#Jason thinks this magical castle sucks

[mokulule]

Almanac - Chapter 2

So ya'll have given me some amazing and lovely comments on A Man has Needs (which I'm delighted was so well-received), and I had a really shitty day so I wanted to upload something. Sadly don't have energy to write, but this was already done so here ya go. Ship: Dead on Main First | Masterlist

Chapter 2 - September 25th, Uranus at Opposition

Jason awoke slowly. He felt groggy and worn like he’d gone a round with Bane and, now that he thought about it, maybe also Black Canary; his ears of all things hurt for some reason. Groaning he pushed himself up, taking in the green and black bedspread… this wasn’t his bed. He looked around; bare stone walls with a strange almost purplish tint - no windows he could leave out of.

What happened yesterday? There had been something… an emergency? Shit. He rubbed his brow hoping against hope to relieve the sharp headache there. What kind of truck hit him? Come on brain, work.

Bruce.

Bruce had called him. He breathed slowly through his nose. Urgh, his brain was like a tangled ball of yarn that had been left to the mercies of a cat. Slowly he picked at the treads, trying to untangle them. Dick had been there, and Tim and Damian. And Superman? Why was Jason on a league mission? Jason wouldn’t have joined them unless the world was-

Oh, the world had been ending.

There was an invasion and John bloody Constantine and a ritual- and Jason was a small bit of supernatural insurance but that didn’t matter because-

Because!

His head throbbed sharply and he curled up on the bed with a whimper. Shit. Why? Okay, no remembering right now. He slowly unfolded and squinted at the room, there were two doors. One by the head side of the bed, which seemed the least likely to lead outside and one opposite. He confirmed the first door to be a bathroom, which left the other to lead- He opened the door into a windowless hallway. Looking left and right he didn’t see an end either way.

The hallways had the same purple tinted stone walls as the room. It was lit by green torches, but somehow they didn’t cast green light. Instead the light that hit Jason was more blueish. He decided not to think about that and moved on.

He walked hallway after hallway. The only change was the tapestries. Since they were the only thing that changed he couldn’t help but look at them. There was a man, large and armored with a flaming crown and his hand raised with something shining from it. Jason went down some stairs and another hallway had a tapestry with the same character directing an army of skeletons and other creatures fleeing from them. This theme continued through many hallways. World upon world, the king and his army conquering all on a backdrop of Lazarus green. Then finally something changed, seven robed figures stood over the fallen king.

Jason then stood in front of a winding stairwell: Up or down?

He looked down; there was something down there…

Dazed, he took a step down, before he shook his head and walked up. He had to get out. Walking down in a building he didn’t know what floor he was on was just asking to be trapped in some sort of basement, and he’d already walked down one staircase already, when the only other option had been to backtrack.

A sarcophagus was opened and the King released. In the next hallway someone in a black and white mech suit was fighting the king and Jason blinked at the sudden genre shift. He hadn’t expected that from the tapestry story.

The next one had several people pushing the sarcophagus closed again presumably to seal the king, but one figure especially niggled at Jason’s brain - the small one, the black and white one. He was familiar. He walked faster, urgency pressing him to find the next tapestry, he rounded a corner and there!

There were two tapestries on either side of a door. The first tapestry had a purple robed figure crowning a kneeling black and white figure in front of a crowd. Several were recognizable from the previous tapestry. But Jason didn’t look at that picture long he was drawn to the last tapestry; the one who only showed the new king:

Human skin tone, compared to all the light greens and blues. Snow white hair. Crown hovering over his head, and on the index finger on his right hand where it was folded over his chest was a green ring with a skull crest. The backdrop was a nebula of colors and only on the edges were the Lazarus green. The king’s eyes were closed, but Jason knew they were green.

He knew.

And as a key turning in a lock Jason remembered. He bent over holding his head with a groan. The invasion. The ghost king. His sacrifice, which apparently meant he was to do nothing for the rest of his life. Screw that! What was the ghost king gonna do? Un-save the world? Jason didn’t think so. He needed to get out. He very carefully avoided thinking of the risk of his brains melting out his ears if he angered the king again.

The door. Jason’s eyes snapped to it. It looked completely innocuous. He had been lead here for a reason. Fight or flight? Fight his body screamed at him. His chest rose and fell, his heart picked up speed in anticipation and he reached for the brass handle. His hand closed around it, it was cold and solid in his grip. He exhaled slowly out his nose counting down.

3

2

1

He burst into the room, hands on hidden knives, ready for anything! Then he froze.

This was the room he woke up in. There was that rumpled spot on the bedsheets from where he’d slept. He grabbed his head, there had been no tapestries in the hall he stepped out in, he was sure. No he was not gonna let this get to him he had to find a way out. He stepped out into the hallway through the still open door; the tapestries were gone.

He walked the opposite direction this time, but only five turns in he stood in front of the open door again. Shaking his head he kept walking, there had to be a way out. There were less tapestries now, but every now and then there’d be a tapestry of the King sans crown fighting someone. It seemed to be some of the more prominent people that had been at the coronation and then there were some others; a large plant creature, a person that looked part tornado, someone who looked like the night sky itself.

The message was clear: give up. See all the ones who has been defeated. What do you think, you can do?

Jason punched the wall next to the most recent tapestry.

“Let me out, you bastard!” he snarled.

Predictably there was no answer, but a small part of Jason had still hoped something would happen. His shoulders dropped.

A familiar door materialized in the corner of his eyes. He turned his head to better see and yup, that was the door alright. He sighed.

“Fuck you.” But Jason was tired. He didn’t know how long he’d walked the hallways. He opened the door and walked the few steps that took him to the bed collapsing on top of it, in the spot he’d made earlier. He couldn’t be bothered to go under the covers.

Oo o oO

They say doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is a sign of insanity. Tim would probably argue something about scientific methods and statistics in return, but Tim wasn’t here, just Jason.

So here’s what Jason knew:

He’d sacrificed his life to the Ghost King to save the world. The Ghost King had no interest in Jason and had just dropped him in a never used room like one of those gifts you really don’t want but can’t refuse. Oh, and the castle was magical and delighted in showing him right back to his room every time he left it.

Leaving the room was pointless. Jason knew it was pointless. But Jason couldn’t just stay in this room, hence the repeated insanity, but at least out in the hallways some things changed, even if he always ended up where he started.

He didn’t know how long he’d been there. He’d lost count of how many times he’d slept. It was pointless anyway, he didn’t know if he could even count sleeps as days anyway. He was locked in a battle of wills with a fucking castle.

“For a magical castle, you’re boring, you know that?” He spoke to the ceiling. It didn’t even have any enchanted furniture or household items to talk with.

Jason wasn’t sure quite when he’d started feeling hungry, only that it shouldn’t have taken that long. Water came out of the tap in the bathroom, so at least he wasn’t thirsting. After the hunger came the lethargy. He was sleeping more and his forays out into the hallways were shorter.

The world was a hefty price to pay and maybe Jason’s suffering was just a part of his toll, but Jason would have taken being a servant or slave over this. At least then he’d have something to do. There’d be a focus, something to fight. He wouldn’t just lie here with nothing better to do but insult the walls.

next

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#Almanac #dp x dc #dead on main #summonings have consequences #Jason thinks this magical castle sucks #Castle holds a grudge as you will find out later

[redflagshipwriter]

Hot Ghouls in your Area ch 4 progress

(read other sections of this and more stories here)

Danny floated miserably through the stacks, pulling out books that looked remotely plausible. Maybe he needed help. Jazz would help him without laughing at him, right?

Sam and Tucker absolutely would not. They would think it was hilarious that he had so little game that the universe assigned him a boyfriend via Jeremy Waters. 

‘As if I could pull a guy who looks like that,’ Danny thought wryly, and then felt a little bad about himself in comparison. Jason was, uhhhh, physically blessed. He was tall and well proportioned and his hands- Danny fought down a shiver and resisted the urge to steal another look. Jason was out of sight anyway.

Well. He still hadn't seen Jason's face. Maybe he was ugly! You never know. Or maybe under the helmet it was totally smooth, no face. That would be neat. Danny paused mid motion to imagine that.

Haha. Sick, man.

That concept cheered him up a little as he grimly opened the first book and started skimming for likely words like marriage, spouse, and concubine. 

He didn’t bother reading anything in detail. He stuck a post it note on each page with a relevant term and then put the book in a pile to take back to his dorm. This wasn’t going to get solved in a day.

Ah, shit. Danny paused. This wasn’t going to get solved in a day. He bit his lip and looked off in the direction where Jason had disappeared to do his own research.

He truly didn’t have time to devote to this right now. He was not willing to drop his school life in order to solve a sudden problem. Jason was just going to have to cope with whatever timeline Danny could manage without setting his life on fire.

On the other hand, Jason was a human guy who probably had a life of his own at the biker bar/fight club. Whatever the hell required that kind of outfit probably kept him busy! So Danny couldn’t like, just leave him in the castle to chill.

“Not to mention the fact that he shouldn’t be able to live here very long anyways,” Danny muttered to himself.

That was troubling him. Frankly, Jason should have been intolerably uncomfortable in the ghost zone for this long without specialized protective equipment. It wasn’t meant for humans.

‘What did Jeremy do to this guy?’

Yikes. Did this mean… Did this mean Danny should have given that little cult thing more credit? But Jeremy was just such a doofus. He grimaced. Embarrassing. Why were his enemies so embarrassing? This shit didn’t happen to, like, Wonder Woman.

Danny buried himself back in the books to avoid the growing suspicion that Jason might have been uhhhh magically altered to make him an appropriate concubine to a dead king. That thought sucked! He didn’t like it. He really didn’t like the idea of bringing it up with Jason.

When he had what he thought was a good first round of research, Danny shelved the books he’d gotten out and went to find where his …

He whole-body flinched at the point where he needed to plug an appropriate noun into that sentence. 

“Jason?” Danny called, juggling books into a stack. “I think we should probably get you back to the re- the human world. Before something inexorable happens.”

A pause.

“I don’t think you know what that word means,” Jason said. A book shut. Danny headed towards the sound, phasing through shelves effortlessly. A spark of curiosity lit up at Jason’s voice. He sounded relaxed, even through the helmet’s filter. 

‘I want to hear his real voice. Bet it’s nice.’

Wait. What? Danny shook the thought away, discomforted. He plastered a wide grin on his face. “I don’t know any words,” he lied breezily. “I’m just ad libbing. Anyway!” He flopped dramatically down onto the big chair next to Jason’s, making sure to be extra physical to get a satisfying whumpf. “We really should go! I can get you to the human world, but, uh, I can’t promise to put you back where you came from.” He scratched at the back of his neck. “I think this is going to be a more than one day affair.”

Jason was watching him. There was nothing visible through his helmet, but Danny got the sense that he was tense, waiting for a threat. 

Which, what? Why would Jason feel threatened by-

Oh. Danny felt a knot in his stomach. Right. That made a lot of sense. He felt kinda sick. 

He didn’t let the feeling show through and barreled on speaking. “I don’t exactly have an easy way for you to contact me, but we probably need to stay in touch to fix this. Do you have any ideas?” 

The lie felt kind of gross. But he could hardly tell the guy; “I’m an engineering student in Gotham, you can just call my cell or come to the dorms.”

Jason seemed to relax at the cessation of control. “If you can stick around, yeah. I’ll get you a burner phone, exchange numbers. You’re not going to…” He trailed off. Danny felt a frown somehow. “You won’t have any signal here, actually. That won’t work.”

“I can make it work,” Danny assured him, hands up. “I mean, I can’t make it work here, or I would have offered to help with your tech. But I can pop in and out of the human world and check my messages.”

“That’ll work.” Jason’s helmet turned ever so slightly. “About the books…”

“You found something good?” Danny asked, impressed. “Yeah, awesome. Just be really careful with them, the librarian is a scary guy.”

Jason’s hand flexed over the closed book on his thigh. “I can take- how many can I take out?”

Danny scoffed. “I’m not your dad,” he said. “Whatever you can carry, man. You ready to go or do you need a minute?” He flipped back to his feet with a grunt. 

#red hot ghouls #dp x dc #dc x dp #dead on main

[themightywolftiger]

Fall Fairy Not Fun (3/4)

Note: Hey, remember when I said that I didn’t have time to post this part? Yeah, me neither *pushes that post under the rug*

 Anyways, Thomas and Jason. Two brothers. One’s normally a partial elf and a magic user, and the other’s a man that got turned into a vampire.

That’s lore for ya.

Nothing too gross besides broken bones in this one. Tomorrow’s the end of this oneshot and also when pictures are posted. 

You can read it under the cut:

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the castle, Tom was face down on the cold ground. The man's body was barely moving as he wheezed. A gentle hand was prodding into his side causing him to shudder. But still, Tom refused to fully wake up; he was too tired and sore from the fall.

" Come on, Thomas..." Jason spoke as his voice wavered, " W-Wake up..." he flinched as he clutched as his own bruised arm.

Everything hurts..

Jason thought as his body began to shake.

Why does everything still hurt? Why isn't it better? Why do I feel... so... hot?

The man questioned as he breathed through clenched teeth. Pain panged throughout his entire body as he began to shake. This pain, and the changes he went through, would quickly be dismissed by the taller brother as he put his pale fingertip to Tom's neck.

" GAH!"

Tom's body suddenly shot upwards as he gasped in pain and clutched at his jaw.

" AAAAAAAH!" Jason screeched as he scurried backwards then fell flat onto his back. In response to the screech, Tom gasped in pain as he clutched at his widened ears.

A pained squeak escaped from the orange-haired man as he curled in on himself. Jason breathed heavily as he clutched at his injured leg.

" J-Ja- Augh!" Tom flinched as his sharp teeth bit into his tongue. The shorter brother removed his hands from his ears then lowered them.

" You alright, Tom?" Jason questioned as he shifted his weight around until his was sitting with his legs crossed. The brother's whole body was shaking as he tried to calm his strayed nerves and ease his pained breaths.

Tom rubbed at his cheek as he looked up at his brother. The older of the two then looked down at his hands and stared at the cracked, grey skin on his finger tips. Then, Tom's eyes widened a bit as his ears twitched.

" Jason..." Tom looked back at his brother and studied the man's pale, human skin, " You're... h-h-human again.. B-But, I'm..."

" You're a vampire..."

The two brothers stared at each other in silence. Then, the older sat up and moved towards his younger brother.

" Are you alright, Jason? Y-Your shaking...." Tom sucked in a pained breath as he licked at his sharp fangs. The vampire's ears lowered as Jason shuddered.

" F-Fine.. N-Not fine.... T-Think I broke something on... the fall." Jason wheezed as his body shuddered. The man sucked in a breath as he tried to stand. With a gasp, the taller man fell back over with a shake. Jason frowned as he grasped at his sprained, or broken, leg.

Tom looked up to the roof then back at his brother. With a deep breath, the shorter of the two forced himself to his feet and motioned to his back.

" C-Come on... We need to find the others." Tom spoke quickly as Jason nodded. A pained wheeze escaped from Jason's clenched jaw as he wrapped his arms and legs around his brother.

