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lieutenantbiscute · 2 years ago

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Cino turned quickly to look behind him as two figures made their way through the crowd of other turtles.

One sporting a orange mask and easy smile, the other, a taller blue lizard. Scars marked her cheek and arms but she as well was smiling.

To say Raph lost his breath for a moment would be a bit of an understatement. Though attention was quickly brought back to the small slider wiggling his way out of Raph’s arms and sprinting over to meet the other two.

“Oji-Chan, Oji-Chan! There’s another dad here, but he doesn’t have the wrinkles!!” Cino raised his arm in alarm, the other Mikey, quickly picked him up in a laugh.

“Ha! Little man that’s because that’s not your dear ‘ol Tou-chan. At least not in the way you know him.” The older turtle nodded to the younger versions across from him as Mona chuckled beside him.

“I’m sorry for my sons intrusion to you all. He always eager to meet others.” Mona apologized. Raph could feel his own Mikey elbowing his arm as Donnie filled in the silence,

“It’s alright. Honestly we were getting a laugh out of it over your kid— nephew?— basically calling him old.” He smiled mischievously, getting a laugh out of the other Mikey and his own. Cino squirmed in his uncles hold.

“But it’s true! He doesn’t have the happy wrinkles!! Kaa-chan, it is!” Mona smiled as she tilted her head down to her son, “That’s simply because they’re younger and me and your father Cino.”

“But that would make you and tou-chan really, really, really, old!” Cino exclaimed as the adults all stifled a laugh. Mona’s attention quickly turned to her back though as—

“Corrin? Did you walk all the way here starlight?” Picking her other son up, Corrin had his hood covering his face as he quickly tucked himself close to Mona’s chest.

“He ok?” Raph asked suddenly. Yeah sure the kids weren’t his per say in his own universe but he’s still got a soft spot of concern for anything shorter than his leg.

“I think he’s just overwhelmed a bit.” Donnie answered. Which was only further confirmed by Mona and uncle Mikey’s nodding.

“Kid does not like loudness too much, we’ve been taking him out of the gymnasium every so often to chill for a few minutes. Usually though he sticks to Mona’s side.” Mikey shared an apologetic smile. Cino turning towards his brother in excitement, in total disregard to his brothers attempts to hide.

“Corrin, Corrin! Look!! They look like our Oji-chan’s and Tou-chan!! But they aren’t!! But they are!!” He excitedly explained as the other carefully poked his head out from being tucked in his hoodie. Ice blue eyes met the others before he returned to bury himself even further into his mothers neck.

“Coriiiiiin come on you’re gonna miss it!!” Cino whined. Uncle Mikey adjusted his grip as the younger versions chuckled.

“Hey Little Blue, he’s just a bit overwhelmed that’s all. No need to pester him.” Mikey reasoned, the five year old sighed dramatically before deflating against his uncles shoulder.

“Is he usually this energetic?” Raph asked.

“This isn’t even the half of it.” Mona laughed lightly as uncle Mikey nodded.

“So..how did you find them?” Donnie asked. Cino immediately picked up his head in excitement and jumped into how his father ‘saved us from a really creepy evil goat man!’ And how he totally saved the day in the end.

Obviously adding his own childlike flair to it all.

Raph couldn’t lie— ok well it was already a fact in it of itself but- The kid was growing on him, both of them. Even if the other was hiding away in his hoodie.

“So the other two are?”

“With you— well, other you across the gymnasium.” Mona nodded behind them. Across the room Raph could see the alternate version of himself playing with two other children. One much spikier than the other and the smaller covered in orange spots and a bright orange bandana around his neck.

“Y’Throvva, our biggest and Y’Phhorion, our smallest.” Mona smiled as she watched other him, one covered in scars and ‘happy’ winkles, pick up one of the boys and lift him in the air with a laugh.

Looking back to the trio she nodded to Cino and Corrin respectively, “Y’Ntherancino and Y’Thcorrin.”

“Where’s Oji-chan?” Cino asked suddenly. His attention now on the empty bench by his brothers and father.

“They went to go get some snack and water for you and your brothers Cino.” Uncle Mikey answered, readjusting his hold on the toddler.

‘They’

Red flag, we’re entering treacherous water here folks—

That was Raph’s cue to cut the interaction short, for his brothers sake and his own.

“Well we would want to hold you guys up or anything!” Mikey answered cheerfully at his side. He had heard it to, and judging by how Donnie was pulling back so did he.

“Ah it’s nothing really guys—“

“No honestly you guys—“

“I like the blue necklace you have, it looks like Oji-sama’s mask.”

Corrin broke the adults rambling as Raph felt rooted to the spot. Right. He was wearing it. His brothers mask around his neck.

It seemed as though a dawning realization crossed elder twos faces as they now understood the predicament they had walked themselves into.

“Well if that’s all the time you can spare we won’t keep you three.” Mona amended as Mikey nodded at her side,

“Yeah guys we won’t keep ya, thanks for finding Cino though!” Uncle Mikey smiled forcefully. Raph and his own brothers nodding and waving as the four walked away from them. Raph making quick work of then grabbing his own brothers hands and making their way back to their own family.

Yeah. Nothing twists the knife worse than seeing something that you could’ve had, especially something you could’ve shared with someone long gone.

——

“What kept you guys?” Raph asked as Mona and Mikey made their way back with the boys. Cino quickly hopping out of his uncles arms and sprinting full force into his dad chest.

“Tou-chan! There was another you! But it wasn’t you cause he didn’t have the wrinkles!” He explained excitedly. Raph was sat on the bench with Orion, Rovva, and Leo, who had gotten back with the water while Donnie was still out getting snacks.

“Wrinkles?” Raph asked curiously. Looking up, he gave Mona a kiss as she sat next to him,

“ ‘Crows feet’ I think is the current term Donatello uses I think.” She explained. Corrin turned against her chest as he shifted to look at his father.

“The lines you get when you laugh, laughter lines.” He explained further, poking out from his hood.

“Why would chichi have birds feet on his face?” Orion suddenly asked as Rovva nodded in agreement.

“Tou-chan doesn’t have birds feet on his face Cino, duh.”

“Boy he means the lines around his eyes.” Leo cut in, passing a water to Cino and Corrin. Raph rolled his eyes as Cino now moved between his father and mother, sitting slightly squished between the two.

“It’s the happy wrinkles! That’s what Oji-chan called them!” Looking to Mikey as the older turtle looked away, “happy wrinkles huh?”

“Hey man, what else am I gonna call them to a five your old, huh?” Throwing his hands up in mock innocence. Before quickly getting up to help Donnie with the snacks he was carrying.

Leo also standing to help pass some out.

“So you gonna tell me what kept you guys?” Raph asked Mona softly as the others ate. Mona looked to her husband before sparing a glance to Leo a seat over.

“Maybe later.”

——

@virgilisspidey I hope I did ya boys justice!! I would’ve kept going (Cino almost took control of my writing, little chatter box) but didn’t wanna clog up the post!! ANGST!! ANGST UNDER THE SURFACE AHHHHH

One shot time!!!

@lieutenantbiscute idk if i got the character right and honestly this is just fluffy cuz am scared of making angst about them (lmao me scared???)

It's a bit shorter than i would've liked (since i wrote this on my phone while outside)

Letting my boys laugh, as a treat.

You can continue this if you'd like!! Honestly i am reallt curious about how you think my two souls 2012 boys would react with yours!!

-----

"That is a child."

"Oh, gosh, who would've thought!" Raph rolled his eyes, "I know what a child looks like, Mikey."

Well, he knows what a human child looks like, and a baby turtle, but not really a turtle mutant child.

The other half of their AU– or Alternate Universe, as Donnie made him use the term correctly many times before— was off who knows where talking to another 'crossover' that, you guessed it, has a completely sane and alive Leonardo.

It's a miracle that they haven't even questioned where their Leo is, but Raph has a suspicion that their Leonardo was behind it. Their April and Donnie seemed to have a clue about what's going on and followed the other's lead, but the other two were just following along, questions already on the tips of their tongues but unable to voice them out with the amount of people that can overhear.

But that's not the point of this conversation.

Currently in his arms was a kid, probably 4 or 5 years old, looking up at his face and tapping at his cheeks, trying to catch his attention with a small pout. The child was a red eared slider, just like the annoying (although he's starting to grow on him, not like he would admit) alternate Leo that's been Chloe's pain in the a-hole from the moment they saw each other.

The kid just ran up to him and raised his arms up. Raph didn't know how it happened but he was so used to unconsciously carrying Chompy when he head butts him that he subconsciously took the kid in his arms.

Now he's carrying a kid apparently.

"Why would a child even want to approach you," Donnie asks, getting a bit closer to which Raph automatically tightens his grip on the child, shifting him so he could be more comfortable, "Didn’t Ryan cry when you found him? And he was like... Nine."

"He cried because he was abandoned dipsh—"

His brothers were giving him identical smirks.

"—shauce... Sauce."

They grinned.

"Oh, stick it in your shells!"

Go ahead, laugh at his expense. He looked down at the child in his arms, who gave him a cheery smile, which made him choke on air.

He's never good with kids, he'll admit. Animals he can deal with, except horses, but kids? Kids are afraid of him. It didn't really matter to him before, after all, what are the chances he'd have to interact with little kids? Sure when Chloe saw him for the first time properly when she was younger she hid behind—

Leo...

Leo's great with kids.

He doesn't know why or how, but he's just... So good with them. Chloe loves Leo when he visits and despite the fact that the little girl was just as much of a brat in sheeps clothing as she is today, Leo's patient and always somehow manages to tame the little beast. And that's with an 8 year old. He's alsp great with infants! Baby Miwa played woth his mask tails and slept in his arms the moment he offered to carry her, but when Raph got in her field of vision she cried.

But this kid...

"Where's your wrinkles?"

"Hrrk—" "Pppts—"

"My... What."

"Your wrinkles!"

"BA— HAHAHAHA AHAH!"

That was enough to send Mikey and Donnie into a laughing fit while Raph just stood there still processing.

To emphasize, the kid put both hands on his cheeks, turning his head around to look for himself.

"Like when you smile and stuff."

"I don't smile."

"Yes you do!"

The kid lets go of his head and started fluttering his eyelids, cupping his hands on his own cheeks and smiled.

"You do this when you see ka-san."

"Ka-san?!"

"Oooooooh!!" Mikey's eyes shined with mischief in realization, "Oh my god, Raph!"

"'Oh my god' what?!"

"Is your mom by any chance a tall blue lizard lady?" Donnie asks, lowering a bit to get to the kids eye level while still being carried by his brother, "Sometimes goes 'Rokka Rokka', very feisty, strong, and fierce?"

"Yeah?" The kid tilts his head at Donnie, "You know her though! And when did you wear that?"

"HA! OH MY GOD RAPH YOU HAVE A WIFE AND KID?!" Mikey grabs Donnie shoulder, shaking him.

"I have brothers, you should know?"

"OH MY GOD, RAPH, KIDS! PLURAL!"

A blush just as red as his mask disted his cheeks. He would've already threw Mikey to the sun uf it weren't for the fact that the kid was still in his arms.

Him and Mona?!

Kids?!

He's not— he—

"Cino!"

Someone's already looking for the kid.

#tmnt 2012 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #2012 tmnt #rottmnt #shell shocked au #hehehehehheheh #tmnt au competition

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cannibalcreepers · 3 years ago

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Lizard the hills have eyes

Ok ok ok I’ve got an ask! Do you have a hills have eyes master list at all AND can I please request a Lizard one shot? Like he’s jealous of me spending time with his brother and he gets angry and ends up in fluff or smut;) pleaseeeeee lots of love xx - anon

——————————–————————————————————————-

That master list gonna be real short cause I sadly haven’t gotten much Lizard asks, but I will make a master list shortly ✨ for yous babes 💅 What THHE squad look for in a partner What they like bottoming That’s it I think, I’ve more Goggle and BB stuff 😅

Aight so lets get into this nsfw smutty goodness ~

It was never really difficult to get on Lizard's nerves, may it be on purpose or not, somedays you found it amusing, other days completely annoying, like for real this leathery prune bastard had major issues with not ‘sharing’ your company.

You definitely found out though, how possessive this dangerous man could be. With the day being like any other, which was usually very hot and boring due to no people coming down the road, you would wander around the desert to see what each member of the Jupiter clan was up too, other than Jupiter you had no interest in seeing what the creepy, weird old man was doing. Some members were harder to find than others, such as Cyst, Goggle and Ruby, as those three were always off doing something, though Goggle was the easier of the three to find simply cause all you had to do was visit every view spot in the rocky desert cliffs and rock formations.

The easier ones, such as Lizard, Big Brain, Pluto, Mama or the two children, you had no interest in hanging out with the two kids and Ma, Big Brain was always a sour puss and snarky so you didn’t feel like being insulted by a man whose life was easily deleted if you punched him in the face.

When it came to Pluto and Lizard, Pluto was pretty fun to be around if he wasn’t around Lizard or Big Brain, not that he suddenly turned into a complete asshole but any interaction with the big guy would be shut down by either the rude comments and demands of BB or the jealousy and bullying of Lizard. Lizard though, was the one you were intentionally avoiding. Mostly because he had thrown you out of his room for no fucking reason, you could never truly understand what went through that feral mans mind.

So here you were, scaling the rocky desert cliffs and rock formations to go and bother the flat-faced scout boy Goggle. You did not go up there without some gifts though, having some bottles of warm water and some dried up oatmeal bars you had stashed a while back. It was the best you could do with how little this clan had for water and food, no wonder these folks reduced themselves to cannibalism at times.

Goggle was doing his usual scouting, binoculars pressed up against his face as he looked over the roads and desert, completely in the zone and unaware of you walking up behind him and giving him a nudge with your foot. The squeal that emit from his body was equivalent to a dog being kicked, scurrying to the side and pitifully lifting his hands up in defense “Jesus christ man, calm down” You said in an amused yet concerned tone “I’ve brought you some water….and a snack. So chill”

“You! Could have said something” The scrungly man huffed, snatching the water bottle you held out for him “Instead creeping up behind like some….some…..creep!” Goggle was clearly not amused by being scared shitless, but you simply brushed it off and sat next to him “I’ll remember that next time so you don’t piss yourself again” You chuckled, giving him a mean smirk in which he frowned in response. Goggle chugged the warm water and continued to peer through his binoculars, holding out his hand towards you and made a ‘gimme’ motion for you to hand over the snack you had said you brought him. When you placed it in his hand and he looked down to see what it was he let out a disappointed sigh “Oatmeal….” He grumbled, but opened it up and took a bite. “Why are you here, why aren’t ya with Lizard or something? '' He asked, not taking his eyes away from the road. “Ah he’s being a complete asshole at the moment…..thought I’d bother someone else but only one I can find is you, plus when was the last time someone came up here to make sure you hadn’t been whisked away by a giant buzzard” You responded, taking a bite of your own oatmeal bar. Goggle didn’t respond for a while, letting you two sit in silence as the desert breeze blew through your hair and the thin strands you’d consider Goggle’s hair before he spoke again “Why are you with him though? He’s an asshole” His tone was a bit sheepish, as though expecting to be jumped by said brother out of nowhere for asking such a thing. You didn’t respond straight away, having to think of what to even say to that “Well….you’re an asshole yet here I am talking to you” You jokingly laughed, but the man next to you didn’t find that as amusing and made an annoyed expression “Ah okay….like…I don’t know….he makes me feel…..free? Wild and without expectations. Sure he is a loose cannon and a dipshit but so am I” You responded, taking in a deep breath and letting it out as a loud sigh “To be honest I think when I first came through here and you lot tried to butcher me he was shocked by the fact I fought back and almost caved his head in. Guess he likes a challenge…along with danger” You let out another laugh and looked to Goggle who had a scrunched up face “What? Mad he gets horny for being beat up? Gets hard for the beat down” That was it, that was what made the turtle man groan in disgust and shove you playfully “Eugh, gross! Fuck sake…” He grumbled while you let out a hearty loud laugh. Though like always around this desolate desert, nothing good really ever lasted long, after your laugh died down and Goggle was peering through his binoculars once more you could hear faint breathing and the sound of approaching steps, tilting your head slightly to the side and slowly moving your head to peer behind you to see an approaching wrinkled up prune man with a very pissed off expression. “Jesus christ…” You muttered under your breath in annoyance, standing up to greet the approaching lizard, when you went to open your mouth he snapped out “What’re you fuckin’ doin’!” You were a bit shocked, letting out a stammer as you tried to find your words to ask him what he was even talking about as he stormed towards you. Was he mad at you? But before you could finally get a word out he walked past you to give Goggle a harsh kick to the back. Goggle let out a yelp and turned to raise his arms and cover his face from the other kick that got him in the elbow “Think yer man enough to take what’s mine” he sneered, voice cracked and scratchy from how much of a hissy fit he was having. But you pieced it together on why he was beating on his brother, but you didn’t want to get close in case he turned that anger on you as Goggle was babbling out and asking what he even did to deserve this. “It’s fine…It’s fine I was getting him water. Nothing else” You said loudly, mostly so Lizard could hear you over Goggle sniveling “Water? Oooh only water right?” He mocked, turning to look at you now “I’m sh’uuure he just want’d water” God he was a piece of work when he got like this “Yes, just water and a snack bar” You explained calmly, though your heart ached for poor Goggle, you had to get Lizard temper off of him before the poor man ended up with something broken “Think I would lower myself like that when I have you?” You asked, in a more sultry tone “A real man~” Oh you could almost throw up having to flirt with a man from beating up his brother, but it works and that’s why you do it. Lizard smiled at your words, very smugly so as you pretty much boosted that easily raised ego of his, so he gave Goggle a last shove with his foot and sauntered over to wrap an arm around your waist and pull you from Goggle’s crow nest. As you were leaving you gave a quick apologetic glance towards Goggle who was sniveling and pouting at being beat on simply for just talking to you. When you both had gotten out of earshot would Lizard huff “Shouldn’t be ‘round him when you have me…always starin’ at ya…always droolin’ like a dog' ' He scowled, the hand on your waist tightening possessively. You wanted to roll your eyes into oblivion, if Goggle wanted to stare at you so what, let the man have a dream if he wants, but it was best to keep quiet as you didn’t want him to be beat on anymore than he already was. “You think I’d let him do whatever he wants with me?” You asked in amusement, which only got a grunt from Lizard in response “Ouch, you wound me” You playfully pouted, stopping you both when you reach the bottom of the cliff side and placed both hands on his chest “I would never….though I like how you came running for me…like a doooog~” You let out a mean giggle as you tease him, leaning in close to place a kiss on his deformed bottom lip, Lizard took a sharp intake of air at being called a dog but how you pressed up against him he didn’t complain, feeling your body up against his chest and crotch, grabbing your hips to give them a tight squeeze.

“I could always give the dog a bone?” You whispered against his egregious cleft lip, moving your hands over his dirty top and partially exposed chest. Usually Lizard hated being called a dog at any time, but if it meant getting to pound you hard against these desert rocks he’d brush them aside. The man was rough when he pushed you into a shaded spot of the large rockside, his hands sliding off your hips to lift up your top and paw at your exposed flesh, pressing his mouth into your neck and biting it as he grinding into you, your face going flush as you leaned your head back to give him more access. He was always so rough when peeling your clothes off, though he wanted to strip you down fully and make you vulnerable, today he was just having you keep your jeans dropped around your ankle and top above your chest so you could get dressed fast, just in case. He had you positioned with your ass facing towards him and bent over a rock, running his hands over your back and giving your soft globes a good smack, making you jolt “Easy! I at least want to walk back” he hummed at your joking tone and rubbed your reddening ass, squeezing it hard. He wanted that good squeeze before slipping out his hardened cock and pressing against you to slowly slide inside, you took in a sharp breath as you felt his shape inside you, though this was not the first time it always felt as good as though it were. Though usually he went in fast and rough, today he decided to go easy and slow, leaning his body against your back and grabbing the bottom of your jaw to lift it up as he began moving back and forth inside of you. His unusual touches and thrusts felt more gentle, possessive even as he breathed heavily into your hair, one hand wrapping around your waist to make sure you stayed against him while the other squeezed your jaw, your own groans coming out in sync to his thrusts. You started to feel his hand on your jaw slide down to your neck and begin squeezing it hard, closing around your windpipe and making it hard to breathe, his lips dragging to your ear to whisper as his thrusts went to slow to suddenly rough and hard “Yer’ mine….always mine” He growled, his fingers digging into your skin and making it hard to breathe as you gasped and choke, if he was truly going to kill you this was a hot way to go but his gripped loosened and you felt dazed and more horny, not realising you had dug your nails into the rock you were on that you were leaving marks. Your throat was definitely going to hurt later on, but that was future you problem, right now you were hanging on for dear life as he moved his hands to just hold your waist so he could fuck you hard like always, his dick moving out just enough to leave the tip in before slamming back in, bony hips colliding with ass cheeks and his sweaty, pruny wet balls slapping against the inside of your thigh. He made your insides feel hot and wet, the rubs of his thickness against your fleshy muscle was making your body heat up and reach its peak, the sounds of wet slapping flesh bounced against the rocks and followed by both his raspy grunts and your moans, it would be a surprise if someone didn’t hear you two fucking like dirty animals. Your moans were becoming high pitched and louder as you were feeling that rise, trying to hold onto the rock as you shivered and twitched under the wrinkly cannibals grasp, his own grunts becoming as rabid and loud as he was reaching his own climax. You tightened around him first, feeling the rush of pleasure spread over you like lightening, sweat dripping down your body and sweating your top and parts of your jeans, the second wave of pleasure hitting when the heated liquid of Lizard cuming inside you, filling up around his cock and desiring to escape while the man pressed his whole weight against you. He stayed inside for a good few seconds, catching his breath and keeping himself from just collapsing on top of you before pulling out to tuck himself back into his pants, like the grot he is not even giving himself a clean. You had taken a bit of extra time to catch your breath and let your body relax before you pulled up your own pants and shirt down, turning around to see the man already walking away “Wha….dude!” A complete dick, fucking you and then leaving you high and dry.

#THHE ns/fw anon ask #its been a while so hopefully the smuttiness is up to par #i haven't been writing for a good while buuuut whenever have I been great ha!#finished one off finally and its of the prune desert rat lol #THHE Lizard request ns/fw #THHE Lizard ask #did try to keep reader/y/n genderless jut for yous <3 hopefully i didn't make a mistake i can't see lol

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katsukavi · 4 years ago

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"OH SHIT!" part 2

"I WANT AN ABORTION." Sung Jin-Woo said abruptly, tapping his foot up and down from the agitation. "I'm afraid that's not possible. The baby is far too healthy and because of the amount of health potions you drank, it will be almost indestructible by our means. It even accelerated its growth.."

Sung Jin-Woo didn't think that far into it that night. He gave the baby's father an icy glare and took out his dagger from his inventory. "You can't abort it by your means huh..." he locked (M/n)'s hand onto the hilt and pointed it at his stomach.

"(M/n)! Stab me!"

"HELL NO!"

"Why not? We're already at the hospital, so you could just rush me to the emergency room when I start bleeding," Jin-Woo explained, but that still didn't make a drop of sense to (L/n) (M/n). "NOT IN A MILLION YEARS WILL I STAB YOU!"

"Fine. I'll stab myself."

"No!"

The doctor's face paled at the S-Rank hunter's lack of care for his unborn baby's life—even attempting to stab himself. Luckily, (L/n) (M/n) was there to stop him before the blade could touch his skin.

"Jin-Woo! Come on, you could just hold on to it until you give birth. We could set it up for adoption later.."

"I don't have time to wait 5 months. I could be leveling up using that time."

Scratch that. (L/n) (M/n) was also a horrible parent-to-be. The doctor forced a smile, wondering if all S-Rank Hunters were like this. He cleared his throat and stared back at them.

"How did you even conceive this child?"

"I have no idea. I drank too much. Hey, aren't you immune to alcohol?" (M/n) nudged Jin-Woo's shoulder, since he was the one that wanted to play video games all night. "I don't know. I can't remember much either. There was this scent.."

"I see. It must've been a heat."

"No? I wouldn't have left the house if that were the case."

"Then..." The doctor's eyes set on to (L/n) (M/n), making him feel a cold sweat. The man with red eyes smiled awkwardly, blinking repeatedly at the doctor. "Why are you looking at me?"

"It's incredibly rare but I assume you went through a rut, Sir. So I understand how you may perceive this as unbelievable since this situation is one in a billion or even more so." The doctor scratched the back of his head, trying to consider the rarity of the situation.

It was even more impossible if he considered the fact that male alpha and omegas were less likely to have a baby, then they were both S-Rank Hunters, both with their respective systems and (L/n) (M/n) had suffered from a rut that only one in five alphas experience.

[The Orion System is extremely happy!]

[☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆]

[The Orion System is wondering if it would be a girl or a boy??]

[The System is rejoicing for your offspring.]

"I hope it becomes a miscarriage. I'm too busy for this," Sung Jin-Woo said, glaring at his slightly bloated stomach. "Since you are a male omega, there is a 78% chance it would be a miscarriage if you're constantly stressed and you didn't receive professional help from us.."

"Good. I'm already stressed from this situation."

[The Orion System is ignoring your wife's statement.]

[Yay! Baby! ＼＼\\٩( ^ω^ )و //／／]

'He's not my wife, you stupid system. We're friends at best,' (M/n) thought at his system. He and Jin-Woo left the hospital with conflicted thoughts. (M/n) wasn't as extreme as Jin-Woo to forcibly kill it, but he was wondering what he should do next.

That's right. They were hunters. They didn't have time to raise a baby when they could be saving lives through dungeons. It's a simple choice of one life for one hundred.

[The Orion System is rejoicing for you.]

[The Orion System has contacted (totally didn't take over wink wink) the Player System for the child's sake. (*'ω｀*)]

[The Player System has agreed!! ٩( ᐛ )و yay! yay!]

'What are you celebrating for? Stupid Orion..' (M/n)'s mood turned sour, looking away from his system. Jin-Woo held his phone and pressed Jin-Ho's contact, making (M/n)'s eyebrow twitch. "Oi, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to contact Jin-Ho. He's the Vice Guild Master of Ah-Jin so he has to understand our circumstances."

