#Get stuck for a long while | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nellasbookplanet · 1 month

Text

I've been thinking about Mollymauk, as I'm periodically wont to do, and the fandom discussion about him as a moral compass. Because the interesting thing here is, Molly wasn’t a very moral character. He was an unrepentant scammer. He had no respect for interpersonal boundaries and would deliberately push and break them. Generally, he was an asshole. As far as actually having a strong moral stance I would say Fjord was the standout of early m9, and to some extent Beau.

But here’s the thing: almost all of early m9 thought of themselves as horrible people. Fjord had been bullied so bad growing up that he still dealt with self-hate from it, and now suffered from survivor's guilt to boot. Caleb had killed his own parents. Beau, while she hated her dad, also had internalized self-hate and on some level thought she’d been such a shitty daughter she deserved his treatment. Nott was stuck in a body she considered monstrous. Yasha had survivor's guilt and knew she’d done bad things in her blank spots. Even when they did good, they didn’t think of themselves as good. Most of them were suspicious and asocial and faced the world with the same kind of distrust they expected to be (and were experienced in being) met with. (Jester was an exception, an agent of neither good nor bad but of amoral chaos)

But Molly was different. He was outspoken about loving life and people. He wanted to spread joy, even to people he didnt know or had even met: he slipped coin into people's pockets, hid a silver in a tree just so some stranger would one day be happy to find it. He openly cared for the party early on; was one of the first to step in and help Caleb when he went catatonic in battle. Above all, Molly had rules: where everyone else would agonize over what was the right or wrong or smart thing to do, Molly loudly proclaimed we don't leave people behind, and we leave every place better than we found it.

But the thing about Molly’s rules was, they were largely a cover. While the rest of the m9 thought they were bad even as they did good, Molly thought of himself as good even as he did bad. He scammed people, but made it a good and memorable experience, therefore thinking he gave more than he took. He charmed Nott and Fjord without consent, and when confronted would claim it was to help them. Out of the group, Beau saw through this, not because she was a better person but because she was a cynic. She saw that he caused harm, just as she did, and was personally affronted that he still thought of himself as good and tried to leave people happy, whereas she deliberately left every place worse than she found it.

I see Molly as a moral compass of the group not because he was actually any more moral than them, but because they made him their template. He was joy and brightness and he died trying to save them because it was the right thing to do, and they all chose to honor him by emulating his rules more than Molly himself ever did, because to them it was more than just a cover, backed up by genuine moral thought and discussion rather than small gestures. He taught them that it was possible to be kind of a shit person and still be good, to still love yourself and others. The idealized Molly they created never existed, and finally died for good when they resurrected him in the end and were met with a stranger, who they welcomed with the same love and care they would've expected Molly to show them.

#critical role #cr2 #mollymauk tealeaf #long post #i know we're all thinking about a different dead pc today but this has been on my mind for a while and i wanted to write it out #i feel like discussions of molly tend to get stuck in two camps:#either 'he was a good kind and perfect moral compass' (lol no)#or: 'he was an asshole and you're all delusional' (also no)#molly was as much of an asshole as the rest of the m9 #but he thought of himself as capable of being a good person and doing good things #and that counted for something even if he backed it up with empty gestures and platitudes bc there WAS genuine care in it #and when the m9 chose to emulate it it was no longer empty #nella talks cr

953 notes · View notes

ogerpon · 1 year

Text

prosecutor's office

#haven't made one of these in a while but my friend sent me the original and it bewitched me.#ace attorney #📢#aa #i forget what my personal talky tag was for aa... its been so long..#ema honorarily gets looped in with everyone else here btw shes stuck working with them enough.

1K notes · View notes

tinybro · 8 months

Text

jasico server was chatting about the cupid scene and jason getting nico's memories blasted straight into his brain and how jason being shot with one of cupid's arrows while with nico and this was just never brought up in canon again and now i'm thinking like...what if that's just how cupid's arrows work? not by magically manifesting love for someone out of nothing, but by giving someone the perspective that'd make them fall in love naturally? jason gets a front row seat to nico's memories and instantly understands him intimately and can trust him completely without any doubt or suspicion

so what if jason, after slowly realizing he's totally in love with nico, just thought back to the arrow incident and it made him second-guess everything? because maybe he's only feeling this way because cupid hit him with an arrow with only nico was around and it's no different than any other god messing with his love life

