#like seriously why are eleven’s relatives so cool?

[gonegrove]

Henry and Kali should honestly hang out they’d be besties they both hate capitalism so much it turned them into apocalypse and magneto respectively

[saphronethaleph]

Legally Mandated Vacation Days

The holoprojector in Palpatine’s private quarters activated, an image shimmering to life, and Palpatine smiled in anticipation of seeing Vader kneeling before him.

That lasted approximately half a second, until he saw the actual image.

“Your Majesty!” an extremely nervous Imperial Navy lieutenant said, saluting. “It’s an honour to-”

“Where is Vader?” Palpatine asked. “This is his personal hologram frequency!”

“Ah… Lord Vader assigned me to take his calls while he was away,” the lieutenant explained. “It’s, ah… an honour to be speaking to you… do you have a message?”

“Away?” Palpatine repeated. “Why is Vader away?”

“I don’t know!” the lieutenant protested. “Your Majesty, I don’t know anything more than what I’ve told you – he just told me to take his calls and said he was using up some annual leave, since he hadn’t taken any since the year one.”

It took Palpatine a fraction of a second to actually calculate what that meant, because replacing the calendar when he came to unquestioned power had been what the youth called ‘a flex’ but it had also caused significant calendrical chaos and he personally still thought in the old system at least half the time.

Eleven years, then. Vader had eleven years of stored up annual leave, and he was choosing to expend some.

“Where did he go?” Palpatine asked.

“I didn’t ask!” the lieutenant replied. “Your Majesty, I didn’t want to die, and also I don’t think I’m allowed to ask anyway…”

Palpatine glowered at the hologram, then untensed.

Marginally.

“Inform Vader that I want to speak to him as soon as possible,” he said, then ended the call before the lieutenant could start fawning again.

“Uncle Owen!” Luke called, running down the steps of the homestead. “Aunt Beru! Someone’s coming!”

“We’d better see what this is about, then,” Owen Lars decided. “Did you recognize them?”

The pre-teen looked thoughtful.

“Don’t think so,” he said. “Whoever it was, they were wearing black. Not sure why.”

“Black robes are just as cool as white,” Beru commented. “I know black gets hotter, but it doesn’t reach the skin.”

Luke frowned.

“It might have been robes,” he said. “Don’t know.”

“Well, let’s see who it is,” Owen decided.

Beru’s gaze darted to where one of their blasters was hidden, as Owen headed up the stairs.

“Oh kriff,” Owen said, in a tiny voice.

Then a black shape, like death, came down the stairs.

The figure in the armoured suit and cloak wasn’t really forcing Owen to retreat, not really.

Not through any physical means, or otherwise.

He was just… walking, and Owen was responding in an instinctive sort of way to get out of the way of Darth Vader, the Emperor’s Enforcer, the sign of death across the whole of the known galaxy.

Upon reaching floor level, Vader examined Beru, then Luke, then the room around them.

“So,” Darth Vader said, in a dread but awkward voice. “How have you been doing?”

It took all those present several seconds to find their voices.

“...what?” Owen asked, eventually.

“I know it has been a while,” Vader went on, then stopped. “…ah, of course. It is unsurprising you fail to recognize me. I… was not wearing this, before.”

“Then who are you?” Beru asked. “You’re acting like you know us, but… you’re Darth Vader.”

“Yes,” Vader agreed. “I… have had a complicated last few months. I ran into someone from my past. We fought. I was seriously injured, and it gave me reason to consider what I have made of my life. About the relatives that I have failed to visit.”

Owen and Beru exchanged glances, then both looked at Luke.

“Are you really Darth Vader?” Luke said, sounding fascinated. “Everyone says you’re really scary, but you’re in our kitchen and I don’t know if that means you’re scary.”

“I am extremely scary,” Vader replied, in tones of either great seriousness or impressive deadpan. “I have killed people for annoying me. I have killed people who did not have the time to annoy me.”

“Did you cut their heads off?” Luke asked, in that way that children can. “I’ve never seen that happen but it sounds like it’d be really messy. There’s two bits of person then.”

Vader made a sound that, charitably, could be interpreted as chuckling.

“It appears I have been remiss in not talking about my work to my step-brother’s child,” he said. “I approve of you, child.”

“Step-brother’s child…” Owen said, then his eyes went wide. “You’re – you’re Anakin!?”

Vader tilted his head slightly. “Who else would I be?”

“I’ve got relatives,” Beru pointed out. “I wouldn’t have thought any of them was Darth Vader, but… we thought Anakin was dead.”

Vader appeared to think about that.

“I can see why you would think that,” he admitted.

“Does that mean you’re my dad?” Luke asked.

Vader did a double take.

“What,” he said.

For a moment, simmering anger filled the room, then it faded away.

“I suppose if you thought that I was dead, then taking in my child would be reasonable,” he conceded. “As my only surviving relatives of any sort.”

“I’ll get some water for us to share?” Beru suggested, falling back on basic hospitality. And on a way to get out of the sight of the others for a minute.

She was going to need to comm Ben Kenobi to stay the absolute kriff away from the homestead for now.

It was at least possible that Vader – Anakin – whichever would be more interested in his very much alive and present son he was reconnecting with than a mention of an absent Kenobi somewhere else on the planet who made Luke toys.

Kenobi here? The fight would destroy the homestead, and that would make it considerably more difficult to keep Luke safe… even with how the difficulty of that had jumped significantly in the last ten minutes.

[sage-writing]

Love In The Water

swimmer! Ari Levinson x female trainer! reader

Sport: competitive swimming

Decade: 1980s

Summary: Being Ari's swimming coach is more difficult than you thought. Until there is a little confession.

Word count: ~1.9k

Warnings: actually pretty fluff, minor smut, mention of pregnancy [still 18+, minors do not interact and please leave my blog]

A/N: Entry for @syntheticavenger In it to win it Challenge. Congratulations on your 11k🥳🎉This challenge was so much fun. Thank you for organizing this, helping me out and giving me the courage to post this after my long break here ❣️ I chose the song "Africa" to add a little spice to it.

Enjoy!

Annoyed, you took another look at your watch. Ari was never able to be on time. He was probably curing his hangover once again.

Frustrated, you sat down at the edge of the swimming area and put your feet into the cool clear water of the pool. For 2 months you had already been Ari Levinson's swim trainer and he was already getting on your last nerve.

It was relatively quiet here. Some other athletes were training alone. But yours didn't even manage to be on time for the guided workouts.

A few minutes later, Ari came sauntering out of the club house with one hand loosely in the pocket of his swim shorts and a cup of coffee in the other.

"You're late." You said angrily when he finally arrived at your place. If there was one thing you couldn't stand, it was Ari's outstanding ability to be inattentive and flippant in any situation. It was important to stick to the training schedule and there wasn't much time left until the next competition. Only hard work could still turn the situation around.

Ari sipped his coffee in a leisurely manner.

"It's only eleven minutes. Lighten up, it's a beautiful day, no need to stress."

Arguing wouldn't do any good, so you just decide to get on with it.

"You know you shouldn't wear those loose swimming shorts. They increase your resistance in the water and just make you slow."

"Yeah I know, but those Speedos are so tight down there." he whined like a little kid and didn't take you seriously.

Your patience was wearing thin. You snatched his coffee cup out of his hand. 

"Hands out of your pockets and into the water. 11 lanes. One for every minute late. And that's not counting as a warm-up yet. Move out."

Ari wanted to reach for the radio, because he loved to listen to music while swimming. You could not understand it, because through the water hardly any sounds came through to him, but he said he liked it especially when the sounds were slightly muffled. You took the radio out of his reach.

"If you'd been on time, you'd be listening to music now."

Finally, Ari obeyed and got into position on the starting block while you lined up at his level on the poolside.

"Front crawl, bilateral breathing, after every third stroke. On my signal.

3...2...1." Vigorously blowing the whistle, you started the stopwatch. Ari lunged forward and dove into the water like an arrow.

The training went sluggishly. Ari kept swimming his penalty laps and warm-up fast and technically clean.

Later, however, his technique became sloppy, arrhythmic and he made mistakes.

With another blow of the whistle you signaled Ari to stop after the current lane.

You just had to vent your frustration.

"Levinson, where are you with your thoughts?" Sighing, you pinched your bridge of your nose.

"Why so tense, coach?" 

"Tense?! That's an understatement. Practice with you is a disaster. You're always late, unfocused, and don't follow my instructions as a coach. You're only at the club parties in the evenings, constantly flirting with other women, probably still hooking up with them, and that's why you're not in shape in the morning. How are we ever going to make progress like that?" Your voice was getting steadily louder.

Ari only responded to your harsh criticism with a grin.

"Is someone jealous?"

"Pretty thin ice, Levinson. I wouldn't mind throwing my job out on the line." 

Only now did he seem to realize how serious you were. His grin disappeared, and with a flourish he pulled himself up on the edge of the pool and stood in front of you, dripping wet. The light was refracted in the many small drops of water so his skin glistened in the sun.

"You know what? We're going to stop the training here. If you can't take me seriously, there's no point. I want you to do your stamina training now and the weights training in the afternoon. Then, if we can work together like professionals again, I'll see you back here this evening."

You turned on your heel and even Ari calling your name couldn't bring you back.

You needed time to cool down and had been swimming in the sea yourself. Swimming against the waves and the surf was more to your liking. It was more natural, not like in a calm chlorine-rich pool. You let the setting sun dry your skin.

In the evening you entered the area of the swimming club. By now all the athletes and coaches had gone home. Only Ari was sitting on one of the starting blocks waiting for you. He looked as bad as you felt.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you or stopped the session. That was unprofessional."

For once, it was easy for you to apologize. Your mistake was clear to see. Even if you could never admit that Ari was right.

You were jealous. First and foremost, you couldn't understand how much focus and ambition he put into flirting. Something that didn't seem possible in training.

Maybe there was more, but you couldn't and didn't want to let it get closer to you. A liaison between coach and athlete was highly... problematic.

"It's okay." Ari brushed back his long hair. He looked nervous, too. "As for the other women, you may be wrong, but it's true that my concentration is slipping. I don't notice it until I'm already completely out of rhythm. Can you show me what I'm doing wrong as soon as the first mistake sneaks in?"

"Like in the water?"

"You've been training me for a while, but you haven't been in the pool with me once. You're not a non-swimmer, are you?" He provoked you teasingly.

"All right, but only if you behave yourself and at least try to carry out my instructions this time."

"I'm quite the perfect gentleman, and I swear it." Ari's reappearing smirk was a sign that the mood was tilting back to the positive. This time you even allowed him to turn on the radio.

You slipped out of your sweater and track pants. The high-leg-cut swimsuit you wore underneath was currently in fashion but not exactly the most professional attire for professional swimmers. But it had to do for today. Ari and you enter the water. You let him swim ahead and stopped him whenever you had to correct something. At first you felt his muscles tense up when you put your hand on his chest, arms and legs and showed him how to improve his posture and movements.

You couldn't deny that Ari's body was in great shape. His muscular system was dense and strong. Sometimes you felt his gaze on you as well and you wondered if he was listening to you at all. But indeed the exercises worked and you were sure that Ari's performance showed improvement.

He did a few more laps, which you watched partly from above the water surface or from below. You swam after him and you met at the end.

"It's all right Levinson. I don't mean to exaggerate, but I think that was the most productive coaching session so far."

"Did you just retroactively call me lazy?" asked Ari, offended.

Lunging with your arm, you splashed water in his face. He tried to avoid the attack by diving down and grabbing your foot underwater. You refrained from kicking him, because you didn't want to hurt him either.

Gently he pulled you to the edge of the pool until you felt the tiles in your back.

"You know, as for my morale in training. It's not because of other women, it's because of you. I can feel exactly how you're observing me. It's distracting to me."

You stiffened as you struggled to keep your head above water on your own in the confined space. He pressed even closer to you, his warm breath colliding with your cool skin, and you held on tighter to his shoulders.

"Relax, I've got you." Gently he guided your legs so they wrapped around his hips and he carried you.

"What...what are you trying to tell me?"

Your brain was so fogged by Ari's presence. You could barely hear Toto’s “Africa” warbling from the radio.

Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you

"You are strong, clever and passionate. You brighten every day for me. I think I'm in love with you." 

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you

You saw his Adam's apple move heavily as he swallowed, as if he had just relieved himself of a great burden.

His honesty gave you the courage to say the following words.

There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do.

"You were right, Ari." 

"About what?" he asked curiously, his brows furrowed.

"I'm jealous."

You let your lips crash down on his. Almost greedily he returned the kiss and your body heated up in the fire of pleasure and desire. It was as if months of built-up tension were released with a loud boom, like a thunderstorm.

I bless the rains down in Africa

Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

Hectically you tried to get your hand down Ari's waistband. You wanted to feel him. You needed to.

"Wait wait wait…” For a brief second you were confused that Ari stopped you. “I want you, but not here and not like this. Not with the risk of drowning or getting caught by the security. You deserve to be loved on the softest of beds. Ma-... May I take you home… with me?" he sounded like he was afraid you might refuse.

You kissed him again. Much slower but also more sensitive this time.

"If you promise to stay as focused as you were during today's training, you may take me anywhere in the world.”

You two laugh at this like little joking children.

Gently, Ari maneuvered you both to the nearest ladder and climbed out of the cold pool while you still clung to him. He let you go only to put a soft towel around you. Carefully he stroked your arms and back to dry you. Again he lifted you bridal style, the feeling of his thick arms was soothing. And just like that Ari carried you to his nearby home where he showed you detailedly what you secretly meant to him.

2 years later

"Remember, stay focused. When you change direction, push off hard, use the push you gain but don't get too close to the wall either. Understood?" You did not get any reaction.

"Ari? Are you actually listening to me?" You asked again, louder this time.

"Yeah yeah, concentration, Push off hard, use the push but not too close to the wall." he replied casually, as he put on his goggles causing an eye roll on your part. It was and always would be the same trouble with him.

Despite the everyday hassle you were so damn proud of him, even if he didn't like to hear it and always stressed that it was only because of his amazing coach. However, there was also a lot of pressure on both of you, more of on him. This competition was important. If Ari could at least make it to the top-3, it would make him the most successful swimmer of the year. 

The judges got into position and signaled the competitors to get on the starting blocks.

Ari gave you a quick kiss on the forehead, but before he could turn away, you stopped him.

"Make me proud, Ari. Make us proud." While you clasped his hand with yours, your other hand rested protectively on your lower abdomen.

Ari lowered himself to one knee and kissed the slight curve of your belly.

"I promise." 

[yoonpobs]

bad boy good thing ix.

pairing: jeon jungkook x oc

genre: angst, smut, fluff, miscommunication (we hate her lol), pining

warnings: smut, jungkook is really an asshole, the angst hurts a lot tbh, unhealthy relationships (?)

words: 3, 844

summary: a series of drabbles where you're confused and jungkook's confusing

Jungkook recognises that it’s, to a fault, extremely unhealthy for him to pretend like his problems don’t exist and bury them under a blanket of social interactions that were meaningless to him and excessively working out at the gym so he could get his mind off things.

Granted, it was always how Jungkook dealt with things and he was a creature of habit. He was stubborn and irrational at most times, and usually pretending like his problems didn’t exist did him relatively well. Because like most things in life, problems passed and if people were his problem then he’d just not talk to them. Simple, really. Jungkook had it figured out right to the o.

Well, until he realised that a huge chunk of his problems, though irrationally, was working out right beside him.

“You almost done?” Namjoon grunts, finishing his last rep as he drops the weight to the ground as it sounds through the empty gym.

Only because Namjoon and Jungkook were the only people that were crazy enough to work out at eleven o'clock on a school night. But realistically speaking, Jungkook only asked the football group out of formalities and did not expect his own captain to have responded.

Maybe because you’re too busy hanging out with _____, came Jungkook’s bitter thought. But surprise, Namjoon was very much sweaty and engaged in the workout session that has Jungkook’s head spinning.

“Yeah.” Jungkook huffs, dropping his own weight before he dabs the hem of his tank top to his forehead to catch the bead of sweat before it drops.

Namjoon walks over to pick up his own bottle and toss Jungkook his own before he chugs the liquid in one go.

Jungkook has half the mind to be a petty motherfucker and rejects it but he was way too parched to deny the tempting object. Besides, he could pretend like Namjoon wasn’t the bulk of his many problems. Even if he knew Namjoon was unsuspecting of everything, it was easier to blame him for the fact that you weren’t keen on hanging out with him than himself.

“The circuit today was intense.” Namjoon points out, shooting a raised eyebrow expression in Jungkook’s direction. “You nearly killed me, man.” He finishes with a teasing tone.

Jungkook huffs dryly, “Maybe that’s a sign for you to work out more.”

He’s being bitter, he knows that. Because Namjoon was huge and hit the gym as frequently as Jungkook did.

Namjoon, however, is oblivious to this. “Maybe.” And Jungkook hates that he accepts it so easily.

Jungkook’s mind is all over the place and never mind that he’s burnt enough calories to last him his workout quota for the next two weeks, but he has the urge to pry. To ask Namjoon things that he no longer had the privilege to ask you anymore.

But before he can say anything, Namjoon beats him to the first word.

“You and ____ are close right?”

Jungkook pauses, fist tightening around the bottle before he clears his throat. “Um. Kind of.” Because he wasn’t sure anymore, so he settled for that instead you conveyed otherwise to Namjoon. But he knew that you wouldn’t, you weren’t petty like that. “Why do you ask?”

And Jungkook doesn’t like the way that Namjoon looks nervous. Call it his sixth sense, but he just doesn’t like the insinuation behind the way Namjoon fiddles with his fingers.

“Well, you, Jimin and Tae are, right?” Namjoon asks. “And Yena, but I already had this conversation with her anyways.”

“What conversation?” Jungkook immediately asks, eyebrows furrowed.

“I think it’s pretty obvious to most people that I’m into her.” Namjoon snorts, but Jungkook can’t find it in himself to laugh.

“Right.”

“Things have been going well and so far all the hangouts we’ve had were friendly,” Namjoon says with a small smile.

Jungkook doesn’t know what to do with the information he was receiving or why he was even receiving it in the first place. Sure, Namjoon and he were close because they were under the same football team and chemistry between players was definitely a prerequisite when it came to bagging wins.

“That’s nice to hear.” Jungkook grunts.

Namjoon nods absent-mindedly as he plops onto one of the workout benches, swinging a towel over his shoulder. “I told her that I wouldn’t rush into things with her but I really do like her. And I want to ask her out. Officially, that is.”

Jungkook quite literally freezes all his limbs when the words tumble out of Namjoon’s mouth.

“And because you’re important to her, I just wanted to know if you were okay with that? I mean—she has to be okay with it but you’re someone she cares about so your opinion does matter to a certain extent. Either way, I’m going to do it but I thought it was just courteous of me to let you know.”

And damn you for being courteous, Jungkook curses to himself mentally.

“What?” Jungkook croaks because that’s all he can manage.

He’s heard it from Jeonghan, Yugyeom and Jaehyun when it came to locker-room talk but he’s brushed it off because what did they know, right? Even if Yena was heard whispering to Jimin conspiringly, he’d pretended he hadn’t heard a single word just so he could delude himself into thinking that it wasn’t real.

But for Namjoon to directly confirm it to his face, Jungkook feels like he’s been punched in the gut.

“I don’t know, man.” Namjoon sighs, “She’s really something else, you know? I’ve been kind of admiring from afar for a really long time because someone wouldn’t introduce her to me”—he shoots a playful glare to a stone-faced Jungkook who can’t even respond—“and getting to know her personally just really solidified the fact that I really like her.”

Jungkook is a level-headed man, most of the time at least, but there were things that threw him off. Overly salty food, flash mobs, microwaves; but most of the time he was able to recover.

Most. Not all.

“No.”

Namjoon freezes, and so does Jungkook. But for two very different reasons.

“I’m sorry, did you just say no?” Namjoon asks dumbfounded.

Jungkook can’t stop his mouth. “Yeah.” He swallows. Stop talking. “No.”

Namjoon furrows his brows, “Yeah to you saying no or, yeah to literally the context of this conversation?”

Jungkook has never resented Namjoon more than right now, even when he’d made the team run extra laps as a warm-up.

“You can’t.” Jungkook deadpans. “You can’t ask her out.”

And for as long as Jungkook knew Namjoon, he knew that under the calm and collected exterior that he took most of the time because he was the captain of the football team, and diplomacy was necessary. He was petty, and to a certain extent, immature. But he did a far better job and conveying his displeasure compared to Jungkook.

“Okay, and who are you—her dad?” Namjoon scoffs.

Even if it was made explicitly clear by Namjoon that he was doing so out of respect for you, Jungkook still felt the need to defend himself.

“Her friend.” Jungkook snaps. “And you’re my captain. That’s just—weird.”

He knows his excuse is lame, and so does Namjoon.

