#basic attacks to at least keep Lily safe in case she gets attacked by a shadow and Mai happens to not be there

[omgafhsfanin2024]

Oh god is my fnafhs phase coming back. I have an AU Idea and it's very magical girl-y help (a Lil summary in the tags)

[artzee-bee]

Now and for eternity| Lucifer Morningstar x reader

Fandom: Lucifer ( netflix)

Request:” Can you write an imagine where Lucifer’s wife is like this well known social light that owns her own luxury fashion brand and she starts receiving gifts from an obsessed secret admirer and Lucifer is unknowingly being targeted by the secret admirer who is trying to kill Lucifer in order to get the reader and Lucifer thinks it’s his father trying to ‘strike’ him down for some unknown reason until Chloe point out someone that correlates with the readers secret admirer and Lucifer’s attacker. Feeling some type away about it Lucifer decides to taunt the secret admirer by upping the PDA and romantic gestures getting a kick out in it much to Chloe’s dismay. And once the secret admirer is caught Lucifer rubs it in their face that the reader is his for now and all of eternity before showing the secret admirer his true face. ”

Genre: fluff? I guess

Warnings:death threats, stalking, attempted murder

~~~

It wasn’t unusual to receive gifts and flowers at your office. After all, with the job you worked and the wealthy people you collaborated with, the presents simply represented one of the many perks of being a designer. Except, one friday morning, while examining a particularly beautiful bouquet of pink lilies, you noticed the little card that came with it

“I know they are some of your favorite - <3 “

Usually, work associates would leave a name. Some way for you to know that they value your work and are thinking of you (and maybe to flatter you into giving them a discount), but there was no name on this card, just a tiny heart in a glittery, pink gel pen. Pink lilies were, indeed, your favorite.

You brought the flowers home and told your husband, Lucifer, all about the mysterious gift. You had talked to your secretary and even she didn’t know where the flowers came from, since no one came to drop off lilies that morning. You presumed the sender must have simply forgotten to sign the card, and perhaps your secretary had forgotten about them, with the busy morning she’d had. You and Lucifer had a laugh, imagining the shy and anxious intern that was probably assigned the job, and the scolding they’ll get when their boss finds out about their mistake.

The next morning, a box of your favorite chocolates were waiting for you on your desk. There wasn’t any note, just the same heart, written in the same glitter pen. You dismissed it as a weird coincidence and moved on to working on your designs.

Without you knowing, this also happened to be the first time Lucifer would be faced with a very interesting note. As he was getting ready to leave the police station, he noticed a piece of yellow paper, stuck to his windshield

“Back off of Y/N. Consider this your first and last warning” no signature. Anyone in Lucifer’s place would have lost their shit, but he paid it no mind. He was the devil after all! If anyone wants to take his precious Y/N away from him, well, they can try. It would make things all the more fun. He folded the paper and stuffed it in his pocket before heading home.

The couple shared Y/N’s chocolates that night, talking about who this person might be. Lucifer wasn’t as amused as he had been the night before, if anything he was rather concerned but he didn’t want to say anything about the note to Y/N, because she would freak out. 

Nothing really happened for the next week. Anonymous gifts stopped showing up at Y/N’s office, Lucifer didn’t get any more notes and things were falling back in their place, until the day right after Y/N’s latest photoshoot went public and viral. It was all to promote her upcoming clothing line. As soon as she walked into the office the next day, she spotted a red, velvet box, the size of a notebook, in the middle of her desk. On top of it, a note written in the same glittery pink as the other gifts

“Congratulations on your new line. Those photos are gorgeous - J.P. <3”

Inside the box was a gorgeous diamond necklace, looking like it was worth millions. If you hadn’t been concerned about the sudden apparition of all these gifts so far, you sure were now. You immediately called your husband to tell him about the mysterious jewelry, but he didn’t pick up. Unbeknown to you, he was busy ranting to detective Decker.

“I mean, not to be dramatic, detective, but the situation does feel like it’s spiralling out of control. Death threats, sure, those come every other weekend, kind of like fanmail, y’know? But actual gun shots fired at my head, well, that’s where I draw the line.” he ended with a giggle. Lucifer was leaning on Decker’s desk as she was examining the bullet casings Lucifer had brought her from his apparent ‘attempted assasination’

“Where did this happen again?” she said, not taking her eyes off of her work

“Right by that coffee shop ms. Lopez always talks about. I may have lost a bet to her the other day and have to get her coffee for the rest of the week, so I was just exiting the shop when a masked man in a dark blue BMW zoomed by, pointing his gun at me and shooting blindly. I mean, that is the most basic attemp at murder I have ever witnessed. At least make it interesting!”

“Lucifer, if someone is out for your life, it’s serious business”

“Why would it be? It’s not like I can actually die, detective! Plus, it’s probably not that deep anyways. Just, dear old dad coming after me again for no particular reason. Very characteristic of him.”

“ You’re getting ahead of yourself. Whoever sent this wants you and Y/N apart, why would your dad want that?”

“Because he’s a prick who disagrees with everything and anything that makes me happy?” Lucifer concludes with an innocent smile “And, of course, Y/N being moral, our marriage goes against the heavenly rules of the almighty, so he’s trying to break us apart, but worry not detective! Me and Y/N are stronger and more in love than ever. My father will simply have to accept that. Nothing will break us apart” he said, puffing his chest out with confidence

“That’s good to hear Lucifer, but I still think we should stay open to different possibilities”

“Oh, come on detective, that would be a waste of our time. I know my father better than anyone, believe me when I tell you this is his hand and no one else's. Case closed! Now, let’s move to the next one! Chop chop detective, murders won’t solve themselves!” Lucifer said, marching out of the precinct. Chloe rolled her eyes at her partner, before hiding the bullets and the note in her desk and going after him.

Although it didn’t bother you, you couldn’t help but notice how much more touchy Lucifer had been with you, ever since the necklace incident. He needed to touch you at all times: when you were out for coffee, at lunch, at the station, in your office, in Lux. His hand was always either around your waist or tangled in yours. You felt sort of bad, thinking he must be a little insecure with this secret admirer being after you at all times, but you wanted him to know that you loved him more than anything and that no matter what, you would never leave him for a faceless man, no matter how many pearls and chocolates he bribes you with. And so, you decided to play along with him, giving him as much attention as you could. Your visits at the station almost doubled, you always cleared your schedule to make time for him and even decided to start work later in  the day than usual, so you could spend more time with him in the morning. 

One afternoon, as you were enjoying your time with Decker and Lucifer during their lunch time, one of the notes from your secret admirer slipped out of your pocket. You didn’t realise it until Chloe picked it up

“Oh, I was going to throw that out”

“Where’s this from?” she asked, studying the note

“Just one of this week's gifts” you confessed awkwardly. Without a second thought, the detective reached for her drawer, pulling out another note from inside and inspecting them side by side. Eventually, she placed them both in front of Lucifer

“Notice something interesting about the writing?”

“They are remarkably similar…”

“More like identical”

“What is that?” you asked, looking at the unknown note. Your heart sank as you read it

“I’ll explain everything at home dear, I swear” Lucifer said

“You’ve received death threats because of me?”

“I’ll tell you everything at home, I promise”

“You have initials…” Decker noticed

“Yeah, ever since my photoshoot, they’re present on every package”

“What floor is your office on again?”

“5th, why?”

“How can someone enter your office every morning without anyone, not even your secretary noticing, and exit just as mysteriously?” “Unless he found a different way in” Lucifer replied

“My window” you realise “You can step out directly onto the emergency staircase from there”

“He knew when to sneak in without being seen, so he must have known your schedule like the back of his hand. Who could know?”

“The only people who know it are my secretary and Lucifer”

“A stalker?” your husband suggested

“Maybe” Decker turned quickly to her computer “I’m going to check any business owners around that neighbourhood who could have had a close shot of when you enter and exit your studio, see if any initially match the ones on the notes. We’ll go from there” 

You thanked Chloe for the help and went home with Lucifer, who spent the entire car ride explaining the note to you and the events of the previous days. You were angry at him for keeping all of it away from you, but ultimately happy that he was safe. You spent the night drinking wine and rewatching all of your comfort movies, to calm your nerves.

You decided to try working from home for the next couple of days, too scared by the idea of a stranger following your every move. It was a challenging process but Lucifer did his best in helping you get accustomed to this new routine. His homemade meals could not compare to anything you would eat while in a meeting with your business associates. Plus, the company was much more delightful.

Chloe texted you, almost a week later, to come down to the station as quickly as possible. They had found the guy. You hopped into your car and when you finally arrived, Lucifer was waiting for you outside

“They found him?” 

“Yes dear, they did”

“How?”

“Well, as it turns out he lived in the apartment building next door. His living room window had a great view of everything happening in your office. We’ve found a week’s worth of gifts he was planning to deliver. It’s him for sure” 

“Thank you” you whispered before collapsing into Lucifer’s arms and hugging him tight

“It’s alright lovely. It’s over now. Let’s go see how the detective is handling it. I think they’re in the interrogation room now.”

From behind the glass, you watched the man that threatened your marriage and your husband's life, confess to everything. Admit to stalking you, in order to learn your schedule. Break into your office and open fire on Lucifer. More than enough to get him behind bars for a long time. Decker and Lucifer got up and were ready to leave, but your husband requested a couple of minutes alone with the man. The detective agreed, cautioning him to not do something stupid, before leaving them alone. Lucifer turned on his heels to face the man in handcuffs and you could instantly tell he was furious

“Truly an honorable try. Y/N is one of a kind, you were right about that, the only detail you missed is that, you see, she’s taken. By me” the mischievous smile on his face let you know that he was up to no good “Our bond is indestructible and it’s really laughable to think that you’ve risked so much to tear us apart when you didn’t stand a chance to begin with” Lucifer leaned over the table, now his back was facing you “Me and Y/N are, and forever will be, together. There is nothing you or anyone else can do to change that. She is mine and I am hers, now and for eternity” as his little speech came to an end, you noticed the man in handcuffs go pale with terror. He began shaking in his chair, screaming incoherently about the devil. Even tho you hadn’t see what your husband did, you could tell by the man’s reaction. You laughed to yourself, not even mad that Lucifer had used his devil face against this man. You would have done the same if you had the option.

[dreamwritesimagines]

Twisted 27 - When The War Comes [Spencer Reid x Reader]

A.N.: Thank you so much for your wonderful support my loves! Here’s the next chapter, I hope you will like it as well, and please let me know what you think of it! ❤❤ Ily, kisses! ❤❤❤

Series Masterlist

Warnings: Murder, serial killers, violence, manipulation, mentions of sex, drinking, smoking, guns, knives, sharp objects, stabbing, hallucinations. 

Word Count: 7500

Summary: Who will you become?

You had to control your anger. You had to control the fire in your veins until you were sure that your niece was safe, that your family was safe, then—

Then you would handle this situation. Until then, it had to wait.

All the training your father had given you was basically screaming at you to attack the threat, but you managed to keep yourself from doing so while you followed him through the woods, paying close attention to your surroundings.

The cabin. This was the way to your father’s cabin in the woods.

You had counted ten armed men on the way here but you had to assume there were more scattered along the woods. You stepped over a tree root before you looked up at the night sky and quickly found the stars that would help you. Thankfully it was a clear night, and your father had taught you long before how to read the sky for direction, in case you needed to-

Hunt.

A shudder went down your spine but you quickly shook your head, you had no time for that fear lurking in your head.

Fear could wait until you made sure you and everyone back home survived.

Considering how your family had no boundaries when it came to you, you were one hundred percent sure that by the time tonight was over, they would arrive at your apartment to see where you were.

“So what is your game here?” you moved your wrists that he had bound the moment you two had reached the end of the road and got off the car to walk into the woods, “You take me there and what? You’ll kill me?”

He looked over his shoulder, “How can you ask me that?” he said and you raised your brows.

“How can I not ask you that?”

At least you could leave a note. Lincoln was just that stupid.

“They’ll come looking for me,” you told him as he rolled his eyes, still pointing the gun at you.

“Who, your boyfriend?”

“He works in the FBI, you fu—“ you had to remember to stop yourself. He had access to Lily, so you knew you had to play it along, even if you barely felt anything other than anger. “Yeah. My boyfriend.”

“You broke up with him once, you can do it again,” he said and pointed at the pen and paper on the kitchen island, “Just write you need some time or whatever, he can see it when he gets here. Less suspicions.”

You grabbed the pen and paper, then clenched your teeth, your mind working nonstop.

“I’m waiting, Y/N.”

You stole a look at him, then leaned in to write on the paper;

Hamlet,

I need some time alone.

Ophelia.

Ophelia died in a lake, and you hoped that Spencer could make the connection between that and the time you had told him about Lincoln pushing you into the lake by the cabin.

He took a look at the note, then made a face.

“You call him Hamlet?” he said, shaking his head, “I never really liked that play. Let’s go.”

“Do you seriously think I would harm you, in any way?” he asked when you got to the stone stairs leading to the cabin, “I will explain everything once we sit down.”

“Will you untie me?”

“I’m not an idiot,” he answered as you climbed the stairs after him, his grip on your arm almost too tight and you gritted your teeth to stop yourself from coming up with a comeback. You looked up at the cabin, the memory of the last time you were there hitting you out of nowhere and churning your stomach, but you managed not to throw up as he slightly pushed you through the open door.

Don’t be scared, you commanded yourself in your head Fear is useless.

That was one of the things your father had taught you during those predator and prey games. Prey always got scared, which led them to panic, which led them to making mistakes that would cost them their lives.

You were a predator. You had always been a predator, since you were a child, and there was no fucking way Lincoln of all people could turn you into a prey.

He pulled a chair, then motioned at you to sit down.

“Remember, if you try anything…” he said, “If I don’t send the code to my friend—“

“Yeah, you’ll hurt my niece,” you spat, “Some man, aren’t you? Threatening a kid.”

He untied your hands, then pulled them behind the chair and started tying them again, and you raised your brows slightly.

Rather than wrapping the rope around your wrists separately then pulling them together, he was just tying them together, which was a terrible rookie mistake your father would never have done. Escaping from those, especially with a rope was almost easy with enough knowledge, and you slightly widened the gap between your wrists by pressing your thumbs together, not wide enough to make him suspicious but wide enough to give you enough space to move your wrists when you wanted to get rid of the ropes.

Almost everything was automatic at this point, you were following everything your father had made sure to engrave into your mind.

“There, that’s better,” he said and let out a breath, a small smile pulling at his lips, “Hi.”

You tilted your head, looking at him silently.

“That was a bluff by the way. I would never hurt anyone you love, I thought you knew that by now.”

That seemed to distract you from the fury, “What?”

“Everyone that I killed,” he pulled a seat for himself so that he could sit across from you and leaned in slightly, elbows on his knees, “Everyone, that was for you. I did it for you. Don’t you see that? From that childhood friend to your douchebag ex?”

Oh God you were going to be sick.

Spencer was right. You were sitting with the copycat killer back there, at the charity auction.

“I can’t believe you don’t remember,” he ran a hand through his hair, “You told me what was happening, when we were kids. You told me a week before that night in the graveyard, that’s how your father let me come with you both. My parents had drunk too much at your parents’ party— you don’t remember any of that? I was the one who you shared that sacred secret with, no one else, not even your family. It was me.”

“Sacred?” you repeated, “My father was a monster, Lincoln.”

“Don’t say that,” he shook his head, the glare in his eyes sharpening, “Never say that. He…he is way ahead of all of us, if he didn’t get caught he’d be an even bigger legend than he already is. He brought us together.”

“You brought me here by threatening me and you tied me to a chair. My father is a terrible person, but this right here is your choice you fucking asshole.”

“Because I need you to understand,” he nodded to himself, “You will understand.”

“I will understand what?”

“That I did this for us!” he snapped and he swallowed thickly, taking a deep breath, “That I love you.”

A hysterical laugh escaped from your lips and you gawked at him.

“You love me,” you repeated, “You— you have been terrorizing me for months, you killed people, you fucking destroyed my life because you love me?”

“I’ll set you free,” he said, “Free of all these bounds everyone else put you into. I’ve seen your potential back when we were still kids, then after your father was arrested they turned you into something else, some shadow of what you’re capable of. Then I came back and you…” he ran a hand over his face, “You decided to get into an agent’s bed.”

“Don’t even—“

“He would try to change you,” he cut you off, sniffling, “He would, Petal. He would smother you with these stupid ethical rules and all that bullshit, but I’ll— we’ll be free together.”

If your last encounter with your father had taught you anything, it was that delusional killers didn’t exactly react well to a reality check. You moved your hands under the ropes, pulling at them just a little.

You would just have to play along until you were free, then you could be out of there.

The more you know about your prey, your father’s voice echoed in your ears, The easier it will be to take them down.

“How about your girlfriend?”

His head shot up and he shrugged,

“I mean,” he trailed off, “She thinks she’s my girlfriend.”

You gritted your teeth. “Erica,” you said, “Right. My girlfriend doesn’t have the same financial status as we do, huh? My fucking assistant, Lincoln? What did you offer her?”

“Offer her?” he asked, “I didn’t have to offer her anything. Who did you think your father’s outside source was?”

You pulled back slightly and he scoffed a laugh.

“I know,” he said, “She wants to kill you, not that I would ever let her, but she can believe that for the time being. I know you feel betrayed honey—“

“Don’t call me that.”

“But we only need her until a point, after she makes a phone call to get your family off our backs, she will be my gift to you.”

You dug your fingernails into your palms to remind yourself to focus, “Your gift?”

“There’s nothing like killing someone you know,” he dragged the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip, “It’s not like strangers, not at all. That shit’s special, Petal. You’ll see when the time comes.”

Before you could even think of an answer, you heard the footsteps coming closer and the door opened, making you turn your head to see Erica who almost looked intimidated for a moment upon seeing you, but she managed to pull herself together.

“You might want to check out the west team,” she told Lincoln and he paused.

“Can I trust you with this?”

Erica frowned, “You can trust me with anything, you know that,” she said softly and you closed your eyes for a moment, pulling at the ropes tight enough to hurt before you felt it get loose just a little. The rough material of the ropes almost burnt your skin the more you kept moving your hands, but you gritted your teeth, trying to ignore it.

You heard the door close and the lock sliding into its place as you opened your eyes, and saw Erica putting the key into her pocket.

“I like your dress,” she said as she sat down, “Too bad it’ll get bloody.”

“You were my father’s outside source?” you asked, trying to ignore her comment, “You?”

She gave you a bright smile, and rested her arm on the back of the chair, making herself comfortable.

“That’s right.”

“Whatever he’s paying you—“

“He’s not paying me,” she spat as if she was insulted at the implication, “You ungrateful little bitch. I’m doing this because I want to, because I respect him. I believe in what he stands for, not like you would understand.”

“Jesus, you’re one of those freaks,” you muttered to yourself, tugging at the ropes around your wrists, “Serial killer groupie huh?”

“I’m not a groupie,” she spat,  “I respect your father, not just any serial killer. It’s him. No one in your family deserves him, much less you, and—“ she shook her head, “The way you disrespect him and his name…”

“Disrespect him?” you let out a laugh, “Oh that’s rich.”

“He was right, you know?” she said, “Only the smart and strong is supposed to survive in this world, not weak. And he tried to raise you to follow in his footsteps, but you were too weak to do so. He just doesn’t see that.”

You clicked your tongue, “But you see that?”

“If he were my father,” she leaned in, gritting her teeth, “It doesn’t matter. By the time this is over, after I get rid of you and prove myself, he will see me as a daughter. Not you. You’re not strong enough to survive in our world. Lincoln agrees—“

“Lincoln is using you,” you cut her off, “He’s going to get rid of you as soon as he’s done. Let me guess, he told you you could kill me?”

“We’ll make you regret disrespecting father’s name first, then I will kill you, yes.”

“Yeah that’s not gonna happen,” you said, “Face it, you fucking idiot. He’s using you, just like my father is using—“ you didn’t get to finish your sentence when she lunged from her seat and slapped you across the face, her ring splitting your lip. You made a face, and spat out the blood filling your mouth, trying to ignore the sting on your tongue upon biting it.

“You know what?” she asked, “Lincoln always said no for some reason, but if you keep going like that, I can make you hurt really bad.”

“Aw sweetheart, you don’t have enough training for that,” you cooed, “What, you did some google search, looked up my father’s methods and now you think you can torture people? You think that’s how it goes?”

“I didn’t say it’d be physical,” she curled her lips, “You wouldn’t want your family to get hurt, do you?”

Your eyes snapped up to hers, that fire awakening at the pit of your stomach. She tilted her head, obviously pleased with your reaction.

“I suggested Lily instead of your ex….Anthony, was it? I said we should kill her and put her in the middle of your living room back then, but Linc said no. He said it’d hurt your father too.”

A numbness spread over your forehead, then went to the back of your head, reaching your spine as you blinked a couple of times.

“You were going to kill my niece?” you heard yourself ask and Erica crossed her legs.

“I bet that would’ve made you think twice before you disrespected John.”

You could almost feel it. Feel the fury taking over, that anger your father had always insisted you possessed roaring through you until it reached your heart, wrapping itself around it tighter and tighter.

Let the predator come out Petal, your father used to say Let it come out.

You rolled your shoulder back and cracked your neck with your eyes closed, an exact copy of your father as you twisted your hands under the ropes before you opened your eyes again to look at Erica.

“You don’t deserve him,” she insisted, “You all—you all just locked him away and forgot about him until Linc came back, until we started this. He will see soon that blood means nothing, me and Linc are going to be his legacy, not you.”

You tugged a little harder around the knot, then turned your wrist and managed to pull it out of the tight rope even if it scratched the skin over your wrists, making the burn spread over your arm.

“He taught you some stuff, big fucking deal,” she said, “I learned by myself. Without anyone to help me. Without someone else holding my hand.”

You clenched your fists, trying to ignore the throbbing as you slowly pulled your other hand out of the knotted rope.

“Yeah you missed a rule though,” you asked, dragging the tip of your tongue over the dried blood on your lip, “You’re not supposed to make them bleed unless you can kill them.”

Erica pulled her brows together, then a shriek escaped from her lips as soon as you let the rope fall, raising your hands in a mocking manner so that she could see.

“You chose the wrong victim, baby,” you said and she kicked the chair at you, then darted for upstairs, screaming while you just raised your brows, rolling your eyes.

Panic always led to mistakes like these, like rushing to somewhere one couldn’t escape from.

Upstairs was always a bad idea.

You made your way to the kitchen and pulled open the second drawer where your mother used to keep the knives, then grabbed a huge knife before you flipped it in your hand.

“Erica,” you called out, “Get back here, you’re fucking fired!”

She slammed a door upstairs and you scoffed a laugh, adrenaline pulsing through you as you dragged the tip of the knife over the walls, climbing the stairs.

“You know, if you give me the key I might make it quick,” you flipped the knife again, playing with it before you ran it over the steel staircase finial, letting her hear the sharp noise, “No promises though.”

Silence.

“I know you’re in here,” you sang, looking into the dark. Your father had taught you this long ago, if you couldn’t see, you had to make sure how to listen in the dark to find the location of whoever you wanted to hunt.

You took a deep breath and held it, not even moving a muscle and sure enough, a very faint creak reached your ears and you turned your head.

Second door to the left.

It used to be Mina’s room.

You let out a whistle echoing in the otherwise silent hall, disappearing into the dark before you stood in front of the door and ran the tip of the knife over the wood, almost relishing the slight whimper coming from the other side of the room.

“You were going to go after my family?” your voice rose as you kicked at the door, and Erica let out another scream.

“Lincoln!”

“Oh come on, where’s that strong survivor you’ve been telling me so much about?” you taunted, kicking at the door again but it didn’t open. “Hm? I thought you were going to prove yourself?”

“I-I swallowed the key, I can’t give it to you!”

“Ah well, I guess I’ll have to cut you open!” you shouted and kicked at the door once again and at last, the lock broke with a click and the door swung open, hitting the wall. Erica grabbed the chair closest to her, holding it up.

“Don’t!”

You flipped the knife in your hand, the grinned and took a step to her, so focused on adrenaline pulsing through your system that you didn’t even notice her eyes focusing on something over your shoulder until it was too late. Before you could even turn around, someone pulled you back, expertly avoiding the knife by bending your arm back and pressed a cloth over your mouth and nose, that sharp scent making you gag.

