#giant dummy loves smaller dummy

[honey-minded-hivemind]

For the ❄Fallen Snow🩸 AU, the older ferals had a large room renovated into a special room for them. And it looks like a giant cat room.

Literally.

The floor is covered in blankets and pillows, heating pads under the plush carpeting in case it is really cold. There are smaller rooms/huts inside, like those made for cats, with fluffy floors and a rounded dome to cocoon it. Scratching dummies and posts, and bridges spanning the walls and above the floor, cat-condo-like structures all over the place, one in the center, one in each corner of the room, full of small rooms with padded walls and platforms with soft rugs, even hammocks large enough and strong enough to hold all of them. There are plenty of plushies too, for the younger ferals, when they can't immediately have the adults with them. (They missed/miss Reader, and having plushies made/make them feel better, just a tiny bit, so they could/can hug something and pretend it was/is Reader, and that they could be around them again).

Have the adults ferals sometimes put the younger ones into their instincts or drugged them before, so they could cuddle them and take care of them completely without any fuss or crying due to guilt or doubts? Yes. Have all of the ferals fallen into their instincts and spent that time acting like pack animals or littermates, snuggling together and grooming each other and napping in one snoozy dogpile? Also yes.

Logan/Wolverine and Victor/Sabretooth did everything they could to become better, so they wouldn't fail the other kids, especially their remaining cubs/pups/kits. They knew they would never stop having nightmares for what they'd done, and the guilt would never leave, but they would do their best to help the remaining kids, and take care of them they way they should have from the start. So did all the other adults, too.

When Reader is found and brought back, they have plans to get them to relax in this room, and if needed, they can get Hank/Beast to help trigger each feral's instincts, or they can sedate Reader, too, maybe both, so they can all try to work on building up trust and rebuilding their relationships. All they have to do is take it steady and slow, and be patient. Be loving. Be gentle. This is what they've wanted to do since that awful night, and now that they have that chance to right their wrongs, they aren't about to turn it down...

[bumblehoneybee]

You know those faceless yellow almost crash test dummies from the Grabpack videos? I love imagining the former employee as one of those who’s a recluse to society already. So, what if the reason the Farmer could do all those crazy things was because they were one of those? Maybe they just take to wearing things to hide their face, but they are clearly not fully human looking. The Farmer definitely withdrew from seeing or speaking to people after Playtime turned them into… this. (They still text, write letters, and the whole shebang to their parents. It’s just. They won’t—can’t visit no matter how much they want to.)

Anyway, the Farmer found that running a farm was much more freeing than having to constantly hide in the city. They gradually build privacy fences, make friends even if tentatively, and just live! It’s freeing, it’s nice not having to hide as much, they have a non-human roommate named Krobus who gets them, they—

The damned factory is a few miles away from Pelican Town. No wonder some of these roads looked familiar besides the one to Grandpa’s farm. I can imagine the Farmer/Ex-Employee/Victim avoids Playtime Co. property like the plague for the next few years. They don’t have to get involved in that hellhole, they don’t owe Playtime anything! So a few years pass by with them continuing to farm, monster hunt, and fish in peace. Maybe they will eventually show a few people what they really look like. They have cautiously showed Emily since no one will believe her.

This avoidance eventually comes to a boiling point when they receive the letter and old commercial. Farmer’s set on a war path because they can hear the Prototype’s whispering in the background of the video. If that amalgamation wants to play this game, they’ll beat it on hard mode! What’s a few man made horrors to the creatures hidden in the mines?!

Player asks a few of the people they trust to watch their farm for a week: Sebastian, Emily, Robin, and maybe Shane (he’s a natural with the chickens). They cite having some family business that’ll take them out of town for a week or so… Safe to say, the events of Poppy Playtime get wrapped up in record time due to the now veteran monster Hunter Farmer.

They blast or hack through any doors that don’t open, disarm (not literally) the smaller toys.

The others are getting saved whether they like it or not—if the Prototype isn’t doing all this for a good reason, then they are setting off one of their experimental bombs.

(Sorry for the ramble. I like combining ideas.)

god i can see the player being that meme of "i'm a pacifist but-" while combining copper and such into cherry bombs to throw at things

poppy is so. . . overwhelmed, because while she's glad she's gotten her angel, they're. . . a lot more than what she was expecting. so many bombs. . . and the sword that's the head of a giant bug? eugh. . .

kissy couldn't care less EXCEPT she wants the bug head so bad PLEASE angel can she use it on the mini critters they're so annoying angel please-

dogday. . . dogday is really thrown for a loop, because while poppy had told him the angel was a previous experiment gone off the rails, he wasn't expecting them to be this. . . determined? they just mow down everything in their path, not caring what stands in their way. he's happy they're here! so happy! but my god WHY is there a shadow man giving you a gun???

[admiral-mason]

You Reap What You Sow - Chapter 10

Genshin Impact SAGAU x Iron Harvest 1920+

Sights to Behold

As you and Childe walked side to side discussing his family, you took the time to point out how sunny the day was. "Man, it's quite sunny today. And here I thought Snezhnaya was known for its month-long blizzards..."

Childe's interest was piqued by your comment. "Now that you mention it, your grace, There hasn't been any blizzard ever since you arrived. One of the agents said that when you arrived and slept for the night, smaller blizzards across various towns stopped!"

Despite Childe having more experience than you at fishing (you never even really went fishing other than trying it out as a kid), you somehow caught more fish than he did. They kept swarming to your line even without bait. You filled your bucket within a few minutes, so much so that you decided to stop fishing because you didn't even know what to do.

"I guess Teyvat really does love you, comrade!" Childe exclaimed as you just looked at your giant stash of fish. "What are we going to do with all of this?" You asked.

"I'm taking my share home for my family. You can do what you want with yours, so see ya, your grace." Childe said, right before you heard the sounds of rapid gunfire close by. This slightly startled you as you ended up falling into the snow. Thankfully, you still had your coat on, so you didn't feel that cold from the impact as Childe helped you up. "Are you okay??" He asked.

"I'm fine, Childe." Suddenly, you heard the sound of a mechanism before an explosion followed it. "The sounds are coming from over there," you said. "I wonder what's going on," Childe responded. The two of you grabbed your fishing equipment and walked on over to the source of the sounds.

It turned out to be a bunch of Rusviet soldiers alongside Il Capitano and Lev Zubov testing equipment and mechs. You saw a heavy machine gun, SHM-60 Groza exosuits, and varying mechs. Lev Zubov was there as well.

The crew on the heavy machine gun fired another burst as they mowed down a group of training dummies. A Kolokol that was present then fired a bomb at the dummies, turning them into wooden bits. "...Impressive," Capitano remarked. Childe simply watched at his first glance at the technology of another world of yours, seemingly eager to fight them as you saw his smile.

"Our world's technology at its finest," Lev Zubov responded, "and more on the way shortly." The duo then noticed you and Childe before facing you two. "Your grace," they both responded before giving a quick bow. "...Uh- no need for that-" You responded as you awkwardly looked at the two men. You then went back to watching what seemed to be combat tests. "Do you mind I stay and watch?"

"Of course not, your grace!" Zubov said. "Come, watch along." He motioned for you to walk to an area with better viewing as Childe followed. "So these are the war machines in your world? Heh, let's see their performance." He spoke.

The Kolokol walked off the field by this point. The next mech, a PZM-7 Smialy, was the next to be tested. "That thing's darn skinny compared to Ruin Guards... and seemingly less destructive." Childe spoke. "The thing's fast though, Childe." You replied. "It's a scout, not a one-man-army."

"I bet I can literally set up a tripwire and the thing would tumble over." Childe said as the Smialy shot its cannon in the likeness of a rifle at the training dummies, blowing some of them up. It then charged at a larger dummy, impaling its head. The Smialy then walked off the field as the pilot exited, stretching his arms and legs while doing so.

"I would like whoever designed this seat have to sit in it," he said. He then noticed you and casually saluted. "Good day, your grace." He said before walking to a nearby bench and drinking a bit of water.

Capitano looked at the damage the Smialy could do and nodded. He then noticed an SHM-68 Nakovalnya nearby. "What is that thing?" He asked Zubov. "It... looks like a pipe organ." Zubov responded to Capitano's question with glee on his face. "That there, my friend, is a Nakovalnya. It's an artillery mech that fires a barrage of rockets at whatever needs to be destroyed." Capitano's interest piqued as he ordered for the Nakovalnya to be tested.

"Rockets? Now I'm interested," Childe said. The two of you watched as the Nakovalnya's single crew member got into its cockpit and moved the mech a fair distance away from the training area. "I suggest we all stand back. This thing's explosions can be quite indiscriminate." You lightly beckoned Childe to stand back as you and everyone else did the same.

"Rockets away!" The pilot exclaimed as twelve rockets were fired on the dummies, hitting their general vicinity. After the smoke cleared, nothing remained. Childe looked at the destruction with a bit of shock in his eyes. "...That thing just turned those dummies into nothing but splinters..."

"That's indiscriminate firing for ya." You responded back to Childe. Then, you picked up on metal footsteps in the distance. You turned towards the general direction of the sound and saw an SHM-70 Gulyay-Gorod slowly walking its way over here alongside Sandrone on its left. Childe also looked and looked at the towering mech.

"That right there, is Rusviet's largest and finest mech." Zubov said, looking over the huge mech's tall profile. "...I have no words to say to this thing." Childe bluntly replied. "Shocked?" The female pilot responded. "Watch what this thing can do." She walked her mech up to the training grounds before noticing that nothing was there for her to kill.

"Did you all have fun without me?" She asked, a bit of anger in her voice. "Get us some more targets," Capitano ordered to some Fatui soldiers. Soon, another set of targets was set up. Sandrone got a bit closer to the training grounds, eager to see the Gulyay-Gorod in action.

"Alright, watch this." The pilot said before firing three times from the mech's right-mounted main gun. Being an anti-mech gun, it didn't make large explosions. She then fired a devastator rocket from the left side's rocket launcher. This rocket, being more of an anti-infantry missile, blew a medium-sized crater into the fields and utterly turning the dummies to shreds.

"I honestly now feel bad for the dummies..." Childe said. "Yep, and to think that there's more of these things..." You responded back.

Genshin Impact is owned by miHoYo. Iron Harvest 1920+ is owned by Jakub Różalski and KING Art Games.

[abyssmalice]

How could he forfeit to make something grand for his beloved sister's birthday? Absolutely not. Today, he is going full roundhouse with his birthday surprise.

Said surprise being a giant chocolate cake, covered in fruits of different kinds―but it is not just any simple cake: it dubs also as a giant chocolate fountain, spilling down the slopes and covering some of the fruit along it, impregnating the air with the scent of sweet cocoa.

Next to it there is a pack of sticks ready to be used for dipping fruits and cake into the melted chocolate. And right before it there's a little scribbled note, surrounded by familiar slime doodles in the fashion of her brother's artstyle:

"I hope you like this little experimental idea I commissioned to one of the local bakeries. Happy Birthday, Princess! I love you.

P.d: Once I'm done with my work, would you like to go have fun somewhere in the city? Think about it, and find me in my office once you're done with your cake. I finished all your work for you today, so feel free to take all the time for yourself."

IT'S STILL FEB 19TH 2K24 I PWOMISE / Not Accepting (ofc)

When Tonia wakes up, she immediately keys in on the faintest whisper of cocoa.

It catches her attention just as much as it makes her forgo the usual morning priorities of rolling around in bed, sleeping in, rolling around some more, squishing her toys, reluctantly getting out of bed, even more reluctantly brushing her teeth, or changing out of her nightdress. Instead, she practically bounces out of her blankets, bare feet quickly tapping out of the room and blindly honing in on the sweet smell and sweeter promise of sweet—!!

When she finally blinks, she's in a room with a cake. A giant cake. Made of chocolate, just as she hoped. But it was not just giant and chocolate - it was streaming chocolate, like some endless, magical, miraculous little cocoa volcano. Little smooth rivers of milk chocolate, the river banks occasionally splashing a tiny bit to fleck the strawberries and banana slices decorating the cake.

Truly, a chocolate and cake and sweet lover's dream come true. Tonia discreetly takes a second to pinch the skin of her cheek, feeling it pull too realistically to be anything but real, and she's half a second away from immediately pouncing on the cake in a figurative and potentially even literal way - not like anyone else's name is written on it! Her cake now!!! - before she notices the note on the side.

...She's half inclined to ignore said note frankly. But - there are slimes doodled on it...

Slimes are just as important as this amazing cake, her just-woken-up brain fuzzily determines. So, while one hand grabs one of the dipping sticks to make a little fruit and cake kebab for dipping into the chocolate, the other grabs the note for her to skim and keep in mind and then attend to whatever later.

Or well, she planned to skim it, assuming it wouldn't be anything too important beyond a quick read. Turns out, no, quite important. Just as important as cake and slimes. Maybe a smidge more important than those two things, actually.

Well, it's not like Tonia forgot her birthday was a thing - she had been incessantly badgering and being particularly annoying in the days leading up to it, in some roundabout logic of celebration = permission to be bothersome. So, she's not very fazed to find that the cake was one of her brother's absurdly lavish gifts for the year.

Just... Tonia squints at the note a bit, thinking, before she huffs and puffs her cheeks.

"I don't need to do any of that, you big dummy," she mutters to herself, before turning back to her in-process choco-kebab. She makes sure to skewer the smaller fruits along with a semi-misshapen chunk of cake before carefully dipping the whole thing into the streaming chocolate. Admiring her handiwork for a second, Tonia then turns sharply on her heel and rushes out.

The end result is that there's a slight mess of chocolate trailing down the corridors, and it's dripping over her nightdress, but she could care less when she has something super duper wooper important to do right now!!

Which is to slam the door to her brother's office open, walk in, ignore whatever her brother's reaction is to her sudden appearance, and shove the chocolate skewer into his mouth.

Once it's securely in said mouth, Tonia determinedly sets her hands on her hips - oh, wait, no, gotta rub some of the chocolate off her fingers first; her dress is looking even more of a mess but that's what laundry is for - okay, now she sets her hands on her hips, not quite frowning, but not exactly all smiles either.

"Dummmmmmmy!" She starts, loudly. "You can't just give me a giant cake like that and then expect me to just sit there quietly and make plans all by myself! That's so boring! And lame! Who wants to think that much on their birthday?"

"So, since it's my birthday, I've decided that we're not going to do much thinking at all." She wiggles a finger at him, slight smears of chocolate still on it. "We're just going to eat the cake. Yes, we. I've just decided now that I'm going to share it with you. We're going to finish all of the cake today itself! And you're not going to do aaaaany work, because that's lame, and it's my birthday, and I said so. And even if we have time after finishing the cake, you're still not going to do any work. We're going to have fun in the city, like you suggested. Maybe we can go buy a bakery together, or something."

She finally pokes his nose with the same finger, leaving a small dab of chocolate there. Tonia briefly feels her lips curling into a snort at the sight of Ayaks with chocolate on his face, but focuses hard to keep her you must listen to me I am being very serious big brother so don't laugh expression. "That is going to be the agenda for today, no changes or questions asked! And you can't regret this, because you allowed for this to happen, if you ask me.

"Especially with that dumb note of yours. Why write all that sappy stuff down when you could just say it to my face? Wish me a happy birthday when I'm awake, not when I'm still sleeping!"

Tonia looks on insistently for a few trailing seconds, awaiting the very words that she mentioned, but then remembers the choco-kebab she put into his mouth. Something sheepish twitches its way across her face before she huffs - "W-Well, afterwards! You can say all the stuff in your note to me afterwards. Is the chocolate good enough for me to eat first?"

[hillnerd]

WAKING UP - CH 15

AO3   FFN      Beginning of story | Previous Chapter

chapter word count 13 114

Gigantic thank you to my beta @abradystrix. Check out her work as it's truly lovely writing!

previously in 'Waking Up'(honestly, I recommend re-reading the chapter before as lots of it ties to this chapter)

Ron briefly connects with Ginny and she tells him how worried she is for him before she leaves the Burrow- she had a confrontation with Harry the night before about Ron's safety that the couple are still reeling from.

Ron learns some spells to use in his Combat Readiness Exam. Harry and Ron go to the Ministry for their C.R.E. but are confronted by loads of reporters, including Rita Skeeter. Robbie rescues them with a side room to weigh their wands.

They get ready for their C.R.E. and Ramona is late and looking bedraggled.

It's time for the C.R.E.- it's a hostage situation, they're all wearing the same safety vests as before, and they split up to find the hostage.

Harry Ron Ramona Claudia and Neville take out a team of 3 Aurors- one of which was a rooftop 'sniper' type Auror Ron was able to overpower.

They meet with the other recruits and get the 'hostage dummy' in a flurry of action- Ron's definitely experiencing PTSD symptoms and his arm is doing poorly-

There are 3 'enemy' Aurors left- Robards (head of Aurors), Sealy-Pearce and Musaad. They are in a 'squid room' that deflects spells and dove into the earth.

Neville and Vyse help with his arm that's numb and acting up.

The recruits split up to find the squid, Ramona Claudia Ron and Harry go underground, while the rest are above.

Harry and Ron split off and hear a voice:

"Harry?" came a voice. They both turned to the sound of the feminine voice.

"Was that—?" asked Harry.

"Harry?"

That was Ginny's voice! What was Ginny doing here? Her voice was there, clear as day, but there was no sign of Ron's sister. It had come from a different smaller tunnel.

"Gin?" Harry called out, going down the tunnel a few paces.

"Harry… I don't think—" Ron began.

"Harry?" came Ginny's voice again.

They slowly crept down the tunnel, wand's light being eaten up by the darkness.

"Harry!" They swung their wands and there was Ginny, covered in blood, reaching towards them.

Chapter warnings: cannon level violence, descriptions of cannon dead characters, ptsd symptoms, cursing, hallucinations, nightmarish creepy imagery, spiders, mention of blood and having trouble breathing, implied sexual assault memories, choking and water going up sinuses, reference to dead parent, reference to severely disabled parent, broken bone, characters with limited control of emotions/selves, strong emotions

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

CHAPTER 15 - C.R.E. #4

Ron wrenched back from his blood-covered sister, feet submerging in sludgy water.

