#also hes based off a bird called a merlin

[skimmeh]

Hello yes, take this third life Grian doodle

His wings are clipped to make it a fair fight

[octaviasdread]

any girls! dark academia movie recs? i really struggle to find anything not about a group of boys (as much as I love them)

SO MANY!!! This is probably a far more detailed answer than you were expecting but this is a popular question and I want to keep a list for myself and others.

Feel free to add to it/give opinions. I've tried to give a tw for anything I can remember

Girls! Dark Academia Movies/TV Shows

Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

1950s Women’s college

Art professor! Julia Roberts

She’s legit the female Mr Keating of the art & college world

Feminism vs. Tradition

Maggie Gyllenhall x Ginnifer Goodwin; their characters were more than friends. Fight me.

Does not end how you expect

Strike!/All I Wanna Do/The Hairy Bird (1998)

MY FAVOURITE!!!

Free on YouTube under one of its various names

Comedy

1960s all girls boarding school

Young Kirsten Dunst

Group of girls plot to sabotage a merger with a boys school less prestigious than their own

Secret attic clubhouse meetings of the D.A.R aka Daughters of the American Ravioli (eaten cold, ew)

girls get political & advocate for their rights using ANY elaborate and chaotic scheme

TW: eating disorder, vomiting & creepy male teacher but the girls plot against him too

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

based on a short book I read for uni by Muriel Spark

1930s girls school in Edinburgh

Scottish teacher! Maggie Smith, controversial with a focus on romantic ideals

Spoiler alert, the liberal teacher is actually a fascist

Her group of fave students has cult- vibes and it’s fascinating

Picnic at Hanging Rock

1970s movie or 2018 mini series

Never watched either but I plan to

Wild Child (2008)

00s romcom every UK teen girl loves

Emma Roberts as the spoiled rich American teenager sent to a strict English boarding school

Plots to get herself expelled but oh no she’s making friends with the girls who help her

And the headmistress has a hot son, and he’s nice??? Double oh no

ICONIC SCENES

Everything! Goes! Wrong!

omg she burns the school down

Feel good, comfort, nostalgia

St Trinians (2007)

English girls boarding school

The kids are all criminals, no joke

So are the teachers

CHAOTIC

gay awakening for british girls

Art heist pulled off by school girls

Government tries to shut them down but oh no, the education minister & the headmistress are ex-lovers

Colin Firth x Rupert Everett in drag

Superior cast: Jodie Whittaker, Gemma Arterton, Juno Temple, Stephen Fry, Colin Firth, etc...

embodies the phrase 'problematic fave'

St Trinians 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold (2009)

Mystery, pirate ancestors, hidden treasure

omg Shakespeare was a woman

girls disguised as boys to infiltrate and rob the posh boys school

Villain! David Tennant in that ICONIC boat scene

Teen girls vs. ancient misogynist brotherhood

like the first film but MORE chaotic and BETTER!???

The Falling (2014)

1960s all girls school

best friends! but its unrequited love

Agoraphobic + distant mother aka mommy issues

Sudden death and the school suppresses/ignores the students grief, sparking mass hysteria & a fainting epidemic in the girls

Cast: Maisie Williams (GoT) & Florence Pugh (Little Women) & Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders)

TW: teen pregnancy, death, vomiting, underage s*x, sibling inc*st, past s*xual assault

READ THE PLOT SUMMARY FIRST

The Book Thief (2013)

Based on an amazing book by Markus Zusak

set in 1940s Nazi Germany

Daughter of a communist whose family were taken by the Nazis/died is fostered by an older couple who teach her to read & she paints a dictionary on the basement walls

Coming of age story about a compulsive book thief. No joke, this kid steals books from banned book burnings and breaks into the mayor's library through the window

Family hides the Jewish son of an old friend in their basement and he helps her to start writing about her experiences in the war

TW: death, bombings, WW2 anti-semitism

Mary Shelley (2017)

Overall good & roughly biographical

Pretty costumes and aesthetic

Modern feminist take on Mary Shelly in her own time period

So many INACCURACIES for the drama so don’t take it as truth

Percy Shelley slander and not all of it is justified

Cast: Elle Fanning, Douglas Booth, and Maisie Williams

The Secret Garden (1993)

Based on a fave childhood book

1901 colonial India & Yorkshire, England

Orphaned, spoilt & neglected girl sent to live with her reclusive Uncle in the English countryside

Gothic elements, mysteries, secret doors/passages/locked gardens

local boy with a flock of animals, magic, kids chanting around a fire and all around immaculate vibes

Happy ending!!!

Hidden Figures (2016)

African-American women as mathematicians for NASA

1960s space project

Women balancing a career and family obligations

Deals with racial & gender discrimination

Loosely based on the lives of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan who worked for NASA as engineers & mathematicians

Anne of Green Gables (1985) & sequel (1987)

Adaptation L.M. Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ books

Canada (late 1890s/early 1900s)

Highly imaginative & bookworm orphan is adopted by a reclusive elderly brother and sister duo

Small town & school years comedic drama

Unrequited Enemies -> Friends -> lovers

Inspiring new woman teacher

Girls re-enact Tennyson’s poem and nearly drown for the aesthetic™

Dramatic poetry reading with INTENSE 👀eye contact👀

Writer! Anne & English teacher! Anne dealing with unruly girls school antics

Collette (2018)

biographical drama on french writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette

Victorian & Edwardian era France

More talented than her husband so she ghostwrites for him

Fight for creative ownership of her wildly successful novels

Affairs with a woman called Georgie and also with Missy, born female but masculine presenting

Cast: Keira Knightly, Dominic West, Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark)

Enola Holmes (2020)

Netflix book adaptation

Younger sister of Sherlock Holmes

Victorian era! feminism/suffragettes

Mother-daughter focus

Mystery, adventure, secret codes, teens running away & escaping from (and eventually fighting) assassins

Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Fiona Shaw, Millie Bobby Brown

Ginger & Rosa (2012)

1960s England

best friends since literal birth navigating troubled teen years

poet & anti-nuclear activist! Ginger

off the rails but also catholic! Rosa

Shout out to Mark & Mark the gay godfathers we all want

family troubles 

TW: older man has an affair with a 17 yr old

Testament of Youth (2014)

based on WW1 memoir by Vera Brittain

young woman (writer & poetry lover) escapes traditional family & goes to study at Oxford University

abandons to become a war nurse

romance, tragedy and war trauma

Cast: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harrington (GoT), Taron Edgerton (Rocketman), Colin Morgan (Merlin)

Little Women (2019)

Writer! Jo & Artist! Amy

Mother/daughter focus and sister dynamics

the March sisters’ theatre club is *chefs kiss*

champagne problems edits of Jo x Laurie are a mood

Ambivalent ending perfectly captures Louisa May Alcott’s dilemma with the book the movie is based on

set in 1860s America

ALL STAR CAST and a Greta Gerwig masterpeice

Lady Bird (2017)

coming of age in early 2002/2003 Sacramento, California

all girls catholic school

writer! Christine aka Lady Bird wants to get outta town and start her life again at college 'in a city with culture'

Mother/daughter dynamics - so realistic!

I live for that Jesus car stunt & the nun's reaction

school theatre program

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein

Another Greta Gerwig gem

Beguiled (2017)

Virginia, civil war era

Girls school with only five students and two teachers left

Find an injured Union army soldier & bring him inside

Women & teenagers want his attention (v. problematic) before uniting against him

(tbh you'll either love it, hate it, or watch once & forget it)

Sofia Coppola film so its very feminine gaze

TW: violence, death, underage

Legally Blonde (2001)

No questions will be taken

Elle Woods was the blue print

TV series:

House of Anubis (2011-2013)

I know it’s a kids/young teen show but I still unironically love it

ANCIENT EGYPT!!!!

Modern day with Victorian era links to treasure hunters & Egyptian research expeditions (stealing from tombs)

Chosen one plot lines, curses, kidnapping, mysteries, secret tunnels under the school, elixir of life

Teens have investigate & protect themselves cus oh no the TEACHERS are involved in some shady stuff

new American kid at British boarding school is the actual premise not just a fanfic au

Nostalgic, light-hearted, funny, and kinda cheesy but I will accept no criticism

The Alienist (2018 -now)

Mid 1890s, New York

Woman’s private detective agency (Season 2)

Serial killer mystery

Woman secretary turns detective and teams up with a criminal psychiatrist and a newspaper editor to solve crime

TW: violence, child pr*stit*tion

Cast: Dakota Fanning, Luke Evans, Daniel Bruhl

The Queen’s Gambit (2020)

Woman chess prodigy

1950s & 1960s

TW: drug & alcohol abuse

Gentleman Jack (2019 - now)

Based on the diaries of Anne Lister

Victorian Yorkshire, England

Upper-class lesbians

Confident, suit wearing! Anne Lister x shy! Ann Walker

Business woman! Anne running the family mines

Cast: Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster) & Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders)

TW: violence

Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)

bubbly/ambitious single mom + intelligent daughter

bookworm! Rory Gilmore gets into a prestigious private school and then an Ivy League college

Small town drama is comedic gold

Fast dialogue packed with pop culture and literary references

Comforting & nostalgic

TEAM JESS

Anne with an E (2017-2019)

Loose adaptation of L.M. Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ books

they completely change the plot lines but it’s still very good content!

Orphan girl with trauma and a love of books/poetry is adopted by an elderly brother & sister duo, bringing light and fresh ideas to a rural community

Feminism, girls writing club, lgbtq safe spaces, girls eduction, black/indigenous representation

Miss Stacy as THAT inspiring teacher

Aunt Josephine’s lavish gay parties have my heart

TW: creepy male teacher tries to marry a student, racial discrimination, indigenous assimilation school

Victoria (2016-2019)

Adaption of Queen Victoria’s life

Victoria navigating her political, royal, and personal life

Albert’s involvement with The Great Exhibition, 1851 (on cultural + industrial innovations)

Alfred Paget x Edward Drummond is exquisite

Gorgeous costumes and aesthetics

TW: bury your gays trope

Derry Girls (2018-now)

1990s Northern Ireland during the troubles

Comedy, episodes 20-25 mins long

English boy sent to an all girls Catholic school with his cousin

✨Dead Poets Society parody episode ✨with a free-spirited female teacher

Sister Michael, the sarcastic nun who hates her job & reads the exorcist for giggles

Wee anxious lesbian! Clare Devlin (plus her friends wearing rainbow pins)

Badass with bad ideas! Michelle Mallon

Main Character! Erin Quinn

Lovable weirdo who would fight a polar bear! Orla McCool

Wee English fella & honorary Derry girl! James Maguire

Dickinson (2019-now)

Loose adaption of the poet Emily Dickinson’s life

Set in 19th century Massachusetts, US

Historical drama with modern dialogue & music that works SEAMLESSLY

gives a great understanding of Emily Dickinson’s poems

💕Vintage gays! Emily x Sue💕

Theatre club, writing, poetry, dressing as men to sneak into lectures, love letters, teen drama, feminism, and an underground abolitionist journal as a brief side plot in season 2

Wiz Khalifa plays death in a horse drawn carriage

TW: opium use

A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017-2019)

Based on great childhood books

Bookworm! brother, Inventor! sister, and baby sister with sharp teeth

Mystery, secret organisations, orphaned siblings figuring things out & fending for themselves against the villain after their fortune

Adults either cartoon evil, comedically incompetent, or SPIES

Boarding school, library owner, scientific researcher, and theatre episodes

Ambiguous time period which is really fun to try and pin point

Killing Eve (2018-now)

Classic detective who has homoerotic tension with the assassin she is tracking down

British Detective! Eve Polastri figures out the notorious assassin MI5 are investigating is a woman, is fired & then put on a secret MI6 case with a small team

Assassin! Villanelle, a psychopath with a tragic past and a mastery of both accents & fashion

Woman MI6 boss! Carolyn Martens, head of Russian section

Travel Europe following Villanelle’s killings and escaping the assassins sent by Villanelle’s organisation

‘You’re supposed to be my enemy and moral opposite but omg you’re the only one smart enough to get me and why am I obsessed with you????'

🚨 GO IN FOR A KISS AND THEN STAB YOUR ENEMY 🚨

Cable Girls/Las chicas del cable (2017-2020)

Spanish drama set in 1920s Madrid

Four young women at a telecommunications company form a group of friends and help navigate the difficult situations they are all in

Secret identities, dangerous pasts, murder, crime, lgbtq couple & throuple, trans man character, feminism/suffragists

girls commit crimes for humanitarian reasons and cover! it! up!

UNDERRATED SHOW!!!!

Gorgeous costumes and set

Haven’t finished it yet and I’m catching up

TW: abuse, violence, death

Outlander (2014 - now)

haven’t watched yet but plan to

Woman time travels to Scotland, 1743

Rebel highlanders, pirates, British colonies, American revolutionary war

Time jumps between 18th & 20th century

[escape-from-arcadia]

Tales of Arcadia Disney Fairies!AU

Book 25: Disney Fairies: Trill Changes Her Tune by Gail Herman

👀👀👀 ooohhhhh 25! @honeyxmonkey

This is an old one from when I was a kid. I remember always wanting to read every single one of these. I have another on my shelf, but I don't know where the others went. Anyway, AU time.

Douxie is tall and shy and awkward. Only music makes him feel at ease.

He's a music-talent fairy.

Most other music-talent fairies use traditional instruments, seeing that as the only way to make music.

Douxie hears music everywhere in the world around him and wants to use anything and everything to make music.

The instrument he usually uses is a lyre made of sticks and vines.

Ngl I had to reread this book to make an AU, but here’s the idea:

Merlin takes the place of Cliff, the sparrow man who is essentially conductor of the music talents. He’s much more stiff and “traditional,” but also much more confident than Douxie.

There's an upcoming concert but something goes wrong.

There's a divide in the group and Douxie basically leads half of the music talents to create their own instruments to produce "better music", while Merlin leads the others.

The concert comes around and though it starts off like a music battle, both sides come together and learn to appreciate both music styles.

Douxie learns to have more confidence in himself and his ideas, though he also has to try and not to be too reckless. Merlin learns to appreciate other forms of music and respect Douxie a bit more.

Now these next bits aren't necessarily pertaining to the book, but I think they'd be neat to include in this AU

I'll be following the book series canon so we'll have Mother Dove, or as we're called her in the AU the Animata Rupes, or "the animated stone." Animata was once an ordinary bird, but after a great fire swept through Neverland, her feathers turned into crystals and she was given magic and wisdom.

To the fairies, Animata feels like home. She is all that is good, and she loves all of the fairies.

The fairies use her crystalline feathers (which grow back rather quickly) to create pixie dust.

Jim is a kitchen talent. He works in the tearoom kitchens with Dulce, preparing great food for all of Pixie Hollow.

Toby is a tale-telling-talent. He comes up with a lot of productions to put on the theatre and is a real showman.

Claire is a light talent. She loves what she does, but funnily enough, loves making shadows by shaping light. It's like how an artist uses negative and positive space.

She and Toby team up a lot to tell stories. Jim cooks the food for the parties and shows the three of them put on.

Aja and Krel were born from the same baby's laugh. Aja is a fast-flying talent and Krel is a tinker talent.

Krel often has to build safety equipment for Aja because she's always getting into trouble

Aja tends to run out of dust quickly and walks around most places similar to Zarina (yes she's a movie fairy, hush). Even though she gets more dust as a fast-flying fairy, she just zooms everywhere.

If you send me an ask with a number between 1-36, I'll respond with a TOA AU based on the corresponding book on my shelf.

[nyxshadowhawk]

Names for Witches

An updated version of an earlier list! Good and evil witches alike:

Acrasia: A witch in The Faerie Queene who tempts and bewitches people, controlling their minds. Means "lacking command."

Agatha: Means "good." A disproportionately common name for witches in media, including the Enchantress from Beauty and the Beast, Aggie Prenderghast from ParaNorman, and Aggie Cromwell from Halloweentown.

Aglaonice: A Thessalian witch from the writings of Plutarch, who could draw the moon down from the sky (probably referring to an eclipse). She might just have been an astronomer!

Akantha: A Greek name meaning "thorn."

Akitophis: The name of an unkown goddess mentioned in the PGM. Possibly a name or epithet of Ereshkigal.

Alcina: An evil sorceress and seductress from Orlando furioso, and the title character of a series of operas. Meaning uncertain.

Alcmene: The mother of Heracles. Means “moon strength.”

Aradia: The title character of Charles Geoffrey Leland's book Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. A moon goddess and basically the witch version of Jesus, at least in that book.

Arcana: Latin word meaning “secret” (literally “to shut in a chest”), also a word for the two groups of cards in a tarot deck.

Argante: The Queen of Avalon in one Arthurian text, a version of Morgan le Fay. Might be related to argenta (“silver”).

Arianrhod: A Welsh goddess, associated with the moon, stars, fertility, and the passage of time. Means “silver wheel.”

Armida: The name of the witch/seductress in Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered, meaning uncertain.

Asteria: A Titaness and the mother of Hecate, the goddess of falling stars, prophecy, astrology, and oneiromancy. Means “starry.”

Asterope: The mother of Circe in one telling. Means either “lightning” or “star-faced.” (Also the name of one of the Pleiades.)

Autumn: The season containing Halloween/Samhain.

Belladonna: Deadly nightshade, a poisonous herb. Means "beautiful woman."

Briar: Refers to thorny bushes. Could be associated with evil enchantments, beautiful roses, or both.

Brigid: Celtic fire goddess. Means either "strength, virtue" or "exalted one."

