#i cannot catch a break from the Welsh

[hjemne]

Do u see how the mountain dwellers treat me

[28onlythebrave]

'The Wicked Powers' theory regarding the plot based on Arthurian legend

I was looking for some infos about twp and i found this:

I had completely forgotten about this info CC gave us and because I have recently studied the Arthurian legend, I decided to look more into it. I think one of the most interesting things about the Arthurian legend is the Sword In The Stone/Excalibur.

Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone (the proof of Arthur's lineage) are in some versions said to be different, though in most incarnations they are the same. In Welsh, it is called Caledfwlch. It was forged at the Isle of Avalon.

In Arthurian romance, a number of explanations are given for Arthur's possession of Excalibur. In Robert de Boron's Merlin, the first tale to mention the "sword in the stone", Arthur obtained the British throne by pulling a sword from an anvil sitting atop a stone that appeared in a churchyard on Christmas Eve. In this account, as foretold by Merlin, the act could not be performed except by "the true king," meaning the divinely appointed king or true heir of Uther Pendragon. As Malory related in his most famous English-language version of the Arthurian tales, the 15th-century Le Morte d'Arthur: "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born." After many of the gathered nobles try and fail to complete Merlin's challenge, the teenage Arthur (who up to this point had believed himself to be son of Sir Ector, not Uther's son, and went there as Sir Kay's squire) does this feat effortlessly by accident and then repeats it publicly.

The identity of this sword as Excalibur is made explicit in the Prose Merlin, part of the Lancelot-Grail cycle of French romances (the Vulgate Cycle). In the Vulgate Mort Artu, when Arthur is at the brink of death he orders Griflet to throw the sword into the enchanted lake; after two failed attempts (as he felt such a great sword should not be thrown away), Griflet finally complies with the wounded king's request and a hand emerges from the lake to catch it. This tale becomes attached to Bedivere instead of Griflet in Malory and the English tradition. However, in the Post-Vulgate Cycle and consequently Malory, early in his reign Arthur breaks the Sword from the Stone while in combat against King Pellinore, and then is given Excalibur by a Lady of the Lake in exchange for a later boon for her (some time later, she arrives at Arthur's court to demand the head of Balin). Malory records both versions of the legend in his Le Morte d'Arthur, naming both swords as Excalibur. In some tellings, Excalibur's scabbard was also said to have powers of its own, as any wounds received while wearing the scabbard would not bleed at all, thus preventing the death of the wearer. For this reason, Merlin chides Arthur for preferring the sword over the scabbard, saying that the latter was the greater treasure. In the later romance tradition, including Le Morte d'Arthur, the scabbard is stolen from Arthur by his half-sister Morgan le Fay in revenge for the death of her beloved Accolon during the Fake Excalibur plot and thrown into a lake, never to be found again. This act later enables the death of Arthur, deprived of magical protection, many years later in his final battle.

Now, do you see the connections there?

The sword

There are many important swords in tsc such as, Cortana, Heosphoros, Pheosphoros and The Mortal Sword.

Cortana is based on the legendary sword Curtana, attributed to Ogier the Dane and the legendary knight Tristan. The real sword, Curtana, also known as the "Sword of Mercy", is a ceremonial sword used at the coronation of British kings and queens and is one of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Cortana is owned by Emma Carstairs.

Heosphoros is a family sword of the Morgensterns, Clary was in possession of it until she used it to kill Sebastian and the Heavenly Fire destroyed it. However, both Heosphoros and Pheosphoros (which was owned by Valentine and then Sebastian) still exist in Thule and Janus is in possession of both of them, in fact, Heosphoros was likely never even owned by the Clary Fairchild of that world, nor was it used on Sebastian. Janus took possession of the sword at one point and began to wield it, and then he took the sword and Sebastian's Phaesphoros with him to Ash’s world (aka the “real” world).

The Mortal Sword also known as the Soul-Sword, Maellartach, and Angel Blade, is the second of the Mortal Instruments given by Angel Raziel to Jonathan Shadowhunter. The Soul-Sword is primarily used to compel Nephilim to tell the truth, mostly during trials. Shadowhunters who wish to have their claims tested and proved may submit themselves to "trial by the Sword," during which a suitable judge, often a Silent Brother, sometimes the Consul or Inquisitor, wields the sword and places it in the hands of the deponent, where it adheres and cannot be removed until the judge wills it. Downworlders and mundanes cannot be compelled by the Soul-Sword, thus preventing the Sword from becoming used by the Shadowhunters as a general tool for interrogation.

The Sword can also have a dark purpose, if intended. Originally, the alliance of the Soul-Sword is seraphic, its power drawn from Angel Raziel himself. However, Valentine Morgenstern discovered an ancient spell to reverse the alliance from angelic to demonic, through a process called the Ritual of Infernal Conversion, where the Sword is seethed until red-hot and cooled four times in the blood of Downworld children: a child of Lilith, a child of the moon, a child of the night, and a child of the fey. With its demonic alliance, the Sword can be used to summon demons and allows its bearer to have control over them.

In September 2012, the Sword was used to question Annabel Blackthorn, who subsequently used it to kill Robert Lightwood and Livvy Blackthorn. It was shattered when Emma struck it with Cortana. Emma and Julian later acquired a version of the sword from Thule, claiming that the Iron Sisters had repaired it and used it to force Horace Dearborn to tell the truth about his involvement with the Unseelie Court and his schemes to gain the position of Consul.

I believe that in twp we will see more of Heosphoros and Pheosphoros in use, but I also think we’ll have a new enchanted weapon, one that will rapresent Excalibur. But if the sword is a parallel with Excalibur, then who is Arthur? In my opinion, the owner of this enchanted weapon will be Kit Herondale and let me tell you why. Arthur was a normal teenage boy who wasn’t aware of his lineage until he pulled the sword out of an anvil. We have three main characters in twp, Kit, Ty and Dru. Guess who is the only one who didn’t know he was a shadowhunter and wasn’t aware of his lineage? Kit. Also, the Arthurian legend is Welsh folklore. Which shadowhunter family is of Welsh orings? Yeah, the Herondales.

I assume The Mortal Sword will once again come in hand, except that this time it's a thule version of it. Also, the only other person who has an analogue arc to Kit's is Clary, and that's why I think the both of them will play a big role in the killing of Janus. Especially if you think about when Jace was once killed with the mortal sword by Valentine.

The lake

In a version of the legend where the sword of the stone and Excalibur are two different blades, Arthur breaks the sword of the stone and is given Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake at the enchanted lake.

The correlation here is obvious, the enchanted lake in tsc is Lake Lyn, also known as the mortal mirror of mortal glass. Ingesting the lake's waters can be poisonous to Nephilim, but it has no effect on Downworlders. Faeries have been known to drink from the lake, saying that it gives them true vision; for the Nephilim, the water causes hallucinations and may even drive them to madness. Among the Fair Folk, the lake is known as the Lake of Dreams or Mirror of Dreams.

The Lady of the Lake is a name used by several fairy-like enchantresses in the Matter of Britain, the body of medieval literature and mythology associated with the legend of King Arthur. They play pivotal roles in many stories, including providing Arthur with the sword Excalibur, eliminating Merlin, raising Lancelot after the death of his father, and helping to take the dying Arthur to Avalon. Different sorceresses known as the Lady of the Lake appear concurrently as separate characters in some versions of the legend since at least the Post-Vulgate Cycle and consequently the seminal Le Morte d'Arthur, with the latter describing them as a hierarchical group, while some texts also give this title to either Morgan or her sister.

The Lady resides in an enchanted realm, an otherworld the entry to which is disguised as an illusion of a lake. I think she may be in fact the Seelie Queen. It would make total sense for it to be her because of her correlation with Kit (the only known living descendant of the First Heir of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts), Ash Morgenstern (the son she had with Sebastian, who is half shadowhunter and half faerie) and Janus (whom she has an alliance with).

According to her backstory in the Vulgate Merlin, the Lady of the Lake was a daughter of the knight Dionas (Dyonas) and a niece of the Duke of Burgundy. She was born in Dionas' domain of Briosque in the forest Brocéliande. Which takes us to the next point.

The forest

Brocéliande, earlier known as Brécheliant and Brécilien, is a legendary enchanted forest that had a reputation in the medieval European imagination as a place of magic and mystery. Brocéliande is featured in several medieval texts, mostly related to the Arthurian legend and the characters of Merlin, Morgan le Fay, the Lady of the Lake, and some of the Knights of the Round Table.

Here too the correlation is obvious, the forest in Idris is called Brocelind. In September 2012, a portion, specifically the center, of the Brocelind Forest was blighted with dark magic by the forces of the Unseelie King, making the area a space where Nephilim runes and adamas-weapons would be ineffective. Making it, in fact, an echanted forest, like in the legend.

Soooo these were some of my thoughts, if you found something more please let me know cause I really like all of this lol.

[kalimagik]

As Family the First Time

Charlie Weasley x Reader

Includes storyline of “A Hogwarts Mystery” 

Word Count: ~4K

A/N: Here is the Charlie post that I promised you all! I already wrote it, so it was easy for me to edit and such just to upload. If you enjoy reading, like, reblog, comment, or give me a follow! I have a few requests that I will get to writing, but I’m away for the week, so I will write them when I get back home! (Don’t you worry! I got some good ones too!) I’m also starting to edit my long fic that will be a Harry Potter Series! So be on the look out! Happy reading, loves! <3<3 P.S. I didn’t really have time to edit this, so I apologize 😅

“Are you sure you want to do this, love? It’s always so crazy at home.” Charlie questioned as the couple prepared for their journey from Romania to England.

“Charlie, I’ve told you a million times. I can totally handle your family. I’d been there a few times during our school years. Plus, at school, I spent time like half of your siblings anyways! Bill was there for our first 5 years and one of my good friends. Percy was Percy. And I even befriended the twins! I can totally handle this. Why do you doubt me?” Y/N laughed, tossing a sweater into her suitcase.

“Okay, you got me there, but it’s gotten even crazier. Ronald’s friends are almost always there and the twins have gotten even more chaotic since their first two years at school!”

“Charlie, do you not want me to meet your family as your girlfriend or something?”

“Yes– I mean, no. I just like to have you for a little more to myself in that aspect.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. She’d been in Charlie’s house during school and they’d gone on the craziest adventures while Y/N broke all the cursed vaults. She’d been very close to following in Bill’s steps as a Curse-Breaker, but was pulled towards dragons after practically raising a Welsh Green and visiting the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary with Bill on assignment. They were magnificent creatures.

Now, she didn’t work with them like Charlie did. The boy was constantly covered in cuts, bruises, scars, and burns from working so closely with the dragons. Y/N on the other hand observed and took notes and did research surrounding all of the different ones. However, there was one dragon that both of the dragonologists shared a bond with. The dragon that Ron wrote to Charlie about, Norbert or Norbertta, adored Y/N. Maybe since she was raised by Hagrid, she was a little better with humans, but she loved Y/N.

She’d laid some eggs and Y/N got to watch the entire process close up. It was a dragonologists DREAM!

Anyways, once Y/N and Charlie found themselves at the same dragon sanctuary, they reconnected. They’d always been good friends in school and maybe, there’d been a little spark between them, but they never dated or anything. Just an intense amount of tension in their last 2 years. It drove Bill mad because he wasn’t around enough to push them together.

But, here they were. 4 years out of school and they finally started dating, but for the first year and a half, they hadn’t gotten around to telling either of the families yet, so Christmas was the best time, right? That’s why they were packing, Charlie told his family that Y/N had moved to Romania and that her family wasn’t going to be around. And seeing as how she had holiday time at Christmas as well, Molly immediately invited her to their home at the Burrow.

“It’s about 4:30. The portkey is going to leave soon, so we should get going,” Y/N smiled, zipping up her bag and pressing a kiss to Charlie’s lips to get him moving.

“Now is your last chance to stay here, love. I’d of course stay with you and we could just make a family of our own!” he beamed.

Y/N couldn’t stop the loud laugh that erupted from the back of her throat. “WOAHHH! Slow your roll there. We haven’t even thought about an engagement yet!”

“Okay, maybe not, but who says we’ve ever done things in the right order? I mean, I kissed you before you even knew if you liked me or not.”

“True, but a kiss and a baby are two very, very different things,” Y/N giggled. “Now, common, we’ve got a portkey to catch!”

The couple made it to the location of the portkey where about 7 other witches and wizards were travelling to England. Once they reached England, they would then apparate to the Burrow. Simple.

“Okay, please grab onto the boot, it will be leaving in three…two…one!”

The pulling right behind her navel was never something she could get used to, but once landing in England, she’d gotten the hang of landing on her feet.

“I will never like those things,” she shuttered, picking up her bags. “Not when Rakepick took us on one and not now!”

“Really, I think it feels like riding a dragon! It’s blood brilliant!”

Y/N rolled her eyes, preparing herself for yet another uncomfortable experience as they prepared to apparate.

Regaining her balance once again, Y/N looked down the hill to see the Burrow standing brightly in all of its glory.

“I’m telling ya, this is your absolute last chance. We can always snag a room in London and spend the holidays there.”

“Charlie, why do you not want for me not to spend time with your family?”

“Not you, I’m just slightly selfish. I know the second we walk in, my mother is going to feed us. Bill is going to want to catch up. Ginny just loves having you around more than Fleur, so she’ll be right there. Fred and George will want to show you what they’ve been working on or flirt with you because they don’t realize you’re dating their handsome older brother and couldn’t care less about any age difference. They just see you as the badass girl who mum should’ve despised for all the danger Bill and I got into, but didn’t. Ron isn’t as much of an issue because the boy is in teenage moods according to mum. Although, if Harry and Hermione are there, he should be okay.” Charlie rambled on about his family.

“We’ll be here for at least two weeks, so if they take me from you for an evening or two, it’ll be completely fine. Oh look, it seems that they have seen us. Do you want to tell them we’re dating now or what?”

Charlie took in a deep breath trying to decide, but it didn’t have a chance to respond before Arthur, Bill, Fred, and George were calling out to them.

“I’ll find the right moment, don’t you worry,” he whispered. “Dad! Brothers!” he smiled, opening his arms.

“I’ll hug Y/N first!” one of the twins yelled.

“Fred! I called the first hug!” George quickly interjected.

“I do have the capabilities of hugging two people at once,” Y/N chuckled, opening her arms for both twins, who seemed to have doubled in size since the last time she’d seen them. “When did you two double my height?”

“Oh you know, a lot changes when you move off to Romania. Freddie and I have matured,” George informed her, straightening his coat.

“That’s not what mum’s last letter said. I heard you two blew up a bathroom. I bet McGonagall had a heart attack.”

“Charlie, we used to sneak off school grounds on a regular basis for dangerous adventures. She didn’t have a heart attack because of us.”

“Good point. Also, don’t talk about all that in front of Ron and his friends. Mum would kill me if I gave them any ideas. They put themselves in regular danger too, so I hear.”

“Yes, uh, no ideas would be excellent,” Mr. Weasley echoed. “Now, Y/N, how are you doing?”

“Dad, you took my question!” Bill smiled, coming in for a hug.

“I’m doing well. Hagrid’s dragon’s eggs just hatched and Norbertta has let me get near them. It’s been SO exciting!” Y/N smiled.

“Missing curse breaking at all?” Bill asked.

“I would say that I’m enjoying the quiet life, but like with dragons isn’t exactly quiet,” she laughed.

“So are we going to stay out here talking all night or are we going to head inside? I mean, Y/N/N and I are used to camping, but I was promised a warm bed,” Charlie pointed out.

“Right you are, Charlie! Fred, George, can you take their bags please. Y/N will be going to Ginny’s room. We’ll be a tight fit, but we’ll make it work. We always do.” Arthur instructed.

“Oh, dad, Y/N can sleep in my room. She doesn’t need to sleep on a cot. I’ll bunk with Bill.”

The two lived with each other already, so it would be weird to be in a room by herself for a few weeks. Who knows though, maybe if Charlie told about them being together,

“Is Fleur here, Bill?” Charlie asked on the way down to the house. Y/N walked beside him, so Charlie had to resist the urge to take her hand in his.

“She went back to France for the holidays. Wanted me to come with her, but when I heard you were coming home, I decided to hang back. Haven’t seen my closest brother in a while, not to mention one of my best friends from school,” Bill winked at Y/N.

“I’m excited to be back in England! I just wish my parents and brother would have decided to stick around. We could’ve gone to see them too!”