"What? You know how weird that kid's imagination is. What if he thinks something weird?"

"I'll blame you for that then." Jin-Woo shrugged, his phone ringing for a few seconds before Yoo Jin-Ho picked up. "Hello Hyung-nim. Are you doing okay now?" Jin-Ho's voice made Jin-Woo smile, responding quickly.

"Yeah. I just visited the hospital."

"Ohh. Is (M/n) Hyung with you?"

"Yeah, he's right beside me. Turns out I have to lessen my work hours."

"I understand. You are the Guild Master, Hyung-nim. Everything is up to you. But why do you need to?"

"I'm pregnant."

Yoo Jin-Ho choked on his saliva, falling into a coughing fit as he doubted his ears. "Excuse me? What?"

"You didn't hear? I'm pregnant?"

"THAT'S BAD HYUNG-NIM! YOU NEED A FULL VACATION, NOT REDUCING YOUR HOURS!" The beta shouted, making everyone else in the office stare at him. What?! His Hyung-nim was pregnant? So he had a secret lover this entire time, and he didn't know?

"Then, could you decrease (M/n)'s work hours?"

"Yeah, sure. Why him though?"

(L/n) (M/n) hid his face in his hands, feeling so embarrassed that Jin-Woo just admitted that out loud. His own system was bombarding him with weird messages as well, it was creepy.

[There's no need to be embarrassed, Predator-nim~]

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). We all know what you did~~]

"He's the father of my child."

Jin-Ho choked yet again, throwing his fist at his desk as he fell silent. So (L/n) (M/n) and Sung Jin-Woo had been in that kind of relationship the entire time? Sure, he didn't know a lot about Sung Jin-Woo but even (L/n) (M/n)?

Is that the reason he joined Ah-Jin? So he could see his lover?

Then all those times they left together..

"Jin-Ho? Are you still there?"

"...If you need any help, you can call me Hyung-nim."

'Oh my God, so they were doing that so many times Hyung-nim got pregnant?!' Yoo Jin-Ho's face flushed as his imagination ran wild, smashing his forehead on his desk to cleanse his mind. 'I'M SO DENSE! I SHOULD'VE REMINDED THEM TO USE PROTECTION!'

"Yoo Jin-Ho-nim.. Is anything wrong with the Guild Master?"

"Ah nothing, he's just on maternity leave."

"What?"

"Huh, he hung up. He must've been shocked.." Jin-Woo said, looking up blankly as (L/n) (M/n) gritted his teeth. His face was red, mostly out of embarrassment than out of anger. "SHOCKED MY ASS! OF COURSE HE'D BE SHOCKED! AND WHY DID YOU TELL HIM IT WAS ME?"

"What else should I tell him? He politely asked who was the father."

[The Orion System agrees with your wife.]

[Calm down, host!! ＼＼\٩(๑'^'๑)۶//／／]

(L/n) (M/n) took a deep breath, rubbing his temples to soothe himself. "Okay, let's just call it a day and go home and sleep." (M/n) felt like it had sucked his life out of him, so he just wanted to sleep.

"I'll see you then."

Sung Jin-Ah was feeling suspicious for the past two weeks, noticing that her older brother's movements have become strange. At first she thought he got sick, but that would be strange for a sickness to last weeks, especially since he's an S-Rank Hunter.

"Hey, I ordered pizza. You feeling okay, bro?"

"Yeah. I visited the hospital earlier," Jin-Woo said, plopping down on the couch beside her. "Where's Mom?" he asked, grabbing a slice of pizza from the box. "She went out to get something. So she said she wouldn't be able to cook tonight," Jin-Ah answered him.

As soon as Jin-Woo took a bite from his pizza, his face turned sour. He swallowed it and bitterly gulped a glass of water. "Actually, I don't want any."

"Huh? What do you mean you don't want any? You practically inhale this stuff!"

"It doesn't taste good."

"It tastes just fine, get over here!"

Sung Jin-Woo completely ignored his beta sister and holed up in his room. Confusion crossed her face as she gobbled up a slice of pizza. 'Something weird is definitely going on with him.. He's sus...'

The next morning, Jin-Woo got up early to do his daily regimen. But his fatigue had raised twice the number it had before. He felt annoyed from it and tried even harder, exhausting himself in the process.

'I haven't even done half yet?'

[[The Player System has cancelled the 'Daily Quest: Preparation to be Powerful'.]]

[[The Orion System has requested it to be changed to 'Daily Quest: Meet up with your Husband<3']]

Sung Jin-Woo wanted to middle finger the systems and ignored the new Daily Quest, thinking it was an awful prank from Orion. (That Constellation liked to bug them a lot.) So he continued to do the old Daily Quest, but he unfortunately got sent to the Penalty Zone all the same.

["Since you lovers don't wanna meet up. I have no choice but to force you! Hmph!! ヽ('⌒'メ)ノ"]

"I— Jin-Woo?!" (L/n) (M/n) hollered, his eyes setting on his partner on top of a floating marble platform. Jin-Woo was behind a translucent wall, safely protected in a small room filled with comfortable pillows, blankets and cute stuffed animals. Just in front of him was a coffee table with a full set of snacks one could crave for.

[[You can sit back and watch the show~ Daddy is going to go on a little run!! ＼(٥⁀▽⁀ )／]]

FWOOSHHH!!

On (M/n)'s side of the wall was a scorching, fiery desert, his shoes sinking in white sand as an enormous monster rose from the ground. The gigantic lizard roared, sending a breath of flames towards (L/n) (M/n) as he tried to run for his life. He screamed and cursed at the system while Jin-Woo watched from above like his Alpha was a gladiator.

"FUCK! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING?!"

"ORION! WHY THE HECK IS HE BEING CHASED BY LIZARDS?!?" Jin-Woo punched the orange wall, making it glitch for a few seconds before spitting his fist back inside the enclosed room. He could only look down at (M/n) with worry, slamming into the wall to attempt an escape to go help him.

[[HEY!! Don't help that idiot! He's a loser who doesn't even bother to look after his pregnant wife! (҂' ﾛ ')]]

[[You know what! Since he's so bad, let's go torture him more! Yay! Yay!!]]

Three more lizards surfaced from the sand, breathing fire like dragons. (M/n)'s face paled in shock as he retrieved his rapier from his inventory. A fifth lizard rose from where he stood, making him tumble down on the sand as it bellowed a menacing tune.

"UGH.. FIVE OF THESE THINGS?!" (M/n) shouted, burning his palms from the hot sand as he tried to get up and away from such a life-threatening situation. Sung Jin-Woo felt more anxiety for (M/n) and banged on the walls.

"DO YOU WANT HIM TO DIE!?"

[[Don't worry~ He won't die. He can handle it! (b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b]]

[[He has to be at least this strong to be a wonderful Daddy of course. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]]

"We're not even keeping the baby!" Jin-Woo glared at the cute emoticon on his screen and gave it a middle finger. He took out his dagger from his inventory, slicing open the wall and using the slight gap to escape.

[[Wait! No! If you get hurt, the baby will die! ＼(º □ º l|l)/]]

"Good," Jin-Woo said with a smirk, landing on top of one of the lizard's heads. "Hey, you need a little help?" he shouted after (M/n), riding safely on the monster. It only seemed to be hostile towards (M/n) and not him.

[[NOO! IF IT ATTACKS MOMMY, ALL HOPE IS LOST! ＼(╥ _ ╥ l|l)/]]

"Nah, I got it!" (M/n) responded, sliding under one lizard's feet and stabbing it's heart from underneath. Its skin was thick, but (M/n)'s high strength stat could make up for it. The beast let out a small cry of pain as his blade pierced through like a needle. He soon coated the blade in a reddish orange hued mana, poisoning the lizard internally in just a few seconds.

"Jeez. I was a little panicked. But I'm fine," (M/n)'s skin was harder than steel, like an indestructible material. Just like in the myth of Orion, he was like the indomitable scorpion that the legendary Hunter could not beat.

"I was a little offended, you know."

[Noo!! Predator-nim, I hate you!! ((╬◣﹏◢))]

[Hmph! Hmph! You big IDIOT! ]

"Orion, shut up."

[FINE THEN! I'LL REMOVE ALL OF THESE LIZARDS! ヽ( 'д'*)ノ]

[I'll be nice to you just because wifey's pregnant okay! humph!]

[Go kiss kiss fall in love now! I don't wanna see you be stupid IDIOTS! (҂ òзó )]

The lizards evaporated quickly like Orion made them out of ice in the blistering sun, making Jin-Woo suspended into the air. (M/n) reached out his hands and ran under him, catching him quickly in his arms. Jin-Woo could've landed safely on his feet, he wasn't that fragile..

But in (M/n)'s princess carry, he felt some sense of relief. Jin-Woo hugged him, inhaling a breath of his friend's pheromones. (M/n) really enjoyed wearing Axe Body Spray (a pheromone masking agent in this world) because he always met up with an Alpha female named Cha Hae-In. It was because of that, Jin-Woo didn't notice any of his alpha pheromones.

But with a whiff, he preferred this version. It made him imagine the fragrance of lit scented candles. It was a very specific scent that calmed him down. "Hm, are you okay?" (M/n) asked, making Jin-Woo snap out his momentary trance. What was going with him?

"Yeah, uhm. Were you still sleeping?" Jin-Woo took notice of (M/n)'s disheveled hair and casual set of light blue pajamas. "Oh right, I haven't showered yet.. Fuck. My handsome complexion!" (M/n) said dramatically, looking down to his lovely rapier covered in sand.

As much as he wanted to get it and polish it until it was shiny, he didn't want to drop Jin-Woo yet. It seems like Jin-Woo was the same, wrapping his arms around his neck in a comfortable hug. Yeah, they should hug more often. It was very comfortable.

[Yes!! NOW KISS!! ٩(♡ε♡)۶]

"Ew gross, Orion is back from a tantrum.." (M/n) set Jin-Woo back down, making a look of disgust. Jin-Woo also didn't like the constellation. So he joined (M/n) in spiting it with all the malice he could.

[Ugh, you guys are so mean! (︶︹︶ ||| )]

[It's like you're perfect for each other. (You are btw (^ω~))]

[I'll bring you back home now. (╬ Ò﹏Ó)]

"Oh nice. This is your room?"

"It's a little messy, but don't mind it too much." Jin-Woo scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, not knowing what to do in such a situation. He and (M/n) had teleported back to his house together, convenient for him. But (M/n) was still in his pajamas.

"Damn, I haven't even combed yet. How do you expect me to walk home in this?" (M/n) sighed, fixing his bedhead with one hand as he scratched his stomach with the other. Even though he just went through a terrifying experience, he was still tired and planned to sleep until noon.

"I mean you could run like really really fast. You'd just be a blur to normal people."

"But.. I haven't been to your house before.." (M/n) looked around Jin-Woo's room. Despite him claiming that it was messy, no clothes or wrappers were on the floor and the only thing messy were his blankets. This guy's sense of "messy" was on a whole other level.

(M/n) just leaves his cans of energy drinks, chips and bowls on the floor and leaves the cleaners to go clean it up. His appearance was the only thing that was respectable.

"So I can't navigate on my own. You know."

"You can use Google Maps."

"I don't bring my phone everywhere."

"You don't? I thought you were an addict."

"Your perceptions of me are so warped. What even made you think I was a beta?" (M/n) sighed, glancing over to Jin-Woo's stomach before blushing. He wasn't that different. He thought Jin-Woo was an alpha precisely because he gave off those vibes.

"Ah, it was your Hunter Wikipedia page. I skimmed over it a while ago.."

"My Hunter Wiki what??" (M/n) got confused, watching Jin-Woo take out his cellphone and search something online. He peered over his shoulder, watching him scroll down to the gender option. It actually said [Beta Male].

"That's really stupid. What part of me is beta?"

Sung Jin-Woo looked over to (L/n) (M/n) for a few seconds, his appearance to his language. Yeah.. (M/n) was right. What part of him seemed Beta? (M/n) right then screamed 'I-AM-A- DOMINANT-ALPHA. STAY-5-METERS-AWAY-FROM-ME-BECAUSE-I-WILL-ATTACK-YOU'

Then, he saw his picture on the wiki. Jin-Woo held his phone up and looked to his left and right, comparing the one in person, to the picture. "Now that I've thought of it, this is the first time I've seen you in pajamas."

(L/n) (M/n) was someone that barely swore, kept calm and wore modest clothing. But it looked like stress took over him so much it affected his personality. His mouth was foul with curses.

"Yeah, I mean the last time you saw me, I was naked."

"Oh," Jin-Woo blurted out, his face heating with that in mind. (M/n) quickly shut his mouth and looked away shyly, fixing his hair to seem more like himself. "Now we're in this situation, huh?" (M/n) mumbled, staring down at Jin-Woo's belly. It wasn't noticeable, but it showed a bump if you touched it.

"Do you.. wanna hug?" (M/n) diverted his vision away from Jin-Woo, a light blush on his face. "What made you say that?" Jin-Woo asked calmly, avoiding looking at (M/n). The (h/c)-haired alpha cleared his throat, extending his arms in the air.

"I don't know. You seemed to like it earlier.."

[Definitely you right now: Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→]

[(￢‿￢ )]

Sung Jin-Woo nodded, placing his chin on (M/n)'s shoulder as he wrapped his arms around his torso. The same fragrant pheromone relaxing him enough to close his eyes. He felt safe in those arms, like he was under an unbreakable set of armor. "I feel like I could fall asleep like this.."

(L/n) (M/n) didn't know why his heart was beating so quickly, making his skin feel like they were on fire just from touching this omega. "We should hug more often," he said, rubbing on Jin-Woo's back calmly. It was fine for friends to hug, right?

But could we could even consider them friends when one of them was pregnant?

"Oppa, I think we ran out of dish soap—" Sung Jin-Ah opened the door, letting out an 'Oh' sound as she gazed at her brother. Then, Sung Jin-Woo noticed how odd it was to have (L/n) (M/n) there. "Wait, Jin-Ah! It's not what you think—"

"MOOOMMM!! JIN-WOO HAS A SECRET ALPHA BOYFRIEND!!"

"Sung Jin-Ah!" Jin-Woo yelled, squeezing her cheeks with one hand as she struggled to run away. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT SO BAD WHEN I SMELLED ALPHA PHEROMONES ON YOU! IT'S VERY STRONG NOW!!" she screamed and kicked her feet in the air.

"Hold on. I'm not his boyfriend—"

"LET GO OF ME, OPPA! WHY ARE YOU SO STRONG?!"

(M/n)'s voice gradually got weaker as he pursed his lips awkwardly. There was no room to protest in the screaming girl in the room casually being battled to the death by her older brother. He just gave up.

It was that quick giving up that people thought he was a beta.

"Oh! You finally brought home your boyfriend. That's great," Park Kyung-He said as she stood on the doorframe. She smiled at (M/n), then stared at his sleepwear. "Jin-Woo! You even let him stay without telling us?"

"I didn't—"

"Shush! I know it could be embarrassing to reveal your first love. Come on, dear. What's your name?" she looked over to (M/n), waving her hand to call him over. "It's (L/n) (M/n), Maam.. Nice to meet you," he said shyly, not even refuting her words at all.

His cute demeanor made Kyung-He fall in love with him already. What a good future son-in-law. No wonder Jin-Woo liked him.

"Ah, come here now (M/n). I'll cook you breakfast too."

"If you don't mind me intruding. Thank you.." (M/n) said, following Kyung-He like he was an imprinted chick. "I'll be there too!" Jin-Ah said, wrestling with Jin-Woo's arm. "Let me go, you jerk! I wanna see what your boyfriend is like!"

"I already told you. He's not my boyfriend."

"Why are you even saying that at this point?" Jin-Ah made a face at him and slipped through his grasp, running out of his room in fear that he would catch her again. "I caught you red-handed! Hehe!!"

[[(¬‿¬ ) hehe..]]

"Orion.. What have you done to my system?" Jin-Woo grumbled, walking out of his room with a long sigh. He could explain to them later that he and (M/n) were just friends. But sadly, he would never get the opportunity to.

"So, when did you and Jin-Woo meet? Was it nice?"

"Oh! I met him at work. He was my partner for a while. And you know, when I saw him, he was so scary I thought he was an alpha!" (M/n) was suddenly very talkative, amusing the curious Kyung-He and Jin-Ah.

"Ohh.. So how did you fall in love?"

"We didn't!" Jin-Woo butted in, receiving sympathetic eyes from his family. "Oh, so it was Jin-Woo who fell first. I see," Kyung-He assumed. He asked (M/n) how he did, but it was her son that answered. Their romance was very cute.

"No.. That's not.."

"Wow, I didn't think Oppa would be the one to confess. He's being super shy about it right now. How could he even proclaim his love now..?" Jin-Ah exclaimed in shock, looking over to (L/n) (M/n). He did provide the juicy details she wanted in a romance novel. Jin-Ah approve!

But even though he was the one who confessed, why is he suddenly saying they weren't together? Was her Oppa too shy about it and only stayed sweet in front of his one true love? Isn't that.. too cute?!

"Huh? What are you all talking about? Jin-Woo didn't confess to me?"

Sung Jin-Ah's world was then flipped upside down. It all made sense. Jin-Woo was denser than the Earth itself. If (M/n) was he one who asked him out, it would make even more sense! Their trope was... Shy Omega x Outgoing Alpha! Jin-Ah prayed internally to her lord and savior, KatsuKavi. She was in a romance novel and she could watch the protagonists.

"Oppa, you're no fair! How did you get this lucky with KatsuKavi's pairing rituals?!"

"Who?!"

"The author!"

(A/N: ignore the fourth wall. There is no such thing.)

"Ah, we got too distracted! (M/n) could you clear the table?" Park Kyung-He stood up, moving towards the sink. (M/n) nodded obediently and helped her wash the dishes. Jin-Woo was dumbfounded at his goody good behavior.

He didn't even clean up at his own house. What was he doing being so good with his mother and sister?

"You're a good kid, (M/n). I approve of you."

"Thank you," (M/n) said, chatting a little bit with Kyung-He until he could call her 'Mom'. Sung Jin-Woo gritted his teeth as he watched (L/n) (M/n) be the new favorite.

"Oppa, (M/n) is so good to us. How dare you hog him for yourself," Jin-Ah glared at him from across the room, getting an angry look from Jin-Woo. "Wow, so possessive.." she murmured to herself, skipping happily to her new brother-in-law.

Possessive? No, Jin-Woo wasn't being possessive. He must've just been jealous (L/n) (M/n) was getting all the attention. But when did Jin-Woo start caring about being the center of attention?

He looked over to his best friend, biting his lip to ignore the tight feeling in his chest. He wanted to scream 'look at me!', but he was so dense he didn't know who he wanted to look at him.

"Ah, that's Jin-Woo?! He looks totally different!" (M/n) exclaimed, looking through Jin-Ah's older photos of Jin-Woo. He did look like an omega before, but he drastically changed after becoming a S-Rank Hunter. It was like he was a totally different person.

"Yeah, he used to be so cute and sunny. Now look at him! He's growling at me for taking you away from him."

"I am not growling at you!" Jin-Woo argued, knitting his eyebrows together. He didn't know why, but he felt so annoyed being so far away from Jin-Ah and (M/n). Normally, he wouldn't care but for some weird reason, he didn't like being treated like air.

(L/n) (M/n) soon changed out of his sleepwear and took a nice shower. He didn't wear any pheromone masking agent, so everyone could smell his masculine pheromones leaking out. As much as Jin-Woo liked it, he felt a little annoyed that his 'friend' was being used as incense.

"Mom, did you let him wear dad's clothes?"

"Mhm. It wasn't being used anyway," Kyung-He answered Jin-Woo. She put her hands together, making a sad smile as he looked over to (M/n). "I think it should go to good use, you think?"

"Yeah."

"He suits it well, right?"

"Yeah."

"He's more handsome now, isn't he?"

"I agree."

Sung Jin-Woo crossed his arms over his stomach. (L/n) (M/n) was very attractive in his eyes and a fuzzy feeling would come when thinking of him. "I can tell you really love him. So don't let him go." Kyung-He coaxed Jin-Woo. His mind was blank, only focusing on (M/n).

"Yeah."

"Oi, Jin-Woo! Why did you smile so weirdly in this photo!"

'Ah, I hate him so much,' Jin-Woo thought as (M/n) made fun of him. "Don't look at those!" he marched over, snatching the photo album from his hands while Jin-Ah and (M/n) laughed on the floor.

"Pfft! I don't want our child to look like that!"

"It'll be even worse if it looked like you!"

"I'm a handsome bastard and you know that!"

"I didn't know you wanted children. I hope they look beautiful in the future," Jin-Ah's eyes sparkled at the thought of cute children saying 'Aunt' at her. She wanted to squeeze their chubby cheeks immediately.

"Wait five months, then you decide if the baby will look good."

"Five months? So you're getting married in five months?"

"What? No, I mean Jin-Woo is giving birth in five months." (M/n)'s laughter soon ceased into silence as Jin-Woo walked closer to him menacingly. He then understood why (M/n) didn't want him to tell Jin-Ho about his circumstances. It was so embarrassing for them to know. Now they're never going to let him give it up.

In front of his family, his face became tomato red with both anger and embarrassment as he crouched down to strangle (L/n) (M/n). "Why did you tell them, you dumbass?!"

"Eh?? I thought they already knew from how you told Jin-Ho from the moment we left the hospital."

"Shut up." Jin-Woo balled his fist and set it in the air, his other hand on (M/n)'s chest to prevent him from moving. "Wait, wait! Don't actually—"

"Oppa, you're pregnant?" Sung Jin-Ah's shock had multiplied by 900, so did her happiness. "MOM! IM GOING TO BE AN AUNT! WOOHOO!" She stood up from her place and fetched her phone with a massive smile. She was going to brag to all her friends all about it, wasn't she?

"This is a pleasant surprise. Jin-Woo! You don't tell us about anything going on your life." Kyung-He also smiled, half scolding Jin-Woo. He was already 24, so he could decide as an adult. She had no problem with it. "First, you're a hunter, then your secret fiancee, now your child? Hoo, you.."

Wait, why did secret alpha boyfriend evolve into fiancee? They weren't getting married after the birth of the child!

(M/n)'s ears were about to bleed. He forgot about it! But because of their excessive happiness, he couldn't bring himself to disagree with what they were saying in fear they'd be disappointed. So he could only regrettably nod.

[Yay! Yay! Baby!!]

[We're getting a little hunter!! (☆ω☆)]

Jin-Woo's complexion became pale blue. They were doomed.

#solo leveling x reader #fanfics #sung jin woo x reader

268 notes · View notes

christinesficrecs · 4 years ago

Text

A very long list of updated snowed in fic recs for @starsandmoony 💜

On my Way by Gia279 | 17.9K

Huge black paws smacked the window, followed by a fuzzy face smooshing up against it.

He scrambled over the gear shift, tipping into the passenger seat. Bear, he thought hysterically. It had to be a bear, a freaking bear.

A big pink tongue rolled out, lips pulling back as the creature panted.

I’ve got chills... They’re multiplying! by DropsOfAddiction | 12.3K | Explicit

Derek is literally wrapped around him, one heavy leg and one heavy arm pinning him tight to Derek‘s front.

Warm and steady breaths tickle the back of Stiles’ neck. He tries not to freak out and he wonders how he’s going to extract himself without waking Derek. He totally isn’t ready to face into this conversation.

Stiles stretches gently and Derek grumbles clutching him tighter in his sleep. Stiles tries not to yelp when Derek buries his face in the back of his neck.

Well fuck.

One Star Awake by zjofierose | 9.5K

When Stiles gets stranded in the snow one dark and snowy night, he's in real danger. Fortunately, he gets rescued by a man on a horse.

Emergency Contact by bewarethesmirk | 1.2K

“Derek here hasn’t left your side,” the nurse coos, and Derek glares at her back. “You’re so lucky to have such an adoring husband.”

snow day by kellifer_fic | 8.3K

“It’s not a big deal. It just happens when I’m… cold,” Stiles offers, scratching gingerly at his head with a claw and then grimacing at it like it’s betraying him.

“Are you serious?”

“Hey, who are you to judge, wolfman?”

Your love warms me up by Smowkie | 1.2K

“At least it’s slowing down,” Stiles said, his lips slightly blue tinted and his teeth clacking.

“Yeah,” Derek said. Stiles had his arm hooked with Derek’s, and he was stumbling a little as they walked. “Come on, keep walking, keep warm.”

“Yeah, keep walking,” Stiles agreed.

Derek didn’t like how weak he sounded.

In the Dark Midwinter, Light by rhysiana | 3.7K | Mature

Really, Derek and Stiles being sent to an empty druid's cabin to fetch a book for Deaton and then getting snowed in could have gone so, so much worse.

it doesn't have to be a snowman by triggeringthehealing (froggydarren) | 4.9K

The Beacon Beans coffee shop is what Stiles would refer to as a lifesaver. They supply his dose of sugar whenever he needs it, they don't ask questions, and their hot chocolate is delicious.

And now they're running a snowman building competition where the grand prize would get him an entire year's worth of drinks. Really, all he needs is a partner to team up with. Only everyone else from the pack already seems to have paired up.

three words have never come easy by the_problem_with_stardust | 1.5K | Mature

If someone had told Derek five years ago that Stiles Stilinski would be the one living in a secluded cabin in the woods, Derek never would have believed them. Even now, he had a hard time reconciling his memories of Stiles as a high schooler with the young man who preferred the quiet found amongst the trees.

Whenever he’d inquired, Stiles had just smiled that enigmatic smile, so like Deaton or Morrell, and said something about being unable to think around the bustle of town.

“Don’t you dare throw that snowba-, goddammit!” by jadore_hale | 2.3K

“I’m sorry,” Stiles sighed heavily, coming back down to earth, “But when you woke me up this morning and said that we needed to go out into the woods and find the evil Snow Witch that brought this shit here, I thought that was your emotionally stunted way of saying come build a snowman with me.”

