#happy professor chaos hits different!!!

[randomfox12245]

Now that I think about it, Shadow lost everything: His only genuine friend was slain like a dog before his eyes. Almost everyone he ever knew aboard the ark was killed . He lost his home. Not to mention shortly after witnessing the murder of his best friend, he was forced to sleep in a pod for 50 years, only to wake up all alone in a strange time period where he doesn't really know anybody. Since he was asleep for those 50 years his grief for Maria was fresh (If he wasn't asleep then he would have had a serious case of And I Must scream) . From his perspective Maria's murder felt like it only occurred a few days ago.

That's not even taking into account that it's implied that Gerald modified his mind and brainwashed him

No wonder he tried to destroy the world.

But that isn't grimdark enough so we need to say that his life on the ARK was a living hell where he was experimented on and treated like a lab rat too

There is definitely a period of time inbetween the capsule Maria launched him out of from the ARK landing on earth and Shadow ending up in the freezer in GUNs basement that is unaccounted for. It is presumed that during that period of time, Gerald was able to "complete" his work on Shadow whereupon the presumed mind alteration took place, and after which Shadow was tossed in the fridge and then Gerald was executed. SA2 's story leaves a open of open space in the timeline for our imagination to fill in the gaps. How much during that time Shadow was conscious and aware of what was happening is also left unanswered.

I would say that Shadow seemed to pop out of his containment pretty on the ball and ready to hit the ground running on the whole revenge plot. He sizes Eggman up pretty much right away, and then dips to start swiping chaos emeralds and slotting them into the ARK. He doesn't come across as very disoriented, he seems to know where and when he is and is resolute about what he needs to do.

My personal read on things is that Shadow wanted to destroy the world because he thought that's what Maria wanted, moreso than out of personal desire. His initial flashback scene has him saying that he only wants to fulfill Maria's final wish, which he believed was revenge.

Personally it seems like that if Shadow had come to a realization that Maria's wish was for him to give the people of earth the chance to be happy and NOT to take revenge, he would have stopped the plan right at that moment. He had a very low opinion of humanity because of the loss he suffered, and those feelings don't seem to go away even after he gets his proper memories back, but it doesn't seem like his personal desires are factoring into his actions at least to me.

His scene after achieving his goal and the colony drop being initiated also seems significant to me

He's not exactly cackling with evil delight over the people of earth about to be destroyed. He seems pensive. Almost somber. He's about to die too, after all. His line reads in both japanese and english are quiet and resigned. Compare to the Pure Dark ending of Shadow the Hedgehog for contrast

This being the ending where right before the final level, he hears the memory of Professor Gerald's voice in his mind. He's fulfilling GERALD'S final wish, not Maria's. There's a clear difference

I don't think Shadow is willing to forgive the world, but he knows without a doubt that Maria would be very willing to forgive the world. And her wish is what matters to him in the end. He doesn't seem happy that his plan to initiate the colony drop succeeded in the end of SA2, and he turns INSTANTLY upon realizing his mistake. Like I said, I feel like if he remembered Maria's proper wish earlier on then he would have put a stop to the plan right then and there.

But there's a lot of open questions and room for interpretation too. SA2 gives you just enough to wonder for more.

[burningvelvet]

I completed Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey in one day yesterday. I'm in a book hangover, but here are my initial thoughts on the novel, as well as on Anne:

- Anne is an underrated Queen, but I already knew that from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, her second novel. If only she hadn't died at 29! Agnes Grey was her first foray into novel publishing, and proves how much she developed her talents in the interim between itself and Tenant, which most people would agree is much better.

Yet, for a debut novel, Grey is nevertheless impressive. Her acute observations and descriptions of social experiences are some of the most clear I've ever read, and she was as adept in her satire as Jane Austen. After reading both her novels, Emily's only, and more than one of Charlotte's (Jane, and currently 1/4 through Villette) I can say she's certainly the most moral and progressive Brontë, and maybe even the most socially intelligent. There's a lot of humor in this book, and despite some of the dark themes, it never feels miserable.

Anne was a remarkably resolute woman, which comes through in both her heroines; even when they are oppressed and trapped in the most dire situations, they consciously refuse to adopt a victim mindset, instead trusting in their own strength and resilience. After enduring much suffering, both heroines trust in their faith, focus their energy on creating good lives for themselves, and by doing so achieve happiness in the end.

Anne Brontë's heroines are true examples of female stoics in the original philosophical sense, capable of great empathy and feeling as well as self-control and self-discipline. The Anne Brontë heroine has a quiet confidence about her. She champions moderation and common sense, not because she is boring or easily written off by the misogynistic epithet of "prude," but because she has witnessed true chaos and experienced true misery, and these things have served to make her more calm because she does not internalize them but triumphs over them. She has decided to learn from life's lessons and seek a life of tranquility, simplicity, and faith.

- This novel has everything! We've got the (literally designated) not-so-reformed rake in Sir Thomas Ashby (and what a rakish name that is), we've got some demonic children, we've got a sexy country parson, religious discourse, depictions and poignant criticism of classism, sexism, marriage, animal abuse, etc.

- Mr. Hatfield is basically Mr. Collins from P&P. Matilda rejecting him was golden.

-- The beginning of this novel, summarized: "I can't wait to meet these amazing children I've heard so much about! Gee, I really hope they aren't sociopathic animal torturers! What are the odds, am I right?"

-- No wonder the Brontë's didn't succeed in setting up their own school -- being a governess or teacher was simply horrible back then, as it largely still is today, and I think for the most part some of them simply weren't cut out for the job to begin with -- which is saying nothing bad about them or their abilities. Maybe if they lived today they would have done well as teachers or professors with a little more modern structure and having workers rights, etc...

-- I like the short length of this novel! It goes by very fast, and I read the first 100 pages or so myself very quickly, and the rest in audiobook format, but this is very rare for me. I've become accustomed to the Brontë family "language." I'm glad I didn't start with this novel though; I think it's easier to appreciate Agnes Grey after reading their "greatest hits" (Tenant, Jane, and Heights). It definitely isn't my favorite Brontë novel but then again I don't have a favorite. They each fulfill slightly different functions yet have many overlapping themes, so it's difficult to rank them.

-- I think one of the reasons this novel may not be as popular as it could be is because the first half of the novel is generally bleak and this may cause people to give up. The narrator's life generally improves in the second half of the novel, but still, Grey does not have as much dramatic "umph" as does what I hereby dub the "Brontë Greatest Hits Triad" (Heights/Tenant/Jane) which all will prefer. Still, the novel is worth reading for any Brontë fans as it is good and contains many of the Brontë tropes we all know and love. It also stands as a marked contrast to Anne's second novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and makes me appreciate that novel so much better.

[adainesfroggieboggy]

i want to share my future bad kids bc that i came up with for a fic. i love them dearly. Below the cut bc its so long.

Adaine goes to Fallinel for a while and goes into politics after college, but after quite a few years of working her ass off to fix the country, she leaves because Jawbone’s lycanthropy becomes very difficult for him to live alone. He has Sandra Lynn but they’re both getting old and he’s sick. She comes home for him, takes a job as the divination teacher at Augefort, and settles back into Elmville peacefully. I also think she dates a hell of a lot and I hc pan Adaine. I feel like with immortality, sexuality becomes pretty fluid, and Adaine very much leans into that. When she moves back to Elmville, she puts dating on pause and just teaches and cares for Jawbone (the principal of Augefort).

Fig and Ayda tour together for years. Fig loves playing and she never wants to stop. Not even when in their 30’s, Ayda decides she wants to settle down. They break up pretty amicably and Fig tours for a long time afterwards. She slows down when she hits her 40s and ends up living in Bastion City, still a rock star, but she doesn't tour quite so often or go quite so far, but she never quite stops. She's happy, and pulls tons of chicks when she wants to, but doesn't really date seriously? Even in her 40s, she's so young for an archdevil. Her friends have decades, she has centuries. She lives her young soul life for a long ass time.

Kristen spreads the gospel of Cassandra for a long time. She leaves the party to run the church and just gets too busy to continue the frequent traveling. She gets married and divorced, has a couple kids, and lives in Bastion City. She has a very amicable tradeoff with the kids and shares custody but spends the majority of her time running the church. Her kids are sweet and loved, and so is she. Her life is mundane and easy now, which she learns to really love. She just settles down and learns to channel her chaos. She becomes a very great mom, pastor, and person, doing a lot of volunteer and outreach work, loving the world, her life, and her family. I think she ends up having a very serious long-term relationship but keeps her very separate from her kids. it's a quiet life.

Riz is absolutely an investigative reporter! Murph says this in one of his fireside chats, and I wholeheartedly agree! He leaves the party first because he didn't ever want the adventuring life, he wants the detective, crime-solving part of it. He goes to school and ends up with a law degree (bc he's just cool and would absolutely take lawyer classes to make sure he was able to cite laws) and a really badass job as a reporter, kicking ass and taking names, but with words as his weapon! He stays in Bastion City, makes friends, and just is happy. He doesn't get married or have kids, but he has so much platonic love and familial love! He's so happy and cool and very effective. He likes to enlist Adaine for arcane cases, and she definitely heads over every time and stays over in his apartment and they're super close. He's also super close with fabian, but their lives are so different that it's a different kind of closeness.

Gorgug's life is super chill and simple He doesn't marry Zelda bc they're children, but he does fall head-over-heels for a woman and gets married. He leaves because he suffers a pretty severe head injury, but also because his wife is pregnant! He has a son his parents are so sweet and excited. He's a tinkerer, but also a professor at Augefort! Zac said that Gorgug may help people who are multiclassing, and I like the idea that Jawbone opens a completely new section of the school that focuses specifically on multiclassing, and Gorgug teaches both barbarian and artificer classes! He really chills out and his rage is very rare and almost always in defense of his family. Chill, happy, relaxed Gorgug just vibes with me.

FABIAN! My favorite most hc. He's a dad. He has two daughters and they're his whole entire world. Leaving the party was absolutely not his choice, but he lost his leg in a brutal battle and his body no longer cooperates with the way he needs to move. He's got chronic pain and just can't adventure any longer, so he ends up moving to a seaside town and becoming a stay-at-home dad. At some point during his recovery, his first wife leaves him and the girls and Cathilda moves in. The girls call her their Dida and she's like their other grandma. He's a stay-at-home dad and loves it! He and Aelwyn reconnect as adults and end up getting married now that they're no longer so toxic in each other's lives, and Aelwyn is an absolutely amazing stepmom. She'd never imagined having her own kids, but she loves the girls so much and they're all so happy together. Aelwyn is still a researcher and an abjurative wizard, so he happily stays at home. They might have a mansion in the sky because it's a bit in one of the fireside chats and I love to commit to a bit. They're so cute! Domestic, toxic masculinity is dead, stay-at-home dad and his smart, hot, kind, caring wife.

Also, bonus one, I am so tempted to kill Gilear. A lot of my hcs are based on actual things the cast has said, and Brennan says, "As the person who plays Gilear, I'd like to see him dead in the fucking ground." I am not a Gilear lover, I find him funny and entertaining, but there is something about that sad elf man that makes me wanna kill him. Like if we were in Spyre and I knew Gilear, I might just kill him. Straight up. (Kidding, kidding. I wouldn't kill him, but in a campaign? I'd probably attack him for fun so often bc i wouldn't have Emily at my table.) If he doesn't end up just straight-up dead, he's vice principal. It's much better to have his ex-wife's new boyfriend as his boss for the rest of his sad little life. No happiness for him. I love Emily, I love Fig. Gilear? Dead to me.

[spencerspecifics]

HI HI HI PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WRITE MOREID AT PRIDE AND SOME PINING AND SPENCER THINKS DEREK IS STRAIGHT BUT HE ISN'T AND THEY KIIIITTTTTHHHHH

I absolutely love your energy fuck yes!! I’m so sorry this took forever, ive got school, work and some other personal things happening so I appreciate your patience!

No TW, B u t, a creep hits on Spencer at pride, so if that is upsetting please note that! Thanks :)

———————————————————————

Pride

———————————————————————

Garcia had been pestering Spencer about going to pride for the past week now, and it was slowly driving him insane.

He used almost every excuse he could think of. When he first turned her down, he had simply said, “Sorry, I’m going to be busy that week.” And of course, Garcia being Garcia, she stole his calendar to see what he was busy with (spoiler alert: he had nothing. Except a reminder to go grocery shopping, and email some professors and research scientists back).

So, she persisted, and he came up with a dozen more excuses; “I was considering flying out to see my mom”, “The local museum has a new interactive archeology exhibit for adults, and I want to learn more about ancient structures”, “I have to do a presentation on thermodynamics”.

None of those excuses work, as she sniffed out every lie, “Spencer, you hate flying to Vegas last minute, that archaeology exhibit has been open for months, and your calendar is empty!”

So with her persistence, and legitimate bullying, Spencer found himself finally agreeing. “Fine, but come over to my apartment before we leave so you can help me.” After all, he wasn’t really familiar with pride parades, and what the scene was like there. He was going to be a fish out of water, he already knew that for certain.

~

True to her word, Garcia showed up an hour before the pride parade was set to start, carrying a coffee in each hand- how she possibly knocked on his apartment door, Spencer didn’t know.

“I brought you a pick me up, that way you have no excuse to be in a bad mood!” She spoke in her signature sing song voice as Spencer let her inside, she barreled in like a hurricane. God, Spencer wasn’t ready for this.

“Thanks..” Spencer decided to reply with that lame response, and not with what he was actually thinking. He took the coffee from her wordlessly as she stepped in further, going to sit down on his couch.

“You excited?” Garcia asked as she set her cup down on his cluttered coffee table. Reid just shrugged, “I don’t know. I don’t do great with crowds.”

“But you do great with disarming murderers?” “You know that’s different-” Spencer said, doing his best to argue, “Reid it is literally not. Both are anxiety inducing, but one is life or death, and it’s not pride. So you can do this.”

Spencer sighed, resigning himself to not arguing with Garcia. Because she was right, though at times her arguments sounded wild. He just had to get over this anxiety and show up at pride, he could do this, right?

~

Wrong. So, very, wrong. They had left his apartment with thirty minutes to spare, deciding to walk over to where pride was being held- as it was only a few blocks away in a public park.

And as soon as they got there, Spencer wanted out. There were so many people, more than he estimated (and his estimations were usually spot on.), and there was just chaos everywhere. Music, dancing, shouting, singing, drag queens running around happily. Spencer wasn’t sure what to do. He was out of his element.

Garcia seemed to sense that, though, as she dragged Spencer over to some stalls that sold pride flags, pins, and other miscellaneous pride related things.

“C’mon Reid, why don’t you look around and find something you like?” She offered up, something for him to do- something for him to stay busy with. He could do that. Spencer nodded simply, Garcia stayed by his side- looking at pride related wear for herself.

~

Spencer ended up deciding on a small pin that simply said; “love all”, planning to stick it on his messenger bag strap. Garcia bought a pin as well, but hers just had her pronouns on them; “she/her/hers”.

Looking at all the pride apparel was a good distraction for Spencer, he felt a lot more calmer now- though that didn’t stop him from feeling like he stuck out like a sore thumb. He’s just not familiar with this world, and it’s awkward to suddenly be in the middle of it.

Spencer was in the middle of looking at another booth that sold flags, possibly considering buying himself a small one to stick in his pencil cup at work, because Garcia left him to go compliment a drag queen- when a voice broke through.

“Hey, pretty boy!”

That was a voice all too familiar, what on earth was Morgan doing here? Spencer looked up at him as he made his way towards him. “Hey,” Spencer spoke awkwardly. Not sure what to say.

Spencer was gay. He was fine with admitting he was gay, but he hadn’t really told the team. He thought they figured it out on their own. And they probably had, but still, having his coworker see him at a pride event- it was anxiety inducing.

“What’re- what’re you doing here?” Spencer asked, stumbling over his words as he dropped the small flag he was holding back onto the vendors table.

“Oh, well I’m on the local PFLAG committee. I’m just here to hand out flyers and stuff. But I’m glad to see you’re here, I’m guessing Garcia’s here too?” He asked Spencer casually, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on Spencer.

He was on the PFLAG committee? Why? To help queer people, obviously, but that had to mean he was gay or something- Spencer couldn’t stop his mind from coming up with every possible answer to why Derek was on the committee.

Spencer just nodded in response, he moved himself back from the vendors table to get out of the way, so other customers could look at the flags being sold.

“Yeah, she’s- there.” Reid pointed her out, as if on cue she came out of the thick crowd that had started to gather back up, the parade portion of pride had concluded by now, and people were coming over to the vendors section.

“Hey, Babygirl!” Derek called over to her, and Garcia somehow lit up with a smile brighter than the one she was wearing before, “Well, hey!” She responded enthusiastically, walking up swiftly to give Derek a quick embrace, which he happily returned.

“I wasn’t sure how long you were staying for, but I’m glad I caught you!” Garcia started rambling to Derek, about how the drag queen she met was so nice; “Her name was Mysteria Hysteria. Isn’t that genius?”.

~

Spencer just stepped back from them both, not sure what to do, not sure if he fully belonged. Pride was a nice event, it was. But the longer he stood around, the more he felt like he should be leaving. Everyone was laughing and smiling, everyone was just happy. And Spencer couldn’t stop racking his brain. In the beginning, he couldn’t stop thinking because of his anxiety, but now he was searching his brain for a reason why Derek was here and what it meant.

Of course, a stupid large portion of Spencer’s mind went to “maybe Morgan likes men”, and then an even larger and stupider portion of his mind had the absurdity to think; “maybe he’s interested in me”. Which Spencer did not even want to remotely entertain, because if he fell down that rabbit hole, he’d never climb back out.

Because yes, he did like Derek. He liked him a lot, the start for his liking towards the man was innocuous enough- which is why it was a problem for Spencer. He didn’t realized he liked Morgan until it was too late. And now he had been battling these feelings for years. Spencer wasn’t ever going to act on them, he just had to live with them- which he had been doing, which he has been content with. But this new information, about Morgan being here, being part of PFLAG- it was going to make Reid’s mind implode in on itself.