“We?” Bill asked, eyebrows raised, but a smirk on his face.

Y/N bit her lip. Shit. Little did she know that Charlie had spilled the beans to Bill months ago, making him promise not to say anything to anyone.

“Brace yourselves, Mum has been looking forward to this since you wrote home, Charlie,” Bill said, keeping the door open behind Arthur.

“Y/N! Charlie!”

The pair was hit by the warmth of the Burrow and Molly making her way around the table to them.

“I’m so happy you got here safe! PERCY! RONALD! GINNY! HERMIONE! HARRY! Y/N and Charlie are here! Dinner will be on soon!” Molly called right before wrapping her arms around Charlie and then Y/N.

“We’re so happy to have you hear, dear! I cannot believe your family decided to go on holiday over Christmas. No matter, we’re happy to have you back in our house. I don’t think you’ve been here since 3rd year! It’s been far too long.”

“I think 3rd year is when Bill brought Merula and I back for Christmas, but I saw you guys when Bill graduated from Hogwarts and when Charlie and I did,” Y/N thought back.

“Still, far too long! Ah, Ginny, come say hello!” Molly motioned over.

“Y/N! You’re here!”

Y/N opened her arms wide for the young red head. She was in her 2nd  year already and Y/N couldn’t believe it. She’d always gotten along with Ginny. She saw a lot of herself and her spirit in Ginny.

“Hey squirt! How have you been! How’s school?”

“It’s fine. Been crazy all year as usual, but I’m happy you’re here!”

“Hogwarts is always unusual! Always was for Bill, Charlie, and I. Lots of adventure to be found in that place.”

“Hello, Y/N. Good to see you again.” Percy said formally.

“Hello, Percy. How is your last year at Hogwarts?”

“Busy. There’s been a lot going on!”

Before Y/N could respond, they heard Ron’s voice coming from the top of the stairs.

“Mum, did you say Charlie was home?” Ron asked, footsteps being followed by 2 other pairs.

“Yes, dear!”

“You’ll love Charlie,” Y/N heard Ron tell his friends. “And…Y/N’s here too,” he suddenly stopped at the bottom of the stairs, eyes wide.

Harry bounded down, running right into him. “Ow! Ron, why’d you stop?”

Y/N couldn’t help  but chuckle. Ron never seemed to know what to say around her.

“I’m Charlie.” He held his hand out to Harry and Hermione. “And this is Y/N. He went to school with me. She was in Y/H, not like it really matters though. She was the bloody best curse breaker Hogwarts has ever seen.”

“Hey!” Bill played offended.

Knowing what it felt like to be all anyone can talk about, Y/N did her best to remain normal around the Boy Who Lived, even though she couldn’t believe what he had been through already in his short life.

“Hi! It’s so lovely to meet you. Charlie has told me all about you two from Ron and his mum’s letters.” The two 3rd years shook her hand too.

“Dinner’s on! Everyone to the table please,” Molly said as plates flew from the cabinets to the table.

“Y/N, you can sit next to me here!” Fred hollered from down the table.

“Oi! She can sit here,” George retorted across the table.

“Knock it off.” Y/N could tell that Charlie’s voice was deepening, almost as if he was getting angry. He did say that he hadn’t wanted her to be taken away by his family. “She’s going to sit next to me, alright?”

Y/N did her best to conceal her laughter. It was always amusing when he got like this. Not to mention, Y/N then never had to do any teasing.

“I think I'd like to sit with Ginny. If anyone wanted to know what I would like,” Y/N laughed, walking towards her little friend. “We have a lot to catch up on! But, you can come sit beside me, if you’d like, Charlie.” She giggled.

Dinner went well. Ginny told Y/N all about what she’d been learning, who she hung around, which professors were her favorite, and how she loved Hogwarts. The twins went on about the best pranks that they had pulled since the last time they saw her. Y/N heard from Ron’s friend Hermione a little bit. She was as sweet as could be, but definitely a bright witch. She of course caught up with Bill. They still wrote to each other, but not as often as they had before.

But, when Molly stood up to clear the table, Y/N’s attention broke away.

“Oh, let me help you with that, Mrs. Weasley,” she offered.

“No, no! Sit down. You’ve traveled so much today. Bill and the other boys can help me. Ginny will show you her room, so you can get settled in.”

“Oh, mum, I told Y/N that she could stay in my room. I’ll bunk with Bill. There are already enough people in Ginny’s room. She should get some privacy,” Charlie responded.

“Fine, fine. Ginny, show Y/N where Charlie’s room is. Boys, will one of you get her bags?”

“No worries, Mrs. Weasley! I can get them myself! Thank you though,” Y/N smiled, picking up her two small duffle bags. “Lead the way, Squirt!” Y/N smiled at Ginny. Red spread onto her cheeks as she turned towards the stairs. What had Y/N said?

Y/N followed the red headed girl up the stairs to the 4th floor. A green dragon painted on the door.

“I’m guessing this is Charlie’s?”

“Uh huh!” Ginny beamed, her usual persona returning. “Want me to help you unpack your things?”

“Sure! Lead the way in!”

Ginny sat on the bed while Y/N took things out of her bags. She could sense that she wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to say, so Y/N started instead.

“Do you not like it when I call you ‘Squirt’ anymore, Gin?”

“Oh, no, no, no! I just uhhh….”

Y/N raised an eyebrow.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Ginny asked. “A secret that you won’t tell anyone else?”

“Of course! I promise I won’t say it to anybody,” Y/N smiled, sitting on the bed across from Ginny.

“I sort of, kind of have a crush on Harry. And when you called me squirt, I remembered that he was there and it probably made him look at me!” Ginny blurted out, like she’d been just waiting to tell someone.

“Squirt, you’re shaking! It’s okay to have a crush! Everyone has them.”

“Even you?”

“Yes, even me,” Y/N smiled, hoping she was calming the girl down.

“Who?”

Well, Y/N wasn’t expecting that.

“Can you keep a secret too?” Ginny nodded vigorously. “I have a crush on Charlie…”

Ginny’s eyes grew wide. Ugh, gossiping with a 13 year old was fun.

“Really? Charlie? I think you two could work. I mean, don’t tell him, but he’s had a crush on you for a long time.”

Y/N giggled, feeding into Ginny’s antics. “Oh really? How long?”

“I think he had one on you ever since he heard you fought the Hungarian Horntail. And then, when you went to the Dragon Sanctuary the first time, Charlie said you weren’t scared at all. I think he was mesmerized. You should tell him,” Ginny giggled.

“Wanna know another secret?” Y/N whispered.

“Another one?!”

“Well, it has to do with the same one. Want to hear it?” Ginny nodded. Hanging on to every word. “I did tell him,” Y/N smiled.

“You did? What happened?”

“We’ve been dating for a year and a half,” Y/N whispered, as though someone would be listening in.

“REALLY?!” Ginny squealed. “Why haven’t you told anyone?”

“I don’t know. We are just always in Romania and haven’t really seen anyone. It was fun being in our own little world. No one else in the world to worry about, you know?”

Ginny’s smile was huge! She was so excited she was nearly trembling. “Are you going to tell everyone? Is that why he said you could sleep in his room?” Ginny was blurting out questions left and right.

“We were going to tell everyone during this trip, but I don’t know when. I sorta left that up to Charlie.”

*Knock, knock, knock*

“How’s unpacking going?” Charlie asked, opening the door.

“Half done!” Y/N laughed, looking at her unpacked bags.

“What have you two been doing all this time?”

“Just chatting,” Y/N responded, a twinkle in her eye.

“Yeah, just chatting,” Ginny smirked, still not containing her excitement.

“Alright, Squint, what’s going on with you?”

“Y/N told me a secret and I can’t tell anyone else. She made me promise…”

“Oh, did she now?” Charlie asked, moving his focus to Y/N’s grinning figure.

“You can tell him, Gin. He’s in on the secret!”

Ginny essentially combusted. “YOU AND Y/N ARE DATING!” she yelled.

“Wooooah, Squirt. I said you could tell him, not the whole house!” Y/N laughed.

“Sorry,” Ginny blushed.

“Alright, now get outta here. I wanna talk to my girlfriend,” Charlie cooed. Ginny couldn’t stop giggling as she hopped off the bed and out the door, shutting it behind her.

“Don’t look at me like that!” Y/N laughed, picking one of her duffle bags off the ground.

“You blabbed!”

“Oh? I blabbed? How about the fact that you’ve definitely told Bill. I made the ‘we’ comment and he didn’t even question it! Don’t think I didn’t figure it out!”

“But you told Ginny. What would possess you to tell Ginny? She’s always been the blabbermouth!”

“No way she’s worse than Fred and George,” Y/N spit back.

“Okay, no, they’re worse. But you saw how she was when I walked in, she couldn’t keep it to herself.”

“Yeah, she also mentioned how you were mesmerized by me after we went to the Dragon Sanctuary for the first time,” Y/N winked. She watched as his freckles disappeared with the color of red growing on his cheeks.

“See, what did I tell ya! So, why did you tell her?”

“I can’t tell you. It’s a secret!” Y/N turned her nose up.

“She’s got a crush on Harry, doesn’t she?”

“How do you know?”

“Mum’s thought so since they first met. Ginny can barely say two words around him. It’s hilarious!”

“Don’t be mean! First crushes are hard!” Y/N slapped Charlie on the wrist.

“Tell me about it!” he rolled his eyes.

“What are you talking about?”

“I had a crush on you since 2nd year and you had no idea. So obviously, the other person can be quite oblivious,” Charlie laughed, thinking back on it.

“I was not oblivious! I just wasn’t thinking about that. I was kind of busy avoiding being killed, remember?” Y/N pointed out.

“Oh no way! You went on your first date with Barnaby in our 4th year. And everyone had a crush on you!”

“Okay, but that was in school. Look who ended up with me, huh? Huh?” Y/N tried to direct him away from school time memories.

“True. I did get pretty lucky that you didn’t follow Bill into his job. I’d be so lost now!”

“Lost? More like dead. You’d have gone and tried to tame the meanest dragon in the place. Really, your family should be thanking me!”

“I don’t know. That could be payback for putting Bill and I in so much danger during school…”

“Merlin! I don’t think your mum ever blamed me for that. She still invited me for Christmas every year, no matter how much danger we were in…”

“mhmmmmmm, you may be right.”

“Should we go back downstairs?” Y/N asked.

“Wait, but I came all the way up here and haven’t kissed you yet!” Charlie pouted.

“Fineeee,” Y/N groaned before giggling. He was still pouting when she quickly pecked his lips and pulled away.

“Woah, woah, woah! I was thinking maybe a little more, maybe?” Charlie begged.

“Charlie, we’re in your childhood bedroom with your family downstairs.” She felt bad looking into his sad chocolate eyes. Ugh, why was he so cute?

“Uh, Charlie?”

“One more?”

“Do you think Ginny’s spilled the beans yet?”

Charlie’s eyes grew double the size. “We need to go.”

Y/N tried to stifle her laughter as Charlie pulled her down the stairs, going way faster than she was.

“Charlie! I’m going to fall over!”

“We have to make sure she hasn’t told them yet! I’m not ready!” Charlie shot out.

“Not ready to tell us what, brother?”

The pair came face to face with essentially the entire Weasley family, including Harry and Ron.

“I was just preparing to give everyone dessert,” Mrs. Weasley said, putting down a plate of food.

“Mum! Don’t change the subject. What do you have to tell us, Charlie?” George pushed, following the suite of his twin.

“Yeah Charlie, what do you have to tell them?” Y/N teased, standing right beside him and grabbing onto his hand.

“No!” Ron’s mouth dropped open.

“Merlin’s beard!” Fred spat out.

“Are you two…together?” George asked, big eyed.

“And I already knew it and didn’t say anything!” Ginny added in proudly.

“I hadn’t even said yes or no, squint. Thanks for the help.”

Y/N felt the grin on her face grow as she watched the interaction between a family that she adored so much. “Want to tell them then?” she pushed.

“Fine,” Charlie groaned. “Y/N and I have been dating.”

“Have been?” Bill scoffed.

“Oh, sod off. I told you like 2 weeks after it started! Don’t give me that grief!”

“This isn’t new?” George wondered.

“It’s been about a year and a half!” Ginny stated proudly, smiling at Y/N who nodded in return.

“A YEAR AND A HALF!?” 4 voices, one being Mrs. Weasley said in unison.

“Well, how did this all happen?” Mrs. Weasley now smiling rushed forward, pulling Y/N into a second hug for the night. “You’re with my boy. Oh thank goodness. I was really starting to worry that one day he was going to bring home a dragon!”

“Gee, thanks mum.” Charlie sarcastically replied.

“Well, tell us what happened,” Mr. Weasley encouraged. “You won’t get any peace and quiet until you tell this lot the story.”

“Yeah, not even I got the full story!” Ginny giggled, pulling out a chair for Y/N.

“Wait, wait, wait. Y/N. You mean to tell me that you have kissed our brother? The brother that has been in love with dragons since I was born and that used to dress our owl up as a dragon?” Fred asked, disgusted.

“What? He’s passionate,” she giggled.

“EWWW!” the twins replied at the same time.

“Wait,” Ron piped up, “you’re saying that you two just hang out all the time in Romania, working together and seeing each other…after work?”

“Well….actually….” Y/N dragged on, looking over to Charlie.

“We live together,” he grinned broadly for the first time since his family started grilling them.

“LIVE TOGETHER! Y/N no way. He isn’t even that great!” George blurted.

“I think he’s pretty fantastic actually,” Y/N blushed as Charlie stood behind her chair, placing his hands on her shoulders.

“Oh, Fred, George, be quiet. Let them tell their story! We want to know everything! Common, common! Everyone sit down. Have some dessert. Listen to Y/N and Charlie!” Mrs. Weasley commanded.

The room quieted and all eyes were on the newly outed couple.

“Would you like to do the honors?” Y/N asked Charlie.

“I like it better when you tell it, love,” Charlie grinned, kissing Y/N’s forehead.

Ignoring the groans from the boys, Y/N began to tell the story with Charlie interrupting way too often to add in details. Y/N didn’t say anything because it was just so cute how he did it. But, it turned out to be a really wonderful first evening of an even better two weeks. It was really just a great time to be back in England.

[dramioneasks]

HP Fests: Mad Frankenstein Fest 2020

July - September 2020:

All Mixed Up by Pargcool - G, one-shot - You’ve got to be kidding me. Hermione froze, her eyes fixed on the back of the man wiping down the bar counter. Lydia—according to her name tag—didn’t seem to notice her sudden lack of attention and continued her introductory spiel. The words faded into the background, Hermione’s gaze narrowing on the back of the bartender’s head. She’d only seen that bright platinum hair once before, but surely it was just a coincidence. What the hell would Draco Malfoy be doing in a random muggle bar?

Architectural Symmetry by MissELY, Wolfqng - T, one-shot - Draco Malfoy hadn't planned on setting foot in Malfoy Manor ever again. Maybe to set it on fire. So when he and his curse-breaking partner, Hermione Granger, were assigned to go there he dashed off a response to their supervisor "Under no circumstances will we take this bloody assignment, are you out of your mind? -DLM" Hermione, however, had other ideas

Breaking the wall by DaniiiAnn, VGinny - T, one-shot - The prompt was Healers or Co-workers at St Mungo's. It's seven years since the war, Draco is a speciality Healer and Hermione is his Solicitor. His experimental healing has put his career and the hospital in trouble. Would Hermione be able to help the former enemy get out of trouble?

Chrysopoeia by hiyas, monsterleadmehome - T, one-shot - Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy both have their personal reasons for studying Alchemy, but when they decide to work together to develop a new Panacea, they discover more than they bargained for.

Cuando Pienso en Ti by LilithShade, TakingFlight48 - E, one-shot - Giving back to the magical community with her flourishing Philanthropic organization, Rennervate, would have been much simpler if Draco Malfoy would just leave Hermione Granger alone. It's time Draco learned that the Rumba was a dance for two, because although each encounter increased the heated passion between the two of them, Hermione will walk away if he cannot change his playboy ways.

Feint of Heart by Aneiria, hiyas - E, 3 Chapters - ‘Want to make this interesting, Granger?’ Draco said. His voice was low and dangerous and sent a delightful shiver down Hermione’s spine. She forced herself to focus on his words, not how he was saying them. ‘What do you mean?’ Hermione asked warily, not dropping her wand. ‘Winner gets a favour granted by the loser.’ Hermione scoffed. ‘I’m not giving you carte blanche like that, Malfoy.’ Draco watched her with his trademark cunning behind his silver eyes. ‘Alright then. How about a kiss?’