“Really,” Namjoon says dryly. “That’s your excuse?”

“Not an excuse. Facts.” Jungkook retorts childishly.

Namjoon snorts before raising an eyebrow at Jungkook who is all but making eye contact with him.

“Does this have to do with why you weren’t keen on introducing her to me in the first place when I asked?”

Jungkook nearly drops his water bottle when he swings around, face scandalised in a way that shows that he’s been caught but attempting to deflect.

“What the fuck are you even saying.” He splutters.

Namjoon is as calm as ever, “You tell me, Jungkook. I don’t see a legitimate reason as to why I can’t ask her out.”

Jungkook scoffs, cheeks red. “I told you. It’s weird. What if you guys break up? How’s that going to be for Jimin, Tae and I?”

Namjoon blinks.

“I can be civil.” He shrugs. “The question is, can you?”

Jungkook narrows his eyes into slits as he observes Namjoon. He’s never gotten into any conflicting situations with Namjoon, purely because he never had a reason to. He never knew his captain could be so … retort-inducing, but here he was. Ready to snap back, for a very childish reason he wasn’t ready to unpack just yet.

“Look. How bout’ you think about it a little more?” Jungkook feigns disinterest when he fiddles with his gym bag as if he was looking for something. It was an escape to this conversation. “The two of you just started hanging out and she’s not the type that likes it rushed, anyways.”

“I’m not asking her to marry me, Jungkook.” Namjoon blinks.

Jungkook rolls his eyes, “I know. If you were I think I’d have a stroke.” He mutters. “Thing is, there’s probably a lot of things that you don’t know about her yet so you may as well just … wait.”

His excuses are getting a lot more pathetic by the second, and Namjoon clearly feels the same because he shoots a frown at Jungkook.

“That’s the point of asking her out … to get to know her.” Namjoon drawls slowly, stating the obvious.

Jungkook lets out an exasperated sigh and he wants this conversation to be over because he’s already let out more than what he’d like.

“She’s just not the type …” Jungkook lamely defends.

Namjoon purses his lips. “And that’s coming from you?”

Jungkook glares at Namjoon who doesn’t look like he’s going to back down.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Namjoon rolls his eyes. “It means—you’re not her so you have no right to be assuming shit about her. I don’t care if you’re her best friend or whatever the hell you are to her that makes you think you automatically know what she wants or doesn’t. The reason why I’m telling you all of this is purely out of respect for her, and her only. Frankly—I couldn’t give a rats ass about your opinion on this.”

Jungkook gapes at Namjoon because this is the first time he’s seen him anything less than cool and collected. But perhaps this was why he was always taken so seriously in every context he’s found himself in. Namjoon was diplomatic when he need be, and firm when necessary. This was one of those occasions and Jungkook hates that it’s him on the receiving end under the context of you being the topic of conversation.

“Well—”

“And, if you have something you want to say to her.” Namjoon sighs, throwing his gym bag over his shoulder and levelling a look so serious that it sends a shudder down Jungkook’s spine, “Be honest to her. She doesn’t deserve anything less than that.”

Right before Namjoon turns around to leave, Jungkook has to ask—

“How did you know?”

He doesn’t have to say what, because Namjoon clearly knows what he was talking about. The stiff chuckle he releases is enough to prove that.

“I’m not stupid, Jungkook.” He says. “First it was not introducing us to each other and now it’s the unwarranted possessiveness. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together.”

Jungkook purses his lips, feeling his blood run cold because if Namjoon knew then …

“So what? You’re going to tell her?” He accuses.

Namjoon scoffs. “Jungkook, I like you. You’re a good friend of mine. I’m not going to fuck you over like that. That’s your own issue to deal with.”

“Sure doesn’t feel like it,” Jungkook mutters dryly.

Namjoon sighs, turning his body to face Jungkook as he offers him a blank expression that he can’t quite read.

“I don’t know about you but I’m not the type to conflate my personal life with my friend's personal life. Sure, we like the same girl—” Jungkook winces, but Namjoon continues anyway. “—but life goes on. I’m a big boy and so are you, right?”

Jungkook tongues the inside of his cheek when Namjoon offers a slight smirk with a raised eyebrow.

“So you’re backing off?”

The slight hopeful tone that Jungkook has is naive, and he knows that. But a selfish part of him just wished that Namjoon would so he could figure out how to solve and fix things between the two of you without the interruption of his own football captain in the mix.

Namjoon snorts, “No way. What did you take me for—a pushover?”

Jungkook gapes, “Then what—?”

“I’m still going to ask her out. Your feelings are your own and it’s not my responsibility to look after them for you.” He shrugs, turning on his heel to leave the gym. His hands are on the knob when he turns around. “She’s single. Nothing’s stopping you or me from doing anything.”

And he leaves, not before he adds: “Don’t be late for training tomorrow. We have circuit training.”

It’s been a week since you’ve last spoken to Jungkook and two weeks since he’s apologised to you at your apartment. You still remember the ghost of his lips, the heat of his hands when he held you close.

You still had moments in between where you were distracted, but there was something oddly compelling about a person you were trying to forget for the time being that haunts your every thought. And you hated yourself for it, for still wondering if he was okay or how he was doing when you were the one that put distance between the two of you.

Maybe that’s why your hand reaches out to your phone, but it’s as if God had sent you a Guardian Angel when a hand grips your wrist.

“I thought we weren’t touching our phones?” Namjoon has a teasing tilt to his voice when he murmurs the words.

You flush, meekly retracting your hand as you send him a playful glare.

“What are you? The exam invigilator?” You scowl.

Namjoon snorts before rubbing a thumb between your furrowed brows. You can’t help but flush harder, pouting at him when all he does is grin at you.

“I’m meant to be the person you’re paying attention to.” He returns, voice husky and you feel yourself grow flustered.

Obviously, because Namjoon was attractive and he told you on occasions that he’d intentionally raised the pitch of his voice because it was way too deep for people to understand.

“Grow up.” You mutter, but your tone is light when you roll your eyes at him.

You’ve grown much more comfortable with Namjoon in the recent times you’ve hung out with him, purely because there was something very welcoming about a person like him. He was understanding and calm, yet he was absolutely hilarious without even needing to try. There were moments where he’d make you laugh until you cry which resulted in the librarians shooting you glares from their desks.

“Penny for your thoughts?” He hums, definitely recognising the way you were a little out of the loop even throughout your study session.

The library is quiet during this hour because it wasn’t exam season and rarely were students willing to spend time on a school night at the library against their own will.

“Just … stuff.” You sigh.

And Namjoon frowns ever so slightly because you were always like this, tucked away in your own compartment as if you were afraid to reveal anything more.

“You can always talk to me, you know?” He whispers, eyes focusing on your face when he leans down.

You purse your lips and you nod. You knew you could, but your problems were far more complex than what you could describe in words. Besides, you knew that Namjoon had some … form of feelings to you—so how the hell were you supposed to explain the fact that you’ve allowed your best friend to touch you in a way that a lover is meant to?

“I know.” You sigh, fiddling with your fingers when you bring yourself to look up at him through your eyelashes. “It’s really complicated and I don’t want to unload onto you.”

Namjoon smiles at you so gently you feel even guiltier for feeling the way you do.

“And I’m a pretty simple guy. Say anything and I’ll take it at face value.” He jokes.

You roll your eyes at him and shove at his chest. Only then do you realise how close the two of you are. When did his face get so close to yours? Why were you only realising his breath on your cheek?

It’s late, and you’re tired from the copious amount of studying so maybe that’s why your eyes involuntarily dart to his lips that were much closer to you than you’d realised.

“Can I do something?” He murmurs, and you watch his lips move when he asks.

You find yourself blindly nodding, too caught up in the moment.

Namjoon reaches a gentle hand around your jaw, cradling it so softly as if he was afraid to hurt you. A touch you’re familiar yet new to, enough for you to remember and think of Jungkook even if it’s Namjoon in front of you.

The logical part of you tells you to push Namjoon away, to not subject him to this unfair treatment when you know your heart lays elsewhere. But you’re human and you’re selfish because you’ve never been doted on like this—never looked in a way that shows you that he wants you.

Namjoon tilts your head up so that he’s looking straight into your eyes and you’re positive your face is on fire. It feels … nice. But that’s it. You don’t feel exhilarated like you did when Jungkook held you, and you curse yourself for always comparing the two.

He leans in so slowly that you’re quite literally gripping the edge of your seat. You realise this, though.

Namjoon is strategic when he maps out the journey to your lips, both careful and calm when he brings you closer like he’s been preparing for this for a long time. What you remember, is Jungkook—a spontaneous lover who smirks against kisses and tugs you closer in a rush that makes your head spin.

The two are so different, and you’re inclined to want Namjoon too. But you’ve always been a sucker for adrenaline.

But you push those thoughts away and try to focus on the way Namjoon is treating you so tenderly.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispers against your lips and you feel your response before you say it.

“Yeah.” You breathe, fingers digging into your seat.

And Namjoon looks stunning up close, suave and handsome like you always knew him to be when he closes the distance.

He presses into your lips so softly that you barely feel it at first, not until he’s tilting his head to bring you closer and his other hand cups the other side of your face.

Your face is hot because he’s the second person you’ve ever kissed and it feels … it feels. You like it. That’s what you think.

You don’t dare go further than return his kiss, and Namjoon is far too gentlemanly to prod at your lips.

Your hand instinctively reaches out to wrap them around his neck, but a voice interrupts your movements.

“______?”

Immediately, you pull away—remembering where you were and how easy it was for you to be spotted locking lips with Namjoon.

You flush, turning to the source of the voice to mumble a sheepish apology until you realise who it is—and your face pales.

Not only because is it Jungkook, who’s staring at you and Namjoon with a hardened gaze. But because of the company he has.

“Cute,” Jennie smirks, arms looped around Jungkook’s and you feel your throat clam shut.

Namjoon notices the drop in your expression that you try to hide, and he reaches out to squeeze your hand in an attempt to offer consolation. He doesn’t need to guess why.

“What are you—?”

“We were about to leave, right?” Namjoon murmurs so softly that you barely catch him. Not until you realise that Jennie has her eyebrow cocked, awaiting your response.

You blink before you turn to Namjoon who’s still looking at you so gently.

He didn’t deserve this.

“I’ll go.” You say curtly, softly taking your hand back from where he’s squeezing it as you offer an apologetic look to him. All while Jungkook is still staring at you.

“Wait, ____—” Jungkook reaches out to grab at your elbow, and you immediately pull away as if you’ve been scathed.

You knew you didn’t have a right to feel this way, not when you made it explicitly clear that you needed time away from him. But you also thought you made it clear how you felt about him and he was around her … again. It’s like a bucket of cold water that’s been washed upon you and you feel like utter shit when you see Jennie smile up at you, completely oblivious to the conflict you were having in your heart.

“I’ll walk you back.” Namjoon stands up, even as you attempt to protest. But Namjoon levels you with a firm expression that has you snapping your mouth shut and sighing to yourself, begrudgingly allowing him to stand by your side; almost towering over you and even Jungkook when he shoots him a withering glare.

“I’ll do it.” Jungkook snaps back, shaking Jennie’s arm off of him.

Before Namjoon can respond, you’re doing it for him.

“There’s no need, Jungkook.” You say softly, avoiding his eyes.

You don’t have to look at him to see the fall in his face.

“I just wanted to talk—”

“There’s nothing we can’t talk about with them here, right?” You smile stiffly at him.

Jungkook pauses, hands too as they reach for your shoulder.

“It’s not what it—”

You’re cutting him off again, tired of hearing the same thing fall from his lips, “you don’t need to say anything.”

But your heart wants to stay even if your mind knows it’s a bad idea. You’re lucky Namjoon was there because he’s tugging you aside with his arms.

“Let’s go, okay?” He whispers into your ear, soft enough so only you can hear.

You nod your head, turning to leave when you feel your heart break for the same reason again. You hate that your first instinct is the hotness behind your eyelids.

“So you’re with him?” Jungkook huffs, and you can tell he’s exasperated.

You’re about to retort, but Namjoon shakes his head—turns around to mouth something to Jungkook you can’t be bothered to see before he’s leading you out the library, leaving Jungkook and Jennie there.

Right before you step out, you hear Jennie say:

“We should do a double date.”

Namjoon hears this too and wraps an arm around your shoulder as he squeezes. He’s nice enough that he doesn’t ask why you were sniffling on the walk back to your home.

[atmilliways]

On the 11th day of Dethmas this writer gives to thee…

Dec 23 - Home (or alone) for the holidays

Toki is totally not lonely because his bandmates forgot about him, and Magnus is totally not guilty about rolling with it to sate his own curiosities.

Like Kevin McCallister, it wasn't like Toki tried to get left behind . . . but he's not entirely mad about it, either.

Anyway, this is my first Magnus/Toki fic, so, hmm.

~

Mordhome Alone

“So,” Magnus said as he crossed the threshold. “This is the famous Mordhaus.”

“Yeah, isn’t it cools?” Toki enthused as he ushered the older man inside. 

It certainly was a step up from the crappy apartment they’d had back when Magnus was still in Dethklok. For one thing, he never could’ve broken in to paint REVENGE IS COMING on the walls here. He’d counted at least eleven snipers that he could see on the way in, and knowing both the band’s reputation for over the top security measures and the limitations of his one good eye, probably at least double that number that he hadn’t noticed. If he weren’t here by Toki’s express invitation, he’d be so many different kinds of dead right now. 

He didn’t need any recon inside this place for The Plan—it would never work to pull anything there, not with so much security in every nook and cranny. But he’d always been curious, so here he was. 

“And none of the other guys are here?” Magnus pressed, still looking around. Fuck, this place was huge. (This could have been his.) “Not even Offdensen?”

“Nah,” Toki replied offhandedly, “they thoughts I was on the plane and tooks offs withouts me to goes on a ski trip, ands now they’re stucks in a blizzards. They can’t gets back and I can’t goes theres. So, I calls you!”

Without any warning that Magnus had picked up on, Toki reached out and grabbed his hand. It wasn’t like he threaded their fingers together or anything, but the surprise connection was more than Magnus felt comfortable with, an uncomfortable feeling in his gut that he wasn’t used to at all and had no idea how to label. (He didn’t do guilt; he didn’t do ‘cowed by how open and naively friendly someone was unexpectedly being’ either. It was definitely, one hundred percent neither of those things.)

“Come ons, I shows you around!”

The young guitarist pulled him from room to room, chattering nonstop. It was annoying in an informative, easy to tune out the rambling bits sort of way. This was the room where Dethklok hung out and played video games, this was the room where they hung out to watch tv and eat snacks, this was the room where they hung out in a surprisingly small hot tub for five male billionaires who didn’t seem to like each other’s company that much, this was the cavernous kitchen that they frequented when they wanted more snacks or possibly even a meal. It was endless and irritating, and Magnus didn’t actually want to spend a ton of time with this babbling idiot, but he reminded himself that this was all part of The Plan and sullenly continued to let himself be dragged around and shown all the shit that he could have had, but didn’t. 

He did ask for a drink, though, to blunt the edges. Toki gestured to someone in his blind spot, and moments later a cold beer was handed to him by a hooded servant. 

“And this ams my room,” Toki told him proudly, tugging Magnus into . . . the smallest room he had seen yet. It was basically a stone box with an on-suite. Model airplanes hung from the ceiling, action figures crowded the edges of his bookshelf, and the desk was piled with unfinished projects and puzzles and crap. One of the pictures hanging on the wall over the narrow bed and beneath a double-sided battle axe was an early promo shot of the band, and another was a close-up of some scary zombie-looking asshole’s face, maybe a relative or something. The rest of the walls were mostly just decorated with taped up posters of boats, planets, and sharks. 

“This?” Magnus repeated. “Seriously? You have . . . and entire fucking mansion that’s tricked out with all kinds of cool shit, but this is your room.”

If it had been him, he’d have his own arcade, giant tv, and hot tub in his room, so he could do all those things on his own if he wanted to. Plus a bitching sound system. Plus bigass windows to let some actual fucking light in. Plus . . . god, was that bed from IKEA or something? Was all of this from IKEA? Riches were wasted on this kid, Magnus decided scornfully. He had no idea how to appreciate what he had at his fingertips. 

Toki shrugged. “I gots all the rest of the place if I wants that other stuff, so this ams just all stuffs I mades by myself. Evens the desk, I puts that together. Just Toki’s.” He met Magnus’ incredulous look with a sudden grin and squeezed his hand. “Comes on, let’s go back to the others room and watch a movies!”

~

It wasn’t until halfway through the movie that Magnus wasn’t even paying attention to—he was looking around and trying to appraise the cost and potential EBay value of anything he saw that wasn’t nailed down and small enough to fit in his pocket—that he realized Toki kept scooting closer to him on the couch. That, after all the hand holding, finally started to set off alarm bells. 

Did the poor simple bastard have some sort of crush on him or something? How embarrassing. So embarrassing that he couldn’t decide if he wanted to try and snap a picture to sell to some gossip rags later or not. 

That was totally why he felt weird and jumpy, and only more so once Toki had inched close enough to rest his head on Magnus’ shoulder. A weird, warm, hyper-awareness bloomed anywhere Toki touched him—first his shoulder, then his side, then (Magnus absolutely did not gulp when this happened) his thigh. He had to wrestle down the impulse to start bouncing that leg restlessly, because he didn’t dare shake him off and potentially ruin The Plan. 

So he stayed still. And the thing about the warmth was that Toki was just radiating with it, and the longer he was so close the more it spread. Magnus felt as though he might incandesce at any moment and he fucking hated every second of it. 

He tried directing his attention to the tv and remembered it was December, so Toki had picked a Christmas movie at random. On the giant screen, Sarah Jessica Parker was covered in egg and screaming in a kitchen. Not the best distraction ever. 

“Needs anything?” Toki asked casually, as if everything was just fine and dandy, apparently somehow not noticing that Magnus was on the verge of starting to worry he might have a heart attack. 

“No,” Magnus grunted. A way out would be great, thanks. He remembered he still had a beer in one hand (his fourth or fifth, at this point) and raised his unencumbered arm to glug the rest of it down. 

“You sures?” Toki pressed, looking up at him with guileless eyes. 

Shaking the last few drops out and tossing the bottle down the couch, Magnus started to say Another drink, something stronger this time, but he couldn’t. Toki’s lips pressed warmly, nervously against his, kissing away the aftertaste of beer. 

He had not come prepared for this. 

He didn’t even need to be here, it wasn’t necessary to The Plan. 

Toki was too goddamned nice, inviting him here and showing him around like he genuinely wasn’t a threat, like he was someone Toki actually enjoyed being around. (Magnus thought pretty highly of himself, but even he had to admit that most people didn’t ever appreciate his presence. Or if they did it, usually wasn’t for this long. Jealous douchebags, that’s all they were, the whole fucking human race.) 

Magnus took it anyway. Fuck it, why not? It had been one thing when he was still in his twenties or thirties, hot in a rough-and-tumble bad-boy musician way, getting his share of action after playing a gig at some nothing bar, but at his age and painful lack of fame and fortune, to have anyone this young and ripped pressed up against him was a rare occurrence. He was taking the kiss out of spite, he told himself, and gave back as good as he got. 

Surely he wouldn’t regret this later. 

Toki sighed against his mouth, bright blue eyes fluttering open. “Thanks you, Magnus.”

“Uh.” Magnus fought against instinctively grimacing at the thanks, which he wasn’t used to. He licked absently at his lip, not realizing he was doing so until the tip of his tongue brushed Toki’s lip too and made the other man giggle. Fucking giggle. “For what?”

“For beings here,” Toki told him. “Is nice to nots be alones on Christmas, don’ts you thinks?”

Magnus wanted to say he’d ever particularly noticed Christmas one way or the other before, but for some reason it (the lie) stuck in his throat. “. . . Yeah, I guess.”

Something in Toki’s eyes shifted and he suddenly looked . . . he looked lonely, as familiar a sight as though Magnus was recognizing it in a mirror (which he definitely never did). He wondered what Toki was gunning for here—a friend with benefits, or something more than that? 

Something ‘just Toki’s,’ a little holiday closeness with someone he thought actually cared?

(That thought didn’t make Magnus feel like a two-bit white masquerading as something better, not even a little bit.)

“You wants to sees my room agains?” Toki whispered?

On the tv, sappy holiday ambiance music played as the movie went out of its way to establish that everyone was friendly and happy and appropriately paired up now, all two-by-two sheep marching into Noah’s ark before the winter flood. 

“Sure,” Magnus said. 

He wasn’t a sheep, he told himself, it had just been too long since he’d last gotten laid. 

Christmas had nothing whatsoever to do with it.

[mercheswan]

He is Mine!

You can also find it in AO3 -> User: MerCevans

“Okay kids! Let’s go, first day of Elementary School, we’re leaving in five!” Peter Hale shouted descending the stairs.