~

Reid decided the best thing was to say; “I’m gonna get some water, I’ll be back.” To which Derek and Garcia both nodded to, and Spencer was off, away from the vendors stand and the only two people he knew at pride.

And while that was a good thing, it was simultaneously not so good. Because now he was alone, overwhelmed, and thinking too much. And now he had a task to do, find himself some water.

~

That task seemed to be more difficult than anticipated, as the prides layout was a confusing maze, spencer had to pass in front of a group of drag queens in order to get to the food trucks that were on site- but he eventually got there.

He walked up to the first food truck he saw, it didn’t matter what they sold, he wasn’t getting it.

“What can I get for you?” The cashier asked him, “Just a water, please.” He ordered, the cashier nodded and pulled a bottle out from a cooler that was nearby within the truck, handing it over to spencer as they told him his total, a dollar twenty five. Spencer paid quickly, stepping back and away from the food truck, as he wasn’t sure where else to go now. He didn’t want to go back towards Derek or Garcia, he honestly wanted to go home.

He just needed a minute, some space and time to breathe and relax. He was stressing himself out. And about what? Nothing of goddamn importance, just a stupid crush he had been living with for a while now.

~

Spencer had been leaning against the back the food truck for not long, only a couple of minutes as he was absorbed in thought as he fiddled with the cap on the water bottle.

He was doing his best to follow the grounding techniques he had learned, something to help him calm down, when suddenly- a stranger emerged out of the crowd.

“Hey there, handsome.” The man said confidently as he strode up to introduce himself Spencer. Spencer looked up to meet his eyes, the man in question was a fine looking guy, chiseled jawline, long shoulder length hair, a bit of facial stubble. He was handsome. “Hello,” Spencer answered hollowly in response. In an ordinary situation, he would try and seem more lively- but he wasn’t in a normal situation, not at all.

The anxiety of attending pride was stress enough on its own, but now knowing the guy he had been drooling over for years was here- and worked as a PFLAG volunteer? It was enough to make him lose his mind.

The man didn’t seem to notice Spencer’s empty response, however, as he answered suavely in response; “I couldn’t help but notice you from across the way. I’m Fabian,” Thankfully, the man- Fabian, didn’t stick his hand out for a handshake, instead casually pushing his hair back a bit.

“I’m Spencer,” Reid replied simply, knowing it was best to ride this odd social interaction out, rather than try and fight it. “That’s a lovely name,” Fabian complimented, “Is this your first time at pride, Spencer?” He asked him casually, taking a step forward, closer to Spencer. He was all too confident for Spencer, he too comfortable with invading Spencer’s space. If Spencer could’ve, he would’ve stepped back.

“Uh, yeah. My friend dragged me along.” Reid explained, twisting the bottle cap back onto his half empty water bottle. Fabian nodded, “Your boyfriend didn’t take you?” Fabian asked him. That was a leading question, Spencer had alarm bells ringing in his head the second he heard it. “No. He- um- he met up with us here.” Spencer replied unconvincingly, Fabian obviously did not believe a word he said.

“Well,” Fabian took another step forward, practically blocking Reid in against the back of the food truck, leaning in farther to whisper in Spencer’s ear; “I don’t see him around. So, why don’t you and I get out of here? Hm?”

Spencer wasn’t sure of what to do. He wanted to kick this guy in the crotch and just book it, but he wasn’t sure if his FBI status would protect him in this scenario. He wasn’t sure what could protect him in this scenario.

“Pretty boy! There you are!” A saving grace broke through, and suddenly Fabian was stepping back, and Morgan was walking up.

Thank god, thank fucking god, that’s all Spencer could manage to think as Derek came to stand beside him. “Hey, babe.” Spencer said, cringing at his voice, at what he just said. But that feeling only lasted for a moment as Fabian was still standing right there, staring them both down now.

Spencer could only throw his wish in the sky and hope Derek caught it coming down, ‘please catch along to why I’m calling you babe’ Reid was trying to say.

And Derek caught it, “Hey, baby, was worried about you. Who’s your friend?” He said in his smooth voice, a voice Spencer couldn’t forget. He especially couldn’t forget now, being called ‘baby’ was something Spencer especially could not forget.

“I’m Fabian, you’re Spencer’s boyfriend?” Fabian asked, as if them both calling each other ‘babe’ counted for nothing. “Yeah, I’m Derek.” Morgan responded simply, sliding his hand around Spencer’s waist as if to prove a point. Fabian just nodded, looking between Spencer and Derek one last time before talking; “Well, it was nice to meet you, I’ve gotta get going. See you.”

And then, he was off, fast walking away from Derek and Reid, escaping the terrible situation he had created. Fabian quickly disappeared into the thick crowd, and by then Spencer had his hand squeezing his water bottle all too tightly- as evident by the terrible crunch sound it made. He was too anxious to let go.

“Hey, are you okay?” Derek asked him softly, pulling his hand away from Spencer’s waist. “Can we find somewhere else- can we go sit down?” Spencer asked him quickly. Reid didn’t want to talk about it right this second, right where it had happened. He wanted to leave, he wanted to leave pride and never come back.

~

Derek didn’t ask a single follow up question as he led Reid away from the food trucks, taking him back towards the vendors stands, and then a bit further back, into the normal-not-so-pride-parade-filled park area. Somewhere less stressful, less scary.

“What did that guy want?” Derek asked Spencer casually as they made their way towards a bench that was sat under a large oak tree. Spencer didn’t speak right away, instead he waited until they were seated to start talking.

“He was trying to flirt, but then he wanted me to leave with him.” Spencer explained as he took a deep breath in, just being away from all the loud sounds and sights was helping him calm down. Derek rubbed Spencer’s back in slow, circular motions as Spencer kept talking.

“He was a classic example of a narcissistic personality, it just made me so uncomfortable- he invaded my space.”

“He was a creep, Reid. Simple as that,” Derek kept rubbing Spencer’s back slowly, Spencer nodded. “I know. Sorry, it shook me up.” Spencer attempted to apologized, and Derek was immediately having none of that.

“Reid, no. Don’t apologize for that, don’t you dare. He was a creep, I’m sorry you got caught up with him. It’s okay if you’re shaken up. We can stay here until you feel up to going back, or we can leave. But I’m not leaving you.”

~

And so they sat for a good amount of time on that park bench, at one point Derek stopped rubbing Spencer’s back, instead just keeping his arm stretched out against the back of the bench and against Spencer’s back. Spencer loved it, but he knew if he thought about it for too long he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking. That was his biggest problem, he couldn’t stop thinking.

He had to know, he decided, he couldn’t just wonder why Derek was on the committee for PFLAG. He wanted to know, he had to.

“Derek?” He spoke up softly, sounds of laughing and shouting and music were still heard in the distance, but they were safe from the sounds under the tree. “Mhm?” Derek hummed in response, looking up at the aforementioned tree that was providing shade for them.

His eyes were tracing the way the branches curved and bent around each other, it was something he did to pass the time. Spencer thought he was extraordinary for it, Derek loved to see where things went; he was curious- after all these years, and all the bad they had seen together, Derek still loved to search and find the beauty.

“Why are you on the PFLAG committee ?” Spencer asked him, it was thankfully an innocuous enough ask to not draw too much of Derek profilings side out to pry apart his question. Derek shrugged, and was quiet for a second before responding, “I know what it’s like to be a scared kid, unsure of his identity. If I can help someone through that, that’s all that matters. Same reason I’m in the BAU, to help people.”

Spencer stayed quiet, Derek’s reason was so sincere and so sweet and kind- and only driving him to think further. Was Derek still unsure of his identity? Was he an ally? Why did he have to make Spencer swoon so hard without even trying?

“So, you’re just an ally?” Spencer approached Derek carefully with that question, not wanting to impose or be rude- but just feign simple curiosity, praying Derek wasn’t using his profiling skills right now to decode Spencer’s fake motive.

Derek didn’t notice, thankfully, as he chuckled lowly in response; “No, pretty boy, I’m bisexual. I don’t really tell the team, but it’s not confidential information. Plus, Garcia found Grindr on my phone. Can’t hide anything from that girl.”

Spencer nodded, mumbling something in response about how Garcia had hacked his email to make sure he was free for pride. And then, the two fell into silence again. But it didn’t last for long, because Derek wanted to know just as much, why was Spencer here?

“What about you, Reid?” Derek asked him cautiously, the way you approach a puppy you find on the side of the road. Calm and slow, trying to get him to trust him bit by bit. “What about me?” Spencer asked, not wanting to answer anything about himself unless Derek was specific.

“Are you an ally?” Morgan asked him, leaving the question open ended. Spencer could say as little or as much as he wanted. This is how you get him to open up, Derek knew that for a fact. “Um.. yeah, I mean- who isn’t? I just- I have to be. I’m.. gay.” Spencer admitted all too awkwardly, not at all in a normal fashion. But nothing about Spencer was in normal fashion.

Derek nodded slowly, not responding as he stared back up, tracing his eyes over the tree branches yet again.

~

A few hours had passed, Spencer and Derek eventually left their peaceful bench under the large oak tree, and instead moved back towards the parking lot.

“Garcia’s got a ride home already- I think she got that drag queen to get her home.” Derek explained as they approached his truck, Spencer nodded as he followed Derek. “Anyways,” Derek continued speaking, “I can give you a ride home. Let’s get going.”

“You don’t have to-“ Spencer started, Derek immediately shut him down. “I want to, c’mon. It’s late, you’re tired. I know you are. Let me take you home.” Spencer just nodded in agreement, he couldn’t argue with Derek, even if he did try. Morgan was a stubborn man.

So, Spencer followed Derek into his truck, and they sat in comfortable silence as they started on their journey back to Spencer’s safe space, his apartment.

~

By the time Derek pulled his truck into the apartments parking lot, Spencer knew something was just the slightest bit wrong. Derek had barely spoken for the entire ride, and usually he loves to say something, to make Spencer smile or laugh, or even just nod and mumble in agreement. But he had done none of that on the way to Spencers.

“Are you alright?” Spencer asked, turning to face Derek as he put the vehicle in park. Derek didn’t meet his eyes, staring at the steering wheel instead as he spoke; “Yeah. Sorry. I’m just thinking.”

“About what?” Spencer pried, absentmindedly unbuckling his seatbelt as he spoke, “About today.” Derek said, not explaining further. “Was today bad?”

Derek shook his head, “No. It started weird, it’s ending pretty good, though. But I’m gonna regret today forever if I don’t do something right now.”

Now, Spencer was confused. Not sure at all what Derek could be talking about, “What do you mean?” He asked, voice quieter than before.

Derek said nothing as he unbuckled his own seatbelt, turning to face Spencer as well, and then he leaned in- closer than they had ever been before. Their noses were almost touching, and Spencer didn’t move. Instead, he watched Derek’s eyes expectantly.

Then, Derek broke through, they were no longer intersecting each other’s personal space- now they were fully destroying each other’s atmospheres. Derek’s lips were on Spencer’s, a chaste, soft, quick kiss- something Spencer would have wanted to go for a lot longer. But then, he pulled away just as fast.

“...That’s what I meant..” He mumbled after a second, looking back towards the steering wheel, looking away from Spencer- and more importantly, not seeing the smile on Spencer’s face.

Spencer couldn’t help it. He knew it was terrible to be smiling right now- he should jump and say something to fix what was happening. But he had to smile, he couldn’t believe that had actually just happened, his brain was still computing and re-circuiting, trying to savor the memory and not forget how Derek’s lips felt against his.

Spencer dragged himself out of his own head quickly, though. He did all he could think of to do in the moment, get Derek back. “Morgan.” Spencer said, tugging on Derek’s sleeve as he did so, forcing him to look back at Spencer and meet his eyes again.

But Spencer didn’t say anything, and he didn’t give Derek the chance to speak, either. Instead, he leant forward, pressing his lips against Derek’s. This is all he had wanted to know for the longest time, and now he had it.

~

Maybe pride wasn’t so bad after all, you just have to be with the right people for it to work out.

———————————————————————

[shipskicksandgiggles]

dialogue prompts

New Year, New Prompt List!

well, sort of. last year, I started writing down the weird or funny shit people said around me and that I occasionally contributed to and turned it into a prompt list, and since it's a new year, I figured what better way to celebrate? you know the drill, send in a number and a ship/dynamic/character, or reblog this and have fun!

(btw this is college prompts pt. 3, second year fall semester edition. the first two lists from this series are here and here)

have a good 2022 folks,I can't wait to see what you come up with

“Hey, can we get a fish?” “We don’t have room for a fish.”

“Look, I didn’t believe you were a heavy sleeper until I didn’t realize you were asleep and I accidentally slammed the door and you didn’t even move.”

“That man looks and sounds like Bill Nye the Science Guy.”

“Sorry I’m wearing a tuxedo shirt, I was doing close up magic earlier.”

“Yeah, I have a pigeon. She’s an asshole.”

“As long as it doesn’t catch on fire, you can have it, and if it does catch on fire, that’s none of my business.”

“My astronomy professor gave us dating advice.” “Is it good dating advice?” “I don’t know, do you want to go watch a meteor shower with me?”

“There’s a stop sign on that door.” “Yeah, the people who live there stole it.”

“I just heard a girl yell ‘stop’ at a guy squeaking his shoes and I am 80% sure they don’t know each other.”

“It ‘hit different’ as the kids say.”

“I’m going to murder Plato.” “Plato’s dead.” “You say that like it’ll stop me.”

“No, shut the fuck up. Did you just call me Nicholas Cage?”

“Who just casually speaks Russian? For what reason?”

“Don’t look at me like that.” “It’s 80 degrees and you’re wearing a sweatshirt.” “I run cold!”

“Okay so-” “Ooh they’re about to get into it.” “I'm ignoring you. Okay SO-”

“You ever have a dream so good you wake up with a low blood sugar?”

“It’s 40°, why do you have a fan running?” “The noise.” “You’re getting a noise maker for Christmas. I can't do this anymore.”

“I’ve been lying through my teeth all week and I’m not happy about it.” “You can’t lie.” “I know.”

“He’s from Indiana.” “Do I look like I care?”

“Hey can I borrow this?” “Yeah, what for?” “You’ll see.” “Are you doing something illegal?” “… No?”

“Never have I ever driven a pickup truck.” “Did you just say get hit by a pickup truck?” “No, I’ve done that before.”

“Do you have an Instagram?” *obviously scrolling through Instagram* “No.”

“I just blew on a pencil with my mask on like that was going to do anything.”

“Were you a band kid? Or a choir kid maybe?” “Yeah, how did you know?” “You have this specific look in your eye, sort of like fear. It’s obvious to someone who’s been through the same thing.”

“Look, am I stupid? Yes. Is the guy I have a crush on somehow stupider? Yes.”

“Don’t eat peacocks.”

“Shit!” “Gosh darn it!” “Sorry!” “I’ve never actually heard you swear before.”

“If you say the word ‘buttress’ one more time, I’m going to throw you out of a window.”

“That’s not what an obelisk is, shut up.”

“No, I can’t do this, I know French, I can’t listen to this-“

“Did you just say ‘raw banana’?”

“Permission to hug?” “Granted.” “Oh fuck my ribs.”

“We all know Zuckerberg isn’t human.”

“Can I borrow your brain?”

“Um?” “Oh, sorry, yeah, I can pick up weaponry and learn how to use it really fast.” “UM???”

“I don’t think we realized how much you talk until you physically couldn’t. Please get your voice back, it's too quiet.”

“Hey, want to cause some chaos?” “Do you need to ask? Obviously.”

“You said you weren’t going to be gay, and then you were. Congratulations dumbass.”

“Look, I listened to a podcast about skinwalkers in the middle of the night and I couldn’t sleep.” “Oh yeah, bad idea.”

“Where are you going?” “Evelavor’s haunted.” “What?” “ELEVATOR’S HAUNTED.”

[theimpossiblescheme]

I do so love reading about your OCs - particularly in their relationships with the other cats! Would you happen to have any more HCs in that regard? For whomever you choose <3

*cracks knuckles* Oh, I definitely have some thoughts, my friend...

About half of Gus's old troupe have passed on, including the dearly beloved Andromeda and Lila, but he always considered them good friends. And of course, all of them were the best honorary aunts and uncles his children could ask for. Cornelius and Brighella were more than happy to match Jellylorum's energy and enthusiasm, Iphegenia and Wiskuscat (though the old codger would never admit it) helped Asparagus come out of his shell and find his own niche in the theater, and Pumpernickel helped foster Mirza's love of dance. But on the few occasions they've been to the Lost Dog pub with Gus, they've all agreed that Sempronia is just too much. Even Gus, while he's plenty fond of her, knows a little of that grande dame demeanor goes a long way. Asparagus especially is more than happy to just sit with Cadogan at the bar while Sempronia entertains the rest of the pub, and his family is quick to join him.

(Ironically enough, the extended family member who gets along best with Sempronia is Jenyanydots. Jelly brought her along one evening to spend time with her family, and she supposes it only made sense that two dedicated, passionate performers would hit it off so quickly.)

Cornelius and his mate--the longest living of Gus's troupe--has been making regular visits to Cattywampus's bakery for years. He remembers the old tom trying his paw at acting years ago and actually being rather good at it before giving it up for a quieter life, and there's a part of him that admires that. It's what he did when he outgrew Prince Hal and Hotspur, after all, so he completely understands. He also likes helping out in his garden whenever the weather and his back permits, and he always gets a laugh out of Wampus jokingly trying to woo Padilette away from him.

Hieronymus and Guildenstern occupy classrooms right across from each other, and sometimes their pet professors take tea together and bring their cats along. In some respects, I think Hieronymus reminds Guildenstern of his human--a bit long-winded and full of hot air, but undeniably passionate and well-meaning. And Hieronymus is thrilled just to have another cat to talk to, sometimes for hours at a time about anything and everything, and he takes all of Guildenstern's snark in stride. The biggest difference between them is that Hieronymus loves the kittens--few things are more important than nurturing young minds!--while Guildenstern wonders where he gets the energy for it.