Chloroform.

Lincoln.

A tingling reached your head and that fuzzy warmth reached the back of your head, then closed your eyes shut.

                                                ***

You had no idea how long it took you out, but when you opened your eyes, it was still night. You grabbed at the side of your head and sat up in the bed, the whole room spinning around you.

Your childhood bedroom. You were in your childhood bedroom in the cabin.

“Hey,” Lincoln’s voice reached you and you turned your head to see him leaning on the doorframe.

Shit.

That was a mistake. Of course that was a mistake, and you couldn’t even believe yourself just how stupid you had been to act so careless.

“Easy, chloroform messes you up,” Lincoln said, “I’d stay in the bed for a while if I were you. You can’t attack anyone like this, you know?”

You weren’t supposed to follow your dad’s example in a situation like this. There was a reason why he was locked away, a reason why people had caught up with what he was doing, he was way too impulsive, way too destructive in terms of physical means. You had been so focused on protecting your family and going after the nearest threat that you had forgotten who you were.

You weren’t just your father’s daughter, you were also your mother’s.

And this right here? It wasn’t your father’s expertise yet, his time would come when you would have to fight your way out.

It was your mother’s.

Manipulation.

It was time to channel her, not your father.

“What happened?” you asked and Lincoln heaved a sigh, then pushed himself off the doorframe.

“You went after Erica,” he said, “She’s pretty shaken, but I told you Petal. You need to be patient, we just need her up to a point. After that, she’s all yours.”

You narrowed your eyes and slowly swung your legs over the edge of the bed, running a hand through your hair.

“And how much longer will I be subjected to this humiliation of yours? Can you give me an exact time or should I just wait here?”

He stared at you for a moment, trying to understand what you meant and you just arched a brow, a look of completely nonchalant sneer flashing over your face, the exact same expression you had seen on your mother countless times.

“I’ll take this silence as a no.”

“Humiliation?” he repeated, “When- how did I humiliate you?”

“How did you humiliate me?” you scoffed a laugh, “Are you serious right now?”

Jesus, your head was absolutely killing you but you had to focus.

“I’d never humiliate you, I love you.”

“Yeah yeah,” you waved a dismissive hand in the air, “You love me, we’re supposed to be together. I guess I’ll have to take your word for it while ignoring your actions, is that it?”

“My actions? Y/N—“

“So you bring me in here,” you cut him off, glaring at him, “You give me this whole speech about how you’d do anything for me, how we’re—we’re meant to be, and then you leave me in the same room with your ex so that she can boast about you? How you two are in love, how you two are together?”

“I told you, we just need her until—“

“That’s your love?” you interrupted him again and pushed yourself to stand up, crossing your arms while looking him dead in the eye, “Is that the proof of your love? Rubbing your girlfriend on my face? All the while she talks about how you two are going to be my father’s legacy together, like I don’t exist?”

“She just thinks that, I made her think that so that we can use her—“

“And then,” you said through your teeth, “You stop me and knock me out while I’m going after her to get rid of her?” you clapped your hands slowly, “Yeah. Proclamation of love right there Linc, congratulations.”

He licked his lips, obviously taking aback. “Y/N, we need her for now.”

“Mm hm, exactly,” you shot him a sweet smile “Looks like you need her a lot.”

“Not like that,” he shook his head, “Not what you think, I swear. She’s nothing.”

“No, I think she’s not nothing,” you clicked your tongue, “I think you formed some sort of attachment to your prey—“

“I didn’t!”

“Because you grew soft for her, and now you’re confused whether you want me more or her.”

He strode to you in three steps and pulled you closer, tilting your head up, and you had to command yourself not to make a face.

“I want you,” he said, “I always have, you know that.”

“Bullshit.”

He groaned, “Y/N-“

“No, it’s fucking bullshit.” You pushed his hands away, and searched your mind for the final nail on the coffin.

“Did you sleep with her?”

The expression on Lincoln’s face shifted and he averted his eyes.

Bingo.

“Did you? While you were in love with me, while you knew that we were meant to be, did you or did you not sleep with her?”

“You slept with that agent,” he shot back and you shook your head.

“I didn’t know you would do anything for me,” you insisted, “I had no idea—you said you had a girlfriend, I barely remember anything from my childhood let alone sharing so much with you and you didn’t tell me. But you knew,” you dug your finger into his chest, “You knew everything and you kept it hidden from me, so answer me this, did you sleep with her? While you knew you were in love with me?”

He swallowed thickly and opened his mouth, then closed it again, and you took a step back, trying to look heartbroken.

“Wow.”

“Y/N.”

“Wow. You actually did.”

“Listen to me, she doesn’t mean anything, I swear to you. It was just to manipulate—“

“Get out of my room.”

He frowned, “What?”

“Get the fuck out of my room and leave me alone until you’re ready to show me you actually love me.”

“You don’t mean that,” he started and took a step towards you, but you grabbed the nearest object which turned out to be one of your old dusty plushies and threw it to him.

“Get out!” you yelled and he took a step back, raising his hands.

“I’ll… I’ll come back when you’re calmer,” he said and closed the door behind him, and you lost your balance, falling on your knees.

People were just so easy to manipulate, thanks to your mother.

“Okay,” you whispered to yourself, “Thanks mom, time for dad’s turn.”

Weapons.

You reached under your bed to take a look at the secret compartment that your dad used to make you put your knives, but it was of course empty. Lincoln was stupid when it came to you, but he wasn’t a complete idiot, apparently. You pushed yourself off your knees and stood up, then closed your eyes and focused on your breathing, trying to clear your mind.

Your father had taught you this long before, in every room, there was something you could use as a weapon or turn into one.

You took a deep breath, exhaled it and opened your eyes.

It would have to be something precise, Lincoln had a point, you were in no shape to get into an actual fight with him. So you would need something sharp, and something that you could hide in either your sleeve or somewhere easily reachable. Something that Lincoln wouldn’t see until the next time.

You could tear down the bed to get to the bed springs, but it would take a long time and there was the danger of him walking in on you.

There was a chair and your post-its, some tape, small notebooks by the corner, hair ties and a music box on the desk in front of the window—

The music box.

The music box had a mirror.

“There you are,” you muttered to yourself as you took the music box, then grabbed the tape and your hair ties. You checked the door, then sat down, covered the mirror with the long skirt of your dress, then pushed on it with your elbow until you heard the small noise of the mirror breaking. You pulled back and uncovered it, then grabbed the longest shard, ripped out a couple of pages from your notebook and started taping it around the shard before you wrapped your hair ties around it so as not to let it slip or hurt your hand.

By the time you heard Lincoln’s footsteps coming upstairs, you had spent almost an hour preparing your weapon. You looked up, then closed the music box and put it back before tucking your newly made weapon under the lacy sleeve of your dress, and got on the bed, leaned your back to the bedframe and crossed your arms.

“Petal?” Lincoln called out and you gritted your teeth and turned your head when he peeked his head in.

“Hey, do you want to join me for some food downstairs?”

You narrowed your eyes, “Depends. Will your girlfriend be joining us?”

“I knocked her out and put her in your dad’s basement,” Lincoln said, “She will stay there until you feel like getting rid of her, and I won’t stand in your way this time. Okay?”

He offered you his hand and you eyed it, then pushed it away and managed to stand up on your own.

“Still dizzy?”

“A little,” you confessed, “Still angry too.”

Lincoln chuckled and heaved a sigh, “We need to talk about this jealousy of yours babe.”

You managed to control your expression and ignored him as you went downstairs. The rug was pulled to the side so that you could see the hidden door to the basement, but it was closed. You looked at the table in the middle of the living room that was covered in food, and there was a vase of jasmine flowers between the lit candles. You were still sure that you couldn’t engage in an actual fight until the chloroform was completely out of your system, but you didn’t have to worry about it since Lincoln seemed not to put any knives on the table. Your dad’s old vinyl was playing by the corner, the soothing melody creating a complete contrast with what was happening.

“A dance before dinner?” he asked you, “Come on. That dress needs to be used in a dance, don’t you think?”

You thought for a moment, then shrugged your shoulders and took his hand, then wrapped your arms around his neck as he pressed his hands to the small of your back, pulling you closer before you started swaying with the melody.

You just needed an exact time for him to lower his defenses completely, because you only had one shot at this.

Stab the prey, twist the knife, pull it back and watch them bleed.

“You have no idea how much I waited for this,” he said, “When I was in Italy, I would….dream of this at night.”

You didn’t answer, you just made sure to keep your wrist at an angle so that the mirror shard wouldn’t slip.

“And when I came back and saw you for the first time in that red gown…” he murmured, “I thought I would drop dead. You were even more beautiful than I pictured.”

“Why didn’t you tell me back then?” you asked absentmindedly and he shrugged.

“I didn’t know how you would react.”

“And all those people who died?”

“Some of them were diversion,” he said, “Some of them were chosen. I promised myself no one could make you sad, ever. I would’ve killed that agent too if he was the one to break up with you, but then you said it was your choice, and… I don’t know. I thought it’d raise suspicions.”

Spencer.

He had considered killing Spencer.

Goosebumps rose on your skin but you reminded yourself to stay calm and focus, you had already slipped once because of your anger, you wouldn’t get a second chance.

“What about Anthony?” you asked, “You killed him… was it to frame me?”

“God no,” he said, shaking his head, “Of course not. Erica thought it was revenge for how you were treating John, but I wanted to make you remember how it felt to be in the scene of your father’s doing, how….how powerful it made you feel. I thought that would make you see how everyone around you was trying to make you into something you’re not. Deep down, Y/N, you’re just like me. That’s why we will be legends.”

A bitter taste appeared at the back of your throat and you swallowed thickly.

“And my father?”

“He knew we were supposed to be together,” he said, “He knew you would need a…companion in this. Us, free together. That’s why your father failed, because he couldn’t share who he was with your mother. It won’t happen with us, ever.”

Stab the prey, twist the knife, pull it back and watch them bleed.

You moved your wrist so that the shard could slip low enough for you to hold it and Lincoln leaned in slightly, his eyes closing.

“I love you,” he whispered against your lips and you smiled.

“Oh Lincoln,” you murmured, your heart beating in your ears, “You should’ve known better.”

With that, you drove the shard right into his stomach, making him gasp and open his eyes. Betrayal was written all over his face, it was very clear he hadn’t expected it as you twisted the shard, making him lose his breath before you pulled it back, blood splashing over your face and your dress. You shoved him, making him lose his balance and fall down, taking the coffee table with him, causing some noise and as if on cue, Erica started screaming his name from the basement.

“Erica, shut up before I come down there and break your fucking neck!” you called out and the screaming stopped.

“Thank you,” you said and turned to grin at Lincoln who was breathing hard, his face pale.

“Y/N—“

“Oh don’t worry, you won’t die right away,” you said, “Dad taught me that one, ages ago. I stabbed you in the stomach, and it’s a pretty thin shard, so it’s not the blood loss that will kill you. It’ll be the toxic shock, because right now everything in your stomach including acid is contaminating your system. Should be fun, huh?”

“Why did you—“ he coughed, and you snapped your fingers.

“Hold that thought, I gotta get something from the kitchen,” you said and walked to the kitchen to open the drawers, then grabbed some knives and scissors before you want back to the living room, “Yeah, you were saying?”

“We’re meant to be,” he managed to say, trying to breathe and you hopped on the table before you cut the floor length skirt, ripping it out.

If you were going to run through the woods, you needed to be in something you could easily move and fight in.

“Nah we’re not,” you said, “You’re delusional, that’s it.”

“Petal—“

“See, I could’ve gone easy on you,” you said, wrapping the cloth around your injured wrist, “Really. I could’ve just escaped and handed you to the FBI and be done with it, but no. You two had to bring my family and Spencer into this so now,” you tut-tutted, “Now you get to suffer.”

“He doesn’t understand you,” he said, pressing on the wound and leaning his head back to the wall, “He never will, not like I do. We’re meant to get rid of every weak person in the world, everyone who deserves to die.”

You let out a laugh, now wrapping the cloth around your knuckles, “Uh huh.”

“You’re meant to be the legacy.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just meant to be a wedding planner,” you pointed at him with the knife and walked to him to grab the key from his pocket, then you pulled his boots off his feet, took off your heels and started getting into his boots.

“Petal, we’re supposed to be together.”

“Because my insane sadistic father said so?”

“Because I know you.”

You looked up from the boots you were tying as tight as possible, “Hm? You know me?”

“I do.”

You put two of the knives in each boot and jumped down to rock on the balls of your feet, trying to see if you could move well.

“That’s your first mistake buddy,” you said, now wrapping the rope over your boots, “See if you knew me, you wouldn’t be so careless, would you? You took me here and what? You didn’t think I’d kill my way out? You didn’t think I’d turn you and your serial killer groupie partner into my prey?” You pulled at the rope, “Honestly, you two fucked with the wrong legacy.”

“I don’t—“

“My father raised me to be unstoppable,” you said, “And apparently you know that. So you should’ve considered that it’d take more than two copycats to take me down, and—“ a manic laughter escaped from your lips, “Did you seriously think you could beat me at my own fucking game?”

He coughed, making a face and closed his eyes.

“You have hours until you die, but if I make it out on time, maybe I’ll send some medics here. Maybe. Depends on if I feel merciful, who knows?” you grinned, “Your survival depends on my mood, isn’t that ironic?”

“There are ten men between here and your weekend house, you’d never make it out.”

“I’m not going north,” you said and Lincoln frowned.

“South? That’s just woods.”

“No, it’s a longer way than north, but there’s a road at the end. Dad once made me find my way through the woods.”

“You can’t leave me behind,” he coughed again, “We’re meant to be together. We’re meant to work together and kill together, that’s our love story.”

You pursed your lips, then grabbed a jasmine from the vase and walked towards him.

“Even if I wanted to follow in that monster’s footsteps,” you said, looking down at him, “Even if I wanted a companion, it wouldn’t be you. You’re fucking dead weight, Linc. You don’t have what it takes.”

With that, you let the flower drop on him, unlocked the door and stepped outside, the chill air filling your lungs. After looking around to see whether it was safe, you went to the back of the house, and looked up at the stars, calculating which way to go.

Then, you tied your hair up and started running.

                                             ***

As it turned out, Lincoln had fewer men on the south of the woods, but there were still people. You had gotten rid of two of them and tied them up with the rope you had taken with you, but it would take one mistake for them to drag you back to the cabin, so you couldn’t take any risks.

You heard the faint noise of a radio and looked over your shoulder, then climbed up to the nearest tree, keeping as silent as possible. The light of a flashlight soon lit up under you and a man came into your view.

“South number five is clear,” he said into the radio and as soon as he put it into his pocket, you jumped down silently, standing behind him for a moment before you smacked his head into the tree, making him pass out. You unwrapped a part of the rope and tied his hands and feet before you stuck the cloth around your arm into his mouth so that when he woke up he wouldn’t be able to ask for help. You let out a breath and walked deeper into the woods, but as soon as you jumped over a tree root, someone grabbed you by the hair and slammed you head first into the tree. A ringing echoed in your ears, getting louder and louder but you managed to pull the knife from your boot and drive it into his leg, making him grunt and you used your whole body weight to turn around with his arm around you, popping it out of its socket and he dropped you with a yelp, kicking you in the ribs and a fire spread from your ribs into your whole body, making you stop the scream at the last minute.

“You fucking bitch-“ he said but as soon as he grabbed you again, you managed to push yourself up and grab the rest of the rope you had left. You kicked him back and jumped on his back, wrapping the rope around his neck as he tried to get you off.

“I’m not killing you you fucking idiot!” you grit out as he slammed back into the tree to get you off, “I’m making you pass out, that’s all!”

Soon enough, he dropped to his knees and fell to the ground while you tried to catch your breath, but everything hurt. You wiped at the blood that was seeping from the cut on your forehead, drenching your face and your dress but managed to tie him up and get away from him.

It didn’t take you long though. It felt like the whole forest was spinning around you and you felt someone pulling the ground from under your feet before you fell back, your eyes closing.

You had no idea how long you stayed there unconscious but the unmistakable sound of a shot being fired made you open your eyes with a gasp as you winced at the pain pulsing through your whole body.

“It doesn’t sound so good.”

You slowly turned your head to see your father sitting by the tree, his arms crossed and you let out a groan.

“Is this hell?” you asked, “I just died and it’s hell, right? There’s no way I’m hallucinating about you.”

“You didn’t die yet,” your father said as he looked at the way the shot was fired. “I assume you didn’t search for Lincoln’s gun before you walked out of the cabin?”

“Lincoln can’t move,” you said and your father tut-tutted.

“Erica could move just fine the last you saw her though.”

“Shit.” You closed your eyes for a moment and your father heaved a sigh.

“So what do we have here?” he said, “Head injury, concussion, loss of blood, and that guy over there just broke a rib or two, right?”

“Shut up.”

“I’m just saying, you wouldn’t stand a chance against someone coming at you with a gun when you’re like this.”

You swallowed thickly, your eyes burning.

“I can’t move,” you managed to say through your teeth, “It hurts.”

“Does it hurt enough to kill you? Because that’s what will happen if she and her men find you here.”

You tried to blink back the tears, “What if it’s supposed to end this way?”

“Supposed to end this way?” your father stood up and glared down at you, “Petal, I didn’t spend years to train you just so that you could die in a forest in the middle of nowhere. Get up.”

“Dad, I tried to survive, okay?” you said, “I tried—”

“Well, that’s not enough right now, is it though?” he asked and snapped his fingers, “You’re a survivor, your mother and I made sure of that. Stop acting like a prey, get up.”

“Dad-“

“Get up!” his voice shot through your head and you opened your eyes again, coughing, that ringing in your ears due to the pain blocking out everything but the gunshot that sounded much closer than before. You dug your fingernails into your palms and pulled yourself up by grabbing at the nearest tree, then wiped the blood off your face again.

“Okay,” you muttered to yourself, “Okay, Stop acting like a prey. Which way to go?”

You looked up at the night sky and found the star you were looking for before you started making your way through the forest, even if it felt like you could pass out any second. You had no idea how long you had been walking when all of a sudden the brightness of flashlight entered your vision, making you hold your breath and grab the handle of your knife tighter, thinking that it was Lincoln and Erica’s men.

It was only when you saw a very familiar face wearing an FBI vest that you let out the breath you were holding, the knife slipping from your grip.

“Spencer?” you rasped out and he just stared at you before he started running to you.

“You’re alive,” he managed to say before he pulled you into a tight hug, making you wince in pain. He pulled back immediately, his hands cradling your head.

“Are you—“

He didn’t get to finish that sentence. It happened in less than a second, but the sound of a gunshot that rang through the forest echoed in your ears before blood splattered over his face, making you stumble as if someone pushed you from behind.

“Why is there blood?” you managed to ask before a fire spread through your chest, taking your breath away and Spencer’s eyes widened as he lowered them to the gunshot wound bleeding on your chest. Everyone ran past you, yelling something into the radio and shooting their guns at someone behind you while the fire made its way through your whole system, the ringing in your ears getting worse.

The last thing you remembered was Spencer catching you before you hit the ground but whatever he was saying to you got drowned out in the loud noise of the helicopter flying above you. The lights of it got brighter and brighter before a warmth pulled you out of the pain and surrounded you.

Then everything went black.