Theodore Raeken-Hale heard his dad’s call and quickly grabbed his shoes and his bag, he stopped in front of the mirror to look at himself, Theo wanted to look good, today was an important day, he was going to meet other kids, human kids, and that made Theo uneasy although he wouldn’t admit it.

Theo was five years old and he was a Werewolf, like the majority of the members of his Pack, his family. Theo didn’t born as a werewolf, though, his parents died when he was a baby, and his father, Peter, saved him and adopted him. He turned into a Werewolf thanks to the bite, that was given to him, by his aunt, the Pack’s Alpha, Talia Hale.

Theo adored his family. He had a step-sister, Malia, she was five years old too and even though, she and Theo fighted a lot, deep inside everyone knew that they really cared for each other. Theo also had three cousins; Cora was also five like Theo and Malia, she was serius and matured for her age’s, but when Theo and Malia planned a prank she was always on board with it. Derek  was eleven, Theo admired him, Derek was strong and very popular, Theo wanted to be like him in the future. And Laura who was fourteen years old, was meant to become the Pack’s Alpha someday.

Theo exited his room and met Malia on the corridor. “Malia wait!” Theo said joining his sister.

“We have to run or Dad is going to leave without us!” Malia exclaimed as she started to run towards the Mansion’s entrance, Theo following behind.

“Are you excited?” Theo asked.

“I guess… I’m worried too… you’re so much better at control than I am, I don’t wanna hurt someone or show my fangs or flahs my eyes accidentally” Malia responded.

Theo, Malia and Cora had been learning to control their powers. People couldn’t find out about them being Werewolves. Despite being kids they were stronger than an average person and they could injure someone unintentionally, so they have to be careful.

“You’ll be fine” Theo assured and Malia smiled.

Theo and Malia met their father at the entrance who was waiting with Cora and Talia.

“Finally! Come on children to the car, we want to make a good impression on your new teacher, right?” Peter said and the kids chanted affirmatively.

“Remember your training, you’ll be fine, have fun, you’re making the Pack really proud” Talia proclaimed saying goodbye to the children.

                           ————————

Mieczyslaw “Stiles” Stilisnki was on the verge of dying of excitement. Today he started Elementary School, he had been waiting for the day to arrive, Stiles wanted to meet and play with his classmates, and show them his new “super cool Star Wars backpack”.

“Mommy, mommy come on! We don’t want to be late!” Stiles bounced at the entrance of the Stilinski household.

Claudia Stilinski, Stiles’s mother, laughed “Mischief wait! You have to grab a jacket is a little bit chilly outside”. Stiles adorably cocked his head to the side assessing what her mother wa saying, before nodding and running upstairs to grab a jacket.

“You’re full of energy today Siles, Did you take your adderall?” Noah Stilinski questioned his son.

“Yes Dad!” Stiles exclaimed.

“Be good, listen to your teacher and don’t be too noisy” Noah advised.

“Nonsense! Just be yourself Mischief, you’re going to make very good friends this year” Claudia assured his son, hitting his husband on the arm.

“Well I’ll be going, I’ll see you tonight so you can tell me all about your day, okay kiddo?” Noah said kissing his son on the head. Stiles cheerfully nodded.

“Bye Dad! Come on Mom we have to leave too” Stiles excitedly said.

Claudia followed his imperactive child to the car with a fond smile on her face.

————————

Peter Hale parked his car in the Elementary School’s parking lot. There were lost of people already saying goodbye to their kids. Parents and children crying and shouting everywhere. Peter’s and the children’s Werewolf senses were overloaded. Peter sighed, what an exhausting day.

The children exited the vehicle. Malia noticed that Cora smelled nervous and took her hand to calm her down. Peter was proud of her girl, Malia wasn’t a very sentimental kid, she was very connected to her animal side, but gestures like this proved that she had an soft side too.

“Let’s go to the entrance, we can see in which class you’re going to be” Peter claimed and the children followed him.

They walked towards the entrance. Then Peter felt a tug in his trouser, Peter looked down and saw Malia pointing with his finger to the other side of the parking lot. Peter glanced at the direction his daughter was signalizing and saw Theo walking in the opposite direction, apparently lost. What’s he doing? This kid is way too good at sneaking it’s going to be problematic in the future Peter thought.

Since Theo exited the car there had been something, some kind of pull inside him that was calling to his senses, to his inner wolf. Theo could hear many hearbeats, he could hear many voices, there were too many people but if he focused enough there was one heart who beated louder than the rest. There were too many scents in the air but Theo could sniff clearly the sweet scent of someone who smelled like chocolate, cinamon, lavender, enthusiasm, and some chemical substances that usually would bother Theo’s senses ,but for some reason Theo couldn’t understand, they didn’t.

Theo needed to find this person, they were here, so close, and his wolf was ordering him to identify them. So without thinking too much Theo moved away from his father, sister and cousin in walking in the direction his instints were telling him that he would find them.

When Theo saw the boy for the first time he paralyzed. The boy, who had to be his age, was breathtakingly beautiful, with pale skin covered in moles and a bright smile, he was talking with a woman, his mother allegedly. Theo needed to hold him, now.

Theo stood in front of the boy who looked back at Theo with a smile and a questioning expression. Theo smiled back and out of the blue hugged the boy who made a cheerful noise and hugged Theo back. When they separeted theo shocked them even more.

“Mine” Theo claimed with a grin taking the boy’s hand into his.

Peter who was walking towards Theo to collect him heard what his son said thanks to his Werewolf hearing and froze. Wait did he? He can’t possibly have found his… Peter thought.

The Werewolf reached to his son. “Theo you can’t wander around, you can’t leave my side” Peter schooled his son.

“Dad! Look! I found him, he is mine!” Theo excitedly shouted while rounding the boy with his arms. Oh my God he did! Peter’s mind screamed.

“No, no Theo, we don’t own people!” Peter said to his son trying to make him behave like a human.

“But Dad! He is so pretty, look at him he is perfect!” Theo protested not letting go of the boy. Peter could feel his son’s inner wolf’s anger, ready to defend the boy who had caught his eye from whoever tried to harm him. Peter needed to calm Theo down.

“Theo that’s enough! You can be the boy’s friend , I’m sure he would like to make a new friend” Peter reasoned with his son. “I’m so very sorry about his behaviour, he must be nervous because it’s the first day of school” Peter apologised to the boy’s mother.

“Oh no, don’t worry, your son is adorable. See Mischief I knew you were going to make good friends this year. I’m Claudia Stilinski nice to meet you” Claudia said.

“Peter Hale likewise. First day is always stressing, for them… and for us” Peter responded and Claudia laughed agreeing.

“Mischif?” Theo asked.

“Only mommy calls me that! My name it’s from a coutry that’s very far away and it’s very difficult to say. It sounds like Mischief and that’s why mommy calls me that, but you can call me Stiles, people call me Stiles, I like it!” Stiles happily rambled.

“Stiles” Theo repeated the name, and Stiles smiled.

“You are weird” Stiles claimed. Theo’s smile dropped from his face, Peter could feel waves of sadness coming from his son. This is not going well The adult Werewolf thought. “I like it! let’s be friends!” Stiles cheerfully exclaimed. Theo grinned widely and both children laughed. Peter huffed relieved.

“I’m Theo” Theo introduced himself. “You smell so good” Theo said sniffing Stiles’s neck.

“It tickles! Hahaha!” Stiles giggled out loud.

“Theodore!” Peter threated.

“You are pretty too” Stiles said blushing a little bit. Theo’s look at Stiles’s words could only remind Peter of those japanese cartoons the children watched in which the characters had hearts in their eyes. Theo never acted so sweetly with anyone this kid must really be the one Theo’s wolf chose. So young… It’s incredibly uncommon Peter thought.

“Dad… we have to go inside…” Malia intervened with Cora next to her, the two girls were confused about what was happening.

“Oh you’re right! Come on sweetheart, come on” Claudia added.

“Who are they?” Stiles asked looking at Theo.

“My sister and my cousin, Malia and Cora” Theo explained.

“Oh! Nice to meet you! I’m Stiles, I’m Theo’s” Stiles said making Peter jump out of surprise. The boy smelled human to Peter he should not be able to feel the bond between he and Theo.

“You’re cute” Malia said.

Stiles smiled brightly. “Thanks! You’re pretty too, like Theo, and you too!” Stiles said speaking to both Malia and Cora.

Theo growled and grabbed Stiles’s hand. It appeared that his inner wolf was jealous about his boy complementing other wolves. Malia and Cora turned around to look at their relative with widen eyes. Rule number one don’t growl or howl at people. Peter was seriously considering taking Theo home his wolf was out of control.

“Wow! That was so cool! You sound like a dog! No! Like, l-like a wolf! Do it again!” Stiles exclaimed.

“He can’t!” Cora confronted.

“Do you like wolves Stiles?” Malia questioned.

“Malia!” Cora hissed.

“Umm yes, they are strong and like big dogs that sing to the moon” Stiles answered.

Theo smiled. “I love wolves. What’s your favourite animal?”

“The fox! They are very nice and the move their tail when they are happy and they like to play a lot!” Stiles blurted.

“You can be a fox and I can be a wolf” Theo claimed and Stiles squeezed Theo’s hand happily.

“Wolves and foxes don’t like each other” Cora argued.

“The can be friends if they try!” Stiles argued back.

“Oh kids look almost all the children have already enter. Mischief, be good I leave you with your new friends” Claudia kissed her son.

“Let’s go inside” Malia proclaimed

“Theo, maybe you should come with me home, you are a little bit out of control” Peter suggested trying to make his son realize that he wasn’t acting as he was supossed to.

“No!” Both Theo and Stiles chorused. “I’ll be good I promise, I’ll be with Stiles and obey the teacher” Theo pleaded.

“Ok. Behave all of you” Peter conceded.

Theo, Stiles and Malia grinned widely and Cora smiled softly. They entered the building where a lady guided them to their class.

“I like you backpack. Star Wars is so cool!” Theo said. Stiles stopped and looked at Theo with awe before hugging him tight. Theo giggled.

Both Peter and Claudia looked at their sons Exchange with fondness.

“I’m so glad that my son met yours, they are going to be very close, aren’t they?” Claudia said softy to Peter.

“Yes, I think they will” Peter responded. “Your child is very special”

“So is yours, they were bound to meet. I guess we’ll see each other a lot” Claudia smiled, Peter nodded. This family is very interesting is like they are connected somehow to the supernatual, or at least they feel it insome way Peter thought.

Peter drove home and when he entered the house her sister intercepted him.

“How did it go? Were they nervous, everything went all right?” Talia questioned.

“Cora and Malia were nervous and excited at the same time. Theo found his mate” Peter blurted.

Talia froze. “What are you talking about he is five!”

“The mother was nice, there was something mystical about her, and about the boy too. And driving back home I realized that I had heard the last name Stilinski before, I belive the husband is a deputy” Peter explained ignoring his sister.

“Peter! Theo is a child you can’t possibly know for sure that he found his mate!” Talia insisted.

Peter shrugged. “Some people find them before others” Peter concluded sitting on the sofa. An exhausting day indeed.

Theo Raeken-Hale is five years old and a member of the Hale Pack. He, his sister Malia and his cousin Cora are starting Elementary School.

When Peter drove the kids to school the last thing he was expecting was for his son to find his mate.

"Mine" Theo claims hugging Stiles.

"Theo, we don't own people!" Peter hisses

"But he is beautiful! Look at him!" Theo insist.

Stiles giggles. "You're weird! I like you!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------—————————

Theo's mate couldn't be an ordinary human. It had to be a bright one.

"Because you're Werewolves!" Stiles exclaimed.

"What makes you say that?" Laura asks covering her panic.

"It's obvious" Stiles says.

Oh well.

Theo, Malia, Cora and Stiles were seven years old. They were doing homework in the Hale Mansion.

Stiles integrated himself nicely in the Pack. Malia loved him and although Cora pretended to be bothered by his attitude sometimes, she really liked him too. The rest of the members got used to the imperactive human’s presence. Even Derek didn’t mind having the little mischievous kid around. Stiles was noisy and loud but he was beloved by the Werewolves. They understood the bond Theo and Stiles had and they knew how sacred it was.

Theo was smitten by Stiles even more than the day they met. Theo had a talk with his aunt about the bond he shared with Stiles. She called them mates, Theo didn’t care he knew that Stiles made him happy and that he wanted to protect him and be with him forever.

Stiles’s parents were happy that their son found loyal friends who treated him right. Noah and Claudia often diner with the Hales. Talia wanted to have a good relationship with them. Talia knew she would have to eventually tell them about the supernatural, them and Stiles, but she wanted to wait a bit more until Stiles was older. That was her plan.

Stiles closed his book roughly “Done!” Stiles exclaimed.

“Already? You’re too smart Stiles!” Malia complained, everytime they made their homeworks together she was always the last one to finish it.

“I finished too” Theo claimed and Stiles smiled at him.

“Don’t lie, you haven’t done the last two questions” Derek said to his cousin lying on the sofa reading a book. He had been entrusted with supervising the kids.

Theo poutted bitterly not liking getting caught.

“Cheater!” Stiles accused with a laugh.

“What’s going on here?” Laura asked entering the living room.

“Homework” Cora answered concetrated in her book.

“Finish already! I want to play baseball! I won’t see you in the next few days” Stiles pouted.

“Why not? Are you leaving with your parents Stiles?” Laura questioned.

“No, but It’s the full moon in two days” Stiles responded making the five Werewolves of the room froze.

Derek closed his book and looked at Laura with a little bit of panic in his eyes.

Laura collected herself. “And what does it matter that is a full moon?” She carefully asked.

Stiles looked seriously at the future Alpha. “You are Werewolves, you get affected by it, don’t you?” Stiles allegued.

Derek’s eyes widened, Cora, Laura and Theo looked at Stiles with an atonished face.

“You told him?” Malia asked Theo, who looked at her sister denying it.

“Malia!” Derek hissed. Stiles looked at the Wolves with a questioning expression. “Mom!” Derek screamed.

“She is not home” Laura muttered. The rest of the Pack were working or dping some chores.

“Uncle Peter!” Dered shouted again.

“What’s wrong?” Stiles inocently asked.

“You called?” Peter said entering the living room.

“Stiles says we are Werewolves” Cora blurted making the rest of the Hales look at her with a surprised expression.

Peter blinked “I see…” He said calmly. “Why do you think that Stiles?”

“It’s obvious” Stiles said. “Theo is a Werewolf so you have to be too”.

“Why is Theo a Werewolf?” Malia asked.

“His favourite animal is the wolf, and Theo makes cool wolf noises too. He is also very strong he moved alone the big wardrobe that time when I lost my pencil. Also they found claws of an animal in Jackson’s jacket the day he was really mean to me. Theo is sniffing me all the time and he licks me with his tongue too” Stiles explained. “That only happened once!” Theo protested. Stiles giggled. “Sometimes Malia’s nails are super long, your eyes” Stiles motioned to all the wolves “are very bright” he added. Stiles faced Theo “Your eyes flash yellow, they are beautiful” Theo smiled sweetly at the compliment.

Peter hummed out oud. “Have you tell anyone about this Stiles?

Stiles denied with his head. “It’s a secret, right? Our secret!” Stiles answered.

“Yes is a secret. You can’t tell anyone Stiles, bad people could come after us” Peter explained.

“Ok, I won’t tell. I’ll protect you like Theo protects me” Stiles claimed looking at his mate, Theo grinned widely before kissing Stiles on the cheek making the human blush. “Do you turn into wolves?! Can I see!?” Stiles asked animated.

Laura smiled. “No we don’t we only shift a little,  we can show you other day” Laura said.

“Well mom can turn into a real wolf” Cora added.

Stiles beamed. “Cool!”

“I will be able to turn into real wolf when I’m older” Theo claimed trying to impress Stiles.

“You don’t know that!” Malia argued.

“Kids! You can finish your homework later, Why don’t you go play in the backyard?” Peter sugggested.

Stiles agreed enthusiastically grabbing Theo’s arm and running towards the backyard.

Derek, Laura, Cora and Malia stood there watching at the older wolf. “He was going to find out sooner or later, the kid has a very bright mind, don’t worry, since the begining Stiles has been able to feel somehow the mate bond with Theo, he won’t do anything to harm him, or us” Peter reassured his family. “Go to play” Peter insisted. Malia and Cora stood up and and ran to join the boys.

“Are yo usure it’s gonna be all right?” Derek questioned.

“Yes. I guess we have to invite the Stilinskis to diner after the full moon, and we will have to invite everyone” Peter proclaimed.

It would have been better to wait a little longer, but seeing how happy Stiles made his son, everyhing was worth it.

[cursebreaker-lilith]

HPHM Bang--home

For the @hphmbang2020 ! 

It was fun to write this? The Weasley’s are great! I don’t focus on them enough. Math is not my forte (lol) but ages should be roughly: Bill-16, Charlie-14, Percy-11ish, Fred and George-9, Ron-7, Ginny-6.

The art that goes with this is done by @kathrynalicemc ! You can find the art here ^^

Story under the cut or on Ao3!

A day in the Burrow always begins with Molly Weasley in the kitchen. She’s up before anyone else, dressing quickly so she can get some food into her husband before he leaves for work.

It’s quiet in the house, save for the spells she whispers to ignite the stove fire and gather the dishes. Even the ghoul is quiet this early in the morning, no moans or thumps coming from the attic. It’s so different from how the Burrow is usually, and Molly always takes a moment to appreciate the quiet. She loves her family and doesn’t mind the cacophony they bring, but all that commotion just makes quiet moments like this sweeter.

Arthur is usually the first downstairs—and the first out the door depending on his work schedule. Molly gets a peck on the cheek as she hands Arthur a bowl of porridge. He smiles in thanks and begins to wolf it down. Molly holds back a sigh. Seems like today is one where he needs to leave early.

Her oldest three usually wander downstairs next. Both Charlie and Percy are natural early risers—Charlie likes to take a walk before breakfast in the early dawn light, while Percy basks in the rare silence of the house with a book. It’s the only time she doesn’t admonish him for having a book at the table. Molly knows how much he enjoys the calm.

Bill isn’t an early riser like his brothers, but he’s got into the habit of waking early anyways. When she had been pregnant at the same time as raising toddlers, she had relied on Bill to help her wake, dress, and feed his siblings. Even now, every time he comes downstairs, he asks her if she needs any help, to which she always replies that she doesn’t. She can handle the cooking just fine now, and she wants to let her eldest relax like a child should in the morning.

It’s usually the three of them, Molly, Bill, and Percy, for a while after that. Charlie is out walking, while the younger kids sleep. Ginny sometimes is with them, but as she’s gotten older, she has started to sleep in more. Molly misses bonding with her only daughter who is always so fascinated by seeing food float through the air, but she’ll let her daughter sleep in with her brothers.

Charlie’s arrival is usually when she goes to wake her other children—after she makes Charlie wash all the dirt he accumulated on his walk off at the door and change into clean clothing. None of them appreciate the wake up, especially Ron, but the smell of food wafting through the house usually convinces them it’s a good idea.

With the noise of groans echoing through the house and stomps coming up and down the stairs, she goes back down to the kitchen to start filling bowls. Once everyone’s downstairs, the quiet peace of the morning will be gone until tomorrow.

-x-

Breakfast is loud. Much too loud in the opinion of Percy. Why can’t they all just sit quietly and eat? Why does Fred have to chew with his mouth open to gross out Ginny who squeals? Why can’t his family be normal sometimes? It’s exhausting.

Percy is usually the first to finish because he actually eats his food instead of trying to convince Ron that spiders aren’t that bad. Percy scoffs inwardly. You’re not going to get anywhere, Charlie! He’s terrified of the pests.

He pushes his chair back. “May I be excused?”

His mother gives him a concerned look. “Did you eat enough? You finished pretty quick there.”

Percy considers it. “I’m—”

“Hey, are those the school owls? Percy, get the window.” Bill’s voice interrupts him, and Percy is out of his chair and opening the window before anyone can say anything else. He is turning eleven in a few weeks’ time, just before September 1st, and despite his parent’s assurances that he will be able to attend Hogwarts this year, a part of him is terrified he will have to wait another year.

His heart soars when he sees what the owl is carrying.

“Three letters!” Percy cries out triumphantly. He will get to go to Hogwarts!

Fred and George moan but that is to be expected. They are annoyances who are to be ignored whenever anything big happens. Ron and Ginny join in on the complaining as Percy passes envelopes to Bill and Charlie. He ignores them too, focusing only on his own letter.

Dear Mr. Weasley

We are pleased to inform you that….

He continues to read and desperately tries to ignore his younger siblings rising insistence that they all want to go to Hogwarts now. He can’t let them ruin this for him.

Percy switches to the booklist, scanning it. He has already read all the books for the year, except for the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. Percy thought it would be that way. He always read Bill’s schoolbooks after his brother finishes a school year.

