#they fought about it and ended up mixing their ideas it clearly went terrible

[hadesmorrisonandrei]

what if humanized Douglas yes

Here you have it

[imaginativeamateur]

HEY!!!! I read your kakashi x reader in which kakshi takes care of tired reader and it was *chef’s kiss* so i was thinking if you could a kakashi x reader in which the reader gets poisoned during a mission. They get a small scratch so it does not work quickly. So when they get home, they start to feel a bit dizzy and then start coughing up blood LOTS of blood ( if you don’t mind). So kakashi gets worried and takes them to the hospital. When they get there tsunade tells them it is a rare type of poison so they will need a day or two to make the antidote. So the reader is in pain and coughing up blood. Kakashi tries their best to comfort them. Sorry it is long. Feel free to ignore it. Sorry for bad english. THANK YOU ✨

[Kakashi Hatake X Reader] Unbearable

Pairing: Kakashi Hatake x gn!Reader

Note: Firstly, I'm glad that you like that piece, anon:D and your idea is fantastic!!! Okay, this one is a bit longer than what I usually write for, probably around 2,000 words. It's a mix of angst and fluff, the ending is fluffy though. And I didn't know what to name this one either:D Without further ado, please enjoy!

You pushed the door open, exclaiming happily when you finally got to sniff the familiar scent of his signature dishes, “I’m home, Kakashi!”

“How was your mission, love?” Wiping his palms on a handkerchief, he lifted his eyes from the pan to quickly examine if you had any injuries.

“Absolutely successful! We captured and brought the rebels back for investigation. My captain will be reporting it to the Hokage so I’m off for now!” You made your way next to him in the kitchen, pulling off your gloves in the process, “What are you making?”

Kakashi went off talking about the dishes he was preparing for your dinner but your mind turned fuzzy in the middle of his sentence. You lost your balance and tumbled backward as your sight blurred, not able to see anything clearly. With his quick reflex, the Copy Ninja caught you by your forearm and guided you to the floor, constantly asking if you were okay. Kakashi’s visible eye widened, brows furrowing as his hands roamed to search for any injuries that his eyes did not catch. You had no fatal wounds except for several scratches here and there, and he could sense your depleted chakra level. Lifting your body up in his arms, he whispered as he carried you to your shared bedroom, “You probably overused your chakra again. You should be back to normal tomorrow after a good rest.”

You sprawled tiredly in your bed, having no appetite for a meal and Kakashi respected it, he knew when it came to reviving a Ninja’s chakra, nothing would be able to beat some decent sleep. He let you stay by yourself for a few hours and went to finish his reports, returning to check on you once in a while. When he was finally done with work, Kakashi quietly slipped under the blanket on his side of the bed, carefully scooted closer to your warmth, hugged you close, and peacefully closed his eyes. In the middle of the night, you were woken up by the burning sensation that coursed through your entire body and a terrible headache, having just enough time to flip onto your side in case you would vomit right then and there. And you suddenly coughed, your throat was torn when the crimson liquid spattered onto the white tiles, bled your shirt, and dripped down from your chin. Being a light sleeper, the silver-haired immediately shot up from his pillow, switched the lights on, and scrambled down to the ground. You were trembling for the time being, and within a split second, Kakashi scooped your motionless body in his arms, rushing for the hospital.

He knew for sure that you were poisoned given the symptoms that were starting to surface. The hospital workers were greatly intimidated by the threatening aura that he sent, still hugging you tight as he brought you to the operation room himself. You continued to cough in his arms, and he did not mind his turtleneck being covered entirely by your blood. Tsunade arrived with a hurried disposition, and Sakura followed close behind her lead. Kakashi immediately reported your condition to the Fifth Hokage, grimacing when he saw blood pooling on the hospital bed as the Medic’s chakra slowly entered your body. He fought to retain himself—to not sprint to your side and cradle you tight, to not bring his hand up and wipe the blood staining the corner of your lips. It was all too much to him to see you panting in agony—

“Sakura,” the blonde Medic commanded, “set up for poison extraction. Get three more people.”

The pink-haired left the room after her teacher’s assignment, fleeting on her feet when she saw your tightly shut eyes and Kakashi’s scary expression as though he was going to burn the place down. Tsunade turned to the Copy Ninja, who was leaning against the wall with a visible eye that settled a tone darker, and called, “Kakashi, I need you to hold Y/N down when I extract the poison.”

He shuddered, unsure if he would still be able to maintain the last bit of composure left. The silver-haired found it impossible to remain himself when came to your safety, but he padded to your side, shaking hands reaching out to the pale face of yours. The Godaime assured him that everything would be okay and the man took a deep breath, moving his palms to rest on both of your shoulders as the rest of the team arrived, getting to work the second they passed the door. Kakashi held onto your upper body and arms, pinning you down onto the bed when the blonde started to focus chakra on her hands. “It’ll hurt, make sure Y/N stays still,” she said before the glowing green entered your body.

Kakashi could feel his sweats running cold against his temple, his uncovered eye fixed on Tsunade's hands, periodically glancing back at your face to make sure that you were fine. His grip on your wrists was tight but not bruising, fearing that it would add to the pain that you were already enduring from the poison. The Copy Ninja had his other forearm across your shoulder blades, pressing your torso in place as the Medic worked diligently. It hurt and you yelped, shrieking from the pure pain every time her chakra seeped inside. Kakashi was restless, biting on his own lips to halt himself from releasing his grasp and hug you tight. Your eyes turned dull when Tsunade finally got the last bit of poison out of your system, heavily placing your head back onto the damp pillow as the silver-haired wiped the sweats on your forehead. When all of you thought it was over, things took a different turn—for worse.

Pain suddenly shot through your body, and you started to cough more vigorously than earlier, blood covered the white sheets of the hospital bed. The whole room turned their attention back on your figure, your eyelashes fluttered, wincing when you felt the tiniest bits of your muscles being squeezed and ripped apart. Kakashi stepped back when he looked at his hands smeared by your blood, and grimaced, “… Didn’t you get the poison out already?”

The Medic furrowed her brows, examining the extract she got in a test tube, “It’s my first time seeing this type.”

Kakashi went feral, “How long?”

The sounds of your coughs filled the quiet atmosphere of the operation room. Every ticking of the clock seemed too audibly loud each passing second the blonde observed the Copy Ninja’s face. She eventually sighed and turned to the exit, “I’m not sure. It will take a while for us to create the antidote.”

“You can’t leave Y/N suffering like this, Lady Tsunade,” he breathed out laboriously, “I can’t.”

Kakashi’s words left his lips like a desperate plea as he stared at the ground. Tsunade shut her eyes to summon enough vigor to walk out of the room. Sakura hesitantly left shortly after, silently closing the door after sending her former sensei a sympathetic look. With shaking legs that were almost unable to hold him up, the silver-haired made his way to a chair beside your bed, tracing his thumb across your lips to wipe the bloodstain away. As a Shinobi, he was too accustomed to seeing open wounds and deep gashes—too familiar with his body covered in blood after a mission, especially when he got injured. But seeing you in this state made him crumble in dejection and turmoil.

“Kakashi,” your inaudible whisper pulled him out of his deep thoughts, “what if I…”

Before you were able to finish your sentence, Kakashi hushed you with a sign as he pulled the blanket up to your chest, “Don’t say anything, love. I’m not going to let you…” And he trailed off, finding it hardly possible to continue what he was saying. You were still in pain, forehead scrunched up to restrain the groans from eliciting, tight fists hidden under the cover because you did not want him to be more distressed than he already was. Kakashi slouched his back, head dropping into his palms, cursing under his breath, “I should’ve come with you, should’ve been more careful, should’ve gotten you to the hospital sooner. I-I’m sorry, Y/N… Please, please just be okay.”

His words fell apart, slipping past his lips muffled and croaked. It had been a long while since he last felt the wet droplets tittering on the edge of his lash line—range and misery boiled in his veins as he swore to himself this would be the last time he would see you like this for as long as he was alive. He did not dare to look at you, not when he had to helplessly witness his dearest person suffering. Your breathing decelerated, the sweats beading your hairline and neck had long evaporated, and you fell asleep between his soft whispers, exhausted and drained.

Every hour passed with dread for everyone. Each time Tsunade came back to check on you set up a thin wall of hope but it all shattered shortly when she shook her head and withdrew out of the room. You were coughing less, but that did not ease the Copy Ninja because you were shriveling impossibly lifeless. You could not swallow whatever food they supplied, only able to intake water and intravenous fluid. It was after lunch when Tsunade knocked on the door—two days since you were brought to the hospital, one day since you went unconscious—and Kakashi went to slide it open for her. No longer displayed a hopeful expression, he could not bear the disappointment and emptiness from the Medic’s shake of her head. But this time, Tsunade came with good news.

“We found the antidote.”

A single sentence from the blonde levitated the somber atmosphere that was clouding Kakashi’s mind. A contented smile found its way across his lips—though covered by the mask, Tsunade could clearly see his pupil dilating and the furrow between his brows starting to slowly vanish. With a quick move, she injected the solution into your arm with Kakashi watching closely, not letting any details went unnoticed.

“The fever should be gone after lunch, I’m not quite sure when Y/N will wake up though. That depends on an individual’s ability to recover.” She stated, “You two take care.”

The silver-haired thanked the Godaime and shut the door after she had left for several seconds. Then, he went back for a quick shower—the last thing he wanted was you worrying for his enervated appearance after two days without rest—not forgetting to plant a kiss on your forehead before leaving. When he returned, Kakashi brought a basket of fresh fruits with him, carefully peeling oranges and placing them on a plate for you in advance. He even went as far as bringing your pillow because you would be staying for another few days, and he wanted to make you feel comfortable. After checking over everything, he leaned his head back and closed his eye, stealing a quick nap with your hand in his—so he would know when you wake up.

The moment your eyes fluttered open, you quickly scanned the room, and your gaze settled on the very Hatake sleeping peacefully, then to his fingers intertwining yours. You let out a soft breath, “Thank you, Kakashi.”

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

Taglist: @dai-tsukki-desu @thenightfallingstar @iam-gaaras-loveintrest @animepickle7

[the-quiet-fire-of-defiance]

I have some thoughts, sometimes, about a universe where Pengolodh the unreliable narrator strikes again.

Fingolfin's host sees the ships burning and has thirty years of pain and awfulness to stew in disgust and fury. If they get to Beleriand and someone from Feanor's host tries to tell them something like "oh we didn't burn the ships, [other reason for big naval fire] happened!" then Fingolfin's host is never going to ever accept that.

They'd think it's the notoriously morally corrupt Feanorians telling lies & trying to manipulate people again, to cover their own asses or not take responsibility for their actions or try to stop the Icy Bois from being mad at them. It's clearly not true.

Then we have everything that happens in the first age, and all the accounts get confused and mixed anyway, and by the end almost all the feanorian followers are dead and no one is going to start being a feanorian apologist bc they will literally immediately get murdered. Like many other things in the first age, only one version of events survives, and it's not necessarily the true one.

"Feanor totally deliberately did an evil thing and set all the shops on fire and his son with them and he laughed while he did it" does smell a bit of anti-Feanorian propaganda, even though it does also completely make sense in canon given the direction Feanor went in. But its eaually plausible to argue that ideas of Feanor as an irredeemable villain totally blew up after the first age, and this was one of them! It would also explain the competing narratives about Amrod's fate if it was another rumour that sprung up out out of anti-Feanorian sentiment.

So what actually happened? Two takes.

1: something else caused the ships to catch fire. It's also entirely plausible that they weren't in good enough condition to sail back after the absolute bashing Uinen, Ossë & Ulmo put them through in the aftermath of the First Kinslaying. I don't like this one as much, because it makes the Feanorians completely blameless in the ship burning, which I think is boring and unrealistic and somewhat of a cop out. But it's fun to play with lots of alternate ideas of canon.

2: I like the idea of the timeline being a bit wrong; it's all dark, there's no days, the host of Fingolfin has no way of knowing how long it took the Feanorians to sail to Beleriand or how long they were there before the fire became visible. And I think the rest happened in quick succession;

they land, fight alongside Cirdan's people as in canon

Maedhros: can we send the boats back now? What about Fingon? Uh, I mean, our host and supplies and army I'm thinking totally strategically here

but Feanor is high on the victory of battle and there's fire in his blood, he wants to press onwards, he doesn't want to be stuck with the boring stuff of ship supplies and sending them back for his awful half brother.

and what if he can defeat morgoth without fingolfin

so fairly soon afterwards, the battle against Morgoth's larger forces is fought.

Feanor dies. "even in the hour of his death," Maitimo goes to parlay and is captured, his whole host slain.

The effect that this has had on the entire Feanorian host is- awful.

They've stepped from a deathless paradise where they thought they knew grief and darkness but they didn't, to a land where your might and your story arc don't matter, because anyone can die.

In the bright clarity of death, Feanor knows the Noldor assault is hopeless and doomed. Maedhros goes to the parlay because maybe they can't get through by military might but if there's any chance they can win this and fulfill the oath that they're just now realizing they swore without knowing the truth of the world, or of doom, he has to take it he has to try- but he fails too.

This world is terrible beyond Maglor's darkest dreams. He sees that there's no hope, he's consumed by despair, and if he can save anyone at all...

He puts the ships to flame.

Go back, he means, go back while you can, go back and live.

They don't.

[jamilelucato]

Imperfect [O.W.]

Pairing: Oliver Wood x Gryffindor!reader

Summary: Y/N is always trying out for the Quidditch team, and Oliver is tired of telling her no, so he decides to change it.

A/N: I know I have some requests yet and I’ll write them, but this idea of Oliver got stuck in my mind so I had to write it and it’s so cute! Oliver is so cute!!

Harry Potter Masterlist ||  Musical Hogwarts Series

Words: +8.200

It was a beautiful morning to play Quidditch. But then again, if you ask Oliver, he would have said any morning is good enough for Quidditch. Today, he had an extra job than just managing his team. It was tryouts day — Gryffindor needed a new chaser.

Oliver Wood was thankful when he arrived in the pitch and saw that his teammates were already there. He expected Angelina, and maybe Alicia, but he wasn’t expecting the twins to arrive in time.

“A lot of people came,” commented Alicia, to fill the silence of an early morning. The teammates were good friends, but at such hour, they weren’t used to talk a lot.

Oliver took this as an opportunity to analyze the stands and found out Alicia was right. A lot of brave Gryffindors showed up, which was a surprise. Since only one spot was available, people generally avoided coming in lots.

Angelina stepped closer to Oliver, speaking a low whisper, her tone marked with pity: “Oh, no, she’s gonna try out again.”

Oliver followed Angelina’s eye, knowing very well who Angelina was referring to and trying to find her in the middle of the Gryffindors. He found her sitting on the first roll of the stands, holding her broom tight to her chest. If this were a photograph and someone had shown it to Wood, he wouldn’t have been able to tell each year was it taken on, because, since they were second-years she used to sit there in tryouts, waiting for a chance.

Oliver sighed involuntarily. He hated feeling pity for the girl because he knew that she truly didn’t deserve it. She was a smart, pretty girl who he shouldn’t take pity. She had other things to be proud of herself, Oliver was sure of it, but then why, why did she insist on showing up for trials every single time, even when the answer never changed?

“Good luck with her,” Angelina said, staring back at her old friend. She knew about the girl because she watched most of the times that Oliver had to say no to her.

“Don’t say it like that,” Oliver reprehended Angelina, his tone a little too harsh. He usually didn’t speak so seriously unless a match was about to start so it confused Angelina.

“Oli, are you feeling sympathy for her? Because you have to remember she’s terrible. I can give her points for trying, but that will not make us win a game,” Angelina said, touching, softly, her friend’s shoulder.

“Just... start the trials,” Oliver sighed, brushing Angelina’s touch off. He couldn’t stop staring at the girl, and he was happy to find her oblivious to the stares. Oliver and Angelina weren’t the only ones who knew she was terrible and yet kept coming — Oliver was quite sure that every Gryffindor in their year knew it too.

Angelina started calling the official team to their position, and she stole the list of names Oliver was carrying in his left hand. She was about to read aloud the first name when she noticed that it belonged to the girl in the stands — y/N y/L/N. Angie sighed, deciding to start bottom to top, giving herself more time to deal with the inadequate player.

“Oli, let’s go,” Angelina called her captain’s attention when the first trial was about to start. She was deep down worried Oliver was going to do something stupid towards that girl because why couldn’t he stop staring at her?

Thankfully, when the games started, Oliver Wood was distracted with Quidditch too much to remember y/N. He loved the sport, and Angie doubted there could be anything that could mislead him from that.

By the time they were testing the seventh chaser, Oliver was confident he had found the one: a girl from fifth-year who didn’t miss one chance to score. However, there were still eight other players in the stands waiting for their turn, and Oliver couldn’t let them all go without giving them a shot. He doubted they could be better than the fifth-year girl, but it was worthy.

The matches were capable of distracting him, but always when they were over, Oliver returned to face the girl huddled in the stands, y/N. With each new student they tested, y/N seemed to shrink even more.

Oliver wondered why she did this, why she kept showing up. It couldn’t be that after almost six years of rejection, she didn’t get the message.

“She’s the only one left,” Angelina said, looking at the stands.

The whole team groaned behind the two — Fred, George and Alicia knew very well how terrible y/N was. Oliver was beginning to think Harry Potter had understood that too, even if he was still new there.

“Today’s more crowded than the other times she participated,” Angelina pondered out loud. “People will laugh at her, Oli,” she looked down at her broom, her expression a mix of compassion and worry.

They knew she was terrible, but the rest of Gryffindor didn’t need to.

“Okay, listen up,” Oliver breathed hard two times before gathering the courage to do what he was about to do. “I’ll need more time to consider my options,” the whole crowd complained, causing Oliver to turn his eyes. His hands went to his waist as he tried very hard to not look at the girl in the first roll of the stands. “But later on I’ll call you all back here, or at least the best of you, and will try again.”

“Try again?” someone shouted, clearly angry.

“Yeah, you heard me,” the crowd wasn’t the only ones complaining — Fred and George were calling Oliver nuts in his back. “In fifteen days, we’ll try this again.”

“Oliver, what are you doing?” Angelina flew closer to the captain, her face clearly showing her surprise with Wood’s decision. “Thought it was going to be Katie Bell?”

Oliver swallowed hard, sure that not only Angelina was worried, but so the whole stands. “I need more time to think,” he said, letting his eyes finally wander to y/N.

The end of his sentence made things a little easier for the crowd, who left murmuring, but thankfully none of them was saying bad things about Oliver.

The girl in the stands fought against herself, a mixture of desires — the first was to disappear; the second was to raise her hand and warn them that they had not tested her.

“Oliver, what are you doing?” Angelina asked, knowing very well what her friend was doing, but not believing it anyway. Oliver didn’t answer because he didn’t know either.

Oliver finally dared to face y/N and noticed how her mouth opened and closed without saying a thing. Still, on the broom, he flew to where she was. He was able to fly efficiently, so even when his emotions closed his eyes, he knew he was making the right way to the girl.

“Oliver Wood,” the girl murmured, gulping in surprise. “Captain,” she said again, a bit louder, and Oliver looked down at his own hands. “I hate to be the one that mentions it, but you forgot me.”

Oliver finally looked at her, suddenly locked in her beautiful eyes, lost in her mystic for a second. “I’m sorry?” he managed to say.

“You forgot to try me out,” she gulped again, and her cheeks instantly pinked up. She seemed to notice what had happened to her face because her hands let the broom fall next to her seat, and she covered her mouth with them.

“Yeah, well, new tryouts are happening in fifteen days, so... we can do it later,” he said, really not sure of what to say next. It was like he wasn’t thinking, and that would be a first for him — to be thoughtless in the middle of the Quidditch pitch.

“Why’s that though?” she questioned, raising her left brow slightly. Oliver gulped, knowing that his answer was going to embarrass her and kill him.

“Because of me?” she asked, and if Oliver believed her face was red before, it’s because he didn’t know the power she had hidden — right at that moment, she was only red.

“Yes,” Oliver sighed, knowing he had to say it once and for all. “Y/N, I know how you play. I was there in your first tryout—”

“—Yeah, I remember, we sat together. You were really nervous,” y/N interrupted, but Oliver didn’t care. He knew she did it to call his attention to another thing, something that wasn’t her game skills.

“—and since then, you haven’t got much better. You usually play with your emotions, and every time someone else scores or you don’t score, you get angry,” Oliver continued, getting off his broom and sitting next to her in the stands, placing his broom next to hers. That was when he noticed that her broom was a Firebolt, “when you get angry, your play tactics get even worse. Wait a minute — you have a Firebolt??”

Her eyes widened, while her nose wrinkled slightly. Y/N didn’t know what to say. Yes, she had a Firebolt and knew very well that it was one of the best brooms on the market, which meant it was one of the most expensive. Many professional teams didn’t have that broom yet, so someone like her, who didn’t play anything, was not expected to have it.

“Yes, it’s a Firebolt,” she played with her fingers, trying to calm herself down. There was a secret behind the broomstick, and Oliver Wood was the last person she wanted to find out. “It was a gift; it doesn’t matter.”

Oliver noticed she was trying to brush it off, so he dropped the subject. Perhaps she was the daughter of a rich pureblood he didn’t know. It didn’t matter much, she was right, but it did incentivize him, even more, to proceed with his idea.