#i live for anything that drags out the pining/pre-relationship period as long as possible okay #give me the drama of jason frustrated about constantly being manipulated by gods #in love with nico but convinced it's just cupid fucking with him and not wanting nico to get dragged into it #maybe telling nico eventually because he's having trouble hiding his feelings and he doesn't wanna hurt nico by confusing him #which is of course an emotional rollercoaster for nico #hearing jason say he's in love with him only to then immediately hear that it's just godly fuckery #nico agreeing to help jason find cupid to get it reversed because he knows how much it sucks having feelings for someone unwillingly #and he doesn't want jason stuck mooning over someone like him just because he was unkucky enough to be with nico for the cupid incident #whole quest in which nico develops feelings in return and angsts because he's sure jason only feels that way because of the arrow #maybe a slip-up in the middle somewhere with nico accidentally revealing he likes jason back before backpedaling wildly #so now jason has hope despite himself because he'd never really thought it was possible anyway given nico's feelings for percy #and he doesn't like being manipulated by gods but he doesn't mind the idea of being in love with nico #and what if he just gave up on the hunt for cupid entirely and let it happen #while nico feels guilty since clearly it's just cupid arrow magic fucking with jason and he's enabling it #and then of course when they finally find cupid he explains how his arrows work and that he can't just FORCE someone to be in love #no more than hera could with jason and piper by fucking with their memories to push them together #cupid's methods are just way more effective #my tag babble ended up longer than the actual post oh my god #pjo #jasico #my dumb headcanons

213 notes · View notes

meownotgood · 3 months

Text

it felt amazing to finally see that green checkmark on ao3, to finally move the full fic to my finished folders on docs, to finally say with my whole chest that it's really completed...

I'm proud of myself and what I managed to make, I'd been working on this fic for over a year, and I felt a lot of doubts while writing. I didn't expect to write so much. I often thought I was saying too much, or the fic wasn't good enough. when I reread it, I realized it wasn't perfect, but it doesn't have to be. I wrote something that was so unabashedly me, and I'm so grateful for that feeling. I'm so happy that I can write what I enjoy, that I can be myself while doing what I have always loved the most. I learned and progressed, and I can feel only excitement for whatever I write next!!

thank you for your patience, and if you end up reading, thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart 💞

I took off work tomorrow to celebrate lol (actually because I'm still sick but we're calling it a celebration). I don't know what to say next so here's some cute pictures of aki. three cheers for fic completion 🎉🎉🎉

#it's weird because #I thought after finishing this #I'd want to not write again for a very long time #but I just want to write even more tomorrow lol #insanity is real yall don't get the topknot virus #I appreciate everyone who has stuck with me!#comments and reblogs and kudos on ao3 are always appreciated but don't feel pressured #fanfic seriously changed my life for the better #at the time I picked up writing again I was in a very lost state #but since then I've been happier and happier #I've grown my writing but also grown as a person #I want to improve my writing while continuing to make the silly things I enjoy #don't know what I'm saying anymore #tomorrow I'll celebrate by eating a strawberry cake I baked with my mum #and I will give all the akis a bite too 💪💪💪💪

79 notes · View notes

chaoticdelinqueerwithglitter · 5 months

Text

I've been having archenemesis brain riot this past few days and I just had an hilarious hc.

I was thinking... What was Izana's reaction when Mucho decided to bring Sanzu? Because let's be honest, Izana is not someone who would trust easily (specially a stranger). And Sanzu got a ticket for Izana's inner circle! So he would has his doubts, right? (Completly justified, tbh) And who was Izana's common sense? Kakucho, obviously!

So picture this, the s62 just met Sanzu for the first time. And this conversation happens:

Izana: I don't like him. Why Mucho had to bring him here?

Kakucho: Izana, the poor boy didn't do anything. He almost didn't even talked.

Izana: Yeah, that's weird. He gives me the creeps wearing that damn mask all the time...

Kakucho: He doesn't like showing his scars, are you really judging him for that?

Izana: ...

Kakucho: Yes?

Izana: Why are you on his side? You're my servant, mine!

Kakucho: (sighing with infinite patience) I'm not on his side Izana, I don't even know him. But I trust Mucho and Mucho trusts Sanzu. That's enough for me.

Izana: Fine. But I still don't trust him.

Kakucho: Fine.

A few doritos later...

I hated you since the moment I met you.

Same, it was hate at first sight.

(Look at them, so happy that anyone is denying them the right to kill each other! 🤣)

Obviously, the archnemesis brain riot was shared with @just-sp-in-inginthevoid (and grew a lot bigger thanks to that, best way of coping with canon xD)

55 notes · View notes

menlove · 1 month

Text

any other trans person ever just glad they didn't name themself at a younger age bc you KNOW what character/person you would've been naming yourself after

#I could be living as a john that's awful #I did go by david for a while and that wasn't after anyone I just love the name #but my entire family hated it so 🙃#then I changed it to (first name) james (last name) and it's stuck #but I'm ngl I'm getting antsy for a name change again it's been james WAY too long #altho kirk is an admirable man to name myself after

25 notes · View notes

swiftcast-selene · 2 months

Text

Day 2: Home

sometimes it's hard to think of the shadow of a castrum as "home", but... it's much harder to deny the effect the Shroud and its people have had on him.