“So, what’s yours say, Perce?”

A hand snatches the letter from him. Percy sputters as Fred holds the letter in front of his face.

“Fred! Don’t take something from your brother’s hands like that!”

Despite their mother’s reprimand, Fred is unrepentant. “I want to see what the letter looks like!”

Percy snatches his letter back, silently fuming. Fred and George are always like this, ruining every good thing Percy gets. He gets that they’re little kids, but do they have to be so annoying all day every day? “Like you haven’t read Bill or Charlie’s letters? I’m going to my room.”

“Percy—” his mother tries to call, but he ignores her and dumps his empty bowl in the sink. Percy retreats upstairs to his room, ready to savor his Hogwarts letter in the relative quiet of the currently empty upstairs.

This is supposed to be a happy moment and those are always ruined when he’s around the twins.

-x-

Charlie surveys the collection of bits and bobs spread out on a towel. While the assortment of rocks in front of him is undoubtedly very cool looking—one rock is dark grey and shaped like a shoe if you squint, while another seems to have some sort of quartz in it—no matter how you look at it, none of his morning finds is a dragon scale.

Logically, Charlie knows it is unlikely he will find a dragon scale—or tooth, or claw, or dragon related anything—by the Burrow. They live nowhere near a dragon reserve and the Ministry of Magic strictly regulates where dragons can fly, but Charlie can dream. It is possible he could dig and find some dragon scale left behind centuries ago. It isn’t an unheard of thing, just rare. A slim chance is still a chance, and Charlie is nothing if not optimistic when it comes to dragons. He fully believes that he can join the small percentage of people who have happened upon dragon relics.

For now, he stuffs his collection of rocks back into his bag. He usually puts them in a chest by his bed, but Percy is sulking in the room they share and he doesn’t want to deal with his little brother’s snappish mood. It always takes Percy a while to calm down after Fred and George rile him up.

Instead, he goes outside. It’s a nice day. Slightly cloudy, of course, but it doesn’t seem to be rain clouds. As good flying conditions as it’s going to get.

None of his family is outside, so Charlie isn’t interrupted as he takes a broom from the shed and lifts off gently into the sky. He gives himself a minute to just enjoy the feeling of being in the air. Usually, one of his siblings would have noticed him on a broom by this point and begged for Quidditch help so they could also make the Gryffindor team when they went to Hogwarts. Charlie doesn’t mind helping them, not in the least bit, but it is nice to just fly without distractions. To hover and take in the land laid out before him. See light glisten on the river that winds its way through the countryside and into the distant Muggle town. Feel the sun on his back, giving him the slightest bit of warmth against the wind. Flying calms him, and, slightly ironically, grounds him. It reminds him that there is more to life than dragons, believe it or not.

He can’t really leave the shadow of the Burrow—they live too close to Muggles for him to really be able to fly—but doing lazy laps around his home is fine.

“Oi, Charlie! If you’re flying, then can you help us with Quidditch?”

Charlie snorts. The moment of peace was nice while it lasted.

-x-

Ron trudges up another flight of stairs, seriously regretting picking the top floor to live in once he was old enough to have his own room. It is one of the biggest rooms in the house and super cool, no doubt about it, but having to walk up all those stairs after several hours of playing Quidditch nonstop with his brothers is not fun. Not fun at all. Every muscle feels like it’s on fire and those last few steps seem to take forever to make.

He can’t help but let out a groan as he collapses onto his bed. He is covered in sweat and dirt and probably should shower before he gets his blankets and sheets dirty, but he’s too exhausted right now to bother. Mum will clean them anyways before the week is over.

The impromptu Quidditch practice went well, in Ron’s opinion. Fred and George had persuaded him and Charlie into dodging balls that they sent flying, but that wasn’t very hard, even for Ron. Their family didn’t have real bludgers to practice with and had to settle for regular balls that weren’t enchanted to knock people off brooms. Fred and George’s aim was improving, but they couldn’t send the balls flying that high.

Charlie had been amazing to watch. Unlike Ron, who had kept higher in the sky to avoid the twins being menaces, Charlie had kept the ground. Ron could understand how he had become Gryffindor’s Seeker in his second year—there was a precision to how he flew. He seemed to know exactly where Fred and George were going to hit the balls and swerved out of the way easily.

Ron wishes he could fly like that. He tries to tell himself that Charlie is that good because he is fourteen and a teenager, but sometimes Ron has trouble believing that. Charlie has natural talent, everyone says so, but they never say that about Ron.

Quidditch Through the Ages is still on his bed from where Ron had dropped it when he went running to practice Quidditch. He flops over onto his stomach and sighs, flipping through the book. It automatically opens to the section on the teams in Britain, specifically where the small part on the Chudley Cannons starts. Ron isn’t much of a reader, but he’s read this book dozens of times over.

His brothers favor other teams, but Ron thinks his favorite is the Cannons. He maybe relates to them a little. No one expects anything from the Cannon’s, so anytime they do well it’s a celebration.

Flipping through the book, Ron loses track of time. Someday, he wants to play for one of the team’s mentioned. That would be so cool. Quidditch is so cool. Maybe if he bothers Charlie enough they could practice again later—

“Ron!”

He jumps at his mum’s voice.

“Yeah?”

She opens his door a bit and peeks through. “Lunch is ready, dear. Did you not hear me?”

Ron smiles sheepishly. “No, sorry.”

Molly smiles back. “It’s fine. Just be down quickly, okay.”

He nods, and sets Quidditch Through the Ages down. Practice is nice, but food is even better.

-x-

Ginny smashes the two dolls against each other, almost angry that her dolls are made of fabric and not something harder. If they were, then there would be banging noises to represent how upset she feels, and also one might break and that would represent her feelings too.

Well, no, she doesn’t really want to break one of her toys, but she is still so angry! Her stupid brothers spent the whole morning playing Quidditch and when she tried to play with them too, they hadn’t let her. It isn’t fair! Ron is only a year older, so it isn’t like she’s too young. They were only doing it because she’s a girl and that is such a stupid reason.

She smushes the dolls together again in anger—pretending that they’re Fred and George colliding midair because that would be funny to watch—then throws one of the dolls across her room. It hits the wall and then the floor with next to no noise. Ginny pulls her knees to her chest and puffs out her cheeks.

Boys are stupid. Brothers are stupid.

“You okay there, Ginny?”

Ginny looks over to Bill standing in her doorway.

Okay, maybe all brothers aren’t stupid. Just most of them.

She continues to pout but doesn’t yell when Bill comes into her room and sits down across from her.

Bill has a small smile on his face. “Still angry about this morning?”

“No,” she lies. “Maybe.”

He winks at her. “They were being kind of mean, weren’t they?”

Ginny throws her arms out. “Yeah! They wouldn’t even let me watch!”

“Awful.”

“Right? They’re all such stupidheads.”

“The stupidest.”

With that agreement, Ginny finally relaxes and launches into a ramble about all the ways that her brothers (except Bill of course) are very stupid and mean. Bill nods and doesn’t interrupt which is why he is Ginny’s favorite and the only boy in the whole world who isn’t stupid. Well, Bill and her dad. And Harry Potter. They’re all okay.

“You okay now?” Bill asks and Ginny nods. It feels good to have someone take her complaints seriously and not make fun of them (like Ron or Fred or George always do) or reduce them (like her mum sometimes does).

“Thank you for listening,” she says, because she’s polite.

Bill laughs and musses up her hair. She benevolently lets him. “Anytime, kiddo. Have fun playing with your dolls.”

Ginny nods once more as Bill walks out. She crawls over to the other side of the room and guiltily picks up the doll she threw earlier.

“Sorry about that,” she tells the doll who does not reply. “I didn’t really mean to throw you.”

She crawls back to her original spot and picks up another toy on the way, an old doll-sized toy broom that barely can float after years of being owned by the Weasley’s. She puts one of her dolls on the broom.

“There. So, you’re the new Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies and…”

-x-

“So, I think we should first try tricking Ron—”

“Yeah, but if we do, then he’s just going to squeal to Mum—"

“Yeah, but if we try to just sneak into Mum and Dad’s room without a distraction, then we’re more likely to get caught. Ron’s gonna squeal but it’ll have her distracted.”

“Distracted? More like Mum’ll make us wash dishes the Muggle way as punishment.”

Fred and George glare at each other, neither wanting to cede victory to the other. Usually, they get along swimmingly and know just what the other wants, but sometimes fights do happen.

The two noticed their dad sneak in some chocolate bars the day before, likely for Percy’s birthday coming up soon, and he had hidden the chocolate somewhere in his and Mum’s bedroom so no one could eat it. Well, that’s just a silent challenge in the twin’s eyes! It probably wouldn’t take long to actually find the chocolate—Mum kept her room clean and they knew her regular hiding spots—but getting in is the hard part. Their mum always seems to know when they are sneaking into rooms not their own, and they always are scolded for it.

“We could always bribe Ron to help us,” George says eventually. Ron is the easiest of their siblings to bribe. “Instead of tricking him. We are looking for chocolate bars after all.”

Fred wrinkles his nose. “It’d work, sure, but then we’d have to actually give him some of our hard-won chocolate.”

George shrugs. “Can always tell him we found less than we really did. Or not tell him about the chocolate at all and trade a favor.”

“That could work,” Fred strokes his chin as if he is pondering something important and not candy theft. He grins. “We’ll just tell him we won’t bother him for a whole two weeks. That’ll probably work.”

George laughs. Ron is their favorite victim after Percy. Soon, he’ll be their main victim since Percy is off to Hogwarts in a month. “Give him a small reprieve before the real pranks start.”

Identical smirks grow on identical faces.

“Oh, yeah, this will be good.” Fred is laughing now too. “We can even extend it; say we won’t bother him until the others leave for Hogwarts. Lull him into a sense of false security.”

“Obviously, this means we need to come up with something good to do to him on September first.”

“Obviously,” Fred agrees, eyes alight with mischief. “Something big to do the moment we get back from King’s Cross.”

The two of them laugh, any tension from their small fight earlier gone.

George calms down first. “We can plan for that later. Now, we need to convince him to distract Mum so we can have that chocolate.”

Fred falls backwards onto the floor, staring at the ceiling with a smile on his face. “Chocolate. That’s exactly what we need to plan the best prank ever.” He sits up and stretches. “Well, no time like the present! Let’s go.”

-x-

Bill studies the parchment in front of him. Only a few months previous he had taken his O.W.L.’s, and the letter with his exam grades had come a month ago. Despite all the panic he’d felt before and after the exams, Bill had done fine. His schedule the past few years, not even including any extracurriculars, had been packed with twelve classes. The fact that he passed every single one, that he received 8 O’s, 2 E’s and 2 A’s, was amazing and something to be celebrated. People would kill to have marks like that.

Still, part of him feels conflicted going into his sixth year. Apart from Divination and Muggle Studies, the two classes he received the Acceptable grades in, he can get into any N.E.W.T. level class he wants. He even managed to get the O necessary for Snape’s Potions class. But he doesn’t really want to leave any of his old classes behind. He knows it’s necessary and he knows what classes he needs to take to have a career in curse breaking, but he still is so reluctant to commit to them.

It’s the first step towards being an adult and, for the first time in a while, Bill doesn’t want to take the step.

He’s always had to act older than he was, told to look after his siblings and take care of them when his parents were busy, so he’s used to acting in adult ways. It isn’t anything new. But looking at his Hogwarts letter, it suddenly hits him that he is sixteen. One year from now, he’ll be considered an adult by wizarding laws. In two years, if he passes his classes and applies to Gringotts, he could very well be in a different country working to break curses in Egypt or Greece. It’s exciting, Bill can’t deny that, but also terrifying in a way.

Bill looks down once more at the letter from Hogwarts. Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy are the classes he needs to take to become a curse breaker. All are classes he received an O in. Bill loves learning and part of him wishes that he could take more classes than those five, but five N.E.W.T. level classes is already an insane workload. He can always study in his free time, or during vacation.

It’s later in the afternoon, the time of day he is pretty sure is called the golden hour. Outside, he can see that golden reflection in everything below him. He takes a steadying breathe, tries to feel as calm as the environment around him looks. It will be fine. Growing up and becoming and adult is okay.

“Bill? Are you up there? Dinner’s ready soon! Can you get your siblings down to the kitchen?”

Bill stretches, having been musing for quite a while. “Yeah! Be down in a sec.”

“Thank you, dear!”

He listens as his mum wanders away and smiles to himself. It’ll be fine. Growing up is just a new extension of what he’s already been doing his whole life—taking care of his family.

-x-

Depending on how work goes, Arthur usually comes home right as dinner is being served. He has no idea how Molly does it, how she always seems to know right when he finishes his paperwork and clocks out, but there’s rarely a day where he has to wait more than ten minutes for dinner.

He pecks Molly on the cheek, admires her smile, and listens to the jeers from the disgusted children at the table. Fred and George in particular are at that age where any sign of affection is considered sickening, while Ron and Ginny always try to mimic them.

“How’d work go, Dad?” Bill asks with a bright smile.

“Delightfully!” Arthur crows, mostly meaning it. There was more paperwork than usual today and he had to deal with Jameson, but he also had a Muggle-born witch explain to him how planes fly! Apparently, her Muggle brother works as an aerospace engineer and has spent a lot of time explaining the mechanics to her. He enthusiastically explains this to his considerably less excited children.

Ron crinkles his nose in confusion. “I didn’t understand any of that.”

“Dragons are cooler anyways,” Charlie adds predictably. “Do you want to know how they fly?”

“No,” comes several long-suffering voices, used to Charlie’s dragon rambles.

Charlie sulks a bit in his chair. “Dragons are cool,” he mutters.

“Maybe another time, Charlie,” Arthur says, smile still on his face. Charlie perks up a bit at that and nods. Arthur doesn’t mind listening to Charlie ramble—he knows what it’s like to have your passions thought of as weird and wants to give Charlie an outlet somewhere.

“Fred! George!” The two boys yelp at Molly’s loud exclamation. “You’ve barely eaten! Is there something wrong with the food?”

Both boys wildly shake their heads and begin to comically scoop large portions of shepherd’s pie into their mouths. Ginny laughs, but Molly purses her lips and gives Arthur a look. He nods slightly—the boys probably got into some food store and ate before dinner. He’ll have to look for that chocolate for Percy’s birthday cake he hid. That seems like the most likely thing they ate.

Conversation goes from there. Percy rambles a bit about receiving his Hogwarts acceptance letter and gets a proper congratulations for it. Bill talks about the classes he needs while Charlie valiantly tries to talk about dragons once more.

Dragon talk gets derailed by a long discussion about Quidditch after Fred makes a comment about something that happened earlier in the day. This draws in almost the whole family—only Percy and Molly stay quiet.

Arthur shares a smile with Molly as the discussion gets particularly lively. For all the still mornings they see and how much he enjoys those quiet moments, nothing beats the lively debates that happen at dinner where they are all together, as a family.

[creampuffqueen]

Feyre x Rhysand baby headcanons

Alrighty! First one for acotar kiddos! 

-Alright alright alright here we go kids

-Feyre and Rhys are clearly the first to have kids. It's just a fact

-Unlike in the ToG world, however, it takes wayyy longer

-In the acotar world, it's been about thirty-ish years since the war with Hybern

-Things have happened. Eris has taken over his father's spot as High Lord of the Autumn Court. Tarquin found his mate. Helion realized that Lucien was his son and took him in.

-And yet, the Inner Circle has remained the same

-The first few years after the events of acofas were kind of hard for Feyre. Even though she knew it would take a while, she was still disappointed when she didn't get pregnant immediately

-Then life got busy, and their focus was elsewhere

-Which is why, nearly thirty years later, Feyre finds herself.. not feeling too great

-The thing is, none of her symptoms scream 'PREGNANCY' that much

-She was nauseous for a few days, no throwing up

-Had an odd craving or two

-Was extra tired for a while there

-So neither Feyre nor Rhys is too concerned

-The real surprise comes when Feyre starts gaining weight

-Now that's odd

-Feyre's been training for three decades. She's like, swole

-But then her breasts start to get sensitive

-And her stomach starts to get pudgy and soft

-The final clue is when her scent starts to change

-Rhys wakes up one morning and smells his amazing wife, only to find... she doesn't smell quite the same

-Feyre feels fine, but because Rhys is Rhys and must be overprotective, he instantly calls for Madja, their healer

-Madja knows what's up right away

-Because she's just cool like that

-"I am pleased to inform you that you are about three months pregnant, Lady Feyre."

-At first neither believes it

-They haven't been trying, but then again, they haven't been preventing it either

-As soon as the healer leaves, making sure that Feyre promises to show up regularly at the clinic, the couple literally just sit and squeal with excitement for like a solid five minutes

-They are freaking ecstatic, like seriously. Feyre has never seen Rhys so happy before. They're both over the moon

-Because Feyre's already three months pregnant and her scent has changed, they decide to just tell everyone

-Rhys drags Cassian, Azriel, Mor, and Amren down for dinner. Nesta and Elain, being sort of married to some of those people, obviously tag along

-When they're all gathered, Cassian is being all 'what is this even about'

-And Feyre pretty much just jumps up and down and says 'I'm pregnant!'

-Like, she's still so freaking excited

-Of course, the whole Inner Circle pretty much loses it

-Cassian is yelling and patting Rhys on the back, Mor and Elain are both crying, Nesta is actually smiling and so is Azriel. Even Amren seems mildly less annoyed with them for once

-Basically everyone is just so happy for them

-And because Rhys can't keep a secret, almost the entirety of Velaris knows within the week

-Which means that the Court of Nightmares is also aware

-And the Illyrian camps

-And... other Courts

-The citizens of Velaris are all so kind. Feyre gets tons of handmade gifts and lots of food, which is good because she is mostly just hungry and tired all the time

-The Court of Nightmares is... another experience. They give congrats, mostly so they don't seem rude

-But otherwise they don't bother them too much

-Some of the Illyrian camps are hostile, but most are also at least semi-polite

-It's the other Courts Rhys is worried about

-He doesn't think most of them will try anything. But he is concerned

-He doesn't want anything to happen to Feyre or the baby

-So he makes Feyre always keep someone with her just in case. He just wants a buddy system

-Feyre is annoyed at first, but she doesn't want anything to happen either, so she's fine with it. Besides, she likes spending time with her friends and family

-When Feyre is about six months pregnant, Nesta finds out she's pregnant, too

-Which Feyre is ecstatic about, because it means she gets to experience pregnancy with her sister

-Nesta's pregnancy is, unfortunately, a lot harder

-Which means Feyre can't spend as much time with her as she'd like

-But still, it's fun

-At nine months pregnant, Feyre is irritable and uncomfortable

-Rhys spends a few nights in guest bedrooms because Feyre needs the whole bed to sleep

-And some nights she can't sleep at all, so she wanders around the River House aimlessly

-They have a nursery, toys, and so many clothes they don't know what to do with them all

-All they need is a baby

-One day after her due date, Feyre wakes up suddenly in the middle of the night in a pool of water

-She goes to take a bath, trying not to wake up her mate, when she feels it

-A contraction

-It's not that bad, though, so she takes the bath

-She thinks it's just a false alarm, since it was only one and nearly half an hour later there weren't any more

-But when she wakes Rhys up to change the sheets, she feels another

-Again, Rhys being Rhys, gets Madja

-Poor woman, she was probably being called to the River House twice a day because Rhys is an anxious mother hen

-But, guess, what

-Feyre's in labor!

-As far as Fae births go, hers is pretty easy

-Afterwards Feyre doesn't want to know what a hard labor feels like

-Because she was in labor for eleven hours and was in so much pain she couldn't feel her legs halfway through

-Madja nearly had to pull the baby out herself

-Rhys was there to support her the whole way through, and was honestly the only reason Feyre did so well

-If it weren't for him she thinks she wouldn't have been able to do it

-But after everything is said and done

-A little baby boy is asleep on Feyre's chest

-His name is Cirrus Beddor Archeron

-After Clare, the girl who was an unknowing sacrifice to Amarantha

-Cirrus has a head of night-black hair, and tiny little wings wrapped around his body that are nearly translucent with how thin they are

-For Illyrians, they don't gain much body weight soon after birth because all the muscle and fat goes to strengthening the wings

-Which is true for little Cirrus. He's a tiny little bit underweight until he's about a month old

-But damn is he cute

-When he opens his eyes, Feyre nearly gets her breath taken away. He looks exactly like the boy the Bone Carver showed her

-As he gets older, Cirrus is a good kid

-A troublesome toddler, but hey, what can you expect, really? Have you seen his relatives?

