#its very 'yeah he's an idiot but he's OUR idiot' energy

[reiverreturns]

you know, a lot gets said about john marston being stupid but no one mentions that near-universal gang consensus that he’s dumb as a bag of rocks. i thought it was just arthur with his bone to pick but no, i’ve replayed around two hours of this game and almost everyone has commented on it. abigail said he was smart when she was worried he’d been killed only to call him an idiot when i brought him back to camp half-eaten by wolves. john is a good shot with some slutty hips but those are the only goods he’s selling and everyone understands the rest of the shelves are bare.

[martthaves]

i just found out about nimona's christmas special from 2013 and-

i don't think my heart can take it.

"this is why people hit you" pls 😭😭😭

ambrosius has been a dramatic bitch since day one, i love it. and bal is just like *sigh* he's an idiot but he's MY idiot. gotta save his ass, i guess.

he protecc, he atacc, but most importantly- he got his friend's bacc 😤

he's just a little guy *cries*

long story short, ballister gives ambrosius the christmas gift and acts oblivious, like a good friend he is.

having witnessed this, i love how their dynamic as adults seems like a very natural progression from what they had as kids. if you just ignore, well, the whole you're my archnemesis and we need to fight each other because of a terrible incident in our past we have never honestly adressed or explained. but yeah, they're just so very sweet and caring, truly a black cat and golden retriver energy at its finest.

based on this i would also guess ambrosius is younger than ballister, with the way he looks and with this childlike innocence and naivety. that, or he's just always been smaller than bal. either way, it makes me think how ambrosius is an easy target for bullies and how ballister feels responsible for him and his safety/happiness. i wonder if looking at the perfect, golden imagine adult ambrosius has created, ballister ever saw the scrawny little boy with a black eye who hid behind his back.

he probably did, huh.

the idea that they were raised together, grew up together, fallen in love at some point, spent their whole lives together, really, makes me go crazy. how both of them lost the only friend they ever had, a friend they were never allowed to fully love.

i made myself sad, but the point is the world needs more bal and amb-ro-zee-us as little boys. they're everything

[angryschnauzer]

January 11th 2024

Yeah its been a while since i updated. I haven't had the energy to if i'm honest, but here we go.

Hubby had his brain surgery end of November '23. The tumour they took out was a nasty one, somewhere between the size of a golf ball and a kiwi fruit. The wound has healed well with little to no side affects apart from some double vision, but he was checked out for that and it is a common after affect of brain trauma and was remedied with an eyepatch for a few weeks.

We met with the Neuro Oncology team at Royal Marsden Hospital in London. They are one of the best (if not the best) cancer treatment centres in the whole country, and we worked through a treatment plan.

Just before Christmas hubby was also cleared to have shoulder reconstructive surgery (he broke his shoulder bone in the original seizures back at the end of October '23). There was a really small window of time between it being enough time after the brain surgery that he could go back under general anaesthetic, but also enough time to mostly heal before he started Radiotherapy and Chemo, so just 5 days before Christmas hubby was in and out of our local hospital in a single day to have that surgery.

Christmas was a quiet and subdued affair. I also herniated a disk in my back the day Hubby had surgery (i was clearing the deep freeze out ready for grocery delivery), so it meant both he and I were dosed up to our eyeballs on strong painkillers for most of the holiday, and Little Dude spent the majority of the break either playing video games or building his new lego sets.

Two days before Christmas i also had to have emergency dental work (i had been grinding my teeth and had previously cracked a tooth) and whilst i was in the dentists office some utter idiot crashed into my car. That was the last thing i needed but i simply handed it all over to my insurance company (who are aware of my husbands situation) and they arranged a hire vehicle and sorted repairs.

Onto the start of 2024. This is the first week of Radiotherapy and Chemo for Hubby. He is getting very tired and fatigued already from the Radiotherapy, but thankfully no nausea from the chemo as yet, but that could change over time. He is scheduled for a full schedule of 6 weeks of this dual treatment, where we are having to visit Royal Marsden every day Mon - Fri for the six weeks, and then he also takes the chemo 7 days a week for the six weeks.

He'll then have 4 to 6 weeks 'off' treatment for his body to relax and recuperate, but will have scans and MRI's during that time to gauge what further treatment will be, but its likely to be just chemo but a stronger dose, but no radiotherapy. The chemo is to be 3 weeks off one week on, so a 4 weekly cycle.

The one thing we have discovered isn't done is prognosis's. When we first got to Royal Marsden we were shocked as they started talking about years, and explained that although it was a really nasty tumour, it was found very early and whilst it was still relatively small for its kind. They've discussed things like 'this years treatment plan then we'll look at next years', and also for a while Hubby was being considered for a clinical trial which candidates who have prognosis's of 12 months+ are only considered for. In the end he didn't meet the criteria (his cholesterol was too high). The Macmillian Nurses also have been talking to us about Mobility Car assistance schemes where you can get govt assistance financially and get an adapted vehicle on a 2 year rolling lease. All these timings are reassuring in one way, but worrying in another - we have no idea what the future holds and it really does cement in stone that our time is limited and could end any moment, and makes it very difficult to make any long term plans. You don't realise how much of your life is preplanned until you end up in this situation and aren't sure if you can book your kid onto the school residential trip in 5 months time.

Should anyone want the mundane daily day-to-day life updates you can follow me on my personal instagram @simone_with_an_e its generally a load of utter boring bollocks, but i try to keep it updated daily with updates when i can as its a lot easier to do 1 short paragraph than a big update.

For me my mental health is a little better now that i've had time to process Hubby's diagnosis and that he is getting treatment. There are still days or hours when i fall apart, and it could be something as simple as listening to a song on the radio as i drive back from dropping Little Dude at school and i realise the song would be lovely at his funeral. I end up having to pull over and have a cry whilst switching the radio off. I'm loosing weight and aging quickly, my hair is turning grey from stress and i realised i've aged about 15 years in the last 3 from stress. My appetite comes and goes, and things like red meat now turn my stomach and i can't digest it. But i also haven't drunk alcohol since the day before Hubby had his seizure back in October. I feel like i need to stay 'alert' in case i need to rush him to the hospital for something. I don't miss it as such, but I miss the ability to fully relax. Its hard to describe but i feel like at the moment i've lost myself and am just functioning to care for those around me, going through the motions as such.

Anyway, this has been a long update. I do still lurk here, you may see me pop up in notifications liking something, but at the moment i don't feel its right to start putting fandom stuff back on here yet. I do hope to get back to writing at some point. I miss it and the unfinished stories plague my mind as i have such lovely plans for story arc's and really want to finish them.

Take care all,

Schnauz

xxx

[formosusiniquis]

After much delay, please welcome our longest chapter so far of my @steddiebang2024 And can I say thank you again to the fantastic, amazing, brilliant @ablogcalledrevenge and @kaspurrcat they've just been a fantastic team and this chapter especially was a killer.

The woman at the counter looks mad before he even gets in the door. He didn't call ahead, but Eddie also isn't sure how you predict bird related emergencies. Which he's pretending this is, because the alternative is that she's mad because he's accidentally violated some kind of migratory bird act and he thinks admitting that he's been hosting this bird in his closet for the length of a holiday weekend isn't going to improve her mood.

There's something familiar about her, but her name tag dubs her Robin. While he wishes he knew someone whose sense of irony was so fine tuned that she would be Robin who works at the bird sanctuary, the name isn't familiar. 

She's got a good scowl though.

Eyes framed up top by feathery bangs -- actually feathery, the short blonde bob has long tendrils of feathers floating from the back. Style choice or hazard of the job, it's cool either way. A lot more interesting than the way the tips of his fingers are always stained faintly with ink. Feathered or not, they set a nice stage for the narrowed glare they’re leveling at him.

“Hi, should I have called ahead? I've got this bird-”

“What have you done to yourself, you featherbrained dingus?”

“Um, I found him, it looked like he was being attacked by something. Do owls have predators?”

“No, but they're extraordinarily stupid. No room in their head for any brains. They get used in some Greek iconography with Athena, who's you know, beautiful and wise, and through that good marketing everyone thinks they're smart too. But they're really just instinct driven idiots who rush headlong into danger without thinking about how their actions have consequences.”

It’s hard to know what to say in the face of a speech like that. More than impassioned, Eddie feels like he’s been lectured. No, it’s more like the slimy discomfort of being in the room while a friend is getting yelled at by their parent.

Any hint of a response that Eddie would have made disappears as the bird he’s been trying to hold like it’s a strange creature from outside and not like something he’s hoping he’ll be told he could come back to adopt, wiggles from his arms. It screeches at the woman across the counter, using a tone Eddie hasn’t ever heard before. The talons on its feet scratch and scrabble against the counter she’s been leaning boredly against until they’re nose to beak.

“He’s normally not like this,” Eddie finds himself defending, even as Majesty pokes a claw into the freckled flesh of her arm.

The bird’s head spins around its neck to glare, like Eddie’s defense has somehow lost it “cool points” with the strange wildlife rescue employee. To its benefit the strange faintly feathered rehabber has a brow quirked as well. “Spend a lot of time getting to know this random avian? Had a chance to get to know all his little quirks?”

“I mean, it was very well behaved in the car.”

“I’m so sure.”

Majesty croaks, something that on a different bird he’d say sounded like “Rob” but even he knows owls can’t talk. It just serves to make it look a little more muppet-y. Like when the real cat disappears to be replaced by the animatronic anytime Salem needed to talk on Sabrina . It's unfortunate that the longer he looks the more he wonders if Dustin is right.

But surely the bird sanctuary employee would tell him if he had a fake owl.

She mutters something into the feathered crown of the bird that isn’t his. Something that sounds like it ends in ‘so fucking stupid’ but deciphering the what becomes a lot less important when she asks, “Do you want to see where he’ll be recuperating?”

“Yeah! Can I?” His fingers tap the desk in a rhythm he can’t place, nervous energy expending out of himself and into this weird liminal space. Dart had been a stray and Ma had saved Mews from the Walmart parking lot; they'd never adopted anything that hadn’t made its way to them first. He is his own third example that proves the Munson way.

Maybe all animal shelters were like this. Large empty lobbies with big desks that block off access to their single mysterious doors. Buildings that weren’t concerned with things like electricity bills, the air on high enough that it’s got every hair on Eddie’s body currently standing on end: goosebumps down his arms, the hair at the back of his neck is on end.

“Great,” she smiles. There’s something off putting about it, like the mouth that she’s got doesn’t fit right on her face. A grin cut out of a magazine and pasted on a different picture.

“Let me get him settled and I’ll come back for you.”

Read the rest on AO3

[blazerwyvernmaster]

So uhh

I like In Stars and Time. You should play it if you haven't already. It's extremely good. And I will be subtly spoiling a lot of it during this analysis.

Recently I have thought of thr trend if assigning tarot cards to characters in media, or my on characters. So I thought...what if I did that to ISAT?

...so yeah. I'll be doing that. Please tell me if I mess it up, or give me your opinions.

Again, spoilers under the cut.

Siffrin(Fool of Hanged Man)

Fool: The Fool is generally seen as the start of a journey. Even though he is at the end, the time loops and the fact that they have a lot of things to worry about/trauma means that they have a long journey ahead of them.

Hanged Man: A reversed Hanged Man, to be precise. Siffrin is INTENSLY afraid of change. To be more specific, he's stuck in this time lopp because he doesn't want to forget or leave his friends behind. His family behind, his country, his memory. The hanged man is about sacrifice and moving forward, and they do NOT want to do either. But they must.

I would also like to add that they may also be linked to The Devil card. Mostly because it's about desire and stuff and Siffrin desires amny things and can do a lot of selfish and cruel things to his family members.

Mirabelle:Lovers or Chariot.

Lovers:Mirabelle is aroace and perfectly fine with that. It’s a shame that she lives in a society where being perfectly fine with staying stagnant forever is discouraged.

Mirabelle is very religious. She believes strongly in the word of Change. So strongly that she is willing to ignore her feelings of being happy with who she is. She loves expressing platonic and familial love, but...romance and sex ain't it.

I chose the Lovers because it is about choice. Crossroads in one's life, that decide your fate. She was about to make the wrong one, the one that would make her miserable. Luckily, she didn't.

Chariot: Mirabelle may not be the Fool, but the thing that helps the fool move forward is a trusty chariot. From the beginning she's been trying to move forward and save Vaugarde from the King, and especially in the clocktower and higher levels of the house, she is determined to bring her home to its regular state.

