#Kingsley with Molly's memories

[residentinsomniacartist]

Thinking about Caleb and how so much of his story ends with him finding meaning in the temporary.

He spent so long chasing a way to bring his parents back, but in the end he had to accept that they were gone. They were temporary. He has his memories of them now, but that’s all. And he has to find peace with that and find a way to remember them fondly, even though they’re gone now, truly and completely.

He and Essek love each other dearly, but there will come a day when he will have lived his life and grown old and Essek will still be Essek. But even so, every moment they spend together is still meaningful. Even if it ends, it means something.

Just. Caleb and loving things even when they won’t last. Maybe because they won’t last.

[dent-de-leon]

Remembering how Taliesin said Kingsley's old memories are there in, "a dreamlike state," and how we know he at least still dreams of the circus, of Lestera and Yasha. Still haunted by nightmares of the black chains and Cognouza--throws himself into a life of piracy in a desperate bid to escape it.

And just...Does he always dream, when those memories of past lives start to stir? Was he having another lovely dream when he finally remembered kissing Caleb on the forehead? Remembered looking at this man that was so hunted and haunted, so scared and self-destructive and desperate to keep anyone from getting too close? Does he remember reaching for Caleb then, seeing this man he already loved as, "softness and light?"

Is Kingsley crushed when he wakes up, when he realizes he can no longer feel the Magician in his arms and that pretty dream is already slipping away--

[captainsparklefingers]

My shipper heart that refuses to let go of widomauk all these years later hears Ashton talking about wearing a tribute to FCG (which is a lovely thought and I'm gonna get teary eyed at the inevitable new art), the second thing my brain goes to is Caleb in Molly's coat, taking and wearing it not immediately after his death, but after Cree has brought Lucien back. When it's been abandoned and forgotten in the mud and rain. Caleb taking it and wearing it on the trek to Aeor to get their lost friend back.

[orcelito]

Got tears in my goddamned eyes watching the end of cr2 ep 140, holy fucking shit

[californiannostalgia]

I really enjoy the persisting theme of the m9 closing ranks and throwing down with an enemy who abused one of their own

they confront as a team, and somehow they eke out a win

caleb against trent, yasha against obann, fjord against uk'otoa, and in a roundabout way, veth against isharnai and beau against zenoth

the way they were so wary of artagan in case he hurt jester, the way caduceus stared down the evil man who had threatened his family

jester taking down lucien was personal because she saw him as an offense to molly's memory

the plank king threatened to kill jester and kingsley straight up deposed the king

it's like hrrrrmmmm I see you deferring the final blow, I see you tricking and prioritizing and defending and killing, I know what you're doing

they are a team built to square the fuck up and punch back and I love it a lot

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

Lupin & Tonks: Order of the Phoenix Moments

If you've ever looked for all the Lupin & Tonks moments in OotP, look no further. I spent some time today compiling all the times we see Lupin and Tonks together (so you don't have to), with a few of my own notes for each of these moments. Something that came up for me while compiling this: we rarely see Tonks without Remus. If Tonks is anywhere near Harry, you can almost guarantee that Lupin is there too. I don't think this is coincidental.

We meet Tonks when we see Lupin in The Advance Guard. Tonks has a few sassy lines until Lupin introduces her as "And this is Nymphadora--". Tonks of course tells him not to call her Nymphadora (she calls him Remus), and then Remus finishes with "--Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be known by her surname only." My own notes: like many Remadora fans, I see this as subtle flirtation on Remus's part. Is it conscious? Probably not. I like to think he likes to rile her up every now and then because he finds it charming.

Lupin and Tonks carry Harry's trunk together in the next chapter. I picture Lupin behind Tonks so he can check out her trunk ;)

We learn from Harry that Remus steps in to help with cleaning Grimmauld Place, and sometimes they're joined by Tonks (she helped remove a ghoul from a toilet). This gives us an idea that Remus and Tonks are spending time together--with others around, presumably--in addition to any Order missions. I have a little HC that when Tonks comes over and Remus is at GP, he drops whatever he's doing to come see her and help with cleaning (even if he hates it).

We see Tonks again at the beginning of ch. 7, The Ministry of Magic. Harry wakes up and finds Arthur, Molly, Sirius, Lupin, and Tonks waiting for him. Tonks is tired but immediately greets Harry. Meanwhile, Remus: "Lupin glanced at Harry, then said to Tonks, 'What were you saying about Scrimgeour?'" I find it interesting that Tonks greets Harry while Remus just takes a look at him and goes instantly back to talking to Tonks. Harry: mild panic over upcoming hearing. Remus: glance and go back to talking to his crush. I HC that at this point, Remus is still unaware that he is developing feelings for Tonks, and Tonks is clueless about it.