“You didn’t do enough!” Ginny accused, pointing a bloody finger.

At first Ron thought she was directing her words at himself, but he soon realised she only had her piercing gaze set on Harry.

“Everyone’s dead because of you. You killed Fred. You killed Lupin and Tonks. Dobby and Sirius and Cedric and—”

“Don’t listen, Harry,” said Ron. He tried to step in front of him, but his boot caught fast in the slurry at his feet.

“Bill and George and Dad and Ron and I all nearly died because of you! Everywhere you go, people die for you! You use us as human shields and everyone ends up dead! Ron’s the next one to die becau—”

“Riddikulus!” Ron shouted at his sister. With a crack, she was in clown makeup, complete with clown nose and hat. It wasn’t particularly funny, but at least she wasn’t terrifying anymore.

Harry was pale beside him, eyes wide.

“Nothing that thing said is true,” Ron immediately said. “Not one word of it. Ginny doesn’t think that!”

Harry mutely moved his head in a pale imitation of a nod.

“Fucking Boggarts…” muttered Ron,

pulling at his leg until it squelched with a loud ‘thhhwip’ and came free.

“Here, let’s move before it changes into a giant spider.”

There was a crack behind him. He began to point his wand when he heard the voice rasping, “Got you to scream good and loud for me, didn’t I?”

A claw of terror raked over him, rendering him unable to move, to utter a single word.

That voice brought back every strike, every sensation… It felt like an iron suit of armour had dropped onto his chest from a fourth story window.

He turned and there stood the hulking figure of Otho Crowthers lurching towards him. His brow was as sloped as the last time he’d seen him, his steps as heavy and menacing. It even had that rancid smell of his body and breath. Ron thought he might throw up as that same smell rolled over him. How could the Boggart know the smell of him?

“Riddikulus,” he gasped, waving his wand.

“Bet I can make you scream without a wand… Can’t I?”

“Riddikulus!”

He couldn’t make it funny. He couldn’t think of anything. This wasn’t funny. His mind raced, searching for a way to lighten the darkness that surrounded him, but all he found were the suffocating grip of shame and the gnawing bite of fear.

“Who’s—?” Harry began to ask.

“I like raw meat like you, ginger.”

“Ri-Riddikulus,” Ron croaked.

“You know what I want to do to you? I’m gonna tear—” Crowthers crooned.

“Riddikulus!” cried Harry, stepping in front of the Boggart. Crowthers changed into an oversized Gorilla with a kazoo.

A tsunami of shame overwhelmed him, battering him to and fro until he was a pulp of useless flesh. He couldn’t bear to look over and see Harry grimly studying him.

The things it had said…

Every particle of him wished the cave would collapse on him. He didn’t want to see or be seen. How many times did he have to have his soul ripped out and put on display for his friend?

“Ron, who was that?”

“No one,” his mouth said before his brain could even begin to create an explanation. “Let’s… Let’s…”

“Ron…” He could hear the pleading in Harry’s voice to tell him what was going on; to let him help in some way. He couldn’t give that to him, as much as he wanted to spare his friend an iota of hurt, he just couldn’t.

“Please can we move away from the Boggart? Please?”

He was already pathetic, why not add begging to the mix?

“We can go back to the other tunnel,” agreed Harry, tone horribly gentle. They both ignored the Boggart as it latched onto Harry and turned into a bloody Ron on the ground. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Ron felt a hand on his back and jerked away.

Harry took a deep gulp of air, as if he was about to dive underwater. He tended to do that before an unpleasant conversation topic.

“So,” Harry began, but before he could say more the earth beneath their feet shook, and a great rumble echoed through the tunnels.

“The Squid,” Ron exclaimed, running towards the noise.

Harry hesitated, but quickly caught up with him.

Their wrists heated as their watches showed the message: ‘Found Squid! We’re at a manhole near Bethune! -Claudia’

They didn’t need a map; the crashing of the Squid was practically upon them.

As they rounded the corner, chaos unfolded and the air cracked with magic.

Ramona and Claudia were in the corner throwing spells, taking cover behind fallen stones and fragments of ancient columns.

Through the small red window, the Squid room churned out a destructive onslaught of hexes and blasts, each more destructive than the next.

Harry and Ron joined the fray, launching a flurry of spells, but nothing seems to hurt the Squid.

The Squid's tentacle-like limbs effortlessly blocked each spell, nullifying the magic as if it were nothing more than a puff of air.

“Can’t get anything through!” Ron panted.

Harry’s only response was to yell his spells louder.

One of Harry’s spells deflected off a metallic arm and struck the red window, causing a blink-and-you-miss-it crack to form.

“The window!” Ron yelled at him.

"Aim at the window!" Harry shouted to the team. Claudia and Ramona promptly responded, and the tunnel was alight with destructive spells.

"Reducto!" bellowed Harry. With his final hit, the crack spread across the window.

"We're doing it! It could break!" exclaimed Claudia.

The Squid's massive arms thrashed, striking the tunnel's side with a bone-shaking force and a pillar fell, pinning an arm of the Squid.

The Squid struggled to move, pulling at its trapped arm like a dog tugging at a rope. With a final lurch, it shook itself loose.

A horrifying crunch followed as the pillar was thrown across the alcove, taking out masonry as easily as one would brush away cobwebs.

“GET BACK!” yelled Harry.

Time slowed as pillars of brick crumbled, one brick at a time popping into dust, shaking the stone floor beneath their feet.

The tunnel walls groaned like an old whale, then gave way to the impending collapse.

The ground was gone from beneath Ron.

For a moment he was weightless and his stomach swooped. There was nothing to grab or do, but hang in the air and feel everything falling.

The impact knocked the wind out of him as he landed on unforgiving rocky terrain. Stones and masonry fell around him. He couldn’t breathe, but managed to pull his legs and arms in to protect himself.

The sound of everything collapsing was a deafening roar. Every pitch of sound both high and low was hit at once, surrounding him as he was shaken and hit.

The ground lurched again and he was thrown like a limp doll into darkness.

He struggled through his nose to take in air. He’d had the breath knocked out of him before, and knew what to do, but surrounded by dust and detritus it was hard to feel like his inhales were doing anything.

The cacophony of collapse finally eased.

Amid the darkness, he heard the moans of his companions.

He squinted up and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. He found himself trapped between sections of the collapsed floor and a slanted piece of ceiling. He was not able to stand fully upright in the tight space and his arms began to ache.

He was filthy, and from head to waist he was sprinkled in a thin film of rust-coloured dust he tried to wipe off. Each brush against the orange dust only moved it around.

"Everyone okay?" called Claudia from somewhere above him.

"We're down here! We're alright!" came Harry's voice. “Where are you?”

“I’m in the tunnel we were in, but I don’t see anyone!” cried Claudia.

"Harry?" Ron coughed, swatting away the dust.

"Here!" A wand illuminated, and an orange hand waved from a corner of his alcove. There was a small opening; enough for an arm to fit through, but not enough for a whole body, even one as wiry as Harry's.

Ron peered into the hole.

Harry and Ramona were deep within the crevice, the wall and collapsed floor of the tunnel blocking their escape. Covered head to toe in a much thicker coating of orange dust, they looked like a duo of mutant Crookshankses.

Ron could feel a pressure building around him and the hairs on his neck began to rise. Something was wrong.

"Can you Apparate out?" Claudia called from up above. "I'm afraid to move any of this rubble without help. I don’t want to cause another collapse!"

Ron attempted to Apparate, but the anti-Apparition Ward was still in place. "I can’t Apparate. We'll have to wait until everyone regroups."

"Got you to scream good and loud for me."

Ron whipped his head around, certain the sound had originated from behind, but there was no Boggart in sight, just stone and dust motes still settling.

"Harry, do you see the Boggart?" he asked.

"No," Harry quietly replied, before adding, “but I can hear Ginny again.”

"You hear Ginny?" Ron questioned. “Can you hear anyone else?”

“No… Why? What do you hear?”

“Mum?” called Ramona.

“Ramona, what do you hear?” asked Harry.

“It’s… It’s my Mum… She’s begging for help… You said it was a Boggart? Where is it?”

Ron couldn’t hear Ginny or Ramona’s Mum.

A bloodcurdling scream rent the air. Hermione’s.

“Ron! Please! Help!”

He stood and yelled into the dark, “Riddikulus!”

But there was nothing to see, nothing to transform into something humorous.

The pressure from before was pounding on Ron now. He could feel the magic of the place swarming them. They were surrounded by it.

“I reinforced the walls so you won’t get crushed,” called Claudia. “But I’m nervous to move anything on my own up here. Hold tight- we’ll have the others help soon!”

“WHERE IS IT?” screamed Ramona.

“I— I don’t…” Ron began— but Hermione was screaming as she did in the Manor as Crowthers crooned in Ron’s ears what he’d do to them. “Harry? Do you see it?”

He knelt down and peered into the darkness expecting to see Harry next to the opening, but his friend was bent over, hands on his ears.

“Harry!” Ron yelled at him.

Harry shook his head, green eyes wide and unseeing.

Ramona was pacing the back of the room, arms clutched around her middle. “We have to get out of here! They’re going to get us!”

“Who?” asked Ron.

“The Snatchers are coming!”

“Ramona, It’s not real! Whatever you’re hearing, it’s not—”

Hermione’s screams ripped through him.

Ramona was in the corner screaming. “Mum! Mummy! No! Please, Please!”

Harry on the ground with hands over his ears muttering to himself. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry!”

“Mate, it’s okay, we’re going to get you out of there!”

“I’m so sorry!” cried Harry.

“Riddikulus!” Ron shouted again, but nothing stopped the cacophony of terror; it rang through him as screams and nightmares flooded his ears.

“Someone tell me what’s happening!” Claudia pled.

“We’re… We’re hearing things!” he managed to say between hitched sobs. When had he started crying? Why couldn’t he Apparate to Hermione? He had to get out of the cellar! No… No he wasn’t in Malfoy Manor.

“Ron! Please help me,” sobbed Hermione before letting out another blood-curdling scream.

“Hermione!” he called back, punching the wall, but nothing helped.

A quicksand of fear was pulling him ever down down down. He wiped at his face, which was wet with something. Tears? Blood?

Where was he? Everything was dark… He couldn’t Apparate to Hermione! She needed him, or Crowthers would… Wait, she wasn’t there with him. He was alone… How… How did they get them all in Malfoy’s cellar again?

“I’m going to make you scream,” growled Crowthers.

He punched at the walls. He had to get to her! He couldn’t let Crowthers touch her!

He could see her on the other side, small and pale as she was dragged along the floor by her hair. She didn’t even flinch as she was thrown onto a stump and tied in place.

“Hermione!” He screamed and sobbed, but couldn’t get to her. His hands were bleeding as he madly scrabbled for her. “Hermione!”

Spiders of every size were crawling over him and he nearly vomited as their sharp little legs caught on his skin.

He tried to shake them off and get to Hermione, but blood was on the ground,slowly oozing towards him, and Crowther’s toxic breath was in his nostrils.

“Ron!” came an insistent voice from above him.

He shook his head. His mind felt flayed open, a rupture of raw hurt and confusion.

“Please answer me, Ron! What’s going on down there?!”

Suddenly Malfoy’s cellar was brightly lit, blinding him as he sobbed into the ground.

“Christ— he’s covered in Boggart dust! Put your shirt over your face or bubblehead charm yourself,” came a male voice.

There were murmurs, but the main thing he heard was Crowthers in his ear whispering, “tell me your name, pretty…”

A hand latched into him and he could see Fred, corpse pale, blood pooling down his neck and bits of brain falling onto the ground.

“It should’ve been you… George even said so,” said Fred without malice. He was right.

“Ron, don't let him kill me!” pleaded Hermione, tears in her eyes.

His head was wrenched back, and he threw an elbow trying to stop Crowthers. A stinging rush of something went up his nose. It had to be spiders crawling up inside his face scrabbling and tearing out his brain to lay eggs.

He was drowning and gagging as water flushed through his sinuses.

“Sorry, we need to get it all out of you,” a voice apologised.

“Get… What? Weneedta get Hermione…” he slurred. Another course of water flushed up his nose and down his throat, making him retch on the ground. He was sprayed down, and the cold made every muscle twitch.

“I needta stop ‘im… Crowthers!”

Hermione screamed in his ears and he struggled to get to her, not minding the sting of the cuts in his hands.

“He needs at least one more flush out once I pass him up to you,” said a male voice.

His teeth chattered as a spell lifted him into light.

“I’m sorry, but it looks like we need to do it once more, Ron,” someone said before water flushed through his sinuses a third time, stinging his eyes and even the inside of his cheek bones.

He coughed and felt snot dripping from his nose and hocked even more of it on the ground.

A warm hand was on his shoulder.

“You with me?”

He squinted up into the face of Neville.

“Nev?”

“Yes! Where are you?”

“I’m…” Ron blinked around the dark cavernous room. It wasn’t Malfoy Manor. It was well-lit compared to the hole he’d been in. Hermione wasn’t there. Crowthers wasn’t there… Fred and the spiders were gone… “The… The C.R.E. In a tunnel.”

“That’s right,” he nodded, giving a tight grin. Neville had the film of a bubblehead charm around his face, and Ron belatedly discovered he had one as well. The charm slightly distorted his view and made his breath feel hot on his face.

With a sudden realisation he scrambled for the hole they’d just lifted him from. “Oh fuck, we need to get Harry!”

“We’re getting him. It’s going to be okay, Ron,” said Neville, gently pushing him back until he was lying against the wall.

For some reason Ron started crying again. His voice was broken as deep sobs shook him. He wrapped his arms around himself. “M’sorry!”

“Don’t apologise. You all fell into an old Boggart breeding den, it looks like. That’s what Vyse said, anyway. There’s ‘Boggart dust’ everywhere. It basically makes you mad with fear and hallucinations until it works its way out of your system fully. Emotions of every kind will be intense for a bit, so we’ll stay here until you’re feeling up to moving.”

Ron looked over the side as he continued to cry.

The stones keeping Harry and Ramona imprisoned were floated aside.

“Spray down the area first, then we’ll get them individually,” ordered Vyse.

He could hear Ramona sobbing and screaming for her mother, but nothing from Harry. For minutes he waited, but he still hadn’t heard Harry’s voice.

Ron shook his head. “I need to help.”

“We’ve got it,” said Neville.

“No you don’t. Not with Harry.” Ron stood on wobbly knees and unshrunk his broom. They didn’t understand! Ron had seen Harry afraid before and he knew what he was capable of. He had been on the receiving end of punches as Harry was rent out of nightmares, and had seen his friend destroy an oak door because it slammed too hard.

He flew down to ground they’d cleared of Boggart dust. Ramona was sobbing on the ground, struggling against Theold as Vyse attempted to Aguamenti her face.

Harry was shaking, but otherwise limp on the ground, arm protectively grasping his shoulder with white knuckles. He was wet all over, a bubble charm in place.

“Ron? Shouldn’t you be up with Neville?” asked Kevin.

“M’fine,” he said, kneeling beside Harry. “Harry? You okay?”

“He hasn’t responded to any of us, and we’ve flushed him out like five times,” said Claudia, worry pinching her features.

For a moment Ron considered putting a restraint on Harry, but the thought of doing that to him after whatever he’d been forced to listen to was repugnant.

“Harry, I need to get some water into you again. It’s going to sting. Can you hear me?”

Harry stared ahead with open eyes, tear tracks or water running down his cheeks— Ron couldn’t tell which.

He removed the bubble charm.

“Aguamenti,” whispered Ron with a shaking voice. His own face was wet with tears again as he flushed Harry’s face with water and his friend barely flinched.

“Harry, wake up!” Ron said, giving his friend a shake.

“Flush him again,” he dimly heard Vyse say.

Ron performed another ‘aguamenti’ and with a start Harry flinched and vomited up orange tinged water on the ground.

“That’s it, get it all out,” Ron croaked.

Harry choked and spasmed before his bleary eyes caught Ron’s.

“R-Ron?” he whimpered.

“Yeah! Yeah it’s me,” Ron blubbered, unable to stop himself. Fucking Boggarts…

Claudia washed off Harry’s glasses and handed them to Ron. He put them in place and cast another bubble head charm on Harry.

Harry was pale and patted his hand along the ground for his wand.

“Here,” said Ron, handing it to him.

His friend took the wand, but didn’t try to move again. As Ron explained the Boggart dust, he could feel the wet tracks down his face and a gross itch at his nose. He wished he could wipe his face, but that might get more dust on him.

“Let’s get out of here,” Ron urged.

Harry weakly nodded, and limply let Ron guide him to a standing position.

“Here Ron, let me help,” said Kevin.

He put a hand on Ron’s back.

It felt like Crowthers was about to rut against him and he gave a small cry of alarm at the contact.

In an instant Harry wrenched away, his features twisting into an angry snarl. “DON’T TOUCH HIM!”

Before anyone could react, a spell hurtled through the chamber, a destructive projectile hitting Kevin squarely in the chest. The large recruit flew into the wall with a gut-wrenching crunch before he vanished into thin air.

"Oh, shit!" Ron's exclamation mirrored the collective shock, his mind racing as panic and disbelief battled for dominance.

“What the fuck, Harry?” asked Theold, pointing his wand at Harry. All the wands were on Harry.

“Wait!” Ron said, standing in front of him. “It was an accident! It’s the Boggart dust. Don’t—”

Ropes were around Harry in an instant, and his friend let out an aborted cry before toppling.

“I’m sorry!” squeaked Claudia.

Ron knelt beside Harry as he shook on the ground, writhing like a mad man.

“Harry… Harry please snap out of it…”

“More water,” said Vyse, pushing Harry to a seated position. “You hold him, I’ll flush him out.”

Ron got behind him, putting Harry’s back against his own chest.

“Ready?” asked Vyse.

“Do it, already!” he said through gritted teeth, as Harry struggled and nearly hit Ron in the nose with the back of his thrashing head.

After what seemed like an endless stream of water Ron stopped them.

“Harry? You okay?”

“Wh-what?” came Harry’s voice, sounding so small it didn’t sound like him at all. “Ron? What… What happened?”