Cassandra: A Greek prophetess whom Apollo cursed so no one would believe her. Means "she who entangles men." Could be shortened to "Cassie."

Cerridwen: Welsh enchantress goddess associated with the sacred cauldron of divine inspiration. Means "white poet."

Circe: A sorceress in Greek mythology who turned men into animals and who was a priestess of Hecate. Means "hoop-round."

Despoina: A daughter of Demeter and Poseidon associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries. Means “the mistress.” Also an epithet of Hecate and Persephone.

Diana: Roman name of the goddess Artemis, the virgin goddess of the moon and the hunt. Associated with Dianic Wicca, a modern cult centered around this goddess.

Edana: Celtic, means “little fire.”

Elergia/Annowre: An evil sorceress in Arthurian legend who tries to seduce Arthur.

Endora: The Witch of Endor was a sorceress in the Bible.

Empusa: Female monsters that served Hecate. Means “one-legged.”

Erichtho: A horrifying, evil hag from Lucan’s Pharsalia. Meaning uncertain.

Esmeralda: The name of Granny Weatherwax (from Discworld), means "emerald."

Freya: Norse goddess of love, beauty, sex, and war, means "lady."

Ganeida: An Arthurian sorceress, a sister of Merlin.

Grimhilde: The name given to the Evil Queen in Disney's Snow White. Good for fairy-tale-esque witches, could also work for a kinda Gothy heroic character. Means “masked battle.”

Gwendolyn: A Welsh name meaning "white bow" or "white ring."

Habundia/Habonde: "Abundance," a name for the queen of witches or fairies, associated with Diana, Mab, Nicnevin, and Hecate.

Hazel: Witch-hazel is a shrub with yellow flowers, associated with witches because of its name and its medicinal properties. Actual hazel is an all-purpose wood for magic wands.

Hecate: The goddess of witchcraft, necromancy, the night, and the crossroads in Greek mythology. Means "worker from afar.”

Hecuba: The Queen of Troy, mother of Cassandra. Uncertain etymology, possibly related to "Hecate." She turned into a dog and became one of Hecate’s familiars.

Hellawes: An evil sorceress in Arthurian legend, who seeks to kill Lancelot so she can embalm his corpse and kiss it every day to spite Guinevere. Creepy.

Hellebore: A poisonous herb.

Ianira: A name of several nymphs in Greek mythology, possibly meaning "enchantress."

Ingrid: A Norse name combining the name of a fertility god and the word for "beautiful."

Ivy: A plant thought to drive out evil spirits.

Lamia: A vampire-like monster from Greek mythology that eats children. Name of the witch in the film version of Stardust.

Lilith: The Queen of Demons in Hebrew folklore, means "of the night,” referring to a screech owl.

Lilura: Basque name meaning "enchantment."

Louhi: An evil witch queen in Finnish mythology. Means "trance."

Luna: Roman goddess of the moon.

Maeve: Based on Irish Gaelic, means "intoxicating." Possibly related to Queen Mab.

Medea: Means "cunning," a sorceress in Greek mythology who helped Jason steal the Golden Fleece. Took violent revenge when he left her for another woman.

Melissa: An apprentice of Merlin, who rescues the victims of Alcina. Means “honeybee.”

Morana/Marzanna: The Slavic goddess of death and winter, means "death."

Morgana: Name of the famous sorceress Morgan le Fay from Arthurian legend. Means “sea circle.”

Morrigan: Irish goddess of death, war, and ravens, means “great queen” or “phantom queen.”

Morwenna: A Welsh name meaning “maiden,” the name of the witch in the book version of Stardust.

Nepenthe: A magical drug from the Odyssey that cures sorrow and causes forgetfulness.

Nicnevan: Queen of the Fairies in Scottish folklore, and the witch queen of Samhain. Means "daughter of the divine." Identified with Hecate.

Nimue: A name for the Lady of the Lake, and/or the sorceress who encased Merlin in a tree with his own magic. Might be related to a Greek word meaning "memory."

Nyx: The Greek primordial goddess of and personification of the night.

Orenda: Iriquois name meaning "magical power."

Persephone: Greek goddess of flowers and Queen of the Underworld. Means either "wheat-thresher" or alternatively "destroyer."

Ragana: Lithuanian Crone goddess of witchcraft.

Raven: The bird, associated with death, magic, and prophecy in multiple mythologies.

Sage: Unisex, a cleansing herb used in many magic spells. From Latin, “healing plant.”

Selene: The Greek goddess and personification of the moon.

Sibyl: Greek, “prophetess,” a word for an oracle.

Strega/Striga: "Strega" is the Italian word for witch (and a word for Italian neopaganism). "Striga" is the Latin word for witch and means "screech owl" (owls are in the order "strigiforms") and a genus of flower called "witchweed."

Sycorax: The name of the witch in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, who is probably based on Medea. Uncertain etymology.

Taika: Finnish, "magic spell."

Vervain: An herb with magical and medicinal properties.

Venefica: A Latin word that simply means “woman who poisons,” referring to a woman who works magic by means of potion-making.

Vivian: A name for the Lady of the Lake, means "lively."

Willow: A tree associated with witches and spirits

And, because I don’t want to neglect the men, here’s a few for male witches (I haven’t been able to find nearly as many!):

Abdecian: Means “to get by asking,” as in a magic spell. (Disclaimer: I have no idea where I got this name. I had it written in my notes, and I remember finding it somewhere, but when I searched it I got mainly my own content on various websites. So… idk.)

Abraxas: A magic word found throughout Greek magic spells as a name of power. The name of the “Great Archon” in Gnosticism, also the name of one of the horses of the Sun. Etymology uncertain. Also spelled Abrasax.

Alaric: Germanic, “all-powerful.”

Alistair: Scottish variant on Alexander, meaning “defender of mankind.” Similar to the chosen name of a certain famous occultist.

Altair: The brightest star in Aquila. Means “eagle.”

Amergin: A druid in Irish mythology, “born of song.”

Aspen: A white tree, associated with fairies. Its leaves turn golden in the fall, and they appear to “shimmer” in the breeze.

Arawn: The Welsh lord of the Otherworld and the dead, and leader of the Wild Hunt. Etymology uncertain; might be a variant of the Hebrew Aaron, “exaulted.”

Aurelius: Latin, “golden.”

Belenus: Pan-Celtic god of light and healing identified with Apollo, who gave his name to Beltane. Means “shining one.”

Briar: Refers to thorny bushes. Same fairy-tale associations.

Eliphas: Hebrew, “God is agile.” The pen name of the famous occultist Alphonse Constant.

Gwydion: Means “born of trees,” a magician and trickster god in Welsh mythology.

Hemlock: A poisonous herb used in spells.

Hunter: Self-explanatory. Modern witchcraft tends to involve the worship of forest gods associated with hunting.

Mabon: Welsh, “divine son,” a figure in Arthurian legend. His name was given to the autumn equinox in modern paganism.

Maddock: Welsh, “fortunate.”

Melchior: One of the Biblical magi, “king of light.”

Merle: A unisex name, from Latin, meaning “blackbird.”

Raven: The bird, associated with death, magic, and prophecy in multiple mythologies.

Rowan: Irish, “little red one,” the name of a tree with the ability to ward off evil.

Simon: Greek, from Hebrew, “hearkening.” The name of an ancient sorcerer, Simon Magus, who founded Gnosticism in early Christianity.

Soma: A name with various mystical meanings in different languages. In Greek, it means “body.” In Sanskrit it means “distill, extract” and refers to the drink of the gods, as well as being another name for the Hindu moon god, Chandra. In Finnish, it means “pretty.”

Tanwyn: Welsh, “white fire.”

Taliesin: A legendary bard in Welsh folklore, the son of Cerridwen. Means “shining brow.”

Valerian: A medicinal herb, used to induce sleep. “Health, vitality.”

[c-rose2081]

Love is Like Dragons

Bevie + Mal/Audrey BROTP

-

Evie got the ribbed purple egg for her 14th birthday. Mal (as Evie named her) was a leathery skinned, purple dragonet with a mean face and bright green eyes. She hatched upside down in Evie’s hands, and since that day they were an inseparable pair. Mal the Dragon was hot tempered and just as equally stubborn. She breathed fire, bit fingers, wrestled and roared rather ferociously. Mal wasn’t easy to hug or cuddle like a dog, as she had long lines of spikes from the top of her head, all the way down to the end of her tail. And she could never be found walking like any common pet on a leash and harness.

Evie had never needed a leash anyway, as Mal rarely left her side. Occasionally she’d loop about in the air, but never out of Evie’s sight and never for long. Mal’s favorite place to sit was on her shoulder, head in the crook of her neck as to have the best view of everything. So having Mal run off into the park on her own was more then a little unusual. And Evie was worried. What if Mal had been taken? What if she was hurt, or had drowned? Mal was an Isle Dragon, and they were notoriously bad swimmers. Evie looked it up.

“Mal!” Evie called, walking through the park. It was a fairly quiet afternoon; the sun shining brightly down through the green canopy above. Evie had chosen to take a break from her desk, and give Mal a chance to stretch her wings a bit before heading back to finish her designs. In all honesty, Evie was stumped. She needed to make a new collection stat, but nothing was coming to her, “Mal! Girl, where’d you go!”

Becoming more and more anxious by the minute, Evie sighed in relief as she heard a familiar barking roar off in the distance. Mal was still a tiny dragon, as far as dragons were concerned, and so sometimes her roaring was...less then threatening. Pushing through some underbrush, Evie finally spotted Mal’s familiar purple hide. She was pacing at the base of a tree, wings outstretched, head held up and staring intently at something.

“Mal! Thank Merlin,” Evie breathed, “why did you just run off like that!”

Mal cast Evie an unconcerned glance backwards, snorting before turning back to the tree, “Mal, we need to be getting back,” Evie whined, walking up behind her friend. The menace was still uninterested in leaving, placing her front hands up on the trunk and barking again, “something interesting up there?”

Trailing her eyes up the rough bark, Evie expected a bird, or perhaps a squirrel to be the object of Mal’s infatuation. She wasn’t expecting to see another dragon perched on the highest branch.

“Oh wow,”

The dragonet above her was a deep shade of magenta pink; sparkling pale white and gold as she passed through sunbeams. Though she was quite high in the tree, Evie could see a ridge of fur rather then spikes trailing down from the crest of her head. The creature was using all four of her legs, plus her long thin tail, to grip her perch, glaring down a Mal in a very huffy way. Evie found it a bit funny how indignant she appeared; unamused and peevish as Mal ran about the ground, flapping her wings and barking loudly.

Having never seen another dragon before today, Evie immediately grappled for her sketchbook and colored pencils. Flopping down to the grass, she set to work in silence as to not scare the other dragon away. Glancing up at her model - who was still clearly more annoyed by Mal then frightened - she drew out patterns and shapes. Evie made patches of soft silky fur, and studies of scales that would shift colors this way and that. She even did a portrait, enjoying the haughty, almost royal expression adorning her models slender face.

Laughing at how totally opposite Mal and the pink dragon appeared to be, Evie glanced up as there was a rather spine chilling hiss. Mal had finally taken flight, and was soaring around the tree’s canopy. Their new friend seemed very irritated at this, and dropped her facade of grace to reveal an impressive, angry maw of sparkling white teeth.

“Mal, I don’t think she likes you. Stop annoying her or she might...”

There was a swish as the pink dragon swiped at Mal with her long silver claws, “do that.”

Evie was amazed by her quickness; and had Mal not been wise enough to dodge, she would’ve gotten scratched, “oh boy.”

Not sure what to do - she didn’t want Mal getting hurt, even if it would be her own fault - Evie glanced up as there was a rustle of bushes and someone new stumbled into the clearing. He was...cute. Really cute. Dressed in a rather nice blouse and navy jeans, he tousled his brown hair and looked upwards into the tree. His eyes, as Evie’s had not long before, filled with relief.

“Audrey!”

The pink dragon, who had been glaring at Mal as she swooped in and out of sight, perked up. Now standing the full length of the branch, Evie could tell Audrey was actually a good deal larger then Mal, though less muscly overall. And there was a lovely gilded collar around her neck, meaning this newcomer was no doubt her owner. The boy, not realizing he had company in the form of Evie, made a sharp whistle between his teeth and held up an arm, “Audrey, come!”

And at once she took flight, showing off beautiful magenta wings. Evie was a bit envious at the dragonets obedience, as she couldn’t get Mal to do anything on command. Speaking of Mal, she no doubt realized her terrorizing fun was over and returned to Evie’s side as though nothing had happened.

At seeing the other dragon swoop down, the boy watched her fly from a distance in wonder. Finally he and Evie made eye contact from across the grass.

“Oh!” He exclaimed, giving Audrey what appeared to be a treat from inside his sleeve as to keep her from nibbling on his ear, “sorry, I didn’t even...see you there.

“It’s ok,” Evie insisted, batting Mal’s needy head away as she purred and asked for attention. At the worst possible time, as usual.

“I haven’t met anyone else with a dragon before,” The boy said, motioning to Mal with a hand, “I hope she isn’t hurt or anything?”

“Oh, no, she’s fine. If she got scratched it would’ve been her own fault. This is Mal,” Evie introduced, nodding to the purple menace now sitting somewhat victoriously on her back.

“She’s really cool,” the boy complemented, stroking Audrey’s long underbelly as she preened and shook herself out, “this is Audrey. And I’m Ben,”

“Evie,”

“So...what kind of Dragon is Mal?” Ben asked, shifting slightly as Audrey moved from his arm to his shoulders, curling her tail around his upper forearm and laying her head on his opposite side, “I haven’t seen many other dragons in Auradon,”

“Mal is an Isle Dragon,” Evie explained, gathering up her things from the ground and tucking them back into her bag, “they are known for being troublesome and menacing,” Evie drawled, sending a pointed look at Mal as the creature huffed and made a rolling noise in her throat in an almost, ‘I’m not listening’ sort of way, “she’s a pain in the ass. But also my best friend. What about Audrey? She’s very beautiful,”

“Yeah,” Ben laughed, “Audrey is an Aurorian Dragon; appearance is super important to them. She’s loyal, and quite intelligent to. But doesn’t really...play well, with others. Isn’t that right?”

Ben gave his shoulder a little jostle as Audrey made a huffy trilling noise in her throat. It sounded a bit like birdsong, and Evie made a mental note to look up Aurorian Dragons when she got back home, “she’s never interacted with another dragon before. So I wouldn’t be surprised if she lashed out,”

“No, no its...hem, it’s really fine. Mal hasn’t either, so she was being a right terror,” Evie agreed, “I don’t think they like each other very much.”

“Well, that’s a shame,” Ben chuckled, “I think I would’ve liked to get to know you and Mal better. Maybe over a coffee?”

“Well...” glancing at Mal, who gave a stern head shake in opposition, Evie ignored her, “I have some time. I was actually doing some sketching of Audrey earlier, for my work if...if I could maybe get a closer look?”

“Y-yeah, of course,” Ben turned to Audrey, who was looking between the two humans. Her face, unlike Mal’s, was curious and less unhappy. Though upon making eye contact with the other dragon, changed back to being peeved, “she’s just being dramatic,” Ben insisted, “if you call her pretty enough, maybe she’ll let you hold her,”

Mal, at the sound of this, made a very angry noise. Evie just swatted at her nose with a hand, silencing her protests. After all, it was Mal who had gotten her into this situation. Least she deserved was a coffee and cute company

“Coffee sounds great, then,” Evie agreed finally, Ben clapping his hands in a very endearing royal manner as his face lit up in a smile.

“Great! I know a place not far from here,”

And as the two walked from the park, chatting easily about work or likes and dislikes, two dragons stared at each other from opposite shoulders. Audrey, still unimpressed by Mal, lifted her head up and whistled a little tune. It was a simple melody, soft and quite lovely to the ear. Mal merely grumbled in response, snorting smoke unhappily as Audrey clicked her tongue in a dragons version of laughter.

Only when Evie was walking down the isle at her wedding did she understand the significance of the music. In the rafters of the church, Audrey and Mal watched the goings on from above. Purple had one wing slung over pink in a friendly embrace, and as Evie met Ben at the altar, hand in hand, Audrey began to sing her song.

“Aurorian Dragons sing in the presence of true love,” Ben whispered in her ear, as though it were a secret, “I didn’t say anything when we met, but I knew you were the one.”

“That’s so sappy,” Evie laughed lightly, unable to keep from smiling. And in a beautiful ceremony she married her Prince Charming, certain of the future. And thankfully, Mal waited till after the ceremony to push Audrey from the roof, the two dragons continuing their rivalry in blissful chaos.

[butterflies-dragons]

I know that it's probably not anything, but the name Ygritte is likely based off of the word Egret, which is a long-legged bird that is found lakes and rivers. Sansa has been called a bird (by Cersei and the Hound) and has some association with rivers (through her Tully family; she lost Lady near a river). More parallels between Jon's present and future love interests?

Hello Anon:

It took me eons…  Can you forgive me?

I don’t particularly like when Sansa is called “little bird”, that was an insult.  Look at this list of all the times Sansa was called that.       

We also have Varys’ little birds, a network of spies. Not a good association. 

Right now she is under the disguise of Alayne Stone, whose father has precisely little birds as sigil: “Coat of arms of House Baelish of Harrenhal. A field of silver mockingbirds, on a green field”. 

The only little bird that I would like to be associated with Sansa is the nightingale.  