“Anyway, what I want to say is that I have a plan,” he said, clasping his hand in the other and crossing his fingers, making his features more serious, intending to intimidate her into agreeing. Now that he knew she had a Firebolt, he couldn’t let the broom go to waste. “I want to train you.”

She gasped, and Oliver watched her expression change and go through many emotions before she finally decided to stick with denial and shame.

“Oliver, you can’t be serious, I mean, look at me,” she started loud and ended whispering. “I’m fine with the simple rejection — say you don’t want me in the team. You won’t be my first ‘no’.”

“But I don’t want it to be a no. The amount of bravery and dedication it takes you to show up year after year, hoping for a chance to get in — that’s the kinda loyalty I want in my team,” he said, avoiding looking at her to embarrass her even more. His eyes found the pitch, where Angelina watched the two with a confused expression. She and Fred were the only two left — he seemed to be talking to Angie, but she focused on Oliver and y/N. “We just need to turn you into a good player, that’s all.”

“That’s why you postponed the trials?”

Oliver didn’t answer — he didn’t want the girl to think she was too much special.

“But fifteen days isn’t enough, you of all people should know that,” she commented, pointing at him but with a delicate pout.

“You forget who will be training you,” Oliver smirked, trying his best to make it look casual as if he cast smirks at all the girls he knows. “I can turn you into a good chaser, good enough to pass the trial and then, you can train with the team.”

Pressing her lips hard on a pout, y/N shook her head from side to side. Oliver was sure she would say no to his ridiculous plan and run away. But she surprised him.

“Fine. Fifteen days of training, I suppose I can handle it,” y/N giggled nervously. “These will be the most training days I’ve ever had.”

Her lasts words surprised Oliver, who tried hard not to look so disappointed. He was going to work extra hard with y/N if he wanted her to be at least a sub on the team.

But as he watched her gather her stuff and leave with a smile, he was sure she was worth it.

***

“I can’t believe what you did,” Angelina complained as soon as Oliver sat down in the Gryffindor table to the feast.

“Which part? The part where he delayed the tryouts—” “—or the part where he picked the worst player ever to be his protégé?” George ended the question for his twin in a sarcastic tone, both of them frowning at Oliver.

Oliver rolled his eyes, diverting his attention to the food. He wasn’t ready to deal with his teammates. He knew they wouldn’t get it, and Oliver couldn’t ask them to understand because even he couldn’t.

He was enjoying the chicken when, unintentionally, his eyes left the plate and landed on the girl who sat on the other side of the table, at the far end of it, y/N y/L/N. He wasn’t sure how his senses noticed she had just arrived, but once he gazed at her, he couldn’t help but glimpse in that direction at least once in a minute.

“You still need to come to our practices, do you hear?” Angelina asked, her voice sounded like she was miles away, but she was sitting next to Oliver.

He swung his head, avoiding the obvious that was beginning to boil in his chest.

“I’ll be there, Angie,” he replied, finishing his plate.

The table gradually cleared, and thanks to Merlin, Oliver had stopped looking away in the direction of y/N.

When Fred Weasley was about to get up and leave, Oliver called for his mate, taking advantage that Angelina was no longer close.

“What is it, Wood?”

“I need your help,” Oliver said, locking his jaw and exposing his teeth.

“What do you need?” Fred sighed, crossing his arms as he faced Oliver from above.

“I reckon you know some secrets about the castle, and I need to know one of them.”

Fred raised an eyebrow, excited to discover a side of Oliver that he didn’t think existed and answered everything he could, trying to help in the best way.

***

“Get up, y/N.”

“No, mum, it’s too early,” y/N mumbled in her sleep, her eyes didn’t even open, and her mouth barely moved to speak those words.

“Get up, y/N. It’s Oliver, not your mom.”

Her eyes flew open in the dark in fright, and her hands ran to her hair as she futilely tried to control the mess.

“Oliver, what are you doing here??”

“Shh! Everyone’s still asleep,” he whispered, pulling away from her bed, giving her room to get up. “I’ll wait for you in the common room. Our training starts today, did you forget?”

She didn’t answer anything, still in the trance of having a beautiful, polite and surprisingly scented boy so early in the middle of her dorm.

“Come on, get changed,” he whispered a little louder this time since he was already at the door. He opened it and left, giving y/N a little peace for a few seconds, while she took a deep breath after the fright moment.

After wearing something comfortable but thick, because it was too early, so it was very windy, she left her room.

“How the hell did you get through the spells that block guys?” she asked before saying anything else. She was more curious than worried.

“Fred told me how,” he shrugged.

“Of course he did,” she puffed, holding her broom closer and following him out of the common room. “Just... don’t do it again, okay? You really scared me.”

Oliver held in a smile, afraid that she could misinterpret him.

“Aren’t we going to the Quidditch pitch?” she asked when they stopped in the school lawn, where the younger students took the flying classes.

“No need, not for your first lesson,” Oliver explained, opening a trunk that was already in the middle of the lawn. He probably had wakened up way earlier than y/N presumed, just to put it there.

While he opened it and decided which of the balls to take, y/N took her time to appreciate what Oliver was doing for her. They were never actually friends, so it wasn’t like he owed her anything.

“Well, for starters, do you know which one you have to focus on, as a chaser?” he asked, and she chuckled.

“Hey, Oliver, that, at least, I know,” she joked.

However, he didn’t seem to find it funny because he ignored her playful tone.

“Good, that’s good,” he got the Quaffle and started walking away from y/N. “Get on your broom.”

She did as asked, interested with what he was planning to do since he didn’t get in his broom.

“Now, I’m gonna make some ‘catch and throw’ rounds, okay? Think you can handle it?” he asked, raising a brow towards her, taking more steps away. She simply shook her head an yes.

*** They stayed outside in the lawn for two hours, and he was completely lying when he told y/N that he was going to do just some rounds of throw the Quaffle at her because that was literally all they did.

Yet, y/N got really tired of that, and she could feel her arms melting as if she had lost all her strength. She didn’t want to admit it to him, scared Oliver would think she is weaker than he thought, but even though she kept denying it, Oliver noticed that, after one hour of that exercise, her productivity wasn’t as good as in the first rounds.

“Okay, you can go shower now,” he tried to sound comical, but he was quite sure he failed. “I’ll see you again tonight, at 8 p.m., okay? At the Quidditch pitch.”

Y/N was practically many steps ahead of him, but yet she stopped and walked towards him again.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“You can’t at 8? Do you prefer at 9?” he questioned, but he didn’t realize her dissatisfaction.

“Oliver, you want me to come back today? Again?”

Oh, he thought, finally realizing what she was unhappy about. He’s so used to practising Quidditch at any chance he gets that he sometimes forget other people aren’t like him, especially y/N, who isn’t even on the team.

“Don’t worry, I won’t overwork your arms again today; it’ll be a dodging Bludgers exercise,” he explained, getting up and collecting his trunk.

“Still doesn’t sound exciting to come back,” she sniffed, in a sad frown.

“Want me to invite the twins?”

“Hell, no,” she rejected immediately, very aware that, although very funny (they could manage to keep her happy at least), they were very good beaters, and she would suck at dodging their Bludgers.

“See you later, y/N,” Oliver said, walking past her, while she tried to recover herself from the fear of exhaustion.

***

She couldn’t pay attention to any of the day classes, and it was not because of her new Quidditch career ahead of her — it was because, thanks to the Quidditch career, showering took longer than expected and she missed breakfast. And paying attention with an empty stomach (and sore arms) was impossible.

Her mind, walking through the imagination land; her thoughts, starting to make no sense when a piece of paper knocked her in the neck. She unfolded it and read:

Still sore?

It was a simple phrase, and at first, she did not recognize who could have sent it. Until she remembered who sat behind her in McGonagall’s class.

She replied instantly: I’m just hungry. I lost time for breakfast.

Since she got no answers, she tried to pay attention in class once again, but it was almost over, and McGonagall soon freed they all.

“Hey, y/N,” a voice called as soon as y/N stepped out of class. She looked around and found Oliver Wood leaned in one of the pillars holding an apple in his hand. “Take it, it’ll keep you sated until lunchtime.”

She looked at his hand stretched towards her so she could take the fruit, and, for a second, she hesitated. But she decided it was best she ate something.

“Thank you,” she smiled at him, but he seemed not to notice.

“We can start earlier tomorrow if you want — you won’t miss breakfast,” he suggested, walking next to her towards her next class.

“No, I rather loose breakfast,” she said, frowning a bit, letting her mind imagine herself waking up at something like 3:30h in the morning — she didn’t doubt he could suggest it.

He chuckled, fascinated with her. He then froze, chocked with himself. That would be a first, Oliver had never felt fascinated by a girl before, only Quidditch news got his fascination. What had changed? Well, maybe he just needed a time walking with people that aren’t in the Quidditch team.

After all, his only best friend was Angelina Johnson, and he only talked to her about the sport.

They walked together to their next classes, surprised to find out they also had the next period together.

***

“Good evening,” Oliver said in the dim light of the Quidditch field. Someone had installed magic lights there a couple of years ago, but they weren’t too good.

Y/N stared at Oliver, angrily. She was only provoking him — she knew what she had signed up for — but he didn’t realize it was a joke.

“Are you okay?”

“Let’s start it so I can go to bed. You woke me up way earlier than I expected today,” she said, reminding herself to laugh afterwards, already picking up the fact that Oliver didn’t have the talent to know when people are pretending to be mad.

He smiled sideways, glad that she was able to joke around him. He was much worried when this all started that y/N would keep blushing every time he said something, and y/N would be shy around him, so it was nice to see that she was getting used to him.

He decided he wasn’t gonna train her much that night, after all, it was just her first day. They didn’t have much time though, and he was afraid they’d need all the time they could get, so he knew tomorrow he would have to take extra hours with her. But he let tomorrow worries be tomorrow problems.

***

It was her ninth day of training, and y/N was about to give up. She was exhausted — she wasn’t paying attention to more than half of her classes, and her homework was pilling up. The amount of pain she was feeling in her arms that were never used to exercise was killing her. She had stopped at Madam Pomfrey to get some potions for the pain, but she was afraid that if she appeared in the Hospital Ward for the fifth day consecutive, Pomfrey would admit her in.

Y/N started seeing other things too — when her mind wasn’t wandering off. She noticed the Gryffindor team was always staring — at the feasts and in the middle of classes —, particularly Angelina.

Quidditch pitch at midnight. (Sorry I didn’t get another time. Slytherin will train until 11:30 p.m.) See you there.

She was already used to the notes Oliver Wood would pass her in the middle of classes. She was glad he was using this system instead of invading her dorm room, even though his calligraphy wasn’t the best.

They were far from midnight, but y/N was already walking around the halls a bit sleepy. She managed to get coffee when she went to her dorm — y/N had to pretend she was going to bed just like everybody else. No one could know she and Oliver were wandering around past curfew.

Her, once very new broom, was now grated, scraped and worn in places. Okay, it was still way better than Oliver’s for instance, but still, she was falling off of it many more times than she wished.

She stared at the clock on the nightstand beside her bed. It was still twenty minutes to midnight, but she didn’t care. She got up, grabbed a jumper and dressed it over a green t-shirt (which was part of her pyjamas) and her black cotton pants.

Oliver wasn’t in the common room, so she kept walking alone with her broom to the Quidditch field, avoiding finding Mr Filch.

She met some Slytherins in her way to outside — a couple of boys in Quidditch uniform, so close to each other she wondered if they were lovers instead of friends.

When she finally got there, she noticed that Oliver’s broom was tossed in the ground, only she couldn’t find him in the dusky light.

She grabbed his broom, leaving her own on the floor instead, and she analyzed it. She had so many better brooms in her house... maybe if she wrote a letter for her mom, she would send y/N’s old Swiftstick 5.0 to Hogwarts. Oliver would like it better than his old one.

Suddenly, a light was turned on, illuminating the field much better than that spell they had cast years ago. Y/N looked around, trying to find the source and noticed a boy at the other side of the field.

“Hey, y/N!” Oliver yelled before jogging to meet y/N. “Much better, huh?” he looked over to the lights.

“What did you do?”

“Asked Flitwick how he did the lighting of here those two years ago and recast the spell. He said it was about time someone did it, but since they stopped using it at night, no one noticed...” Oliver stopped talking once he noticed he might have said too much.

“Well, it’s way better. Definitely better,” y/N smiled, giving Oliver his broom and grabbing back her own.

“Then let’s start. Don’t wanna be here ‘til five in the morning,” Wood joked and was surprised when y/N also chuckled. He knew he was learning to be funny (perhaps her influence), but it was nice to see that she thought he was funny too. “Today we’ll train something more specific — flying in the rain.”

“It’s not raining,” she pointed out, scared of what was yet to come.

Oliver smiled, taking his wand from his back pocket and casting the spell. “Meteolojinx!”

Y/N didn’t even get time to hide when the water started falling over then. It rained so much on them that y/N couldn’t see anything anymore. It made sense for Oliver to want to fix the lighting in the field — without the extra light, she was sure she couldn’t even tell where Oliver was.

“What a spell,” she gasped, riding on her broom and climbing at the ideal height for Quidditch.

Oliver followed and, with some difficulty, she heard his voice: “one against one, can it be?”

She didn’t reply so he took it as a yes. He let the Quaffle out, and both played chaser and keeper because it was a one-person team.

Y/N somehow manage to score — and she knew how hard that was because Oliver was an excellent keeper. She believed he was distracted with his new position of chaser, so she took it as an opportunity. Of course, he scored too, way more than her, actually, but the point there was to make her a better chaser, not a good keeper.

When they collided with each other, the sound of the collision was so loud it almost felt like a clap of thunder. She had no idea if the fake rain could produce thunders though, and she didn’t think much about it since she was falling from her broom of such a height that would scare anyone.

Oliver was falling with her, but because of the rain, she couldn’t see him. “Oliver, are you okay?” she asked, almost sure the fault was hers.

She heard him grunt not so distant from her. When she managed to see his silhouette, she raced next to him.

“Did you break anything? How are you feeling?” she asked, placing her hand over his cheeks, making sure he wasn’t bleeding in the head.

“I’m okay. Guess I’m used to it. And you?” Oliver asked, shaking his head and passing his hands over his shirt to clean the dirty.

“I guess my broom held on to me as much as it could, so my fall wasn’t that much,” she explained, not sure if her explanation was logical but that what she was believing. “Come on, I’ll help you up.”

She offered him her hand, and he took it with a firm grip. She pulled him up stronger than she presumed she could.

Oh, maybe the training is making my arms stronger, she thought in the seconds before Oliver’s body collided with hers again — this time entirely her fault.

The rain seemed to be losing its strength, falling in a weaker cascade, allowing y/N to see Oliver’s face utterly, and so the two noticed that they were very, very close.

And it happened. Without knowing who was the first to approach — perhaps both; perhaps it was solely the circumstance. In a moment, y/N pressed her lips against Oliver’s, felt his body loosen and arms touch her shoulders.

Y/N tells herself she’s not going to think about it, she’s just going to let it happen, but she’s lying — just like she has been every time Oliver touched her during training, to show her a movement or something. She’s remembering every detail of pieces of training before this one, and she is comparing it to the way he kisses her.

It’s not perfect, no. They are in the middle of rain, for Merlin’s sake, of course, it’s not perfect. And Oliver Wood, although very hot, cute, and charming, is no movie prince. He grabs her waist a bit too harsh, he pulls her closer way too slow. But it is worth it. Because they are finally learning about each other, finally seeing themselves for who they are.

Oliver’s overthinking the kiss too. He’s scared he’s doing something she’ll regret. He doesn’t kiss a lot of girls — some brave ones corner him after Quidditch matches he won and congratulate him in this felicitous way, but no other girl is like her.

No other girl Oliver has kissed before pulled him by his shirt like y/N in a desperate way as if they are gonna disappear when they leave each other. No girl’s mouth was as sweet in taste like y/N’s, no other girl could have such a perfect perfume in the middle of the rain. But y/N has. Oliver has no idea why or how, but she has.

It’s not the perfect kiss, but it feels so perfect!

And then, she pulls away. One step at the time, she walks out of their little comfort zone. For the first time, Oliver noticed, he touched her, and she’s not blushing. It makes him scared for a minute, but it suddenly goes away when he sees her gasping for words because he doesn’t want her to say something.

All those days working together most of the time, exchanging notes in the middle of classes, Oliver noticed that neither of them is good with words, so he doesn’t let her speak. It can ruin the moment. Instead, he kisses her again, softer this time. Slower. He enjoys it, remembers the way their tongs dance, the way her hand feels in his hair.

But, again, it doesn’t last much. Y/N pulls away and presses her left hand in his chest, stopping him where he is. This is it, he thinks, she’s gonna say she hated it.

But she slowly leans down, grabs what Oliver believes is her broom, and she walks away, in rushed steps, running from the Quidditch field. Running from him.

Oliver was scared she would ruin the moment by saying something, but while he gathered his Quidditch supplies scattered in the wet ground, the only thing that comes to his mind is that he wishes she had said something. Anything. And that thought hunts him.

***

Y/N waked up in time for breakfast which meant she lost the morning training. But then, last training went until 3 a.m. Oliver couldn’t possibly want her in the Training Grounds at 5 a.m.

Besides, they shared the most passionate kiss ever, so y/N was kinda sure there was no training planned for that morning.

She walked in the Hall, looking for Angelina Johnson. She never talked to that girl, but y/N never had many lady friends. When she sees her target, she grabs the girl by her arm and takes her to a corner. Angelina doesn’t even protest — she figures Oliver has done something.

She imagined the wrong thing, though.

“You want me to tell him you give up?” Angelina was smiling when she asked y/N that, causing the girl to wonder if Angelina knows about the kiss and is somehow interested in Oliver.

“Give up on...?”

“Training. Oli probably made you wake up at 2 in the morning, am I right?” Angelina kept the smile on.

Y/N tilted her head, confused. They clearly weren’t on the same page.

“In his defence, he hasn’t recovered from that training session either. Hasn’t woke up yet. Said to Fred and George to wake him only five minutes before class,” Angelina found it all very funny. Like all the times Oliver made she wake up early to QUidditch were finally getting back at the boy.

The new information held y/N back. Did he spend his dawn thinking about her? About their kiss?

“I didn’t grab you because of Quidditch. I’m still trying out,” y/N decided to clarify.

“Oh,” Angelina smile died.

“Yeah, what I want with you is that, well, you’re the only one I see Oliver talk to, even more than the twins,” y/N started, not sure of how to finish. She takes a look at her hand before continuing. “Yesterday, he kissed me. I kissed him. I don’t know who started it — we kissed, that’s it,” she managed to say, and she watched Angelina expression as it changed back to a smile, this time way brighter.

“I knew he liked you! I knew it! It had to be the reason why...” Angelina let her phrase die, she didn’t want to offend you based n your Quidditch skills. “But oh my! What now? Are you two together?”

Y/N pressed her lips together, making an embarrassing face. “Well, about that. I ran. We kissed, and I ran away,” y/N told, expecting Angelina to shout at her, but no scream came. “I was super, duper stupid, but I didn’t know what to say. I’m not good with words, you see.”

“And that git isn’t either. What a pair,” Angelina chuckled with herself, lost in thoughts. “What are you going to do now?”

“I have no idea,” y/N answered, and she stared at Angelina with big puppy eyes, trying to make the girl understand she wanted her suggestion.

“No way! I’m not gonna give an opinion. He’s my friend, but you two should work this on you own,” Angelina said, crossing her arms. “Anyway, thanks for telling me about the kiss. That’s fresh gossip.”

“Oh, no, please don’t tell anyone,” y/N asked, and out of pity, Angelina agreed. But she didn’t say anything more either and walked away when she noticed y/N had nothing more to tell.

The poor girl was left alone at the end of the Gryffindor table, and being alone with her thoughts was all y/N did not want.

***

That day, no training was scheduled. Y/N did cross paths and classes with Oliver Wood, but no notes were tossed at her, so she decided to ignore him just the same.

Oliver was sure y/N hated the kiss, and that was why she ran away, or, at least, she didn’t want to be kissed.

Y/N was sure Oliver hated her guts for abusing of his kindness of teaching her Quidditch. So she had a plan. She wrote a letter to her dad, instead of her mom as she previously planned. And she asked for a new Firebolt. The latest he could get her.

Here’s the thing about her parents: they are divorced, and she lived with her mom. Her dad is practically never around, but when he comes up with new brooms, he gifts y/N with it. Those were the only times her dad would stop by because his whole life was about Quidditch supplies.

That’s where y/N’s dream of being in the Gryffindor team was born — she wanted her dad to cheer for his daughter, at least about the only thing he liked and talked about. But she never got in the team, and he never saw her playing.

She reunited all her courage to write a letter to the heir of the Ellerby and Spudmore, but it was the only thing she could think would be enough to Oliver apologize her. And she prayed it would work.

He didn’t write back so the next day in breakfast when her owl delivered no letters, she freaked out. He wasn’t going to reply when she most needed it, of course. So typical.

She was thinking terrible things about her father when the whole Gryffindor table started gasping at two owls who flew in with a big package in their beak. When they were close enough, y/N was sure the package was a broomstick. And when they dropped it in front of Oliver Wood (sitting at the other end of the table; they were sitting very far away from each other that day) she almost screamed to the whole Hall listen.

