#on this wild night

[the-al-chemist]

On This Wild Night — Part One

Notes: And here it is, the Hinny Wedding WIP. In Part 1 of 5, it’s time to attend the ceremony, but two guests are running a little late. At dinner, the Weasley brothers hatch a fun plan, and Artemis plans on having a little fun herself… A warning for mild language and some sexual references.

Masterlist — Next

Charlie perched on the arm of a sofa, tapping one foot on the ground impatiently. As the door opened, he stood up, but he was disappointed to see that the person entering the room wasn’t a person at all, but a strawberry-blonde cat, whose fur was grey around the face. Charlie sighed.

“What is taking so long?” he asked, his question directed to himself as much as the cat. He looked at his watch, shook his head, and walked into the hallway to call up the stairs, “Artemis! We are going to be late!”

“What’s the time?” a woman’s voice called back to him.

“It’s half past ten!”

“That’s fine! It doesn’t start until eleven and it only takes a second to Apparate.”

Charlie made his way up the stairs. At the top, he leant against the wall opposite the bathroom, from which he could hear the sound of Artemis rummaging through a bag.

“Artie, I don’t want to rush you, but I was meant to be there over ten minutes ago,” he said. “I’m an usher, remember?”

“I know, I know,” Artemis’ voice said on the other side of the door. “Stop nagging me, you sound like your mother.”

It was hard to argue with that, but time was getting on. Charlie glanced at his watch once more.

“Alright, are you nearly done, or should I just go on without—”

He didn’t finish his sentence. The bathroom door swung open to reveal a bare-footed woman with hazel eyes and dark hair that had been pulled back from her face into an artfully messy bun. His eyes swept her five foot tall frame, taking in the way the wine-coloured fabric of her dress skimmed her hips, and clung to her chest. The dress was low-cut, leaving Artemis’ shoulders and collarbone exposed.

“I’m done,” she said, holding her arms out from her sides to demonstrate.

“Hm,” was the only response Charlie was able to give.

“Charlie?”

“Hm?”

“My eyes are up here, you know.”

At Artemis’ words, Charlie quickly looked up at her face. She shook her head at him, before pulling her wand out of the clutch bag she held — until that moment, he hadn’t even noticed that she was holding a bag — and summoned a pair of very high-heeled shoes from the attic.

“Sorry. I like your dress,” he told her.

“Sure, that’s what it was,” she muttered, slipping the shoes onto her feet.

“Have you got the card and present?”

Artemis peered into the clutch bag, before summoning those and putting them in there, too.

“I have now,” she said brightly. “Charlie.”

“What?”

“Will you stop looking at them?”

“Sorry, I just… Well, I physically can’t.” He half-laughed, and tilted his head to one side. “Have they always been that big?”

“No, I’m just wearing a bra.”

“Do you not normally wear a bra?”

“I do,” Artemis nodded, “but this is a proper bra. Does this to them.”

She put her hands in front of her chest, pushed them towards each other, then lifted them up slightly. Charlie nodded sagely.

“I see. Very impressive.”

Artemis frowned at him before looking downwards.

“Is it too much?” she asked. “Is it maybe just a bit too booby?”

“Maybe,” Charlie said, standing up straight and stepping towards her, his face mock-solemn. “You know, I think I might need a closer look in order to tell.”

“Funny.” Artemis pulled a face, but she walked towards him anyway. Charlie placed his hands on her elbows and looked down at her, trying to keep his face straight.

“No,” he said, after a few moments. “I’d say it’s just booby enough. Exactly the right amount of booby.”

“You would say that.”

Artemis didn’t look convinced, and Charlie lifted her elbows so that her arms were on his shoulders. He dropped his hands to hold onto her waist and looked her in the eye.

“Seriously, though. You look beautiful. Really beautiful.”

The expression of amused annoyance disappeared from Artemis’ face, and a small smile began to play on her lips.

“So do you,” she told him, and he kissed her on the forehead.

He would have stopped there, but Artemis’ hands had made their way into his hair, and before he could stop her — although, he was hardly going to stop her — she had brought his face to hers. The feeling of her lips on his ruined his resolve, and as they kissed his hands moved from her waist to her lower back, down to her bum and back up to just below her shoulder blades, where the fabric of the dress met her skin and he could feel the fastenings between his fingertips…

“Charlie,” Artemis whispered against his lips. He hummed back to her. “Shouldn’t you be ushing at the moment?”

In an instant, Charlie removed his fingers from Artemis’ dress.

“Shit. Yes, yes I am,” he said. “Yeah, we really don’t have time for this right now.”

Artemis laughed. She licked her thumb and used it to wipe her lipstick from his lips.

“Shame. Maybe later,” she said, and raised her eyebrows.

“Definitely later.”

“I’ll hold you to that. Who’s Apparating?”

“You can,” replied Charlie. “It’s your fault that we’re running late, after all.”

Artemis sighed, but she held out her arm anyway. Charlie linked his own with it, intertwining his fingers with hers. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, before taking one final look down the front of her dress. He felt Artemis nudge him with her elbow.

“Eyes up, Weasley.”

Charlie snapped his head up, and the two of them disappeared with a loud crack.

Artemis took a seat on the left side of the church, in the second pew from the front of the chapel. While Charlie greeted various distant relatives and family friends with two of his younger brothers, she took a look around the room, making note of who she did and didn’t recognise.

Milling around the chapel were a few vaguely familiar faces she recognised from other events, and some old acquaintances and members of the staff from her school, several Quidditch players, and her old friend Kingsley, who waved to her from across the chapel. At the altar, the youngest Weasley brother, Ron, was engaged in a whispered conversation with his best friend Harry, who was looking incredibly nervous.