" What do we do about... my leg n' arm?" Jason questioned tiredly.

Tom shrugged as he adjusted, " Once we figure out what happened to all of us, it'll help me-us- fix your leg." he answered as he walked inside. It felt strange to be that strong; however, it did feel nice to be able to lift his brother again.

Jason yawned and nodded his head as his eyes began to close. The once vampire's body shuddered as he took in a deep breath of the evening air. A cold chill ran down his mortal body as he took in sensations that he hadn't felt in years.

#Mighty's oneshots #Mighty's sona #Mightyswolf #Halloween special #broken bones mention #OCs

[persephones-deadly-nightshade]

Beauty and The Beast

ft. familial relationships

A platonic JasonXSteph      pre-romantic TimSteph

Background: 

The batfamily are loyal protectors. A mix between knights a vigilantes. Jason dies. Jason gets resurrected via the pit. Jason comes back pissed. He returns home though, doesn’t go on a killing spree, slowly incorporates back into the family.  

Jason still dislikes Tim, (Replacement) and Damian (Demon Brat). He is still bitter at Bruce, (B stands for bitch) and resenting Dick(Golden boy/perfect child). He loves Cass (hard not to.)

Anyways something happens, maybe he’s benched Demon Spawns not, pit rage occurs, a guest pops by the door. 

Guest is treated rudely and prepares to curse entire family. 

Alfred and Bruce welcome her in. 

She doesn’t curse yet.

Hears Jason wish he didn’t have family. Family sucks.

Curses him into a beast, transforms his servants into furniture, telling him if he doesn’t feel brotherly love and learn to appreciate family, they’ll stick. The family (Ohana Bitches) intervene to give him a shot to fix this. 

They sacrifice their voices/bodies for time. Each person earns Jason an extra 20 years. (100 total) His family members are like ghosts, unable to communicate with Jason besides occasional impressions. They’ll be back if he ever breaks the curse. 

Jason is horrified at himself and sinks deep into depression. The pit madness rages more often than not. Time is passing all to quickly...

Start of Story:

Meet Steph. She is a pretty girl, but all to smart and spirited for her village. She loves her mother, another smart woman, an nurse from the city who moved from the country at the behest of her controlling husband.

Meet the controlling husband, Arthur Brown, aka the “Gaston” of the story.

He is not a good person, or father, but the town loves him.

He wants a “perfect” daughter. Timid, reserved, demure. Steph is resisting, but soon she won’t be able to put him off. 

Her mother goes into the city for special herbs, needed as the village healer. She ends up seeking refuge in the beast’s castle.  

Alfred, who previously disconnected from the Waynes, becoming more butler than grandpa to keep Jason company, takes care of her.

Jason flashes back to the last woman whom they invited in and pit madness overtakes him. He throws her in the dungeons.

Steph comes looking for her mother, running towards the terrifying castle because without her mom, Arthur Brown would bend her quickly to his will. 

Steph and Jason’s first meeting was... A disaster. 

Think Steph screaming, think Jason screaming back. Think Alfred pushing her into the guest bedroom as the Waynes try to calm Jason the fuck down so he can use the girl to break the curse. 

They are in an awkward limbo for days. 

Alfred, fed up, escorts Mrs. Brown out in exchange for Stephanie, after explaining what the very aro/ace Jason will need from Steph. (Basically reassurance that Steph would be trapped, but zero chance of getting raped or seduced.) 

Because she must not think of him a brother purely for the curse, Steph doesn’t get the full story. 

The first week and a half is Jason avoiding the fuck out of Stephanie and being annoyed at Alfred’s deal. 

Steph is terrified. She rashly agreed to this deal including spending time with a giant strong monster, Alfred is kind, but she hasn’t seen the silver candlestick since he broke the rules. She is fearing for his safety.

Alfred’s fine, just giving Jason an I’m so disappointed in you silence.” 

Eventually, Steph starts poking around. 

To preserve his brother’s privacy, he stops her before she can go into the family wing, and has Alfred show her the library. Steph is bored.

She pokes around more. Jason bodily stands in her way. 

She persistently pokes him into spending time together. Listen, She is really fucking bored out of her mind. 

Alfred refuses to show her the training room, so Jason has to do it.

Less than a month later, he caves. (Steph is annoying persistent)

Her eyes light up at the sight of punching bags and Cass’ equipment, that girls were allowed to fight maybe she could.

She doesn’t ask for permission. 

He catches her throwing a fucking terrible punch. 

He can’t let that stand. 

The fam watches in glee, as the blonde pokes every single one of his buttons, and accidentally/unknowingly manipulates him into spending time with her. (Tim might just be falling in love)

(She out of his league, like a lot)

Invisible family thinks it’s adorable.

Alfred tells her the history of the manor, and about the Batfam spirits. They comfort her when she gets scared, an impression of warmth and safety. 

She learns to differentiate. She notices Tim spending a lot of time, doesn’t know it’s Tim. Alfred Knows. Alfred knows all.    

Eventually Jason begins liking teaching, and instead of just a harsh taskmaster, he becomes more of a mentor. 

Coins her Spoiler after hearing about how she resists her shitty dad. 

Winter comes. He teaches her siege warfare and silent moving through snowball fights and games. 

He teachers her piano. How the fuck is his voice that nice? 

He teachers her to cook and they have ingredient fights. If she can get him in a good mood, he’ll tell silly stories about his family, going all wistful. 

Good things come to an end. She gets word that her father is beating Mrs. Brown because she managed to escape. It’s her fault, her mother is getting hurt.

A worried Jason bans her from going home. 

Steph runs away anyways, with a purple cloak streaming behind her.

Wolves attack. She can’t hold them all off. 

The Red Hood makes an appearance, saving her life. 

The Pit rage comes back, he almost couldn’t protect her. Suddenly her broken body gets replaced with, little Timbo’s, babybat’s, his dad’s, Big Wing’s, and Cass’. All gone because he couldn’t control himself. The depression returns full force. 

He barricades himself in his room. 

Steph punches the punching bag, often. She knows she fucked up. She misses her mentor. Things deteriorate.

The orange rose petals are almost out. 

Jason, unable to stand the sight of Steph after associating her with his family, sends a carriage for her to take home, gives her weapons to stand up for herself easier. 

Steph, split worried between her mother and Jason, takes the opportunity to go home, as Jason will have Alfred, but her mom has nobody. 

She gets home to try to protect her mother, and her father captures her and puts her in a shock color that is programmed to send a jolt of electricity each time he presses the button. (Aka when she disobeys)

Arthur Brown, annoyed that she had been protected from him for that long, and dismayed that she had learned to fight, (That punch to his face was beautiful Steph, the whole Batfam is proud.) Decides to storm Wayne castle. 

Mrs. Brown (’cause I still don’t know her name) notices Steph looking troubled and tells her to escape and send a warning to her new family. 

Steph denies the family part twice before her mom shuts her up with a look and pretty much said, “Steph, he’s like, your perfect older brother. You guys even have nicknames.”

Steph realizes she’s right.

Steph disables collar and runs toward the manor, taking the conveniently located, super secret passage. 

(She didn’t take it home initially because she didn’t know, then Alfred told her after the wolf attack, but it wasn’t an emergency because Jason prepped a carriage.)

So Steph arrives as her father does, he is still the better fighter, so Jason goes up against Arthur Brown as Steph and the furniture/servants take out the mob. 

As they are fighting, it is, of course, the perfect time for a heart-to-heart. 

“Why did you come back?/Why did you avoid me?”

“I can’t lose my brother!/I can’t stand seeing my family hurting!”

“What?!?/What!?! 

“Cool/Sup.”

Arthur Brown gets a lucky hit in when the two are dramatically confessing their new familial bonds. 

Jason falls.

Arthur gloats. 

Steph knocks him the fuck out. (Heartwarming)

Steph then bear hugs Jason, Jason pecks her forehead. 

Swirl of magic...

The servants turn human, the Waynes resolidify. There is a beautiful reunion. Oh, Jason also rebecomes human. (Meh) 

Bonus-

As Tim is reforming, Dick shoves him towards Steph. All the bats think a blushing Tim would be hilarious. 

He ends up a little to close.

Steph seeing a person she does not know directly in her personal space. Promptly bends down and yeets the brick she is holding. (Mwahahaha)

It was the start of a beautiful romance for the ages. 

#platonic jaysteph #batfamily #batfam #batbros #timsteph #dcu #disney #beauty and the beast #batfamily au #familial love #DisneyXBatfam Headcannons

[bonniebird]

Halloween Event

Read early on Wattpad

Read early on AO3

“Great! The blood-sucking Brady Bunch!” - Jacob Black

“Do you have any other emergency werewolf contacts?” - Stiles Stilinski

“Every day is Halloween, isn’t it? For some of us.” - Jace Wayland

“During the day, I don’t believe in ghosts. At night, I’m a little more open -minded.” - Tate Langdon

@joeynihil​ and Peter Rumancek’s Halloween ~ Moodboard

“You don’t know much about magic.” - Nick Scratch

“When you turn to a bat, where do your clothes go?” - Spike

“And now it’s time to send in our cute little secret weapon.” - Ivar Ragnarsson

Halloween with Eric Coulter {Moodboard}

“She used to tell me that a full moon was when mysterious things happen and wishes come true.” - Ivar Ragnarsson  

“What an excellent day for an exorcism.”-  Peter Hale

“Blah blah, vampire emergency, blah” - Rebekah Mikaelson & Theo Raeken

“You are too precious for words, why I could just… eat you alive!”  - Hvitserk Ragnarsson

“So is the devil, Halloween Santa?” - Lucifer Morningstar

“I’ve got the devil in me!” - Lucifer Morningstar 

“I always wonder if it’s better to bury two bodies in one place or spread them around. I’m sure there’s a right answer, but I never want to meet the person who knows it.“ - Maze / Lucifer Morningstar

“What is this guy, Witch-ipedia?” - John Constantine 

“You only have one super power, and it is your breasts.” - Elijah Mikaelson 

“It’s Halloween; everyone’s entitled to one good scare.” - Eric Northman 

“Stop calling it a haunted house. It’s not even scary.“ - Seeley Booth

“I know you’re joking, but on the off chance you aren’t, no.” - Victor Zsasz 

“Every day is Halloween, isn’t it? For some of us.” - Eric Coulter

“Those guys at the impound. Did they really smash my car?” - Dean Winchester

“I’m the guy that’s gonna save your ass.” - Eric Coulter

Halloween with Theo Raeken moodboard - Theo Raeken

“You can’t commit crime on Halloween!” - Barbara Kean

“I do believe in killing the messenger. Know why? Because it sends a message.” - Mick Rory

“It’s so sweet. He looks just like a little entrée.” - Ripper!Stefan Salvatore 

“During the day, I don’t believe in ghosts. At night, I’m a little more open-minded.” - Harley Quinn

“If this is a joke, I’ll kill you!” - Eric Coulter

“So, what can a teen wolf do?” - Cora Hale

“It’s Halloween; everyone’s entitled to one good scare.” - Aziraphale {Good Omens}

“The witches are coming.” - Bonnie Bennett

“I know that you hate Halloween, but stick with me, and I promise you, you will love it.” - Nick Scratch

“Shh, I’m Googling sex spells.”  - Madison Montgomery

“I am, what psychiatrists call, alpha male.”  - Eric Coulter

“Aren’t you worried that, one day, all the forest animals are gonna band together and fight back?” - Jacob Black 

“Bitch, I will eat you!” - Spike {BtVS}

“You know how I think Halloween is for jerks? Well, this Halloween, I was the jerk. I’m sorry about tonight.”  - Leonard Snart

“You really are a witch.” - Jace Wayland

“I’m the guy that’s gonna save your ass.” - Jace Wayland

“I am, what psychiatrists call, alpha male.” - Klaus Mikaelson 

“Vampires pretending to be humans pretending to be vampires … How avant-garde!” - Klaus Mikaelson

“Shh, I’m Googling sex spells.” - Stefan Salvatore 

“Shh, I’m Googling sex spells.” - John Constantine 

“Are you ready for some Halloween fun?“ - Eric Coulter

“She annoyed me, so I killed her and buried her in the yard.” - Eric Coulter 

“I’m supposed to call you first when I find a dead body?”  - Peter Hale 

“Can someone kill him again, please?”  - Kol Mikaelson

“I’ll be a good little witch.” - Theo Raeken

“I just think a lot of undead roaming the streets could lead to problems. For instance, farmers’ markets selling actual farmers.” - Theo Raeken 

“Shh, I’m Googling sex spells.” - Theo Raeken

“There’s a monster outside my room. Can I have a glass of water?” - Jasper Hale

“I am, what psychiatrists call, alpha male.” - Eric Coulter

“You really are a witch.”  - Geralt of Rivia

“Shh, I’m Googling sex spells.”  - Eric Northman

“If this is a joke, I’ll kill you!”  - Barbara Kean

"This is my costume. I’m a homicidal maniac. They look just like everyone else.” - Rosa Diaz

“Well, as someone at a high risk for a spook-related death, thank you.”  - John Constantine

“Dear Diary, a chipmunk asked me my name today.” - Klaus Mikaelson

“I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.“ - Gina Linetti

“You’re horrific and you are hired.“  - Jerome Valeska

“I am commanding. Calmly, but commanding. No more witchcraft.”  - Maze Smith

“I am, what psychiatrists call, alpha male.”  - Eric Coulter 

“Have you picked out a costume yet?“ - Maze Smith

“Well, as someone at a high risk for a spook-related death, thank you.”  - Harvey Bullock

“I’m just sitting here. Feeling like the devil.” - Damon Salvatore

“Shh, I’m Googling sex spells.” - Eric Northman

“No, you weren’t part of this. Get back over to the loser side, loser.” - Winn Schott

“I need help carving these pumpkins.” - Temperance Brennan

“I’m the guy that’s gonna save your ass.” - Anakin Skywalker

“This is ridiculous! What could be scarier than one of us?” - John Shelby 

“There’s no such thing!” - Elizabeth Swann

“I am, what psychiatrists call, alpha male.” - Gina Linetti

“Bitch, I will eat you!” - Victor Zsasz

“Okay, all right, now. Come on, no one died, alright? Look, there may have been some maiming, okay? A little mangling, but no death! That’s what I call an important distinction.” - Zelda Spellman

“She annoyed me, so I killed her and buried her in the yard.”  - Barbara Kean

“Yeah, well, you being happy isn’t really a big priority of mine, since you stabbed me twenty times with knives.” - Victor Zsasz

“It’s kind of ironic. The more care you put into a murder, the harsher society judges you.” - Jerome Valeska

“No, it’s not! That’s just something mortals say to make themselves feel better.” - Lilith / Madam Satan

“Welcome to my nightmare, I think you’re going to like it.” - Jerome Valeska

“Stop calling it a haunted house. It’s not even scary.” - Ava Sharpe

“I died in a trapeze accident?” - Jake Peralta

“Okay, all right, now. Come on, no one died, alright? Look, there may have been some maiming, okay? A little mangling, but no death! That’s what I call an important distinction.” - Lucien Castle

“It’s Halloweek. I do the full seven days.” - Rosa Diaz 

“If this is a joke, I’ll kill you!” - Jason Todd

“Vampires are real. They’re usually not the cape-wearing, "mwah-hah-hah-ing” types, but rather people with ordinary jobs who just happen to consume blood.“- Jasper Hale

“We came, we saw, we kicked its ass.” - Eric Coulter

“I always wonder if it’s better to bury two bodies in one place or spread them around. I’m sure there’s a right answer, but I never want to meet the person who knows it.“ - Elijah Mikaelson

Roman Godfrey Halloween ~ moodboard

@joeynihil​​ and Sabrina Spellman Halloween ~ Moodboard

“Do you have any other emergency werewolf contacts?”- Derek Hale 

“I need help carving these pumpkins.”- Derek Hale

“Those guys at the impound. Did they really smash my car?” - Dean Winchester

“We came, we saw, we kicked its ass.” - Rebekah Mikaelson & Theo Raeken

“I see something in your future. Something… frightening.“ - Bonnie Bennett

“There’s a monster outside my room. Can I have a glass of water?”

