#i think it's because i've worked for the last two days where my legal name and she/her pronouns are used a lot

[enchantedlandcoffee]

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[genshinluvr]

At Arm's Length

Pairings: Various Genshin Men x Isekai'd!Reader

Summary: After being forced into a marriage with the twenty-five men— technically, you agreed to it, so you weren't really forced into it, you couldn't help but yearn for a genuine connection with the men. You end up expressing your feelings about your marriage with your twenty-five husbands to Lumine, who is also your sister in law.

Note: Short-ish fic for this week since it's been a hectic week for me ;v; Not really sure how I feel about this fic since I do feel burned out from not only school but from writing fanfics as well 😵‍💫 It's a new quarter for me, and I'm just trying to keep up with school, my readings, and writings. I don't think this would count as angst, but just to be safe, I won't be tagging people that don't want to be tagged in angst or hurt/comfort. Next week's fic might be either Tagic Outcomes or Caught in the Crossfire since it's been a while since I've typed something for those two fics. I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo).

Warnings: Would marriage count as a warning?

Word Count: 7k

This strange relationship you have with twenty-five men— it’s fake. There are no feelings attached, no physical touch or intimacy. No strings attached, as your world would call it. Usually, relationships that have no strings attached to them would be friends with benefits. You hate the friends-with-benefits title. It sounds depressing to you because it’s a “friendship” between two people where they do everything a typical relationship would have, only there are no romantic feelings involved. 

You have been in that situation before, but it ended fast because you wanted to be more than that, and the person left because you broke the number one rule. Not to catch any feelings, and that is what you did. Oh, what a fool you are. How could you, a hopeless romantic, be in that kind of situation? You didn’t expect to be in an arranged marriage situation with twenty-five men from an open-world game you’ve been obsessed with for quite some time.

A stack of paper is slammed on the table in front of you, pulling you out of your thoughts. You look up at the older woman, who looks like she does not want to show up to work today.

“Please sign your first and last name here, and your… husbands will sign their names after,” the lady instructs, sliding a large stack of paper toward you.

You look at the stack of papers with wide eyes. These are marriage certificates, and you have to sign twenty-five pieces of paper. You turn to look at the twenty-five men standing two feet behind you. Pierro nods as if he’s signaling for you to go ahead and sign the papers. The majority of the men look uninterested, almost bored. 

You swallow the lump in your throat and turn to look at the papers laid out in front of you. Marriage certificate, huh? You will be legally binded to the twenty-five men for who knows how long— perhaps until they all get bored of you and leave you one day without any notice. Just the thought of being abandoned so suddenly makes your heart clench. How did you end up in a situation like this? 

The woman sitting at the front desk clears her throat, raising her eyebrows at you. “Are you going to sign the papers or not?” She asks with an attitude.

Your face heats up with embarrassment while you mutter an apology before grabbing the pen lying beside the stack of papers. You begin to sign your name on the marriage certificates. A marriage certificate is a contract, and contracts can’t be broken unless necessary. Well, at least that’s what you assume. You don’t have much knowledge when it comes to contracts, but a certain former Archon may know a thing or two about contracts. 

After signing all twenty-five marriage certificates, you step to the side and let each man sign their name on the paper. Each paper is a marriage certificate between you and one man. While you’re technically married to twenty-five men at once, the marriage certificate and the government of the men’s respective regions (if they have one) state that you’re married to one man. Though, you have no idea how that’s going to work out since most of these men live in the same region as the other. 

“There. It’s been done,” Xiao says, grabbing your attention.

You watch each man hand their pens over to the lady behind the desk. She takes the pen and begins to put the marriage certificates in a white envelope with gold borders. You walk to the woman, who begins to hand you each envelope. 

You’re not sure how this works or how it’ll work. You weren’t prepared for marriage, nor did you plan on getting married so soon. The stack of envelopes in your arms starts becoming heavy the more the woman stacks one envelope over the other. While the envelope is thick and glossy, holding the stacks in your arms feels like lead. The woman puts one last envelope on the stack and nods.

“You’re all dismissed,” she says.

You and the men walk out of the building without saying a word to each other. I mean, what’s there to say after something like this? These men found you unconscious outside of Dragonspine. When you came to consciousness, you were met with various weapons pointing at your face. It took you a while to reassure them that you’re not a threat— how can you be a threat when you don’t have a vision or any weapons on your person?

Tensions are high, and silence hangs in the air. The tension is so thick you can suffocate in it. The sun is high in the sky, the birds are chirping, and the civilians are going on with their day, unaware of the situation.

You break the silence. “You guys are acting like I’m forcing all of you to marry me when I never brought up that idea. We can go back to the clerk and destroy the certificates if that makes you all happy,” you said.

“There’s no need to go back to the clerk to have the marriage certificates destroyed. What’s done is done, and you cannot break a contract once it's signed by the party involved,” Diluc says.

Archons, you hate this so much. You weren’t the one that brought the idea up to the men. It was them that suggested it for your “protection.” Ever since you revealed to them that you weren’t from their universe, they suggested that you should get married to them so that they can protect you from the Abyss and other potential harms that could come your way. 

Because you know too much about what happened in their world that they’re unaware of, it was best for them to be betrothed to you to protect you and your identity. At least that’s what you were told. Quite frankly, there could be a better alternative. Still, the twenty-five men were adamant about the marriage option, and you weren’t sure why. You didn’t want to start any more issues with them, so you went along with their choice, and now here you are— married to twenty-five men.

A few months go by, and it’s been a few months since you have been “married” to the twenty-five men, and while you’re their significant other, they keep you at arm's length. Everything feels awkward between you and the men. They weren’t cold or rude to you. They didn’t mistreat you or make you feel alienated from the rest. You’re unsure if it’s because of your lack of relationship experience or if it was something else because everything felt awkward.

Since you are legally their partner for however long, the twenty-six of you need to put on a show to prove that your marriage is legitimate and not illegitimate. No matter where you all are, you have to get used to calling each other partners. They’re your husbands, and you are their spouse.

You’re going to be really honest here. It feels like you’re putting more effort into this role than these men are. It almost feels like you’re the only person that is trying to make it work despite how awkward it is. After all, it feels like an arranged marriage because these men don’t have feelings toward you— at least, that’s what you’re assuming. Since you’re not a citizen in Teyvat, you spend your time at the abode, cleaning, cooking, and watering the plants in the backyard because there’s nothing for you to do, really. 

Instead of Thoma cooking food for everyone, you’re the one that does it. Of course, Thoma was opposed to it at first, but you insisted on cooking because they have jobs and duties to tend to, whereas you’re at the estate doing house duties. 

You wake up around close to six in the morning to start your day. While you hated waking up early in the morning, you thought getting up before everyone else would make the men feel relieved in a way. After all, you don’t work or go to school. You could apply to Sumeru Akademiya and be a student there, but it would raise some suspicions, according to Al Haitham and Kaveh. 

You’re not a fan of waking up at an early time, but ever since you and the twenty-five men have signed the marriage contract, you have been making it a habit to get up early in the morning to start your day ahead of everyone’s schedule. You’re standing in the kitchen in your pajamas, packing twenty-five lunches for each man. You made sure to cook their favorite dishes and include some snacks from the regions they’re from. It’s a lot to do, but you’re getting the hang of it.

“And we’re done!” You mutter to yourself, sighing in relief when you wrap the last lunch bag for the last man. 

You yawn and stretch your arms in the air. You lined the lunch bags next to each other, labeling each bag with the men’s names on it so they wouldn’t mix up their lunch bags with someone else’s bags. That would’ve been a disaster if it did happen. You rub your eyes and walk to the stove, cracking eggs into the pan and begin to cook yourself some breakfast. 

The kitchen door creaks open. You turn your head to see Thoma walking into the kitchen dressed for the day but with a bedhead. You crack a smile and look away before Thoma can see it. Thoma hums softly, walking over to where you’re standing.

“Morning, Thoma. I hope you slept well last night,” you said softly, cooking the eggs before you while Thoma dug through the refrigerator for water.

“I slept well. I hope you slept well, too, because it’s almost seven in the morning, and I don’t understand how you’re able to pack everyone's lunch before we all wake up,” Thoma murmurs, leaning against the counter beside you after grabbing a cup of water to drink.

You shrug. “It’s not as easy as I hoped it would be. That’s all I can say. Everyone has their likes and dislikes, and I have to make sure to prepare the ingredients the day prior,” you reply.

You look at the clock hanging on the wall and reach for the spatula. It’s almost time for everyone to get up for work, and Thoma is the only person that is awake. You’re not sure whether it’s because Thoma is used to getting up early ahead of every other man in the estate or if he’s used to waking up early because of his duties at the Kamisato Estate. But either way, you’re happy to have some kind of company, even if it’s short-lived.

“Thoma, it seems like you have yet to fix your bedhead,” the voice of the Kamisato heir breaks the short silence between you and the housekeeper of the Kamisato Estate. 

Thoma laughs and rubs the back of his neck. “I tried to fix it, but there’s no use in getting it down when it’s stubborn,” Thoma sighs in defeat.

You continue to cook your breakfast while Thoma and Ayato hang out in the kitchen, chatting quietly near the island of the kitchen. You grab a plate and scoop the eggs, putting them on the plate while debating whether you should cook some bacon to go with your eggs for breakfast or not. The kitchen door opens once again, and more men walk into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes while muttering under their breaths.

You let out a silent gasp and smack yourself in the forehead, mentally cursing yourself for being forgetful. How could you make lunch for your husbands to take to work when you forget to brew them coffee and tea?! Dammit, dammit, dammit!

“Don’t hit yourself!” Scaramouche grumbles, smacking your hand away from your face with a small scowl on his face.

“Yeah! There’s nothing to beat yourself over. You made us lunch like you promised,” Gorou says, grabbing the small lunch sack from the kitchen island.

You sigh and rub your throbbing temples. “Of course, I would make you all lunch to bring to work with you all, but I forgot to brew coffee and tea for you guys,” you murmur. “Archons, how could I be so stupid and forget that?” 

“You’re not stupid for forgetting to brew tea and coffee for us, [Y/N]. You were occupied with cooking lunch for twenty-five of us. There’s nothing worth beating yourself over,” Dainsleif says, walking over to the coffee pot.

“I’ll do better next time, I promise. My forgetfulness has caused everyone to be late for work,” you mutter, chewing on your bottom lip. 

Childe throws his arms over your shoulders and pats your head. “Late for work? The clock just struck seven! If anything, we’re up pretty early, and we should leave the house not too long from now. Plus, some of us don’t thrive on coffee and tea,” Childe says.

“You do not need to worry about anything. You’re doing fine, and none of us are upset with you just because you forgot about coffee and tea. Plus, you cooked lunch for the twenty-five of us to bring to work. The least we can do is make our coffee and tea,” Al Haitham says, entering the kitchen with a peeved Kaveh following behind.

Kaveh stands beside you, crossing his arms over his chest with his chest puffing out. You look at Kaveh worriedly and lightly tap his arm. Kaveh continues to glare at Al Haitham before looking at you. You freeze for a moment when he looks at you with the same expression on his face. Kaveh notices your change in demeanor before relaxing.

Kaveh pats your head. “Sorry, [Y/N]! That glare wasn’t for you. It’s for that idiot over there with his stupid noise-canceling headphones,” Kaveh says, shooting a glare over at the Acting Grand Sage.

You weren’t sure if Al Haitham didn’t hear what Kaveh said because of his noise-canceling headphones or if he was intentionally ignoring Kaveh’s comment. You smile at Kaveh and pat his arm lightly before continuing what you were doing before the other men entered the kitchen. Once everyone is awake and ready for work, you pass everyone their lunch bags with their names on them. 

You stand by the door of the estate and bid them goodbyes as they walk out the door. Some men pat your head on their way out, and others either give you a hug or squeeze your shoulders. Despite being married to them for a few months, this is the only kind of affection you were getting from the twenty-five men.

Just when Baizhu is about to close the estate’s door, you quickly stop him by grabbing his wrist. Baizhu stops in his tracks and turns to look at you, surprised and confused. You release Baizhu’s wrist and give him a strained smile.

“Remember to take your medication, alright? I know you work at Bubu Pharmacy, and your job is to take care of others and give your patients their medication, but please take care of yourself as well,” you whisper.

Baizhu looks at you with surprise before giving you a warm smile. Baizhu chuckles softly and pats your head, almost ruffling your hair. You laugh quietly and grab Baizhu’s hand, gently squeezing them.

Baizhu nods. “Of course, I’ll take care of myself. I promise,” Baizhu says, making a crossing motion over his chest.

Baizhu leans over you and presses a kiss on your forehead before walking out the door, leaving you at the entrance of the estate, speechless. You touch your forehead, feeling heat rush to your cheeks. You press your lips into a thin line to prevent yourself from smiling widely. You close the estate’s door and lock it.

Before you and the men got married for your safety and to keep Teyvat at peace, they promised to each other and to themselves that they would keep you at arm's length. You’re sweet and down to earth, but because some of them have dangerous professions and you’re not from their world, they wanted to keep this distance between you and them. Your husbands do not hate you, and they’ve made it very clear on multiple occasions.

“If we seem cold toward you, we do not hate you. We don’t hold any disdain toward you, nor do we hold any grudges toward you.” Cyno would say as he is sitting across from you.

You nod and dig your nail into the wrinkly skin of your right ring finger— a bad habit of yours when you were a child that dragged on to your adulthood. You usually dig your nails into the wrinkly skin of your right ring finger when you’re stressed, nervous, or bored. It doesn’t hurt at all, nor could you feel it.

Tighnari clears his throat. “Do you have any other questions?” Tighnari asks, gazing at you curiously. 

You hum to yourself and tap your fingers on your thighs. “I want to know why some of you will be acting cold toward me,” you mutter, puckering your lips.

“To be fair, some of us do it unintentionally,” Albedo interjects.

You couldn’t help but agree with Albedo on that. Some men do come off as standoffish and cold even though they’re not. It’s how they are to people in general, not just you. For example, Xiao is standoffish, but that doesn’t mean he hates you or holds any grudges toward you. If anything, Xiao wanted to distance himself from you because of his karmic debt, and because you’re mortal and don’t have a vision, he doesn’t want to harm you in any way or put you in harm's way. 

“Just don’t do anything reckless that could put you in danger,” Pierro comments, leaning against the wall.

You bite the inside of your cheek. You don’t think you can guarantee that— staying away from danger, you mean. It’s not like you intentionally dive headfirst into danger without warning! You’re getting married to Archons, Harbingers, an Adeptus, a Knight, and many notable figures of Teyvat. There’s bound to be danger in almost every corner now that you’re associated with these men. 

The men stare at you intently while you stare off into space, gnawing on the inside of your cheek. That’s another habit of yours the men noticed almost right off the bat. When you’re deep in thought, you tend to zone out and are not aware of your surroundings. It’s almost like your head is always in the clouds. It’s almost endearing in a way, but your head being in the clouds could also be the reason for your downfall.

“What’s on your mind?” Heizou asks, leaning back in his seat while watching you closely.

You sigh and chuckle to yourself. “I don’t have much going on in my mind, to be really honest. But I do have other questions, but I don’t think any of you are going to give me a clear answer,” you said.

Kazuha sits beside you and gazes at you curiously. You clear your throat and look away, feeling heat slowly creep up your neck. He’s even prettier in person. You wonder if Kazuha knows how pretty he is because he’s breathtaking. Then again, the twenty-four other men are just as stunning as Kazuha. 

“If you want, you can ask us now, and if we know the answer, we’ll tell you. If not, we’ll try to answer it when we have the answers,” Kazuha suggests, giving you a small smile.

You pursed your lips and debated whether you should ask the question. If you were to ask them the question, you worry you might receive the answer you didn’t want to hear. But if you don’t ask the question, you’ll never know what will happen or what to expect. Itto lets out a loud grunt and stands up, stretching his arms out in front of him.

Itto props his hands on his hips and gives you an encouraging smile. “Whatever question you have for us, I think some of us have the answer for it, depending on what it is!” Itto says, tilting his head to the side while gazing at you curiously.

How long will this marriage last? Is what you wanted to ask the men. How long will it last? A few weeks? A few months? A few years, maybe? How long? The time in Teyvat is vastly different from your world, you’re assuming. The days in Teyvat are much faster than the days in your world. You and the men never went out on a date to get to know one another or to form a bond with one another. Would the marriage be convincing because of the lack of bond between the twenty-six of you? Or, well, between you and each man? 

“I don’t know if I want to ask the question,” you mutter shyly.

Venti giggles and trots over to you, throwing his arms around your shoulders and giving you a pat on the head. “It’s okay if you don’t want to ask the question! We won’t pry!” Venti says, releasing you from his hug before walking over to where he was standing previously. 

Zhongli clears his throat. “I would like to remind you all that what we’re all getting into involves a contract. Everyone has to agree to sign this contract mutually. If one person does not agree, then the contract will be invalid,” Zhongli says, crossing his arms over his chest.

Right, you nearly forgot that marriage is a contract with the party involved. It’s not a relationship where people can break up and go their separate ways after. Marriage is a contract, and to get out of marriage is breaking a contract. It’s a long process, and people can’t walk away from it so easily. 

You didn’t remember who proposed the idea of every one of them marrying you to keep you away from danger and to keep your real origins hidden from the rest of Teyvat. It’s strange to you that you have to marry notable figures to keep your identity hidden, even though that’s putting more spotlight and target on you. You don’t mind getting married to twenty-five handsome men but getting married to them so suddenly is something you didn’t expect.

“Are you listening?” Capitano asks gruffly.

You nod mindlessly. “I’m not opposed to continuing this process. I mean, it’s not like I have a choice, really,” you mutter.

“It’s for your safety. If word gets out that you’re not from our universe and you possess the knowledge of Teyvat, you will be hunted down by the Abyss,” Dottore interjects from the corner of the room.

You didn’t realize he was in the same room until now. Now that you think about it, these Harbingers are scattered around the large office inside Dawn Winery. You puckered your lips and leaned back in your seat, crossing your leg over the other. 

You sigh and tilt your head back. “Is the Abyss really a threat to me right now? In case you all have forgotten, you’re all notable figures. Some of you are Harbingers and Knights—”

Diluc makes a disgusted noise.

“Some of you are Adeptis and Archons—”

Scaramouche rolls his eyes and pretends to gag. You stare at Diluc and Scaramouche blankly while the two avoid your eyes. You huff and stand up, propping your hands on your hips. You look at the other men in the room, who gazes at you cluelessly.

Kaeya smiles at you and waves. “Ignore Diluc. He was once a Knight as well, but now he holds a grudge against us,” Kaeya says nonchalantly.

Diluc rolls his eyes in response and glares at Kaeya from the corner of his eyes. You scratch your head, wondering how in the world this marriage is going to work out of some of these men hold grudges against certain groups of people, especially when the others are part of that group.

“So, what do you say? Do you agree to marry all twenty-five of us for your protection? This is also no strings attached, so you can do whatever you want without us controlling you. That applies to us as well.” Pantalone says, holding his hand out toward you.

You sigh for the trillionth time, staring at Pantalone’s hand. No strings attached? How would a marriage work if it’s no strings attached? There are many strings attached to marriages! That only applies if it’s a friends-with-benefits situation, but marriage? Does that even apply to marriages? This got you scratching your head because what?

“I’m not sure what you mean by no strings attached,” you mutter, furrowing your eyebrows. “But yes, I will marry you. All of you. Although I did not think this is how the marriage proposal is going to turn out….” you trailed off, grabbing Pantalone’s hand and shaking his hand.

Childe smirks, cocking an eyebrow at you. “Oh? Did you perhaps want us to dress fancy and make it special?” Childe asks.

“Yes.” you deadpan. “Honestly, if I was dating all of you and this is how you all propose to me, it would’ve been an automatic no,” you add.

“Huh!? Then what should we do to get you to say yes other than making it special?” Itto asks, giving you a look of disbelief.

You hum thoughtfully, tapping on your chin after releasing Pantalone’s hand. “Well, last time I checked, an engagement ring is involved. If we’re going to make this ‘real,’ there needs to be a ring, or else people won’t believe it,” you explain.

“Oh? Do you want us to get you an engagement ring?” Pierro asks, looking at you with an amused look on his face.

You feel your face heat up, and you look away with a “hmph!” The marriage is real, but at the same time, it’s not. Yes, a marriage certificate and license will be signed and given to the twenty-six of you, but this marriage is a loveless marriage. At least, that’s what you assume it’ll be. If you have to marry the twenty-five of them for your safety, you might as well make it convincing, right? Then again, you don’t want them to spend a lot of Mora over a ring.

“Yes, I do. I mean, unless people in Teyvat do it differently,” you mutter, stroking your chin. You shake your head and wave your hand. “You know what? Forget it. It’s not even a real marriage, so why should I want a ring to be involved?” You sigh.

Aether looks at you quizzically. “What do you mean? It is a real marriage,” Aether says.

“Not when the marriage is rushed, and none of you have feelings for me,” you mutter under your breath.

“Either way, the wedding is real because a contract is involved. If it were fake, the marriage license and certificate wouldn’t be signed, and it would’ve been more of a role play,” Tighnari interjects, shrugging his shoulders.

Well, Tighnari’s not wrong about that. Still, the marriage isn’t genuine between you and the twenty-five men. You shouldn’t be complaining when they’re doing it for your safety, but what Pantalone said really bothers you. A marriage that has no strings attached. How would that even work? You get attached easily! 

“[Y/N].”

How would the men react if you told them you wanted the marriage to be real? By that, you mean you wanted them to love you as much as you love them. Is it too early to tell them you love them despite knowing them for only a short amount of time during your stay in Teyvat? I mean, you technically knew them longer than they know you because—

“[Y/N]!”