Tonks shows up for the prefect party thrown for Ron and Hermione. Harry notices her with Sirius, Lupin, and Kingsley. Tonks wears her hair long and red, which makes Harry think she looks like Ginny's older sister (a high compliment, considering Harry finds Ginny very pretty). Tonks also says she wasn't a prefect, and then Harry finds out Sirius wasn't either, nor was his father, James.

Both Lupin and Tonks accompany the kids to King's Cross. Tonks goes with Harry (she's morphed as little old lady), while Lupin arrives with Ginny, Fred, and George. I picture the gang going back to GP, with Sirius in a great mood, and then Lupin and Tonks having some more bonding moments.

(The only time we see Tonks without Lupin is when Arthur is attacked and the kids go to St. Mungo's. It's Mad-Eye and Tonks who take the kids across London to the hospital.)

Lupin and Tonks escort the kids back to Hogwarts via the Knight Bus. Tonks is disguised as a tall, tweedy woman, and Lupin leads the way to the bus. It's a bit unclear if Lupin and Tonks take the Knight Bus back to London or if they Apparate away. As Harry only mentions the bus having disappeared, I assume that Lupin and Tonks went back on the bus to have some quality time together.

(We get a good bit of Lupin when Harry sees Snape's Worst Memory. One of the few times Tonks isn't around Lupin, but I think it's the middle of a workday and Remus and Sirius have nothing better to do than sit around at GP and relive the good old days.)

Tonks and Lupin show up at the Ministry in ch. 35, Beyond the Veil. Tonks gets seriously injured by Bellatrix and topples down many stone seats. Lupin tells Harry to take the others and go. Then Sirius dies and Lupin holds Harry back from going after him. We learn later that Tonks likely had to spend some time at St. Mungo's, but she should make a full recovery. I always like various interpretations of this injury and its impact on Remus: does he panic when he realizes she's unconscious? Is he there with her at the hospital? Did he bring her there? Is that when he meets her parents? So many options for these scenes.

The last time we see Tonks in OotP is at King's Cross. She's recovered, has bright pink hair, patched jeans, and a Weird Sisters t-shirt. She's standing next to a shabby-looking Lupin. She joins in the effort of intimidating the Dursleys, her sentence being finished by none other than Lupin. Tonks: "The point is, if we find out you've been horrible to Harry--" Lupin, finishing her thought: "--and make no mistake, we'll hear about it."

All of these moments are from Harry's POV. We can assume that there are missions that Lupin and Tonks did together, and many more moments of bonding at Grimmauld Place with the Order. Tonks is with Lupin when we meet her for the first time in OotP and again when we see her at the end.

From Harry's POV, we can't really see their relationship building, but given what we know later in the series, it's not hard for me to imagine each of these moments as bigger points in time when Lupin and Tonks grow closer to one another.

[essektheylyss]

there's so much to love and examine in the last two episodes, but I'm still a little bit grieving the fact that Lolth made Opal fully forget Ted, which, if my understanding of the recent Luxon lore drop is correct, means she has forgotten a part of her own soul. am I understanding this correctly??? because damn. damn

I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS AND I THINK SO BUT IT'S SO WILD like honestly it's almost Tealeaf vibes but in the opposite direction. I have no answers only questions and a lot of musings.

I do think the way the concept of the soul is established in Exandria is absolutely FASCINATING, because it has the vibe of like... an entity that cannot be fragmented in a way that destroys it. The soul is malleable but always entirely whole and essential. Molly and Kingsley, in spite of being theoretically fragments of Lucien's shattered soul, are whole (and distinct!) people. Opal is always a whole person, and Ted is seemingly distinct in the way that twins can mirror each other in many ways but are distinct regardless. (I don't really understand the past situation there admittedly because it sounds like Ted was a physically distinct person as well to the extent that other people knew her. What is UP with that Luxon cult, dammit, I need to understand this immediately.)

But the thing with this is that it has a really obvious direct analogue in canon: beacons themselves! They are, theoretically, some sort of by-products—more metaphysically, shattered pieces—of a divine entity but they all seem to contain the same infinite space within them, and the liquid dunamis notwithstanding (because I think that is less a beacon than dunamis itself), we've seen that even further broken down into smaller parts with the gems found in Aeor, which seemed to be manmade. And they too allowed a person to peer into that same space.

In theory I do wonder if this would suggest that perhaps Opal's memories are not quite as lost forever as they might seem, but it's really hard to say! I still favor the idea that dunamis is the foundational matter of the universe and that it interacts with memory as such, and if that's the case, then it's possible that whatever connection she has to the Luxon could be utilized to bring at least portions of them back, since she is not the only one who remembers Ted, and the Spider Queen can't exactly root out everyone's memories when she doesn't have a direct line into those other minds.