If she doesn't, she will let everyone she cares about down. Also, again, she loves in a society where she feels she has to change, even if it means being in a romantic/sexual relationship and hating it. It's all for change, it's all for moving forward.

Isabeau: Strength.

Before the story, Isabeau may have been a reversed strength Arcana. Or at least that's how would see it. He was weak, and had low self-esteem and self-worth. And he hated it. He hated it so much that he became...well,*he*.

While he doesn't necessarily appreciate being treated as an idiot now, he seems happy to be a stronger, more confident, and upright version of himself, both inside and our. Though...judging by the fact that Siffrin's comments got to him during their uhh..darker moments, there may still be some doubts left in him.

(Sidenote I think Isabeau may be my favorite character besides Sif and Loop)

Boniface: Sun and Magician

Sun: Bonnie is a ray of positive energy wrapped in a small little crab with a potty mouth and I love them for it. And so does the rest of the party. They support the others with their cooking and miniscule damage. And it's good.

The rest of the saviors would do anything to keep that ray of positivity alive. Even if it meant they would die in the process.

Its no wonder that when they die to the king in the end of Act 3...Siffrin considers that the end.

Magician:This is mostly coming from their hangout quest. Bonnie can heal and cook, but they can also fight...barely. The fact that they are technically the only other party member who can use rock attacks at base(without using a spell like Odile or Sif) shows that they have some potential. And they want to use and grow that potential to go on kore adventures and help their friends.

Odile: Hermit

Odile, while serving as the party's mature voice of reason, and probably fitting for roles like The Empress or Hierophant, I personally see her as a Hermit because of how isolated her story is.

The only one who ever knows what she's doing with her research is Siffrin, and only if/when you do her quest. Every other time, she seems to be isolated and actively hiding it. Its not that she doesn't rely on her friends,but...she's simply doing this alone.

It's a very personal journey for her about being more connected to your heritage and reflecting on yourself.

To be honest, Hermit works REALLY well for Siffrin, too.

[lildoodlecat]

it's true I probably don't have the time/energy to get into smth new BUT if you have a pitch I want to hear it!! ^^ I've heard good things abt Destiny yet all I know is that the swords talk and Leon is pretty 😅

*does a lil stretch* ALRIGHTY sorry I left this in my inbox so long dolphiiin I greatly appreciate the prompt to pitch my interests your way but I knew I might have a lot to say and time isn't real ;0;

OKAY SO

Jay's Tales of Destiny Pitch

(typed while heating up my lunch lol)

First of all, Tales of Destiny for PS1 and Tales of Destiny Director's Cut for PS2 are fundamentally different games with two similar canons. The most obvious differences are with Leon, so we'll get back to that in a second

WHY DESTINY IS COOL AND AWESOME

Lovely cast!

Our main character Stahn is a very lovable idiot, he wants to help everyone and continuously reaches out to and believes the best of ppl. Maybe his kindness could be considered naive, but like. When you can believe in ppl and try to be friends with them no matter how prickly? C'mon now

Variety of dynamic characters with their own little arcs throughout the story!! These are much more fleshed out in the Director's Cut, but still present in PS1

Swordians

The consciousness of their previous wielder copied into a powerful sword!! A companion quite literally at your side :D they're pretty much their own characters, especially in DC

Don't worry abt the main plot. Like yeah the bad guys stole the eye of god (Atamoni in eng localization) which could potentially be a super dangerous tool/weapon that was originally sealed away after that last War(tm) that's distant history or whatever but Look at the little guys experiencing various agonies :33

The Swordians are also relics from the big history war but shhh

LEON

Your first meeting with him is when he kicks your ass during a battle and then arrests you

Only joins the party bc he's technically still your jailer keeping an eye on everyone while you go do a quest for the king

Brooding emo boy with daddy issues. No he will NOT be friends with you. Stop that!! (Bit of a tsundere lol but only bc of his uhh various issues :3)

most tragic little guy i cry abt him

Non-spoilery differences between PS1 and DC:

Since Director's Cut offers a character selection at the beginning of the game (similar to Xillia) you can either play the regular game from Stahn's POV (still changed from PS1) or you can follow Leon, but Leon's side is moreso for a deeper look into his character after playing Stahn's side, since Leon isn't always with the party

Leon's and Stahn's characters in particular are handled a little differently. Stahn's personality and history are a little different, but imo not really noticeably. Leon's relationships with the party are less.. distant? There's more explicit showcasing maybe. Especially with how his final separation from the party plays out a lot differently, and it changes/makes more obvious some aspects of his character (positively imo), but also leaves his fate more ambiguous than in PS1

--

Overall, similar to how I feel abt Zesty, I think the characters really bring these games to life!! Destiny PS1 I liked more for its scenery, dungeon design, and puzzles, while DC I enjoyed for its character depth via skits and cutscenes and its battle system

If you can tell I'm biased toward Stahn and Leon,, yeahhh but I do enjoy other characters like Rutee (heroine) and Philia as well ✨✨

Rutee especially is very relevant to some of my Thoughts since she's one of the more pivotal characters, being the heroine and all

Anyway!! I hope that pitch was okay lmao there's more I could probably say if I could actually remember the games better but it's been like a year since I played Destiny PS1 and months since I finished DC ;w;

In any case, tysm dolphin for indulging me :33

[youremyheaven]

https://www.tumblr.com/youremyheaven/754499296935723008/when-the-delusion-wears-off-and-you-realize-he

I was talking to this guy for a while and actually really liked him only for him to text me, “what would you do if your ex texting you? And it still hurts to even see her name?” I was like… oh 🙁 first of all whyyyy would you ask me of all people. This was in the beginning tho so I thought I’d let it slide cause it had only been like 2 months since they broke up and we were just friends atp. Anyways it did hurt. he said he told her, not to contact him and he’d text her when he was ready.

Now I’m not a complete idiot. I did want to stop talking to him after this because I felt like, yeah he still likes his ex. Buttttt after that he started being way more into our connection and then things progressed and we started making plans for the future…

Then I noticed he started replying slower and dryer. He also used to call me babe and stopped. I was like maybe I’m reading too much into it, I shouldn’t assume blah blah blah. Then he starts responding once a day and I started thinking, ok, he’s either found someone new or he’s talking to his ex again. Ughhhhhhh. So one day I asked, how’s your day? He goes, it’s good, I’m moving back to xyz (country he used to live in, his ex is there) I go oh… ummm what? He goes, yeah they pay more and also there’s this girl there I want to meet. Now the whole time we weren’t actually in a relationship so lesson learned to never act like you’re in one when you aren’t because then they can say they don’t owe you anything.

So I was hurt and stopped replying as much. The reason I kept replying is because we were actually friends and I actually really liked him as a person. also because we never talked about labels at all, I felt it wasn’t fair to hold him to that. But I should have just stopped talking to him because he ended up leaving me on read and now we haven’t talked in a month.

There’s also more in between that I left out because it’s be too long but that’s basically it. It should be illegal to call people “baby/babe/love” when you have no intention of actually being those things. Our whole thing was just not defined at all and very weird. I’m never doing anything like that again without clear lines of what we are. And part of why it hurts so bad is because he’s not a bad person. The reason I liked him was because I respect the way he lives his life. Part of it was also my fault because he wanted to move forward but I wasn’t able to because of some personal issues. I just wished I’d met him at a different timeeee lord whhhhhyyyy 😩😩😩 anyways I wish him well.

UGHHHH men are just :////

you shouldn't have had to go thru that but think of it as a learning experience

just going ahead, never get too attached to men who:

a. have just broken up with their partner

b. fawn over you and give you tooo much time, attention, energy for no reason

c. make promises that sound too good to be true

we cannot control how others will treat us but we can control ourselves. dont be swayed by flattery or niceties. enjoy it and have fun with it but dont take it too seriously??? if they actually mean any of it, youll find out and if they dont, youll find that out as well.

let yourself be admired and wanted and learn to separate that from being loved

you dont have to assume the worst of people but you can also be realistic ,, no matter what they throw your way be a little unshakeable and stable in yourself, so that you dont get too attached to receiving their time and attention

dont be desperate and i dont mean this to be harsh AT ALLLL, bc i honestly know what its like to feel that way but if you seem needy for someone you aren't "officially" with, they immediately start acting up bc men are like that :///

how not to be desperate = seeing yourself as a prize, he could be the king of france but you're you<333

Song JiA is my fav example of magnetic secure female energy. She's Bharani Sun so that does explain it

there are many videos explaining her allure and how we can all learn from her

i hope you feel better soon and forget all about that crusty ass man!!!! He clearly never deserved you

[mags-writes]

Part 4: Love Like Ghosts - Gendrya

Summary: The Great War is won and Gendry has some news.

Warnings: Canon-level violence, canon-level angst, canon-level swearing

Pairing: Gendry Waters/Baratheon x Arya Stark

Length: 921 words

Masterlist || The Night We Met || Frozen Pines || Meet Me In The Woods || Love Like Ghosts

I don't feel it till it hurts sometimes oh, go on, baby, hurt me tonight I want ours to be an endless song baby, in my eyes, you do no wrong

The night was alive with the celebrations of those left living and Arya could still feel the heat of Gendry's hands on her body. It was such a distraction that she almost didn't hit the bullseye of her target. Almost. She took a deep breath, nocking an arrow and drawing from the strength in her back to aim at the target again. The very man on her mind happened to walk into her line of sight just as she loosed the arrow. He flinched back from the thud it made as it hit right next to the other arrows and then quietly chuckled to himself.

"Good shot." He called out, walking towards her with warmth in his eyes.

Ayra couldn't help the smile on her face as he walked closer, butterflies in her stomach at how he was looking at her like there was no one else in the world he could possibly think of a single day in his life.

"What are you doing out here in the cold?" She asked, lowering the bow and giving him all her attention.

"I could ask you the same thing." He retorted. "It's nighttime, it's freezing and everyone else is celebrating. You should be celebrating with them."

"I am." She paused, looking down before grabbing another arrow and nocking it into place. "In my own way, I suppose."

"Yeah, me too." Arya could sense his nervous energy and faced him again with concern written on her face. "I'm not Gendry Rivers, anymore."

"How much have you had to drink?" She tilted her head at him with a growing smile. "You've never been Gendry Rivers. You're Gendry Waters. Crownlands, remember?"

Gendry looked out into space for a second, looking like he was trying to overcome the embarrassment of forgetting his own damn name.

"Right... Yeah... Well, my point is-what I'm trying to say is that-..." He stopped taking a deep breath and looked at her again in seriousness. "I'm Gendry Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End. By order of the Queen."

"What?" Arya put the bow and arrow down, looking at him with wide eyes. "Congratulations, this-this is amazing. I can't believe-"

Gendry cut her off with a passionate kiss, cradling her face in one hand and bringing her closer with a strong arm around her waist. Arya had an arm around his shoulders, the other pressed against his strong chest, feeling his heart trying to beat its way out. They were smiling like idiots into the kiss, giggling even as Arya's feet came off the floor when he stood up straight and twirled them. When he put her back down he took her face in both hands this time, giving her one last soft kiss before pulling back enough to actually speak, and moved his hands to hold hers.

"Marry me." He begged making Arya's heart stop. "Marry me. I love you and you're fucking beautiful-and I know-I know I love you. I know nothing about being a Lord of anything, I hardly know how to use a fork."

"Gendry-"

"None of it will be worth anything if you're not with me." He paused, his eyes shifting between hers and her lips before he went down to one knee. "I can't even begin to imagine the rest of what my life is going to be now without you. Marry me, be my wife."

Arya couldn't form words so instead she went down with him and held on tighter to his hands. So many questions were running through her mind. What was the castle like down there? Who would be their servants? There can't be anyone left in the Baratheon household staff. What would life even be like in a place like Storm's End? The thoughts about how big the castle forge would have to be went through her mind next. And once she got through those questions she knew what she wanted to do. She settles her eyes back on Gendry, realising only a second had passed in reality.

"I don't know how to be a Lady. I don't think I ever had a flying hope in all the sevens hells of being a proper Lady." Gendry's smile turned into an infectious laugh.

"Gods know I'm a witness to that." He leaned in and Arya met him half-way, pressing their foreheads together and closing their eyes.

"I can't guarantee it will be smooth sailing." She said softly.

"Then we can crash and burn together." He reassured in a loving whisper.

