#The squid game have nothing to do with my au but is still funny to me and plus is

[ajgshsjdd]

Some silly hc in my au

Warning : some slightly spoiled for the squid game season 2 btw.

[vxiphoid]

PIXELATED ZEN

❨ summary ❩ genshin › genshin men playing minecraft with you ((ft. alhaitham, itto, cyno, diluc, kazuha, kaeya, heizou, & xiao))

tags ✧ modern au, drabble, fluff, chaotic energy, not proofread, cursing, ooc(?), established relationship, gn!reader, kaeya sets a forest on fire, alhaitham does not appreciate bees, mentions of pixelated deaths

amanuensis’ message ⊹ IM NOT TRYING TO KILL MY OTHER FANDOMS I SWEAR… im gonna back up from twst for a bit (im literally posting scarabia soon.) you can clearly tell who my favorites are… this unlocked a whole different part of my brain holy shit im deceased

⌜200+ e/chara ⌟

♫ blossom - t. shan

genshin masterlist

ALHAITHAM

╰┈➤ tbh he thinks minecraft is stupid, i mean, why not read a book instead of burning the images of pixels into your eye sockets😒 yeah, he’d just rather books. its a game about blocks, what could possibly be so interesting? he will admit the music is… nice. its nostalgic even though he’s never heard the track before. his favorite animals are the axolotl idk they’re his little pookies. its their little stick arms, they look so silly… as soon as haitham found out that you could color things its over, he make some sweet things like putting a sign on top of your shared house with both initials with colored dye. he’s so happy, just not very vocal about it, but he has the smallest of smiles. he definitely has headphones with the crochet sprout on it omg😭 alhaitham does not like bees whatsoever, they stung him for trying to get food. he just wanted honey :[

“look, the dog’s collar is blue. and the sign’s letters are green and then if you add a glow squid’s ink, it lights up.”

┏━━━━━━ ━ ─ ╴⋯ ⟢

ARATAKI ITTO

╰┈➤ he has waited YEARS for someone to play minecraft with him omfg. certified snack hoarder for times like these. you both literally hit each other to show love, you’ve accidentally killed him once bc he didn’t tell you that he had like half a heart… itto likes the water, hates the guardians because who do you think you are attacking him out of nowhere??? gets one shotted by the elder guardian while trying to fight it with a stick and then blames it on magma blocks pulling him down. GAMING WITH HIM IS NEVER CALM GODS💀 you cannot lay on him or anything bc as soon as those cave sounds or disc 13 start playing, he’s already done sprung out of his seat. his screams are actually really funny though, you got him a cat from how much he’s been assaulted by creepers. when you introduced him to shaders, he was so in awe. “babe i have a shadow!” type of excitement JAKEJEJDMnda.

“the cat’s name is sir arataki the third, you are now my loyal guard cat. who’s an adorable little guy?”

┏━━━━━━ ━ ─ ╴⋯ ⟢

CYNO

╰┈➤ look at this nerd (affectionate), ofc he plays cubecraft. loved it so much that when he didn’t have the actual game, he would play the really bad knockoffs💀 plays on console so you can sit between his legs, lean back, and game with him. cyno hate the split screen because he always gets confused on what side he’s on so he lets you use his switch, that way you’re both still comfortable. he’s more of an explorer if you do get mod packs for him, likes the horror ones the most. there’s nothing like hitting the enemy or shit talking the thing that could potentially one shot you with your s/o‼️ yall crouch a lot, its like a little dance. he really likes the disc “far” it itches his brain in the right way. definitely downloads the little raccoon mobs but then regrets it because he gives up all his berries to them, look at their little begging arms, literally how can you say no to that?? AND THEY WASH THE BERRIES. you both fall asleep to the ambience and to each others breathing all cuddled up ‘n warm. cyno absentmindedly sings the music while chopping wood or mining that shit has you SLUMPED. he kisses your head when you fall asleep, smiling like a silly goober.

“do-do-do-do do-do-do-do do, neow neow neow nneow neeeowwww… huh? oh, i’m almost done then we can go to bed, yeah? i’ll charge the switch too, don’t worry. just rest.”

(he’s singing that one part in danny lmfao)

┏━━━━━━ ━ ─ ╴⋯ ⟢

DILUC

╰┈➤ diluc does not understand the concept of minecraft but its okay, he’s just happy to be here. he also doesn’t call it minecraft but “cave game”, the original name, he did his research though it is rare that he actually calls it minecraft. found out that you could breed animals and accidentally made a pack of wolves. diluc is really good with redstone its actually insane😭 he’s the type to protect you the whole time while you’re getting flowers for the house, boyfriend bodyguard. diluc doesn’t play much because of his job but when he does, he’s prepared to sit for hours and spend time with you :(. these are the times where he’s most affectionate, randomly kissing your cheek, getting water for the both of you before you play, etc. luc loves the mod pack “industrial”, he can build machines, how neat is that??? also it has way more OMFP with the added features it has yk? he likes the trains :D

“is the water running…? the water’s running, they have moving windmills!”

┏━━━━━━ ━ ─ ╴⋯ ⟢

KAEDEHARA KAZUHA

╰┈➤ kazuha has the most expensive equipment yet doesn’t use this shit half of the time unless he’s streaming with heizou??? like im talking msi infinite rs pc, multiple monitors, a graphic drawing tablet, headphones with immaculate sound quality AND!!! the ear cups have fucking cyberpunk 3d wing guards on them. but anyways, minecraft, yes, he plays. in fact, kaedehara has about 10 beaten hardcore worlds every time a new update comes out, he must beat the game again. he rarely plays minecraft without his shaders so when you want to play the original og minecraft, he doesn’t mind, he actually enjoys the nostalgia. so much so the music is actually his background music when he’s just lazing around. words cannot express how much he dislikes (hates) wardens omg. he’ll protect you from them but if there were diamonds behind a warden, ig he’s going somewhere else😭 kazuha gives you random shit, weather that be something really sweet or questionable…

“love, do you want my rotten flesh? here<3 oh! and, i also got you some steak, you’re low on hearts…”

┏━━━━━━ ━ ─ ╴⋯ ⟢

KAEYA

╰┈➤ he’s heard of it, watched people play, just never played it. but when he does… he’s a menace. kaeya got his hands on flint and steel and set an entire jungle on fire… but he can be sweet sometimes! you’re the one protecting his ass while he walks around at night UNARMED to gather blue flowers for you. like you’re cute, but take a shield or something😭 he’s jumped off of a tall building before and landed on half a heart for a stack of bread you didn’t want. he’s rather oblivious to the mobs around him, he once thought shulkers were friends because they were just “silly little guys in little boxes” yk until they almost killed him. you bought him his own skin and introduced him to parrots and now its his favorite animal, he looks like a pirate!!! kaeya is chaotically sweet.

“yes, you almost died protecting me but how could you resist my everlasting love plus pixelated blue flowers?”

(has a cat unironically named ice spice LMFAO)

┏━━━━━━ ━ ─ ╴⋯ ⟢

SHIKANOIN HEIZOU

╰┈➤ your boyfriend is good at literally anything else BUT minecraft. its the way this game constantly has it out for him too like what did bro do??🙁 heizou stream’s with kazuha every now and again and on those, he still doesn’t know what to do… he’d rather play on the servers, bedwars in particular. extremely good at bw, you’d rather NOT be his enemy😭😭 wins almost every single game even when he carries, rank 98 in the server. yet when it comes to a casual server between you and him, the chats are filled with his deaths and his hashtagged rages💀 heizou despises silverfish which is also why he hates going into strongholds, they could get stomped on for all he cares! >:( he has texture packs with really beautiful skies and then a picnic mod so he can stargaze with you and eats minecraft cake :(<3

“oh. babe, green is heading for our bed, no pressure or anything. i loovveee youuu😚”

┏━━━━━━ ━ ─ ╴⋯ ⟢

XIAO

╰┈➤ xiao has the MOST downloaded mod packs, shaders, and worlds. not very expensive mod packs most of the time but when they are, they’re always good. spends his time fighting off mobs at night, #1 totem holder. he even has his own custom skin!!! he’s kinda been waiting for you to ask so when you do play mc together, you already have your own room, but when you voluntarily move your bed into his room to sleep… he melts. xiao loves cuddling while the two of you play, he’d rather your arms around him than the other way around, feels more intimate. you have matching hoodies for occasions like this. he has the dragon mod pack and has his own golden and orange dragon named ‘li’. he doesn’t talk while gaming, curses silently when he gets hit, but other than that doesn’t talk. if you want to talk, he’ll listen, he likes hearing about your day :].