Meanwhile, the times when Sansa associated herself with birds, those are birds of prey: Hawks and Falcons: 

Do you hawk, Sansa?“ “A little,” she admitted. 

—A Storm of Swords - Sansa I

The day before last she’d taken Sansa hawking. […] Sansa’s merlin brought down three ducks while Margaery’s peregrine took a heron in full flight. 

—A Storm of Swords - Sansa II

A falcon soared above the frozen waterfall, blue wings spread wide against the morning sky. Would that I had wings as well. 

—A Feast for Crows - Alayne I

Bran also wishes his siblings and him could be ravens.  And ravens are cousins with the crows (Jon Snow): 

“Someone else was in the raven,” he told Lord Brynden, once he had returned to his own skin. “Some girl. I felt her.”

“A woman, of those who sing the song of earth,” his teacher said. “Long dead, yet a part of her remains, just as a part of you would remain in Summer if your boy’s flesh were to die upon the morrow. A shadow on the soul. She will not harm you.”

“Do all the birds have singers in them?”

“All,” Lord Brynden said. “It was the singers who taught the First Men to send messages by raven … but in those days, the birds would speak the words. The trees remember, but men forget, and so now they write the messages on parchment and tie them round the feet of birds who have never shared their skin.”

Old Nan had told him the same story once, Bran remembered, but when he asked Robb if it was true, his brother laughed and asked him if he believed in grumkins too. He wished Robb were with them now. I’d tell him I could fly, but he wouldn’t believe, so I’d have to show him. I bet that he could learn to fly too, him and Arya and Sansa, even baby Rickon and Jon Snow. We could all be ravens and live in Maester Luwin’s rookery. 

—A Dance with Dragons - Bran III

Jon’s fingers were in the bucket, blood up to the wrist. “Dywen says the wildlings call us crows,” he said uncertainly.

“The crow is the raven’s poor cousin. They are both beggars in black, hated and misunderstood.”

—A Game of Thrones - Jon VIII

There are theories about Sansa warging into a bird.  This generation of Stark children is deeply connected with the Children of the Forest.  For example, the eyes of the COTF are the same colors of the Stark Children’s direwolves.  Some COTF are called singers, others dancers.  Sansa is a singer too, so, since she lost her direwolf Lady, Sansa’s soul could live in some bird after her human body dies.  This applies to all of the Stark Children really.

Now, about Ygritte’s name, it really could be yet one more parallel, yes. Ygritte being named after the Egret bird reminds me of another lady, Rose of the Red Lake, a legendary daughter of Garth Greenhand and ancestor of House Crane of Red Lake.  

ROSE OF RED LAKE, a skinchanger, able to transform into a crane at will—a power some say still manifests from time to time in the women of House Crane, her descendants.

—The World of Ice & Fire

House Crane of Red Lake is a noble house from Red Lake in the Reach. It is one of the principal houses sworn to House Tyrell. They blazon their shield with a vee of golden cranes on pale blue.

According to legend the house was founded by Rose of Red Lake, a daughter of Garth Greenhand.

[Source]

We really don’t know much about Rose, but she is often depicted as a redhead:

Art credit [Source 1] [Source 2]

The parallels are there Anon.

Ygritte & Sansa: Redheads, blue eyed, descendants of the First Men, Bael the Bard, Jon Snow, rose imagery, half-fish, associated with birds and bodies of water, rivers (House Tully - Riverlands) and lakes. 

Ygritte & Rose: Redheads, descendants of the First Men, legendary ancestors: Bael the Bard and Garth Greenhand, rose imagery, associated with birds, egrets and cranes, that are really similar birds that live around rivers and lakes.

Sansa & Rose: Skinchangers, redheads, descendants of the First Men, legendary ancestors: Bael the Bard and Garth Greenhand, rose imagery, associated with birds and bodies of water, rivers (House Tully - Riverlands) and lakes.

I even find some similarities between Bael the Bard and Garth Greenhand, the legendary ancestors of these three women. 

It took me a while, but I really liked answering this question.

Thanks for your message. 

[the-lady-bryan]

harry potter/farscape crossover idea

okay so firstly, i’m NEVER going to develop this further. i’ve just got no muse. but here we are, with what little bit i did throw into notepad at one point.

--------------------------

Harry had stopped believing in coincidence centuries ago.

It didn't help that he was yanked for a while back and forth through realities - though admittedly that was partly his own fault because he didn't quite anticipate the level of power his magic had risen to after the Battle of Hogwarts and the defeat of Voldemort. When he wished to be anywhere else than dealing with the press and the fans and the fame and oh Merlin damn it Ginny we're not even dating and you and your mother are picking out goddamned wedding china!

But he digresses.

His reality hopping had finally ceased and his magic had FINALLY settled down. It looked like this reality would be his permanent one provided he didn't fuck it all up again. Which he tried - he really tried because holy fucking hell some of this shit he had to deal with was absolutely insane! He'd seen Voldemort the Snake-Face but that did NOT prepare him for meeting the literal psychic bipedal lizards called the Scarans. And he'd rather not meet them again if he could help it.

To survive in this crazy universe he'd had to adapt and unfortunately that meant kill or be killed.

Harry had come to terms with the blood on his hands a long time ago.

Unfortunately it was right before he was picked up by the Peacekeepers - the military arm of a race called the Sebbacians. And that's how he ended up in prison for assassinating some asshole dictator in the middle of nowhere who, unfortunately had Peacekeeper connections roughly eight cycles - years - after the fact. He'd settled down on some other backwater planet that reminded him a lot of Earth. Well, one of the Earths he'd been to at any rate. So what if the people were slightly orange and melted shit when they screamed. He just got better at making up scream-proofing charms on the fly is all. They were called Interons or something of the sort. Didn't matter much to Harry. He'd found a place to settle down and live a quiet life for the first time in three hundred years.

And now he was being transferred from his comfortable cell on some planet to a prison ship. Oh joy of joys.

Another eighty years later....

Harry sat with his muzzle on like a good little prisoner when they came into his cell for the routine torture and supposed interrogations. How did he still look like a child after eighty years? How old was he really? Where did he come from? Who else has he murdered? Who all hired him? The usual really.

They left him alone mostly unless they transferred other prisoners off the ship and he was all that was left.

They'd killed him a few times, but they didn't realize it. He'd healed and awoken too quickly for them to notice.... But someone did. He was sure of it. He just couldn't quite figure out who...

At least until he'd been on the ship for another fifty years. That's when he felt her for the first time poking at the edges of his awareness. She called herself Moya. She was the ship. The Leviathan is what the Peacekeeper guards called her.

Harry looked up from his liquid meal, the straw still stuck in the hole of his muzzle that allowed him to drink and "eat" when he heard the guards outside his door. Curious, he silently asked Moya what was happening as a blue woman was taken past his cell. A new prisoner. A Delvian, Moya had said. Harry was just grateful the new prisoner wasn't another goddamn Hynerian. Horrible little bastards reminded him of horrifying mix of Mundungus Fletcher and Draco Malfoy. Not something he liked to imagine. But at least she should be much more pleasant company than Rygel.

He found he liked the Delvian. Her chanting was very soothing. Moya and her Pilot seemed to like it very much as well.

Harry was woken by the roars of a tentacle faced beast of a man? He thought it was a man at least... when they brought the Luxan on board. With the muzzle on though, he could hardly say anything to anyone other than Moya and Pilot. And that was only because whatever it was they did, it was similar enough to legillimency that he basically said fuck it, why not. Otherwise, he'd have gone crazy long before then.

And then... one day, he woke to sirens and the ship jarring about and oh dear heavens that's laser fire isn't it?

"Don't just sit there! Come on!" Oh it was that horrible muppet thing again. Harry just stared at him in annoyance before the blue woman ran past and it dawned on him... Oh, it's a prison break.

It didn't take long for Harry to subdue a couple of guards. With some of Moya's lovely little robots leading him around he was able to avoid most confrontations and make his way to a safe storage chamber and hunker down until the fighting was over. He quite liked the chamber, and made his opinion known to Moya and her Pilot.

Eventually when things have settled down and they've starburst away Harry is led by some DRDs to where the other escaped prisoners are. They were't really pleased to see a young man wearing a muzzle and holding a pulse rifle judging by the multiple weapons pointed at him.

"who the hell are you?!" "He was here before anyone else." "ship's manifest doesn't even have him listed." "That muzzle can't be comfortable. Here, allow me..." "Are you mad! You take that off him and he'll kill us all!"

The muzzle is taken off and the first thing Harry says for a couple of centuries is, "You, the blue one. Oh I have so much enjoyed your chanting. It helped soothe Moya and her pilot for a time. I don't... I don't quite know what had them so agitated for a while but it certainly did help them. And myself as well. I look forward to hearing more of that lovely chanting. Now can I get a decent cuppa tea? Perhaps a food packet? I'll take anything solid. I've been living on liquid nutrients for around a hundred and fifty years and I can tell you it's not a pleasant way to eat."

"You're speaking English. That's English! My translator microbes things not translating you! That is the god damn Queen's English!"

"Of course I'm speaking bloody English! I'm from bloody England you fucking yank!"

"you said fuck! Not.... You have no idea how good it is to see another human!"

"I can assume you're from Earth, Mr..."

"Crichton. John Crichton. Astronaut."

"Harry Potter. Wiz-"

"The Master of Death!" - The Hynerian.

"Well I was going to say Wizard but I suppose that works just as well."

"Peacekeeper legends claim you can kill a man with just two words. Is that true?"

"Yes. With the proper motivation at least. But I.... I turned from my calling a long time ago. I'm not exactly a man of peace or pacifism, but I just wanted to settle down and have a quiet life after all my travels and adventures."

"Wait a minute..... A wizard. Named Harry Potter. You've got to be kidding me! Next you'll be telling me you ride around chasing a little flying ball on a broomstick."

"you know about Quidditch? Tell me, Mr. Crichton, are there any wizards or witches on Earth still? What year even is this by your calendar?"

"Dear god he honestly thinks he's a wizard..."

"what did I say?"

Then a few days later, after Harry's saved Crichton's life, the man finds him sitting and staring out a porthole, floating a cup in front of him with just a wiggle of his fingers with a fond smile on his face. "There's these... books. Kids books, back on Earth. My friend’s kid was obsessed with 'em. Got on the pre-order list at the bookstore near the base so he could get the third book the day it comes out for her birthday." "Why are you telling me this, Mr. Crichton?" "The first book is called Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. The second one that came out last year was called Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." And at this, Harry closes his eyes and sighs. "And what was the third book to be called? Did you know?" "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Did you really kill a giant fucking snake with just a hat, a bird, and a sword?" "If I told you yes?" "What kind of world do you come from where twelve year olds are expected to know how to fight a giant fucking snake?" "It was over sixty feet long. Built like a brick shithouse. And for some reason facing off against that with a magic bird, magic hat, and a magic sword was... according to my senile headmaster, a good way to build character."

This starts a sort of ritual between the two not-the-same-earth-earthlings. Crichton knows all about the first two books because his friend's kid is fucking obsessed with them and so Harry gives him a first person "this is how shit went down" and "this is honestly what i was thinking at the time" and "yes, with my bare hands, i murdered a man at eleven and nobody thought to send me to a fucking therapist. It was all "here's some bloody candy, Harry. Don't ask questions. Also here's house points in return for killing a man at the tender age of 11." That should have been our first clue that Albus too many fucking names Dumbledore was crazier than goddamn Voldemort ever thought of being."

And when Crichton is captured and tortured with the aurora chair, Harry's there for him in equal measure as Zhaan. And he never asks him about it, but he's just like "Bro. I got your back. You ever need to scream at someone about it, you come to me. We can compare scary pale faced black wearing nightmare men any time." And when Harry finds out that his new best bro has a clone of Scorpius in his head, he starts teaching him occlumency techniques because he's like "even without magic, this shit is damn helpful. Oh, and if you ever find yourself kind-of possessed by the bastard - hey, don't look at me like that John I don't make the rules. This shit just happens when you've got someone else living in your head. Trust me. Remember what I told you about that fucking scar of mine? Right. So listen. You ever get possessed, you want me to, uh, off you? I mean, I don't want to. But I will if I have to. Sometimes if you die for a bit, it helps reset shit." "I'm not immortal harry! I can't just reset my brain like some fucking wizard!" "There! That anger! Hang onto that. Trust me. It'll help if you ever get possessed."

And of fucking course when he's possessed by Scorpius Harry's like "I know that's you, you fucking asshole. Let go of my best bro or I will fucking gut you like a fish." "no you won't. You kill me, your kill John." "that's right and i already had this conversation with him. I'm sure you were there for it, too. You've got 24 arns or the real you is going to get a rather nasty visitor after I forcibly rip that chip out of Johnny's head and fry your ass so nobody gets to have the wormhole tech in there. You understand me, lizard breath?"

[kyeshirosaki]

Cursed Episode 1

I watched the whole season despite being skeptical after the first episode because I wanted to like it and enjoy it and I very much did enjoy parts of it in spite of some of the show's bad aspects. Cursed has a lot of flaws, but I still plan on watching a second season if it’s renewed. I’ve never seen BBC’s Merlin, nor do I have much of a background in Arthurian legend like most folks that have been talking about the show. Anyway here are some of my thoughts about the show, good and bad, including spoilers for the whole season.

The first two episodes are rough, but it does get better. Likewise these posts will get more positive as it goes, I promise.

We’re introduced to Nimue, a teenager that suffers from bullying from her entire community except from her mother. They call her a witch and we see her cause vines to attack her tormentor, but later we see the village elders perform a ceremony that very much looks like magic and Nimue is chosen to be summoner. It’s understood that summoner is a respected spiritual position, but we aren’t told exactly what being summoner entails. We know that no one likes her or wants her to have the position and neither does she. In the show’s defense, defining the position is rendered moot since her village is destroyed before she has a chance to fulfill any aspects of it.

Her mom doesn’t understand why Nimue doesn’t want to be summoner and so she runs away with her concerned best friend coming along for the journey. I really hope we get some flashbacks of Pym defending Nimue or just a snippet of her choosing to stay Nimue’s friend after the village turns against her. Children can be fickle and I think it’s really something that Pym’s loyalty hasn’t shaken over the years.

Now we meet Father Carden, who acts as the season’s Big Bad. The scene was made to make you question what exactly the context is for this old religious man’s speech to this young boy. My first assumption was that Carden was trying to recruit the boy for his holy crusade against demons and trying to explain why the child shouldn’t be scared to murder “evil” people. I have mixed feelings about this scene. The reveal that the child was fey and therefore a demon needing to be expelled did have an impact, as did panning out to the child’s village being razed, but later scenes make Carden’s speech seem out of character. He doesn’t seem to have any issues killing or ordering children to be killed and doesn’t feel like the type to explain himself to a child or need to steel his own nerves.

The scene DOES make sense if the scene is actually a flashback and the little boy we’re seeing is actually the Weeping Monk receiving the beginning of his brainwashing. These are the only characters that we see have reactions to touching leaves, but there’s no specific scene identifying the two characters as the same and it’s implied that the little boy was taken away to be burned at the stake. I’m not entirely sure how Carden would have discovered his ability to locate other fey based on that scene alone, but it’s odd that no one else has been shown to have skin that reacts to foliage.

I love the design of the Moon Wing fey, but their design does leave a bit to be desired from other kinds of fey. There’s no other kind that has quite that much detail to their design save maybe Yeva, who’s supposedly also a Moon Wing despite being much more bird like. First Moon Wing we meet looks more like a traditional fairy - very petite, winged, blue skin, and with gemstone looking features around their face. Yeva doesn’t look similar in the slightest despite also having a great design.

And now we get to meet Merlin, the most well known Arthurian character alongside Arthur and Lancelot. On one hand, I’m a fan of meeting him as a jaded man, but I don’t quite understand why he’s got a shaved head as if he’s an infantry soldier. That style is known as the Ceasar and became popular among soldiers and wrestlers because it’s a lot harder to grab someone by the hair if it’s that short. I don’t hate it, I’m just curious about the decision.

I love the relationship between Merlin and Uther Pendragon. They aren’t confirmed in any way, but the relationship comes off as if Merlin is living in luxury off of his alimony settlement with his former lover, Uther, who decided to keep Merlin close if he was going to be footing the bill either way. We’re told that this country based in the British Isles is in a drought. By the end of the episode they receive rain that turns to blood and you’d assume Uther would be up Merlin’s butt about bringing actual rain. Uther tries but Merlin decides he has better things to do and there’s... no ramifications for blowing off the king of the country who will be facing a food shortage that could lead to a famine if he can’t get any rain. Granted, there are more immediate things that soon demands the king’s attention.

Nimue’s next actions don’t make sense to me without acknowledging her as a death seeker. Her runaway plan fails and she meets a man performing for coin and decides to go to a tavern with him after saying it’s a bad idea. I’m assuming they get drunk, despite none of them seeming particularly intoxicated in the next scene because Nimue, despite knowing that being discovered as a fey would put her life in danger, decides to use magic to cheat against a guy using loaded dice. If I remember correctly, this guy with guy with dice was getting ready to leave them alone when Nimue decided to challenge him AFTER finding out his game was rigged. She uses magic which makes vein-like vines appear very visibly on the sides of her head that distinguishes her as a fey in a bar crowded with humans that are hostile to fey. That kind of idiocy goes beyond being a drunk teenager, or at the very least you’d expect Pym, who knows better, to rush Nimue away immediately instead of letting her do it a second time - especially since they established that it’s too late in the day for them to get home before dark. You’d expect that their next move would be to find a place to sleep for a night in town, but Nimue’s recklessness ruins that option.