Chapter 28

[gaamagirl565]

Matters of the heart S3 ep1

Matters of the heart Season 3 Episode 1 Outrun the shadow {OPENING CREDITS}

Narration: As winter draws near and the green of summer fades the world enters a time of sacrifice. The leaves release their grasp on branches and flutter to the ground to feed the soil of the earth. In return, the earth produces plants to feed the animals. Everything in our world sacrifices every day. And although Humans may be at the top of nature’s chain, We are not exempt from sacrifice. {Fade down to Isaiah looking conflicted as he watches men working in Old Corona’s graveyard with Gaia next to him} Lily: Isaiah? Isaiah: Oh! Hey guys… Akina: You okay? Isaiah:  what? yeah, I'm fine why? Nathaniel:  not going to lie... You look like you just watched a group full of Orphans get hit by a carriage. Isaiah:  that's a lovely image... but no really I'm fine it's just... a little weird to be watching people remove a tombstone from the graveyard with my name on it. Nathaniel:  at least we're prepared for the real deal now!  we have the stone and everything! {Akina kicks him} Nathaniel: Ow! Lily:  what we’re trying to say is we're glad to have you back. Isaiah:  I'm glad to have you guys back too… Akina: Awww! {lily blushes and Nathaniel gags; cut to Varian’s house where Zapada is attempting to feed her son with Verbena next to her} Zapada: Sterling, please do not fuss! Verbena: hehe! Fussy baby! Eugene: At least you know he’s truly Varian’s kid...Stubborn to the end! Varian: har har...can we get back to business? Rapunzel: Sorry Varian but he’s sooo cute! Lance: he really is! Adira can we have another baby? {Pan to Adira having her earring pulled by her 1-year-old son} Adira:....no. Varian: ….okay yes my son is incredibly cute but we have a serious issue here. Eugene: alright fine...you were saying? {Varian lays out a map on the dining room table} Varian: We know that the cult’s hideout was near the mountains in an abandoned mine.  the entrance to the mine collapsed when we were leaving but I doubt that'll hold them. they could be on their way here right now we need to make a battle plan. Rapunzel:  I'm not normally one to be negative but what are we going to do?  I don't have my hair anymore and you told me that they basically made a corrupt version of the Moonstone using only a Shard from its remains.  do we even know the full extent of their power now? Varian:  that's the tricky part... we don't. my family and I hightailed it out of there before they could do anything. Lancel: What does this mean for Cassandra? {Varian bites his lip and looks at Eugene who nods} Varian:  Cassandra... her mind has completely been taken over by the power she possesses...Her original conscience is gone. {Rapunzel gasps and tears up} Eugene: oh no...Sunshine c’mere… {he holds her close} Varian: i’m sorry Rapunzel… {Isaiah rushes in with the others and accidentally hits Ruddiger with the door} Isaiah: Dad! Do you Smell that!? {Varian sniffs the air and his eyes widen} Varian: sulfur... Eugene: cannons...something’s coming... {Zapada instinctively clutches Benny and Sterling; Varian and Eugene run out to the road; at the entrance, Larkspur stands with a cold staring purple-eyed Cassandra and an army of cult members behind her} Larkspur: Hi! Hope you don’t mind but I thought I’d just drop in...and take what’s mine. {Rapunzel stands in front of them} Rapunzel: You aren’t taking anything from us! Larkspur: AWWW! That’s so cute! Like you have a choice. Oh, sweet Vessel! Show them we mean business. {Cassandra steps forward} Rapunzel: Cass! Wait! It’s me! fi-AHH! {Rapunzel is pulled out of the way as Cass Forces a contorted discolored rock from the ground} Eugene: oh no… Isaiah: Dad w-what is that? {Varian’s eyes dilate in horror} Larkspur: Like I said...We’re not taking no for an answer… {She turns to her army} Larkspur: Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Corona! Some of you have been here before but- {She gasps as an arrow zips past her and hits a cult member killing him; She turns around and sees Adira with her bow at the ready} Larkspur:...ya know what? Screw the speech! ATTACK! DESTROY ANYONE YOU SEE! {The army cheers and charges; People begin running screaming} Isaiah: Dad!? Nathaniel: MOM! {Everyone runs to gather their families; The cult starts throwing small orbs; once they hit the ground a gas flows out choking various people; Isaiah watches his father fight with the king and queen and out of the corner of his he sees an orb head for Nathaniel’s family} Isaiah: NATHANIEL! {He is hit directly and begins coughing and sputtering; Isaiah covers his nose and mouth and runs out to help him to his house; in the confusion they here people grunting and shouting in pain; The cult have begun targeting civilians with their swords} Rapunzel: We have to get everyone out of here! {Varian, Eugene, and Rapunzel help various villagers to run into Varian’s house and barricade the door} Varaian: Zapada Grab the kids!  Lets get everyone to the escape route! Zapada: come on children! {Varian leads them to a hole in his office} Eugene: seriously? Varian: It leads to the underground tunnels of old Corona!  we can escape to the forest through here! Isaiah: but we'll be leaving everything! Rapunzel: We have to… Varian: Women & Children First! {Isaiah helps Lily and the royal siblings into the hole and then helps Nathaniel} Varian:  you next buddy! {Isaiah climbs down into the dark dirt tunnels; he slowly helps people into them; Once everyone is inside Varian himself climbs into the hole taking one last look at his home before the main door starts cracking open; he grabs the lid to the hole and covers it as he descends into the tunnel.} Akina: it’s really dark down here Benny:  clearly you've never been to the dark Kingdom. Villagers:  what do we do now?  how do we get back to the surface? our home is gone!  what about everybody else in the Kingdom!? Rapunzel:  everyone calm down!  I'm sure our Royal engineer has a plan! Right? Varian:  of course I do I didn't just build this thing for kicks.  the tunnel itself is about 5 miles long and at least out into the forest.  the exit is in a campsite that I have spent time creating in case the should ever happen.  when we get there we can set up camp as for the rest of the people in Corona... we can only pray for their safety. Perhaps at a future date we can save them. {the small crowd murmurs to each other; Varian takes out small glowing orbs and passes them around} Eugene:  everyone Stay Together!  Varian will lead the way. {They begin walking in the direction they’re being lead} Benny: ‘Saiah?  are we going to be okay? Isaiah:.... yeah totally!  there's one thing I know about my dad is he has a plan for everything. even the worst-case scenario. Akina: Mama I’m frightened… Adira: we’re alright small one Lance: yeah... the important thing is we're all here together. {As they walk small rumbles shake the tunnels but Rapunzel encourages them to keep moving; Varian looks over a map with his glowing orb before pointing down a corridor; Everyone follows; Cut to Lily’s brother Cyrus running a hand along the dirt wall} Cyrus: I'm simply amazed Mr.Varian... how did you manage to carve these? Varian:  there were already tunnels here from when I was younger I just simply expanded them so that they would run into the forest. I figured it was a good idea to have an Escape Route.  especially one that they wouldn't be able to find. Cyrus:  still this must have taken years! Varian:  I began Construction once I returned to Corona shortly before Isaiah was born.   I figured if I was going to stay in Old Corona they would end up coming for me at some point.  I wanted a safe way for my villagers to escape. {A thud and is heard followed by a shattering of glass and a scream; Eugene whips around to see a woman on the ground; he runs over} Eugene:  what's going on!? Child: My mother! S-she fell! She isn’t saying anything! {Varian runs over and kneels next to her} Varian: ... flip her over! {They do so and reveal reddish-purple dots on her skin} Varian:...was your mother sick before!?  did anything happen during The Invasion I could have injured her in any way? Child: no! She was fine! She wasn’t even injured in The Invasion!  we only got hit by one of those weird ball thingies! Isaiah:... those gas bombs! If she was near one when it blew then, you don't think that maybe… Varian:  those bombs must have been filled with some sort of biological compound... it's making anybody who came into contact with the gas sick. Rapunzel:  a lot of people here were exposed to those. Eugene:  everyone check yourselves for reddish-purple spots! {The people look at themselves and several shout in fear as they look at their spotted skin; Nathaniel looks at his wrist in fear and dots cover his arm} Rapunzel: okay calm down!  if you were sick we will find a way to get you treated we just have to find out what exactly this is! Varian:  Rapunzel that's easier said than done without a lab.  in the time being we have to make it to the campsite we use whatever medicine we have to try and get you better until then we'll have to observe your symptoms. Villager 1:  how much longer to this campsite? my wife is very sick! Varian:  we just passed the north corridor  so I'm guessing we should be there within the next 10 minutes. in the meantime everybody please try and stay calm. {everyone moves on} Lily:  Nathaniel are you okay? {he holds up his wrist; Akina gasps} Isaiah:  don't be scared, Akina... I don't think it's contagious otherwise we'd all have it by now. Lily:  what about you you ran to the gas cloud that he was in! Isaiah: Nathaniel and everybody else experiencing symptoms had a direct hit or breathed in a lot of the gas. I had my mouth and nose covered when I went to go grab him. Nathaniel: Stop!  let's do what they told us and stay calm.  I don't know what this stuff is going to do to me but we shouldn't focus on that. we have bigger fish to fry. come on… {He walks ahead of them} Benny: Isaiah? Can I have a ride? Isaiah: you tired? Okay… {He bends down and lets her climb on his back; they keep walking to they see a light peering through the top of the tunnel} Varian: Angry? Cat? {a rope is dropped down} Varian:  again Women & Children First! { everyone begins climbing up the Rope one by one;  finally Varian pulls himself up} Keira: welcome to the upper world! Varian: you've been waiting for years to say that haven't you? Cat:  she really has you have no idea… Keira:  we did exactly as you said we saw the commotion from our treehouse and opened up the tunnel. Lance: thats my girls! Eugene:  is everything secure? Cat: yeah Varian: and how is...he doing? { Cat looks distressed for a moment and kiera puts an arm around her} Kiera:  he's not doing good to say the least… Cat:  we have him in the camp right now resting but his wound recently got infected.  The Physician helped some with the internal damage... but he said ultimately there's not much you can do. we just have to hope he makes it through this. Kiera:  nevermind! we have some visitors in the camp… Varian: Visitors!? WHO!? {Cut to the camp with Varian walking in; pan to hector sitting with his daughter Juniper and son Bjørn} Varian: Uncle? Adira: Hector!? Hector: hello sister… Adira: what are you doing here? Juniper:  it was so weird!  dad said he had to come here! Hector:  something happened... and judging from what I'm seeing something big.  I felt a familiar feeling... but this time..it was evil. Adira:  they took The Shard of the Moonstone and they corrupted it into a new stone. trust me I felt it too. Bjørn: What happened to all these people? Varian: we don't exactly know yet. Eugene:  okay attention everyone!  all those who are sick please rest until we can find a designated area for you everybody else start helping set up camp Villager 1:  but what about us!? are you sure they won't find us here!? Varian: as of right now all the cult knows is that we disappeared inside my house. They have no knowledge of the underground tunnels nor do they have any knowledge of this campsite.  soon strict rules are going to be enforced in order to assure everyone safety.  I know the situation isn't ideal and I prayed that it would never happen. Villager 2:  isn't this basically your fault!?  you should have been protecting us from these people! {The crowd shouts in anger; Isaiah puts Benny down and runs over} Isaiah:  knock it off! Varian: Isaiah? Isaiah:  there was no way my Dad could have stopped the cult from doing this!  with or without the Moonstone Shard they would have attacked eventually just as they have before.  instead of blaming other people for what happened, we should focus on Surviving! Rapunzel:  Isaiah is right. getting angry will solve nothing.   please everyone just started helping set up camp once we get a new sense of normal it won't seem so bad I promise. {The crowd disperses} Isaiah: phew… Varian: Thats my boy! Zapada: Copilul meu, that was so brave! Isaiah:  I couldn't just stand there and let them bad-mouths my family. the cult members are insane plain and simple once they have something in their head it can't be stopped. Zapada:  I'm going to go help the other women set up. Isaiah, would you mind taking your brother for a bit? {she hands Sterling to Isaiah} Isaiah:  what do you say little guy? you ready to spend some time with your awesome big bro? Sterling: ppthh! Lily: Ha! Isaiah:  I'm choosing to take that as a compliment… {Isaiah walks around camp watching the sick be tended to and tents being set up} Isaiah:  and I got so used to sleeping in a bed again as well… Benny:  speak for yourself! this is my element! {They look over and see Cat walk into a ten that was already set up} Isaiah: what is she doing? Benny: ooohh spy time! Lets go.. {They sneak up to the tent and look in; Noremoth lies on a makeshift bed with bandages wrapped around his torso; Cat dips a cloth in water and puts it on his head} Noremoth: ghh...h-hey.. Cat: hi..just rest okay? Noremoth:..you got it..boss. {She chuckles} Cat: just sleep okay? {Start the song “twisting trees} {Catalina} Deep in the forest, the flowers bloom Don’t fear the dark The moon will rise soon Let the breeze caress your face And fall into the branches embrace Twisting trees keep me safe Twisting trees I fear not this place As they cast their shadows below The moon it rises ever so slow It’s face of Ivory glowing above It bathes the land its pure white love fall into the branches embrace Twisting trees keep me safe And fear not this place. Oh, fear not this place. {end song; Isaiah walks away with Benny and Sterling} Isaiah: He's not looking good… Benny:  well that wasn't fun that was just straight-up depressing... {Isaiah sits up against a tree with Sterling} Akina: you okay? Isaiah: Oh...hi Akina... yeah I'm fine just... rough way to start a day. Akina: yeah... never thought I'd see Uncle Hector here. What do you think they meant by saying they sensed something? Isaiah: promote my grandpa told me your mom and…” uncle” Hector used to be part of a group called the Brotherhood. from what he told me they were loyal to the moonstone given that this new corruption is made from A Shard of the Moonstone I'm guessing they felt a disturbance or something when it was corrupted. it's the only thing I can think of. Akina: We're going to take back Corona right? I like it there! Isaiah:  don't you worry we're not just going to sit back and let this happen.  we're going to take back our Kingdom… Lily:  good luck with that we’ll need a small army. Akina:  I heard the grown-up saying that too!  something about we're going to have to go around asking other kingdoms to join the fight! Isaiah:  well yeah... you think they're just going to stop at our kingdom? we're going to need to ask for help from a lot of peo-... wait...I GOT IT! { everyone in the camp jumps out of surprise} Isaiah:... oops!  sorry!... anyway I need a piece of paper and a quill. Lily:  one second I saw some by the supplies! {She runs over and grabs the items before handing them to Isaiah;  Isaiah leans against the tree and begins writing his letter} Isaiah: S.O.S...Corona compromised.  please help.  your former Cabin Boy Isaiah... okay it's written!  but how do we send it? Lily: I... I have an idea… {Cut to Hamuel hanging  upside down from a tree branch} Isaiah: you can't be serious… Lily:  hey my grandfather and Dad have been exchanging letters for ages using this bird. Isaiah:  this bird has to be at least 15 years old! maybe more! on top of that look at him! {Hamuel falls to the ground with a pained caw} Isaiah: HMM!? *points at him* Lily:  I know it's not ideal but he's gotten the messages there every single time. Benny:  I'm surprised he hasn't taken the messages to the north pole rather than the dark Kingdom. {Lily attaches the letter to Hamuel’s leg} Isaiah:... I can't believe I'm doing this I'm talking to a bird...Hamuel  listen very closely to me I need you to find a ship called the SS. Salvador. Take this note to the captain.  and if you fail...uh...Draki will eat you. {Draki hisses and wiggles his tail} Lily: Isaiah no! Isaiah: Isaiah yes! { He lets Hamuel go; cut to Corona Castle; Larkspur walks into the throne room} Larkspur:  I can't believe I'm finally here… Vergus:  yes mistress you finally made it.  Corona is destroyed and at our feet.  and soon we will find The Alchemist and where he is hiding. Larkspur:  look at this place... such power wasted. {She goes up and sits on the throne} Larkspur: hehe!!  I've waited for years to sit on this chair!  I was kind of hoping that the king and queens heads would be under my feet as well but you take what you can get. Vergus: shall we start moving on to the other kingdoms as well mistress? now that we've taken down Corona we can move on to others and spread our message! Larkspur:  everything is finally coming together… Vergus: Mistress? {begin song “i don’t care”} {Larkspur} You know some time ago I was just a little girl I was hopeless, aimless, nameless But then a dream had struck my mind It was brighter than any kind And now that dream is mine Just look now where I walk A hall of Kings and Queens And all it took was some blood and a bit of screams! Well, I don’t care, If it isn’t fair! This land is mine Let’s not waste our time! Let’s make them bleed! Oh let’s make them bleed! Ohhh...he chose his path and ran away Even when welcome to stay… He chose...to Betray~! But I don’t care! I’ve let down my hair! This land is mine! Oh, finally mine! Now to make them bleed Oh let’s make them (x3) Let’s make them bleed! {End song} {END CREDITS}

[ilikelookingatthings]

Comment that I’m proud from youtube on Akatsuki no Yona Chapter 201 part 1

I think the thing thats gets in the way of your idea that Hak is basically untouchable or should be because if he gets hurt the people who love him will go batshit is that yona loves her kingdom as well. I definitely believe Hak is one of the top priorities(after all the whole reason the dragons were gathered by yona was to make sure hak doesn't die). Its definitely true that if they want to they could mess EVERYONE up and take over the castle if Hak is killed....but Kouka ISN'T in a completely stable position right now even before the murder pin the blame on yona game the new country is playing. If they want to stay safe from invaders they need to make sure kouka isn't temping to be attacked by other countries. its been shown multiple times that the dragons aren't invincible. they can't always be vigilant and yona and the dragons and hak have been hurt and kidnapped on multiple occasions.

Yona's choice to take the deal with kyek-sook to enter the castle so yoon could learn more medicine nd she and the dragons could be protected makes sense. If yona refused she definitely knew kyk-sook would end more people to kill them. she witnessed a crazed priest convince other countries to aim for her and the dragons. everytime they had thought they were safe something went wrong. yona got kidnapped and sent to the drug workshop before. had been sword slashed. they had to sneak around tae-jun's place despite his permission and zeno was shot by a arrow. yona had been kidnapped and if the country had gotten the other two dragons in that first run using yona as a hostage there was no telling how many of their own country men thy would have ben forced to kill. and yona has seen the level of obsession or interest in the dragons grow in real time and how it can be a nice flattering hopeful thing...but can easily become twisted or obsessive. everyone was even injured on some level before they entered the castle. for long run safety it makes sense to choose to go along wth kyk-sook so at the very least if they DO choose to leave again the hak kidnapped her and killed her dad rumour would go away. the info of the dragons already coming out but by going with kyk-sooky it was a way to control how the dragons are seen as well as hak.

though you also have a point that whether yona was unsettled or not she let kyk-sook have the advantage over her since she came to the castle and if she had pushed more things could have changed earlier. even if she knew if they left they would still be in guaranteed danger so felt they could at least try to make things work t the palace. and she understood why they wouldn't let hak in the palace near soo-won. it was annoying because we could see that if yona pushed more things maybe could have changed earlier...but she was also made aware recently that the dragons andher aren't invicable and one of her mentalities is to finally start understanding soo-won properly. even if another point was so yoon could get more education and books we have seen hak and everyone be aware there are guards watching hak since he entered the area.

but of course like stated here...kyk-sook seemed to keep looking for a excuse to kill Hak which was ALWAYS a dumb move because it would trigger yona and the dragons...but also the windtribe to turn against soo-won. like it makes sense to have a guard in case hak tried to attack the king but we know supposedly tha kyk-sook was trying to provoke hak with the disrespect of putting her in the queens seat which others would assume was a engagement type of thing and had people set up to kill him. and we know kyk-sook didn't prepare enough to deal with the dragons. and separating yona from the dragons and refusing to let them meet was ALWAYS going to be suspicious as fuck and caused them to want to find answers. 

but also confusing because....if killing Hak was always a dumb move which had been mentioned by SOO-WON even back when they saved lily. and one of the majour reasons that kyk-sook decided on this plan to bring yona and the dragons into the fold was because he was so impressed with Hak on the battlefield yet we haven't seen Kyk-sook try to bring Hak involved with the army at all uptil now despite that having been part of his motivation. how much of a dumb move? if hak is killed it would certainly trigger retaliation from the dagons and the windtribe.....however its also known kouka is still recovering from Il's rule and Yona is not ready tolead a army properly or knows enough about the politics so it would lead to kouka's citizens being endangered as well which ky-sook knows yona wouldn't want as yona and the dragons have been protecting the citizens this whole time. kyk-sook has already seen yona willing to put aside the murder of her dad for the greater good of the kingdom. so I wonder if its a game of chicken. 

  kyk-sook is interesting because we know he IS smart and can be cold and calculative when it comes to things from the beginning.....but since the flashback I've been starting to realize one of his flaws is he can be overly emotional whenit comes to soo-won as well. likehow he had wanted to kill yona on the spot when he came across her during the potential war arc when she was trying to get soo-won to agree to a meeting with the princesses and realized yona had a scary amount of connections. I think he was really rattled finding out that dragons with SUPERPOWERS exist. and he is such a soo-won stan that Hak properly using that soo-won strategy during the war rattled him a bit. we know he was smart enough to know that letting yona and friends continue to roam free could cause issues because yona and dragons could be kidnapped by other countries again....but also the longer yona is wandering around the more followers and people who admire her pop up which could cause more issues when people start questioning WHY the princess is wandering around instead of at the palace and realize its because soo-won killed king il. so bringing her in could put those rumours to rest. smart move.

but reckless move was him trying to test the dragons powers and assume the dragons would easily fall in line and wanting to provoke hak so they could take out hak/get rid of the risk even though he had realized the value hak has.

we also know they didn't kill hak on the spot in public and soo-won's bodyguard had apparently been watching and let hak get near soo-won. and kyk-sook has been so on edge since finding out about the disease which he aparently hadn't known about at all that he almost considered Yona for a back up position even though WE know she was bluffing with a three day cram session.

from his reaction its possible he really was planning on Hak being killed for finding out as he looked really surprised to see Yona there with the medic(which by the way was my favorite detail because we know the medic, and kyk-sook were around soo-won since they were young. kyk-sook is firmly team soo-won but there are extra layers because our medic hates having been a unwitting spy which could have led to king il's death. and I think it was implied that yon-hi sent the secret message to king il through the medic. and why kyk-sook was still surprised by the 'betrayal' of the medic telling Yona. Hak's word about how he wasn;t killed yet.....it shows that they WEREN'T ordered by soo-won to kill Hak as soon as he got close to the king. or they LET Hak get close to the king to test how bad Soo-won really was. its possibly they let Hak through to try to trap him into this situation to send him to the frontlines.....but then again hak had already agreed to be a soldier on his own and kyk-sook DOESN'T understand Hak all that well(which is kindof ironic because Hak follows and respects Yona like kyk-sook respects Soo-won...or yu-hon really.

Its possible they were trying to figure out how much Hak really figured out or to kill him in private. make him....disappear~ without anyone knowing what they did to him. After all kyk-sook did seem shocked by how much Hak had figured out. and he was clearly projecting on Hak a lot because WE know Hak is clearly not happy about soo-won being sick....but kyk-sook's understanding of soo-won and hak's relationship is still elementary so kyk-sook assumed hak would be happy about it and didn't seem to plan for Yona to appear.

but then again this IS the guy who helped plan a cou and Hak was one of his motivational factors for making this deal to get yona and the dragons in the palace and its been weird he seemed fine with potentially tricking or getting hak o die at other points since yona entered the palace instead of finding a logical route to get the man to be a proper soldier for the country. like its possible its ego. kykyk-sook thinking anyone who doesn't sta loyal to soo-won is trash or dumb if they aren't going to fall in line. after all even joo-doh was trying to lecture hak about loyalty and wanted lip service when honestly hak has been the only one who has never broken any type of vow at this point...even if we know why the others were loyal to soo-won over king il. we have definitely been finding out kyk-sook is more emotionally driven that we had thought and he does over look very obvious character issues in himself like when he didn't stop driving his horse forward and almost hurt a little kid which had lilly and others looking down on the advisor and seemed to think he might reflex badly on soo-won. kyk-sook did try to have them not listen to Yona' words to get a real talk between soo=won and kourien because kyk-sook didn't like Yona having any type of upper hand and was alarmed and how they had walked into yona's plans so easily. 

I can't help but wonder if Hak KNEW they wouldn'tb able to instantly kill him and that's why he risked going to check on yona and soo-won to get information despite knowing if soo-won WAS sick and hak founded out about it...it could cause problems.

[ladyamela]

Hold! Who goes there? Why, is that Améla Ashcraft the Lady of the House of  Ashcraft of Each Reach? They do look poised for a woman of 27 years. Don’t they call her the confident and curious broken bird? I’ve heard they’re also cautious and humble though, don’t take my word for it but they do look an awful lot like Lily Collins.

TW: Death and depression

Basic Info:

NAME:  Améla Sérafin Ashcraft

PRONUNCIATION:  ə-MEE-lee-ə,  seh-RA-fyeen

TITLE (IF THEY HAVE ONE, OCCUPATION IF NOT): Lady Ashcraft of Each Reach, Lady in Waiting for Princess Josefin Stoneward

AGE: 27

PLACE OF ORIGIN: Each Reach

FAMILY MEMBERS: Cousin Alek Ashcraft, Duke of Each Reach, Betrothed to the Duke of Seaworth

Physical Description:

HEIGHT: 5′5

HAIIR COLOR: Brown

EYE COLOR: Hazel

GENDER: Female

BUILD:  Slim & Athletic

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES? (SCARS, TATTOOS, PIERCINGS): There are a couple of scars around her hairline from when her parents were killed. Has a good number of scars on her body from her time in the military. At this time, only her ears are pierced.

ANY HEALTH RELATED ISSUES?: Depression (not that it’s diagnosed)

Personality:

Améla is the only name the young Ashcraft will acknowledge. Though, over the years, a few people who have been lucky enough to get close to her can get away with calling her Amé or Ams. Those are the people that know what a straightforward and determined young woman she is. While she’s mischievous at heart events in her past has taught her that impishness does not always end well.

To the world, Améla is seen as sweet, kind, innocent in so many ways, and carefree even. The perfect persona for someone who finds it better to hide who she is than anyone close enough to hurt her. The loss of so much in her young life, Améla has come not to trust so easily. She would preferably push people away, then allow them to get close and then lose them. She has established that this disposition can help her out in many ways, while other times, it has lead to more hardship than need be. Trust is not something she gives out freely. It is hard-earned by the person who earns it but easy to lose by anyone she does come to trust.

The real Améla is confident, curious, protective, but cautious and humble all at the same time. She loves with all her heart, not that there are a lot of people left alive that she loves. The count is at four at this point, or at least that's what she'll admit if asked. She knows it all can be taken from her in seconds and is not willing to open herself up to that pain unless it's worth it.

Outside of her primary group of friends, she's not much of a talker. She finds that the overuse of words tends to keep one from seeing the real person. She prefers to observe those around her, watch and listen to what a person says with their body language. Due to this, she discreet with who and when she opens up another about her thoughts. When it comes to inner turmoil, her tendency is to deal with them on her own unless pushed into talking by family. Over time, she has learned to keep her emotions in check. Thanks to the teachings from her cousin Alek, Améla has learned to close her mind off when need be. For you never know when a mind reader could be near.

Additional Info:

Betrothal: At the age of 20, her uncle started brokering a match with the Duke of Seaworth for her hand in marriage. For five years the two families have negotiated the alliance while Améla and the Duke took part in coordinated meetings. Shortly after her 25th birthday the Duke proposed to her and a yes reply has left them planning their nuptials for the last two years. The wedding had been set to take place the coming spring; however, with the attacks a delay may be in order.

Fellow Ladies-in-waiting: While it had never been an official title when she had been younger, Améla has always been by Josefin Stoneward's side either as a friend or confidant. As they got older more ladies joined their group in helping Josefin in her day to day life at court. Some may have become friends with Améla, some she questions their motives, and others she does everything to keep a close on eye on.

The Rebel: No one knows what Améla remembers from the night of her parents deaths, not even Améla. This has some rebels a bit worried about what she can tell or whom she might identify in the attack. Needing to know if Améla could be a threat to their plans they've sent in a mole to get close in case her memories of that night come back to her.

History:

Améla Sérafin Ashcraft would be the first and only child to the Duck of Ashcraft's younger brother. For years they longed for a child of their own; however, each time they thought their prayers answered, tragedy would strike once more. It would take almost seven years after they were married and many tragedies before their baby girl, at last, was held within their arms. They loved her from the moment they laid eyes on her tiny face. For three years, they doted on their little girl. Gave her everything she ever possibly need. They held so many dreams for her, but they would not live to see those dreams come true.

They were on their way back from a visit to the Glasswater Keep.  Améla being the same age as two of the King's daughters, she found herself chosen to become a companion/friend to the princesses. The first visit had seemed to go well, and more planned for the future. However, just hours after leaving Glasswater Keep the Ashcraft found themselves attacked by rebels. No only survivor would be three years old, Améla. From that day forward, her care would fall to her uncle, the Duke of Ashcraft. She showed up at his doorstep, a curious but shy little girl that did not fully understand her new position in life.