“no, keep talking. i’m listening. see, li’s listening too.”

[becauseplot]

dont mind me tripping and falling in here again. but i would also love to hear about botw au. legend of zelda au's my absolute beloved they have me running circles around my room. adrenaline shot straight to the heart nothing digs its claws in me quite like loz and i am so so interested to hear about it!! clingyduo doomed to save the world in every universe,,,, i'm invested already

thank you so much for humoring me, i love botw aus so much theyre aaaa!! aaAAAAAaaAaaAAa!!!!

so yeah this originally started bc an old friend of mine and i were talking and i forget who suggested it but we were like "hey wouldn't tommyinnit as link be so funny? because tommyinnit is like the exact opposite kind of feral-energy of botw link. loud and swears and uncontrollable and headstrong. hylia's most annoying hero." and things just devolved from there. it's fully a Crack Treated Seriously situation because i spent actual months working out lore n worldbuilding and whatnot fhdjskhfdk.

the fic is officially called Well, Excuuuuuuuse Me, Big Man: The BotW AU No One Asked For (or WEMBM for short)

basic layout (as far as i went with it anyway):

tommy more-or-less follows the order of what you're "supposed" to do to to beat the game: plateau->kakariko->hateno->kakariko again->four main regions->master sword->ganon. of course there are a lot of detours and back-tracking and skipping around for hyjinx

main regions/inhabitants are replaced: Zora->Axols (axolotl "hybrids"), Gorons->Piglins, Rito->Elytrians, Gerudo->Enderians

each of the above races have their own cultures that are loosely based off of the game's original counterparts and some mcrp fanon + personal headcanons thrown in. they're customized to incorporate some (mild) minecraft elements!!

old champions: Mipha->Niki, Daruk->Technoblade, Rivali->Philza, Urbosa->Ran (based loosely off of tftsmp Ran, effectively an oc lmao????)

new champions: Sidon->Foolish (Niki's younger brother) and Jack (Niki's best friend), Yunobo->Drista, Teba->Wilbur, Riju->Ranboo

all of their personalities more-or-less remain intact (which is why the fact that i put The Old Man / King Rhoam as Schlatt so fucking funny)

divine beasts keep their names but the creatures change!! Ruta is a glow squid, Rudania is a blaze, Medoh is still a bird (LMAO i might change this because...), Naboris is a phantom

some scattered details

wilbur is both the "new" champion role AND kass' role!! he and tommy meet early on in his journey (at his first visit to Hateno) but tommy doesn't learn about wilbur's heritage (Philza was his great great great grandfather) until MUCH later. they run into each other a lot during their travels.

wilbur also has a hardcore crush on an axol warrior named sally, which tommy teases and embarrasses him relentlessly for

tubbo (zelda-role) keeps zelda's arc of not being able to develop powers. the key difference is that tommy and tubbo are friends before the calamity business starts to get serious, and tubbo's frustration drives a wedge between them

(angst time: clingy duo has a Big Fight during that one sheikah slate Memory on the palace tower bridge, and they never get the chance to apologize to each other before it all goes to shit and tommy dies sacrificing himself to save tubbo.)

techno and phil are old friends from when they'd do colosseum fights together. they haven't talked much for a few years before becoming champions, both too busy with their respective duties at home, but the moment they realize they've both been recruited well, they're inseparable

windbombing, bullet-time bouncing, and shield clipping are canon. don't question it.

champion ran is a dick (think revali) and the only one there they respect is niki because they underestimated her and then she proceeded to floor them during a sparring session (and she didn't even threaten them with a water based attack, it was all skill)

awesamdude (most people call him "sam", he's ranboo's personal guard) has a half brother named awesamnook (most people call him "nook" or "samnook"). he's the Beedle-role and he talks in all caps like an npc ("HELLO TRAVELER." "Why are you shouting---" "HAVE A LOOK AT MY WARES." "Okay---")

bad runs the yiga-equivalent egg cult that, instead of disguising themselves as travelers, simply uses sprouts of blood-red flowers with a toxic pollen to mind-control bystanders into attacking tommy (yikes)

have some highlights from the few chapters i've written of tommy on the great plateau (yes, the entire google doc is written in comic sans)

tommy immediately sassing tubbo's disembodied voice:

tommy is 7 feet from the cave and is shoving things in his mouth:

(I should also mention he has a pet beetle in his pocket named Sir Legs)

tommy has a grudge against the sheikah pedestals, it's a whole arc on the plateau as he slowly comes to love and appreciate the pedestals and what they do for him:

old man J vs tommy's unwavering optimism(bullheadedness):

tommy vs disembodied voices:

tommy vs the first shrine:

tommy meets a monk:

pulling a direct line from philza's botw playthrough for this one:

me when i fast travel:

The loading screen says: "Leaving Comments: Leaving comments on a fic is a great way to make a writer go :D and give them the motivation they need to continue their bullshittery."

also some chapter titles:

[inhyvck]

𒀭 Happy birthday | Lee Heeseung

pairing; lee heeseung x gn!reader

genre(s); angst, squid game au

warning(s); implied death (?), mentions of a gun.

word count; 0.7k

a/n; happy heeseung day ig LNAKALFNKF im so sorry kandkoajdjdk this js my first time writing a birthday fic I AM SO (not) SORRY anyways yeah, happy birthday my beloved hee and uhh...🏃🏽‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️ Oh yeah (spoiler: jiyeon's death still hurts me so much and rhis is mostly insoired bye thay scene so if tou haven't watche dsquid game ig i don't advise reading rhis if you are planning on wathcing kt)

With 3 minutes remaining on the timer, the two of you still sat on the stairs of the fake neighborhood set. The orange tin light illuminates the area like a real sunset in a neighborhood, where kids would usually play outside their houses after school or during summer when everyone is free to play.

You scowled at the men in the red suits, thinking of a loophole where the two of you could win. But as time ticks by, you have no luck. And heeseung's smart thinking couldn't even get past this one.

"You know let's just play a game, fairly," you say.

You already gave up, knowing that either one of you will get out of there alive or neither of you will once the time runs out.

"How about just, throwing a marble and whoever gets it closest to the gate wins," you proposed. Jumping off the steep steps, dusting the imaginary dust off your pants.

He locked eyes with you, observing those dark eyes, holding little to no emotions, hidden under an amused smile, like you aren't stuck in a game where your life literally depends on it.

"Fair match? Don't try anything funny," he says. You gave him a genuine look before nodding, but you couldn't keep your promise.

"You go first."

He gets into a position behind the line you created in the sand, throwing a single marble from the tiny bag in his hands. The marble lands just a few inches away from the door, making it impossible for you to not hit the door just to get closer to it.

But you weren't planning on it.

As you stood behind the line, a smirk played across your lips. You dropped the marble just by your feet, not even trying your best.

Heeseung stood there in disbelief.

"Y/n. . ."

The smirk on your lips stayed, making Heeseung furious. How could you do this to him? You agreed on fair play, and you just let him have this win. Without even trying.

"I told you I'd make sure you win," you shrugged. Recalling back to the time in the waiting area as the two of you paired up.

Heeseung locked his jaw, gripping the bag of marbles in his hands.

"And what makes you think that I needed your help? At least make it seem like you put in effort, do you think I'm weak?" He walked towards you into a wall, looking down on your figure.

You knew that wasn't what he was actually thinking. He is too easy to read, you've known for years, it's impossible to not see those signs.

"Not at all hee."

"Then why?"

"Because, you have something to come home to, better yet— you have someone, and me? I have nothing, no one is waiting for me at home, nothing is exciting for me anymore," he held his head down low. You've always been there for heeseung, you watched him grow and you helped him grow

But this time, you had to let him go. He's grown up, and you are glad you got to see him again.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He mutters. Earlier when you were trying to kill time, you talked about your life and how it was going, wondering why you decided to join the game. And heeseung heard things that he didn't even know you were going through.