“You fucking spelled Kevin into the wall and now we’re down a man!” spat Theold.

“I… I what?” asked Harry.

He looked feeble and lost. Ron had seen Harry like this only a few times. When he spoke Parseltongue in second year. When he’d seen Cedric die. When he’d seen Dad nearly die. When Sirius was dead. When he’d held Dobby.

He might have been reliving those nights.

“It’s okay. He’ll be fine,” Ron assured him.

Harry’s eyes shifted his way, haunted, glossy and unsure. Then Ron’s arms were holding nothing. His friend was gone in an instant.

Ron stared at the spot where Harry had just been.

The vest had taken Harry out of the Exam.

“What the fuck?!”

“Looks like they realised he was a harm to himself and others,” snorted Theold.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, THEOLD!” Ron snarled.

A sear of vitriol scorched his insides until nothing was left but a burning hot coal.

Who were the Aurors to decide to take Harry away? Who was going to be there for Harry when he’d had to listen to Merlin knows what? They’d ripped him away and Ron had barely begun to comfort him. Had they put this snarl of Boggart dust on purpose?

Every bit of hate he’d felt now pointed in one direction: The Auror Department.

He was going to destroy them. He didn’t know how long it’d take, but he was going to dismantle them, and every one of their sick tests. He wouldn’t rest until every single person responsible for the fucked up nightmares he and Harry, and even fucking Ramona, had gone through, paid.

“Should… What should we do?” Claudia asked.

Ron glared at the group the moment eyes turned to him. “Stop fucking looking at me! I don’t know, okay?”

He stalked away from them.

He was sick and fucking tired of this stupid fucking exam, and all of them gormlessly staring at him every time they don’t know what to do.

They were still watching him in anticipation.

“Why don’t you come up with some ideas, eh? The one person who always knows what to do got fucking tortured and ripped out of here to wherever the fuck, and I’m—” He gripped his arms around himself and squeezed until his ribs ached. “I’m no one, and you’re looking at me like I have answers! I don’t have any fucking answers! I’m fucking tired and this is fucked. We’re fucked and —”

He stopped himself, seeing their faces for the first time since Harry’s disappearance. They were watching him with large eyes, not one of them moving.

They were scared.

He couldn’t stay angry.

Harry was supposed to be invincible. Hell, to them, they probably thought Ron was a bit invincible too— which still felt like putting on a jacket two sizes too small. Ramona was one of their toughest and she was still crying and rocking on the ground.

They were all shook by it.

And now that he’d yelled at them, they probably were a touch worried they’d need to have Ron in ropes like Harry.

He let out a sigh. “Okay…”

He rolled his neck, trying to buy a moment to think.

“I’m sorry… It’s okay, we’re not fucked.”

He fleetingly wished he could touch his face. He hadn’t realised how often he wiped his hands over his face and through his hair as he thought. He wanted to push on his head and hopefully wring out a wild hare idea like one would a wet towel.

“We need to get out of this hole in the ground.”

“And we’ll need to take a moment to recover,” said Vyse with a tiny nod at Ramona.

“Right,” said Ron, taking a steadying breath. No one knew what she’d been through, but he had the closest idea of it.

He didn’t like her. Not one bit. She hated him and Harry for no reason and was surly, rude, prideful, irrational; just about everything he disdained… but she’d clearly been through something terrible.

“You lot go on up. I’ll sort things out here.”

All the recruits quickly did as he said, leaving him with Ramona; All, save Neville.

“Nev…” Ron began.

“I’m only here as back up,” he said, putting his hands up and wedging himself in the far corner.

He wasn’t sure how much Neville could do if Ramona were to go full feral on him at close proximity, but he appreciated the gesture.

He decided approaching Ramona like a wounded animal was best. He’d been around a skittish animal or two over the years. He wasn’t great with beasts, but he could try.

Despite knowing she’d probably hate him more for it, he knelt down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. She twitched but let it remain as sobs continued to shake through her.

“They got the powder off of you, right?”

She nodded and gave a vociferous sniff.

“I know it may be hard, but you need to stop thinking about things from the past. Think of right now, this moment.”

Her face seems to crumple further and her eyebrows scrunched together.

“Don’t try to be nice to me! You hate me!” she cried.

“I don’t hate you,” Ron said, but couldn’t stop himself from adding. “I don’t particularly like you- but—”

“No- you should hate me,” she said with a shake of her head, scowl turning ugly and slightly unhinged, “because I hate you! You and Potter.”

“Shock and horror, what a surprise!” Ron feigned, rolling his eyes.

“I’m only sorry they didn’t kick you out with crazy Potter.”

Ron immediately dropped all pretence of politeness.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!?” He looked to the ceiling. “Was your Dad a Death Eater or something? Fucking hell…”

A sharp, almost manic laugh escaped from Ramona's lips. "My dad isn't anything anymore."

Ron's confusion deepened, his anger momentarily clouded by her cryptic statement.

"Okay?" he responded, concern and exasperation uncomfortably mixing together.

She brooded on the ground, no answer forthcoming. Fuck it.

“At the end of this exam, either I never have to see you again or we’re going to be co workers. Either way, I’m over this. What is it, Ramona? You said you hate me and Harry— so why? What the fuck have we ever done to you?”

Ramona's gaze bore into his, her eyes holding a world of pain and resentment.

“You’ve never done anything!” she yelled, acid and venom in every syllable.

“What does that mean?!” he roared back.

“It means you are the biggest disappointments I’ve ever had to meet!” she bit. “September first last year. Do you remember what you did that day?”

Of course he remembered. Every instant he could perfectly recall, until he was splinched; then it all got rather blurry.

He nodded his head, but began to dread what might come out of her mouth.

“You lot saved the Cattermoles. The Joneses. Cynthia Dooley. Robbie Reins. And more! I know the name of every person you saved that day,” she said with a sniff. “My parents are both Muggleborn… And my Dad reported to the Muggleborn Commission Registry September the first, but he didn’t escape.”

Ron’s stomach dropped.

“When we realised Dad wasn’t coming back, the rest of us ran for it. My Muggle-born mum, myself and my little sister…” Her voice trembled with emotion.

“I was so stupid… I really thought you might help my family like you did the rest. I kept telling my little sister you three were going to end the war. That we’d be safe. You’d save dad eventually!”

She turned her head down to her lap.

“They captured my sister and took her back to Hogwarts. That’s when they killed Mum,” she said, almost conversationally.

“I listened to Potterwatch every day hoping you might do something to help. Maybe free prisoners from Azkaban, strike the Ministry again, or free everyone from Hogwarts. Anything to help!”

Big tears formed in her eyes.

“But you never did.”

Shame wasn't a new feeling to Ron; he felt it daily for over a decade. It was a heavy cloak he'd worn since his earliest memories, a cloak woven from threads of poverty, indifference, and perceived inadequacy.

Growing up poor in the cramped Burrow, he had often felt the sting of shame as his hand-me-down clothes bore the marks of his older brothers' wear. There was an ever-present whisper in the back of his mind, telling him he was the unwanted sixth boy when his mother had secretly yearned for a daughter. The weight of shame had pressed even harder when he compared himself to his accomplished siblings and friends. And there were the insecurities he carried with him into adulthood. The gnawing fear he was never enough, not as a wizard, not as a friend, not even as a person. The lurking doubt he was merely a sidekick to Harry, forever in his shadow. The dread he'd never live up to the expectations of his friends, his family, or himself.

A litany of inadequacies played in his mind every day, echoing the voices of those who had ever doubted him.

Ramona's tears fell, and her words found a familiar dwelling place among the many shadows of shame that already haunted him. He wanted to explain, to tell her how much he'd wanted to do all those things she'd hoped for, but the words caught in his throat.

He had a wider group of people he’d let down than ever before. How many more people were out there cursing him for not doing enough?

Neville, who had been listening quietly, interjected, “Ramona… They did help. They were the most responsible for ending the war.”

“Not in time!” Ramona pressed on, her words heavy with pain. “My sister was tortured in that school— Dad got a Dementor’s kiss a couple of weeks before the Battle at Hogwarts. If they’d done something my dad might still be… be my dad.”

“Ramona…” Neville insisted. “It’s terrible what happened to your family. But this is not on Ron or Harry or Hermione. They’re just teenagers and it was a — ”

“Just teenagers?” Ramona spat, eyes falling to Ron. “I thought maybe… maybe you were ‘just teenagers’ when I finally met you at the first exam. I thought maybe I had been delusional, thinking anyone as entitled and lazy as you could be a hero… But then I saw you duel, how you flew, and how you lead…”

She shook her head.

“You’re not ‘just some teens!’ I’ve seen you! You’re amazing in the field. It’s like watching real-life superheroes… You broke into the Ministry, and Gringott’s and Hogwarts and saved so many families. You’re good and smart, and I had to watch as you helped family after family, but never mine!”

“That’s enough!” Neville said standing up. “You know that’s not fair, right? To expect them to save everyone?”

“They could've saved my family!” Her hard look crumbled and Ron wondered how young she was. She looked small and he found all the lingering anger at Ramona became brittle as tears welled in her eyes. “S-someone could’ve…”

Ron slowly slid down next to her.

"I’m sorry…” said Ron, not exactly sure what he meant by it. It was everything and nothing. It was a condolence for someone who had lost so much. It was an apology for not doing enough to end the war sooner. It was empty words to soothe someone whose anger and mourning he could endlessly empathise with. It was a place holder so he didn’t shout at the injustice of it all, or the injustice of being blamed. “I’m sorry we couldn’t do more.”

“Don’t apologise, Ron,” said Neville, voice surprisingly stern. “You did what you could, and it was so much… You don’t have a thing to apologise for.”

Part of Ron wanted to agree and tell Ramona off for her delusions. What did she think he was? How could she think him capable of saving her family? It was completely demented!

But… But he still wished he could’ve done it. Even if it was barmy and unrealistic and impossible…

And he had to wonder, how many other families had they let down? How many other people died or had their lives destroyed because they took too long gathering Horcruxes?

“So…” Ron managed to say through a tight voice. “Is it just you and your sister, now?”

“My dad’s not dead… I take care of him when his nurse can’t. That's why I was late for this exam—we’d run out of catheters and it was a huge mess, and then he puked, and I couldn't leave my sister alone with that. His nurse didn't show up because of a flat tire, and— and…”

“That sounds like a lot," Neville's voice cut through, a mix of understanding and sympathy. If anyone could understand ‘losing’ a parent, but they’re still alive, it was Neville.

Ramona nodded, her tears continuing to fall, and for a moment, amidst the pain and regret, a fragile connection formed between them all.

“Shall we join the others?” asked Neville.

Ron nodded while Ramona bit her lip.

“I don’t know how useful I can be, right now,” she said, voice smaller than he’d ever heard it.

“Ramona,” said Ron, standing up with a small groan. “You’re strong; tough as shit and mean as a fucking bag of rabid badgers. Let’s use that and end this exam, okay? Then you can throw darts at my photo or whatever you do in your spare time.”

Somehow that made her snort and a small smile flickered across her face.

“So… are you ready to kick arse?” he asked, finally noticing how sore his shoulders were from stooping.

She nodded and accepted a ride on his broom to the surface level.

“All good?” asked Vyse as they squinted into the sunny street.

“Yeah,” said Ron, giving his body one more Aguamenti before removing the bubble charm.

They were expectantly watching him, but this time he had a plan, a clear mind, and a fiery coal of hate against the Ministry keeping him going.

“Claudia, did you put a tracking mark on the Squid?”

She nodded the affirmative and did a Point Me spell.

“Brilliant. Okay we can hunt it down properly, now,” he said looking at his map. “When we were underground we weren’t able to hurt the Squid, except the red window. Harry managed to crack it. We need to break it to pieces and get the Aurors to leave the Squid.”

“Why would they leave it?” asked Ramona. “It can defend everything we throw at it.”

“Only if the arms are moving,” he said. “For a second, as the tunnel collapsed, an arm got stuck. If we get its arms stuck and bust through the window, we can get them.”

“It burrowed into the ground last time. Is there a way to prevent that from happening again?” asked Vyse.

“At the corner of the map,” said Ron, expanding the shrunk map from his arm for all to see and pointed to a spot. “Harry and I got to the edge and hit an invisible barrier. I’d wager the Squid can’t get past it either.”

“And once we get the Aurors out?” asked Theold.

“We need to split the Aurors up. If we get them in the open, we might stand a chance.”

“If they’re an easier target out in the open, we are too,” noted Neville. The corners didn’t offer much cover either.

“Then we’ll have given them a bloody good show for their money.”

The group grinned at one another.

“That’s all they want anyways,” Ron added in an undertone.

In minutes, the plan was in motion, and the recruits were positioned. Vyse and Ramona soared through the air on their brooms to strategically herd the Squid toward the designated corner of the map.

Ron, Neville, Theold, and Claudia waited with bated breath for the moment the Squid would come their way.

The waiting was absolutely interminable, and soon bated breaths turned to sighs and huffs.

The high sun had shifted and the shadows were growing long across the alley.

Standing at the ready in their buildings made his shoulders ache and hands twitch for something to do. The stillness of waiting let his exhaustion slowly take over. He was counting bricks to stay awake, when a tiny lone beetle landed on the sill.

The black beetle marched along, swaying to and fro as a small breeze tried to buffet it about. Its little legs made it positively waddle.

He let out a snort, and Claudia began to watch it too, an amused look on her face.

The two let out a small laugh as the beetle tripped over a nail and fell over, its small legs wildly flailing for purchase.

“Oh no,” Claudia let out, trying to poke it off its back without touching its little insect legs. Her compassion for the little bug reminded him of Hermione; she was always cooing at gross little things.

He told as much to Claudia as he pushed the beetle over for her, not minding touching it. Somehow beetles weren’t the same as spiders.

“She had a soft spot for Kreacher even, and he’d been calling her slurs for years!” laughed Ron.

“How did you and Hermione get together?” Claudia asked, a sappy look on her face he’d seen girls get about anything remotely romantic.

“Dazzled her with my good looks and charm,” he joked, watching the beetle nestle down and take a rest, no doubt exhausted from its time flailing.

Neville let out a snort.

Claudia watched Ron expectantly, a broad smile on her face.

“Well, maybe it wasn’t entirely those,” he conceded with a small laugh.

“Those two were dancing around each other for years,” said Neville with a rueful shake of his head. “We thought sixth year it’d happen. Dean, Seamus and I had a betting pool and everything.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” said Ron. “Eventually I got my head out of my arse… ”

“How long have you been together?” asked Claudia.

“Only a month or so, but I’ve been mad about her for years. I mean, she’s brilliant and beautiful and has this wicked passion about every single thing she does. And she’s fucking brave, it’s unbelievable. She sacrificed so much during the war, but even before, she’s the most kickarse witch I’ve ever met.”

Theold rolled his eyes while Neville and Claudia grinned at him.

His cheeks reddened as he realised how much a gushing sap he was being.

“Anyway, that’s part of why I’m joining the Aurors; so I can help her out when we get our signing bonus.”

“That’s so sweet!” Claudia sighed, her curiosity sated.

“Didn’t you win the Order of Merlin?” asked Theold. “You get thousands of galleons with that— no need for a piddly signing bonus.”

Ron’s head swung round to look at Theold. He didn’t seem to be joking.

“Yeah, my gran said something like that,” Neville confirmed with a nod.

“Oh…” said Ron, not sure how to respond. Did he not need the Auror money after all? The thought of having his own money was nice… but he wasn’t sure he liked it coming from his time in the war…

“How ‘bout you? Why are you joining up?” he asked Claudia, happy to have the attention away from his money matters and his soppiness for his girlfriend.

Claudia gave an embarrassed look.

“I don’t know… I just… The war was terrible, and I didn’t feel like I got to help the way I wanted.” Her posture slowly fell.

“How so?” asked Neville.

“When I read history books, I’d sometimes sit and think ‘ohhh if I had lived in that time period, I would have helped lead a rebel cause, or saved people!’ I thought very grandly of myself… But I didn’t do much of anything and didn’t know how to. I only worked at a farm with rescue animals. I wasn’t part of anything…”

“What kind of animals?”

“All kinds of magical pets— cats, owls, goats, rats— you name them. During the war there were so many animals homeless or hurt. That’s how I got good at tracking spells, and it didn’t hurt with my flying either. We’d get a floo or owl telling us about an abandoned animal, and I’d go in to retrieve it then rehab the animal, if needed,” she said with a shrug. “But I wasn’t like you or your friends. I didn’t save anyone.”

“Sounds like you saved a lot of someone’s pets, though,” said Neville. “I’m sure all those pets’ owners would be happy to know they were in good hands.”

She glumly leaned against the window.

“Not everyone is going to be on the front lines, but you were where you were needed,” said Ron. “If something happened to me, I’d want to know my little Pig was okay.”

“You own a pig?” Theold asked.

“Ooo really?” squealed Claudia.

“Oh! No, that’s my owl,” Ron snorted. The rest of the recruits shared grins. “Don’t look at me like that, my little sister named him.”

“I didn’t say anything!” she laughed.

“Pushover,” said Theold, a vaguely amused look on his face.

“You know… You’re a lot less scary than you seem in the papers,” said Claudia.

“I seem scary?” Ron asked, flabbergasted that anyone could find him intimidating, let alone that he had a reputation for it.

“Mhmm!” she brightly hummed. “The pictures all make you look brooding, and the papers all write about ‘eight foot tall Weasley and his terrible temper’— how you were like a fearsome bodyguard for Harry.”

Bemused, Ron continued to look at the beetle. Him? Brooding and fearsome? He’d only skimmed a few articles before chucking them in a fury, but hadn’t imagined something like that…

“I mean, you are unreasonably tall,” added Theold with a snort from the corner.

“And you definitely can be scary when you’re mad, but… You’re nice. And smart. They didn’t say anything about that.”

He gave a small grunt. Of course they didn’t. “Maybe they called me a smart arse.”

“Your plans have been smashing,” she said with certainty. “If I don’t get to be an Auror… It’s been nice getting to know you.”

“I’m sure you’ll pass. You’ve done really well.”

“Nothing like you.”