You feel something smack you in the face. You blink and rub the tip of your nose, looking at the item that fell onto your lap. A bread roll. You clear your throat and grab the bread, glancing up at Lumine, who sighs and props her head up on the table with her arm.

You put the bread roll on the plate, giving Lumine an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Lumine. I didn’t mean to get lost in my thoughts,” you said. “What were you saying?”

Lumine lets out a long sigh and leans back in her seat, staring at you closely while tapping her fingers on her biceps. “I was wondering how your marriage is going with those twenty-five men. Specifically, my twin brother,” Lumine says.

“Oh!” You look at her surprised, reminding Lumine of a startled fox she came across many times while on her and her brother’s exploration around Teyvat. “It’s… uh… it’s going!” You say, giving her a strained smile.

Lumine deadpans. “Listen, [Y/N]... I invited you to lunch at a lovely restaurant in Mondstadt so we can chat and catch up!” She leans on the table and looks at you worriedly. “You stared off into space for a while, and you look very upset, maybe almost annoyed as well,” Lumine says.

You gulp and reach for your teacup, sipping your now cold tea. Have you been spacing out for that long? You didn’t even realize it until Lumine snapped you out of your thoughts. You’re not sure if you should tell Lumine what’s been bothering you. Surely she knows the state of your and the twenty-five men’s marriage, right? Plus, it’s not like Aether would be hiding the truth of his marriage with you.

Lumine chuckles, shaking her head. “You know, when Aether told me he was getting married, I was genuinely shocked. My brother? Getting married? That’s something I never thought would happen.”

“It’s a loveless marriage, though,” you whisper in defeat, slumping forward and resting your chin on the table. “My marriage with these men is loveless. There are no strings attached, which I find odd because there’s no marriage like that! I mean… unless it’s an arranged marriage that is strictly business,” you mutter, pressing your lips into a thin line.

Lumine gives you a sympathetic look, reaching for your hand across the table, and gently squeezes your hand. “Have you expressed your desire of wanting the marriage to be real instead of it being an excuse to protect you and keep you within close range?” Lumine asks, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

You shake your head glumly. 

Lumine looks at you with confusion and tilts her head to the side. “Why not? I mean, marriage involves a lot of communication, right? How would the marriage work out if none of you are communicating about your wants, worries, and desires?” Lumine asks.

“Lumine, these men barely show me affection as my husbands. They talk to me, yes, but it's always awkward between us when we speak,” you say, pulling your hand away from hers before reaching for the bread roll and breaking it apart.

“Sounds like you all need a marriage counselor,” Lumine says nonchalantly, leaning back in her seat with a sigh. “I’m no love expert, but trust me, communicating your wants, needs, desires, and worries will make marriage much easier!” Lumine says.

“The last time I did that, my ex laughed in my face and left me for my ex-best friend,” you deadpan.

Lumine blinks at you and laughs nervously, grabbing her cup of water and taking a sip of it. You lightly slam your head on the wooden table, causing the cutlery to clatter from the impact. You close your eyes and turn your head to the side, staring off into space. 

Even if you were to express your wants, needs, desires, and worries to your husbands, you worry that it’ll drive them away from you. Not only that, but you worry that it’ll make them snap you back into reality— the reality that your marriage with them is loveless. The purpose of the marriage is to protect you and your identity from the people of Teyvat, from the Abyss Order.

While Aether and Lumine aren’t the Abyss Prince and Princess, the Abyss Order is still as active as ever. Heck, they might be out looking for you and either kill you for knowing too much information or, worst case scenario: make you the new ruler of the Abyss. You sit up and prop your head up with your elbow on the table, sighing wistfully.

“I didn’t think I would be thrown into marriage a few weeks after my arrival to Teyvat. Now here I am, a few months later, in a loveless marriage with twenty-five men who are unobtainable due to their status,” you ramble, rubbing your face with a frustrated sigh and tugging at the roots of your hair.

Lumine smacks your hand away from your head with a scolding look. You release your hair and let your hands fall on your lap, poking the inside of your cheek with your tongue. You don’t care that you’re married to the handsome twenty-five men. You care that it’s a loveless marriage that is “no strings attached.”

You close your eyes and tilt your head back, resting it on the top rail. “A hopeless romantic like myself shouldn’t be in a loveless marriage. I try to find hope in the littlest things, only to be disappointed in the end because I have a hard time accepting that none of these men will ever love me,” you let out a shaky sigh. “There are times when I question if I’m worthy of love because of how many people left me heartbroken. Look at me. I’m in a loveless marriage with twenty-five men who keep me at arm's length. They refuse to get close to me or show me affection. I don’t know how much longer I can handle it,” you murmur.

Lumine glances over your shoulders and then back at you, reaching for her fork. It’s supposed to be a day where you and Lumine hang out with each other. You did tell your husbands that you’ll be meeting up with Lumine, and they’re okay with it. Of course, why wouldn’t they? Lumine stares at you intently, biting on the inside of her lips. Your eyebrows are furrowed, Lumine can see the dark circles under your eyes, and the frown on your face has only gotten deeper. Dear Archons, how unhappy are you? You look like you’re barely hanging on. You look defeated and exhausted.

Lumine clears her throat. “I’m sure they show they care about you somehow, correct? You’re married, and while it’s not like any other marriages, I’m sure they show a tiny bit of affection,” Lumine murmurs.

You crack your eyes open and rest your chin on the table. “Even if they did, it’s not enough that is convincing. They have tried to reassure me they don’t intend on being cold toward me, but it’s hard to tell sometimes.”

Lumine raises her eyebrows at you and taps her fingers on the table. “Do you want the marriage to be convincing, or do you want it to be genuine? No offense, but I’m confused about what you want from my brother and your other husbands,” Lumine comments.

You let out a sharp exhale and bury your face in the table. “I want it to be real. The marriage certificate and license are real, yes, but I want….” You trail off, turning your head to the side so your cheek is resting on the wooden table.

“You want….?” Lumine furrows her eyebrows.

You sit up straight and scratch your cheek. “I want them to love and care about me as much as I do for them. Since this marriage is, according to Pantalone, no strings attached, it makes me feel like I’m not meant to be loved even if I do love someone or something. If that makes sense.” You run your fingers through your hair and puff your cheeks out. “That’s all I want. But knowing them, they will never feel the same way, and I need to accept it.”

You stare at Lumine, who looks like she just saw a ghost for the first time. You look at her quizzically while she slowly lifts her hand and points behind you. You freeze and close your eyes, mentally cursing to yourself. You slowly turn in your seat and open your eyes, only to see your beloved husbands standing there with their arms over their chests, looking at you with unreadable expressions on their faces.

“We need to talk,” Diluc says.

Your shoulders slump, and you nod. You get up from your seat and bid Lumine goodbye before walking outside of Mondstadt. Lumine gives Aether a look when he walks past her alongside the other men. The way back to the estate was silent, other than muttering from other men here and there. You couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and ashamed for admitting it out loud. Even if you said it to Lumine, you didn’t expect your husbands to walk up to your table while you were rambling.

Now, you’re sitting on the couch while the men are standing in front of you. You feel like a child getting ready to be scolded by their parents for misbehaving. You feel so small, almost inferior. 

“Can you explain to us what you and Lumine were talking about?” Xiao asks, raising his eyebrows at you.

You purse your lips. “Lumine and I were talking about our,” you gesture to yourself and the twenty-five men in front of you, “marriage, and I was expressing my feelings about the marriage.”

“Care to tell us more about it?” Kaeya asks, sitting across from you.

“Do I need to explain it to you all again? I have a feeling that all of you heard what I said to Lumine before I realized you all heard what I was saying,” you commented.

Gorou nods. “That is true, yes, but we want you to say it to us. We are your husbands, after all.”

Archons, this is embarrassing.

“I…” You sigh, staring off into space.

You can’t say what you said to Lumine earlier today. It’s not like you didn’t want to. It’s because you have a hard time expressing your emotions and saying what’s on your mind. 

You shake your head, burying your face into the palm of your hands. “Sorry, I’m having a hard time.” You whisper.

Aether gives you a sympathetic look. “It’s okay! Take your time!” Aether reassures you, sitting beside you and rubbing your arm.

“We want to let you know that we’re not mad at you for telling Lumine how you feel about the marriage,” Heizou says, sitting on the other side of you, sandwiching you between him and Aether.

You give Aether and Heizou a strained smile before looking down at your hands on your lap.

“I don’t know how you all feel about this marriage, but lately, I feel like you all have been avoiding me. The better way for me to put it is you’re all keeping me at arm’s length, and I feel like I can’t get through the walls you’re all putting up.”

“Like Pantalone said, the marriage is no string attached,” Dottore says passively.

You stand up. “That only works for friends-with-benefits situations. We’re married. Marriage isn’t supposed to be like this unless it’s a business transaction like those arranged marriages, but this isn’t arranged. It’s sudden, and I’m an idiot for thinking I’m strong enough to be in this situation.”

“What are you trying to say exactly?” Capitano asks.

“Am I really that hard to love to the point where you all keep me at arm’s length? If I am, we could just end the marriage and go our separate ways,” you suggest.

Al Haitham shakes his head. “That’s not why we keep you at arm’s length. You’re not hard to love. We do care about you, [Y/N].”

“Then why put a wall between us? I’m doing everything I can to have you all open up to me, but it's futile.” 

Kaveh kneels in front of you and grabs your hand. “We put you at arm’s length because we worry that if we end up developing feelings for you, you will return to your world suddenly. We do care about you, and it’s hard for us to act like we don’t love you. We do, and it’s not easy for either of us to keep this distance.”

“I see where you’re all coming from, but we don’t know when I’ll return to my world. I’ve been in Teyvat for, what, a few months now?” You look at the men quizzically.

“That’s the unfortunate thing. We don’t know how or when you’ll return to your world. It’s a constant guessing game, and falling in love with someone and them disappearing out of thin air without warning is terrifying.” Albedo interjects, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“And so is marrying someone and keeping them at a far distance until they disappear! It’s almost a cruel and unusual punishment.” You retort.

“Would you be okay with us starting all over again?” Kazuha asks.

You press your lips into a thin line and squint at Kazuha. What does he mean by that exactly?

“We want to form a connection with you. While we treated you with respect (and will continue to do so), we want to treat you like our spouse instead of a stranger/roommate.” Scaramouche replies. 

You nod, feeling your face gradually become warm. You continue to keep your lips pressed into a thin line to prevent a big smile from forming on your face. They wanted a fresh start. A start where they treat you like a lover rather than a stranger. You’re okay with that! In fact, you like that idea more than whatever’s been happening for the past few months.

“I like that idea.” You say softly.

Cyno smiles and pats your head. “Good.”

A fresh start with your twenty-five husbands. That’s something you didn’t expect would happen, but you’re not complaining. It’s better than having them keep their distance from you.

Note: I'm thinking about giving Zhongli his own collection of one-shots, but I'm not 100% sure if I should do it. I have a lot of ideas for this man, and I want to make it happen, but I'll have to wait a bit and see how it goes before I make it happen. I might make it happen once my spring quarter is over, but who knows. I was distracted by the new Obey Me game, and I was also farming for Baizhu. That's why the update is a bit late-ish other than me tagging people in this post. To my new and/or returning readers, please keep in mind that I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!

Taglist for my Isekai'd!Reader one-shot series and my overall taglist: @yoru-trash, @kaoyamamegami, @kwelibeeery, @deartoru, @luminarymoonlight, @ins4nebish, @bokuto-kinnie, @exhaustedcommunist, @jadedist, @chalksdreams, @thelost-in-time, @ventisweetheart, @hispasian-otaku, @samarill, @kazuhaprnt, @lunarapple, @heyimkay, @milkpeanuts476, @eliciana, @jjvr4yxc, @sovermike-21-blog, @nightlysunn, @thelovebuggs, @urlocalheizousimp, @sunlightstarr (Accounts that I was unable to tag have been removed. Those who don't want to be tagged in certain stories are not tagged in this particular post. Remember to check your settings if you're allowing people to mention you/tag you in posts or not)

Read more of my works on my Masterlist | Maybe support me by tipping me on Ko-Fi or by reblogging my fanfics! ^^ I will also be posting exclusive fanfics on Ko-Fi as well very soon! I might post all of my stories on there too, but who knows. You can also tip me on Tumblr if you'd like as a way to show support! ^^

[hms-no-fun]

Tell us about Dill and Alexander! I kinda picture them in my head as Kermit and that blue eagle Muppet but gay and gamer/greasy mechanic. Is that where you got the idea? Is sburb's frog fascination gonna play into the story of these boyos?

oh what's that? you want to be the captive audience for a lore dump about my very special guys? completely unprompted and with total investment in everything i might have to say? well well, don't mind if i do!

SO, Dill Croaker and Alexander Falcon are members of a now-defunct group called The Falconers. they are modeled after Star Fox (the team) from Star Fox (the video games). we haven't seen Alex on screen yet, but here's @girlpillz's rendering of Dill for B1 verse 1, where Lenore Lehart shows off her sick bouncy ball skills for Dana Straten to get the attention of Dill.

Alex being a blue falcon, i imagine he looks legally distinct from Falco Lombardi from Star Fox (the video games; the team) albeit less cocky and attitudinous.

there are technical reasons for The Falconers' existence. going into 3.2B, i knew i wanted a secondary supporting cast in the margins capable of handling dirtywork off-screen. for instance, they're decrypting and analyzing Lenore's stolen witch data so the main cast doesn't have to worry about it, leaving us more time to luxuriate in what we're actually here for: feelings.

Star Fox 64 is my favorite game, so when it came time to come up with that supporting cast, the possibilities of a knockoff Star Fox team immediately sold me on the idea (especially since this is the only story where i will ever reasonably be able to get away with such a blatant act of self-indulgence. you wouldn't believe it from looking, but i don't actually do a lot of indulging myself with Godfeels. i try very hard to never throw things in without serious calculation. The Falconers are pretty much the only thing i've introduced that came as an inorganic external mandate of my own selfish making, and even then i've worked very hard to integrate them naturally). as a broken up four-person crew, they mirror the Upsilons-- and so, them helping the Falconers reunite in order to find Alphi and Edie gives these guys some juice. their backstory is a shadow of the Upsilons', and a useful point of comparison as the narrative plugs along. i could've made a girl Star Fox team, but frankly Godfeels is just so women-centered, so female-focused, so tgirl-transfixed that i figured it was about time to throw the boylikers a bone.

The Falconers are balanced as a calculated twist on the Star Fox team. the most immediate difference is that here, Alexander Falcon fills the role of Fox McCloud. he's the charismatic team leader, a little surly (especially these days) but good at his job and deeply committed to the care of his team. Dill Croaker is, obviously, only about five runs through the dryer away from Slippy Toad, and fills the same role. my reason for this is that everyone is mean to Slippy and they're wrong. Slippy is a brilliant engineer and programmer, why do you expect him to be an ace fighter pilot too? that's YOUR job, hotshot! Nintendo themselves have been all over the map with Slippy in terms of characterization, pretty much never getting him quite as right as he felt in 64. so, yeah, Dill is my take on Slippy: a clueless gamer frog who plays with a lot of edgelords but is himself impervious to their venom. he never cusses because he's a good boy, and he respects women.

Dill and Alex have lived together on Crime Planet for a long time. are they fucking? no, i don't believe they are. Dill strikes me as something of an ace king, and anyway i don't think he's Alex's type. mostly they work together in the shop and hang out doing bro stuff. maybe Alex lifts weights while Dill plays shitty space MOBAs. but all this begs the question: who is Alex's type?

as of the B1 solo we've learned a little bit about the other two Falconers. first there is Erol [last name unknown], the oldest member of the crew who's likely analogous to Peppy Hare. which leaves us with Yolo Sionnach. a lot of information can be implied about him from this exchange:

yes, a lot of information indeed. but as much as i would love to enumerate the implications, i must hold my tongue. i mean, i would type it all out, but i can't, because i'm literally using my fingers to hold my tongue in place so that i can't say the spoilers out loud

anyway, i like the muppet comparison. that wasn't what i had in mind at all, but now i'm imagining the Falconers as the puppets Nintendo used to advertise Star Fox Zero and........ ohhhh scope creep you saucy temptress

the Slippy slander is rampant! and that's to say nothing of the ad where muppet versions of Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Reggie Fils-Aime slowly transform into Peppy, Fox, and Falco respectively.

i can't say that Sburb/the Universe Engine have much to do with The Falconers' story. they're not godtier, they don't know anything about the UE, they are literally just space mercenary furries. they come from the Lemurian Star System, trained at the Academy on Lemuria, and worked in the Lemurian Sky Corps until starting their own independent outfit as contractors (which i imagine is a fairly common career path in a region racked by interplanetary war and rampant espionage). age-wise, they're in their mid 30s.

thank you for this wonderful question. no one ever asks about the other guys, and i am always dying to talk about the other guys.

[sassylegshayne]

marry me, idiot.

AH ITS HERE!!!! I will say, like I've been saying, I'm still in the really early stages of this fic. like this has been edited twice where as every chapter of sylcd is done three times over so. I really have no clue when the next chapter will be out as I haven't finished it yet; might be during sylcd's final chapters or it might be after. 3.2k words let me know what you guys think!! enjoy mwah xx

series masterlist

"Okay, we have a slight issue." You heard the voice beside you clear as day despite the headphones that sat over your ears.

"Is the issue something you caused for us?" You turned to your best friend with a brow quirked.

"That's extremely rude but very true, yes." Spencer nodded as he took a sip from his cup, spinning his chair to face you. Spence and you had been close for a while, you joining the crew only a few months after Spence had, the two of you spending countless hours editing beside each other. The two of you grew close after a couple of longer projects. The two of you leaning on each other for advice and well needed breaks from time to time.

It has become a joke around the office about Spencer being your work husband; he had a knack for picking you up an drink on his way in, or grabbing lunch for the both of you, or Spencer's ability to pause anything he was working on at the snap of a finger for you. He was pretty much head over heels for you, and you were the only one blind enough to not see it. It's funny to think that you felt the same exact way, and everyone but Spencer could tell.

"So, remember when we started here and we became friends and we made that joke about when we turned thirty."

You stared blankly back at your best friend, the joke about marrying if you're both still single by thirty a distant memory in your mind by this point. It crossed your mind once recently. Last year, you spent your entire 'Dirty Thirty' party that the office threw for you clinging to Spencer.

You made a habit of keeping him alongside you for every big moment of your life since you'd met. You wanted to look back on these moments, that were destined to be great already, to include Spencer.

"Okay, so you do remember, that's great." Spencer clapped his hands together as he grinned at you.

"I saw a TikTok about the wedding gifts you get from inviting companies and rich people, even if you don't know them and I want in!" Spence argued, wiping his sweaty palms off on his pants as he worked his way towards the problem with this rambling explanation.

"I think it's unfair that just because two people are getting married they get to have all that stuff. With all my info had, I made some quick wedding invitations and sent some out, fully expecting PR packages to come back." He trailed off as

"Charles Spencer," You quietly chastised, wanting to not believe a word he was saying, but knowing deep down that Spencer was being truthful. "You are insane, I can't believe you did that!"

"T'm sorry, okay. Listen, Y/N, I thought it was gonna be a funny joke to give you a bunch of fake wedding gifts for our fake wedding on your real birthday! I didn't expect people to accept, but I know that is my fault for inviting some people that actually agreed."

"Charles," You started, using his legal name yet again. He wasn't usually worried about you using it, it wasn't some secret he was keeping it anything, but the tone in your voice told him that you weren't happy at all. "Who all accepted?"

"I'm sorry, I know I'm never gonna say that enough, but it was only a few people!" Spencer knew his voice was just getting higher and higher the more you two spoke, his anxiety spiking.

"Yes, okay, Rhett and Link accepted," A gasp left you as Spencer cringed, knowing his mistake. "Kathy Bates politely declined but sent an autographed headshot!" He removed the framed photo from his backpack before setting it beside your monitor.

He grinned worriedly, gesturing towards it as you let your forehead meet the desk, groaning.

"Besides the people that own the company we work for, who else said yes?" You asked through gritted teeth as Spencer looked to his phone, finding the note that held his list.

"Rapid fire, Tana Mongeau, Carrot Top, and Rob Schneider. It's not that many people, Y/N, we can just call it off." Spencer placed his hand on your back, rubbing softly as you groaned again, completely shocked by just how royally fucked this whole thing was gonna turn out to be no matter what you did.

"I'm so, so sorry, Y/N but. will you marry me?"

"emergency meeting at my desk in ten please need advice bc Spencer's an idiot"

"That's was very rude and I am plenty offended." Spencer quipped, setting his phone down on his desk after reading the group chat message you'd sent out. You shot him a glare, all argued out for the day after spending the last hour trying to convince Spence to let you tell your friends, hoping they'd help you figure out the story you'd make up in place of a wedding.

He finally caved, feeling terrible about the mess he had drug you into, allowing you to explore different ways out of this mess. In no time, Courtney, Damien and Shayne accompanied the two of you at your desks, various stolen chairs offering comfort to your friends.

"What did Spencer do now?" Damien asked, causing Spence to scoff and shake his head.

"I'm starting to get upset that everyone just assumes that I really fucked something up this bad." He defended himself as he leaned back in his chair, practically able to hear your eyes rolling.

"You did, though. You lied to people and now we're getting married." You stayed simply, eyes wide as you began to argue with your future better half yet again.

"You're already my work wife, we're pretty much married." You rolled your eyes once as Spencer countered you, reaching his hand towards your mug of coffee, being stopped as you lightly slapped at him.

"l'm sorry, I don't know if l'm missing something and everyone else is up to speed but, uh, when did y'all get together long enough to lead to getting married?" Shayne questioned, pulling your attention from Spencer as you took in the looks from those around you.