One of the most familiar faces of all approached Artemis and she stood up to greet the newcomer. He was tall and slim, with long hair the same shade of red as Charlie’s pulled back into a ponytail. He had a heavily scarred face, a flower pinned to his lapel, and a baby strapped to his chest.

“Aren’t you meant to be on usher duty, not dad duty?” Artemis asked Bill Weasley, who hugged her with the arm furthest away from the baby.

“Well, I did have to do two people’s worth of work for the first fifteen minutes,” replied Bill, with a pointed look.

“Sorry. We lost track of time.”

Bill almost shuddered at Artemis’ words.

“Spare me the details,” he muttered. “Anyway, Fleur’s gone to make sure Victoire’s ready to be a flower girl, so I’m in charge of Dominique.” Bill paused, both frowning and smirking simultaneously. “Although, it looks like I’m not the only one to have brought my two girls out for the day.”

“What? Oh.”

Artemis covered her chest with her hand and scowled at Bill. In response, he began to laugh wickedly.

“Maybe try and keep your distance from our Aunt Muriel,” he sniggered.

“I always do.”

“I know, but she still isn’t over what you wore to my wedding. The shock of this might finally kill her.”

Artemis rolled her eyes. “Wow, you look good too, Bill.”

“I didn’t say you don’t look good. You look great, it’s just…” Bill determinedly looked away from her and held his hand up to the side of his face. “Holy crap, Artemis.”

“I don’t think you’re meant to say that in a church.”

“I don’t think you’re meant to get your tits out in one either, but here we are.”

“I don’t see why not. Mary Magdalene got hers out all the time,” Artemis retorted.

Bill blinked at her. “She was a prostitute.”

“I thought she was a virgin.”

“I’m sure she was at some point, but you’re thinking of the Virgin Mary.”

“Are they not the same person?”

“Definitely not,” Bill sniggered.

“Don’t laugh at me. I’m Jewish.”

“No, your family is Jewish. Your estranged family. You, however, ate a bacon sandwich at my house last weekend.”

“Are you not allowed to eat bacon if you’re Jewish?” Artemis frowned. Bill stared at her in disbelief.

Almost everyone was in their seats now, and the three red-headed ushers were returning to the front of the church. Bill moved out of the pew to allow Charlie to sit down between him and Artemis. Charlie was accompanied by his mother, and both of them paused to stroke the tiny fingers of the sleeping baby in Bill’s arms.

“Artemis, dear. Lovely to see you.” Mrs Weasley pulled herself away from her new grandchild to place her hands on Artemis’ shoulders and pull her into a hug.

“You look lovely, Molly,” Artemis told her as she returned the hug.

“Not as lovely as you, dear,” replied Mrs Weasley. She held Artemis at arms length and looked her up and down. Like both her sons, she paused a little at the level of Artemis’ chest. Quickly returning her gaze to Artemis’ face, she raised her eyebrows and drew her lips into a tight smile. “Well, I’d better sit down, it’s going to start any minute now.”

Mrs Weasley turned away from Artemis and sat in the very front pew, in front of Bill, and Artemis sat down beside Charlie.

“Did your mum just check me out?” Artemis hissed, and Charlie shrugged by way of response.

A stunningly pretty woman with silver-blonde hair brisked down the aisle towards them, and they shuffled sideways to make room for her to sit next to Bill.

“Hello, Fleur. How’s Victoire?”

“She is very excited,” Fleur leaned across her husband to kiss Charlie and Artemis on the cheeks. “I just ‘ope zat she doesn’t get overwhelmed.”

The sound of organ music filled the air, and the congregation rose to their feet. Fleur leaned across the two eldest Weasley brothers once more.

“Artemis,” she whispered, reaching across to touch Artemis’ wrist, “where did you get zat bra? Your breasts look fantastic.”

“Yeah, everyone’s a fan today,” muttered Artemis, hearing Bill sigh and Charlie let out a noise halfway between a snort and a cough.

At the back of the church, the doors opened to reveal a tall, balding man with glasses, holding the arm of a beautiful young woman with a broad and slightly nervous-looking smile. She was wearing a white dress with long lace sleeves and a cascading skirt, and a crown of flowers was balanced on the top of her head, from which thick red curls cascaded down to the middle of her back.

The two of them started to walk through the middle of the chapel, and in the corner of Artemis’ eye she saw Charlie’s Adam’s apple move up and down. She smiled sympathetically, and placed a hand on his forearm, rubbing small circles with her thumb. Today was going to be hard for both of them, what with all the memories of the people they had lost in the war five years previously. However, while Artemis had lost friends, Charlie had lost a brother as well. Fred Weasley’s absence was going to be more profoundly felt than ever on the day his sister got married. Charlie might have been putting on a brave face and trying to stay strong, but Artemis knew that really, she was going to have to be the strong one today.

Ginny Weasley and her father continued to walk down the aisle, followed by two bridesmaids, one with bushy brown hair and the other with large pale blue eyes. Behind them walked a small boy with hair that changed colour from purple to blue halfway down the length of the church, and Artemis’ goddaughter Victoire, scattering confetti as she toddled at his side.

At the front of the church, Fleur picked up Victoire and the two older bridesmaids joined a now tearful Mrs Weasley in the front pew. Mr Weasley shook hands with the groom, Harry, and kissed his beaming daughter on the cheek.

A Muggle in robes that made him look more like a wizard than most of the guests greeted the bride, before addressing the room.

“We are gathered here today…”

After leaving the church and having some photos on the front steps, the wedding guests had Apparated away from Godric’s Hollow back to the Burrow, the Weasleys’ family home. In the back garden, a large marquee had been erected, inside which round tables had been decked with white cloths and cutlery sets, and tiny lights were hanging from the canvas walls of the tent.

