#literally just us imagining being witches and not having to deal with anything ever again...good friendship times

[jessejaredstories]

One Last Adventure

“Did you find anyone yet?”

“Not yet babe, I’m still looking.”

I flipped through the pages of my old high school yearbook while my boyfriend Jack was pacing around our bedroom. He was supposed to be searching through Grindr and Tinder for potential targets, but I knew he was getting frustrated and decided not to push it. My boyfriend has always been the impatient type, but I could understand why he was getting extra antsy tonight. 

About a month ago, my boyfriend and I made a deal with a witch. In exchange for five years off of each of our lifespans, the witch would grant us the supernatural ability to take over other people’s bodies. As you can imagine, Jack and I have been generously using our new powers ever since we got them. We’ve been using them to do whatever we want as whoever we want! Getting easy access to anything we want, getting payback on anyone who’s wronged us, and probably the most fun, fucking as whoever we want. Pretty sweet ability right? 

But of course, an extraordinary power like this doesn’t come without its cost. On top of paying the witch with literal years off of our lives, there were also two conditions we needed to follow. The first condition was the time limit. We got exactly 30 days before our powers expire. Once time’s up, that’s it. No more body hopping fun. The second condition was more of a restriction than anything else. The witch said that we couldn’t just take over anyone’s body. We could only choose people both Jack and I have met in-person before. That condition really limited our options, but even so, that didn’t stop us from having as much fun as possible. 

“Hey, what about these two?” I handed Jack the yearbook with an open page. Unfortunately though, it took him less than a second to shake his head no.

“No good. I knew them but I never actually met them.”

I sighed as I took back the yearbook. Not gonna lie, I was starting to get frustrated too. We just couldn’t find any new bodies to possess! Normally, we wouldn’t get so worked over it, but tonight was different. It was our last day before our powers expired for good. Obviously we couldn’t just let our powers die out without one last body hopping escapade! But after hours of searching, it was not looking good for us…

Or so I thought. I started half-assedly looking through all the faces of our former high school classmates. It was then that two faces stuck out to me. Akshay Khan and Kabir Patel. 

“How about these two? Remember them? The Indian bros?” I asked Jack.

“Oh yeah, I remember them. Can’t say I remember much though,”

“Neither can I.”

Akshay and Kabir were known for being inseparable best friends, but that was it really. They never got involved in any school activities. That’s why they each only had one photo in the yearbook. Easy to miss, but they were still an option nonetheless. 

“C’mon, let’s check out what they’ve been up to,” I said as I pulled out my phone. 

Jack joined me on the couch. He laid against me as I typed in Akshay’s name. Luckily that was all I needed to get a hit on Instagram. His profile came up and surely enough, it was him. He had recently posted on his story too. I clicked on it and up came a picture of him and Kabir working out at some gym together.

“Whoa, they’ve really glowed up since high school. The gym’s been kind to them!” Jack let out a fox whistle when he saw the picture. I turned my head slightly to watch him checking out the goods. I could tell by the hungry look in his eyes that we just found our next targets.

“What do you say bro?” I said while lowering my voice. “You down to hit the showers after we hit this last set?” I caught Jack off guard with my bad Akshay impression, but he caught on right away. We exchanged a knowing look, then proceeded to get ready for the takeover. 

We both laid down on the ground and took deep breaths. We had body possession down to a science with how many times we’ve done it. All that was left to do was to go through steps again. I cleared my mind of all thoughts then I focused on imagining my soul leaving my body, all while maintaining my breathing. Soon enough, I could feel myself becoming lighter as my soul left my physical body. Once I was no longer a slave to the laws of physics, I flew straight to the gym where Akshay and Kabir were. They made the big mistake of tagging their location on social media, which made Jack and I’s job a whole lot easier! 

Thanks to my spirit form, I made it to their location within minutes. I phased through the walls and looked around for the bros. The gym was pretty empty that night for some reason. After some searching, I found Akshay in the locker room area checking himself out in the mirror. He was by himself in there. I crept up behind him, ready to strike while he was distracted! 

“Nrghh… What the fuck?” Akshay exclaimed. He hunched over while holding his stomach. I hesitated jumping into him, then abandoned the idea altogether when I realized what was happening. Jack had beaten me to the punch, he had already begun possessing Akshay.

I decided to stay back a moment and watch as my boyfriend possessed the gym rat. Akshay was groaning loudly. He tried keeping his balance but ended up falling to the ground on all fours. Sweat beads were forming on his face as he began breathing heavily. He then swung his head back with his mouth wide open. I could see his eyes roll back to the back of his head until I only saw the veiny whites of his eyeballs. Akshay then let out a loud, eerie groan. His cheeks and chest puffed up as Jack's soul slithered down his throat. I could see Akshay's Adam's apple bob up and down too! This lasted for a few seconds, then Akshay swallowed the last of Jack's essence in one final gulp. Once it was done, Akshay's eyes went back to normal and he stood up with a cocky grin on his face. 

"Ahh yeahhh... That's the good stuff..." Akshay said while caressing his massive pecs and rock hard abs. Except I knew that wasn't Akshay anymore, that was my loving boyfriend checking out his new body in the mirror. 

I watched as my boyfriend admired his newly obtained muscles in front of the mirror. I couldn't help but smile as Jack flexed his cannons for arms and made his pecs pop. To be honest, I was slightly jealous of him. Akshay was jacked! I wanted to have that body for myself, but no matter, there was still another body up for grabs anyway. 

I turned around and began searching for Kabir. I looked throughout the gym and eventually found him near the dumbbells. Kabir was busy putting some weights back on the rack. He wasn't perfectly alone like Akshay was, but the sight of his plump butt sticking out as he was bent over was too tempting to ignore. I just had to take the risk and dive right in! 

I steadied my aim first and then charged in as fast as I could. Thanks to my spirit form, I was able to phase right through his gym shorts and go straight into his asshole. 

"Ow!! What the fuck!?" Kabir yelped out, presumably from me penetrating him by surprise. The impact of me entering him made Kabir fall onto the ground on his stomach. He grabbed onto his ass cheeks while squirming around on the ground. Unfortunately I wasn't able to possess him in one smooth motion, but it didn't matter. I was already halfway in, and there was nothing Kabir could do to stop a pro like me.

I started wiggling my way up his ass. The deeper I went inside him, the more I could feel through his body as the body takeover process started. 

"Aaargh fuckk!! Ahh!!" 

Kabir was moaning and thrashing around like a madman! I couldn't blame him though, I could feel the stimulation I was giving him by entering through his ass. I bet I was hitting all the right pleasure spots as I slithered up him! 

"Mmmm... yeahh that's the spot..." I purred using Kabir's voice. I was in full control now, and hearing his accent come out of my mouth was making me hard! I stood up and brushed off any dirt on me. I took a moment to admire my newly possessed body. Jack might have gotten the more muscular body, but Kabir was taller and with a well-toned physique too. He was hot— No, I was hot! 

“Hey bro, you good?” 

I felt a hand pat me on the shoulder. Shit! Someone must’ve spotted Kabir thrashing around on the floor! I slowly turned around, but thankfully my worries were for nothing. It was just Jack.

“Yeah man, I’m chilling, all good here,” I answered. Jack shook his head. 

“You sure, Kabir? Looked like you had a pretty ass cramp just now… You don’t need a massage to help ease the pain?”

Getting called “Kabir” threw me off for a moment. Although I quickly caught on when I saw “Akshay” wink at me.

“Actually, you’re right, I could use a massage right now! Think you can lend me a hand bro?” I replied with a smirk. Akshay returned my gesture with a grin. It was moments like this that made me love taking over other people’s bodies with my boyfriend. Nobody but us knew that these two gym rats just got possessed by two other men, and that secret just made it even more fun.

Akshay and I wasted no time in getting to the locker rooms. Luckily for us, there was still nobody back there. We took off our clothes and hopped into one of the shower stalls together. Akshay turned on the water, and then proceeded to pin me to the wall behind me. He planted a big fat kiss on my lips. It was aggressive, but I loved it! 

We made out in the stall with our tongues fighting for dominance while the running water helped cover up our loud kisses and moans. Naturally, our dicks got hard while we kissed. I could feel Akshay’s dick rub against me as we pressed and interlocked our wet bodies against one another. It was strange. Normally when we possess straight men, we could feel their dormant souls try to resist against us having fun with their bodies. I expected Kabir and Akshay to do the same, but they never did! It was almost as if their bodies were enthusiastic about us having our fun. Perhaps, they’ve already done what we were doing?

Whatever. It doesn’t matter. All that mattered was that Akshay had a hand around my neck, choking me while keeping me pressed against the shower wall. I opened my mouth and Akshay spit in my mouth. I swallowed it like a good boy, then I jumped onto Akshay. He held me up while we resumed kissing. Then, while our lips were locked together, he began to lower me down onto his cock. I could feel his dick tap against my hole, then it slid right in.

“OHH FUCKK!!!” I couldn’t hold back my moans. The pleasure of having Akshay’s whole length inside me… My hole expanding to accommodate his girth was too much to hold back!

“You like that? You want this big, brown cock inside you?”

“Fuck yeah! Fuck me!!” 

“Beg for it then.” He started teasing me by thrusting himself into me slowly. 

“Please bro! Please fuck me hard!! I want you… I need you… Arghh!!”

Akshay started picking up the pace of his thrusts. I thought I saw stars with every deep stroke he gave me. We were probably making a lot of noise between my moans and his grunts, but we didn’t care. We fucked like animals with our new jock bodies and we weren’t ashamed of it! 

It only took us another few minutes of fucking before we were both close. Akshay pulled out and let me down to the ground. We then started tugging our dicks together until we covered both ourselves and the shower stall with our cum. We were both panting as we shot load after load of our sweet spunk out. We then made out again one last time while we were still covered with each other’s cum before the shower washed it away. It was hot, and it was definitely the last body hopping adventure we needed before our powers expired for good. 

Once we finished having our fun, Jack and I were ready to leave. We never bothered cleaning up, we just depossessed the bodies and let them take care of it. Jack and I shared one last loving look as Akshay and Kabir before leaving. However, when we tried forcing our souls out of their bodies, we couldn’t! No matter how hard or how much we tried, we just couldn’t leave! We ended up having to clean up after ourselves for once. We did that quickly, then got dressed and left the gym as fast as we could. We had no idea what was going on! But then I caught a glimpse of the time. It was already 1:30AM! It was already the next day! It was supposed to be a quickie, but I guess Jack and I got a little carried away…

All this happened two years ago. We’ve been living as Akshay and Kabir ever since then. Even to this day, neither of us know what could’ve happened that we’d end up trapped in these bodies. If I had to take a guess, I’d wager that when the witch said that our powers would expire permanently, she meant it way more seriously than Jack and I expected. Without those powers, we couldn’t even return to our original bodies! I don’t know, but honestly, I don’t care anymore. If anything, we’ve been blessed to have Akshay and Kabir’s lives as our own. Sure, Akshay’s new family is super traditional and they’re already setting him up for a bride, but that doesn’t matter to us. We still meet up in secret when nobody’s around. No matter who we are, we are lovers and nothing will ever take that away from us. 

We’re not sure how exactly we’re gonna get past an arranged family, but as long as Akshay is by my side, we can overcome anything.

[amaranthhiding]

Dean’s Angel Kink and Sam’s Witch Kink (Part 2)

—What I See in Destiel and Samwena (this has more depth and less kink than I made it sound like)

You can find part 1 here.

In the beginning of episode 2x13 Houses of the Holy, we see a despondent woman named Gloria channel surfing on her TV.

A being of light that she thinks to be an angel appears to her, telling her to kill a man who we later find out literally has skeletons buried in his basement.

When Sam interrogates Gloria, she tells him with an enraptured smile that she thinks she was chosen for redemption.

Dean is so not buying any of this.

First of all, bless Sam for always seeing more in people than meets the eye. For not seeing her as a nameless hooker who has lost her mind.

That little smile on Sam’s face as he imagines someone being totally at peace with themselves is heartbreaking⁠—because imagining it is all he can do at this point in the timeline. He’s as far from at peace with himself as it’s possible to get.

Only three episodes prior in 2x10 Hunted, Dean revealed that John’s last words were that Dean might have to kill Sam. Sam found out that his own father was genuinely considering the possibility that Sam is past saving.

And as if that piece of information alone wasn’t already poisoning Sam against himself enough, he was then actually hunted by one of his own kind. A hunter whose declared goal it is to make the world a better place by getting rid of evil.

No, Sam is anything but at peace with himself at this point.

So getting a glimpse into the mindset of this woman who is genuinely content with herself in 2x13 Houses of the Holy was something that affected him deeply.

Dean doesn’t seem to share the sentiment, though.

Later in the episode, Sam believes he is the next one chosen by this supposed angel.

Again, Dean is not buying any of it. He believes they’re definitely not dealing with an angel but with the spirit of a recently deceased priest who was shot for his car keys right outside the church.

In another heartbreaking reveal, Dean finally admits why it is that he refuses so adamantly to believe that angels could be real.

“She used to tell me when she tucked me in that angels were watching over us. In fact, that was the last thing she ever said to me.”

"There was nothing protecting her. There's no higher power, there's no God. I mean, there's just chaos, and violence, and random unpredictable evil that—that comes out of nowhere...”

God, that scene hit hard. Both Jensen’s and Jared’s acting this episode is absolutely amazing, and there’s just so much going on on the characters’ faces in moments like this.

Of course Dean can’t believe in angels if those were his mom’s last words to him. If a lifetime spent with one horrific event following the next has taught him that the only way that there’s good out in the world is by creating the good yourself (saving people, hunting things).

Nobody can really blame him for not wanting to believe in angels or a higher power of good under these circumstances. And he’s right when he says that luckily there is no reason they’d have to settle this argument with anything less than hard proof, because they can prove if there’s a spirit at work here.

So their next plan is to split up, with Sam performing a seance to find out if there’s a spirit in the church while Dean follows the shady guy that the “angel” told Sam to kill.

This leads to some witchy Sam goodness even in an episode that has otherwise very little to do with witches.

Hilariously, we are shown that Sam has strong opinions when it comes to magic, really not liking to settle for inferior spell materials while Dean seems to have zero issues with that.

And that after I already watched Sam bristle over seeing water dowsing being called witchcraft in episode 3x09 Malleus Maleficarum (the episode I discussed in part 1 of this post).

Know who this bristling over magic not being done in a specific, pre-defined way reminds me of?

Rowena.

(Rowena’s spell in 11x09 O Brother Where Art Thou? vs. Sam’s seance in 2x13)

Anyway, even with a SpongeBob placemat, Sam successfully performs the seance—only to find out that Dean has been right all along.

They are dealing with a spirit, not with an angel. The disillusionment on Sam’s face is palpable.

In the meantime, Dean proceeds to be random, unpredictable good that comes out of nowhere and saves this woman from the evil guy he was tracking.

In peak irony, her reaction to the rescue is, “Thank God.”

Dean arrives back at their motel room to find a rather downcast Sam who isn’t dealing well with having his hopes crushed like this.

He had to believe in a higher force of good out there because being chosen by that force would have meant that he himself doesn’t have to walk down the path of evil.

That John’s worst fears would never come true.

Well, we know how things turned out.

We know that Sam—with nothing but the best intentions in mind to save the world from the Apocalypse—kind of ended up going darkside.

That by drinking demon blood, he gained incredible power levels that went far enough to make him immune against demonic powers and allowed him to exorcise demons through the power of his mind.

And that, in the end, all of this didn’t prevent the Apocalypse, but caused it by setting Lucifer free.

(Sam with black eyes holding out a hand in 4x22 Lucifer Rising, Rowena with purple eyes holding out a hand in 13x19 Funeralia, Rowena casting the spell that frees Lucifer from the Cage in 11x09 O Brother Where Art Thou?)

But even after all of that, Sam got rehabilitated and pulled back to the side of good. Because he has always had a shield throughout all of his life.

What I think Sam meant to say with this is that his shield deserves a shield, too.

That he wishes there was a higher power protecting his protector.

(Castiel in 8x08 Hunteri Heroici)

Because Sam knows that Dean has always put on a strong facade for Sam’s sake, but deep down, Dean craves to be protected, too.

That’s why, whenever Dean has come into contact with something angelic, he had a very particular facial expression that I’ll call his “angel face”.

We’ve seen it in various iterations, from when Dean believed that Sam was right after all in 2x13 Houses of the Holy, and that they were dealing with an angel rather than a spirit—that Dean had just witnessed a divine intervention sparing him but killing the evil guy in a freak accident.

To, of course, his first actual encounter with an angel in 4x01 Lazarus Rising.

To the angel stripper in his dream in 5x13 The Song Remains the Same.

To everything regarding Anna (Anna’s reveal that she’s an angel in 4x10 Heaven and Hell.)

I don’t think Dean would ever openly admit that he sometimes craves being the protectee instead of the protector, especially not to Sam. Not after growing up thinking he always had to be the strong one for his little brother, regardless of the fact that Dean, too, was a terrified young child in a motherless world filled with monsters.

In fact, he’d deny that deep-seated need adamantly, I’m rather sure.

And then play it off with a joke.

But often his body language speaks more than his words. The inversion of Dean and Anna’s positions during this scene in 4x10 Heaven and Hell is interesting, isn’t it?

Something hilarious that I noticed while rewatching scenes from these episodes is a kind of running gag regarding hands.

In one of the earlier scenes of 2x13 Houses of the Holy, we see Dean in a motel room, enjoying the bed’s “Magic Fingers” massage function.

It’s even his left hand that he’s holding up as he says this.

He also jokingly offered Sam “glow sticks” when Sam talked about the supposed angel encounter in the same episode.

And then later seasons of the show gave us these scenes, of Dean discovering the angel handprint on his left shoulder after he got rescued from Hell in 4x01 Lazarus Rising:

Of Anna covering said handprint with her own right hand in 4x10 Heaven and Hell:

Of that same right hand performing a gesture of titanic pleasure in the same episode:

To glowsticky acts of healing like this one in 15x08 Our Father, Who Aren't in Heaven:

If I didn’t know angels were never planned to be a part of the show this early on, I’d think all of this was done on purpose, starting as early as season 2.

Knowing what I know, though, all I can do is squint and tilt my head.

Let me tell you, noticing a reference that was never made is even stranger than not understanding that reference.

Before I wrap this up, let’s get back to Sam and his witchy delights one more time, though.

When Dean was still very much in “so not buying this” mood in 2x13 Houses of the Holy, Sam insisted that he wants to follow the supposed angel’s orders because:

Whether this was or wasn’t referenced by accident, I’ll never know, but episode 13x19 Funeralia gave us this counterpart:

While I do see the appeal that ships pairing Sam with an angel can hold—the validation Sam would receive from being told how very much not evil he is by an angel, especially after the events of 2x13 Houses of the Holy—I see his deepest longing elsewhere.

In contrast to Dean, Sam never needed a shield because he always had one.

Most of his life, Sam was pushed into a passive role by outside forces. He was the little brother, the one in need of protection rather than doing any of the protecting himself. The one who always got told by John and Dean what to do, and whenever he wanted to make a decision on his own (like going to college), it led to crisis.

He was the special child who was made to swallow demon blood as an infant, and there was nothing he could do against this supposed evilness resting inside of him, no matter how many good deeds he performed, how many people he saved.

He was the Boy King prophesied to bring the Apocalypse, and by trying to counteract that fate, he ended up inducing it.

The helplessness, the complete and utter frustration he must have been feeling his whole life long for always ending up in that passive role, for never being able to actually change anything...

(next four images from episodes 13x15 A Most Holy Man, 13x19 Funeralia, 13x12 Various & Sundry Villains, 13x19 Funeralia)

I’m not even sure I can put into words adequately enough how meaningful it is for Sam to be able to convert Rowena from evil to good.

Of course Sam also bonded with Jack, but despite rumors to the contrary, Jack never actually was evil. Rowena proudly was—for a time.

But a lifetime spent with Dean “No chick-flick moments” Winchester enabled Sam to see straight through Rowena “Love is weakness” MacLeod’s bullshit from the get-go.

She had been hurt so deeply in her past that she had muted most of her feelings in self-defense, unable to find another way of coping with them—thinking that self-imposed solitude, gaining as much power as possible, and masking all other feelings with humor would be the only way to shield herself from a repeat of that hurt that had almost ruined her.

And in the end, finding that her life has become so much staler than what she had been hoping for.

(next three images from episode 12x11 Regarding Dean)

She discovers that she wants all those emotions back that she had locked out in self-preservation so many years ago.

That perhaps, love isn’t weakness after all... if directed at someone worthy of it.

(next three images from episodes 15x03 The Rupture and 2x13 Houses of the Holy)

Though regaining her ability to love also meant regaining her ability to feel guilt, which was far too intense and confusing for her to navigate on her own.

Through saving her, Sam saves himself.

She empowers him with the ability to be active for once, not stuck in helpless passiveness where he can’t change a thing.

They show each other that the supernatural power resting inside both of them can be used for good.

Without her, Sam never would have dared to tap deeper into magic for fear of a repeat of the demon blood thing that made him go darkside.

Without him, she never would have started to transform Hell into something much kinder than it has ever been before.

All of this is why he cried so much more over Rowena than over anyone else on the show other than Dean.

One of the meanings for the name Castiel is “Shield of God”. Castiel is a shield of protection.

One of the meanings for the name Rowena is “White Spear”. Rowena is a spear of empowerment, for herself as much as for Sam.

All of this is why I see both Destiel and Samwena as the ultimate endgame. As a deeply satisfying conclusion to an intricate narrative that spans more than a decade. As two sides of the same coin that is entwined with both brothers’ personal history and the dynamic between them.

And both of these relationships don’t only carry an emotional depth that takes one’s breath away, no, hilariously they also encompass both brothers’ kinks.

You don’t have to agree with me. I’d actually feel deeply honored if there’s anyone out there who read up to this point even without agreeing with me. I respect your opinion, and I thank you for respecting mine enough to listen to my long-winded explanations of what I see in these ships.

(And I haven’t even mentioned Castiel’s incredible character development through all of this, mostly because Cas has always been my focus character while watching the show when it aired. Him I think I understand, while all of this here is a journey of discovery and broadening horizons for me as well, triggered by me trying to write my first Samwena standalone fanfic. This post is long enough as is anyway, Castiel’s character development would make it burst at the seams—and this post was meant to be more focused on Sam and Dean after all.)

[whentranslatorscry]

Hitagi Honeymoon

008

The next day would greet us with clear, blue skies— except in my hometown. As an aside, the weather in Washington, D.C., where I currently have a foothold, also seemed to be quite pleasant.

What a convenient age we live in, being able to confirm the conditions of various localities through weather cameras online. Presently, at least, there was no rain in Tochigi Prefecture; there were no approaching typhoons, no signs of tornadoes.

It seemed that the ominous prediction— or should I say, the gracious advice— of the Eleventh Witch Oikura, was not an immediate cause for concern.

However, a low probability of rain is not necessarily the bare minimum condition for activities such as glamping or car camping. After all, we weren't going to be roughing it outside with no shelter, so we wouldn't need to cancel our honeymoon trip unless there was torrential rain, relentless snowfall (in summer), or anything equally pressing— that is, if stargazing wasn't the main event.

When stargazing is concerned, the problem isn't just rain; even a hint of cloudiness would be enough to render our plans null and void.

It had been quite some time since I had last gone stargazing. In fact, the only time I could recall doing so was the starry date with Senjougahara Hitagi. And even that had been a sort of surprise attack. I had completely forgotten that, when it comes to the conditions of the sky, one can only truly leave it up to fate. While we can try to predict whether it will rain or not by resorting to long-term weather forecasts, the matter of whether the sky will be clouded over is still, quite literally, up in the air.

“Don’t worry, I knew all that beforehand— that's what makes it an authentic experience of stargazing, including the looming uncertainty. To enjoy such thrilling moments, knowing that it could all turn out to be a wild centipede chase, is what makes a visit to the land of the giant centipede even more compelling.”

“That’s not what the giant centipede is about.”

“Even if it happens to be cloudy or rainy, there's nothing to worry about, really. It's not like we're in New Zealand; we can always make a return trip within our country whenever we please.”

That's how Hitagi comforted me as I fumbled around in a flustered panic.

It was something an astronomy enthusiast would already know, after all.

“Family is about repeating the cycle over and over again, getting another chance to make things right no matter what. That is what makes a family.”

Yeah, that was a good point.

Although I was happy to inadvertently learn that little bit about Hitagi's notion of family— and it became even more poignant when I thought of what her family had overcome— at the same time, I couldn't help but be painfully aware of my own shortcomings. No matter how well I'd thought to prepare for this trip, meticulously assembling the itinerary and drafting the roadmap, the harsh reality was that I still couldn't shake my lackadaisical, go-with-the-flow personality even at the age of twenty-four.

It's better to feel pain than nothing at all, right?

If, on our honeymoon, we went stargazing only to be met with impenetrable cloudy skies or rain so heavy that we couldn't even open our eyes, at least we could laugh about it later. Of course, it's always best if the sun is shining.

The uncertain future looms ahead.

“But what I'm most happy about is finally being able to meet Shinobu, after all this time. My dream has come true. I've missed so many opportunities to meet her, ever since that close call at the abandoned cram school. I was starting to doubt if she was even real, or just a girl from your imagination.”

Wouldn’t that be great.

It was a big deal to be suspected of such a thing, but at any rate, Shinobu, a very non-imaginary girl, was shy, so the process of persuasion— or rather, convincing her— proved to be quite difficult.

Even with my blood-related family like Karen and Tsukihi, she had managed to keep her secrets, so she argued that it wouldn't be a problem to keep the same secret from Hitagi (quite a sound argument). It was a pretty tough task to break down her reasoning. The former Fire Sisters had not known about aberrations, let alone the existence of vampires, but for Hitagi, aberrations were already an open secret; there was no reason to keep hiding them. Eventually, I managed to convince her through reasoned arguments.

Even so, if it had been old Shinobu, she would have probably withdrawn into the shadows like the elusive Sun Goddess herself. Nonetheless, she not only chose to reveal herself in this candid manner but even declared that she would accompany us on our honeymoon. Maybe she, too, was changing in some ways.

Admittedly, I failed to persuade Oikura to join us on this trip (truth be told, I genuinely wished she would have come even though I knew she wouldn’t). But, regardless, our quartet's journey to Tochigi has taken shape, with the Nasu Highlands as our destination. It's not exactly ideal, but we can only hope that at least in the open field of Senjougahara, it will be sunny.

When it comes to family outings, the time it takes to get everyone out the door can feel excruciatingly long. So long, in fact, that the hapless sort who forgets to check the weekly weather forecast might be tempted to just hurry up and leave, regardless of how well-prepared they are. But as much as I didn't want to keep everybody waiting, there was still one more thing I had to take care of while we were in town.

Before heading to the rendezvous at Kanbaru’s house, I needed to pay a visit to the very place where Hitagi and I had held our wedding just a few days prior— North Shirahebi Shrine.

There hadn’t been any remarks from Oikura about it, but it suddenly hit me while I was chatting on the phone with my childhood friend. Having held our wedding at that fateful shrine and pledging our eternal love, would it really be permissible for us to visit a shrine of marriage in another prefecture, even if it was a World Heritage site? It was a question that crossed my mind, right at the brink, due to my skeptical nature.

This was something Hanekawa had taught me when I had been studying for exams: praying too much for success at multiple shrines and temples might cause the gods to quarrel amongst themselves, so it's better to focus on just one. Now that I think about it, that advice might have been a subtle criticism of my usual carefree attitude rather than being a mere tip about praying for success. Well, besides, an attitude of indiscriminately relying on divine intervention might not be all that praiseworthy and it’s maybe better not to indulge in it.

That said, I couldn't help but feel that it would be a little excessive to go out of my way to respectfully avoid places like Nikko Toshogu Shrine and Futarasan Shrine, which we had already incorporated into our roadmap. Hence, I decided to settle the matter by informing the somewhat temperamental god of North Shirahebi Shrine about our plans before leaving.

When I had visited the shrine one early morning during high school, I had experienced a bizarre encounter with a huge sword supposedly slicing me into pieces. It felt like an appropriate time to overcome that trauma.

“What a surprise! If it isn't the newlywed Sakuragi Koyomi-san.”

“Although I'm honored, don't compare me to the recently made-into-a-film red-haired basketball genius. My name is Araragi.”