They opened their eyes, giddy and wide smiles adorning their faces. Arya went back in, kissing him, and holding his face in both hands, and she felt like she could stay there forever pressed up against him and breathing him in.

"Yes." She mumbled against his lips with a smile. "Yes, but-"

He interrupted by going back in and pulling her closer.

"But what, my lady." He teased.

"You-" She giggled, pulling back and tracing his bottom lip with her finger. "You have to be the one to tell Jon and Sansa."

There was a moment of abject fear that crossed his face before he nodded, seemingly making up his mind and squaring his shoulders.

"Alright." He said, completely convinced now. "Let's go."

yes, I know that love is like ghosts oh, and the moonlight, baby, shows you what's real there ain't language for the things I feel and if I can't have you, then no one ever will

[fandomworld9728]

The Life of the Morningstars - Chapter 15:

"What is all the commotion?"

Seeing the radio demon appear from the shadows as they were getting ready to head out, Husk decided to fill him in as the others were too busy gushing over the small blonde. "Angel and his friend Cherri got the king all dolled up for our Charlie mandated night out."

"Come on, guys. I look ridiculous in this."

"No. You look ridiculous in that ringleader shit you had on. You look like a hot piece of ass right now."

Not really the words Alastor would have used, nor was the style much to his liking. However, he could admit that the clothes and colors suited the fallen angel. The king was sporting his usual boots but now wore ripped black jeans with chains hanging off the belt loops (for some odd reason Alastor would never understand) and a red sleeveless shirt that rod up to show some of his stomach. A loose and messy red and black tie with golden accents pulled it all together.

He was the original temptation after all. Alastor was positive that Lucifer could pull off even the most horrendous outfit. Then there was his hair. No longer slicked back in its usual style, now laying in a shaggy mess that was oddly attractive on him. Too bad the sinner was only interested in omegas. He had a very specific type and the king checked almost all of the boxes. That and his piss poor parenting. Such a shame, honestly.

"Oh, hey there smiles. You wanna join us?"

"Usually, I would decline. Though, it could be entertaining to see your night of fun turn into a trainwreck."

~

"Vaggie... look at this place! It's so~ clean! Isn't that amazing?"

"Yep. Super cool. Heaven. Wow." Barely there for a minute and Vaggie was ready to leave. She knew why Charlie was so excited but couldn't bring it upon herself to match that energy. The former Exorcist hated this place. She saw what they were truly like and how wrong everything she had been taught was.

Unfortunately, her girlfriend might end up learning the truth about Heaven and the angels the hard way. Vaggie didn't want that. However, her chances of stopping it were lowering the more they tried to help the lost souls of the sinners. Now she was regretting not telling Charlie sooner about her past. 

"Hiya! Welcome to Heaven. Can I get your get name please?"

"Oh! Uh, uh, uh, Charlie Morningstar." 

"Charlie Morningstar. Hmm..." 

Vaggie watched Saint Peter looking through the list of names like an idiot. Come on! The last name should have given it away! How many people are there with the last name Morningstar?

"I'm not seeing you on my list here. That's so odd."

"Um... my dad got me this meeting so maybe... try Lucifer? Morningstar?"

"Oh... fuck! Yeah! Yikes am I right? Are you sure you're in the right place? Cause I think might be a little lost."

"Ugh. Here we go." It was always the pretty boys who were so dumb. How was this guy an alpha again? "Look, we're here for a meeting. Can't you just call someone to confirm it? We don't have time for this."

"Saint Peter. We'll take it from here." Landing with another angel, Sera took over and greeted their two guests. "Greetings daughter of the Morningstar, I am Sera, the High Seraphim of Heaven. You are gifted to be here."

She could barely finish before the young Seraphim in training with her could no longer contain her excitement as she rushed over to the two other girls. As much as Sera didn't like her knowing of her other parental figure due to the dangers that could arise, she could admit seeing her so full of joy was nice. 

"Hi! I'm Emily, the other Seraphim. Though, you can call me Em. Emmy. E. Whatever you want. I go by whatever…. even… big sister? Sorry! I'm just so excited to finally meet you!" A feeling of relief spread through her as she saw her little sister smiling happily at confession. "Welcome to Heaven."

~

Sera had left Emily to spend time with the two girls, knowing this would likely be the only time she would ever get to spend time with her long-lost sister. Now, she found herself speaking with Lute and Adam. This was not the desired outcome. Adam started this mess, now he could fix it.

"Your Highness, forgive me. But what are the Hell spawn doing here?"

"Well, you failed to control the demon's unrest, and now Lucifer is involved. Setting up an audience for his misguided daughter." Ignoring the looks she was receiving from the first man, she continued. "I never would have agreed to your yearly activities if I thought it would bring trouble to our doorstep. Keeping Heaven safe was my only reason for allowing it."

Adam had just about had it with this woman. Always making things seem like they were Adam's fault and not keeping her promises. "What do you want from me? I'm just one guy."

"I want you to do whatever you need to do to keep this problem from getting any worse. Are we clear?"

"Yeah. We're clear."

"Good. Now, Lute, I need to speak to Adam. Alone."

< Previous

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[salternateunreality2]

MDZS aka SephZack adventures update: episodes 14-23 SHUT UP I'M AN ADULT I CAN WATCH 9 EPISODES IN A ROW IF MY BABIES ARE IN DANGER

Cough

Anyway

Spoilers...

------

Zack: let's fight the tortoise of slaughter!!!!

Sephiroth: *stares in besotted wtf*

Zack: no, it'll be super cool, we can kill it and get the glory and solve the mystery and most importantly, I won't be bored waiting for Genesis to get back!

Sephiroth: *stares in besotted 'bruh, my leg is broke, you ribs is broke, we both got open wounds, we're starving to death, and you want to fight a giant tortoise'*

Zack: no really, I checked and we can't get out, so I'mma be super bored. Come onnnnnn, it'll be fun! 🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶♥️🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶

Sephiroth: ...this is going to be our entire relationship, isn't it? Ok.

Zack: YESSSSSS, after we make some weapons, I'll jump into its shell because apparently that's a thing I can do!

Sephiroth: ...ok

---------------

The fight with the dick head (literally) Tortoise of Slaughter (solid naming decision) goes great, but Zack succumbs to the infection he undoubtedly got from SWIMMING WITH AN OPEN WOUND AND PROBABLY BROKEN RIBS, THEN RUNNING AROUND THE FESTERING INNARDS OF A TORTOISE OF SLAUGHTER.

Sure, the evil sword energy probably didn't help, and I'm sure canon is saying "um, actually" as we speak, but come on, Zack. The magic grass you packed into your boo's leg wound next to the weirdly short, unsanitary sticks was limited.

---------

The whole fight, Zack is battling with the evil sword miasma, and Sephiroth is making this face:

It's very cute, I am HERE for it.

--------

Zack: 😵

Sephiroth: 😦😦😦😦 you have a fever!!!

Salty: gee I wonder why

Zack: mmm sing me a song

Salty: how about medical treatment, such as getting you out of the wet clothes, sharing spiritual energy, prying your hands off the evil sword that made you sick...

Sephiroth: ok *sings in simp*

Zack: 🥴😵‍💫 what's that song called?

Sephiroth: Wangxian, our ship name, but I don't say it out loud so the Chinese censors are happy ❤️

Zack: ❤️😵‍💫🥴🐶❤️😵

Salty: ffs, if cuteness could cure stupidity, we wouldn't be in this situation, but as it is, keep trying to fix his stupidity/fever with adorableness, it's working for my shipping heart.

---------

The next [way too many] episodes:

------

Then Wen Ning aka Cloud comes in clutch! Wen Ning is baby, and he is BEST BABY EVER ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🐥

-------

Some quick plot points:

Genesis gets degradation, Zack gets him out of it.

Gen's girlfriend helps because she's nice (?) like that.

Gen's parents die.

A war happens with zombie degradation clones.

Zack gets yeeted by the villains into a den of unmitigated horror (not Hojo's labs, but just as nasty).

Everything sucks.

I sat on the toilet to cry into my shirt, not knowing why. It was because I watched the sad thing in my room and the toilet was the only place where the sad wasn't happening. Also it took me a full several hours to realize watching a sad thing made me sad #neurodivergence #isfun #andquirky!

THEN THE BOYS GOT BACK TOGETHER FUCK YEAH!!!!!

---------

Sephiroth: you should probably not fuck around with this newfound angry spirit power...

Zack: remember my cute puppy face?

Sephiroth: fuck

Zack: 🐶

Sephiroth: 🥴

Genesis: STOP MAKING EYES AT EACH OTHER. FUCK OR GET TO WORK!

Angeal (btw he's alive): they are so fucking cute

Zack's sister: dude they so are ❤️

Genesis: we are at WAR

Angeal: I'm gonna be a bridesmaid

Zack's sister: GASP we should get matching outfits!

Genesis: 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

--------

Zack: *waits until the LAST minute to whip out his fancy angry spirit powers* Hey Idiot Poop Face, how bout that?!

Idiot Poop Face: 🤬 *chokes Zack* *it's not kinky*

Sephiroth; *is jealous anyway* *catches bb Zack as he passes out from using angry spirit powers and being choked* *my dude was like half a football field away* *then he appeared out of nowhere to catch his boo*

Salty: *clicks rewind several times because it's fucking adorable*

[morgue-xiiv]

for the ask game: Idiot Doom Spiral

OKAY! I been working on this one for a while so it's gonna be great. Really high concept.

This is tough, not because he doesn't have good or bad thing about him, but because like. Everything about him seems like an opinion or vibe based thing. Like okay he's homeless because he lost his keys and ID and couldn't prove he had a right to enter his own home. Is he a fucking dipshit as I've heard many people say or is he a potent reminder of the insane precarity of our lives? I think the latter. Every person I've spoken to about it has a different idea of how he could get into his own house and every one of them runs out of ideas if you say "and if that didn't work?" even a couple of times. Even the game says there should be an obvious solution yet does not provide one. Oh your landlord would let you in. What if you rented through a managing agency and the staff turnover is high so no one recognises you? How would you even CONTACT your landlord? with the phone number you wrote down and carry with you everywhere even if you're on a jog? Oh your staff would let you in at work. Suppose they don't though? Suppose the main point people are on a week long business trip or your security guard says "look man I know its you but I'm not allowed to let you in without ID I could lose my job", you're a grown man so your parents could easily be dead or very far way. my absolute favourite take was "well the supervisor in your building would recognise you!" Yeah thanks Monica Geller, tell me you're American without telling me you're American. Hell, what if all this beurocracy is HARD and lying down on a beach drinking is EASY. That's the real reason, you maybe could get in "if you tried hard enough" but everyone has a limited ammount they CAN try and traumatic experiences like the cops locking you up for asking for help sap that energy Realllly fast. You, too, are probably 4-8 comedy of errors events from homelessnessliness. It blows!

1) He's very invested in his work and doesn't accept anything that falls bellow his standards of excellent BUT his job is predominately hollow overcompensated manipulative bullshit. BUT advertising is art even if you don't agree with the art or its aims. He's focused on his artistic fullfilment rejecting low concept ideas even if he thinks they would be functional effective ads.

2) I seem to recall him rejecting fascism as 'low concept stuff' but I can't find the line now so take my word for it. And I'm not even sure.

3) IDS was a very controversial Tory scumleech who oversaw massive punitive cuts to financial support for the disabled in the UK and it's funny as fuck now to call him Idiot Doom Spiral because they abbreviate the same. (that's meta as shit sorry)

3) he seems to really appreciate the company of his friends but he clearly views himself as "above" them somehow. Buddy, you had a fancy job but you're here in the dirt those are your mates now. coked up marketing exec aint the win over drunken small business owner and professional non-caller of Abigails even when you were society approved.

4) not above a little beneficial fraud. Does however take a pen "for his trouble" without negotiating or revealing that price in advance. But sometimes it's the racist lady's monkey pen so for the love of god yes please take it I hate that pen.

5) TFC: he's supportive if you tell him you're dating Kim

6) I really feel like there's more but he has so much dialogue goddamn

7) oh he refers to his ex as a "sweet piece of ass" the objectifying misogynistic little cumstain.

8) smart enough to not drink medical spirits

9) If you tury to embark on the cocain skull quest he pretty much looks into the camer and says "not unless we the studio get More Money to make a Bigger Game!" and that's really funny. I mean kinda sad now but that meta shit is funny. I guess in narrative he doesn't know that's what he's doing.