Rossetti does as much travelling as Skimble does, so his visits to the Junkyard are few and far between. But when he does visit, the first cats he gravitates toward are Pushdragon, Mermoggie, Bombalurina, or Tugger. Big personalities tend to attract each other that way, and it usually only takes about five minutes for him to be laughing and chatting with one of them as easily as if he'd never left. But in his calmer moods, you can catch him with Alonzo and Socrates along the Junkyard fence.

Speaking of Alonzo and Socrates, Prufrock considers them both good friends--while he has no desire to be a Protector, he has the utmost respect for what they do, and he prides himself on being able to cheer them up after a tough night's patrol. To everyone's chagrin, he also gets along alarmingly well with Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, and he's started to take Bill Bailey and Carbucketty under his wing.

Outside of his relationships with the Protectors, Ulysses spends a lot of time with Hathor and Jellylorum; it's nice just to have some peace, quiet, and pleasant conversation away from all the chaos. And almost against his better judgement, he's become very attached to quite a few of the kittens in the Junkyard. If anything happened to Etcetera, Pettipaws, or Hamilton, he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

(And now, both he and Pru have Rosaline, the sister they thought they'd lost. Whatever it takes to keep her and Caprizant safe, they would never hesitate to do so.)

Celia also adores Pettipaws and Hamilton, and she's also very good friends with Victoria, Plato, Mungojerrie, and Rumpleteazer. Urania spends a lot of time with Aphrodite Jinx and her sisters as well as Tumblebrutus, while Nasira has Pouncival, Jemima, and Sillabub as her good friends and the biggest crush on Electra. In addition, all three of them are quite close to Ulysses and Rosaline--it's impossible for Celia not to love her siblings-in-law--and see Hieronymus and Rossetti as the darling grandfather and uncle they never had respectively.

Caprizant herself had a lot of trouble making friends when she first came to the Junkyard. It was so much easier keeping to herself, not opening herself up to the terror of trust after she and her mother were separated far too early. For the longest time, Rosaline and eventually Prufrock and Ulysses were the only cats she would talk to. But very slowly, she found friends in Electra, Jemima, George, and Hamilton. Plato even became like a big brother to her, always encouraging and never pushing too far.

Ruffiana and Linotta's sailing don't bring them by the Junkyard very often, but they've made a few friends. Rossetti, Mermoggie, and Cat Morgan never fail to greet them when they come into port, and through them they've both become quite fond of Lillie and Mistoffelees. Ruffiana's always glad to share stories with Mirza, Ambrosia, and Nasira, and Linotta may or may not have a crush on Gilbert.

When Victoria and Plato's kittens come along, everyone notices how much Cygnus takes after his mother, how much Bianca resembles her father, and how much Anastasia is the perfect mix of both. Bianca really looks up to Marmalade, even if she rarely gets a chance to see him, and she loves spending time with Electra, Mungojerrie, and Rumpleteazer. Cygnus is an old soul who spends a lot of time with Jenyanydots and the Psychic Twins, but he does have quite a few younger friends in George, Gareth, Jonathan, James, and Rembrandt. And whenever Anastasia isn't tagging along with her brother's friends, she's with Demeter, Jemima, and Sillabub well into the night.

Undine can only come on land once every ten years, as per the Flying Dutchman's curse, so the one time she visited the Junkyard was a very auspicious occasion. She remembers how much of a shine she took to Tugger (her son couldn't have chosen a better mate), how much Lillie and Victoria reminded her of her younger self in different ways, how long she spent talking to Coricopat and Tantomile, and how Ambrosia and Hippolyta's eyes shone as they followed her around. And of course, she remembers how long she and her dear Morgan tried to prolong saying goodbye when the night was over.

Cesare won't leave Macavity's side. You'll have to kill him first, that's how loyal he is to the Mystery Cat. And he believes that loyalty gives him power--power he won't hesitate to lord over even the other henchcats. That's why he took such great pleasure in tormenting Alonzo when he was still there, and that's what he wants to instill in Dionysus and Fleuryfling by taking them under his wing. As for Foxfire... nobody's sure if he's even real. If all that talk about Macavity stealing his magic from some ancient tomcat has any truth to it. But whenever Macavity's magic sputters out and he's forced to resort to cheap trickery, they can't help but wonder...

Polonious and Salome have never met the rest of the Tribe. And if Ulysses, Rosaline, and Prufrock can help it, they never will.

[jackson-t-escobar]

Call it magic

 ~ Chapter I ~

Pairing: Ivar x Heahmund (Modern!AU)

Word count: 1.1 k

Summary: How to deal with a breakup? Ivar still doesn’t know, even after a few months. And when he meets his ex again one day, the chaos is perfect - between immature brothers, sex with the ex and the decision whether to forgive or to forget.

Tags: hurt/comfort, fun, smut, fluff, family bonds, brotherly love, age difference, jealousy.

If you want to be part of the tag list (or be removed, doesn’t matter xD), just send me a DM. I will not post this on AO3, this will be a tumblr story only. I hope you enjoy this!

@youbloodymadgenius​ @jadelynlace​

Ivar stared out the window, watching people scurrying past with umbrellas or something else over their heads to escape the thick drops. They were almost all running, and the street was slowly filling with the cold water - the lights of the cars reflected in the rain, almost bathing the surroundings in a magical, warm atmosphere. Ivar was glad to be inside - his fingers clawed more fiercely into his hoodie, and he rested his chin lightly on his folded forearms while his blue eyes followed the drops on the window.

It had been a few months since Heahmund and he had parted ways. And although Ivar had enjoyed the time off for a very long time, really letting off steam - he was slowly getting to a point where it didn't seem to be going any further. It was now autumn, and the days were increasingly overshadowed by rain and cold; the time when you sat in front of the fireplace in the evening with your partner, in front of the TV, watching Netflix. Autumn days were cuddling, baking cakes and cookies, watching the bad weather. Preferably with a warm arm around the middle of your body, pulling you closer as soon as there was even a slight shiver at the thought of being outside.

The breakup had only really hit Ivar consciously a few weeks after the actual breakup. They had been together for almost a year, but not publicly - since Ivar had still been 17 at the time, and not even close to being of age. It had been best to lie in bed with Heahmund in the evening, while Hvitserk - the only one who had known - had covered for him. Had told their parents lies about why Ivar was gone so often on weekends. And why his grades had gone down just before he graduated from high school, because he had only had the older man on his mind all the time. Heahmund had been 30 when it had ended.

"Hey, do you plan to watch TV like a normal person again sometime, or is someone out there running around naked?" his brother Hvitserk's voice interrupted the silence; Ivar didn't flinch, but cursed inwardly because he had bitten his lower lip slightly when he was startled. He did not say anything at first, but tried to remove his slightly sad expression from his face. After all, Hvitserk didn't necessarily have to know that he'd hit rock bottom once again.

"I like to look outside. Of course, you uneducated cretin don't understand that because your IQ also only lasts from morning to noon," Ivar said quietly; he released the clasp from his hoodie and with a casual movement turned to Hvitserk, who also sat down on the wooden floor with his younger brother.

For a moment they looked at each other, then Hvitserk snorted softly. "Is it still because of him? You need to forget about him for once, honestly."

"How am I supposed to forget him, huh? Unless you mean your tip that you use 90% of the time," Ivar snarked, and Hvitserk raised his eyebrows with a grin.

"Fucking is the best cure for everything, Ivar. Headaches? Fucking. You're late? Never mind, one more round will do. You actually have to work? Lay the colleague." he said, amused, and Ivar rolled his eyes with a slight click of his tongue.

"I'm surprised you get so many women anyway. They must smell your stupidity - stupid fucks well, as we all know. It almost can't be anything else."

"Ah, is that so? And you?"

"Me?" Ivar said quietly; his gaze went back out the window for a moment, then he sighed softly. "I've been trying out, haven't I? You know that, too. But somehow... somehow, they're all... shallow. And stupid, like you."

 "That's no reason to mope, after all, when you can blow something else," Hvitserk said, earning a juicy kick from Ivar against his upper arm in return, which he merely commented with a slight "Ouch!" and a laugh, while Ivar himself couldn't help grinning. Sometimes his brother was really annoying, but his big mouth usually managed to get Ivar back on track. Or at least distract him for a few moments.

"What do you say... We go out for dinner and figure out where we can get drunk to death this weekend. Okay?" Hvitserk suggested, and Ivar took a deep breath in and out.

"Mom will kill me if I still don't know what I want to study after this weekend."

"Dude, I've got a cure for that: fucking a professor."

"Hvit, man. Be serious for once!"

"We'll do it when we drink. That's the best idea, that way we can do both in one go. Ha! Call me genius, my little brother."

Ivar rolled his eyes but slammed into Hvitserk's hand. His incisors dipped slightly into his lower lip again, and Hvitserk snorted softly.

"What was so great about him, please? Besides you being into dilfs, which is really disgusting. Forget him, he broke up with you on fucking Valentine's Day. What guy does something like that?"

For a moment, that sentence hit Ivar deep in the heart. He had repressed that day well all these months, but he couldn't forget it. Deeply it had been burned into his mind; he had planned so much for that day, had wanted to surprise Heahmund. But all he had gotten was an ice-cold breakup on the grounds that he hadn't been sure how he felt. And it had been Ivar's hate day ever since - never again would he feel good about Valentine's Day, and was already planning to poison happy couples in the park. He hadn't been able to explain to his mother why he had cried constantly through two weeks, and why he had hardly eaten anything in the evenings. Even his other, almost terroristic brothers had sensed something, and had left him alone that week.

"All right. You're right. The last time I saw him was a while ago, anyway," Ivar said, letting Hvitserk help him to his feet; and it wasn't until he was standing that he grinned slightly as Hvitserk's warm hand passed lightly over his shoulder.

"Exactly. He's probably grown fat, and much older. You won't recognize him if you ever meet again - unless Gandalf the Grey is suddenly standing in front of you on the dance floor, asking you for a drink."

For a moment the brothers stared at each other, then they both snorted and laughed. It was painful, yes - especially because it was the first time he had been truly in love. But it had to go on, and somehow Hvitserk was right - even if most of his suggestions and advice ended up with having sex with someone somewhere. Ivar took one last look outside before following Hvitserk into the kitchen; the streets outside were almost deserted, and the lightning of thunderstorms could be seen behind the city's skyscrapers. Oh, how Ivar loved autumn.

[twistedlymad]

Hi! I was wondering if you do requests cuz I came upon this blog and was like hm this blog is pretty interesting. Your writing and stories so far are amazing I’m in love with them. I was wondering if you could write a story where the fem reader turns into a child and what the twst boys would do. Everyone causing different shenanigans. Anyways I hope you will be able to write this. Goodbye!!! *Anon* Out :)

Ohmaigawd Anon, you’ve made my entire week! Thank you for liking my stories! I’ve never felt this happy :’)

Anyway, yes! I do take requests! And thank you for requesting this story. I’m sorry it took me awhile to finish this but I hope this story is up to your standards! Thank you again and have a lovely day!! 

What if you became a baby? (Ft. Grim, All the Dorm Leaders, Ace, Deuce, Epel and Jack)

“Ugh… I’m so tired….” You groaned in the cafeteria. You held up a hand to support your head. Grim was beside you, laying down face first onto the table.

“Well… Nothing special happened today…” He said making you glare at him.

“Today? How about this whole month? The Magical Shift tournament was just last week! First of all, we had to go on this ‘student-hunt’ to protect the top players of Magical Shift. Then we had to find out whoever was causing all of this chaos by injuring said top players. And once we did, Leona-senpai got overblotted and we had to stop him. Also, you hit me!” You exclaimed at Grim.

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad...” Grim turned to face you, only to meet with your glare.

“You hit me. In. The. Head.” With each word, you leaned in closer to the furball. “You made me unconscious for a day.” You looked at him with eyes that stared into his soul. Grim took a gulp.

“A-Ah… That did happen, didn’t it? Hehehehe.” Grim laughed nervously. You just sighed and patted his head. “I couldn’t blame you… I understand you want to show off, but please, be more careful.” You said and he nodded.

“And don’t go complaining how life is boring for you, because for me, I think I’ve had enough for this month.” You went back to your normal position and sighed. “You know? I would give anything for me to do my own stuff without a care in the world.”

“What? Like a baby?” Grim asked.

“You know what? I wouldn’t mind being a baby again, even if it’s just for a day.” You shrugged and you stood up as the bell rung. “But we all know that won’t happen. It’s not possible! Now come on Grim, let’s go back to our dorm.” You said as you picked up the creature in your arms and started to walk away from the cafeteria.

“Ughhh, why did Professor Trein had to give us assignments on a Friday?” Ace grumbled as he, Deuce, Jack and Epel were practicing their magic in the field.

“Well, we have the next two days off, so it’s better for us to work on our magic than laze around doing nothing.” Deuce replied.

“Yeah, let’s just get this spell over and done with.” Epel said. “Wait, what spell was it again?”

“A youth spell. The spell is said to reverse time on an object, making them younger.” Jack commented. “We’re going to use this apple as a test subject.”

“Wait, how much time does the spell reverse?” Epel asked.

“If I’m not mistaken, probably a few days.” Deuce answered.

“What if we all casted at the same time? Would that make the apple turn back into a seed?” Ace suggested.

“I don’t know but we could try!”

“No! What if something goes wrong?” Jack was hesitant to this idea. Who knows what could happen if they misfire? Or even worse, casted the wrong spell?

“It won’t! Trust me!” Ace said proudly.

“…. Alright, just this once.” Jack gave in.

“Ready? On the count of three we cast the spell together.” Ace said as the four of them readied their pens.

“1, 2, 3!” Four blasts from 4 directions were headed towards the apple in the middle. The blasts collided with each other and hit the apple, but, the spell was too strong, it bounced off from the apple in another direction.

“AHH! IT’S OUT OF CONTROL!”

“I-Is that (Y/N)?”

“It is! (Y/N)! LOOK OUT!”

You were walking with Grim back to your humble Ramshackle Dorm, when you heard shouts for you to duck and look out were heard. You turned to see a spell was heading straight towards you, in order to save Grim who was still in your arms, you threw the creature onto the floor, making him bump his head on the way. The spell hits you shortly after.

“Fgnaaaa! Why did you do that for?” Grim sat up and rubbed his head. When he turned to look at you, you were gone.

“(Y/N)? (Y/N)?!” Grim looked around frantically, searching for you. But then he heard a small giggle.

“Ah! Goo Ga!!” A (E/C) colored, (H/C) colored toddler was trying to grab onto his tail. The toddler was wearing a baby version of the school uniform.

“Fgnaaa! Who is this kid?” Grim said as he brought you closer to his face.

“Grim!! Are you okay?!” Deuce asked as he arrived, Jack, Epel and Ace followed shortly after. Grim was focused on the other first-years, leaving you with no attention and you decided to crawl away.

“I am, but I don’t know where (Y/N) went.” Grim said to the first-years. “Anyway, what was that blast? Did you guys miss fired a spell?”

“Umm, I guess you could say so.” Epel looked at the ground sheepishly.

“I told you guys that it wasn’t a good idea.” Jack growled to the others.

“Oh? You eventually agreed to the idea! Now it’s our fault?” Ace retorted back. Before they could start arguing again, Grim stopped them.

“Wait, what spell did you guys miss fire?”

“It was a youth spell, we wanted to see what would happen if we stacked our spells together.” Deuce explained to Grim. “It hit the apple, but it also went off in this direction, specifically (Y/N)’s direction.”

“Oh no, this is bad.” Grim paled.

“What why?”

“If you guys miss fired a strong de-aging spell and I saw a toddler with (E/C) eyes and (H/C) colored hair. That means-“ Grim stated but was cut off by Epel.

“The spell hit (Y/N)! She must’ve turned into a baby!”

“We have to fix this! But Grim, where is the baby?” Jack asked Grim frantically.

“What do you mean? She’s right her- WHERE IS SHE?” Grim exclaimed as he looked at his tail only to find out that you were gone. Everyone panicked slightly but Jack snapped everyone out of it.

“She must’ve wondered off! Ace, Deuce, go find Professor Trein and ask him how to undo the spell. Epel, me and Grim will go look for baby (Y/N).”

“We’ll meet up at Professor Trein’s class later!” Ace shouted as he and Deuce ran off to find the Magic History teacher.

“Let’s better start searching for her, who knows where she could be now.” Jack said as Epel and Grim nodded. And so, the search for you had begun.

You were wondering around the hallway, crawling along the huge lockers, just exploring this whole school. As you wondered, you heard chatter coming from one of the rooms and since you were a baby, your interest is easily piqued. So, you decided to go into the room, unnoticed.

The Dorm Leaders were having a meeting. The meeting was held in a room which just so happened to be the exact same room you entered. Which is why you heard noises of people talking.

“Now, everyone, welcome to today’s Dorm Leader meeting. We will be discussing about last week’s Magical Shift tournament.” Azul started.

“I am pleased to announce that ticket sales and as well as sales in general had an increase of 12 percent compared to last year.” The other dorm leaders nod in agreement.

“Yes, this year’s Magift Tournament was quite the eye opener. Never would I have seen so many events happen leading up to the tournament.” Said Malleus.

“But it was quite the tournament nevertheless, thank god all the problems were fixed before the actual event.” Said Vil.

“And it’s all thanks to Riddle, Cater, Jack, Ace and Deuce, right?” Kalim asked cheerfully.

“Not quite. (Y/N) and Grim did a lot more and they also accompanied us in solving the mystery.” Riddle replied calmly. “Without them, we wouldn’t even have a tournament at all.”

“Ah! We should totally invite (Y/N) to our dorm leader meetings next time! Well, since she is technically a dorm leader.” Kalim suggested.

“If it’s okay with the principal, then do as you please.” Vil said, looking at Crowley.

“I wouldn’t mind either way.” Leona shrugged.

“Same here.” Idia spoke through his phone.

