#a peak into my creative process (i yell about things with my friends until an Idea forms)

[baronetcoins]

HELLO please I would like very much to hear about your bisclavret au (also the selkie au, if you'd like to discuss that too! lots of enthusiasm about shapeshifters goeth on at this time!!)

Yes!! Both of these started with my dear friend @kangoo who I made watch the film with me and who has since been a brainstorming partner of mine when I want to write Them. He is welcome to add his thoughts if he feels inclined.

The Bisclavret AU centers around the traitor’s plot—the kings of England have a secret, with men able to take on a wolf’s shape. Of course they can only turn back if they have their clothes as per the original tale. So when Scroop is persuaded to join the plot to remove Henry from the board before he can cross the channel, he can’t find it in his heart to actually kill the man he loved. He does, however, know about that secret, and hides Henry’s clothes away.

Montjoy, meanwhile, is traveling back and forth between France and England as the French try and use the chaos to their advantage and the English are frantically searching for their king who vanished without a trace. Of course there also happens to be a mysterious wolf who keeps following him around on his travels whenever he’s on the island, and acts much more like a big dog than anything threatening.

Eventually Montjoy decides he has a dog now and starts telling that bold faced lie to anyone who questions why this wolf keeps following him around. It’s a big guard dog. Keeps me safe in the wilderness. What do you mean it doesn’t look like a dog. The reveal comes when Henry sees Scroop and tries to fucking kill him at which point Exeter finally puts two and two together.

I think it’s very fun to cast it in this way because at the time Europe, as a rule, hated wolves. Kings had all kinds of policies about trying to kill as many wolves as possible. It ties in really well to the idea of Hal as having been this wild, irresponsible youth who people looked down upon. I haven’t written too much of this yet, just a bit of the opening scene (which I have posted an excerpt from already), but it’s rattling about in my head again.

The selkie AU is less real and mostly a set of vibes passed back and forth between us where I’m mostly just going to excerpt our DMs because that’s what exists so far though I do want to come back to it properly.

[misssophiachase]

For Klaroline AU Week: Day 1 - All Human. This is a continuation of my story, you can read chapter one (Meet the Mikaelsons) and chapter two (Creative Control) HERE

Synopsis: Caroline is the long-suffering producer on America’s number one reality television program “Meet the Mikaelsons.” The wealthy, English family are difficult but Caroline has to stick it out so she can get the promotion she’s been eyeing. Enter arrogant, second-eldest sibling Klaus Mikaelson who has every intention of messing with her plans. Inspired by Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

Reality Bites - Chapter 3: Doctor Feelgood

Flight AA372 - LAX to Los Cabos International

“You should probably put your tray table back in its upright position for take-off,” Caroline’s eyes were closed but the instant she heard the familiar English accent, they flew open. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“I assume you’re not going to bother with the tray table then?” He gestured to it curiously. She rolled her eyes and snapped it back into place, almost breaking it in the process. 

“You didn’t answer my question, Mikaelson?” 


“You’re making a scene, love,” he whispered, looking around the airplane. 

Caroline realised he had a point. She was so used to being able to yell at him on set without prying eyes, she forgot about unwanted, public attention to one of the newest reality stars on television. 

“What are you doing here?” She whispered. 

“I’m in the window seat,” he motioned next to her. 

“You are not.”

“Would you like to see my boarding pass?”

Caroline really couldn’t believe her luck. It was as if Klaus Mikaelson’s job in life was to gradually tip her over the edge.

She stood up, moving slightly so he could pass. As he did, his body grazed hers and Caroline was trying to ignore just how good and right it felt. It didn’t help that his spicy aftershave was infiltrating her nostrils and messing with her composure either. 

“Since when do you travel coach?” She hissed as soon as he’d sat down. 

“Since always.”

“Liar,” she shot back. 

“Fine,” he conceded. “I didn’t want to be stuck on a private jet with my siblings, I’d probably be tempted to throw one, if not all of them, out of the plane without a parachute.”

“Kol, would be the first to go, right?” she couldn’t help herself. 

“There would never be a question about that,” he grinned. 

As much as she wanted to hate him, they’d have these fleeting moments where she wasn’t a producer and he wasn’t rich, reality television royalty. They were just two people enjoying each other’s company. Unfortunately, it never lasted past about five minutes. 

“So, how is it that you are on the exact same flight as me?”

“You don’t own this flight you realise, Forbes?’


“Fine, how did you come to be sitting right next to me then?”

“As co-producers I thought it would be useful, you know in case we needed to discuss anything before arrival,” he murmured. 

“You’re going to crash your ex-girlfriend’s wedding,” she replied. “I think we’re all on the same page about that. You know unless you’re getting cold feet?”

“Why? Are you?”

Caroline was taken aback by his comment and the way he was gazing intensely into her eyes at the same time. There was no denying he was extremely attractive, and those dimples had a mind of their own, but Caroline had to keep reminding herself that he was an egotistical, arrogant celebrity that she wouldn’t be in her life much longer.

For some reason she didn’t like thinking that. Caroline decided to blame it on temporary insanity and his ability to insert himself into every part of her life.

“Why would I be getting cold feet? We’ve only been planning this for the past week.” 

Caroline thought planning this plot line would be just like everything else but for some reason it had irked her more than anything.

Hayley Marshall was a doe-eyed brunette who was the face of an International Cosmetics Company. They had dated on and off during college. Klaus acted like she didn’t mean much to him but the fact he wanted to crash her wedding and instigated the trip to Mexico didn’t sit well with Caroline, although she wasn’t exactly sure why. Maybe there were more unresolved feelings between them than he’d let on. 

“Of course,” he murmured. “I just meant we need to discuss our accommodation arrangements.”

“Our accommodation arrangements?”

“You have this thing about repeating yourself, has anyone ever told you that?”

“And has anyone ever told you that you have this annoying habit of not answering questions, mine in particular?”

“Touché,” he smirked. “I thought it best that we stay together the next few days.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, I think you heard me.”

“Klaus!”

Given the amount of crew, not to mention privacy required they had booked out multiple private villas on a secluded beach. Caroline had her assistant book her at a resort which was only ten minutes away by foot. 

“I’m not enamoured about staying in the family villa, there’s only so much I can take from Rebekah preening in front of the mirror and Kol singing off- key in the shower.”

“You have your own villa, princess,” she muttered. 

“And it boasts two very spacious bedrooms,” he murmured. “It seems fitting that we stay there together, you know for work.”

“I cannot believe you,” she growled. “First you take half my job and now you’re making accommodation arrangements? I have a perfectly good room booked at the nearby hotel.”

“Well, you did,” he offered. “I had your assistant cancel it.”

“You did what?”

“And given it’s peak season I think you’ll find it difficult to book anywhere else at this short notice.”

“You are unbelievable!”

“As you keep telling me,” he murmured.

“What is going on here?”

“I don’t know what you mean?”

“Yes, you do,” she shot back. “Why are you suddenly so clingy?”

“Okay, just so you know, Klaus Mikaelson doesn’t do clingy.” 

Now that Caroline was thinking about it. Klaus had been acting even stranger than usual the past few days. He’d become less adversarial and more inquisitive. Less arrogant and a little more insecure. Which was completely out of character. 

Then it came to her. 

4 days earlier

“What do you mean you fired the medic?” Caroline hissed, trying to keep her voice down and not alert the rest of the crew. 

“I didn’t fire the medic,” he shot back. “She quit yesterday. Apparently, she didn’t appreciate Kol’s attempts to woo her.”

“Woo her? Who are you?” She muttered. “And you only felt the need to tell me this today?”

“Well, I’m sorry but I’ve been busy wrangling my siblings from almost killing each other. Whoever thought tennis racquets weren’t a lethal weapon never met my family.”

“Welcome to my world,” she growled under her breath. If Klaus wanted to be co-producer, then he could deal with his sibling’s antics too. 

The Mikaelsons were holding their annual mother-son tennis competition. It had begun when Finn was younger and had become one of the main events on their social calendar.

This year, it was Henrik’s turn to be initiated into the tradition. Given Esther’s competitive nature, Caroline felt immediately bad for him. It didn’t help that her sworn enemy, Macy Roberts, one of the famed Housewives of Beverly Hills, was competing with her son too.

Turns out giving two society queens tennis racquets wasn’t the brightest idea, even if it did make for good television. They’d yelled cut as soon as the obligatory cursing had died down but turns out there was no medic to check their injuries.

Macy seemed to have only sustained some bruising, but Esther hadn’t fared as well.

“It’s bloody broken, I know it!” Esther wailed. “I need some Oxy-Contin, straight vodka on the rocks and my lipstick touched up, not necessarily in that order.”

“See, she doesn’t even need a medic,” Klaus shrugged his shoulders. 

“You are unbelievable.”

“You really need to stop complimenting me, love,” he smirked. Caroline was far too stressed then to call him out on that stray endearment. 

“I can help,” Kol offered. 

“Where’s your medical degree?” Klaus asked, raising his eyebrows.

“I dated this girl once, a med student, she used to practice on me by…”

“Please don’t go any further,” Caroline groaned, trying to work out whether it was in their best interests to take Esther to hospital given all the unnecessary interest it would attract, especially given how she came to be injured. They didn’t sign non-disclosure agreements for no reason. 

They needed something more discreet. Then an idea came to her. 

One hour later

The bell rang out and Caroline rushed to the front door. Opening the door, she immediately smiled; he always had that effect on her. 

“Why do I always seem to be bailing you out, Care Bear?” 

“Just lucky I guess,” she grinned. “And what have I told you about not calling me that.” He dropped his bag and she jumped into his arms, excited to see him after all this time.

“Not to do it,” he teased, putting her back on the ground. 

“Care Bear? I’ll have to add that to my repertoire,” Klaus chuckled. Caroline fought the urge to roll her eyes, of course he was eavesdropping. “Who is this?”

Caroline pulled back, annoyed that yet again her annoying co-producer had interrupted. 

“Klaus Mikaelson, this is Enzo St John,” she introduced the two. “Our medic for the afternoon.”

“How do you know each other?” 

“Enzo is my best friend Kat’s cousin, we grew up together, well until he decided to leave the country on us.”

“Duty called,” he smiled. 

“Enzo decided to go and join Médecins Sans Frontières.”

“Doctors without Borders?” Klaus asked, his tone telling Caroline he was clearly impressed but was trying to play it down. 

“I’ve been in Burkina Faso most recently,” he explained. “But came home for some downtime, see what my cousin has been up to and of course to save Caroline, yet again.”

“It was once and you know how handsy my prom date was,” she said. 

“It was my pleasure to punch him out,” he smiled. “How is Stefan Salvatore doing these days?”

“I have no idea and don’t care,” she muttered. Klaus coughed interrupting their chat. 

“Well, maybe it’s best we get to the patient?”

“Can someone please give mother a gag? She is howling like a banshee,” Rebekah muttered, walking into the room. “And who do we have here?”

“I’m Enzo,” he introduced curtly. “I assume I’ll be taking care of the banshee?” 

“It’s only funny when I say it,” she drawled, sizing him up. Caroline could sense the tension from a mile off but she wasn’t sure whether they wanted to kill each other or rub up against each other. 

“Right on that note,” Caroline interrupted awkwardly. “Let’s go outside, shall we?”

“Why do I feel like I’ve entered the twilight zone?” he asked as she led him toward the tennis courts.

“Because you have,” she murmured, attempting not to laugh aloud. 

Enzo was an instant hit with Esther, no doubt due to his nationality, good looks and charm which he possessed in spades. 

She also decided that he needed to come to Mexico and play medic. Klaus and Rebekah thought otherwise and had tried to change her mind but being the matriarch of the brood, they all knew it was pointless.

Caroline had a feeling it wasn’t too much of a hard sell after what he’d come from. Although Caroline wasn’t quite sure he was ready for this type of jungle. 

“This is about Enzo,” she drawled. 

“Excuse me?”

“Now who’s asking the questions,” she huffed. “You don’t want me staying at the same hotel as him in Mexico.” 

They’d arranged their travel together, Caroline hoping to get some downtime to chat with one of her oldest friends. There had never been anything between them, their relationship was strictly platonic.

Also, Enzo loved himself too much to love anyone else but obviously Klaus didn’t know that. 

Caroline put it down to the fact Klaus was determined to ruin her life for whatever reason she had no idea. 

“That is so not true,” he growled. 

“Why don’t you tell me the truth for once, Mikaelson? I’m growing incredibly tired of this arrogant bluster.”

“Says the woman who uses insults as a defence mechanism?”

“Are we interrupting something?” Caroline looked up into the warm, brown eyes of Enzo. 

“Not at all, in fact we were just talking about how excited Klaus is to have you along for the trip,” she smiled, nudging Klaus in the ribs as she said it. “Hold on, what do you mean we?”

“You can’t go to Mexico and take my cousin with you and not expect a few extra guests, Care.” Katherine and Bonnie stood there, bags in hand. 

“You did say there were two bedrooms, right?” She asked Klaus sweetly, happy that she’d beaten him at his own game this time, or so she thought. 

You can read this chapter and follow the story HERE or HERE

[vannahfanfics]

@mynameistakenhavethisinstead So... I sat down to write your GrayLu holiday request, and... It ended up becoming something else entirely! ^.^” Because I am not one to short my requestees, you’ll still get your GrayLu request (which is why I answered this outside of the physical ask) so, uh. Just have this one on the house, I guess? Lmao

Forever Begins Here

Category: General Fluff

Characters: Lucy Heartfilia

Lucy’s coffee-colored eyes glistened with the reflection of the bright, merry, and undeniably Fairy Tail-esque array of multicolored fairy lights strung at the guild entrance. They were a nice compliment to the dull and gray winter that had been plaguing the city for the last several days; though the steely clouds hung oppressively low to smother the earth in a perpetual, seeping chill and deliver puffy white snowflakes onto the already buried community, the twinkling bulbs brought holiday cheer in the form of red, yellow, green, and blue soft glowing light that kaleidoscoped across the white snow. Lucy stood a moment in front of the guild to simply admire the beautiful display that had literally appeared overnight. It really was the simplest of things in life that made it worth getting up every day, she mused with a small smile before charging into the guild.