"Because I'm the one who's taking care of you, not the other way around." You've always been selfless and many people have told you that it'll be the death of you, and today that's proving that theory.

"Look, I've got nothing to lose, but you sir, you have someone important to take care of at home, and they are waiting for you." You rest your hand on his shoulder, before he pulls you tight into a hug.

Then one of the suited up staff stripped him away from you, escorting him back to the main hall.

"Heeseung!" You called out. He didn't bother turning back, not wanting to get a glimpse of what's about to happen.

"Of course I couldn't forget—" a grin widely spreads across your face as tears fall from your cheeks.

And before the gunshot you managed to say.

"Happy birthday."

[spookybias]

ideal first dates ‣ [ txt ] ✧

pairing: txt x gn! reader

genre: fluff | friends to lovers au.

description: some date ideas for txt and how the time spent together would go.

word count: 675

note: i struggled with present and future tense, but i still had so much fun writing this. this is probably my favorite out of all the txt things i've written.

⌕ › choi yeonjun

drive-in movie — cliché, but not cheesy; yeonjun looks for any excuse to put his arm around your shoulders and pull you in close. at one point, he starts teasing you about how shy you become when he flirts, and you defend yourself by throwing the snacks at him. only being shushed by the other couples gets you guys to calm down from your fit of giggles. he finds sitting in the back of his pickup truck, a blanket sprawled out with popcorn and m&ms sprinkled over the two of you syrupy-sweet. when yeonjun leans in to pluck the kernels from your hair, don't break eye contact. he wants to kiss you and you should let him; yeonjun's been waiting so long to take you out on a date.

⌕ › choi soobin

stargazing — minimalistic, but full of content; it's just the two of you sitting on the roof of soobin's house, gazing up at the stars. he tries his hardest to remember the names of all the constellations he spent days before memorizing. you're fascinated by his knowledge, and pretty soon you're pointing at every set of stars hoping to learn something new. when you ask about one particular constellation that he knows nothing about, soobin makes something up because impressing you is his top priority. the night is peaceful, filled with light laughs and growing concerns. when you're both done thinking out loud, though, tell him how you feel. he doubts himself a lot when it comes to you, and most certainly won't confess first.

⌕ › choi beomgyu

walk in the rain — questionable, but outstanding; beomgyu picks you up from your house and when you ask where you guys are going for the day, he tells you that you're already there. the both of you move through the thunderstorm under a shared umbrella. you two take turns holding it so that neither of you have to deal with tired arms. every time you hand back the umbrella, beomgyu takes your hand with his free one, and holds it in his pocket to help you get warm again. there's loud laughter when one of you slip or say something stupid. there's long conversations too, but never about the weather. when the rain gets too heavy to walk in, beomgyu leads you under a store's roof, seeking shelter. he kisses you fearlessly before yelling out into the thunder all the reasons why he likes you.

⌕ › kang taehyun

card games at the diner — ordinary, but memorable; it's an early evening at the back of a local diner. you and taehyun are overdressed from the top for a measly diner date, him in a button-down collared shirt and tie, and you in a long-sleeved shirt and sweater vest. you guys play i declare war and crazy eights. taehyun wins most of the rounds. you get so excited by your single victory that before you know it, you're sliding into the opposite side of the booth next to him. he blushes furiously when your knees bump together, and you start panicking because you just made taehyun nervous. when you're done playing, taehyun orders one caramel milkshake to share. he shows you some magic tricks, and the two of you take turns sipping, too scared to lean in at the same time.

⌕ › huening kai

aquarium — common, but wholesome; you know kai is in love with you when he takes you to the aquarium. it's swarming with the color blue, the color of peace, loyalty, and reliability —all of the things kai has to offer. it's also swarming with fish, and you two take turns making funny faces attempting to imitate the aquatic creatures. you guys' favorite part of the tour is the cephalopod exhibit, but the vampire squids freak you both out. kai really likes the umbrella octopuses, and tells you that they're cute like you. it's quiet after that minus the small talks, because what do you do when you're both shy, but ready to give each other everything? no worries, kai was brave enough to hold you hand for the rest of the day.

all rights reserved | © spookybias. do not copy, repost, translate, or moderate any of my works.

[there-must-be-a-lock]

Breakfast and Bus Rides

Criminal Minds/Supernatural crossover ft. Harry Styles

Word Count: ~3030

Warnings: Egregious amounts of fluff, one gratuitous kitten, and a couple stoned rockstars. Lots of discussion of coming out and some other LGBT-adjacent issues. 

A/N: A wild Plot appears! I was having some feels about coming out/honesty (hm wonder why, is a mystery) and foisted those feelings on JJ and Dean. 

Thanks to @stunudo​ for a pre-read, endless encouragement, and the kitten scene idea.

This is part of the Rockstar AU. It picks up right where Wake-Up Calls and Watermelon leaves off. 

Dean exchanges a glance with Sam, and they both hang back as the others start to gather in the kitchenette. Penelope keeps shooting wide-eyed, starstruck looks at Harry, and it’s making Dean nervous. 

“You okay with this?” Dean asks quietly. “You think she’ll keep her mouth shut?” 

Sam shrugs. “I can talk to her.” 

“And Schroeder? I mean, love the kid to death, but holy hell does he babble.” 

“Spencer’s known since the first night of tour.” 

“How?” 

Sam chuckles. “Kinda a funny story… tell you later. I honestly think he might’ve forgotten, though.” 

“What about the rest of ‘em?” Dean asks. “I mean, I like ‘em well enough, but…”

“I want to tell them,” Sam says, without hesitating. “I’m just gonna bite the bullet and invite them all over for breakfast.” 

Dean sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “You sure?” 

“I trust them.” 

“Okay. Just don’t want you to get hurt, Sammy.” 

“What a shock,” Sam deadpans. “Dean’s pulling the protective big brother card? Alert the press.”

Dean purses his lips and gives Sam a light punch on the arm. “Bitch.” 

“Don’t let Emily hear you saying that,” Sam chuckles. “Shoulda heard the lecture I got the other day about the way misogyny is perpetuated through language. Honestly, though. What do you really think is going to happen? It’s not like they’ve outed you and Cas, they’ve all been awesome about it.” 

“This is different, though,” Dean says, with a grimace. “I mean, like it or not, it’d be news. The gossip rags would pay serious fuckin’ money for a picture of the two of you.” 

“It’s not like we’re gonna walk around, like, fused at the mouth,” Sam laughs. “No PDA required. But… I want him to meet some of my friends. Y’know?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Stop worrying so much, Dean.” Sam’s expression is soft and fond, and he claps Dean on the shoulder before heading for the coffee maker and Harry. 

Harry wraps himself around Sam like a giant squid, if a giant squid wore Gucci, and Dean’s chest feels tight with anxiety. The two of them are looking at each other with these stupid googly-eyed dimpled smiles. It doesn’t even count as PDA, not really, except that Sam is so godawful at hiding his feelings that he might as well be wearing a neon sign. 

Then Harry starts feeding him a strawberry, and that definitely counts as PDA, if not public indecency. Gross. 

If someone did take a picture of them like this, with their sleepy-eyed smiles and interlaced fingers, it’d be worth thousands of dollars. That’s a hell of an incentive. Dean’s had people fuck him over for much less. 

Dean’s learned his lesson over the years. The only people you can really trust are your family. 

Cas emerges from their room, blinking blearily around at everyone before coming over to Dean and leaning in for a kiss. 

“Morning breath, fuck,” Dean grumbles, making a face, but he grabs Cas and pulls him in anyway. 

A cheer goes up around them, and Dean sees Jack coming out of his room, clothed now, but still blushing red and shamefaced. 

“What’d I miss?” Cas says, scowling, and Dean grins gleefully before launching into the story. 

* * *

“I guess I just don’t see why it’s such a big deal,” Spencer says, contemplating his hand of cards. “Aside from a very vocal minority, there’s widespread support for LGBT rights, statistically, and the music industry is more progressive than most. If you look at David Bowie, for example —” 

“I pass the turn,” Charlie interrupts, cutting him off before he can launch into full-on textbook mode. “It’s not really about that, though.” 