She watched as he unwrapped the papers, and the girl sitting next to her asked if she was okay because she seemed more excited than the boy who was presented.

“I’m a huge fan of brooms, that’s it,” y/N lied, holding in her smile as she got up and left the place, scared that her father could have told the boy she was his daughter.

Y/N kept it a secret of everyone, and it was easier when she had her mom’s last name instead of her father’s.

In the letter to her father, she told him that Oliver Wood was a friend of hers that was an excellent keeper, but his broom was broken, and Gryffindor was going to lose the next match because of it. Yeah, she was very dramatic in the letter, but if she weren’t, perhaps her father wouldn‘t have given the boy the broom.

And she couldn’t tell the old man she kissed the boy and ran away.

“Hey, y/N, wait up!” a voice called her, and even before she turned, she knew to who it belonged.

Oliver stared at her, one hand he held the Firebolt, in the other, a piece of parchment y/N was sure was a letter from her father.

“I think I have to thank you for the broom,” he said, stepping closer to her.

Thankfully they were outside of the Great Hall, so there wasn’t a crowd watching their every move.

“Although, there was no need for it,” he added, shyly. He was clearly happy about getting a new broom, but he had to play the selfless.

“You sure deserved it, for training me and all. I mean, you managed to turn a nobody into an okay player of Quidditch. That’s big, especially because nobody forced you into it,” she said, trying hard to not let her cheeks pink up.

“And you never told me you were the daughter of Randolph Spudmore!” he said, smiling.

However, y/N’s smile died. She got suddenly scared, afraid. He wouldn’t look at her the same way now, and he was probably going to admit her in the team because there was a chance they’d get free brooms. Gosh, she had already given him a free broom. And now she wondered: why? For kissing her, probably out of pity, and never mentioning it again?

“Yeah, well, I don’t talk to him much,” she managed to say, trying to turn the tables, but it was already too late. He was already staring at her like the air of the Ellerby and Spudmore. There were sparks in his eyes when he looked at her now.

They stayed in silence for a moment, neither wanting to step away, but they knew they would need to.

“So, huh, will I see you in training tonight?” Oliver asked, with hope in his eyes.

“Tell me when and I’ll be there,” she said before stepping away with a fake smile and then, as soon as she was sure he couldn’t see her anymore, she ran back to her dorm.

***

Y/N came to all the training sessions Oliver scheduled, and she trained as hard as ever, never even complaining.

Never even mentioning the kiss either, but Oliver didn’t want to think about that. It was his fault after all — he pushed her to do something she didn‘t want to. He needed to be thankful y/N was able to surpass it and still play friends with him instead of casting jinxes against him and never looking at him again.

So he acted professional, he was the perfect couch when y/N was around. It was one of the hardest things he had ever done — especially when he had to touch her to teach a new move — but it better to have her around as friends than to not have her at all.

And once y/N got in the team (and Oliver was sure that even Angelina would agree to admit y/N), the two would be teammates and maybe, who knew, one day he could kiss her again. After a match or something. The boy could dream.

“So, are you ready for tomorrow?” he said before freeing her, trying to make small talk.

“I guess. Can’t be better than I am now,” y/N smiled, and for a moment, Oliver forgot how to breathe.

“Well, then good luck. See you in the field tomorrow,” he smiled too, trying to make sure y/N wouldn’t notice his heartbeat that was accelerating.

And then she walked away before he could try and say anything else.

He wanted to rush towards her, grab her by the waist and kiss her again. But he knew he shouldn’t, and that was killing him, even more than losing a Quidditch match.

***

Y/N sat in the same spot in the stand she had been sitting for all those years she tried out. But something was different.

For instance, she now had this huge, ridiculous and platonic crush on the team captain.

She was also way better in Quidditch now than she was on the other times she tried out.

And, to make matters nervously worse, her father was there.

Yes, mister Randolph Spudmore was sitting next to his teenage daughter y/N y/L/N in the stands of the Quidditch field of Hogwarts. All eyes were on them, but somehow that was the last of y/N’s concerns.

After the letter she wrote thanking her father for he broom, he kept writing her back. He showed interest in her academic life. Asked about grades. Asked if Dumbledore was still a crazy chap.

He didn’t mention Quidditch in a whole letter of two pages — that was definitely a record!

He did ask about the boy he gave the broom to, and he asked again in person when he arrived this morning.

She decided to go with the truth. Her father wasn’t stupid, he would have noticed the way y/N was going to look at Oliver once they were in the same place.

“Tell me about the boy,” the father request. “I gotta know who’s friends with my daughter after all.”

“Well, honestly, he’s much like you. All he talks about is Quidditch. I bet he knows the name of every player in all the professional teams. And I bet he framed your letter.”

Her father burst into laughter, making all the students stare at him once again.

“But he’s such a good player, dad, like better than the professionals, you know? Looking at him, you know he was born for the sport,” she added.

Her father stared at the boy who was testing another student at that moment, and he was sure his daughter was right. But he knew there was more to the boy. Yes, when he saw Randolph in the stands, and he freaked. But the reason he kept looking in their direction in the middle of the trials — and y/N’s father was sure of it — wasn’t just because of the broom maker.

It was because he was captured by Randolph’s little girl.

“And he likes you,” Randolph said, catching his daughter by surprise.

“What? Oh no. I mean, we kissed, I told you that. But we’re over that. It was probably hormones,” y/N shrugged.

“Probably,” her father pretended to agree.

“He never mentioned it again, dad, so I know what I’m saying.”

“Hey, I didn’t disagree,” her father smiled, knowing his daughter had spilt the beans without him asking. “Look, honey,” he laughed his excitement off before continuing, “if you say he’s so much like me, have you thought about the possibility that he doesn’t know what to say? How long it took me to reach out to you?”

Y/N stayed quiet, not sure of what her father wanted.

“He speaks Quidditch. You told me that yourself. So maybe, he doesn’t know how to talk to you,” her father continued.

“Well, dad, maybe I don’t know how to talk to him either,” y/N protested. She didn’t want to be the one reach out.

“Then don’t,” he smiled. “But not in front of me, okay?” he laughed out loud again, so entertained with the teen drama, he wondered why it took him so long to reach out.

“y/N y/L/N, you’re next,” shouted Angelina from up her broom.

Her father wished her good luck, and she disappeared in the air. Angelina flew to y/N and explained what she needed to perform to be tested. It was simple really: score once in the five minutes limit.

Only problem: Oliver Wood was the keeper.

She sighed, almost laughing at how destiny was low. But y/N and Oliver weren’t enemies, they were friends. Well, both were hiding their feelings for each other, but still, friends.

Many tries. She got the Quaffle all the times the other chasers tossed it to her, but Oliver always managed to stop it before it scored.

“One minute left,” Angelina informed, before starting all over again with the run to catch the Quaffle.

And then, Alicia tossed it to y/N, Fred sent a Bludger in her direction — y/N ducked, lowering just a bit her broom and she scored. She actually scored!

The only person in the stands shouting was her father, but it seemed as everybody was celebrating.

She got to the ground, unable to stay in her broom any longer. Yeah, she scored — it didn’t mean she was in. Other students had scored too. But it didn’t matter — she had never scored before.

Fred and George flew around her, making faces showing how impressed they were. Angelina got out of her broom just to congratulate her.

Nobody believed that the girl in the corner had scored finally, after so many years and tryouts.

She wasn’t looking in the direction of the goal arcs, so she didn’t see when Oliver got down from his new Firebolt and started walking towards her.

“Y/N,” he had only called for her, but it was enough for her to hurry up and wrap her arms around his torso, swallowing him in a tight hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she whispered over and over in Oliver’s ear. “I don’t care if your team doesn’t choose me. I am happy to just know that I am capable of it.”

Oliver didn’t know what to say, so he just hugged her even tighter and tighter.

“I wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for you,” she said, slowly letting go of him.

“Of course you would,” he disagreed, smiling as he delighted in the sight of her beautiful reddish face. Oh, how he missed seeing her cheeks flush!

The silence settled again, that awful moment when they both didn’t know what to say, but wanted to say so much ...

“You know what? I need to score a point again,” she said, grabbing his wrist before taking a step closer.

“Score again? What do you mean by that?”

“I already beat the keeper. Now I need to win him,” she smiled, finally taking their space and kissing him in that perfectly imperfect way that only the two could masterfully reproduce.

She had a lot of things to still figure out. She needed to keep in touch with her father, for instance. She needed to have a serious conversation with the keeper she was kissing at the moment about what they were, and y/N needed to find out if she got in the team or not.

But with Oliver Wood curled up in her arms, kissing her and teasing her with bites on her lower lip and an audience cheering them on, none of those things mattered. She knew he was a keeper and she was never letting him go.

[catrasredemption-moved]

hi! if you're still taking Catradora/She-Ra prompts, i'd love to see your take on Catra making progress with her anger and PTSD but having a Bad Day, and how Adora and the others help her through it with love and support. thank you!

((this one gets kind of heavy. TW for slight self-harm))

Some days were fine. Great, even. Some days Catra woke up with a smile and went to bed with one, wrapped in Adora’s arms. Things weren’t perfect, of course. There were plenty of issues, especially between her and Adora. Confessing their love hadn’t fixed everything. But it had allowed them to fall back into some old habits, such as sharing a bed.

(Catra technically had a room next to Adora’s, but it didn’t get much use.)

Today was none of those things. Today was a wake up alone because Adora had to do something day. Today was a wake up with skin crawling and nerves itching and fur on end waiting for a danger that didn’t exist day. Today was a jump at the shadows day.

Today sucked the moment Catra opened her eyes.

Sometimes there were things that set Catra off - specific events or things that would remind her of the bad things. She hated the color green more than anything. A very specific shade of green. Sometimes, someone would say something that rang too close to something Shadow Weaver or Horde Prime had said. Sometimes, Scorpia would use her powers, and the sound would freeze Catra as effectively as Shadow Weaver ever had.

And sometimes it was just a bad day.

Of course, it was a meeting day. Catra couldn’t figure out when exactly she had started getting involved in the meetings. Glimmer had convinced the others that Catra’s strategic abilities would be good for for them; she was good at planning. She always had been. The same skills that had allowed her to make it so far as a Horde leader could be put to good use with rebuilding Etheria. And usually Catra was happy with that.

At that moment, however, she would have given anything to be anywhere other than this bright, exposed room at this stupid table surrounded by loud, chattering princesses. Adora slid in at the last moment, sitting beside Catra and grinning. Catra tried to return the smile. She wasn’t sure it was any good, but Adora was easy to fool. And Glimmer started the meeting as soon as Adora was there, saving Catra from any questioning.

Today’s topic was rebuilding routes between the kingdoms, especially the more far off places like Entrapta’s and Frosta’s. Catra did her best to pay attention, to figure out where she could contribute, but her mind was in other places. Her ears were twitching, knee bouncing, heart pounding. She wasn’t sure if she was anxious or angry or some weird mix of both. She had her claws pressed against her thighs, not breaking the skin, but sharp enough to keep her grounded. She stared at the map on the table without really seeing it. Any other day she probably would have had a dozen ideas.

Today it all ran together as her mind raced.

She tried the breathing exercises Perfuma had taught her, tried the stupid “five things I’m grateful for” thing that Scorpia had said always made her feel better. She tried to focus on Adora’s presence next to her, her constant anchor, her reminder she was safe, she was home. Nothing was working. Nothing was working. It was infuriating. She was safe, she was supposed to be happy, nothing had happened, so why did she feel like this?

She didn’t hear Adora say her name. She barely felt the brush of gentle fingers against her shoulder. But it was enough to jerk her back to reality. Anyone else might have ended up with their face cut open. But Adora had grown up with Catra. She recognized the way Catra’s fingers twitched, the way her muscles bunched, the way her arm drew back, ready to strike. Adora knew to jerk back as Catra lashed out.

It was terrible that part of her was grateful it was Adora.

Silence fell. Adora had her hands up in a placating gesture, expression gentle but concerned. Catra was vaguely aware she was starting to shake. She could feel everyone else staring at her. Judging her. There’s the Catra we all know, the wild animal who can’t control herself, can’t be trusted, it was only a matter of time-

“Hey. You okay?”

Damn it, why did Adora have to sound so fucking worried?

Catra shoved away from the table, muttering, “Can’t be here,” and hurried out before anyone stopped her. She didn’t really remember much of the walk, but somehow she was back at hers and Adora’s room. Melog slunk out from under the bed, mane shifting colors as he tried to figure out what Catra was feeling.

What’s wrong?

“I don’t know!”

She kicked the vanity chair, knocking it over, breathing heavily. “I don’t know, I don’t know what’s wrong, I don’t fucking know, I just - everything-”

She was definitely shaking now. Melog watched her, clearly discontent. You need to breathe.

“I know I need to breathe!”

Her hand was on the back of her neck now. She still remembered that empty, hollow peace she had felt under Prime’s control. It was the only time in her life she could remember not being angry. She hadn’t been happy by any means, but she had been... calm. Sedate. Things she had only ever felt in fleeting moments, there and gone before she had time to comprehend them. Now, after experiencing Prime’s warped version of those feelings, they felt like a cruel joke. How was she ever supposed to be calm without remembering that ship? How was she supposed to feel peace without wanting to disconnect herself in the process?

Melog collided with Catra, knocking her to the ground and very pointedly pinning her arm down. She was confused and annoyed for a moment before she felt something sticky and warm on the back of her neck. Her claws had started to dig in.

“What do you want from me?” The words were barely a whimper. Melog purred, nuzzling her cheek against hers.

That was the position Adora found them in a couple minutes later. She let herself into the room, noting the disturbed vanity chair but lack of any other destruction, which was good. Melog was sitting on Catra, which wasn’t good, and Adora saw the blood on her hands. She knew it wasn’t hers, and it probably wasn’t Melog’s, and no one had raised the alarm about Catra attacking them since she’d left the meeting, so...

Adora went to the bathroom and returned with the first-aid kit. Only then did Melog move, letting Catra sit up. She didn’t say anything as Adora settled behind her, cleaning up her neck. It wasn’t too deep, at least.

“What happened?” she asked as she worked.

“Nothing,” Catra muttered.

“Bad day.”

“No. Nothing happened.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t have a bad day.” Catra hissed as Adora gently disinfected the wound. “I have them too, ya know. I wake up and everything just feels tense and on edge and like I’m waiting for something to happen even though there’s nothing that could happen.” Catra wilted slightly. She had never noticed that. “I usually punch it out. None of Perfuma’s breathing stuff works for me.”

She finished bandaging the wound, pressing a small kiss to it when she was done. “Can I hold you?” Catra nodded stiffly. Strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her in until her back was flush with Adora’s chest. Adora rested her forehead between Catra’s shoulder blades. “Has Bow ever told you about his dad?”

“No.”

“He fought in the war years ago, during the First Princess Alliance. He doesn’t like to talk much about it, but he... understands feeling this way, I guess. Bow’s dragged me there to see him a few times. There’s a lot of snacks and tea. It helps, though. There are actual words for these feelings, you know? Not just angry, because I know it’s more than that, but words that really describe it.”

Catra hesitated before asking, “Like what?”

“PTSD is the most important one, I think. It’s um...” Catra could feel Adora’s forehead wrinkling as she tried to think, “Post traumatic stress disorder,” she finally said, a hint of pride in her voice for remembering that. It was a lot. “It’s like your mind is stuck on the bad things that happened to you, and you can’t turn the thoughts off. Like your nightmares, or the way you panic when something reminds you of Horde Prime or Shadow Weaver.”

Something loosened in Catra’s chest, and a bit of tension eased from her body. “I’m not just broken?”

“Of course not.” Adora hugged her tighter, resting her chin on Catra’s shoulder. “You’re hurt. Just like I am. Just like George is. It’s okay. It’s normal.” She laughed. “It might be the only thing about us that’s normal.”

A small smile pulled at Catra’s lips. She finally relaxed against Adora, curling up. “You should come with me to see George some time. I think you’d like him.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Also, they live in a giant library. You’ll definitely like that.”

The faint sound of bells hit Catra’s ears just as Glimmer appeared, holding a tray. “Don’t mind me, I’m not here,” she whispered loudly, setting the tray on the bed.

“You... are, though,” Adora pointed out.

“What’s that?”

Glimmer turned to them, smiling. “We kind of agreed that it’d be best to just let Adora talk to you but it kind of felt wrong not to do something, and Bow suggested snacks and... I’ve been teleporting across Etheria for the last hour trying to find everyone’s favorite comfort food.”

Catra blinked, surprised. “Everyone?”

“Yup! I’m not too sure about some of these things, but you know, your choice if you like them or not. Mermista swears dried seaweed is good. And Scorpia seemed pretty confident you’d like... I dunno, she called them the red ones.”

“Oh!” Adora perked up.

“Horde thing, got it.” Glimmer laughed. “Anyway, we’ll be down in the meeting room, let us know if you need anything.”

“Can you... thank them for me?” Catra asked hesitantly. “And thank you for doing all the legwork.”

“I’m an awesome friend, what can I say?” Glimmer feigned humbleness, but there was a genuine smile on her face as she disappeared again. Adora was pressing forward a bit, eyes on the tray.

“You want to see what she brought, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

Catra stood, taking Adora’s hand to pull her up as well, and they went to settle on the bed. “Bets on who suggested what?”

Adora examined the tray. “Cake, hot chocolate, and brownies is definitely Bow and Glimmer. Red bars are Scorpia, seaweed is Mermista.”

“Tiny foods are Entrapta. Snowflake cookies must be Frosta. Green stuff.”

“Perfuma,” they concluded in one voice, exchanging smiles.

“What do you think this is?” Catra asked, picking up a round piece of bread with a hole in the middle.

“Oh, that’s a donut! I bet that was Netossa and Spinnerella, there’s this bakery outside of Bright Moon that they really love. They used to drop off treats for us if they were in the area.”

Catra carefully ripped it in half, offering a piece to Adora. It was sweet and chocolate-y and tasted really good. “I’ll try the seaweed if you try Perfuma’s green stuff,” she challenged. Adora puffed up, clearly ready.

“You’re on.”

They each picked up their chosen poisons and took a bite. The seaweed actually wasn’t that bad, Catra thought as she chewed. Thin and brittle and weird, but not bad. Adora, on the other hand, was choking on whatever she had tried.

“No green stuff, got it.”

Adora took a long sip of hot chocolate before she spoke again, her voice gentle. “Better?”

“Better than it was.”

It wasn’t ever completely better. But it was more than Catra could’ve hoped for when she had woken up that morning.

And that was enough.

[ginkgowritings]

Neighbour - Mafia AU! Helios

My loveland cuties secret santa gift for the amazing @otomecooties​. A fluffy mafia AU because I’m not giving her angst for secret santa.

You had become fascinated by the man living in the apartment next door. You could tell he was dangerous, but your curiosity got the better of you, and you found yourself looking forward to any encounters with him. Despite encountering him regularly, he had refused to tell you anything about himself besides his name, Helios. He hadn't told you, but you knew he was dangerous. The way Helios dressed, how he regularly came home with new scrapes and bandages, and the occasional blood splatter visible on his clothes all gave it away. Still, you found yourself looking forward to your encounters with him, no matter how quick and fleeting they were.

Your first encounter with Helios had been the longest, and the most awkward. The landlord had notified you that someone was moving in that day, but hadn't told you anything else. When you got home that day to see a handsome silver-haired man waiting for the elevator, you hoped it was your new neighbour, and you were overjoyed when your hopes came true. He had made a point to ignore you the entire elevator ride, only acknowledging your existence when he realised you lived next door and he'd have to see you often. As you stood at the entrance of your respective apartments, his cold eyes met yours. He uttered his name, Helios, before immediately going inside and closing the door behind him.

After your first meeting, every encounter seemed shorter than the last. You regularly ran into each other as you both left in the mornings, but no matter how many times you exchanged pleasantries, he never shared anything about himself. His eyes were always cold, and he seemed to end every conversation as soon as he could. Still, you enjoyed every brief encounter and found yourself fascinated by him.

It had been two months since Helios had become your neighbour. Subconsciously, you had familiarised yourself with his schedule. You hadn't done so deliberately, but the buildings soundproofing was almost non-existent meaning you heard every time he came home or left. Helios left early in the morning and usually returned late at night. You weren't sure if he ever got a good nights sleep or ate properly. You'd seen him carrying his groceries home before, the seethrough bags revealing an overwhelming amount of instant food and surprisingly, sweets.

Lately, Helios had started to look thinner, his complexion was dull, and he always looked tired. You knew he didn't want you to interfere with his life, but you couldn't stop yourself from being worried. There weren't many ways you could help, and you weren't sure if Helios would even accept your help. Still, you were determined to help him in the easiest way you could think of fixing his terrible diet. Helios likely wouldn't accept your help so you had a foolproof you were sure would work eventually: annoy him until he gives in.

Determined to make your strategy work, you woke up earlier than usual to make breakfast for both yourself and Helios. After preparing two servings of a healthy breakfast, you quickly ate yours before packing the other serving into some tupperware. You braced yourself before making your way to the front door of Helios' apartment, nervous but determined to succeed. You knocked on his door and waited, only to be met with silence. After a few moments, you tried again.

