#im gonna see if i can use this wing thing to get into that cloud over there there's islands in there i wanna see
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i think i accidentally paraglided myself into an end-game quest of totk this is me accidentally falling off a roof into the ganon fight while trying to see how high i could climb in botw all over again. i havent even done the start of game quests yet or gotten any of the sages KFJDSJKGH
#i was like#im gonna see if i can use this wing thing to get into that cloud over there there's islands in there i wanna see#and then i botched that and got yeeted off the island without my flight contraption but somehow managed to stamina potion my way in#and then when i landed i was like#i cant see shit here#fuck it#blooms arent helping either i obviously havent done something i needed to do before coming here#like when i hot air ballooned into the water temple island but couldnt do the quest because i needed to tell sidon where a water bridge was#and i had no idea where that was so i was like fuck it i'll fly myself up#but anyway i was on the island in the storm and was like fuck it im just gonna jump off and go do other quests then no point being here#and then i just HAPPENED to jump off the island right into the hidden shrine#so i did the shrine#and then i was looking around and there was a goddess statue and i had enough orbs so i was like yeah sure i'll get another heart#and then i saw the doors#and i hit open without really thinking#and i just HAPPENED TO NOW HAVE EXACTLY THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF HEARTS TO OPEN IT#I DIDNT THINK IT WOULD ACTUALLY OPEN WHEN I SAW IT WAS ONE OF THOSE HEART DOORS I WAS LIKE FUCK IM GONNA LOSE MY HP#BUT I LIVED AND IT OPENED BECAUSE I HAD THE EXACT AMOUNT BECAUSE I JUST GOT ANOTHER HEART#and now im at the factory building what i accidentally read was an end game mecha#i have ONE battery charge thing#i havent even gotten more of the charges#i barely even made it to the location#im KJHFDKSJHGJ#debating if i make this or go do other stuff rn#i got one of the legs but#FHJGHFDLKHJ
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Watching mlp in full and the earth pony thing kept bugging me because they’re not treated as earth ponies, they’re treated as “they don’t have wings or a horn hehe” and it annoys me cause it doesn’t really make sense? The only defining trait tends to be that they’re stronger, but this is never actually properly explored within the show, especially since only apple jack and her family appear to follow this rule in ponyville itself, whereas other earth ponies in ponyville don’t? This rule is followed outside ponyville where earth ponies pull trains and carriages, yet there are several episodes where rainbowdash and applejack are presented as equally matched regardless, despite both of them doing physical exercise, debatably more for applejack. There are examples where earth ponies are presented as having a good connection with the earth such as tree hugger, but i feel this isn’t really explored that well? Especially with ponies like fluttershy who have a good connection with nature through animals despite being pegasi (the fact that fluttershy was originally going to be an earth pony underlines how much this point is very confusing) You could argue pinkies pinkie sense and 4th wall breaking is an earth pony trait, but this doesn’t make any sense and doesn’t tie in very well with the other tribes, plus there is no evidence to suggest this is unique to earth ponies at all.
i did see a theory somewhere that earth ponies have longevity, and can live longer, which would explain why alicorns live so long as this magic is amplified by the other two tribes. Plus this ties in with ponyvilles founding as they were all earth ponies and granny smith is still alive. But because it’s a theory rather than something actually confirmed in the show, what on earth is special about earth ponies? They don't have their own thing :(
So! Instead in my version earth ponies have a rocky like dorsal plate. This dorsal plate allows earth ponies to build muscle easier than the other two tribes, (a member of a separate tribe can still be stronger if they have trained to be so, its just generally easier for earth ponies) as well as lengthening life spans and allowing them to control or move earth. This means that (originally, as the tribes have merged now) it’s easier for them to do agriculture as it allows them to grow plants and create structures out of the ground. This would mean in some earth pony villages the houses would be made from natural elements such as vines, trees and earth; like how cloudsdale is made from clouds for pegasi. I still like the idea of longevity as it adds to their hardiness so im gonna use it :3
you could argue that unicorns could use spells that can manipulate earth magic, so whats the point? Buuuuutttttt twilight also does this twice in the same episode which mimics pegasi traits, such as walking on clouds and giving rarity wings. Plus twilight’s cutie mark is in magic itself, rather than how most unicorn’s magic is used for their unique talent, so this point doesn’t stand either.
But yeah thats that :3 a lil different from my usual scp content but i really like g4 so :3 I was originally going to give earth ponies animal features, but i felt that depending on the features it could get too close to pegasi (bat or bird wings) or unicorns (horns or antlers) and recreate the same problem so i changed it :D
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ok ok tlovm dump post so im not making a new post every time i have any thoughts
they didnt have to animate the dragons Like That . but they did . <3 for us
omg wait i fuckin. forgor about vorugal. sorry top 5 all time fight i dont even care. hey what do you mean the plate of the dawnmatyr has felled dragons before. WHY IS THE PLATE IN ANKHAREL.
ok sure change stuff <3 like whatever
they couldve. made the wing emerging/retracting animation more erotic . for the boys.
if they dont give us the stealth roll walk of shame i will kill myself btw sorry.
ok sorry to keep talking about this WAIT SHAUN ok got sidetracked a sec there anyway. what, narratively and /or thematically is the reason for putting the plate in ank'harel as opposed to the cloak. and i think im missing one. ripley had 2 no? OH whisper. god i am so sorry. also jmon canonically HAS a vestige and it's none of those . so what are we doing here. maybe all will be revealed. im still gonna complain tho dw
like WHERE is ripley at this point anyway.
this bitch did not just say "emprex". I WENT BACK HE DID. KILL YOURSELFFFFFFFFFF
please financially compensate me for this
are they BREAKING IN to the palace. im fucking crying . actually to be honest i dont remember how they got in the first time. i literally only remember like 2 things from ankharel OH RIPLEY <3
robbing jmon is so much more insane than robbing a random merchant who has the cloak. OHHHHHHHH THE CLOAK BABYYYY
Black Cabals believers are fucking winning soooooo big . everyone who said it was red can seethe. omg orthax! ok im remembering so many fun things hahaha
no kynan im noticing. did that not happen in lovm?
it's so important to remembering watching this + the e2 intro especially that vax is going to die that end. like to keep that in my heart and soul and mind at all moments. are those snowdrops. fair enough man
i am sooooo scared to see jmon. im putting my beautiful delicate sensitive soul in their hands here.
sure. ruby of the sea. whatever
i LOVE YOU cabal's ruin!!! also i finished my chocolate milk at this point so the rest of the episodes are going to get worse reviews.
kaylie <3
yay percy built a bomb
btw havent said it yet but im sure this portrayal of marquet is suuuuuper respectful and everyone is really happy about it
OHHHHH they are beautiful. god i want them so bad . i dont know if i fw the voice!!! but the eyes are perfect . the height!!!! what's with the baby dragon tho!
hey they can put that tiara on me any time. dont like the implications of them having it !
SHUT UP. DONT CARE. SHOW DRAGON
STOP ZOOMING ON PERCAHLIA.
SHOW. DRAGONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
WHAT DO YOU MEAN SEX SCENES
NOT THAT DRAGON
"oh omg they said zerxes omg" OK WHATEVER. ARE WE GETTING DEVOSSA OR NO
oh ok theyre back at whitestone . ok whatever ! i'll kill myself! who cares!
"our future is clouded with misery" yeah!!!! helll yeah brother! let's get that bag!!
also the decision to make the sex scene explicit is crazy. i need that elaborated on immediately
i just remembered the spire also. im rusty. do u think theyll bring yenk back from the hells to fight vorugal. genuinely fight of all time
interested to see how this goes!! being hells rather than plane of fire
oh i am remembering so much that percy is TWENTY THREE. he shouldve been at the CLUB
WAIT RACHEL HOUSE?????? ok bro whatever. guess anyone can be in this
ok i fw indira varma as allura so much
just to summarise. no devossa, not addressed at all that they even exist beyond vex's dragon sense going off briefly . no mention of previously killing thordak. no offer to help. no flute. what are we fucking doing here man
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GO S2 OPENING ANALYSIS PT 1 (also Potential GO spoilers idk)
I haven't really seen anyone go in depth on the opening for season two yet so I'm making to this to point out all the things i spotted and some theories this is SUPER LONG POST SO BE WARNED
Crowley crawls up while Aziraphale floats down which is fitting but there's also storm clouds in the distance so there might be a scene after the flood or it's a sign of impending doom
right after crowley and aziraphale go through that dark tunnel Gabriel(?) can be spotted with that infamous box
they're in the middle of a scorched village and crowley sets goats on fire which pretty much confirms that they are somehow going to be involved with the story of Job if not directly involved
here we have that Gabriel statue from the trailer and a gravestone with "EVERYDAY" written on it, the reoccurring song that somehow related to the mystery
here's another gravestone with something written on it, this was the best photo i could get and i tried lightening it but i can't figure out what it says so if anyone has any ideas feel free to share
gravestone with jane austen on it, this author has been referenced quite a bit from the info we have about s2 so far and is on the cover for the episode "The Ball" so looking forward to that
"HERE LIES THE FORMER SHELL OF BEELZLEBUB" so i guess that's Neil's explanation for them having a different actor? Beelzebub molted? gross but very creative
also im pretty sure that bottom one says "Here Lies ADAM" as in antichrist Adam? oh man i hope he isn't dead he was such a sweet kid
there's a guillotine in the far back during their walk through hell hope that isn't foreshadowing anything 0-0
they also have this office on a pillar above the fiery pit of hell which i find very funny but this could also maybe be related to Shax? where she used to work maybe??
a sign for an underground train station so i guess we'll be expecting a train station scene of some kind?
the group walks through this gate with "GENTS" at the top no idea what that implys but i'll put it here anyways
there's a "WINGS FOR VICTORY" sign on the side of this bus which is a reference to British saving campaigns during WWII so confirms more WWII era stuff with aziraphale and crowley
there is this poster for STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN and my first thought was the LED ZEPPLIN song but actually it's a reference this 1946 movie
in which a British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl
so thats INTERESTING and COOL and totally doesn't imply ANYTHING about aziraphale and crowley's relationship or (potentially) maggie and nina's
but there is also a Zeppelin (it looks more like a blimp but whatever) and later on they go into a theater which looks very similar to the album cover for Stairway to Heaven
so I'm not gonna rule it out
there's a poster that says "THE FABULOUS LADIES OF CAMELOT" which is probably the group name of the show girls we saw in the trailer it says they are performing at the Windmill Theatre in London which is real and very famous for its Windmill girls who performed as nude living statues
i think this box is part of that saw a person in half trick and i can't wait to see Aziraphale attempt this trick and miserably fail like he always does, lot of laughs for sure
here's aziraphale on stage in his magician's outfit from the trailer but crowley is there as well so maybe he's his assistant? if so thats super funny and explains why crowley is not a fan of his magic act later on
very cute moment of crowley and aziraphale twirling around each other in the stars (this could be a nod to that moment that people spoiled for the first two episodes will know what im talking about )
this bridge they're walking on could potentially be the Humber Bridge near Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England (?)
or just a random ass bridge lol i do love to theorize tho
this airplane has "THY KINGDOM AIRWAYS" on its side very funny gag
these cotton candy hearts appear to be raining from the sky which im not sure what that implies but this season is focusing more on romance so it fits (also crowley and azira sitting together on the roof cute <3)
here we have maggie's record shop and nina's cafe right next to each other with record banners on the street, maybe a promotional party for the store? there's also a jukebox with records stacked in front of it. there's a promotional image of aziraphale holding everyday on vinyl (that i can't find sorry) so maybe he's gonna use this jukebox to play it?
i believe this is Gabriel(?) holding the package and going down an elevator from Heaven so he wasn't lying about needing to deliver something to Aziraphale something must've happened to him on his way over
one of the group is holding a sign for the "The 2nd Coming" as in the second coming of Jesus Christ?
A bar called The Dirty Donkey, new location for aziraphale and crowley to dine at? there's a smaller sign there but it's impossible to read HOWEVER
it looks like a holy figure standing in front of the opening of a cave, maybe an angel? considering the clothing maybe Jesus Christ?
I'm at my limit for photos so I will continue this in my next post!
(edit: here's the link for pt 2)
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im gonna end up playing that again because i wanna look for more details. things i did see but cant post because the audio is ATROCIOUS. heres what i can remember tho:
if you go into the basement level before you're suppose to, the peace walker theme will be playing over some kind of loudspeaker (instead of the radio like it does when you can pick it up later). the room is pitch dark and completely empty aside from some shelves and gurneys. i'd have to turn the brightness up but i wouldnt be surprised if it was a storage room for medicines and/or some kind of morgue.
theres an entire wing of the quarantine building you cant explore because there are carts and shelves overturned in front of the doors. apparently the people who end up in the basement room were hiding there, and then left once the parasites made them run. im not sure why they went to the basement when the parasites want outside, but props to them for locking themselves in. you have to pick the door to get in.
despite being listed in the credits, ocelot never talks to you over the radio. you only hear kaz, code talker, and eventually huey. ocelot only appears in the casket burning cutscene, and only for a moment with no dialogue.
i cant remember if its present in the english, but in the japanese dub, the people infected with vocal cord parasites have a strange, warbly filter over their voices that makes its sounds like their vocal cords are loose and moving too much when they speak.
all the staff who are infected have visibly clouded over eyes, except for the last one who you carry to the door. when you first look at him, his eyes are dark. they are still dark even after confirming he is also infected. this is likely because it would have been too small of a detail to make a model change for mid-mission, or for a watsonian explanation, perhaps the eyes are one of the last symptoms to present.
there are a handful of different staff reactions to you appearing and then pointing your gun at them. a lot of them are relieved to see you. some are confused and say "wait!" or plead with you when you raise your gun. some of them just look at you and accept it. a few even say thank you as their last line when you shoot them. one staff member laying on the floor will see you shoot another and then pull a gun on you. one refuses to die via parasites and shoots himself. the security team member you find protecting two other staff is the same one you will find at the end behind everyone in the basement.
you cannot use cqc during this mission except for while in the rooftop room. you cannot prevent staff from injuring each other or themselves with stuns or punches.
code talker over the radio will theorize about how the parasites mutated and how they behave. he posits that it may have something to do with the recent radiation leak on the quarantine platform.
he also has a theory about why the disease is progressing so quickly this time and has no visible symptoms: the parasites are reproducing asexually and laying eggs without vocal stimulation, simply overwhelming and destroying the host. the strategy to spread is no longer through bodily fluids, but through animals. the parasites want to get outside so birds will eat the bodies and uncontrollably spread the parasites that way.
the comparison to the snail is apt because multiple parasites alter snail behavior to make them more susceptible to being eaten by birds, who are the parasites' final host. it then releases eggs with the birds' droppings, which can end up in water to infect more snails and bird-prey.
venom snake puts on a set of goggles he took off a guy who died right in front of him, who was COVERED in blood. im amazed he wasnt infected that way.
thats all i can remember right now, will have to go through again and try to get all the radio clips and any details i might have missed 👍
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[parasocial bestie] NAWT ME TRYING TO GO BACK MY OWN TAG AND LIKE. REMEMBER WHICH TF RESPONSE I HAVE NOT RESPONDED its compulsory i must answer to Everything or i will die so Anyway im throwing everything in one ask HAHA
THE POST WITH THE LYRICS,... XIAOCORE,..... "When you said that I was killing myself / I've killed everything but my shame" indicating xiao wasnt regretting all the hurt he's done to himself be it from his duty or the repercussions bc he knows he Deserves it and takes it without caring any dignity like YOU JUST CANT
and adnd and!! GOWSH IT MAY BE A SHORTER SCENE OBV NOT MAIN FOCUS OR WHATEVER u gonna add in the next xiaolumi fic but i am just. gosh they mean saur much 2 me,..... he's concussed. zhongli frets like a mother. he's concussed what did he do to reach that point how serious it is to get zhongli fret like a mother. i am jUSTTTTTTT
and u. the. the xiao's mom you really went there you madmanwomangirlgnc. i read it all and i am crying sobbing at 4am that time. i am not okay i jsutcant believe this i cannot believe. the traits that she used to have that unconsciously influences xiao and at some point used in an unhealthy way than she intended for him to learn. "she sees no use dwelling in the past", he sees every. single mistake of it, of what he did even if it's out of his will. but also disregarding how he used to be, of that suffering if others know, and with the goodest of intentions- to point out what he's been through makes him deserving of care. my guy twists the morals so he can have his existence barely known so he can continue that quest of redemption he never had to do, or has long been redeemed.
"(she names him alatus, gives him wings the only way she can. may he never be trapped as she was for so long. may he always find a way to fly.) / (funny, really, how that works out.)" I AM LITERALLYYYYY NOT OKAYYYY I AM SO!!!!!! OK BUT I JUST,SF.FSFLDF THINK ABOUT HIS WINGS THE MOMENT U MENTIONED IT like. yeah bird adeptus yes absolutely its always canon but the thing about his wings. like how do you hc he lost it. ppl would go for amputation, or its still salvageable but it's been rendered so bad it doesnt have the strength for him to take flight. id pick one but i cant cuS MAN BOTH HAVE THEIR OWN UNIQUE PROGRESS OF GRIEF FOR HIM,..... to lose flight entirely is to lose part of himself and that's been like that for millenia it gets even harder once he knows lumine had wings before that HAS a chance to be obtained again,..... but for now they share that loss of wings, to feel the wind in your face as you fly higher and higher into the clouds.......
"it isn’t her fault or negligence or neglect that leads to him being taken. it’s the cruelty of the world and bad luck, plain and simple. he remembers missing her. he remembers missing her so much it ached." everytghing that comes after thsis. everything. i just,. im so,... sogdgfg im SO
"he makes her a grave. it takes a very long time. there’s no name and a marker only he would recognize. it’s nothing special. he thinks, distantly, that she deserved more than this. but it’s all he has, and that will have to be enough. and then he does what she always did, what she always taught him to do: he moves forward." dead on the floor
"you cant stop turning to talk to them only to realize you’re facing an empty space. paimon helps. paimon really, truly helps. but she’s her own person, a friend, not a sibling or a twin. not a replacement. not even close." WITH THE WAY I HOLD PAIMON FOR DEAR LIFE, THIS IS A REALITY I HAVE TO FACE AS MUCH AS HER!!!!! SHE IS NO REPLACEMENT!!! so i had to dig one of my other brainrot drafts where paimon had been a lil guilty for not contributing anything to the chasm, snapping at lumine for trying to reason her. pasting that sht here cus it still gets me despite im not exactly a Writer (and i like to put a lil sad quirk that paimon can go off third person in her speech if she's serious on it)
Her outburst was over with a harsh sob, and the pixie looked even smaller than physically possible. Paimon wiped her eyes roughly with a puffy sleeve, and Lumine wondered how contradictive her companion is when it comes to self expression. “... I wanted to do something.” “Not just talking, not just… being like this.” The pixie kicked the air weakly, fiddling with the folds of her shirt. “But it’s why I talk most of the time, so you don’t have to. Maybe then I’ll get to know Teyvat better, and how to get out of things faster. The Chasm was… scary.”
"Getting trapped there is different than when you were almost split in half most of the time." Paimon rubbed her eyes again, a sniffle too quiet to be heard. "'Cause your brother won't find you that way, and it means I broke my promise to you."
SO. YEA. paimon my emotional support flying nugget
"it def influenced my own thoughts on the travelers and their powers and how strong they were Before teyvat and how its changed them after" "i keep lumi and aether in that space between mortal and god / theres so much wiggle room and them as gods outside of very specific portrayals doesnt feel right to me / but theyre definitely VERY powerful and very inhuman imo"
PERSONALLY i looooooooove the different interpretations of the twins being primordial gods,.. or like as you said, that space between mortal and god, though to me i dont have a strong enough picture when it comes to defining what exactly they are in nature but def in that little space. cus i like to characterize lumine AND aether as human as they can and are, probably bc im projecting probably bc im a bitchass on a god's ego and personifying that. i revolve the story of the twins' journey regarding humanity, but more on them leaning to feeling human and mortal than a god, bc they HAD been gods before. or at least something equivalent.
and actually? my first impression of the twins to push the hc isnt through these typa fics, its from the theory that tied the twins with hyv's other game honkai impact 3rd; that theyre sort of 'scouts' that travels throughout space for a habitable world while honkai is close to its own cataclysm by Advanced Development being a threat to gods; just like khaenriah. so like. its a mess of a theory i saw long ago but ye kno!! its been stuck in my head since, and it solidifies my thought to lumine acting like a human bc she is, or was, with whatever happened in between turning her and her brother into who they are now. in that little space between.
so like!! for these twins. aether is more empathetic, he understood far more than lumine ever does, bc he doesnt focus on the duty more than the ppl he meets. lumine being the more calculative and speculative twin, doing strategies and being first in the offense- altho aether is the one ready to back her up and in the frontline, her tank and shield. hes more carefree, more kind, what nara varuna had been to the aranara is what he had been still. to cry for the forest people, to cry for those even if he thought; lumine would tell me to think this again, to not rely too much whats in his heart. now without him in the picture, she asks herself her own question. she looks back at how ae would do, would act and think thats not as far as she does. that lumine thinks through logic, and aether thinks through compassion. and then to the present where he's gone and she'd slowly fill the space he had been into her own personality, learning how he had been bc the aether she saw now was not there anymore. like gooooshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh IDKKKKKKKKKK
NO BECAUSE ME HANDSHAKE YOU GOING THROUGH THE TAG TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT HAS AND HASN'T BEEN RESPONDED TO PLEASE THAT'S SO FUNNY OF US
"indicating xiao wasnt regretting all the hurt he's done to himself be it from his duty or the repercussions bc he knows he Deserves it and takes it without caring any dignity" exactly <3333333333333 no bc like. he doesnt Care he doesnt care about how much it hurts him hes so convinced that he DOES deserve it, its just part of his life part of his duty nothing more and nothing less. but that doesnt stop the shame that comes with anything he perceives as failure (which is definitely A Lot Of Things) or shit like being too injured to continue fighting im so. fmgnfgmnfmngmf
it may not be the Main focus but zhongli and xiao's relationship in this fic is basically the second biggest focus beyond xiao himself/the xiaolumi of it all tbh, even before we started talking before The Brainrot Festivals i knew i really wanted to highlight their relationship and dynamic and the way i was portraying them, zhongli will definitely be a very important part of it !! as for. what led to xiao being concussed and zhongli fretting that much. well. smile. im a fan personally although i DO really need to polish up the scene i did it so long ago its such a mess...... god thats ognna be SO fun i should try to do that today
"you madmanwomangirlgnc" GIGGLING SM HELP
"the traits that she used to have that unconsciously influences xiao and at some point used in an unhealthy way than she intended for him to learn." yeah <3333 "my guy twists the morals so he can have his existence barely known so he can continue that quest of redemption he never had to do, or has long been redeemed." NO BECAUSE LITERALLYYYYYYYYYYY its so fucked up i am going to Squeeze Him i am going to pour so much love into him that it overflows and turns into self love on god.