They’re saved by Arthur and properly introduce our protagonist to the treat of the Red Paladins, who are currently trying to hunt down Nimue to kill her and presumable anyone trying to help her. They decide to not only build a fire and make camp, but get drunker while Nimue decides to swing Arthur’s sword around and the two engage in flirty fight banter. A lit campfire is already a dead giveaway to your position, but if you don’t see that you can still listen out for them making all the noise that comes with sword fighting and they’d totally be in a good position to fight off any attackers with them getting drunk enough for Pym to wake up with a hangover. It’s as if Arthur had the one good braincell between them, but threw it into the fire. Nimue’s headbutt was an enjoyable moment though. Pym is nowhere to be seen during this scene, but the next establishes her asleep next to the campfire they were fighting near despite her not being visible from what I remember.

Legitimately a smart idea for the girls to ditch Arthur before heading back to their city. He’s still a human and it’s better safe than sorry before leading him back to a whole village of people being persecuted. Boy howdy did they need his one brain cell to keep them from walking into their village as it’s being massacred. I do understand that they’re both in shock and the goal may have been to highlight all the carnage around them, but after having her best friend ripped away and being caught and carried off twice and only escaping by dumb luck, it would have been nice to see her run away or successfully defend herself. I thought this might be the moment where we see her being the warrior  her mother claims her to be, but it isn’t. Nimue is resilient, but nothing about her seems like the warrior the trailers made her out to be.

Jump ahead to the wolf massacre that the Wolfblood Witch gets her namesake from. I can’t lie, it was pretty cheesy to watch and the wolves didn’t feel real; however it’s already expensive being a fantasy series and CGI is very costly. I get that if you’re going to do it you should do it right, but I forgive them for this scene and do my best to turn a blind eye to some of the cringey CGI used in some of the fight scenes. It’s bad, but not something I’d stop watching a show over.

[aparecium-hq]

Welcome to Aparecium, Ro! You have been accepted for Scorpius Malfoy. We are thrilled to have, as you put it, a massive anti-hero, morally-grey character nerd among us! Your Scorpius has a lot of fun potential, and we can’t wait to see what you do with him. Check out the new member checklist, and jump right in.

Character Basics

Birthday (Age): 21 Gender (Pronouns): Male (He/Him) Sexuality: Currently still exploring and unsure. He knows he’s interested in men, but isn’t sure if it’s an exclusive thing and doesn’t feel confident enough for labels just yet. Blood Status: Pureblood Hogwarts House/School: Ravenclaw Occupation: Healer (4th Year Apprenticeship) Faceclaim: Maxence Danet-Fauvel

Any requested changes? Not super explicitly a change exactly but, from the resources I’ve found, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of information on training involved in becoming a Healer. Wiki suggests that it’s all based on academics from regular school years, but I find this a little far fetched. I imagine there’d be some sort of training system in place at the hospital, not that different from the muggle world, so I’ve sort of assumed  a couple of years of what we would call ‘residency’ but I’m calling 'apprenticeship’ because that’s the old school guild way and feels wix-world appropriate? Anyway, let me know if there are any issues with this or if you want to discuss it further! Also, please note that any headcanons I form in the rest of my application regarding existing, playable characters, I can definitely tweak if the personality portrayal goes against future applicants! I make a few references to Albus, for example, that is sort of based on his personality in Cursed Child, as well as what I read in his bio. But if anything conflicts with how he is portrayed by who eventually plays him, I will obviously take that into account and accommodate.

Biography:

Having inadvertently become the best friend of Albus Potter, he never really had the opportunity to complain about the challenges of growing up the son of Draco Malfoy. Because obviously, growing up the son of Harry Potter (and then sorted into Slytherin, no less—cue gasps of shock and appall) was obviously a lot more immediately arduous. And Scorpius is and has always been an empathetic person. Some people (sometimes even his father, when he got cranky) had coined that particular trait as being a bit of a push over, but Scorpius liked that he put the needs and considerations of others before his own.

So he had no regrets about how he more often than not, kept those particular thoughts to himself. But it did get frustrating sometimes, especially as a kid. Because it would seem that no matter how many years of post-war peace go by, they can never fully escape the discrimination (or, as his father likes to sarcastically call it, the 'hurt feelings’).

And it’s not at all that he didn’t have a good childhood. In a lot of ways, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Certainly, there were some… complications. A few particularly difficult years, being that he was a child of divorce, and had to adjust to bouncing back and forth between two separate households at a young age. But overall, he knows he’s one of the lucky ones. He has always felt loved, protected and supported. And though his parents were barely on speaking terms for the better part of the first few years after their divorce, they did their best not to involve Scorpius in their issues of discontent.

Despite all of that, he has always been a lot closer with his father, than his mother. Astoria is good to him and loving, but she was (somewhat surprisingly) less supportive of Scorpius’ straying from tradition when it came to being sorted into Ravenclaw, and his relationships with the Potter-Weasley clan. Draco, despite his persnickety temperament, had been Scorpius’ influence of patience, ambition and most importantly, tolerance. From the conversations they’ve had over the years, Scorpius is beginning to understand that his father still holds a lot of resentment for the expectations that were forced upon him as the only Malfoy heir of his generation, especially with things that went on during the war. To this day, however, it’s a bit like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle because Draco often refuses to discuss the war.

When it comes to politics, Scorpius is by no means opposed to muggleborn equality—obviously—and he can even hypothetically be supportive of the introduction of muggle technology. But he was raised by parents who were absolutely against the absurd idea of abolishing the Statue of Secrecy, and Scorpius has to admit he agrees with them. Even his father, who is generally a lot more empathetic to muggle and muggleborn related politics than Astoria, firmly believes dissolving the Statue of Secrecy would only lead to another war, perhaps even uglier than the last.

A typical Ravenclaw, Scorpius very much enjoyed school, and now that he’s out in the 'real world’, even though he's  had a few years to adjust, he still sometimes feels a little lost in it. He misses the reliable comfort of being a student, of having constant mentors and structure available to him, and the leniency of not having to make and stick to decisions regarding his future. He followed in his fathers footsteps and pursued Healing, which he has to admit feels relatively right, but still, he’s never been as good under fire as his father, nor as unflappably resilient and ambitious. He wants to be good, and he wants to make a difference and make his parents proud—but there are times he really struggles not to crumple under the pressure of it all.

And then there was Rose. Merlin, he has so many regrets about how things went with Rose—his other best friend. He’d known they should probably never have dated. He’d known, and even Albus had tried to warn him, but at the time Scorpius had just dismissed Albus’ concerns as his “annoying cynicism” talking. And to be fair, Albus really could be quite cynical sometimes.

But as it turns out, he was right. He was really, really right, because the (astoundingly brief) relationship had been a total bust, and even though he and Rose had agreed in advance not to let the attempt at romance come between their friendship should it not work out, Scorpius made that promise a difficult one to keep when he cheated on her with a young man in his apprenticeship program at St. Mungo’s, and she found out. He knows it’s his fault, he does—but he misses her intensely and he wants to find a way to win back her trust and respect.

Plus, it’d be great if he could finally get Albus to stop with the 'I told you so’ tirade.

Character Questionnaire

What does your character value in a friendship? Scorpius’ friends mean everything to him. Though he can be something of an introvert (strong Ravenclaw vibes), he is prone to getting lonely without the company of those few people dearest to him. The ones who know him best and with whom he can share anything. He finds he’s frequently looking to his friends for advice, or their perspective on something he’s feeling particularly indecisive or uncertain about, so he definitely values honesty in that regard, and someone he feels safe being open with about his fears. He also values patience, and inquisitiveness, and he has a harder time with people who are hot-tempered or quick to anger. Which… did make his relationship with Albus a complicated one, especially at first, but by the same token, he also really admires people who are passionate and decisive—perhaps because it embodies traits he wishes he could see more of in himself.

How would your character describe their own work ethic? Is that an accurate measure of themself?

If there is one thing Scorpius inherited above all else from his father, it’s his work ethic. Draco taught him to be a resilient, diligent student, and a reliable, focused worker. He taught him to take pride in his work, and to never settle for anythnig less than the best. This did generate some issues with Scorpius’ tendency towards being an obsessive perfectionist, which doesn’t actually bode particularly well for his softer sensibilities and his capricious sense of confidence, but otherwise he considers his work ethic one of his stronger attributes.

How would a stranger who has just met your character describe them?

Probably sweet, warm, and a little shy. Scorpius generally gives off a good first impression because he is well mannered, friendly, and easy going. He much prefers making friends to enemies—but his first impression is usually limited to just that one dimension. Only those who know him better are exposed to his more anxious, self-conscious side, and his friends know he has a bright, almost sarcastic sense of humour that he undoubtedly got from his father. Often, new friends are taken a little by surprise by it.

Para Sample

He knew for a fact that his hair was standing every which way by the time Albus got home, thanks to his some-call-it-habit, others-call-it-tic, of tugging his fingers through it when he was bored. Or nervous. Or tired. Or hungry. And he also knew for a fact that there was a spot on his jumper from the bit of tea he’d spilled on it when he’d gotten home, and that his father would be less than impressed at his state of dress. But though there were a lot of things Scorpius got from his father, one apple that had fallen actually quite far from the tree, had been Draco’s sophisticated propensity.

Scorpius much preferred jumpers that were cozy and a bit too big, shoes that were comfortably worn-in, and rolling out of bed and more or less letting his hair do what it would, without too much fussing about. Sorry, Da.

And tonight, it was admittedly his boredom at fault for the bird’s nest state of his hair, perhaps helped by an undercurrent of anxiety that was pretty common now that Scorpius was getting on into his apprenticeship—and that had undoubtedly gotten worse since his falling out with Rose. And really, he tried not to talk about that whole debacle too much with Albus, because it seemed to make him a little uncomfortable, but Scorpius was prone to over-thinking (read: obsessing) and so it was a subject that was almost constantly simmering at the back of his mind.

Nonetheless, the sound of the door clicking open brought with it an intense wave of relief and excitement for Scorpius, because Albus was home, which meant someone to talk to, someone to distract him from thinking about work (because his father always told him to leave work at the door when he left, if he wanted to have any semblance of a life outside it), and perhaps someone to play a round of Wizard’s Chess with him. Though that usually took a fair amount of convincing, with Albus.

[la-fille-en-aiguilles]

The Beautiful & Damned (6/7)

Female Reader x Young!Remus Lupin | Female Reader x Young!Sirius Black

Chapter 6: Selflessness and Camaraderie, That Know No Bounds

A/N: And we are nearing the end, my loves. The thought kind of saddens me, but I am also beyond happy for the warm reception this story got. Thank you very much, it’s you who kept me writing into the night these past weeks! 

Also, I know that maybe Minnie’s a tad too merciful in this part. Let’s just say she loves them boys as much as we do, ‘kay? :) 

As always, please enjoy!

New to the series? - Accio Chapter 1: The Golden Couple - Accio Chapter 2: No, Definitely - Accio Chapter 3: Misread - Accio Chapter 4: Bravado Falls - Accio Chapter 5: Marauders to the Rescue

Not to brag, but you were always considered quite an accomplished speaker. 

Everyone who knew you - even superficially - were quick to realize: that pretty little face of yours came with a tongue so sharp it cut like a Sectumsempra charm. 

Almost never rude (only if the situation really called for it), usually calm & always very clear, you could be very persuasive, be it with the girls that you shared your dorm room with, or with your professors when they made mistakes, correcting your essays. 

You nearly always managed to talk Sirius Let’s-Throw-A-Bloody-Tantrum Black out of whatever adventure he had decided to go on, for Godric’s Sake, - that should have meant something, right?…

Right?… 

Yet despite your gift of the gab, all the hints and nearly blatant dismissal, this blockhead of a Slytherin Penn Parkinson just didn’t seem to get the message. 

“Hey Y/N,” he came all the way to where you were sitting at the Gryffindor Table - and judging from his expression, for that strenuous effort on his part alone, you should have jumped his bones. “Lookin’ good, poppet, as usual”. 

The chatter and the laughter, echoing across the Great Hall, watered down significantly as Parkinson pushed his way onto the seat just across from you, nearly knocking your interlocutor, Xenophilius Lovegood, on the floor. 

“Get the fuck out of my way, you freak!” Parkinson barked, before turning back to you with a self-adoring smirk.  

Narrowing your eyes at the Slytherin, you exhaled slowly, trying to keep your composure with every bit of self-control that was left in you. After the emotional rollercoaster that Remus Lupin had put you through last week, your patience were wearing real thin. The amount of anger and bitterness you were able to take on up to this very moment was truly sensational in its proportions; it would have sufficed a minor failure in one of your classes for your self-composure to burst at the seams. 

Luckily, Penn Parkinson and his gigantic ego happened first. 

You didn’t want anyone to get wrong ideas - some of the most brilliant and sharp-witted wizards whose company you truly enjoyed were proud Slytherins. It’s the odd specimen like Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy, to name a few, that were responsible for the not-so-likeable reputation of the house. None of the dignities common to human behaviour seemed to cross the skies of those four, clouded thick with judgmental exclamations and selfishness, that in truth, you knew, were the manifestations of the inferiority complex. 

Remus is nothing like that. The thought electrocuted your brain like a bolt of lightening, coming out of nowhere. 

Focus, you scolded yourself, staring at Parkinson, unblinking. 

“I strongly suggest that you apologize, Penn,” your voice came out smooth and levelled, and you mentally patted yourself on the back. “And then feel free to get the hell out of my sight”. 

Woahs and Ohs resonated in the air all around you, as the three of you instantly became the center of everyone’s attention. Staring daggers at Parkinson, from the corner of your eye you saw Lovegood give the people around you an awkward smile, as if apologising for the commotion that he thought he caused. That look on his face, the fact that he thought that he was the one that had to apologise, made you see red. 

“Oh come on, poppet, don’t be such a prude, that’s a major turn-off”, the second the words left Parkinson’s lips, you knew where you were going to spend the rest of your evenings - scratching those nasty cauldrons in Slughorn’s class clean during eternal detention - yet nothing could stop you now. “‘sides, you better learn how to choose friends properly - first that gutless Lupin, now this loony Lovegood…”

Parkinson didn’t know what hit him. The thump with which his body landed on the ground was ear-splitting, the echo of the Petrificus Totalus curse whispering to the walls of the Great Hall until it was interrupted by a reverberating exclamation. 

“Bloody hell, that was hot!…” 

Standing over the table and Parkinson’s stupefied form behind it, you instantly reacted to the Potter’s outburst, turning your head. The pang of pain pierced your heart so deep you almost sat back down. 

Peter, James and Sirius were staring at you with their eyes alight; but the way Remus looked at you, standing in between long tables, several feet away!… The way every woman wanted to be looked at by a man. Admiration, awe and you could swear on it, deep affection coloured his eyes vivid greenish-brown, soft yet burning, it almost hurt to watch. 

Remus had always been a huge mystery to you, that you would kill to spend your life unraveling. He always looked sleepy, soft and innocent, but Merlin knows more than half of the legendary Marauder pranks were based on his ideas. He had always been the shy non-talkative one in the crowd of people, but whenever he told a joke or shot a witty comment at them, the entire room burst out laughing. Too self-conscious, Remus refused to acknowledge just how many girls and boys were secretly pining for him and his melancholic kind of vibe, his smile that held a sort of surprise in it, like a warm day in the middle of December. 

From the moment you first laid your eyes on him you wanted nothing more than to become his friend. When he first shared his chocolate with you during one of your study sessions, Sirius couldn’t hear the end of it till the day Remus allowed you to steal food from his plate. You honestly thought Sirius would kill you for your constant blabber, or rat you out to Moony at the very least, but he never did such a thing. 

Then at the end of last year, Padfoot told you that young Lupin might fancy you. You laughed out loud in his face, thinking he was doing the best friend’s job of trying to comfort you in the time of need. Over the days, he insisted, again and again that Remus carried a torch for you, and that “the signs were obvious”. You begged him not to probe, because Sirius was just about as subtle as a mandrake root pulled out of its pot in a library, and as amused as he’d been, he agreed. 

Then you both went to that Ravenclaw party when he whispered the fateful words in your ear: “I told you so”. From that moment on, you couldn’t think of anything but of that young Gryffindor student that carried his scars like flowers, blooming in the sun. 

When you finally worked up the courage to tell him about your feelings, as expected, it turned out a colossal disaster. Everything that could go wrong, went nuclear, and not wanting to reject you in front of everybody, Remus fled, and nipped in the bud every attempt of yours to talk to him afterwards. 

You were confused, angry and disappointed, not only because Sirius turned out to be wrong all along, but also because Remus thought you’d be too of a wimp to take his rejection like a strong, powerful witch that you were. 

And now he just stood there, thunderstruck, looking at you like you were his religion. What the hell was wrong with him?!… The wave of anger rose in your chest again. 

“This is for “the loony Lovegood”, you, revolting parody of a wizard!” you spit in Parkinson’s face, finding an outlet for your exasperation. “This - Locomotor Mortis! - is for the “gutless Lupin”, you bitch”, you watched with a chuckle as Slytherin’s legs locked together, “And this! - Levicorpus! - is for the “poppet”, imbecile!”

“That’s my girl”, you heard Sirius snicker, before the sound of it drowned in the row of applause, cheering and whooping. 

You’d only got a second to admire your handiwork - Parkinson’s numb body hang head-down high above the ground - before the Marauders nearly jumped you, their grins encircling you. 