"Helios! I made extra food. Do you want it?" You called through the door while knocking. You listened carefully, hoping to hear him coming and smiled to yourself when you heard his footsteps approaching the door. Helios opened the door, his icy eyes immediately meeting yours and hardening into a glare.

"Why would I want your food?" Helios asked, annoyance clear in his tone. "Because you only seem to eat instant food and your diet sucks" You instinctively retorted without thinking, only realising retorting might've been a bad idea when his glare got even more intense. Helios glared at you for a few moments without responding before huffing to himself and closing the door in your face, the food meant for him still in your hands. Knowing he wouldn't open the door again, you went back to your apartment. Helios was a difficult person, and you knew him accepting your food on the first try would be unlikely. You ate his breakfast for lunch and fought off your disappointment, determined to try again tomorrow.

And so you did. The next day you made Helios breakfast again and brought it to his front door. You took a deep breath and calmed yourself before knocking, calling out to him to let him know why you were there.

"Hey, Helios! I've made breakfast again, will you have some?" You called though the door. After a few seconds of silence, the door abruptly opened, revealing a glaring Helios. "Are you going to do this every morning?" He asked you. You nodded in response making him sigh, unsure what to do in this situation. "You should mind your own business, little lady." Helios scolded you, his icy glare piercing into you. "I'm taller than you, little man." You teased back before you could stop yourself. You noticed Helios' eyes widen, the coldness replaced with surprise. He wasn't used to people talking back to him; most people were too scared. Before Helios could recover from his shock and close the door on you again, you quickly shoved the food into his hands and turned to walk away before he could return it. "Leave the empty container in front of the door. I'll collect it later!" You called back to him as you quickly made your way back to your apartment, refusing to look at him as you walked so you wouldn't see his annoyance.

As soon as you were inside, you let out a breath you hadn't realised you were holding and felt yourself relax. Feeling happy you managed to give Helios the food you went on with your day, already thinking about what you could make Helios for breakfast tomorrow. Later in the afternoon, you heard a quiet knock at your front door. You opened the door and found no one there. You thought you misheard before you looked down and saw the empty tupperware on the ground. Every last crumb of food had been eaten, and it looked like Helios had cleaned the container before returning it. You smiled to yourself as you picked it up, already looking forward to seeing Helios again tomorrow.

The routine of making Helios breakfast continued every day, and you found yourself looking forward to it more and more. Helios had slowly warmed up to you, the iciness in his eyes now replaced with a tenderness you never thought he'd show you. He'd also become more willing to make conversation. Both of you now talked to each other for several minutes when you came to give him food, and he no longer immediately left after leaving the tupperware at your door.

It had been over a month since you started making Helios breakfast, and he already looked healthier. You had already successfully given him his breakfast this morning, and you were going about your day when you heard him entering his apartment. Helios was usually out all day so his early return surprised you, but you decided to take advantage of it and use him as an excuse to make cookies. Knowing Helios has a sweet tooth you were excited to share them with him, even though you knew he'd try to hide any excitement. Happily humming to yourself you started making the cookie dough, messily mixing the ingredients until you got to the sugar. As soon as you pulled out the sugar, you knew you didn't have enough. You considered going to the store when you realised Helios likely had some sugar. Though Helios didn't cook his sweet tooth made you sure he'd still have sugar, even if only to add to his coffee. You put your shoes on and made your way to Helios' door, confidently knocking as soon as you arrived.

"Helios, do you have any sugar?" You asked through the door before he even opened it, fully knowing he was inside and could hear you. You heard quick footsteps before the door yanked open, revealing a wide-eyed Helios. "You shouldn't be here, little lady. It's dangerous right now." Helios warned you in a hushed whisper, an uncharacteristic panic in his eyes. As soon as you heard his warning, you realised Helios wasn't alone. Inside his apartment, you could see several men, each one looking more intimidating and dangerous than the last. They were clearly in the same profession as Helios, but while you felt at ease in Helios' presence all the other men you could see made a shiver run down your spine. Helios positioned himself so he was blocking the doorway, seemingly trying to block both your view and theirs as their prying eyes tried to get a glimpse at you. You tried to hide your nervousness as you looked at Helios, attempting to only focus on him to calm yourself down. "Do you have any sugar? I'm making cookies." You managed to ask him, your voice quiet in an attempt to stop the men inside from hearing. "I'll bring it to you later. You need to leave." Helios whispered before softly closing the door.

You went back to your apartment to wait for Helios. As the realisation that you had likely just walked into a mafia meeting washed over you, you felt yourself become overwhelmed with anxiety. Trying your best to distract yourself, you stayed occupied as much as you could. You tried reading, writing, playing games, and watching movies, but no matter what you did anxiety stopped you from fully focusing on it. After several hours you jumped when you suddenly heard a knock at the door. You quickly got up and nervously made your way to the door, you hesitated for a few moments before opening it to reveal Helios with a large bag of sugar in his hands. Initially, Helios looked a little mad, but his expression immediately softened when he picked up on your nervous state.

"Are you okay?" Helios asked you tenderly, his voice uncharacteristically soft. You nodded before stepping aside to let him in, leading him into your apartment. Usually, he'd hand you the sugar and come back when the cookies were done, but he knew you wanted some familiar company right now. Helios followed you to the kitchen and sat down on a stool. His eyes were drawn to the kitchen counter, where you had previously made a mess while making the cookies. A slight smirk tugged at his lips and you knew he was about to make fun of you.

"Say anything rude, and you get no cookies." You cut him off before he could make any snide remarks, but that only caused his smirk to widen. "I don't care if I don't get any cookies." Helios immediately retorted. "I've seen how many sweets you buy, you definitely care." You replied while grabbing the sugar and picking up where you left off earlier in the day. You felt Helios' eyes on you, but neither of you said anything, instead choosing to bask in the comfortable silence. Once the cookies were finally in the oven, you made your way to the living room and let yourself collapse onto the couch. After a few moments, you heard quiet footsteps as Helios approached you. He silently sat next to you on the couch, staring intently at you in silence before finally deciding to speak.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, his voice uncharacteristically soft once again. You locked eyes with him and nodded in response. While you knew you shouldn't have walked in on that meeting, being in Helios' presence now had drastically eased your anxiety. You knew he was just as dangerous as those other men, but you believed he wouldn't hurt you. "I'll give you my number, and you can text me before you come over next time. It's dangerous for you to come over unexpectedly." Helios insisted, already holding his hand out for your phone. You unlocked your phone and handed it to him; though you weren't getting his number in the best circumstances, the prospect still excited you. He gave your phone back as soon as he finished and you found yourself staring at his name in your contacts, barely able to believe he had given you his number.

"Why did you even start making food for me?" Helios asked you curiously, breaking your trance. "You looked like shit." You replied bluntly, all your previous anxiety now gone. "You know, the last person that talked like that to me is at the bottom of a lake," Helios warned you. You knew he could be telling the truth, but there was no malice in his voice, and you couldn't bring yourself to be afraid of him anymore. "You wouldn't hurt me," The words had left your mouth before you even realised what you were saying. You expected Helios to disagree and warn you, but you were surprised when he just released a soft sigh. "Yeah, I wouldn't," Helios said softly, to the point where you could barely hear it. You felt your heart pound at his words, unsure what to say in response. You both stared intently at each other in silence, neither of you sure what to say next. Suddenly, a smoky smell wafted through the living room making your stomach drop.

"I think your cookies are burning, little lady," Helios teased, a smirk returning to his face. "I'm still taller than you little man!" You yelled as you rushed to the kitchen to retrieve the cookies, a smirking Helios right on your tail. You hoped the cookies were salvageable, but even if they weren't you were still happy. You were sure you'd have many more chances to make cookies with Helios in the future.

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Saw My Mutuals Doing a Hunger Games

So, I also messed around with the Hunger Games Simulator. I called it Macavity’s Jellicle Choice. Macavity managed to defeat Old Deuteronomy and decided that the next cat to ascend to the Heaviside Layer as to survive a Hunger Games. 23 cats just die. The 24th gets reborn.

I am so terrible with the simulator that I didn’t even have images for the characters, so I didn’t take many screenshots. Instead, I took notes of what happened.

We’ll begin at the end:

This is the only screenshot you’re getting. All of the nicknames I used are very stupid.

Here are the notes I took as I played this thing:

Content Warning: It’s a Hunger Games. Violence and Death. Also featuring my dark sense of humor.

Bloodbath

Pouncival and Plato fought over a bag, but Pouncival was too small to win that fight and ran away.

Tantomile Inventory: Shield x1

Jellylorum managed to scare Tugger away from the Cornucopia. Nobody was surprised by this.

Victoria Inventory: Bombs x5

Bombalurina Inventory: Shield x1

Munkustrap has made the Cornucopia into his base.

Rumpleteazer, Asparagus, and Grizabella got into a fight. I assume it must’ve been some sort of Emotional Ballad Competition, because Grizabella was victorious.

Etcetera Inventory: Canteen x1

Mungojerrie is hiding in the Cornucopia. Munkustrap knows this and is allowing it.

Day 1:

After all that “excitement” (The Bloodbath wasn’t that bloody tbh), there’s still much to be done.

George and Coricopat got into a fight, but it was just practice and they’re fine. George won, btw.

Pouncival has already managed to hurt himself will foraging for food.

Jemima Inventory: Hatchet x1 (The baby has plenty of sponsors, I assume.)

Bombalurina caught some fish, but that’s not that exciting.

Grizabella murdered Alonzo with a trident. I’m starting to become concerned by how good she is at killing people.

Tantomile just fell in a lake and drowned. Quite the anticlimax.

Allience! Electra, Cassandra, and Mistoffelees are on the prowl!

Tumblebrutus managed to scare Tugger into running away. I think “run away” is Tugger’s strategy at this point.

Munkustrap Inventory: Nameless Fruit x3

Jellylorum Inventory: Spear x1 (She made it herself. All those years of teaching kids crafts have paid off.)

Victoria beat Mungojerrie in a fight, but let him go because this was either a practice round or the announcer for the family-friendly TV station that airs The Hunger Games just claimed they were “fighting” in the bushes.

Etcetera Inventory: Canteen x1, Food Item x1 (Thank you, sponsor! …Okay, it was me.)

Mass Funeral 1:

RIP Rumpleteazer. (Lean Lynx) Her ballad wasn’t angst enough.

RIP Asparagus. (No Fuss 2 Pronounce) He just wanted to play Growltiger.

RIP Alonzo. (True Himbo) That was kind of pathetic.

RIP Tantomile. (She Psych) Your death was so boring.

Night 1:

Serial Killer Grizabella got Electra.

Plato became Enemy Number 1 for some unknown reason and he was hunted down by Coricopat, Tumblebrutus, Tugger, Jenny, and Munkustrap.

Remember how Pouncival injured himself? He got pricked with tiny thorns and bled out a few hours later.

Etcetera just screamed for help AND IF SOMEONE DOESN’T HELP HER I SWEAR TO GOD-

Some strange archery accident involved Victoria, Skimble, and Cassandra occurred. Cassandra’s dead now.

Jellylorum isn’t dead, but she’s unconscious, so someone should really look into that.

Misto and Jemima are snuggling!

Bombalurina stabbed George and left him to die. A bit harsh.

Demeter and Mungojerrie have been spotted holding hands. These two Macavity survivors have turned to each other for emotional support.

Day 2:

Allience! Jerrie, Victoria, Coricopat, Misto, and Munkustrap are on the prowl!

Serial Killer Grizabella is stalking Jemima! Luckily, she hasn’t got a chance to kill her.

Skimble stabbed Tugger.

Etcetera has found her mom. Jellylorum has kept her safe for the day.

Demeter Inventory: First Aid Kit x1 (From a sponsor)

Jennyanydots Inventory: First Aid Kit x1 (From a sponsor, cleverly giving medical supplies to someone who might be able to help everyone. Hopefully, no more kittens will end up like Pouncival.)

Mass Funeral 2:

RIP Electra (Book and Bell): She didn’t expect Grizabella to go so insane so quickly.

RIP Plato (Not Too Big): He was played by the same actor as Macavity, so maybe the mob got mixed up.

RIP Pouncival (Can Do Handstand): He died from a boo-boo.

RIP Cassandra (Pharaohs’s Girl): I’m still not sure wtf just happened.

RIP George (Could Be Admetus): I almost completely forgot about him, but the audience will remember.

RIP Tugger (Tugs): Skimble took their rivalry too far.

So, that was a massacre…

Night 2:

Coricopat just randomly died from thirst. Remember that Tantomile drowned. One twin died from too little water, and the other from too much.

Victoria is having nightmares. Just thought you should know.

Jerrie, Skimble, Grizabella, and Demeter have set up camp together. After everything that’s happened, sharing a camp with Grizabella sounds like a terrible idea, but everyone’s under a lost of stress and not thinking clearly.

Misto has built a shelter and Jenny is allowed inside. Good choice of ally.

Jemima tried to sing herself to sleep. Poor baby…

Munk killed Jelly with a poison dart. It was quite brutal. I don’t think he meant it that way, but the game only ends after most of them are dead.

Bombalurina has begun to question her sanity. I think this question applies to nearly everyone.

Etcetera, after possibly witnessing Munk kill Jelly, appears to have snapped. She hacked Tumblebrutus to pieces with a weapon that I didn’t even know she had.

Day 3:

Stalking Jemima was a bad choice. Serial Killer Grizabella now as a sprained ankle.

Allience! Victoria, Jenny, Misto, and Jerrie are on the prowl!

Munk died from thirst, and possibly from guilt.

Bomba and Skimble are friends for today.

Etcetera Inventory: Food Item x1 (Sponsor. I had to do something)

Mass Funeral 3:

RIP Coricopat (He Psych): His death matched up with his twin’s.

RIP Jellylorum (Bitches Be Jelly): That was really fucked up.

RIP Tumblebrutus (Fliptastic): He was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time.

RIP Munkustrap (Fearless Leader): At the end of the day, he couldn’t kill his family.

Night 3:

Etcetera is gazing at the stars, looking for a Dead Parent-Shaped Constellation.

Victoria managed to defeat Serial Killer Grizabella, but she let her go.

Jerrie and Jemima are snuggling! I think he might’ve adopted her. Normally, that would be Skimble’s job, but…

Demeter found those poison darts Munk was using and killed Skimble with one of them.

Meanwhile, because everyone’s parents are dying tonight, Misto shot Jenny. I think he might’ve planned it. The Hunger Games brings out the worst in everybody, sooner or later.

Feast!

Smart Cats Who Stayed the Fuck Out of It: Mistoffelees and Demeter

Bomba just grabbed some food and ran for it, so she’s also pretty smart.

Etcetera’s nervous breakdown continues. She killed Victoria in an ambush, not caring who she was killing at this point.

Serial Killer Grizabella managed to behave when she ran into Jerrie and Jemima. They grabbed their stuff and left.

Day 4:

Misto is ready to die, but Jemima won’t kill him and Jerrie went out to hunt, so he’s not there to do it for her.

Grizabella died of dysentery. This isn’t even a joke.

EVENT: Tsunami (Later to be Dubbed “The Tsunami of Tears”)

Survivors: Mistoffelees, Mungojerrie, and Demeter

Little Etcetera got swept away. Bomba and Jemima both sort of crashed into each other, leaving them stunned for long enough to drown.

We just lost all of our kittens :,(

Mass Funeral 4:

RIP Jennyanydots (Mouse Mother): Misto betrayed her, but she probably didn’t mind.

RIP Skimbleshanks (Railway Cat): I’d like to propose a ban on poison darts.

RIP Victoria (Little White Cat): Another kitten in the wrong place at the wrong time.

RIP Grizabella (Cat Who Sings Memory): She died of dysentery.

RIP Etcetera (Little Tiger Cub): *wails*

RIP Bombalurina (Whittington’s Friend): She played very pragmatically, but lost from last-minute bad luck.

RIP Jemima (Sillababy): *wails louder*

Night 4:

After all the bullshit they’ve been through, the three survivors just decide to duel each other to the death now. Misto defeats Jerrie and Demeter. None of them were trying very hard.

Anyway, Mistoffelees won. I didn’t rig this so my favorite would win. I don’t know how one rigs a Hunger Games Simulator. I would’ve preferred to save a kitten.

If it isn’t obvious by now:

Mean Minx: Mungojerrie

Leading Lady: Demeter

Pied Piper’s Assistant: Mistoffelees

So, that’s what I did on this fine Tuesday morning.

Hunger Games Idea Inspired by: @fluffytuffles and @0zzysaurus​

I didn’t use the same template, but I wouldn’t have thought to do the thing if my mutuals didn’t start it.

As for the backstory I set up before hand, Mistoffelees magically kicked Macavity’s ass and rescued Old Deuteronomy. They figured out that it was all a magical nightmare Macavity had sent to torment the tribe. Misto’s magic allowed him to fight the nightmare for the longest. Demeter and Jerrie and also built up some Macavity resistance over time. Everyone who came close to winning had slightly higher Macavity resistance for one reason or another.

Anyway, they all woke up from the nightmare and everyone was actually fine.

The End

[flying-elliska]

Shadow and Bone Season 1 Review

Ok so I got distracted by a need to watch all of Ben Barnes' filmography (lmao) but here is my review : It was really fun to watch and it was clearly made with love which is already the main thing with YA fantasy, which is often turned into a soulless moneygrab when put on screen. The actors were GREAT. I did think that the Crows suffered from being mashed up with the Shadow and Bone story, but they were still a highlight. I also think it was a bit rushed, esp. when it came to Alina's training. The costumes were beautiful, I want a kefta now. Plus the crossover fanfic interactions btw the SaB characters and the Crows were just pure joy. Also Milo, obviously <3 I'm in hyperfixation mode so here, have an essay :

The "Shadow and Bone" Characters :

- Jessie Mei Li !!!!!! She really made me like Alina so much more than in the books, she absolutely is the 'human embodiment of literal sunshine' and she was a joy to watch. Her character's arc is cliché but her acting is so expressive and endearing, I really felt for her all the way through. (maybe I'm biased bc Jessie talking about her ADHD and seeing her thrive at the same time is like!!! i love them they deserve all the best.) I like that they made Alina more proactive - even though she does make some stupid decisions... but I just don't understand people who put that down as bad writing, like ??? have you ever met a real person who only makes wise, good decisions ?? a character like that would either be at the end of their story or just in the background because that makes them static. The things with the maps in the beginning does a good job of illustrating how she is just this one girl making rash, erratic decisions out of fear and loyalty and doesn't have a sense of the bigger picture, caught in the tide of bigger events. It works for her character. When it comes to the choice of making her half-Shu, I do think it really makes sense re: her character feeling like an outsider but I do understand the criticisms that the microaggressions felt too relentless and one-note. I am really looking forward to them introducing Tamar and Tolya and hopefully connecting to them over her heritage in a more positive way.

- Mal in the books was one of the most annoying YA characters I've ever come across, so I really liked that they made him much more of a loyal, devoted friend. I found his relationship with Alina cute, it really gives us the sense that these are two orphans who found a home in each other, childhood best friends (and potential sweethearts) separated by war, two army grunts and ordinary people caught up in the wheels of power and war that usually crushes people like them, it's a great way to introduce the dynamics of their world and it's a trope that always makes me emo. It felt a bit too one note to me, though, and too heavily on the nose, like Mal's only personality was his attachment to Alina (and his resentment towards the Grisha) and too much of her emotional arc also relied on him. Them hitting us over the head with the meadow scenes felt like pure telling instead of showing and it ended up being super repetitive and kind of annoying. I am willing to like this pairing, but I wanted more scenes of them just having conversations about things and really understanding why they like each other beyond the whole childhood friends bond that we're asked to accept exists at the beginning. So I hope there's more depth there in next seasons.

- Ben Barnes!!!! Just jksdfhgkdjghdf. I'm not a big villain stan usually and I hated the Darkling in the books but DAMN his performance is just amazing. They managed to make him more sympathetic and human while at the same time making clear the stuff he does is deeply horrible. There's the Magneto-aspect of 'well clearly his methods are fucked up but he's addressing a terrible injustice nobody is doing anything about' that makes it very tempting to root for him ; and again, well, like, Ben Barnes is so hot and charismatic it feels uncomfortable (which I guess is part of the point lol). His loss of humanity is, up to a point, understandable, brought about by despair, loneliness, grief and a sense of powerlessness - living so long he starts to see other people as disposable, losing so many people he stops caring, seeing over and over how hate never seems to stop, etc. It's a logical explanation for going insane.

But the hunger for power is also very much present as a motivation and this ambiguity is there constantly. Does he maybe come to genuinely care for Alina or is it totally bullshit ? I think he does, he's just so fucked up that it comes out as possessiveness and a need to control her. He wants Alina to be his equal but he's incapable of treating her that way. It's tragic, in a sense, but the show doesn't excuse his actions either. Like his monstrosity is a product of this world full of injustice, yes, and that warrants some compassion, monsters are always a symptom of their environment in some ways and dehumanizing them completely is an excuse ; but at the same time, he sabotaged his own cause anyway the moment he started to treat other people like things, as he does with Alina, because that just perpetuates the cycle of violence and hate. At some point he started feeling like he was the only solution and he was owed power for his sacrifices, and he's using his cause as an excuse. When Alina came to him, there was a possibility for redemption, taking down the Fold, and it's a test because there is finally someone on his level of power. But instead of seeking to remedy the power imbalance between them, he made it worse, by lying to her, manipulating her, etc, and the antler collar is the ultimate sign of this.