“Sorry, I stuttered.”

“No, you did it on purpose.”

“I stubbed.”

“It wasn’t on purpose?!”

“I slam-dunked.”

“Are you talking about the manga?”

“I read it back in the day without paying too much attention, but having Sakuragi, Akagi, and Miyagi all on the same team, don’t you think their surnames are quite the curious coincidence?”

“Don’t criticize an epic manga like that.”

Speaking of Akagi, the protagonist does have red hair… that, in a way, might actually make it more realistic.

“Real is also a basketball manga, isn't it?” remarked Hachikuji Mayoi, the shrine's resident deity, displaying her keen insight.

Although I'd like to introduce her as the same Hachikuji as ever, she appeared in her adult form in the shrine maiden outfit, just like when I saw her at my wedding. To me now, she appears to be of a similar age, but why? Isn't she supposed to be a lost eleven-year-old fifth-grader god?

“Didn’t we explain it at the wedding? From the moment I first met you, Araragi-san, time has continued to flow without interruption, public opinion kept being updated, and it was concluded that it's not desirable from a compliance standpoint to have a grown man and a school girl with a backpack in the same frame. So, this is how my character design was changed.”

“Is compliance stronger than even divine power?”

“Child labor isn't a good thing either, so we changed how I look, even if just visually. My essence is still that of a fifth-grader.”

While that could be a difficult setting in itself, I suppose it's true for everyone. We may have matured in appearance, but inside we remain fifth graders.

Since turning twenty-four, my character had not changed much from when I was a high school senior. I couldn’t plan a trip properly and I genuinely enjoyed the Slam Dunk movie.

“Yes, it was just a bit confusing with Sakuragi and Akagi.”

“That does feel like an adult perspective, but when it comes to last names, there's quite a bit to think about in recent times. It's the perfect topic. Would you listen, Hachikuji?”

Since we had a meeting time and couldn’t spend too long in conversation, I got straight to the point. This, too, might be the mark of being an adult. When I was a high schooler and Hachikuji a fifth grader, we would have spend three hours just talking about Slam Dunk. We would get carried away with Rukawa’s story.

And now, as I transitioned into describing the ever-flowing theme of honeymoon, I couldn’t help but feel a certain melancholy. The days of being able to control time, back when it seemed impossibly long, had slipped through my fingers.

“I see. So, you're going to Mount Akagi.”

“Listen. To me. Properly.”

“Mount Nantai, then? I can't really discourage you from going there, I guess.”

She may have had a complicated sentiment as a god, as Hachikuji had been living in such an unknown mountain. But she was a novice deity, and she takes pride in having protected the town from an infectious disease, even leading the virus astray. She’s done some pretty scary things, when you think about it.

“Personally, I think if you’re going to introduce Shinobu-san to Senjougahara-san— pardon, it was the missus.”

“The missus? Are you also taking the stance of Lieutenant Columbo?”

“If you're going to introduce Shinobu-san to Mrs. Araragi, I'd really like you to introduce me as well, and soon.”

“But didn't you more or less meet the other day at the wedding?”

“She can’t see me at all. That means she’s completely devoid of doubt. It seems she’s gone through a lot, but maybe, she’s never lost sight of her home.”

“Her home.”

“Or her family.”

That made me wonder if I had always been just floating aimlessly— from the day I first met Hachikuji Mayoi, the day I had that fight with my sisters and up until today when I was leaving for my honeymoon.

“If you were to remove your doubts, there would be nothing left of you, Araragi-san.”

“Spoken by you, it sounds like it’s over for me, like a divine prophecy. Well, honestly, it would be a sad story if my doubts were gone and I couldn’t see you anymore. From morning until night, I want to gaze upon you only.”

“Even the adult version of me?”

“I wouldn't be deceived by appearances, you see.”

“That means you see a fifth-grader in the adult me as well.”

Though the image of a high school senior and a fifth-grade girl messing around together may indeed not be modern, the reason for such a bond could be the length of our relationship, and how we've grown to have such conversations— sitting side by side at the shrine.

I wouldn't want to lose this. This sense of who I am.

“It may be for the best that doubts, like feeling lost, stay hidden. But it seems that you continue to be lost, both at home and abroad, so this ill-fated bond may persist for a while longer. I said it myself but I must admit, ‘ill-fated bond’ is quite the phrase.”

“Fateful alone would already be exceptional, but this is a persistent illness, It almost seems like I'm about to become unfaithful.”¹

“There's danger in using the word ‘unfaithful’ as a newlywed. In your case though, you’ve been unified with Shinobu-san for a long time, and so, regardless of your doubts, you might be able to see me. Being a member of the Hearsay Department makes you almost an expert, I’d presume.”

“Mhm. I hope that’s the case. It’s undeniably true that I’m feeling lost at the moment. You could say I'm wandering aimlessly— as ever. I’ve had a wedding, and we’re legally married, of course. The honeymoon we're about to go on could also be called a product of this hesitation.”

“It’s admirable that you’re pondering over a surname so much, Araragi-san. After all, names are very important.”

“Really? You say that after you just called me Sakuragi-san? And for that matter, all eighteen years of mispronouncing my name?”

“I've over-chewed it, and my jaw is growing tired.”

“Don't go chewing someone's name like it's gum.”

“I've brought it up a few times before, but when my parents divorced and my last name changed, I was bothered too. I was really fond of the name Tsunade, you see.”

“Yeah. It may sound strange to say, to me, you’ve always been Hachikuji, so now the name Tsunade feels new.”

Tsunade Mayoi.

Maybe for a snail, that might be more fitting.

“Well then, why don't you become Araragi Mayoi at this point?”

“Isn't that being too wishy-washy for the Araragi family? Are you trying to create a legitimate Araragi Harem?”

“Although there has never been such a dubious organization, now the mere thought of one is incredibly exhausting. It feels like there wouldn't be a single fun thing about Araragi Harem.”

“It’s so sad seeing you withered away completely… I can't bear to look at you, Araragi-san. I feel like saying I hate you. Please don't talk to me.”

Being told this by her adult version carried a different weight. On the other hand, the memory of a full-blown fistfight with a fifth-grader was far from becoming for a police officer.

“I'd like to bury you just to erase that memory.”

“What on earth are you saying in these harrowed grounds? Anyway, the idea of adopting Shinobu-san far outstrips the former Araragi-san.”

“So I thought I'd adopt you as well at this point, but it just doesn't work out.”

“Please, don’t create a project like a philanthropic attempt to adopt orphans from all around. No, you may create such projects, but… In your case, Araragi-san, the impression that you are indiscriminately collecting these orphans isn't a good one.”

In any case, adopting an adult version of Hachikuji as my child had a completely different sense of criminality than adopting a fifth-grade girl.

“If anything, I’d rather become your adopted son, Hachikuji. Hachikuji Koyomi— doesn't it sound dated and cool?”

“It certainly slides smoothly like the Iroha slope. There's a miraculous appeal to it… but what's a vampire to do by joining the ranks of god's retinue?”

“What’s more,” Hachikuji said while looking at my shadow that had fallen within the shrine grounds. “What does Shinobu-san think about it? I doubt that she’s very keen on the idea of meeting your wife, let alone becoming an adopted child to you.”

“Should we just ask her? Would have to wake her up, though.”

Since the early hours of a human morning were the late hours of a vampire night, Shinobu was currently fast asleep inside my shadow.

“You could say she’s sleeping bloody amd dead, completely exhausted from our debate.”

“There’s a debate going on? What do you mean, sleeping bloody and dead— is that some kind of vampire slang?”

“It's ‘cause we're family that we fight like that, you know.”

“Oh, you sound like you know what you’re talking about, coming from a dysfunctional family.”

“Who’s from a dysfunctional family?”

Actually, me.

Now, I may be slightly exaggerating with my words, but it was true that, especially during my first and second years in high school, the Araragi family had a tendency to lose its functionality as a family.

The sixteen-year-old Araragi could barely imagine a future where he could enjoy a carefree dinner with his sister— let alone one where she works the same job. I fell on hard times in high school, I had no expectations from my parents, and I had fallen out with my sisters. On graduation— or dropping out— I planned to move out of the house immediately.

It was a mess, pretty much.

“A mess, huh.”

“And it's not like we're functioning even now. My parents have both been dispatched to Tokyo, I’ve based myself abroad, and my other sister is nowhere to be found. The family's dysfunction is barely being maintained.”

“Please don’t maintain it.”

As I pondered repeatedly, Karen, the most untamed and liberated person I know, was beyond my imagination, protecting our home all alone.

“And that's precisely why I want the home I build to be filled with warmth and ceaseless laughter. Is that too much to ask?”

“A home filled with laughter? It's undoubtedly better than one filled with ceaseless abuse.”

“Don't even try to joke about that. You can't compare laughter with abuse.”

“In all seriousness, though, I'm rooting for you. Make sure that nothing like the cycle of abuse continues. Here's to proving wrong the ridiculous notion that children raised in dysfunctional families can't build healthy homes. Show them what you're made of.”

“I never thought I grew up in a dysfunctional family, but that's probably what it was.”

If anything, it might be that this reflects Hitagi's unwavering resolve. It wasn't about function or dysfunction, her family had already crumbled once before. And even as a single-parent household afterward, they were far from well-balanced or stable— there was a time when Hitagi was losing weight and had to continuously visit the hospital.

So, the idea of building a new family must have been a great leap that she resolutely took. It was for these reasons, her view of what makes a family, that I wanted to respect and support her.

If we really wanted to, we could have chosen to move in together, have a common-law marriage, or live together without changing our names to leave an escape route should things turn sour. But maybe she wanted to cut off any chance of escape entirely.

It wasn't like I was completely devoid of such sentiment while deciding to marry, after all this time of being together since Mother's Day during our third year of high school.

I can’t be a student forever.

“I still see you as a student of sorts, going to the FBI Academy and all.”

“When you put it that way, I can't really deny it…”

“Still, once you and the missus start sharing your life together, it's clear that you can't just leave Shinobu-san as she is.”

“Isn’t there any other way to call her? It's a bit confusing for a goddess to call her missus.”²

“Should we call her your spouse?'”

“Weird how wife doesn't seem appropriate, but spouse does.”

“Your wife knew about Shinobu-san and accepted her proposal with that knowledge, so I think there must be some understanding between them.”

“Yeah, she looks enthusiastic. Even said she was looking forward to meeting her today.”

“And she approved of the adoption too?”

“I have that prepared as a surprise for our honeymoon.”

“Sounds like a recipe for divorce.”

Hachikuji showed a concerned look.

With her adult version, it didn’t feel like a joke, there was a serious impression.

She really was a talented actress.

“I'm just dumbfounded. Making big life-changing decisions in some surprise. Regardless of whether or not it’s Shinobu-san, adoption is a major step that will steer the direction of your married life. Are you planning to push through with such a monumental decision just because of the starry, romantic atmosphere?”

“Maybe I should mention it beforehand?”

“It's not a ‘maybe,’ it's a must. If you don't bring it up beforehand, you'd do better not saying anything at all.”

Oh, such grown-up advice.

If she were still in fifth grade, she would've most probably gone along with the mischief and agreed enthusiastically, “Yeah, let's surprise her!” But being chastised seriously, she did make a point.

This wasn’t a conversation to have under a starry sky, and besides, it might be cloudy anyway.

“But… as long as you’re considerate of your wife's feelings, I do believe that adopting Shinobu-san into the Araragi family would be the best course of action.”

“As a friend?”

“A god.”

Quite the grand scale we're talking about here.

I made things that way, I suppose.

“I've been training with Gaen-san, so I've learned a thing or two about sealing away powerful aberrations simply by knowing their names. Shinobu-san was sealed away by Oshino-san more than six years ago, and yet, Oshino-san himself has been away from this town for a long time. The seal grows weaker.”

“It does?”

That's certainly not a comforting thought.

In other words, it suggested the potential revival of Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, the iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded vampire— an event that a god could not overlook.

I hadn't considered this possibility. Not considering it felt practically like inviting risk.

“If anything, it's a miracle that Shinobu-san stayed restrained with Oshino-san’s name, the wandering specialist. If she were a Killing Stone, she would've broken free long ago.”

I’m not overly keen on singing his praises, but it's impossible not to recognize that Oshino was a remarkable specialist— it would be off the mark for an amateurish FBI agent to think that Shinobu's seal would break if the current situation was left unchanged, and it may be nothing more than a novice deity’s unfounded fretting.

I didn’t expect it to last for one or two centuries, but it could very well endure until Oshino’s death. In any case, I believe that time has come. Rather than allowing the seal to continue under the name of a random old man, it was only right that she was sealed under my name, both as the responsible party and her guardian.

“Well, yeah, there's no denying he was also a participant in that hell. Even if we leave out the name Oshino, it's perfectly fine to keep the Shinobu part.”

“That's an exceedingly condescending attitude toward our benefactor. But from a divine standpoint, it's probably for the best that Oshino-san’s name isn't completely removed. For example, giving her a name like Araragiaaaa wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“From a human standpoint as well, that would be a bad idea.”

This isn’t some RPG, after all.

However, once it's brought up, the matter of what name I should give Shinobu became a tantalizing question. This wasn’t mere whimsy. In fact, it was the pureblood vampire who had transformed her— or rather, Princess Acerola, or Lola— into a vampire: Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicide-Master had fully designed her current name.

While I had no intention of defying the divine advice that it's better to retain Shinobu's name, it might be amusing to play with the idea as an idle pastime— like considering names for my own child, what about giving her a new one?

“Hmm. It's not derived from anything in particular, but how about Araragi Tsubasa?”

“That’s too heavy! Besides, I think your wife mentioned something similar a long time ago.”

Was that the case? Well if so, we were a couple cut from the same cloth.

“Araragi Nadeko?”

“Not just heavy, that's a precursor to a dysfunctional family. Please don't name the adopted child after a woman you've cut ties with.”

“It's not just the names of women I've cut ties with.”

“I guess you’re going to say Araragi Sodachi next?”

“I was going to say that, yes, but I'm not actually estranged from Oikura. She's more of an ill-fated bond.”

“Whether you call her a childhood friend or an ill-fated bond, it certainly changes things quite a bit… Who else? Any other estranged women in Araragi-san’s life? Tsukihi-san, maybe?”

“Though her whereabouts are indeed unknown, I have no intention of severing ties with her. She's my sister.”

“You've always been consistent in that regard. Well, it's not ideal to name a living acquaintance after a great figure, a deceased one or the like.”

“Right, it isn't.”

“Oshino-san didn’t name her something like Oshino Mememe either.”

“Mememe?”

Shinobu’s character would have been quite different. She might not have been as shy.

“Who knows, she might've been a young girl who loved neatly prepared mackerel rather than donuts.”

“Shinobu Shimeshimeshime³ doesn't sound right either. So, in the spirit of you who is not only a great figure but also a divine being, how about Araragi Mayoi?”

“Terrifically heavy. And it's just plain creepy if you name your daughter something like that. Why are you so desperate to bring Araragi Mayoi into existence?”

“If we take you and Shinobu, divide by two, we might just end up with the perfect little girl.”

“What's with this little girl idea? It's creepy when you look at adoption like that. No one like that should be a foster parent. It's not cunning, it's just recklessly said.”

Hmph.

We had come up with many thought experiments, but in conclusion, Araragi Shinobu seemed to be the most suitable choice for now. There was no sign that an idea greater than that would emerge, whether in terms of this process or sealing.

The world works in wonderful ways, doesn't it?

“But you know, I can't help but think that if my name wasn't Araragi Koyomi, I might have turned out to be a completely different person.”

“Yes, you may have ended up dating someone else entirely, too.”

Although I didn’t want to believe that fate could be so drastically altered by a single name, actually, even during my junior and senior high school days, a different attendance number could easily change my position within the class.

Having a starting letter “A” in my name, my attendance number was always either one or two, and just after the class change, it was inevitably a conspicuously awkward position for self-introductions.

I had thought of it like a vile, loathsome four-syllable word that smeared on my beloved wife’s name, but I found myself grateful for the name given to me by my parents: Araragi.

And technically, it was the name of my father's father's father's father— maybe. It may have originated from a grandmother somewhere along the line, but the further back in time we go, the more unlikely that becomes…

“I should get going, though. I may not go on as many tangents as before, but I still lose track of time when I talk to you.”

“It's such an honor for a goddess to hear that.”

“Do you want to come with me? To Senjougahara?”

“Even the adult version of me is still a novice. I dare not venture into Takamagahara.”

Takamagahara? Oh right, that sacred place at Futarasan Shrine. Everyone's so knowledgeable about Tochigi Prefecture. If only I had paid more attention in geography class…

“Right, I’ll pray from this distant mountain for a sunny day at Senjougahara.”

“That's thoughtful of you, but you're the god of lost children, not the god of weather. Or are you going to make me a teru teru bouzu to ward off the rain?”

“Oh, no, although I now serve as a goddess at this snake-themed shrine, I was originally just a lost snail. I may not be as powerful as the sun goddess Amaterasu, but I still have some control over the rain.”

Hachikuji's smile was radiant, like that of a child, filling me with warmth like the sun itself.

“Rain or shine, it remains elementary for me.”

Prev Chapter | Next Chapter

腐れ縁, bad (but inseparable) relationship and 不貞腐れる, to become unfaithful.

The kami in 上さん、one’s wife、 sounds like 神、god.

忍野〆〆〆<- this weird symbol called shime, looks like katakana メ.

[simpz-art-stash]

Late beginnings

Summary: Mac goes out for a drink, and happens upon some advice he takes into consideration about his skewered relationship with Wukong. Before finally taking some action to mend the long burnt bridge. (Author’s note: I barely did any beta reading for this so if it’s worded strangely that’s just how I write without the normal filter on. I’m country so HOWDY) Next Page ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The night was late, but he didn’t care, he might as well have been nocturnal with the way his whole life revolved around the whole stereotype of shadows and shit. He’d walked into a bar he’d passed through a few times before, donning his human disguise of course beforehand, and walked in without sparing anyone else a glance. Before planting his rear in one of the stools seated at the front bar, ordering a drink to get the night started. “I’m really looking forward to seeing that new Monkey King movie with the trailer they just released. You saw it too right?? The whole style of the film is on par with their most recent game- OH, you think they’re gonna make a game of it?? I bet you they wiiiill!~” Ugh, great, just what he’d come here to avoid.

Mac’s eyes glanced to the blabbermouth boasting about whatever new movie was being made about his ex, to see two girls residing a ways down near the other end of the bar a few seats away from him. Both looking to have had a fair night themselves already if any of the cups and plates hanging around their spot was anything to go by. “Probably. I hope it’s better than last game that came out on the Brick 360, the bugs in that thing were gross to deal with.” Their friend commented back. Before looking down at their phone and claiming that it was getting late and that they had to go. “Yeah I’ll see ya Monday!” The chick waved their friend off a lazy farewell after they’d paid their bill before going back to their drink, now taking less tedious sips as the mood seemed to smooth out from their conversation prior. “I see someone’s a pretty big fan of that ol’ man.” Macaque piped up from where he sat, earning the attention of the stranger he’d directed his comment towards. “The Monkey King yeah?” Sparks danced in the chick’s eyes at the recognition of the name, before the stranger perked up and beamed a smile back at him, “You betcha! I’m a total nerd for that legend.” ‘A legend, hah.’ “S’the whole reason I moved to China in the first place.” She jabbed a thumb at her chest, “All the way from America!” Mac whistled, “That’s a pretty far leap to take, even for a legend. What, you hopin’ you’ll get the chance to see em’ or somethin’?” He sneered, taking his glass and lazily swirling it in his hand. “I wish!” She laughed, “Nah I mostly just moved here for work. If anything though it’s cuz a them for where I am now. I’d never even heard of him till about five years ago!” Mac blinked, lowering his drink from his lips, “You’re joking…”

“Not at all! No one hardly knows the story back home. Only reason I found out was cuz I just started gettin’ into anything monkey-related as a hobby.” She pointed at him, “Don’t laugh either, it’s a wildly popular standpoint to have these days online.” Mac quirked a brow at that, he’d hardly touched the internet these days save for whenever he needed some quick info on something he couldn’t find elsewhere. He held his hands up, “Hey I ain’t judging…” He smirked a little to betray the look that he totally was though. It was kinda funny how ironic it was him being there right then. She squinted at him, “Anyways...Yeah, I’d seen stuff of him online, but I’d never paid much attention to it up until recently.” “What made you change your mind?” Mac boredly probed, taking a sip. She simply shrugged, “I was in a dark headspace, guy made me laugh.” He paused, “Wait, seriously??” “I mean have you HEARD half the crazy shit he’s done??” ‘Babe I’ve LIVED through half the shit he’s done.’ “Like, literally, the guy is HILARIOUS. My favorite story out of them all being one where he literally tricked THREE taoist immortals into drinking his own piss!!” She burst out laughing while Mac choked on his drink a little, not having expected to hear that of all things. Sure he’d heard a few of the shenanigan’s his peaches had gotten up to throughout his journey to the west but he’d never heard that one before. Nor had he the patience to read through all that mess of context that had been published either. “Ahhh man, it still gets me…” The chick sighed with a few leftover laughs as she wiped a tear from her eye. “What about you? What’s your favorite story?” She asked. And suddenly Mac felt like he’d been put on the spot as he stared back at her. “Come ooon, surely there’s one that’s gotten your gut rolling.” She pried. ‘Plenty, but there ain’t no way in hell I’d tell a soul.’ “Bahh...there ain’t the first one that comes to mind that I’d like. Honestly I’m not even much of a fan.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Whaaat?? Aw come on! There’s tons of cool n’ funny stories!” “Heh..can’t imagine what you find so charming about a guy who’s too good for his own friends.” Mac spitefully twacked himself mentally for spewing something so personal like that out. Ugh, and he hadn’t even finished half his drink yet… The chick sitting to his left seemed to tilt her head a little before she squinted at him. Her silence being what brought his attention from his drink to her as he blinked back with a quirked brow. “What?” “Your eyes, they’re like raging storm clouds.” She pointed out. He blinked, not really sure how to feel about that. The only one who’d ever really pointed that out to him before was… “...So?” “Nothing!...” She shrugged, turning back away towards her own drink as if no conversation at all had happened between them. Whatever...he had his fill of shit to drink to either way. The night might’ve been late but he was just getting started. “He makes me laugh though.” She pointed out, earning her a glance. “All his stories n’ stuff. If there was ever a man I’d want, it’d be one who could always make me laugh.” “Hmph, not one for strength?” He took a long sip. Ignoring the bitterness of others fawning over someone he’d come to love before he’d gotten so popular. “Strength is fine n’ all, but it can only take a relationship so far..you gotta have more pieces to put in that crockpot of a relationship if you wanna make it taste good. Stuff like patience, honesty, a little bit of everything to help it all come together to make it juuuuust right.” “Hm…” “It can’t be all just you putting the stuff in there either, it’s gotta be a contribution from both gardens. Otherwise you’ll just barren your lands and be left with nothing to spare yourself or others in your life with.” She glanced at Mac, “Relationships are tricky like that, but they should always be a 50/50 split~” She winked. That...actually sounded like pretty sound advice. Something he’d heard a little here and there before but never so simply laid out. Though it made sense from his standpoint, fairness n’ all that. But he’d been that way with Wukong before and it had never worked out, all the bickering and such, so what had gone wrong? “Can I...ask you something?” Mac inquired. “Shoot.” “What’re your thoughts on..a relationship that seemed fine, but then the other changed so much that everything about it fell apart?” “Mmm...care to sprinkle in a lil more context?” The chick eyed him. Mac’s face scrunched up a little, no idea why he was asking some random mortal for relationship advice of all things. “Hey man. We’re both probably never gonna meet again after tonight, so if you’ve got skeletons in your closet, your best place to let em’ out is here. Bartenders are known for being the most well kept secret keepers in all the world after all~” She winked at the bartender in question who simply looked the other way with a look that might’ve suggested such a fact as truth. “Hm…” Ah screw it, “Alright alright…” He sighed and put his drink down, “There’s..someone. We used to be real close, we were strong together but then uh..shit got real and he had to go deal with it. But when he came back he uh, wasn’t the same as before, an I might’ve sorta assumed he was cheating on me so…so we kinda fell out.” The chick nodded, “Ahh..the classic misunderstanding of change and cheating, a tale as old as time.” She seemed to hum a moment before she turned from where she was seated, if not to hop down off her stool and plop down on the one right up next to him. “Uh-” “Shhh, lemme see those eyes.” She squinted, leaning in and staring deep into his. It’d would’ve been really unnerving if she hadn’t said anything about them before, now he was a lil put off that he might’ve been asking a witch of all things for advice… “Right. Well, at least you feel bad about it. So there’s that.” He blinked and his brows furrowed, “Wh- of course I feel bad about it, it was his fault-” He suddenly had a finger pressed to his lips. “Nope! Nooononono, you do not get to throw all the blame elsewhere like that sweetheart. There ain’t no way in hell you’re gettin’ a second chance with them if you keep that up.” She pulled her hands back. His face scrunched up and he found himself crossing his arms, if he had his tail out it would’ve been irritably swaying behind him right then at just how annoyed he was getting at this weird lady and her words. “Oh yeah? An what do you think’s best then huh?” “I dunno if you’d be up for that kinda challenge…” She idly fiddled with an imaginative piece of lint off her sleeve, which only seemed to irritate Mac further at the thought of him not being able to handle Wukong of all people. Like sure he’d gotten his ass handed to him before but he could still hold his own! “Try me.” The chick glanced back at him with a smirk, which caught him off guard for a second before he shot her a glare back. “Alright, but it’s definitely not gonna be as quick or easygoing of a recovery as you might hope it’ll be. Nor is there even a chance of you recovering it in the first place. But, you at least got that spark enough to try so who am I to deny?” ‘Hmpt, dam right I got a spark.’