As usual, the guild chorused with raucous greeting at her entrance, as was custom. Lucy barely noticed because her eyes were alight attempting to absorb every ounce of holiday cheer that had been applied to the buildings interior. To keep from being overly gaudy, white fairy lights instead of colored ones were on display, wrapped around every column and trailing over every banister. Pine garland complimented it in certain areas, notably demarking the second-floor balustrade. Lucy had tracked half-melted snow onto a thick, downy, bouncy red rug that sprawled across the floor and traveled up the steps to likely puddle across that wooden floor in cherry-red bliss; with a light giggle, she stepped onto it and so wished she could pull of her shoes to feel it with her bare feet, because it was simply so pillowy and the fibers looked as soft as featherdown. Beside the entrance were two large copper vases stuffed to bursting with red poinsettias, and a garland of holly stretched over the doorframe. To complete the ambiance, a roaring fire was blazing in the guild’s massive fireplace to steep the wide room in cozy warmth. To Lucy, Fairy Tail was homier than ever before.

She pranced down the aisle to notice that the holiday decorations were still far from complete, as various members were hard at work applying decorations elsewhere. Mirajane and her siblings were adorning her bar with what looked like hand-made paper snowflakes, which were being produced at length by Asuka and Romeo, who wore matching beaming smiles as they attacked the folded papers with scissors to produce one-of-a-kind patterns. Cana was going about the room setting holiday-scented candles of many a variety on each table to create little bubbles of cheery aroma- peppermint, gingerbread, candied apple, sugar cookie, and those were just the ones she smelled as she walked by. It was all so festive and fun, and Lucy dearly wished that she would’ve arrived earlier so she could’ve joined in.

“Lucy! You’re just in time!” Levy called to her from her seat beside Gajeel. Lucy trotted over to the girl with a cheerful greeting before inquiring what she was just in time for. “Erza, Gray, and Natsu should be here with the tree soon.” Not a moment after did the blue-haired girl speak did the guild hall’s door fling open with monstrous ferocity. Lucy looked over her shoulder to catch Natsu’s tufts of pink hair peeking out from a massive expanse of pine needles. Lucy watched in mild concern as Natsu shook himself out of the needles, gasping for breath, before gripping onto the trunk of the trees with bulging muscles.

“You’re not getting the best o’ me, you damn tree! Ahhhhhhh!” He yelled, literally spitting fire from his mouth as he feet slipped uselessly over the floor while he attempted to haul the gigantic specimen into the guild. Lucy smiled in bemusement. Leave it to Natsu to spice things up…

“Hey! Stop breathing fire everywhere! If you catch it on fire, Wendy will cry!” Levy accused him from her spot at the table and pointed at the sky dragon-slayer. Sure enough, she had her hands balled up at her chest as she watched with great anxiety, tears even brimming in her big round eyes. Natsu flushed from head to toe and grumbled something under his breath, but obediently ceased his flame-spouting. Shifting positions to try and get better leverage, he buried his arms up to his shoulders into the pine tree. With another guttural roar, he yanked hard, and the tree came bursting into the guild hair with exceptional force. Little did Natsu know that Gray had blasted the back end with swirling icy wind, aided by Erza with a powerful glae from her flashing swords, so it was really questionable whether Natsu really aided in the process or not. The wood around the door splintered as it was stretched beyond capacity to fit the wide girth of the pine tree, which was now skidding across the guild hall with reckless abandon right to where Levy, Gajeel, and Lucy were sitting.

The both screamed in alarm as the tree shot towards them like a massive green bullet, trying to scramble away; the tree was simply gargantuan and would swallow them up no matter which way they ran. “I love you Levy!” Lucy wailed as she threw her arms around her best friend, pitifully crying tears.

“I love you too, Lucy! I wish I could’ve finished reading your next novel draft!” Levy whined in lament. Behind them, Gajeel rolled his eyes before plucking them both up by the backs of their shirts. The two girls released their hug as he plopped each of them on either of his broad shoulders, then grunted and reared back to pull up a combat-booted leg and plow it directly into the top of the tree. Despite his brawny form, he was actually pushed back a good deal across the guild hall, but due to all the friction and resistance, the tree slowly came to a stop. Gajeel grunted as he disentangled his leg from the gigantic tree, as it had sunk nearly up his thigh. Levy squealed as she sat on his shoulder like a little parrot, hugging his head and nuzzling into his spiky dark hair. “Ah, Gajeel, thank you! I thought I was a goner.” Gajeel blushed a salmon color and looked away bashfully.

“Well, you’re small, so…” he grumbled under his breath. Lucy chuckled under her breath at their impossibly cute interaction before patting his back and hopping down with a similar gratuitous remark, just in time for Erza and the two boys to walk across the crammed-together, flipped-over guild tables to marvel at their prize.

“Now we just have to put it up and then we can decorate it!” Gray remarked. His shirt had been lost in the exchange somewhere, though if it was while hunting for the tree or the debacle that had just occurred, Lucy wasn’t for sure. At the mention of the most basic of holiday traditions, Lucy clasped her hands together at her chest and gasped in delight.

“Oh, yay! I’ve never gotten to decorate a tree before!” Lucy could hear the record screech as all the noise suddenly died in the guild and dozens of eyes became centered on her in utter horror. A blush rose to her cheeks in slight mortification; she knew decorating a tree was a normal holiday tradition, but really, was she the only one who had never done it? She shrunk into herself as Gray hopped down from the table to look at her incredulously.

“Really, Lucy? Never?” he hissed in a mixture of shame and pity. Lucy puffed out her cheeks at the interrogation.

“Never… My father always insisted that it was too frivolous and made the servants do it…” she admitted meekly. Now that she said it aloud, it was pretty sad. At least half the guild whipped around clutching their hearts while tears streamed down their faces, while the other half crowded around to hug the very confused and slightly pissed-off blonde. Mirajane tutted as she pulled Lucy into her chest while snuggling her chin into Lucy’s hair.

“Oh, dear… How tragic… Get this tree up at once! Lucy is gonna lead us in decorating this tree, top to bottom!” she suddenly barked in a tone that indicated that she was dangerously close into tapping into her demonic alter ego. With yelps of “yes ma’am!” the grew scattered across the tree, trying to riddle out some way to heft the massive thing into standing position. In the end they decided to situate Wendy at the peak to blast its front end upward with her sky dragon-slayer magic, and the rest of them would keep the momentum so that the tree nestled upright in the corner of the guild. Wendy sucked in a deep breath to the point that her chest swelled to painful capacity before releasing her Sky Dragon’s Roar at such an angle that the tree’s end skyrocketed up. It actually went pretty high, up to about a sixty degree angle, before it threatened to come crashing down. That’s when the rest of them went to scaffolding it with all manners of their magic, pushing up against its thick trunk until it finally rested in the proper position. Standing beneath it, Lucy could not help but be enthralled; it really was the perfect tree, towering over all of them with just enough room between its single-branch summit and the roof to place an adornment. Though Lucy’s forte was in the aesthetic of words, her mind also was not lacking in the creativity of décor, and her mind began to swim ecstatically with various ways to arrange baubles and ribbons and ornaments on the gargantuan pine tree.

“Okay, Lucy! Let’s get to work,” Gray mused as he walked by her to grab her in a tight but affectionately comfortable headlock, tousling his fist into her hair. Someone had probably scolded him for walking around half-naked, because he was now wearing his overcoat. Not even bothered by his wrestler’s grip, she smiled giddily as she saw the guild members dragging out countless boxes filled with decorations that had accumulated over the years.

With Lucy at the helm, they began decorating the tree- though of course, the Celestial Mage participated plenty in the physical aspect of the event. They began by stringing more fairy lights to the tree, sticking with plain white bulbs that flickered like stars from deep within the branches. Then they applying round bauble ornaments to the tree. The largest ones, which were hung at the base of the herculean plant, has such an incredible circumference that Lucy couldn’t even wrap her arms completely around them. To compliment the red rug and the flickering white fairy lights and the pine garland, Lucy elected for a tri-color arrangement of red, white, and green. The covered the tree in the circular ornaments, using the Exceeds to fly to the top of course, but left plenty of space for some more fun flair. The kitty-like creatures found massive spools of ribbon, and were more than happy to zoon about draping the sheer white glittery trimming over the branches (with some left over to play with after!). Lucy found with delight a set of milky-white glass tailed fairy ornaments, most likely in honor of their beautiful and kind founder Mavis, and so they hung them at strategic gaps in the foliage, as well as sets of crystal stars and red-and-green holly ornaments. Finally, when every space in the tree was stuffed to capacity, it was time for the final piece- the tree topper. It was just a generic angel figurine, but Lucy hesitated to put it atop the pine tree as an artistic vision stirred in her mind when she spotted a plan wreath.

“Hold on a minute!” she cried as she dashed off into one of the guild’s hall where they had hung a corkboard. Mirajane had installed the small panel for them to post pictures on, and though it had only been hung a few months or so, the thing was so smothered in photographs that a plan had been enacted to fill the entire hall with corkboards to create a grand display. Lucy plucked photos from the board one by one, aiming for every guild member to be represented, and even found an old photo of the founders, with a sweet, beaming Mavis in the middle, practically glowing like an angel herself. Snickering to herself, Lucy scampered back to her very curious guild members to kneel down in front of the wreath and begin clamping the photographs to its stems with small clothespins. Once she was finished, she held it up in triumph, though wobbled a bit as it was nearly as large as herself. “Ta-da!”

“Oh, Lucy, it’s so beautiful,” Juvia whispered as she marveled at it, tears brimming in her navy blue eyes. Levy was crying silently as she nodded in approval. Gray and Natsu both snickered and threw their arms around her slim shoulders, with Gray affectionately rubbing her hair again. The Exceeds flew around it with glee, with Happy pointing and naming everyone he could. The Master, who had been watching the proceedings the entire time, smiled softly and nodded in approval.

“I couldn’t ask for a more perfect centerpiece for our work of art. Am I right?” he mused and stroked his mustache. The guild chorused in an earth-shaking roar of approval.

“RIGHT!” Lucy hugged the wreath to herself, tears flooding her own brown eyes with overwhelming joy that they cherished her little creation so much. With a guiding hand on the small of her back, Gray turned her back to face the tree and, with a flourish of his hand, fashioned her a set of icy stairs up to its peak.

“Go for it, Lucy,” he smiled softly down at her. Though she had her back turned, she knew the rest of the guild was wearing the same look. Like she was a fairy aflight, she ascended the stairs with her toes barely skimming the surface of the ice, like a fleeting winter wind rushing to the heavens. When she arrived at the top, she hefted the massive wreath over her head before settling it into the pine branches, giving it a little shake about to ensure it was secure before turning around with a gleeful shout. The stairs beneath her feet suddenly morphed into a slide, and with a shocked scream her legs went out from under her. She zipped down until a small bump sent her airborne, and she landed unsteadily on her feet, wobbling around while pinwheeling her arms. With a mischievous smirk dancing on his face, Gray steadied her with hands at her waist. She made a face at him, but couldn’t be too mad, because it was all in the spirit of fun, of course. He then whirled her around so that she could meet her masterpiece, and all the breath left Lucy’s lungs.

Enchantingly gorgeous was the only way that Lucy would ever be able to describe it. The soft glow of the fairy lights reflected off the shiny surfaces of the various ornaments to create sparkling glints against the deep green of the pine needles. The little fairies seemed to be fluttering as the light played over them, and the crystal stars absorbed the light to glow with a pulsing luminosity of their own. The rich tones of the red and vibrant hue of the green complimented the striking white well. At the crown of the tree, all their happy, smiling faces beamed down, with the beloved smile of their founder Mavis outshining them all. A single tear rolled down Lucy’s cheek as she beheld it, and then she put her hand over her heart as it clenched with more joy than words could ever express.

“You guys… Let’s do this again next year, okay? And the next, and the next… Forever…” she sniffled.

“Of course!” they hollered before jumping forward to envelop Lucy in a crushing, smothering, suffocating and wonderful group hug. With her friends, her greatest treasures, enclosing her with tender arms, Lucy had never felt more loved. Her forever began right there, at that pivotal moment… Her forever with Fairy Tail.

Such was Lucy’s first time decorating a holiday tree, but it certainly was not her last…

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @searchfortheonepiece

[sincerelymarinette]

A Recorded Life - Miraculous Ladybug (1/50)

Words: 1493 Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng and her friends are in their final year of Lycee (High School), and they are all 18 years old. Marinette has a very busy life between trying to graduate from school, help in her parent's bakery, and protect France. On top of it all, she is also a very popular YouTuber who creates fashion videos and vlogs. As her popularity increases, she has more to deal with, including how her fans react to everything in her recorded life. Author’s Note: omg. I had this idea from a headcanon I created a few months back and I haven’t really stopped thinking about it. I also didn’t really think I was ever going to post it, but why not give it a shot to see if people like it. This is the first part, so it is really a big introduction to how everything works in this lil AU. If I post more, it does get less introductory and becomes more of a story haha. I have a few more parts written, but it is nowhere near done! Let me know if you would like to see more :)

Will also be posted on Ao3 and Wattpad within the next few days, depending on timing.

NOTE: Canon from season 3 does not apply in this story unless stated otherwise, as this is being written at the time of season 3 being released.

NOTE 2: the chapters are mostly titled like YouTube videos would be. Except for the chapters where a video is not recorded/talked about, so if they look weird, they're supposed to look like YouTube titles!

Next

Are We More Like Ladybug or Chat Noir?

---

"Hey guys, I'm Marinette!" She began the video. "And welcome back to my second channel. You may notice the person sitting next to me..." Marinette gestured. "Alya's back. Like she is in almost every video over here."