I don't know what any of this means and I am just rambling at this point but I am still holding so tightly to my own conceptualization of dunamis because it continues to track and I need to understand.

[railroad-migraine]

Hey Poet ♥️ I had to put my bird and companion of 12 years to sleep earlier today... I was hoping it would be okay to request Molly, Kingsley, Ashton and Caduceus comforting a Ranger SO (friend in Cad’s case) who had their beast companion pass away? I hope it’s not too grim of a prompt, thanks a lot either way! And thank you for what you do, your lovely writing brings joy to many people :)

Oh darling I'm so sorry. We also recently had a family pet put to sleep and it is very hard, but know that you provided your lil friend a wonderful life and that's something to make it easier as time passes 🩶

Comforting Ranger!GN!Reader

Ashton 💚

Is the shoulder to cry on that you've always needed. They're a strong presence, someone reliable to lean on, something physical and real to keep you grounded and help you not lose yourself in feelings.

They say they have difficulty with words, but Ashton surprises even himself with the soft tone and even softer things he offers you. Little phrases of encouragement, of how things will get better, and how you're not going to carry this alone. You have him and friends who care about you - he ignores the hot feeling in his face when your teary eyes meet his upon the confession - and pulls you into their side with a soft "I got you."

-

Caduceus 💜

Arguably the best person on the list to console you after losing someone you held dear. If it's something you'd like, he'll organise a little ceremony - allow memories of the good and fun moments shared with your companion to take centre stage. It's a happy occasion, with friends in attendance, a celebration of their life, their love, and how they made a home in your heart.

Cad takes time out of his day to sit with you, share tea and treats and the quiet tranquility of his porch, content to give you silent support but even more eager to offer counsel if that's what you seek. He understands how you're feeling, and guides you through them with careful, attentive ease.

-

Molly 💜

He knows what it's like to mourn a life, be that of a friend's or the past that he will never truly know. He makes sure that as you're processing this change in your life, that you continue to look after yourself. He ensures that you eat, even if you don't feel hungry. He washes your hair and cleans your face, helps you change into fresh clothes, coaxes you outdoors to feel warm sunlight on your skin. He wants to remind you to keep living, to enjoy it just as your pet beast did.

Life moves on. It always will. Your animal came into your life unexpectedly, just as you came into Molly's life. He's there for you, to get you through the day, the week, the month, and beyond. It happens gradually, as all wounds heal, but eventually he sees you smile at him more and he knows it hurts a little less. He smiles back, all teeth and pride for you.

-

Kingsley 💜

He's still discovering the big emotions that come with experiencing life. Grief is one of them. He fumbles in the beginning, and is scared to say anything in the fear of hurting you further, but he feels more confident after you melt into his arms and let him hold you for who knows how long. He realises later that a distraction can help further along healing.

So that's what Kingsley does. He spends more time with you, takes you sailing and has you steer the ship (with his professional supervision of course). He drags you into dances along the deck and sings you songs before bed. He holds your hand as you fall asleep, and tells you how grateful he is that you're there with him. Thanks you for giving him that - just as you had given your familiar that.

[critter-genfic-events]

This week, we've got nineteen gen fics featuring your favorite purple tiefling! Whether that's Molly, Lucien, or Kingsley, they're covered here, under the cut. As ever, if you liked them, please leave them a comment or kudos!

it takes two by wastrelwoods (3023,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Beauregard Lionett & Mollymauk Tealeaf

Beau and Molly get trapped in a cave-in. Vitriolic bonding ensues.

Reccer says: This fic just absolutely encapsulates everything I love about Molly and Beau.

there’s a ghost in my lungs by QueenWithABeeThrone (289247, Teen) Warnings: Heavy Angst, implying/reference to brainwashing and torture, Hurt/Comfort, mind control aftermath. Pairings: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast, Beauregard & Fjord & Jester& Nott & Mollymauk Tealeaf & Caleb Widogast & Yasha, Beauregard/Yasha, Fjord/Jester

it is a Mollymauk!Winter Soldier AU

Reccer says: I will never not recommend this fic

Carry It Until We Die by starkraving (64513,Teen) Warnings: Hurt/comfort, angst, temporary Character Death, Whump, canon, divergence Pairings: Mollymauk Tealeaf & The Mighty Nein

Mollymauk resurrection au. Molly comes back to yell at his Level 20 friends.

Reccer says: I liked it!