"but the thing about his wings. like how do you hc he lost it. ppl would go for amputation, or its still salvageable but it's been rendered so bad it doesnt have the strength for him to take flight. id pick one but i cant cuS MAN BOTH HAVE THEIR OWN UNIQUE PROGRESS OF GRIEF FOR HIM" w. well you see. the problem is. i have basically Never Thought About This. ive considered him with wings and thought about the Having but not the losing. so here are some thoughts off the top of my head, not all viable in canon but yknow
he still has them, but has rendered himself incapable of true flight. got rid of the flight feathers after rex lapis freed him, quite literally grounded himself in liyue. devotion and punishment all in one. i dont actually like this one too much but it was one of my first thoughts just in terms of wanting him to still have them but flight being out of reach
the god who enslaved him injured them beyond repair very very early on when xiao was doing his best to fight back against it, caging him in more ways than one. a show of control and power over him, a way to further force xiao to bend to his will. with proper care and healing they may have recovered, even as horrifically mangled as they were, but naturally that never happened
he still had his wings serving that god, but those victims who fought back against xiao when he came for them eventually damaged them beyond flight and/or beyond repair in an attempt to ground him and make him less dangerous/take him down
^^^^^ in either of those two above scenarios i like to imagine that the remains still cling to him when he's freed, and either zhongli or the other yakshas eventually help him fully remove them. they're a mess, they're dead weight, and they're never going to heal- he'd rather them gone completely than dragging on him like this, a constant reminder of what he'd (rightfully, in his own mind) lost
zhongli and/or some of the other adepti end up fighting xiao himself before the god who he serves is killed, and it isnt until then that his wings are damaged truly beyond repair and taken from him. he kneels and they're mangled, bloodied and broken, hanging limply from his back, and all he wants now is to die free. he doesnt deserve to live, not after what he's done. but death would be too kind, too, and so he accepts it when his life is spared, swears himself to morax instead. whoever it was who fucked his wings up like that feels awful about it, they approach him eventually to apologize. xiao doesn't know how to tell them how relieved he was to be rid of them in that moment, to have the ties to his past self fully cut. it's easier like this, if he's made anew, made to serve a new purpose, if he can abandon any semblance of love or naivety or innocence he once carried. it hurts something deep inside of him to imagine that that child survived. easier to see him buried, easier to separate himself from it all.
okay i think that's all ive really got id have to take some more time to think abt it ummmm. i think i like the last one the most? combined with the idea that it's zhongli or the yakshas who finally get rid of them? something about someone else being there, xiao not so much as flinching as an entire limb is severed from his body, the literal and emotional weight that vanishes with them. the scars are clean and smooth. xiao neither regrets their loss nor blames the one who ruined them. the wish to have them back goes hand in hand with the wish to have the rest of him back, to be who he used to be, and there's no use in thoughts like that. not anymore.
"it gets even harder once he knows lumine had wings before that HAS a chance to be obtained again,..... but for now they share that loss of wings, to feel the wind in your face as you fly higher and higher into the clouds......." o(-( crying shaking sobbing on the floor YEAH............ that shared loss. god. both of them mourning the freedom it granted them, both of them holding anemo so close to their hearts because it's not the same but it's enough.
LOSING MY MIND OVER YOUR PAIMON BRAINROT GODDDDDDDDDDDD
"'Cause your brother won't find you that way, and it means I broke my promise to you." this broke me. this Broke Me. SHE DOESNT WANT TO BREAK HER PROMISE SHE WANTS THEM TO BE REUNITED....... EUEUEUUEUEUEUUEU
"i revolve the story of the twins' journey regarding humanity, but more on them leaning to feeling human and mortal than a god, bc they HAD been gods before. or at least something equivalent." this FUCKS this is such a good way to look at it and direct it holy shit ??? learning to feel human learning to live as mortal people do learning the values of life itself learning how to love the little things....... man. Man.
"that theyre sort of 'scouts' that travels throughout space for a habitable world while honkai is close to its own cataclysm" i dont know SHIT about honkai but god that sounds so fucking cool and also huge rip to them oh my god... going out to scout a new world On A Time Limit and suddenly its 500+ fucking years later giggling sm
"with whatever happened in between turning her and her brother into who they are now. in that little space between." THIS IS SO GOOD them having been human once and eventually reaching the point where they are now......... g o d
"he doesnt focus on the duty more than the ppl he meets. lumine being the more calculative and speculative twin, doing strategies and being first in the offense" YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH this is something that can be so <3333 and her looking back and thinking about what aether would do THE AETHER SHE'S SEEN NOW ISN'T THERE ANYMORE.... GODDDDDDDDD im so. the mourning that comes with losing a twin, not knowing if they're dead or alive or where or how to find them, the mourning of your other half of always being known of living spent together. and the desperate hope of seeing them again only for that to come crashing down because this isnt who you knew, isnt who you remember, not at all. you are standing in front of a stranger. they still act like they know you, but you dont know them. not anymore. not at all. and that's its own unique kind of grief, to have someone who used to be your everything right there and to know nothing about them.
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nnnnot really? i think for most of them i imagine them having two designs, one for a humanoid semi-mortal form that they use most of the time on the server and then another form which is more eldritch and sort of a direct representation composed of symbols of the things they're patrons of (madoka magica's witch designs are the closest things i can think of to compare to what im imagining here?)
im gonna throw some stuff out here for some of them but im not married to any of it, especially if u have ideas (i trust ur design sense, glasswing cuteguy still lives in my head rent-free <3)
Bdubs - Inspired by the glowstone cloak skin, his cloak is nearly pure sunlight and hurts to look at too long. Probably doesn't have an eldritch form.
Cleo - Stitching patterns on their skin change and shift as their body flits between different timelines. For her eldritch form... I'm imagining at least part of it being an hourglass filled with the shades of the souls of thousands of dead Cleos from other timelines.
Cub - Vex-like features. Skin probably at least partially graying or blueing. Eldritch form combines cultish, visceral, bloody and sharp imagery with smooth lines and scientific precision.
Doc - I imagine him similar to most of the fanon, though we cannot neglect the canon butterfly wings!!!!!!!! The cybernetics are used to help him accept the Developer powers that his body can't handle on its own; he can bring up the code for anything he can see on his eye, and uses his arm to actually manipulate it. No eldritch form; his "real form" is just the code that holds his consciousness, and he's capable of separating it and leaving his body on pre-programmed autopilot.
Gem - No set design for her, as her LARPing leaves her shapeshifting between different appearances and outfits (is she a princess? an elf? a fisherman? yes!) Probably briefly melts into pure dawnlight when changing forms. Eldritch form has to incorporate a LOT of different symbols (sunlight, crystals, fire, massive trees)
Grian - He looks pretty normal for Grian, at least in his human form! I do think he's a bird, because I always think of him as a bird even when he's not, it's just part of his being for me. I also think he wears glasses, though not because his vision is poor - quite the opposite! His vision is actually perfect, and he wears the glasses to dampen that, because seeing everything all the way to the horizon in perfect clarity gives him headaches sometimes. In his eldritch form I think he's all wings and eyes, wrapped around themselves - wings unfurling to reveal more eyes, wrapped around some core you can never reach. I also think his eyes extend to everywhere within his domain - not only the pocket dimension he's claimed as his own (as all gods get to do, I've just decided), but also within his bases and areas he frequents.
Iskall - Looks just like himself, but with a frankly absurd amount of contradictory magical auras that flicker and appear and vanish around him. Lightning dances across his hands in one moment, then stars swim through his skin, then a violet-hued mist seeps out of his pores... honestly, how many magical auras can one guy possibly have?
Joe - For nine seasons, he presented as a perfectly ordinary human being. In the tenth, he somehow become a muppet. Nobody knows how this happened. He's still perfectly ambulatory, with no puppeteer in sight, and Joe's voice still issues from him, but... well, this doesn't seem normal! As for his eldritch form, while Joe claims to technically have a "true form," he also claims he shouldn't reveal it - in his words, "that would make this even more RPF than it already is, and that would just start getting uncomfortable." Once again, the hermits are just as confused by these cryptic words as they are about whatever "Nashville, Tennessee" is.
Joel - Humanoid form is pretty much just ESMP2 Joel. Eldritch form... one idea that comes to mind is a massive, all-encompassing storm cloud, inside of which is tossed about wrecked pieces of statues. Many of the statues once depicted him, but others were depictions of his siblings, the lost deities of Stratos.
Mumbo - Humanoid form is pretty much just the usual fanon mustachioed beanpole of a man, though it should lean into his weirdly cryptid-like aspects - bone-pale skin, incredibly sunken eyes, etc. I think he also has vestigial wings and somewhat improved eyesight from Grian's soulbits. His eldritch form is based heavily on his S7 base, a large ruined monument with his golden, beating heart at its core, though the wrenches and chains that stabilize it are a representation of the fragment of Grian's soul that he absorbed, and incorporate elements of Grian's eldritch form.
Pearl - Humanoid form is essentially ESMP1 Pearl - dress, flower crown, golden feathered wings, and all. Her pocket dimension is a patchwork of the nature elements of all the different bases she's tied to, and her eldritch form within it is heavily sunflower-based, though it is also diseased from two demonic curses (Xornoth's influence and that of Something Wicked.)
Skizz - he is a wither hybrid and if u draw him as an angel i am LEAVING and taking this au in the divorce. ahem. anyway. Probably only has wither corruption across part of his body. Eldritch form is coal-black and incorporates a massive ziggurat.
Stress - Humanoid form was a beautiful woman with features similar to canon design. She's much happier in her new cursed form, as a beast with dark fur perpetually stained with blood and eyes like points of haunting light. Her eldritch form incorporates both these elements, as she is still worshiped in both aspects.
XB - Should just look like the Normal Guy that he is. He carries his bow with him everywhere (which is a magical artifact he uses to strike down gods,) but other than that he is Just Some Guy
Zed - Wears a black cloak that, with the hood up over his head, shrouds him in complete darkness, makes his voice lower and more booming, and causes black smoke to billow forth from him. With it down, though, he's just a blond marshmallow of a man. Eldritch form has typical death god imagery with bones and darkness and shit but should also have a big hourglass or something, because of the whole "how fast can you die for me" challenge
@smoozie okay!!!!! i just finished figuring out every hermits godly origin so.
the basic premise of the AU is that every single hermit is a god, or a being of similar power (except for Xisuma, who didn't intend to be admin of a server of mostly gods and DOESNT UNDERSTAND HOW THIS HAPPENED TO HIM GODDAMNIT.) together, they make up a pantheon thats occasionally worshiped by members of other servers, which some of them lean into and others find very, very uncomfortable. It's also a "being worshiped makes you more powerful" setting so there's that.
specifics as to their origins:
BDubs - A living saint of the sun and its light. Inherits some small amount of divine power from this, and says that this makes him a god. The other gods, especially Gem (who helped to grant him this power) think this is very cute of him.
Beef - A semi-omniscient demigod who mostly acts in service of other, greater gods. His latest patron is Big Salmon, a "higher power" that he claims controls the concepts of the water, consequences, and commerce.
Cleo - All Cleos across the multiverse have been left in mental contact with each other after the Time Witch's ritual. They form a powerful network between them, altogether controlling the flow of time and space across the servers they intersect with.
Cub - Through blood sacrifice, poorly understood magic, and worship of Vex gods, rendered himself functionally immortal. This was a science experiment for him, but he'll take immortality if it's what the end result comes to.
Doc - Achieved code-warping levels of power after the successful slaying of a Developer in single combat. Xisuma frequently enlists his help in keeping the server stable, because surprise surprise, 26 gods in the same place of vastly different origins makes the code a bit unstable.
Etho - Shapeshifting trickster god. Old, though not the oldest member of the server. Sometimes claims that he's following a script handed down by beings above him, though most other members of the server think he's saying that to dodge responsibility for his mischief.
False - False and her sister Symmetra were natural-born deities, worshiped as counterparts. False is worshiped as goddess of victory, art, and the water, while Symmetra is worshiped as goddess of defeat, industry, and the earth. False hasn't seen her sister in hundreds of years, and over time their worshipers combined their iconography into a single god.
Gem - Gem is a dimension-hopping, shapeshifting celestial being with domain over nature and sunlight. She pretends not to know what other members of the server are talking about when they bring this up, and mostly uses her powers for LARP purposes.
Grian - Watcher. Has claimed the server as his own, and thus sustains himself on high-intensity emotions of its occupants. To sate this hunger, he regularly starts wars, games, and other server events.
Hypno - A mage who ascended to demigod status through feats of arcane prowess. Longstanding enemies, dating back to their mortal days, with Wels. Their feud has become more amicable recently, thank god.
Impulse - He and Tango have the same origin, having ascended as part of the Rule Our World challenge they were placed into. After the forces of the universe were done subjecting them to whatever whims crossed their minds, Impulse became the embodiment of achievement and industriousness, while Tango became the embodiment of chaos and games.
Iskall - Part of the first group of players that Developers ever made. Escaped the purge of the first players, and has been dimension-hopping and stealing power from different servers ever since. Technically still mortal, but has been alive longer than any of the other server members.
Jevin - A demigod, and champion of the demigod Wels. Jevin was granted some of Wels's power under the condition that he helped Wels bother Hypno, which Jevin is more than okay to do. When he's not using divine power to prank Hypno, he's using it to prank everyone else.
Joe - Has, on separate occasions, claimed to be both "the most powerful of the Hermits" and "just an average guy." When pressed on what made him more powerful than the gods and eldritch beings he kept as company, Joe just smiled and said "I'm Joe Hills, recording as I always do in Nashville, Tennessee." Nobody knows what this means.
Joel - Joel Thundercheeks of Stratos, an 11-foot tall deity of lightning, lore, and the skies. His abrasive personality and tendency to throw power around made some question whether he should be invited, but Gem and Pearl advocated for him hard. He's used to being the only god around, so he's a bit surprised that throwing his power around doesn't always work now.
Keralis - Fragment of an eldritch being, and the conduit through which most of its power expresses itself. Bridges dimensions, and travels through time as easily as it does space. Unclear whether he is aware of any of this.
Mumbo - Was a mortal, though he has rendered himself immortal through animancy. His own soul is bound inside of a golden heart inside of his S7 base, and he has supplemented it with a fragment of Grian's, making him part-Watcher.
Pearl - Santa Perla, goddess of flowers, the harvest, the summer solstice, and the noonday sun. Thought she was mortal until the Empires crossover, when she remembered her past queendom. Her life force is tied to the lands she cultivates, so she has taken careful effort to ensure all her bases are verdant and flourishing.
Ren - One day declared himself "the king of all gods" despite not having been a god before this. None of the other Hermits were particularly willing to challenge him on this since it seemed harmless. Somehow, though, news of it spread, and he has established a fairly thorough following across other servers as a god of leadership, trade, travel, and theater.
Scar - Ate God. Which one? He never elaborates. Oh, sure, he'll go into detail about, say, the recipe he used to cook God, but ask him which God he ate, or how he killed it first, and he just brushes right past it. His power can't be denied, though, so he must be telling the truth.
Skizz - Suffused with Withering Energy, and acts as a bringer of doom and despair because of it. Oh, sure, he's a really nice and supportive guy, and everybody loves him, but also things tend to collapse around him in dramatic and spectacular fashion. Hermitcraft has only survived because of the power of 25 other gods crushing any disaster before it happens.
Stress - Goddess of hope, beauty, and love. Unfortunately, she was cursed a long time ago by Iskall when they first met, adopting a monstrous form, which is worshiped as a deity of doom, evil, and hate. He's been very apologetic about it since and offered to help her reverse the curse, but she's overall very happy with the state of things. They've become very close friends.
Tango - See Impulse. Unlike most gods, who become more powerful the more they're worshiped, Tango draws power directly from the souls of those who perish inside his games, which has made him somewhat giddy about the concept of death in general.
Wels - A knight and folk hero who ascended to demigod status from the pure gratitude of those who he saved. Considered a patron of justice and protection. Over the years, he's become bored with this, and gotten into quite a bit of mischief. See also Jevin and Hypno.
XB - A mortal godkiller. He ruthlessly hunts gods outside the server in order to make them answer for their crimes against mortals. Within the server, he also occasionally kills the others, just for funsies.
Zed - Avatar of Death. Controls the process of respawning, though he often gets so distracted that he forgets to actually pay attention to it, leaving some players in limbo for quite a while before he remembers he has to pay attention to their souls.
#im psyched u jumped on this btw#i love u and ur art still#and no worries about not posting the HGFAU stuff#we still got to talk about the ideas which was still a lot of fun <3#heavenly hermits au
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(i need help figuring out some otherkin identity things, if thats alright. Sorry its a bit long, this has been on my mind for a while. Im questioning if im some kind of fallen angel kin mixed with demon kin, and i thought you could help. Again sorry its so long and tw for su1c1dal 1deat1on )
So, ive identified as demonkin for a while now. I feel (or felt) really comfortable in that label bc ive always felt nonhuman, monstrous and really felt connected to demons in general. Ive always felt weirdly ancient as well. I feel that my body is young but the soul that inhabits it has been existing for longer than it could ever think of counting. Deep in my mind though ive been thinking maybe im more fallen angel or something like that? Ive always been so immensely drawn to clouds and the sky ever since i could remember really, i feel saddened and sick and heavy in my heart and chest (the best i can describe it) whenever i look at them, but im so entranced and enthralled by their beauty and significance that i cant look away. Like im yearning for a place that i know i hated, but it was so soft and warm up there no matter how much it hurt. One of my hobbies is taking pictures of the sky. I have hundreds of these photos. I do not miss being controlled or serving something though. I hate that. I never want to serve any divinity other than myself. I am not religious and despise the idea of being ruled in such a way. I never want to be ruled like i feel i once was ever again, but i so so deeply miss the place i used to be. Thus, why i thought i was demon kin. I still heavily associate myself with demonic things and the like, but i feel that im slightly different. For whatever reason i feel as though i didnt start that way. I feel like i used to live among the heavens, but one day i could feel the fire staining my pearly white wings, crawling along them and charring them to a deep black, leaving nothing of the cloud-like white they once where, as i reach for the clouds with my numb limbs that cant hold onto what im loosing. No choice but to fall. Sometimes i can still sense and feel the immense betrayal and heartache i felt that time deep within me somewhere. Does that count as a memory? I dont explicitly remember it per se, its more like this incredibly strong feeling and grudge that i could never hope to get rid of. Possibly tmi, but ive always adored the feeling of falling. The only way i can describe it is nostalgic. Ive thought that if i where to kms, id do it falling backwards, staring up at the clouds again. The sight of the clouds getting further and further from my desperate grasp feels so familiar but i can never pin point a time where it happened.
Ever since my supposed banishing from the heavens i feel ive been trapped in the body of something that could never hope to match what i once was. I feel disgraced, humiliated, and betrayed, spat upon like i meant nothing. There was never a point in time or a traumatic event that i know of in my human life that lead to these feelings. I cant help but feel like a burned angel, a demon who once had the heavenly glow of the sky, forced to wander in a powerless shell on this earth. I can only reminisce on that glory, disheartened and unforgiving of the divinity that did that to me. I feel lost. I want to return to the comfort and beauty of the heavens but of my own accord and with nothing to control me.
I highly certain that im not a full angel. But im not a complete demon either.