Once everyone was seated at their allocated tables, plates of food appeared in front of them. Charlie sat very straight in his seat as he ate his meal, all the while making small-talk with the guest who had been seated beside him: Kingsley Shacklebolt, a family friend and now Minister for Magic. The conversation was cordial, but not entirely comfortable, at least for Charlie. As always, he couldn’t tell what Kingsley really thought of him.

On his left hand side, he could hear Artemis having an even more strained discussion with Percy’s girlfriend Audrey. He wasn’t really listening to what was being said, but he could hear the boredom in Artemis’ voice as she made her short responses. He flicked his eyes towards her and briefly made eye contact, before turning back to Kingsley on his right.

“She looks like she’s enjoying herself,” Kingsley muttered with a wry smile, and Charlie nodded, not sure if he should laugh or not. There was a short pause, and Kingsley’s dark eyes scanned the marquee around them. “Did you two help set this all up?”

“Artemis did. I would have done, but what with work, I only got back last night,” Charlie told him.

“Are you both staying at your parents’ this weekend?”

“No, we’ll Apparate back to Artie’s house. The benefit of her still having a base back here.”

“How do you like Camden?”

“It’s… well, it’s got character,” Charlie said diplomatically. Kingsley nodded, almost knowingly, and Charlie felt the need to explain himself. “I’m more of a countryside person, really.”

Artemis, either beyond tired of her conversation with Audrey or just wanting to get his attention, placed her hand on Charlie’s knee.

“You alright?” he asked her, frowning.

“I’m fine,” said Artemis. “Just remembered something you said before we left this morning, that’s all.”

There was no trace of insincerity on her face, and her nose didn’t twitch. She was telling the truth. Charlie nodded, not sure what she was talking about.

“Okay. That’s good. What was it that I said?” His question went unanswered, as Artemis flashed him a small but bright smile before turning back to Audrey once more. She kept her hand on his leg, however. Charlie shook his head and turned back to Kingsley. “I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while, Mr Shacklebolt, how much of a difference your international Floo Network has made. It’s been great, thank you.”

“Please, Charlie, you really need to start calling me Kingsley.”

Kingsley said this almost every time he and Charlie spoke, which wasn’t often, yet Charlie had yet to bring himself to call the Minister for Magic by his first name. But it wasn’t Kingsley’s political status that made Charlie so uncharacteristically nervous around him; Kingsley Shacklebolt was probably the closest thing Artemis had to a father.

Of course, his sister knew all this, just as she knew that Artemis found Percy’s girlfriend unbearingly dull. Charlie had a sneaking suspicion that Ginny had seated them like this deliberately, possibly as punishment for them being late. He wouldn’t have put it past his little sister. Still, it could have been worse. They could have been put on a table with Aunt Muriel.

The thought improved Charlie’s mood slightly, and as Kingsley started to ask him about his work, he answered his questions with less forced politeness. Charlie was pretty happy talking about dragonology, generally speaking.

His newfound comfort in the conversation rapidly diminished, however, as he found himself struggling to concentrate on what he was saying. It wasn’t his fault. It was Artemis’ fault. More specifically, the fault of Artemis’ right hand, which was currently wandering up and down and around his left thigh.

Oh, he realised, that was the thing he’d said before they left the house. But why had she chosen now of all times to… Was Percy’s girlfriend really that boring? Or was she really trying to… For Godric’s sake, he was trying to talk to Kingsley about… What was he trying to talk about?

As Artemis’ hand cupped his crotch, Charlie cleared his throat and used his elbow to push her arm away from him. Artemis stopped her conversation with Audrey and her smirk slipped from her face as she turned to look at him. Charlie shot her a very brief warning glance, and she pursed her lips, eyebrows furrowed. Charlie ignored her sulking, and continued to talk to Kingsley, once more able to concentrate on what he was saying.

At least, he was able to concentrate at first. It didn’t take long until Artemis had started to distract him in a different way. She was no longer touching him, but rummaging in her bag under the table. He tried his hardest to ignore her, but eventually he felt something suspiciously wand-like brush against the outside of his left thigh. That was alarming. Why on earth was Artemis casting spells at the dinner table?

“Will you behave yourself?” he whispered to her, hardly even joking, as she dropped her wand back into her bag and snapped it shut.

“No, that would be less fun,” replied Artemis, her smile more mischievous than ever. She reached out with her hand to take hold of his and bring it down onto her lap, where she pressed something that felt like a piece of soft fabric into his palm. With that, she rose to her feet.

“Excuse me,” she said, her hip brushing Charlie’s arm as she pushed her chair back. “Just off to powder my nose.”

Said nose twitched a little, and there was a look of triumph in Artemis’ eyes as she turned away to walk out of the tent. Below the table, Charlie ran the fabric through his fingers, and felt his face flush as he realised exactly what she had just handed to him. He pocketed the item, and considered his next move.

She’d be expecting him to follow her, of course, and he did want to do so. Merlin, he really wanted to do so. The problem was when, and how to not draw attention to himself. He couldn’t do it immediately, that would be too obvious, and besides, he really couldn’t stand up right now.

Luckily, or maybe unluckily, a distraction came in the form of his three other brothers arriving at the table, hovering behind Audrey and Artemis’ empty chair. Charlie quickly dropped a napkin onto his lap, just in case.

“I’ve had an idea,” George said, placing his hands on Audrey’s shoulders. Percy’s girlfriend immediately stiffened and sat up even straighter. “We’ve all got girls with us tonight. How about a little betting game?”

“What are we betting on?” Percy asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Which one catches the bouquet at the end of the night.”

Ron frowned. “How much?”

“Two Galleons each, winner takes all,” George suggested. He took his hands back and clapped them together. “Who’s in?”

There was a general murmur of assent, and each of them placed a gold coin into a velvet drawstring bag that George had conjured from thin air.

“What are you all plotting?”

A woman’s voice came from behind them, interrupting them. All five Weasley brothers whipped around to face their mother, trying to look as innocent as possible.

