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fruitlicense · 4 years ago

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I have a theory about one of the reasons why Lupin left Tonks in Deathly Hallows - if you look at his past, Remus Lupin has never really learned to live without moving or running, so when the chance comes to settle in one place, he doesn’t quite know how to cope.

We start with when he’s bitten by Fenrir Greyback. Remus was just under five years old, so this is effectively the beginning of his life besides some hazy childhood memories. He’s a werewolf now, which he has to keep secret, so his life can never really be “normal” again. He and his parents move a lot, because they can’t let anyone close enough to find out. Remus’ early childhood is marked by movement and secrets, because if he’s not literally moving homes, he’s moving around the people he knows, eventually avoiding them altogether by becoming homeschooled.

When Remus goes to Hogwarts, he’s not moving as much in a literal sense, since Gryffindor Tower is kind of his home base now. However, he’s still sitting on a secret that’s a little too big for him, and as a result, he’s moving around his roommates, trying to balance being friends and keeping them in the dark. This is a constant for him - he can’t take a break from hiding his lycanthropy. It’s always in the back of his mind.

When the Marauders find out, I think it’s interesting that their acceptance is characterized by their willingness and ability to “run” with Remus in a sense. Part of their friendship is being the school pranksters, going out on secret missions with the cloak and Map to help them stay steps ahead of everyone else and run or hide if they need to. When they become Animagi, they literally change themselves to keep up with Remus as he runs. They’ve stayed by his side as a human, running around together to cause mischief, and now they can keep pace with him as the wolf as well. Their willingness to change something as intrinsic as the ways they move shows how much the Marauders care about Remus and about each other in general.

When school ends, the war hits, and Remus joins the Order of the Phoenix, the moving, running, and hiding become more literal and more pervasive in his life. He’s part of an illegal underground organization that’s fighting a supremacist terror group, and his colleagues are getting murdered around him. Post-graduation for him isn’t a time to go to college, find a job, or find a more permanent place to live. He’s fighting Death Eaters, jumping from safe house to safe house, and dropping off the grid for long periods of time to live amongst the werewolves (presumably - I don’t have much canon basis for all of this beyond what we know of the second Order and assuming it functions much like the first). As a marginalized group, the other werewolves don’t have jobs or homes either. The nature of the way their condition is treated in the wizarding world means that they always have to keep moving, or else risk injury, imprisonment, and/or death. At this point in Remus' life, the rule is keep moving and keep your secrets or die. Settling in one place is a death sentence, as the Potters find out.

After Voldemort is defeated the first time, Remus has to deal with the fallout of the war and what it did to his friends and family, and he also has to deal with trying to create a life for himself. His demons have increased in number - he’s not just running from his wolfish side now. He’s got the ghosts of James, Lily, and Peter to reckon with, as well as the specter of Sirius Black. He has to keep moving from job to job and place to place, not only because his lycanthropy means long-term employment is hard to find and requires him to find safe places to transform, but also because he doesn’t want his guilt and grief to catch up to him. We can assume that he doesn’t have a steady income or place to stay during this time, and it’s very likely that he has been homeless for periods of time. When Dumbledore finds him in that cottage in Yorkshire, the way it’s described - “tumbledown,” “semi-derelict” - makes me wonder if it’s a squat instead of a home, and Dumbledore just catches him at a short stopping point.

When Remus returns to Hogwarts, he’s again in one physical place, but he’s still moving a lot. He’s hiding his lycanthropy from the students and possibly some/most of the staff, so his personal life is still full of secrets. In addition, his job as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor doesn’t really lend itself to a calm career. He’s teaching his students about defensive spells and Dark creatures, and since a lot of his qualifications probably come from his experience of the first war, his daily routine is permanently linked to his trauma. Most importantly, he’s also hiding a lot of his history from Harry, because the central threat in Prisoner of Azkaban is tied directly to his backstory. He’s still moving around in a more figurative way, trying not to stay still long enough for someone to pick up on his patterns and expose him. When his secrets catch up to him, he becomes more erratic, forgetting his Wolfsbane Potion and expressing willingness to kill Peter Pettigrew without a second thought, a departure from his usual cool-headedness. He’s back in the mindset of the war, dropping everything at signs of danger and covering his tracks to move on to a new place, and Sirius, now an ally and friend once again, is keeping pace with him. “Together?” “I think so.”

When Snape exposes Remus’ lycanthropy to the school, he has to start moving again. We don’t know where he is between leaving Hogwarts and joining the Order again once it gets restarted, but we can infer that he probably experiences another year of itinerant living as he jumps from job to job and place to place. When he does “settle” (comparatively), he comes back to Grimmauld Place, but he’s clearly in a war mindset once again, and half the time he’s on missions and not even present in the house. Just because he’s apparently the Order member most frequently there with Sirius doesn’t mean that he’s present all that much, because Sirius can’t keep pace with him anymore. He’s being blocked by Dumbledore and is physically and emotionally stagnant while under house arrest, and we know by now that Remus must always keep moving to survive.

Order of the Phoenix is a turning point for Remus. With Sirius’ death, he finally outpaces his childhood - the last person who he was close to as a young man is now dead. Remus is effectively the last living Marauder (at this point, I would argue that Peter Pettigrew’s betrayal has removed him from Remus’ list of people he cares about and who care for him). It’s also when he meets Tonks, and their relationship grows from one of coworkers to friends to lovers in unseen scenes during and between Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince. She’s kind of a weird choice if you’re picking someone to sort of settle Remus and slow his pace, since I wouldn’t describe her as mellow exactly, but the fact of the matter is that Remus’ growing relationship with Tonks is an obstacle to his habit of movement. She keeps pace with him at first as a colleague/friend like the Marauders did, but her pace changes with her feelings, and she wants Remus to slow down with her. Tonks is stubborn and adamant about what she feels, and in her outburst after Bill Weasley is attacked by Fenrir Greyback, we see that she’s not willing to let Remus try to breeze past his feelings for her. She plants herself right in the middle of his path, and he’s forced to either stop or destroy her as he tries to push past.

Here’s the thing - Remus doesn’t want to stop moving, and we see him resist it, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing to slow down. If we parallel his habit of movement with his lycanthropy (since they’re already linked), we can infer that just as being a werewolf has left him scarred and in pain, constant movement takes a toll on him. Just because he’s lived this way his whole life doesn’t automatically make it healthy. The secrecy and isolation don’t make him happy, and they are directly tied to how much faster he’s moving compared to everyone else - trying to outpace the ghosts. Tonks, in directly blocking his path, is essentially staging an intervention to bring him back to a speed that his loved ones can keep up with. He still has her, Harry, and the Order, just as long as he stops trying to convince himself he’s better off alone and outrunning the dead.

The problem with this is that, as physics tells us, it’s not easy to stop an object that has had a set path of motion for most of its existence. Remus isn’t used to slowing or stopping, and he’s antsy to run again. The things he’s been trying to avoid catch up to him - self-doubt and self-hatred about his lycanthropy and its effects on his life, the need for adrenaline and movement that the wars have acclimated him to. When he feels like it’s all too much to handle, he falls back into his old track of movement in a hunt for something known and familiar. Even Harry notices this, comparing Remus to Sirius and accusing them both of wanting to be daredevils. Remus is trying to get back to the pace he ran at with the Marauders, but Harry argues that that’s not the pace Remus’ family needs him to be at.

The only way for Remus to be content is to copy what Tonks showed him how to do - stand his ground and face the ghosts head-on. He has to go back home and learn to live a slower life if he wants to have a family, and he does want that. When asked what he would say to Harry on Potterwatch, he makes it clear that he is thankful for Harry’s intervention, and his later joy at Teddy’s birth is infectious. He fucks it all up initially, but Remus does eventually come to the understanding that the way he was living - constantly moving to stay ahead of his secrets and regret - wasn’t sustainable. He’s willing to try, and I only wish we’d gotten to see the just-barely-a-month he got to slow down with Teddy and Tonks.

The Battle of Hogwarts, in a way, proves my point about movement. Remus is forced to drag himself out of family life and back into the mindset of the war, and in a very Marauder-like impulse, Tonks decides to join him at his pace this time. I won’t say they doomed themselves, because the battle required them to exist at the pace of war, and they didn’t have a choice if they wanted to keep their loved ones safe. However, it is undeniable that it is the running that killed them. The movement of war is deadly, and this time, it hit the people we were wishing the most to escape it.

TLDR: Remus Lupin has lived his whole life trying to outrun his personal demons, and his behavior at Grimmauld Place in Deathly Hallows was a deeply shitty reaction to feeling out of his depth when living a slower life.

Sources:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

https://www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/remus-lupin

https://www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/werewolves

(Sorry this is so messy! I was excited to write it and put it on paper as if I was speaking it in a sort of tangled stream of consciousness. I hope I got my point across okay!)

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rallis-fatalis · 3 years ago

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Miscellanious Troubles

And so on and so forth, to a land of many unimportant things, the tensions between two kingdoms rise until all who are around them begin to feel the consequences. It’s about time someone put an end to their nonsense. Too bad these two rulers in their thrones are rather royal trouble…

A shimmer of purple illuminated the ominous stone steps standing in the early morning light of the Rellekan forest. The purple flickered and out of the glow popped Rallis the blue dragon. She stretched with a smile and jumped down the steps. The light flickered away, leaving her in the pale morning rays. Normally, Rallis hated waking up early, but the newest addition to her family, Twist the cockatrice, was an early riser. He woke her up at dawn for breakfast and the dragon decided to stay awake instead of going back to bed for a few more hours. After spending part of the morning preparing breakfast for her other children, the seven red dragons and Skorch the void torcher, and leaving treats and milk out for the cat trio, Rallis decided to get some food for herself as well. Although she could easily go down to her own private lake for some fish or her garden for fruit, Relleka was right outside one of the portals to her home and she really didn’t want to work for her breakfast this morning. Besides, there was no denying that an entire loaf of honey bread with some porridge sounded amazing this early morning.

Rallis waved hello to Sigli, the ever-watchful hunter guard, as she walked into town. He silently waved back, a small smile gracing his face at the sight of her. Rallis strode straight into the market square, waving happily at everyone she passed. It took a while for the residents of Relleka to feel like Rallis belonged there with them, given her strange appearance and her outlander status, but now people happily greeted her and showed her respect with the Rellekan name Denkir. It made her feel a bit more at home, more than any other human town or city. She purchased a huge loaf of honey bread, tipping generously as usual, and quickly scarfed down half of it before making her way to the Longhall in hopes of some porridge. As she entered the cozy firelit hall, she nabbed a bowl and dunked it into the pot of breakfast resting over the fire. It seemed she was one of the first few to grab a bite; a ton was still left in the pot and the hall was close to empty. Only Thora the barkeep, two others she didn’t recognize eating breakfast, Sigmund the merchant, and Chieftain Brundt himself sat in the massive hall. Sigmund and the chief were speaking in serious hushed tones over a table in the far end of the room. Rallis’ excellent hearing and desire to eavesdrop let her listen in on the conversation as she sat down at a nearby table to eat.

“--not looking good. Without their support, we will need to cut back more of our own forest, and I don’t think I need to tell you why that isn’t a wise decision.”

Chieftain Brundt huffed into his bowl. “No, you don’t… The last thing we need is the spirits invading again. Those cursed wolves alone nearly wiped us out. That bloody Fenrir…”

“Crafting goods will also be in short supply, unless someone would be willing to brave the mountains. Then there’s also the matter of produce. We’ve been running low and the frost will destroy what little we have left. And our stockpiles will go to waste if they aren’t traded soon.”

“I think it’s time we send a visitor to the islands,” Brundt concluded. “As you have been listening in, Rallis, why don’t you come over here and assist.”

Ralls squawked in surprise in the middle of a spoonful of food. “Hey, how’d you know I could hear you?”

Brundt chuckled. “Your ears face what you’re listening to. Come over. Let’s talk.”

She obliged and plopped down next to the chief, bowl in hand. “So, what’s up? Whatever you’re talking about sounds bad.”

“It’s awful,” Sigmund muttered. “Our most important trading ally has seemingly cut us off. Their trade ships are a month late and we have received no message as to why, nor a reply when we ask where they are! Now our plans for the next five months need to change and adjust to this predicament.”

Rallis looked confused so the chieftain clarified. “We give some of our things to other Fremennik provinces that they need, and they give us some of their things that we need. It’s called trading. Each province specializes in certain things and we all rely on each other to survive. If one province stops trading, it harms all others, including us.”

“Oh so you’re not getting stuff you need anymore,” Rallis said. “Can you get it anywhere else?”

“We don’t trade with outlanders,” Sigmund huffed.

“And even if we did,” Brundt began gently, “we’re rather cut off this far north. Some of what we need only grows in the other provinces as well, not any of the outland kingdoms to the south.”

“That’s not good,” Rallis said as her ears drooped. “Will everything be okay if you don’t get what you need?”

“We’ve survived far worse,” Chieftain Brundt assured. “It will just be hard for these next months. And we will need to adapt and learn new trade routes if we truly are cut off from this province. Thankfully it seems we haven’t been cut off from the others.”

“Can I help then?” Rallis asked. “I can grow stuff like food and I can fish! I can do lots of other stuff too!”

“Thank you for the kind offers, but I believe having you go to the provinces to investigate would be a better use of your skillset,” Brundt said.

“Oh, you’re right,” Rallis blushed with embarrassment. “Show me where to go and what to do and I’ll do it! I like to help!”

“Excellent!” Sigmund exclaimed. “I’ll get a boat prepared.” With that, he ran off toward the docks.

“Thank you again, Rallis,” Brundt said with a pat of her head. “You’ll be heading to the Miscellania and Etceteria provinces. Here’s what you’ll need to know…”

____________________________________________________________________________

As dawn burned away and the sun rose high, Rallis was sailing toward the Fremennik provinces of Miscellania and Etceteria. She could see the islands appearing quickly on the horizon. They looked far more summery and warm than Relleka, which seemed odd to Rallis since this was farther north. She decided not to think about it.

Chieftain Brundt gave her a crash course on the provinces and what she might need to do and look for. Miscellania and Etceteria have always been volatile provinces for as long as anyone alive could remember, trying to outdo each other in every aspect and even sabotaging each other at times. They would each strive to have the best relations with other provinces and be considered the better ruler than the other. Oddly enough, this led each province being extremely well-off and well-liked by everyone else instead of the usual hatred and neglect other kingdoms might see if they were to act in such a way. The citizens were kind and generous, the locales were scenic and bountiful, and the trade was more than great. So it was odd that they would so suddenly cut off ties from their biggest partner, Relleka, without so much as a word.

As Rallis neared the shore of the islands, nothing seemed to be out of place. It just looked like a regular island with no nefarious going-ons. If anything, the warmer weather and clean fruity-scented breeze heading her way was inviting and gentle. Soon, she hit the docks of what seemed to be the western province, Miscellania. No fishermen or dockworkers greeted her. The piers were empty. Rallis hummed in concern as she tied her boat and headed down the nearby path. On each side of the path were lush fields full of produce enough for all of the Fremennik provinces, maple trees that had never seen ailment in their lives that towered over Rallis as she walked, garden plots of herbs and spices more meticulously taken care of than even Taverley’s, shimmering waters devoid of pollution and teeming with huge fresh fish. This kingdom was beyond well-off, it was perfect! So why weren’t there any people? There were hundreds of chirping birds, adorable families of bunnies hopping around, and squirrels hopping from branch to branch, but not a single human. A castle stood in the distance to the west. Perhaps Rallis would find people there. At the very least, the royals of Miscellania.

Rallis strolled up to the castle. The gates were closed and even a good shove did not make them budge. A quiet gasp and scared whispers greeted her from behind the gate. It seemed she finally found the people of the province and they seemed rather nervous.

Not wanting to possibly get attacked by these strangers, Rallis chirped a chipper greeting. “Hello! My name is Ra– Denkir. I come from Relleka on behalf of their chieftain. Can I please come speak to your king?”

More whispers grew, this time not as quietly. Rallis could catch words like ‘talking monster’ and ‘thief’ amidst the discussion of Relleka. She rolled her eyes at the insults. Why were they calling her a thief? She hadn’t even stolen anything! …Yet.

A voice from behind the gate spoke up. “How do we know you are to be trusted, beast? You look a monster and are stranger to these lands. How do we know you are not here to pillage and plunder?!”

Rallis huffed. “You can check my boat at your dock. It’s got the Relleka sigil on it. I’m a Fremennik there, honorary and everything. And I’m not here to steal, just talk.”

Some more discussions ensued, and after a long pause, the gates opened a crack. Rallis was roughly grabbed by the shirt and thrown inside before the gates slammed shut once more. She tumbled to the dirty ground and found herself in the castle courtyard, filled with market stalls and what looked like the entire province. They circled around her, nervous, skeptical, scared, angry. In response, Rallis just timidly waved hello.

“Why do you wish to see King Vargas?” one of the people looming over her asked.

Rallis dusted the dirt off her clothes and rose. “Chieftain Brundt of Relleka asked me to speak with him. You guys all stopped trading with him and it’s messing everything up!” At that, many of the people gathered around looked ashamed or at the very least lost their looks of fury and skepticism. “I’m here to see what’s wrong and get things moving again. So, what is wrong?”

At once, the entire group started to shout and complain. Thievery this, Etceteria that, and so much more Rallis couldn’t latch onto.