“Every day is Halloween, isn’t it? For some of us.” - Ripper!Stefan Salvatore

“No, it’s not! That’s just something mortals say to make themselves feel better.” - Jace Wayland

“This is ridiculous! What could be scarier than one of us?” - The Mikaelson Family

“If I have to hear doppelgänger one more time, I’m going to have to learn how to spell it.” - Elijah Mikaelson

“In this whole wide wicked world the only thing you have to be afraid of is me.” - Kol Mikaelson

“Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story.” - Gina Linetti

“You only have one super power, and it is your breasts.” - Rosa Diaz

"I have never met a vampire personally, but I don’t know what might happen tomorrow.” - Theo Raeken

“You seem to be doing so well without witchcraft.” - Nick Scratch

“I always wonder if it’s better to bury two bodies in one place or spread them around. I’m sure there’s a right answer, but I never want to meet the person who knows it.“ - Halfdan the Black

“You know how I think Halloween is for jerks? Well, this Halloween, I was the jerk. I’m sorry about tonight.” - Lydia Martin

“They’re embarrassed about their spells not working anymore.” - Malia Tate

“Blah blah, vampire emergency, blah” - Bella Swan

“Do you have any other emergency werewolf contacts?” - Peter Rumancek

“Can someone kill him again, please?” - Peter Hale

“I have a heart. I keep it in a jar on my desk.” - Katherine Pierce

“Shh, I’m Googling sex spells.” - John Constantine

"It’s the witching hour somewhere.” - Jughead Jones

“People think if they put on a costume they can just get away with anything they want. Halloween is Christmas for jerks.” - Ray Palmer

“Please tell me you did that for dramatic effect.” - Jacob Black

“Can someone kill him again, please?” - Emmett Cullen

“I must go in. The fog is rising.” - Arman the Dragon

“I knew something came through the portal.” - Ivar Ragnarsson

“Well, we can’t start killing people. We’re getting life back to normal. And killing people isn’t normal, sweetheart.“ - Nora Darhk

“Are you eating raw pumpkin with a spoon?”  - Sweet Pea

“You know what they say about (Town). No one who dies here ever really dies.”  - Jughead Jones

"I want to stab you to death, and then play around with your blood." - Sweet Pea

“I'll come to the party, but I'm not dressing up.”  - Sweet Pea

“I’ve seen enough horror movies to know that any weirdo wearing a mask is never friendly.”  - Sweet Pea

“Hand over the candy, old dude, or we egg your house.”  - Sweet Pea & Jughead Jones

“Time for the real Halloween show to begin.”  - Sweet Pea

“Should I be concerned about you causing me any trouble?“ - Sweet Pea

“Danger doesn’t lurk at every corner. It’s just hanging out, waiting for fear and horror to show up.”  - Jughead Jones

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”  - Sweet Pea

“Time for the real Halloween show to begin.” - Dorcas Night

“She used to tell me that a full moon was when mysterious things happen and wishes come true.” - Dorcas Night

“Who hired you? Who do you work for, the pizza man?” - Damon Salvatore

Halloween with Jughead Jones {Moodboard}

“Are you possessed? Again?” - Stiles Stilinski

“Does my costume look spooky to you?” - Sweet Pea

“I need help carving these pumpkins.“ - Tommy Shelby

“Shh, I’m Googling sex spells.” - Theo Raeken and Rebekah Mikaelson

Halloween with Vanessa Ives {Moodboard}

Halloween with Samantha Stephens  {Moodboard}

Halloween with Toni Topaz {Moodboard}

Halloween with Sweet Pea {Moodboard}

Halloween with Cheryl Blossom {Moodboard}

Halloween with Betty Cooper {Moodboard}

“During the day, I don’t believe in ghosts. At night, I’m a little more open-minded.” - Seely Booth

“Vampires pretending to be humans pretending to be vampires … How avant-garde!” - Eric Northman

“I know that you hate Halloween, but stick with me, and I promise you, you will love it.” - Amaya Jiwe

“You seem to be doing so well without witchcraft.” Clary Fray & Allison Argent

“First rule of witch club: don’t talk about witch club.” - Madam Satan / Lilith

“Who hired you? Who do you work for, the pizza man?” - Zari Tomaz

“She used to tell me that a full moon was when mysterious things happen and wishes come true.” - Peter Rumancek

“Happy Halloween, asshole!“ - Rosa Diaz

“Hello, something scary happening!“ - Kyle Reese

“We sent (Y/N) to the Ghost World to save the day again.” - Allison Argent

“If she realizes that we’re killing people for food and not for God, she might not like us anymore.” - Vampire!Ivar Ragnarsson & Roman Godfrey

“We can have our own Halloween here.” - Roman Godfrey

“You are too precious for words, why I could just… eat you alive!” - Ivar Ragnarsson

“Have you come to sing pumpkin carols?” - Sweet Pea

“How was I to know? It was just floating by.“ - Sweet Pea

“It’s Halloween! Everyone gets a chance to be someone else, let their hair down for awhile.” - Sweet Pea

“You only have one super power, and it is your breasts.” - Elena Gilbert

“Yeah, well, you being happy isn’t really a big priority of mine, since you stabbed me twenty times with knives.” - Sweet Pea

Halloween with Marko {Moodboard}

“I know that you hate Halloween, but stick with me, and I promise you, you will love it.” - Sweet Pea

“I know that you hate Halloween, but stick with me, and I promise you, you will love it.” - David (The Lost Boys)

“I’m the guy that’s gonna save your ass.” - David (The Lost Boys)

“I’m supposed to call you first when I find a dead body?” - Sweet Pea

“Aren’t you worried that, one day, all the forest animals are gonna band together and fight back?” - Sam Emerson

“Good. No fangs yet. You’re doing fine. Your ears aren’t even pointed yet.” - Scott McCall

“You are too precious for words, why I could just… eat you alive!” - David (The Lost Boys)

“Yeah, well, you being happy isn’t really a big priority of mine, since you stabbed me twenty times with knives.” - Brett Talbot

“Are you possessed? Again?” - Peter Hale

“We don’t like you. Now, shut up and help us.” - Eric Northman

“What is this guy, Witch-ipedia?” - Eric Northman

“Shh, I’m Googling sex spells.” - Nick Scratch

“Vampires are real. They’re usually not the cape-wearing, "mwah-hah-hah-ing” types, but rather people with ordinary jobs who just happen to consume blood.“ - Dorcas Night

"This is my costume. I’m a homicidal maniac. They look just like everyone else.” - Tommy Shelby

“Hasn't anyone told you, second hand smoke kills.“ - Prudence Blackwood

“I know you’re joking, but on the off chance you aren’t, no.”  - Klaus Mikaelson

“We sent (Y/N) to the Ghost World to save the day again.” - Theo Raeken & Rebekah Mikaelson

“Just because it's a love story doesn't mean it can't have a decapitation or two.” - Klaus Mikaelson

“You seem to be doing so well without witchcraft.” - Allison Argent & Nick Scratch

“You are too precious for words, why I could just… eat you alive!” - Damon Salvatore

#halloween2020 #bonniebird #halloween #masterlist #halloween 2020

[breaniebree]

Chapter 290 Sneak Peek!

The One With Hidden Passions

Harry worked with Remus on his spellwork and stayed in contact with Kingsley and Tonks about the Order. More articles continued to come out proclaiming him the Chosen One and claiming that he was the wizard to save them all. Harry kept his head down and stayed busy.

He made a trip to Diagon Alley to pick up his school things and ended up having a drink at the Leaky Cauldron with Seamus and Dean. Seamus made him laugh with tales about his sister’s wedding, including how he and Dean had almost gotten caught with their pants down in a cupboard during the reception.

“And that’s not all,” Seamus said. “My sister’s already up the duff! It happened at least a month before the wedding, too. My mum’s all worried it’s going to be quite the scandal. I tried to tell her its the nineties and no one cares about that, but she’s worried.”

Harry grinned. “Uncle Remus and Tonks are expecting as well. They’ve asked me to be godfather.”

“Wow! That’s brilliant!” Dean said. “You can be the fun one when they say no.”

“Exactly,” Harry said.

“Katie and Jason are excited to be parents. I don’t think they planned on it happening this quickly, but there you go,” Seamus said.

When Harry asked Dean about his summer, he filled him in on finally meeting his father and how he still wasn’t sure if he wanted contact with him.

“Kellan Morgan, that’s his name?” Harry asked

Dean nodded. “Yup.”

“And you don’t know if he’s magical?”

“Not a clue,” Dean told him. “And I don’t know if he liked the fact that Seam and I are a couple.”

“Well, to be fair, Seamus is a hard sell for most people.”

“Oi!” Seamus exclaimed.

Harry grinned. “Are you going to see him again?”

Dean shrugged. “I don’t know. How have you been? Any word on Ginny?”

Harry’s face fell. “Yeah she... we cured her. She’s okay.”

“That’s great news!” Seamus exclaimed.

“It is,” Harry agreed. “But she... she ditched me.”

“What?” Dean exclaimed.

Harry nodded. “Yeah, she said that we need to take a break and... yeah.”

“Bloody hell. Who the hell ditches Harry Potter?” Dean exclaimed.

“Brocklehurst and Weasley apparently,” Seamus snickered.

Harry held up two fingers in response.

“Is it because your cock’s so small?” Seamus asked. “Can’t properly please the ladies?”

“Piss off,” Harry said.

Seamus chortled. “Nah, I’ve seen that thing in passing. It’s probably because it’s too big, and it’s scared the ladies. Or oh! It’s because you can’t last longer than two seconds, isn’t it?”

Harry snorted. “Why do I talk to either of you?”

Dean grinned. “You love us.”

Seamus sobered. “Okay, so honestly, Ginny ditching you sucks bollocks, but it does mean you’ll have time for my idea.”

“What idea?” Harry asked, warily.

“A Hogwarts Defence Unit,” Seamus said.

Harry’s eyes widened. “A... like, of the students?”

“Exactly that,” Dean said. “Seam thought of it; how those Death Eaters infiltrated the castle and how no one really knew that they were there. Trying to find all the teachers and get people to safety, it was a mess! And you had no one to really back you up. If there had been more of us to fight, they wouldn’t have gotten to Ginny and you wouldn’t have been as seriously hurt.”

Harry pondered the idea for a moment. “So, you’re proposing we make an army?”

“Of sorts,” Seamus said. “Lupin’s defence club is teaching us all sorts of good shit and yet we’re not utilizing what we’ve learned. We’re just learning it. Let’s take those who want to be part of it, maybe sixth and seventh years only for now, and defend it. We can have a signal or something and set up guards for night patrols.”

Harry stared at them, liking the idea more and more. It would be a great idea, not to mention it would help keep his mind off of Ginny. “We could coordinate it with the Defence Department, a signal of some kind to let them know if we need back-up.”

Seamus grinned. “Exactly.”

Harry took a drink of his pint, unaware of the woman sitting two tables over with a quill in her hand writing furiously. “I think it sounds brilliant. Let’s do it.”

Dean high-fived Seamus and they clinked their pints together. It looked like their final year was going to be quite interesting.

#a second chance by breanie #harry potter fanfiction #asc #chapter sneak peek

[danceworshipper]

Chiva Twins' Hogwarts Storyline

(On a separate post from their profiles because tumblr sucks)

Pre Hogwarts:

- Gracie and Tessa's paternal grandmother took care of the twins a lot while they were little, after she moved to England to be closer to her only son. She had a beautiful garden in her backyard where they would spend the day, and she cooked the best angel hair spaghetti Gracie has ever had. Unfortunately, she died when the twins were seven

- They got Ruby when Gracie and Tessa were eight. She was supposed to be put down after she got away from her previous owner and attacked a muggle, but Clarissa heard about it, stole her from the shelter, paid a heavy fine, and then kept her

- For a couple years after their grandmother died, the family would spend the month of July in Germany with the extended Chiva family, which is how Gracie and Rosalie became such good friends

- Rosalie's allure started to kick in when she was eleven and Gracie was about to be ten, though it was weak. It didn't affect Tessa (or any other girl, for that matter) so Gracie pretended she couldn't feel it until it became too much. This was her first indication that she was attracted to girls, which she ignored

- The year Vance vanished was miserable. He was expelled in January, and disappeared in February. Gracie and Tessa were almost forbidden from attending Hogwarts, but Jason convinced Clarissa to let them go

First Year:

- Rowan and Liz were the twins' first friends, but Rowan quickly favored Gracie and Liz Tessa

- Gracie and Tessa figured out their Legilimency, but they couldn't control it. Snape gave them lessons and Gracie progressed faster than Tessa, causing a slight rift in their relationship

- Other than the canon events, the only notable thing from first year was the curse, obviously

- Gracie and Tessa were alone in the hallway leading to the Slytherin Common Room, and the next thing they knew, Gracie was frozen on the floor and Tessa had fainted

- Their memories were removed, but a member of R had been trying to catch them alone for months

- He hit Gracie with three experimental curses: one to change her appearance in an attempt to ostracize her, one to cause the crazes that had the side effect of causing her to be immune to mind altering spells and poisons, and one to try and bind her mind to R, which didn't work - it bound her to her wand instead (he accidentally said "magic" and not "magic group")

- Tessa tried to stop him, but the man shoved her into the wall and gave her a concussion, which she fainted from

- Gracie wasn't able to fight back because he froze her

- Felix found them when he went to do his Prefect rounds. It was the only time they have ever seen him panicked and crying

- The twins immediately stopped bickering about who was better, because they didn't want to die on bad terms and apparently their Hogwarts career was going to be dangerous

- Tessa blames herself so hard. She's certain if she hadn't stopped to tie her shoe, they would have been just missed by their attacker

- Dumbledore analyzed Gracie and only discovered the wand connection and the immunity. There were no signs of the crazes at that point

- Clarissa flipped her shit when she found out - she broke Dumbledore's arm because she blamed him for someone breaking into the castle

- Tessa started trying to be the perfect daughter in order to redeem her family. Clarissa told her she didn't need to, but Tessa kept trying to be exactly what her maternal grandparents would want her to be. She started learning to cook and bake, though she had previously had no interest in it, and worked on her singing