“We’re not plotting anything, Mum. We’re just chatting,” Bill said, kissing Molly Weasley on the cheek. Behind him, George hastily stuffed the bag of Galleons in the pocket of waistcoat. “Out of interest, who do you think will catch Ginny’s bouquet?”

Molly softened slightly as she considered Bill’s question.

“I’m not sure. There’s a lot of Quidditch players here today, and Fleur was a Triwizard champion. It really could be any of them.”

“No,” Kingsley interjected with a deep chuckle, “Tiny will get it, for sure. If we were placing bets, that’s where I’d be putting my money.”

Charlie looked across at the Minister for Magic, who winked at him conspiratorially before returning to his conversation with Andromeda.

“Where is Artemis?” his mother asked him, as the others returned to their own tables.

“She went to the loo,” Charlie answered, seeing his escape route. “She’s been gone a little while, actually. I should probably check that she’s okay.”

“Well, if she’s gone to the ladies’, I can—”

“No, Mum. You don’t have to do that.”

“But—”

“Honestly, it’s better if I go. She wasn’t feeling well earlier,” Charlie lied smoothly, rising from his seat. His mother frowned.

“Wasn’t she?”

“No, she was pretty sick before we left this morning. I should go. How long until the speeches? I know she won’t want to miss them.”

“Quarter of an hour or so, I expect.” Molly still looked concerned. “Charlie, is everything okay?”

“Of course it is, Mum. Won’t be long.”

Before his mother could protest further, Charlie briskly walked out of the marquee and into the garden, in search of Artemis, who was nowhere to be seen. He walked across the grass, towards the house, and as he did, he noticed a tortoiseshell cat lying on the patio, basking in the September afternoon sun. He smiled and shook his head at her.

“Enjoying the weather, are we?”

Hearing Charlie’s voice, the cat rose to her feet. A second later, Artemis stood in its place, her weight on one leg, the other crossed in front of her, her head tilted to one side.

“You took your time,” she said, with a coy smile. “I was starting to think you weren’t going to follow me.”

“Of course I was. I couldn’t exactly just get up and go.”

“I think you probably could.” Artemis held her hand out to him. “Shall we find out?”

Charlie lowered his head and laughed, before putting his hand into hers. Someday, he thought, she was going to be his downfall. Perhaps she already was.

[chloesimaginationthings]

Everyone loves FNAF music man.. even Michael

[vaor]

things i wish i had known when i escaped my family household and couldn't ask my parents for help

invest in a good mattress early on. there are many other ends you can save on - sleep is not one of them. this is key to how much energy you'll have throughout the day

you don't need a bedframe but you do need a slatted bed base (even if it's just pallets)

opening a bank account is easy

there's youtube tutorials for everything. how to install your washing machine, how to use tools, fixing stuff around the place. channels like dad, how do i? are a godsend

change energy provider as soon as your old deal runs out. you'll get better offers elsewhere and avoid price gouging

assemble a basic first aid kid at home: painkillers, probiotics, alcohol wipes, bandages, tweezers, antihistamine tablets - anything you might need in a pinch

and an emergency toolkit: flashlight, extra batteries, a utility knife, an adjustable wrench, multi-tool, duct tape

set your fridge to the lowest temperature it can go. the energy consumption is minimal in difference and it'll give you +4/7 days on most foods

off-brand products are almost always the same in quality and taste, if not better, for half the price

coupons will save you a lot of money in the long run

there's no reason to be shy around employees at the bank/laundromat/store; most people will be happy to help

vegetarian diets are generally cheap if you make food from scratch

breakfast is as important as they say

keep track of your budget in a notebook or excel file - e.g. rent, phone and internet bills, food, leisure so you'll have an overlook on your spending over the months

don't gamble

piracy is okay

stealing from big stores and chains is also ethically okay

keep medical bills and pharmacy receipts for tax returns

also, file your tax returns early

take up a hobby that isn't in front of a screen. pottery, music, going for a run every now and then, stuff that'll keep you busy and sane

and most importantly... you're allowed to get the stuff you want. treat yourself to the occasional mundane thing. a good scented candle. a bath bomb. that body lotion that makes you feel like royalty. the good coffee beans.

you're free and you deserve to be happy.

[rollinrabbit]

I'M JUST KEN (AND I'M ENOUGH) AND I'M GREAT AT DOING ~STUFF~

[menelaiad]

the infamous 'last sighting of a barbary lion in the wild' photo taken by marcelin flandrin (1925) haunts me to my core. there's something so achingly poetic about it.

[arttsuka]

💖

[shepscapades]

Contrary to popular belief etho and bdubs are not divorced and in this essay I will

[explodingstarlight]

I adore this little family

slightly more zoomed in version:

[ducksdontdraw]

My contribution to the Residents of the Wild zine! Excited to finally be able to share this one 😊

[lotus-pear]

two mimir.. 🤲🏼🤲🏼

[jennaflare]

So Disco Elysium is the only game you've ever really liked

I get it! It's a phenomenal game with superb art and writing, and its themes are consistent and deeply explored. It sets a high bar for video games. But there are other really, really fantastic games out there. This is a list that is 100% my own taste of things that aren't necessarily similar, other than the fact that they're really fucking good. (A lot of these are on sale for the Steam Summer Sale until July 11 2024!)

In Stars and Time

In Stars and Time is a time loop game where you play as Siffrin, the rogue of a party at the end of their quest to save the day by defeating the King, who is freezing everybody in time! But something is wrong: every time you die, you loop back to the day before you fight the King. You're the only one who remembers the loops, so it's up to you to figure out why it's happening, and how to break out.

In Stars and Time is a heart-wrenching dive into mental health, friendship, and love. It's about feeling alone, and how awful it is when the people who love you don't notice (and how awful it is when they do). It's about falling deeper and deeper into your worst self and your worst tendencies, and how to come back from it.