I love those scenes towards the end (the antler-based body horror has big Hannibal vibes, so messed up). I like Alina telling him they could have had this, that she had compassion for him and his cause, that they could have worked together, and he's the one responsible for screwing it up and this time his claim that he's the misunderstood victim ("Make me your villain") appears delusional and self-serving instead of somewhat justified. The almost-lovers to enemies vibes, the sense of lost potential, and the angst of the whole 'oh you could finally have been loved by people, too bad you fucked it up !', very juicy. There is this fundamental idea that power/respect/love is not something you are owed no matter how good your intentions are or because you're strong or you have suffered or you're willing to commit horrible drastic actions, you have to keep proving you deserve it, and trying to claim power without responsibility of care turns you into a monster. The thing with the stag was an excellent metaphor of the fact that there's things you can't take, they have to be given to you, and the wonderful power there is in understanding that is what allows Alina to harness the stag amplifier's power. This is really when she escapes his grim utilitarian outlook and a different way forward and owns her own power fully on her own terms.

Anyway I hope Alina gets to beat the shit out of him at some point that would be very sexy but I'm also looking forward to see how their arcs parallel and diverge from each other as Alina starts to grapple more with the implications of her power and the harsh dilemmas of war and her own dark side. I want to see him become scared of her, and I feel it will be more visible than in the books where he just has this cold aggressive facade all the time. This one feels a lot more openly emotional which is just a lot more interesting.

- As for the other characters ; Zoya mostly made me sad. The actress has the perfect vibes but I'm not sure I love their take on her character so far, it does make sense in terms of the later books - that she has internalized prejudice regarding her mixed-race heritage, that she is jealous of Alina because of how hard she's fought to get where she is and Alina kind of takes it away from her, etc. But I would have liked to see a bit more of her being badass and sharp-tongued in a clever (even if mean) way instead of spending most of her time being rejected by men and being racist towards Alina. I did like the ending though, of her actually seeing the monstrosity of the Darkling in action and the mention of her aunt. And her brief bonding with Inej was great, just because it was badass but also maybe because it could be a part of Zoya learning to accept her Suli heritage in turn, maybe not right away but in time, when thinking of that part of herself, she won't only think of her parents' ruined marriage and all the pain it caused, but also of that badass and brave acrobat girl who went toe to toe with these really scary monsters without even having any powers and !!!!!

- Also Leigh's cameo was so cute and as an aspiring writer this is just such wish fulfillment

- I honestly think that having the Crows there actually made the S&B story better ? Not only in terms of the much needed levity breaks but also in terms of themes. For instance, Matthias and Nina's story gave us a really raw and visceral view of how the Grisha are hunted. And Inej's relationship to Alina really gave us a sense of what Alina actually means to people who believe in the Saints in a way that doesn't feel just like 'ugh those superstitious people' because we know that Inej's faith is part of what makes her who she is and a person with morals, and something that saw her through the worst moments of her life. It feels so special that she got to meet Alina and given a sign that maybe the world is not completely shitty. And Alina's kindness towards Inej really gives you a sense that she might be, or become worthy of that belief in time, or at least that she wants to, that she's figuring out her power to really touch people's lives might be a good thing, and that she's starting to accept this responsibility more fully. And her arming Inej is a nice parallel to that. I'm very emotional about this scene, because one of the first things we see of young Alina is her taking out a knife to defend Mal from the bullies, because she's protective and brave, but she's also aware the world is a shitty place, and so her giving that knife to Inej is a sort of spiritual transmission and recognition of sorts, that she trusts Inej with that fighting power, that she'll use this knife to defend herself and her loved ones and not abuse it. It's so interesting. And a counter point to the Darkling's fucked up relationship to power that Alina might at some point get afraid she'll replicate. That you could see Alina trying to gather followers and using people's admiration for her like he did but instead she sets them free and empowers them. It's great. And I feel that when Inej takes to the seas, she'll think about Alina. (I do hope somebody tells her Alina's not dead at some point though god). Girls giving each other knives is my spirituality, honestly.

- And I also noticed an interesting parallel between Kaz and the Darkling in terms of being two emo dudes who like to wear black, are prone to violence and have a thing for two very powerful women they think are special and want to have at their side, but of course, they go about it in very different ways. The Darkling comes at it from a place of power while Kaz comes from a place of utter powerlessness, first of all, and he understands why it's important to set Inej free. Him spending the entire season trying to earn enough money to pay off Inej's indenture is the opposite to the Darkling putting that collar on Alina and while I do have issues with how the show portrays him, I do love that. Love is about setting the person you love free !!!! And that confrontation scene was so powerful, when Kaz tells the Darkling Alina was tired of being a captive ! Drag him !

- As for Genya, I liked the actress and her chemistry with Alina, but I'm not sure they did a great job of making her arc very clear, for instance what it means for her to get that red kefta, her relationship with the other Grisha, etc. Her and David are already very cute though. Also very much looking forward to see where that goes.

So yeah I think they did a great job with this bit actually, I enjoyed a lot more than I think I would and even though it is a very tropey story, there's plenty of depth there too.

The Crows :

- I'm a bit more nitpicky about this because I care about these characters so much. I think overall the problem is that the SaB story in the books happens on this massive scale with enormous stakes, and that next to that the Crows' issues feel less important ; it's like their impact is distorted by the gravity of the much larger story. Like for instance, Kaz in the books is very much at the center of everything, this larger than life trickster figure who knows and controls almost everything by sheer cleverness, and he has this sense of allure and mystique that can't happen here, and so his aura just shrinks. On top of that they're not on their home turf. Being introduced to these characters before they've reached their full levels of badass is weird - there is a reason why prequels generally happen after the main stuff, because they count on the love you have for these characters at their full potential to make you interested in their story when they were less badass and interesting. So I had several moments where I was like 'oh this feels wrong'. Tbh the idea that they would even volunteer to kidnap Alina in the first place, what with Inej's backstory, feels kind of wrong, esp since they had no idea of what would happen to her if they succeeded.

- But I still enjoyed a lot of it though, especially the fact that they were this force of chaos in the midst of this bigger narrative that's a lot more self-serious. The bits with the train, or the circus acts were very clever. A lot of the best moments in the show happen when they come to disturb the other plot in unexpected ways. I'm still dead over the whole 'Alina jumps into their carriage' scene, that was fucking gold. The team up at the end !!!! Alina and Kaz making a deal ! Inej stabbing the Darkling !!!! Them stealing the Darkling's carriage !!! They don't give a shit that the story is supposed to be super dramatic it's great.

- Jesper is the one character they completely nailed from start to finish and he's probably my favorite part of the whole show. He's very funny without being reduced to the role of comic relief ; he's just so! damn! cool!!!!!!! I honestly feel this is a thing they actually did even better than in the books, or at least Six of Crows where I felt Jasper kind of disappeared behind Kaz and they insist a lot on his flaws and issues. So before we dig more into those problems I love that they gave him time to be this ultra badass who saves the day several times ; while at the same time, hinting at further developments like his powers or his gambling issues. Kit Young is just perfect, confident without being arrogant, a bit cold when it comes to crime while at the same time being so obviously caring with Inej - I loved their friendship, that was so sweet. My main criticism is that they should have made it clearer he was bi because there are already people calling him gay and that's very annoying. I know some people had a problem with his hookup and like...I can see it's a bit of a cliché...the charming badass bisexual adventurer....it's a trope I kind of love though lmao and the scene itself felt kind of cute and fun. He's not the only person who is shown to have an active sexuality and he's also not the only queer person around and we know he's going to have a more substantial romantic arc later so eh. On a larger note I loved the little casual hints of completely normalized queerness - Nadia thirsting over Zoya, Fedyor and Ivan, Poppy, etc. Having grown up with fantasy where queerness was either completely erased or very tormented and problematic, this was refreshing as hell.

- Inej and Kaz...my faves... They have a kind of relationship which feels so rare and unique in terms of what exists on TV and while I don't feel they entirely replicated it, the core is still there - the mutual respect and building of trust, the longing, the repression, the trauma, etc. One thing I really like is their arc around faith - in the books, Kaz is dismissive of Inej's faith in ways that often feel really shitty and I like that he learns to be more respectful of it. It's very much linked to hope/survival ; Inej keeps this token from her parents and she hopes to find them again ; Kaz tells her it's no use and she'll survive better if she gives up. He believes Alina is a fake, while Inej wants to believe that myths can come true and there is hope for good things in the world. Kaz comes to accept that Alina is the real deal and, out of respect for Inej's faith, to stop pursuing her. I loved the bit about Inej struggling to kill as well - it's the dilemma of what her survival and that of the people she really cares about are worth in such a shitty world - her compassion is a good part of her but so is her survival instinct, and that's the part Kaz represents - that even after she's been through hell, broken in unfathomable ways, even if she gave up all hope and faith in the world, even she becomes dangerous and ruthless to survive, she will still deserve dignity, and to be treated better. And meanwhile she is willing to break her principles, which she holds so dearly, to save him, when he's never had anyone who cared for him like that - enough to keep him alive. That bit in the church !!!!! God !!!!!! Bye !!!!!!! And then him basically calling her his own version of a Saint, that he doesn't believe in miracles but he does believe in her !!! It's very emblematic of their whole arc ; he empowers her to survive in a ruthless world and loves her at her most dangerous ; but he loves her laugh too, he finds her a ship and her parents, he honors her capacity for love and hope even when he can't share it. And she sees that he's capable of doing better, that he's worth caring for. This whole thing kills me honestly and I can't wait to see where they take this next. I'm not mad they're a bit more soft and obvious than in the books, Kaz would just have come across as an an asshole otherwise.

- That said, there are bits of how they introduced their backstories I don't like. I get that making it so Inej was still tied to the Menagerie gave them a very powerful reason to want to kidnap Alina beyond greed so that they wouldn't look like very shitty people. But in the books Inej is terrified by the idea of simply seeing Heleen or the Menagerie and the way they have her interact with her feels weirdly casual and dismissive of her trauma. Also, in the books, the fact that Kaz had to convince Per Haskell to buy Inej's contract through a lot of effort, that he wasn't the one holding that above her head either, made the power dynamics more palatable. I especially disliked the scene where Kaz says he won't free other girls because just Inej is special, it makes him look like he has the power but he's just too much of a callous asshole to do it, and that he just freed Inej because he liked her which is absolutely not what their relationship is about at the start, it's a lot more about seeing Inej's dangerous side behind a facade of powerlessness and relating to her, in a sense, and this scene made it all feel cheap.

- Also, what was that about Inej having a brother ? Not a fan of that either. I'm afraid they're going to make her story all about finding what happened to him, and that's 1) too on the nose similar to Kaz's story and 2) it kind of cheapens her own arc, a female character realizing that what was done to her was wrong, reclaiming her own power and dignity and then making sure it doesn't happen to anybody else, harnessing her personal experience to save strangers, that's so powerful - making it about a family member at first, especially if it's about revenge, it's so much more simplistic and unoriginal and the perspective really annoys me.

- Also not a fan of Per Haskell not being there because he's a very important part of Kaz's evolution, so I hope he shows up eventually - and the way they introduced Pekka Rollins was kind of like...weird and out of place. I just found the Crows' introduction scenes stilted and not as cool as they should have been - well, Jesper and Inej were very cool, but we needed to see Kaz in action first, we needed to see why he's such a menace before we see him flounder later, and I just...I don't know exactly but it didn't work for me. Also this is a very petty thing but I wasn't crazy about the Ketterdam sets, I know this is probably a budget thing but in my head it looked like this incredible mix of Amsterdam and Venice - specific locations in the book directly remind me of parts of Amsterdam I know very well - and instead what we got felt like this very generic London-ish fantasy setting....so boring. Also a lot of scenes that felt to exposition-y. I don't mind that Kaz was a bit softer than in the books, like many people have said some things work in books and don't work on a screen, and you need to make the character's inner dynamics more explicit. But I do agree that, at the same time, he should have been more ruthless towards people outside of his group. Loved that scene where he faces the Inferni though, and how well they illustrated his disability and aversion to touch.

- I don't have that much to say about Nina and Matthias ; I'm still not super sold on the whole 'haha misogyny!' thing and I dislike that so much of Matthias' change of heart relies on the fact that he finds Nina hot. But I did think that the actors had enough chemistry to make their scenes together interesting and cute ; I loved the waffle scene. Even though it's disappointing that they didn't find an actress who was more clearly plus size for Nina, I still think Danielle does a good job bringing her bold, unapologetic energy. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Crows as a whole team.

So yeah, even though the season didn't feel like a perfect, coherent whole, it was just a lot of fun and I really hope they get renewed. In particular I feel like tying the first trilogy to the Crows' story could create such interesting parallels in terms of themes, about power, the cost of survival, hope, trauma, etc etc

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-yigas]

A weird request but I'm shooting my shot: Kohga did such a good job of shapeshifting into Urbosa in AoC... any chance he'd try to do it again just to see what it's like to fuck in a female-presenting body? 😅

Oooooh this is a SPICY idea. You guys have such good ideas, it's impossible to get anything else done around here. Let me tell you how I'D think it'd go.

Kohga loved men. Big, burly men who could throw him across the room like a rag doll, fuck his ass into oblivion, and only call him back when they wanted another spin. Unfortunately, getting fucked was growing tiresome. Wild of HIM to say, he was aware. But as he sat there at a stable, drinking and being alone, he realized; there were so many men here, and while he could charm his way into their pants, he wanted to mix it up. Then it occurred to him. He could go for the straight boys. The cuties who'd give their boots up for a chance to talk to a girl. So.

Why not BE just that dream girl for a night? Finishing off his drink, he walked out of the stable, and stepped foot outside. He used the tranquil river water as a mirror, and sgape shifted into Urbosa. 

"Er...maybe not her. If she found out, not even Sooga could save me. Let's keep the base, change a few things here…"

Long, red hair, right up to the ass (Kohga was most saddened to see this go, but unfortunately Gerudo women could NOT handle that kinda power), held up in a simple ponytail. Nice, full nose, plush pink lips, and of course, those trademark gerudo hips. Couple that with a nice red skirt (long enough to cover, but not completely. Men loved some leg), and a nice top piece that BARELY pardoned itself from being a bra. He had to hand it to himself, he got CANS. A little bit of jewelry, some heels, and he looked BEGGING to get fucked.

"Alright….'Kiki', let's get you some dick. Kiki sounds right. Assuming they'll even remember me past these titties."

He walked back inside, casually, and holy SHIT did he get looks. Starved boys eager for a meal, and Kohga was SERVING. He fought the urge to grin, and put up a docile front. Gerudo women were strong, fierce, but not this one. At least, not yet. He wanted to draw these poor unfortunate souls in before he showed any of his true colors.

"Excuse me, I hate to bother you, but may I sit with the three of you? I hate to be all by my lonesome."

Watching them scatter to get him a chair was hilarious, he nearly busted up laughing. The cute one with white hair beat them to it though, and Kohga nodded in appreciation. 

"Thank you. That was terribly sweet of you."

A little scratch to the chin nearly sent the guy to the floor. How cute. One of the men tried not to sound too giddy, but he failed.

"So! What's your name? And how come you're here by yourself?"

"Kiki. And I was supposed to meet someone for a date, but...well. That was hours ago. I wanted to walk back home, but it's so cold, and it's so far...I didn't want to be alone."

Course that riled them up. A beautiful woman, heart broken and lonely? Straight guys ate that bullshit up like pigs to slop. 

"What?! No way, someone stood you up?"

"What an idiot!"

"And rude! Giving such a pretty lady a hard time!"

"Would I deserve a hard time if I wasn't beautiful?"

He watched as the red headed guy stammered, worried he fucked up, before Kohga tossed his head back and laughed, lightly swatting his hand. 

"Oh come on, I'm just giving you a hard time!"

The three of them chuckled in relief, and Kohga couldn’t believe he was just. SO charming, form be dammed. He folded one leg over the other, and noticed their eyes followed. No one could REALLY resist gerudo legs.

"So what are YOU three doing here on your own? Waiting on your lady friends?"

They all went silent on that question, and he faked surprise. No shit they were single. Only whores wanted these losers, cute as they were (he was the whore, case there was any confusion there).

"Sa'oten! You three absolute adorable voes? All alone? Well. Least that means no one will be upset with me if I do this."

He scanned over his pick of the litter, and decided on the one with long, brown ish hair. He was a bit thin from being a dream boat, but he was honestly pretty damn cute. He held onto that sharp chin, and pulled him into a nice, long kiss. He kept it slow, smooth, really putting on a show for the other two. How greedy their eyes were. He peeled away from him, not even trying to hide his massive grin. They gawked at him, completely stunned that some gerudo woman was suddenly all over them. He fixed his smudged makeup, before folding his arms over his chest, right under his massive rack.

"Now, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm rather parched. Which of you boys wants to buy me a drink?"

You've never seen three men raise their hands up so quickly in all your life.

"No please, I do believe I've had enough!"

'Kiki' laughed, swatting away another offer for a drink. He made these three send so many rupees on him. Drinks, flowers, and lots, and lots of food. He couldn’t help it. The way they threw themselves at her at any opportunity just made him absolutely giddy. Though he was happy he cut himself off, less he be too tired for the REAL main course of the night. After some pretty eyes (and a mourning wallet), Kohga got them to pay for a room, just for the four of them. Course, Kiki was far too tipsy to walk there on her own, so they had to help her into the large, plush bed. In reality he just wanted to be carried, but hey, he deserved the special treatment.

"Oh...Sarqso. You three made my night much less lonely."

He could tell these guys were lost. They didn't know if she was inviting them to join, so Kiki had to make it rather obvious. He un did the strap to the bra, before peeling it away, and letting it fall to the floor. God, he really did give himself a pair of double D's, even he had to take a quick second to admire them. He pointed to the one who hadn't gotten any affection all night (a cute stable hand with messy, messy hair), and gestured him forward.

"Please. Allow me to return the favor."

He hesitated, clearly nervous, before Kiki took his hands, and placed them right at her chest. Granted Kohga wasn't much of a chest guy, but it seemed unfair to NOT let them play with them. And play with them he did. He cupped and massaged at her chest, all while Kiki raked her fingers through his hair. Such a cute boy. She turned her glance to the other two, and she sighed, as if full of woe.

"I don't think he'll let me reach over to take off the rest of these pesky clothes. Would one of you be a dear and-"

The white haired man jabbed the other in the gut, beating him to the bed. It made Kiki laugh, and she helped him by lifting her legs. Off came the skirt, and the pretty little panties. A nice patch of red hair highlighted that fair, dark skin. Kohga just couldn’t stop being fine. She no longer felt the need to bark orders, and let the boys do as they pleased. For now. One kept playing with her tits, occasionally suckling on them, one kept rubbing his tongue over hers, and the last fellow was copping a good feel for her legs. She chuckled as she parted the kiss, gliding her hand across his scalp, before getting a handful of that nice, red hair.

"Hmmm...you boys are excited. I like that, really I do. Now, pants down, let me see my new toys."

She had no problems playing with her breasts as motivation, occasionally pinching and flicking at her own nipples. She wanted to drool. A cock with an upward curve, one that was straight, and one that seemed to curve downward. Fun variety. She ended up with the upwards curvy one, and the white haired man had no qualms rubbing it in their faces. He loomed over her, rubbing his hard cock against her clit, making Kiki jump a bit. That was...sensitive. He looked at her confused, before she giggled.

"Sorry, guys usually hit it from the back, so this is a first. Don't do me gentle though, I'm a real tough cookie."

He nodded, pushing his tip inside those wet pussy lips. It was enough for her to arch her back, biting her bottom lip. Oh, he was going to get fucked SO good. He started to move slowly, letting her get used to him, before she motioned for the other two.

"Come on, I still have a mouth and a hand for you boys~"

The red head and his little friend rose to the opportunity. Hell, bed head made it more fun by riding her pretty face. Not just shoving his whole cock down her throat, not JUST shoving those balls in her face, but letting him toy with her huge, perfect titties. Kiki used her free hand to stroke the other cock in her hand, and she was in heaven. Her lips sucked and slurped at cock, smearing lipstick and drool all over it, her hand pumped that cock in her hand, and her pussy seemed to welcome the steady thrusts of a nice, full cock.

"Come on boys, be a bit MEAN to me here!"

Kiki complained, pulling her face away from the nice, throbbing cock for a moment. She was about to talk so much more shit, before the boys started to take the hint. One started to slap and yank at her breasts, one rubbed her clit in fast, aggressive circles, and one wrapped his hands around her throat, forcing her to gag and slobber all over that cock. She could feel drool dribble down her face, feel her pussy juices soak onto the sheets, and she even found her titties slick with little dribbles of her own milk. You'd think, as a gay man, this would be super gross.

You'd be wrong. Getting throat fucked, getting a new hole absolutely RAMMED, not to mention huge, slick breasts that seemed irresistible to a good suckling, Kohga was in absolute heaven. So much so that when the man above her pulled away, letting her breathe, she was moaning like a total whore.

"Oh you boys are BAD. Come on, fuck me. Cover me in all that hot cum, shove it right inside of me too. I want to taste how hungry you boys are for me, I wanna feel your hot cream inside of me. So pull up your FUCKING girdles, and FUCK ME."