The loss of her parents afflicted her in ways that she is still dealing with to this day. She went from living a quiet life with her two loving parents to standing in the middle of a castle with no idea where she truly belonged. Améla pulled into herself over the weeks to come, and while hired a governess to take care of her, the child's aunt could see that what she needed was a mother. From the moment on her Aunt Emily would take time each day to spend with Améla. Slowly over time, the shy child started to open up and accept her new life. Six months after the loss of her parents, Améla finally felt safe and comfortable enough to show that she was magi to others. Like her aunt, she held the power of elemental magic, but her elemental gift would be Geokinesis.

The first person to see her use magic would be her cousin, Alek. While her aunt stepped in to become the mother Améla needed and longed for, Alek would be the one who showed Améla she was safe. He stepped into the role of a big brother as if he had always meant to be one. On the day Améla showed her gift, she had been the garden playing, having wandered off from her governess when Alek found her. Wanting to show him what she could do, Améla held her hand up, and while she wiggled her fingers just a little, two stones moved upward from the spot they were resting, drifting over to Améla and came to rest in front of her. The little girl did not know if wiggling her fingers was required to make the stones move; it was just fun to do.

Things changed once more for the young girl; only this time, the change allowed normalcy to come into her life. Once Améla's aunt found out about her magic, Aunt Emily knew the best course of action. Not wanting to see Améla's talents go to waste, she encouraged the girl to explore her abilities. Just months passed her fourth birthday, Améla visited the Magaesterium for the first time. Thanks to her natural talent, her love and willingness to learn lead to her acceptance right away.

For almost nine years, Améla lived what could be called normal life. Between her time at the Magaesterium, where she flourished in her studies, and Glasswater Keep, where she quickly bonded with Josefin and Adaline. Their bond became so strong, that over time; Améla started to be referred to as the twins' triplet. You never saw Améla without the twins or the twins without Améla. Améla loved being with the twins; they were the sisters she never got to have. Sisters, she would do anything for, anything to protect. That need to protect them became even stronger after the incident of her making almost killed Josefin.

As always, Améla let Adaline talk her into using her magic for fun. This time Améla connected to the earth so that she could raise the twins into the air before letting them drop back down just far enough to make it fun and then raising the dirt back up to catch them. They had been at it for hours when out of nowhere, Améla heard shouting from a distance that distracted her just enough to lose focus right when Améla should have brought the ground up to catch Josefin. With nothing there to grab Josefin at the right moment to keep her unharmed, she fell further than she should have. If Améla had not regained her focus when she did, she held no doubt that Josefin would have died upon impact with the ground.

After the incident, Améla would not see either twin for almost a year. She would leave Glasswater Keep within hours of the accident, sent to the Magaesterium for extensive training in the proper use of magic. It had been during her time away that Améla's Aunt Emily became sick. The young Ashcraft hoped, prayed for the best outcome; however, that was not to be and just shy of Améla's 14 birthday she lost her beloved aunt. Once more, her world shattered, and everything she knew changed. Only months after her aunt's passing, her uncle would remarry, leaving Améla to accept or not accept as the case was a new aunt. The woman, Ainsley Amaranthe, not even double Améla's age, could barely pass as an adult soon earned the nickname step-aunt. Unable to handle the changes at East Reach, Lady Ashcraft started spending more time at Glasswater with Princess Josefin and Princess Adaline.

Améla did her best not to let grief take hold by focusing on what she still had, Alek and her sisters. Soon enough, her adolescence came to an end, and at the age of 18, Améla joined Josefin in the military forces to train alongside their foot soldiers. It soon became apparent that Améla thrived in the environment created by the military. It did not take long before they asked Améla to use her magic to help track the rebels and weed them out. It had been one of these tracking expeditions were she found herself lead into a trap. The commander had been an undercover rebel that wanted to take Améla out. It took all she had to fight them off; however, using the amount of magic that she did, the Lady passed out once the last rebel fell.

She would wake hours later surrounded by royal military and the news that Josefin was missing. By the time she returned to the camp, they were bringing Josefin in on a stretcher. They whisked the princess away to a small tent without any word as to what happened to Josefin. Améla paced outside the tent for hours before they finally allowed her inside. While she longed to find out what happened as soon as she entered the tent, it would not be until years later that the princess opened up to Améla about what truly happened during her scouting mission. Even before finding out the truth, Améla hated for the rebels increased after Josefin's attack. She wanted them to stop them in any way possible, and she would see it done.

When their time in the military came to an end, Améla continued to stay by Josefin's side. Her new title, lady-in-waiting would be one the Ashcraft took quite seriously. While most saw her as nothing more than an attendant to the Princess, Améla saw herself as her protector. There was no way she would ever allow anyone to hurt Josefin again. However, her time with Josefin is quickly coming to an end.  At the age of 20, her uncle started negotiating for her hand in marriage with the Duke of Seaworth. For five years, the two families negotiated the alliance while Améla and the Duke took part in coordinated meetings. Shortly after her 25th birthday, the Duke proposed to her, and a yes reply being the only one Améla could give has left them planning their wedding for the last two years. They arranged for the ceremony to take place in the coming spring; however, with the rebel attacks, a delay may be in order, or the possibility of it moving up is also in talks.

[buffpidgey]

Au: Trisha Elric was the older sister of Petunia and Lily Evans, and as such when Lily dies Harry is sent to Amestris to live with the Elrics instead of to the Dursleys, as Trisha is a far more suitable parent and also it's far enough away to offer extra protection to Harry.

Ohhhhh… forget 5… this looks more like…. 10…………  oh no it got long…

1: When Harry arrives on their doorstep, Van is a little terrified. He’s barely gotten used to the idea of having one baby, but to suddenly have an entire one year old right here? But he keeps it together for Trisha, whose in her fifth month AND who just lost her sister.

She can’t travel all that way for the funeral, especially since she IS Lilly Potter’s Sister and the war isn’t quite done. She wears black mourning bands on her arms for the next three months though, and sends a letter to Petunia. Petunia doesn’t write back.

2: Harry’s accidental magic is another shock to Van, who sees it first. He frets for three months that he’s somehow contaminating the children, until Harry floats a cookie across the kitchen and Trisha laughs; she remembers this from when Lily was little. 

3: Van still leaves and Trisha still dies. Harry is convinced that he’s Bad Luck - after all, he’s killed TWO sets of parents now - so when Hagrid comes to collect him, he gladly goes.

Ed isn’t as mad at Harry as he is at Hohenheim, and he knows that Harry isn’t as good at alchemy as he and Al are, but he thinks it’s very stupid to assume that /Harry/ is the reason Mom died. After all, Harry is Good! If Harry is Good, he can’t have done something like drive away parents. After Ed and Al get lessons from Izumi he’s largely over it.

4: Harry is a little more used to being recognized (he grew up in a small town after all, of course people know him…) and he has a vague idea of what happened to his parents. Trisha explained a bit about the war and who his parents were, but not why they were so important. She was saving that for when he was older.

Harry grew up knowing his parents were heroes for fighting back against the bad man who came to attack him, but he wasn’t expecting them to be NATIONAL heroes.

Harry sends back lots of letters to his family - Ed and Al and Winry and Granny about his new friends - Ron and Hermione. Ron is really friendly and knows a lot about wizard stuff, and is as good at chess as Al! Hermione knows a lot too, and she would probably love talking about alchemy too!

(Harry befriends her really quickly because her attitude towards magic reminds Harry a lot of Ed and Al’s hunger for knowledge)

Some people are kind of nasty about him having an accent (Malfoy. It’s Malfoy who’s nasty), but mostly the first year is really cool.

He gets worried when the letters from Ed and Al stop coming back, but then Winry tells him it’s because they found a teacher themselves!

5: Harry talks a little bit about what happens with the Stone, but doesn’t talk about how it burned when he touched Quirrel, or how long he spent in the Hospital Wing.

6: In second year, Ed and Al send Harry a breathless excited letter when they get back from Izumi’s. Then Harry hears nothing at all for weeks, even from the Rockbells. He’s so scared. Not only has something happened to his family, something is happening in Hogwarts.

He gets a letter back from Granny saying that Ed and Al had an accident, but are recovering. After that, there’s too much going on for Harry to write back.

7: He kills the basalisk, the basalisk almost kills him. He goes back home to discover what happened.

Harry really does feel like he is cursed. First, his parents. Then his aunt and uncle, now his cousins have been seriously hurt.

He knows what they did was wrong, and they knew this would happen. He feels kind of responsible, though, that he wasn’t there to stop them. He knows losing family hurts! They shouldn’t have done this!

He’s also angry that he had to wait till summer to find out this happened. Isn’t he as good as their brother? Isn’t he family too?

8: It takes all summer, but Ed finally admits to Harry that he’s planning on joining the military this year, to help get Al’s body back. They have a screaming row about it, where Harry is basically trying to be The Oldest Brother at the same time as Ed.

The summer before third year doesn’t end as badly as it does in canon, but it’s still bad.

It takes until Winry ties Harry to a tree and locks Ed out of the house (conveniently next to said tree) for them to make up.

(Without two legs or two arms, it’d be hell for Ed to get back to the house… but oh, look, there’s a slipknot in the rope right where Ed can reach it, and if Harry were free he could help…)

(Winry might or might not have been helped by Al.)

They both get a bad case of sunburn, but at least when the grim starts showing up and the dementors raid the train, Harry does write and tell them about it.

9: Ed becomes a state alchemist. He writes to tell Harry, and that makes Harry feel like he needs to step up as a student. (He’s also realized that with Hogwarts’s Library he might be able to help restore Ed and Al!)

Meanwhile, Ed is also trying to balance the desire to help Harry, who is apparently being freaking stalked by specters of despair and also an omen of death while he’s doing Mustang’s chores. Not. Ideal.

Then it turns out there’s also a murderer after his cousin. What the freaking use is being a dog of the military if he can’t even help protect Harry? ????

Mustang does not let Ed travel a few thousand miles to be protection duty to one random civilian.

10: Then it turns out that specter of death dog is actually Harry’s godfather. Who offered Harry a place to live in Britain. Where Harry was born.

Ed visits the Rockbells more often because that’s where Harry sends his litters.

Ed reads all about this letter, and spends like 3 weeks stewing and wondering if Harry is even coming back. Then Mustang says he can’t wait for Harry to come home from school, he has to go back to work so Ed gets to stew LONGER, wondering even MORE about if Harry will come back.

It’s July before Ed manages to get back to Resembool, and he spends the whole train ride back in a brooding nightmare that Harry isn’t at home.

He is though! Surprise!

Winry gives him a knowing look and laughs at him as she steals his arm to give it adjustments.

Over the summer Harry talks with Ed and Al about lycanthropy and they take a research detour into biological alchemy with the addition of some of Harry’s transfiguration texts. They don’t get very far in the few weeks Ed has for leave in Resembool, but he does promise to keep an eye out when he’s in the library.

(It’s during this research that they start to figure that the wizarding philosopher’s stone is different than the alchemic philosopher’s stone. It might be, one could say, a sorcerer’s stone instead.)

11: Harry leaves early to go to the Quidditch World Cup with his friends. It’s great until the terrorists happen.

This year at Hogwarts, Harry applies himself fully to DADA both because he is forced to be in this deadly tournament, and because Ed and Al are out there doing military tasks while he’s at school.

Winry is furious that Harry can’t get out of the Triwizard Tournament, and so is Granny Rockbell, but there’s not much they can do about it. (Dumbledore tries to convince one of the Elrics or one of the Rockbells to show up for the second task, but everyone is way too busy. They do show up for the final task.)

Rita Skeeter makes a hell of an uproar about Harry’s accent in her article and Malfoy gives her some… insights. It’s not great. Harry’s a hot topic, but interestingly with mixed appeal.

Cedric still dies in the final task. Harry is still captured and Voldemort still returns. 

(Winry sees yet another member of her family bleeding and in distress and has nightmares. She pretends she’s just working very hard whenever the boys ask.)

(Harry once again wonders if he’s cursed.)

12: As a gift, Harry convinced Winry to let him send off a few of her tools and little bits and bobs to Sirius, as a gift (because of the motorcycle). That’s the only gift he sends off that summer since everyone is keeping secrets from him, and he’s been having horrible dreams.

He saw Ed and Al for only a few days that summer. Mustang is giving them more work in exchange for more leads. Sure, it’s nice to know that Ed and Al have leads, but he misses his family and it would be really nice to see them and know they’re safe considering how many damn nightmares he’s been having.

(He remembers when they were little, like maybe seven and eight, when he had nightmares about the green light they would all huddle in the same bed and Harry would fall asleep to the sound of soft breathing. And then loud snores.)

He reads the Amestrian papers, and the British papers he has delivered. There’s nothing about Voldemort in the British papers, but in the Amestrian papers, stories start appearing about “The Peoples’ Alchemist” after Ed blows up the office of one particularly corrupt asshole.

The bright spot of Harry’s summer is teasing his cousins about joining him in the ranks of the great and famous.

The dementors don’t show up, but the Ministry still puts Harry on trial. They try him for treason- giving away ministry secrets to a foreign power. After all, he is in constant contact with a high ranking member of the Amestrian military.

Dumbledor sweeps in with Mustang and Ed (Al has elected to remain in Grimmauld Place tyvm) and clears everything up. Ed gets to meet all of Harry’s friends.

Harry had told them Ed was short. They still had been expecting taller.

Ed removes the portrait of Mrs. Black about the same time he accidentally destroyed that wall.

That year at Hogwarts, Harry learns about sabotage, gets tips from Ed who has had some first hand experience at this now, and starts realizing just how screwed both his countries are. (Ed might not have been paying attention to national and international affairs on his journey, but Harry is friends with Hermione and has been reading newspapers all summer.)

umbridge is still a problem, but it doesn’t get to the point where she carves shit into Harry’s hand. More than once.

Harry is still getting weird visions. Mr. Weasly still gets bitten. But Harry works at things besides occlumancy and has mustered a really stellar D.A. this time around, since he has some insight that he didn’t before.

They also practice hand to hand.

Despite this, the bait is set and Harry goes to the Department of Mysteries.

Sirius doesn’t fall through the veil, but he is badly injured. (I’m not sure if he loses a leg or something here. But let���s all take a minute to imagine Sirius making his way in secret to Amestris to convalesce with the Rockbells who know about this sort of thing. Winry offers to make him special automail that can shift between human and dog…)

13: Ed tries to bargain with Winry to not tell Harry about how Scar almost killed him. He doesn’t want to distract Harry! Harry already has someone out there who wants him dead! It’s fine!

Winry gives him the longest, deadest stare.

Ed realizes that this was a very dumb thing to say, especially since last year Harry almost exploded because people weren’t telling him things.

Harry also almost explodes this time, because someone! Is trying! To kill! His family! A G A I N

So when Dumbledore tells him about Hourcruxes Harry immediately puts two and two together (because he grew up with Ed and Al and helLO soulbonded armor?) and realizes that he IS a Hourcrux after a few… delicately worded letters to Ed.

So on both sides of the channel, Ed and Harry are desperate to fly across the continent in order to strangle people they’ve never met. Fun times.

14: Ed gets pulled deeper into this whole homunculus plot, but so much of it is moving so fast he doesn’t have time to write it all down for Harry.

It’s gonna be one fun summer, that’s for sure. Now Harry knows what it feels like to come back and see how much danger his cousin has been thrown into. Oh how the turntables.

15: When Ed vanishes for 4 months while the whole Promised Day bsns goes down, Harry throws himself deep, deep into this Hourcrux hunting thing. Ron and Hermione follow him to make sure he doesn’t get himself killed.

(Ed hates being out of contact with his family. HATES it. Hopes Harry isn’t doing something stupid. Knows that’s exactly what he’s doing, because he, Edward Elric, has been doing the same fucking thing for three years.)

Ed resurfaces, fights Father, and the whole she-bang happens but because Harry is being heavily hunted he doesn’t have any good access to international news. When he does manage to grab a muggle newspaper and reads a report on how a small country to the east between here and russia went up in red light…

Harry does something… inadviseable and mixes magic and alchemy to try and keep Voldemort out of his head. It works, it does, he de-hourcrux’d himself.

Harry is out of comission convalessing for weeks.

They manage to use that mix of alchemy and magic to do away with a few more of the hourcruxes, in a much less dramatic fashion.

After they do away with the rest, after Voldemort is mortal again, Harry does send a letter back home.

He doesn’t want to die, but this plan is so risky, and the prophesy… Harry doesn’t know how to feel about it, but there’s always a chance he’ll die. He is cursed, after all.

Harry agrees to meet Voldemort on the battlefield, on the battlefield where he lures Voldemort to a special stretch of dirt. When their wands catch in that priori incantautum where they lock, the alchemy circle Harry aranged to have drawn activates.

Voldemort’s current body is a construct. It’s as much of a Hourcrux as anything else, and he comes apart.

16: Harry goes back to Resembool and sleeps for an entire week, then Winry and Granny make apple pie and life goes on.

[babelrpg-blog]

below the cut, you will find admin Roman’s sample application for Ted Tonks to give you an idea of what we’re looking for in an app. applications will not be posted in full, when we post acceptances.

OUT OF CHARACTER:

Name: Roman Age: 24 Pronouns: they/them Timezone: EST Activity: pretty high, I’m usually able to do a few replies everyday unless work really kicks my ass, in which case it will be every other day, but I’m always around on mobile for messaging! Triggers: [redacted]

BASICS:

Character name: Edward “Ted” Morgan Tonks Gender and pronouns: genderqueer, they/them Date of birth: July 1, 1955

There are some things that have always remained, and they do truly still believe in the power of looking to the stars for guidance, something that their parents taught them from a young age. Because of this––or because of the stars themselves––Ted embodies all of the traits of a Cancer. They’re emotional and sensitive, and get extremely attached to others. Matters of family are of the utmost importance, and they’re loyal above all to those they care for. At times, they can become selfish and moody, particularly when suffering a perceived lack of understanding from the outside world. Since their time in Azkaban, the negative traits of their sign have been significantly more pronounced than before, the good being pushed to the wayside.

Occupation: the High Justice

Their parents used to joke that they would never be able to settle on a career, that they’d forever be content to float along in life, jumping from one job for another, never staying for too long, always switching from interest to interest. It was like that for a while, anyway. Before the end of the war, they had dozens of odd jobs, everything from potioneer to palm-reader, never for more than a year, and they were happy. But things changed, and once they did, they hadn’t been expecting to ever have another job again, in all honesty, considering they assumed that being sentenced to life in Azkaban meant just that.

But Lily Evans has other plans.

This position was quite literally made for them. They feel certain that if they had refused Lily’s offer years ago, when she came to them in their cell that day, she would have found another muggleborn to fill the position, but with the way things went, with everything they had both been working towards, with the promise she had them make when she managed to have them pardoned, she did this for them. No, that’s not true. She did this for herself. They were just lost and desperate enough to willingly do exactly what she wanted from them. It was all worth it if they would be allowed to raise their child, after all, even if it meant turning into something they wouldn’t have had the capability of becoming before.

And so they took up the gun for her. Using a weapon so supremely muggle, they pass judgement for the Minister. How fitting that they now dispense justice to those who wronged the world, when the reason they became who they are is because of making that same choice ten years ago.

Former Hogwarts house: Hufflepuff Boggart: Dora receiving the Dementor’s Kiss

It changes, but every time it’s changed it’s held one thing in common. Their boggart has always shown someone they love in danger. When they first faced a boggart in school, it was their family; later it was Andromeda, then Andromeda with Alice and Frank. Now the scene they see is of their child suffering the very fate they had come to fear after years among the Dementors. They stay away from boggarts when they can help it.

PERSONALITY

+Tenacious: Since childhood, Ted has been persistent in everything they do, determined and committed. They’ve never been one to hide their opinions or take the easy way out of things, willing to fight for what they believe in, although usually in their own way and not necessarily what others would expect.

+Devoted: They are fiercely loyal to those they care about, devoted to the point of being willing to do nearly anything to keep them safe. This trait led to their downfall, but it’s also kept their family safe from harm since then. They like to think that their dedication to the people they love is what keeps them from becoming a monster, but it’s also caused them to do things they never thought themself capable of.

+/-Emotional: Once, their sensitivity manifested itself in their empathy, in their willingness to be free and open with everything they were feeling, and to help others do the same. Sometimes, that’s still the case, but mostly now, it’s seen in their inability to regulate their emotions at times. They can go from detached and cold, to deeply emotional in the snap of a finger, and often times can’t control themself in those moments, leading to a lot of anger.

+/-Persuasive: They can convince most anyone of anything, really, knowing just how to connect to other people to make them believe they’re truly empathetic and have their best interests in mind. This used to be genuine. Now, it’s more of an act, a way for them to seem more human, more approachable, despite the indifference they feel most of the time.

-Paranoid: Being betrayed by the love of your life changes how you view other people, and ever since Andromeda made the choice to turn them in for their revenge, they’ve been unable to look at most others with anything other than paranoid suspicion. It’s difficult for them to let people in now, unable to give their trust as freely as they did even during the war, because of the constant worry that they’ll be betrayed again.

-Detached: Living surrounded by Dementors for any amount of time changes a person, and living surrounded by them for five years takes away so much that it’s impossible to remain the same as you were before. Before, Ted felt everything deeply and sincerely. They wore their heart on their sleeve, and weren’t afraid to share their feelings no matter what. Andromeda used to joke that they sounded a lot like children’s storybook, with how eternally optimistic they were, how wholesome and full of love. No longer. It’s been so long since they’ve felt much of anything, besides anger. The utter detachment they show in the face of emotion makes them an excellent executioner.

HISTORY

1. It isn’t planned. Anyone with eyes can see that.

They’ve been together since sixth year, but only in secret, hiding their relationship from everyone but their closest, most trusted friends, not even formally living together yet––Ted in Weymouth at their parents’, Andromeda back in London––still planning how best to break the news of their relationship to her family. But that doesn’t mean that both of them aren’t ecstatic when they find out, only a few months after graduating, that they’re going to have a baby. That’s enough for Andromeda to make the choice, and soon enough they’re their own family, married on the beach in Ted’s parents’ backyard two months after Nymphadora is born.

The first few years together out in the open are blissful, so much so that at times they’re almost able to forget the betrayals that Andromeda suffered because of them. She has a new family, after all, one full of love and acceptance and affection, everything that she wasn’t allowed before. And they share that love with their two closet friends, an unconventional relationship to say the least, but one that feels a lot like home to Ted.

2. But war is hard on them. Ted can tell that something’s not quite right with Andromeda, a slow chasm forming between them, but one they can’t seem to do anything about. There are more arguments between them as time goes on, usually about the right course of action, whether it would be safer to run away and live their lives anywhere else, and sometimes Ted wonders if Andromeda regrets her decision. But they always agree that they should stay, even though as the years move forward they suspect it’s not for them, but for her family, for the off chance that they might take back what they did to her, that she might be able to have both lives.

She makes it clear that she doesn’t believe joining in the fighting is worth it. To risk losing them or Dora isn’t worth it, she says, but they suspect it’s something else. Still, they feel the same; they want nothing more than for their family to stay safe, their child to grow up with both parents, in a home as loving as what they’ve managed to give them so far. So they support the Order from afar, and live their lives, watching Dora learn and grow and blossom, all of the best parts of both of them wrapped into a child.

3. There’s this growing unease in their chest, though, as things continue, as they see the pain and suffering of people like them at the hands of people like their wife’s family, and it makes things even more difficult. They want to do something, but they know they can’t, not with Andromeda and Dora to think about. Still, there’s less playfulness between them, more worry shared, more grave looks as the news gets worse and worse, with no sign of a change even as Dora approaches their Hogwarts years.

The attack is the final straw. When they receive the news about Alice and Frank, it feels a lot like something deep within them has broken. And when the healers tell them that Frank will likely never wake from the coma he’s been tortured into, for the first time in their life they truly understand what it means to hate.

Something in the back of their mind tells them that if it had been someone else, they wouldn’t have done what they did. Something tells them that if it hadn’t been her sister, if they hadn’t felt Andromeda slowly slipping away, back toward her family, they would have found a way to move forward. But Bellatrix Lestrange doesn’t let that happen; she taunts them, leads them into taking bait that they should’ve been able to see past. And when they confront her, they do the only thing that felt appropriate. They wrap their hands around her neck and tighten their grip until they see the life leave her eyes.

And then they go to Andromeda and Alice. They look their wife, the love of their life, the mother of their child in the eye, and they tell her that they killed her sister. That they don’t regret it. For a second, they think she might understand. She knows how evil her sister is, everything she’s done; she destroyed Alice’s life. And yet...