Mandatory Electives by DracosQuill, PhoenixDragon111 (Phoenix_Dragon) - M, one-shot - Hermione and Draco are tasked with revamping Hogwarts’ Mandatory Elective curriculum. What will happen when they come together?

The Melody of Touch by magical_traveler - E, one-shot - One of Hermione Granger’s favorite things about playing in an orchestra was when the orchestra began to warm up on stage. Tonight, however, was a different story. The London Philharmonic and guest pianist, Draco Malfoy, were performing together in concert. The program was beautiful but Hermione halted at the fact she would have to sit on a stage and perform music with him. They would be making something together. But all she could think about was the way his fingers caressed the piano keys, and the fact her body knew what it felt like to be touched by those same fingers.

Nontrivial Pursuits by senlinyu, sleeplessai - M, one-shot - Draco had a plan: reach the end of his probation, get promoted, and finally ask Granger out. Unfortunately, as his supervisor in the Ministry Archive, Granger seemed to be resistant to all Draco’s ideas on principle. The last thing he expected her to go along with was a trivia strip competition, and yet, somehow, here they were. “Do you have to?” Granger’s voice was sharp and jumped slightly at the last syllable. Draco glanced up and found that she was staring at him, the hollows of her cheeks a faint pink. He unfastened the cuff on his left sleeve without looking down and watched the pink transform into a stunning shade of red as he folded the fabric up to his elbow. She sucked her lower lip into her mouth and bit down on it visibly. “Have to what?” he said with a lazy grin. She made an incomprehensible noise somewhere in the base of her throat and looked away. “You’ll be losing your shirt soon enough anyway, I don’t know why you need to bother rolling up your sleeves.”

A Promise To Please by hslades, mia_moriarty - E, one-shot - Hermione Granger was great at most things, as such it didn't come as a surprise she was a great Quidditch Commentator. However, after her All-Star Seeker boyfriend, Draco Malfoy gets gravely injured in front of her eyes, she struggles to stay professional and keep their secret. Can Hermione keep her cool while trying to give Draco the healing touch he requires to overcome a grave injury? “You were wicked, love. I’d almost get injured again just so I could justify you retaking the reigns.” “Don’t!” She playfully slapped his chest, “Joke!”*slap* “About!” *slap* “Getting!”*slap* “Injured!”

Rebirth by elithien, senlinyu - M, one-shot - Granger will do almost anything to survive the curse slowly killing her, even if it means reawakening magic that has been dormant for a thousand years. Draco will do whatever it takes to save her “Draco...” she says again, fingertips fondly brushing across his cheekbone. He opens his eyes and finds her staring at him. “Before I do this, I want you to know—“ His heart lurches. “Don’t,” he says before she can say another word. “Don’t say it.” He catches her wrist and pulls her hand away from his face, careful not to smudge any of the words scripted across her skin. “I don’t want you to tell me.”

Roots & Recesses by ExpositorRevan (Naydras), simplifiedemotions - T, one-shot - “Her nephew working with the Mudblood to decommission her wand. Bellatrix must be rolling in her grave.”

Second Chances by PixieKisses - E, 2 Chapters - After years of working closely with Hermione Granger, Draco meets two children who end up changing his whole life.

Small Mercies by JessiRomantic, Kkpwnall - E, one-shot - Draco Malfoy had been working with Hermione Granger in the small bakery that occupied the ruins of the boathouse for eight years. For the last year, they have grown closer. But the 10th year anniversary of the battle racks up the tension to a new high.

A Turn of Phrase by AkaiaOwl, MissyJAnne85 - M, 4 Chapters - “A book deal? I thought the Malfoy inheritance guaranteed you wouldn’t have to work a day in your life.” “Do you write for money Granger?” She snorted at the ridiculous thought. “Of course not!” “Why do you assume I do?” he asked. A story about how Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy turned the page after the war and found each other in the process. Written for the MF Fest - Dramione coworkers challenge. Prompt: Authors.

Tylwyth Teg - Fairies on a Welsh Mountain by Ernestin3, FedonCiadale - G, one-shot -  Draco Malfoy, on probation in the department for the surveillance of magical creatures, is ordered by his boss, Luna Lovegood to collect tears from the elusive Welsh fairies for a much needed potion. Of all people, it is Hermione Granger, the witch from the Department of Law who is to come along. Will Draco finally be able to curb his tongue and tell her all the compliments that are in his head?

Unforeseen by ectoheart, riane_b13 - M, 2 Chapters - Hermione Granger was going to fail something for the first time in her life. Hermione Granger was going to fail something for the first time in her life and it was next to Draco Malfoy of all people. When she decided she wanted to become an Unspeakable she thought that it would take a lot of studying and hard work. She didn't think it would take a drawer full of leather, or a six-inch stiletto. Of course, Draco would be perfect at everything. Of course, everyone would love him. Of course, he would look positively sinful in everything he wore. It should be illegal for a man to look that good at seven in the morning. She needed a cup of coffee, she needed a stiff drink, she needed to get laid and she needed to pass these exams. Hermione Granger did not fail.

Ungentlemanly Behavior by MissELY, morticiahavisham - E, one-shot - After a tipsy hook up, Draco Malfoy has an apology to make. Hermione Granger would prefer not to hear it. But when they're forced to work together on a tricky translation, she's finds she can't avoid it.

Unyielding by Ernestin3, HeyJude19 - T, one-shot - Do you yield? She hated uttering that phrase whenever she bested Draco, but it was the standard protocol for ending a duel wherein both participants remained conscious. Hermione could count the instances on one hand in the four years they’d been partners that one of them had been Stunned. Do you yield? It clawed at her. It ate at her to demand this of another person when her own wand carried with it such a conceptually contrary and dubious description. Unyielding. No, not her own wand, she thought bitterly. The wand of Bellatrix Lestrange.

Your Latest Competition by ahoidraco, theheavycrown - T, one-shot - Hermione ventures into new professional waters after a career start at the Ministry, opening a shop in Wizarding London. Her café is well-received until it quickly becomes the target of Draco Malfoy's personal vendetta. If only Hermione knew why. Written for the July-September Mad Frankenstein Fest 2020.

[teawizard-n-coffeewitch]

The Staffordshire Spell

1. Spilled Coffee

The actress moves with grace as she proceeds to walk up the stairs and accept her Emmy. The audience clap and cheer as she smiles softly at them. The scene then unfolds to her walking down the red carpet, after the award ceremony and her red dress helping her stand out from all the other celebrities.

"Exquisite footage of Tina Goldstein-- the great movie star of our time -- an ideal -- the perfect star and woman -- her life full of glamour and sophistication and mystery." Newt mutters to himself as stops looking at the shop's teli (television) and continues on his way.

We follow him as he walks down Manor Drive Road, carrying a brown briefcase in one hand. It is spring.

"Of course, I've seen her films and always thought she was, well, fabulous -- but, you know, million miles from the world I live in. Which is here -- Staffordshire -- not a bad place to be..." Newt tells himself, exciting Manor Drive Road and entering Burton Market Hall.

"It's a full fruit market day." Newt thinks to himself, observing the countless of people swarming in both the inside market hall and outdoor market.

"There's the Outdoor Market on Market Place, Burton. Open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Selling every fruit and vegetable known to man..." Newt points out, as he studies the cabbages when he walks beside the veggie stands.

Existing the market hall Newt notices a man in denims walking out of the tattoo studio. Newt shakes his head solemnly. "The tattoo parlour -- with a guy outside who got drunk and now can't remember why he chose 'I Love Ken'..." The man looks at his arm and has a confused face, and frowns, as if he were experiencing a headache.

Newt continues walking and passes the hair salon. "Ah, the racial hair-dressers where

everyone comes out looking like the Cookie Monster, whether they like it or not..." Newt teases and sure enough, a girl exits the salon with a huge threaded blue bouffant. Newt coughs back a laugh and walks quickly.

Before he knows it, it's Saturday and the Weekend Antique Market is in full swing. Newt smiles softly at the smiles of the tourists and locals, all shopping. "Then suddenly it's the weekend, and from break of day, hundreds of stalls appears out of nowhere, filling Burton upon Trent with a frantic crowd in the market... and thousands of people buy millions of antiques, some genuine..." Newt thinks, walking down the stands, studying the antiques.

His eyes settles on a stall selling beautiful stained glass windows of various sizes, some featuring biblical scenes and saints. "... and some not so genuine." Newt thinks, frowning a bit.

As Newt continues his walk, he passes by a familiar door. He smiles proudly. "And what's great is that lots of friends have ended up in this part of the United Kingdom -- that's Jacob, soldier turned baker from New York, who recently invested all the money he ever earned in a new bakery..."

Newt waves at Jacob as he's proudly setting out a board outside his bakery, the sign stating; Today's Special is Pumpkin Juice and macaroons! Jacob waves back at Newt with a huge smile.

"So this is where I spend my days and years -- in this small village in the middle of the U.K -- in a house with a Robin egg blue color door that I bought after best friend left me for a man who looked like Callum Turner back in London. That man being my older brother..." Newt thought to himself before he arrived outside his blue-doored house just off Peel's Cut.

"... and where I now lead a strange half-life with a lodger called..." Newt shuffles his keys back in his pocket as he yells, entering the house, "Credence!" Newt walks towards the large kettle in the house.

The house has far too many things in it. House plants, some dishes scattered, and a few clothes on the floor. Definitely two-bachelor flat.

Credence appears. An unusual looking fellow. He has his black hair in an unusual haircut, and an unusual Welsh accent: very white, as though his flesh has never seen the sun. He wears only shorts.

Credence smiles at Newt. "Even he. Hey, you couldn't help me with an incredibly important decision, could you?"

Newt smiles crouching down and puts on his gloves before he begins petting his temporary companion platypus, named Niffler. "This is important in comparison to, let's say, whether they should cancel third world debt?" he asks looking at Credence.

Credence nods, snapping his fingers happily. "That's right -- I'm at last going out on a date with the great Nagini and I just want to be sure I've picked the right t-shirt."

Newt closes the kettle and nods at Credence. "Alright then. What are the choices?"

Credence smirks proudly. "Well... wait for it..." He pulls on a t-shirt and shows Newt. "First there's this one..."

The t-shirt is white with a horrible looking plastic alien coming out of it, jaws open, blood everywhere. It says 'Avada Kedavra.'

Newt stays silent. Just eyeing the shirt. He smiled awkwardly as he stutters, "Yes -- might make it hard to strike a really romantic note.

Credence hums as he thinks. Nodding, he replies, "Point taken." He heads back up the stairs... and talks as he changes. "I suspect you'll prefer the next one." Newt smiles, intrigued at the next shirt Credence will show him.

He re-enters in a white t-shirt, with a large arrow, pointing down to his flies, saying, 'Get It Here.' Credence has a huge smile as he says smugly, "Cool, huh?"

Newt laughs softly before answering awkwardly, "Yes -- she might think you don't have true love on your mind."

Credence nods, taking Newt's advice. "You are right. Wouldn't want that..." he says and back up he goes up the stairs. "Okay -- just one more." Newt hears him speak loudly.

He comes down wearing the last shirt. The shirt has lots of hearts, saying, 'You're the most beautiful woman in the world.' Newt smiles approvingly.

"Well, yes, that's perfect. Well done." Newt says, holding a thumps up. Credence laughs happily. "Thanks. Great! Wish me luck!" Credence says.

Newt salutes him with two fingers, "Good luck."

Credence turns and walks upstairs proudly. As he does so, revealing that on the back of the t-shirt, also printed in big letters, is written 'Fancy a fuck?'

Newt chokes back a laugh before turning around, shaking his head. He puts on his long blue coat.

Newt then walks up towards a house plant and picks up his pet Phasmid. A green stick insect, whose name is Pickett. He grabs him on his hand and gets his brown brief case with his other hand. "Come along now." Newt tells Pickett as he opens the door and yells a farewell to Credence.

And so it was just another hopeless Saturday, as Newt sets off through the market to work, little suspecting that this was the day which would change his life forever. As Newt walks down the busy street a woman, with short dark hair and a dark long coat, dashes pass him. She covers half her face with her coat and Newt just gives her an odd look.

Finally he arrives. In front of a small corner bookshop. This is work, by the way, Newt's little Zoology book shop...

A few years ago he was a Zoologist at the London Zoo but now he owns his own Zoology bookstore. The reason being was because after his best friend left him he was devastated. Being in London hurt so much he moved far away and kept close to himself. When the opportunity presented itself, a small bookstore just a few houses down his home was perfect.

Thus why a small unpretentious shop... named 'Magical Creature Books' was in the street. The book shop, well, sells creature books -- and, to be frank with you, doesn't always sell many of those. Newt enters and sets Pickett down on the shop's bonsai tree. He studies his small shop. It is slightly chaotic, bookshelves everywhere, with little secret bits round corners with even more books.

Bunty, Newt's sole employee, is waiting enthusiastically. She is very keen, an uncrushable optimist. Perhaps without cause. She's a pretty small young woman with frizzy blonde locks and a sweet smile. Like Newt, she has a passion for zoology as well.

A few seconds later, after Newt has hung his blue coat, he stands gloomily behind the main desk.

"Classic. Absolutely classic. Profit from major sales push -- minus 347?" Newt mutters, punching in numbers on the calculator. Bunty frowns sadly at her boss's sad state. "Shall I go get a butter-beer? Ease the pain." Bunty suggest with a small smile. Newt smiles back.

"Yes, better get me a half. All I can afford." Newt sadly jokes as Bunty shakes her head with a soft laugh. "I get your logic. Butter-beer coming up." She salutes and bolts out the door. As she does, a woman walks in. Newt only catches a glimpse of her.

He continues working before he looks up casually and finally he sees her. His reaction is hard to read as he awes the woman. It's the same woman who dashed past him earlier. She takes off her shades and places them on her head. After a pause... Newt breaths calmly.

"Can I help you?" Newt asks, a bit nervously.

The woman who just entered is none other than Tina Goldstein, the biggest movie star in the world-- here -- in his shop. The most subtle woman on earth in his opinion. Newt is speechless. This cannot be happening. How? Why? In his shop? When she speaks she is very self-assured and self - contained.

"No, thanks. I'll just look around." Tina replies softly, her eyes with a spark of hesitant. Newt nods, "Alright then." He watches as she wanders around and picks out a small book on the coffee table.

Newt doesn't know how or why he did it but as Tina proceeds to open the book and skim through it, he can't help but blurt out, "That book's really not good-"

Tina stops and raises an eyebrow at him. Newt flushes awkwardly as he stammers, "J-Just in case, you...you know, boring turned to buying. You'd be wasting your money." He curses at himself for acting like such a fool.

"Really?" asks Tina, slightly finding Newt's red face amusing.

"Yes." Newt flushes before embarrassing himself more by adding, "This one though is... very good." He picks up a book on the counter.

"I think the man who wrote it has actually studied Komodo dragons, which helps. There's also a very amusing incident with its hatchlings." Newt stutters out, scratching his back neck nervously.

Tina just stares at him before she replies, "Thanks. I'll think about it." Before he can apologize for acting like a fool Newt suddenly spies something odd on the small TV monitor beside him.

He gives Tina an apologetic look as he mumbles, "If you could just give me a second." Newt then walks out of his main desk. Tina's eyes follow him as he moves toward the back of the shop and approaches a man in slightly ill-fitting clothes. She studies at how he'll approach the situation.

"Excuse me." Newt begins, a bit nervous. The man raises an eyebrow at Newt. "Yes?" he asks, giving Newt an odd look. Newt winces, knowing this won't be easy. "Bad news." Newt begins.

"What?" the man asks in an annoyed tone. "We've got a security camera in this bit of the shop." Newt says. The man tries to keep it cool as he shoots back a, "So?"

Newt crosses his arms, trying to act a bit confident. "So, I saw you put that book down your trousers." The man just stares at him.

"What book?" he challenges. Newt sighs. "The one down your trousers." he adds embarrassed.

"I haven't got a book down my trousers." the man snaps to which Newt's ears turn red. "Right -- well, then we have something of an impasse. I tell you what -- I'll call the police -- and, what can I say? Er -- If I'm wrong about the whole book-down-the-trousers scenario, I sincerely apologize." Newt offers to which the man stays silent for a moment.