“I think I’ll just go ask the king myself,” Rallis barked over the crowd. “Thanks though!” With that, she sprinted away from the cacophony and into the castle. The castle was elegantly adorned with tapestries, banners, paintings, and more. Framed paintings of the castle royalty decorated every wall where a banner wasn’t, paintings of a man with a crown and two younger people, a boy and a girl. Presumably, this was the king and his children. A guard stopped Rallis at the top floor by the entrance to the king’s throne room. Once she explained the situation once again, he let her through. Rallis was immediately going to jump into the explanation of why she was here, but stopped with a choked sound as she laid eyes on the king.

Chieftain Brundt failed to mention King Vargas wasn’t human.

The king was massive, towering over the wiry bald bearded bespectacled man at his side. He stood over his throne, much too large to actually sit in it. He wore no clothing, instead clothed head to toe in thick white fur. He looked like a giant covered in three layers of kyatt fur. Despite the king’s imposing appearance, he greeted his unexpected guest with an almost kind voice.

“Greetings. I saw your approach and encounter with my people from my window. Who seeks an audience with the king of the great and fair Miscellania and what do you desire?”

Rallis didn’t know if she was supposed to bow or kneel or something else, so she opted for a small awkward bow. “Greetings, King Vargas. My name is Denkir and I come from Relleka. I come to investigate why trade has stopped with Relleka and to see if it can continue again.”

“Hmm, someone came sooner than I thought,” Vargas muttered. “I didn’t expect someone so… unique looking. Are you cursed to be a monster as well?”

The idea that being a dragon could even remotely be considered a ‘curse’ rubbed Rallis the wrong way and she had to stop herself from hissing. “No, sir, this is how I have always looked. I’m a dragon.” She could tell he was about to comment something else, so she steered him back on track. “So, why has trade stopped sir?”

The king growled. “It’s the fault of those filthy Etceterians and their despicable queen, Sigrid! It is people like her that keep this war between our nations alive. There will never be peace with the likes of her around! That lying thieving witch!” Vargas roared and slammed his massive furred fists onto a nearby table, shattering it to splinters. The wiry man next to him seemed used to such behavior and simply backed away while muttering a note about needing another table again. The king calmed himself with a huff. “We have stopped trade because our supplies have routinely been going missing. Produce, fish, poultry, bread, everything. All our consumables have been stolen and we can barely keep our own kingdom fed. We have closed off our kingdom so that we may survive, hence why the gates were closed.”

“And you think the other kingdom is taking your food?” Rallis asked.

“I don’t think it, I know it!” Vargas shouted. “Sigrid relies on trade for most of the food for her kingdom. She’s too busy growing her precious hardwoods to make any decent farm plots. The chill and weather must have finally driven her meager patches to death and now she has to steal to survive. If she had just come to me and asked for assistance and bowed to me like she should, then she would have food, the kingdoms would be open, and none of this would be happening! But no, she decided to lower herself to that of a common thief and slink into our stores in the dark of night and steal like an animal. Pah!”

Rallis nodded as she listened along. This sounded like a serious problem. “What can I do to help? Relleka, and probably the other provinces, need your supplies.”

“Have Queen Sigrid admit she’s the thief and have her provide payment for everything she has taken. That is the absolute least she could do. I should make her pay interest and have her swear fealty and end the war too but V knows she’s too stubborn for that.”

Rallis grimaced and slowly backed away. “Okay, I’ll go talk to her. Just across the island, right? Alright, gotta go!” She ran out of the castle, through the gates, and breathed a sigh of relief in the maple forest, happy to be away from the king and all his complaints and anger. “Why do I feel like this isn’t going to be as easy as a little talk?”

__________________________________________________________________________

Etceteria was nowhere near as vibrant and lush as Miscellania. It was like a storm cloud perpetually hovered overhead, darkening the land. The castle that loomed in the distance was darker and more foreboding. Instead of a maple forest, perfectly spaced teak and mahogany trees grew. Small plots of land dotting the open landscape here and there had obviously been growing some sort of food but had semi-recently been dug up and weeds began to take over. Like before, the gates to the castle were shut and the citizens huddled hushedly on the other side. And like before, Rallis explained why she was here until they let her pass and enter the castle.

The castle seemed more homely than Vargas’, more lived in. It looked like more than just the queen lived here; some guards and civilians appeared to have rooms downstairs. Despite the outward appearance, Etceteria seemed more welcoming on the inside, more realistic than the perfectly manicured front of Miscellania. There were no guards hanging outside of the queen’s chambers, nor were there any advisors or regal paintings and banners. Rallis knocked on the queen’s door and a very tired ‘come in’ responded. Inside, an exhausted looking woman with short brown hair and a tastefully elegant red dress greeted her. She was seated at a desk, scribbling on a stack of papers. At the sight of her guest, she dropped her quill with wide eyes.

“Oh, my!” she gasped. “What in Gielinor?!”

Rallis calmly bowed. “Queen Sigrid?”

She seemed shocked that Rallis could speak. “Y-Yes, that is me. Who wishes to know?”

“My name is Denkir. I come from Relleka to investigate why trade with the other provinces has stopped. I was first told to go to Miscellania to speak with King Vargas, and he sent me–.”

“Vargas,” the queen spat, all fear of Rallis gone and instead was replaced with fury. “So that idiotic oaf has sent you. What does that thieving fool want with me now?”

“Well, a lot of supplies have gone missing from Miscellania, and the king thinks you’re responsible.”

Before Rallis could even think of continuing, Sigrid flew into a fit, face red with anger. “Oh he does, does he?! He can’t blame himself because that would mean he admitted he did something wrong, so instead he blames his poor neighbor who can barely scrape up ends meet! Well, you talking lizard, you can tell that giant idiot that I have nothing to do with his misplaced snacks and he better stop stealing my own kingdom’s food to make up for his own losses!”

“Do not call me lizard,” Rallis hissed, startling the queen out of her anger. “And Vargas said you’re stealing his food. But now you’re saying he’s stealing yours?”

Queen Sigrid regained her composure and nodded. “Yes. Some time ago, our food stores began to deplete and no one knew why. Every citizen was interviewed and all of them have no idea where the supplies could have gone. I know they are telling the truth as over the time since, my people grow thinner and the food still disappears no matter where we put it. So it has to be the Miscellanians stealing our food!”

Rallis thought to herself with a hum. That seemed rather odd. Both kingdoms had the same story. “How come you haven’t been getting food elsewhere then?” Rallis asked.

The queen sighed. “That filthy lout King Vargas has blocked our ships from sailing out for trade. I had no idea why until now. Is this monster trying to starve us to death so he can steal my kingdom?!”

“I don’t think that’s the case,” Rallis hurried. “Could I see where you store your supplies?”

The queen gave her visitor a look but relented. “Sure. I have little to lose. Follow me.”

Sigrid led Rallis out the castle toward a hole in the castle courtyard. A guard watched over it and bowed as the queen came near. Sigrid led Rallis down the hole. At the bottom was a forked path. The queen led her one way toward a huge door locked with three locks. Whatever was here was most definitely secure. The queen unlocked the door and swung it open. Inside was a meager amount of supplies.

The queen sighed. “This is all we have left for all of Etceteria. Soon the people’s personal stores will run out, then this will too. Even the fishers can’t be of help. Nearly all the fish that used to swarm our shores have gone missing. I don’t know what to do.” Her voice cracked and her eyes began to water.

Rallis shot her a sympathetic glance and stepped inside. She began to investigate the room for any signs of forced entry or thievery. One of the many joys of being a decent thief was identifying signs of thievery others may have left behind. She checked the locks but there were no scuff marks from a lockpick. Next she checked the walls and roof for any secret paths or holes, but there was nothing worth noting. Nothing seemed to be hidden under any of the remaining supplies either. This was just a regular, albeit sad, room. As Rallis was about to step out, something did catch her attention. In the dirt where the door would be when closed were some rather odd-looking dips in the earth, like something had been slid across that same area over and over. She led the queen out and closed the door and leveled herself with the ground. Those dips in the dirt were decently deep, certainly not long enough for any human to find useful, but Rallis could slide her arm through up to the shoulder.

“Have these grooves always been here?” Rallis asked.

The queen kneeled down beside her. “No, they have not. The storage rooms have always been secure in every way. I can assure you these were not here before this thievery started. How could I not have noticed this since?”

Rallis ran her hand through the dips. “They’re very smooth. This wasn’t carved with a tool, so it wouldn’t have happened overnight. With everything you’ve been going through, it’s understandable you wouldn’t see or feel these dips growing by the day.” Rallis followed the trail of the dip down the underground path until it led to a hole in the cavern wall down the way. “Is anything down there?” she asked.

“Down that path is housing for my citizens. Both kingdoms have homes underground so we may use our minimal land for maximum produce. But down this specific hole in the wall, no I haven’t a clue.”

Rallis peeked into the hole but could see nothing, even with her excellent night vision. She placed an ear to the hole and could faintly hear the sound of water, far far away.

“It sounds like the ocean,” she said. “It might be an underwater cave. Do you have any paths that might lead to any underground alcoves or caverns? Possibly changing with the tide?”

The queen shook her head. “No, our houses down here don’t go too deep into the earth. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like that.” She scowled at her next thought. “King Vargas might, however. He has many more civilians and far deeper underground caverns.”

It was time to head back to Miscellania then. “Thank you for helping me. I’ll be sure to get to the bottom of this.”

“Thank you, Rellekan. Denkir, was it? I will not forget this. And if you could, please ensure King Vargas understands that we were not the ones to steal his stores.”

“As long as you can understand the same,” Rallis chided. “I don’t think a human did this. Or whatever big thing the king is.”

The queen huffed but relented. She supposed it could be possible that something other than the Miscellanians were at fault. But what, she wondered. With that, Rallis ran back to Miscellania.

___________________________________________________________________________

When Rallis told King Vargas the news, he was furious. He smashed a flimsy chair in his rage and the wiry man beside him sighed through his nose rather loudly.

“How dare Sigrid think we stole her food!” he shouted. “Like we would want her soggy cabbages and old tuna fish! This is unacceptable!” He roared and pounded his fists on the ground.

Rallis groaned. Vargas was completely fixated on that detail from the beginning of her story rather than the important details of the clue she found underground. He refused to believe what the queen said about her citizens not stealing Miscellania’s food either.

“King Vargas, please calm down and listen,” Rallis tried. “I need to see your food storage as well to look for clues. Can you please take me?”

The king growled out the rest of his tantrum and regained some composure. “My advisor can show you,” he said, pointing to the wiry man beside him. “Ghrim, show Denkir what they need. I need a moment to myself.”

The advisor bowed and silently led Rallis out of the throne room and down to the castle courtyard. Just like in Etceteria, a hole descended into the ground, where at the bottom a path forked in two. Advisor Ghrim led Rallis to the food store and unlocked the metal door. Inside was, in Rallis’ opinion, still a great deal of food, far more than these people would need for a long time, but it was definitely apparent it used to hold more. Knowing what to look for, Rallis checked the ground under the door and sure enough, smooth dips in the earth slid under the door frame. She followed their path, and this time they did not lead to a hole in the cavern wall, but instead traced the wall farther down the second path.

“Does this other path lead down to your homes as well?” Rallis asked.

The advisor was surprised she knew such a thing. “Yes, it does. There you will find the rest of our fine kingdom with its bars, shops, homes, and more.”

Rallis followed the smooth dips in the earth. “Is this path heavily traveled?”

“Quite. Hundreds of people every day walk this route back and forth.”

Rallis hummed in thought. So whatever made these dips definitely had to be inhuman. There were no human tracks in the stone even after so much walking, but only a month or so of whatever made these tracks was enough to make a lasting impression. Rallis followed the tracks around the edge of the town until they disappeared into a hole in the ground by some kind of drilling machine.

“What is this?”

“A project on hiatus,” Ghrim said. “We intend to tunnel farther into the caverns to create more spacious housing and other facilities. Dwarves had been hired for the work, but they up and left one day, very unprofessionally I might add. They were raving about terrifying monsters with glowing red eyes and fangs the size of swords deeper in the caves, but I can assure you we have looked numerous times and have never found anything of the sort. Bloody raving mad, those dwarves.”

Rallis hopped over the machinery and investigated the cavern on the other side. Tools were very hastily abandoned and foundations for new builds left unfinished. But underneath the crumbling rocks and broken parts were indeed continuations of the grooves from before.

“Well whatever made those dips in the ground came this way,” Rallis called back. “They seem to be going farther in too.” She poked her head through a hole where the grooves continued. On the other side was another large cavern system, leading deep into the darkness. “I’m gonna follow them. You coming?”

“I think not,” the advisor said. “I will not be climbing over rubble and rusted gear to flail around in a damp dark cavern, thank you. I will return to the king’s side if you need anything.” And with that, he strutted away. Rallis snorted derisively and climbed through the hole.

The other side of the hole was pitch black. Perhaps it was a good thing that stuffy advisor didn’t join along. Rallis could see just fine thankfully and began to investigate. The caverns were far thinner here than where the citizens of Miscellania were living. The corridors were tighter and more naturally ragged and rocky. The grooves in the ground were far more prominent here and led deep into the dark depths. Whatever made these were definitely hiding down here. Rallis moved along quickly.

The farther she went, the warmer the caverns became. Vents of natural gas heated geysers and pools of water, making the cavern sweatier than the saunas in Corsair. A person might find it uncomfortable and stuffy, but Rallis felt great. She relaxed a bit as she followed the trail and stretched out her wings. If she wasn’t on the hunt for a mystery culprit, she might’ve partaken in a little soak in one of those vent-heated pools. As she continued along, something by one of the vents caught her eye. It was thin and translucent and very long. It had a smooth texture in her hand, with slight imprints of… scales?

“It’s a snake skin!” she whispered. “Those grooves must be snake trails! But why would a snake steal human food?” She put the skin down and moved on.

Soon, Rallis reached the end of the cave. Food scraps and empty wooden crates piled around the edges of the cavern Rallis now stood it. A massive pool of water, this one not heated by a vent, rested at the end of the cave. As Rallis stood by it, she was surprised to feel the water rush and recede against her claws. This water had a tide unlike the previous pools.

“Is this an ocean cove or something?” she mumbled. She stuck her head under the water to look around…

…and was greeted with many pairs of bright red glowing eyes.

Rallis shrieked and leapt backward out of the water and scrambled away. Out of the pool rose an absolutely massive serpent, striped different shades of blue, glowing red eyes staring down at the little dragon menacingly. It hissed and flashed its lengthy set of fangs, splashes of venom dripping down the tips. Rallis immediately threw her hands up and hissed to the snake in a language it could understand.

“Whoa! Calm down, friend! I’m not here to hurt you, I promise. I was just following a trail and it led me here.”

The serpent stopped its hissing but still remained on alert. It flicked its tongue at Rallis, trying to get a good read on her. As it emerged from the water to get a closer look at the unexpected guest, the dragon realized just how huge this snake was. It coiled around her, tongue flicking every which way. Rallis sat still, making no sudden movements.

“Was it you taking food from the humans?” Rallis asked. The snake eyed her suspiciously. “I won’t hurt you if you say yes. I’m just here to find out the culprit.”

The snake settled in a comfortable coil around Rallis. It informed her that it was not the one who stole the food, but it knew who did.

“Can I talk to them?” Rallis asked. “I need to tell them what’s going on so they can stop.”

The snake flicked its tail into the pool of water, and right on cue a small horde of much tinier snakes slithered out. They too were striped shades of blue and looked up at Rallis with bright red eyes. Rallis couldn’t help herself. She squealed with glee.

“Baby sea noodles!” she squealed excitedly. “Oh you’re all so cute! Yes you are! Look at your widdle faces with those cute boopable snoots!”

The giant serpent was pleasantly surprised over the dragon’s reaction, uncoiling just enough to let the smaller snakes investigate their visitor. Rallis cooed and giggled as the tiny serpents slithered into her lap or sniffed at her tail.

“Awwww, were you cuties the ones stealing food from the humans? You must be hungry little babies, aren’t you?” As she carefully stroked one of the serpent’s spines with a finger, it dawned on her. “Oh! You’re a momma! A momma sea serpent! Well I must say your children are the absolute cutest little friends I have ever seen!”

The mother snake dipped her head with what looked like a smile. It was in fact her children stealing food from both of the kingdoms. She was far too large to get the food herself and the meager supply of fish in this cave had quickly vanished.

“Why not go back into the ocean then?” Rallis asked. “You are sea serpents, right? There’s loads of food to eat out there.”

The mother serpent slithered away from Rallis and back into the pool, and her many children followed suit. She flicked her tail to ask Rallis to follow. The serpent vanished into the dark watery depths and Rallis dove down after her. Under the water, the mother snake led Rallis to a tunnel. Rallis could feel the tug of the tide here; it must lead to the ocean. However, it seemed something had closed this pool off from the outside world. A rockfall had caved in the tunnel and there was no way through. Water could still flow through the gaps in the rocks, but there was no way any of the sea snakes could slither through. The mother snake looked at the rocks sadly and Rallis understood. This family of sea snakes was trapped.

Rallis swam back to the pool’s surface and shook the water off her clothes. The mother snake poked her head out of the water. “I understand now. You did what you needed to survive. I don’t blame you for what you did, but I know the humans up above will. We need to get you out of here. If you keep taking the humans’ food, there’s going to be a lot of problems.”

