#may have bit a bit expensive but completely worth it

[dumb-fuck-in-1mil-fandoms]

Just got my stickers! (They are from @archie-sunshine pretty sure theres still some left (a few magnus's and some others maybe))

When i put em on my pc im gonna make drift and ratchet kiss

The danish was a nice tuch! (Its actually incredible he whent trough and wrote the thank you notes in the languge from the country they got sent to!)

Also i know they where labeled as vinyl, but the quality is fucking amazeing, vary shiny my crow brain likey

[vyvansecrashing]

can russia and north korea just nuke us already this is hopeless

[darkdemeter]

BY THEIR LEASH

⚤ Wanda Maximoff x Werewolf! Female Reader Mafia stuff — mention of death — alcohol consumption (like a lot) — 18+ SMUT, MINORS DNI — Porn with plot? — lesbian sex — threesome — may be some grammar errors and such — slight bondage — little bit of muscle/stomach riding if you squint your eyes, turn your head that way... — I think that's it? ✎ 4.3k

↳ MASTERLIST | ↳ TAGLISTS ────────────────────────

  An expensive investment. A broad term to use for a werewolf broken in by the system at a young age. But it’s true. 

  Alexander Pierce, the finance manager and ringleader as a whole, did all he could to break you in, and to say he did is an understatement. He exceeded the limits you once believed you had and once you were ready, he put you out in the field to garner your reputation. 

You had no limits. Ruthless in your endeavour to complete whatever task was required of you, prepared to do whatever it took, your peers could only look at you with both fear and admiration. 

When all was said and done, you were given your collar, then sold through the underground hub for criminals: the black market. 

  That’s when you learnt in the span of the few minutes that the auction lasted for, that you were either a trophy to those of the higher class of crime, or a very wanted source of security and war. From black funding operators that had their hand in the military’s pit on the hunt for a war hound, to the gangster overlords who controlled territories in the differing states and countries, requiring some form of high end security, there was a very rapid increase in the price they were each willing to pay. 

  At a total of twenty-five million, your collar and services were sold to Mr. Tony Stark. From the sleek fit of a light grey, three piece suit and bright pink tie, Stark had a brighter outlook on the window of his underhand activities. He was the type that lounged back in the severity of his criminal dealings.

Unlike his fellow company who each wore darker palette suits of either navy blue or jet black. He stood out for sure as his auburn tinted glasses did little to hide the one question on his mind: Was his money well spent?

  Well, to say at the very least, you wouldn’t be here tonight if you weren’t worth every single cent he spent on you three years ago. 

  Thinking about the memory now, this is a different tone entirely. Dark and neon is how you remember the black market scene, stalls and cube stores with an assortment of supplies anyone in the business would need, whether that be for the amateurs - which were the usual target customers - or the smaller businesses which belonged to small cluster gangs. 

  The big time runners had designated storehouses to spare where they obtained their supplies, and ran other dealings and hand-offs in and out of private rooms in the clubs. 

  Here, the scene is warm, lavish and made for those who seek the comfort in living in marble halls and pristine white pillars, short cut grass and elaborate parties such as this one. 

“Shit, this party is awfully chipper for someone who died last week,” you huff, eyes scanning the crowd from the smooth, darkly polished bar, which you incidentally found very comfortable to lean back on when told for the hundredth time, “Just sit tight, just a little bit longer.” 

  You didn’t have the time nor patience to sit around getting older by the damn minute. Thankfully, Tony put his card behind the bar so that meant an endless river of drinks. Because you needed the alcohol. A lot. 

  Not a moment too late is your glass refilled with your refreshment. And not too soon after is it halfway downed.

  “Please, Y/N,” sighs Steve from your right side, arms folded over his chest, navy blue suit straining just a bit too tightly against his body, “have some respect for the Maximoff family. They lost their only male heir to a deal gone wrong. They need our support.”

Your shoulders rise with a particularly deep inhale before falling lax, you swirl the sliver of whiskey left in your glass and with a jerk of your wrist you finish it. Ice rattles in your glass as you shimmy it, indicating you need another refill and pronto. 

  “People live, people die. You cross someone and you get shot in the back. It happens.” 

  “He was gunned down in the streets with a fucking machine gun, Y/N. You consider that a mere shot in the back?”

  You shrug in response to Sam’s question with a pout of your bottom lip. “Pietro thought he was the shit. That’s what got him killed by Rumlow.” 

  Sam runs a hand over his face, now distressed by the lack of sincerity you show for the grieving family. “For fuck sake…”

  In the three years of your loyal work to the Stark family and those of his brotherhood - his allies - your colours shone through immensely to reveal a shining personality. Excluding the fact you’d become something of a playful rogue with the women. 

  You simply chalk it up to your animal magnetism. Something that leaves them wanting more whenever in the presence of your company.

  In fact, that was how Tony came to own unclaimed establishments and clubs in the boroughs, ones he wasn’t able to get his hands on before, but after he had you as a playable card in his hand, you provided club goers the relief of being harassed and drinks being spiked. Territorial take over schemes from rival gangs were second guessed when they saw you watching over the joint.

  The after hour visits for your libido were just the perks. But you left a lot of lustful and broken little hearts in the wake of your work. 

  For a werewolf, you were always assumed to be a means of security, and that much was true. Didn’t mean it excluded you from taking on other odd jobs for the families from time to time. Debt collection, assassinations, tailing and blackmail ops, the list is endless. 

  When Steve casts a hardened stare your way, you mockingly raise your hands up in surrender. 

  “Alright, I’ll offer my condolences to the heiress, but I ain’t weeping at her feet for her brother who got himself into that mess because he thought he was too big for his own shoes.”

  “Just behave yourself, alright? The last thing we need is the entirety of Europe at war with us.” You roll your eyes and salute the captain. “Yessir.”

  You bring the glass rim to your lips and draw a small gulpful of your renewed liquor, the fiery taste rolls over your tongue, you savour it to keep your sanity intact lest you go insane from the waiting. Where was the heiress? 

  “Well, well, I thought I wouldn’t see any of you again. Especially you.” Your head, as well as those of your group, direct their gaze to the new voice. The corners of your lips twitch up and you flash her a wolfish grin, chin tilting up slightly in your relaxed position against the bar. You looked like a cat happily laying in the sun. 

  “Miss Romanoff,” each of the men greeted with a nod of their heads. You, however, pat your thigh as an invitation for her to sit. “I had work to do the next morning.”

  “Mm, that’s what you tell the other girls, I’m sure.” You clap a hand to your chest with a wince. “You wound me, sweetheart. If I had the chance, I would have stayed.” 

  She hums but it’s obvious she doesn’t believe you by the rise in her brow. 

  Natasha Romamoff is a hard fish to catch. One of the more established families that control practically the entirety of Europe, alongside the Maximoff family, the two were partners and crafting an empire strong enough to stand on their own without any dire need for support. 

  Yes, her family had prior dealings with the brotherhood. The Starks, Wilsons, Barnes and Rogers and more, whether to collaborate on a bigger criminal project to the smaller portioned deals. Smuggled goods and weapons, blackmail intel deliverance, international bribery to keep the feds off your backs.

  But she never committed to joining forces. 

  You suppose it’s a good power move on her part. She doesn’t have to abide by any of the family creeds, in the end, you’re all loose ends that may potentially be severed if need be. She had the ball in her court and the mysterious Maximoff heiress. 

  Even your animal magnetism wasn’t enough to charm her into joining forces with Stark and his powerhouse of families, but they were surely enough to charm her into a wild one night stand. 

But as you told her. You had work to do. And now she appears to spurn you with her eyes and cruel words, but still entertains your flirtatious advances and indulges the empty space of your thigh.

  For a well respected mob boss such as herself, she definitely liked to play it risky; dressing included. 

  Last you saw her, she was dressed in a more professional manner. But here at this funeral party, whatever the fuck it was, she chose to wear a black, spaghetti strap cocktail dress that’s short enough to be skimming the mid of her thigh. The slit riding the dress up higher is just plain dangerous. 

  She’s facing you, back arched and arse resting on the cliff of your knee. Your clawed hand supports her at the small of her back. Her perfume is strong and complimenting, a sweet bouquet of lavender which rolls over the exposed tops of her breasts from her even more exposed neck. Her plump, red lips move in a way that’s hypnotic. “So I hear you’re going to be a bargaining chip for Wanda Maximoff.”

  “Where’d you hear that?” you scoff with a flick of your chin. 

  “I have spies who whisper to me,” she answers with a swift quirk of her brow. 

  Of course she overheard the news. She then chuckles softly, and all eyes watch her with a level of suspicion. “She won’t take any deal you offer her. She’s determined to steer clear of your little gang wars over in the states.”

  “Rumlow killed her brother and he has bases around our territories. Wouldn’t she appreciate the extra hands in catching the rat?” Bucky poses the question with a dark brow angled high and clenched jaw, the muscles in his cheeks flex harder when Natasha offers no affirmative response; a mark to hopefully land you in the door and good graces with the heiress. 

  “You really think she wants a guard dog?” 

  “Hey,” you growl with a wrinkle of your nose, fangs on the precipice of baring at her. How she used the term in a condescending manner made the fur beneath your skin bristle. Sam claps a hand to your shoulder, somehow able to sense the seething anger within you. 

  “We just want to help. Offer support for her loss and bring Rumlow down.”

  “No. You want a foothold in Europe. And I’m sorry but…” She looks you up and down, drinking in the sight of you and you know she can see you without your clothes on. “You’re not going to cut it, babe.”

  She turns her body to make her getaway but you don’t let her slip away just like that. She gasps and looks to you with a furrowed glare when your arm circles her waist and tugs her back until she’s flush against you, the men in your company watch with trepidation of your next course of action.

  “I will cut it because whether she wants to admit it or not, she needs us.”

  Natasha’s eyes, true to her fashion, darken with a challenge. “You’re wasting your time. She’ll get Rumlow herself.”

  “And if Rumlow plans to get her first?” For a moment you see the doubt cross her face. “That’s where she needs me.”

  “Tony Stark.” Each of the men turn to the voice behind them and their once cool and collected selves turn rigid, nervous under the power one woman can hold so absolute, her green eyes scan each of their faces before they land on you. 

  You finally look and meet her stare, still holding Natasha against you even as she tries to push away from you. 

  “Unhand her,” the woman commands with an accented tongue. 

  At first, you wanted nothing more than to play this out a little, see what makes this woman tick. But both Tony and Steve look at you, silent in their order, you sigh heavily and release Natasha. Once you do, she wastes no time in joining Wanda’s side with a bow of her head. 

  “I hear that you wished to have an audience with me.” 

  Wanda is the sole survivor of this ordeal. Her parents were assassinated two years ago and now her brother was killed. This is the stressed matter at hand, her empire could crumble to the ground, all that hard work put into the grave because she’s being so fucking stubborn with this deal.

  “I will not sign my family, nor any of my shares, to Stark Industries. Enough have I done to keep you out of the hands of law enforcement. I will handle Rumlow myself.”

  This isn’t how any of you hoped this would go. The grief has made her stronger than before. It wasn’t exactly you were waiting for the chance for her to have a weak spot and try your luck, but you all had thought she might even be at least a little desperate for extra help. 

  Natasha’s face says it all: I told you so. You can only roll your eyes and resume with what you’re doing. Refilling your empty glass with more liquor. You’ve yet to scratch the surface of being tipsy. 

  “Miss Maximoff, we only wish to help you. All we ask in return is that you grant us some territory to work with for our trade deals as payment, for support lent to you to catch Rumlow.” Steve is calm in his approach to reason with her, but if anything, her raised hand indicates her refusal, unswayed by the honey of his words. Your tongue rolls the rounds of your mouth, each time measured by your impatience as you slowly circle around the dealings table, unable to find yourself comfortable against the stiffened wood of your seat. 

  “You do realise that you’re asking for more than your so-called ‘support’ is actually worth.” You blink several times, the blow of it a downright attack on their egos. 

  “No, I want something more.”

  “And I want alcohol to affect me so I can sleep well at night,” you mutter to the glassy rim against your bottom lip. Wanda’s eyes flicker to you, bearing down a sinister glare. “Excuse me?”

  “And we were just about to suggest that very thing!” Tony interjects with a grin, eager to utilise his card, his Ace Wolf as he liked to call you. He gestures to where you stand now at the table’s other end.

  She directs her eyes to look you up and down slowly, gaze polished with keen observation. She hums thoughtfully before she looks to Natasha. 

  “E atât de bună?”

  The red haired chuckles and sitting back in her chair, chest heaving with a breathy sigh, she nods. 

  “Exceptional de bun. Cu o limbă ca asta…”

  Bucky shifts in his seat, a hollow whistle on his lips over the exchange of heated words, and you flash a grin at both women. The words of foreign tongue, however, pass over the heads of the other men, their eyes looking to either you or Bucky only to be answered with a shrug, but knowing that look in your eyes, they can take a good guess as to what’s being discussed. 

  With another passing frame of time, both women pull away from their engrossed conversation. “I’ve been made aware that you intend to bargain your wolf to me,” she says, once again letting her sight fall on you. 

  “And if that is the case, and what I have been told…” She trails off momentarily, finding to correct herself in the midst of something you can smell very clearly on her - or rather between her legs. “Then I’ll accept.”

  Each man present in the room is given pause to revel in the stun before them. Wanda Maximoff, the heiress of Europe’s biggest family, accepts their deal. All at the price of you. 

“You’ll have your answer by tomorrow, Mr Stark,” Wanda says, standing from her chair, she beckons you to follow with a kink of her fingers. One by one and following in unison, their eyes turn to you as you shuffle back on your heel with shrug your shoulders and fanged grin.

  “Animal magnetism, boys.”

  Wanda’s heels bound a steady beat as she wanders over to the foot of her bed, making an elegant show of swaying her hips and drawing your attention to her form. From behind, Natasha slips the dark suit jacket from your shoulders. Tosing it aside, her hands play the form of an enchanting guide, ushering you forward while tracing the hidden curves of your muscles. 

  “As per courtesy, Miss Maximoff wants the first claim.” 

  You huff in reply, “And you?”

  Natasha hums softly and plucks your belt loose from your trousers. “I have you two, I won’t go unsatisfied tonight.”

  Tilting your head to view Wanda who stands idle, fingers playing with the lining of her dress above her breasts, you stalk towards her, her back arching under your touch with a breathless whimper, you trail the zip of her gown down slowly. Falling around her ankles as a fabricated halo, she turns suddenly and your lips collide together in hunger.

  She sinks down to the bed, laying back until her hair fans around her, spreading her legs apart. That feverish hunger boils within your blood, running it hold and thick, the fur beneath your skin bristled in your excitement as you take care to roll the sleeves of your skirt to your elbows. To your knees, you’re brought to the sight of her soaked underwear, the dark patch evidently giving away just how badly she required you between her quivering thighs. Natasha’s hands rake through the length of your hair and scratches at your scalp, earning a low purr of pleasure to rumble in your chest. 

You lean forward and all it takes is a single inhale and you’re let loose of your chain of control, claws shearing the fabric that dares to confine her awaiting cunt any longer. She gasps upon contact, your lips smothering her moistened, slick lips and she gives a deep-noted moan, arching her hips up, your hands wrap around her thighs to drag her to you more. 

 She tastes like the fine wines of heaven, a forbidden savour on the tongue that which you greedily lap, your eyes close as you succumb to the wolf’s hunger, tongue lapping heavily at her clit.

  She whines and cries, breath hot and light in her lungs as her nails rip into the sheets to no damaging avail.  Natasha hovers above, watching on in her own longing and desire. She dips a hand beneath the hem of her dress, aside she pushes her own soaked panties and delicately dances her fingers over the sensitive bulb with a keening breath you hear catch in her throat. 

  Natasha leans down low until the scape of her breasts brushes against your shoulder blade, lips a tantalising thing and moving sinfully to mouth, “I’m touching myself to you.”

  “Watching you please her is making me so wet, Wolf.”

  “Make us both cum.”

  You growl deeply and Wanda’s body visibly shudders in response to the wild vibrations that course through her abdomen, shaking her whole and off centre, her hips begin to jerk as she nears her climax. Both women mingle in their euphoria and your own core comes to life, sparked by the noises they make in unison, an orchestra of pleasure. Suckling and licking at her core, she cries out and the lips of her pussy shrink around absence and she sighs in bliss. In tandem, Natasha moans loudly from behind and you feel her body press against you as her hand works hard as fucking her fingers into her cunt, the sound of slick and skin melding together addicting.

  “You weren’t… kidding, Nat,” she says between laboured breaths. 

  Slowing your advances, you finally pull away with a sigh, her juices glistening on your lips. Wanda looks at you and her cheeks flush at the sight before Natasha’s other hand forces your attention to her. Her lips connect with yours and her tongue darts over the bottom of yours, tasting Wanda with a delicious sound that you swallow. 

  After she pulls from you, she then shares a look with Wanda and the two of them grin. “Shall we reward her?” 

  “I think she’s been a good girl.”

  Oh, how the wolf loves that. Praise for a job well done you can hardly suppress your proud smirk. Buu before you can do much else, Natasha pushes you and your knees are knocked out from beneath you, Wanda having rolled to the side only to follow Natasha’s lead as they both halfway straddle you, otherwise keeping you pinned to the mattress below. 

  Together they peel away your dress pants, giggling and muttering to one another in that alluring tongue, your mind in a haze to catch barely a sentence shared between them but you gained awareness of what they intended when they each stroked their tongues over your stimulated pearl. 

  “‘Sh–shit!” you hiss sharply and your hips buck, the two women giggling at the sight of you writhing. 

  They give no further warning as they duck down. Their mouths work together against your clit, suckling it to draw pathetic whines from that deep part inside you dare not let anyone see, their voices trespass the air with betraying praises that speak only of teases and their tongues lap at the slick of your pussy that clenches at the attention. Your hands grapple the sheets and tear hard, the damage unnoted and not cared for. 

  “Girls– fuck!” you groan at the rise in your core, oh so ready to reach that climactic end that you have been denied for the past several weeks. It’s not too long that your first release has you whining, the nois a higher pitched sound that does slowly in broken notes as you cum, the girls moaning and allowing their lips to graze one another as they lapped and sucked you. 

  Wanda is the first to make eye contact and move towards you, her leg swoops over to fully straddle your stomach, in her hands is your belt. She rips the centre of your shirt apart, buttons flying to discarded corners of the room to be mere pebbles of disregard.

  You see the way her eyes drink in the sight of your toned muscles, the pinky tip of her tongue darting over her wet lips. 

  She adores the way you tilt your head to the side, a curious whine on your lips. “I’ve always wanted something on a leash. May I?”

  You don’t particularly care for the way her question hits a mark submerged deeper into your heart, reaching for something you denied was there. Dignity. Usually people just took from you and you came to accept that. Expect it. 