-Every now and then he'll say something very weirdly wise for someone so young

-And it's incredibly obvious how powerful he is

-Like, he's got powers from all the Courts, plus extra Night Court powers, PLUS Illyrian genetics and powers

-This kid is crazy powerful

-Which is why Rhys and Feyre train with him relentlessly

-If Cirrus can't expel his powers properly, he could seriously injure someone else. Or even himself

-He's a smart kid, and a strong one

-By the time he's six years old he's got a handle on his powers

-Not enough to properly use them, but enough to control them

-Which is good

-Because Feyre finds herself pregnant again

-This time she's pregnant at the same time as Elain, which is fun again

-And just like last time, her pregnancy is smooth sailing

-Cirrus will practice his reading by reading books to Feyre's belly

-And Rhys is again, overprotective doting mother hen

-This baby is a girl

-And she's the exact opposite of Cirrus

-Feyre's gold-brown hair and violet eyes

-Wings, but not as much power as her older brother

-Her name is Camille Alis Archeron

-Camille's powers are sort of strange

-She has a tiny bit of each power, but her most prominent is not Night Court powers. It's Summer, Day, and Spring

-Camille is a quieter kid

-Cirrus loves her to bits, but sometimes he's just too much for his introverted little sister

-She does, however, get along strangely well with Mor. Even though Mor is her opposite, she's definitely Camille's favorite aunt

-And this little girl also ADORES books

-She spends almost all her time in the library

-When Camille is four years old, another addition joins the Archeron family

-A second baby girl, with hair blacker than the night, and violet eyes

-She looks exactly like Rhys

-Her name is Caliphe Feyre Archeron

-And she's the most troublesome of the three

-It's because she's the baby

-So she gets away with everything

-Cirrus and Camille love their little sister, but she's kind of... ruthless

-Too much time with aunt Amren

-Caliphe is obsessed with jewelry and all things shiny, and is also obsessed with flying and fighting

-She loves to fly more than anything in the entire world

-And Cali also has the strongest Night Court powers of all her siblings

-Her Daemati powers are out of this world. It's completely insane

-She doesn't have any other powers besides those from her father. Nothing from any other Court

-But still, she's freakishly strong

-Feyre and Rhysand have got three of the strongest Fae on their hands

-And you know what?

-Their kids are their joys

-The reason they get up in the morning

-And yeah, maybe Camille is reading instead of doing schoolwork, and Cirrus is causing trouble in the markets, and Caliphe is stealing jewels

-But they wouldn't have it any other way

-The story Worlds of Fire and Darkness takes place when Cirrus is 20, Camille is 14, and Caliphe is 8

[manjuhitorie]

Shinoda’s Instagram Q&A July 18th 2020 - Part 1

👋How are Retro Tone’s Saddles? 🗣The steel saddles are way worth a shot　 　👀 http://astronauts69.com/retrotone/ - https://twitter.com/sho_do_teki/status/1019548356383682561

👋What bandsmen have you been keeping in touch with? 🗣I got calls from Hiroki-san of Lego Big Morl And Adam Touch Takahashi of Bed In (honorifics omitted) I’m usually never the one to hit people up first... 

👋What are you doing awake this late? (approx 3AM JST) 🗣Listening to Audrey on the radio 　👀 Audrey are a manzai comedy duo! https://wow-j.com/en/Allguides/other/tips_manners/02304_en/#2

👋 Have you eaten any pudding lately? 🗣I deeply apologize for waiting so long to make this clear. The pudding phase has long ended. We had a good run everyone.

　👀 https://twitter.com/sho_do_teki/status/1245973638550917121 Shinoda had found a pudding recipe on cookpad which requires only a microwave, a single egg, then milk, sugar, and a sprinkle of vanilla essence! This discovery sparked a trend among Hitorie fans, as many were giving it a shot themselves and joining in on the sweetness!

👋 What is your favorite? 🗣My favorite what?

👋 Are you sleepy? 🗣No problems here

👋 What’s your opinion feeling on cicadas? 🗣My opinion is that they’re dogshit

👋 I’m knee-deep in depression right now, what do I do.. 🗣Watch Audrey videos on youtube You’re bound to laugh and whisk the time away, it’s ideal

👋 How are you? 🗣Physically I’m healthy. Mentally I’m so-so.

👋 Did you get ygarshy any presents for his birthday? If you did, what did you get him? 🗣I can’t tell ya bastards.

👋What happened to your smoke machine? 🗣I still have it 　👀 https://twitter.com/sho_do_teki/status/1269167465499521025 
For SND’s birthday, ygarshy had gotten him a smoke machine. The kind commonly seen at concerts to add effects.
 To quote Shinoda’s reception, he said, “I’m sure y’all got a taste of the level of insanity our bassist is, judging from the MC chat reports of last year’s tour but… This should really set in stone just how insane he is.” 

👋Any new song recs? 🗣SUTENEKO by Siamese Cats 　👀 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVSBarQH6ZY

👋Are you still working out? 🗣If it’s okay to say that I’m still at it then.. Yeah I’m still at it.

　👀 He had been developing aches/feeling like he had muscle atrophy due to drawing so much manga. Thus, after even Hitorie’s manager urged him about the necessity to work out, he finally picked it up. Though he did tweet “I was working out while I slept last night, and now I can’t stand up… Fuckkkk thissssss!!” https://twitter.com/sho_do_teki/status/1264486160211951617  So… Fight on, SND!

👋I want to know what you’ve been eating lately! 🗣I’m cooking hamburgers and hotdogs at home

👋What have you been up to? 🗣Listening to Audrey on the radio

👋What are you up to right now👀 🗣Listening to Audrey on the radio

👋 Do you create distortion by using your amp, or by stomping around by your feet? 🗣By my feet

👋 What’s next after the pudding phase? 🗣I’m in a hamburger phase now

👋 Who manga artist you especially like 🗣I’ve always loved Douman Seiman sensei 　👀 https://myanimelist.net/people/12266/Sayman_Dowman

👋 What’s good about Jaguars? (*the car I think) 🗣They look all robotic

👋 What cigarettes have you been smoking? 🗣Marlboro gold

👋 You strike me as the type who talks to himself a lot, so I ask, do you talk to yourself a lot? 🗣Kinda, yeah

👋 What Hitorie songs are best to start out with? 🗣Like Senseless Wonder Or any relatively simple one

👋 What shampoo do you use? 🗣The Seven Eleven one

👋 I can’t make a song.. The day is going to end in vain again..

🗣The day you finally make it will answer everything Or at least we can hope...

👋 How’s your kitty? 🗣I don’t fucking have one

👋 I want to go to a concert 🗣I wanna go tooo

👋 Any RPG recs? 🗣Landstalker You can play it on a SEGA Genesis Mini, go ham on the ungodly maps

👋 I like you? 🗣What?

👋 Do any movies hold a special place in your heart? 🗣9 Souls probably  Chihara Junia is so awesome 　👀 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370244/

👋Please take a selfie 👣 🗣I can’t right now fella

👋What onigiri filling do you like? 🗣Spicy cod roe and/or tuna

👋I just want to give up on studying for entrance exams. But I can’t. How do you achieve that which you don’t want to do? 🗣I feel like I’ve never ever even achieved that which I don’t want to do.. 👋 Any recent purchases?
 🗣 *https://www.jimdunlop.com/cry-baby-mini-wah/

👋 Who’s the greatest genius you know? 🗣Shimoyaka 　👀 Check them out here: https://twitter.com/simoyaka - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9qsoxiPKaY - Tanaka Bunko is the name of Shimoyaka’s doujin group.

👋 Do you ever have troubles or worries? 🗣I do

👋 Which do you recommend out of the great Ghibli 4 playing in theaters? 🗣Well, anything but Mononoke Hime..

👋 My ex girlfriend introduced me, so when I listen the memories come flooding back... 🗣What are you talking about?

👋 I’m torn on whether to cut my hair or not, should I? 🗣Enough already, just cut it.

👋 Do you have a favorite Tanaka Bunko song? 🗣High Score Girl (👀 https://ch.nicovideo.jp/simoyaka/video/so36488388) It sounds like Dinosaur Jr. ( 👀 The western band)

👋 Have you gotten good at any cooking recipes lately? 🗣Do hotdogs count as cooking?

👋 What to do when you can’t sleep 🗣Listen to the radio and stuff

👋 Why don’t you get a kitty?
 🗣Laziness and allergies as a joint force are preventing my kitty endeavors

👋 Will you sleep after this? 🗣I don’t know

👋 For my Coming of Age Ceremony, I’m not sure if I should cut my hair into a short bob or let it grow long so I can style it. Which suits your tastes more Shinoda-san?
 🗣The short bob 100%

👋 So you like girls with short hair.. Then, what hair color do you like? 🗣I don’t really care as long as it looks good

👋 I slept as this time yesterday, but I woke up at this time today. I want to be reborn as a Marlboro gold cigarette.

🗣It may be wise to not aspire to turn into consumables much

👋 What kind of gear is on your current pedal board? 🗣 *A picture consisting of a BOSS TU3W, Xotic EP Booster, WEED MDW-1 wah, Crowther Hotcake, Electro-Harmoni Nano Bass Big Muff, Arion SCH-Z Stereo Chorus, and BOSS DD-20.

👋 I just woke up, good morning 🗣Good morning

👋 Then I want to be reborn as a bed or sofa 🗣Chill

👋 Time to go to work! Cheer me on! 🗣Have a swell day

👋 I’m job-hunting right now, tell me something 🗣I hope it all works out…

👋 I’m a fan from Taiwan and a guitar newbie, do you have any tips and tricks for pressing chords? 🗣Make sure you’re pressing cleanly, I think

👋 Good morning~ Due to various circumstances I’m living in Tokyo for one month starting today, cheers to our battles to come 🗣Battles!?

👋 After drinking all night yesterday, I fell back to sleep 3 times before finally waking up just now. I woke up out of fear after remembering the news about the man who’s bladder exploded. 🗣That shit’s scary as hell? 　👀 https://nypost.com/2020/06/23/mans-bladder-explodes-after-holding-pee-for-18-hours-after-beer-binge/

👋 As a guitarist/vocalist what are you most careful of? 🗣Don’t wiggle around too much and wear yourself out

👋 Alco and Peace’s radio segments are just too damn good, ain’t they…? 🗣I’ve listened to the skit about Ichiru at an international tournie so many times that I’ve lost count, they’re seriously the best 　👀 They’re a manzai comedy duo too!

👋 What temperature do you keep your air-conditioning at? 🗣It depends but, when I do use it I’ll bring it all the way to 24 degrees celsius.

👋 What are you going to do now? 🗣No idea

👋 Have you ever been approached by fans at festivals or out in town? On that note, is it okay to approach you? (；.Д.) 🗣I have. It depends on the time and place.

👋 I love you. Time to go to work… 🗣Have a nice day

👋 Do you ever go to cat cafes and stuff? 🗣I’ve been.

👋 I’ve been job hunting with no resolution in sight, please give me words of encouragement! 🗣You can do it~

👋 Good morning,,, I bombed my mock exams and would love a picker-upper,,, 🗣Well, mock exams aren’t the end so

👋 What do you think of girls who cheat? 🗣I think they’re girls who cheat

👋 I keep doing Hitorie cover bands but I can’t seem to improve the skill* (I’m the drummer) 🗣I’m amazed that you’re even trying at all

👋 Good morning.. Please cheer me on,, 🗣You can do it~

👋 Can you tell me what entertainer you like! 🗣Kamomental 　👀 Another nother manzai duo!

👋 How to restore absolute exhaustion 👀Find something immersive, or laugh-inductive, or just go to sleep…

👋 What’s your favorite out of all the Hitorie merch released thus far? 🗣The album art pins

👋 What is the philosophy behind men who have affairs? 🗣They’re the type who can do it and stomach it, so they just do it, I think

👋 The album cover pins are so cool that I hesitate to use them, Shinoda-sensei what pins do you use? 🗣I always lose pins in a matter of minutes so I’m too scared to use them..

👋 I miss Shinoda-san’s girl and cat drawings 
🗣I haven’t been drawing much huh

👋 Do you listen to anything besides Audrey on the All Night Nippon radio station? 🗣Not much, only like Creepy Nuts (👀 They host a hip-hop/rap battle station!) or Sakuma (👀 He takes letters from listeners and digs into various hypothetical or real events)

👋 What’s the most recent movie you’ve watched? 🗣Lost Paradise in Tokyo 　👀 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1519647/

👋 It’s Sunday yet I have to wake up early and go to work, please put my heart at ease,,, 🗣I pray for your health…

[kohanayaki]

Caught in the Middle (Steve Harrington x Reader x Billy Hargrove) Ch 3

Links: Ch 1   Ch 2   Ch 3  Ch 4  Ch 5  Ch 6   Ch 7

______________________________________________________

Ch 3 .:An Eventful Evening:.

The rest of the week went by in a flash. You adjusted pretty quickly to your new school, and you were starting to make some new friends as well. After the whole basketball-to-the-face incident you found yourself talking to Steve more. He always made you laugh during your classes together and his friends were fun to hang out with too. You started eating lunch with their group and they welcomed you in like you'd been friends with them all your life.

However, there was someone else who slowly started to weasel his way into your daily life:

Billy Hargrove. 

He'd let up on the flirting at least a little bit, but he still insisted on trying to talk to you. At first you were tempted to tell him exactly where he could shove it, but your mind drifted back to what you saw at his house. Of course his circumstances were no excuse for his behavior, but you gave him less shit than you normally would. He seemed to notice this, too, taking it as an opening to talk to you since you weren't shutting him down every five seconds. 

It started off as him simply asking to borrow a pencil in class. You both knew he didn't need one, but you entertained him anyways. His usual flirty comments became something you got used to, and after a few days you actually found yourself looking forward to his stupid jokes in math class and the witty banter you two shared. 

Turns out whenever he wasn't around his family or his shitty friends, the Keg King could actually be a decent person to hang out with. Still, you made sure to keep your distance. You knew if you let your guard down for a second you'd end up making the same bad decisions it always came to with guys like him. 

Nonetheless, the week flew by, and by the time Saturday night came around you were ready to knock out in your bed the second you stepped foot in your house.

“Dad, we're home!” Kyle called up the stairs. 

“Hey kids,” your dad smiled, peeking his head out of the office before making his way down to the living room, “How was your day?”

“Pretty good,” Kyle said.

“I'm going to sleep,” you answered tiredly. 

“Um, actually, (Y/n), we're going to Tina's to study for the Biology test, remember?” Kyle said.

'Shit,' you thought. You completely forgot about the party.

“A test after just the first week of school?” your dad questioned.

“Uh, yeah, accelerated courses and all that,” Kyle said unconvincingly.

You wanted to slam your head into the door frame.

Your dad rose a suspicious brow and nodded slowly.

“Well, you better wait at least an hour after you finish 'studying' before you drive back,” he called over his shoulder.

Kyle groaned, he knew he was busted. 

“You know I don't mind you two having fun so long as you're safe,” your dad said, “Just remember-”

“No crank, no speed, no heroin,” you and Kyle spoke in tandem. 

“That's right,” your dad said proudly, walking back up the stairs, “Have fun, kids! Be home by 2:00. I'll be up working tonight, so I will know if you're out late.”

“Alright, dad,” you grinned. Once he disappeared back into his office you turned to your brother.

“Nice acting, Macchio,” you rolled your eyes.

“Hey, it was worth a shot,” Kyle said. 

“Are you seriously making me stay for that stupid party?” you sighed, already knowing the answer.

“I'm offended you'd think I'd let you off that easy,” your brother smirked. 

You groaned, flopping down on the couch. 

“You seriously need to go out tonight,” Kyle said, “you'll start growing mushrooms if you stay inside any longer.”

You shot him a half-glare and sighed. Guess there really was no chance of a relaxing evening for you tonight. 

You were able to at least sneak in a half hour nap before you had to make your way upstairs to get ready. Rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, you reached behind your record player to take out your Pyromania vinyl, Rock of Ages playing as you placed the needle down. 

You brushed out your hair, teasing a few pieces on top to give yourself some volume and setting it with a few puffs of hairspray. You kept your t shirt on to be comfy but changed out of your jeans, opting for a black skirt instead. You used a ponytail to tie your shirt behind you, making it cinch in at the waist. At the last minute you decided to put on some burgundy lipstick; If you were going to be forced out of the house you were going to look damn good at the least.

As you bounded down the stairs you saw your brother already waiting by the door.

“Took you long enough,” Kyle said playfully.

“Watch it,” you said, “I can still drop your ass in the middle of the street and make you walk the rest of the way.”

He laughed, opening the door for you as you got your keys out of your bag.

“I can't go too crazy tonight,” you said as you got into the driver's seat, “I'm driving the kids to Starcourt tomorrow morning.”

“You might have to carry me to the car then, because my plans for tomorrow exclusively include sleeping, so I'm going to get wasted,” Kyle said. 

You shook your head as you laughed, the engine of your car roaring to life. Kyle gave you the address to Tina's house and you drove off into the night. 

You knew Kyle was looking forward to the party, probably more so to talk to this Tina girl, but you were still a little wary. It wasn't as if the place would be swarming with people who liked you. Tommy and Carol were bound to be there whether Tina invited them or not, and most of the people at Hawkins High who knew you in middle school didn't even remember your name. On the upside, it gave you a relatively clean slate to work with. You were pretty much known as the new girl with the cool car that hung out with Steve, and you were just fine with that.

You could hear the music from the party before Tina's house even came into view. When you finally pulled up to her driveway you could tell you were in for a night. Every floor of her house was filled with people, and you could hear yelling coming from her back yard. One couple had their tongues down each others throats under the tree in front of her house, the stragglers nearby too busy throwing up in the street to notice.

As you opened the door to the house you had to practically fight your way inside. There was hardly any space to walk, and it's not like the drunken people you were trying to get around were particularly aware of their surroundings. 

When you and Kyle finally managed to get to the makeshift bar in the kitchen you took a moment to breathe, grateful to get your personal space back.

“Is this what you wanted?” you laughed.

“Absolutely,” Kyle grinned as he mixed you a Jack and coke, “This is our chance to go crazy and be the stupid teenagers we were always meant to be. You got way too straight-laced in New York. It's time to be a little less responsible.”

He handed you the drink he made and you accepted it, caving in. 

“I'm supposed to be the responsible one,” you said, taking a sip, “You know, to make sure you don't end up in jail.”

He only shrugged, downing a shot of tequila. You looked around for a bit; it was relatively low energy for how many people there were. 

“Hey, do you know where the music's coming from?” you asked Kyle.

“Boom box in the back,” he said, “Why, not a fan?”

“Just want a change in atmosphere,” you grinned, making your way through the hot, crowded room.

As you reached the deafening source of the party's music you shuffled through the box of cassette tapes next to it. You dug around for a while, reaching the very bottom before pulling out one with a label that made you smile. 

You ejected the old tape, people yelling out as the music suddenly cut. You placed the one you found inside, pressing play and letting the intro riff of Motley Crue's Shout at the Devil ring out through the house. 

The energy of the party was almost instantly cranked up to eleven, a group of drunk jocks starting to scream as they heard the song playing. You watched as they moved outside, competing to see who could hold the longest keg stand. Among them was Billy Hargrove, who you knew would be in attendance to defend his 'Keg King' title. His back was facing you as he braced himself against the keg, pushing himself into a hand stand while he drank from it. You rolled your eyes as the crowd around him went crazy, howling to the sky and pouring beers over their own heads.

As you shifted your attention elsewhere you saw your brother talking to Tina across the room and you smirked to yourself, walking over to grab another drink. You gave him a high five as you passed by and he gave you a thumbs up while Tina wasn't looking. You laughed as he did. Kyle was such a dork, but you still wished him the best. Tina really was a nice girl despite being surrounded by judgmental assholes.

You took a moment to scan the kitchen table which held every brand of cheap alcohol a high school student could think to steal from their parent's liquor cabinet. You reached over to grab a bottle of fireball, pouring some into your solo cup. As you took a sip you felt a familiar burn in your throat, leaving a hot cinnamon flavor behind in your mouth. You topped yourself off before setting your sights on an empty spot on the couch, pushing through the crowd to sit down and hopefully go relatively unbothered. 

“Hey, you're the new girl, right?”

So much for that.

You bit back a sigh as you turned in your seat to see who just sat down next to you. You recognized him from your P.E. class; he was one of the guys on Billy's team. 

“Can I help you?” you stated rather than asked, trying to be polite as possible while shutting this guy down. 

“You certainly can,” he said suggestively, “But don't worry, I'll be sure to help you out in return.”

You grimaced, taking a healthy swig of your drink. This might turn out to be a long night. 

“Listen,” you snapped, “I'm really not in the mood to pretend to be civil right now, so this would be a lot easier if you just slinked back into whatever hole you crawled out of.”

The smirk on his face fell at your words.

“Come on, don't be difficult,” he said, placing a hand on your thigh.

“Hey, watch it,” you glared, moving to swat his hand away. He grabbed your wrist as you did, his hand moving slowly up your thigh. As he leaned into your face you were blasted with the smell of vodka on his breath.