The mother bowed her head sadly. She had tried everything to move the rocks. Bashing against them to lodge them free, trying to dig her way out by moving rocks, making the gaps bigger to set at least her children free, but nothing worked. It was a sturdy immovable wall of earth. She hadn’t expected her kind’s usual nesting ground to become both the place of her children’s birth and now death.

Rallis smirked and patted her purple velvet tube pouch. “Lucky for you, you’ve bumped into someone with magic. I’ve got all kinds of runes in here! I’ll get you all free, I swear it!”

Rallis checked her rune pouch and dove into the water once more. She investigated the cave-in more closely. There were many small gaps in the rock for water to flow through and circulate. Definitely not big enough for any kind of animal to swim through, but large enough to wedge a rune or two in. Very carefully, Rallis slid some various dangerous runes into every crack she could find. Chaos, death, blood, any catalytic rune she could find she shoved into a crack.

She resurfaced once more to warn the snake family. “You should get your family out of the water for a moment,” she warned. “I basically just built a bomb of magic in that tunnel and I don’t want any of you getting hurt.”

The mother snake hurriedly hissed and herded her children out of the water. Dozens of curious glowing red eyes watched Rallis dive back into the water as they huddled by their mother away from the pool. Back in the tunnel, Rallis fished out a heaping handful of water and wind runes.

‘Here goes nothing!’

She slammed the runes together and in her hand formed a raw spark of ice magic. She let it loose on the cave-in and immediately it reacted to the catalytic runes hidden in the crevices. One by one the runes sparked into explosions of frost, cracking the rocks in two or bursting into an explosion of ice and rock shards. A dagger of icy rock shrapnel flew by Rallis’ ear in the water as the entire blockage crumbled and exploded. She yelped and hurried out of there before more shards flew her way.

With one final blast, this one strong enough to shake the entire cavern, Rallis sailed out of the water and back into dry land. The snakes looked at her in wonder. The dragon panted with a smile and proudly proclaimed to them.

“You’re free now! The ocean awaits!”

The serpents could hardly believe it. One by one, they took to the water, and when the mother dove down to investigate, she hissed with joy at the sight of the tunnel opened up once more. It would be a tight squeeze with the remaining rocky debris, but she could still make it and her family could finally be free! The mother serpent gave Rallis a bow back on land, and all the little snakelings did the same.

“Stay safe, you guys!” Rallis cheered as the family went on their merry way. “Enjoy the ocean!”

And with one last sploosh, the snakes were gone. Rallis breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad she could help such wonderful creatures. And she figured out what was ailing Miscellania and Etceteria to boot. Now the provinces will be happy with their problem solved, Relleka would get their trade goods again, and all’s well that ends well. With one last shake in an attempt to dry herself, Rallis began the trek back through the dark caverns to Miscellania. There had better be a warm towel waiting for her when she got back.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Ah, the adventurer is back! Did you find and beat down those foul Etceterians?”

Rallis sulked in front of King Vargas, still soaked and dripping water all over his fine luxury carpet. She was not, in fact, offered a towel and was beginning to shiver.

“Your problem was not caused by Etceteria,” Rallis told him. “It wasn’t even by a human, in fact. It was a family of starving sea snakes that had been imprisoned in a cavern under the kingdoms. They were stealing your food to survive. But they won’t bother you or Etceteria anymore! I helped them get back home and you’ll never see them again!”

King Vargas growled. “So now that evil queen employs the use of monsters! How long has she been raising these serpentine terrors to raid my kingdom?! It will continue no longer! I shall ensure all paths to that cavern are barricaded immediately! Miscellania must stay safe!”

“No, sir, it wasn’t the other kingdom’s fault!” Rallis said again. “It was just a family of wildlife. No relation to Etcetria at all!”

But the king didn’t seem to hear her. He kept muttering to himself about how those foolish Etceterians would pay dearly. Rallis stared at him in confused disgust. Like sea snakes would care about stupid politics and try to sabotage two kingdoms. Advisor Ghrim waved Rallis a gesture that told her to not even try arguing. It seemed even he knew the king could be a fool at times.

“Well,” Vargas said abruptly. “I suppose you deserve a reward for your efforts to this kingdom, Denkir. For such an unusual-looking stranger to come into our home and immediately help us without even so much as knowing a single citizen here takes courage and kindness another kingdom has never deigned to show us. And as such I shall provide you with an equally courageous and kind reward. I would like to offer you… marriage and my kingdom!”

“WHAT?!” both Rallis and the advisor screamed. Rallis staggered back, face red with a mixture of embarrassment and something akin to anger.

“Oh come now!” the king boomed. “You have only been here for a single day, yet you show kindness to my citizens and a talent for heroism and diplomacy! You have the makings of a ruler in you. Becoming regent to my kingdom would be beneficial for both of us.”

Rallis stuttered at the offer. “Wh–?! I-I don’t want to rule a whole kingdom! I don’t want to rule anything involving humans! And MARRIAGE?! Sir, I don’t think you understand how offens–!”

“It wouldn’t be my hand in marriage, I can assure you,” King Vargas rushed. “I’m sure you would rather prefer the hand of one of my children. They are used to the guise of a monster given their own father’s appearance from an unfortunate curse so they will not mind your hideous countenance at all!”

Rallis self-consciously rubbed at her face. ‘Hideous? Well I think I’m pretty…’

“You should meet them!” Vargas exclaimed, and before Rallis could argue, the beastly king shouted so loudly the walls of the throne room shook. “Brand! Astrid! Come meet our helpful guest!”

On either side of the throne room, a door opened and out walked a young man and woman. The man, a rather pompous and snobbish looking boy, strode in with a rather bored look on his face. A tacky red cape fluttered behind him and he held himself with far more elegance than the situation needed, making him look more full of himself than graceful. The woman, on the other hand, was clad in ranged armor (thankfully not dragonhide, Rallis was happy to note) and a rather short but combat ready skirt. Her blonde hair was tied back out of her face. This young lady seemed far more competent than the boy just by looks alone.

“Meet my daughter princess Astrid and son prince Brand,” the king said proudly. “My incredible daughter is a master of the bow, and my talented son is on his way to becoming a legendary bard. Both will make fine rulers at your side.”

Rallis snorted softly. ‘Bet this Brand kid isn’t even half as good as Olaf.’ The princess seemed nice enough at first glance, but she eyed Rallis with something that made her scales itch. She recognized that look on hunters’ faces when they spotted something new to track and kill. Rallis paled.

While Rallis was looking the royalty over, King Vargas was explaining the situation of Rallis’ reward to his children. Both looked rather displeased by the mere suggestion of wedding a monster, but they knew better than to talk back to their father about such things as kingdom politics.

“So, whom will you decide to wed,” the king said eagerly.

“Neither, sir!” Rallis shouted. “No offense, but this is a horrible reward! You can’t just offer a dragon a mate they’ve never even met before! Listen, I don’t need a reward, and I definitely don’t want one that comes with marriage and a kingdom. Just please promise you’ll start trading with Relleka again. That’s all I want.”

The king scowled. “Hmph! Well if you can’t understand the incredible one in a lifetime offer before you, then perhaps you would not do well to rule here. Fine, return to your province, Rellekan, and know your mission was successful. Our supply ships shall sail to your shores within the week.”

Rallis breathed a sigh of relief. Her mission was done. She quickly thanked him and bowed a hasty goodbye before sprinting out the throne room, out of the castle, and far away from Miscellania. She decided to update Queen Sigrid on the events as well, as a professional courtesy. The queen took everything far more well than the king, completely understanding the situation and hoping for a less tense state of affairs with Miscellania in the future. She even offered Rallis an actual reward of money and a dry towel and pair of clothes. She denied the money but gladly took the cozy Fremennik clothes and fluffy towel. With a proper goodbye to the queen, Rallis walked back to her boat, all cozy now in her dry fur-lined clothes, and sailed back to Relleka. She gave the two provinces one last look from the sea.

‘If I ever have to go back, it’ll be too soon…’

____________________________________________________________________________

Chieftain Brundt and Sigmund the merchant were ecstatic with the news Rallis brought.

“I knew we picked the right dragon for the job!” Brundt cheered.

“And supplies in only a week!” Sigmund said excitedly. “I shall go prepare our goods for the arrival.” He practically skipped out of the Longhall. Rallis giggled as she watched him scurry off.

“So,” the chieftain said as he slid a drink (thankfully non-alcoholic) over to Rallis. “How were the kingdoms? Still in as much turmoil as I think?”

“It was awful,” Rallis groaned loudly. “That king is so… so… DUMB!” She could think of no other word to describe him and Brundt howled in laughter at her honesty. “He thinks Queen Sigrid is always out to get him when all she’s trying to do is take care of her people. She’s not perfect either but at least she isn’t crazy like Vargas. And he’s so rude! And he wanted me to marry his kids!! And he doesn’t listen to anybody!!! And! And!”

Brundt cut her off with more laughter and a wave of his hand. “Oh, you don’t need to tell me about how foolish and downright crass Vargas can be. I knew him before he was a king and I can assure you he wasn’t any different back then. If anything, he was worse! At least now his children have calmed him slightly and he can focus his anger and foolishness on Etceteria instead of the entirety of the Fremennik.”

Rallis frowned thoughtfully. “I feel kinda bad for Queen Sigrid though. She’s going through so much more than she needs to because of King Vargas. I hope their situation gets fixed some day. Are all the other provinces like that?”

“I’m afraid so,” Brundt said. “Each province seems to have a quarrel with one other. Miscellania and Etceteria, Neitiznot and Jatizso, and so on. I suppose it’s in our Fremennik blood to crave a good fight.”

“Relleka doesn’t have anyone they fight with, right?”

Brundt grimaced. “Well…” Rallis’ face dropped at that alone. “We’ve had a rather long-standing feud with Lunar Isle. Like I said, every province has that one they quarrel with, even us. Ha, maybe you can fix our problems with Lunar Isle one day too! Denkir the Fremennik mediator!”

The chieftain howled with laughter. Rallis paled and shoved her snout into her tankard. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to mend any more relationships between countries any time soon.

#oc tag #my writes #runescape #osrs

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hitbythunder · 4 years ago

Text

Among the Gods of Asgard -6

A dark!Thor x Reader, minor Loki x Reader story with all the drama and angst you’re craving. Including Alexander Skarsgard as Balder. –> Read also on AO3

Summary: The gods are being loved and feared in equal parts by their subjects, more the latter by the thousands of slaves working for them. Ten feet tall, powerful and immortal are the rulers of all beings within the Nine Realms. You, the daughter of an Asgardian merchant, fancy the three handsome princes of Odin - like any woman does - and dream of actually meeting them instead of watching them at public events. That is until, as a consequence of Loki’s tricks, you are being forced into slavery at the royal court. Amidst this harsh new reality, you catch the attention of the god of Thunder who then seeks to make you his alone. You are nothing but a toy, a puppet, in the god’s eyes and he will use you as he pleases.

Do not hope for mercy.

**** WARNING: dark story, manipulative Thor, heavy rape/non-con elements, no happy ending in sight

____________________________xXx____________________________

"...And that is why the Lady Sif and I are not on good terms. Though the black hair suits her much better in my view!" the raven-haired god mused as he leaned back in his comfortable chair, the black queen being caught and turned in his slender pale fingers. A soft chuckle filled the air, its origin hidden behind the too large high back of the chair on the opposite of the chess field. "Could you turn it blonde again if the lady so demanded?" The lovely voice asked as Loki put the queen onto the field again, gently but determinedly as to win, before he looked up at the mortal girl snuggling up against the plush bolstering. "Back then, no, but I have learned a few more tricks over the past centuries!" the Trickster's eyes glinted mischievously but the girl held his gaze. She wasn't afraid of him, not like so many others, not like she should be. In fact, during the past two weeks she had become something far closer than a simple maid and Loki wondered how that had happened. Not that he would admit his growing fondness but he wasn't oblivious either.

At first, they met in the library a few times but soon their chess battles became a delightful daily routine for the both of them. The mortal proved to be a worthy opponent who could challenge the god anew every day - at least as long as Balder was away. Engulfed by the thrill of the game, both maid and master would stare for hours at the black and white chess field and choose their next move wisely. According to some research, it had been Harald Leifson who had discovered this joyous game on Midgard and his daughter had been the first one to learn its rules. Since then she had had a lot of practice and her skills were close to the Trickster's. Many times she almost beat the god - more often than he was willing to acknowledge – but she had enough wits not to boast with it. Loosing didn't go well with Loki's temper.

Instead the mortal remained polite and calm whenever the god relished in another triumphant victory because even that was better than having to (actually) work. At the beginning, the girl had been terribly nervous and her focus lay solely on the game itself, her gaze would rarely wander beyond the chess field. Also the god was quite reserved because usually he wouldn't seek the company of mortals, let alone spend his free-time with them. But as the hours of playing turned into days, the invisible ice-wall between them melted away and both couldn't remain silent for much longer. After some verbal incrementalism they began to chat rather vividly about various topics and Loki found himself sharing some anecdotes of past centuries. In turn, he learned some details of the mortal's background - but mainly he did the talking.

xxx

Word spread, however, and once certain ears were reached, Loki and _________ had to move to his quarters. The library wasn't an appropriate place to display such unconventional manners - the queen had remarked once in private and, as a good son, Loki obliged. Actually, Frigga didn't mind at all that her youngest was socializing with a mortal slave - not the kind of friend she had hoped for but better than none - however many other gods, including the king, would be offended if this sessions were to continue. Thus the queen saw to it that no such unconventional behavior was to be seen outside of the prince's chambers. She didn't guarantee for what happened inside though.

The salon of the prince's chambers was better for playing anyways: no prying eyes and unwanted attention from other gods or slaves. Their envious gazes had felt like daggers piercing into _________'s flesh, thus she was thankful for the change of setting. In fact, she regarded the whole affair as a privilege. Although she felt rather out of place at first between all the gold, ebony and priceless luxuries decorating the room, the maid became rather comfortable being there - and around Loki too. He wasn't the most affable person but somehow he warmed up to her, treated her friendly and seemed to value her for her chess skills. After all the god himself chose to spend every afternoon with her, a maid.

Don't be smug about it! You're just a substitution while his brothers are away! _______ told herself many times so that the disappointment wouldn't be too great once Loki chose to drop her again. Which he surely would one day. Gods only use mortals for their benefit, remember?

So for now, the girl enjoyed the inexplicable honor she was granted. Maybe Loki's large wolf-dog Fenrir was to thank for this strange change in his spirits, because the beast who resided within the prince's chambers had immediately taken a liking into the girl. Upon entering, the cow-sized anthracite dog had suspiciously approached from the adjacent bedroom and had sniffed at the little mortal, who had been stiff as a column that very moment. Seconds later Fenrir had licked at her slender hand to show his trust and appreciation of the new visitor, much to his master's surprise.

Fenrir usually hates unfamiliar faces, he barely behaves around Thor or Balder...Loki had thought suspiciously, not recognizing his own pet.

xxx

Then came the fever. In the middle of the night, the prince was stricken in such a violent fashion that he wasn't able to call for help. Only Fenrir noted his master's indisposition, pressing a moist snout against the god's palm for comfort, and in his delirium Loki had managed to send one simple order to his beloved pet: Get help!

The magical creature and the god had spent so much time together that they literally shared thoughts - a quite useful fact that night – and so the dog dashed away to fulfill meet the order.

However, Fenrir didn't provide the kind of aid the prince had expected. Not Frigga, nor Eir the healer but a maid rode on the beast's back as it returned - as if the wolf knew what the god secretly needed right now. ________ tended to Loki as best as she could, with cataplasms and much kindness to ease the prince's illness. But there were clear limits as the fever wouldn't vanish. When she intended to leave in order to get a healer, Loki asked her, no begged her, not to leave him alone. In the dim-lit bedroom, she couldn't see the puppy eyes he shot at her, however the tight, beseeching grasp he had on her arm gave it all away. How could she have refused?

So she sat down at his side and watched over the god while the fever raged within him, occasionally holding his hand for comfort. _________ did so two other nights too.

xxx

During the day, Loki chose to avoid even brushing the topic and instead directed the conversation towards trivial matters, for example gossip, which he normally wouldn't discuss. Luckily, _______ played along and so neither of them spoke about those hours of disgusting misery, a terrible (shameful) state the prince would never show to anyone, not even to his brothers whom he shared most of his secrets with. Yet ________ had seen it all, the weak sickly side of the glorious god as he lay there bathed in his own sweat, the wet nightwear clinging to his lean pale flesh. A mess of all sorts, just like his mind due to the delirium during which he hadn't been able to formulate a whole consistent sentence.

How pathetic, how human...The god felt deeply abashed as he recalled it, yet then the train of his thoughts also carried him to a much sweeter memory: of a maid's soft small hands tenderly enclasping his; the comfort from sensing her presence on the mattress; her lovely scent flooding his nose whenever she leaned over closely to replace the cataplasm on his forehead. A strange warmth pooled inside the god which began to surface on his cheeks the longer he beheld the mortal across the chess field. “It's your turn, your highness!” The piece of ebony between his fingers had completely slipped his mind apparently. Then he noted how transfixed, almost mesmerized he was staring at her. Suddenly snapping out of trance Loki cleared his voice and quickly averted his gaze, suppressing the shade of pink on his high cheekbones.