Alya smiled and waved. "Hey, guys! Guess what I convinced her to do today," Alya winked. "Well, you probably read the title. We're quizzing to see if we're more like Ladybug or Chat Noir."

"Which I don't totally understand because do we actually know them?" Marinette asked, hoping she wouldn't get Ladybug.

Alya rolled her eyes. "So, if you're from a different country, or have never seen the news, or never even watched a video without me in it, Ladybug and Chat Noir are the superheroes and protectors of Paris. They protect us from the villain Hawkmoth, trying to collect their powers and take over the world. Or something. We only know he wants their powers, we don't know why," Alya shrugged. "But forget about Hawkmoth! Let's take the quiz."

Marinette giggled at her excitement. "Alya runs a blog that follows all things Ladybug and Chat Noir. I'll leave a link on her face, and in the description," Marinette reminded. "First question?"

"When confronted with an Akuma, what do you do? Punch it without a second thought, run away screaming, come up with a plan, or make a pun?" Alya asked. "Wait, I can't tell which one would be Chat Noir?"

Marinette glared at the camera. "He would make a pun," She said, getting a confused look from Alya. "Remember when I had to work with him for the Evillistrator? And when he ran up to me after Puppeteer turned you back into Lady Wifi? Oh my god, the puns!" She groaned. "I would probably," Marinette stopped for a second. She didn't know if she should tell her initial instinct, or try to stay away from the Ladybug answers. "Probably run away screaming."

Alya cocked an eyebrow. "You'd probably come up with a plan to take the Akuma out, Mari, be honest here," Alya said and clicked the one she didn't choose.

"Now, if your best friend was in danger, would you: let someone else save them, find a way to save them yourself, record it for the internet- okay, that one would probably be me if it were anyone but you- call for help, or work with your partner to get them out," Alya asked. "Speaking of, where were you when the Pharaoh tried to sacrifice me to the Egyptian gods?"

Marinette's jaw dropped. "Hey! I told you, I got caught in a time slow bubble. It was terrible!" Marinette defended herself, but little did she know she actually did save her best friend. "Considering Nino would probably be there too, since you really only get in danger when tracking down Ladybug and Chat Noir, we would have to work together to save you,"

"That's fair."

The questions continued and Alya kept calling Marinette out whenever she answered incorrectly. "You got Ladybug; I knew you were more like her!" Alya said.

"Why do you say that? I'm clumsy, and stutter sometimes, and I'm just not like her," Marinette shrugged. "I'm not even like Chat Noir. His confidence is insane, and I'm nowhere near that."

Alya put the phone down. "Girl, you sell yourself short. You're the class president; you stand up for people, you're creative. Those all sound like Ladybug things, don't they?" She raised her eyebrow. "I think that's all we have for today, right, Mari?"

"Yeah, thanks for watching! Other social media and information in the description, see you in the next video!" Marinette ended the video.

She edited out the part where Alya gave her reasons why she was like Ladybug. She cut it off at "Girl; you sell yourself short." Marinette watched the video she was editing for what the hold have been the fiftieth time, to make everything was done right or wasn't dull, but she had to postpone the editing. She set her main channel video to upload, and transformed into her alter ego to meet Chat Noir.

Marinette had a small, contained YouTube channel for a few years. It was popular, thanks to her incredible talent and young age, people enjoyed watching!

"Hey, Chat," Ladybug called when she saw him on the roof, sitting down and laughing. Even though they had been partners for two years, and now older, she still got a little nervous when starting patrol.

"Hey, Bug!" Chat Noir said. "You know Marinette, right? That girl you had me watch over because of an Akuma about a year ago?"

Ladybug nodded. "Yeah...why?"

"She has the best YouTube channel."

Marinette was flattered, but also confused. Chat Noir watched her YouTube? "She's...pretty cool," Ladybug walked closer and sat next to him. "I didn't think you would be one to be interested in a designer."

"Oh yeah, she's so talented! And her videos are great. I love watching the sped up designs and watching them all come together," He gushed. "But her second channel is just as good. It's more relaxed, and I guess you could say her main channel is the more professional side, but the second channel is where she does a bunch of videos with her friends. And look at this one!" Chat Noir showed her his baton, which was somehow connected to YouTube. Marinette recognized the video, as it was one of her most popular. It was the video Nino suggested when he asked "What's in your sketchbook? I've never seen everything, and I'm really curious."

And of course, Alya thought it would make for a perfect video.

Alya was behind the camera when Marinette recorded it, making some comments that would add to the comedic point. "Look, she said this one was inspired by me!" He paused the video and pointed to the design Marinette spent way longer on than she'd admit.

"That's awesome, Chat!" Ladybug said, a smile plastered on her face. She only wished she could thank him formally for all this gratitude, but she couldn't reveal herself. "When I see her next, I'll relay your love."

A smile flashed across Chat Noir's face, and he closed his baton. "Don't worry, milady, my heart beats for only you."

"Charming," She smirked. "Let's go; I've got a thing to do after patrol!" She said and swung her yo-yo. Chat Noir chuckled, but followed anyway.

---

Marinette edited her video until she was sure it was perfect. Even if it was for her second, less popular channel, she wasn't going to put out less than quality content.

Since she got home at nearly midnight after patrol, and edited for an hour and a half, she was exhausted.

Marinette, about to fall asleep at her computer (which she has done before), clicked the YouTube shortcut and set her video to process (and hopefully upload) while she slept.

She was expecting to wake up to her alarm, or the sun hitting her eyes, or her mom yelling that she was late for school. Instead, Tikki was screaming and jumping in an attempt to get her up.

"Something's outside!" She said, pointing to the window. Marinette was hoping it would be morning, but it was still dark.

"Shh," She told the Kwami and slowly got out of bed. Marinette peaked out of the window, not seeing anything. Deciding it was safe, she walked up the ladder and opened the hatch. "Is someone out here?"

It was cold, and Marinette was only in her pajamas, so she wrapped her arms around herself to try to warm up. "I swear...if she woke me up because it was wind, or a bird-" Marinette stopped her mumbling when she heard something move. "Hello? Please, it's too late for this. I'm too tired to kick ass-"

"Please don't call the cops," The black figure landed in front of her.

"Chat Noir? It's the middle of the night! What are you doing here?" Marinette whisper yelled.

Chat Noir looked down at the ground. "I was patrolling with Ladybug about an hour ago, and I didn't want to go home, so I was just walking. I saw something strange in the window and decided to take a look. It was bright red and seemed to be glowing- I thought it was something that wanted to-"

"It was probably just my...cat," Marinette said. "Yeah, he heard something outside and nudged me. His collar is red and reflects some of the lights I have in my room so it wouldn't surprise me if that's what you saw," Marinette nodded, hoping her lie would go unnoticed.

Chat Noir nodded and stepped up to the ledge. "Well, as long as you're safe," He said. "I should be off," He got ready to jump away. "Oh, I don't know if Ladybug told you, Marinette, but I love your videos," He flashed a smile and jumped away.

"Thank you!" She called after him, unsure of if he heard her.

---

Let me know if you would like to see the second part!

[devnny]

CHAPTER ONE.

JTRM — THE “R” STANDS FOR RECOVERING!

PREVIOUSLY.

I wasn’t going to write more so soon, but I got sick, and I can’t draw, so I wrote. [sobs] It’s time for sharing, arguing, and the start of something new! >:)

“Okay,” She breathed, exasperated. “let’s run through this… one more time.”

“Okay.” Johnny pursed his fingers together casually, like he wasn’t about to explain for the umpteenth time the hideous events that lead to his current state of being.

“Three years, three voices, two of which held allegiance to an unknown thing living in one of your basement walls.” Devi started.

“Yes.”

“And you were compelled to murder because… it fed off the blood of the victims. Which you painted on said wall.”

“Yes.”

“And then it all disappeared when you…. died.” She couldn’t believe it.

“—Or dreamed I died.” Johnny added. “Like I said, it all seemed like a crock of shit so it’s hard to tell.”

Devi let her face fall into her hands and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Letting Johnny tell his story was difficult to sit through, seeing as he loved to go off on half-relevant tangents, and speak in long, descriptive prose about his feelings on the matter. She still sort of liked the way he talked, but most of it turned into static while she tried to process exactly what kind of cesspool of a life Johnny had waded through for so long – and to a further extent – what kind of life she had avoided by nipping Sickness in the bud early.

“And after you woke up, all that was left was this new “Meat” thing?” She raised her eyes up enough to look at him from over her fingertips.

“Yeah.” Johnny leaned back against the armrest of her couch. “Like I said, sometimes I think I hear Nailbunny, but then I wonder if that’s just my actual conscience talking to me, and I just forgot what that’s like, what with all the, y’know, voices that are mine but aren’t mine, things.”

“Right.” She groaned into her palms. Devi dragged her hands down the front of her face, pulling her lower eyelids down a little as they went by, before clapping them together as her wrists settled on her knees. “’Kay.”

“So three down one to go doesn’t sound that bad, right?” She turned her attention to her guest again, and he shrugged with a half-smile, still all too calm about the situation.

“That’s how I��ve been looking at it.” He crossed a leg over his knee as he spoke, bouncing his foot idly. “I mean, I guess I never really “beat” the Doughboys, or the wall-thing, and I think Nailbunny just died or something, but at least Meat’s been pretty easy to ignore with the whole “turning myself into a feeling-numb husk” idea.”

Devi stared at him incredulously.

“WHAT?” He huffed. “Winning because all the other candidates died is still winning!!”

One of her hands came up to rub her eyes again.

“Jeezus Christ, Nny.” She mumbled, and got up to pace. She thought better when pacing. Johnny scowled, arms crossed, as he watched her walk around her living room.

“Y’KNOW, I get that I deserve some criticism here, but I’ve been doing this A LOT longer than you have, and even though you’re more efficient and self-empowered than I am, and you got control of your head-voicey-thing right away, I think I’ve earned some credit for surviving this long!!” He argued for the sake of his own ego. Devi turned to squint at him again.

“Having one of these parasites for that long is the opposite of an accomplishment, Nny.” She replied coldly. Johnny stood up to gesture his arms wildly as a display of his immense upset.

“OH, EXCUSE ME!” He yelled, glaring at her ceiling. “So SORR-REE that I didn’t realize I was being haunted by DEMONS until it was too late – sorry we can’t all realize that the voices that sound like us in our head aren’t us right away like SOME people can, like fucking side-of-the-road, carnie psychics!!”

Johnny started to cross the room to where she was, and Devi tensed immediately. She was too nervous to move, and decided to just stand her ground and give him a look that said, ‘just try and stab me, bastard’. Johnny only glowered when he got close to her, and brought up a finger to point at her accusingly.

“I didn’t come here to be belittled! I know I screwed up a lot of shit, immensely so, and I was just coming here to warn you – I shouldn’t have BOTHERED, seeing as you’re so much better than me in every way! You don’t even need to TELL me that, I know!”

Devi’s pupils narrowed at him gravely, but he was too worked up to regret the outburst.

“First – get your fucking finger out of my face.” She snapped out, and he half-heartedly dropped his hand. “And second, I don’t want to hear what little scraps you can piece together that makes this situation any less dismal than it is, Nny.”

Whether it was the steadiness of her voice, or the spooky aura she emitted, Johnny didn’t know, but his posture loosened enough that he didn’t feel he was on the verge of snapping at the seams anymore.

“This isn’t about who is better or who is worse, Johnny – the fact of it is, is you ARE worse.” She stepped toward him, and he stepped back. “And I just got through being in the crosshairs of whatever fucked up, ethereal bullshit controls these little shits – I am NOT about to be in the middle of it again! So if your little Meaty pal is trying to use me, I’m going to make sure he DIES.”

Devi stared at him until she saw the sharpness in his pupils soften, and she felt more in control of the room’s atmosphere again. She turned to walk toward her art room, and Johnny barely had time to tilt his head up to peak at what she was doing before she came back with a good-sized drawing pad.

“I only know one way of defiance with these things.” She said before throwing the tablet onto the table with a loud slap, startling Johnny enough to make him straighten up. Devi turned to him and pointed to the paper urgently. “Draw.”

“…What?” Johnny managed, confused at the sudden change in topic.

“DRAW!” She ordered him more directly this time. “Draw on the fucking paper, Nny! You’re going to draw until your fingers bleed – until you’ve regained so much of your creativity that you’re spitting out shitty comics on a daily basis!”

Johnny stared at her like she was yelling at him in another language.

“Wh—right now!?”

“YES, right now! Go on, draw something!”

“I can’t just draw on command like that! The mood has to strike me right! I have to have some kind of inspiration—GAK!” He tried to argue but was forced down by his shoulders into a sitting position in front of the coffee table.

“Your inspiration is I’m going to smother you if you don’t, how’s that?” Devi frowned down at him, then crossed her arms and looked off like she was waiting.

Johnny felt his cheeks heat up with annoyance, but took up a stray pen on the table and flipped open the pad to give his best attempt. At first he thought of doing a bad caricature of Devi saying rude things, but thought better of it, and stuck with what he was familiar with. After a moment of scribbling he lifted the tablet toward her, offering up a simple Happy Noodle Boy, in hopes that it would suffice her bizarre request. Devi glanced at it for only a few seconds before looking away again.

“Now do another.”

“But—wh-why!? Why should I even listen to you?” His brow creased, arms and legs crossed like a child. “You talk about being fed up with these things – I was a slave to them for YEARS! I’m not just going to take orders from you randomly!”

Devi looked down at him again and he flinched, until he saw her stare wasn’t particularly aggressive. She watched him a moment, then blinked tiredly as she shrugged away from him.

“I’m too tired for this right now.” She mumbled, half to Johnny and half to herself. “Come back tomorrow night, and we’ll do an actual drawing lesson, m’kay?”

Johnny kept his eyes on her while she ambled nearby aimlessly. He got up quickly, a small pout still hanging off of his lip, and tried to again confront her.

