#I remember in the third or fourth book September meets like | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

amaya-chwan · 3 years

Text

Takeaways from Therapy Game Restart 14 + Illustration Book Release Date

Hello again everyone! ❤️💛💜

It's finally here... chapter 14! In all its glory! 😍🥰✨

Before we get to our takeaways, just some news I missed in the last post!

🎉 SENSEI'S ILLUSTRATION BOOK WILL BE RELEASED AROUND THURSDAY, 23RD SEPTEMBER! 🎉

Image taken from this Twitter post from Dear+!

It is titled "日ノ原巡イラスト集　DARLING" and boasts a collection of illustrations from Sensei's works so far: Secret XXX, Therapy Game, and Kamisama no Uroko.

The current price is ¥2970 with tax (¥2700 without tax). If you'd like to preorder it on your proxy shopping service, I've found it on the Comi Comi Studios website here! The bonus for purchasing it on this website is a B5 clear file~ I haven't seen it on Animate just yet, so fingers crossed it'll appear on their website soon with another (different) bonus! ❤️💛

Alright, with this amazing news done, let's move onto our takeaways, the long awaited takeaways! Thank you for being so patient with me! 💜

My short life update: currently in week 8 of lockdown and I haven't left my house in a long time other than for exercise or groceries. But I do have my vaccination appointment booked so YAY! 🎉

Here are our takeaways for this chapter:

Oh man, we pick right up from the last page of chapter 13. MINATO, BB, YOU LOOK SO PAINED! 😭

Sensei is the BIGGEST tease... that's all we got of that Minato and Shizuma scene...👀😭

The female staff at the veterinary hospital have really mellowed out! They're not bad, after all. ☺️

Oh dear, Nakajou-sensei, please get better ASAP!

Whoa... did Onodera just...?? I'm starting to think back to that Onodera discussion we had a couple of months ago... 🤔

Poor Shizuma, always roped into Onodera's workplace stuff! IT'S BECAUSE YOU HAVE GREAT PEOPLE SKILLS, SHIZUMA! PROUD OF YOU! 😍🙌

Man, Onodera has a really... blunt way of saying things to her human clients. Wow, brave. 😲

But I will say, Onodera really is good with animals. 🙌

Yet again, I think about that Onodera discussion we had... 🤔🤔

And that’s it for this chapter’s takeaways! For a more detailed breakdown/summary of this chapter, please continue after the cut! There may or may not be a surprise scene (or two) there. Please keep reading if you want to see~ 😉✨

Our chapter begins where we left off in chapter 13--Minato pinning Shizuma down on the bed. Shizuma looks up at Minato and reflects on his actions that caused the pained look he is seeing.

Image taken from this Dear+ Twitter post!

On the next page (title page), the dialogue reads: Shizuma wants to understand what it is about his director (Onodera) that is making Minato uneasy. // However, that beautiful liar hides it well...

(I believe we are taken back to the morning before Shizuma and Minato meet up for their date.)

The title page features Onodera walking back to the clinic, bread in hand, with a cat cozying up on her leg. We are then brought to the clinic's lunchroom, with the female staff and Shizuma on break. The roster in the room shows that Onodera is extremely busy, Nakajou-sensei has afternoon house call appointments, Tatsumi is Nakajou-sensei's support for these appointments, and Shizuma has a half day and finishes in the afternoon in lieu of working on his scheduled day off.

Shizuma asks his coworkers what presents they like from their partners and takes note of their answers. One of the female nurses asks if it's Minato's birthday. Shizuma confesses that their relationship has been affected by the various things happening lately, so he wants to get Minato a gift before seeing him later that day.

The nurses quickly pick up that the gift is a "tribute" of sorts as this line of work means a lot of missed appointments and dates, and Shizuma confirms their suspicions. While the nurses realise male-male relationships and male-female relationships aren't that different in this aspect, everyone in the lunchroom is alerted to someone shouting Nakajou-sensei's name.

Shizuma and a nurse see Tatsumi with Nakajou-sensei, who has collapsed on the floor. While the staff are concerned about Nakajou's well-being, she brushes it off as a dizzy spell. Before they can help her up, Onodera sweeps her off her feet and carries Nakajou to her (Onodera's) office. While Nakajou asks Onodera to put her down out of sheer embarrassment, Shizuma and Tatsumi are in shock, with Tatsumi commenting on Onodera's manliness in that moment. One of the other nurses gently smacks Shizuma's shoulder and tells the two to grab a blanket and a drink for Nakajou.

In her office, Onodera asks Nakajou why she's been overworking herself to the point of collapsing. The nurse (who gave the gentle smack) very obviously hints to Onodera that it is her fault. As Nakajou calms the nurse by saying that's just how the director is, Tatsumi asks Nakajou about their afternoon appointments. She says she'll be fine to go after a little rest, but the nurse says she mustn't overexert herself.

After a few back and forths about who should go and the clients' needs/personality (picky about the vet, had a pet that doesn't like men, etc), Onodera says she will go. The nurses are shocked and reminisce about all the issues they've had when Onodera interacts with the owners. Tatsumi and Shizuma stand there, and can very clearly imagine those situations happening.

While Onodera rearranges and informs the nurses of the shift changes to accommodate Nakajou-sensei, Shizuma has a terrible premonition that unfortunately comes true: he is appointed as Onodera's support for the afternoon house calls.

Wearing a sulky expression, Shizuma packs the necessary equipment in Onodera's car and reminds her that he has a very important engagement that night that he cannot miss, and as such will leave immediately after the house call appointments are done. Onodera bursts his bubble, and tells him to give up on those plans while he can since this is the line of work he's chosen.

As Shizuma reads the client files, he questions Onodera on why he is her support when he's never attended to these clients before. While Onodera tells him that good coordination is important with a physician's support and that he's the only one she can rely on to give her an honest opinion and calm the clients, Shizuma realises that he's basically the mediator between her and the owners. She confirms that this is his strong point, has great expectations for him, and proceeds to drive. Shizuma then reads the patient files at lightning speed, realising there's a threatening 'something' that Minato has sensed, but that's just how the director is. He then vows to make it to their meeting tonight, no matter what.

The first three house calls, as expected, involve Onodera insulting and angering the owners--Onodera tells the first client that his insistence on seeing Nakajou rather than a 'young' director is having a negative effect on his pet who needs immediate medical care; Onodera offends the second client, inferring from their conversation that her pet's appearance is more important than the need to shave their fur and get an ultrasound done; Onodera accuses the third client of being irresponsible in caring for his exotic animals and asks for more effort on his part. In all three scenarios, Shizuma awkwardly smiles while trying to ease the tension.

The scene skips to Onodera and Shizuma arriving at their fourth and final house call for the day. Just as Onodera explains to Shizuma that she must check a whole host of things at house calls (and indirectly be too blunt about it with the owners), Shizuma asks her to consider the owner's feelings and change when and how she says things. She glares ahead in silence, and Shizuma is just glad that she is now aware of it. He again reminds her to talk with the owner nicely and gently as he probably won't be able to help with the next client as their pet dislikes men. Onodera tells him to just sit in the corner and witness the client become furious while he doesn't help, making him feel slightly guilty for saying that. He is now adament on not helping her.

They reach the owner's home and we meet an elderly woman named Shiratori and her 9-year-old male cat, Tono. Shiratori apologises to Shizuma as her cat doesn't like men. Tono hisses at them as Onodera opens his cage, but is then coaxed into submission by Onodera who covers his vision with a towel and takes him into her lap to calm down. Shiratori and Shizuma are surprised at his sudden docile nature, with Shizuma witnessing how well she deals with animals.

As Shizuma looks on at Onodera while she completes a check on Tono, he sees she is crumbling at the friendliness and talkative nature of Shiratori, who sings nothing but praise for Onodera and how her family must be proud to have such an amazing daughter. Aiming to ease her troubles and remembering the earlier guilt-trip she gave him, he redirects Shiratori's attention to her broken fly screen and offers to fix that plus everything else that needs repair in her home.

Onodera watches as the two leave the room for a bit before apologising to Tono for ignoring him. Tono looks on at Onodera happily while she asks him how he can live with such a lively human and to tell her his secret to this. She brings him into her arms once more to check his limbs, and as Tono looks up smiling at Onodera, Onodera sees her reflection in Tono's eyes, and both seem to realise something.

BG Text: Stare...

Suddenly, Shizuma and Shiratori, who are busy fixing the window, hear a loud crash and rush into the room to find Tono atop the cabinet and Onodera on the floor, with her hair in disarray. In the next panel, Tono is shown to be hiding in the bookshelf, looking on irritatingly at the humans. Shiratori apologises to Onodera, who shakes it off and says it's nothing to worry about and no harm's been done.

Shiratori asks if Onodera will fix/tie her hair up again, but when Onodera says her hair tie was broken when Tono used her as a launchpad to get on the cabinet, Shiratori runs to get her a new one. As Shiratori gushes over the 3 piece dopey looking character hair tie set she received as a present from her grandchild (and lets Onodera pick one), a greatly displeased look is plastered on Onodera's face. Shizuma, in shock, notices her displeasure and hopes she just thanks Shiratori for it. And Onodera does, bringing a great big smile to Shiratori's face.

As Onodera and Shizuma leave, Shiratori says she's glad to have talked with Onodera and invites her to come over again. As she says this, we see Onodera looking back with a blank look in her eyes.

And that’s it for this chapter! THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR! 💜 While I was surprised at the lack of Minato in this chapter (Sensei legit is such a tease, LOL 🤣), I'm happy we can learn more about Onodera. Ngl, I'm starting to really question if Onodera is male or female now, given what transpired in this chapter. I guess we shall see in the next one!

I also changed the formatting a bit and removed the bullet points. Please let me know which format is better/easier to read! Ahah!

EDIT: Spelling and grammar checks are done! Didn't change a lot, but hope it reads better! 💜

📢 As always, please support Hinohara-sensei by purchasing her books and CDs! 📢

And please also refrain from resharing these translations and images outside of this post! Thank you for understanding! ❤️💛

There won't be a chapter in next month's (September release) Dear+, so I shall see you in two months for the next chapter (Dear+ November Issue, to be released in October).

As always, stay safe during these turbulent times and look out for each other and for your loved ones! 💜❤️💛

97 notes · View notes

iliveiloveiwrite · 4 years

Text

Matchmakers

Request: Heey, could I maybe request a professor remus x professor reader where maybe he saves her from something? Maybe she's walking on the grounds and something goes to attack her or a student casts a rouge spell in the corridor? I really love your work btw!

A/N: I loved this request! I can only hope I’ve done it justice. I didn't know if you wanted a romantic relationship so I’ve brought one in but if you don't like it, I don't mind writing another for you! I also feel like the reader could be a bit harsh in this but the teacher within me came out! Sorry!

Pairing: Remus Lupin x Fem!Reader

Warnings: none really

Word count: 3.1k

Your history with Remus Lupin spanned years having become friends in your Second Year of Hogwarts. You had also known James, Sirius and Peter – it still hurt to think of what had been lost. Of the four Marauders, you were closest with Remus. You had connected over a shared love of books and chocolate and from there, a close and dear friendship had blossomed.

A year after your graduation you had applied for a teaching position within Hogwarts; Dumbledore remembered you fondly and the interview had been a success. You were quickly offered the job which you happily accepted.

Time swiftly passed in the corridors of the school for witchcraft and wizardry; meeting new students, saying goodbye to old. You were not ashamed to admit that you teared up a little the moment you saw Harry Potter walk into the Great Hall; the spitting image of James with Lily’s eyes. When he was sorted into Gryffindor, you knew that James and Lily were watching their son from wherever their souls had gone to.

Hogwarts was in need of a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and they were in need desperately. You also knew of a man who had need of employment; Remus Lupin struggled after the deaths of James and Lily and the events that followed. However, he struggled more getting paid employment due to the discrimination laws against Werewolves. Putting two and two together, you suggested to Dumbledore of appointed Remus as the new DADA Professor. Dumbledore took your suggestion seriously, and a letter arrived a week later from Remus himself, saying that he would see you in September.

His arrival was bittersweet; the closeness between the two of you had faded somewhat despite the common letters exchanged passed between the both of you, but the sight of him helped to heal an old wound within you. Time had passed so fast since the death of James and Lily and the loss of Sirius and Peter. Almost overnight, it had been you and Remus left; people would remember James, Lily, Sirius, and Peter but not quite like how you and Remus would. His arrival at Hogwarts brought old memories back to the surfaces; ones he was more than happy to talk about on an evening. The closeness you had both experienced through your education at Hogwarts was soon rekindled.

A routine rapidly developed between you and Remus; on a morning, he would wait for you by the door to your living quarters so you both could head to breakfast together. On an evening, you saved a seat for him at the teacher’s table. It was inevitable that the students would notice and start to question the closeness. It never seemed to bother Remus; even when you raised the subject to him one evening, he simply shrugged and said that teenagers will be teenagers and they will gossip about anything.

It is on a Friday morning that Harry, Hermione and Ron witness Remus’ and yours routine up close. They’re sitting on one of the many benches before their first lesson of the day. As you and Remus walk past, they all wish you a good morning. You wish them one back before returning your attention to Remus.

“I’ll see you at lunch.” You say.

Remus nods, smiling down at you. You blush at the look on his face, he had this way of making you feel as if you were the only one there. The two of your parted ways to head to your classrooms, a quick brush of your fingers against his as a goodbye for now.

Harry, Hermione and Ron were now invested in what they were seeing. They had never thought of their teachers to have a personal life; they simply thought that they lived and worked in the castle and that was that. Now that they saw this, they couldn’t help but be intrigued.

“I never realised just how close Professor Lupin and Professor (Y/L/N) were.” Harry states.

Hermione hits Harry on the shoulder, “Don’t be so clueless! They totally fancy each other! It’s obvious.”

Harry rubs at his shoulder, glaring at Hermione, “How?”

Hermione shakes her head at him, “Look at them. Her touches lingered longer than they should have and look at how he smiled at her. It was like she was the only one there.”

Ron frowns, “How have you seen all of this?”

Hermione sighs, “Honestly. You’re both so clueless. I’m telling you know, they’re both in love with each other. I doubt they’ve told one another either. Oh! It’s so exciting!”

Ron looks at Hermione as if she’s grown another head. She grins widely at both the boys, “We have to get them together!”

Ron shakes his head, “No, nope. I do not want to get involved in a romantic plot between teachers. Not my thing.”

Harry nods his head, agreeing with everything Ron says. Hermione frowns at both of them, “We could be helping out our two favourite professors!”

Ron looks at Harry, “She isn’t going to drop this until we agree.”

Harry nods, “I know.”

Ron sighs, “Okay, we’ll do this, but that’s it. No more teacher romance, it’s gross.”

Luckily for Ron, Hermione explains that the plan could be put into action fairly fast. They had your class before break – the perfect opportunity, Hermione illuminates, plenty of time before their next lesson to ask you some questions.

Harry, Hermione and Ron corner you after their lesson the same day, “How do you know Professor Lupin so well?”

“I was at school with him,” You turned your eyes to Harry, “I was friends with him and your father, Harry. I knew both of your parents.”

It was almost immediate, the change in Harry. “You were?”

You smiled sadly, “I was. James used to make sure that I ate when it came to exams because he knew that I would spend more time in the library instead of eating or sleeping.”

Hermione interjected, “So you knew Sirius Black as well?”

You frowned at the mention of the Marauder you thought you had known, “I did. Or at least, I thought I did. Anyway, what does this have to do with anything?”

“We’ve seen you and Professor Lupin together. We thought there was more to your relationship.”

“We are friends, nothing more. I don’t see how that is an appropriate topic for students.”

The trio had the decency to blush at this. Ron, however, gained his confidence back quicker than both Harry and Hermione, “We aren’t blind, Professor. Both you and Lupin have a thing for each other. It’s sickening actually, it’s put me off my breakfast more than once.”

You frown at the Weasley, “Thank you for your assessment, Ronald. I can assure there is nothing between me and Professor Lupin other than a long friendship.”

“But you wish there was.” Harry states.

“Again, I don’t think this is an appropriate topic. And look, it’s time for next period, off you go you three and please try to stay out of other teacher’s personal lives.”

“It’s okay Professor, we won’t tell Professor Lupin you like him.” Ron promises as he leaves your classroom.

You shake your head in disbelief as the trio leave. You never realised that your feelings for Remus were obvious; so obvious that even the students had picked up on them. You and Remus had quickly confessed to the other than you harboured romantic feelings for the other. Your relationship came naturally after that; the both of you agreeing to keep your relationship a secret from the students, but not the teachers.

You shake your head again, heading to your living quarters. There was a pile of exam papers that needed to be marked which seemed to be getting bigger and bigger by the day. All teachers are Hogwarts dreaded exam time just as much as the students; despite being the one to set the questions, it never made marking any easier.

Opening the door to your living quarters, it was a nice surprise to see Remus already there sitting on the couch, marking Fourth Year homework. You press a kiss to his head before heading to the kitchen to make yourself a coffee knowing that the caffeine would be needed to get through the next few hours of marking.

“Kettle’s just boiled, my love.” Remus shouts to you.

You bite your lip at the use of the pet name. You were certain it was your favourite despite the myriad of others he used. “Thank you, darling. Do you want a drink?”

“I’d love a tea.”

“One tea coming up!”

Heading back to the couch, a drink in each hand, you hand Remus his before taking a sip of yours. You sigh happily and lean back into the couch; Remus places a hand on your thigh and rubs comforting circles there.