A Reversal of Fate by FeralScribe (40580, Teen) Warnings: Pairings: Mollymauk Tealeaf & Caleb Widogast

It is a role reversal between Molly and Caleb. So now Molly is the shy traumatized one and Caleb is the carnival amnesiac.

Reccer says: I liked it!

Hook, Line, Sinker by steelneena (5141, Teen) Warnings: Minor Character Death Pairings:

The Nein's arrival in Balenpost from Lucien's POV.

Reccer says: This fic has wonderful characterization, takes a crack theory and runs with it, and is just an al-together delicious read.

what the promised land would promise me by grayintogreen (3169, Teen) Warnings: None Pairings:

The Tombtakers' side of the intuit charge trap.

Reccer says: I liked it!

He Did the Goat Dance Very Well by Operafloozy (13529, Teen) Warnings: None Pairings:

Five tales Kingsley hears about Lucien and Molly, and one time he tells his own.

Reccer says: I love a good Kingsley coming into his own story and coping with what other people say about his previous lives and how he takes that and runs with it. This is a more humorous take on that concept than most.

steady lodged between beast and god by Junkyard_Rose (6737, Mature) Warnings: general suicidal ideation Pairings:

Lucien survives the fall of Cognouza; Essek is left with custody.

Reccer says: A well-characterized "Lucien lives" fic that really gets into the trauma of surviving your swan song. Both Lucien and Essek are wonderfully written.

Autotomous, We by InsanitySilver (53978, Teen) Warnings: None Pairings:

Years of high seas adventures pass, but for every ounce of freedom Kingsley Tealeaf gains, the nightmares grow in kind. With the help of the clerics, he sinks into his own mind to root out the source of the corruption, but, in that claustrophobic dream world, he finds unfortunate company—some more … palatable than others.

Reccer says: This fic has a wonderfully unique set piece, a lovely original backstory for Lucien, and vivid descriptions. It's an excellent tale of self-acceptance.

in the dream we are always posthumous by hanap (4219, Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Lucien & Kingsley Tealeaf & Mollymauk Tealeaf, The Mighty Nein & Kingsley Tealeaf

Kingsley reconciles with the people he was and the person he is now.

Reccer says: This is such a poignant exploration of identity through Kingsley and the Threeleafs. Gorgeously written and structured, it has stuck so vividly in my memory.

Crown of Cinderz by AkizaDragonBane (148365, Teen) Warnings: Slow Burn, Inspired by Tumblr, Alternate Universe, royal au, Fluff and Angst, Eventual Smut, Violence, Blood and Gore, Implied/Referenced Torture, Childhood Trauma, Attempted Murder, Attempted Kidnapping Pairings: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast, Ashton Greymoore/Mollymauk Tealeaf

Mysteriously appearing when Lucien Nonagon starts hunting his two brothers. It also happens Mollymauk is seeking refuge for him and his toddler brother. Coming to the throne of the most fearsome ruler in Wildmount. Will Caleb Widowgast take the risk and take them in is the real question?

Reccer says: I liked it!

Wine-Dark Sea by fruitzbat (161010, Mature) Warnings: This piece is pretty heavily focused on post-traumatic, post-apocalyptic and post-genocidal themes. Most of the POV characters are struggling with some form of PTSD. Pairings: Kingsley/Original Character, Fjord/Jester.

Kingsley has just freed himself from something extraordinarily traumatic and is trying to rebuild something after it -- the question is more *what*.

Reccer says: This is a sequel to another iconic Kingsley-centric fic that may have already made the list; unlike the first, this is slower in pace and focuses a lot more on the characterization. I love the way that, while it does have some focus on his relationship to a supporting character, it's entirely about exploring Kingsley (as a character)'s relationship to the notion of free choice. His character arc in this is really well done. The themes are quite heavy, but are explored very thoughtfully and with the weight that they deserve.

The Fathoms Below by Lady_King (6423, Teen) Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Pairings: Fjord & Jester Lavorre & Kingsley Tealeaf

while shipping a priority item, the crew of the Nein Heroez attract some attention from the deep...

Reccer says: An extremely well-written fight scene and aftermath that feels like it could slot perfectly into canon.

It’ll Be Over Soon by NKMLN (27,898, Mature) Warnings: Pairings: Fjord/Jester, Fjord & King, Jester & King, Caduceus & King, King & Molly & Lucien

When a trip to check on Bwualli goes wrong, Kingsley finds himself marooned in the Shattered Teeth, far from the reach of the gods. World history ensues.