“... Oh, oh yes... I just happened to be distracted by a spell...anyways...” Loki declared somewhat clumsily and put the bishop on a random position on the field.

#among the gods of asgard #fanfic #angst and smut #dark!thor #dark!thor x reader #loki

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dontcallmecarrie · 5 years ago

Note

Are you planing on ever making By Dawns Early Light into a full blown story? ... And is Thanos an issue in this AU? I think you havent mentioned him in it so well, I wondered?

UMM. *looks over what I’ve got in that tag, and winces*

geez this thing’s longer than some of my actual fics, when did that happen?

Here’s the thing, though: this AU’s meant to be a writer’s-block-buster. Which, if the current evidence is anything to go by, has been a resounding success.

However.

As of right now it’s just that, a thought-and-snippet-writing exercise, because there’s a lot of things that’d need tweaking before I’d even consider posting it on AO3 [aka my inner perfectionist strikes again].

Again, this is mostly just me messing around with a fluffy tumblr-exclusive [for now, anyway] AU because this feels smaller stakes than if I were to round this up and make it into a full-out fic.

Also, in regards to the second part of your ask: not exactly. By Dawn’s Early Light is, at its core, a fairly fluffy self-indulgent AU, which for me is also code for ‘nobody dies if I can help it’ and ‘if the MCU can have a Gary Stu villain then I can do what I want, Deus Ex Machina-levels of fixits included’.

How? Simple. By nerfing the heck out of him, while also unfridging as many other moms as I can, with a side of I-have-yet-to-forgive-the-writers-for-pulling-this-bs-seriously-what-kind-of-writing-was-that.

Here’s how the entire Thanos situation would go down, in By Dawn’s Early Light (spoilers for a fic I have yet to write):

First, let’s take a step back, shall we? This is, among other things, a timeline-crunch AU. There’s a lot going down in a very compressed time frame [originally just because I wanted Howard to still be around just for Tony to be able to punch him, but now I’m invested in this so time go the full nine yards, buckle up everyone].

So. The entire situation around Maria Stark and Tony and Bucky’s been covered fairly well, but to sum up: when Howard turns out to be an abusive asshole of a husband, his wife smiles at him and promptly turns around and burns both SHIELD and Stark Industries, revealing HYDRA and Obadiah Stane’s double-dealing ahead of schedule [unintentional fixits ftw]. In the chaos, Bucky manages to escape and joins up with Maria and Tony as they go in hiding.

Ripple effect that didn’t get mentioned: Hank Pym sees this shit going down, realizes that the most famous missing child in the country is about the same age as his daughter, and decides to not aim to be Absentee Father of the Year. He ends up being a tad overprotective, sure, but is way more involved in his kid’s life and Hope Van Dyne grows up with at least one (1) parental figure in her life, so…there’s that.

Things happen, and the timeline for bringing Janet back gets moved up somehow, right around when the Avengers assemble.

Note to self: adjust part of Scott Lang’s origin story in this? Compare whistleblower laws of that time era, alt. entrance for him could be him somehow helping Tony hide because BDEL!Howard’s the type of petty and vindictive asshole who’d pull some strings if he found out this rando interfered with his search somehow.

Bonus for giving Scott and Hank something to commiserate about, later on, and would also have Tony and Co. feeling indebted to him [which would result in a lot of shiny prototypes and records being expunged, later on, probably]

…though that might be a bit much. Hmm.

Reason to bring Janet back: I do what I want also I think the MCU fridged moms because otherwise they’d be too powerful

Ripple effect that didn’t get mentioned, the second: since this is also the AU where moms get unfridged, Frigga’s going to be derailing the plot from her corner of the galaxy.

Also, since I finally watched Ragnarok but was a mythology nerd as a kid and have a passing knowledge of the comics, time to revamp how Hela fits into this universe.

Okay, she’s still murderous and powerful and ruthless.

Only, turns out there’s a very good reason for it: she was one of Loki’s students [iirc she’s his daughter in the myths, that’s the best I can come up with atm] before Odin saddled her with the thankless duty of being the watchkeeper of Asgard’s enemies and prisoners. As in, Odin just straight-up went ‘hey you look pretty talented, here, I now hold you responsible for this entire goddamn realm of assholes and creeps, if any get out we’re all screwed’.

Which is something Hela absolutely did not sign up for, but she’s now just about the only thing standing between said realm of undesirables and her home so she stays put […also maybe Odin sealed the only way back? Maybe? Idk].

It didn’t help that in the early days, these ruffians thought they could overpower her and escape to wreak havoc. So she had to kick everyone’s ass six ways to Sunday, until they finally accepted her as the head honcho of this dump and as someone Not To Be Fucked With.

Thus, why Hela’s known as the goddess of death and ruler of Helheim.

…and it’s also why she accidentally came to Thanos’ attention.

(Because why the hell not, as if her day wasn’t bad enough Odin you owe her big time—)

Thanos, of course, is in love with her carnage and seems to be the kind of guy who doesn’t take no for an answer. Hela just wants to be left the alone but can’t tell him to fuck off because if she did, she’d risk leaving her home open to attack from enemy agents, which is how we get the story behind why Thanos is known as the madman who courted death.

[Hela: fuck you and the horse you rode in on shoo you bastard and take your stupid flowers with you—]

Thanos was on one of his especially annoying ‘let me woo you with the ashes of this one civilization!’ kicks [Hela: ashes. How romantic. Not. Leave me alone already.] when some of the Dark Elves snuck out and killed Odin.

Hela…is only pissed she couldn’t have done it with her own two hands. Also slightly embarrassed that the Dark Elves escaped in the first place, and relieved that it was only Odin who’d kicked it because his wife had seemed pretty nice, the one time Hela’d seen the lady before she’d been drop-kicked to this hellhole.

Also— apparently she now can leave this place? Sayonara, bitches.

Thanos is very displeased when he doesn’t find her standing guard over Helheim when he returns.

Displeased enough to get creative, as far as courting gifts go, and think that if she didn’t like rings or jewelry, well, maybe this Lady Death would appreciate a shiny, fully-assembled Infinity Gauntlet instead.

well…let’s be honest, if it weren’t for his ‘don’t take no for an answer’ thing, you’d have to give the guy props for trying. Nothing says ‘I love you’ more than ‘here have this item of absolute cosmic power’, amirite? [just kidding]

Hela now has mixed feelings about Asgard. Before she was crowned Queen of This Dump, she’d been a student of magic, had been used to certain things. There’s quite an element of culture shock to be had, now that she’s back. It’s the first time she’s seen sunlight in thousands of years, and also there’s a lot of systemic changes going on now that some of Odin’s dirty secrets are coming out at last. Turns out she’s not the only one who’d been pressed into duty: some of Loki’s other students[/children in the myths] came back with stories of the same. Fenrir was apparently voluntold to be the guardian of the Reality Stone, Jormungandr had apparently been busy on Midgard […which now had a school of Mystic Arts? Pfft. Overachiever], and the more Hela thought about it the angrier she got.

Especially when it turns out that her teacher had been mocked for suffering a breakdown and was also tortured by the creep who’d been flirting with her for millennia [Everyone: wait what Hela: I am going to KILL THAT BASTARD NEXT TIME I SEE HIM].

However, thanks to Frigga being Frigga and having a crazy-high charisma stat, Hela is still mostly willing to play ball with everyone else on Asgard. Despite her not being happy with how ungrateful the general populace acted [oh, magic’s just ‘tricks’? Here, have a fireball TO THE FACE I FOUGHT MONSTERS WITH THESE TRICKS FOR MILLENNIA].

So when Thanos shows up again, he gets one-shotted by Hela, who’s very very pissy about her vacation being interrupted.

Because this planet has sunlight and hot chocolate and punk rock and she’s got centuries’ worth of time off and she is damn well going to enjoy it.

…aka why Thanos is a bit of a non-entity in this one. Again, fixits are the name of the game for this AU.

#I got an ask!#replies #Naught replies #By Dawn's Early Light #thinking aloud #My writing #behind the scenes mini fic #in which fixits happen #canon went screwy years back here's my attempt to fix it

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smokehqs · 5 years ago

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ANTONIN DOLOHOV

Occupation: Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Age: 37 Gender: Male Pronouns: He/Him Blood status: Pureblood Allegiance: Death Eaters Faceclaim: Oscar Isaac

You knew what it felt like to be an outsider. English wasn’t your first language. You didn’t have the connections that came with Hogwarts and the Slytherin house. But you overcame. You proved yourself more of a snake than any of them, in every sense of the word. You slipped through the cracks into a social standing you could never have imagined as a child in Belarus. Half of the soldiers that surround you were recruited by your hand– sometimes you allow yourself the fantasy that they’re your soldiers and not your master’s.

HISTORY:

Born when magical beings had to live amongst muggles in his country, Antonin Dolohov still remembers his early years in Belarus. He remembers a woman singing, his mother’s hand through his hair, the last look his father had given him before he’d been taken away for multiplying food for his hungry family. He remembers holding his baby sister as they hid under the floorboards of his muggle neighbor Petra’s home while worthless muggles had taken his father and shot him in the woods. The sight of blood littering the green expanse of forest still lingers in Antonin’s nightmares.

Antonin, his siblings, and their mother had lived with Petra for a couple of years after that before his mother eventually took her own life. With no one to look after in Belarus, Antonin and his older brother Piatro were sent to their father’s uncle in Yekaterinburg, Russia, while their sister, Aliena, was sent to their mother’s sister in Sweden.

An exacting man, Rudolf Dolohov ensured that Antonin knew his family name and understood the weight that name had brought years before. Dolohovs, Antonin learned, did not give their loyalty easily. They took what was their due.

The Dolohovs had been in the service of the Russian tsars (many of whom were magical) for centuries. Grigori Rasputin, a wizard masquerading as a muggle mystic and a cousin of Antonin’s great-grandfather, had served the Romanovs for years with considerable influence over the Tsarina. Though history said he had been assassinated, in truth he had helped to betray the royal family and bolstered the Bolshevik revolution.

Dolohovs were duplicitous when it suited them.

But Antonin, while appreciating his ancestor’s contribution, had no intention of being a Bolshevik, had no intention of trading one king for another. He had ambition and a thirst for power, for wealth, for more. As a young man, Antonin had no desire to serve anyone but himself and the other families that had been maligned alongside his own.

Upon entering Koldovstoretz, Antonin realized just how much power one could amass and he resolved to restore the names of the great Belarusian wizarding families. He did not fit in at Koldovstoretz initially, his bloodline unverifiable and his Russian still mingled with the Belarusian dialect that was out of vogue in Moscow. His brother, Piatro, graduated the year after Antonin began and he felt rather bereft when he learned that his younger sister would be attending Durmstrang with their cousins on their mother’s side.

It was that moment when Antonin realized he was alone in the world. Taking the challenge for what it was, he became singularly devoted to restoring his family’s name and amassed a group of similarly minded individuals. They focused heavily on schoolwork - it was difficult to gain power by force if one did not know how to do so - and also cultivated political relationships that would help them in the future. He also learned English, studying to a point where not even the most learned of individuals would be able to tell that his posh London accent had been cultivated in the halls of a foreign school.

Eschewing the advice of his uncle, Antonin came to realize that he could not expect loyalty from others if he was not willing to give it. He became a leader of sorts at Koldovstoretz and his ambition to restore magical society to its rightful place was known throughout its halls. He was often ruthless in his goals, with a vicious streak that reared his head when he felt cornered. Antonin spent summers in Belarus with his brother, learning the ins and outs of the criminal underworld.

It was at Koldovstoretz that Antonin realized his potential and it was also there where he met Katsiaryna. While he did not fall in love with her as quickly as she did with him, Antonin grew to appreciate her dedication to their shared cause and his admiration turned to love over time. She became his family, his partner, and what he valued more than anything else in the world. He proposed with a simple ring he single-handedly fashioned out of gold using a piece of his mother’s jewelry.

A somewhat menial job in the family gold mine in Irkutsk was the most Rudolf could give him after graduation and Antonin had rejected it, not wanting his family’s pity. Instead he moved back to Belarus and navigated the Ciemra on his own after graduation, knowing that he would have to continue to pay his dues and forge connections before he would be able to take back the power that had been denied him.

He drew Katsiaryna into the Ciemra, the Belarusian Wizarding Underworld, where they flourished with a great deal of dedication. Eventually they began to amass more until Antonin found himself running a vast criminal network that assured he would never need to work another day in his life. But he had grown bored, they had amassed more wealth and power than thought possible, and, wanting a new challenge, the Dolohovs had moved to Britain.

To the public, Antonin comes across as a foreign businessman, though what he does business in is always a bit murky. He smiles at strangers on the street, helps those in need, and many remark that he would make a wonderful politician. He is the snake in the grass that most everyone ignores. In private, however, he is singularly loyal to his family and to their ambition. He maintains a decent relationship with his older brother, Piatro, and dotes on his niece. He lost contact with his younger sister after she graduated from Durmstrang and whenever he is out of town on business, he puts out feelers in hopes of finding her.

Antonin is also an ethnocentrist. While he lives in Britain, he generally finds most of their society to be boring - his ultimate goal, after all, is to further bolster Belarusian Wizarding Society. He keeps that part of himself guarded, of course, and only Katsiaryna is aware of just how much he detests some of the people they live amongst. He often refuses to speak English at home, worried about losing his Belarusian roots.

Antonin has the capacity to differentiate between the necessity of muggles - one cannot be at the top if no one is at the bottom, after all - and understands the difference between a muggle and a muggleborn. In his mind, there is such a thing as a useful muggle - one of the first things he’d done after amassing a decent fortune was send enough so that Petra, the woman who had protected him while her kind had tried to obliterate his, would be able to live her last years comfortably. But most of the muggles he encounters are little more than clever apes, and he has no use for them.

Joining the Dark Lord was an easy choice, for it gave Antonin more connections and more opportunities to seek power. Now, he ranks relatively high in the Death Eaters and considers himself one of the Dark Lord’s most valuable recruiters.

Sometimes, though, Antonin considers what his life will be like when the Dark Lord moves onto Europe. When he leaves Antonin in charge in Britain. It is a pipe dream, but one that Antonin aspires to. He may be serving Voldemort but one day it would be Antonin his servants would bow to. He will be the king in all but name, with his formidable queen by his side.

CONNECTIONS:

Rabastan Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, & Lucius Malfoy: Recruited

Regulus Black: Former recruit, wants dead

Dmitry Nott: Friendly with

Rory McIver: Is Idolized by

Igor Karkaroff: Is disliked by

Rosmerta Dunlap: Is hated by

Blair Wood: Despised by

Katsiaryna Dolohov: Married

Sanya Dolohov: Niece

Fenrir Greyback: Resented by

Augustus Rookwood: Viewed competitively by

FLED · RETIRED

#harry potter rp #marauders era rp #skeleton rp #mature rp #marauders rp #smokeskeleton #smokeskeletonretired #antonin dolohov

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knowshisowna · 5 years ago

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HEADCANONS | bastan + emotional tethering.

WITH BASTAN , there is a good heart in there somewhere , and there are a slim few people who have witnessed it , but he was shamed for it so often growing up —called weak by his father and worse things by his mother— that he actively fought against it whilst also trying to protect it from everyone else. it’s why his disassociation / derealization is so severe by the time tom gets ahold of him. he felt like he had to be two people. he also felt like he had to distance himself from everyone and everything. it was his only escape from his mother’s rage and his father’s negligence , the only way he could keep out of rodolphus’s shadow , which was large enough to encase him , to smother him. it was the only way to survive.

regardless of this , there are several people who are able to tether him to himself because of the bond formed with those people during his most innocent times , people who he knew him very young and who were able to make an impression on him before his parents scarred him permanently. the main connection is of course NARCISSA , who he was closest to in age and in etiquette. her older sisters scared him in their own ways , andromeda by accident and bellatrix on purpose lmao , but narcissa , whatever her motives may have been at any given moment , was easier for him to be around and bond with even if it wasn’t immediately as deep for her as it was for him. he trusted her always , and he trusted her with his feelings for her even when he believed she didn’t reciprocate them.

therefore , between her nicknames for him and certain touches they have shared since they were kids —hands on cheek which directly combats his memory of his mother’s hands on his cheek or holding hands / linking arms or resting her head on his chest— she is able to tether him. because of his feelings for her and the connection he has to her , because of the amount of his best parts he’s handed over to her ( perhaps even subconsciously for safe keeping ) , she has the ability to do this for him without actively trying. most of the time , she’s unaware that she’s doing it. but it’s because he loves her that he can actually tether himself through interaction with her. that’s how strong she makes him , not because he leeches energy off of her but because of what she inspires in him. it’s like the warmth from a fire. she loses nothing , is most often even unaware that it’s happening , and he’s able to heal himself through his love for her. but he’d vowed to himself that he would never let his love for her hurt , so he wielded it as something else.