“What are your plans for the rest of the day?” You ask, the clock had barely struck eleven, but you had finished with your lessons for today. You appreciated it when days were light with teaching, so you get ahead on any organisation – or have a nap, which is exactly what you wanted to do.

“I’m teaching last period, but free until then. I wanted to get ahead on some marking, you don’t mind that I came up here, do you?”

You lean forward to press a chaste kiss to his lips, “I don’t mind at all.”

He pulls you in for another kiss, and another kiss, and another kiss. You start to see where this is going, and pull away completely, “Remus, we have so much marking to do.”

He sighs, “I know. What are your plans for the rest of the day?”

You point to the large pile of exam papers, “I’m marking those and then I’m going to sleep.”

Remus hums, “I like the sound of that. Other than the last bit, can I ask a favour, darling?”

“Of course.”

“Would you help me in my last lesson today. It’s Third Year, dark creature.”

You nod, “Sure, I’ll help you.”

You start to chuckle as you think back to the conversation you had earlier with Harry, Hermione and Ron.

“What’s so funny?” Remus asks, smiling already.

“Some of the students are on to us.”

Remus arches an eyebrow, “Oh yeah?”

You nod, “I was approached by Harry, Hermione and Ron not even half an hour ago asking whether I had feelings for you.”

Remus laughs. That sound has quickly become your favourite in the months of your relationship. “I bet that was an interesting conversation.”

“It was. I can’t get over just how much he looks like James and Lily, Remus.”

Remus’ hand returns to your thigh, rubbing gently, “I know exactly what you mean. He’s a perfect combination of the both of them.”

The rest of the time before Remus’ lesson was spent working through the pile of exam papers. OWLs were a marker for students for which subjects to take to NEWTs – from the looks of it, you could have pretty full classes from Sixth Year with the amount of effort placed into the exam papers.

Remus rubs his eyes around ten minutes before the start of his lesson. The aftermath of the full moon two weeks before was still affecting him, but you knew he was working through it and you would help in any way you could.

Standing, you grab Remus’ hand and pull him up. Pressing a kiss to his cheek, you utter, “Let’s go see you in action, Professor Lupin.”

He grins widely, he adores his job. He adores it because he loves teaching, but also because it brought him to you.

Entering the classroom, you can’t help but notice Hermione whisper to Harry about your presence in the classroom.

“Afternoon class. I know last lesson of the day, but let’s power through shall we?” Remus claps his hands together, calling attention from the class, “Today’s lesson will focus on Red Caps; our lesson today will focus solely on the description of the Red Cap

“Sir?” Hermione’s hand in the air.

“Yes, Miss Granger?”

“Why is Professor (Y/L/N) here if we are simply describing features and threats of a Red Cap?”

“Red Caps are nasty creatures. They are known only to dwell where blood has been spilt and will lure Muggles to their death before dipping their cap in their blood hence the name Red Cap. I’ve invited Professor (Y/L/N) as a precaution.”

Hermione seems satisfied with the answer because they are no follow up questions. Remus throws a smile in your direction before heading into the back room to grab the Red Cap. He returns a moment later with a Red Cap in a cage.

“As distressing as it looks, the Red Cap will be released into the Forbidden Forest after this lesson. He won’t come into any harm here. Any questions on your tasks for today? None? Okay, feel free to come to the front and take some notes on the physicality of the Red Cap before consulting pages 66-70 of your textbook on the threats a Red Cap can pose to Muggles and Wizards.”

The class seem hesitant to move. You shift so you stand on the other side of the Red Cap.

“Both professors are here, you are safe to come up and look.” Remus reassures.

Harry stands first, bringing his notebook and quill with him. Slowly, the class start to follow. They’re quickly engaged with the task, conversations happening about what they can see.

You and Remus take a step back, keeping an eye on the class at all times. Hermione nudges Ron as she notices the closeness between the two of you; Ron rolls his eyes at her before asking Harry what he’s written so far.

Hermione pulls Harry and Ron to one side, whispering an idea to them. Neither of the boys looked entirely convinced, but they soon start to nod as Hermione continues to explain her plan.

They join the rest of the class. Hermione edges towards the caged Red Cap; it fixes her with a look and for a moment, she doesn’t want to go through with her plan. She discreetly pulls her wand from her robes and whispers the unlocking charm. The locks on the cage and on the Red Cap’s feet unlock – a testament to her power.

You and Remus realise what she has done too late. The Red Cap bursts free from its cage and all hell breaks loose. Students start running for the door. Remus shouts for calm, some students listen but remain close to the door in case of the need for a quick exit.

You try to wrangle the Red Cap back into its cage; an idea it does not appreciate because it quickly leaps for you, not giving you any chance to defend yourself magically. Hysteria starts up again at the sight of a Professor fighting with a Red Cap.

“Petrificus Totalus!” Remus shouts.

The Red Cap above you freezes entirely; petrified from Remus’ spell. Remus turns to the class, “After all of that, I think class can be dismissed. Grab your things, students. Harry, Hermione, Ron, please wait a moment.”

The colour drains from the faces of the trio. They didn’t expect for it to go this bad; they didn’t think it would try to hurt you seriously. All they wanted was for Remus to save the creature and you would hopefully confess your feelings for him since you had seen him in a saviour’s light. All three dreaded what was to come next.

Wiping your clothes down, you try to keep your temper in check. You can hear Remus dismissing the rest of the class other than Harry, Hermione and Ron. All three look as if they would rather be anywhere than here.

Remus comes straight to you the minute the final student has left the classroom, “Are you okay?”

You nod, not entirely trusting your voice. He turns towards the trio.

“Who thought of this idea?” Remus asks, calmly.

“We had to take matters into our own hands, you both were so clueless!” Ron cries.

“We got tired of waiting for you both to confess.” Hermione says.

“Confess what?” Remus asks.

“Your feelings for each other!” Ron shouts, “It is so obvious; the whole school already thinks you’re in a relationship.”

Remus looks shocked at the outburst.

“None of this was acceptable behaviour. I hope you are all aware of this. I will be taking 30 points from Gryffindor because of this and you will have an hour’s detention with me every evening next week so make sure your diaries are free.” You state.

“We’re sorry, we didn’t realise that things would get so out of hand.” Harry apologises.

Remus sighs, “Your intentions were good, but your actions were dangerous.”

“We know.” All three say.

“We are really sorry, Professors.” Hermione whispers.

“That’s all for now, head back to the dormitory. Go straight there, no detours please.” You say, dismissing the three students. They grab their belongings quickly, leaving the classroom just as fast.

You sit down at one of the desks, putting your head into your hands. Remus perches on the edge of the desk, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“I can’t believe they did that just for us to confess.” He whispers.

You groan into your hands, “They’re exactly like we were when we were here.”

Remus laughs, “I think they could be worse.”

You pull your hands away from your face, “James and Lily would be so proud of Harry.”

Remus’ hands rubs your shoulder, “They really would.”

You place your hand over his, “I miss them, Remus.”

“I do too.”

“I feel awful for being so harsh, but what they did was not acceptable.”

“All for us to confess.” He says, his hand squeezing your shoulder reassuringly.

“I wonder what they’ll do when they realise that we’ve been in a relationship for three months now.”

Remus laughs, loud and long. He claps his hands together, “That will be a sight to see.”

“Should we tell them?”

A glimmer of mischief lights up in Remus’ eyes, he was one of the original Marauders; the famous mischief makers of Hogwarts. “No, let’s not.”

You chuckle, standing up. Remus pulls you to stand between his legs he places a finger under your chin before he kisses you.

Harry definitely inherited his mischievous streak from his father, but what Hogwarts never truly knew that behind the majority of the pranks played by the Marauders, it was Remus who had planned and instigated them.

You wrap your arms around his neck, whispering to his mouth, “Thank you for saving me.”

“Always, my dear.”

339 notes · View notes

blindrapture · 3 years

Audio

Track 4 from Summer Sucks, part 1. (Because we haven’t made any money, Bandcamp wouldn’t allow an upload of the full 34-minute track.) @rapturebones and I worked together hard on this one.

It’s time to watch the world burn. There’s a Clown named Eugene who has replaced the Pig King, and he intends on reaping the carnage. And there’s another Clown named Veles, a giant made of rock, who seeks an audience with Lucius Sunsetto to tell him some things about the apocalypse.

I: Here Comes The Sun Country glen with shouting men Growing star erases our Liquid lenis leaving only the Ruptured tenebrious loud thundercloud memoir:

RANGI (WHAT THE THUNDER SAYS):

Are you afraid? When we're together I can almost feel you shake. Let me cry for you, though my tears evaporate. Even if the light should destroy us, Wouldn't you... like that? Uh, hm, ahem.

II: The Wind’s An Invisible Jester You left home To satisfy your convic(pass)tion Shun pain, watch, trap it in ice Invisible Jester, come home. I see now, The hurt surrounds us all. To this extent, their flames are meaningless! Clowns falter 'fore impermanence. Invisible Jester, commence. Talk to the wind. When, how, why? White Jester, White Jester Talk to the wind.

Yes, I'm afraid When we are together. I'm afraid my pride forbade me from seeing Exposure to the light hardens victims

Here's a Clown His name's Eugene, eugenicist. "Hey Sunsetto," calling you home "Hey Sunsetto, won't you come home?" Shareholder With dividends in high places, you see. He claims he might be Death. "Hey Sunsetto," calling you home "Hey Sunsetto, you're coming home. Or else!"

III: Ready Your Engine, Eugene Oh, I am too tired for this.

EUGENE:

You're tired Hardwired And burning on flaming wings, money. You're tired Unsteady Overwhelmed You can't win, Pig Bruiser. Nerves fired Not ready There's no chance

ME:

Yes, I'm tired Hardwired Better keep up! Ready your engine, Eugene.

[Lucius kills Eugene.]

See? I'm tired Hardwired And still take down Any Clown.

IV: Ghost of Capitalisms Past So yeah, summer goes on. Archangel calculus, How infinitesimal! To go towards but never reach; How maddening to think you were once heresy!

Growing star closing in Melting cars on saucepan roads I know it's dynamo, not personal Still a sad show. Treading so slow Maybe when Aleph Null is full we'll see the afterglow? From bottom-up is impossible. Adiaphanous number

(VOICE OF) CHORUS:

Trapped in birth aging illness death In suffering, you're mine.

V: Kurentovanje III- Duration Of Inferno Seas flood with blood As Death slays War Rise, second sun Soon even blood will dry up

Somewhere Yggdrasil withers Until it's hard as stone.

VI: Watch For Rolling Rocks VELES:

Out of Yggdrasil a giant I am Veles, king of the rocks Come and sleep under the tree You'll see the workings of Society With Papa, mother under Eshu cenotaph asunder Sky bring horrors, make you wonder Meet with Rangi when comes thunder

Clowns won't bother you under the ground You'll be with your new family In restful slumber, peaceful Lay on your back, wait for landslide Summer comes round The sun comes down Earth is ablaze Mind your young eyes, don't hit your head Or mind your music tastes instead To the Supermarket Yggdrasil, Drop to your knees and pray for skill Pray for balance And pray consumers choose their meal

Sleep under the Earth September Clowns believe just this, remember: "Their anabasis comes at your expenses... Crush them."

ME:

O Goodnight, Yggdrasil Summer's too long for goodbyes But a goodnight may be wise O So goodnight, Yggdrasil Yeah, goodnight Yggdrasil Pray consumers choose their meal Else the Clowns will choose for us.

VELES:

By the third sun, mountains will bake Mighty clouds will eat the atmosphere and choke whatever remains, Leave Earth as toxic wanderer. Fourth cruel sun won't even grant that, Molten rock combust to plasma, Making Earth itself the fifth sun, Solar system hideous beast. Still the stars will not be done, The next two take our gravity, And by the time come is the last one, We will all become as one sun.

VII: Landslide Lay on your back We will all become as one (see Pt 2)

#sunsetters #my music #some of our most beautiful shit.#'watch for rolling rocks' is named after that one mario 64 star.#because i love pannenkoek.

4 notes · View notes

sparklyjojos · 4 years

Text

CARNIVAL recaps [5/13]

Today’s recap: Nemu in pursuit of brains, the Doctor (no, no that one), and the youngest detective possible.

NINE

21 Sept 1996 — 27 Sept 1996

MACHU PICCHU

After the Empire State Building is blown up, big newspapers of the world publish a long letter from RISE to the world. RISE claims they already control the governments. They encourage people to lose their common sense and morals, as only those following their instincts will survive in this “kill or get killed” world. People shouldn’t avert their eyes from how cruel and repulsive they inherently are, but instead contribute to the Crime Olympics—which isn’t just violence for violence’s sake, but a revolution to eradicate “the Beasts”. Every crime in the Olympics should have a proper motive. Criminals who are caught or give themselves up to the police shall be compensated for their trouble. Only those who “believe in their own sense of judgement” will be saved. The only criminals here are those who deny their own crimes. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Even since the JDC explosion, the world’s crime rate and death toll has soared high in what was dubbed the Crime Olympics Phenomenon. UN’s official numbers say that four million people die every single day.

On September 21st, exactly 401 people are found dead in the famous Machu Picchu. It looks like people in the vicinity suddenly stopped what they were doing, stripped naked where they stood, gathered in Machu Picchu, and dropped dead from unexplained heart failure. The seventh skull of the Billion Killer is found at the scene.

On September 24th, Tsukumo Nemu investigates the scene assisted by a translator Pacha Palermo [remember her for much, much later]. Pacha’s father who had been working closely with the president became one of the Billion Killer’s victims.

Nemu remembers the case of the poisoned waiter that she, Jounosuke and Hikimiya got tangled into in Paris. It turned out later that the man hadn’t actually died from poison, but from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Further investigation revealed the presence of several no-brand “corned beef” cans containing human brain tissue in the man’s apartment. The waiter had visited Peru about two weeks before death, so it was concluded that he could have gotten those cans there. Nemu was asked by Dokuson to investigate the matter, and coincidentally arrived in Peru on the same day that the Billion Killer just happened to attack Machu Picchu.

(Speaking of Dokuson, he sure changed things in JDC. First, he introduced a merit system of payment instead of a steady monthly paycheck and announced that whoever didn’t do their job would be kicked out. Second, the detectives now had more freedom in choosing cases and could count on JDC to cover all costs involved. Third, the entrance exam was replaced by a normal interview process, resulting in a flood of new detectives. Fourth, instead of using their old Blue ID Cards, everyone would be given a shiny new IDID (International Detective ID) issued by DOLL to allow swift entry and proceedings in foreign countries.)

Pacha Palermo says that her father’s secretary Luca, who vanished “after those four hundred people were killed in Machu Picchu”, had kept in contact with suspicious Russian men. Nemu’s fuzzy reasoning tells her that something’s off here. She calls Jounosuke (who’s currently bored out of his mind recuperating in his house in Japan), and by consulting his language proficiency learns that Pacha has been mistranslating things on purpose to hide a lot of things from Nemu.

Pacha admits that Luca manipulated her father into getting some highly suspicious corned beef cans and used this fact to blackmail Pacha. Nemu notices that Pacha always says that there were “four hundred” victims in Macchu Picchu instead of four hundred and one. While it’s a nitpick, it’s a bit weird for Pacha to leave out a person, considering her father was one of the victims—almost as if she doesn’t count him as a Billion Killer victim. Nemu theorizes that it was Pacha who killed her father, or perhaps just directed him to go to Machu Picchu while knowing that mass murder would happen, but there’s no clear proof.

Either way, Nemu learns what she came to Peru for: the cans had been sourced from Moscow. She decides to fly to Russia to investigate further.

On the plane she reads the recently released Cosmic by Seiryoin Ryusui, which feels a little strange considering she took part in the case described in it. (The “all characters are fictional” disclaimer at the end is just weird in that context.) JDC is concerned by the book mentioning the Geneijo case, which is considered an L-crime and therefore the public shouldn’t be able to know anything about it. What’s more, this Seiryoin guy already announced that his second novel Joker that would come out in January would describe the Geneijo case in detail. Nobody knows who Seiryoin is—the common theory about him being Minase Nagisa (Dakushoin Ryusui’s twin sister) based on writing style similarity is apparently wrong.

Before Nemu can resume her investigation, she gets surprising news from Dokuson: Yaiba Somahito, the First Group’s leader, has kidnapped a boy from the hospital, run away from Japan with him, and is now moving towards Moscow on the Trans-Siberian Express. Dokuson orders Nemu to meet Yaiba halfway through Russia and put a stop to his madness.

TEN

28 Sept 1996 — 04 Oct 1996

EIFFEL TOWER

The Sanctuary docks at an invisible tower by the name of Tow Dreamer, a grand construction made of orichalcum just like the Billion Killer skulls. From there one can access the main headquarters of RISE, the Moonbow Palace.

White Rook, a.k.a. the Doctor, walks through the dark Moonbow Palace. As always he’s dressed in white and wears a mask—every other executive has a uniform in a different color and never shows their face, so they don’t know the others’ identities. White meets up with Black Rook—the Master—and together they ride the elevator to the top of Tow Dreamer to return to the Sanctuary.

White says that Alive is spreading nicely and it’ll be a while until someone finds an effective vaccine. RISE already has one, of course. They shouldn’t need it as long as they don’t come in contact with Godust, the substance containing the virus.

White and Black enter a place in the Sanctuary called the Cosmic Room to talk with “Mein Fuhrer”. [Seriously, you’re not very slick with the naming.]