“First of all, no more blaming, if you’re gonna tackle this properly, you gotta do yourselves a favor an quit it with the blame placing. Sure it’s easy, but it ain’t gonna get you nowhere but back to square one. It’s all in the past, the now is now. So push forward to fix it and put it behind you two so you can focus on the more important things.” “Easier said than done…” “Hey man, even if they don’t follow the same ruleset at first you could always work things out to make it one later on. I’m just tellin’ ya right now so you won’t just go diggin’ yourself a deeper hole.” Honestly at this point he was pretty much six feet down under, death to him would’ve been a mercy right then. “Fine…” He rolled his eyes. “Next up, apologizing…” -----------~----------- “I thought I told you to stay off my island.” Mac didn’t really glance back from where he stood high up on one of the breathtaking ledges that which Flower Fruit Mountain bolstered. His arms crossed, eyes sternly held against the leftover warmth of the late afternoon sun as it shifted the skies hues from blue to blood red. Hopefully that would be the only tinge of red the Mountain would see after today. “I know.” “What, no witty remark? Give me one good reason-” “I just wanted to talk.” Mac stated plainly. “Why the hell should I give you the chance?” “...” Mac wasn’t sure if he could come up with a good enough reason after the shitshow he’d caused him the last few centuries, most recent being his spat with him between MK. “I’m sorry.” That seemed to catch the king off guard, as he paused in his vicious glare to stare at the other. “Excuse me??” “I’m.Sorry.” Mac turned finally to Wukong, that look of fiery malice having softened immensely upon meeting their eyes. “I was wrong for what I did and I’m sorry.” Wukong’s face looked like it had had a stroke with how frozen in place it was, almost like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Hurting everyone around you just to get back at you, I was wrong for doing that. And I just wanted to apologize.” Mac’s face twisted a little, the words coming out a little rougher than he’d liked, but he’d managed to get three steps in so far… “If you think a few sorry’s are gonna be enough to make up for all that crap then you gotta nother’ thing comin Mac.” Wukong finally shook off the surprise and crossed his arms with a steely gaze. “Nah I know they ain’t worth shit with as long as it's been...which it’s been..a really, really long time come to think of it..nearly 3000 years…” Fucking yikes. “What’s your point?...” Wukong raised a brow at him. “My point is...my point..” What was his point? To make amends and hope they’d get back together? To go back to the way things were? That couldn’t be done with the way things were now. Wukong had a successor, a moral compass, a lotta shit that Mac didn’t. A lotta shit that he wanted but never could figure out how to get his own. His face scrunched up a little and he sighed, “I..just wanted to make things right.” “Oh-hoh? After so long you finally decided to admit you were at fault? Sorry Mac, but it’s waaaay too late for that.” Wukong huffed, “Honestly, this is probably just another one of your stupid tricks if anything. The old Macaque would never throw himself down like that.” “Well maybe I’ve changed!” Mac exclaimed suddenly, his temper flaring a bit as his eyes flashed lightning. “3000 years later? As if…” Wukong rolled his eyes and turned away, “You’ve still got that same look in your eyes you always do whenever we fight. Do me a favor and just keep away from the hot springs this time yeah? The last time you were here you sent a whole dam boulder over there and smashed half the pools.” He waved his hand dismissively. “And I happen to take my once a month bath’s very seriously.” Mac’s nostrils flared a little at just how flamboyant Wukong was acting towards him and his attempt to make amends. How he just saw his attempt as a joke and nothing more, it pissed him off. Wukong had changed and everyone had accepted him, well not everyone, but still, why couldn’t the same be for him? Had he really fooled himself into believing that there was a chance he and Wukong could be together again? His shoulders slumped a little. Of course, who was he kidding. A 3000 year old pit of grudges wasn’t about to just up and disappear at the wave of a white flag. This was Wukong, the same guy who still playfully pestered the gods and demons around him for past conflicts that had happened between them. -----------~----------- “But you can’t just go, ‘ooo I’m so sorry for what I did.’ Nah, you gotta follow the five steps.” The chick claimed. “Yeesh, this a learning course now?” Mac tilted his head to the side. “It is if you wanna make things right.” She claimed matter a factly. “The five steps have never failed me before and have worked wonders for any an all my relationships. Might not quite have the same range of effect you’re going for but it’ll at least be a good start.” “Heh, you got the guts to back up that case?” Mac sneered. “I will if you don’t manage to screw it up.” The chick pointed out. “The five steps go as follows.” - express sorrow (I’m sorry) - own guilt (I was wrong) - name specific wrongs (I did X) - name impact (I hurt you) “And finally...” -----------~----------- “What can I do to prove myself to you?” Macaque asked finally. “What can I do to at least make it to where we can..not fight anymore..and just talk?...” Wukong stood there for a long moment, his features unreadable as their silence was muffled by the wind bellowing between them both from being so high up. “You really are serious about this aren’t you?...” Wukong’s head shifted ever so slightly, but not enough to where Mac could get a reading on his emotions. “I’m tired of fighting and waiting and thinking that if enough time passes things’ll go back to the way they were...when they never will. Trying to hurt you isn’t gonna make the old you come back, no matter how many times you beat me down...It’ll never be the same.” Mac admitted finally. A quiet gust settled down between them, before Wukong seemed to let out a dry chuckle and shook his head. “Can’t believe it took me 3000 years to beat the sense into you.” He turned and looked back at the other, where he no longer held a look of seething hate, but more akin to that of the same tired look just as the one Mac wore. Mac felt a sliver of guilt wriggle its way into one of the cracks of his heart and he glanced away, pulling a hand back and scratching his head. “Yeah well...your kid hit me pretty hard last time, enough to knock it in place.” A small smile crept a little onto his face. “Hm~ He’s gettin’ pretty good at hittin’ stuff with that old stick.” Wukong’s eyes glinted a little at the appeal of how proud he was for MK having taken Mac out the way he did. A little over the top and flashy, just like him.” “He’s got a pretty strong master to thank for that…” Mac found himself yearning a little for that same glint to be reflected on his memory the same way as MK’s. Not that he couldn’t see himself holding the same appeal for MK the way Wukong did, kid was strong, just a lil desperate in some of the cracks that shaped his outline. Something Macaque found that was easy enough to take advantage of, and something Wukong held a blind eye to. “Hm.” Wukong’s reply pushed him out of those thoughts for the moment as they shared a brief look between one another. A glimmer of reconsideration flashing between the two before Wukong finally turned his head away to drink in the sunset before them. “One chance.” Mac felt his heart nearly stop at that answer. “I’ll give you one chance, but if you screw this up, don’t even think about showing your face to me again.” Wukong replied, “I mean it this time…” Mac swallowed a little and nodded. Anything, he’d be willing to do anything to gain back what little trust he could from Wukong. “Good...you can start making up for it by apologizing to MK.” Mac blinked and sputtered a little as Wukong turned away and began to make his way back down the mountain. A smile playing on his lips while Macaque groaned to the heavens about his next trial.

[astaroth1357]

Long Distance Longing with the Brothers

Want a little angst and sweetness? I love how this turned out and I think it’s a new favorite for me. I honestly should wait to post it... But I have no patience, I love it too much. Weirdly enough, thank Taylor Swift’s new album for giving me this idea. Go figure. 🤷‍♀️

Warnings: Angst, implied starvation

Intro:

The brothers knew it was going to happen eventually. The year can't last forever, and at some point they were going to have to say goodbye to their human for the break… But that didn't make the situation any easier. Nobody likes being so far from the one they love. It was only a matter of time before our boys are reaching a breaking point...

Lucifer

Lucifer has never really had a reason to not to work before… Like, yeah there are those days where things get stressful and he takes a step back, but actually taking an extended period of time to just... not work? A "vacation" if you will? He’s never had the desire. What would he even do with himself?

Well, for the first time in literal God knows how many centuries, he had an answer for that question. He was going to be with MC.

And that's exactly what he told Diavolo when he finally accepted that missing the MC was negatively affecting his work. 

He wanted a… "vacation."

Diavolo had never once thought Lucifer would ever ask, and to be fair the man never thought he would either, but he's more than happy to give his friend a few days off to visit his dear human.

Whatever brief hit that his pride took by having to admit that he needed a break was more than made up for by finally seeing the MC again. He knew he missed them, painfully aware of that fact, but just the sight of them waiting to meet him outside the portal was enough to nearly take his breath away…

His first vacation was sure to be paradise. 

Mammon 

Oh, the distance was killing this poor boy. Any day where he can’t have the MC on his arm feels worse than when he's on a losing streak…

Speaking of a losing streak, he's been stuck in one for a whole month without his beloved partner in crime with him. Did he lose his lucky charm or was he just too down in the dumps to gamble well? Anyone's guess.

Well he got fucking sick of it. He wanted to see the MC, ASAP. But how would he get to the human world…?

It takes a week but he gets an idea. It took another for it to actually trigger.

Like clockwork one of the witches he's regularly in debt to, one that just happens to be a bad gambler herself, summoned him out to give her a little extra luck. Usually, he'd just kick whatever slot machine she’s parked herself at and be done with it but this time he's got to ask… How long does that summon spell last, eh?

He made a new sort of bargain. She gets to take Goldie out for a spin if she gave him some time in exchange… 24 hours to be exact.

He didn't waste a second after striking the deal because he had a lot of flying to do.

The MC probably didn't expect to hear frantic knocking on their door at the break of dawn, nor to find a beat tired and disheveled Mammon leaning outside it….

But he embraced them for all it's worth anyway. If it meant feeling them in his arms again, he'd trade away the whole world if he had to...

Leviathan 

He… didn’t do so well with the distance. Like at all. He'd mope around the house, constantly bemoaning how unfair things were. Not even his favorite games can give him any joy because those were the games he used to play with MC…

Sneaking in the occasional video call was pretty much the only thing that could make him smile anymore. Just seeing their face felt like getting a cold drink in the middle of a scorching desert… But he wanted more.

Thankfully, the MC themselves gave him a really, really good idea…

For two weeks straight, Levi seemed to get out of whatever funk he was in to help out around the House… Like, really help out. Suck-up levels of help out. It creeped everybody out...

After a time he finally approached Lucifer and made a simple request. There was an anime convention going on in the human world soon and he'd like to attend…

The ulterior motive for this little visit is practically written on the wall, but he'd been acting so damn unnerving for the past two weeks Lucifer just gave him permission to make him stop.

When the MC agreed to meet him on the opening day, they said they'd be dressed up as someone he'd recognize. Frankly, he was expecting Henry or maybe Ruri-chan but he was completely floored to see them waiting for him dressed in a familiar black hoodie with coral-like horns on their head and a carefully crafted serpent's tail behind them.

To this day he still can't decide what made him happier: seeing the love of his life so adoringly dressed as him or finally feeling their body collide with his after they came running to each other outside the convention hall...

In the end it probably doesn't matter because for that whole day alone, he finally felt like he had everything he could of ever wanted right there with him.

Satan 

Satan's not one for idle moping so when he felt that yearning in his chest finally hit a tipping point, he didn't whine. He didn't complain. He got up and did something about it.

Teleportation magic is tricky to master and dangerous to perform even with sufficient skill. One wrong move and you could end up smearing yourself across three different continents…

But like that would stop him.

He pulled out every book he could find on the subject, researched for days, then practiced for weeks. First on books and apples, then on some of Lucifer’s belongings.

He had to keep making new excuses to throw Lucifer off the scent (especially after he started sending some of his shirts away to different parts of the house) but after some time, it finally paid off.

Satan was probably the last person the MC would have expected to see show up in their room randomly one night, sitting casually by a lamp and reading a book like he didn't just master time and space just to come say hi.

But who was going to be all that picky when they could finally shower their nerdy cat-lover in all the love and kisses they've both been missing for months now?

Asmodeus 

If you took Asmo at his word, then the sheer depths of longing and despair he was experiencing while the MC was away could far outweigh that of anyone else to ever have existed in the history of all time.

He was the Avatar of Lust, desire was in his nature. Couple that with a burning need to have his lover as close to him as he possibly could and it was safe to say he was losing his mind!

This might have been the reason Solomon finally gave in after his 16th-ish time trying to beg the sorcerer to help him. He really was quite pitiful in this state...

When Solomon told Asmo that he could smuggle him out of the teleportation gate between the Devildom and human world ONLY if he could magically disguised his appearance, he was kind of expecting Asmo to refuse. This was Asmo he was talking about. He honestly thought that he'd rather die than deprive the world of his beauty so selfishly…

The world is full of surprises, ain't it?

No matter where they were, no matter what they were doing, the MC was suddenly mowed over by a "stranger" running at them at top speed like an Olympic sprinter. It’d probably have been pretty scary before Solomon lifted the enchantment shortly after to reveal their demon’s gorgeously familiar face.

Solomon wasn't going to let him stay too long, lest he incur the wrath of Lucifer, but Asmo couldn't care less. Be it a thousand hours or a few short seconds, he could always find a way to make his time with the MC last a lifetime...

Beelzebub

Fun fact, Hell freezes over a little every time Beel says "I'm not hungry…" No. Seriously. A freezing wind blasts across the entire Devildom like the realm itself gets a sudden chill...

So imagine the levels of panic that went through pretty much everyone there when his appetite started to fail him.

It's not like the poor baby could help it, food just tasted so much better when the MC was there that eating without them was like trying to digest actual disappointment… He got tired of trying after a while.

A few days of this behavior were worrying, but when he started to get a little thinner the family went into an uproar, starting with Belphie but soon spreading to the rest of the House as well.

Lucifer's soft spot for the twins may have influenced his decision. I mean, it was awfully generous of him to get Diavolo to approve of an fully sanctioned, planned meeting between Beel and the MC. He probably wouldn’t have offered that to anyone else...

Not that Beel cared about all that background favoritism anyway. Hell, on the day that he was finally allowed to see them, he couldn't be bothered by anything other than holding the MC close and hoping they'd never let him go again.

His appetite did return to him eventually, of course, but as long as he had his human with him even the cheapest street taco tasted like a fine five star-meal.

Belphegor 

Frankly, Belphegor was sick and tired of missing people.

Ever since the Celestial War he missed Lilith. When he was stuck in the attic, he missed Beel. And now that the MC was away he was supposed to just sit patiently and miss them too? No way. Not happening. Something about that had to change.

It wasn’t the first time he'd gone to Lucifer in an angry huff, but admittedly he had more ammo than usual...

There was a… discussion between the two. It went on for a couple hours… There may have been some words to the effect of, "Don't you think you owe me?" exchanged… 

Honestly, it was kind of amazing Belphie didn't end up in another attic "timeout" by the end of it. But he got what he wanted, so what's to complain about?

With a little persuasion on his part, Lucifer managed to get Diavolo to approve of a weekly visit for the two, SO LONG as Belphie stayed on his best behavior in the human world.

There wasn’t really much worry about him acting up, though, since he'd have his nap buddy back. It would be pretty hard to be a threat to humanity when he was too busy staying snuggled up to his favorite person until well past noon...

[nonbinarychaoticstupid]

fifteen (hugging each other) if you want? (any ship/pairing/anything you feel like) aaaa

:0 skjckiskjdshd i was going to do carulia bc AA but then i fell into the lumity hyperfixation and this was born dksjdjksdjknjf this is the fastest i have ever written for a prompt

ft amity being ridiculously soft and in love and probably a lot of spelling mistakes idk

They drop Willow and Gus at their respective homes before midnight sets in - Amity even helps Gus crawl in through his window, which is nice of her, Luz thinks. She's too sore and tired to do anything except stand behind her, watching the street in case Odalia comes tearing down it on top of another abomination (probably with teeth this time, because who knows what happened after they ran away from the warehouse), gripping her sore arm and thinking about how her heart started pounding in her ears earlier, how she flushed when Amity grabbed her shoulder and hurried her outside and had to stare determinedly at the stars for a good ten minutes before she could look her in the eyes again, how -

"Luz?"

She jumps. It's Amity - of course it's Amity, she's been anxiously hovering around her and mumbling apologies for her parents since they were sure they weren't being followed - and she's holding out her hand and offering her a small, awkward half-smile, and Luz's heart gives a funny little jump, and then a second as she takes it and laces their fingers together.

And then a third, this time for a different reason altogether, when Gus pokes his head out of the window above them and waves.

Amity waves back (She really likes us now, Luz thinks, grinning up at the illusion of Gus's disembodied head propped on his balcony), and when they set off down the street, she feels her own grip tighten ever so slightly around her hand.

She lets out a long breath. Everything is fine. It's a beautiful, silent night, and she's wandering down the prettiest street in Bonesborough and holding Amity's hand, and there's still abomination gunk in her hair, but everything is... fine. Great, actually. And Amity is smiling, which is awesome, because Luz has never seen her smile at anything like that before.

She could get used to it, honestly.

Amity glances at her and smiles again, softer, slower. "You're making your idea face."

Luz blinks, resists the urge to reach up and feel exactly what face she's making. "Oh, am I? I have an idea face? That's pretty cool, actually. Or is it? Because then everyone knows what I'm thinking. Nah, still cool. I have an idea face. Yeah. I'm intimidating and cool. A bad boy, if you will."

She laughs. (Luz's heart does the funny little jumping thing again. She wonders, distantly, if it shows.) "The literal walking definition of a bad boy, you goof."

"Baddest boy in the Boiling Isles. Lesser witches cower before my star power."

Amity laughs again. She has a really nice laugh (like, wow), and it's still making something in her chest feel funny. "Luz the Bad Boy," she says, somewhat giddily.

"Azura the Good Witch and her edgy cousin." She squeezes Amity's hand, swinging their interlaced fingers between them. It's not often they get moments together like this, and she's starting to understand now what it is that's making her heart race and her breathing feel funny, and she thinks, a little distantly, that spending time alone with Amity is going to be - weird now, and - "I'd read that book."

"Please don't tell me the next thing we do is write it."

"Oh, we?" Luz turns to grin at her. "There's a we now?"

And Amity - Amity flushes.

"Yes - I, um - a - a we, sure, I don't - I dunno, uh - we as - as in - um -" She bites the inside of her cheek, glancing away, and Luz's heart does the jumping thing again.

"Wow, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she mumbles, grip loosening on her hand, and she chews on her lip and squeezes it tighter. It probably isn't the best move, but Amity... Amity seems to respond well to it - she squeezes her hand back, and when they round a corner and officially make it out of the main town, Luz notices that they're walking in sync. The realisation makes her smile.

"Amity," she begins, and Amity jumps.

"Hm?"

"Are you gonna go back to your parents tonight? I - I don't think that's really safe. You - you could - uh, you could stay with us, if you want. Just until school tomorrow. King won't sleep on your clothes if I tell him not to, I swear."

She smiles at her over the space between them - the same soft, slow smile that made Luz's heart do the Thing again earlier. "I - thanks for the offer, but I'll probably go to Skara's. She's used to it. Me coming over after an incident, I mean."

"Stuff like that's happened before?" Luz whispers, and she meant it to sound casual, not... tense. "I'm - I'm really sorry, Amity. I'm sorry for pushing you earlier."

Amity shrugs. "You didn't know. It's not like I go around telling people. And it's not - it's not a big deal, anyway."

"Amity, that necklace -"

"Luz," she mumbles, not unkindly. "It's not a big deal. I can handle it. I've got Edric and Emira."

"And your father?"

She shrugs again, slower this time. "He doesn't care. Mom could dangle us over the edge of a cliff and he'd be more concerned with the soil density than, you know, his children."

Luz can't think of anything to say except "I'm sorry." She reaches out with her free hand, touches Amity's shoulder, and she gives her a long, warm look. And they fall silent.

And Amity's head falls gently onto her shoulder.

--

The silence lasts for the majority of the walk home, right up until they make it into the woods, and then Amity lifts her head from Luz's shoulder and murmurs, "It's really pretty out here at night, isn't it?"

Looking over at her and saying yeah, it is would be the obvious and cliché thing to do, and also Amity would notice and probably laugh at her, so Luz stares determinedly again at the sky for the second time tonight and chokes out, "Yup. Really pretty. Love living out here. Especially at night."

Amity giggles, and it's the most undignified and adorable sound she's ever heard come out of her mouth. "You're a dork."

"Biggest dork on the Boiling Isles. Baddest boy around. My list of qualifications just keeps on growing."

She laughs again. And Luz realises that ever since they escaped the warehouse, she's been... relaxed. Not happy, because dealing with a mother like that probably couldn't leave her feeling particularly cheerful, but... open. Softer, warmer. And she thinks it's because of the absence of the necklace.

They stop not far from the Owl House, in the shelter of a large tree she knows, logically, isn't oak, but looks too close to be anything but. Amity's head falls back onto her shoulder again. She makes a soft, contented noise (and the Thing happens again, and she thinks, wow), and mumbles, "You're thinking about the necklace, aren't you?"

"I didn't say anything. That was all you. But yes, I am curious. D'you - d'you want to talk about it?"

A long, almost languid shrug. She reminds Luz of a cat sometimes. "She used it to talk to me. And, uh - and keep me in line, I guess. Threaten me where no-one else could hear it. Where Dad couldn't stop it. Yeah, he did try to stop it sometimes. Mostly because he seems to draw the line at physical injury he can't explain to the authorities." The corners of her mouth twitch up, and Luz has to shake herself.

"That's awful," she breathes, feeling small. "That's horrible, Amity, I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Amity detaches herself from Luz's side, and her hair is messy and sticking to the side of her face and when she steps away and turns to face her she keeps a hold of her hand. "Come on, I'll walk you to the door."

Luz smiles at her.

--

Amity lets go of her hand when they get to the porch. (Luz tries not to visibly frown at the loss of her presence.) She makes it all the way to the door, Amity trailing behind her with an odd, uncertain expression, and then something shifts a little within her ribcage and she spins around and flings herself into her arms, and Amity yelps and stumbles back a little, and then she loops her arms around her shoulders and hugs her back.

Luz likes hugging Amity.

It's such a simple thought, and it makes her feel so strangely delighted. They fit perfectly between each other's arms, and in the half-dark, lit only by the dim, guttering light from the lamps inside the house itself, and she has the feeling that the only reason Hooty isn't directly behind them making some snide comment is because Lilith is inside and entertaining him, thank G0d.

Something like five minutes pass - I've been hugging Amity for five whole minutes, oh my gosh - and then she hears, somewhere to her left, "Uh, Luz?"

"Hm?"

"This is nice."

She settles her head on Amity's shoulder. "It is."

"I think I have to let go now."

"Nooo..." She buries her head in Luz's hoodie, just gently enough to make her heart do the Thing again, and sighs, and Luz laughs.

"You okay there?"

"Don't get a lot of hugs."

"Mm. You can still stay with us tonight if you want." ('Don't get a lot of hugs.')

Amity shakes her head. "I'm good. Thank you, though."

"Thank you for saving my life today. You were awesome. You are awesome. I can't imagine doing anything like that."

"Luz," she says, warmly, softly, "You do it all the time."

And with that, she steps back, lets go of her entirely, and practically skips into the night, leaving Luz to stare after her and wonder why she left so fast, and spend the rest of the night agonising over this weird, warm feeling buzzing away in her chest.

[thatspookyagent]

hey! i was just rewatching ahs coven and was thinking about how right your take on madison montgomery is. you were right and always have been right. honestly this season is so crusty like i have never seen a show be so racist while simultaneously attempting to communicate an anti racist message. in theory the idea of the season sounds great but in practice it's just white feminism. but it was ryan murphy so idk why i expected anything better honestly.

Mmm hmm. And tbh I think the racism doesn't get talked about as much as it should. But on the flip side, I don't think the fandom can handle that conversation either.

Like it used to be my favorite but tbh I don't even recall why. Now I utterly and completely loathe the entire season. Like sure there's racism in other seasons but Coven takes the cake. As a Black viewer, it's so obvious to me that Ryan Murphy didn't include any Black people in his planning or within the writing of the season. He exploited us. Our pain. Our entire community. The whole season is literally capitalization off of Black pain.

And what makes it worse is that there's a r*pe storyline that's handled so badly, it's easily one of the biggest reasons I'd never rewatch that entire season. There's just so much shit in there that makes me fume and I don't want to even deal with it cause I know that Ryan Murphy has already gotten his money in his pocket from it and more.

Once you start to use themes like r*pe and racism for shock factor, in order to capitalize off both, with like zero regard for how very much REAL those two things are, you're already on a slippery slope. I can't speak much personally on the r*pe matter, but just know that it's the reason I never wrote anything remotely smutty for Kyle in general. Also there was a post I made announcing that, and the entire fandom thought that it was an opportunity to like reblog my shit with their opinions on Kyle's trauma via tags and it was easily one of THE worst fandom experiences I ever had but that's a different story.

Now for racism part. It screams written by white people. It screams performative. And it's exploitive. It gives white people a pat on the back for not being racist, meanwhile the entire show, main culprit character being Fiona Goode, is constantly endangering the ONLY Black witch in the entire coven. Also the way the fandom uses "quirky" moments from the show that's racist, for their gifsets and one liners is hella inconsiderate. Madison's racism is never mentioned and is always swept under the rug cause white women will always get away with that kind of shit. There's weird shit with Queen that has zero reason being written and I can't stress this enough, slavery storylines should not be written up by non-Black people, ESPECIALLY white people.

If you intend to write something that shows Black people in pain especially if it's slavery centered, the ONLY folks who should be making that kind of content AND getting money from it is Black people. Our ancestors lived through it. We're still harmed by it's effects till this day. The ONLY people who truly have the right to write about and receive money from said topics, are Black people. Is this my opinion? Yes. Is this my opinion as a BLACK individual? Yes.

Also a hill I will most easily die on is that Queenie did NOT have to be the witch to die at the end of Hotel. Ryan exploited her and knew damn well that he didn't have to try to tie his seasons to Coven and Apocalypse THAT badly. If you're gonna end up just bringing the witch back to life, why is literally any other witch not an option? They just wanted to force Queenie to interact with Madison's racist ass again. Also might I add, my very first time seeing Madison was in Apocalypse (I watched the seasons out of order, sue me) and deadass my first impression of her is hearing her racist ass comment about how magic from African diasporic religions is backwards. Like as a Black viewer, you can imagine I didn't take that very well.

Btw Queenie's death also gave JPM, a white character, an opportunity for "mild redemption" points just cause he felt bad for killing her. Like when has the mofo really ever felt bad about killing someone tbh? Hell when Elizabeth bit the dust, he put her head on display and rejoiced cause it meant that she had to deal with him for all of eternity. So JPM feeling all remorseful for killing Queenie is something I've reformed my opinion on and consider it to be yet another opportunity that gives white characters props for treating Black characters with like bare minimum compassion.

As for the magic, the word you're probably looking for is African diaspora religion. Which the show has this whole scene with Fiona and Marie Laveau were Fiona is trying to get magic from Marie meanwhile she's degrading it at the same time. Which is a scene I'll admit I did like, mainly because Marie points out how white people will want stuff from Black folks for their own personal gain but then they'll spit at us at the same time. Also I believe she points out how white people often steal from us (the Black community) which is the reason why what we have comes off as "similar" cause white people basically take shit and like slap a new name on it and call it theirs as well as new and improved.

And to note, I'll never forgive Ryan for shooting up the Black witches. Literally wtf. The shooter was white and he also hurt Queenie in the process. Also when Marie offers Queenie a spot in her coven, she makes a really good point that the show just throws away. About how she needs to stick to her own people and folks who know her struggle. Something I couldn't agree more because the white witches show time and time again that they genuinely don't care about her despite advertising themselves that way.

As for Tate, him being excused a lot within the fandom ties into how white characters are never held accountable for their actions and will be fawned over till the day the show is dead and gone. Am I saying all Tate fans think this way? No. But a hella good chunk of them do and like utterly refuse to criticize him cause they just see uwu skinny attractive young white teen boy! <3 (also a LOT of Tate apologists will use Ben Harmon as a scapegoat to avoid criticism, which is an essay I'm willing to write for anyone who wants it!) knowing damn well that if Tate wasn't played by a white man, he'd be getting demonized to hell and back, primarily by white fans themselves (which creates an Alma situation but I won't get into that in this post lmao.)

So with that being said there's not much I'll really go deeply into. I probably already have and I have considered making a series of posts that dissect the racism in AHS. But that does take considerable time and effort and I doubt the fandom would look twice at it considering just how not only little the racism in the show is brought up but how's it's perceived by the fandom (considered ballsy and edgy which racism IS NOT.) (Also your point about the song is interesting and weird and probably yet another way of capitalizing of minorities once again.) Anyway I'm open to further questions/analysis about this, just be mature about it y'all! :) 👍🏾

[vaguely-concerned]

X-men Evolution; the great 2021 rewatch liveblog

exactly what it says on the tin, about halfway through the show I had TOO MANY FEELINGS and had to start writing some of them out haha (gets quite gambit & rogue/gambit heavy in the latter half, Because of Who I Am as a Person)

- this is my childhood’s x-men, my formative experience with them, and I’m happy to report that still seems like a good thing. the little eleven year old within me gets to geek out and have a good time with the characters and the surprisingly good animation and writing, adult me gets to CACKLE at regular intervals at the fashion/technology/absolute bonkers hot garbage comic book nonsense they use to justify a storyline every now and then, it’s been a good time 

- I was like ‘ah well it is super dated it probably won’t be quite the same now’ and then rogue’s HAIR did the THING in the opening and ‘it’s all coming back to me now’ started playing in the background... the little baby queer in me swooning across time and space

- such a good beast, both his design and the writing, my heart aches for him all the time. he’s just so passionate! about being a teacher! helping young humans learn the stuff they’ll need in life! the most wonderful nerd man, just let good things happen for him

- I’m going to go ahead and assume that rogue’s ‘crush’ on scott is more of a deeply complex psychological process about desiring normalcy and intimacy and trying to figure out if she’s queer and dealing with her emerging sexuality and latching on to the first and best safely unavailable and nonthreatening older boy to project these issues onto rather than actually being a real thing, because I respect her so much as a person and I cannot bring myself to imagine she’s honestly attracted to a man who has POSTERS OF CARS on his bedroom wall. (I’ll give jean a break just because she seems to have a longer deeper history with him that might counteract some of that libido-kill, and also she’s a jock so lol)

like I am very sorry but can u imagine being a teenage girl with any interest in a boy with model cars in his bedroom when gambit’s swanning around being a much, much, much worse choice on almost every possible level but in a teen girl kryptonite kind of way? inconceivable  

(I drag scott quite a few times in this and it’s not because I don’t love him, it’s just his tragedy to be the most draggable man in the world)

to be fair by the time gambit shows up that whole Situation has mostly played itself out I suppose but still  

- toad’s design is so ineffably brilliant, I can’t quite tell you why but that ugly cute charm has really stuck with me, he’s one of the characters I remembered the best to this day just visually

- poor evan... he truly never had a chance, did he, they just saddled him with the most 90s teen bullshit they could come up with like he’s some kind of ‘what adult writers think teens like’ frankenstein’s monster ;______; it’s not your fault honey

- poor poor POOR storm, she gets one focus episode and they were like ‘we’re going to make an episode so racist -- ‘

I’m still STUNNED at how bad it was, but undeniably I laughed hysterically to the point that my neighbours were probably worried when that dude was earnestly like ‘He [stunningly breathlessly racist caricature of a ‘witch doctor’ guy] has stolen her powers, and he’s going to use them to take over Africa!!!’ fhajsdlfhsakjldfh oh really? tell me more, like how the fUCK this could be on television within my life time fasdlfhsdkjfhsad f  just... fahjksdfh

- it’s a testament to gambit’s appeal as a character that his charm can survive what they’ve done with his hair and beard choices in this one fajskfhs regrettable but true I still fuckn LOVE him and in my highly biased yet Correct opinion he should have been around much more. get you a man who manages to stay hot through sheer Vibes even with a bowl cut

- aw scott/jean is kind of sweet in this show even if it’s taking them forEVER to get there, I like it 

- it’s very nice of rogue to not mention magneto’s romantic daydreams and nostalgic memories about charles xavier after touching his face that one time... or maybe her brain did her a service and repressed it, there’s some stuff you shouldn’t have to know about your father figure   

- the danger room is the very definition of ‘why do we even have that lever’ and I wonder what the fuck prof x does to have enough money to replace everything that gets busted all the time

- I’d say that a lot of the writing holds up surprisingly well! (but some of it is also incredibly inexcusably racist in ways that beggar belief, so... not full marks here) the characters have distinct voices and their arcs are set up and delivered on solidly for the most part, and there’s a lot of love showing through in small moments that are just there to have a funny/interesting thing to say about the characters and how their powers work separately and in combination. listen, sometimes I get so thirsty for like. basic goddamn competency in storytelling, let me have this

- ugggggh why is there captain america in my x-men have I not suffered enough... very very funny when prof x goes ‘sounds like you knew rogers personally’ and logan is like ‘I did ;)’ *all the students ganging up on steve rogers* “did you fuck our teacher, captain america?!”