In The Arms of A Werewolf by literaryoblivion | 9.2K

“You have got to be kidding me.”

Stiles is flabbergasted. How is this even possible? Werewolves he can take. Poisonous lizard creatures, sure. Once dead, now living creepy werewolf uncles, bit of a stretch but he can roll with it. Sacrificing ancient druids that masquerade as teachers, okay fine. But this?

An honest to god abominable snowman? In Beacon Hills, California no less?

Nope.

Winter Storm Stiles by 42hrb | 2K

Stiles isn’t looking forward to weathering his first snow storm on his own, then he meets a handsome stranger at the grocery store who might be able to help.

Find Me Sitting Fireside by kaistrex (weishen) | 13.2K

With the news that an Alpha wants Beacon Hills for their own, Derek and Stiles are forced to attend a couples retreat at a ski resort to learn their enemy’s identity. However, the threat is the least of Derek’s problems when he’s expected to fake a relationship, share a bed and suffer through candlelit dinners with the man he’s secretly been in love with for the past four years.

Waiting for Winter by Twice_Shy (notboldly) | 3.2K

Everyone had a soulmark, a special shape on their body that formed during childhood and was meant to lead each person to their soulmate.

Unfortunately, Derek’s soulmark is shaped like a snowflake, and that fact has been actively ruining his life since he was six years old.

world tilts by wearing_tearing | 1.5K

The guy is gorgeous as hell, and Stiles kind of wishes he could stare at him forever.

He figures he deserves a treat after almost slipping to his death.

Wait, What? by wangler | 5.3K

When a significant portion of the Beacon Hills Preserve ends up coated in three entire inches of snow, the pack looks into it. If by looking into it one means packing a bunch of garbage bags and huge Tupperware lids into the back of Stiles’ Jeep to go look for a decent sledding hill. Things go sideways, because of course they do.

A Very Sterek Christmas by TobyRosetta | 13.5K

It’s actually snowing in Beacon Hills, and it’s got everyone out of whack. Out of the kindness of his own heart, Stiles decides to take some things up to the the old Hale Mansion for old Sourwolf himself. But when the storm kicks up and snows them both in, the night takes an interesting turn.

Blanketed by got_the_bite | 3.3K

“Stiles, where are you?” Derek demands again. His voice is higher than usual Stiles notes.

“You would be such a nice tenor if you joined a choir,” Stiles thinks aloud.

But In Case I Stand One Little Chance by mikkimouse | 8.6K

Stiles’s Jeep breaks down in the middle of the snowstorm. He’s rescued by his high school crush, and as the cherry on top, is trapped in a cabin with said crush until the roads clear.

Fuck his life.

Snow Flirting by thepsychicclam | 11,396

As Beacon Hills get pounded with foot after foot of snow, single dad Stiles can't quite keep up with his four year old, his job, and shoveling his driveway. Derek makes his teenage son shovel Stiles' walk, and that just leads to Derek helping Stiles out with a whole bunch of other tasks. That's okay with Derek, though, cause any chance to be with Stiles is okay with him.

Baby, It's Cold Outside by Jebiwonkenobi | 2,791

Beacon Hills has a snow storm. Totally-not-cuddling happens.

Come Fly With Me (Or Don't) by stilinskisparkles | 15,325

Stiles is overworked and stressed out when his flight home gets delayed due to copious amounts of snow. He finds entertainment with one Derek Hale, whom he hasn't seen since high school but really doesn't mind getting reacquainted with.

Especially when it turns out Derek is surprisingly hilarious and will reluctantly play snap with him. And can walk on his hands.

The Man in the Snow by mikkimouse | 15,894

Derek finds a young man injured in a ravine on the border of his ranch. That's strange enough, but the mystery only deepens when the young man wakes up without any memory of what he was doing out there.

Blizzard Boyfriend by literaryoblivion | 1,897

With a record-breaking snowstorm on the horizon, threatening a city shutdown for a few days, Stiles gets the bright idea to put an ad up on craigslist for someone to spend his snow days with that would be filled with cuddling, movies, alcohol, and potential makeouts or more.

It's a joke until someone responds.

and home before dark by verity | 3,175

The mystery of the absent Hale brother was hardly a mystery at all until he appeared at last, set on taking up residence out in the woods.

(In which Derek is a hedgewitch. With a cat.)

Let it snow! Let it snow! (but please let it stop eventually) by relenafanel | 19,123

Stiles grew up with his bedroom window overlooking Derek's bedroom, so when he returns home for the holidays he's surprised to find a stranger in his nerdy neighbour's bedroom.

Only, he's not much of a stranger.

It is Derek Hale, the guy who is going to be his new step brother, if the rumours are true.

Red Against the Snow by Ember | 34,219

Stiles is trapped for the holidays in the cabin of a strange man/hermit named Derek. A strangely friendly wolf befriends Stiles during his stay. It's up to the teenager to find out why Derek has secluded himself from society, what the feelings he's beginning to have means, and what the connection between the mysterious man and the mysterious black wolf is.

an exaltation of larks by llassah | 25,370

All Derek wants is to get through the lambing season with his body and spirit intact. He had thought that the blizzards would be the main danger, not a highborn omega with beautiful eyes and a stubborn streak.

The flamingo in the yard by Vendelin | 6,107

It isn't fair that Stiles needs to work Christmas, when his dad is on the other side of the country. Or that his really hot, next door neighbour is around for the holidays as well. Or that there's a power outage that makes things even worse. Or better.

(Fake) Winter Weather Brings Us Together by tylerfucklin (zimothy) | 10,535

So naked cuddling with Derek while suffering from hypothermia wasn't really on Stiles' to-do list for the week, but neither was that kiss--so who was Stiles to complain?

It's a Wild Pitch (But He's a Contact Hitter) by jettiebettie | 11,828

They're combating supernatural forces with blunt instruments now. Seems legit. As long as Stiles doesn't end up getting frostbite, he's willing to roll with it. Not that his friends have to worry about that. Fucking werewolves.

Abominable by Revenant | 20,277

Where Derek buys a secluded cabin halfway up a mountain, meets a yeti and falls in love with Stiles, but not necessarily in that order.

stilinski v. a. snowman | tumblr ficlet

This fic was inspired by this prompt: ‘we’re stuck in a log cabin overnight during a snowstorm bc of some stupid school team building exercise and it’s freEzing and I can’t sleep and you can hear me shivering in the next bed so you pick me up and dump in your bed and good grief you are hot in every sense of the word’ au

#sterek fics #ficrecs #snowed in #winter #winter fics #snowstorms #this is so long #🤦🏻‍♀️#starsandmoony

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lemonlillybee · 2 years ago

Text

Sicktember Day 9: Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever

Sicktember Day 9

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41597673

Title: Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever

Prompt: Home remedy

Fandom: Spider-Man (MCU)

Word Count: 2222 (Yes I added one more word to get that number)

A/N: Another day, another @sicktember fic :)

“It’s just a cold!” Peter crosses his arms, then quickly uncrosses them to cover his mouth to cough, the sound echoing in the room and making Peter blush. Tony sighs and hands him a glass of water.

“Peter, you’re not going out patrolling when you’re sick. That’s final.”

“Sick?” A thunderous voice echoes throughout the penthouse, and Peter twists around to see Thor.

“N-no, I…I’m fine,” he insists, face flushing an even deeper shade of red.

“What you need is a cure!” Thor continues, coming around the couch to stand in front of Peter, hands on his hips and his chest puffed out. “On Asgard, my mother used to make a soup of lizard’s tail and turnip–”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Point Break. He doesn’t need some remedy from another planet. Just some good old fashioned rest and fluids.”

“Of course, I never needed such a cure, but Loki was sickly as a child.”

“That is entirely untrue,” comes a reply from behind them, and Tony whips around, startled, to see Loki lurking in the doorway.

“Jeez, god of creepiness, a little warning next time?” Tony throws his hands up in the air.

Peter rubs at his eyes tiredly with a fist, sniffling. “Sorry, he was quiet. I just heard him come in a couple seconds ago.”

Loki smirks. “You forget to mention, brother, that you are supposed to remove the tail from the lizard when it is still alive to be fully effective,” he continues, far too cheerful for Tony’s liking. Tony glares at Loki, then gestures impatiently at Thor when Peter coughs again.

“Thor, get him the hell out of here!”

Thor nods before reaching out to clap Peter on the shoulder, shaking the whole couch and sending Peter into a coughing fit.

“Be well, Peter.”

“Thanks,” Peter croaks out, eyes watering.

After they leave, Tony refills Peter’s water glass and grabs a box of tissues. Peter rolls his eyes, but drinks the water, then lies down and lets Tony tuck a blanket around him. He keeps the box of tissues close, feeling increasingly congested, and is grateful for them as he sniffles and sneezes his way through a TV show while Tony tinkers about the common room, trying and failing to appear as though he’s not hovering.

Peter is starting to drift off when he hears Clint and Natasha bickering in the elevator before they arrive, and he pushes himself back up into a sitting position, trying to quickly wipe his nose with a tissue before the elevator doors open.

“You’ll pay for that!” Clint cries, pouting at Natasha’s back as he follows her over to the living room.

“In your dreams, Barton.”

“Whoa! You look like shit, Peter,” Clint says, stopping short when he catches sight of the younger man.

“It’s just a cold,” Peter shrugs, fighting a smile when Natasha punches Clint in the arm.

“Rude,” she scolds him before turning her attention to Peter, expression softening. “You poor thing.”

Peter drops his eyes to his lap, then glances over at Tony, who’s in the kitchen pouring a glass of juice. Clint rubs his arm, glaring at Natasha before he turns back to Peter.

“All you need is a little vapor rub and you’ll be fine. I use it on the kids when–”

“No!” Tony interrupts from the kitchen, and all three of them look over, eyes wide at his outburst. “No…none of that stuff. We’ve tried that before and let’s just say, it worked a little too well,” he smirks, and Peter blushes.

“You need some garlic,” Natasha suggests. “Garlic cures everything.”

Peter raises an eyebrow skeptically, but again, Tony shakes his head.

“No, nope, no way. Garlic doesn’t really sit well with his whole…spider-thing,” he explains. Natasha and Clint look at each other, rolling their eyes, then turn to Tony.

“Then what do you suggest, genius?” Clint asks, crossing his arms.

“Rest and fluids,” Tony replies confidently, holding up a glass of green juice. After a beat, he motions toward the door. “That means you two are free to go, by the way. So we can do the part where he rests.”

“Damn, Peter, your Dad is really protective of you when you’re sick,” Clint chuckles under his breath, winking at Peter before he and Natasha leave, and Peter makes a choked sound that turns into a cough at the comment.

“Here,” Tony says, handing him the green juice when he recovers, laughing softly when Peter eyes it warily. “Trust me, it tastes better than it looks. Just a little boost for your immune system.”

“I shouldn’t need a boost for my immune system,” Peter grumbles. He tries to smell the juice, but he’s too congested to smell anything, so he shrugs and takes a deep breath before chugging the contents of the glass. The cool liquid feels good on his throat and Tony is right about the taste.

The rest of the evening passes in a blur of uncomfortable congestion and a sudden, heavy fatigue that washes over him. When he refuses dinner, he feels Tony’s hand on his forehead, his skin cool against his hot face, and when Tony sends him to bed before 8 p.m., he’s far too tired to protest. Even though he feels hot, he shivers when he gets into his bed, sighing in relief when Tony pulls the comforter over him. The last thing he feels before he falls asleep in Tony’s hand on his forehead again.

Peter only sleeps for two hours before he’s awake again. His throat is sore and his mouth is dry, and he gratefully drinks the water that Tony left on his nightstand. For the next several hours, he drifts in and out of fitful sleep. The next time he looks at the clock, it’s five in the morning, and he groans in frustration, the sound hoarse and congested. Down the hall, he can hear someone moving around in the kitchen, and then the rustling of paper. With another groan, he sits up, wincing when the motion makes his head pound.

He desperately needs more water, so he decides to go out to the kitchen and see who’s up. He pads down the hallway and finds Bruce sitting at the table reading the newspaper. Bruce looks up, a smile spreading across his face at the sight of him.

“Good morning, Peter! You’re up awfully early.” He pauses, narrowing his eyes as he takes in Peter’s disheveled appearance and frowning when he has to suddenly turn to the crook of his elbow to cough. “You’re sick.”

“It’s just a cold.” Peter clears his throat and sniffles. His shoulders drop. “I can’t sleep.”

“Sleep is the most important thing you can do when you’re ill,” Bruce says, standing up. “Even when it’s ‘just’ a cold.”

Peter gives him a small smile. “You sound like Tony”

Bruce laughs, the tone low and gentle. He points to a chair, and Peter sits at the table, letting his head rest on his folded arms while Bruce moves around the kitchen. Soon, something is placed in front of him, and he looks up to see a mug of steaming tea.

“Drink up,” Bruce says, sitting back down across from him and picking up his newspaper. He reads for a few silent minutes before peering over the top of his newspaper, watching Peter sip the drink with a frown.

Peter’s so tired he doesn’t notice the scientist watching him. He cups both hands around the warm mug, sniffling and clearing his throat intermittently, breathing heavily through his mouth when he’s not taking a drink of the tea. Bruce notices that he’s shivering slightly, his eyelids drooping, and when Peter starts to yawn, Bruce pushes his chair back from the table.

“Okay,” Bruce sighs. “Let’s get you back to bed.” He motions for Peter to stand, and he leads him back to his room, where Peter falls into bed with a grunt. Bruce waits in the doorway while he gets settled back under the covers, then closes the door softly. Peter closes his eyes and listens to Bruce’s footsteps as he retreats down the hall.

“Good morning,” he hears Bruce say as he heads back to the common room, and smiles when he hears Tony’s voice in response.

“Is Peter okay?”

“He just went back to bed. He couldn’t sleep, so I made him some tea. Hopefully he’ll be able to get some rest now.”

“Thank you,” Tony says, but Peter doesn’t catch the rest of his reply, too sleepy to eavesdrop further. He closes his eyes and lets the exhaustion pull him under.

When Peter wakes up again, the sun is up, and he stretches, feeling marginally better, if still incredibly tired. The rest of the Tower is fairly quiet, but he can hear the faint sound of what is unmistakably Tony’s heartbeat, along with the low murmur of a news station on the TV and the coffee pot whirring. He’s thirsty again, and his stomach growls loudly. Nothing actually sounds appetizing, but he’s sure Tony will at least have some more green juice for him, or maybe a piece of toast.

He makes his way down the hall and sees Tony sitting at the kitchen counter scrolling through emails on his phone.

“Hey,” Tony greets him. “How are you feeling?”

Peter shrugs, then pulls his sleeves down over his hands and brings them up to his face, sneezing twice in reply.

“That good, huh?” Tony chuckles, but Peter is looking to his right, toward the elevator. A few moments later the elevator doors open with a ding.

“Hey, Pete! Heard you were sick,” Rhodey says, stepping off the elevator.

Peter glances at Tony, face growing hot from more than just the fever, and mumbles, “It’s just a cold.”

“Well, that’s why I brought you chicken noodle soup!” He holds up a bag from the deli down the street. “Trust me, this will have you better in no time. There’s no better cure.”

Peter’s stomach growls again, and Tony and Rhodey laugh. They sit at the table, Peter quiet while Tony and Rhodey chat. As he eats, Peter suddenly feels more tired than before, and he’s yawning before he even finishes his bowl of soup. Tony and Rhodey exchange glances, having a full conversation without words, and soon Rhodey is clearing the table, claiming he needs to get going for a meeting.

“Take care of yourself, Peter,” he says, patting Peter’s shoulder before heading to the elevator.

“Thanks,” Peter says hoarsely. He coughs, propping his elbow on the table and letting his head rest in his hand. He feels like he could fall asleep sitting up at the table, but Tony suggests they watch TV in the living room, and Peter is happy to claim the spot on the couch he’d been in yesterday afternoon, letting Tony tuck the blankets around him again.

They’re sitting on the couch watching TV together, Peter dozing off, when Steve enters the room.

“Tony. Peter.” He nods at each of them, but when Peter tries to clear his throat and return the greeting he ends up in a fit of coughing instead.

“That’s a hell of a cough, Peter. Are you ill?”

“It’s just a cold,” Peter mumbles for what feels like the hundredth time today, sniffling and feeling suddenly very small as Steve approaches him, muscular arms crossed over his chest.

“Well, you know what they say. Feed a cold, starve a fever.”

Tony snorts. “It’s not the ‘40s, Steve, no one says that anymore. Besides, he has a fever, too.”

Peter sputters in protest, shooting Tony a betrayed scowl and biting back another cough.

“Oh.” Steve’s face softens, and he clears his throat. “I hope you feel better soon, Peter.”

“Thanks,” Peter whispers, voice nearly giving out with the word. Steve nods, then sits in the chair next to the couch, and Peter feels himself tense up, still unsure of where exactly he stands with the super soldier. Tony puts a hand on his back, pressing between his shoulder blades, and he relaxes slightly.

After a few minutes of silence, Steve looks over. He clears his throat again, waiting until Peter meets his eyes to speak. “You know, I think it would be better advice to tell you to get plenty of rest and–”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Peter huffs, then coughs. “Rest and fluids. You sound just like my da– like Tony.”

Tony snorts, and Peter ‘s eyes widen, but then Steve is laughing and Tony is laughing and he can’t help but join in, even though it ends up making him cough more. Tony rubs his back until the coughing subsides, and Steve goes to the kitchen to fill a glass of water for him.

“You both know I’m right. I’m keeping Peter well hydrated and you can’t stop me.” Tony takes the water from Steve, nodding his thanks before helping Peter sit up to drink. When he finishes the water, Tony gently nudges him back down and adjusts the blanket around his shoulders.

“See? Fluids. Now, rest,” he orders, and Peter grunts, but he closes his eyes and lets himself fully relax. It’s not long until he nods off, the sound of the TV lulling him to sleep as Tony rubs gentle, warm circles on his back.

#sicktember #Sicktember 2022 #irondad #spiderson #spider man #mcu #the avengers #sickfic #sick peter parker #common cold #cough #fever #bruce banner #tony stark #home remedies #domestic avengers

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thistlecatfics · 4 years ago

Note

How do you feel about James threatening to take off Snape's underwear in front of a group of fellow students? And using that to try and coerce Lily into a date with him? I've seen different takes which included sexual assault (which isn't wrong by our standards, per se, including showing underwear in the first place) to teenage antics. Basically, how do you feel this action reflects on who James is as a person - ignoring the arguments of Marauders vs Snape being "justified" or not. 1/2

2. An aside, where does it say in book text that Mulciber used Levicorpus against Mary Macdonald? (I think I saw that in a discussion on meta here.) I can't find any part of the book that confirms what was actually done to her. For what it's worth, I tend to think of the characters all fighting a small war during the marauder era, and find "who bullied who" discussions pointless, especially in the later years.

First off - I cannot be entirely sure I did not send this ask to myself in a fevered state because this is exactly what has been bubbling around in my head for the past week. (so, uh, that is to say, thank you for the ask, anon.)

Second - everything we get about the marauder’s era is through 2+ unreliable narrators which is why it’s so fun! I just reread SWM and am going to offer a few potential interpretations. I’m very much open to more.

Rereading “Snape’s Worst Memory” right now, the first thing that stands out to me is that it is Snape’s memory but the details around James Potter and co are almost absurdly clear given that Snape is “as deeply immersed in the OWL paper as ever, which left Harry free to sit down on the grass between the beech and the bushes and watch the foursome under the tree.” It’s a little difficult for me to understand how everyone is situated but why are the details of MWPP’s conversation intelligible to him?

A few questions right from the start:

To what degree is Snape’s pensieve memory reliable?

To what degree should we see this as a school-based proxy war vs bullying?

To what degree is this moment an aberration vs typical?

“Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had been expecting an attack.” (hyper-vigilance, trauma-response, training, situational awareness, been listening in - lots of ways to read this)

“Students all around had turned to watch… some looked apprehensive, other entertained.” (everyone assumes something is about to happen)

The initial dialogue (grease marks on the parchment) feels super schoolyard bullying.

Scourgify - choking him, seen described as “waterboarding” very cogently though I’m still iffy on that, but we do know it’s very much the lizard brain not the thinking brain that reacts to that - you’re terrified of drowning like that, wizarding or not. It's quite a cruel thing to do.

“Leave him alone.”

“I will if you go out with me, Evans,” said James quickly. “Go on… go out with me and I’ll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again.”

“Quickly!” is such a useless adverb! There are still so many ways of interpreting that! Quickly as in - he’s said this so many times he doesn’t have to think about it? Quickly as in - he’s not thinking and he says a stupid 16 year old thing which he regrets soon after? Quickly as in - this is fun, almost mutual banter? (doubtful as her earlier statement was said “coldly.”) But also like... what the fuck, James? What the actual fuck?

Ok then Sirius says “bad luck, Prongs” briskly, and Snape reaches his wand. Snape curses James with a spell that leaves a gash across his face “spattering his robes with blood.”

(to be fair to Snape, faces bleed super easily, and a shallow cut on the face will bleed just horribly as any rugby player will tell you.)

Then James sends him upside down. Everyone laughs, and even Lily’s “furious expression” “twitches.”

Then we get the Lily/Snape/James interaction bits - they’re fighting, James undoes the Levicorpus and then the Patrificus Totalus at Lily’s insistence, and then, famously, Snape says, “I don’t need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!”

Sirius gently mocks James “who looked furious now.”

And the scene concludes with:

“There was another flash of light, and Snape was one again hanging upside-down in the air.

‘Who wants to see me take off Snivelly’s pants?’”

Honestly rereading the chapter I was hoping for some clear insight, and my main reaction is that I have a renewed understanding for why there’s so much debate about this memory!

Without any context, the concluding moment, that James feels humiliated over a rejection by a girl, and he then physically restrains another man, shows off his underwear and threatens to take them off in front of a crowd, feels like standard issue sexual violence (in the sort of hazing/bullying type.)

In context, given that we know Snape and his friends are about to be (or already have been) inducted as Death Eaters, a process that involves murder, this feels like a school-based proxy war in a larger fight and while it might be sexualized violence, it’s not so outside the pale as it would be in our own high school context.

Alright now that I have thoroughly confused myself and gotten nowhere, let me focus on the actual questions given.

"Basically, how do you feel this action reflects on who James is as a person"

Badly! It reflects badly!

To me, I see him as your typical Social Justice Bro - he’ll say the right words, fight against the Baddies with genuine fervor, but he still very much sees women as prizes to be won in exchange for his good behavior.

This is SUCH a common type of person and the idea that Quidditch star, wealthy only child, brilliant Jame Potter falls into that trap is not surprising.

I see there being three options fans can take here:

This memory is accurate and representative: James Potter, like many men, fights on the good side but harbors misogynistic views and treats the women in his life like objects and is willing to use sexualized violence against others as a means of asserting his own masculinity.

This memory is accurate but not representative: This is the worst James Potter ever acted. He never behaved this way again. He apologized to Lily. He did his feminist reading. He worked on his own shit. (I think this is the one JKR wants us to take? But who knows and who cares with her.)

This memory is not accurate: Snape, being very smart and very highly motivated, like many people like him, has slowly and steadily edited his own memories to better fit into a narrative he feels comfortable with. (This explains why his recollections of the MWPP conversations are so accurate and unflattering and also why he seems to have done zero healing or maturing in the past 10 years and bullies children. He has been stewing in his own edited memories rather than healing and moving on.)

I can vibe with all of them, depending on what kind of story I want to write/read/imagine.

where does it say in book text that Mulciber used Levicorpus against Mary Macdonald?

It doesn’t. I think I remember the meta you’re referencing (I remember it being very good and interesting!)

“Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he’s creepy! D’you know what he tried to do to Mary Macdonald the other day?”

…

“It was Dark Magic, and if you think that’s funny-”

It’s super vague in canon. I interpret it as an act of sexual violence, because that’s where my brain always goes, but it’s incredibly vague!

Anon, I hope you don’t think the fact I managed to write 1,000 words and weasel my way out of answering your questions means I don’t deeply appreciate them! I hope you have a stupendous evening <3 <3

#hp ///////#hp meta #snape's worst memory #james potter

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insomnicpickle · 3 years ago

Text

(This is a cursed writing-)

—————

“Guys….I think (Y/n)‘s the only person to make Captain Levi lose his cool.” Eren said as he sat with his friends in the mess hall. The others looked up at him.” What do you mean by that?” Connie asked.” Well….”

~flashback~

“Damnit!” Eren cursed as he held his hand. Eren was trying to control his transformation powers but so far, no luck. He held his arm and panted a bit. He heard footsteps and looked at them.” Sorry captain.” He said. Levi stared.” You okay?” He asked.” Yeah. I will be.” He said as he looked down at his hand and clenched his fist.” I’ll keep trying.” He said.” Good. Now get up.” Levi said before walking off. Eren sighed.’ I need motivation.’ He thought.

S M A C K

His eyes widened and he held the back of his head.” Ow! What the-?!” He turned and saw his old friend.” (Y/n)? What was that for?!” He asked whining as he held his head.” 9 out of 10 doctors recommend that you stop being a little bitch.” She said. Levi, who was at a picnic table drinking his tea, chocked on his tea and coughed slightly. Eren stared at his captain with wide eyes before snapping to (Y/n).’ Did she just-?’ He thought.’ There’s no way…’ he thought. He then got up and continued with training.

“We’ll cut the limbs off here and here.” Captain said as he went over the plan, pointing the chalk at the weirded blobs of limbs that he drew.’ Is that blob suppose to me as a titan?’ He thought.” As a matter in fact, they’ll probably just grow back lizard style. Creepy little bastard.” Levi said.” Sir, during this, who’ll be in charge?” Eren asked.” Well since I’ll be with you, me. But in the case of us separating, I’ll have to say (Y/n), since she knows how to keep your ass in check.” He said. (Y/n) smirked and nudged Eren.” You know, technically I can make you do anything I order.” She said shrugging.” No you can’t!” Eren said pouting at his friend.” UH aCtUaLlY yEAh I cAN.” (Y/n) mocked. Eren’s eyes twitched and he turned to his captain to set her straight, only to see the sight of Levi facing the board, his shoulders slightly shaking.’ What….?’