RODOLPHUS , ironic as it is , also of course has this ability , but it isn’t as natural or effortless as it is with narcissa nor as easy as it should be for brothers , but they were born into combat. their parents pitted them against each other any chance they were given. rodolphus had to learn how to calm his brother. he had to gain his trust and prove to him every single day that he wasn’t like their parents , that he wasn’t willing to sacrifice his brother for success. rabastan had to ease into this as well , and rodolphus had to learn how to express himself with his brother in ways that would signal support and understanding , mainly because a ) rodolphus is not great at expressing himself vocally outside of charm or blatant manipulation and b ) because rabastan is not perceptive or trusting of random or rough touches. it will put him on edge and thus on the defensive , and although you may not be able to detect it , it’s an immediate disassociation and he reverts to the personality traits adopted through tom / bellatrix / rodolphus / being soldier under them. hence , a hand to the side of the neck , a touch of the foreheads , or a hand over the heart are all touches rodolphus uses in order to calm his brother or say “ hey , this is your brother speaking , not your leader or the death eater , rodolphus ”. the main reason these touches work is because rabastan realizes how difficult it is for rodolphus to be this way , soft or gentle or vulnerable , even when it’s meant to manipulate. plus , rabastan can read his brother better than most. few people ever see that side to the elder too , but he’ll get his own meta shortly.

ANDROMEDA is also able to tether him , but she can also have an adverse effect on him. it’s almost confrontational or contradictory how her touch affects him sometimes , and while it’s not like he can foresee her betrayal to her family —and his— it’s almost like it’s a fear he develops over time. because usually andromeda isn’t scared to tell you how she really feels ( in our experience ) , so it’s possible he just senses that there is something he can’t entirely trust. nonetheless , growing up together leaves an imprint , and if she’s actively trying to pull him out of a mood or showing genuine concern for and focus on him , which she does do when she’s mentally present , it’s easier for him to trust her , to trust that she’s actually real and that he is too when with her. however , if she is involved in the conflict or the opposition in it , it’s almost impossible for her to help him or get through to him even through touch. and in those moments , it’s actually best she keep her distance. not because he would hurt her because he might run , which is worse for . . . the first expendable he comes into contact with. in the verses where she stays and / or their relationship evolves into a romantic one , the adverse effects fade relatively quickly, and he is much more capable of trusting her intentions and remaining mentally present as well.

BELLATRIX does have the ability to tether him , but it is not always a good thing because of course , bellatrix learns how to use it to her advantage eventually. his respect and love for her , whether familial or otherwise— stems FROM the disassociation , from the darker parts of his personality , and from his bloodlust. that’s how they bond , and so why would she have any effect on keeping him tethered without reason ? she wouldn’t. if anything , she would rather do the opposite and set him loose. but over time , she realizes there are benefits to being able to keep him present , and then a long time later , there are actual times when she does it out of concern once she’s actually developed a connection to him. either way though , comfort is obviously not a priority goal for bellatrix , so it isn’t often she would be the one to ground him because they are hardly ever in a situation where she would need him to be or where he would go to her for it.

the only other person capable of grounding him , although not in the ways the others are , is FENRIR. fenrir mostly likes to keep him in check for self - preservation , especially during draco’s sixth year because of how on edge bastan is. but during the first war , it was bad because bastan was young and bloodthirsty , and he didn’t have the control he has when he’s older —really it’s something else that slows him down after azkaban but alas— so fenrir had to develop a way to keep him mentally present when they did jobs together during recruitment or just when he was around the pack. in those months they spent away and abroad together , bastan had no one else , but he formed a bond with fenrir , and so eventually , they were able to calm each other to an extent. bastan is the only person fenrir actually LISTENS TO without material incentive because he trusts bastan and his intentions. bastan treats him like an equal unlike rodolphus and bellatrix and antonin , so naturally , the trust builds. that’s also another meta entirely , but the point is that fenrir —who is a pack dad of hundreds of kids and actually does need some kind of bedside manner to lead all these wolves without using fear and risking betrayal or mutiny— is able to bring bastan back to himself if need be.

and this all sounds good and fun , but the fact of the matter is that rabastan’s codependency runs DEEP and goes unchecked and only transplanted onto other people , and he covers it up with blood. so the whole thing is really a vicious cycle of ‘ if he’s alone , he’s a threat , but if he’s with a loved one , he’s just … a slightly smaller threat but that’s mainly due to these people being scarier than him on any day so. ‘ but the good news is that as he grows older , especially during azkaban and then after he finds out about draco , he learns how to manually mend attachments to people so that they become a luxury rather than a necessity.

#i. development.#i. development: rabastan lestrange.#long post /#its a lot and its 3 am but #for now itll do #i just needed to get something out

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ren-of-the-arcana · 5 years ago

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The Lucio Incident

How Ren recieved his scars and ultimately made a lifelong enemy...

Warnings for blood, child abuse, another long post, and casting Lucio in a very negative light...

It had been a cool, spring evening. There wasn't much for Jazmine and I to do at the shop. Our chores had been finished early, and Ilana had all but kicked us out the door after our lessons. So, true to our nature, we went to the docks. It was a perfect night for stories.

Jazmine had a small group around her fire, dramatically walking about as she told the tale of Elaena Drake, the fierce warrior queen who became a dragon king, and the the figurehead of the Dragons of the West. It was one of her favorite stories, as well as mine. But, there were a lot of children tonight, and I couldn't bring myself to come close to listen.

I was staying back, out of the light, and away from the still bustling docks themselves. I recognized a few friendly faces, Asra's fluffy white hair just visible past the shadow that Muriel cast over them. I knew with Asra and Muriel present, the less savory kids wouldn't go anywhere near Min. I could relax if I could just shake the anxiety that was screaming at me to not let my guard down.

This evening's lessons had been over divination, specifically runes. And with my luck, I drew Thurisaz to carry me through the day. Forces of evil, a warning, threats from people of power, omens of physical harm. A thorn that could protect or cause harm. It had been in the back of my mind for hours. We were at the docks, so I shouldn't worry about anyone in power aside from the Palace guards. As for the forces of evil...They were ever present. But I wasn't worried for myself, and Min had her protection charms. My anxiety just wouldn't let it be.

I found myself at the edge of the sea, my boots discarded and up to my ankles in the cool water. The moon was starting to rise, and I could just hear the sound of Jazmine's voice over the waves. For a moment, my mind wandered. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of the salty air, trying to find a place of calm. The day was almost over, I didn't have to worry. That rune can also mean luck. Maybe it was just meant to be a good day.

When I opened my eyes again, a figure was standing in front of me, waist deep in the swaying water. When had I walked this far out? How did they get here? The golden eyes of the wolf-headed figure glinted in the moonlight as they regarded me. Their expression gave nothing away, just cold indifference. Their deep violet tunic moved with the sea, making it appear as if they were moving closer. And maybe they were. The distance between us seemed to shorten; the figure was close enough now that I could smell the saltwater in their fur.

Their head tilted to the side, and for a moment, I thought they were going to speak. Instead, they let forth an echoing howl, which melded into Jazmine's scream. I whipped around, my feet already carrying me up the beach, dispelling the Moon's illusion.

In the firelight, I could see Jazmine suspended in the air by her shirt collar. Asra was on the ground, disoriented. Muriel attempted to rush at the man holding Jazmine, who I now recognized as Vesuvia's new count. The Count knocked Muriel to the ground, kicking up sand beside Asra. The other children scattered down the alleys of the docks.

Jazmine was squirming and trying to kick at the Count, but the grip of his alchemical arm was too strong for her to break.

"Who told you those stories? Tell me!"

I jumped over the fire, running at the man. "Leave her alone!"

"Ren!"

"Oh, I see how it is. You need one of your fellow street rats to stick up for you, hmm?" He threw Jazmine hard enough that I could hear her teeth rattle when she hit the ground.

I stood between the three of them and the Count. "I said leave them alone!"

"And I said I want to know who told her those stories, brat!" He tried to move me out of his way to get to Jazmine, who was being pulled away by Asra as Muriel stood guard right behind me.

I ducked under his arm and grabbed his cape, swinging around him to knock him off balance. He started to lose his footing, dragging me down with him.

"Ren, no!" Jazmine tried to come towards us, but Muriel stopped her. She had been trying to reach for my shirt sleeve, but I had already danced out of her way. If this so called Count was willing to hurt children, then he deserved to be wrapped in his bloody cloak and knocked down at the very least.

In my haste to protect Min and the others, I didn't see the clawed gauntlet until it sparked in the firelight. I crashed hard into the sand, Jazmine breaking free from Muriel and coming to my side.

"Who do you think you are? You urchin! Don't you dare touch me! Do you know who I am? I'm your Count!" The man huffed, throwing his cape back over his shoulder and attempting to smooth out his ruffled hair.

If I hadn't been in such a state of shock, I might have laughed at his resemblance to a perturbed cockatiel.

I gingerly touched the bleeding wounds on my face, pulling back to see the red on my fingers. I stared at them for a moment, before clenching them into a fist.

"Oh, no."

I barely heard Jazmine's concerned whisper as I glanced around to see looks of fear, or was it hesitation, on Asra and Muriel's faces. I rose carefully, deliberately meeting eyes with the Count. My vision was going fuzzy in my left eye, but is was nothing that Ilana couldn't fix.

"You're no Count of mine." I spat a mouthful of blood at his feet, the bright scarlet shining in the moonlight. The look of pure disgust on his face was worth it, but I wasn't done yet. "You will leave this place. Leave us, here and now, with no memory of what occurred." I could feel my magic swirling in my clenched hands. "Forget our faces and our words. Go!"

The magic I had gathered flew from my palms and into his chest, physically pushing the Count back. His eyes became glossy and confused.

Jazmine gripped my arm tight. "Run!"

She dragged me over the dunes into a side alley, while Asra and Muriel raced out of our sights. I slumped against the cold wall, suddenly exhausted.

Jazmine grabbed a rag from her pocket, handing it to me as she watched the Count flit up the street, stumbling every few steps like he was drunk. Once he was out of sight, she turned on me.

"What were you thinking?! Are you as insane as you are stupid?" Her hands were on her hips, emerald fire in her eyes. They softened somewhat when she caught me wincing as I dabbed the blood from my face.

"I didn't want you to get hurt...or them. I couldn't care less if he hurt me, but you? Asra and Muriel? I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself." I couldn't meet her eyes. I knew it was stupid. But the fear that had taken a hold of me when the Count had her in the air was not something I wanted to feel ever again.

She sighed heavily, taking the cloth from me to finish cleaning my wounds. "You know these will scar, right? Ilana won't be able to prevent that... And that curse? You know he will remember soon enough. At least your face."

"I know..." I slowly got to my feet. "But at least you guys will be safe for a while. My curses only backfire on me." The excursion was starting to get to me. I shouldn't have risked such a trick when I was already exhausted.

Jazmine slung my arm over her shoulder, supporting most of my frame.

"Come on hero, let's go home. We can come up with a story to tell Ilana on the way." She couldn't suppress a laugh. Coming up with an excuse was her favorite thing to do when we knew we were going to get in trouble.

"As tempting as that sounds, she already knows what happened." I pointed to the mouth of the alley. Fenrir's golden eye was already glaring at us dissapprovingly.

"Well, we're in for it now..."

The shaggy dog huffed, and turned to escort us back to the shop.

Though Ilana healed my wounds, scolding Jazmine and I the entire time, there wasn't much she could do about the magical side-effects. My left eye was now a sharp seafoam green. The trio of scars didn't fade as the days passed either. The vision in that eye was off, but colors seemed more brilliant, and the shadows of auras extended well past what I had once been able to see.

The final unintentional side-effect of our incident with the Count took me much longer to realize. Asra and Muriel weren't the same towards us. It had taken months for them to even begin talking to us, once Jazmine began telling my stories. Now the two stayed as far away as possible, while still in range to hear. Muriel watched me with suspicious eyes, and Asra didn't even look at me.

At first I thought I had scared them with my curse. But, after some time, I realized that wasn't the case. They didn't know who I was, and by extension, Jazmine. It was upsetting, but at the same time, a relief. When my curse finally backfired, like I knew it inevitably would, they wouldn't face the Count's wrath at my expense...

And there it is, the story of Ren's most prominent scars, and his beginnings with bad curse casting...

@asras-wife

#long post #blood #child abuse #count lucio #apprentice ren #fan apprentice

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kiangreyback · 6 years ago

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❝ He tore the beauty from his face, and called it terror. ❞

AVAN JOGIA? No, that’s actually KIAN GREYBACK. A SEVENTH YEAR student, this RAVENCLAW student is sided with THE DEATH EATERS. HE identifies as CISMAN and is a UNKNOWN ( WEREWOLF ) who is known to be CUNNING, TEMPERAMENTAL, and BRUTAL but also RELIABLE, ADROIT, and ADAPTABLE.

links: pinterest

triggers: child abuse, child abandonment, kidnapping, drugs, alcohol

CHILDHOOD.

!! CHILD ABUSE TW, CHILD ABANDONMENT, KIDNAPPING TW !! The most that Kian can remember about his childhood is abandonment. Perhaps the cruelest thing to him was his parents deciding to carry him for nine months, bring him into this world and leave him for it to devour. –And devour it did. The story is that his parents just didn’t care– they had lives and he wasn’t a part of them. The most they’d done for him is stuff his pockets with a couple galleons and leave him behind in Knockturn Alley ( because who would go around asking ‘who’s kid is this’ there. )

However, he didn’t have to suffer abandonment for very long. Fenrir Greyback had an eye for those who ‘needed’ a pack and knelt down with a hand offered. It came with a price but what wouldn’t Kian give for a home– a family. Perhaps if he could go back he would have refused that offer…only perhaps.

Fenrir was a cruel man..and that was putting it mildly– but Kian wonders if he’d take his own parents over a monster of a man because at least he’d given him a home. ( Not that home meant comfort but it did, eventually, mean FAMILY. )

His ‘father’ was hard on him. He was pushed to his breaking point again and again. He was taught how to endure cruelty, how to get his vengeance, to bleed but not be weakened by it. The lessons were vicious – but in Kian’s eyes necessary. He adapted well, fought until he couldn’t catch his breath and held up his siblings when it was their turn. Even though he was scared, Kian would approach everything in control– because that’s what he was taught. His ability to look Fenrir in the eyes and say NO earned him the most hated and most favoured spot in ragtag group of his siblings. ( standing up to his father only had a punishment at the end– though it seemed as if Kian had made his own mark with his stubbornness. ) Get knocked down, you get back up and you swing. !! End TW !!

SCHOOL DAYS.

Kian was sorted into Ravenclaw. A strange house for someone who’d seem more fit for Gryffindor or Slytherin. But it came down to his cleverness and craftmanship that stuck him in with the eagles. He was smart– or rather a smartass – found unconventional solutions to problems and had a cunning way of adapting to even the worst of conditions.

He isn’t very popular with the others in his house or year– a little bit of an outcast because who doesn’t know that GREYBACK is synonym for WEREWOLF. HE tended to be a target for the upperclass peers to dig into when they were feeling bored. Though it ended with someone hexed or cursed or sporting a split lip or broken nose. But such was his life and he wasn’t too bothered by it. –As he grew older and stronger and word got back to those scaredy-cat pureblood parents that it was a Greyback throwing said spell/fist– things quickly quietened down for fear of retaliation from Fenrir. ( Not that the bastard actually cared but it’s the… thought that counts.)

HE doesn’t really spend time in clubs or extracurricular as he feels it’s a waste of time. Besides he has one band of dumbasses he doesn’t need to join any others. However, he did pick up quidditch from an early age and was quite a talented flier. His postion is naturally a beater– though he’s not fond of being led by a weasley.

His grades are above average and had once been considered for the position of prefect because of them but ultimately wasn’t offered it because of the fights he’d been involved with. smart but not friendly nor helpful enough.

OTHER STUFF.

Uhm, he doesn’t believe in all this ‘purebloods are superior’ shit. He’s just mostly here for the fight– at least that’s what he believes his ‘father’ is in it for because Merlin knows they aren’t fucking purebloods no matter how you spin it. There’s no money. No real parents. No hoity-toity clothes. No nose so far up his own ass. – IN fact i think he believes the Purebloods are a disgrace and can’t hold their own and that’s why people like him have to fight their battles. ( He doesn’t really voice this but he definitely thinks it even if it isn’t particularly true— just he’s real dumb? arrogant? idk? about this mess of a war )

He’s actually quite calm??? ( I KNOW?? WHAT?? ) He doesn’t mess with others unless he’s messed with and he tends to keep to himself. Kian isn’t out there being a social butterfly because he really doesn’t fucking care what you do or say or whatever. Life is dumb as hell, in his opinion, and he thinks dealing with his own is enough without someone elses involved. HOWEVER, if he is messed with this boy is gonna throw down. LIke he’s gonna go for the throat because that’s how he was raised. It’s either you or them there is no BOTH.

with that ^ said— he does have friends ( hallo plots ). he can be quite charming if he puts in the effort and perhaps his ‘life sucks, do what u want’ attitude tends to draw in people who may need stress relief from the war or you know normal things like last nights essay.

!! DRUGS TW, ALCOHOL TW !! Kian does smoke. Cigarettes and pot– never been one for anything harder than that. If he really wants to let go he’s out here for a couple rounds of firewhiskey. This is probably to the best way to see his true personality. !! END TW !!

Loyalty is important to him ( though he isn’t past using it as a toss-around word for the DEs because he just really doesnt give a single fuck about them ). His lays with his siblings– though not biological he is very protective of his sisters but not enough to stand in the way of danger for them ( unless lethal. he will definitely step in ) After all they should know how to survive by now ANYWAYS. ( okay he does step in more often than that ;) a pack is a pack. )

There is some light at the end of the tunnel with him. He is quite funny when he wants to be– he can have a laugh and smile ( no, i mean an actual smile ) but it seems to be reserved for those he can trust and let down that massive guard he has up.