10) he's pretty entertaining and can chat shit on all day if you keep him in booze. We all need that friend.

[millenialfanfictionaddiction]

Kenma hanging out with his 6 month old baby because her mom went to work (training is very rough now!!)

9:00 AM

“ Kenma!”

“ yes babe?”

He asks leaving the bedroom.

“ Are you really busy today?? I can’t leave karrie (THATS HER NAME OKAY) to kuro cause he said he’ll be having a meeting, and akaashi said his mental health is lower than the gas prices so he can’t take care of a child right now, but anyways can you take care of her??”

“ sure babe. I just have to go to some proposals and meetings and stream until 11pm.”

“Okay! I’ll be home around 6:30 be responsible kenma!”

“ Bye! say bye karrie.”

Your husband gets his daughter’s hand and makes a wave motion.

(Baby Karrie’s POV)

10:00 AM

You’re stuck in an uncomfortable baby seat in a car where the air freshener smells like cake.

You wail.

“ whats wrong sweetheart? C’mere”

your dad then lowers the air conditioning (he thinks it’s getting too cold and he unfortunately forgot to bought an extra blanket) (you threw up on the first one)

“ Okay we’re here. If anyone looks at you weirdly just wail at their faces.” He chuckles.

“ okay everyone, what’s up? What’s the new idea?”

“ KENMA IS THAT UR KID? OH MY GOD SHE LOOKS LIKE YOU SO MUCH.” Hinata says.

 “ SEE? SHE’S SO BEAUTIFUL” kuro adds.

 “ We’re getting a little bit off-topic here guys.”

Akaashi says.

“ Can we get mcdonalds?” Bokuto asks.

“ Can you all tell me why I’m here instead of making my wailing daughter go to bed??”

“ CAN WE ADD SPARKLY CAPES TO OUR UNIFORMS??”

Bokuto asks.

“ THAT WOULD BE SO COOL CAN WE DO THAT?”

Hinata adds.

“ first off, stop yelling you’re scaring my child, second, you guys are volleyball players not superman.”

“ anything else?”

Kenma asks, getting impatient yet his daughter was chewing on the blonde tips of his hair.

“ CAN WE DO AN AD?” Bokuto says.

“For?”

“ IDK ANYTHING ELSE?”

You see your father touching the bride of his nose.

You kept on babbling random things until-

“ dada??”

“Yes- wait what?” 

“ Oh my GOD! SHE SAID HER FIRST WORD!” Bokuto screams.

“ I am so proud of that baby!” 

Kuro says.

Akaashi fell asleep on the table while hinata broke the water dispenser (its leaking on the floor) bokuto’s drawing on the whiteboard explain how having sparkly capes on uniforms would make their performance better (newsflash he most likely would trip on them)

12:00 PM

(Lunch!)

“ I’m getting hungry and those guys wasted OUR time when we could be playing games, wanna eat fruits and lunch??”

You pointed to the chips.

“ these?? I don’t think you can have these.. but heres a peice of orange.”

(Kenma’s Point of View)

1:00pm

“ We’re finally home, thank goodness, you tired sweetheart?”

You put your tired daughter on the crib, it’s nice seeing her be peaceful for a while. she looks like her beautiful mother.

As the computer opens, you post an announcement saying you’ll be streaming at 4PM ( hoping your daughter is awake by then)

2:00 PM

(Kenma’s POV)

As you prepare to stream (updating games, preparing snacks and water also 3 cans of energy drinks and somehow a bag of chips bigger than your daughter)

You get a phone call.

“ Hey honey!”

“ hey babe? Hows work?”

“ Yeah it’s good, its just that-“

You hear what’s probably sakusa and atsumu screaming at each other, kageyama and hinata not agreeing to a single thing, and bokuto on the corner who managed to squeeze himself there.

“ Y’know you could quit, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“ silly. I can’t! I like this job, these idiots are my friends, and so are yours too.”

“ I got to go babie! Bye!”

“Bye.” You say dropping the call.

3:00 PM

Just an hour left, you started the stream with a timer popping up (R THOSE RIGHT I SEE PEEPS ON TWITCH DOING THOSE)

Getting all the stuff you need on a small table next to your desk, You kinda feel lonely, your daughter is sleeping and your wife is hanging out with her friends.

“She’s better with me.”

“I miss her so much.”

4:00 PM

(kenma’s pov)

“ she’s not awake yet? That’s weird.”

You check on your daughter on the other room ( she’s still there don’t worry)

“ that’s rare.”

As the stream starts everyone and the chat goes loud.

“ hey guys. What’s up?”

After 30 minutes of being focused on a game, you check up on your daughter again.

“ She’s still asleep?? Is this even normal? She’s not crying as if we’re cooking her alive??? wow!”

He goes back to the room.

“ sorry to keep you guys waiting. Let’s continue this.”

stancats4: Why do you keep on leaving the room??

You see the question, you get a bit irritated by this question yet answer by:

“ Just busy taking care of someone special. That’s all” you smile.

The chat somehow goes wild with you smiling, this is how far they can get with you anyways.

5:00 PM

( Kenma’s POV)

 “ She’s still asleep?? Wow.” 

You’re looking at your peaceful daughter, who’s been sleeping for 4 hours now.

It’s getting lonely, you miss them both even if they’re near.

As the last game comes to an end, you ask the chat what to play next?

“ this is like the last chapter what else do you guys wanna play??”

matchalatte: you should play animal crossing!

You squint your eyes to see the suggestion

“ animal crossing?? Sure i guess.”

Moments after joining the game you hear a famillar sound.

Your daughter was crying from the other room.

You rushed there.

“ hey baby, had a great nap didn’t you?? Come here with me.”

( here’s where more chaos starts.)

“ Okay guys, let’s continue.”

“ No karrie- thats my CPU that heats up, you’ll get hurt. No- karrie!”

(He’s not mad dw)

“ what are you pointing to??”

She’s pointing to the can of energy drink.

“ You can’t have that, anyways eat this.”

You paused the game.

Your daughter ends up crying really loud.

“ What’s wrong?, this isn’t even expired.”

You taste the baby food (just checking if its still good ofc)

 “ what the- YUCK. If i was an 8 month old baby and they told me to eat this, I’d cry louder than you, let’s get you nicer food.”

He brings his laptop, and then goes to the kitchen.

“ Okay you like bananas right? Let’s mush them with honey”

after minutes of doing the work you spoon feed your daughter. 

“ Okay guys, might aswell end this. Bye for now.”

He ended it early because he thought his daughter was getting tired and scared of the webcam.

6:00 PM

As the blue sky slowly and slowly fades, you craddling your daughter, knowing this won’t last forever.

Yes she’ll always be your daughter you think, but will she always need you? Will she ever call one day and tell you how was her day? Will she ever remember you when she has a family of her own? 

This sounds like he’s overthinking yet, he just likes to think how he’s enjoying every moment because all of this, everything that surrounds him, will never last forever.

He hears the doorknob jingle a bit.

“I’m home!” (Y/N says)

“ how’s our sweet cherry??”

 “ she’s doing good, just good.”

Shout out to Venn for keeping the live action headcanons rolling 🥰

[snootlestheangel]

I would love to hear about this!

So tempted to hit y'all with OC stuff but they're not even Fandom ocs, they're just my little guys (and gals)

The idea I have for a COD x OG work crossover is insane and chaotic and I need to stop thinking

I hope your head gets to feeling better soon.

For context, the actual narrative of my original work is basically the modern world coexists with inhuman species and magic users. There's more for the specific homebrewed species of mine on @snootlessimperfectworld that will also help explain some things. Specifically looking at the "Let's Talk Series"

Here's a thing about the OCs I posted previously but I'll be adding more here, don't worry

But for today, the focus is the use of "portals" throughout the work. Literally the main conflict in this is the result of a Dragon breaking out of prison and into the realm where Humans exist, thus breaking interdimensional boundaries.

I really just can't stop picturing the 141 getting sent to a random location due to some really weird signals/energy changes/some other thing that raises concern. There's reports of people patrolling the massive compound, and there's starting to be rumors they're actually harboring some weapons of mass destruction.

The team arrives and they find the building to be... empty. There's no sign of people or any hint as to what they were doing.

They're about to give up when they find a hangar connected to the back of the building. They decide to check it, just to be safe, and enter the hangar without really knowing what they're walking into.

Instead of vehicles or even storage bins, they find a Dragon. A massive, teal colored Dragon chained to the floor and sleeping. Or at least, tranquilized. The Dragon's wings are stretched above it at an awkward angle, there's massive steel collars around its neck, tail, and snout. It's legs are pinned underneath him, and there's massive chains keeping the bulk of its body against the floor.

The 141 is so in shock by what they're seeing, they can't even say anything. They just kind of walk around the dragon like "?????"

Eventually, Soap reaches out and touches the dragon cause "how could they do this to you?". Next thing they know, they're releasing the dragon's chains and hoping it stays asleep long enough for them to leave. They'll deal with the consequences later, all right?

Except by the time they're done with that, the dragon is Awake and some other stuff happens and they run into my little troop of idiots.

Maxlar is the first one they encounter (excluding Devon, the Dragon featured above), and he's just all "oh geez, thanks guys for releasing him. I was real worried about him, ya know?"

I'm just thinking of Malvo, my grumpy cold-exterior "I am better than all of you" little Demon man, basically telling the 141 to piss off and let them deal with their issues in peace. Of course Price refuses, cause "that's a dragon and you guys are weird, we're not just letting you wander around"

Hades trying to step in and prevent things from getting worse. He's trying his best to not have a mental breakdown. These guys are scary and guns still kill Night Watchers, okay? He's trying to be a good King and be a good diplomat but it's really not working when these guys clearly are serious and he's got Maxlar, Devon, and Troy behind him cracking jokes like it's a normal Tuesday. That and he's got Malvo threatening them in increasingly intricate ways, and he's really just very tired and wants to go home.

Finally, they reach a kind of truce, and the 141 decides to assist them in making it back to their world. Hades wants to cry from relief, but there's still a lot of things left to discuss.

Someone on his side of things asks "what do we do with these guys?" while pointing at the 141.

Aten, the feral little dragon he is: *with a growl* Eat them 141: Huh??? Troy, a vampire: Yeah, I am kinda hungry. Price: We agreed to help! Aten: And you'll be helping by filling our stomachs! Hades: What the bloody hell is wrong with you two?! NO! I swear- *covers face and just stands there for a moment* Gaz: Is he okay? Aten: Oh yeah, this is normal for him. Maxlar: If Hades isn't having at least one mental breakdown during a stressful situation, there's something incredibly wrong with him.

I mean, these are the people the 141 has to deal with:

Maxlar Whishling, a schizophrenic magic-wielder that's got a sort of "high on life" mentality and is just so unserious. The reason there's an interdimensional war happening in their world, and is adamant it's not actually his fault. Which yes, he's right, it's not technically his fault, but he's the reason still.

Devon Breathstone, Maxlar's best friend and partner in crime. An absolute unit of a human (around 7' tall and fucking huge all around) because he's a fucking Dragon. Incredibly chill and more controlled than Maxlar but clearly along for the ride

Malvo Whishling, Maxlar's younger brother turned Demon that is so fed up with everyone and everything. He's supposed to be dead, yet he's not, he's having to clean up after his brother's messes. Incredibly powerful magic user. Smarter than everyone, has no emotion, speaks in a very formal way, literally well-dressed.

Hades Evanchio, the King of the Night Watchers but more like the King of Anxiety. Never signed up to be King, was literally dragged into it. Cares deeply for his friend Maxlar but just really wants to go home and cuddle with his husband, okay? He's tired, leave him be.

Atendarajo Evanchio, Hades's feral husband. Definitely commits arson on a regular basis. Intentionally initiates chaos because he can. Also a dragon, but mini sized. Has crippling Small Dog Syndrome as a result of this. Will steal your kneecaps in a second.

Troy Fallwood, a vampire known for simply appearing in the most unusual circumstances only to disappear again for several months. A bastard and a fellow chaos instigator.

I just wanna witness Ghost feel intimidated because holy fuck that guy is huge-

I want Soap and Gaz to get fucking bullied by a feral little Dragon

I want Price to be arguing logistics with Anxiety Man and Smarter Than Everyone

I want Soap to slowly be integrated into the Chaos because Maxlar, Devon, Troy, and Aten all realize "hey he's actually kinda cool"

I want Gaz to get hit on by a vampire but he can't tell if it's because the vampire actually believes Gaz is attractive or because it's, as he said earlier, he's "kinda hungry"

I want Price to be fiercely protective of his team while Hades and Malvo are begging to get rid of the others

[lilyofthevalley80]

Chapter 2

Alejandro, Gabriel, and me sat down as we started eating our lunches. Alejandro had a grilled cheese sandwich with some water. While Gabriel had white rice with tiny sausages. And I had nothing. I had forgotten my lunch box at home. 