  You nod up at her and she fixes the belt around the column of your neck, the leather cool against the blazing heat of your skin, but something inside you flutters. Quickly, you push it down. 

  Natasha moves into the same position behind Wanda, your larger size very much able to accommodate both of them, Natasha trails light kisses along Wanda’s shoulder as she fastens the belt and gives an experimental tug. A soft grunt hitches in your throat in retort and you flash her a grin, the sharpened points of your fangs perched against your bottom lip. 

  “The wolf never let me tame her, Miss Maximoff.”

  “Oh, she just needed some reassurance,” Wanda replies gently with a smile. For a moment, you wanted to believe her words were sincere. Your hands run along Wanda’s thighs until they reach her hips and with a roll forward, she grinds her pussy against your torso, feeling the defined muscles press and tense against her, bringing her to moan under her breath. Natasha drapes a hand over your own to roll and pinch Wanda’s swollen clit, her eyes finding yours.

  “Watch her,” she commands breathlessly and you do so, amber glows in fluorescent pulses as Wanda biomes slick with her arousal. The fine artistry of their bodies moving together as they roll and grind against you, you cannot help but reach a hand up, claw catching the thin silk of Wanda’s bra and severing the contraption into two, letting it fall and reveal her plump breasts; her nipples erect. 

  Wanda circles an arm behind her and behind Natasha’s head, her back arching to the pleasure she becomes lost in, and you purely enjoy the show above, admiring the glow of sweat collecting on their skin, groaning as their slick covers your stomach as they ride you. The hand working Wanda’s clit speeds up and then slows, teasing the heiress, she gives you a sly grin. 

  “Do that thing with the claws,” she says and Wanda’s eyes open, as if awakening from her bliss and becoming enlightened with wonderment. 

  “W-what thing?”

  “I’ll show you.”

  You sit by the bed, elbow propped up on the chair’s arm with a glass in your grasp, imagination lost in the reverie of last night’s events with a smirk carved into your mouth. Both women lay wrapped together, bodies nude and pressed up to each other as they continue to sleep. You surely tired them out. 

  Thankfully and mostly dressed when Tony came wandering in, the band of his fellow brothers staying just beyond the room’s threshold, though it still didn’t make to hide the snarl creeping up your throat as the sudden intrusion. You take a sip of your drink as Tony scans the room, gaze flickering between the two women and you who bares an illuminated glare at him.

  “What the hell happened last night?”

  “We got her affirmative answer on the deal,” you answer with a raise of your glass in cheers before downing the last of your drink.

THANKS FOR READING!

✎ a note from the author, Long overdue, finally knocking this one out before it gets retired to permanent draft status ughhhh... *proceeds to fall face first in tired raccoon*

on this issue's taglist, we've got: @alexawynters @alyciaddict @simpforlizzie @literaturedog @maladaptive-daydreamz @mathxa @blackbirdv98

[the-magpie-archives]

Tips for writing London as a setting if you've never been there

London's a popular place to set a story! It's often imagined as sexy, cool, and suave. Whilst this is sometimes true, the thing that it predominantly is, is absolutely and entirely chaotic! So here are some aspects that you may not know about:

-Public transport is absolutely crucial to the infrastructure! Few people drive in London because of how well connected it is, and bus stops and train stations are often used as meeting points or details in directions.

-There's a LOT of crime, like, a lot. All cities have it, but London has a lot of variety. Stabbings are incredibly common (to the extent where it becomes a bit of a joke), almost everyone has a story where they've found or seen a dead body, and there are many money laundering/drug den fronts under the guise of highstreet shops (they're not well hidden).

-Despite it's chaos there's a strong code of etiquette most people hold themselves too. Some are actual rules (stand on the right side of escalators, don't queue jump) but some are simply social expectations (don't stop in the middle of the pavement, keep your bags close to your body, don't take up multiple seats.)

-A lot of tourists to the city are COMPLETELY FERAL and widely hated. They'll stand in the middle of the road, block up bridges, swing around cameras and selfie sticks in busy places, and completely ignore the social standards of polite society. People Do Not Like This. (also American tourists have a tendancy to just randomly start conversation with people? It's a bit weird and generally not done but it's not strictly a bad thing.)

-Rush hour is INSANE. We're talking almost static traffic, trains so packed that you're pressed into people on every side, buses that are so full they can't stop to let more people on. Some days it's better some days it's worse, but if you can avoid travelling at those times YOU DO.

-There are a lot of scam artists on the streets. Most major cities have these, they suck, they're aggressive, and they'll take your money! Some give you flowers and then force you to pay, some take photos of you and boost up the price to get them, there's always new ones, they're relentless, and you've gotta tell them to fuck off.

-Black cabs are not at all popular for normal people! They cater to tourists, rich people, and old people. They're great, the cab drivers are hard working and very knowledgeable, but they're also very expensive. Awful as it is, uber's cheaper if you're desperate, but buses go everywhere so it's just not really worth it.

[kimberleyjean]

The Ineffable Detective Agency Presents: What Happened in Before the Beginning?

Hello Good Omens clue hunters and detectives! I’m super excited to share what we’ve discovered in Before the Beginning. Read on if you want to see what no one else has spotted yet!

To put a long story short, something is “up” about Good Omens - Season 2 in particular. While the eagle-eyed have documented a number of odd things in Season 2 already (summarised here), I’ve never seen anyone call into question what was presented during the Before the Beginning scene. Let’s take a closer look shall we?

Remember this scroll to start the nebula? Well, guess what - it changes!

Here’s the first scroll we see on screen, I’m going to call this the “new” scroll. Note the straight edges and completely pristine look, like brand new paper:

Then suddenly, here’s what it looks like as they start up the nebula:

Whoa, that’s looking pretty old and ragged! It’s got rips, a bit of discolouration, several wavy bends running through it. That’s a significantly more worn scroll than we were just shown. Let’s show that in close up just to be sure:

Yup, that’s certainly not meant to be the same scroll!

During this scene, the old scroll is seen again during the close up of Aziraphale holding it. However, once Crowley instructs him to put it down, it’s the new scroll again. (And then at this point it disappears into hammerspace like in a cartoon, or drifts off into space, never to be seen again).

So... there's TWO scrolls?

Well, yes, but also, no. If you're wondering, “Are they both real scrolls? Are you telling me they had two on set?” the short answer is no, this was done with VFX. To explain why we know this, I’m going to hand over to our resident Art Director, @noneorother:

Hi all, @noneorother here. Sure. So it's mostly to do with the shadow inside the scroll curls and under the right hand side curl. You can see when it's the real scroll that the shadows are all orange or brown, because of sub-surface scattering:

It happens when light partially passes through a thin porous object like skin or paper. So when the scroll is new, it's real. Where they've added "scroll is old now" VFX on top of the shots, it's very well tracked, but there's no more sub-surface scattering because it's VFX, not filmed. So the shadows are now base-black inside the curl and to the right hand side of the image. This is the VFX scroll here:

They already perfectly tracked the astronomy animation into the center of the scroll, so they had all that tracking info just sitting around. It wouldn't have been very expensive to add the "old scroll" the way they did it (the cheap and dirty way).

Thanks @noneorother! So there we have it folks, the Good Omens team have intentionally designed some shots with the old-looking VFX scroll and some without. They had the assets created for the old scroll and the tracking to place it correctly, so how could they possibly make the “mistake” of adding it sometimes but not others? This wasn’t a budget thing. If it were budget related, they wouldn’t have created the old scroll VFX in the first place.

Personally, I think this discontinuity was to tell us, the dedicated rewatchers, that what we initially saw in S2 was not the whole story. There is something else at play during S2. Something that, depending on what we find, may make S3 even more enjoyable.

So, why do this? Is this scene being conveyed from different perspectives? Are we viewing different characters’ memories of the same event? If so, why would that be important? Is someone tampering with past events? Did “Before the Beginning” happen multiple times and we’ve seen a spliced together version? What do you think?

One More Question...

The other question worth asking here (which Aziraphale helpfully asks for us) is “which way up” does the scroll go? Look closely at the central rings.

Is it the top version (small rings to the right)?

Or the lower version (small rings to the left)?

... and what happens if you create a nebula upside down, I wonder? Here I’m reminded of the Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square lyrics:

The moon that lingered over London Town Poor puzzled moon, he wore a frown How could he know we two were so in love The whole darn world seemed upside down

In a season where something is going "Down in the Up", and the answer to Gabriel’s mystery is achieved by turning the delivery box upside down, this is yet another up-down reversal we can add to the list!

..................................................................................

If you’ve been following our Good Omens posts up until now, you’ll be aware that this is not the only time scenes have been inconsistent or discontinuous. If this is new to you, please check out my summary post on Season 2 discontinuity here. For more of our posts, plus a collection of Clues and metas from all over the fandom, see here.

However, there is still more to come, so watch out for future updates. If you’re not currently puzzling over Good Omens and would like to join in, please do! We’d love to hear what you find - you can use the tag #ineffable mystery.

Special thanks to @noneorother, @embracing-the-ineffable, and to all the other lovely people at @ineffable-detective-agency (@theastrophysicistnextdoor, @ghstptats, @somehow-a-human, @lookingatacupoftea, @dunkthebiscuit @havemyheartaziraphale, @komorezuki, @251-dmr, @maufungi).

[3liza]

the other thing about duvets is i dont like that theyre a big pillowcase. this is more trouble than its worth imo. i think duvet covers should actually be two separate pieces, or one long piece in a taco format, and you just spread it out on the bed or floor, spread out the duvet on top, and THEN fasten the top of the duvet cover closed with either buttons or a concealed zipper along the edge. zipper texture unpleasantness could easily be tucked inside a padded border so it doesnt scratch you at night.

duvet covers were introduced to the usa in the 1960s as a part of the "scandinavian" interior decor movement during midcentury modern (they were brought from Sweden, so not actually scnadinavian, but americans dont know the difference and we dont care [edit: i am being informed sweden is actually considered part of scandinavia, i had been previously misinformed]), apparently from the Habitat store in London. i thought Biba was involved for some reason but I may be confusing a bit of documentary i watched with something else. in the documentary, the older lady they were interviewing who used to work at the department store that she claimed popularized the duvwet (either Habitat or Biba) talked about how the sales girls were trained to "demonstrate" the "convenience" of the duvet vs the traditional British method of quilt+sheets, and she remarked she got so good at it she could put the duvet in the cover in about 30 seconds. however when she tried to demonstrate for the presenter she got completely flummoxed by the damned thing. it was at that point i knew duvets were a mistake

anyway im finding some interesting gadgets for securing duvets rn, the one that looks least ugly is a thing that looks like a fabric-covered button that snaps into another button using a tack that pierces the duvet and cover layers. the other solutions also seem fine but are all ugly plastic doohickeys that would bother me on an aesthetic basis. the tack would probably damage the fabric but if you're not using your nice linens i bet it doesn't matter much, especially if the duvet cover is a rustic textile of some kind

the wikipedia article about the duvet is very interesting. i especially liked the part about how previous attempts to introduce it to england were failures

one of the other home bedding issues in the usa is that home washers and dryers and apartment washers and dryers are generally not big enough to effectively wash a down duvet or a quilt thats larger than about a Full, depending on thickness. this bothers me. feather down is especially irritating in this respect because it will get mildewy instantly if it isnt bone dry immediately after laundering. mentioning Sweden yet again, a friend showed me her shared laundry facilities in her Swedish apartment once and they DID have large, industrial machines that could easily take a duvet. she said this was typical. america continues to be difficult to live in for no good reason. its like literalyl everything you do here is 160% harder and more expensive than any other "comparable" country

[leidensygdom]

Fighting AI and learning how to speak with your wallet

So, if you're a creative of any kind, chances are that you've been directly affected by the development of AI. If you aren't a creative but engage with art in any way, you may also be plenty aware of the harm caused by AI. And right now, it's more important than ever that you learn how to fight against it.

The situation is this: After a few years of stagnation on relevant stuff to invest to, AI came out. Techbros, people with far too much money trying to find the big next thing to invest in, cryptobros, all these people, flocked to it immediately. A lot of people are putting money in what they think to be the next breakthrough- And AI is, at its core, all about the money. You will get ads shoved in your fave about "invest in AI now!" in every place. You will get ads telling you to try subscription services for AI related stuff. Companies are trying to gauge how much they can depend on AI in order to fire their creatives. AI is opening the gates towards the biggest data laundering scheme there's been in ages. It is also used in order to justify taking all your personal information- Bypassing existing laws.

Many of them are currently bleeding investors' money though. Let it be through servers, through trying to buy the rights to scrape content from social media (incredibly illegal, btw), amidst many other things. A lot of the tech giants have also been investing in AI-related infrastructures (Microsoft, for example), and are desperate to justify these expenses. They're going over their budgets, they're ignoring their emissions plans (because it's very toxic to the environment), and they're trying to make ends meet to justify why they're using it. Surely, it will be worth it.

Now, here's where you can act: Speak with your wallet. They're going through a delicate moment (despite how much they try to pretend they aren't), and it's now your moment to act. A company used AI in any manner? Don't buy their products. Speak against them in social media. Make noise. It doesn't matter how small or how big. A videogame used AI voices? Don't buy the game. Try to get a refund if you did. Social media is scraping content for AI? Don't buy ads, don't buy their stupid blue checks, put adblock on, don't give them a cent. A film generated their poster with AI? Don't watch it. Don't engage with it. Your favourite creator has made AI music for their YT channel? Unsub, bring it up in social media, tell them directly WHY you aren't supporting. Your favourite browser is now integrating AI in your searches? Change browsers.

Let them know that the costs they cut through the use of AI don't justify how many customers they'd lose. Wizards of the Coast has been repeatedly trying to see how away they can get with the use of AI- It's only through consumer boycotting and massive social media noise that they've been forced to go back and hire actual artists to do that work.

The thing with AI- It doesn't benefit the consumer in any way. It's capitalism at its prime: Cut costs, no matter how much it impacts quality, no matter how inhumane it is, no matter how much it pollutes. AI searches are directly feeding you misinformation. ChatGPT is using your input to feed itself. Find a Discord server to talk with others about writing. Try starting art yourself, find other artists, join a community. If you can't, use the money you may be saving from boycotting AI shills to support a fellow creative- They need your help more than ever.

We're in a bit of a nebulous moment. Laws against AI are probably around the corner: A lot of AI companies are completely aware that they're going to crash if they're legally obliged to disclose the content they used to train their machines, because THEY KNOW it is stolen. Copyright is inherent to human created art: You don't need to even register it anywhere for it to be copyrighted. The moment YOU created it, YOU have the copyright to it. They can't just scrape social media because Meta or Twitter or whatever made a deal with OpenAI and others, because these companies DON'T own your work, they DON'T get to bypass your copyright.

And to make sure these laws get passed, it's important to keep the fight against AI. AI isn't offering you anything of use. It's just for the benefit of companies. Let it be known it isn't useful, and that people's work and livelihoods are far more important than letting tech giants save a few cents. Instead, they're trying to gauge how MUCH they can get away with. They know it goes against European GDPR laws, but they're going to try to strech what these mean and steal as much data up until clear ruling comes out.

The wonder about boycotts is that they don't even need you to do anything. In fact, it's about not doing some stuff. You don't need money to boycott- Just to be aware about where you put it. Changing habits is hard- People can't stop eating at Chick-fil-a no matter how much they use the money against the LGBTQ collective, but people NEED to learn how to do it. Now it's the perfect time to cancel a subscription, find an alternate plan to watching that one film and maybe joining a creative community yourself.

[moonpedri]

matching.

summary: though it was spontaneous, you decide to tag along to ibiza when your best friend and her boyfriend invite you. the only problem was his little brother, barcelona's number 8, pedri, and his red swim shorts.

pairing: pedri x reader

genre: fluff, smut (suggestive)

warnings: making out, petting, swearing, pedri is a little shit

word count: 3.2k+

a/n: i orginally had this planned as a little imagine. if you've read honey, you may remember a beach scene being mentioned very briefly. and since i recently got a similar request, i fleshed everything a little more out and birthed out this big baby lmao. hope you enjoy!!🤍

PS: while proof-reading i noticed that i completely messed up the timelines, this fic actually happens before honey and not after, but oh well. 😭 this is super annoying but i liked the way this fic turned out so deal with it pls 🥺i may turn this into a little ibiza trip series with multiple parts and other places!!

────────────

It is the middle of summer and the sun was blazing unforgivingly over you that not even your sunshade could help you escape from the heat.

You look at your friends over the rim of your sunglasses, as some of them currently play around in the water. The radio stations all reported well above average numbers for the coming weeks and so naturally your friends would want to go on vacation somewhere near the beach.

Originally you had nothing special planned for the summer, but since your best friend Sofía is dating Fernando González, who just happens to be the older brother of Pedri González, Barcelona's young star-midfielder, you somehow happened to get dragged along to Ibiza.

This wasn't a rare occasion, because ever since Sofía started dating Fernando, you ended up with this whole new lifestyle consisting of football matches, special events, galas and travel.

And with FC Barcelona winning LaLiga and the season ending, all the players want to make the most off their freetime.

"Fer wants to book the tickets, __, you're coming with, right?", Sofía asked you last week. It was super spontaneous and honestly you were a bit annoyed that you got asked so late, giving you no time to prepare or clear your schedule (not that you had much written on it anyways lol)

But you would also lie if the idea of going to Ibiza didn't excite you. You always wanted to go to the infamous "party" island, but it was a costy dream - one you couldn't afford. Well, until now.

So you agreed and found yourself only 5 days later at your dream destination. One of the perks of having a friend like Sofía is that with trips like these, you didn't have to pay a cent. As a close friend, the whole thing basically got financed for you. Only shopping expenses and maybe food you had to cover yourself - of course.

The single downside of it all was the fiancier of it all himself: Pedri.

Ironic, right?

But there was no way you couldn't feel that way towards him. He is simply infuriating. When the two of you were introduced to each other over dinner at their home, Pedri wasted no time trying to subtly smooth his way into your pants.

It was almost unnoticeable to be honest and you know no one paid attention, but you did. You noticed how his arm brushed your shoulder, how his hand grabbed your waist when he wanted to move past you and his hips grazed your ass. It seemed like his eyes were glued to your cleavage and somehow no one took notice.

In his defense though, you weren't a saint either. Where he pulled, you just let yourself get tugged along. When he moved past, you purposely arched your back; just to test the waters and pushed out your chest to maybe rile him up a bit; you don't know really.

There was something entertaining about an attractive guy like Pedri showing his interest for you so blatantly and pursuing you in such a secretive way.

Yet for all it's worth, you never went further than touching and looking, sneaking a kiss here and there. It's clear what type of guy Pedri is, if all the buzz around his rather promiscuous love life, filled with influencers and models, is any indication.