“Let's have some fun, doll~”

You didn't let it go any further than that.

You took one last sip of your drink before throwing the rest of it into his face. He howled in pain, recoiling immediately as the liquor seeped into his eyes.

“You bitch!” he growled, staggering back blindly and trying desperately to find the bathroom.

You scoffed as he stumbled away, looking down at your now empty cup.

“What a waste,” you sighed to yourself.

You heard someone chuckle behind you and you spun around, ready to fend off any other creep who tried to come up to you.

“You're ruthless, sweetheart,” Billy grinned, “33% alcohol to the eyes has to bite. I was planning on being your knight in shining armor, but I guess you had it covered.”

The tension in your shoulders left when you saw who it was, but only slightly. This was still Billy, there was no doubt he'd try something. You were about to make a sarcastic retort when the words got caught in your throat.

You hadn't been able to tell during his keg stand with his back facing you, but underneath that leather jacket of his, there was no shirt to be found. Even in the dim lighting you could see how defined his muscles were. His chest looked like it was sculpted out of stone, his tan skin glistening with a thin sheen of sweat. 

Billy smirked devilishly as he caught you staring, taking the seat next to you and slinging an arm around the back of the couch, not quite touching your shoulders. 

“See something you like?” he cooed.

You didn't know what came over you, but in that instant a coy smile crept onto your painted lips as you gave him a once over.

“Definitely.”

That caught Billy off guard more than he wanted to admit or let show. This wasn't too far off from the back and forth game you two usually played, but your banter usually consisted of him flirting with you and you teasing him or finding new creative ways to tell him to fuck off. You've never said anything back that even implied reciprocation on your part, so for you to say something like that so outright was a bit of a shock. Never the less he recovered quickly, his usual smirk settling on his face.

“Finally confessing your love?” he joked.

“No,” you said, “This whiskey's just getting to me.” 

A genuine laugh escaped him as you said that, the sound making your heart flutter. He was so close you could feel his hot breath fan across your skin. He dragged his tongue across his lips, an action your eyes followed. If you just leaned forward a few inches you'd be kissing him right now. 

Your eyes widened as the thought went through your mind, immediately shoving it away.

'No. No no no, what the hell, (Y/n)?' you thought frantically, 'You promised yourself you wouldn't get involved with this guy.'

You cursed your heart for beating so fast, almost certain he could hear it pound against your chest. However, you were both snapped out of the moment when you heard someone call out your name. 

“Hey, (Y/n)!”

Your head snapped up, meeting Steve's eyes. He smiled as you did and waved you over. You turned to Billy, feeling mixed emotions.

“Sorry, I should probably, uh. . .” you gestured over to Steve and his friends before getting your bag from the side of the couch. 

“Yeah,” Billy said, biting his lip slightly, “Go ahead.”

You got up from the couch, stopping before you left.

“See you around, Billy,” you said, giving him a small smile.

His heart sped up at your words. It was the first time you'd called him that. Not a sarcastic nickname, not Hargrove, just Billy. 

Billy watched as you walked over to Steve, laughing and giving him a hug. He felt a strange pressure in his chest and his gut twisted into an ugly knot as Steve slung a casual arm around your shoulders. 

He scoffed, downing the rest of his drink and tossing the plastic cup to the side. This wasn't like him at all. He was Billy Hargrove- the Keg King and the school's most infamous playboy. He could get any girl he wanted, except for you, it seemed. 

Why did seeing you with Steve piss him off so much?  As soon as the word 'jealousy' crossed his mind he grit his teeth hard. No. There was no way he was jealous. You weren't his, and even if you were you wouldn't be for long. He had two rules: don't get attached and never fuck the same girl twice. He had a plan as soon as he set foot in this shit hole town: Tough out his last year of school, bang as many chicks as possible, and high tail it back to California as soon as he graduated. Committed relationships were never Billy's forte, and he didn't plan on changing that any time soon. 

At least, that's what he told himself. 

Billy got up from the couch, eyes scanning the party like a predator choosing his prey as he looked for some other girl to take his mind off you. 

Steve's eyes narrowed as he watched Billy stalk off and pulled you in closer to him, whispering in your ear.

“Are you okay?” he asked quietly. 

“Huh? Yeah, I'm fine,” You said. Your cheeks heated up at your proximity, but you were more confused by his question than anything.

“Was Billy bothering you?” Steve asked, more serious than you'd ever seen him before. Your eyes went wide and you shook your head.

“No, we were just talking,” you said, “He wouldn't actually pull anything like the last deadbeat I was talking to. . . Why?”

Steve had a far away look in his eyes as he tried to come up with an answer. What was he supposed to say? 'Oh, well last year that guy smashed a plate over my head, threatened to kill your friend, and had to be taken out with a tranquilizer.'

“Just. . . be careful,” Steve decided on saying, “He isn't a great person.”

You heard the cheering crowd behind you get substantially louder, and you both turned around to see what all the commotion was about, which you regretted pretty fast.

Billy was in the middle of the room, making out with some busty brunette as she gave him a lap dance. He seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much, running his hands through her hair and down body. After a little while the girl whispered something in his ear that made him smirk, take her hand, and start leading her upstairs. It was clear they weren't going to be reading the bible up there. 

“Yeah,” you said to Steve, tearing your eyes away from their retreating figures, “I've noticed.”

Steve pulled his focus from Billy to you. He'd never admit it, but part of him was glad Billy just pulled that little stunt in front of you. He could tell you were disappointed, but he couldn't understand what you saw in Billy. 

After Nancy, Steve didn't know if he'd be able to trust people when it came to relationships. His heart was broken in a single, drunken confession. But you seemed so different from the other girls. Not really in an outward way, but you weren't afraid to be yourself. You had an energy and confidence that drew people to you, even if you didn't think so. 

At first he just thought you'd be another girl who'd reject him right away at Scoops- another tally in the 'You Suck' column. But you'd stuck around and made an actual effort to be friends with him, and not just to get popular but because you actually wanted to get to know him. That in itself was pretty rare for Steve.

The fact that he could have known you all this time ate away at him, and he felt more than guilty that he hadn't bothered to talk to you when you were in middle school. Maybe it was the alcohol coursing through his system, but a tiny part of him wanted your friendship to grow into something more.

The only thing that could get in his way was Hawkins' resident asshole Billy Hargrove, and get in his way he certainly did. 

Read chapter 4 here!

Taglist: @in-my-dreams-2000 @ggclarissa @iris1697 @5sosxgrethan @ohnoniella @sarcasticalphaofthelooserspack @aspiring-fangirls-world @wow-im-so-tired @hopesxxhigh @justanothercrazyassfangirl @too-many-lanes @whimsylavender @bish-ima-clown @amarachoren @mosiacbrokenheartstf @mcuvlxgs @xapham @metuel18 @immirandaq @nellaphine @multi-madison @gingertalksshit @jojo-buttercup @kyberhearts @mvdelaine @minnie-marvel @caitlin-rose28 @zandaleekrz @r3inventedd

[spiders-hth-is-an-outlier]

Four Reasons You Can Pry Cass Out of My Cold Dead Hands

Look, I kept my mouth shut for like three goddamn years of Tumblr.  That’s a lot, for me.  I’m not famous for keeping my mouth shut, so, you know.  Accept that I tried, and even though I failed, An Effort Was Made.  Take that for whatever it’s worth.

Cass is the better spelling.  It’s not just the correct spelling (though it is the correct spelling), it’s the superior choice of spelling, and here is why.

1. The Phonetics Are Good, Not Bad

You may see people point out that in English, single-syllable words with an A in the middle are typically pronounced with a short A sound.  Bat, rad, van, pal.  Cool, true!  This would be a point, except that--

It’s typically NOT true of words that rhyme with, uh, Cass.

Now, there aren’t a ton of those words in English.  One-syllable words with a short A sound and an S at the end are relatively rare!  Which is cool, because we can pretty much look at all of them, ready, here we go:

ass -- bass -- brass -- class -- crass -- gas -- glass -- grass -- lass -- mass -- pass -- sass

What do you notice?

Sure, I’ll give you “gas.”  It’s short for gasoline, and nobody ever bothered to add an extra S to make it match the pattern.  So there you go.

But now take the second S off of every other one of those words. Usually you  get a word that doesn’t exist in English, with the exception of “as” and “bras” (if you’re allowing plurals into the conversation).  But of those two exceptions, now *neither one* rhymes with Cass anymore -- either the consonant sound changes to a Z sound, or the vowel becomes that soft ah instead of a short A.  That’s what Kripke was trying to say when he says he picked the spelling because “Cas might sound like Caz.”  He meant that, reasonably enough, people might be prompted to think of the only other one-syllable word in common use English that matches this pattern, which is ass/as.

But what about the other words?  If you drop the second S and allow people to *guess* how they think the word might be pronounced -- well, who’s to say.  Would you automatically rhyme bas, clas, glas, las, and mas with gas?  Maybe you would.  More likely, in my opinion, your best guess would be to either rhyme them with as, or to pronounce them as the non-English words they are -- bas relief is from a French loan, glas is Irish, las and mas are common Spanish words.  None of them are pronounced with a short A.

So yeah, if you were randomly reading a fantasy novel, as a native English speaker, these are the calculations you’d make about how to pronounce a name: Das would sound more like dahz, I bet, while Dass is definitely dass.  Vas and Vass.  Ras and Rass.  Shas and Shass.  You don’t look at those and pronounce them the same way in your head; not if you’re an English speaker.  You just don’t.  And without the cue of knowing the full name, you wouldn’t for Cas and Cass, either.

2. Cass Is a Human Name, and We Call That Themes

Cass is a real, live name.  People have it.  The majority of them are women, and it’s short for Cassandra, sure, but it’s also a real, live, human male name.  Really!  Here’s a list of people who have that name in real life and fiction alike.  For some  of them, it’s a diminutive of single-S names like Caspar and Casimir. That’s a thing!  Sometimes it’s just a freestanding name; Cass Ballenger the politician just had it as his middle name.  Sometimes it does come from double-S names like Cassian and Cassius.  Regardless, it’s just -- a name that exists.

When you name a fictional character, sometimes you just pick one randomly, but sometimes the name reflects on or points up something thematically.  I have no idea if that was the intention in this case, but even if it was accidentally, something pretty cool happened.  The made-up fantasy-faux-angelic name “Castiel” tends to be used by other angels, particularly ones like Raphael and Naomi who are speaking to him as real or presumptive superiors in a hierarchy.  “Castiel” is the designation he was given out of the gate, when he was made to be God’s enforcer.  “Cass” is the name Dean gave him.  Cass is what his friends call him, and it’s symbolic of his relationship to humanity, which he consistently chooses over his relationship with angels.  When he fell, or jumped ship, or however you’d like to think about it, he was given a human name, which everyone who regards him with even the slightest affection at all now uses.  It’s good!  That’s good!  It’s a good use of a small thing to point up how differently different characters see him, and whether they emphasize his familiarity or his alienness. You lose that if you insist that his name is only an abbreviated form of his given name.  You lose something from the text if you imagine he’s being called Castiel-only-shorter, instead of becoming a real person named Cass.

3. Just Don’t Be A Jerk, People Are Named What They’re Named

This is just, like -- decency?  I know he’s not a real person, but it’s -- rude, right?  You don’t correct the spelling of someone else’s name.  Who does that?  Do you have beef with parents who call their daughter Catherine Katie, because only Catie is acceptable to you?  People are allowed to just do, like, whatever with names, it’s literally fine.  You know what’s not typically a nickname for Dimitri?  MISHA.  But that’s his name, because it just is.

Yeah, it’s fandom.  You can change whatever you like.  You can have whatever opinions you want about how you would have spelled it, if you were Eric Kripke, or Chuck Shurley, or Metatron, or Dean Winchester.  I have opinions about Isaac Lahey’s name in Teen Wolf, because it’s spelled Lahey and pronounced Leahy, and that’s bonkers!  But that is how it’s spelled, and I just -- go on with my life, unharmed.  Castiel isn’t a real person who will have real feelings about however you prefer to spell his name.

But the standard rule for polite society in re: how to spell someone’s name is however they want you to spell it.  Normally not obeying that rule reads as passive-aggressive at best.  Which is how we come to....

4. Fandom Gatekeeping Is Shitty, Actually

The reality behind the fervor with which Cas-people not just defend their choice to use the non-canonical spelling, but regularly flood my goddamn dash with weird, angry screeds about the fact that 100% of the world doesn’t use the non-canonical spelling, is that they are using it as a shibboleth, a marker of who counts and who doesn’t.  Who belongs here and who doesn’t.  I’ve always known this, because I’m clever like that, but recently I’ve seen versions of the Weird, Angry Screed that spell it out directly: people who spell it Cass are either new around here and haven’t learned How We Do It yet, or by choosing not to do it How We Do It, they are signaling their contempt for pro-Castiel fandom.

And honestly I understand that my reaction to this isn’t the typical one.  I know that most people find those little signs and signifiers of who’s Team Us and who’s Team Them Over There to be comforting.  There’s something that people just like about wearing the jersey; it makes them feel safe among others like them.  I get it.

But much as I love fandom, there’s something I have always hated, and always will hate, about that kind of expectation of groupthink within fandom.  I know, rationally, that part of the socialization is that you’re supposed to learn lingo and references and in-jokes -- you’re supposed to join the fandom by speaking like the fandom speaks.  But there’s something, I dunno, almost threatening?  There’s something crazy-making about taking this random, essentially irrelevant detail, and turning it into something that proves if you belong here or not.  At best, maybe you’re “new around here” (which is okay?  It’s fine, actually, to be new in a fandom and not yet realize that you’re supposed to be ignoring eleven seasons of subtitles? Why are you yelling at newbies, please don’t?), but at worst, we know because you won’t make this mental change that we’ve all agreed to make, that actually you’re not just an outsider, but an opponent.  If you weren’t, you’d do what we all do.

It’s the most literal, direct example of fandom gatekeeping.  If you know the secrets of how we speak and what we accept as real and important, then you’re cool and you can stay.  If you don’t know, or you disagree with what we all got together and accepted as real and important, based on -- watching the show? -- then we know to stay away from you because you’re the wrong kind of fan.  Not our kind.  Wearing the bad jersey.

It’s shitty.  It’s mean-spirited.  It’s the worst kind of cliquish fan posturing, casting people with legitimately different approaches to how and why to use, change, or discard canon in their art and conversation as opponents in a dumb, made-up turf war, and it serves to intentionally carve the fan community into narrower slices of self-siloed echo chambers of agreement and validation, rather than requiring people to just -- get cool with the fact that different opinions exist.

Sure, not all people who spell it Cas are like that.  Some of you seem nice.  But man, I see the knives come out all over every time the Cass spelling pops up in canon, because a lot of y’all really take this seriously, beyond just habit and aesthetic preference.  And even when it’s not said out loud, it’s clear to me that it’s not an argument about how the word looks on the page.  It’s clear to me that those who won’t conform don’t belong and aren’t wanted, and people are afraid someone somewhere might not realize they don’t belong and aren’t wanted until they conform.

There was a time in my life when I’d find that really hurtful, honestly.  That time is not now, because I have real problems, and what Supernatural fandom thinks of me really, truly, deeply does not matter to my life.

But it does bother me enough to write all this out, I guess, and I know that’s because I remember a time when I was younger and more isolated and fandom was really a social and emotional home for me, and I still have an idealistic fondness for the idea of a big-tent, non-gatekeepy version of fandom where people can just, like, be cool to each other about things, even things they disagree intensely about.  There are still people in the world who need and deserve that, and it always angries me up a little when I see people deliberately wrecking that version and replacing it with one where fans have to performatively prove that they aren’t on the wrong team through weird little random tics that have to be repeated just-so, just the way you learned them. So I don’t do that, out of love for my imaginary version of fandom where no one’s asked to do that.

So yeah, the combination of those four factors means that I am never, ever, ever going to mend my ways on this topic, which is a privilege I have, as a person with basically nothing invested in anyone in Supernatural fandom.  (I mean, some of y’all seem really nice, but none of my actual friends live here.)  That lack of being invested in the fandom also, I realize, means that I have no social capital to spend, and people are unlikely to give a fuck what I do or why I do it, so all of this has really been -- basically meaningless.  Still, I’m not really good at thinking things and not saying them, although I’m getting slightly better.  Really!  In general!

[homenum-revelio-hq]

Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Mary!

You have been accepted for the role of MARLENE MCKINNON with the faceclaim change of Zoe Kravitz! We really enjoyed how you incorporated Marlene’s background with her large family and the farm into her personality, her strengths, and her weaknesses. We are so excited to have you as part of this roleplay!

Please take a look at the new member checklist and send in your account within 24 hours! Thank you for joining the fight against Voldemort!

OUT OF CHARACTER:

NAME: Mary

AGE: 26

TIMEZONE: EST

ACTIVITY LEVEL: The most fortunate thing about the world’s given circumstances right now is that I’m working from home as self-quarantine, which opens up A LOT of time for me. This is my reality for the next month and a half or so, and even if (God-willing) we return back, I’ll still have at least a couple hours every other day to spare for replies and such.

ANYTHING ELSE: Triggers: self-harm, eating disorders, suicide.

CHARACTER DETAILS:

NAME: Marlene McKinnon

AGE: 24

GENDER, PRONOUNS, and SEXUALITY: Female, She/Her, Bisexual

BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood

HOUSE ALUMNI: Ravenclaw

ANY CHANGES: FC change to Zoe Kravitz! Also not sure if she should be younger like 21 to match Lily’s age? If not, I don’t mind keeping her at 24.

CHARACTER BACKGROUND:

PERSONALITY: 

Marlene is always the first to volunteer to help. She’s fearless, loyal, and holds so much integrity in doing the right, fair thing for all - even if it’s not exactly her first choice. She might not have the friendliest face, but she’s incredibly compassionate to the lives’ of others. She holds a balance of head and heart, just as any true Ravenclaw would. Speaking of her head, Marlene is one of the most resourceful witches in the Order. She has a great mind to come up with a creative solution, in order to quickly problem solve. She’s also a natural leader. Growing up as one of the older siblings in her family, she had to manage many personalities working together. So she naturally excels in having to facilitate teamwork, which made her an obvious contender as both Quidditch Team Captain and Order of the Phoenix member. Marlene has a deep hero complex - so naturally, she struggles when something goes unexpected. It isn’t like she’s surprised and made to look foolish if she fails. Marlene is smart enough to deduct the possible outcomes within a situation, but her pride gets the best of her. In these moments, she is the perfectionist, competing with herself to always perform at her best. So when she slips, it’s truly personal. Marlene is also quite impatient. Over the years, she’s been able to control herself so she doesn’t come off as hotheaded or anything. However, there are those moments where you might question if Marlene is being sarcastic or if she’s perfected the dry delivery of her inner aggression.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY: 

Marlene loved growing up on the McKinnon Farm. Her family was huge - not only did she have five siblings (three brothers and two sisters), but having her vast number of relatives visit the farm on a weekly basis for Sunday dinner was the norm. Everyone was close and dependent to another for companionship, growth, and love. She learned the most from her family - the kind of witch you should be, the definition of success, what love truly meant - and she knew how lucky she was to have this great sense of home to fall back on. Her favorite memories were after dinner on a family holiday, where her siblings, cousins, and herself would run through the meadows and play Marco Polo. Life on the farm always felt so easy. Up until the age of eleven, she had known nothing else, and yet knew that the farm was her own little oasis in the world. As much as she loved Hogwarts, living there only proved her ideology of her childhood home even more so.

OCCUPATION: 

Well, if you are to ask Marlene, she will tell you her first job is being part of the Dissendium Task Force. It’s a role she takes very seriously and puts every ounce of passion in. Her hero complex really compliments this position, since she has this sense of duty to save people from the evils of the war and help them find some peace in their given circumstances. However, her job to the public eye is Head Ranch Handler of the McKinnon Farm. Marlene is not the only hired hand on the farm, but she is the one who manages those that work for the McKinnon family business. She oversees herding of the winged horses, supervises financial planning, and continuously looks for new opportunities to expand the business on the farm, such as harvesting or humane breeding of magical creatures. The farm is a beloved part of the McKinnon family name and Marlene takes her job very seriously, feeling the heaviness of this important job on her shoulders.

ROLE WITHIN THE ORDER/THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ORDER: 

Her purpose is to be the central point of the Dissendium Task Force. Even though she isn’t the only witch and wizard assigned to this team, she understands that her position and connection to the farm is fundamental to the Task Force, therefore, integral to the Order. With Marlene’s balance between emotion and logic, she understands that technically the actions of the Order are illegal. However, Marlene has a greater sense of justice, the greater good, and understands that in the world there are shades of grey - including this. And she will be honest and say she doesn’t agree with the Order’s decisions half the time. Something she will never admit it is the way she feels about the “inner circle”. Some people would find her thoughts as jealousy, but truly, Marlene feels that this idea of a select group of people making the decisions for a whole organization is equal to the same cause we are trying to fight against. There are few witches and wizards she questions to being in the inner circle in the first place, and wants to challenge if it’s really even fair for someone who has no knowledge of her life to make the decisions for her.