Unsure of how to answer, Ron looked to the ceiling. It was cracked and peeling.

He wished he knew how to comfort her, but as usual he wasn’t sure what to do. Ron wasn’t good with words. Funny asides he was okay at… With Harry and Hermione at least.

“If I learned one thing,” he began, trying to comb out a good way to say it, “comparing your achievements with others only leads to heartache. Believe me, I had six siblings and Harry fucking Potter as measuring sticks for years.”

She let out a small laugh.

“Okay, that helps,” she acknowledged. “What about you, Theold? Why are you joining?”

“Because I’d be awesome at it.”

“Come on! Why really?”

He gave a shrug. “Sometimes it’s not that deep. I would be awesome at it.”

“Theooold,” Claudia complained.

“Ask Longbottom.”

“Fine! Neville? Why are you joining?”

Neville thought about it in silence before answering, “this seems like where I’m needed.”

Neville and Ron shared a smile.

“See? Not everyone is a mushy sap like Weasley,” said Theold with a sly smile.

Ron was about to protest when their wrists heated.

‘Nearly there! -Vyse’

Ron shooed the beetle away. “Get out of here, little guy. Don’t want you getting crushed in the upcoming duels.”

With a few pushes of his finger, the beetle buzzed off.

Wands at the ready, they crouched. His thighs twitched like coiled springs, and the agonised suspense took over him. A strange cocktail of fatalistic relief and a blaze of resentment surged within him as the Squid approached. He hated every person in that thing…

He heard the Squid before he saw it. Each step it took viciously crunched into the ground.

Through a small crack in the wall he spied the tiny figures of Vyse and Ramona weaving a path behind the Squid on their brooms like a pair of herding dogs in a field. The moment the Squid turned down an alley, they’d zip to the other side and head it off.

The earth trembled into a chaotic dance as the Squid stampeded down the alley, its metallic appendages thrashing.

“NOW!” Ron's command cut through the chaos, and the recruits launched themselves into action.

Cobblestones exploded, and rubble flew as Ron and Claudia threw forward their ropes. The thick cables wrapped along the length of one of the Squid arms. Its arm was secured to the concrete barriers in the street.

Meanwhile, Theold and Neville did the same to the other side, leaving two arms of the Squid stretched tight.

The ropes strained and the bestial Squidroom thrashed and groaned at the effort.

The ground-recruits fled as Vyse and Ramona flew around the remaining tentacle-like legs and tied them off.

“GET CLEAR!” Neville yelled as he and Theold set off the explosive spells.

The percussive blast sent rubble flying, and if not for shield charms, Ron might have had his skull split by a flying chunk of cement the size of a quaffle.

The buildings on either side of the Squid remained standing for only a moment before collapsing in a sea of dust and particulates, locking the Squid in place.

He could barely see the Aurors inside, but none were standing after the impact to the Squid.

This was their chance.

“THE WINDOW!” Ron bellowed.

As one, the recruits aimed their spells at the blood-red glass. Unable to dodge or deflect spells, the already cracked window shattered.

The recruits continued the assault on the jagged window, but soon spells met theirs, and the Aurors emerged.

A white-hot spell snapped through the air and nearly hit Ron in the temple. He pulled his head back and nearly lost his balance behind a pillar.

He activated his watch:

‘Split up! -Ron’

Ramona and Theold converged like a whirlwind on Sealy-Pearce. Across the fray, Robards squared off against Vyse and Neville, a furious tempest of spells erupting around them.

Claudia ran towards Ron when a red spell hit her from behind. She gave the smallest of ‘eeps’ before her vest disappeared along with her.

Behind her disappearing form, wand raised, stood Musaad.

Spells blazed through the air, creating a kaleidoscope of magic as recruits fought tooth and nail against the fierce Aurors. And then there was Ron. He had no partner. It was him against the best dueller he’d ever met. He was on his own, and in the open.

‘Get to cover! Get to cover!’ raced through his mind.

He ran.

Ron scrambled across the rubble-covered cobblestones, his movements far from agile as he evaded the barrage.

He blindly cast a stinging hex. It must have hit its mark, for Musaad gave a grunt. Despite any injury, Musaad didn’t slow an iota.

Ron had to climb over a downed wall on all fours to avoid a crack of spells. The jagged stones clawed at his palms, but he ignored the discomfort, his sole focus on reaching the nearby building.

Spells crashed all around, and shards of debris tore and whirled around him.

He finally reached the building and hurled himself through the shattered doorway. The room was a dim, wooden chamber with peeling wallpaper, and offered minimal cover. He realised, with a sinking feeling, that he'd be a sitting—

‘DUCK!’ the command echoed in his ears as his instincts took over.

He dropped to the floor as a lethal bolt of magic snapped viciously beside him. The spell collided with the cracked wall, sending splinters raining down like deadly raindrops. A fair few punctured his arm and he let out a hiss.

Ron's heart raced as he scrambled to his feet, wand in hand.

“Fuck!” he let out as a purple spell was hurled his way.

He flicked his wand, barely conjuring a shield in time.

Musaad's assault rebounded off the barrier, unleashing a shockwave through the room's walls. Wooden beams groaned, and dust and debris filled the air like a choking fog.

The scent of scorched wood and ozone hung heavy in the air as Ron crouched behind his meagre flickering shield. He couldn't last long staying pinned down like this.

Seconds seemed stretched into agonising minutes as Ron tried to formulate a plan.

He didn’t have the element of surprise on his side. They weren’t trapped in the confines of a duelling ring — Musaad was free-range and relentless!

Ron’s breaths came in ragged gasps as the shield's surface flickered, its strength waning with every spell Musaad hurled his way.

‘Move it, Weasley!’

With a surge of determination, he threw the shield towards Musaad and cast a Conjunctivitus curse, temporarily blinding the man. Ron tried to bolt deeper into the building, but the floorboards creaked with each heavy step and Musaad quickly spelled him through an already crumbling wall, inches away from hitting a brick fireplace. Damn, he needed to avoid hard surfaces… Or did he?

His body ached and protested, but he pushed himself from the ground and ran further into the building. Ron managed to send a few spells back at Musaad. One spell grazed Musaad's shoulder, leaving a searing mark on his robe, while another sunk Musaad’s feet into a swamp-like mire, buying Ron precious seconds to widen the space between them.

If he could get Musaad in close quarters with hard surfaces, Ron might be able to beat him. If he missed with a precision spell, at least Musaad might get thrown into something that could incapacitate him.

"Where's... A... Fucking... Bathroom?!" he muttered to himself. his frantic search taking him from room to room.

Musaad's spells pursued him relentlessly, each one an intimidating reminder of his adversary's expertise. The gap between them was closing fast. Musaad prowled after his prey with precision and didn’t even seem winded, while Ron flailed and felt his lungs burning to shreds.

For an instant he dared to look back as he ran up the stairs.

“Weasley, you can’t keep running,” said Musaad, a glint of mirth in his eyes.

Ron burst through another door, finding himself in yet another narrow wooden hallway.

And then, at last, he found it.

An old, tiled bathroom stood before him, complete with a porcelain tub and sink; it was the perfect battleground.

Musaad sent a quick series of hexes Ron’s way, and he narrowly blocked them, but was forcibly thrown into the room across from the bathroom.

The room was cluttered with overturned furniture and shattered remnants of what once might have been a bedroom.

His breath came in ragged gasps as he regained his footing. With unsure movements he began to cast the unfamiliar spell. He’d just finished swiping his want through the air, when it was wrenched from his hand.

Musaad had taken up the doorway and disarmed him, easily catching Ron’s wand.

“Looks like you’re disarmed, Weasley.”

“Looks like it,” said Ron, slowly rising as Musaad’s wand was pointed at his chest.

“Hands up,” said Musaad, doing a small indication with his wand. Ron complied, slowly raising his hands, his fingers trembling with fatigue. Blood trickled from a small cut on his forehead, mingling with the sweat clinging to his brow.

“You’ve been a worthy opponent,” said Musaad, raising his wand and taking a deliberate step forward into the room.

Musaad’s foot landed on a floorboard that twisted and whipped him across the hall like a slingshot. Musaad crashed back-first into the porcelain tub, a loud groan escaping his lips as the wands slipped from his grasp and clattered to the ground.

With a ferocity born of desperation, Ron ran at him. He didn’t bother going for the wands— he let his fist fly. Pain seared through his hand, and he was fairly certain he'd broken a knuckle, but the satisfaction of seeing Musaad's condescending smirk wiped away was worth the agony.

Musaad finally lay still, face punchdrunk and unfocused.

Ron tapped the shield badge on Musaad's chest with his trembling fingers, activating the portkey spell that would send his adversary to the same unknown destination Harry had been sent earlier.

As Musaad disappeared in a snarl of magical light, Ron spat a glob of blood onto the floor, his chest heaving with exertion and triumph.

He tiredly bent and picked up his wand.

There was a calming chime, like a muted gong. A disembodied female voice, much like the lifts in the Ministry Lobby announced, “The third Combat Readiness Exam is now over. Prepare for evacuation.”

He only had time to blink before he felt the twist and pull of the vest taking him back to the Auror Department.

He expected to see a room full of recruits and Aurors. He expected to see Harry and Kevin and Claudia waiting. He expected the mirrors watching him and quills recording his every move. He expected someone there to help with his plentiful, but thankfully minor, injuries.

Instead, Ron was met with a dingy dark grey room with a lone bed against the wall, a side table and a toilet in the corner. He tried the door, but it was locked.

He performed a series of spells but Anti-Apparition spells were in place and nothing he knew would work.

“Hello?” he hoarsely called through the door, hitting the door with the fat of his fist. “Anyone there?”

No one answered him, but a pitcher of water and a cup appeared on the small table.

Suddenly, the disembodied voice was back: “Greetings Recruit, Interviews for the Fourth and Final Combat Readiness Exam have begun. When your interview time is near you will be released into the antechamber.

“Fucking ‘course they think locking us in solitary is a good idea,” Ron muttered.

He glanced at his watch but it was dented and the time was stuck at one sixteen in the morning.

“Do you have any injuries, Recruit?” asked the voice.

“I don’t know.” he rasped. Only the sound of ‘no’ must have registered because no one responded to his answer. It took at least a minute before he felt in his body enough to know if he had any injuries. He had a series of splinters up and down his left arm

Ron went to the pitcher and poured a glass. It was then he realised his wand hand’s finger didn’t want to bend around the glass. He must’ve either jammed it or broken it; he’d never quite been sure how to tell one from the other. He could do spells with his left hand, but didn’t quite trust the non-dominant hand to do something like heal bones.

Too tired and angry to worry about the interview, he drank his fill, took a piss, then sat back on the bed, picking splinters out of his arm. He was filthy and in dire need of a shower. His clothes began to cool and stiffen with sweat, and soon he was shivering.

The grime of battle still clung to him, and he felt a desperate need for a cleansing shower.

Restlessly, he attempted to find solace in a thin blanket. It offered little comfort or warmth. Micronaps, brief and fragmented, beckoned like distant islands of respite in a sea of exhaustion. Each time he slipped into the realm of sleep, he awoke with a start, the remnants of his nightmares with the Boggart dust haunting him.

He couldn't discern how much time had passed when the door to his cell finally swung open, its hinges creaking. With wary caution, Ron edged closer to the doorway.

The room he entered was a stark contrast to the cold, featureless cell. Warm wooden panels adorned the walls, radiating a sense of comfort that felt foreign after the ordeal he'd endured. His gaze fell upon Neville and Ramona

"Hey!" Neville greeted him, offering a weary but genuine smile.

Ron nodded in acknowledgment. "Were you stuck in a grey cell too?

"They let me out a moment ago," Neville confirmed, his voice tinged with relief.

“What time is it?”

“Search me,” Neville said, holding up his own damaged watch. “Got smashed and I’m rotten at repairing anything with mechanics.”

Ramona held up Vyse’s lucky coin and a bit of string. “It’s not a watch anymore.”

“Who made it to the end?” asked Ron.

“We’re all that’s left,” replied Neville.

“They okay?”

Neville gave a helpless shrug. “I have to assume so. Vyse got hit with a spell, then zipped away. I don’t know what happened to Theold.”

“The Squid got loose and pinned him, then he disappeared,” said Ramona.

Ron walked around the room checking each door. He was concerned for everyone, but most of all Harry. There was no sign of life beyond long-abandoned beds and drinking glasses with sips of water left.

“I’m sure Harry’s okay,” said Neville.

Ron shook his head. “I wouldn’t trust the Aurors with the care and feeding of a rock…”

Ramona gave a small snort.

“Are either of you any good with episkey? I think I broke my knuckle on Musaad’s chin,” he said, holding up a purpling knuckle. His finger could only marginally wiggle, but couldn’t hold anything or go into a fist.

“That’s not the same hand as earlier, right?” asked Neville, holding up his wand.

Ron made a hardy attempt to temper his glare. “No.”

Neville said the spell, and Ron’s knuckle gave a gross ‘pop.’

“Son-of-a-bitch!” Ron hissed in pain, but soon it was only a dull ache. “How about you? Any broken bits you need healed?”

Neville shook his head. “Surprisingly unscathed! Bruised as all out, but I have some okay bruise paste at home.”

Ron gave a grunt of approval, then looked to Ramona. She was wane and pale, but had a foreboding glare clearly telling him ‘fuck off and die terribly, if you please.’

“How about you?” Ron asked, despite himself.

Her glare softened the smallest amount. “The same ankle I hurt in the second exam is sore.”

“Need me to wrap it?”

She bit her lip, then nodded in assent.

He worked quickly and quietly. The ankle was swollen, but not nearly the purple mess it had been a few days prior.

“Thank you,” she quietly said as he was midway wrapping her ankle.

He nearly dropped her foot in surprise.

“Er… You’re welcome.”

Thankfully he had set her foot on the ground when she continued surprising him.

“You…” she began. “You helped me today. And the last exam.”

Unsure of what to say he opted to say nothing.

“That’s pretty par for the course for Ron and his friends,” said Neville, words more weighty than he let on.

A door opened and out came Sealy-Pearce, posture as straight as ever.

“Weasley. It’s time for your interview,” she said, face devoid of any emotion.

Neville gave his shoulder a squeeze and Ron promptly stood.

“Good luck,” said Ramona. She was unsmiling, but he could tell she meant it.

The corridor they went down was narrow, and his shoulder nearly caught on a torch as they passed by.

“Is Harry okay?” he asked her.

“He’s uninjured.”

That wasn’t the same as being okay, he wanted to argue, but he held his tongue.

Sealy-Pearce said nothing as she led the way, which was fine by Ron. He never was good at small talk with authority figures— not that they typically took much time with him anyways. Perhaps he hadn’t had the chance to practise.

Either way, he knew the simmering rage he felt towards the whole department wouldn’t be able to kept in check for long. It was best he held his tongue, grit his teeth and pushed down every swear and insult scrambling to break free.

They finally entered a small room that looked more like a place of interrogation than an ‘interview.’ It probably was an interrogation room. Behind a long wooden table sat Musaad, Robards, the Auror he had taken out on the roof, and another female Auror he didn’t recognize. They left an empty seat on the end Sealy-Pearce promptly filled.

“Take a seat, Weasley,” said Robards, waving a hand to reveal a wooden chair behind a small table with a pitcher and glass of water.

He sat, and immediately realised the chair was terribly uncomfortable. The back was too low, and the seat managed to slide back in an angle that made his tailbone hurt.

Ron stood, waved his wand and made it more his size and sat back down. If he was going to be fucked with, he’d at least do it without a sore arse.

“Water?” asked Robards.

“No thanks,” said Ron, trying to figure out where to lay his hands. On the table? In his lap?

“That was quite a show you put on in the exam,” said Robards, a wry smile on his face. “Quite a show… Musaad and Sealy-Pearce had said you were good, but I was impressed. We hadn’t heard much of you before this. Usually there are rumblings if someone has potential, but I didn’t hear anything about you from Hogwarts. Why is that?”

Ron clenched his fist and tried to convince his face not to flush. His face gave him the middle finger and slowly began turning him red, one centimetre at a time.

“I don’t know much about how ‘rumblings’ work,” Ron said, a small shrug.

He found himself rather impressed with his answer. He’d sounded sort of cool and nonchalant, in a way he rarely felt. The feeling of calm abated when he saw the unimpressed look on Robards face.

“Would you care to expand on that?”

Fuck.

“I dunno…” he said with a small cough.

He didn’t know what to tell them. All he could think of is things he probably shouldn’t say. Ron knew he probably shouldn’t say it was because he’d never been noticed a day in his life. He probably shouldn’t say he was useless compared to everyone else. He probably shouldn’t say they were putting him on the fucking spot and could eat a bag of dicks.

“Have some water, Weasley,” said Robards.

He promptly took a drink, and used it to buy more time. The water had a slightly acrid taste to it that made him wish for better water to wash it down with.

He had done things at Hogwarts… He’d never done them all that well, but he’d done things! He’d helped Hermione and Harry get across the chess board. He’d gone to the Ministry. He’d fought Death Eaters… He’d tried. And he’d obviously done alright in these trials.

“Maybe ‘rumblings’ aren’t much compared to people actually doing things?” Ron asked, scrambling to put his thoughts together and finishing off his glass of water.

“I mean, Neville’s obviously good enough to be an Auror, but I don’t think there were ‘rumblings’ before last year with him. But he was bloody brilliant at the Ministry in fifth year, and in sixth year he was there fighting off Death Eaters too.”

A few of the Aurors nodded, but Musaad bent forward. “This isn’t about Longbottom. This is about you.”

“I know that,” said Ron, irritation growing. “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to tell you why I was underestimated by people. That’s on you, isn’t it?”

He nearly slapped a hand over his mouth. He had to say the wrong thing.

Musaad leaned back in his chair, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Your performance today suggests you have the skills," Robards conceded. "But being an Auror is about more than skills. It's about dedication, teamwork, and a commitment to upholding the law. Do you feel you’d be capable of that?”

“Yes… I mean, I hope so,” said Ron with a shrug. “I’m… I try to be there for people. And if a law is a good one, then yeah, I’d commit to upholding it.”