Again, sorry its a lot. What do you think? Do i seem to be a fallen angel as well? Thank you for your help btw. It means a lot to me /gen
Hello!! Thank you very much for the ask, I'm always happy to help
Before I start, keep in mind that multiple kin types are possible!! You could be both a fallen angel AND a demon
I'm gonna go about this similarly to how Raz did a while back
After a while there will be a set of asterisks and a warning. Skip to the second set of three asterisks when you see it to skip the mention of su1c1de!
-
"-Ive always felt weirdly ancient as well. I feel that my body is young but the soul that inhabits it has been existing for longer than it could ever think of counting."
This is something common with many kintypes! Demonic and angelic ones are definitely more closely related to this feeling. I myself have this exact feeling very very often! -
"-Ive always been so immensely drawn to clouds and the sky ever since i could remember really, i feel saddened and sick and heavy in my heart and chest (the best i can describe it) whenever i look at them, but im so entranced and enthralled by their beauty and significance that i cant look away."
Clouds have always reminded me of Heaven. Storm clouds are my favorite for some reason? They look so heavy! I'm pretty sure those were the best to fly through, cus even if they got my wings all wet, it felt really nice and cool. This could very well be a sign that you're an angel! -
"-Like im yearning for a place that i know i hated, but it was so soft and warm up there no matter how much it hurt."
Fallen angel mentality right here. Longing for Heaven, even after all that happened, is something I do quite often. I don't miss the other angels, but I do miss Heaven itself. It was the first home I ever knew. -
"-I do not miss being controlled or serving something though. I hate that. I never want to serve any divinity other than myself. I am not religious and despise the idea of being ruled in such a way. I never want to be ruled like i feel i once was ever again, but i so so deeply miss the place i used to be."
I've mentioned this in a past post, but God was for angels the same thing that God was for humans. It was a mysterious figure with no real face, no real body. It was a concept. At least, that's how I remember it. How is this relevant? Well, its the reason that I myself am not religious either! -
"-I feel like i used to live among the heavens, but one day i could feel the fire staining my pearly white wings, crawling along them and charring them to a deep black, leaving nothing of the cloud-like white they once where, as i reach for the clouds with my numb limbs that cant hold onto what im loosing. No choice but to fall."
I left Heaven. Not necessarily of my own accord, but I did take the last step out of those gates. I couldn't stop my descent. I was afraid and regretted it nearly instantly. I wanted to fly back up and beg for them to forgive me. But my wing was burning, and I couldn't fly. What you're describing is very very much a fallen angel experience. -
"-Sometimes i can still sense and feel the immense betrayal and heartache i felt that time deep within me somewhere. Does that count as a memory? I dont explicitly remember it per se, its more like this incredibly strong feeling and grudge that i could never hope to get rid of."
Sometimes it's hard to tell if something is the memory itself or just the feelings you felt during it. I think that what you described counts as a memory! -
TW SU1C1D4L IDEATION!
SKIP TO THE *** TO CONTINUE
"-Possibly tmi, but ive always adored the feeling of falling. The only way i can describe it is nostalgic. Ive thought that if i where to kms, id do it falling backwards, staring up at the clouds again. The sight of the clouds getting further and further from my desperate grasp feels so familiar but i can never pin point a time where it happened."
You likely can't pinpoint a time when it happened because it didn't happen in this lifetime! I understand what you mean. The clouds are peaceful. -
***
"-Ever since my supposed banishing from the heavens i feel ive been trapped in the body of something that could never hope to match what i once was. I feel disgraced, humiliated, and betrayed, spat upon like i meant nothing. There was never a point in time or a traumatic event that i know of in my human life that lead to these feelings."
These particular feelings are very reminiscent of demonic or angelic origins! Especially considering the lack of events in your human life. -
"-I cant help but feel like a burned angel, a demon who once had the heavenly glow of the sky, forced to wander in a powerless shell on this earth. I can only reminisce on that glory, disheartened and unforgiving of the divinity that did that to me. I feel lost. I want to return to the comfort and beauty of the heavens but of my own accord and with nothing to control me."
Once again, these feelings are signs to me that you very well could be a fallen angel as well as a demon! -
In conclusion;
Fledgling, I think that you are a demon. I also think that you're a fallen angel. Whether you falling turned you into a demon, or rather another lifetime had you as an angel, that is up to you to discover! All the signs point to both demonic and angelic from my point of view.
(P.S. It's no problem! I enjoy helping little fledglings find their origins, it brings me joy. I hope you feel okay and I hope that this helped. Thank you for reaching out to me!)
#tw sui ideation#tw sui cide#tw sui cidal ideation#angel#fallen#angel kin#angelkin#fallen angel#fallen angel kin#divi rambles#asks#actuallydivine#actuallyangelic#angelic#fledglings#anonymous#angel wings#kin mems#kin memories#mems#longpost#long post
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charmed [7]: ‘night changes’ (remus lupin x reader)
a/n: i got rejected from my top choice university program today so if im gonna be unhappy, might as well make u guys happy and release parts 5 and 7
brief summary: y/n and remus are both teachers at hogwarts and this is his first transformation where he is under wolfsbane. y/n remains in human form as he transforms. werewolf or not, all y/n ever feels is him.
series summary: set in the prisoner of azkaban, including its major plot points. remus and y/n get hired by dumbledore last minute to teach at hogwarts, defense against the dark arts and charms respectively. not wanting the students to know they are married, they navigate the challenging year through hidden glances, hand holds underneath the table and loving moments in their offices. even with all their efforts to conceal their relationship, their chemistry does not go unnoticed by the student population of hogwarts, who grow fond of the pair as they offer them some of the best classes they’ve had in a while. their relationship as newlyweds is strengthened as teaching the next generation of wizards unlocks a sea of memories of their love story. for the second time in his life, remus holds hogwarts responsible for some of his happiest memories. he’s given the chance to create them with the love of his life, y/n, who has taught and continues to teach him that every part of him is lovable, remaining forever under her charm.
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7.
previously, in part 1:
“No, you don’t understand, it’s incredibly, extremely dangerous for a human to be around a were-“ Remus had tried to say, before Y/N had stood up and with a crack, disappeared. A single white dove hovered where she had stood, its wings flapping slowly to stay afloat.
“Y/N?”
With a crack, Y/N had appeared again.
“I didn’t know you were an Animagus.”
Y/N grinned.
“What, you thought James, Sirius and Peter were the only ones to ever succeed at it?”
Remus still grimaced, shaking his head and looking down.
“It’s still too dangerous, I won’t risk it. I couldn’t possibly think of hurting you, I’m too dangerous-“
“Remus, stop it. You didn’t hurt Peter as a rat back in the day, you wouldn’t hurt a flinging bird either. Plus, I got a serious height advantage on you anyway.” Y/N raised her eyebrows at him teasingly, transforming back again into the dove and flying up to the ceiling. Lupin wasn’t convinced.
“Y/N, you shouldn’t-“
The dove reappeared as Y/N and kneeled between Lupin’s legs, taking his face into her hands carefully.
“Please? Let me be there for you. Let me try-“
“I-“ Remus winced in his crippling self-doubt.
“I promise, if I ever feel unsafe, I’ll fly away. I promise.”
Remus nodded. “I love you.”
Y/N was taken aback, but surged forward to press her lips against his.
“I love you too.”
It was the first time they had said that to each other.
+
The first full moon of the Hogwarts term was now but a day away. As it drew nearer, Remus got paler and grew more irritable, as it always was.
The students never noticed, as he remained their kind Professor Lupin to them. Remus valued the staff and Dumbledore in extremely high regard, so he mainly kept to himself to avoid conflict.
However, his short temper was not 100% appeasable.
He was presently in his office, leg anxiously bouncing. He couldn’t help but jitter as restless energy coursed through him. The door opened, and he jerked his head in its direction, to see Y/N walk in, slightly anxious as well.
“Hi, love.” She said, making her way to him.
“He’s late.” Remus muttered.
“It’s Albus Dumbledore, what do you expect- maybe he had a Wizarding War in Luxembourg to stop before this or something.” Y/N joked, dragging a chair beside her and taking Remus’ hand.
His leg stopped bouncing.
+
1980.
Remus sat in an armchair in the House of Black’s library, attempting to distract himself before the night would come, a transformation night.
Loud voices reverberated across the walls, and he usually wouldn’t have minded, but the full moon made him more irritable.
“Will you guys stop yelling!” He called out across the hallway to the room where James, Sirius and a couple other Order members were talking over each other.
Sirius shared a look with James and they shrugged, making a motion with their hand asking the others to lower their voices.
“Hi, guys!” In came Y/N’s voice, as she walked through the door after a day of work, setting down her jacket. She joined the table for a few snacks, before inquiring, “Where’s Remus?”
“Ah, in the library.” James said mindlessly, shuffling the pack of cards they were playing with. He spotted Y/N head for that direction, and attempted to add, “But I wouldn’t disturb him if I were-“
But Y/N already walked in the library, wanting to see her boyfriend. She found him buried in a book, sitting slightly uncomfortably in his clothes, as if his body was having pre-transformation aches.
“Hi, love.” She said gently.
Remus peered up from his book and instantly smiled, uncrossing his legs and patting at his lap. Y/N took a seat on him, and he wrapped his arms around her comfortably.
“How was work?” He grumbled, mouth kissing up her arm and shoulder.
“Oh, just the usual.”
He listened to her talk about her day, hugging her as she sat in his lap.
James heard faint sounds of their light voices from the other room, and laughed. Sirius shook his head, both of them amused by their friend’s drastic change in demeanor.
“Little fucker.”
+
Dumbledore appeared in Remus’ office not long after Y/N joined, with a goblet of familiar-looking blue smoke.
“Remus, Y/N. I took the liberty of bringing you your last dose myself, Severus has already done so much. So, you wanted to talk about the logistics of your upcoming transformation.”
Remus nodded, leaning forward and taking the potion.
“This is your first time with Wolfsbane, so we cannot be sure on how it will affect you. However, I trust that it has been brewed properly, so it should do its function, which is to maintain your mental state when you transform.”
“So technically, he could just stay and hide here in his office and wait for the night to be over?” Y/N asked Dumbledore, thumb rubbing over Remus’ hand.
“Yes. If the potion has been brewed correctly, which I am sure it has, Remus should transform into nothing but a harmless wolf. Of course, because this is your first time, if you still wish to go outside and-“
“Yes.” Remus interjected, once he finished the last of the potion. “I wish to still use the Whomping Willow, just to avoid all potential risk.”
“Very well.” Dumbledore smiled, bowing his head. “I have complete trust in you, so you do as you please.”
“And I should… I won’t forget who I am, I won’t lose my mind?” Remus asked.
“No.” Dumbledore confirmed. “Your mental state will stay intact.”
“Then, I can technically be in human form with him.” Y/N gasped as the idea jumped into her head. She was immediately met with startled looks from both Dumbledore and Remus, Dumbledore merely intrigued and Remus looking downright terrified. “I mean, I could be with him. Me, a human.” She added hastily.
Glancing at Remus’ fervently opposed look, Dumbledore merely stood up.
“I will leave that between you two to discuss. Goodnight, and good luck.” He said. “Oh! And one more thing.”
His eyes twinkled. “I hear talk amongst the students since the start of term. About you two.”
Remus and Y/N looked at each other nervously.
“Something about spotting their Charms and Defence teachers always being present in each other’s offices…”
Y/N mouth dropped in shock, trying to figure out how students could even know where they spent their nights, before Dumbledore laughed heartily, shaking his head.
“I kid, I kid, I have heard nothing of the sort. All that has reached my ears are the raving comments about your classes and subjects. Keep up the good work, Professors.” Dumbledore chuckled, and vanished into the fireplace.
Y/N stared dumbfounded at the spot he disappeared, before letting out a laugh.
“I-“ She blinked. “He is so weird, and can you believe, I almost let slip that I’m an Animagus-“
She stopped once she looked at her husband, whose expression was grave.
“Wha-“
“You cannot stay in human form with me.” He shook his head.
Y/N stayed silent for a second. “Why not? If this potion works, and we know it will, your-“
“We can’t be too sure!” Remus sighed. “Werewolves, we hunt for humans. We look for victims to bite, to… to-“
“If the potion doesn’t work, then I’ll just transform into a dove, like always.”
Remus met her eyes in a worried gaze.
“I’ve been a bird countless of times on your transformations, you’re still gonna let me do that, are you?” Y/N raised her eyebrows. “You even said, werewolves look for humans, animal companions are harmless-“
“Which is exactly why you can’t be in human form, darling! The extreme danger that would put you in, you have no idea.”
“I have no idea?” Y/N pursed her lips, instinctively reaching out to her bicep, on which lay a tiny white scar.
Remus glanced at it too, with almost hatred and remorse in his eyes, as he sighed, hand tracing over it and kissing it.
+
“Maybe you should transform right now, my love.” Remus said anxiously as he, Y/N, James, Sirius and Peter walked through an abandoned part of the woods.
The sky was dark, and the clouds radiated a faint shimmer indicating the full moon would appear soon.
“I won’t transform until I absolutely need to.” Y/N said firmly, hand holding onto Remus’ tightly.
“She’ll follow our lead, Moony, don’t worry.” Sirius said.
Unintentionally, they stopped at a small hill, deeming the timing to be right.
“Y/N, it’s not too late, you could just Disapparate away, I-“ Remus said to Y/N.
“Remus. Stop. I’m not scared.” Y/N smiled at him, cupping his cheek. “You’re still you. And I love you, all parts of you. Nothing will change that, or you and me.”
Remus nodded, breathing quickly and pulled her in for a kiss, before the other Marauders beckoned Y/N to back away slightly as the moon started to peak.
The night changed in an instant.
The opal orb shone in the sky and in the moonlight, Y/N watched as Remus’ tall silhouette trembled, his body morphing into a werewolf.
Y/N was in awe. His body lengthened. His shoulders were hunching. Hair sprouted visibly from his head and neck and his hands curled into clawed paws. Straightening up, he howled to the sky, the sound echoing into the rest of the night.
Y/N’s mind went blank. The Marauders had transformed as she kept her eye on Remus. For a second, the werewolf’s eyes met hers, but before she could do anything, he lunged for her.
Adrenaline shot through her body as the werewolf made a swipe towards her, a big black dog jumping in between them just in time for Remus’ sharp claw to slightly graze her shoulder before she transformed with a crack, into a dove and flew up, batting her wings.
+
“I’ll never be able to forgive myself for that.” Remus whispered painfully, finger tracing over the small permanent scratch near Y/N’s shoulder.
“But I’m fine.” Y/N pursed her lips, eyes looking into Remus’ face imploringly. “Because I knew that it wasn’t you. And after the night ended, you cared for me so tenderly and lovingly. Gently. Because that is the real you.”
+
Remus soaked a warm towel for the millionth time as he sat Y/N on the toilet next to the sink to tend the small scratch she had acquired from him.
“Rem, it’s okay, do you realize that I’ve broken literal bones before! This is nothing.” Y/N said, letting him clean the patch of skin before taking both of his hands in hers. He kneeled in between her legs.
“I could never forgive myself for this, I’m so sorry-“
“Please. In the best way possible, shut up.” Y/N smiled, eyes welling up at the unnecessary look of remorse plaguing Remus’ face. “That wasn’t you. And nothing that I saw or felt last night changes who you are to me now.”
“You don’t…see me as a monster? You don’t even feel a tiny bit scared being with me right now?” Remus teared up.
Y/N smiled, eyes crinkling and letting tears fall down her cheeks. “I just feel you.”
+
Y/N woke up from her nap the night of the full moon to find Remus’ side of the bed empty. Eventually, she had gotten Remus to agree to let her accompany him as she always did, but in human form this time.
Getting up, she spotted Remus already at the door. She crossed her arms.
“Are you running away?” Y/N frowned, her husband jumping at getting caught.
“No, I-I figured I’d head out earlier.”
Y/N walked towards him, squeezing his shoulders.
“We talked about this. It’ll be okay.” Y/N reassured him. She saw the fear still in his eyes but he nodded, blinking some away and reaching to get Y/N’s coat for her.
They walked in the chilly night air, making their way to the Forest. Although this felt completely new, they had never done this at Hogwarts and they were expecting new results tonight, there was also a sense of déjà-vu present in the air.
Y/N had been helping Remus with every one of his transformations during their entire marriage and before, ever since she was 18. It’s been almost 13 years that they were in this together.
We're only gettin' older, baby
And I've been thinkin' about it lately
“Thank you for being here.” Remus said, squeezing her hand. “And I don’t just mean tonight.”
Y/N squeezed it back tightly, beaming at him. The moon was close to being fully out, and they stopped on a small hill overlooking Hagrid’s Hut where it would appear in full view.
Does it ever drive you crazy
Just how fast the night changes?
“Remember, if I make any sudden moves, you transform on the spot, okay?” Remus looked down at her, eyes full of conviction. Y/N nodded.
They both stood there, waiting, anticipation through the roof. They felt nauseous, from nervousness. The clouds began to fade, and more moonlight shined onto them. Slowly, they let go of each other’s hands and took a couple steps back from each other.
Everything that you've ever dreamed of
Disappearing when you wake up
The first beam of light hit Remus as the full moon emerged.
But there's nothing to be afraid of
Even when the night changes
His neck began elongating, thick hair growing from his head and covering his back. His shoulders hunched as he grew taller, breaking through the material of his clothes.
It will never change, baby
Y/N watched from a short distance as Remus morphed into a towering creature. Her incantation was ready in her head, just in case she had to transform into the dove.
It will never change, baby
Slowly, the full-fledge werewolf straightened up from its hunched over position. His eyes met Y/N’s and her body tensed, remembering. Instead of lunging at her, he sat down, his human-like eyes expressing gentleness. Y/N took a tiny step towards him.
“Remus?” She said, voice trembling.
The werewolf nodded.
Taking steps closer, she shakily got down onto her knees to join him on the ground. She lifted a hand, tentatively, and inch by inch, approached it to cup his cheek. At the contact, they both breathed out in relief.
“I just feel you.” Y/N smiled, tears flowing from her eyes.
It will never change me and you.
to be continued
a/n: as always i’d love to hear what u thought or what ud like to see of the series:)
tags @bicyhot1 @pink-hufflepuff @legitlaughingflamingo @brod16 @gerardonmyway @blueleonor @suranne-doesstuff @rxmusblxck @spxllcxstxr @littleemo477 @just12randomfandoms @svnkissdd @norrreee @m4r13l3y @jess6578 @rorysreallyrandom @the-nightingale-not-the-lark @archeve19 @wolfstarslovechild @pan-pride-12 @x4kai4x @chrrybmb-mp3 @reggieluna @happyslittlekitten @missemilygilmore @all-things-fictional @strangefirething @abitofeverythinggg @yeahshewayout @imfreeeeeee123 @harold-pothead @lunnybunny12 @ellieblack11 @tugabooos @joyfulbiscuit @justonemorechapter07 @wonderwoman292 @skateb0red @secretsthathauntus @siriusblackswhoree @sabonbonn @untraveled-road @annabeljareau @valiantobservationkitty @diffbeanofbrand @theeicedamericano @spencerreidlove @flannellover67 @wishiwasdeadric @becks7401 @katsav17 @emmy-kitty13 @purritoqueen @girl22334 @monicafebyana @talsiaa @sierrax023 @axva03 @uhh-dk @nataliahgrace
#remus lupin fanfiction#remus lupin fanfic#remus lupin x reader#remus lupin imagine#remus lupin fluff#remus lupin x y/n#remus lupin x you#Professor Remus Lupin#professor lupin x reader#professor! reader#charmed
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Hi! I wanted to say that I LOVE your art style - it’s so cute!! I love how you draw the varying pony races so differently, I was wondering if there was any particular thought process that went into designing them? Or was it just something that sort of happened naturally over time? Either way would you be willing to share? I love seeing artists design processes! If not, ten that’s totally fine - I hope you have a wonderful day <333!