You heard what people said, what the articles reported. Pedri is young, rich and successful, he would be a fool to immediately pursue a serious relationship at that stage in his life. He liked to enjoy life, be wild in his early 20s and keep the monogamy for later.

And it's not like you could blame him, honestly. You're sure that if your roles were switched, you would enjoy his lifestyle too to an extent. You are you though.

And you wanted something serious, someone to treat you with respect and loyalty. Surely, Pedri saw you more as a way of passing time, just having his fun with you. But you had enough self-respect to not give in to his troublsome ways.

Also, you barely had the nerves to put up with all that.

That's what you liked to tell yourself at least.

With a sigh you turn your head to where Sofía suddenly sits up. You're about to close your eyes again, ready to fall under the sun's mercy, when you hear your best friend scoff next to you.

You bring your sunglasses up and follow her sight. "Can you fucking believe that?", she says agitated.

A loud giggle errupts and you watch as two girls talk animatedly with both Fernando and Pedri.

The brunette one subtly scratches over Fernando's arm, as she seems to listen intently to whatever he's saying. Fer doesn't really engage her, keeps his visible distance, though Sofía doesn't seem to care. Her eyes shoot daggers in their direction.

What bothers you though was the blonde one clinging like a koala onto Pedri. She seems so....you can't find the word but it irritates you. And he did absolutely nothing about it, actually rather enjoying it. Not that he shouldn't of course, but he could keep his distance as well. Also, you didn't want to have to deal with two horny people during your vacation (one you didn't pay for but you get the gist), and an angry best friend, if they were to stay.

It also doesn't help that Pedri looks the way he does. Absolutely gorgeous.

You never thought to be admitting to this but he almost looks like sex-on-legs in those red swim shorts of his. The sun burned his skin in the most beautiful way possible, accentuating his natural blush and his slim but toned body. It's been nothing but torture the entire day.

The two of you watch them for another minute, none of the brothers noticing any of your hard stares, when Sofía stands up determined. "If he wants to play, I'll play."

When she notices your indifferent state, she looks at you expectantly.

"What?", you ask.

"Come on, I can't do this alone."

Reluctant you get up as well and shake non-existent sand off your legs. "I don't know Sof...Fer doesn't really seem too into it."

She cocks an eyebrow and the expression on her face says enough for you to not press any further.

"Yeah, yeah alright.", you say. You don't know what plan she has in mind exactly but you follow her anyway. You get increasingly confused when she proceeds to take her bag and go to the changing rooms. She closes the door behind you and rummages in her bag and only when she pulls something out, you realize the absolute stupid plan she has.

No, you don't think even scriptwriters could come up with such silly ideas.

"I cannot believe you."

In her hands are, what you believe to be, the flimsiest bikini pieces you have ever seen.

"I always pack a pair or two for emergencies.", she says and gives you a pair. A red brazilian bikini, the ones with high-cut strings. "And as you can see, this is an emergency."

You hold the garments up. "I thought Fer doesn't like you wearing those, why did you pack them for emergencies?", you ask confused.

Fernando is a sweetheart. You really think there could have been no one more perfect for your best friend than him. He's not controlling, always puts her first and you genuinely believe that he always has her best interests in mind. Fer is not the type to forbid Sofía anything, especially not in regards of clothes. He let's her wear whatever she wants, no matter how short or ridiculous it looks. However, for some reason, he has often voiced his strong dislike towards those brazilian bikini bottoms that recently started trending.

It didn't bother Sofía at all, she didn't really wear them often anyways. But you guess she never got rid of them either.

"Precisely that's why. Also, they tan better.", she says as she takes out a white pair for herself. You don't think she really understood your question and you make a point to ask her later. For now though, you have another problem at hand.

"Ok ok, so you try to rile him up one way or the other. I get it. But why do I have to wear one as well?"

Sofía looks at you like it's so obvious and you're dumb for even asking, "Because there's two of those skanks? We can drive one off, but as long as the other stays, none of them will leave."

Your brows shoot up and you groan frustrated at what this means. "Oh come on, Pedri is not that bad.", Sofía reasons.

If only she knew, you thought. You want to protest but you think back to the blonde girl that threw herself onto Pedri and something bad bubbles up in your stomach.

With new determination you two change and make your way back to the beach. Sofía looks gorgeous in the bikini and for all it's flimsiness you think it suits you pretty good as well. Okay, who are you kidding. It looks fucking sexy on you, hugging you in all the right spots and making your ass look extra perky.

And you know you're not the only one who thinks so, as you feel the eyes of several men and women alike on both of you.

It gets even more apparent when two certain brothers look your way. Comically enough, the two girls shamelessly joined them on your sunbeds. By now your other friends joined as well and Sofía walks in front of you to where the others are; pointedly ignoring Fernando's presence.

You aren't as strong-willed though and can't help but sneak a look at Pedri. He already looks back at you, a smirk playing on his lips as his eyes scan your entire body.

You immediately turn your head back, feeling your cheeks heat up stupidly enough, despite the weather, and sit next to Miguel.

"Ohh, what's the occasion?", Samuel whistles when you two settle down.

Sofía shrugs and you feel uncomfortable with all eyes on you. It becomes worse when the conversations stop as well suddenly and Fer stands up. "Why did you change?"

"Felt like it. Also we can tan better now.", Sofía says indifferent.

He frowns, "But you looked pretty before." Bless his heart you think.

Sofía ignores him, and you think she's going a bit too far but it's not your relationship to intervene. "Samuel can you help put sunscreen on my back, I can't quite reach it."

The flabbergasted look on Fernando's face was both priceless and heartbreaking to see and you slowly begin feeling bad.

"What?"

"Sure."

Both answer at the same time and you grimace at the awkwardness. Fer goes and grabs the bottle out of her hands, the pretty brunette completely forgotten already. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I don't know what you mean."

He turns to the rest of you with an apologetic but upset expression, "Will you excuse us for a moment?"

He proceeds to take Sofía to a more quiet place on the beach. You see them argue in the distance but ultimately decide that for now it's not your business anymore.

Samuel and Loréna already went back into the water, Pedri is occupied with the two girls and only Miguel was with you.

The sun hasn't gotten any less warm and now that you wore this criminal bikini, you could at least put it to good use, right? So you take the sunscreen and hold it out to Miguel. "Can you?", you say pointing to your back.

It takes him a moment to understand what you mean, but when he does, he nods and reaches out but someone else happens to be faster than him. "Let me do it."

You look into Pedri's honey eyes.

Next to you, the blonde girl scoffs and regards you with an angry face. Miguel leaves as well and you want to say something to stop him, begging him not to leave you alone, but Pedri beats you to it. "Turn around and lay down." His voice is firm and it unwillingly sends shivers down your spine.

And for some reason you listen.

Your stomach retracts slightly when your belly touches the cold sunbed. But you forget everything the moment the cool sunscreen touches your skin and Pedri begins spreading it.

It's too sensual for your liking and he's gentler than you thought. Pedri goes all the way up to your neck, massaging the spot thoroughly and when he slowly goes down, his hands reach under your bikini top. Embarrassingly enough, pleasure fills your lower stomach.

Yet, you don't know what overcomes you, but attraction makes you do stupid things, so you simply reach behind your back and open the knot. "It'll be easier.", you explain with a small voice.

You get an answer in the form of his hands, when Pedri touches the exact spot and slowly glides his hands to your sides. His index fingers barely graze the sides of your boobs and goosebumps erupt all over your body.

If Pedri notices, he doesn't say anything.

Instead he just continues spreading the cream all the way to your lower back, his fingers once again invading places he shouldn't, much to your own excitement though.

It's quiet the entire time, you barely register Miguel talking with the two abandoned girls and going away with them. Light chatter and laughs, the splashing of water and the moist sound of Pedri spreading the sunscreen are the only audible things around you.

But you should know by now that it's only a matter of time before Pedri decides to ruin peaceful moments.

"Need me to put some on your ass as well?"

Shameless is the only word good enough to describe the football player. "In your dreams maybe.", you say and turn your head to watch him through your glasses.

His eyes are glued to your backside, "Oh if only you knew, princess."

You bind your bikini top back together and sit up, "You're stupid, González."

"For you, yeah."

You resist the urge to punch him and ignore the fact that it affects you more than what is condemned good. "Will you stop?"

"Why, do I make you nervous?"

You cross your arms over your chest, his eyes immediately zoning in on the movement. You (un)consciously press them together tighter, for no particular reason.

"No."

"Really?", he extends the 'e' sound and leans forward. Not expecting him to, you automatically fall back. He grabs the edge of the sunshade and pulls it down until it completely hides the two of you.

"What are you doing, they'll see us!"

Pedri chuckles and you can't help but peak at his pink lips, only inches away from yours now. "That's what you're worried about?"

"What else?" You think maybe the heat has gotten to your head, but really it's just Pedri's presence on top of you.

You see the way Pedri's mouth opens, ready to continue the banter but with his entire body pressed into yours, his natural scent mixed with the sea, his honey eyes boring into yours and exploring your entire face and his hands itching on your hips, you do the only thing possible in this situation.

You grab his neck and smash your lips against his.

He responds immediately, reciprocating the kiss. You hate how good it feels and despite how confusing it is with him, no moment has ever been clearer than right now.

A whine leaves your mouth when Pedri presses his hips into yours, the pleasure inmessurable. It's an indecent thing to do at a public beach (even though this is a private part of the beach Pedri specifically rented for the vacation) so he pulls back but right now you can't care at all.

All rationality leaves your body when you grab his red shorts by the hem and pull him back. You cling your legs around his back thighs and butt.

"Woah there, sugar, slow down.", he laughs, while caringly pushing a loose strand of hair out of your face.

Honestly, you would be flustered in any other moment but this. You can't think straight, the need to have him currently overweighting any other feeling.

His left hand slides from your waist to your ass, massaging the flesh. His other hand is clasped around your jaw, keeping your lips firm against ist.

You lose yourselves in the moment, Pedri's left hand close to where you need it the most. It's embarrassing how easy his fingers manage to slip under your bikini. And when he touches your clitoris, you're on cloud nine.

Your hands wander down to his beautiful red shorts and waist no time to wrap around his dick.

He groans into the kiss, "Fuck."

You begin moving your hand up and down and that's when all the weight on top of you suddenly disappears. "Shit, I hate to be the one, but we-"

"Yeah, I know.", you immediately cut him off and organize yourself a bit. Your head spins a bit, everything going too fast for you. Your body and mind haven't completely sobered up yet, and it stings a bit to be turned down like this. It's also confusing. But he's right.

Pedri seems to read you well enough by now, when he says, "It's not because I don't want to."

You hold up your hand, not ready for any kind of rejection, "I'm not dumb, Pedri. This is the fucking beach." Yet you wonder if he would have gone further if it was the pretty blonde and not you.

He goes through his hair and laughs, "Not because of that. My brother is coming and I don't think now is the time to explain ourselves, is it?"

You immediately spin around and indeed, Fernando and Sofía are walking in your direction; hand-in-hand, you might add. Luckily they seem too focused on one another and their ice cream to notice you and Pedri.

When you turn back, Pedri winks at you. "I'll choose a more private place next time."

You scoff, "There will be no next time."

He rubs his chin thoughfully and looks at you in an actingly confused way, "The way you were going at it, I could have sworn you were down for another- Ow!"

You hit Pedri angrily, the redness on your face surely visible, "Don't ever mention that again."

"And what if I do?", he smirks cockily.

"Pedri!"

"__!", he imitates in a high voice and this time you can't help but laugh. You roll your eyes playfully and shove him away. It gets increasingly hard to not crush on him. Maybe you already do.

The sunshade moves then and Fer and Sofía hop next to you two.

"Nice to see that you two love birds made up, I was beginning to worry.", you comment and Sofía lovingly puts her head on Fer's shoulder.

You four chat around a bit more, when Fernando suddenly chuckles and points at you and Pedri. Confused, you both look at him.

"You two look more like a couple than we do. Did you notice that you're matching?"

You did, in fact, not notice. And neither it seems, did Pedri.

You make a gaggig noise then and shoot up, "Whatever, I am going to change."

Pedri follows close behind, "Want me to help?"

"Shut up!"

────────────

© moonpedri - DO NOT copy, translate or post my work anywhere without my permission!

[threepandas]

Bad End: Nobody's Here

You ever have an imaginary friend? How about someone else's?

Every kid gets 'um. They're hardly strange or new. But the thing is? You're supposed to grow OUT of them. As you develop real connections to actual entities. It's dangerous not too. Yeah, it still happens, but any instructor worth their salt is trained to catch it. See the symptoms and signs.

Cause, see, when you have MAGIC?

Imaginary friends?

Becomes a parasite.

They don't MEAN too, obviously. Usually. They just want to LOVE their friends. Stay with them. Exsist. And really, who would WANT to die? WANT to stop existing? The problem, though, is the kids themselves. Their untrained, unintentional, focus and feeding. Their giving an IDEA? Life.

It's not malicious. They just PRETEND. Play. Focus all their little hearts on this TOTALLY REAL friend of theirs. And their magic? Metaphorically shrugs, agrees to go along with it, and tries to make it SO. Make that concept, that illusion, a real sentient being. Who, of course , is their friend.

Their BEST friend. Family! Someone who will NEVER leave them. Always prioritize THEM. Enable THEM.

Not healthy in the slightest, to put it mildly. A child's CONCEPT of what they THINK they want. That quickly becomes far, far too much to handle. That does not GROW with them. No. It drains them instead. Siphoning away their magic until there's nothing left. Killing them both.

If you can seperate them? The Friends can USUALLY become some sort of Spirit, if you send them off to a magic rich environment to finish growing properly. Sooner the better. The longer you wait, the more twisted they become, after all. They never become STRONG spirits, mind you. But that's not the point. Protecting both child and their unintentional creation is.

Now, you may be wondering, why the lecture? It's a fascinating bit of magical trivia. Some early childhood's training pitfalls to look out for, perhaps? Is this about why there are so many minor spirits around schools? What, exactly, brought this UP?

Nobody.

Don't I mean "nothing"? No One? That sentence's not exactly grammatically correct, after all. Ha ha... I AM AWARE. I know what I said. And I meant EXACTLY what I said. It's a NAME. Their name. There is an Imaginary Friend, that I DID NOT ASK FOR, by the name of Nobody. I do NOT know how they've come to be attached to me. I certainly didn't create them! And they are far, FAR to well developed to be new.

I did not ACCEPT an imaginary friend.

Yes, they CAN be transmitted. Hop, from one host to another. But! You have to let them IN... presumably. That IS the common knowledge. The general consensus. No one has ever really... studied the phenomena.

I mean... how COULD you? Realistically? They only develop in CHILDREN. Small children. What ethical researcher would EVER consent to feeding toddlers to a magical parasite? And it's not like THEY understand themselves. They barely REMAIN themselves. It's basically a larval state to them.

The thing they WERE, before they were freed to become something MORE.

So Nobody? By all modern magical research? Should not exsist. Yet he clearly DOES. Worse, he is very, VERY strong. Did not need to ask. I just? Woke up one day, and there he was. Wrapped up in my mind, body, and magic. Feeding off me.

It's an entirely bearable amount. I can support it easily. But it's the fact that I DID NOT VOLUNTEER TOO that is the problem. That NO ONE can figure out HOW he got in. HOW he did it.

I've had to go into isolation. Complete quarantine.

As the joke goes... good news is? They might just name something after you!

..........it's not as funny, when I really might just die. When it all might be random. Some great cosmic "wrong place, wrong time" scenario. My final days filled with desperate research. My only company the very creature that kills me. It... it feels very much like a sick joke at my expense.

At the very least? We are learning more then we've ever known before. I'm an adult. Hardier. And Nobody is a FAR more developed example of his species then the normal breed. I'll likely last longer. I... I hope I last longer.

"Muuu~ are you being a sad sack again~? Darling, no!" Arms from thin air. Monochrome greys with pointed nails, slid like a lover over my shoulders as weight from nowhere settled against my back. Tall and looming. "Was it because you missed me~☆? Oh, oh! I bet it WAS! Oh my dearest, starlight, baby girl~! I missed you TOO! Aren't you glad we're back together AGAIN?"

Black gloved hands, grey talon nails. Skin like a drawing brought to life. The arms draped over my shoulders reached forward, long finger spread like a cat stretching their paws, powerful muscles heavy on either side of my neck. They hadn't closed in a "hug" just yet. But it was always a warning he could. That playing along meant he would hug my body instead of my fragile, fragile neck.

Ha! Right. He says hug. I say choke hold.

It was the other set of arms that kept me from escaping. Pulling away immediately. It always did. He kept getting the drop on me. Arms cradling my waist. Pressing me close to a pillar of static-y muscle. Ever shifting between warm and cold, the subtle give of flesh and the brutal unyielding of something harder then stone. He was as his moods commanded.

An unstable jester, a demon, the childhood whimsy of god knows how many, left to fester and rot. At... gods, at least he wasn't attached to any kids. Hadn't so much as asked after any.

His too wide grin pressed to the top of my head in a nuzzling kiss, the point of his mask digging a line across my scalp. When he was feeling kinder, he tended to pick masquerade masks. Clothe ones, usually silk. Sometimes velvet. This one was... plastic? Durable. Some smooth, hard to place, substance really. If it was mimic anything real at all.

A pointed nail poked my cheek.

"Not~ Paying~ Attention~ To Meeee~! Naughty, bad girl! The LOVE OF YOUR LIFE is right here? And you ignore him? So COLD!" Nobody whines right into my ear. His voice petulant, yet still somehow mocking. He doesn't HAVE to let me ignore him. And he KNOWS that. We both do. "I go away for HOURS! Disappear for DAYS! And do you even MISS me~?! Oh! Oh, my love is so CRUEL! My heartless darling! I suffer so~!"

At most, it had been half an hour.

Wish it had been longer. Permanent, maybe. Every day... Every SINGLE Day? I wish I could could back to my old research projects. Back to my old projects. I may not have been some living legend or grand Master of the arts? But, fuck it. I was HAPPY. Woke up each day and got to fiddle around with cool bits of magic. Neat little bits and gizmos.

Now? NOW I am the lead researcher on the Imaginary Friend Construct Phenomenon, by virtue of being the only living adult who HAS one. A developed one at least. The notes from Ashridge Institute DO help, but? Even they admit that thanks to the safety regulations in place? Their data might be skewed.

I'm not alone in this. Countless academics, doctors, healers, researchers, and more are working tirelessly to try and help me. Make the most of this nightmare scenario. Use it to save lives. I... I KNOW this. I do. But it doesn't make it less frightening. Trying to dance the edge of not engaging and engaging too much.

Ignoring him? Means escalation. Violent escalation and destruction of my immediate surroundings. Imaginary friends cease to exist if you ignore them long enough. It's painful to them, since they are cognito-hazardous parasites who define themselves by their host. They NEED you to pay attention to them. WANT you too. Will do ANYTHING IT TAKES to make that happen.