Charlie forgets about the conversation for a minute as he attacks her planeswalker. She used to own her local Friday Night Magic tournaments, and she’s more than a little pissed that this skinny fucker in a sweater vest has won three of their last four games. Spencer is sneaky. Charlie can respect that, but it’s infuriating. 

“Why, then?” 

“Hmm? Oh, that. It’s more to do with… privacy, I guess. That’s a hell of a lot of public attention for Sam. He doesn’t want people to sing Happy Birthday to him, you know?” 

“Doesn’t everybody hate being sung to?” Spencer asks pensively.

“Well, yeah. But Harry’s the sort of famous where people get totally invasive and weird about his personal life. Like, starting rumors, tabloid shit, and it extends to anyone he gets involved with.” 

“Really?” Spencer downs the last of his coffee. It’s his third cup, but he hasn’t touched the plate of pancakes that’s been going cold on the table.  

“Yeah. I don’t know if Sam realizes the full level of crazy at work, but Dean and I looked online, one night, after Harry brought it up. The shit people have said about his exes… about his friends, even. They’re vicious about it. Analyzing every facial expression in every picture, making up stories…” 

Spencer’s forehead creases in a frown. “I play Grasp of Darkness on your Primordial Hydra and swing with all my zombies.” 

“Motherfucker,” Charlie mutters. “Rematch?” 

Spencer’s staring intently down at the table, lost in thought, and he doesn’t seem to hear her for a second. She chucks one of her D-20s at his face and he starts when it bounces off his forehead. 

“Sorry.”

“Where’d you go?” 

He hesitates before mumbling, “I had a stalker.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, she — Cat. I told her I didn’t want to sleep with her, and she didn’t like that very much.” He pauses, brow furrowed. “She learned everything about me, and I mean everything. Tried to manipulate me, tried to manipulate my friends…”

“Yikes. What happened?” 

“She went to jail for a little while. She showed up when she got out, one night in Boston—” Spencer brightens. “—but Derek tackled her and threw her into the Charles River.” 

“For real?” 

Spencer nods and smiles in a way that makes Charlie think she’s not getting the full story. “It was a weird night.” 

“So she hasn’t showed up since then?” 

“No. But… I just felt like I couldn’t hide anything, like every part of me, every shitty thing I’d ever done, was under a microscope. It was awful. I’m all for being honest, you know? That’s great, in theory, but... everybody deserves the right to hide if they want to. You should be the one to decide what parts of yourself you want to share.” 

Charlie thinks about the friend who outed her in high school, and how naked she felt. 

“Agreed.” 

* * *

Dean sits down next to Derek at the kitchen bar as he’s sealing the third joint.  

“Rolling for the road?” he asks, around a mouthful of bacon. “Nicely done.” 

“The key is the crutch,” Derek tells him. “Ditalini.” 

“No shit? Huh.” 

Derek keeps working, watching Dean, who’s watching Sam. 

“Nothing to worry about here,” Derek points out gently. “You know that, right?” 

Dean lets out a little self-deprecating laugh. “Sorry. Fuck. Habit, y’know? He’s my brother.” 

“Oh, believe me, I know,” Derek says ruefully, glancing over at Spencer. 

“Every person he tells is another person that could hurt him,” Dean says fiercely. “I fuckin’ hate that.” 

“Worrying doesn’t help, though.” 

Dean scowls at that, thinking for a moment as he chews, before saying, “I just wish there was a way I could help.” 

“A while ago, there was this guy who went after Emily,” Derek says slowly, twisting the next joint closed. “And he didn’t hurt her bad, or anything. Spencer and JJ jumped in, and Spencer took the worst of it, because… Spencer.” 

“Can’t see him being handy in a fight.” 

“Try telling him that when he’s pissed. Point is, though… nobody got hurt, but I was pretty shaken up about it. Beat myself up for not being there to protect them, until my girl Penelope talked some sense into me. She said, ‘It’s not your job to keep them safe all the time. The most important thing is to make sure they know they’re safe with you.’ I think about that a lot.” 

“So, what, I’m supposed to just… ignore the risk?” 

“No,” Derek says patiently. “But it’s his risk to take. You being afraid isn’t going to make the world any less scary, but knowing that you’re there, that you’re proud of him, that you’ve got his back no matter what? That helps.”  

Dean mulls that over. There’s a mulish set to his jaw that reminds Derek of Emily; it’s the face she makes when she knows he’s right and doesn’t want to admit it. He tries to hide his smile as he finishes rolling the last joint and offers it to Dean. 

“Thanks,” Dean says gruffly. 

“Any time.” 

* * *

When JJ opens the bus door, she’s greeted by a cloud of weed smoke. She can see Hotch stretched out on the couch with a half-smoked joint in one hand and a battered copy of Slaughterhouse-Five in the other. He’s reading out loud, and for a moment JJ can’t figure out who he’s reading to; then she notices Pearl curled up on his chest, rubbing her tiny fuzzy head against his cheek. 

It’s so goddamn cute JJ doesn’t know what to do with herself. She settles for whipping out her phone and taking a quick picture. 

As she walks up the bus steps, Hotch holds out the lit joint without pausing, and she takes it happily. 

JJ’s exhaling smoke, finally feeling the weird tension under her skin start to evaporate, when Rossi opens the door.

“All set,” Rossi says, giving the driver a thumbs-up. 

“Did you triple-check your head count?” Hotch asks, deadpan. 

“Sure did.” 

“Everybody present and accounted for?” JJ adds innocently. “Spencer?” 

“He’s showing off his new toy on the Winchesters’ bus.”

“Penelope?” 

“Playing Sega with Charlie.” 

“And Morgan?” 

“Already in the back, taking a nap.” 

“Emily?” Hotch presses. 

“She’s in the batcave to — oh. I see.” Rossi glowers. “Very funny.” 

“Are you sure you didn’t forget Spencer again?” JJ asks, giggling hoarsely around another lungful of smoke. 

“It was one time,” Rossi protests, flipping them off. “You try keeping track of the kid. He’s like a squirrel. A squirrel on LSD.” 

“Pretty sure it was mushrooms that day,” JJ points out. 

Rossi sits down and asks thoughtfully, “Did anybody see that coming?” 

“Sam? Honestly, no,” Hotch answers, frowning. “Not that it’s any of our business, but…” 

“Me neither,” JJ admits. 

She’s still rattled by the whole thing, for reasons she can’t quite put her finger on. It’s not about Sam, or whatever bullshit constructs of masculinity that would make people assume he’s straight just because he has muscles and dresses like a lumberjack. She’s not shocked by the label, or whatever. 

“There’s someone I want you guys to meet,” Sam had told them. He tucked his hair behind his ears as he said it; it’s his tell, his nervous tic, and JJ has the poker winnings to prove it. She had wondered, for a moment, what would make him smile like that in spite of his obvious anxiety. 

Dean had been glaring from the other side of the room, gauging their reactions, his arms folded and his fear written all over his face in the guise of a scowl, like a feral dog who’d been backed into a corner. JJ could understand the fear. Sam, though… Sam just looked relieved. 

Hotch and Rossi are staring at her, she realizes abruptly. 

“Hm?” 

“I said, anything you want to do in L.A.? Plenty of time for sightseeing.” 

JJ shrugs. “Not really.” 

“You okay?” Rossi asks, looking at her closely. 

“Yeah, just… tired. I’m gonna take that nap now.” She gives them a bright smile, passing the joint to Rossi, and gets up before they can question it. 

JJ feels a little better once she’s in a spare bunk with the curtain closed. It’s easier to examine the knot in her chest like this, now that she’s alone in the dark, safe and hidden. 

She keeps coming back to the smile on Sam’s face. 

There was a moment, earlier, when JJ noticed Sam and Harry from across the room as they talked to Emily and Hotch. Harry had been leaning against Sam’s side. Sam’s arm was draped casually over his shoulder, and he started playing idly with Harry’s hair, combing his fingers through the messy curls at his temple as Harry tilted his head into the touch. 

There was a peaceful possessiveness in it—the sort of cozy familiarity that had been worn soft by time like overwashed cotton—an unspoken claim: mine. 

How long has it been since JJ felt that with someone, like their closeness was a second skin that she could wear in public? 

Not since Emily. Even then it had always been tainted by fear, an overwhelming desire to hide whenever she could feel someone watching. 

