the divorce lawyer his family had on retainer. the whole thing had left him feeling a bit jaded on the concept of love, a mere juvenile thing to forego now that he's had an artificial taste of it after entering adulthood. casual flings always suited him better, always struggling to commit to things, his inattention a perpetual problem that plagued his past and his present. nostalgia obscures the full picture, always makes things seem better than they actually were when looking in the rearview mirror, but as nightmareish as that summer had been, felix wants to delude himself into thinking he maybe had a taste of the real thing once. that's why it had been so fucking frightening. because it was terrible and true, unconditionally all consuming, felix had to flinch away from it. he had to send oliver reeling away like a kicked dog. seeing him again here at their reunion dinner, felix has to admit that he looks far from kicked or down on his luck. oliver looks polished, like he's finally settled into the skin he was always trying to slip out of, and heat prickles at the base of felix's spine with trepidation. felix pretends not to notice him and instead waits to be noticed, because that's how it's always been, it's how felix needs things to continue to be. for all his fine english pedigree, all that nobility has afforded him in life, there are still some things that have escaped felix's grasp. some things he's let slip through his fingers like wistful grains of sand.

"hiya, mate. you look well," felix greets, unpolished and clumsy. it's possible his charm has eroded with the natural passing of time, along with the distance between them creating a rift, and felix no longer knows how to bridge that gap. especially now that there was more of an even playing field, with oliver no longer looking like the poor welfare case who got all his clothes from oxfam. felix wonders if they would've ended up in the same place if they'd met as equals, if their tale would be a little less tragic and painful. "got even more jacked than the last time i saw you. you know there's room for more than just protein in a healthy diet, right?" felix offers a tiny breadcrumb to defuse the tension, because although he knows he's skilled at playing the fool, genuinely inquiring after oliver's wellbeing throughout the time they haven't been speaking would be a ghastly mistake. i think you need to see someone. you need help, okay? felix smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. all the lights are on, but nobody's home.

[persephoneprice]

Okay, re: Persephone's life post-Academy, as you know, I'm a hurt/no comfort, angst enjoyer, so I do speculate that at some point Coriolanus gets a little murder-y with his former classmates, especially the ones who decide to enter politics. At some point, I do think that even if this doesn't affect her directly, this will probably weigh on her. Actually, with the burden of hindsight, I do imagine that everyone of his former classmates have a moment of "could I have changed this outcome?" as Snow's political opponents start dropping like flies. It's doubly hard on Lysistrata and (probably) Clemensia and anyone else who starts having second thoughts about the brutality of the Games. (Oh, to know you played a part in what they became, and that the time to undo that damage has past, but also what could they have done at 18?)

I do think that while she might not be fully aware of it, she may subconsciously know that she isn't Snow's favorite person, so she might not really hang around with him as they head off to University/try to avoid him as he rises to power, but I'm actually not sure how possible that is in a world where she does end up with Festus! I mean Festus seems to be the closest male friend that Coriolanus has by the end of the book, and Snow has even gaslit himself into believing their best friends! (I can imagine Festus believing they are but Snow has to be playing himself, because his best friend is obviously Clemensia. People can have more than one best friend, but I just don't buy it. Okay, tangent over.)

Anyway, I just think that with Persephone and Festus as a couple, I don't see her being able to keep off of Coriolanus' radar which could mean trouble for her. But dare I say it for Persephone... "it's the things we love most that destroy us." Thematically resonate with loving Festus being the reason that she has to stay in Snow's circle...

Even if Coriolanus doesn't decide to kill her, Snow trying to get her and Festus to split or iceing them both out of social circles without any explanation would be a start down the no good terrible world-shattering bad luck.

This got long... Probably the longest i've gone without mentioning— Ahem, anyway, I suppose I like crafting tragedies for every character! Haha, okay, if you read this all, thanks for letting me ramble in your asks!

—@felixravinstills (and the inability to send asks from sideblogs)

friend you cannot possibly imagine my sheer excited when i woke up to this ask!! i’ve been waiting all morning for a chance to sit down and respond.

this is probably going to be long so i’ll put my response under the cut:

i also think coriolanus starts picking off his former classmates and i can absolutely see persephone being a victim to that somehow. maybe not even her directly, but festus when he has outlived his use for coriolanus? (actually, i have a hc that festus and coriolanus’s relationship crumbles after felix passes of ~mysterious circumstances~ but that’s a whole other thing).

you bring up a really interesting point that i haven’t given much thought to- do any of snow’s former friends feel any type of guilt for not seeing the red flags or intervening sooner? i agree that lysistrata definitely is the most likely candidate. put i could also see some of the others having that same moment, in my own capitol world here would be what i imagine for some of them:

- festus definitely has a moment of questioning everything with felix dies

- persephone has a moment as the games continue to grow and more children die. i always imagine that she was pretty affected by mizzen and his death (it’s wishful thinking i know. i’m the one that was affected my mizzen and his death. but a little projection never hurt anyone, right?)