#miqomarch #miqomarch 2024 #ffxiv #ffxiv miqo'te #final fantasy 14 #there's no canon location for O that i've managed to find so #i imagine them being basically. between gyr abania and the shroud #used to cover a pretty large territory between the two #a long time ago before the ala mhigan invasion #and as it was they eventually. settled on staying in gridania. purely because it was safer there #and they didn't want to side with ala mhigo for fear of like. invoking the ire of the elementals #and it was fine for a While. until negi's father just sort of made a mess of the tribe.#got a big head about it and thought he was invincible and slowly whittled away at relations with gridania in general #until there was no trade and they just stagnated #negi was one of his last kids and as a twin he inherited most of the issues o'kovhi didn't get #so there's something a little... bitter about childhood for him. the feeling of being stuck between a rock and a hard place #he left eventually for gridania proper to study as a conjurer (which didn't work out very well)#but without all of it he wouldn't have met selene.. wouldn't have found his calling during the calamity...#he wouldn't be himself!#and he does love the Shroud. it is his home for better or for worse #his.... roots ;) ;) ;)#m: negi

24 notes · View notes

carnivalcarriondiscarded · 7 months

Text

not to out myself on main but Katsuki Bakugo continues to make me fucking insane

#there is a REASON he's in my list of top five fav characters #that boy makes me RABID-#literally hes the only reason ive kept up with the manga. that and ive stuck with it for so long i wanna see how it ends #anyway just finished pacing and ranting and Decimating an apple bc. be cause.#i saw someone go 'wait bakugo is save to win?'#YES! YES! HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN SAVE TO WIN HIS ENTIRE CHARACTER IS SAVE TO WIN #HIS ACTUAL BATTLES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FOCUSED ON SAVING #I HAVE BEEN SCREECHING THIS AT MY CEILING FOR YEARS HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN SAVE TO WIN!!!!#marking him as Win To Save is a fundamental misunderstanding of his character IM SORRY IT IS. IT IS #he has ALWAYS focused more on saving while izuku goes straight for the enemies' jugular #god. hes just. FINALLY BAKUGO GETS TO SHINE and Everyone gets to see who he really is im feral #the moment i saw him i was fascinated and over the years his character has aged like a FINE fuckin wine #its so rare to find a character with such stellar development. like damn. fuck. hes catnip to me #he started my love of analyzing the fuck out of characters and striving to understand them the best i can #punching a wall and wailing YOU DONT KNOW HIM LIKE I DO #honestly if i ever did a video essay it would be on him. and why he's such a good fucking character #say what you will about bnha but god damn he's phenomenal. horikoshi really went tf off with him #BAKUGO BBY IM SO GLAD YOU'RE BACK ITS BEEN SO LONG <3 #absolutely unprompted #i literally. i literally got a bkdk charm keychain #both bc yeah theyre iconic but also i could not resist the bakugo on it. hes too cute #i finally feel excited for the manga and the story again bc MY BOY IS BACK IN THE GAME LETS GOOOOOO #cant wait to see him absolutely slay serve Steal The Spotlight #stg hes gonna save all might AND take down afo while broccoli boy handles McCrusty #lets go bakugoooo LETS FUCKING GOOOOO #WE ARE SO FUCKIGN BACK BABEYYYYYYY #bakugo? no. bakuback!!!#BC HES NO LONGER DEAD ON THE GROUND YEEHAW HAWYEE

42 notes · View notes

aquanutart · 2 years

Photo

an upside-down truth / a fallen star

#the dragon prince #tdp #aaravos #gif #aquanutart #hi i would like to thank everyone who said on my last pic 'i am reblogging this for the puffballs'#as well as 'your tags have murdered me' etc #truly made the whole experience worthwhile. i still can't tell if anyone got the joke but i no longer care #next in our series of 'it's 2022 why don't you make a brush' i should really make a star brush #instead of sitting there going dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot ...#even traditional art has a shortcut method for this (it's called putting masking tape on everything and then: splatter)#(advisable to do this first before drawing anything else...)#the good thing is it doesn't actually take a long time to do the dot dot dots it's just kind of repetitive #and you get bored and start writing about it in your tags and then it takes longer because you're not working #i listened to the ff8 soundtrack while making this #i had actually planned to listen to the triple triad music the entire time but #it turned out i couldn't take it for several hours #even though i quickly realized my mistake i ended up having triple triad stuck in my head the whole time anyway. i did this to myself #anyway i was determined to finish this before season 4 dropped #because i also had the idea three years ago and i need to post it before the new season possibly makes it obsolete #threw a wrench into my own schedule by deciding at the last minute that i needed to animate it and i don't know how to animate #then tdp kind of also threw a wrench by releasing the first episode a week early but it's okay i'm still basically in time #i'd personally like it if aaravos were someone who warps and twists the truth and/or has a warped perspective rather than outright lying #i'm convinced there's a meaning to the upside-down star arcana and maybe rotating the key of aaravos can unlock something ??#saying this suddenly gave me flashbacks to the rotation keys in skyward sword rofl what if he's being held in prison #by his own startouch marking being upside-down because it's out of alignment with the universe or something #TWO MORE DAYS let's GO i've been waiting three years to have my theories blown apart