- fskadfhas WHY are you showing me hot young-ified magneto’s ass fksjahfskj charles is not even here to see it, what a tragic waste erik 

- ...I was sort of kidding before but uh I think logan genuinely did fuck captain america (or at least wishes very much that he did lol)

- wanda can have a little watching the world burn. as a treat for the way every single adult in her life has fucking failed her (’aren’t they treating you well here’ professor x she’s in a straightjacket)  

- poor rogue tho can you imagine finding out after your biggest crush on a girl yet that she’s your fucking MOM in disguise... I would break out in cold sweat every time I thought about a boob forever after

- well seems like they really just had all that homoerotic rivalry stuff between quicksilver and spyke in their first ep only to never do anything with that again ever?? I mean even without the gay undertone that seems like a dynamic you spent most of an episode setting up writers what the hell haha

- dslhfkasjlh GAMBIT THERE HE IS MY BOY IS ON THE SCENE THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! I don’t even care about his awful hair situation or the fact that his eyes are wrong here (coloured contact lenses, maybe, for a watsonian explanation? though he’d probably have to get them made special, considering he needs the sclera and the iris covered up in different ways, I’ve seen some comic panels indicating he has been known to?)

(cute little detail: when he shuffles the cards the first time we see him he ends with removing the top card to show the ace of hearts beneath <3 foreshadowing baBEY he’s a... good-ish boy deep down. hey he tries okay shit gets complicated sometimes lol) 

- cracking UP at gambit perched cheerily on the edge of a crate dispensing cards in the middle of the battle... he’s like ‘eh it’s a livin’ sfsajkhf remy stop working for supervillains just because you had nothing to do on a thursday afternoon and they said they’d pay you

- I’m guessing magneto must have imposed a strict order of silence on these guys or something because I cannot imagine any other reason for him to shut up, especially once he notices rogue is a QTE (or, far more likely, they hadn’t settled on any voice actors for the new characters until next season haha. it is kind of odd that they’re all keeping up near monastic silence, though, even sabertooth lol) 

- WHAT an epic first meeting for us rogue/gambit fans here... first his shadow like there’s fireworks going off behind him lighting him up and then he gives her the fuckn king of hearts and she’s so enchanted by his dumb handsome face she doesn’t even notice it’s about to blow up in her hands and it all happens in heavily meaningful silence afjsdfjashjk no wonder this ship ingrained itself in my hindbrain  

yeah look smug while you can remy she’s gonna have you on your knees one day and you’ll be happy about it lol

- god storm is so COOL, everything just fading out of focus when she really gets going... give her more screen time, show!!

- mystique is every person... this person... that person... that bird... that cat... that wolf... I’m not even sure she’s not also me... are you sure she’s not you? 

- holy fuck I respect the hell out of the decision to just... blow up the entire status quo in a season ender, I only vaguely remembered that (actually in general I appreciate how good the continuity is -- buildings and places that get damaged in battles need to be repaired or rebuilt, it makes the consequences feel more real even when no one gets seriously hurt. where they get the money to restore scott’s car and logan’s motorbikes every time they go cablooie is still an open question tho lol is it credit card fraud, professor? is it telepathically acquired blackmail???) 

- I first watched this when I was nine or so, so it’s a real experience to go from my starry eyed intrigued ‘oh my god... they’re teenagers’ to my horrified adult perspective of ‘oh my god... they’re TEENAGERS D:’

that goes double for the brotherhood boys honestly, I’m here with tears in my eyes like ‘I’m sorry the system has failed you so badly you’re all just a bunch of dumb kids whose caretakers clearly fucked up spectacularly’  

like lance is always waiting for mystique to come back because she’s the closest thing he has to a safe parental figure, may we speak about how crushingly depressing that is 

- rogue is so ready to throw hands at literally any moment and for that I love and treasure her immensely (I think getting to see her be so surly and unreasonable and sometimes difficult and jealous, like any teenager, meant a lot to me as a kid who was not really allowed to be any of these things, this version of the character has stayed with me so deeply. she holds on so fiercely to her right to feel what she feels and be what she is even when it’s ‘ugly’ or unreasonable, which I think plays in really interestingly with how her powers involve getting invaded by other people’s thoughts and memories to the point of overwhelming her own sense of self and the fact that she clearly has a lot of self-loathing and self-consciousness and confusion about her identity as well. I love her so much)  

- oooof this is the ‘the gang experience a microaggression’ episode huh (well more like macroagressions really)

hits a bit different with adult eyes and perspective huh

- hearing jean sound almost like a child when she says ‘that’s so unfair!’ somehow has me like ;______; -- she has to be so adult and responsible all the time, and having her be reduced to the kid she still is and should get to be in front of this awful awful man she could squash like a bug with the flick of a thought... ugh I’m Big Sad (it is funny that jean seemingly plays Every Sport tho djfhaskj)

- MY BOY IS BACK!!! this time with the duster coat and his eyes the right colour, im so happy (too bad about the subdued colour scheme tho; I adore his dumb bright pink getup with my whole heart)

it’s kind of adorable that he takes the time to take the bullies aside and go ‘I know these guys can’t wreck you without getting expelled, but I think you’ll find no law set down by god or man would stop me from doing so whenever I wanted to. so piss off and leave them alone’ lol he’s looking out for them, in his own way

- in this episode: remy lebeau wrangles some kids while looking bored yet mildly amused the whole time. what the fuck does magneto have on you for you to agree to this level of babysitting duty buddy

- fun detail I noticed b/c when I get a fave I hyperfixate: he gave rogue the king of hearts before, but he ‘introduces’ himself to the brotherhood here (lol) with the jack of hearts, probably to symbolize he’s here as someone who works for magneto in this setting and not as his own man? it’s a demotion he’s given himself there, anyway, might be he’s not very pleased about his current position huh 

- I like it when rogue and kitty team up, they’re not very effective together but their squabbling is so cute and non-aggressive 

- pietro is what draco malfoy would be if I ever found malfoy interesting to watch for even one moment, every time quicksilver talks I’m like ‘what wonderfully insufferable thing is going to come out of your mouth this time you little shit :’)’

- a) why are scott and logan shirtless for this scene? I am not complaining on the logan side of things at least but why and b) I laughed so hard I almost fell off my couch when scott asked logan if he’d ever been in love and he was like ‘once. she was the most beautiful bike I ever saw’ falsdfhaskjfhsakjlfhasklhjfd THE BEST VERSION OF WOLVERINE EVER, ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES 

- mystique’s sheer dedication to being a petty bitch is kind of inspirational tbh, almost makes me want to go on a completely bonkers and extra crusade of personal revenge myself  

- oooh they’re doing some genuinely cool things with vision/lack of vision in this one (it’s the scott left on his own in the desert without glasses one btw) even visually, dang! I’m so sad this show didn’t get more seasons than it did, honestly, it deserved it

- hell yeah jean wreck her, go get your man with the suspiciously specific clothing damage normally done to female characters 

awww :’) okay yeah they’re super sweet, I love the tiny loving animation details like how he leans his head against her and her stroking his hair away from his eyes

- nooo don’t bully evan leave my t0tally r4dical sk8er boy alone :(

- I love the running joke of people fleeing in blind panic only to reveal that what they’re running from is kitty’s cheerful well meaning little face fskfaskh 

- scott and jean are already peak married after officially being together for one episode and it’s adorable, and they just stone cold threw logan under the bus, rip wolverine we hardly knew ya

fjasdlfasldfhslajdkfhsadkjlfhsdkjalfhsdakfh h jean establishing herself as the alphabitch of this relationship by throwing her man to the wolves right after dsjfhaskjfhaskjhfsakjdhfaskjhfaskdhfskjahfskdajhf get smarter or get volunteered scott 

- ...eyepatch lady is so hot ngl

oh evan went to the place hank used to go to calm down ;________; (honestly he’s kind of won a place in my heart just by being a pretty normal teenage boy haha)

- jesus fucking CHRIST can you imagine being storm having to look her sister in the eye as she tells her ‘I lost your only child, he’s *vague gesture* somewhere in the sewers we think’ this poor woman

- amanda the self admitted monster fucker you are so VALID (I love her and her family’s design so much tho!)

- it’s so cool that even in his human ‘disguise’ kurt’s fingers follow the shape of his actual hand beneath it rather than moving like a five fingered hand, it’s such a lovingly consistent little detail 

- magneto and mystique in a breathless race to see who can be the shittiest parent... tune in next week for yet another parental nadir (also some low-poly gambit appearances in this one, for those at home keeping score (me), he’s in the background looking like someone drew him with their eyes closed fakjldfhasd look how they massacred my boy)

- someone please teach the brotherhood boys about consent huh

- jean ‘soccer mom before her time’ grey and her SUV dfhakjlhds :’)

- im sobbing rogue baby girl i’m so sorryyyyyy, this voice actress is so good, my parental instincts suddenly kicked into overdrive hearing the crack in her voice :( (bb me was right tho rogue centric episodes ARE the best episodes. that tension between ‘do I identify witn this character or am I crushing on her?? both???’ now has the fun new addition of ‘oh god oh no you are a baby I want to shield you with my body from everything trying to hurt you’)

- mystique is like ‘so you see despite you telling me you never wanted to see me again I completely disrespected that and posed as a friend your age, manipulated you by offering you the mirage of direly needed emotional intimacy and belonging and added some sprinkles of homoerotic tension to it just to massively worsen your already existing grievous psychosexual trauma and identity issues... out of love’

god go jump in a black hole you fucking monster 

- there’s some very interesting and quite subtle subtext about the people she’s morphing into and what that says about her mental state/how it shows off some of her emotional baggage with the rest of the team. it’s like she’s switching between people/powers that fit the purpose as if she’s going through cycles of fight/flight (and then bursts of freeze where she’s herself, which is... so sad)

- this whole episode is hurting my heart but rogue at full power is undeniably epic  

 - ‘professor x get your goddamn act together and get this poor girl some fucking tHERAPY’ challenge

- SAFE PAPA LOGAN ;_____;

- EYYYYYY opening straight on My Lad, I cannot stop winning!!!!! 

fasdfhsad disintegrating the window with a smiley face... remy I do love you more than my heart can bear honestly, hello may we speak about the fact that his urge to be a little shit is so deep and strong it survives mind control (that little breathed out ‘hiah!’ as he vaults the fence too dsakfjsd)

hahaha and he does up the coat fhsalfdsaj 

- magneto dismissing other telepaths like ‘puh-lease, your Meaningful Looks have got nothing on my ex-husband’s’ 

- :’) rogue and kurt sibling timeees

- say what you want but this pyro guy’s got job satisfaction in being a creepy arsonist with a weird recurring horse theme (well at least twice but still weird)

- I love how beast is the kindest man to ever walk the earth but also straight up savage, this man drags people so hard their ancestors wince in their graves

- gambit taking the time to complete the guard’s game of solitaire -- this episode is giving me everything I want. u little disgrace mr lebeau

and THEN he takes the spider out in the most hilariously bonkers way my heart is so FULL

(I love that when magneto moves by he looks startled and has to quickly move his head out of the way to avoid getting kicked in the temple too that’s a fun detail)

I’m so INTO how this sequence shows off that his greatest strength isn’t even his powers (which are pretty straightforward, really, he makes go boom, longer time and bigger thing bigger boom) but that he’s clever and creative and always extremely ready to be the most harebrained-bananapants-extra-in-a-deceptively-laidback-sort-of-way person in the room (I actually have some genuinely Deep Thoughts about how his whole character does a really interesting thing with having the straightforwardly destructive nature of his powers yield to what his nature as a person is, and how using the playing cards play (heh) into it, maybe I’ll write it out some day. just the fact that he could use anything, but he deliberately chose something that adds style and playfulness and corny charm to it and that also limits the damage of the explosions compared to if he habitually used something with more mass... I find it fascinating how much he’s made a story around himself with it and how deeply it shows he does have a good heart, at the end of the day, in almost a metatextual way. he doesn’t want to destroy things or people, he’s at worst (and best lol) a thief.)

- I honestly have literally no memory of white nick fury (which seems so weird now isn’t it funny) in this series from when I was a kid, he clearly did not make an impression on me lol

- mr wolverine ‘assigned canadian at birth’ x-men 

- oh man I dig the androgynity of x-23′s outfit (even tho they had to compensate with the long hair, which... kind of doesn’t make sense in-universe but does on a design level because it’s a crucial thing that she’s a female clone of logan so yeah okay fine whatever have your arbitrary gender markers if you must haha)

ooooooh that’s actually really clever, they make her gender gradually more obvious as she unravels through the episode and her outfit changes -- first the mask coming off, and then her jacket opening to show her silhouette more clearly, that’s cool!  

- my god what really sets this show apart is how much it invests in little character and relationship moments, it’s just so fucking GOOD! it gives laura looking in on those moments such depth and weight because it’s new to her but established to us as an audience, this is how you make found family devastating people (storm growing bonsai trees is so charming too haha) 

- ooof this is honestly quite harrowing 

SHE’S SO SMALL COMPARED TO HIM I’M CRYING (at least that part of his genes translated over faslkfsjdh short king, I say this with all the love and support of a fellow short monarch)  

- tabitha seems to just be running around doing precisely whatever the fuck she wants and you know what I support her even if she is an asshole her father left her a bunch of trauma and no fucks left to give 

- still thrilled about professor x explaining the spider key fuckup to magneto after the fact like ‘magnus you dumb bitch this is why we split up’ 

- awww kitty has anime and movie posters on her wall and sleeps with a stuffed toy :’)

-          remy                           rogue

                              🤝

doing completely unnecessary parkour around the brotherhood living room seemingly just for the hell of it... I’m not saying soulmates but fucking soulmates 

- fhsadkjlfhsakjldfhsadjkfhsdajkfh just as gambit’s soul-level need to be a little shit survived his bout of mind control, rogue’s deep and urgent desire to kiss gambit full on the mouth survived hers I can’t breathe

she looks so pleased with herself too GOOD FOR YOU GIRL at least get something out of this other than more trauma 

also not only the fact that he’s smart enough to figure out what’s going on (though he’s only partially right about who’s behind it. I do so enjoy gambit/mystique deep and sincere antipathy as a constant across all universes tho lmao pure wlw/mlm hostility) but also that he keeps fending her off like he’s not trying to hurt her even though she’s in nigh on unstoppable and invulnerable terminator mode... awww 

- gambit having absolutely no patience for wolverine and sabertooth’s bullshit macho-off and consistently being this little biker trio’s one brain cell is adding years to my life with every passing moment

his voice is a little different in these scenes too, a bit softer and less like he’s trying to impress someone, it’s nice

- hank: well I barely recognize any of these (completely made up) ‘ancient egyptian hieroglyphs’ but from what I can make out -- *proceeds to infodump a perfect coherent narrative* fjdhfak  

listen this whole thing is such nonsense on so many levels, I’m just turning my brain off so I won’t have to think about it okay, the compulsion to put ancient aliens in egypt haunts us as a culture 

- I am CACKLING about gambit in the snow after having to listen to these two chucklefucks ooze testosterone at each other for hours

he started out taking it in good cheer and is now reduced to ‘dieu would both of you just jump off this fUCKING mountain please’

- ah. a little oops-a-daisy there, we seem to have unleashed the apocalypse. please stand by (they really don’t pull their punches with the season cliffhangers in this show haha)

- opening the season on gambit’s merrily grinning face is the easiest way to gain my favour. yes good this season may commence 

baby u r my

 ANGELLLLLLLL

(he’s so cute here tho haha I think it shows the design isn’t unsalvagable, just get him better hair and stubble more like logan has and you’ve basically got it) 

love his exasperated eyeroll when the dude gets spooked (by his eyes? or just the general weirdness?) too

he’s just trying to keep this crazy family of evil mutants together and unmurdered by one another until they’ve managed to avert the end of the world, bless him  

- oh NO rogue’s LIP wobbles my hhhhhheart ;____; such a good animation detail to put in

- like... I know kurt is just a sad scared teenager with a lot of shit going on and all the adults are too busy averting the end of the world to help him... but buddy maybe don’t ask your sister to wake her abuser (who forced her to kickstart the end of the world!!!!!) when she feels utterly unsafe even with her statue version around huh

- ...wanda is good and I want only good things for her. and for her dad to be disemboweled for what he did to her both the first time around and when he forced her to forget I mean what 

- magneto throwing an epic satelite-slinging tantrum b/c ‘no I am the biggest sexiest strongest mutant of the pack :(’... erik fucking get over yourself 

- yes boys absolutely go along with a plan suggested by a dude who looks at you like this 

nothing bad can come of this surely asdfkhsa

- lance’s quarter of a braincell always trying to go ‘hey wait, maybe... not do this???’ and it never helps lol

- in this episode: Logan Has A Bad Day 

...some very specific bondage positions he’s held in here, I am sure this episode awakened something in someone once upon a time lol 

- logan shielding x-23 with his body... im fine it’s okay I’m not crying don’t look at me

- afsdhlsdfjasdlk those sure are some ‘scottish’ accents flsadkjhkdsjahfsd

- scott relieved to finally be able to cede the position of ‘charles xavier’s least favourite son’ to someone else fjsaklfhsajd (poor scott it’s not your fault honey)

supremely cowardly to suggest there is an ex-wife involved rather than charles slutting his way around the british isles back in the day but okay

- kurt with a cold is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. it’s okay kid it’ll get better soon

- ...is there an implication here that professor x is naturally blond. because I am losing my entire little mind about it (i mean he at least has to carry the gene, as does this lady?)

ETA: upon doing some research into this I can indeed confirm that charles xavier does seem to be naturally blond, and after this knowledge I will never be the same 

- “listen, dracula” fskdafghasd oh scott you sweet baby angel I love you

- I know jean’s abilities are a bit ‘as strong or as weak as the plot needs right now’ at this point (so you can have the setup for what’s going to happen with them eventually and she’s basically invincible ;____;), and normally I’m cool with it but god I want her to just squash lucas like a little bug

- ewwwww please don’t ever say ‘daddy’ like that again

- ...what the fuck is even going on this episode’s a mess 

like okay the split personality thing could be something but the way it’s done... what just happened lol

- MY BOY EVAN IS BACK! with a real glowup too (...though kind of weird how he suddenly looks like a grown man)

- augh scott’s eyes are so pretty oh my god ;__________________________;

- that episode in the first season where evan makes the ‘this is my new family!!’ video is so sad now (also, again, his poor poor parents) 

- time for: life affirming road trip with gambit (involuntary) faskljdfhaskjd

stunt therapist remy lebeau 

- I mean the way he goes about it is batshit insane and it’s very much secondary to what he’s actually up to but this is the first time rogue’s sounded genuinely hopeful and confident and like herself in like a season <3 

- he is disconcertingly pleased about her nearly throwing him off the train, and may I just say I agree it’s so nice to see rogue with her old fire back 

- the first time I watched this it was of course dubbed into norwegian, so I had no idea either of these characters were southern lol (though to be fair I probably wouldn’t have had much context for what it meant exactly either, I was like ten at the time and not too interested in america) I seem to dimly remember the norwegian voice actor did a little more of a ‘french’-tinged accent for gambit all over tho haha  

- you know what respect where it’s due, pyro dude knows to live his life for the lols and one has to admire his sociopathic dedication to it

interesting that he, too, seems to have fucking hated magneto -- I wonder if the implication here is that he kept all the acolytes in line with blackmail or by keeping something/one hostage? (except sabertooth maybe he’d just have to say ‘you get to fuck shit up and fight wolverine’ and that’d be enough)

- fsdakfhsd he’s so focused on her he doesn’t notice that guy about to hit him fkafhsa 

- fuck everything else except whatever the hell these two’ve got going on

- it’s weirdly cathartic to have rogue have a conversation with someone who was not happily adopted as well, I don’t think kurt like. gets it because his parents loved him unconditionally and still do 

birds of a feather motherfucker  

- fun detail: when the x-men team are on the shore and logan is sniffing around scott is stepping in something and trying to wipe it off his boots in the background

- when he wakes up after passing out from the touch he’s smiling even though she’s standing over him looking like the rage of god outlined by the moon fsajfsa well the last time he passed out like that it was from a kiss, maybe he still has some hopes and dreams in that direction lol (also he recovers from the tumble down the hill first and is checking on her before accidentally brushing her cheek with his hand, which I thought was sweet) 

and it was in that moment he knew he fucked up *passes out*

- ‘I can explain’ can u remy. can u  

- did it ever even occur to you to just. ask her. to help you. I mean I know it didn’t but like rogue’s always one second away from throwing hands with some bully and is stupidly ride or die, if you’d given her the puppydog eyes she would have crumbled immediately (fair enough I guess this entire episode is telling us he’s not from a background where he has much experience with people just helping him without a price haha) 

- his eyes glowing when he’s angry or upset or using a lot of his power is undeniably cool as all hell. I’m just saying it would be Big Sexy if they sort of flickered with light in moments of genuine vulnerability okay  

- his coat... his coat is what makes the Silhouette tm and I could not be happier about it 

- another parent of the year contestant enters the running lol “hey remy have you ever considered that you’re more of a walking bomb factory than a person? that’s certainly how I think of you hahaha c’mon kid let’s go” 

- the running joke of jean luc getting dollar signs in his eyes seeing the other mutant powers and gambit being like ‘nO!!!!’ and pulling him along is amazing haha

- from the way he looks when he touches rogue accidentally and the way he talks to his dad I’m sort of getting the feeling this gambit might actually be a bit younger than he looks?

here too -- idk why but it’s making the ‘wait is he baby???’ alarms go off in my head haha. very early twenties at most. 

- and we’ve officially seen him with all the face cards in the heart suit folks! (yes this is the sort of thing my brain notices no I don’t know either)

- poor logan running his ass off this whole episode in a panic and then she’s like ‘nah he’s fine (in several meanings of the word ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ) please put him down’ hfaskfsda

- rogue without makeup!!! her eyes look so naked like this haha <3

- oooh here’s a really interesting thing that tickles my brain a bit in this specific part of the scene where gambit frees his dad -- the part where he’s leaning against the door frame waiting for jean luc, who’s about to suggest using the opportunity to ruin the rival gang from the inside rather than slipping away while they still can

from his expression here he knows what’s about to happen, what jean luc is about to say, and it’s clearly a ‘man who thought he’d lost all hope loses last additional bit of hope he didn’t even know he still had’ sort of situation. he KNOWS what jean luc is like, and it still hurts that he really, honestly can’t give him even this, can’t appreciate that remy’s already done all this shit for him when he extremely didn’t have to, without immediately (no really, it took him less than ten seconds to go there? jesus) demanding more.  

remy tells him “I’m just here for you” and jean luc does not understand it. remy seems to be sincere in this motivation -- rogue certainly thinks so, having experienced it second hand and found enough at least emotional merit in it to decide he was worth saving even after all his bullshit (lol a bit of a running theme maybe. I think it’s very telling that after she absorbed mystique she was like ‘what the FUCK you’re a fucking monster’, and after she absorbed gambit she went ‘you did the wrong thing for the right reasons’ after she got over the first wave of outrage) 

there’s also what he says as he stands there: “You don’t need me for that”, with the distinct implication that jean luc would only keep him around because he has a use for him and for no other reason -- and then jean luc shamelessly doubles down on that by specifying that it’s not even him he’s got a use for as such, just his powers. that’s some kicking puppies level of deliberately missing the point, it’s almost impressive in how cheerfully mean it is haha

this idea of using people is really important in this episode because remy’s doing basically exactly the same thing to rogue to begin with; it doesn’t really matter to his plan that it’s her that’s with him through this, just what her powers are. (I think it’s  p r e t t y  solidly implied that he does actually like her a lot outside of that too and maybe there is some comfort in having her around for this, but mostly he’s behind a smokescreen of lies through the whole thing sooo I doubt he’s even aware of it, honestly)     

but then it does matter that it’s her when she comes back for him, even after what he did. and unlike jean luc he understands what that means, that she did that for him, and that she didn’t have to. and instead of asking her for more, in return he gives her the thing it’s been established is what he considers the most valuable thing he has; his ‘last card’, the thing he’s credited with keeping him alive many a time, basically. it’s gone from using to mutuality, a tentative place of friendship, and at the end of the day he is a different man than his adoptive father, with a capacity for selflessness and love he lacks. which is of course some of the same stuff going on with rogue and mystique too, except rogue acted from a more fragile and unstable place and did something she regrets, or at least has a LOT of doubts about now, and she found some catharsis in helping someone make a different choice in a similar situation. man there’s some Stuff going on under the surface here haha

(by the way it’s a weirdly... meaningless yet intensely meaningful thing, the gifting of a symbol? of an idea? but he’s putting something very crucial of himself into her hands, is the subtext, and he expects her to understand, which she also does seem to do. at the beginning of the episode he’s proving that he’s seen something true about her -- “You’re such an unhappy girl”, knowing where she comes from, the way she’s mourning her lost confidence and autonomy with her abilities -- and here she’s proving she’s seen something true about him. :’) I wish this show had gone on long enough for this dynamic to progress, it’s really interesting and touching)   

- gambit dragging himself up onto dry land seeing someone approaching (to help?!): :D

gambit seeing that it’s logan and the look on his face: D: 

- rogue using her powers so confidently and fearlessly in this episode tho!!!! 

- *me crying* and then her FAMBILY comes to take her home and he says he’s looking out for her too and kurt still loves her even though they’re having a conflict thing between them and she’s finally able to use her powers without so much fear again and --

- ...did I just watch some baby lesbian love at first sight shit right now???  