Reccer says: This fic is my baby. I worked really hard on writing a good horror fic, only to be informed that i had not written a horror fic and had, in fact, written a tragedy. I put a lot of love into this. I hope you enjoy.

looking glass by Anubis_2701 (26721, Mature) Warnings: Pairings: Lucien & Mollymauk Tealeaf, The Mighty Nein & Mollymauk Tealeaf, Cree & Lucien, Lucien & The Mighty Nein

Lucien and Molly are twins. with a different back story

Reccer says: I liked it!

The Fool and The Soldier by mare_astrorum (123354, Mature) Warnings: Pairings: The Mighty Nein & Mollymauk Tealeaf

Mollymauk Tealeaf survived the Mighty Nein's encounter with the Iron Shepherds on Glory Run Road, but a short time later, a spirit began hunting him, claiming that he stole his body. This Campaign 2 AU begins with Episode 26 and continues on from there.

Reccer says: I liked it!

Let Your Bloated Brain Balloon and Float Away by R_Black (5074, Teen) Warnings: Major Character Death Pairings: Lucien & Mollymauk Tealeaf

After Lucien dies for the second time, he gets to chat a bit with the special sliver of his soul that broke off after his first death.

Reccer says: I adored the descriptions and worldbuilding of this version of the afterlife, and both Lucien and Molly's characterizations felt true to form and uniquely distinct in the best way possible.

And then two recs each for these two fics!

the same twist in your heart as mine by hanap (6000,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Kingsley Tealeaf & Aldreda Tavelle Seriblo, Lucien & Aldreda Tavelle Seriblo, Kingsley Tealeaf & Essek Thelyss, Kingsley Tealeaf & Caleb Widogast, Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast

In which Kingsley discovers that the last occupant of his body had a younger sister.

Reccer 1 says: I think the most compelling thing to come out of the Nine Eyes of Lucien was that Lucien had a sister living in Rexxentrum the entire time. I like this fic's characterization of Kingsley, and the soft and heartbreaking reunion. Reccer 2 says: One of the thoughts that loomed largest in my mind after finishing Nine Eyes was "What would happen if King learned about Aldreda?" and this fic is *such* an interesting, emotion-filled exploration of that. Things did not play out how I expected they would in the best of ways, which is all I'll say on that. Never enough Kingsley fic in the world and getting into his head and how he would handle things was so fascinating and enjoyable here. Also, Essek and Kingsley's friendship is to die for and an excellent side to this fic!

Crowned Teeth (Or, An Offering Revoked) by fruitzbat (130,570, Teen) Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence Pairings: Kingsley Tealeaf/Original Character

After a standard trip towards the Bay of Gifts goes horribly wrong, Kingsley finds himself trapped and vowing to himself to hold those responsible to the light -- betrayed, isolated, and far from home, Kingsley must carve out his own destiny and forge a legacy he can say is worthy of those who came before him.

Reccer 1 says: This fic is absolutely amazing on every level, taking a sentence worth of a setting and expanding it into a beautiful bunch of worldbuilding. The original characters are amazing, the lore is air-tight, and it reads very much like a canon novel I could pick up in a bookstore. There is romance towards the end, but I consider it more of a "story with kissing" as opposed to "kissing with story" and the relationships between King and his crew are all developed well. This is also the first fic in a trilogy and all of them are worth a read. Reccer 2 says: This has some of the best worldbuilding I’ve ever seen in a fic. The world of piracy and sailing Kingsley inhabits is painstakingly described and true to life, and the portrayal of Kingsley’s state of mind, his friends and his enemies here is on point. I highly recommend this whole series for anyone who likes to wonder what Kingsley’s time on the seas and eventual journey to become Plank King might have entailed.

If you liked this rec list, follow along for more! We'll be posting a new list with a new theme each Monday. Want to make your own recs? Check out the rules, and then use the form to submit!

Next week, we'll be reccing fic featuring any of the campaign's pets! This includes familiars, noncanonical pets, Trinket and any flame spirit monkey children that pop up from time to time.

If you're looking for some more, there's some good stuff in the critter genfic bingo tag! Or you can request your own card and join in on the fun!

[nellasbookplanet]

Having, finally, read The Nine Eyes of Lucien, I’m naturally shock full of thoughts on the purple tiefling and questions on identity and personhood.

Did you know there's a medical procedure where, if the patient is young enough, half the brain can be removed and the half that remains takes over fully? (there’s more to this procedure, of course; it's called hemispherectomy) From this rises a theoretical question; if you somehow could place both these halves in a body of its own, which one is the original? Is either the original?

(You can watch a video on this topic here, it’s super fascinating!)