It isn’t a surprise when Andromeda makes her choice, when she chooses her family over them, over Dora, over Alice and Frank, though they wish it is. They wish that they don’t expect it, when they see the look in her eyes when they tell her and Alice what they did, they wish that in that moment every single discussion about her family didn’t flash through their mind, the suspicion that, all along, she was just waiting for an excuse to go back to them. But they know as soon as the words leave their mouth that it’s over.

So they leave, take Dora to their parents, drop them off at the little house on the beach they had grown up in, telling their parents that it might be a while before they could speak to them again, but that they want them to keep Dora safe, raise Dora as they had raised them. And then they go back to their flat and wait.

When two aurors they don’t recognize appear at their door, without Andromeda, they feel nothing. When they take them away, no sign of Andromeda in sight, not even offering the courtesy of a real goodbye, a real explanation of what it was that made her choose the family that had abandoned her over the family that had loved her, they feel nothing.

They only start feeling again once they’re sentenced to life in Azkaban.

4. Azkaban changes them at their very core, and it doesn’t take long for it to start happening. No matter how hard they try to resist the feelings, it’s as if they’re watching their happiness slip away moment by moment. The longer they’re in the presence of the Dementors, the fewer happy memories they can recall. They realize it’s happening only a few weeks into their sentence when they wake up and realize they can’t remember clearly what Andromeda’s smile looks like.

After that, memories seem to leave them more quickly.

They’re a goldmine for the Dementors, after all, full of memories of a happy childhood, a beautiful marriage, a life full of love at every turn. So much unadulterated joy, so much for them to feed off of. They can tell that the Dementors like them, from how often they seem to stay by their cell, especially at first. And soon enough they’ve forgotten what it was like to hold Dora for the first time, the feeling they had when they married Dromeda on the beach, the first time Frank had told them he loved them, what Alice’s hair smelled like when they held her close after sex. Every happy memory slipping away.

It doesn’t help that they have a constant reminder of Andromeda in the cell next to them in the form of Sirius Black.

In all honesty, they don’t know how they survive with their sanity for so long. But as time goes on they wonder if maybe it would be better if they lost their mind, too. That way they wouldn’t be able to think about everything else they’ve lost as well. After years, Ted begins to wonder if they’re even capable of love any longer. They wonder if they’d recognize Dora if they saw them, if they’d be able to laugh at their father’s jokes still, if they could smile at Alice. Worse, they realize it doesn’t matter, because they’re alone, and they’re going to be here alone for the rest of their life.

5. That’s not true, though, because five years into their life sentence, Lily Evans appears at their cell door, telling them that she’s found a way to get them out, if they give her something in return.

She wants them to help her fight, help her change things, finally bring justice to all of the others like them, whose lives were destroyed because of Voldemort and his sympathizers, who were hated for their very being. It’s not a hard choice, even though they never were much of a fighter before. Between a lifetime of misery, or fighting for freedom, there’s no question of it.

Five years isn’t a long time, but it feels a lot like a small eternity has passed once they’re on the outside again, a full pardon granted by the Ministry for ridding the world of someone as evil as Bellatrix Lestrange. Everything is different, in the world and their own life. Suddenly, they’re living in a new home without Andromeda, with a thirteen year old child who they barely know, having missed the last five years of their life. It takes some time to relearn how to be a parent, this time on their own, but they think that that’s the one thing that Azkaban didn’t manage to take from them. Everything else is much harder, though, when they feel nothing like themself anymore.

So they focus their energy on helping Lily achieve everything she sees for the future, not for any real passion for the cause at least at first, but more because they have no idea what their life is now otherwise. She sees them as a powerful symbol, a weapon of sorts, and if that gives them something to devote their life to, then they don’t mind being just that.

And it seems to work, on both accounts. They start advocating for Lily’s vision, speaking about their experiences during the war and right after, and things build. It’s a good distraction from the emptiness that they can’t quiet shake from Azkaban, the acute detachment they feel from the rest of the world now. At least they feel like they’re making a difference for Dora’s future.

6. They aren’t happy, but they notice it’s easier to ignore the dark thoughts, somehow, despite the fact that they dispense cruel justice for a living now.

It’s not a surprise when Lily becomes Minister, but for some reason before that moment it hasn’t quite hit them what that will mean for them. In her eyes, their promise hasn’t been kept yet. In her eyes, they have a bigger job to do.

When they’re given their position in the new Minister’s administration, Ted feels strange. Is this what happiness felt like, ten years ago, before it was taken for them? They don’t think so. This is purpose. And this is the opportunity to take the anger they’ve felt in the pit of their stomach since they were released and do something useful with it. 

They tell themself that they’re creating a new world, a better world.

They make the decision to erase certain specifics from their parents’ memories, a decision that they’re still not completely comfortable with, but one they know they have to make if they want to allow their parents to have a happy life. They make them believe that they were wrongfully convicted for the murder, that Andromeda didn’t leave by choice, but disappeared, and that their position in the government is on the Wizengamot. Lying to their parents is difficult––as a child, they never hid anything from each other, their parents their closest confidants––but they know it’s for the best. And they’re surprised to find that Dora seems to agree.

That’s when they start to worry, when they start noticing more and more that Dora seems to have somehow inherited all of the worst parts of them, of Andromeda, too, that they’re more genuinely interested in Ted’s position under Minister Evans than they are themself. But it’s difficult to know how to change it, or if it needs changing at all.

This is a brave new world, after all, and they’re well aware that if things went back to how they were, neither of them will survive.

INTERVIEW

How far would you go to protect those you care about?

At least that one is an easy question to answer, because Ted has answered this very question over and over again in their own mind, since before the war. “I would do anything to protect the people I care about. And I have. I’d die if it meant protecting the ones I love,” they nod, as if that’s that. To them, it is.

If you stood in front of the Mirror of Erised right now, what would you see?

They know exactly what they’d see.

They’d see themself with Andromeda, Alice and Frank, with Dora and Neville, a big, strange, happy family. It feels a little like treason, to admit that they’d see Andromeda standing there with them, arm around their waist, head tucked against their shoulder, considering who she went back to. It feels a little like treason to admit that they still have their wedding ring, sitting in a little box they keep right next to their bed, that in the middle of the night when they can’t sleep they put it on again, and try desperately to remember what it felt like to hold her. So they push that thought aside, and lie. It’s almost too easy to lie now.

“I’d see myself and Dora, safe, happy. Maybe off in a little house down in Weymouth on the beach,” they say, and it’s not exactly untrue, considering it’s something they’d very much like to have. Does it sound too much like they’re unhappy, though? They’re worried it does, always paranoid that they’ll make a misstep, end up back where they were. So they go on. “We are safe and happy now, but things are...stressful at times. I wouldn’t mind a bit of peace, if only temporarily. A vacation, of sorts, really.”

Do you believe that anything is predestined?

“For a long time, I thought so. I thought things were written in the stars. Hell, I still do a lot of the time; old habits die hard. But the stars didn’t say anything about it ending up where I am, my tea leaves didn’t tell me, my palms didn’t say any of this. So now I guess I believe that, to an extent, our lives may be outlined by the universe, but our choices can change it in a heartbeat. Take that as you will, I guess,” they finish with a shrug, an uncharacteristic indifference. Or rather, an indifference that wouldn’t have been normal of Ted Tonks talking about anything related to divination ten years before.

Ten years ago, where did you see yourself today? What would you tell your younger self, if you could?

“That’s a cruel question,” they say with a little laugh, an edge of humorlessness to it. They shift in their seat, though, their discomfort with the question clear.

When they were younger, they had never been one to look to the future, more content to live in the moment and enjoy their time in the moment. But Andromeda had changed that. She had made them excited to think about the future, and by the time they had had Dora, there was little more that they did as they were falling asleep each night than think about what their future as a family would be like.

They saw happiness in their future, then.

And now they’re not even certain they’re capable of true happiness any longer.

“I guess I saw myself still with my wife, didn’t I? I definitely didn’t see myself having been to Azkaban because of her,” they say, voice flat, disconnected. “If I could tell my younger self anything, I would tell myself not to get so comfortable. To open your eyes, and see what’s happening in front of you, and do something to change it, even if it meant temporary pain. There were so many warning signs for what was coming. I ignored them all in favor of trying to have a happy life; it was selfish. And it didn’t work. It just made everything more difficult.”

EXTRAS

inspo tag

patronus- Since Azkaban, Ted is no longer capable of producing a corporeal patronus, but it used to be a German Shepard, who looked like their childhood dog, Lancelot

wand- 12″ pear, unicorn hair, very flexible

amortentia- the ocean breeze, fresh blueberry muffins, something flowery that reminds them of nights with Andromeda, Frank and Alice

likes: summer, English beaches, rose tea, Herbology, Sunday roast, weed, psychedelics, Joni Mitchell, classical music, Freddie Mercury, sleeping naked, poetry, tattoos, spending time with family, 80s power ballads, swimming, stargazing, campfires, forehead kisses, cuddling, being outside in the rain, being barefoot, astrology

dislikes: the middle of winter, close-minded people, vodka, straight people, black coffee, aggressiveness, being alone, waking up early, cold showers, the color orange, birds, conformity for the sake of conformity, cauliflower, hypocrites, having to wear suits everyday, deadlines, hats, small spaces

headcanons

Ted is as blind as a bat, and can’t see anything clearly without their glasses. Unfortunately, they also have a tendency to lose their glasses, which results in a lot of clumsiness, a clumsiness that Dora has inherited. Because of this, they’re very good at minor healing charms, especially since they had a tendency to walk around barefoot more often than not when they were younger.

They bisexual as fuck, and also polyamorous. They grew up on the principle of free love, and practiced just that when they were younger, physical intimacy common with their friends and lovers alike. They’re the one that initially suggested the idea of polyamory between them and Andromeda and Frank and Alice.

The dozens of muggle tattoos that cover their arms and chest started when they were a teenager, and they still add to them now. They have tattoos for Dora, for their parents, tattoos for Alice and Frank, a rare ivy that Frank grew winding up their bicep and the flower that sprouted from it only at night blooming on the cap of their shoulder. They still can’t bring themself to cover the very prominent Andromeda constellation on their forearm, the stylized portrait on their chest.

They have a rather large collection of pistols that they use for their job, most of them decorated with intricately beautiful filigree. In all honesty, guns used to terrify them; their parents are hippies at heart, and raised them in a very anti-violence house. But a lot has changed for them since then.

No matter what happens, Ted always makes certain to be home in time to make and have dinner with Dora while she’s home from Hogwarts. Before Azkaban, dinner was a big deal in their family, always a family affair, the three of them, and at times Frank and Alice as well, gathering together to laugh and share their thoughts. That hasn’t changed, even if it’s just the two of them now.

On a similar note, they still do enjoy cooking; it’s one of the few things they can still find some happiness in. Most of their memories of cooking with their family growing up, and then cooking for Andromeda after Hogwarts, meals shared with Frank and Alice, are faded or tainted now, but they’ve made new memories with Dora since then.

They’re also still very genuinely interested in astronomy and divination, never quite able to break the habit of looking to the stars for answers, searching tea leaves for what is to come. They have dozens of decks of tarot cards, and specific cups dedicated to tea leaf reading.

dora

Dora is currently a 17 year old seventh year at Hogwarts, a Hufflepuff just like Ted was, but with a mischievous streak beyond theirs during their childhood.

The summer that they moved back in with Ted after their time in Azkaban, Dora came out to them as nonbinary, and started using they/them pronouns as well. They had already come out to Ted’s parents, as well as Alice.

They love using their abilities as a Metamorphmagus to explore their gender expression, but have pretty much settled on a look, mostly changing their hair instead of their overall appearance nowadays.

They’re very interested in following a similar career path as their father, a strong believer in fighting for justice in any way they can. Part of them is considering becoming a hit-wix, but Alice has been trying to convince them to become an Auror like her.

Despite everything, they look back at their childhood with fond memories, having inherited the optimism that Ted lost. They remember the time they had with their parents together happily, and only wish there had been more of it, but they liked growing up with their grandparents, liked hearing about how similar they were to Ted when they were their age, liked growing up on the beach their father had. And they’re thankful that they have them now, that they only missed a few years, no matter how vital, because they know that things could’ve been much worse.

In Ted and Andromeda’s absence, Alice became something of a mother-figure to Dora, especially once their Hogwarts letter came in the mail, and their muggle grandparents were a bit out of their depth. Even before, they had seen Alice and Frank as a second set of parents, ever present figures in their life as they grew up, and once Ted was in Azkaban, Alice became their greatest connection to the wizarding world. She took them shopping for their books and supplies, she helped them prepare for Hogwarts.

More than anything, they want their father to be happy again, and they do everything they can to try to keep them from falling into the dark thoughts when they’re home.

[valkyrie-echo]

Project Echo, Part 3: Chapter 19 (50 Days Before the Explosion)

Part 3 Summary: Seven years after the events of “Part 2”, Avengers Tower explodes, fulfilling Bucky’s vision. All evidence points to Avengers Shadow-Ops leader Inessa Ryker, who is forced to seek out Bucky in hiding. Together they must determine who the traitor is in their ranks and if their friends are still alive- all while trying to survive deadly ambushes orchestrated by Sam Wilson and his hand-picked army.

Chapter 19: 50 Days Before the Explosion

"Noelle, can you come with me for a moment, please?" Steve interrupted Amadeus and his team as they ran yet another round of simulations on the symbols from the Shadow King's blood magic. At this point it was pretty much only them looking. Everyone kept Niflheim and what happened there as an active case, but it was more likely the answers would be found off-realm. With Odin's well-known distaste for the Avengers it wasn't hard to imagine that an answer had already been found- he just wasn't telling. As worried as the leaders were, they had a world to protect, and it was well over a month later. They'd never had an attack this drawn out before.

Amadeus glanced up and fixed the Captain with his coldest glare- his own form of greeting Steve, Vision, and Clint ever since the Leader's Meeting where they'd voted to form a second Black Ops unit. He willfully ignored Natasha and Wanda, who abstained from voting- meaning they agreed with Steve but didn't want to hurt Inessa's feelings. His smiles he saved only for Tony, Thor, Banner, and Sam who'd all sided with Inessa against the idea.

The new Unit couldn't form without the unanimous consent of every Avengers leader (which Steve would never get because Inessa wouldn't budge in her position that it was useless), or an 89% majority of all Avengers. Basically the only way he was getting his new team was to convince every last one of them it was necessary, but if more than four Avengers couldn't be won over then once again he would fail. He'd been speaking with them one-by-one for days, trying to explain that yes, the timing sucked, but they needed to support the Shadow Unit. Let them focus on Inessa and the Shadow King while another Black Ops team protected the world. It divided the teams within each of the four units- and now Steve had the audacity to approach a member of Inessa's group directly.

"Go with him and you're dead to me," Marie glanced up from her computer across from Amadeus in the small root interface of JARVIS' mainframe- a glorified server room that felt more like a claustrophobic closet. She'd never seen him look so cold, or so dead serious. The more Steve pressed his case against Amadeus' friend and leader the less old loyalties mattered.

Steve rolled his eyes, "I've about had it with you Amadeus. Noelle- Captain's orders. Come on."

"Sorry," she shrugged to Amadeus and slid back from her computer. Marie was indifferent on the whole issue. She ignored Steve, Amadeus, and their little feud. She was too new to be loyal to a leader she'd frankly hardly seen and pretty much just followed her lieutenant's orders- right now that meant running down leads on blood magic… Even though in reality she was taking advantage of her secluded position and playing Oregon Trail. Amadeus had cholera, Inessa died from exposure, and Noelle was still going strong despite being 65.

"Hey Steve," Amadeus got his attention before he left with Noelle.

"Let me guess, you're going to tell me to shove something up my ass."

"Your head, yes."

"Good talk."

Amadeus sighed dramatically after he left, "Ah Marie, I wish you knew Noelle better before her tragic passing."

"Do I need to start wearing black?" she wasn't paying much attention, but she knew by now to pretend to humor the oddest Avenger.

"No, that's alright, she wouldn't want us to be in mourning forever."

"You leaving lilies in front of her door?"

"Naturally," he cracked his neck and went back to typing away, "by the way- I'm closer to 25 than 20 and you treat cholera with laudanum, not extra fluids."

"How-"

"JARVIS is a tattle-tail," a screen popped up on her game informing her 'Zombie Inessa' had joined the group. Marie was fairly positive that wasn't part of the original game, "Do a better job with her this time around."

"I will. I promise."

"Is this about the second Black Ops Unit?" Noelle had followed Steve up to his apartment where his lieutenant, Sharon, was waiting. The Tower was boiling with tension, mostly thanks to Steve and his decision to just about ignite a new civil war. Teams were fighting one another at the slightest provocation and Tony's Iron Legion could only do so much to keep the peace. Splitting the teams off back to their satellite facilities would be tantamount to declaring open conflict. Steve hiding out away from the others was probably the only move he had left to make.

"No, but it is about Inessa," Sharon invited Noelle to sit but she remained where she was, "Steve offered leadership to Amadeus because it is the least controversial choice. Promoting a lieutenant is easier for the public and the Avengers to swallow than promoting a general member. Ideally it would be you and Marie on the new team."

"You sent me to Inessa's team because you were worried about her and Amadeus and how they were handling Mallory Ivaneau's death and Eoin O'Meara's betrayal. I'm an Avenger first, Shadow Unit second. I will continue to do what I believe is best for the entire group, not just my team. I won't turn on my leader for power. It only fans the flames." She turned but Steve blocked her way quickly.

"I'm not offering you leadership, we're just saying you were the first choice."

"I'm ambitious, not petty," Noelle was one of the most logically-minded Avengers Steve had ever known- including Tony. He wasn't entirely sure she was human and not another strange AI like Vision. She could read people's intentions, and he only wanted her to know his for sure- in case that mechanical personality did see its pride as being wounded. Geoff swore she was different once you really got to know her. Evidently the four years he'd lived in the same building as Noelle (the first year of that with her on his team) wasn't long enough.

Steve shook his head, "Use your powers. What are my intentions?"

Noelle's face was unreadable, "You've got two things for me. A mission, and a secret."

"Two missions, both secret," Sharon corrected softly. When Noelle was one of them she was still learning the subtle shifts in her powers and needed to be guided when possible.

"No. One mission. One secret. You think they're linked Sharon, Steve isn't so sure."

He glanced to his lover and she nodded, "JARVIS, load Hydra security footage from Project Echo. One of the more mild bits, please." Noelle turned back to face Sharon and the television behind her.

She wasn't one of the Avengers stupid enough to look at the torture footage from Inessa's time with Hydra. The newer ones, ones who didn't know any better, dared each other to watch it. All they knew was that everyone was afraid of it. Few were warned of the brutality. Eventually, though, they all learned the story- well, at least what they thought was the story.

Grainy footage filled the screen of a blindingly bright torture room. The walls and floors were filled with lights- a true shadow-free zone. A plastic table sat in the center of the room and on it was a young Inessa, "Footage from July 27, 2009. Week 47 of Project Echo," a man with a shining metal arm was turning Inessa over, mindful of her feeble struggles to escape. Something was off with the girl's toes and every kick brought forth a squeal of pain, but she kept trying. Noelle knew what it was- they'd been severely broken once upon a time and healed wrong.

I was lucky, she remembered something Inessa had said once upon a time, the body I left was in a pretty shitty state- all busted and gnarled. The Avengers took it in, JARVIS and this surgeon put it back together, and by the time I got to it it was in incredible shape again.

The man's face was too pixelated to see clearly, Noelle couldn't even tell if he was phased by the 15 year-old's feeble cries. Another man was waiting by a metal cart, on top of which was the unmistakable outline of a whip. Noelle knew more about Hydra torture techniques than she'd admit even to Geoff, but between her experience raiding bases and the occasional glimpse of Inessa's bare back in the locker room showers, she could safely bet that whip was studded with metal barbs. A small bowl sat on the tray as well- salt. Once, when Amadeus brought up her past, Inessa had told him her torturer, Thomas Dennisson, liked to extend the pain as long as possible using salt or citrus juice. Whenever the doctors told him he had to give her more than a day to recover he'd have her heavily sedated so that she could never enjoy the respite. It was hard for Noelle to look at the screen, knowing just what all of this meant to Inessa, and especially knowing that this was only halfway through. That girl in the video wouldn't be free for a very long time yet…

"JARVIS, override Echo Alpha, remove the filter," Steve came up next to Noelle as the picture abruptly sharpened to something closer to HD, "The cameras Hydra installed in the halls were shit. Unfortunately for those of us who had to watch this back when Inessa first came to the Tower, Dennisson liked a much better picture. We added the filter later to protect new Avengers from the full horror, should they try to watch without knowing precisely what it is. We were also protecting him," he motioned to the man with the metal arm as he tore open the back of the white shirt Hydra prisoners still wore, "JARVIS, skip the gore, please."

The image jumped. Inessa's body was breathing heavy, but limp. Chunks of flesh torn off by the whip were sprinkled around the room. The metal man, the Winter Soldier who would one day be killed by Steve over the Potomac during the Hydra emergence, was leaning hard against the wall in the corner of the room over a small pool of vomit. Dennisson was now holding the whip in one hand and the empty bowl of salt in the other. He threw both on the table and whistled sharply, glaring at the Soldier.

Two scientists and two guards immediately wheeled a bizarre chair into the room. Noelle recognized it from an Avengers file she'd skimmed in the computer- a programming machine. Brutal and efficient, it zapped the subject with near-lethal amounts of electricity while a small screen over the eye played a "Compliance and Obedience" video. Brainwashing at its worst.

The Winter Soldier was moved into the chair. His metal arm held him to some hidden magnet and the panels descended. While he screamed, Dennisson smiled. It sent chills down Noelle's spine.

"Skip ahead, give us a freeze frame on his face."

The gaunt, dead-eyed man who emerged from the machine a few hours later looked oddly familiar. Big eyes, straight nose, strong jaw- a face more suited to a cocky smile than a stone-cold glare. If the footage wasn't black and white she might have had a harder time guessing, but it jogged something, "He's on the Wall of Remembrance. One of yours."

"James Buchanan Barnes," Sharon nodded, "his picture is next to my Great Aunt Peggy's." Every Avenger facility had a wall of photographs of people near and dear to each Avenger. Some they'd lost, some they'd failed to save, the pictures were on the walls to remind them all what they fought for. Their family outside their team.

"And he didn't die in the Potomac like everyone thinks. The Winter Soldier went in, Bucky Barnes pulled me out."

"Amadeus was right?"

Steve glanced to Sharon, "Amadeus has been repeatedly warned to keep his mouth shut," he looked at Bucky's face a moment longer and sighed, sad, "He joined us on the condition we find Inessa. His programming was breaking, but she'd been locked in the Valley too long. She couldn't find purchase here, so she whispered in his mind until it about drove him insane…"

"We never lied," he continued, "the battles against the Shadow, the fight against Dennisson, Hydra, Sebastian Morris and his cabal- it's like those pictures in Inessa's living room. The first and fourth photographs- pull them out of the frames some time and you'll see they're just folded specially to hide him. He was an Avenger for about seven or eight months."

"Steve couldn't face his demons," Sharon took over, "but Bucky wanted to. After the battle with the cabal he went into hiding- maybe until he got things under control, maybe forever. He hasn't been seen since."

Noelle's power flared, "You want me to find him. He's the secret you think is a mission."

"Bucky had these visions, three of them," Steve explained, "in each one Avengers Tower was destroyed. In the last one he saw Sam attempting to carry out an execution order against Inessa for the deaths of myself, Tony, Banner, Thor, Clint, and Natasha- the original Avengers. Bucky's had a lot of experience as a ghost, but I need to talk to him. He sent himself away to find peace and flush out Hydra's Winter Soldier, but with the Shadow King's blood magic, Ingvir's death, the disappearances, and Inessa's new issues with her powers I'm worried. I need to know more about what he saw, if he's seen anything else, and if we're anywhere near the timeline in his visions."

"Why not ask Muhammad? He's the first person that comes to mind with the power to send something like that."

"He will probably send them, yes," Sharon corrected, "but if he'd seen something yet he would tell Thor. We can't ask him and risk an Ouroborous, even a small one."

"My mission is to monitor Inessa," Noelle predicted, "the second is to find Barnes again. Neither of you really think that will help."