“Are you sure you don’t want some of my rice and sausages Lily?” Gabriel asked with concern on his face. I looked at him and nodded as I insead drank water to ease my hunger a bit. Despite the constant chatter and screaming in the cafeteria, it was very silent between us. That was until Gabriel slammed his fists onto the white smooth table. Alejandro and I looked at each other then at him with wide eyes. 

“How has the police not found the culprit behind all these murders yet?! Ever since the killer came into town, no one has been safe anymore!”

“We know Gabriel but it's not like we can do anything about it, you know?” Alejandro said with an annoyed tone as he looked at Gabriel. Gabriel stayed dead silent as he kept staring at the table with a hard stare as his body started to tremble. He stayed at that same position for around 30 seconds until he finally jolted up. 

“What if we figure out the killer’s identity ourselves then?!” He exclaimed as he looked at both of us with clear excitement laced in his voice. Alejandro and I stared at Gabriel as if he were insane. Alejandro opened his mouth to say something, probably to call him an idiot or something. But Alejandro stopped himself and instead smiled to himself.

“Actually that is a very good idea Gabriel! If we find the culprit then everyone wouldn’t have to be terrified to go outside!” He said. I stayed silent, I knew what he was doing. He was teasing him to get a reaction out of me. But unfortunately for him, I won’t dare give him one. So instead I got up from my seat as I collected all of my energy and said. 

“Yeah! If the police won’t bring justice to the victims, then we will!” Alejandro looked at me with surprise in his eyes then quickly regained his composure. 

“Well then it is decided then, the three of us will go to the crime scene around 10:00 pm and investigate from there!”

*Time Skip*

We all started walking towards the dark tall forest where they found Jose’s body. The leaves crunched with every step we took. It was freezing, never have I ever been so glad to have brought my raven coat with fluff inside it. It felt like we had walked several hours since we entered gloomy murky woodland until a wave of rotten meat had penetrated our nostrils.  It smells like rotten meat. The boys cringed at the foul smell and covered their noses with their arms. Gabriel covered his mouth as well, it seemed as if he was about to puke. I keep walking forward towards the revolting smell. The boys followed suit. The smell got stronger as we kept walking forwards, after a few more minutes of walking, we finally found the body. Flies, beetles, worms, cockroaches, and even rats were biting at the remaining skin of the corpse. The corpse was missing his two arms and had a long deep wound on its long neck. The corpse was hardly recognizable due to the many bite marks and decomposing body. There was yellow tape surrounding the corpse saying ‘PRECAUTION! UNDER INVESTIGATION!’ The three of us stared at the decomposing corpse until Gabriel walked ahead of us and lifted the yellow tape over his head to get a closer look. Alejandro and I followed him. 

“We really shouldn’t be here… We’ll get in a lot of trouble if we are caught tampering with the corpse that is still under investigation…” I said with a meek voice, hopefully convincing Gabriel to change his mind and go home.  

“Well, we are already here princess. We might as well try to find any clues that can point us to the murderer” he said with a teasing undertone as he looked at me. My hands rolled into fists, I was using up all my strength to not kill him at this exact spot. We all looked around for clues, well they looked around to find clues. I just pretended to look around. 

An hour passed by, I was casually playing around with my flashlight until Alejandro yelled out.

“I found something guys!” Garbril and I ran towards Alejandro, curious about what he had found. He pulled out a bag of tuck of hair and a piece of lace with his gloved hands. They were about to celebrate until we heard a loud deep voice yell out.

“Hey! Kids can’t be here!” We looked at home with frightened looks and started running back. The older man started to chase after us. 

“We need to pant to get to my house! I-It’s the pant nearest here!” Gabriel exclaimed. Alejandro and I nodded our heads at Gabriel as we ran even faster. My whole body was so tired to the point it started to tremble. My whole body was yelling at me. It felt like my legs were about to give up on me and I was almost about to trip over my own feet. Thankfully, I regained my balance and continued running until we arrived at Gabriel's house.

[yesthatssadirichardslove]

Live-action 'City Hunter' is Netflix’s newest nostalgic-anime-to-live-action project

OKYO

Netflix has shown an impressive amount of confidence in concept of adapting anime to live-action. Even after its take on "Cowboy Bebop" fizzled out, the streaming giant is still working on adaptations of "One Piece," "Gundam" and "Yu Yu Hakusho," and it’s even making room on its plate for one more live-action version of a hit anime series from yesteryear: "City Hunter."

Originating as a manga by creator Tsukasa Hojo that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1985 to 1991, "City Hunter" is the story of Ryo Saeba, a Tokyo based “sweeper,” a sort of combination bodyguard/private investigator. In 1987, "City Hunter" was adapted into an anime TV series that ran for over 100 episodes, and the animated franchise went on to multiple OVA and movie installments, with the most recent coming in 2019 and another greenlit earlier this year.

In other words, Ryo is one of the most prodigious anime characters of all time, especially since he’s been portrayed by the same voice actor, Akira Kamiya, in all of his anime appearances. It’s an almost impossibly big role to fill, but Netflix believes it’s found the man for the job with Ryohei Suzuki.

The 39-year-old Suzuki has several anime-to-live-action films on his acting resume, having played the male lead in the "Hentai Kamen" series, "My Love Story" and "Tokyo Tribe," as well as appearances in "Higanjima" and "Gatchaman." Suzuki called taking on the role of Ryo “a great responsibility” and pledged to give his all in bringing the character’s “cool, romantic, idiotic, and mokkori” aspects to the screen (“mokkori” being the sound of the surge of energy Ryo gets at the feeling of sexual arousal, and a key component of his status as one of anime’s most unabashed horndogs).

Long-time fans of the "City Hunter" anime might notice that Suzuki isn’t wearing Ryo’s customary pale blue sport coat, but even longer-time fans of the franchise will note, as Netflix itself does, that he’s dressed in the long coat that Ryo wore often in the manga, though only sparingly in the anime.

While Netflix sometimes shifts the setting and production of its anime-to-live-action adaptations outside of their original country of origin, "City Hunter" is going to be made in Japan, with the company promising on-site filming in Shinjuku, the part of Tokyo where Ryo plies his trade (though events often take him outside the city by the time his adventures are done). The time period, though, is being moved up to the modern day, and “in keeping with that, there will be slight updates to the characters,” Netflix says.

Suzuki is actually the third, fourth, or fifth actor to portray Ryo in live-action, depending on exactly how you’re counting. Jackie Chan starred in a 1993 Hong Kong-produced "City Hunter" movie, a very loose adaptation of the source material. In 2011 came a Korean "City Hunter" TV drama, sometimes called "City Hunter in Seoul," an even looser adaptation with the lead character changed from Ryo Saeba to Lee Yoon-sung. Next came the "Angel Heart" Japanese TV drama in 2015, based on Hojo’s "City Hunter" spinoff with Ryo living in a parallel continuity from the original series. Finally, in 2019 "Nicky Larson et le parfum de Cupidon" was released in France, a live-action adaptation of the country’s heavily localized version of the "City Hunter" anime.

Still, Netflix’s version will be the first-ever made-in-Japan live-action "City Hunter." “Our goal is to utilize the actual Shinjuku location and unique nuances of the Japanese language present in the original work to adapt it to live-action in a manner that can only be done in Japan,” the company says, and reactions from Japanese users to the announcement tweet have been decidedly positive regarding its choice of leading man.

“Nice casting!”

“Yep. He looks totally natural as Ryo.”

“Yeah, I think he can pull it off.”

“Ryohei Suzuki is almost too perfect as Ryo Saeba! Expecting good picks for the rest of the cast too.”

“I’ve been thinking about who could play a live-action Ryo since I was in elementary school, and I didn’t think anyone could make it work…but I think Suzuki can.”

“Mokkori!”

Netflix’s live-action "City Hunter" is slated for worldwide release in 2024.

Sources: Netflix, Twitter/@NetflixJP

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

Back from our interruptions of Star being a smart girl taking exams and me having a BS blog move, we are back to your regularly scheduled programming:

Blorbo Talk with Star Squared

Okay first of all that TAG ???? like omg. The fact that you think of me as the ‘talented creative friend’ I am sobbing omg. Thank you. I love sharing these blorbo fics with you so much 

Star: English reader ? No, but I shall take creative liberty cause english accents are very pleasing to do : D 

Sunny: writing British characters is one of my favourite things to do, and it’s one of my favourite parts about writing Harry Potter fanfiction - using British slang and stuff so omg yes absolutely 

Star: "actually unscrew a toilet seat lid and send it to their little sister Ginny" I FORGOT THEY DID THIS ???? 

Sunny: weird details of the HP books have stuck with me, so I couldn’t resist bringing this one up. Like just imagine an owl flying to their house with a FULL FUCKING TOILET SEAT IN ITS CLAWS 

Star: "you were always on her good side" no joke, friends mom's LOVE ME ! I am a delight to be around, according to the middle aged women who didnt birth me 

Sunny: okay like I am so 50/50 with this, because I was always super super polite and sometimes just the act of saying ‘please and thank you’ would super impress my friends’ parents and make them think I was a saint, and sometimes I was known as the corrupting force in my friends’ lives because I had blue hair and I would convince my friends to watch really gory horror movies so I was known as the ‘bad one’ because whenever my friends went out with me, we would watch horror movies and stay up too late and eat too much junk food (which is way low on the scale of bad things teenagers can do, but I was like the Scandalous One to my friends with really strict parents) 

Star: "or lose their teeth trying to eat a deck of Exploding Snap" respect 

Sunny: okay but like the fact that they give CHILDREN a card game that EXPLODES is insane. This would result in many injuries 

Star: "I haven’t been this tossed off my tits in quite a while!" CANON ENGLISH READER !!!!!! SKSKSKS fucking love that, will be stealing it 

Sunny: this so randomly came to mind and this line actually inspired the bookend parts of the fic. I just love the fact that British people will use any verb to say drunk. Like they will say ‘pissed’ and mean drunk and I love that for them 

Star: “And I really, really missed you, Fred” KSKSKSKS oh drunken confessions <3 (same vibe as "whyd you say bye squidward twice?" "i like squidward") 

Sunny: LITERALLY the same energy as ‘why’d you say bye Squidward twice’ like she extra double missed Fred and she can’t help but to say it. And then George knows that’s his queue to leave because he can’t take his brother pining over this girl for years more 

Star: "annoyance and attraction were two twigs on the same branch, the tree just needed to be shaken a little for something romantic to happen" my self ships all in one very well written sentence 

Sunny: I literally thought I was creating brilliance when I was writing this, because this describes so many existing popular ships but also it’s one of my favourite tropes to write (along with the trope in this fic - idiots to lovers) 

Star: "unsightly pieces of George left behind" horrifying : D 

Sunny: okay but the entire concept of Splinching is SO HORRIFYING. Like you could just ACCIDENTALLY LEAVE YOUR LEG BEHIND and then you don’t have a leg anymore ??? I totally understand why they have the Floo instead. I would rather only take the fucking Floo oh my god 

Star: "but he knew that you had missed him as a friend, just as a good friend" DO YOU KNOW THAT FREDERICK ?? DO YOU ???????? 