THIS IS MY FAVOURITE KIND OF ASK TO GET CLAPS MY LITTLE HANDS TOGETHER RAPIDLY
i Have made a similar post to this in the past but uhuhhuh i want to do it AGAIN >:] some things im gonna say are headcanons or just my general interpretations for the pony types, i dont think any of em are like. controversial at all but i just thought id clarify jic anyones like "no theyre not!!11!!1" lol
first of all THANK YOU that means sm<33
now into my convoluted horse thoughts HJGFHG i went a lot more in depth than my last one i think lmaooo
ill start w earth ponies bc they are the blueprint<3 and also my favs lol. earth ponies are naturally the strongest breed of pony, so my designs for them are more Built and stocky than the others, im not sure why i decided their heads should be taller, so both eyes are usually visible, i guess it makes them look a bit more Structured if you get what i mean? their hooves are the most exposed of the three because they use them for pretty much everything, (w some exceptions that they use their mouths for lol) for all the manual labour and stuff they need to do and just like. walking around sm uknow lol. the fur around their hooves can vary just based on how I personally think theyd style it, so for instance take applejack, i dont really think shed Do much with hers other than trim it and move on since shes very much function over form, but with pinkie pie, her fur is styled in a rounder way, honestly mostly on my part because it goes with the rest of her generally round design :P but i imagine that as a filly hers was trimmed flat since her parents seem very prim and working on a rock farm having hair in the way of your hooves which youre using to sort through probably sometimes very fine rubble doesnt make sense. and the Fun part: their general shapes, i love using the shapes in a character to signify personality and whatnot, so AJ is a sturdy workhorse whos been on a farm her whole life, shes also what i feel is a very reliable and stable presence in her friends lives so i make her Huge and rectangluar to signify those kinds of things? pinkie on the other hand is a fun loving party planner who lives in the town bakery! she also spent a significant portion of her life on a rock farm so, she's also very sturdy in typical earth pony fashion but she's also on the shorter end of my mane 6 lineup, this is bc i feel that all the pies are p short bc if theyve mined for a living (seemingly for generations) itd make more sense for them to be little to fit better into underground structures and whatnot, but pinkie herself is round and bouncy to fit her fun-loving bubbly personality! and ofc bc she LOVES all of the cakes at sugarcube corner :P
pegasi are generally the most lithe and athletic of the breeds, due to their near constant usage of their wings in everyday life. all my pegasi looka like fuckin sock puppets(affectionate) fkjdgfd uhh because it makes them feel way more aerodynamic to me, like if youre gonna be going at any kind of Speed up there youre gonna need the least amount of wind resistance possible, this is also why theyre generally the shortest type of pony, less animal for those little wings to heave around lmao. their hooves are completely covered in fur because i wanted to make them look soft, as if they actually could stand on clouds, their hooves are the most delicate of the breeds as theyre not Really designed to be on the ground at all, but they can build up a tolerance over time! ive sort of been playing with the idea that fluttershy's hooves are very slightly visible bc of her line of work? idk tho lol. pegasi ears are the shortest of all the breeds for aerodynamic purposes and theyre very fluffy on the insides to prevent unwanted stuff getting in while theyre in the air :] the fluffy feathers can also appear around the sides of the pegasi's heads n the amount can vary SHAPES!! rainbow dash is pretty obvious, shes small lithe and her head is flat as a pancake, snout All Forward, no extra feathers her wings are longer, more pointed i guess, shes a speedster!! she needs to be Smooth and little to be as fast as she can be >:P and for fluttershy, shes shy and more into herself, she can be quite awkward so to show this her snout is turned down and more curved, shes also fairly tall and gangly for a pegasus, she has fluffy feathers around her head and her wings are more round and fluffy, theyre shorter than RD's but theyre wider, better built for gliding than speed i guess
unicorns are honestly Fully like. ornamental physically. theyre pretty shitty at most physical activities but thats because they become reliant on their magic for most everyday things, they all have a pointed snout to exhibit that fact too lol some are curved some are just straight up triangles just based on what i think their vibes are lmao. their hooves are mostly covered in fur with the exception of the fronts which shows off the fact that theyre cloven, its sort of a half and half kind of situation with it half being because i wanted to it to look kinda decorative but also it could be because that, They Are on the ground at all times like earth ponies, Unlike earth ponies however, they arent built in a way that favours the sorts of manual labour that EP's would be used to, again, theyd use their magic for anything like that. their horns vary slightly in size and shapes, my thoughts behind this dont make a lot of sense but in my canon, the better a unicorn is at magic, like the more powerful, the longer and thinner the horn, so unicorns like rarity who only use their horns for stuff like levitation or like sunburst just arent That gifted in the magic department their horns are thicker than those who can do more advanced magic or just have stronger magic innately ilke starlight have thinner and longer horns, whether a unicorns horn is curved or not has no bearing on their like. magical ability its just a stylistic thing on my part so no trixie isnt shit a magic bc her horns bent LMAO. also their tails are. theres a word for it hold on. is it prehensile?? icr but its the shit where its like a cats tail but w mane-like fur on the end, these also vary in length and thickness those are also vibe based lmao. their ears are the longest of the breeds and they have curled fur on the insides of em, they can be rounded or pointed on the top. i dont rlly feel like i need to explain rarity shes pointed and neat all over like youd expect a prissy, wanting to seem upper class unicorn would be, i made her on the fatter side because i feel like its fitting, and also both of her parents were that way too, i feel like it could be genetic too
alicorns were kind of difficult to like. 'deal with' ?? i guess because having to combine all three of these things i had set rules out for was kinda difficult but, i just kinda wing it lmao. so with celestia and luna (while im still working on their designs) we dont really know how they originated but i sorta landed a sort of a stereotypical alien-like design for them? ig its bc theyre like. sort of foreign and different to their subjects?? whereas with twilight shes just a very recent alicorn and so her body is still adjusting to the features she gained by aquiring earth pony and pegasus magic so the differences are more.. obvious i guess?? but with her Base being unicorn those traits are the strongest in her design, and i havent drawn cadence yet but hers will be in a similar way but since she was a pegasus first her pegasus traits will be more apparent, but as shes grown more than twilight she'll be in sort of a transitional look? thats closer to celestia and luna's alicorn specific design i guess? flurryheart's design, i was kind of just thinking she was entirely just a fluffy alagamation of all three breeds rather than just immediate alicorn, i guess because since she was born an alicorn, her genes weren't entirely sure of what to do since she's the first natural born alicorn but as she grows she'll take on the alicorn shape? or not idk lol. alicorns in general uhh their ears are REALLY big versions of their base forms' with traits from the other two breeds obv, and their their horns are Long since alicorn magic is more potent and therefore just naturally more powerful so. long horn. their hooves are what their base breed's looked like but, again, with the others features their tails are prehensile(?) like unicorns but the mane like hair that comes off of it not only comes off the end but extends the full way up the bottom of the tail uhh idk if i missed anything but thats. p much it i guess!!
with combo babies like the cake twins, i just kind of mash the two species together in a way i think looks best lol like they both have the structured earth pony heads but pound has the long pegasus snout and pumpkin has an upward turned pointed unicorn snout and their hooves are more exposed like an earth ponies :P
ANYWAY. SORRY LONG POST LOL
#tezztalks#pony talk#im making a tag for this kind of post in case u guys have more qs like this#i LOVE making these kids of posts#TEZZ LIKE TO TALK!! specifically about ponies lmao#this took several hours to write lmao#if this fucks up and doesnt post i will be. so upset.
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YOUR TAGS ON MY SIS POST??? IMMACULATE
I will include my tags again but only because i cant get enough of myself and not to sound like im tooting my own kazoo but this is the one time in my entire life that ive been objectively correct in every way
Lengthy and unrelated thing under the cut:
Let me talk about canon bro for a second 😌 even though its barely and tangentially related to this and you dont have to read it <3, in fact i would encourage you not to read it i just wanna run my mouth. People love to use him as a cheap villain in their dave angst fics which is like... hilarious to me. Like i get it, since hes abusive he must also be misogynistic and homophobic and transphobic and also genuinely hates dave and revels in his suffering right? Lmeow no, hes just some guy and despite everything he is in fact trying his best. Hes naturally intense and aggressive and this doesnt translate well to child rearing, especially since his one goal is to make dave strong enough (physically and mentally) to Survive whats coming. The random sneak attacks ? The traps littered around the house ? To keep dave on his toes and buff his spatial awareness. The cameras ? To monitor his progress (if hes not up to standard then we’ll just up the “training”) and / or film some puppet snuff (puff ? Snupp?) so he can keep running his dumb website and like provide for them or some shit , or ig to buy random crap and throw it around the house. Who cares if the kid sees the porn anyway its just puppets, plus hes seen way worse at that age and turned out fine (no he didnt). Dave has to be resourceful , he has to be creative and think on his feet , lets have impromptu rap battles and scrabble games. He has to know numbers like the back of his hand (idk why this is even a phrase do any of you memorise what the back of your hands looks like) to effectively utilise his sylladex.... actually nobody even uses that shit idk why bro was so insistent on it. Dave is his protege, his charge, dave is NOT his friend and hes not gonna let him forget that. He teaches him all he knows, in the way he knows. Making comics, mixing music, ironic jokes, being cool and getting shit done. Actually its GOOD that the kid is terrified of him, if hes the scariest thing in the room then dave wont fear anything else. Lets spar then, if dave wins then hes trained him well. If dave loses then hell become resilient. Either way he has to be strong or else hell die, training is necessary. Its either this or failure and failure equals death. Do your own laundry, ration your own food, become independent as fast as possible because i wont be around to take care of you forever
Nothing bro does is without reason, neither is it “sadism”, its all very logical to him despite being horrific to any sane person because his only friend is the mansplain-manipulate-manspread puppet that raised him and he has awful coping mechanisms that barely stretch past beating himself 1. up 2. off. Like he kept his baby alive to the point where it could keep itself alive (kind of alive) and thats a win to him.
That was my thesis on why bro is not a bigot like ,, he makes porn of fucking smuppets, that gives him zero chance to fetishize The Ladies. I doubt he has porno mags littered around the house its just endless plushie dicks and asses (and the two puppets handcuffed together were legit kinda funny like Why). So why would dave have internalised homophobia if it did not stem from his brother ??? Acting as if his only friends werent exuding anti gay vibes, like christ, john “im not a homosexual” egbert, him and rose’s competitive flirting gag (before they found out they were related >.>), just generally the three of them accusing each other of being gay, yknow, as kids do (jade is exempt from the argument we love jade here). Things were just more homophobic back then and its not like bro and dave had a sincere talk about gender and sexuality in the 13 or so years they lived in the same house like why would you even come out to your younger sibling if you could just not !!! Lol !!! I could be getting all this info wrong lol so correct me if im wrong but bro has this cute comic artstyle and it was about someones charge (? Sibling?) straight up dying and the saw guy makes an appearance the end , like there was no sex or gore or whatever but if you look at sbahj the second page literally has an incest sex joke like where does dave even get his material from , which online sites has he been trawling , well haha its not bros job to monitor his kids search history lets ignore it and move on if the kid wants to be gross and make dumb jokes who is he to judge , spread your problematic wings and soar into the cancel clouds little guy
Anyway heres a disclaimer: if youre gonna clown on this post and tell me im an abuse apologist or some shit just understand that i have a lot of free time and love being a huge asshole when provoked but like youre so welcome to add to the discussion i love bullying my favourite character bro strider by steamrolling him we’ve talked about trans rights for too long now is the time for trans wrongs
#//1#sorry for airing my grieviances on your ask addie Q_Q i hope you do not mind </3#Bro strider#sometimes i do want bastard trans rep like we cant all be purrfect#Heres more bastard trans guys in homestuck: eridan cronus sollux karkat equius gamzee caliborn hal
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Eccentricity [Chapter 6: You Know You Got Me In The Palm Of Your Hand]
Series Summary: Joe Mazzello is a nice guy with a weird family. A VERY weird family. They have a secret, and you have a choice to make. Potentially a better love story than Twilight.
Chapter Title Is A Lyric From: Mean It by Lauv.
Chapter Warnings: Language, references to sex and violence, slavery in American history.
Other Chapters (And All My Writing) Available: HERE
Tagging: @queen-turtle-boiii @bramblesforbreakfast @writerxinthedark @maggieroseevans @culturefiendtrashqueen @imnotvibingveryguccimrstark @escabell @im-an-adult-ish @someforeigntragedy @imtheinvisiblequeen @deacyblues @tensecondvacation @brianssixpence @seven-seas-of-ham-on-rhye @some-major-ishues @haileymorelikestupid @loveandbeloved29
Please yell at me if I forget to tag you! 💜
What The Fuck, Washington Animals Are Weird
I woke up in a bedroom drenched in a rainbow of darkness, shades of grey vacillating from charcoal to the wings of a mourning dove; indolent dawn rain pattered against the window. There were no glaring veins of sunlight spilling in through gaps in the curtains, no promise of dry invigorating heat, no whistle of vicious parched wind. Toto, we’re not in Phoenix anymore.
“Ugh,” I complained to the empty room, unraveling from a tangle of blankets patterned with cacti and pure white clouds and rust-orange suns.
I clicked off my iPhone alarm—I’d beaten it by two minutes; my circadian rhythm was finally conceding that this whole Pacific Time thing was permanent—and read my nine new texts from Joe.
3:12 a.m.: Hey it’s an emergency what’s the plural of octopus
3:13 a.m.: Rami is insisting that it is octopuses
3:14 a.m.: But it’s octopi, right? Right?? I just announced in front of everyone that it’s octopi
3:15 a.m.: Scarlett is verbally abusing me
3:18 a.m.: Oh you are probably asleep
3:21 a.m.: Update, according to the internet Rami is right and now I have to assume a new identity and move to Antarctica
3:25 a.m.: We can discuss logistics of the Antarctica relocation tomorrow
3:26 a.m.: Hope you like penguins
3:30 a.m.: Okay goodnight!! Don’t let the mythical creatures bite!!
“That man,” I murmured to myself, smiling.
I typed out: It’s definitely octopuses, you clown. Then I deleted ‘clown’ and replaced it with its Italian equivalent: pagliaccio. Text sent.
Joe responded almost instantly. I had to ask Lucy what pagliaccio meant and now she’s verbally abusing me too. Send help. See you at lunch. xx
Wait, two Xs? What did Xs mean?? Kisses???
Did Joseph Francis Mazzello, sexy undead Italian man, just send me multiple text kisses?
“You’re gonna give me an aneurism, Chicago boy,” I muttered at my phone as I slid it into the pocket of my flannel pajama pants. And then I glanced out the bedroom window into a tussle of rain and thick, caliginous fog.
Just a few feet beyond the misted glass, its leathery talons hooked around a branch of Charlie’s decades-old red alder tree, was an owl. But not just any owl. A hulking, spotlessly white owl.
“Oh, hey, you,” I whispered, leaning closer, pressing my palms against the cold window. My hands left transparent imprints in the condensation. “Hey, buddy. Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping? I sure wish I was. Did something wake you up? Did your idiot vampire boyfriend disturb you with a series of ridiculous texts?”
The owl just contemplated me with unnervingly vast, slick, engrossed eyes. And there was something else, too: those eyes were blood red.
“So you’re an albino owl, huh big guy? Good for you. You know, usually albino animals don’t last all that long in the wild. Because they’re really easy for predators and prey to spot. Or they get skin cancer. So congratulations on living to become the voluptuous, tremendously creepy creature that you are today. Job well done.”
The owl stared back at me unflinchingly, blinked, then resumed staring. Rainwater gathered in swelling beads like blood drops on its ivory-colored beak and talons.
“Well,” I noted, turning away and grabbing my shower towel off the back of the desk chair. “You don’t get that in Arizona.”
Thirty minutes later, I was bounding down the stairs two at a time to meet Charlie in the kitchen. He was browsing through his daily newspaper at the table, drinking coffee and nibbling messily on burnt triangles of toast. Crumbs littered his moustache.
“You didn’t tell me that living here came with the added benefit of freaky albino animal friends.”
Charlie crinkled his forehead at me. “Huh?”
“How was bowling with the dads last night?”
“Oh, awesome!” he exclaimed, folding up his newspaper and slapping it down on the table. “We bowled against the team from Mora and it came right down to the wire, but we caught them. Dr. Lee got a strike on his very last turn. He always seems to do that...he’ll be bowling hit or miss all night and then when it really matters he manages to pull a strike out of nowhere. He’s a beast.”
“He’s a pretty remarkable guy,” I agreed, rummaging through the cabinets for Pop-Tarts.
“He mentioned that you and his son were really hitting it off,” Charlie said, grinning. “Not the ragey blond one. The spindly annoying one. What’s his name again? Josh? Jimmy?”
“Joe.” I conjured up my best poker face of lofty indifference. It crumbled like a sandcastle beneath reckless, rushing footsteps.
“Ohhhh, I saw that!” Charlie said, pointing, delighted. “Check out that smile. My gorgeous, brilliant progeny has a crush. I knew it. I knew you wouldn’t be single for long up here. Alright, I’m ready. Bring on the grandchildren.”
“Shut up,” I pleaded good-naturedly.
“Relax, I have great news. According to Gwil, that Joe kid is pretty wild about you too.”
“Oh, is that what you old guys do between bowling turns? Betray your children’s deepest confidences? Matchmake them over nachos and chili cheese dogs?” Still, my curiosity was piqued. “What else did Dr. Lee say about Joe?”
“I think the exact word he used was...” Charlie reminisced, sipping his coffee, curls of steam pouring over the rim of the mug. “Smitten.”
Supernatural Pictionary
I turned the notebook to Joe so he could see; everyone else momentarily covered their eyes or looked away. Then Lucy started the timer on her iPhone. Thirty seconds.
“Go!” Lucy announced.
“I think it’s a boat,” Rami said, hesitantly, haltingly, squinting at Joe with great concentration.
“Do you?” Joe teased.
“Yeah. But I’m also getting something about a fish.”
“Maybe I’m trying to make you think it’s a fish because it’s actually a boat,” Joe replied flippantly.
Rami muttered: “Or you want me to think it’s a boat because it’s actually a fish.”
“Interesting.”
“Now you’re mentally singing Never Gonna Give You Up just to fuck with me.”
Joe gasped, pressing a palm to his chest. “That doesn’t sound like something I would do!”
Scarlett snickered, dunking her chicken tender in honey mustard, slurping Coke through a straw clenched between crimson-painted lips. “That sounds exactly like something you would do.”
“Fifteen seconds,” Lucy warned.
“Fish or boat, boat or fish...” Rami chanted, peering fixedly at Joe.
“Make a decision,” I taunted, hugging the notebook to my chest.
“I’m going with boat,” Rami decided.
“Final answer?” Lucy asked, then stopped the timer when Rami nodded.
“Loser!” Joe cackled victoriously, leaping out of his chair, waving his L-shaped fingers in the air. Calawah University students at nearby tables glanced over with wide, startled eyes, their beloved chicken tenders briefly forgotten. “How’s it feel to not win every round of a game, huh?! Loser!”
I flipped my notebook so Rami could see the extremely unskilled pencil sketch I’d drawn there: a smiling fish. “My condolences.”
“Damn.” Rami pulled a ten-dollar bill out of his wallet and slid it across the table to Joe. Joe snatched it up, tucked it into the waistline of his jeans like a stripper collecting money in her G-string, and slung his arm around my shoulders.
“We are the champions. Bask in our glory.”
Scarlett turned on her iPhone flashlight and waved it in slow arcs over her head. “Youuuuu are the champions, my friendssssss...”
From my usual lunch table, Jessica gazed at my esteemed place among the Lees with palpable envy, resting her chin in her hands. I had worked out a schedule that seemed fairly obvious given my extensive experience as a child of divorce: lunch with Jessica et al. one day, lunch with the Lees the next. I took a bite of the Chipotle veggie bowl that Joe had insisted on ordering for me and tossed Jessica a sympathetic wave. Get Ben’s Snapchat for me! she mouthed back. I harbored serious doubts that Benjamin August Hardy, former professional assassin, born in 1893, had a Snapchat.
Joe’s words from last week rolled around in my head; I could see him all over again, nodding to the enormous painting hung in Gwil’s upstairs office, telling me about those startling, ethereal figures who had initiated Ben into life as a vampire. They call themselves the Draghi. They collect dues from covens, offer protection, keep order, protect our secrets. But they also demand loyalty. They force people they want into service. They might try to make it seem like you have a choice, but you don’t. They destroy anyone who tries to resist them. And they feed on humans.
“This is so awesome,” Lucy sighed, elated. “We could never play Pictionary before, drawing something is way too much of a mental process, Rami always figured it out right away...”
But now they had a built-in blindfold, someone who could draw without Rami getting a peek into their thoughts, a fighting chance at hiding the truth from him...for thirty seconds, at least.
“Okay Benny Boy, you’re up.” Joe darted over to Ben’s side of the table and massaged his tense, muscular shoulders as Ben grimaced. “You got this. I believe in you. Baby Swan is gonna pitch you a home run.”
“I’ll pass,” Ben said.
“You can’t!” Lucy cried. “Ben, please? Rami got Scarlett’s, and then he didn’t get Joe’s...and I know he’s going to see though me immediately. You’re our only chance to tie things up and maybe beat him!”
“Traitor,” Rami told Lucy affectionately.
“Uhh...” Ben hesitated, glimpsing longingly at the doors that led outside to the grove of bigleaf maple trees. He was fidgeting restlessly with his vape pen.
“Come on, Benny!” Joe begged. “I’ll owe you. I’ll do anything.”
Ben perked up a little bit. “You’ll do my Calc 2 homework for a month?”
Joe groaned theatrically, but nodded. He was wearing a grey U Chicago hoodie today. “Fine. Okay. But you’re gonna have to learn that shit eventually, I can’t take the MCAT for you.”
“Deal.” Ben bumped his knuckles against Joe’s.
“Batter up,” Joe heralded in his best mock-umpire voice, grinning at me expectantly, drumming the table with his palms. “Go Baby Swan, go! What will she choose? Will she continue with the nautical theme? Will she change it up, maybe switch to beloved Chicago landmarks? Baseball or food? Will she invent a variety of pizza even more despicable than pineapple?”
“Hm.” I flipped to a fresh notebook page, scratched my temple with the eraser end of the pencil, then quickly sketched a picture for Ben. “Okay, I’m ready.” I showed the drawing to Ben while everyone else covered their eyes.