Damien's face held a mix of confusion and excitement, Courtney was rendered speechless and it seems like Shayne was using every last braincell he had to piece together this puzzle.

"Okay, phew, wow, that is what this meeting is about, honey." Spencer cooed as he grinned goofily at you, wrapping your left hand in his as he held your palm to his chest.

You tried your best to hid the smile that so desperately wanted to grace your lips, taking a deep breath as you closed your eyes, the feeling of a migraine quickly approaching.

You took your time explaining through the story, Spencer chiming in when needed but mostly stuck to nodding along as you spoke.

"Spencer," Damien pointed his index finger at the shorter man, both with brows raised at each other. "You're an idiot, my guy. Why did Rhett and Link seem like a good idea? Why did any of this seem like a good idea, but especially our bosses."

You sighed, resting your head in the palm of your hand as you awoke your monitor. You sat up as an email sat at the top of your inbox labeled important.

"Congratulations to Y/N and Spencer!"

You couldn't tell how long you spent staring at the desktop, the company wide email from the Mythical Management staring directly back. The noise of your friends chatter drown out as the words in the letter repeated over and over in your mind.

You had to go through with this, or you had to hide behind the arrangement and a shitty excuse of a prank. No other options popped into your head.

"Y/N? You okay?" A warm, familiar hand rested on your shoulder, giving you a gentle squeeze.

Spencer's eyes worriedly searched your face as his brow furrowed at your slumped frame. His gaze followed you, his heart sinking as he Scanned over the email.

"I'm so fucking sorry, Y/N..." He trailed off, running a hand through his hair as he leaned back once more.

The other three moved, all looking over your shoulders to read the message. Gasps and murmurs broke out between them as they say back down.

Your small group sat in silence for a moment. You thought you'd have more time to find a solution, a couple of days at least, but now you couldn't leave this room without some semblance of a plan.

"Let's get married." You still sat with a blank stare at the computer, your mind running a million miles a minute. You slowy explained your thoughts as thoroughly as you could.

Spencer and you were known as each other work spouses, even fans making memes about it. The two of you have talked about the agreement in the podcast, on an episode of Board AF, and in an upcoming reddit video with Shayne.

The fans always reacted well when the two of you were together, engaging with the content. There's countless edits of the two of you, even with the small amounts of videos you've been in together.

You can blame it on the arrangement you'd made, pull lan and a few of the other higher ups aside, presenting the idea.

Spencer and you would get married; you could make the content last up until next April, as planning a fake wedding would take some time anyways. That would mean an announcement video, probably a celebratory video with others in cast, even the process of picking out different parts of the wedding for Pit videos if they really wanted to milk it. Maybe even a TNTL gauntlet with your bridesmaids and groomsmen.

The one thing you wanted to thank Spencer for was the convenience of sharing one braincell. You could release the wedding video, the big finale in which the joke is revealed to the audience, playing it up as a fake relationship until April 1st. Spencer had thought it was funny to put the wedding date on the invitations as April Fool's Day, but it worked perfectly.

You took a deep breath, nodding your head as your eyes darted around your friends, anxious for their thoughts.

Spencer quickly wrapped his arms around your shoulders, kissing your forehead before he grinned at you.

"You are a fucking genius, lan's gonna love this idea. We can say we were prepping for the video, getting our invitation letters together accidentally sent it out. We can use whatever stuff we get as presents for the bogus invites for another video, too." Spencer added, looking to his friends as he chewed on his lip.

"I hate how quickly the two of you worked this out. We weren't needed." Shayne laughed softly, shrugging his shoulders.

"So it's not a stupid plan?" You asked, quickly distracted as the office door opens, lan's head peaking inside.

You lock eyes, offering him an awkward smile. He entered, coughing softly as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, uhm, can I talk to you guys in a little bit? Probably like twenty minutes, in the conference room." lan spoke, a tight lipped smile on his face as he looked between you and the man seated beside you.

You felt a pit in your stomach growing rapidly as you swallowed, nodding your head. This was horrific, it felt like you had disappointed your dad but he wouldn't admit it yet.

And the conferernce room? There was no doubt in your mind that if this wasn't happening in lan's office then it would be bigger than you expected. Lisa would have to be there, maybe Daniel, if they were that concerned; Rachel would probably be forced into it, no matter how much she wouldn't want to be involved. n nodded before promptly exiting, barely acknowledging the cast members.

You groaned loudly as the door shut, Spencer copying you.

"This sucks and I hate you." You shoved at his shoulder, huffing.

He rubbed his arm, pouting a bit.

"It does and I hate me too." He chuckled as a smile appeared on your soft lips.

Spencer felt like the boundaries between the two of you were figured out very early on, never set prematurely, always discovered naturally. Kissing your cheek was okay, forehead was okay, drunkenly kissing your neck was okay sometimes. Hand holding was very normal and platonic and something you two did constantly. Cuddling and spending the night together was normal, but you two wouldn't sleep in the same bed.

He knew that, so far, this system had worked If that didn't happen soon, things might get nuddy, feelings getting involved. Spencer knew his feelings on you, he had since about two years into your friendship.

For six years now, he's known just how much he cares about you with every fiber of his being. He knows he really would do anything for you, anything to be with you. He respected every boundary you set.

Spencer had a thing for constantly taking advantage of the things he could have. You were always greeted with some sort of kiss, never once on the lips. Your fingers laced well with his, especially when you were on his left side. He constantly sat close beside you, tossing an arm around your shoulders, resting a hand on your knee, giving your thigh a gentle joy in excitement.

Spencer yearned for you for so long that he'd learned to accept it. He didn't want to cut you out of his life to get over his feelings, he cared too much about you, so his only option was to accept his feelings and keep close to you. You two were best friends, where one was, the other wasn't far behind. You loved him, so fucking much you loved him. He knew this, but he also knew that you didn't love him in the way he wanted you to.

Your group is quick to disband, giving the two of you some space before your meeting. Spencer let the two of you sit in silence before he decided to pack his bag for the day, despite it barely even starting. He could feel your eyes on him, his back to you.

"Packing because figure they're gonna send us home today, no matter what they decide. Give them time to think it all over." You smiled, enjoying just how well he knew you. His words settled in, prompting you to follow suit.

As you zipped your bag shut, it hit you that in just a few minutes before you were supposed to face the consequences of your best friends well intended actions. It was a toss up over which of you was more nervous, the both of you with pounding hearts.

"I love you, dude." You mumbled as you wrapped your arms around Spencer's waist, sighing softly.

"I love you, too, dude." He chuckled, rubbing your back as he kissed your forehead.

"C'mon, champ, let's go knock 'em dead." Spencer winked as he held the door open for you. You took a deep breath before leaving you little editing room bubble.

The room was much, much more packed than either of you had expected it to be. The people you expected to be there were indeed, but alongside them sat Kiana, Selina, and Lizzy.

Spencer thanked his lucky stars when neither Rhett nor Link joined the lot of you. He found himself sitting back a bit, allowing you to take the reigns of explaining your bullshit reasoning for the situation you'd found yourselves in.

Three hours, three scarily long hours later and you finally stood from your chair, your feet tingling and your head pounding. Spencer and you said your polite goodbyes to everyone before heading back toward your office.

"I think that was fine." You stated, arms crossed as you stare down the hall ahead.

He chuckled, nudging his shoulder into yours.

"That went really well, you heard Daniel. It's gotta go through if he liked it that much. It's gonna work out."

You nodded your head, a smile tugging on your lips as you both grabbed your bags.

"Wanna hangout or, uh, give me a ride home? Shayne drove me this morning." Spencer smiled heepishly as he followed you into the parking lot.

"If I'm your fiancee now, I think you should tell me if there's something going on between the two of you." You poked as you both got into your car.

You scooted your chair away from your desktop as you rubbed your eyes, now realizing just how long you'd been sat starting at your screen playing Minecraft with Spencer.

You smiled softly, feeling a tug at your heart at the sight before you. He sat slumped into your couch, eyes focused and brow furrowed as you cat napped on top of the cushion behind him.

Craig and Spencer had a love hate relationship, both of them usually eager for your attention at the same time, causing them to butt heads. Your cat and your best friend were both horribly stubborn.

But then there'd be moments like this, or when Craig curls up with Spencer on your couch, or when he follows Spence through your own house, even if you're still right where your kitty left you.

You stretch, taking off your headphones as you rise and stretch, catching Spence glancing over at you, smiling softly.

"Oh shit, you're still here?" You questioned as you walked past the couch, heading into your kitchen, yawning softly. You check your watch, catching it at just past five in the afternoon.

Spencer chuckled, watching as his eyes followed your every move as you danced around your small kitchen, seemingly opening every cabinet to find what you needed.

"Check your email, Charmander." You mindlessly called out to him, the nickname leaving him to roll his eyes as he dug into his pocket.

"You are the absolute worst with nicknames, need you to know that. Just call me Charles at this point." He laughed as you flipped him off as you turn, spoon in your mouth.

You join him on your couch with two peanut butter and banana sandwiches on one plate, sitting it on the space between you. Spencer nods a thanks to you as he grabbed his, taping your sandwiches together as a toast.

He loads into his email, refreshing it as you take your first bite. His wide eyes cause you a bit of stress, making you sit up straight.

"Good or bad?"

"Uh, good, I think. My schedule got changed." Spencer quickly switched over to his calendar, it had to be good; they don't just switch the schedule halfway through the month.

His eyes scanned over the new or changed parts, reading the first one he saw.

'Engagement Shoot' scheduled for tomorrow at 10AM.

"We did it, Joe." Spencer turns to you with a grin, quickly pulling you into a tight hug. You groaned and rolled your eyes, before quickly squealing as you wrapped your arms around him, bouncing in your seat.

They got what they wanted, right?

[that-one-dark-smiley]

Two Months on T update

Yes I forgot to post this on the 13th

My voice is deeper. I'm in the androgynous range on Voice Tools, and people have told me they can hear a change. I also think I've caught a cold, and my throat hurts so bad. Swallowing is also more difficult. It could be a mix of voice cracks and the cold, it just kinda sucks right now.

My period has stopped. Apparently. Didn't think it would happen this early, but after that weird period I had last time, it's now been almost three weeks since I should have had my period. But it won't come and I don't have any symptoms that I usually get. Naturally, I am absolutely happy about it :).

I still can't really tell if I grew more body hair. It still doesn't seem any different than before, except for the fact that I have a bit of stomach hair now, but not too noticeable.

I am also growing facial hair. Like that typical small moustache that cis boys typically grow when starting puberty. I have no idea how to shave my face and everyone is telling me something different so I'm just hoping I'll figure it out.

I am also working out again (i mean... Couldn't do it for the past week because of work and becoming ill) and I'm putting muscle on very quickly.

The weight I am gaining is also coming in around my stomach which is something I never had before. Haven't really lost a lot around other parts of my body, just a little bit from my chest and my hips, and my calves are also bigger now because of muscle.

I have experienced some hot flashes sometimes while trying to sleep, which is a weird feeling considering I'm fucking freezing in these temperatures. Like, it's negative degrees outside at night, and sometimes my blanket is still too much heat for a short amount of time.

In other news not directly related to Testosterone: I have started a job a month ago where I'm accepted by my coworkers (some of them misgender me but since a) I never said I'm trans and b) I don't pass as male I don't think they're trying to cause any harm). Like some coworkers have asked my pronouns and openly said they support me. Which is a very nice feeling. As said, I don't pass as male yet, which is a shame but I fully expected that. Like... If I passed within the first two months, that would be insane.

Anyway, I have an appointment in about three weeks to get my legal name change and change the marker for my gender to male. The same day I will have my next doctor's appointment for HRT. So we'll see how it goes!

[fraudulent-cheese]

For the ramble prompts, 1. And 7

You're very lucky as i actually have access to my computer currently!!!

I'll pick 7, as i've already seen some people point out the differences between the twins but NO Staci analysis posts!

So. Staci. What the fuck is up with her. Why did she think lying about her family on a consistent basis and not helping in challenges would work? How exactly did that make her think it was the best she could do, to the point she thought she "was doing so well" (quoting her at her own elimination) after that first day?

I think Staci's goal while on the show was to win via social game - or at least, make friends on the show. Her lying could be due to either 1. wanting attention from them, so she started making shit up to make herself look more important or 2. she actually believes what she says and just wants to impress people with her family history. I don't think i can conclusively say which one canon's leaning into? Realistically, her exaggerating her family's achievements is the more likely option, but her actually believing them would be more tragic.

HOWEVER. Just looking at her one episode of content + her audition tape isn't enough. We need to look at her contestant biography.

YEAH IM GOING THERE! If you weren't aware, for the first 5 (6?) seasons of TD as well as TDRR, there were official biographies for every contestant depending on the season, all of which were available on the official (now defunct) Total Drama Website. I'd consider the information featured in all but two of these biographies canon, as they either came from the official website (ROTI + WT), the Teletoon site (TDAS + TDPI) or from Total Drama: Totally Interactive! Im unsure about the canonicity of the Action bios and the TDRR blurbs (because yeah. they're just blurbs. sad.) as they were released only on Cartoon Network's site and the Action bios have... inconsistencies with other sources, let's say.

Thankfully, Staci was lucky enough to be a gen 2 contestant, so she gets the most detailed contestant answers biography model, so i can get alooot more info out of them.

I'll get the smaller observations out first:

In her last answer, she mentions her great-great-aunt Mildred and how she "told the first lie." I could look into how this could be Staci's least favorite relative (as she does seem to value truth/honesty), but also what if that's Blaineley? Her legal name's Mildred after all! It would be really funny! We need more "Staci and her great aunt Mildred" content STAT

She seems to really like pop music

The only answer not related to lying or to her family is the First Job question, instead it's foreshadowing to her elimination

Now, for a larger one: She barely talks about herself in these answers. Sure, she answers the questions, but she spends the vast majority of her time talking about her family instead. She manages to link the fucking Favorite Color and Food question to them! Her love of her family is made very clear here. Knowing about them is literally what she picks out as her Best Quality!

...but only her distant relatives. No mention of closer grandparents, sisters, nephews/nieces, aunts/uncles, and only a single indirect mention of a mother. Only distant, mostly older family members and cousins. And she had to have met some of them! Her Craziest Dream answer describes a dream where her great-great-uncle Charlie was telling her lies, implying they've met and talked before! So where's the mention of her closer family members?

I'd say it's because if those family members are further away, or if they're dead, it's harder to fact-check what she's saying so her peers wouldn't find out it's at best an exaggeration and at worst an outright lie.

I think the answers that show this the most well are the Best Memory and Most Embarrassing School Moment, her presentation on an older family member and realizing the topic was a lie.

This feels like something that would happen earlier in life to me? Maybe primary school level, or even earlier. If she made her entire class project on it, she had to believe in it, right? Despite how absurd that notion is! This indicates to me that Staci was/is very naive, and her love for her family started in childhood. She seems very interested in her own family's history, to the point of exaggerating their accomplishments; maybe her great-great-aunt Lois created a plate design patent or her Great-great-uncle Jason simply looked into the history of the letter E, so either Staci exaggerated them to seem more interesting, or her family members would exaggerate these achievements at family reunions as jokes or something and little Staci just believed them.

Im also unsure on her family being good or not... her Dream Date answer is apparently Richard Nixon because she'd want to learn more about his life, specifically citing that he "reminds [her] of [her] third cousin once removed, Andrew." If you know anything about recent US political history, that is not a good thing. This also shows she has some interest in politics/recent history/other people's lives! This girl does have interests!!!

And this is where i bring up the Favorite Movie answer. The movie it's based on, according to the wiki, is "The Invention of Lying", a 2009 movie. skimming the Wikipedia article, it's a romantic comedy film about a guy with the ability to lie in a world where people can only tell the truth. He first abuses this power for selfish gain but in the romantic resolution decides to not lie to benefit himself and lets his love interest actually choose to be with him.

I think the reason why Staci likes this movie so much is the romantic resolution; this is what she'd want to happen if/when she'd reveal how her family's achievements are either fake or exaggerated to her friends, and they would stay. That she'd get people interested in her with those lies, before actually being honest with them when they're closer... But it never happened with anyone on the show.

TLDR, i need this girl to realise she doesn't need to lie so much about her family for others to like her, as hiding behind masks won't get you any real friends. Something that applies to the majority of the roti girls, actually.

[herbirdglitter]

Some Rosemary and Thyme fic ideas I won't use, for public use:

(fair warning my ideas can be wildly disjointed)

Rosemary leaves Laura a note that says "Be back soon, love Rosemary." What if Laura keeps it? she doesn't fully know why, it just gives her a happy sort of thrill, so tucks it a way in her sock drawer at home. Then one day, Rosemary is out of socks and decides to borrow a pair of Laura's and finds the note. And she wonders why Laura would still have that? why would she keep a meaningless note? be back soon doesn't mean much, but "Love Rosemary" could mean a good deal more to her, couldn't it? and she wonders about that, and wonders and wonders and wonders until she's distracted by it nearly every minute and now she can't get a moment's peace. I don't know where this one goes.

2. that bit where laura thinks rosemary is dead and goes to tell her mum and Rosemary shows up in a bathrobe and Laura goes "Rosemary!" and we don't get much of a reaction. They probably hug, and Laura cries, and probably keeps touching her to remind herself rosemary is there. And then… what if she wakes up in the middle of the night and goes to check if Rosemary is still there and it turns into an only one bed fic because of course, Rosemary is like "why don't you just stay"

3. Your standard, we got drunk, woke up, and oh damn, are those rings on our fingers? fic

4. drunk flirting

5. drunk sleeping together?

6. one of them arrives first to a job. The client has gotten confused and called them by the other's last name. He's such a poor old thing that they don't want to correct him. Little do they know, he thinks they're married. "Mrs" Thyme, etc. And when they try and protest, the client doesn't take no for an answer and now everyone thinks they're together. and maybe whichever one it is kind of likes the assumption. likes people assuming they belong together. Likes as the suitor's backing off the other one when she arrives, because they think she's taken. and then you know, feelings realization.

7. Season 2 the Gongoozlers

Rosemary breaks her leg and Laura goes to the hospital to see her. the nurse (?) asks if she's a relative. And Laura, fearing she won't be let in if she isn't a relative, tells them she's her wife. She still can't go in because they're busy operating but the son of the family at the place they're working overhears (he's a porter at the hospital) and mentions it to the fam and pretty soon the entire film set thinks they're married or the equivalent since it's not legal yet and Rosemary doesn't know and Laura is just wondering around like oops. Because she is getting to see Rosemary now and she's scared if she denied it, that it'll get back to the hospital and she won't be allowed to see her at odd hours anymore. She's having to adlib answers to how did you two get together? Etc.

A lot of these are excess ideas i trimmed off of a potential "5 times everyone thought they were gay and 1 time they were" fic, if one couldn't tell

8. They run into Rosemary's ex. A female ex, and not a very nice one. Laura gets defensive, even though up till now, she had absolutely no idea Rosemary liked girls.

alright random dialogue prompts time:

"we are going to have to talk about this at some point."

"I know. But please not right now, I've got to have a sexuality crisis first."

"Oh right. Me too I suppose, but it's not so much of a crisis for me. To hell with men, remember?"

"Yes, but I think you took that to heart more than I did."

"Well you started it."

"I started it?!" Laura said indignantly. "I seem to recall you kissing me!"

"You might want to get over there. Your partner is verbally assaulting a police officer." And Laura gets there, sees it's Nick Rosemary is yelling at, and dives behind a bush.

3×2 seeds of time: "Even Caroline Pargiter! I was only introduced to her a couple of hours ago. What do I get but "oh this is er, er." I'm going to start calling myself er. Save people the trouble."

"Well you do have that effect on people. Sometimes I look at you and you're so beautiful I even forget my own name, let alone yours, and I've known you for years. You can't expect them to remember a thing after meeting you again. Poor things were so flustered they could hardly look at you."

Laura gave her a look. "I'm going to choose to believe that's it."

They were silent as they got into the car. Then Laura said "You know, it's been a long time since anyone's called me beautiful. I'd forgotten how it feels."

"this is why people think we're lesbians." "quite right."

and these are just the ones I don't want to use. I probably could come up with fifty more. look I just remembered another one.

9. the Gongoozlers.

Laura and Quinny are driving in the rover and Quinny asks if she can ask Laura some thing very forward and every single time I think she's about to ask if Laura likes women or of Laura and Rosemary are together. It also would fit pretty well if she asked Laura out. So perhaps those are three ideas.

I'm going to stop now.

Edit: here’s another.

When gay marriage is legalized in the Uk, Rosemary goes “well, shall we give it a go then?” And laura… is confused because they’re not even together. And Rosemary gives her this whole speech about how they should take advantage of this for the people that came before them etc.” And laura is like but we’re not gay.and Rosemary says it wasn’t legalized because of love, but so that the gays could visit each other in the hospital and inherit each other’s property, and doesn’t she want that? And laura finds she does want that, and that the more she thinks about it, the more she thinks she’d like Rosemary as her wife

[apprenticestanheight]

More - Adam Stanheight x gn! reader

Alllllllll right!! It is my birthday and that means that I am officially one year older yay!! I'm not really big on celebrating my own birthday and instead of doing some big like, event type thing I wanted to just write a couple thousand words a week or two in advance so that I didn't have to worry about editing on the day of, and that's what this is!

This is a college-adjacent AU (Adam is canonically a hs dropout but I've been thinking about maybe working my way to a creative writing PhD lately and projected so thats where the college part comes in) bc I headcanon that Adam grew his hair out in his early twenties and also: recovery era leigh whannell my dearly beloved.

Fic type- this is fluff that leads into smut!!