The Cosmic Room is dark with many tiny lights spread throughout, so being in it feels like floating in starry space. On a magnetically levitating chair sits the leader Rudolf Strauss, dressed in silver, their face hidden under a realistic mask of a cow [or a bull or an ox, the Japanese word used can mean all these], which brings to mind the Minotaur of Greek mythos. RS speaks through a voice changer, so it’s impossible to guess their gender or age.

The three speak vaguely about “the genius pregnant woman”, wondering if she can become a threat to RISE. RS thinks they won’t have a problem. They already know the future will bring their victory, and now just have to patiently move the game pieces along. RS states that thanks to the Billion Killer, the Beasts shall be eradicated and the era of Gods will begin.

On September 28th, three Dots are sent to Paris to oversee the new Billion Killer case. They mention a case in Moscow in which a murderer thought to be the serial killer Amur Tiger replaced all mannequins in the GUM department store with headless bodies. One of the Dots gets heated and makes a bold comment about how the murderer may have aimed to find and kill a person who had a cow head [clearly taking a jab at RS here], and gets his head promptly blown up.

At exactly 1 PM, the top part of the Eiffel Tower is first cut off like with a knife, then sent flying by several explosions. Yet another skull of the Billion Killer is found at the scene.

Black Rook watches the show from Dragon’s Center, the control room where servants called Machines work with the Sanctuary’s computer and navigation system. Everything is going as planned. The Sanctuary moves towards the Billion Killer’s next target in Russia.

Black looks at another screen, which shows a secret live feed of Ryuuguu Jounosuke.

ELEVEN

19 Oct 1996 — 25 Oct 1996

NIAGARA FALLS

It’s been ten weeks into the Crime Olympics and the death toll has reached 280 million. We’re up to ten Billion Killer attacks with the latest ones in France, Russia, and Great Britain. Ten detective organizations have been blown up; at this point every remaining detective group just evacuates the entire staff near 1 PM on Saturdays, which lets them avoid casualties.

After the case in Russia, the Sanctuary headed to Japan to investigate the “genius pregnant woman”—Hanto Maimu, the former secretary of Ajiro Souji. It seems that the current leader of JDC Yuiga Dokuson is also interested in that certain ability of hers, as he came all the way to the hospital to visit her.

White Rook has been spying on Maimu by pretending to be her new doctor, “Shindou Masato” (this name of course being fake), so he was there when Dokuson visited. He seems impressed by the power of Dokuson’s presence and his ability to manipulate others with words (a bit reminiscent of Black Rook’s way with words), and thinks that if Dokuson joined RISE, he would have surely become the right hand of the leader, as they would certainly match in terms of charisma, blah blah blah, waxing poetics about Dokuson for two pages. [Well, now I know why I saw ship art of these two.]

From what White knows, Maimu has awakened a strange ability on August 10th, the day of the Billion Killer’s first case, that also happened to be her 28th birthday. Maimu was sad about the attack on JDC, but not at all surprised, since she had had a feeling that it happened, as if she subconsciously knew about the explosion as soon as it took place. Her strange feelings kept coming before every subsequent Billion Killer case, each time coming true. Since she always got these vague feelings at exactly 1 PM on Saturday in Japan time, in practice it meant she was predicting the future—1 PM didn’t happen for the majority of the world yet.

It’s estimated that Maimu will give birth around October 25th, in just a week. It’s strange that Maimu’s husband, a bank employee called Tanna Sazen and referred to simply as Danna (lit. “husband”), hasn’t shown up even once since last week, as if he vanished.

Before he was White Rook, the Doctor had been called Endou Naoto. Thinking about names, he remembers what Maimu wants to name her child: Hanto Kuraimu—Crime Hunt. [That’s the most metal name I’ve ever seen, but also means she wants to name her child Crime. Why. Also, there’s an entire part about how this pun doesn’t really work because in Japanese you put the family name first, though in modern times some families westernize their names and put family name last, see Christmas Mizuno as an example.]

White finds it strange that Maimu and Danna apparently thought of only one name, despite her being pregnant with two children. Are they going to call the second kid some variation of the first’s name? Are they going to split it in two somehow? Who knows.

Anyway, White contacts another RISE’s executive Yellow Bishop and learns that Danna’s whereabouts are still unknown, though he seems to be escaping towards Canada. Apparently Danna’s important to understanding just what Maimu’s newly awakened ability really is. Yellow has already mobilized his Dogs to chase him.

Dogs (not to be confused with Dots) are RISE’s spies who spend their entire lives undercover pretending to be normal members of society. (There are also Mice, human test subjects, and Machines, who work under Black to keep the Sanctuary moving, but we’re not going to talk about them now.) Danna is one of the Dogs. It’s not clear how, but he somehow learned about the Billion Killer’s plans and recently run away from his post.

White suspects there might be a secret connection between Yellow and Danna, but it’s hard to guess when he doesn’t even know what Yellow Bishop’s true identity is. Yellow always wears a mask and is quite talented in voice mimicry, so talking with him doesn’t help much.

Tanna Sazen / Danna married Maimu four years ago, technically on orders to try and pull information on JDC from her, but in a lucky turn of events he genuinely fell in love with her. Time passed. Maimu awoke her new ability of prediction. Danna suspected this ability was his fault, somehow originating from his knowledge of RISE’s secret plans, and so he fled.

Right now Danna is in Banff, Alberta, where he once cooperated with a fellow Dog, an Indigenous man living near the lake Minnewanka. Danna hopes his friend can help him hide from RISE. Unfortunately, this turns out not to be the case, and Danna has to flee from his should-be-friends trying to capture him and give him over to RISE. In the end Danna is forced to jump from a cliff into Bow Lake, a dangerous fall no ordinary person should survive.

The pursuers are only able to find Danna’s artificial eye and broken glasses in the lake, but when they report that they haven’t found the body to Yellow, he seems satisfied and orders them to stop the search.

Maimu makes a mistake in predicting the eleventh Billion Killer case. Her feelings tell her that people will vanish at the Victoria Lake in Canada, but something even stranger happens. A giant submarine suddenly surfaces on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, completely empty save for yet another Billion Killer skull. It seems to be the same Robo-Ship that vanished inside the Bermuda Triangle six weeks prior, but without its crew.

Maimu is taking a walk around the hospital when she’s beckoned over by a man wearing a black suit and made to answer a phone. The one calling appears to be the long-missing Ajiro Souji, who assures her that he’s safe and sound, but can’t go around showing his face just yet. Ajiro hints as to where Maimu can find information about her new ability, and ends the call by asking her to wait patiently and believe in his return.

The hint turns out to be… a paragraph in Cosmic, in which the narration makes a stray remark about how one day Maimu’s child would be a “fetus detective” and later an “infant detective”. [So all those times when Seiryoin does what seems like horrendous writing, all those “they couldn’t yet know that X would happen years later”? INTENTIONAL. God, I love metafiction.]

In other words, the one with a strange predictive ability isn’t Maimu; it’s her yet unborn child. That’s why the latest prediction was off—it’s so close to term that little Kuraimu is their own independent person by now and their connection with Maimu has weakened.

Maimu is lost as to how this ability works exactly, but from what Ajiro said, the child had somehow, in some way, inherited the knowledge about RISE’s plans in the form of genetic information from their father Danna, and was instinctively able to tap into it.

Maimu gives birth on October 31st, but contrary to what White said earlier, only one child is born—a baby girl detective already on a “crime hunt”—as if the other has simply vanished.

[>>>NEXT PART>>>]

#sparkly reads carnival #maijo and jdc stuff

2 notes · View notes

cyborgsquirrel · 4 years

Text

Sanctuary: Chapter 16

Pairing: Wolfstar

Summary: The epic tale of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, from their first meeting until their happily ever after.

Link to Prologue

Link to All Chapters

Monday, 20th September 1971, 2:10 pm

Sitting in Charms next to Peter after lunch, Remus felt delighted with himself. His plan had gone perfectly and everyone seemed to be enjoying their transfigured outfits. Even Professor Dumbledore hadn't changed. The morning had gone well. Transfiguration was easy since he'd already mastered the art of changing a material's colour, and Sirius had commented on how good he was at it. Remus had wondered if the boys would suspect him, but so far they seemed to believe the Hogwarts Marauder was someone much older than themselves.

They were now working on the gouging charm Defodio. It was a simple charm, and most of the class had grasped the basics the previous Wednesday, but now Professor Flitwick wanted them to work on their precision and had given each of them a flat piece of wood and asked them to produce a decorative carving. Peter was attempting some kind of star pattern, but it wasn't going well, and his stars were somewhat lopsided. Remus was working on an intricate pattern of lines and swirls, and it was coming along nicely. He just had a few finishing touches to add. 'Wow, that's fantastic, Remus,' Peter said. Remus looked up from his work to see Peter staring at his carving with wide eyes. 'Hey, guys, look at this,' he said, turning round to speak to Sirius and James. Sirius and James looked up from their own work. Remus had no idea what James' was supposed to be, but Sirius seemed to be carving some kind of dog. 'What?' Sirius asked. 'Remus' carving. It's brilliant,' Peter said, picking it up to show them. Sirius and James stared at the wood for a moment before looking up at Remus. 'How are you so good at everything?' Sirius asked. 'You're the first to get it right in every class. Well, except Potions.' Remus felt his face heating. That was happening a little too often for his liking. 'I kind of read all the books when I was little, and I practised the wand movements with a stick too.' Sirius stared at him for an uncomfortably long moment. 'You are such a nerd, Remus Lupin,' he said. But his tone held a hint of affection and his eyes were twinkling. Remus decided he didn't mind being called a nerd when it was Sirius. When classes were over for the day, they returned to their dormitory to relax, and discussion immediately turned to the Hogwarts Marauder, much to Remus' amusement. 'Who do you think it is?' James asked the room as he flopped onto his bed. 'It doesn't really matter,' Sirius said, his voice thoughtful. James shot upright and opened his mouth, presumably to argue, but Sirius stopped him by holding up a hand from where he was lounging on his own bed. 'I mean, the real question is how are we going to top them?' James' mouth gaped for a moment, closed and opened again twice before he responded. 'You are absolutely right. It needs to be amazing and spectacular and awe-inspiring.' Remus laughed inwardly. This was too funny. 'What do you mean? Top them?' Sirius, James and Peter all glanced at each other, appearing to have a silent conversation. Sirius twitched his eyebrows. James wrinkled his nose. Peter shrugged. James frowned. Sirius rolled his eyes, and James nodded. Sirius grinned and turned to Remus. 'You remember the unpoppable balloon parade a couple of weeks ago?' Remus nodded and plastered an interested expression on his face. Sirius smirked. 'That was us.' Remus attempted to look suitably surprised and impressed. 'Really?' he asked. 'That was very impressive. How did you get the balloons to animate exactly?' James hurried to explain how they'd stolen the vial from Filch's office and used it to improve on their plan at the last minute. Remus was impressed but still thought his own was better, purely because it was all his own work. 'So, when you say "top them," you mean do something better? In competition?' Remus asked. 'Exactly,' James said, grinning. 'You in?' Was he in on helping his friends top his own work? Remus thought, fighting down the bubble of laughter threatening to burst out. 'Sure, why not? What do you have in mind?' he asked. James rubbed his chin and glanced at Sirius. 'I'm not sure. We need to brainstorm,' he said. Peter grabbed some parchment and a quill, and they settled down to think. The evening flew by in a rowdy planning session, and the next afternoon, Remus found himself roaming the halls once again with Sirius, James, and Peter, on the hunt for more Hogwarts' secrets. They had finished with the seventh floor of the main building and had moved on to the west wing, and as they got nearer the entrance to Ravenclaw tower, they heard voices. Three males speaking in a mocking tone and a female who sounded upset. The four boys glanced at each other. 'What do we have?' James said. Remus was confused at first, not understanding what James meant, but as he watched Sirius rummage through his bag, he got the idea. They were going to help the girl. Remus' chest swelled with pride. There wasn't a hint of hesitation in his friends. They were truly good people. 'I have that bag of dungbombs from your father and a fanged frisbee,' Sirius said. Peter was also checking his bag. 'I've got the itching powder and the rest of the stinksap Sirius collected.' Remus already knew there was nothing in his bag but books, quills and parchment and he deflated a little. He had so little to offer. 'I have my wand,' he said, holding it up. Sirius looked up at him and grinned as if Remus possessing the most basic equipment required for any wizard was the best news he'd heard all day. 'Have you tried any offensive spells?' Remus frowned and thought over the spells he'd "practiced" in his garden with a stick. 'Not as such, but I reckon I can manage a Depulso.' James bounced on the balls of his feet. 'Brilliant! Okay, here's the plan.' They rounded the corner and found three, third or fourth year Slytherins surrounding a sobbing first year Ravenclaw and showering her with stinging hexes. Beside him, Remus heard Sirius grinding his teeth together, and he glanced down to see he'd balled his hands into fists. This was really bothering him. He wondered why, but he didn't have time to think about it because, according to James' plan, he was up first. He hoped he wouldn't screw it up. Remus stepped forward, pointed his wand and yelled, 'Depulso, depulso, depulso.' He moved his wand to re-aim after each attack, and three balls of blinding white light shot from the end and hit the Slytherins square in the forehead, knocking their heads back painfully. While they were distracted, James and Peter let loose with a barrage of dungbombs. The girl got to her feet and ran off down the corridor without even stopping to thank them. That was Sirius' cue. With the girl out of the way he launched the fanged frisbee, and they all watched as it soared towards the three Slytherin boys who were too busy wiping dungbomb detritus from their eyes to notice its approach. The frisbee went in for the attack, biting all three of them on any and all exposed skin it could find. Panicking, the Slytherins ran, and the fanged frisbee followed them. It wouldn't stop attacking until one of them had the presence of mind to snatch it out of the air. The four boys watched them leave with satisfaction, congratulating themselves on a job well done. 'What on Earth did you do to them?' a high-pitched voice demanded. Remus looked up and saw the speaker was Lily. She was walking down the corridor from the direction the Slytherins had run and had obviously seen their departure. 'Why do you three keep attacking Slytherins?' she asked. 'And you too, Remus? I'm surprised at you. I thought you were better than these bullies,' she added when she spotted him at the back of the group. Remus was shocked. Surely she didn't think him capable of bullying? Lily gave him one last scathing look before tossing her hair over her shoulder and marching away down the corridor. 'Well, that's nice, isn't it?' Peter asked. He seemed to be the only one of them capable of speech at that moment. James was staring after Lily like a lost puppy, and Sirius was stood with his mouth gaping open, apparently in shock. 'We stop people from bullying someone and get labelled bullies ourselves?' That concise summary of events broke the spell, and they all started speaking at once. 'What a mangy hippogriff!' Sirius said looking scandalised. 'Talk about jumping to conclusions.' 'I can't believe she would think I was involved in bullying,' Remus said. 'She's so pretty when she's mad,' James said with a sigh. 'Mad is the right word,' Sirius said and smacked James around the back of the head. 'Hey! What was that for?' James yelled. 'Being a dopey prat,' Sirius said. 'She just called us bullies, and you're mooning over her like a love-struck pixie.' 'I wasn't mooning! I just think she's pretty is all,' James said, pushing his lower lip out and pouting like a toddler. Sirius shook his head with dismay and, in a rapid change of subject, looked at Peter and asked, 'Is it nearly dinner time?' Peter glanced at his watch, and his eyes widened with surprise. 'It is,' he said. 'I hadn't even noticed.' 'Right then,' Sirius said, straightening his robes and smoothing his already-perfect hair. 'Let's go eat.' And with that, he marched off down the corridor, leaving Remus, James and Peter to hurry after him or be left behind. After dinner, Remus climbed the stairs to the dorm with a light heart and a smile on his face. Breen had made his favourite steak and chips; he'd spent the afternoon with friends; and he had all his work up to date, so there was nothing to do that evening but relax. There was no way he was going to show his face at potion's club again, not after the disaster that was last week and the way Lily had accused him of bullying earlier. When he pushed the door open, he was greeted by a chorus of loud burps. He looked around and saw his three friends sitting on Sirius' bed together and taking it in turns to belch obnoxiously. 'What on earth?' he said. James opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was another audible expulsion of gas. He tried again and the same thing happened. Sirius giggle-burped and shoved James' shoulder with his own. Peter burp-sighed and picked up a packet from the bed between them, tossing it to Remus. Remus caught it and read the writing on the front. "Belch Powder. Make your friends burp whenever they try to speak." 'I see,' Remus said. 'And you all took this?' Sirius nodded with enthusiasm. 'How long does it last?' James jumped off the bed and bounced to where Remus was standing, took the packet, turned it over and pointed to the writing on the back. "Effects wear off after ten minutes," Remus read aloud. 'How long do you have left?' Sirius held up two fingers before moving his hand horizontally and waggling it. 'About two minutes?' Remus translated and Sirius nodded. 'I'm going to take a shower,' Remus said and proceeded into the bathroom to do just that. When he returned, the boys were waiting for him. 'Can you slip the powder into the food when you're in the kitchens to eat?' James asked him the moment he came out of the bathroom. Remus sidestepped the three boys and continued to his bed to put his uniform away before answering. 'I'm not sure. I don't usually go near the cooking area. It would be tricky, but it's possible,' he said. 'It's not really enough to beat the Hogwarts Marauder though.' 'This is just a small part of it. If we're going to put on a show for the Halloween feast, we have plenty of time to plan the rest. What I really want to do is find a way to combine the powder with a bubble charm. To make people burp bubbles. Just imagine it,' James said, gazing off into the distance with a dreamy expression on his face. 'That might be possible,' Remus said, thoughtfully. 'We'll need to figure out how the belching powder works before we can alter it though. I'll do some research.' 'Thanks, Remus. You're a star!' James said. 'He's not a star, I'm a star!' Sirius said. 'Your name is a star,' James said, turning to Sirius, who was pouting. The expression caused a strange flutter deep in Remus' stomach. 'Remus is an actual star because he is saving me from spending time in the dreaded library.' Sirius nodded. 'Point. We can share stardom, Remus.' Before Remus could reply, there was a tapping at the dormitory window, and they all turned to look. A large owl was hovering outside carrying a flat, rectangular box. Sirius was closest and hurried over to open the window. The bird flew in and dropped the package on Sirius' bed before landing on the windowsill and hooting softly. Sirius grabbed a few sickles from his money pouch and showed them to the owl before tucking them into the tiny bag attached to its leg. The bird hooted again and flew out the window. 'What's in the parcel?' James asked. Sirius grinned. 'Chocolate!' he said, unwrapping the package and revealing a box of Honeydukes' finest. Chocolate which Remus had only ever dreamed of tasting. His mouth watered. 'You want some?' Sirius asked, offering the box first to James and then to Remus. 'Oh. Thank you,' Remus said, and Sirius' grin grew impossibly wider. Remus glanced over the contents of the box and took one of the smallest and least interesting of the selection. Sirius scoffed and rolled his eyes before picking out four of the biggest and most interesting delicacies and handing them to Remus. He looked Remus in the eye and with a serious expression said, 'Remus, you are my friend. I bought these chocolates to share with my friends. In future, if I offer you a share of something and you short-change yourself, I will take it as an insult and be very cross with you. Understand?' Remus felt a warm glow in his chest and nodded. Sirius' expression melted into a beautiful smile and he twirled away to offer his bounty to Peter, who was not shy about helping himself to a decent amount. Remus sat down on his bed, Sirius' words were playing on repeat in his mind. "Remus, you are my friend." He couldn't stop the joy he felt from showing on his face, so he popped a chocolate into his mouth to give him an excuse to smile. It was divine! Rich and creamy with a hint of vanilla and strawberries. He groaned with delight at the flavour. Nothing before in his life had ever tasted so good as this chocolate, given to him by his first real friend.