- okay last two episodes let’s go

- HELL YEAH STORM (I love that she’s like ‘don’t give me a dumb order like that and I won’t have to disobey it’ too sdfjsaj) her voice has such command I’m usually very much not the ‘step on me’ type butttt

- y’know I feel like apocalypse’s main fault across all versions I’ve seen of him is that he’s like an immortal superpowered god king and he’s not even sexy. like at least make him hot if he’s going to be insufferable in every other way 

- also callout post for apocalypse: one time he made gambit into the Horseman of Death... and didn’t even make him sexy!!! you were handed remy lebeau, supreme bi disaster slut of the x men universe, and you couldn’t even make his brainwashed superpowered evil side hot?? a beautiful stubbled twunk with glowing red eyes and extremely charming :> face practically delivers himself into your hands and you do that to him???? I mean I’m sure apocalypse did some other bad stuff too but that was the worst one

(comics are so dumb y’all) 

- having to watch jean cry is emotional terrorism!! ;___; she has such older sister/mom energy, whenever she gets sad and helpless it hurts 

- oh, OH so PROFESSOR X you’ll make into a hunk and ~*strategically*~ rip his clothes to show off a nipple and a flawless pec in a way that makes me extremely uncomfortable because he’s like The Dad??? apocalypse you are rotten to the core this is unforgivable 

- so wait wanda never actually gets her real memories back. what the FuCk I hope that was a dropped storyline because they ended the show tragically prematurely rather than like. the plan

- why is spyke calling storm ‘storm’ show that’s his auntie o!! >:(

- as a society we need to acknowledge that apocalypse looks like a fucking clown

- ooooh yeah I have been thinking that this show’s greatest visual weakness so far has been not having a visual way to show telepathy/battles of the minds, but this is a pretty cool way to do it! better late than never

- I’m so happy rogue gets to end this herself, since she was forced into starting it against her will, it’s just nice and neat storytelling

- YEAH FUCKING TELL HER KURT AND ROGUE I AM SO PROUD OF YOU and she has the temerity to look pissed off oh my god

the only valid thing mystique has done in her entire life is be in love with destiny. literally everything else she gets up to is a travesty. like I know objectively she’s hot but my loathing for her stops me from even appreciating it. I do enjoy loathing her tho so please don’t change her haha

(a bit odd to have kurt’s attitude to her swing so much but I’m just going to assume he and rogue had a good long conversation after ‘cajun spice’ and that he understands what’s going on better now)

- this last part is such a cruel tease faskdfhsdaj ‘here are all the cool-ass things we had planned. sucks you never get to see it huh’ im devastated 

- magneto without his helmet and playing charmingly with children like charles is going ‘well at least I saved my marriage finally’ fsadkhfjsd (honestly tho I would be super interested in seeing how they’d redeem this magneto because he’s been a real bitch the whole time lol) 

there’s an interesting thing here where magneto looks down at wanda as the last thing he does on screen before this epilogue part (yeah I hope it fucking haunts you forever what you did to her erik you absolute piece of hot garbage) and the last thing charles does is look at jean b/c he knows what’s going to happen to her and it breaks his heart... Dramatic Parallells  

- just the hint of jean as the phoenix has me in full D:D:D: mode tho maybe I wouldn’t have survived it

- gambit in the last groupshot with his arm around rogue ;^) I mean I’m sure they’re headed for some turns and roundabouts along the way but what’s that thing she says as her wedding vow, that she’ll always find her way back? anyway that got me in my heart

- man I really wish this show had been given more seasons, we were barely even getting warmed up here :’(

[mediocre--writing]

Hey! I'd like to request a Harry x Gryffindor!reader where y/n is a member of the Golden trio (well now quartet) and is basically about her friendship with them and how her and harry eventually fall in love and end up together, like is a slow burn (it can be either a oneshot or headcanons, it's your choice) thank you! 💕

Harry Potter x Gryffindor!Muggleborn!Reader

Summary: You and Harry have been friends since first year, so how will you tell him that you have deeper feelings for him than just friendship?

Word Count: 6665

Warnings: mentions of scars, umbridge (which is a warning for obvious reasons), hints of depression, doing badly in school

Ok I know that this was supposed to be a small headcannon, but I kinda went overboard so now this is 6k... oops!

so you both met on the train to hogwarts in first year

you physically ran into harry when you were trying to find a spot to sit before the train started moving

you kinda squashed him because, let’s admit it, harry was probably abnormally skinny for an eleven year old and could be pinned down by an aggravated squirrel

but it caused the two of you to have an inside joke and become friends, even before you got to hogwarts

you also became friends with ron weasley on the train ride

he was also a scrawny little twerp, and you felt like a mother looking after two idiotic children

there was also hermione granger, who immediately rubbed you the wrong way

she was bossy and seemed to be a know it all

at the sorting ceremony, harry, ron, and hermione had all gone before you

so you were kinda just chilling in the group of kids that you didn’t talk to on the train, secretly sending all your hopes into getting into gryffindor

thank godric that you did

you all sat together and ate

you also met ron’s brothers: fred, george, and percy, and apparently he had two more, bill and charlie, and a younger sister, ginny

wow his mother made a bold choice

but they were all kind

though fred and george seemed a bit too mischievous for their own good

and percy was kinda snarky

but everyone has their own flaws, and you should look past them

and you and hermione were roommates

(oh my god they were roommates)

so you tried to deal with hermione’s nagging and obsession with success

it’s firmly believed by all the girls in that dorm that if she wasn’t in gryffindor, she probably would have been in slytherin because she was so ambitious 

but school was fun

you all had classes together

because you’re first years and didn’t have electives yet

hermione, of course, was amazing at just about everything

ron and harry were decent at most things, of course they had to learn but they caught on quick

the only class you liked was the flying lessons, but it only happened once  every week

and astronomy

you just liked going out at night and staring at the stars

but who wouldn’t

so hermione tried to help you in class, but she talked far too fast and already knew everything

she was smart, but she wasn’t a good teacher

so you went to harry, because he was doing good in classes and wasn’t psycho-smart

he actually helped a ton more

you were actually passing your classes now

the both of you bonded over quidditch, as he became seeker and you longed to be a chaser for gryffindor

so you went to all his games and cheered him on

(you also tried out in second year and made it, to the shock of most people)

through your first year, things were relatively normal, right up until you discovered the locked room that housed a large, three headed dog

then harry decided it would be a grand idea for you all to go into a trap door underneath the dog

but of course you followed

as you entered, you got past the dog with relative ease, then hermione helped you all out of the devil’s snare

then you got on the broom and caught the key needed to get through the next door

then ron aided in beating the killer chess board

hermione had to carry him back to the main hallway, and up to madam pince

but you went with harry to find the sorcerer's stone

and when you walked into the room, you stopped at the top of the stairs, seeing quirrel

after a few moments of talking, when the fighting broke out, you were hit with a jinx that sent you flying across the room

which knocked you out

so when you woke up in the hospital wing with a few bruises

ron to your left, still asleep

harry to your right, also asleep

you could say that you were a bit confused at the goings-on of the night before

hermione showed up only a few moments later and explained everything from what she knew

when you all left after first year, it’s safe to say a tear may or may not have fallen at the idea of not seeing your friends for a whole three months

but that summer, you were invited to the burrow at the end of summer

and you went

after begging your parents for the entire month prior

but you got there

and you went along with, ron, fred, and george in their dad’s car to go rescue harry

and you almost fell out of the car while trying to pull him inside, away from his porky looking uncle

but you guys were fine

and when you got back to the house

mrs. weasley chewed you all out

except harry

but she gave you quite the talking to because you’d been there for the past few weeks and she was comfortable treating you like her own

which included a good scolding

but it was all ok

because you were all back together

at least you and the boys

but you would see hermione very soon

when you went to diagon alley

but there was a small hiccup in the day

when you ran into the malfoys

literally

you slammed into draco’s back

very hard

and he fell over

and you fell on top of him

and his dad saw it all

and screamed at you in front of everyone in the bookshop

“you filthy, vile, little mudblood!”

he had his wand pulled in your face and everything

draco was smirking behind him

it was humiliating

but

the weasleys had your back

the twins came to help you stand up and were glaring at the malfoys

arthur began yelling at lucius

though you were embarrassed, you felt loved all the same

all the girls were obsessing over some gildy-guy

you didn’t find him all that appealing

he seemed too full of himself

but hogwarts was going good that year

besides the little thing with you, ron, and harry stealing a flying car and crashing it into the whomping willow

though it did give you all a bit of street cred given that...

ya know, three 12 year olds stole a flying car and drove it to hogwarts

as mentioned before, you made it onto the gryffindor quidditch team as chaser

you were also benched for half a game for trying to knock malfoy off his broom when he called hermione and you mudbloods while trying to smack talk harry

which didn’t make sense because the slytherins cheat every game and you try to assault one kid and suddenly you're benched

though malfoy doesn’t really say much to your group when your around now

you also got closer to the twins, helping them with pranks and diversions

after the malfoy/bookstore incident, they felt more protective of you

you became like an older sister to ginny

and she always felt like she could open up to you

but she had a weird little book she wouldn’t let you see

as she got worse through the year, you told hermione

but she suggested that you shouldn’t tell her brothers

because maybe she didn’t want anyone knowing

when it was revealed that harry was a parseltongue, you most definitely yelled at people who badmouthed him

you also punched one kid, but you didn’t get a detention for it because the kid was too scared to tell anyone

you and harry were even closer than before

between quidditch and you staying close to him everywhere because you were scared of being petrified

and when hermione got petrified you broke down in the middle of the common room

harry hugged you, a little awkwardly, but he was trying

then ginny got taken down to the chamber

and you felt more numb than anything

so when you, ron, and harry ventured down to the chamber of secrets to find ginny

with lockhart

who wasn’t much help

ever

but ron and lockhart were stuck behind fallen rocks so you and harry went on

and you found ginny

and young voldemort

...or his ghost

either way

it was voldemort

and though you would never tell another soul, he was a lot more handsome when he had his face in tact and looked, well, human

but besides that, he was trying to kill you, harry, and ginny, so his appeal was pushed to the side when you considered that little factor

but as the basilisk chased harry around the chamber, tom riddle had you in a headlock

you were on your knees

and he was basically just forcing you to watch harry be chased by a killer snake

ginny was still passed out after harry defeated the basilisk with the sword of gryffindor, brought by the phoenix, fawkes

you still couldn’t catch your breath after tom riddle had let you go, given that he had been choking you slowly

you hugged harry and were gripping onto the backs of his robes as tight as possible, still feeling light headed and grateful that you actually survived

but you helped harry carry ginny out as quick as possible

ron and lockhart had cleared away most of the rubble, well mostly ron, lockhart was still crazy

when the end of the year came and hermione, among others, were no longer petrified, you enveloped her in the biggest hug imaginable

the train ride back was, once again, a bit sad, but you promised to come over to the burrow during the summer

you went to the leaky cauldron with hermione and her family, since yours didn’t exactly like that you were a witch

they loved you, but all this stuff was to dangerous for their taste

but you and hermione went to the leaky cauldron for a few nights

met the weasleys there for a day of shopping and such

also met harry there, since he was brought by the minister of magic for using magic underaged outside of school

which was kind of a stupid rule

but whatever

you got to spend more time with your friends

because the weasleys were in egypt visiting bill, ron’s older brother,

but you got your little (well, large, really) family back

you and harry talked about everything that the dursley’s had done to him, how he blew up his aunt, and how he was sick and tired of feeling alone during summers

you told him about how your parents were complaining about you leaving for most of the year and, all around, didn’t like magic, like his aunt and uncle

you also talked about how ron’s rat and hermione’s cat were going to kill each other, which meant that ron and hermione would end up killing each other

you never really realized how much you talked to harry until you didn’t get to everyday

on the train ride to hogwarts, you sat with the twins and their friend, lee jordan, and a few of the girls from the quidditch team that you’d known before

you were planning a big prank for the start of the year

harry, ron, and hermione, however, were stuck with an old, sleepy man in their compartment

harry was also moping because you were spending time with the twins

again

he missed you more than he thought he would and wanted to spend time with you, but he couldn’t just say that

they were your friends too

then the dementors came onto the train, which woke up the old man in their compartment and he was able to fend them off

and harry passed out

and then he woke up a few moments later

with chocolate being shoved in his face

(not a bad way to be woken up)

but the first thing he did was try and get up to look for you

which hermione offered to do so he could rest

in your compartment, you had fallen over, not passed out, but your knees had gone weak and you blacked out for a moment, still awake though

fred and george were on either side of you on the floor

they both had an arm over your shoulder, trying to warm you up

angelina johnson was giving you kind words

and then hermione walked in

your head shot up

“are you all alright?”

“harry passed out,”

there was a chuckle heard from outside the compartment

malfoy

“potter passed out? some brave gryffindor he is!”

everyone just kinda rolled their eyes and continued to ignore him

“is harry ok?”

“should be, there was a man in there, i assume he was a teacher or something, he had it handled”

“you’re sure he’s alright?”

“yes, he’s perfectly ok, y/n,”

hermione definitely knew about your crush on harry now

she had her suspicions before

but it was just obvious now

hermione left, probably going back to harry and ron

“you wanna go see him?” one of the twins asked from your right in a concerned but also suggestive voice

you shook your head

“i’ll see him at dinner, fred,”

both the twins gasped, along with the others in the compartment

“you can tell us apart?” george asked

yes, that’s right, you had learned the difference between the twins and could tell them apart, something their best friend, lee, couldn’t even do

you were quite proud of yourself

“of course, what do you take me for? your mother?” you chuckled

both the twins knew, at that moment, they’d hit the jackpot

they knew you had a great sense for attention to detail in pranks, but this just showed how much you knew

“how do you know which is which?”

“fred has more freckles, george slouches more when he walks, fred also has a little scar right at the top of his hairline that you can just barely see, but it’s usually how i can tell. also you have sides when you go places together, george is left and fred is right, though i’m sure you’ll change it up from now on to trip me up,”

“ahhh, little y/n, you are a good best friend,” -fred

“lee, take notes,” -george

“fuck all of  you,” -lee

the rest of the ride was not as eventful after that, though the twins were still trying to make you slip up

they left to put their uniforms and asked you to guess who was who, you were correct, they were crybabies about it

when hermione went back to harry, he was a little sad to hear that fred and george were comforting you so closely

lupin kinda smirked because it reminded him of how james would get mad when lily was with other boys

then he wasn’t smirking because he was all sad

when the train got back to hogwarts, you met up with ron and hermione and harry

they told you all about cool professor lupin

third year was great

professor lupin was your favorite professor, which was a similar theme around school

you pranked more people with fred and george

you played quidditch, getting better at your skills when practicing with angelina and katie

lupin grew to love your little quartet

because you were like his friends

hermione reminded him of himself because of her good morals and need to excel in classes, even though she still had her own dark side

ron was like peter, one of the funniest, kindest friends he’d ever seen, while also being underspoken, letting his friends speak first in most situations

james and harry were practically the same person, with their entire personas mirroring the others, though harry was much more modest than james had ever been, but also seemed to have his mischievous side much more hidden than his father, who would boast about his accomplishments and pranks

you reminded him of sirius, with how you always found a way to make others laugh, and your chameleon-like personality that could fit in with multiple groups, you never seemed to be alone, along with the way that you could never seem to wear your uniform correctly: always choosing a t-shirt instead of the button down or regular trainers over the uncomfortable uniform shoes

he made sure to pay extra attention to harry and his friends through the year

you became more popular as you hug out with fred and george more

hermione and ron seemed to bicker more and more like an old married couple

harry was stressing over sirius black constantly, especially after finding out that he was his godfather

you and harry went to see lupin together to discuss what he knew of sirius black, along with just getting your minds cleared

he accepted you both into his office and you all chatted for hours

he also offered to teach you how to cast a patronus, like he had been doing with harry

you gleefully accepted

harry had been at his wits end with malfoy at this point, sick of the taunts and jokes tossed his way

so you and fred and george pranked him

turned his hair red and glittery

only lasted until you washed it out but it was very funny to see him freak out

as patronus practice went on with harry and lupin, you got closer and closer to casting a full patronus, only after your second lesson

during the third time you went, your patronus was cast fully, a mighty lioness that roared loudly as you, harry, and lupin laughed in pure delight at the sight of the mighty beast

you told fred and george what your patronus was and they were jealous, because you got the house mascot and they couldn’t even produce the charm

when the day came that you, harry, ron, and hermione all went down to hagrid’s for buckbeaks’ execution

then scabbers was pulled away by a large black dog

and you all went into the whomping willow

and found sirius black

who was being quite dramatic for a wanted killer

or maybe that was just how killers were

just murdering people but with ✨pizzazz✨

but when lupin turned up, and explained the situation, then ron’s rat turns into peter pettigrew, who was supposed to be dead, then snape showed up

god this was a really long night

once you had everything taken care of (ron was going to be taken to the hospital wing for his leg injury, peter pettigrew was in restraints, it was acknowledged that sirius was framed, and everyone knew lupin was a werewolf) you walked back up to the opening of the whomping willow

then the moon came out

lupin began transforming, everyone backed away slightly, but you were stunned to your spot

sirius and snape were protecting harry ron and hermione

but you were just standing there, watching

peter got away by transforming into a rat, again

lupin was now in full wolf form though, so that was the bigger problem

sirius approached him slowly before lupin turned around quickly, scratching your arm and hand as he ran off, sirius chasing after him in his dog form

but you were scratched by a werewolf

and it hurt

snape had to be a crutch for ron because his leg was messed up

and you were wobbling as you walked from the pain

but you both made it to the hospital wing

pomfrey attended to you first, and she explained, while she worked, that since it was only a scratch, you shouldn’t suffer any detrimental side effects aside from the scarring, which would never go away

it wasn’t too bad after she gave you a few medicines

you worried about hermione and harry, and while ron was being tended to, you glanced out of the windows looking for a peak at your friends

they ended up coming up to the hospital wing after seeing the dementors try to kill sirius, but then they disappeared again, leaving you and ron confused when, just seconds later, they walked through the doors into the hospital wing

but they told you that they saved sirius and buckbeak

school was pretty calm after that

you and harry went to see lupin when you heard that he was quitting

he explained that word got out about him being a werewolf

by snape

the bitch

and that he hurt a student

but he wasn’t aware of that part

until he saw your arm wrapped up

and asked what happened

and he looked like he was going to cry

but you assured him that it didn’t hurt

of course it hurt but you weren’t going to tell him that

for some reason you felt bad that he hurt you

because he was kind and gentle and didn’t deserve the prejudice he got

the scar was healing, but it was from your elbow to the back of your hand, and it was about an inch wide, so there wasn’t much hope of you covering it up or saying it was no big deal

lupin was worried though

how were you going to explain this to your parents?

they were muggles, wouldn’t they pull you out of school?

apparently not, because when, that summer, you were invited to the quidditch world cup with the weasleys and hermione and harry, they let you go

which was very out of character but you didn’t really mind

the quidditch cup was… interesting

you and hermione were pretty spooked afterwards because of the death eater symbol that hung over the crowd

along with the fact that you were muggleborn

but the beginning of the school year was sure to take your mind off of it

the triwizard tournament seemed interesting enough for the older teens to compete in

you couldn’t play quidditch but this was fine

it was a relaxing year to just chill

right?

wrong!

because you got two months of relative peace until harry’s name was pulled out of the cup and most of the school turned on him

you were still staying close to harry because you trusted him

and you knew that ron wasn’t so much mad at his friend as much as he was a mix of jealous and worried for harry’s safety

you also helped harry train for the first task once you found out what it was

fuckin dragons

you brought him out to the quidditch pitch a few days a week and made him run drills so that he’d be quicker on his feet

ya know

running from a dragon

and you made sure that he knew basic spells

you made hermione research dragons and common ways to get past them

after a little conversation with moody, you also practiced the summoning charm so he could get his broom

you still made sure he was doing running drills because he could always fall

but you included some flying practice

“i don’t care if you're the youngest seeker in a century, harry, this is a dragon!!!! it breathes fire!!!”

because you were helping harry so much

you kinda began slipping in class

just a little

ok maybe a lot

but you were also practicing spells with harry so you were learning like 6/7th year charms

though your teachers didn’t see it that way

sadly

so you had to ditch harry a few times due to detentions

mostly with mcgonnangal because she pitied you and how you were worried about your friend dying, which you prioritized over lessons

though snape was getting fed up with you

he was yelling at you more

but you were used to it at this point

the day of the first task you had been with harry in the tent for as long as you could stay there, worried for his safety

to be honest he was getting more nervous because of you

he wanted you to calm down

and you wanted him to live

so it was quite the stressful situation

especially when, while you were sitting on one of the hospital beds moved down there (for precaution) you rested your head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around your shoulder and rita skeeter snapped a quick picture

but she got told off by krum

which was kinda refreshing

he was quiet, but he would stand up for what was right

you liked that about him

it reminded you of harry

harry did really well in the task, getting really high marks for his agility and skill on a broom

you gleamed with pride

a few days later, at breakfast, ron had a parcel delivered to him

dress robes

that were beyond hideous

then you heard all about the yule ball

where you had to dress up and converse with the other schools and such

it didn’t sound all that appealing to you

you loved hanging out with friends and such

but you weren’t exactly thrilled with the idea of dressing up for hours on christmas, the day of relaxation

and becuase you didn’t really think that you were gonna go, you gave ron the money your parents sent you for a dress so he could buy new, nice dress robes

he thanked you a million times

you were also helping harry with the egg

let's say that cedric found out about the egg and told harry a bit sooner

so you were trying to get him to swim in the black lake

he wasn’t pleased

but he needed to be quick in the water

he was mad at you for pushing him in one day

but he got over it

hermione was losing her mind because you and harry were basically flirting 

constantly

and touching one another with looks of affection

but harry wouldn’t man up and ask you out

and you didn’t believe he would actually like you

hermione about slapped you when you said that

you also told her that you didn’t really want to go because of the elegant air that wasn’t your style

so she made it her personal mission to get you and harry together

she wasn’t subtle

was she ever?

but nothing happene

one day at breakfast, while the boys were complaining about not having dates

fred, who was sitting next to you, asks angelina to the dance to show ron and harry that it was that easy

ron made some snarky comment about how hermione and you wouldn’t have dates

and hermione was mildly offended by ron and stormed off

but you knew he was right

nobody had even asked you

you thought about asking harry

multiple times

but you just knew he wouldn’t want to go with you

especially when he had practically every girl in hogwarts to choose from

so that night, in the common room, you asked george if he had a date

he didn’t

so you went as friends

because you thought of the twins as family

and didn’t like them that way

but you knew that they were a good option, and with george you would be able to joke all night and have a good time

you bought a cheap-ish, but nice, dress from money you’d already had in your trunk

harry was pissed

he knew you liked one of the twins

and he was mad at himself more than anything

but he went with one of the patil twins, ron taking the other

but when you came downstairs to george, looking more gorgeous than ever

with the help of hermione

you wore a dress with short sleeves, which made you slightly insecure because you still had the scar from professor lupin that was a few shades off from your normal skin tone

but hermione, fred, george, and angelina assured you that you were still beautiful

he couldn't take his eyes off you

“potter seems to be staring at you,” george teased

you rolled your eyes and didn’t bother to look back because you didn’t want to be disappointed

the ball was fun

you caught up with the twins since you hadn’t spent much time with them since you were helping harry

the next weeks you were still training with harry

he was still reluctant about getting in the black lake

but he lived

and when, the night before the task, you and hermione disappeared when he had a question, he felt more helpless than ever

he felt even more helpless when, during the task, he could make out your figure at the bottom of the lake, in between hermione and a little blonde girl

after he helped you and the little blonde girl, who turned out to be fleur’s little sister, you and harry were huddled together…. 

“warming up”

he got high marks again for rescuing both you and gabrielle, even though he took a long time to finish

he was tied for first place

you jumped up and hugged him so tight he could barely breathe

you loosened your grip and stared him in the eyes

your faces were so close together you could feel the other’s breath

then ron came up and grabbed harry

#fuckyouron

it was awkward between you and harry for about a day and a half until you were in the common room together and were joking like old times

after that, you waited until the month before the final task, when you found out it was a maze with creatures and spells

you made harry start running again

he said he was going to curse you

you laughed

but when the task came up, you felt a little weird about everything

things just seemed off

and when harry reappeared with a dead cedric and the triwizard cup and there was a deafning silence between everyone

cedric's father was screaming

you were trying to shove your way down the stands to harry

because he looked numb yet also going through so many emotions

when you finally got to harry he was pulled away by dumbledore, who told you to go back to your friends

you wanted to hit him

but you talked to harry the next day

well, you didn’t talk much

he collapsed, crying the tears he was holding in since the end of the third task

you held him, letting him sob

you started whispering kind words to him when his sobbing became slower and his breathing was more regular

“i’m--”

“you don’t need to be, you shouldn’t be sorry, it’s nothing you did, i promise,”

over the summer, not very much happened

until, while you were at the weasleys, harry was attacked by dementors and was being put on trial for using magic outside of school

he came to sirius’ parents old house before his trial, then, after he was free to go back to school, spent the rest of the summer with you, ron, and hermione

you spent a good bit of time over the summer working on prank products with the twins

you got a lot of progress made on the extendable ears and a few of the skiving snackboxes products were almost perfect

while on your way back to school, while ron and hermione were at the prefects carriage, you caught up with harry and what you had been doing over the summer, talking about whatever you didn’t say while at grimmauld place

they talk about how harry is sick of the pity stares he's getting, and that’s just from getting on the train and sitting down

you talk about your adventures with the twins over the summer, how they tried to do side-by-side apparition with you and you puked

the rest of the train ride was mediocre at best, but the real fun started at the end of the first dinner

namely, a woman called delores umbridge, who was the defense teacher

nobody found her likeable, especially after she interrupted dumbledore

nobody interrupts dumbledore

but you wanted to give her a chance

that chance didn’t get you too far

you and the twins were planning to prank her by day 3

she yelled at harry and gave him a torture quill for his punishmet

nasty bitch

but by the end of the fourth day at school, her cat portraits had been let out around the school, milling around in other paintings and it took her a few days to finally put them all back

the best pranks are ones that linger, driving the person mad

she didn't know it was you three, of course she didn’t, she had only been there four days

but she started to catch on when you and the twins were seen whispering in the great hall, writing on a piece of paper that was shoved under a desk and whispering stopped as she walked by

she knew for a fact that it was you three when you had all used the same annoying phrase in class, multiple times, just to drive her mad

your first detention this year, though it was with fred and george, went unknown by your friends

you didn’t want them to worry, since you couldn’t get your hand to stop bleeding when you would stretch or scratch the healing skin, but you had no intentions of stopping your pursuit of pranking

it wasn’t until dumbledore’s army was having their first practice that harry noticed the scabbed writing on your hand, which was written over your werewolf-scratch scar from third year

‘i must respect my superiors’

he got kinda really mad at you when you’d told him that it was from the last 7 detentions with umbridge, though he didn’t know you even had one

quidditch practice was awkward, harry wouldn’t talk to you, unless it was to critique your playing, and the twins weren’t really there to mediate, since they had to practice too

though the awkwardness didn’t last for too long

umbridge had kicked you, harry, fred, and george off the team indefinitely

dumbledore’s army meetings were the only thing to look forward to

though, when you were working on patronus charms, yours was no longer the mighty lion, but a doe that pranced around with grace

hermione pointed out that harry’s was a stag, and yours was a doe, and then she wiggled her eyebrows

you were #confused

you continued getting detentions with umbridge, for speaking out in class or not doing the work

you finally understand a class but it's everything you already knew from first year… but easier

so you just don’t do it

grades can’t get worse

fred and george leave, so you don’t have many people to talk to, besides hermione

harry’s still a bit aggravated with you

but you're starting to get mad at him as well, he keeps talking to cho

and the worst part is that you completely understood

she was pretty and nice and going through something only harry understood at the moment

you talked to hermione about it

she said to confess your feelings

and you were

really you were

until harry came back and told you the good news

he kissed cho

congrats to you

you just avoided him

until he claimed that sirius black was being tortured by voldemort and you, along with select dumbledore’s army members, had to go save him

you were intercepted by the umbridge prats

you punched draco malfoy so hard his nose bled all over his face and robes

which felt like a win, even though you were still caught and brought to her office in a headlock by malfoy

though you all escaped and went off to the ministry of magic, where sirius was

except he wasn’t

but you know who was?

death eaters

totally not the same thing

but you all made it to this room with a huge archway, where you were then put back in a headlock, by a malfoy…. again

you were sick of this family

the order members showed up soon, however, and sirius was actually here this time

and he was standing next to you in front of the arch, fighting

until he was hit by a curse by bellatrix, which caused him to collapse into the veil

you heard harry scream, and he started to sprint towards the veil, but you collided with his body, pushing him away and wrapping your arms around him

you didn’t know what the veil thing was but you didn't think that it was something you came back from

harry was trying to get out of your arms to the veil

he was stronger than he looked, and you ended up pushing him to the floor so he would stop trying to run

the whole battle was a mess, harry had gotten possessed by voldemort, which entailed a lot of screaming and a creepy deep voice coming from harry

as you were all brought back to hogwarts, you were dragging harry’s body over yours, and he was heavier than he looked

but you knew he was tired and out of it, so you bared with it

that summer was the longest of all

harry and you didn’t talk much

neither would make the first move to send a letter

everyone knew voldemort was back

and harry was transported to the burrow by dumbledore

and even though you had been at the burrow most of the summer, including when harry was there the next morning

he still wouldn’t even look at you

you really didn’t know what you did

he was the one who flirted and kissed cho

sure you didn’t tell him about detentions and were kind of the reason that he didn’t chase after sirius to his death

but that didn’t seem like something he should be mad about

not for this long

fred and george opened their shop

and you were proud of them

so so proud because you helped with half the products there

but you couldn’t use the extent of your happiness because harry still wasn’t talking to you

and you felt like death

all the time

that year went relatively quick

you were studying a lot more, mostly to ignore harry, but also because you didn’t have fred and george to occupy your time and had nothing else to do

by the time christmas came around, you hadn’t talked to harry much

maybe a few times in classes that you were in together

but you weren’t in any newt classes with them

oh well i guess

you didn’t make other friends either

you just kinda closed off

didn’t sleep much because you kept thinking about harry

thinking about kissing him

thinking about holding his hand

about joking with him like you used to

about how he must be feeling about everything going on

about how you can’t lose him now

he can’t die because of some no-nose-supremacist

and you looked exactly how you felt, you were sluggish and lethargic, it took you awhile to react when people spoke to you, and your usual charisma wasn’t as prominent

during christmas, fred and george noticed your lack of energy

they tried to cheer you up but you just wanted harry to talk to you

so they did what they did best

smacked some sense into harry

literally

hit him in the head and told him to talk to you

you both sat on the couch awkwardly, neither feeling the air of comfort that you used to have

it took about five minutes of silence before george opened the door and screamed at you both

not any words, just screamed

then shut the door

neither of you could hold in the snorts of laughter from the unsolicited screaming

you turned to face one another at last

“so….”