"Okay -- what if I did have a book down my trousers?" asks the man to which Newt replies, "Well, ideally, when I went back to the desk, you'd remove the Mythologies of Basilisk Snakes from your trousers, and either wipe it and put it back, or buy it. See you in a sec." Newt says before returning to his desk. In the monitor Newt glimpse, seeing the book coming out of the trousers and put back on the shelves.

The man drifts out towards the door. Tina who has observed all this, is looking at the book on the counter, the one Newt suggested.

"Sorry about that..." Newt apologies to Tina as she walks up to the cash register and places the book she was skimming through.

"No, that's fine. I was going to steal one myself but now I've changed my mind." she lightly teases before seeing how the book she was about to purchase had a signature. "Signed by the author, I see." she points out to which Newt replies with a soft laugh, "Yes, we couldn't stop him. If you can find an unsigned copy, it's worth an absolute fortune. That's Gilderoy Lockhart for you."

Tina gives him a small nervous smile.  Suddenly the thief man is there, standing right beside Tina.

"Excuse me." he begins. Tina looks at him. "Yes?" she answers. "Can I have your autograph?" he asks, making Tina look a bit uncomfortable before nodding. He gives her a piece of paper and pen and she gets it.

"What's your name?" Tina asks him boldly. "Tom." the young man replies to which Tina nods. She signs his scruffy piece of paper and gives it to him. He tries to read it before asking, "What does it say?"

"Well, that's the signature -- and above, it says 'Dear Tom -- you belong in Azkaban.' " Tina says without missing a beat.

"Nice one. Would you like my phone number?" Tom asks to which Tina smiles and acts as if she's thinking deeply. "Tempting..." she begins breaking out of her thoughts, "but... no, thank you."

The man, Tom, then leaves, leaving Newt and Tina alone.

"I apologize about that." Newt begins, making Tina shake her head and hold her hand out to stop him from apologizing.

She hands Newt a twenty euros note and the book he said was rubbish. He talks as he handles the transaction. "Oh -- right -- on second thoughts maybe it wasn't that bad.  Actually -- it's a sort of masterpiece really. None of those childish mythology stories you get in so many books these days." Newt word vomits out nervously as she looks at him with a slight smile.

He gives her the book she just purchased with a small smile. "Thanks." Tina says and walks out the shop quietly. And leaves. She's out of his life forever.

Newt leans on his desk, a little dazed. Seconds later Bunty comes back in, with two butter-beers at hand.

She gives Newt his. "Thanks. I don't think you'll believe who was just in here." Bunty's face breaks out with a shock expression as she asks, "Who? Was it someone famous?"

But Newt's innate natural English discretion takes over. He knows better than to expose Tina's whereabouts.

"No. No-one -- no-one." Newt replies causing Bunty to frown. They set about drinking their butter-beers.

"It be exciting if someone famous did come into the shop though, wouldn't it? Do you know -- this is pretty incredible actually -- I once saw Grindelwald. Or at least I think it was Grindelwald. It might have been that broke from 'Pirates of The Caribbean,' John."

"Johnny." Newt corrects Bunty as she snaps her fingers. "That's right -- Johnny." Bunty repeats the name with a smile.

"But Johnny Depp doesn't look anything like Grindelwald." says Newt as he finishes his butter-beer.

"No, well... he was quite a long way away." Bunty points out. "So it could have been neither of them?"

"I suppose so." Bunty says slowly. "Right. It's not a classic anecdotes, is it?" asks Newt. "Not classic, no." she says.

Bunty shakes his head. Newt takes her empty butter-beer cup and throws it in the garbage can, along his.

"Right -- want another one?" Newt asks her to which she nods. "Yes. No, wait -- let's go crazy -- I'll have an ice coffee."

Newt groans but obeys her order. And so be it, Newt sets off to the only place in the street that makes coffee; Jacob's bakery.

Entering the bakery Jacob pulls him into a hug and decides to catch up on their morning. Newt desperately desires to tell Jacob about Tina but in the end, decides to not. Jacob gives Newt two ice coffees and teases him about finally acting like an American. Newt rolls his eyes as he collects his coffee.

He swings out of Jacob's bakery, biding him a farewell and as he turns the corner of the road he accidentally bumps straight into someone.

That someone being Tina! The cold coffees, in its paper cups, fly out of Newt's grasps, soaking Tina.

"Oh Mercy Lewis!" Tina gasps as her white button shirt is soaked in black coffee. She tightens her hands on her brown bags.

"Oh I am so so sorry. I really do apologize!" Newt stutters as he tries helping Tina.

"Here, let me help." Newt offers as he grabs the paper napkins that came with the coffees and tries to clean the soaked coffee off -- getting far too near her breasts in the panic of it...

Tina jumps back as she snaps, "What are you doing?!" Newt jumps back, realizing his stupid mistake.

"Nothing, nothing... I swear! Look, uh..I live just over the street. Uh... you could get cleaned up." he offers awkwardly as she glares at him.

"No thank you. I need to get my car back." Tina replies, trying to wipe the coffee out of her shirt.

"I also have a phone." Newt mumbles. "I'm confident that in five minutes we can have you

spick and span and back on the street again... in the non-prostitute sense obviously."

In his diffident way, he is confident, despite her being genuinely annoyed. She sighs before she turns and looks at him.

"Okay.  So what does 'just over the street' mean -- give it to me in yards." Tina orders, placing her hand on her forehead, as if she were experiencing a headache.

"Eighteen yards." Newt automatically replies, surprising himself. He points to his house's blue door. "That's my house there. The one with the Robin egg blue color door."

Tina's eyes follow his finger and she sees that he doesn't lie -- it is eighteen yards away.  She looks down, debating if she should allow him to escort her or not.

She looks up at Newt and nods softly. He nods and together they walk towards Newt's house.

They pass by many people but no one seems to recognize Tina. She is once again, hiding her face with her black coat and shades.

They both enter Newt's house and stand in the corridor. She carries a few stylish bags. She gives Newt an uncertain look.

"Come on in. I'll just..." he begins and walks in further -- it's a mess. He kicks some old shoes

under the stairs, picks up Pickett's scattered food and hides a plate of Credence's breakfast in a cupboard. Tina enters the kitchen slowly.

"It's not that tidy, I fear." Newt apologizes, as he stands nervously.

Tina doesn't seem to mind and realizing why she's in his house in the first place, he guides her up the stairs, after taking the bag of books from her and settling them down the stairs. On top of a small coffee table.

"The bathroom is right at the top of the stairs and there's a phone on the desk up there." Newt tells Tina as he tries gesturing with his hand where the bathroom is. Tina nods and she heads upstairs.

The second Newt hears the bathroom door close he enters the kitchen and goes mad. He's tidying up frantically; from throwing dishes in the sink, to wiping the long wooden table clean, and sweeping. Then he hears Tina's movement on the stairs. Newt stops and sees as she walks down, wearing a new set of white jeans and a blue silk shirt beneath her black coat. Newt is utterly dazzled by the sight of her.

"Would you like a cup of tea before you go?" Newt asks, trying to cut the awkward silence.

"No thanks." Tina replies.

"Pumpkin Juice?"

"No."

"What about coffee -- oh- er-probably not." Newt says as he moves to his very empty fridge -- and offers its only contents. "Something else cold -- soda, water, some disgusting sugary drink pretending to have something to do with fruits of the forest?" he offers as Tina stares at him.

"Really, no." she insists.

"Would you like something to nibble -- apricots, soaked in honey -- quite why, no one knows -- because it stops them tasting of apricots, and make them taste like honey, and if you wanted honey, you'd just buy honey, instead of apricots, but nevertheless -- um -- they're yours if you want them." Newt stutters holding the glass jar of apricots soaked in honey.

"No." Tina answers, as she observes Newt make a fool out of himself.

There is a moment of silence before Newt, stupidly but boldly asks, "Do you always say 'no' to everything?"

There is a pause. Frankly because Tina did not expect Newt to ask her a question so... striking. She looks at him deep and cocks her head to a side before replying softly, "No."

There is silence again but it's not awkward. It's a moment of peace before Tina breaks it, saying, "I better be going.  Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome and, may I also say... heavenly." Newt says as he closes the fridge door, leading Tina back to the corridor, "It has taken a lot to get this out loud.  He is not a smooth - talking man." Newt takes a deep breath before says daring, "Take my one chance to say it. After you've read that terrible book, you're certainly not going to be coming back to the shop."

Tina looks at him and smiles. She's cool and well amused at his opinion for that book she bought.

"Thank you."

Newt looks down nervously, "Yes. Well. My pleasure."

He guides her towards the house's blue door. "Nice to meet you. Surreal but nice." Newt reveals causing Tina to silently laugh. In a slightly awkward moment, he shows her out the door. She gives him a nod before stepping out. He closes the door and shakes his head in wonder. Then slaps his forehead as he mutters, " 'Surreal but nice.' What was I thinking?"

He  shakes his head again in horror and wanders back along the corridor in silence.  There's a knock on the door. He moves back, speaking up, "Coming."

He opens the door and is surprised. It's her.

[script-nef]

You left me | Oikawa Tooru

Inspiration: [Hiraeth]

Category: angst

Warning: Character death

1.1k words; my home, my everything. I can’t breathe without you.

Hiraeth (n. Welsh)

/ˈhɪraɨ̯θ/

 : homesickness for a home which one cannot return to    nostalgia, longing and yearning for the past

Guests leave one by one, gently patting him on the shoulder and expressing their sorrows on their way out. He thanks them softly, not knowing what to say other than that. He says goodbye to your parents, eyes lowering at their crying and broken faces. They had the same expression for the past few days, but he couldn’t bring himself to show the same. He just can’t feel anything right now. 

Everyone but him left, but he can't move. The only he can do is stare blankly at your beaming face. You look gorgeous in the photo. He remembers the day, only because you begged him to go with you on a date/errand run. You always tried to spend time with him due to his hectic schedule. He should have done more.

It was a happy day, one of bright sunshine and soothing winds. The week had been cold and you put off leaving the house under the pretence of contracting “a rare illness where I die if I’m in the blistering cold and harsh winds”. He chuckled whenever you repeated the phrase, and it brought a smile to you as well. So when a break from the horrendous weather coincided with a free day for him, you leapt at the chance. 

He remembers you practically skipping down the street, drawing attention but not having a care in the world. The sun’s rays glistened on your skin and you looked so radiant. Your laughter was music to his ears, and he thought that you were a work of art when beckoning him to catch up with a hand stretched out.

You went to the photography studio for photos to put in a resume for a new job. You were really looking forward to it as it gave you the possibility to work more flexible hours with better benefits. So that you could spend more time with him. Ah, he laments, I should have been more attentive. I should have tried as much as you. 

You took a serious one, as it was needed for a resume, with a borrowed jacket. Then one where you were smiling, urging him to come into the shot. You laced your arm with his, leaning onto his shoulder while radiating happiness. He could feel himself become lighter around you, like only the two of you existed in that moment. That photo hung on the mirror in his room. My room. Not "ours" anymore. Just… me now.

Reality comes crashing back, a tsunami of anguish and heartbreak and loneliness and so much pain. A sob rips past his mouth, his lungs aching and he feels like he's caving into himself. Heartbeats echo in his ears as he reaches out to your face which is adorned with a small smile.

How could you leave him like this? You promised to always be there for him, you promised. He clutches the photo frame, hugging it so tightly that it might break and pierce into him. Would he be able to meet you if that happened? Would you be there when he opens his eyes, snoring softly and off in your dreamland like every morning? But he knows you would scold and cry at him for coming so quickly, for leaving his life behind just for you. It would be worth it if he could just meet and remind you of his love even if it’s for the last time—I love you, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me, please don't leave me behind, I adore everything about you, thank you for loving me, please don’t go.

He sits there for what feels like aeons, cradling your photo. He nearly falls into slumber, and a part of him hopes that this is just an elaborate prank, that you would jolt him awake and laugh at how stupid he is for falling for that.

But life isn’t that kind. He’s woken by the owner of the establishment, adorning a sad look, telling him that he needs to leave. He looks at your face again. The frame is returned to its original spot, and he presses a kiss onto the glass pane. The cold flat surface is so different from your soft and warm lips. He bows to the owner and walks out, feet as heavy as lead. 

The autumn sunset is beautiful. Orange and red hues reach across the sky and it looks like it’s leaking onto the surviving leaves on trees. You would have loved this scene. You would have exclaimed the beauty in fragility and time, where everything wasted away but at the same time thrived. You were deep and romantic like that. It was an endearing characteristic, even if he couldn’t understand all of your infinite thoughts and wisdom. 

He needs to move. He can't stand here, in the middle of the footpath for all eternity. He needs to go back to—he needs to go—where? Where can he go now? Everywhere is filled with memories with you; his favourite café, the park down the road, the school in the neighbourhood you both went to, the bridge where he confessed to you, his home. Where every nook and cranny contains traces of you; your perfume, your ridiculous charms, your art, your plants, your clothes, your photos. Endless memories; moving in together, the first fight, his failed attempt at breakfast-in-bed, professing his adoration for you as you drifted to sleep, redecorating the house, the uncountable number of kisses and soft whispers of love.

He can't go back. He can’t. Not when everything is so raw, not when he still loves you so impossibly and so limitlessly. Not when he’s so weak and so close to breaking.

The lights feel like it's dimming, like the world is closing down on him. You would have held his hand and sung softly into his ear, telling him to calm down and breathe, that you love him so much. That he doesn’t have anything to worry about and how competent and kind and loving he is. He can’t breathe, can’t escape the panic that covers him and can’t function without you.

He’s lost, so, so lost because you’re not here. He begs to the empty space for the past, for it to come and give his love and world back along with the joy he felt every time he opened his eyes to meet with yours in the morning. To give back the warmth in his life.

Ah, my love, my heart, my everything. You left me and took everything with you; my soul, life, passion and home. I long for you. I long for the space where we could love each other. I long for my home in you.

[paperworkanddogs-moved]

how'd you end up with so many dogs? what's the story with them?

Old German Shepherd Dog Berlitz - He was my first one, born May 1, 1898, from Horand v Grafrath and Lene. My brother was friends with the owner, von Stephanitz, and I was allowed to pick the one I wanted. I trained him myself and he's served with me in several wars with honor. He's also sired many, many puppies and contributed greatly to the breed. While I'm at work or away, he's in charge of the house.

Weimaraner Aster - I bought Aster with part of my allowance in 1903, I didn't find out until later that my siblings had prepaid part so I didn't pay too much out of my own pocket. He also served with me and has sired many puppies, but I don't know his lineage. I wish I hadn't allowed his tail to be cropped, but I think he would beat my knees with it if it wasn't short plus it's safer for him, I think. While he's had several liters of puppies, he's most respected for ratting and pest control in the trenches, along with hunting every year.

Dobermann Black Dog - He was bought on the low in 1907, from Otto Goeller whose Dobermanns I preferred. I came home with him smuggled in my school bag, when I came back from "a class trip" in Apolda. Of course, I was immediately caught but by then it was too late. He's a registered service dog, and comes with me most everywhere, helping with low-light walks or when I fall and hurt my knee. Of all of my dogs, he's done the most work, serving not only in the wars but in helping to save the Doberman breed.

Dackel/Dachshund Borage - He was a gift from the Republic of Ireland in 2012, complete with papers, but I haven't used them much, aside from one liter he's sired. He mostly hangs out with Aster and helps me catch rabbits along with keeping rats out of the compost bin. He is the smallest dog I have and will often dig up my gardens, if I leave the gate open

Pembroke Welsh Corgi George - George was a gift from Switzerland in 2012 as well and I cannot ever give him an update on George, because he's.... so fucking stupid. I had to neuter him to ensure he doesn't pass on his genes once he started chasing the girls at the dog park. His saving grace is he is.... very sweet and friendly, though he does chase children. At least he doesn't nip or bite them, and is a good dog to cuddle with.

Rottweiler Malva - The youngest and the heaviest, I gave up and got him to round out the number of dogs in 2016, Ivan came with me to pick out a puppy and I took the one who I felt was listening the best. The breeder was very open with all the health issues and while he hasn't done anything to stand out, I'm certain he will make me proud. I'm teaching him to be a service dog as well, to give Black Dog a break some days.

[marshmallow--3]

Imagine - Jacob Frye suffering from a werewolf curse.

Frye Cottage, Surrey, October 1873

Softly, you're roused by the ambient sounds of the forest encompassing the house: owls hooting, tree branches rapping on the windows, fierce winds howling into the night.