“Devi, don’t ignore what I said! Give me one reason I should follow what you say!”

She turned to look at him, and her demeanor again surprised him, but this time because of the calmness of it. She looked similar to how she was when she worked at the bookstore; tired, neutral, maybe a smile hiding under her lips, waiting for a reason to show. It made him nervous all over again.

“Nny,” She spoke tiredly, and took the drawing pad from his grasp, reviewing the little doodle he’d left on the page. “—don’t you want to get over this shit? Finally? Have it all really be done, and be able to draw like you used to?”

Johnny stared at her, almost longingly, before looking away to the floor. He did want that, very badly. Devi suspected as much.

“Come over, tomorrow night.” She told him again, then walked to the door to let him out. Johnny followed her dutifully. He raised his eyes up to her face again, and she met them without hesitation.

“6:00PM.” Devi added. Johnny didn’t affirm anything as he walked out, and only peered over his shoulder momentarily as she shut the door.

It was a very unexpected encounter, his reunion with her, and it certainly lasted longer than he thought it would… Still, it didn’t feel like a failure, either. Even with how pissed she was for most of it.

He took the elevator down, and walked somberly to where he’d left his car parked in a dumpy looking little parking lot that ran alongside a fast food place, a ways down the street. As he opened the driver’s side door and strapped his seatbelt, Reverend Meat’s voice piped up.

“So you scored a date then, did you?” He sounded rather smug, like a friend teasing another about a grade school crush. Johnny made a strangled sound, and heaved the little statuette out of his open door. It was a useless act of defiance, since Meat would just reappear again anyway, but it was satisfying all the same. As the worn wheels screeched away, Reverend Meat’s smile remained while he lay on his side on the asphalt.

“You can’t run, Johnny C. – not from us, and not from her.”

--

NEXT.

[thesnapewecandreamof]

A Lucky Find

This is an expansion on a post I made a few weeks ago. This was inspired by Hamilton's Stay Alive (Reprise), and "It's Quiet Uptown"(So you know someone’s gonna be...not alive by the end. It’s very obvious who it is. The song Minerva is singing is "Sleepsong" From Secret Garden. Technically speaking that song inspired me to write this expansion. Also also, I’ve been watching The Promised Neverland and have been listening to their ost, “Isabella’s Lullaby” as I write some of the parts. Give those all a listen, it'll make it a little bit more heart-breaking. Hope you like it! 

Word count: 7,670 (It’s a miracle!)

AO3 Link

They were back at it again. Minerva sat across Albus, a steaming cup of tea between them. It was the usual argument as always. Years before, Albus would give many things for his colleagues to defend his young potions master and now-

“Albus surely there is another way.” Minerva argued. They were going in circles and as much as Albus wanted to relent- “There is none, Minerva.”

It was curious.

Dumbledore himself had acknowledged the fact that he only trusted Snape as far as he could throw him -- But through the years Dumbledore has come to understand that he was stronger than he looked, and Severus was far too light for his stature. The young spy brought information for the Order, the smallest mistake could mean his death yet he pushed on. Voldemort was so sure that Severus Snape was his, so confident that the young and eager Death Eater belonged to him and yet here was Dumbledore still having doubts. Was it simply hubris clouding Voldemort’s judgement or is Albus as paranoid as his dear friend Alastor?

It was a normal night when happened. Snape was reporting in the Headmaster’s office when he tilted to the side, almost falling if it weren’t for the seat he refused earlier. “Are you alright?” Dumbledore asked, resisting the urge to go to his feet.

“It’s nothing.” The boy muttered. He’d gone pale, paler than he was before. “I have nothing to report further Headmaster, if you’ll excuse me-“ Snape stood up too quickly it seemed and fell back into the chair. This time Dumbledore did stand up and cast a diagnostic charm on his spy as he rounded past his desk to get a better view on his spy.

He frowned at the results, “Does Tom suspect you?”

Severus waved him off and seemed insulted, “Of course not. It is merely one of his punishments for failure.”

Dumbledore looked at him keenly, there was more to it but Snape looked ready to pass out. “I need to see the damage.”

“No!” Snape growled, “I can take care of this on my own.” The young man waved his own wand on his person, casting an ennervate and his own healing charm.

Albus let him go. It wasn’t the last time it happened and as much as he wanted to test the limits the boy had, of just how far his word meant, Albus Dumbledore does have a conscience.

It was a shameful thought and Dumbledore shivered at how his old self reacted back then.

In his time reminiscing, he realized that Severus Snape was alone as ever even when he belonged in the Hogwarts faculty, always torn on two opposite sides, never quite belonging as much as he tried. It was Minerva who spoke the loudest, he remembered. None of the staff quite trusted Snape and she stood as their representative to argue with him and assess he’s mental states. None of them quite believed his word but they didn’t oppose him.

And then came one of the Wizarding World’s most glorious moments and one of the most heartbreaking.

He found Severus in the Astronomy Tower, weeping, crying out in pain and he wondered if the man he saw before him then was the same man that gave information and risked his life for the people who would sooner kill him than help him.

“I wish I were dead.”

“What good would that do to anyone?”

It was once again one of his crueler moments, but Severus needed to hear it. He needed to continue the fight despite losing his will.

And continue he did.

Nobody was quite the same after that Halloween night. But as the trials were done and Severus’ name was cleared, there were those from the staff who began to offer olive branches to the young man but he keeps snapping them in their faces. Minerva had had enough and was set on sparring with the sharp tongue of their youngest.

It was quite a wonder, he himself didn’t know when it precisely happened but through Minerva’s gentle teasing, her sharp tongue and competitive spirit, somehow Severus slowly peaked his head from the shell he’s been hiding in. Suddenly the competition between Gryffindors and Slytherins became lighter yet fiercer at the same time.

“I heard you and Minerva had quite the spat earlier.” Dumbledore raised an eyebrow as Fawkes flew towards the back of the chair his youngest professor occupied. Severus hid his shock well and calmly shook his head.

“Just regular house rivalry, Headmaster.” The phoenix thrilled softly and Severus cracked a biscuit, eying the demanding bird.

“I heard there were bets on who would win.” Albus smiled at his cup of tea.

Severus raised a brow at him, keeping the biscuit a few inches from Fawkes. “I assume you’d placed a bet on the winning side?”

Albus smiled as Fawkes nearly bit Severus in his haste to get the cracker, “Naturally.”

He invited Severus for tea at least once a week to check on him. To make sure he hadn’t expired or thrown himself to the Whomping Willow.

“I can’t have you two conspiring the doom of the student population.”

Somewhere along the way Minerva joined them and the air cleared and any tension that remained evaporated slowly.

“Are you up for it then?” Severus asked, a black notebook in front of him, and Albus felt torn.

“I have the oddest feeling just now.” He said, his eyes darting to the door.

“Then hurry up before your conscience comes barging in the door. I haven’t even put mine in yet, here-” Severus opened his notebook and took one of Albus’ quill. “Severus Snape – Three months, spell accident.” He lowered the quill and put two galleons on top of the notebook, it disappeared from view and Albus bit his lip.

“Where do the galleons go?”

“A small cauldron I have stashed away with more wards than my own quarters. I assure you, Filius himself checked my wards and spelled it so that galleons can go in but not out, at least until the time comes to collect.” Severus smirked. Albus gave him a calculated look. Filius was involved?

“Severus Snape!” A voice yelled just as the door to the office opened, admitting one furious Minerva McGonagall.

“Too late.” Severus muttered as he hid the notebook.

“What is this I hear about a betting pool on how the Defense Professor will meet their untimely demise?” Minerva glared at Severus. The boy crossed his arms, looking unconcerned and apathetic.

“We’re on the demise part now? Last I heard it was just how they will be forced out of the position.” Severus drawled and Minera pursed her lips in frustration.

Snape’s brow twitched as she remained glaring at him, “It wasn’t me.” He said, flinching as her brow rose.

“Alright it wasn’t just me. I simply hold the record. Would you like to-“

“Severus!”

“What? It’s not like I’m the one making them leave. They all leave eventually, might as well have fun with it, I say.” Severus said and Albus looked on with amusement and a little bit of dread.

“And you, what do you have to say for yourself?” Minerva turned to Dumbledore and his blue eyes widened in shock, “Me? As I recall you were lecturing Severus here and-“

“And you need to control your employees. This is distasteful not to mention unprofessional!” Minerva ranted for a few more minutes while Severus looked bored.

The young potions master apparently had enough after those five minutes, “Minerva. I suggest you bring this up to your other colleagues, my seniors, if you will.” Severus scowled at her.

“Our headmaster has a gambling problem and your colleagues need to go outside lest all the little hellions start to drive them mad. It’s not like we’re doing it to the new DADA professor’s face, and nobody is allowed to manipulate the outcome so I don’t really see the harm.”

It was a very long day for them and they had a staff meeting -minus the DADA professor- the following night.

“Minerva McGonagall – trampled to death by his fans, one galleon. Write that down.” Time certainly works it’s magic and McGonagall isn’t impervious to it. Adapt or perish and all that.

“I’m afraid Sybill has entered that Minerva. Try again.” Severus said as he checked the notebook.

“I’m not quite sure this is where you should be discussing this, I am the Headmaster after all.” But even as he said it, Dumbledore had that calculating twinkle in his eye as always.

Severus rolled his eyes, “Please Albus, you are not allowed to place bets. And it isn’t like you’re the one making them leave.” He paused, “Maybe you are the one making them leave, I wouldn’t put it past your scheming self.”

“Crushed underneath all his merchandise in the DADA classroom – three galleons.” Minerva said after awhile. Fawkes chirped in amusement and Severus smirked at the bird.

“Quite the creative scenario.”

“Thank you.”

How he wished it was always like those times. But things rarely go the way we all wish them.

“Wake me when you finish the tea.” Severus muttered as he sank into the plush sofa in the Headmaster’s office. Another day filled with brewing and teaching, add the late staff meeting and the almost month-long process of brewing the wolfsbane, and it was a wonder how Severus remained alert as they discussed the student’s and the boards recent decisions. He sat in his own seat as Minerva began fixing their tea, it relaxes her, she says and no matter how skillful the elves are they just couldn’t mimic her brew.

Albus smiled as he heard her softly singing, just loud enough for all of them to hear, “Lay down your head, and I’ll sing you a lullaby, back to the years of loo-li-li-lay…”

Dumbledore smiled as he saw the tense shoulders loosen and the breathing deepen. He and Minerva shared a smile, “And I’ll sing you to sleep, And I’ll sing you tomorrow. Bless you with love for the road that you go.” Albus waved his wand and a blanket gently lowered itself on the young Potion Master’s form. Fawkes, flying from his perch to the back of the sofa, he’d snuggle with the young professor later when Albus wasn’t looking.

All was well, but for just how long? If Albus could capture a moment and keep it frozen from time, he would chose this. But meddling with time is way beyond his pay-grade so it moved on.

Severus seethed at him, “You were involved in it, don’t pretend otherwise.”

Albus tried to calm him, “Severus-“

“No! You listen to me. You always pick your damned gryffindors, I shouldn’t be surprised and yet here I am!” The Headmaster’s office seemed so small right then, the knick knacks Albus had was shaking with Severus’ rage.

“My boy-“

Severus stumbled away from Albus’ reaching hand, “Don’t touch me!”

There was something wild in Severus’ eyes, it burned with anger and something else, something Dumbledore was not yet ready to decipher.

“You let him escape! Black-“

“Sirius is innocent, it was Peter Pettigrew who were the Potter’s secret keeper.”

Silence. He could see Snape biting his tongue, controlling his emotions and trying to rein in all that anger inside once again. It reminded him of a young man so many years ago, clamoring his emotions and desperately trying to lock everything in. The clattering and shaking of the objects stopped, rendering the room silent besides the heavy breaths of the Potion Master.

Dumbledore tried again, “Pettigrew was Ron’s rat Scabbers. He’s been hiding all this time-“

“Albus?” It was Minerva. She walked until she stood with Severus, looking at the upset young man in worry.

Severus tilted to the side but caught himself, shaking his head and bringing the back of his hand to his brow. “Severus?” Minerva asked again, her hand hesitating to touch her colleague.

“I’m fine.” He choked out as he saw Minerva’s hand reaching for him, he shies away and almost falls over again.

“Severus.” Dumbledore frowned as Severus straightened himself.

“I shall be fine Headmaster. I will be in my quarters for the time being unless there is something you need for me to do?”

Blue eyes searched black. There was the coldness between them once again and Albus felt something in him stir, a deep need to comfort the boy before him but he held back. It was not the time to deal with past hurts.

“You may go, Severus. We shall speak in the morning.”

He let Severus go. He could never understand how Minerva could give such a confused yet accusing glare.

He filled Minerva in on what she needed to know and there were tears and there was anger.

There was a war brewing once again and the thought of reprising their roles was daunting. He heard of what happened from Remus and he felt guilty when he checked in on a dozing Severus and saw potions for pain and concussion on his bedside.

It was no time to let their emotions get the best of them. They were in the eye of the storm and they needed to prepare.  In hindsight, this is the moment where things could have gone a lot differently if Albus did not leave Severus alone.

The moment Dumbledore announced his choice of next DADA professor, Snape stiffened in his seat. When the auror introduced himself, Snape scowled but avoided Moody’s magical eye. Minerva was not blind, she knew they had history. She didn’t say anything when Severus would rant and complain in the Headmaster’s office when Moody got too touchy with Severus’ belongings, when his words were becoming less of a mindless insult and slowly approaching harmful slander.

She didn’t say anything when the betting pool was put to a hold.

She stayed with Severus in the staff room when he fell asleep while grading, frowning as she thought about what the stress is doing to him. It was obviously a peaceful sleep. She hummed an old lullaby as she graded her own papers and smiles as Snape settles back to a restful nap.

Their little weekly meetings were becoming rarer as Alastor continued to hound Severus and insisted on talking to Albus.