- i’ve been following this fanfiction about livia cardew and her life through and following the games. it covers her marriage to coriolanus throughout his presidency and how it affects livia and the guilt she carries for the things coriolanus does. so maybe this is unpopular, but i can also see livia as his wife feeling that guilt and wondering if/when she could have stopped things.

i also think she doesn’t outright know that coriolanus is repulsed by her- i don’t think coriolanus would ever say something and risk his own image. but i definitely think she has been able to pick up on it and feels uncomfortable around him at times.

which would make the dynamic with her marrying festus and festus and coriolanus being best friends more interesting. i said it in another ask, but i wonder if coriolanus ever did try to tell festus about the cannibalism thing?

anyway, i mentioned yesterday that i had been thinking about persephone being pushed out of elite capitol circles. it sort of started because of a quote from a poetry book i was reading:

“I wasn’t allowed

to live on the Mountain.

I wasn’t even allowed

to call myself an Olympian.”

the poem was inspired by Persephone from greek mythology but (and maybe just because it’s her namesake) i started thinking about Persephone Price. i had this idea of a moment where persephone is much older and has been iced out of her former social circles and finally feels the bitterness and anger from all the bad things that have happened over the years.

anyway, yeah sorry i’m just rambling and info-dumping my thoughts now so i will stop!! hopefully at least some of it makes sense.

i cannot thank you enough for dropping the ask!!

[3lectra-he4rt]

Who was the most lucky and un-lucky person from TBoSAS?

Why do you pick them? Please give reasons.

You can interpret the luck and un-luck thing however you want.

Thank you :)

@curiousnonny

before i start i just wanna say tysm for asking my first ever question!!

so, i believe that the most lucky would be just anyone who wasn’t affected. take Festus Creed, for example. he was a mentor but wasn’t really harmed, emotionally or physically. you could also say Livia Cardew, Palmyra Monty, Felix Ravinstill, etc. basically any mentor who got to stay in the Capital and wasn’t harmed in anyway. not tribute, because their lives in the districts aren’t amazing so they weren’t lucky to begin with.

i believe that the most unlucky is Sejanus Plinth. i think that Lucy Gray is a very close runner up, but Sejanus is definitely my choice. he had a terrible series of events in his life, and then it ended *way* too quickly. these events include:

the dark days

moving from two to the Capital

getting assigned Marcus

Marcus dying

getting kicked out of school

becoming a peacekeeper

witnessing his first hanging on the peacekeeper side

his hanging

obviously, each event has its own emotional and psychological stuff that has affected him besides just the events themselves. Sejanus had a tough life, and if he survived it would’ve been hard for him to live in the Capital. it would’ve been horrible either outcome. if he had survived, he might’ve gone through with the suicide plans this time. i consider Sejanus as the most unlucky character because no matter what, he had a terrible lifetime ahead of him.

this was a great question and i really enjoyed writing this out :D thanks!! (i noticed your version of this question for the trilogy, too)

[stephiethewephie]

Director Review: Elanor Sunberry

Felix Rotary (current employee)

Lots-of-Hugs Daycare and Learning Center

Elanor is... something.

She is amazing with the kids. Every time she enters one of the play areas, the kids swarm her and give her a huge group hug. She cares for them like they are her own.

She plays with them, nurses them, teaches them, helps prepare food and activities for them, protects them, and supports them through all their needs and troubles. You can tell that she adores working with children and knows her stuff when it comes to taking care of them. Her own kid is in the daycare, so that definitely shows her experience and dedication to her work.

She’s so good at her job that I have even seen some of the kids pushing and screaming not to leave her during pick-up time. I admit it’s a bit concerning, but whatever brings them back I guess.

Her employees however, it's like all that kindness and care that she gives the kids is thrown away. It leaves way to what I can only describe as dictatorship and authoritarianism.