Ben shook his head, scowling. “You’ll have to try again. I have no idea what that is.”
“Really?!” I checked the picture again. Okay, it definitely didn’t belong in the Louvre or anything, but it was lifelike enough to be decipherable. “You don’t recognize it? At all?”
“No,” Ben replied flatly.
From behind his shielded eyes, Rami scanned through the images in Ben’s mind. He dropped his hands onto the table. “SpongeBob?!”
“Who...?” Ben ventured.
Everyone else looked too. “Oh yeah, that’s definitely SpongeBob,” Joe said, then chuckled. “Aww, Baby Swan, you even remembered his little necktie!”
“It’s so cute!” Lucy trilled.
Ben just stared at the picture, blinking, completely lost, increasingly morose. And now there was a new guest at the table; or maybe not a new one, maybe just a quiet one, something that perched on the ledge of every conversation and field of vision just waiting to tap its claws against the wall and make its presence known: that interminable reminder of Ben’s unconventional past life, of how incomparable his vampiric upbringing was to those of the rest of the Lee kids.
“Benny Boy, you’ve never seen SpongeBob?” Joe inquired gently. “No problem. We’ll have a marathon tonight. I have the entire series on DVD. Also several Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy action figures.”
Scarlett snorted. “This is why you’ve been single since Hoover was president.”
“I wasn’t single the whole time,” Joe corrected.
“Oh, really?” Not that I’m interested, my voice suggested. I was a total liar. I was super interested. Thank the great deity that Rami and Ben couldn’t read me like a restaurant menu. Today’s specials are Being In Love With Someone Wildly Inappropriate for $15.99, and also Lamenting My Own Lack Of Sexual Experience for $11.99. Oh, and clam chowder.
“He had a couple of...what would you call them?” Scarlett combed her elegant fingers through her voluminous blonde hair. “What’s the modern vernacular? Fuck buddies? Booty calls? Netflix and chill partners?”
My stomach lurched; I nonchalantly buried my fork in a mountain of guacamole and left it there. I kept my lips turned up into a smile like a mask. Of course he’s loved other people. Duh. He’s hot and immortal. Get over it. But that didn’t calm my pounding heartbeat at all, didn’t soothe that sudden and irrational melancholy.
“Whoa whoa whoa, okay, you’re making it sound way worse than it was,” Joe protested, glancing at me nervously.
Scarlett continued: “It wasn’t serious, whatever it was. None of them would have cared about your action figure collection or obsession with a city you haven’t lived in for fifty years. It wasn’t your personality they wanted. Thank god.”
Oh this is bad, I thought helplessly. How am I ever going to be able to compete with the memory of countless gorgeous vampire girlfriends?
“Uh, ScarJo, you’re single too.” And Joe’s nickname for her was strangely apt; Scarlett could pass for Scarlett Johansson’s younger, blonder, much hotter sister. And Scarlett Johansson, in case you’re somehow unaware, is already pretty fucking hot.
Scarlett flashed a grin. “Entirely by choice.”
“And much to Mercy’s eternal and profound concern,” Lucy told me. “She stages an intervention at least twice a month. Did I overhear one last week, Scarlett?”
“Oh jesus, yeah. I was like, ‘Mom, what the hell do I need a husband for? I have my own money. I can fix household appliances. I have a vibrator. I’m good to go.’”
Joe rocked back in his chair, howling. “You did not tell Mom that!”
“I did. She was so distraught. She just kind of pinched her eyes shut and shuddered and then went out back to feed the alpacas.”
“Scarlett, babe,” Rami managed between gales of laughter. “A vibrator isn’t going to keep you company for all of eternity. It’s not a suitable substitute for a life partner.”
“You’re right. It’s even better. It’ll never abandon or disappoint me. Assuming I keep the batteries fresh, of course.”
“Oh my god,” Lucy giggled into her hands.
“She’s not wrong,” I said, shrugging, sipping my Diet Coke.
And Joe peered over at me, surprised, intrigued, slowly raising his thin dark eyebrows. I winked back. Yeah, okay, I’ve never slept with someone. But that doesn’t mean I’ve never had an orgasm.
“Ah, loud thoughts! Loud thoughts! Joe, please!” Rami moaned, pressing his balled fists to his forehead.
Ben smirked. “There’s a color I’ve never seen from you before, Joe.”
“This family is the worst!” Joe exploded.
“I like that girl,” Scarlett decided, signaling to me with glossy maroon fingernails. “She can stay.”
Joe sighed, flustered, then shook it off as he turned to me. “You coming over tonight?”
“I can’t spend every night at your house petting alpacas, mob guy.”
“Yeah?” he asked, smiling, draping his arm around the back of my chair. “Why not?”
“Well, my tonight-specific reason is that I’m visiting a friend.”
“Cool. Your friends are my friends. Can I visit too?”
“You’re aware that you’re a legit stalker, right?” But actually, Archer was dying to meet Joe: the loud Lee, the approachable Lee, the Lee who I definitely liked more than a Tinder swipe could ever convey. This could work. “Offer to buy dinner and you can come.”
“I’m a walking Visa, baby.”
Ben stood, hauled on his backpack, gathered up his trash to throw away. “I need a smoke break before Chem. See you guys later.”
“Don’t forget!” Joe called after him. “SpongeBob marathon starts at 8! I’ll bring the Milk Duds!”
And when Ben disappeared through the doors, a solemn hush descended over the table.
“Poor guy,” Lucy said softly. The other Lees nodded.
And again, I recalled what Joe had told me in Gwil’s office, what he had said when I asked how Ben came to join the Lee family. He was assigned to us, to be the liaison to our coven. And Gwil saw something in him. Potential, suffering, unrealized decency, I don’t know. But Gwil worked on him for years, trying to convince Ben to leave the Draghi when his contract was up and come live with us. To give a peaceful life a try. And to be honest, Ben never seemed interested. But something must have resonated with him, because we opened the front door on October 15th, 2016 and he was sitting on the steps of our porch with a single suitcase, puffing on that fucking vape pen and watching the storm clouds roll in off the Pacific Ocean.
But why would they just let him leave? I had asked, tracing my fingertips over the uncanny and magnificent faces in that painting. Why would they let him live?
Because they know how valuable he is. And because they think they can get him back.
“I think he’s a good person,” I said, breaking the silence. “You know. Underneath the whole being raised to be a killing machine thing.”
“Yeah,” Rami replied, frowning thoughtfully. “Just try not to spend too much time alone with him.”
Car Jacks And Sneak Attacks
“Joe, this is Archer James Foxchild, my first-ever best friend.”
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you!” Joe said, shaking Archer’s oil-stained hand. “I understand you are really good at making mud pies and poking dead animals with sticks.”
Archer chuckled. “It’s true. We found a shark tooth down at La Push one time and I convinced Baby Swan here that it was from a sea monster. She had nightmares for months. Charlie called my dad over it and I got my Game Boy taken away.”
“No!” Joe gasped in horror. “Were you a Pokémon guy?”
“For sure.”
“Ruby or Sapphire?”
“Emerald.”
Joe grinned. “This dude knows what’s up.”
“And to think, my grandpa tried to tell me that you guys were freaks,” Archer replied.
“Well,” Joe conceded. “Not all of us.”
“Maybe you two should start dating,” I said. “Don’t mind me. I’ll just sit in my Honda and eat my Taco Bell cheese quesadillas and Cinnamon Twists and try not to interrupt all the sex.”
“Yes, you brought Taco Bell,” Archer sighed euphorically. “Give me five minutes, I just gotta finish rotating these tires real quick.” He jogged to the other end of the garage, knelt beside a Ford Mustang that was propped up on a jack, and starting twisting off lug nuts with a tire iron.
“You have a nice place here,” Joe observed, strolling around the small garage with his hands in the front pocket of his U Chicago hoodie, eyeing the fractures in the concrete floor and the spidering cracks in the windows. “You have any investors?”
“Are you kidding?!” Archer replied from the Mustang. “No, man, it’s just me. I rent for now, but at some point I’ll buy my own shop. Once I’ve saved up enough. A great big one with shiny new equipment and no mice squeaking behind the walls.”
“What’s your cash flow like?”
“I’m netting around three grand a month after taxes.”
“Not bad!” Joe noted admiringly.
“Yeah. It’s a hustle, but I love it.”
“Hey, I don’t know if you’d be interested—and absolutely no pressure if you’re not, really—but I do a lot of work with start-ups and I’d love to help you get into your own shop. By this Christmas, preferably. If we can work out a deal.”
“Really?!” Archer peeked incredulously over the hood of the Mustang.
“Absolutely.”
Archer beamed at me. “This guy is willing to drop serious cash to look good in front of you. You should probably marry him. No prenup though.”
I held my pinky out towards Joe, grinning. “No more sad prenups.”
He laughed and hooked my pinky with his. “Bankrupt me, bitch.”
I heard the metallic clang of a lug nut hitting the concrete floor and rolling under the Mustang. “Come back here, you bastard,” Archer muttered, then dropped to his stomach and crawled beneath the car.
“Hey, kid, be careful,” I fretted, crossing my arms across my chest and taking a step closer.
“Relax, Baby Swan, I am a professional, changing a tire for me is like feeding a fish for you, so just chill and keep fantasizing about those Cinnamon Twists—”
There was a squeal of metal as the car jack collapsed and the Mustang came crashing down. In a fraction of a second—faster than I could see him moving, faster than I could loose a scream—Joe had soared across the garage, yanked Archer out from beneath the falling Mustang, and dragged him to the center of the room.
“Oh fuck,” Archer wheezed, his dark eyes huge and fascinated and horrified. “Grandpa was right.”
I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)
We rolled up to the Lee house in my 1999 Honda Accord just as I polished off the last of my Cinnamon Twists and Archer chewed, tentatively and dazedly, on a Cheesy Gordita Crunch. The sun was beginning to set in a clouded sky that perpetually threatened rain.
He asked Joe for the fifth time from the back seat: “But wait, seriously, no one is going to eat me, right? Because I’m too young to die. I haven’t taken enough vacations yet. I can’t die without seeing Hawaii. I want to swim with the sea turtles.”
“No, none of us have ever eaten people. Well, almost none of us. Maybe stay away from Ben.”
“I would like a little more exposition,” Archer replied, blanching.
“Hey, if you stay until 8, you guys can join us for the SpongeBob marathon!”
Gwil and Mercy were waiting on the front porch, thanks to Joe’s ‘hey I accidentally exposed myself as a paranormal being and now we have a new friend, plz don’t be mad okay love you see you soon!1!!’ text.
“Welcome, sweetheart!” Mercy fussed, enfolding Archer into her arms as soon as he stepped out of the Honda. “Would you like some hummingbird cake? I just baked it this morning. And maybe some sweet tea too. And some peanut butter cookies. And banana pudding.”
“Sure,” he responded, bewildered. This lady does not seem like a bloodsucking demon, that voice said. And he was absolutely right.
“I’ll fix you up a tray,” Mercy promised, and hurried into the house.
“We’re so very happy to have you, Mr. Foxchild.” Gwil shook Archer’s hand firmly. “We don’t get many visitors around here. I’m sure you understand why.”
“My grandpa always insisted that there was something off about you guys. Especially you, Dr. Lee. Said you shouldn’t still be around.”
“Yes, I imagine that would have been disconcerting for him. He must have remembered us from the 1940s...that’s the last time we settled down in Forks. It’s not often that someone recognizes us after so long, but it happens. It was just Mercy and me and Rami and Joe back then. And look how far we’ve come.” Gwil beamed warmly, then turned to Joe. “But really, son, you’re going to have to stop telling humans about us.”
“Hold up, I was not responsible for her!” Joe exclaimed, waving at me. “Take it up with Ben!”
The garage door rumbled open and Scarlett sauntered out, wiping her filthy hands with a rag. She halted abruptly, stood there in her high-waisted vintage jeans and black crop top and bare feet with maroon-colored toenails, tilted her head and pondered Archer with an innocent sort of curiosity that I hadn’t seen from her before.
“Wait,” Archer said, gaping. “Is that...is that an Aston Martin Vantage in there?!”
“You bet,” Scarlett replied. “You want to learn how to work on it?”
“Uh, hell to the yeah!” He trotted over and they vanished into the garage together.
“Huh,” Joe muttered, watching them. “She was nice to him. Very weird.” He whirled back to me. “Anyway, come on. I promised you an education in classic rock music. And I shall deliver.”
Joe’s bedroom was a chaotic jumble of economics textbooks and Chicago Cubs paraphernalia and U Chicago apparel and action figures and comic books and classic rock posters. There was a massive Italian flag tacked to the wall above his bed. But what caught my attention immediately was a life-sized cardboard cutout of Ben lurking in the corner by a bookshelf full of cassette tapes.
“How is there any possible logical explanation for that?” I asked, pointing.
“Oh, that! That was a joke. When Ben first showed up, he pretty much lived in his room and never came out. Gwil was worried. Mercy was heartbroken. So I made a cardboard cutout of him and would bring it to family activities and do this really deep and seductive Ben voice when I pretended to have conversations with him. It gave the whole situation some levity...and I think Ben secretly liked that we missed him enough to make an artificial version to fill the void.”
“So this bitchy, brooding, blood-craving Ben I met is actually a drastic improvement?”
“Oh, Baby Swan,” Joe confided, almost sadly. “You have no idea what he was like four years ago.”
“I’m glad he has you. All of you. That he has a chance to get better.”
“I think you might be good for him too. Seeing a human as a real person instead of a walking, talking Hi-C juice box. And you care about him, don’t you? Despite everything.”
“Of course. It’s not his fault they taught him to be a monster.”
Joe just looked at me for a while, and then he cradled my face with one hand and grazed a thumb across my cheek “You’re never going to stop saying things that knock me into next week, are you?”
“Joe...” I hesitated, laying my hand over his. His skin was smooth and yielding yet strong, cool yet not unnaturally so. Refreshing. Safe. Fan-fucking-tastic. Oh noooooo. “Are we a thing?”
“Why? Do you want to be a thing?”
“Oh, uh, no, I was just wondering if we were.”
He stepped away, teasing me with a crooked smirk. “...So you don’t want to be a thing?”
“What would that entail?”
“Well...we’d be an official thing, you and me.” He shot finger guns at me, and then towards himself. “Which means you can’t be a thing with anyone else. And neither can I.”
“Ahhh, I see. So this thing is an exclusive thing.”
“Will you shut up and just admit that you’d totally be thrilled to be a thing with me?”
“Fine. Whatever. We’re a thing.”
“Nice.” He high-fived me.
“This is the most romantic moment of my life.”
“But wait, there’s more.” He went to the bookshelf, browsed through his cassette tape collection, found the one he wanted and popped it into a boombox that was probably older than I was. The frantic opening piano notes of I’d Do Anything For Love poured out.
“Meat Loaf,” I said in disbelief. “Really. This is the product of your superior taste in music. This is the culmination of over a century of musical experience. Meat Loaf.”
“The man is a genius!”
“This is all an elaborate joke about my vegetarianism, isn’t it?”
“No,” Joe mused. “But now that you mention it, I have yet another reason to force you to appreciate this song.” He took my hand in his, spun me around like a ballerina in a slow and careful circle, sang along—with extreme and dramatic enthusiasm—to the music.
“And I would do anything for love
I'd run right into hell and back
I would do anything for love
I'd never lie to you and that's a fact...”
“I don’t dance,” I cautioned him, laying a palm against his chest to catch my balance. That brisk, comforting scent of pine and snow and peppermint was everywhere. It feels like I can’t stand to be away from him. Like I’ll never get close enough. “I am terribly uncoordinated. I will step all over your feet. And I’m really not sure if I can trust you. You didn’t even know the plural form of octopus until like eighteen hours ago. You’re kind of a disaster. A, you know, uh, unexpectedly charming, unconventionally super cute, kind of bizarrely enchanting disaster.”
“Yeah,” Joe whispered, smiling, tilting up my chin, leaning in to kiss me. “I like you too.”
Cato
He came out of the oak trees like a ghost, pushing aside massive chandeliers of Spanish moss that blotted out the dusk sun, his expensive shoes sloshing in the marshy water that flooded the rice field. He was wearing a full suit, but no top hat; his hair was black and chin-length and wild around his face. And at first I thought he was a hallucination, a dream conjured by heat sickness or those first dreaded signs of malaria. He was unnervingly, uncommonly beautiful; beautiful like a hurricane, beautiful like lightning or an eclipse. But he was real. I straightened up as I watched him approach, my back aching in protest, a basket full of seedlings slung over my shoulder.
“Mr. Cato.”
His voice, clear and beckoning and twisted by an accent I’d never heard before, rang in my skull like church bells. He called me mister. This white man called me mister.
“Yes sir?” And I almost added: You want to be careful there, sir. The water moccasins like to hide among the tree roots, especially when the sun starts going down. But I had an inexplicable feeling that this man wasn’t afraid of things like snakes. Maybe the snakes should be afraid of him.
“Mr. Cato,” he said again, this time to himself, very quietly, tasting it.
I kept trying to look away, to disentangle my gaze from him like a hook out of a sturgeon’s mouth, because staring piercingly and astonished at a white man like that in the rice swamps of South Carolina in 1851 could get me beaten or the lash, could get my teeth pried right out of my jaw. But it didn’t seem to bother him. He grinned, hugely, all-knowingly, under prehistoric golden eyes like an alligator’s. He knew exactly what he was doing to me. And he was proud.
“Do you want to be free?” he asked, almost hissed, still grinning from the tree line.
What kind of question was that? Did a sandpiper want to fly? Did a coyote want dirt under its paws and flesh disappearing down its throat? But that wasn’t something you ever confessed aloud, not if you wanted your feet on the ground instead of swinging ten inches above it. But this man wasn’t a master, wasn’t an overseer. He wasn’t from the South. He didn’t carry a whip or a club to remind you of the rules of the world. He stood there tall and radiant in the shadows of the fading daylight like he was the one who wrote the rules to begin with; which meant that maybe he could change them. “Yes sir.”
“I can only take you,” the man warned. “No others. No family. No friends.”
“No trouble, sir,” I told him. “They sold my family. They hanged my friends.”
The man’s grin stretched wider under glinting eyes. His canine teeth were sharp, I realized: like a coyote’s, like a snake’s fangs. He held out his hand. “We are going to get along very well, you and I.”
I let the basket fall from my shoulder. I slogged through the mud and rows of wispy verdant rice plants to meet him in the shade of the oak trees. And there, for the first time in forever, a man with skin the color of bones looked me dead in the eye and shook my scarred hand.
“Welcome, Cato,” he whispered; and I was home.
He took my face in his cool palms, gingerly, reverently, like a lover. He touched his teeth to my throat. And every nerve ending in my body flooded with wildfire as he dragged me, screaming, into the depths of the forest.
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Remus J. Lupin with a FUCKING BEARD
I just know he gets extra hairy around the full moon. What if one day he just decided he wasn’t going to shave it anymore?
Tbh this is just Wolfstar Slowburn sort of but not really
He sighed as he looked in the mirror. He was already running late and it would take at least 15 minutes if he didn’t want to add new scars to his face. It was just so bloody hard to get up in the morning around this time of the month. His skin itched in anticipation of the pain they would go through in a few short days. His bones hurt, his muscles felt heavy, who cares if he showed up to transfiguration with just a little bit more hair? He could shave it tomorrow, today he was just too tired.
“Moony!! We’re gonna be late lets go!!” James hollered, banging on the bathroom door.
“To hell with it,” Remus threw his razor back in the drawer and pushed his unruly curls out of his face. When did that grow out? He’d just gotten his hair cut three days ago. He huffed aggitatedly and stepped out into the room. “Sorry to keep you lads waiting. Im just so tired this morning,” he began to pick up his books, straightening up just a little when he noticed their staring. “What?”
“You’re um,” Sirius spluttered.
“It’s nothing,” James held up a hand, “now lets go before Minnie gives us detention again. I’ve got a date I don’t want to miss.” Remus rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face when looking at James’ fond one. He and Lily were so disgustingly in love and it was wonderful because James in love and happy was less awful than James in love and pining.
“I found a hidden hallway we can take. I was trying to put it in the map last night, I’ll need your help with the spell Prongs,” Remus ran after them, breathless with excitement. “It ends behind that suit of armor just outside of Transfiguration.”
“Brilliant. Stupid staircases are not working in our favor today. Lead the way Rem.”
They’d made it with ten minutes to spare thanks to the hidden hallway and James grinned thankfully at Moony before walking over to Lily’s desk for a chat. Remus slumped in his chair, wishing desperately for the day to pass by quickly so he could get back into bed.
“You look tired Remus,” Lily commented, “go back to bed, I’ll take notes for you.”
He smiled greatfully, “Thank you, but I’ll survive. I will however, steal that hair tie,” he pointed to her wrist and she grinned.
“I wasn’t going to comment on the hair. I like it though, may I?” she asked, moving to stand behind him when he nodded. His eyes seemed to close on their own accord as she raked her fingers through his hair then scooped it all up and tied it at the back of his head. “Looks good. All the muggle rock stars are rocking the messy bun.”