When it was revealed that Moody was a Death Eater in disguise she wanted to curse him herself. He dared step foot in the halls of Hogwarts, perform Unforgivables in front of her students-

But then Snape was gone. And she was filled with shame that the first thought in her mind was how he was coming to greet his old master.

Of course Dumbledore filled her in on Snape’s position. “He is late.” Albus said in a sober tone.

“Late?” Minerva felt her heart stop. Was Severus-

“Two hours in fact.” Dumblledore sighed, “He answered Voldemort’s summon two hours late, Minerva.” There was a hint of regret in his voice and Minerva gaped at him, “And you still let him go? Albus he could be killed-“

“And he will surely be hunted down if he did not go. This way, there is a chance that Voldemort may forgive him his tardiness and the Order is not rendered blind.”

Minerva let out a breath. “You truly have a gambling problem, Albus. You are betting on Severus’ life-“

“I have faith in Severus’ abilities.” He said as he gently stroked Fawkes’ feathers when the mythical bird perched on his shoulder.

Minerva clenched her teeth lest she let out words she would regret once her anger cleared. They waited in silence and if Minerva was religious she would have prayed to a god she was not quite sure was there.

Severus stumbled inside Albus’ office only a few hours later, it felt longer to them. Freezing in place as his eyes met hers, there was hesitance in his frame and Minerva was worried he’d scurry off to lick his wounds in private when Albus spoke up, “You can trust her, Severus.”

His eyes met Dumbledore’s and Minerva wondered what kind of communication they were having. She met his eyes once again and Severus gave a small nod. He walked until he was before the Headmaster’s desk, his chin held high, his eyes back to their blank gaze. Minerva noticed the shaking of his hands but Severus quickly folded them behind his back.

“I have been welcomed back by the Dark Lord, Headmaster.” His voice, devoid of all emotion, chilled Minerva. This was a Death Eater before them even if he did serve the light. There was darkness clinging to him, swirling around and absorbing any light that dared come its way.

“And what of the others among the inner circle?” There was detachment in Albus’ voice and Minerva wondered if this is how they met when Severus was a young spy. She almost found herself chooking as the pressure increased in the room, as if a swirling cloud was taking all the air available--

“I was not present when they convened, headmaster, and some had already been sent away by the Dark Lord. However, he has alluded that he will summon us once again in the coming days. I did saw McNair and Crabbe Sr. in the ground before I left, they seemed fine, merely being reminded of the Dark Lord’s punishments.”

The end of the report. It wasn’t much of a report to begin with but Albus’ gamble did pay off, but not without a price--

“And you, Severus?” Dumbledore asked as he peered from his crescent moon glasses.

The tension cleared and they were back to just Albus, Severus, and Minerva. The Deputy took in a breath she’s been holding, glancing at Severus at the corner of her eye.

“I’m-“ Tremors ran across his body, she put a hand on his shoulder, ignoring the flinch and the harshness of his glare.

“You are not even close to being fine, young man,” She urged him to sit on the sofa he always occupied. “Don’t even dare say otherwise.”

“I will be fine.” He argued.

“Hush. I shall call Poppy and-“

Severus scowled at her, “I’ve already taken a potion, stop fussing.”

Albus made his way to the sofa, his eyes narrowed and his wand drawn. “Finite Incantatem.”

Minerva gasped as bruises and cuts appeared on Snape’s pale skin.

“We’ve talked about this, Severus.” He said morosely.

“We have. But this truly is nothing, Albus. I’ve had worse.” Severus as he fought against the exhaustion, not bothering to make a fuss as Albus cast a healing charm for the contusions. “It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.” He couldn’t stifle a yawn. He didn’t bother protesting when Minerva maneuvered him to lie down on some pillows, her hand brushing against his hair.

“May you sail fair to the far fields of fortune. With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet…” She began to sing the old lullaby she sang many moons ago. “And may you need never to banish misfortune. May you find kindness in all that you meet.” He fell asleep before she even finished. She discreetly glanced at the elder man before her, her other hand gently placing a blanket on top of the boy. She slowly stood up, making sure not to wake Severus up, and cast a silencing charm around him.

Minerva was set on arguing with Albus but they did nothing but go on circles with each other. It wasn’t a very peaceful night for them and when Severus woke he had to blink a few times to orient himself. He stared at the fiery orange feathers before him and softly shooed Fawkes away from him. The phoenix squawked at him, irritated by being jolted from his nap but settled back into his perch.

He winced at his sore muscles but pushed it away when he smelled the toast and tea on the coffee table near his sofa. “You’re awake.” Dumbledore remarked as he pushed parchment away from his desk and smiled at Severus.

“How are you feeling?” Severus blinked at Minerva’s voice, she was seated by the armchair beside the sofa he occupied. Since when did she have breakfast in the Headmaster’s office? Come to think of it, since when did Severus?

“What am I doing here?” He asked as he tried to clear his head, “Still, I mean. You should have woken me last night, I would have been alright in my own quarters.” The potions master said as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, missing the look Minerva sent Albus.

“You were in no condition to be moved, Severus. If I were going to move you it would be to the hospital wing if I had a choice.” McGonagall hissed, her eyes never leaving Albus’.

The Headmaster sighed, “Yes well, you are well now aren’t you, Severus? Join us for breakfast before we head to the great hall.”

Ah yes. Diggory’s memorial. With all the excitement of last night he nearly forgot about it. Another one of his failures, another one to add to his list of dead--

“I can take my own breakfast in my rooms, Headmaster. In fact, I believe I shall-“

Severus got to his feet but Minerva grabbed his arm to stop him, “I insist Severus.” She whispered and his eyes darted to Dumbledore’s. There really wasn’t a choice to be made for Albus almost seemed to be begging him to stay with those damnable blue eyes.

“Very well then. But I really do need to freshen up afterwards.”

Breakfast was an awkward affair. The silence was tense and their words to each other clipped. It was very wrong and Severus wanted nothing but to retreat to the safety of the familiar dungeons and wait for things to blow over. Except they won’t. Something has changed and he knew deep down that they can never go back to the way things were.

They finished breakfast and Severus bade farewell until they met in the great hall. The grief was overwhelming. It was his fault, he should have known that there was something about Moody that was wrong, besides the obvious of course. He should have done better, maybe if he apparated faster, if he wasn’t hesitant to go then maybe he could have saved Diggory’s life. Maybe he could have stopped the rebirth, sabotaged it in some way but-

“Severus?”

He blinked. He was in the staff room, the tea he asked for had long gone cold and Minerva was looking at him with concern. Wallowing in his regrets never helped him but he never claimed to follow his own advice.

“Yes, Minerva?” He drawled, covering up his loss of focus with feigned boredom.

She took a seat beside him, looking him over. The tremors have stopped when he woke in the morning, the contusions were gone as well. All in all, he was his normal self as if nothing had happened and she wondered just how many injuries he managed to hide from them. Was there always some deep pain he hid and they all ignored all these years? Was the young professor of decades ago this skilled in hiding pain and exhaustion? She could hardly remember those days anymore, but they weren’t important, not anymore.

“Here.” She offered her hand to him, on the center of her palm was a charm, some crystal tied to a thick cord. “It’s a charm engraved with runes for protection and safe journey.” She held the necklace before him, dangling it and he marveled at the way the light caught it.

“Pretty.” He said in a dead-pan voice, “What am I supposed to do with it?” He asked, eying the object still in her hands with suspicion as she rolled his eyes.

“It’s also a portkey you daft man.” She took one of his hands and put the charm in his palm, closing his fingers around it. “Grab hold of it and say the keyword, make sure not to lose it.” He scoffed at her tone and she smiled. “I know Filius had a lesson on portkeys, should I tell him you were sleeping during his lecture?” She teased though her tone remained light and casual.

“I know what portkeys are, Minerva.” He growled, pulling his hand away but frowning as she remained holding his closed hand. “Minerva?” He asked as she continued to look at his enclosed fist.

“The word is ‘faodail’, Severus, do not forget and do not lose it.” She said, meeting his eyes.

He avoided her eyes, not quite knowing if he even deserved such a thing, “Minerva I’m not-“

“Don’t worry, this will transport you just outside Albus’ office. He’s aware of it, in fact I made him make the portkey, Merlin knows why you hadn’t had one before.”

She let go of his hand, “I know you don’t wear jewelry Severus and having it around your neck would just attract unwanted attention but I do ask that you keep it with you always.”

“This is too much, Minerva. I-“

“If not for yourself then think about the Order. If the unlikely scenario happens then what better way than to make sure you survive in one piece than to have this with you?”

“I’m not sure I can have it. The moment my cover is blown all information I may have can become suspect to falsity and if a Death Eater grabs hold of me and is transported with me here I-“ He stopped, not quite willing to think about such a scenario. What if the Dark Lord himself grabbed hold of him as he is being pulled by the port key? What if he managed to wrench the keyword from Severus’ mind and suddenly had access to the castle? “It’s much too risky.” He said, clenching his fist with the portkey in it. Minerva did not miss the action.

“Severus, frankly speaking if anyone grabbed hold of you they’d be stuck just outside of Albus’ office, they’d have to have a death wish. There is also a charm to alert both Albus and myself should a portkey be used in that location. It would be fine.” She said in a tone that broke for no argument.

“But Minerva-“ He tried again.

“Severus please. Contrary to what you believe we do care about you, Albus and I. He’s a lot more stubborn and manipulative but he does care for you. He wouldn’t allow this portkey if he didn’t. Allow me this piece of selfishness, Severus, please.” Severus looked away from her, not quite ready to see if she was being sincere or not. He knows Albus, knows him a lot better than others. He knows of the grandfatherly headmaster and the war general coming back from his rest. The two cannot exist at the same time, very much like how the Death Eater and the Professor cannot have a life as long as the other is around.

He wondered if Minerva understands the dichotomy of the character of her two colleagues, of how much they are willing to risk to rid the world of the Dark Lord.

“Should I be insulted that you doubt my skills?” He asked as he examined it closely, letting it dangle before his eyes.

Minerva patted his shoulder as she took her leave, smiling to herself.

Time passed quickly for those who cling to it.

She was there once again when he returned from the next meeting. There was no need for the portkey back then, nothing much happened, and since he’d had his fair share of punishment already and have proven his fidelity to their cause, the Dark Lord amused his followers as he punished those who did not show.

“Karkaroff is dead, his fate was sealed the moment he tried to run.” He said as he sipped at the tea Albus insisted he have. It was a break in their usual ways where the spy would report and the Headmaster would listen and scheme. There was no coldness, no tension. He glanced at his left and saw Minerva sipping her own tea. He still had his doubts with her knowing, surely this is also putting her in danger, also putting his cover in danger.

Something had changed though, he was wary of it but he couldn’t deny the feeling of safety and peace he now experiences as opposed to before.

“The old Death Eaters are back, barring those currently prisoners in Azkaban. The Dark Lord chooses to lay low for awhile, he does not want the Ministry to know of his return just yet. He hasn’t made plans for recruitment but I assume he’d be needing to refill his numbers to gather strength.”

He lowered his tea and awaited his orders.

Albus drummed his fingers on his desk, “We have already informed the old members of the Order, there isn’t much for us to do other than keep Harry safe and wait.”

The finality of the tone made Snape suppress his sigh. That was as good as a dismissal as it came. Unharmed or no, any meeting with the Dark Lord present is still draining and Severus wanted nothing more than to sink into his bed, not necessarily sleep but rest at least, until he has to get up and deal with his hellions of a students. He moved to stand up but Minerva cleared her throat.

Severus looked at Minerva questioningly, but she remained silent.

“I have it with me.” He muttered, digging through his pockets and retrieving the necklace she gave her, hoping Albus would ask and confiscate the safety hazard but the Headmaster smiled along with the deputy though both gryffindors did not look at each other.

She remained looking at him even after he tucked it away, he looked at Albus for help and the Headmaster glanced at the sofa he frequently used.

“My bed is much comfortable than the Headmaster’s sofa.”

“Yes but you won’t sleep in your bed, you’ll most likely be up all night brewing your potions.”

“I agree with Minerva, Severus. A short rest would do you more good than slaving away at a cauldron.” Interesting words, the Potion Master remarked in his head.

Severus looked at his colleagues shrewdly. He hasn’t seen them speaking to each other the past days. He wasn’t a fool, he knows Minerva disapproved of his status as a spy, she has made it quite clear that she was upset with Albus. The Headmaster is keeping up the façade of peace but he also hasn’t spoken to Minerva besides anything work related.

Apparently the topic of Severus is work-related because the two Gryffindors are tag-teaming him once again. Now Severus can’t have that, can he?

“I can rest in my own rooms, thank you.” He stood up, ready to storm away as he usually does when Minerva called out to him.

“It’s not that late, Severus. Perhaps we can discuss your plans for the next school year.” The look she shot the Headmaster was not missed by the Potions Master. She quickly stood and grabbed the sleeve of his robe, dragging him to that comfortable sofa. He sat stiffly, not quite allowing himself the luxury of leaning back and risking falling asleep. At least not yet.

The headmaster joined them, pouring a fresh cup for everyone.

Time to get the ball rolling.

“Gryffindors.” He muttered as he sipped at his tea.

“And what is wrong with Gryffindor now?” Minerva asked, always ready to protect her house.

He lowered his cup back and scowled, “I’m not blind you know, and I suggest you stop this. Both of you.”

Odd. It was usually Severus who got scolded.

“My boy-“

Time to up the ass-holery he has mastered since he was fourteen. “Stop it with all this self-righteousness and guilt, it’s frankly nauseating and I have had enough, especially after dealing with him for the past few hours.”

“But Severus-“

Honesty is the best policy as Albus hypocritically preached, “I know of the risks, of course I do. But I do know the reward outweighs the risks, no, Minerva. It does, plain and simple. Any slytherin can understand that.”