She and Emily are loudly affectionate with each other in public, of course: drunk and dancing, or clinging to each other as they stagger home, or kissing with an exaggerated smacking sound when anyone mutters disapprovingly in their direction. But that’s brash and performative and platonic, the sort of thing JJ could do just as comfortably with Penelope or Spencer. That’s different. 

Anybody who’d seen Sam and Harry would’ve known immediately; that sort of intimacy is unmistakable, and Sam didn’t seem to care. He was smiling like he was proud to show it off. 

JJ has seen it in Dean and Cas, too, but never quite so clearly. Maybe it’s because they’ve never had to hide around the Business As Usual crowd, so the contrast hasn’t drawn her attention, or maybe it’s just that they’re not demonstratively tactile in the same way. You have to know him well (and you have to be paying attention) to catch glimpses of  the tenderness that Dean masks so well. He doesn’t wear his emotions on his face for everyone to see. JJ can relate. 

But Sam wasn’t hiding, that morning; he was just sweet and vulnerable and proud of it and JJ realizes suddenly that she’s jealous. That’s envy squirming around in her belly. 

She wants that sort of love: fearless, or maybe in spite of fear. She gets sick of hiding, sometimes. 

JJ puts a pin in that thought and tells herself she can deal with it later, when she’s not quite so stoned and maudlin. Right now, it’s naptime. 

* * *

Dean intended to nap all the way to Sacramento, but he only manages to doze for a half hour or so. There’s too much on his mind. He pushes groggily through the door and thinks a silent thank you at whoever got the coffee machine going. 

Spencer and Jack are sitting on one couch, playing with something that Dean recognizes as a theremin. Sam’s on the other couch, and Harry and Cas are sitting at the table. 

“What do you think?” Cas asks, when he notices Dean watching. He holds up two bottles of nail polish. 

“Black is punk rock. Pastels are for the Easter bunny’s little sister,” Dean opines. 

“Love you too, Dean Bean.” Harry shoots him a cheerful pastel-green-painted middle finger. Dean ruffles his hair affectionately on his way to sit next to Sam. 

Dean’s first instinct was to scoff, to snark, to dismiss nail polish as girly, but he knows the instinct is just a vestigial memory of his dad’s stern voice. He’s been getting better at recognizing that voice, in the last few years; for a while he thought he was done with it, figuring that if he could admit he was in love with a guy, he must be over that sort of learned bullshit. Can’t be phobic if you’re one of the homos, right? So… fuck off, Dad. 

Then Harry showed up, with his totally fuckin’ zen attitude about annihilating gendered fashion norms, and Dean found himself wincing, sometimes, or looking around furtively to make sure nobody was staring. Even at Bonnaroo, when Harry went around hiding behind wigs and glasses—when the entire point was for him to pass as a girl—Dean’s immediate knee-jerk reaction was to cringe. It’s taken awhile, but he’s getting better at ignoring the fear when it kicks up in his gut. 

Dean’s distracted by a drawn-out melancholy squeal. 

“Someone turned a taxidermied badger into a theremin one time,” Spencer says happily, as Jack waves his hand over it again. “They called it a badgermin.” 

Dean snorts. “Sounds like a violin that needs an exorcism.” 

“Or a Barred Owl on barbiturates,” Sam offers. 

“Worn-Out-Brake-Pad flavored La Croix.” 

“A whale that got so stoned it forgot how to talk.” 

“One of the mermaids from Harry Potter having a wet dream,” Spencer suggests, and Cas laughs so hard he almost knocks over the bottle of nail polish. 

“Get your shit together, Castiel,” Harry scolds, but he’s giggling too. It’s like being scolded by a very happy sloth. “You’re done, mate. Who’s next, hmm?” 

He points at Jack, who shakes his head. 

“I need to get some sleep,” he says, and the last word cracks on a yawn. 

Sam grins. “Yeah, I’m guessing you didn’t get much rest last night.” 

“Sweet dreams, Mr. Grey,” Dean teases, and wolf-whistles as Jack retreats. Cas relocates to the couch, giving Dean a peck on the cheek before sitting back and admiring his manicure. 

Harry waves the bottle at Spencer, who doesn’t notice; he’s focused intently on the instrument, coaxing out something that actually sounds like music, in a vague, freaky kind of way. 

“Yeah, okay,” Dean says, rolling his eyes and settling at the table across from a delighted Harry. 

“How about a nice hot pink?” he asks. 

“Don’t push your luck.”

“Wasn’t one of those used in the Doctor Who theme?” Harry asks Spencer. Spencer brightens like a big geeky Christmas tree that’s strung with lights made of useless trivia. 

“Now you’ve done it,” Dean says under his breath. 

“Actually, that’s a common misconception,” Spencer announces. “The original composition used—”

Dean must be going soft, because he’s actually kind of enjoying this, both the lecture and the manicure. 

Then again, he thinks, Sam is enthralled, and Cas is smiling, and maybe Dean’s just really enjoying his life right now. 

Fuck off, Dad, he thinks, admiring his pastel green nails. 

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Bucky finds blog posts and twitter posts that are like "theory: iron man and winter soldier are a Thing" and "proof that tony loves Bucky: every picture of Tony looking at Bucky" and Bucky's been pinning after Tony but didn't think he likes him back but after seeing those posts, starts paying attention to how Tony acts around him and to him. It helps that after an outing, there's most posts to show Bucky what he missed with his back turned away from Tony. He uses this as courage to ask him out.

The prompt was anonymous, but I’m dedicating this fill to @ssyn3, who knows why.

[A/N: I’m taking this opportunity to let everyone know that I’ve changed my main URL from @everyworldneedslove to @27dragons, to match my AO3 account. My tag here at IT&B will change accordingly, but I will NOT be going back to change all my old posts. Just know that we’re the same person, and if you’re not sure whether you’ve missed something, feel free to check my AO3 collections to be sure. And now, on with the prompt!]

“How’syour boyfriend this morning?” Clint asked when Bucky came back fromdelivering breakfast and coffee to the workshop.

“Mywhat?” Bucky said, startled. He thought he’d been keeping thatlittle crush under wraps, damn it. “Stark’s not– What are you,twelve?”

Clintcackled as if he were specifically setting out to prove Bucky’spoint. “Oh, if only the internet knew how you bring him breakfastevery morning.” He waggled his eyebrows, making it sound lasciviousrather than merely a bid to keep Tony healthy. It wasn’t as if noneof the other Avengers had done it; they’d had an actual rotation inplace for the job before Bucky had taken it over.

“Whywould the internet even care?” Bucky wondered.

“Areyou serious? You haven’t seen all the pages and pages of winterironspeculation?”

“Winterwhat.” Clint looked like Christmas had just come early and startedtapping at a tablet, and Bucky knew he was in trouble. He should justleave the room, but instead he gamely looked at the tablet when Clintpassed it to him.

Itwas a slightly out of focus cell-phone picture of Tony air-liftingBucky to a vantage point during a battle a couple of weeks prior.Under the picture, it said, “Guys, idk about you, but Iron Mandoesn’t carry anyone elselikethis! Look at the way they’re holding hands I just can’t!!!*swoons*”

Buckyblinked and looked at the picture again. In it, he and Tony wereholding each others’ wrists; it was a good, stable hold thatreleased quickly and cleanly. Bucky hadn’t even been thinking abouthis dumb crush at the time; he’d been much more focused on takingout the AIM control tower. “I’m the only one he carries like thatbecause I’m the only one on the team with a metal arm,” he said,slightly dumbfounded.

“Youhave to keep scrolling,” Clint told him.

Against his better judgment, Buckyscrolled.

Therewas a detailed analysis of the way Tony had stepped in on that nastyreporter at their last press conference. Another picture of themtogether, this time at a charity function. This time he couldn’tquite refute the poster’s gushing over the way Bucky was watchingTony. He reallyneededto get that crush locked down tighter.

Hewiped out the screen and tossed the tablet back at Clint with anaffected huff. “People will believe anythingonthe internet, won’t they?”

Backin the privacy of his own room, though, he paced for a while beforefinally caving. “JARVIS, is there any more stuff like that online?”

“Quitea lot of it, Mr. Barnes.”

“…Showme?”

[mobile readers, ‘ware the readmore!]