SURVIVAL: 

On the outside, Marlene would suggest that she has thrived this long because of her great wit. In passing, she has had to interact with a handful of dark wizards and keep a cool composure, so they weren’t to suspect her involvement and just simply choose to ignore the McKinnon family and their home. But on the inside, the probable main reason she has survived this long has been the family’s assets. Even with being considered “new money”, Marlene is still part of a large, wealthy Pureblood family, with a significant, ever-growing business that effects both sides of the war in some benefit. The farm is just secluded enough in the English countryside that it hasn’t peaked the Death Eaters interest, so living there and continuing to centralize the Task Force refugee efforts has remained to be safe during these times. Whether that has been brought by ignorance or by a bribe, that we currently don’t know - at least not yet.

RELATIONSHIPS: 

For Marlene, seeing as she grew up in a family that has given her everything, it’s hard for her to not set these high expectations when it comes to her friends. She would consider her two closest friends at the moment as Remus Lupin and Lily Evans. However, things lately have been tense between her and Lily. Marlene is trying to be the better person and be patient with Lily insisting to save every Muggleborn. However, Marlene knows that even her farm’s resources have their limits - and to save everyone simply because they might be targeted could crash their resources, blow their cover, and create mass hysteria. They have had a couple discussions back and forth on the subject, and anytime Marlene has felt herself about to blow over, she’s chosen to walk away. Marlene isn’t the type of person to do that, but Lily has been one of her closest friends since she can remember. This makes her friendship with Remus only more important when it comes to keeping her head cool. The more she talks to other members of the Order, such as Edgar Bones, the more she has begun to open up. However, there are equal amount of Order members Marlene has still found difficulty in trusting, such as Alice Longbottom or Mary MacDonald.

OOC EXPLORATION:

SHIPS/ANTI-SHIPS: 

Wow, difficult. VERY difficult. I’m not sure what ships are currently sailing so I’m truly going blind here. Off the bat, I would say Remus Lupin since there’s already a current connection there and foundation of trust. It would be definitely interesting to see something happen between Lily and Marlene maybe - they might have been good friends for a long time. So now, with Marlene being really disappointed at the way Lily is acting in regards to the Task Force, maybe it’s a deeper issue than just ‘focusing too much on muggleborns’. I could also see some kind of hookup between her and Dorcas. Also, Sirius Black. But that’s purely because I’ve seen the ship before and any chance to love down any version of a Sirius Black, I would be 1000% down for. Fabian Prewett might be a cool option too if the character is really into getting himself into danger. I don’t know, Mary ships all things so this is hard!!! lol

WHAT PRIVILEGES AND BIASES DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE? 

She’s DEFINITELY got blood/financial privilege. She’s Pureblood and her family is new money. Some Pureblood families probably wouldn’t thrive in the farm setting, but even as rural as her upbringing was, it wasn’t simple, nor was it common. The farm could get confused with a plantation with how much land there was and how grand the main house is. It was luxurious without being goudy and despite the war around them, they have never experienced a hit in their business. Marlene has definitely lived comfortably, and that’s possibly part of the reason why she’s probably so fearless when jumping into situations - because she’s never felt true hardship on a fundamental level. She basically grew up with the perfect life. As for her biases, I don’t think she would cast out anyone for being a werewolf or Muggleborn or half-breed, but I think she would have a harder time in understanding their extraordinary circumstances. It could be done - but it would just be more difficult, as she would at first try to use logic from her own life - when clearly that wouldn’t work because she has never lived in that person’s shoes.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 

Harry Potter role-plays have always been home for me. Since the very beginning of my rp time here on Tumblr. The circumstances going on in the world right now somehow guided me back here, as I was yearning to do something again that I really enjoyed - and as I was searching for a new Harry Potter role-play to apply to, I stumbled onto yours. It had everything I searched for in a good HP RPG, including really warm and patient admins who dealed with all my constant messages! It really got me excited to write up this application and it brought back the magic that I had missed so so much. I’m looking forward to being able to fangirl over relationships I can plot and create for my character, but mostly looking forward to the relationships I might possibly make OOC. I have found family in past HP RPG’s and in the end, that’s what I always yearn for in the end.

PLOT DROP IDEAS:

Well, who would I be if I didn’t recommend at some point to go canon and kill off Marlene and her whole family??? Maybe loosing her family’s farm beforehand?? I mean half of me is like how can I say that my poor bb I haven’t gotten the CHANCE, but also, I love conflict and I feel like that would be such a gut-wrencher. However, OUTSIDE of that, something maybe a little more plausible and in the immediate future, would be a raid of the Potter Estate. It could even get tricky and messy, because Marlene could offer up the McKinnon Farm to use as HQ for the time being and maybe some members are on her side - like Dorcas or Remus - and others are not - like Lily or James - and the creates a rift of tension. Idk?? lol

ANYTHING ELSE? Not really!! I’m ready to go chief if you’ll have me :’)

[digimonadventuretimelines]

[14 - It’s Not Like it Seems to Be]

“Daichi left” Kiyoko told her mother, “and mom Eiji called me to say he also got a digimon.”

“Wait what!?” Miyako stopped preparing their lunch to look at her daughter “Eiji too? How about his sister?”

“Uh… He said she got a digimon as well.”

“Why are our children getting digimon all from a sudden?”

“Doesn’t exist like, Chosen Children around the world?”

“They do, but… My generation, and Taichi’s decided to hide our identities from the world. Because of you and the other kids of the group. We built families, and then were facing the same problem our parents and relatives were struggling during our Chosen Children days.”

“I don’t understand…” Captain frowned “The number of Chosen Children keep increasing, right? So, at this point… Isn’t useless to hide their identities?”

“You got a point. We were young adults when we did it, and didn’t know one day our kids would get digimon partners.”

“And other issues happened that time” Hawkmon added “We had to, at least our identities.”

“Where’s that boy?” Miyako sighed “Daichi is acting strangely lately, going out almost everyday and skipping meals. Are you sure he’s not a Chosen Child too?”

“Nah, he’s not into battling or saving the world. I guess he’s at a bookstore or at the library.”

The bird-like digimons looked at each other.

[ ???, Summer of 1999 ]

“W-what do you mean with that you found the 8th child Taichi!?” “It’s a long story. Can’t talk now, just gather the group-- H-huh!?”

In a rush, an eleven year old Taichi crosses his path with… three strange people falling from the sky.

“I hate those landings” Ulforce growled.

“Who are you-- Wait, Daisuke?”

“U-uh, I’m not Daisuke-- Mr. Yagami?” Daichi blinked “You’re m-mistaking me with him.”

“Wait, do we know each other? And Mr. sounds like that I’m an old man… Please call me by Taichi.”

“O-okay… I’m Daichi and I uh… came from another world looking for… A person, but I think that’s might not be the right place.”

Taichi and Agumon looked at each other and then to the strange trio. Taichi shrugged, as if he were saying it can’t be helped. He then helped Daichi to get up, while the other two got up by themselves.

“Who’s that person anyway?” Taichi asked “I’m… Not available to give you a hand, because there’s a digimon invasion right now. And… I guess you know what digimon meant.”

“Yes, he does” Natsu nodded “But um… Isn’t you with your sister?”

“Sister?” he blinked, “I have no sister.”

“Wait what!?” the three exclaimed.

“I have a little brother and he’s quite of a problem sometimes...”

“Wait, a brother??” Natsu was lost “Is Hikari a boy here??”

“Who’s Hikari? My brother’s name is Daisuke.”

Shock. Natsu wouldn’t expect that kind of world. Oh no, it’s just another alternate timeline where things are pretty wild.

“I have no time to introduce him” Taichi said “I have to protect him, he’s the 8th child and his partner and Wizardmon had been captured” then he and Agumon left “See ya, good lucky on finding whoever they are!!”

“... My dad is a Yagami in this world!?” Daichi was petrified “Can we go back, Natsu?”

“I’m afraid we cannot” she showed him her pendant “We will have to stay out of the action, or do you want to erase this world by accident?”

“I’m not a Destroyer of Worlds, I’m just passing by… Accidentally passing by.”

 [Daichi’s world, 2027]

Ken was about to leave when he received a phone call from Hikari. She seemed nervous, but then relieved. Hard to describe her emotions, she decided to be straight and tell Ken what she had just witnessed.

“W-wait, WHAT!?” He was shook “Hoshi and Eiji… They were in a battle? And they got digivices and partners? Like Kiyoko?”

Wormmon took a snack from Ken’s backpack, started to unwrap the candy and eat it. Hikari on the phone kept explaining and reporting the current events.

“... I understand. I will try to bring Daisuke back as soon as possible. In the meanwhile I leave this in your and Miyako’s hands.”

“Kenchan.”

“Don’t worry I will be fine. See you soon,” he ended the call.

“Let’s go, Wormmon” He said with a determined glare.

 Kiyoko and Captain just learned from Eiji and Hoshi about the battle, the witnesses of them seeing Hikari having a digimon partner and being one of the legendary Twelve… It was a shock. But what even made her much more petrified was…

“... So this kid named ‘Brave Tamer’ was there fighting the white-furred WereGarurumon.”

“WereGururumon” The Wormmon and the BlackTailmon corrected Hoshi.

“Whatever…! He seemed… Younger than me.”

“Huh, a kid. Younger than you?” Kiyoko raised an eyebrow “Another child with a partner and a digivice…”

“Yes,” Eiji nodded, “I’m concerned about it. Remember of what Taisuke said?”

“What did the pipsqueak do now!?” Hoshi asked, somehow she was very annoyed by being the only one to NOT know there.

“Nothing else… He said he got a digimon” Kiyoko explained “But he didn’t show us, and we don’t know if he has a digivice.”

“To be partnered, you need a digivice” Eiji mused “If our mom and Mrs. Motomiya are Chosen Children… Does it mean…”

“According to our nanny Natsu, yes our dads and your uncle are part of the Twelve.”

“What? That’s weird...” Hoshi’s surprise was predictable, but she also was upset, “Why didn’t they tell us that before!?”

“... To protect us, by what Natsu told me.”

“Speaking of Natsu… Where is she? And where is Daichi?” Eiji asked, “Usually they’re around…”

“Oh they will come back soon, don’t worry!!”

 [ Another world, Summer of 1999 ]

“Let’s review those facts,” Daichi begun musing “One, we’re in an alternate future events from Summer 1999, technically August 3rd. Two, mr. Yagami and my dad are siblings instead of mrs. Hikari being mr. Yagami’s sister.”

“That’s right” Ulforce nodded.

“Does it mean… mrs. Hikari is my aunt Jun’s sibling? Or does not exist in this world?”

“I can’t tell…” Natsu answered, “We’re in the middle of those events. The events that made Daisuke be selected as Chosen Child three years later.”

“Right… Does it mean… Another person will be chosen three years ahead instead” Ulforce added “And might not be Daisuke if he’s the Chosen of Light.”

“... We need to help mr. Yagami” Daichi clenched his fist, “Not changing everything else, but protecting the innocents from Vamdemon’s troops.”

“That’s a reasonable idea” she smiled.

“Let’s go then!” Ulforce punched the palm of his hand, with a determined glare in his face.

 … The whole artificial island had been taken by the digimon, and a huge mist barrier kept everything inside it. Just as what happened in the other world, the seven Chosen Children planned to counterattack, and began gathering to fight the invasors. Daichi, Ulforce and Natsu felt it wouldn’t be a good idea be found by the other six or even by Daisuke from that world, so they took extra caution when fighting the evil digimon taking innocents as hostage.

While Daichi wanted so much to know about the rest of the legendary Twelve -- since he had met six of them already thanks to another alternative line -- he didn’t desire to mess with that world’s story.

“This way, please!”

Ulforce, as XV-mon, assaulted a bakemon squad taking a group of people to somewhere. But he felt like doing a bad thing. What if one of those would’ve been… the future Chosen Child from year of 2002?

“Mister dragon, there’s some other monsters in that direction” said a little girl.

“It’s okay, We will go to that area.”

“Huh?” Daichi looked at the direction the kid pointed out and saw some troops there, but one of those captives were super duper familiar to him. Big and messy haircut, in her teen years… “Aunt Jun” he whispered.

“BACK OFF!!”

Jun was fighting with a baseball bat, trying to beat those Bakemons.

“... Jun it’s useless” the little girl with Jun was indeed Hikari, she looked like the same except her hair was a bit red rose-ish, “We need to find a way to escape!”

“Hikari, calm down I will protect you even if it costs my life!”

“NO! Don’t say that!”

Natsu stood by Daichi’s side and took a look at whatever was he watching in the horizon. She gasped then grabbed both him and Ulforce out of the sight, her senses telling that they shouldn’t help those two, or the others in that scene.

“Why not!?” Daichi growled, protesting at Natsu’s action “Aunt Jun isn’t a Chosen Child, it makes no sense!”

“But Hikari is, this world… It seems to have switched Daisuke and Hikari’s roles but not personalities.”

“I think that’s clear, digi-girl. Remember what Taichi said? His lil bro is a troublemaker.”

“Ulforce, Natsu… I don’t think we should--”

“AAAAAAAAAH!!” “HIKARIII!!!”

“... Nevermind, we will follow them and help there!”

 [Daichi’s world, 2027]

Ken and Wormmon -- now as Stingmon -- ventured into the Digital World’s deep forest, following the coordinates given by the Special Digimon Cases Unit. They hadn’t found anything suspicious till now, which it was odd considering the reports.

They heard something coming in their direction, a shadow of the size of a Tyrannomon. The duo dodged the frontal attack, and Ken took one of those vines growing near him to use as whip. He grabbed the shadow by its paw.

“Hold on big guy, I’m not your enemy since a long time ago!”

“Kenchan,” Stingmon tried to pull the Tyrannomon away from Ken, “Be careful.”

“I am, don’t worry” he nodded, but seconds later Stingmon had to block an attack of another Tyrannomon “Wha--”

A squad of Tyrannomon surrounded them. It brought Ken awful memories of the time he had done the same with Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, Takeru and Hikari. He could feel the universe’s irony right now so he chuckled nervously.

“What should we do?” he talked with himself and Stingmon, “Think, Ken…!”

“How about you give up on fighting and surrender, DigiChosen?”

That voice…

“Whoever is here, better you show yourself!” Ken hated to be channeling into his best friend in a time like that, but sometimes he can’t simply be the cool headed guy when under pressure. He prepared his improvised whip to face the mysterious voice.

Stingmon also got ready for another enemy joining the fight.

“Seriously? You can’t win, human. Give up, I can let you go home if you cooperate.”

“You wouldn’t. And I know you guys are with someone important to me.”

“Oh? Well then… Let’s play a game. If you catch me, I will let you know where this ‘someone important’ is but if you don’t... ”

“I see,” Ken smirked “I have plenty of time to play games.”

“Kenchan--”

“Miyako and the others are going to handle the rest, I don’t care. I will bring him back home this time, no matter what happens.”

Stingmon nodded. Then, they saw a shadow jumping at high speed to the ground, running past the Tyrannomon blockade. Stingmon grabbed Ken with his hands and flew after the silhouette. 

  White noise.

“Hey there everyone, MoonAngel speaking! I know there’s a big crisis happening right now, with all those attacks and lies being spread around the globe. But fear not! Everything will be okay! Stay positive, but don’t let your guard down!”

Explosions are heard in the background.

“Well, there’s a digimon battle happening right now and… Wait, what’s this? Seems like a phone?”

A police officer appeared, “Get outta here, boy!”

“Fine fine. Well, as you can see -- or hear -- there had been another attack in this area, next to a gate to the Digital World. Old stories of a long long time ago said that once the worlds are in danger, the legendary Chosen Children will appear to save both humanity and digimonity.”

“Hey you!” The voice of the same officer is in the background, talking with the mysterious Brave Tamer “What are you doing here!? It’s dangerous!! Wait where did you get that digimon!?”

“Get outta here you!” Brave Tamer’s voice is heard, Takaishi Mitsuki zooms in on the kid, “I won’t let them close the gate…!”

“Mitsuki!!” Kiyoko’s voice is heard, the camera zooms out and shows her behind him, with Hoshi and Eiji next to them, “What are you doing!?”

“Ah… I was recording a video. Smile, you’re online! Actually, it’s just for Mirai’s gang not anyone else…”

“Mirai sent you here!?”

“I volunteered.”

“Anyway go back,” Hoshi said and approached from Mitsuki “It’s dangerous. You need to evacuate everyone, hurry!!”

“Seriously?” Mitsuki frowned, he took the phone down and returned to the chat mode of the chatroom, “Mirai is asking why I stopped the transmission. Wait, are those digimon with you?”

“We will talk about it later,” Hoshi gently shove him aside “Eiji, let’s go.”

“Hey, don’t forget I’m here too, ugh!” Kiyoko followed the Ichijouji siblings.

“Could it mean they’re the legendary Chosen Children?” Mitsuki mused.

He left the scene, heading back to Mirai’s house.

[mckinnxn]

McKinnon Muse: Background

PERSONALITY:

Marlene is always the first to volunteer to help. She’s fearless, loyal, and holds so much integrity in doing the right, fair thing for all - even if it’s not exactly her first choice. She might not have the friendliest face, but she’s incredibly compassionate to the lives’ of others. She holds a balance of head and heart, just as any true Ravenclaw would. Speaking of her head, Marlene is one of the most resourceful witches in the Order. She has a great mind to come up with a creative solution, in order to quickly problem solve. She’s also a natural leader. Growing up as one of the older siblings in her family, she had to manage many personalities working together. So she naturally excels in having to facilitate teamwork, which made her an obvious contender as both Quidditch Team Captain and Order of the Phoenix member. Marlene has a deep hero complex - so naturally, she struggles when something goes unexpected. It isn’t like she’s surprised and made to look foolish if she fails. Marlene is smart enough to deduct the possible outcomes within a situation, but her pride gets the best of her. In these moments, she is the perfectionist, competing with herself to always perform at her best. So when she slips, it’s truly personal. Marlene also has flighty temperament. Over the years, she’s been able to control herself so she doesn’t come off as bullheaded or anything. However, there are those moments where you might question if Marlene is being sarcastic or if she’s perfected the dry delivery of her inner aggression.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY:

Marlene loved growing up on the McKinnon Farm. Her family was huge - not only did she have five siblings (three brothers and two sisters), but having her vast number of relatives visit the farm on a weekly basis for Sunday dinner was the norm. Everyone was close and dependent to another for companionship, growth, and love. She learned the most from her family - the kind of witch you should be, the definition of success, what love truly meant - and she knew how lucky she was to have this great sense of home to fall back on. Her favorite memories were after dinner on a family holiday, where her siblings, cousins, and herself would run through the meadows and play Marco Polo. Life on the farm always felt so easy. Up until the age of eleven, she had known nothing else, and yet knew that the farm was her own little oasis in the world. As much as she loved Hogwarts, living there only proved her ideology of her childhood home even more so.

OCCUPATION:

Well, if you are to ask Marlene, she will tell you her first job is being part of the Dissendium Task Force. It’s a role she takes very seriously and puts every ounce of passion in. Her hero complex really compliments this position, since she has this sense of duty to save people from the evils of the war and help them find some peace in their given circumstances. However, her job to the public eye is Head Ranch Handler of the McKinnon Ranch. Marlene is not the only hired hand on the farm, but she is the one who manages those that work for the McKinnon family business. She oversees care for the winged horses, supervises financial planning, and continuously looks for new opportunities to expand the business on the farm, such as agriculture or humane breeding of other magical creatures. The farm is a beloved part of the McKinnon family name and Marlene takes her job very seriously, feeling the heaviness of this important job on her shoulders.

ROLE WITHIN THE ORDER/THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ORDER:

Her purpose is to be the central point of the Dissendium Task Force. Even though she isn’t the only witch and wizard assigned to this team, she understands that her position and connection to the farm is fundamental to the Task Force, therefore, integral to the Order. With Marlene’s balance between emotion and logic, she understands that technically the actions of the Order are illegal. However, Marlene has a greater sense of justice, the greater good, and understands that in the world there are shades of grey - including this. And she will be honest and say she doesn’t agree with the Order’s decisions half the time. Something she has not admitted (not even to herself) is the way she feels about the “inner circle”. Some people would find her thoughts as jealousy, but truly, Marlene feels that this idea of a select group of people making the decisions for a whole organization is equal to the same cause we are trying to fight against. There are few witches and wizards she questions to being in the inner circle in the first place, and wants to challenge if it’s really even fair for someone who has no knowledge of her life to make the decisions for her.