- The twins were locked in the house over the summer. Jason started working later hours, and Clarissa received a strongly worded letter from her family about how two of her children were disgraces. Clarissa firecalled her mother and screamed because it wasn't Gracie's fault. It was one of the only times she ever stood up to her family

Second Year:

- The twins started developing depression

- Tessa started early Care of Magical Creatures lessons and properly met Barnaby

- Gracie had her first craze. None happened over the summer because the curse wasn't able to turn her against her family at first, but she did slip away from her family to buy a pocket knife because she felt drawn to it

- The craze happened during dinner. Gracie was so overwhelmed by the urge to take her pocket knife and plunge it into Rowan's chest that she ran out of the Great Hall. The knife was in her hand before she had been able to realize what was happening

- Rowan chased after her to help her come down, and the next few times, Rowan would study the circumstances and what exactly Gracie was feeling the urge to do

- They decided that the more Gracie cares about someone, the more likely a craze was to target them

- Nothing really triggered a craze, but they usually occurred when Gracie was excited or in some other high emotion

- Neither of them thought it would be a good idea to tell anyone else. The crazes were pretty mild and easy to break out of then, so they didn't want to worry anyone

- Even when not in a craze, Gracie's instinctive responses were quicker to violence than before

- Tessa noticed that Gracie was acting weird, but couldn't get anything out of her

- Gracie joined the Potions Club after some pushing from Penny

- Tessa joined the Quidditch team

- She quickly hated Skye, and became friends with Ravenclaw's star player Erika Rath, who helped her with both her gameplay and her methods of keeping Skye in check

- Canon events occurred

- A group of (unturned) werewolves attacked a student in their year, and Tessa hurried to make sure she was okay

- Chiara pushed her away

- When Tessa kept trying to talk, Chiara revealed that she herself is a werewolf and had been giving her potions away

- She was terrified of hurting people the next full moon

- Tessa, though not yet an Animagus, stayed outside with her to help her through it, climbing up into a tree in an undignified way to stay safe

- She and Chiara stayed friends

- Merula joined the Frog Choir and started practicing in the dorms. Gracie wondered why she got a little breathless while listening

- The summer after second year, Gracie accidentally witnessed Jason murder an old family friend. The next time Gracie went to visit his office, she turned him in to his partner Thomas and let him extract her memories to use as evidence. Jason was arrested immediately and Clarissa was legally separated within the week. Tessa refused to believe her father would do something like that

- The twins didn't have a party for their birthday that year

Third Year:

- Gracie realized her crush on Merula

- She figured out that she's bi. She doesn't hide it, but she doesn't offer the information up. She did formally come out to Tessa, who could easily say that she didn't care and she would always lover her sister

- Tessa and Barnaby started dating. Gracie hated it

- She could admit that Barnaby is cute and nice, but she couldn't get over how stupid he is and constantly told Tessa that she could do better. Tessa fully ignored her

- Throughout the year Gracie was forced to spend more time with him, and eventually admitted that he's stupid, but not in the important ways

- Tessa and Barnaby had a very awkward first kiss, and don't try again for a month

- Canon events occurred

- While in the vault Gracie spotted a small note on the floor. The note was from Olivia, prompting Gracie's research into her brother's friend. Tessa wasn't as interested in Olivia as her sister

- Tessa got attacked by the worst of the boggarts. She had a hard time differentiating between the boggarts and the real Gracie, who had to hold her and repeat that she loves her for Tessa to calm down

- This is the year that Rowan encouraged Gracie to go through with a craze just once, so Gracie cut her initials into Rowan's neck

- Gracie couldn't look at Rowan all day after she did it, but Rowan kept telling her that it's okay because they'll be best friends forever and the scars weren't even that noticeable

- Gracie became obsessed with the sight of blood

- In August, Clarissa told them that an old school friend of hers would be staying with them for a little while, because her husband tragically died from an unnoticed illness. Gracie and Tessa recognized the code for "my friend killed her husband because he was an abusive dickhead" and avoided Margaret while she was there

- Over the summer, Tessa met Kyle and he helped her decide to stop fighting the vaults for her own good

- Tessa told Gracie that she was done with the vaults, terrified that Gracie would think less of her. Gracie didn't outwardly react much, but Tessa could feel her disappointment

Fourth Year:

- Blah blah canon stuff

- Gracie and Tessa became Animagi with the help of McGonagall. The professor had hoped it would distract them enough from the vaults that they wouldn't get involved (fail)

- Rowan and Gracie fought for the role of Prefect. Snape picked Rowan, obviously, but Tessa can't figure out why Gracie even tried in the first place

- Barnaby asked Tessa to the ball

- They went and enjoyed themselves but realized they didn't want to date anymore and broke it off while there

- Gracie asked Merula to the Celestial Ball

- They went and had a great time

- One week later, Merula asked Gracie out properly

- Awkwardness ensued

- They became an official couple, and Tessa started teasing Gracue about her poor choice in romantic interests

- Clarissa figured them out over the summer when Gracie started talking about Merula the same way Tessa used to talk about Barnaby

- The twins expected their mother to be upset, but Clarissa only poured herself a large glass of wine and remarked that Merula better be smarter than "that worthless boy your sister thankfully dumped"

- Gracie finally realized why Margaret was still living with them, but Tessa did not. She was more offended by Clarissa calling Barnaby worthless

- Merula is invited over for dinner, which she initially refused. Eventually she agreed and though the whole dinner is awkward, she and Gracie got to go out to the town and have fun after. They had their first kiss in one of the shops after Gracie bought Merula a stuffed panda

- Tessa went and hung out with Kyle and some of his muggle friends that night

Fifth Year:

- During detention, Gracie and Jae became really close friends, to the point that Merula threatened Jae. He responded that he's much more into guys and she had nothing to worry about

- Merula forced Gracie and Ismelda to spend a day together because she wanted her girlfriend and best friend to get along. It was awkward, but they no longer avoid each other like the plague after that

- Tessa barely ever saw her sister between the detention and all the happenings with the vaults. It hurt more than she was willing to admit

- Gracie grilled Duncan for information about Olivia, but he didn't know anything from after he died

- Rakepick forced Gracie to cast the Cruciatus Curse on someone in Diagon Alley. Gracie hated how easily the spell came to her, and how excited it made her feel. She also despised how proud Rakepick looked

- Merula offered to teach Gracie the Killing Curse. Gracie wanted to refuse, but her morbid curiosity got the best of her and she learned it, vowing to only use it in an emergency

- Gracie and Merula gave each other their virginity

- In the Portrait Vault, Gracie lost her mind watching Rakepick torture Merula and hit her with the Cruciatus Curse, and nearly the Killing Curse. Bill, Penny, and Tessa were so upset that she almost became a murderer that Gracie blamed it on adrenaline. Charlie didn't accuse her, saying he might have done the same thing if Rakepick had targeted Bill instead. Merula was proud of her, and Ismelda found a new respect for her

- Gracie was mildly concerned about it, as it wasn't a craze, but she couldn't make herself care enough

- Vance barely recognized Gracie when she freed him, but seeing the necklace made him believe that it was really her

- He ran before seeing Tessa, and Gracie cursed his name for months

- Upon learning all of this information, Tessa focused on Gracie almost becoming a murderer, but was actually most upset about Vance not caring enough to visit her. She smashed the picture she had of him and the twins, and was so upset she had to spend the night in Gracie's bed with her, which they hadn't done since they were little

- The twins had a sleepover with their best friends (Rowan and Liz) for their birthday, while Clarissa was away on vacation with Margaret. Gracie wanted to have Merula sleep over too but Clarissa firmly said no

- Tessa and Liz watched muggle movies and ate way too much popcorn while Gracie and Rowan spent the night outside, under the stars

Sixth Year (so far):

- After overhearing an angry firecall between her mother and her grandparents, Tessa offered to be put into a contract marriage to try and appease them. Clarissa flipped her shit and said no way

- Only then did Tessa figure out why Margaret still lived with them

- When Gracie found out about it she also flipped her shit, unable to understand why Tessa would ever be willing to go through that

- As the curses got worse Tessa attempted to figure out some information about the vaults, but her friends didn't want to tell her much

- Gracie's anxiety worsened, which caused her misophonia (irrational fear response to certain noises) to worsen as well. Badeea took pity on her and invented a spell to temporarily deafen her, which she used constantly in class. Tessa also got some use out of it, though she didn't need it as often

- Erika reminded Tessa to focus in Quidditch, since it was Erika's last year and if Tessa wanted to win the Quidditch cup again she'd have to try extra hard

- Tessa tried to reconnect with Gracie as she got more and more down, but Gracie continued to shove her away

- Madam Pomfrey got petrified and Tessa started helping Chiara out with some basic medical duties. Gracie threw most of her remaining caution to the wind to try and stop the curse

- Gracie's depression reached new heights and Rowan had to physically drag her out of bed most mornings. Tessa again tried to reach out, but Gracie wouldn't let her, terrified by the thought of Tessa being in any way in danger

- Rakepick attempted to kill Ben in the Forest, but Rowan, who had been hiding, shot a stunner at her which gave them enough time to regroup

- The exchange students, Alanza and River, arrived, and Dumbledore made Tessa their guide. She immediately didn't like Alanza, but River intrigued her

- As Tessa gets closer to River, she finds out he's a vampire, but her fear does nothing to deter the quickly developing crush

To be continued

#hogwarts mystery #gracie chiva #tessa chiva #chiva twins

[mobius-prime]

230. Sonic the Hedgehog #162

The Darkest Storm (Part One): Gathering the Tempest

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: James Fry Colors: Jason Jensen

This three-part arc is a great example of how Ian is using his early time with the comic to sort of clean up and consolidate a lot of loose ends into something a little more coherent. For example, it's about time we learned a little more about Anonymous. Apparently, whoever it is has decided that the time has come to eliminate several key players in Mobius' eternal struggle for power, in pursuit of some unknown ultimate goal. Strangely enough, whoever it is seems to be interested in destroying Sonic as well - perhaps due to Sonic's tendency to stop any attempts to take over the world - but doesn't seem to want to undermine Eggman. After all, remember that the very first thing Anonymous ever did was send Eggman a "gift" of re-roboticized Mobians. Anonymous has decided to use Knothole as a staging ground for whatever they're planning next, and begins the process of setting their plan in motion…

In Knothole, King Elias attempts to restore Sonic's knighthood as thanks for everything he's done for the kingdom. However, Sonic refuses, saying he's not too concerned with titles and that there's already a knight in the family, in the form of Uncle Chuck. However, Elias says that as a new king, he's trying to restore the Court of Acorn to advise him, including calling on some old members… two of which have just showed up to visit Tails.

Oh man, remember Sir Connery from StH#45? The incredibly forgettable and random horse knight guy who works for the Ancient Walkers and hates "dark magicks" and whatnot? Yeah, I guess nowadays he just follows Merlin around to protect him from anything bad that comes at him. In New Megaopolis, Eggman is thrilled that the "biofield deletion" has nearly completed on all his Mobian captives in the Egg Grapes. Apparently, once they're drained of all their life energy, he can use the husks of their bodies to kind of "filter" the energy from the Zone of Silence into something stable and usable, which just once again reminds us of how utterly terrifying this iteration of Eggman is compared to his counterpart in the games and anime. Like, Jesus Christ, dude, at least games Eggman doesn't casually torture thousands of people just because he can! He even admits to M that there's probably a more efficient way to accomplish his goals, but it just wouldn't be as fun. He asks A.D.A.M. if there's been any luck identifying Anonymous yet, but A.D.A.M. replies that he still hasn't found anything, which frustrates Eggman even more. Weirdly enough, he seems to think that Anonymous is the one who released his nanites several issues ago, even though we know that it was just A.D.A.M. interpreting his orders a little too liberally.

Also, it's time to resurrect a dropped plot thread from some time ago. Remember how the Ancient Walkers were supposed to be dying and all? Well despite the fact that we haven't heard anything on that in some time, apparently they are totally still dying, and despite Athair and Aurora in the afterlife trying to reassure them that they'll find a way to save them with Merlin's help, they seem to have accepted their impending death, naming Aurora, Athair, and Merlin as their successors who must keep the world in balance once they're gone. Wow, Aurora may already be a deity in her own right, but the other two are about to get an exciting upgrade on life! And they're gonna need to start using it too, because back in Knothole, right as Merlin, Sir Connery, and Tails are heading to the castle to meet with the king, they're set upon by some familiar faces.

Ah, so these guys have picked a new name, huh? It's just as well, the "Fearsome Foursome" would hardly work anymore with there being six of… wait… hang on a second. Weren't these guys supposed to be roboticized by Anonymous? Not only that, but Sonic and the fake Tommy destroyed those roboticized forms a while back… so how are they still here, alive and well? Sonic doesn't even appear to notice the discrepancy once he rushes in to help along with the rest of the Freedom Fighters (including Sally!), merely mocking their new name before he and his friends knock them all out. Knuckles and his team stay behind to make sure they don't get away, while the Freedom Fighters lead the guests to the castle. Sir Connery explains that his sword is the Sword of Light, given to him by the Ancient Walkers, which has the power to purge evil magic, and he's been guarding Merlin for the express purpose of making sure that Mammoth Mogul, stuck in his Chaos Emerald, can't ever escape again. Interestingly enough, thousands of years ago the Ancient Walkers actually saw what Mogul would become in the future, and decided that while they weren't gonna bother actually stopping him, they would at least put a curse on his emerald so that his plans would always eventually fail. Of course, however, things can't just be that easy.

Oh lord, not the Sword of Acorns again. Sally recaps how she got rid of the thing because it was getting entirely too possessive of her (literally), giving it to Uma Arachnis' children for safekeeping. However, this turns out to have been a terrifically bad idea, as while Sonic confidently assures everyone that they can get it back and save the Ancient Walkers, said children of Arachnis are all busy swarming into Eggman's base. Just as the biofield deletion completes on the captured Mobians, killing them all for good, the ninjas strike, at the same time that the Egg Grapes suddenly and mysteriously power back on. M carries her father to safety, and the ninjas hold up the sword, which tears a hole between dimensions, causing a number of effects. For one, the void fuses permanently with the Zone of Silence, stabilizing it and increasing its raw power. For another, all Eggman's soulless Mobian husks are sucked into the void to facilitate this process, meaning he just lost all his precious work. And finally…

Welp! Goodbye, Ancient Walkers! I honestly can't say I'll miss you, you weird plot devices you. Back in Knothole, in the middle of a short speech about working together to create a better future, the emerald in Merlin's hand suddenly shatters, and when the light fades everyone is horrified to see Mogul standing in front of them, ready to go about conquering the world once more…

Ties That Bind

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: J&A Ray

This story actually isn't separate from the one above, but takes place concurrently - presumably either right before what we saw above, or directly during, after M evacuated Eggman from the Egg Grape Chamber. Snively is working in one of Knothole's labs, but it's with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, feeling like he doesn't really know why he's here, as he's always been aligned with villains, never heroes. He finds himself comparing himself to his half-sister Hope, who has easily settled into life amongst Mobians despite her species. However, his ruminations don't last long, as someone has decided to come and visit him personally.