-o-o-o-o-

The next morning, Sirius was waiting in the Entrance hall with James and Peter for Remus to return from the kitchens after breakfast. He was delighted with how well the chocolates had gone down. A couple more boxes like that, and he would be able to feed Remus chocolate when he returned after the full moon without anyone thinking it was odd. 'There he is,' James said, pointing at the steps down to the dungeons. Sirius followed his gaze and spotted Remus as he reached the top of the staircase. He was looking much healthier than he had at the beginning of the month. His skin had more colour, and the dark rings under his eyes had all but disappeared. Thank Merlin and the gods and Godric Gryffindor himself that Hogwarts has such a competent medi-witch to take care of him, Sirius thought. With Madam Pomfrey's help, maybe Remus could surpass the usual ten-year life-span of a lycanthrope. 'Hey, what do you guys want to do until History?' Remus asked when he reached them. 'We still need to finish searching the seventh-floor. We could carry on with that?' Sirius suggested. The others quickly agreed, and they were heading for the stairs when an ominous shadow fell over them. Sirius looked up into the stern face of Professor McGonagall. 'Gentlemen, I'm glad to see you four all together. It makes my job so much easier. Please come with me. I need to have a word,' she said, before turning with a swish of robes and marching in the direction of her office. Sirius glanced at the others, frowning. 'What the hell did we do?' he whispered. James shrugged. 'Beats me, mate. Guess we better go and find out.' They all followed her up the stairs to the first floor and into her office, where she told them to take a seat. Sirius was confused but not worried. He didn't think they had done anything wrong, so this couldn't be a punishment, and detention wasn't a big deal, anyway. Professor McGonagall took her seat behind the desk and eyed them over the top of her glasses. 'It has been reported to me that the four of you attacked three Slytherin students in the corridor yesterday afternoon. Is this true?' Sirius gaped at her. 'That's what this is about?' he asked. He glanced at the others, and they nodded their approval for him to speak for the group. 'We did attack them, yes. But we only did so because they were bullying someone. They had her surrounded and were hitting her with stinging hexes.' Professor McGonagall frowned. 'Do you have the name of this student so I can verify your story?' 'No. She was a Ravenclaw, looked like a first-year, but she ran off when we intervened. We didn't get the chance to speak to her.' 'I see. You're telling me that you pit yourselves against three fourth-year students to protect someone you don't even know?' Professor McGonagall asked, raising an eyebrow. Sirius wasn't sure if she was surprised or sceptical, but either way, it was insulting. 'Yes. Obviously. We are Gryffindors,' he said. His voice came out a little more haughty than he had intended, but it was effective. Professor McGonagall smiled. That was unexpected. 'Yes, you are,' she said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. She cleared her throat and continued in her normal stern tone. 'I will admit to feeling a little proud. However, I can't condone using magic in the halls. It is against school rules. Under the circumstances, though, I think a warning will suffice. Don't do it again. Understood?' They all nodded. 'Good, you may go.' Sirius stood and sauntered from the room, with the others close behind him. 'I can't believe they reported us. What a bunch of idiots,' James laughed as they started down the corridor. 'I guess they needed treatment for the frisbee bites and had to explain why they were covered in dung,' Remus said. Peter tripped on the bottom step of the staircase, but James caught him. 'Woah, steady. Don't go breaking your nose, we have things to do.' 'Thanks,' Peter said after regaining his footing. 'At least McGonagall believed us.' 'Detention would have been worth it. If she thinks I'm going to leave someone to be bullied because we aren't supposed to do magic in the corridors, she can think again,' James said, puffing out his chest. 'Hear, hear!' Sirius crowed. 'Not on our watch, right, mates?' Remus and Peter were quick to agree, and Sirius felt a swell of pride. He felt bigger, stronger and more powerful, surrounded by his friends. He had people he could count on to be there when he needed help and people who believed in him. He liked it. He liked it a lot. Two hours later, Sirius was sitting next to James in Charms, staring at the back of Remus' head and watching him as he attempted to levitate a feather. He had mastered the swish and flick of the wand movement but was having a little trouble with the pronunciation. 'Wingardium Leviosa,' Remus said, swishing his wand. Nothing. 'Wingardium Leviosa.' Still nothing. 'Wingardium Leviosa.' Remus' feather swayed as if a light breeze had touched it and then lifted off the desk, floating up towards the ceiling. Remus kept his wand pointed at it but shifted it to the left slightly in an experimental fashion. The feather reacted, following his wand tip exactly. Sirius grinned and turned back to his own work, pleased for Remus. He cast the charm and his feather rose into the air. He and James had practised this spell earlier in the week, both agreeing that it could be useful for the purposes of misbehaviour, and James was floating his own feather with equal ease next to him. Sirius was guiding his feather in the direction of Flitwick's hat, hoping to add a little decoration to the headgear when Remus turned around and said, 'Do you think we can use this spell for Halloween? The bubbles won't float to the ceiling without some help.' James rubbed his chin and, forgotten, his feather floated to the floor of the classroom. 'Yeah, but it will take forever to add the charm to each grain of powder. Do you think you can pre-cast it over the top half of the Great Hall?' 'I'll have to do some research. We might need to alter the spell a little,' Remus said. Alter the spell? That sounds incredibly complicated, Sirius thought. 'You can do that?' Remus hesitated before answering. 'I've done a little reading on the subject. I've never tried before, though.' Sirius gave him a searching look. He wasn't sure what was causing it, but something told him Remus was lying. But why would he want to keep that a secret? Best not to let on that he'd noticed anything, though. 'We'll leave that in your capable hands then, Remus,' he said, giving him a wink that made Remus' cheeks redden. After Charms, they dashed up to Gryffindor tower to put their bags away before lunch as they had no classes that afternoon, and on their way back out, Peter spotted something on the noticeboard. 'Hey, guys! Look at this, could be fun,' he said. They all stopped to read the notice that was covering the entire board. The letters bounced around on the poster excitedly. There were inky fireworks repeatedly bursting in the corners and a considerable amount of small print at the bottom.

Hogwarts Annual Super Secret Niffler Hunt

will take place on

Saturday, 25th September

beginning at

8:00 am

Classroom 12c on the third floor

Teams must consist of no more than four people. Under no circumstances reveal the existence of the Hogwarts Annual Super Secret Niffler Hunt to any member of Hogwarts staff, under pain of shunning. Participation in the Hogwarts Annual Super Secret Niffler Hunt may result in severe punishment. You are expected to take full responsibility if caught out-of-bounds or otherwise engaging in forbidden acts during the hunt.

You have been warned!

Signed

Hogwarts Chiefs of Raucous Revelry.

'Awesome, I love niffler hunts!' James said. 'What the hell is a niffler hunt? Not hunting nifflers, surely? They're so cute and adorable,' Sirius said, feeling traumatised by the very idea. 'No,' James said, laughing. 'The organisers give you a list of stuff, and you have to find it all within the time limit. Sometimes there are puzzles you have to work out to figure out what you need to find.' 'Ah, so we would be the nifflers then,' Sirius said. 'Exactly. You up for it?' 'Absolutely. Nothing better to do, is there?' Sirius said with a grin. 'We need a team name. Any ideas?' Remus asked. 'How about the Jolly Jokesters?' Peter suggested. James groaned. 'Gods, no, That's awful.' 'The Talented Tricksters?' Sirius said. 'Or the Rebellious Rogues?' James shook his head at both suggestions. 'If we're going with alliteration,' Remus said, 'what about the Magical Mischief Makers?' 'Ooh, I like it,' Sirius said, looking at James to see his reaction. James smiled and nodded. 'Yes, that has a nice ring to it. Peter?' 'It describes us quite well, I think.' Sirius looked down to see where they were supposed to sign their team-name and saw a piece of parchment and a quill hovering inches below the noticeboard. The moment he moved his hand towards them, they floated closer, and he plucked the quill from the air and wrote their chosen name on the list. 'This is going to be a blast,' James said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Sirius had to agree. After lunch, they returned to the dorm intending to get some sleep before Astronomy, but James and Peter were restless and soon got back up to start a game of gobstones. 'Argh. You got me again, Pete!' James cried out for the third time in less than five minutes. His shout was echoed by the shifting of bed sheets from behind the only set of curtains still closed. Sirius glanced over to Remus' bed. There was no way he was going to get any sleep with James and Peter making so much noise in the room. 'I'm bored,' he said. 'Let's go outside.' He heard a whispered, 'Oh, gods. Please do,' from behind Remus' curtains and, smirking, awarded himself a mental pat on the back for being such a good friend. James considered his suggestion for a moment, stroking his chin as if thinking deeply on the issue. 'Why, yes, my friend. I think going outside sounds like a splendiferous idea,' he said, jumping to his feet. 'Come on, Pete! Adventure awaits.' With that pronouncement he bounded from the room with Pete following close behind. And everyone says I have too much energy, Sirius thought. 'Sleep well, Remus,' he said as he left the room, closing the door gently behind him before rushing after his friends. They reached the edge of the Black Lake ten minutes later and flopped down on the grass. It was a bright sunny day, but the wind coming off the lake was chilly, and Sirius pulled his cloak around himself to keep warm. 'You know, those Prewett twins seemed quite roguish. You don't reckon it's them, do you?' James said, breaking the silence. 'Who? The Marauder?' Sirius asked. James nodded. 'Can't be. The message would have said "The Marauders" if there were multiple people involved. It's only one person.' 'Well, who do you think it is?' James asked. 'I have a suspicion,' Sirius replied, thinking about what he'd noticed earlier that day. 'But I'm not going to say until I have a little more evidence.' 'What!' James yelled, leaping to his feet. 'You can't say that and then not tell us!' 'I can and I did,' Sirius said, laughing at James' outrage. 'What are you going to do about it?' 'This!' James scooped up a handful of mud from the bank of the lake and formed it into a ball before launching it at Sirius. Sirius rolled out of the way, and the ball of mud missed him by inches, splattering Peter who had been lying on the grass next to him. Peter leapt to his feet, wiping mud off his face and shouting, 'You're dead, James!' before running to the bank to collect his own grubby projectile. Sirius scrambled to his feet. 'It's so on, Potter!' he cried, heading in the opposite direction to Peter in his quest for a weapon. The boys chased each other along the circumference of the lake for over an hour before finally collapsing onto the grass, exhausted and coated in mud. They had each been shoved into muddy pools several times during the course of the game, and there was barely an inch of clean material between them. 'Merlin! I don't think I've ever had that much fun before,' Sirius said. 'Really?' James asked. 'I had mud fights with my dad all the time growing up. Mum used to go mental. It was hilarious.' 'Gods, no. If my mother could see me looking like this, I think she'd drop dead on the spot from sheer horror,' Sirius said. 'Actually, that's a thought. Can we get to Grimmauld place from here? Damn, if only I could apparate.' James laughed. 'Sorry, mate. You'll have to wait until Christmas. Do you have a garden? You can just roll around in the mud when you get home. Job done.' 'Summer,' Sirius said. 'What?' 'It will have to wait until summer. I'm not going home for Christmas. Or Easter. I'd rather put that confrontation off for as long as possible.' James and Peter had stopped laughing, and the atmosphere was heavier than before. Sirius felt bad for lowering the mood. 'Your parents can't really be mad at you for being in Gryffindor, can they?' Peter asked. 'It's not your fault. We don't get to choose.' 'They won't see it that way,' Sirius said. 'But that's a long way off, and there's no use worrying over something that can't be changed. Let's head back to the dorm and get showered before dinner. It might take a while to get there. If Filch sees us in the castle looking like this, he might actually kill us.' James and Peter both looked down at themselves and laughed. 'Yeah, he might. And I left the cloak behind too. Didn't think we'd need it.' Sirius jumped to his feet. 'Race you to the Entrance Hall,' he hollered over his shoulder as he ran towards the school. 'Cheater!' James shouted, but was quick to give chase. Peter moaned behind them as he clambered upright. 'Not more blasted running!' As Sirius had expected, he and James were forced to wait by the door for several minutes while Peter strolled sedately across the grounds towards them. His plodding walk combined with his mud-soaked attire gave him a distinct resemblance to a troll. When Peter finally reached them, they poked their heads around the door to check for cranky caretakers and, seeing the coast was clear, hurried towards the stairs, leaving a trail of muddy footprints behind them. They made it as far as the fifth-floor before disaster struck. After rounding the corner of the staircase onto the fifth-floor landing, they heard a distant voice bellowing from the floor below. 'Look at this filth, Miss Norris! These horrid children spreading their muck everywhere! Let's get them, sweetness. We'll string them up by their ankles.' 'Shit!' Sirius said. 'Run!' James and Peter didn't need telling twice. The three boys ran as fast as their legs could take them. Unfortunately for Peter, that meant he was soon left behind. When Sirius arrived at the portrait to Gryffindor tower, James was by his side but Peter was nowhere to be seen. 'I'm sure he'll turn up,' Sirius said. James agreed, and they gave the Fat Lady the password and clambered into the common room to go and wake a sleeping Remus for dinner.

Chapter 17

#wolfstar #wolfstar fanfiction #remus x sirius

2 notes · View notes

oh-snap-bucky · 5 years

Text

Waiting

Pairing: 40s!Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 2537

Warnings: pining, some sad boi hours and perhaps a hint of suggestiveness if you reaaaaally squint

Summary: September, 1945. The war is over and the boys are coming home. Though, unfortunately for Y/N, it seems that some soldiers find their way home a lot slower. For a month she waited and just when it seemed like all hope could possibly be lost there he was, The Miracle of Manhattan, well Brooklyn - but she wasn’t minding too much.

A/N: hey hey hey y’all! Eventually posting again, just a quick one and of course it is the au in which Bucky made it through the war and got to live his happy lil 1940s life. It’s what he deserves. Now, first of all this is very much based upon an old Newsie fanfic which I posted on a previous blog last year and though I highly doubt any of you would recognize it as such, if you do pls do not block and report me for plagiarism, thank you. Also this was scrambled together in two hours max so if it’s a little meh that is very well why. Now, she didn’t beta this at all but I love her and always wanna hear what she thinks so I’m tagging @quantumarvel . Okay that is all, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy and feedback is always appreciated!!!

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

Waiting was just a part of her routine by now.

Every day: wake up, have breakfast if she felt up for it - if not, then just some coffee - and then get dressed for work. The next logical step would have been to head for the hospital, but that never seemed to be the case. She was always early, too early for her shift beginning, so she would spend the extra time at the train station. Waiting. On days off she would stay for far longer, hours if the workers allowed.

September 5th, 1945. The first week she would wait an hour. Anxiety flowed through her as she moved from platform to platform, asking about when the next train was coming in, toes just nearly too close to the tracks. One more carriage and he’ll be home. That’s what she would tell herself. But, she soon learned that was not the case. It wouldn’t be the next carriage or even the next hour, it would be the next day or week if she was lucky. Few troops would come home so quickly, soldiers having to come from all over the globe took a little time. But still, she couldn’t help being jealous. She watched as they strode across the platform being met halfway by loved ones. Parents greeting sons with teary eyes and shaking hands. Children attaching themselves to the legs of their father with giggles and shouts of excitement. Women would meet them, ready with a kiss to welcome home their soldier.

It was hard not to be a little jealous, at least.