“Ah, well, I’ll ask (L/N)-san her thoughts on this invitation when I see her, now then, onto our next topic.” Crowley continued the meeting with a new topic.

You were actually close behind Crowley, for you saw his cape. You thought that it was a very comfortable blanket and so you crawled beneath it, letting the cape engulf you. Feeling the softness of the cape, you let out a cute squeal of delight. As soon as you did though, everyone in the meeting room froze.

“U-Um, you all heard that right?” Idia asked his fellow dorm leaders and everyone nodded.

“Where did that sound come from?” Asked Kalim.

“I think it came from Crowley.” Leona replied, looking at the headmaster.

“Leona-san is right, it seems like it came from Headmaster’s direction.” Malleus said as he also turned to look at Crowley. Everyone then looked at him with suspicious looks, as if he had stolen something.

“N-Now! Let’s be rational, there aren’t any babies on school campus!” Crowley said, for he was panicking inside because he had heard the sound quite loud and clearly too. And it was at this time you decided to let out another sound.

“Goo Ga!!”

“Alright Crowley, out with it! Did you or did you not bring a kid?” Leona asked the headmaster.

“No! I DON’T EVEN KNOW ANY TODDLERS!” Crowley defended himself. As he did so, Kalim took this chance to inspect Crowley, to find the object that could’ve made that sound. A phone perhaps? A ringtone? Anything! But when he got to his back, you decided to move around, therefore making it seem like Crowley’s cape was moving by itself. Kalim paled as he saw this, he thought it was a ghost.

“h-heADMASTER’S CAPE IS MOVING ON IT’S OWN!” Kalim yelled out in surprise. All the dorm leaders and Crowley turned to look at Kalim.

“So, headmaster, you’ve brought ghosts into today’s meeting?” Malleus asked Crowley with a raised brow.

“N-No! I didn’t!”

“Then explain your cape!” Kalim retorted back.

“Thank god I didn’t leave my room to witness this.” Idia mumbled to himself.

“There is no way I have brought ghosts to our meeting!” Crowley exclaimed. “It must be the wind, see for yourselves!” And he snatched his cape away from you, leaving you exposed to all the dorm leaders. You didn’t know what was happening, one second you were underneath a comfy blanket and the next, 7 pairs of eyes were on you. (I ain’t counting Idia’s eyes :’) ) You were confused.

“A…. A BABY? WHOSE JOKE IS THIS?” Crowley shouted, in the meantime, his shouting had scared you and you started to cry.

“Great going teach, you’ve made it cry.” Leona said, rubbing his temples.

“What?! How is this my fault?” Crowley looked back at Leona.

“Well, if you hadn’t shouted, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

“Don’t put all the blame on headmaster!”

“So, who is to blame?!”

And so, began the fight between each of the dorm leaders and Crowley. Not far away, Jack, Epel and Grim heard the commotion and decided to see what was happening.

You eventually stopped crying as you felt tired. You took a small yawn and decided to nap on the table. The dorm leaders were still fighting though. It was until Vil saw you fell asleep and shushed the other dorm leaders and Crowley.

“Look, it’s gone to sleep.” Vil whispered and everyone stopped to see you asleep on the table. Jack, Epel and Grim poked their heads in to see the exact same thing.

“Ah! There she is!” Grim exclaimed and the dorm leaders looked at him.

“She?” Azul asked.

“Yes, a she.” Epel said as he slowly went up to you and picked you up.

“But there is only one female student in this school.” Vil stated. As all the dorm leaders widen their eyes.

“You mean?” They asked.

“Yes, this is (Y/N).” Jack replied.

“……….. A-Ah.” It has come to their realization that the toddler was you, and they all had a slight blush on their faces.

So, Jack, Epel and Grim went to Professor Trein’s classroom and got a lecture from the teacher.

What was it about? Oh, the usual. Never combine spells. Ever.

The professor casted a spell on you, saying that it’ll work but it’s going to take a few hours. So Ace and Deuce decided to bring you back to your dorm and have Grim take care of you. It was fairly easy since you were asleep all the way.

After a few hours, it was night time and you were back to normal, but you woke up with a headache.

“Ugh… What happened? I feel like I went on an adventure today.” You asked.

“Yanno, remember when you said you wouldn’t mind being a baby for a day?” Grim asked you.

“Yes, I remember that.” You said, rubbing your head.

“That’s exactly what happened, now, can we go eat? I’m starving.” Grim answered your question and jumped into your arms for you to carry him.

“Eh? Um, sure I guess, let’s go.” You said and took him to eat at the cafeteria.

When you arrived, you sat with your friends asking about what had happened. They hesitantly explained the story to you and you slowly took it all in. When you did, you smacked Ace, Deuce, Jack and Epel on their heads for their carelessness, and with that, you forgave them for making you into a toddler.

However, after that day, the dorm leaders were paying a lot more attention to you. Asking if you need anything or just walked you to class in general. You were absolutely dumbfounded at this new attitude of the dorm leaders, but, you would be lying to yourself if you say you didn’t enjoy it one bit.

[fandomout]

Neville Longbottom X Reader

One day in class, Professor Sprout had motioned you over at the end of class. 

“Evening Y/N.”

“Evening Professor Sprout.”

“I called you over here because your grade is suffering. You just aren’t doing so well this year. You’ve been a bit preoccupied?”

“You could say that. Your right. I should pay more attention and try harder.”

“I like that attitude. That’s why I will be putting you with my best student.”

“Wait, you mean, Nev-”

“Yes. Neville. I have arranged for you two to come here at the end of you classes today, so you can catch up a bit.” You simply nodded and headed out of the classroom unsure of how to feel about the situation. You didn’t dislike Neville. You actually thought he was really nice and seemed like a decent person, but you also didn’t know what to make of him. He was the center of sprinkles of chaos. He always managed to end up in terrible situations. In all the times you’ve ever talked to him, he hardly said a word, or he’d end up talking about class, which would make you think it's hard to get to know him. It is; however, through observation you came to realize he’s reserved, kind, smart, and shy. After countless attempts at friendship, you gave up as you thought it was pointless. You decided to just not put anymore thought into it since it probably wouldn’t do much good.  

Later that week, after all of your classes had finished, you and Neville met in private. Professor sprout expressed her utmost faith and trust in both of you , especially since she believed Neville was so familiar with everything. As you and Neville were left alone, you waited for him to say something. After a minute, you decided that wasn’t the right way to go. 

“Neville, how do you want to do this?”

“Uh...Well, what don’t you know?”

“Uh...I don’t know.”

“Do you remember the past few lessons?” You let out a sheepish laugh and shook your head and answered, “No...”

“What do you remember?”

“I think I left off on our lesson about that one weed that gives you gills or something like that.”

“Gillyweed.”

“That’s the one.” You smiled at  him. He seemed to avert his eyes immediately from you and answered, “That helps.” He walks over to one of the shelves wordlessly and presents a few herbs you didn’t recognize. He began to state their name and uses and quiz you on it throughout. This went on for two weeks, which allowed you to get closer to him as he got more comfortable. He’d mention a hobby here or an incident there. You were starting to be thankful for not getting a good grade in case since it allowed you this rare oddity of time with Neville. He was a lot different from the students and friends you’d come across. Thus, after getting better in herbology, you decided to just study with him as you were worried that without the tutoring that he’d stop having contact with you again. Along with this new hint of friendship to look forward to, you started to get love letters. They appeared a few weeks after the tutoring thing. At first you were unsure of what to make of the sweet words. Quickly, after receiving a second one, you started looking forward to them. Sadly, you were unable to find the secret admirer in the past few weeks as there was no pattern to be found from the fact that the letters came at random times of the week, sometimes more than three. In the morning, you had received one. It was earlier than usual for you, so you were taking your time reading out the words. You happened to be outside on the benches, big mistake. As more people began to crowd the courtyard, Fred and George were a pair of them as they snatched the note out of your hand. You let your things fall to the ground not caring where. You reached for the note, but their heights were at an advantage here. Not to mention, even if that weren't the case, they were casting spells to float the note back and forth, and you were caught in the middle.

“George-” You dash over to Fred. “Fred-” You dash back to George. ”Give it here, you nimwits!”

“Is that a love letter?” George taunts.

“You guys are gonna wreck it!” Fred lets out a small chuckle and begins to say , “We are not gonna-” You interrupt his words as you use a spell to interrupt their spell. The note flings downwards. All three of you are rushing for it. Fred and George get there before you. One of the twins uses a spell, but they trip and the spell ricochet and hits the letter. It rips in pieces. You rush over. The twins stand with a guilty expression. “Sorry, Y/N,” They both say.

You simply take the scattered pieces, get your now muddy books, and dart away from the vicinity. You find yourself in the garden area as the class wouldn't start for hours, and you just wanted to be alone. You start to cry a bit at the note and try to read it out. Suddenly, you hear a noise in the back. You walk over to see Neville organizing things. You wipe your eyes a bit. 

“Sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here. I’ll go.” You say to him. You stop walking away as he says, “Why are you crying?”

“It’s nothing. I'm not crying. You are. I’ll go.”

“No. Stay.”

“I-”

“Just tell me. I won't say anything…”

“I know you won't...Find…” You pull out the shredded note and present it to him. “Just my letter….”

“What is it?” He stood up straighter with intrigue.

“Someone dear in my heart wrote this for me. They’ve written me= countless words. I was taking my time reading this one when Fred and George were messing with me and this happened. I can barely make it out.”

“But, I mean if you have so many others-”

“You might find the reasoning silly.” 

“No. I won't.” He said dead serious, which almost made you laugh.

“It’s just. There’s this person that’s writing all this nice stuff about me. Making me feel good and warm in ways no one ever has. I cherish letters to begin with, but something about these...Anyway...One of them got ruined...I don't’ know I feel guilty…”

“Guilty?”

“I mean I would never treat these words without any respect or care because they do matter...Feeling anything less feels like a brutal or disservice to the secret admirer. I mean what if they found out about this...maybe they'd stop and think I’m not worth it...”

“You got all that from accidentally getting it torn?”

“Yeah….See? I knew you’d think it was silly.”

“It’s not!” He opened his eyes a little wider with a raised voice. He’d never pegged you as someone to ever really yell. He looked at you bug eyed and a little flustered. Fidgeting began. “It’s meaningful…“

You nod. “Yeah. you get it.” 

“Let me see it.” You hand it over to him. He lays it on the table and tries to set it together. 

“The letter reads, Dear Y/N, you’ve been shining a bit brighter these days. Of course, your natural glow is still nothing compared to a beautiful smile on your face. To see you happy, it makes me happy.” The last of the note seems to be covered in dirt; you can’t make anything out of it, so it surprises you that Neville keeps reading, “I know you're probably curious as to why I started writing these letters. The truth is, I’ve had thoughts like this before I started to do this. They were small thoughts as I saw your kindness and nature. As I hope you smile and are filled with warmth, I hope you stay that way until the next letter, so you can stay happy. From your Secret admirer.” As he read in a heartfelt and sincere manner, it felt like they were his words. You look at his expression, and he was tomato red. He was physically this way, despite his unwavering read? Suddenly, you think you realize something. You say, “Neville?”

“Yeah.” You grab his face with both hands. Since he starts to freak out, he rushes backward into the wall a little roughly. You don’t grab onto him again, but you take a step up to him.  

He fidgets and asks, “What-What are you doing?”, uneasy.

“Are you my secret admirer?” His eyes leave yours immediately and he looks to the sky. “You are! You are!” You smile brightly at him

“No?” He answers, still not meeting eyes. 

“Neville?” He swallows visibly. “Will you look at me?” He hesitantly meets your eyes. He sighs and speaks so lowly that you don't hear him. ”Sorry, Neville, you're going to have to repeat that.”

“You weren't supposed to find out. At least if you did, not-not like this...”

“Sorry?”

“I had some kind of plan.”

“Really?”

“You seem...Happy?”

“I really am. Did you not just hear what I said about the secret-What I said about your letters. How they made me feel? Now, that I know it’s you, I just feel a little bit happier than when I read the letters.”

“This is all wrong. I just didn’t plan for this…” He scratches at his head nervously.

“Well, that’s okay. I didn’t plan for this either. This doesn't have to be complicated Neville. You like me, and I like you, simple.”

“I-Wait, here.” You waited patiently. When he came back, he handed you an assortment of flowers.

“No one ever brought me flowers before….”

“Do you not like them?”

“...I love them, thank you.” You reached out to hug him, but you stopped yourself. “I assume you’d want to take things slow.”

“Yes…”

“Can we be together?”

“Yes.”

“Can I at least hold your hand as we head to class?”

“Not as we head to class. It would be a little odd.”

“What about for a few minutes now before we go to class?”

“That’s alright.” 

“Yay!” You instantly grip his hand. However, you both notice how dirty your hands are by now. You from earlier, and him from the letter. He led you over to the sink.

“Why don’t we wash our hands? Your books are wrecked too. I’ll help.” 

“You don’t have to…”

“I want to.” He gave a small smile, and you blushed at him. Maybe thanking Fred and George were in order since it led to this beautiful time. 

Hope your day got a little better

[hiitsbee]

From me to you | C.D.

Cedric Diggory x Reader

Warning:references to death

Masterlist

Summary:After Cedric’s death you find a letter left on your bed.

The chaos exploded around you:people jumped on their feet,shaking their hands in the air to celebrate the boys who had just came out from the labyrinth. You woke up too,trying to see who the winner of the Triwizard tournament was but while everyone was celebrating you soon realised that something was wrong.

Harry seemed to be almost a little dot from your seat but you immediately realised he was holding Cedric in a too weird way,and the Hufflepuff wasn’t even moving. You woke up,trying to walk down the field seats when Fleur’s scream froze the air. The students suddenly became silent as McGonagall turned around asking everyone to stay in their seats.

Your hands were shaking at the thought of what could had just happened and,soon,all your fears turned into reality. <<That’s my son!>> Cedric’s father yelled with tears falling down from his eyes. Your stomach suddenly twisted itself,throwing up its acid while you felt your throat being tied in a tight knot. Your usually bright eyes lost their lights and begun to burn like fire while your cheeks suddenly turned into slides for sealed tears. Even your legs couldn’t make you stand properly as you leaned your body against Pansy Parkinson’s who was standing right beside you

None of you ever got along well with the other,but in that moment all she could do was holding you. A hand of hers rested on your back while the other on your tummy as your eyes met:Pansy was crying too,her breath was short and heavy. You stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds and then you pulled away,running.

You made your way in between the students,hitting Ron who looked at you with the saddest stare you had ever seen in the last years. You even bumped into George and Fred,almost falling as the second one caught you right in time <<Y/n>> he tried to speak but you pushed him and kept running,crossing also Cho Chang’s way. You saw her on her knees,desperately sobbing with Luna right next to her,looking extremely hurt.

Once you made it out with not a single professor seeing you leaving you locked yourself in your bedroom.

Your back slipped along the cold wood of the door. The air was silent,not a single noise could be heard expect the ones from your sobs.

You curled up yourself,hugging your legs you had brought against your chest and hiding your face in the cloth of your uniform skirt.

Your breath was short,you were almost gasping for air while Cedric’s memories crossed your mind like movie scenes. His smile,his pinky cheeks,his hand holding yours. Everything was now just an image stuck in your mind which made your heart emotional.

<<Y/n!>> Cedric greeted you with a soft smile,wrapping your body in a tight hug. His hands caressed your back slowly as you hid your face in the crook of his neck. His scent filled your nostril. Fresh grass and hot thea:it was the boy’s scent which reminded you of home.

You shaked your head,waking up and walking towards your bed. You sat on it and rested your head on your pillow,sliding the hands underneath it. You realised that someone left a sheet of paper under the pillow.

You sat,holding what looked like a letter and read it.

To:Y/n

From:Cedric (Ced) Diggory

Dear Y/n,

As a child mum used to tell me to write down the feelings I couldn’t control to focus on them and on how contain the little flames they sent to my heart.The recipient of my letters used to be a so called “Jace”,he was my imaginary friend. A queit type,I remember describing him like that. But today I’m not writing to him,actually I don’t even know who I’m writing to. I’m not a child anymore,but I don’t even feel to be an adult. I’m in the middle of the thin strand of my life and I’m trying to not fall in the ocean under me. The funny part of what’s going on? I’m writing this letter the night after the first task of the Triwizard Tournament:the most dangerous competition of the entire Wizarding World which I have,obviously,taken part to. A paradox,you see. I regret it. I do. I put my name in the Goblet of fire during a moment of overstatement of myself. I was feeling confident,strong,powerful,I was feeling like someone my friends would look up to...I was feeling like an adult. But I’m not. I’m just a seventeen year old boy who has just realised he wants to live the life of a seventeen year old boy. Not the life of an adult,nor of a hero,or of a fighter.

Is it too late to understand what I put myself into? I do think so,but I can’t go back in time. The concern has begun to grow,the fear has begun to take control and I’m overthinking everything. During the night I lay down and I ask myself if after the tournament I’ll be a different person. Will I keep doing everything in the same way? Will I keep seeing everything in the same way? Then,when I’m finally falling asleep the scariest question starts floating in my mind:will I be able to spend the rest of my life with the people I love? Or will I become a ghost? Someone has just popped in my mind. Someone with a beautiful smile,a girl,with a beautiful smile.