“Man this place is in shambles.” Eld said as he looked at the castle.” It’s been abandoned for years.” Gunther said.” In which we have a problem, don’t we?” The two turned and saw captain Levi.” Best grab a broom and get to work.” He said. Behind him, (Y/n) popped out and looked at the castle. She then grinned.” Call me Dumbledore.” The three looked at her confused.” Cause we’re about to clean bitches.” She said.

The window opened up and (Y/n) poked her head out with a scarf on her head and around her nose and mouth.” Oh yeah~! You’re a dirty little window sill aren’t you?” She muttered while Levi swept around. Eren walked in and saw (Y/n) mumble to herself. He also noticed the barley noticeable shaking of Levi’s shoulders again.” I finished the upstairs sir-“ he said. (Y/n) jumped and turned around.” What!” She said, surprised.” Don’t sneak up on me like that!” She said. Eren fought back a smile.’ Sorry (y/n)!’ He thought.

“Wait, we can’t do experiments on me everyday!” Eren said. Hange pouted, a sad look in her eyes.” Why not?” She asked.” Because that’s not right! I mean, what am I, a slave?” He asked. Levi looked back at Hange, who looked at him. Levi then turned back to Eren. (Y/n), who had a blank look on her face, looked at Eren and said.” Yeah.” She said blankly.” Pfft-!” Hange and Levi said. Levi quickly turned his back to them, his shoulder shaking slightly while Hange bursted out laughing. Eren’s eyes twitched.’ Who’s side are you on (Y/n)?!’

“Captain I-!” Eren said turning behind him to see the team, only to freeze as the squad had their swords toward Eren. Eren dropped a spoon and went to pick it up only to turn his arm into a titan arm.” Eren! Why did you transform without permission?!” Oluo yelled.” Answer us!” Petra said.” No…I-I didn’t..-!” He said. He was just as confused and scared as everyone else was.” Captain step away!” Petra said.” All of you need to calm down.” Levi said, his hand in front of him.” That’s an order.” He said.” Wait!” The squad looked next to captain Levi and saw (Y/n) with a serious expression.’ Oh no…’ Eren thought, having a bad feeling.” We’re gonna need barbecue sauce.” She said. The squad stared at her before bursting out laughing.’ What the hell (Y/n)?!’ He thought.” Eren!” He snapped out his thoughts and looked at (Y/n).” It’s ok man. Just relax.” She said.’ Just….relax.’ He thought.” Wah!” He said as his arm slipped right out and fell to the ground with a thud.

“Guys guys!” Hange said as she ran into the mess hall, almost tripping as she did so. She stopped and panted a bit.” Watch it, four eyes.” Levi said setting his cup down. Eren looked up at her.” What’s up?” (Y/n) asked.” I have discovered the secret to Eren’s Titans powers!” Hange said. She then took a spoon out and set it down.” Drugs!” She said joking.” What, is that you crack spoon?” (Y/n) asked. Levi slightly chocked on his tea.” Don’t be silly, it’s far too shallow!” Hange said going along with the joke before explaining how his powers actually worked.

~flashback end~

“No way!” Connie said laughing as he slammed his fist up and down on the table.” You can’t be serious!” Jean said holding his stomach as he cries.” I’m not joking guys!” Eren said whining, clearly upset that no one believes him.” Damn, that’s too good to be true!” Sasha said, wiping her tears away.” Hey guys, speaking of (Y/n), where is she?” Christa asked as she looked around. Everyone stopped and looked around.” Hey yeah she’s right.” Armin said.

“She’s not here.”

-Meanwhile-

“What have I told you about making me laugh in front of others?” Levi asked as he flicked (Y/n)‘s forehead. She whined and rubbed the spot.” I didn’t do anything wrong!” She said pouting.” Besides, you have a cute laugh, Captain~” She said with a smirk.” Oh shut it brat.” He said leaning down and kissing her gently.” Now if you continue this, they’ll know we’re together. And we can’t have that or we’ll get in trouble. Understood?” He said gently flicking her nose. She yelped and held her nose.” Yes Levi.” She whined.” Good girl~ now get your ass up. We’re gonna get something to drink.” He said.” Vodka?!�� She asked excitedly.” You know we don’t have any.” He said.” Yeah we do.” She said.” What? Where?” He asked confused.” Remember that tea I made you the other day?” She asked.” Yeah?” He asked.” Wait, are you saying it was vodka?!” He asked.” No! Of course not.” She said pouting. He sighed in relief.” Thank god.” She then smirked.” It was mostly watered down vodka.”

“(Y/n)!”

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camelove · 4 years ago

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Quest for Camelove

Paring: Reader x Regret

Rating: T

Warnings: blood, violence, fainting, strong language, implied drinking

Summary: A regular trip to the Tavern sends you off searching for the vision of a soulmate... not your own, but of a random drunkard you’d been forced to sit beside for lack of any free seating.

A/N: This post was made to serve as inspiration for the Camelove 2021 event which will take place from 8th till 14th of February. For more examples, follow the #Camelove2021 example posts tag! We look forward to seeing what you create for the event!

A writer, an artist and a giffer walk into a bar.

You’re one of them.

You’re good at what you do - if you do say so yourself - but recently, inspiration has been running dry. So, as one does when hit by a dry spell, you’re stopping by the Tavern in hopes of drowning your frustrations.

As you make your way inside, you look around at the sorry bunch of sloshed sods, wrinkling your nose at the claggy smell of sweat and cringing away from a man who collapses against the table in front of you, having just been socked in the nose by one of the other customers.

You sigh long-sufferingly. To your despair, there’s at least one person crammed into every nook in the damn place. If you want to sit anywhere, you’ll be getting up-close and personal with one of your fellow patrons.

You weigh up your options - briefly considering just turning around and heading home - but eventually your thirst wins out, and you resolve to suck it up and squeeze yourself into whatever spot seems the least unappealing. You set about ordering a drink and, once armed with two pints of apple juice, you turn to deciding whose company you’re going to subject yourself to. In the end, you pick...

A - The stooped elder currently engrossed in a book of lizard anatomy

B - The bloody-nosed man at your feet who’s slowly returning to consciousness

C - The bloody-knuckled person responsible for the man at your feet who’s slowly returning to consciousness

D - The Barkeep who’s wringing out a cloth, looking like they wish it were the neck of their current customer

E - The customer who’s pissing off the Barkeep with inane complaints

F - The person nursing their wrist after getting thoroughly trounced in an arm-wrestle

G - The person at the dart-board who’s started directing their shots towards the bard in the corner

H - The bard in the corner currently using their lute as a shield while simultaneously warbling about pixies with long, agile tongues

I - The person crying alone in the corner opposite to the bard

J - The person in the other corner currently shoving their tongue-- actually, scratch that, they look busy--

K - The cloaked figure at the final corner table who you see surreptitiously swapping a coin for a vial of… something

L - None. You turn on your heel and stalk out, planning to join the horses, only to find that someone has decided to hit the hay right there amongst the muck. They startle and wake as you approach.

...who, you later find out is:

A - Old Man Simmons

B - Julius Borden

C - Balinor

D - Mary the Barmaid

E - Dragoon

F - Valiant

G - Elena

H- Gilli

I - Edwin Muirden

J - Tristan and Isolde

K - Will

L - Tyr

You flop down and pray that for the love of Camelot, your unwanted companion does not decide to get chatty.

“Hey.”

You groan and let your head thump against the surface before you.

“Hey,” they persist, leaning closer. You roll your head to the side in order to send them a scathing glare. They tut sympathetically. “Bad day? I feel you, mate.”

You wonder to yourself what you’d done to deserve this.

Your parasite companion keeps talking.

“Everything’s just a bit much, lately,” they sigh. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m not going crazy, you know?” ‘Oh, really?’ you want to snark back, but you keep your lips zipped in hopes that they’ll take a hint.

They don’t.

“I mean, it’s not every day a dragon says you have a soulmate.” They whistle lowly. “I mean - a soulmate. Can you imagine?”

You can’t, actually. Mostly because you wonder who could stand the company of such a blabbering prat. If the dragon had told them they knew where they’d meet their doom, you’d have gladly taken up the role yourself.

“Well,” they continue, oblivious to your plotting of their demise. “He didn’t say soulmate, exactly. He said “Destiny”, though I figure that’s basically the same thing. Still - I could meet the person meant to complete me - the apple of my eye, the other side of my coin, the courage to my strength…”

You roll your eyes and hit them with a deadpan expression.

“Bully for you.” Their eyes widen.

“Oh, I hope not,” they say, sounding worried, “I wouldn’t want my soulmate to be an ass.”

‘Why the hell not?’ you brood, ‘you’d be a matching set.’

They sigh from beside you, a melancholy look overtaking their features.

“Wish I could go after them myself, but I’ve just… y’know. Got too much stuff on my plate to go tracking down some hidden stranger.”

‘But you have ample time to talk one’s ear off? Glad to see you have your priorities in order.’

They’re twiddling their thumbs nervously. Their eyes keep flicking towards your face and away again. You purse your lips tighter. “Though... I know it’s not like I’m the only one who has a job to do. I’ll happily compensate, mind.”

You take a sip of your juice. You look over at them. You sigh.

“Why are you telling me this?”

They perk up immediately at the sight of your attention.

“I know you,” they blurt. You edge away slightly. “Not in - not in a creepy way. I just follow you.” You edge away another few inches. “I mean- wait. The stuff you post out, I scroll past it, sometimes. I always like it.”

“You mean ‘stroll’.”

“I said that, yeah.”

Despite yourself, you’re flattered. You put a lot of effort and pride into your work, and it’s always pleasant to hear that someone appreciates it. You grunt out a thanks.

“I just mean-” they’re fidgeting again, and you wonder what has them so worked up. Clearly, they’re sitting on a question, and it’s just when they’re beginning to get a constipated colour to their cheeks that you sigh, heavily.

“Just ask.”

“How much d’you want? To - uh - find my soulmate?”

A shocked silence, before-

“What?”

“How much d’you want? A hundred? Two hundred? Mind you, I’m talking copper, I haven’t got a lot on me right now-”

“Why-” you interrupt, wild with disbelief, “in Albion’s name would I want to go and find your Soulmate?”

“Er…” They scratch at their head. “You mean you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“What the dragon said.”

“What did the dragon say?”

“It said that- well…” They shuffle awkwardly. “He said that I just had to wait and… help would come to me. And I waited. And you came to me.”

You stare. They wince. “He, uh... he said it was Destiny?”

You continue to stare.

“Why me?”

“Well... I’m not... entirely sure.” They cough into their fist, avoiding your eyes. Then they perk up. “But you’ve done a lot of work for couples in the past, right? Put ‘em together in those lovely pieces of yours.”

You grit your teeth, grinding them together.

“I create fanworks of them,” you hiss, “I don’t- play their bloody matchmaker, and I certainly don’t go gallivanting across the five kingdoms to do so, either.”

“You wouldn’t have to go through all five kingdoms,” they have the audacity to say, as though that’ll soothe your ire, “only, like, two. Camelot and Mercia.” They deflate slightly at your unimpressed glare. “C’mon,” they whine, “You’re so skilled. I’m sure you could pull something off.”

You continue to glare. You pin them with it until they squirm and flush, looking down. With a sigh, you turn away and stare into your juice. You drink. Slam the pint glass down, sharp.

“I’ll go collect your damn damsel.”

Their eyes light up.

“You will?” they gush. “Cailleach below, if I didn’t have a Soulmate, I’d ask you to marry me.”

You grimace.

“Please don’t.”

They babble out a recount of the cryptic information the dragon had given them. You nod here and there, mostly letting their words fly over your head, only taking a mental note of the stuff that might be of use. You’ll face many difficult decisions. Light will come to your aid. Take a note of any numbers you choose along the way. At the end of it, you’ll find a vision of the one you’re searching for.

It’s more for yourself than them that you’re doing this, you say to yourself. Who knows; this trip might be the spark you need to fire up your creativity. Besides, you’ve been cooped up inside long enough. It’s high time you got out a bit.

That’s how, half an hour and a few more pints of apple-flavoured drinks later, you’re picking thorns from your person after having fallen into a bush in the middle of the woods, and you find yourself faced with a fork in the path. One prong takes you through the forest. The other, through caves.

As you mull over which path you should take, you wonder what kind of person this elusive Soulmate will be.

Will this pairing be sweet? Or will it be a bit more… unsavory?

Once you've gone through and collected the numbers, click here

#camelove2021 #camelove2021 example posts #Day 7: Free day #Quest for Camelove

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britesparc · 4 years ago

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Weekend Top Ten #481

Top Ten Pixar Villains

Those rascals and rapscallions at Pixar are famous for twisting our emotions, aren’t they? Perverse masters at making us cry with sadness or joy, often at the same time (I’m looking at you, Inside Out, with your yellow and blue marbles). Oh yes, they’ll stick the knife in and give it a good old yank, like John Travolta teaches his daughter to do in Face/Off when he’s not really John Travolta and it’s a bit icky but then she stabs him at the end of the film so it’s alright really.

Where was I?

Oh yeah. Pixar, renowned for turning grown men into blubbering messes, mostly because an adult character was convinced to part with old toys he no longer plays with. But I’d argue that one thing they’ve done less well than their parent studio (that’s Disney) is crafting iconic baddies. I mean, we all know the Disney Villains; they’re so iconic and successful as pop culture icons that there’s an entire trilogy of movies based on what would happen if a bunch of them had kids (apparently they’d sing a lot). Pixar baddies though? Hmmm, maybe not quite so iconic. I can’t see someone making a live action prequel movie about Chef Skinner.

But that’s not to say they’re not great; in fact, rather than going down the route of snarling, moustache-twirling villainy, Pixar actually does a great job in creating antagonists instead. Sometimes they’re misunderstood; sometimes they’re not the person you thought they were! Quite often some kind of redemption is offered, and the villains are very, very rarely dropped off something tall. A lot of them aren’t even defeated, so to speak! A good deal of nuance and shade goes into a Pixar villain, and if they haven’t made as many all-time-great iconic ne’er-do-wells, it does seem as if their approach is starting to rub off on Disney mothership (the likes of Frozen II and Moana either don’t have, or at least subvert, the notion of all-powerful bad guys).

So what do we have? Well, hopefully, we’ve got a list of really cool villains from Pixar movies. most of them are presented as the film’s “big bad”, although there are a couple of lesser baddies. And I think we do see the pattern emerging, of more mundane levels of villainy; the selfish and greedy and damaged. It makes for great characterisation and some beautiful storytelling; some complex and pitiable characters. And, yes, a few absolute bastards too. Let’s tut disapprovingly.

Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear (Ned Beatty, Toy Story 3, 2010): a superb performance from Beatty as a seemingly nice, jovial old bear who’s really a manipulative, power-hungry, gaslighting bully. Realistically portrayed as damaged and bitter, he has a tragic backstory that feels real, and a sense of pain and loss that feels earned in this universe. Questions the nature of everything the movies are about, and is a genuine threat in more ways than one. Plus he literally leaves them all to die in the furnace!

Syndrome (Jason Lee, The Incredibles, 2004): Buddy Pine’s backstory is one of belittlement and rejection, so his switch to villainy is as well explored as many a comic book bad guy. But he’s interesting partly in what his character says about Mr. Incredible – in a way justifying the criticisms of superheroes, as Mr. I does ignore the admittedly-annoying Buddy rather than mentoring or respecting him – but also because he prefigures notions of toxic masculinity about a decade or so before they became, well, a threat to global democracy.

Al (Wayne Knight, Toy Story 2, 1999): Like how Lots-o can be seen as a dark examination of toy life (all toys are replaceable, kids don’t really love you, etc), Al also shows us another dark facet of toy-dom: namely the life of a “collectable”. Toys, in this world, want to be played with, preferably by children, so a big ol’ man-child who stores them in boxes or puts them on display is not ideal. It’s an inversion of what a toy is for; an object of joy reduced to a commodity. Is it entertainment versus art? Who can say? Also, he’s really just a massive jerk and a huge slob, so we feel no pity for him once he gets his comeuppance at the end of the film.

Sid Phillips (Erik von Detten, Toy Story, 1995): man, they nailed the Toy Story villains, didn’t they? Maybe there’s even more to come! But right out of the gate, Sid was a classic. An utter sadist in a skull t-shirt, torturing toys for kicks; adults can see the traits of a genuine sociopath (some serial killers start by torturing animals, remember!), and he’s portrayed like a character in a horror movie. Seriously, in 1995, Sid’s room was legitimately disturbing. I’m not sure what moral lessons his actions teach us, but just as a pure article of terror, he’s supreme.

Hopper (Kevin Spacey, A Bug’s Life, 1998): it feels a bit weird, if I’m honest, to celebrate a Spacey performance. But as a character, Hopper is excellent, one of the best things about the generally-overlooked-but-still-a-bit-lesser-Pixar Bug’s Life. Riffing on biker gangs, Hopper’s locust swarm in, revving their wings. Hopper’s a classic tough guy thug, dominating through violence and threat; a creature with a small amount of power determined to hold onto it, and ultimately eaten by a terrifying bird. Just don’t look at the cast list.

Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt, Coco, 2017): after the horror of Sid and the thuggery of Hopper, de la Cruz is a different, more insidious villain. He’s a thief and a betrayer who exploited and murdered his best friend, condemning him not just to death but to a forgotten obsolescence in the afterlife. He’s a perfect example of the gaslighting, friendly-seeming bad guy, more in the mould of Lots-o, but with the world on his side and a sweet guitar. Genuinely hissable.

Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammar, Toy Story 2, 1999): what, more Toy Story? Well, yeah. Don’t blame me, blame Pixar. And so Stinky Pete; a far more relatable and understandable villain, one driven to desperation through a lifetime of rejection and broken promises. Unlike the Machiavellian, power-hungry Lots-o, Pete just wants everyone to retire quietly together; he can’t accept the risks of freedom and only becomes sneaky and, indeed, violent after all else fails. But he does kinda get a happy ending, even if he doesn’t realise it; this is a villain who I feel could eventually be redeemed.

Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi, Monsters, Inc., 2001): Waternoose is the real baddy in Monsters, Inc., of course; a conniving capitalist who’s prepared to sacrifice the world’s children to keep his monopoly. But it’s Randy who sticks in the mind; his selfish, vain lackey, a monster with a huge chip on his shoulder. His design – lizard-like, snake-ish, with a huge mouth and invisibility – is seriously disturbing. Hearing Buscemi’s voice come from that form – an aggravated teacher, a furious accountant – adds something special, something darkly hilarious.

Evelyn Deavor (Catherine Keener, Incredibles 2, 2018): visually and conceptually, The Screenslaver (great name) is pretty cool, but when it’s revealed that the Big Bad is really under-appreciated tech genius Evelyn, that’s a great twist. A smart woman propping up her schmoozing brother, her criticisms of the heroes – like Buddy Pine’s – have resonance, although she’s learning the wrong lessons from tragedy. Her relationship with Elastigirl, from friendship to enmity, is very well-written and performed, and her belligerence at the end is a nice touch, denying the heroes of any catharsis from her capture.

Shelby Forthright (Fred Willard, WALL-E, 2008): I was originally going to feature the autopilot, but then I figured, if you can get Fred Willard in your list… and really, who’s the big villain here? It’s us, right? We killed the Earth. But Willard’s smiling, happy CEO is there, encouraging his customers to buy, promising them safety and security, promising them a repaired world… but really he’s shovelling them off the planet, secretly commanding the computer to take humanity far away and never look back. It’s a devious, horrible plan, giving the people unending luxury, making them want for nothing, turning them into fab, soporific blobs, basically because that’s easier than the alternative. It’s a horrible indictment of humanity (also: he’s the CEO of a company, but also – it looks like – that makes him rule the world? Creepy). So, yeah, the autopilot might be a baddun, but it’s the man in charge who’s the real villain of the piece, even hundreds of years later.

Sadly no room for John Lasseter, who may not have tried to enslave humanity or torture children, but still managed to be a huge jerk and a phenomenal disappointment.

#top ten #pixar #disney #villains #pixar villain #bad guy #movies #animation #toy story #incredibles #wall-e #monsters inc

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regicidal-defenestration · 4 years ago

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Ringing in the Year of the Beleaguered Badger

In which Nobby and Colon celebrate the new year with an odd wooden companion

"It's looking at me all menacingly, sarge."

"Its not looking at anything, its eyes are painted on."

"Yeah, painted on menacingly."

Nobby and Colon considered the figure in front of them. It was certainly odd - a life sized wooden person, a wide grin and two bright blue eyes painted on its face, wearing an equally bright red uniform, with the occasional brown splotch that Colon was doing his best to not think about.

But it wasn't menacing, Colon was sure about that. It was just a toy owned by some rich nob, or else some sort of art display that pole rats (he was unsure of the exact term) like him weren't supposed to understand. Nothing menacing in the slightest.

Even so, Colon was glad of the window separating him from it.

"It just blinked!" Nobby yelped, hitting Colon in his alarm.

Colon scowled at him. Well - half scowled. Well - shared what may well have been a scared glance with his friend. But there was nothing to be scared of, not at all. It was just a bit creepy.

"You and your imagination, Nobby."

"It did!"

Nobby sounded genuinely shaken, which was worrying. Usually, when someone suddenly moved when they should have been still, it meant an opportunity for Nobby to sell back what he'd just nicked from their pockets. Not… whatever this reaction was.

Turning very deliberately away, Fred leaned against the building's wall. He imagined that he was sat back at his nice warm desk, making plans to go out and celebrate the new year properly, not out on patrol all because Vimes had insisted they go back to their roots as regular old officers. It was-

"It just waved at me Fred."

Colon's thoughts came to a screeching halt.

"How about," he said slowly, "we go back to our roots somewhere else?"

Nobby sagged in relief. And as the two of them made their way down the street, they ignored extremely hard the sound of shattering glass.

It was a nice, well lit, and most importantly, empty street, not a weird toy soldier in sight. Colon took his bell - a proper old Watch one, gods this probably hadn't been used in years - and rang it out once, twice, three times.

"Twelve o'clock and all is well!" he called over the loud clangs.

Nobby frowned.

"No it's not."

"Are you disrespecting a superior officer, Nobby?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, sarge. It's just that," he paused to allow Colon to raise an eyebrow, "it's not midnight yet, is it?. It's only half eleven."

Colon paused, took a moment to count on his fingers, then nodded in grudging acknowledgement. He swung the bell again.

"Half past eleven - yes alright no need to look so smug Nobby - and all is still well!"

"No it Isn't!" a third voice piped up, the capitalisation clearly audible.

The two men screamed, grabbing each other instinctively. They then spent an awkwardly silent few minutes trying to pretend like they hadn't just screamed and grabbed each other, and had, in fact, carried off the whole situation with a cool, calm, and collected air. It very nearly worked too.

Nobby was the fastest to regain a sense of composure.

"What d'you mean No it Isn't?" He looked around suspiciously. "Is that a threat?" There didn't look to be hosts of heavily armed thugs waiting in the shadows, but you never knew with these things.

"Oh no, mot At All! What I mean Is, All's not well Because we're Here!"

The painted smile seemed to broaden.

A pause.

"We?" Colon asked, pointing between him and Nobby.

The Toy Soldier hummed for a good minute. Colon couldn't tell if the consideration on its face was faked, or if it was just Like That.

"Hmm, No, but I Do like your spirit! I'm Talking about Me and my Crew!"

Colon leaned in close to Nobby.

"Let me handle this, eh? Matters of diplomacy like this happen to be my four-tay, you know."

Nobby gave him a Look which was, in his (Colon's) view, was neither nice, nor sufficiently respecting of his (Nobby's) commanding officer.

"And would you, fine citiz- nutcra- erm-" Colon paused as he scrabbled for a suitably diplomatic term, ignoring Nobby's snickers, "fine being, care to explain who the crew in question is?"

"And are you plannin' any funny business?" Nobby added, not willing to let go of his suspicion yet.

"Well, there's Me! There's Jonny, who is currently Beheaded, Nastya, who has Refused to Set foot on the Disc for Moral Reasons, Raph And Ivy, who are Helping Marius ask that man Vimes out to Dinne-"

"Well your Marius won't have much luck with that," Colon interrupted, undiplomatically. "Sam doesn't swing that way."

There was a moment of silence.

"Fred," Nobby began, putting on his best 'telling a figure of relative authority that they are, actually, spouting ideas that are even more incorrect than that time Aunt June got drunk at the Hogswatch party and began claiming that the world wasn't flat' voice.

"Mr Vimes'as been out for longer than I've known him. And you’ve know him longer than I have."

"But when I've gone about him being all strait-laced - you know how he gets - none of you bastards corrected me did you!"

Nobby was not a book-smart man. If asked what a thesaurus was, he'd probably say some sort of dead lizard. Whilst he didn't know his words though, he did know his friend.

"Fred," he said again, "d'you think strait-laced means a straight person who wears lace up boots?"

Colon opened and shut his mouth a few times, trying and failing to say something.

"Course I don't," he said at last, recovering admirably. "Just, keeping you on your toes."

Spinning to face the Toy Soldier and, he hoped, firmer conversational ground, he added: "Is Sybil aware of your Marius' advances on her husband?"

"Oh most Certainly! She has Even helped Plan Out his Speech!"

"Ah." Nobby nodded thoughtfully. "wuh-luh-wuh muh-luh-muh solidarity."

"Sybil likes women?"

"Course she does sarge. She was engaged to that lady nob, before Sam nat’rally, but they broke it off on account of her, the nob, not liking all them dragons."

"You know a lot of people, Nobby"

"Word gets around."

"Do you, er, have some sort of mailing list then?" Fred was capital-S Straight, but tried not to let that get in the way.

Nobby failed at holding in a snort of laughter.

“A mailing list? Blimey Fred, imagine me getting a Hogswatch card from Vetinari himself. An’ imagine all them just waiting eagerly to get my letter.”