Everytime they wound up in a camera frame together, it seemed, someonewanted to find a way to suggest it meant they were dating, and ifthey were actually interacting, it was taken as proof positive. Therewere sets of pictures with flowery poems and lyrics on them, andpeople had even written storiesaboutthem getting together. Some of those were horrifyingly embarrassing,and Bucky clicked out of them as quickly as he could manage. Somewere shockingly torrid, and he might have lingered for a moment onthose before waving them away.

Butfinally, he closed the whole mess. He did notneedto add any fuel to that particular fire.

“HeyRobocop!” Tony clapped Bucky on the shoulder as he came into theroom. “Thanks for the coffee. Blueberry?” He offered a foilpacket.

Buckytook a few on habit. “Thanks.”

“Sure,no problem. Listen, T’challa finally sent me Shuri’s notes onyour arm, so if you need a tune-up on something you can’t reachyourself, I’m good to go.” Natasha came into the room and Tonyturned to greet her with a cheerful, “Red Menace. The new ‘bitesholding up for you?”

Hedidn’t offer Natasha any blueberries, though.

Itdidn’t mean anything, probably.

“Budgeup, budge up,” Tony announced, squirming his way onto the couchbetween Bucky and Sam with a huge bowl of popcorn. “You’re gonnalove this one, Buckaroo, it’s a classic.”

“Bywhich he means it’s almost as old as him,” Sam put in.

“Noone asked you, birdbrain,” Tony said haughtily. “No popcorn foryou! Here, Buckster, you’renice,I’ll share with you.”

Thatdefinitely didn’t have anything to do with Bucky; that was justTony making a point to Sam.

Wasn’tit?

Everythinghurt. Diving into the mouth of a giant squid to plant a concussiongrenade in its stomach had not been one of Bucky’s more inspiredplans. The blast had knocked Bucky out, and he’d woken in thehospital with a concussion, two cracked ribs, and a broken leg. Atleast the squid had upchucked him before deciding it was time toretire from the field.

Hewas pretty grateful to have been unconscious for that part.

Stevehad been there, waiting, when Bucky woke, but after reassuringhimself that Bucky was awake and on the mend, he’d gone back to theTower to catch some shuteye, instructing Bucky to do the same, andpromising someone would come over from the Tower first thing in themorning.

Noway was Bucky going to be able to sleep in a hospital. He dragged therolling table over and didn’t bother stifling a whimper at the wayhis ribs shifted when he leaned over to grab his tablet. Alone, withno one to see or tease him about it, he loaded up his favoriteWinteriron blog. He could use a fluffy AU story right about now.

Hehadn’t counted on there being footage from the fight already.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, but that damn squid looked even bigger fromthe vantage of the news helicopter. Bucky’s own body lookedlaughably tiny, caught mid-leap.

Thenext picture took his breath away - a shot of Iron Man diving intothe water after the squid. Tony hatedbeingsubmerged; it was why he’d been in charge of clearing civilians forthis fight. What the hell. Bucky didn’t usually pay attention tothe Avengers’ own PR, but he flipped to a new tab and pulled up thenews.

Sonof a bitch. The squid hadn’t upchucked him. It had just… left.And Tony had gone after it, sliced it to ribbons in order to bringBucky back. The news site had a picture of Tony carrying him toshore, and it looked like those cracked ribs had nothing to do withthe concussive blast, and more to do with how tightly Iron Man washolding him.

…Huh.

Aknock at the door frame startled Bucky out of his thoughts. It wasTony, because of course it was. “What are you doing here?”

“Couldn’tsleep,” Tony said, in that forced-casual tone that Bucky hated.“Figured you wouldn’t be sleeping either. Steve forgets that notall of us can sleep anytime, anywhere.” He nodded toward thetablet. “Reviewing the fight?”

“Yeah.”Bucky tried to close the Winteriron tab, but only succeeded inbringing it to the front. Naturally, on one of those saccharinepictures with all the flowers and Deep Quotes ™. Bucky flailed andtried again, finally closing it.

Tony,still standing in the doorway, had frozen, eyebrows raised.

Buckyhad no idea what to say to fix things, so he just sat there, heartpounding.

“Funny,what people will come up with, isn’t it?” Tony said after a longmoment. He sounded strained, wary.

Almostas if he were worried about Bucky’s response.

Buckylooked at the picture on the news site again, and changed his mind:it was a damn shame he’d been unconscious, if it meant he missedfeeling Tony’s arms around him, even encased in armor.

“Maybenot… sofunny,”he said. It was a risk, but Bucky had to know. Tony’s breath caughtaudibly, and Bucky looked up.

Tony’seyes were wide and dark, and he clung to the door frame withwhite-knuckled strength. “Well,” he said softly. “Maybe not.”

~ @27dragons

[mockwrites]

⚡ for a muggle au (cassiel x abaddon)

year one.They look a strange bunch, she’s sure — just a small bunch of children and a single father, so she supposes that’s pretty eye-catching, but it’s also the first day of Hogwarts, so she can’t be bothered to care too much about the looks they’re getting. Lucien ruffles his hand through her hair, smiling in that enigmatic way of his, a little worried, a lot sad, and she gets kisses from him and all her other siblings before she boards the train.

It’s hard, finding a place to sit on the train, because children are cruel, because she doesn’t have a mom, because her family has ties to dark magic, because, because, because. She holds her head up high even when they snicker about how she’s named after a demon.

She finds an empty carriage, and tries her best not to cry.

Someone finds their way into it, and they tilt their head at her, curiously silent.

Abaddon snarls at them, because of course she does. “And what the hell do you want? Come to see a death-eater for yourself? I’ll have you know admission is ten galleons at the door, so if you want to keep staring, you better pay up,” she says viciously, like she has any modicum of control, like her cheeks aren’t burning high with shame.

They raise an eyebrow at her and take a seat next to her. “Can’t I just be here for a place to sit?”

She scoffs a laugh. “Sure,” she grins, snapping her teeth together.

Sure enough, they sit down and act like she’s not there at all.

It makes her restless — sure, it sucks when everyone hates her, but she’s not used to no reaction at all. “Hey. Hey,” she emphasizes, pouting.

“What?”

“Are you just going to sit there?”

“Yes.”

“Not even going to try to talk or something?”

“I’m sure you talk enough for both of us.”

“Well,” she says, mulling it over. “That’s fair. Can I at least get a name to go off of?”

They regard her carefully. “Cassiel,” comes the eventual answer.

She grins. “We’re going to be great friends, Cassie. I know it.”

“It’s Cassiel.”

“I know. But Cassie is so much more fun to say. Cassiel is too serious.”

There’s a long suffering sigh.

She keeps grinning, resolves to do everything in her power to keep them.

—

The sorting hat barely grazes her head before it yells out Slytherin, and no one’s surprised. Her robes flash velvet green, and her tie bears silver streaks through the luxurious emerald.

Cassiel gets sorted into Gryffindor, rich reds and golds adorning their robes, and she waves from her seat at the Slytherin table; this makes it even better.

Conflict is so much more fun.

year two.Hogwarts is funny in the way that they purposefully foster vicious house rivalries and proceed to have paired classes. Cassiel has to put up with her in potions, care for magical creatures, and transfiguration.

She’s really quite good at potions — but gets written up nearly every class for “too much flair” and “Abaddon don’t toss your silver knife like that”. Transfiguration is all about pretending you’re something when you’re not, and by any stretch of the imagination, fits her very well.

She’s terrible with magical creatures, though; they all hate her.

In stark contrast, they love Cassiel — something something calming presence, something something respect. Whatever.

She figures 3 classes together isn’t enough, especially because Cassiel hangs around Shibah more often than not… so she decides to start poaching their friends.

Adele is easy to befriend, and Abaddon likes to think that she oft gives the girl a much needed walk on the wild side.

Grace is next, and they get along great because everyone loves Grace, and Abaddon loves the spotlight. (Isaiah just seems like a kind of package deal thing, but he’s fun too. She coaxes him into tickling the giant squid for the hell of it, and he gets a row of tentacle mark bruises. She laughs for a week over that, but expresses remorse to get back into Grace’s… well, good graces.)

The Hufflepuffs are easy to hang around.

Unsurprisingly, Cassiel’s Gryffindor friends don’t like her much.