312 notes · View notes

lemonsweet · 1 year

Text

I love how attached glados gets to chell bc 1. chell never said a word to glados and 2. depending on how you see the length of the games glados only only saw chell conscious for a couple days or so

#you could count glados reliving chell killing her over and over while she was 'dead' as seeing her longer but if you look at how long eavh #game is chell was running around for 20 hours but couldve been longer if youre a completionist or yiu get stuck

192 notes · View notes

dangoarts · 1 year

Text

When does a comet become a meteor?

When does a candle become a blaze?

When does a man become a monster?

Just a Man - Epic the Musical

#i had such a vivid brain image falling asleep during finals week while this was stuck in my head #took me a long ass time to do bc life loved to get in the way of me working on it but finally finished tee hee #batim #batdr #bendy and the ink machine #bendy and the dark revival #henry stein #sammy lawrence #joey drew #ink demon #art stuff #actual good art

81 notes · View notes

puhpandas · 7 months

Text

Halloween Spirit

(1,770 words)

Evan learns that the spirit of Halloween comes with enjoying spending time with people you love during the season, and thats why he'd never felt anything of the sort with Michael and his father. 🍫🎃🕷

"Have you ever been to Spirit Halloween?" Gregory asks him someday when they're hanging out at his house. Evan looks up from one of Gregory's drawings he was coloring in and tilts his head.

"No." Evan replies after a moment. And hes never wanted to, either. Not only would getting there mean either his Father or Michael would have to take him, but he knows Michael gets all of the scary masks he terrifies Evan with there. Plus that there are animatronics with uncanny molds and bloody faces and long fingers and black cloaks that jump out and scream at you.

So hes never really had an urge to go. Hence why he's literally never been.

"Never?!" Gregory exclaims when he learns about it. He jumps up off of his bed, shaking his head. "Evan, going to Spirit Halloween is like... it's like a major life event. Its tradition. You go to Spirit Halloween every year during the season to get pumped for it."

"I've never heard of that." Evan replies. "I've just... never had a reason to go."

He purposefully leaves out all the reasons he never has wanted to go. He doesnt want to be a Debbie Downer.

"Well now you do." Gregory tells him. He grabs the sketchbook out of Evan's hands, setting it on his comforter and then yanking Evan off the bed with suprising strength. "I'm taking you to Spirit Halloween today. No take backs."

Evan yelps, and only narrowly avoids eating carpet. "I never even agreed in the first place." Evan points out. After he doesnt pull away, Gregory let's him go to slide his shoes on. "But... sure. I'll go with you."

"Yes!" Gregory pumps a fist, slipping a navy hoodie on. With a faint smile at Gregory's excitement, Evan stays how he is, already wearing a plenty warm wool sweater. All he has to do is pull his own converse on and they're out the door.

"How have you never been?" Gregory comments when they've set off, following the sidewalk. The trees have long since all turned reds and oranges and yellows, and they flutter in the pleasant breeze the Autumn season is producing. Pumpkins and skeletons and spiderwebs decorate every yard theyve passed, and store windows hold those jelly stick-on's. "Pretty much everyone has."

"Nobody's ever taken me." Evan replies, shrugging. "My family doesnt really decorate. Especially now that its just us."

Before, when his Mom and Elizabeth were still living with them, there would be the occasional decorating. Elizabeth would whine and push for something seasonal to celebrate and his parents would cave and buy some cheap decorations to sling up around the house. But that was years ago, when he was a much younger kid. Now, hes thirteen, and its just him, Michael, and their Father.

Evan dares to think Michael would actually like to have decorations up. It's just that he believes he's 'too cool' for things like that. He's always enjoyed Halloween, if not for access to extra scary masks then to run around town with his friends to spook other innocent children. Plus, the king size candy bars he always brings home have to mean something.

Evan's never really had a reason to like it when every time he'd dress up he'd be made fun of in some sort of way, and then actively targeted as soon as he'd step outside. Plus, everything Michael likes about Halloween, Evan dislikes.

But Evan dares to believe this year will be different. The reason being right next to him.

"God, your family is so boring." Gregory groans. "Nobody even took you like... when you were a kid years ago?"

"Nope."

"Ugh." Gregory makes a face, slinging an arm around Evan's shoulder. "Well thats why you dont like Halloween. Because your family has always sucked too bad to let you enjoy it."