Man, Eggman, when did you gain the ability to just teleport into Knothole whenever you want? Seems like you'd be using that a lot more to sabotage stuff behind everyone's backs. Snively asks for a moment to himself before going back, which Eggman surprisingly grants him, and he rushes outside to find Hope. He tries making some awkward small talk with her, complimenting her on the plane she's building and casually mentioning that it could take her very far away from here, which only makes her wonder what the heck he's getting at.

I really love this. Snively was already an interesting character, and under Ian's writing he's quickly becoming a truly complex and fascinating one. Despite hating his uncle, he's always held some amount of loyalty to him, and now we see that he seems to truly care about Hope's wellbeing, recognizing that she's an innocent in all this and not wanting her to die in Eggman's planned attack on the village. That said, he's still selfish, and ultimately betrays the Mobians once again to go back to his uncle's side, even thinking to himself, standing inside one of Eggman's Egg Fleet ships, how ironic it is given how much betraying he's already done of both sides, in both wars. He asks Eggman why he's even bothering to trust him, knowing of his traitorous nature, and Eggman says that he fully knows Snively intends to try to betray him again in the future, and will be happily awaiting his attempt so he can thwart it, prompting Snively to remark it's "just like old times." What an interesting and strange relationship these two have. And what an interesting outlook Eggman has, not being particularly concerned with his minions wishing to betray him and even seeing it as all some kind of twisted game. Honestly, if there's any character that I think was universally improved by Ian with no drawbacks whatsoever, it's Snively, and we'll get to see even more of that improvement and depth in the future.

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 162 #writer: ian flynn #pencils: james fry #pencils: tracy yardley #colors: jason jensen #colors: joshua d ray #colors: aimee r ray

[war-sword]

the ilvermorny exchange (1)

Part 1 | index | masterlist

summary: you’re an Ilvermorny student, and you’ve applied to the International Magic Student Exchange Program to attend your sixth year at Hogwarts instead. You and your friends are excited to go to school overseas, but a certain blonde prefect has decided to personally make your exchange year suck. Time to give him a taste of his own medicine. ( draco x reader, enemies to lovers, female reader ) words: 3,976 warnings: cursing a/n: i’ve been working on this story for nearly a month now and i have a lot written for it. but i’m not sure of an ending yet! we’ll see where it goes. i have enough for four parts as of right now, so keep checking back on my blog for updates, or reply and ask to be added to the taglist for this fic. please keep in mind this story is enemies to lovers so the first couple chapters you’re not going to be getting along!

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You’d been waiting for your opportunity to go on the Exchange since your fourth year. You’d never been out of the United States before, and while you wished you could visit Beauxbatons in France or Castelobruxo in Brazil, you hadn’t learned any foreign languages in your early school years. Besides, the British school was said to be just as different education-wise as any of the other schools, and Hogwarts had just opened up to being participants in the IMSEP (International Magic Student Exchange Program) recently. You and everyone else who was selected would be the first overseas visitors the school would have in over a four decades.

Since Hogwarts was a very sought-after Exchange destination, a lottery system had been set into place. You awaited your letter by owl everyday over the summer, wondering if it would contain the words you so desperately hoped it would. Exchange letters were supposed to be delivered by the end of July. Today was July 30th, and you were beginning to think you weren’t going to be picked. Your very best friend, Alex, was selected for the Hogwarts exchange last week, and in her letter she sent you she said she wouldn’t go if you weren’t also selected. As much as you appreciate the sentiment, you didn’t want Alex to miss out on her opportunity. You sat on the porch of your house, thinking of how you could convince Alex to go without you, when a dark brown owl silently settled onto the railing in front of you.

“MOM!” You screeched. The owl startled, dropping the precious letter from its beak. You dove to  catch it in your shaking hands, hitting your head on the railing. “Ow…” You rubbed your head, and the owl flew off, disgruntled.

“Sweetheart, what is it?” Your mom opened the front door and took in your slumped figure on the front porch, sounding worried.

You simply held up the letter, and she gasped. In the house, you torn it open with the letter opener, and read the words so fast you almost didn’t get it.

Dear Ms. Y/L/N,

Congratulations! From a pool of seventy-eight students, you and fourteen of your classmates were chosen to go on this year’s International Magic Student Exchange Program to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland, United Kingdom. While we will miss you at Ilvermorny, we hope you will have a wonderful and edifying time out of the country. More information is enclosed about your expectations set forth by your chosen school, and the time and place of the Portkey leaving Ilvermorny in September.

Signed,

Joan Rittler, Principal of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

On September 12th, you and your parents traveled to Ilvermorny by apparation. Looking out across the grounds, you felt a small twinge in your heart that you wouldn’t be back here until the start of your seventh year. All your other friends were either on another Exchange, or hadn’t applied at all, and you would miss them all so much.

On the front lawn of the school, students and teachers you all knew well milled about. Ilvermorny’s term was starting next week, but the Hogwarts, Beauxbaton, and Durmstrang terms all started today. Three chairs had been set up in the great front lawn-- your portkeys to each of your schools.

“You have a wonderful time, okay?” Your mom said, hugging you goodbye.

“I will, I promise. I’ll write you as often as I do while I’m here.” You promised, hugging her tightly.

You dad gave you a hug also and a pat on the back. “I’m sure you’ll have just as much fun as you do here. Don’t get all posh on us over there!”

You beamed up at him. “I won’t!”

You dragged your suitcase over to the portkey, and your parents apparated away. Alex arrived a few minutes later and you grabbed each other in a bone crushing hug. “DUDE I’M SO EXCITED!”

“DUDE ME TOO!”

Quickly, the other students started to arrive. It was a small group, all people you were either friendly with or knew decently well. Your friend Chris from Washington and Sarah from Kentucky had been chosen to go. Some boys you knew from wandwork, Jason, and Kenny. Alice from your Charms class who was Sarah’s best friend was also there. When the clock struck one, you all gathered around your portkey. One of your favorite teachers, Ms. Bell, approached your group.

“Hey guys! Is everyone excited?”

You all chorused your yes’s.

“Okay, please make sure everything you’re taking with you is either on your body, or grasped firmly. We don’t want you leaving anything behind!” She pulled a pocket watch out, checking the time.

You straddle your trunk and grip the handle at one end, your other hand grabbed ahold of the portkey.

“Have fun guys! Okay, everyone get ready on three, two…”

On one, you felt the familiar whoosh of being sucked in by the portkey. Beside you, Alex screamed in delight. Within moments, you’d all been transported, and you tried to slow down as the Earth came up to meet you. Minorly successful, you stumbled as you hit the ground, dragging your trunk behind you. The results of the portkey travel were mixed, some of your friends crashing to the ground in a heap while others gracefully floated down with not a hair out of place.

You’d seemed to have landed near a train station. Fir trees rose up around you, the stretching single platform going off into a tiny town. As you took in the crisp air, you turned to see a tall looming man watching you all arrived with amusement.

“Welcome to ‘Ogwarts!” He bellowed, laughing as the last of you brushed off your jeans. “My name is ‘Agrid, I’m the groundskeeper here. Let’s get you all to the castle so we can ‘ave some grub, eh?”

The fifteen of you all dragged your stuff to the four waiting carriages. Hagrid went on as you walked, telling you all about the school. He lifted all your trunks with ease into the tall cars.

“Thank you,” you said, climbing up after your things.

The drive was very peaceful, the self-pulling carriages rolling quietly through the forest. At your first glimpse of the castle, you all gasped, ooh-ing and ahh-ing.

“I love the lake!” Alice said.

“It’s beautiful. I wonder how big it is inside. Bigger than Ilvermorny, do you think?” You asked.

“Hogwarts has half our student body, so I’d guess not. Although they don’t look much different.” Sarah explained, her eyes on the castle.

Everyone was giggling in excitement as you took tiny boats across the lake to get to the castle. After the long hike up the steps, you were all greeted by a tall woman in a traditional witch’s hat. Hagrid waved you all goodbye, and she thanked him. “Welcome, Ilvermorny students! We are all very glad to have you with us this year. I am professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house. I will be showing you to your dorms and then we will all head to the great hall for dinner. Now, after some discussion among the staff, we will be straying from our original plan. I’m sorry if this disappoints some of you, but none of you will be sorted into houses for this year.”

A murmur went through your small group. You had been excited to be sorted, to see if you got into the supposed Hogwarts equivalent of your house at Ilvermorny.

“We all thought it was best since there are so few of you, to keep you together. We’ve created your own dorms for you here, and the only time you will be separated from the Hogwarts students is for lodging. The rest of the time, you will be permitted to eat at any table with any new friends you make, enter any common room you’re invited into, and if you enjoy Quidditch you may try out to be on any house’s team when it is time. If you have a question at anytime, look for a student with the Prefect badge on, and they will help you to the best of their ability.”

Okay, that wasn’t so bad. You all followed McGonagall through twisting halls of the castle. It had huge, vaulted ceilings, and a grand staircase that had you all in wonder. Your Ilvermrony dorm was up on what she described as the west towers, at the end of a secluded corridor. A beautiful tapestry was hung on the wall of what looked like a young witch. Upon closer inspection, you recognized the woman as Isolt Sayre, founder of Ilvermorny. “This is the guardian of your dorms while you are here. Give her a password, and only you will be allowed in.”

You all were silent for a moment before Kenny spoke up. “Wait, right now?”

“There is no time like the present,” Professor McGonagall replied.

The fifteen of your formed a huddle, tossing around options. Finally, you all settled on Greylock, the mountain on which Ilvermorny was built.

Tapestry-Isolt smiled, and then the tapestry itself curled upwards, revealing a door. Professor McGonagall opened it, revealing a square room with a fireplace, a few couches and chairs and several large windows overlooking the lake. Two hallways branched off from the main room. “Please take the next thirty minutes to get settled, and change into your new uniforms. Boys on the left girls on the right, please!”

You all scattered, splitting off into the different sides. Each room housed four people, and you, Alex, Sarah, and Alice all agreed to room with one another. Your room had an old fashioned stove in the middle to warm it, with more windows going over each small bed. A tiny bathroom was attached to one end. After unpacking a bit, you all changed into your new uniforms. At Ilvermorny you wore all black under your robes, but here you had white button-ups and dark grey sweaters for if it was cold. You all had ties in stripes of cranberry red and blue, Ilvermorny colors, and your black robes were lined with the same pink-red color.

“To distinguish us from the other houses,” Sarah explained.

Five till the hour, you all gathered in the common room of your dorm, and between all of your brains you managed to make it back to where you’d started, where the entrance to the great hall was. Dinner was much different than you were used to at home, with long tables instead of high stacks, and all the years intermingled at the tables for each house. While everyone else was inside sitting with their houses, you all clustered together outside. A small group of about thirty first-years were there too, dressed in all black.

“Aw, they’re going to get sorted,” you sighed, putting a hand on your heart.

Alex made a similar soft face. “So small, so young.”

Professor McGonagall came out of the hall and looked at the group of you. “Ilvermorny students, you may proceed into the hall. There has been a small table set up at the front for you just for tonight. I hope you will enjoy watching the sorting ceremony.”

As the group of you walked into the hall, you could feel the eyes of all the Hogwarts students watching you. Everyone was staring, and Alex grabbed your hand. You squeezed it back to tell her it was okay. You settled down at your table in the front, with Alex on your one side and Chris on your left.

The sorting ceremony was very interesting to say the least. The first years, some trembling with excitement, some with fear, all went up one by one to sit on a chair and had what might’ve been the world’s rattiest looking hat sat upon their head. It talked, and would voice everything it was seeing in the kid’s mind and where it thought they should be placed. It would finally call out a house, sometimes taking up to three minutes to decide, and the house that was selected for the child would erupt into cheers at their dinner table.

When the sorting was over, Headmaster Dumbledore stood at the podium to speak. “Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts, or for some of us, your first year. As you’ve noticed, we have some wonderful students from the American school, Ilvermorny, here with us. They will be visiting all year, so please be kind and helpful to both them and our first-years these beginning weeks. Now, please, enjoy your dinner!”

The next day, you were all over the castle trying to get to your classes. At Ilvermorny, classes were separated into different parts of the castle based on what year you took the class in, so you never had to talk very far to get from place to place, unless you were going to an outdoors class. Here, classes were held in towers, dungeons, inside, outside, and it seemed like you’d run through every fucking corridor imaginable just this morning.

Just as you were about to rip your hair out in frustration, you noticed a group of three boys in green robes and ties. But one had a shiny pin attached to the front of his robe- a Prefect’s pin. You took off after them, waving your parchment timetable.

“Hey! HEY!”

The boy in the Prefect’s pin, who had nearly-white blonde hair, turned to look at you, confused by the yelling. You caught up to them and gasped for breath while he stared at you expectantly.

“Um… Professor McGonagall said I, uh, I mean we could ask a Prefect for help? If we needed it? Can you tell me where this is?” You pointed to the spot on your timetable that said ‘Potions- Professor Snape’ and nothing else.

The blonde Prefect took your parchment from you and considered it, and then you for a moment. “It’s in the west towers, that way,” he said, pointing. “Third flight of steps up.” He handed the parchment back.

“Okay. Thank you,” you breathed. “I can’t find anything in this giant ass castle.”

One side of his mouth quirked up, amused. “Sure. Better hurry, best not to be late.” He looked at you once more before turning on his heels and walking off, his two silent friends following him. You dashed off in the other direction.

In the towers, you walked up what seemed to be three floors, but there wasn’t even anything there. You went up and up until you reached a classroom, but one look inside told you it was definitely not potions.

You wandered some more, hopelessly lost. How could the Prefect boy have been so wrong? Did he do it on purpose? That would've been mean. You were on the verge of giving up when you saw another person in the hall. You asked them and they pointed you back downstairs to the dungeons. “It’s the only room down there that’s used, and the door is usually open. You can’t miss it,” She said. “If there’s a really scary looking guy with long black hair teaching, you know you’re in the right place.”

You thanked them profusely, and then followed their instructions all the way back down. Indeed, the door was open, and one peek inside the classroom confirmed the description of the teacher. Students were seated in twos around square tables while he lectured. Tentatively, you knocked on the door frame. Everyone in the class turned to look at you.

“Uh, I think I’m supposed to be here. I got lost.” You squeaked out.

The teacher-- Professor Snape, you supposed-- strode over silently and held out his hand. You offered your timetable and he snatched it away. After looking at it, he handed it back. “Find an empty seat. And do not, be late, again.” A small laugh could be heard from the back.

As soon as he turned, you grimaced. The only empty chair was on the side of the room, a table currently filled with three boys and one girl. You sat down next to her as quietly as you could while Professor Snape began to talk again. Your eyes swept across the rest of the room, and your heart nearly skipped as you caught sight of a familiar face. Not one of your friends, but the exact boy from earlier who you’d asked for directions. He was in this class too, and purposely told you wrong! Rage heated the skin on your face, but you made yourself turn away and focus on what Professor Snape was saying.