“so…”

“i’m sorry i ignored you”

“me too, i was worried about you and i felt like i couldn’t talk to you but i should have just written you a letter or something because i miss you so much, you don’t even know. after the twins left hogwarts, i always felt lonely and i wasn’t speaking to you for whatever reason and i’ve been doing really dreadful in class so i've been studying but i never retain anything or understand anything and--”

harry grabbed your hands and moved closer to you

“i think i’m in love with you”

“you’re kidding?”

“....

..

no????”

“i think i love you too?”

“yeah, i have been for a while, then we fought, and i didn’t know how to talk to you anymore--”

beforehe could have another word, you crashed your lips to his

it was amazing

you’ve been waiting for this for literal years

the past few months were torture

but everything was alright

things were getting worse out there, with voldemort rising to power, but you could die happy because of this moment

because harry wasn’t just someone who was in love with you, he was your best friend in the world and the only person who made you feel comfortable in any situation

and he loved you back

[the-curious-butterfly]

Slumber Party (Part 1)

(Let’s have a little fun with our fluff shall we)

Ask anyone and they’d tell you Eda was a powerful witch, a force to be reckoned with, and downright terrifying when she’s mad. Someone like that could not be tamed, she was wild, she was free, she was wearing an apron and covered in flour. 

Truly horrifying, and perhaps just a little on the unexpected side.

Now on the question of how she got into this predicament in the first place. It was simple really. Earlier that day Luz expressed that she’s never had a slumber party, well there was the Moonlight Conjuring but she meant just a typical slumber party without any of that other stuff. And Eda, for some unknown reason that even she herself couldn’t fathom, suggested that maybe it would be okay if Luz wanted to have one. 

Cue the young girls squeals of excitement, a little extra dose of that parallel arm thing, and here she was. In the kitchen making cookies for her kid and a few other young witchlings. Why? Well because Luz wanted them of course. Just don’t tell anyone for she still has some semblance of a reputation that she wants to maintain. But gosh darn it why was it so hard to say no to that kid or refuse her anything. Not only that but she was going out of her way to do things without even being asked. 

It wasn’t Luz who suggested the slumber party. And Luz didn’t actually ask for the cookies nor was it said that she had to make them, she could have gone out and bought some after she overheard her kid mention them. Just what the heck was going on with her lately.

Before she could continue on that reputation shattering train of thought King came bounding into the kitchen and onto the counter. “Are those cookies I smell?” 

She had to smack his paw away after setting the tray down on the counter. “These aren’t for you they’re for the kid, last I check you weren’t one.” 

King glared at her as he stomped his little foot. “Demon’s can still enjoy cookies too. As king I demand you give me one!” 

Eda rolled her eyes at his antics “sure pipsqueak, keep pretending you’re in a position to make demands.” Her smile was smug but instead of the reaction she expected he looked away and asked for one, even going so far as to say please. And she just didn’t have it in her to refuse, or at least not anymore, what was happening to her. 

“Alright just one, the rest are for the kid- at least wait till they cool down!” But it was already too late, he had reached for one and ended up burning his paw which he proceeding to stuff in his mouth as he hopped from one foot to another. 

She would have made more comments if it wasn’t for Luz popping up right next to her, effectively startling the witch. “Oooo cookies!” oblivious to King’s predicament the girl also decided to reach for one which I’m sure you can imagine what followed. It took all the strength Eda had not to bang her head against something. 

It could have been anyone, literally anyone, but these are the two she got stuck with. 

While King continued to cry over most likely nothing, Luz composed herself much faster for she gave Eda a grateful smile. “Did you make these?” 

“Yeah, I overheard how you said they were great for parties.” Eda crossed her arms and looked away during her reply. It’s not like it was a big deal. 

“Thank you, Eda!” Oh no, here comes another one of those hugs. ‘You know you like them, stop pretending you don’t’  Shut up brain!

“Willow, Gus, and Amity are going to love these!” The young girl’s enthusiasm was contagious as she helped to get the cookies onto a plate before taking them into the living room and setting them on the coffee table. Eda followed to find her living room decorated with pillows and blankets strewn about. On the couch was a huge bowl of popcorn and a few of King’s stuffed animals minions were already sitting there. 

“Luz said they could partake too!” The little demon added cheerfully from behind her before climbing up on the couch to grab hold of his favorite minion, Francois. “Tonight we shall make our plan to take over the Isles!” King held the stuffed rabbit over his head as he laughed evilly but quieted a bit when he felt someone petting him. 

“No world domination tonight, you little peach, just friends and fun!” His evil laughter turned to cute giggles as Luz picked him up to sit on the couch with him in her lap. 

Eda hadn’t realized how soft her expression became until a knock at the door broke her out of her trance. “Some guests have arrived, hoot hoot.” Hooty declared as the door opened on its own. ‘No ****’ was what she wanted to say but there were children present and also this story has a rating to keep. 

She crossed the room to find Willow at the door standing between her two dads. “Good afternoon, miss Eda.” The young girl smiled warmly at her and Eda couldn’t help smiling back before directing her attention towards the kids parents. 

“Thank you for allowing WIllow to stay over.” commented a dark skinned man with a rather bushy beard. For some reason Eda wanted to ask if he was able to hide things in it too but decided against that. “Willow’s been so excited, it’s not often she gets to do this.” Added the other nerd-looking one with the glasses. 

“Dads!” Willow cried out with more than just a hint of embarrassment.

“Sorry sweetie, you know we’re just as happy as you are.” Seems Luz wasn’t the only one who was missing out on a lot. Eda once again smiled at the witchling as she pointed behind her. “Luz is already waiting on the couch, if you’re not careful her and King might finish off all the snacks before you even have a chance to have any.” Well mostly King, Luz would be more preoccupied with being a good host.

The young witch giggled “Thanks again, miss Eda!” She chirped before moving past the older woman to join Luz on the couch. Eda watched her go with a content expression on her face before turning back towards Willow’s dads. The one with the beard was already writing something on a piece of paper. 

“If you need anything, anything at all, feel free to scroll us.” Bushy beard handed her the paper while glasses continued talking. “She has this medication she needs to take, she’s usually very good at remembering but could you see that she does just in case?” 

“You know what it’s like with kids, when they’re having fun it’s easy to forget everything else.” 

For a moment she was taken rather aback with the situation she founded herself in but was quick to compose herself as she shot them a genuine look of understanding. “Of course I will, I promise she’s safe under my roof.” She was simply saying what she would want to hear if it was her dropping Luz off at someone’s house. 

It seemed to be enough though for the smiles they shot at her were bright and warm. “Thank you very much, despite your reputation you really are a good person like Willow said.” And just like that the world had to prove she still had heartstrings. How dare that kid spread lies about her. 

After waving goodbye, Eda closed the door only for another knock to be heard what felt like seconds later. Since she was right there she opened it herself this time before Hooty could swing himself open and most likely hit her in the face. She wouldn’t be able to guarantee safety under her roof if there wasn’t a house anymore. 

Gus stood with his reporter dad and waved rather excitedly at her. “Hi Eda, are Luz and Willow here?” Before Luz she would have found him exhausting but the girl was way worse so she was numb to it now.

“Nope, you just missed them.” She crossed her arms and gave him a toothy grin to which he responded by deflating just a bit. “Of course this would happen.” 

The older witch chuckled. “I’m just messing with you kid, go on in.” Eda moved aside to let him pass which he did, rather loudly. She wondered if she was actually gonna get sleep tonight. Then she realized she was allowing a bunch of kids to stay in her house for the night. So no, most likely not.

She heard someone clear her throat before realizing that oh yeah, Gus’ dad was still there. “Thanks for letting him stay over, and uh nice to see you didn’t get petrified.” Oh man he was just as awkward as his son. 

“Um, thanks? Is there something else you wanted or can I shut the door now?”

“Yeah, sure. I’m going now, sorry about that.” So that’s where the kid got it from. 

She was at least able to make it across the room this time before the door swung open. Hooty didn’t even wait for the knock this time as three kids were left standing with their fists held out. 

Two of them, the clearly older ones, laughed. “I’d love to have a door like this someday.” The older girl commented while her brother nodded. “Just imagine all the stuff we could pull off with one.” he added.

The smaller one in the middle frowned as she crossed her arms. “See if I ever visit you.” 

“Of course” her older sister began in a singsong voice. “You’d only put up with this kind of torture if it was for~” This prompted a rather red faced Amity to quickly cover her mouth before she said something she’d regret, causing the boy and even Eda to smirk as she made her way towards the door. 

“Hey kids.” 

“Hi Eda!” The twins said in unison once Amity let Emira go. “We’re just here to drop off our precious baby sister” Emira commented as Edric patted their, growing increasingly frustrated, little sister’s head. 

“I could have walked myself.” The witchling growled out but her expression completely changed, which did not go unnoticed by any of the three, when she saw Luz approaching the door. 

“Amity!” The human cried out happily as she greatly encouraged the young witch inside. “Hurry, we were just about to start playing a game!” 

“I-I’m coming, just hold up already.” Her tone feigned annoyance but in truth she was very happy with any attention from the human. It was adorably amusing. 

“So” Emira smirked as she acknowledged the other two with her again. ”Who wants to make bets that something will happen tonight?” 

“Psh, together in a house at night? If something didn’t happen I’ll be amazed but also greatly disappointed.” Eda stated before adding. “You’re on kid!” 

After all the bets were placed the twins waved goodbye and Eda could finally close the door without worrying about any more guests needing to show up.

Knock knock.

Or so she thought. “Kid, how many people did you invite?” 

Luz looked up from their game to count on her fingers. “Let’s see just Willow, Gus, Amity, and-” 

“Hello, sister.” 

Of all the people Eda expected to see standing there Lilith was not one of them. Heck she would have expected even that Boscha girl more than her own sister. True things were slightly... better, for lack of a better word, between them but now that she wasn’t in the coven she tended to keep to herself in the tower behind their house. 

“What are you doing here, Lilith?” She didn’t intend to sound mean or anything, just surprised. 

“The human, Luz, invited me to your ‘party’ as she called it.” 

Eda looked towards her apprentice with an expression that conveyed she wasn’t mad just, confused and maybe slightly sad. “Why?” 

As Luz considered what she’d say for a moment her group of friends watched and waited for her explanation to which she finally just shrugged. “I guess I just thought, it’s been some time since everything happened, why not take little steps towards making things better.” Eda and Lilith considered what the girl had to say as she continued. “Whether we like it or not Lilith is gonna be with us now. She’s powerless she can’t go anywhere else. It took awhile and I still don’t know if I forgive her... But I think it’s okay to start letting her back in little by little.” 

Silence ruled the house as Lilith looked towards the human gratefully, so that’s what her younger sister saw in her. Finally Eda turned towards Lilith with a sigh. “Luz is right, you’re welcome to stay if you wish.” 

“Perhaps for just a little while, I won’t overstep my boundaries.” They gave each other small smiles before Eda directed her towards the couch. She then fixed her kid with a stare as she held the door open. “Now is there anyone else I have to worry about? Did you invite the emperor too?” 

“Well” Luz joked causing Eda to roll her eyes. “Kid, if it wasn’t for all these people I would have thrown you outside by now.” 

“Nah, you love me too much.” 

“A fact I’m starting to regret.” The others chuckled at the Owl Lady’s comment as she closed the door, finally. 

Walking over towards the group she saw Luz rise up from her spot with a start. “Oh gosh, I forgot the drinks.” 

“Hey kiddo, it’s okay I’ll get them” Eda ruffled Luz’s hair. “You just have fun with your friends.” To that Luz wrapped her arms around Eda’s neck and nuzzled against her cheek with a “Thank you!” She was always dramatic with her appreciation that way. But instead of complaining Eda held her back for just a moment before letting go and dropping her on the floor. “Affection, gross.” 

“Just you wait, one of these days I’ll get you to stop pretending that you don’t like it.” 

“Sure kid, whatever you say.” Eda turned to her sister with a slightly cautious look. “Would you mind helping me?” 

“Not at all.” Came the quick reply as the two older women made their way into the kitchen leaving the kids, and King, alone. 

Most had soft smiles on their faces as if they just saw the cutest thing ever. Amity’s face was the same as ever but there was a bit of red to it, she was the only one not looking in Luz’s direction. 

“Okay, now who’s ready for truth or dare?” Luz asked, to which Gus responded by raising his hand and asking what that is.

[spcncershybrid]

Dead?- Spencer Reid Imagine Part Three

GIFS ARE NOT MINE

SPENCER REID X MIKAELSON!HYBRID!READER

(Summary: The final fight between Mallory and the Mikaelsons.)

(Sorry this took sooo long to post. I’ve been preoccupied of other imagines. This wasn’t proofread so there might be some errors.)

REQUEST ARE OPEN (See my pinned for the shows/movies I write for.)

Warnings: Probably a handful of curses but that’s it. 

“So what’s our plan?” Rebekah asks as we reach the Abattoir. “Well I was thinking of what you said before about killing them. I can link my life to Mallory and one of you can kill me. Then Davina can unlink us when Mallory dies. Afterwards we can enclose the area and make it burn. ” I say glancing towards them. They all look at each other weighing the plan. “The witch would die and the vampire would be burned.” I say as Klaus smirks delighted at the idea. I smile as they agree on the plan. We all step into the Abattoir glancing around the giant space. “I knew you’d all come.” Mallory says from behind us. “Well you did summon us.” I say turning towards her. “Where is our sister?” I ask, tapping my foot on the hard floor. “They’re early.” I hear a voice say from behind us. I turn around facing the voice meeting eyes with the deputy. “Hmm what ever shall we do hun?” Mallory asks, twirling her hair between her fingers. “We aren’t here for games, give us our bloody sister.” Klaus says aggravated. “In nearly five minutes maybe less. That stupid BAU team will be busting through those door you guys aren’t safe. Especially you Y/N, does Reid even know?” Mallory says smirking. I smirk back at her. “Well you’re trying to unleash a war with the Mikaelson family. Do you understand our ways or how psychotic we can be?” I say to her shoving my hands into my pocket. “Actually us Mikaelsons are very quick thinkers especially when mortal beings are involved.” I say looking at her in the eyes. “Pagina nostrae, pro tempore.” I say linking our lives together temporarily. “Mallory love, last time I checked witches were of the mortal species. I am part original vampire, a species that is immortal. Good luck on your safe voyage to wherever you go cause it’s for sure as hell isn't peace.” I say smirking happily. “Klaus and Davina you know your roles.” I say stepping towards them. Klaus speeds over snapping my neck instantly as Davina starts muttering a spell.

No Ones P.O.V

The BAU team storms into the Abattoir seeing their beloved team member lying lifeless on the floor. Davina works hard safely unlinking Y/N and Mallory’s lives leaving Mallory completely dead.

______________

Reader’s POV

I wake up from the floor gasping for air. I look at my surroundings being greeted by familiar faces. My team. I stand up dusting off my pants. “I will explain everything after I promise.” I say towards my team meeting eyes with Spencer. “If there is a later.” I hear the deputy say. I turn around facing him as he holds Freya's throat. We all stay silent for a moment.“Deputy Collins put the girl down.” Hotch’s stern voice breaks the silence. “They killed Mallory; they all deserve pain.” He spat holding Freya tighter. “Oh don’t be so dramatic. The Greenwood witch deserved her demise.” Klaus says bouncing on his feet. Morgan looks at Klaus stunned. “Invisique.” I whisper making myself invisible. Spencer and Morgan drop their guns. “Where the hell did they go?” Collins asks, turning around. “Here.” I say walking behind him snapping his neck. He drops to the floor letting go of Freya in the process. I make myself visible again gaining a few stares from my team. “Phase two?” Davina asks, running her hands through her hair. I nod and walk towards her. I guide the team and my siblings over to the wall. “Trace the floor with salt around his body.” I tell Rebekah. She runs off coming back with salt in an instant. Davina traces the body with salt. “Sit down and we’ll cross our hands over him.” I say quickly sitting on the floor laying my hands out for her. She grabs my hand and we close our eyes. “Adolebit corpus. Adolebit corpus. Adolebit corpus.” We chant as the deputy’s body slowly goes up in flames. We let go of each other and step back watching the flames die down. I look around at everyone and motion for us all to leave the Abattoir. We all leave, my team stunned at what had just happened. “I’ll explain but first let’s go to the Mikaelson Mansion to have our chat.” I say to them. “You guys can go compel the station.” I tell my siblings as I step into the van.

______________

We step inside the mansion. Emily and JJ immediately gawk at the size and interior. “It’s not as good as the old one but it will suffice.” I say laughing at their faces. “So for starters let’s go over here this area bigger and we can all talk.” I say pointing to the living room. “Damn Mikaelson this place is the bomb.” Derek says sitting down. The team laughs at Derek's voice of words. “Would you guys like anything to drink?” I say as they all get comfortable. They all nod. “Spencer, help me.” I say waving at him. He nods and walks with me to the kitchen. “What I said before Spence I meant it. But I can understand if this is a lot and you don’t want to deal with me or my family.” I say grabbing a bottle of wine. “You told me you loved me and I never returned it. Yes I won’t understand anything about you or your family but I still love you.” Spencer says grabbing the bottle from my hands. “Y/N Mikaelson, I love you.” Spencer whispers softly, smiling. “Sorry you had to meet my family this way.” I say laughing as I grab wine glasses for all of us. “It’s fine at least I got to meet them. When you left I thought you weren’t coming back.” Spencer says as we head to the living room. “I’m over 1000! Getting rid of me will have to be one hell of a job.” I say laughing as I sit down with them.

 ______________

“So can you explain this whole thing.” Rossi says, taking a sip of wine. “My family are over 1000 years old. I am kind of the middle child.” I say taking a sip of my wine. “My family is the world’s first vampire family, well vampires in general.” I continue. “I on the other hand am a hybrid. My mother was a witch and I was the first sibling to discover my powers and then my mother turned us all into vampires.” I finished. They all stare at me shocked. “So do you drink blood?” Emily asks. “Rarely. Being part witch suppresses my vampire side so I rarely get cravings.” I answer. “Wait wait do you look like the Cullen family when you change?” JJ says bouncing in her seat laughing. “No that’s probably the most offensive thing I have ever heard JJ.” I say laughing. “But to answer your question I think the Mikaelsons look scarier.” I say finishing my wine. “Oh you have to show us don’t leave us hanging.” Penelope says excitedly. “Do you guys really want to see it?” I say semi shocked. They all nod and lean forward interested. I take a deep breath and shut my eyes. I feel heat rush up my cheeks and towards my eyes. My fangs peek out and I open my eyes. “Woah that’s so sick.” Emily says bouncing back. “My brother Klaus has the craziest hybrid eyes.” I say shifting back. “Dear sister it’s not nice to talk about others behind their backs.” I hear Klaus say from behind me. “Ah the terrible brother.” I say jokingly. “Last time I checked Kol skipped off.” He says laughing before speeding off to the kitchen and coming back with a glass of wine. “Nik show them your hybrid face.” I say shifting quickly. “Being a hybrid isn’t a party trick sister. Remember 1384.” Klaus says drinking his wine. “I told you never bring that up.” I scold staring at him. “Fine but it was an amazing time.” Klaus says, quirking an eyebrow to the team. “Just show your vampire face Nik.” I say hitting his leg. “Alright you pesky child.” He says before shifting showing his yellow eyes and vampire face. “Yes!” I exclaim before leaning back into my chair. “Your family is amazing.” Hotch says laughing at the team. “I’ve dealt with them for nearly 900 years no they aren’t.” I say chuckling. “I thought you were 1000.” Spencer asks, slightly confused. “Let’s just say my brother Klaus was hellbent on daggering his siblings. I was one of the unlucky and was daggered for a century.” I say glaring at Klaus. “Oh my dear sister I know where you keep your daggers.” Klaus sas smirking. “But only I know where the White Oak ash is.” I say smirking back. He drops his smirks and speeds off to somewhere in the house. “Is this why you’re so fearless on cases?” Derek asks tilting his head to the side in curiosity. “Yep I literally can't die. So if an unsub decides to shoot me I'll be perfectly fine.” I say leaning into Spencer. “But being a vampire isn’t all glorious. We outlive our loved ones most of the time.” I say sadly. “Would you ever turn any one of us?” Derek asks, staring at Spencer. “No but if it’s that person's choice I’ll consider it.” I answer truthfully looking around.

______________

“They look so peaceful.” Spencer says as we stand in the middle of the kitchen watching the team sleep soundly on the couch. I laugh as I clean a wine glass. “Like Morgan asked earlier, would you ever turn one of us?” Spencer asked, turning to me. “Spence hypothetically if we're talking about you The answer is no. I’d rather stake myself with a White Oak stake than turn you into a vampire.” I say staring up at him. “You don’t think I’ll make a good vampire?” Spencer says jokingly, stepping towards me. “You would probably cry feeding off of something.” I admit hugging him. I feel him laugh as he wraps his arms around me. We stand for a moment before Spencer lets me go. “So what happened in 1384?” He asks, crossing his arms. I groan at his question. “I will kill Klaus for bringing that up again.” I say laughing as Spencer joins in laughing too.

[sepublic]

Lilith’s Wasted Effort

           Honestly, I just FEEL for Lilith! I feel bad for her, like… This lady’s entire life, ever since that fateful night she cursed her sister, has been nothing but regret! Nothing but her desperately trying to undo her greatest mistake, to get back her sister… Like, Lilith must’ve wasted decades of her life, in her attempt to compensate for her biggest regret.

           The thing is, she was a child. She was dumb and stupid, she thought the curse would only last for a day and only weaken Eda’s magic. It’d be like an AU for Really Small Problems, where after King accidentally shrinks Willow and Gus, they die by some horrific accident! Obviously there’s a bit more lenience to King since he didn’t intend to shrink them, not to mention Tibbles (I mean Obvioso) dropped the potion into his hands, and King was fully under the impression it’d wear off, and had seen an actual demonstration beforehand to reassure him.

           But still- Can you imagine if Luz found out? Or if she didn’t, and then King spent the rest of his life, desperately trying to make up for the blood on his hands, perhaps even resorting to necromancy, or creating a false Willow and Gus… Or worse, it’s Luz who dies?! It’s just pitiable for Lilith… She really was looking forward to joining the Emperor’s Coven, but her one dream in life and she can’t even enjoy it, she throws the rest of her existence towards curing Eda’s curse, only to find out that it’s too late, there’s nothing she can do about it…!

           And obviously- Even if Lilith hadn’t cursed Eda, their separation would’ve been inevitable. Eda would’ve still defied the Coven System and become a Wild Witch, Lilith would’ve fallen for Belos’ propaganda. But that’s also precisely why Lilith’s situation is all the more sadder… That even if she had invested decades of her life to curse the curse, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Eda would still defy Belos and be disappointed in Lilith for supporting the Coven System… And sure, Lilith would at least alleviate her greatest regret, right?

           But the thing is… I think the curse is Lilith’s greatest regret because she blames it for driving a rift between her and Eda… And obviously the genuine harm it plays into Eda’s life and wellbeing is ALSO a concern, don’t get me wrong! But in the end, even if Eda was suffering, at least they’d be together… Being apart was the worst part to Lilith, I feel. It’s genuinely sad; How Lilith was but a child who made an almost silly mistake, but because of her regret she dedicated thirty-or-so years of her life… Lilith cast aside any attempts at being her own person, at enjoying herself, and wasted away in trying to undo the curse.

           Lilith had a bright future ahead of her… Or maybe not. This IS the Emperor’s Coven after all… If she didn’t have the curse weighing on her mind, would Lilith have become fully-indoctrinated into Belos’ cause? Or would its absence force Lilith to acknowledge that the rift between her and Eda was an ideological one, one that came as a result of Eda’s voluntary and willing disagreement with the Coven System… Perhaps THEN, she would’ve realized how harmful Belos really is, and Lilith could’ve abandoned the Emperor’s Coven much sooner. After all, part of her motivation to stay in the Emperor’s Coven after that fateful duel may have been to find a cure for Eda, with access to the best resources in the Boiling Isles… Not to mention, the shame and guilt of cursing Eda could’ve made it hard for Lilith to bear being next to her sister.

           If Lilith hadn’t cursed Eda, perhaps she would’ve realized, so much earlier on, how toxic the Coven System was. Maybe she would’ve rejected the Emperor’s Coven, perhaps as early as her twenties, and moved in with Eda… Then the two sisters could’ve been happy. Lilith could’ve instead invested her energy not towards slaving to some dictator, or trying to desperately undo a permanent curse; But instead use that time and energy to build other meaningful relationships, discover herself, forge her own identity… And just BE an actual person for once! Lilith could’ve been happy…

           That’s what Lilith’s life, post-curse comes across to me… Wasted. Wasted time, wasted energy and effort. Time that could’ve been dedicated towards anything meaningful and productive, anything that could’ve made Lilith happy and grow as a person… But instead, she maddeningly dedicated herself to undoing the curse, to trying to get back to a past that became more and more idealized, more and more out-of-touch with what really happened. Instead of making a new, better future and life for herself, Lilith wasted decades in mental and emotional debt to her greatest regret.

          Did Lilith, in dark moments of her life, ever get jealous of Eda again? Did she ever become jealous of Eda, without even meaning to, for getting to be so carefree? While Lilith wastes away taking care of her, by making up for her mistake with the curse all those years... Eda gets to actually grow up and outpaces her sister in terms of development- And this rather literally can be seen through Eda physically aging faster than Lilith, BECAUSE of the curse that Lilith cast! Because in the end, Lilith only has herself to blame for this, right? 

          And as Lilith looks back on the mental prison she’s built for herself, is she ever envious of Eda for getting to be her own person in the meantime, getting to build her own identity and connections? Angry that her younger sister, as always, gets to go ahead while Lilith is left behind, too busy working and taking care of her to have fun- That Eda’s carefree life comes at Lilith’s expense?! Hence why Lilith feels entitled to at least some reception on Eda’s part for all of her hard work, because Eda doesn’t realize Lilith is making up for the curse, so surely her effort comes across as more unconditional? 

         So why is Edalyn so ungrateful, acting like Lilith clearly isn’t trying!? Does Lilith think that Eda’s current, carefree happiness in life should be Lilith’s happiness (or least Eda AND Lilith’s), just as the Emperor’s Coven position should’ve been Lilith’s from the beginning- That maybe Eda is taking the life Lilith should’ve been owed from her! Why is Eda being so greedy, always taking from her, always asking for MORE, as if she doesn’t have it all- Why can’t she leave something for her older sister, who isn’t as talented or confident!?