Mollymauk was 'born' because a fragment of Lucien's soul was left behind when he died. When Lucien was eventually returned to his body, that fragment was still there. But, crucially, Lucien did not have automatic access to its memories. He and the fragment, despite starting out as the same person, did not fully merge; rather, Molly remained as a separate identity within Lucien, able to converse with and actively fight him. They were two halves of the same brain, having been separated long enough to become individuals only to be shoved back together.

Had Lucien been returned to his body sooner, say, in a few days or even weeks, in all likelihood Molly would’ve been fully reabsorbed as but a part of the whole. Instead, Molly had the time to become, to evolve, to be a person of his own. By the time he and Lucien were reunited, they were no longer pieces of the same person, despite being made of the same soul, the same body. Their memories and experiences had diverged and settled, and could no longer be reunited as one.

Kingsley is, maybe, the same soul fragment as Molly. Maybe he's the entirety of Molly and Lucien's shared soul, but scrubbed clean of the memories of both. In the twoshot, he says off-handedly that 'it's all coming back to him'. Personally, I read this as more of a joke than him actually regaining all the memories, but even if he did, that wouldn’t necessarily make him either Molly or Lucien. He has, at this point, already Become. He can no longer be merged, can no longer regain a personality that has been lost, because his own personality would override it, having had enough time to grow into its own Self.

But does that really make him a different person? Most of us don’t remember our early childhoods; that doesn't mean our child-self is a separate entity from our adult-self, that we are somehow free of responsibility or consequences from what we did or what happened to us when we were young. As a child, I was more outgoing, less shy; remembering that is strange and alien to me now, unable to fathom having a personality so different from my adult self. Even so, I am still the same person. Is it merely a question of perspective? Kingsley, upon waking, could’ve decided he was an amnesiac Molly and kept the name Mollymauk Tealeaf. Instead, he decided he was someone else, and named himself Kingsley. Identity is what we are, what we become, and what we choose.

[dent-de-leon]

Forever thinking about whether Caleb or Kingsley is the first one to comfort the other with a forehead kiss—

[thefangirlibrarian]

When the Weight is Gone

grieving postwar harry oneshot; setup to harrymort time travel series

The first few weeks after the battle are all celebration and relief. Harry has done the impossible, and even more impossible, he’s survived it. He spends a few days at the Burrow with Hermione and the Weasleys, then, when Molly Weasley’s alternating ebullience and grief gets to be too much for him, retreats back to No. 12 Grimmauld Place with his war veteran of a house elf.

There are ravenous well-wishers and disgruntled Death Eaters on the loose, so Harry doesn’t go out much. Diagon Alley, the one time he’d attempted it, had been a disaster. So Kreacher does the shopping, and Harry nests. It all feels very cozy at first.

Kingsley wants him to testify at the trials of all the bad guys they’ve been rounding up, but the longer Harry stays safe under the renewed Fidelius at Grimmauld, the less he feels like leaving. In the end, he writes a statement of support for Draco and Narcissa Malfoy and leaves the rest for other heroes to bear witness to.

As the summer wears on, his friends start to make plans for the future, now that they have one again. Harry tells them he still needs time to breathe, and no one questions it. It has only been a few months since the battle, since his death and resurrection saved the whole Wizarding world. Harry is entitled to do a bit of nothing.

Still, Ron refuses to start Auror training without him, so he’ll be working with George in the joke shop for now. Hermione is neck-deep in research to try to restore her parents’ memories. Neville will be apprenticing with Professor Sprout in the fall, and Ginny and Luna are returning for their final year at Hogwarts, along with Dean Thomas and some of the other Muggleborns who’d spent their seventh year imprisoned or on the run.

McGonagall had encouraged Harry, Ron, and Hermione to come back as well, saying they could help set the tone of post-war rebuilding, but the three agree they have grown beyond Hogwarts. Hermione will sit her NEWTS at the end of the year after revising independently. Harry and Ron have resisted committing to this, or any other course of study, but Hermione feels she can wear them down eventually.

The thing is, Harry already feels worn down. Too worn down to think about NEWTS or Auror training. His life’s purpose had been fulfilled at seventeen. What else is there for him?

The blaze of possibility that had filled him in the immediate aftermath of the battle has burnt down to little more than ashes in the months that followed. It wasn’t so bad when he’d kept busy at first, but the longer he is alone and quiet, the more he notices it. He feels empty and wrong, like something has been scooped out of him, leaving behind an abscess. Or maybe it’s more like an amputation. Harry thinks of Wormtail cutting off his own hand to do what was demanded of him. If Voldemort had never replaced it with that treachery-detecting prosthetic, would Wormtail have sometimes felt the tingling of the phantom limb? Would he have reached for his hand, only to remember with renewed despair that he no longer was as he had been?