Warnings - this fic is meant for audiences of 18+. Minors, do not interact. Other than that, religion is referenced once (in the context of the reader saying adams name like it's a prayer lol), the word cunt is used a few times, and the reader is gn for all intents and purposes but I wrote the fic with AFAB anatomy in mind as that is the anatomy I know best. Petplay is also kind of present here (the puppy nickname has wormed its way into several of my fics bc I try thinking of gn petnames and my mind goes completely blank oops)

As it turned out, it was easier than one expected to get someone who wasn't an attendee into your college library. You'd snuck Adam into it without a care in the world, yearning for someone to lean against when you hit a breaking point in your studying while your closest friends were two-thirds of the way into breaking points of their own.

Adam was happy to leave the crappy apartment he lived in, though. He worked forty-hour weeks but his boss had mentioned that there was unclaimed PTO so Adam took the four days he was offered from the 186 days that had been accrued and relished in the fact that he was being paid not to work for approximately a day and a half before he yearned for fresh air.

When you'd asked him to come with you to finish up the last of the work you needed to do to finish up your thesis on your 22nd birthday, Adam had jumped at the opportunity and agreed to meet you near the charity shop that was a fifteen minute walk from his apartment and a fifteen minute drive out from your campus.

Of course, in his delight he'd ended up showing twenty minutes before the time you'd agreed, so he ducked into the aforementioned charity shop and looked around to occupy the time he had before you'd meet up with him.

He found a camera for fifteen bucks, three rolls of film and a camera bag included in that deal and couldn't resist. Scott gave him $200 a few times a month for printing up a hundred copies of his bands posters to hand out, and his paycheck had run in time for the rent and groceries to eat it completely, so the two hundred was something like lifesaver.

He'd gotten $400 that January because Scott and his band were doing a lot of gigs, which came as a bit of a surprise--Adam had heard Scotts band play before. Scott was lucky most people didn't pay much attention to bar music.

That $400 was originally going to take purpose at least partially as gas money because there were some distances that it just wasn't worth walking, maybe the purchase of a pack of cigarettes from the corner store that always had deals on them--$3 for two packs was the typical deal going on, and something Adam had used to his advantage more than once in the year since he'd become legally eligible to smoke and drink--and not much else, but the camera seemed like a decent enough purchase. If he got good enough, maybe he could display the photos he took somewhere or sell them as prints to make up for the money he lost to rent and a few groceries during his first paycheck of the month, keep him from going hungry until the second paycheck of the month came in.

He dips out of the charity shop and grins when he spots you, lets you drive him and steals the rest of your energy drink when you talk about the fact that you're not sure why you thought you'd like the peach flavor, and that gets you where you are--sitting in the darkest corner of your college library, face pressed against Adams shoulder as he laughs meekly.

"You can do this," he says. "You have another, what? Three pages left and then it's done. Then you can go back to whatever else your creative writing PhD entails and worry about your dissertation next year, yeah?"

"That doesn't work," advises a close friend of yours, Aurelie. She's been studying for a masters in biology and has known you since 1993, when you were both eighteen and freshly new to the college campus. "I've tried it numerous times, Stanheight, and it doesn't."

"I should've gotten my bachelors and masters before I jumped into this," you mutter, words muffled by the sleeve of Adams baggy black sweater. "But of course the only PhD option within two hours of work was an accelerated course. Ugh."

Adam laughs pitifully, pulls your face away from his shoulder to kiss your forehead before he gets up and you give him your card to get you, himself, Aurelie and her girlfriend Samantha a coffee.

When he returns, Samantha is pulling a strand of bright green hair behind her ear and watching you struggle, eyes narrowing at the book you're trying to focus on reading to get something you need for your thesis. Aurelie is offering you a bite of the sandwich she'd brought, telling you that a bag of chips also has the potential to be yours if you can get the last of your necessary research done in time to meet your February 18th deadline.

Adam presses a kiss to the top of your head as he maneuvers back into sitting down, gesturing at the coffees to tell Aurelie and Sam which ones are theirs and which ones are yours and Adams.

Adam wraps an arm around your shoulders as you thank him, taking a sip of your coffee, the order for which Adam had memorized at some point in the four years of your relationship to that point. He kisses your temple in response, grabbing his own coffee from the tray and checking the time.

It's not until six grueling hours, sunrise and four mental breakdowns have surpassed that you're officially done with your thesis. Adam asks if you want to spend the night at his place--you're not going into classes tomorrow if the way that you talked about sleeping in is of any indication--and Aurelie gives you a high five and mentions one of the bags of Doritos she'd brought along to munch on as she studied but hadn't ended up touching.

"You officially owe them a thousand kisses, you know," Aurelie says as you tuck your notebooks into the satchel you've been using since Adam had gifted it to you when you'd walked across the stage and graduated high school three and a half years prior. "You've gotta do it. It's what they deserve."

Adam laughs, blue-green eyes meeting Aurelies hazel brown ones. "I know," he says. "Though, to be fair, I don't think they really expected three pages to turn into fifteen more tacked on."

"They did not," you state affirmatively. "Professor Mason better fuckin' love me for it, though. I hadn't expected to meet his maximum page count and I managed to, just barely. Give me the chips."

Adam and Sam both laugh at the come-hither motion you make with your finger as Aurelie gets a bag of Doritos from her bag and tosses them at you, laughing a bit herself.

"Gremlin person," she says, shuddering a little for dramatic effect. "I surrender an offering to thee."

"The gremlin thanks you for it means the gremlin can put ordering dinner off for like, an hour and a half," you laugh a little, breaking open the bag of Doritos as Adam steals your two-litre water bottle from the table and takes a sip, leaving it open if you should decide to take a sip within the following thirty seconds.

You do, taking a break in your Dorito munching to take a sip of the water while Adam steals a chip from the bag and all of your preparations to leave are temporarily put on hold.

"I'm serious about the thousand kisses thing," Aurelie says. "Four breakdowns, fifteen pages and six different books in six hours. You have to do something to celebrate that."

Adam laughs, runs a hand through hair that he has yet to cut because he can't usually afford it and when he can, there are always better ways for money to be spent.

"I know you are," he says. "For the record, I am, too. I have a plethora of plans to make Y/Ns productivity feel worth it tonight, trust me."

"Gonna let me in on one of them?"

"I set aside $200 over my last few paychecks," Adam says. "Your birthday presents await, one of which is dinner."

"Two hundred from your paychecks--even multiple--means you have less grocery money, idiot," you scold lightly, glaring at him. Adam laughs, shakes his head, uses humor to fend off the anger issues that have a tendency to come up and bite him in the ass.

"Scott gave me $400 this month to print band posters," Adam says. "Also designed them, helped hand at least two and a half dozen out to people, but--you don't need to worry, okay? I have stuff covered and I had four hundred I could spend. I didn't spend it on groceries because I didn't need to, so it's okay."

Adam knows you only get defensive because of how his pay is and how his rent and groceries are in direct correlation. He works forty hours a week, brings in six hundred and fifty dollars every two. Rent eats four hundred during that first monthly paycheck and the other two hundred and fifty gets eaten by groceries.

The second pay period of that month is swallowed by other expenses. He sets aside gas money for the rarer times wherein he has to use his car, some money for cigarettes and other pop-up expenses as well as groceries for those two weeks.

His landlord had raised the rent in January of 1997, though. All he had left of his first monthly paycheck was a measly 100 dollars, which he couldn't buy very much with as it were. Scott had given him four hundred dollars for his efforts in graphic design and his access to a printer though, so he was cool as an ice cube in the few days before the second monthly paycheck he got was deposited into his bank account and he could afford to get a couple more things to last him through until next month.

"You promise it has no harm even though your landlord raised your rent to a stupid amount?"

"Rent being raised to a stupid amount means renovations," Adam throws you a cheeky smile. "The heater works, my showerhead isn't busted like it used to be, and the fridge, microwave and oven aren't running on fumes. It has it's perks."

"If I have to force you, you will be dragged by your gorgeous hair to the college apartments one of these days," you say. "They let non-attendees rent out the units year round for three hundred a month. You could actually afford to live if you went that route."

"You'd also be able to afford a haircut," Samantha chirps. You glare at her and Adam has to laugh, pressing his forehead against your shoulder and kissing it as he does.

You part ways thirty minutes later, waving goodbye to Sam and Aurelie as Adam asks who's place you want to go to.

You end up choosing to go to yours--you live in one of the apartment buildings owned and managed by your college. Its one of the many perks attached to the full ride scholarship you earned. It wasn't an easy feat, but you earned it from doing a collaborative photo and written essay that your english teacher called 'completely and totally heartwrenching' on the emotional support stray cats have proven to offer the homeless and those otherwise down on their luck.

Your apartment is nicer than Adams by half a mile, at least. Twelve hundred square feet, two bedrooms for the off chance someone has to move in. White walls, dark brown hardwood flooring, marble countertops in the bathrooms and kitchens, up-to-date appliances wherever such appliances are necessary. It's a good place, ten minutes out from your college campus by car, and you have every intent to keep living there and paying the rent attached once you're done with your PhD.

You and Adam debate dinner but decide to eat it later, go to your room while you talk idly. Adam tells you about his job, you tell him more about the professors who you like, and life carries on.

Adam relaxes in your room while you shower, happy to test the camera he'd bought in the charity shop by taking a photo of a polaroid you'd snapped the previous weekend. Adam has a love-hate relationship with the polaroid because of how goofy it is--it's a photo of him with two cigarettes in his mouth, one behind each of his ears, and one in his hand. They were horrendous cigarettes so the photo wasn't a waste, and he knew you loved it so he let it be.

You come out after fifteen minutes, hair damp as you wear one of Adams shirts and not much else. He grins as you settle into bed, head tilting at you before the question befalls his lips.

"How would you feel if I were to do what Aurelie practically demanded of me?" He asks, unawares as to whether or not you'd heard her remarks. "If I kissed you a thousand times?"

You ghost your teeth over your bottom lip, laughing softly. "You really think you'd be able to keep track?" Adams hand finds your thigh as he nods, palm running across it until he reaches your hip.

"I do," he says. "And besides--I think we kiss at least two hundred times when I wear the gray sweatpants in autumn anyway."

Your tongue juts out to wet your lip. "Okay," you say, realizing very quickly that 1000 kisses is basically the gateway to bliss. "I'm in."

"Really?" Adam asks, grinning like a fool. "Even if I take it slow and you start despising me for it?"

You nod, laughing a little as Adams lips find yours.

The first kiss is deep and intense, one of Adams hands on your hips as the other moves to up your face.

Adams tongue moves expertly around your mouth, thumb rubbing against the skin of your hip gently as he angles your head so that he can kiss you deeper. You moan into his mouth and he laughs a little, only pulling away when neither of you can breathe.

"999 to go," Adam whispers against your lips, smiling when the sound of your laughter meets his ears.

He kisses along your jawline.

998, 997, 996, 995

And then down your neck, tongue joining his lips as his hands move from your hips to your stomach, slowly and steadily inching up your chest.

You're happy to let Adam do as he pleases--it's a good enough gift for hitting twenty-two and because of studying and school getting in the way, you'd not really had much of an opportunity to give him anything significant for his 22nd birthday in the weeks before anyway.

One of your hands finds his hair as his lips remain focused on your neck and you undo the low ponytail he's got it in, moaning out his name as he keeps on going with his kisses.

994, 993, 992, 991, 990, 989, 988, 987

His hands keep their steady incline upwards, stopping to tease your nipples as he presses kiss after absolutely intoxicating kiss back up your neck and your jawline, grinning against your jawline when a soft moan falls from your lips and he tucks his knee between your thighs, pressing it against your core.

986, 985, 984, 983, 982, 981, 980

He captures your lips in his own, one hand moving up to cradle the back of your head and allow the kiss to deepen. The other one stays carefully focused on your nipple, and you laugh into his mouth as you realize he's fighting the urge to smile.

He pulls away to kiss down the other side of your neck and you manage to regain some of your breath thanks to your best efforts.

"Any regrets yet?"

"None at all," Adam laughs against your neck. "Oh, you're gonna be such a mess when I'm done with you. This is amazing."

979, 978, 976, 975, 974, 973, 972, 971, 970

You pull the shirt you'd stolen from Adam off your torso, fighting every single urge you have to grind against his leg as his kisses now start traversing down your chest.

He's the kind of person who commits to an action and it's a very good thing, ordinarily. He wants you to be so kissed up you forget your own name, only really remember his if you remember anyones name at all, and he's committed to that. His kisses will keep slow, his lips glorious and the pressure he puts onto your clit and aching core just enough to make you want to start grinding against him.

He kisses your breasts carefully, takes so much time with your nipples that you're almost completely sure there's a wet spot in his sweatpants from how wet the action has made you, laughs slightly when you moan loudly and become embarrassed.

969, 968, 967, 965, 964, 963, 962, 961, 959, 958, 957, 956, 954, 953, 952, 951, 950

"I love it when you get loud for me, baby," he whispers as he moves his lips down your chest and to your navel. You know he's going to take an absurd amount of time to kiss your hips, but you don't mind that.

You've always been particularly insecure about your hips and Adam has spent the majority of your relationship kissing them and holding them and telling you he loves them when your insecurity shines through. You hate your hips and you hate the hip dips you've been saddled with but Adam? You tell Adam he can't kiss your hips and he spends the next hour kissing you and telling you that you and your hips are fuckin' perfect.

He kisses down your navel and, of course, finds your hips. He glances at you for a second, waiting for your consent to kiss them because he knows it's an area of insecurity for you. When you nod, Adam can't fight his smile as he kisses across your stomach to your right hip, which he spends more time on than is probably worth.

He presses kiss after kiss there, probably leaving a hickey in the wake of his lips from his tongues involvement, murmurs an "I love you so much, baby," against your skin as he kisses across your stomach from your right hip to your left.

He takes his time with your left hip just as well, chuckles at the fact that you're so turned on that you've mindlessly let your moans go from quiet to average in terms of sound level because you've mostly stopped caring.

949, 948, 947, 946, 945, 944, 943, 942, 941, 940, 939, 938, 937, 936, 935, 934, 933, 932, 931, 930, 929, 928, 927, 926, 925, 924, 923, 921, 920

He kisses down to your dripping cunt, laughs when his lips press themselves against your clit because he knows just how wet he's managed to make you within maybe thirty minutes.

He moves his kisses from your wetness to your inner thighs, happy to kiss them for as long as he wants because he loves your thighs as much as he loves your hips--he loves them wholeheartedly, tells you as much as often as possible.

"Love your thighs, puppy," he whispers, breath ghosting against you in a way that makes you shiver. "You're so fucking perfect, yeah?"

You hum a response, unsure of how you're still even slightly coherent.

919, 918, 917, 916, 915, 914, 913, 912, 911, 910, 909, 908, 907, 906, 905, 904, 903, 902, 901, 900

He kisses from your right inner thigh to your left, once again taking his time because of how much he loves them. His hands slip under your thighs to find your hips, and you laugh a little, flustered because the fact of how much he loves your hips and hip dips when they're one of your biggest points of insecurity will never cease to turn you into a blushing idiot.

He laughs against your thigh, eyes keenly watching you. He's always been a bit voyeuristic so the fact that he's watching you is of little surprise, but you don't hate the way that he watches because he looks at you like you're the love of his life.

Granted, he always looks at you like that, but still. It's a nice emotion to register within the levelness of his gaze, the focus swimming in his blue-green eyes muddled by the love and adoration that rears itself upwards whenever he so much as glances in your direction.

899, 898, 897, 896, 895, 894, 893, 892, 891, 890, 889, 888, 887, 886, 885, 884, 883, 882, 881, 880

"So perfect," he whispers, kissing from your thigh back to the area just above your clit. He kisses from there back up your stomach, stopping once more to pay an absurd amount of attention to your hips and hip dips before he's kissing over your chest and you're another minute, maybe two, away from being so blissed out that you lose any and all senses of coherency onto which you've previously held.

"Adam," you whisper, saying his name like it's an unanswered prayer in an empty catholic church. "Adam, please."

His knee finds a spot between your legs again, and you moan as he presses it against your clit while his kisses move from your chest back to your neck.

879, 878, 877, 876, 875, 874, 873, 872, 871, 870, 869, 868, 867, 865, 864, 863, 862, 861, 860, 859, 858, 857, 856, 855, 854, 853, 852, 851, 850, 849, 848, 847, 846, 845, 843, 842, 841, 840

One of his hands finds your hip, the other one coming up to your lips. He presses his thumb against your bottom lip you take it into your mouth without a second thought, holding Adams gaze.

"Good puppy," he whispers, moaning lowly and pressing his forehead against the left side of your neck. "Oh, you're so good for me."

You moan, rutting your hips against his leg before you can stop yourself. The movement makes Adam grin, lift himself up so that he's staring down at you.

"You're desperate, aren't you?" He asks, a teasing grin on his face. "Keep doing that, mm? Grind against my leg, puppy. I know you want a release."

You moan, setting a pace with your hips as Adam slips his finger from your mouth and moves it to your chest, lips returning to your neck.

839, 383, 837, 836, 835, 834, 833 832, 831, 830, 829, 828, 287, 826, 825

Adams lips remain on your neck, occasionally drifting to your collarbone, upper chest and shoulders. He's relentless with his praise because he knows it's bound to make you melt, and make you melt it absolutely does.

"You're ethereal," he whispers, nipping gently at the skin of your collarbone. "I'm so proud of you, puppy. Workin' so hard to finish with your PhD program, you're fuckin' amazing."

You moan in response, needing more friction. Adam presses his knee against your clit further, adding just a bit more pressure--enough pressure to almost make you lose it.

You moan lewdly, hands slipping underneath his shirt to grip the skin of his back. The action makes Adam laugh, his kisses becoming more slow and deliberate as he starts kissing along your neck and eventually tilts your head up to reach the underside of your jaw.

"You're so perfect," he whispers.

824, 823, 822, 821, 819, 818, 817, 816, 815 814, 813, 812, 810

His kisses traverse back down your neck for what feels like the millionth time, and he kisses your shoulders and collarbone in a way that he knows makes you want him inside you more than will ever be reasonable.

When his kisses move down your chest and he adjusts so that he's not stuck in an uncomfortable position, you whimper at the loss of contact as his leg moves.

He's quick with it, though--one of his hands moves to your clit, rubbing slow circles as he tells you to grind against it in place of his knee.

809, 808, 807, 806, 805, 804, 803, 802, 801, 800

Before you can really register it, his lips are pressing kiss after senseless kiss against your inner thighs and you're moaning, begging words falling from your lips because all you want is to feel his tongue pressing flat against you while he slowly thrusts a finger into your folds.

He presses a few kisses against your clit, watching you through his eyelashes.

You look like a picture of bliss--one of your hands clutches the sheets, the other one has pulled itself through your hair so many times that a mess has been made of it, and you're biting your lower lip with anticipation.

His hands slide themselves under your thighs and over your hips, finding their favorite spot as his tongue presses flat against your clit. You press your head into the pillow it rests upon, moaning lewdly at the contact.

799, 798, 797, 796, 795, 794, 793, 792, 791, 790, 789, 788, 787, 786, 785, 784, 783, 782, 781, 780, 779, 778, 777, 776, 775, 774, 773, 772, 771, 770, 769, 768, 767, 765, 764, 763, 762, 761, 759, 758, 757, 756, 754, 753, 752, 751, 750

Adams tongue is skilled--eating you out is one of the things that gets you both off the quickest, and because of Aurelies words, you have zero doubt you're in for at least another few orgasms before Adam is done, but the way that his tongue feels against you is so good that you remain entirely unbothered by the idea, focusing on the way that his tongue feels when he presses it flat against your clit and the way that his hands feel as one locates your nipples and the other remains on your hip with the aim of keeping you steady.

When you start helplessly grinding against his face, Adam doesn't stop you. He moans, burying his face in your cunt and letting you ride his face paceless and senseless, clearly just wanting you to cum all over his nose, mouth, and chin.

When you come for the first time that night, you do so with a moan of Adams name before you release over his face. He keeps his tongue on your clit and works you through the aftershocks before he pulls away, lifting himself up to your level again and kissing you soft and slow, letting you taste yourself on his lips.

He cleans his face after your kiss, gets back into bed and presses kiss after kiss against your face, neck, and shoulders, delivering praise to you like it's nothing, and you can tell he means every word.

"You're amazing," he whispers. "You did so good for me, puppy."

Forty minutes of kisses go by, and you're happy to let Adam keep kissing you for the rest of time if he wants to.

749. 748, 747, 746, 745, 744, 743, 742, 741, 740, 739, 738, 737, 736, 735, 734, 732, 731, 730, 729, 728, 727, 726, 725, 724, 723, 722, 721, 720, 719, 718, 717, 716, 715, 714, 713, 712, 711, 710, 709, 708, 707, 706, 705, 704, 793, 792, 701, 700

"How many kisses down?" You ask, practically swimming in post-orgasm bliss.

"300," Adam grins cheekily at you. "It's been an hour and a half. That basically sets us up for another four hours."

"What time is it?" You ask. Adam checks the clock.

"About to be six thirty," he says. "We'll be done by around ten if you're still wanting me to actually kiss you a thousand times."

"Do you still want to?"

"I wouldn't tire of kissing you even if I gave it my all, so I'd like to, yeah."

You grin at him, nod. "Please kiss me again."

Adam does as you ask of him, smiling a little bit into the kiss as your hands slip underneath his shirt with the aim of eventually slipping the shirt over his head.

He pulls away to take his shirt and pants off, momentarily feeling guilt for being completely clothed while you were completely exposed.

The guilt fades when you're pulling him back into you by the neck and laughter bubbles up from his throat as he calls you a kiss fiend and moves to press kisses along your jawline.

You let him kiss you senseless, counting down the kisses while you have half the mind to do so, before he's taken you and turned you into a thoughtless, brainless version of yourself that's so clouded by bliss that any other emotion pushing past the weightlessness of how you'll feel is completely and totally inconceivable.