Kiki was a VERY demanding woman. And despite the submissive posture, she was VERY much in charge. They kept as she commanded, harder, faster, swears under their breaths, the room filled with the yummy sound of horny, lust filled men. Then they came. Oh they came. Kiki felt a load shoved in her throat, felt ribbons of cum land on her tits and her stomach, and finally, finally, cum right into her pussy. Kohga held his legs nice and high for that, crying out in relief. Oh, so much thick, delicious cum from those nice, juicy cocks. They sat there, throwing their seed at her, before they seemed to pull away. Kiki finally found her breath, and she couldn't help but chuckle.

"Oh...you boys needed that. All this tasty cum, just for me."

Kiki pushed them off of her, before getting on her hands and knees, shaking her butt from side to side.

"Now. I want one under me, one in the back, and one in the front."

There was no movement, and she slammed her fist into the wall beside her.

"Dicks. Now."

In both arousal and fear, they gave her what she wanted. One snaked underneath her, pushing his cock into her already stuffed hole, while one pushed himself right into her ass. Now THAT was an all too familiar sensation. She chuckled, massaging the balls in front of her.

"Oh, and spank me. Lots of spanking. I want it to-ooh!"

Kiki didn't wait long before an open palm struck her bare ass. She giggled, shoving her face against the cock in front of her.

"Ooh you are a MEAN boy. Do it again, mark my ass-oh shit!!~"

One thing Kohga and Kiki had in common; they both LOVED a good, hard spanking. That, and the notion of LOTS more cum. And neither were scared to work for it.

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

Kiki looked back at the slumbering pile of men next to her. Five rounds each, she pulled a nice fifteen loads from these horny lil puppies. Not too bad for Kiki, but for Kohga? Bit on the weak side. Kiki was just as cruel though; making them kiss each other for her, making them lick and slurp at her cum soaked pussy- they did everything she wanted. She fixed herself up a bit, lapping any cum she had left on her face (no wasting food here), and tossing her useless panties on the pile of slumbering men. Just for something for them to fight over later, before walking out of the stable. Sooga was there, just how he commanded.

"There you are! I'm ready to go home!"

Sooga looked her up and down, questionably.

"May I ask...why?"

"Can't I just look pretty? Besides, I'm finally your height now!"

Kiki wrapped her arms around him, stuffing his face in her bust. He groaned, raising a hand in objection.

"I MUCH prefer Master Kohga’s chest, if you don't mind."

Kohga giggled, leaping into his arms and turning back to his usual, perfect self.

"You want Kohga’s chest, eh? Come on, let's go home. I'm in the mood to indulge you a little, Soogy~"

Kohga was FAR from done for tonight.

[goldenlionimagines]

Can I pwease have some Dimitri content 🥺

If you insist,,, I guess I can write you some baby boy Dimitri content.  -Mod Bunny

Months 

Word Count: 2,441

“What are you doing here?” It was a female voice. Had he fallen asleep? Where was his weapon? Open your eye, dammit. 

 Oh, she’s holding it. “Who are you? Give me my lance.” He stood up quickly. His voice was gruff, and the girl was smaller than him. Still, she held the lance away from him. “I said, give it. Unless you wish for your life to be forfeit.”

 “You’re Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, from the Kingdom, is that right?” She asked. “You’re eye, it’s hurt. How long has it been like that, and how come you haven’t wrapped it?” She was right. His eye wasn’t even covered, but it wasn’t like it mattered. This was the first person he had spoken to in a time, and it was because she had the weapon he needed to kill her.

 “What are you? An imperial spy meant to kill me?” He asked.

 “No. I’m Y/N, a mercenary. I was in the town near here, and they said someone was killing all the imperial troops. They paid me to take a look. I have medical supplies, so let me help you. You look like a skeleton, My Lord.” She smiled. “And also, please don’t kill me. I don’t think I’m ready to die quite yet.” She held out his lance to him.

 He took it immediately, before slumping to the ground in a surprising surrender. He had figured that if this girl had wanted him dead, she wouldn’t have woken him up in the first place. She seemed annoying, but he wasn’t sure if killing her was the right move quite yet.

 She sat down, taking a tie and putting his hair back. “Why are you doing that?” He asked watching as she went through a bag she had brought with her. 

 “Because you have a lot of hair, and if I’m going to help you, it can’t be in front of your eye.” She took a look. “It’s infected. Hold still.” She took something from a jar, and began rubbing it where he had been injured. He took a sharp breath. She then pulled out an eyepatch, which she put on his face. “There. I’ll check it again in a few days.”

 “Great. So do you just assume you get to stay here? I have killed everyone who has come here in the past two years, either that or they have escaped. What makes you think you are going to be any different?” He asked. Leave. Just go.

 “Well, I think I’m going to live because you need me. Also, there’s a full kitchen here, and a place to catch fish. And, since we’re the only ones here, no one will charge me. So, do you want to come eat with me?” She asked. This girl was either brave, or stupid. Or a mix of both. Either way, she was too happy for him. 

 Still, he accompanied her. And, thus began something that neither of them thought was coming.

-

It started by having dinner together. Then, one night, he asked if she could start making breakfast, so she did. He would tell her stories from the academy, and she would tell him about her life before living in the monastery.

 She was from the Empire, but not from a Noble Family. She had actually grown up in an orphanage, before training to become a mercenary and leaving the Empire. She had told him about missions, some where she even fought against the Knights of Seiros when the price was right.

 Soon enough, he would sit with her while she fished. Or, maybe he would spar in the arena to upkeep his training. Maybe they would go out and take out some nearby bandits. All at once, there was this smiling person at Dimitri’s side who would help him with whatever he needed.

 On an especially cold night, Dimitri found her in what had been the Knight’s hall. She was by the fire, reading a book she had gotten from the library. She was wrapped in some kind of blanket, sleepy and worn out.

 “Why haven’t you left yet? You could be out making money, but instead you’ve stayed with me? Why,  Y/N?” He asked. She set down her book. She looked over at him.

 “Well, I guess half of me knows I can’t go home if I haven’t completed my job. The other half hopes you can forgive me.”  She said.  He crossed his arms,  and she couldn’t face him. “I was sent by the Empire to end your life. I was an Orphan, but I was trained as an assassin. But, when I saw you, looking like a corpse just lying there… I couldn’t be the one to kill you. So instead, I’ve been helping you. And that’s made me happier than any mission could, for some weird reason.”

 He didn’t say anything. He just sat down next to her, looking into the fire. He took a moment, before giving a small laugh. “So, you really were an Imperial spy sent to kill me. You really didn’t have to tell me that, you know.” 

 “Are you mad at me?” She asked, looking at him.

 “A bit, but I figure that if you haven’t killed me by now, you probably won’t. Plus, you’ve come to be the only person I really have, and I feel I owe you something for all you’ve done. So, your life makes us even.” He said. “But, don’t go thinking I won’t kill you if you do something that would indicate your loyalty isn’t to me.”

 She yawned. “Okay fine. I know it’s because you actually care about me, though. I’m sure  if you killed me, you’d be all torn up about it.” She was smirking.

 “It would make no difference to me.” He said. He then shifted a bit, his face going red as she leaned on him.

 “Oh, come on, you would be all upset. ‘What have I done, killing the only person who puts up with me’. That would’ve been you.” She said. She was teasing him, but Dimitri knew that at this point… He didn’t have the guts to kill Y/N anymore. It had to have been two months since she had started staying with him by now. 

 For two months, she had helped him maintain good health. He didn’t go out searching for bodies to pile for the dead. Instead it was just-

 Five months. He had woken up screaming, his nightmares having been terrible that night. The Tragedy of Duscur… It still haunted him.

 “Dimitri?” Her voice was drowsy, but he could clearly hear her in the doorway. The moonlight was on her face and figure, and the white light that surrounded her made her look to him like… “Dimitri, is everything alright?”

 “It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.” She walked closer to him. She then lifted the covers next to him. “What are you doing?”

 “Whenever you say that I should go back to sleep, you never do. You always come to breakfast with large bags under your eyes, and you’re gumpy, so…” She got into bed next to him, looking at him with eyes that held… Sadness? He couldn’t tell. He just felt her grab on to him, and rest her face in his chest. “I’m not going anywhere until you’re asleep again, I’ll stay the night if I have to.”

 “Something tells me you’d prefer to stay the night, Y/N.”

 “Well, it is a little cold.”

 “Hmph.” He wrapped an arm around her, resting his head on top of hers. “I won’t stop you.”

  12 months. A year since she had come to stay at the Monastery. Nights together were commonplace now. Of course, the two found that it isn’t hard to get along when your concerns, other than internal ones, seem to disappear. Neither of them knew much about the outside world. The war. The Kingdom. All were concepts that seem to disappear while in isolation.

 Of course, until a quiet night by the lake.

 “Dimitri, shouldn’t you go home? Don’t you think there’s a chance your people need you? All the stories you’ve told me about Felix, or Ingrid, or Sylvain. They’re your people.” She said. “You should at least think about going home. For their sake.”

 “I can’t…” He trailed. “No, I won’t have people die for me again.” He looked away. “Plus, if I start killing again, I won’t be able to stop.”

 “So that’s the big plan? Hide from death because you figured out how to stop killing, and never go back? That’s it?”

 “The dead command their tribute. They always have, and I fear that as soon as I leave, they will want it again.” Dimitri wasn’t looking at the girl who had been sitting next to him. The key being had been, as he heard a big splash behind him. When he looked down, he saw Y/N wasn’t swimming- she was sinking.

 He rushed in after her without thinking. His body was moving on instinct, and faster than his brain. He grabbed her, and rushed her to the surface. The worst part was that she was laughing when he threw her to the shore. “Are you insane? Do you want to die? Because next time, I’m going to let you sink.”

 “Don’t you see? Don’t you understand? If you run from death, he will only come for you faster. Death is a part of life, and actually it’s the most important.” She said. “Make sense? So you can stay here as long as you want. Just know that death comes here too, and you can’t hide forever.”

 “… You just can’t die before me, or by doing something stupid, understand?” He asked her. “Because if you come to haunt me, I will never forgive you.”

“Haunt you? Are you kidding?” She asked. She looked a little worried. “No reason to. If I die it’s because I was living my life the way I wanted to. Even if I die, my regrets aren’t yours to hold. Besides, I don’t like the idea of being a ghost.”

 He gave a sigh, like something big had just been lifted off his chest. Knowing she had sworn not to haunt him was… Liberating in a way. “Good, but now I’m cold, we should find somewhere to hang our clothes.”

 14 months. She was cooking, and Dimitri kissed her for the first. He had her against the wall, and that was the moment he wished he could taste. She smelled like roses, somehow. “Is this okay? Am I allowed to love you, Y/N?”

 She put a hand on his face, stroking his cheek. “Sure, but only if I get to say I love you too.”

At that moment, some part of him wanted to take her then and there.

 He wouldn’t take her until their 18th month together.

-

23 Months. Almost two years. It had been so fast. 

  As he finished putting on his armor, he heard her screaming his name. He ran down, and there were imperial soldiers in the monastery.

 Death had come. 

 He took his lance. He could barely see them taking her. She was unarmed. Had they become too comfortable? He started slashing those that fought him with his lance. He couldn’t hear her screaming anymore.

 Where were the ones that were taking her? Where was she?

 Fight harder, kill them all. Mercy and happiness. He had forgotten he wasn’t allowed to be happy. Just pile up bodies. That was his purpose. And to kill Edelgard, a woman who had now taken even more from him.

 The soldiers were dead, all except those who deserved an  even worse death. She’s…. Gone. There are no words. Only the voices of the dead. She wasn’t even in his head, just as she had promised. All traces of her gone in an instant. He almost wished she had haunted him.

 Then, he would have gotten to hear her voice when he sat all alone with his lance once more.

 A month later, the professor, along with his old friends who Y/N told him were worth something returned to the Monastery. He never told her story.

-

Would she be proud of him? He had brought down Edelgard, the woman that had taken her from him. He shouldn’t think of that…  But it would have been a better moment if she was here.

 “Your Highness, would you and Byleth please accompany me to the dungeon. Rhea is still down there, and I do not know how she has fared.”  Seteth said. He was obviously concerned for the Archbishop.

 “Yes, we’ll head down at once.” Dimitri said. 

 As they headed down, Dimitri realized how cold and wet it had been. Rhea must have been freezing. He saw her and bowed. “Lady Rhea, are you alright?” He asked.

 “I am okay, Your Highness. I thank you for your concern.” She smiled lightly. “Ah, I see you have brought Seteth and the professor. It is  good to see the both of you are well.”

 “Yes Lady Rhea, we are fine. Dimitri’s shoulder will need more care than what Mercedes could provide, but we are all alright.” Seteth explained.

 First Dimitri heard a cough. “Is that Dimitri? If it is, I know you can’t taste, but can you bring me some good food? All they have here is the crap Hubert brings us, and I can’t deal with it anymore.”

 It couldn’t be, could it? There was no way she was alive. He ran up to the cell he had heard her voice from.  

 She was shivering, and almost thinner than Rhea, but… alive. Was she crying? “I thought you died that day, I thought they killed you.” He was teary eyed too.  Seeing her in such a state was terrible. He took the key from the nearby wall and unlocked her cell, stepping inside. 

 “Kill me? Nah. Hubert was trying for information I didn’t have about you. Turns out saying ‘Me’ to the question, ‘What are Dimitri’s weaknesses?’ Just makes him throw coffee at you.” She got up from the cot she had been shivering on, running up to hug him, before spotting Seteth. “Sorry, your whatever, I know her Archbishop-ness is more important than me. I just-” She took his fluffy cape off his armor, wrapping herself in it. “Needed a blanket. The King of the Kingdom of Faerghus is all yours.” 

 She went to walk away, but he put a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you walk back with us?”

 Dimitri, from that day on, always had Y/N at his side.

[january3693]

002: Narcissa, and also Lily; 001: dorcas/Marlene, and lucissa

That’s a lot, but here you go!

002 Narcissa

How I feel about this character: She’ll never be my favorite, but I do love sticking her in as a snarky, snobby side character.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I don’t actively ship her, but I think she and Lucius are probably well-suited for each other, and since I don’t have super strong ship opinions on her, I’m open to reading and embracing anything presented to me.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I like the idea of her and Regulus being close. She’s the baby in her family, but Regulus is the baby in the family overall, so I think she would have felt very protective of him and tried to shelter him but also steer him toward more traditional pureblood values if she ever thought he was wavering or acting a bit too much like Sirius. She was devastated when she heard about his death, even more so when she learned it was (supposedly) caused when he tried to defect from the Death Eaters. Narcissa sees a lot of Regulus in Draco and it scares her.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Lucius probably didn’t care much about all of the stuff Draco complained to him about, but Narcissa did. She was the one who always pushed Lucius to take care of anything that hurt or inconvenienced their son.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish she had some on the page interactions with more characters. There’s so many she’s related to or would have known that it’s a shame we never go to see her show a bit more complexity when directly confronted with Sirius, Andromeda, or Tonks.

my OTP: Probably Lucius just because it’s canon and Narcissa isn’t a character I spend much time shipping. I like her potential, just

my cross over ship: I don’t read cross overs

a headcanon fact: After Regulus’s death, it was Narcissa who sent a letter to Sirius (care of Andromeda) telling Sirius the facts (such as she believed them to be) about his brother’s death.

002 Lily

How I feel about this character: She’s fantastic! I love her, and I love writing her!

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Generally just James. I do enjoy some Jegulily too, but that’s about it. I see Lily as a character who could be very happy and lead a fulfilling life without a romantic partner, so if I’m not shipping her with James I generally just picture her having casual flings and otherwise enjoying life as a happy, confident single woman.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Sirius and Lily! I mean, I wrote a 100,000 word fic about them becoming friends (also some other stuff happened, but mostly friendship). I think they would have really challenged each other (which would have made them struggle to get along for a while, but once they connected it would have been very good for both of them). They called each other on their bullshit, weren’t afraid to yell at each other, but genuinely listened to each other and always apologized the next morning when they fought.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don’t know if it’s an unpopular opinion, but I think she struggled with self-confidence and self-worth a lot more than most people ever knew. She was probably very good at hiding it behind perfectionism and some rather exhausting facades. The reason she fell in love with James was because he had this perfect mix of pushing and supporting her in a way that finally allowed her to relax and be fully her imperfect self with someone, and that was priceless.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Honestly, the thing I want most is for her to have had some ghostly/afterlife/other moment where she absolutely rips into Snape and all the terrible things he did in his “love” for her.

my OTP: Jily. We don’t know from canon how exactly these two went from antagonistic to deeply in love, but what little we do know implies a story of personal growth, second chances, adventure, and deep, deep love, and that’s gorgeous.

a headcanon fact: Her favorite band is ABBA.

001 Dorcas Meadowes/Marlene McKinnon

when I started shipping it if I did: I probably started shipping it while reading We Were Infinite by @wewereinfinitelywolfstar​. That might not have been the first time I encountered it, but it was the first time it made a mark and made the characters feel real and shippable.

my thoughts: I like this ship a lot! It’s definitely drenched in that First War tragedy, but still gotta love more wlw ships, and that’s what AUs and canon-divergent fics are for.

What makes me happy about them: We no almost next to nothing about these two, so they’re basically blank slates to build upon. I personally head canon them as a Slytherin/Gryffindor couple and love playing with that dynamic. I also love the opportunity to build heroic Slytherin characters.

What makes me sad about them: Canon, obviously. Making them a couple does also add to the “dead lesbians” and “bury your gays” tropes, which sucks.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: It’s pretty common for Marlene to have a tomboy-ish or more wild personality in fics, which is cool, but Dorcas doesn’t seem to get as much personality in a lot of fics where these two appear.

things I look for in fanfic: Well-developed characterizations, often AUs or canon divergent fics that don’t leave them dead.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I’m down for Marlene and Sirius as a ship (Blackinnon). As for Dorcas, I have such strong headcanons about her, but I haven’t really thought about other ships for her. I’d be open to suggestions or whatever I encounter in fics, but honestly in my head canons, Dorcas is very ambitious and career-oriented (falling for Marlene was unexpected and not part of the plan), so I could see her too busy to have a romantic relationship or finding a spouse who could aid or complement her career ambitions.

My happily ever after for them: They live through the war, adopt a couple of orphans. Marlene coaches youth Quidditch teams for their kids and has some sort of freelance job she can do while being flexible schedule-wise. Dorcas rises through the ranks at the Ministry and is elected Minister for Magic instead of Cornelius Fudge. She fucking crushes it. When she’s served a few terms and the kids are out of school, Dorcas takes a job as ambassador to some other country and she and Marlene see more of the world and attend lots of fancy embassy dinner parties.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: They don’t really spoon. Marlene flops like a starfish in bed and Dorcas tends to sleep on her stomach or side. They do cuddle on the couch though, and Marlene likes to lay her head in Dorcas’s lap and have Dorcas scratch at her scalp and finger comb her hair.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Dancing. One of their first dates was a disastrous Muggle dance class where neither of them realized the Muggle instructor wouldn’t understand that they were there as a couple and paired them up with various male partners. They both managed to laugh through it and went home and practiced with each other. After that, they learned a lot of different dances and one of them will often spontaneously pull the other into a dance across the kitchen or living room, even if there’s no music on. They take turns leading.

001 Lucissa

(sorry if this one’s a little disappointing)

when I started shipping it if I did: I don’t really ship it, but I don’t not ship it either, if that makes sense.

my thoughts: I don’t actively ship it. It’s there, it’s canon. I’m fine with it. I just don’t put much thought into the relationship.

What makes me happy about them: They both seem to care for their son very deeply.

What makes me sad about them: I’m sad that we didn’t get to see more of Narcissa sooner, otherwise no real sad feelings toward them.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: When the criminal acts they (particularly Lucius) commit are excused way too easily, or they change their politics way too swiftly and seamlessly.

things I look for in fanfic: I don’t really look for this ship in fics. If it’s there I’m usually fine with it, if not, that’s fine too. I do like fics that give me more of Narcissa’s complexity and inner conflict though. She’s clearly got layers.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I really don’t put enough thought into these characters and their love lives to ship them with other characters. I’m open to it though. No strong preexisting feelings mean I’m pretty open-minded to new ships for these two.

My happily ever after for them: Actually having to make some restitution for their crimes/wrongdoings, then probably moving away from Britain to live quietly in like Monaco or somewhere.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Honestly, they probably have separate bedrooms.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Plotting political coups while drinking very expensive wine.

Send me some HP Character asks!

[deadlygoddess85]

Eternal Soul - Serie

- Part 3 - 

Chapter 3 - The Meeting

Pairing: OT8 x The Witches

Words: 1445

Genre: Fantasy. 

Song suggestion: Nothing is at it seems - Hidden citizens

Characters presentation -The Vampires

Characters presentation - The Witches

/ CHAPTER 1 - THE BEACONING / 

/ CHAPTER 2 - THE COVEN /

Not used with teleportation, the sisters arrived at Ateez manor, shocked and confused. Andri, who was already weakened by the fight, almost fainted. Quickly Jongho wanted to bring her to Yunho’s laboratory, but Nina stopped him, grabbing his arm tightly:

“Where are you taking her?” she asked, her voice was shaky, the idea of Andri being so weak after this fight terrified her. Andri was the most powerful of the three. San put a caring hand on her shoulder.