Evan nods sagely, knowing its true. His family always makes Halloween what they do or dont do. And usually, Evan's never cared enough to wish for a better, more seasonal holiday. He's always been too worried about other things to be in any sort of joyful mood.

"Well, dont worry about it right now, alright?" Gregory tells him, shooting him a grin. "This year you'll get to experience real Halloween. We'll get you a costume and take you to see cool stuff, and you'll get to do stuff like carve pumpkins and bake cookies with us."

Evan's eyes widen at the influx of activities. He's only ever done maybe a couple of those throughout his whole life.

He looks at Gregory earnestly, brain already flashing with images of Evan laughing and smiling, flinging cookie batter at Gregory, costume shopping without the lingering paranoia, and digging his hands inside a pumpkins guts.

The promise of having fun with people he actually likes, who like him back is so overwhelming, he almost tears up.

He pushes it down, offering Gregory a wobbly smile. "That... that sounds fun."

"It always is!" Gregory boasts, and Evan is convinced he can see stars in his eyes. "Man, I wish Ness were here. I really want her to meet you. It would be so cool spending Halloween with both of you.

There goes another mention of the infamous older-sister-away-at-college. Evan's heard a few of those, but it's not what he focuses on in that moment.

Something about Gregory putting him on the same level as his biological sibling makes something warm and fluttery bloom in Evan's stomach.

"You'll get to introduce me someday." Is all Evan manages to get out, and he almost backtracks at the implication in his sentence that Gregory will be willing to stick by him that long. But Gregory just smiles, shakes his shoulders a bit, and goes "She'll love you."

Evan hides his smile in the collar of his sweater. If Gregory is so sure, Evan cant wait to meet her, too.

It's not long at all afterwards that they finally make it to the store. Evan thinks it looks very bare bones, compared to how Gregory was describing it, but Gregory just says not to judge a book by its cover.

Gregory was right. The inside is what counts.

Halloween decorations fill very inch, gravestones and spiderwebs and skeletons waiting to greet you. There are tons of different mini-sets around the store with animatronics, and despite how Evan stays as far away from the animatronics as possible, Gregory's excitement over them make him feel better about how creepy they are.

Evan's favorite section though has to be the costume wall.

It's just a shelf full of silly costumes stuffed in bags from floor to ceiling, and it stretches across almost the entire store.

"Ness and I used to spend hours here just making fun of the costumes." Gregory had said after bringing him to it. "Look at the model on this one."

Then he'd pointed at a dumb looking werewolf, and when Evan had burst out laughing, they'd kept going.

The daylight outside slowly fizzles out in the corner of Evan's vision, in the foreground. That gray, cloudy sky that comes with Autumn fading into a dark, deep blue. By the time its their turn to leave, Evan's cheeks hurt from smiling and his throat is dry from how much he had talked and laughed.

Before they go, Gregory insists on buying Evan a Halloween sweater, no matter how much he'd protested. It's another thing he insists is tradition.

When Gregory didnt budge, Evan caved and chose a really soft black one with and orange collar and a Jack-o-lantern in the middle. Gregory had chosen one for himself, then proceeded to get attached to one of the plastic inaccurate skeleton animals and buy it too. They'd named the little dog with bone ears and a bone nose Davey.

Evan never imagined that this is what the spirit of Halloween is like, but he feels it now more than he ever has. It reminds him of those Christmas movies he'd see on TV where the lesson would be that the true meaning of Christmas is spending time with your family.

As sad as it sounds, Evan never understood those. But he thinks he gets it now.

Because the contrast between last year and this year is so stark. It's not the fact that he went to a Halloween store. If he'd gone last year with Michael and his Father, he would have been miserable, because Michael would try to make him be. This year, he had fun looking at silly stuff with Gregory.

Its only now, when Gregory is handing cash over to the employee behind the counter, who'd just bagged their sweaters and Davey, that he realizes just how much Gregory is his best friend.

They only met in July, after all... but even that feels like a lifetime ago, despite how the school days went by so much quicker with a friend, no longer so awful.

Funny how Evan already feels closer with a boy hes known for a few months than he ever has with his brother and father.

"Can I sleep over?" Evan asks when they break through the doors of the store and the cool air of Autumn washes over his face. He breathes in the scent of fallen leaves and actually notices a difference, this time.

He's feeling bold, he realizes. Scenarios of how he could get in trouble for not asking flash in his mind, but he notices he doesnt really care in the moment.

Gregory, like how telepathic he feels sometimes, notices too. He grins, acknowledging the significance, and nods, bringing out his phone. "Let me call my Dad and we'll swing by your house to grab you a bag."

Evan nods, smiling himself. He plays with the plastic of the bag in-between his fingers, peeking at Davey through the gaps.

"When we get home, I'll make some popcorn and hot chocolate, and then you gotta watch this movie with me. I watch it every year for Halloween."

Evan nods repeatedly, smile already growing on his face. After today, hes sure itll be fun.