Adam has kissed you one hundred and fifty five more times across forty-five minutes by the time that you lose focus, as he's telling you to turn around so that he can kiss your back and you're doing as he asks because of how good the kisses feel and the fact that you never want them to stop.

He kisses along your shoulder blades, down the backs of your arms and the back of your neck, praising you and making sure you're not completely and totally blissed out by asking you to use your words and tell him how good it feels.

He kisses the backs of your hips, smiles against your skin and then turns you back around, kisses your lips sweetly as his hand trails down your chest, past your stomach, to your clit. He laughs, presses a kiss against your forehead when he presses his finger against your clit and you moan because it's throbbing and the touch feels amazing.

"Adam," you whisper. "Please."

Adam nods, rubs slow circles around your clit as his lips press themselves against your neck.

545, 544, 543, 542, 541, 540, 539, 538, 537, 3537, 535, 534, 533, 532, 531, 530, 529, 528, 527, 526, 525

The pace he sets with his finger is slow, his lips pressing kiss after kiss to your neck as you slip further and further into the bliss of it all. You're pretty much content to let Adam do whatever he wants to you at this point, all of the stress from completing your thesis and trying to figure out plans with Aurelie and Sam to celebrate your birthday melting away with every single one of Adams kisses and the pressure of his fingers.

524, 523, 522, 521, 520, 519, 518, 517, 516, 515, 514, 513, 512, 511, 510, 509, 508, 507, 506, 505, 504, 503, 502, 501, 500

Adam replaces his fingers with his thumb, pulls you into an open-mouthed kiss as he slowly thrusts his fingers into you.

You moan into his mouth, grinding against his fingers slowly.

"So good for me, puppy," Adam whispers against your lips. "God, you're so perfect."

You moan again in response, and Adams lips dip to your collarbone, paying attention to it like he hasn't since the kisses began. He fucks you with his fingers as his lips press kiss after fervent kiss against your shoulders, collarbone, and chest, dick throbbing because he hasn't let himself come yet.

When you're coming for the second time, Adam is kissing you and you're practically floating, willing to do any and everything he asks of you. His kisses are perfect and he knows how to make you teeter on the edge of release until he's ready to let you go, and he does such, kissing you senseless until he curls his fingers inside you with each of his thrusts and you're coming undone around his fingers within five minutes after those ministrations had begun.

You moan his name into his mouth, and he pulls away from the kiss as you clench around his fingers.

Clean up is simple enough--after he's kissed you through the aftershocks and pulled his fingers out of you, he simply licks his fingers clean while you watch him, dazed but mesmerized.

499, 498, 487, 496, 495, 494, 493, 492, 491, 490, 489, 488, 487, 486, 485, 484 483, 482, 481, 480, 479, 478, 476, 475 473, 472, 471, 470, 469, 468, 467, 466, 465, 464, 463, 462, 461, 460

"Adam," you whisper. "There are condoms in my nightstand. Need to feel more than your fingers."

"Y/N--" two times across three hours feels like a stretch, and he knows you have zero intention to go to class for the rest of the week because you've finished up with your thesis and thus, there's no point until you have to pass it in on it's due date, but still. Adam doesn't want to leave you so sore that you can't walk when you're a college student with more things to worry about than he.

"Please," you whisper. "I'll be fine, I promise. I had hoped the 1000 kisses thing would mean I got fucked senseless anyway. I already told my professors not to expect me for another week because of how much work I've done, and how badly I need a break. I need to feel you and you're throbbing because you've only fucked me with your tongue and your fingers, so it's a win-win situation."

Adam presses another two kisses to your forehead before he rolls over in the bed to grab a condom. He takes off his boxers as you tear the condom open, rolling it onto his length and relishing in the way that he moans at the contact of your hand with his cock.

"Fuck, Y/N," he moans quietly.

You let him position himself at your entrance, moan at every inch he pushes into you because of how good it feels. Adams cock is long and thick and nothing you'll ever get tired of.

Once his full length is inside you, he moans, pressing his forehead into the pillow to the right of your head as one of your hands finds his hair and the other rests on his neck. Your thighs move to wrap around his waist, and he kisses the side of your jawline as he waits for you to adjust.

459, 458, 457

When you give Adam the okay to start moving, he does so, his lips pressing kisses just about wherever they can reach.

It doesn't take Adam very long to make you see stars, the kisses that he delivers adding to the mindlessness of the way you feel. Every single minute that passes and you get closer and closer to forgetting what your own name is, Adams name the only clear thought that runs through your mind, repeating itself over and over like a mantra that only barely manages to keep you from floating away.

456, 455, 454, 453, 452, 451, 450, 449, 448, 447, 446, 445, 444, 443, 442, 441, 440, 439, 438, 437, 436, 435, 434, 432, 431, 430, 429, 428, 427, 426, 425, 424, 423, 421, 420, 419, 418, 417, 416, 415, 414, 413, 412, 411, 410, 409, 408, 407, 406, 405, 404, 403, 402, 401, 400

Adam keeps going after you've released and you're happy to let him, the feeling of him inside you too good to do anything but relish in. He moans your name in between his kisses, chasing the high of his own orgasm while also wanting to bring you to the edge of a fourth.

"Fuck," he moans. You're practically brainless beneath him, a cock-drunk mess of moans as your nails dig into his back and the hand that's kept a hold on his hair holding it so that it doesn't fall to the side because you'd taken the elastic out of it without thinking.

"Adam," you moan, his name the only coherent thought you have.

"You feel amazing," he responds, kissing your forehead. "Fuck, baby. You feel so good around me, mm?"

You moan in response and his kisses return to your neck, kissing along the underside of it and up to the underside of your jaw before his lips move back to your shoulders again.

399, 398, 397, 396, 395, 394, 393,392, 391, 390, 389, 388, 387, 386, 385, 384, 383, 382, 381, 380, 379, 378, 377, 376, 375, 374, 373, 372, 321, 370, 369, 368, 367, 366, 365, 364, 363, 362, 361, 360, 359, 358, 357, 356, 355, 354, 353, 352, 351, 350

He's apologizing lightly for a hickey that forms on your neck as he continues thrusting, and you're so blissed out from being fucked into the mattress that you tell yourself you'll give him a response later.

He slows the pace of his thrusts enough to drive you up the wall just a little, keeps that pace while he kisses you senseless for a long fifteen minutes before he kicks the pace back up again, dialing it from a six to an eleven within seconds.

349, 348, 347, 346, 345, 344, 342, 341, 340, 339, 338, 337, 336, 335, 334, 333, 332, 331, 330, 329, 328, 37, 326, 325, 324, 323, 322, 321, 320, 319, 318, 317, 316, 315, 314, 313, 312, 311, 310, 309, 308, 307, 306, 305, 304, 303, 302, 301, 300

Adams pace is quick, evenly timed, and perfect. You can hardly control how loud your moans start getting and Adam loves it, laughs when you press your forehead into the side of his neck in a break where he'd stopped kissing you because of your embarrassment.

"You're cute when you're embarrassed, puppy," he whispers, kissing your forehead. You hum your disagreement and he kisses you as deeply as either of you can manage, hand cradling your neck to allow the kiss to be so deep.

He pulls away and presses his lips across your chest again, keeping count where you've lost the ability to because of how fucked out you're starting to feel.

One hundred more kisses pass you by, and by that point Adams kicked the pace up just enough.

You come with a whisper of his name, saying it like it's the most meaningful word you'll ever speak. Adams teeth bite gently against your neck and he moans your name as your fourth release triggers his first, and he releases into the condom.

After thrusting into you through the post-orgasm aftershocks, Adam pulls out. He disposes of the condom while you go pee to avoid a UTI, and when you're back in bed, Adams lips are kissing you again and you're so blissed out that all you can do is stare at him lovingly.

The last two hundred kisses go by within fifteen minutes, Adams lips soft against your skin as he delivers whispered praise and sweet nothings in between each of the kisses he drops over your face, your arms, your hips, stomach, and thighs.

When he leaves, you're smiling like a buffoon and so happy your heart could melt with the joy you feel. He gets a bath going and then helps you to the bathroom, helps you into the bathtub while he reaffirms that he's proud of you for all the work you'd done with your thesis and acknowledges how hard it's been for you.

You let Adam wash your hair, exhausted and still not very coherent as he does so. It's very easy to melt into him and the way that his hands feel, and you let yourself do so without a second thought.

You agree to order pizza as a late-night dinner--it's nearly ten o'clock by the time you're both discussing it--and Adam helps you out of the bathtub, gets you to sit on the toilet while he blowdries your hair and leads you back to the bedroom.

He laughs when you point out the drawer of clothes you have that belong to him, kissing your forehead and making a remark about a pair of sweatpants he's not seen in close to two years. He gets dressed in the clothes from that drawer, helps you do the same because every single one of your limbs feels like Jell-o--completely and utterly unstable.

He grabs your phone from where you keep it, on the television stand in your living room, orders your birthday pizza while the two of you lay in your bed.

"Happy birthday," he says after the phone call is done and the pizza order is placed.

"Thank you," you hum, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. He grins a little, runs a hand through your hair and hums contentedly.

"I love you," he whispers after silence has settled.

"I love you more," you respond, half-asleep but so content your chest aches with it.

Adam presses a kiss to your forehead, holds you close and for a minute, feels as though letting you go is an impossible feat, hopes that nothing ever comes around to separate the two of you from one another.

His gaze shifts from you to the window, hand running through your hair as he watches the sky and listens to the sounds of the outdoors at two hours before midnight.

He's so content it makes him ache, and he knows you feel the same.

All in all, you have to think, as you drift off, that it's your best birthday yet.

[papyrus-in-practice]

Hey, y’all! I wanted to give an update on Papyrus in Practice and other related stuff.

“It’s been about a year, where’s the next page!?”

Wow, when I saw it’s actually been a year, I kind of blanched a bit. I didn’t mean for the hiatus to last that long. Next page is actually done. In fact, a couple of pages are either done or close to done. I’m trying to build up a big buffer so that, hopefully, there will be a smaller gap between updates in the future. My plan is to have eight pages completed, line art for four pages done, have the script for the next scene done, and have a couple of pages worth of sketches ready. As I’m typing this, six of the eight next pages are done with the remaining ones in various stages of completion and two of the four next pages have finished line art. I’ve been working and reworking and re-reworking the script for the final scene for the past twenty months and honestly frustrated in how to wrap up the chapter in a satisfying way that won’t make me stuck on chapter 4 for another two years because the climax and conclusion is so long. So, that’s where I’m at now.

“I wrote something in the ask blog and didn’t get a response.”

I read every comment and every ask sent to me and, most likely, have at least attempted to write a script to answer it. But, I gotta weigh my options. Do I answer it at risk of delaying Papyrus in Practice for another month or focus on the comic? Depending on how elaborate the answer is, it might take a while to make a response. There are also things I just don’t know how to answer to and, believe me, I’ve tried coming up with a good answer, but I’m also still learning about life myself and I’ve found that, sometimes, my answer to a question has changed a lot over time. Sometimes, I’m afraid of saying something that’s ultimately harmful. It’s a tricky balance. At the end of the day, I've never guaranteed a response to any ask and never will guarantee a response. There are still some asks that I'd like to get around to, maybe if chapter 4 finishes or I get burnt out while making it and need a change of pace.

“Are you actually a therapist?”

Yup. I just graduated this past May with a masters in art therapy counseling. My title right now is a qualified mental health professional or QMHP. I’m waiting to take the National Counselor’s Exam to obtain my LPC but government paperwork is a looooong process(seriously, some of my colleagues have been waiting in the queue for over a year to get their LCPC). In the meantime, I can still practice as a therapist as long as I check in with a supervisor and have been practicing and slowly building my caseload for the past couple of months.

“Can you be my therapist/give therapy to this person?”

The short answer is no. The long answer is that there are a lot of ethical concerns when it comes to providing mental healthcare and breaching ethical guidelines could impede therapy progress, bring potential harm to the client, myself, or I could get in big legal trouble. I can also only practice if the client is located in my home state and goes through the company I work for since I need supervision to practice. However, I’d be happy to provide resources like websites that help you find a therapist, even for a reduced price, or self-help sites that can help you learn skills and develop tools to use that can boost your mental well-being. I cannot, however, provide mental health services.

“Will (insert character’s name) meet with Papyrus?”

Maybe. I’ve got ideas for characters in mind, but it’s more a question of how much longer I want to be doing this for. I’ll be honest with y’all, I’m getting burnt out. I want to do different projects or even revisit older projects, but I tell myself I can’t do that until I finish Papyrus in Practice or, at the very least, finish chapter 4. I didn’t think this chapter would go on for as long as it has, but it also makes sense. We’ve already hit page 25 which is almost as long as the entirety of chapter 3 and I don’t even know if we’re halfway done with the chapter yet. The way it’s looking, chapter 4 may easily hit at least 50 pages.

“So, when will you be posting again?”

Soon! Hopefully, before the end of the year. When I start updating again, I’ll be posting one page every other week which gives at least a few months of content for y’all.

That being said, I’ll see you soon!

-Meemie

[rosie-kairi]

Questions for 15 Friends Tag Game

Rules: Answer the questions, then tag 15 people. (won't be tagging anyone personally lol)

Thanks for the tag @/corishadowfang!

ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?

IRL No, not that I'm aware of. I'm the only one in my immediate family (sans my father's side) not named after another member of our family. I do get my middle name from my mom's first name, though. (which, funny enough, wasn't her original first name. She went by her middle name much more than her first name, so she just had it legally changed lol) My Dad wanted to name me Gwendolyn and his mom wanted Bronwyn.

Online, I think it's pretty obvious where I get my name(s) from lol. Though, I don't think I've ever told the origins of Rosie. It was actually originally supposed to be like an adjective? Like "rosy cheeks" or whatever, but I spelt it the way one spells the name Rosie and it came first in my url, so I came to be known as Rosie.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

Can't remember exactly? But I think I was crying over some video compilation of people reuniting with lost pets and I was thinking about my deceased cat, Jazzy. I have no idea why I was watching that video.

DO YOU HAVE KIDS?

Nah, I'm 17.

WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY/HAVE YOU PLAYED?

In elementary school my mom really wanted me to get into softball since she played it in college, so I was briefly on a tee-ball (kiddie baseball, hit using a tee) team and a softball team. I didn't like it very much, so I only played for a year or so. Then in middle school my mom wanted me to get into Volleyball, same story there. The one sport that stuck was Swimming, which my mom insisted I try because both of my older brothers had been on the team in the past. I ended up being really good at swimming, so I still swim competitively to this day.

DO YOU USE SARCASM?

Mostly only around my family or people I'm close with irl. I really don't want to come off as mean around strangers, either online or face-to-face.

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

Online I usually pay attention to the way they type, I suppose? or the way they talk through text, can't really explain it though. Real life, I suppose it's how they carry themselves, visual stuff like that.

WHAT’S YOUR EYE COLOUR?

I have central heterochromia! Means I have two colors in one eye; blue and brown :) It's not really noticeable unless you look really close.

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?

Happy endings :)) Though I do watch scary movies in a roundabout way by putting on youtube videos about horror movies as background noise sometimes.

ANY TALENTS?

I think I'm a decent singer, also I think I'd make a killer voice actor.

WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

Dead middle of a nor'easter (really bad blizzard) in Maine

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?

Art :) I read sometimes. I like building legos whenever I get the chance too. Also video games lol. Pretty run-of-the-mill hobbies, I think.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?

Two atm! Sulley (white one) and Callie (calico), both cats :)

HOW TALL ARE YOU?

5'11"

FAVOURITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL?

History 💪💪💪 Family full of History buffs, excluding my mom lol

DREAM JOB?

I would love to one day work on a show as a storyboard artist or animator, and the hopeful goal is to someday be a showrunner myself. It's a big goal for sure but it's something I really want. Art is my passion and I want to pursue it. Remember your darling mutual rosie-kairi when people start having discourse about my ocs.

Feel free to do this yourself if you want to! Open invitation :D

[slanax]

so the podcast playlist ran out at work earlier today and left me with just music and my thoughts while I continued packaging products on autopilot. Now over the last month or so I've done a lot in my day to day life to stop stagnating and settling for 'good enough' as far as like household and stuff is concerned, I finally upgraded my phone and phone plan after like five and ten years respectively, I bought new clothes that actually fit me instead of the holdovers from back in the day that I was still wearing, my kitchen now has an actual workspace bc I've rearranged my furniture and added some more - shoutouts to my mom who wanted the doors off of my ikea cupboards so she'd have a matching set for the ones I left at home (the kind I had wasn't in store anymore) bc her offering to drive me to Ikea to get replacements triggered a bit of a binge in rearranging my whole apartment and let me transport the new stuff home too. Visiting my brother made me cook more and eat healthier bc he showed me the burgers he's cooking up when he needs something fast but like, with standards.

anyways. rambling. point is that the whole thing got me thinking about other things in my life that I'm kinda 'eh good enough' on, and the big one there is my identity and my body. Me being cis is, at least at this point, a conscious choice born from indifference, the factory settings work well enough and it'd be effort to even start looking into what I'd have to do to change them. But at the same time, it doesn't feel super cis for my position to be "yeah I'd prolly trans my gender if given the chance but that sounds like I'd have to file shit and call people and bureaucracy would be involved. But I would. But the effort." like I'm remembering Ranma 1/2 from my childhood and think that'd be neat to be able to do, just switch genders at the drop of a literal bucket, I feel that's not a very cis thought.

so then about two weeks ago my workplace gave us access to some health benefits, because they're feeling bad about keeping the warehouse people a bit out of the loop and removed from the office people, and also they're having trouble finding new people and really don't want any of us to quit, or something along those lines. Point is I have better health insurance now, based on a calender year budget, so I basically have an above average budget for the second half of this year now and I wanna make use of that, because it's a use-it-or-lose-it kinda deal. Now I don't know if I can use that for any gender affirming stuff, but I might.

The problem that remains is that I still couldn't care less for going through the whole rigamaroll of a social transition, but like. staying on-paper cis and continuing to use my given name to avoid all those complications, legally still being the same person and just looking different (might need a new ID if I go that far lol) doing whatever the fuck I want with my body in the meantime without it ever affecting my legal identity because it's not a deadname if I'm still just using it, it doesn't actually give me dysphoria, and they can't force me to change my name just because I have boobs, might be what I want? And then maybe I can consider a legal gender and/or name change from there?

idk on one hand it sounds like something I'd want to do but on the other hand I also feel it's not like, committed enough? like both on a practical level where I need a doctor to help me transition physically while still using the same (male) name, and on an ideological level where it feels like appropriation in a way to just want the body and the appearance but skipping over the whole paperwork thing because I can't be arsed while for a lot of people changing name and officially recognized identity is a just as if not more important aspect of transitioning.

genuinely can't tell on my own if that standpoint is a valid one, if I'm right to be hesitant for that reason or if that's an exclusionist brainworm take, would appreciate feedback and second opinions on that part especially

either way I am going to look into using my newfound health benefits for getting my facial hair lasered first and foremost because even if I stay physically 100% male that shit is annoying, I don't care for how it looks on me, I feel messy when it's there and can't be assed to shave it regularily. Avoiding effort is a key part of my identity either way whether I'm Cis+ or Legally Cis For Tax Reasons

[braveclementine]

Chapter 9

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (However they are very few so those under the age of 18 can still read a majority of this book. However please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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𝕴 𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖎𝖑𝖊𝖉 𝖗𝖊𝖑𝖚𝖈𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖑���� behind Hermione as we made our way to the Gryffindor common room. She promoted elf rights the entire way there, as though I didn't know anything about it. Okay, so I didn't know anything about it. I'd just accepted it was a thing along with literally every other wizard out there.

I guess I could understand her from a point. After all, most wizards accepted that Werewolves were dangerous and didn't deserve to live, and of course, I believed quite the opposite. But it's hard to want to do something for someone who doesn't want it done for them. It's like telling someone you're going to give them a hair cut and they don't want it. House-Elves don't want freedom and honestly, a majority of them love their families and don't want to leave. Hermione was just forcing a rod into the system.

"Hello, I've just finished." Hermione said as she walked over to where the boys were sitting in the corner of the common room.

I sat down on the arm of Harry's chair while Ron threw down his quill and said, "So have I!"

Hermione sat down, laid the things she was carrying in an empty armchair, and pulled Ron's predictions towards her. "Not going to have a very good month, are you?" She said sarcastically and a bit disapprovingly. Crookshanks jumped up on her lap.

"At least I'm forewarned." Ron said with a yawn.

I looked over Harry's shoulder as he wrote on the last day of the month he was going to be decapitated because of a conjunction between Mercury and Saturn.

"You should make that Venus and Saturn." I muttered in his ear. "More likely."

"You seem to be drowning twice." Hermione said, looking over Ron's month.

"Oh am I?" Ron looked down and said, "I'd better change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging hippogriff."

"Don't you think it's a bit obvious you've made these up?" Hermione asked, picking up the box of badges.

"How dare you! We've been working like house-elves here!" Ron said in mock outrage, trying hard not to let his smile through. "It's just an expression." Ron said as Hermione raised her eyebrows. I sighed.

"What's in the box?" Harry asked, pointing, as he put his own quill down having fixed the Mercury and Venus mistake.

"Funny you should ask." Hermione said, giving a nasty look to Harry.

"Bummer that you asked." I muttered in his ear. "You're going to regret it."

Hermione took off the lid showing the rainbow strewn badges. Each was a different color and the letters S.O.E.A. on them.

"'Soea?" Harry asked, picking up a badge. "What's this about?"

"Not Soea." Hermione said a bit angrily. "It's S-O-E-A. Stands for Stop Outrageous House Elf Abuse. Or the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. That's the subline."