The creator also did one of my favorite Disco Elysium comics ever, which is only tangentially relevant but worth mentioning.

Roadwarden

In Roadwarden, you play as the titular Roadwarden for an undeveloped and "wild" part of the kingdom. Monsters roam the forests and roads, and it's your job to keep people safe. On paper, anyway. Your real mission is to find out what is of value in the area, and how to take it from its people. How well you perform this task is up to you. It's an oldschool text-based RPG, and I take a lot of notes by hand when I play.

Roadwarden explores exploitation and industrialization by making you look in the face of your potential victims. You can only learn what your bosses want you to report on by getting close to the residents, after all. There are mysteries to be solved, secrets to be gathered, and hearts to win.

The Longing

The Longing is an adventure-idle game where you play as the solitary servant of a sleeping king. Your task is to wait for him, for four hundred days. Time in the game passes in realtime (for the most part). There are caves to explore, books to be read, and drawings to make.

The Longing is about loneliness and depression. It's about whether or not you decide to stay in that hole, and if you do, what you do with yourself while you're there. Maybe you'll wander. Maybe you'll stare at a wall. Maybe you'll just sleep until it's all over.

Papers, Please

Papers, Please casts you as a newly hired customs officer in a country that is rapidly tightening its borders as its fascist government tightens its fist. This game is stressful. Sometimes you intend to help out the revolutionaries when they asked, but then you got so stressed out trying to make your quota so you can feed your family and pay your bills that you didn't notice the name of the person they were hoping to contact while going through their papers. Sometimes someone puts a bomb in front of you and expects you to defuse it. Sometimes someone suggests you steal people's passports so you can get your family out, and with the horror you see daily, the idea tempts you more than you'd like.

Papers, Please is all about hard choices and testing your moral fortitude. Everything you do has consequences. Being a good person in this game is hardly ever rewarded, but not in a way that feels overly cynical. Papers, Please asks you what kind of person you want to be and what you're willing to sacrifice to get there.

The Return of the Obra Dinn

From the creator of Papers, Please, The Return of the Obra Dinn is a game where you play as an insurance investigator for the East India Trading Company. The ship the Obra Dinn has just floated back into port, its entire crew missing or dead. It's your job to figure out what happened aboard the vessel. For insurance reasons.

I don't know how to go into the themes of this too deeply without giving away too much, but the mechanics of the game itself make the game worth playing. You have a magic stopwatch that allows you to go back to the moment of a person's death, allowing you to try and figure out who (or what) killed them, and how. And the soundtrack is extremely good.

Outer Wilds

In Outer Wilds you play as an unnamed alien, and it's your first day going to space! Your planet's space program is pretty new still, so there's still lots to explore and discover on the planets within your system. There are ancient ruins from a mysterious race that once lived in your system, long before your species began to record history. Why were they here? Where did they go? How are they connected to the weird thing that keeps happening to you?

The fun of Outer Wilds is in the discovery and answering your own questions. The game never tells you where to go, and it never outright tells you anything. There are clues scattered through the system, and it's up to you to put them together and figure out your next steps. It's about the way that life always goes on, no matter what, even when it seems like the end of everything, forever. I'd recommend NOT reading anything else about this game. Just go play it. Seriously, the less you know, the more fun this is.

If on a Winter's Night, Four Travelers

In If on a Winter's Night, Four Travelers, you explore the circumstances of the deaths of four individuals.

This is a short one that took me about two and a half hours to play. If for no other reason, play it for the stunning pixel art. The game explores sexism, racism, and homophobia in the Victorian era and leans heavily into horror themes. Best of all: it's completely free!

Pentiment

Pentiment takes you to the 16th century, where you take the role of Andreas Maler, a journeyman artist working on his masterwork in the scriptorium of an abbey. When someone is murdered, Andreas takes responsibility for finding the culprit.

The game is set over 20~ years and you get to watch how Andreas' actions affect the village in various ways (who's alive the next time you come by, have people gotten married and had children...). It's an exploration of how the past affects the future, and what parts of that past we choose to keep or discard. It has beautiful art, and fans of both Disco and Pentiment often compare them.

Other games you might wanna check out

Night in the Woods, Dredge, Oxenfree, A House of Many Doors, Inscryption, Slay the Princess, Citizen Sleeper, Chants of Sennar, Loop Hero, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, The Pale Beyond, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Elsinore, Her Story, Before Your Eyes, Pathologic (not delved into above because the venn diagram of Pathologic fans and Disco fans is basically a circle)

[the-al-chemist]

On This Wild Night — Part Two

Notes: I’m not a natural writer of erotica. I’m just too British for it. Still, it’s good to challenge oneself. So, here’s my first go at taking on something of that nature. Apologies in advance if it’s below par.

A warning: this chapter contains sexual content, descriptions are moderately explicit, and the scene in question involves two enthusiastically consenting adults. There are also several references to character deaths that occur in canon.

Previous — Masterlist — Next

The house was empty. Artemis pulled Charlie inside, where the familiar surroundings of the Weasleys’ kitchen were quiet around them.

When she kissed him, he let go of her hand and brought both of his to her face, his thumbs resting on her cheeks and his fingers at her hairline. She kicked off her shoes, rested her bag down on the kitchen counter, and ran her palms up his chest until she reached his bow tie. Tugging slightly, she worked at the knot so that it came to hang loose around his neck.

Meanwhile, Charlie’s hands began to travel down her body. As they reached her waist, he manoeuvred her to the middle of the room. He pulled his wand out of his back pocket and placed it on the kitchen table so that he could lean back against it, and his fingers dug slightly into her hips as he pulled her towards him.

“How long do you think we have?” she whispered, fingers fiddling with the buttons at the collar of his shirt.