You couldn't say what time it is. You doubt you could even hazard a guess. Your eyes struggle to adjust to the darkness consuming the room, rendering any attempt to read the clock a fruitless endeavour.

A brief glance at the window confirms that dawn is yet to break.

Perfect.

Sitting upright in bed, you fumble in the dark for a moment until your hands happen upon the knob belonging to the drawer of the nightstand. With only a trickle of moonbeams lending you the faculty of sight, you open the drawer, reach for the only object inside, and strike a match.

You hold it by your face, tilting the matchstick downward and watching as the flame dances and swells. Using the light the match provides, you ignite the oil lamp atop the nightstand, extinguishing the match with a shake of your hand as the room is bathed in a warm, amber glow.

The cottage, for all intents and purposes, is without ornament - and rightly so. The single-storey cabin may be the only building for several miles, as per your intentions. The interior is functional, pragmatic, an open-plan room comprised of a bed tucked away in a corner and a kitchenette. A chimney and burning stove looks across from your sleeping area, supplementary to a table and two chairs.

A Welsh dresser is half-filled with plates and mugs, its cupboards and drawers stowing bits of food and medical goods - bandages, a needle and thread, a bottle of gin, though you're yet to use any of it, thank the Lord.

A wolf howls in the distance, prompting you to take a peek outside from behind the curtains. The full moon is fading, you note, compelling you to rise and begin your preparations for the long day ahead.

After making the bed, you cross the room and burn wood at the stove, boiling herbal tea in a cast-iron kettle. You fix some cold cuts of bread, cheese and meat, managing to eat a little yourself while saving a second portion.

A short time later, a figure comes stumbling in through the door, slamming it shut. You're hesitant to look up, knowing from previous months the heart-wrenching sight that awaits.

A creature paces with convulsing legs, looking ready to collapse at any moment. It bears the form of a man, but the mental state of a wolf. A blanket is draped around its heaving shoulders, its naked, hairy body shivering violently. Brown hair is thoroughly dishevelled, small sticks and leaves clinging to the strands. Sickly pale skin gleams wet with sweat, dirt markings littering its face. Wild, glassy eyes frantically dart around the room.

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you rise from your seat as slowly as possible, yearning to draw the weeping man into your bosom.

He's still an animal, you have to remind yourself, though it does little to patch your broken heart.

You avoid prolonged eye contact, letting your eyes look past him instead of lingering on him.

"Jacob," you murmur, your voice soft and quiet so as not to alarm him further.

Taking a miniscule step forward, you approach him gingerly, repeating your internal mantra of stay calm. You shrink your body and repeat his name while observing his body language, keeping an eye out for any signs of injury.

He's panicked, hysterical, gripping his head and yowling, those wide eyes reminiscent of an animal caught in a trap.

You hold your hand out palm down, and croon, "Jacob, it's okay. I'm going to help you."

By now you've crossed the room, though a good distance remains between you. His back stiffens, the air shifting around him, his nose crinkling as he picks up the Scent. He visibly calms somewhat, blinking as his eyes soften to their usual melliferous hazel.

Watching him stagger towards you, you take a few final steps towards him, catching him as he falls into you, the blanket falling from his shoulders as his arms crush you into a tight hug. You remember to hold your breath, to remain perfectly still as he buries his nose in the dip of your shoulder.

He inhales sharply, memories of his human life flashing behind his eyelids. Merry laughter rings in his head like a bell, faces of loved ones appearing and overlaying one another at the speed of lightning.

In verifying the Scent, his arms loosen around you, his breathing heavy against your skin.

The Scent comforts his wolf form, he'd once explained. It's a blend of your smell and his, a product of your... prior carnal union, so to speak, serving as a catalyst that completes the reconstruction of his brain.

You continue to shush him, now free to move your hand and stroke his damp hair, pacifying him until the shaking subsides.

Lifting his head, he meets your gaze and wets his lips in an attempt to speak.

"Hi."

You cup his face, tears forming in your eyes at the humanity present in his face, at the way his eyes gleam in recognising you.

"Hi." Your response comes with lumps in your throat.

He chuckles to break the ice, immediately wincing and breaking out in a fit of coughing. Prying yourself from his embrace, you help him hobble over to the table and take a seat. Working swiftly, you pour a cup of the tea, retrieving the laudanum from a drawer in the dresser and setting it down in front of him.

He tests his coordination for a moment, clenching and unclenching his fist and wiggling his fingers before trusting himself with handling a cup of hot liquid. He blows the drink before sipping, swallowing quickly to avoid the bitter taste.

His speech is slow, hesitant. "Is that, the same, same stuff as last time?"

You nod. He grimaces.

"Doesn't work."

"It's the highest dose the doctor will prescribe me." It took little effort convincing the physician that the pills were for you - dramatising your menstrual pain is far preferable to telling the truth. "Please, take it. Something is better than nothing."

Jacob glances up at you, taking in the sight of your eyes glossy with tears, your forehead creased with concern, your brows angled upwards as you plead.

Agreeing silently, he takes the tablet and swallows it down with the bitter brew, spluttering as the taste lingers on his taste buds. You rub his back to help him keep it down, drawing his attention to the plate of food; perhaps it could cover the horrid taste.

He takes stock of the plate's contents, sniffing tentatively. The cuts of meat smells appetising at the very least, and he almost reaches for it before his head swims with intrusive images of sleeping deer, the sound of snarling wolves surrounding him as though they're present in the room. Nausea rises from his stomach, he heaves and retches before pushing the plate away with a forceful shove.

"I need to lie down."

He staggers in standing up, knocking cutlery to the ground with a clatter. He grits his teeth, distributing a little too much of his weight onto you as you help him limp towards the bed.

Every step is pure agony for him; although you haven't experienced his curse, you can imagine the torture he must go through - his skeleton changing shape, his organs moving position, his flesh and muscles being torn to shreds by his own claws.

All that, and probably far more that your imagination simply cannot comprehend, three nights a month.

He doesn't peel the duvet back to clamber into bed, instead laying himself on top of the bedclothes. And judging from the heat radiating from his body, you can understand why.

You get a proper look at his face for the first time: his skin is off-colour and boiling hot to the touch, and the whites of his eyes are bloodshot. Sweat trickles down his forehead, red welts marring his skin. You dab his forehead with a cold, wet towel, conscious of the pressure you apply.

He grunts, a fresh wave of throbbing spasms coursing through his jerking body.

"Shhh, Jacob, you're okay. You're alright."

It's silly, but... Despite all of the ways you help him, you feel helpless, wishing you could do more to take his pain away for good. Watching on as he pants and yells, his body convulsing like a seizure, you find yourself singing a lullaby, stroking his cheek in hopes of pacifying him even a little.

"I love you," Jacob manages to wheeze when your song comes to an end.

"I love you too, my darling man."

@sassenach-on-the-rocks @aikeia @yourchepazworld @iceboundstar @the-purple-rook @unprofessional-bard @witch-of-letters @disneymarina @thero0ks @assassins-and-hidden-blades @ass-sass-sin-o @ladye11e @deviousspleen

[pinkvhs]

this has been a long time coming

ive detached from jack / dont watch jack anymore. i’ve poured so much into this story that involved the egos that i just....can’t let it go. so, im making ocs for the story instead. 

inspired by @lilakennedy . . . here is some info about my boys

Marvin the Magnificent➜ Marvin Lir MacKenna 

age: 27- from the 1920s

Brown wavy hair that goes to past his ears a bit

Blue eyes

Height: 5′7″

irish & welsh ( mother from wales father from ireland ) 

an illusionist / performer 

 Stage performance & regular attitude are a complete 180. Very bold on stage and confident but once he is off he is more reserved and calm

Best friends with Daniel

Knew Daniel for years, since they were around 10 years old. Extremely close bond.

Doesn’t believe in spirits but is very cautious / superstitious 

Gets powers whenever he and Daniel accidentally summon Phonus at Daniel’s Birthday/Halloween party. When it was just the two of them alone. 

He tries to attack Phonus since the monster killed Daniel 

but once he made contact with the demon, he was immediately teleported into our timeline. He took some of Phonus’s powers as a result 

He ends up getting burn marks on his arms/hands and face due to trying to physically fight Phonus when he was furious 

He has powers now, some he doesn’t know he can do yet. But his powers are: ✪= Not used often. ✦= strongest. ✧=weakest

✦ Empathic Element Manipulation ✦✪Fire Manipulation, ✦✪Necromancy, ✦Telekinesis,✦Kinetic Charging

✧✪Electricity Manipulation, ✦Magical Wall Generation, ✦Teleportation, ✧Intangibility, ✧Healing Hands, ✦✪Naturakinetic Combat

Riley finds him and helps him on his feet to find a place to stay

The two of them become close friends eventually, it takes a long time for Marv to warm up to people in this strange new environment- still tortured by that night. 

He blames himself for Daniels death every day. 

With his new unknown powers, he tries to go back in time to stop all this from happening. 

He opens up about his powers to Riley and the truth. 

Riley is beyond amazed that powers and magic exist, he tries to help Marv with his powers. 

He ends up needing to find a sort of job to stay at his home, so he tries the one thing he loved- entertaining people. With his magic, he dumbfounds audiences. 

However, once things were just looking up, his fire magic (the strongest) goes wrong.

He ends up catching a stage set on fire, causing injuries to hundreds. 

He panics. Riley tries to calm him down. But he can’t take it, he is convinced that he is destined to cause harm with these powers. 

He vanishes to a place by the sea and isolates himself, causing people to believe he died in the fire accident. 

He spends his time trying to prefect time travel and is consumed by isolation. though, he does attract wild life to him. they are very at ease with him

Refuses to use his fire magic 

One day, he comes across Viktor’s body on the shore. He takes him in quickly to his small home that he protected in case Phonus ever finds him.

He revives Viktor to come to. The stranger is a total mess and he tries to heal the man, but Viktor grabs him on reflex. So the man patches himself up

The two live together for a few months as the injuries heal up

Viktor convinces him to visit Riley again, so he does.

He teleports there and leaves a note stating that he is alive. He can’t bring himself to see Riley face to face

In the end, he tries to fight off Phonus. He fails miserably

He returns to his home, having Riley there with him. He gives Riley his powers because he doesn’t want to die and these powers go back to Phonus.

He trusts Riley with his life

Once Riley is given the powers, he passes away.

When his body is all alone peacefully at rest in the home, without any magic to protect it, Phonus finds the body

But no magic

The demon still takes the body. Using it to wake him up again and look into his mind to find out where the powers have gone

He remains a soul bounded victim to Phonus and reunites with Daniel

Both under Phonus’s control

Chase Brody➜ Noah Oliver Dodge

age: 29 - from our timeline

messy brown hair thats dyed blonde at the tips of it

brown eyes

Height: 5′9″

American

Dropped out of university and works part time at a local electronics store

loves to break things and try to fix them up again and make it totally new! 

has a passion for computers and likes to make his own computer 

he also loves film and had dreams of making a film 

a disaster cook but god help him he tries 

Father of 2 girls 

childish and fun loving 

reckless at times 

loves nature and going on walks / hikes 

met his wife in high school (been together since they were 16) 

they go to the same university, his wife studying to be a nurse 

at 18 he accidentally gets her pregnant and her parents arent the happiest about it

they get married at 19 

he becomes a stay at home dad and drops out to take care of their baby till she finishes nursing

they end up having another child once they get a small apartment together 

his daughter is friends with Viktors daughter and thats how the two families meet 

His wife actually works with Viktor and didn’t know at the time

his wife divorces him because, even though she does love him, she can’t keep working like this just to get by. she needs security and they dont have it. 

he is allowed to see his kids still but at the time it was very painful for him

he lives alone in that apartment, often calling Viktor to talk and invite him over so he doesn’t do shit he regrets 

he talks about how Viktor is so lucky to have such a wonderful life and wishes he could have that (since he doesn’t know the truth)

Viktor and Noah become very close and often have their kids over at each others houses

he hears news that Viktor is missing and becomes a mess. he is alone and doesnt know what to do. 

he tries to make it known that he is missing online, making posts and videos as much as he can to get peoples attention 

he visits the Valentin house hold and offers his wife any help thats needed, despite knowing all the turmoil they went though. he cares about the kids and doesn’t want them to worry. 

Henrik Von Schneeplestein➜ Viktor Alexis Valentin

age: 32 -from our timeline 

short grey hair

extremely pale blue eyes

pale, almost sickly skin 

Height: 6′2″

German

Doctor that specializes in internal medicine (meaning he focuses on helping adults) but also is a surgeon

Father of 3 girls

loves to bake! 

a hopeless romantic actually

he is very cold and standoff ish but once he loves you, he LOVES you

blunt to a fault still though

cares about people. more so than his own well being

extremely loyal

met his wife in university. he took an anatomy art class 

his wife helped him improve his drawing skills and the two became close

he fell for her very hard 

they get married and live in a house that they saved up for (with extra help from both of their parents)

once settled, they have their children 

his wife is a biology teacher with a minor in art teaching! 

he takes family trips whenever he can to the beach! his kids love the ocean!

he comes home one day to find his wife cheated on him- he suspected this for a while now. he found a shirt underneath the bed, thinking it was just a gift for later down the road for christmas or something. he went to fix it when a piece of paper fell out of the pocket. her phone number

he never gets mad at her. he blames himself

he thinks he isnt perfect enough

he becomes extremely distant and cold, more than before. never knowing when to bring it up

the two of them grow apart but still live together

they make sure not to worry their children though, they dont want them to think its their fault. 

he never brings up this information to Noah because he doesn’t want him to worry. 

very envious of Noah though and wish he would smack him. Noah has a wife that loves him and he wishes that Noah could wake up and see that and fix his actions. 

he does break down one night and tell Noah everything that happened

one day at the office, a man came in with a horrible neck injury. 

he typically sees people who just need some medication or the worst injury being a bite from a dog, but even that wasn’t bad. 

he rushes to take care of the stranger. once they were alone for a brief second, he gets trapped inside. 

Phonus used Daniels body in order to get to the Doctor. He attacks and possesses Viktor. 

Once Phonus is done using Viktor, he takes him to a cliff near the sea

He is snaps his neck and lets the body fall into the ocean. 

Eventually, he washes up to shore where Marvin is

he stays with marvin for months while he heals up himself, he refuses to get any magic help

once he decides to leave marvin has a hard time letting go, he is worried viktor will fall victim to phonus again 

he leaves to go home but once he reaches the steps, phonus finds him again. 

Jackieboy Man➜ Riley Lee Young

age: 23 - from our timeline 

very curly blonde hair

green eyes

skin that tans pretty easily 

the most muscular out of the lads but isnt extremely buff 

Height: 5′6″

American

Lives alone in a small apartment 

a college student, unsure what to major in but possibly wants to be a vet

LOVES animals! 

a vegetarian ! 

a pretty good cook actually! 

has a heart of gold and sees the best in most people, though he isn’t stupid. he knows there are terrible people in the world that can’t change and deserve punches to the face

he watches pets and volunteers at animal shelters!

he also babysits Viktors kids to get some money

was kicked out of his home. Viktor found out about it and bought him a small apartment to live in. (he would of offered Riley to stay but he has issues at home that he doesn’t want to subject Riley to on the daily)

he is the girls big brother figure and he loves to pay pretend with them ! 

He meets Marvin and they eventually become friends

he helps Marvin gain back confidence, giving him a place to stay, and helps him actually feel . . at home in this timeline 

when he finds out the truth that marvin is from the 1920s and has powers he cannot get over how cool it is! calling him a super hero and showing him comics that he has. he helps marvin try to get a better hold on the powers

he was around whenever the fire accident with marvins powers happen, he tries to calm marvin down but ends up alone. left to wonder what happened to his friend. 

When he has to start university up again he has to let the Valentin family know that he can’t be around as much as before but will try to help out if needed 

Viktor’s wife ends up calling Riley one day and begs him to come to the house as soon as he can for Viktor has been missing for days now

Riley puts up posters and gets the news out that Viktor is missing as much as he can around the city. 