“Please, Yunho will take care of her, I promise.” he replied smiling. Nina looked at him, his smile was weirdly comforting. She let go of Jongho grinning back at San, even if she had just met the Ateez clan and even if they were vampires, she was trusting them and their intentions.

Jo looked around her. They were standing in a large room with a very high ceiling made of a beautiful wood. The walls were decorated with the same wood, expensive drapes and gorgeous paintings of ancient members of the family. Two luxurious couches were facing each other with coffee tables at their ends. The only source of light were sumptuous chandeliers adorning candles of all sizes. The witch felt like she had time traveled into another century. Everything looked so ancient. Even the smell was different. It was a mix of dust and mold, the same kind of smell, he was use to when she was digging in her grandma’s personal chest. All of this was weirdly comforting.

“Please, sit!” Hongjoong’s voice startled the young woman. Jo looked at her sister and they both complied, sitting on one of the couches. The vampire leader sat in front of them, on the opposite one. Seonghwa imitated him, while San sat on the arm of the furniture and Jongho stayed up next to his master.

The sisters heard footstep coming from the hallway, soon three more men made their way in the vast living room.

“Awww, boys, thank you for joining us!” Hongjoong spoke. He presented his brothers to the witches as he did before with Seonghwa, San and Jongho. “Ladies let me present you to our precious Yeosang”

Nina gasped seeing the young man. He was ethereal. His features being close to perfection, statuesque even.

“Good god!” she whispered, eyeing the man in front of her. Her whisper was loud enough for Jo to hear her. The older sister pursed her lips to prevent from laughing. She knew her sister too well, Nina, although she wasn’t promiscuous, enjoyed the presence and attention of handsome men in her life. And right now, she was obviously enjoying herself.

Yeosang shyly waved at the two sisters before sitting next to his master. Hongjoong smiled at his protégé than turned back to the others

“Here’s Wooyoung, our fragile soul.” He said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

Jo turned toward the young man in question. Just like all the other men in this house, he was unbelievably handsome with blond hair and piercing green eyes. But something about him was a bit off. Jo could feel overwhelming emotions hovering around him: sorrow, melancholy, and grief. The young man smiled softly and took place next to Jongho.

Then the girls were presented to a tall smiling young man with bright red hair. He waved at the girls and sat next to Seonghwa.

“Here’s Mingi! And Yunho will join us once your sister is feeling better” Hongjoong said pointing at the tall vampire. Mingi grinned, his eyes forming perfect little crescents and suddenly two roses flew in front of the two girls. Amazed by the giant’s power, Nina got super excited:

“Oh my god! This is so awesome” and she used the same power to fly the flower back to him. The young man sat straight on the couch, a surprised expression on his face.

“Wait! You can do that too?” Mingi asked Nina. The young woman nodded cheerfully, Mingi burst out laughing happy to have found someone with the same abilities as his.

Hongjoong cleared his throat in a sign of annoyance and Mingi’s smile disappeared. Obviously, these men knew who the leader was and they were clearly respecting him. Hongjoong’s eyes went back to Jo’s. The witch shivered, there was something about him.

“So, Moonlight sisters. I fought the Red Moon War with your great-Grandmother and her coven.” The master started, leaning forward so his elbows rested on his knees: “I didn’t know some of you were still alive” he said tilting his head.

“Yeah! If I recall the story; once the war was over, you and your clan betrayed the Moonlight sisters and killed every witch in the coven, or so you thought.” Jo said sternly.

Silence fell in the manor as Hongjoong and Jo considered each other with an unspoken tension. Nina put a loving hand on her sister’s shoulder, in a way to try to cool things off. The vampire master smiled, leaning back on the couch:

“It is true. I was a different…man at the time. I’m terribly sorry for all the harm my clan could have done to your coven in the past.” He said softly, his right hand on his heart.

Jo was about to reply when Nina cut her straight:

“We accept your apologies. We are sorry for the mistrust. What happened in the past stays in the past” the young woman said looking at her older sister, pressing her to stay silent and accept the master’s apologies.

“Thank you.” Hongjoong replied smiling.

Nina crossed her legs, leaning on the arm of the couch for support:

“You said, in the alley, you want to talk about some serious issues?” the young witch asked, her sweet voice felt like honey to Yeosang’s ears. Strangely, the young man could feel an odd connection between Nina and him. Somehow, he felt like he knew her.

“Yes!” Hongjoong exclaimed “You see our precious Yeosang had a vision yesterday. A vision involving Nightshades and some sort of blood ritual.” He stated.

“And why should we be involved?” Jo asked bluntly.

“I’m not sure what this whole ritual is all about, but I’m convinced we’ll need all the power available to fight whatever is coming” Yeosang replied, his hazelnut eyes set on Nina the whole time.

“Wait, you want us to ally with you?” Nina asked to Hongjoong. To which the master replied by nodding softly.

“And how can we be sure you won’t betray us once the fight is over?” Jo asked crossing her arms over her chest.

Furious, Seonghwa got up: “Be respectful toward the Master” he yelled.

Jo got up as well, standing her ground: “Your Master is not mine!” she replied disdainfully, her hands clenches into two fists and pure force energy started hovering around them. Nina stood up next to her sister to stop her:

“Jo! Please, sit down!”

Seeing the witch trying to use her power on him, the vampire made one step closer to her, ready to attack:

“Seonghwa, stand down!” the master’s voice resonated in the manor, making the chandeliers and the bookshelves shake under its force. The blue-eyed vampire glanced at Hongjoong before his stare made its way back to the witch. He unwillingly made a step back, listening to his leader’s order.

“Jo, please!” Nina begged to her older sister. But the witch would not budge, angry at Hongjoong for killing her family and insulted that he asked for their help to fight in another great war.

The energy floating around her became so great, San and Jongho stood before their leader to protect him. Nina looked at Yeosang, sorry for her sister’s attitude.

Jo moved her hands, gathering the force in one huge ball and she was about to release it on the Ateez members, when a voice behind her stopped her dead:

“Johanna Isodora Knox! Sit down!”

Startled by the voice, the force dissipated as Jo looked over her shoulder. There, in the door frame was stranding Andri, her hand extended toward her sister ready to use her own power against her. Behind her, was standing another tall vampire, but this one had gorgeous yellow eyes, he awkwardly smiled and waved at everyone:

“Well…this is going to be an interesting night!” he said amused.

[ehstarwar]

a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves (1/8)

Rey looked down onto the empty orange bottle seated on the edge of her bathroom sink. She knew realistically that staring super hard at the bottle wouldn’t magically make it refill with suppressant pills, but she was willing to try anything this point.

The newest edition on the ever-growing list of Shit Rey Experiences', is being unable to get suppressants.

-

Rey can no longer afford suppressants and decided to take on unsuppressed life. Thankfully, Ben is there to help her.

-

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 2.3K

Read on AO3

Notes: i've never written ABO before, but good golly, i have read it and am now ready to take the plunge. plz enjoy!

Chapter 1: doth suffer a sea-change

-

Rey looked down onto the empty orange bottle seated on the edge of her bathroom sink. She knew realistically that staring super hard at the bottle wouldn’t magically make it refill with suppressant pills, but she was willing to try anything this point. Three minutes of hard staring ended up being unfruitful and Rey let out a defeated sigh. 

She had faced quite a few hardships in life. Being abandoned as a child, tossed from foster family to foster family, getting into a university 500 miles away from where she was from, affording said university until she graduated summa cum laude, figuring out a way to survive and pay her loans back simultaneously; the list goes on.

But nothing, nothing, was comparable to the hardship Rey undergoes, continually, as being an omega. 

She wishes the hardest part about being an omega was the constant degradation she experiences in the professional world. If it just meant lewd comments and occasional handsy knot-headed alphas, Rey could deal with it no problem. But the fucking heats. The claw off your skin, masturbate until your numb, loose your absolute mind heats that made being an omega a living hell. And on suppressants, that only happened once a year. 

The newest edition on the ever-growing list of ‘Shit Rey Experiences’, is being unable to get suppressants.

Her terrible insurance had now decided that suppressants were an ‘elective’ medication that omegas could function normally without. While Rey will support Senator Organa until she dies, she does wish that the senator hadn’t fought quite so hard to pass the legislation that ended the federal mandate that all omegas must be on suppressant unless mated. 

It was a huge step in the country, one that Rey had even advocated for, but one with unforeseen consequences like insurances not covering the cost of suppressants anymore. But, such is life. This was the bed that had been made for her, and this is what she would deal with. People went without suppressants all the time; progressive omegas that clearly didn’t live in the same part of town she did, but omegas none the less. 

Rey swept out of the bathroom, promptly tossing the empty bottle in the garbage, before turning to her roommate. 

“I’ve decided something,” Rey announces.

Rose didn’t look up from the television, but responded anyways. “And what would that be?”

“I’ve decided to quit taking suppressants.”  

Rose chokes on the cheese balls she’s currently shoving into her face while looking up at Rey.

“You what?”

“I’m not taking suppressants anymore.”

“Why the hell not?”

“I don’t need to. Omegas are individual, like every other designation and do not need to be medicated just to join society. Senator Organa advocated very hard to have the federal mandate repealed, and to show my support, I will no longer be taking suppressants.”

Rose looked at Rey like she was out of her mind, and she supposed she was. Betas like Rose would never fully understand what it was like for omegas or alphas, so Rey isn’t surprised that this information is shocking to her. 

“Do you realize what this will do? Don’t unsuppressed omegas have like, three heats a year? You literally hate the singular one you have, why would you choose that?” An excellent point that Rey had not considered.

“The heats suck, yes, but… maybe if I know I’ll be going through it more often, I’ll try a little harder at actually dating someone. Use it as a motivator, ya know.” The excuse didn’t sound nearly as bad as Rey thought it would, even if it was total horse shit. She also knew that Rose’s constant pushing for Rey to actually put herself out there would be placated by this answer. 

“This seems like a pretty major change just so you can meet someone. Have you tried that one app that is supposed to help match up alphas and omegas? Knot It, I think it's called? That would be a more reasonable first step than… this.” The concern in Rose’s voice touches Rey and part of her is tempted to break down and tell her the truth. But then Rose would want to help her, being a best friend and all, and Rey would be put even further into emotional debt for all the helping she’s done over the years. She decides to hold steady to her little fib, hoping that Rose will just let it go. ( A pipe dream, to say the least.)

“I’m choosing this for right now. If it becomes… too much, I might change my mind. But I’m going to try this first. It’ll be good for me, I think.”

Rey ignores the unease in her friends gaze, and goes about her business.

-

The bar is crowded when Rey arrives at Maz’s. Some sports game is on that Rey would care about more if she could afford live TV to watch it continually, but cable wasn’t exactly a standard for someone who eats ramen for nearly every meal.

She see’s the large table in the back, the one that’s unofficially reserved for her friends, and notices she’s the last one there. A chorus of ‘hellos’ greet her as she slides into he booth, and is handed a plastic cup full of PBR.

“Rey-Rey! You made it! How’s our favorite mechanic?” Poe asks, clearly already a few too many deep.

“I’m good! Have you guys ordered yet? I’m starved.”

“I ordered a big ole’ hunk of qb with extra ass!” Poe screeches, looking up at the monitors, earning an eye roll from the sober people at the table, and giggles from the drunk ones.

“Buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks with extra marinara sauce,” Ben tells her. He’s across the table from her, but Rey is pretty sure that the calves she keeps bumping into are his. Ben’s damn long legs will always be a point of contention with her. Who needs to be 6”4 anyways? It’s just gratuitous. Still, she like the person they belong to.

“Bless you,” She tells Ben, earring a sweet smile and a hint of a blush. Ben is so easy to make blush; it's one of Reys’ favorite pastimes. 

The night goes on; food is consumed in an ungodly amount of time, beer is constantly flowing, the rest of the bar dies down but they all remain. It’s nice, the little family they form. Rey would never had dared to dream of such a thing, but meeting these people was the greatest gift she’d been given. Rey met Finn the first semester of undergrad, and been a part of this group since. Through Finn, she met Rose, Kaydel, Jannah, and Poe, and through Poe she met Ben. Friday nights a Maz’s had become a staple for the last few years, one religiously followed even when they probably should have all stayed home. 

While Rey loved being in this group of friends and partaking in their rituals, she had to admit to herself that it was… a lot. Without suppressants, at least. Smells were intense, to say the least. Every thing was heightened to the nth degree and Rey had spent the last three weeks without suppressants needed to excuse herself to get a breath of fresh air, too many times to count. 

Everything smelled so, so much, and Rey had to suffer through all of it. 

But it wasn’t all bad. There was the occasional whiff of a fresh smelling laundromat, or sweet pastry that was nice to experience. And, of course, the juicy smelling alphas that usually came as quick as the went. Like right now, in the bar, Rey could smell the thick aroma of leather and pine mixed among the crowd. It was strong, even diluted by the scent of others, so she couldn’t imagine what it would be like on its own. The though made her clench her thighs together in hopes of something that would likely never come to pass.

“Rey… Rey? Are you with us?” Finn waved a hand in front of her face, snapping Rey out of her train of thought.”

“Oh sorry. I was just… distracted.” Rose ‘hrumps’ next to her. 

“We’re still on for Wednesday, right? Trivia night at Lukes?” Finn asks her.

“Yeah! Of course. I’ve been prepping for it by watching Jeopardy every night,” She tells them, earning a chuckle from Ben.

“Good. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t forget. You’ve been so spaced out lately,” He tells her, making Rey sink further into her seat. 

“Probably because of the suppressants. Or… lack thereof,” Rose replies, causing every sober eye to turn and stare at her. AKA Finn and Ben.

“You stopped taking suppressants? Are you nuts?” Finn asks, incredulously. 

“Thank you, Rose. And no, I’m not nuts. I’m just… choosing the natural life, so to speak.” She gives Rose a pointed glare, and tires to ignore the heated expression on Ben’s face. Finn is a beta, so his opinion will probably be a little off the mark, just like Roses. 

But Ben is all alpha. Not just any alpha; no, Benjamin Solo was 100%, grade-A, total alpha who also happened to be the biggest sweetheart she’d ever met. It was a horrible concoction that had been the subject of one too many fantasies that Rey had shoved down in lieu of friendship. 

Betas would have some idea what it meant for omegas to be off suppressants, but alphas? Alphas would bristle just at the thought of an unmated, unsuppressed omega, even if they smelled like a garbage disposal. 

“So you want to revert back to a sex-crazed lunatic that thinks water is overrated?” Finn continues to question. 

“I don’t think water is overrated even in heats. And I’ve already gone three weeks without and been fairly normal. I’m perfectly capable of handling myself without medication.” Rey keeps her expression calm and cool, but her eyes are steadfastly on her empty plate. 

“Well… good for you, I guess?” Finn isn’t totally convinced and this will absolutely come up later, but he knows not to push his luck like this in public.

Rey gives a tight-lipped smile in response, still unable to meet Bens’ gaze, and is grateful for Poe for his loud interruption that he ‘will be a trophy husband to the first gay NFL quarterback’. 

-

It’s not until they’re all standing outside the bar, in the chilly autumn air, that Rey realizes what’s wrong. She had felt Ben’s eyes on her the rest of the night, and it had taken every fiber in her being not to look at him. She knew what waited for her when she did and her inner omega wanted it too much to be a good thing. 

But what’s wrong is not that Rey has to face Ben while they wait to load their drunk friends into Ubers. What’s wrong is the way he smells. If Rey wasn’t drunk of the beer, then she was drunk off of Ben. The hints of nice smelling alpha emanated from him, even through a cloud of scents. It was deep and rich and Rey wanted to bathe in it. 

She could also feel the displeasure he was feeling and it made Rey want to throw herself on the ground and beg alpha for forgiveness. She resisted, but only just.

When it was just them outside, Rey finally turned to face him, garnering any courage she could find. 

“What is it?” She asked, aggressively, before she could loose her nerve.

“It isn’t safe,” Ben stated simply.

“What isn’t safe? Riding a bike without a helmet? Eating day-old sushi?” She retorted.

“Rey.” It was a command, even if he didn’t mean to give it. “It isn’t safe to be unmated and unsuppressed. Especially…” He trailed off.

“Especially what?” She wishes her voice were harsher to express the anger she feel within.

Ben stares at her for a minute before responding. It makes her scent gland itch. “I could smell you. Through all those people, I could smell you. What happens if a knot-headed alpha is too close to rut and you’re alone-“”

“I’m an adult. I can take care of myself. Rape is still illegal, suppressed or not.”

Bens’ jaw clench and his hands ball into fist and Rey feels her core heat.

“I know you can take care of yourself.” It’s not what she expects to hear, and the softness of his voice breaks something inside of her. Her steely expression falls and so does his.

“You’re right, I know you’re right. But this is the way it is.”

“Why?”

Rey sighs, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes before telling him. “My shitty insurance got even shittier and no longer covers suppressants. My last refill ran out a few weeks ago, and with the way my student loans are right now, I can’t afford to buy them.”

She doesn’t need to see Ben to know the way he bristles. “This is because of my mom; because of the law she passed. It’s not fair to you that-”

“Your mother has been nothing but kind to me! She is a very sweet woman who I will always support and I get why she advocated for this. Yes, this sucks, but it’s not your mom’s fault.”

Ben isn’t placated by this, but keeps quiet. 

They stay like that for a terse minute, Rey scrambling to figure out how to move on from this conversation. He speaks before she gets a chance.

“I can help you. I can get you suppressants if you want. It’s really no trouble. If anything, I kind of feel like I owe you.” Ben is sheepish when he speaks, and Rey’s heart swells a bit.

“That’s kind of you, but no thank you. I can handle this on my own.”

“You don’t have to, Rey.” His voice is low, but washes over her like a warm blanket nonetheless. “Just, please tell me if you need help. Promise me that.”

Rey doesn’t want to. She doesn’t want to even say that she would rely on him if she needed to, out of her own selfish pride, but the omega in the back of her mind screams to, at least, make alpha feel better. She knows if she does, it will help. 

“I promise.” Rey doesn’t know if she says that, or if her omega does.

[fieryfantasybooklover]

Halos And Hellfire - A Malec angst/sad fic

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

Long ago, when the universe was still new, 10 incandescent stars were exiled from the sky for their kindness.

The stars are cold beings that care for nothing and nobody. They burned entire worlds to the ground and enjoyed doing it. Because the primal energy of the universe was harnessed in the stars, and they decided there was no reason they shouldn’t use it. The stars could control all the elements, shift their forms, and teleport. And they used that power. Entire species met their ends in seconds, the last things they saw being terrible waves of fire and horrible all-powerful entities descending from the sky.

These 10 stars were born and they saw the universe for what it was - beautiful and worth saving. Those stars dared to dream, to have faith, to believe. Their thoughts were occupied by dreams of a better life. One where there was something beyond this - an endless stream of death and the cold void of space. These stars tried to save lives, save worlds. Their opinions were not shared by the other stars, so these brilliant entities that only wanted peace were cast from the sky. They fell in the form of gorgeous winged beings. And after falling for a thousand years, they landed.

At first, everything went fine. The star’s DNA altered to fit the environment. The planet was named “Earth” and it was perfect in nearly every way. It was lush and green, filled with water and even a native species to interact with. Half of the angels made their home in the sky, the other half in the underground part of the planet. Everyone lived in peace for some time, an era that became known as the Golden Age. But then there was a betrayal. An underground angel (as they had started to call themselves) clashed with an air dweller over the death of an air angel general. Both sides of the world blamed the other for the death. The force of the conflict nearly brought the planet to the ground.

Everything the stars had fought against for all their lives forced its way into their lives and brought fire and chaos with it. The war raged for nearly 100 years, nearly causing the angels to go extinct. Finally, peace was brokered… if both groups of angels promised to remain in their respective domain and only interact on earth, who’s residents were blissfully unaware of their existence.

As time passed, animosity grew and made itself at home. It grew to the point that the “dark angels” of the ground hated the “light angels” of the sky. The angel children of both sides were taught to hate the “enemy angels” from the time they were born. It remained this way for so long that all hope for happy coexistence seemed lost to the clouds.

*1000 years later*

“Do you have any idea what’s happening?” Catarina asked Magnus. Catarina and Magnus were best friends and high ranked soldiers in the Light King’s army. All the soldiers had been called to the courtyard for a speech from the High General, and were milling around while they waited. “I’ve got absolutely no idea. Maybe the General is finally letting us spruce up the barracks. Of course, me being my fabulous self, has still fought this topic despite the lack of help.” Magnus snarked at Catarina. “How long are you going to be mad at me for that? Just because I chose the improvement of the armory of the improvement of the barracks outward appearance doesn’t mean-”

Magnus shushed her as the General stepped up to his plinth. A hush fell over the crowd as General Charmeine stepped up and cleared his throat. “As you know, all of the soldiers have been summoned here for a speech. I am sure that you are all wondering why. I will not mince words, for as you are about to find out we have very little time.” The general paused and it seemed that every fiber of the world held its breath. “Our sensors have detected 10 bursts of pure undiluted energy emitting from an unknown source. And they are headed straight for this planet. These pulses are scheduled to arrive around this time tomorrow.” The general paused again. “To put it clearly, we have only a day left to live. Along with every single being on this Earth. I hereby release you all from your posts. You are free to live your last day however you wish.”