Every time that she said that it made me cringe. Where the heck was S.P.E.W.?

"Never heard of it." Ron said with a shrug, rolling up his month chart.

"Well, of course you haven't. I've only just started it." Hermione said.

"Yeah?" Ron asked in a bit of surprise. "How many members have you got?"

"She just finished Ron." I said with a yawn.

"Well- if you two join- four." Hermione said.

I stared at her and said, "When did I ever agree to join?"

"And you think we want to walk around wearing badges saying Soea do you?" Ron asked.

"S-O-E-A" Hermione said hotly. "I was going to put Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status- but it wouldn't fit. So that's the heading of our manifesto." She pulled out the parchment that she'd shown me in the library and underneath that heading was the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. So S.P.E.W. had made it on the parchment somewhere. I still felt weird that another vision had been altered though without me doing anything.

"I've been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now." Hermione said.

"Hermione- open your ears. They. Like. It. They like being enslaved!" Ron said loudly.

"Our short-term aims are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about non-wand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they're shockingly underrepresented."

I groaned in frustration.

"And how do we do all this?" Harry asked. Why was he humoring her?

"We start by recruiting members. I though two Sickles to join- that buys a badge- and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign. You're treasurer Ron- I've got you a collecting tin upstairs- and Elizabeth, you're secretary, so you might want to write down everything I'm saying now, as a record of our first meeting."

"Ask Harry to do it." I muttered. "And besides, you will never get the non-wand use law out. It applies to every Magical creature like Centaurs and Mermaids and pixies and Gnomes. You really want a Gnome to have a wand? And Centaurs and Mermaids will be offended if you ever even mention trying to give them a wand!"

Suddenly there was a tapping on the window. Hermione looked mutinous and Harry hurtled across the room saying "Hedwig!"

Hedwig flew inside and landed on top of Harry's predictions. "Hi Hedwig." I said, petting her head feathers. "Have a nice flight?" I prayed Harry was going to keep his calm. "You have her treats, right?" I asked Harry as Hedwig hooted assent.

"Yeah." Harry said, going to his bag and pulling out a small bag full of treats and opened it. "Get Sirius' letter, will you Elizabeth?"

He sat back down and Hedwig settled on his knee. I took the letter from her leg and said, "Harry you better keep your calm."

Then I opened the letter and read aloud,

Harry- I'm flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange rumors that have reached me here. If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore- they're saying he's got Mad-Eye out of retirement, which means he's reading the signs, even if no one else is. Tell Elizabeth to pay attention to important details, she ought to sort it out before anyone else. I'll be in touch soon. My best to Ron, Hermione, and Elizabeth. Keep your eyes open, Harry. Sirius

"He's flying north? He's coming back?" Hermione asked in horror.

"Dumbledore's reading what signs? Harry- what's up?" Ron asked for Harry had just hit himself in the forehead.

"I shouldn't've told him!" Harry said furiously and Hedwig having been jolted out of his lap, flew up to my shoulder. I reached up automatically to scratch her head feathers.

"Harry!" I snapped at him.

"It's made him think he's got to come back Elizabeth!" Harry shouted at me. "Coming back, because he thinks I'm in trouble! And there's nothing wrong with me!" I handed up another treat to Hedwig, watching him, exasperated.

"He was coming back already." I said as Hedwig took another treat into her beak. "Because of Bertha Jorkins disappearance and the Quidditch cup was the last straw. He knew Bertha and she ended up in Albania. She's dead, but he doesn't know that."

"She's dead?" Hermione asked and I gave Harry an incredulous look.

"You didn't tell them?" I exclaimed.

Harry turned red and said, "I didn't know you wanted me too!"

"Back up, who's dead?" Ron asked, and I gave him an exasperated look.

With a little help from Harry, we relived the dream for them and by the end of it, they were both extremely worried- not only for me, but for Harry as well.

"Why haven't you told Dumbledore?" Hermione asked.

"Well one." I said. "A dream isn't on the same level as a vision. Who can say if the event really happened? Maybe it was my visions causing a nightmare. Does anyone really want to think my dream was real and that Peter isn't dead and that Voldemort's going to find a way to come back? Think about it Hermione, who's going to believe me?"

"Dumbledore will if no one else won't." Hermione said.

"Maybe." I said with an annoyed shrug. "But Dumbledore doesn't have the power over the Ministry to tell them that my visions are right- let alone the fact that what I saw wasn't even a vision."

"But if Harry had the same dream. . ." Ron thought.

"But Harry doesn't remember all the details." I said.

Harry was sitting back down. I fed Hedwig the last owl treat and petted her head again before bringing her over to the window so that she could fly back to the owlery. Then I closed the window and sat down by the fireplace, leaning my head on the brick.

"So You-Know-Who is after both of you. . ." Hermione reiterated slowly, thinking. "Harry to kill him and you. . . for your visions?"

I nodded.

"And Pettigrew thinks your Harry's sister?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Well Lockhart didn't help any." I scowled. "But I think everyone would know if Harry had a sister."

"True." Hermione said with a nod. "Considering the fact there's quite a few books written about Harry, the family, and their history. Dumbledore would've known at least."

"Exactly." I said, though it hurt to say so. "We learned that last year when Dumbledore offered to be Lily and James secret-keeper. If they were that close, he would've known if there had been a girl in the house too."

Harry was looking a bit down which hurt even more. "So what do I do about Sirius?"

My lips twitched. "Early tomorrow you're basically going to write a letter telling him that you must've imagined the pain and that he doesn't have to come back. You don't have to, but that's what I foresee you doing."

"Will he go back?" Harry asked anxiously.

I let out the smile. "No, but his reply is humorous."

Ron rolled his eyes. "I hate when you do this. Write the letter Harry."

"Okay." Harry said, looking curious. "What does the letter say Elizabeth?"

"Dear Sirius, I reckon I just imagined my scar hurting. I was half asleep when I wrote to you last time. There's no point coming back, everything's fine here. Don't worry about me, my head feels completely normal. Elizabeth says hi. Harry"

"Why didn't Harry write down that Ron and I said hi?" Hermione asked, a bit hurt.

"Actually he never put down any of our names, I just added that bit in." I said with a smile.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

I got up from where I was sitting. "I'll see you guys in the morning, okay? I want to get my Ancient Runes homework done before tonight."

I headed out of the Gryffindor common room and hurried to my own.

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𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 𝖉𝖆𝖞 passed and that night I went to the dungeons because I had my private lesson with Snape.

He was waiting, as he always was, behind our customary table, looking extremely annoyed. It wasn't me, I was two minutes early. Unless he was annoyed that I'd come early- I wouldn't know. But if I were to bet on it, I would've been it was Uncle Moody.

"What are we doing today?" I asked, sitting down across from him.

He glanced up at me and his expression changed. He blinked and then he cleared his throat and pulled out a piece of parchment. "I thought if you'd want to learn a new potion, something we wouldn't cover until sixth or seventh year and we can work on that."

I nodded, taking the piece of parchment and reading down a list of different potions. There were a lot of them and I tried to read all of them but I kept being brought back to a potion called Felix Felicis.

"Felix Felicis?" I murmured.

"Liquid luck." Snape said, gazing at me thoughtfully. "That's the one you want to work on?"

"Well. . . I think so. I keep being drawn back to it when I try to continue down the list so maybe there's a reason I should learn that one." I said, handing the parchment back to him.

He simply nodded, which was his usual reaction to most of what I said. He got up and headed off into his office, most likely to get ingredients or the instructions on how to boil the potion. I found myself daydreaming like I usually did. I was probably the most peculiar person ever. Wanting to learn, taking extra lessons without needing them, and also I had a crush on a teacher probably twenty years older than me.

I tried to work out the math in my head. Thirty when I was twelve so yeah about twenty years. Something like that. I didn't like thinking about the years though. I tried to make it seem like we were only a couple years apart. Didn't matter though- he certainly didn't like me back. Not romantically anyways.

He came out with the instructions. "These are the ingredients for the Felix Felicis." He said, pointing the top left hand corner. Ashwinder egg, Squill Bulb, Murtlap tentacle, Tincture of Thyme, Occamy eggshell, Powdered common rue. All of the ingredients were hard to come by except maybe the thyme, rue, and murtlap tentacle.

"You have to let it stew for six months before consumption." Snape said, continuing. "There's a long list of do's and don'ts as there usually are with potions."

I read the list. Shouldn't be taken in large quantities or every day. Highly toxic. Shouldn't be used in gaming events, etc.

"It's easy to get wrong. . ." I murmured. "The ingredients are expensive. . . Why the heck did I pick this?"

Snape pursed his lips, a sign he was trying not to smile- at least when it came to me. "You tell me."

I sighed and muttered, "Touché."

And so the lesson started.

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𝕺𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 couple of weeks, I wrote to dad twice and Trang three times. I didn't write about anything exciting with dad. Just asked if he'd found a job yet and reminded him about the gold in my vault which he was extremely annoyed about. He told me he had found something to do but I wasn't sure if he really had or if he was saying that to get me off his back. Trang and I just wrote about normal things and I filled her in about the Triwizard Tournament.

Uncle Moody was very demanding with his course-work though of course that was up to my standards. All the teachers, as a matter of fact, were giving out large amounts of homework. Animate to inanimate transformations in Transfiguration, weekly essays on goblin rebellions for History of Magic, researching antidotes in Potions, three extra books to read for summoning charms, coming down on alternate weekends to work with the blast-ended skrewts that Hagrid had gotten from somewhere, and researching how to throw off the Imperius curse for Moody.

Of course, Uncle Moody also told our class that he would be using the imperius curse on us and we had to throw if off. While many of the students dropped their mouths- whether in shock or horror, I don't know- no one complained and we all lined up. I was somewhere in the middle of the line.

Hannah sang in a way that I'd never heard her sing before. Like opera and I knew for a fact she couldn't have done that without the curse- she was tone-deaf. Ernie did handstand pushups, which I also knew he couldn't have done. Susan was supposed to be doing gymnastics, but she fought it a little bit and I thought she was going to break her neck. Moody was pleased with this- she'd come close to throwing it off. Susan seemed pleased as well.

"My Auntie will be happy when I tell her." She whispered to me as she passed by, beaming.

When it got to my turn, Moody turned the wand on me. It was a wonderful feeling, the curse. It was a floating sensation and I found that I had zero worries in my head. I felt relaxed too- a danger, I knew, in the magical world.

Do a backflip. . . do a backflip. . . Moody's voice said in my mind. A backflip? I was going to break my neck if I did that. Yet my knees were bent.

Stop! my brain screamed at me and I paused, trying my best to ignore Uncle Moody's words in my brain. You can't do a backflip! You don't know how to! My knees were still bent. I fixed my eyes on the desk in front of me. What if there's a desk behind you? Of course not, Uncle Moody do a backflip moved all the desks out of the way.

BACKFLIP NOW!

But I didn't do it, I couldn't. I straightened my legs out and I took a step forward. As long as you don't do the backflip, do something else. Do anything else, my brain said. I took another step, fighting hard not to bend my legs and flip. And the curse was gone.

"Look at that, you lot. . . Kane fought! She fought it and she beat it! Did you all see that! On her first try too!" Uncle Moody's eye was burning bright with pride and something else I didn't recognize. I didn't like the second emotion very much, even though I wasn't entirely sure what it was. "Very good Kane, very good! They'll have trouble controlling you! Now everyone watch again, watch the eyes, that's where you see it."

I did it once more, everyone staring at me. It was harder the second time, and I very nearly did the backflip. It took me longer to walk out of it but I managed to do it and by the time I was done, I was exhausted and glad Uncle Moody didn't have me do it a third time.

According to Susan, it took me one minute the first time and two minutes the second time. It wasn't exactly good, especially if I was in a fight. I wondered if maybe I could have Uncle Moody help me throw it off faster when we started private lessons.

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𝕾𝖊𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖒𝖇𝖊𝖗 𝖈𝖆𝖒𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 went and we entered October. I'd started private lessons with Moody. We alternated between throwing off the imperius curse and Occlumency. Dad and I had worked on Occlumency last year and I had gotten pretty okay with it. I was doing okay under Uncle Moody too but his will to get into my mind seemed to be stronger than dad's and so I had to concentrate harder under Uncle Moody and sometimes I didn't do so well.

I found it was harder to throw off the imperius curse when I was tired so Moody had started holding sessions when I was tired, hoping this would help build up resistance and practice but I still ended up doing a backflip anyways.

Cedric had started my Seeker lessons too. From what he could tell, I was a natural apparently. We usually did this on Saturday afternoons. The Quidditch pitch was never being used since there was no Quidditch cup.

When I left Charms on October 23, I made my way down to the Great Hall and saw that there was a large sign in the entrance hall. Many people were standing around it and I saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione enter the castle. They'd been out with Hagrid for Care of Magical Creatures.

I went over to them.

"What's going on Elizabeth?" Harry asked.

"It's about the Triwizard T-t-t-ournament." I said with a yawn. "Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be here on October 30th at 6 o'clock. Lessons will end half an hour early and students should return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle before the welcoming feast to greet the guests."

"Brilliant." Harry said. "Potions is the class that will be cut. Snape won't be able to poison us."

"Only a week away!" Ernie said who was standing next to me. "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him. . ."

"Go on ahead," I said. "but I think he already knows."

Ernie walked off and Ron said blankly, "Cedric?"

I rolled my eyes. "Really?"

"Diggory." Harry said with a smile. "He must be entering the tournament."

"That idiot, Hogwarts Champion?" Ron scoffed as he pushed his way through the crowd.

"He's not an idiot!" I said angrily, blood boiling. "You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at the game last year. He's really smart and a good student."

"And he's a prefect." Hermione said with a tone of finality.

"You only like him because he's handsome!" Ron said scathingly.

I bristled and Hermione said, "Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!"

Ron coughed "Lockhart."

I said even angrier, "Cedric's my friend! And you're just going to have to keep your nasty opinions to yourself!" And I stalked off, leaving them standing there, and headed to the library without eating to start researching antidotes.

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𝕴 𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙 𝖔𝖚𝖙 to the forest later that day. It was cold, as it was nearly winter time, and I wore a thick cloak and gloves.

I saw Firenze immediately upon entering the forest and greeted him cordially. "Hello Firenze, did you have a nice summer?"

"Indeed." Firenze said, "And I suppose you did as well?"

"Yes. I went to the Quidditch cup. Ireland won. I suppose you've heard about the Tournament?"

Firenze nodded. "Part of the forest has been cleared to house some of the creatures that will be used in the tournament."

"Like the dragons?" I asked curiously. Surely they weren't here yet.

"Not yet, though I'm sure soon." Firenze admitted.

"Charlie's going to bring them." I said, smiling. "Charlie Weasley that is. I don't think you know him though."

"The name sounds familiar." Firenze said slowly.

"Hagrid probably talked about him." I admitted as Firenze and I started to walk. "Does Bane like me yet?"

Firenze chuckled. "Not anymore than he has in the past, though he hasn't started any recent arguments."

I sighed. "Well that's something. But I will leave if I become a problem though I wouldn't want to of course. I love the forest."

Firenze's sapphire colored eyes twinkled and he threw his long blond hair back. Trang had showed me pictures of American surfers. Blond hair, blue eyes, tan skin. So basically, Firenze was a horse surfer man. "The forest is not ours to keep or give."

"Tell that to Bane." I muttered, though not loud enough for him to hear, though I suspect he did hear anyways because his lips twitched.

As the moon and stars came out, Firenze led me to a clearing and showed me the different planets. We'd been doing this for three years so I was starting to get good at it. "Is Venus brighter tonight than it usually is, or is that just my eyes?" I asked, looking up at the bright planet.

"Perhaps a bit brighter, but not much." Firenze said, also looking up. "I suppose it simply means there's going to be a lot of love this year."

I thought about that. Maybe dad would meet a woman this year. I certainly hoped so. I'd like a mum. But for unselfish reasons, I believed dad needed someone to love that wasn't his daughter. He was still a virgin after all. But such are the curses of being a werewolf.

I wondered if maybe I'd admit to Snape. . . absolutely not. Jumping jacks Elizabeth, how could you even possibly consider that?

I asked, "Do you have someone you love, Firenze?"

Firenze did not answer for a long time and then he said, "Centaurs are different. Mating is. . . rough sometimes. We're a dying breed Elizabeth Kane. The forest is not always safe for the females and foals."

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

Once again, it was a while before he spoke. Venus seemed to shine brighter as he said, "You are a joy in my life Elizabeth Kane. Never be sorry for perusing knowledge." Another pause and then, "Yes, I loved someone once. Perhaps I still love them, I don't know yet."

I didn't say anything. The cold was starting to get to me and he knew it. He smiled down at me. "Go on back to the castle Elizabeth. I'll see you another time."

"Bye Firenze." I said glumly, wishing that I hadn't brought the question up, and headed back out of the forest and then up to the castle. I'd missed curfew and hurried to the common room before I met a teacher or prefect.

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𝕺𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 before Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived, I sat down at the breakfast table next to Harry, avoiding Ron.

"Sirius letter comes today, that's the only reason I'm sitting here." I said coldly, barely aware of Fred and George nearby.

"Oh Elizabeth, just ignore Ron." Hermione said scathingly. "He doesn't think before he speaks."

"Clearly." I said bitterly.

Hedwig flew down on Harry's shoulder, folded her wings and held out her leg wearily. Harry offered Hedwig his bacon rinds and she took them. Harry glanced down at Fred and George and read out the reply.

Nice try, Harry. I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for yourself. Don't forget what I said about your scar. Sirius.

"Why d'you have to keep changing owls?" Ron asked stupidly.

"Hedwig'll attract too much attention. She stands out. A snowy owl that keeps returning to wherever he's hiding. . . I mean, they're not native birds, are they?"

"Thanks, Hedwig." Harry said, stroking her. She hooted sleepily and drank some of his orange juice and then flew back to the Owlery.

"I'll see you guys later at the welcoming." I muttered, getting up from the table now that the excitement was over. At that moment, Sadie flew down with a letter from dad. "Thanks Sadie." I said, petting the top of her head. "Help yourself to whatever you want."

Sadie hooted and I headed off down the corridor and sat down outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom since that was my first class today and opened the letter.

Dear Elizabeth, Stop worrying, I'm fine. Also, I don't think you should be worrying about your visions either. There could be a thousand reasons that there have been tweaks to your memories. I don't know any, but I'm sure if we knew how the visions worked, we could figure it out. Are you going to be coming home for Christmas? I know it's early considering it's only October but I thought about making plans. Of course, considering the tournament is happening, you'll probably want to stay and I wouldn't blame you. I would stay if I were you. I'm glad Uncle Moody is working on the imperius curse with you. Just don't get hurt. Brushing up on Occlumency probably doesn't hurt either. I love you. . . a lot Dad

I re-read the letter twice. I sighed and folded it up. I'd write a letter to him at lunch.

I stood up as Uncle Moody opened the door and shoved the letter into my bag.

People weren't being very attentive in my classes and I tried hard to focus on what my teachers were teaching despite the people chattering softly around me.

At lunch, I wrote a letter back to dad saying:

Dad, I can't stop worrying when I don't know if you're okay or not. And I can't stop worrying about my visions, what if someone's life were to depend on it? I wish I knew someone who could help me with them. I don't know about Christmas yet. I've heard rumours that there might be a dance on Christmas Eve and I think I want to attend that if I get invited. Of course, with my luck, if I stay at Hogwarts I won't be invited and if I leave, I'll get seventy invites. I'll let you know as Christmas gets closer. Uncle Moody's great. I don't know if he has the popularity that you did. He's not as well liked at any rate, but people respect him and think his classes themselves are cool. But you were more liked as a character. And your classes were more enjoyable. And you were more handsome of course. I love you a lot too. XOXO Elizabeth

Then, I scarfed down some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches- a first considering I hated bread. I just tore the crust off and ate the soft parts and it was alright but not my favorite. Then before I headed off to Charms, I wrote another letter.

Sirius, Glad you're back in town. I think I know where you're hiding so maybe I'll run up and give you food. Depends on if Harry let's me have his cloak or not. But maybe I can make it out of Hogwarts without it. I wouldn't go to your hiding spot anyways. I'd hide it nearby, maybe by the Shrieking Shack. Not sure yet and I'll let you know before I do it so you won't have to check every day. By tomorrow we'll know who the tournament champions are. I haven't foreseen them yet- don't know why. Hope Buckbeak and you are alright. XOXO Elizabeth

Then I folded both of them up and put them in my bag. I'd send them off eventually. Probably tomorrow or later today.

Charms ended a half hour early and I hurried to the Hufflepuff common room to put my things away. In my bag, I put my journal, art pad, a couple of quills, one bottle of ink, and an old fashioned charcoal pencil.

I hurried back down the stairs, excited. I knew Viktor Krum was going to be part of the Durmstrang group. Though he would be sitting with the Slytherins, much to my disappointment. But it would be cool to see him in such a different atmosphere.

I had to stand with the Hufflepuffs as we had to stand by house and then grade level. I was standing in the fourth row and I was glad I was much taller this year. If I hadn't grown, I would never have been able to see over the third-years head that I was standing behind.

The cold seemed to be getting to a couple of the other students. I didn't mind. I had my cloak wrapped about my shoulders.

After some time, Dumbledore called from the back where he was standing with the teachers, "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

I looked up in the sky over the Forbidden Forest as other students cried, "Where!" I felt students moving behind me and then Cedric was standing next to me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, pursing my lips, looking up at him.

He grinned. "Getting a closer look."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not that hard to miss."

Cedric smiled a secret grin but didn't say anything.

One of the fifth-year girls tutted behind me and I heard her whisper to her friend, "What's he doing with her?"

"Maybe their dating!" Her friend whispered back jealously.

"Oooh I would hope Cedric had better taste than that." The first whispered. "Her hair is so messy."