Seeing Colon’s expression, he tried to school his face into a more serious expression, but it didn’t last long.

“Imagine- just imagine a letter showin’ up at the Watch House, well, multiple letters really, cause of the fact you’re the only straight an cis person I can name off the top of me head, after Archchancellor whass’name has an attack of the Genders last month, all them letters with their little rainbow wax sealing stamps-”

Colon cleared his throat loudly. He jerked his head over to where the Toy Soldier was standing, unmoving, unblinking. Creepy bugger, he thought, undimplomatically, but this time he didn’t say it out loud. Character development.

“I’m sure our... friend... here doesn’t need to know, eh, Nobby?”

“On the contrary, I Think it’s Marvellous! A Mailing list, what Fun! Oh, I Do so enjoy visiting you Silly little People, with your silly Little Ideas!”

The words themselves seemed insulting, but the Toy Soldier’s tone was still bright and cheerful. Although... three consecutive sentences ending with exclamation marks is never a good sign.

“Oh! It’s nearly Midnight now, If you Wanted to ring your Bell Again- oh!” It clapped its hands together excitedly. “Can I Ring it? And say the Thing?”

Without a complaint, Colon handed the bell over. There was probably a Rule about not doing that somewhere, but his mind was still stuck back on Vetinari. Everyone knew the Patrician wore that black ring on his middle finger, of course, but he hadn’t actually thought properly about th-

Nobby’s voice cut through his thoughts.

“You’re slightly staring at it, sarge.”

“Wha-? Yes, of course, go ahead and er, say the Thing, if you want.”

“Twelve O’clock And all is Wel-”

Its final word was drowned out as the city bells began chiming.

Midnight in Ankh-Morpork, and thus, the New Year, was determined largely by consensus, each of the bells chiming slightly out of time with each other. The first to ring belonged to the Fools’ Guild, because there is apparently nothing funnier than getting woken up in the dead of night. The fireworks began as the big brass gong at the Temple of Small Gods rang out, bangs and explosions adding to the chorus of dings, clangs, bongs and jingles. By the time the big rocket exploded purple and red over the sky it was impossible to tell the bells from each other, except for the tongueless and magical bell of Old Tom in the Unseen University clock tower, whose twelve even silences could be heard even over the din.

The high point of the display was, as usual, the Alchemists’ Guild blowing up, this time with an aesthetically pleasing blue fireball.

Nobby whistled in appreciation.

"Happy new year Fred."

"Happy new Nobby. Happy new year Toy Soldier who's still following us around."

"Happy New Year old Chums!"

#happy nearly nnew year anyway #discworld #the mechanisms #writing

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starkeaton · 4 years ago

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the adventure zone: graduation character list

Well, i accidentally deleted the original graduation character list post, so here i am making another one. Oops. And as always, if anyone has important details i should add then feel free to suggest them!

Here are all the characters introduced in episodes 1-25. Named characters only!

Also i can’t hide spoilers! So, um..... I can’t put spoilers on this one. If you need the version with spoilers try this version of the post that i made on the adventure zone subreddit but youre not missing out on much.

# -EPISODE 1- (19 characters)

Hieronymous Wiggenstaff (he/him): Head of the Hero/Villain school. at least 400 years old. wears shining blue armor with gold accents. also an elf. according to Tomas, he led the charge at the "battle of blood valley", brought the Kingdoms of Rickart and Dawnbreak to a peace treaty, and founded the school. a little boastful, a little prideful, [SPOILERS OMITTED], and overall a pretty good dude.

Higglemas Wiggenstaff (he/him): Head of the Sidekick/Henchperson annex, cranky old elf. has a dog named hero who shows no signs of anything strange at all, ever.

Gary (he/him): friendly room gargoyle. pseudo-hivemind.

Groundsy (he/him): the groundskeeper. a pretty nice fellow. don't go in his shed.

Hernandez (he/him): beautiful centaur professor of animal handling.

Jimson (he/him): human battlegrounds trainer for sidekicks/henchpeople, world famous featherweight champion, wields a staff. married to crushman.

Crushman (he/him): silver dragonborn with a sickle, and self-described beefy boy! heavyweight blood champion married to jimson. never lost a match for 8 years. full name Frostus Crushman.

Rolandus Fontaine (he/him): former prince, son of deposed king, kind of an asshole, maybe. wears a cape (important detail)

Zana (she/her): "terrifying" tiefling villain sorcerer, friend of rolandus. barkept the test tavern in ep2

Rhodes (she/her): hero ranger, friend of rolandus.

Buckminster Eden (he/him): hero guy. son of "The Iron Lord". their dad is stronger than rolandus's dad. his wiki page says rogue so i think hes a rogue? i never caught that and ive listened more times than i wish i did

Leon (he/him): softspoken buff, bald "fighter" (although i dont remember any clarification on how exactly he fights), sidekick of buckminster, around 28. anyone else keep forgetting he's bald? i keep forgetting it. >!gets sorta-drafted into becoming a falcon for higglemas and so far hasn't done much else.!<

Rainer Michelle (she/her): cheerful villainous necromancer with a floating chair. also, her name is pronounced "rainier" despite not being confirmed as such? travis ships her with fitzroy.

Tomas (he/him): human man with "kind eyes" and a good (psychic???) memory. guidance counselor.

Stewart LeBoeuf (he/him): brawny human man. serves food. there is no joke here, i promise

Mulligan (he/him): teaches potions. mentioned but doesn't appear yet. and we're like 25 episodes in. maybe we'll see him someday

Germaine, Victoria, Rattles (he/him,she/her,???/???): Skeleton crew. They live in the training room i guess, and as a result can never die, because "no one dies in the training room!" (note: someone now HAS to die in the training room). also their races are never explicitly stated but i guess they're probably human? in episode 3 travis brings up something about how many bones are in "the human body" and at this point i think i'm looking too deep into this so i'll just forget about it and you probably should too.

# -EPISODE 2- (9 characters)

Riveau (he/him): halfling, blame-taking teacher.

Mimi (they/them): gnome sidekick who builds cool robot prosthetics

Bartholemus (he/him): owl aarakocra accountant teacher, known for being the best accountant in the land and having a face some might describe as "smoochable". very pro capitalist :’( hope he gets better

Ramos (she/her): goliath teacher of shieldwork. *

Dip (she/her): sidekick, half-orc twin of pip

Pip (she/her): hero, half-orc twin of dip

Festo (they/them): fairy with "beautiful gossamer wings", independent study teacher of magic, loves to party

Snippers (he/him?): Let me tell you my story about Snippers the magic crab. When Travis gave the list of animals that Griffin could choose as Fitzroy's familiar's current form, he listed crab near the start, and this gave me excitement. Now i knew that crab was pretty unlikely but god i hoped that he would choose it. When the list went on- Bat, Cat, Crab, Frog, Hawk, Lizard, Owl, Poisonous Snake, Fish, Rat, Raven, Seahorse, Spider or Weasel- I nearly lost hope. I was hoping so hard that Griffin would choose the crab, but i was ready to accept a non-crab familiar. It was just buried in that list. It wasn't the most useful animal and it was an obscure pick. And as Travis informed him that it didn't have to keep the form for the whole campaign, Griffin said those five words i wanted to hear so, so badly. "Well then it's a crab." Folks, I do not often react physically when something happens in media. But in that moment, i remember very clearly, i fist-pumped and yelled, "YES!!!!!!"

so anyway, Fitzroy has a crab.

Jackle (he/him): kenku teacher of sneakery. creepy dude. apparently knows something about argo? also his name is not spelled "jackal" for some reason. Also in later episodes theyve started calling him "The Jackle" for some reason??? *

# -EPISODE 3- (1 character)

Dakota (they/them): tavern instructor, clad in black/red leather. no race stated? probably human. *

# -EPISODE 4- (6 characters)

Gerry & Tom (she/her, he/him): shopkeepers at barns and nobles who seem to have very bad names. also constantly competing for customers? these guys got dropped faster than the heathcliff quests, which is honestly just sad.

Barb (she/her): the bartender. runs Springs Eternal in Last Hope. has a sweet seeing-eye hawk familiar.

Jaryd Reginald (he/him): owner of Reginald Ore. Wants the workers to be held responsible for the damage caused by the xorn. (fun fact: originally i wrote down "Jerrod" because i wanted it to sound like a fantasy name, then realized it was probably "Jared" because theyre named after listeners, but i was pleased to find it confirmed that it's actually "Jaryd")

Candice (she/her): A Miner. thought those werent allowed in bars but, i guess not. Wants the mine owner to be held responsible for the xorn's damage.

Jade Johnson Esq. (she/her): lawyer.

# -EPISODE 5- (1 character)

Xorn: a big hungry gem eating guy from the plane of earth Low-Down Deep with 3 arms and 3 legs. why did travis just say "multi-armed" instead of specifying it was 3? who knows! Anyway it leaves

# -EPISODE 6- (3 characters)

Osric (he/him): the man, the myth, the bursar. finally shows up after being mentioned in episodes 2 and 4. he's an elf.

breeze through the willows (she/her): Pegasus attacked by demons, lost her parents. introduced in ep1 but gets a name here so fuck it. also in ep>!16!< we find out shes a "white arabian pegasus" and i dont think thats a spoiler bc we shouldve really known it from the beginning

Sabor (he/him): Librarian/research teacher. also a TORTLE. Really good at recalling stuff, i guess. kinda reminds me of Tomas's memory thing but i'm sure that's just a coincidence... *

# -EPISODE 7- (1 character)

Mosh (he/him): The goliath blacksmith who welcomes argo into the unbroken chain. Also, and this is specific to the tumblr version of this post, all the characters with an * at the end of their descriptions are also members of the unbroken chain. if someone knows how to do spoilers on tumblr please tell me

# -EPISODE 8-

# -EPISODE 9- (2 characters)

Eeiïäá#æ&éñn (pronounced like "Ian") (he/him?): an imp but without a shitty voice. also happens to not be violent. what a coincidence?

Terence (he/him): a chain devil with a real demonic name. minor boss of the imps. very convincing and very threatening. has the frightening ability to make you zone out during his fight

# -EPISODE 10- (2 characters)

Althea Song (she/her): elf with autumn-orange hair. representative from heroic oversight guild. i'd like to personally thank travis for spelling her name out.

Crabtree (she/her): Artificing teacher. Long gray hair with a long grey beard. no mentioned race, one might guess dwarf but that would be an assumption i suppose. also unbroken chain member, presumably the dwarf argo didn't recognize in episode 7.

# -EPISODE 11- (3 characters)

Marie (she/her): Grey-haired elf woman. She's the school's physician, i guess. Member of the unbroken chain.

Dendra Maplecourt (she/her): Fitzroy's mom. Has hot mint gum, i guess. She was mentioned earlier but i wasn't convinced she was a real person until this episode

Cool Gary (he/him): AYY ITS ME GARYR

# -EPISODE 12-

no new characters again!

# -EPISODE 13- (7 characters hhhyyyuu)

Kale (???/???): Head of the Placement Department, in charge of real world assignments. First mentioned in Ep4 but i missed that the last few times bc it is so brief. Gives exposition about missions i guess????? is that the only reason this chara cter exists

satyr thief (unnamed) (he/him): tries to rob thundermen, dies instantly

Ogre (he/him): teamed up with the satyr. his name is ogre.

Moon (he/him): A Sidekick. small pale sullen guy. no mentioned race. Why is there another FUCKING sidekick WE HAD ENOUGH hhhyuuuuuu

Deanna (she/her): A bigoted centaur with an obnoxious voice. Malwin the Strong's second in command.

Malwin the Strong (she/her): Leader of the centaurs of the scarlet woods. Wants to appease the spirit of the scarlet woods so that thecentaurs of the scarlet woods will be protected in the scarlet woods. Had a relationship with Arturas in the past but their clashes are currently known to get pretty heated.

Arturas (he/him): Leader of the Centaurs of the Valley, i guess. Had a relationship with Malwin. Centaur. Did i mention centaur? i cant think of anything else about this character

# -EPISODE 14- (2 characters)

Calhain (he/him): Human wizard, Malwin's magical advisor. Kind of an amateur wizard in a job high above his skill level. Graduated Wigginstaff's as a hero.

Spirit of the Scarlet Woods: A spirit who requires sacrifice in order to keep Malwin's herd safe and prosperous. Not keen on dubiously canonical combos, i guess. i wouldnt be either. also apparently the sacrifice depends on personal value, not how much value it has to the spirit.

# -EPISODE 15- (2 characters)

Sylvia Nite (she/her): Fitzroy's magic theory teacher at knight night school, who he turned into a catfish by accident. oops!

Chaos (they/them, maybe more): Presumably a deity, gave Fitz his powers and wants him to give in to his chaotic desires. (physical desc: 9 foot tall, iridescent 'mother of pearl' skin, pure white eyes, fine burgundy cloak with gold/onyx lining. their physical form beyond that seems to change every time they show up.)

# -EPISODE 16-

none -w-

# -EPISODE 17-

some demins happened. the big dudes are called "Pit Fiends" and the armored demon ladies are called "Erinyes", by the way. that was incredibly hard for me to figure out the first time, especially without headphones, i thought travis was saying "pig feet" and i just could not discern what the other things were

# -EPISODE 18- (6 characters)

snow on the mountain: shire horse pegasus

storm at sea: peruvian paso pegasus, vehement defender of The Guardian. doesn't have a goofy voice.. but he could have....

thaw of the spring: a winged horse

night of no clouds: a winged hhorse

The Guardian: "An ancient and powerful being that guards the unknown forest." Has protected the flock from demons for many many years. apparently is the voice that was talking to our firbolg in episode 1?

Grey, the Demon Prince (he/him): wants to cause a war, originally wanted to kill hiero and higgs, forces the heroes to build an army to fight his. As "Fauxronimous", he has skin the *color and pattern of* (but not necessarily made of) slate splashed with liquid, pointed ears, sharp teeth, shining eyes, horns of unspecified shape. 12 fucking feet tall. wonder if the slate-looking skin is related to garys. plot twist detected? Also i recently looked at the episode descriptions and found out his name is spelled "Gray", but really does it truly matter?

# -EPISODE 19- (2 characters)

Shabree Keene (she/her): Argo's mom, killed on the Mariah, possibly by the Commodore. Long auburn hair, green eyes. Mentioned earlier but described here, so fuck it.

**Thomas** (he/him): Argo's first mate on the Mariah, as the Kraken, in his chaos-dream. may or may not actually exist.

# -EPISODE 20- (1 character)

The Commodore (he/him): Reknowned hero of the seas, military regalia, great naval hero, presumably responsible for the death of Shabree Keene. No mentioned race. Seriously, they never mention this guy's race. The only thing described about him is how he's dressed and his evil smile. Does that mean he's human? Elf? Dwarf??? Who knows! maybe it just doesnt matter.

# -EPISODE 21-

none

# -EPISODE 22-

not any of them. not any.

# -EPISODE 23- (1 character)

Ozymondelius (sp???) (it/its): A warforged teacher who just so happens to like war or something? i guess its in the name. only mentioned in this episode, doesnt show up yet.

# -EPISODE 24-

they have a fight in the training room but nobody dies :\\ maybe next time. also no new characters. pog

# -EPISODE 25- (4 characters)

Gherkin (he/him): Tall lankier skeleton, has a scimitar and a merkin, which is a pubic wig... and he wears a jerkin? which i guess is a kind of coat? also i think hes mute

Tibia (she/her?) : Shorter skeleton with gold teeth, and long canines. i think both of the skeletons are mute actually.

The Lich King aka Gordy (he/him): Rainer's dad. Commands armies of the undead. lives in The Crypt. described as a hooded, skull-faced man with intricate black lines on his face, but changes to a shaved-head man with dark skin and vetiligo. Abandoned as a babby, raised by traveling parents, had necromancy powers, took Rainier in. Not actually very scary at all i don't know why he did the creepy laugh. Kind of a warm fatherly figure actually. hm. also people are speculating Gordy might be short for Gordita and his parents are maybe supposed to be lup and barry but THAT S JUST A THEORY.

our firbolg's father (he/him): A firbolg who lived by the code and was there when our firbolg was banished. Came to respect our firbolg's interest in a new way of life, in his final moments.

TOTAL: 72 NPCS! (well, including 2 extra PCs, i guess.)

Average: 2.88 NPCs per episode.

i was gonna not include the bone-PCs and have it be 69 but our firbolg's dad was just too important to not respect with a spot on the list.

anyway as always make sure to smack me with a blunt object if i forgot any characters!!!!!

#the adventure zone #taz #taz: graduation #taz g #sir fitzroy maplecourt #argonaut keene #taz firbolg #i dunno what else to tag this with #text post #keatposting

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halothenthehorns · 3 years ago

Text

THE UNFORGIVABLE CURSES

Harry began his reading with high spirits, as eager as Ron to get to Moody's first lesson, no matter how much his inner mind was sending off pinging noises every time his name was mentioned.

The next two days passed without incident, unless you counted Neville melting his sixth cauldron in Potions.

"In his first week, I consider that impressive," James smirked.

Snape seemed to have attained new levels of vindictiveness over the summer,

"Can't say I'm surprised," Lily muttered bitterly.

and gave Neville detention, which he returned from in a state of nervous collapse, having been made to disembowel a barrel full of horned toads.

"Eew," Remus shuddered.

"That shouldn't be an allowed punishment," Sirius scowled hotly, "and Neville owns a toad, so that's just extra cruel."

"Actually Sirius, the horned toad is a species of lizard, not of the amphibian kind," Lily corrected.

Sirius looked stumped for a moment, muttering about insane people naming things, before he shook himself and got back on track, "it's still disgusting."

"No one's arguing with you there," James agreed.

Ron reminded Harry why Snape would be in a particularly bad mood for now, while Hermione showed Neville a spell to get the frog guts out of his nails.

"I didn't know better," Harry defended when Lily looked like she was fixing to repeat herself. "Just went by the name."

Harry agreed it was because of Moody.

"Let's just see him try anything against him," Remus snorted. "Moody'll turn him into a bat for us."

"Can't wait," Sirius said eagerly.

Everyone knew that Snape wanted the DADA job for himself, and this was the fourth year in a row he hadn't gotten it.

"Probably longer, as we don't know when he started," Lily corrected, while the boys rolled their eyes at such a minor thing.

Snape had hated everyone who had gotten the job before, and was never shy of showing it, but something was different about this time. Snape seemed to be going out of his way to avoid Moody.

James gave a maniacal laugh, as they all knew what that meant.

Harry suggested that Snape was scared of Moody, and Ron got a dreamy look on his face as he wished Moody would turn Snape into a horned toad for them and bounce him around his own dungeons.

"A dream come true," Sirius agreed solemnly.

Thursday arrived, showing the whole of Harry's class lining up outside Moody's class.

Lily couldn't help a little snort of laughter. She could just imagine McGonagall or someone coming by and seeing that and getting exasperated at this display.

The only person missing was Hermione, who turned up just in time for the lesson.

"I'm sure that's a first," Remus chuckled.

She tried to explain to the others where she'd been, but Harry cut her off saying they knew it was the library, before waving them inside saying he wanted good seats.

"Seats?" James asked.

"I guess this is a form of show for them," Sirius shrugged in agreement, he was sure they'd have been the same way at Harry's age.

The trio managed to sit in the front row, pulling out their assigned text. Not moments later, they heard the distinct clunking noise of his wooden foot headed their way.

"Can't sneak up on anyone anymore can he?" Remus said in surprise.

"It's not like you couldn't put a muffling charm on that if you need to," Sirius shrugged, "he just doesn't while in school."

"Still, he's got to be a lot slower with that thing," James sighed for the guy.

He entered and told them to put their books away, they wouldn't need them today.

"Always the best way to start the lesson," Lily smiled.

Everyone did as told, still looking excited. Moody began calling roll, his normal eye scrolling down the list, his magical one zeroing in on the person who raised their hand.

"Because that's not creepy at all," James couldn't help a shiver.

When he was done with that, he told how Professor Lupin had left a letter about this class,

"Bet that was all kinds of interesting," Sirius snickered.

"Did it start with, warning Harry Potter will give you hell, because everything in the school tries to kill him, so you need to teach him every deadly spell you can," Harry grumbled.

"I doubt I would have phrased it like that," Remus said gently, while the others looked like they wanted to laugh, or would have if that hadn't been so true.

about how they'd gone over several Dark creatures,

"Sad that Remus is the only teacher who's actually given any value to this class," Lily sighed.

such as boggarts, red caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, kappas, and werewolves.

"The last one was involuntary, but sure that's about right," Remus grumbled.

The students gave a murmured agreement, as Moody continued that these students were very behind on dealing with their curses.

"Well he's not wrong," James shrugged.

"I'm blasted you know any useful offensive spells," Sirius agreed.

"I can do my own studying," Harry defended. "I've looked up some stuff for other classes, and just ran across others."

"We're not blaming you dear," Lily quickly corrected, "we're just sad is all. This is a really important class, and the fact that you're so lacking isn't going to help you later."

"You're showing an immense display of skill knowing what you do even with the problems with this class," Remus agreed.

Harry blushed slightly at the praise, since as far as he was aware everyone was at the same level as him except Hermione of course, but the compliments were so unexpected he couldn't find it in himself to argue.

He continued that was his job for the year, and he only had that time to do it.

"He's not staying longer?" Sirius pouted.

"Guess Dumbledore can only find a temporary fix now," Remus sighed.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll find a reason to stay," Lily said hopefully, as having a head auror hanging around would certainly make her feel better with all the problems Harry got up to.

Harry couldn't help but wonder why his gut reaction was to correct her, say he wanted nothing of the sort to happen, but then there was again this conflicting feeling inside like he'd enjoy this very much, as he knew Moody to be a good person. He'd never felt such opposite opinions about one man, and to have no idea where they could stem from was starting to drive him crazy.

Ron interrupted to ask why he wasn't staying longer.

Moody's magical eye lingered on Ron then, who looked suddenly apprehensive, but then Moody's mouth twisted, making his face look even more contorted than it should,

Sirius couldn't help a little chuckle.

as he smiled. Moody confirmed that he was Arthur Weasley's kid, and told how Arthur had gotten him out of a tight spot a few days ago.

"Least someone acknowledges it," Lily grumbled, still smarting about that article.

Then he agreed it was only for the year, special favor to Dumbledore, then he'd go back to his quiet retirement.

All of them gave a laugh at that, clearly his retirement was more entertaining than he was leading on if he set dustbins on people, or cats. At the reminder, they were almost hoping to hear Moody's side of the story to that now.

He got back on topic then, speaking of Curses. He pointed out that the Ministry guidelines did show that Moody was only supposed to be teaching counter curses, not to show anything illegal or Dark until sixth year, that supposedly they weren't old enough yet.

Lily was getting uneasy at the way this was starting.

Dumbledore agreed with Moody though, and decided they could cope with whatever they needed to.

"Well as long as Dumbledore thinks so," James said with much more sarcasm then he ever would have thought possible, but after everything had come out about Sirius last year, James really couldn't say he was in the headmaster's corner one hundred percent anymore.

Pointing out how were you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen.

"Merlin help it, they're fourteen, I don't want to see them having to defend themselves against anything," Lily sighed, more upset than she could put into words that even in this Voldemort free world, she still couldn't bring herself to argue this too much. Oh she'd complain about it, she didn't want her son to have to learn to defend himself, but she couldn't find it in herself either to say that he shouldn't know this either, better safe than sorry.

He explained that a wizard who was going to use a curse on you wasn't going to warn you beforehand,

"Not wrong about that," Remus nodded.

so they need to be prepared, and watchful, and to put that away Miss Brown!

James did a double take, not sure if he'd heard that last part right.

Lavender jumped and blushed, she'd been showing Parvati her completed star chart under the desk.

Sirius let out a surprised whistle, saying, "this thing keeps getting cooler. It can see through desks now! Wonder what else it can see through?"

Apparently Moody's magical eye could see through solid wood as well. He kept going, asking the students which curses were the most punishable if caught using.

"Oh, so we're starting at the tippy top," Lily raised a brow.

"It's not a bad idea," James shrugged, "start with the hardest and work your way down, by the time you get to the bottom you'll breeze through them."

"The opposite usually works better," Remus countered, "starting with the basics means you'll have a better handle the farther up you go."

"Both can work for different people," Sirius waved them off, "you really want to sit around and debate the school system, because I don't."

He turned pleading eyes on Harry, who was more than happy to keep going.

Several hands went up, and Moody called on Ron, who said his dad has mentioned one, the Imperious Curse.

Harry noticed his dad go a few shades paler in shock at the mention of that curse, so said, "So that's where I learned this," aloud, remembering he'd gone over this with his family back during his second year. James gave him an absent smile as he quickly came back from wherever his mind had been.

Lily was still chewing over the cut off argument the boys had been having, wanting to argue that they were still a spot too young to be learning this, it was seventh year material, but also couldn't push that it was wrong for them to know this either. So long as he didn't teach them the actual incantation, there was no harm in making them aware of these.

Moody agreed that one used to give the ministry a world of trouble.

"Living that time," Lily scoffed aloud, "and trouble doesn't quite cover it."

"The people who do have it used on them usually are so torn up about what they did, they don't want to come forward," James explained for Harry.

"While those who probably did it of their own free will, have no problems coming forward and pretending they were forced to," Sirius grumbled.

Moody went to go fetch a glass jar from his desk then, which contained three spiders.

The four of them shivered as they realized what was coming, Moody was going to demonstrate these spells on those arachnids. Lily's feelings of unease began rising another few degrees. Now this was definitely pushing the limit.

Harry felt Ron recoil slightly next to him, Ron hated spiders.

"And there's that," Remus nodded, thinking this was as close as he'd been to one since his time in the Forest, and it probably wasn't a pleasant reminder for him.

Moody caught one, and then used the spell 'Imperio.'

"He couldn't have at least done that silently," Lily sighed.