I walk her to class everyday just to see it. She’s the prettiest girl on earth,the strongest,she taught me that every scar is a sign of victory. Her name’s Y/n. Such a sweet name. Such a sweet voice. She always greets me with a soft “Hi” and she calls me “Ced”. Once I asked her why:she said that “Ced” suits me better than “Cedric” because it sounds cuter. I don’t really know if she was just fooling me or if she was telling the truth,but I loved the way she talked to me. Y/n’s my best friend,maybe something more for me. I don’t know if she has the same feelings. I think she’s my soulmate. Not in a foolish way,like what you see in random movies. A real soulmate:the piece which complete you perfectly,the piece of the puzzle which complete the whole picture. I’m not saying this just because we think and act almost in the same way,I’m saying this because when I look at her I’m SURE she’s understanding my feelings,I’m SURE she knows what’s going on in my head,so she speaks and says the right thing at the right moment of the right day.I’m so grateful for Y/n. She’s the only person I’d love to spend the rest of my life with. I’d love to wake up in the morning and see her pretty smile,I’d love to look into her eyes and see the same,deep,clear ocean everyday. I want to hug her and protect her from the worst things of this world,from the cruel life,from the pain. I want to run with her in a field of daisies and butterflies. This is what I fear now:losing her,hurting her. What if she will lose me and it will be my own fault? As I said before I put my name in the Goblet of fire in a moment of overstatement of myself but when I saw all my friends cheering for me I didn’t want to disappoint them,but in not trying to disappoint the whole chorus I disappointed the most important voice. Y/n didn’t want me to take part to the tournament. She told me it was too dangerous,that I would regret everything. And she was right. I’m an hypocrite:I ignored her and now I’m here feeling sorry for hurting her feelings and scared for what my future is going to be. Such a trouble maker. An idiot,that’s better maybe,and as an idiot I should burn this letter in the fireplace,but I’m not. I’m sending this to Y/n.

Dear Y/n,now I’m talking directly to you,I’m not just writing random feelings down anymore. I don’t know how I’ll sent this letter to you,maybe through an howl or maybe I’ll just ask Harry,but please read it until the end. You deserve to read my previous words and the following:I love you. I love you with my whole hurt and I apologise for being too impulsive,I apologise if I’ll hurt you,if you’ll cry sour tears for me,I apologise for not listening to the most important person of my life just not to disappoint someone else.I really do. I hope you’ll find this letter and you’ll bring it to me to slap me in the face,telling me that I’m an idiot and then laugh together at how much dramatic I’m being,but if it won’t happen,please,know that I will always be by your side. No matter what. So please,I’m begging you:forgive me. Forgive me for the happy ending we won’t get. Keep on with your life,find someone that will love you and listen to you in the right way. Find someone you’ll hug with the same love you hugged me,find someone you’ll talk to with the same sweetness you talked to me,find someone who won’t throw everything away and regret it when it’s too late and make them dream as much as I dreamed about you and all your little things. You’re the only one who made me feel alive. Thank you.

Be happy,Y/n.

Forever yours,

Cedric (Ced) x.

[weasleytentia]

I’ll meet you there

 ↳ I’ll meet you there, Fred Weasley

fred weasley x fem!gryffindor!reader

summary: after the disaster at Bill and Fleur’s wedding you and Fred share one of the last tranquil moments together before the Battle of Hogwarts.

warnings: slight mentions of sex between consensual adults, almost non-existent, mentions of blood, violence, death and lots of angst. some fluff at the beginning tho <3<3

comments are very much appreciated!!

a/n: i cried writing this so i really hope u like this. i spent more than five hours working on this even tho i’m not satisfied at all. please lemme know if u like this, i may have changed some things in the story since i got pretty carried away haha. xx

Your fingertips traced circles of various sizes on his chest and you could still feel his fastened heartbeat through that touch, the love marks you had left on his skin were still of a very intense purple. His left arm was holding you closer to him while the other was calmly and tenderly caressing your hair, your messy locks were spread across the pillow. 

“What will be of us, Freddie, in a few years?” You hummed with a raspy voice while the first rays of the sun made their way through the curtains, and you could feel their timid warmness on your bare skin. “What will be of all of us?”

A few days had passed since Bill and Fleur’s wedding and since the Ministry of Magic had fallen. You had yet to recover from that night, Ron, Harry and Hermione had disappeared leaving you with nothing but worries, and the scars that event had left in your heart would probably never go away. Things weren’t surely going too well in the Wizarding World - well, actually - you couldn’t even force yourself to remember those days in which you had no worries at all: the only thought of you, an eleven-years-old girl, entering the gates of Hogwarts for the first time almost made you want to go back and live your first year forever. 

That year you had met Fred and George Weasley, a very odd couple of twins - you had thought - but since that day in the Gryffindor Common Room you became inseparable: there was no Fred and George Weasley without Y/N Y/L/N. You weren’t actually the type to pull pranks on other students nor the one to misbehave, in fact, you were quite a bookworm and had an obsession regarding Hogwarts’ rules - nevertheless - you still were their best accomplice. One time the twins had tried one of their infamous candies on a younger student and he had to immediately go to the toilet: needless to say, professor McGonagall had questioned Fred and George and before you could even say “Quidditch” you were in detention. “I can’t believe that I got in trouble with you guys.” you had hissed while writing the one-hundreth sorry on a paper. “The truth is that you just missed us too much.”

“I think we will be just fine, darling.” Fred murmured with a relaxed tone in his voice, never stopping to play with your hair. You knew he just said that to calm you down and to not cause you more stress, but how could you ever believe him? 

Your chin raised up just a little so that you could see the expression on his face, and you contemplated the man that had accompanied you for so many years, never leaving your side. His thin lips were still reddish and almost plumper, recalling the sweet night you had passed together, and his eyes were closed as if he had nothing to worry about, as if in the whole world there was no one but the two of you. His way of being impassive to difficult situations wasn’t really odd to you since he rarely showed any kind of concern, but there were times in which you had witnessed an unknown part of Fred: during your third year at Hogwarts you got seriously injured during one of your Quidditch matches, falling from your broom and hitting your head. You were asleep for a couple of days and when you woke up in the middle of the night, you were utterly surprised at noticing a sleeping Fred right beside you, barely fitting in the chair Madame Pomfrey had given him. As soon as your hand touched his thigh he opened his eyes wide, immediately reaching for your hand, and you almost remember seeing a different glimpse in his eyes as if he had cried, That night, you shared your first timid kiss and since that cool spring night, he never left your side.

“I don’t know, Freddie,” you slightly got up sitting on the bed that was never meant for two and turned your head to look at him. “Your brother has just gone poof” and you gestured that with your hands, “What if the-they are gone? What if they found them and, and we just don’t…”

“Love,” The redhead quickly got up too and came closer to your face. “They are not a bunch of idiots and they surely know how to protect themselves.” He took one of your locks and put it behind your ear, “What about us?” you asked, your eyes searching for a source of reassurance in his. “O-Our family, our friends…”

He parted your lips but your heart was burdened of so much weight that you didn’t let him speak, quickly talking before he could. “The battle is imminent, Freddie, we cannot pretend that everything is going to be fine,” Your eyes were now watery as his never stopped staring into yours, not even a glimpse of sadness or worry. “It’s just a matter of time and I don’t want to risk it.” You breathed out, “I don’t want to lose you.”

Fred was quick to wipe your tears away with his thumbs as he took your face into his palms, lightly kissing the tip of your nose as he always did when you were about to cry, which - in some way - calmed you a bit. As the warmness of his hands left your cheeks you felt the soft material of the blanket on your shoulders, which made a light smile appear on your lips. 

“You’re so beautiful when you smile,” he hummed, “that’s what makes me go through this shit, your smile Y/N, I never want you to stop smiling, alright? ‘Cause your smile it’s my only source of happiness now.”

“What if…”

“You won’t lose me, love, I promise you that.” Fred got up and picked up his shirt from the floor. “I’ll always stay by my pretty girl’s side, alright?”

From the first time in a few days you found yourself to smile sincerely.

You opened your arms demanding one of his tight and endless hugs, and as you snuggled more into his chest you closed your eyes, cradled by the same perfume you had smelled in your Amortentia during your fifth year: fireworks, candies and the familiar scent of the Burrow.

                                                         ∘◦❀◦∘

“Expelliarmus!”

Your right leg incredibly hurt as you limped into the cold and oddly emptied hallways, a few witches and wizards still battling against each other, throwing colourful spells from their wands that made the place look like a show of fireworks. Your leg had been cut by a spell casted by a Death Eater and was now bleeding uncontrollably, the aching pain made you bite your lip.

You couldn’t recognize which of the many hallways you were crossing which was odd since you had walked those very steps during your seven years there, but everything was chaotic and... different.

In fact, Hogwarts wasn’t the same place anymore: some of the walls had fallen down and the candles that once lit up the school were now extinguished, the same place in which you saw yourself and your friends grow up, full of happiness and friendship, was now a gloomy and cold grave. Although the thought of encountering another Death Eater made shivers run through your spine your main concern was not finding Fred anywhere, since you both parted ways just right after the beginning of the battle. 

“Stay with dad, you got me?”

Fred’s eyes looked at Arthur, his father, who was standing just a few meters away from you while the two of you had found a corner apart from everyone else. You had felt the urge to embrace him, squeezing the fabric of his coat. 

“Why?” you cried into his chest, “why can’t we stick together?”

“Y/N, love” he tenderly cupped your cheeks with his steady hands looking at you with the same Love with which he had looked at you during your first Yule Ball together. “I have to stick with Georgie, he needs me.”

You closed your eyes biting your lower lip.

“Dad will protect you, alright, darling?”

You nodded in response unable to utter a single word.

Chaos started to fill the room as Voldemort’s army broke the protection spell but you never stopped looking at Fred, still searching for that reassurance.

For the first time his eyes weren’t sparkly but had a glimpse of uncertainty and fear.

 “I’ll find you.” you murmured, “At the Great Hall.”

“I’ll meet you there.” You could feel the tension build between the two of you and in a matter of seconds, your lips crashed together, as he held you close to him as if he wished to do anything but to let you go. That kiss didn’t last long since, one moment Fred was standing right in front of you and after a few seconds you had lost him along with Arthur.

You were all on your own.

“Y/N.”

You heard a feminine voice that made you immediately turn around the corner, finding one of your close friends, Luna Lovegood, standing there. You instantly couldn’t think of anything else but to hug her tightly, her being the only familiar face you had seen in a while. You couldn’t say that you seriously understood Luna and her ramblings about weird Magical Creatures, but her personality and her immense loyalty to you had made you love her a lot. After breaking the hug you noticed a cut on her cheek and you sighed in relief. 

“I’m so glad that you’re alive.”

“Thank you,” she smiled, “Have you seen Harry?”

“No, I haven’t seen him at all, have you seen Fred?”

Luna looked at the ceiling as if she was thinking very hard to remember what she had seen, given that many things were happening at the same time.

All of a sudden, your head started to spin as you heard a hissing voice coming from an unknown location: then, you realised to whom that voice belonged. 

The words were very clear, the battle was now over and all of Voldemort’s minions had retreated. You glanced toward Luna who put her wand down and your brief moment of happines was soon replaced by a strange feeling.

“Luna, please tell me if you have seen him.” “I reckon he was with his brother, George.”

She then lowered her gaze to your bleeding leg as she started asking question on how you wounded yourself, but her presence was now minor, you had to figure out where your boyfriend was. Your brain was trying to work out a few places in which he could find him and suddenly, it hit her.

“The Great Hall.”

You murmured to yourself more than to Luna and quickly nodded a thank you to her before sprinting away toward the place in which you had spent most of your days. As you ran - trying to ignore the aching pain your body was in - all of the past years spent by his side started to resurface in your mind: the long walks toward Hogsmeade holding hands like little kids and the multiple butterbeers you would drink in just one evening, the various nights where you snuck out of your dorms and explored the castle using the Marauder’s Map, the hours of detention spent together cuddling and giggling at his jokes about Snape’s nose. The kisses he gave you everytime you won at Quidditch shouting to everyone in the Common Room: “That’s my girl!”

As soon as you crossed the immense doors of the Great Hall all of your thoughts vanished like dust in the wind. The first person you saw was Ron and you smiled widely limping toward him, but there was no smile, only a simpathetic sad expression. You felt a strange sensation at the tip of your stomach as something didn’t feel quite right.

“Ron.” You mumbled with a dry mouth. “Where’s everyone?”

Ron didn’t answer, instead, he just lowered his gaze and took a few steps to his right, revealing a scene you had only thought of in the worst of your nightmares. George was standing still, looking at you with tears streaming down his face, sobbing uncontrollably. His eyes were now void as if he had been deprived of his own soul. Molly was kneeling down just like Arthur and Percy, while Ginny was crying in Harry’s arms, and as you stood there all of their eyes were on you. 

Every step you took was like being stabbed in the heart, each time by a much sharper knife. You started to feel your legs go numb and you didn’t even feel the pain of the wound anymore, because the pain irradiating into your chest was much more stronger. You fell to your knees, arms immediately reaching for the fabric of his clothes, squeezing them tight making your knuckles become white, and you contemplated his face.

“Fred,” you whispered as your tears fell on his shirt, “Freddie please, please, wake up.”

His once brown eyes were now closed, his face was covered in ashes and seemed to be paler. He looked as beautiful as the last time you had seen him, but when you sweetly brought your hand to his check, you found it cold to the touch. “What happened, Molly?” It came out as an odd murmur, your brain still not processing what you were seeing, “Did he, d-did he hit his head? We should-, we probably should bring him to a muggle hospital.”

The woman couldn’t stop herself from crying as she reached for the top of your head, caressing your hair. “Oh, Y/N, dear...”

“Fred?”

You asked once again and checked for a movement, a wink, anything. 

Maybe he was just faking it to scare everyone and then, when no one saw it coming, he would stand up on his feet at laugh at all of you for believing such a stupid thing. Fred Weasley couldn’t have died like that.

The more you looked, the more his chest didn’t move an inch, but as you desperately searched for any sign you noticed his lips curled into a small yet visible smile, and then you realized.

He was gone.

Fred Weasley was gone and had left you in just a couple of hours. 

The one person who had never judged you, the one person who had planned a forever with you, had just left you and there was nothing you could do about it. 

Fred Weasley was dead.

The screams of agony were almost muffled by all of the voices into that crowded place and by George’s embrace. As he held you tight the both of you cried the unjust and unexplained death of a brother, a partner in crime, a lover.

Even in death Fred Weasley had left you with one of the best gifts you could have ever asked for and that had made all of your days bright... his smile.

[potter-loves-malfoy]

hi, do you have any drarry ficrecs which are between 50k and 150k?

I sure do! and uh this list kinda got away from me,, there's.. a lot.

What We Pretend We Can't See by gyzym –– 131k

Seven years out from the war, Harry learns the hard truth of old history: it’s never quite as far behind you as you thought.

Every Me and Every You by bixgirl1 –– 69k

Harry liked his life just fine, thankyouverymuch — so it was bad enough when a sly fairy cursed him to leap into alternate realities. But seeing Malfoy in all of them? Definitely way too much. And worse yet: needing the bastard's help to figure out how to get out of of it.

It was a disaster waiting to happen, really.

Well... probably.

Reparations by Saras_Girl –– 87k (note: this is part one of a series that makes it well over 150k)

Harry is about to discover that the steepest learning curve comes after Healer training, and that second chances can be found in unexpected places.

Helix by Saras_Girl –– 92k

Seven months after the end of the war, Harry is feeling lost. Fortunately, he is about to be offered an unexpected and sparkling chance to find himself again. [2014 advent fic]

Running on Air by eleventy7 –– 74k

Draco Malfoy has been missing for three years. Harry is assigned the cold case and finds himself slowly falling in love with the memories he collects.

The Printed Press by Soupy_George –– 119k

Draco Malfoy was still slightly amazed that he was standing on the doorstep of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. He never would have thought that Harry Potter's very public and very ... sweary, emotional explosion would have led to him offering Draco, of all people, a job.

Right Hand Red by lq_traintracks (lumosed_quill) –– 73k

Harry felt Malfoy's breath on his lips as they came together over the bottle, hands firmly planted on the floor as though they each needed their familiar soil, refusing to cross into enemy territory.

Except that Malfoy no longer felt like his enemy.

Malfoy felt inevitable.

At Your Service by Faith Wood (faithwood) –– 95k

Hogwarts students are in danger; Harry is determined to save them all. There's only one thing he knows for certain: Draco Malfoy is somehow involved.

Stately Homes of Wiltshire by waspabi –– 57k

Malfoy Manor has mould, dry rot and an infestation of unusually historical poltergeists. Harry Potter is on the case.

Written on the Heart by who_la_hoop –– 113k

Harry doesn’t mind that so many Slytherins from his year have returned to finish their NEWTs, really he doesn’t. It’s just – do they have to be so friendly? He’s not prejudiced, really he’s not. It’s just – they’ve got to be up to something, right? Unnerved by the attention he’s attracting from everyone – the Slytherins are the least of it, to be fair – and struggling with a raft of changes to Hogwarts itself, Harry wishes he could be happy that one constant remains: Draco Malfoy really fucking hates him.

When he’s hit by an illegal love-spell though, Harry finds he has more to worry about than whether or not Blaise Zabini actually wants to be his friend. For if everyone affected has been blessed – or cursed, by the look on Malfoy’s face – with a magical tattoo revealing the name of their soulmate, what does it mean that Harry’s skin remains completely bare?

It actually hurts by parkkate –– 51k

For years, Draco has tried to avoid Harry Potter. He just knows he’ll make a fool out of himself if they spent more than five minutes in a room together. Unfortunately, Potter suddenly seems intent on becoming Draco’s friend, but neither of them are prepared for the inevitable consequences...

Lessons in Humility by playout –– 86k

After the dissolution of his marriage and a good bit of soul-searching, Harry returns to Hogwarts as the new Defense teacher. Go figure, it happens to be the same year Draco takes over the role of Potions Master. Neither man is happy about this turn of events. Will they be able to set aside their differences and learn a thing or two about trust and humility on the way? (Spoiler Alert: Yes. Very much so.)

A Lick and a Promise by tackytiger –– 55k

Something sinister stirs in Hogwarts!

When magical creatures and students at the school are hit with a debilitating blood curse, Minerva McGonagall approaches the Ministry for help.

Star Auror Harry Potter seems to be the obvious choice to go undercover—as DADA Professor, naturally. He’s going to need the help of the Ministry’s foremost expert in blood magic to get to the bottom of the mystery, though, and he’s not entirely convinced that going back to Hogwarts with Draco Malfoy is a good idea.