“Speeches are in fifteen minutes.”

“Won’t anyone come looking for us before then?”

“No,” was Charlie’s reply. Artemis could feel his words as much as she could hear them, softly murmured against her skin as he started to trail kisses down her neck to her collarbone.“I made up an excuse. They’ll leave us alone.”

“What did you tell them?” Artemis asked, her voice already breathy. Charlie paused, and pulled his lips away from her sternum to stare at her. “What?”

“We have all of fifteen minutes and you really want to know what rubbish I’ve spouted to keep everyone away? Does it matter?”

“No, you’re right. Waste of time. As you were.”

Charlie shook his head and chuckled, lowering his mouth to — as she could have predicted — Artemis’ breasts. She let out a small moan and brought her hands down to untuck his shirt from his trousers, using her fingers to gently trace the lines where the muscles of his lower abdomen ended above his hips. He pulled her even closer, and she smiled as she felt him stiffen against her for the second time that afternoon.

This time, though, Charlie was responding in kind. He released his hold on her hips to run his palms down her thighs and back up again, bunching up the material of her dress as he went. He moved almost tantalisingly slowly, so that by the time his calloused fingertips grazed the top of her thighs, she could feel her yearning for him like a knot in her core. He continued to tease her with gentle touches that moved closer and further away again as he kissed his way back up her neck to her earlobe.

“Well, we both know there’s nothing else in my way now,” he said wryly, and a moment later, his fingers were exploring the wetness between her legs. His lips moved back to hers, and she felt them curve into a smile as she sighed against them, her hips already gently bucking against his hand.

Determined even now not to let him get the better of her so easily, her hands found his belt. Her fumbling fingers made less light work of it than they would normally, but it wasn’t long before she was able to feel him through just his boxers. A few moments later, those were unbuttoned as well. She continued to work him, firmly massaging the length of his erection, feeling it twitch in her palm as his breath became ragged.

In response, Charlie upped the ante, drawing rough circles with his fingers before delving them into her, curving them to form a question mark. But just as she thought she had the answer, he moved his hand away entirely.

“Why did you stop?” she asked him.

“To do this,” said Charlie’s low voice. A second later, he had hoisted Artemis up, lifting her up from the ground with his hands under her bum.

Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and legs around his waist, and he carried her to the side of the room, resting her back against the wall.

“Smooth,” Artemis muttered. Charlie shrugged nonchalantly, but from the expression on his freckled face she could tell that he was feeling pretty pleased with himself. “How long have you been wanting to pull that move?”

“A while,” he replied, his proud-looking half-smile not slipping one bit. “This seemed like the right time for it.”

“Agreed. You know, I’ve always thought those muscles were wasted on dragons.”

“Definitely. Now, just hold still a second.”

“Why?”

“This bit’s a bit more fiddly, and I now feel like I need to keep up this smooth thing so I can carry on impressing you.”

“You always impress me.”

Charlie kissed her forehead, before concentrating on slowly lowering her down onto him. As he did, Artemis drew a deep shaky breath.

“That alright?” he asked.

“More than alright.”

Artemis kissed him. He returned the kiss, using his tongue to open her mouth and tenderly pushing a strand of hair back from her face. As the kiss began to deepen, she pulled away and looked him straight in the eye.

“Charlie. We’re on a tight schedule.”

“Oh, yeah. Forgot about that.”

He moved his hand from her face to the wall beside her head and started to thrust against her, into her, slow and deliberate. Her mouth found his again, and his teeth grazed her bottom lip. As he continued, Artemis buried one hand in his hair, and grasped at the fabric of the back of his shirt with the other, pulling him closer to her. She wanted him closer, needed him closer. As if he knew, Charlie’s movements became harder and heavier.

A moan escaped her lips and her back arched towards him, the crown of her head hitting the wall behind her loudly and painfully as she threw it back. Instinctively, Charlie moved his hand from the wall in an attempt to cushion the blow. The attempt was unsuccessful, but Artemis’ own hand took hold of it. Their fingers entangled together, and Charlie brought both up above her head as he moved faster still, each buck of his hips causing her breath to hitch.

It was quickly becoming too much for both of them. A heat started to rise in Artemis, burning its way through her until she could stand it no longer. She buried her face into Charlie’s shoulder as fireworks went off in her head, bursting in a myriad of colour and light that only she could see.

While the light behind her eyes was still fading, Charlie followed suit, his final thrust turning into a jerk as he also crashed and burned inside her. They clung to one another for a moment as they recovered, both still panting and trembling.

After one more clumsy kiss, Artemis was lifted up and lowered down so that her feet were on solid ground, her legs almost giving way as she bore weight on them. Charlie waited until she was standing steady before letting go of her and taking a step backwards.

“How’s your head?” he asked, doing his fly back up and tucking his shirt back into his waistband.

“Fine. Well, no. It hurts, but I don’t care. Worth it,” said Artemis. She smoothed down her dress and started trying to help him with his bow tie, not that she knew what she was doing on that front. “Good move, we should try that again some day.”

“I intend to. When you least expect it. It’s a stealth move, that one.”

“Sure. Are we late for the speeches?”

Charlie checked his watch above her head.

“We’ve actually got a minute left,” he said, looking and sounding pleasantly surprised. “Well done, us.”

He opened his palm and held it up to Artemis, who stopped struggling with his tie for a second to hi-five him. Looking back at the still-loose bow tie, she sighed, fetched Charlie’s wand from the table, and pointed it at the fabric around his neck. It immediately formed a passably neat bow.

She handed the wand to its rightful owner, and attempted to neaten up her hair using the window as a mirror, to little avail. Luckily, her hair had been messy before she even left the marquee.

“Will that do?” she asked Charlie, who stood behind her to assess the damage.