They sit on the curb, leaves floating through the breeze, and a light sprinkle starts just in time for Freddy to pull into the driveway.

They hop in the car and Evan watches the scenery outside, looking at people decorations and imagining how he'd carve his own pumpkin, or ice his own cookies.

He'd never cared before now. He'd never cared because he'd never been given the chance to. But now he does. And all he's thinking about is how much 'going home' with Gregory feels right.

ao3 link

bonus: this is Davey

#i imagine while evan was unhappier stuck with only people who at most tolerate him #any sort of holiday spirit he could feel he isnt.#hes so miserable and is worried about othet things so much he doesnt have it in him to care. especially when it isnt worth it to try #but this is what its all about! doing stupid stuff with ur best friend. this isnt anything flashy #just what u would actually do hanging out with ur bff.#this is earlier in their relationship #so evan isnt as comfortable just dumping why hes uncomfortable about certain things on gregory.#that worry of gregory realizing how weird and annoying and sensitive he is and turning on him is still there.#it wont be long though so. they get there #you can totally bet they had shared custody over Davey #(gregory kept him at his house because evan didnt want something to happen to him at his house)#pandas writes #oneshot #halloween #flashlight duo #flashlight duo modern au #gregory and evan #fnaf gregory #evan afton #my fics

28 notes · View notes

hum-suffer · 6 months

Text

Home is an escaped convict

Savi is walking with Rati. The clouds above are turning dark suspiciously fast and Savi curses the incorrect weather news— she has her laundry drying in the goddamn backyard. She hopes it won't rain before she manages to reach home.

It's when she sees that kid Harry running that she stops short.

She doesn't know much of him, only ever knows him because he used to trail after that horrid woman— Petunia Dursley. Savi remembers the confused look the boy had when his supposed aunt insulted Savi for the first time. Before that, during their short isolated meeting, Harry had always known her as the woman who always had flowers on her.

She began seeing him less and less over the years as she was posted from place to place and only heard from the neighborhood that he was in a boarding school for some troublemaking boys. It's only three years ago that she requested a work from home documents verification work because of Nathaniel's death, in order to look after Rati.

But right now, Harry is running with Dudley in tow, the other kid almost stumbling over his steps.

They're running from something.

Her fingers go on the gun that she always carries at her waist holster and Savi pushes Rati behind her. "Close your eyes, baccha. Run as far as you can if I tell you to, okay?"

She hears her daughter's assenting whimper.

She removes the gun from the holster and undoes the safety. Harry seems to see her as she takes a firmer stance and he looks panicked even more. They're nearing her.

Her wound starts to go chill and ache at her knee. She doesn't know why but she feels dread curl up in her spine. Behind her, Rati wraps her arms around Savya's thigh and starts silently crying. The tears at the back of her trousers burn her like acid.

"Ms. Mikaelson!" Harry shouts at her frantically as he nears. He seems even more panicked. She can't see anyone behind them— he probably threw them off or they stopped persuing.

Harry stops dead mere twenty feet away and as absolutely crazy as it sounds, Savi sees something akin to a ghost hovering above the two kids. Two other entities that look identical corner the boys and Savi doesn't know what to do. It looks like a hooded rotten skeleton.

Her wound burns under the colder temperature and Savi readjusts her hold. She sends a mental prayer to Shiva and takes a deep breath.

Dudley falls down, unconscious, and Harry whips out a stick. She doesn't know what it's gonna do but she hopes he intents to stick it in the eyes of the entity, hopefully to slow it down.

Savi tries to move but her hands seen frozen. Behind her, she feels Rati's tiny fists around her pant legs.

For her, she tells herself as she sees Harry fall to his knees as well. As she struggles to move, to overcome the paralysis that has taken over her, she sees the figure lean down to Harry, still hovering in air.

The gun is loaded and with all the might she has, Savi raises her arm.

She shoots.

The entity that was hovering above Harry screams and shrieks— something that makes Savi want to kneel as well. She barely holds on, grabbing Rati's fist in her free hand.

The entity turns to ashes and crumbles, falling onto Harry and the pavement.

Harry shoots her a panicked look but lifts the fucking useless stick and waves it, probably preparing to throw it at the other one. Savi raises her hand again, the rebounding pain from the shot was normal once but Rati isn't used it now. She fights through it and gets ready to shoot again just as Harry shouts something.

She doesn't catch what he's saying but some light comes from the stick—is it some new torch?— and the whispy white light flows like a river and turns to a motherfucking stag.

The stag chases off the other two hooded entities.

Slacked jawed, Savi blinks thrice before she rushes towards Harry, mindful of her pace since Rati's hand is in hers.

"Harry!" She calls him beforehand to alert her about her proximity in case he is in shock. "Kid, you okay? Dudley?"