Things are complicated between them—what’s new?—but they know they have to learn to work together (and keep their hands off each other in the corridors) in order to solve this case. Luckily for them, Hogwarts itself wants to lend a hand.

A tale of love, lessons, and learning to really live.

Azoth by zeitgeistic (faire_weather) –– 88k

Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care.

Balance, Imperfect by bixgirl1 ––88k

When Harry sustains an injury in the line of work, he no longer knows how to navigate the life he loved, and finds help and solace from the most unexpected source.

Burn The Witch by lettersbyelise –– 95k

When Harry Potter is sent in to investigate Draco Malfoy’s successful potions company, posing as Draco’s bodyguard, he doesn’t know the case will launch a series of events that will change his life — and Draco’s. A story about choices, scars, Chopin piano pieces, and finding all kinds of love in the most unexpected places.

Chaos Theory by Tessa Crowley (tessacrowley) –– 102k

Chaos: when the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future. One gene varies, one neuron fires, one butterfly flaps its wings, and Draco Malfoy's life is completely different. Draco has always found a certain comfort in chaos. Perhaps he shouldn't.

Harry Potter and the elusive day off by pleasebekidding –– 71k

Auror Potter needs a fucking break. He is wiped. He is exhausted. He probably didn't intend to put himself into a magical coma but these things happen. And who cares, really? He is comfortable in a house where he has hidden away all the shit he can't deal with.

Guaritore Christopher Black is an exceptional psychiatrist with a specialisation in sleep disorders. He is also Draco Malfoy in a Glamour.

Minister Hermione Granger knows the dangers and the complications, but she needs her best friend back.

Light up the Night by Saras_Girl –– 98k

This year, despite his better judgement, Harry’s love life is going off with a bang. Advent fic 2019.

All Life is Yours to Miss by Saras_Girl –– 114k

Professor Malfoy's world is contained, controlled, and as solitary as he can make it, but when an act of petty revenge goes horribly awry, he and his trusty six-legged friend are thrown into Hogwarts life at the deep end and must learn to live, love and let go.

All Our Secrets Laid Bare by firethesound –– 149k

Over the six years Draco Malfoy has been an Auror, four of his partners have turned up dead. Harry Potter is assigned as his newest partner to investigate just what is going on.

The Light More Beautiful by firethesound –– 81k

Thirteen years after Draco accepts Potter's help escaping the horror of his sixth year, he returns to England where he makes the unfortunate discovery that Potter is still as obnoxious as ever. And worse, more than a decade overseas hasn't been enough to dim Draco's obsession with him.

Thine Enemy is Sweet by XxTheDarkLordxX –– 52k

“The ex-boyfriend of my ex-fiance is my partner in crime."

A story featuring a ragtag team of morons, bickering enemies that can't agree on anything, a heist that surely won't end well and a connection that neither Harry or Draco can deny.

[mst3kproject]

Battle of the Worlds

Several times on this blog I've featured movies that have more than one title.  In almost every case, the new titles were better than the original one, and this is not an exception.  Battle of the Worlds is fairly bland, but it tells you that you're going to be seeing a movie about some kind of space-based conflict, without giving away the details.  The Italian title was Il Pianeta degli Uomini Spenti, which is a fucking spoiler.

An earlier draft of this review contained a couple of jokes about the classically phallic 60's spacecraft in the movie, but I went back and took those out.  Bezos has really set a whole new standard for Giant Dong Rockets and I can no longer accept anything less.

A group of astronomers have just discovered a rogue planet, which they have dubbed the Outsider, is entering our solar system. Everybody is worried about it hitting Earth except for nasty old misanthrope Professor Benson, who says it'll be a near miss.  As it turns out, nobody's exactly right – the Outsider doesn't hit us, but it doesn't just pass by, either.  Instead, it settles into orbit, and when humanity attempts to explore it, it responds by sending out squadrons of flying saucers to blow our rockets out of its sky!  After one of these crashes on Earth, Benson is able to learn how to deactivate the Outsider’s defences and land on it, where humanity can finally confront its inhabitants... or can we?

Well, if you speak Italian, you already know the answer, because this is The Planet of Extinguished Men. The aliens are all long dead and their spaceship has been following its programming for millions of years without them, including the part telling it to destroy the Earth.  Bummer.

I actually have quite a bit to say about this movie.  It centres around some interesting musings about human emotion and curiosity, though it never comes to any solid conclusions.  As a movie, unfortunately, it's not very well-made.  This is a story in which the world as we know it nearly comes to an end more than once, and yet very little seems to happen in it.

The opening sequence is terribly clumsy and does very little to place you within this world.  We start off with two characters kissing and being excited about starting a new life together, but we have no idea at this point who they are or why they want to leave this place. When the Outsider is discovered, the scientists beat around the bush and try to keep it a secret, even from the audience.  Only Benson is willing to be upfront about it.  This does establish him as a realist while making his colleagues seem spineless, which is what the movie wants, but it's also terribly frustrating for the viewer.

Later there's a sequence in which a craft attempting to land on Mars is nearly destroyed by the gravity of the Outsider, and some quick thinking saves the astronauts' lives, but this is directed like the battle sequences in Invasion of the Neptune Men. We have no idea where any of these craft or planets are in relation to one another, and have to rely on characters sitting at desks to tell us what's happening.  Even worse, we never see the chaos the looming end of the world wreaks on society.  Astronauts who have recently returned to Earth note that they've heard there have been suicides and riots as people fear the Outsider will impact our planet, but we never see any of this.

The movie does a little better later, when the Outsider's close approach causes disastrous tidal forces... these are represented by black and white footage of floods and volcanic eruptions tinted red to try to make it match the rest of the colour film.  As always, this fails, but at least they tried. Other special effects are equally pathetic.  There are the inevitable plastic model kit rockets with their flame exhaust that rises in what's supposed to be a zero-gravity vacuum.  The 'flying saucers' the Outsider launches to defend itself look like nothing so much as giant fried eggs.

The Outsider itself is particularly sad to look at.  They have a model they use for it in a few shots, but this is about on a par with the original MST3K spaghetti ball.  In other shots, the Outsider is represented by a photograph of the Moon.  Absolutely no attempt is made to disguise it, and so of course the effect is a dismal failure because everybody knows what the goddamn Moon looks like. They couldn't even, I don't know, turn it upside-down or something?

On the other hand, the inside of the Outsider is actually pretty cool.  The sets aren't exactly believable, but you can see what they were going for.  Upon entering the caverns, the explorers find themselves in a series of tunnels full of strange red tubes and textures that look more organic than geological. Entering the Outsider is like wandering around within a living organism.  My favourite part of this is that absolutely nothing we see here is comprehensible.  Professor Benson, the genius, claims to be able to figure out what's going on, but his declarations seem arbitrary and nothing we're looking at makes visual sense.  Even the aliens don't look like anything in particular.  Were it not for Benson, we would not recognize them as living (or dead) creatures.

Like First Spaceship on Venus, Battle of the Worlds is much more interested in its ideas than in anything else, including what is supposedly its plot.  The characters are important mostly as the embodiment of those ideas, rather than as people in themselves, and the ideas the movie wants to study are about logic and emotion and how they affect human priorities.

The character of Dr. Fred Steele finds himself facing the potential end of the world, and decides that the most important thing to him in this situation is the love between him and his fiancee, Eve Barnett. Professor Benson, on the other hand, thinks the most important thing is to understand the threat they're facing.  Partly this is so that humanity can save itself from destruction, but knowledge for its own sake is also important.  In between these two men is Eve herself, who thinks love and science are both important and tries to find some middle ground between the two.  This is difficult for her, because Benson wants her to stay at the observatory and assist him, while Fred wants her to leave with him so they can get married.  When Eve tries to convince Fred to stay with her, both men see this as her having chosen Benson, and it poisons the relationships between all three parties.  Only with Benson dead are Eve and Fred able to strike a balance again.

But the movie doesn't want us to think that there is no middle ground.  The movie's other romantic couple are the two scientists from the Mars Base, Bob and Cathy.  They got married because they were both lonely and a psychological evaluation suggested that they had compatible personalities.  As the story progresses, however, they find that they have indeed fallen in love and want a future together that would include things like children – but this is ultimately denied to them, as Cathy is crushed by falling debris while exploring the Outsider.

Benson dies when insists on staying aboard the Outsider to try to decode its computers despite the fact that the military is about to destroy the entire object.  As the others escape, Fred intones the movie's beauty killed the beast line: “poor Benson, if they opened his chest they'd find a formula where his heart should be.”  And yet Benson died happy – as the Outsider explodes he is triumphant in his ability to understand its secrets, and laughing at the foolishness and cowardice of his fellow man.  It is the survivors who are miserable, mourning the loss of Benson himself as well as of Cathy, whose death was entirely meaningless.

I'm not sure what the movie is trying to tell us about these different approaches to life.  It seems to present them as ultimately incompatible, that attempts to give logic and emotion equal weight can only end in tears.  Only Benson, who was unswerving in his devotion to science, is ultimately satisfied. Perhaps the take-home message is that whatever your principles are, happiness lies in following them to their conclusion.

There's a second message, too, in different approaches to science itself. Modern physicists will often describe themselves as either theoretical or experimental... the two fields do compliment each other, but they often take place in different rooms, and one will be seen as leading the way for the other.  The search for the Higgs Boson was theory-led: people were pretty sure it existed, they just had to find it.  A great deal of astrophysics, however, is result-led: what we see tells us that there are things going on, like dark matter and dark energy, that we know nothing about, and the theorists must do their best to figure it out.

For most of his life, Benson has been a theorist.  He sits in his greenhouse chalking on the floors, spinning theories out of other people's results or out of pure mathematics.  Until the arrival of the Outsider, he had no interest in going out and exploring or experimenting.  But it quickly becomes clear to him that he cannot understand the Outsider through pure theory, as his calculations cannot account for the decisions of its makers.  In order to know it, he must see it for himself, so he grandly announces his intention to leave his 'den'.  Nobody ever asks him if it was worth it, but his maniacal smile at the moment of his death suggests that it was.

Battle of the Worlds had potential to be a really interesting movie, but ultimate the way its shot and edited make it mainly a very dull one.  Like its own characters, it fails to find the balance it needed.

[repnvrbeenworse]

Albus Dumbledore was dead.

“We have to break up, Draco.” She stated.

“Woah woah, no we don’t, we had a small disagreement that’s all.”

“We didn’t just have a disagreement” she laughed dryly. “We are on different sides of the fucking war, we need to break up” She said sadly.

“I can’t.. I just can’t live without you.” “ I love you so much but we can’t be together.” She said while turning around and starting to leave.

“I love you” He whispered as tears ran down his face, the ring he had inside his pocket had never felt so heavy.

—

The students in Hogwarts knew something was wrong. They knew that something was going to happen, when (Y/N) and Draco were no longer together at all times, when she was spending time with Harry Potter and his friends. So when she heard that Potter had attacked Draco in the bathroom, she knew. She knew that all those suspicions were true. He was a death eater and he did truly have a mission. But he couldn’t go visit him at the infirmary.

She was awoken by someone shaking her arm.

“Draco?” She asked in the dark.

“Bloody hell! Do I really look like that asshole?”

“Weasley what the hell are you doing in the slytherin dorms? In MY room?”

“We need to go, they are here.”

She understood exactly what he meant. She got dressed and packed her things. They would not just kill her, they would torture her. She had been refusing the dark mark for as long as she could but it would not happen one more time.

So they ran, Ron surprisingly took her hand in his as they ran in the middle of the chaos, students were screaming and there were dark figures everywhere. She would have stopped breathing If it hadn’t been for the circumstances .

She had always liked him, Ronald Weasley, he was very brave and always had that adorable look in his face which had always made her heart flutter.             She knew it was wrong, she was in love with Draco. But his clumsiness never failed to make her smile.

That’s when she saw it, a body lying limp on the entrance to the castle. She stopped and screamed making Ron turn around and look in the direction she was looking.

Albus Dumbledore was dead.

He laid peacefully as students gathered around him. He saw Harry running off behind someone. Professor Snape and next to him stood Draco, she ran behind him, leaving Ron behind.

“YOU COWARD.” He said, making Snape turn around. He fired a spell at him. He didn’t.

“FIGHT BACK YOU COWARD, FIGHT BACK.”

“Sectumsempra” He cursed at him. He turned around blocking the spell and walking towards him.

....

“Kill me like you killed him, you coward —” Harry said again.

“DON'T CALL ME COWARD” He said angrily cursing him, which sent him flying down to the ground.

And he left. She couldn’t move, Snape was one of his most faithful followers, she couldn’t go up against him or he would tell the Dark lord, and something bad would happen. Once they were all gone she approached Harry.  

“Harry, are you okay?”

“He.. he killed him (Y/N), he killed Dumbledore.”

“No way, he couldn’t have, It’s Snape we are talking about.”

“That’s what I mean.”

“He couldn’t have.” He could? She thought to herself.

“We have to go now.”

“Yeah lets go.”

—

The Forest of Dean was beautiful.

If you had asked her a year ago, she would have laughed. Running away with Potter and his friends, the blood traitor and the mudblood? No way.

But there she was, lighting up the fire with Ron trying to crack some jokes.

“Face it Weasley, you are not the funny one of the group” she said.

“Oh really, then who am I” he asked with a hint of mischief in his voice.

“You are the adorable one.” She said as he sat next to her around the fire.

“You are really bloody prett-“ he was cut by some noise, someone was coming.

He took her hand and gestured to Harry and Hermione to run.And they did.

They ran through the wood being chased, being hunted down by some snatchers.They came to a clear where they were surrounded.

Someone got a hold on (Y/N), making her scream.

“Get – off – her!” Ron shouted. There was the unmistakable sound of knuckles hitting flesh: Ron grunted in pain and (Y/N) screamed, ‘No! Leave him alone, leave him alone!’

“Oh would you look at that!” He exclaimed, “it’s a (L/N), the dark lord will be so happy to see you, he’s been looking for you.” He said while brushing her hair behind her ear.

“What’s your name?’ snarled Greyback. ‘Dudley,’ said Harry.

‘And your first name?’

‘I – Vernon. Vernon Dudley.’

‘Check the list, Scabior,’ said Greyback, and Harry heard him move sideways to look down at Ron, instead. ‘And what about you, Ginger?’

‘Stan Shunpike,’ said Ron.

“Mmm I don’t really believe them,do you?”he asked.

“No not really” said Greyback with a hint of fun in his voice.

“We’ll  take them to The Manor.”

The Manor, she knew exactly where it was and it sent chills down her back.

Next part

[aal-archaeology]

Summary of my first term of my Ph.D. at Stanford during a global pandemic and an extremely controversial election year (Anthropology, yr. 1, she/they, 25y/o) with some toggl data analysis

Well this year was a doozy if I don’t say so myself. But we survived it, and its okay if that’s all you were able to do this year because that’s enough.  As an offical 18th grader, I feel like I can speak pretty well to the toxicity of the academic environment. There is always a pressure to be working all of the time, people compete with each other with how few hours of sleep they got, every conversation with fellow students is just listing off all of the different assignemnts you have to do by the end of the week. On top of all of this, this is 2020. So, I decided that this year I’m going to give myself some mental slack. 

I decided that this is the year that I’m not going to try to impress anyone. I’m just going to survive and do what I have to do to move onto the next term. I think I did a pretty good job at that for the first term, so I’ll share a bit about what I observed in myself and those in my cohort. Coming into term one having to choose classes, many of my peers were packing their schedules full of 5 Unit seminars. For those who don’t know, theoretically, a 5 Unit course is supposed to take about 5-6 hours of work outside of class hours. For Stanford Anthropology, most PhD students take as close as they can to 18 credits, and anything over that you have to pay extra for the courses. Taking more courses doesn’t really put you any further ahead in terms of completing your degree, and you’re expected to complete about 45 Units each year for the first two years of the program. 

I decided to take 2 seminars (typical), a language course, and a couple filler credits that we are given the option to use if we need 1-3 units to hit 18 total. I,  fortunately, tracked every hour spent outside of the classroom working on each course using toggl (i highly reccomend): 

In a typical week, I spent about 5-6 hours/week outside of class on my Anthro seminars, and about 6-7 hours on Japanese. Japanese was a “for-fun” class so I would usually study more of that when I didn’t feel like reading dense archaeological theory. 

Toggl was a really cool way to see where I was spending too much, or not enough, time on my classwork. If it was taking me more than 1.5 hours to get through a single article, I knew I was probably spending too much time on it and should move on to the next thing. My goal for the term was to stay true to the 5 Unit idea of 5-6 hours, and not over-work myself. 

Toggl was also useful in tracking my mental health throughout the term, as it is very obvious to see when I just was not physically capable of ingesting 400 pages of reading. For example, election week:

Election week was really hard for me, and everyone else in the world honestly. I had various family things I was dealing with, typical existential dread, plus it was week 8-ish of the term when everything was already on fire in terms of workload. For one of my seminars (purple), we had to read a book for the following week which I was able to do the sundar after election day. However, for the days leading up to and surrounding the 4th, the only thing I could mentally handle was mindless Japanese vocab studying. One of my seminars really sufferend this week, and I straight up just didnt show up to the smaller Anth 310G class because I had only read the title of the pdf. Fortunately, I emailed my professor of my Theory class and was like “yo dude I cannot” and he replied that he understood and wouldnt call on me during that day of class. 

I didn’t do a whole lot of journalling at all this term, but for this week I just wrote “pain” on most days and then YAY BIDEN at the end of it. 

Weekly Schedule

Above is what a typical week looked like, some were a lot lot lot more dense, others not so much, but this was pretty average. Not all things on the calendar are work related, some are extra lectures from visiting professors that sounded interesting, or “Free Boba & Snacks Pick Up” put on by my residence. Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday were my big work days last term, where I didn’t have a whole lot of classes so I would do most of my reading then. On Tues and Thurs I had one 3-hour seminar, and M-F I had a 50 min Japanese class. 

I woke up every day around 7am-ish, made a green tea, and sat at the computer to work, filter through emails, etc. On particularily open days I would go grocery shopping, go for bike rides/walks around campus, go buy food/boba. 