“Sometimes you’ll be asked to uphold laws you don’t agree with,” said Sealy-Pearce, her face unreadable.

“Like the ones Voldemort put in place last year?” Immediately scowls turned his way. Ron averted his eyes. “If the Ministry has just laws, I’ll do my best. If it falls to hell again… That’s a different story.”

“What would you do?” she asked.

“Probably the same as last year,” he said, squinting at her and leaning back.

“Would you like to tell us more about your actions in the last year?” asked Robards.

Ron knew he’d have to tread carefully. The last year had more secrets than he thought himself capable of holding.

“Erm… What part do you want to know about?”

“We know you didn’t go to Hogwarts last year. Had a clever ruse with the ghoul taking your place,” said Robards, a genial smile on his face. “Was that your work or Arthur’s?”

“My idea, but my dad helped a bit with the spells.”

A few of the Aurors nodded in approval.

“So before you were captured at Malfoy Manor, what were you doing? I’m assuming you were part of the Ministry break in?”

“I was.”

“Why did you break in?”

“We needed to retrieve an object.”

Ron’s fingers tightened into the slight folds on the side of his trousers.

He wondered how much they knew of what he’d been up to with Harry and Hermione. Was this line of questioning about Ron and further proving his abilities by describing his record?

“What was this object?” asked Robards, genial mood slowly slipping into something more pointed and eager.

Were they fishing for more information about Horcruxes? If they were, they were a fat lot of idiots because he would never tell them anything. He’d rather bleed out on the floor and let them have an inkling of anything they wanted.

“A h—” Ron stopped himself. What the fuck? He hadn’t meant to say a thing and he’d nearly said Horcrux. He must have been more tired than he thought. “An object to help stop Voldemort.”

“Was this a Horcrux?” pressed Robards.

“I didn’t ask it,” said Ron.

Robards expression turned glacial.

“You were pretty gabby in the transcripts of your exams, Weasley. Is there a particular reason you’re reticent now?”

“I’m answering your questions,” said Ron, struggling to keep his voice neutral.

Robards leaned forward, his gaze sharpening. "Tell me, Weasley, have you ever had any struggles with your mental health? Stress, anxiety, anything of that sort?"

He knew Robards was trying to throw him with a sudden change in tack. Unfortunately, it was working.

Ron's heart stumbled and he hesitated for a moment, his voice less steady.

“Y-yeah. Sometimes. The last few years I’ve been fighting Death Eaters, I’ve lost people, and my family and friends were in danger… I think I’d be barmy not to have stress and anxiety during that.”

“But what about after? Today you had an extreme reaction to the Boggart dust,” noted Musaad.

“Everyone did,” said Ron, crossing his arms.

“Well, at least you didn’t dangerously blast one of your fellow recruits,” Musaad conceded.

“That wasn’t his fault!” Ron protested, struggling to keep himself in check. “He’s been through more than anyone.”

“Apparently…” Musaad with a small snort.

“Watch it,” Ron warned.

“You seem angry.”

“Of course I am. You’re a bunch of sadists who tortured my friend!”

“We didn’t put Boggart dust in the field,” assured the rooftop Auror. “The breeding den had been underground for years, it seems, growing without our knowledge.”

“Oh like that’s better! You put a bunch of people in danger—”

“None of you were in danger from that Boggart den you stumbled across. The only danger was from your friend,” Musaad added.

“Stop saying that!”

“You could barely restrain him when he was going mad. Are you really saying you don’t think Potter is dangerous under those circumstances?”

“He was but—” Ron cut himself off. He hadn’t meant to say that.

“Have you ever seen Potter behave dangerously before?”

He had to fight to keep himself from saying yes. Why was it so difficult?

“Under the right circumstances anyone can be dangerous!” Ron growled.

“The problem is, you can’t always be there to restrain him.”

“I know that, but—” Ron grit his teeth to cut himself off again. He felt almost compelled to speak.

“And while your loyalty is admirable, as an Auror you’d have to put the needs of your team and your government above your friend. Can you do that?”

Ron was about to snap back ‘probably not,’ when the realisation hit. He let out a bark of laughter and looked to the ceiling.

“Something funny?” Robards asked.

“You lot…” Ron said with another humourless laugh. “You’ve put something in my water and are trying to get a rise out of me. What is it, some sort of Veritaserum?”

“You’re not on—”

“I am,” Ron said surely. He could tell when he had been fucked with. It had happened enough times; the brains when he was sixteen, the love potion when he was seventeen, and then the locket… Add in Boggart dust and he’d had enough of it for a lifetime. His mind wasn’t entirely his to control.

The table mutely stared at him, but Musaad finally answered, “it’s a variant on Veritaserum. Makes you more suggestible to tell the truth, but leaves the speaker able to express themselves with full emotions, and able to hold back the truth if they are very inclined to do so. It’s less detectable than normal truth serum and less unethical as—”

“Less unethical?” Rons snorted. “You lot are nothing but unethical from where I’m sitting.”

“Oh?” Robards asked.

Ron could feel it— the need to tell the truth— the need to tell them off with everything he had. They said he could hold it back if he was very inclined to do so.

Too bad he had no inclination at all to hold back.

“This whole things has been needlessly fucked up. You didn’t properly check the place for dangers like the Boggart dust—”

“No one was in danger—” began Robards.

Ron had so many emotions going through his mind, it was hard to pick just one. He decided on livid.

“Mental stuff is dangerous, okay!?” growled Ron. “People’s heads being fucked with is dangerous! And you lot have done it every single exam.”

“As Musaad said, you can hold back what you want to say if you’re so inclined,” said Robards, jaw clenched.

“I’m not, but thanks for that reminder,” Ron said with a shake of his head. “Do you have more questions for me, or can I go?”

Robards gave a supremely displeased look.

“Do you even want to be an Auror?”

“After seeing how you treat recruits? Not really,” Ron curtly replied.

“In that case, do you have any final questions for us?”

Ron thought and stared at the floor before letting his eyes meet theirs.

“I’ve known three great Aurors in my lifetime, and they were all in the Order. Where were you lot? Why didn’t Dumbledore trust you? Were you even helping fight in the war?”

They stonily stared at him, except Musaad who looked away.

“There were many ways to help in this war,” Robards quietly said. He had a glower that should have made Ron nervous, but he didn’t care anymore.

“Right, well, I’ll take my Order of Merlin and shove it, shall I?” he said, rising from his chair. “How’s that for ‘rumblings?’”

“You haven’t been dismissed,” barked Robards.

“You saw what I can do. Either you think I’ll be good at this, or you don’t. I don’t reckon anything I say will change your mind for the better when I’m on truth serum-light. I’ve had enough of this. I’m off.”

Ron went to the door and realised he had no idea how to leave.

“I’ll escort you,” said Musaad, a wry grin on his bearded face.

Ron begrudgingly followed the man out the door, and pointedly ignored the barbed looks the rest of the table were giving him.

He’d utterly ruined his chances of being an Auror, but he felt strangely lighthearted about it. Theold had said he would get money for the Order of Merlin— that could cover his expenses along with his pub job until he could get employment he enjoyed and was proud of.

They were a few metres into the hall when Musaad let out a laugh. Ron stopped walking and stared at him.

He’d let his temper ruin his chances to be an Auror and now Musaad was mocking him. It felt like a most fitting end to a most imperfect day.

“And Robards thought you gave quite a show in the exams,” Musaad laughed. “I must say, Weasley, you’re one of the most interesting recruits I’ve ever met.”

“I’m on truth serum or whatever so you might want to shut up,” said Ron, fists beginning to clench.

“I am not trying to provoke you anymore,” said Musaad, putting his hands up.

“Okay…” Ron crossed his arms and looked down at Musaad. He’d seemed an intimidating figure, but Ron realised just how much smaller Musaad was than himself. “How was Harry, really?”

“I can’t reveal anything from his fourth exam, that’s confidential,” said Musaad, but he continued before Ron could protest. “Right before the exam it was reported to me that he was quite distraught. They sent someone in to check him over for any remaining spores of Boggart dust. He was able to gather himself after knowing Kevin Gunther was fine.”

It wasn’t fully relieving news, but it was better than not knowing anything.

“Thank you…” said Ron. He gave a forceful exhale through pursed lips. “Have I… Did I ruin my chances back there?”

“Oh you want to talk to me now?” asked Musaad.

“Might as well.” Ron shrugged and waited.

Musaad continued down the hall a few paces before he spoke. “Your performance in the first three exams was excellent. The only red flags we had for you were a wild case of insecurity, and you have a tinge of disrespect for authority. Nothing too major, especially given the circumstances… You were probably a shoe-in after exam three.”

“And now?”

“Well, Robards is a proud man… Deserves to be. He did quite a lot to help our side win this war, but from the inside. He has an impeccable record. And you chose to question it in front of his peers and throw your Order of Merlin in his face…”

“So I’m fucked,” Ron said, rubbing his left arm.

“Well, it’s hard to say how he’ll react. We are very hard up on recruits, and it doesn’t hurt that your best friend is one of the most politically powerful people in the Wizarding World. Potter was a bit of an upstart too.”

“He saved everyone’s arses. He deserves to be.”

Musaad nodded, holding Ron’s gaze. “One could argue you deserve to be too. We’re alive and able to interview you both because of the steps you took to end this war. That won’t be forgotten. And I won’t let your very fair reaction to our tests affect your chances if I can.”

“Do you have anything to do with this decision?” Ron asked, a tiny bit of hope scrambling its ways to the front of his mind.

“Yes. I do,” said Musaad before giving a laugh. “And despite how much you very obviously disdain me, I find I like you.”

Ron narrowed his eyes.

“I like what I saw in the field,” Musaad continued, not the least bit intimidated by Ron’s glare. “You’re the kind of person I would want beside me in a battle, and nothing you said in the interview convinced me otherwise. But, at the end of the day, I’m just one vote.”

He stopped walking, and looked Ron in the eyes.

“If this somehow doesn’t work out, feel free to contact me. I want to make sure you have a position somewhere for your skills. I could, perhaps, write a letter or talk to someone. That’s the least you deserve.”

Musaad put out a hand for him to shake, and despite everything, Ron found himself shaking it.

“You’ve got a good nose for tactics. It’s a pretty rare thing in someone so young. It’s been a privilege,” said Musaad, firmly shaking his hand before letting it go and leaving Ron in the locker room.

He changed, but the whole time he had unsure footing similar to when he’d just played a Quidditch game and finally landed on the ground. Everything felt slow and unsteady as he took each step and changed his clothes. The world around him felt like it was vibrating. The tensile pulse still rang in his ears, but he had no idea of where to move and nowhere to walk.

He felt the inexorable urge to run and run until he was far from this underground torture chamber.

He didn’t know if he even wanted to be an Auror anymore… But he didn’t want them telling him he couldn’t be one…

He wished he could say goodbye to the Recruits. He wished he knew how they all did on the exam. He wished to go home and check on Harry, to throw himself into Hermione’s waiting arms, and to maybe have some of his Mum’s cooking. He wished… He wished a lot of things, actually…

But most of all, he wished to sleep in his own bed and wake up not regretting a thing.

“Fat chance of that,” Ron mumbled to himself as he stumbled towards the lifts.

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

author's note:

Thank you to everyone who reviews- you all really help motivate me and make me feel tied to other people. Sometimes it's hard to feel a sense of community in my life, but you really give that to me and it means so much!

Next chapter Hermione's POV again.

[airandangels]

Watching S3E02 The Mandalorian, "The Mines of Mandalore"

My reactions and flagrant spoilers are behind the cut.

IS THERE GOING TO BE POD RACING

IT SOUNDS A LOT LIKE THERE'S POD RACING AFOOT

I see Peli hasn't got that tooth fixed, dental continuity on this show

I probably can't hope to see Boba and Fennec and Cobb in this episode, can I? The show's just going to taunt me with being on the same planet and not getting to see them.

nice flip, kid!

"Are you taking out Boba Fett?" Yes, for dinner and dancing.

(It feels off to me when people say BOBA fett and not Boba FETT. It's like the whole PEANUT butter/peanut BUTTER thing. I say peanut BUTTER and Boba FETT.)

"Spelunking? What are you spelunking?" I told you I'm taking Boba out.

okay, so you could just get a canary

and yes... this IS the droid with a bad motivator that Uncle Owen didn't quite buy.

IS COBB AT THE RACES THIS BOONTA EVE

IS HE WATCHING THE FIREWORKS ON A BALCONY WITH BOBA AND FENNEC

ARE THEY ALL WEARING FANCY SILK SHIRTS AND DRINKING FIZZY WINE

ARE THEY AT LEAST HAVING A GOOD TIME TOGETHER

WITHOUT ME

okay, Din sympathetically telling Grogu "I know, it looks scary" is precious. He's interacting with him so much more openly and emotively and it's really sweet. He's entered Full Dad Mode. We have only seen a fraction of his dadliness to date.

what a dump

I mean sorry about your cherished heritage and stuff but... what a dump

you know who you could've brought to help you with this mission?

someone from a MINING COMMUNITY

(someone who also prominently wears red)

this honestly does not bode well for R4

yeah he's toast

and now Din has Darth Vader breath noises

Troglodytes! Morlocks!

I love to see how bad you suck with that darksaber still, Din

listen, just because the air's breathable doesn't mean Mandalore isn't cursed

some pretty accursed shit went down there

(gestures in the general direction of Maul)

So he's just altogether given up on the idea of reviving IG-11? It doesn't matter any more that they were friends? Because he seemed really into that in the previous episode.

yep, figured there'd be Remains

ooh! and a trap

what the fuck is this guy's problem?

THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD'VE COME WITH A FRIEND YOU BIG SHINY DUMMY

YOUR PLANS ARE TERRIBLE

I WOULDN'T LET YOU ORGANISE A PISS-UP IN A BREWERY

and from inside the giant creepy robot emerges... a smaller, creepier robot

okay, endlessly enjoyable to watch Grogu toddle (or yoddle)

and use the little he's learned from the like weekend (DEFINITELY NOT TWO YEARS) he spent with Luke

"Get to Bo-Katan"

he needs an adult and that's the adult you tell him to go for?

THAT one?

can R4 even understand Grogu? Do droids UNDERSTAND GROGU? Are we going back to the Legends thing that R4 is Force-sensitive (hence he blew out his motivator intentionally so that R2 would get picked instead) and they're communicating that way?

WHY DOES SHE SIT AROUND ON A THRONE

GET A JOB BO-KATAN

well I guess now you've got a job of sorts, Rescue Spelunker

"Let's get rid of him once and for all" "I want to be left alone" "I will immediately drop everything and go to find you on a planet where most of the worst events of my life happened"

Well, when I say "drop everything," she was doing literally nothing

Of course, I get that Bo-Katan must be horribly lonely and really very bored, but jumping into doing this all by herself... well, it reinforces the general, traditional Mandalorian lack of common sense, so I guess she's a credit to her culture

I do enjoy her swaggery walk, good walking work by Katee Sackhoff

More troglodytes and morlocks!

of course he didn't think his dad was the only Mandalorian, and it's a strange line. Grogu's met her before, together with Koska and Axe, and seen them fight (they rescued him from being eaten by yet another monster), so of course he didn't think that, and of course seeing that Bo-Katan is good at this sort of thing shouldn't be a big surprise for him.

What's this jerk even trying to do? Exsanguinate him? What for?

and at least Bo-Katan knows what to do with a darksaber (and since Din lost it in a fight and she picked it up, doesn't that give her dibs again?)

YET ANOTHER, SMALLER, CREEPIER ROBOT

there's just a little eye guy in there, isn't there?

well there was

what was he trying to do there? shall we ever know?

"How did you find me?" "Your kid." The one you apparently don't remember telling to go and find me.

the acknowledgement that Din is Grogu's dad and Grogu is Din's kid is however appreciated

it's not his fucking fault they didn't have your favourite soup where he grew up, you crud bucket

When she says "I didn't embarrass him in front of everyone," is that a reference to Satine?

Interesting how what we expected to be the big season quest, finding a way to the Living Waters in the first place, is apparently accomplished in episode 2.

yeah, naturally there's something ghastly in the water that pulled him down, it's like you idiots don't know you're in Star Wars sometimes

so Bo-Katan has to rescue his doofy ass again

is that a mythosaur? were they aquatic? somehow never pictured them that way!

well, meanwhile Boba, Fennec and Cobb had a simply lovely time at the races, got a little bit tipsy, all fell asleep in a cuddle puddle with Jolene the baby rancor

[commandergrunglez]

I saw @/lostmylongbow do this with their character and Canach so I wanted to do it too with Grunglez and Trahearne/Canach

[thehivecorporation]

Welcome to the Bimbo Tank!

This is where we train our bimbos. Bimbofication is a very delicate process. Of course, any gender can be a bimbo. We just need to make sure you're both happy and stupid. And just a little bit of a ditz. We're assigning you Bimbo 423 as your mentor.

You don't need a mentor to be stupid? Oh, you poor thing, you absolutely do. You still think! You think you don't need a mentor. It's best to let us do the thinking.

What will happen? That's easy. Bimbo 423 will be by your side before you're allowed to socialize with the rest of the dummies. They're a bit too stupid for you right now. Don't worry, you'll be stupid like them in no time.

This is your room. See, it's a cozy room filled with pillows, a closet full of your new outfits, a nice little computer with spirals and some lovely hypnotic games. There's a large variety of toys as well for you and Bimbo 423. We're going to be pumping some gas in here as well. It'll make it harder to think.

Can't escape now, we've locked the door.

Bimbo 423 will guide you through this process, don't worry. They're very enthusiastic about brainwashing. They're going to show you exactly how you should be happy about serving someone else. How to deep throat a cock and strap. How to please a wet cunt. How to tease and how to react when someone rougher might come along. Then it'll be your turn.

The correct response to someone using you, by the way, is an enthusiastic "thank you, more" because you're going to be stupid from sex.

Now, please remember. Bimbo 423 is a ditz. They don't know big words. You're going to have to use smaller words for them. Soon enough you'll be talking like the cute ditzy bimbo in no time.

What's wrong? Oh, Bimbo 423? Body modification is within our skill set. We could make anything bigger and more sensitive. Impressive, aren't they? We work under the "if you're too dumb to understand body physics, they won't work."