The girl you sat next too had wild hair and brown skin. She looked at you sympathetically, but didn’t say anything. You guessed this was a no-talking class.

Indeed it was not. Even though this was the first day, he assigned a potion to create with the remaining time in the class. As soon as he he let you go to begin work, the girl next to you turned and offered her hand. “I’m Hermione. Don’t worry about Snape, he’s like that to everyone. You’re one of the exchange students, I see.”

“I’m Y/N. Eh, it’s fine. He seems mean but as long as I do good work, that’s what matters. Right?”

Hermione beamed. “I think we’ll get along well. Let me know if you need any help finding your other classes after this. I know it can be confusing at first.”

“It’s hard but that’s not why I was late. I tried to ask a Prefect for help, but he told me wrong on purpose.” You frowned.

Hermione looked confused. “How do you know?”

“Cuz he’s right over there.” You pointed across the room to where the blonde boy was standing, sleeves rolled up and already working on his potion. Hermione’s face turned to pure rage.

“Malfoy,” she spat. “He’s the most intolerant person on this planet, mean to everyone.”

“Malfoy?” The red haired boy across the table asked, returning to his seat with an armful of ingredients. “What’d that arse do this time.”

“He told me the wrong way here on purpose,” you said.

The redhead rolled his eyes. “Bloody hell, can that git leave anyone alone? You poor lot haven’t even been here a whole day.”

You looked back over at the boy across the room. “Whatever. I don’t put up with people’s bullshit.”

The redhead widened his eyes and turned make eye contact with the boy with brown hair next to him. “Now that’s the attitude to have. I’m Ron.” He stuck out his hand across the table to you. “And this is Harry, and Neville is who sits over there. Malfoy hates all of us to, so welcome to the club.”

You shook Ron’s hand and laughed lightly. “Is the club very big?”

“Enormous.” Hermione rolled her eyes. “Hopefully it was just a one time incident. Come on, we can make the potion together.”

You followed Hermione back to the store room and gathered ingredients to being back to the table. “I can do the caterpillars and daisy root,” you offered as soon as you got back to the table. You began to expertly cut the caterpillars into thin slices while Hermione heated the cauldron.

“You’re supposed to peel those, you know.” You gestured across the table to Ron, who was sprinkling whole shrivelfig into his potion. Ron looked helplessly into his cauldron.

“Have you made shrinking solution before?” Hermione asked.

“Sure,” you answered. “My mom taught me potions at home, so I finished the course early. I took Advanced Potions last year.” You moved onto the daisy root, your knife moving quickly. “I was disappointed to see it on my schedule again when I got it this morning. I was hoping I could take a wandwork class, since you all make wands differently over here.”

All four of the others looked across the table at you silently. “What?”

“Wandwork? Like, creating wands?” Hermione asked, eyes wide.

“Uh, yeah? Do you guys not learn that here?”

Neville looked amazed. “Isn’t that dangerous? To teach everyone to make wands?”

“I mean, we never actually make any. It’s mostly about the different properties and how to identify them,” You explain. “If you don’t learn wandwork how are you supposed to duel?”

“To duel?” Ron and Harry asked at the same time.

“You know, advantages of Phoenix feather over unicorn hair? Properties that increase a wand’s tendency towards dark magic?” You offered. All you received in return were blank faces. “Wow you guys really don’t know.”

Hermione took the cutting board from you and added in the ingredients you’d chopped. “I’ll finish this. Tell me more about wand theory.”

The rest of the class you helped Hermione a little while you answered her questions about your wandwork class at Ilvermorny. You’d taken an intro class last year, so you knew a little. Hermione’s questions were very specific so you did your best to answer. Her enthusiasm for learning was very evident, and she seemed to like you a lot already based on your knowledge of potions and now wandwork theory. Professor Snape came over eventually and gave you and Hermione’s perfect potion a good mark, and the class was dismissed.

“Want to sit with us at lunch?” Hermione asked as you all walked out of the room.

“Sure, but only if my friend Alex can also. I don’t think she has anyone to sit with yet and I don’t want to leave her alone.” You replied. Today there was no Ilvermony-only table, so the pressure to find friends to sit with at meals was real.

“Of course.”

You were looking at Harry out of the corner of your eye, trying to decide why he looked so familiar, when you heard boyish laughter from behind you. Hermione sighed, and the four of you stopped and turned at the sound of “Granger!”

The source of the giggling was none other than Malfoy and his two friends. You scowled, and he looked right at you. “Decided to take the newbie under your wing, hm, Granger?”

“She seems perfectly capable on her own, Malfoy. I’m just being friendly.” Hermione spat, grabbing your arm to pull you away. But you broke free of her grip and stalked right up to him, pointing your finger in his face.

“Listen, dickhead. I don’t know what your deal is, but you stay in your lane and I’ll say in mine. Got it?”

He and his friends ooh-ed at your comment while you spun on your heel to walk of, this time you grabbed Hermione’s arm. “So it’s true Americans are as rude as they say!” He called after you. You bit back a reply and just walked away faster.

At lunch, you dragged Alex over to sit with your new friends.

“Ugh, I can’t find anything in this big ass building,” she groaned. “I don’t understand-- there’s half as many kids here as Ilvermorny! Why the fuck are there so many rooms.”

“Dude, me either. Wanna hear this bullshit that happened to me this morning?” While you put food on your plate, you told Alex the story of what happened with Malfoy. “He’s right over there.”

Alex turned from her place across from you to look for him. “Interesting,” she hummed. “That’s funny, cuz he’s your type.”

Hermione nearly spit out her drink. “Excuse me?”

You felt your face heat up. “What? Asshole boys?”

“Nah, blonde hair, pale with some freckles… are those blue eyes I see?” She teased.

“They’re grey, so no. Also, fuck off.”

“I was gonna say,” Ron said, voice muffled by food. “We were gonna have to revoke our offer of friendship if you did.”

“Understandable.” You glared across the great hall, and Malfoy looked back at you. A wicked smile broke across his face that just made you scowl harder. “Never in a million years.”

#draco x reader #draco imagine #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy x you #my writing #harry potter fanfic #harry potter #my wriitng

[raybyanothername]

Diego the Dragon Says Hey - Batfam + JayDick

Jason wakes up with a dragon, Dick finds out his lover is alive, and Damian is grumpy. So really, nothing new.

Written for the JayDick Summer Exchange 2019 for Gaygent37 over on Ao3.

Prompt: Something fairytale-esque. Can be royalty AU, dragons, magic, evil witch, a fairy tale rewrite, anything that meets your fancy in that sense.

(Would love to have some major Damian sass, especially if commenting on Dick/Jason's relationship, but don't feel pressured.)

-.-.-

There’s a dragon skull sitting beside him when he wakes up. Jason blinks at it a few times as he raises his head from the dirt. The pounding behind his eyes intensifies the further he pulls from the ground until eventually, when he’s sitting straight up, his vision is invaded by splitting light and dancing fire.

The dragon skull is still there when his vision clears.

“I’m gonna call you Diego.” The skull does not respond as Jason pushes himself onto his feet. He glances around the cave he’s in. Save Diego, there’s nothing much – some dirt, some sand, a lake of green water that he definitely doesn’t want to drink from. “So…you wouldn’t happen to know where we are, would you?” Diego does not grace him with an answer. “Alright, then, be that way.”

Jason does a quick inventory. It’s quick mostly because all of his stuff is missing. His sword, his armor, most of his clothes. He decides to be grateful for his pants and then investigate the immediate area.

Diego, he discovers, was once a very large dragon. His largest fang was nearly as tall as Jason. Given the lack of sticks and stones and swords in the cave, Jason makes the very sound decision to pull out one of the dragon’s smaller teeth to use as a potential weapon. Diego does not agree with this reasoning.

“Give. Me. The Tooth!” Jason pulls hard, feet firmly planted on the dragon’s upper jaw as he pulls downward on the sharp tooth. “Damn it Diego, I need it more than you do!” Jason growls before his grip gives out and he falls onto the ground outside the dragon’s mouth. He huffs. A sudden clatter alerts him just before a tooth slams into the ground beside him.

It’s the one next to the one he’d been pulling on.

“You’re kind of a dick,” Jason tells the dragon as he stands up to inspect his new weapon. It’s long enough to be a longsword and wide enough to be a broadsword. Given the lack of a hilt, Jason thinks it will make a great club. “Thanks, Diego.”

The dragon remains stoic as Jason departs to find a way out of the cave, but Jason knows he’ll be missed!

-.-.-

Dick wakes before the sun in a cold sweat that tells him the day is going to be absolutely wretched. His dark hair sticks to his forehead in immediate rebellion. He refuses to take that lying down so he gets up. He pulls on a light shirt and laces up his boots to go down to the training yard. It is, blessedly, empty.

“Take that, nightmares,” Dick murmurs to himself as he begins running through a few drills to warm up. The day is going to be a good one, whether it likes it or not! Dick moves through the air like a bird, sword swinging with grace as he slashes at imaginary enemies.

So enthralled in his practice is he that Dick doesn’t notice when someone else joins him on the field. His blade stops just before Tim’s chest as he slashes across. Tim doesn’t flinch, or even blink, at the unsharpened blade. Blue eyes stare directly into Dick’s own, “The Oracle sent me a message.”

Dick is breathing heavily – more so from nearly injuring Gotham’s best wizard than from his actual exertions. He takes a steading breath as he straightens, “What does she say?” Tim’s lips quirk up and Dick instinctively steps back. Tim might be smaller and shorter than Dick, but he is decidedly more deadly.

“Jason is alive.”

The dulled sword in Dick’s hand drops to the ground with a clatter.

-.-.-

Damian has absolutely no idea what’s going on. Absolutely none.

“Do you have any questions, your majesty?” Stephanie asks as she walks two steps behind her young king. He’s walked through most of the castle at this point and will likely soon venture into Gotham itself.

“No,” Damian states the word confidently, nose in the air and arms crossed. Stephanie smiles, but continues following her charge as he searches – fruitlessly – for his regent. Not that Damian had told Stephanie what he’s doing, but his ‘review of castle infrastructure’ had started in the castle’s training yard and then Dick’s private chambers.

Sometimes, kings were just oblivious. Thirteen-year-old kings especially.

It said a lot that the last place Damian went was the throne room. It says even more when he growls at the throne. “Where is he?!” Damian spins around to face Stephanie, eyes narrowed to slits and lips pushed out in what was probably the cutest pout Steph had ever seen on his face.

“Who?” Stephanie purses her lips to keep from laughing, or cooing, at Damian. She fails immediately when he stomps his foot. “Ser Richard left this morning, if that’s who you’re looking for. Lord Drake went with him.” Damian immediately flushes.

“No!” Damian’s eyes shift left. Stephanie follows his gaze towards the small council’s room. “Shouldn’t I have been informed of something like that though?”

Stephanie shrugs, “Probably.” No one ever really bothered to tell Damian much of anything around here – he was young and still fairly new to Gotham after all. “But Dick was in a hurry, so he probably forgot.”

“Why was he in a hurry?” Damian took the three steps up the dais to sit in the throne. He shifts on the cold stone, fingers fidgeting on and off the arm rests. Stephanie watches him. His brow is scrunched up and he bites at his lips each time he moves.

She debates her answer for half a moment, “They went to get Jason.”

“Jason?” Damian’s head shoots up and now his eyes are wide. Stephanie takes a moment to appreciate the slack-jawed look on Damian’s face. He shakes it off quickly, “I thought my father’s squire perished in the flames?”

“That’s what we all thought,” Stephanie sighs. Her smile tightens, “The Oracle says he’s not though.” Damian’s brow furrows again and he worries his lip between his teeth. “Is something wrong, your majesty?”

Damian pushes off from the throne and takes quick steps down. He doesn’t even come up to Stephanie’s shoulders when he stops at her toes to look up at her face, “Where did they go to retrieve him?” Stephanie blinks at the intensity of his gaze.

“The Cave of the Demon.”

-.-.-

Jason finds the mouth of the cave and immediately swears. The only thing outside of the cave is more dirt. No trees. No roads. No town. Nothing. Not even a mountain! He wracks his brain for something (anything!) that might tell him where he is. Bruce made him study every damn map he could – it’s only fair that such useless studying become useful in his hour of need.

He’s cycling through a few possibilities when he returns to Diego, “Hey, buddy. Anything interesting happen while I was gone?” The dragon gives him the cold shoulder. Jason freezes as a legend on one of Bruce’s maps hits him right in the face. He glares up at Diego, “You couldn’t have told we were in the Cave of the Demon earlier?”

Diego kept his mouth firmly open. Just like the dragon skull on Bruce’s map that indicated this cave. Jason eyed the green lake a little more anxiously now.

“Was I dead?” Jason look up at Diego, tried to imagine what his own body would look like as a skeleton. He plopped down beside the dragon, leaning back against his lower jaw. Jason tried to recall where he was last before he got here, but came up only with a splitting headache and image of fire. “I think I can rule out hell, but that’s all I got.”

The bones of Diego pressed firmly into his back felt kind of comforting, not that Jason would admit to needing such comfort. A flash of blue cut through his headache and an image bubbled up. A tourney. A man with a blue cape riding on a black mare, a wooden jousting lance in his hand. Eyes that sparkled like sapphires visible beneath the helm.

“You think anyone is looking for me, Diego?”

-.-.-

Dick follows behind Cassandra by several yards. Her horse was just as quiet as she was and the two made for an excellent scout. They’d already run into the three hosts of bandits and Dick was getting sort of impatient at this point. “How much longer?”

“The Cave of the Demon is on the edge of Gotham’s territory,” Tim huffs out beside him as he readjusts himself on his saddle. “You didn’t expect us to get there in a day, did you?”

Dick didn’t look at the wizard – his red robes were already tattered on the bottom from their ridding and given the way he was fidgeting Dick was sure the man had a nasty case of saddle sores in his immediate future. He shouldn’t complain, but…

“We’re not far from the cave,” Tim sighs. Dick perks up and Tim rolls his eyes. As if the gods themselves are trying to suck up to Dick, Cassandra signals for them to ride closer. They reach her just as she dismounts before the only outcropping for miles.

“So…” Dick looks at the mouth of the cave and then around at the terrain. Desert and deserted, “Not what I expected.” Tim shoves him into the cave with all the patience of a honey badger as Cassandra waves them in.

-.-.-

“Jason!”

The voice wakes him from a dead sleep and Jason immediately swings out with his dragon tooth. A yelp and some dust in his mouth tell him the person was not expecting that.

“That was mean, Jay.”

Jason’s eyes blink open and he comes face to face with the sapphire eyes from his memories. His face flushes as his eyes flick down to the man’s lips – which are currently puckered out in a pout that is doing absolutely nothing for Jason’s concentration.

“Do you recognize us?” Another voice and another face. Jason squints at it, feels a desire to shove the man bubble up in his chest.

Jason shrugs, “Recognize, yes.” Jason squints harder at the second man. He’s lanky, wearing loose-fitting robes, and carrying the dullest expression, “Have you drank any coffee today, Timmy?” Tim’s eyes widen and his lips quirk up.

When he turns to face the first man again, everything else floods in.