         And then Lilith thinks, that the curse was cast specifically BECAUSE of this, as if this is Eda’s fault... Only for Lilith to remind herself that, NO, this isn’t Eda’s fault, Eda is also dealing with the curse, she’s just as imprisoned as Lilith? And yet in the end... Lilith is right, Eda IS more free than her! No matter what Lilith does to reassure herself, her own life in the Emperor’s Coven is indeed worse than Eda’s seemingly ‘backwards’ situation as a wanted criminal, because at least Eda gets to learn and grow and be her own person, and EMBRACE that...!

           And can Lilith even call herself free, now? She finally took on the curse… The sad thing is that Lilith could’ve easily taken the curse and shared it with Eda, so much earlier… But she never did, because in the end, Lilith also had her other insecurities and regrets, her issues with failing to recognize Eda’s actual motives. What’s worse, Eda lost all of her magic, when beforehand she was merely inhibited, but stillthe most powerful Witch in the Boiling Isles! And THAT was Lilith’s fault, directly… Because she was terrified of Belos, and resentful of Eda for not being with her. So she hurt Luz, and forced Eda to use up all of her remaining magic in the process…

           So even in her attempts to cure the curse, to undo it… Lilith made things worse. Somehow, she made them even worse, and now HER magic is limited as well! But to someone as self-loathing as Lilith, that may as well be one of the few good things that came from this recent mess of events… Or not, because Lilith is no doubt struggling with productively handling her regret now. Now, she’s forcing herself to not wallow in self-pity, and make things better… But then that acknowledges her own pain from the curse as a BAD thing, and like with Amity, it’d be so much easier if it was secretly a good thing, that Lilith just deserved this all along and there would be some justice in the world if she was suffering!

           But Lilith’s suffering won’t accomplish anything. In the end, all she can do is focus on healing Eda… But can she still trust herself? Because she spent decades of her life trying to cure the curse, and all it did was result in Eda and Lilith losing their magic! Eda completely losing hers, in fact…

           And yet, DID Lilith actually work? Because she never did try to share the curse with Eda, not from the beginning. And that is also a horrific realization; That she wasted so many years of her life when she could’ve easily just shared the curse with Eda from the beginning. It wouldn’t exactly erase what had happened, but it would’ve led to a more repaired relationship, and perhaps Lilith confessing earlier than she did… And maybe, it would’ve led to Eda and Lilith fully recovering. Perhaps Eda wouldn’t have lost her magic, and with only half a curse, she could be strong enough to take on Emperor Belos himself! Who can say…

           So, not only did Lilith waste years of her life working to undo the curse… But in the end, the solution was right in front of her! And she’d willingly ignored it…! And even if the curse HAD been shared, would Lilith have done the right thing and continued to support Eda, or would she still have tried to be with the Emperor’s Coven? Perhaps with half a curse, she’d have been rejected and forced to confront the truth of the corrupt system…

           Alas. Lilith is a character who is fundamentally built on wasted potential; On what could have been, but never was! She could’ve been an actual person, she could’ve fixed her mistakes and owned up to them, she could’ve maintained a loving bond with her sister… But she didn’t. She could’ve had it all, really… But now she has nothing. Lilith is alone, she has no identity nor sense of self, and she’s lost so many years of her life that she’s not going to get back, a youth and glory days that were thrown aside.

           Lilith could’ve been so much more, but instead she’s just nothing. And while Belos and his sickening system and environment that enables and encourages people to suffer like this is ALSO to blame, as is the sicko who sold a curse to a child… In the end, the most tragic part is that this was SO easily avoidable. That each mistake that Lilith kept on making, she could’ve easily fixed or at least mended. She could’ve chosen NOT to curse Eda… She could’ve chosen to share the curse… And so on, and so forth.

           And no matter HOW horrible Lilith was, I don’t think anybody deserves that, to be so miserable, to invest so much effort for nothing, to realize how STUPID you were… To live in such utter regret, to waste so much of your life and existence, to lose all meaning… To lose so many wonderful opportunities because you were desperately focused on something else! And now that Lilith is finally free… Does she ask herself if it was worth it? Perhaps she should’ve kept to that dark place she once was in… Because she was already too far-gone. Because maybe if she’d kept trying, EVENTUALLY the effort would become worth it, because finally changing your heart would mean admitting it was all for naught, and it would mean finalizing the reality that you’d wasted so many years.

           It’s like a gambler who keeps spending money, more and more, in the pitiful hopes of a lottery ticket! Because they’ve already LOST so much money beforehand, if they quit now, then it was all for nothing! But if they keep going… Then maybe they can make up for all of it, and won’thave been for naught! I low-key think that’s how Lilith operated, it’s why she spent so many years trying to cure the curse while at the same time avoiding accountability. In the end, she just keeps digging herself deeper and deeper… Which just ties into my past analysis, about Lilith being associated with Earth; Not just because of that metaphor, but also as someone who is a bird of a feather who can’t fly after the other… As someone stuck in her ways. As a person who has no identity but the one in association with someone else; Because in the end, Earth is Belos’ element. What identity that Lilith DOES have, what little she built, was all entirely the work and result of someone else.

           Lilith was in a dark pit. She hit rock bottom, then grabbed a shovel and began tunneling. Years wasted in the darkness, digging deeper and deeper in hopes of striking that hidden treasure, because giving up means it was all worthless and a waste of time and effort… But never actually finding that goal!

           …Until, a light comes into her life. A light illuminates Lilith’s life, and forces her to look around and realize where she’s gotten herself into. To realize just how AWFUL this situation is, a Light that reveals to Lilith the truth, that it isn’t going to get any better until she starts climbing upwards… Like her protege Amity, Lilith needs to learn not to be so hard on herself; Or at least divert more of that energy into actually fixing things.

           Luz Noceda is the Light that changed SO many lives. Lilith was on a trajectory, one heading further and further into the darkness until she’d lose sight of herself and be too far disconnected from the world above, where Eda was; But Luz’s Light showed her the path. It helped Lilith navigate back the way she came, back to where she started…

           And when Lilith arrives back where she started, perhaps, THEN, she can start on a new path. Because even if the beginning is nothing, at least from nothing, Lilith can start anew. She can start forging a different path, a productive one… And as scary as it is, resetting all of that past progress, it allows Lilith to make room to start anew. Luz’s Light and the beating of an Owl’s wings changed the air currents, altering Lilith’s trajectory. Now, after all this time…

           She’s free. And instead of destroying herself, Lilith can actually starting making something new…

           Luz saved her- That’s what that wonderful girl does. She saves people. This girl is Hope incarnate.

[smilebouquet]

somewhere to go, someone to love

my secret santa gift (@ducktalessecretsanta2020) for @kvanderquack!! i’m sorry for tagging again after i already sent my gift via dm-

also on ao3!!

––––––––––

For as long as Lena lived (all fifteen years), she’d always been alone. She was born alone on the heights of Mount Vesuvius, from the remnants of her Aunt Magica’s shadow. She travelled to Duckburg alone, with no one to keep her company other than the voices in her head and the harsh whispering of her shadow. She bore the brunt of Magica’s lashings and whining alone, hurt and angry and bitter.

A happy family felt like such a foreign concept to her. Magica was always her one and only kin, the only person who had a connection to her. And she hated every second of it. If having just one aunt was so exhausting, imagine having two aunts. Imagine three. Criticizing your every move. Yelling at you for screwing up. Demanding nothing but obedience and respect and returning none of it. 

Lena didn’t think she would be able to take it. Family just didn’t sound like something she’d like.

That’s what she thought, anyway, until the Sabrewings took her in.

––––––––––

1.

Lena can’t sleep.

Or to be exact, she can’t sleep peacefully. Ever since she came back to the land of the living, she’s been having dreams. Dreams where she found herself running from her. Into the woods, where the screeching of bats rang in the air, and the ground was muddy and made each consecutive step heavy. Or within a mansion suspiciously similar to Scrooge’s, her voice bouncing off the walls and getting closer and closer until they were literally screaming into her ears. She could do nothing but run.

She never dared to look back, but Lena always managed to glimpse her in the corner of her eye. The swish of a velvety black cape. A gloved hand, reaching out to snatch her. A flash of purple magic. 

Lena always manages to wake up before Magica could grab her and do god-knows-what. She would always be grateful for the fact that she awoke easily. But every dream ended in To Be Continued — never The End — and Lena didn’t want to know what The End would look like, because she has the sinking feeling that it won’t be a Happily Ever After.

Tonight is no different. She’s staring up at the ceiling of Violet’s room, letting the muffled snores of her roommate fill the still air. It’s getting increasingly hard to stay awake, and she isn’t sure how much longer she can take it.

Sighing, she rolls out of bed and leaves the room, making sure the door creaked as quietly as possible and that it clicked shut. She heads down the stairs and into the living room. A bookshelf stands in the corner, filled with all sorts of books from encyclopedias to photography books.

Lena instinctively grabs a cookbook (and accidentally knocks off a few more, but she’ll deal with them later) from the second topmost shelf. Yellow sticky notes jut out of the pages, all written on with dark purple ink. Walking into the kitchen adjacent, she flicks on the light, then flips the book open. Vanilla Cake, reads the title in big bold letters, followed by the exact quantity of ingredients needed and the instructions on how to bake one.

This should keep her up until tomorrow.

"...Lena? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

She freezes. Ty is standing at the door, a wooden baseball bat loosely held in his grip. He chucks it aside and steps into the kitchen.

"Hey." She waves half-heartedly with a sheepish smile. "I, uh, couldn't sleep."

"And you're in the kitchen with a cookbook, why?"

Because Aunt Magica haunts my dreams every night and I don’t wanna deal with it anymore?

“...I wanted to do something nice for my friends for once, so I thought baking a cake for our sleepover would be neat?”

Ty’s gaze flickers between Lena and the clock currently showing 12:59. He pinches the area between his eyes. “Lena, it’s late. I think you should go to bed—”

“No!” He flinches. Lena’s eyes widen. “I mean— no, I can’t go to bed until I finish this cake!” she backtracks, her voice cracking. Her heart is pounding. She can't go to sleep, she can't...! “If you help me, I’ll go to bed sooner! Maybe!”

Ty scratches the back of his head. “Well, Indy’s the dad who bakes, not me... but I suppose I can try.”

Relief washes over her. She flashes him a tired smile, handing him a bowl and some measuring cups. “Thanks.”

––––––––––

2.

“We’re back!” 

Indy looks up from the couch. “Welcome back. How was your sleepover?”

“Pleasant,” Violet replies, already halfway up the stairs. “Ate some cake. Played a video game. Saved Lena from getting dragged into a mirror and possibly losing her within a lucid dream to the witch responsible for the shadow war several months ago. The usual.”

“Sounds nice,” Indy remarks. Then did a double take. “Wait, what?”

Ty laughs, following after Violet. “It’s a long story. Took the whole car ride for them to finish telling it.” Indy glares after him, but shrugs and returns to his book.

Lena drops her own bag on the floor and flops onto the couch with a heavy sigh. She could shower or whatever later. Right now she just wanted to rest.

“Long day?” Indy asks, barely moving from his position on the right side of the couch.

“Kinda. I’ve been through worse, though.”

There's a beat of silence.

The unspoken Like what? hangs over her head uncomfortably. Is this the part where she spills her entire life story? Should she play it off as a joke? Would it be wise to pretend she hadn’t said anything? She can feel Indy’s stare on her shoulder, burning like a pair of red-hot lasers—

He either noticed her discomfort, or is really good at reading minds, because he hums quietly and says, “You don’t have to elaborate.”

“...Ah. Right. Okay.” She sits upright, then lets out a short laugh. Her eyes wander over to Indy, who’s still reading his book with a content look on his face. “What is that?”

Indy shows her the book. There’s a bunch of pictures of Violet, Ty and Indy together. “It’s one of the family photo albums,” he explains. “Photography is one of my hobbies.”

Lena grunts in response, then peers at the photos more closely. “Is that Violet in the library?”

“Oh, that’s from the first time we visited the public library together. We had just moved into Duckburg, and wanted to do a little sightseeing. Violet insisted that we check out the library. That girl always did love reading. She gets it from Ty…”

They spend the rest of the hour looking through the photo album together. There’s a surprising amount of photos in this one tiny album, each preserving a special memory that Indy knows by heart and tells Lena about with nothing but fondness. She now knows that Violet used to take ballet classes (and hated it), has won at least two national spelling bees by the age of six, and is part of the Junior Woodchucks.

Photos from before Violet was born are also in it, located near the end of the album. Indy tells Lena that he first met Ty at a college entrance exam. They had entered the building at the same time, and Ty thought it would be neat to strike a conversation with him. They hit it off pretty much immediately, but forgot to ask for each other’s phone numbers before they went their separate ways.

“But you’re married now?!” Lena blurts out, jumping from the cough to point a shaky finger at him. “How?!”

He chuckles. “We met again at a supermarket several months later, I believe, reaching for the same can of beans. Ty’s first words to me ever since were ‘Holy shit, you like beans, too?!’ This time we remembered to exchange contact information, and here we are ten years later.”

“I— Wow.” Lena sits back down. “Some luck you have.”

“I wouldn’t call it luck,” he admits. His fingers gently caressing the old photo of them. “I like to think of it as fate. If we’re meant to be together, life will find a way to get us together.”

(Lena thinks about Webby.

She thinks about their “chance” meeting at the amphitheater.

She thinks about how she almost lost Webby by sacrificing herself to protect her.

She thinks about how lucky she had been that Violet was there in the library that day, reading a nerdy old book.

She inwardly decides that Indy is probably right.)

Once they reach the end of the album, Indy moves to close it. The corners of several photographs stick out from the side. Lena blinks.

“And those are?”

He looks down. “Oh.” Tucking them back in, he replies, “Those are some of the newer photographs. Haven’t gotten a new album for them yet, so I keep them here for the time being.” His fingers drum on the hard cover. “Come to think of it, I don't have any pictures with you yet. We’ll need to remedy that.”

“Hm, why?”

“You’re family, after all. I think you deserve a spot in the photo album.”

Family. She’s family. The thought of it makes her heart flutter.

It takes her a minute to realize Indy stopped talking, and is looking at her with the slightest hint of hesitation in his expression.

She beams at him. “That would be nice. You should get a new album first, though.” As if on cue, a photograph falls out. She picks up. “Hey, what about this one?” Indy lights up, and starts going into a tangent about the one time they lost Violet at Duckburg’s largest department store. As he does, she zones out for a bit, testing the name.

‘Lena Sabrewing’, huh…  She can feel her smile widening.  Sounds way cooler than Lena de Spell.

––––––––––

3.

This is terrible, Lena concludes.

They’re on the way to the Junior Woodchuck Campgrounds for Violet’s upcoming graduation. She’s a little hazy on the details, but she does know that each year only one senior junior woodchuck can become a senior woodchuck (“That’s dumb! Why can’t you all just become senior woodchucks?!” “Don’t question it, Lena.”), they decide who graduates with some sort of obstacle course, and Violet’s opponent this year is likely going to be Huey.

Lena also knows that the campgrounds are located waaaay out on some island in the middle of nowhere, and if she sees another “NOW LEAVING DUCKBURG” sign she’s going to lose it. She lets out a groan as she slides farther down her seat, watching the pine trees blur into a strip of green on the landscape. “Hey, Vi, how much longer ‘til we’re there?”

No answer.

“Vi?”

Again, no answer. Lena knows that Violet has a tendency to be quiet during car rides, preferring to admire the scenery as they drive, but Violet should’ve at least spared her a grunt at this point.

She decides to turn and look at her. Violet is staring at her lap, perfectly still. Her fists are clenched so tightly she can see the white knuckles beneath her purple feathers, and they’re trembling.

“Vi, what’s wrong...?” Lena begins to ask, and then immediately Indy’s voice from before echoes in her head.

“Third time’s the charm, right Vi?”

The gears click into place. Oh.

She inches closer to Violet’s side — as much as she can with her seatbelt on, anyway — and reaches out to place a comforting hand over Violet’s. The hummingbird looks up.

“Hey,” Lena says, “you’ll be okay. You’re the best nerd I’ve ever know. What’s Huey got, his stupid guidebook? You’ve got this.”

“Actually, the Junior Woodchuck Wilderness Challenge prohibits use of the guidebook,” Violet corrects, then sighs. “Sorry. I know you’re trying to comfort me, but I…” She trails off. “I know failing is natural, but it still terrifies me every single time.”

Silence.

Indy, from the passenger seat, pipes up, “Violet, you know that just being willing to go back and try again is… really brave, right? Yeah, failure is inevitable, and very terrifying, but not a lot of people are able to bounce back from it like you do.”

“What Indy said.” Ty peers at them from the rearview mirror and gives them a thumbs up. “We love you no matter what, and I bet you’re gonna crush the competition this year.”

“Yeah! What they said! You’re Violet Sabrewing. You brought me back from the Shadow Realm. If you can do that, you can do anything!”

Violet stares at her for a moment, then Indy, then Ty. Her eyes are glassy. She opens her fist to hold Lena’s hand and squeezes it weakly.

“Thanks,” she whispers, with a smile that doesn’t exactly reach her eyes.

...At least she’s smiling a little. Lena frowns, but gets an idea. She leans forward to ask Ty, “By the way, how long until we get there?”

“Five hours, I think,” Indy answers.

“FIVE HOURS?!” She can feel a vein pop in her head. Five hours. Five. Hours. It feels like she’s been in this stinkin’ car for decades already. Well, no matter.

She turns to Violet. “Alright, since we’re basically stuck here, why don’t I teach you how to smacktalk?”

Violet raises an eyebrow, clearly unamused. “Is that really necessary? Also, I doubt Hubert would appreciate—”

“Of course it is! And of course he won’t. You can’t have a healthy rivalry without a little back and forth! Where’s the fun in that?! Now, the key to good smacktalk is...”

She spends the rest of the ride lecturing Violet on the essentials of smacktalk (read: making most of it up as she went). As they drove, Violet’s shoulders began to relax and she allowed herself to laugh more, and Lena felt more at ease than she had in a while.

––––––––––

4.

Lena wakes up with a gasp. Frantically, she feels around. Her arms are intact. Her legs are still here. Nothing hurts. Phantom Blot isn’t here. Okay. It was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream.

“Lena?”

“Vi?” Lena calls, but it sounds more like a choked sob. She’s suddenly acutely aware of the tears messing up her feathers and her pounding heart.

Violet sits up. “Another nightmare?” she asks, her voice quiet. Lena nods. She gets up from bed and leaves the room. Lena sits in the darkness, her hands gripping her knees tightly. Breathe in, breathe out.

Violet returns with a tall glass of water and hands it to her. Lena takes it and brings the glass to her beak. The water is cool and soothing.

“They’ve become increasingly frequent. Shouldn’t we talk to our fathers about this?”

“No,” Lena says immediately, finishing her glass and setting it on the night table with shaky hands. “I don’t want them to get worried.” 

Violet gives her a glare that pierces even in the dark, then sighs.

“Very well.”

✿ — ✿ — ✿

On Christmas Day, Lena wakes up to Violet dumping a bucket of cold water over her.

“Merry Christmas.”

“Ack—! Violet, what the hell?!”

“Apologies,” Violet says, her tone betraying her words. She’s already dressed in a plain cream turtleneck. “You wouldn’t wake up no matter what I did.” She tugs at her sleeve. “Now, come. Fathers are already in the living room. You were literally the last to awaken.” Without waiting for a response, she drags her out of the room and down the stairs.

The living room feels… warmer than usual. There are string lights, giving out a gentle multicoloured glow, both around the Christmas Tree and hung up along the walls. Someone took the time to hang a wreath on every door in the house, each covered in mini ornaments and topped with a red bow. The bright orange fire in the fireplace is crackling.

Ty and Indy are already waiting, wearing matching Christmas sweaters. “Merry Christmas!” they greet, pulling the two girls into a hug. 

“Merry Christmas,” Lena says back before pulling away. The cheeriness of the season was beginning to catch up to her. “So! What do we do first?”

“Well, the presents are under the tree but maybe eat breakfast first—”

Lena was gone the moment Ty said ‘presents’. She rushes to the tree and begins checking the tags for her name. Not that there are that many presents to check. Violet follows soon after with a much calmer demeanor.

She ends up with a limited edition of The FeatherWeights’ newest album from Ty and Indy (“How did you know they’re my favourite band?!” “Your shirt is all we needed to clue us in.”) and an exact replica of the Caw-nverse shoes she loves wearing. Violet receives two books — an encyclopedia the thickness of one and a half dictionaries about magic and a thinner book called Tales of the Peculiar.

She’s ready to head off to the dining table to eat when Violet stops her. 

“Wait.” She pulls out a neatly wrapped present from her pocket and holds it out to Lena. “Here.”

“Wh— But I didn’t get you anything!”

“It’s okay.” Violet shoves the present into her hands. “Just take it.” Lena peers at her suspiciously before tearing the wrapping paper clean off and opening the box.

A dreamcatcher. The hoop used is a nice beige, and a flower-like design had been woven within it with colourful threads. White feathers suspended from twine, with beads adorning the strands at intervals, are attached to the hoop. Lena dangles the dreamcatcher above the box and looks at Violet questioningly.

“It may not be as beneficial as actual therapy since I couldn’t infuse it with any magic, but it should help keep the bad dreams at bay,” Violet explains. “Probably. I made it myself so it might not work.”

Lena stares at the dreamcatcher again. Upon closer inspection, the feathers and beads appear to be glued to the twine, and the twine was wound imperfectly around the base of the hoop. The flower design is also uneven, having slightly larger ‘petals’ on one side. She feels herself tear up. “Violet. This is the sweetest thing you’ve ever done for me.”

“I can’t believe saving you from roaming in the shadow realm for all of eternity isn’t the sweetest thing I've ever done for you,” Violet replies, completely deadpan. But the corners of her beak are twitching upwards.

“You wanted to summon evil spirits! I was a byproduct. It doesn’t count,” Lena jokes, putting the dreamcatcher away. She envelopes her in a crushing hug. “Thank you.” Her voice is wobbling. “This is just— It must’ve taken ages. Now I feel even worse for not getting you anything.”

Violet hugs her back just as tightly. “You’re welcome. Just make sure you get me my own personal library next year.”

As if your room isn’t filled with enough books as is, Lena thinks, but she can’t help but laugh.

Ty clears his throat. “This is great, but it’s already nine and you girls haven’t even had breakfast yet, so chop chop! We’ve got a whole day ahead of us.”

(They end up at the ice rink, where Lena learns that she’s actually terrible at ice skating. Violet offers to teach her like the Samaritan she is, but doesn’t hesitate to throw jabs at her incompetence. Fortunately, she’s not the only one who’s suffering, if Indy’s screaming and Ty’s guffawing are any indications.)

––––––––––

In the first fifteen years of her life, Lena had been alone with no one to turn to. Being part of a happy family felt like something out of a movie or fairy tale. Happiness seemed like an unreachable dream.

But within two years, she found a best friend in Webby, a sister in Violet, and two dads in Ty and Indy. She found a family to call her own, one that loved her and made her feel good about herself. She was finally content.

The dreamcatcher and family photo hanging above her bed would need to be pried from her cold, dead hands.

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Higurashi Gou Ep16

I know I’ve said this before, but I hope everyone who complained about the first half of Gou not being gory enough is happy now, lmao.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut [plus some spoilers for Umineko, probably]

I probably should have expected this episode to be even more brutal than the last one after how suspiciously happy the preview images were, but I don’t think anyone could have guessed just how this was gonna go.

There’s a lot to say about the plot of this episode and what it says about the overall mystery, but one way or another most people’s reactions to this inevitably tie back to the question of how appropriate the horror content and it’s framing was, so I may as well give my two cents on that first.

Basically I thought it was fine, lol. It served a very clear purpose. It’s entirely valid for people to genuinely dislike it or want to skip it, but the very fact that it caused such a strong reaction in people is kinda also the entire reason why the scene existed. And why all of the other notably violent parts of the whole franchise existed in the first place. So at some point it kinda just feels like the whole argument is about the merits and ethics of gory horror in general, especially when it happens to children, which is it’s own whole broader topic.

Either way, I think it’s interesting how this whole episode’s approach to horror contrasts with the last episode, and how they both set out to do similar but different things. Ep15 was about brief flashes of intense, shocking violence to create a sense of suffocating confusion and isolation, and to hammer in the fact that Rika is truly stuck in an eternal loop of death, while this episode was more about one act of violence being dragged out over a horrifically long time that makes it feel more like outright torture than just murder.

It’s also kinda interesting that it was themed around the ritualistic murder of the Watanagashi festival, since this is the first time in Gou we’ve actually seen it like this.

Anyway, even though this episode feels like it basically laid out the entire story, I still feel a bit skeptical about a lot of it, lol. It feels almost too good to be true, with how thoroughly everything seemed to get laid out, and we already know that we have like eight whole episodes left to the show. So I doubt things are that simple.

It at least comes across now like this whole loop is Satoko torturing Rika as punishment for leaving the village, after probably getting time looping powers by someone who at least claims to be Oyashiro-sama, but even if we take all that at face value, I don’t think it answers everything about the story. If anything, Satoko’s side of the story makes it sound more like she’s being used as the tool of a greater mastermind, and we also already saw in this episode how she was going L5 in her own way, so she doesn’t exactly seem like she’s entirely in charge of the situation.

If she’s at least telling the truth about everything, and she really did start this loop after watching Rika leave the village as a teenager, I guess what probably happened is that Lambda decided to give Satoko her blessing by posing as Oyashiro-sama, as a way to ultimately get Rika/Bern trapped in the loop again. I still think it might be kinda unsatisfying if that’s basically all the culprit’s motive boils down to, but I do like the idea of this tying in Lambda as well.

I do think that Satoko probably really has been looping this whole time, and been the one to set up at least most of the new tragedies, but a lot of it still feels kinda iffy to me. For one thing, in this episode she seemed to have no problem with killing Rika herself, which seems to disprove the idea that Satoko might have been making different people go L5 in order to avoid being discovered by Rika. Even if she only changed her methods after Rika started being able to remember her deaths, this episode still happens well after that point, so if Satoko’s aware of all that, she doesn’t seem to mind having Rika remember being killed by her. So it makes me wonder why exactly she’d bother going out of her way to make random people go L5 if she could just do it herself this whole time. There’s always the option of ‘Lambda/Oyashiro-sama told her to do it that way’, but that’d just be kinda lame, lol.

It also makes me think again about Satoko’s suspicion toward Keiichi in Watadamashi, and how even after Rika died she ended up going to the Sonozaki estate and dying for some reason or another. If Satoko was responsible for Rika’s death in that arc, and her whole goal is just to punish her, I don’t really get why she’d bother trying to pin the blame on Keiichi afterward, and what reason she’d have to go to the Sonozaki estate afterward. I also still doubt that Satoko could have even killed Rika in that arc, since she was playing dodgeball with some of the other kids [and maybe Keiichi as well between episodes], who could have all said so if she had just randomly left to go kill Rika in the middle of their game.

It just feels like her whole goal should have already been fulfilled by that point in Watadamashi if she’s the one that killed Rika, and she shouldn’t have had any reason to bother with anything else afterward. Even if she tried to blame Keiichi for it just to direct the immediate blame off of herself, I really don’t see why she would have bothered going to the Sonozaki estate. Unless it was literally just some random unfortunate coincidence like what happens to Satoko in Watanagashi/Meakashi, I guess.

I also have to wonder what reason she’d have in Tataridamashi to lead Keiichi to her house to get attacked/murdered if her whole goal is just to punish Rika. A lot of her actions in that arc in general are just kinda weird, if you assume that she is indeed the main culprit.

Onidamashi is also kinda interesting, since there’s no real reason to assume that she had much of any involvement in like 99% of what actually happened in that arc. In theory she could have been pushing Rena to go L5 behind the scenes, but with how closely that whole arc seemed to mirror Tsumihoroboshi, I don’t think she even really needed to go out of her way to make things end up the way they did. Which makes the idea of her involvement in that arc seem kinda irrelevant at the end of the day.

It seems pretty likely at this point that she killed Rika at the end of the arc, but that also just happened at literally the last minute, and we can only guess how exactly what whole scene must have played out. The murder method is at least different to the one in this episode. I’ve seen some speculation that maybe Satoko tried to talk things out with Rika and things just went really badly, and that ended up being the start of Satoko getting more and more violent with her methods, which might make sense.