On class-heavy days, I wouldn’t leave my computer for 8-12 hours, which is extremely ridiculous but that’s the new norm in school in 2020. This kind of stunk because all of the socializing was also on the computer, so even if I wasn’t working I was doing screen related things. 

EVERY day I stopped working at 6pm. Rarely did I do readings past 6pm unless I was really slacking somewhere. From 6pm onwards I would do things like play Among Us or League of Legends with my discord friends, eat, watch movies with my partner, etc. And then most nights I would try to be in bed by 12am at the latest. 

Social Life

Despite the online nature of things this term, I was suprisingly able to meet a lot of great people on campus. We were all being tested at least once a week, which made in person gatherings with 1-4 people a little less scary, especially when half of the people lived together in one household. 

In the first week of school, some of the grad programs put on a “speed friending” zoom event, where I was able to connect with two people really well. We ended up doing a “slow-friending” zoom event afterwards and then created a FB group chat and added all of the people we had met into it. The group ended up being about 15 people, and we would message the group for park hangouts, going to get food, or going on walks on campus. We also had a huge get together in a park for Mid-Autumn Festival, where we sat in a socially distanced circle, chatted, and ate mooncakes. 

Most of my socializing came from my online friends, and amongus was a huge savior to my mental health this term wher emy group would play literally every night. I also made a really good friend off of Bumble BFF this term, who I’ve hung out with a good amount for plant shopping and board games. 

I’m very fortunate to be in a situation where I can get tested for COVID on a days notice, and very grateful that I could use that to stay a little sane.  My Biggest Accomplishment this term, was not school related. but instead I hit my 365 DAY STREAK on duolingo. This was celebrated with cake. This streak has lived through literal hell and for that I am very proud. 

Overall reflection:

This term was super rough, there were a lot of days where I just napped through it and a lot of days where I couldn’t bring myself to do any work. However, I think the courseload that I took was very manageable and I’m going to continue to go light on myself in that regard. 

I really liked the boundaries that I set for myself this term, not working after 6pm and making time to do some fun things in the midst of chaos. I never felt like I was too far behind on work, or that I wasn’t doing enough, because I had a literal reminder in front of me that I had already put x amount of hours into something with toggl. 

Sometimes in class I would feel like I didn’t know how to productively contribute to conversation, but I think thats a skill that will get better over time and not being so great at it should especially be expected in the first term of a program.

Socially I met a lot of wonderful people who also made me feel more comfortable will myself. I started using She/They pronouns which feel really comforting to me. I made a lot of little origami cranes every time I was feeling sad. I drank a lot of boba. Watched a lot of She Ra. Played a lot of games. It all ended up being okay despite the weight of everything around me. 

I’m proud of all of you for making it through this year, I know it was really difficult for a lot of people in more ways than it was for me, but we’re still here! Sometimes all you can do it make it to the next day and thats such a big accomplishment on its own.  Please feel free to reach out with any questions about time-management, toggl, phd stuff in general, archaeology, etc! Always happy to help out. :’) Thanks for reading! Lyss

[solalunar-eclipse]

Team Dark: A Holiday Special

Chapter Two: Shadow

One | Three

Word count: about 6500 words

No warnings, just more angst than last time because Shadow.

Author’s Note: Thank you all so much for the great comments you left on chapter one- it’s really what keeps me writing and posting.

In other news, I believe that Hanukkah started yesterday evening, so to anyone who celebrates that holiday, Happy Hanukkah!

...

It was the dawn of a bright new day, and Shadow stirred as the sun rose, feeling oddly content. His bed was warm, and he was comfortable, and he really didn’t want to get up just yet. Fumbling around on the bedside table for his book, he began to feel even better at the thought of hiding under the covers for another hour or two, curled up reading…

Except his book wasn’t there. He made several quiet irritated noises, before forcing himself to sit upright.

Chaos, he was not a morning person.

This was incredibly frustrating, of course, since he only needed about five hours of sleep a night and tended to wake up early. Coffee beans usually helped with that, though, and some hot water. 

His thoughts now focused on coffee, Shadow dragged himself slowly out of bed, shuddering as the cold air hit his fur. He searched through the clothes he’d brought and pulled out a warm, soft sweater, sighing with relief as he put it on. It was his favorite, too, since it matched his stripes nicely. 

Sliding on a pair of slippers (plaid, fluffy, chosen by Rouge) he padded downstairs silently, eyes scanning the area for his book- and caffeine. He wandered through the main hall, enjoying the view that the large windows provided of the snowy landscape. Still, he wished they’d turn the heating up a little, shuddering as he wrapped his arms around himself tightly.

As he walked into the kitchen, still half-lost in a morning haze, Shadow was fully awakened by the shock of seeing other people up. More specifically, Rouge’s mother and stepmother were cooking. Already. He clamped a hand over his mouth to keep from shouting, and his quills bristled in surprise. 

His friend’s mother startled and dropped the flour she was carrying, while her stepmother yelped and fumbled with the frying pan on the stove. Shadow rushed over and caught the dropped bag before it could explode, his nerves feeling slightly shot from having to deal with so much this early on.

“My bad,” he whispered, placing the flour on the island in the middle of the kitchen. “I didn’t know anyone else was awake yet- sorry.” he finished lamely. The hedgehog began to feel slightly uncomfortable, as both of the other occupants of the kitchen were looking directly at him. Until now, he’d managed to avoid everyone’s notice pretty well at this party, fading quietly into the background after that first introduction. 

He was not prepared to socialize, especially not this early.

Camellia just smiled at him, though, and said kindly, “It’s perfectly alright, honey, we didn’t realize anyone else could stand to get up so early either!”

Rouge’s mother rolled her eyes good-naturedly at Shadow as she walked past him. “You say that like I like mornings, Cam.” she quipped.

He felt awkward just standing in the middle of the room- especially having interrupted their formerly-private moment- so he took a couple of steps to the side quietly. “I’ll just be out of your way now…”

“Oh no, don’t worry about it at all!” the bat exclaimed. “Were you looking for something, sugar?”

Having two terms of endearment directed his way in as many minutes stressed (and slightly flustered) Shadow, and he found himself beginning to retreat into his usual cold persona. The hybrid muttered, “I was just looking for my book. If you happened to know where the coffee is, that would help. That’s all.”

The cardinal handed him a bag of coffee beans, still smiling warmly. “And I think your book’s over there, honey.”

Shadow took his book and turned to walk out of the room, nodding a quiet ‘thank you’ as he did so.

However...the second he set a foot outside the kitchen doorway, he froze. Looking back over his shoulder, he asked, “...how much more do you have to do?”

It would be downright rude to leave his hosts doing all the work, wouldn’t it?

...and why did that sentence sound like someone else had said it?

“Oh! Well, we have the eggs, and the waffles, and the…” the bat began to rattle off a long list of the different things they had to make. “But don’t worry about us, dear, you have your book to read!”

He wavered a moment longer in the doorway, before reluctantly putting the book down. Walking back to stand in front of them, he sighed. “Where are the aprons, then?” he asked flatly.

“Are you sure, honey?” Camellia asked. “You really needn’t trouble yourself…”

Shadow raised a brow ever so slightly. “I’m sure.”

“Oh, aren’t you sweet!” Rouge’s mother gasped. “We usually get help a little later on, but if you really want to…”

“I have a little experience with cooking, but not much.” he warned, taking the apron she offered him and putting it on. (This was true. He only knew how to make waffles and French toast, and that was just because Rouge decided she would go without breakfast if she had to cook.)

The cheerful cardinal pulled him over to the counter, making Shadow startle slightly. “Have you ever made hash browns before, honey? Those shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“No…?” he said, a little confused. “I...I’ve never had those before. What are they?”

“What?” Lila cried out, on the other side of the room. “What has Rouge been feeding you? Well, it’s about time you learned then.” She moved over to stand next to Shadow, handing him a bag of potatoes.

The hedgehog just stared at the vegetables, his mind going blank.

He needed to have his coffee before he dealt with this. Now.

…

Two hours and several handfuls of coffee beans later, Shadow could say that he absolutely knew what hash browns were, having produced enough of them to feed an army. He had also made veritable mountains of scrambled eggs and stacks of pancakes, all while asking ‘Are you sure we need this many?’. He’d thought that the dinner spread was incredible last night, but seeing everything as it was being made only served to emphasize just how much food everyone here needed.

A few other family members had shown up near the end to help out Rouge’s parents, but the real flow of people was only just beginning. Young children were now rushing down the stairs, lured by the smell of breakfast. A few adults began to come down as well, along with Rouge and Omega.

The younger bat looked a little surprised to see Shadow in the kitchen, and he internally cringed as he realized just how bad he must look right now. His quills were tied back in a sloppy ponytail and the apron he’d been given was more than a little long on him. It wasn’t long enough to conceal his slippers, though, and his sweater was rolled up past his elbows, while his arms were covered in flour, sugar, and even a little bit of oil.

“Aww, hon! You’ve been helping!” she said, batting her eyelashes in a blatantly over-the-top manner. She was clearly fighting the urge to laugh at his appearance.

Shadow rolled his eyes. “Don’t rub it in.”

Rouge’s mother bustled up at that, smiling warmly at him. Shadow became significantly more uncomfortable- he was used to having glowers and wide-eyed stares directed at him, not...that.

“He just walked over and demanded an apron, then he got right to work!” she said cheerfully. “He’s really quite helpful, honestly!”

Omega looked at the older bat. “Shadow does not like to admit that he’s helping, even when he is very clearly doing so. His pride is too great to ever admit that he’d do such a thing.”

The hybrid scowled. “That is not true.”

Rouge giggled. “Oh, it’s not, hm? Then what about the time you finished-”

“-don’t you dare-”

“-cleaning my room when I-”

“-now you know how it feels, Shadow-”

“-shut up-”

“-took a quick break, or the time when-”

“Alright, that’s enough!” Shadow roared, leaping at her. Rouge’s mother seemed quite startled at this, but Rouge started cackling just like last night, and Omega looked incredibly smug (somehow), watching as she dodged his attack.

“Just look a little sad, Mom, and maybe tell him you’d be ‘ever so grateful’ and he’ll drop everything to do iiiaaaAAAAH!!”

Shadow had managed to catch Rouge and pin her down on the couch. “Take it back.”

“Never.” she said, smiling sweetly at him.

The hybrid prepared himself to inflict some sort of punishment (messing up her makeup, perhaps, or tickling) when he was hoisted bodily and flung over a very square and very metallic shoulder.

“Umph.” he wheezed in a very undignified manner as Omega hauled him out of the room.

The robot looked very pleased with himself. “Ah yes. Revenge is truly sweet.”

...

“Alright, guys!” Rouge announced after breakfast. “It’s perfect weather out, so you know what we’re gonna do? We are going sledding.”

Shadow- who had been cleaning up and lost in thought- nearly hit the ceiling. “Wait, what?”

“Don’t worry, hon, we’ll get you all wrapped up first.” Rouge said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The hybrid’s body immediately sagged in poorly disguised relief.

Five minutes later, Shadow wore three layers of shirts, a coat, sweatpants, snow boots, thick gloves, a hat, and a scarf. “I look like an idiot.” he growled.

“Would you prefer to be cold?” Omega asked him dryly.

Shadow shuddered at the very thought. Pulling his clothes a little tighter, he was suddenly launched back into the past, a very particular memory running through his mind.

“You ready for lessons today, Shadow?” a young, blond-haired girl asked. 

Maria.

Shadow, at the perky young age of two and two-thirds (eight mentally), leaned on the edge of her bed, smiling. “Always!”

Professor Gerald entered shortly with their lesson for the day- exponentials for Maria and multiplying fractions for Shadow- and began to teach.

As Shadow worked on his problems later, the professor’s voice going on in the background as he spoke to his granddaughter, he began to notice his fingers trembling. Weird.

The longer he worked, the more it spread, until his fur was bristling and his whole body shook occasionally. But he was the Ultimate Lifeform! He was made to be tough!

So he kept on going.

Eventually, his breath began to come short and his teeth clicked together. He accidentally dropped his pencil, his fingers trembling too much to hold it.

Maria noticed.

“Shadow, are you alright?” she asked. “Come here for a second…”

He walked over, trying to keep his legs from shaking and failing miserably. She reached out to touch his arm, but gasped as soon as she felt his fur.

“Maria!” he cried out, worried. “Maria, what’s wrong?”

“You’re freezing, Shadow! Come here…”

She pulled him onto the bed next to her, the warm quilt on it keeping her from struggling as Shadow had.

He let out an involuntary sigh as warmth began to flood his body, melting away the shudders and allowing his breathing to return to normal.

“Strange…” the professor had said, after getting Shadow a warm jacket to wear. “This was unexpected- I didn’t think it was so cold! I know the temperature on the space station is meant to simulate wintertime inside on Earth, but it’s only an indoor climate.” He’d later discovered that Shadow’s DNA predisposed him to get cold easily.

Or as Rouge put it: “You’re half lizard, hon. I’m honestly surprised you don’t spend all day lying on hot rocks when it’s cold.”

That event had led to a lifelong hatred of Space Colony ARK’s air conditioning (and several heated glares at the ventilation system for Maria’s benefit).

And then…

Shadow remembered what it felt like to have ice cover his body. When he’d woken up from his frozen sleep, he’d been filled with a chill he just couldn’t shake.

He’d been able to ignore it in his quest for revenge, but from then until he finally went Super, he had struggled to become warm, even in the tropical heat of the jungle. A cold sensation had settled in his very bones.

But now, he no longer felt frozen inside, and the cold was just an irritation, albeit a slightly more emotionally charged one.

Wasn’t everything.

Rouge and Omega had both been incredibly understanding, though. The bat had never made him go outside when it was cold, and she often dumped armfuls of blankets on him at random moments. (He appreciated it more than he let on.) The E-series robot was more subtle in his support, doing things like handing Shadow an extra scarf before he left their house or silently placing a mug of hot chocolate next to him when he shivered.

And now, they were standing in front of him, having packed all of these clothes for his benefit.

Somehow, Shadow couldn’t find it in himself to complain.

“No,” he sighed, “I suppose I don’t.”

“Alright, guys, let’s go!” Rouge practically dragged them out the door, pushing Shadow up onto Omega’s shoulders and then flying up to grab his hands once they were outside.

“I will never comprehend how such a small being has the power to lift both myself and Shadow.” Omega commented as they took off.

“Lots of practice- hff- and weight training- hh- does the trick.” Rouge gasped, evidently straining to keep them in the air. “I’m- ngh- out of practice.”

“It’s fine, Rouge.” Shadow said, his voice muffled by the scarf. “Take your time.”

Eventually, they made it to a giant hill with an incredibly steep slope. As they trudged up to the top, the (relatively) small hedgehog began to notice just how very angled and high the incline was...

Shadow regretted everything. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Rouge?” he asked, watching as Omega lay down on what would have been his chest to be the actual sled.

“Of course, hon! It’s going to be great!”

“Uh…” the hedgehog muttered nervously, even as he allowed Rouge to pull him onto the robot’s back. “I…”

“Alright let’s go.” Omega said quickly, firing his rocket boosters.

Rouge whooped and Shadow (to his eternal shame) screamed as they blasted down the hill at top speed, flying across a patch of ice at the bottom and skidding to a stop several yards away. Panting heavily from his adrenaline rush, Shadow fought to get his thoughts in order. “That...that was….”

“Awesome!” Rouge shouted. “We’re doing that again!”

“...alright?” Shadow agreed. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice, but it was a little fun.

The next time, Rouge tried lying down and yelled the whole way- not being able to see where you were going made things a lot more scary. Omega tried carrying them up to the top of the hill as well, completely eliminating the usual grind of dragging a sled up the slope that came with this activity. Shadow got into it eventually, clearly enjoying himself despite the fact that he never quite yelled like Rouge as they careened wildly downhill.

Eventually, Rouge convinced Shadow to try lying down as well. “Don’t worry, hon, I’ll hang onto you and make sure nothing bad happens.” she reassured him.

“Okay...okay. Just make sure you hold on tight.” Shadow groaned, clinging to Omega with enough force to strain his fingers.

They blasted off down the hill and Shadow shouted in surprise- this was so much more intense! He felt every bump and jolt all the way down, but it was all fun.

Until Rouge yelled, “Omega! Tree!!”

Shadow gasped, startled. There was a tree and it was coming up-!

Omega fired his left booster, spinning them far away from the tree. Unfortunately, that meant spinning literally, as he’d majorly overcompensated for the potential collision. Whirling around in a circle, both Shadow and Rouge were thrown off. The bat managed to catch herself mid-air with her wings, but the shaken hedgehog wasn’t quite as lucky.

Shadow’s vision went completely white. For a moment, he feared he’d hit his head- but it was only snow. He sighed in relief.

That feeling didn’t last long, though, as he felt the cold begin to seep in from all sides. Panic wormed its way into his chest- and then when he tried to move, he could only push helplessly against the lightly packed material.

Calm down. It’s only snow. Rouge and Omega will be here any minute now.

He took a deep breath.

And another.

And then Omega was there, clasping his hand to pull him out of the snow, and Rouge was sitting on his shoulder, looking worried but pleased to see him alright. 

“I’m so sorry, hon, I didn’t mean for that to happen…” she said sympathetically.

“Neither did I.” Omega added, and Shadow noticed that the robot wasn’t quite looking him in the eye.

The cold was quickly banished with yet another reminder of just how much his friends cared. “It’s fine. I just…” He looked away, a little embarrassed. “I did what the therapist told me to do and just breathed, and waited for you.”

“Awww, that’s good, hon! Tolja therapy’d help somehow.” Rouge smirked at him, but it was all warmth and kindness underneath.

Shadow shuffled awkwardly in the snow. “It seems that way...I’ve decided to keep going with it, after all.”

“Excellent.” Omega said, and Shadow felt even better. “Now we should get back. Shadow appears to require the immediate application of blankets and hot cocoa.”