Peter chirped compliments like a little bird, Sirius and James, with their heads thrown back, laughed rowdily, with pretty wrinkles in the corners of their eyes…

Everything around you disappeared the moment Remus’ captivating eyes caught yours.

“Merlin’s beard, Y/N, you are… out of this world,” he spoke softly, his face inches away, chocolate on his breath making your mouth water.

It took you a minute to deal with your hormones, as you gazed at him blankly, your face unreadable. With the ability to speak, came the desire to shout, adrenaline still coursing through your veins. 

“Oh, so now you want to talk to me?!” you flared up, anger eating at you like fire at a piece of parchment paper. “Enough people for you here, Moony?”

“Y/N…” Remus face fell, his big beautiful eyes full of repentance. “Please, let me explain…”

“I don’t need your explanations,” your voice was dripping with almost tangible hurt. “I’m not an idiot, you know, I actually have a brain!” Remus made you lose control, and while you could deal with the outbursts of hurt, affection or lust in the past, you’d seemed to have reached your limit. “You could have told me! You could have just told me you didn’t like me in that way, it would have been okay. I respect your feelings, Remus, you shouldn’t have to love me back! We could have….”

The rest of your thoughts died on Moony’s mouth as it captured yours. Your body reacted to him instantly and naturally: you found the bitterness of coffee dozing on his lips, as if they’d never been away. Your entire body seemed to reconnect to every inch of his, your fingertips relishing every long, lean line of his back, the broad expanse of his shoulders… In his arms, you were home.  

“I know we have a lot to discuss,” he murmured against your lips, his silk eyelashes caressing your skin. “I want you to know that I loved you since I met you, and…”

You didn’t let him finish, resuming the kiss - you already knew what he had to say, because you felt the exact same way. At this point, words were superfluous. 

What you didn’t know however, was that Remus had finally realised what made you so special. What made people want to be around you, talk to you, hear your laugh.  It was, indeed, your dazzling beauty. Beauty, that came from within. 

“…Is that…. Is that Mr. Parkinson?!” the crowd of students who hated the Slytherin and his idiotic gang started to quickly thin out the moment they spotted Professor McGonagall making her way to the place of public hanging. She now stood side by side with James and Sirius, their eyes still glued to Penn. 

“Why yes, professor,” Prongs agreed proudly. “In the flesh. Or should I say in the air?…”

Potter and Black exchanged glances, grinning wide. Unfazed by their antics, McGonagall raised both of her hands and slapped them both lightly on the back of their heads.

“I am very disappointed in you, Mr. Potter!” she announced, producing the wand from her robes and slowly bringing Parkinson’s numb body to the ground. Sirius opened his mouth in order to ask why the hell wasn’t she disappointed in him, when she cut him a stern look from the corner of her eye. 

“Don’t even get me started on you, Mr. Black. I suggest you move your possessions to Professor Slughorn’s bureau, with your troublemaking habits you might as well start living there!” Sirius bit his bottom lip hard and turned away. 

“Professor McGonnagal!” upon hearing Minerva’s voice, you untangled yourself from Remus (with great effort!), and hurried to where she stood, Remus hot in your tracks. “They didn’t curse Penn, Ma’am… I tried to get him to apologize… It was…”

“Me, Professor,” with his chest puffed out, Remus stepped in front of you readily, facing Minerva. You couldn’t help but gasp at his boldness, grabbing his arm instinctively in an attempt to pull him back. 

“Rubbish!…” you exclaimed, trying to attract McGonnagal’s attention, and for a brief moment you did. She lowered her stare, studying you scrupulously. Just when you were about to elaborate, James bloody Potter had to intervene: 

“Oh come on, Remus, Y/N’s right. Quit showing off,” you half expected him to stick his tongue out at Lupin, but luckily, he must have had a change of heart under Minerva’s piercing stare. “I was the one who Petrificus Total’ed the Slytherin baboon, Professor. The evidence is there!” he shook frantically the wand he produced from his robes. When James Potter set his mind on something, it was a losing game to try and fight him on whatever it was. “Had you heard the way he talked to Y/N and Xenophilius, you would have done much worse! I had to simply content myself with a difficult numbing spell...” In order to appear more convincing, Prongs took on a serious expression and motioned towards the unmoving body. 

“Now, don’t get too excited, Potter,” Sirius huffed. “It was yours truly who locked the legs together… And that my friend, was a far more sophisticated charm!…”

From the scandalised expression on Minerva’s face, you realized you weren’t going to be the only one to be expelled or to spend the rest of your life in detention, and however paradoxical that might have sounded, the thought made you want to smile. Pursuing your lips in order to suppress a laugh, from that moment on, you decided to lay back, relax and watch the show. 

“That is exactly what happened, professor,” Moony nodded, biting his bottom lip, and taking an air of a man who didn’t regret a thing he did and was ready to pay the price for his actions. “And after Sirius finished with him, I Levicorpse’d him for a good measure… But that shouldn’t come as a surprise of course… Since it was my idea to hang the Ravenclaw prefect from the Astronomy Tower”. 

The confession produced such a spectacular effect that James, Sirius, Peter and you gasped collectively this time, both impressed and shocked at Moony’s audacity in the face of the only professor you ever truly respected and, truth be told, feared. 

“I was the one who…” James wanted to soften the blow (or to add to it, with him you never knew), when McGonagall raised one of her hands, effectively shutting him up. 

“Please spare me the details of your heroisms, Mr. Potter. The same goes for the four of you,” she eyed each and every one of you with a very admonishing look. When her gaze rested on you, she continued: 

“Sixty points will be taken from Gryffindor for the dangerous barbarity one of you has committed!” she paused, waving her wand and thus sending the Parkinson’s body to Madame Pomfrey, you presumed. “Whoever it is, he, or she,” she gave you a pointed look, “should consider themselves extremely lucky, for I could have sent them packing. I will be writing to all of your parents tonight!” you bit your lip so hard it hurt, and instantly felt a warm, calloused hand squeeze your own. 

Without even looking to your right, you knew it was Remus. 

“Also, five points will be awarded to Gryffindor,” when all four of you raised your eyes in surprise, you could swear you saw a mischievous glint in Professor’s stare. “For the selflessness and camaraderie, that know no bounds. The four of you will fulfil seven consecutive weeks of evening detentions, which will surely only reinforce the bond you share.” 

And just like that, with the rustle of her robes, McGonnagal walked off, with a barely-there smile on her thin, righteous mouth, that she thought no one would notice. 

But you did, watching her with a bright smile of your own, relishing the warmth’s of Moony’s hand.

Last chapter’s coming soon!

My Beautiful Taglist (please, hit me up should you want to be tagged or untagged): @youkn0wn0thingjonsnow, @yuukiahim, @xapham, @spunkypatterns,  @jackie-houston, @justducky0423, @zakthedrak, @marauder–harder, @davros2004, @firefurr, @heyjess-marie, @kapolisradomthoughts

[clairecrive]

A Bradley James x Reader imagine

I was one of the few lucky people who could proudly say that they had their dream job. After I graduated,I started to apply to all kind of jobs,thinking that the more job applications I sent,the higher the chances of getting hired.

That turned out to be a successful strategy.

I received an email,after a couple of weeks, that said that I'd got the job as an interpreter for a convention that will be taking place in Florence in a week-ish. The email also said that the reason that they picked me out of more experienced people,was that I was also a make up artist. So,they required that kind of services too.

I couldn't help the laugh and scream of excitement that left my mouth after reading the email. This job was perfect! I could do two of my favourite things: my job and applying makeup. It also helped that it was in Florence. I loved that city! If I could, I would live there. The pay was really good too.

I immediately replyed asking the details of what I hat to do,the working hours and stuff like that.

Florence here I come!

***

I had been in Florence for about two days now, to settle in and go sightseeing. Just trying to make the best out of my free time.

As a matter of fact,today was the first day on the job. That's why at 6:30 am I was already out and about in the beautiful streets of Florence. I wasn't really an early bird,but seeing these fascinating,almost empty streets, made up for it.

I was honestly excited to meet up with the people I'll be working with. I knew that the cast was international,that explained my presence,but the series portrayed the story of one of the most famous Italian family of all times: the Medici.

They didn't tell me who the actors were and maybe that was for the best. If I knew that I was going to work with one of my crush, my professionalism would be compromised.

I arrived at the cinema where the conference will be held and I walked where the make up station should be. I met a girl named Audrey that politely greeted me and gave me a piece of paper with my time schedule and pointed the room where the actors were waiting for me.

Let's hope they have not been waiting for long, I even thought that I was on time.

I enter the room and seeing a couple of people I panicked and started talking without directly looking at them but looking at my schedule.

"Hi everyone. I'm Y/N and I'm going to do your make up today. They have given me a pretty rigid time schedule according to which, I have about half an hour to do your make up. There's four of you,gosh no pressure then,okay." I say and finally look up at them when I hear them laugh a little.

And holy moly. I didn't expect to see two of my biggest crush standing right before me. When I saw him,my breath got caught in my throat and I think my eyes went wide too, and I double checked on the schedule the name of the actors. And yeah, apparently I would be doing Bradley James and Daniel Sharman's make up today.

Oh god. Am I dreaming? I must be.

I keep glancing back and forth between them and the schedule. Then, not thinking that doing this in front of them would be embarrassing, I pinch my arm. And from the pain that is radiating from it,it seems that no,I'm not sleeping.

Way to go Y/N, great first impression.

I cleared my throat before saying:

"Okay well, who wants to go first?" I ask while getting everything ready.

Fortunately, they had already laid out every product I would be needing. Now, I only need to find a shade that matches them. They're guys, so they don't really need that much of make up. Just the base.

I hear someone sitting in the chair behind me so I turn around holding a bottle of foundation in my hands.

Bradley James, the most beautiful guy my eyes ever laid on,was just a palm away from me.

I smile at him and taking note of his skin colour I turn around again to find his shade.

"Hi, I'm Y/N. I'm going to apply an hydrating cream/primer. Don't worry, my hands are clean but they might be a little cold. So, sorry in advance." I say before applying the primer trying to behave like a normal person.

"Not a problem, I don't mind the cold. I'm Bradley, by the way." He says

Oh I know who you are.

I thought I should try and save my reputation from the humiliating moment of before, so I say:

"Oh I know, I'm a huge fan. If you hadn't already figured it out by the way I freaked out before. I'm sorry by the way,they didn't tell me who I was going to work with." I say laughing a little trying to lighten up the mood.

He laughs too and never letting his eyes off my face, he says: "Yes,it was hard to miss but I thought it was for Daniel. He usually gets the beautiful ladies."

Wait a moment,is he flirting with me or?

I stop for a moment and meet his eyes that were already on my face. I smile and I start to apply a little bit of foundation.

"Well,that too. I can't deny that he is very handsome. Plus,I'm a huge fan of "Teen Wolf" and "The Originals". He is not really my type,though."

Then I mumble: "Your skin is perfect,I don't see why you guys have to put make up too. Bah."

He laughs a little at this and than thanks me for the compliment.

"Okay guys,who's next? I'm nearly finished here." then referring to Bradley I say:

"Bradley please close your eyes, I'm going to spray a little bit of fixer and then you can go." He does what I say and after fanning him, I clap my hands and signalling to Daniel that he could come, I say:

"You're all set Bradley,you can go. See you later. Oh and please ,don't touch your face too much."

He says somethings along the lines of "will do" and goes away. I keep doing the guys' make up and then the girls'. They are all so nice and funny, I wish this job didn't last only a day.

***

We were now in the backstage at the cinema where the convention will be and I was chatting with some of the ladies when Sarah Perish comes. I excused myself and went to her.

"Sarah? Hi,I'm sorry to bother you, I just wanted to say that I'm a huge fan and your acting skills are absurd. I loved the way you portrayed Lady Catrina in Merlin. Those episodes were hilarious."

"Thank you, Y/N. Shouldn't you have already finished by now ?"

"Oh,no my work is about to begin. I'm going to translate from Italian to English and viceversa-" but then I was interrupted by a microphone assistant that was calling her. She excused herself right when Bradley was coming my way.

"Hi again" he says smiling

Oh,his smile was so beautiful.

"Hello to you too."

"So,you're a fan of Merlin?" He asks.

"Of course. That show is amazing,so well made. Also, Colin is so adorable." I hint knowing that he always complains about people fanning over Colin.

He snorts.

"What a surprise, everyone loves Colin."

I lightly laugh and say: " He wasn't the reason I started watching the show though. My friend recommended it to me, I looked at the plot and the cast,I saw your face and I decided to watch it."

I guess I was trying to flirt with him without looking a crazy obsessed girl. But probably, it was too late for that.

"Oh,that's good to hear. It seems that I'm the one who gets the beautiful lady now. Finally." He says joking, referring to what he told me when I was doing his make up.

"I don't know about the beautiful part, but the lady is yours indeed."

Then remembering something, I speak again before he could actually reply.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you something. Since I'll be the one translating what you're going to say, I thought it would be best if we agreed on a sign. So that I know when I can start translating without talking over you. What do you say?" I look at him and oh god, his eyes are beautiful.

"Good idea. I'll pause and look at you. Is that alright?"

"Sure. I apologize in advance for the way my voice is going to sound. A lot of people say that I sound like a little girl." I say laughing

"I don't see why that should be seen as a bad thing. I actually want to hear more of you."

"Oh, you'll be hearing enough of me today. Don't worry."

He smiles getting the joke, but looking a little nervous he looked at me and replyed:

"No, what I wanted to say is that I-I want to get to know you better. So I guess what I actually mean is, will you go on a date with me?"

What the hell is going on with my life?

I open my mouth a couple of times without being able to give him an answer. We hear a voice calling the actors on stage so he says:

"I'll come back to you after the interview." and with that he walks on the stage.

Oh god, what have I got myself into?

The fangirl inside me was screaming but I couldn’t focus on this now. I got a job to do.

Part 2?

[sonicrainicorn]

Made of Love, Chapter 16

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Table of Contents

Ship(s): Logicality, (platonic) Prinxiety

All Characters: Thomas, Virgil, Roman, Logan, Patton, Dr. Picani, Joan, Talyn, and Deceit

Synopsis: Humans Roman and Virgil get wrapped up in some serious magic business without meaning to. Their other companions aren’t exactly as they seem, either. Together they all must defeat a great threat for the safety of humanity.

Chapter Desc.: W͏̤ę̫̙̥̜̹̘͔l͉̳̪͕̥̭c̘̰̟o̙͉͕̰m͏̼̪̥͈͔̦ͅe̞̼͍͡ ͉̦͔͉̤t̵̺̗̹o ̹̻̝͚̞̠͉t̩he ͏͚̜̤p͕a͉̝n̡͚̯i̮̪̟c̭̟̘ ҉̯̤̼̥̥r̫͓͙̼o̲̮̤̜̝͉̼om͇͍̗.

TW: Cursing, stabbing

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Virgil slept well passed one o’clock. In his defense, he needed the rest. Also, he hated mornings. He still felt tired when he woke up, but at least it was at a level he could manage. He stared up at the ceiling for several minutes before deciding to get out of bed. He trudged down the hall to see three faces he knew well. It was odd how quickly he had gotten used to living in a house with four other dorks.

Roman and Thomas sat on the floor at the coffee table playing some sort of card game. Maybe it was Speed. Virgil was too sleepy to pay attention to it. Logan was sitting with his legs crossed on the couch, scribbling into the notebook on his lap. Patton was most likely outside. The TV played mindless background noise.

Virgil plopped onto the armchair without a word. No one paid him any mind. It was nice; things felt normal. As if this was just a regular day with friends. If your friends happened to consist of two people who are sometimes one person, a ninety-four-year-old child, and a photographer who is way too into fantasy, that is. So, maybe Virgil wouldn’t say that “regular” fit in with this group in particular.

“Dammit,” Roman’s complaint was almost covered by Thomas’s cheer. When Virgil looked, he saw Thomas with an empty hand and Roman holding onto one card.

“You were pretty close that time,” Thomas teased. He pushed himself off the floor to wander over to the kitchen.

Roman frowned and started gathering all the cards into a single deck. “I’m going to call bullshit because Speed has been around since the 40s at least, and you’ve had the advantage of being around at that time.”

“Hey, just because I’m old doesn’t mean you can use it to justify your crummy gameplay.”

Virgil snorted. “He’s got you there.”

Roman threw a card at him. “No one asked you.”

Virgil retaliated by keeping the card.

Thomas came back in with a bowl of grapes and took a seat beside Logan to stay out of the rather immature fight going on. Virgil stretched to keep the card out of Roman's reach and kept going farther the closer he got to it. As long as Thomas didn't have to deal with it, he was fine. He munched on grapes as he watched the scene unfold. They were like two school children whose whole relationship was based on bullying each other. It often led to random entertaining moments such as this.

He glanced over to Logan and almost choked on a grape. “Holy cow.” He set the bowl down on the coffee table while placing a hand over his mouth. “How long have you been able to draw?” He had always been under the impression that Logan used his notebook to write in, not create literal works of art.

Logan stopped. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He pressed the notebook to his chest to hide the pages from view.

Roman snatched the card from Virgil’s hand and placed it in the deck. They stuck their tongue out at each other.

“Let me see it.” Thomas moved to sit on his legs and face Logan. He held out his hands expectantly.

“I think not.”

“Oh, c’mon. Please?” He gave his best pout and puppy eyes.

Logan wasn’t phased. “No.”

Thomas huffed and slouched his shoulders. “That always works on Virgil.”