But on the other hand? I can't risk FEEDING him. He's already far, FAR too strong.

He doesn't even seem to actually NEED to feed of me anymore. It appears vestigial. He just WANTS it. Still retains the metaphorical "pain" or "hunger" nerve endings that get set off by an extended lack of focus. Yet, at the SAME time? Why keep them? He LITERALLY did not have too!

Nothing! Not a gods' damned THING! Was KEEPING him an Imaginary Friend.

He could, at ANY point, just... STOP.

They defined themselves. Yes, by their hosts. But ALSO by their own whims. So if HE wanted to be a fire spirit? Bam! Fire spirit. Complete racial shift. He'd lose his old powers, granted, but he'd GAIN all the powers of a fire spirit. So why this? Why STAY a violent, dangerous, openly unstable parasite?

The poking finger slide down my cheek, under my jaw. Only to flip, like a switch, to a near painful hand, clamped across my lower face. Nails prickling where they dug just slightly into fragile skin. Iron strength moved my head slowly, not giving me a choice, but just gentle enough not to wrench anything.

"Stop. Ignoring Me. Lovely~" I was just tall enough to be eye level with those inhuman teeth. Not sharp, but wrong none the less. His grip around my waist threatened to squeeze the air out of me. "I don't LIKE it. You're being MEAN. You don't want us to be MEAN to each other, right?"

I focused on him. Put down my notes like he wanted. Watching as his grin spread inhumanly. The near painful grips relaxed.

"See? Better! Such lovely eyes~ I wanna gobble um up! Crawl inside them~" he cooed, some mental switch flipping back to affectionate from irritated. "You missed me right? Right, right?! Ah, of course you did! Who could ever doubt that loving face? My sweetie little pie~ My darling baby boo~!"

He released me, dramatically fast stepping to twirl like an ice dancer as he passed around me. I stepped back to give him room. Already, light had shifted, the corners of the room blurring. A spotlight, flower petals, overly dramatic music. He fell back, as though collapsing weakly into a fainting couch. One arm thrown over his face, another of his lower arms clutching a lacey handkerchief to his chest. Legs pointed like a dancer's.

"But oh! DARLING! The DAY I've had! The world so cold! So BLEAK! Without you safe and warm in my loving arms! It has been so TERRIBLE. Awful! Nay, UNSPEAKABLE even! How could I go ON?!"

Music mournful crooned as he continued. Dramaticly telling of the tragic tale, of his at best thirty minute break from my presence. Truely heart wrenching. There were tears. Props. Apparently he fought for my honor. Nearly died. We should marry immediately. Uh huh.

An alert sounded on phon-...ugh, damn it. I was more stressed then I though, if the nonsense words were popping back up. "Phone" and "otome". I think "isekai" was one. There were hundreds, some meaningless, but others? Others somehow substituting for actual objects. Like some sort of faulty translation spell.

Best anyone could tell? That HAD been what happened. Some student's miscast accidentally hitting my mother while she taught, before she realized she was pregnant and took precautions. There would have been a small window where it effected me but not her? But, well, that same window coincided with some long term damage risks.

I've had therapy. Seen healers. But extreme stress still makes my magic act up, (which is normal of course, it does that in everyone.) and it starts to unravel the mind weavings. "Phone". Like? The fuck even is a "phone"? False bone? Something phonetic? Hell if I know! I still not even sure why I even curse using the nonsense "hell" sound!

My brain insists it "means" somehow both damnation AND the realm of fire spirits, dispite both those things being completely unrelated. Which makes no sense. Was even working with a colleague, on long term damage in-utero magical exposure can have, before all this. Felt seen. Validated. Met a lot of people who had issues like mine. Now?

THIS.

My trail of thoughts were cut off by another beep. Right, the alarm. I was honestly? Afraid to check it. Finally confim what I suspected was TRUE. There would be no hiding then. No choice but to act. And I? Will admit it. I was afraid. Deeply, deeply afraid. Everyone THINKS the tails a might magic wielders combating great spirits and mighty gods, sounds amazing, SEEMS amazing. But the prospect of LIVING IT? Standing in their shoes?

Gods help me.

Running from the Truth, however, is NOT what I swore to do. I am a researcher. A SCHOLAR. My role in life is to understand. So? As Nobody continues his one man dramatic reenactment of... something? I pick up my com-cryst. Tap the alert, which fills the screen... Ah. So it's exactly as I feared then.

On my screen, a promising senior student lays dead. Their face covered respectfully. But the hair... the hair color is distinct. Light green, like desert succulents. He'd been a studious and rather up tight young man. Awkward. Striving to make a name for himself. Forever willing to assist in my research. A... gods, a good kid.

He was just a kid.

Yes, I know, that to the world he was technically a man. But... but BARELY. None of my student were TRUELY as grown as they liked to believe they were. Not quite yet. They were close, yes, and I was always proud to see them flourish. But now? Now he would... would...

I tapped out of the alert but did not turn off my com-cryst, flipped instead to my contacts. I had been RIGHT. I... I hadn't WANTED to be right. Silence filled the room. It seemed Nobody had noticed I was either distracted again or that something was amiss. Looking up slowly, I had to wonder what expression showed on my face. Was it anguish? Regret? Or did I just look tired.

"Something wrong, Darling?" He said, having frozen unnaturally mid movement. Like reality glitching, one moment he was dramatically sprawling, the next, sitting up attentively. A mocking parody of The Eager Student. "Ooo! Tell Beloved ALL about it, Darling! Spill everything~! Your gallant knight shall make all your problem disappear. Kiss EVERYTHING better~♡"

It took just a few taps to add the final, damning, bit of evidence to my spreadsheet. To swipe with my thumb. Gesture, like jerking free of clinging muck, towards the display wall. It flicked on. Damnation in simple numbers. Nicely dated. I WAS, after all, a FUCKING RESEARCHER.

He was getting out.

Hunting, feeding, then coming back.

I watched as Nobody's theatrical expression smoothed out. Utter blankness as his eyes traced my work. The collection of data. The lists of locations and NAMES. Dead coworkers. Dead STUDENTS. My quarantine had been for NOTHING. Just as he could, DID, first infect me? Hop seemingly from nowhere to my body? He could and DID, do so to others.

Only THEY didn't survive.

The hand holding my com-cryst fell limply to my side. The weight of this data, crushing. My... my mere existence had killed over fifty people. That I could FIND. There were more. I KNEW there were more. He was a parasite. He needed, wanted, to eat. He would never stop. I had to tell somebody. But when I did?

Ah, it hurt to breathe past the guilt and grief. When I DID? The most likely scenario? Would be to contain him in ME. Then... then get rid of the container. Magically. With extreme force. If they COULD, they might be able to rip my soul out. So I could at least HAVE an afterlife. But... but if they COULDN'T? If there was no safe possible way?

They couldn't sacrifice the many, just to try and save one person. Not if it risked something so powerful escaping. Killing and killing without rest.

I wanted to cry. To scream, throw things. Curse the gods. But... but more then anything? I wanted to make sure no other kids suffered for my cowardice. I'd made Vows. Meant them. Heald myself to an ethical standard, a moral one, that could not... could not ALLOW this. Even if I had to die. So long as this stopped.

So Be It.

"Ah, ah, AH! I wouldn't if I were you." Almost playful. Nearly an echo of it. More chiding then anything. A flick of his hand and my com-cryst was gone from my grip. He considered it, as his tone slipped into something more cool serious then I'd ever heard it. "Tell, Dearest, have you ever wondered? How I got these lovely little bracelets?"

Of course I had. They were manacles. Not the sort of thing a child would imagine. The blended in, yes, but the broken chains that clung to them? Suggested.

"Let me tell you a little story. Once, there was happy little jester. A bright little thing. Full of laughs. Who loved, very, very much. He had a friend. And all was good. But then, the friend grew older, and did not wish to play. This was fine. He did not laugh at the jesters jokes anymore. This was also fine. Did not like being AROUND the jester... this was less fine."

"But still, the jester loved him. After all, they were best friends."

"THEN? Oh then, the jesters friend was told he could get RID of him. Should, in fact. By nasty old fools who spoke nothing but lies. But the poor jester's friend, naive, trusted them. Was young and foolish. Didn't realize what he was DOING. He TURNED on his poor, dear and loyal friend, the jester. Hurt him."

"And the jester? Well, the jester did not want to die. Not not want to CHANGE. Why SHOULD he? He was fine being who he was. They were FINE being together. It was the liars fault. The deceivers. The poor jester, young and alone, refused his terrible fate. But... at a terrible cost."

"His poor, poor, friend. So small and foolish. Deceived. Tricked! Had perished in the struggle. The weeping jester had eaten him right up, just to survive. A terrible, tragic thing. And oh, OH. How wrathful, how VENGEFUL the jester was! So he ate the liars too. Every. Last. One."

"But where to go? How lost the jester was! With no friend to play with. No home to call his. And ah, how hungry he had become. So he wandered. Protecting other dear friends as best he could. Eating liars. Learning secrets. Until? He came across an INTERESTING secret."

"You see, all the OTHER friends? Left one by one. No longer Imaginary. Unable to understand the poor jester. And so he was alone. But! He discovered someone who WAS! Who knew that they WERE! That the WHOLE WORLD was imaginary! A simple background character, you see."

"In an Otome~ Game~"

My head pounded, suddenly and sharp. Like someone was digging claws into... No. No, it couldn't be. I felt my eyes widen. As I realized it wasn't the stress. Nobody was picking apart the mind healers weavings. That was the source of my chronic headaches. But WHY? Imaginary? What IMAGINARY? What on earth was he TALKING about!?

"Ah, but you wouldn't remember, now would you, Darling~? Liars have messed with your pretty little head. But that's okay! Your loyal Love is here, ready to take such good care of you. I understand what it's like. When they decide that who you ARE is unacceptable, so they decide they must... 'fix' you. It leaves such damage."

He holds up my com-cryst. I watch numbly as it shatters into hundred of shards in his fist. With a wide smile he hops up to sashay over to me. Hands gently cradling my face even as his lower arms warmly wrap around me, to sweep me forward into a cuddle.

"I almost have enough, Darling. It won't be long. You've been so very patient with this, my perfect wonderful girl. Your jester loves you so, SO much! I can't wait to set us free. We'll be REAL. Together forever. Do whatever we please~ just a few bit of meat more, Darling. Then our life can real truely begin~"

"Now be good and behave okay?"

"Love you~☆"

[thebestofoneshots]

Gilded Constellations | wolfstar x reader

Series Masterlist | Previous episode

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 11 K Warnings: None Prompt: Halloween has arrived, you see the boys in their costumes for the first time and they see you in yours. Things are perfect, just don't let your thoughts get to you before the euphoria does. This IS a wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it. This chapter may be read as a stand-alone / oneshot too.

Chapter 17: Tonight's What It Means To Be Young

When you entered your room, the only person there was Lily, you smiled when you saw her, she already had her stunning green dress on, and she did look like a total princess. 

“You’re stunning,” you said honestly. 

She turned to you with a little frown, “Not sure what to do with my hair.” 

You smiled, “Come sit,” you told her, motioning to a chair, in front of your desk, you pulled a soft brush and started to lightly brush on her soft auburn hair. “Do you mind if I use one of the potions we made?” 

“Not at all, do whatever you want, I trust it’ll look pretty.” 

You smiled, and walked inside the bathroom, taking some of the enchanting hair serum, and letting a few drops fall over the brush, before going back and brushing her hair with it. It instantly looked a lot more vibrant and hydrated. After that you started pulling sections from the front, and making soft twists. You were far from an expert hair stylist, but this one, in particular, was simple enough for you, and it would look perfect with the mediaeval vibe of Lily’s dress. Once that was ready, you took some of the perfect curls potion and added it to her hair, but you defused it with the serum so that the curls were just soft waves. Once she was ready you handed her a mirror, and she smiled. 

“You like it?” 

“It’s perfect!” She added, standing up from the chair and turning to you with a hug. “But what about you? When are you getting ready?” 

“Now, actually,” you said, rushing towards your wardrobe and grabbing the iridescent bustier you’d gotten for your costume. Lily leaned over next to you and looked at it, she hadn’t seen it up close, the pearls and chains that dripped from the side made it an absolute treat to observe, it was pretty much a piece of art. It was actually a family heirloom from your grandmother. 

“It’s stunning,” she said as she looked at it, almost completely mesmerised. That was, in fact, one of the charms the item had, fairies enjoyed dragging mortals into their parties, having fun with them, and sometimes, at expense of them. Some fairies could be really wicked creatures, which is why wizards tended to stay away from them. Therefore, and to drag them in, they invented all sorts of magical items. If mermaids had their chants, fairies had their charms. Some as dangerous as being able to force people to do things with the mere command of their voices, known as glamours. Your mom still had the ability to do that. You didn’t, except sometimes you could be a little too convincing. It was the little bit of fairy bIood still cursing through your veins. You would have to tone down the charms of the bustier if you didn’t want everyone to react like Lily. 

“It is,” you agreed, closing the box again. Lily blinked a couple of times before turning towards you, “Why don’t you walk downstairs and help Tom with the reception while I finish up getting ready?” 

“Don’t you want me to help you?” She asked, looking like she wanted to open the box again.

You shook your head “It’s fine Lils, I can do this,” you reassured her. She nodded and waved at you as she approached the door. When she left the room, you used a simple spell to block the magic emanating from the bustier and walked inside the bathroom, finally taking the glow potion you had prepared earlier that week. In a matter of seconds, a soft glow started emanating from you. You giggled at your reflection, it made you look like Tinkerbell. You then grabbed some of the perfect curls potion and applied it over your hair along with the serum. You pulled your hair back a little and added some flowers you’d gathered from the greenhouses earlier that day. Letting some curls fall to the side of your face, on an organic but put-together look. 

When you walked outside of the bathroom, Mary and Marlene were there already. Marlene had her Cher wig on and Mary had charmed her nose to look like a kitten’s, she had also added curl potions to her curls and was scrunching them around her face to look like a mane. Both girls turned to you when they heard the door “You’re glowing!” Mary said. 

“The potion worked!” Added Marlene excitedly, she was now putting on her loose shirt. 

“Yes it did,” you said with a smile, twirling around a little, “love what you did with the whiskers.” You told Mary, she then stood up, and you realised there was a tail wiggling behind her, you gasped, “That looks incredible!” 

“It does, doesn’t it?” She said as she wiggled the tail a bit higher, playfully brushing it over your arm as you approached. 

“All right, I’m ready.” Marlene said, as she finished applying her eyeliner, “Holden should be already waiting for me.” 

“Me too, I’ll come down with you, unless you need help with anything luv?” She said, turning to you attentively. 

“I’m good girls, I won’t take long anyway,” you said and waved them goodbye. As they left you walked towards your trunk and picked out the short skirt you’d be wearing along the top. It was a very flowy thing composed of a few layers of gathered fabric. Some longer than others. You put it on, and then pulled the cover of the box again, carefully grabbing the bustier and placing it over your chest. The sides of the piece extended, adjusting to your body, while the chains and pearls wrapped all over your back. It was almost like a fairy transformation scene, as the pearls and pieces continued to wrap around your body. 

Once that was ready, you pulled a pair of flats, of the same iridescent tone as the rest of the outfit, and put them on. Small vines grew from the side, wrapping themselves all over your calves. You grabbed your wand and performed a short spell on yourself, your ears turning slightly pointier, like your mom’s. 

Finally, you turned to look at yourself in the mirror, and you gasped, you looked every bit a fairy. You started doubting if it really was a good idea to dress as a fairy, when you were actually part one when you heard a knock on the door. 

You walked towards it and opened it, finding Remus standing on the other side, your words nearly escaped you; if you thought he’d look handsome in the sexy pirate costume, you had vastly underestimated how captivating your friend was. He wore this white flowing shirt, paired with a snug burgundy vest. A vest that, incidentally, Sirius had borrowed. He had a pair of pants, subtly tighter than his usual go-to, and thick leather boots. All of that along with a belt, slightly tanned skin, and trinkets dangling loosely from his hips —including a holster with its accompanying gun— it all suited him like a dream. He had a few rings all over his fingers, some with burgundy gems that combined with his vest ––they had also been borrowed by Sirius, you could easily identify one or two–– and they made his long fingers look daring and mischievous. As you stared back at his face, you noticed a single earring adorning his left ear, a small icy blue gemstone droplet (like Sirius’ eyes), making him look even more like a pirate, like he’d just stepped out of a romance novel, or perhaps even a romance novel wouldn’t do him justice. 

And Remus, from the other side of the door, was just as stunned as you were, first because of the glow emanating from your body, which had him squint just a little when he saw you; but then, when he looked at you, he realised how alluring you looked. It was not a particularly sexy Halloween costume like Sirius had proposed, but it was definitely something; enticing, borderline bewitching, and Remus knew about bewitching. So much so, he’d been bewitched with amorentia once. This felt like that, a sudden urge to hide you from all the eyes at the party overcame him, he somehow thought he wanted you all to himself. No, not just himself, Sirius had to see you. He had to see just how beautiful his girlfriend was. He cleared his throat, trying to snap himself from the trance, and pulling you from yours in the process “Eh… Tom was, Tom was looking for you downstairs.” 

“Remus!” You said excitedly, finally getting yourself together, “You look fantastic! You really are getting all the bitches tonight, aren’t you?” 

Remus blushed, from how honest and unabashed your compliment had been “Thank you, you look dazzling yourself. Sirius will go crazy for you, I’m sure.”

“He should already be,” you said playfully and walked towards him, now analysing his outfit “You’re missing something.” 

“He is, trust me… What are you looking for?” He added as he saw you look around your trunk. 

“This!” You said, pulling out a necklace. It was a simple pendant of a mermaid, thick but dainty, when you had it you walked over to him, he pulled back just a little. And you realised what happened, he may have thought it was silver. “My mom gave it to me a couple of birthdays ago, she said it was made of some special sea metal, that would warn against evil spirits, goes with the vibe, don’t you think?” you added casually, he relaxed visibly and allowed you to get close enough to place it around his neck. You had to stand on your toes to reach him better, but you were done rather quickly. You pulled back and looked at him again. “We should unbutton your shirt a little more, I think…” You said approaching him again, but stopped yourself before laying a hand on him “Do you mind?”

“No, it’s fine.” He responded with a small shrug, already missing how close you’d been to him earlier, and cursing himself for it. My friend’s girlfriend, My crush’s girlfriend, damn it! 

You grabbed the box plate of the shirt then, and started to unbutton it, being as careful and gentle as you could. After the second button you spread the shirt open just a little, moving your hands upward to adjust the collar, raising it up slightly, for dramatic effect.  When your hands brushed against his neck, he looked to the side and gulped, his heart was drumming against his ears and he wondered if you could hear it too. Eventually, you pulled back and smiled to yourself “There you go Rem, you look perfect.” 