The snowy, slushy hedgehog was not in the mood to protest, and simply said, “Yes. Now.”

...

Two pairs of red eyes narrowed in a face-off. It had taken their owners over an hour to get to this point- the final competition. The winner of this match would be crowned champion.

About half of Rouge’s family watched, holding their breath as Shadow opened his mouth to speak.

“E-4.”

“Miss.”

“Dammit!”

Shadow didn’t care one bit who might hear him swear right now, his teeth gritted and mind racing a mile a minute. He was supposed to be good at tactics and strategy, yet here he was losing at Warboat. Badly.

Three of his ships, covered in red markers, lay slain off to one side. Meanwhile, Omega had only lost one and a half of his. Accursed computer processors.

The hedgehog was certain that Omega would have a gigantic grin on his face, if it were possible for him to produce one. As it was, he stared constantly at Shadow, even as he moved his markers around.

“C-6.”

Shadow felt relief flood his very soul. “Miss.”

It didn’t take long for Shadow’s fourth ship to get knocked out, even as he still searched for Omega’s third. He was getting trounced, and he knew it. Yet still, somehow, he had a shred of hope.

But then, two rounds later, he snarled furiously when Omega switched his LED eyes from full circles to half-moons- an evident hint at a smile.

“H-2.”

Shadow’s stomach dropped. “No!”

“Yes.” the robot said proudly, before planting a red marker on his board. 

The hedgehog began to search frantically for Omega’s ship, his moves becoming increasingly random and less thought-out as imminent destruction closed in.

Finally, something happened. “A-1.”, he muttered, resigned to his painful end.

“...hit.”

“Yessss.” Shadow hissed, somehow feeling triumph despite his imminent defeat. 

“Yay.” Rouge remarked dryly from the spectating area. “Consolation prize.”

“Shut uuup.” he whined petulantly, before realizing how very relaxed his demeanor had become. Straightening his back and smoothing down his quills, he allowed that familiar blank expression to settle back into place. “No distracting the players, please.” he added coolly.

Was it him, or was that a flash of...disappointment he caught from her?

Anyhow, he lost on the very next turn. Grumbling quietly, he went to sit down on a couch as Omega partied loudly with all of the children, blasting up-tempo dance music from his speakers.

It was one of the children (such sweet little kids, some of them were) who suggested that they make trophies. Pulling out cardboard and paper to draw on, they quickly made little certificates and gold, silver and bronze medals. One parent found some ribbon to thread through a punched-out hole, and then the little ones all scrambled to set up a proper ceremony “like on TV”.

As Shadow bent down to receive his handmade medal and crayon certificate, he knew without a doubt that this was being saved. For good.

…

Later, Shadow was relaxing in his bedroom when Rouge’s mother walked in, Omega following behind her.

“Oh, good, I’ve found you!” she said, her voice bright as always, but...off, this time. “Would you mind coming with me for a minute?”

As Shadow followed her out of the room, exchanging bewildered looks with Omega, he realized what the strange tone was.

Her voice was brittle. Fragile. As though it might break if one of them spoke wrong.

They entered a different room, one high up and far away from the rest of the party. Rouge’s mother stood in front of them for a moment, pulling at her sweater before deciding to sit down. She looked at her gloves for a moment, clearly thinking…

And then promptly burst into tears.

The two were incredibly startled at this, and despite both being relatively...emotionally inexperienced, they gathered around her to try and help. 

“Uh...I...is something wrong?” Shadow asked, immediately kicking himself mentally. Of course something’s wrong, people don’t cry if everything’s perfectly fine!

Omega, thankfully, got straight to the point. “What is it?”

“It’s...no, no, it was...Rouge.” the bat said, her voice sounding choked.

“Rouge?!” Shadow’s quills bristled. “What happened?”

“She...when Rouge came back. From her two years, you know, away-”

Shadow and Omega did know, now.

“-she came to the party two years ago, and she was different. She was cold, and distant, didn’t talk, and only laughed a- at people, not with them.”

Rouge? Cold and distant?!

“She wouldn’t talk to anybody about her life- the only reason I even knew she worked for G.U.N. was the logo on the paychecks she sent. When she stopped sending those, after I told her the news about Camellia- she took that well enough, but after that...I heard nothing. Nothing, for almost ten months.”

Omega’s eyes were wide, and Shadow was sure his own were as well.

“A-and then one day, she called me up. Her voice was different. Warmer. Happier. She apologized for her silence, and said she’d been in a bad place. I blamed myself, and accepted her apology, of course. She had to grow up so young, do so much all by herself… and she paid the price for it...for a while.

“And then I happened to look at an old article a couple weeks later, and I realized why she was better- and I couldn’t believe I’d missed it. My baby girl, in the news! And of all the things...fighting a world-renowned supervillain alongside the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog!

“But that wasn’t why she was better. No, when I started searching the internet frantically and saw her perched on the shoulder of a massive black and red robot, laughing uproariously- when I finally worked up the courage to go to her social media pages and saw, not darkness and pain, but her with an arm slung tightly around a young striped hedgehog, flashing the biggest smile I’d seen in years, I knew.”

Shadow’s hands were jittery and he really wished his heart would stop beating so loudly.

“It was both of you. I never found out the specifics as to how she met you two- I hope she’ll tell me the story someday- but you saved her from all of it. She had coworkers, sure, some nicer than others, but you gave her friends, and ones who understood her position at that.

“And this year- getting into a snowball fight! Telling silly stories at the dinner table! She would never have done that last year, mark my words.”

Rouge’s mother was smiling broadly through her tears now, looking at both of them. She reached out and hugged Omega, tightly but quickly, and did the same for Shadow, leaving him dumbfounded. “Just- I-

“Thank you.”

Shadow sat there for a minute, unable to do anything other than keep a hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, though, he noticed some movement by the door, and spun around to see Rouge standing there, absolutely silent as mascara-filled tears streamed down her face. Her hand was clamped over her mouth, presumably to keep from making any noise. 

“Rouge?” her mother asked, startled.

“Mooommmmm….” she whined, her own voice sounding tight- and then she rushed across the room and into her mother’s arms. “I love you, Mom.”

Shadow tried very hard to ignore the burning sensation just behind his eyes.

“You’re right. About, like, all of it.” Rouge said quietly, once she was finished crying with her mom. “Nothing here mattered to me when I was out there every day being, basically a soldier, y’know?”

She sighed, wiping more tears from the corners of her eyes, and stood up. “I think now’s a good time to say something that I’ve been thinking about for a while. Sorry if it isn’t perfect-” she laughed thickly- “I’m not exactly in the best state right now.”

Rouge’s mother smiled at her. “I’ll give you three some privacy, then.” she said gently, closing the door on her way out.

After she left, the younger bat resumed her impromptu speech. “Okay. Omega....chaos. Omega. Ohhh man.” She pointed at him. “That day? When you busted out of heckin’ nowhere and started blasting your machine guns like mad? O-one of the best days of my life. Wanna know why? I met you.”

Omega looked very fixedly at a point on the wall behind her.

“You literally carry me places. You crush our enemies with your epic missiles and fists of steel. You helped me prank Knuckles so bad he was checking everywhere for traps for the next week. You’re so fun and I just. You. Awesome. I can’t explain it properly right now but hopefully I’ll get to do a lot more of that later. You’re the best ever.”

“I…” Omega sounded like he was at a loss for words. “I am...honestly extremely flattered by this statement. I will continue to carry you places and destroy all who oppose us.”

“Awesome.” Rouge grinned.

“Aaaand Shadow.” She wheeled to face him, and the hedgehog in question attempted to mentally prepare himself and failed horribly. “You. You are so cool there are no words to describe it. And I don’t mean because you own a motorbike or you dress in all black or any of that stuff. 

“I mean because like half the people who’ve been important in your life so far have been trying to kick the ever-loving hell out of you...and yet you get up each and every single time they do it and win. Honestly...I’m proud to know you, Shadow. And I hope you know that if you need me, for anything ever, know that I will give up the Master Emerald in a hot second to help.

“So yeah. And you’re the first guy I’ve ever met who’s actually willing to talk makeup- let alone likes it. The one who tries all the new restaurants with me. And the only person I will ever know who can somehow handle going to the mall with me more than once in a week.” Rouge finished with a smirk. “I guess you really are Ultimate.”

Everyone in the room who had tear ducts was currently using them. A lot.

Shadow sniffed furiously and wiped tears from his eyes. “Th- thank you…” He cursed internally as his voice betrayed him.

“Oh yeah, get ready for more.” Rouge warned him. “There’s more.”

The hybrid’s throat tightened in response.

“You know how I said, before we came here, that you guys meant as much to me as my real family?”

“Yes?” Omega asked, his voice sounding a little quieter than usual.

“To heck with that. You guys don’t have to, like, change anything because of this, but you are my family. You’re both my real family. As real as Mom is.” Rouge said, her words shaky yet determined. 

Shadow felt as though he’d just been struck by a bolt of lightning. Dazed, he swayed slightly, clinging to the edge of his seat. 

Family?

Is...is Rouge...is Omega….

He began to hyperventilate just thinking about it, just considering that after all he’d been through, after everything he’d lived through- at the end of it all, waiting for him, right now, was a--

“Shadow. Shadow, hold your breath.” Omega reminded him, and he shut his mouth and clasped his hands tightly for a minute. 

A family? My family?!

“I- yes. Please. Yes. Family sounds good.” Shadow managed to stammer.

“Well, then!” Rouge said, looking pleased. “Now I get to assume the official Big Sister duties of kicking anyone who dares look at you wrong and buying you food.”

Shadow blushed a little. “Rouge. I don’t need protecting like that...”

“I know, but since when’s that going to stop me?” she asked. “And don’t start complaining- being the baby brother’s the good life, from what I’ve heard.”

A fresh wave of tears poured down his face at the words ‘baby brother’. 

Of course, that was when Omega decided to go completely off the rails. “Am I the middle sibling or the youngest?”

Shadow and Rouge stared at him for a second. Then they both started laughing wildly, the toll of the various emotional highs and lows hitting them all at once. 

“M-middle one.” Rouge gasped out eventually. “Definitely, the attention-seeking middle sibling.”

Omega made angry eyes for a second, but reconsidered. “Fine. That...yes, that works.”

“Family group hug?” Rouge suggested, smiling warmly at them both.

Shadow nodded weakly. “F-family group hug.”

Omega picked them both up and held them tightly. “You both will always be my favorite organic beings.”

“Thanks, Omega.” Rouge said, squeezing them both a little tighter.

…

A couple of hours later, Shadow was pulled out of his room for the third time in two days, again by Rouge’s mother. “Sorry to bother you, honey, I just wondered...would you mind giving us a hand with dinner? You were such a great help with breakfast that Cami and I had hoped....”

Curse you, Rouge.

So now he was in the kitchen. Again.

Only things were very different this time. Now, there were about ten people in there, all rushing around in some complicated pattern and carrying hot, cold, cooked, uncooked, and various other kinds of dishes all over without running into each other.

Somehow. 

Shadow, despite feeling very overwhelmed and (strangely) underqualified, took one step into the fray- and immediately jumped several feet straight back as he was nearly mowed down by one of Rouge’s auncles rushing past with some sort of casserole.

“Sorry, kiddo!” they yelled over their shoulder, handing off the dish to someone else before sprinting back across the kitchen. Seconds later, another relative vaulted over the island in the middle of the room to get to the sink as quickly as possible, while carrying a semi-full plate that he somehow managed to keep steady.

The hybrid suddenly remembered several battles and sparring matches that he’d participated in. This...actually looked a lot like those.

He locked eyes with Rouge’s stepmother. She didn’t have time to say anything to him, instead just tilting her head in one direction. Shadow’s eyes snapped to a frying pan left unattended and knew what he had to do.

He took a running start and launched himself clear over several people’s heads before sticking the landing right in front of the pan. Several people applauded, and one person- the vaulting relative from earlier- frowned, having been severely upstaged.

So it was a competition, then?

Shadow looked directly at him and smiled like a feral shark.

...

The wild food preparation/parkour show finished with several people throwing the food to each other across the room like in a musical (Shadow thanked his lucky stars that he’d caught his- it was made of glass), and he decided it only existed because Rouge’s family was extremely over-the-top.

Immediately following that, everyone gathered around for another large dinner, during which Shadow only ate a little. And after too many more embarrassing stories, everyone gathered into a room to watch one of those cheesy Wintersweek romance movies that always came out in droves at this time of year.

Shadow said that they were all incredibly cookie-cutter style stories, each one following the exact same plot. Rouge claimed they were uplifting, fun stories and that she didn’t care if they were all the same. Omega liked to categorize all of the things that were wrong with them, so he was willing to sit with Rouge as she watched them.

The hybrid had scoffed cynically and walked away, filling the kitchen sink with water in the next room over and making a big deal out of clattering the plates around that he planned to wash.

Romance movies were so overrated.

Shadow could still see the screen through the doorway (not that he wanted to), and despite his wishes, the movie kept distracting him. He couldn’t stop himself from looking up to see what was going on.

It appeared to be a classic enemies to lovers story, as currently the shy young woman with a rock band shirt- who also happened to be the main star (cliche alert)- was glowering furiously at the trendy, popular blonde movie star. Who was, of course, berating the main character for her poor customer service.

At a coffee shop.

Shadow sighed loudly.

And of course, just as he’d suspected (he wasn’t paying that much attention to the movie all these films were the same really) they both ended up competing. In a Wintersweek cooking competition.

The movie star was confident she would win. Her film crew was ever-present, taking all the best shots of her as she ‘worked’.

Obviously, the main character was determined to beat her through hard work and skill. She was fully prepared to show this star just who she was dealing with…

...and all that and so on. Shadow rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the soapy water.

And then (this movie was like every single other one!!) their partners both came down with an illness that wiped out several other competitors as well. So naturally they were forced to work together. And of course they worked well, too.

(Shadow had stopped working on the dishes by now. Somewhere around here, he’d forgotten to look away.)

By the time these two had begun to look past each other’s flaws and see the real person beneath them, his eyes were riveted to the screen. It was still bad, he told himself, even as he watched every move they made. It was still bad.

They were working together now, smiling slowly and talking quickly and sometimes, occasionally, laughing. The obligatory hands-touching-by- accident scene happened. The two looked into each other’s eyes.

Shadow couldn’t decide how he felt anymore. Confusing emotions swirled inside him.

The kiss scene. (He saw it coming a mile away.)

The awkwardness. (Just to build up the tension.)

Their lips meet. (And a little voice deep down inside Shadow whispers…

 ...that feels right.)

The hybrid didn’t move a muscle for the next several minutes of the movie, refusing to miss a moment.

The couple won the competition. Of course, he thought, some form of rational thought returning to him. That was to be expected.

As the movie ended on their celebratory kiss, Shadow began, strangely, to feel as though someone had just punched him in the chest. When the credits rolled, he left, walking away from the movie, trying to get rid of this strange sensation.

He heard the click of Rouge’s high heels follow a minute after. And then the stomp of Omega’s ironclad steps.

Folding his arms, he tried to project an I-don’t-care attitude. Unfortunately for him, Rouge and Omega could a) tell that he was projecting said attitude and b) figured out quickly what he was really thinking. Curses.

“Was it the movie?” Omega asked bluntly.

The only acknowledgment Shadow gave was a slight twitch of his shoulders up and down.

“Did you hate it?” Rouge questioned.

Again, just a twitch of the shoulders.

They both studied him for a second.

“No…” the bat whispered, her teal-shadowed eyes widening. “No, you liked it! You liked it!”

“I did not!” Shadow spat furiously, more venom than he’d intended finding its way into his voice.

“You did.” Omega said. It wasn’t a question.

“I mean…” he sighed, looking away. “Let’s not talk about it, okay?”

“Come on, Shadow…” Rouge said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

“Please?” Omega asked.

The hybrid groaned. “I...it was just- it wasn’t good, are we clear? It was just sappy. But. If you insist. I suppose...romance...argh. I can’t say it!”

“It’s okay, hon, just be patient.” Rouge said soothingly.

“Ugh...I mean...I’ve never dated someone before. Is it...really that nice?” Shadow muttered. His eyes narrowed, daring them to taunt him.

Omega looked at him, curiosity sparking in his eyes. “You want to date someone?”

“Wh-no, not like that! I- I mean...not just anyone…” he sputtered.

“So you’ve got someone in mind, then?” Rouge smirked at him, raising a brow.

“No!” he snapped, his eyes wide. “I- just meant- promise me you’ll never set me up on a blind date, are we clear?”

“Promise.” she said. “And I’m not crossing my fingers, either.” The bat waved both of them in front of her to demonstrate.

“However, we will force you to converse with others at future social events.” Omega declared. “I have heard that this is the first step in a successful relationship.” 

Shadow scowled, but without any real heat. “Don’t you dare.”

Rouge giggled. “No more sulking edgily in the corner for you, emo-hog!”

He groaned. “Are you both turning against me? Really?”

“Of course we are.” Omega remarked. “That is exactly what family is for.”

“I don’t know whether to feel flattered or irritated.” Shadow grumbled.

“Flattered. Definitely~.” Rouge quipped with a wink.

“Ugh. Well, I’m going to bed now. I’ve had enough of this nonsense.” he sighed, stalking out of the room.

“Aw, come on, Shadow!” the bat said teasingly. “Don’t you want to watch the sequel?”

The hybrid spun around so fast his quills nearly sliced up the doorway. “I’m sorry, the what now?”

“The sequel.” Omega repeated flatly. “You know you do.”

He hesitated.

“Fine.” Shadow growled through gritted teeth, his hands occasionally clenching into fists. “But only if I get to run commentary with Omega.”

“Sounds fair!” Rouge chirped, flying off with the other two right behind her.

As they walked away, Shadow in the back, he allowed himself a small, secret smile. They truly cared about him, and he knew they only wanted to see him happy. The teasing was all their way of showing affection. His eyes began to glimmer softly with a faint hint of happiness as fond thoughts and memories drifted through his mind. One sentence, though, stood out above all the rest.

I love my family.