[demisexualemmaswan]

all right now that I have stopped crying about the t-dock moment

I’d like to thank taliesin jaffe personally 

for kingsley biting his lip at caleb and calling him cute 

no thoughts, no memories, just vague ghosts of feelings

and molly’s ghost of feeling for caleb was “yep gotta flirt with him no other choice”

[whinlatter]

dead ends | a remadora microfic 🏴‍☠️

for day 1 of @remadoramicrofics prompt: haunted read here or on AO3

When they meet, he's living - if you can call it at that - at Grimmauld.

‘Is it haunted, this house?’ she asks with interest, peering up the gloomy staircase at the house of her forbears before the meeting starts. Stupid question, turns out, because it’s quickly apparent it’s less the house that’s haunted than its two occupants. There’s her cousin, who’s left half his flesh and the best years of his youth on a great chunk of rock in the North Sea, and his friend, a pale crumpled grey serious man with holes in his elbow patches who introduces himself, with an apology of a handshake, as Remus.

‘How do you two know each other?’ she asks, hanging off the bannister. ‘We were school friends,’ says Remus offhandedly, with a glance at Sirius, who is busy glaring down the coffin corridor at other folks filing in with sullen teenage hands in pockets, and her brain fills in the rest: James Potter (dead), Lily Potter (dead), Peter Pettigrew (regretfully alive). Memory of the latter’s treachery hangs like a noose over that first meeting. ‘By being here tonight, you pledge loyalty to this order and to its mission, on pain of death,’ Dumbledore says ominously. For some reason, she finds herself watching the pale crumpled grey serious man as he raises his wand and commits himself to the cause, to the fight, to the prospect of his own destruction. ‘Serious business, this war lark,’ she says to him, when the meeting’s over, leaning in. He just smiles flatly back, drains his tea, and withdraws, which doesn’t piss her off so much as set her a good challenge for the next meeting to get a better smile out of him even if it kills her. 

She’s twenty three, got no real ghosts of her own yet. She knows her mother’s ghosts well enough - the sister they bump into sometimes in Diagon Alley then pretend they didn’t (Narcissa has a nasty habit of appearing in the line behind them at the bank), and the other one, rotting bonily in a cell having made her victims into husks. So she sets herself the task of learning about what’s haunting him, grey man with his soul in his hands. She asks Molly, and Kingsley, and Mad-Eye, and her cousin, who always watches the rest of them parade in and out of the house with sullen, jealous contempt. ‘What’s his deal?’ she asks Sirius, after another meeting where her attempts to make Remus laugh have won her nothing more than a wan, weary, half-hearted wince of a smile. 

‘He’s a werewolf,’ says Sirius, bored.

‘Yeah,’ she says, ‘I know that. I meant - what gets him going? What’s he into? What gets him out of bed? Has he got a wife or an… anything? Kids?’  

‘No,’ says Sirius. ‘He’s a werewolf.’

She’s not sure why everyone keeps focussing on that bit. 

There is life in the house, that summer. In fact, there's masses of it - mostly from the freckled ginger teenage people, who laugh loudly and boisterously at mealtimes and lob things at the door during meetings, demanding to be allowed to offer themselves up to line a graveyard or two. It fills her up, the buzz of it. So she tries to coax the life out of the grey man, too, get him to join in with the gossip and the games and the laughter of the children who still call him professor and plainly think the sun shines out of his arse. ‘Heard any good tunes lately?’ she asks him, at meetings, swapping through hair colours like a great flashing sign outside a club screaming notice me notice me. ‘Any good Muggle telly? Ventured out somewhere fun?’

‘Sadly not.’

‘Come on. There’s got to be something.' She feels like a human defibrillator. 'Tried a new weird kind of crisps? You know, I had some pickled onion ones the other day that turned my tongue blue.'

‘I’m afraid,’ he says, ‘I’m too old and boring for all of that.’

‘Too old for crisps?’ She wrinkles her nose, then changes her nose to a different one, and wrinkles that one, too. ‘How old are you?’ 

‘Much older than you. I’m thirty five.’ 

‘Oh, yeah, ancient. What’s wizarding life expectancy these days? You’ve only got - what, a hundred more years left?’ 

It drives her mad, this impression he does, of a man with nothing to live for. But she’s nothing if not determined, so she finds herself saving them up for him, little beckonings: stories of funny blokes on the tube, weirdos in the newsagents, stories from the pub and the office and the concerts she goes to to scream her head off and slam her body against strangers, little euphorias littering her days and weeks.

He listens, still as the grave. Occasionally, he’ll ask a polite question. Mostly, though, he gives her nothing back. ‘Come on,’ she says, throwing her hands up, mock despair. ‘Work with me, Remus. When was the last time you really felt alive?’