Sunny: one of my FAVOURITE PARTS of writing ‘idiots to lovers’ is thinking that the other person could NEVER think of you as anything more than a friend, and it coming as a shocking revelation when they find out. Ooomf GOOD SOUP

Star: “You’re a menace to society, Fred Weasley” dreamy sigh yeah 

Sunny: he is the most menacing EVER and I LOVE IT

Star: "Wanting to match him, you did the same" oh the flashbacks to my first (and only) ever shot… i tried to do just that, WAS NOT SUCCESFULL 

Sunny: fun fact… I write fics like this without ever having drank alcohol in my life. I don’t drink because of my chronic illness, so it’s so funny when people who actually drink read or review my fics 

Star: "Bugger off, then" fred, sweety, I think this is the time for real swearing (at least call them cunts or something) 

Sunny: OKAY BUT YOU ARE SO REAL FOR THIS OMG. I didn’t even think about this when I was writing the fic omg 

Star: "He tossed it down to the floor and it exploded into a cloud of pure, thick darkness" AAAAAAA LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO !!! this is so incredibly funny and silly, i love it here 

Sunny: one of my favourite parts of writing Harry Potter fics is that they are funny and silly. I highly enjoyed writing this lmao 

Star: "Everything about you is ‘much’, Fred" EYOOOOOO sksksks sorry 

Sunny: yes we are talking about his brilliant personality and his giant di-

Star: "you finally realised what he had been trying to say" well nothing like multiple years apart to jog one's memory 

Sunny: SERIOUSLY like they would have the kind of friendship that is so cuddly and affectionate and everyone around them would assume they are a couple or be waiting for them to just get together (like Molly and Arthur would look at them and just HEAR WEDDING BELLS) and they would be like ‘no we’re just super close best friends’ and then Y/N spends a few years away and comes back and is like FUCK HE LIKED ME THE WHOLE TIME. WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT

Star: "I thought perhaps you’d get the bloody point when I asked you to be my date to the Yule Ball” I'm absolutely that type of dumb and self sabotagy 

Sunny: this is too real. Especially because Fred probably got halfway through the night and realized that Y/N didn’t even know it was a real date, so he took her somewhere secluded and prepared another epic romantic confession, only for Snape to come by and be like ‘what are you miscreants doing, this is a restricted area, get back into the Great Hall or go to your dormitory’ and Fred almost pulled his hair out because he was interrupted yet again 

Star: "French arsehole named Pierre" hey dont say that ! …i'd never date a guy named Pierre : ) 

Sunny: okay but like fully angst mode… imagine Fred laying awake in bed at night, thinking about Y/N living in France, thinking that she left England because she had 0 interest in him and she doesn’t miss him and doesn’t think about him and she has met someone else and she’s fallen in love and she’s gonna get married and have kids and never come back and he missed his chance with the woman he’s in love with, so he thinks that he’s gonna die along hung up on her and missing her while George gets married and gets to be happy with Katie 

Star: “It’s always been you" top 3 romance tropes that kill me every time

Sunny: IT’S SO PERFECT. Also imagine how happy Molly is gonna be because the first time she sees Y/N after years, she gets to hear the news that her and Fred are FINALLY together. Perfection

Kisses Like Fire Whiskey

Fred Weasley x Fem!Gryffindor!Reader

Summary:

When you come back from a long healing apprenticeship in France, you and Fred catch up over drinks, reminiscing about your days as mischievous rebels. In the drunken haze, some important things are realized.

Fred Weasley x Fem!Gryffindor!Reader. Best Friends to Lovers. Fluff (with a slight bit of Angst). Set post Deathly Hallows and during Goblet of Fire.

Word Count: 7,500

Harry Potter Masterlist | AO3 Link

Full list of warnings and author's notes below the cut.

Warnings: this is bookended with scenes that take place after the war, but obviously this is a Fred Lives AU; part of this takes place after main storyline of Deathly Hallows and part of it takes place in a flashback during Goblet of Fire (when Fred and the reader are in their sixth year); the reader and Fred are the same age; while part of this takes places post Deathly Hallows, there isn't mentions of the war; it's never mentioned exactly how long the reader was away, but the reader and Fred are both in their early 20s in the bookended parts; drinking and drunkenness are major plot points in this fic, as well as underage drinking; underage characters being in a bar/pub; Fred and the reader both drink, but there are mentions of Fred seeming more sober than the reader/handling his alcohol better; they are drunk to the point of lowering their inhibitions, but not to the point of passing out or forgetting things; mentions of George x Katie Bell as a background ship; mentions of splinching/the dangers of Apparating while drunk (does not actually happen in the fic, everyone is fine); mentions of vomiting due to over consumption of alcohol (doesn't happen to any of the main characters of this fic, it's a very small background element); passing mention of a cursed object that makes people spit up their own blood; creepy men approach the reader (and Fred defends her) - minor sexual harassment from older men toward the reader; this does use Y/N (I started out as a Quizilla girly, I will live and die by Y/N); this is mostly just mutual pining and fluff with a love confession at the end. So please enjoy!!

A/N: when I read the original request, I was inspired to take it a lot further, and after writing The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes, I have realized that I really loving writing simplistic fics that are mutual pining that turns into a love confession. It's so much fun.

...

“So then - so then - Bill says: ‘where’s Percy?’, and Mum looks around the table and realises Perce is even there.” George chuckled brightly, topping off the telling of another one of their chaotic childhood stories. 

“‘Course, Mum blamed it on us.” Fred said, rolling his eyes. 

“As if she was wrong!” You argued, reaching out and smacking him on the shoulder playfully. 

Your words were louder to your own ears than you had intended to say them, slurring slightly on your lips. Perhaps you had more to drink than you had realised, but you were simply having fun catching up with your dearest, oldest friends. So you couldn’t bring yourself to truly care or view it as a problem. 

You were simply overjoyed to see Fred and George again. 

You were visiting England for the first time in years, and naturally, the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes shop had been your first stop. You had grown up with the twins - since your first year at Hogwarts together, they had been two of your closest friends. Ever since you had been sorted into Gryffindor with them, the three of you had been thick as thieves. Right from the moment you had suggested to them that they actually unscrew a toilet seat lid and send it to their little sister Ginny in the post when they had initially just been joking about doing so. Ginny had found it highly amusing - their mother, not so much. 

But when you met Molly for the first time in person, you were always on her good side. You were very good at playing the ‘perfect angel’ in front of authority figures (unlike the twins). So you could very easily bat your eyelashes and say a few sweet things, as well as being on your best behaviour on the surface, before sneaking around with the twins at night and helping them with their pranks - not that anyone else ever suspected you of doing so. 

You were the perfect accomplice for them. Someone who was labelled as a goody-two-shoes who was down for mischief at any time. 

You had been slightly heartbroken when you found out that they were planning to quit their Seventh Year partyway through in order to start their joke shop. You knew that it had always been a dream of theirs, and it was your dream to see them succeed in it. But a large part of you had been hoping to graduate with your best friends by your side. They had offered for you to come with them, of course. They told you that you could have a very fulfilling career at the shop. But you had other plans for yourself. 

So you watched them ride off on their brooms, cheering and hollering for them alongside everyone else. And after your graduation, you had come to visit the shop in its full glory, seeing its whimsical beauty with your own eyes before you left England. As much as you hated that your lives had taken such different paths, you admired them deeply for succeeding. 

Since then, you had been in France. You had taken on a prestigious healing apprenticeship in order to become a high level Healer. It was something you had always dreamed of doing - helping people through the skilled art of healing. 

Perhaps, in some ways, it was a career choice inspired partially by your two best friends - seeing them blow themselves up or get horrible boils testing their own products, you wanted to be able to soothe the side effects faster. And you knew that there were plenty more children out there like them. Children who would fall from trees pretending to be a dragon or lose their teeth trying to eat a deck of Exploding Snap, children who needed gentle understanding from a Healer rather than scolding. 

You had recently finished up your apprenticeship, and you were hoping to get a job at St. Mungo’s to be closer to the people you always viewed as family. But even just stepping foot back in the twins’ shop felt like home. You had been greeted with tight hugs and so much chatter between them about missing you that you could barely decipher the words between two voices. They had invited you up to the flat above the shop for a drink - so now, hours later, you were quite tipsy and feeling the best that you had in years. 

“You know boys, I haven’t - I haven’t been this tossed off my tits in quite a while!” You announced loudly, pausing between words to let out a small hiccup, signifying just how drunk you were. 

You weren’t at the level of drunk where things were unpleasant - not where the room was spinning and you were on the verge of passing out, battling with nausea. But your normal sense of proprietary had definitely been tossed out the window, you felt fuzzy around the edges, and everything felt delightfully warm. Especially considering you had been drinking Fire Whiskey. 

You hadn’t had a drink all throughout your apprenticeship, as much as the other young people working with you encouraged you to ‘take a load off’ every once and a while. Your work was something that you took very seriously (especially when Fred and George weren’t around to tempt you with pranks and daily mischief). So this was the first time in a long time that you had actually taken the time to relax, and the alcohol was hitting you a lot harder than even you realised. 

The boys chuckled at your words, George turning bright red from how hard he was laughing. Perhaps the booze was hitting him pretty hard too. While Fred’s eyes were dancing with that brightness they always had when he was having fun, he didn’t seem quite as sloppy. You hadn’t been paying attention, but he likely didn’t have as much to drink, and had simply been enjoying your company the entire time. 

“You know, I really missed you, Fred and George.” You said, pure sincerity dripping through your tone, your affection amplified in your chest by your drunkenness. You couldn’t hold yourself back - your emotions bubbling to the surface without your consent. “And I really, really missed you, Fred.” 

You turned to him, putting a warm hand on his shoulder, your touch practically burning up through the sleeve of his silken shirt (you were surprised by how nicely the twins dressed now that they were established bussinessmen). You hated that you couldn’t hold back the need to emphasise the fact that you had missed Fred just a bit more. But he had been on your mind a lot more than his brother had, as scarily similar as they were. 

Even if you had barely admitted it to yourself, throughout all your years at Hogwarts, you had a romantic inclination towards Fred. 

It was never something you had acted on, for fear of ruining the amazing friendship that the two of you had. But as your visit to England grew closer and closer, you found yourself losing focus on your work and thinking about him more and more. You wondered if he had found someone - you wondered if his good looks, his charm, his humour had landed him a wife in the time that you had been gone. It wouldn’t have surprised you if, during the time you had been gone, he had married or even had kids.

Obviously he had a wonderful career nailed down, so a family would have been the natural next step for him.  

Those thoughts made you approach the shop’s door with equal parts dread and excitement. You eagerly wanted to see him again but didn’t want to see that there was a ring on his finger. You had been all too happy to find out during your long, winding ‘catch up’ conversation that, in fact, he was still single. George had brought up that fact more than once, actually, nagging on his brother’s lonely status like it was the most recent funny joke he could prod at. 

When you heard him talk about it, there was that insecurity still bubbling beneath the surface - the thought that you had missed your chance, or that Fred had never been interested in you romantically at all. It was something that couldn’t even be knocked away by booze, and that was gnawing at you now that storytime was winding down. 

Fred and George exchanged a look - one of those silent conversations that could only be had through micro-expressions because of their closeness as twins. It was something that had always deeply irritated you during your days at Hogwarts, desperately trying to decipher if it meant ‘close to expulsion’ trouble or simply ‘skipping a class’ trouble.

“Well, would you look at the time,” George said, loudly and rather cartoonishly as he looked at his watch. It was something that you likely would have found suspect if you weren’t feeling hazy and drunk. “I told Katie I would pop over to hers sometime this weekend, so I should get going,” 

Something that had come as a brilliant surprise to you: finding out that George was now engaged to Katie Bell. 

Not only were you shocked to know that George seemed more than eager to ‘settle down’ and get married, but you were entirely curious about how they came to be as a couple. Especially considering that, as far as you knew, she had always seemed to find the twins’ pranks more annoying than anything else. 

But you supposed that annoyance and attraction were two twigs on the same branch, the tree just needed to be shaken a little for something romantic to happen. The two of them hadn’t officially moved in together yet, as much as George talked about her with those sweet, rose-coloured lenses, and seemed to want to spend all his time around her. The twins still lived in the flat above the shop, two twin beds in the bedroom, as they always had in their room at the Burrow. But from the way Fred remarked on it, and from what you had seen glancing into their bedroom when you had gotten up to use the toilet, George was over at Katie’s far more than he was at their flat. 

You couldn’t help but to find it sweet. George was in love. 

It made you happy for him, knowing that he had found someone good for him. But thinking about it caused a pang in your chest as you wondered if Fred was lonely. You knew that loneliness certainly wasn’t a feeling that he was used to. If it was you or George, or one of his many other brothers, he always had someone at his side to keep him company. 

You could only imagine what those nights were like - when the shop closed up and George popped off to his soon to be wife’s place, leaving Fred to nothing but the quiet. (You knew that Weasleys were never good with quiet - part of the reason that the twins were the way that they were.) 

George peeled himself off the floor, where the three of you had been sitting around the coffee table in the lounge. Like a gangly baby deer, he began stumbling about due to his own drunkenness before he gained a proper footing and finally managed to stand up straight. You let out a snorting laugh at the sight and Fred - very clearly the most sober of the three of you - rushed out of his seat to grab George by the shoulders, making sure that his brother was alright. 