Harry is shaking, trembling extremely obviously all over and Savi kneels beside him instinctively. "Can you breathe with me, kid?"

She takes an obviously deep breath and continues the exercise until he starts to copy her. Meanwhile, Rati goes over to Dudley. Out of the corner of her eye, Savi sees Rati put her hand on the boy's chest— probably listening for his heartbeat. Her clever little girl.

When Harry finally stops shaking.

"Thank you, Ms. Mikaelson." He sighs shakily. He gets up and looks down at his cousin, still sweating and his t-shirt clinging to him. Rati makes a gesture that Savi recognises as 'sleep'. Harry makes a questioning noise.

"The boy is unconscious," Savi says. "Come, I'll help you two get home." Rati stomps her foot. "Apologies, I mean we will help you."

"You...you saw them." He says it almost unbelievably, sounding terrified. "You saw me doing that."

"I did. And you saw me shooting something dead. Balance tallied." She tries to brush it off as something that she won't lose sleep over because it obviously isn't even her top ten moments of horror. She can deal with hodded rotting corpses. She just hates Rati was anywhere near this.

Behind them, they hear a thud of something falling. Savi points her gun at the noise, aware that those entities may be back.

It's just Mrs. Figg.

____________________________________________________

Savi doesn't know what's gotten into Mrs. Figg but if she doesn't stop victim blaming the fifteen year old child, Savi will sin and hit the fucking old goat.

She keeps muttering something about some dude called Dumbledore and something about someone called Mundungus. Beside her, Rati childishly giggles at the word Dung. Savi doesn't chastise her at all, busy slugging around the unconscious teen.

"You do realise that this boy is a child and you're making him slug around his cousin?" Savi interrupts her on going scardy rant,"You should be acting like an adult and taking Dudley's other side, not forcing Harry to carry half of him."

Mrs. Figg huffs. "I am in my old-age. I'm sure you will know."

"I have a bullet lodged in my kneecap." Savi deadpans and pointedly looks at the arm of the boy around her shoulders she's using to support the kid.

Mrs. Figg colours with a blush but doesn't move to elivate Harry's burden.

Bitch.

____________________________________________________

Savi ignores the fussing and shouting of the Dursley parents and goes to leave the house with her daughter the moment she deposits their son on an arm chair but takes a look at Harry.

"I'm going to wait up till midnight," she whispers to Harry discreetly as Petunia wails about her son and her husband goes off to get water,"if your bedroom light goes on and off thrice at midnight, I'll come resuce you. Same if I don't see you at the park overmorrow."

Harry looks surprised.

"I'll come for you, kid, I promise."

Because she has a child too. And the bruise at Harry's throat isn't how any child should be treated, ever. And she thinks it absolutely matches the shape of Vernon's hand.

Harry nods jerkily, almost robotic in motion. Rati waves bye at him and he flashes her a quick smile.

____________________________________________________

It's far before midnight. She plans to go to the Dursley's in two hours, just in case Harry needs her earlier than planned.

Rati shifts in Savi's arms and she hears a knock at the door. She grabs the gun from under her pillow and moves out of the bed as swiftly as she can, making sure to put Rati nearer to the wall so she doesn't fall.

She creeps downstairs just as there's another, more urgent and more firm knock.

"Who's it?" She asks, hand on the table near the end of the stairs which holds a knife for situations like these.

"It's Harry, Ms. Mikaelson."

It's the kid, yeah, but he sounds nervous. Savi keeps her gun out as she opens the locks on the door and pulls it open. She has it instantly trained on the man standing behind Harry.

He's tall with sandy hair, perhaps her age, and has something about his aura that makes her hand stand on her arms. He reeks of danger.

"Ms. Mikaelson, don't shoot! He's my friend!" Harry says, panicked. "He said he wants to explain to you about the dementors, please, it would be a huge help for me, ma'am!"

"Deme what now?" Savi doesn't lower her gun but she looks at Harry. "I want to help you, kid, I do. But I need to know I can trust a stranger with my privacy and my family."

The man bows his head. "If it helps, I promise that you needn't invite me beyond this hallway. I will stay in your line of sight and I do not ask you to let go of your weapon."

Savi hears a tink upstairs, the thing that she'd taught Rati to signal that she is awake. She clenchs her jaw.

"I was in the army," she says,"I will blow your brains out and know how to hide your body if I see you making some unwanted actions."

He nods, completely serious. Harry gapes at her and she regrets that she has to do this in front of a child but Rati's safety matters more.

"You don't leave my sight." She says as she opens the door wider. She spies similar sticks in both their hands and narrows her eyes. "Give your play sticks over, messers."

"Ma'am—" Harry starts to speak but the man sighs and puts a hand on his shoulder. Reluctantly, Harry passes over his stick to the man, who hands them to her.

"You've got five minutes, boys."