He chuckled and shrugged, “Don’t feel so rock and roll right now, but I like it if it keeps the hair out of my face. Thank you,” he smiled gratfuly. He pulled his things out of his bag as McGonagall started the lesson. “Hey Pads,” he whispered, still searching through his bag, “do you have an extra quill I can borrow?” He looked up to meet Sirius’ eyes and froze. The storm in his eyes was clouded by his furrowed brow, his lips parted slightly. He gulped inaudibly when Remus’ bewildered gaze dropped to his lips. Sirius slid the quill across the table, his eyes never leaving Remus’ face before he stood abruptly, causing his stool to tip over.
“Mr. Black?” McGonagall turned, a frown quickly forming across her face, “are you alright?”
“I’m actually feeling quite ill,” his eyes bore into Remus’; Remus who wanted so desperately to look away but couldn’t tear his gaze from the tempestuous glare. “Please, may I be excused to the infirmary?”
“Very well, do you need someone to accompany you? Mr. Potter,” she motioned to James who was already getting out of his chair, a look of alarm on his face as he looked between Remus and Sirius.
“No,” Sirius finally tore his eyes away from Remus who gasped raggedly, unaware that he’d been holding his breath the entire time. “I think I can manage thank you.” And he was gone.
It took Remus a second to collect himself and when he looked up he met James’ confused stare he could do nothing but shrug as he tried to think of what he had said or done to Sirius this morning or even the night before to make him look at him with such... anger? There wasn’t anything Remus could think of. Sure he’d teased Sirius a little the night before about wearing Lily’s shirt to bed, too be honest it was kind of hot, but no way was Remus going to allow himself to think about that right now. Not about how tight the t shirt had been as it was three sizes too small. Not about how it exposed his hips when he stretched his arms over his head to yawn or threw his head back in boisterous laughter. No, it wasn’t the time to think about that now. Not when his glare had been so intense. The daily lessons seemed endless and Remus was glad when finally it was time for dinner and he could stop pretending to listen about mugwort or goblin wars. He loosened his tie and dumped it along with his books on his bed before stepping into the bathroom. He promised to meet the boys in the dining hall after they visited Sirius in the hospital wing. He hadn’t returned to any of their lessons and James’ expression only grew more suspicious when Remus declined to join them.
“Did you have a fight?” he inquired as he and Peter hurried and stumbled up the stairs to catch up to Remus.
“I’m telling you I don’t know what happened,” the fat lady scoffed when Remus practically snarled the password at her, “one minute I was asking if he had an extra quill, the next he was storming out.”
“Maybe there was a misunderstanding?” Peter suggested, looking to James for an answer.
“Come with us Moony. We’ll sort it out, whatever it is,” James insisted once more at the foot of the stairs to their dorms.
“I’ll meet you at the hall. No way Sirius would willingly spend the night at the infirmary. We’ll sort it out there. Promise.” He hammed it up a bit to get James off his back. It had failed miserably but James didn’t press the issue and escorted Peter out of the common room.
Remus shut the bathroom door and flicked the light on. He startled at his reflection before leaning in a little closer. His usually green eyes were beginning to turn that hazel, almost vile yellow color they usually did when the full moon neared. His skin was pulled almost a little tighter across his face, giving his nose and jaw a sharper more defined look. His canines were becoming longer too, the pointed end sharper. He admired that the beard covered most of the scars that marred his face. Perhaps he wouldn’t shave it off it all. He scoffed at himself. He looked like a crappy extra in some muggle teen romance about vampires and werewolves with the over exaggerated features that somehow no human could seem to realize were not human.
Not human.
If this is what Remus saw... Had Sirius been cowering away from the wolf that lingered so close to the surface now? Had he looked at Remus with disgust in class now that his features reflected the monster within? He stumbled away from the mirror. Of course. No one else has to risk their lives for their werewolf friend.
Some friend!
Asking his friends to join the wolf to keep it from destroying itself. If Sirius had come to resent him, well, Remus couldn’t blame him. The grumbling of his stomach resurfaced him from his wallowing and he sighed. If he didn’t join the others in the hall, James would surely convince himself that something had happened between he and Sirius. Perhaps something had happened. Perhaps he was no longer Remus’ friend. Remus swallowed down the pain of the thought of losing Sirius and locked it away where he kept hidden all of the other feelings he had about the grey eyed man. There was nothing he could do about his appearance now. Concealing charms and even beautification charms were tricky things. He’d learned simple ones to keep the werewolf teltales away. He chanted a few then removed Lily’s hair tie, hoping to receive some coverage from the too long curls now. That was all he could do. The boys would see past his charms. They always did. It didn’t matter now. He had to face Sirius eventually.
But he wasn’t there. “Madame Pomfrey says he’s got some stomach bug. Wouldn’t even let us see him.”
“Hmm,” Remus stabbed at his peas with a sigh. A stomach bug, please.
“Won’t you pay him a visit?” Peter asked around a mouthful of potato and Remus grimaced.
“For what? You already said Pomfrey wont let us in.”
“Yeah,” James interjected then motioned towards himself and Peter, “US. But you? She’s got a soft spot.”
“So do most new borns. Regardless of the fondness or not, she wouldn’t let a stomach bug,” he said sarcastically and around air quotes, “spread. Not a chance.”
Peter and James shared a glance that Remus wanted to question but was interrupted by Lily’s arrival, a pretty brunette in tow. “James, I’m sorry to do this last minute. Do you mind if we reschedule tonight? I’m a little behind on the Transfigurations essay,” she admitted sheepishly, “mum was sick this weekend and I didn’t get around to it.”
“It’s no problem Evans,” James smiled and took her hand, “I could help you with it. Top of the class remember?” he grinned and she rolled her eyes but smiled fondly.
“That’s just because you managed to win McGonagall over with your stupid charm and clever spell use in your pranks.”
“You think I’m clever?” his grin widened and she smacked his arm. “Im only joking. Im happy to help. We can reschedule for this weekend. The Hogsmeade trip?”
Remus tuned out the rest of the conversation when he realized Lily’s friend had been staring. He panicked momentarily. Had the charm worn off? Was his werewolf showing?
“Hey.. Remus,” she smiled shyly.
Oh.
But what was her name. He was sure they shared a class but which-
“Have you started your essay for History of Magic? I can’t decide which war I want to write about,” she sat across from him and smiled politely. Alice?
“Umm, I’ve outlined a rough draft on The Goblin Rebellions.” Emma? Samantha?
“Oh, I thought about the Gargoyle Strike of 1911 but I’m a bit confused about one of the events. Do you think you might be able to tutor me some time?” She smiled and Remus blinked. What the fuck was her name?
“Uhh..”
“You can join our study group, Charlie,” Lily gave Remus a pointed look and he smiled gratefully when the girl turned to look at Lily. “It’s currently just James and I but I think Marlene and Dorcas might join.”
“Oh,” she smiled ruefully, “I wouldn’t want to fifth wheel... maybe if Remus came?” she turned to look at Remus once more.
“Fifth wheel? Who’s the other couple?” James whispered to Lily who shook her head and sighed.
“You can be so oblivious Potter...”
“Sure,” Remus finally smiled politely, regretting it almost immediately when he heard the girl’s heart leap.
“Okay! Great! Thank you, I’ll get the details from Lily,” she smiled and stood up. “I like your new hair by the way,” she threw over her shoulder with a smirk before striding away.
“Are Marlene and Dorcas dating?” James asked loudly and Lily sighed.
****
It was almost nine when Remus returned from the library, leaving James and Lily alone to flirt. Peter had gone off to meet some lass he was seeing who, if Remus was being completely honest, was sporting a mustache much greater than Peter’s. He tugged on his cloak and tossed it over his trunk, beginning to unbutton his shirt when he stumbled over a shoe. A doc marten to be exact. He turned to look in every direction of the dark room, his eyes not needing to adjust in the dark, until they landed on the figure perched at the window. Those very hostile eyes met his again. Was hostile the right word? It was a mixture of dismay and confusion and maybe... lust? That was ridiculous, but Remus wasn’t going to be the first to drop his stare this time.
“Thought you were ill.”
“I was.”
So that’s how it was going to be.
“Sick of your own bullshit?” Remus raised a brow and Sirius frowned. Remus had to remind himself that he didn’t have any right to be angry with Sirius. He asked a lot of him when he expected him at the shack every night. “If you don’t want to come anymore,” if you hate me now and despise me and resent me for risking your life every month, “I understand.” But Sirius looked confused.
“Sorry?”
“I know I... around this time I start to show... I’m sorry if it bothers you more now. I don’t want you to do something you don’t want to.” Sirius had hopped off the window sill and begun walking towards him, making him stumble again when he took a step back and took a hard seat onto his trunk.
“Remus,” he was so close now that he could feel Sirius’ breath on his face, “you don’t have a clue..” Sirius’ fingers had began toying with the collar of Remus’ shirt, tugging ever so gently as his eyes flashed up to meet Remus’.
Sirius wasn’t ready to confess. It wasn’t a secret that he was gay. All of the Marauders knew and a few blokes he’d hooked up with did too. But Remus? Remus who was too kind and too smart and too good for him. He had his own problems he didn’t need to take on more, especially not the kind that would surely come if they ever... If they ever what? Hooked up? Moony wasn’t hook up material. Not with his warm skin and needy fingers in the morning. It wasn’t like he and Remus hadn’t shared a bed before. They all had at some time or another. Platonic cuddles were important, James had said. But Sirius hadn’t expected it would feel like the waves crashing against the shore when Remus pressed his cold nose against his neck in the morning, his lips brushing there too as he mumbled sleepily about chocolate pudding. He didn’t feel that way when James threw a haphazard arm around him or even Peter wiggled in too closely. With Remus it always felt like he wasn’t close enough.
And it had been so easy, so bloody easy to ignore it. To ignore the need to be closer and to want to crawl into his bed every night instead of taking turns with James who thought Peter’s elbows were too knobby. If he could wake up every morning to Remus’ cold nose he could take on anything. It had all been so easy until this morning. They had all teased Remus about how high maintenance he was about his hair. He was always cleanly shaved, he got up extra early every day to do it. He had his hair cut every two weeks and he even made sure to trim across his chest. Yes he was a werewolf, but he didn’t have to flaunt it, so he had said. The last few weeks leading up to the full moon had been tough for him, however. He’d been much more tired, much more reluctant to get out of bed. The stubble last week had already made Sirius stare for just a little too long when he thought no one was looking. He didn’t expect that Remus would be sporting a whole beard just a week later. He looked older even, especially with the way his features were beginning to sharpen. Sirius longed so much to run his fingers along the slope of his jaw. He wondered if it would be as sharp, if it would cut, if the hair that hid it now would make it softer. Would it tickle his skin? His face if he just leaned in now? He swallowed audibly when those golden eyes, nearly hidden behind the over grown curls, glanced briefly at his lips.
“Don’t know what, Sirius?” Remus whispered. He wanted so much to believe that the question in Sirius’ eyes was the one he wanted to hear.
“Hey Moony we went to check on Pads but he’s not,” James barged into the room with Peter in tow and they froze. Sirius took a step away from Remus and smiled.
“I’m feeling much better now. Pomfrey let me sleep in my own room,” he smiled as convincingly as he could.
“That’s great! Was it something you ate? I thought the biscuits at breakfast were a little off,” Peter had pushed past James and was already undressing to get into his pajamas.
“That must’ve been it,” Sirius gave him a small smile that disappeared when he met James’ eyes again. Remus looked between them. Between Sirius’ pleading eyes and James’ knowing ones.
Oh.
He had to pay a certain red head a visit.
*****
He sat still in the girls’ dorm, watching through the mirror as Marlene pouted. “Are you sure you want to cut it all off Remus?”
“Marlene, I already promised to keep the beard. The hair keeps getting in my eyes though. Please? Just some length.”
“Oh alright,” she sighed and she picked up the shears. Mary tapped her chin.
“What if we kept the length at the top.”
“Whatever just get it out of my face.”
“Ooo a werewolf with a temper, how original,” Lily grinned at his scowl. And then he remembered he was supposed to make nice because-
“Hey Lils?”
“Hmm?” She was distracted. The girls had taken advantage of Remus asking for a hair cut to have a spa day. Marlene was the only person that Remus trusted with his hair. Supposedly she’d taken lessons over the summer with a muggle cousin of hers. She’d made quite the profit dying and cutting hair when lessons were over. “If I wasn’t so sure I wanted to join the ministry, perhaps I’d open my own salon,” she had mentioned the first time she cut Remus’ hair. She was the only one who could get it exactly the way he wanted it.
“Want to play a game to pass the time?”
“Does it involve using my hands, kind of occupied..”
“No, Marlene would kill me if I moved a muscle.”
“Got that right,” she huffed.
“What game?”
“I’ll ask you yes or no questions and you have to answer with the first one that comes to mind.”
“You’re looking for trouble, me thinks,” Mary lifted a cucumber from her eye to peek at Remus, “there’s something he wants you to confess. Don’t do it Lily.”
“Remus is smarter than that. If he wants answers he should ask like a big boy, isn’t that right Remus?” Lily laughed at his scowl through the mirror.
“I’m not certain you’d tell me.”
“Alright Remus, I’m in good spirits, I’ll humor you this once. Go on,” and she was back to painting her nails.
“Do you like chocolate ice cream?”
“No.”
“Do you prefer McGonagall over Bins?”
“Yes.”
“Do you like Shakespeare?”
“Absolutely not. That won’t change, leave me be!!”
“Yes or no only!”
“Alright!”
“Do you prefer butterbeer over fire whiskey.”
“Yes.”
“Do you fancy James?”
“Yes.”
“Does Sirius fancy me?”
“WAIT!” Marlene shouted making them all jump.
“Oh no,” Lily groaned at her ruined toes, “Marlene you’ve bloody ruined them.”
“No no no,” Mary was removing the cucumbers again, “forget your toes for a minute. Remus,” she smiled condescendingly, “sweetie,” Remus growled lowly but she persisted, “do you fancy Sirius?”
“Stupid question babe,” Marlene laughed and Remus sputtered.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh Remus really,” Marlene gave him a tired look, “it’s so bloody obvious. You practically drool over him.”
“Fine. I’m in love with the idiot is that what you want?” They all froze before sharing a look and then turning to him.
“You’re in love with him?”
“I thought it was obvious?” Remus scowled and Lily waddled over to sit in front of him next to Mary.
“Well I mean it was obvious you were totally gone for him but, in love? That’s different...” Mary shook her head. Remus was starting to feel nervous. Maybe love was more than he bargained for. Here he was confessing and he wasn’t even sure. He was sure of his own feelings but what did they matter if Sirius didn’t feel the same?
“You didn’t answer my question...”
“He doesn’t fancy you,” Lily shook her head and Marlene snorted, “he worships the ground you walk on.”
“Get stuffed,” Remus rolled his eyes and Lily flipped him the bird.
“Do you know how before James and Lily were dating, they would go on and on and on about each other? And if they were having a conversation, they acted like they weren’t aware that anyone else was in the room?” Marlene had taken up the scissors again as she asked.
“Come off it,” Lily blushed.
“Sirius is like that about you. Only worse.”
“Worse?” Remus breathed almost inaudibly. He didn’t believe it when he asked. He wondered and he hoped so much that it were true but having it confirmed felt like a glacier melting in his chest.
“He pines,” Mary grimaced.
“Merlin, does he pine. And he rambles too,” Marlene shook her head.
“He whines! That’s the worst part,” Lily laughed.
The floor beneath him felt unsteady. Was the chair swaying?
“Get a grip Remus,” Marlene’s brow furrowed, a bit if concern on her face, “is that not what you wanted to hear?”
“I- yes but...”
“What is it?” Lily asked.
“What now?”
“Men are impossible,” Mary rolled her eyes then placed fresh cucumber rounds over them.
“You know he has feelings for you, the same ones you have for him, and you don’t know what to do now? Do you need to hear about the birds and the bees too?” Marlene laughed and Mary snorted.
“Birds and the birds Marls.”
“I think men are the bees?”
“Can it you two,” Lily grinned, “Remus... you have to tell him. When you’re ready of course. Doesn’t have to be today. But also what are you waiting for!”
“Poor Charlie will be crushed,” Mary chuckled and Marlene’s fingers froze in his hair.
“Charlie... Charlotte McLaggen? Yuck please, you can do better than that, Remus.”
“Mean, she’s a nice girl,” Lily frowned.
“Better than Sirius?” Marlene countered and they burst out in laughter.
“That’s really a matter of opinion,” Lily shrugged and Remus sighed.
“I can hear you lot laughing from down the hall,” Dorcas came through the door, arms full of sweets from the kitchens. “You started without me!!” she feigned a look of disbelief and pouted.
“Are those for me?” Marlene smiled at the chocolates in her hands. Remus didn’t hear the rest of the conversation however. He was too focused on Marlene’s face. She was looking at Dorcas.... he had to look away, it felt like intruding to keep staring. He could only smile when he realized that Sirius had looked at him that way the night before.
*****
It’d been a week since the night in the girl’s dorms. Remus, who now found himself trapped between a bookshelf and Charlie’s fingers in his hair, regretted most deeply that he had not yet confessed to Sirius about his feelings.
“It’s such a shame you cut so much of it off Remus,” she frowned and Remus smiled politely. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and gently removed her hand from his hair and placed it in her own lap.
“It’ll grow.” He was ashamed of his inability to conceal his irritation. The full moon had come and gone and he was tired, his body still feeling the effects of the change. He’d managed to get a new scar that split his left eyebrow and he was happy now that he had allowed Marlene to leave his hair just a little longer than he usually wore it. But oh how Charlotte loved it.
“You just look like such a bad boy. Its sexy.”
Remus wanted nothing more than to be done with this damn study group so he could find Sirius. He kept waiting for the right moment but maybe there wasn’t one. Maybe any chance to tell him was the right moment. Any chance to be able to press his lips against his-
“Remus?” James snapped him out of his trance.
“Hmm?”
“Same time tomorrow? The weather’s too nice out we aren’t going to get anything done now. Even you seem distracted,” James grinned and Remus smiled sheepishly.
“I apologize I-“
“Maybe we can skip off to Hogsmeade, Remus,” Charlotte interrupted him and Lily began to pick up her books faster when she noticed Remus’ tight lipped smile, “visit Madame Puddifoot’s tea shop?”
“Charlotte-“
“Charlie,” she grinned and Remus all but screamed.
“Charlie,” he stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder, “it is never gonna happen between us. I’m sorry I wasted your time. I just don’t see-“
“Oh... oh you’re joking!” she laughed and shoved his arm, “you’re so funny.”
“I’m not funny, I’m gay. Now if you’ll excuse me,” Remus strode off then, leaving behind an open mouthed Charlie and a laughing Lily and James.
Remus ran out of the library and out towards the lake. It was common to find Sirius under the tree there, having a nap and ditching study hall. Remus could see his boots protruding from behind one of the roots and smiled. He sped up, wincing as his muscles protested. He dropped his bag at the edge of the lake, leaning over and bracing himself on his knees as he wheezed for air.
“Remus?” Sirius sat up, a look of alarm on his face, “are you alright?” he scrambled to his knees and made his way over, pressing his hands to Remus’ shoulders. “Hey,” he tilted his head and smiled when his eyes met Remus’, “alright Moony?”
Remus had just begun to settle his heavy breathing but he was suddenly breathless again. He straightened himself and Sirius dropped his hands, taking a step back before Remus caught his arm.
“I’m not... I mean..” he shut his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before looking at Sirius again. “I’m much better than alright.”
“Is that right,” he reached up, “you’ve cut it.” Remus wrapped his fingers around his wrist, chuckling at the familiar action. Except he didn’t mind these fingers in his hair as much. He kept his hold on Sirius’ wrist and smiled.
“It wasn’t very me... plus it tickled my nose,” he grinned wider when Sirius laughed, “I think I’m in love with you.”
He’d stopped laughing then. “Think you’re still under the effects of the full moon there Moony,” but his smile never faded.
“Oh I definitely am. My legs are ready to give out actually,” he released Sirius’ wrist then, leaning into the fingers that had tangled into his hair and were now pressed to his face.
“I’m so stupid,” Sirius laughed, “I’d hidden it so well... who knew I had a thing for hairy men.”
“Everyone. I might be a little ashamed to say I asked Lily and Marlene.”
“Moony!” He exclaimed, “I didn’t take you for a gossip.”
“Be nice,” Remus’ face hurt from smiling, “I had to be sure... didn’t want to make a fool of myself or even push you away. I’d rather be your friend and keep my feelings to myself if it means you’d stay in my life.”
“What made you change your mind? Seemed to be in a rush when you got here,” he chuckled, “so eager to give me a half arsed confession.”
“Half arsed!” Remus’ eyebrows shot up.
“I think I’m in love with you,” Sirius repeated and Remus grinned.
“I know that I am... you however, I think you’re just lusting,” he teased and Sirius dropped his hand, giving him a small shrug.
“Mayhaps I am. So what now?”
“I think that’s up to you,” Remus couldn’t help but be surprised at the shy smile that Sirius offered him. Sirius reached forward once more to grip the front of Remus’ shirt, stood on his toes, and pressed his lips to his.
“The hair I can part with, but please... never shave that beard,” he mumbled against Remus’ lips.