“You sure that you’re okay to Apparate, Georgie?” Fred asked.

That kindness, that caring - it was something people often overlooked when they saw Fred Weasley. But it was one of the things that had drawn you to him the most. He was such a sweet person, and he cared about the people in his life with such a ferocity that it made your soul ache just to know that you were one of them. 

“I’ll be fine, Freddie.” George replied. 

Fred picked up George’s coat and began helping him into it, and you barely paid attention to the hushed conversation that the two of them had as you picked up the large (now rather light) bottle of Fire Whiskey and poured yourself another drink. 

You caught something online the lines of ‘just go for it, for Merlin’s sake’ - very strained and annoyed, but you honestly had no clue what they were talking about. As you took a sip of your drink - you truly didn’t care. 

Fred heaved out a sigh and then George disappeared with a crack. You craned your neck to look at the spot where he had been, just wanting to make sure that there was no blood or unsightly pieces of George left behind. There weren’t any - he had done fine.

“Havin’ another one, are we?” Fred remarked, walking around the coffee table to collapse onto the plush couch behind your back. 

You chugged the rest of the Fire Whiskey from your glass all in one go, growling slightly as it burned sharply down your throat before you put the glass down once again. 

“I’m celebrating!” You cheered loudly - again, much louder than you intended it to be. “I missed my best friends so much. It’s so - so good to be home.” 

“But apparently you missed me just a bit more?” Fred chuckled, referring to your comment from before. 

You moved to get up on the couch with him, and found your legs unsteady beneath you. Fred saw what you were doing and put a hand on your upper arm, hauling you back to sit on the cushions beside him. You moaned quietly at the warmth of his large hand on your bare skin, exposed by the camisole you were wearing. At one point, you had been wearing a nice cardigan, but you had stripped out of it as the alcohol drove your body temperature up.

You leaned back into the couch, and cuddled up against him. His body was soft and muscled at the same time, and he felt so nice against you. With your inhibitions lowered, you could see no fault in snuggling tightly into his side and laying your head on his chest. You wanted to simply enjoy the physical affection from a person you had missed so dearly. 

You didn’t see the pure warring on Fred’s face as you did this - the confliction and yearning and hurt flashing over his features. He had missed you too, but he knew that you had missed him as a friend, just as a good friend, and not as the ‘one that got away’ that he had been thinking about every damn day since. But he could be cool about this, he told himself. He wouldn’t let his stupid feelings get in the way. 

After a moment of pushing those pesky feelings back down, he finally relaxed into your touches and wrapped an arm around you, lazily brushing his fingers across the bare skin of your arm on the other side. You sighed happily at the feeling. From this close, he could smell the feminine floral waft of your perfume in combination with the hot cinnamon of the Fire Whiskey. And though it only made him yearn more, it was heaven. 

He was all too happy to have you this close rather than you being so far away in France. He was happy to have you home. 

“Do you want to stay the night?” He asked. “George’s bed will be empty, of course.” 

He added on that second part quickly - he wanted you to feel comfortable, didn’t want to put any pressure on you to keep up this closeness, even if you seemed cuddly and affectionate because of your drunken state. 

Originally, you had been planning to get a room at The Leaky Cauldron, but the twins’ shop had been your very first stop, and they had torn your suitcase out of your hands to bring it upstairs for you, so it was currently sitting off to the side of the lounge with your coat draped over it. And you never did get that room. Now, you realised it was laughable to think that you’d be staying anywhere but with friends, especially with the Molly Weasley hospitality baked right into them. You had to assume that even if George wasn’t at Katie’s, he would have slept on the couch so that you could take his bed anyway. 

“Freddie, you know, I don’t think I’m going to get very far.” You said. “You - you got me pretty d-drunk.” 

Fred smiled to himself. “Ah, I see. Once again, it is all my fault.” 

It was something you did at large during your days at Hogwarts. You blamed him for yourself being late to class, you getting detentions, the few times you had ended up on Molly’s bad side. When in reality, you had always been a cheerful, willing participant in their chaos, you had always ‘blamed’ him for dragging you into it. But it only made him tempt you into more trouble. 

“It is,” You sighed, turning your head to give him a wide grin. “You always g-get me into trouble.” 

Fred let out a quiet laugh at this, and you laid your head on this chest once again. The two of you mulled in the comfortable silence for a few moments before you thought of something. 

“You know, this-s reminds me, of - of the first time you got me drunk.” You told him with a laugh. 

“Oh, god, back in sixth year?” He posed, returning to the memory himself. “That was epic. I still don’t know if I’d call it an epic disaster, or epic fun.” 

“Bit of both.” You mumbled quietly. “Always is with you.” 

Sitting there, curled up next to the lovely warmth of him, you remembered the night so fondly. 

… 

Leave it to Fred Weasley to pull you out of bed at half past two in the morning with no solid explanation as to why, aside from ‘we have plans’. 

When you asked him why he couldn’t conduct those plans with George, as he usually did, he simply smirked and said that George had plans of his own. Which deeply worried you - but you tried your best to ignore it. You knew from experience that Fred wasn’t a walking troublemaker all the time. 

In fact, the events of just a short week ago had proven that to you. He had invited you to the Yule Ball (as friends, of course) and the entire evening had been absolutely pleasant. No pranks - no water balloons, no coloured dye, no buckets of feathers, no charmed objects, no floods. It had been nothing but a delightful night of dancing and chatting with your friends. 

Even now, as Fred pulled you into the mouth of a very small passageway that you had never seen before (one that caused you to slump over in order to walk through it), you pulled your scarf tighter around yourself and tried your hardest not to worry about what he might be up to. At the very least, if he was planning something large and disruptive, you would know about it, so that you wouldn’t be on the receiving end.

He had told you that these ‘plans’ involved going outdoors, so you had bundled up well, because there was still quite a few feet of snow outside and it was chilly, seeing as it was so late at night. But you hadn’t expected it to be so damn cold, walking in a random mystery tunnel underneath the school. Again, you had no clue where he was taking you or where the thing even led - you were simply glad when it became tall enough for you to straighten your back up. 

“Where are we going, Fred?” You demanded harshly. 

“You’ll see.” Fred told you, throwing a wicked grin over his shoulder at you as he continued to lead you forward through the darkness - the light of his wand being the only thing leading the way in the musty old tunnel. 

“Nothing good ever happens when you say those words.” You replied, heaving a deep sigh. 

“Well, perhaps, you could keep your mind open this time.” He said brightly. “Loosen up. Be open to all the possibilities that the universe has to offer you,” 

You rolled your eyes at this. He was trying to direct your attention away from whatever scheme he had planned, that much was immediately clear to you. 

“Is this an escape tunnel out of the country because you finally did something bad enough for your mother to kill you?” You joked. “Let me guess, you’re meeting George in Germany? What was it that finally pushed her over the edge? Did she find out that you two took bets at the World Cup? Did she find out about the-?” 

Your words were abruptly cut off when Fred tapped his wand on the wall in front of him. It was a seemingly a dead end wall made of stone, keeping the two of you trapped at the end of the tunnel. But when he whispered some incantation under his breath, the stone began to grind loudly and it parted ways - letting in a gust of cold air from the outside, revealing the way out. 

Fred stepped forward and you continued to follow him. As the stone grinded closed behind the two of you (now disguised as nothing more than a large, natural boulder) you gaped with shock as you saw a cluster of lights just down the hill and you quickly realised what it was. 

“Hogsmeade.” You declared quietly, entirely shocked that you had walked through a dirty tunnel and ended up here. 

Somehow, without getting caught - without setting off any charms that should supposedly be in place to keep the students on the school’s grounds. 

Fred nodded proudly, grinning at you.

“How-?” You gaped. 

“I have my ways, don’t I?” Fred said, his chest visibly puffing out with pride. 

You decided not to question it. Especially because you fully understood it now - Fred was bored, he knew a way out of the school, and he simply wanted to have fun in Hogsmeade instead of laying in bed that night. 

Fred took a hold of your hand as the two of you walked into town, and you took a quiet joy in observing Hogsmeade at night. Quite a few of the shops were closed, due to it being so late, which did make you wonder why Fred had even bothered to bring you there. 

But he soon answered your question when he brought you to The Three Broomsticks - which was lit up, bustling and lively at this time. You knew that the front door was enchanted to alert the owner of underage wizards trying to pass through at certain times. Before you could even wonder what Fred’s plan was for that one - he led you around to the back, and he caught the back door out of someone’s hand as they ran outside and began puking in a snowbank, obviously unable to handle their liquor. 

The two of you slipped in the back door completely undetected, seeing as it didn’t have those same enchantments to alert the owner of your presence. You began tingling with the glee that you always wore whenever Fred pulled you along to perform some mischief. You felt so joyous when you paired up to share wicked secrets with him. Fred had a talent for getting away with things (and other times, he so fabulously didn’t) - but he got away with a lot more than anybody ever realised, right under their noses. You felt clever just being around him most of the time.

With all the confidence in the world, still holding your hand, Fred pushed past some other rowdy patrons and waltzed right up to the bar. He tossed down a few Sickles (bet money that he and George had won from the World Cup, you could guarantee) and you couldn’t help but to grin at him as so confidently placed an order. 

“Two Fire Whiskeys, please.” He announced, never once skipping a beat or faltering as any other underage person in a bar would. 

It was strange to say, but Fred wore playful deception so well. You knew that you were staring at him with intense attraction written all over your face as you admired his antics. You simply hoped that he wouldn’t catch the love dopey look on your face and call you out on it. 

“Coming right up, love-” Madam Rosmerta began to comply with his request without issue, but she took pause when she looked up from drying a glass with a rag long enough to truly look at the two of you. 

That was the moment you thought it was over, for sure. You thought that she would send an angry owl up to Hogwarts, and the two of you would be done for. You began to imagine what kind of sick and twisted punishment McGonagall would have in store for the two of you - scrubbing cauldrons for weeks, trimming all the grass on the Quidditch pitch with scissors. 

But somehow, Fred was a lot more clever than that. He wasn’t going to give up and simply let himself be caught. 

“Aren’t you two a little… young to be in here?” She posed, glancing between the two of you and then looking back toward the front door, as though she was expecting the enchantments to suddenly begin wailing to alert her to a couple of underage wizards in the pub. Even though the two of you had successfully made it all the way over to the bar without that happening. 

“Young?” Fred scoffed, putting on his very best tone of fake offence. “Honestly, woman, why would a couple of kids be in a pub at three in the morning?” 

Rosmerta raised a brow at him, making it clear that she didn’t buy this - at least not yet. 

Your stomach curled with nerves, and you tried your hardest not to show it on your face. You knew that this would either end in a spectacular punishment, or Fred would pull off one of his greatest hoaxes yet. 

“Perhaps you might recognize us from when we were Hogwarts students,” Fred shrugged, trying his best to sound casual. “But we graduated year before last. And we just got off a very long shift with the Department of Cursed Objects, and we would simply like a drink.” 

“Yeah, that last one was a doozy.” Your tongue moved before you gave it permission, and you found yourself leaning on the bar as you added onto Fred’s lie. “We had to hunt down this set of silver teaware that poisoned anyone who drank out of it. They were spitting up blood, and rotting from the inside out, choking on their own-” 

“My apologies.” Rosmerta said, giving a curt smile. Clearly, she was increasingly uncomfortable with the graphic nature of your made-up story, and simply wanted you and Fred out of her way. “You must be right. The students from the school all start to blend together after the years. How ‘bout that drink then?” 

She turned to grab a pair of non-cursed glasses, and when you glanced over at Fred, he was grinning widely at you. 

“Good one.” He whispered into your ear, and you couldn’t help the shiver that went through you at the feeling of his hot breath on your neck. If asked, you would say that it was caused by the chill of someone opening the door, and not caused by your unbearable attraction to him. 

When the drinks were placed on the bar in front of you, Rosmerta scurried off to attend to someone else. You picked up the glass that was half filled with the amber liquid, feeling intense victory and satisfaction flowing through you. In a predictable pattern, you and Fred gently clinked your glasses together. 

But rather than making a congratulatory toast in celebration of getting away with the lies, you grinned widely at him as you said this: 

“You’re a menace to society, Fred Weasley.” 

“You love it.” He replied easily, giving you a cheeky wink as he tossed back the liquid in one clean gulp. He winced slightly and sucked in a breath sharply through his teeth. But it was clearly not his first time drinking, and you had to guess that Bill was the one responsible for that. 