Steve nodded, "We need to know if the blood magic is turning Inessa into the woman from Bucky's vision, and he's in the best position to make that call. We're not finding him to extend a membership offer, only to confirm or eliminate a theory."

Sharon stood up and came over to Noelle, "Inessa always has had a perfect distinction of James and the Winter Soldier. She supported his decision to leave. After Steve's breakdown," she spared a sympathetic glance to her lover, "she became downright protective of the man. Steve felt like he'd been forced into this life, James had been. To him his work with the Avengers was more like an extension of what he did for Hydra, just pointed at a different target. She made sure no one knows where he is so that he can be free of it all. She's doing her best to make that happen."

"He's had a lifetime of experience in hiding," Steve continued, "he didn't come to my funeral, he probably hid himself away somewhere so remote he doesn't even know Thanos existed. If anyone is going to find him, it has to be a Black Ops member, and of those we can only trust you to actually retrieve him. In the meantime, yes, we want you to watch Inessa. Look for any signs her judgement is impaired. It's nothing unconscionable, just be a vigilant friend."

Noelle considered it, "Watch her and find him, is that all?"

"We wouldn't ask you to do anything against either," Sharon assured her.

"I have a duty to keep the Avengers safe," Steve prompted, "I'll do what I can for Inessa, and I'll keep my friends safe from her. When Bucky told us about his visions I wasn't willing to listen. I'd just watched him squeeze the head off of an unarmed Dennisson and though it wasn't confirmed at the time I knew he'd killed Inessa's uncle. Someone, probably a future version of Muhammad, was trying to warn us against something. I need to know what Bucky knows, and this time I'm ready to pay attention."

"One condition."

"Name it."

Noelle sighed, "Make peace with Inessa. It isn't good for the Avengers as a whole, you two at one another's throats."

Steve shook his head, "I can't make that promise without knowing what's coming."

"At least stop talking about a second Black Ops unit."

He looked tired, but he shook her hand, "That's an easier promise to make."

"Nessa, I need to grab something from your apartment."

"JARVIS, let Noelle in. Lock up when she leaves." Inessa was still trapped in the hospital wing. Noelle felt a twinge of guilt, using Inessa's trust like this, but she had to know for sure what she was wading into. Pictures one and four…

Inessa's living room was a shrine to the past six years, but the earliest pictures were different. Avengers didn't typically think to chronicle their adventures or time together- especially not in those early days. Initially it was only the Leaders, all living separate lives unless something came up that drew them together. The only reason the Battle of the Shadows had been a group effort was because they happened to be in New York City together when Bucky was brought in. The only reason that happened was because of Thor's appointment to Asgardian Ambassador.

After Inessa returned to her body they all went to Clint's farm. Again, it wasn't meant as anything more than a team vacation after the stresses and strains of New York City (plus, no one was willing to leave Inessa behind, now that they knew there was someone in there). Then Ultron, and the satellite facilities began popping up. Then Thanos and the new Avengers who came in droves.

Picture one was, naturally, among those taken from security footage. It showed the Avengers together in the recovery room after Clint saw the Shadow for the first time. It was the brightest room in the old Tower, and they'd marked it as the best place to be. A surgeon friend of Tony's was visiting to check out Steve, Sam, and Natasha- freshly arrived from their trip to Kazakhstan where they retrieved the Project Echo folder. At least, that was the version she'd been told. The surgeon just happened to be there before Steve went exploring to verify Clint's story and was attacked. The why of his leaving was never particularly clear, but in the security picture Noelle had always thought Steve was looking at something off-frame, worried about some invisible matter.

She pulled that picture from the wall first and quickly removed the backing. Sure enough, the picture was folded over. Noelle pulled the image out and held it up to inspect. Bucky Barnes was lying unconscious on a hospital bed across from where the Avengers sat. His metal arm was gone and the shoulder on his left side was heavily bandaged. He was also in Steve's direct eye-line. Steve had survived his fight with the Shadow by holding onto one of Thor's healing stones- now Noelle wondered if he hadn't been retrieving it when Inessa had first attacked so that it might help his friend.

Picture four was the first of the group shots, this one from Clint's farm. It was the first non-paparazzi group picture of the Avengers Leaders ever taken (though it was minus Wanda and Vision, of course). They were sitting around the fire at Clint's farm- the original format of the Leader's Meeting apparently- fanned out so a group picture could be taken. Their faces were somewhat grim, Inessa had something metallic peeking out from the back of her neck (Noelle asked about it once and never received an explanation for what seemed to be some sort of machine), and Steve's nose had a definite snarl to it. Inessa explained to her it was only a few weeks before the attack by Morris' cabal. Tony had decided they needed a group picture the night before Inessa, Steve, and Sam returned to New York City for her to undergo treatment by undercover cabal member Doctor Madelyn Pryor.

This time Noelle had a good idea of where Bucky was hidden. She removed and unfolded that picture as well. Sure enough what Inessa claimed was the tip of an abandoned shoe next to Tony was attached to someone. Bucky. He was smiling a tense smile on the farthest side of the group as possible from Steve. This picture would help her more in her search- his hair was clean and pushed back, he was awake, alert, and well lit- considering the picture was taken by an Iron Man suit and it was nighttime. Inessa stood in the center of the group, seemingly unafraid of her torturer so close.

Inessa could have cut him from the pictures, easily, but she chose to hide him instead. Steve said she was protective of his freedom from the team- especially after what they went through with Steve in the civil war. She was willing to do whatever it took to keep him out of anyone's hands- Hydra or the Avengers. That might have been what she told herself, but Noelle didn't need her powers to see the intention behind keeping Bucky in the photographs, invisible but still a part of the memory- she couldn't give up hope that he might one day come back. She didn't cut the line or even hide it better- she made a small change that could easily be undone. If he walked through the doors that very day she'd probably come up and unfold the pictures herself. Doctor's orders or no.

"Find what you were looking for?" her voice came through the house speakers, "Amadeus just left to go buy lilies to put in front of your door. He's making the other Avengers sign a 'Sorry you died' card. I'm guessing Steve sent you up?"

"He had some questions about an old case of ours, thought it might tie into one of his."

"I see," Inessa had an odd way of sounding (and looking) like she knew exactly what was going on, "old files are in the middle of the book case in my library."

"Yeah, got it," Noelle quickly put the pictures back together and returned them to their proper places. She noticed a thin line in the paint- maybe nothing, maybe a security mark. Noelle lined both pictures up with the barely visible scratch and headed quickly for the back corner of Inessa's apartment. Most of the books in here were related in some way to her coursework or were simply books she liked to have around- encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases- she wasn't always a fan of going to the Avenger's library where noisy gatherings were held almost nightly. Besides- the Shadow Unit's case files were all there.

"Bottom left. Inactive cases," Inessa spoke softly, as if she wasn't sure she wanted Noelle to hear, "it's under 'Kochevnik'… The Russian word."

"Nessa-"

"Do me a favor?"

"Yeah," Noelle hung her head and took the file.

"Don't look too hard. No matter how Steve thinks this will end, if he hears something is wrong he'll come back. This life can suck you in and not let go. I chose it, we all chose it, but breaking away… It took a lot for him to leave the first time. Give me a chance to fix this before you pull him back in. Please."

Noelle didn't respond, but Inessa didn't expect her to. She had the file she needed, so she turned and left quickly. Once upon a time Inessa had brought a missing boy back to a village so remote it wasn't even on a map. When she came back to check on him the town was abuzz with the news that a favored monk, believed to be a messenger of god, had vanished in the night just after her last visit. Inessa was intrigued, bored really, so she asked around that village and a few others just as remote. There were four confirmed sightings of him, this wandering Westerner who took shelter in temples and performed little acts of kindness to as many residents as he could manage before moving on again. It was the last temple they'd visited- where they'd learned the man seemed to possess super-human strength and performed feats with only one arm it would take ten men with two to complete in the same amount of time- like chopping firewood for an entire village or hunting large game for starving residents- that killed the case. Inessa brought them back to the Tower, said the man clearly wasn't a threat and the reports of his super human strength were likely exaggerations. The man, no matter where he was, went by the same name- the Kochevnik. The Nomad.

Inessa had as good as confirmed her hunch that perhaps the mysterious man, the buried case Inessa refused to ever discuss again with any of them, might just also be Steve's missing friend.

Nadya stirred first, the others followed soon after. A soft breeze blew through the Valley, but it wasn't her. They'd been despondent since the sky opened and something nearly drew the lost realm back from whatever oblivion it was in to rejoin the Bifrost. Her power still filled the Valley and sparked across the now brilliant blue sky. Until it dissipated, until she opened a path for it to return to her, she would remain weak and lost.

So, if not her, what was knocking?

A crack of thunder sent shockwaves from the heart of the Valley and forced the pack to scatter. In their place appeared two people, or rather pieces of them. A couple of fingers and puddles that just smelled wrong. Part human, part poison and radiation.

Hours passed and more bodies flooded in in varying stages of completion. Around the thousandth time bodies that were at least whole on the outside (though black liquid on the inside) began to appear. The pack became agitated and frightened as the corpses continued to arrive, and Inessa's moods shifted back in Avengers Tower in response (though she had no idea why and attributed it to either kidney failure or PMS).

Nadya alone had been part of the Shadow for the last eleven years, and they didn't have the same abilities or instincts as their Alpha, they were pure instinct. Near the end one of the new arrivals was still alive and, like their mistress, was wreathed in black mist and silver fog. Before Nadya could stop them they set upon the abomination and ripped it to shreds. It wouldn't have survived long anyways, but it was still a creature that should have been protected.

The Alpha had only one option. It was connected to Inessa in a way the others were not, and Nadya had always been able to draw on Inessa's power to open a door and find the girl. She took it as a duty to protect and aid her. From Inessa's own anger and uncertainty when she'd connected with Nadya's mind in the attack on New York the Alpha knew what had to be done, considering the uncertainty and suspicion of the human-cub's allies.

She borrowed that piece of Inessa's mind and, despite the pain it knew the action would cause, it used her to open a door into the Valley. The wolves atop the heap of corpses howled as the lightning high above followed Nadya to Inessa and brought their mistress to full power. Inessa shrieked- more from surprise- when an abrupt burst of pain wracked her body, followed by a sensation disturbingly like having an entire bathtub worth of ice water poured on top of you at once (she knew the feeling thanks to Amadeus and Clint several prank wars ago).

Nadya dove into the shadows of the exam room and came out on the other side of the floor in the equipment storage area. Acting off Inessa's own ever-present link she found the Helius beacons used by the Avengers and began to rip and tear at them one by one. Every Avenger was in the Tower, meaning every beacon was in one place and within minutes they were destroyed. The others wouldn't know now.

4,000 bodies in the Valley. The Avengers could never see, no one could know yet but the mistress. Though, thanks to Inessa, Nadya's instinct had been to preserve the creature that arrived last. The pack was right to destroy it. She had a sense of the others, thanks to the marks that each Avenger bore as a locating beacon. Some didn't trust the mistress' powers anymore, not like they used to.

What would they do if they found out someone, somewhere, was trying to create their own Shadow?

Chapter 20: Not Dead (Yet)

[padfootdidit]

nowhere else i’d rather be

a belated birthday fic for the love of my life james potter <3

a lil throwback to his 18th birthday when he got so smashed he had to crash at lily’s and then they just had to share a bed.

The mirror keeps buzzing in her bag and she’s sure it’s Sirius, calling to see if they made it back alright. Lily can’t answer it though, because she has her arms full with James. A very mashed and wobbly James.

“Where are we?” He says into her neck, too loudly for Lily’s liking. If a light goes on in the house, they’re screwed.

“Almost there.” She tells him as they reach the gate and she has to hold him up with one hand to push it open. For a second he leans too far forward, but then somehow uprights himself and stumbles forward.

“Where are we?” He repeats, stepping closer so his breath fans all over her throat again. It would be nice if it didn’t smell of a mixture of jaeger and sick.

“My house.” Lily watches as realisation dawns on James’ face, mouth dropping open, shoulders going limp.

“Wow. You have a house?”

“Where did you think all your owls were coming to last summer?” She shakes him until his shoulders regain some structure and tries to walk forwards again. James is stuck though, feet planted firmly on the ground as he takes in her house.

There’s not much to take in and Lily blushes, not having really thought about this part of him crashing at hers. Of course, she’d thought about him staying one day, just not under these circumstances. In her imagination they hadn’t been sneaking in at 4 am because James got kicked out of the hotel the Marauders were staying at. 

Sirius had pointed out he couldn’t exactly go back to their house because Fleamont and Euphemia were under the belief that he and James were just staying at Peter’s for a tiny celebration, and not attempting to visit as many pubs in London as they possibly could before some died. Which was what they’d been doing. And having a great time until someone decided two grenades, a jaegerbomb and ten shots were a good follow up to a pitcher of Long Island ice tea. That someone who was now staring at Lily’s terraced house in fascination.

Lily had been nominated as caregiver because her parents were the only ones who knew she was going to London, she was the least drunk and her house was the closest to apparate to. (They’d ended up getting a taxi, paid for by James, because splinching didn’t seem very appealing.) She had thought that had been the longest hour of her life, with James’ head in her lap and the constant fear he was going to throw up in her in her head. (As it turned out, he’d clearly emptied his stomach outside the last pub.) But James inspecting her house seemed to be taking years.

“I forgot people had houses.” James says, finally.

Lily scoffs. “Thought everyone had manors?”

“Only twats have manors. And my parents.”  He begins to move, tripping once but managing to make it to the doorstep without any major mishaps.

“Your social commentary would make a very interesting book.” She searches for the keys in her bag, definitely not jumping when he places a hand on her waist. For support, Lily.

“Your social astronomy would make a very good book.” He says, petulant. It’s almost endearing.

The door opens and Lily pauses, listening to see if anyone has stirred. “Don’t make a sound.”

“Aye aye captain.” James voice seems booming in the silence and she smacks his arm, provoking a louder squeal of pain. The hallway and landing remain dark and Lily guides James through the door, glad he won’t be able to see her primary school photos hanging on the wall.

They move through the hall slowly, Lily trying to figure out if it would be safer if James went before or after her on the stairs. He makes the decision for her, starting to climb before she can say anything. Lily follows quickly, her eyes darting everywhere so she can be prepared if he falls. At the pace he’s going, she need not worry. Every stair is a two minute ordeal and when, eventually, they reach the top, James spins around and holds his hand up for a high five. Like a toddler who’s just achieved his first successful walk, he’s beaming. She begrudges him the high five, but only because he might complain loudly if she ignores it. Then she takes his hand and leads him to her room, making sure the door is firmly shut behind them before turning on the light. She’d forgotten how yellow it was.

James is clearly shocked too, or just blinded by the light, because he stumbles backwards and Lily has to leap forwards and grab him before he crashes into her record player. “Wow.”

“It’s just a room.” Lily blushes again, regretting turning the light on because James is looking at everything.

“No it’s your room.” He points a finger at her solemnly, and then continues to investigate her shelves. He picks out a Jane Austen and spends too long reading the blurb before concluding, “neat.” He reaches for Orwell next and Lily stops him, placing the book back and leading him away from anything he can look at in too much detail.

“You need to sleep.”

“One bed.” He points again, this time at her single bed which she’d forgotten to make that morning.

“Good to hear wizards are taught basic maths.” She answers drily, internally panicking because she hadn’t thought this part through either.

“I’ll sleep on the floor.” James shrugs.

“Do you mind?” Lily asks.

James studies her beige carpet. “I don’t think so.”

“Good enough for me.” She grabs a pillow and her blanket and hands them to him. It takes him a minute, but he figures out what to do. Lily decides she likes this drunk James. Earlier, when he’d been throwing his guts up and dancing with so little co-ordination he feel over at every spin, Lily was happy she would not be staying at the hotel room with him. The long taxi ride had clearly calmed him though and this sort of smashed is endearingly idiotic and gentle, it suits him.

She waits for him to finish before turning off the light, not escaping his wink as he unbuckles his belt. Luckily it’s more of a blink so Lily doesn’t get too flustered. Then she pulls her dress over her head and climbs under her duvet, wishing she could take her bra off but not wanting to risk waking up with her covers at the end of the bed, chest on full display. Not that James seeing her boobs would be too bad, but he might have a heart attack. So she leaves the bra on and stares at the ceiling, not having considered how difficult it would be to go to sleep knowing James Potter is in her house.

“Hey Evans,” James whispers, “you awake?”

“No.”

“Where are the baby pigeons?”

“Go to sleep.”

“Is there a master pigeon somewhere? Sirius reckons there’s a master pigeon somewhere.” He trails off. Five minutes later and, “Hey Evans, are you awake?”

“No.”

“Your floor is really uncomfortable.”

“Should have thought about that before you called the hotel receptionist a pissy baby.”

“He was! Just because I threw up in their plant, doesn’t mean I’m a ‘public disturbance’.” She can’t see, but she’s sure he’s drawing quote marks in the air.

“Sirius agreed with him.”

“That’s because Sirius is a bloody traitor.”

“I’ll tell him you said that.”

Silence. Lily guesses he’s fallen asleep. Until, five minutes later. “Hey Evans, you awake?”

“No.”

“Can we share the bed? Please.” Now it’s her turn to fall silent, her words stuck in her throat because she wants to say yes, but he’s drunk, she’s drunk, her parents are just down the landing, he’s James Potter, she’s -”I’m only asking because I get a bad back. I promise I’m not trying to ask you out.”

“You’ve only ever asked me out once.”

“Someone’s counting.”

“You can share. If you really want.” She barely has time to blink before his figure is standing over her, pillow and blanket in hand. She shuffles over and he climbs in, tentatively. He’s like a furnace, a half naked, six foot something furnace. Lily hadn’t seem him take his shirt off. She can feel her heart racing and they aren’t even touching. James takes his glasses off and, missing her bedside table, drops them onto the floor.

“Night.” He says and his voice is sort of strangled.

“Night.” She says, rolling towards the wall because she’s scared she’s going to touch him.

What feels like hours later, she’s finally beginning to drop off when, “Hey Evans. Are you awake?” She doesn’t reply, too close to sleep to want to start a conversation. “I love you.”

When Lily wakes up, it takes her a second to realise where she is. The yellow walls remind her. Then, she realises she’s not alone. Someone, someone very warm and very long, is behind her. Her back is on their chest and their arm is around her waist, fingers grazing her belly whenever she exhales. Her legs are entangled in theirs and, oh shit, either they sleep with their wand or someone’s got a big case of morning glory. Lily knows it’s not a wand. She also knows that it’s James Potter and that she’s never felt more safe or comfortable in her life.

Her skin is on fire and she doesn’t know what to do. If she moves she might wake him and then they’d have to have a conversation. If she stays then she won’t be able to deny to herself, let alone him, that she has feelings for him. The worst part is, she doesn’t know how he would react. The last time he showed any sign of liking her was in Fifth Year and, sure, since then they’ve become best friends, but that doesn’t mean he still has any interest in her.

She’s so busy debating the pros and cons of her options, she doesn’t notice that James has woken up. Only when his breath quickens against the back of her neck does she notice. Having had more time to come to terms with the situation, Lily speaks first. “Morning.”

“Alright, Evans?” James says, voice strangled. He moves and his morning glory presses firmly into her bum. She just manages to stop herself from squeaking.

“I think so. You?” She stares intently at the wall.

“Honest answer? I think this might be my best belated birthday present ever. I might also still be drunk so I’ll claim diminished responsibility for anything I say.”

“What are we going to do?” Lily asks,

“Never move?” James’ suggestion almost earns him an elbow to the stomach, but Lily refrains because she’s not quite ready to move.

“My parents will be wondering why I’m still in bed. And the boys, -”

“Will not be surprised.”

“Why?”

“Because they know I’ve been dreaming about a situation like this since I realised girls were actually something I quite fancied.” His fingers are still grazing her stomach and it’s intentional now and Lily can’t quite focus.

“In general, or just-”

“You. Occasionally McGonagall, but you can’t be jealous because she and I have a special relationship.” His nose brushes her neck and Lily can’t help it. She laughs at his stupid joke and realises she was wrong. There has been every indication that he still liked her, but she was too busy falling in love with him to notice. Idiot. “It’s not a joke, she’ll always -”

“I love you too.” Lily whispers it, quietly enough for it to be a risk, loud enough that he’ll hear her. She says it because it’s true and when he had said it last night she’d smiled, even though she was already asleep. She says it because every time she looks at him she wants to and only doesn’t because she’s scared. She says it because she can’t not and she doesn’t want to spend another day pretending they’re just friends when they both know they’re everything to each other. She says it because her walls are golden and his fingers are flames and because he looks at her like she’s the sun and, with him, she believes it.

“If you don’t kiss me in the -” She turns before he can finish and his hand cups her cheek and she’s never seen him smile more.

“Tell Sirius I’m sorry that his present is no longer your favourite.” Lily smiles and James kisses it, and Lily thinks she becomes a supernova.

[cupidsbower]

When the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men

In light of Supernatural 12x10 "Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets,” I want to ask a serious question.

Why are angels dicks?

Were they made that way, or did they become that way? And in either case, why?

Is it jealousy? Racism? A subtle defying of their Father?

I mean, if we accept that angels actually do have free will (and ignore for a moment that they are fictional constructs), then they are responsible for their own dickishness. I don’t want to diminish their own responsibility for the choices they make, given that is a pretty central theme of the show.

But putting that aside for the moment, what led so many of them to have that huge streak of dickishness, and for them to express it via such scorn for Humanity?

Here’s the thing, right. Jesus Christ is a son of God, born to a daughter of man. The show is very careful to tiptoe around Christ, mostly leaving us with suggestive themes and imagery. Despite that, it’s hard not to draw conclusions about how Christ fits within the Supernatural ‘verse, as I’ve talked about in terms of the trinities that keep turning up on the show.

What interests me here, though, is that the definition of a nephilim we’ve just been given -- a being with a human soul mixed with angelic grace -- along with what we know of a nephilim’s powers, begs the question of what makes Jesus Christ so different? There doesn’t really seem to be much. They are both demi-Gods which combine grace and soul, two of the greatest sources of power within the Supernatural ‘verse. Yet nephilim are “forbidden by the oldest lores/laws in Heaven,” while Christ is the redeemer who signals the start of the New Testament and a more loving and forgiving God.

In other words, we’re circling around again to nature vs nurture. Are nephilim intrinsically dangerous, or do they become dangerous? If they become dangerous, how so? And who do they pose the danger to? Humanity or God?

Come to that, is the angel lore even right? Are nephilim really forbidden by the oldest lores/laws in Heaven? Why did God do that, if He did? Is that lore/law the source of the angels’ racism towards Humanity and all that “mud monkey” stuff? Is the scorn actually an expression of thwarted love and desire? Is Ishim jealous of Castiel for more reasons than he speaks out loud?

Here’s how the nephilim are described in Genesis, just before the Flood:

1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for I am sorry that I have made them. (x)

So to recap... the daughters of men were so fair that angels were falling for them left and right, and having awesome heroic kids with them and loving them and all that, and suddenly God’s all, “Fuck these Humans and these powerful hybrid offspring. Time for a purge!” Then later on, he gets a case of the guilts, and lo, Jesus Christ is born.

God doesn’t really come off all that well in this scenario, is all I’m saying. It basically sounds like the biggest sour grapes of all time. It’s all of a piece with him banishing Lucifer after sticking him with the Mark of Cain. Which, if you think about it, kind of makes Lucifer a Christ figure, as he was the one bearing the sin of others -- the original sin even. Ugh. This show.

Anyway, you can probably see where I’m going with this. Even if we accept the angels’ words at face value, the implications are pretty interesting for both nephilim and for Human/Angel relations..

Is Lucifer and Kelly Kline’s nephilim child even that big a threat? Or will it only become so if, for example, it’s captured by the British Men of Letters and raised in Toni’s an agent’s attic so they can use it as an attack dog down the line? Maybe Castiel’s better way is actually showing kindness and love instead of the blade.

Quite apart from the whole nephilim issue, though, is the love and love issue. If lying with the “daughters of men” is one of the oldest crimes, there are some interesting contrasts between Lucifer, Benjamin, Ishim, Akobel and Castiel’s relationships with Humans.

Lucifer is clearly giving a huge fuck you to God by breaking this law, but he probably also had plans for the nephilim too. Benjamin and Akobel found ways to love Humanity without crossing that line, although both edge right up to it -- co-raising a child, and actively sharing a vessel. Ishim is a fuckboy who is full of rage about being friendzoned; we all know he would have broken that law if he didn’t need that pesky “yes”.