It works surprisingly well for body modifications. We're able to give giant titties, massive cocks, cunts that are far more sensitive than normal. Sometimes all three on one bimbo.

Now, we must go. Enjoy getting fucked three times a day and edged even more, becoming a sex happy slut, and enjoy Bimbo 423.

[cosmica-galaxy]

Hear me out but what if church and Jorge had the players kids? :)

If you don’t wanna do this just get rid of it I’m just doin a lil ask

THE GO3LM BOIS!! YES!! New faves, instantly. Tw: Pregnancy and non-descriptive birth mention, but you get two giant husbands that love you so much! +Player has fem parts but is gender neutral +Set in Salty’s Self Aware AU

--

When you were captured in the wilds after escaping from the Employers by MERC, the last thing you expected was to find your nowaday-lovers, Church and Jorge. What started out as a prisoner situation eventually turned into a found-family situation, as you and both Church and Jorge seemed to find comfort in one another. But now, there was going to be a big change to the family dynamic…because you were pregnant. Being in a relationship with two towering GO3LM’s made some things difficult, especially since they tend to be rather rough when taking turns while having…’fun’ with you. So you didn’t have a single clue at which one was the father of the little one.  Upon telling them, they both seemed to grow very excited…like…frat-boy party levels of excitement. Both smashed some dummies and hooted and cheered with vulgarities strewn about as they jumped about at the news. Only stopping for a moment so the pair could come in close and pick you up with their large hands, nuzzling into your smaller form with a hummer-level of purring surrounding you on both sides. You could only blush as both quickly turned the conversation into a slightly heated banter on which one got the honor of being the child’s father. “I’m stronger, so it’s obviously gonna be mine.” “You couldn’t bend a car’s rim inside out, wimp. I bet it’s my kid!” “I’m more fucking suited for the job than you, loser!” “Nu-uh! I am! You’re shit in comparison, nerd!” Which usually results in the two GO3LMs gently setting you to the side before starting a wrestling match with one another in their living space. Being careful not to hurt you or threaten you in the slightest as they duke it out in the only way they knew how. How did you fall for such lovable dorky meatheads? In the first trimester, both of your large lovers are pretty much tearing down a part of the base to start making a new room for the little one. When I mean tearing down…I mean like…they’re taking sledgehammers to the rundown part of the base you lot call home and are using them to tear out a lot of the building. You can only watch in interest as they move about and carry heavy pillars of iron and concrete into the dwelling that’s now under construction. Despite the loud noises and the shouts from your two GO3LMs lovers, you get to watch their bodies sweat and their muscles move as the two hunks pretty much build a baby room from scratch.

Even during this time, they made sure that you were getting enough comfort and nutrition to help support the little one as they continue to build and furnish the new addition to the base. Pretty soon, the new room was complete with a new much more elegant flooring and walls that were fitted to a much more ‘homey’ scene. After the room was done, the two gathered up more supplies over the next few days before getting to work on the furnishings that would decorate the room. You had to get a bit more involved in this development because you were NOT going to tolerate a 50 pound weight taking the place of a baby mobile over the metallic crib. The sight was enough to make you shake your head and sigh in exasperation. They were himbos, but they were your himbos. During your midterms, you helped to plot out the room and what you would like for your little one to have inside of their room. It only started with one item, which was obviously the crib, before you started implementing more into the room. Starting with a PROPER baby mobile, a changing station, a play area, a bookshelf, a vanity and wardrobe, and a closet. Your two lovers were a bit disheartened at the sight of no weights or training utensils in the room, to which you could only laugh before giving them both a respective smooch. “We can always redecorate when they get older, but this is a baby room.” You tell them as you continue with adding more items into the room over the next few days. Using your strings, you pull out colored threads and make some lovely cross stitching and rugs for the baby room. It was a good way to occupy your time while your lovers were out on their missions during the day cycle of Nevada. Then as you do your typical routine for another day, you suddenly feel your belly move more than normal, making you wince. You felt like something was a little odd…but you say nothing as you continue to knit several outfits for the little one to wear when they arrive. I mean, you did have two large G03LMs for lovers, maybe the baby was just larger than normal. Then during your final trimester, you felt like you were going to pop. Among having lots of strange mixed cravings, you were also bloated as you laid in the large bed that you and your lovers shared. It was pretty much all you could do later on into your pregnancy, since you felt like you weighed as much as you looked. Eating for two and resting for two surprisingly took a lot out of you. However, your lovers were hard at work. Getting the medical area prepared for your youngling’s eventual arrival as they worked to make sure that they could get things fixed up as quickly as they could before the due date arrives, which you lovingly appreciate. Then, the day arrives. Your lovers had prepared for this, with your request to be by your side when your window grew closer acknowledged, so they were home the moment you let out a pained wail. The two rushed to your aid as you were beginning to make your way out of bed. After a brief headbutt on who should carry you, Church gently picks you up with his large hands before Jorge runs ahead to open the doors to allow Church to run through. You lot were both over at the medical facility in record time as they pretty much break the front door down as they rush inside, you say a loud apology to the clerk as you three run past, leaving a dumbfounded grunt in your wake. Then, you were placed into the medical delivery ward that was made specifically for you as Jorge and Church were told by the medical team to wait outside, since they were just simply too big for the staff to operate around efficiently. Making both MERC’s upset, but they could only sit outside the medbay and wait. So they waited…and waited…and waited. It was an hour or two of absolutely insanity-inducing anticipation as they looked at the clock for about the 12th time. Then, the doctor comes around the corner and beckons the two from the waiting room. Upon entering the delivery room, the two G03LM’s are stunned by the sight of two little bundles instead of just one. You look at the pair in an exhausted manner before smiling at them and urging them over with your strings. The two approach and are stunned by the little ones in your arms, to which you hold out one to each, and they take without a second thought. Upon pulling their little blankets back, two little shimmering gray faces were revealed. Youthful and sweet looking with one having a tiny little tuft of black hair on top of their head and the other having none. Each infant had striking similarities to one of the G03LMs that held them. Making the pair blink in surprise as they look at you for an explanation. “Twins…surpriseeeee!” You speak in an exhausted manner as the two new fathers quickly become excited, now having their quarrel with who the father was going to be resolved with having twins. You could only look on as the two nuzzled and purred at their new little ones. Rousing them from their sleep as the babies look at their fathers with a mix of confusion and irritation from being woken up. You doze off by the time your two lovers started up a new argument about names. The two are himbos to the bitter end. Not the best decision makers and probably not the best role models for your kids, as the two tend to mess with dangerous stuff a lot. Which encourages lots of reckless behavior in your kids. Guidelines become a must in your relationship, as you eventually grow tired from having to babysit 4 children instead of 2. So the dads are pretty much verbally leashed and you have to become the ‘scary parent’ in order for your kids to not get themselves killed. Despite everything, you still love your G03LM lovers and your children and the two can say the same tenfold. The two can’t imagine life without their growing family and without you being in it. They’ll protect you and their kids from anything and everything, no matter what.

[cascade05]

That's Just How It Is

Notes : Bakugo Katsuki x Reader, Body Neutral, It's Really Inclusive Tbh, Fluffly Fluff as per usual

Could you imagine the size difference between yourself and pro hero Bakugo? Like, he would be such a large man. (Similar to Endeavor and All Might but still different. Probably a similar shape to Captain America but a bit bigger maybe.) And what's amazing is that it really doesn't matter what shape or size you are, you will still most likely be smaller than him in some way.

Could you imagine his large hands just holding your waste and swaying with you in the kitchen? Or having to tell him to stop grabbing your luscious thighs because you are trying to focus. Or imagine squealing when he grabs you and throws you over his shoulder, hitting his shoulder and telling him to put you down cause you're heavy. Man will slap your butt (he loves the way it jiggles btw, that's just fact) and smirk at your squeak. ‟You ain't heavy at all baby.‟ ‟Really?‟ ‟Mhm, s'like holding cotton candy.‟ And if you're taller than him? He's still gonna treat you like that cause he really doesn't give a damn. He's looking up at you with a smirk and you hold up a warning finger, which does nothing—you know it will do nothing—and he will grab you and toss you over his shoulder, not without a slap to your butt ofc because I don't give a damn if you're skinny or dummy thick, this man will ALWAYS slap that. I don't make the rules, that's just how it is. If you're shorter than him (more than likely cause he's a giant man) than you better start praying cause he is always going to be grabbing you and he will not let you go. Course, if you like the unending touching and never getting anything done because he will not stop holding you, then you don't need to pray.

Lesson? It doesn't matter how heavy or how tall or thin or whatever you are, he will always pick you up like you weigh nothing and he will always have you sitting on his lap cause he loves how soft you are compared to him or how similar. Boom, that's just how it is.

[pa-stella]

I'm sobbing as I send this but can I get smiling between kisses with kuujyu ;;;;;;; 💜💜 thank you in advance

Wait, why are you sobbing?? Nooo!! I hope this little thing will cheer you up! More laughters than smiles, but I hope it's okay. Summary - Jyushi: *can't accept compliments* Kuko: *that Lady Gaga meme* Title: Addictive Fandom: Hypnosis Mic Pairing: Kuuko/Jyushi Prompt: Smiling in-between kisses

Jyushi’s room was exactly like its resident. A little quirky with many small details inspired by a specific aesthetic. Kuko, who was not used to such rich furnishing, had always been fascinated by the room. Even if there was a giant moon shaped lamp on the wall, the place was relaxing and calm… a good refuge from his everyday routine.

Every time he didn’t want to deal with the tasks given by his father, the young monk would declare that they would continue their training outside the temple and Jyushi would understand in an instant what he meant. They would stop in a nearby conbini to buy a few snacks and go straight to Jyushi’s house. Kuko would never confess it, but it had become basically a habit for him. 

They would usually play video games or watch a movie for the entire afternoon, but that day Jyushi had decided to continue sketching the outfits for his band's next concert, so Kuko busied himself with his manga collection. The small bedroom was silent if not for a visual kei playlist coming from the pc.

“Kuko-san.” Jyushi called him at some point, almost startling him. “I need your opinion.”

“On what?” He asked and got up from the bed to move near the armchair the other was sitting on.

“I’m trying to come up with a cool embroidery design to add on our jackets.” He explained as he showed him his tablet. “ArgoξOrchestra’s new song has a lot of references to the Western zodiac, so my idea was to create a decoration combining each member’s sign constellation… what do you think?”

Kuko looked at the sketch and nodded. Jyushi had recreated the logo of his band by using some of the stars of each constellation. He had to admit it was cool. “It looks great, but I thought you didn’t feel good enough at embroidering to do big projects…”

“Well, as you often say, I won’t get better if I don’t keep practicing…” Jyushi murmured and opened another file on the tablet. “I’ve been working on smaller projects for some time now.”

“Pretty good advice, I gave you!” Kuko chuckled while sitting down on the arm of the chair to look at the other pictures. “You’re already talented, so just imagine what you’ll do when you've mastered the art!”

“Oh.” Jyushi nodded and tried to hide his face a little, but Kuko caught the faint blush that had appeared on his cheeks. The visual kei singer loved compliments, but he still couldn’t handle them if they came from people he really cared about. The monk glanced at the abandoned manga (surveilled by Amanda) on the bed and at the tablet… they had both finished with their own things, so it would be okay to tease Jyushi a litte, right?

“You’re also so creative… look at these designs!” 

Jyushi blushed even more, hiding behind the tablet. “There’s no need to lie now, Kuko-san…”

“Are you calling me a liar?!” He pretended to be offended and took the device from his hands to place it on the nearby shelf. “I’m telling the truth. Talented, inventive, original…”

As Jyushi tried to cover his face with his hands, Kuko grabbed them and forced him to look up. “Kuko-san…”

Seeing him so embarrassed made the monk smile in an affectionate way before he continued with his list. “...unique, humble…”

“That… that has nothing to do with what I create…” The other protested and Kuko rolled his eyes.

“I’m trying to create a mood here.” He whispered. “Dummy…”

“H-Hey!”

Before he could add anything else, Kuko gave him a peck on the nose. “...a little too whiny…” 

At that, Jyushi giggled a little.

“...kind…” He said and moved to leave a kiss on his cheek.

“Kuko…”

“...attractive…” He kissed him on his lips for an instant but, when he moved away, he felt Jyushi grab his jacket and tug. He smiled. “...eager…”

This time Kuko took his time with the kiss and he actually struggled to pull away. “Have I already said attractive?”

Jyushi laughed out loud. “Yes, you have.”

“Mmm… so damn attractive, then…” 

“Don’t tell me you already finished the words to describe me.” His voice was a little deeper now, more similar to the one he used in his narcissistic chuunibyou’s mode. 

“You just made me remember one: cocky.” They both chuckled and shared another brief kiss. Kuko moved to get up and go back to his manga after that, but Jyushi grabbed his hand.

“I wasn’t joking, Kuko-san. G-Go on…” He was blushing again, embarrassed by the request he was making, but a little more confident after Kuko’s words.

“Let me think.” The monk smiled and slowly sat down on Jyushi’s lap. His lips were almost on the other’s when he whispered one last word.

“Addictive.”

[featherfur]

Meng Yao should have been around when Jiang Cheng was running around with his head cut off trying to make disciples out of rogues and convince everyone to get started on the war. I just think he’d see this, probably manic, idiot who needs help and is 100% willing to be bossed around and who really doesn’t care about Meng Yao station in life because he’s just fucking desperate and wants to die but can’t because Yanli and just go “actually I’m interested”. Because Jiang Cheng would riot if he knew Meng Yao wanted to go back to his dad, and well Jiang Cheng is very pathetic when he thinks he’s being left behind (“You’re leaving me for the Jin just like Shijie? Tears and loud words for you! Tears and loud words dor a thousand years!”)

And Meng Yao would have a spot in Lotus Pier where he is VERY clearly wanted, he probably doesn’t become sworn brothers with anyone (or LXC and NMJ realize that no one needs to give the Jin any more influence and become sworn brothers with Jiang Cheng) unless it’s Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian (unfortunately WWX will still probably be killed or hunted at the very least but atleast Qin Su is alive? Maybe having MY around will help calm JC into the fact that LWJ wants to bang his brother and help him so JC can convince WWX to let LWJ atleast play for him, then maybe WWX can accidentally let slip about him already destroying one half and LWJ can help destroy the other half… Dunno if the Wen Remnants survive either sorry, honestly I don’t know if anyone can stop JGS in the long run)

So there’s two ways this goes: (under read more I have Thoughts)

Meng Yao DOES go to the Jin Sect still because JC gets wanting your Dad’s Approval even when he’s a dick AND he protects Yanli who immediately adopted him when JC showed up to the war with him. Without being stuck between a Rock and a Hard place (sorry NMJ not everyone is a annoyingly stubborn with their morals as you and MY is being hurt :( leave him alone :(( ) MY is able to continue being pressured without breaking and even though JGS keeps trying to get him to manipulate JC, MY won’t and won’t manipulate NMJ either and every time he goes to Lotus Pier to ‘look into’ the Jiang Sect he actually just spends the week being plied with children and listening to Jiang Cheng explain the fashion industry Again and talk about silks vs cashmeres vs wool so he just gets a vacay and is more prepared to stand up against his dad.

Also JC and Yanli catch on pretty quick to Madam Jin abusing MY because they were there after Madam Yu would hurt WWX and they know the signs of trying to hide the pain and Yanli suddenly starts Show Up whenever Madam Jin tries anything because that is her Didi now and she will protect him and if anyone ELSE tries to mess with him she will rip them apart like when Jin Zixun tries to bother WWX.

JGS does eventually manage to frame something on WWX but MY intervenes immediately by telling JC the truth and without the ‘did my kinda insane PTSD ridden brother so this?” Panic thoughts JC gets his people and is waiting for the force of Jin and smaller sects, with his two sworn brothers on either side. Because yeah NMJ absolutely hates the Wen but can he really ignore LXC and JC? Plus NHS on the side? He’s only there to protect WWX, anyone else can get fucked and even then he’s only protecting WWX because JC asked him too because NMJ thinks WWX sucks for choosing the wens because he’s very much of the one track ‘the wens suck’ mind. MY pretends he has no idea what’s going on but he does summon Jin Zixuan on ‘accident’ who shows up, annoyed he had to leave his kid, and is like “are we really going to accuse Nie Mingjue, known Wen hater, of protecting Wei Wuxian and lying about his innocence? Because his sword is the same size as my body and I’d rather Not”

(okay he’s more polite and subtle but that’s the gist) somehow Jin Guangshan dies, I’m voting Yanli poisoned him because I think Meng Yao is 100% willing at this point to simply take the abuse because Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen aren’t essentially telling him to murder his father and that he’s stupid for not holding harder to his morals (sorry NMJ,,, you just,, I love you but MY is hurting and he’s not as stabby as you) NMJ is still very much crankily telling him his dad sucks whenever they meet but Jiang Cheng gets all sparkly whenever MY is around because MY will say he’s Doing Good, so there’s only so much room before JC start just biting anyone who even looks at MY wrong. (NMJ says he’s proud of JC once and JC just starts crying and NMJ UnderstandsTM why MY won’t leave him alone)

But Yanli has to be the one to kill him because MY wouldn’t because he’s a filial son and probably hasn’t lost his hope he will be Loved, Jin Zixuan wouldn’t because he’s like the only one in the entire show not down with murder, Madam Jin is not about to give up the power and money that comes from being the wife of Jin Guangshan even if JZX would take care of her because Yanli clearly is willing to rip everyone apart who fucks with her family and unlike Jiang Cheng is willing to change the status quo, and if JGS dies on a hunt they’ll blame WWX so Yanli just poisons him slowly and he dies from ‘illness’. JZX takes power, Meng Yao is told he’s amazing twelve times a day because JZX can do busy work and argue against anyone but he cannot have a small talk conversation to save his life. Life continues peacefully, Jiang Cheng keeps kidnapping JZX’s advisor because he misses him. Meng Yao knows how to control literally every single great sect but he’s busy chasing down his nephews and helping Jiang Cheng avoid marriage offers to do anything.