____________________________________________________

Remus, the sandy haired guy, had to show her that he could teleport before she trusted that they could do magic. Hearing Harry plead that her testimony would be extremely useful to plead self defence in his case of apparently performing magic without authorisation had made her melt.

Savi wishes that it wasn't the case as she walks into a grossly populated house. Harry is smothered with greetings and smiles but he doesn't stray from Savi's side. She's grateful, one hand holding Rati while other stays at Harry's elbow.

He only detaches himself from her when another man, a brunett this time, comes forward. He's got shoulder length hair and he looks lanky in a way that screams of malnourishment and Savi thinks she's seen him somewhere.

Her heart starts to beat faster in her chest as she realises just who Harry is hugging for dear life. She doesn't interrupt the moment but fingers her gun at her thigh holster.

"Harry," she says as he untangles from the beaming man,"why are you hugging an escaped convict?"

The cheerful atmosphere freezes and something hostile burns in the air. The man, she doesn't remember his name, gazes at her with piercing silver eyes. "And you would be?"

"The only goddamn adult in his life who asked him if he was alright after being attacked." She glances at the way the man has his hand on Harry's shoulder but Harry seems completely relaxed— at home, even.

"Ms. Mikaelson, he is innocent!" Harry says frantically as his eyes go to her gun. "He was framed, I swear on this. He didn't even have a trial! The real culprit is someone else, please, trust me!"

"My friend is a victim of injustice, Ms. Mikaelson." Remus says, eyes blazing,"I understand your mistrust, but please, listen to the us."

The man she doesn't remember the name of scoffs. Savi keeps looking at Harry. "You'll explain what's going to me, and I promise to listen. I trust you, kid. Give me the truth."

A woman, ginger hair and wrinkles on her face, tries to usher them all inside. She touches Rati's shoulder and Savi instantly lifts her daughter in her arms. Her hand shoots out and she keeps the woman's hand away from Rati. "I'm going to stay nearest to the bloody exit. And the next time anyone tries to touch my daughter without her express permission, ask Harry what a gun can do."

Savi backs herself nearer to the door and let's Rati hide her face in her shoulder as Harry gives a rushed account of apparently what happened when some old ass dark lord killed his parents.

Sirius, she finds the man is called, flinches at points in the story. Savi sees his hand on Harry's shoulder tighten and tremble.

"I'm sorry you lost so much." She says at last, adjusting her sleeping daughter in her arms. "And I apologise for doubting you, Harry."

By this, they're the only people in the corridor, except for a pair of twin ginger haired boys that Savi thinks are the audacious woman's sons. "It's alright," Harry says bitterly,"At least you trust my word for it."

"Now that that's cleared with," Sirius says, eyes glinting,"who are you?"

"Ex-Sergeant Savya Mikaelson." She answers, shifting her jaw as if it could throw out the harsher accent she adopts during army business. "I live in Privet Drive, I've seen Harry around since he was a kid. Don't see him around much now— probably due to that school of witchiness."

"Magic." Remus corrects.

Savi waves him off.

____________________________________________________

Rati briefly wakes up when Harry shouts at his friends about abandoning him after he witness his arch nemisis kill his friend.

The only defense they have is that someone, that fucking Dumbledore guy Figg was talking about, told them not to. It's during their weak defense that Rati wakes up and shifts, probably wanting to be put down.

Savya sets her down on her lap. "And what does my sweetheart want?"

Rati shows her throat and rubs it, a sign she copied off Nathaniel. Savi drops a kiss to her forehead and asks a newly dubbed Tonks to get her a glass of water.

She's only thankful that Rati has school off for the summer. Such interrupted sleep will make her cranky and irritated tomorrow (or is it today?). While Savi helps Rati drink some water, she hears more people enter the kitchen.

She spots Harry being ushered by the previous woman, Mrs. Weasley, and she waves him near.

Rati gives him an excited wave and grins at him. Harry chuckles back but Savi knows it's strained at best. He's tired and angry and probably drained, that poor boy.

"I hate to ask this of you, kiddo," she says, completely ignoring how Sirius and Remus immediately turn to keep track of Harry. "But can you look after Rati for sometime while I gather some more information over your situation? If you don't understand what she's trying to say, give her a pen and a paper, she will write it down."

Rati, that absolute clown, mimics writing something on the table. Savi recognises it as the Hindi word for 'tired'. She chuckles and kisses her head again. Rati sticks her tongue out at Savi. Harry laughs, freer now, and nods.

Rati readily hops down from Savi's lap and latches onto Harry's outstretched hand. Savi stops them with a hand on Harry's elbow. "No one but you touches her, okay?" Harry looks hesitant for a moment and she fully considers taking her daughter away but he nods and then nods again more firmly, pulling Rati closer.

She gives him a nod back and watches as he talks to her quietly as they walk, ignoring his friends altogether.

____________________________________________________

23 notes · View notes