He took another sip of his tea, assessing Albus with his eyes. “You can also stop feeling so guilty. I gave you my word, did I not? You asked me a year ago and I said I was prepared.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t given you much of a choice there, my boy.” Albus shook his head.

“It was still my choice. Get it through both of your heads and stop avoiding each other. There is a war coming and the last thing we need is two disagreeing Gryffindors.” He mocked. And for good measure, “Merlin, I do detest people who hold on to grudges so much.”

Minerva and Albus looked at him and he smirked. He cleared the air and discussed the elephant in the room surely they can do the rest?

“Now, do you know who will be the next DADA professor, I want to have a head-start on my bets.” He leaned back, watching the two lions look at each other before leaning back themselves. He sighed as the last of the tension faded away and they were back to, more or less, normal. The Headmaster looked at him oddly and Severus sighed, “I do hate incompetent defense professors. Say it to my face now so I don’t get my hopes up.”

“I can’t hire you, Severus.”

“Shocking. Now tell us who it is.”

Albus smiled at him, “I’m afraid I can’t. I’ll be having a chat with Cornelius in a few days, he thinks that someone from the ministry would be a more apt candidate.”

“By the way, Albus, the board of governors will hold a meeting in two days in light of recent events.” Minerva chimed in. “And I’m sure the ministry will send a competent professor, Severus. Don’t let me see that notebook of yours for at least next week.” She glared lightly at the young professor.

“You won’t see it.” He shook his head. He leaned more into the plump sofa and suppressed a yawn. He glared as a blanket was gently floated over him.

“I am not a child.” He gritted out.

Albus smiled at him, “You are compared to me, Severus.” He chided. Then he looked at Severus, meeting his eyes and letting the weight of his words carry a different meaning, “You are to me, Severus.”

Severus shook his head and the Headmaster continued his conversation with his deputy. He tuned them out, slowly drifting off, their voices in his ears and the warm blanket on his lap.

“May there always be angels to watch over you, to guide you each step of the way.” He could faintly hear the lullaby he often heard and he sighed. “To guard you and keep you safe from all harm. Loo-li, loo-li, li-lay.”

He was asleep before she finished. Minerva smiled at the sight, resisting the urge to comb her hand through the boy’s dark locks. But he wasn’t a boy, not really, he’s a young man, a spy, and she has to accept that one day he may not return from his missions. Fawkes flew towards the sleeping professor, not bothering to wait until Minerva and Albus pretended to look away. He continued to softly sing as Minerva stopped.

“I am sorry.” She said, turning to Albus. “For all the things I said before.”

“I understand, Minerva. I do care about Severus, I do. But he is vital in defeating Voldemort.”

“I just wish there was another way.”

There was silence and this point is where she and Albus will find themselves revisiting every once in awhile.

Of course t would not be the last they had that argument, would not be the last that Severus would return hurt from one of their meetings. Everything was getting to them, from Umbridge’s tyrranical rule, “Severus Snape – The Weasley Twins drives the toad to madness.���, to the increasing mischief of the students, “Filius Flitciwck – Trampled to death by both students and professors.” to all those horrible ministry decrees she kept on hammering about,“Minerva McGonagall – Minerva McGonagall.”

Everyone’s patience is being tested and their weekly tea is being interrupted by the pink toad, thinking they were conspiring against her and the ministry. They can’t even have a meeting composing of the Heads of Houses without her barging in. Umbridge walked in on their little meetings after Severus returned from his duties. They were luckily through with he briefing and were slandering—ahem—discussing her curious methods of teaching. The pink toad made her displeasure clear and walked out. Minerva took the pleasure of seeing her red face the morning after only to suppress a scowl as the toad gave her a sweet smile.

The toad tried her best to disrupt meetings, going as far as to try and disallow such things. Albus was quick to cut that in the bud.

Minerva found herself unable to sleep and she ended up going to Albus’ office. She would have cursed the ministry appointed professor herself if she darkened the Headmaster’s office during Minerva’s hour of need. She would rather curse the toad anyway but that would be wrong she reminded herself, terribly wrong indeed.

“Albus?” She asked, seeing the Headmaster with his back to her, gazing out of the window. “Was Severus-“

“Yes.” He replied, gesturing for her to take a seat. “He was summoned just after his last class.” Fawkes thrilled softly in his perch, his eyes also trained outside.

Minerva sat down, grabbing the warm tea Albus offered but not drinking it. It warmed her hands and stopped her from fidgeting.

They started to talk, minor things like the recent pranks of her lions, scores from essays that improved, anything and everything besides the horrible toad and their missing fellow. They ran out of topics soon enough and Minerva stood to look out the magnificent window overlooking the grounds.

Albus joined her, his shoulder bumping hers teasingly. She looked at him and he pointed at something in the east, “There.”

“What?” She squinted her eyes, was Severus there already? She can’t make anything out in the dark.

“That’s where Severus usually appears after he apparates beyond the wards.” Albus said in a wistful tone. “Hagrid says that is the safest path, relatively speaking of course.” Minerva nodded though their gazes were fixed on that one spot. She wasn’t always there when he returned, wasn’t always in the loop when he disappeared.

“Relatively speaking?”

“The centaurs frequent that path and other creatures learn to avoid such place. They aren’t very welcoming but Hagrid spoke to them for the rare instance Severus may need assistance in getting back.”

Minerva stopped herself from asking rash questions, “Does it happen often?”, her tone even and casual.

“A few times. The first time Hagrid brought him I-“ Albus stopped himself, looking lost for words. Minerva glanced at him in concern but he remained silent.

“I almost relieved him of his duties but it is a fact that he is the only member of the order that is privy to Voldemort’s secrets. To plant another, to even hope of replacing him and hoping for the same results is a pipe-dream.” Dumbledore sighed.

It is unfair how the Order sees their spy despite relying on his information so heavily.

“At least that’s what I say to myself, what I say to him, as well. But Severus never raised a complaint, not really.” He never did and Albus sometimes wished that he would, that they may return to easier times where there is only a spy and his true master, Albus had the faintest wish that Severus may one day try to fight for his remaining freedom because then maybe Albus can be convinced; either he lets Severus go or he can argue any notion away from his mind about having another way.

“Albus-“ Minerva never finished. The charm she had on her neck, similar to the one she gave Severus heated up and the alarm Albus created also alerted them that someone had used a portkey and they were standing just outside his office.

The door opened, their hearts were beating wildly in their chests, they turned to greet Severus and Minerva gasped. He was leaning on the wall, blood covered a side of his face and already they can see bruises forming around the wounds on his torso. He moved jerkily inside and she worried he’d collapse before he was even inside.

“Severus.” Albus was there, as Severus began to fall he was there to catch him, Minerva quickly kneeling by the fallen duo.

They were here for him now. Albus, gently cradling him in his arms and Minerva by his side. His robes were in tatters and already stained with dirt and blood.

“I shall call Poppy-“ She stroked Severus’ bruised cheek, wincing as he grimaced. She made to stand but Severus grabbed her arm.

“Don’t!” Tears were forming in his eyes and Minerva couldn’t bring herself to look away. “Stay.”

“You need to get this treated, Severus-“

“Can’t.” He choked out, “It’s a curse…many curses in fact. Too late-“ Severus gasped and grimaced as he shuddered.

Fawkes gave a cry, flying from his perch to the fallen man. Albus watched as the Phoenix shed tears, healing Severus’ wounds and yet—

“’Told you, it was a curse.” Severus muttered and as Albus opened his mouth, “There is no counter-curse.” Severus said softly, smiling-smiling-at the phoenix laying atop him. “Thank you though. Fawkes.”

His dark gaze went to Dumbledore, “I will give you the memory, I need-“ Severus was wracked with tremors, his right hand, trying to grip his left. “A flask, anything. Please.” He stuttered, whimpering in pain.

“Albus, surely this can wait-“ Minerva protested but Albus has already summoned a flask and has already whipped out his wand to take the memories. “Albus!”

“It’s alright, Minerva.” Severus strained to smirk, “For the..for the greater good.” He would have winked if he had the energy. He was going to die. Severus never believed himself to fear death but now, this isn’t just a conclusion he has accepted, this is a conclusion that will surely happen in a few moments and with this, any gallows humor he was relying on to get him through fell short and he tried to swallow any tears he may shed. He was failing.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, he took her hand and opened it, putting something in her palm, before closing it. He held it for awhile, staring at it. “I’m sorry, I forgot.” His chuckle turning to a cough as his lungs start to fail.

She opened her eyes, seeing the charm she gave him, a crack running across it. “I dropped it.” His small smile wobbled. “I’m sorry."

“Oh Severus.” She took his hand, clinging to it. “Filius will be displeased when he finds out you did sleep in his classes.” She joked softly, watching him be distracted by the light clinging to Dumbledore’s wand as he extracted memories.

Something caught her eye as she held his left hand. She opened the cuffs on his sleeves without any protest from him. The Dark Mark made her wince but he studied how it almost seemed to pulse as black veins slowly spread on his appendage. “A present from the Dark Lord himself.” Severus muttered, not bothering to look at the horrific sight.

No wonder Poppy could not help. “It’s killing you.” Minerva whispered, fire blazing in her eyes, “That monster!”

And then Albus stopped collecting the memories, putting the flask aside, he shifted Severus’ weight so the young man leaned on his chest, took Severus’ other hand, his eyes searching Minerva’s.

“Severus,” He whispered, “Thank you.”

Severus nodded, biting his lip as he felt another pulse from the Dark Mark. It was almost as if the Mark knew what was happening and felt the need to remind him of its existence.

“Does it hurt very badly?” Albus asked.

“It hurt worse before.” He hissed, “Fawkes helped though.” The phoenix giving a soft cry, butting his head to Severus’ chin.

Albus exhaled, “That’s good.” But it wasn’t, not really. “It’s okay, Severus. We’re here.”

“I know.”

He should be freezing, the curses cast on him, the dark mark draining him of his life, the stone floor under him, by all means he should be cold, but he wasn’t. With Albus holding him, Minerva holding his hand tight, and Fawkes atop him, he remained warm. Warmer than he ever had a right to feel in his opinion.

“My slytherins-“

“They will hear the news from me, first thing after-“ Albus choked, “Afterwards.”

“The Order-“

“Will dearly miss you but we will manage. We have to.” There were tears in Dumbledore’s eyes, dripping from his eyes and onto Severus’ hair.

“Potter?”

“He will be safe.”

Severus nodded, “The betting pool-“

“Severus!” Minerva playfully scolded and Severus smiled through the tears.

Minerva’s tears have fallen as well and Severus frowned, “Its alright. I can hardly feel anything anymore.”

He squeezed their hands, smiling, “Thank you.”

Minera gently pushed stray locks from his forehead, “May you bring love, and may you bring happiness,” Her voice cracked. She nodded, as she locked eyes with him, he did, he truly did.“Be loved in return for the rest of your days.”Albus was holding him tightly, clinging to him, sensing that Severus is close to drifting away and trying to keep him to stay.

Minerva can see Severus’ strength waning, she saw him struggle as more tears fall from her eyes. She nodded her head at him, silently saying that it was alright and he smiled. “Now fall of to sleep I’m not meaning to keep you-“ She choked, bring his hand to her lips, watching as his eyes droop. “I’ll just sit or awhile and sing loo-li-li-lay.”

He closed his eyes before she even finished.

I’m sort of playing around with POVs here and testing some stuff. I rarely listen to anything while reading/writing cuz I find it distracting but I gave it a try here... but ultimately this is just some shameless way for me to kill Severus again. Yay Angst!!

[timeywimeygalaxy]

It’s All Gone Pear Shaped.

Prompt: “Don’t cry, it’s unfitting” given by @newdrawnmemories   

thank you for the prompt! sorry, this took a while! and also i am so sorry for this...

Summary: Logan had never experienced such a betrayal. 

Pairings: Logince (can be viewed as romantic or platonic)

Warnings: none that I know off.

 I just...i don't even know... here’s goes nothing hope y’all enjoy!

Logan stormed through the front door slamming it shut making Roman (who was watching sleeping beauty on the tv) jump slightly, his eyes wide at his fellow side who started pacing in front of him muttering under his breath, Roman muted the tv and stared at Logan with concern.

“uh…specs everything alright?” he inquired.

“How! Just how can they-“ Logan looked so anguished tried to get his words out but only managed to give squeaks instead, Roman came to his side immediately placing his hands on Logan’s shoulders who now looked more upset than angry  “hey… hey, Logan what’s up? What happened?” Roman asked placing his hand on the logical trait’s face stroking it slightly in hopes it would ease whatever Logan was going through at that moment, his lips trembled slightly and Roman could see he was really fighting himself to hold back tears.

“Tell me what happened mon ami” Roman asked as Logan took his hand and removed it from his face, Roman understood and led him over the couch sitting both of them down, he put an arm around the logical side comforting him “How could this happen!” Logan yelled his voice breaking slightly still managing to stop the floodgates from opening he cursed himself internally for feeling like this over something that would be classed as so trivial to others, but he couldn’t help it “how can what happen?” Roman asked again his curiosity and concern now peaking “I trusted them!” Logan squeaked he took in a shaky breath and tried to compose himself “Do-Don’t cry, it’s unfitting this-it’s going to be fine” He told himself seemingly forgetting that Roman was sitting next to him.

“Logan, what’s going on?” Roman asked again slight frustration in his voice as Logan sighed his head lowered looking away from his fellow side he didn’t want to seem weak and this could be classed as that in front of the creative trait, Roman tried to get a good look at Logan’s expression but with his head lowered it was hard to do so as his hair fell over his glasses obscuring his eyes, he suddenly saw tears making tracks down Logan’s face, Roman quickly scooped him into his arms rubbing circles on his back he may not know what is causing his friend so much anguish but he sure as hell aint going to let this stand he vowed silently he would make whoever hurt Logan pay.