MORE RANDOM THINGS.

Probably would love baseball in the muggle world.

The name Kian was given to him due to that being the first word he spoke to Greyback. ( OR at least that’s what Fenrir believes he said ). Kian would be the name his father had and somehow it had stuck in his mind. ‘Why are you out here all alone?’ ‘Kian.’ SOOOOOOO he has no idea that’s his real father’s name….but yeno I guess you do get some things from your parents ha.

He doesn’t really remember anything about his birth parents. He only remembers Greyback. Greyback is gross and likes to hold things over your head so -- his parents leaving him is something that is usually brought up in order to take kian down a notch-- though it doesnt work how Greyback anticipates.

Doesn’t really have an opinion on being a werewolf other than it’s time consuming and therefor irritating to deal with. Pain is pain. Its an inconvience he wishes he could cure but not one that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to cure it, if u get me.

His favorite food is probably something dumb like mashed potatoes with gravy or roasted chicken with cous cous. – Favorite drink would be something equally simple like apple juice. Basically the palate of a two year old. Meaning he’s also here for things like lollies and popcicles, general summer time sweet treats. Not much for hot drinks like coffee or tea tho..go figure.

He has SEVERAL tattoos…..and none of them really mean anything? They are mostly just a series of lines/designs/patterns that he doodles on his parchments and, you know, since Papa Greyback don’t care about anything except himself this boy’s been getting them since summer before sixth year.

Tends to favour clothes that are flowy or breezy. Oranges and reds…blacks and whites mostly when outside of uniform. Doesn’t mind tighter jeans but the shirts gotta be flowy.

He cuts his hair every so often. Like real short then lets it grow out…currently like mid-length and usually pulled up out of his face either in a pony or half-up-half-down.

PRetty damn good at wizard’s chess ( eat your heart out ron weasley! ) and most anything that requires quick-strategy. He’s pretty good at figuring out the other’s intention which leads to a win.

He does draw– not anything too complicated but enough to know he has a mediocre talent in it? ( ie. his tattoos/doodles. )

His favorite classes are probably transfig, charms and probably astronomy. Most hated is herbology, comc, divinations and History or studies of anything.

UMM VERY UNSURE of what he’s gonna do when he graduates?? He doesn’t really have a certain goal for right now but….hopefully he can figure it out before the end of the semester tbh.

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

Best Friends. I SAID IT!!! i know i mentioned lone wolf but listen-- he needs a bestie or two to fuck things up with or at least someone to treat him like he isn’t just, yeno, a wolf.

‘Bullies’. This tech could be any blood status but i think, particularly, purebloods would be fun for this. basically when they were younger they picked at him for assorted reasons and eventually told to leave him alone by his parents because of Fenrir Greyback. Probably holds resentment to him because of that. also probably still takes abs at him. --kian being on the edge of chilling and ready to throw a curse at you, some could be fun enemies and/or frenemies at this point.

Hookups. basically fun hookups, angsty hookups, any genders. there isn’t a particular reason just that he likes to hookup -- this is probably something that is just physical. he’s not emotionally available and most likely doesn’t know how to be.

That ONE Person. you know that quote? ‘When is a monster not a monster? oh when you love it.’ I think it’d be nice to have someone that treats him softly-- on equal grounds. Like not scared of him or not here to make fun of him but to be gentle towards him. LIKE YOU KNOW the ones taht are saying ‘well your feelings are important. you are important. you aren’t trash’ ( even tho he is trash sometimes lmao )

Qudditch Buddies. Kian is usually abrassive but when it comes to this sport he is probably the only one in the school with good sportsmanship. he doesn’t care if they win or lose ( he still plays well though he’s not lazyyyy ) he’s just there to have a good time!! I think that’d make him quite likable on the pitch-- probably, as funny as this sounds, a breath of fresh air.

#iidyintro #( about.)#child abuse tw #kidnapping tw #i think those are the only ones heavily mentioned #just skip the first section!!!#<3

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storiesofwildfire · 5 years ago

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It’s Tough to Be a God

{ plotted starter for @likesbeingbad }

♔—- Everything had been painstakingly meticulous. From the very beginning, Loki knew what they set out to do would not be an easy task to accomplish, but one that needed to be done. After the years of abuse by the hands of their father, that same cruelty lashed out across Loki’s children tenfold. Any good mother would have given up everything to protect them, it just took Loki a great deal of patience, time, and energy to plan, form alliances with those they trusted, slip away from Odin, rescue their children from their individual prisons, and disappear off every foreseeable path.

Loki managed to hide from Odin numerous times in the past, but it had always been weeks, maybe a few months, or a year or two if really pressing boundaries, but to disappear? Seemingly forever? That proved to be a more difficult feat, but one Loki knew they had to excel at.

They hadn’t managed it alone, of course. Convincing those they cared about to essentially help them commit treason seemed cruel, but Loki only approached those they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt would do what was right. Heimdall. Fandral. Sigurd. Asmund. There were, of course, others that Loki trusted and cared for, but given the sensitivity of their goals, they needed to keep their circle as tight as inhumanly possible. The more people who knew, the more likely the plan would fall apart and the more people Loki would be putting in danger.

It broke their heart to abandon Asgard, strange as that sounded. While Odin had never been good to them and Asgard had always treated their second prince as an outsider, Loki’s whole life sat upon that realm. Friends, family, old and new love interests alike, the source of so much of Loki’s happiness despite all of the misery that they faced on a day-to-day basis. Asgard may not have been their home, but it was the closest thing Loki ever had to one and to leave, knowing very well that they may never be able to come back...

That had been harder than they expected and when they left, it had been with a heavy heart.

But Asgard was not more important than their children and with not only the desire and determination but the need to reunite their family and protect their offspring from the cruelty of Odin’s hands, Loki left without looking back and without regret. Saga and Sleipnir disappeared with their mother, as they were the only two Asgardbound. Loki debated whether they should come and how safe it would be for them, but in the end, if Loki disappeared and saved their off-realm children, the ones closest to Odin would suffer greatly in their place. It wasn’t worth the risk and Loki wanted all of their children together.

Liberating Hel from Helheim and Fenrir from his prison had been... daunting, to say the very least, and even more difficult than Loki originally anticipated, but they managed it. It took nearly everything they had, but they’d done it. That only left Jörmungandr but he was an easy find and he also happened to be located on the realm they were destined for anyway.

Midgard.

No one expected Gods to make a living as a mortal. Sure, visiting Midgard was one thing, to see how the ignorant realm worked and how so many people could go about their daily lives with so little information about the rest of the Universe. Most Asgardians didn’t believe it was worth the time, but some found interest in it even enjoyed mingling with and often forming short-term relationships with the mortals they came across. Loki was no stranger to that mentality.

Once they arrived and collected Jörmungandr, the rather large family headed to London. Loki already had an elaborate scheme prepared for the persona they would inevitably take up.

Fandral and Sigurd helped with the preparations of Loki’s new life, as they both had access to non-Aesir agents who held no loyalty to Odin. These on-world spies went to work securing the proper location, supplies, and ties for Loki’s gang before they ever arrived, making it more than simply enough to slip into the roles already decided for them.

Loki went by the name Bella Charming, a young woman who ran a joint called The Empire. She took in both young women and men on the side, training them in what most would call criminal activity but it was a way to make a living, get people in need off the streets, and it formed some fiercely strong loyalties. Loki’s children took up various personas as Bella’s first girls (and in the case of Fenrir and Sleipnir, boys).

Keeping in contact with only a few individuals on Asgard, Loki was able to monitor their moves from afar and with Heimdall in their court, Loki knew if Odin ever caught onto their position or lifestyle, Loki would be the first to know about it.

For years, they went undetected, living their seemingly mortal lives without much in the way of disturbance. Asgard never seemed to catch onto them, but it turned out that Asgard wasn’t the only threat they faced. What humans were referring to as “monsters” popped up more frequently and with these supernatural creatures came organizations in pursuit--people like the Invisible Men who wished to eradicate the monsters to keep the world safe from them, and people like Tenebrae, who wished to harness their power to enhance their own agendas.

Due to just how much magic Loki and her family produced, they had a bad tendency of drawing unwanted attention to their area, though they were always careful not to give their true selves away, it certainly didn’t make for an easy ride. Loki thought about relocating, to get as far away from both the Invisible Men and Tenebrae as they could, but there were no reassurances that no one would follow or turn up in the new location of wherever they settled.

Besides, Loki and the kids were happy in London, had grown attached to their new home and the people they let in along the way. Bella’s girls became an extension of Loki’s family and it seemed too cruel to rip that away from them after all of the trauma they’d been subjected to.

Falling in love though... that hadn’t been part of the plan.

Well, love was, perhaps, a strong word. Loki’s attraction to Hyde was obvious from the very beginning. Her willingness not to bend to his will or influence was just as strong, but she allowed herself moments of weakness with him. At first, she wasn’t entirely sure why she found herself captivated by him. He was obviously more than human, but that didn’t mean much to her. She could have cursed her own self out the first time she’d fallen into bed with him.

Inviting Hyde in, though... meant putting herself and her lifestyle at risk. For the most part, they’d been able to lie low, take care of creatures that threatened to out them if need be, but mostly go unnoticed by those too stupid to realize they were anything but human. Getting close to Hyde, though, meant Tenebrae and the Invisible Men would follow.

Hyde--and the man he lived inside of, Jekyll--both seemed young and inexperienced, unprepared for the challenges that they would face. Hiding definitely hadn’t been much of an option for them and they lost friends along the way. Gods, they nearly lost their little brother, Ravi, in all the chaos.

It would have been wise to distance herself, Loki knew that. Even her children knew that and yet, they could not bring themselves to scold her for indulging in a touch of desire and romance. By the Nine, they all seemed to take well to Hyde despite his... issues. Simply tossing him aside quickly became something that none of them were willing to do, especially Loki. Knowing what the Invisible Men or Tenebrae would do to or with him, Loki tried to protect him, attempted to warn him in subtle enough ways that would not put her family in direct danger.

That final showdown, though... Gods, that had been the undoing of everything.

Loki and her children were used to traveling via magic, but willingly participating in portals or teleportation or even something like the Bifrost was insanely different from being ripped through space against your will, vacuumed up like a few dust bunnies and tossed into the void. It had been some intense power to pull them all through with such force. Even Loki’s magic couldn’t combat it, not that she really had the time to try anything.

The stress of being forced out of the form she’d taken for years proved... far more painful than she could have expected. Shape-shifting had always come naturally to her, something easy and painless that allowed her to be whoever and whatever she wanted in the matter of a few seconds. Reverting back to her more normal appearances was usually just as seamlessly easy, but when something else’s power forced her against her will to shift, it felt like molten liquid coursing through her veins, likely due to her own magic attempting to combat the foreign energy source and remain in Loki’s chosen form.

She staggered as they came out the other side of...? Wherever it was that they ended up, eyes squeezed shut and jaw clamped tightly to keep from screaming as, momentarily, it felt like she could have been ripped apart from the inside out. Of course, she knew better, truly she did, but the sensation was no less horrible because of is and as she fell to the ground, her teeth grinding together with enough force to cause some noticeable concern in her jaw, her hands came up to grip at the collar of her jacket. Pulling it open, she nearly clawed her own skin as emerald magic danced angrily beneath her flesh, attempting to keep her visage as Bella Charming intact, but it quickly fell apart, revealing paler, porcelain-like flesh, much more angular features as far as the face was concerned, and vividly green eyes.

Loki’s hair was still quite dark, perhaps even darker than Bella’s had been, and it cascaded over their shoulders in thick waves, unkempt and in desperate need of a proper brush and a few sturdy hair ties. The clothing Bella wore hadn’t been nearly long enough for Loki’s normal stature, making it look a bit out of place, though no less flattering. Even with a flat chest and harsher bone structure, it was difficult to place Loki into a specific gender and while still glad in Bella’s garments, mistaking them for a female would have been easy.

“Mum!” they could hear someone shout, Saga, they thought, though their ears were ringing so loudly that it was difficult to make out which of their girls it actually was. "Mum, are you all right?” Footsteps hurried towards the crumpled figure and the young woman hit her knees beside Loki, both of her hands outstretching to place on her mother. That touch helped ground Loki, helped rouse them out of their momentary lapse in presentness, and slowly, the no longer disguised God finally opened their eyes.

“Oh thank Gods,” Saga murmured, tossing her arms securely around her mother. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I think so...” Though Loki’s head pounded ferociously, they could at least see straight as the pain eased out of their system.

Behind Saga, Loki could see their children going through similar system shocks. Hel’s form had only been what her Aesir form would appear like without the half-dead portion of her body. She phased in and out of the projection of half-decay several times in the course of a few short moments but eventually managed to stabilize her visage the quickest.

Jörmungandr, while hidden in the guise of a beautiful young woman with red hair and bright green eyes, demonstrated a surprising amount of restraint considering the natural size of the World Serpent’s true form. Rather than shift completely into a massive snake, Jor managed to force a shift back to what he would call his natural Aesir visage, a rather feminine male who looked remarkably like his mother in just about every way, though he did stand a bit taller than Loki. The transition wasn’t seamless, though, as Jor developed several serpent-like traits in his attempts to remain humanoid, the most obvious being the snake-skin that cropped up in patches across his pale flesh and the inconsistency of actually having a proper nose.

Fenrir and Sleipnir, the poor dears, were forced right into their most natural forms, though. Sleipnir had never been very strong with magic and when it came to shape-shifting, he always needed a bit of help for the initial shift. Fenrir was far more powerful in magic, but far behind his siblings in his studies due to how long he’d been imprisoned before their time on Midgard and while both brothers were massive in size, they were at least smaller than Jörmungandr’s true mass.

Hel was already at Sleipnir’s side, knowing out of all of her siblings that he would need the most hope in shifting back into an Aesir form, but Fenrir lowered himself down close to the ground, looking as if he were prepared to pounce on someone. His muzzle pulled back in a snarl, growling at anyone who dared to get close to him and even snapping his jaws at one of the Tenebrae nearest him.

“We need to help them,” Saga murmured. “Do you think you can stand?” Loki nodded and Saga took that as an invitation to get back to her feet, both of her hands grasping onto her mother’s hand and arm so she could help hoist Loki up.

As Loki got to their feet, a bit of magic swept over their clothes, shifting Bella’s typical style for something much more practical for moving about. Slim-fit black pants tucked into calf-high boots, a simple tunic tucked under a light jacket, and their hair twisted into a long, sturdy braid draped over their left shoulder just to get it out of the way.

It took them a moment to feel sturdy on their feet as whatever so violently forced them out of the only form they’d known for years had really thrown them through the wringer, but as soon as Loki could confidently step forward without falling back to the ground, they quickly made their way to Fenrir. A gentle hand fell on Fenrir’s muzzle, the other lifting as high as Loki could manage to scritch behind Fenrir’s ear.

“It’s all right, love, it’s all right,” they murmured. “You’re safe with me.”

Fenrir’s growls quieted and he relaxed, his massive head gently nudging against Loki’s chest so he could press as close to his mother as his oversized form would allow unless he literally knocked Loki off their feet and laid on them. It wouldn’t have been the first time but that seemed impractical now.

“What happened?” the wolf asked and while he still sounded like himself, his voice was rougher, more jagged, almost as if he’d growled the words out rather than spoke.

“I’m not... really sure,” Loki admitted. “But we will figure it out. Just breathe and relax a moment. I’ve got you,” they added, placing a gentle kiss atop Fenrir’s head.

Thankfully, Hel managed to help Sleipnir shift back to their Aesir form without much of a problem and while Jor still had slitted snake eyes rather than average, human-looking eyes, the rest of his appearance stabilized without a problem. His eyes immediately looked around for Ravi, as he’d found himself growing fond of the little human. It should have worried him that Ravi would be terrified or, at the very least, confused, but that didn’t even occur to the serpent, as he was more concerned about ensuring he was all right than anything else.

#likesbeingbad #c; hyde #c; robert jekyll #c; ravi #( private verse ; likesbeingbad ) around every corner you may find us #( thread ) it's tough to be a god #( side muse ) fenrir #( side muse ) hel #( side muse ) jormungandr #( side muse ) saga #( side muse ) sleipnir #( long response ) if it were easy everyone would do it #( ship ; likesbeingbad ) in this kaleidoscope of chaos we sink or we swim together #( ship ) loki x jekyll x hyde #closed starter

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ryukyuan-sunflower · 6 years ago

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Edit: So amazingtoysha asked me advice for writing in a message which I posted a little while ago...and responding to the question gave me limited space apparently. So here is the full post of all the advice I wanted to give!