(Later - much later, when he’s leaving - he’ll tell her: ‘I’m a dead end.’

‘Fuck off,’ she’ll spit back, fuming. ‘We’re all dead ends. You’re not bloody special.’)

The next meeting, she sits down the other end of the table with Kingsley and Mad-Eye, doesn’t bother with her usual routine, had enough. She’s tried winding him up, tried taking the piss, tried getting him to tag along when she and Bill and the other Order twenty-somethings go out drinking or throw parties or go to gigs that leave their ears ringing. Fine, she thinks, stick your boring grey life. Waste your years.

It’s a boring one, that meeting. She yawns her way through it, no successes to speak of. Forty minutes in, there’s a soft thud at the kitchen door. Someone on the other side mutters ‘shit’, followed by the scampering of guilty feet back up the stairs. Remus mooches over to the door and recovers a strange stringy-looking thing with an ear at the end. Everyone takes this as a cue for the meeting to end: Molly marches up the stairs to berate her brood, Arthur smiles apologetically, Bill starts tidying, Sirius yawns. Remus, though, is smiling to himself as he walks over. He sits down beside her, twirling the strange device around in his hands, marvelling at it. ‘Impressive,’ he says, ‘isn’t it? What they can come up with.'

‘Brilliant.'

‘By the way,' he says, 'I have something for you.'

‘Oh?’

He fumbles around in a fraying pocket. Then he's pulling out an empty crisp packet, neatly folded in quarters. He flattens it out in front of her on the table, presents it. ‘Beef and mustard,’ he says. 'Weird enough for you?'

'Mustard crisps.' She stares down at the packet. ‘How were they?

‘Horrible,’ he says.

He stays for dinner - laughs with the kids, joins in with the gossip, for once, stays sat beside her the whole night. Watching him, she sees it, a glimmer of something: a stirring, a spark, colour, signs of life.

This is going to kill me, she thinks. She feels giddy with it - dizzy, thoroughly alive.

AN: i have never written remadora before but sometimes on sunday afternoons you think: fuck it, why not! this is pure @evesaintyves fanfiction and i make no apology for it. songs for this microfic are i wish i was the moon by neko case and hardline by julien baker (i'm telling my own fortune/something i cannot escape/i can see where this is going/but i can't find the brake). follow @remadoramicrofics for more! 🌙

[raptorix]

It just struck me, Aabria's description of Deanna's backstory just illuminated what happened with Molly and Kingsley.

When The Mighty Nein resurrected Lucien with the hope of getting Molly back, they didn't expect someone 'new' would come back out of that mess. After Jester restores his mind, Kingsley talks about what it was like being in the Moonweaver's domain.

Molly was only ever a fragment of Lucien's whole. Something left behind in Lucien's body, just enough to let the body come back after everyone thought he was dead. A 'cutting' of a soul, left behind to regrow into a new tree. Lucien was able to will himself to stay together, to not disperse after he died. To seek a return in whatever way possible. And when Cree resurrected him when she learned of Molly's death, Lucien happily returned with no hesitation.

But when Molly died, his new soul just returned to the Moonweaver's domain, blending with the rest of the ocean of souls. When Caduceus called upon the Wildmother to 'put him back', she probably scooped up what had been Molly's soul, which had now mixed with the ocean of souls, becoming something new. That's why we got Kingsley instead.

I haven't read the 'Nine Eyes of Lucien' book yet, but I believe there's references of how Molly kinda exists in Lucien's head after Lucien returns. It's probably like an imprint of his soul & memories left in his body. That anchor that let him come back as Molly the first time.

[demigoddessqueens]

Another round of music asks with the CR crew. Y/N reader with CR Bois.

I see “Jane” here and I know it’s gonna be good

After listening to all of these, this is for….Mollymauk/Kingsley

He swears he’s seen your face a thousand times before but every time he sees it, even as Kingsley, it’s a constant reminder of something good that has remained in his life

you two are thick as thieves, having your own inside jokes and cleverness with each other

Every battle doesn’t seem like it, but he feels afraid it can separate him from you. Be it him gone or….sometimes he fears the worst if you were gone from him…

he didn’t mean to flip out on you in the aftermath of fighting the Iron Angels but you didn’t take it personally. The panicked look in Molly’s eyes tell you it went deeper than that

Festivals are a reprieve for you both, dancing close to each other and keeping the reminder to just unwind and have fun with each other

You let out a deep seated breath after The aftermath of the fight with what remained of Lucien. He may not have been your Molly from before, but Kingsley still retains memories of your face and wants to explore and re-establish what he had with you, no matter how long it takes