I nearly reached up to touch my hair and see how it was when Cedric bent down and whispered in my ear, "Your hair is fine."

I glared at him. "You could just be saying that."

"But I'm not." He said and shrugged. "And I personally think my taste is good, what do you think?"

I blushed.

Then the carriage, that had been traveling in the sky, landed in front of us with a large crash. A shockwave went through the ground and a couple people jumped or knocked into each other. Cedric and I bumped into each other and he caught my arm and steadied me. Both girls hissed behind me.

"Are you trying to get me killed by your fanclub?" I asked lightly through my teeth so that they didn't hear me.

Cedric rolled his eyes. "It was a simple helping hand, it's not like I kissed you or anything."

I turned beet red, whipping my face away from his so he didn't see how red my face was. The words 'just friends' kept racing through my mind.

The carriage was the size of a large house, probably a bit bigger than Trang's house. It was powder-blue and it was pulled by 12 palomino horses the size of elephants. The horses had fiery red eyes.

"Wow," I exclaimed, standing on my tip toes to get a better look, wishing I could get closer to them, "Palomino Abraxan horses!"

Cedric looked down at me in surprise and said, "You know how lovely that is that you know what those are?"

I shrugged, not understanding the meaning behind his words. "I just pay attention in Care of Magical Creatures."

The door to the house carriage was opened by a boy in pale blue robes. He was obviously seventeen and had white hair. He unfolded a set of golden steps down from the house and then sprang back in respect.

A large woman emerged, the same size as Hagrid. Her shoes were size children sleds and her dress was of black velvet. She was a handsome woman, despite the large size. She was olive-skinned and had large black eyes like Hagrid's. She had a bit of a beaky nose and her long black hair was pulled back into a low bun that hung at the base of her neck. She had magnificent opals gleaming at her throat as a necklace and had many rings upon her fingers that were laden with opals as well.

One of the teachers, most likely Dumbledore, started to clap and we quickly followed his lead. The woman seemed to relax more and smiled. She had pearly white teeth and she obviously cared about hygiene. I decided that I liked her. She seemed friendly enough. She had good style too.

She walked over to where Dumbledore now stood, having separated from the rest of the teachers. She extended a glittering hand and while Dumbledore was tall himself, he did not have to bend to kiss her hand. "My dear Madam Maxime, Welcome to Hogwarts." He said.

"Dumbly-dorr, I 'ope I find you well?" She asked in a thick accent. I bit my tongue so I didn't laugh. I was probably going to think of Dumbledore as Dumbly-dorr for a long time.

"In excellent form, I thank you." Dumbly-dorr said. I bit my tongue again.

"My pupils." She said and I looked back at the carriage. There were about a dozen boys and girls- more girls than boys- all standing behind Madam Maxime. They all wore one of three outfits. Beauxbatons had three houses: Bellefeuille, Papillonlisee, and Ombrelune.

The students of Bellefeuille were lovers of nature and also had great bravery and loyalty. It was a house as such if Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were combined. They wore outfits made of silk (all Beauxbatons wore outfits made of silk) in the colors of soft green and white. They house symbol was a leaf to represent their love for nature.

Papillonlisee were gifted in arts of visual and musical. Whether performing arts like dance or musical talents like singing or instrumental. They also prided themselves on beauty of mind and beauty of appearance. Their colors were purple and blue and their symbol was a butterfly to represent creativity and beauty.

Ombrelune were the cunning and manipulative group. Basically Slytherin in another school. They were usually best at intricate subjects like Potions and literature. They also rarely displayed emotion unless there was a gain in doing so. Their colors were grey and navy and their symbol was a moon to represent their coldness (I think). I could've made up the meaning in my dislike for them.

There seemed to be mostly Papillonlisee students above the other houses. Two of the four boys were Ombrelune, one Papillonlisee, and one Bellefeuille. About three of the girls were Bellefeuille and the rest were Papillonlisee.

They stared up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.

"'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madam Maxime was asking now.

"He should be here any moment. Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?" Dumbledore asked cordially.

"Warm up, I think. But ze 'orses-"

"Our Care of Magical Creatures will be delighted to take care of them the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other- er- charges." Dumbledore finished.

I giggled and said, "The Skrewts." Cedric grinned.

"My steeds require-er- foreful 'andling. Zey are very strong..." Madam Maxime said in a doubtful voice.

"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job." Dumbledore assured her.

"Very well. Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt Whiskey?" Madam Maxime asked, bowing slightly.

"It will be attended to." Dumbledore said, also bowing, though his was a bit deeper than hers. Perhaps her frame simply didn't allow it.

"Come." Madam Maxime said and her students followed her up into the castle.

"How are the Durmstrang getting here?" Cedric murmured in my ear.

"Pirate Ship." I muttered.

Cedric and I watched the lake though others were watching the sky. Ten minutes later, there was a weird gurgling sound and Lee Jordan shouted, "The lake! Look at the lake!"

As predicted, a ship rose up from the black lake. I wondered briefly where it had come from as the lake did not connect with any other body of water. Though the ship did look as though it was a ghost ship from a Scooby-doo episode- just not glowing.

A tall thin man built along the lines of Dumbledore was leading the students off the plank. They wore heavy fur coats and cloaks along with fur hats. I knew underneath that their uniforms would be blood red. They did not have houses. They also were more selective and would not accept Muggle-born students. This prejudice was not shared with every student, I knew. However, to make up for student shortage, Durmstrang let students come from Bulgaria and other surrounding countries, not just the country it was located in.

Durmstrang was, of course, notorious for its Dark Arts program and I worried for a little bit about the Beauxbaton and Hogwarts champion. I hoped that the Durmstrangs would play fair.

Igor Karkaroff was the one leading in front and his robes were the color of silver unlike his students, which were brown. He had short gray hair and a small black goatee that curled at the end of his chin. He had rather yellow teeth and cold eyes.

"Dumbledore! How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?" he called as he led his students up the walk.

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff." Dumbledore replied, smiling.

They shook hands as Karkaroff then said, "Dear Old Hogwarts. How good it is to be here, how good. . . Viktor, come along, into the warmth. . . you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold. . ." Karkaroff beckoned Viktor towards him and the boy passed. I heard multiple people break out into whispers of excitement.

"Well." I said as the Durmstrang students passed. "This ought to be an interesting year."

We dispersed back to the Great Hall. I sat down at the Hufflepuff table as I was sure I had to and pulled out my art book. I was working on designs at the moment- new Quidditch robes for a new team. The Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students came to sit down. I knew, from my vision that Beauxbatons were to sit at Ravenclaw- Durmstrang to Slytherin.

However, while the Beauxbatons sat down at the Ravenclaw table, Durmstrang came and sat with us. And more to my surprise (as I had foreseen Krum sitting down next to Draco) Krum sat down next to me.

I looked over in surprise.

"Hello." He said in a quiet voice.

"Hi." I said, a bit in surprise.

He pointed to my sketchpad, "You like Quidditch?"

I looked back down at the robes I was working on and blushed. "Oh, yes. I came to the World Cup. You flew wonderfully- but I'm sure you get compliments all the time."

"You ver in the top box, no?"

I nodded, surprised that he remembered. There were curious glances from all around the school- and hostile glares from girls. Great I'd gone from Cedric to Krum.

"You 'ave a very impressive school." He said, looking around. "Durmstrang is not as nice as this."

"Oh." I said in surprise. I noticed the other Durmstrang were picking up the golden plates and goblets and observing them in awe and with impressed faces. They were smiling and removing their cloaks. "Thank you." I added.

I looked up to see Ron goggling at me and Hermione rolling her eyes.

"May I look?" Viktor asked, pointing to the art book. I slid it over. This artbook was completely Quidditch so there wasn't a single embarrassing drawing in there.

I had however, done profiles of both Lynch and Krum and Viktor stopped on his own. "This is very good." He said, sounding impressed.

"Thank you." I said again. "Er- do you think you could sign it please?" I asked, blushing. "I know you probably get requests all the time."

"Sure." He said, sounding pleased. He produced a quill from his bag and signed the page. It was neat and small, quite unlike Lockhart's huge scrawling signature.

"Thanks." I said for a third time.

Professor Dumbledore, Madam Maxime, and Professor Karkaroff quickly came in. The Beauxbaton students leapt to their feet and remained standing- despite the laughter- until their headmistress had sat down again. Dumbledore however, remained standing and our chatter quickly died down.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and- most particularly-guests. I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

A Beauxbaton girl laughed a shrill laugh. I pursed my lips and tried not to glare at her. I got defensive about my school- I'm sure everyone did. It was a bit of an insult that she thought she wouldn't enjoy her stay here.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home." Dumbledore said and sat down. Karkaroff immediately leaned forward to talk to him.

Krum and I talked throughout the meal. He was a very interesting character, very different from who I thought he might be like. I didn't reveal a lot about myself. I'm sure rumours would be flying soon and I wanted to give him an honest view about myself without seeming too open.

Halfway through the feast, I noticed that Ludo Bagman and Mr. Crouch had showed up, taking seats on either side of the two new school heads.

When dessert came, I noticed that there were many different desserts that had never been there before. I supposed they were foreign. Krum pointed to a dish and said, "That is called Kurabiiki. Cookie, I suppose."

I decided I'd try one, per his recommendation. It was really good too. They were sweet, with powdered sugar across the tops of them.

"They're really good." I said, smiling at him after I had finished trying it.

He pointed out some other Bulgarian desserts like Banista, Kazanlak Donuts, Maslenki cookies, Bulgarian Honey cookies, and Tikvenik. He also pointed out desserts like Smelor buns and Kladdkaka which were native to Sweden and Cozonac, Romanian Chocolate cake, and Romanian Sweet Cheese pies which were native to Romania. (duh).

Dumbledore stood up once the dessert plates were clear and there was silence. Many of the students leaned forward to hear better. "The moment has come. The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket, just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was polite applause for Mr. Crouch and huge burst of applause for Bagman, even from the foreign schools.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch," Dumbledore continued, "have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madam Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts. The casket then, if you please, Mr. Filch."

Mr. Filch was wearing his horribly moldy tailor coat for the special occasion. I kept looking at Mr. Crouch. He looked horribly sick. I wondered what was wrong with him. He looked weird in wizard robes after seeing him in a suit at the Cup. His mustache and parting looked peculiar next to Dumbledore's long beard. Had Voldemort gotten to him already?

Mr. Filch carried forward a large wooden chest that was encrusted with jewels. I wondered briefly how much the jewels were worth. Probably millions in Muggle money. The wooden chest looked extremely old and probably very valuable by itself, despite the jewels.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman, and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways. . . their magical prowess- their daring- their powers of deduction-and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

At the word danger, the whole Great hall seemed to be holding its breath. "As you know, three champions compete in the tournament, one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by the impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

"Oh." I gasped slightly, swinging my legs around so I could sit on my knees and see better. The Goblet of Fire was a wonderful artifact that had to be charged once a year and such. Dumbledore took out his wand and tapped three times upon the jewel encrusted crate. The lid creaked open slowly and Dumbledore pulled out a large, wooden cup, perhaps about the size of the Quidditch House Cup trophy that Gryffindor had won last year. The wooden cup itself was unremarkable but there were blue-white flames that were dancing inside of it, filling the entire cup with its flames.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete. To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross the line."

Dumbledore paused, looking around seriously at the students and then said, "Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

The students all hopped up and dispersed. I said good night to Viktor Krum, and made my way with the other Hufflepuffs back to our common room. I stayed up, pulling out a fresh sketchbook that I was going to use to draw scenes from the Tournament. My first drawing was a very detailed sketch of the Goblet of Fire.

💙💙💙💙

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 I woke up early. I grabbed my Nimbus because today Cedric and I were going down to the pitch to practice. I wondered briefly if Krum would see and then scolded myself. I had enough crushes to last me a lifetime.

I made my way down to the Great Hall and grabbed some toast and made my way to the entrance hall. I wasn't the only early riser. Cedric was already waiting there with his own broom.

"Ready to go?" He asked as I chomped down on my jam and toast.

"Not yet." I said, taking another bite of toast and then swallowing. "I want to watch Fred and George."

"They can't enter, can they?" Cedric asked, frowning.

"No." I said, grinning. "But they're going to grow wonderful beards."

We settled down. Harry, Hermione, and Ron came and sat down. Harry sat next to me and Ron sat farthest away.

"Anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked a third-year in front of him.

"All the Durmstrang lot, but I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet." She replied, not turning around to see who she was talking to.

"You put your name in, didn't you?" I asked Cedric, frowning.

"Last night." He replied.

There was laughter behind us and I grinned, turning to see Fred, George, and Lee coming down the staircase, looking excited.

"Done it." Fred said in a triumphant whisper to Harry, Hermione, Ron, and I, trying to keep Cedric out of the conversation. "Just taken it."

"What?" Ron asked stupidly.

"The Aging Potions, dung brains." Fred said.

"One drop each." George said, rubbing his hands together. "We only need to be a few months older."

"We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins." Lee said with a wide grin.

"I'm not sure-" Hermione started in a warning voice and I quickly shushed her.

"Ready?" Fred asked, winking at me. I rolled my eyes. "C'mon then- I'll go first." I watched him take his parchment slip out of his pocket and walked over to where the line was drawn and stood there, rocking on his toes with anticipation. Every eye was on him, knowing that he wasn't of age and seeing if it was going to work.

He stepped over the line and nothing happened. George let out a yell of triumph, jumping in after Fred. There was a sizzling sound and they were thrown out of the circle, landing ten feet away and beards popped onto both of their faces.

I burst out laughing. The beards weren't long and white, the way I'd seen. But they were nice, bushy, and red like their hair. I wasn't sure why the beards had changed but it was great. I think I preferred the red ones better.

"I did warn you." an amused voice said. Professor Dumbledore was coming out of the Great Hall. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."

This brought another round of laughter and Fred and George headed up to the Hospital wing. Lee followed them, laughing as well. I wondered how many people Madam Pomfrey would have in the hospital wing by the end of the day.

"Alright, shows over." I said to Cedric, "Ready to go?"

Cedric and I said bye to Harry and Hermione, ignoring Ron, and headed outside to play Quidditch. Cedric had borrowed the snitch from Madam Hooch.

We passed the ship where many of the Durmstrang were lounging around. I saw Krum and quickly looked away, trying not to draw attention to us. I was also trying not to stare.

"Did you support Ireland or Bulgaria?" I asked suddenly. "At the match?"

"Ireland of course, you?"

"Ireland." I said. "But I like all Quidditch teams so I liked the outcome."

"You like Krum?"

"Sure, he seems like a nice person. He was really friendly last night too." I said reluctantly.

"Yes, very friendly." Cedric said curtly.

"What?" I asked, frowning. "Don't tell me your jealous or something."

Cedric kept his mouth closed and I rolled my eyes, "Oh c'mon Ced, we're friends, you and I. I can be friends with whoever I want."

Cedric sighed, running a hand through his hair, blowing air out through is mouth. "Right, yeah, I know that."

"C'mon love boy." I said, hooking my elbow with his and dragged him into the Quidditch pitch.

Cedric let the snitch go and we both mounted our brooms and flew to opposite posts. I had a faster broom but Cedric had more practice so we were evenly matched. The objective was to find the snitch without stopping on the broom once.

I flew in circles around the stadium, looking for a glint of gold. I saw it, near Cedric's foot and I decided to try out the Wonski-Feint. I dived down and to my amazing luck, Cedric dove as well, leaving the Snitch behind him. Then, I curved upwards, shooting past him and held my hand out for the snitch. I caught it as Cedric came up to my side.

"Brilliant move Liz." He said, smiling. "Let's go again."

I let the snitch go and it zoomed away. We circled back to where we started out and tried again.

It started to sprinkle sometime in the afternoon and we both flew down. I had the snitch in my hand again and I gave it back to Cedric. I was exhausted and my butt hurt from sitting on the broom for a couple of hours.

"My butts sore." I muttered. "I'm not going to be able to sit down for a while."

Cedric laughed, "Get used to it."

I noticed that Harry, Hermione, and Ron were at Hagrid's and I said good-bye to Cedric and headed over there, running to get away from the rain.

I opened the door to find that Hermione and Hagrid were having an argument about elf rights. "It'd be doin' 'em an unkindness, Hermione. It's in their nature ter look after humans, that's what they like, see? yeh'd be makin' 'em unhappy ter take away their work, an' insultin' 'em if yeh tried ter pay 'em." Hagrid said, putting a large bone needle through some yellow yarn.

"Amen." I said.

"Hello Elizabeth." Hagrid greeted me.

"But Harry set Dobby free, and he was over the moon about it! And we heard he's asking for wages now!" Hermione said as though this applied to every elf.

"Yeah, well, yeh get weirdos in every breed. I'm not sayin' there isn't the odd elf who'd take freedom, but yeh'll never persuade most of 'em ter do it- no, nothin' doin', Hermione." Hagrid said, shaking his head.

"Besides." I said, sitting down in a chair, laying my broom across my legs. "Dobby was in a horrible household. I bet if he'd been under the Weasleys care or Dad's or Harry's, he wouldn't have wanted to be set free because he'd have been in a loving home, not a cruel one."

Hermione was glowering with anger as she put the box of badges back into her coat pocket. I didn't stay for long and I went back up to the castle before the others. As I crossed the threshold, I saw Uncle Moody, observing. I waved, but didn't talk to him as I made my way to the Hufflepuff common room.

A vision crossed my head and I froze in my tracks. But that couldn't be possible. . . could it? I debated about what to do and I quickly hurried into the dungeons before I really made up my mind. I flew through the door, panting, trembling. Snape looked up from behind his desk, annoyed, and then his face turned to understanding and slightly concerned.

"What did you see?" He asked as I approached his desk. I sat down in a chair, trembling. "Is it bad?"

I nodded my head, trying to find the words to speak and then I said, "A fourth name is going to come out of the Goblet of Fire!"

"Whos?" He asked sharply. "How?"

I shook my head. "I don't know who put the name in or how it was done. But considering it had to be hoodwinked, either a dark wizard or a powerful one."

"Who's name?" He asked again.

I licked my lips, trying to get the word out. I rubbed my eyes, caught my breath and then, looking up at him, finally managed to say, "Mine." 

⬅️➡️

[regular-lord-reckoner]

it is spring time and appropriately, i have been a very busy bee !!

i'm on much needed pto and it is wonderful. i somehow managed to get completely caught up on all my work before i left so i'm not stressed about when i go back next week

i've mostly been sleeping a lot which i desperately needed and i've been doing a lot of things i've meant to for a while now

namely scheduling doctors appointments and updating my insurance everywhere i need to and that sort of shit, plus some legal stuff my mom and i are doing for some of my dad's stuff.

since monday i also started finally working on my closet again. i had to stop last time and toss everything back in there because...yeah, but now that i can spread some things out again i've made a lot of progress so far

every day i go in with the goal of getting out at least one bag of stuff to throw away and i've also moved out a bunch of clothes i'll need to sort through and a few other things i might be able to give away

feel like i can actually breathe in there again so that's nice. needed that. i'll probably work on it some more over the next two days and then take a break but it should be a lot easier now that i've really gotten the ball rolling to finish it up and fingers fucking crossed this time it'll be all done by the fall where it can just be my nice closet again and i can actually find things !!

i also finally went to get my oil changed today and fortunately there were no other problems so that went smoothly !! i got it washed, too (not that it matters now because it's pouring rain outside now lol) and i stopped to get my mom a birthday card and a gift bag for her present since her birthday is on monday !!

other than all of that i'm just trying to take it easy and unwind. trying to still rest a lot and not push myself too hard or do anything i don't feel up to.

for the past, mmm, i dunno, while i've just been full of piss and vinegar if that wasn't evident so i've tried to just be real quiet and keep to myself until i can feel less overwhelmed.

i'm still in that time out corner for now but i'm starting to feel a lot better so that's something! i've been doing a lot of cleaning lately as well (i did my bathroom on monday and will be doing laundry all throughout the week as week as well as the usual dishes and garbage duty) so that usually helps me feel a bit better.

it's also very cathartic just...throwing a bunch of shit away !! and having more space !! yay !!

oh, i also finally had therapy again after like...a month and i'm not sure yet what my new insurance situation will look like, but i think we're all happy to be done with my old insurance (she was telling me about something weird they did that i just...cannot fathom (something about mailing her a paper credit card that no one would accept ?? idk), but oh well, good riddance !!) and i'm slowly but surely working on paying her back !!

lastly, i tried a new coffee place today because i'm still trying to figure out which local coffee spot will be my new favorite now that i no longer haunt starbucks or dunkin and i went to this new one today and i....i definitely ordered a chai...a 32 oz one at that because why not, i love chai.... whatever they gave me definitely was not chai.

i'm not sure what it is exactly, but it's definitely got coffee in it and i thought at first maybe it was a dirty chai but no. and it's no big deal, i took it and just drove on but what's baffling to me is i was the only customer at that time.

nobody in front of me, no one behind me and maybe they were doing a mobile order or something but i had to sit there for a few minutes while they made it and it was...not at all what i was expecting, but also not bad !! haven't had an iced coffee in a minute so i'll take it !! (they also put a little chocolate covered espresso bean on the top which was very good)

anyway, i thought that was kinda funny. i've also finished all my chores and errands for the day now so i might take a nap or i might read or who knows what i might do, i actually have time to myself !!!!

just wanted to give a little update since for once it isn't me just bitchin' about things XD

hope if you're reading this that you're doing well and i'll be back to being a human (or as close to it as i get) ....sometime !! <3

[sleepy-achilles]

We always refer to hbtaker being married, could you write what you think their wedding would be like?

Idk why I always imagine they have an outdoor wedding

I actually started writing a fic about drew and Leon's wedding when I was working weddings.