With that, the General took flight from the plinth, spreading his pale gold feathered wings and soaring off into the night, leaving chaos behind. Magnus stood there shocked, unable to process the devastating axe blow that was this news. Catarina did her bets to rouse him, but Magnus was lost beyond hope. Anger, pain, hate, confusion, and despair were cascading through him, mixing and leaving little room for Magnus to breathe. Moving like a robot, he spread his pure gold wings, a rare color among angels, and took to the skies. Not being able to stand looking at his home of 25 years, he turned to Catarina and spoke. “Caty. You were the best friend I could ever hope for. I wish you all the best in these last hours.” And with that, Magnus took off, flying as fast as he could in an attempt to forget everything he knew and wished he didn’t. That would be the last time he has his best friend.

The poor angels had no idea of the source of the power pulses. In fact, those stars that had once exiled the original 10 angels had found them. And decided to have a little fun. By blowing up yet another planet. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the world a similar situation was playing out.

Alec spread his wings and took off without a second thought, not even hesitating for his best friend Jace. “How am I supposed to fucking deal with this? I’m told the world is ending and I’m released from my service? What do they want me to do? I’m sure as hell not going to stick around that’s for sure.” As Alec soared through the skies, he spotted a speck of gold on the roof of an extremely tall building in New York City. “Oh god, it’s an air dweller. Well, I have nothing left to lose anyway.” With that Alec began his descent towards the angel that would change his life, no matter how much remained of it.

Magnus stood on top of the building, surveying the skyline of the world that would soon cease to exist. It wasn’t until he heard the quiet swooshing of approaching wings that he realized another angel was approaching. Magnus turned and nearly lost his breath as the approaching angel landed. The angel was clearly dark, marked by the silver ebony runes spidering up his arms. The dark counterpart to Magnus’s silver runes. The angel was tall, dark haired… and unbearably smoking hot. He had breathtaking ebony wings that shimmered and shined with purple, gold, red, blue, and so many other colors. His skin was beautifully tanned and a pair of brooding deep blue eyes stared at Magnus with a thousand years worth of prejudice.

“Ummm… hello?” Magnus managed. “I am assuming you just got the news as well.”

“Yeah. And I don’t want to talk about it. We’re enemies and we always will be. I just don’t want to spend the last day of my life alone.” Magnus, shocked at the brief flash of emotion from this angel with a “Go to hell” attitude, just nodded. Both angels silently took off, with no particular destination in mind. They just needed to fly.

The existential dread faded as the angels soared through the sky, finding it in their hearts to be able to stand each other's presence.

The pair took turns choosing destinations, not even bothering to share names. They toured the Pyramids of Giza, flew over the Great Wall of China, and visited Tikal before finally pausing to rest atop a tree in the Amazon rainforest.

As they lounged, Alec worked up his nerve to speak to the golden vision that had suddenly appeared in his life. He rationalized that it was probably normal to want to talk, to experience, to feel. After all, he was only 25 and about to lose everything he had ever known. “Hey… what’s it like. What’s it like living in the clouds?” Magnus looked over, surprised at the question. “Well… it’s beautiful. Everything is made from white, gold, and silver. The sky is stunning and you get to see the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises. I love to stargaze… the sky is panoramic to the maximum when you’re up as high as we are. When I look at the stars, at the galaxies and the lights that fill the sky, I feel hopeful… but it’s also humbling. It reminds you how small we are to the universe. How much beauty there is beyond this world.”

Alec realized just exactly how beautiful the other angel was, silhouetted against the setting sun, ringed in gold. All of a sudden all the emotions Alec had been suppressing welled up inside him and he had to fight back tears. To stop himself from crying, Alec began talking. “I love living beneath the surface of the Earth. There’s so many mysteries down there that even we don’t know. We build everything from red and black colors, and it’s always warm. We can fly around the endless caverns we build. The kids play there and the teenagers sneak out there to make out. I love the earth. It’s grounding and it’s real. It keeps me tethered to reality.”

Silence echoed between them, but it was considerably more comfortable than it was before. Without a word, the two angels took to the sky to live out the remainder of their lives. Even if it was only 9 hours.

The two angels still did not share their names, even as they explored the catacombs of France, snuck behind massive crashing crystalline waterfalls, and explored the unmapped parts of the Sahara desert. They paused again at the top of Mt. Everest, when the talk turned to romance.

“Did you ever have a girlfriend or a boyfriend?” Magnus asked Alec as they gazed at the breathtaking Himalayas. “For me, it would be a boyfriend. And no, I never had a romantic partner. Us “dark angels” only marry once and it’s for life. I haven’t met that one person yet. What about you?” Alec inquired, gazing at Magnus with a surprisingly open and earnest face. “Well… it isn’t uncommon for us to have more than one lover. We don’t limit ourselves as we believe love is essential. We don’t marry as much, it’s more common to live with somebody and share a relationship and not be married. We don’t like to bind ourselves down with things like marriage.”

With those phrases, a passing on of knowledge to outsides, the barriers between them fell more. The pair took to the sky for the last time. They had less than an hour left to live.

The two angels landed on some unnamed beach. They stood there looking at the sun slowly lowering itself to set over the ocean. There was still no sign of the energy pulses set to destroy the world. As time ticked by and the world edged closer to extinction, neither angel said anything. There was nothing left to say.. Atleast not till they were sure nobody would live to repeat their words.

With under 10 minutes left to live, both started talking, talking over each other and talking like they would never be able to again. Which they wouldn’t.

“I hate the world. It’s full of hate and pain and anger and sometimes I think it would be better off to start over. To wipe the slate clean and hope that some decent race will rise from the ashes. That’s why I bolted when we got the news… because I was scared to admit that I thought it might be better. People destroy far more than they create and there is so much more bad in the world then there is good… and I just-- I GET SICK OF IT. BUT THERE’S NOTHING I CAN DO TO CHANGE IT. And I can’t discuss it with my people - they believe that the world is unconditionally good! And I just can’t see it. Maybe I’ve just seen too much.” Alec stopped his rant, gasping for breath as if he had just run a marathon. Magnus stood there quietly, not judging, agreeing, or disagreeing. It took a minute for Alec to realize that Magnus had started talking.

“I am in a constant never ending battle with the devils in my head. One’s that have never seen the light of day because we do not let people show weakness. Shadows and darkness scream that I’m alone, that nobody is truly there for me. I never had parents - they didn’t want me and I was left on a friend’s doorstep. I was bullied growing up because I was different. It got bad… so bad. But then I pulled myself out of it. I pulled myself out of that pit, that void, just to die young.”

Both of the angels, descendants of ancestors who hated each other, looked at the other in shock. They had just exposed demons to their sworn enemy… and they didn’t even know the other’s name. Silent words flew between them, words that didn’t lie words that told the bare ugly truth. Words that said “I see you I understand you I agree with you. You don’t have to pretend here. You’re allowed to be dark because the world is dark with much to dislike about it.” Words that said “Maybe if things had been different, we could have loved each other. Maybe if there weren’t so many factors stacked against us. Maybe. But we’ll never know.”

With a roaring growing in their ears, the angels decided that there was nothing left to lose, nothing left to prove, nothing left to deny. And in that minute, with crushing finality, their lips met. It was a kiss like a thunderclap, like a lightning strike, a kiss like a sonic boom. It was pure exhilarating freedom and a wild howling wind. A kiss that sounded like thousands of years of hate falling to the ground with roaring and noise. It was a kiss of anger and pain and like-minded souls. It was a burning kiss as Magnus tangled his hands in Alec’s ebony hair and Alec wrapped his arms around Magnus to pull him closer as he ran his hands up and down the golden angel’s back. It was a kiss that silently spoke of what-ifs and maybes and if onlys. It was a final middle finger to the universe and everything that told them what they’re allowed to be. It was a kiss of passion… a kiss of halos and hellfire as the world fell to pieces around them.

3

2

1

Darkness. Darkness and nothing and nothing and darkness.

[alyblacklist]

I have always felt from episode 1 this season that the woman Liz now believes is her mother is not her mother. She has zero maternal feelings for Liz and there's no father-daughter relationship between her and Dom. One of the Johns also said in an interview that they were planning on killing Katarina twice (last season finale and , but decided to stretch the arc, which sounds like she is not a very important character in the bigger scheme of things. Is there another way of reading that?

I do think there is another way of reading it, anon, and here’s why.  I hope you don’t mind a long response because you’re about to get one.

First, in terms of the recent JE comments that they considered killing Katarina in 6.22 and again in the midseason finale, the writers have entertained a number of scenarios over the years for various characters that they later concluded were bad ideas for one reason or another. Tom Keen is the main example who springs to mind – they planned to kill him in the Pilot and then again at the end of season 1 and changed their minds both times. His character went on to play an outsized role for 4.5 more seasons and a spinoff despite evidently not being very important to the ultimate endgame (and to much controversy). JE’s comments about how they loved Laila so much that they just wanted to write more for her really reminded me of how he used to talk about Ryan. Liz’s mother was supposedly dead in the Pilot, Red turned himself in “because of your father,” and Katarina wasn’t mentioned by name until near the end of S2. She first appeared in Cape May – an episode the writers didn’t even plan for but got pushed into writing by Sony and NBC – and gradually her role and legend have grown. But I guess I’ve never expected Katarina necessarily to be a critical player in the ultimate endgame of the series (though of course she could be, if they want her to be). They also considered killing Cooper at the end of S1 along with Meera, making Ressler an amputee after Anslo - the list goes on. So I read JE’s interview as simply talking through some of the ideas that they batted around in the room (including an early death in 6.22 that might have had greater shock value) and I don’t take any of this as a definitive clue on whether this is a real Katarina or not or her ultimate importance to the story.

Turning to the character herself, I’m not sure that Katarina has ever had what most would consider typical maternal feelings for Liz. Everything we know about Katarina’s feelings for Liz has largely come through the memories of others – Red, Kirk, Mr. Kaplan, Dom – so how much was true and how much was distorted reality or a tale told to Liz to make her feel better?

Red tells Liz from the beginning that her mother died of “weakness and shame.” By season 3, she’s the “cleverest, most resourceful woman” he has ever known. “The secret-keeper who disappeared.” A woman who “dreaded having a child. Almost aborted it,” but who supposedly had a change of heart after Liz was born and thereafter never thought she was “anything but a blessing.” She’s also a woman who was “never the same” after the fire, who found it “too much” that “[t]he man she loved [was] killed by the child she adored.” Red allows Liz to believe she basically killed both her parents by pulling the trigger on her father the night of the fire. By Season 6, we learn through Red’s trial that Katarina framed Liz’s father in March 1990 for the deaths of 134 sailors aboard the USS Gideon. Red assures Liz that her parents “loved you very much,” and tries to explain that things were “complicated.” Liz is not convinced.

Kirk in season 4 paints a rosier picture – that Liz was his “entire life,” that she was “all your mother and I ever cared about.” All while holding her hostage and ultimately dangling Agnes off a roof. At the same time, Liz reads her mother’s journal, recovered from Kirk’s house where her mother waxes about how Masha is her “entire life. She’s everything.” Truth? Or carefully planted fiction?

And then Kate’s memories (which Liz isn’t even aware of) portray a mixed picture. A Katarina who tells Kate she’s not allowed to love Masha, who kills a Russian operative in the kitchen with her daughter asleep upstairs (and who admits to Kate she considered killing her too), who continues an affair on the property of home she lives in with her family without concern for what Masha sees, who later drops her with a grifter in Nebraska who never wanted to raise a child and then fakes her own death and vanishes. Is she truly maternal or self-sacrificing? Or is she simply selfish?  

Dom’s Katarina is desperate and out of options. She vanishes because it’s the only choice after the unspecified things that she’s done. Dom’s memories show little concern for her daughter other than Katarina asking Ilya to care for her if “they” take her, if they get to her and a quick phone call to tell Masha she’s not coming for her anytime soon right before she fakes her death for the world.  

And then we have the distorted fire memories complete with all the questions about their reliability in terms of who was who and who did what. Katarina was there – we know that much – she may have come for the fulcrum, may have come for Masha, may have fought with Reddington. There’s a lot there that we just haven’t had confirmed yet.

So – bottom line – I’m not sure if it was fair for us to expect this hardened spy who has been living underground for over 30 years to be any more maternal than she was when she finally showed up in Liz’s kitchen. Laila did portray what I felt was some genuine emotion towards Liz and Agnes. And, for all her flaws, treated both of them better than Kirk did despite his apparent belief up until 4.08 that he was in fact Liz’s father. How else would a hunted but resourceful spy be expected to get close enough to her daughter - who currently works with her greatest enemy and is employed by the FBI - without arousing suspicion other than by a ruse?

And as far as Katarina not having a father-daughter relationship with Dom – if the story we have been shown is even partially or mostly true, we are clearly missing key events in between Rassvet and Belgrade that explain how we got from one to the other. What changed in between the time that Katarina said goodbye to her father in Rassvet and the moment that Dom and Ilya tried to blow up that car in Belgrade? Supporting the narrative that there are key events we are missing are Dembe’s statement to Red that “I’m not sure Elizabeth will ever be ready to learn about what you did to Katarina,” Dom’s statement to Red that “She’s gone because of choices you made for both of them. First Katarina and then Masha. As far as I’m concerned, you killed my entire family,” Red’s statement to Dom that “[s]he knows you tried to kill her, Dom. She wants answers, but she also wants revenge. You set her up, betrayed her–.” So there seem to be explanations for why things changed between Dom and Katarina that we are not fully privy to yet.

Bottom line: There are definitely inconsistencies between the Katarina we have seen as portrayed by Lotte and the Katarina we currently see as portrayed by Laila that constantly cause me to reevaluate my position on whether she is real or not real. This Katarina doesn’t seem to remember things we think she should know. She behaves at least somewhat differently than the Katarina of memory. Not to mention the show continues to avoid the one on screen moment that would likely resolve the mystery once and for all for most viewers: Red in a room with both women confirming to Liz that Laila’s character is her mother, Katarina Rostova.

But while you come down on the side of Fakerina, I still fall on the side of Katarina being real. If she’s not, it’s a terrible waste of time for the #3 slot on the Blacklist and what will probably end up being a full season by the time the arc resolves. If she’s not, it’s a story that should have been resolved at the mid-season finale at the latest and not dragged into the back half of the season. Not to mention I’ve yet to see a plausible explanation for why some other random woman would also have such a close relationship with Ilya such that she would drop everything in Belgrade to help him, and also be intimately familiar with relatively unknown details like Masha shooting her father. Was Red pretty dispassionate about her death? Yes. But was that in part him testing Liz to see how much she had learned from the woman? He saw the signs of struggle in her apartment. He said Aram told him the woman was her neighbor and had been watching Agnes. If he’s not connecting the dots that Katarina had her hands on Liz for some period of time (which he articulated to Dembe was the case in 7.10), he’s worse off than I thought.

I’m not sure what the explanations will ultimately be for all these disconnects, but I certainly hope we’re not spinning on wheels on another fake parent just to avoid killing certain parental theories that certain podcast hosts have managed to popularize in certain writers’ minds. Thanks for the ask.  

[gaming2day]

Zombie Army 4: Dead War - Review

Did you notice that just a few weeks ago, Valve came out and said in uncertain terms that there'll be absolutely no Left 4 Dead 3 anytime soon? Well, the terrible news for several is astounding for Zombie Army 4: Dead War, which couldn't have hoped for better timing. He's here to follow those four-player cooperative steps - except that his zombies also are Nazis, and sometimes once you kill them you get a super-gross gross kill. It definitely scratches the itch, although the few new ideas it injects don't really reinvigorate the genre that Bill, Coach, Zoey, and Francis have built.

It may sound familiar on the entire, but Zombie Army 4 manages to separate itself from the already sizable horde of zombie cooperative shooters in some fun ways. For starters, the story is delightfully absurd, with occult forces bringing the Nazi army back from the dead, apparently from the literal bowels of Hell. His campaign of about eight hours ends with a ridiculous and surprising final battle that's worth seeing uncontaminated. there's also a simplified Horde mode if you only want to remain on one position and see what percentage waves you'll face as you are trying out different weapons. I prefer the variability and forward momentum to play the entire campaign, but the Horde offers many opportunities for intense shootings and last-second wins.

The WWII setting is disgusting and filled with blood, but during a creative way during which I could not wait to ascertain what I might have fought after. I enjoyed facing powerful enemies like zombie flamethrowers with explosive gas cylinders on their backs, Nazi zombie generals whose hearts must be removed to stop them from spawning more enemies and managers like tanks that reveal gigantic ribs when their armored sides are made the jump. And it's made all the more exciting by a superb soundtrack that seems straight out of the classic zombie movie George A. Romero from 1985, Day of the Dead - my only complaint about music is that I wish it had been mixed louder and channeled more often.

There is a layer of strategic dismemberment within the brainless massacre.

There's a little quite running and shooting because the way you shoot zombies encourages you to face the walking dead during a more nuanced way: getting a particular number of kills unlocks special abilities, like enhanced sniper shots or reload of superfast rifles, but you furthermore may have the likelihood to recover health by taking close kills. Killing a variety of zombies from afar to realize the proper to run and recover some health adds a layer of strategic dismemberment to the brainless massacre.

Additionally, there's clearly some Doom inspiration that helps keep the action moving, with some zombies offering ammo, grenades, or health packs if you tread on them after they're defeated. This led to some great moments during which I recovered from being cornered by coitus interruptus an enormous wave, healed myself with close fatalities then trampled on enemies on the bottom to recover ammo before rushing to subsequent target. Where it appeared to me that it had only been done a couple of moments before, I found myself at my best and prepared for everything that happened afterward without even an ammo cache pitstop.

The layouts of the eight levels of Zombie Army 4 (and the smaller final comparison) are neat and do an honest job of contextualizing why you would like to maneuver from point A to point B beyond basic survival. Sometimes you're exploring an abandoned zoo, other times you're getting fuel for a ship so it can make its way down a canal, or you're learning pieces of a bomb to mix at the top of the stage. the amount doesn't look radically different, but all of them have interesting layouts that are fun to explore and are disturbing and disturbing in their own way. The goals are simple enough where you and your friends will never be confused about what to try to next, but interesting and varied enough that it doesn't appear to be you're always doing an equivalent thing. There are never times when cooperative play is required - you'll easily play alone if that's how you roll - but the more players take part the action the upper the problem it automatically climbs and therefore the more important teamwork becomes.

You can easily play alone if that's how you shoot.

I like the crazy sprint to finish this sort of goal, but I used to be less hooked into the areas where you've got to carry your position for a particular period of your time. These defensive scenarios aren't all that common, but curiously enough Zombie Army 4 constantly offers you anti-personnel mines and electric cables that are not that useful when you're on the run rather than preparing for an assault. And even during the checkpoints once you have time to put the traps, most of them went after the primary wave and returned to plain shooting anyway.

The upgrade system is additionally rewarding, to some extent. The persistent progression of the character allows you to deepen across the board, so whether you're in Horde mode, playing the campaign alone or with friends, you'll add new skills like better defense or faster positioning of anti-personnel mines, among others. There aren't enough options to permit you and your friends to diversify and occupy classes with wildly different and synergistic abilities, but it's still worth increasing your skills from one level to a different.

Why should I exploit a machine gun when my rifle electrocutes zombies?

The gun upgrade system, however, is initially exciting but can hit a wall. the ditch Gun may be a personal favorite: by the top of the campaign, I had sped up my refill, boosted damage output, and added bonus damage to electricity. I added similar upgrades to my precision rifle, but after a short time I ended up with a load of weapon upgrades that I wasn't getting to use. Why should I take two steps back and begin employing a machine gun when my rifle electrocutes zombies? Since there are not any lessons, I even have not felt the rationale to travel back to the start line and alter things.

It's a nice touch, though, that once you die you switch into a zombie and watch, without control, as your character approaches the gang and becomes another obstacle for your friends to beat. Once they kill you, you'll regenerate (as long as they do not die first), so it works as a fun handicap to stop instant regeneration - and let's face it, it is also fun to kill your friends' zombie versions.

Microtransaction reaction

Zombie Army 4 at launch represents a good package with a considerable campaign, but a primary season of DLC is already planned and a Season Pass is out there for $ 34.99. alongside new characters and guns and new skins for all characters and guns, the primary DLC also will add three new campaign missions. There also are additional free levels for Horde mode, although at the instant it's not clear exactly when these new contents are going to be available. In terms of what is immediately available, there's a little selection of cosmetic items and alternative guns that are included within the Deluxe edition or which will be purchased individually for $ 4 or $ 5. So far, it doesn't appear to be the DLC content is going to be an enormous problem.

From a technical point of view, I didn't encounter any connection problems, but I had some general bugs. On quite one occasion I found a scenario during which the zombies were coming to infinity, albeit the goal had been completed, forcing us to start out over. I also had a few times when large black bars appeared, obscuring my view of ammo reserves and when my special skills would be available. it had been quite annoying.

The verdict

Zombie Army 4: Dead War feels largely familiar among the horde of Dead 4 Dead-style cooperative shooter, but it isn't without its clever mechanical touches and runs on the oldest computer game clichés: killing Nazi zombies. Between his varied election campaign and a fun horde mode, there are many opportunities for heartbreaking teamwork and gory, disgusting X-ray kills. The weapon's progression system doesn't provide many reasons to expand, therefore the attraction of his replay value isn't as strong because it might be.