The boys, really weren't going to argue the point. They all exchanged wary looks, rather as upset as Lily for once on this matter. It wasn't just Harry, but he was the one they were thinking of when the thought of preserving what little innocence he had. He'd already been through so much, and hearing about him learning these spells was just that little extra saddening to them. None of them were still going to say this much out loud, they didn't want Harry to think they thought he couldn't handle it.

The spider began doing flips and cartwheels around the desk, then rose up on just two legs and began a tap-dance.

"I didn't even know spiders could do that," Harry said in surprise, unable to imagine the little black body contorting like that.

"If the bodies physically capable of the ability, even slightly though it won't do it voluntarily, the Imperius can have you do it," Remus sighed.

Everyone was laughing, except the teacher.

Lily shook her head sadly, thinking this was a good reason right there why these kids shouldn't be shown this spell quite yet. They clearly weren't old enough to realize how horrible this was, even to something like a little spider.

He growled at them if they thought this was funny, maybe they'd like it placed on them.

"Least he's keeping them on track," Sirius muttered.

Explaining that this spell gave total control, he could make anyone do anything. Jump out a window, drown themselves, force this little spider hear to jump down someone's throat...

James gave an involuntary gag at the mention.

Ron gave a terrible shudder at that idea.

Moody went on to explain that years ago, the Ministry had trouble sorting out who was and wasn't acting of their own free will because of this curse.

"So there's no way to tell the difference?" Harry sighed. "No looking at a memory through a pensive, or anything?"

"Sadly not," Lily explained. "You can erase the memory of that person being Imperiused, and then you'd just witness what did happen. It's not concrete."

"Veritaserum wouldn't work either," Sirius sadly tacked on. He hated talking about this, it was bringing back bad memories of how he kept picturing his own trial had gone getting him sent into Azkaban, but Harry deserved to know this no matter his discomfort. "Since you'd just admit to the things you did, and if the spell was done up right, you probably wouldn't even know you'd been doing it under the curse."

Harry sighed, thinking that while magic had its advantages, there were clearly so many faults in the system it was sad how easily it could be manipulated for all the cruel people of the world.

This curse could be fought, which he'd be teaching them,

"He'll be doing what now?" Lily snapped sharply.

"Chill Lil," James waved her off, "I'm sure he's just going to explain the concept. Even Dumbledore couldn't allow him to actually use that spell on these kids."

Harry got double vision for a moment, his tongue locking up before he settled back and grumbled about his stupid memory messing with him.

but it took real strength to fight this off. You'd better try and avoid it if at all possible, then he screamed 'constant vigilance!'

Harry had shouted that so loudly, that he made the others jump, lighting a smile on his face for spooking them like that and managing to distract them, mostly Sirius, from wherever their thoughts had been lingering.

Moody put the spider back, then asked for another curse. To Harry's surprise, Neville raised his hand.

"I don't want to know how he and his Gran got into that conversation," Lily shivered.

Harry was getting a foreboding feeling, like he'd be much happier if Neville had no idea about some Unforgivable spell in particular...

The only class Neville ever volunteered information was Herbology, even Neville looked surprised at his own daring.

"Poor kid," Remus smiled lightly, wishing that Neville had more confidence in himself more often. He'd clearly done well in this class given the right encouragement, hopefully Moody would help that along more.

Moody called on him, and Neville managed to get out the Cruciatus Curse.

There it was. Harry felt a distinct blow to his gut, hearing Neville talk about this put him on edge in a terrible way. He tried to shake it off when the others noticed, but it wasn't working that well. Something was lingering, something he knew deep down would be terrible to learn.

Moody's eyes lingered on him, asking that his name was Longbottom? Neville gave a nervous nod, but then Moody moved on.

"Why did he ask?" Lily couldn't stop herself from asking, her voice cracking with unease.

No one answered her, a thought flickered across their mind at the implication both Moody and Harry had given, but none of them could press it without finding something they didn't want.

He went back to his jar of spiders and got a fresh one, explaining the spider should be bigger for them to see this effect, then used the spell 'Engorgio.' Ron recoiled in horror and pushed his chair back as the spider swelled.

"Guess Ron regrets his front row seat now," Sirius muttered.

Then Moody switched spells, and shouted 'Crucio.' The spider rolled onto its back and began rocking from side to side, its legs spasming. Harry could tell that if it could, it would be screaming.

The four of them felt a terrible shiver. They'd all felt the brunt of that curse, it tended to be a favorite of Death Eaters trying to incapacitate someone long enough to run, and the reminder on something even as small as a spider wasn't a pleasant one.

Harry felt lucky, if sad for thinking so, that he only had to witness this happening to a spider, hoping dearly right now this was all he'd have to deal with in regards to that spell.

Moody kept at it, until the spider's movements began to become more jerky and it was shuddering, until Hermione screamed at him to stop it.

Lily couldn't help but sigh with relief. She had no shame in admitting that was starting to disturb her, and wasn't surprised it would get to several kids in that class.

Harry looked at her, but saw that she was watching Neville,

"Oh dear," Remus muttered, leaning into the couch in fear as this wasn't helping them lessen their worry of why Neville would be reacting so badly to this.

who was white knuckled and gazing forward with wide, terrified eyes.

"Ooh," Lily muttered, wanting to go over there and give the boy a hug. She wasn't sure if they were guessing insanely wrong, and she hoped she was, and he had some kind of personal experience with this curse or if he in particular was having a bad reaction, but either way this was a moment where a boy should be reassured it was okay to be freaking out.

Moody released the spell and shrank the spider back to normal size, explaining to the class that you didn't need knives to torture people when you had the Cruciatus. That had been a very popular one at a time to.

"Here's to dying out spells," James shivered.

He put the spider back and asked if anyone knew another. No one answered, like they were all afraid to see what would happen to the next spider.

"I already know, and I don't want to see it," Harry sighed.

Then, for the third time, Hermione finally gave a shaky hand raise.

"Why does she know this?" James balked, realizing this for the first time. "Just what the bloody hell kind of book is she reading to have come across this, you'd think this would be restricted section material."

"Merlin only knows," Sirius sighed, "we can hardly claim we were saints in getting to know some information. Hermione's just doing the same thing, but not exactly putting it to the same uses."

Moody called on her, and Hermione answered 'Avada Kedavra.' Moody agreed with another twist of his mouth.

"I don't like it when he smiles anymore," Lily grumbled.

Agreeing the last and worst, was known as the Killing Curse. He went back to the jar and placed the spider on the desk, where it stood frozen.

Lily couldn't help it. She wasn't a fan of spiders by any means, but she could feel her face tightening in displeasure for what she knew was coming.

Without any kind of hesitation, Moody raised his wand and cursed the spider with 'Avada Kedavra,' and with a flash of green light, the spider lay dead.

"I personally wouldn't have demonstrated that spell on a spider in front of Ron," Sirius tried in vain to shoot some humor around again, this depressing mood was driving him crazy. "Now that's going to be Ron's solution to every spider he sees."

"Hopefully Hermione will convince him his boot will work just fine," James added on out of obligation, still to on edge to really have his fun.

Several students almost screamed, Ron nearly toppled out of his chair as the body went skidding in his direction.

Moody swept the tiny black body off his desk without concern, addressing the class to explain that there was no countercurse to that spell, no way to block it. Only one person had ever survived, and he was in here.

Harry watched the faces around him drain of all color. They had certainly guessed this, evidence had been piling up since Harry's remembered dementor memory coupled with his knowledge that if he struggled to remember on his own he'd find a flash of green light and that was it. It was just, put like that, it seemed unreal. How had Harry survived that? How had Lily actually found a way to protect him from it? She'd died to save his life, Dumbledore had made that clear, but how on earth was this possible? Lily couldn't have been the first mother to step in the way of her child's death, so why wouldn't any of those instances counted in saving another child's life. If they were understanding this right, then Harry's situation shouldn't have been as unique as it was.

Yet Moody himself had just confirmed as much...which meant that something more was going on. Something had to have happened other than just Lily staying in that line of fire without moving.

Harry sat there in a state of unease as he tried to understand why Moody would even know that. How would anyone know these details?* He'd only worked them out because of his dementor experience, but then he presumed that the rest of the populace must have just pieced it together from the scene they'd walked in on. After all, the Avada Kedavra curse seemed a preference of Voldemort, and they would have seen the effects of it being used on James and Lily. Then they most likely would have seen the body of Voldemort, but Harry still sitting in his crib, and rightly assumed it had rebounded from the child, hence his fame.

Lily was starting to get goosebumps all up her body as she tried to piece together what else could have happened that night, if somehow James had also been involved, but the longer she thought about it the harder it was getting to breathe. No one wanted to think about their final moments, even if they had been the reason her son had lived.

James wasn't any better, his throat tightening like he was being forced to hear about Lily's final moments all over again, the thought of his only son being abandoned in that crib for Merlin knew how long before Hagrid found him with only the corpse of his mother for company. He couldn't get his brain past that appalling image to think on anything else.

Remus and Sirius exchanged an unspeakable look, knowing that it would break them apart inside to do so, but they were the best ones who could actually sit around and talk about this, they wouldn't dream of keeping the others around for it, but someone had to figure out what the bloody hell had happened to make this possible, it could save their lives if they could find a way to activate this earlier somehow.

They couldn't do anything now though, it would be disastrous if they tried to convince them to cut the chapter off for now because all three would protest they could handle it and try to join in, they were that kind of stubborn. So the two of them silently agreed they'd wait until later, and for now they did what they did best, caused a distraction.

Remus snuggled up next to Lily, platonically wrapping his arm around her and giving the baby in her lap a playful tickle and saying, "well this sucks."

Sirius gave an extra loud snort, telling him, "you have a way of understating things. You're not wrong though, so how about we get to the end of the lesson. I want to gripe at Moody for giving you homework."

James was still shaking his head slowly from side to side, clearly vacant to everything around him, so Harry wriggled up to his side, only hesitated for a second, before throwing an arm around him and promising, "I get it. Do you want to stop, or-"

"No," James muttered, "just keep going."

Harry exchanged a look with Sirius, but couldn't find a reason to argue either.

Harry felt his face flush in shock, as all eyes turned to him. Harry stared down at the dead spider, and wondered if that's what his parents had looked like, unmarked and unblemished?

'Okay, I lied, I want him to stop now' James tried to rasp that out, his mind certainly screamed it loud enough in his head, but the words closed off and Harry kept going almost feverishly, clearly struggling to get this out loud.

It was one of those terrible moments where Harry was actually pretty bitter at this book for publicizing all of his personal thoughts like this, something he never would have shared with those around him.

Was the last thing they'd seen a flash of green light, before nothing?

'Yeah, that about covers it' Sirius whimpered, desperately latching onto the first memory he could to stop himself from crying, thinking of his brother that way, and instead he saw a white ferret bouncing around, and it cultivated into a strange look on his face that the others chose to ignore.

Harry had been picturing his parent's death for three years now. He knew they'd been betrayed by Wormtail,

The three Marauders still gave an involuntary flinch every time that was mentioned.

and handed over to Voldemort,

Because they had just loved hearing about all of that the first time through.

Not one of them could say a word to Harry though, what could they say? Snap at him for dwelling on all of this, they'd probably be more concerned for his well-being if he pretended he never did. These were his private thoughts, terrible as they were, and they just wanted this part to be over, so none of them dared speak a word.

who had arrived and killed Harry's father first. James had tried to fight him off, telling his wife to run with their son, but Voldemort had killed him, then his mother, before turning his wand on Harry. Harry knew these details, because whenever he was around a dementor he heard his parent's final moments.

Harry speed read through all of that, detesting how it made each of them look likely to faint any moment, hating himself for dwelling on it when it only caused them pain. If there was anything he ever wanted to skip in these books, it's whenever mention of this came up.

Moody was still talking, and Harry had to struggle to pay attention.

'Thank Merlin for that' was the first thing Lily coherently thought, twisting a strand of hair around her finger in agitation, the comfort of Remus at her side and her baby on her lap all that was holding her together. It was taking everything in her not to go over and curl into James chest here and now, but she refused to show just how upset this was making her, she had to be stronger than that.

He was still talking about the curse, how much magic it required to use. The students could pull out their wand right now and try, and Moody wouldn't even get a nosebleed.

"Be fun to try," Sirius said viciously, irrationally blaming Moody for having brought all of this up again.

Moody wasn't here to teach them how to use the spell though,

"Could have fooled me," Remus growled so low no one was sure of the exact words.

he was here to show them the worst of the world, so they'd be prepared. Then he screamed 'constant vigilance!' at them again.

Harry couldn't stop himself from shouting that again, though this time not a smile was seen. Harry had let that loose with primal emotion, the need to shout his frustration at his family's soon to come situation coming out in those two words. He regretted it when he saw how hard they all jumped, it clearly hadn't done anything to help, but when a rebuke didn't come he kept going, realizing they all understood why he had.

He went back to teaching, saying that the three curses were known as the Unforgivable Curses. Using any of these three on another person would get you a sentence in Azkaban.

'That's not the only way' Sirius couldn't help but hiss, forcing himself to only say that in his head, no need to bring up something he preferred to avoid.

This was what the world was up against, what you were going to be fighting! You had to be prepared, armed, and always vigilant.

'I don't want to be an auror anymore.' James hadn't even realized he'd thought that for a moment, but then he considered it, and realized how deeply he meant it. He'd pictured himself being the hero, hauling in all those terrible Death Eaters who dared harm Muggles and Muggleborns like his wife. It wasn't until Moody had showed off all of this though did the full impact of that job really sink in, how much it would cost him if he did pursue this. Sure he knew about a lot of this stuff from his own time in his DADA classes, but none of his teachers had ever managed to make it seem so realistic. He tried to brush all of that away for now though, knowing better than to try and make a life decision in the heat of the moment.

For the rest of the lesson they took notes on the Unforgivable Curses, and no one spoke again until class was dismissed. The students barely made it out of the door however, when they all burst into excited chatter about all the spiders had done. Harry watched them speak of the lesson like they'd just seen some great show.

"This probably went without saying, but I'm saying it anyways," Sirius grumbled, "I still prefer Moony. He would have gotten through those kids thick heads this isn't a stupid game."

"Thanks," Remus said sincerely.

"I think this just proves they were too young for that lesson," James sighed, "I still don't think we can claim any better if we'd been shown that our fourth year instead of seventh. Even Moony might not have gotten that through to them."

"Thanks," Remus repeated with a touch of sarcasm this time.

Hermione wasn't listening though, forcing her way through the crowd and hurrying her two friends along, and when asked where she was trying to rush off to, she pointed down a side corridor where Neville had hidden himself.

"Oh the poor dear," Lily sighed, wrapping her arm even tighter around her own infant. Neville had seemed like a really sweet and sensitive boy to her so far, she hated to think what this had done to him.

Neville was alone, looking vacantly out the window, his eyes still as wide as when he'd seen the Cruciatus Curse in action.

"He definitely knows someone that's been through that," James gave a blistering sigh at finally having said what they were all thinking.

"Or it was used on him," Sirius said lowly.

"Sirius!" Lily shirked, "he's fourteen, what the bloody hell-"

"You can't pretend it's never happened," Sirius cut her off with steel gray eyes.

Harry was watching all of them with a deep sense of fear now. He wanted desperately for them to stop talking about this, he didn't want to keep hearing about it, because the more they did, the more sure he was they were on the right track. Thankfully he was the one with the book in his hands, so he kept going loudly.

Hermione whispered his name quietly, and Neville turned around on autopilot as he began trying to ask what dinner would be.

"Don't think I could eat a bite actually," Remus sighed.

"He wasn't actually speaking to you, ya twat," James made his first attempt at a smile this chapter at teasing his friend.

Hermione asked if he was okay,

"Oh he's clearly peachy, and you," Sirius huffed.

Neville agreed everything was great, speaking of the interesting dinner and what would be for their lesson, err food.

Lily pursed up her lips so tight they went white. She'd already felt horrible enough today because of the confirmation of her death, which felt imminent at this point. To see the effect it had on her family was terrible to watch, but to see it even being put on another innocent boy somehow still managed to make it worse.

All three of them were watching him with a half terrified look, unsure of how to comfort him, when the clunking footsteps of Moody announced his arrival. He instructed Neville to come have a cup of tea with him.

"Aw," Lily cooed, her eyes finally shining with light other than threatening tears. "He actually recognized what he did bothered him, and he's trying to help."

"Moody's an old softie, especially on those he deems worthy," James gave a slight smile.

Harry didn't hear a word of this, because he was fighting back the urge to start swearing colorfully. Something about the idea of Moody trying to comfort Neville, of even being in the same room with him, set him so terribly on edge. He tried to lightly dig into this feeling, wondering if Neville was in danger and he should be worried, but all Harry felt was a sense of wronged. Had Moody done something to Neville? Bright spots were beginning to flash across his eyes from the pain of even doing this, and by the time he phased back into the conversation, he realized they were all watching him with real concern.

"Harry, are you okay?" Sirius got out first with something like genuine fright on his face. "You looked really ticked off there for a second, does Moody take away your broom or something?"

Harry shook his head sadly, sighing deeply before saying, "can't say, just know that bothered me for some reason. I'm sure it's nothing, I think I'm just worried Moody makes things worse, or something."

"That could be it," Remus agreed fairly. "He's not exactly the cuddly grandpa type."

"At least he's trying," Lily defended.

Harry gave them the best smile he could muster, couldn't quite hold it long enough to be believable, but still he pressed on reading before anyone could keep going.

Neville looked terrified at the idea and looked wildly to the trio, but none of them could come up with a way to protest. Moody turned to Harry and asked if he was alright, and Harry gave a defiant yes back. Moody nodded like this didn't surprise him, then turned back to Neville and explained he knew this seemed harsh, but they had to know this stuff. Then he began steering Neville away, telling him there were some books he'd have an interest in.

"Maybe if he was Hermione that would have helped," Remus tried for a laugh, which fell flat when he noticed Harry's unease at Moody giving Neville a book somehow seemed significant to him. What on earth could that be about?

Neville gave one last pleading look back, but followed in Moody's wake. Ron asked what all that could have been about, but none of them had an answer.

"I can't even honestly say I want to know anymore," Lily shivered, too many horrible thoughts fleeing across her mind.

They started walking towards the Great Hall then, Ron still talking about the lesson as he agreed with Fred and George, Moody really knew his stuff. He was still impressed by that Avada Kedavra curse, the way that spider had just snuffed it-

"That's right Ron, focus on the spider," Sirius said in a too high pitched voice.

but he quickly fell silent at the look on Harry's face. All three of them remained quiet as they made their way down to dinner, where Hermione began eating at top speed again before running off for the library.

"Missed but never forgotten," Remus said, meeting James's eyes fleetingly, but continuing as if in a joke with a rather forced smile he'd never admit to. "I'm starting to get the feeling that's just going to be the pattern for most of the year until she finds whatever's bothering her."

The boys ate before going up to their tower, where it was Harry who brought up the curses again, asking if Moody or Dumbledore would get in trouble for showing them those curses?

"The ministry doesn't interfere in Hogwarts," Lily shrugged. "It's at the headmaster's discretion what his students learn. Dumbledore clearly thinks you can take it."

Ron agreed they could, but Dumbledore has always been able to do whatever he wanted. They found their favorite spot by the fire and decided they should get started with their Divination homework.

"Well don't get too excited," James muttered, "it'll ruin all the fun of the work."

They went up to their dorm, to find Neville alone

"Oh good," Lily chirped, more than happy to be thinking on anything else now, even if Neville wasn't exactly a happy topic. "You didn't mention him at dinner and I was a little worried."

reading a book. He looked more like himself, though his eyes were a little red rimmed.

They all let out pitiful sighs, wanting to know what had struck him so bad, terrified of getting the answer.

Harry asked how he was doing, and Neville happily said he was doing fine now, showing off the books Moody had given him 'Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean.'

"And Neville's best subject is Herbology," Remus smiled warmly.

"So Moody really did go out and help him," Lily crooned happily.

Harry put up a strained smile in agreement, he knew this was a very good thing that had clearly made Neville feel better, so what about the mention of this book was sending off alarm bells for him?

Professor Sprout had mentioned to Moody that his best subject was Herbology, with some pride now in his tone.

"Which should be there more often," James said fairly. "Everyone's got their strengths."

"He's been getting more confidence every year," Sirius nodded happily.

Harry smiled, pleased to hear that Neville had been cheered up like this. Moody slipping in Sprout's praise was a tactful way to do so, it was something Professor Lupin would have done.

Remus flushed bright red at the praise, but no one denied that they'd actually been thinking the same thing about him.

Harry and Ron went back downstairs to do their work then, which was tedious at best. Hours later of working on sums and symbols and they hadn't progressed at all.

"You're putting way too much strain into a class that you both hate, and is irrelevant to your life," Sirius snorted.

"Don't be like that," Lily scolded. "I don't like the class much either, but you don't want him getting a T in the class just to spite the teacher, that's like cursing your own nose to spite your face."

"I doubt he's getting a career to do with Divination," James sided with Sirius, "and everyone's got one flunk class. No need to deter him from more important things."

"It's not as if he's got any other homework to be doing," Remus sighed, "so it's good he's keeping his priorities up and doing that first."

"Why did we keep you around again?" Sirius snorted, now trying to get Harry to move on.

Ron finally suggested they just do the old Divination standby.

Causing all three Marauders to laugh at that.

Lily gave Remus the stank eye in particular, saying, "you'd just agreed with me he should be doing this, why are you laughing that he's not even going to be doing it properly."

"I agreed it shouldn't be ignored," Remus admitted with a smirk, "I never said to what degree. It's a class where for his final exam last semester he made up something. I think you can get away with the homework in the same style."

"Now I remember why we kept you around," James cackled.

Harry quickly agreed to the idea, and watched Ron begin jotting down on his parchment that on Monday he'd get a cough because of Mars and Jupiter. Then he reminded Harry that all they had to do was make it bad things, and she'd eat it right up.

"It's sad how true that probably is," Lily finally acquitted.

Harry started his own now, saying that on Monday for him he'd likely to be burned. Ron agreed that was true, as they'd be dealing with the skrewts again.

"Harry's obviously pretty good at this," Sirius snickered along, knowing it would be pointless to offer a few suggestions, but wanting to anyways.

Harry moved on to Tuesday, where he decided he'd lose a possession. Ron began writing that Mercury would cause him to stab a friend in the back.

Harry was starting to get an odd sensation at Ron saying that...had Ron just made a real prediction in the form of a joke again? It wouldn't be the first time, though he really disliked this one.

Harry wrote that on Wednesday he'd lose a fight, and Ron agreed on his own that he'd lost money to that fight.

"At least they're having fun doing their work," James beamed, "can't say that about too much homework."

Lily couldn't help a light giggle at that.

The predictions became steadily worse as the night wore on. Crookshanks joined them at some point, sitting in a chair and watching them with a disapproving look as if his owner were there instead.

"Even Hermione couldn't get at you for this one," Remus pouted, "she hates Trelawney as much as you."

"Wouldn't stop her from lecturing us on the proper procedures of homework," Harry smiled indulgently at the thought of his friend.

"Still love that cat," Sirius inserted with high amusement.

Harry was looking around the room for some inspiration when he spotted Fred and George off to the side, looking over some parchment with a quill.

"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes again?" James asked hopefully.

"Their mum can't tell them off for it now," Sirius agreed happily.

Harry though wasn't so sure. He didn't know why, since his initial reaction had been that Fred and George would keep at their joke shop dream, so this would be a perfect opportunity for them. What else could it be about?

This was an odd sight, as those two were usually in the middle of everything, not tucked away.

"Best place to be," James sighed, trying to look back fondly at some old memories that hadn't been tainted yet. He and Sirius were the sort of spokespersons for the Marauders, always the center of every crowd, whereas Remus and...well he kept off to the side and preferred to stay out of the limelight, which was better for him.

There was something secretive about their behavior now, and Harry didn't think it had anything to do with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, as otherwise they would have invited Lee.

"Maybe, maybe not," Sirius shrugged. "It depends on how much they trust him as a business partner, or just an idea generator, or what."

"Maybe he's out doing something else at the time," Remus agreed, "and they'll show him later."

"Good ideas don't come at your own timing," James nodded sagely.

He wondered whether it had anything to do with entering the Triwizard Tournament.

"Now that I'll believe," Lily grumbled.

Harry though still didn't look satisfied with any of these answers. Something wasn't clicking right.

Most everyone had gone to bed by now, so though he spoke quietly, George's words carried across the common room about how they couldn't phrase it like that, it sounded like they were accusing him.

"Err," James said with a lot of unease that time.

"Accusing who of what?" Remus frowned.

"If we knew, you wouldn't have just asked," Sirius snarked at him.

Remus stuck his tongue out at him, but no one really could come up with an answer for what that could mean.

George looked up and around then, and Harry quickly turned away so that he wouldn't be spotted listening, but not moments later the twins went off to bed.

"Well that's not encouraging," Lily muttered as her face puckered up in thought.

"Accusing?" James repeated with a ruffled brow. "You think they caught someone doing something illegal?"

"Can't be anyone at the school," Sirius muttered, running his hand through his hair, "can't imagine why they'd write out a letter for that, they'd just confront the person."

"We haven't really seen the twins doing anything that none of the other Weasleys have though," Remus grumbled. "So when could they have come across this?"

"You think this is the same thing they were doing over the summer?" Lily offered. "Which means it had to have happened around the time of the Cup."

"The only difference there was the bet they set up with Bagman," Sirius shrugged, "and he paid them back."

"Maybe they're looking into whoever mugged Bagman," James said, clapping his hands together as he thought he got it. "We thought something like that had happened when Harry saw him in the forest, remember? What if the twins figured it out, and they're trying to get him to turn himself in."

Harry was starting to fidget a bit, getting the feeling they were definitely on the right track, but there was some glaring oversight that one of them had said that made the whole thing fall through. He couldn't imagine what though. He had seen Bagman pay the twins back, and Bagman had looked pretty tossed around, so surely his dad was right.

They were out of ideas for now though, so Harry kept going.

Hermione came in a while later, with a sheaf of parchment and a rattling box. Ron finished his homework with a flourish as she took her seat, and she automatically pulled his work towards her.