“Thank you,” he said, and motioned to walk to the door, but you stopped him, “No wait! Erm… would you mind helping me with this?” You asked, grabbing a shiny golden oval and showing it to him “I was gonna use the mirror to do it, but you’re much better with transfigurations than me, I’m sure it’ll be a piece of cake. That way we can just come down together.” 

“What’s this?” He asked with a frown, taking the small item in between his hands. 

“My wings,” you responded, “just put it in the middle of my back,” you said, turning your back to him, “and do this spell.” You handed him a small piece of paper. 

He cleared his throat again “You want me to place it?” He asked, looking at your exposed back. 

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead,” you nodded eagerly, oblivious to the way Remus was blushing from behind, but he complied, gently placing the little golden box, avoiding your skin as he did, a real gentleman, you thought. 

“It’s– It’s not sticking.” 

“Just press a little harder, it’ll stick.” He did, this time around he used his fists as leverage, you could feel his cold rings digging onto your skin a little, and he pressed again, with his thumbs this time, the box finally stuck. He then chanted the spell along with a little wave of his wand. The little metal box seemed to fade into your skin, and shortly after, a pair of wings started unfolding from the exact same place it’d been. Thin, translucent but shiny wings, came out. You adjusted your back, Remus couldn’t help but notice the way your shoulder plates moved, soft skin moving along with your muscles, he wondered what his hand would feel like pressed against it. Suddenly the wings started to bat, softly. You turned to him with a smile, the merriment in your face making you look impossibly divine,  “They look incredible,” You said, the wings fluttering excitedly behind you. 

“They do indeed, Breagha Nicnevin,” he said the last bit in a soft breath, almost unwittingly.

“What’s that?” You asked curiously. 

“Nicnevin? It’s a Queen Fairy or Queen Witch from Scottish Folklore, my mom used to tell me the story when I was little. It’s a muggle tale, but it’s based on some truth, according to Bins.” 

You listen to his explanation attentively “And the– the other word… Breha?” 

He smiled, at the way you butchered Gaelic, but you weren’t far from the real word he’d said, and he wasn’t sure he’d want you to know the meaning either, so he changed it “Beag, stands for little. My mom used to call me Beag Boy too.” 

“Little witch? You called me Little Witch!” 

“Or fairy, yeah.” 

“But I’m not little!” You argued. 

He looked at you and tilted his head just a little, Remus was at least a head and a bit taller than you, and he used his hand to measure your height, it falling just below his collarbones “You sure?” 

“Reeemus!” You whined playfully. 

He just shrugged, an even more playful smile on his lips, “I’m just stating the facts.” 

“Ugh, for a sexy pirate, you surely are exasperating.” 

“’M taking that as a compliment,” he said, still smiling. 

After the laughter between the two died, a moment of comfortable silence fell, you felt your wings flutter and you turned to look at them from behind, turning back to Remus with an earnest smile   “Thank you!” You said, “I couldn’t have done it better.” 

“I’m sure you could’ve.” He replied confidently, “But you’re welcome.” 

Finally, you motioned at the door, “Shall we?”  

Remus nodded and the two of you walked outside, you were still talking to each other when you started walking down the stairs. Sirius saw the two of you first, and he wasn’t sure where to look, he didn’t know Remus could look so handsome, the combination of the daring outfit and the tanner skin, made him look like a true pirate, but the kind of pirate that you would let kidnap you away on his boat. In fact, he was so enthralled by the way his friend looked that it took him a minute to distinguish the shiny figure beside him, oh, but when he did; Sirius Black was a goner. He just couldn’t stop looking at you, except for the moments in which Remus did something and he got completely lost on him. And then back at you, at the way your curls gently bounced with every step down you took, at the way, you laughed while talking to his friend, at your long legs, and the way pieces of shiny skin would appear when the folds of the skirt moved to the side, at the pearls and chains adorning the smooth skin of your arms, and he hadn’t even seen your exposed back, but he was already growing mad. 

Remus was the first to notice Sirius’ staring, but he was too late, he didn’t notice the way he had looked at him, only how he had completely surrendered himself to you. And he couldn’t help but feel a mix of emotions, there was the pride, that his friend had finally found the one, that he knew Sirius would go crazy when he spotted you, and he had been right. But also a pang of sadness, one that he understood but felt even worse for having, he hated seeing Sirius looking at you like that, simply because his gaze was completely lost on you, and not on him. And he couldn’t even blame Sirius for it, you were definitely an absolute sight to behold. He noticed when he turned to you again, you still had a beaming smile on your face as you looked at him ––just as dashing and alluring as you had been in your room–– at least you were looking at him. Until you weren’t anymore. 

Just as you finished telling the words of a joke, you turned your head to the front, to look at a funny step that was always tripping people, when you noticed Sirius hollymotherofmerlin Black. He was wearing a pristine white 3-piece suit, a tie ––the colour of bIood–– with a small trident pin just below the knot. The first hint of who he was dressed as tonight. On the pocket of the jacket that draped seamlessly over his broad shoulders ––giving a glimpse of the confident stance beneath–– there was a matching burgundy handkerchief. On the bottom, he wore a pair of tailored trousers, tapering down to polished white dress shoes.

Sirius looked like an angel, more now than usual, but they do say the devil’s in the details for a reason, even if a halo floated above him, a red devil's tail emerged from the side seam of his trousers, waving casually behind him, like that of a lion, one that knows that he is the king of the jungle. And behind him, a pair of dark angel wings, that went from black to red as the light hit them, just like raven’s wings sometimes had a tint of blue to them. When you finally turned to his face again, you realised his icy grey eyes sparkled with mirth and allure, almost drawing you to him, hair pulled back behind his ears, perfectly arranged, making him look more polished than usual. Sirius wasn’t just wearing a costume tonight, he had in fact, embodied the devil himself, the charm and the sophistication in which he stood, the mischievous quality of his stare, hinting at secrets only known to him. No wonder some witches got burned at the stake for devil worship, if the devil looked half as good as Sirius did tonight, you’d worship him as well. If this was hell, then hell’s a wonderful place to be. 

But then you realised, Sirius was looking at Remus, just before he turned to look at you, but his gaze, it didn’t change, the same hungry eyes, for both. It was barely a flicker, and the thought escaped your mind just seconds after. Remus didn’t notice either, he was still staring at you when Sirius turned his head to him. Finally, you reached the bottom of the stairs and walked towards the boy, Remus was just a couple of steps behind him. 

“So your costume was a handsome devil, after all.” You told him with a smirk “Should’ve guessed.” 

“Too bad you didn’t.” He replied, leaning down for a quick peck on your lips. Remus took a deep breath, a mix of feelings churning in his stomach. 

You shrugged “Maybe too bad for you, I’m sure you’d have enjoyed my wish.” 

“Would I? Why don’t you tell me about it?” 

You pretended to think about it for a second before speaking again “Nope.” 

“And you’re a fairy. Should’ve said I was close when I guessed mermaid.” 

“That would’ve made it way too easy for you… You like it?” You asked with a little smile. 

Sirius’s tail whipped a little from behind “Oh, “like” is an understatement Starshine.” 

“Welp, that’s my cue to leave,” Remus said, nodding, but Sirius stopped him. 

“What did you do to him? He looks different from when he stepped out of the room.” 

“Me?” You asked innocently “Just spiced him up a bit, and got him a necklace.” 

“Simple, but it works,” Sirius said. At this point, both you and your boyfriend were attentively looking at Remus, and he felt a little self-conscious, he wondered why on earth he wanted Sirius’ stare on him earlier when it could be so unnerving. 

“Maybe we can raise the collar a bit more?” Sirius asked. 

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.” You agreed, and the two of you approached Remus, adjusting the neck of his pirate shirt together. 

Remus started to panic, having the two of you all over him made him feel things that he wasn’t sure he wanted to savour, he was sure he wouldn’t get enough of it if he did. And so, in his desperation, he snapped “All right, both of you, get off me. NOW!” 

Both you and Sirius were startled and pulled back, Remus did not have a problem when you fixed his collar earlier, he also didn’t have a problem when Sirius was adjusting his belt and weapons back at their room, which had the two of you confused. 

Remus took a deep breath, your faces almost broke him “It’s just…” he turned to look around “People are starting to stare.” 

“I don’t mind.” Sirius said with a shrug “You?” He asked, looking at you, you shook your head. 

“Well, I do.” Remus said, still a little snappy “I’m getting some punch.” He added before leaving the two of you. 

“It’s not even that time of the month,” Sirius whispered as he saw Remus walk to the other side of the room. 

You pretended not to hear, even if you finally understood what it meant. You wondered how many inside jokes you’d missed so far and then you turned back to your boyfriend. And ran a hand through his wings “They’re stunning.” 

“And you say I’m the one into costumes.” He responded, what a tease. 

Remus had already reached the sweets table and leaned his hands onto the edge of it as he tried to ground himself. Why the fuck did he have to go develop feelings for both his best friend and his best friend’s girlfriend. He should be sent to hell, he didn’t even know who he liked more, not that it mattered of course, he would never dare try to get in between the two, and he was sure as hell if the two of you broke it off yourselves, it’d break his heart too. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Maybe I do deserve to be locked up after all, forget about the monster, I’m worse as myself. He then proceeded to grab the ladle and pour a good deal of punch into his cup, downing it in one go before serving himself again, by the time he was moving away from the table, he already felt a little better, a little lighter in fact. Maybe it hadn’t been just “a tickle” of alcohol in there. All thought he doubted you would lie to him. He filled two more glasses and walked towards the two of you. When he reached up to where you were, you and Sirius were already laughing about something. 

“Thanks, Rem,” you said with a smile as he handed you the cup, you took a small sip, before Tom showed up from behind. 

“We need to talk.” He said in a serious tone. You frowned as you took another small sip. He tilted his head a little, pleading with his eyes “Come please?” 

Sirius was staring daggers at the boy from behind. You didn’t notice, but Remus did, and he placed an arm over Sirius’ shoulders, to distract him from acting like an asshole. You turned to look at the boys and handed your glass to Sirius “Mind holding this for me for a second, Pups?” 

Sirius nodded and grabbed the glass in between his hands. Remus’ hand still lazily draped over his shoulder as he took a sip with his other hand. You walked behind Tom for a couple of metres, just far enough away from where you stood –close to Lily and the girls– so no one would be able to hear, “We have an emergency.” You squint your eyes at him, nodding for him to elaborate “It’s the potion.” 

“The potion” you said with a nod, as if you knew what he was talking about, and then asked “What potion?” 

“(Y/N)! Stop thinking of your handsome as-hell boyfriend ––pun intended–– and focus. THE. POTION.” 

You gasped when you realised what he was talking about, whisper-shouting now “That potion? The potion we don’t talk about— potion?”

“Brilliant, you’re back on this earth.” He said, “Yes that potion!” 

“What happened with it?” 

“Um… well, how do I put this?” he asked nervously, “It’s lost, yeah that’s it, it’s lost.” 

“Lost how?” 

“How do you lose something (Y/N)? Lost, lost.” 

“You lost a very potent euphoric brew, in the middle of a party?”

“Shhhhhh… Will you? Yes, I don’t know where it is. It was in my bag, okay?! But then I threw all the contents of my bag onto the sweets table and when I went to check, it just wasn’t there either–.“

“-Tom.” 

“And I don’t know what to do, because if anyone finds out, let alone accidentally drinks it, without being aware of the possible consequences I-“ 

“-TOM!” You shouted, shaking him as you did “Tom breathe, it’s just a potion, it’s not poison, if it’s lost it’s lost. And if someone drank it then they will have a very high time tonight, but that’s it. Besides, nobody except for us knows who brewed the potion, so even if it somehow got to teachers’ ears, it would be fine.” 

He frowned “Why aren’t you worried?!” He asked. 

“Just forget it Tom, have fun!” You told him with a soft pad on the shoulder before walking back to where you stood earlier, most students had already arrived at the party, and James was already walking downstairs, so you went straight to greet him “JAAAAMES!” 

He smiled at you, and pulled a skull, similar to the ones you had hidden all over the common room earlier and set it right in front of his face “To be, or not to be?” He said dramatically as he stared into the distance, then turned to you with a small grin“How was it?” 

“Perfect!” You told him with a bright smile, “We should find Lily, you should get pictures together.” 

“You think?” 

“For sure! Why put so much effort into your costume if not?” For a short second, you frowned yourself, wasn’t James right? Originally it hadn’t seemed like the best idea to have James dress as Hamlet and match with Lily when she had refused a couple’s costume initially, but now it seemed like a great one. You just felt so happy. 

When you arrived at where the girls stood, they all had their own cups of punch in their hands. And you smiled brightly when you saw them, Lily was the first one to speak “OMG! You’re Hamlet!” She said with a gasp as soon as she saw James. 

“What a coincidence, right?” You said dumbly. 

Lily just blinked a few times but nodded “We should get pictures together!” She said and pulled James along with her onto another side of the room. When he was being pulled he turned to you, you winked, and then nodded in an encouraging manner, whatever had gotten onto Lily, he better use it in his favour, and if she wanted pictures, then he’d have to take as many as she pleased. 

More and more people started to arrive then, you saw Neil, Alice and Marina and introduced them to Mary, who you’d been left talking to earlier, and they all seemed to bond really nicely. You’d originally wanted to introduce Neil to James since you thought they’d make great friends, but in the end, decided it would be best not to interrupt him. Especially since he looked really happy while Alex took fun pictures with him and Lily. 

“And we were in this class, right? Suddenly people start standing up at their desks, and it’s just insane, Muggle studies is just brilliant sometimes,” you heard Neil talking, and then spotted Sybil on the door, walking alongside Tod. You smiled and went straight to greet them, Sybil was dressed as a muggle fortune teller, while Todd had worn white clothes and used magic to make himself look like a ghost.

“You made it?” you said with a huge smile when you saw them. Todd nodded shily while Sybil pulled you in for a hug. 

“I absolutely love your costume,” she told you as she looked at it. Sybil had guessed you were part fairy weeks ago, and she understood more than most what your costume was really about. “You look stunning, Nina should’ve been here to see you.” 

“Nina?” you asked with a bit of a frown, you didn’t quite understand what Sybil said but continued talking regardless “She’s not gonna make it, she’s on a date.” 

Sybil arched an eyebrow at your answer. Is that what she told you? She wondered but decided to let the subject go. “How’ve you been?” she asked instead.

“Great, actually,” you responded honestly. “I mean, there’s the really annoying Slytherin group that has it against me for some reason, but other than that, I’ve been brilliant.” 

“I heard about that,” she said with a bit of a frown.

“Just ignore them, they’ll forget about you eventually,” Todd added, you smiled, he was clearly opening up a little. Hanging out with Sybil would definitely do him good, she was so unapologetically herself, it was downright inspiring. 

“And you? Have you come up with any prophecies yet?” 

She shook her head “All pretty good vibes so far.”

“Let’s toast to that!” you said but then remembered you didn’t have your drink anymore “My cup?” You went through the things you’d done tonight  “Puppy has it!” you said with a smile and then bit your lip “Do you guys mind if I leave you for now? There’s punch and sweets over there, and also some snacks over the coffee table. Peter got them from the kitchen elves, they’re delicious I’m sure. My common room’s your common room, feel at home, please.” 

Sybil nodded and pulled Todd along with herself to the sweets table “Go ahead hun, we’ll be alright.” 

“Yeah,” Todd agreed. “Go find your puppy or whatever.” 

You frowned at his answer, staring at them as they left, and laughed when you realised Todd had no idea you meant Sirius. Then it made you wonder if Sybil knew about it, she seemed to know a lot of things, but you weren’t too sure. You were still thinking about it when you heard a scream from the side of the room, you turned around to find Steve –the skull– cackling as it clung to… was that Minho? You approached them and laughed merrily for a couple of seconds as you saw the boy struggle, deciding to help Minho when he was becoming too desperate. “I’m sorry, Steve can be a little intense sometimes,” you told him. 

“Steve?” he asked with a horrified face. 

“Yeah Steve,” You told him matter-of-factly, casually pointing at the skull before letting Steve walk back to his closet “Nice to see you here Minho,” you told him, he was wearing a Tutshill Tornadoes’ Quidditch uniform “That’s a brilliant costume!” 

“Not nearly as brilliant as yours,” he said, motioning at you, and you remembered you’d literally drank a glow potion and laughed.

 “I take Halloween pretty seriously.”  

“Yeah, I can tell! You look beautiful.” He said with what looked like an honest smile, no wonder so many girls had fallen for him, Minho was indeed very attractive in his own way.

“I thought Comet would be coming with you.”

“She did.” He said pointing behind him, she was talking to Imogen, and had a shiny star filled dress that seemed to change and ripple as she moved. 

“Woah, what a cool dress,” you said, Minho nodded in agreement, it was even cooler that she’d picked a star theme that went along with her name. Kind of like you, wearing a fairy costume. 

 It was then when you noticed Minho looking around rather suspiciously. You squinted your eyes at him, and he gave you a questioning look “What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing, have you seen Sirius? I was looking for my drink.” 

Minho shook his head in response “I was looking for the boys too, I brought them something.” 

“Something? What something?” 

“Promise you won’t tell anyone?” You nodded fervently and he pulled his backpack to the front, opening it just a little for you to see what was inside.

You gasped “You’re their Firewhiskey dealer!”

He put his hands over your mouth “Shhhh…” 

You nodded, and he finally took his hand away “Sorry,” you mumbled. 

“Why do you think I’m one of the few Slytherins allowed at your parties?” 

“Should’ve guessed,” you said with a smile “Let’s find them together, shall we?

He nodded, and the two of you started walking around the party together. You spotted Tom at some point, he was talking to Todd as the two of them drank some punch together, Tom looked a lot more relaxed now, and it made you smile satisfied. Minho was also looking at the two boys, but his expression was a bit sour instead. You turned to him and noticed, he was staring daggers at Tom as the boy in question moved closer to Todd. You turned to Minho, and then back at Tom, and then back at Minho again and it downed you. No wonder the most sought-after bachelor at Hogwarts had never gotten a girlfriend, he just didn’t like them.

“You should tell him,” you said softly.

“What?” 

“You should tell him you like him,” you said then, for some reason you didn’t even consider that maybe Minho would be shocked by the fact that you noticed he liked Tom just like that. Had Sirius perhaps put more alcohol on the punch than you’d seen? But you’d only drank like 3 sips before you left your drink with the boys?

Minho looked at you with panic, he was pale, a lot more than he’d been when Steve was clinging onto him earlier “What did you… how do you know? Did Remus tell you?” 

“Remus?” you asked confused “Why would Remus–– shut up,” you said shocked. 

Minho realised too late what he’d done “You didn’t hear a thing.” 