He still goes to university but spends a lot of time in the Valentin household. Visiting on holidays and the girls birthdays. Having no news of Viktor. 

he later on gains marvins powers, his mainly being electricity and strength. 

he is set on finding phonus and fixing things for marvins sake 

Jameson Jackson➜ Daniel Edmund Thomas

age: 27 - from the 1920s

slicked short black hair

brown eyes

Height: 5′7″

British

a charming, bold, charismatic man 

an actor and musician, exceptionally good on piano

very witty and clever

lives a rather extravagant life 

very close friends with Marvin, trusts him with his life

on his 27th birthday on Halloween, he throws a party

he loves to mess around with guests and asks Marvin if they can have a a seance

they try it to entertain the guests, but nothing happens (to marvins relief) 

the party continues on till its just marvin and him by the end of the night

they try again to contact from the beyond

they succeed 

he comes face to face with the demon. an invisible hand causing him to kill himself. making Marvin watch 

he becomes Antiphonus’s personal toy 

his mind becomes warped and he loses all sense of who he used to be

he tries to fight back, but once he does, his tongue is cut out of his mouth. never to be able to voice for help again 

his body now bound to Phonus becomes a personal pin cushion. being cut open and inspected to see how far humans have come with healing themselves. to see how far a human body can handle things

being trapped with phonus he starts to believe that Marvin caused his death. he believes everything phonus tells him and is set on killing marvin 

he becomes very aware of realities all thanks to Phonus. 

Antisepticeye➜ Antiphonus

age: unknown. 

an immortal being / demon

seems to have been around for centuries 

first appears invisible, then a shadow figure, to a pitch black faceless figure that takes on more of a human shape - till finally, he appears to look like Daniel 

he is fascinated with humans, very curious and destructive 

he takes Daniel in as a host. he rests inside of Daniel’s body till he is strong enough to mimic the physical outer appearance of him

when he possesses people becomes stronger. he doesnt have full control right away, it takes him a bit of time to warm up once again to how powerful he used to be. 

he can see into his victims mind when possessing them, he knows all what Daniel knows / remembers. Daniels fame, fears, friendship. family, love- he knows it all. 

He uses this to his advantage to keep Daniel around without fighting him back- using Marvin against him

he is after the powers that he accidentally gave to Marvin on impact

he travels to the dimensions he has access to and time lines in hopes to find Marvin, taking Daniel along with no choice

he lands in our dimension and timeline to sense that his powers are close by

He ends up sabotaging Marvin’s performance with fire magic in order to kill him or capture him but it fails- he looses sight of him

While he is searching through the streets, he over hears talk about the human body. He comes across Viktors practice building and opens the door a crack. He can sense so many souls and blood in that building and gets vastly curious. He notices people injured and ill, waiting for care. He hatches an idea. 

 He returns to Daniel and possesses his body. He takes Daniel to an alley way close to the building, away from the eyes of others. He grabs the sharpest thing he can find and plunges it deep into the side of his neck and carves it out slowly and rips it out. 

He quickly makes Daniel reach the building and barges in, causing everyone to look on in horror. The nurses there rush to his aid as Phonus makes Daniel gasp and hold his neck to try to stop the bleeding. Nurses page for Viktor asap as they get Daniel to a stretcher and room fast.  Viktor arrives shortly after and is fast to help Daniel. Daniel just looks at Viktor and tries to nod. 

Once the nurses leave for a brief moment and its just him and Viktor, Phonus makes the door lock them inside.

Viktor goes to inject him with medication but Daniel reaches out and grabs Viktors arm. He say to Daniel that he knows needles are scary but you need this now, let go please. Daniel sits up and twists Viktors arm, causing Viktor to wince in pain while looking shocked. 

He grabs Daniels hand with his free one and tries to pry it away, but can't. Daniel kicks him away, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. He gets up from the bed. The lights inside the room begin to flicker faster and faster. Electronics in the room flickering on and off, radios and tv consumed with fast stations, fluctuating volumes, and static. Viktor gets to his feet and hears all this noise and sees this horror in front of him. 

Phonus leaves Daniels body, causing Daniel's wound to disappear. Phonus stands in front of him.

He gets inside of Viktors mind to find all that he can about the human body and the amount of pain that it can handle. 

He sees in Viktors mind a young man with curly blonde hair. And for a brief moment inside of Viktors mind, he sees Marvin 

in the end he ends up taking Marvin captive but finds that the powers are gone. 

he keeps marvin around because he sees too, that he gave that blonde boy his powers

so he is on the hunt for Riley 

[gasp-iwrotesomething]

So glad your requests are back open. I panicked when I saw they were closed!! I hope everything’s ok with you? I know things like this can get pretty stressful because once people see how good you are at writing the more requests you get haha I use to do a lot of writing myself but haven’t for so long now! It can be stressful sometimes. Anyhow can I please request A22 and A23 together for Helena and mc. Hope I haven’t accidentally picked ones that have already been done. Thanks sweetness

Thank you for your concern, anon, but I’m doing fine now! I just had an allergic reaction and lost motivation for a short period of time; but I’m back in black! When you mention that this can become extremely stressful because people love my writing, I’m glad that you can understand what I experienced. Starting this up was a big step for me because I’ve never released my writing publicly like this, so it was absolutely delightful to receive wads of requests every single day. The excitement and elation of it persuaded me to pump out as much as I could in one day which wasn’t the smartest move. As time went on, I realized that I couldn’t keep up--that I had limits and that those limits had been crossed. My inbox kept growing fatter and fatter and I was getting less and less motivated to write, which resulted in me having to close down my requests for the sake of catching up and finding my own rhythm. I’m glad that I did; now I take my time and write only when it’s possible for me to. Alongside my lack of motivation, my allergies started getting in the way of writing and the medication that I took to alleviate the symptoms made me really drowsy and sleepy. I just didn’t have a good reason to write in general. Then I caught up, posted completed works, and got back on my horse. I just have to remember that I need to take it easy and not stress so much about completing requests as soon as they’re sent it. Hearing this from someone who knows the feeling and knows how it can affect you is super reassuring. You seem like a very nice person, I’d love to read what you’ve written someday 😊

ANYHOW, sorry for the long-winded vent--I just needed to spill some stuff that’s been clogging up my head. Your request hasn’t been done yet, fortunately for you, so I’d be happy to write this for you, anon! Thanks for your request and I wholeheartedly hope you enjoy, sweetness!

A22: “Keep your eyes on me, okay? Everything’s fine now.”

A23: “I can’t live without you, you have to understand how important you are to me!”

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Helena was a pale flame in the battlefield, her power evident even from miles away. She was powerful but she was using her power the wrong way--the Witch Queen way, as MC dubbed it. Any soldier bearing the Witch Queen’s icy emblem of colors was splashed with her magic and sent sprawling across the woodland floor, their faces contorted with pain as they screamed in total agony. MC watched with horror as Helena whirled around and shot magic at almost any person who dared near her. Helena’s going to kill someone if I don’t do something about this! Despite the chaos unfurling around her, MC rushes towards her sorceress, simultaneously dodging the trivializing soldiers attempting to slice her down. “Helena!” Helena turns her back to MC just as she nears her, giving MC a prime opportunity to approach her without the risk of being taken down like the soldiers scattered around them. “Helena, stop!!” MC exclaims as another burst of magic collides with a soldier, renewing the air of more agonizing screams. Helena spins around, her eyes cold and amiss as they find MC’s... Then an expression of cool recognition fades into her features, delicately softening the furrow in her brow. Is she... calming down? Helena’s pale face is blotchy with fury and her chest is jumping with heavy breaths but the reign of merciless anger in her eyes dies down--a slow demise, falling dimmer and dimmer the longer MC stares desperately into her eyes. “That’s it, Helena,” MC coos as the hand bearing the nefarious magic slowly lowers, the blue effervescence faltering into her pale skin, “calm down. You need to calm down before you hurt anyone else.” Her hands frame Helena’s taunt shoulders softly as the sorceress regains her sense of reality, her expression twisting into something saddened and extremely disappointed.

Only then does MC realize that the entire world had seemed to fall away--the cognizant war cries now silent. She glances around only to see a bubble of cerulean surrounding them, encasing them safely like a shield. Wait... it is shield! It’s Helena’s. MC turns back to Helena to see that her blue eyes are glassy with unshed tears and her lips are drawn into a scowl dripping of rancor. “I lost all control, I almost killed after I said-after I promised that I’d never again-!” Her voice quavers and MC’s heart buckles in her chest. Soothingly, MC shushes Helena and pulls her into a tight hug, cradling her as close as she can manage. Her palms skate up and down the sorceress’ back slowly. “It’s okay, Helena. You didn’t mean it--I know that wasn’t you.” MC murmurs into Helena’s ear gently, her own ashen eyes brimming up with commiserating tears. She hated seeing Helena so upset--seeing how it took a toll on her to lose herself. Helena had tried so hard to change, to alter the monstrous persona the Witch Queen had forced her into and with this... It dilated the progress Helena had worked so hard to build. That fact alone was enough to crack MC’s heart in two. “It doesn’t matter if you believe that wasn’t me,” Helena argues grimly, her eyes woven with saddened luster, “that doesn’t stand for the people who do not know me as you do. To them, it’ll seem as though I’m a bloodlusted murderer even without the Witch Queen there to beset commands to me.” Her gaze wavers to the infuriated soldiers striking the shield, trying their hardest to break through and attack them. A look of disdain and gentle fear crosses her eyes.

MC takes hold of Helena’s jaw and gingerly tilts her head towards her. “Keep you eyes on me, okay? Everything’s fine now.” She assures tenderly as her arms slides around the sorceress’ waist, pulling her in closer to her body. “You’re fine now, Helena. You regained your senses and you stopped yourself from going any further. We’re together.” She adds the final sentence to appease the apprehension curling her lips. Even if Helena can’t find comfort in the fact that she was able to stop herself from certain murder, I want her to take solace in the fact that we’re together--that I’m still with her. Helena seems to mirror MC’s train of thought and she exhales shakily, nodding. “I suppose I cannot deny the blessing I’ve been gifted over and over,” a hand approaches MC’s cheek and presses against it affectionately, “your everlasting presence.” Her plum lips brush the curve of MC’s brow and the Chicagoan sways into her further, enjoying the warmth that Helena emanated. All around them soldiers slapped the bubble in hopes of bursting through but just like the thumping of Helena’s melted heart, it remains strong and impenetrable. Just me embracing her is strengthening her shield. MC remarks, her smile becoming wry with an unseen victory. “Same thing here too. I love you... so much, Helena. I can’t live without you, you have to understand how important you are to me!” Her voice pitches higher as the sentiment of her heart bleeds up her throat, choking her slightly with emotion. All of it was settling in: the battle raging on around them, the vulnerability of Helena, the goal she had almost failed within one moment of frenzied anger... I wish I could just ward the world away from her and keep her from harm--that’s all I want.

Helena clones her look but doesn’t have a welsh of tears climb out of her eyes; instead she wraps MC up tighter in her arms. She whispers ghostly into her hair, the raven strands consuming her gentle voice. “I understand completely, my love. And I wish I hadn’t caused this grievance for you--it saddens me to see you so hurt. Especially by my own doing.” Helena rubs soothing circles into the expanse of MC’s back, cradling her close as if her mere presence was to solve the soldiers who were ordered to kill them--to leave them in tatters for the Witch Queen’s pure entertainment.

Encased in their glistering bubble of sky-blue magic, Helena and MC bathe in each other’s presence as dozens of weapons slam into the shield--earnestly trying to end their moment of bonding.

But there was nothing that could shatter the moment between them except themselves--and they weren’t going to break it anytime soon.

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Thank you for your request! And a huge thank you for expressing your concern for me, anon, it makes me feel amazing!

If you want to request something, here’s the Prompt List, here are the Guidelines, here’s Who I Write For, and here is where you can Request me.

[freyedhart]

—- ☼ (nicolette robinson, twenty-eight, cis female, she/her.) have you met FREYA HART? they’ve been living in CORAL CREST for SIX MONTHS now, but are originally from CARDIFF. you can catch them working as a WAITRESS & BARTENDER, which makes sense as they’re CHARISMATIC and OPEN-MINDED, as well as OVERLY SENSITIVE, and UNMOTIVATED. keep an eye out for them! (ooc: pace, 21+, gmt, she/her)

well would ya look at what the cat dragged in ? it’s me, ya girl pace, with another Woman. pace productions is proud to present my darling little grandma-stuck-in-a-twenty-something-year-olds-body. it’s been a hot second since i played her ( and the first time with nic as her fc ! this is freya 3.0, ladies and gummy worms ! ) so i’m positively jazzed to bring her back into the world. 

ABOUT:

it feels wildly unoriginal to have a nicolette fc be a waitress, but i promise that she’s always been a waitress ! nothing else seemed to fit right, and i did think about changing it when i chose miss robinson, but freya’s always been a waitress when i’ve played her ! don’t fix what ain’t broken, baby ! but i did throw her being a bartender in to spice things up a little.

she’d never worked behind a bar in her life before moving to bayhaven, and got the job based on enthusiasm and a big grin, but she got the hang of it eventually. she works at a lil’ pub in pearl heights, so it’s nothing fancy --- mostly pulling pints and mixing malibu with coke. her main job is waitressing, though, and while she does help out clearing up tables in the pub, she mostly works at a cute lil cafe in heron hill.

she, herself, lives in coral crest ! it is entirely her vibe, and i may have written it thinking it’d be a perfect place for freya to live, oops.

she moved to bayhaven six months ago, after breaking up with her fiancee. they’d always planned to move to bayhaven after they got married, and after they broke up, freya moved anyway to start fresh.

and start fresh she did ! new hobbies, new city, new hair, the whole shebang ! she decided to take on everything, trying all kind of new things, from archery to knitting to baking to rockclimbing. some things stuck more than others, but she’s just trying to Find her like,, Bayhaven Self, and establish herself as a like a Single Adult, as she was with her fiancee for so long and everything was so comfortable, and now it’s Different.

originally, freya’s from cardiff ! she’s a city girl at heart, and other than that brief stint on a farm as a teenager, she’s always lived in a city ! she lived in wales until the age of nineteen, where she then moved to london for a job opportunity. she claims to be The Most welsh person you’ll ever meet in bayhaven, but if anybody wants to dispute that, be my guest !

she’s a sweetheart, but so unbelievably sensitive. if you upset her six months ago, she won’t forget, and you’ll be very lucky if she forgives. she just takes everything to heart, but she’s always kind to others.

she’s practically a grandma. always knitting, always baking cookies for people, always has boiled sweets in her bag to offer to randoms on the bus, watches all the soaps religiously, it’s like she’s eighty.

speaking of sweets, she has the biggest sweet tooth on the planet. she takes four sugars in her tea, and i’d like to fully disown her for it. cannot walk past a bakery without temptation, always turns to cake when she’s sad ( or like... a puppy. or a baby. if anybody has a muse with a puppy/kitten/baby/toddler that would be up for freya just giving said puppy/kiten/baby/toddler a snuggle when she’s feeling blue, yeehaw ! )

moving meant giving up her stable, Financially Tasty job, and it’s hard for freya to figure out what she wants to do with her life now. she doesn’t really have any... goals ? other than to focus on herself and be happy and do what makes her happy. but as far as pushing forward, she doesn’t have much going on. she could never afford university, so never went, so she’s not exactly overwhelmed with qualifications, and she has no career related,,, Drive ? she’s just sort of,, lost ?

she’s one of three kids, sitting slap bang in the middle of her older brother and younger sister, and as protective as she is over her sister, her brother is twice as protective over the both of them.

she has a lil pinterest board !

and some stats !

CONNECTIONS:

ma’am cannot afford her own her own house rn, so i’d love to give her a housemate ! maybe someone she was friends with prior ? i might put up a wc for it if nobody fits, but !!

friends !! all the friends !!! plotting & developing friendships is fun !!!! how’d they become friends !!! what do they bond over and do together !! love it !!

regulars @ the cafe or pub she works at ??

neighbours ! coral cresties unite !!!!

[authors-dumpster]

Cottage in the Middle of the Woods

Any place labeled as “up north” in Michigan is almost always perceived to be a certain type of place. Often times, when a Michigander hears the words “up north”, they’ll either think of their cottage (or lakehouse for the more prestige), or think of cities like Charlevoix, Petoskey, Traverse City, Boyne City, or East Jordan. They are bustling with activity during the warmer months of spring, definitely throughout summer, and still through the warmth that lingers into the fall months. They are perfect cities in which to live the “Lake Life” dream. But as the warmth fades, so do the people. Namely, the summer-loving tourists that have their lives to return to, and these up north cities become desolate, boring, dull. There are also smaller, lesser known “up north” places such as Walloon, Alpena, and Thunder Bay that see less action, but are no less enjoyable. The winter decline is on a smaller scale, but still common. Lesser known for a non-Michigander, that is. Gaylord, Michigan is also one of these lesser known “up north” places.