Once Jin Guangshan died, LXC and MY both swooped in to have the Wen Remnants moved somewhere else to ‘civilize’ them (using LXC’s own words here) and WWX is very much caught between Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji arguing over who he’s going home with and he’s honestly never felt more Loved TM. WWX spends six months to break the rest of the tiger rally under the grumpy/watchful eye of NMJ who still isn’t happy anyone from the Wen’s is still alive but he’s weak to puppy eyes and also when he’s being strong armed by his sworn brothers, MY, and NHS (though he still keeps an eye on the actual cultivators, he’s pretty much forgotten the rest of the Wen Remnants exist he just cares about the ones who know how to use a sword). Wangxian happens, idk how I’m voting for a wild Jingyi another orphan decides that he wants to meet the Purple Angry Man and body slams into WWX’s legs trying to get to the Purple man and LWJ catches him and it’s a full on romantic moment of staring into each other’s eyes while Jiang Cheng makes disgusted noises and Meng Yao pats his hand and just tells him to accept it.

Or Meng Yao stays in Lotus Pier because Jiang Cheng has problems and Meng Yao loves a messy loudmouth aggressive bitch with a secret heart of gold. Also Jiang Cheng is the exact kind of Demi-aroace dummy to not realize Meng Yao has a crush on LXC and keeps sending him over to Cloud Recesses to help with trade or something and MY gets to hang out with his crush constantly.

MY is Jiang Cheng’s personal advisor since WWX is currently refusing to process his trauma and staying in a very traumatic place. MY does try to help but WWX doesn’t trust him and probably only half trusts him around JC, BUT MY is very good with kids and helps work with JC on how to slip WWX supplies while negotiating directly with Nie and Lan without Jin glaring over him this time, and Jin Zixuan is more than happy to help when he can because again he’s just like the only one with modern morals and wants Lotus Pier to be strong since if all the sects fall then well the fucking demons/ghosts they hunt will eat them. So WWX is slowly atleast not ready to kill him, Meng Yao finds out WWX already destroyed half the Tiger Tally and tries to get him to let NMJ and LXC help him destroy it further (because that ties the three sects closer and so WWX won’t just stab someone if someone isn’t happy about the Wen’s existing)

Yanli poisons Jin Guangshan again because I think that’s the best way for him to go, Meng Yao does grieve but also that lasts for three minutes before Jiang Cheng shows up with some children he found in Yunmeng and Meng Yao needs to explain to him again that just because the kid latches on doesn’t mean you can take them home. But with JGS out of the way it’s a lot easier to strong arm NMJ into letting the Lan take the remnants (JC and NMJ still aren’t happy about it but NMJ can’t fight the three other sects and JC is getting his brother back and he’ll take the Wen living if that means WWX is too) and WWX returns to Lotus Pier. The truth of the golden core comes out probably via WWX having a flashback or panic attack or something (or that one theory of Yanli knowing,,,) words happen, WWX storms off to find LWJ.

Meng Yao wonders why he likes messy cry babies but still helps out Jiang Cheng because they’re technically brother in laws and also because he really does care about him. Wangxian happens and now Jiang Cheng is really pissed but WWX also said he wasn’t going to just up and leave so they’re on a rotating system but honestly everyone’s just waiting for them to move permanently to Lotus Pier because Lan Wangji has this giant hole in his heart for kids who love Wei Wuxian and Lotus Pier is filled with kids who are Jiang and therefore are insane ans love WWX.

Personally I think this one is the least likely but it sounds very nice right?

[shanastoryteller]

how different do you think the story would be if draco malfoy had been picked as the hogwarts champion?

draco doesn’t know how this happened, and he’s pissed off in between being terrified. he stands up, nose in the air, and walks to the front of the great hall, taking his place between fleur and viktor. 

he expects them to look thrilled. if he’s the hogwarts champion, they’re going to have an easy time of it, but instead the both of them just look concerned. he’s been talking with both of them, friendly with both of them, because he’s not an idiot, he knows what power looks like. 

he knows what it isn’t, and it’s him. he’s smart, and strong, but he’s a fourth year and even with all the spells he’s not supposed to know, he doesn’t have the easy, solid presence of viktor of fleur, people who are not only powerful but know how to wield their power, unlike potter who just stumbles around accidentally defeating monsters with that stupid confused look on his face. 

then, as if this whole situation isn’t bad enough all on it’s own, the goblet spits out one more name. 

harry potter. 

of course. draco doesn’t know what he expected, really. 

severus yells. his parents make an awful lot of scary threats that he knows they’re prepared to deliver on. his aunt floos over from the magical artifacts office to try and declare the goblet faulty, but it’s not use. 

his name came out of the goblet, so he has to compete. 

he can’t help but notice, however, that no one yells on behalf of potter, no one comes to his defense in the face of this ridiculous task they’re supposed to complete, not even dumbledore, even though potter’s supposed to be some sort of golden boy. it seems, maybe, that everyone’s forgotten along the way that he’s a kid too. 

that night his parents send him a package, and he rolls his eyes because he hasn’t worn something like this since he was a kid, but it’s not like he doesn’t understand the rational behind it. he slips the dainty silver ring on his middle finger, and makes a mental note to fidget with it. 

~

his housemates rally around him when he gets back, faces solemn, quiet as severus towers behind him. 

he sighs, rubbing his hand over his face. “well,” he says, “are we going to win this or not?” 

a slytherin is the hogwarts champion. he can’t get out of it, so he’s going to win it, he’s going to rub silver and green in the face of everyone who’s ever looked at him sideways because of his house. 

over a hundred eager smiles meet him. if he succeeds, all of slytherin succeeds, and so all of slytherin is going to help him. 

~

he finds out about the dragons from Flora, who’s cousin is an intern in the department of magical creatures. snape ropes his newts level slytherins into devising a sleeping potion powerful enough to take out a dragon, and cassius drills him in manipulating the bubblehead charm until he’s exhausted and his fingers ache and lungs hurt. pansy promises to carry the potion with her on the day of the first task so draco can cast a simple summoning charm to get it from her in the stands. 

the day of the first task, he summons the potion, casts a giant bubblehead charm around them, then a smaller one on himself, and smashes the potion in the center of the dragon’s forehead. it roars, and blue mist surrounds them, and then there’s a thunderous crash as the dragon falls to the ground, asleep. draco cautiously darts forward to collect the golden egg, darts away, and casts a dissipation spell before ending both bubblehead charms and running as far away from angry, sleep muddled dragon as he can get. 

he thinks it’s a pretty impressive display until potter flies around the horntail, outflying and out maneuvering her, and coming away victorious with the golden egg tucked under his arm. 

the second task seems to throw everyone for a loop. even severus looks perplexed by the screaming egg, and nearly his whole house writes their parents and uncles and cousins for advice. 

it all ends up being worthless.

everyone’s huddled around the egg in the common room, and there’s a pounding sound. draco closes the egg and they all look out the window, which of course leads out to the great lake.they are in the dudgeon after all. 

there’s a merperson, young based on the pattern of their scales, who’s pointing towards the egg, and them pointing towards themselves, then gives an approximation of a wink and swims away. 

marcus flint, of all people, is the one who figures it out. “water,” he says, “listen to it under water. it’s a mermaid singing.” 

his prefect takes him to the baths, and him and as many people as they can cram in there listen to the egg sing it’s pretty song. there’s some debate about what the merpeople will take, with vincent suggesting all his hair products and daphne offering up his broom, but it doesn’t actually matter what it is, because what they take doesn’t change what he has to do, which is get it back from them. 

severus offers gillyweed, adrien pucey says that draco might as well take advantage of the bubblehead charm he already knows, and theo, who is terrifying and brilliant, says it’s too bad he doesn’t have the durmstrang ship. 

they all go quiet, and severus stands up and says that he can’t hear this, then leaves, “hear what?” theo asks, blinking, and marla, who’s already been accepted to cairo’s curse breaking graduate program, leans forward, eyes bright, and starts coming up with a plan. 

then draco finds out they’re taking people, not things, and that’s just not on. 

they’ve taken his cousin. 

“luna lovegood?” potter asks, confused, because he’s an idiot, and draco ignores him. 

the stakes are suddenly much higher. he doesn’t think they’d actually let the hostages get seriously hurt for this contest, but intentions don’t mean much to him right now. 

the other three champions go bolting into the water. draco turns and goes the other direction. 

everyone’s in the stands, so the durmstrang ship is completely empty. people must be figuring out what he’s doing, because there’s some angry yelling, but stealing a ship isn’t against the rules, so. he does just as marla told him to, and he doesn’t know what and who she had to do to get this information, but he’s too grateful to question it. he steps to the captain’s helm, activates the underwater mode, and the boat sinks into the great lake.

steering is extremely difficult and requires more upper body strength than he’s thrilled with, but he’s surrounded by a pocket of air as the ship zooms past the other contestants, so he doesn’t care all that much. he throws up the shield to barrel through the line of merpeople acting as a barrier. he uses a severing spell to cut the ropes and summons luna into the ship. as soon as he crosses the barrier, into the air, she gasps awake, and he carefully sets her on her feet. 

“cousin!” she greets, smiling. “headmaster dumbledore said that i would be thing you most sorely miss. that means you like me, right?” 

“wrong,” he says gruffly, flicking her radish earring. “i love you, but i don’t like you, you’re weird and annoying.” 

she just keeps smiling at him, eyebrows raised, and uhg, this is the worst, she’ll never leave him alone now. “well,” she says, “we are related, after all.” 

“hey!” he says, but she only giggles. 

they should be leaving, he’s gotten here first and he can get back first, with his cousin in tow. 

but. 

what if something happens to the others after he leaves? viktor and fleur will be so upset if something happens to their girlfriend and little sister, and well, it’s not like harry will be any fun to poke fun at if he’s busy mourning his best friend. 

he can’t just say that though, and it’s not like he’s willing to come in last just to make sure everything gets back okay. 

“cousin?” luna asks, head tilted to the side. 

“shut up,” he says, and taps his wand on his hand. 

he transforms three wooden dummies with the hostages respective names carved into their chest, then right below it adds early bird captures all the prizes, xoxo draco and swaps them out, although he has to keep the ships shield’s activated while he does because the merpeople are pissed. 

gabrielle huddles into luna’s side, who speaks even less french than gabrielle does english, but draco’s too busy steering the ship to play translator. 

granger and weasley stand next to each other, staring at him like they’ve never seen him before, and he really wishes they’d stop looking at him. “what?” he snaps. “i just - i’m just trying to - to make them angry, is all.” 

“right,” weasley says, eyebrows pushed together. he and granger share a look. draco doesn’t know what it means, but he hates it. 

“oh, piss off,” he grumbles as the ship breaks the surface. 

the durmstrang students are clustered near the shore. their headmaster looks pissed, but all the students are laughing, so draco doesn’t feel too bad about the whole thing. 

viktor and potter bring back their wooden figures, and fleur stops crying and kisses him on both cheeks when she realizes draco’s gotten her sister. potter hugs granger and weasley, and the three of them keep looking at him. 

draco gets nines across the board, with each judge deducting a point for stealing, which he doesn’t think is fair. no one said stealing wasn’t allowed after all. 

~

the third task happens, and everything goes wrong. viktor attacks him, and later he finds fleur unconscious and sends up red sparks for her. he ends up fighting back to back with potter, which is hell, and the golden trophy is across from them. he and potter look at each other, for a moment completely still, and then they both go running. draco’s so close, he’s not going to let harry win this, even if the whole thing does seem a bit unfair what with viktor having lost his mind and attacking fleur, but draco’s not about to be a hufflepuff about this. 

because there’s no justice in this world, they grab it at the same time. 

draco’s used a portkey plenty of times, and it doesn’t disorient him. he lands on his feet with his wand out, and pointed right at a man with overly large front teeth. 

a crackly voice says, “kill the-”

draco doesn’t wait around for him to finish that sentence. “stupefy!” 

the stunning spell works, and the man falls to the ground with a loud crunch  that would be concerning if draco cared. “malfoy?” potter mutters, finally getting to his feet, looking too pale and green around the edges. his hand is pressed against his forehead. “i-i think something is wrong. we should leave.” 

“malfoy,” that same crackly voice says, and draco leans forward cautiously. “good, good. lucius’s boy. you’ll finish this, then.” 

cradled in the man’s stupified arms is a scaly creature about the size of a large toddler with beady red eyes. 

draco’s hit with overwhelming wave of revulsion, with wrongness, that he’s never felt before and can’t explain. “I-I,” he pauses, stepping back, and in front of potter, who still looks like he’s going to be sick at any moment. he keeps his wand out, but uses his other hand to twist the ring around his middle finger three times. 

“pick me up,” the thing commands, “we have work to do. i need your flesh.” 

oh, merlin above. 

there’s two pops, and then his parents are here, following the distress signal sent off by his ring. 

“mum, dad,” he says, taking another stumbling step back, finally able to breath when they step in front of him, wands raised, “that’s - i think,” he pauses, “that’s the - the dark lord.” then, because he wants them to make informed decisions, “he tried to kill me.” 

“did he,” his mother says, voice icy. his father sighs, like he already knows what’s coming, but makes no move to stop it. “avada kedavra.” 

there’s a flash of green light, and when draco peeks around his father’s shoulder, the scaly creature is unmoving. 

“dear,” lucius says mildly. 

narcissa turns, holding out her arm, and draco tucks himself against his mother’s side. “yes darling? surely you didn’t really want to get involved in this mess again. and,” her voice drops, “he tried to hurt our son.” 

“yes, of course,” he says, reaching out a hand to brush it through draco’s hair, “but keep in mind there are plenty of people who will want explanations of what just occurred. he’s not actually dead, you know.” 

his mother hums, “well, i suppose we’re changing sides.” 

lucius frowns, but it’s not like he’s going to argue with narcissa, so he says, “very well.” 

“um,” potter says, and the three of them turn to look at him, “what?” 

“that’s a portkey then?” lucius asks, looking to the trophy on the ground. daring, “i’ll handle things here, you go back with the boys. surely there’s someone who set this up waiting for whoever returns.” 

“uh,” potter says, “er, sorry, i just - can we take pettigrew too? he - i can use him to clear my godfather’s name, is all.” 

his parents both make a face like they’ve smelled something rotten, and his mother sighs. “i suppose dealing with sirius is one of the many prices we’ll pay for switching sides. very well. petrificus totalus! wingardium leviosa!” the mans stunned body rises, and voldemorts’ pathetic corpse falls with a dull thump. she looks expectantly towards them. “ready?” 

potter shoots him a desperate look, but if he’s looking for draco to explain his mother, he’ll be waiting for a long time. draco had given up on that by the time he turned five. he wonders if all this means that he and potter will actually manage to be friends. 

“come on, potter,” he holds out his hand, “mum’s probably going to kill at least one more person tonight, so best not to start questioning things now.” 

“at least two, if i get my hands on dumbledore,” she sniffs, grabbing draco’s other hand so she can travel with them by portkey. 

potter looks down at his outstretched hand, then back up, and only hesitates a moment more before taking it. “call me harry. isn’t ant of this, you know, weird for you?” 

draco shrugs. “we’re wizards, harry. weirdness is relative, don’t you think?” 

harry’s just grabbed the portkey, so his laughter gets cut off, and draco tries not to mourn the loss. 

hopefully, now he’ll get a chance to hear it again, after all. 

[conceptstage]

“Jester,” Caleb said with a kind smile. “This is your room.”

Jester squealed and hugged Caleb from the side. “Oh my gosh, Caleb! Thank you, I can’t wait to see it!”

Caleb cleared his throat awkwardly as she pulled out of the hug, his face a little pink, and continued down the hall. Jester reached for the door but her hand froze on the crystal doorknob at his next words.

“And Beau, this is your room.”

Jester frowned and turned to watch as Caleb led her to the next door down. “She… Wait.”

Beau glanced back at her over her shoulder and Caleb looked concerned.

“Jester? Something the matter?”

Jester opened her mouth to speak but caught Beau’s eyes and paused. She was looking at Jester without an ounce of protest or worry on her face. Didn’t she know that they were supposed to be roommates? They were always roommates. But Beau didn’t seem concerned.

“Oh, nothing,” Jester said finally. “Nevermind.” She squeezed the doorknob so tight that it might have broken a less magical doorknob and then she pulled the door open sharply. “Thank you, Caleb!” She disappeared inside without another thought and shut the door behind her.

She closed her eyes for a second, took a deep, filling breath, then let it out like a sigh, opening her eyes once more. The room was beautiful, she thought with a little smile. It was similar to her childhood room and she realized all at once that that was why Caleb had wanted to see it. The walls were a similar golden beige color with a white chair rail. A giant bed big enough for five people to lay shoulder to shoulder was on the left wall with silk white sheets, a fluffy yellow quilt, and a hundred pillows in silky yellow covers. There was an easel against the far wall but that wall was empty and blank to give her space to decorate it to her own discretion. There was a shelf against the right wall full of smut and Jester giggled a little at the idea of Caleb reading and memorizing them well enough to recreate them in his mind mansion. There was also a little table in the corner with a sign that read ‘Placeholder for Traveler Shrine’ and Jester could already imagine the one she wanted Caleb to make for her next time.

But, even full of all the things she loved, it felt… empty. Quiet. Too quiet. If this was an inn, Beau would already have claimed the bed (or the side of the bed, if they were sharing one) closest to the door. Maybe she’d have her notebooks spread out on the mattress, making connections between obscure conversations they had with that one guy four months ago and something she had read at the Soul today. Maybe she’d be talking out loud to herself as she thought, filling the room with soft murmurs and her warm, deep voice. Maybe she’d let Jester paint her again, reclined against the pillows with her notebook propped open on the thigh, spinning her pen around idly with one hand like she didn’t even realize she was doing it. Maybe she’d complain about the yellow bed dressings and she and Jester could get in a playful argument about what the best colors were.

She sighed and stepped fully into the room. Why did she suddenly crave the sound of Beau’s quiet breathing?