“Miss me, Dick?” Jason smirks.

Dick responds by pulling him close with one hand and threading the other into Jason’s tussled locks. Dick’s lips slot over his like a puzzle piece and Jason’s hands dig into the fabric of Dick’s cape until Tim, very loudly, clears his throat.

Jason shoves his shoulder, “Don’t be rude, Timmy, we’re busy.” Dick chuckles into the side of Jason’s head. He’s wrapped himself completely around the taller, and broader, man. Jason’s body relaxes into the hold. “So…where’s Bruce?”

Both Tim and Dick immediately tense. Jason raises a brow.

-.-.-

Damian settles himself atop the gate just as he has the last three mornings. Guards walk behind him as they move from tower to tower and Stephanie sits beside him between two merlons in an embrasure. It’s not comfortable, but Stephanie has left her plate armor behind today so it’s not as bad as it was the day before.

“Are we just going to sit up here every day until they get back?” Stephanie whines, head lulling to the side as she looks at him. Damian stiffens, but nods. “You do realize you’re the king? Don’t you have…kingly duties or something?”

“Kate’s handling everything,” Damian grunts and turns his head to stare out at the horizon. “I will continue my lessons when Dick returns.” Stephanie rolls her eyes.

The small council would probably be more receptive to Damian after this, she figures. Kate Kane is, by far, the most ruthless of the Waynes by even the most generous of scales. Stephanie straightens her back and scans the area – the guards are rotating as they should, merchants are filtering through the gate.

“It’s only a day and a half to the cave,” Damian says after a long silence. Stephanie looks at him, but he’s still staring at the horizon. She reaches out, pats his arm. He glances in her direction.

“I’ve spent years training with Cassandra, and I’ve seen Dick in action, Tim too.” She smiles at him and Damian looks down at his lap. “They’re perfectly fine out there, Dami.” His head pops back up at the use of Dick’s nickname for him.

Damian opens his mouth, ready to shout his bodyguard into propriety, but no sound comes out. His had snaps to the horizon as a flicker of movement catches his eyes.

“Told ya.” Stephanie hums as she scoots off the embrasure and stands in the center of the wall’s walk. She holds out a hand to Damian. He takes it with a scowl. She pulls him along as she moves down into the courtyard.

Rather than rush to the gate, Damian makes a move toward the castle (and the throne room). Stephanie’s hold on his hand tightens and the two are standing dead center in the courtyard when Dick rides in with Cass, Tim, and a man with scraggly hair.

“Why did you bring home a beggar?” Damian isn’t looking at Dick when he asks, but at Jason. Jason glances down at the make-shift clothes they’d cobbled together for him.

Dick’s mouth is already open to reprimand Damian when Jason starts laughing, “That’s not bad, kid, but I know a dragon named Diego that could do better without saying a word.” Jason watches the boy’s eye twitch and nods at Dick, “So this is Bruce’s kid?”

“Unfortunately,” Tim grunts as he drops from his horse. Damian growls at the wizard as he passes him. He gives Stephanie a quick wave and then disappears to report to the Oracle.

“Be nice, Dami,” Dick sighs as he dismounts his mare. Damian’s face is set in a series of lines as he looks at them. When he moves to hug the boy he backs away from him. Stephanie holds his shoulders and Dick looks up at her. She tilts her head expectantly and nods down at Damian. “Wha-?”

Jason cackles from beside him, “I think she’s trying to say you worried the kid and should apologize.” Dick furrows his brow when Stephanie nods. Damian scoffs.

“I wasn’t worried,” Damian’s chin rises in the air as he looks at Jason’s neck – spotted with circular bruises. “Obviously he spent more time canoodling than fighting.” Dick flushes red. Damian’s eyes land on the weapon that Jason is holding in his hand. His eye twitches again. “You took a dragon’s tooth?”

“Diego was already dead when he gave this to me,” Jason leans over to smirk directly into Damian’s face. He eyes the small king carefully – pinpoints every emotion hiding in Damian’s expression, “Jealous?”

Damian sniffs, looks away, “Of someone like you? Never.” Behind him, Stephanie rolls her eyes again. Dick glances back and forth between Damian and Jason as they take verbal swipes at each other. His eyes widen in growing panic.

“No!” Dick steps between the two and he holds a finger up to both their faces. “Bickering is not bonding.” Damian and Jason both snort. “I want you two to get along!”

“I am not bonding with one of your bedfellows!” Damian’s nose scrunches up as he turns away. Stephanie is kind of impressed he didn’t stomp his foot this time. “I have far more pressing responsibilities!”

Jason’s brow rises up as Damian stalks back into the castle. His green cape flutters out behind him quite spectacularly. Stephanie swipes at the material as she follows two steps behind.

“You really should have told Dami you were leaving before you went, Dick,” Stephanie calls over her shoulder. A quick glance, a wink, and Dick’s mouth falls open as she laughs at him.

“So…” Jason crosses his arms as he comes up beside Dick, “How many ‘bedfellows’ do you have exactly?” Inside the castle walls, Damian quirks a smile when he hears Dick’s sputtering.

#2019 jaydick exchange #jaydick exchange #jaydick summer exchange 2019 #jaydicksummerexchange #ray writes #prompt ray #batman au #batfamily #batfam #jaydick #jason todd #dick grayson #tim drake #damian wayne #stephanie brown

[mokulule]

Almanac - Chapter 4

DP x DC Dead on Main First | Masterpost Note: I made a new masterpost to subscribe to over on my new blog where I organize my writing @mokus-invenstory. Links on the other chapters have been updated, I will still notify on the old post with updates.

Chapter 4 - October 21-22nd, Orinoids Meteor Shower

Training with Fright Knight was an experience.

Jason was no stranger to harsh training regimes, but it seemed like Fright Knight truly had no other duties to attend to. And maybe that was what ghosts did? Find the one thing they were good at and then do it for all eternity? It was exhausting, unrelenting.

Every day he went to the kitchen to find a plate of breakfast ready, thankfully it wasn’t the same thing every day. He wondered if it was courtesy of the Lunch Lady, but he never saw anyone else and the cupboards and pantry were empty.

The mystery of who and how human food came to be here itched at him but as long as the magical castle felt reluctant to even let him get to the kitchen in the first place (he’d yet to walk a path quite the same there) it was something he would have to leave unexplored.

He ate and then as he was done as if summoned Fright Knight would collect him and drill him until he dropped.

The knight treated Jason as if he’d never held a sword before starting basic at stance and simple attacks repeated ad nauseum, with the occasional cardio and strength building exercises. While Jason preferred guns, hand to hand combat and occasionally knives, it wasn’t the first time he’d fought with a longer bladed weapon. His general training meant he could pick up most weapons and use them successfully so he thought it was rather unfair - not that he was fool enough to raise that opinion, this wasn’t the first stern training master he’d served under.

And arguably he didn’t have much experience with medieval style broadswords. So he sucked it up and did as ordered.

There were no breaks throughout the day, no more food. You’d think it was a form of torture that he didn’t get to eat more than breakfast, but Jason, while he got tired, never got hungry throughout the day. Apparently he got the rest of his needs covered through energy diffusion or some shit - assuming he’d understood the king correctly.

His waking moments were repetitive, but he was not bored as such. Not that he was enjoying himself either, but he was busy, occupied. Training and learning new skills were never a waste - he had to tell himself that. But when he laid in the barren room, which he still considered his prison, in those short moments before exhausted sleep claimed him, horror creeped in; horror that this would be the rest of his life.

Another day another drill.

The weight of the practice sword in his hand felt as familiar as breathing after 9 days of non stop practice.

“You are becoming complacent,” Fright Knights voice boomed as always from everywhere at once despite him clearly looming right in from of him.

Jason tilted his head regarding the knight for a moment. He wondered how much sass he could get away with.

“Well you could give me a challenge instead of this,” he returned evenly.

Somehow Jason had the distinct feeling the knight was smiling unseen in the darkness under the helmet.

“Very well,” his voice rumbled like a storm in the distance, setting all of Jason senses alert at the coming threat. His grip tightened on the practice sword.

The knight turned and flew over to set aside the neon green sword he carried at his side in favor of a practice sword in the weapons rack by the wall. For the first time since Jason had seen the knight kneel before his king, his feet touched ground.

He stalked towards Jason, a weight and realness to him now as the armored shoes clanged against the cobblestone. The hair at the back of Jason’s neck stood on end as the air charged with his approach. Every instinct in his body told him to be afraid. Someone with less combat experience might have frozen, Jason picked his guard up and turned so he made a smaller target.

The cobblestone knocked his breath out and his sword clattered across the stones. His ears rang and he could already feel his left eye swelling from where it had met an armored fist. Above him a couple of shooting stars shot across the clear sky in rapid succession before the Knight stepped close. He loomed above Jason and for one horrifying moment Jason thought he would ram the practice sword through him, blunt tip and all.

Instead the knight held out a hand.

Jason wet his dry lips and took the hand. He was pulled unceremoniously to his feet.

“Did you notice what I did?”

Not only did Jason notice that twist Fright Knight had done that had sent his sword flying, he very much felt the way he socked him in the face.

“Yes.” Jason had not expected he’d be dueling something like a fucking Kryptonian, nobody that size had the right to be so fast. The trick to fighting Kryptonians and people of that speed class was more in anticipating their moves rather than reacting to them, and more importantly coming prepared with something to incapacitate them with. Jason had no clue what might be Fright Knight’s weakness, probably wouldn’t be so easy as to laugh at him.

The knight nodded at his response.

“Good, now to counter.”

He then walked Jason through no less than five possible counters, to what was apparently a rather risky move he’d done - had he been alive at least. The counters were well and good, but as long as Jason had no way to counter the speed, the knight could repeat the move at his leisure.

Not that Jason pointed that out. No, Jason practiced dutifully and found himself seeing the stars multiple times that day. He got very well acquainted with the cobblestone. On the seventh meeting with the ground, he thought he saw a glimpse of light from a window high above the courtyard. He could have sworn it was the king watching, but as he got back to his feet and looked back up the light was gone. Maybe it had just been a reflection, a trick of the light from one of the many shooting stars.

Still, reminded of why he was here, his mood soured. Yes, Jason had put himself in this situation, but he’d expected to die for his sacrifice - and maybe that would have been too easy an out, but he’d certainly not expected to be discarded, like the unwanted possession he apparently was.

Resentment curled in his gut. Poor little king never wanting to have been summoned having to take Jason as payment. It was clearly such an ordeal.

Jason snarled getting back to his feet and for the first time he went on the attack. Fright Knight seemed amused, which only egged him on. Jason reached for the All-Blades but of course they didn’t manifest, because in this stupid place not even someone named fucking Fright Knight counted as true evil.

He let Jason wear himself out, disarmed him again, and punched him hilt first in the stomach. Jason crumpled over the practice sword and slid down to his knees, gasping for breath.

The knight considered him for a moment, waiting to see if he would get up again. When he didn’t, he made a minute shake of his head.

“You have spirit, but your mortal trappings do you no favors.”

Jason couldn’t help laughing at that. What was he supposed to do? Apologize for being alive?

“Blame your king.”

Oo o oO

That night Jason dreamt of Gotham, or more specifically of Crime Alley. Dick was patrolling in Jason’s absence, but he didn’t know the Alley like Jason did. He didn’t know of the small shadowed nook in that building that made for a perfect hidey hole. He didn’t see the gun pointed at him, didn’t move until the shot rent the air.

Jason sat up in bed gasping and shaking.

It was a dream, it was a stupid dream. He fumbled automatically for his phone, before he remembered, there was no way to make sure. He was stuck in the realm of the dead. It was a dream, he firmly reminded himself.

Still he shook and couldn’t bring himself to go back to sleep. Dick’s shocked face haunted him whenever he closed his eyes.

Gingerly he stepped out of bed. Clearly the order to keep Jason alive hadn’t kept the knight from beating him to hell and back. A particularly spectacular bruise mottled the side of his torso in purples and blues. From the twinging pain with every breath there was probably a few bent or broken ribs underneath that.

He walked to the bathroom, where he’d hung his clothes to dry after washing them in the sink. He reached out to touch them to find them cold and damp, a testament to how little sleep he’d managed. He shivered at just the thought of pulling them on, but he didn’t exactly have anything else to wear.

He couldn’t go back to sleep. He needed to move. That gun had been aimed for Dick’s head. It was just a dream, he reminded himself sternly. He needed to pull himself together.

Taking a deep breath he reached for his underwear first, pulling it on with a grimace. Disgusting was not a strong enough word, he thought grimly. He was cold and miserable by the time he’d finished dressing and trapped his damp socks in his boots and tied them.

Dressed, he left the room for the hallways, expecting the castle to give him a good walk around as usual - expect he’d barely walked down two hallways until a door revealed the kitchen. There was a cup sitting on the table in front of his usual place. Curious he walked over to pick up the steaming mug, he put it up to his nose and sniffed it. His eyebrows rose in surprise - hot cocoa.

He glanced around and like always saw no sign of the presence of anyone but himself. He took a sip and amended his earlier assessment with a hum of pleasure, this rich taste could only be hot chocolate. It sat warm in his belly and he found some of the restless energy leaving him. He sat down and allowed himself to relax. He held the cup with both hands and let the warmth seep into his fingers with a sigh.

Maybe the castle didn’t entirely hate him after all.

He sipped slowly, savoring the treat. The hot chocolate was good, it wasn’t quite Alfred’s but-

A wave of homesickness overtook him and he slumped forward in grief. Maybe Jason would manage to escape some day, but Alfred was not exactly young anymore. People died suddenly sometimes, even when they seemed healthy.

Jason wasn’t there anymore. He couldn’t check on his family. Not Alfred, not Dick (it was just a nightmare!) or anyone. A mocking laughter haunted him as if from a distance, a memory wanting to drown him. He clenched his fits tight, he wasn’t back there. He was here, property of the ghost king, safe.

Unlike everyone else.

The Joker was still in Gotham. Still alive despite everything, a threat to everyone and Jason was useless.

He was a fucking idiot. He’d sacrificed himself willingly, but he hadn’t expected to have to live with the choice.

Did that make him a coward too? On top of everything?

He stood. He couldn’t sit here. He had to move. Before he knew it he was walking through hallways, uncaring where they took him. Left, right, nothing mattered. He just had to move. He didn’t know how long it he walked until he found himself, breathing heavily, in front of a stairwell. There was something familiar about it. His eyes were drawn to the path down. He’d never chosen to go down before. There was something down there. He took a step forward.

“Jason.”

He froze and spun around at the echoey voice. It felt like all the breath left his body, sucked into the gravity of the king.

Toxic green eyes flicked from Jason to the stairwell. Dark brows drew together in a frown, and the shadows suddenly seemed darker, deeper, like places you could fall into and disappear never to be seen again.

He floated closer. The pressure increased. Jason locked his knees to keep standing. There was a siren blaring in his mind, a scream lasting an eternity. Cold fingers touched his swollen eye soothingly and Jason gasped, a quiet little intake of breath into his burning lungs.

He wanted to move away. He wanted to lean into it. He wanted- He did nothing.