"I swear that's second nature to her by now," Harry chuckled lightly, happy to move on to a subject that wasn't depressing or didn't give him a headache, which is what the majority of this chapter had been doing to him.

Hermione sarcastically asked that they weren't going to be having a good month. Ron happily lounged back as he said at least they were warned.

Giving them all a light moment of laughter again.

Hermione was reading down the list and pointed out that he was drowning twice.

"Guess it can happen to the best of us," Sirius happily shrugged, while Harry felt yet another twang inside him, something about Ron in the water?

Ron reached over to change that to being trampled by a hippogriff.

"Now that's out there," Remus said mildly. "As you avoid the Forest."

"But he was forewarned," James said back with wide insistent eyes, unable to wipe the smirk off his face. "So now he would know not to go in there."

"You're all impossible," Lily chuckled.

Hermione told them that it was obvious they'd made these up,

"So?" All five of them muttered, as they doubted Trelawney could prove otherwise, or would care.

but Ron said in mock outrage that they'd worked really hard on these! Harry finished his as well, his final prediction being that he'd die by decapitation.

"Now that's a lovely one," James snorted.

"You should get an O just for that," Sirius nodded eagerly.

Then he asked what was in the box, and Hermione gave an annoyed look at Ron as she said how happy she was he brought it up,

"She can't even take a joke," Remus sighed, though admittedly intrigued as clearly they'd been right, whatever Hermione had on her may have something to do with her sudden house-elf fascination.

She took off the lid and showed them several brightly colored badges that said S. P. E. W.

"Spew?" James asked in confusion.

"Why did she make a bunch of badges encouraging people to put milk out their nose?" Sirius agreed.

"You're disgusting," Lily snickered.

"What, it's what people do when they-" Sirius began to defend himself, before James reached around Harry and whacked him to get him to stop, waiving Harry on so they could see what this was about.

Harry asked what spew was, and Hermione corrected you were supposed to say the letters, it stood for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare

"And that is?" Remus asked with his head cocked to the side, must be something really new.

Ron said he'd never heard of it, and Hermione agreed that was because she'd just started it.

"Oh," all five of them finally caught on.

"Well, I guess I can see Hermione's line of thinking," Lily said slowly. "She couldn't find anyone to care about what was going on with the elves, so she started her own campaign. I rather like it," she finished, clearly warming to the idea.

"Could have gone through some better names first," Sirius snorted.

"Like you lot are any better," Lily said back stoutly. "Marauders? That's not exactly original."

"I blame McGonagall," James said a little too loudly, and Harry and Lily were a little surprised to see some strain coloring all three boys now. "She called us that during our first year, when we were all caught together the first time, and ah, it- it just kind of stuck-"

Harry turned back to the book quickly now, trying to keep reading loudly to change the subject. Neither him, nor his mother, really needed further explanation. Cleary McGonagall had called them that first, but if the boys reactions were anything to go by, it had been Pettigrew who suggested they use it as their group's name. Thinking back, they'd also mentioned it had been the rat's ideas for their own nicknames. It must hurt them dearly to have an almost constant reminder of how much he'd had to do with their life, and Harry wasn't going to let it linger longer than he could.

Ron asked how many members she had going, and Hermione said when they joined, three. Ron asked why he'd want to walk around with a badge that said spew.

"That'll get you attention at least," Sirius tried to get out around his gritted teeth.

Hermione again corrected to say just the letters, saying that she'd wanted to call it 'Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status'

Remus forced his mind to concentrate on every letter, it was far easier to think on then other things at the moment, and instead said, "S. O. A. O. F. M. C. is kind of a mouthful, how would you even pronounce that?"

"Still think it would have been better she'd gone with that," James shrugged, "less easy to make fun of.

but decided that would be their manifesto instead, now showing them her parchment.

"It's actually rather nice to see she's trying so hard," Lily grinned, "if anything, I believe it will draw attention to what she's trying to do."

"For better or worse, let's find out," Sirius sighed.

She'd been doing research in the library since she got here, and discovered that elf enslavement went back centuries. She found it shocking no one had done anything before now.

Sirius opened, then closed his mouth, deciding he didn't want to start something with Lily again.

Ron said an extra volume too loud to get her attention, that they liked being enslaved!

Though thankfully he seemed to have Ron to say it for him, as Sirius gave a slight laugh. That'd been pretty close to what he was going to say.

Sirius managing to give a genuine laugh again finally managed to distract James and Remus from their school thoughts again, and Harry eagerly kept going now that he had their full attention.

Hermione kept going like she hadn't heard him, stating their short term goals, which would be to get house-elves common pay, and their long term goals were to include changing the laws for non-wand users and getting an elf representative into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

"Ironically, it's the short term goals she may have the most issue with," Remus said with honest interest. "As you'd be going directly into the house-elves way of life trying to get ahold of that. It's the other two that I can see her really making a change of, as house-elves aren't the only ones suffering those problems. She could rally more troops for that cause."

"I think I know what Hermione wants to do when she grows up," Sirius said brightly, "take on Lily's job in the Legislation department."

"She could be the next Minister of Magic," James agreed with only a small portion of that being mocking.

Harry asked how she planned to do all that, and she said their first goal was to start recruiting, getting members to join. It only cost two Sickles for the badge, she had a collecting tin upstairs she needed to give to Ron as he would be treasurer, and Harry was to be secretary, so he should start writing all of this down as their first meeting.

"Oh that's nice, tell me all this after you've said everything," Harry snorted.

"I just love how she automatically assumes they'll go along with this," Lily chuckled, "as they've given no indication before now they care."

"Good friends don't need to rely on their backup," Sirius said wisely.

Hermione paused for a moment to beam at them, and Harry was torn between exasperation at Hermione, and hilarity at the look on Ron's face.

"Can't deny I'd have loved to see that," Remus laughed.

They were saved from responding though by Hedwig tapping at the window.

"Yes!" They all couldn't help cheering. None of them would admit until this moment just how truly terrified they'd all been Hedwig wouldn't show up again, and the next time they'd get a mention of Sirius would be in the papers announcing his Kiss.

Harry bolted to the window, shouting how it was about time. Hermione eagerly asked what Sirius had written,

"Give him a chance to read it," James said with an undisguised sigh of relief.

but when Harry opened it, he found it was incredibly short. He chose to read it aloud, starting with Sirius saying he was flying back.

"You're what?!"

The baby began wailing in shock, but Lily quickly tried to soothe him down without taking her eyes off of Sirius.

James, Remus, and Lily had screeched that at about the same time, Harry had kept looking dumbstruck at the page, making Sirius wince and rub at his ear in pain, but he had a fighting look already set in place as he shot back, "good for me."

"Are you insane?" Lily got out first, she looked like at any second she was going to start strangling him, a menacing accomplishment while holding a child. "You can't come back, it's too dangerous for you. You're bleeding lucky those dementors aren't back at the school this year, but you still can't risk anyone seeing you on the grounds!"

Sirius was glaring around at all of them, clearly seething, but-

"I'm with Lily on this one," James surprised him by saying. When Sirius turned to argue with him instead, he found something quite surprising.

James looked almost fragile as he watched Sirius, a description that no one could usually give to James Potter, but he looked it now. Sirius reflected that after everything that rat had put them through last year, well the way James was looking at him now made it clear what he was thinking. He confirmed as much when he kept going in a still too tight tone, "I can't hear about you going back to Azkaban Sirius. Unless something really, really bad is happening, you need to stay as far away from Harry as you can."

"Harry's scar hurting again is a bad sign," Lily quickly agreed, "but there's no need to put yourself in extra danger until something more concrete happens." She was still trying, futilely, to deny that the Dark Mark was just as terrible a problem and would bring Sirius back just as much.

Sirius sighed as he glanced between the two, then he glanced at Remus who'd remained quiet through this. He however just shrugged, saying, "Look, I'm not judging you Sirius, you've got more than enough people in this world doing that, I'm just begging you to think for a second. It's not logical, in fact it's the opposite, not to mention it terrifies me! You really think I want to sit here and read you got yourself killed, well, being you!"

Sirius grumbled under his breath for a moment, but clearly outvoted he instead redirected, "okay, fine, but I don't know what you're all yelling at me for! It's not like I'm going to do this tomorrow!"

That at least gave them all a pause, recognizing that though they feared for his future, telling him off for this now really wasn't doing any good.

Harry at least managed to keep going without his panic bubbling over. Surely if they could convince him of this now, Harry could get the same thing through to him before he made it back.

News had reached his ears about what all was going on, and it was good that Dumbledore had put Moody in the school, at least he was reading the signs.

"What signs?" Harry asked.

The four of them exchanged unhappy looks, but they weren't going to lie to him either.

"Your war has started a lot the same way ours had, did," James sighed, skipping past the time jump. "Random disappearances of people, or at least one that we know of. Maybe it's just because we know who did kill poor Bertha, but I'm sure there's a lot more going on you're not hearing about."

"I'd like to think Dumbledore may be keeping me in on that loop though," Sirius kept going. "So maybe I know more than I put in so far."

"That Dark Mark probably gave you heart failure as well," Remus sighed.

Harry smiled around at them all, happier than he could put into words that they'd actually bothered to explain all of that to him. He wasn't sure why this in particular would mean so much to him, but it was nice they weren't trying to hide this from him at least. It didn't exactly put him back in a good mood as he kept going though.

He promised he'd be in touch, then signed off.

Harry was gaping down at the letter, while Hermione voiced her worry that he was coming back, and Ron asked about the signs?

Hedwig was sitting on Harry's lap, but gave a startled jump when Harry hit himself in the forehead, exclaiming how he shouldn't have told him!

"Oh come on pup," Sirius began whining at once. "You're first reaction to something I'm doing, is to turn and blame yourself."

"I don't want you coming back Sirius," Harry said at once with too wide eyes. "You're safer out of the country, and if telling you my scar hurt is what made you come back, and then you got-"

"Okay," Sirius waved him down, as Harry's voice had started edging towards shouting levels, mostly directed at himself, but with the baby in the room they were trying to avoid that. "Alright Harry, calm down. We've talked about this, remember? You cannot go blaming yourself for everything that I do." He had to speak a bit louder, as Harry looked to cut him off, "if hearing about something going on with you was a motivating factor in me coming back, then I regret nothing. Now give me some credit, the lot of you," he added on harshly as he turned hard eyes on everyone in the room. "I got away with it for a year, and I was only caught because of Snape."

Harry was still dithering, unable to shake this terrible fear he didn't want Sirius coming back, it would be best if he stayed far away, which would keep him alive. He clearly wasn't winning this argument in this timeline though, so he hoped dearly he would in Sirius' future.

Sirius frowned as Harry kept going, as he'd hardly agreed Sirius was right and this wasn't Harry's fault.

Ron asked what that meant, and Harry shouted about how Sirius was coming back because of him, now slamming his fist on the table and watching Hedwig hop around indignantly.

"Poor Hedwig," Lily muttered absently.

Sirius was coming back because he thought he was in trouble, and he wasn't!

"I disagree," Sirius grumbled, "you've got some real mental problems."

Harry shot him a nasty look, thinking this shouldn't be joked about, which Sirius matched back, as he'd argue tell he was blue in the face Harry was safer with him around.

The two sat glaring at each other for a few moments before Remus cleared his throat, and Harry turned back to the book with a touch of indignation.

Hedwig was clicking her beak at Harry in reproval, and he snapped at her that he didn't have anything for her! She took off with a shriek of protest, cuffing him in the head with her wings.

"Temper, temper," James sighed, unable to say he wouldn't be acting the exact same way Harry was in that situation. Sirius never admitted how dangerous his actions could be, and coming back was one they all but him agreed was a terrible one.

Hermione tried to soothe him, but Harry wouldn't hear it and stomped off to bed.

Harry knew that if Sirius came back and got caught, it would be all Harry's fault.

Sirius' hand twitched like he wanted to smack Harry for saying that, but Harry turned sharply and snapped, "I was just reading it, you can't tell me off for doing that yet."

"Exactly," Sirius grinned back, "I ain't done it yet, so knock it off with the attitude."

"You haven't denied that you would do it though," Remus sighed.

Sirius scowled at him next, but when he still said nothing to the contrary Harry continued in seething tones.

He berated himself why he'd even told Sirius.

"That I'll disagree with," James sighed. "I'm glad you did tell Sirius, he's the best person to have told, but his reaction to it isn't what we were hoping for."

"Well I'm so sorry my coming back is such a bother to you lot," Sirius snarled. "I don't regret it for a second though."

"And that's our problem," Lily snapped. "You won't admit that it's even vaguely a bad idea."

"Because I'm staying closer to Harry," Sirius ground out. "I don't know what you lot have been listening to, but you can't pretend that stupid first chapter never happened. Something is definitely up with Voldemort this year, and I want to be there for that."

"Please let me strangle him, just a little," Lily turned beseechingly to James and Remus.

"Not until he actually does it," James sighed. "If in fifteen years or so he does it all again, despite our warnings, then have at him."

"Hey!" Sirius pouted, though there was nothing mock about his outrage.

Remus at least gave a small laugh, though Harry still didn't look remotely appeased. His dad's joke had only been yet another reminder that Harry should be as adamant as ever about keeping Sirius safe, none of them could stand the thought of this future actually happening to him.

Ron came up moments later, but didn't try to speak to Harry. As the dorm fell silent, Harry's mind was too busy spinning to realize the absent snores from Neville's bed meant he wasn't the only one lying awake tonight.

"Chapter's over," Harry groused, giving the book a toss to Remus.

HPHPHPHPHP

*Question offered by Narutofan8762

#Harry Potter #fanfiction #reading the books #GoF #Marauders #James Potter #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #Lily Potter

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dabistodorokitouya · 4 years ago

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Song: Kodaline - Brother

He has loved drugs, they numbed him and forget him the truth, pain for a long time. Only bad effect; his head was aching insanely and he also had to care with Shigaraki with that head. He looked at his phone, six hours had passed since he slept and Dabi's had to be a meeting two hours ago. At first, he thought to not go. He needn't have blabbered but when he read messages he gave up that. If he doesn't go, Shigaraki will be angrier. But he had to endure his creepy attitude. Also, he would have to look at the hand which addresses as his father. When he wanted Shigaraki could be terrible and Dabi loved his arms connected with hands.

He loved first five years in life, saw those memories gave him peace. But just that, five years. He hasn't seen old memories for a long time because of that he is surprised today. He wanted to remember his lovely mother; Watching tv with him and fondled his head. He threw away other memories to the background, he didn't need to them. He looked at the messages, except Shigaraki there was a message from a crazy girl. Although he found the girl's behavior silly, he couldn't say anything about her power. She had really useful quirk but although they met new she was sending messages to him about 'hang out together.' And that annoyed Dabi. But usually, everything would get on Dabi's nerves.

He had no problem about their personality as long as they didn't bother him. They could be as crazy as they wanted. Shigaraki Tomura, a madman who wore his family's hands on his face and body, was his boss, another was Twice, who acts an talks like a double person who couldn't recover from her trauma. The crazy girl Himiko Toga, on the other hand, was very fond of blood, the Spinner had nothing odd, but it was enough that is a lizard. He didn't know Compress that much but he and Kurogiri are among the most rational people in the group, he wouldn't deny that. They didn't seem like a very sane group, but to Dabi, whether their power was valuable was the only thing that mattered.

When he got to the bar he waited at its door for a minute or two. He took a deep breath and went in, he would need it. Shigaraki was waiting, leaning against the wall, his voice wasn't angry like it was in the messages. It was tired and boring. Himiko Toga was running around with a knife in his hand, Dabi wondered how long it would take him to stab one of the league members. Compress and Twice were sitting in the chair, drinking their drinks. Spinner was not around. Kurogiri, on the other hand, was as usual, ready for defense in case an incident broke out. Keeping them calm in a bar with a lot of villains was a real challenge, and Dabi and Shigaraki didn't help to this situation at all. After a few minutes of silence, Shigaraki was the first to speak, as always he was sarcastic.

"Do you know why the phone is used? For people can reach you. You're two hours late what is your excuse?"

Dabi shrugged his shoulders, his head ached too much to make fun of.

He responded with a reckless attitude.

"I fell asleep."

Shigaraki frowned but he kept silent. Apparently, he didn't have much energy either. The meeting must have continued a really long time, whereas he was pretty sure he was going to get a lot of death threats from Shigaraki right now. Shigaraki went upstairs without saying anything else. Kurogiri was defending Shigaraki as usual.

"Tomura's been sleepless for so long, he really wants this plan to work and I don't want a fight in my bar."

"What's that big plan you've decided on?"

Dabi's only wish now was to go back to bed just like Shigaraki, and he would exactly do that after learning the plans. He didn't want to listen to unnecessary things. Kurogiri had understood it easily, he sighed, Shigaraki and Dabi had some very similar habits. Of course, Dabi has always been more sarcastic than anyone else, nobody would be a patch on him on that matter.

"We learned that the 1 - A Hero class at UA would be training at summer camp, we're planning an attack, and Dabi your mission is very important at this point. You will lead the attack. Your mission is to bring Katsuki Bakugo and get him to join us."

Kurogiri gave him a picture of the child, the kid was standing angrily on a platform. He had a medal on his neck, Dabi now realized why the kid looked familiar. He was the winner of the sports festival, normally Dabi wouldn't care about the festival but he had watched as he was curious about his little brother Shoto. Shoto most likely didn't even remember Touya. Dabi wouldn't be surprised, that damn man would always separate him from everyone else. He couldn't stand his failures to be in his masterpieces way, it would be pretty normal for Shoto to not remember him, even if the two were so close. Shoto was six when he last saw his older brother, Touya.

Shoto was so strong, even when he was little it was obvious that he would become so strong in the future. Dabi admired Shoto for not using his fire, his left side. He was trying to teach that man a lesson by himself, Dabi appreciated his tenacity. But he started using his flames when he was fighting against a green-haired boy which made Dabi furious and suddenly lit the tv. He had to buy a new television. With that quirk of his, Dabi expected Shoto to be first, or so predicted. If the boy in the photo managed to defeat him, he had considerable power, which would explain why he got villains attention.

Also, the boy always seemed to be angry and angry at everyone, they even had to tie him up because he was causing a big problem. Even the boy's outfit was more like the villain than the hero, it was a disturbing move for heroes to silence him even though he won. Dabi was not surprised, he experienced firsthand how despicable heroes could be. Dabi's ultimate goal was to fulfill Stain's dream. He realized that Kurogiri was waiting for an answer from him, he put the picture back in place.

"It must have been difficult to learn this secret information, and the children would not be alone. How many professional heroes will there be? And who will be on the team?"

Out of the heroes, some of the children could have been a problem to them. They had to a plan carefully. The boy who were supposed to catch wasn't one to give up easily, he was going to force them and also they had to watch out two or three other students. After all, they were being trained for to be heroes of the future, it would be a wrong move to see them powerless. He didn't understand why they were in so much trouble just for a child, Dabi didn't have much hope that the child would join them and he didn't want to deal with an annoying brat. Toga was enough for him.

"Our research is saying Pussy Cats will be there. Eraser Head and Vlad King would definetly be there because they are teachers. Also Spinner, Muscular, Magne, Mustard, Moonfish, and a Nomu members of a Vanguard Action Squad. They will accompany to you. You're in charge of the team, and I believe you can handle the situation easily with your magnificent flames."

Dabi had not heard most of the names before. He would not care if they were captured, his mission was only to capture to child as a leader. If they were caught, it would show that they were incompetent and Dabi didn't need incompetents. He was intrigued by Nomu, it was valuable creature who pushed All Might hard but he was confused that he was going to lead the group, he was expecting Shigaraki to do it.

"I'm a leader, ha? Are you sure Shigaraki is happy with this situation?"

"Shigaraki won't be in that mission, so am I. But I'll be waiting to get you back here when your work will done."

Shigaraki's absence made him suspicious but he was happy, he didn't need him to be bossy. They had just an argument because Dabi didn't say his real name, he had too much headache to get into another one. He left the bar right after Kurogiri told them when they were going to attack, after leaving the bar his headache was lessened a little. After a long walk he returned to his apartment, immediately making his way to the bathroom. Some staples had to be replaced, he grimaced. He hated the process even though years had passed, fortunately there wasn't many staples to replace. After he is done with the process he cleaned up and went to bed. He hated being sober because he couldn't stand remembering his past all the time. Even after many years he couldn't forget what that man said to him.

You're worthless, Touya. You are not important.

He wasn't Touya anymore, he had rejected that name for the past eight years. Right now, he is Dabi. But Touya's past was still bothering him, he couldn't escape his past. No matter how hard he tried, those memories were always there. The drugs on his nightstand at the end of his bed were screaming at him. Dabi was an addict and he wouldn't deny it, he sighed. The following days would be busy with the mission, now was the time. Most likely the effects of the doses which he took today would last for days but Dabi was used to pain, Touya had learned the pain when he was five.

Touya was almost nine years old and he was still continuing to his training, but his father had a lot of work to do for Christmas, and he didn't come home very much these days. Natsuo's quirk had been revealed much earlier than expected, for their father now Natsuo had been declared an inadequate child. Natsuo had an ice quirk, just like Fuyumi and his mother, and Touya had begun to wish that nowadays.

He wasn't a person what his father's wanted, and he couldn't use his power long time. If he have had ice quirk, his father would have never dealt with his and he could have been with his siblings. He once remembered that he was happy to have the same quirk with his father, those memories seemed to stupid him now. Natsuo and Fuyumi looked just like their mother, Touya was very unhappy. Her turquoise eyes were no longer filled with joy as they used to be, they were hurt and sad. He hated the color of his hair. If he had looked like more like his mother, his quirk would have been like that. Fuyumi and Natsuo look like their mother. Touya look like their father, and he had taken his power.

Her mother was fading as the days passed, she lost her old shine. Since Touya's father started to get more tough in training, his mother was trying to block their father. His father was always angry with him and telling her to leave them alone but if she refused, his father would hit him. His mother couldn't take it any longer, she was leaving the room with crying. His father blaming their mother for the children's failure. When Touya wanted to give up in training, he always told him that he was weak like Rei. Touya wanted to yell at him and talked about their mother was how wonderful, strong, good but he just kept quiet. Maybe he was weak, like he said.

His mother had tried for him for months and now she had given up, she couldn't stop their father in any way. All she could do was care with Touya's injuries and that hurt her a lot. Since Endeavor wasn't home, Touya could do whatever he wanted all day, that was a luxury he wasn't used to. He clearly didn't know what would do, he had no idea what else to do as he had spent all his days with training. But then his mother came next to him and told him that his siblings were playing in the garden so he could join them. While his father was away, he liked his mother's behavior more, his mother was smiling like before and she was confident.

He couldn't believe Natsuo was three years old, he was huge. Touya was certainly aware that he didn't look like a nine-year-old, he looked like a six-year-old at most. He was weaker than before, as the doctor said his flames weren't good for his body. Although Natsuo was only three years old he was taller and larger than his, unlike Fuyumi and Touya, he had the body of their father. When he looked at Fuyumi a little more carefully, he realized that she was two or three inches taller than he was. It was unfair, Touya started sulking, he was the biggest but he looked like the smallest. His mother looked at him with laughing, like she knew what he was thinking.

Touya was very angry these days, often easily angry at everything, but then for a moment, he was acting as nothing had happened. Usually, his anger wasn't directed at her or his brothers, but Rei didn't understand why. Only sometimes she saw anger in Touya's eyes, that spark of anger was always there, even if he didn't reflect on them. Rei didn't like it, he was a kid, he shouldn't have had anger in his eyes. But sometimes Touya was so kind, Rei would have trouble believing that those angry eyes belonged to Touya.

Touya's feelings were becoming more deranged as the days pass. He was acting like a child when he was with his siblings and that was making Rei happy. She couldn't stop giggling when she saw Touya's jealousy and sulk on his face. Rei loved the winter, she loved the freshness and the breeze on her skin. Christmas was something she loved when she was little, but she loved it more than before because her husband wasn't in home and her children were so happy. Touya came down the stairs with timid steps. Touya was not close with Fuyumi for a long time and he hardly knew Natsuo. Fuyumi and Natsuo were playing ball together but they stopped when they saw Touya. Fuyumi was a very moving, cheerful girl. She immediately hugged Touya, or rather jumped on him.

"Hey Yumi, you're choking me."

"So you're our big brother, aren't you too skinny to be a big brother? Skinny brother, I like that."

Touya had seen Natsuo last year, and since then Natsuo had grown even bigger. Touya had begun to doubt that he was getting smaller and smaller. Natsuo went to Touya's next and hugged him and said to him he was really skinny, big brother.Then, he walked away from Touya and threw the ball at him with his foot. Touya was suddenly surprised as he tried to throw the ball he lost his balance and fell. Natsuo started to made fun of him over this incident. Touya also began laughing over the incident. Rei was watching these events happily from above.

Natsuo was curious about his brother's quirk, his mother told him he has a strong fire quirk. He wanted to see if they are strong enough as their father. He thought it would be better to show his quirk first and froze the ball. His sister suddenly yelled at him.

"Hey Natsu, that's not nice, you shouldn't freeze everything with your quirk. We can't change it to its former situation, thanks to you!"

Touya did not understand why he did these, may he had done it mistakenly. After all, Natsuo's quirk was just here for a few months. it was obvious that he was always freezing somethings from his words. Touya didn't want these moments to pass with controversy, he took the ball and let the fire blaze out on his hands. Fuyumi and Natsuo froze like a deer in the headlights, they both knew fire strength was strong but they would never think that the fire can be blue. The fire on Touya's hand was not strong enough but it was enough to melt some ice immediately. Both children reacted like "wow", it was fascinating to see the power of fire. Touya liked his siblings' reaction, they impressed to their big brother. All the kids stopped playing with the ball and started to freeze every corner of a freaking garden like Elsa from frozen. Touya kept returning everything back to normal without gave up and this game didn't stop until they got tired. He wasn't sure if he can have a good time with his siblings on future, Touya's wish never changed: his mother and his father be happy together, were spending time with his siblings all day... Shortly all his wish was a happy family but neither Touya nor Dabi wouldn't have this. That innocent, harmless, happy child's feelings just got destroyed and when he is eighteen, Dabi completely destroyed Touya. Touya was just a child that only saw on his dreams...