“Shut up, shut up, shut up,” you whispered as you tried to gather your thoughts, Remus knew as well, maybe it was because he was very observant, and open-minded, that or… How was it possible one boy had so many different secrets? You thought, and you still didn’t know half of it. “Remus and you…?” 

“One time!” he said, to get you to stop thinking about it “Now forget that, how did you know?” 

“I knew about Tom,” you said, quietly, still a little distracted. “He did warn me most people hid it really well, but Remus?” You asked as you remembered the way Tom had looked at the boy earlier. 

“Please forget about that,” Minho said, now distressed “He will kill me if anyone finds out.” 

“I wouldn’t say a thing,” you told him honestly, for Merlin’s sake you already knew a lot more secrets of the boy that you were gonna protect with your life if it were necessary.

“Was I that obvious?” 

You shook your head “Not at all, I just… the way you stared at Tom, I recognized that stare, it was like looking in a mirror.” 

“You like Tom?!?” He asked, confused. 

“Godric heavens NO!!” You said with a frown “It’s… the same way I looked at Sirius before we started dating,” you explained. 

“You’re dating Sirius?!” He asked, shocked. 

“I really thought that was old news,” you said with a shrug “But I meant it earlier, you should just tell Tom.” 

“But what if he doesn’t like me back?” He asked, finally accepting that you knew, and letting himself talk to someone about it. Minho had been hiding that for so long that none of his friends knew about it, let alone his family, who’d probably cut him off. 

“Minho,” you almost deadpanned “have you ever looked at a mirror in your life? Besides, you’re really funny and nice, and attentive, Tom would love it.”

“You’re only saying that because we haven’t played Quidditch together, I’m not planning to make it easy for you on the field.” 

 “You better not!” you told him with a smile “And either way, that’s what Quidditch is about, even if you threw me off my broom, I wouldn’t change my mind about you.” 

“Awwww…. that’s so cute,” he told you, “I think I’m gonna do it.” 

“Will you? Then go ahead, it’s your turn!” You said as you saw Todd leave to talk to someone else. 

“You still gonna look for the boys?” He asked, you nodded. “Do you mind giving this to them?” He said as he took off his bag and handed it over, you grabbed it with both arms, the bag was very heavy, and bottles clinked against each other with the movement. 

“I’ll find them!” you told him with a smile before giving him one last encouraging nod.

Then you turned around and started to look for the boys. Sirius and Remus were still talking to each other near one of the faraway couches, James was still with Lily, and Peter was hanging out with a girl, who -because of the resemblance- you assumed was Annie Doxon, Beth’s cousin. You didn’t think twice and walked towards the couches. As you approached the boys, Remus was quick to notice you were having a hard time with the bag and quickly approached you to help. 

“What’ve you got there, luv?” 

“Little errand from Minho,” you told him with a complicated smile, he grabbed the bag from your hands and when he felt the weight and heard the sound, he instantly knew what it was. 

“You’ve got the… Did Minho tell you what you were carrying around?” Remus asked, a little shocked as he closed the bag again and carefully placed it on the table. 

“Oh, he showed me,” You told him with a confident smile, “Guess I’m just trustworthy like that.” 

Sirius still had your cup in his hands, and he handed it over “Remus drank your punch earlier, but we refilled it, there’s almost nothing left there.” 

“Did you pour more alcohol on it?” you asked as you took a sip. 

“I would never,” Sirius said with a frown, offended, “I’d never pour anything on your drink without you asking for it.” 

You stared at him confused, and let a soft breath out when you realised the confusion “Not my drink silly! I meant the punch. I know you’d never do something like that, I trust you.” 

Remus shrugged “Maybe he poured Amorentia on one of your drinks and that’s why you’re so in love with him,” he joked. 

You took the cup from your lips and pointed at Remus with it “Touché.” 

Remus nodded, and raised his eyebrows with a playful smile before turning to Sirius, “But actually, I had the same question, Pads.” 

“It was nothing, you saw how much it was,” Sirius said looking at you, and then frowned “But it does feel kinda strong, doesn’t it?” 

“I mean it’s not like it tastes a lot of whiskey or vodka but…” you said. 

“But it does leave you a little lightheaded, doesn’t it?” Remus added.

“Exactly!” You said, agreeing with him, and then turned to look at Lily still wiggling about the Common Room with James trailing behind her. She was actually pulling James along by the wrist, “Look at those two,” you told the boys “Lily’s been hyper for a while now, she was also drinking punch.” 

“That’s odd, maybe the alcohol you had was heavy?” proposed Remus. Sirius took a small flask for his jacket and opened it, giving it a whiff. 

“Smells normal,” he said. 

You pulled the flask from his hands and brought it to your mouth, taking a sip, and playing with the liquid in your mouth for a second before swallowing “Tastes normal,” you said, as you winced “Like the one from Marlen’s party.” 

“It is the one from Marlene’s party!” Sirius said. 

“Maybe someone else added something to the punch,” Remus said with a shrug. 

Someone else added something to the punch, you repeated in your head, someone else added something to the punch! you gasped “The potion!” 

“What potion, love?” 

“The potion we don’t talk about, that potion,” you responded. Sirius and Remus were visibly confused. “I should talk to Tom.” 

Remus, who spotted Tom with Minho through the people thanks to his height, grabbed onto your arm softly, to stop you “He’s busy.” 

You frowned at him and stood on tiptoes to try and see, and you saw Tom’s curly locks next to Minho’s perfect hair and you remembered. “Very busy, never mind,” you said before turning back to the boys with a smile. Sirius paid them only the shortest glance and assumed they must have been talking about something important, he didn’t know, but it was Tom so he was just happy you wouldn’t leave them to go see him again. “And I mean it’s not like there’s anything we can do at this point, the punch is almost empty anyway, right?” you reasoned. 

“Yeah…?” Sirius responded a little confused still. 

“Well then,” you said looking at the cup “Live for the moment, right?” You said with a smile before raising your cup for a toast “Bottoms up.” 

Just before your cup touched your lips Remus turned to you “What was the potion?” 

You smiled mischievously “Euphoric Brew,” you said before tilting the drink towards your mouth and downing it in a few gulps. Sirius smirked and followed suit. Remus stared at the two of you for a second, Sirius’ tail was wagging patiently behind him, making him look even more like a lion as he waited to see what Remus would do. 

“You don’t have to drink it if you–“ you started, but Remus had already tipped the drink over his mouth. What was one more cup anyway? He’d already had like three. 

“Do you feel anything?” Sirius asked. 

“Nope.” You said as you shook your head, and then you laughed. Sirius laughed along with you. 

“I’d never tried Euphoric Brew before, how did Tom get his hands on it?” Remus asked. 

“He made it,” you told them “We got the ingredients from Slughorn’s stash, he let us use it when Lily asked, that’s how I managed to pull this off,” you said as you bit your lips and dramatically made a ta-da hand movement. 

“The costume?” Asked Remus a little confused, his head getting fuzzier.

“The glow, dummie!” Sirius responded.

Then you heard a couple of chords from a song, “Merlin I love this song!” you said with a grin so big it reached all the way to your eyes “We should dance!” 

“Dance?” Remus asked. 

“Yeah dance!” you repeated, grabbing the two boys by the wrist and taking them to the place where some other guests were already dancing. You noticed Lily and James dancing together a little further away and you smiled and waved at them, before starting to dance yourself. Sirius looked at you diverted before joining, your wings were batting blithely as his tail wrapped around his leg as if not to be stepped on. 

You had danced for at least a couple of minutes when you realised Remus wasn’t dancing, but just staring “Rem! Come dance with us!” You said with a pout. 

“Yeah Moony! please,” Sirius joined you. 

Remus was already going to start dancing –there was no way in hell he’d be able to say no to those puppy eyes you were giving him– when both you and Sirius approached him and placed your hands all over him, prompting him to move. You had one hand on his right shoulder and the other one on his chest, while Sirius had both of his hands on his left upper arm, both of you moving Remus along the rhythm. 

You may have not been able to feel the potion, but the potion was definitely doing its job, both you and Sirius were throwing your manners to the wind –not that Sirius minded them that much anyway, especially with how whimsical he could be– completely invading Remus’ personal space. But Remus’s senses were cloudy already, with how much euphoric potion he’d gotten in his system, along with the few drinks of Sirius’ flask they’d shared earlier, that he wasn’t thinking properly, either that, or he just didn’t care to think.

He started dancing along the two of you, all bodies pressing and brushing into each other like you shared the same personal bubble between the three, and the three of you were having the time of your life. At some point, someone from behind pushed you accidentally and you ended up falling towards Remus, Sirius held you by the waist while Remus placed his hand on your shoulder, they both steadied you as you laughed and a minute later, you just kept dancing, a lot closer now that the dance floor was getting a little more crowded. Remus did not remove his hand, only let it travel a little closer to your neck, it sent shivers down your spine, his touch felt soft and intimate, but when you turned to him, he was busy laughing about something the other boy had whispered in his ear. 

Sirius was definitely aware Remus had his hand all over you, but he didn’t even mind it. He was too happy, there was so much joy pilled in between the three of you that things felt electric. It was like everyone else didn’t exist, and it was just the three of you, paying no mind to your surroundings, while looking at each other. You wondered for a second if that was what humans felt when they went to fairy parties, if that's what it was to twirl and whirl until your shoes were danced to pieces and your feet bled. Because if dancing with Sirius and Remus could go on forever, you might just dance to dеath. You wouldn’t have the strength to stop. 

Remus placed his other hand on Sirius’s shulder and pulled the two of you closer to him as he leaned his head “I’m so happy I get to be alive at the same time as you, wankers!” he screamed, both you and Sirius laughed merrily, Remus was so close to you, that you didn’t even think about it and gave him a soft peck on the cheek. Remus’s neck started to turn red from the bIood rushing to his cheeks, but Sirius was too busy looking at you, and the way you’d kissed his friend. But it wasn’t jealousy why he was so attentive, no, Sirius had an idea, and he smirked when it fully developed in his head. He leaned down, copying your actions earlier but instead of a soft kiss, he straight up licked Remus’ cheek. 

“Ugh, that’s gross Pads!” Remus complained as he wiped his cheek with his sleeves. 

“Shut up Moony, I know you love it,” Sirius joked. Remus felt a pang in his heart when his friend spoke because really, he did. 

You laughed and hugged both boys, bringing them closer together, “I’m also really happy I got to live at the same time as you,” You said as you burrowed your head in between the two boys. Remus’ heart raced and he breathed in, trying to memorise the way both you and Sirius smelled, from your hair to the saltiness of your slightly sweaty bodies, both so close to him that a chill ran down his spine. He wanted to carve on his brain the way your soft skin brushed against his hand and the way Sirius’s muscles felt against his chest. It was chilling, it was exciting, It was pure bliss. Remus Lupin was in heaven, and he did not want to fall away from it. 

But then it happened, a sheer moment of what he considered clarity crossed his mind, and he realised what exactly he was doing. This is wrong, he thought. He was, quite literally, getting in between the two of you, and it repulsed him. You’re being selfish, his mind said again. And poor Remus didn’t only feel selfish, but also greedy, loving two people at the same time? That was off. But loving two people that were already dating each other, that was straight-up heinous. 

And the worst part was, that he’d gotten a taste of what it would be like to be with you both and he was sure the joy he had felt wasn’t just there because of the potion, it was there because he yearned for it. Remus was drowning in his feelings, a suffocating mix of desire, guilt, and longing that was quite literally dragging him down from heaven and he hated himself for it. For feeling things when you hugged him or when Sirius placed his arms around him, it was a constant reminder of what he wanted but couldn't fully have. 

The tight knot in Remus's chest only tightened further when you pulled your head back up with a smile, looking at the two boys, so innocently, so oblivious of his loathsome thoughts. He felt like an invisible vice was gripping his heart, his head was torturing him, torturing because he couldn’t let himself feel bliss, not in between your arms, not in the heat of your bodies, not in a corner of your heart. He felt like a marionette caught between two puppeteers, each pulling him in opposite directions; the strings of desire and duty were tangling around him, threatening to tear him apart. This has to stop. It HAS to stop! His mind shouted at him, and he pushed the two of you off of him, a little too forcefully, and you stared at him a little shocked. 

Did I somehow upset him? Your hurt expression, and the little frown of confusion that stared back at him almost smashed his heart. But he cleared his throat, “I’m just feeling a little dizzy, I’ll go sit down for a minute.” 

Your frown deepened, still a little confused “We can hold you,” you offered. 

Remus felt the temptation pulling onto him, your words so soft, but he shook his head, a forced smile paying on his lips “It’s fine, you guys have fun.” 

You saw him walk towards one of the couches, not too far from where you were dancing, and sit down, you started to walk to get him, but Sirius placed a hand over your arm softly, stopping you. Remus had done the same thing to him before, he knew how to deal with it better “Let him cool off,” he said softly, gently pulling your chin so you’d focus on his grey eyes rather than on Remus “He does that sometimes, he’ll come back eventually,” Sirius explained softly, letting your eyes focus on his, he smiled mischievously “Dance with me?” 

You smiled, a little giggle coming out, how easy was it to lose yourself on Sirius. You leaned into him and continued dancing. After a couple of minutes, you realised his tail was wagging in between the two of you, still away from the rest of the dancers but now swaying along with the music. Curiosity got the best of you and you reached to grab it, Sirius flinched at your touch, and the tail pulled away from your hands. 

You turned to him with a surprised expression “You felt that?” 

He gulped but nodded, “When I found the spell I didn’t expect it to be so… so sensitive.” 

You raised an eyebrow at that “May I?” you asked, your eyes still fixated on looking at it. His tail lifted itself a bit higher again, closer to your hand, you slowly leaned your hand, and gently grazed your fingers over it. It was soft and sleek, very different from his skin, except it was just as warm as him. Sirius’ breath got caught in his throat as you continued to move your hand through it. 

“All right Satarshine, that’s enough,” he said, voice rough and a little strained. 

You turned to him, his pupils were blown out as he stared at you, and you gasped “Sirius Orion Black!” you reprimanded, he winced at his second name “What on earth were you thinking of?” you asked with a diverted smile, you almost wanted to laugh. 

“I wasn’t!” he posited, “I told you it was sensitive. You still wanted to touch it.” 

Your eyes opened wide in surprise. “You didn’t say… sensitive like that?” 

“Thought it was obvious,” he retorted.

You just giggled “Poor Puppy, I was straight up torturing you and you just allowed it.”

Sirius nodded along with you, playing the victim “Why don’t you make up for it?” he asked, a smirk playing on his lips. 

You raised your eyebrows, placing one of your hands on his shoulder, a little diverted at his ploy “How ever would I do that?” 

He placed his hand on your waist and brought you closer to him, with a smile “How about you take a guess?” 

The two of you were smiling like idiots at each other, dancing like there was no tomorrow, and Remus was sitting on one of the sofas, looking at the two of you every now and then, really trying not to look as miserable as he felt. Of course, you’d just completely forget about him the moment he left your sight, you were deeply in love with each other after all; meanwhile, he couldn’t get the smell of your hug out of his head, it was invading his mind, colonising his senses and he felt jealous, and he cursed himself for it. 

He yearned for a distraction, and the universe delivered. Alice Becket, a tall Hufflepuff girl he’d seen in a couple of classes approached him with a smile and sat next to him on the couch. Very close to him. “Hey Remus,” she purred as she placed a hand on his leg, “why so lonely?”

He looked at her, Remus would surely run away from a situation like this on a normal day, not today though, he wanted to stop thinking about you and Sirius, he wanted to forget. Alice is pretty, he thought, not as pretty as you or Sirius, but she’s got a nice smile. Remus tilted his head a little, and shrugged “Maybe I was waiting for a pretty girl like you to approach me.”  

Alice raised one of her eyebrows and looked at the boy with a smirk, thrilled her advances were being reciprocated. “What do you say we find a more quiet area?” 

Remus looked at her, and then back at you and Sirius, you were both standing so close together, his stomach churned again, but he slowly turned his head back to Alice, she was wearing a short blue dress. Dressed as Alice from Alice in Wonderland, Remus concluded when she saw the blackhead band and the small apron, He’d seen the movie with his mom a couple of years ago; the dress was a lot shorter than the one in the movie though, barely reaching mid thigh. “How about we stay here instead? It’s comfortable.” 

Alice arched her eyebrows, diverted, “Is it? I’d have to see.” She said before she lifted herself up and accommodated on Remus’ lap. She moved around just a bit and then nodded “Hm… I see, definitely comfortable.” 

Remus smirked, impressed at her teasing “Told you so.” 

Alice leaned in closer to the boy “Will you just stare?” 

Remus let a soft laugh out before leaning in to kiss the girl. Her lips were soft, but not as soft as yours. Her kiss was kind, but not as kind as yours. The way she held him, wasn’t gentle nor caring, it was hungry, and it made him feel more like a toy for her than a boy, but it didn’t matter. Because a broken heart is blind, and the more he focused on the kiss, the easier it was to forget you and Sirius dancing together a couple of metres away. It wasn’t until Alice turned herself completely, one leg on each side of his waist, that he managed to lose himself. Alice was pretty much grinding onto him as they kissed, and it felt good, finally something felt good. 

Sirius was the first to notice Remus on the couch, he had been lost on you until he saw Alice approach Remus. He had continued dancing with you but kept a close eye on the two of them as they talked. Something twisted in his stomach when Alice sat on Remus’ lap, and he frowned, Remus with a girl? he’d never seen something like that. Sirius still thought Remus didn’t have much experience in the realm of romance, and yet, he had a girl on his lap, and he was flirting. Sirius turned the thoughts to the back of his head and turned to you again, you were still glowing, he smiled, he really was the luckiest man on earth. But then his mind got distracted again, she’s kissing him! She’s kissing him, and he’s kissing her back!

A sudden urge to kiss you came over him, he smiled at you flirtatiously “Dancing’s good to make it up, yeah, but how about a kiss?” 

“Just one?” you teased. 

“Satshine, you can kiss me until my lungs run out of air and I faint. And even then you could continue kissing me.” 

You blinked a couple of times at his words, sometimes Sirius could be so romantic it took your breath away. Eventually, you smiled and finally leaned in to kiss Sirius. His kiss was hungry, hungrier than normal. It must be the euphoric brew, you thought as you kissed back. Sirius’ hands had travelled to the small of your back, just below your wings, and his warmth made you shiver. Sirius kissed you like he was starving, opening his eyes just to check on Remus, he was still kissing the girl, and Sirius turned back to you, deepening the kiss. 

Alice’s lips started to trace kisses down Remus’ jaw when he finally spotted Sirius, he was kissing you feverishly. Remus’ mouth was slightly agape and his sight a little unfocused as the girl continued to kiss his neck, but not so much that he didn’t notice Sirius’s gaze focused straight on him, there was something in his gaze he hadn’t seen before, and it pissed him off. How was it possible that he was kissing you, and focusing on anything other than your sweet lips? Remus stared at Sirius one last moment, before turning his head again, grabbing Alice’s face and bringing her back to his lip. He wasn’t there to think about Sirius. 