“Hiya! Thank you very much for reading Finding the Four Eyed Samurai. I am glad you enjoyed it thus far. Oh! Well...I’m far from a professional. My fanfiction, if it were a story unaffiliated with Samurai Champloo, would still break so many guidelines of professional published work. Perspective switching between Mugen and Fuu, purple prose, grammar, info dumping... My sins are extensive. This story is more like spewing out my heart onto the internet for fans that enjoy it :) You probably have seen the improvement over my 6 year period on fanfiction. I too am learning. However, if you are talking about just creatively writing for fun, practice, to send a message or even to just fulfill an inner fan, maybe I can give some advice. Some of the things I write will most definitely be things you already know but I’ll list them anyway. Since you mentioned you have trouble putting things into words, rather than plot points or characters, I’ll focus on that. 1. Start with small details and build up slowly. My writing process is actually very disjointed. I can not for the life of me write a story in order. I write all character dialogue first and fill in around it. When I first write a scene, I will simply start with something like: “She walked through the marketplace.” That’s it. Boring right? I will leave it for a bit if I’m stuck and move along to continue the scene in simple terms. When i come back, I start to imagine more if I were in that environment. This is where I think of the five senses. What would she smell, see, hear, touch or even...taste(?) lol. But when writing a scene, I also try to think about the mood it sets. If the character is feeling happy, the crowds will be rambunctious, the lights bright and the sights they see are fascinating. If they are hungry, it would be the smell of food that would command their attention. If the character is tired, the clamor and loud voices would grate on their nerves and the lights would be blinding. In the chapter I’m currently writing, Kyoto is much like Edo in that it is crowded and always lively. But because of the last chapter’s events...she can’t take notice of this energy. Without Mugen beside her, the crowds only make her feel more alone. So not only does the atmosphere set the mood, but a character’s mood can help you pinpoint what you should be describing in the environment. 2. Study! Read and read and read some more. This is advice I should listen to... Published novels, and sometimes even fanfiction can help you get a grasp on the flow of a story. You’ll also pick up words or descriptions that you wouldn’t have used otherwise. You’ll start to notice how the sound of a word in English can hold great weight. Think of how it comes off in the sentence: She scratched off the wallpaper until she could see the wood beneath it. She clawed at the wallpaper until she could see the wood beneath it. “Scratched” can be used in so many contexts. Is she redecorating? Is she curious what is underneath? “Clawed at” makes it feel frantic, like she is searching for something in a frenzy or perhaps is furious and clawed it off out of anger. It applies an uneasy feeling without stating it outright. There is a common phrase among writers. “Show, don’t tell.” Show the character is upset through the clenching of their fists, the quiver of their lips. Dont just say “She was upset.” Personally, I am a HUGE HUGE breaker of this >.< But it is a very important rule if you wish to get better at describing. 3. More studying!!! As much as every writer will tell you to read, I think it is good to look at visual forms of entertainment too. For example, if I had only watched Samurai Champloo as my basis for Tokugawa culture, my view would’ve been severely limited. If you want to write a samurai drama: watch black and white chanbara films, watch modern day shows about Japan, documentaries, look at photographs or paintings, read comics, and even play video games like Tenchu or Onimusha that will give that vibe of the time period. Reading is good for molding thoughts into words. But if you’re writing about an environment you are unfamiliar with, you need to SEE it before you can describe something believable. I had watched a lot of Japanese movies and played a lot of Japanese videogames before writing my fanfic. It helped so much. 4. Take notes. A lot of friggin’ notes.

Sometimes the right wording just won’t come to you when you put time aside to sit in front of your laptop or a notebook trying to write it all in one go. Like I said before, I don’t write in order at all. Some people can. And some can’t. I keep a notebook and pencil by my bed in case I have any dreams. I even carry one in my purse wherever I go. Sometimes a sentence or a really good word will just hit you all of a sudden. If you are writing a very long story, you will make tons of notes and will find you won’t even use half of them until you’re in way later chapters. An example for me was in the last posted chapter. I was writing chapter 28 or so when parts of this line popped into my head out of nowhere: “To him, she smelled of fresh rain and sweet spring flowers. To her, he reeked of sake and the cheap perfume from the whore he’d bought.”

At the time, I had gotten caught in rainstorm. And I always liked the scent of rain a lot. This made me think of how much I hate the scent of perfume since it makes my nose hurt. This contrast unveils both of their feelings. Intoxicated Mugen adores her while Fuu is disgusted by his recent behavior. One little thought and bam! Jotted it on paper and then put it into Chapter 34. An idea can come from literally anywhere. So write it down and save it for later! 5. Keep an open mind. It is good to know where your story is going by the end or you’ll wind up lost halfway through. Despite that, don’t reject new ideas that come to you. My story was originally going to be 26 chapters. If I had pushed out all the crazy side stories my mind concocted, then it would’ve lost so much of what readers enjoy about it. Don’t be afraid to make your characters go through and overcome struggle. If there is a sweet scene that will help further a relationship, put it in. Build up ideas and cut out extraneous things later. 6. Know that it will not be perfect. It will be far from perfect. Story might be decent. Description might even be bad. Maybe it’s the reverse. But that is okay. If you’re a beginner writer, Fanfiction is a great way to start, in my opinion. While you are writing preexisting characters, it is like a studying exercise. You can build around them, and try to understand why the characters are the way that they are or what drives them. This can help in the future when designing your own characters and world in which they inhabit. 7. Share your story! Don’t hide it! Some will compliment you and others will criticize you. Sure, almost everyone on fanfiction isn’t some paid professional. But the feedback will really help. It will push you. A nice compliment will make your day. A bad one will push you to do better. When publishing a book, you have to write a whole manuscript and pay for editors. And if you’re beginning, you probably won’t even want to start that process. That’s why writing fanfiction as a form of practice can allow you to share what you put your heart into instead of locking away your story to a forgotten file on your computer. 8. All that matters is that you are trying, learning and will gradually get better. Almost everything in life does not come easy. The idea you have for a story is 10% of the work, while sculpting that idea through words is 90% of it. My Samcham fanfic when I started was...god...ughhhhhhh. Sometimes I still cringe XD However, I know that it helped me learn so much, not just about vocabulary, storytelling and history, but also about myself. 9. Don’t stop writing. You will get days, weeks, maybe months where you might not feel like continuing it. You might even drop the story altogether. But if you stop, so does your journey in learning. Press forward. If you post the beginning chapter and get only a few comments or barely any views, and it feels like not enough, know that people will only come to read the story you put so much effort into if you continue writing it! 10. Be proud when you look back on your previous work. As you discover your own voice and your storytelling evolves, it might be painful to look back at your earlier writing. Instead of punching yourself, laugh it off and realize how far you have come. All it takes is one step. Don’t give up :) Hope at least one thing I said can help you a little on your journey of creative writing ^^ ~RyukyuanxSunflower AKA Fenrir’s Lockhart P.S: If you need help with description or plot points, there are many beta readers on fanfiction willing to help. And although I tend to disappear often, shoot me a message on fanfiction about your story or something you’re stuck on and I’ll try my best to help!

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bewarethesirenscallarchived · 7 years ago

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Killing Me Softly

[Musical Accompaniment - xxx]

I heard he sang a good song I heard he had a style

Fenrir Greyback was a mistake. Tracking him down wasn’t something she was supposed to do. The Auror’s were searching for him in every darkened corner of the wizarding world. His face was painted onto Wanted Posters stapled everywhere she turned. He was a menace, a cruel beast that needed to be found, needed to be put down...and yet, she yearned for him.

Yearned in a way that didn’t make sense. She found herself searching, too. Flipping rocks and raiding resources to find the only thing left on this planet that could help her. He wasn’t just a werewolf, wasn’t just a Death Eater. There was a r e a s o n his name sparked fear among many. He was ruthless in his hunt, resplendent in his ability to track even from the most minute detail. She needed h i m.

And so I came to see him to listen for a while

Her position within the Ministry gave her access to the Department of Mysteries, access to things most people shouldn’t. It allowed the half-veela to piece together a timeline, things from eye-witness accounts of blatant attacks or notes from those with no witnesses at all, only the bloodshed he left behind...small things at first. The longer Arielle stayed on the case, the more of a pattern she was able to pick up until finally, she found the only clue that meant anything to her. The Hog’s Head. It was a place he’d been spotted at frequently over the years. A place he most probably went to often enough only because there would be no attack in public. Not from the Aurors. It was a place of questionable morals, buried in plain sight.

Arielle wasn’t stupid. She had more than a death wish for even contemplating going to him, but she needed answers and had already proved she was willing to do whatever it took to get them. Her circumstances were the only reason she had half a chance. She wasn’t after him, though she should be. She was willing to turn a blind eye to his nature, though she should be running for the hills not seeking solace in his talents.

And there he was, this young boy, A stranger to my eyes

Finding him was the work of months, tossing her aside like she was nothing but a doll? The work of moments. If only she didn’t mean that literally. There was strength in place of fear, courage in place of cowardice as she blocked his path that fateful night. Funny, how one small obstacle could detour you onto an entirely different course and change your life forever. Her actions hadn’t just affected him, they affected her. In ways, she was yet to fully comprehend.

Laying on the mound of snow she wondered why he didn’t kill her. Why she still had breath in her lungs and a beat to her heart. It didn’t make sense, that this was the mighty wolf? She watched his back as he walked away from her for what felt like an eternity. For long after the shadows had swallowed him whole and the chill had burned through her bones. Apparating back to her apartment alone that night took a test of will that surprised even her. Was she really so ready to give up at a single no from the man? Perhaps she was.

Strumming my pain with his fingers Singing my life with his words

The days passed by in a blur, her world retreating into nothing but motions on autopilot. Her inner core had frozen to ice, her heart left behind on the ice dune that night. Arielle had lost all hope of ever finding Alcott, of bringing her brother home- or at the very least, finding the answers she had so desperately sought. Was this what her life had come to? If so, she wanted out. There was no point staying in London, in the Ministry... she had turned over every stone and now there was nothing left but an empty void. It was then that she had decided to leave. She’d submit her final notice by owl once her belongings were packed. There was no end in sight, no final destination. It didn’t matter anymore, nothing did. Not without Alcott.It was also then, that he appeared. And still, on autopilot, she followed him. Hopelessly, endlessly, desperately... she would follow him to the end of the globe, she would move heaven and earth if it meant he agreed. Stepping into that warehouse, she prayed that it wasn’t her mind playing tricks. That Fenrir really would be inside the warehouse at the end of her path- and he was. Like an apparition sent from above, a messenger from fate telling her not to give up hope j u s t y e t.

Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words

She knew not to dawdle, that she’d pressed her luck enough as it was apparating him here to her home without his permission or acknowledgment but she no longer cared. Her veins were pumping with a renewed sense of purpose, an intense vigor telling her that she’d made the right choice. Her dainty porcelain fingers found the now red mark across her throat. He had lifted her with no effort at all, a controlled action from a dangerous man. A smile played at the corners of her lips, lifting the edges as she threw the last of her necessities into a small pouch enhanced with an Undetectable Extension Charm.

Stepping out of her room to find Fenrir leaning on the wall next to her door jam, her smile widened. His looming frame comforted her in a way in shouldn’t. Her eyes assessed his body, the way his knee-length coat fell from broad shoulders, fleshed out by pure muscle. The way his tattoos jutted out over his hands, or through the loose V in his shirt. Thick locks mirrored a perfectly handsome face, shitkickers adding a kind of sonic boom to an otherwise impressive step...but nothing compared to his eyes and the depths they held. There was nothing he wasn’t prepared to do. Fenrir Greyback was a mistake, but he sure as hell wasn’t a mistake she’d regret.

Together, they would find her brother. Together, they would bring him home.

#Fenrir // I'm standing here until you make me move #Killing Me Softly #Drabble

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hollowg1rl · 7 years ago

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Bite that Binds

My first submission to @dulce-de-leche-go ‘s Halloween thing! Also my first submission to most anything like this so yay? Special thanks to @nauticalparamour for alpha reading and because I’m not sure who might be interested as only Nauti was even aware of the story...

@kreeblimsabs @jheeley and if anyone wants tagged in the rest of these as they’re posted since this is only the first installment just let me know!

Voldemort sat running his long bony fingers through the tangled curls of his pet werewolf. It wasn't a full moon, but the glowing amber eyes of his pet reflected the firelight from the hearth in ways only a monster could enjoy. She was his perfect weapon, this mudblood werewolf, and he was debating the merit of his latest plan to bring more followers to his side. The Greyback family had ignored his summons the first time around over ten years ago, back when his army was still in its infancy. Quite literally in fact.

Now, however, was the dawning of a new era. His pets were beyond loyal to him now, knowing only his hand in comfort and discipline. Accidental magic started so early in those born to muggles, after all. Besides, what muggle would want a wolf for a child when those filthy creatures hadn't even wanted him as an innocent child?

“Master,” the low rumble of his pet’s voice stirred him from his dark thoughts and back to the here and now. His fingers kept a steady rhythm even as he turned to regard the werewolf he kept by his side more often than not.

“Yes, Hermione?” She was one of few to keep her given name, it wasn't as common as the others he had ordered turned in the past. It was one reason she was his favorite pet, as well.

“We shall follow your orders to the grave, master. Simply allow us the honor of doing your will.” The low growl of her voice made him grin. She had been one of the first turned, stolen right from under her well to do muggle parents noses as they sat having lunch in London and not minding their curious daughter well enough. She had walked right up to him as he was plotting destruction of the area and tugged at his robes. Her mud colored hair and eyes making him sneer until she reached for his wand, the red sparks of a spell escaping the end of the yew wood.

His own eyes flashing the same color, Voldemort had abandoned his plans and snatched her up in his arms, and disapparated with the child straight to an aging werewolf that owed him.

She had been turned that first full moon at only 3 years old, and had been by his side ever since. A well placed crucio could stop a fully grown werewolf after all, let alone a pup seeking to test their fangs and claws. It also helped his animagus form was that of a boa constrictor, a child was simple to train and control with the threat of being crushed to death if they displeased you.

“Very well, Hermione, lead your pack and bring me back new recruits, either willing or by force.” The breathy chuckle escaping the Dark Lord's throat had Hermione preening a bit. It was so rare anyone was able to please her master in the slightest after his return to physical form. To do so was an even greater honor.

.:’:. ‘:.:’ .:’:.

Hermione stalked along the outskirts of a small wizarding village, her glowing amber eyes peeking through the leaves of the bushes she had claimed as hers for the night. She was tasked with bringing Fenrir Greyback to her master, and she would not fail. The man, Greyback, had been a champion dueler in his younger years, and the Dark Lord wanted that strength on his side.

The others of her pack, all teenagers but a couple just reaching their twenty-third year like she was, were each tasked with bringing forth an offering to their master by the night following the next full moon. Hermione had claimed the strongest for herself while Dean, the closest in age, was tasked with the Order's lap dog, Lupin.

He too had been turned as a child, but had escaped the Dark Lord because of Greyback.

Dean was to play on the other man's heart, spinning a tale of all the bitten children who just wanted out. The Creevey brothers were with him, to help play up the story even more. Despite their childlike faces and quivering lips, they were two of the most bloodthirsty during the full moon. Dean however, was the best of altering things to suit his needs, even having been the one to design a mark for the pack.

Similar to the Dark Mark, this one was strictly for the wolves so they would be docile and obedient to Lord Voldemort while slathering beasts, yet still connected and able to be summoned at a moment's notice.

The skull of a wolf rested over the bite marks of each werewolf, seeing as each were bitten in the same place, with a snake curling from its mouth to around their bicep, squirming just over their skin and hissing at any that did not bare the mark of their master. When summoned or to return to their master's side, the snake would strike, acting as a permanent one way portkey.

Each wolf wore theirs with pride, but Hermione made certain hers was on display more often than not. It also served to hide the bite itself, though that awful Order knew what it meant. They had been hunting her pack for ages, though she normally made certain to be the one they fought, leaving her pack safe from being exposed.

Though just as Hermione was ready to give up this section for the night, her target swaggered out of a pub, laughing even as he wiped blood from his lip.

With a decidedly wicked smirk, Hermione crouched down further and crawled toward the brawny wizard. He smelt heavily of cheap drink and smoke, the firewhiskey lingering around him making Hermione shiver in delight. These ones always tasted the best when she tore into them.

Moving silently, her gifted wand erecting wards and barriers even as they moved further out of the village and toward the cottages further out. She didn't want any distractions, or any would be hero she would be forced to deal with either.

Right outside of his cottage, after watching him lower his wards and unlock his door, Hermione struck. Leaping upon the much larger wizard, she sent them tumbling into the entry. Crashing through the small table and whatever else he had there, the near feral female rolled off him heartbeats before his large hands would have gripped and thrown her across the room.

It was dark inside, the curtains drawn and the moonlight nearly non-existent behind the cloud cover that night. So while Fenrir was cursing and stumbling over the broken bits of his house, Hermione slid along the floor just as silently as outside, her eyes easily picking out the shattered wood and broken bits he was tripping and sliding on.

“Lumos!”

“Expelliarmus!” Just as his gruff and drink roughened voice called out the spell her own had his wand sailing through the air toward her. Before it got far, however, he was snatching it back and firing off a curse in her direction.

Hermione rolled out of the way and sent her own spell even as she kept moving, taking the moment to keep out of his direct line of fire. She may have been a werewolf and resilient against most spells, but having been the pet of the Dark Lord she knew spells could still damage her kind.

“What kind of joke is this?!” Fenrir demanded, grabbing a broken chair leg and hurling it toward where he assumed she was even as he fired off three spells in quick succession.

“I don't joke,” Hermione growled, a slicing hex having caught the outside of her hip and leaving what amounted to a paper cut across her skin. While not deadly, it was still aggravating.

“Who are you?” He demanded, throwing more things and smirking at her grunt when a rather large bit of debris hit her on her off arm.

“I come bearing a message, one you will not refuse.” Hermione didn't answer his question, preferring instead to cut to the chase. “My master wishes for your cooperation, though his patience wears thin the longer you refuse. You have two days to decide. After that, you'll see me again. Decide well, Greyback.” Without waiting for a reply, she sent a reducto at his floor and left in the chaos as he dived out of the way, grunting at the impact of slamming what remained of his floor.