Either way, they start hanging out more because Abaddon went ahead and inserted herself into their friend group.

She supposes this is the last time Cassiel knows true peace.

year three.“Cassie,” she calls after messing up a spell, snickering. “Cassiel. Cassiel. Look.”

“What?”

“Darling, you’re so hot, I’m burning up,” she grins, brandishing her flaming sleeve like a trophy, nearly burning her cheek.

“Wh- Abaddon, why are you literally on fire?” Cassiel asks rhetorically, quickly summoning up some water and putting it out.

“Well,” she sighs happily, examining her smoking sleeve. “I think I’m a little burned. Kiss it better?”

Cassiel glares at her.

“God, it’s just a joke. You Gryffindors really need to touch up on your humor-“

Cassiel reels her in by her tie and kisses her solidly, pulling back with a self-satisfied “there”, and walks off before Abaddon can get her brain functioning again.

—

For the most part, nothing changes. Abaddon’s still an outrageous flirt, talking herself into and out of sticky situations in equal measure… and Cassiel endures.

But something must’ve changed, because they get looks when she maybe says things that are deemed a little too much and Cassiel just purses their lips in amusement and annoyance.

Grace notices something different, and seems to take it upon herself to set them up as much as humanly possible, because Abaddon starts noticing she gets more invites and definitely gets coincidentally squished as close as possible to Cassiel.

Grace Lowery, you really are a force of nature.

Abaddon steals a Gryffindor tie and a Hufflepuff tie so she can sit at their tables whenever she so pleases.

Yes, both Cassiel and Grace have to buy new ties.

year four.She joins the quidditch team and is one hell of a chaser. Something about being unpredictable in nature makes the whole predicting and saving her shots really quite difficult.

Cassiel joins the Gryffindor quidditch team as a keeper and she preens, because it’s inconceivable that the decision wasn’t influenced by her. (It really isn’t, but her ego is big enough to ignore that.)

—

Grace holds up Slytherin banners at her games, so Isaiah gets roped into doing it too.

—

“Hey there darling,” she greets, doing loop-de-loops near Cassiel’s goalposts.

“Abaddon,” comes the terse greeting.

“You’re looking good in your quidditch jersey,” she remarks off-handedly.

Cassiel doesn’t deem her with a response.

“Yeah,” she says, grinning, catching a nice pass. “You look like a real keeper.”

The line is so bad she scores off of it, and Cassiel’s glare promises a thousand retributions.

—

It’s always pretty even between them: Cassiel blocks just as many shots as Abaddon makes.

Evenly matched. Perfectly opposed.

She doesn’t know what else she expects.

year five.She takes up commentating on the matches she doesn’t play in. Professor Thornton probably laughs over and regrets it in equal measure. (In private, of course.)

Well, she’s quite good at commentating Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw.

Any matches Gryffindor plays in is a different story.

—

“Hogwarts,” she greets merrily. “What a beautiful day today! Incomparable to Gryffindor keeper, Cassiel, of course, but it really is lovely today,” she says, and Professor Thornton arches a brow at her in silent warning.

“Anyway, today’s match is Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw — and those blue chasers are something mean, which means Donny is benched. Allstars only, today, Donny boy, sorry. Plus, it’s downright criminal to bench Cassiel’s ass - I mean, it is top shelf.”

A pointed throat clearing gets her back on track.

“We’re off, and Gryffindor chasers lose possession immediately… nice going, Gabriel,” she says, receiving a pointed middle finger from said chaser.

“Sinclair to whoever that is,” she continues. “Streaking down the field… and a magnificent save from an equally excellent keeper. Sorry girls, only I score with — score against — them.

“Have I mentioned how excellent they look in their quidditch reds today? I’m of the opinion those jerseys would look better at the foot of my b-“

“Abaddon.”

“But that’s just me. Play continues with Gryffindor chaser Gabriel making a shot… for once. Surprising. Someone check the sky and tell me if pigs are flying. Actually, I can see for myself, and holy shit, they are. Wait, no, sorry, that’s still Gryffindor chaser Gabe. An honest mistake, Professor Thornton. Promise.”

—

She sneaks her way into Gryffindor’s celebration party afterward, studiously avoiding Gabriel while mixing dangerously colorful drinks all night.

—

People snicker at the oversized red robe she has on the next morning, but she’s too busy nursing a hangover to care. She groans when Cassiel dumps a green one in her lap unceremoniously.

year six.Whoever thought that she should be made a prefect should probably be fired. Or really, promoted, in her opinion.

She laughs so hard she cries when she sees the shiny prefect badge Cassiel bears.

So maybe she messes with the patrol schedules a little, but in her defense, she pleads preemptive self-defense, because she’s 90% sure that Cassiel is the only one who can last through patrols with her without actually hexing her.

Turns out, the patrols they end up on together are a little less productive than they should be.

They get locked into a classroom by Peeves, and no matter how many unlocking charms Cassiel casts, it’s no use. (She wonders if Grace bribed him.)

She, instead of helping, lines up a bunch of desks and lies across them and slings an arm over her eyes.

She can’t actually see what they’re doing, but it’s her personal opinion that they’re probably glaring over at her.

“What?” She asks after an extended silence. “I’m tired.”

“Then sleep.”

“Different type of tired. I’ve been chasing this whole time, Cassie. It’s your turn to think of some fun quips and interesting mischief to get ourselves in.”

“We’re locked in this room.”

“Improvise.”

There’s scraping along the floor and she peeks over curiously. Cassiel lines up some desks and lies there as well.

“Are… you sleeping?”

“I have a test tomorrow.”

She sighs. “We have a whole classroom to ourselves. No one can come in or out.There are so many more interesting things we could be doing right now, honestly.”

“Buy me dinner first, and we’ll see.”

She chokes.

“How’s that for witty quips? I’m going to sleep; don’t talk anymore.”

Abaddon agrees meekly.

—

Professor Thornton is, understandably, not amused to see them in sleeping in her classroom in the morning.

Abaddon leaves like a million cat pictures pilfered from Umbridge in her office later and hopes Professor Thornton gets a kick out of burning them, at least.

year seven.In the last quidditch match of the year, Gabriel gets a particularly vindictive knock on her mid air, and she can see Cassiel taking a nosedive on their broom as she falls. She passes out, but not before seeing them leaning over her, concerned and saying things she can’t make out.

She wakes in the hospital wing, and knows things are broken and still healing, but she storms out in her anger anyway, making her way to the astronomy tower, huffy and violently angry. There are a motley of bruises on her back and her shoulders ache, and every breath she takes only serves to make her angrier.

A fuss is kicked up once the nurse realizes she’s not in the infirmary, and it’s Cassiel that finds her, because of course it is.

She snaps at them when she hears their footsteps in the entrance of the tower. “Get the fuck out of here,” she says, back turned to them.

They settle next to her, instead.

She shoves back at them, ribs and back flaring up in agony when she does. “Why are you still here? Who says I want you here?”

Cassiel doesn’t say anything, but she can see their jaw clench.

“Oh,” she says coldly, laughing cruelly. “Don’t tell me you actually thought there was anything worthwhile between us. Sure, I had fun, but let’s not kid ourselves here,” she hisses, eyes narrowing, tone and words saying leave but every fiber of her being hoping they’ll stay. She can feel their anger at those words, and she shoves at them again because she knows she can’t actually keep them — and figures it’ll hurt less to just make them leave first. Seven years down the drain, but it’s not like they’ll keep contact after they stop being required to, right?

Cassiel punches her.

She instinctively cries out in pain and bites into her tongue, cutting it short, before grinning crazily, bloodily, over at them. “There it is. Finally had enough, right? Stop fucking holding back. Everyone leaves, so just leave now before you actually make me think you’ll stay,” she says weakly as her vision swims.

—

She wakes up in the hospital wing again.

Cassiel is standing guard this time, probably to insure she doesn’t leave her bed again.

“Why are you still here?” She asks, practically begging.

“Does there need to be a reason?”

“Yes,” she breathes. “I’m awful. I’m the worst. Everyone tells me this at least once a day. So why-”

“Yes,” Cassiel cuts across her. “You are something awful, but I’m staying anyway. It’s been seven years; when will you realize I’m not leaving?”