So, the next week she kept waiting. Though, this time she sat down on the bench by the newsstand, taking the first paper her hand found after waiting for a quarter of an hour. Anything to distract the mind. At every train whistle, she’d look up and scan the incoming crowd, sighing and looking back to her paper after coming up with nothing. This happened another four times before she had to leave. She’d glance at the paper in hand, thinking it over before tucking it into her bag; she had a growing pile at home. She kept them because she knew he would want to get all caught up when he made it home - she didn’t trust herself to remember every single thing. She gave the newsboy a tip before rushing off towards the main entrance. She had left late for work that morning. Something that had been happening more frequently.

She began to show later and later each day, a different reason why each time. Each reason different than, waiting on nothing hurt. But still, she was always there.

The third week was much the same as the one previous. Workers began to recognize her, a few even knew her by name. Every time she went to the newsstand, Tom, the newsboy of only 17 greeted her with a polite, ‘Morning Miss Y/N, which would you like?’ before displaying all the papers he had available for her. She picked one, a different title every time and he would always reply the same, ‘Great choice, ma’am.’ And she’d walk away. She’d sit, flipping the pages slowly but never really read them properly. And, when it was time to go and his train hadn’t arrived she handed the paper to a waiting customer at the ticket kiosk, ‘something to read, for your travels.’

The fourth week, the final week of September, it had begun to get colder in New York. so much so, she often waited inside the station now. It was a grand building, Central Station and Rebecca, who was by her side, would marvel at its high ceiling and watch as workmen pulled down war posters that decorated the walls. Her boss had allowed her a few days off of work that week, knowing fine well that the thought of Bucky was distracting her. Plus, if she was being honest, Y/N was glad to have the company. ‘Becca told her stories of the British boy who had been in her class for her senior year before shipping off, Thomas. Y/N threw a glance in the direction of the newsstand as ‘Becca continued chatting, but Tom wasn’t there - the clock above their heads informed her his morning shift must have been over and he was off to school.

Y/N was quiet then, sparing but a tired smile as they shared one seat and a jacket between them. It was nice to have someone with her for a few days.

Of course, Rebecca had to go back to work eventually, but Y/N promised the youngest Barnes that she would tell Bucky that she had been waiting for him when he got back, not that he would’ve had any doubts, to begin with. She doubted he would return before ‘Becca had the opportunity to wait with her again. If she kept waiting that is.

She made a promise to herself then: She would wait until Sunday, and if he wasn’t home she wouldn’t- she couldn’t wait anymore.

Thursday came and went as quickly as Friday and Saturday did afterward. It was Sunday before she had time to come to peace with it.

October 7th, 1945. Sunday. The last chance she had given herself to be there when he stepped off the train- if he stepped off the train. She waited on the platform for the first time in a week but stayed close to a small cafe attached to the station, it was giving off a warmth she needed in that weather. She gave herself one hour in this cold before heading home. Even the days off had been cut short. Half of her time passed as quick as a blink, she felt.

With just half an hour left a whistle blew, she recognized the noise as a foe along with the familiar hustle and bustle of the station. She heard feet shuffling and greetings called across the way. And, just as she had done with every train that day she looked up from the book in her lap, hearing as a newsvendor called the day's headline:

“Miracle in Manhattan! Read all about it!”

She gave in to an eye-roll at the news before giving a quick search. Nothing, as always. But, when her eyes, once again, met the pages of her novel she couldn’t help but feel like she should look again.

She set the book aside and stood to get a better view. She could’ve sworn she caught sight of a familiar face. Before she could comprehend what she may or may not have seen, her boots met the bench on which she had just been sitting and with a moment to herself, she took a breath. Y/N turned towards to train which had just stopped and the crowd that had just stepped off of it.

And then, a whisper, “Bucky?”

He hadn’t expected anybody to be waiting when he arrived, not with it being a month since the war ended. He suspected they had waited the first few days, perhaps even a week but after that, he hoped they had just returned to normal life. Bucky was aware that this is not the most likely scenario at all but that’s what he longed for.

He longed for Y/N. Complaining about how early they would get up on Saturdays, but doing so week in and week out anyway just so they would get to market as soon as it opened. He longed for his family. Dinner served every Sunday night when his Ma cooked way too much food and bombarded he and Y/N with way too many questions for the pair of them living just a block away. He longed for what he had missed. Listening as Rebecca caught him up in all the neighborhood gossip or when she would rush up to his and Y/N’s apartment after school- well work now, he supposed. He longed to belong again, settle in just one place. He longed for comfort, for peace.

He longed for normal. Thankfully, normal could be just a ten-minute cab ride across the Brooklyn Bridge. Ten-minutes became mere seconds when a familiar voice called for him across the platform.

She was easy enough to spot as she dashed through the crowd, all smiles and rushed apologies to all of those who she ran into en route. Her grin lit up what was once just another dull New York day in the middle of October.

They collided, his bag dropped to the floor just in time for her to be caught in his arms. The breath was knocked from him, arguably not from their collision at all, and a laugh quickly took its place. Hands pressed flat to her back, keeping her held flush to him as they collectively ignored the groans from passersby they had momentarily obstructed. They barely noticed their presence at all.

Her feet hit the ground but her head remained in the clouds when she got a look at him. A good look. He was still Bucky, the one she knew but she also knew that some things were bound to change. Scruff covered his jaw and cheek, neat but a far cry from the clean-shaven look he always insisted on before. His hair was a little longer too, something she was certain he would rectify soon enough - he always liked to keep his hair short, tidy around his face. She couldn’t complain, he had the face for just about any style he desired. Then there were his eyes. Y/N couldn’t quite put her finger on it but there was definitely something about those baby blues. Maybe it was the tears that began to line them as he looked right back at her.

She was glad she waited.

“Bucky…” A whisper in the busy station, but it said loud and clear all she needed it to, all she hadn’t found the words for quite yet. He knew. He knew exactly what she meant, nodding quickly before he brought her close again, lips meeting her own after what felt like a lifetime. It was feverish, kissing as if they may never have gotten the chance again - which is a possibility they would never scoff at after the war.

“Bucky I-” She cried after they parted, tears streaming steadily down her cheeks as she caught her breath. “I did-didn’t know whether- whether you-” Hands clumsily reached for him, fingers brushing his jaw, his nose, palms pressing close to his cheeks and catching his own tears.

“I know baby,” he murmured. He kissed her again, quick but just barely pulling back before he spoke once again. “I know, I’m sorry it’s just, we- we were doing some real important work out there, Steve, the Commandos and me. God, the Commandos, baby you’re gonna love them.”

“I can’t wait to hear all about them.”

“They’ve already heard all about you, trust me, they may very well be sick of hearing your name by now.” He chuckled, and she did the same, sniffling still as they stood there.

“I missed you, wasn’t a moment I didn’t have you on my mind.”

“I missed you, every day.”

“That’s not true, I’m sure you’ve been real busy, y’know with the hospital and ev- everything… don’t you usually work Sunday mornings? What’re you doing here?” He asked, brows knitting in confusion and eyes darting all over as if searching for the answer materializing in front of him before he focused on her again. He couldn’t stand to look away for too long.

She gave a breathy laugh, almost scoffing as if the answer was the most obvious one that could ever possibly exist. “I promised I would wait for you getting off that train didn’t I?”

“You’ve been waiting here?” She hummed in agreement, nodding as her eyes fell to his lips and she stole another kiss. The platform began to empty around them, leaving them alone for the most part for a minute or two before it would begin to refill for the next train’s arrival. “Every day for a month?” She never replied to him, the small smile on her being an answer enough for him to know. “You shouldn’t have done that for me, it’s freezing out.”

As if that would deter her. No storm could keep her away for long, not from him. A kiss to her forehead, and her hands gripping the lapels of his uniform tight as if he would even dream of leaving again any time soon.

“Well, ‘Becca wanted me to tell you that she would have been here too but her boss, Mr…”

“Davis, Mr. Davis. Her new boss, right?”

“That's the one: Davis. She said that Mr. Davis would have busted her chops if she missed anymore work this month. Plus, I think you’re Ma said something about her focusing all her energy towards something helpful until you got back, y’know to keep her mind away from you.” Bucky chuckled at her words, mumbling a ‘Sounds about right’ before pulling back and opting to take her hand in his instead.

“But! She is very excited to catch you up on every single thing that you missed while you were away.”

“Did I miss anything? Exciting I mean?”

“New neighbors,” Y/N mumbled with a shrug, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek, nose scrunching as his stubble tickled her chin.

“Upstairs or down?” He was simply wondering if Y/N and he would be annoying them or they would be annoying him.

“Up. You’ll hate ‘em.” She laughed against his skin and pulled back in favour of pulling him towards the exit.

Bucky gave a comedic groan and picked his bag up before following along. “Great, excited to get home then. Can’t wait to meet ‘em, also can’t wait to shave - Ma will pitch a fit if I show up to dinner for the first time in forever and this is how I look.”

“I don’t know, Sarge…” She turned on her heels, stopping dead in her tracks and therefore crashing into his chest for the second time that morning. “I think it makes you look pretty… handsome.” A coy smile and he was already 99% convinced to keep it.

“That so?”

“Yeah, it seems I got myself my very own casanova.”

He was perhaps a little skeptical, teasing the language they often spoken and he had a feeling this may be going in that direction. “Careful, sweetheart,” He paused, smirking at her before stepping aside and grabbing her hand again. As they began walking again, hands laced together as they took on the New York streets together for the first time in years, he spoke, “Wouldn’t want none of these folks to be thinking you’re sweet on a guy like me.”

“A guy like you?” She cozied up to his side, free hand wrapping around his arm, “Baby, I’m convinced you’re the ‘Miracle in Manhattan’ that newsvendor was yelling about.” The couple shared a laugh, feeling the weight of the time passed but interacting as if not a second had gone by since they were last together.

“How couldn’t I be sweet on you?”

#My writing #Bucky Barnes #40s bucky #bucky barnes x reader #MCU #MCU fanfiction

83 notes · View notes

virtchandmoir · 5 years

Text

Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir pushed ice dance boundaries throughout exemplary career

September 25, 2019

The announcement was hardly unexpected, so much so that it created little buzz even on figure skating news groups.

After all, no one thought Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir would be extending their extraordinary competitive career after taking another post-Olympic leave from the sport with yet another Olympic ice dance medal (this one a second gold) on their résumé.

And retirement is what they in fact confirmed last week.

Yet there was part of me that hoped they would come back again, especially with this season’s world championships not only in their own country but also in the same city, Montreal, as their training base before the PyeongChang Olympics.

Whether they won another world medal or not in Montreal – and a recommitted Virtue and Moir were very likely to be on the podium, if not atop it – the couple would have been awash in deserved acclaim from the home crowd, as they were in winning their first Olympic title in Vancouver in 2010 with a free dance that left me spellbound then and does the same in every re-viewing.

There will undoubtedly be some celebration of Virtue and Moir’s career as they perform on the Rock the Rink tour that begins Oct. 5 in British Columbia and meanders across Canada (with one stop in Cleveland) for nearly two months, playing mainly smaller arenas in smaller cities.

It would be more fitting if they could play the big stage, the 2020 world meet at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Maybe add them to the lineup for the gala? Skate Canada would say only they will have a role at this season’s worlds.

I had done interviews last year in PyeongChang to write an appreciation for Virtue and Moir after they won two more gold medals, team and individual, but that idea hit the digital dead letter file when the women’s singles event generated an avalanche of storylines.

Now, with the confirmation of their retirement, it’s time to use some of those interviews and the history-making achievements on their record to convey and appreciate their singular excellence.

*By the numbers: Virtue and Moir are one of two teams to win two Olympic ice dance golds, one of two to win three medals (gold-silver-gold; the other team, Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko of the Soviet Union, won bronze-silver-gold.) With two team event medals, silver and gold, Virtue and Moir have a record five Olympic figure skating medals.

In 2010, they were the youngest to win Olympic ice dance gold and the first Olympic dance champions from outside Europe. In 2018, he was the fourth-oldest man, she the third-oldest woman to win ice dance gold. They had competed against their final coaches, Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, at Skate Canada in … 2006.

*British ice dance team Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland used their 2018 Olympic short dance as homage to their compatriots, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, who dazzled the world with their innovative, thematic programs en route to the 1984 Olympic gold medal. Coomes and Buckland see Virtue and Moir’s skating as an extension of what Torvill and Dean had done.

“Torvill and Dean reinvigorated ice dance and took it to a place nobody had ever seen,” Coomes said. “Tessa and Scott have picked up that ball and carried it a little further.”

In the mid-1980s, there were few written rules governing ice dance, so Torvill and Dean revised the unwritten rules about programs that had left the discipline in predictable stasis.

By the time Virtue and Moir began senior international competition in fall 2006, the International Skating Union had implemented a scoring and judging system that codified everything, including ice dance.

Then a big piece of the new rules changed after 2010, with the compulsory dances eliminated. Virtue and Moir simply adapted.

“When the new judging system was introduced, you saw a lot of couples do the same things on the ice,” Coomes said. “Tessa and Scott took the rules and expanded them. Rather than stick in the box, they reached outside the box and grabbed new and innovative ideas.”

Some were in lifts created by Igor Shpilband, one of the coaches who helped them win the 2010 Olympic gold. Others came from their ability to use their surpassing skating skills to create corporeal unison that allowed two bodies to assume the moving shape of one. They were artists and technicians.

Their relationship in performance was so close and complete, especially in romantic programs, that many assumed, incorrectly, they were a couple off the ice as well.

As my colleague Lynn Rutherford wrote during her valedictory to Virtue and Moir: “Skating to the tender music from ‘The Umbrellas of Cherbourg’ or Gustav Mahler’s haunting ‘Adagietto,’ Virtue and Moir could break your heart as easily as they could spin off perfect twizzles.”

The Mahler-based free dance at the 2010 Olympics, to a piece of his Fifth Symphony, is Virtue and Moir’s transcendent masterpiece. As I wrote that night in the Chicago Tribune, they had an “exquisite interpretation … subtly underscoring the emotional power of the music and still managing eye-catching lifts and pirouettes and a striking final position worthy of ballet.”

As a whole, it was a magnificent exercise in understatement, the brilliance of simplicity, down to the costumes – she in a gossamer, white dress with some sequins from waist to shoulders, he in a white tuxedo shirt and black pants. Even in their most powerful moments of that program, what you remember is not the difficulty of the moves but the positions of their arms and bodies, of two people expressing themselves as one.

Then there was the Latin-themed short dance in 2018, an apparently incompatible mash up of “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Hotel California,” and “Oye Como Va.” Virtue and Moir made it a stunningly seamless integration of the very different music by the Rolling Stones, the Eagles and Santana, performing with so much emotional and physical energy, such sassy body heat and such finesse that their scores would allow them to take gold despite losing the free dance.

“I think Tessa and Scott have such a vast range of body of work, it’s possible for every fan and every skating person to find some program they love,” said Carol Lane, a longtime ice dance coach and Canadian TV commentator. “My favorite thing is a short dance to ‘Tears on My Pillow.’”

Virtue and Moir did that in 2004, when she was 14 years old and he 16, when they were still rising through juniors after seven years skating together.

They would compete together over a span of 21 years, so long that they would have two sets of formidable major rivals at the senior level – Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States until 2014; Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron after that. Coincidentally, Virtue and Moir trained in the same rink under the same coaches with first the U.S. team and then the French team while they were competing against each for Olympic and world titles.

The Canadians beat Davis and White for gold in 2010, lost to them in 2014, then beat Papadakis and Cizeron for gold in 2018. The three couples won nine of the past 10 world titles – three by Virtue and Moir, who skated in just five of those 10.

“Think back to Vancouver, the acrobatics they brought, the level of technical difficulty they brought … it was unheard of,” NBC Sports analyst and 2006 Olympic ice dance silver medalist Tanith White said. “Now [the 2018 Olympics] to see them incorporate back in the element of dance – it sounds silly, to put dance in ice dance – to bring in that musicality, that flexibility in their movement. That truly set it apart from anything anyone else is doing.”

*It only seems that Virtue and Moir rolled easily from one triumph to another during their careers.

Their move from Canada and Canadian coaches to suburban Detroit to train with demanding Russian émigrés Shpilband and Marina Zoueva in summer 2004 was fraught with teenage angst (she was 15, he 17) in an atmosphere Moir would describe as cold in a 2015 TED talk. From 2008 through 2010, Virtue battled compartment syndrome that would require surgery in each of those years and severely curtained her training immediately before their first Olympics.

And then there was the comeback after a two-year hiatus following the 2014 Olympics.

“We would be lying if we said we were just coming back to be part of the pack,” Moir said when they announced the return. “That’s definitely not the goal.”

The goal was to challenge Papadakis and Cizeron, who had used the Canadians’ absence to establish themselves as the world’s dominant ice dance team with world titles in 2015 and 2016. Despite losing the free dance, they beat the French for the 2017 World title, but just three months before the 2018 Olympics, the French beat Virtue and Moir in both programs at the Grand Prix Final.

It was just another challenge for them to overcome, even if it involved near complete revision before the Olympics of their free dance program to “Moulin Rouge.” The improvements were enough to cut the free dance point gap with the French in half from the Grand Prix Final to the Olympics. That was the difference between silver and gold.

“They are a team that has always gone for it,” said U.S. Olympic ice dancer Madison Hubbell, who trained with Virtue and Moir from 2016 to 2018. “They never seem to play it safe with their elements, with how difficult they make their programs. They always want to be better and they don’t compare themselves with other teams.”