Hate weddings. With a passion. So. I'll give it a shot. I am not writing vows though. Love me or hate me. I can't. I can't even think about what I'd say at my own.

Hbtaker- Wedding

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

The big day had arrived.

Taker and shawn were finally getting married.

Now. It wasn't a easy journey. They quickly found out any type of church was off the menu. Taker couldn't spend more than five minutes in them before his skin started to hiss and the demon in him tried to claw his way out. Not that Shawn ever cared much for the typical church wedding. It's not like they had a blushing bride to walk down the aisle. Just two men..two wrestlers. Yeah Shawn didn't like to think about it. It made them sound like some punchline to a shitty joke.

So church was a no. Also no pastor, priest or pope would be a option either. They are practically gods bestfriends, taker couldn't even look at one without getting goosebumps.

So they had to find a venue and someone who could legally marry them before the set date.

Which taker found a lot easier than Shawn. Taker was quick to talk to goldust who gladly agreeded to marry the pair and then they just had to find a venue. It's not until one night that they were walking through the valley that taker saw it.

--

"The hill" taker points. Shawn glances at the hill with the massive tree on top. "The hill? It's been there forever, yes" Shawn nods. "No..I mean let's get married there. I mean..we've had so many good memories at that tree, it only seems right." Taker huffs. Shawn pauses for a moment. Taker can practically hear the cogs turning. "The hill will be the perfect spot" Shawn nods with a smile. "There. That's the problems solved then" taker shrugs. "Is it? Who's marrying us?" Shawn asks. "Goldust." "Right. That actually makes a lot of sense." Shawn mutters as they continue walking.

--

Then it was just the matter of best man and groomsmen. Which is a lot harder than you think when one of you has no friends.

--

"I have friends!" Taker protests. "Name one that isn't me or Shawn. Or your own brother." Goldust orders. Taker pauses, sighs and then slumps down into his chair. "Exactly." Shawn huffs. "Okay hot shot, who's yours?" Taker asks. "Easy, kevins my best man because, well duh, he's the reason there's a wedding. Then the other boys, hunter, Scott and kid are my groomsmen." Shawn shrugs. "And what about Leon and John?" Taker asks. "Looks like their yours" Shawn smirks. Taker flips him off. "Leon's our little flower boy" goldust smiles. "Leon? A flower boy?" Taker asks. "Yeah I was a bit skeptical about it at first but he's excited to pelt flowers at people so he's agreed" Shawn explains. "Of course he is." Taker sighs. "And John?" Taker asks. "Ring bearer." Goldust hums. "Works" Taker nods.

"Now your best men. Let's think about the options." Goldust sighs.

--

The option where obvious.

Kane and the bsk. Well..some of them.

So they had it down. The venue of the wedding, the guy marrying them, the best men, flower boy and ring boy. Everything was coming up good.

--

"Where'd you want the after party?" Taker asks as they sit eating breakfast. "Leon, mouth not John's hair" Shawn scolds as the youngest flings fruit loops into the others hair. John jerks up and glares at the boy. Clearly someone didn't sleep last night. "Taker we are literally in the biggest house I've ever seen with the biggest garden. I think we can hold it here" Shawn states looking at his fiance. "I know I just thought you might want something bigger" Taker shrugs. "No. I'm fine with this baby. I told you, this isn't about the party, its about us" Shawn tells him. Taker smiles. His smile doesn't last long as colourful cereal is suddenly thrown at him.

The house falls quiet, other than the noise of Charlie eating the soggy sugar. John and Leon stare at their father, both covered in milk and cereal. Shawn sucks in his lower lip as he fights back a laugh. Taker slowly turns his gaze from Shawn to the kids. The kids don't stick around long to find out what that gaze will lead too.

--

The smaller details of the wedding were easier to sort.

Now back to the big day.

--

Shawn let out a shakey breathe as he ran his hands over the all white suit. It was a cliche, it was cringy, but god damn didn't shawns love it when goldust suggested they wear light and dark themed suits.

"You look beautiful papa" a small voice whispers. Shawn looks in the mirror to see John stood in the doorway. Shawn smiles. "Thank you baby. How's it looking out there?" Shawn asks. "Beautiful" John smiles. "And dad?" "Handsome" "I knew you knew more words" Shawn chuckles walking over. "Um....who's walking you down the aisle?" John asks quietly. Shawn pauses.

He knew they forgot something.

"Fuck!" Shawn gasps. John's eyebrows rise. "Dont worry baby, I'm here to save the day" Kevin smiles. "Best man wasn't good enough for ya?" Shawn asks. "Well it's either me or vinnie. And well, vinnie has had a few drinks already...because of your youngest" Kevin smirks. "Of course Leon's getting people drunk" Shawn sighs. "Tryna calm nerves. Vince has asked to give taker the shovel talk twenty times before your little shit got some alcohol in him" Kevin admits. "Is dad being walked down the aisle?" John asks. "Yeah, kinda, him and kane are walking down it together. None of us will get to see it though. Real shame" Kevin shrugs.

Kevin takes Shawn in. "You look beautiful doll" Kevin smiles. "I know. Johnny already told me" shawn smirks as the door opens again. All three turn to see little Leon Michaels in his suit. "And looks like daddy's already got to you" shawn chuckles as the boys tie is missing and his top buttons are undone. 'Auntie chyna and goldust' Leon signs as shawn picks him up. "Making you a real ladies man huh?" Kevin chuckles. Shawn hums as he runs his hands through Leon's freshly cut hair. The boy allowed them to cut his hair for the wedding. Leon turns out to like the short cut trim but insist he wants to grow his bangs back out.

In other words, he'll be gaining a undercut with curtains pretty soon.

"You both look handsome" Shawn states looking at John. "Thanks papa" john smiles. Leon just frowns at him. "Well, let's get going than, you gotta get married"

--

Taker sighs and mutters his vows to himself. He sent Leon off to tell them everything's ready, Leon who himself looked like a Boytoy on the prowl thanks to goldust and chyna but also the fact Leon could deal with the tie around his neck.

Taker glances at goldust before the tree behind him. "Can you be honest with me?" Goldust asks quietly. "Sure I can. I'm always honest with you" Taker states. "I know. That's a problem we will work on another day." Goldust mutters. "Whats the problem now?" Taker asks. "You two had sex in this exact spot before?" Goldust asks. Taker pauses, looks at goldust then at the tree and hill. "Honestly? All over this hill. It's a golden spot" Taker shrugs. "I bet it is you horn dog. Children hang out here" goldust chuckles. "We always have a blanket or clean up. Don't worry" Taker smiles. Goldust can't help but smile. "Glad I've got the nerves outta your system" goldust chuckles. "Of course you sly fox" "not me, but him" goldust nods.

Taker turns and can't help but let his mouth agape as shawn comes into view. "Hes beautiful" Taker whispers. "I know. Your welcome." Goldust whispers. Taker can't help but smile. Goldust looks at him and smiles. A look of true love plastered on his face. Taker watches as Leon throws flowers at the crowd, aiming for their faces, John follows behind him with the rings and behind him, Kevin and shawn clearly joking about something.

Once they stop infront of taker, Kevin looks at taker. "You know the drill. You hurt him, it ain't just me you gotta worry about" Kevin states. "I know" taker chuckles shaking kevins hand. "And I wouldn't fight back" taker adds. "I know" Kevin smirks before kissing shawns temple and placing shawns hand in takers. "Have fun kids" Kevin smiles before joining the othe kliq members.

----

The wedding was great. Even if everyone made ewe noises as they kissed.

The after party? It was 100% funnier.

Kids running around, adults laughing.

Taker stands in the middle of the platform on the grand staircase, watching the party. "There's my handsome husband" a voice purrs. Taker turns towards the right stairs to see Shawn leaning against the banister. "I thought you were keeping the kliq under control?" Taker asks moving towards him. "I was...before I had another idea." Shawn smiles placing a hand on his chest. Taker smirks. "Yeah? Gonna make us sneak away from our own wedding party?" Taker asks. "We have 10 minutes before the speeches start. You still good with quickies?" Shawn asks pulling him closer by the shirt. "Not gonna be the perfect blushing bride and wait till tonight?" Taker teases. "Oh please, how do you think John exists?" Shawn smirks.

"Ah fuck it. I can get the job done in 5" Taker smirks pulling shawn upstairs. "Better be good if your cutting my time from 10 to 5" Shawn huffs.

-

Kevin leans against the wall. "Whatcha watching?" Goldust asks. "Our newly weds sneaking off to complete the marriage" Kevin hums as he sip his beer. "Of course. They couldn't wait for the speeches to be finished" goldust sighs handing Kevin a fifty. "Oh imma be rich tonight" Kevin smirks. "Who else?" Goldust asks. "Everyone here" Kevin smiles. Both men pause as Leon steps forward, hand out and ready. "Shit, I forgot about you" Kevin groans. "Oh baby, you still owe him?" Goldust smirks as Kevin hands the fifty over. "It was a stupid bet. I was drunk" Kevin sighs as the small boy smirks at him before walking off.

"Atleast two people are gaining from your bet" goldust chuckles before patting kevins shoulder and walking away.

[colorcodedbeanies]

S1E2-"The Cat's in the Bag"

That's right two in one day I'm in a hormones induced fugue. If i focus might knock out a third tonight. This one shorter

TW: Violence, racism, gore description

also note: I use Native American and Indigenous as the general term because they're what I've been led to believe is acceptable but let me know if there's something else I could be using/some grammar hink going on here.

Indigenous people in Breaking Bad are a background element I'm hoping to also make clearer to myself in this watchthrough, especially since it's a throughline that gets picked up again with Better Call Saul and the Kettlemans. There are no major Native American characters in the series, and yet they keep popping up in a way that reads as both prop-like and intended as thematic. This episode in particular opens with a Native American man towing Walt and Jesse's RV out of the ditch, and ends with two Indigenous children playing in the wreckage left behind by their cook. The ABQ area is home to a couple of different tribes. The only reservation that I believe is named in the show is To’Hajiilee, which is occupied by the Cañoncito Band of Navajos. Until provided with other information I'll assume that's the nation to which these unnamed characters belong. Again, I do want to drill in on how badly these characters are props. None of them even have speaking lines. Additionally, its part of the running theme where most brown characters are positioned in opposition to law enforcement. The man who tows them out accepts their bribe to keep silent about anything he's seen. However, given the work the previous episode has done to establish law enforcement as a. deeply racist and b. wildly destructive. There's an argument to be made that this is one of the most human things these characters could do. Rather than concern themselves with something that's not their problem to begin with, they instead keep their mouths shut and profit where they can. I don't want to go too far down this as a overarching read, both because it risks extending the show too much credit and because I think there's a tendency to sanitize the legacy of colonialism into just. White people being corny and Indigenous people giving knowing eyerolls, rather than a system of routine violence. But still, given that this is an analysis focused on race and law enforcement, its worthwhile to me to bring up instances where this is even glanced on.

There's an entitlement to Jesse's space which Walt perpetually demonstrates that really starts to rear its head here. Jesse's just going to have to be ok with Walt storing two dead bodies and a wrecked meth lab in his driveway, because after all, he can't very well bring it back to his nice normal house with his nice normal family can he? Jesse is also expected to take responsibility for whatever happens to the bodies, despite them both being Walt's kills This is played for a joke (resulting in at least one Tiktok audio) but it does have lasting impact on Jesse as he navigates dealing with Emilio's body and Domingo as a hostage. It makes him so uncomfortable that he feels the need to get high just to stay in his own house. All of this is something that either doesn't occur to Walt, or that he just doesn't care about. This is an entitlement that's reflected in Skyler later when she goes to confront Jesse. She barges in his front gate before yelling at him about having the audacity to touch her. The Whites don't understand themselves as criminals. Again, they're nice normal people, not like this "druggie burnout". He isn't protected by things like legality and decency, and anything they say or do to him should be considered reasonable frustration or concern. This culminates in Skyler's line "not that it's any of my business, but you might want to consider a new line of work". This line isn't just ironic, but deeply telling about how the American middle class views drug dealing. A choice, and perhaps even a waste of talent that needs to be scolded back into the fold, or locked away where decent people don't have to see it.

In general Walt's not great at predicting human behavior. He's admittedly having to learn as he goes, but it doesn't even occur to him that his wife might check the call history. Or that she might even notice when he's scream whispering at the phone in the middle of their living room.

This is drilled down on further in the "chiral" scene. Two chemical compounds, seemingly identical, that yet behave very differently. This I believe is meant to be understood as Walt attempting to pitch his joint identity as both druglord and loving father. Can't I be both? And yet the bleedthrough is evident. "Is this going to be on the murder/midterm?" This is also a duality Walt struggles to grant anyone else. After blustering a bit about drug dealers having any kind of administrative structure he asks Jesse if Domingo's "capable" of listening to reason. As a distributor, a "business man", "he should be capable of mutual self-interest". There's a lot you can say here about how white suburbia conceptualizes capitalism, how it should be a system that prevents rash acts of temper, because after all, doesn't trade serve everyone better? Suffice to say this is going to come up again when Domingo talks about majoring in business, and yet again with Tuco.

Final note on the classroom scene, Walt blurting out knowledge is power is a funny little whimper to tack onto his floundering, but its also emblematic of how he attempts to hold onto control of his reality. I think its notable Walt's dialogue becomes more jargon heavy when he's stressed, not less.

No natural transition in or out of this so I'm just going to reproduce this line from Jesse's website in its entirety. "Ethnicity: I'm totally cool with ethnics-Black, Mexican, whatever...as long as you're SMOKIN' HOT, YO!" 0_0. I guess. earmark race as a commodity and move on.

Despite the inherent goofiness of the scene where Walt recaptures Domingo I think its important to remember what a horror show this is from Domingo's perspective. Nearly died in a chemical attack, woke up next to the body of his cousin, dragged himself out, only to be recaptured and locked in a basement for days, barely able to breath the whole time. On some level Walt seems cognizant of that, and it only becomes more apparent the longer he spends with him. Domingo may be a drug dealer who will bring down vengeance on them if he gets away...but he also likes the crusts off his sandwich and asks after his cousin. Again, Walt can't cope with the duality. It doesn't match his image of what a criminal should be.

Enough so that he does exactly what he told Jesse not to do last episode and smokes up. Granted, he uses weed, not meth, but to a post war on drugs America this was pretty similar severity. Walt wastes a good chunk of Jesse's weed attempting to roll the WORST joint I've seen in my life, flaunts his partaking in Skyler's face as a sign of his independence, and then sneers and scowls at Jesse for indulging to cope with melting a childhood friend into meaty chunks. After all, Walt's not a junkie. Walt can be trusted to keep his head even if he loosens up from time to time. Jesse, on the other hand, has an unmanly dependence, and needs to grow up. After all, this kind of thing should be routine for him, right. He's a Criminal.

Walt has a habit of setting Jesse up to fail and then scolding him for it. When Jesse's uncertain if plastic can stand up to acid, Walt refuses to explain. Just barks at him later for not following instructions unthinkingly. When Walt expresses doubt, Jesse attempts empathy, attempts to come up with a paradigm where Walt can make himself ok witih it. I struggle to call it a MORAL impulse but its definitely a kind one.

Skyler asks Walt about Jesse at the doctor's office, a place he where he can't leave and also can't sex her quiet. She's learning to anticipate his resistance to openness. She also frames the information as transactional, "don't you think you OWE me this", in a way I can't help but see in connection to the baby. I'm your homemaker ergo you owe me honesty. Walt responds with a veiled threat. "I love you, and that won't change, so back off". To his mind the only thing his family should concern themselves with is his emotional state. Anything beyond that is outside their purview.

Nice wet meat effect.

[nintendont2502]

What's up with heirstuck and reboot

Heirstuck is just my version of the generic homestuck fantasy AU (the planning document is actually named 'Yet Another Generic Fantasy AU' so I kinda call it heirstuck + YAGFAU interchangeably lmao), but idk I think its fun. I put a shit ton of effort into the world building/lore but also I have no fucking clue what to actually do with it? Idk might write smth after I finish Reboot

Reboot is just 'self indulgent shit: the fic' and I love it so fucking much. It's also the only fic idea I've actually written something for (8k so far baybee). It's all I think about at work because driving is Boring

Hold up im gonna add a cut here because im about to infodump hard

Reboot: takes place 10 years after the game ends, and right after Dirk kills himself like he does in the Candy timeline (except there's no Ult selves this time - dude was just Not Doing Great). Jake *also* isn't doing great, manages to convince himself that there *has* to be a Dirk, and somehow Hopes into existence a 13 year old Hal, who's very confused (because his last memory was dying as Arquiussprite when he tried to leave the game*) and definitely not Dirk. Jake freaks out, Hal *also* freaks out and passes out (partially due to just being overwhelmed by being literally Hoped into existence), and Jake takes them to Dirk's old apartment where he uh. May or may not keep him kidnapped there for just over a month (although he'd never admit that he's essentially kidnapped someone to himself). Also he keeps trying to figure out how to 'fix' everything, and somehow ends up deluding himself through the power of Hope into seeing Hal *as* Dirk. Hal (who at this point is incredibly scared just by. Everything (including Jake flipping his shit and punching him at one point) goes along with it.

Eventually Jane figures out what's going on, finds Hal and loses her shit because holy shit her husband created life, kidnapped said life and didn't tell her for a month straight. Hal ends up moving in with Dave and Karkat (who are very very gay and very very in denial about that) and gets a job with crockercorp because he doesn't fully trust dave and karkat yet, and wants to be able to support himself. Eventually he realises thst he *can* trust dave and karkat (and his job is incredibly fucking boring) and he tries to quit, but whoops! Turns out he was *technically* registered as Crockercorp property.

To try and cover up Jake's... everything, Jane secretly gave him a role at Crockercorp in the research and development sector, with Hal legally being his prototype for Crockercorp's supposed AI program. Jane was originally just going to leave it, but crockercorp is struggling financially, and AI research could be enough to keep them running. Which means.- Hal isn't allowed to leave. Obviously Hal, dave and Karkat are *furious* about that, but there isn't anything they can do - legally, Hal doesnt exist as a person, and when they try to take Crockercorp to court, they lose. Bad. Jane (who isn't the absolute worst yet but judt give her time) offers them a contract where Hal can do his work from home four days a week, and only comes in on Mondays. She does get worse though. Way fucking worse - she begins to realise that if they're going to pull off the AI thing (and they have to, because they've invested so much time already and there's so much on the line), they need Hal to obey them- and right now, he isn't doing that. Being at Dave and Karkats most of tje time gives him a stable home base, so he feels confident enough to tell crocker to fuck off and not play into her robot shit. Eventually, she starts getting even more desperate, and Bad Shit happens which I won't spoil here :)

Heirstuck doesn't have a plot yet, but it's pretty standard 'homestuck fantasy AU' shit. Derse and Propsit are two separate kingdoms, ruled by the alpha kids (who are 20) with the beta kids (who are like 16) being the heirs to the throne. Alternia is a separate kingdom on the outskirts that fucking hates the human kingdoms, and the human kingdoms are also at war with each other

The rules of succession are pretty interesting though I think - each kingdom has two thrones, the male and the female throne. Only members of the royal family who show signs of magic abilities are able to claim the throne, and there's always two royals of each gender - one on the throne, and a heir. In both kingdoms, the male members of the royal family take one last name (Strider in Derse, Egbert in Prospit), while the female members take a different last name (Lalonde in Derse, Harley in Prospit).

The last Queen of Prospit (Queen Harley) mysteriously disappeared one day, along with the former King Egbert, leaving Jane and Jake to take the throne. Only a few days earlier, Queen Lalonde and King Strider of Derse *also* died, forcing Dirk and Roxy to the thrones. All four were far younger than any recorded rulers in history, and the suspiciously close timing of the rulers deaths only lead to more suspicion between the two kingdoms, fueling the war even further. Just after the crowning of the two kingdoms new rulers, the ruler of Alternia - Her Imperial Condesce - returned after her decades long disappearance, telling Alternia to ready for war

Before Queen Harley died, she spent a lot of time with her Heirs Jane and Jake, although what she did was unknown. It must have had an impact, though, because when Jane ascended to the throne, she took the last name 'Crocker' instead of the traditional Harley, in honour of the former queens original last name. Similarly, only a few days after he was crowned, King Egbert completely disappeared (although rumours have spread that he now goes by Jake English or Doc Scratch, in honour of the God he's created a cult around on the outskirts of the warring kingdoms)

(Also yeah Queen Harley is absolutely just HIC in disguise - she brainwashed Jane into further intensifying the war between Derse and Prospit before she 'died', and she told Jake about a powerful God known as Lord English in the hopes of distracting him to get a weaker King on the throne (poor John). She didn't expect him to actually raise LE - it was the equivalent of just jingling keys in front of a baby's face, only for them to snatch them, sprint away and commit mass vehicular manslaughter in your Ford f150.)

I dont really have too much in the way of plot yet, but I do have some random ideas:

- after HICs return, karkat is suddenly in a lot more danger as a mutant (and someone who neber manifested powers, unlike every other troll) - so he gets the fuck out and flees to Derse, where he meets dave

- speaking of Dave - he never manifested powers either. He shouldn't be heir, and they all know that. He came along with rose to serve as her body guard (and also to get away from his older brother, who - resentful that *he* never got called up to take the throne - trains Dave *way* too hard). Rose fakes a vision that Dave is meant to be heir, and dirk and roxy pretend to believe it because holy shit they can't just send him back

- Jake uses dirk as a host to manifest Lord English. Cue incredibly insane Dirkjake here

- I have. Thoughts about classpects and how they manifest but I can't be fucked writing them out jere

- HICs main goal is to have the two human kingdoms turn on each other so they weaken each other, and then the trolls can sweep in and take them all out (right now they live underground after some ancient war drove them out or smth).