And Cas... has he already broken this law, either as Emmanuel or as Steve? There’s some ambiguity there, but I think it’s clear enough that he now would break it, if he had enough reason. He really is a rebel -- more profoundly so than other angels get, I think. He calls the Winchesters his “friends,” at least to other angels, but I do wonder if that’s really how he thinks of them, or if that’s what he thinks it’s safe to admit.

(x)

Interesting. INTERESTING.

We are meant to take that “friendship makes me stronger” as a metaphor -- that his character is stronger. But is it (just) a metaphor? There he is in a church, healing Ishim beneath the crucifix -- the symbol of Christ’s loving sacrifice for Humanity -- and Ishim tells us afterwards that he’s not been so strong in years. All of this with the specter of Billie’s death and cosmic consequences (ie. another sacrificial death) looming over the narrative, and only a couple of scenes away from Castiel’s heartfelt and healing apology to Lily.

Lily = purity

Sunder = part, separate, sever

The apology is what puts her back together. Not that it fixes anything, but there is a power in acknowledging the pain of others, especially when we’ve caused it, and Castiel is, I think, the only angel we’ve seen who has learned this particular lesson.

Castiel isn’t just a student of Humanity, he’s in love with Humanity; by this point we all know that. What we’re less sure of is what that actually means, but the implication of this episode is that a) all angels have the capacity and quite possibly the desire to love Humanity (’How could anyone know them and not love them?”), b) it’s forbidden and so has turned toxic (”taking up with filthy animals”; “I’m gonna cure you of your Human weakness”), c) Castiel breaking the rules and loving Humanity makes him stronger (and a Christ figure -- which is worrying as we all know how that story goes).

Interesting, isn’t it, that with all these mirrors, we haven’t actually seen an angel and a Human in a consensual loving and sexual relationship, with a child planned for and wanted. We’ve seen all the fragments in different combinations, but not that one.

And then there’s Kelly and her unborn nephilim child.

Dean points out, “at the end of the day, it’s a mom and her kid.”

It’s not quite as on the nose as using the title of the movie in a bit of dialogue, but it’s a pretty solid encapsulation of this season’s themes. A mom and her kid. At the end of the day. Just like Lily and her daughter, Toni and her child, Mary and her sons. The other Mary too.

Okay, heavy brick of foreshadowing, I see you there.

I didn’t like the direction of Castiel’s journey after last week’s episode, but this ep has redeemed it somewhat, because it’s given us a greater understanding of his motivation. This is a story about Castiel’s heart and his love of Humanity. I’ve mentioned this before that heart imagery is a recurring visual theme this season, and while I’m not so big on the self-sacrificial aspect of this particular theme, I do like this idea of the “better way” that Castiel has raised. It’s a nice segue from last season’s finale, and it’s hopeful. It would be pretty great if our trio finds a way to express their love that isn’t toxic.

There’s a lot more I could talk about with this ep, as it’s got a lot of meat, but I know a lot of meta has already covered it, so just a few highlights.

I really liked seeing more angels and angel politics, as you may have gathered, but I also especially liked that Cas has a female vessel. Nice.

I love Lily Sunder. I hope we see her again, but even if she’s a one-off, she was fab.

I’m pissed off that we got another woman of colour dying on our screen this week. Great character, but I’m just so tired of dead black bodies as entertainment. :(

Sam’s face! We’ve all been there, right, and his epic done-ness while still being there to back them up was A+. Also Jared looked particularly fine in this ep.

The Dean and Castiel snark. Hahahahaha. So satisfying.

A great ep. I’ll take more by this writer, please.

Previously:

The Ministry of Information vs Wayward Sons Carrying On (12x01)

My, my, how can I resist you? (12x02) and follow-up about Bohemian Raphsody

So what am I so afraid of? (I think I love you) (12x03)

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy Down in my heart (Where?) (12x04) and a follow-up about the codependency and about Dean’s self-flagellation and issues with space

There can be only one! (12x05), and a follow-up conversation with elizabethrobertajones on Freud vs Schwartz.

They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes (12x06)  

Presenting the Immaculate Heart Reunion Tour (12x07)    

I’m still living the life where you get home and open the fridge and there’s half a pot of yogurt and a half a can of flat Coca-Cola. ~Alan Rickman (12x08, 12x09)     

[talesoftheinquisition]

And The World Keeps Turning

Somewhere I have saved a prompt list full of “reckless prompts”. I can’t find it but I plucked a couple of promising ones off it ages ago and finally got around to writing stuff for them. 

I... have no idea where this one came from, only that it popped up in my head and away I went. It’s Harry Potter AU where instead of just watching Snape get killed, Harry and co leapt out of hiding and changed the course of history. :D

It’s also Snarry but definitely not with a school aged Harry. In fact, Harry’s about... late 20s in this one.

The prompt is: You showed up at my place in the middle of the night with bruises and blood and you won’t say what happened so I just lead you into the bathroom and clean you up.

Despite the fact he was two floors above the front door, Harry woke instantly when the sound of knocking penetrated the quiet of 12 Grimmauld Place. He’d become a very light sleeper of late. Not that he’d ever been a heavy sleeper. Living in a house with the Dursleys made sure of that. But as the war stretched and stretched and stretched, sleeping deeply had become a luxury he could not afford. So he didn’t need Kreacher to come and wake him up and indeed, he was half way down the stairs before the crotchety old house elf had even reacted.

“Master Harry?” Kreacher croaked, his gaze wary and suspicious, though neither emotion was directed at Harry. Not these days, not after all Harry had done to keep not just Kreacher but all the house elves safe.

“It’s alright, Kreacher,” Harry murmured as he passed the house elf. “Go back into the kitchen.”

The house elf hesitated then retreated into the kitchen. Harry suspected he hadn’t gone far, just far enough to have obeyed the order but close enough to hear what was going on just in case he was needed. Harry pulled out his wand but kept it somewhat concealed as he reached for the handle of the door. He opened it slowly then drew in a sharp breath at what he saw.

Severus Snape was leaning against the side of the door as though that was the only thing holding him up. He was bruised and bloodied and there was an air of… not defeat precisely but of a weariness that was so bone-deep that it might as well have been permanent.

“I had nowhere else to go,” the tall severe man murmured.

Harry didn’t hesitate. He stepped aside and ushered Snape hastily into the house. His relationship with the former Potions Master was complicated, complex and often just plain odd. To this day, he couldn’t say why he’d burst out of cover in the Shrieking Shack when it became obvious that Voldemort intended to kill Snape, Hermione and Ron scrambling after him, shocked and cursing but still willing to follow where he led.

With a four against one attack in the offing, Voldemort had done his usual trick – he’d snatched up Nagini and disappeared into the wind. The subsequent standoff with Snape had been fraught with the potential for enormous violence until they had agreed to very tensely adjourn to the Headmaster’s office where Snape had dumped a series of memories into a pensieve and let them view them in full, from the friendship between Snape and Lily as children to Snape’s point of view of the incident after their Fifth Year exams to the curse and its subsequent fall out. When they’d tumbled out of the pensieve memories, Harry had been rendered near speechless. He remembered it vividly.

“You knew my Mum,” he’d said, almost breathless from what he’d seen. Everyone always talked about his Dad but they always seemed to forget about his Mum. Not Snape though.

“Yes,” Snape had said shortly, as though it took effort to force the word out. His frown had said louder than words that he had not expected Harry to start with that.

“You loved her.”

Hectic red had smeared blotchily over Snape’s sallow cheeks and he’d looked away rather than answer that.

“She didn’t love you.” Ron’s comment had been thoughtlessly cruel and yet not a single one of them could deny it was utterly true.

“Ron!” Hermione had hissed but Snape had overridden anything else she had been planning on saying.

“No, she did not,” Snape had replied, his voice hollow and so very lonely. “But that never mattered.”

Harry had blinked at that before realising that Snape wasn’t lying. Looking at the man back then, he’d known without needing the words that Snape would never have told Lily how he felt, never have alluded to it, never have demanded she return his feelings. Never have expected it.

Harry hadn’t thought that was a healthy way to act back then and still didn’t even now. But whatever any of them had been going to say back then had been lost when McGonagall and Flitwick had come charging in. There had been a lot of yelling and a couple of deflected hexes before they straightened everything out then they’d all watched in shock and no little hilarity as McGonagall had marched over to Snape and pulled him into a hug. Watching the very self-contained man flail helplessly had made things so much better.

McGonagall and Flitwick had been trying to find him to tell him that Voldemort and the Death Eaters had retreated and apparated away. Apparently Voldemort had been unwilling to face both Harry and Snape in unison… or at least that’s what it seemed to be since in the weeks and month and then years that followed, he had gone out of his way to avoid both of them.

Snape had returned to the Order in the wake of the aborted battle at Hogwarts, though it had taken the viewing of a couple of the memories he’d shown Harry in order to quell any remaining protests. A number of the Order members had been chastened when they saw the lengths Dumbledore was willing to push the former Potions Master… and how far Snape was willing to go to destroy Voldemort. In some cases, far further than they themselves were willing to go.

Even now, Snape regularly put himself in danger to collect valuable information, though Harry had thought that what he was doing tonight wasn’t that dangerous.

“What happened?” he asked as he closed the door.

Snape didn’t answer; he just shook his head and leaned heavily against the wall.

“Master?”

Harry looked down at the house elf who was peering out of the kitchen door, eyeing Snape with open concern. It had never failed to amuse Harry that the house elves almost universally respected and liked Snape and would fall over themselves to assist him, completely ignoring his grumbling and glares. He’d never gotten a straight answer as to why. The closest he’d come was one night when Snape had drunk far too much wine and even then it had just been a muttered reference to one of the house elves at Hogwarts.

“Can you get Professor Snape some tea and maybe something light to eat please?”

Kreacher nodded and disappeared into the kitchen again.

“I am not your professor anymore,” Snape growled, though it lacked any of its usual bite and snarl. That worried Harry more than anything else. He’d been snarled at by Snape when the man had been what he had been sure was mortally wounded at the time. To have it lacking, here and now, was… unnerving to say the least.

He slung the man’s arm over his shoulder, grateful that he’d had something of a late growth spurt when he was nineteen. It made helping the tall, lanky man along the corridor and up the stairs much easier. Though the fact that Snape wasn’t even putting up a token protest was making the hair stand up on the back of his neck.

He got them to the bathroom and gently pushed Snape down onto the stool that was in the room for this very purpose. Enough of them has been injured over the years and sought refuge here at their last bastion of safety that Harry had long ago given in and kept a comfortable stool in the room along with a well-stocked medical kit, with both magical and Muggle equipment and remedies. He quickly pulled the kit out and put it on the bench opening it up and waving at the potions.

“Do you need any of these?”

Snape hesitated then pointed to two of them. Harry pulled the two small vials out of the kit and handed them over. Snape swallowed them both with barely a grimace then slumped back against the wall with a sigh and closed his eyes. Harry glanced at him a few times as he pulled some things out of the kit then he got a washcloth and wet it with warm water. He turned to Snape and hesitated for a moment. But when the man didn’t move or even open his eyes, he stepped closer and began to gently wipe the blood from the man’s face.

Snape twitched and shuddered at his touch but once again he didn’t complain or even move except to clench his hands into fists then let them relax. Harry kept his touch light, even when he revealed a long shallow cut on Snape’s forehead that had been hidden by the blood and the man’s hair. It was bleeding sluggishly but clearly wasn’t that fresh.

“How did this happen?” he asked as he picked up his wand and poked at the wound, uttering the spell that would heal it. He’d learned basic healing out of necessity and was glad for it now.

“It doesn’t matter,” Snape muttered. He still hadn’t moved beyond the odd twitch and flinch nor had he opened his eyes. That air of ineffable weariness was still very much in evidence as well.

Harry’s lips thinned and he wanted to demand answers. However he’d learned over the years that the more he demanded, the more Snape would dig in his heels and clam up. Coaxing answers out of the man required patience and a delicacy of touch that Harry wasn’t a natural at but had learned nonetheless.

“Where else are you hurt?” he asked.

Snape hesitated then he shifted just enough to start pulling his jacket off. Harry immediately helped him pull off the heavy fabric. The white shirt underneath was stained red in places and Harry bit back the words he wanted to say in favour of helping Snape peel off the shirt. Underneath Snape’s chest – and when Harry looked, his back too – was a welter of purple-black bruises and long shallow cuts like the one on his forehead. It was looking at these cuts that made Harry realise something about them.

“Fuck!” he snarled, ignoring the way Snape twitched at the obscenity. He’d never worked out whether the twitch was Snape swallowing a reprimand or some reaction to the act of swearing. “Severus! Who did this? What the fuck happened?”

Now Snape’s eyes opened. They didn’t use each other’s names often so each time they did was notable. He could see the way the man was deciding whether or not to tell him so he turned to cleaning the wounds on Snape’s chest. It would be easier to get answers if he wasn’t looking Snape in the eye. The man had never reacted well to that but this? This would ease him just enough that he might decide in Harry’s favour.

“I misjudged someone,” Snape finally murmured.

“Weren’t you meeting with Lucius Malfoy tonight?” Harry asked, a frown creasing his forehead.

They’d had some indications that Malfoy was disillusioned with his current place in the Death Eater-led Ministry. They hadn’t believed it, of course. Lucius Malfoy was too much the coward for them to even come close to believing it. But both Harry and Snape had agreed that it was worth the risk to meet with the man.

“Yes,” Snape said, leaning back and closing his eyes again.

“Did he…?”

“No.”

“Then what…?”

“It wasn’t him,” Snape said. “It was Yaxley, disguised as Lucius. I knew the moment I sat down but I decided to let the charade play out for a while to see what was going on.” He was silent for a moment. “I… miscalculated.”

Harry didn’t say anything as he started to heal the wounds. Now that Snape was talking, it was better to let him continue at his own pace.

“Luckily, he decided he wanted to play first,” Snape continued, the so-familiar sneer now evident in his voice. Harry was glad to hear it. “I was able to escape.” He snorted. “The Dark Lord will not be pleased.”

“Shame,” Harry said with massive insincerity and was immediately pleased with himself when he drew a low soft laugh out of Snape.

“Indeed.”

Harry gave Snape a long look. What Yaxley had done did not explain Snape’s mood. If all it had been was a bit of physical and/or magical torture, he would have expected Snape to come sweeping in, snarling and spitting imprecations at Yaxley, before he finally let himself collapse. This low and despondent mood wasn’t something Harry had ever seen before and he had no idea what had prompted it. Or how to even begin to ask about it. Or even what to do about it.

As such, he was startled enough to drop the washcloth when Snape suddenly sat up, wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist and pulled him in close. The older man then rested his forehead against Harry’s chest. He felt as much as saw the tremors running through Snape and reacted without thinking, wrapping his arms around Snape’s thin, bony shoulders.

One of the more complicated and complex aspects of their relationship had been the intimacy that flared and flashed between them. Harry would always admit that he had been the one to start it. He’d gotten spectacularly drunk the night Ginny and Charlie had been killed and had kissed Snape when the man had rather exasperatedly poured him into his bed. He’d actually shocked the man into silence at the time and though they both pretended it had never happened the next morning, Harry never forgot that, just before he jerked away, Snape had started to kiss back.

He’d been twenty two when that had happened but he suspected that Snape had, up until that point, still seen him as the irritating boy he’d taught at Hogwarts. So he hadn’t done anything to provoke the man and instead had let him work things out on his own.

Snape had been the one to instigate things the second time, though Harry wasn’t sure whether to count it or not since they’d been on a mission and about to be discovered when Snape had abruptly pushed him back against the wall of the alley they’d been hiding in and kissed him. He been busy kissing back but neither of them had missed the man – their target – who had looked at them then snorted and walked off. They’d immediately parted to continue following him and once again the incident had been almost aggressively ignored.

It had continued like that for an almost ridiculously long time. Random kisses followed by aggressively ignoring that any of it had happened in the first place. Harry wasn’t sure how long it would have continued if ‘That Night’ hadn’t happened. They’d both been drunk, drowning their sorrows over yet another loss – Harry because it had been Seamus and Snape because he’d blamed himself for not having the information to prevent it – and had fallen into bed. The sex hadn’t been spectacular. They’d been too drunk for that. But it hadn’t been bad either and when Harry had woken up alone, he’d actually felt a bit miffed about being abandoned.

Like the kisses, ‘That Night’ was studiously ignored but that didn’t stop them from ending up in bed again and again until Ron and Hermione just rolled their eyes and told Harry they both needed to get their acts together. He kind of agreed but trying to corner Snape on the matter was like trying to catch a very skittish feral cat. One wrong move would leave you shredded and bloodied with the cat nowhere to be seen.

This was the first time that Snape had ever tacitly acknowledged whatever it was between them and Harry wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or frightened, wondering just what Yaxley had done to prompt this reaction from the exceedingly self-contained and reserved man. Then a thought occurred to him.

“They know, don’t they?” Snape… Severus made a low noise and Harry continued. “About… us. Yaxley said something, made some threats.”

For a long moment, he thought Severus was going to deny it, deny entirely that there was anything between them, then the man sighed and his hands tightened where they were holding onto Harry.

“Yes.”

Harry nodded silently and though for a moment. “How did he know? We’re not exactly…” He snorted. “Let’s face it. We’ve barely acknowledged there’s anything between us.”

Severus grunted. “We have a mole.”

It was said starkly, bluntly, with not even the slightest attempt at prevarication. Harry sighed and nodded. He’d known. Of course he’d known. He wasn’t an idiot and there was only one way the Death Eaters could have known about the… whatever it was that was going on between the two of them. Because it had only ever happened out of the public eye.

“Yeah, we do,” he said heavily. “What did Yaxley say?”

Severus twitched under his hands and was silent for long enough for Harry to think he wasn’t going to answer at all.

“He made some allusions to my… feelings for your mother.” He paused. “Then made some snide comments about… about us.”

Harry winced. He didn’t really need Severus to elaborate any further. He could imagine the comments that might be made about Severus becoming involved with the son of the woman he’d had a teenage crush on. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had second thoughts on that score himself. Not to mention third, fourth and fifth thoughts.

He hesitated for a moment then decided he might as well take the bull by the horns. “So, was he right? Is this…” He waved a hand between the two of them. “…whatever this is just because of who my Mum was?”

Severus’ head shot up and his glare might have been enough to stop the heart of a lesser man. But Harry had never really been intimidated by Severus’ glare, not even in his First Year.

“It’s a fair question, you know,” he said evenly. “We’ve never talked about this. We just… do stuff then ignore that it’s happening at all.” He hesitated for a moment. “And you did care about my Mum a lot. You loved her.”

Severus glared at him for a moment longer then he seemed to deflate and he rested his forehead against Harry’s chest again. Harry waited patiently. Severus hadn’t pulled away or stormed out so he figured that if he was patient, he had a good chance of getting answers.

“I did love her,” Severus said, his voice low and bitter. “But if you recall, I hated you.”

“Eh, well, that’s okay,” Harry said, mildly amused by the admission. “I hated you too.”

Severus ignored that. “I did love her. Perhaps I will always love her. She was my first and best friend. I was the one who ruined everything.”

“You can’t take all the blame,” Harry said, still with that mild tone. “You were a jerk but from what I’ve seen of your memories, she was the one making your friendship conditional. You didn’t like my Dad and his friends but you never told her it was them or you.” When Severus looked up at him, he shrugged. “One thing this war has taught me is that none of us are perfect. We all have flaws. I love my Mum but she wasn’t perfect. She made her own mistakes.”

“They are hardly comparable,” Severus protested.

“Perhaps not,” Harry replied. “And yeah, you were a jackass but it’s not all on you.” He cocked his head curiously. “What would you have done if she’d accepted your apology? Unconditionally.”

Severus blinked and looked uncertain. “I… don’t know.”

Harry changed tack slightly. “Or let me put it this way, what were they saying in your dorm? I know you were a bit of a loner but you had friends, didn’t you? Mulciber? Avery?”

Severus nodded slowly. “I… yes. They… knew to leave me alone right after exams to let me digest everything by myself but they… they would have come and dragged me off to the dorms after half an hour or so.”

Harry nodded. “Good of them to respect your boundaries. So what were they saying?”

“That… that I shouldn’t do it. That I should cut my losses,” Severus said slowly. “That she wouldn’t accept it or that if she did, she’d hedge our friendship with so many conditions I wouldn’t be able to move. That she wanted everything on her terms and didn’t care about what I wanted.”

“And when you got back?”

“They… commiserated with me,” Severus said. “And Nicholas… Avery had a book I’d been wanting to read. They had a copy in their library at home and he’d had his father owl it to him.” He seemed to realise what Harry was doing then and scowled at him. “My choices were my own, Potter.”

“And Mum’s choices were hers,” Harry replied. “You don’t get to take responsibility for them or to take the blame for them. Maybe things would have changed if she’d accepted your apology. Maybe they wouldn’t have.”

“I am still responsible for her death,” Severus snapped.

“No, He is. And Peter Pettigrew is,” Harry replied promptly. “You may have told Him about the prophecy but He was the one who decided it applied to me and it was Peter who betrayed them. He was the one who gave up their location. If their friends had been braver and more honest with each other, my parents wouldn’t have died that night.” He paused. “Or if they’d just sucked it up and let Dumbledore be their Secret Keeper. But no, they had to do it all themselves. Like idiots.”

Severus raised an eyebrow at him and gave him such a dry look that Harry burst out laughing.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Pot, kettle, black.” He grinned at Severus. “I least I get it honestly.”

Severus rolled his eyes then he sobered. “This… is not because of your mother.”

“I didn’t think so but it’s good to hear,” Harry replied.

“I am not a good man,” Severus said quietly.

Harry snorted. “If I am, you are. Good isn’t in what you say or what you believe or think or anything like that. Good is in what you do, in your actions. You’ve done more than anyone to try and defeat Him.” He sighed. “I finally get Dumbledore now, you know? I get why he did what he did. Why he could be so cruel alongside his kindness. Why he could love us and care about us even while he was moving us around like pawns on a chessboard.”

“He wanted to win the war,” Severus said quietly.

Harry nodded. “And sometimes winning a war means losing some battles. You can’t win every battle. And like chess, sometimes you have to sacrifice your people in order to win the game. It’s a horrible way of having to think about things. I don’t know how he did it.”

“By considering the alternative if he did not.”

“Yeah,” Harry said heavily. “But he wasn’t a good man, no more than you are or I am. We were or are all driven by necessity. We want to win the war. We won’t do anything to do so but we will do whatever is necessary. You put yourself at enormous personal risk to get information. I stand around as live bait in traps because I apparently have some sort of death wish. Dumbledore sacrificed himself. We’re either geniuses or idiots. History will tell.” He huffed and rolled his eyes. “And I’m getting distracted again.”

“I, for one, am enjoying this display that proves you actually do have a brain,” Severus said in a tone that was bitingly sarcastic and yet somehow very fond at the same time.

Harry laughed. “Now you sound like normal.”

Severus sobered. “I do not know what this is nor do I particularly care to define it right now. It simply… is and I do not wish to lose it.”

Harry considered that answer. It wasn’t really the one he wanted but as he had learned with Severus, patience was invariably the key to getting what you wanted out of him. At least, getting what you wanted in a way that didn’t cause him to resent you. He’d learned that was one of the key differences between Gryffindors and Slytherins. Gryffindors barged forward towards what they wanted whereas Slytherin eased their way slowly from the side and Severus was about as Slytherin as they got. Thankfully Harry had learned to be a little less Gryffindor and a little more Slytherin over the years.

“Can we… expand on it a little at least?” he asked, his eyebrows raised enquiringly.

Severus’ eyes immediately narrowed suspiciously. “In what way?”

“Well, it’d be nice to not wake up to an empty bed all the time.” He gave Severus a droll look. “I’m not going to shriek like an offended maiden if I wake up to find you still there.”

Severus went very still at he stared at Harry. He looked like he was trying to find the catch and Harry was careful to keep his expression open and calm.

“Is that all?” Severus finally asked.

“It’ll do for now.”

Severus harrumphed and then nodded shortly. “We’ll see.”

Harry smothered a smile. That, he knew, was code for ‘yes, I will do it but I don’t want to be seen agreeing with you because I know you will be excessively irritating about it’.