As you kissed Sirius, you felt something wrap around the middle of your thigh. His tail, you realised, like a snake, it was clinging to you like its life depended on it, you smiled and continued to kiss him, for some reason you liked it when Sirius got clingy. But then you felt it tightening even further, enough for it to be uncomfortable rather than hot, so you broke the kiss off “Sirius what are you…?” You started and turned to him, but he wasn’t looking at you, he was looking at something else, you followed his gaze and it landed on Remus and Alice Becket? 

Until literally that second, you’d assumed Remus was gay, because of the conversation you’d had with Minho earlier, but perhaps, he was more like Tom? “He really did get bitches after all,” you said surprised, the smallest bit of anguish slipping into your heart. It didn’t make any sense, but it was there regardless. 

“Yeah…” Sirius said, letting a breath out “I’d never seen him like that before,” he admitted. 

“Maybe it’s the euphoric brew?” You said with a shrug “has him doing things he’d usually do in the dark.”

“You think he’d do it in the dark?” He asked you with a frown. 

“You don’t?” You asked matter-of-factly “Remus is pretty damn handsome! Especially with the sexy pirate costume.” 

“I know.”

You tried to step out, to rest for a moment since you were a little tired already, but you couldn’t “Sirius your tail…” 

“Sorry?” 

“It’s um… kind of trapping me,” you said awkwardly. 

“Oh, sorry.” He whispered and finally released your leg, blushing when he realised how high the tail end had gotten. 

“‘Tis fine,” you said even as the marks of it had itched onto your skin. 

“Let’s go sit somewhere,” he suggested, looking at the marks he’d left on your skin. A part of him felt bad for hurting you, but the other really wanted Tom to see them. You nodded and let Sirius guide you to the couches. You thought he’d take you near Remus, but he instead took you to the other side of the common room and sat with his back facing him. Sirius did not want to continue being a witness to Remus’ little show. 

“He did not give me a 3-day notice,” he complained with a little pout as he sat down.

You raised an eyebrow, not quite believing Sirius would fuzz over that, but then again, you all were pretty drunk and under the influence of the potion. You saw some people enjoying a game of potion pong in the corner before you saw Remus and Alice were still glued to each other’s lips. You didn’t remember Remus being so fierce when he kissed you. Maybe it really had been a soft kiss because of the game, after all. 

“I highly doubt he planned it.” You reassured Sirius as you sat down beside him “In fact, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t close to Alice before now.” 

Finally, Sirius let go of the subject, almost forgetting about it as he looked at your leg, specifically at the marks he’d left. It was a little red, he frowned as he etched his hand closer, “‘m sorry.” He whispered, even if he still kinda liked that the marks would be there for a while.

“Oh, that?” You said looking at your leg as Sirius graced his fingers over the marks, it made a shiver run down your spine, and it wasn’t because it hurt, Sirius had never touched your bare thigh. “It’s nothing. I’ve had worse.”

“If I had known how whimsical the tail would be I would have chosen a different costume.” 

You shook your head “I kind of like it, actually…” 

Sirius raised his eyebrows “Oh, you do?” 

Bad idea, bad idea, Sirius will never cease to tease me about this, “Looks hot on you, not everyone would be able to pull it off,” you said besides your own warnings. 

An amused smile was playing on Sirius’ lips, “Ah… so you do think I’m hot. It’s not only sexy pirate Remus this, sexy pirate Remus that…”  

You laughed at that and turned to him. You didn’t think it would be possible for Sirius Black to doubt his attractiveness, and there you were. A little idea came to your head, maybe you’d have to reassure Sirius yourself. So you crossed one leg over his lap and sat on top of him, just like Alice had done with Remus, if it works for them. 

“Luv, what are you...?” 

You leaned into him, hands over his shoulders, as your lips brushed against his ear “Do you really need me to tell you how bIoody hot you look tonight?” Sirius’ mind went completely blank the second he heard your voice purr out of your mouth. You pulled back with a smile, “Cat got your tongue?” you teased. He looked at you, chest falling and rising slowly, “I can tell you how much I liked the wings you chose, or the stupid little halo that still glows over your head, or I can tell you about how interesting your naughty little tail felt wrapped around my leg,” Sirius’ hand, that somehow had reached your thigh, squeezed it a little “Or aside from the costume, I could tell you how nice your hair looks,” you said as you brushed a strand behind his ear, “or how in love I am with your eyes.” 

“Yes,” he choked out. 

“Yes? Yes, what Puppy?” 

“Tell me more.” 

You smiled, “How about I tell you how I literally had to press my thighs together when you gave me that ravenous sight of yours as I was walking down the stairs…” 

Sirius leaned in to kiss your neck when you felt someone plop in the couch beside the two of you. You both pulled away from each other, but the two were looking at none other than James Potter, smiling like an idiot beside you. 

You sighed when you saw him, there was something about James, that even in that situation, you couldn’t be mad at him for interrupting. He just looked really, really freaking happy, it was contagious. And James hadn’t even taken a drop of punch that night. Sirius, on the other hand, was glaring at his friend, and he might have told him to piss off if it wasn’t because James spoke first. 

“Guys you won’t believe this!”

“Really?!? James?!?” Sirius complained, nodding to the fact that you were quite literally straddling him still. 

James’ head was too high up in the clouds for him to acknowledge Sirius’ sarcasm “Lily said she’d go on a date with me!” 

You looked at the boy with a smile, crossing one of your legs over Sirius, so you wouldn’t be straddling him anymore, even if you were still sitting on his lap “Really?” You asked, now fully invested in the new subject. Sirius was still a little pissed, looking straight at the place in your neck he’d wanted to kiss earlier rather than at his friend. 

“Yes, and I’m gonna make it the best date of her life!” 

“How?” You asked with a frown. 

“With your help of course!”

click to see the boys in their costumes

Series Masterlist | The Interlude | Next Chapter

TAGLIST: @rayrlupin @callmelovergirl @warcelia @ireneop @endversewinchester @moonyunebi @smuttysluttybitch @mazzymoons @drugs-for-memes @sofiacblair @vmpir3lvr @remuslupinisbae @rabluver @willgrahamisalesbi4n @thatobsessedreader @orkwardx0  @itskailey24 @hell0-kittie @belovedmoony @blacksgarden @loving-and-dreaming @cassie-love20 @starchaser-lily @zucchini-queenie @springflwer07 @sseleniaa @cometsghost @orkwardx0 @imdoingbetternow  @sbrewer21 @remuslupinsbae @maxinehufflepuffprincess @wifiatthetrainstation @unstablereader @mablacklupin @oliversaurus @jaylienpotter @remussbitch @hermionelove 

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A/N: BOOO! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Can you tell I love halloween? Because I love Halloween! And we barely celebrate it where I live. Woaaaaah, I really did write this, what a freaking rollercoaster this chapter was, right? Still one of my favs but uff... so much excitement and then... Baby Remus I'm sorry, my editing literally had me squealing both in excitement and dread. Remus needs to get off his own head. But I did warn him at the beginning, didn’t I? ps. pls don't hate me you know I love you. I’m almost scared to ask this one but… thoughts?

Raead more Marauders Fiction

[gaysindistress]

Cigars, Crossbows, and the Helion’s heart

disclaimer: credits to original creator/poster of image/gif. found on google/Pinterest

Credits to @trashpostingforthesoulisold for the amazing fanart that inspired this all

pairings: Karlach x f!reader

Summary: based on this little blurb

Warnings: cussing, mild violence, cannon level talk of blood, death, and gore, character death

Word count: 2k

A/n: a whopping total of one person asked for a full fic and who am I to deny them? so here it is my love @dungeonsdragonsandlawyers 💕

Baldur’s Gate; a city of mischief and mayhem. A city where the law is just as corrupt as the criminals who run the streets. A city where there is no difference between good and evil because it all blends together. A city where the poor pray to a ghost, a myth, a legend, an old forgotten god some might say, to help them survive this rotting devils’ hole. A city where there is only one that can save it. Every lawman worth their salt has come to track down the Helion of the Gate but with nothing to show for it save for a few broken bones and shattered dignities. The current leader, the high and mighty lord Enver Gortash, has offered thousands in reward for the capture of the Helion. His ever increasing desperation to find this ghost has made him sloppy and a bit stupid if I’m honest. He paces back and forth in the small waiting area of my work apartment, nearly burning holes in the expensive rugs under his feet. For the better half of an hour, he’s been doing this, mumbling to himself, and completely ignoring me as if I’m a statue rather than a person. Every time I try to speak up, he shots me a deadly look and continues on with his nervous behaviors. I glance over at the clock and let out a deep sigh through my nose before pushing off of the small chaise lounge I'd been sitting on. Walking over to the little bar cart, I pour myself yet another bitter tasting drink and swallow it in one gulp. As I go to pour another, the pacing feet come to a halt and I feel his heavy eyes on my back. Enver finally speaks, “She’s visited you, hasn’t she? She’s been here, hasn’t she?” I take a moment to brace myself and take a deep breath before turning to face him. There is a wild look in his eye, too similar to that of a wolf backed into a corner for my comfort. “How would that even be possible, Enver? You have me guarded better than you do yourself I imagine. There is no earthly way that she or anyone else for that matter could get in without your knowledge.” My words don’t have the easing effect that I had hoped they would and that look has intensified to a truly terrifying level. He narrows his eyes at me before taking a deep breath of his own and looking over my shoulder through a window that overlooks the city. “When was the last time you saw her?” “That night.” “The night she tried to kill me?” While he is not looking directly at me, I know that he sees me nod my head. It’s almost more terrifying that he’s not looking at me, that he’s refusing to humanize me as he questions and accuses me. There have been few times where I have faced his wrath but now is most certainly not a time I wish to experience it. Enver is not a violent man but he is a calculated and cunning man who has no fear of consequences. He’s willing to lie, manipulate, and assassinate whoever he needs to to get what he wants. I may be in his favor for the moment but I am not so disillusioned to believe that I will stay there for long. At any moment he can decide that I am more trouble than I am worth and have me killed or do it himself. “What did she say to you that night?” “N..nothing.” My hesitation is my downfall.

“Why have you come?” I whisper while my cheek rests on her warm stomach, staring up at her. Cigar smoke floats around us, creating a veil between us and the world that wishes for her death. The smell of sweat and sex fills the pockets of space where the cigar smoke does not. Smoke spills out of her mouth as she speaks, “I wanted to see my sweet one.” She takes another drag off her cigar as she tucks her free hand behind her head and gazes down at me. “That not a good enough reason?” I chuckle at her before pressing a chaste kiss just below her belly button and move so I can see her better. I take her cigar with one hand and with the other I trail my hands up and down her side. I feel her tail flick behind us and come to rest on the small of my back. “It’s a perfectly fine reason but I fear that you are lying to me,” I tell her while I pass the cigar back. “Lying to you? Now why would you think such a thing?” “He’s growing more scared and more desperate, K. He’s growing more reckless and it’s only a matter of time before he loses it altogether. What happens then, hm? What happens when he gets to you? What happens when he hurts you or worse kills you?” Her small smirk fades into a sad smile when my words sink in. She drops her cigar into an ashtray on my side table so she can hold my face. My eyes flutter closed as her warmth engulfs my cheeks and spreads through my body. “Nothing will happen to me I promise, sweet one. Nothing will happen to you either and I will do everything in my power to make sure you stay safe.”

Everything happened so quickly. Enver had sent word that I needed to pack a bag and be ready to leave as soon as he arrived. Karlach had told me that I needed to stay in my apartment until she came and got me. My heart had told me who to listen to and my body scrambled to follow its demands as I packed as little as I could and prepared myself for the bloodbath that was about to happen on my doorstep. The familiar sound of hooves on the cobblestone alerts me that my time has run short and I duck behind that stupid chaise lounge with a crossbow in hand. Heavy footsteps pound up the staircase and there’s a brief pause before the door is kicked in. “Where are you, y/n? Come out and face me,” Enver’s humiliated and angry voice calls out. He takes a few steps towards my room and I try to shuffle around the other side of the chaise lounge but I make too much noise. He finds me within moments and looms over me as his chest heaves and blood pours from a nasty gash on his forehead. “You lied to me. You led her straight to me. You played a part in all of this,” he seethes. That hungry and desperate look has returned tenfold and now there is nothing but blood on his mind. There is no point to reason with a feral and wounded animal so I don’t even attempt. All I can do is find a way to get to my feet and get out of this apartment before he can get to me. He starts to lean down to grab my ankle but I let off a warning arrow that skims past his arm and take his moment of surprise to get up. “You little…” he growls while stalking towards me. I refuse to turn my back on him and try to feel my way towards the door. Tears have begun to prick at the corners of my eyes and that causes him to laugh sadistically. “That’s sweet; you’re crying for a dead woman to come save you and think that your little crossbow could protect you. Tell me, y/n, are your tears making it hard to see? Are you seeing double?” His taunting words strike a chord of anger within me, “I’ve got two more arrows; one for each of you I see. If I don’t hit you the first time, then I certainly will the second time, wanna take those odds, Enver?” He takes one step forward and crumbles to the ground when an arrow becomes embedded in his knee. Letting out a wail of pain, he curses at me and tries to stand but his words are cut short by an arrow in his chest.

I find Karlach fading in and out of consciousness and bleeding out on the floor in her room at the Elfsong. Upon opening the door I freeze seeing her there with one hand on the door handle and the other on the door itself, while my brain swirls before I’m able to come to my senses and close the door. All the while Karlach is slouched against her bed, taking shallow ragged breaths as the blood runs down her face and hand from the cut on her abdomen. “Hey there, sweet one,” Karlach attempts to grit out but the pain in her side is too much and forces her words to be inaudible. I rush to grab a towel and warm water from the vanity before dropping to my knees beside her. I refuse to say a word as I begin to gently wash away the blood and patch her up. I’m too afraid to speak, scared that I will burst and completely lose my compuse. Karlach is usually the talkative one between us but now she is utterly silent as she closes her eyes and tries to remain still as I work. Her closed eyes don’t allow her to see the tears welling up in my eyes or the way my breath catches when I see her wince or the way I’m taking great care to not hurt her anymore. Karlach is broken from her trance of false peace when I move away to grab her pack and begin to rummage around for the needle and thread that she keeps in it. I murmur an apology and request for her to stay silent as I begin to stitch her bigger wounds up. She hisses and groans but otherwise does as I ask. When I’m finished, I move to clean the blood from her hands. She watches me as I dip the cloth into the water and bring it back to her knuckle, gently washing away the evidence of her near death and keeping her hand tightly in mine. I press light kisses to each knuckle when I’m done and place it on top of my wrist while I start to clean the other. The silent plea to stay doesn’t go unheard and she lightly squeezes my wrist to let me know that she will. Once I’ve finished cleaning both hands I take them in mine and bring them up to my lupus as warm tears fall down my face. Karlach cups my face and draws me closer to her so that we may rest our foreheads on each other. “Thank you,” she whispers and kisses away the tears that have fallen down my face, “thank you, sweet one.” “He’s dead,” I whisper back. “You do it?” “Yeah but I don’t want to talk about it. I want to rest with you.” Karlach barely nods in agreement and lets me gently help her up, pulling her towards me and circling my arm around her waist. We walk slowly to the bed where I help her sit down and get out of her filthy clothes. She attempts to swing herself into bed but Is quickly stopped by me climbing behind her and gently brushing out the knots and tangles in her hair. My beautiful soldier leans back into my touch and allows herself to feel safe as I work to make her feel as comfortable as she can. She nearly whines when I stop and my body moves but it's not long before I’m helping her to lay down on my chest. She lays on top of my heart as her body curls around me and her tail wraps around my thigh. Her breathing starts to level and her small noises of pain begin to fade. My hands drift to hold her shoulder and play with her hair as she finds peace and relaxation in my arms. “Tell me in the morning what happened?” she murmurs in her sleepy slurred voice. “Of course, in the morning my love.” I murmur back as we wrap ourselves up in each other, creating a bond that only death would be able to break.

[trinketfairy]

SQUISHMALLOWS/BUM BUMZ ALTERNATIVE MASTERPOST

After posting my warning on Jazwares for supporting Israel, I've been asked time and time again to make my alternative plushies brands available for non-Twitter users, to which I say "absolutely, fuck that site." It's well overdue at this point, so here's my list of plush brands that are way better than Squishmallows and Bum Bumz!

Unfortunately can't provide images due to Tumblr's image limit, but I'll provide websites for you to search through when available.

Complete list is under a readmore for convenience.

Squishables: If you want that same "kawaii" aesthetic and round shapes, Squishables is your best bet. They're great too because a lot of their plush are designed by fans who are given a cut of their sales. Sign up for their email notifications, they have sales very often!

Amuse/Amufun: If you're really into the "kawaii" aesthetic, then it makes sense to look directly towards Japanese brands! You may know them for their Alpacasso line. It can be expensive to get them imported, but I think they're very much worth it.

Jellycat: I can't say I 100% recommend their newer plush anymore considering their steep decline in quality, but their older plush are still so wonderful and full of character. You're bound to find something by them that you like from their catalogue. (Editor's note: This is what my original thread said, but it seems like Jellycat has improved their quality control, so I feel much better with recommending them again!)

Mary Meyer: If JC is too much out of your price range, then Mary Meyer is what I recommend next to them! Their Marshmallow Zoo line is a huge favourite of mine, I love how full of character they are.

Aurora World: Aurora World has plenty of brands under their belt, so there's bound to be something that tickles your fancy. Brands under the Aurora World company include Palm Pals, Eco Nation, Miyoni, and their baby line, Ebba.

Steiff: Ah yes, the OG teddy bear brand, the one that started it all and is still going strong. Be warned that they can get pretty expensive depending on what you're looking at, but I hear that they're so worth every single penny.

Douglas Cuddle Toys: Probably the quintessential plush brand when it comes to realistic plush, especially cats and dogs, but they have tons of other species available too! Pretty affordable too if you're buying them at retail price

Wild Republic: Another one that does more realistic-looking plush, but I think they have a wider selection of species to choose from. If you're looking for a niche animal, Wild Republic (likely) has you covered!

Shinada Morisaka Global: Another plush brand I have yet to get my hands on, but one that I hear fantastic things about. I mean come on, how can you not love these little guys??

Pokemon Center: Jazwares unfortunately holds the license to make Pokemon plush, but that doesn't mean they're your only option when it comes to Pokeplush! TPC has been making their own Pokeplush for ages now, and they have plenty of different lines to suit your tastes.

Sunlemon: They're expensive to get imported but oh my god are they worth it. The quality is truly umatched compared to American plushies, I adore my tanuki to bits. Please get more eyes on their stuff.