The record books tell us Virtue and Moir had unsurpassed success. They slipped away quietly from the sport in which they are among the greatest ever. Their incomparable skating already has passed the test of time.

—NBC Sports

#tessa and scott #off ice #retirement #press #wow that first paragraph #what a little fucker #and i don't mean that in the cute way

53 notes · View notes

gotham-ruaidh · 5 years

Text

Truth to Triumph

Previously…

Chapter 11: The Night

September 25, 1904

“Henry asked for you at dinner.”

It was past one A.M. now, and a light rain pattered against the window of Claire’s sitting room. She and Henry occupied the fifth floor – the top floor – of the Beauchamp family brownstone, with Henry and Julia in the master suite on the fourth floor, and what they called the “public rooms” on the first, second, and third floors.

Young Henry had his own bedroom, adjacent to Claire’s. Off Claire’s room was her sitting room, crammed with shelves full of books and pottery and objects brought home by her much-beloved Uncle Lamb, Julia’s archaeologist brother who always seemed to be off digging in the dirt of some faraway land. There was also a small bathroom, complete with running water, and then a spare room that now held a few dusty boxes of Claire’s college papers and Henry’s baby items.

Lizzie had made up a pallet for Jamie on the floor of the spare room. For he and the Beauchamps had agreed that on the nights before a new article in the World’s weekly series was published, he was to stay with them. His relationship with Claire was well known among the German community in Kleindeutschland, but nobody else outside of that tight-knit circle – save Mr. Pulitzer, whom he had grown to trust implicitly – knew about it. And he wanted to keep it that way. So should an angry member of one of the companies he had exposed – or a thug hired on their behalf – tried to find him in his rented room on Stanton Street, at least those efforts would be thwarted.

“Did he?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “He asked if you would be here for breakfast.”

Jamie returned her smile. Breakfast with Henry was something that they all – Claire included – cherished. Henry rarely got to see Jamie when he came for dinner, due to his earlier bedtime – so at breakfast, he hammered Jamie with questions and observations and all manner of exuberance, over oatmeal and milk and boiled eggs.

“Did you tell him that it’s the favorite part of my week?”

“He asked Lizzie to make sure the eggs were boiled soft, just the way you like them.”

He reached over to take her hand. “He’s so smart, to remember that. Observant, too.”

“He is his mother’s son,” Claire replied.

Jamie squeezed her hand. “And you don’t mind if I spend tomorrow with you at the hospital?”

“Of course I don’t. As long as you stay out of my way. I’m the doctor, after all – I’m the one in charge.”

“Never doubted it.”

A wide yawn interrupted her smile. “It’s so late.”

“It is.”

“What you’re doing, Jamie – it’s the right thing. You know it’s the right thing.”

“I know. They can’t take us to court – everything we’ve reported is factual. And somebody needs to pay for what happened.”

“I don’t disagree.” She sighed. “It completely decimated Kleindeutschland. It’s not right. All those people…the children…”

“Hush.” Now he gathered her to him, holding her close on the settee. She melted against him. He kissed her hair. Her fingers dug into his shirt collar.

“Jamie?”

“Hmm?”

“What would you think if…if you could have breakfast with Henry every morning?”

Jamie drew back to look into her eyes. Traced her cheek with his thumb.

“What do you mean?”

She swallowed, eyes strong and determined. “I want you to live here, with us. To be Henry’s father. To be my husband.”

Ten thousand emotions surged within him. “Claire…”

The worlds tumbled out of her. “I want you here with me, every day. To speak with you in the evenings after I perform a difficult surgery. To hear about the articles you’re writing, and the people you’re meeting. To ride the elevated trains with you, and go to a vaudeville show, and take Henry to the zoo.”

He blinked back tears. “Oh, Claire – sharing my life with you would be the greatest honor.”

Her eyes shone. “Yes?”

“Yes!”

They embraced for what seemed like forever, endless possibilities unfurling before them.

And they would have remained on the settee, holding each other, until dawn – but then the clock on the mantle chimed two.

Jamie framed Claire’s tired, beautiful face between his hands, and kissed her long and slow and sweet.

“Go to bed. I’ll be right here.”

She kissed the tip of his nose. “I’m so happy. How can I possibly sleep?”

He kissed her chin. “Dream of me, and our family.”

Her smile was so serene. “I will.”

#outlander #outlander fanfic #truth to triumph #jamie and claire

157 notes · View notes

missnight0wl · 5 years

Text

Let's discuss Jacob's age

I finally decided to collect all my thoughts on Jacob’s age in one post. There will be some arguments I covered before in different discussions, but also some new observations. I’ll also use my Jacob as a point of reference, as I find it easier to explain different possibilities that way. Hopefully, it’ll be also clearer to understand. So without further ado, let’s get it started.

Jacob Ellis was born in late 1966 and here's why:

My first crucial assumption when we consider Jacob’s age is that he was 17 years old at the point of his expulsion (or at least very close to that). Most importantly it’s about the Trace. If Jacob still got it on him, he’d be probably fairly easy to find. And speaking of that, notice that nobody seemed to be really alarmed about A CHILD missing. Everybody just talks about him going mad. In my opinion, it also suggests that our brother was already of age so nobody could do much – he’s an adult, he can do whatever he wants. Lastly, there were rumours about Jacob working for Voldemort AND being the most feared wizard in Knockturn Alley. I suppose both of them would be far less probable for people to believe in if Jacob was younger than 17.

I also put his birthdate after September 1st, meaning he would’ve been 17 in his 6th year already. It’s maybe not super important, but I’ll use it in later speculations, so I’m just letting you know.

In this place, let’s discuss his relationship with Madam Rosmerta. She’s actually one of a few people who knew Jacob and admits that she cares about bringing him back home. It seems like she was pretty close with our brother, with the whole hiding him from the Ministry and letting him stay at her inn. And it’s interesting what exactly she told us in that scene: “Anyone would have done the same if they knew your brother like I did”. Not Anyone would have done the same to protect a child, or anything like that. It makes me think that they had to have some time to bond. We know that Jacob was spending quite a lot of time at Three Broomsticks, but it surely wasn’t all the time. And Rosmerta had work to do in the meantime too (she’s usually quite busy when MC visits her). So I’d say at least two years could be needed to get more attached? Students at Hogwarts are allowed to visit Hogsmeade from the third year, meaning that Jacob would have to be expelled in his fifth year at least. In my case, they would have three years of knowing each other, so quite a solid period of time to develop a friendship.

Finally, there’s a matter of Jacob’s broken wand, and it’s a bit complex. Because a lot of people say that a wand is broken only if a student is expelled before their O.W.L.s, and this is what you can find on HP wiki. The thing is... they didn’t give any sources for that information, and I can’t find it on my own (on Pottermore etc.). It made me think that it’s their assumption based on cases of Hagrid and Newt. And while I agree that it does make sense, and it checks for those characters, there’s another problem. You see, apparently, it’s unclear if Newt was even expelled...

This is information you can find in notes on Newt’s page on wiki:

J. K. Rowling has stated on two occasions that Newt was expelled from Hogwarts (...). However, on a prop document featured in the first Fantastic Beasts film and reproduced in The Case of Beasts: Explore the Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, it is stated that "the expulsion was never enforced" because Albus Dumbledore's intervention "result[ed] in his name being cleared." Miraphora Mina, one of the graphic artists who worked on the film, revealed in an interview that Rowling was consulted during the creation of the props to ensure the accuracy of text on them. (...) It is possible that J. K. Rowling's statements that Newt was expelled were a deliberate attempt at withholding information to prevent spoilers.

So technically, we still don’t know what the rules are. On the other hand, Graves said in the movie: “You were thrown out of Hogwarts for endangering human life"... But even that aside, I’ve seen people speculating that maybe it’s rather about being of age, or whether or not the expulsion involved anyone actually dying. The second criterium would still work for Hagrid and Newt (assuming that the latter one was indeed expelled, ultimately).

Back to Jacob’s wand though. The first time we learn that it was broken is during our visit at Ollivander’s at the beginning of the game. The wandmaker told us: “Shame they snapped it in half when he was expelled”. Then, when we take Rowan with us to the Vault of Ice so they identify the wand by wood and core, and we ask Dumbledore about it, the Headmaster says:

What if this information leaked to the public, but was twisted, accidentally or on purpose? What if Rita Skeeter used it to make the situation look more serious? Even though this mad boy passed his O.W.L.s/was of age, his wand was broken because that’s how dangerous he is. We know that MC’s family name was “dragged through the mud”, so it probably wouldn’t be the only lie they wrote. And it’d explain why Ollivander didn’t question that - they said so in the newspaper, after all. It just makes more sense to me than 15-16 years old boy working for Voldemort and becoming super feared wizard while nobody is using the Trace to find him.

(I have a vague memory of information that it was the Aurors who found out the wand was broken, but I can’t find such scene for the life of mine, so I don’t take it into consideration for now.)

Now, to the speculation of WHEN our brother was expelled. Personally, I reckon that it happened months before MC started school, like in spring 1984. First of all, I want to “debunk” a theory that Jacob had to be expelled before Voldemort’s fall. The main reason: Angelica Cole. The way she talked about our brother in NHN SQ sounded to me like they knew each other pretty well.

But in 1981 Angelica was only a first year! Well, maybe she was in the second year if Jacob was expelled at the very beginning of the next term, but still. I don’t see him spending much time with a lot younger girl to help her when he was already very invested in the Cursed Vaults. Jacob had to be younger than that, making the difference between him and Angelica smaller, and putting his disappearance closer to the events of HPHM. With my assumed age, he’d be in his third year when Angelica started school – so the same as with MC and Bill. Seems way more plausible to me that he might’ve decided on helping her then. Even if he was already involved with the Vaults, it probably was just beginning. (Personal addition: I like to think that Jacob was drawn to helping younger students due to his “older brother’s instinct”.)

Another thing is how fresh Jacob’s case is in people’s memory. And here we have Rowan’s reaction, for example. When they hear our last name, they quickly remember the story. To me, it suggests that the whole thing was still a pretty hot topic, at least in newspapers. And while we know that Rita Skeeter likes to dig dirt, even if it’s some older one, I got the impression she prefers more relevant topics. She came to Hogwarts when it was already affected by the curses, and not when MC started school (even though it alone would be an opportunity to pull Jacob’s madness back to light).

We can also try to get some hints from our interaction with Alistair Fidgen. I mean, sure, he’s a lying prat, but let’s assume that he was telling the truth about Jacob’s actions – he just conveniently forgot to mention that our brother became a big deal in Knockturn Alley after that. In that case, even if Jacob disappeared right before MC starting school, there were over four years since their “last” meeting. Yet, he seems to remember it pretty well. If more years had passed, Alistair would have bigger problems with recalling it (or at least would pretend to). This one is a bit of a stretch, but I decided to list everything that comes to my mind.

Now, this point might be pretty big: Severus Snape. Was he Jacob’s teacher or not? I believe he was. Jacob wrote in his notebook:

… which to me strongly suggests that Snape was a teacher at this point, had authority over Jacob. Also, it was the time of the Vault of Fear. We don’t know exactly how much time Jacob was spending on each vault, however, I suppose it was either similarly one per year, or even longer. After all, we now have Jacob’s clues: we had the book to open the Vault of Fear, for example. We didn’t have to look for it. Back to Snape though. Considering what was said above, I guess we can bet that Snape was teaching Jacob for at least two years before his expulsion. With my assumed age, Jacob would start school in September after Snape’s graduation in June. Then, there were three years of Snape’s absence (when the classes with Dumbledore could’ve taken place – it explains why Jacob was practising Legilimency with the Headmaster, and not Severus). Snape came back as a teacher in Jacob’s fourth year.

Another stretch, but as I said, I’m taking everything: it’s about our Legilimency lessons. Do you remember that Snape saw three of our memories then? In the first one, he said: “Five or six years old”. Not very precise, if you ask me, so it might mean two things: either Snape is not very good at telling children’s age, or the memory wasn’t very clear so he couldn’t tell (or both). Either way, with the next memories he said nothing about age, only described us as “older” (very clever, Jam City, but I’m going to analyse you anyway!). I suppose it had to be some bigger jumps in the time if Snape could tell the difference for sure. Like two years perhaps? Which could mean that in the last memory, where MC is crying with their mum, they’re like 9-10 or older. It’s also interesting how quickly he guessed that “This must be the day your brother went missing…”. Probably because he knows how old MC was then. And maybe, just maybe, they looked pretty much like when they started school?

Or he was looking for particular memories from certain periods of time, but you know… I’m just speculating. Maybe it will inspire somebody else to do a better analysis of that scene.

Finally, there’s one thing I’ve noticed lately about Bill. When we found the letter mentioning Olivia Green, his first immediate reaction was “Never heard of her…”. As if he was expecting that he SHOULD hear of her if Jacob was interacting with her. It made me think that Bill and Jacob could have some years overlapping. Again, with my assumption, Jacob would be in the fifth year when Bill came to Hogwarts. It also kind of fits to why Bill didn’t hear about Olivia – because he was just a first year, maybe a second year when she “met her fate”. It’s possible that such a young student wouldn’t hear about a much older girl, especially if she didn’t even finish her education.

To sum up, I believe that Jacob was born in late 1966. Moreover, he was 17 years old and in his 6th year in the moment of expulsion. In my opinion, it fits the best every information we got so far. Also, here’s some small bonus: a visual representation. The notes about the Vaults are rather for orientation, as we don’t really have many clues for that.

#hogwarts mystery #hphm #hphm mc #jacob's sibling #hphm jacob #madam rosmerta #garrick ollivander #rita skeeter #angelica cole #alistair fidgen #severus snape #bill weasley #olivia green #jacob's age #analysis post #theory #hphm theory

197 notes · View notes

lukes-writing · 5 years

Text

Chapter 3: The Lord of Flies

Project introduction | Previous chapter | Next chapter

Word count: 2300 Warnings: None

September 22nd, 1:17 PM, Confederation district, Trinity Gate

With Parker and Whisper enlisted, Wiccan already has half of the recruits on his side. Now he drives his old Chevrolet to the Confederation district.

After the relaxing walk with Whisper through the Great Moors district, it can’t be said entering the area attached to the Central Confederation is a pleasant change. Instead of picturesque greenhouses and fields, the district offers mainly factories, refineries and ugly, rectangular blocks of flats. Even though the sun is still shining, the smoke coming from numerous smokestacks contributes to the gloomy atmosphere.

No, the Confederation district is neither a slum or a ghetto. It’s just the least welcoming of the three districts.

When Wiccan studied the third recruit’s files for the first time, he expected him to be from the Great Moors district - however, the file proved him wrong. However, it’s understandable why did he settle in the Confederation district. The rent here isn’t as expensive as it is in the Great Moors or the Northeast.

Wiccan already knows this guy lost his family at a young age and spent his childhood in a foster home with people who already had seven other kids in their foster care. He reached adulthood just recently and now he’s living a humble life in a small flat - the only one he can afford from the salary of a pet shop clerk.

In fact, Wiccan has doubts if this guy will be suitable for the job. But he can’t know unless he meets the guy in person. And that’s his plan for now.

The man has an old-fashioned car radio in his car and, as always, he has his favorite 80s radio station turned on. He’s singing along to Van Halen as he drives through the Core to the border separating it from the Confederation district.

First, he sees a decent-looking neighborhood with family houses and small alleys of trees, several general stores, a supermarket and several other useful facilities. The farther he drives, the more industrial and gray the district gets. The nice neighborhoods disappear to make room for housing estates full of blocks of flats and crowded city squares where the various stores are so crammed together the place has zero aesthetic value.

Fortunately, he doesn’t have to drive much further since the navigation in his Chevy tells him he’s just a few hundred meters away from his goal. After several long minutes of maneuvering on the parking lot in search for an empty parking place, he leaves the car and walks towards the block nearby while still humming the Bon Jovi song that played on the radio before he got off.

The people here also seem… somewhat less happy than in the remaining districts. They usually stare at the screens of their mobile phones, paying no attention to each other. Contrary to that, the Great Moors district Whisper comes from is always vibrant and resonates with cheerful talking of its inhabitants.

Wiccan hopes that the guy he came for isn’t as uptight.

He enters the block whose address he noted and takes the stairs to get to the fourth floor even though there’s an elevator there. Then he finally knocks at the door with the name tag saying Underwood on it.

A few seconds later, the door opens a crack and Wiccan hears a timid, quiet voice: “Yes…? Who is this?”

“My name is Wiccan Salisbury and I’ve come to talk,” the man announces. “No need to be afraid.”

“Are you some kind of peddler? Because I… I don’t want anything.”

Wiccan rolls his eyes. This guy would really need to man up if he decided to accept his offer. “No, I’m not a peddler. I came here to discuss your hobby.”

The door finally opens fully.

The ELIPSA files of Gary Underwood, the young man in front of Wiccan, already had his photos included. But the reality is even… less impressive than the pictures.

First of all, Wiccan has to look slightly down to make eye contact with this guy even though Wiccan himself isn’t a tall man at all.

“Hey,” Gary says with the same timid voice.

Gary Underwood isn’t only short, but also rather chubby. A perfect contrast to the tall, lanky Parker Skellinger. He tries to gain some centimeters by growing a large, curly afro (or more like a Jew-fro, even though Wiccan doesn’t remember if Gary has any Semitic roots) on his head. He also apparently tries to grow a beard and a mustache, but the results are rather sorry so far.

His nose which is a bit flat resides on his round face alongside surprisingly intelligent brown eyes. Gary’s smile is just as timid as his voice, as if he needed permission to give a full smile. He’s wearing a gray hoodie and black sweatpants - which may be a futile attempt to mask his chunky frame.