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𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: barbie movies as troupe plays part 1 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: sfw
𝐚𝐧: if you think i won’t do all 36 barbie movies, you’re wrong. regardless of whether people want this or not. i have barbie brainrot 24/7. i’m just separating it into parts so it’s not too long *this isn’t meant to be that serious y’all my reasons vary from legit to just jokes
𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥: i won’t go in-depth with any plot differences from movie to play, or how the characters would work out... for now *chuckles in future ppt*
𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟏: nutcracker, rapunzel, swan lake, princess and the pauper, fairytopia series, magic of pegasus, barbie diaries, island princess, three musketeers 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟐: coming soon 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟑: coming soon
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐞: mixed troupe! spring x autumn. one of the seasonal events/scouts for A3! has a nutcracker theme, and to avoid spoilers that’s all i will say :3
𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭: since this is based on barbie’s take on the nutcracker, changing up the cast from what tsuzuru had in plan:
clara/sugarplum fairy: sakuya. i want to see him go through a costume & hair transformation sequence, not gonna lie.
nutcracker/prince eric: juza. obviously he has to be the ruler of the land of sweets.
mouse king: sakyo or chikage. i want one of them to wave around a sceptre and say quotes like “i’ll reduce the Nutcracker to a pile of splinters"
pimm: taichi... pimm is a spy :O who has to do dirty work :O but the real reason is i just want taichi to follow around sakyo again or maybe even chikage this time lol
major mint & captain candy: tsuzuru and citron respectively. mint is pretty serious and awkward, candy is a lot friendlier- i just think it’ll be a good way to insert some humor in the play
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐞: mixed troupe! summer x autumn.
𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭: rapunzel in this one actually is the “servant” of gothel. also, rapunzel has a magical paint brush and also there’s dragons. who are purple.
rapunzel: kazunari. obviously. actually, kazu has a lot of similarities with her: a good artist, patient, adventurous, quick thinking, hardly ever complains- also he’d look good with long hair i think ><
gothel: omi. there is an action fighto scene + also just the theme of omi playing villains lol... also THERE’S A SCENE WHERE GOTHEL PRETENDS TO BE RAPUNZEL BY WEARING A LONG WIG AND BOI- KAZU AND OMI’S BODY BUILDS ARE SO DIFFERENT BUT IT’D BE FUNNY IF THE PRINCE FALLS FOR THE TRAP ANYWAY
penelope: kumon. a PURPLE funny and clumsy dragon- fight me, the only answer is kumon especially once you see who’s next.
hugo: juza. a PURPLE dragon who’s penelope’s dad but he’s gonna be the older bro in this one (i wonder why...)
hobie: a passive and worrisome rabbit... Tenma.
prince stefan: he also has a couple fight scenes... ngl bc stefan has blue eyes, light brown hair + described by the wiki as “fierce”, he’s banri.
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐞: winter troupe. i will stand by this forever.
𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭: this is like one of the ones i’ve had figured out for a while already...
odette & odile: tsumugi. i’m just saying, tsumugi’s duality- he can do both the white and black swan because he has power. impact.
prince daniel: not tasuku bc spare him the prince roles he’s sick of it. guy. why guy? because he obviously has a good idea of how to act like a prince :3
rothbart: HOMARE! I WANT! THIS MAN! TO PLAY THE ANTOGONIST! GO OFF ABOUT DARK ARTS! TRANSFORM EVERYONE TO ANIMALS LIKE THE EXTRA BEING YOU ARE.
fairy queen: azuma. ugh just- imagining how ethereal he’d look.
erasmus: tasuku. he’s a troll that can act mean, but is genuinely kind and helpful... also, the VA of erasumus is also the VA for “unnamed burly villager” and i’m just saying-
kelly the cygnet: hisoka. there’s too many animal children, so hisoka is gonna be the baby swan. uwu. also, kelly has a quote, “I can't sleep.” and wOW THE IRONY
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐞: WE’RE GOING FOR THE COMEDIC ROUTE WHAT’S UP SUMMER. reason: i went “wait... no actor really looks super alike though.”
𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭: tafahfuoahoaf it’s my favourite barbie movie... OKAY SO THE RUNNING GAG OF THIS IS THAT THE PRINCESS & PAUPER DON’T LOOK ALIKE, BUT EVERYONE KEEPS GOING “Wow! you two look so identical!” no they don’t
anneliese: muku. first of all please look at the sprite i used in the header. anneliese = pink = muku. she’s the sweet princess archetype... but in this version she also goes on tangents about rocks and mineraLS AND HOW THE MINING INDUSTRY SUX AND THE ABSOLUTE AUDACITY OF-
erika: kumon. first of all, the sprite in the header again. erika = blue like ugh this is perfect. ALSO erika has a cat who BARKS and i just imagine kumon talking to her cat like: WOOF WOOF WOOF GRRR GRRR and the dog responding and everyone in the palace going wtf
king dominick: i had such a crush on him anyway he’s tenma. rich, young, talented king who disguises himself as a page so he can find love for realsies. im just saying. he won’t be tenma’s only role tho ><
julian: kazunari. the wiki went “he’s the only bestfriend a barbie MC ever married” really shook me like ugh friendship dynamic between muku and kazu roles??? also kazu’s genuinely smart so him as the tutor was just gucci in my eyes
preminger: misumi. FIRST OF ALL PREMINGER IS ICONIC? WHEN HE SANG HOW CAN I REFUSE I WAS LIKE UGH KING. i just wanna hear misumi play an antagonist that’s also funny and do things with his voice.
madame carp: yuki. a bossy and rich woman who owns a dress emporium. pretty much it.
nick & nack: YUKI AND TENMA. THEY WILL DOUBLE ROLE FOR THE SAKE OF BEING MISUMI’S DUMB UNDERLING DUO
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐞: spring troupe. i wanna see them have wings uwu.
𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭: just gonna combine the whole fairytopia series into one
elina: itaru. first of all, pink motif. also i just like the idea of itaru being this recurring protagonist.
bibble the puffball played by kamekichi
laverna: recurring villain citron. for no reason other than i think it’s cool when he plays power hungry villains
enchantress: i just want sakuya to play a role that’s more of a “powerful character” but still really kind uwu. another recurring good guy.
azura & glee: tsuzuru. elina is azura’s apprentice, and glee is a friend who’s generally really happy... ngl, i wanna see tsuzuru play someone more energetic for funsies
nori: masumi. nori is kind of a stubborn and jealous person at first, him and elina won’t get along right away BUT DAMMIT THE ENEMIES? TO FRIENDS IS GUCCI!!!
merman prince nalu & linden: chikage... yeah i just gave chikage the guy roles ngl... but i wanna see chikage as a handsome merman AND handsome fairy so *shrugs*
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐞: cross troupe. spring x winter.
𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭: partially based on the ice-skating cards (i have yet to read the event story, unfortunately).
annika: tsuzuru. i thought it’d be fun to cast tsuzuru as a more sheltered character due to annika’s parents’ protectiveness. the contrast y’all.
shiver: sakuya. shiver is a polar bear cub sidekick who’s friendly and likes shiny things and that’s just... really cute... put bear ears on sakuya...
brietta: guy. brietta is annika’s older sister... who got transformed into a pegasus by the villain... i wonder how they’d change the pegasus thing lol
wenlock: tasuku. NOT GONNA LIE- i want tasuku to play the villain for all these wonderful one-liners: "Oh, smile! You didn't lose a daughter; you've gained a pet!", and "I thank my lucky stars I didn't marry you!"
prince aidan: masumi bc i want more roomie interaction on stage i mean their friendship keeps getting cuter and cuter.
cloud queen: azuma... that’s all. i just remembered her bc her hair has a braided crown, and i went “azuma braided hair brainrot”
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐞: mixed troupe! summer x autumn.
𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭: i was gonna make it full autumn, but then the age casting felt awkward since they’re in high school...
barbie: taichi. barbie here is shy but wants to stop blending in the background! i just went “damn that do be resonating”. also i wanna hear taichi sing more y’all and barbie is a singer/guitarist here
courtney: azami. i like the idea of azami playing a spunky character who’s more of a tomboy, but still does like fashion and accessorising and... lip gloss?
tia: misumi? tenma? idk the intelligent and passionate archetype is very broad... especially in a high school setting
kevin: kazunari. just the whole best friend thing + kevin being a goofy person who loves to make ppl laugh ugh
racquelle: yuki. i know racquelle’s a bully here and say not to bullying... but sharp tongue.
todd: honestly? todd was so boring in the moving. we need someone like banri to give him CHARACTER!... yes that’s my reasoning ugh
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐞: sUMMER SUMMER SUMMER-
𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭: AHAHAHA WHAT IS THIS CASTING? MY REASONINGS FOR THIS ONE IN PARTICULAR ARE SO SHALLOW LMAO
ro/rosella: “a 16 year old girl who can talk to animals! adventurous and brave” me: *gasps* mISUMI-
prince antonio: “prince antonio loves travelling and exploring-” okay yeah it’s kazu...
queen ariana: i just want yuki to sing to me “love is for peasants which we’re obviously not” and i’d go :O also ngl... i wanna see yuki in like darker palettes and plotting to poison all the royals
princess luciana: queen ariana’s daughter... played by muku. because i wanna hear muku counter yuki with “all the shoujo mangas books i’ve read, all the poems always said, that the heart is made to share...”
sagi the red panda & azul the peacock: honestly, just basing it off of colour matching but tenma is sagi and kumon is azul lol
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐞: AUTUMN x SPRING
𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭: AHAHAHA WHAT IS THIS CASTING? pt 2
corrine: i keep wanting to put sakuya in these roles oops. i just... let him sword fight on stage again :>
viveca: purple musketeer, artistic, designs clothes... fights with ribbons... you know, for the sake of banri being a fAshIoNisTa... it has to be banri y’all "Don't mess with the animal print dress!"
aramina: green musketeer, fights with fans, romantic and loves ballet... pfft, for the sake of “wouldn’t it be funny-” it has to be azami. poor bby, having to swoon over romance on stage- he can’t relate
renee: chikage. purely because of that scene where she threw a feather duster (?) at a flying shard of glass and perfectly hit it. yeah.
helene: the old and strict instructor that teaches them how to be musketeers... sakyo.. duh.
philippe: the main antagonist... it has to be omi again. and since philippe has a goatee, we’re bringing back facial hair omi~
prince louis: itaru, lol. he’s like the one significant non-action oriented character in the film. he has just enough moments where itaru still looks princely, but mostly? he just wants humans to fly y’all.
want to order again?
#a3!#a3! act! addict! actors!#a3! act addict actors#a3! headcanons#cafe: dessert menu#serving: barbeQUEUE#nathya stans barbie ✌️💖#a3! game
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Ok so Im going to take this chance and go wild: GiottoxMukuro + Bad Vongola AU
UM. So, I sort of just sat on this last one cuz what even lmao. I checked AO3 and omg this ship exists??? but there’s like just two fics under it. But alright, here’s my stab at this very random pairing, it doesn’t even quite get all the way to a pairing, but I gave them both page time and at least you gave me something new to try XD Sorry it’s so late.
ALSO YAY I FINISHED ALL TEN
1. Ok so! First thing’s first - how do I stick these two into the same time period? Either full AU or time travel/reincarnation fuckery. Let’s go with reincarnation. Sort of. Where Neo Primo is literally Neo Primo ;)
Tsuna is dead. They’re in the future arc, he’s being forced to take the boss trial, and Hibari suffocates him just a little too long. So Tsuna dies at the feet of his ancestors, and Giotto is forced to witness the death of a fourteen-year-old boy who had never asked for any of this bloodshed but had also never backed down from it, never folded, even under the pressure of so many Vongola bosses. And Giotto is angry. He has spent centuries watching his beloved Vongola become mired in blood and sin, built on an empire of corpses and suffering. He is so sick of it, of not being able to do anything about it, but his latest descendant is dead, and his body is empty of a soul, and in that moment, more than anything else, all Giotto wants is a chance to act, to be something other than helpless, to fix even just a little of what his bloodline has broken.
Will and Flames and desperation are powerful things when combined.
Next thing Giotto knows, he’s opening his eyes to a cold-looking training room, the remains of a cage that killed a fourteen-year-old boy splintering around him, and it barely takes a thought for his Flames to surge up and out and slam the Cloud - Hibari Kyouya - into the far wall with a viciousness Giotto had spent the majority of his first life keeping under wraps. For a split second, he almost kills the Cloud for his gall. A Guardian who could murder his own Sky - however well-intentioned or unknowingly - is no Guardian at all, but then, out of all of the Tenth Generation, as far as Giotto can tell, not a single one of them had had a real bond with Tsuna. The one who’d come closest had been the Mist, but after ten years and the weight of Vongola’s sins on his shoulders, even that connection had dissolved.
If Giotto is honest, the person Tsuna had become ten years later under the crushing pressure of that Sun Arcobaleno and the Vongola had been near unrecognizable compared to the boy Giotto had so admired. But that man is dead, at least for now, dragged under by too many enemies and too many bad decisions, and all that’s left is this younger version, dragged to the future against his will and forced to fight a war of someone else’s making.
Not even that anymore obviously, and all that’s left is Giotto, a bloody legacy to his name and too many regrets to pay for. All he can do is live out Tsuna’s life now and hopefully undo some of the damage Vongola has wrought. Tsuna wouldn’t want him killing this Cloud though, and so Giotto lets him go in the end. Hibari gets to his feet, something bloodthirsty and thrilled gleaming in his eyes, completely ignorant of the fact that he’d killed his Sky, and all Giotto can think as he recalls the way Tsuna had always had to bribe this man for him to even consider helping is how Alaude must be rolling in his grave.
“I’m done,” He says instead, slicing a cool look around the room, and then he walks out, back to his room. Nobody stops him, but Giotto wouldn’t have stopped him either, with the shadow of his Flames licking across the concrete floor.
2. Giotto does his duty. Ten years in the future is far too late to really change anything significant, so the faster he takes care of business here, the sooner they can all go home. In the meantime, it amuses him - in a funny world-burning sort of way - how none of Tsuna’s friends seems to realize anything is wrong, that the boy they profess their loyalty to is gone, and his body has been usurped by an interloper. Giotto considers himself a decent enough actor, but for a bunch of Flame-actives with Vongola rings on their fingers and Guardian titles to their names, they’re a rather oblivious lot.
(All of Tsuna’s past and present and future sits in his memories now though, and Giotto can’t say he’s terribly surprised. The person these children wanted to follow was never actually the boy Tsuna had been, not entirely. They pay attention to the parts of him that they like, and ignore the rest like they don’t exist. It infuriates Giotto, because Tsuna deserved better, but Tsuna is dead, and even if Giotto has every intention of at the very least demoting them from their Guardian positions once they’re finished here, he cannot truly harm these children Tsuna had called friends.)
So he does his duty, fights the battles people want him to fight, and smiles blandly back in the face of Reborn’s suspicious glances. That hitman at least can sense something is off, if only because his student no longer cringes or screams, but no one save the Vongola bosses knows the details of what happens in the Vongola Trial, and it’s easy enough to balance Reborn’s misgivings with that.
It’s fun though, messing with the pseudo-baby. The last time Reborn tried to shoot him awake in the morning, Giotto had set the entire room on fire and ended up singeing off Reborn’s sideburns. The resulting training session had been grueling, but it had been worth finally getting back at the man first responsible for more or less browbeating Tsuna into obedience.
Pettiness aside, Giotto does put effort into training. Tsuna’s body is in decent shape, but it could be even better, so Giotto does his best to make it so. The weapons of the future are something of a marvel too, and he smiles indulgently at the full-grown wing-adorned flame-pelted Leone di Cieli that gracefully leaps out to greet him, but in the privacy of his rooms, he lets his Flames swirl free and summons the phoenix that had been his constant companion in his first life, the soul of his Flames, his will made sentient.
“Natsu,” He names the lion, after Tsuna, and welcomes Persephone home as she does a sweep of his bedroom before landing light and delicate on his shoulder, the way she’d always done in battle.
The looks on everyone’s faces when they see her with him is enough to make Giotto smile for the next week.
3. It becomes clear soon enough that they’re going to need all hands on deck for the final confrontation against Millefiore, but even before that, Giotto begins asking some pointed questions that Tsuna had thought but hadn’t quite been brave enough to ask.
“When are we getting my Mist out of Vendicare?” He enquires one night over dinner, and smiles pleasantly as everyone freezes. “We require all the aid we can get, yes? And Mukuro has always been strong.”
“Jyuudaime!” Hayato is the first to burst out, chair skidding back with how emphatically he stands up. “We don’t need that bastard!” Giotto looks at him, not a twitch in his expression, impenetrable as ice even as he keeps his features soft, and Hayato falters. “Or- Or even if we do, he can just possess Dokuro! He can’t be trusted if we let him out!”
Giotto stirs more sugar into his coffee - rich and sweet, gave G a minor aneurysm every time he saw it - just the way he likes it. “So we make him serve, and offer nothing in return?”
Giotto waits out the confused spluttering around him. Reborn is drilling holes into the side of his head but he pays the baby no mind.
“He has been imprisoned for ten years,” Giotto continues in mild tones. “And has remained loyal all this time, si?” He glances briefly at Chrome, the younger one, who stares back, meek and mute. She is loyal to Mukuro above all others, and it would’ve been so very easy for him to influence her into betraying Vongola - betraying Tsuna - anytime.
That he hadn’t, in all this time, is… something. It’s something. The lingering threads of a frayed potential bond. The stubborn refusal to give up something he’d once perhaps considered his. A promise once given - keep my people safe and you will have my allegiance - and never broken, not by Mukuro.
People have often remarked on how similar the First and Tenth Generations are. Personally, Giotto has never seen two sets of people so different.
“I wish to free him,” He says at last, over the voices of those trying to convince him otherwise. “Loyalty deserves loyalty returned. Whatever else he used to be, he has bled in my service for ten years. Surely that is enough to justify his release?”
It is not a question, and everyone knows it. Reborn is all but glaring now. He doesn’t like this new Tsuna who does not cower even in the face of his bullets.
Giotto is spiteful enough to enjoy every moment of it.
It is Takeshi who relents first. “Okay,” He says, all easy agreement and assessing eyes, and maybe this one at least is not so far removed from Ugetsu’s blood after all. “But how are we gonna do that? Vendicare’s hard to break into, right?”
Hayato - the only mafia-raised of the lot - looks positively horrified. “It’s not hard, Baseball Freak, it’s impossible!”
“But Mukuro already broke out twice, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” Giotto interjects, smiling at Takeshi, who preens a little under the attention and is in some ways possibly the most insane of them all. Giotto does have a fondness for those who consider laws as guidelines at best. “So, I suppose we need a Mist.” He takes a gulp of his coffee. “The Varia has a new one these days, don’t they?”
Three conferences, five one-sided shouting matches, and a hefty sum of money transferred over to the Varia accounts later, Giotto has secured Xanxus’ partly baffled, mostly irritated agreement for Fran’s services. Fran turns out to be a rather… precocious young man, but he has Mist Flames and skills that almost rival Mukuro’s, and Giotto is relatively content to leave the breakout to him.
His confidence is not misplaced. Days and half a dozen more battles later, with Byakuran grandstanding across from him, Giotto’s entire ill-fitted, misfit Family is gathered, and the First Generation appears at Giotto’s silent command to unseal the Vongola rings.
(All of them know what he is, the soul peering out from behind Tsuna’s eyes. But in this one moment, not even Daemon gives him away, and Giotto is free to finally unleash his carefully controlled wrath on the Family that had decimated his.)
Millefiore doesn’t stand a chance.
4. “You are not Sawada Tsunayoshi,” Mukuro - the older one - says in deceptively light tones as he joins Giotto on the balcony. It’s late, the night before they would all finally return to the past, and the two of them are probably the only ones still awake.
“No,” Giotto confirms, because there’s no hiding it from this man. “I’m afraid Sawada Tsunayoshi perished in Kyouya’s Box Weapon when he and Reborn attempted to force a Vongola Trial.”
Mukuro, staring out at the sprawling woods before them, does not visibly react, does not even move. For a moment, it doesn’t even seem like he’s breathing, and that’s what gives him away.
Giotto does not say he is sorry. He is, for this, and for too many other things to list, but whatever connection had formed between Tsuna and his Mist had been lost a long time ago, and sorry only sounds trite in the face of such a travesty. The only reason Mukuro had never drifted away, Giotto suspects, was because the Mist had refused to let go. Mukuro himself would never admit it, perhaps never even acknowledge it to himself, but if there was one thing Giotto had always envied Tsuna for, it was his ability to earn a Mist’s devotion so completely.
(And so it had hurt all the more to watch the years go by as Tsuna allowed Vongola to convince him to leave Mukuro in Vendicare. Hurt most of all to realize, one day, that Tsuna no longer cared so long as Mukuro continued reporting in and doing as he was told.)
“What will you do with my younger self?” Mukuro eventually asks, carefully void of every emotion save for the thinnest veneer of detached interest.