Wanting to match him, you did the same - you tipped the glass back, letting all of the liquid slide past your lips and down your throat in one go. It burnt sharply in a way that you absolutely weren’t expecting, and you began coughing and sputtering, giving away your amateur nature in one glance. It was lucky that Rosmerta wasn’t looking. Fred rubbed your back soothingly, though he did take a moment to laugh at you. 

“Burns, doesn’t it?” He chuckled. 

“You c-could’ve warned me.” 

… 

A short while later, the burn of the alcohol was certainly no longer a concern for you. You supposed that was part of the point - if booze made you drunk and detached from yourself, they didn’t have to make it taste good. Because after a while, you just didn’t taste it. 

You and Fred were three rounds deep, and even though he was matching you drink for drink, he was far more composed than you were. He hardly seemed drunk at all, other than the cute way he giggled at your jokes. Perhaps it was because of his height, or his Quidditch playing muscles, but he was handling his alcohol surprisingly well. 

You, on the other hand - you were properly sloshed. 

You had shed most of your winter clothing and spread the pieces haphazardly around the table that Fred had sat the two of you at. And you were currently trying to balance one of the empty shot glasses on your forehead - just to prove that you could, while Fred watched on in amusement. 

Of course, he was partially amused by your drunken antics, and partially watching your cleavage threaten to burst out of your tight, V neck tee shirt as you arched your back furiously, trying to keep the glass balanced there. Since you had shed off your jacket and thick jumper, this was what you were left in, along with your tight jeans and boots - and Fred found that he couldn’t keep his eyes off you. 

“See! Told you I could do it!” You cheered, proud of yourself as you finally reached up and took the glass down, and then moved back to sit in your chair in front of Fred. 

He couldn’t help but to smile at you. Honestly, he would never doubt you in anything you set your mind to. If you said that you could walk up walls or make Snape dance a jig, he would simply wait to watch it happen. 

As he watched your proud smile and the way that the slightly drunken confidence caused you to sit up a bit taller, seeing the light from the fireplace gently kiss your skin - he was reminded of why he had brought you here in the first place. He let the alcohol in his own system give him courage (something that had been built into the plan) and he reached across the table, grabbing your hand gently with both of his. 

The suddenly serious look that befell Fred’s face surprised you. That sense of surprise only grew when he took hold of your hand. He had more than captured your attention as he began to speak. 

“Y/N, there’s something I really need to tell you.” Fred announced, his voice taking on a very rare serious quality. 

It was something you had only heard from him when he talked about the possible ways to fund his joke shop or when you had fallen off a broom playing Quidditch at the Burrow and he had been worried about you being hurt. You nodded, stunned into silence, wondering if this meant bad news coming, eager for him to continue. 

“Y/N, darling, you truly are the most amazing thing in my life.” He said, giving a small smile. Hearing this made your stomach tingle - it made the clasp of his hands around yours feel warmer. “You are so utterly brilliant. And you’re funny, and you’re the only girl I know who actually laughs at the stupid pranks I pull. I absolutely love spending time with you. I genuinely can’t imagine my life without you. So much so, that-” 

“Hello, sweet thing.” 

Fred’s words were disrupted by a deep voice, someone behind you who grumbled out these words and then let out a low whistle. 

It took you a moment to realise that it was even directed at you. But when Fred’s face switched from that sweet smile to a harsh glare - a look that was rare for him, you followed his intense gaze over your shoulder to see what he was looking at. 

It was a group of three men, much older than you, greasy-haired, wearing dark cloaks - staring at you like a pack of coyotes would stare at a hunk of fresh meat. Their gaze immediately made you feel naked, and though you were blazen hot, between the Fire Whiskey coursing through your system and the heat of the fireplace licking at you nearby, you had the urge to grab your jumper and pull it on over your head simply so that they would stop looking. 

“Now what is a pretty thing like you doing in this dirty old pub?” One of the men asked, his voice feeling filthy in your ears and causing your spine to curl with disgust and something that you would hesitate to admit was fear. “Surely you must be lost, sweet thing. Need someone to show you the way home, then?” 

You quickly jumped out of your chair and moved around the table to Fred’s side, where he had risen and easily swept you into his side with an arm around your shoulders. In a moment, you felt safer under his protective touch as he continued to glare at the men. 

“Bugger off, then!” Fred ordered sharply. 

“Oh, ‘bugger off’,” One of the others mocked Fred’s words in a whiny tone - clearly they didn’t take him seriously because he was obviously younger, even if he was quite tall for his age. 

“What are you, her little boyfriend?” Another one of them joked. 

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.” Fred stated confidently, tossing in the obvious lie. “And I can tell you that brushing your teeth is one of the first requirements to getting a woman of this calibre,” 

You resisted the urge to laugh at how his statement made their faces immediately meek and embarrassed. 

“Well, if she wants a real man, that’s up to her to decide.” The man said gruffly. “Innit, princess?” 

When he tossed out the nickname, you felt bile curl in your stomach, and it took you only a second to move when Fred uttered his next words to you. 

“Grab your coat. We’re leaving.” 

You scrambled around the table to get your jumper, mittens, hat, scarf, and your coat. As you were reaching across to one of the chairs to grab the last item, one of the men actually had the audacity to grab your wrist, stopping you from pulling back with the item in hand. 

“If the girl wants to stay and have fun, that’s her choice.” He grumbled. 

You wanted to tout that no, your idea of fun wasn’t hanging around men like this, but your voice was shrunken down into your throat with fear. 

His grip around you was stiff and painful, and you immediately looked to Fred - whose jaw was set with a seething anger that you had only seen in him once before (when Malfoy had dared to insult Ginny right in front of him). He reached one hand into his pocket and leaned on the table with the other hand. 

The man still didn’t let go of you, and you wondered if Fred’s hand was sitting on his wand in his pocket. 

“Listen, bud, I don’t speak troll, so I’ll say this very slowly for you,” Fred announced, his voice dark with anger. “Let. Her. Go.” 

The man immediately became outraged at being called a troll, and he moved his hand off your wrist, curling it into a hefty fist that he moved to swing at Fred’s head. 

Fred ducked out of the way seamlessly, and you pulled your coat into the pile of clothes at your chest as Fred’s hand came out of his pocket with a lump of something black that looked almost like ordinary coal. He tossed it down to the floor and it exploded into a cloud of pure, thick darkness. Before you could truly comprehend what was going on, Fred’s comforting arm was around your shoulders, guiding you back out the back door of the pub. 

You were thankful to be surrounded by cool air, the anxiety unwinding around you as Fred guided you away from the scene. 

“Freddie, that was amazing!” You gasped, more than happy to praise him for saving you from those creeps. 

You trudged along through the snow, incredibly chilly now that the wind kissed your bare arms and you held your jumper and your jacket rather than wearing them. But you were distracted from that feeling as you stared at the pub. You heard muffled coughs and voices loudly complaining, and as you circled around to the front, you saw the dark smoke overtaking any light that was inside, so much so that it began to pour out from the chimney and leak out of the cracks around the front door. 

“What was that?” You had to ask, looking on in pure curiosity of the concoction that he had released into the pub. 

“...new product George and I have been working on,” Fred admitted, his voice quivering with nerves slightly as he heard the coughs and sputters from inside. “Should probably adjust the size of the pellets, though. That was a bit… much.” 

“Everything about you is ‘much’, Fred.” You said, still feeling that beautiful drunken warmth. It morphed into pure admiration toward him that you could hardly hold back. “That’s what makes you great.” 

Fred chuckled at this. 

He helped you get dressed back in your warm clothes, and the two of you walked back to the castle through that secret tunnel once again. He never quite built up the courage to get back to that topic he had so badly wanted to discuss - the entire reason he had taken you to Hogsmeade in the first place. But he basked in the simple joys of the night as the two of you talked in the Gryffindor common room and eventually, you fell asleep cuddled up to his chest while lounging on a couch in front of the fire. 

… 

Now, all these years later, curled up on the couch with him much like you had been that night - you finally realised what he had been trying to say. 

“Oh my god.” You gasped quietly, opening your eyes and sitting stark upright. 

Fred was surprised by this, seeing as he thought that you were starting to fall asleep on his chest. He had been sitting there quietly, mentally debating if he should levitate you to bed or risk the neck cramps of sleeping upright on the couch himself. 

“What?” He asked quietly, feeling entirely clueless. 

“Oh. My. God!” You screamed, jumping off the couch and pointing an accusatory finger at him. 

“What? What?!” He asked, the word growing in volume and sense of alarm in his mouth the longer you went without telling him what was wrong. 

“That day - that day-” You were struggling to gather your thoughts into words, a drunken slur still slightly evident on your tongue. Though the anxiety and panic that had suddenly set in had woken up quite a few of your senses.

“What? What day?” Fred parroted back, even more confused. 

“That day.” You repeated, pressing emphasis on the word. “That time, back in sixth year, when we snuck out to Hogsmeade.” 

A look of dawning came across Fred’s features, and he became more sullen than you had ever seen him. It was something that punched you sharply in the chest as the realisation hit you even harder now. 

You had been so stupid. How could you not have known it back then? 

“You… you were gonna confess your feelings to me.” You said quietly, almost afraid to speak the words aloud. 

Perhaps he could have saved himself some pain if he lied, but he saw no good sense in denying it. 

“Yes.” He said quietly, unshed tears scraping the inside of his throat. 

“What-?” Now it was your turn to gape with confusion. “Was that the only time? Why then?” 

“That certainly was not the only bloody time.” Fred chuckled, the laughter sounding heavy and dark in his throat rather than joyous and light as it usually did coming from him. “I tried about a million other times before then - at the Quidditch World Cup, before we ran into your cousins who just so desperately needed your attention. On the train that year, before Katie burst in and stole you away to chat on about what a great summer you had. I thought perhaps you’d get the bloody point when I asked you to be my date to the Yule Ball.” 

It felt as though an icy shard was shoved right through your heart. 

You had been so stupid. 

“I - I thought you asked me to go as friends.” You told him, entirely honest about your viewpoint. 

“Well that just makes me feel like the biggest arse in existence.” Fred shrugged. 

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” You barked out, feeling an intense frustration rush over you. 

You felt indignant, annoyed. You felt like something had been stolen from you - information, time that you should have spent with Fred as your boyfriend rather than the time you had spent simply wishing he was. 

Fred scoffed at this, clearly hurt. 

“Well, Y/N, at a certain point, I lost my balls!” He shouted back. That was a harsh thing to imagine - Fred Weasley losing the courage to take a risk. “I thought that after all the damn interruptions, the universe just didn’t want you to know that I’m hopeless bleedin’ in love with you.” 

Your throat clenched up when he said it in the present tense - said like he still had those feelings for you. You wanted so badly to say it back, but your voice was caught in your throat for a harsh moment. It caused a pitiable silence over the room that made him rush to continue.

“Honestly, I thought - I thought it might be different after you left.” 

He said quietly, his voice breaking around the words slightly. 

“I thought that not seeing you every day… that I might be able to forget how I felt. But it only got worse. I thought about you every single day, and I missed you so badly. And now that you’re standing here in front of me - now, you’re not just some girl I fancied in school, now… you have turned into this magnificent woman that I love. And it would be my biggest regret if you didn’t know that.” 

Fred confessed, his words so passionate that it caused tingles down your spine, and goosebumps across your arms. 

“But you’re probably so drunk that you won’t remember this in the morning, and there’s probably some French arsehole named Pierre waiting for you-” 

“There’s no one else.” You quickly blurted out, suddenly finding your voice. 

Your body finally caught up to your mind, bursting with the urge for him to know this. 

“It’s always been you, Fred Weasley.” You announced, your words slicing through the air like a diamond cutting through glass. 

His eyes lit up and this, and he stared at you with the slightest bit of hope dancing across his features as he waited, holding his breath for you to possibly confirm the thing he had been dreaming about for years. 

“And I certainly won’t forget this. No booze or potion - nothing could make me forget you saying the words I have always wanted to hear.” 

You reached out and took a tight grip on the front of his shirt, pulling him toward you with force - you slammed your lips into his, finally doing the thing you had been dreaming of since you were a teenager. He let out a moan as you kissed him with as much intense passion as he had put into his words. Right as his tongue snaked toward your lips, you pulled back for a breath, and simply for good measure: 

“I love you, Fred.” You breathed out. 

“Oh, thank Merlin.”