Wiccan finds Gary… somehow interesting. But he has some doubts about his competence.

“Can I come in?” Wiccan asks.

“Yeah, sure,” Gary gestures him in.

First of all, Wiccan notices a strange smell accompanied by constant buzzing coming from an unknown source. Even though Gary lives alone, his flat is surprisingly neat, although it’s hopelessly small. There is a small living room which apparently also serves as a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and one more room which has its door closed. The living space is especially tiny compared to shamelessly huge Archer-Gutenberg mansion.

“Do you want some tea?” Gary offers and Wiccan accepts.

When the younger man disappears into the kitchen, Wiccan takes another look around the place. Most of the furniture is made of wood and the walls are painted with a pleasant light brown paint. There is also a large bookshelf similar to Whisper’s. While it also contains fiction books, most of them are encyclopedias, all dealing with similar topics: biology, zoology and especially… insects.

Wiccan would never guess so much can be written just about bugs.

He also realizes the buzzing sound is coming from the room with the closed door.

Soon after, Gary brings the tea and seats Wiccan on a cheap, yet still comfortable couch in the middle of the room. They engage in small talk - Wiccan knows it’s probably necessary to break this man’s apparent shyness. Some minutes later, Gary seems to be more comfortable with the visit.

“You said you came because of my… hobby, right?” Gary plays into Wiccan’s cards by this question, and Wiccan seizes the opportunity.

“Yes, I indeed did. So, care if you showed me?”

Gary finally seems to show some enthusiasm. He takes Wiccan to the closed door and opens them. The buzzing sound grows significantly louder, and the odor Wiccan caught upon entering the flat also becomes more intense. Gary steps inside and Wiccan follows him.

The room apparently used to be a bedroom. However, Gary has rearranged the inside to fit his needs more. The room is filled with glass terrariums with living beings inside. Insects. Dozens of species, thousands of units. Each of the terrariums is designed and decorated with almost motherly love to mimic the species’ natural habitat as much as possible.

“Holy shit,” Wiccan gasps. A slight smile on Gary’s face gives away he’s proud of his collection. Flies, roaches, beetles, crickets and locusts, dragonflies - all shapes and sizes. There is also a small, neat beehive in the corner of the room and several anthills.

Wiccan was never squeamish about bugs and other creepy-crawlies, but the sight of this colony makes his skin crawl. There are gaps between the rows of terrariums wide just enough to allow Gary’s pudgy body walk between them. Wiccan wonders how would Gary’s landlord feel if they knew about this.

Even though Gary’s collection is somehow creepy, Wiccan realizes he’s also fascinated. Each terrarium is labeled with a tag containing the species name and several other notes the man doesn’t understand. Some of the bugs are rather common, but there are also far more exotic ones.

One especially big terrarium contains several giant beetles with black and white patterns on their shards. They measure about ten centimeters and Wiccan would swear their looks are full of hostility. The tag reads Goliathus regius. Another cubicle appears empty, until the twigs scattered inside start to move. Medauroidea extradentata.

Wiccan would need hours to take a look at all these beings, but right now, he has no time to spare.

“Why insects?” Wiccan asks, back in Gary’s living room.

The short man shrugs. “I guess they are small and insignificant. Just like me,” he replies.

When Wiccan read some of Gary’s files gathered by The Society, he found out that this man was a frequent target of harsh bullying at school. Looking at Gary, Wiccan realizes he indeed is a type often targeted by bullies. The question remains - is Gary this quiet and timid because of the bullying, or did the other kids bully him because of his personality? Wiccan doesn’t know and doesn’t intend to ask.

However, Gary starts speaking by himself.

“As you probably deduced already, my childhood wasn’t anything extra,” the man speaks and his tone of voice gives away it’s been a while he spoke to a being with fewer than six legs outside his workplace. “The foster family I lived in seemed to take care of children just to get the benefits and it was actually my oldest foster brother who took care of me better than these two people who were supposed to be my new parents.

At school, it was even worse. You probably have no idea what it is to be a chubby, short nerd in a whole class of bullies and jocks.” A slight sting of reproach can be heard in his voice. “So I started to spend as much time as possible outside. One benefit of my foster family was that they lived in the Great Moors district, so we had some beautiful surroundings.

Long story short, I started to be fascinated by insects. They are… so small, yet they can thrive when they use their special abilities. Most insects are like superheroes! Did you know that, for example…”

“Not now,” Wiccan urges him gently. He doesn’t want to let Gary know that his whole life is in the files he has in his car. “What I need to know is… there are rumors that your relationship with insects isn’t just within the scope of a hobby.” When he notices Gary’s horrified look, he quickly corrects himself. “I mean… you have some kind of special ability, do you? It can be described as an insect whisperer.”

Gary scowls. “How… how do you know?”

“That’s not important. I just need to know if it’s true.”

“I guess it is,” Gary reluctantly nods. “But I wouldn’t call it a whisperer since it seems to work a bit differently. You know, I guess I’m able to tap into their hive mind and control it. It sounds strange, but… yeah. I discovered this ability when I was about ten, after I sent a group of red ants to attack my foster sister after she was making fun of me. I didn’t want to, but…”

Wiccan has a feeling that even though initially timid, Gary is more than eager to rant about his personal life and problems endlessly. “Care to demonstrate it?” he interrupts once again.

Gary sighs and nods. He walks into his insect room and comes back with a terrarium containing an anthill. He lays it on the floor and opens the glass lid. Then, his face shows intense focus.

Soon after, an army of ants emerges from the anthill. They climb the glass wall, line up on the floor and then regroup to form letters. Wiccan watches in awe as he sees GARY RULES! spelled with hundreds of ant bodies. Then, the army disperses again and obediently crawls back into the anthill.

“It’s… kinda impressive, right?” Gary looks at Wiccan, once again with the insecure smile on his lips.

“It’s awesome!” Wiccan says. “Now, when I know what you are capable of, I can proceed to the offer I have for you. First of all, I’m going to tell you it involves a house in the Great Moors district, free of rent - just for you and your bugs. Does it sound tempting?”

Gary opens his eyes wide. “Like… really? With a house… I could raise countless more species! And I can build an aviary for butterflies and moths I always wanted! But… where’s the catch?”

“It involves accepting a job offer for a job others can only dream about,” Wiccan replies. “A job for a team that can take advantage of your bug-taming abilities. I won’t lie to you - it can get risky and dangerous. But if you accepted, your life would improve immediately and you would have more space for your hobby… and also more money. What do you say?”

“Dangerous…?” Gary scowls.

“I see you’re the type who prefers playing it safe,” Wiccan looks Gary in the eyes. “However, there is a time when you realize you have to take some action, some risk. I know your childhood taught you to stay aside and don’t drag attention to yourself. But the question is: do you want to live your whole life like that?”

“I… I guess I don’t,” Gary whispers.

“Can’t hear ya,” Wiccan smiles.

Gary takes a deep breath. “No, I don’t!” he says a little more loudly and Wiccan nods in satisfaction.

Author’s Note

I wholeheartedly thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, please leave a comment, send me a message or share and let more people know about this story! You can also consider a small donation at www.paypal.me/lukassladky. Have a great day and stay tuned for the next chapter!

#writeblr #writers #my writing #urban fantasy #original fiction #TeamDreamcatcher

3 notes · View notes

emiliarowan · 4 years

Text

Pictures With Santa

(A Mother of Dragons One-Shot)

*If you don’t want spoilers to my Mother of Dragons fic, don’t read, but I wanted to post something Christmas-y*

Lena doesn’t want to be like Lillian, by any stretch of the imagination. She doesn’t want to dress her children in scratchy, uncomfortable clothes and force them to pose for an awkward family photo with severe faces and empty eyes. Even worse, she will never force them to pose for hours while a professional painter creates a traditional portrait that will hang in the halls of the Luthor mansion for generations— Lena still isn’t sure why the painter had to have live subjects, probably just some strange form of torture thrust upon her seven-year-old self.

But she does want a picture of the twins with Santa. She’s never been a fan of the commercialism of Christmas— Kara called her a Scrooge before they started dating, but since they got together she has enjoyed gift-giving exponentially more— but she feels like she would be remiss as a mother if she didn’t have her children participate in this tradition. Who— other than her, and Kara— doesn’t have pictures of themselves with Santa as a child?

Kara understands her attempt to give their children a “normal” childhood, so she goes along with Lena’s yearly, slightly maniacal need to have a photo with Santa taken.

The first year’s picture is the best. The twins are only six months old, one dressed in a red onesie, the other in green, with tiny ruffles on the bum. They’re both blissfully asleep, one in each of Santa’s arms, and the man smiles into the camera.

What’s offscreen is not nearly as peaceful. Both twins had been taking turns crying nonstop for the past forty-eight hours as their first teeth started coming in. Kara had been called across the country on a Supergirl emergency, leaving Lena to deal with two screaming babies. She hadn’t slept or bathed since before her wife left, so she had one of Kara’s beanies pulled tight over her unkempt hair, a thick wool poncho with reindeer printed on the outside covered a t-shirt stained with spit-up, and her eyes were so exhausted she couldn’t wear contacts, so thick black glasses sat on her nose. The good news was, she was unrecognizable as Lena Luthor, but she did get many commiserating looks from the other mothers in line at the National City Plaza Mall.

The twins’ second Santa photo was a mess. Lena had scheduled a Santa Claus to come to L-Corp, so employees with children could bring them to have their pictures taken. She had asked Kara to dress and bring the girls to meet her there.

Instead of the Christmas dresses Lena had bought them, Kara brought the twins in wearing matching green and red plaid button-ups— and she was wearing an adult one to match— and, inexplicably, denim shorts and no shoes. When Lena questioned her, Kara just shrugged and said it was warm enough outside— which, honestly, was true, but it was still the middle of winter even though the temperature was in the sixties.

The odd clothing choice was the least of Lena’s worries, however. Both twins had taken one look at Santa’s cheery grin and burst into piercing screams, fat tears rolling down their cheeks. The poor older gentleman in his red velvet suit had done everything he knew to calm them, as had Lena and Kara, but in the end when the photos came, Eleanor was still blubbering on one knee, and Elizabeth was screaming on the other.

Kara had searched up multiple horrible Santa photos online to reassure Lena that she was not a failure.

The twins’ third Christmas, Lena was determined to get it right. She took the day off work so she could prepare the girls herself. She pinned their curls back and dressed them in the satin dresses she had picked out, one red and one green, and pulled on their lacy white socks and patent leather Mary Janes. They looked absolutely adorable as she fastened them into their carseats.

But, for some reason, Eleanor had decided she hated clothes that day. So by the time they arrived at L-Corp for the Christmas party with Santa, Kara had to use her x-ray vision to find the Eleanor’s shoes and socks under the seats. It took both women— and a little superspeed— to wrestle Eleanor back into her socks and shoes.

When they sat the girls on Santa’s knees, Elizabeth promptly began screaming for the second year in a row— Lena gave Santa, the same man from last year, an apologetic look— and Eleanor refused to smile, the deepest, angriest frown etched into her face— “holy Rao, she looks just like you!” Kara had told Lena when they received the prints— she had pulled the bow from her hair and dark curls like a mane framed her face, and somehow, though they weren’t sure how, she had managed to get one sock off while still wearing her shoe, and nobody noticed.

Later that night, while Lena and Kara were socializing with employees and Jess had volunteered to watch the girls, a triumphant shriek had interrupted the party as Eleanor streaked across the floor in nothing but her pull-up, having successfully rid herself of all her clothing before Jess could catch her. Kara almost outed herself as Supergirl as she used a bit of superspeed to catch their near-naked daughter before she could tear off her pull-up as well.

By the time the girls’ fourth Christmas rolled around, Kara wondered if Lena might give up on getting a picture with Santa, but then she was reminded of her wife’s tenacity. Lena poured all of her problem-solving skills, usually reserved for projects to solve world hunger and cure diseases, into getting the perfect Santa photo. She began socializing Elizabeth to men with beards starting in July, and read books about Santa at least once a week starting in September, trying to warm the girls up to the idea. They watched countless Christmas movies— something Kara definitely wasn’t complaining about. And Lena decided to forego the fancy dresses, instead getting the girls complementary striped footie pajamas with their initials on the back and a reindeer on the front. She even ordered matching sets for her and Kara to wear on Christmas morning, but she had no intention of being seen wearing them in public.

The Christmas party was in full-swing when they arrived, Lena in a cream blouse and burgundy slacks, Kara in a sleeveless emerald green cocktail dress, and their daughters far more comfy in their matching pajamas. Lena carried Elizabeth on one hip, and independent Eleanor walked between her and Kara, holding each of them tightly by the hand.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened as she took in the crowd and the buffet table. “Mama, chocolate?”

Lena chuckled at her daughter— definitely Kara’s genetics. “Yes, baby, but pictures first. You can have chocolate after your picture with Santa.”

Lena braced for a possible tantrum, but Lizzy just nodded in agreement, blonde curls bouncing with the motion. Hopefully that was a sign that tonight would go smoothly.

As they approached Santa, both girls began to squirm nervously. Lena and Kara led them to the bearded man with wide, apprehensive smiles.

“Girls, do you know who this is?” Kara asked brightly.

Eleanor nodded solemnly. “Santa Claus.”

“It’s nice to see you girls again,” Santa said brightly. “Would you two like to tell me what you want for Christmas this year?”

Elizabeth shook her head rapidly and buried her face into Lena’s neck. Ellie looked down to study the stripes on her footie pajamas as if they were the most riveting thing in the world.

“No?” Santa said gently. “Well, that’s alright if you don’t want to talk. But how about a pretty picture? You look so wonderful in your Christmas pajamas, I would just love a photo with you two.”

Elizabeth wasn’t crying, but she was clinging to Lena so tightly that Lena wondered if her Kryptonian strength was beginning to come in. Eleanor took one look at her sister and shook her head vehemently.

Santa sighed and looked at Lena and Kara. “How about if your moms are in the picture too, hmm?”

Elizabeth looked up then, eyes shiny with tears she was holding back. “Mama and Jeju with us?”

“Sure, little one, if that’s what you want,” Kara nodded.

“Okay,” Lizzy agreed softly.

“Ho ho ho!” Santa exclaimed. “Wonderful!”

Santa took his seat in the golden chair they had set up for him, and Kara and Lena positioned themselves on either side. Lizzy turned around in Lena’s arms and smiled brilliantly, looking so much like a miniature form of Kara that Lena was gobsmacked.

Eleanor, however, was not smiling. She looked around at Kara and Lena with a crinkled brow and a thoughtful frown.

“Mama, Jeju, where’s your jammies?” she asked seriously.

“We’re not wearing our special pajamas yet, Ellie, remember?” Lena said calmly. “We’re saving them for Christmas morning. Now smile pretty for the camera.”

Eleanor just continued to frown. “But... we no match.”

“It’s okay, little one, just smile for the picture,” Kara coached, tickling Ellie’s sides in an attempt to get her to smile, but she wasn’t budging.

“Mama and Jeju need jammies too,” she declared with an even deeper frown.

“Ellie, our Christmas pajamas are at home,” Lena sighed. “So we can’t wear them right now. Just smile, baby.”

Suddenly Kara’s expression turned sheepish. “Actually... I might have our jammies in the car.”

Lena forced her face to remain neutral. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Mama, Jeju, get the jammies!” Eleanor ordered.

Ten minutes later Lena was staring at herself in the bathroom mirror. Business attire forgotten, she was now dressed in a green and white striped onesie with her initials stamped on the back, a large reindeer embroidered across her chest. Her heels were abandoned, impossible to wear with the built-in footies on the pajamas— thankfully they had rubber skid spots on the bottoms.

“I can’t believe you brought these,” she said as Kara emerged in red-striped pajamas.

“I can’t believe how stubborn Ellie is,” Kara replied. “She’s definitely your daughter.”

Lena couldn’t argue with that. Kara shook her hair out into a looser pinned-back style and then she started pulling the pins out of Lena’s updo.

“What are you doing?” Lena exclaimed.

“Lena, you can’t look up tight wearing footie pajamas,” Kara said, running her fingers through the soft waves that emerged from the style. “There, you’re perfect.”

Lena wasn’t sure she’d call it perfect, but she definitely looked softer. God, she was actually going to go out in front of all her employees wearing a footed Christmas onesie.

Lillian would choke.

That thought, and the thought of her daughters’ smiles, gave Lena the resolve to leave the bathroom.

“Mama! Jeju!” Lizzy shouted as they entered the lobby. She sped back into Lena’s arms and nestled her face in the dark waves of Lena’s hair.

“Jammies!” Ellie exclaimed as she snuggled into Kara’s arms. She looked up at Lena and reached out to stroke her hair. “Pretty, Mama.”

“Thank you, baby,” Lena replied. “Now, can we take our picture with Santa Claus?”

Both girls nodded happily. They made their way through the crowd with wide smiles, nodding in acceptance of many compliments of how adorable their matching pajamas were.

“Ho ho ho! What a fine looking little family!” Santa exclaimed as they approached. “I love it!”

Finally appeased, the girls smiled broadly from their mothers’ laps. They even agreed to sit with Santa by themselves, and tell him their Christmas lists. Jess insisted on a photo of just the four of them, sans Santa, in their matching pajamas, and that was the one that became the header on Lena’s official emails for the rest of December.

Lena even sent a copy to Lillian, in the federal penitentiary.