“What?” Virgil stopped messing with Roman to pay attention to the separate conversation going on.

“Oh, nothing.” Thomas gave him a charming smile.

Logan rolled his eyes. “Thomas just wishes to see things that are none of his business.”

“It’s not gonna hurt anyone if you let me take a little peek.” He crossed his arms. “What’s so wrong about knowing how to draw?”

“That isn’t the issue.”

“Aw, you’re embarrassed,” Roman commented without even needing to look up.

Despite his scowl, Logan’s cheeks turned a soft pink color. “I am not. I just don’t see the point on how this is so interesting.”

“If you don’t see the point then why not let me take a gander at it?” Thomas blinked innocently at him.

Logan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know what? I’m just -- here.” He handed the notebook over. “I don’t know where you learned to be so stubborn.”

“Gee, I wonder.” He began to look through it. And he may or may not have held it out a bit so Roman and Virgil could peek over his shoulders to see. “It’s not like Picani practically raised me or any -- oh my God. These are the prettiest things I’ve ever seen in my life. How long were you planning to keep this a secret?”

"I have no idea what you mean."

Every page Thomas flipped to had a beautifully inked drawing. A realistic yet scratchy style that seemed very unique to Logan. There were many different subjects. Some inanimate, some real. Even a few that extended across two pages. They were very detailed and intricate for something done in a few days. So far, Thomas’s favorite had to be the one with the little fluffy bird. He knew for a fact Patton had a part to play in that. That man had a scary good way with handling animals.

“Is that Kilgarah?” Virgil pointed at the page with a roughly sketched dragon. A sly smile spread across his lips. “I thought you weren’t interested in Merlin.”

“I never explicitly said that.” Logan crossed his arms as his face turned a brighter pink.

“Well, it looks great.” Roman grinned. “You should do little Aithusa next.”

“I’m just -- I’m really blown away by this.” Thomas couldn’t stop gazing at every illustration in amazement. “How did you manage to trace all your lines so well?”

“I didn’t.”

Thomas lifted his gaze up to Logan. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I didn’t trace anything.”

He gaped at him for a moment. “Shut up. You had to have traced this.” His wonder only grew when Logan continued to deny it. “No freaking way. You free-handed all of these? In pen?” That sounded impossible to Thomas. Free-handing in pencil seemed a little more believable since there was a chance to erase mistakes, but there weren’t any second chances with pen.

Logan didn’t seem to understand Thomas’s astonishment. “Is that difficult?”

Too many words tried to get out of Thomas’s mouth at once. How in the hell did Logan not see anything impossible about that? “Uh, yeah it’s difficult. It’s really difficult. Have you ever even tried to use a pencil first?”

“I’ve never drawn with a pencil before.”

Thomas almost choked on air. “You’re over seven hundred years old and you’ve never drawn with a pencil before?”

“You’re seven hundred years old?” Virgil and Roman asked over each other, though Roman’s came out sounding similar to a screech.

Logan sent a glare Thomas’s way, who in turn raised the notebook to hide his mouth from view. “Yes, I am,” Logan continued. “But that’s hardly relevant to this discussion. And, Thomas, if you must know, pencils as you know them are a fairly modern invention. It was common to use ink."

"What'd you do before ink?" Thomas lowered the notebook a bit. He knew for a fact that ink would have been impossible for Logan to come by during his childhood.

"I, uh, I would burn shapes into wood." He traced a shape in the air with his finger as if to demonstrate. "Fallen wood, mind you. Patton might have killed me if I burned anything into a tree."

"Okay, that's great, but can we please go back to the part where you're seven hundred?" Roman asked. "I think I still need to wrap my head around it."

"You told them without me?" Patton complained as he stepped into the living room with a pout. "I wanted to be there for it."

"I didn't tell them. Thomas blurted it out."

Thomas chuckled nervously, raising the notebook back again. "Sorry."

Patton slipped into a smile and stepped forward to ruffle Thomas's hair. "Don't worry about it, son. Sometimes that just happens."

"I'm not your son," he mumbled under his breath.

"What year were you both born?" Virgil decided to ask.

Patton shrugged while Logan answered, "No idea. I had it narrowed down to some time in the fourteenth century, but I'm unsure of any exact years or dates."

"I was born in the winter," Patton added. "But I don't really know how to translate the date into something that makes sense for a modern, human calendar."

"What is it in a past, non-human calendar?" Roman questioned.

"Treto cheizmon tin pepti daméra naká punpó mjeslino."

Instinctively, the other three turned to Logan for a translation. "I have no idea how that would translate, either," he admitted. "It's not exactly a numerical date. It’s just kind of a statement."

“Alright. Well now that I know how old you are, I have at least a hundred questions I would love for you to answer.”

As Roman buzzed along with questions, Virgil pulled Thomas away for a private conversation. He made sure to lower his voice before speaking, “Did you tell them?”

“Oh, uh,” Thomas messed with the pages in Logan’s notebook, “I was kind of working up the courage?”

“I was knocked out for almost six hours.”

“Okay, so I might have forgotten about it a little.” He cringed a bit. “I just don’t know how to say it.”

Virgil sighed. “I don’t wanna put you on a time limit, kid, but maybe you should tell them sooner rather than later. Like today.”

Thomas continued to fidget with the pages. “Why can’t you do it?”

“Fine.”

He blinked in surprise as if he didn’t expect that to work. “Really?”

“Yeah, I’ll do it right now.” He walked over to the other three without another moment’s hesitation. “Alright guys, I hate to interrupt the twenty questions, but I have something really important to say.” He waited until he had their attention before continuing. “Last night I had someone tell me where Altair is. And this morning, Thomas and I double-checked with Joan and Talyn to see if it was reliable.”

“And?” Patton pried, clearly eager to hear some good news.

“It’s highly likely that it is.”

And then Patton lit up. He smiled so wide that literal sunshine seemed dull in comparison. It made Virgil feel ten times lighter and caused a little smile of his own to come out. “That’s amazing. We’re so close to fixing all of this.”

“There’s still the issue on what we’re going to do,” Logan pointed out. He seemed to be going over several different scenarios in his head already.

“You have us,” Thomas said.

Logan paused. “I certainly hope by ‘us’ you mean Roman and Virgil, and not that you’re implying you’ll be coming along.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Thomas poured all his attention into the notebook in his hands. "I figured I could help in order to make up for mistakes one might have made prior.”

A grimace flicked across both Logan’s and Patton’s faces as if a foul memory flashed in their minds for a second. “That isn’t the exact issue,” Logan continued. “You’re still a child. You have very little experience in fighting.”

“Logan’s right,” Patton added. “This could be very dangerous. I wouldn’t even want Roman and Virgil to get involved, but I don’t really think we have much of a choice. We don’t exactly have anyone else to ask.”

"But I can help."

"Maybe you should listen to them," Virgil muttered. He ignored Thomas's shocked expression to continue, "it would be a lot safer if you stayed here." The Theorist’s words were loud and clear: something would happen to Thomas if he went. And Virgil couldn’t allow that.

Thomas frowned down at the notebook. It took all of Virgil’s willpower to not take back anything upon seeing that expression.

“Why not give him a chance?” Roman spoke up. “Who knows? We might need an extra pair of hands.”

Neither Patton nor Logan seemed all that convinced, to which Virgil let out a silent breath of relief for. As long as one of them didn’t change their mind then everything would be good. It was almost as if they shared the same brain; if one of them thought differently, then the other could be swayed to think the same way.

“I promise I won’t get in the way this time. Please.” Thomas gave them a genuine plea.

Virgil glanced nervously over to Patton and Logan. He couldn’t say any more about this. It would be their decision in the end. He knew, if he wanted, he could tell them about the possibility of Thomas getting hurt if he went. But he was pretty sure he’d seen enough movies and read enough novels to know that telling someone the future was a surefire way to make it come true.

“It’s still dangerous,” Patton said. “At least Roman and Virgil know how to use weapons and are capable of defending themselves. But you…” He trailed off.

“I can’t just stay back and watch --” Virgil caught sight of Logan’s reaction to that. A spark of recognition. Words that were familiar and held a specific weight -- “at least give me a second chance. Some way to show you that I can do this. Please. I know I can do this if you just let me.”

“I don’t --”

“Okay,” Logan cut off in a steady voice.

“What?” Patton and Virgil stared at him in disbelief.

“Really?” Thomas beamed. “Oh, thank you so much, Logan.” He rushed over to give him a hug.

Virgil didn’t know how he could have interjected without sounding like an asshole. He didn’t want Thomas to come along for fear of something terrible happening, but he couldn’t downright say that. Maybe he should have said something when he had the chance.

“Uh, you sure about this, Lo?” Patton wrung his hands. It seemed Virgil wasn’t the only one nervous about it.

“Just trust me on this one.”

And that’s all it took for Thomas to tag along.

They elected to go the next night in order to be better prepared. And boy, oh boy, if that wasn’t agonizing for Virgil. Every second that ticked by felt like hell. He didn’t know what to do. At this point, it wasn’t avoidable. He just had to keep an extra eye on Thomas throughout this whole excursion. As if he didn’t have enough to worry about already.

The building, as it turned out, used to be an old shopping place. It had a vast parking lot full of litter and faded paint. The big, blocky letters that were once attached to the front were long gone and were instead replaced by faded outlines. Who knew how long this one had been abandoned for. Virgil didn’t even recognize the name.

Unfortunately, the inside was no better. Trash covered much of the floor. Some displays and shelves were still left untouched -- somehow managing to make things that much more creepy. An old, musty smell wafted in from all corners of the building. It was kind of disgusting.

“It’s so creepy,” Thomas commented as he huddled into his jacket. He stayed near Roman, as he was the closest person with a light source. “Did it have to be another abandoned place? It couldn’t have been like a park or something?”

Virgil felt that on a spiritual level. But this place didn’t seem as death-trappy as the manufacturing plant. It actually seemed like they had a chance at escaping this without dying.

“Calm down, Virgil Jr., I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Roman teased.

Thomas grumbled but his words couldn’t be made out clearly.

“Both of you -- be quiet,” Logan snapped. “We’re here for a reason and it isn’t going to help if you keep blabbering.”

They muttered apologies.

“I could always add a little extra light, Lo,” Patton whispered. If Virgil wasn’t so close he might not have heard it.

“Now is not the time, Patton.”

Patton frowned and fell out of step.

Interesting.

The group continued to wander around in near silence. Virgil and Logan kept at the front with their lights. No one had any idea of where to start. There wasn’t any evidence of anyone being here at all. But, as Virgil has learned the hard way, looks could be deceiving. Every turn caused more uneasiness to grow within the group. They had to find someone -- anyone. They couldn’t have made this trip for no reason.

And yet the deeper they got, with no sign of anyone appearing, a sick feeling began to swirl in Virgil’s stomach. Something was off. He couldn’t tell what, but it was something. It didn’t have anything to do with the building, either. No. This was… this was like dread. A deeply-rooted dread that might as well have always been with him. But he didn’t know what could be causing it. Maybe he was being paranoid.

“What the hell?”

A deep chill rooted Virgil to the spot. He could barely manage to turn enough to see Roman, who was looking off toward the side at something. Except nothing was there. Just a makeshift aisle with nothing in between. Nothing at the end. Nothing that should have caused that tone in his voice. And yet it somehow managed to make Virgil feel more uneasy.

“Roman?” Thomas tugged on Roman’s sleeve to grab his attention.

But Roman didn’t pay him any mind. He continued to stare in confusion and horror. “M-Mother? How are -- how did --?”

“What’s happening?” Thomas turned to Logan and Patton for an answer.

Logan frowned a bit. “Roman,” he walked over to him, “if you’re seeing something, it’s not there. There isn’t anyone here but the five of us.”

Thomas lifted his hand and waved it in front of his eyes. There wasn’t a reaction. “I don’t think that’s a good sign.” He gave Logan a worried glance.

“Neither do I.” Logan’s frown deepened.

Virgil wanted to ask if they had any ideas, but the words never got to take form. Patton’s frantic voice sounded before he could even open his mouth.

“Logan?!”

Immediately, Logan returned to his side. “Patton?” He grabbed his outstretched hand. “What’s wrong? Are you seeing something?”

“There’s -- I -- I can’t tell.” He put his other hand over Logan’s. “Too many things are happening. I don’t -- I don’t know what’s real. I can’t tell. Logan,” he squeezed his eyes shut, “why are you leaving?”

Logan stared at him in bewilderment. “I’m not. Patton, I’m right here.”

“Come back. Please. You can’t leave. You can’t…”

“Patton. Patton, I’m not going anywhere.” He shook his shoulder. “Patton.” But he didn’t get a response.

“I think he’s gone, too,” Virgil murmured.

Logan sighed and faced the other two. “I don’t have an answer to what’s going on, but just know that whatever you see -- if you start to see it -- is not real. No one is here but us.”

“What should we do?” Thomas hovered at Virgil’s side.

For once, Virgil could see right through Logan. He didn’t know. He was just as lost as them. “Until we figure out what’s causing this we can’t exactly do anything. So before we even think about fixing it we have to find --” He cut himself off with a sharp gasp. The phone in his hand clattered to the floor. “You.” He took a tiny step back, wide eyes never leaving the empty spot between Virgil and Thomas. “No. No, you’re not real.” He turned away from whatever he was seeing.

Uh oh.

“Shut up. You’re not real.” He covered his ears. “I’m not there. I’m -- I -- you can’t be here.”

Virgil had an awful feeling that the battle was being lost. “Logan, don’t believe it. You’re right -- it’s not there. You’re here with us.”

“You can’t stay. You have to leave.” Virgil couldn’t tell if he was talking to his hallucination or not. “You can’t stay.”

“Logan?” Thomas called in concern.

He didn’t get a response.

“What are we supposed to do?” He turned to Virgil. “Why is this happening to them? What are they seeing?”

“I, I don’t know.” He truly didn’t. “But we can’t fall into it. We have to figure out what’s going on.” He put his hands on Thomas’s shoulders, careful to mind his phone. “Focus on right here and now, okay? We’re the only two left.” That wasn’t stressful or anything.

“Okay.”

Virgil could tell he was frightened. Hell, he was too. The people around them were falling prey to hallucinations and so far there didn’t seem to be any coming back from it. Or any avoiding it for that matter. There was no telling what they were seeing or why, but it was clear that they weren’t seeing the same thing. Perhaps they saw something specific to them.

And then Thomas’s attention drifted away for a moment.

“Kid.” Virgil found himself squeezing his shoulder. “Did you just see something?”

“N-no.” Despite this, his eyes flicked away. As if to make sure something was still there.

“If I find out you’re lying to me I’m not going to be very happy.” Probably not the best thing to say to a child you’ve yelled at before about such an issue, but he couldn’t help it. He was trying his best to maintain some semblance of control.

“He’s not real. I know he isn’t.”

Virgil watched as Thomas tried to peer around him to see something. Someone. Only to return back to ignoring it with a more panicked expression.

Getting desperate, Virgil grabbed Thomas’s face with one hand and forced him to look him in the eyes. “Focus on me. There’s only five of us in this room, alright? No one else is here. And right now, you’re talking to me. I’m right here. I’m real and I’m in front of you. Whoever you think you see isn’t really there.”

“Y-yeah, okay.” He nodded as best as he could with Virgil holding onto his face. But with a gasp and wide eyes, he tore himself away. He pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Virgil furrowed his brows. “Thomas?”

“You can’t tell anyone. I never should have said anything. Please don’t tell anyone.” He continued to beg to someone that wasn’t really there.

Fuck. Okay, this wasn’t good. This was the exact opposite of good. What the hell was Virgil supposed to do now? He tried to grab everyone’s attention -- just one more time -- but no one responded to him. It’s like he wasn’t even there at all.

Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Step one: don’t freak out. Well, don’t freak out any more than he already was. Step two: find what’s causing this. As long as Virgil wasn’t seeing anything then he was the only one who could find the source. It could be anything -- anyone. He didn’t know shit about magic. But he had a feeling he’d know it when he’d see it.

If he could see it.

Oh, God, what if he couldn’t see it? What if he walked right past it? What if it was invisible? What if it could only be seen by someone with magic? Or, worse yet, what if it was a curse? How would he reverse it? Curses never came with clear instructions!

A chill crawled down his back -- almost like an icy finger running down his spine. It forced him to shudder. The space around him started to dim. As if a shadow had been thrown over the surrounding area to the point where he couldn’t see anyone else. Not even his light illuminated anything.

Alright, this was not helping his situation. What the fuck.

He tried to keep his breathing under control. That was the one thing he had control over. He could manage that, at least. He could focus on that. Just breathe. Breathing is good. In. Hold it. Out. In. Hold it. Out. In -- hold on a minute.

Out in the shadows, something started to move. Someone? They took a step forward. Virgil took one back. The process repeated until a full person could be seen. And… they looked a lot like Virgil. An uncanny resemblance -- a copy. Except this version of Virgil had dark shadows under his eyes. His clothing lacked any sort of color and he looked downright unimpressed.

“It’s funny,” he spoke, but his voice didn’t sound all that human. It carried Virgil’s cadence but with layers in lower octaves, “that this is the one thing you fear the most.” He motioned to himself. “You’re nothing impressive. Nothing about you is threatening. Your friends are a lot more interesting, I think.” He looked out into the shadows as if he could see where everyone was exactly.

Virgil let out a silent breath. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t think. Here was this doppelganger talking to him as if he already knew what was going on. He wasn’t sure if he should be terrified or confused. Yet he somehow felt both.