“Shhh it’s going to be ok” he cooed as Logan body trembled slightly under his bear hug but the stroking was actually very soothing, “why don’t you tell me what’s going on and we can try and figure out a solution” Logan hiccupped slightly at Roman’s use of words, he nodded and Roman let go of him still keeping a gentle hand on his shoulder, Roman gave him a warm smile now hoping he could help his fellow side in any way possible.

“It’s- it’s ridiculous” Logan finally said still with hurt in his voice.

“I’m sure it’s not, remember what Patton said all feelings are valid” Roman responded, and Logan gave a half smile but it left as quickly as it appeared.

“My jam” Logan said in a very small barely audible voice and Roman couldn’t quite understand.

“You’re…jam?”

Logan finally looked up at him now with his eyes now huge having become almost puppy like but filled to the brim with tears, the floodgates had now opened.

“CROFTERS IS GONE!” Logan wailed now as tears streamed down his face his expression one of devastation, Roman stared at him in shock and Logan knew he was going to be mad who wouldn’t be? It was an utterly ludicrous thing to be crying about what was wrong with him? He winced slightly as Roman gazed at him mouth agape, Logan couldn’t help it as a few sobs escaped him.

“What?” Roman finally said and Logan winced slightly getting ready for the “wow that’s stupid” and “you’re really crying about that?” but instead of that, Roman actually sounded worried “what do you mean it’s gone?” have they discontinued it? Oh god please no! Roman thought slowly getting more distressed.

“The-they we-were out of-st-stock” Logan stuttered through as tears continued streaming.

Relief washed over him as he looked at Logan’s tear-stained face and in an instant, Logan suddenly felt big warm arms around wrap around him again and his crying ceased in surprise the logical trait blinked a few times processing everything as his fellow side buried his face in Logan’s hair holding him tightly.

“That’s ok specs, they’ll probably have a new delivery next week you think you can wait until then?” Roman asked with such earnest in his voice that Logan smiled slightly he gave a muffled response of “yes, but it’s not fair”

“I know, but like you’ve taught me patience is a virtue” Logan laughed a little at that as his crying had now stopped he was blushing instead of how embarrassed he was now feeling about this whole situation.

Roman sensing this hugged him tighter and without words, Logan knew what he was trying to convey, they stayed like that for a few moments before Roman let go of him.

“how are you feeling?”

“Adequate” he replied having now gained back some of his natural composure even though Roman had now moved he still had one arm wrapped around Logan’s shoulders. The creative side turned to him grinning.

“You want to watch big hero 6?” he asked, and Logan smiled once again nodding, his eyes puffiness and redness slowly going down.  

Roman set up the DVD and sat back down next to Logan who hesitantly laid his head on Roman’s shoulder and sighed feeling more relaxed, he never thought Roman would have been the one to comfort him of all people but he had really come into his own since the last few videos and Logan was proud of him he felt much more at ease than earlier and let out a long exhale as tension dropped out of his shoulders, a lopsided smile playing on his face.

Crofters really did bring out something different in him.

 Okay so this was probably the stupidest and silliest thing I’ve ever written, I was struggling with a scenario for this and then my partner just came out and said this idea and at the time I thought it was hilarious... well i hope y’all liked it! 

I take writing prompts so feel free to send some my way if you want :)

[therealdanadistortion]

We Don't Need No Education, or, Why I Believe Failure is the Main Ingredient in the Recipe for Success

I was a horrible student my entire youth and teen years. I refused to sit in a classroom or even attend class most of the time. I was rude to my teachers, restless in class, and I just didn't want to be there. By the time I was twelve, I got kicked out of my first school (for bad behavior—what else?). By fifteen, I was kicked out of the second.

It wasn't that I didn't want to learn; quite the opposite, I was a very curious kid. But I couldn't deal with the dictatorial system by which the school operated. Though I do understand why the world and especially kids need discipline, for me, it was just too much to take. All I wanted to do was go home, listen to music, and escape into the world inside my head. Or hang out with my friends. I didn’t want to be forced to do what I didn't want to do, or to be told what I needed, or how I should think, and I definitely did not want be graded for being smart or stupid.

School was a joke to me; I didn’t want anything to do with it. Many times I begged my parents to let me drop out of school, but my dad said, Dana, we don't ask you for much, we let you be who you are and most of the time we let you do what you want, but please, for mom and I, just finish school.

As a kid I don't remember ever complaining to my parents about being bored. There was a full, rich world that existed in my head, and I was often confused of what was fantasy and what was reality. In my early youth, I used to tell the kids in my class stories about stuff that never really happened. The stuff in my head maybe didn't happen, but I believed it did. I really wanted those wonderful stories to be true. Kids in class just thought I was a liar. I wasn't a liar, I just preferred to live in a better place where no one could hurt me, a world where I could fly instead of walk, a world where Barbie dolls were real humans and became your best friend. A world where the music was free (yes, that sort of turned true with the birth of broadband and Spotify). A world where I didn't have to sit in a classroom with thirty other kids who smelled bad or made annoying noises. A world where I wasn't being forced to listen to hours and hours of boring lectures.

I was very against the educational system, to say the least. The fact that I had to listen to one person, whether I agreed with them or not, and do what they told me, just didn't sit well with me.

As a consequence, I failed most classes except the creative ones (shocker). I was miserably sent home time after time, or had to deal with the principal calling my parents saying that if I didn’t change my attitude, I would no longer be permitted to come back to school. Which was exactly what I wanted (my parents however, not so much...). Failure is what I succeeded at when it came to school.

After being professionally diagnosed with severe ADD (they finally found a medical name for being a punk), I was sent to a special school. A school with other kids like me. Kids who wanted to listen to music and make things and explore the world on their own, in their own way.

My parents were always good to me—they just got me. I have always felt like they’re proud that I was different. They saw a little bit of them in me. They gave me freedom, they let me dye my hair crazy colors and wear red fluffy coats (even my fashion sense was a head of its time). They let me go to music clubs and listen to my favorite bands and travel to music festivals even though they knew the kids there were much older than me. They trusted me, and let me fail. I believe that's a huge reason why I trust myself so much to this very day. Even if I'm not confident about my path, I keep going, knowing that everything will be okay. I will make it okay.

As I grew up, I learned how to separate my dream world from the real world. But I never stopped escaping to that world inside my head. I realized that people could not go in there and see what I see, even if I tried to explain it to them. Eventually, I learned how to bring that world from inside my head to the outside world and share it with whomever wanted to listen. Whether it was through my photography, my writing, or starting my own clothing line, I realized that the options are endless.

I don't always share my inner world with others. Sometimes I go there by myself, through music, films, crafting, editing photos in my studio for hours and hours, or designing clothes. But I do spend a great deal of my head time learning new things.

It turns out the kid who never liked to study is now wanting to learn new things all the time. I take classes, watch hours and hours of tutorials on pretty much everything, and read books. I do it at my own pace, with no one telling me what or how to learn, or yelling at me that I’m a failure. And I couldn’t be more grateful. l realize I am very lucky to live in an era where information is available so easily and mostly for free.

People always ask me which photography school I went to. Well, I didn't go to photography school. When I realized that's what my passion was, I grabbed the camera I had (not a very good one), and just started taking photos. Though I came from a film background, photography was a whole new fascinating and complicated world I knew nothing about. It wasn't easy for me. I wanted to be great at it right away. But time has taught me that the cliché “easy come, easy go” is relevant to most things in our lives. I was hungry to learn about photography, and I gave it my all. And when I say my all, I mean MY ALL.

For nine years, music photography was my entire world. No matter how sick I felt, or how unmotivated I was, I shot 4-6 shows a week. Sometimes more, sometimes two shows a night. I shot 10-15 festivals a year, I traveled and toured and didn't stop for anything or anyone. Music photography was my heart and soul, and I learned in nine years what I wasn’t able to in thirty. I met some incredible people along the way, and I created an archive of photos that I couldn’t be more proud of. I had bad days and good days, energetic days and nights of no sleep. I worked hard, yet still got turned down by lots of people.

Getting turned down or not feeling successful or loved is never a good feeling, but I always think to myself what would've happened if I didn't keep on going. If I didn't trust myself, face my failures, and just keep my engine running over the tough roads. Where would I be now If I didn't keep on taking blank shots on my camera over and over and OVER again until I finally learned to get it right. There were many sleepless, panic-filled nights before shooting bands I really loved when I still wasn’t sure what I was doing. I just kept pushing through all the doubt with more and more hard work.

With practice, motivation, and patience, and yes, failure, I can now say with a big smile that the camera is my bitch. I know how to work it and get exactly what I want from it. Now that I can work the damn thing, I can let my inner creativity really shine and come out. I can explore and create new things without worry. I can try out new photography tricks, and I try new things a lot. Even with a limited amount of space and time, I now just really enjoy being a photographer. I have the confidence that comes with time and practice.

I never was taught how to edit photos; I taught myself. Slowly I learned Photoshop, then Lightroom. I trusted myself along the way as I developed my own look, feel, and style. A style I knew was mine. I don't believe in photography editing plug-ins. If I see another photographer using the “retro haze” pre-made plug-in, or a photographer overusing that celerity button without caring that it makes 20 year-olds look like they're 80, I will scream. Photography editing software plug-ins are meant for novice or hobby photographers. Professional photographers using plug-ins are being lazy—period. Plug-ins are for people who don't trust their own skills and don't believe they can be true artists. Just as a photographer would never let someone else take a photo for them, why would they let someone else edit their photos?? Taking photos is only 50 percent of being a photographer. Editing and styling is probably the bulk of the work for most photographers.

I guess what I’m saying is that I feel like some people are afraid of being who they are. Being afraid of failure is one thing, but if it wasn't for our failures, how would we become who we are?

Failure should push one to work harder. And I believe in hard work more than I believe in most things in this world. Working hard comes naturally to me, but it’s also my motto and my true way of life. Learning, getting better, being truly proud of yourself without having to rely on someone else's opinion can absolutely protect you against failure. When I feel like I failed at something, I get sad and hard on myself and take a moment to process that feeling, but then I jump right back in and move on to the next adventure….taking what I've learned from my mistakes with me along for the ride.

I always try to be honest about my failures and mistakes. Lying to myself about it is useless. I know deep inside when I did good or not. I strive to learn, I strive to get better. I strive to never give up on myself.

We can be great at whatever we put our minds to. I truly believe that. If we stop caring so much about what other people tell us to do, or how we should be, greatness can happen. If we stay focused on things we love and stop wasting time on things we hate, that’s our chance at greatness. And if we don't reach that highest peak, it doesn't mean that we failed. It just means that maybe it’s time to take a different path or a different turn.

I think that we don't always need to find the way. We sometimes need to let the way find us.

All we’ve got to do is let go, look, and listen.

So after running around for nine years giving photography everything I had, I have now decided to shift my energy to making things I love. I'm not saying I'm totally quitting, as I'm not a quitter. I also don't believe in making dramatic statements of finality. After all, music photography is and always will be my biggest passion other than music itself. But it's time for me to slow down, and and I've been shifting my focus to other things that make me happy.

I decided to open my own business, creating my own brand. It's called Distortion Unplugged, and it’s a tribute to things I love. It's inspired by music, photography, song lyrics, written words, quotes, visuals, and even films.

I'm truly in love with every single piece that I make. I’m proud of it and proud of myself. I'm proud that I never shut down the ideas and passions I had always welcomed, in spite of mistakes along the way. I never stopped encouraging myself to keep going, even in the hardest times where I felt I failed or felt unattractive or unsuccessful. I'm proud that I made myself be honest about how I felt and said what I wanted to say even when it wasn't always right. Even when no one was listening. Even if I wasn't good enough (yet) at what I was doing.

This is a great time in my life. My biggest passion remains learning and becoming great at things I never thought I could know or want to do. Creating fashion, mastering the kitchen, becoming kickass at SoulCycle, slowly getting back into writing after many years of silence. The things I want to learn are impossible to count. But I truly believe we all have the capacity to do it all. And that failure is not always failure. Sometimes, it's just a little obstacle on the road. Turn around, take a break, put things in perspective, and get back on the road. Never stop believing that one day you'll get to your destination, or who knows? Maybe a destination will find you by chance.

[life-in-every-limb]

Would you believe until last year I had never spent a night in Kentucky?  I’ve driven through it on the way to points North, unsurprisingly, but somehow went almost 50 years without vacationing in a state I can drive to in an hour.

We remedied that last October during Fall Break, a modern invention that did exist when I was a youngster.  It’s a great time to travel and we had an entire week off from school.

First we went to Mammoth Cave.  That’s the longest known cave system in the WORLD, y’all.  And it’s a National Park, which means it’s inexpensive to visit.  And you could easily spend days there.

We stayed in nearby Cave City, which is mostly known as the city near Mammoth Cave, or at least that’s the way it looked from the exit where our hotel was located–a strip of hotels and fast food and touristy things.  But we are adventurers and we found the REAL town and explored it.

Look at that sweet little main street! We walked up and down looking in windows (everything was closed for the evening, sadly) and seeing what there was to see.

I didn’t get any pictures but one of the charming things–and to William and Lorelei’s delight–several of the shops had cats in residence, hanging out in the window displays.

At one end of town we found a park with a little Civil War history, and also a tiny IGA at which to buy snacks for our room.

Of course we didn’t come for Cave City; we came for the CAVE, and we spent two days exploring, which included walking around the grounds, taking in the museum exhibits, and going on cave tours.

Here’s some of what we saw above ground.

The railroad cars are part of the very interesting history of the cave, its discovery, and early tourism.  Would you believe that part of the cave was used as a tuberculosis hospital for a time in the belief that the air would be good for the lungs?

Look, y’all! A graveyard! I find them everywhere I go!

When you visit Mammoth Cave, you should plan ahead, unlike us, and book guided tours in advance.  Some of them were unavailable to us because we did not do that.  Also be aware that some of the tours are quite strenuous, with lots of climbing.  But don’t worry, even with those caveats we found plenty to see.