#supergirl #supercorp #lena luthor #kara danvers #luthor-danvers children #christmas #christmas fic #kid fic #cotton candy fluff

1 note · View note

lumosaryrpg · 5 years

Photo

the hottest week of the summer, beating out record temperatures, has everyone running towards coney island for a vacation. the squad was no different. the initial meeting was a hit or miss for some, but a little getaway was bound to bring them together again. no one could remember whose idea it was, but soon everyone got a text about it. regardless of anyone’s hesitation, a chance to cool off at the beach was too tempting. and thus, a hotel by the beach was booked and a vacation for the weekend was set. of course, while they had the beach, the rides, the boardwalk, there was still the dreaded crowds, lines, and annoying seagulls that made people just a little more crankier and a little more rude. even the kindest have their breaking point. and that heatwave? it was certainly making everyone lose some of their normal inhibitions. but you know what they say, nothing counts in a heatwave !

admin note: this event ends september 3rd ( can be amended if desired ). if you guys don’t mind, i would highly recommend putting a pause in your other threads for the event. ( drafting replies owed for the duration will be a great way to keep track of them!) for open starters, be sure to use both the starter tag as well as the event tag: thesquadevent.

more information is below the cut !

roommates were drawn from sticks and are paired:

room 412 ( fourth floor ): cleo ( the brat ) & tj ( the casual )

room 409 ( fourth floor ): dakota ( the academic ) & julian ( the golden )

room 406 ( fourth floor ): danny ( the gregarious ), salem ( the sarcastic ), & samuel ( the soul )

room 306 ( third floor ) : jenny ( the lover ), leigh ( the jokester ), & skylar ( the outsider )

room 304 ( third floor ) : kai ( the punching bag ) & kelley ( the muscle )

roommate questionnaire ( optional & tagged under ‘thesquadevent’. be aware this is Pretty Important information for your roommate to have! )

do you go to bed early or late?

do you get up early or late?

what is your nighttime ritual?

do you like talking before bed?

how much noise do you make when sleeping?

are you a light sleeper or heavy?

what are you bathroom habits?

your roommate (seen above) gets locked out, waking you up. they’re a little wasted. what’s your response/reaction?

something embarrassing about you / something you don’t want people to know that you actively have to hide from your roommate.

#new rp #oc rp #city rp #town rp #thesquadevent

3 notes · View notes

hpjoshuaroberts · 5 years

Text

Just a Facade (A Hogwarts Mystery fanfiction)

Note:This story is designed so that you can place your MC into the story, this once again written from perspective of Penny Haywood.

Key:

F/N=First Name

L/N=Last Name

It was a warm day with a nice breeze and I was walking past the courtyard on my way to the great hall to grab dinner when F/N rushed past "Oh hey F/N how are y-" "Sorry penny can't talk right now". I stood there confused for a moment before I spotted something on the ground. I picked it up and realised it was F/N's diary and when I tried to hand it back to them they were gone. I decided to hold on to it "I'll give it to them later" I thought to myself and so I continued on my way.

Whilst I was eating my food I couldn't stop thinking about the diary "The mind boggles" I thought to myself before finishing eating and continuing on with my day. Whilst in potion class I finished brewing my antidote to common poisons what I found quite easy at that point. Bored I decided to have a look at the diary, it was old but well kept. "He trusts me, one read wouldn't hurt" I said quietly to myself before opening the diary. The first passage said

[U]'September 1st 1984'

"F/N must of bought this diary in diagon alley" I thought to myself before I started reading, This passage was filled with so much raw emotion and you could tell how excited they were to be going to hogwarts.

"I cant believe it I'm finally going to hogwarts, I have been waiting for this moment for all my life and its finally here." This made me smile as I could tell how giddy they must of been. I carried on reading "I also met a nice 1st year called Rowan and I later sat with them on the Hogwarts Express. Later in the great hall I was so happy that I got into the house I wanted and Rowan got in with me." That's where the passage ended.

"Miss Haywood" bellowed Snape "Class has been dismissed, get out" I grabbed my stuff and left not wanting to anger snape much more and tucked the diary into my pocket. I made my way to the library to read more of this fascinating literature. Once in the library I made my way to a secluded corner in order not to be disturbed and the next few entries were not very important and were quite small but the next big one was their duel with Merula, the first time I saw F/N.

[U]'February 16th 1985'

"I had just finished my duel with Merula when Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick arrived I immediately told them that Merula cast the first spell and Flitwick believed me but Snape told me to meet him later to receive my punishment. On my way there later, I met the most popular girl in my year. Let me just say this, her reputation does not proceed her, her eyes are as blue as the Aegean sea, she's absolutely beautiful" It made me blush reading this turning me as red as a tomato, good thing no one was around to see it.

Then out of nowhere Rowan came around the corner holding a stack of books "oh hey Penny, you should really read this book it's really intere- wait is that what I think it is" "I can explain Rowan, F/N dropped it, I was going give it back later" and to this they laughed "Don't worry F/N trusts you and so do I, just make sure to give it back later and don't tell anyone else, F/N doesn't want anyone else to know about it contents" I smiled "Thank you Rowan" and carried on reading.

It was suddenly really late so I went to my common room and went to sleep. The next day I went back to the library to read more. The next big entry I can only explain as being deeply upsetting, it was dated soon before we tried to break the ice vault and the page was filled pure emotion and F/N's always joyful mood was revealed as a facade.

[U]'June 12th 1985'

"Me, Penny and Bill are getting ready to break the ice vault and honestly... I'm scared, scared that I'll be the reason my friends get hurt. I already feel responsible for Rowan being injured and I don't know what I would do if anything would happen to Penny or Bill, I'd never forgive myself. I try to act normal and happy in front of my friends but it's only so I don't worry them. We cant stop because of me we need to save everyone else." I start to tear up over this as I never realised how much they suffer in order to help everyone else, I feel like a sh*t friend, they have always been there for me like the time with the forgetfulness potion but I have never been there for them.

After I read for a bit longer I went to the great hall to grab a bite to eat and maybe be able to read a bit more. After I finished eating I went to put my plate back and came back to find the diary missing, my face was immediately drained of its colour and I started to panic thinking to myself "Oh my god, I've failed F/N, they'll never speak to me again" before regaining my composure and asking a fourth year if he saw anyone take the diary and he said "Oh yeah, I saw a slytherin in your year take it. I'm pretty sure they were headed to the exit" "Okay thank you so much." I turned to see Merula going for the door, of course it was her.

I chased after her and once I caught up I yelled "Merula, give it back now" and she turned around laughing "What do you mean half-blood" not even trying to hide the truth. "Imagine how embarrassed L/N must be if their diary got shown to everyone not to mention they'll never forg-"

"Petrifocus totalus"

I froze her before she was able to finish speaking and grabbed the diary and took off. I went to the artefact room to try and get more peace whilst I read about their adventures in the third year involving the vault of fear, I am astonished at the amount of bravery it must of took to face their worst fear. I then took the diary to my common room and started to read it in my bed, The next one was labelled after we broke the spider vault.

[U]'May 28th 1986'

"We have just broken the third vault and I'm in the pain, but I cant let my friends know that, after all, I need to be strong for them and I cant stop in my quest to find my brother. I was injured in my duel with that acromantual, I don't think I was poisoned at first but as time goes on I start to feel more tired and weak. I'm going to meet with my friends now"

I remember that, when I went to meet with F/N I screamed at the top of my lungs after I saw them. They were already looking a bit woozy and I once I spotted that their once white t-shirt was now almost completely red and they collapsed in the middle of a corridor. Professor McGonagall telling everyone to clear off before picking up F/N and rushing them to the hospital wing. It turns out that F/N totally neglected getting medical help even though they were seriously injured. I started to cry again when I began to realise how much they suffer both mentally and physically in order to protect their friends.

The next day I invited F/N to speak with them, after a bit they showed up "Hello penny, you needed to speak to m- wait are you arlight" I ran into their arms "I'm so sorry, I am so, so sorry" and they replied in a joking but concerned manner "Don't be silly, you have nothing to be sorry about" "I found your diary after you dropped it, I fully intended to give it back" and they retorted with "is that all, I don't care that you read my diary, I wanted you to see it" "no, no it's not that, it's that I'm sorry that I've never been there for you and you've always been there for me" with tears streaming down my face they put some distance between us so they could look deep into my eyes "Of course you've been there for me, and don't ever think otherwise, I don't know where I would be if it wasn't for you. They pulled me in again for an embrace, I wanted to stay like that forever, I never wanted them to let go.

#hphm penny #penny haywood #hogwarts mystery #hphm #jacob's sibling #penny haywood x reader #penny haywood x mc #penny haywood x jacob's sibling

5 notes · View notes

rkrosememories · 5 years

Text

hello everyone, i hope you’re all well. happy rkfifth! five years, that’s a fair portion of time, half a decade in fact! i was contemplating on whether i wanted to write up one of these posts, as i usually do something similar when my own personal anniversary with rookies comes around, but for the sake of this being the big ol’ 5, i’m willing to do it. let’s take a walk down memory lane shall we and see where it all began for little ol’ me ( i got a job interview today, yay! )

i joined the krp community in august 2014, and rookies was one of those rps i considered joining, and a part of me wishes i did. i didn’t though, i found the large size of the roleplay to be somewhat intimidating so i ended up going on to make my own idol themed roleplay; which was fairly successful in its own way! ( r.i.p apollokrp ). but, i did end up meeting steph there, and eventually, i would end up being convinced to join rookies in july 2015; bringing forth my first rk muse, rkseokmin ( that’s dokyeom of seventeen, btw ). he didn’t last for long, and neither did my other two muses rkkyungri ( yes, i roleplayed kyungri prior to this, looking back, she was sort of like rkrose, being from australia and all ) and rksana, who i brought to rookies in july 2015 and december 2015. and now, looking back i don’t really have any strong attachments to these muses, i think i really just brought them in on a whim, and it wouldn’t be until the following year that i truly found my place at rookies.

come may 2016, season three of the mgas had begun and i decided to give rookies another go. damn rp! pulling me in and trying to get me invested! this time round, i brought forth a muse which y’all will definitely be familiar with. rkjuyeon, who was known as rkseo back then. and for anyone newer, that’s rksaercm. it all began with her, my tall dancing gay who had ambitions of idoldom since a young age. she had auditioned with her cousin in a process called the deathmatches ( you guys, if you weren’t around during like ... early 2016, you won’t know the pain of reserving / applying etc. as the old main blog was ancient. anyways, bless the rookies team for keeping everything going for so long ) and she failed to make it through. meanwhile, her cousin ends up winning the whole goddamn program. what a fluke. i did end up dropping her though, although she did return a few months later in september!

and we fast forward to july 2016; enter rkrose. blackpink’s iconic dance practice video was released and instantly fell in love, with one member in particular ( everyone was ranting and raving about lisa, but i couldn’t take my eyes off of the girl with braids in her hair ). that girl, was park chaeyoung, who like me, is a fellow australian! i instantly knew that i had to bring her to rookies, along with rose and keith ( who play lisa and jisoo, and eventually lari would end up completing the rkblackpink lineup that we know today with jennie ). looking back, i don’t really know how i envisioned rkrose to be; i mean, she was signed to royal within her first six months of being at rookies! she won the kt & royal contest, if ya didn’t know! she is probably the muse i am most well-known for, likely for not so good reasons. she’s been through countless “scandals” in her time, things of which are likely both of our faults. i’m not ashamed of her though ( more so of my own actions ). i think she’s a good egg.

when rookies gave us permission to go ahead with third muses, i think we all went a little crazy. i’ve had quite a few third muses, some whom i’m sure i can’t really remember, but rkchangkyun and yugyeomrk come to mind; i’m sure some of you might be baffled to know that i’ve ever actually roleplayed a male before, considering the fact that all i talk about on twitter is girls and girl groups. ah i forgot i did actually bring rkclaudia to rookies, aka moon hyuna. but we come full circle, and in march 2018, we meet rkkyungri, who is my third and final muse at rookies ( unless y’know, y’all wanna open up fourth muses to the public rk, because i’m down for that, i have many stories to share still wink wonk ). she was unlike any of my rookies muses; an ex-idol who failed at achieving her dream the first time round.

so, here we are, december 2018; i’ve given you a rather comprehensive and detailed run down on my past with rookies, muses wise that is, because there is a ton more to talk about. and i shall, because i want to be able to commemorate this special occasion! i think it is healthy to reflect on things that have happened in the past, so we can learn from our mistakes and better ourselves as people and writers. i have had my fair share of negative and positive experiences at rookies, and i think it’s normal to. rookies is a really big place, and people are bound to bump heads and not get along, that’s just human nature. i think that a good portion of my problems at rookies have been because of miscommunication. so new members, please take a leaf out of my book and remember that communication is key! also don’t get swept up in ooc drama and take your problems to the mods! that’s what they’re here for ( and they do an excellent job of it, thank you guys <33 ).

i really am invested in rookies; invested in the plot, the characters and their stories. i think it’s so amazing that we have a place on the internet where things can unfold and happen in real time almost. krp can be so fast-paced and it’s refreshing to see a place like rookies. i don’t think i could ever truly leave rookies behind, well, one day i’m probably going to have to, but that is another thing; rk is always there. rookies has reached five years. five! years! and that is a momentous occasion, because some rps don’t even see five months. as someone who has been an admin countless of times in the past, i have always wondered how rookies withstood the test of time, and now, having been apart of rookies for nearly three years, i think i understand now. many things go into making a roleplay work: the admin team and the members must work cohesively together, and i think we at rookies all do a good job of that.

i have learnt a lot at rookies, and i think i definitely have a lot more to learn and experience. i must say, going into the new year, i really want to work on being more productive. some of you amaze me! replying every week, getting those points! you get that, pal! it’s really, really inspiring, and i want to be more like that. i’m honestly amazed i’ve made it two years at rk, as i’m someone who gets bored easily ( i also have commitment issues to some extent ). there have been countless occasions where i’ve wanted to give up and drop my muses, be it lack of motivation or drama, but the sole fact that i’ve dedicated two whole years to creating these characters is an incentive to keep going. i’ve always loved writing and i love that i have a space to share my creativity, interests and dreams with like minded people! i think that rings true for a lot of other people, but i’m sure y’all have your own reasons for sticking around.

i don’t think a post like this would be complete without some shout outs, but this part for me will probably be lacking, whoops. maybe i can make that another goal of mine. socialise more.

steph ( @jungwooxrk ), thank you for introducing me to rookies and convincing me to join. we’ve been friends since december 2014!?! which feels like a long ass time. you were my first real internet friend and i’m very grateful to of met you. thank you for writing with me and putting up with me!

rose ( @rklisa ), keith ( @rkjisoo ) & lari ( @rkjennie ), rkblackpink is precious and means so much to both me and rkrose. although we don’t talk as much as much as i would like ( or we should??? ) i’m so happy that we’ve got y’all, i hope that our girls can experience many more things together.

shinobi ( @rkkangjoon ) thank you so much for putting up with me. we’ve been through a lot of crap but i’m really thankful that we’re still able to talk despite everything. i hope you know that kangjoon will forever be important to rose, he was her first real boyfriend after all! thank you for putting up with us both! we love you! <33

peach ( @rkhaechan ) i don’t think rkrose would be who she is today without you and the help of jaebum. after a year of depression i think she’s back on her feet though!! toughest 12 months as a writer! but, despite everything we’ve been through, i’m so thankful we’re still able to talk. i also love your new muses, haech is a cutie & i love him very much :((((

lemon ( @rkyena ) aaaaaah i can’t believe i forgot to put you in here, i’m so sorry. thank you sO MUCH for putting up with me and my forgetfullness. i really love seoyoung as a muse and i’m excited to see her grow as an idol! also saeseo?!

nana ( @younghyunrk ) i’m so thankful that i get to talk to you almost everyday!? i feel as though these past few months we’ve been able to get close which is exciting because you are awesome & i treasure you a ton! i’m excited for whats to come in the following months for our muses! hopefully we meet when i fly over your way sometime soon! i love youuu!!! <33

royal and sphere trainees! i would tag you all, but i’ll be here forever. thank you for making me feel included, even if i don’t participate in the group chat! i love our group antics, like photocard swapping, that was fun. thank you for taking care of both me and my girls, rose and saerom. i would like to work on getting closer to y’all!

and our incredible mod team, you know who they are, they know who they are. thank you so much, for everything you do. you guys keep this place safe, happy and running for all of us, all while writing for your own muses and keeping up with real life stuff like work and school?! incredible! amazing! fantastic! thank you for being so accepting and welcoming and supportive. i love y’all a ton and i don’t think this little message truly explains how grateful i truly am. thank you, for all that you do.

i’m sorry if i forgot anyone in particular, i probably did and i’m sorry; i don’t have the greatest memory. just know that i’m grateful for you! even if we’ve never spoken to eachother before! thank you for making rookies the place it is! that being said, i should probably work on wrapping this whole thing up, since it’s getting pretty darn long and i would like to do some things today prior to this job interview i have later ( please send positive vibes, i’m going to need them ; _ ; )

these past two, nearly three years have been absolutely wonderful. i’m bummed i didn’t join rk back in the day but maybe the fact that i joined later was a good thing? i mean, everything happens for a reason right? these years have been hard and tiring but also very exciting and rewarding, and i’m very enthused to see where 2019 takes me and my girls, along with you and your muses! lets work hard and be happy, happy rkfifth everyone <3

- lots of love, from sacha!

#♡ ┋ out of character.#rkfifth

22 notes · View notes