The doppelganger continued. “There are so many regrets. It’s almost palpable. Things they wished they could have said, things they wished they didn’t say. There’s so much of it. And it’s honestly ridiculous. Is this how people live their lives? With constant regrets? There’s so much of it in here. Far too many lifetimes.”

What…?

“It doesn’t make any differences to me, though. Whether it’s the childhood Thomas lost, or the family Logan ran away from, it’s all the same.” His eyes turned over to Virgil. “It makes them miserable. I don’t think they like being reminded of it all, and yet it’s funny to watch them squirm.”

Virgil’s fear flew right out the window. This thing was messing with everyone. He spoke about them like they were new toys. “What are you doing to them?” He broke free of his instincts and stepped up to his clone.

He continued to get that unimpressed look. “Do you mind putting that thing away?” He pushed the phone down with a finger. “I’m not exactly partial to the light. And I don’t think you want to anger me.”

Virgil glared at him but did as he asked. As he shoved it into his pocket, it came into contact with something. A pen. He slipped it out without a second thought.

The other Virgil raised a brow.

“What?” He twirled it around his fingers. “It’s just a pen.” He clicked it and the ballpoint tip poked out. He suppressed a smirk. “Am I allowed to have this out or are you not partial to these, either?” He clicked it again to continue twirling it.

The other Virgil scowled. “I could care less.”

“Great.”

“What is it with humans and the need to be insufferable?” He began to pace around Virgil. “You’re all like flies. There are other things that are stronger and better than you, yet you are always everywhere no matter how those things try to get rid of you. Yet in the blink of an eye, you’re gone. And you leave new flies in your place.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes. “What are you?”

The other Virgil paused for a moment. “There are many names for someone like me. Many have called me a demon, others only think I’m a shadow. I believe you would have known me,” he appeared to think about it, “as the boogeyman.”

Virgil tried to ignore how the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He had no reason to doubt his clone wasn’t telling the truth.

Other Virgil stood right in front of him again. His eyes gazed over every aspect of Virgil’s person. It made him feel oddly exposed. “Why you?”

“I ask myself that every day,” Virgil shot back without thinking.

“I’m well aware.” He eyed Virgil once more, then sneered.

Wow, rude. “Alright, I don’t really care about you or what you think of my kind, but I would like it if you fucked off.”

He quirked a brow. Some semblance of interest crossed his features. “What’s making you so bold?” He took a step toward Virgil. “You’re the timid one. You second guess all your moves and think long before you act.”

Virgil stopped messing with the pen. “Well, for one, you’re wearing my face. So I’ve already lost all respect for you. And you’re messing with my friends. No amount of fear is going to stop me from saving them.”

The other Virgil didn’t respond. He simply stared. Like a cat that observes a moving toy before deciding to pounce.

“Why is it not affecting me?” Virgil had to keep the conversation moving. “If you find me so boring why let me be free from it?”

“How do you know that you are?” A smirk slid across his lips. “What makes you so certain that this is even happening at all?” He walked passed Virgil. “You can’t possibly believe that out of everyone, you were the sole person to be unaffected --” Virgil’s stomach did a flip -- “there's two powerful Magi, another one that can barely hold that title, and a human that’s just better than you in general.”

Alright, this dude was getting the name Anxiety for being an asshole. Also for being scarily accurate to Virgil’s own thoughts.

“If they couldn’t avoid it, how could you? There’s nothing special about you.” Virgil shifted to look at him. “You’re just a human -- and not even a good one. You fail at everything you try to do, and you think you have the ability to save someone? Don’t you think that if it was that easy Logan and Patton would have done it by now?” Anxiety looked Virgil right in the eye. He didn’t seem as intimidating before as he did now. “But they haven’t. So suddenly you think you can do things that not even magical creatures can do.”

“Someone has to,” Virgil mumbled.

Anxiety laughed. A sharp sound that echoed off nonexistent walls. “And that someone is you? Just look at you.” He threw a hand out to emphasize Virgil’s appearance. “Is this what a hero looks like?”

Virgil sunk into his hoodie. It felt too big now. None of his clothes fit right. He was standing out against the shadows. There were eyes looking at him -- judging him. He couldn’t make himself any smaller.

“And look at them.” Anxiety turned around and swept a hand out. As he did so, the shadows seeped away to reveal Virgil’s friends. They looked even more distressed than the last time he saw them. Anxiety glanced back at him. “Think you can fix this? Can you change anything about this at all?”

He…

“Can you?” Anxiety's voice boomed. His eyes changed -- shadows started to creep into them until they were filled with pitch black. In an almost immediate reaction, the others cried out in various levels of distress. They lowered themselves to the floor with a different reaction to what they saw. Thomas curled in on himself, breath hitching. Roman stayed surprisingly still and silent. Patton’s hands flew to cover his mouth. Logan’s hands curled in his hair with his eyes shut tight.

“Stop it.” It came out at a whisper. “Stop.” He couldn’t take it. He couldn’t look anymore. “Just -- just stop. Why are you doing this?”

Anxiety’s eyes returned to normal. “You think you five were my first choice? I have better things to do with my time than mess around here, but a contract is a contract and I am bound to complete it. No one is happy with this, trust me.” He put his hands in his hoodie pockets.

“Contract?” Virgil furrowed his brows. “What contract? For who?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

Virgil ignored how cold his limbs got. This wasn’t ideal. A literal boogeyman had them all trapped because someone wanted him to. What was the right way to go about this?

“But you -- why are you here?”

“What do you mean?”

Anxiety rolled his eyes. “You’re afraid of everything. So why are you here? With them.” He motioned to the others. “I know for a fact that you would rather have your old life back. Even if it meant you never got to meet Thomas. So why do you continue to come back to them?”

“I have to --”

“You have to? You don’t have to do anything. You could very well go on your own way and they wouldn’t do a thing to stop you.” He started walking toward the others. “Is it because you’re scared of them? Of what they can do?” He put his hands on Patton and Logan’s heads. They shuddered in response. “Ooh, if you only knew the secrets they have buried -- you’d be terrified. Would you like to learn some?”

Virgil couldn’t open his mouth.

“Do you want to know how many people Patton has killed? What about what Logan had to do to survive?” Another smirk began to crawl onto his face. “I could tell you all of their darkest fears -- every one of their secrets. I know how much you hate those.” He moved over to Thomas. “What about this one? The little boy who’s still scared of the dark. And we don’t even have time to unpack the mess of that one.” He pointed to Roman. “What do you think? Just because I’m forced to be here doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun.”

How in the hell was he supposed to respond to that? His friends’ secrets were theirs to keep. If they wanted to say it in their own time then they would. There was no way in hell he’d make that mistake again.

Anxiety crossed his arms. “There’s no way you can lie to me, Virgil. I’m inside your head -- I’m in theirs too. I could tell you what each of them is seeing if you wanted. It’s some juicy stuff if you ask me.”

“I don’t want to know. Keep it to yourself.”

Anxiety gave a mock pout. “Aw, you’re hurting my feelings.” He fell back into his unamused glare. “Face it, Virgil, you don’t want to know because you’re scared of what will happen if you find out. You’d rather be ignorant to their crimes and go on believing that they’re all innocent little angels. Well, they’re not as innocent as they seem.” He moved around Thomas. “You have a right to fear them.” He began walking back over to Virgil.

Virgil held his ground. He couldn’t let himself fall for any of his tricks.

“Do you want to know why Patton and Logan won’t talk about their human friend? What was his name…?” He paused to think about it. “Remy. That’s what they called him, at least. There’s a very good reason they wouldn’t want you to know.”

“Don’t.”

“Why?” Anxiety looked personally offended. “You have a right to know. Why would a close friend of theirs suddenly fall off the face of the Earth?” He shrugged. “Personally, I don’t know why Magi like them would even entertain the idea of befriending humans. Seems like tedious work. Especially when they die.” He sucked air through his teeth. “It must hurt even more when it’s your own fault.”

Virgil didn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

Anxiety continued on anyway. “He was their best friend for such a long time. Right up until the end. Unfortunately, he met that end a little sooner than he should have. He was right around your age actually.” He tapped Virgil’s chest with a finger. “Just something to consider.”

“Do you have a point?” He needed to act like it didn’t matter. Like it didn’t cause millions of questions to stir in his brain or cause his hands to feel clammy.

“Oh, yes, the point.” He smirked. “The reason they wouldn’t want you to know. Well, it’s simple really.” He shrugged again as if the answer should have been obvious. “It’s all their fault. Why would they want you to know about them getting their best friend killed? It’s frowned upon to kill your pets, you know.”

Virgil frowned. “You’re lying to me.”

“Me? Lie?” He put a hand to his chest in offense. “I just told you that I’m inside their heads. I can see everything that they do. And I’m telling you, with full honesty, that Remy is their biggest regret. Emile Picani regrets killing his friend, Remy Magada.”

“You -- I can’t -- no.” Virgil spun around so he wouldn’t have to see him. “I don’t believe you. Picani wouldn’t -- he isn’t capable of that.”

Anxiety appeared in front of him. “What makes you so sure? You barely know him. He’s lived a long life. There’s a lot you don’t know about him -- a lot he wouldn’t want you to know.”

Virgil couldn’t believe it. He just couldn’t. He had to turn around again.

“Are you honestly willing to rescue someone who will end up leaving you for dead? He’ll do the same thing to you that he did to Remy. And then he’ll do it to Roman. Do you want to risk that?”

He didn’t want to risk anything.

“Might as well leave now. Running away is what you do best, isn’t it?”

Of course, it was. That’s all he ever did. Maybe it was what he should do now. He wasn’t a fighter. He wasn’t someone who could come to the rescue. He was just a coward. He couldn't do anything. He never should have even come. Why did he think he had a chance? He didn't have any helpful qualities. He should leave -- he had to leave. There was nothing for him here.

He took a step, ready to run away with his tail between his legs, but he noticed something. Thomas. He sat curled in a ball with tears streaming down his face.

What the hell was he doing?

Virgil blinked a few times, his mind clearing of the weird fog it found itself in. The voices stopped. Everything urging him to leave -- everything saying he couldn’t do it -- was gone. Those weren’t his own thoughts. He closed his fist around the pen. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“What?” Anxiety almost sounded angered.

Virgil turned to face Anxiety, determination set in place. “I’m not leaving. Nothing you say will get me to run away.”

Anxiety scowled. “So what? You’re going to be the hero now? You? Do you honestly think you’re capable of that? Do you think they’ll think of you like one?”

“It doesn’t matter what they think. It matters what I think. And I think I’ve entertained you for too long.”

“Why aren’t you listening to me?” Anxiety’s voice warped further. The angrier he got, the more twisted it became. “You’re just a human! How are you able to ignore me?”

Virgil clicked his pen. This time, a dagger filled his hand. “Because I know when the voices in my head are wrong.” He lurched forward and thrust his dagger into Anxiety’s stomach. “Plus, I kinda hate myself. So maybe using my face wasn’t the best idea.”

He yanked it out.

(Next)

[funhaversclub]

Sooooo if you know me, which I know you dooooo, you'll know I love video game theories. With the drop of the new Pokemon Sword and Shield trailer, there are so many new theories going around! So let's just jump into it. Theory. Review. *clap, clap*

(here’s the trailer if you havn’t seen it)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOPVBm0sA7Q

In the trailer we got to see new lands, characters and the starter Pokemon... and it set the internet ablaze. The biggest basically confirmed theory is that this game’s region is inspired by the UK. Big Ben. The hill patterns. The clothes patterns. The sprawling country sides. People have even made side by side map comparisons. So that's neat! Another map theory is that this region connects to the top of the Kalos region from X and Y... but that's pretty far fetched.

I managed to find an HD map of the new region, Galar. On the map we get to see all the areas featured in the trailer. We see several "gyms" revealed. Based off of the trailer, the one gym we see is grass (based off the leaf above the door) we can speculate what the other gyms could be based off that.

1 - Ground or Rock

2 - Poison/Fairy (a half based on the symbol looking like 2 colors)

3 - Grass (as seen in the trailer)

4 - Water

5 - Dark

Other things to note about the map is the location of the hill patterns. Those hill patterns feels like a great mystery to be solved. Could it be this game's mythical beast? To me it looks like a giant chicken with like an antenna for a tail. It appears to be breathing fire? or smoke? and thunder bolts are shooting out of it. Around it's feet seem to be small little creatures. Some with 2 legs, some with 1. 2 look humanoid and the other looks more like an animal. WHO KNOWS! We will just have to wait and see. There was a leak that said that the legendary Pokemon are a wooden horse and a metal snake so maybe the giant chicken is the Mewtwo to the 3 legendary birds?

Another neat thing is the brown mountain region. For starters it looks to have a giant Dugtrio shape dug out f the wall. further up is a giant door? It seems to have a shield and what looks like gears or flowers. I read folklore about the UK that at a crossroads you could meet a fairy or some mythical creature that would open a door leading you to a magical land. Could that door be the entrance to the magical looking mushroom forest above it? ...or maybe it’s just the path to the right? or is that the cross roads? THEORIES! 

Other theories about new Pokemon come from the dragon-like castle. The front entrance has a dragon/wolf like head. Going deeper into this theory, the several sprawling towers on both sides of the castle could represent the wings of this creature? But we don’t 100% know that this is a dragon head or even if it represents a Pokemon. In other games creatures were featured in structures that were purely aesthetic and didn't represent a Pokemon so you never know. There's another dragon image in this castle though, that’s the golden head on the top of the smaller tower within this castle. Which clearly looks like a golden Japanese dragon. Again, we don't know if this is a Pokemon. Still awesome!

As far as the map goes the rest is pretty straight forward BUT still interesting. Haunted villages, sea side towns, rail ways, clock work cities. Check out the HD map yourself.

Before we get to the new Pokemon, here are the older gen Pokemon featured in the trailer. What a mix of different Pokemon from EVERY generation before.

Gen 1: Pikachu

Gen 2: Hoothoot, Tyranitar

Gen 3: Flygon, Wailmer

Gen 4: Lucario, Munchlax

Gen 5: Minccino, Zweilous, Braviary 

Gen 6: Fletchling, Meowstic (Fletchling is technically only on a weather vane)

Gen 7: Wishiwashi, Grubbin

...and from Pokemon GO we got the 1st Gen 8 Pokemon Meltan and Melmetal that will be featured in Sword and Shield.

Now lets look at the starters. We got the Grass monkey, that monkeys funky. Grookey! a mischievous chimp that is full of boundless curiosity. Things to note is in the intro video he's banging a stick on a rock implicating possibly rhythm is involved in the Pokemon’s nature. Also it seems like it makes grass grow from its touch? As far as the name goes I believe it's based on Groovey and Monkey? Another thing to note is if this falls in line with the Pokemon starter theory the grass starters are all based on prehistoric creatures. So could this end up being something human like? ...a drumming humanoid ape?

Like every year early “leaks” surface about what the final stages of the starter Pokemon might look like. This year is no different. Here is the first “leak” of Grookey’s final evo:

Next up is the Fire Bunny, Scorbunny. A rabbit Pokemon that is always running about, bursting with energy. When we first see this bunny it's dashing around with it's feet giving off fire. Just like every fire starter there’s always a point that fire comes from like Charmander and his tail. With Scorbunny it seems to be its feet. Theories on its name branch out into a possible theme of the game and that's sports. The name being a mix of Score and Bunny. Score because it seems to represent a soccer player. The patch on it's nose representing a trope in anime where a character with a bandage on its face represents a sports star. Also footy being invented in the UK! This could lead to possibly it's evolution line kicking a fireball around relating to both soccer and its feet being its fire starter. To go with the starter theory again the fire starter should represent a zodiac sign and this easily fits as it’s a bunny/rabbit. 

Following the trend here’s the “leak” of Scorbunny’s final evo... which looks more mechanical that I’d pictured...

Finally we have the anxiety riddled water chameleon thing. Sobble. A somewhat timid Water lizard Pokemon that shoots out attacks as it hides itself in the water. It's name seems to be a mix of Sob as in to cry and bubble. It has these adorable little chameleon type hands! eeeee! Theories are that down the line it could be a ghost type based on it going invisible to hide? To end with the starter theory yet again it states that the water starter final should have some form of weapon like Blastoise and its cannons so maybe it'll end up being a sniper of sorts? stealth artillery?

Lastly we have the majestic “leak” of Sobble:

(PS: here’s the Pokemon starter theory incase you didn’t know what I was talking about -- from quara.com)

Some theories about all 3 are pretty interesting. the first that those older "leaks" were half right? we got a fire bunny and a monkey like grass starter. That's neat. Another theory is that the shapes of the heads are all similar because they represent knight helmets falling in line with the medieval swords and shields theme.

We also have no news yet in how Meltan and Melmetal fit into Sword and Shield. The only theory as of now is just the fact there’s a giant steampunk city and the Melmetal line have metal and bolts involved in its body.

Another Pokemon leak claimed that just like mega evolution and Z-moves, this time we will be getting Armored power up. This goes with the Medieval theme as well. Like donning a suit of armor. In the trailer there’s a part where a soccer player has 227 on his jersey. this could be the obvious answer which is the release date BUT it could also be the number of Scarmory... the armored Pokemon! oooOOOOOooo.

There's also one shot which appears to say Gamefreak in an unknown language. This being confirmed by the Gamefreak logo. This has become the Rosetta stone for Pokemon language theory.

Finally the last thing noticed has been possibly another new Pokemon. In a quick shot you can briefly see the image of what looks like an electric hare/wolf type thing? There’s more letters as well but nothing can be made out yet?