In northern Michigan just east of I-75, where M-32 intersects with this freeway, lies a city called Gaylord. This city is in between Boyne City and Lewiston. If you were to ask a Michigander where the city of Gaylord is, then they would probably say something along the lines of, “Well, it's in the upper part of the mitten, probably by the middle finger. If you look at my fingers, it’s somewhere along the space in between my middle and ring finger, and just around the second knuckle of my middle finger.” The classic tactic of using one’s hand as a map is probably the most fascinating part about living in Michigan. What’s even better is the lengths that people will go to to use their other hand to represent the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I suppose that us Michiganders believe it is a reliable map.

Traveling to Gaylord Michigan from my home near Detroit was a 220 mile adventure. The trip took about four hours. This time includes at least two bathroom breaks (one being a stop for gas and one being a most necessary McDonald’s pit stop). After spending just under 200 miles on the freeway, exiting was a relieving escape. My two siblings and I- more specifically my younger brother, older sister, and myself- would almost always fit in one Lord of the Rings movie and a few episodes of Scooby Doo, or two Harry Potter movies. There wasn’t really much else that we wanted to watch on the built-in DVD player of the army green GMC Yukon that my mother drove for at least five years of my adolescence.

After exiting the freeway, the drive through Gaylord seemed endless to my young mind. But then again, sitting in a hair salon waiting area for five minutes also seemed endless to me. I never really paid much attention to the drive through the hustle and bustle of city life in Gaylord, mainly because there wasn’t much anyways. Gaylord was and is a small town. There is approximately one or two movie theaters (sometimes, one of the cinemas would not be showing any movies for noticeable periods of time). There is one bookshop worthy of visiting, while the other is more like a book showroom and very difficult to find a book that was published after the year 2000. There is a very small selection of original restaurants, including names like the Bearded Dog and the Alpine Grille, all of which serve good quality food and are exactly what one would expect from a small town in northern Michigan: Hearty American food, with the occasional seasonal catch sprinkled in. Once there, we would spend the first day unpacking the car, our suitcases, and opening the cottage itself. Opening chores include: spider check, mouse check, water pipe check, temperature check, and of course making sure my father had “turned on the toilets” so we could take care of business. The second day was spent “on vacation”. We would have lazy mornings, lay out on our small beach or play in the calm lake for a majority of the afternoon, and then enjoy a home cooked dinner that all five of us had helped with. My mother was the head chef and did most of the work, but I like to think I helped greatly by setting the table with my brother and sister minutes before the food was served.

The drive becomes more and more rural passing into Otsego County until eventually the pavement disappears and you are left to your devices with dirt roads, small hills, and forest patches that all look the same. Going up north to visit my cottage with my family was something that was just part of our regular schedule. Unfortunately, as the years went on, the time we spent at our cottage in Gaylord slowly decreased. As my siblings and I grew up and my family became more busy, going to the cottage to hang out “up north” was not a priority anymore. We were becoming the summer-loving tourists who just wanted a slice of Lake Life once in a while.

The driveway to our cottage was a dirt path serpentine of 100 meters. A clearing opens up and the first thing to see is a two-story brown structure that can only be described as a 1,580 square foot, chalet style cottage, and a matching shed only 10 meters to the right hand side. The main structure was built in 1984, and renovated in 2002. Walking beyond the cottage and around to the other side from the driveway provides a lakeside view from a 557 square foot deck, or from the wooden double lawn glider on the left hand side. This lake, however, is more like a pond. Navajo Lake, or Long Lake, is a whopping 2,000 meters from north to south end, 300 meters from east to west end, and about eight feet deep in the middle of September after the summer rain has done its job. The main inhabitants of Navajo Lake are Walleye, Pike, Bass, and Bluegill. There have been many Bullfrogs that hopped across the sandy waterline, but none stayed to sunbathe long enough to be captured by my little brother and his trusty blue bucket from Glenn’s, the only grocery store in the city my mother trusted.

The city of Gaylord, also known as the Alpine Village of Michigan, was founded in 1872 under the name “Otsego Lake”. Otsego county, however, was originally called Okkuddo in 1840. This word comes from an unnamed Native tribe meaning “sickly”. Three years later, it was named Otsego after the county in New York. The word Otsego also comes from Native Americans meaning “clear water”, which is the same name of the biggest lake in the county: Otsego Lake. The city name Gaylord comes from Augustine Smith Gaylord, who was an attorney for the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Railroad, which ran right by Navajo Lake for some time. It is only now, three years after the very last time we vacationed in Gaylord, that I understand why there are railroad tracks under the sand of our humble beach. My parents made the executive decision to sell the lovely chalet cottage in 2016. I have only revisited the place in photographs and memories.

At some point I have to wonder, when does nostalgia start? And for what, exactly, am I nostalgic for? Perhaps the feeling is not nostalgia at all, but something else entirely. Something like a protective instinct. My family’s lovely cottage in the middle of the woods was a perfect escape from the stressors of daily life. Nature, however, can only be an escape if you make time for it. And I can no longer call this place mine. These up north cities are seeing the more unfortunate portion of a seasonal situation. I have observed the average population of the more vacationed up north cities dropping by nearly half every winter for the six years that I have actually been noticing this phenomenon. It was brought to my attention by my mother, who was disappointed one winter day in 2013 to find the American Spoon in Petoskey was closed, and on restricted “winter hours”. This has undoubtedly been happening long before I noticed it, but I cannot rid my mind of these seasonal influxes seen by bigger up north cities, and often I think about how locals have had to adapt their lives to this annual occurrence.

In the summer of 2018, my family was the perfect summer tourist. We rented a Boyne City house on Lake Charlevoix like so many others. We took our small speed boat onto the lake and spent hours putzing around, blending in with the countless other boaters dotted around the surface of the dark blue water like Welsh sheep on a grassy hillside. In the city of Charlevoix, at a quaint café called Hardwood Gold, I had a conversation with the barista about seasonal tourism. After voicing how devoid of people the city becomes during winter months, he replied, “It is what it is. Have a nice day!”

I would hope that this is not all there is for up north cities that vast amounts of people undoubtedly adore. What is it about these big up north cities that make them so desirable? Where is the same sentiment for the lesser known up north cities? Is it a muddled desire to be closer to nature? If someone is making time for nature, it should be a frequent occurrence, not a seasonal one. Gaylord has thus far escaped this fate, which seems to only befall the “hot” destinations, but as the city slowly grows and the beaches of Otsego Lake become more visited, Gaylord may follow in the footsteps of cities.

[kensingtcns-blog]

( CHARLIE HUNNAM, MALE, HE/HIM ) —— [ BENJAMIN KENSINGTON ] is a [ THIRTY-FIVE ] year old that has been part of the [ HEATHENS ] for [ FIVE ] years. They have been working as a [ GUARD ]. The people in Boulder say that [ HE ] is [ CUNNING ] but also [ RECKLESS ]. Lets see what this wasteland has in store for them.

*uberhaxornova voice* alright helLO ( watch, no one else knows who that is ) its me, ur new resident trash queen & angst n pain lover, caitlyn. i’m 23 and i live in cst so like ?? yeah hi hello how are ya’ll ?? this is my baby benjamin that’s actually ?? a hot ass mess lmao ?? under this is a basic af bullet point bio, personality traits n stats & the three headcanons!! i’m so ridiculously excited to be here as well so that made my rambling worse ?? just like it is right now jfc okay i’ll stop. anywHO i’ve got a basic af list of wanted connections for him right HERE & i'll be working on making an actual bio for him over the next few days!! if you wanna plot w this hot ass mess, just like this or hop into my IMs bc i cannot wait to plot with all ya’ll!!

( TW: mentions of death, cancer, alcohol & weapons. )

BIOGRAPHY

was born and raised in denver, which means he’s always had a love for colorado.

ben’s the oldest of two siblings, his sister being ten years younger than him.

raised by two v loving parents who gave the pair everything they could have every wanted.

however, his mother did from breast cancer when he was 12 and that heavily impacted his father.

causing the older male to teach ben that having feelings wasn’t a good thing and that ben should bottle up everything because he wouldn’t get hurt that way.

something that ben took to heart and kept with him all throughout school.

speaking of, ben did really well in school, graduated at the top of his class and decided he wanted to go into the medical field.

so he did, went to medical school and started learning how to become a surgeon & to his surprise, he was really frickin good at it.

& along the way, he happened to fall head over heels for another student who was there to be a registered nurse. something his father frowned upon due to what’d happened to ben’s mother, but it was something his father quickly began to accept because he saw just how good the two were for each other.

ben ended up proposing to her about a year after they started dating & she said yes so they had a small courthouse wedding surrounded by loved ones... and a few months later they found out that she was pregnant.

this drove ben to be even more dedicated to his job because he wanted to be able to raise his son like his parents had raised him.

nine months later, along came his son and ben’s world quickly started revolving around that baby.

but all of that came to a screeching halt the second the virus hit.

benjamin knew that they had to get out of a populated city, so he packed his wife, his son, his father and his sister up and they were gone by sunlight.

however, his father and sister ended up getting separated from them and he didn’t know where they could have gone, even though he searched for days to find them.

things were okay for the first few month or so, they’d taken enough food to last from their home and the store but with an infant, keeping those supplies in stock wasn’t the easiest thin in the world and soon enough, ben found himself having to go out and search for formula and things like that.

those trips usually went pretty smooth, making sure his wife and son were safe before leaving them for a few hours. however, the one time he happened to be gone longer than a few hours was the one time they weren’t safe at all.

he came back to find both of them gone, something that hit him in the chest so hard that he sat in that buildings for nearly two days just waiting and hoping they’d just moved to somewhere more safe.

but all the hoping and waiting wouldn’t make up for the fact that they’d been taken from him.

this caused him to start being reckless, to go down this dangerous path that he figured would get him killed.

but not only did he do that, he started to have to figure out how to survive on his own. he didn’t have anyone, which meant he’d have to figure out how to shoot a gun, how to hold a knife, how to protect and fend for himself.

so he did, finding guns and ammo that’d been left behind by people, practicing by lining up the numerous alcohol bottles he’d killed off days before and firing into them.

sure enough, he seemed to be a natural with that and with knives.. or a natural for violence in general. he liked the feeling, and it wasn’t something he was going to deny anymore.

& he didn’t deny it one bit. if he met people, he’d resort to violence and threats faster then he could blink an eye because he didn’t trust them, didn’t trust anyone but himself with the feelings he now kept bottled up.

fast forward to about five years later, ben runs into a group that calls themselves the heathens and they instantly catch his interest.

offering him food, water, anything that was needed and gave him purpose.. something he hadn’t had in years. not since he lost his wife and son.

he took the offer almost instantly and has been a guard for them ever since.

PERSONALITY.

hides behind a wall of sarcasm, cockiness, anger and lust.

doesn’t really care to get to know people and had a tendency to push people away before they get too close to him.

is …. stubborn as hell and refuses to ask for help with anything.

has a motorcycle and it’s his baby..

a hot mess

fluent in a lot of languages, picked them up so that he didn’t need translators at meetings with patients.

lowkey worried that people will figure out that he’s not the complete asshole role that he plays on a daily basis and is actually a very hurt person bc if people started realizing that, he’d have to start feeling again and tbh, he don’t wanna do that.

is the biggest flirt you will ever meet??

will try to either get u to drink w him or take ur alcohol.. there's a v thin line between the two options tbh.

super, super intelligent but keeps that on the dl ?

he cares… god he cares so much about people and the world but he pretends to hate everything because it’s easier than letting people in.

is a highkey hoe but he also keeps it on the dl

super into keeping fit as it’s a way to keep his mind from wandering onto subjects such as his wife and son. so he’ll like ?? find random shit to use as a homemade gym ??

still wears his wedding ring but wears it on his middle finger so that know one knows the real story behind it.

also keeps a photo of his wife at baby boy in his leather jacket.

actually super loyal and caring once you’re able to see get past his wall??which is really hard to do due to his job but if u do it he’ll cherish u.

has a bad habit of smoking so he looks for packs of cigs like ?? everywhere he goes.

is actually super open to teaching other people how to fight / use weapons because it's fun for him but acts like it'll kill him to do so.

is a burnt cupcake who has really good intentions but has horrible execution skills.

HEADCANONS

Benjamin was raised solely by his father, who taught him that most emotions were bad things to feel or to talk about. Meaning that he usually hides all other emotions other than anger and lust. Which means that most people see him as an asshole, something that Benjamin is actually fully okay with because in his mind, having people view him in that light is far easier than having to address and/or deal with his feelings. But that doesn’t mean that Benjamin is unable to feel any other emotions other than anger or lust, but he does keep a wall up around him that not a lot of people can break down. If you can break past that wall, though, you’ll find that Ben is far from the ‘asshole’ character he likes to play.

( TW: mentions of death ) Before the virus broke out, Benjamin was actually going to medical school, hoping to be one of the best surgeons in Colorado, maybe even the United States. However, the virus took his wife and son from him and it caused him to break, causing him to give up on the little bit of hope he had left and away from the 'helper’ path he’d be heading down. Instead he found himself becoming extremely reckless, loving everything about violence and danger. He started doing things that his old self would have hated and not caring about the fact that it was risky, that he could easily get hurt or lose his own life in the process. But in all honesty? He doesn’t care about his own well-being, letting the grief that still sits deep in his soul cause him to drift towards dangerous things.

( TW: mentions of weapons. ) Due to him being on his own for a few years before he found The Heathens, Benjamin had to learn how to survive in the toughest ways possible. Meaning that whenever he ran into other survivors, he rarely trusted any of them and if it came to it, he’d resort to violence to get what he needed to survive, food, weapons, whatever it was. Not to mention the fact that he had to teach himself how to use knives, guns and anything else that could have been considered a weapon, how to hunt for the food needed to survive and how to deal with the infected anytime he happened to stumble upon them. After a few years of that, though, he started figuring out that maybe the life of survival and violence was something that he was rather good at, and something he really enjoyed as well. Which was the beginning of him turning from the 'helper’ he wanted to be before the virus hit to someone who’s actually rather selfish.

STATISTICS.

full name: benjamin rhys kensington.

nickname(s): ben, benji (used by his wife mostly).

age: thirty-five.

date of birth: october 31st.

zodiac sign: scorpio.

place of birth: denver, colorado.

gender: cis-male.

sexual orientation: bisexual.

religion: n/a.

occupation: guard for the heathens.

language(s) spoken: english, french, spanish, welsh, russian, korean, japanese, italian, romanian, greek, gaelic and bulgarian.

accent: american.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE.

face claim: charlie hunnam.

hair color: blonde.

eye color: blue.

height: 6′ 1″.

weight: 225 lbs.

build: athletic.

PERSONALITY / TRAITS.

label: the cataclysmic.

positive traits: cunning, adventurous, intelligent, charming, loyal & brave.

negative traits: reckless, hedonistic, cocky, impulsive, flirtatious & closed off.

FAMILY

father: gideon james kensington. ( undetermined. )

mother: marie ann williams-kensington. ( deceased. )

siblings: a younger sister ( undetermined. )

TESTS.

myers-briggs: estp-a

enneagram: type 8 ( the challenger. )

moral alignment: lawful evil. ( the dominator. )

temperament: choleric.

hogwarts house: slytherin.

[himbowelsh]

Can you do a BoB and The Pacific, where somehow Leckie meets Winnix and Welsh gets jealous that he's not the only Curly haired blonde cutie in the group?

AN: since there's really no way for them to meet in canon without bending things waaay out of shape, do you mind if I hit you up with a sports!au? Team Leckie meets the Officer OT5!"It's not fair," Harry mutters, sulking back against the wall. "Why do we have to work with them, anyway? They're not part of the team. They don't go to the same school. What's Coach's plan here?""I'm guessing he wants us to make friends." Arms crossed as he leans against the wall, Speirs sounds just as unimpressed. This is Harry's one consolation. He knows that his disgruntlement is showing, from the slump in his shoulders to the curly mess atop his head that he's run his hands through one too many times. He can't help it. The Easy Troopers are playing against the Pacific Marines tomorrow night. It's going to be the game of the season; Kitty's driving all the way down from Wilkes-Barre to see Harry play. Now, on the night before the game, their coaches are throwing them together and telling them to make friends?It's ridiculous, and Harry wants no part of it.