“Yes, it looks very pretty.” He wrapped his arms around her and placed a kiss on her right shoulder. “Right. Speeches?”

“Speeches.”

Less dishevelled now, the two of them made their way back out through the garden, hand in hand, talking quietly. Suddenly, Charlie stopped dead in his tracks and let go of Artemis’ hand. She frowned at him.

“What?”

“Here,” he said, and after a quick glance around them, reached into his pocket. “You should probably take your knickers back.”

Artemis grinned and took her pants back from Charlie. She pulled out her wand, and with two quick movements, vanished and conjured them again, so that she was wearing them once more.

“I knew that would get your attention.”

The champagne flutes floated around to top up the glasses once more as everyone sat back down at the end of Ron’s speech.

“I thought he did really well,” said Artemis, holding her glass aloft for one of the bottles to fill, “especially as he was obviously so nervous about it.”

Charlie eyed his youngest brother sceptically. “Was he?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you’d know. I just would have preferred it with a few less anecdotes.”

“I thought they were quite funny anecdotes.”

“Yeah, they were.” Charlie shrugged. “I just don’t think we all needed to know quite so much about the bloke who’s going to be shagging my little sister later.”

“I always thought people stopped having sex after they got married,” Artemis said, and on Charlie’s other side, Kingsley Shacklebolt let out a deep reverberating chuckle.

“The number of redheads in the room might suggest otherwise,” he laughed, leaning forward to make eye contact with Artemis, who grinned.

Charlie grimaced and shook his head, and Artemis nudged his shoulder with her forehead.

“Lighten up, Charlie,” she giggled. She raised her glass to her lips and added under her breath: “Hypocrite.”

Charlie pulled a face at her and put his own glass on the table so that he could poke her in the ribcage. He steeled himself for her retaliation, but didn’t need to. His father had stood up and was hitting his own champagne glass with a teaspoon.

The room fell quiet, and Arthur Weasley pointed his wand to his throat.

“Sonorus,” he said, and his voice became louder, as he introduced himself to the wedding guests. “Good afternoon, everyone. For those of you who don’t know, my name is Arthur, and I’m the father of Ginevra and Ron, along with several other red-headed young men, but they’re all less important today.”

“Oi!” a male voice heckled from a nearby table. Charlie smiled, recognising the voice as that of George.

“Today is all about Ginny — and Harry, of course, but we can talk about him later,” Arthur continued, all too used to being disrupted after over thirty years of fatherhood. “Now, most of you are probably aware that by the time Ginny came along, my lovely wife Molly and I were old hats as far as parenting is concerned, but there were still certain things that we were not prepared for.

“Firstly, up until then we’d only had boys. There’s nothing quite like the panic of a father taking your daughter out in public for the day and her telling you that she needs to go for a wee. Bill, you have this to look forward to,” he added, looking across to the table where Bill was sitting with Victoire on his lap. “Luckily, Ginny’s always been an independent sort of girl, so she had no problem walking off to go by herself, leaving me to worry about her and feel as if she were already growing up too fast. Not that she knew, of course. She wasn’t worried in the slightest. She was fearless.

“That’s the other thing that I wasn’t prepared for: Ginny herself. Anyone who has met our boys will know that Molly and I have a habit of raising children that are either too clever for their own good, too stubborn for their own good—”

“He means you,” whispered Artemis.

“No, he doesn’t,” Charlie whispered back.

“— or just too much trouble for their own good. Ginevra is all three of those things, and much more. It’s no wonder that she’s managed to achieve so much even at the young age she is now. Every day, she does something else that makes me get that same feeling as I did watching the back of her little head walk off that day, and to make me proud to call myself her father.

“The third and final thing that I was unprepared for when I became Ginny’s father, was just how much love I had for her. It’s the most incredible thing about parenthood: how, even if you’ve gone through the process six times before, you still are overwhelmed by the love you have for your children, and surprised by the fact that you even had that much love in you. It’s a very strange thing; you find that same impossible amount of love over and over and over again.” Arthur paused, and took a deep breath. Charlie wondered for a second if he was about to see his father cry, but then Arthur smiled. “And then, in what must be one of the cruelest tricks of nature, your children get older, and they start finding people that they love more than they love you.”

Next to her husband, Molly Weasley had started dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. Charlie watched as Ron’s fiancée nudged him with her elbow and jerked her head in the direction of their mother, and Ron reached over and patted her on the shoulder, somewhat awkwardly.

“It’s sad, at first,” Charlie’s father continued, “but not for long. Because, if they choose well, you end up digging even deeper into the endless caverns of your heart, and finding love for those people as well, for the simple reason that they love your child just as much as you do, and make them happier than you could ever wish to.

“Which brings us nicely on to Harry. I did say I’d be talking about him, as well. Now, all my children have done very well when it comes to choosing their partners, but Ginny managed to pick Harry out of the crowd at a very young age. I guess they don’t call him the Chosen One for nothing.”

There was a quiet titter of laughter across the room, and Harry Potter closed his eyes behind the round frames of his glasses and looked down at the table. His bride squeezed his forearm gently and whispered something into his ear that no one else could have heard. When she faced forward again, both bride and groom were stifling giggles. Charlie smiled. Ginny really did look happier than he’d ever seen her.

“Now, I’ve already mentioned that Ginny is too stubborn for her own good, much like a few other young people in this room,” said Arthur, with a knowing smile. He looked over in the direction of their table, and added, “Don’t worry, I won’t be naming any names, Charlie.”

The laughter that echoed through the room was louder that time. Artemis flashed him a knowing grin.

“Told you so,” she said. He gently batted her across the back of her head. He obviously hadn’t meant to hurt her, but she winced.

“Sorry. I’m sorry,” he whispered, realising that he’d just hit the exact part of her head that had hit the wall not long earlier. Artemis pursed her lips.