As of now this is about all we know. There are more theories swirling out there but these are the biggest things I’ve managed to put together. Bottom line... I’m really excited for this game!

PS: pretty funny note, a Youtuber (Jimmy Tumor) accidentally predicted the titles before the official release dropped. hmmmm?

OH! PS2: I can’t make it at the moment because Photoshop doesn’t want to work properly on my laptop BUT if I had to predict the “Yellow” version for this generation I'd say it would be called “Pokemon: Scepter” Sword is attack, Shield is defence Scepter would be special, like magic. The Merlin of this medieval theme... Other people have a different theory...

Alright. That’s all for now! 

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT Rewatch 4x12 - Darkness on the Edge of Town

I hope my knowlEDGE on this episode will make for an engaging review! XD

...Yeah, this was a hard one to make a pun for. I miss the ice puns already.

Anyway, as I said, just below the cut, there’s an honestly fairly short review by my regular standards. If you feel like checking it out, go below the cut!

So, if you’re at all familiar with my reviews, by now you know that I usually post my main takeaways here, but this time, I don’t really have them and what I do have to say is small enough to not need a ton of elaboration. So instead, we’re gonna skip it this time and just go right to the Stream of Consciousness! With that being said...

Stream of Consciousness

-”Tried to impregnate.” Not even one minute in and we get a hentai joke!!! XD I love this series!

-You know, the music that play in the Storybrooke owner sounds like a somewhat harsher version of what is later the happy endings montage in Season 6, as if to say a lot is right, but not everything.

-I would honestly love more Snow and Bird interactions! XD

-Wait, so is Granny’s just closed, or is she babysitting WHILE running a popular diner! This woman is a freakin’ superhero! Also, where’s David?

-I love how Belle actually thinks to reach out to people outside the fairy tale world.

-”How could I have been so weak?” MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY.  

-”You -- you should’ve been stronger, but you weren’t, and well...neither was I.” No. I love Killian, Belle, but there was a difference between Killian being sort of manipulated (sort of -- the present segment of “The Apprentice” just sucks) and being straight up lied to.

-”I just hope he’s found whatever it is he’s looking for.” Umm, considering when you last saw him, he was looking to kill people and take over the world, you probably shouldn’t hope that! XD

-I repeat what I asked in the last episode: WHY are all of these fairytale creatures living in New York! I love my home state, but it is EXPENSIVE!

-You know, I just feel really bad for Ursula. We don’t see enough of what she did as a villain to hate her in any way and in this world, apparently all she can afford to eat is RAMEN! That is so fucking sad! This woman does not deserve this!

-”What you do is complain.” And what you do is mooch, Rumple! Don’t bitch at the person who is hosting you, especially when she’s pissed! See, the one thing about being a coward (And I am a big fucking coward) is that we’re not confrontative when we don’t have the power! XD

-I love the implication that Cruella just went around our land AND landed a rich husband with the name “Cruella.” XD

-You know, CAN Cruella kill in a land without magic? Because no one else’s magic works, so maybe she’s been free all along! ...But then again, she probably would’ve killed her husband, so I guess it’s more of a reverse Weaver situation. Actually, to serve my point, at the end of the scene, Cruella drives down and like by all means, should’ve killed this guy but instead gets flung back into a bush! The universe is conspiring against her!

-”Aren’t you tired of feeling ordinary?” Please, even in this world, Cruella’s far from ordinary! Besides, for the wham line that this is, Cruella’s problem wasn’t that she was ordinary -- it’s that she couldn’t kill!

-Okay, so apparently Regina has a weakness for root beer! I hate the stuff, but good to know!

-I love how Killian smiles at Belle as she tells them that she did it! He’s so proud!

-Cruella’s power is so fucking cool! She can not only control animals, BUT she can have her commands spread from one animal to another. Like, how did this woman not at the very least take over a whole town with an army of rhinos?

-How come Mal’s staff absorbed the fire instead of just...Mal? She’s a fire breathing dragon! Give her some extra fire!

-Or...CAN Cruella kill? Because Rumple knows she can’t kill, but is still afraid?

-I know that Blue and Regina are far from friends, but it’s weird how much focus is put on their dynamic in this episode. There’s a lot of hesitation whenever they interact and given how little they interact on a regular basis, it’s odd.

-Why wouldn’t Blue not know or even not think about the possibility of the Author working for The Sorcerer, or vice versa?

-When did Isaac have the time to leave these “hidden clues?” And how come neither Merlin nor The Apprentice had anything to say about them if they were rumors?

-”This isn’t our first monster bash.” I honestly love how freakin’ well oiled this town is at times!

-I’m honestly curious what a 4B where the Queens of Darkness do decide to leave Rumple behind would look like. Because Cruella would’ve at least considered it, let’s be honest. I’m not saying I’d have preferred that, but I would totally read a fic of that universe.

-You know, I like the subtle costume details of just how destitute Rumple’s life has become. Everything from his phone to his cane are of poorer quality and his coat looks like he got it out of Goodwill. It a really good instance of costuming telling a story.

-”The sea bitch.” To my knowledge, you and Ursula have never met! Why are you calling her a bitch?

-”Swallows the heart with the darkest potential.” I’m trying to think about this in regards to Emma, the character we’re supposed to believe fulfills that role. I mean, sort of. I can see her intelligence, ability to detect lies, and connection to her family and friends to have potential to be abused to the detriment of others. It’s an interesting concept. And given how life in Storybrooke, while rewarding in a lot of senses, has made her life complicated as all hell, I can see her having a lot of baggage about it.

-David, welcome to the fucking episode! Seriously, was Josh just sick this week or something?

-”What made you choose yellow?” I love how Regina asks this as a means of not freaking the fuck out that a Chernabog is chasing her! It’s a very Regina thing to comment on and it’s hysterical because of it!

-I like how Emma points out the hypocrisy at play with her parents not trusting these two lower tier villains.

-”Not as horrible as I once was. And if I deserve a second chance, so do they. How can I sit here looking for my happiness and deny two others a chance at theirs?” This is a FANTASTIC Regina speech. It really shows how Regina’s grown to be more self aware and better equipped to help redeem other villains.

-I kind of wish Rumple had more of a scared reaction to the possibility of not being let into Storybrooke. Like, the rest of his life depends on this.

-”Make friends, build relationships.” And NONE of this ever happens! XD

Favorite Dynamic

The Queens of Darkness and Rumple - These guys are the main dynamic and they really do provide the most entertainment value. First, I want to point out how cool it is that Rumple is the one with power (both actual and figurative) in the past segment while the queens are in the present. That’s just interesting storytelling. Second, what I love about them in the present is that they get just as exasperated as we do about how frustratingly vague Rumple often is and that they use their power in the situation to get him to fucking stop to some degree. Their frustration slowly but noticeably builds up in the episode as Rumple continues not really saying anything and finally explodes and that is honestly really cathartic to watch. For as much as I love Rumple for how cryptic he can be, its a quality of his character that can easily be overdone and in a meta-sense, this was pointed out in-universe and almost prevents him from losing his own plan of revenge.

Writer

Adam and Eddy start up our half season with a solid start. Again, there’s not a lot to say here because while these two episodes have stories, they’re not so much rooted in something like theme which can be analyzed. The characters are all in solid form, and Regina’s in particularly great form. I will say though, there is a clunkiness to a lot of the lines. Sometimes, it’s a matter of people giving weird exposition or explaining things in a way that characters shouldn’t be able to understand (Ex. The entire middle of Killian and Belle’s discussion, Rumple telling Ursula and Cruella about being the Oxford professor).

Rating

10/10. I feel like there’s a singular word to describe this episode: Utilitarian. It’s all setup and a bit of tying loose ends up with a really basic ‘working together is good’ storyline in the past and sort of present. That’s not to say that it’s bad -- far from it. It just means that there’s not a lot of story to comment on. But this is a good version of setting up a story and biting off a loose end of two. There’s a lot of fun and interesting dynamics, it’s great to see all of our main heroes working together, and the queens get to show off the bulk of their charisma and intrigue.

Flip My Ship - The Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness”

Captain Swan - I love the bits of domesticity we get with Emma and Killian here. You can see that they’re really gotten the most out of these six weeks and have integrated themselves into each others lives. Like, the sequence at the beginning of the episode implies that this is a normal morning for the people of Storybrooke and Emma and Killian are literally part of each others routines! That shit is just too fucking cute!!! I’mma also plug my fic “Hero,” which is based around this episode. It’s one of my better work in my humble opinion and deals directly with Killian’s doubts in his own heroism that he displays in the hallway scene. Speaking of which, I do like the hallway scene. While I don’t like Emma giving Killian a total free pass, I do think that with the fairies, it’s warranted and deserved given how he very clearly didn’t want to go through with it.

-----

Thank you all for reading this pretty relaxed review. Sorry for all the delays lately, but I’m hoping I can pick up the pace from here.

Also, shoutout to @watchingfairytales and @daensarah. See you all next time!

Season 4 Total (105/230)

Writer Scores: Adam and Eddy: (34/60) Jane Espenson: (20/40) David Goodman and Jerome Schwartz: (30/50) Andrew Chambliss: (14/50) Dana Horgan: (6/30) Kalinda Vazquez: (14/40) Scott Nimerfro: (14/30) Tze Chun (8/20)

Operation Rewatch Archives

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[tmorriscode]

Tickling Dragons ( and other Occupational Hazards) Part I

(Ace!Charlie x Demiromantic!MC)

Summary: When Rare and endangered dragon eggs are stolen from the reserve, Charlie calls the one person he thinks might be able to help.

I have an extensive Hogwarts Mystery and Beyond headcanon, mostly based around my own MC.  I started writing these imagines as a way to develop her character.  Other people seem to like them.  So I collected them into a Masterpost.

This is part the first.  You can find part II and III by clicking on the linky.

—

“Hey Weasley, your bird is some kind of a professional finder, isn’t she?” Charlie’s supervisor, Godwin asks.

Charlie looks up from where he’s filling out requisition form 2B (venison, fresh. Raised on the McFusty dragon reserve).

He puts his quill back into the inkwell and pushes the paperwork aside to dry. (If he’d realized how much red tape went into raising dragons, he might have followed you and Bill into curse breaking.

Nah, who was he kidding? He would have gladly sat through Double Potions with Snape every day for the rest of his life if it meant working with dragons.)

Godwin looks at him expectantly, reminding Charlie that he’s supposed to be answering a question.

“(Y/N)‘ s an archaeologist.” He bites his tongue against saying you were a muggle archaeologist. While you teach muggles at the University of Bucharest, you also write papers about the wizarding side of your research and submit them for publication to curse-breaking journals (when you’re not out on one of your interviews or archaeology digs).

But occasionally, your exploits take a turn for the exciting and end up in the Daily Prophet. Like your most recent adventure. You were following a lead on a cache of Spriggan treasures hidden by Grindelwald’s servants.

Instead you found the Amber Room.

That was noteworthy enough to land your name in muggle papers, as well.

You came across as very daring. Especially when you were quoted as saying: “I got to punch Nazis and I didn’t even break any bones this time. I call that a success all around.”

That may be what Godwin is asking about.

“Professional finder? I suppose you could look at it that way,” Charlie said. After all, your job is to uncover the past.

Godwin nods. “Good. I want you to hire her.”

Charlie runs that sentence through his head twice. It makes no more sense the second time through.

“She already helps out around the reserve on her days off,” he says. “If she wanted a job here, she’d probably have one by now.”

With a sigh, Godwin puts a file on Charlie’s desk. It’s a report detailing how the last count of longhorn eggs in the hatchery was short.

Charlie felt his stomach drop. He was halfway to his feet when she waved him back to his seat.

“Sit down, Weasley. Aurors with Interpol have the dragon dealers. Inside job, apparently: the delivery wizard who brings in the brandy and chickens. They took him into custody, but the eggs are already on the black market. According to that article, your bird is good at tracking . . . Items “in the world of murky ownership,” I think she called it.”

Charlie has to concede the point. He used to think it was funny that some wizards would pay more for one of your broken clay tablets with an obsolete spell stamped in it than they would for a chest of goblin gold.

Then he heard your stories about how you dueled your way through half of Europe’s back alleys to get said tablet back.

Your (and your brother’s) extensive, shady contacts might be able to get results where the aurors couldn’t.

“What can we offer her?”

“The Ministry here set up a reward for the return of stolen eggs. It’s not the street value of an egg, but it’s respectable.”

Godwin writes a number on a piece of paper and pushes it to Charlie. Charlie has to fight to keep his jaw off the floor. He hopes you never take it into your head to move out of his yurt on the reserve. Because this figure would be a nice down payment on a plot of land. Or an island - like New Zealand - or something.

“Pretty sure I can tear her away from academia for a few months,” Charlie says weakly.

“I hope to Merlin that it won’t take that long. You’ll have to go with her. I need someone there who knows how to keep the eggs viable.”

Charlie nods. Looks like he gets to let (Y/N) drag him through some of the dodgiest wizard pubs in Eastern Europe. Compared to the daily possibility of being roasted alive, it’ll practically be a vacation.

__

This is going to be a three part story. I was going to make it longer, with an epic, Indiana-Jones style race across Europe to stop dark wizards from doing something that I hadn’t quite worked out yet.  But it just kind of came to a natural pause at the halfway (quarter way?) mark.  So I just sort of wrapped it up there. I may someday write a follow up with the other half of the idea I had, If I can work out what it was that the dark wizards want.

Eta: It’s now a four part story. 

[light-and-darkness-equally-well]

Headcanons for Supernatural Angel Wings

Cool cool I’m sure this has been done but I’m doing it anyway. Okay let’s go archangels first.

Michael: 

It sounds cliche as heck but I’d give him golden eagle wings. 

Eagles have been the image of a lot of major things for one main reason: they’re the symbol of Zeus. And therefore Jupiter. And therefore Rome. And therefore a ton of other countries trying to be the Roman Empire Take Two. I feel like the warrior archangel that he is? He’d have eagle wings. (If I weren’t so sure about it I’d give him condor wings for sure)

Lucifer:

Mark Pelligrino said it first: Flamingo wings. 

And actually?  The aesthetic works for me. They’re not quite as ostentatious as bubblegum pink plastic ones - there’s reds and whites and blacks, which frankly goes with the hellfire Lucifer’s been through, while also being flashy. (I don’t have access to a good image of the wings, but just trust me? And Mark?)

Raphael:

Probably turkey vulture. 

Another out of the blue one to look up, but the brown and white contrast on the underside of the wing does look pretty cool, and the bird itself looks like the regency aunt on her third mysteriously dead husband, so the vibe fits for me for whatever reason.

Gabriel: 

The golden-winged boy: I’d give him Golden White-Eye wings.

I just recently looked up golden birds and these tiny things were PERFECT and precious little things with bright golden feathers. Not yellow - I’m saving the goldfinch for someone else - but really golden looking feathers. Plus, you know, small and critically endangered, like my fave. (Shh, he’s not dead, I don’t know what you’re talking about ;) )

Castiel:

You’re probably thinking I was going to say a raven, right? Well, no. I’m not. 

Common Grackle.

I have a ton of these little dudes always in my yard, and let me tell you, they’re actually gorgeous despite probably being kind of common. They have kind of oil-slick looking feathers in a metallic black-blue situation towards their heads. So at the base of his wings it would be that blue, but it would radiate out into black in my head. 

Balthazar:

Look, Peacock wings are nearly as extra as their tailfeathers, and this man I cannot doubt would have these bright wings. 

Samandriel:

Goldfinch.

I know him better from fanon than canon, but the sweet smol boy deserved better, and I think he would make a lovely finch. 

Anna:

Dusky Lory - another one I looked up for this list specifically.

These wings look like they’re burning, so I can only think of Anna tearing hers off as they burn away as she becomes human. If Flamingo wasn’t already Lucifer’s, I’d pick this for him, probably.

Metatron:

Pigeon. 

I’m not just doing this to be hating on him - though a lot of people are willing to do that; I can’t help but know him best from “Don’t Call Me Shurley”, as I came in on Season 11 when I finally sat down to watch the show week by week. But some pigeons are downright beautiful. 

Gadreel:

Blue-winged kookaburra. 

Grey and unassuming as Ezekiel, with shining blue power in the end. 

Uriel:

He’ll have crow wings, I think, because they are a bad omen, and he ends up being a pretty bad image for everyone: Lucifer is coming, and Heaven is going to side with the Apocalypse. 

Zachariah

I’m giving him Canadian Goose wings, because he’s an annoying blowhard who’s too dangerous for his own good.

Naomi

Shining cuckoo, partially because of cuckoo behavior, partially because green and shiny. 

Cuckoos leave their eggs in other nests so that other birds will raise them, sometimes starving the rest of the nest to provide for another bird. There’s some sort of parallel in there, I’m sure, but my brain won’t go all the way to make the connection rn. 

Anael

HM this one’s hard. I think I’ll give her swan wings (wow, the first white ones???) because of the vanity she seems to flaunt - she’s got it all, why not show off her power for a buck or two?

Jack

I have two main thoughts on Jack’s wings.  In the AU with Mary, they looked much, much smaller than they did recently. I always thought of them as sparrow wings. 

(spoilers)

However, I can’t deny that the recent episode with him taking Michael’s Grace? I think he could have a merlin falcon’s wings instead. But I’m still clinging to my sparrow boy. IDK.

 . 

What do y’all think?  I certainly can’t decide on Jack, but I do like my choices here. What would you match up? Did I miss an angel, a bird you’d want?