To his credit, he's not the only one who seems to feel the same way. The atmosphere is more antagonistic than amiable. Near the far end of the field, Guarnere, Babe, and Toye seem to be teaming up to intimidate a pair of fresh faced Marines. The blond one is trying hard to look more indignant than intimidated, while the redhead a few steps behind him just seems pissed off. Roe, the team medic, is talking in a low voice to a Marine with wild eyes and an unsettling air. Winters is shaking the hand of Basilone, the Marines' captain, but they're about the most civil interaction here."We could go introduce ourselves," Lipton pipes up from beside Speirs. He sounds equally unenthused. "At least try to make nice.""What's the point? Nobody here is putting in the effort.""Winters is.""Dick is a saint, and you know it. He'd try to shake hands with the devil if he thought there was something worth saving.""You give him too much credit." Ron's eyes are narrowed as he studies the interaction between the two captains. "You see how they're sizing each other up?"Now that Harry looks, he can see it. Basilone's smile looks a little tight, while Winters is holding himself taller than he normally would. He doesn't bother keeping the smirk off his face. Good old Dick. He knew their captain wouldn't be so quick to turn traitor on them.Just over Basilone's shoulder, his eyes catch on another cluster of Marines who look just as reluctant to mingle as he feels. There are four of them, huddled together like a flock of lanky, muscled pigeons. As Harry's gaze settles on each one, he feels his frown deepen even more.The first Marine in the group to catch his attention is the tallest, and also the one who looks most curious about the people around him. His attention flits around to multiple Easy men, as if he's genuinely interested. He seems like the type of person who would try to make friends here (Harry thinks this with no small degree of scorn) and is only held back by his loyalty to the rest of his pack. The Marine next to him is both shorter and darker, with a stubbled jaw and hair cut short. He's got his arms crossed, leaning half against the fence and half against his friend. His entire demeanor makes it clear how stupid he thinks this meet-and-greet is. His derision, however, is compared to the Marine next to him, slumped back against the fence. He studies his friends with half-open blue eyes, not even sparing a glance for the other team. His disinterest is so powerful that Harry's surprised he's not drowning in it. Next to him, the final Marine of the group has foxlike features and eyes trained on the enemy team. There's a twist to his lips that catches under Harry's skin like a fishing hook.Harry studies the snide-looking one for a second longer. He takes in the set shoulders, the sharp gaze, the blond curls upon his head. There's a lot that puts him off about this man, but it's the hair that's the final nail in the coffin. That hair looks too much like his own."That one," he says. "I hate him."Now Lipton looks mildly interested. He leans over, trying to track Harry's gaze and failing. "I thought you hated them all. Which one? Show me."Harry points, and this is probably a bad idea. Pointing is what causes the guy's dagger-sharp gaze to land on him. Harry sees the way he bristles as he realizes he's being talked about, entire body tension as hostility floods into his frame."Oh," says Lipton. "That one."The guy breaks off from his group to begin making his way over to them. Harry's eyes widen at the realization, even as he feels Speirs chuckle beside him. The bastard is always up for a fight, watching one or being involved in one -- though, knowing Speirs, he'll probably let Harry duke this one out himself, the bastard. The familiar rush of adrenaline fills Harry's limbs, the one that tells him he's preparing for a fight. He pulls himself up to his full height and glares at the approaching Marine.He's halfway towards them when a body suddenly intercepts, cutting him off in his tracks. It feels as if the wind has been let out of Harry's sails. He deflates, blinking in bafflement as Nixon, of all people, holds out a hand to the smug snake.The Marine frowns at Nixon's hand for a second before taking it. He says something Harry cannot hear, and Nixon smiles as he claps him on the back. He's wearing the full force of his charm -- the sort he only brings out when he's trying to get along with someone. Nixon rarely bothers to put in the effort (indeed, just minutes ago he'd been lurking behind Dick like an unenthused, hungover shadow) so this is a shock to everyone.Nixon says something, and the guy cracks a smile -- a real smile. When he replies, Nixon looks like he's just struck gold. He leads The Guy Who Is Not Harry over to where Dick still stands with Basilone, and introduces them in a loud voice."Dick, this is Bob Leckie. I think we might have to keep him."Dick, well-used to Nixon by now, only spares his friend an amused little glance before shaking Leckie (the Anti-Harry)'s hand. "Dick Winters, good to meet you. What position do you play?""Third baseman. And I'm quite comfortable where I am. Adopting me would be a bad idea, I haven't had all my shots yet.""Don't I know it," Basilone pipes up, and there's a round of chuckles all over.Harry is seething."Harry," Speirs remarks after a moment, "it looks like you've been replaced."That's the most stupid thing Harry has ever heard, and he's ready to tell Ron so before the words stall in his throat. The Harry Who Is Not doesn't just look content among Harry's best friends -- he's getting along with them. They're hitting it off like a house on fire, and it's not fair. Who does he think he is?"I hate him," Harry mutters. "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him..."Lipton cuts him off with a sigh. "This is ridiculous. I'm going to introduce myself." With that, he pushes off the wall, making a beeline for where the remainder of The Other Harry's group still stands. Harry gapes at him, disbelief rendering him incapable of shutting his mouth. By the time he realizes that their friend has really left them, Speirs has stalked off behind him, ready to intimidate anyone who doesn't greet Lip with open arms. (Not that this seems like it will be a problem, since The Other Harry's tall friend has perked up the moment he spotted their approach. He looks as eager as a puppy about to be adopted. It's kind of pathetic, in a weirdly endearing way. Harry still hates them all.)He has no clue what the point of this stupid meet-and-greet was, but as he looks from Dick and Nix with The Failed Cloning Experiment on one side of the field to Lipton shaking hands with each one of the group of Marines on the other, he feels something hot and bitter boil inside of him. None of this is fair. This isn't an exercise -- this is a social experiment. A torture routine. Who do they think they are?

"Not feeling very friendly, boo?" rasps a voice right in his ear. Harry has a heart attack on the spot.

[garden-ghoul]

fellowship of the bloggening, part 9 AND two blogs, part 1

“what’s up gamers I didn’t update last night because I was lowkey suicidal”

THE BREAKING OF THE FELLOWSHIP

how appropriate on this, a day when I am very sad*

I have a question about the landscapes in Lord of the Rings. There’s a lot of lawns. Do lawns like, occur naturally in the British Isles? Is that why? I have never met a naturally occurring lawn. Fields, yes, but not lawns. I love the island in the middle of the river, though, being kind of incongruously 50 feet tall with sheer cliffs and wheeling birds and all. Take me to the Anduin.

Aragorn doesn’t sleep well. When our heroes get up he calls them together and says it’s time to choose. Especially for Frodo. Frodo asks for another hour and goes off somewhere; everyone studiously avoids looking at him except Boromir, who Stares. Frodo climbs up on Amon Hen and stares down at the river while he thinks. Ah, I love him.

Suddenly he awoke from his thoughts: a strange feeling came to him that something was behind him, that unfriendly eyes were upon him. He sprang up and turned; but all that he saw to his surprise was Boromir, and his face was smiling and kind.

!!! Danger warning !!! Boromir is acting super super friendly and reasonable. He thinks two people can reach a decision more easily than nine! Sitting with Frodo will be a comfort to him! Frodo is kind of obliviously discourteous; like he doesn’t explicitly distrust Boromir, but it’s clear what he’s saying is making Boromir >:(

'I think I know already what counsel you would give, Boromir,' said Frodo. 'And it would seem like wisdom but for the warning of my heart.'

'Warning? Warning against what? ' said Boromir sharply.

He’s awful defensive, isn’t he. Frodo is just being super sincere and Boromir is so disingenuous. But Boromir is looking rather acquisitive, and I am sad that Tolkien didn’t include Frodo’s growing unease in the text. Like I guess it’s elegant to leave it subtextual but come on I want this to be an emotionally intense scene. All the intensity here is on Boromir’s part; he’s being contrasted with Frodo, who doesn’t emote, and who speaks in short simple sentences. Boromir starts talking grandiose talk about what Gondor could do if they had the Ring.

‘I am glad to have heard you speak so fully,’ said Frodo. ‘My mind is clearer now.'

`Then you will come to Minas Tirith? ' cried Boromir. His eyes were shining and his face eager.

`You misunderstand me,' said Frodo.

Oh I take it back I fuckin love this. So Boromir goes on the attack and Frodo sees no choice but to put the Ring on and disappear. As soon as he’s outside Ring-influence radius Boromir realizes how he was acting and starts to cry. Meanwhile Frodo makes it to the seat upon the summit of Amon Hen; it’s the seat of vision, I guess, and it’s maybe magically enchanted to he can see everything that’s going on in Middle Earth? He catches Sauron’s eye and throws himself to the ground, desperate to take off the ring before Sauron can pinpoint where he is. We get a fun description of the physical pressure of Sauron’s attention “like a finger pressing down.” And Frodo decides that he must not let the Ring near the rest of the company, to allow their minds to continue free.

Everyone else is sitting in a circle psychoanalyzing Frod; Aragorn decides that it would be best to split the party and have himself, Sam, and Gimli go with Frodo to Mordor. Let’s all take a moment to imagine that AU, which surely would have been awesome. Because spotlight Gimli!! Anyway. Boromir comes back to tell them that he vanished, and they all start looking. Sam is the only one who’s actually competent to psychoanalyze Frodo, and realizes he must have gone for the boats to go away by himself. Sam throws himself at the boat and misses by an entire yard. Frodo paddles back to shore so he can get in properly. And they’re off. time for

THE TWO TOWERS (BOOK 3)

THE DEPARTURE OF BOROMIR

We join Aragorn as he runs up Amon Hen and completely fails to use the hill’s magical sight powers to find Frodo. He DOES use his sharp ears to locate Boromir in trouble, though! Come on lad what is this Amon Lhaw? Please. Also how is “lhaw” pronounced? Like Welsh LL? That’s my vote. Haha also Aragorn realizes Sam’s not with him, but still hasn’t cottoned on to the fact that hobbits have much shorter legs than him. Dude. Your nickname in Arnor was “Legs” you KNOW this. Well, he finds Boromir impaled into a tree trunk; Boromir says that the hobbits were taken, and he has paid with his life for trying to steal the Ring. Aragorn kisses his forehead and tells him “no sweet prince you have done nothing wrong ever in your life and I love you”

And then seeing that Boromir has died he says to himself “I’ve mucked up everything, I can’t believe every single thing that has ever gone wrong was my personal fault. How can I, Aragorn, save the quest???”

Legolas and Gimli show up and they all survey the battle site, looking for clues about whodunnit. The answer: Saruman! I like Legolas announcing out loud that he is going to collect arrows, because he’s all out. He’s so extra. It’s a cultural difference, I think; Mirkwood is just culturally extra. Oh we also learn that Sauron does not speak his name, or allow it to be spoken. What?? That’s so interesting I wonder why! Finally the remains of the company puts Boromir’s funeral boat out on the river and Aragorn and Legolas improvise a really impressive duet to eulogize him. And then they go after the orcs, hoping to free Merry and Pippin from Torment. And soon to meet

THE RIDERS OF ROHAN

Our three trackers run over the edge of the Emyn Muil and down onto the plains of Rohan, following the trampley trail of the orcs. I like the bit where they pass a stream with water plants and come down into the grass and Legolas drinks it in:

'Ah! the green smell!' he said. 'It is better than much sleep. Let us run!'

This is very AS. AH THE GREEN SMELL.

They argue a while over whether they should, uh, ever sleep. When they decide that they won’t be able to track at night anyway, Aragorn literally just falls over and passes out. I love him. The trackers have zero chance of catching the orcs, who definitely aren’t sleeping ever, but they persist anyway. Aragorn is unexpectedly weary (after running for three straight days) and apparently it’s because Saruman is glaring really hard at them. Night after night Legolas keeps watch, pacing and singing to himself, because he can sleep while he runs.

On the fourth day they come upon a group of Rohirrim riding down the same trail they’re following, and hunker down to wait for them. The riders pass them right by (elven cloaks!) until Aragorn calls out to them. They are extremely suspicious, especially when they find out our trackers have been through Lothlorien. Gimli, of course, is furious that anyone would suggest Galadriel is anything other than a perfect cinnamon lembas, and yells at Eomer. Aragorn hushes him and then introduces himself in the most dramatic manner possible, trying to look extra kingly so Eomer will want to help him.

Éomer stepped back and a look of awe was in his face. He cast down his proud eyes. 'These are indeed strange days,' he muttered. 'Dreams and legends spring to life out of the grass.

I like Eomer. He says stuff like “we don’t lie and thus cannot be easily deceived” and “That was a worthy man!” (I can practically hear it in Anglo Saxon). My regret about him in the movies is that he had the cutest little snub nose and wasn’t intimidating at all. He looked like a baby.

Um anyway Eomer wants our trackers to come to Meduseld (the hall at Edoras) and identify themselves to Theoden, since they’re still rather suspect strangers. Aragorn is very insistent, obviously, on going to the battlesite and looking for Merry and Pippin. Eomer eventually gives in and says he’ll let them borrow horses to check it out, as long as they PROMISE to come back to Meduseld afterward. He is putting his life on the line for you guys! Don’t let him down!

They ride to the battle site. I want to QUIBBLE again with Tolkien’s word usage; the trackers find “freshly cut turves,” which is surely a VERY WEIRD WORD TO USE. NOBODY PLURALIZES TURF ANY MORE JOHNALD. But he still pluralizes “hoof” as “hoofs.” SMH. In any case we camp under the eaves of Fangorn (“Cut no living wood!”) and during Gimli’s watch an old man, hatted and cloaked, shows up. Or maybe just a spectre of one, because he doesn’t talk, and vanishes without moving. Spooooky. No really, come Gandalf, stop playing games.

[parachoote]

foreign tongues.

2016

I want to sing you songs in foreign tongues 

Your friends are shit

I'm no better, I know

But I keep my dirty mouth shut

I bite my tongue all the time

Why are you like that

It's so hard to defend your dignity 

When the only music you hear are

Lana deal Rey and the smiths

You seem to forget punk kids often like jazz too

And that you're no better than a boy with a Mohawk

Meet me in the middle of nowhere 

Then we'll talk about how you've hurt me

Or how I've hurt you

Or how we've screwed each other over

Or whatever 

We might have a fucking awful time

But at least we'll have a time

So pick a time and a place

Whatever will be fine

Except melancholic cafes downtown,

Burger places by the road

Or public high school cafeterias 

We might catch the flu of misconceptions 

We might end up where we took off of

And I don't know about you

But like fuck I will go back to high school 

Like fuck we will manage to make up

Like fuck you hear me

Like f u c k

So pick a place unknown to younger us

Like i don't know 

A fancy fuckng restaurant 

Or a cabaret

Or what fuckng ever

Those people that want to feel everything 

All the time

I don't trust them

Never have

But you

I trust you as much as I trust my favorite songs

I just think it's really sad

The amount of songs about wishing not to love

And how fuckng much

I relate to them

I didn't ever want to be the typical boy

With a shitty haircut and an acoustic guitar 

But can you really blame a guy

For breaking his own heart 

The thing is that I seem to be too much for most everyone

But always too little for you

I'm starting to wonder now

If it is really me who's got a thing for artists

Or if it's all the opposite 

Well, anyway

How fucked. 

I just can't understand you

You get the chance to hold hands with the god of apocalypse 

But will still always go for the mortal man

The one who'll have you in tears by the end of the day 

But I can't really blame you

Because like I,

Patron saint of misdemeanors

Could have

-and had-

The brightest ray of sunshine

The biggest star in the night sky

Eating from the palm of my hand

But let her go

Because you,

Average lifetime woman

Texted me once

At three in the afternoon 

And asked if we could hang.

So nobody can blame us

No one will understand us

But you and I,

Dear infinite,

We were made to be tied

Up and down and all around 

Like balloons in children's hands

No one will blame us

Not one person on earth will understand us

Let me take you to China and I'll sing you in French

Carry me back to Rome I'll sing you in Welsh

Let's take a look around Mexico ill sing you in Korean

If we ever go to Brazil I'll sing you in Japanese 

And if you wanna see what Mars looks like

I'll sing you in Portuguese

Because that's how mad I am

I can't speak any language other than Spanish

I learned English because you taught me 

But I shall sing you to sleep in any tongue you ask me for

I wonder if you're in love with the sun

Because that is all I see when your eyes look at me

Like you cannot see anything else

Like he's engraved in your skin

Then pardon me

For wanting love I could never afford

For trying to untie knots I could never even touch