“Oh, you will be.”

“Anyway,” Arthur was saying, oblivious to their antics, “our Ginny being the stubborn girl that she is, I knew even then that it was only a matter of time before Harry chose her, too. Maybe that’s why it was so easy for us to accept him as one of our own all those years ago. Molly and I make no secret of the fact that we’ve always loved Harry like yet another son, and I’m so happy that today, we get to officially call him just that.

“I know that I’ve been rambling for some time, and Molly’s going into a state of shock that I’ve managed to talk for this long without even saying the word ‘Muggle’… Oh dear, now I’ve ruined it.” He grinned sheepishly, and for the third time, everyone laughed. “However, I cannot make a speech this afternoon without mentioning that even though today is one of the happiest of my life, there is a certain amount of sadness in this room, too.”

Charlie tensed involuntarily. Of course. It was always going to be a matter of time before someone mentioned the noticeable absence of his brother. He tried to swallow, but his throat had suddenly become too dry even for that.

“I don’t want to dwell on it too much,” his father said, with a sad smile, and eyes glistening with the threat of tears, “but there are so many people who sadly couldn’t be here today, and would have loved to have been.”

Arthur Weasley’s voice caught in his throat, and Charlie looked down at the table. He couldn’t bear to see his father cry. A small hand crept into his field of vision, and took hold of his. Charlie didn’t look up, but he squeezed Artemis’ hand gently, and didn’t let go of it.

“Fabian, Gideon, Albus, Alastor,” Arthur listed. “Frank and Alice, Pandora, Dobby, Cedric, Ted, Sirius, Remus and Dora—”

Charlie looked up now, trying to make eye contact with Artemis, but her eyes were straight ahead, fixed on the little pageboy in the seat opposite her, whose hair had now turned the same shade of red as all the Weasleys’. Her eyes were glazed and her face was blank. She was completely unreadable. Charlie squeezed her hand tighter.

“— and my own dear son, and Ginny’s beloved brother, Fred,” his father’s voice cracked again, but he recovered himself. Charlie’s knuckles were now white. “Last but not least, Harry’s parents, Lily and James, who I know would have been so proud to see what a fine young man they gave this world.

“We as a community and as a family may have lost so many people, but we carry them with us, always. But, like I said, I don’t want to dwell on that. Today is for the living, and I know we’ve done a lot of reminiscing in our speeches today — some of us a little too much reminiscing, maybe.” Arthur looked pointedly at his youngest son. “What I want to do now is look to the future. I can think we can all agree that it’s going to be a very bright one for these two. So, please, raise your glasses to my daughter and her husband.”

Several dozen chairs scraped the floor of the marquee as every single one of the wedding guests rose to their feet. Charlie picked up his champagne glass in his right hand. It felt strange to do so, but he knew that he couldn’t let go of Artemis’ hand to use his left. Not yet. He wasn’t ready. Judging by the fact that Artemis had neglected to pick up her glass at all, neither was she.

“To Harry and Ginny,” said Arthur, raising his glass.

His words echoed around the room, and everyone else lifted their glasses in the air. Charlie nudged Artemis with his elbow, and she seemed to wake up. She let go of his hand, picked up her glass, lifted it up and raised it, whispering the phrase, before hurriedly setting it back down without even drinking from it. Her hand took Charlie’s once more, and she offered him a very small smile, which he returned.

He had half-expected her to walk away as soon as the toast finished, for her default fight or flight response to kick in. But she didn’t. Instead, she stayed where she was: by his side, holding his hand, as if she knew that he just needed her to be there.

[chloesimaginationthings]

The moment FNAF movie Vanessa knew she fucked up

[iamespecter]

Ah yes, the one guy I like vs the five other femme fatales

I did the thing that I saw one other mutual do!!! honestly, it was VERY hard to pick for most of these (save for Caine and Glamrock Chica) because I ADORE a LOT of characters. And doing this honestly makes me realize just how much I gravitate towards characters that are doomed by the narrative or their scriptwriters one way or another

My current favorite is Caine because it's pretty much self-explanatory, he is my current blorbo. My scrunkly. My precious lil scrunkler guy

Chica is my comfort character. She literally raised me alongside Freddy Fazbear when I was going through one of the toughest moments of my life, living with my abusive dad (and yes the chicken and the bear are so married to me and me only)

Master Tigress save me you were taken from me by the fourth film and I will NEVER live that down

Where do I even start with Six from Little Nightmares. By god, this poor yellow raincoat wearing child of mine. I both love and hate just how hopeless her story is. People say that the ending of the first game ends with her escaping via a boat, but I really don't think so. I think she's stuck at the Maw because I keep saying it, THE BOAT DROPPING THE GUESTS LEFT. THERE IS NO "OTHER BOAT". IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. (before this becomes a ramble, I'm gonna stop it right there.)

I'm VERY guilty of liking Lucy Wilde from Despicable me because I hate the franchise (the first film was good), but by god, IS SHE THE FUNNIEST SHIT. To me, she literally carries the films she's in, she inspired one of my main OCs' humor and even appearance. I don't care about Gru, or the villains, or the girls, just give me more Lucy.

GLAMROCK CHICA MY BELOVED I AM GOING DOWN ON MY KNEES RN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MARRY ME I'M PUTTING ALL OF MY POINTS IN THE RIZZ STATS PLEASE JUST ONE CHANCE BABYGIRL OINE CHANCE GIVE ME ONE CHANCE (I am Glamrock Chica's #1 fan and I will always be angry at Scott for what he's doing to her and her variants)

sigh,,,, what I ever did to like such characters that I know will end up crushing my heart one way or another, I don't know but I do know that at the very least, I have the power to diverge from canon as an artist

[wolfsheart-blog]

Canis Lupus in summer night by N. Pekonen

[allura-raine]