SURVIVAL:

On the outside, Marlene would suggest that she has thrived this long because of her great wit. In passing, she has had to interact with a handful of dark wizards and keep a cool composure, so they weren’t to suspect her involvement and just simply choose to ignore the McKinnon family and their home. But on the inside, the probable main reason she has survived this long has been the family’s assets. Even with being considered “new money”, Marlene is still part of a large, wealthy Pureblood family, with a significant, ever-growing business that effects both sides of the war in some benefit. The ranch is just secluded enough in the English countryside that it hasn’t peaked the Death Eaters interest, so living there and continuing to centralize the Task Force refugee efforts has remained to be safe during these times. Whether that has been brought by ignorance or by a bribe, that we currently don’t know - at least not yet.

WHAT PRIVILEGES AND BIASES DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE?

She’s DEFINITELY got blood/financial privilege. She’s Pureblood and her family is new money. Some Pureblood families probably wouldn’t thrive in the farm setting, but even as rural as her upbringing was, it wasn’t simple, nor was it common. The farm could get confused with a manor or a plantation with how much land there was and how grand the main house is. It is luxurious without being goudy and despite the war around them, they have never experienced a hit in their business. Marlene has definitely lived comfortably, and that’s possibly part of the reason why she’s probably so fearless when jumping into situations - because she’s never felt true hardship on a fundamental level. She basically grew up with the perfect life. As for her biases, she would not cast out anyone for being a werewolf or Muggleborn or half-breed, but she will have a harder time in understanding their extraordinary circumstances. It can be done - but it will just take longer, as she will at first try to use logic from her own life - when clearly that wouldn’t work because she has never lived in that person’s shoes.

[pi-cat000]

MSA time travel idea (part 16)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Vivi POV, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Lewis POV, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15

Part 17: here

They soon exchange high sloping ridges for more desert flatland, pulling into a shabby town on sunset. It’s not as small as their own township, but it definitely has that slightly unkept feel Arthur associates with paces seeing high traffic with few long term residences. Isolated along a stretch of mostly empty highway the towns primary function- going by the collection of trucks parked between its many gas stations-appeared to be giving long-haul travellers a place to sleep.

Arthur has already picked out a motel among their limited options. A dishevelled building with a single row of rooms and empty car spaces. There is a small, box-like brick structure out front acting as the reception, and they are given a key by a woman who’s more interested in reading a magazine then interacting. Nothing is labelled, not even the door numbers, and they have to count their way down the row to get to the right room.

“Yuck,” Vivi’s loud comment drifts back from where she’s stepped into their temporary accommodation, “I’m going to have trouble sleeping with this mess distracting me all night.”

Arthur locks his van, giving the silent windows on either side of them a suspicions squint, stepping up onto the small stretch of pavement bordering the wooden motel door.  

“It’s not that bad,” Lewis chuckles, stepping around into the room, giving Arthur a better view.

“You would say that,” Vivi retorts, “Seriously, I wonder about your sense of taste sometimes Lew.”

Cramped, is his first thought. Arthur inches into the room behind Lewis, eyeing the hideous pink and purple floral wallpaper. It’s an eyesore, and he’s not crazy about the colour. That, coupled with several overlapping old Persian rugs, gives the whole space a busy, claustrophobic vibe like the walls and floor are crowing in around them.

“It was the cheapest place that allowed pets,” He contributes to defend his choice, eyeballing the tassels on one of the rugs which have caught in the edge of the door, preventing it from opening completely.

“Hey. I wasn’t complaining. Just making an observation,” Vivi amends, giving the small room another judgmental stare.

“Also…There are only two beds,” Lewis interjects, motioning pointedly at the two double beds which occupy a majority of the room’s floor space. Actually, apart from the beds, there is only a scratched desk, chair, and door leading to an equally sad bathroom. How a room so sparse could feel so hectic was anyone’s guess.

“I can sleep in the van,” Arthur offers quickly, glancing between Vivi and Lewis. He’s not 100% sure how long they’ve been dating, and he doesn’t want to make things uncomfortable or get in their way. Also, if he sleeps in the van, he doesn’t have to worry about Vivi and Lewis noticing his nightmares, so it’s a win-win.

“No," Lewis’s attention swings onto Arthur, intense and penetrating, "I’ll sleep in the van. You stay in here Arthur. You need the rest more than me,”

“My sleep schedule is fine,” He protests weekly, forcing himself not to shuffle right back out the door to escape, “and I’m shorter so I’ll be more comfortable in the van.”

“No one is sleeping in the van,” Vivi interrupts, voice firm, “We’ll have plenty of opportunities to sleep in the van later. For now, Lewis, we’ll share a bed and build pillow wall between us, so everything stays nice and G-rated,”

“Uh,” Lewis chokes, focus flipping off Arthur like a rubber-band. He coughs, face reddening ever so slightly, “If you’re okay with that…then I’m fine sleeping with you. I mean, not with you with you, but, ah, you know.” Another cough.

“Of course I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?” Vivi’s also gone a light pink, but she also has a hand over her mouth to hide an amused grin. Lewis is still stuttering, growing more flustered by the second. Maybe Arthur has misremembered just how far along they were in this relationship, or maybe, younger Arthur had blown things out in this head like the depressed drama queen he’d been.  

Either way, both his friends have momentarily forgotten about his existence, giving Arthur an excuse to escape the oppressive space and clear his head. He steps backward and out onto the pavement and almost trips over Mystery. A growl-like yelp follows the action. Arthur leaps up a pace, flinching to the side, startled. He stumbles on the small step, thankfully falling against the front of his van and not onto the concrete.

“Sorry…Mystery. Didn’t see you there,” He comments shakily, straightening, eyeing up the dog.

The last of the setting sun reflects in Mystery's eyes, giving them an ominous red tint. There is no denying the intelligence, bubbling just beneath his facade. Arthur swallows, arms and legs locking up, tense and ready to run. He should probably try for a pat like he usually would, but his apprehension is well on its way to fear and panic, so he doesn’t bother pushing himself.

However, Mystery seems content to watch in silence, and he gathers the courage to shuffle around to the van's side door and retrieve his shoulder bag and phone. Eventually, the dog heads into the motel room to involve himself in whatever awkward flirting Lewis and Vivi are participating in.

Arthur releases a slow breath, fiddling absently with his phone. He should call Uncle Lance while he has the chance and make good on his promise. Not that they’ll have much to say to each other, he has only been gone a day, but he should give it a go anyway. One stilted phone conversation coming right up. Arthur dials. The call goes through to voice mail after a couple of rings.

“Hey, Arthur! What are you doing out here?”

Vivi is leaning out of the motel room to get a look at the van and Arthur who is now sitting in the front passenger seat. Lewis also glances out from above Vivi’s head, giving Arthur another one of those scrutinising stares.

“Just giving my uncle a call, so he doesn’t panic thinking we’ve crashed or something,” He answers, shrugging naturally, putting his phone away. Uncle Lance is probably caught up in the workshop or has left his phone in some odd location where he can’t find it. He’s done it before.    

“Yeah. I should probably do that too.” Lewis responds, relaxing his gaze, “Can’t have them worrying.”

“I don’t know what they think I’m doing when I hang out with you two,” Lewis trails off one part humour one part in exasperation, attention now focused on his phone, disappearing back inside.

Vivi smiles at Lewis’s back, snickering, before turning to Arthur.

“So, me and Lewis are sharing a bed, and you get the one near the window,” She explains, walking towards him. Arthur takes the opportunity to lean over the seat divide so he can hand Vivi her backpack along with Lewis's duffel bag when she nears the door.

“Unless you have any objections,” She peers at him while he climbs back out of the van, shutting and locking it behind him. Around them, the silent motel lot darkens, and the one, solitary street light flickers on.

“It’s fine,” He reassures even if he would have rather slept in the van, “Though, you’re right about the motel's decor. Next time, I’m only picking a place if it has photos,”

Vivi giggles, “It’s like Mrs Gale threw up. Bet she would love it here.”

Arthur laughs weakly at the dig at Vivi’s boss, unable to summon enough energy to really engage. He stifles a yawn. And he still needs to come up with an explanation for Lewis, clarifying his erratic behaviour earlier that morning.

“Alright. Let’s get hyped for some sleep. Tomorrow the actual road trip starts,” Vivi does a small fist pump, grabbing his hand and pulling him back inside where Lewis is chatting on the phone, sitting on the far bed, back facing them. Mystery is stretched out diagonally across the bed, forcing Vivi to push him off so she can construct a pillow wall to separate her and Lewis.

Everything is relatively fine-bar a few stiff exchanges with Lewis in which he successfully puts off explaining anything- up until they all head to bed.

Arthur ends up staring at motel ceiling long into the night. Hours tick slowly by while he traces the interlocking lines of the busy floral patterns plastered up above him. Gradually, second by second, eleven o'clock becomes twelve, then twelve becomes one. Around two in the morning Arthur releases a tiered frustrated sigh which is amplified a hundred fold by the oppressive silence.  

This isn’t working.

He reaches for his keys, easily spotted in the dark due to the bulky multi-tool/ knife and other useful knick-knacks he has attached, finding the room key alongside them. For a few seconds, he listens for Vivi and Lewis’s soft breathing and Mystery’s huffs, figuring they're probably in deep sleep by now. Quietly, he inches out the motel room's door, shutting it softly behind him with a barely audible click.

The gentle hum of crickets and the occasional sound of tiers on the main road are a welcome change from the motel room’s muffled silence. There are several more cars in the parking lot now, all illuminated by cool moonlight. Arthur takes a deep breath and lets himself relax. Drowsily, he climbs into the van, collapsing across the front seat, too tired to clear a space in the back among the camping gear and other supplies. 

Before finally drifting off to sleep he sets his alarm for five thirty so he can sneak back into the motel room before Lewis and Vivi wake up.

.

Purple fire runs over the cave walls, lighting his way downward, beckoning him deeper into the tunnel. Arthur hesitates fear heavy on his shoulders. There’s something dangerous moving among the flames, immune to the heat. His footsteps echo, loud, broadcasting his position.

“Lewis?” He calls. Nothing responds. The fire continues to burn, eerie in its silence.  

In the dim flickering light Arthur stumbles. He reaches out a hand to steady himself, accidentally bushing against the flames. A burning sensation shoots along his left arm, and it goes completely numb.

He watches it slowly turn sickly green.

Arthur is jerked into consciousness by the insistent buzzing of his phone wedged into the seat next to his ear. His head is heavy like it’s been filled with cotton, and his back and shoulders ache from his odd position. Despite it not being particularly cold, he’s sweating all over, breathing harder than normal. With a groan, he heaves himself up, studying the dashboard, steering wheel and plush seats.

This isn’t The Cave. He’s fine.

Out the window, he can see the sun peeping between buildings. Sore, disorientated and drowsy, Arthur shuffles blearily out and down from the van, stumbling up to the motel room door, unlocking it, and slipping back inside.

As he turns to lock the door behind him, movement on his left catches his attention.

“Arthur?” The familiar deep voice shatters the quiet, piercing through the tried haze resting over his thoughts. A hand reaches out to rest on his shoulder.

Arthur jerks around, brain activity going from zero to ten in an instant. His heart skips. His breath catches.

Lewis is right there and…Fire erupts, consuming the motel room, disintegrating furniture, and flaking away the wallpaper. At the centre of this sudden inferno is Lewis, glaring. Frames are racing up his arm to Arthur’s shoulder, catching in his clothes, spreading across his torso. The ground falls away on either side of him into a steep drop. Sharp, glistening spikes beckon to him.

“THIS IS YOUR FAULT!”

The words are defining, shrieking out from the fire. Disembodied. 

Arthur throws himself backward, ripping himself free, his need to run too great to ignore. He fully expects to plummet down off the cliff.

Instead, his back and head hit a solid surface, forcing painful vibrations through his skull.

Disoriented, he slaps a hand up and behind to feel wooden panels. He blinks at his fuzzy vision, staring down at the tasselled rug, running under him. Shakely, he feels it’s softness with his flesh and blood left hand, not quite comprehending its existence.

There’s no fire. No cliff. He is on a carpeted floor, leaning against a door. A frozen Lewis is standing a foot away, hand outstretched, frozen in place from where he’s tried to touch Arthur’s shoulder.

This is the motel room his brain unhelpfully provides. The motel room he’s sharing with Lewis and Vivi. Arthur tries to say something, he doesn’t know exactly what, maybe he wants to apologise, but he can’t find the breath needed. Air just isn’t making it into his lungs.

Note: In which stuff finally happens. 

Part 17: here

[ladala99]

Spyro Reignited Countdown - Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage

Like Spyro 1, I was obsessed with this game as a kid, to the point that I would grab the controller from guests to march into the Colossus “boss fight” because I found it hilarious. I specifically have a memory of that happening. Probably only happened once.

Anyway, onto the review!

Gameplay

I’m just going to go over the points as they differ from previous titles just to avoid repeating myself too much.

The basic controls are exactly the same as Spyro 1. The models have been updated, but it still essentially feels the same. I really can’t say much here.

As the game progresses, though, Spyro gains new abilities.

He first gets the power to swim underwater, which opens up an entirely different style of gameplay. Honestly, Spyro’s underwater controls are the best underwater controls I’ve had in any game. They just feel right, and the freedom of movement you get makes underwater-heavy levels my absolute favorite in the series. Like Aquaria Towers is my absolute favorite level. Ever. No contest. Just because you can swim anywhere.

Climbing lets you get higher. It doesn’t add much gameplay itself (but was used cleverly in Magma Cone), but allows there to be certain vertical surfaces you can move up without making an awkward staircase or whirlwind. Although really it doesn’t do much of anything a whirlwind doesn’t do other than block progress until you get it and the aforementioned Magma Cone. Kind of underwhelming.

And finally, Headbash. It’s a new move. That’s usable in very specific circumstances. And yet somehow has made it into every game, including The Legend of Spyro and Skylanders. It is super satisfying to Headbash into water (and use it for swimming-in-air glitches) but otherwise it’s not all that impressive.

The only real improvement is swimming, but hey, at least they gave Spyro new abilities. Not sure why you need to bribe a guy to tell you to hold onto a ladder, though.

Collectables

This game keeps the gems, gets rid of the eggs and dragons, and replaces them with orbs.

Orbs are gotten for completing challenges. They’re also scattered around a few homeworlds, but for the most part, NPCs will hand them to you once you complete challenges for them. These challenges have a star rating that shows their relative difficulty. I’d say those star ratings are fairly accurate, for the most part.

It makes it significantly different from dragons, since these challenges vary greatly, from using powerups to do various tasks, to defeating enemies within a time limit, to finding additional collectables around a level. There’s a lot of different challenges, and some are in fact a lot easier than others.

Gems have a new use as well: paying Moneybags to give you new abilities and in many cases let you progress. It’s not all that functionally different from the balloonists telling you that you need X number of whatever collectable to progress, but it does add flavor. And makes you hate that bear. Moneybags is the character Spyro fans love to hate.

Powerups

Superflame gets a huge upgrade from the previous game, becoming a giant fireball that shoots straight at whatever you aim at. You even get a helpful aiming receptacle when you have the powerup. It’s also usable underwater, unlike your regular flame breath, and it has this really cool spiraling star effect that somehow doesn’t affect your aim.

Supercharge is as great as ever, but isn’t nearly as necessary to complete a level. Now, however, almost all (maybe actually all?) of the Supercharge areas have a track you can infinitely circle if you so desire. It’s also used in Speedways in this game, a feature which I neglected to mention in my Spyro 1 review a couple of days ago.

Superjump is used a few times. Neatly animated, but it honestly doesn’t do anything a whirlwind or a ladder wouldn’t be able to do.

Superfreeze is a new powerup used in one level. You use it to freeze enemies in blocks of ice. Neat! It also has a huge range, but since the enemies unfreeze so quickly, it’s best to be right next to them, so that part’s kinda useless.

Superfly is now in a few levels, and it is super overpowered. The developers knew it, and made the timer run out really quickly when you exit the intended area. Much like swimming, though, it adds a great deal of exploration ability to the levels you can use it in. Flying freely is always satisfying.

Invincibility is used once, and it’s pretty neat - allowing you to walk on usually-dangerous terrain. Definitely feels very freeing.

And there’s a combo Superflame/Superfly powerup in one of the last few levels. It does exactly what it says it does, and it’s amazing.

There’s also rocks you can spit, for basically a ranged charge attack. This singlehandedly taught me about arcs in aiming. It wasn’t used too much, though.

And there’s some turret(?) guns in a few levels to blast some particularly strong enemies and break down walls. Again, it taught me a lot about arcs. The fact that it doesn’t show you were exactly it’ll land like most games would is both annoying and satisfying when you figure it out.

Speedways

Forgot about these last time. Speedways now have a hidden challenge involving Hunter, but otherwise they’re pretty similar to the Flights in the first game.

These levels are pretty polarizing because they’re fairly different: they’re free-flying levels where you have to destroy/go through various objects and enemies around the track under a certain time limit. I love them, because I love flying around them. I also really love Hunter’s challenges (even though the last one in this game is way too loud).

Bosses

There’s fewer bosses in this game than the last, but they’re all much improved from the last game. They definitely scale with difficulty, with Ripto being the hardest, and Ripto’s fight is by far the most impressive boss fight in the game, if not the entire series.

Crush is pretty straightforward and is somewhat similar to Spyro 1 bosses: you dodge his attacks, then flame him when you have the chance. The difference is that he attempts to attack you back and ends up harming himself.

Gulp is huge, has two attacks of his own, and also can use the weapons you gain to use against him. This is my favorite type of boss fight, and racing your opponent to the weapons is really fun.

Ripto takes Gulp up to eleven. First two phases you’re fighting him for the powered-up orbs, and then the last phase takes place in the air as you use a combination powerup orb to fly and shoot fireballs at him. No time limit. Great fight. Difficult fight, but great fight.

All in all, very effective bosses.

Levels

They’re well-designed and well-themed. They cover various cartoon locations and are varied and distinct. Unlike the first game, some do require backtracking once you gain new abilities, which is in some ways annoying, but in other ways makes the new abilities more fulfilling. When I was younger, I definitely preferred this method, since I didn’t like saying goodbye to a level forever, but nowadays I just want to get it all done with in one go. So, I’m a bit neutral towards this.

Levels now have NPCs in them that introduce the main task of the level (almost always just to get to the end) and other side-missions which give you orbs. As before, I’m neutral towards this, since I like the simplicity of the first game, but I also love the minigames in this game.

Minigames

This is the one Spyro game with minigames in which I like them all. They’re all integrated into the level, and use the game’s controls in unusual ways to provide more variety. And speaking of variety, they are all very different. From Idol Springs’ puzzle-solving to the dashing around a small cave racing Hunter to crystals in Magma Cone to Trouble With The Trolley(tm) to the trade quest in Mystic Marsh, there’s so many different things you do. You haven’t seen them all until you get to the end.

Story

Spyro wants to go on vacation from the rainy Dragon Realms (as someone also from a rainy city, I get you, Spyro). He decides to head to Dragon Shores for a vacation.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Avalar are altering a portal to hijack a dragon to solve their problems: there’s this guy called Ripto who hates dragons, and he’s decided to take over the place.

Spyro gets transported to Avalar and, at least since Ripto blasted the portal he came from, agrees to help them out. The citizens of Avalar promise to get him to Dragon Shores as soon as they’re able. Friendliest kidnapping ever.

Honestly a bit of an excuse plot just to get Spyro out and somewhere new. But the characters introduced show a lot of personality through both cutscenes and when you speak to them in gameplay.

Each level also has a mini-story mostly unrelated to the overarching story. It’s shown in cutscenes before and after the level, and of course in the level itself. Avalar has more problems than just Ripto, and it takes a fire-breathing dragon who helps the first person to talk to him to sort things out, for better or for worse. (Like seriously, you help thieves in Scorch. And help both sides of the Breeze Builder/Land Blubber war.)

The story isn’t going to make you rethink your life or write deep fanfiction, but it serves its purpose well and is entertaining. Perfect for the Spyro world, even if it gives off a very different feel from the first game.

Unique in the Series?

This game codifies the series. NPCs, powerup gates, minigames, and especially the cast all move on to other games.

The one thing I can think of that’s truly unique to this game is the Soul Particle system - where instead of giving you treasure, slain enemies power the powerup gates. Not a bad system, but definitely is forgettable.

And Elora. She’s in cutscenes in Spyro 3 and in a trading card in Spyro Orange, but this is her only full appearance in the series until the remakes. Which as someone who does not care for romance subplots, I’m fine with. She’s a neat character, but her crush on Spyro would have been her main trait if she stayed in the series, I’m sure.

Conclusion

Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage is tied with the first game as one of my favorite games of all time. It’s fun to play, and I have a huge amount of nostalgia for it. Definitely looking foward to seeing it again on my Switch, with all the graphical improvements.