She visited the other rooms before dinner (Caduceus knew that they’d technically already had dinner at Trent’s but at least half the group hadn’t eaten a thing). Fjord’s dark captain's cabin that rocked gently like a ship at sea, Veth’s lavish spa room with hot tub and mud bath that never got cold or crusty, Caleb’s dark library with rolling bookshelf ladders and every book that he had ever read and memorized (including copies of several of the smut books that Jester had found in her room), Caduceus’ lovely little garden room, and even Yasha’s bed of roses and wildflowers. But not Beau’s. When Beau invited her over, Jester made an excuse.

“I’m hungry,” she said, still wiping steak sauce off the corners of her mouth from Trent’s feast. “I’ll drop by before we have to leave, promise.”

But when it came time to sleep, she still hadn’t been. She laid in her bed, the quilt pulled up to her chin, staring at the pastel pink ceiling. There were no crickets here. No crashing waves in the distance. No sound at all coming from the void outside her wall.

She chewed on her lip nervously and tossed off her covers before she could talk herself out of it, marching out into the hallway in her pastel green nightgown and fuzzy weasel shaped slippers.

She hesitated before shutting her door. What if Beau didn’t miss her at all? What if she was sleeping soundly, not worried about Jester at all?

But, still, she continued forward, shutting her door and tiptoeing to the next door down. She raised her fist to knock and squeaked when it opened before she even made contact.

The door swung open quickly and Beau jumped, startled.

“Fuck!” she exclaimed. “Jesus, Jes, you scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry! Sorry, I was just about to knock.”

Beau sighed and leaned against the door jam. “Did you need something?”

“Oh, no, not at all. I just realized I didn’t come see your room, is all. I thought… if you were still up… Wh-What are you up for?”

Beau licked her lips and avoided Jester’s curious gaze. “Just… going for a walk. Felt restless, is all.”

Jester nodded and rocked back on her heels. “Cool. Cool. How do you like your room?”

Beau cleared her throat and pushed off the door frame, opening the door wider so that Jester could step inside.

It was a smallish, simple room, smaller than Jester’s but with high, vaulted ceilings. The walls were bright blue, closer to robin’s egg than cobalt which was what Jester had expected. The floor was dark hardwood instead of her white carpet and there was a small, single bed against the left wall. There were fighting dummies against the far wall and a desk against the right wall with two empty bookshelves on either side.

“Why are your shelves empty?” Jester asked, stepping inside.

Beau shut the door behind her. “Caleb can only create books that he’s already read and he left them empty until I tell him what books I want there,” she said.

“Do you like it?” Jester asked, looking back at Beau over her shoulder. “It’s a lot… simpler than the other rooms I’ve seen. Fjord’s room moves, did you know that?”

Beau smiled softly and shrugged. “It’s perfect, Jes.”

“You wouldn’t rather have a super big bed like mine or super tall bookshelf like Caleb? If you want to change it, I don't think Caleb would mind.”

“The room is great, Jes. I like simple. I had fancy stuff at my dad’s house and it didn’t make me happy. There is one cool thing though. Come here.” She grinned and waved for Jester to follow her towards the bed. She hopped onto the bed and Jester giggled and followed, sitting on the bed and only laying back when Beau did. The bed was tiny so they laid with Jester’s arm and shoulder overlapping Beau’s and Beau shifted so that her arm wrapped around Jester’s back. “Watch this.” She puckered her lips and pressed her tongue to her teeth and let out a high pitched, lyrical whistle that echoed up the vaulted ceiling.

There was a beat of silence, then all the candles dimmed automatically. In the dark, the vaulted ceiling almost looked like an endless night sky. There was a pop, then a streak of bright light flew up to the top of the ceiling with a whistle, not unlike the one Beau had done to activate it. The light faded out of existence, then there was another pop and a red firework lit up the room.

Jester gasped and grabbed Beau’s arm out of surprise. “Oh, wow!” she exclaimed.

Beau chuckled just as a blue one went off. “The man knows me,” she said, sounding a little put off about it. “It’s cool, right?”

“It’s so cool! I love it!”

Beau was smiling, pleased, before whistling again. The fireworks stopped and the lights rose but neither of them moved. “Glad you came over to see it?”

Jester licked her lips and avoided Beau’s searching expression. “I… I didn’t actually come over just to see your room. It was too… quiet.” She shifted on the bed so that she was laying to face Beau with her hands pillowed under her head.

Beau sighed and moved to mirror her. “Yeah. I was… When you came to the door I was about to walk over to your room for the same reason.”

Jester smiled softly. “Maybe next time we tell Caleb we want to room together? If you wanted to, that is.”

“Yeah,” Beau said, then she raised up her arm to let Jester cuddle against her chest. “I want to. You wanna stay here in the meantime or you wanna go enjoy your giant ass bed instead? Spread out a little?”

Jester hummed and closed her eyes, instantly feeling tired and safe in Beau’s embrace. The sound of Beau's heartbeat against her ear was already lulling her to sleep. “No. This is perfect.”

[soldrawss]

pls grace us with those headcanons of the human turtle bois 🥺

OK ok ok ok ok okokokokokokok I’m so fucking glad you asked because I’ve been wanting an excuse to talk about my boys for AGES now. Here and here a post I did a little while ago about how the boys came into custody with Yoshi, but I’m gonna talk about when they’re older and teens since that’s fun! Pictures of them as teens, for context, are here and here.

So they’re technically all half brothers, except for Raph and Mikey cause I wanted that relationship for them.

Raph is the oldest, at 16. Donnie and Leo are the same age, though they aren't twins, at 15. Mikey is 13. I wanted to make Mikey a little younger than the rest of them because he’s baby

Raph and Mikey are half Ghanaian, Donnie is half Italian, and Leo is half Cuban.  

Yoshi still works as movie/action star Lou Jitsu, and it was Yoshi’s wish to keep his boys out of the spotlight as much as possible, so they could keep normal lives. So as far as all their schoolmates and teachers know, the Hamoto’s dad just runs a dojo on Prospect Avenue. Which is partially true, actually, and the boy’s current living place is above said dojo)

Mikey likes to express himself in the way he looks, so he’s always dying his hair and wearing bright and colorful clothing and jewelry. His favorite thing to wear is Raph’s giant sweaters, which he steals on a daily basis because he knows he can get away with it. Raph only complains about it half the time.

When Yoshi finally agreed to let Mikey get his ears pierced at age 10, Mikey was excited but secretly terrified to do it. Leo knew Mikey wanted to do it, but understood that it was scary to do it alone, so he volunteered to get his ears pierced too, using the excuse that it could be ‘their’ brother thing they did. Mikey was of course, ecstatic, and Leo didn’t mind the weird looks the other 12-year-old boys gave him on his little league team. Cause Mikey’s been parading the biggest smile on his face for the past week now, and if he’d known that it would've made the kid that happy, Leo would have gotten matching earrings years ago. (Now Leo goes with Mikey every time he gets his ears pierced. It’s sort of a fun bonding thing they get to do, and both of them enjoy the one-on-one time they get with each other.)

Even though Donnie is only a sophomore, he’s also taking concurrent classes at the local college that’s only a few blocks down the street, and even though he loves learning and is a literal little evil genius, he also hates the American education system, and actually got quite a bit of bad grades growing up before he had to teach himself how to perform and present his work the way the school could grade him properly on.

The only reason he doesn’t skip a grade or two, which he easily could if he took the aptitude tests some of his teachers try to get him to take every year, is because he doesn’t want to be separated from Leo.

Donnie has 4 sets of glasses at home because he’s constantly breaking them. Either from failed experiments or from getting into fights with schoolyard bullies and kids from his robotics class. (He and Raph both definitely have temper issues, and while Raph works really hard to keep his in check with breathing and physical exercise, Donnie just fully gives in to his, like a short live wire)

All the boys know a good amount of martial arts from Yoshi, though they’re never allowed to use it outside the dojo unless it’s specifically called for, (like a mugging or as self-defense) and are never allowed to use their weapons without Yoshi present. (though, Yoshi goes away a lot to California to shoot his movies, so the boys are left home alone a lot. And when dad’s away, the boys will play. Raph is pretty good about making sure the weapons never leave their home or dojo, but sometimes Leo and Mikey will try to knock down soda cans in the kitchen with throwing stars, and as long as nothing gets broken or too damaged in the process, Raph thinks it's fine)

Leo is extremely sporty, and while all the boys have their own hobbies they like to do (Mikey with his art and theatre classes, Donnie with his robotics and science olympiad teams, and Raph with his boxing club) it’s Leo who shines in the sports clubs. His favorites are Baseball and Basketball. He used to do soccer with Mikey when they were little, but he didn’t like the contact of it so much, and there was really no point to continue playing it after Mikey quit. (Leo is fast and scrappy when he wants to be, but he respects himself and his body was too much to try and play a contact sport like football. Plus, all the guys on the high school teams are jerks anyway, so Leo doesn’t even bother with them.)

Raph has always been a big and strong guy, even when he was a kid, he was always bigger and broader than most of the kids his age, and this trend didn’t stop in middle or high school. He got recruited to be in wrestling and football a LOT, but he has a bad knee due to a car accident when he was young (also the reason behind all the scars on his body) and can’t put too much pressure on it for too long without wrecking it. So he takes up boxing, which he absolutely loves. It’s a good way for him to keep his energy up and get a good workout in without hurting his knee, and it also helps him keep his anger in check. Whenever anything stressful or anxiety-inducing comes around, a few rounds with the training dummies and punching bags in the dojo do well to clear his mind and work out some of those microaggressions. 

The boys don’t have a whole lot of actual friends. Sure they have friends in their classes or clubs, but none of them they would consider a best friend, quite like they would consider April a best friend. She’s special. She’s the only one who gets all the perks.

They met April on a playground, like, 5 years ago, when some kids were making fun of Leo’s vitiligo, and she essentially swooped in and defended him and scarred the bullies off. Boom. Instant best friend forever. She’s also the only one that knows that Yoshi is actually Lou Jitsu. (she learned by accident, but she swore to eternal secrecy, so it’s cool)

Leo is allergic to shellfish. (Don’t know why this needed to be stated but it did)

Mikey’s the only one who has ever been suspended from school. (It was just a three-day suspension but still)

Donnie has a bad back from leaning over his computer and desk so much while working, that sometimes he has to wear a back brace and just lie flat on the ground for a few hours to stretch it out (Sometimes he just forgoes these steps and just continues to wok through the pain. Leo and Mikey have to physically threaten to get Raph to sit on him for him to actually try and take care of himself)

Mikey has a scar on his upper back from the same car accident when Raph and he were young. It doesn’t hurt and he forgets it’s there most of the time. 

They technically have two places they stay at. When their dad is in town and home from a movie shoot, they live in a penthouse suite in Batter Park City. They all have their own rooms there. But when their dad is away, they choose to live in the apartment above the Lou Jitsu Dojo that’s closer to their school and clubs, in Brooklyn. (That apartment is smaller, but the boys like the comfort it brings and prefer that one. Mikey and Leo share one room, while Raph and Donnie share the other)

When their father is away, they have a nanny that lives right next door, who’ve they affectionately call Piebald, due to her ginger hair and her giant koi fish tank set up in her living room. (Piebald had been their nanny ever since the boys were little kids, and she’s practically like a big sister to them)

[theheraldsrest]

“Inquisitor’s romanced companion (Cullen, Blackwall, or Iron Bull) finally seeing the Inquisitor come back from a long journey.” Well, someone likes big guys. Let’s give this a try. -Cabot

Blackwall

He had been carving the same spot on his piece for some time, but it didn’t seem to register. Once in a while, he glanced at the entrance of the stables, thinking he saw something but it was always just someone walking or birds flying. Each time, he’d shake his head, tell himself to calm down, and try to focus on what his hands were doing. It had been a week and a half since the Inquisitor left, accompanied by Varric, Bull, and Sera. Not the most reliable bunch but he knew they would never let the Inquisitor be harmed. He couldn’t help it. She had said they would be back soon, yet she wasn’t and had all together stopped sending messages to him. The last one he had received had contained only a few words: Thom, miss you dearly. Stormcoast is, as ever, cold and wet. On the plus side, plenty of spindleweed. As if we don’t have enough of it already. I love you. He couldn’t stop himself from re-reading this same letter, each time his focus catching on to her elegant writing over her words of endearment and his name. He was staring at it again, causing him to miss the wood he was working on had become weak, suddenly snapping. As he cursed himself, a chuckle reached his ears. “You know, if I hadn’t seen you carve the griffon saddle, I would’ve thought this was your first time working with carpentry tools.” His heart lifted as he turned to see that familiar smile and those shining eyes that he adored looking at him. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you didn’t know what soon meant.” She stepped closer to him, humming. “Two words. ‘Island’ and ‘dragon.’ I can’t control the bloody things appearing out of nowhere. Can you blame me?” It was his turn to chuckle as he pulled her into his arms. “No, I suppose not. Glad to have you back, love.” She pulled him into a kiss, Blackwall melting to her touch. The wait was definitely worth it.

Cullen

“Sir?” The commander snapped out of his thoughts, looking up from his desk to a scout standing by the door. “Yes, soldier?” He flinched at how dry his voice sounded and cleared it before saying “What is it?” “The latest reports from the spymaster, sir.” He stepped up and placed several papers onto Cullen’s desk. He picked each up, scanning them, looking for her name or even her title but nothing was found. He gave a frustrated sigh and looked them over to see if he missed something before noticing the scout was still there. “I don’t have anything new to report to her. You’re dismissed.” The scout gave a quick bow before going through the doors, leaving Cullen. Tenting his fingers together, he let his eyes unfocus as he thought. It had now been a couple of weeks since the Inquisitor left and not a single word had been sent back, not even from Leliana’s scouts. He knew he shouldn’t worry about her. She was strong, reliable, but he couldn’t help thinking the worst. Shaking his head so as to stop the idea of them being attacked by a dragon from creeping into his head, he stood up and left the room to walk along the ramparts. He stopped himself short before reaching the spot they usually spend time at and turned, instead, to look down on the grounds. He could see the troops training new recruits, the mages and healers working to restore those who were injured, something happened at the tavern as Sera jumped from the roof and ran, her cackling floating up to where he stood. Why the Inquisitor kept her around, he didn’t know. He couldn’t help his eyes falling to where he had usually spotted her when he walked about: under the trees where Cassandra sat, the spot next to the stairs where they had had there awkward chat, up to where he could see Vivienne leaning over the banister and back to the ground at the gates, where the horses were gathered, flicking their heads as their riders-wait what? He turned his gaze quickly back to the horses at the gate, their rider’s voices caring up to him. One of the riders jumped from their horse and was quickly moving to the stairs when she suddenly looked over. Even from this distance he could see that bright smile growing on her face as she waved and began making her way up the stairs. He made his way over as she finally turned on the final landing and spotted him, breaking into a run and throwing herself into his waiting arms, clinging tightly to him. He held her, the missing piece to his as he heard her muffled voice say “I missed you.” “And I, you.” 

Iron Bull

The sword he wielded clang against Krem’s as he threw him off. They had been at it for a while and Bull could see the sweat dripping down the younger man’s face but Krem focused, fixed his stance and charged again. In a few moments, Bull squatted next to Krem on the ground, panting and unwilling to move. “I think that has to be the most pitiful swing I’ve ever seen from you, Kremiscius.” Krem only smiled and shot back “Yeah, well, it’s going to be pitiful against a pitiful opponent.” He opened his eyes to look up at his chief’s frozen face. Bull could only grumble but held a hand out to pull Krem up. Once back on his feet, the smaller of the men looked up at him, a calculating look on his face. Bull turned away from him and waved over his shoulder. “That’s enough for today, Krem.” “Is this about the Inquisitor, chief?” Bull froze once more and turned to look at Krem, his brow creased in concern. To Krem’s relief, Bull smiled and said “Nah, the boss can handle themselves. It be foolish to worry about them. Besides, I’m giving you the chance to take a break. Better take it before I decide we need to go over your shield bashing again.” Krem quickly left, but the smile fell from his face as soon as Krem was out of sight. Krem knew him way too well. He rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. Sure, Frostback Basin was a good two week journey, and they had only been gone for seven weeks now, but it still made him worry. There hadn’t been any word back from them, all except their last letter, stating for Bull to be jealous because they went through a tournament-like trial. But that letter came around the time he assumed they reached the Basin. No other words or notes, not even a hint to what they were doing or what happened. Bull was trying to think of every scenario, knowing that kadan would be able to find a way out of each. Still, this wasn’t something he was used to, worrying about a lover. It was different now, he was committed to them, dedicated even. It hurt to wait, wait for any sign. He could see the same thing on other’s faces as they, too, waited. He decided to take out his frustration on the dummies nearby. It wasn’t until Bull had taken a few throws at the tied-up straw did he feel eyes watching him. He turned and felt all of his worries fall away. There, walking towards him, was his inquisitor, his kadan, with a smirk on their face. Bull turned fully towards them, crossing his arms across his chest and giving a dead serious look that made them pause. After a moment, they mimicked him and gave him a serious face as well. They stood in silence for a bit before Bull said “So.” His kadan raised their eyebrows in surprise. “So? That’s it? See me come back and say ‘so?’ “ “Yeah, pretty much.” Bull turned away, continuing his fighting with the dummy, fighting back the smile growing on his face as he listened. Nothing and then careful footsteps over and then a hand on his arm. “Did I miss something? Or did I do something before leaving that I’ve forgotten about?” Bull shrugged and continued. His kadan was quiet for a few moments before saying “Are you just screwing with me?” Again, he shrugged, refusing to look at them. He didn’t expect them to slip under his arm and get in front of the dummy. Now he could see the scratches and marks of battle on their face along with a worried expression. “Bull, what’s-” They jumped as he let out a surprised laugh, picking them up. They thumped his chest, yelling “Bull, you complete arse! I thought I did something wrong!” He pulled them closer, chuckling. “You did do something wrong. One being you didn’t make sure people knew you were alive and second being you didn’t bring me along to make sure you were alive. It was funny watching you squirm.” The inquisitor thumped his chest again, but they were smiling. “Next time I go to some Maker forsaken jungle with low hanging branches and trees, I’ll bring you along with me to fight the giant spiders and darkspawn. Sound like a plan?” Bull laughed, “No.”

There, enjoy. Have some burly men loving you. -Cabot