We went on two cave tours, the first one being to see the first cave to be rediscovered in more-or-less modern times.  Native Americans were using it over 5,000 years ago, and we were able to see some extremely well-preserved artifacts.

Here’s the mouth of the cave, seen from above before we went in and then from below as we climbed the stairs back up.

It was VERY big and VERY dark in there.  Our guide turned off all the lights so we could see what real dark looks like.  Answer:  like nothing.  Wave your hand in front of your face and you will see NOTHING.  Then he lit one match and it was cool to see how our eyes adjusted to see the entire room with just that tiny amount of light.

He also showed us where saltpeter was mined in the cave during the war of 1812.  Due to conditions in the cave, the site doesn’t look as though it was abandoned 200 years ago but remains well-preserved.  Here is a picture from this area of the cave.

This was an easy hike just to get a feel for the cave.  The next day we did a more picturesque and much harder hike.  It was kind of bizarre to enter a cave through a door into a hill.

This cave had more of the formations you’d expect to see if you’ve been in “touristy” caves like Ruby Falls.

Whenever we left a cave we had to go through a process of washing the bottoms of our shoes to prevent the spread of white nose syndrome, which has killed a large portion of the bat population.

There is much more of Mammoth Cave to see, and I would love to go back there someday.

Our vacation was a two-part affair, with some days planned and some left open.  At our motel we found a brochure for a nearby attraction, and we decided to visit Kentucky Down Under on our way to Louisville.

This was a good choice.  The kids are STILL talking about this place.

Kentucky Down Under is a zoo, but an unusual one.  It’s family-owned, for one thing, and if it’s not obvious from the title, there is a focus on animals from Australia.  But there are other animals here as well, including Great Pyrenees dogs who serve as protectors and roam freely throughout the zoo.

This was the first animal we saw, just after we left the gift shop.  William was thrilled, because crocodilians are one of his favorite groups of animals.  After we spent some time with him, we hopped into the golf car we’d rented and began to explore.

We got yelled at by talking birds and surreptitiously petted a coati.  Here they are, along with some other animals we saw.

Next we arrived at the more interactive part of the zoo.  We listened to a talk by one of the keepers, and then those of us who wanted to (William) got to pet a snake.

Much more to my liking, we were able to pet some draft horses in their beautiful pasture.  Kentucky is almost as pretty as Tennessee, y’all.

Then we got to watch some sheep-herding in action!

And finally, the piece de resistance, the part that William is still talking about months later–we got to pet kangaroos! (Also a terrifying emu and some capybaras!)

Seriously, y’all, did you SEE that emu?  Anyway, it was a wonderful experience and I highly recommend this zoo.

Oh, and I almost forgot to include that this zoo has its own cave, Mammoth Onyx Cave, which as far as they know is not linked to the Mammoth Cave system.  It’s not lighted so you get to wear actual head lamps and it was a really pretty cave–with the price of the tour included in zoo admission.

We’d had quite the busy day already as we headed to Louisville, where we were meeting friends and upgrading our lodgings quite a bit by staying in a bed and breakfast called The Inn at Woodhaven.  The four of us stayed in the attic.  Take a look at this place!  These were taken in our attic.

Here are some of the common areas.

And here are some taken outside.

On our first day in Louisville, we went to another zoo!  We have decided in the past year that we will make it a point to go to the zoo every time we are in a city that has one, since that’s something we all enjoy.

Now, it would be hard to compete with the peak experience of petting kangaroos! But we did enjoy the Louisville Zoo.  Here are pictures of some of our adventures.

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Louisville seems like an exciting city with a lot of fun places to check out.  Besides the zoo, we also visited downtown to see the Cathedral of the Assumption and to get a bite to eat.

We didn’t get to spend as much time looking around the Cathedral as we would normally because they were practicing for a wedding and we didn’t want to disturb them.  Here are some pictures of the nifty area of restaurants where we found a place to eat, just around the corner.

I’m telling you about the Kentucky trip a little bit out of order because I want to save the best for last, as it were.  So now I’m going to share about the Lincoln day trip we took.  Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, so we visited the site of his birthplace and of his boyhood home, as well as a little town with monuments and a museum.

Here are some photos from the home site, which includes a museum and a super-fancy monument that I’ll bet you never knew existed!

Three miles down the road lies Hodgenville, Kentucky, with its town center dedicated to Lincoln, and housing a very special museum.

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The museum is in a storefront on the square.  The downstairs has several re-creations of scenes from Lincoln’s life.  The place is a delightful jumble of all kinds of artifacts.

Upstairs there is an entire room of art inspired by Lincoln because the town has been hosting an art contest annually for many years and now there is an amazing array of truly creative pictures.  Here are two of my favorites.

I like this one for its Christian symbolism.

This one is amazing.  I don’t know whether you can tell but it’s actually made up of other images of things that were important in Lincoln’s life!

Finally, we made a stop at Lincoln’s boyhood home a short distance away, which would have been the first home he remembered.  There is no museum there, but here are some pictures of the fields where he worked and played.

We loved the Lincoln portion of our trip and could not believe we had been living so close to this important piece of history for so long without visiting.

Now, finally, I am going to tell you about the other planned event of our trip, the whole reason we came to Louisville at precisely this time of year, the annual Louisville Jack O’Lantern Spectacular.  Y’all, it was indeed spectacular.  I could not stop taking pictures, the best of which I will share below.

There was a jack o’lantern to symbolize each of the 50 states

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as well as ones commemorating people who had died,

showcasing current events and famous people,

and representing films, pop culture, literature, and fictional characters.

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And there were all kinds of more typically carved pumpkins as well.

We wandered slowly on a trail through the woodsy park marveling at all the wonders we were seeing.  It was a lot to take in and a perfect way to spend an autumn evening.

So that was our trip to Kentucky, and this was a LONG post.  We squeezed a lot of fun into fall break last year, but there is still more to see and do in Louisville, and I wouldn’t mind spending another weekend in that attic!

Fall Break in Kentucky Would you believe until last year I had never spent a night in Kentucky?  I've driven through it on the way to points North, unsurprisingly, but somehow went almost 50 years without vacationing in a state I can drive to in an hour.

[life-in-every-limb]

Would you believe until last year I had never spent a night in Kentucky?  I’ve driven through it on the way to points North, unsurprisingly, but somehow went almost 50 years without vacationing in a state I can drive to in an hour.

We remedied that last October during Fall Break, a modern invention that did exist when I was a youngster.  It’s a great time to travel and we had an entire week off from school.

First we went to Mammoth Cave.  That’s the longest known cave system in the WORLD, y’all.  And it’s a National Park, which means it’s inexpensive to visit.  And you could easily spend days there.

We stayed in nearby Cave City, which is mostly known as the city near Mammoth Cave, or at least that’s the way it looked from the exit where our hotel was located–a strip of hotels and fast food and touristy things.  But we are adventurers and we found the REAL town and explored it.

Look at that sweet little main street! We walked up and down looking in windows (everything was closed for the evening, sadly) and seeing what there was to see.

I didn’t get any pictures but one of the charming things–and to William and Lorelei’s delight–several of the shops had cats in residence, hanging out in the window displays.

At one end of town we found a park with a little Civil War history, and also a tiny IGA at which to buy snacks for our room.

Of course we didn’t come for Cave City; we came for the CAVE, and we spent two days exploring, which included walking around the grounds, taking in the museum exhibits, and going on cave tours.

Here’s some of what we saw above ground.

The railroad cars are part of the very interesting history of the cave, its discovery, and early tourism.  Would you believe that part of the cave was used as a tuberculosis hospital for a time in the belief that the air would be good for the lungs?

Look, y’all! A graveyard! I find them everywhere I go!

When you visit Mammoth Cave, you should plan ahead, unlike us, and book guided tours in advance.  Some of them were unavailable to us because we did not do that.  Also be aware that some of the tours are quite strenuous, with lots of climbing.  But don’t worry, even with those caveats we found plenty to see.

We went on two cave tours, the first one being to see the first cave to be rediscovered in more-or-less modern times.  Native Americans were using it over 5,000 years ago, and we were able to see some extremely well-preserved artifacts.

Here’s the mouth of the cave, seen from above before we went in and then from below as we climbed the stairs back up.

It was VERY big and VERY dark in there.  Our guide turned off all the lights so we could see what real dark looks like.  Answer:  like nothing.  Wave your hand in front of your face and you will see NOTHING.  Then he lit one match and it was cool to see how our eyes adjusted to see the entire room with just that tiny amount of light.

He also showed us where saltpeter was mined in the cave during the war of 1812.  Due to conditions in the cave, the site doesn’t look as though it was abandoned 200 years ago but remains well-preserved.  Here is a picture from this area of the cave.

This was an easy hike just to get a feel for the cave.  The next day we did a more picturesque and much harder hike.  It was kind of bizarre to enter a cave through a door into a hill.

This cave had more of the formations you’d expect to see if you’ve been in “touristy” caves like Ruby Falls.

Whenever we left a cave we had to go through a process of washing the bottoms of our shoes to prevent the spread of white nose syndrome, which has killed a large portion of the bat population.

There is much more of Mammoth Cave to see, and I would love to go back there someday.

Our vacation was a two-part affair, with some days planned and some left open.  At our motel we found a brochure for a nearby attraction, and we decided to visit Kentucky Down Under on our way to Louisville.

This was a good choice.  The kids are STILL talking about this place.

Kentucky Down Under is a zoo, but an unusual one.  It’s family-owned, for one thing, and if it’s not obvious from the title, there is a focus on animals from Australia.  But there are other animals here as well, including Great Pyrenees dogs who serve as protectors and roam freely throughout the zoo.

This was the first animal we saw, just after we left the gift shop.  William was thrilled, because crocodilians are one of his favorite groups of animals.  After we spent some time with him, we hopped into the golf car we’d rented and began to explore.

We got yelled at by talking birds and surreptitiously petted a coati.  Here they are, along with some other animals we saw.

Next we arrived at the more interactive part of the zoo.  We listened to a talk by one of the keepers, and then those of us who wanted to (William) got to pet a snake.

Much more to my liking, we were able to pet some draft horses in their beautiful pasture.  Kentucky is almost as pretty as Tennessee, y’all.

Then we got to watch some sheep-herding in action!

And finally, the piece de resistance, the part that William is still talking about months later–we got to pet kangaroos! (Also a terrifying emu and some capybaras!)

Seriously, y’all, did you SEE that emu?  Anyway, it was a wonderful experience and I highly recommend this zoo.

Oh, and I almost forgot to include that this zoo has its own cave, Mammoth Onyx Cave, which as far as they know is not linked to the Mammoth Cave system.  It’s not lighted so you get to wear actual head lamps and it was a really pretty cave–with the price of the tour included in zoo admission.

We’d had quite the busy day already as we headed to Louisville, where we were meeting friends and upgrading our lodgings quite a bit by staying in a bed and breakfast called The Inn at Woodhaven.  The four of us stayed in the attic.  Take a look at this place!  These were taken in our attic.

Here are some of the common areas.

And here are some taken outside.

On our first day in Louisville, we went to another zoo!  We have decided in the past year that we will make it a point to go to the zoo every time we are in a city that has one, since that’s something we all enjoy.

Now, it would be hard to compete with the peak experience of petting kangaroos! But we did enjoy the Louisville Zoo.  Here are pictures of some of our adventures.

Louisville seems like an exciting city with a lot of fun places to check out.  Besides the zoo, we also visited downtown to see the Cathedral of the Assumption and to get a bite to eat.

We didn’t get to spend as much time looking around the Cathedral as we would normally because they were practicing for a wedding and we didn’t want to disturb them.  Here are some pictures of the nifty area of restaurants where we found a place to eat, just around the corner.

I’m telling you about the Kentucky trip a little bit out of order because I want to save the best for last, as it were.  So now I’m going to share about the Lincoln day trip we took.  Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, so we visited the site of his birthplace and of his boyhood home, as well as a little town with monuments and a museum.

Here are some photos from the home site, which includes a museum and a super-fancy monument that I’ll bet you never knew existed!

Three miles down the road lies Hodgenville, Kentucky, with its town center dedicated to Lincoln, and housing a very special museum.

The museum is in a storefront on the square.  The downstairs has several re-creations of scenes from Lincoln’s life.  The place is a delightful jumble of all kinds of artifacts.

Upstairs there is an entire room of art inspired by Lincoln because the town has been hosting an art contest annually for many years and now there is an amazing array of truly creative pictures.  Here are two of my favorites.

I like this one for its Christian symbolism.

This one is amazing.  I don’t know whether you can tell but it’s actually made up of other images of things that were important in Lincoln’s life!

Finally, we made a stop at Lincoln’s boyhood home a short distance away, which would have been the first home he remembered.  There is no museum there, but here are some pictures of the fields where he worked and played.

We loved the Lincoln portion of our trip and could not believe we had been living so close to this important piece of history for so long without visiting.

Now, finally, I am going to tell you about the other planned event of our trip, the whole reason we came to Louisville at precisely this time of year, the annual Louisville Jack O’Lantern Spectacular.  Y’all, it was indeed spectacular.  I could not stop taking pictures, the best of which I will share below.

There was a jack o’lantern to symbolize each of the 50 states

as well as ones commemorating people who had died,

showcasing current events and famous people,

and representing films, pop culture, literature, and fictional characters.

And there were all kinds of more typically carved pumpkins as well.

We wandered slowly on a trail through the woodsy park marveling at all the wonders we were seeing.  It was a lot to take in and a perfect way to spend an autumn evening.

So that was our trip to Kentucky, and this was a LONG post.  We squeezed a lot of fun into fall break last year, but there is still more to see and do in Louisville, and I wouldn’t mind spending another weekend in that attic!

Filed under: family, Vacations Tagged: Abraham Lincoln, autumn, cathedral, Fall, Halloween, history, Hodgenville, Inn at Woodhaven, jack o'lantern, Jack O'Lantern Spectacular, kentucky, Louisville, Mammoth Cave, museum, October, pumpkin, travel, vacation