#dabi is a todoroki #todoroki touya #touya todoroki #dabi #bnha fanfiction #natsuo todoroki #rei todoroki #enji todoroki #endeavor #shouto todoroki #fuyumi todoroki #todoroki family #mha fanfiction #wattpad #ao3 fanfic #mha shigaraki #Spotify

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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

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Star Vs: Monster Bash Review or “Holy Shit Concentrated Into An Episode”

Hello everybody! I’m Jacob Mattingly and welcome back to my tom lucitor retrospective, where I go through every major apperance of everyone’s faviorite demon boy boy. In case you watch my schedule or reguarlly read this blog, and if so thank you.. especially you Kevin your a peach, you’ll know this one got pushed back two weeks because the day it was scheduled.. was the day AFTER the US Capitol Insurgency. So yeah an episode HEAVILY dealing with racisim, with a downer ending and a lot to dig into on the same day a bunch of racists stormed the captail to try and illegally keep another racist in office due to his bullshit claims the electoin was fraud, when it wasn’t he just can’t admit he lost, and their own idocy, violence and hatred was not something I could handle that day and I did some mickey mouse instead. But while the effects of said riot are still being felt, and unlike many republicans are saying we shouldn’t just “move on” or “try to heal” because the wound needs to be properly examined so the people who carved our country open with a rusty knife can be prosecuted for it, enough time has passed that I can get back on the horse and eat that horse when it comes to this episode. Also expect new tomtrospective weekly with some exceptions till it’s done. So with the real world reasons for the delay out of the way, on with the show. Previously on Star Vs: Star had a full subplot dealing with her super powered mewberity form, which was now golden and creating bunches of portals. While she wanted to just let it go loose on Eclipsa’s suggestoin, eventually it caused too much damage and Hekapoo was livid when Marco revealed he’d been covering for her and Star, realizing her friend was running himself ragged and ruined a friendship to help her, went to the source of all magic to fix things, metting the baby unicorns and with thier help gaining control over her form. While she does not use it given she JUST got it before this episode, it’s very relevant and makes her come off very stupid but we’ll get to that

In more directly relevant stuff, and our main event, we need to talk about Ms. Henious. Ms. Henious was introduced all the way back in Season 1 as head of St. Olga’s School for Wayward princsesses. She’s voiced by Jessica Walter, aka Malory Archer, Lucille Bluth and .. Fran Sinclair from dinosaurs?

I’ll process that later. Point is she’s a talented lady and voiced Henious perfectly. Henious ran the school as a nightmarish hellhole that stripped away princsesses indviduality when they became too much for their parents. Granted some did genuinely need to be reigned in, Pony went there and so did princess squishy a princess that tried to reinact the plot of face off despite her and star not even being the same species let alone looking remotely similar.. she also liked to say camera phone a lot despite all phones being camera phones for over a decade.

But again like most reform schools it’s a hell hole dedicated more to beating and psyihholically tourturing the rebel or asshole out of you than actually helping so Star and Marco broke in to break out. It naturally was difficult and strenious but in the process our heroes freed the other girls and Marco became feminsest icon Princess Marco. And Marco’s possible gender fluidity, or being trans, was well loved and while he was later said to hate the princess marco idntenity later.. I still dont’ quite buy it and feel Disney just wanted to nip any implications in the bud. Because their stupid and often non-inclusive to the queer community and have to be fought to get inclusivity in there half the time. Could’ve been clumsy writing and the writers not getting people really relating to marco possibly being gender fluid or trans, which given this season’s clumsy writing with marco in general I could buy, but i’m banking more on disney, where one executive can somehow stonewall gay representation because apparnetly one guy was the one who objected to enchanting grom fright.. and he can also go fuck himself with an old rhino’s horn. Which horn is up to you. Also we got two major hints at the future iwth her: a creepy mural star found of monsters and Henious being revealed to have cheek marks she supressed with her very own brainwashing machine.

Our heroes revolution had uintetional side-effects as St.O’s became a party school, though it’s students actually still came back better for the moast part. Henious was thrown out, reduced to sleeping in her car with her manservant gemini and sending Rasticore, a septarian mercinary afer star.. and then carrying his arm around when he got reduced to that.. not because of star but because of a rogue gift card. We don’t have time to unpack that, so she later tried attacking one more time in season 2, in one of the single worst episodes of the series, as she attacked and Marco’s Parents, instead of being concerned about the strange woman and man and lizard man arm attacking thier children, were more concerned about.. tehir cool neighbors. which could’ve been funny but just got frustrating, especially because Marco defended himself well, pointing out while he trashed her school, and gets merchandising rights from princess marco merch, she you know, brainwashed innocent to semi innocent children and was in general horrible and his parents are only humoring her because they were both out of hte loop, which due to this being shortly before star and marco leaves amounts to nothing, and because of the stupid plot.

So after that we got one more apperance in season 3 with her trying to expose marco as a boy to turn the princsses against him and get her school back.. but it was clearly a desperate and flimsy plan and they knew that already, and don’t care because their accepting. And again have done better without her so she gets thrown out and swore revenge on Marco, and here we are. Finally, since returning Star’s been more active in monster rights, replacing their old batshit insane and patronizingly racist expert with Buff Frog and starting a position to get royal signatures. Obviously this dosen’t sound like the most effective way to do things but it’s both teenager accurate and not the worst plan i’ve heard from a teenager this week.. granted that’s also because I covered a teenager trying to win back her good for not a lot 23 year old boyfriend by stabbing his current girlfriend he left her for a bunch, so it’s not exactly a high bar to clear. So outside of the golden form thing, which i’ll get to in the review proper why I brought that up, that’s what’s all built up to this the mid season finale. While Stump Day DID come after this, I chose to cover it before it since it both takes place before that and feels out of place in the very story heavy episodes after it. So with that out of the way we’ll be taking a look at the full episode and Star’s horrible, no good, very bad night under the cut.

We open at the Monster Temple, that place Ludo and Toffee were headquartered at for season 2 and the battle of mewni mini, where Star is holding a PARTY!

This.. this came up when I typed party. I don’t know why and I don’t WANT to know. I mean party is in the name.. is that a party line? Is this phone sex? No.. just no.. I don’t want dirty sweaty pigs in my phone sex.. I want Rocko like a gentlemen.

Now THAT’S hot. And honestly with what i’ve admitted about myself at this point, can you genuinely tell if i’m joking or not? Point is Marco and Rich Pidgeon are pitching in. Oh yeah those of you who didn’t get this far in the series, again hi kevin, might wonder wait whose that... well he’s a rich pidgeon, part of the pidgeon kingdom a kingdom of pidgeons that moved into another family’s castle, presumibly killed them, the book wasn’t specific on that and is now just a large bunch of pidgeons that don’t talk human except rich and get all creepy. They also have an excutioner which is as great a visual as you imagine.

That and Marco tried faking singing rich singing it by shving a pien in his foot and making him sign it.. he didn’t know he was fully sapient but still. But it’s also season 3 marco. The fact he didn’t accidently burn the castle down trying to impress star and being mad when she wasn’t happy he comitted arson is an achievement. Rich apparently holds a grudge but says just kiddng.. maybe.. i’d be prepared for a pidgeon with a machete if I were Marco. Thankfully i’m not.. I mean I hate myself enough.

Anyways the party is in full swing, as both monsters and mewmans are there. On the mewman sides are the royals we met at the Silver Bell Ball and on the monster side are a bunch of monster teens who look up to star we previously met during the Ludo arc in season 2. Pony arrives bringing a photo booth. And kelly!

And also Johnny Blowhole...

That dolphin what showed up a few times, including in the comic and the show, like most of it’s supporting cast, just sorta forgot. Also was going to be my porn name, just in case till it ended up attached to a fictonal teenager. Did.. did not think naming a character “blowhole” through did they?

Anyways the party is at “middle school dance” levels of awkward with the monsters and humans on other sides. Rock seems to be getting ready for a racist tyrade and singles out a yak like monster.. only to instead compliment the guy’s ripped jeans and the two compliment each other on horns... turns out the ones Rock always wear aren’t decorative but part of him due to a boating accident. Shame we never got more of this kid. that’s a good kid I tell you what. But honestly and since the moment is right given their all in this episode.. we never get a lot of the other royals outside of tom and star PERIOD. While Penelope would show up one last time and Larry would make a cameo for the most part their just.. background filler. Even this pettitoin arc was two episodes long. Rich is BRAND new and he gets way more focus.. and even he only gets to show up again for the big “Gondor calls for aid moment” in season 4 where star summoned whoever she could get on short notice. And is the ONLY royal to besides Ponyhead. Larry has an intresting enough design but the underwater kingdom only got featured in the deep trouble tie in comic that got cut short, and he wasn’t created yet so he doesen’t even show up for it. Jagg’s is such a footnote to the creators she dosen’t ever show up after this, and finally Rock, despite being star’s COUSIN and despite his kingdom being specifically mentioned as the hardest to make sympathetic to eclipsa during her own entirely ignored arc trying to win over the other kingdoms, and despite it being where River comes from and thus possibly providing some more insight into that awesome, awesome man.. we get nothing. Hell the Cloud Kingdom of the Ponyeheads ONLY gets two visits despite being home of one of the main cast.. god I just realized Ponyhead was part of the main cast.

So while I grapple with that, Star figures the punch is too warm and while Marco goes to get ice, she tries to remind him she can do magic and accidently puts it in your standard cartoon ice block.. and being star gets her tounge stuck. Thankfully her savior comes in the form of tom who being.. you know.. tom.. can simply melt it down and reminds her he’s been there the whole time. She’s just been a bit distracted with you know, trying to ease centuries of racial tension in a well meaning but ultimately pointless at best and risky at worst, partay. And dosen’t seem to get WHY she dosen’t want to dance.. even if they do have a REALY fucking cute moment where he leans in to kiss her, she catches him on it.. then blows a raspberry into his mouth when he does and smooches him on the cheek a bunch.

But the whole thing leaves him as a grumpus venting to marco and boiling the punch.. though at least Marco gets to use that ice now so silver linings and all that. And when marco tries to explain he tells him he dosen’t “talk politics”

My baby boy.. i’m so disapointed in you. And Marco points out as he leaves “your a prince everything you do is political. “. Which is.. HALF true. I mean tom going to the bathroom or eating a taco or taking his grandpa fo ra walk on his leash so he dosen’t gouge anyones eyes out isn’t political.. but he’s also not wrong that being the half demon half mewman son of two royals, DOES mean tom can come off political and one previous episode which he made a cameo in even had Tom being profiled, with a shopkeep who shoed out another monster kid tried that on tom.. only to realize who he was dealing with and beg for mercy he probably only got because Tom’s trying to be a better person now. And I don’t think i’ts even malcious on tom’s part, tom isn’t the most empathetic guy. He’s nice, he’s sweet, and once he knows you he can be really thoughtful.. but as we’ve seen throughout this retrospective.. empathy is something he’s struggled with. He stalked star because he didn’t see HER side of him creeply and obessively persuing her until Marco got through to him. He missed the point of his therapy assignment, seeing it as a goal to get passed instead of hwat brian intended: for him to geninely make amends with someone he hurt. He didn’t get that while star didn’t, at the time, want to date him ignoring her would hurt her... though that on’es not on him. He’s not a bad guy at all but he’s not at all great at reading people or being selfless.

He’s getting there, stump day showed him put stars needs before Marco’s and not out of any selfish dick measuring contest but because he knew what she wanted and what made her happy, but it’s hard to have empathy for a problem you don’t get how bad it is. To tom it’s just getting stopped once in a while and then having to glower or literally roast someone. To these monsters... it’s a life of being denied a decent standard of living, housing and being treated as a crminal and a beast just for existing. Tom has a fancy castle, loyal subjects, tons of money.. his privlage has insulated him from the real dangers of being the minority he is, of getting beaten up by the cops or arrested just for being a monster. And yes i’m using real world paralells.. but so does the end of this episode so shhh. It’s also a moral that hits home since as a white person, the last year has hit me HARD with just how much I didn’t know about the racial situation in america and how complacient i’d become. I wasn’t actively racist.. but like many americans I had the bad tendency to forget the horrible things that happpend on a daily basis to people of color in this country when it got out of the news. Privlage can blind you, and I cannot speak for if it does so for any real life minorties as i’m not touching a subject i’m not qulaified to talk on due to being super white with a ten foot pole, but I can speak for me that sometimes you just.. dont’ notice a problem unless i’ts happening to you. And while it has happened to tom it’s such a minor inconvience he probably just forgets about it and moves on. And these next two episodes with him, though we have some plot stuff to get too before we get back to Tom in feburary, are him getting his bubble popped and realizing just WHAT Star has been fighting against. And Star’s own privlage will be an issue later.. but we’llg et to that in it’s own time. So while Tom skulks off Rich startles Marco to get him to do his kung fun hand pose “the sword hand dance” and everyone uses it to dance which Marco understandably objects to until kelly asks him to dance. Cue adorable ship tease.. again this is why i’m thrownig in the kelco episode in the next batch: because the trajectory of this relationship eeerily lines up with tom episodes. No sense avoiding the ONE other episode about the ship , especially if i’m going out of my way to cover the Meteora arc on top of it and my other 80 projects. And regular coverage. And comissions. And you get the idea it’s a lot but i’m happy to do it.

Meanwhile we meet Slime, a friendly slime monster who introduces himself to penelope and her massive spider bite... and then drips a bit giving her the wrong impression. Thankfully.. this does not turn into the PG-Rated versoin of BLue from the heathers musical.

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No he just was offering to aloe up her spiderbite, and she’s all too happy to accept since her family never thought about it.. though as we see next season their not against it suprisingly. They are still dicks though. But not racist, though that’s a very low bar to clear and only gives them credit because mewni as a whole is pretty racist when it comes to Monsters. Point is I hate their parents but love these ship as the two share some ship tease and go downstairs.. only to get attacked. Meanwhile, Marco’s getting a goblin dog while being watched by Henious.. who despite Gemini’s objections.. no longer cares about her cheeks as she grins sinesterly and has him play her music, some heavy metal. FORESHADOWING!

Back at the party, Star adreses her public and is all proud and blushy.. till Penelope stumbles in, covered in scars, telling the crowd something took Slime.. and both sides start blaming one another, especially since it turns out a LOT of the monsters have gone missing. So with everything she worked towards and had achieved crumbling, Star calms the crowd and says she’ll investigate. Outside Marco is getting a goblin dog with roy, and wondering why he has strawberry, who orders a strawberry.. who wants that? And then decides to get one out of curiosity which I would but i’m also fat and love strawberries so i’m not a beacon of good decisionmaking.

So Star grabs him before he can roll that metaphorical dice and passes tom who tries to downplay her concerns and get her to go make out, thinking that’s what’s going on despite that.. making no sense, as a ton of them are missing and 6 is a bit much for polyamory.. I mean it works for some people

But not everyone can be a majestic space grandma whose also a caterpillar. And their too young to orgy so that’s out too. Point is Tom is an idiot this time and Star RIGHTFULLY calls him out for belitting her cause, not really caring about it, or the other teens who are in danger right now from god knows what and tells him to either help or get out of the way.

So while Tom licks his well earned wounds, Star and Marco journey into the depths and find a campsite with fresh dog eared pages indicating whoevers behind the abudictions is not only sapient, but still here... oh and it somehow gets worse as they find out WHOSE behind it.

And a second question you might be having: Who dis. Well this is Mina Loveberry, solarian warrior, whose a legend in Mewni and was one of star’s childhood heroes who she found wondering around homeless and clearly not mentally well in the park on earth.. and then tried to conquer it, but the electoral process stopped her... I don’t know why but a half crazed maniac being defeated by due electoral process makes me feel all warm and fuzzy right now, on this specific day this is coming out late on. Hmmmm.. INTERESTING aint it?

Point is Mina is a super powerful, super not in her right mind super warrior, who is naturlaly the kidnapper, as this episode also reveals she’s violently racist and assuemed something was up and whiel Star, who despite said cou still loves and respects her and gets she’s not well, tries to talk her down it increasingly becomes clear there’s no reasoning with her. And really with most racists.. there isn’t. Racisim isn’t something that’s rational and while some people are just indocrinated at a young age and CAN be turned around on it.. some are just so deeply up their own ass with hatred you can’t reason with them or save them. You just have to stop them. Via impeaching them, making sure they get called out and taken out of office.. or in this case using rainbows on them. But we’ll have to wait a second as a bunch of debris falls on mina taking her out!

.. Only to reveal Henious and while Marco’s willing to fight her and her posse, Raasticore grabs star and henious hooks him up to the brainwash machine, probably planning to kill him with it while playing the music

But before she can kill or do worse to one of our heroes.. the door behind them opens up.. and reveals a child’s play room.

And Henious.. gives up on the attack and enters, disturbing Gemini as she looks around in what’s easily one of the best scene sin the entire series: her slow walk, the way the animation follows her as it sinks in just what Metora might be.. and her picking up two dolls, the ones seen above.. her dolls to Gemini’s increasing discomfort. And while the animation is stellar and utterly moving as we slowly put the pieces together... it’s Walter’s delivery that REALLY STUNS.Gone is the harsh, unforgiving nightmarish woman we’ve known.. and instead is someone whose confused.. and remembering. Remembering WHY she has those cheek marks, remembering this was her room, her home.. and those were her parents. She remembers now.. and Mina rises to say of course she did “I knew you’d be back here one day meteora!” And as Gemini tries to refute this.. Meteora agrees with MIna, no longer henious at last freed form her deep and abusive brainwashing we’ll cover soon enough. And deeply confused. And as everyone else is deeply confused... Mina, not realizing this whole thing was covered up, again we’ll get to that soon too, spells it out for them and the audience in case you missed it. When Star asks how Eclipsa plays into any of this? “Don’t you ding dongs know anything? She’s her mamma!” (Marco and Star stare in shock as it sinks in) Marco: “Wait HENIOUS is a princess?!” Star: “she’s a butterfly”

Yeah quite obviously this is one of the biggest wham episodes in the entire series. In one moment we not only find out Henious is indeed a butterflfy as fans thought.. but Eclipsa’s daughter, half monster, and her entire existance raises questions of how much her family hid and if not WHO DID. I mean some of you alreayd know the answer but the rest of you can wait a week.. or a few mintues it’s hinted at soon enough. Point is Star has questions.. questions the violent racist whose pretty messed up in the head for a variety of the reasons and spent decades hunting her.. is not willing to hear out and instead prepares to smite her. While Star tries DESPERATLEY to talk her friend out of this it’s very clear Mina’s not going to listen... so Star rainbow fists her.. and prepares to face her former friend and inspiration for Meteora’s saftey and the answers she BADLY needs right now. Oh and just in case you thought “oh well the magical girl who sounds like amy sedaris can’t be that big a threat”... Yeah I didn’t mention broly for nothing.

Mina bulked up. Meet Solarian Mina. And like the Legendary Super Sayian form from Dragon Ball.. i’ts a beserker of a form that turns the already obessive and insane Mina.. into an unstoppable rage fuled killing machine with horrifying levels of power who can beat down anyone nearbye. And unlike Broly, where he was just a one in a million fluke in both versions... Mina was PLANNED to be this. The solarian program was something Eclipsa’s mom came up with, a series of spells that slowly turn the target into a rampaging super soldier. It’s like if Nuke from marvel comics, a vietnam era version of captain america who dind’t turn out so good, was INTETIONAL;

As you can see it removes fear.. but also the targets concisce, so Mina is incapable of empathy or being cure dof her racisim. Solaria turned her from a humble volunteer just hoping ot help and improve her station into the crazed monster star now faces. And as the Broly comparision should make clear... yeah Star dosen’t do so good and neither does Marco. She shrugs off Star’s hits and while botht he kids and meteora escape, both just piss Mina off MORE, and put star in more danger as she’s thrown around like a ragdoll. She then runs into tom who shows off his growht: While he was a dick up there.. unlike before where he assumed he was always the wronged party.. he realized he crossed a line and while he dosen’t know WHY he did, is still willing to apologize and presumibly talk about it. A bit clueless yes but it’s effort and his tone is sincre so it’s less “I’m apologizing for whatever I guess” bullshit and more “I genuinely don’t know wha ti did wrong please tell me so I can say sorry”.. which given how awkard tom is with people and how I pointed out his trouble relating to them over htis retrospective, is the more beliviable one. Naturally while Star does appricate it she’s kinda busy.. and when Tom see’s what’s going on he leaps in with NO hesitation. And given how close the luictors once were and are again with the butterflies it’s doubtful he hadn’t heard of mina so he likely KNOWS what he’s going up against..a nd dosen’t care. His girlfriend needs his help and this person’s trying to hurt her. That’s all he needs to kick her ass. Or try.. unlike with the z warriors.. our heroes don’t win this one. Tom tries a really cool move i’m dubbing the onyx coffin, a black coffin with runes and chains.. that does nothing to her. She breaks out and our heroes flee and Mina causes a massive ruckuss above, and the only reasons our heros don’t die.. is that the knights and Rhombulus of the high comission arrive. And since the high comission are going to be vastly important a refresher: The high comission were created by glossaryck, the little man who lives in stars book who used to be voiced by an asshole and next season is voiced by keith motherfucking david, to police the multiverse and it’s various issues. The four we know are Lekmet: a goat man who died last season and controlled entropy and could heal at the cost of his own life hence the death, Hekapoo, a close assiocate of marcos who controls the scissors beings use to cross dimensions and can do so herslef effortlessly, Omnitraxus Prime, a powerful and giant antler skulled being who watches space time and timelines and is voiced by Karl Weathers so...

And Rhombulus, a diamond headed he-man reject with snakes for hands becaue his dad is a well documented dickhead.. no really that’s the entire explination i the book of spells: Glossaryck turned his hands to snake to teach him the lesson i’ts hard to get through life with snake hands. He’s a gung ho guy who imprisons the wrost of the worst criminals thus his presence here as Mina clearly had a falling out with the comission and thus flees. So while Star and Tom are given blankets afterwords and some cocoa, Tom comforts her and admits if nothing else.. he gets it now, having been finally faced with the type of horrible shit monsters have had to deal with in the past and sees why his girlfriend tried hard to help it. But Star.. realizes she can’t fix this that easy. That she dosen’t know enough and clearly ther’es even more than she ever could’ve thought possible she has ot know if she’s going to fix this.. and that it’s not an EASY problem to fix. You really CAN’T fix racisim you can just make society better, but you’ll never be rid of people like Mina. Though this arc will.. yeah in one of the more baffling decisions Mina is given this huge reindrocution, with Amy Sedaris showing that while a very funny lady and a very talented actress as bojack had previously shown off for both.. she can be FUCKING TERRIFYING. But nope, she’s just..g one outside of a cameo, gets beatne off screen and dosen’t become big bad for a season. And I get it, the metora arc needed room.. but you had a WHOLE EXTRA EPISODE to have her defeat mina. Inastead you used it for Marco Jr which amounted to almost nothing and could’ve been saved for season 4 wher eit probably woudln’t of been terrible. I”ll get to that one some day. Point is it’s bad storytelling.

So yeah Star’s feeling lost, her family history is in flux, she got beaten badly, not horribly injrued but still lost handily, her party ruined and she was hit with the realization her plans were overly idealistic. Well meaning sure but a party was never going to cure this. Oh and Rhombluus naturally isn’t coming clean about why the temple is off limits or what’s going on here so that dosen’t help. And somehow.. IT STILL GETS WORSE. The Wizard Cops try to take the monsters in , profling them and not having done so and star thankfully talks them out of it but the monster kids turn down any afterparty or anything. They get she means well tbut hte moment’s over. And their not even excesivley sad.. their just.. used to the police treating them like this. Like less than human, like automatic suspects when THEY were the victims. IT’s nothing new... and god does this feel relevant as hell.

And this i where I meant Star’s privlage bites her: While not as bad as tom, it took some very harsh reality for her to see that solving racisim.. is not only nigh imposisble but not that easy. To her it was easy as a party and friendship and what’s worked before in her fairly shelted world. Advetnures or not she’s still a princess whose never experinced prejudice. In both worlds she’s in the majority. It’s probably why Marco conttoned on to monster racism in seconds during “Menipendence Day’ when Star hadn’t her whole life: to Marco, whose latix and thus dealing with all kinds of racist shit his whole life, it was easier to pick it up. He’s firmly part of his culture.. and thus probably firmly aware of the racism he faces. Star is so insulated she just dosen’t get it till it nearly beat her to death. So yeah Star’s at her lowest point, having failed to make things better, the answer to her questions being lost and not sure what’s real. Metora on the other hand as they dodge the cops.. has ascended. As Gemini calls her henious once last time.. she says that’s not her name.

“My name is meteora”

SHe’s been dreaming the wrong dream.. and it’s long past time she woke up.

Final Thoughts; Monster Bash.. is one of the best episodes in the series. Unlike a lot of Seasons 3 and 4 it dosen’t suffer from lack of proper payoff, as the next few episodes deal with how the fuck any of this is happening and why the fuck any of it happened. Mina’s absence nonwithstanding.. this is one of the series best and most gripping arcs. And the swerve is great: you think i’ts Henious doing the kindappings, only for her not to be the threat again just yet. And for her to be something far more. It’s just masterful, starting iwth fun hyjinks and ending in one of the best nad most nightmarish fights in the series if not the best, watching as our heroes slowly but surely LOOSE.. and THEN it gets worse. Out and out a must watch for the series and a sad sign of what it COULD’VE been had it moved past it’s worst insitncts next season and become what i should’ve been. Next week: We take a tom break as Eclipsa nad Mon investigate all of this and we get the SECOND biggest wham episode in the series.

Until the next rainbow, be excellent to each other.

#star vs the forces of evil #star vs #star butterfly #marco diaz #tom lucitor #startom #rich pidgeon #kelly #lilica ponyhead #meteora butterfly #gemini #mina loveberry #slime #penelope spiderbite

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