.:’:. ‘:.:’ .:’:.

Two nights later found Hermione leaning against a tree just outside the wards of Fenrir's home, her glowing eyes and vicious smirk the first thing the large man noticed. Next was the single strapped top she was wearing, her mark on display and drawing his attention quickly. Turning with a sneer with the intentions of berating the chit, Fenrir noticed just how tiny she truly was. The top of her bushy head barely would skim his chest, though the lean muscles had his brow raising in disbelief.

“Surely some self proclaimed 'dark lord’ knows to send a competent opponent to bring me to his side.” Crossing his own arms, though his wand was being idly spun between his fingers, Fenrir honestly thought the girl before him was an insult.

Narrowing her eyes, Hermione let a soft growl escaped her throat at the insult to her master.

“You truly don't know a thing, do you, Greyback?” She spat his name as though she was forced to praise Albus Dumbledore. The widening of his eyes made it worthwhile, however.

“You!” Pulling his wand, he went to throw a spell at her when she flicked her own wand, vines wrapping around his legs and flinging him to the ground. A barking laugh and she had his wand.

“Yes, me, taking down a champion duelist when I never even had a formal education. Funny, isn't it, what my master can do. He personally trained me, you know. He can train you as well, if only you come willingly.” There was a coo to her voice, a false sweetness to her face.

Fenrir, however, wasn't fooled for a second and attempted wandless magic. It bounced off of Hermione and fell harmlessly to the ground, the baby flame snuffed out under her boot. As was Fenrir's confidence he was getting out of this mess.

#dulceween #reverse!fenmione #fenrir x hermione #Hermione Granger #Fenrir Greyback #spookyscarydulceween #bite that binds

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cargopantsman · 8 years ago

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Loki - A Rambling Thought

Loki is an intriguing god for a myriad of reasons. His portrayal ranges from mischievous trickster to an outright incarnation of evil. He’s a giant, born from the Jotnar (mortal enemies [and ancestors] of the Æsir) Laufey and Farbauti. He’s bound to Odin, and vice versa, through a blood-oath. He travels, at least in two accounts (possibly a third)[no, wait. Four], with Odin and Hoenir on adventures through Midgard.

Some theorize that those three (Odin and Hoenir being named explicitly, the 3rd being an ambiguous Lóðurr with dubious theories about his identity, including Loki, abound) are the ones mentioned in Voluspa that created humankind.

It is those three out travelling when Loki kills an otter and, as these things go, set in motion the events that lead to Sigurd killing Fafnir.

It is those three out travelling when Thiazi manipulates Loki into stealing Idunn and her apples.

It is those three that help a farmer save his son from the giant Skrymr (see also Utgard-Loki)

Thor often blames Loki immediately for any unfortunate events (The theft of Mjolnr, the theft of Sif’s hair). That Loki is a, supposedly full-blooded, Jotun certainly doesn’t help Thor’s disposition towards him. Yet even those two have a couple adventures together. Loki accompanies Thor in the reclamation of Mjolnr. And it is Thor and Loki, alone that travel through Midgard (prior to picking up Thialfi and Roskva along the way) to Utgardr with very little enmity between them.

Loki is how the gods got such a strong wall for Asgard, at no cost to them (barely). Sleipnr comes from this adventure. A child of Loki’s, the best of horses, given to Odin as a gift.

Through the theft of Sif’s hair, Loki engineers the gods to have such wonderous tools as Mjolnr (Thor’s hammer), Draupnr (Odin’s gold arm-ring which every 9th night replicates [drops] eight copies of itself), Skidbladnr (Frey’s ship which can hold 3000 men, but can be folded up to fit in his shirt), Gungnr (Odin’s spear which never misses its mark), and Gullinbursti (Frey’s golden boar).

The theme put forth is that Loki’s actions get the gods in trouble, but often Loki’s actions get them out of trouble, and often at a profit. (Though it is never described just how Mjolnr was stolen, we might think Loki to be the only one that has such access as to steal it).

From these stories we see a trouble-maker, a prankster, but not necessarily an enemy of the gods.

Then Loki engineers the murder of Baldr. And this is no small thing. It is given that the gods are, of course, immortal, because they are gods. Yet without Idunn (and, some think by proxy, her apples) the gods age. Somewhere along the narrative the gods are aware of Ragnarok, their own end. So their immortality, which we are wont to ascribe to them, is at best tenuous.

The gods take great joy, after Frigg has taken oaths from all things but the young mistletoe, in assaulting Baldr to no avail. So he apparently has a caliber of immortality a step above the rest. It is a great trauma when Loki, through Hodr’s blind eyes and unsteady hand, knowingly kills (ends, ceases, exterminates) Baldr. The first to ever die among Aesir or Vanir.

Beyond that; Hermod goes forth and deals with Hel and finds that if all things in the world will weep for the passing of Baldr, Baldr may return, alive, to Asgard. It is (assumedly) Loki, in the guise of an old giantess, that refuses to weep and seals Baldr’s fate to reside in Hel’s hall in Niflheim forever.

This is not mischief. This is no prank. The gods get no increase in might or wealth from these actions. Frigg is left to weep in Fensalir. Odin begets a son, Vali, specifically to exact revenge on Hodr.

This is malice.

Bring in the poem Lokasenna, or the Flyting of Loki. While flyting (or Medieval Dirty Dozens) was a common pastime, the tone is set from the very beginning that this is not in fun. Loki has to call upon Odin’s blood-oath to him to even get a seat among the gods. No one is happy to see him there and he wastes no time in being utterly scathing to them in turn. Even to go so far as to admit he is behind Baldr’s death. It isn’t until Thor arrives that Loki, thinking better of dealing with the giant-slayer, leaves.

Loki then goes into hiding, yet is found and then bound under the earth by his son’s entrails, the venomous snake dripping poison into a bowl that is held by his Aesir-wife Sigyn.

So why the switch? Why does Loki go from being a mischievous trickster to a malicious destroyer?

To say it is his “giant’s blood” that rages against the gods discounts any personal will (or responsibility) of his own, and Loki is nothing but willful. Perhaps the gods have always disdained him for being a giant and that being for so long in a place where he was not fully welcomed wore down on him. Yet he was able to find devotion, and a son, from Sigyn. If any of his boasts in Lokasenna are to be taken at value, he had no trouble with most of the other goddesses either. Most of the Aesir in their own right are children (or otherwise grandchildren) of giants. Feasts regularly occur with the Aesir and Aegir, a sea-giant. While “gods versus giants” is the main theme of the Norse mythos, it is clearly not the end all, be all of Aesir-Jotunn relations.

So we look to Loki’s children for some clues. With Angrboda Loki fathers Hel, Jormundgandr, and Fenrir. Hel is relegated to reign in Niflheim. Jormundgandr is cast into the sea, though the gods would know that this would not destroy the serpent which ended up encircling Midgard. It is of one occassion that Thor goes out to try and kill his nemesis though.

Of Fenrir we get the most detailed account. We know that Tyr alone among the Aesir and Vanir did not fear the beast. We know that in the three attempts to bind the ever-growing wolf the gods conversed with Fenrir. There is a consciousness in this beast such that the gods present their traps as challenges. There is enough intelligence in Fenrir that when Gleipnir is presented he understands that something is up.

This is not the image of a wild, ravenous terror beast. This is a measured being that deals with the gods, a hand for a fetter. This is an animal that, though hesitantly, trusts the gods, particularly trusts Tyr. “If this one, this war-god, that had no fear to feed me will place his sword hand in my jaws for the others to test this shackle on me, then there should not be any need to worry.”

This is yet one example of “the Aesir really are just dicks” and part of me wonders how Tyr regarded his kin after this. I also wonder how much of this episode is that the gods, in trying to avoid their portended doom had, by this cruelty, sealed it.

And this, from Loki’s perspective, would be even more horrible. His daughter is cast to the mist-lands to reside among the dead, far from the living. Jormundgandr is cast out to the waters, far from lands of men, and at one point Thor, who could at times be considered a friend, attempts to murder the serpent. But Fenrir is left bound in the wastelands alone (though I like to imagine Tyr still making frequent visits to feed Fenrir and play as much as is possible with this dog, staked out in some abandoned backyard).

Loki’s children are seen by the gods and cast out as terrors.

Furthermore, if we venture into the realms of theory on Norse mythology, particularly the arguments put forth by Viktor Rydberg in his Teutonic Mythology Vol. 1, we have a chain of associations that can make Angrboda (Jormundgandr’s, Hel’s and Fenrir’s mother) indentical with Aurboda (“Gold-Portend,” mother of Frey’s wife Gerd and at one point a handmaiden of Freya) identical with the Gullveig of Voluspa (“Gold-Strength”) identical with Heidi/Heidr (daughter of Hrymr). I won’t go into details here, Rydberg’s arguments are compelling, but also rather labyrinthine.

If this theory has any weight to it (though as all theories of this nature they are subject to interpretation, which there is no shortage of) this means that not only are Loki’s children cast out, the mother of these children, once also a member of the gods’ household, has been skewered with spears and cremated, not once but three times, before being banished to the Ironwood.

While the chronology of this narrative as it relates to the overall arc of the Norse mythos gets a bit muddy with this interpretation, it can stand that this potential abuse of the mother of Loki’s most famous children can also contribute to his apparently sudden change of attitude towards the gods.

It’s a drastic shift from the one that would tie a string between a goat’s beard and his balls for a laugh to the one helming a ship from the north with the people of Hel against the gods into the raging battles of Ragnarok.

#loki #norse mythology #rambling thoughts #essay #projectnorsemyth

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xxdustnight88 · 4 years ago

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Looking for Loki Fanfiction?

Here’s your Loki fix from xxDustNight88!

Marvel Only

Christmas Surprise Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Darcy Lewis Word Count: 1,494 Summary: Loki has his eye on a certain Midgardian. Little does he know that she has a surprise up her sleeve this Christmas.

Coffee Connection Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Thor Word Count: 3,654 Summary: After months of playing cat and mouse, Loki and Thor finally have a chance to make a connection one morning at their favorite coffee shoppe.

Death of Me Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark Word Count: 4,737 Summary: Tony and Loki attend a party with a singular intent in mind. After much hesitation, both submit to their desires, eventually admitting that perhaps sometimes you don't need a happy ending to be with the one you care about most.

Dreams of Clarity Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Thor Word Count: 1,071 Summary: Sometimes it takes a dream to give us the clarity we need.

Every Moment Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Thor Word Count: 2,353 Summary: Christmas Eve is not a tradition Loki is familiar with and sees no reason to participate in such affairs. Forced to attend a party of most annoying frivolity by Thor, Loki is shown just how magical Midgardian traditions can be if one is willing to open their heart.

Falling Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Gen Word Count: 824 Summary: Loki was falling, always falling, but what happens when he lands and the healing begins?

Office Gossip Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark Word Count: 474 Summary: In which Accounting head, Loki Laufeyson, overhears the CEO’s secretary, Natasha Romanova, chatting up Human Relations coordinator, Bucky Barnes, about the CEO’s recent breakup. Loki takes it upon himself to get the signature he’s been needing for those pesky forms.

Redemption for the Wicked Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Jane Foster Word Count: 2,103 Word Count: In the aftermath of the Infinity War, Jane comes to pay her respects to Thor's memory. Loki begins to see her in a different light and it's possible that she sees him differently now too.

Rise Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Gen Word Count: 1,428 Summary: Thor finds Loki in a surprising place, and with a new outlook on life.

Snake Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Gen Word Count: 1,289 Summary: Thor learns that there may be a darkness to his brother after all.

Untangled Hearts Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark Word Count: 4,042 Summary: Feeling festive for once, Tony enlists Loki's help decorating the Avengers facility's Christmas tree. When playful singing and banter turns serious, much more is untangled than a simple strand of lights. Will Loki flee or open his heart to the possibility of something more this holiday season?

Crossover Full-Length Fics

Break Me, Take Me, Never Let Me Go Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 19,825 Summary: A drunken girl's night in and a potentially illegal "soulmate" spell, leads Hermione into going against everything she knows and believes in order to convince the God of Mischief that he's her one true soulmate.

The Gift Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Thor/Hermione Granger Word Count: 6,912 Summary: She's engaged to his brother, but that doesn't stop Loki from seducing Hermione. Torn between the two, she vows to keep her indiscretions in the past. But little does she know, Thor has quite the surprise up his sleeve. What sort of gift will be revealed, and where exactly does Loki factor into their happily ever after?

Crossover Full-Length Fics: Part of a Series

Wolves without Teeth Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 217,098 Summary: In the age old fight of good versus evil, two souls converge in a battle to stop the end of all worlds. With the universe crumbling around them, Loki and Hermione find themselves connected by more than just their magical abilities. A myth becomes reality when an old foe comes tearing through the realms seeking revenge upon those who wronged him. What will happen when Loki and Hermione discover there's much more to their connection than meets the eye? Will they be forced to sacrifice everything they've ever wanted in order to save the nine realms or will love prevail?

Empire Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 153,120 Summary: Nine months after the fall of Fenrir, Hermione and Loki are still realms apart, physically and mentally. With a new threat lurking just on the horizon, complete with prophecies and time travel, will the two be able to save not only their budding family, but their friends’ as well, or will evil prevail?

Crossover One-Shots: Part of a Series

All if Fair Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 1,549 Summary: Hermione learns a secret about Loki and finds that even though it's bound to ruin their lives, a broken heart may be easier to handle than fighting an all-out war.

Leave It At That Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 1,607 Summary: Desperate for help solving a case, Hermione finds herself having to ask someone who she betrayed. Can Loki ignore the past for the sake of their future?

Internal Affairs Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark/Hermione Granger Word Count: 3,110 Summary: After accidentally running into the one and only Tony Stark, Hermione Granger is persuaded to take an internship with the illustrious Avenger. When she walks in on Iron Man and Loki engaged in a bit of an afternoon delight, she has two choices: flee back to her boring office or stay and join in the affair of a lifetime.

From the Desk of Ms Granger Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark/Hermione Granger Word Count: 2,236 Summary: After realizing that it's been a while since their last rendezvous, Hermione pens a rather naughty letter to her two lovers requesting that they meet up as soon as possible.

Crossover One-Shots

A Die Hard Christmas Debate Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 1,580 Summary: During their winter honeymoon to the Orkney Islands, Loki and Hermione get into a festive little debate.

A Snowy Escape Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 1,375 Summary: Hermione and Loki enjoy a snowy escape from the chaos of their lives.

Begging to Be Bound Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 558 Summary: Once wasn't enough for Hermione when it came to being bound by the lustful Loki.

Cupcake Calling Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 945 Summary: While visiting Midgard for his special cupcake treat, Loki nearly gets more than he bargained for leaving him wanting more.

Home Alone Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Harry Potter Word Count: 2,058 Summary: Harry and Loki grow a little closer as they bond over a classic holiday movie.

Lonely No More Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 2,099 Summary: Nerves are normal for a first date. Especially, if that first date happens to be with someone unexpected.

Mistletoe Mischief Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 2,288 Summary: In which Pansy and Loki find themselves trapped in the middle of a snowstorm by a mischievous mistletoe.

Nothing Less Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Regulus Black Word Count: 3,000 Summary: Death was something of an unknown to him, so when Regulus died, he didn't quite know what to expect. With the death of his lover, Loki knew he would do anything in his power to resurrect him on Asgard.

Potion Problems Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 1,669 Summary: Pansy's final Potions project of the year takes an explosive turn, sending her someplace wholly unexpected for the start of her summer.

Snakes I Adore Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 2,172 Summary: Reminiscing about how much she adores her lovers, Hermione enjoys a quiet moment while Pansy and Loki remain sleeping.

Solace in You Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Harry Potter Word Count: 1,219 Summary: Both Loki and Harry seek solace in the forest. Alone. But what happens when they are no longer alone?

Subtext Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 683 Summary: Pansy confronts Loki with a rather intriguing question.

The Door in the Dungeon Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Gen Word Count: 1,681 Summary: There's a door in the Zabini dungeons that has always tempted Blaise. What magic is hidden beyond its ornate surface?

The First and Last Time Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 874 Summary: Hermione reflects on the first and last time that she saw Loki.

Three’s a Splash Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Natasha Romanov/Hermione Granger Word Count: 4,952 Summary: Imprisoned in a tropical paradise, Hermione and Natasha decide to take advantage of their luxurious pool. After a bit of convincing, Loki joins his lovers. As it turns out a two person raft is not meant for three, forcing them to embrace the situation. In the end, none of them seem to mind.

‘tis the season Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 1,258 Summary: When Pansy stumbles into Loki at the Christmas market, they find more than they expected.

Unexpected Lovers Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Thor/Hermione Granger Word Count: 1,876 Summary: While on a mission, Loki, Thor, and Hermione get caught in a snowstorm. Huddling for warmth in an alleyway takes an interesting turn when Loki suggest Thor warm up his witch in a much quicker way.

Welcome to Jotunheim Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 1,768 Summary: A magical mishap lands Hermione and Pansy right in the middle of Jotunheim. Who better to keep them warm than Loki?

What’s in a name? Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 763 Summary: When your cat has the same name as your boyfriend, you learn new ways of pushing all the right buttons.

Most of these stories can also be found on FFN.

#Loki #Loki Fanfiction #Loki Crossover Fanfiction #Loki Marvel Fanfiction #God of Mischief #xxDustNight88

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