“I hate it when people make promises.”

“It’s not a promise.”

“Then what is it?”

“Just a fact.”

“Our seven years at Hogwarts are gonna be over soon,” she says tentatively, finally getting to the root of the problem.

“Improvise, then,” they shoot back.

[anime-herald]

4/19/2019, 3:30PM: Time to Unwind

As I stepped out of the interview room once again, I felt a small sense of relief. Finally, I had some time to kick back relax! I quickly hurried downstairs to a place that I probably shouldn’t be heading, knowing myself: The Dealer’s Room.

Inside, I scanned the many booths, which were packed with merchandise. DVDs, Blu-Rays, toys, video games, art books! Whatever you were looking for, there was a good chance that you’d find it here.

Well… for the most part.

I quickly learned that there are two reliable ways to make a dealer balk. “Would you happen to have anything from Sakura Wars?” I asked one, and received a look of utter bewilderment. Time and again, this happened as I sought out more merchandise from the twenty-three-year-old series.

Of course, this didn’t bring anywhere near as many odd looks as my inquiries for specifically bad anime.

“Why… would you want that?” one vendor asked in confusion, their head tilting just a bit before I explained the fun of Bad Anime Night. Once they clued in, they seemed eager to show the usual favorites: Garzey’s Wing, Photon, Darkside Blues… all promising, all glorious trash. Still, they weren’t exactly titles that tickled my dark side.

Funny enough, it was Discotek Media’s booth that proved to be the source for a new title that was bad enough to make audiences weep and wail as they ran for the exits. A cruel smirk played across my lips, as the vendor and her partner chatted on which shows would be bad enough to be considered bad for you. The partner piped up a moment later, saying “I hope you don’t mind losing friends over this one,” as he handed over a copy of Karate Master. I couldn’t help but smile brightly as I responded with “If they are still my friends at the end of the night, I’m doing it wrong!”

Afterwards, it was time to find some, well… good stuff. And find it, I did, as I scooped up titles that somehow eluded my collection. K-On!, Squid Girl, Case Closed, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid… I quickly found my bag filled to bursting with a cavalcade of modern classics.

With my itch to spend thoroughly scratched, I figured it was time to visit an old friend. I made my way to the Science Fiction Continuum booth, where Brian T. Price was working. Price is somewhat of an icon for the convention, as he hosts Totally Subversive Toons and Bad Anime, Bad! Every year to great fanfare. When I stopped by, there was a brief lull in the customer flow. I popped over and we began to chat. As we talked, it became increasingly clear that Price was planning something big for the tenth anniversary of Bad Anime, Bad! I wasn’t sure what at that point, but I was expecting a truly magnificent train wreck, which would make the crowd giggle and recoil at the same time.

Our meeting didn’t last too long, though, as the booth began to grow busy again. We said our farewells, and returned to our normal routines.

Well, as normal as Anime Boston gets, anyway.

4/19/2019, 4:45PM: Dinner and a Demo

By quarter of five, I had gotten my shop on, and decided to hurry out of the hall before I decided to buy something I’d regret, like that Sakura Shinguji cel priced at $200. With MIYAVI’s concert just over an hour away, it felt like the best course of action would be to grab a bite to eat. With dinner on my mind, I made a hasty trek to Eataly’s La Pizza & La Pasta.

“Party of one,” I said to the hostess, who directed me to the bar. As I took my seat, the barkeeper prepared a glass of water, as well as a serving of bread and olive oil. It was a lovely beginning to the meal, with the pillowy bread acting as a delectable sponge for the fragrant oil. It’s a simple treat that I’ll never not crave from time to time.

Image Credit: Eataly

As the bartender circled back, I placed an order for a simple Margherita pizza. I pulled out my phone and began to go over the day’s biggest news developments. I breathed a small sigh of relief, noticing that the news coming from both Anime Boston and Sakura Con was fairly light this time around.

Within a few minutes, the server came around with my pizza. It’s a simple dish: San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil, served on a wood-fired crust. Still, as the saying goes, simple is often best.

The sweetness of the tomatoes played beautifully with the slightly bitter char on the crust, which helped to accent the creaminess of the cheese. The basil offered a nice fragrant note that helped to really elevate the entire dish to perfection. I smiled a little as I savored each bite, just losing myself in the moment of a delightful, relaxing meal during a busy weekend.

I checked my phone as I stepped out of Eataly, noticing that I had a message from a colleague who was hanging out in the Panelists’ room. I swiped over to my clock: 5:25 PM. Plenty of time.

I quickly trekked back into the Hynes, toward the room. I paused for a moment when I arrived, remarking at how quiet everything was inside. It took a moment, but I clued in to two gentlemen were seated and chatting: BH Pierce and YouTuber Professor Otaku.

We exchanged greetings, and got to talking shop. First, we discussed our plans for the weekend, though the conversation quickly moved toward Big Eyes, Small Brains. We discussed the fundamentals behind the game’s systems and the world, as they peeked at a preview copy of the book. Sadly, time was running short for all of us, as Professor Otaku had a panel coming up, Pierce had to prep for his own panel that evening, and I had to make my way toward the auditorium for MIYAVI’s concert.

We said a quick farewell, as we parted ways. Though our meeting was brief, it was great to meet a few more folks in this lively community.

4/19/2019, 6:00PM: What’s My Name?

Note: We will be publishing a full write-up of the MIYAVI concert as part of our Anime Boston 2019 coverage. For now, please enjoy a few photos from the event! All photos credit to Samantha Ferreira, taken in accordance with agreed upon photo policy for Anime Boston

Image Credit: Samantha Ferreira

Image Credit: Samantha Ferreira

Image Credit: Samantha Ferreira

Image Credit: Samantha Ferreira

Image Credit: Samantha Ferreira

4/19/2019, 8:30PM, An Annual Tradition

As MIYAVI left the stage, the room was left eagerly chattering, their ears still ringing from the aural experience that just occurred. For me, though, the night was still young. I wanted to check out one final panel for the evening. Seth, meanwhile, was heading for a screening of Lupin The Third: The Mystery of Mamo.

We parted ways once more, each to take on our tasks for the evening. Before anything, though, I had to see to a little tradition of mine.

Every year, since Anime Boston has been in the Hynes, I’ve made it a point to close off my first night with a particular treat from Au Bon Pain. I can’t let a year pass without enjoying one of their chocolate croissants.

I scurried out of the convention center, my bad growing heavy around my shoulder, as I stole my way to the familiar yellow storefront that waited just outside. I hurried to the pasty case, where I found the treat was seeking. I plucked one from its resting place, and hurried to the counter, where I ordered an iced coffee, paid the clerk, and found a place to sit.

Now, the year was complete for me. Au bon Pain’s chocolate croissants are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. These sweet treats are flaky, tender, filled with chocolate, and coated in powdered sugar. With each bite, I could feel the weariness of the day starting to leave me. Sweet chocolate mixed with the bitter coffee, to produce a flavor that is nothing short of heavenly, in my books.

Alas, like most pleasures, it was fleeting. A few minutes later, I found myself finishing the last bite, my eyes again set toward the towering structure that awaited just outside.

4/19/2019, 9:00PM, Foundations of World Building

Note: We covered this event in-detail in a standalone feature, so feel free to check that out for the details! For now, enjoy a few photos.

4/19/2019, 10:00PM, The End of the Evening

I couldn’t help but take a moment to watch in awe, as the packed room calmly filed out into the hallways. Deep down, I had to know that folks would be active even now, but it never ceased to amaze me at just how many there were every year. I let out a small smile and hoisted up my bag. It was time to get some work in for the evening. I slunk back to the Sheraton, and made my way to the elevator, then to my cozy, fourteenth-floor room. The weariness of the day finally hit me, as I collapsed into dead weight on my bed. I lazily went through the daily news reports, which had been arriving from friends and colleagues alike through the day, and got to work. It wouldn’t be long after that, though, that sleep would claim me.

As the clock struck one, consciousness eluded me. It was time to get some rest, for tomorrow would bring about a few moments that I’d never forget.

Anime Boston 2019 Travelogue, 4/18/2019 (Evening): Sound and Fury 4/19/2019, 3:30PM: Time to Unwind As I stepped out of the interview room once again, I felt a small sense of relief.