“Okay,” he said equably as he went back to cleaning and healing the wound on Severus’ chest.

“It is always disturbing when you agree so easily,” Severus groused.

Harry gave him an amused look. “Would you like to have a five hour argument about it?”

Severus very deliberately arched an imperious eyebrow at him. “Perhaps later.”

Harry snorted and continued his work. He felt like they’d talked around the issue more than talked about it but he was getting used to that as well. It wasn’t a skill that had come naturally to him but after the first couple of years of blazing arguments and being subjected to many of Severus’ more biting comments, he’d learned out of sheer necessity. For all their differences, he and Severus worked well together. Almost frighteningly well. Actually definitely frighteningly well if the reactions of Voldemort and the Death Eaters were anything to judge by.

And it hadn’t all been one way. He knew Severus had stopped seeing him as nothing more than an extension of James Potter years ago and the Potions Master had learned to grit his teeth and actually spell out the initial steps in his thought processes rather than just announcing to the conclusion. Dumbledore might have been able to follow Severus’ leaps of intuition and thought without knowing the intermediate steps but Harry couldn’t. Though he had learned to trust Severus when he made those leaps since he was invariably right.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening and Kreacher shuffling in with a laden tray. He moved deftly around Harry and placed the tray within easy reach of Severus.

“Master Severus should eat,” the house elf grumbled before disappearing out the door again, ignoring the irritated glare he got for the use of the word ‘Master’.

“He’s never going to stop calling you that, you know,” Harry said benignly, nudging Severus and nodding towards the tray. “And he’ll get grouchy… grouchier… if you don’t actually eat.”

Severus scowled and muttered under his breath but he did drink his tea and eat the light meal of toast and fruit that had been provided. Harry finished his work before Severus had finished eating and he stepped back.

“You should wash before you get some rest,” he said, packing away the medical supplies. “I’ll get a change of clothes for you.”

Severus nodded and then hesitated. “Leave them in your room if you will. I’ll wash and then rest.”

Harry heard the unspoken message in those words and smiled. He gave the other man a nod. “Will do.”

He headed for the door and left Severus to his own devices. The war might be bogging down and Nagini still be out reach but at least one thing in his life was going in the vague direction he wanted to go. Who knew that would involve Severus Snape?

If you like my writing, why don’t you buy me a coffee!

[twyella]

my favourite idea, or headcanon I guess, about Harry Potter involves werewolves. 

Some people have suggested, or have had their characters in a fanfic ponder the idea that possibly werewolves came about because someone was trying to gain an advantage in war and thought having superior smell, instincts, hearing, and whathaveyou, like wolves, would be a good idea. But they fucked up and so, werewolves, as portrayed in the Harry Potter books.

my idea is that this is mostly true, in that werewolves were created by man or nature in order to have an advantage, but it went wrong. However my idea is that it didn’t go COMPLETELY wrong, or at least is still salvageable. 

That when someone first becomes a werewolf, it is an extreme disadvantage, and more or less how it’s set out in the books. They’re ill and or weak in human form, they turn on the full moon and then cannot control themselves, instead attempting to attack and turn or kill any humans in the area, getting on okayish with other animals or animagus, and if no living thing is there scratching themselves and biting and generally hurting themselves in its place. Generally, pretty unhappy people when it’s not a full moon, and when it is a full moon they may as well be lethal, terrifying creatures.

HOWEVER my idea is that they can take steps to change it to an advantage, like it was supposed to be. The main problem that makes being a werewolf a disadvantage is that the line between man and wolf is jagged and messy and unpredictable, which means both man and wolf suffer. But if they take steps to soothe that, into either a clear and steady line that neatly separates man from wolf, or a link between the two...then it’s an advantage. 

The former just allows each to act more naturally, so when it’s not a full moon they are pretty much entirely normal, no illness or weakness or anything. And when it is, they behave like a normal wolf would, and since they pretty much look like one too (aside form the tufted tail for example, if I recall correctly) they don’t really have any issues as long as they have access to a wilder area where they can wander freely and or hunt for food on the full moon if at no other time.

The latter means that man and wolf benefit from each other, but also that the line is rather more blurry. So, the man may constantly benefit from better hearing no matter the time, and the wolf may be better able to understand more complex ideas, or people talking in English, on the full moon. BUT instead of it being clearly defined “the wolf wants territory, pack, and enough prey to hunt while the man wants a decent job, house, and friends” the lines may be a lot more blurred which may have an effect on the werewolf’s behaviour, for example they may be more protective, more aware of group dynamics, more easily upset about their space such as someone sitting on their bed without their say so, etc. depending on HOW blurred the line is, there may be a constant state of the werewolf essentially having man and wolf as separate options in their head like “okay so my instincts say that, as a wolf, but rationally as a man,logic says that” or it may even be as though the wolf and man are seperate intelligent beings, or there may be no difference. There may be issues with territory dependent on this, for example if we assume our example werewolf lives in a rural area and thus has a modest house but with a pretty big garden/grounds, it may be that: certain sections of the garden are clearly defined as wolf’s territory so he won’t go there when it’s not a full moon and won’t go in the house on full moon (ie my home, his territory sort of idea) or it may be considered shared and no real boundaries except to consult (ie our place) or there may be no difference in thoughts at all, (ie as a werewolf, this is all my place)

And like soothing this mainly requires understanding and bridging the gap/compromising eg maybe he’ll decide to take a walk through the woods every other day or go camping for a week with minimal manmade stuff and try to catch his own food if possible. Or a willingness for the wolf to try to understand that human group dynamics aren’t as simple as ‘but that person is the alpha why are they not doing what the alpha says? what’ and to perhaps even start to understand nodding or shaking their head, and perhaps the wolf doing so at full moon to communicate

This would be a long process but the end result would be better senses and instincts, being healthier and stronger in general, better control (maybe even being able to turn at will as though he were an animagus with the form of a wolf instead of a werewolf), and significantly safer to be around on the full moon/in wolf form. he would be able to understand and communicate better in wolf form, and have a better understanding and knowledge of how to deal with his instincts and thoughts that don’t quite make sense in human terms, and ideally would have a ‘pack’ who knew he was a werewolf and could be around him on full moon - other werewolves, humans, people who had an animgaus form, doesn’t matter, he wouldn’t hurt his pack because another advantage - wolf definitely able to distinguish and understand pack and take this into account! So say if this was Remus, (that’s why I’ve been using male pronouns when referring to the werewolf btw because he was the only one portrayed) let’s say his pack was James, Sirius, and Peter. If Sirius wandered up to him in human form on the full moon, officially he would think ‘oh there’s a human, gotta turn and attack him’ but in THIS CASE, he’d be able to go ‘oh wait that’s someone in my pack, I don’t want to hurt him’. remus may not be completely safe on full moon, ie maybe he sitll would theoretically have attacked Severus, (although you could absolutely go with all humans being safe from werewolves who’ve soothed the edges too, that’d be cool!), but eh may be able to apply the pack mentality a bit further to keep other people safe: maybe Lily or Regulus wouldn’t apply as pack, but he would be able to go ‘wait that’s the mate of someone in my pack oh shit’ or ‘well he’s not in my pack, but he is technically pack of someone who IS in my pack so maybe I shouldn’t bite him..’ sort of thing

Another/different possibility is that werewolves once they’d soothed their edges could make it so their bite would only turn people who had agreed to be turned, if that makes sense? Like if A was a werewolf from a pack, B was A’s human significant other or adopted child, and C was a random human, then if A bit C nothing would happen - well there’d have a bleeding wound, it’d hurt like shit, etc but it wouldn’t make C into a werewolf. But if B said, hey, pretty sure I’m staying with you guys now, I don’t really like being human when you’re all not and also I’m jealous so please could I also be werewolf?’ then if A went ‘sure okay’ and agreed, then if A were to bite B AFTER that in wolf form, B would turn. 

Does that all make sense??

basically werewolves start off exactly like they are in canon, or worse, but if they meditate and try to connect with nature more and understand themselves more, THEN they get a ton of advantages out of being a werewolf, exactly like had been the original plan before it got mucked up.

I’m considering writing a fanfic based around this idea, probably with this information not being known due to prejudice etc, and then someone either comes across it and spreads the word or someone from another place or country comes over to the UK where the books take place and kind of goes ‘what the hell there are literally options to make this an ADVANTAGE and you’re letting kids like Remus suffer, bastards like Fenrir Greyback run wild, and telling everyone they need to be scared of werewolves like they’re the boogeyman? this is bullshit’

Anyway I love this idea for a lot of reasons

(Postscript - I read somewhere that JK Rowling was apparently using werewolves to symbolise people with STDs and, you know, be a blatant asshole about that too. So I just want to add, that like most bull she gets up to, I think that’s messed up as hell and do not support or condone that in any way. here I am taking werewolves to be literal, actual werewolves as seen in myths and stories, not some weird symbolism for dodgy shit. Jk Rowling sucks)

[survivortaveuni]

Episode 11: “Whatever Happens Tonight...This Will End in Chaos”

So far in the remote island of Taveuni, things were looking fine. Unanimous votes were all that the eye could see. It seemed like nothing much could go wrong, but, in the words of Selena Gomez, everything is not as it seems. 

Well, first off, there was the fun auction. People won some pretty neat things; Jack E won some delicious spoiled milk, LA and Charlotte both won an advantage in the next challenge, Steven got a self-vote revealer, and Lily bought a wonderfully useless stick. A bunch of people bid on the mysterious statue because they thought it would be some advantage in the game (it wasn’t). Jack C won, and he told the tribe that it was useless, but they all thought he was lying (he wasn’t). 

The most important thing won in the auction, though, was the super fun Chaos Idol (TM)! Jordan was the lucky winner of this ugly idol, and so now he had not one but TWO special idols. And it...would have quite the effect on the course of the game.

The immunity challenge was Robot Unicorn Attack, which LA won. And she would be thankful she won immunity that round, because hoo boy. 

Jordan tells his Motomaiqi alliance about the Chaos Idol, saying that he plans to use it. LA spills the beans, though. Soon, Charlotte, Steffen, and a bunch of others try to coordinate the vote so that they all are immune. Their goal was to make a sort-of-but-not-really-blindside and rock out Lily. And then...there was Jack E. 

Jack was bored, so he decided to go on call and ally with whoever got on call with him first in the tribe chat. And that lucky winner was the other Jack! So Jack E started spilling minimal information to Jack C to try to get his trust only for Jack C to just flat out tell him about Jordan’s two idols. That’s some stunning gameplay right there, folks. 

Sometime after this, Steffen still trusts Jack E a lot, so he lets Jack E in on the plan to work around Jordan’s Chaos Idol. Jack E, though, is bored and likes to have fun, so he tells Jordan about this, everything from LA flipping and all that, and he suggests blindsiding Steffen. Jordan and Jack C agree to this, and the former decides to retract his Chaos Idol...for now.

Unfortunately, though, both plans failed that night. When Steffen saw Jordan did NOT play his Chaos Idol, he decided to play it safe and play his idol on himself. Unlike another person who played their idol, Steffen played his idol correctly, and Jack C was blindsided in a 2-1-1-1 vote, with 4 votes for Steffen cancelled. 

whew there was no secret plot to murder my ass, nice

I believe the soul fact Jack C exists in this game is to annoy me to no end and face the fact he's gonna outlast me because his social game is so fucking bad and he's up Jordo's ass

[5/11/17, 6:24:38 PM] Jack (Ginga): Life works in mysterious ways steffen [5/11/17, 6:24:46 PM] Jack (Ginga): Sometimes all it takes is a stick and a statur I dont care that I hate Jack C, that better be the title

Jack C. really thinks he's fooling everyone saying that statue does nothing. How dumb do you think I am to believe your word without any receipts especially after you popped an idol out of nowhere without telling anybody last time, why would you be honest and upfront about something this time. HM?

[5/11/17, 9:41:32 PM] Steffen Bøhn: ok so this didn’t strike me until last night but Im more than certain this is a thing now [5/11/17, 9:46:20 PM] Steffen Bøhn: but I believe that Jordan and Lily are working together, and they each have 2 trios set up, one for each of them, Jordan has Jack C and LA, and Lily has Charlotte and Tyler, this was kinda proven to me when last night Charlotte and Tyler and LA confirmed that the plan to get out Jack C wasn’t actually the plan and the whole plan all along was set up by Jordan to take out either me or Billy.  LA and I spoke and she basically confirmed this theory, along with the fact that Lily and Jordan are closely working together because I told Lily I found the extra vote, and that I had all the stamps, and low and behold Jordan suddenly knows how I have both, and apparently Jordan told his trio too because LA told me she knew.  So in the end inside those trios, Lily has Charlotte and Jordan has Jack C, if my math is correct.

Okay, so I just finished a call with Steffen and I feel like we have a solid relationship now. I was upfront with him before the vote, after Jack let slip the real plan so I told him everything basically. I told him how Lily shared everything with Jordan, basically everything he told me to build trust I was like yeah, Jordan already told me cause Lily told him. I don't think he was happy about that but now we know we can't trust Lily 100% she's working with Jordan. Now my problem is Steffen doesn't trust Charlotte either, he thinks she is Lily's second, like Jack C is Jordan's and I don't wanna be like nah, I have Char cause that will mean telling him we're friends and suddenly huge target on us.  We talked a little about the upcoming vote, whether we need to make a vote and get Lily or Jordan out or for Jack. (thank god he didn't say Char) If the vote is aimed at the other Jack or Steven, we're sort of fucked too because we need them to vote with us when we do go to make a move. It should be pretty clear that Jordan and Lily are sort of running things so hopefully we can use that to flip people.  Steffen thinks he can pull in Tyler so if we can then we should be able to do something? But Tyler also leaked the plan to Jordan so that's worrying, PEOPLE NEED TO STOP TELLING THE REAL PLAN, LIE PEOPLE, LIEEE. WE NEED TO BE A BUNCH OF LYING LIARS WHO LIE. But Char also thinks she has Tyler which isn't bad but in this case I need Tyler to trust Steffen more so he doesn't tell Lily cause once Lily knows, Jordan knows. I didn't think I would have to deal with such an important move so fast but if we don't cut someone from Jordan and Lily they have numbers through most of the game and while I could just go along with it, I'd rather play my own game not follow someone else's.  My last game, the biggest problem was not having people I really trusted and it's hard to play when you don't have some form of trust with people. I feel like I can trust Steffen and Char, although if Char turns on me I wouldn't be too shocked cause we' are Slytherins and we do what we gotta but I hope she doesn't cause we still need each other right now and doing that would put her at risk of becoming just a number and she's better than that, plus she wants Jordan gone so that helps. Also Steffen and I are pretty sure Jordan won the secret advantage so I have to hope he tells me what it is so I know what to expect. We also think either Jordan or Lily have the rainbow idol. I thought Steffen had it but now I'm not sure, he probably would have admitted it during the call.  so much to figure out.

later...

Well, this challenge was terrible. And not terrible in a 'socks with sandals kind of way' but terrible in a 'i want to rip my ears off and throw them in bleach' kind of way. Whoever decided that games don't need volume control is the worst human ever. OF COURSE I didn't find the mute button until 10PM... life is cruel. Thank god I'll be 25 next month. This is the halfway point of my life. We're almost there kids. Let me just take you through my life today. 9:15AM: Wow, this is going to be fine. I used to play this all the time in middle school, it's going to be great. 9:17AM: I love this song!! 9:26AM: Um okay that score could have been better... but it's fine, I'll get better. 9:45AM: Fuck. 10:15AM: Fuck me. 11:30AM: I hate this game. I hate this song. I hate the hosts. 12:00PM: I will pray for death. Please murder me. 1:15PM: Ha ha ha ha ha ha. 1:30PM: Ooh Harry Styles put out a new album. 6:00PM: FUCK I stopped playing. 9:00PM: k let's do this. I can do this, this is fine. 10:15PM: I can't do this. Gotta find that GIF. 10:45PM: Can't find the GIF. Forgot to submit, fuck. 10:53PM: Submitting mothafucker. 11:05PM: Found the GIF. Too little too late. Honestly I'm just glad that Jordan didn't win. This might be our opportunity to get him the fuck out of here. Honestly, I want him gone... mostly because I don't like that he cheats his way through challenges but we call it loopholes because he was 'smart' enough to outsmart or outlogic the hosts / life. Okay, I only hate him because I didn't think of it first. Otherwise, he's okay. Whatever. I'm just salty. Let me live.

I think it's SO CUTE how Steffen and I were not on good terms, and he finally "makes up" with me, telling me how he's glad we're friends again, and we're talking all the time and all this happy bullshit and he was gonna work with me, and keep me in this game, and not only was he fully aware I was leaving, he helped and voted me out. Steffen is a snake, always has been, always will be. I've never met someone who is more self centered, more conceited and more socially inept than him. He doesn't understand the concept of friendship and never will, and I'm gonna laugh when he loses this game too. Sorry I tried being your friend AGAIN and you proved to me that you're just terrible. I hope you get voted out with your idol in your pocket you dumbass. 

Long story short: We're faking the chaos idol and voting out steffen

"Better to be safe than sent home." Episode title. Ya'll are welcome. So today, the plan was to vote Jack C. Or at least, that's what I heard before all hell broke loose. Turns out, Jordan has the Chaos Idol (thanks, Lily) and he plans on using it tonight.. which means that everyone who has a vote cast AGAINST them is safe. So much for sending Jordan home tonight. A girl can dream. But now we're going to throw votes around like darts on a board and hope that they all land EXCEPT for Lily. Which should work. Hopefully. I really want to work with Steffen and Tyler. I think I can trust them and hopefully Lily comes through on her part of this 'plan' and votes to keep me safe. She has no idea that Tyler's sticking his vote on Steffen and not her. Surprise bitch, the rock is all yours. If this backfires, we might have to deal with Hurricane Lily.. but I'm optimistic. I think we've got this one. 

i cant believe jordan got a chaos idol,,, this is about to be the craziest tribal so far, and probably ever, because the rest will end up unanimous just like the first 11 have been

First of all, thank fuck I won immunity this round cause shit is about to get crazy. This afternoon Jordan decides he's going to use his chaos idol, apparently that is what the special secret advantage was so that was fun to deal with. After Jordan, Jack and I sorted out what 'we were doing', I had to update Char about everything tell her the plan and then Steffen. I told Steffen I was gonna vote for him to keep him safe but after more planning happened, without me, Tyler is voting Steffen instead and I'm still putting my vote on Jack C. Which is good cause it'll look like I stayed solid and if Jordan doesn't use the idol then Jack C should have the most votes and go home, unless Jordan and Lily had another plan and put their votes on Steffen while we all spread and in that case he'll be gone, but that's just me being hella paranoid. If everything goes as the four of us plan, Lily will be the only person without a vote and should be going home. But this whole idol is a fucking mess so we will see. I hate that I'm not voting for Char or Steffen, cause if someone doesn't stick to  the plan then they could be in trouble and I need them to stay. #stressed

originally there was a big plan of using the chaos idol and a decent amount of people knew about it but steffen and steven were out of the loop right, anyways me la and jack are in an alliance since day 1, but me and jack c are getting closer to other jack for a while. anyways la spills are the beans to steffen and tries to flip on us. steffen not know jack is close to me and jack c and tells jack, jack tells all this to me and jack c. anyways now were not playing the chaos idol and the three of us without telling anyone are voting steffen, everyone else is planning for a chaos idol

Dear Chaotic Diary, Ok so I have little to no idea whats going on anymore because I could be getting played to high heaven and I would not be the wiser tbh.  ANYHOE, I'm here bidding one that screwed up statue because HEY EVERYONE IS GOING FOR THAT ADVANTAGE, oh wait, no, Jack C is gonna steal my statue and keep it for himself and rub my face in it, PARTY.  So now I'm here pissed cause it seems Jordan got the special advantage, BUT GUESS WHAT, ITS A CHAOS IDOL, designed as it's name implies, to cause chaos.  So basically it'll make anyone who is voted for immune and cause them to go to an immediate rock draw between the people and it turns out, oh good ole Jordo is trying to save Jackie poo C again....while passing it off like I'm none the wiser, but oh does he know what's been in my ear.  So I've been recently been getting closer to LA and she is honestly my rock rn after losing Billy, but we were game talking and at this point I have nothing to lose.  But I basically laid out the dynamic of the season of Jordan and Lily running 2 trios, but it seems factions in their trios have been woke or something, cause here I have Charlotte coming to me saying "I think Lily poisoned me and Tyler against you" YA THINK, anyways now we hear from Charlotte and LA that Jordan has the aforementioned chaos idol.  So now Charlotte turned on Lily, and LA turned on Jordan, which is honestly what I needed and a plan was devised.  SO according to Charlotte and LA Jordan is saving Jack E, Jack C is saving Jordan, Jack E is saving Jack C, and LA is saving Jack C, possibly with Steven voting Jack C, but now we sit here with Lily's trio, and this is where my alliance with Charlotte and Tyler comes into play.  So Lily thinks that trio is saving itself, but now we have other plans.  So Lily will save Charlotte, Charlotte will save Tyler, and instead of Tyler saving Lily, Tyler will save me, and that leaves Lily without a vote to save her, meaning she would leave immediately.  However if no chaos idol is played I think that Jack C will go home since LA and Jack E are voting for him, but I don't care at this point, if a chaos idol isn't played tonight, I'm sorry but I'm going to need to bust out my hidden immunity idol cause this ain't gonna screw me out tonight.....at least I hope, technically we should be fine but I don't want to chance Jordan and Lily doing something like voting me instead and just using the chaos idol to screw with people's minds because let's face it, thats a very sadistic and Jordan Pines thing to do.  So I'm sitting here and praying to everything I can think of just to hope this plan will work, because if it does, oh holy nights, if not.....well things are gonna get a whole lot more interesting, so lets have fun. Scared and confused, Steffen

If you had asked me 72 hours ago if I was going to be the mastermind of a crazy move, I would say you were crazy. Here we are, 72 hours later and if what I have set up works out how I planned it, then I will be one powerful person in this game. It all started when Steffen, completely trusting me, spilled the beans about each and every single thing happening in this game, or more specifically, his hypothetical situations. I listened, and originally I did have a reason to keep this to myself, but after reading everything that he was saying, it made Steffen seem like more of a power player than I had originally perceived. I thought he was on the bottom, but considering all of the information he has heard from various sources, it makes me nervous to really think how much information he gets. This scares me, and although I trust him, him having an extra vote, combined with his complete rainbow pass, makes him a dangerous player that I need out of this game. His paranoia, which is what was holding him back from being a really dangerous player has disappeared, and that is why he is a threat to me now. Last night, I called Jack C., because Steffen said Jack C. and Jordan were close, and I originally thought that Jordan and I were formidable allies. I spilled only a little bit of what Steffen had told me before he unleashed a huge bomb in this game: Jordan has the Rainbow Idol. Huh, wonder why Jordan never told me this information? Guess he really is closer to LA and Jack C. than myself. This is where my second dose of information came in handy, where I let him know that LA was really not completely loyal to them. Jack then unleashed another bomb: Jordan found a Chaos Idol. This makes whoever receives votes at tribal council immune and everybody else goes to rocks. This is so powerful and it makes everything that everyone else is doing make sense. Jack C told me that everyone had a plan to vote for each other in order to keep everyone safe when Jordan plays the idol. However, everyone found out about this plan and now no one is really gonna be in danger. This is when I decided to make my move. I told Jack C., what if we don't play the idol, because everyone thinks he will, and you, Jordan and I will vote out Steffen, getting rid of his extra vote without needing to flush it and making everyone scared as well as hang onto it for next round. Wow, I'm so powerful. Now I had to inform Jordan of all of this information and I really thought that this would lead to him leaking his rainbow idol and his Chaos Idol to me. He didn't. Luckily, Steffen told me about the Chaos Idol and everyone's plans to work around it already so I had more of a reason to tell Jordan these plans, and it worked perfectly. We brought in Jack C. and the three of us have formed a formidable trio. Triple J 4.0. Nice. All I know is that we're voting for Steffen and hopefully everyone is sticking to the mindset that Jordan is playing this Chaos Idol and are voting for each other, not knowing they are sealing their fates. I'm honestly not so sure how well this is going to work for me in the future, but I know for sure that I am sick of sitting around letting people tell me what to do. It's my time to shine and it's my time to be a huge game changer. Whatever happens tonight, at least we one thing for sure. This will end in chaos. 

I don't know how I'm still here. My strategy is what I like to call the pearl strategy. I'm hoping to just sleep my way to the end.