All of her employees, including me, have been down on their luck, faced rejection after rejection, and in a state financially which we would take anything. And she used it against us.

She promised a non-judgmental space where those like us can finally belong and. To be treated like “family” alongside the kids. To be respected and valued for who we are. She got us wrapped around her fingertips on that one.

She treats most of us like prisoners. She degrades and berates us anytime she gets and says what a terrible job we are doing despite our best efforts. We were barely trained in our job. We have to work with a bunch of misbehaving, out of control children on our own while Elanor is with her kid somewhere else.

Anytime we speak up, she threatens to dock our pay or terminate us. We have nowhere else to go, so most of us are pretty much stuck here until we find better jobs.

But, it's not just that. Something else is keeping us from leaving her. I can't quite describe it, but it's like a beckoning call that none of us can resist, making us drawn to the daycare. I'm not sure what it is, but I guarantee Elanor is behind it.

She has us under contract so I'm not even allowed to say anything negative about her. But, I need to get this out as a caution to others, I don't care what happens to me anymore.

If you are looking for a daycare to work for, STAY AWAY FROM LOTS-OF-HUGS DAYCARE! AND STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ELANOR!

JOB OFFER EMAIL

[featherwurm]

Because you're going to be stuck seeing dozens more sketches of her, here's my PC for BG3:

Zatavia “Tav” Felix, Zariel Teifling, Monk of the Open Hand, She/Her, 45

Tav talks about herself (at level 1 at the beginning of the game – spoken with strong ‘just some guy’ energy):

“My name is Tav. I am a wandering monk, seeking little more than knowledge and skill, making my way through the kindness and generosity of others. As a child, my anger, difficulty, and defiance lead to my entering of a monastic enclave in Baulder’s Gate. I flourished under routine and discipline, growing with my fellow acolytes, working, learning, and training. At twenty, I was deemed worthy enough to set out on my own path. I spent the next couple decades of my life traveling Faerûn, occasionally returning to Baulder’s Gate. I have found and lost love, luck, pain, and trial on the road, but as I am now, I walk by myself.”

Some more info and a full body ref below the cut:

favorite weapon: Hands but she carries the Gold Wyrmling staff to keep a firebolt cantrip on hand (particularly nice with her now-explosive blood)

style of combat: Off-tank utilizing ki resonating punch for crowd control and furry of blows/other disabling attacks for larger enemies

most prized possession: She isn’t material, and would walk away from physical things in a heartbeat but she does seem to keep her earrings on at most times though, some sentimentality there (a gift from an old friend)

deepest desire: A cold pint after a long day of hard work or travel, a bath, some banging sex, and a good nights rest before doing it all again

guilty pleasure: Fancy little cakes/sweets, the occasional cigarette (used to be something all the acolytes did – contraband at the monastery makes it interesting)

best-kept secret: Her full name (she is fine with her first name but thinks her last name is embarrassing – some forefather’s invention to try to make the lot of them ‘lucky’)

greatest strength: Bull-headed resolution and kindness

fatal flaw: Stubbornness and empathy (doesn't always listen well once she has an opinion)

favorite smell: Salt Spray, petrichor, campfire, pine, sandlewood

favorite spell or cantrip: Firebolt, Tasha’s hideous laughter

pet peeve: Too much background noise, multiple people trying to talk to her at the same time

bad habit: No eye-contact, not paying attention, picking violence first

hidden talent: Actually plays the lyre and sings fairly well if given the chance

leisure activity: Sleeping, fucking, exercise, meditation – not necessarily in that order

favorite drink: Dark beer, orange juice, black coffee

comfort food: Mushroom soup, lychees, rice pudding

favorite person: Karlach (in Tav’s mind this is in pink font with little hearts and glitter n shit – she’s smitten – it’s gross. She loves all her friends though very much.)

favored display of affection (platonic and/or romantic): Hugging, kissing, touching, hand-holding, tail-holding, overall despite the sort of stoic and serious bearing she’s terribly touchy and cuddly. Also a big gift-giver if she can manage it (she doesn't have much money and doesn't keep it when she does) – if she finds it it’s yours if you need it/want it.

fondest childhood memory: After a few months in the monastery getting used to the routine and work, waking up one nondescript day and just finding herself calm and ready to be awake and alive (she spent much of her childhood angry and frustrated, and at 12 after some discussion of secondary school, apprenticeship, or other options, she and her family agreed that monastic training would be the best thing for now – and it actually suited her very well.)