“Free him,” Giotto replies promptly, seeing no need for word games here. Reborn had tried to interrogate him about his Vongola Trial, and Giotto had given him every answer but a straight one. It had been highly entertaining. “If he wishes, he will have a place in my Famiglia. If he does not, then I will ensure he is able to start a new life elsewhere with his people, without Vongola dogging their every step.” He pauses, absently considering his hands, more solid than they’ve been in four hundred years. “Even Tsunayoshi’s fear of Reborn was not enough to stop him from asking repeatedly after you. This is the least I can do for your younger self when Tsunayoshi worried about him so often.”
Mukuro scoffs, a hollow puff of air that fades to nothing. “Had he a few more years in him, you would’ve had nothing to concern yourself with.”
Giotto inclines his head in acknowledgement but says nothing more. There is probably no one who knew Tsuna - who fought him and lost to him and understood him - more than Mukuro. The Mist doesn’t need Giotto expounding on the rise and fall of one of the brightest and most short-lived Skies the world would ever see.
“You will not tell the others about me?” Giotto asks instead, more curious than any kind of anxious about it.
Mukuro tips a mocking facsimile of a smile in his direction, looking him straight-on for the first time since his arrival. “What business is it of mine, if Vongola wishes to destroy itself?”
Giotto half-smiles, half-grimaces. He supposes this is hardly a surprise either; it was never Vongola that Mukuro swore unspoken fealty to.
So instead, he reaches out, gently catching one of Mukuro’s hands in his own and knowing he can only because Mukuro allows it. Mismatched eyes watch him like a hawk, a derisive curl on his lips that freezes when Giotto presses the flickering heat of a piece of Sky Flame into his palm.
Then he steps back, once, twice, enough room to sketch an esoteric bow, too formal for this age but recognizable enough here and now if Mukuro’s sharp intake of breath is anything to go by.
Gratitude. Apology. And a dissolution of debt and duty between Guardian and Sky.
If Mukuro so wishes, even after Giotto is gone, the shard of Sky will ensure a clean break from Vongola, and not even Sawada Tsunayoshi will be able to track his former Guardian down. It is all Giotto can offer him.
He straightens, glancing at the piece of Sky now settled into the shimmering form of a phoenix feather. A new life, if Mukuro wants it.
He meets the Mist’s gaze. Mukuro is the first to look away, fingers curling around the feather, eyes on the horizon, and he doesn’t speak again.
Giotto nods, takes his leave, and he does not see the Mist again, not this version at least. Once time straightens itself out, the adult Tsuna of this universe will return, and while Millefiore is no longer a threat, Vongola - and its Decimo - will still be the same stagnant bloodstained mess.
There is nothing Giotto can do about that, but at the back of his mind, he wonders if it wouldn’t have been better after all to have let Millefiore wipe Vongola out.
5. Later, much later, after a jailbreak and Daemon and a broken curse, Giotto and his Guardians - still no bonds, but he can’t seem to find a good time to get rid of them, so maybe instead of that, he can educate them to be better - sit down for a Family dinner at the most upscale banquet hall Namimori has to offer, with the Ninth and his men, the CEDEF and even Varia. They’re in public so everyone has their law-abiding citizen face on, but (a redo of) the Inheritance Ceremony is imminent, and Timoteo smiles, sly and pleased that all the pieces have finally fallen into place. He waves Giotto into the seat on his immediate right and doesn’t even question how very little Giotto resembles Tsuna these days, ascribing the changes to Reborn’s training and recent battles and growing up, and looking no further than that.
The food is good, Italian but cooked by the best chefs on Vongola payroll. Giotto stares Kyouya into grudging silence over the fare, and then he focuses on chatting amicably with Timoteo, weaving smooth flattery into casual but attentive conversation the way he’d learned to do a lifetime ago.
Giotto watched Timoteo grow up. There is no skeleton in his closet that Giotto did not witness him stashing away. But he is old and past his prime and he will soon learn that his successor is not as easy to control as he’d hoped, as he thinks, so Giotto can smile back now and give him his momentary triumph, smile and sip his wine and not let his eyes linger on every bite of food Timoteo takes.
During a lull in the conversation, he turns and catches Mukuro’s eye. His Mist is seated beside his female counterpart, all the way at the end of the line, farthest from his Sky to any outsider’s eye. But Mukuro smirks back from behind his cloth napkin, and as the Nono’s dessert is carried in, the faint twist of Mist Flames - unnoticed by all except two - darts into the panna cotta.
Timoteo eats his fill, compliments the chef, beams at Giotto’s gently filial fussing again like the kindly grandfather he excels at pretending to be, and nobody thinks to question how masterfully Giotto draws all attention to himself and his rowdier Guardians, never letting the generally jovial mood falter, his Sky Flames a subtle pulsing encouragement beneath it all to distract them from the knife at their backs.
The whole affair is a success. At the very least, nobody threw any food, no fights broke out, and no one lost their tempers. It almost feels like a miracle.
They part ways in groups, and to their credit, Hayato and Kyouya only try to kill each other after the elder Vongola party is gone. It doesn’t take long for Ryouhei to join in, and at a glance from Mukuro, Chrome scoops Lambo up and picks up her pace to catch up to a laughing Takeshi.
Mukuro falls into step beside Giotto. Giotto had asked, after the Arcobaleno business was finally over, if Mukuro would stay. Mukuro had asked what Giotto would offer if he did.
“A place in my Family, for you and yours,” Giotto had sworn. “And a hand in toppling the Vongola Empire once and for all.”
Mukuro had smiled, ten years’ worth of another world’s memories behind it, and six lives’ worth of suffering driving his answer.
“Tsunayoshi would never have chosen this method,” Mukuro says now, voice pitched low but as idly as if he were commenting on the weather.
Giotto smiles, grim and long past the point of any return.
Tsuna was his favourite. He reminded Giotto of the man he used to be, when Vongola was still a goal wrapped in optimism and determination, before they’d become embroiled in the mafia and Giotto had spent the next four hundred years after his death watching his life’s work build itself a throne of corpses.
Tsuna was his favourite, but he was also an ideal Giotto won’t ever be again, and cannot be if he truly wants to see this iteration of Vongola dead in his second lifetime. Tsuna would’ve been eaten alive by Vongola - Giotto had seen an entire future’s worth of proof of that.
“I am not Tsunayoshi,” Giotto says, and it is another regret he will have to carry, but their world is neither kind nor fair, and Tsuna as he was would never have survived it.
Mukuro studies him, a thoughtful tilt to his head, and something like fascination glitters in his eyes. “No, you are not,” He agrees. “But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
Giotto glances at him, then ahead, at children who had almost killed and been almost killed mere days ago, now roughhousing amongst themselves. “The world could do with more Tsunayoshis.”
“The world needs more of you,” Mukuro retorts just as swiftly, a sardonic sort of amusement in his smirk. “In that other future, Tsunayoshi proved beyond a doubt that everything he promised, he couldn’t keep, didn’t he? And yet here you are, Vongola Primo, poisoning your enemies over dinner, and just yesterday you had me hide you while you met with Gesso and Simon and Giglio Nero in private. You certainly don’t waste any time.” His smirk widens. “If Vongola isn’t careful, you’ll turn half of Europe against the older generation before they realize it.”
Giotto hums and doesn’t deny any of it. “You would be willing to aid me though?”
Mukuro arches an eyebrow, and his right eye flickers briefly with Mist Flames. “Have I not been doing so already?”
Giotto nods. “Yes, and I am grateful. But lending a hand now is not the same as devoting at least the next ten years of your life to a goal most would consider impossible. And I am not Tsunayoshi.”
Mukuro’s steps slow, then stop entirely. Giotto blinks and halts as well, half-turning.
“Does that matter so much to you?” Mukuro asks, peering at him with surprisingly genuine puzzlement. “Do you think it matters so much to me? That you are not Tsunayoshi?”
Giotto half-shrugs, and Mukuro shakes his head. “Tsunayoshi had a heart that I will never fully understand,” He says, blunt in a way he almost never is. “He was naive and foolish, hopeful and soft, and it made him as weak as it made him strong. I could trust him to never turn on Chrome or Ken or Chikusa, even if they or I tested his tolerance, but by that same logic, I could never have trusted him to stand firm against Vongola’s ideals, no matter what he proclaimed. And I was right, wasn’t I? In the end, Vongola destroyed him, and he became one of them.”
He pauses, his gaze sliding away, hands coming together to twist one of the rings on his fingers. Then he looks back at Giotto, and his next smirk is equal parts challenge and approval. “You though. You have witnessed the results of letting your previous Mist Guardian walk free, and spent years watching your descendants commit atrocities in the name of strengthening your organization. If I were to promise you my loyalty, and then betray you sometime down the road, you would slit my throat yourself. But at the same time, at least I know - you are both ruthless enough and determined enough to see your objectives through to the end, with a conviction that’s centuries in the making. The current Vongola would have to kill you to stop you.” His right eye flares indigo again. “So I suppose that is where I come in.”
Up ahead, the others turn a corner, still bickering. Giotto thinks Takeshi has probably noticed that he and Mukuro have fallen behind, and of course Chrome knows, but neither of them stops to wait either.
Mukuro steps back, once, twice, and Giotto’s eyes widen as the Mist lifts a hand to brush over the earring he hasn’t stopped wearing since he got it. And then… well.
The Mukuro from the future must’ve known how because this Mukuro doesn’t even look awkward as he drops to one knee and bows his head, just a dip, slow enough to look deliberate, proud enough to meet Giotto’s gaze again afterwards.
“You asked for ten years, Neo Primo,” Mukuro announces. “So, very well, I will pledge you ten years of my life, for you to use as you see fit, so long as you keep your word. We can revisit this in a decade, but for the next ten years, I will make you untouchable to your enemies and sow discord amongst them in your name.” He smiles and it’s a mad and bloodthirsty thing, the same furious hateful beast he’d aimed at Daemon Spade when he’d sought to rip Chrome from Mukuro’s side. “And should the worst come to pass and I go the way of my predecessor, may my life be forfeit at your hands.”
He reaches up, catches Giotto’s hand in his own, and his red eye glows as orange and indigo burst into existence between their fingers, a blaze of light under the night sky as they twine together, fierce and unyielding and true.
They both gasp from the surge of power that rushes through them as the Guardian bond snaps into place, the first one Giotto will ever have in this body, the first one in over four hundred years, a core of Flame that promises a home, something Daemon had never been able to give him, and Giotto doesn’t even think before he’s yanking Mukuro to his feet and reeling him close.
Tsuna had been short for his age so Giotto isn’t quite eye-level with his new Mist, but it hardly matters when he curls a near-bruising grip along Mukuro’s jaw and sees the same hunger and possessiveness he feels reflected in the illusionist’s eyes.
“A Guardian bond is not something I take lightly,” Giotto murmurs, and he knows even without a mirror that his own Flames are burning in his eyes. “You are mine now, and I do not share. In ten years, you will pledge another ten, and another ten after that, and any who dare to try and take you from me, I would run rivers red with their lifeblood.”
(These oaths are old, old and binding and near-forgotten, bastardized ten ways to Sunday but still echoing of power, and even in Giotto’s time, only G and Ugetsu had sworn them. That his new reign would begin with one, when as far as Giotto knows, none have spoken them in centuries - perhaps it speaks of the dawn of a new age.)
Mukuro inhales shakily, not at all prepared for the sheer depth and intensity of a true Flame bond. But the grip he has on Giotto’s wrist is just as tight as Giotto’s, and it only takes him another breath to regain his bearings.
“As you Will it, Giotto,” Mukuro murmurs, and it crackles over Giotto’s skin. No one has spoken his name since his resurrection.
The bond settles between them, calm now but no less potent. Giotto lets go, tickling a tongue of Sun-tinted Sky Flame along Mukuro’s skin to soothe the sting left behind. Mukuro only huffs a breath of laughter, gaze still unwavering on Giotto’s face.
“Well then,” The Mist - Giotto’s Mist - smiles, quieter, more serene, like a glass-spun secret cloaked in shadow, but exultantly bright all the same. “Long live the new King. May your reign be long and prosperous.”
#khr#headcanon meme: answered#giotto#rokudo mukuro#G69#vongola famiglia#headcanon#there we go g69 wow i didn't think i could do it#lmfao they're both prob way ooc#but that's how it came out
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Drag Me To Hell...
Monster Prompts #3 “i'm going to breed you” #11” look at you… I thought you wanted me to stop?” With Demon! King Bakugou.
Warnings. NonC. Group NonC. First Time. ImPreg. Mind Break. Blood.
You loved the supernatural . The Mercy Thompson Series, The Vampire Diaries. The TV shows, Lost Girl, Supernatural , Being Human . Even horror video games like Until Dawn. Anything horror and supernatural you loved. But you were taking that interest a little too far according to your friends. When you told them you wanted to try practising the Dark Arts and they just looked at you. ‘That's not a real thing ya know y/n’ is what they always told you. But who were they to tell you how to live your life?
You also wanted to buy a ouija board so you could see if you could talk to the dead. The website you ordered the board from seemed really into demons and hell but you paid no mind really. It would be cool to summon a demon but you were just a beginner . Before you were about to check out the site suggested a seance book. It was black and orange with an interesting star crest in the middle. You shrugged adding it on , smiling at that Free Shipping you just unlocked.
••
It arrived the very next day . In a pretty well put together purple box with a bloody red ribbon you couldn't see throwing away. So you made it into a bracelet and a necklace. It burned your skin once it made contact. But when you checked in the mirror nothing was there, no singes, nothing. So eh , what the hell. Right?
You sat down on the floor setting up the board and pulled the book on your lap to read it. You raised an eyebrow at the summoning items. Where the hell would you get goat's blood? A virgin sacrifice? Well.. you shrugged that off and found a chapter about the board. You set the book down and lit some candles, turning off the lights.
You grabbed the dial and held it over the board repeating the words in the book. The dial shook and you couldn't help but have a stupid grin on your face.
“ is anyone there?”
‘Y,E.,S”
You shook all giddy. “What's .. your name?”
“S.E.E. F.O.R Y.O.U.R.S.E.L.F”
You tilted your head. What did that mean? “How can i see you.?”
“B.L.O.O.D.C.H.A.L.K.”
“Blood and chalk? Like a chalk circle?”
“Y.E.S.”
You hopped up running to find some chalk and the dial spazzed out hovering over “M.I.N.E” .
••
He was sitting on his throne when you weakly summoned him. He looked up from his claws to see a wavy cloud of you reading a book. Oh look at you.. this might be fun. And you even have the ribbons on.. perfect.
He leaned on his knuckles while he talked to you. His long lizard tail slapping all around the hot ground. He was a Demon King in Hell. He had thousands of goblin minions who waited on him claw and foot. A giant red dog slept at his side , his fur was spiked on his back and the tips were black. The King though. Was at least 6’5. Lean, muscle, scary charred feet and legs that he covered with some kind of fur cloth. His chest was bare with scratches going in every direction along with the charred skin creeping up like hands up at his pecks. He had strong charred arms equipped with curved claws. The ashy blond hair traveled down to the middle of his back and his horns were long and mighty with a blood red crown hanging off the left horn. Curling back at the edge. Piercing red eyes stared into your soul. He chuckled deep at how innocent you were. He was going to break you.
••
You returned with the items and sat back down to see the dial where you left it. You made the circle on your carpet, placing the candles down on each tip. He grinned watching you.
“The knife. Use the knife my pet.” He said to himself leaning forward. His dog also woke up to see his master looking excited and hungry.
You held the knife to your head making a small cut . You winced, tipping your hand over and the blood fell in the center while you repeated the words in the book.
Bakugou grinned standing up as the cloud of you turned into a portal. He laughed alerting his goblins and they all ran over cheering for a new toy to arrive.
“Tonight we dine!!!” Bakugou yelled as his bat wings spread out bringing him to the portal.
The floor shook and you got very hot all of a sudden. The candles tipped over starting a fire and you backed away screaming. The circle opened up and a long charred claw rose out scratching at the floor .
You screamed again looking for the door but it was on fire. You started to cough and get dizzy. This wasn't actually happening was it?!? You summoned a DEMON? No no, i mean you CANT. A second claw appeared clawing up the floor and you saw two long horns along with a crown.
Bakugou pulled himself up stepping into your world with a very hungry grin on his face . His tail flicked around crushing your tv . His horns dug into the ceiling scratching it all up and his claws reached out to you, offering his hand. “Come. My little Feast. come meet your new Husband” He hissed at you , almost mocking you.
You backed up more and his tail shot to you grabbing your ankle making you scream out . He dragged you to him , his wings spreading out knocking everything over. You were getting hotter, burning. You could smell burning skin. You dug your nails into the carpet as if it would do something. Bakugou snapped his claws and the ribbon glowed making the burning flesh heal . You didn't feel any heat all of a sudden, you didn't feel like you were burning alive.
Bakugou grabbed your ankle and his tail let go . He laughed and laughed flipping you over, ripping your clothes off and licking your stomach to your face with his very long tongue. “Lets go , shall we?” He dragged you down with him, right down to hell.
••••
Bakugou grabbed your ankle yanking your clothes off and threw you right down once the portal closed. Right down to his minions and dog . The goblins caught you and immediately started touching you all over. Little slimy hands covered every inch of your body , touching your chest, pulling at your nipples and digging into your pussy. One of them tried to pry your mouth open and you shook him off , you rolled over and one of them humped your rear trying to get himself inside you.
You begged for this to stop but one of the goblins shoved his slimy cock down your throat and began to face fuck you. You screamed and he just went faster. another goblin went for your pussy and Bakugous tail grabbed him, tossing him into some lava. “No one touches my feast there. That's mine.” He said sitting back down on his throne watching the goblins stomp around forming a line at your mouth.
Bakugou laid his leg over his knee watching with satisfaction on his face. His dog rubbed on Bakugous side and Bakugou reached up to pet his nose. “Hungry?” He waved his hand and some meat appeared. The dog wagged his tail pouncing on the food and Bakugou turned his attention back to you.
••
Every single one used your mouth , and if one tried to sneak back in line Bakugou tossed them into the lava. You had cum falling out of your mouth forming a puddle at your chest. It was starting to form a bump in your stomach and your jaw was aching .
By the time they were all satisfied Bakugou got up and they all ran off on little short legs going elsewhere. Bakugou kneeled down grabbing your hair so he could see your face. You coughed up a bunch of cum heaving hard. He smiled at you showing off his fangs, talking deep.
“That was fun right? I'm surprised you lived through it. Most women dont. “
“I…”
“Hm? Why are you here? Why you summoned me of course. “ he licked at your face cleaning it all up from tears and cum. He spit into some lava and lifted you up more. “ Those words you repeated in the book? Were vows. Your mine. Forever. And if you think you're gonna die down here then guess again.” The ribbons glowed a shiny red. “Your immortal now. And I'm gonna breed you. Every.Single.Chance i get. “
“But im-...”
“But what.?!? A lonely little human? You thought you could .. play around with a little book?!? Practice some dark arts like they do in those fantasies of yours?!? Well guess what honey it's real. And you're never leaving this place.”
He dragged you to his throne sitting down and pulled you up, you tried to fight him but as soon as he grabbed hold of you he slid you right down on his hard cock all the way down. You screamed. It echoed all throughout hell . The smell of your blood made him go nuts. Fucking you hard and fast , he didint care if he was breaking you, didint care if it hurt. He only wanted to fuck you till your mind broke . Till you were begging him for his cock like a bitch in heat.
••
The days went on . And the goblins demanded service at least every other day. But fewer and fewer showed up since Bakugou had to toss them in the lava. Other demons showed up too, creatures you've never seen before. Wanting the same treatment. Your jaw broke a few times and Bakugou had to snap it back into place each time with an annoyed look on his face.
You were free to walk around Hell as you pleased, but if you did you had to service anyone you came across. And Bakugous dog had to go with you just in case anyone tried anything with your pussy. They could have your ass though, no matter how loud you screamed no one helped you. Just waited for their turn while the big demon dog wagged his tail watching the lava burst nearby .
Why exactly were you walking around Hell?!? A very small part of you.. the part that wasn't broken. Was fascinated with everything you saw. It was all you had left of yourself, your real self. You even found a quiet spot away from creatures and goblins. A shady spot with no lava , it looked like a little cave almost. You crawled inside hugging yourself . It had been a month? Maybe? Did anyone know you were gone? You looked down at your stomach rubbing the small bump. You had fallen pregnant at some point. All you could think about was what it would look like. And the king.
Your hand dipped between your legs and you rubbed your clit in circles , leaning back on the warm rock sighing with relief. The demon king rushed all around in your head causing you to breath hard and slip a couple fingers in. “My king..” you sighed into your shoulder. The dog howled and minutes later he was there, crouching down watching you with a smile.
“Look at you.”
“King..” you crawled to him in between his legs fishing his cock out and hugging his hips. He smirked turning you around to run a claw down your rear watching it shake . You offered your dripping pussy to him and he rubbed your stomach. “Look at you… I thought you wanted me to stop..,?”
A whine left your mouth and Bakugou got up on his knees rubbing his cock on you . You came hard just from that and Bakugou grinned, rubbing his cock on your clit . “Oh you little slut. I'm glad you saw it my way” He shoved all the way inside you and you looked up grinning like an idiot. You came again and Bakugou tipped his head back laughing into the dark.
••
@crushonkatsuki @knifeewifee @squeaky-ducky @maron-k-rh @lady-bakuhoe @kittifer @redflannel
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