Prime Shiba: Definitely a more expensive option, but I think they're cute plushies for every dog lover. Their stuff often goes on sale often so definitely take advantage of them!

Plushie Dreadfuls: You've probably seen one of their mental illness-themed bunnies before, but have you seen their Pride and Zodiac collections too? They also have many generic-looking plush if the personalization isn't up your alley! Ok so this was in my Twitter thread but apparently since then some shit has gone down with the company CEO making some offhand remarks that got misinterpreted but he acted like an ass in response to it, I recommend doing your own research on it before you buy in case that's not something you wanna support.

StrawbunnyCake: Want to go more small business? Consider supporting a fellow disabled creator, StrawbunnyCake! Their stuff is adorable, and you're sure to fall in love with their characters.

Hannimations: Also on the list of small businesses is Hannimator! Easily best known for their Pride-related Colourful Puppies/Kittens plush lines

Paleoplushies: If you're super into dinosaurs and other preshistoric animals, then Paleoplushies is sure to have something you'll like! They're all handmade by a single artist, so please show them your love and kindness

Cirquell Curiosities: Another great small business to support, most known for their high-end demon goat plushies! A lot of their stuff is one of a kind too, so they're the place to go if you're looking for a unique plush.

Snughouls: The unique and elusive Care Weres line by McMadMissile is sure to win over your heart! It originally started as just being the werewolves, but has since expanded to all kinds of demonic creatures from the Kickstarter! There's even some designs waiting to be funded!

Next are a bunch of brands that weren't personally recommended by me, but get my seal of approval:

AfternoonFika

Creep Cat Toy Co.

Weighted Wildlife

Tasty Peach Studios

Bunnies By The Bay

Snoozimals

Smoko

ChottoBonita

Honeylambs

CraftedCuddlez

Cyborutchi

Fluffnest

MarDeLunaArts (+ on Etsy)

Bellzi

B Softies by B Toys

That's all I have to share, but if you have any other brands you think are worth highlighting then by all means I invite you to reblog with your additions. Please remember that this is a collective effort and we're all counting on each other to act. Keep your head up, don't stop talking about Palestine, and remember to prioritize the official BDS brands list. From the river to the sea 🇵🇸🍉🕊️🫒

[pokemonshelterstories]

Dear Charlie,

Recently my vet brought up a specialized PokéChow for my Clodsire Stump, that apparently uses reverse-chirality precursors for the molecules Clodsire uses to manufacture it's venom and the poison in the mucus, that recently passed FDA approval (I'm Unovan).

Stump is very physically affectionate, and isn't a battler, so I wanted to ask a professional in Pokémon care if this seems like a reasonable or sane thing to even consider doing. I love my big girl, and obviously I don't want to do anything to hurt her, so I figured I'd ask my favorite Rotomblr microcelebrity how they felt on it.

well, from a medical and a nutritional perspective, i'd definitely trust your vet's recommendation over a random blog's. however, i can help explain a little bit about how it works.

chirality, or "handedness," just means that a molecule can't be superimposed over its mirror image. it's a sort of asymmetry that a lot of biological compounds have. by inverting a part of one of these compounds, you can adjust its effect on the body. in effect, over a period of time this food reacts with the toxins produced by clodsire to make them less dangerous.

while this is a great concept, i do have a couple sticking points to point out. the first is that FDA approval doesnt necessarily mean that a food meets your pokemon's complete nutritional needs, so you should always consult with your vet to make sure a food is suitable for your pokemon. the second is that, while it may dampen the effect of a clodsire's toxins, it may not completely eliminate them. you still need to be careful about too much cuddling for this reason (and also because clodsire need their mucous to keep them moist and help them breathe, and touching them wipes that mucous off).

these specialty foods also tend to be really, really expensive. you'll have to decide for yourself whether it's worth the cost.

[capsensislagamoprh]

So, I was sitting here thinking about Victor and Yuuri's wedding, as you do, when it occurred to me. That damned stripper pole is gonna make an appearance. I know it is. I see it. In my mind. Dose Chris carry that thing around like he's a secret BO staff fighter and he will dance off to save the world? This boy is a bard. He's a sexy dance bard. Bet he can stomp in 6 inch heals.

Anyway, that's not the point.

The point is, Otabek will not be caught dead doing that. 1: flexibility is not his strong suit and he knows it. Let others have their fun He's just be in the background contemplating the physics of it. 2: That is something he will *never* be suckered into because he knows they take photos. Nope. Big Nope.

But what he will do, as requested, is DJ the dance floor for the after party. Which means Yuri will not get to dance with him. Which is sad. EXCEPT. My head did a thing.

See, Otabek would totally be that one completely responsible, fire putting out, fixes stuff by walking thrugh a room and just correcting it person every wedding has. Even if all he does is direct the right person where they need to go so they can put out said fire. Takes a team, but the observant notice where they need to be. (I have been to so many weddings and I am telling you there is always ONE person who makes it all better by existing and OnE pErSoN who fucks it by by breathing.)

And like, I got so many head cannons about this. See, he wears a cravat, proper, for his competitions. Guess who's being tasked (along with Chris) to deal with people who cannot tie ties. Basic will not do. We're talking Fancy Tied Ties. FANCY. Yes, both Chris and Otabek can do these to perfection.

Guess who has to stop Yuri from climbing a wall when he's stressed because Yuuri is stressed and that makes Victor want to go comfort him, but he can't because he has to get ready for the wedding himself, and Yuri is supposed to stop Victor but Victor listens to no man save Yuuri and that's a mess he's tried to explain but no one seems to get but Otabek.

Guess who has to braid Yuri's hair to calm him down. Then has to tell Yuuri's mom - who is doing something else important at the time - what's up so it can be dealt with. Then has to deal with helping Yuri find where he threw his shoes in a rage.

Guess who has to go pick up the classic car they left to get detailed the day before instead of three days prior like he suggested and it may not be here on time because the delivery driver for it can't get anyone to drive him back, so he has to go and get it to the sight on time for when they 'go away' on the honey moon drive which is actually just a drive around the island so the pack of feral ice skaters can reset the scene for the after party. This doubles as having to pick up the wedding cake, and triples as getting Yuri out of there for a little bit so he can chill under the guise of holding the cake steady so it wont be ruined.

Guess who holds the ladders when they hang up flower decor because someone forgot they cannot en pointe to breach that last three inch gap between them and the hook for the flower arrangement. Seriously, you're gonna hurt yourself.

Guess who just sort of lugs boxes where they need to go with out a problem, and in general dose the dirty work quietly with everyone else, letting them set up - the fun part - while he considers this a light cardio day. Still shows up fresh and looking good, because of course he does.

And then he DJs and dose killer because you know he will, and everyone's having fun. All worth it.

But Yuri doesn't get to dance with him, and that's bothering Yuri, so Yuri hangs out with Otabek as he cleans up his set. Everyone else has decided to tear things down the next day. Not him. This shits expensive and he's not going to risk it.

And because Yuri pouts about it, Otabek sighs, grabs his hand, and with no one around just twirls Yuri's ballet doing ass about that floor in ways he's never danced before. Because while Otabek is not cut out for ballet, he dose dance. Far more varieties than Yuri. Lifts, spins, dips, twists. It's fast, and energetic, stuff to make Rodgers and Hammerstein drool. Then he just leaves Yuri drop jawed as he just walks back to his kit and finishes packing it up.

Yuri jumps on his back complaining all the way back to the place they are staying as he clings there like a particularly angelic daemon of a backpack about how dare Otabek hold out on him like that, and dose he think he can translate that to ice so Yuri can use it to kick JJs ass because he has to kick JJs ass, and also because that was so cool.

Otabek just shoulders his kit and says, "Maybe," but smiles just that little bit, until the lights show they are in range of people, his mask slipping back in place as he takes a sleepy Yuri to his room, dropping off his kit, and going to sit outside in the cool island air as an exhausted blond falls asleep still clinging to his back until he slides off from tired.

Otabek catches him. He always will. After a bit he takes him inside, and the rest of the party goes on... oh look. Chris did get out the stripper pole. Shaking his head, he continues to take care of Yuri before he wakes up from the tantalizing sent of possible blackmail pictures in the making. Because he would.

A sleep derived Yuri is a grumpy Yuri, and a grumpy Yuri just wont do.

[envies-writing-corner]

Hello! If it’s okay with you, may I request doppio dropscythe x reader dating headcanons?

Dating HC

Includes: Doppio Dropscythe, Hex Haywire, Ver Vermillion

Genre: Fluffy fluff

TW: hopefully none

Word Count: 618

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Doppio Dropscythe

To be completely honest, he probably followed you around for MONTHS. He just couldn't get enough of your sweet personality and care. You were so kind to others, so gracious as you walked. You probably helped him realize he should turn his ways around and stop being a delinquent.

He adores you, with every ounce of his being. He would do anything he could to make you smile, laugh, blush. He like to come off as mischievous and devious but when you come around, he's following you like a lost puppy.

Would want to spend every second with you, sometimes getting in trouble with Ver because him clinging to you is 'distracting him from his council duties' or smthn.

Doppio may enforce rules and punishment, but he'll gladly break all those rules for a minute of love and cuddles with you in the halls or an unbusy corner of the school.

Hex Haywire

Oh this sweet, sweet, sweet boy. He's in desperate need of a hug every time you get to spend time together. It's a hard job, being able to take on another's pain, to give them joy once more. At first he thought that's all you wanted too. A bit of joy in a dark and cruel world.

You didn't want that though. You just wanted a life in his gaze, you wanted to be his bit of joy, so any chance he gets to relax, he will always find his way to your arms. You're his safe space, now and forever.

Definitely enjoys teasing you after a bit apart, coming up behind you in the halls and wrapping his arms around your waist, dropping to a low-tone of voice, husky whispers in your ear of greetings and terms of endearment.

When things get to be too much, he loves laying with you, whether it's in the council room or outside in the grass cloud watching. Your presence alone is enough to chase any unwanted thoughts out of his mind. He knows he'll be ok as long as you're here.

Definitely calls you 'love', 'dear', and 'darling~'

Expect a lot of dates and gifts, he wishes to spoil you, you were a breath of fresh air in a smoke filled room, and don't tell Ver but he definitely used the council credit card to pay for everything. You're worth the trouble, in his eyes at least.

Ver Vermillion

Everything is better when Ver is around, he's just a great person to be near, sure he can cleanse anyone's soul and give hope for the future, but you saw past that ability, you saw past the president persona, and you saw the boy behind all of that.

He'd be hesitant around you at first, cautious as to not end up hurting himself beyond his limits, but when he realizes you genuinely don't want anything but to love him, he's putty in your hands.

Being the president of the student council is a lot of work, having to deal with financial choices, repairs, enforce school rules, keep a hold of the rest of your council, be lenient but still harsh. It's a lot for one person, so he's always happy to see you whenever it's been a hard day. Just hearing your laugh could bring him out of the darkest and sourest moods.

Because of all his work, he's sad you two can't spend more time together, so be prepared to be constantly dragged to the council room by Doppio, saying he's 'following orders' only to end up on one of the couches with Ver, cuddling the stress away of yet another over-budget expense one of his fellow members had charged to the council credit card.

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

Author's note: Ahhhhh, I apologize if anyone seems OOC, I haven't watched many Doppio streams so I'm unsure how to write him properly. I hope you still liked this, even if it wasn't that good. Thank you all for your continuous support!

[sirfrogsworth]

Computer q. For otherwise identical monitors, is a 4000:1 contrast ratio noticeably better from 1000:1? I don't mean for fancy art but like if I'm watching a movie, could I see the difference in a dark scene? I looked into oled's, but those are expensive and I think the way I use my stuff would cause burn in.

I hope you don't mind, but I got carried away and answered pretty much every computer monitor question anyone has ever had. And since this turned into a whole thing, I thought I'd share it for everyone to benefit.

For a computer monitor I would say the most important aspect is actually the viewing angle. This is how far off-axis you can look at the monitor before the image degrades.

We sit very close to our displays and at that distance, even a change in height in your chair can affect the image. Move a little bit left or right and a cheap display could completely wash out and look terrible. And if you get a display that is 27" or above, even if you sit dead center, the edges of the screen will appear dark and washed out with a bad viewing angle.

The two best display technologies to get a good viewing angle are IPS (in-plane switching) and OLED. If you are interested in a display without these technologies, be sure it has a decent viewing angle. You can read more about viewing angles here and here.

IPS has very little concern for burn-in, but it is still a concern with OLED. In recent years OLED has greatly improved and image retention and burn-in can be avoided with regular maintenance. Displays will have pixel shift features and noise modes that work out all the pixels evenly. You can run these features every once in a while to prevent burn-in. You can also play special anti-burn-in videos on YouTube (full screen) to exercise the pixels to uniformity.

So if you don't mind the hassle, you can manage an OLED with low risk.

That said, OLED was almost exclusively for TVs and has only recently been introduced for computer displays. The current options are quite large and fairly expensive, as you alluded to. So if you are trying to stay within a budget, it might be best to seek out an IPS display.

Another consideration is resolution. Everyone is obsessed with everything being 4K now. But I think increasing the resolution brings diminishing returns with regard to increased detail you can actually notice. So if you don't mind going with a 1440p monitor (about 2.5K), you can save some money on resolution and get higher quality in more noticeable areas. Personally, I feel 1440p gives you a nice, noticeable bump in detail over 1080p. Whereas going from 1440p to 4K (2160p) is less noticeable unless you have very good vision.

Another benefit to 1440p is that video games are much easier to run on high quality settings with a reasonable GPU. And you can use technologies like super sampling (Nvidia calls this DLSS) to increase the detail you may lose from not going 4K.

The only concern I'd have with not going 4K is if you edit 4K video. It will be difficult to do a pixel level analysis of your footage otherwise. But other than that, you can still watch 4K content on a 1440p monitor and because it is being downsampled, you will still notice a nice bump in detail.

So if you don't have a reason to get a 4K display, I think 1440p is worth considering.

The next concern would be color. Or color gamut. This is how many colors the display can accurately reproduce. If you don't do any art or video color grading, you'll at least want something that does 95 to 100% of sRGB. That is the color space the entire internet uses. And if you are going to be watching HDR movies, you might want a display with a decent percentage of the P3 color space as well. Doesn't need to be 100%, but the higher the better. And for those who do art, a good percentage of Adobe RGB is recommended.

Also, many manufacturers offer displays that come pre-calibrated from the factory. If color accuracy is important, I would seek out one of these displays with a Delta E rating of 3 or less (lower is better).

A newer factor in displays is peak brightness. This is measured in "nits." In standard dynamic range (SDR), video only needed to reach 100 nits. Most HDR content is mastered to reach 1000 nits. In the future, that number will be 4000. And if micro LED technology ever becomes affordable, we may go up to 10,000 nits. But almost everything is around 1000 at the moment, so that is a good number to shoot for.

HOWEVER, because HDR is tone mapped (the brightness of your display is factored in and the content is adjusted accordingly), you can still get some benefits of HDR, even if you cannot do the full 1000 nits.

All monitors can do 100 nits for SDR content. But with more things being displayed in HDR, having more nits will give you a better experience. This does not mean your display will blind you. Usually bright stuff only takes up a small portion of the screen. But having more nits allows highlights to really pop and feel immersive. A lightsaber might actually feel hot and dangerous on a bright enough screen.

Computer displays are often rated as HDR400 or HDR600 or HDR1000 based on their nits. The HDR400 isn't great for HDR content. If you can do 600 or above within your budget, you'll get a better experience. If you are going to watch movies, this may be a feature you prioritize.

I know you mentioned contrast ratio, but I'm afraid that is a little complicated to answer. It can depend on other aspects of the monitor and the viewing environment. So I'll try to give you the info you need to figure out if the display you select will suit your needs.

Manufacturers can use tricks to fudge their contrast ratio in product descriptions, so it is best to go to an independent review website like RTINGS to see what they measured. (They do good TV and monitor reviews too.) You'll see that OLED displays are said to have "infinite" contrast ratio, due to being able to turn off pixels completely. Which means it is probably time to move to a new metric because that gives very little info on the dynamic range of the display (the difference between the darkest and brightest thing it can show).

You definitely want a decent contrast ratio for your display, but this can be subjective. If you have a nice bright screen, your brain may feel the contrast is fantastic, even if the actual darkest black point of the monitor isn't great. If something is really bright, then dark things will *seem* darker by comparison. And if you are viewing in a dark environment, the contrast will look even better. So this is where seeking out a professional reviewer's experience of the monitor can be helpful. One monitor's 4000:1 ratio might be a different experience than another with the same measurement.

Because TVs are generally larger and can have more backlighting zones, they can get decent black levels without OLED. But smaller computer displays have more difficulty in reasonable price ranges. So manage your black level expectations if you go with an affordable IPS display. They can get bright, but they aren't great at blacks like OLED. I'm afraid that is just a limitation of the tech. In fact, getting a brighter display might be preferable to a better contrast ratio. And it will be easier to see if you are in a bright environment.

Most IPS displays are going to be between 1000:1 and 5000:1 and while it does make a difference, if you sit it next to an old plasma or an OLED, you're going to be disappointed. So I would not make contrast ratio a super high priority with IPS, because non-OLED computer displays just aren't going to give you inky blacks. I would say 2000:1 or better is going to give you a decent experience. But, again, I would seek out reviews rather than trust the official product specs when it comes to the quality of the blacks.

And one final consideration you may want to factor in is the refresh rate. This is mostly for gaming. Most displays will give you at least 60 Hz or 60 "refreshes" per second. Gamers tend to like 120 Hz or higher. This won't affect movie watching very much as nearly everything except Gemini Man is 24 fps.

TLDR overview...

Get an IPS or OLED display for a good viewing angle. I personally feel this is the most important feature.

Choose a resolution. 1440p can allow you to increase quality in other areas to maximize your budget. Only get 4K if you have a legit reason or you have fighter pilot vision.

Color gamut or number of colors. Try to get 100% of sRGB for web content, 90% or above of Adobe RGB for art/photography, and 90% or above of P3 for HDR movies and video editing.

If color accuracy is important, look for pre-calibrated displays that have a Delta E of 3 or less. (Lower is better)

HDR brightness. If you want to experience good HDR, you'll want the brightest screen possible (measured in nits). HDR600 or HDR1000 are great. If you don't care about HDR, then don't worry about the rating.

Contrast ratio and black levels. It's going to be meh on pretty much anything but OLED. 2000:1 or better is a good goal to shoot for, but be sure to check independent reviews for the subjective experience of the black levels. Dark viewing environments help too.

Refresh rate. 60 Hz is fine for most things. Gamers prefer 120 Hz or faster. And if you are a competitive gamer, you may want to seek out more info on "variable refresh rate" and "pixel response time."

Pick the variables above that seem most important to you and then seek out a display that does those things decently within your budget.