I just can’t help but feel like there’s more to the mysteries going on than just what we got shown in this episode, especially since we don’t know what exactly the deal is with Satoko getting divine messages from Oyashiro-sama. It just feels like there’s a higher mastermind manipulating things.

There’s also still the whole question of why the statue seems to be in a different state to how it was in the VN, and why the sword got stolen from it. It’d be easy enough to explain how Satoko could know about the statue and how to access it, but nothing she said here indicated anything to do with that. Her motives seem to be entirely about punishing Rika for leaving the village, so I’m not sure about the idea of her going back in time to avoid breaking the hand on the statue to avoid getting cursed by Oyashiro-sama.

It also sticks out to me even more after this episode that the sword hasn’t actually been used for anything, in spite of clearly being stolen by someone. If the culprit wanted to use it for ritualistic murdering purposes, this would have been the perfect opportunity for that, but Satoko just used the ceremonial hoe thing from the festival.

I also doubt that Satoko would even know anything about the sword and it’s purpose. It could just be another case of ‘the real mastermind is telling her what to do’, but there’s nothing concrete to really point at that.

Even though I could see Lambda being behind this, I’m also still really suspicious of Hanyuu. She’s basically the only person we’ve seen who actually talks about knowing what the sword is, and it’s entirely possible that she was the one to reach out to Satoko instead, considering that Satoko said that she was contacted by Oyashiro-sama, who we already know is more or less Hanyuu. I can at least imagine how this might be some elaborate move on Hanyuu’s part to try and bring Rika back into the village to stay with her longer. But who knows.

Anyway, the whole debate introduced in this episode of whether or not Rika should leave the village, and how it was a ‘sin’ for her to want to leave, reminds me a lot of basically everything from Umineko, with Battler constantly struggling with the question of whether or not to give into the idea of witches existing, and the mystery of what his sin was that he’s being punished for. But in a lot of ways this feels even more cruel than Umineko’s whole gameboard. Beatrice genuinely wanted to give Battler every opportunity to solve the mystery, and she set up the gameboard accordingly, but it feels like Gou’s whole ‘gameboard’ is just designed to beat Rika into submission in the most forceful way possible. The culprit doesn’t seem particularly interested in letting Rika ‘win’, they just seem to want to torture her for her sins.

The last episode was it’s own whole example of Gou feeling much more sadistic toward Rika than Umineko ever was toward Battler, but this episode’s loop seemed to take things another step further with having Rika get screwed over as soon as humanly possible. It’s not 100% clear, but it comes across to me like Rika literally woke up in that loop for the first time at the start of this episode when Satoko had already drugged and disemboweled her, which would really just go to show how Rika’s not being given any time at all to try and win. Matsuribayashi was described as a chess board where she got to start with all of her pawns advanced to the final row at the start of the game, but Gou is quickly feeling like a chess board where her king has been knocked out before she gets to make her first move.

I guess if the culprit’s motive really is just to torture Rika for her sins, it makes sense that they’re not even trying to make this into a ‘fair game’ of any kind, but it still feels noteworthy.

This episode also ends with Takano showing up to talk to Rika about stuff, so I guess that whole part of the plot is about to get delved into once and for all in the next episode, lol.

For better or worse this episode seems to confirm that Rika has remembered Takano’s whole role in things from the very start of Gou, but I still think that it’d be genuinely bad writing to have that be the case, and to then have her just . . . not act on any of that knowledge on-screen until now. With how much they’ve focused recently on Rika being completely confused about her situation and why people keep going L5 and killing her, it’s hard to imagine why she wouldn’t at least assume that Takano’s still behind it, and do SOMETHING to try and deal with her. But instead it just comes across like Rika’s spent this whole time being like ‘wow, I wonder why people keep going L5 unnaturally . . . . . where has this ever happened before . . . . . . . . guess I’ll just die lol’. At the end of the day I know it’d just be due to them not wanting to immediately spoil new fans about Takano, but if they were going to get to this sort of point anyway, it just seems like them hindering the storytelling for no good reason.

But that also just gets into the whole fact that trying to set this up like it’s a remake that’s accessible for new fans is ultimately kinda pointless since that’s turning out to not really be the case, so they could have just avoided issues like ‘Rika isn’t allowed to actually act upon any of her knowledge about the entire mystery and solution of the story because it’d be a spoiler for new fans’ by just committing to treating this as a sequel from the start.

Which is why I’ve been hoping that we’d find out that Rika actually hasn’t been aware of Takano’s whole deal this whole time, since it’d explain why she hasn’t acted upon it, but at this point I may as well accept defeat on that one, lol.

If the next episode does end up spelling out basically everything to do with Takano’s involvement in the plot, which seems to be what they’re setting up, I feel like it’ll be a real make or break point in terms of what Gou is even trying to be, and whether it’s writing decisions up to this point have been worth it, or if it’s been trying to have it’s cake and eat it too.

Anyway, since it’d be boring at this point to have Takano be the villain again, she’s probably going to be innocent this time around. Though I dunno if that’d be due to her having a genuine change of heart as a result of Matsuribayashi, like how Shion’s character development carried over after Meakashi, or if she’s just been getting stopped from completing her goal in each of Gou’s loops.

Mostly I just worry that she’ll wind up info-dumping lots of stuff on the audience that alienates new fans super hard by making it obvious that she used to be the villain, and she had her own entire character arc and stuff, but she’d already been dealt with and now things have changed and she’s on Rika’s side now. But I can’t really imagine how else it’d go.

One way or another it seems pretty likely that the next episode will be the end of the current loop, unless Nekodamashi is going to cover the entirety of this second cour. If we have another arc left after this, that’ll probably be it’s own loop. Which makes me wonder if anything that happens between Rika and Takano here would carry over into the next loop, or if she’ll just use the info she gets from Takano in this loop to do stuff in the next one.

I’m not even entirely sure what they could do with another whole seven episode arc after this one, since it kinda feels like we’re quickly barreling towards the endgame, lol. I’m still hoping that Gou gets into Rena and Shion’s backstories instead of just leaving them in the VN, but at this point I think the rest of the show is probably going to be centered more around Rika, Satoko, and Takano.

Also, since we have another whole eight episodes left to go, I’m pretty sure that the whole deal with Rika basically getting Stockholm Syndrome toward Hinamizawa isn’t the final message we’re going to leave on. It feels more like she’s giving into what the culprit wants, and Takano will probably end up motivating her to fight back against her fate.

I think it’s probably not going to be quite as black and white as ‘it’s entirely good that Rika wants to abandon Hinamizawa as soon as possible’, but I also don’t think it’s trying to push the idea that she deserves all this punishment just for wanting that. It feels more like Ange’s whole character arc in Umineko, and how she has to find a healthy balance between acknowledging the good parts of her family and also acknowledging their crimes. Rika has a lot of completely valid reasons for wanting to ditch the village as fast as possible, but Satoko probably still felt genuinely abandoned by her because of it, without Rika realizing how it’d affect her.

[rons-hermiones]

Come Find Me

by rons-hermiones

Summary: Unplanned, Hermione is forced to spend Christmas at the Burrow due to her grandmother falling very ill. After being ignored by Hermione for weeks, Ron is determined to show her how much she means to him. Just before he gets the chance to tell her, Bellatrix Lestrange shows up with other plans for Hermione. Can Ron get to her before it's too late? (Ron/Hermione Half-Blood Prince AU)

Rating: M for language & dark themes in later chapters.

Chapter Thirty Seven

“Ron?” A voice broke from the doorway. 

He glanced briefly but was sure to not loosen Hermione from his hold. 

“Ronnie,” Bill began in a soft tone, “I’m not sure if holding her like that is-” 

“She knows Bill.” He whispers before his brother can finish, “About her parents.” He tells, ignoring the cotton building in his throat. Instead he strokes her hair lovingly, eyes never leaving her still form. 

Bill looks at a loss for words, face scrunched in confusion, “What-how?”

He shrugs, “They must’ve told her… there.”

He steps closer to the bed, looking down at the teenagers, “but that means she remembers something then?” Bill tries hopefully. 

Ron sighs, “I wouldn’t call it a victory Bill.” His oldest brother looks guilty, “Anyway, it wasn’t much really, she asked for them, sort of, and then it’s like she could just read me and I couldn’t lie to her. Not again. Never again.” 

There’s a silence for a moment, “what do you mean ‘sort of’?” Bill wonders. 

He gulped, “it was like she couldn’t speak. Like everything that she tried to say- like it hurt her. Almost as if a first year tired casting a silencing charm.” 

His brother looks crestfallen, “I read it’s common for the Cruciatus-“

At this something roars within Ron. He doesn’t care what's common or whatever explanation because this was never supposed to happen. 

“I don’t bloody care!” He yelled, unknowingly making Hermione groan at his volume. 

Bill does notice. “Ronnie-“ he begins to warn. 

“No! None of this is normal! None of this was supposed to happen, and here you are-“

“S-st…”

He stops at her mummers.  His eyes flick to Bill’s whose own are full of pity. His heart aches knowing he caused this newfound discomfort at his burst of anger. 

Then her body gave a horrible twitch. 

Ron watched in horror as her lips upturned into a slight smile as she spoke clear as day. Except, she didn’t sound like Hermione. Not at all. 

“That’ll teach you to keep your mouth shut muddy!”

For a horrible moment he thought Bellatrix Lestrange polyjuiced into his Hermione. 

He knows this isn’t the case as she soon twitches again and silent tears streak her face. Her lips begin to quiver as her brow furrows, clearly showing how distressed she is. 

It makes him ill. 

Literally ill. 

Before he knows it he’s sprinting to the loo, a door in the corner of her room. He slides on his knees to the toilet, coughing up the bile and dry heaving after the fact. Hot tears stream his face from the discomfort of the action and fear for Hermione. 

Soon enough he feels a familiar hand rubbing circles on his back. 

Turning to his older brother he suddenly feels small again. Like a curious child wanting to know the inner workings of quidditch. Like he was completely innocent and oblivious to the world. 

“W-what was that?” Ron asks groggily, wiping at his mouth. 

Bill sighs and waves his wand, casting a cleansing charm on Ron. As he looks up from his work, his eyes become glassy after looking at his little brothers. 

“That was dark magic Ron.” He informed regretfully

Ron of course knew that Hermione had been affected horribly by many spells, jinxes, curses, and unforgivable, but he had yet to see the severity first hand and how it impacted her. 

It tore him up. 

After a moment Bill whispers something else. Something they’ve all been thinking, but aren’t brave enough to admit yet. 

“That's some of the darkest magic of all.” 

...

After the incident Ron joined Hermione’s side again. Watching over her as she slept, prepared for when she left the horrors of her mind, to the terrible reality of this world. One without her parents. One where she couldn’t perform magic. One where it seemed a part of her mind was inhabitated by Bellatrix Lestrange like a fucking parasite. 

He would kill the witch if it was the last thing he ever does. 

He’s broken from his angry thoughts when Bill saunters in, “I told the healer about what happened. Says he needs to check a few things out.” He said nervously. 

“Dunno how if they can’t use any bloody magic.” He grumbled. 

His older brother’s lip twitches, like he wants to smile but doesn’t know if it’s appropriate. “They said it could mean good things for her mind.” 

Ron just knew Bill wasn’t here for that, not after his explosion earlier. 

“Why are you here Bill?” He asks knowingly. 

He sighs, “Someone’s here to see you. He sent me to ask if he could come in.”

The younger of the two scrunches his brow. Surely his family, Harry, or Neville didn’t need his permission to come in and see him. He doesn’t own the bloody room. 

Bill breaks the silence, “I’ll send him in.” He said before vanishing out the door. 

“It’s a bit hypocritical isn’t it?” Ron whispers to Hermione once he’s sure no one can hear them. “I’m so effing annoyed everyone is treating me like I’m gonna lose it at any minute, but I reckon I’m doing the same to you. I just want you to be okay Mione.” His voice breaks. “I could give a shite less about me right now.” He whispers, stroking the back of her small hand with his thumb. 

“You have quite the colorful vocabulary Mr. Weasley.”

His head instantly whips around to the door at the voice. 

He internally groaned at who was standing there. Not really in the mood for cryptic riddles at the moment.

“I talked to Harry on my way in. He tells me you haven’t left this room.” Dumbledore points out, stepping further inside. 

“With all due respect sir, if you’re here to bring me back for a potions lesson, I’m not leaving.”

The old man chuckles, “That’s not what I’m here to do Ronald.”

“Then what are you here for?” He can’t help but ask. 

“To see you of course.” Dumbledore says without missing a beat. 

He can’t help but just stare at him in utter confusion. 

“I’ve heard a lot of things and I thought to myself, who better to ask about it than you?” 

“Well I’m not sure what you want to know sir.” 

“How is she?” The headmaster asks, stepping next to Ron’s chair. 

“Not great.” He says honestly. Someone like Harry or Ginny, he’s willing to try and spare their feelings. However, Dumbledore always knows the truth so there’s no way around it. “I can’t imagine the kind of pain she’s in- she knows about her parents, she can’t seem to escape, not even when she’s sleeping.” 

The old man sighs, “Our most haunting thoughts are those that come when we aren’t thinking.” He interjects. 

This is exactly what Ron did not want to deal with. 

“No you don’t understand,” He begins in a whisper, not wanting a repeat from earlier, “she- it was like she was possessed. It was like Bellatrix Lestrange was inside her head.” 

“She is.” Dumbledore said, like it was simple, like it wasn’t a problem. Sensing Ron’s unease he leans forward, “They all are now. Your job is to help direct Miss Granger to focus on which voices to listen to, which to drown out.” 

“So you’re saying her mind- it’s not okay?” 

“She’s just as sane as we are. The only difference between her and us Mr. Weasley, is that she has less to be sane about, or so she may think. That’s why she needs you.” 

Weasley groans, “Everyone’s talking like I’m this great almighty thing, like I can fix this.”

Slowly the old man shakes his head, “The only person who can truly fix this, is Hermione, but she won’t be able to do it alone. She needs all of you, she needs you, now more than she ever has. Always an independent one Miss Granger is. She’ll think she’s a burden, you’ll need to remind her she’s not.” 

“She isn’t.” Ron says suddenly. 

Dumbledore lets a ghost of a smile find it’s way across his aged face. 

“Hermione’s own worst enemy is herself.” He says before walking toward the door.

Thinking that was the end of that, Ron redirects his attention back to Hermione’s sleeping form, continuing to stroke the back of her hand tenderly. 

“Oh and on that thought about enemies,” Dumbledore begins from the doorway, making Ron turn, “always remember Mr. Weasley, those who you think may be your enemies, you may have more in common with then you once thought. Good day.”

If Ron has learned anything, it’s to never think about what Dumbeldore says too much, it just makes you barmy. Somehow, someway, it always goes back to something. 

But if the old man was implying Ron and Bellatrix or You-Know-Who were gonna sit down over tea and bond about the war, then he was truly mad. 

Choosing to ignore that part for now, he remembers what the Headmaster said about being there for Hermione. He would be until his dying breath. 

“It’s just me and you now Hermione.” He whispers softly. “No Death Eaters. No Lavender. No McLaggen. Just us.” He swears. 

“And I promise you this darling, I’ll never let anyone take that from us again.”

...

It wasn’t until hours later, hours left with nothing but his thoughts and whispered promises did Ron finally break from whatever daze he was in. 

“Here’s the wand back.” He heard a familiar voice from the hallway say. 

Quickly, he glanced at Hermione and noted her sleeping form. Slowly, he unraveled himself from her and stood up, doing his best to not go rushing back when she groaned at his absence. 

“I don’t understand…” Arthur began. 

At this, Ron crept closer behind the cracked door. Concealing his form behind the old wood. 

“The big guy told Kingsley to keep it hush hush within the Ministry for now. He thinks maybe if Hermione sees it, maybe even tries to use it-“ The youngest Weasley male cringes at the statement. Tonks seems to have caught herself as she stopped speaking. “Eventually.” She soon added, “then it may get her talking.”

No words were exchanged, but knowing his father to be a man of few words, he would bet he just nodded. 

“So it’s true then, she can’t speak?” The woman couldn’t help but ask quietly.  

Mr. Weasley sighed, “she’s been in and out. Ron has told me she can’t really string along a sentence, just words that are more like grumbles and she stutters. I witnessed it myself once, the act of talking for her seems so painful, like she’s scared.” 

He chooses to leave out the incident Bill told him about, not wanting to worry Tonks and The Order further. Hoping it was just a fluke. 

“Oh no.” He heard Tonks whisper to what seemed to be herself. 

“Jamison said he’s found no physical injury to her throat or vocal cords that would affect her in that way. He reckons it’s a result of the cruciatus or trauma, or both. We just hope it’ll resolve itself over time.” He explained. 

“I just hope something helps. Your boy hasn’t left? I’m surprised Molly hasn’t dragged him back to Hogwarts.” 

Arthur chuckled, “you and I both, but she knows that he needs to be here right now and that Hermione needs him here. It also helped that Dumbledore said Ron should stay. It eased her into knowing it was the right thing for everyone.” 

What the hell? Dumbledore? He said he wasn’t dragging him back… for now. But he never thought he’d convince his mother of that. 

“He really cares for her. It is what’s right.” Tonks assures

“Mmhm.” The older man hums in agreement. 

“I just hope this wand does something. More harm than good. I’d hate for it to upset her.” The auror says worriedly. 

There's silence for a moment. 

“Any word on Narcissa’s whereabouts?” He asked. 

“No sightings. Cissy is rather…”

Tonks keeps going, but Ron doesn’t listen. 

Cissy. 

That word she’s been groaning. 

“Cissy?” He bellowed, pushing past the door and into the hallway. 

“Ron? How long have you-“ Arthur doesn’t sound angry but startled, but Ron can’t seem to care. 

He shucks it off, “Cissy?” He repeated staring Tonks down. 

And Tonks, an auror who's seen a lot, shrinks a little under this teenage boy's gaze. The look is so fierce, so full of silent commands. 

She slowly nods, “my Mum calls her that, it’s short for-“

“Narcissa Malfoy.” Ron breathes. 

Narcissa Malfoy, who was in that place with Hermione. 

That’s who she’s been groaning about. 

Merlin, if he ever saw her- well, he shouldn’t be surprised given her sister, husband, and son, but to know Hermione mumbles more about her than the likes of Bellatrix. He can’t imagine what might’ve happened. 

And she always groans it when a door sounds, that must mean something. She must think she’s coming for her. 

Bloody hell. 

Arthur seems to put it together as his eyes slightly bulge. 

“What? What is it? Is Hermione alright?” Tonks asked worriedly. 

Ron is still reeling so he doesn’t speak. Arthur was hesitant not knowing if that’s the direction this was headed. 

At the same time Mr. Weasley decided to speak, Tonks decided to take matters into her own hands and check on Hermione with her wand drawn just to be sure. 

“It’s Hermione, she says that whenever someone opens-“

The creak of the door squeaks loudly. 

“Cissy.” The young brunette groans. 

“-the door.” Arthur finishes. 

Tonks stared down in shock, Ron can’t understand why until he peers at the bed himself. Hermione is awake, eyes wide and completely and utterly focused on one thing. 

Narcissa Malfoy’s wand. 

...

The door opened as Narcissa was met by a familiar, but confused face. 

Instantly, that who she sought out, lunged toward her. For a moment the blonde feared it was out of anger. 

But no, instead, she was embraced by nothing but pure love. 

She dropped the book under her arm and accepted the gesture with open arms. Literally. 

“You’ve come home.” 

They were both crying. 

“I am. I’m so sorry it took me so long. I’m so sorry.” Cissy sobbed into the slender shoulder. 

The hug was broken as they stared into each other’s eyes. 

“All that matters is that you’re here now. Nothing else.” They promised, wiping some of her tears and ushering her into the cottage. 

When the door clicked shut, Narcissa surveyed the space. It felt so much like a home. Nothing like that awful empty feeling she got while at Malfoy Manor. 

“They’re looking for you. It’s all over the papers. There’s reports your wand went missing.” Though posed as a statement, Narcissa felt as if she was being asked something. 

“It’s true, all of it.” She nodded. 

“But you know where your wand is don’t you?” They asked knowingly. 

A small smile drew across her lips, they knew each other too well. “I do, I need your help to retrieve it. There’s someone I need to see.” 

“Draco?” 

Cissy shook her head, “no. He’s at Hogwarts, so I can’t risk it. He knows I’m safe, though. It’s someone else.” She explains. 

“Who?” 

Narcissa sighs, not wanting to explain it all. However, she knows what she asks next will warrant many questions. 

“Tell me, you know a way into the Weasley’s home? The Burrow?” 

Andromeda’s eyes bulged.

[slutsofren]

Alphabet Prompt: with demon au Kylo since ya’ll enjoy him :3

for those who don’t know, this Kylo au is from my post here <3

* some of these are NSFW lol

Original list from here!

A- Activity (What is their favorite activity to do with you.)

Demon Kylo just REALLY enjoys vibing with you in your apothecary, he likes watching all the little humans interact with your witchy self. There’s something about you that naturally glows when you’re working. The sun sets differently when it’s touching your skin, creating a shine he wants to capture and love for eternity.

B- Beginnings (How do they act in the beginning of a relationship)

He is one confident bastard but in all reality, you are the one human who has intrigued him in his entire immortal life so he gets a wee bit insecure about how to court you properly according to modern dating standards- it just doesn’t make sense to him!

C- Communication (Are they good communicators? How do they normally talk about their problems or solve issues)

Oh, by the stars not at ALL. Kylo is awful with words, if he ever did a love language test his main would be spending time, secondly he’d much rather give gifts then talk about his feelings. If you two ever do end up arguing he would just leave- space for you as well as him to clear his thoughts. When he does come back though he never goes into a full on speech about his feelings- rather he apologizes straightforward and explains what he said/did was wrong of him and he will be more mindful going forward. Afterall, this is new to him.

D- Drunk (What are they like when they’re drunk)

So, demons don’t get drunk per say... BUT oh, boy, does he get drunk off your scent after you orgasm time and time again. He gets a little more snuggly and openly affectionate, during this time he lets his guard down a bite and sleeps. Oh, how rarely do demons sleep. When he does, you take this time to admire him.

E- Emergency (How are they in emergency situations? You get hurt, they get hurt, someone is dying etc..)

Imagine a raging storm- winds billowing, rain falling as harsh against your skin as hail, cold nipping at every inch of your body threatening to steal every degree of warmth. It’s like that but fire. He gets so enraged you think he might just kill the whole town to find out who hurt you. When you tell him it was the fridge that gave you the bruise on your hip he gets a little flushed with embarrassment but you appreciate the sentiment.

F- Free Spot (I’ll give you any headcanon I come up with)

Kylo realizes one day of how much he has missed out on since the last he visited the surface. So he tries to do one thing a day- reading a book, watching a film, or researching new things.

G- Gifts (What kind of gifts do they give? What kind of gifts do they get?)

Being a demon who has seen everything on earth, he expected you to be more of the materialistic type. It bewildered him how you refused every piece of gold, diamonds, and fine clothing. Eventually he came to discover you enjoyed useful gifts- especially ancient books of the craft you long thought were lost to the ages. Kylo is a very mindful gifter.

H- Hugs (How do they show affection/cuddle)

There is literally only one way this damned man cuddles- with his body draped over yours and his face snuggled straight into your chest and you playing with his long hair. He often says your heartbeat lulls him to sleep.

I- Irritation (What is something that irritates them? How do they show their irritation?)

This demon hates with a passion about being late to things. Admittedly he was late to your WEDDING and no, you will never let him forget that.

J- Jackpot (How would they spend their winnings if they won the lottery?)

He would be so bored at home scratching random lotto tickets and if he won he wouldn’t even claim it. He knows lotto money brings nothing but destruction in its wake which is why you never know he won in the first place- he just imagines it’s another person saved from its terrible fate.

K- Kryptonite (What is their ultimate weakness?)

Uhh,,,,,,,, you. Especially when you come around his cock, moaning his name. He could weep just from listening to the sweet symphony your moans make.

L- Laughter (What makes them laugh?)

By the stars, this man gets a hoot when you attempt to bake. You are just so bad at it but he enjoys watching you make an effort. “Just stick to cooking and I’ll do all the baking.” Although he still ends up doing the cooking too, not that you’re complaining.

M- Morning ( How do they wake up in the morning? Are they a morning person or a morning grouch?)

He is a morning person! He doesn’t sleep like humans do so he has a tendancy to leave bed before you wake to make you a warm cup of something and a small breakfast so you don’t have to worry about that. It also gives him a few quiet moments to watch the sun kiss your skin.

N- Needy (When do they feel particularly needy? How do they show it?)

Kylo Ren is one of those kinds of men demon who is touch-starved so he often finds himself seeking you out. Maybe you’re both sitting at a cafe or bookshop and he reaches for your hand just to feel you close by. He just constantly needs to be touching a part of your skin.

O- Oasis (Where is their happy place? Where would they go if they didn’t have anything holding them back?)

He’s been wandering the earth for a millenia and he will continue until the end of time. In all his years he has witnessed the destruction that colonialism leaves in its wake. He’s watched as many of his sacred places have been corrupted by man and it breaks his heart. Now one of the few places left is within a redwood forest, far away from the eyes of humans. A quiet place where he dreams to take you one day.

P- Pain (How do they handle pain? How do they handle when you are in pain?)

He has such a high tolerance for pain and often says “ow” just to feel like he’s just your normal husband- nothing demonic about him! 

Q- Quote (What’s a quote that fits them and your relationship)

“Yes, I love him. Yes, he is a jerk. Yes, I want to fuck his brains out.”

lol are we surprised

R- Reunion (How do they celebrate seeing you after a long time of being apart)

Kylo hates being apart from you so much. It tears him apart every time. When you finally see him it’s like all the air rushes out from his lungs the moment you walk into his gaze. He forgets how to breathe and just runs to you, to hold you. He soaks up your presence with his face buried into your hair and leaves chaste kisses on every inch of your face never wanting to leave you again.

S- Stress (What stresses them out? How do deal with stress and how do they relieve it?)

Simple solution is sex- both of you fuck your frustration out. Once you called it “make-up / angry sex but without the fighting” and he did not understand what you had meant but he fucked you into oblivion and immediately saw solutions to his stress. You gave him hundreds of smooches after these kinds of evenings.

T- Terror (What are they afraid of?)

Kylo is truly afraid of losing you and not being there quick enough to save you. He really cannot fathom a life without you by his side and it kills him each moment he is reminded of your mortality.

U- Unique (What is a quirk that is unique to them?)

Since Kylo is a fallen angel, they all lost their feathered wings- destroyed in the nine day fall. Oddly enough, he somehow maintained his wings. They were transformed to become black as dark as midnight with tips shimmering gold- like Icarus’ wings before he too fell to his destruction. This caused him to be hated more as many of the other fallen resented his beauty.

V- Violence (Do they fight a lot? Are they a good fighter? What is their fighting style?)

He doesn’t fight a lot- doesn’t really seek it out but when it comes to protecting you his long talons would rip through flesh and bone, rows and rows of sharp teeth tearing into his foes. A true horror and sight to behold.

W- Wow (What do you do that really surprises them? What do you do that they really like?)

Kylo loves loves loves watching you do your craft. He is so enamoured by your potential and skills that he can sit there for hours watching you work.

X- (Explicit headcanon. For all you degenerates)

Kylo’s cock. Oh, boy. There were plenty of historical texts and recordings of witch’s accounts of fornicating with demons but none could prepare you by how this man could fuck. Every time he rocked his body into yours you could swear you felt the earth shake beneath you. His cock was unworldly, a true testament to the Big Dick Energy he carried with him. His size was perfect- not too big, not too small, seemingly perfect for his body and your pleasure. What you didn’t anticipate was the head of his length- it flared and sharpened to a tip, reaching and caressing every inch inside of you. His cock really could ascend you to another plane.

Y- Yucky (Is there something that grosses them out so badly that they can’t deal with it?)

This man does not enjoy things that have contradicting properties. Like, wet and crunchy. Pickles are a perfect example- just the smell could make this immortal demon gag and run from the room. 

Z- ZZZ’s (What are their sleeping habits? Both with and without you)

When you’re apart he tends to just starfish across the bed counting down the moments until you come home. He doesn’t sleep well since the day you came into his life, he just needs you. When you’re together he has to- absolutely has to- sleep on top of you and cover your body with his while he gives you all the smooches between high heaven or lowest hell.