The gloved tips of fingers became the flat of a palm cradling the side of his face oh so gentle. Jason felt wetness in his eyes and blinked. He couldn’t handle gentle right now. His skin tingled and the swelling fell. The king looked at him, green eyes sad.

“Are you okay?”

Was he okay!? Jason ripped away, fury finally breaking the spell.

“The Hell I am!” In his mind Dick’s shocked face, a second from being shot flashed, “my family could be hurt right now, dying-“ a crowbar dragged across a concrete floor, a terrible laughter skittered across his senses, and every hair stood on end- “tortured.”

Jason took a step forward into the king’s space, snarled, “and I can do nothing!” into his shocked face. Playing at innocence, as if Jason’s words were a surprise. As if he didn’t know exactly what he’d done. He had changed the wording, acting like he’d done Jason a great favor. He chose to keep him here, useless, powerless.

He stepped back. Looked at the king with anger gone cold. “Killing me would have been a mercy.”

Jason braced himself for the worst. He’d said his piece. He expected an explosion, a onesided fight, for his brain to melt out his ears, something other than the hollow eyed gaze only vaguely looking in his direction.

The lights flickered and finally the king seemed somewhat present in his body. He looked at Jason with the most neutral face in existence.

“I shall relieve you of my presence, goodnight.”

He flew casually over to the staircase and went up. It was only then Jason snapped out of it.

No! How dare he!

He ran after him, but of course he was gone. The cursed castle made sure of it. Jason wanted a fight and he would not even give him that! He punched the wall with a frustrated scream that cut off into a sob.

“Shit.” He rubbed angrily at his eyes. He was fucking pathetic. Couldn’t even pick a fight right.

Oo o oO

Fright Knight found him in the practice yard, doing drills, sweaty and shaking from exhaustion.

“You are pathetic human, sit down before you fall down.”

Jason glared. “No.”

The knight promptly pushed him down on his ass. “Do not test me. I was tasked to keep you alive. Drink.”

A bottle of water was shoved into his hands.

Mulishly Jason did as he was told. It was only when he’d taken the first sip he realized just how thirsty he was and he had to force himself not to just chug the entire bottle in one go.

Fright Knight watched him with that detached disgust he had for mortal weaknesses, like the need for sleep or in this case sustenance. He was a fucking annoying, stuck up bastard, but-

“Why are you not evil?” Jason asked in frustration, too emotionally worn to consider whether that was a smart question to ask. If he had been evil, Jason could give him a proper fight. Let the knight try to phase through the All-blades.

When no response of any kind came, he looked up. It seemed he had rendered the knight speechless.

Slowly hesitantly the knight finally spoke, “You speak as if you’d prefer that I was evil, yet I was led to believe you are aligned with so called heroes.”

Jason scoffed and looked away. “Not a hero.”

Fright Knight floated down to sit crosslegged in front of Jason, his glowing green sword drawn and resting across his knees.

“I am the spirit of fear itself, I am neither good nor evil, I just am.”

Jason barked a short chuckle, of fucking course. Then, he explained the concept of the All-Blades to the knight; flaming magical blades fueled by the soul and blood of the wielder, only able to be summoned in the presence of true evil. The knight in turn looked very intrigued.

“I would have liked to match my Soul-Shredder to your All-Blades. A glorious bout that would have been…” the knight said wistfully.

“Soul-Shredder is the name of your sword?”

“Indeed,” Fright Knight chuckled maliciously in a way that ran cold down Jason’s back, an effect that was done on purpose judging by the greedy glow in his gaze. Jason felt fairly certain he feed on fear.

The knight raised the green blade between them and turned it to let Jason see every facet with obvious passion. “One cut from Soul-Shredder will land you in a dimension of your worst nightmare.”

Jason’s breath caught in his throat. No. He refused to think about it. He forced a half choked laugh, “and you claim not to be evil.”

The knight looked thoughtful for a moment. “Maybe if we had met in the previous king’s rule, we could have had a proper match.”

Jason frowned in confusion. “Why would who the King is matter to your nature?”

“Because human,” Fright Knight began, green eyes boring into Jason, “the King is the most important soul in the Realms. His nature affects the very air from which we get our energy.”

“Pariah’s reign was a dark time,” there was an almost nostalgic tone to his voice as he continued, “he sought to conquer, control and enslave and I was his loyal servant, as is my duty as a knight. But Pariah was so bad that having no king at all was a better option than him, and he was sealed away by the Ancients, even if it left the Realms stagnant and disconnected.”

He paused for a moment to let that knowledge sink in.

“Our Phantom is a king who never wanted to rule, and has actively avoided it. It has been amusing to see him grow into the role.”

“And as long a he doesn’t grow into a power hungry despot he will always be better than the last?” Jason asked bitterly.

The knight barked out delighted laughter at that.

“Make no mistake, mortal, Phantom is a good king now, but he is young, still changeable by nature. These years are crucial. But should the worst happen and my king become a despot, as you put it?”

Fright Knight shrugged carelessly. “I will merely do as I have always done and that is to serve my king. I am the spirit of fear after all. It is only my concern now because my king wishes to avoid that fate.”

Leather creaked as the knight tightened the hold on his blade. He looked straight at Jason. Despite no mouth being visible, Jason had the distinct feeling the knight was grinning.

“We may yet have our bout someday.”

-

And that was chapter 4... nobody is really in a good place here? Except Fright Knight, he's having fun.

Comments are much appreciated <3

Next

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#almanac #dp x dc #dead on main #warning for bad coping mechanisms #Jason is really not in a good headspace #neither is Danny #but he's not our pov character currently

[valkyrie0cain]

QUELIOT MOMENTS SEASON THREE

All of these posts will be tagged Masterlist and Queliot Masterlist so if you ever need to find it go to my blog and look under that tag.

If there is anything you want to add/amend please send me a message.

This does not include every time they are in a scene together, more along the lines of directly speaking to each other or moments the fandom has come to agree are important.

SEASON THREE

3.01 The Tale of the Seven Keys Quentin is on Earth, Eliot is in Fillory. Eliot gets his quest bestowed upon him. Peacock: “You have a brother of the heart with the floppy hair.” E: “That would be Quentin.” Peacock: “You’re parts of one whole.”

Eliot sends a messenger!rabbit to Quentin. Rabbit: “Need help. Love, Eliot.”

3.02 Heroes and Morons NADA, Quentin is on Earth following leads on magic, Eliot is finding the first key.

3.03 The Losses of Magic NADA, Quentin is dealing with Alice and the Lamprey, Eliot is abandoned in Fillory with Fen and Fray.

3.04 Be the Penny Quentin sends a rabbit to Margo and Eliot to tell them Penny is dead. Eliot, Fen, and Fray are trapped in the Neitherlands avoiding cannibals.

Eliot, Fen, and Fray eventually get out of the Neitherlands and end up back in the Cottage with Quentin and Julia. Quentin runs up and hugs him. This is the first time they’ve seen each other since magic has been shut off.

3.05 A Life in the Day Any Queliot fan already knows this episode is a mega episode but for shits and giggles, let's go through it.

Eliot sends Fen and Fray into the city while himself and Quentin look at the Book of Seven Keys. Eliot gives Quentin a mini pep talk, basically just telling him to buck up if he ever wants to get Alice back. Quentin tells him they have to go find the Mosaic but it’s in Fillory.

Once a keyhole appears, Eliot and Quentin go through the clock to get to Fillory. E: “Guess this leg of the quest is you and me.”

They are transported to Fillory but it’s Fillory of the past. Even so, they hug happily. They find the Mosaic and begin working. Also, can we appreciate that the tail-end of S2 and most of this season Quentin has been wearing a man-bun? Cause he pulls it off really well.

There are a couple scenes of the first year together. Banter ensues. They meet Arielle who offers them peaches and plums.

They celebrate a year together, second Queliot kiss (and they totally had sex FIGHT ME).

Quentin and Eliot share a life together. They fight, they cry, the reason with one another, they learn how to grow as a couple. E: “You want to live your life, live it here.” Q: “What is that supposed to mean?” E: “You know exactly what it means.” There’s a lot of debate about that quote but I firmly believe it’s Eliot telling him that if he wants to have a life, fall in love, etc then he needs to do it here, at the Mosaic.

Quentin gets married and has a son with Arielle but I believe that the relationship is shared betwixt Arielle, Quentin, and Eliot. They get to know each other intimately, living together day in and day out. They share something most people never get to experience.

Eliot dies. This is the FOURTH TIME Quentin has to see/deal with Eliot dying. Quentin loses his soulmate (a quote from Jason Ralph) and as he goes to bury Eliot, he finds the tile to solve the Mosaic. He has to give the Mosaic to Jane Chatwin. Quentin dies.

In the future, Margo receives a letter from Quentin instructing her to retrieve the key from Jane and right before Eliot and Quentin go into the clock, Margo stops them. She tells them about the letter. Q: “Wow, I mean I can’t believe we died. Sort of weird. Sad, right?”

Eliot and Quentin go back to Fillory and enter the throne room where they find the peaches and plums that Quentin sent ahead of time.

They are injected with 50 years of memories. E: “Deja vu.” Q: “Peaches and plums.” E: “Peaches and plums.” (anyone that has seen 4.05 knows what happens next but I’m not going to talk about it UNTIL 4.05. That being said, anything after this episode will be looked at through the lens of KNOWING what happened in 4.05)

3.06 Do You Like Teeth? Eliot and Quentin are back in Fillory. Eliot resumes being King, Quentin is a palace guard.

They hold a secret meeting. Eliot touches Quentin’s face. Quentin tells Eliot they have to go to The Abyss. Q: “But, you know, we get to go on a quest on a magical boat, so it doesn’t totally suck.” E: “I wish I could. Believe me. But duty calls a dozen different ways and I can’t leave Margo.” Q: “Right. Of course.” E: “Sorry.” Q: “No. I was looking forward to going on a boating quest with you.” E: “Who wouldn’t? Uh, think about it. You can take Benedict. Go be life-partners with someone else for a bit.” Quentin’s face: MMMMWATCHA SAAAAY THAT YOU ONLY MEANT WELL. LITERALLY THIS IS ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING CAUSE ITS RIGHT AFTER THEY SHARED A LIFE TOGETHER AND QUENTIN IS ON-FUCKING-BOARD WITH SPENDING A LOT MORE TIME TOGETHER AND ELIOT IS LIKE “MERP, CAN’T. BUSY.”

3.07 Poached Eggs Margo and Eliot meet up with Quentin and Poppy and head to Earth. Eliot seems annoyed that Quentin has a girl with him.

3.08 Six Short Stories About Magic NADA

3.09 All That Josh Alice, Quentin, Kady, and Josh are stuck in an alternate reality inside the Cottage where it’s all party all the time and if you DON'T party you get beat up/killed.

Margo and Eliot are sentenced to death.

Penny is working the library.

Julia is with Fen dealing with the Fairies.

They can all hear each other mentally. This is the first time Quentin and Eliot have had contact since Quentin left on his boat trip. E: “Am I hallucinating?” M: “If you are so am I.” Q: “Eliot? Margo?” E: “Quentin?”

They all have to sing Under Pressure to unify.

3.10 The Art of the Deal Quentin, Alice, and Josh join Eliot and Margo on the Muntjac. They discuss Fillory and debate if they are still the leaders.

3.11 Twenty-Three NADA, alternate timeline episode.

3.12 The Fillorian Candidate NADA, Quentin mentions his alternate past to his dad.

3.13 Will You Play With Me? The gang's together discussing getting to the Castle at the End of the World.

Quentin and Eliot sit together on a couch.

Quentin, Eliot, Margo, and Penny talk about the Castle. Quentin leaves, distracted. Eliot watches him go.

Quentin incepts the lady guarding the monster in the castle. He returns to the gang and tells him that he’s made arrangements to open the door for them in exchange for himself to stay in the castle. Eliot gives him a look. Alice: “This isn’t the solution.” E: “I second that.” Quentin states that Alice has died for them and that Eliot was willing to stay in Fillory forever (fans have said this could mean when he married Fen or when he sacrificed his life staying with Quentin at the Mosaic). Q: “Someone has to step up.” His gaze lingers on Eliot (this scene is very important given the events of 4.05). Eliot and Quentin spend pretty much the rest of the scene staring at each other.

They go to the castle and Quentin prepares to give himself over to the monster and the castle. Eliot intervenes with a gun and shoots the host. Q: “Fuck, Eliot.” E: “God-killing bullet.” Q: “This is not what we agreed on.” E: “I didn’t actually agree on anything. But I did decide that one of my best friends wouldn’t spend the rest of his life locked in a prison, guarding what turns out to be a really not so scary monster.” Eliot leads Quentin away. They rejoin the group, there’s this split-second where Quentin looks over at him and the look on both their faces is of relief.

Alice betrays them, Julia comes in and saves the day. Fogg and the Library come and ruin everything.

Everyone gets mind-wiped and now lead different lives.

Eliot gets taken over by the Monster.

Monster!Eliot finds Quentin who now goes by Brian. M!E: “Will you play with me?” Brian!Quentin walks away from Monster!Eliot who proceeds to follow him.

#queliot #queliot masterlist #the magicians #ALRIGHT GUYS THERE YOU GO THE FIRST THREE SEASONS #I WILL NOT BE DOING SEASON FOUR UNTIL ITS COMPLETION #masterlist #text post

[scarletwelly-boots]

Books Read 2019

It’s time again for my annual books read post (a little earlier than usual, but I couldn’t wait). I read 24 books in 2019, 4 books more than last year, though two are in progress and I expect to finish them by the new year.

It is year four of the reading challenge from Popsugar. There were 48 categories this year, so I got 50% again. Unlike last year, I did not change any categories, but I may have taken liberties with some again, we’ll see. So, without further ado, let’s begin the list. [Under the cut]

1. How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell (A book becoming a movie in 2019). Okay, so there have already been two movies in this series, but the last one (*sob*) came out this year, so it counts. I read this book and a few of the others in the series a few years ago, but revisited the first one this year. It’s really good, but don’t go into it expecting it to be like the movies. The character names are the same, but that’s about it. If you can get your hands on the audiobook version, it’s read by David Tennant, which is excellent. Definitely recommend; it’s just as good as the movies.

2. Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (A book that makes you nostalgic). This is another reread. My dad read the whole series aloud to my sister and I when we were barely older than Laura is in the first book. It was the series he read before the Harry Potter books came out, and we both got sucked into that series. So yeah, very nostalgic. This is a series of semi-autobiographical stories chronicling Wilder’s pioneer childhood, and this is the first in the series. Some of the language doesn’t really age well, but for the most part it’s a delightful book.

3. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, by Hank Green (a book you think should be turned into a movie). Holy. Shit. I was very, very pleasantly surprised by Hank Green’s debut novel (and yes, John Green is his brother). This is a mysterious book about first encounters and internet fame, with a queer young adult (like, really YA, as in post-college) protagonist. She’s kind of shitty sometimes, but I would argue all twenty-somethings are shitty sometimes (I mean, I literally typed “*sob*” two entries up, like I’m channeling my 2009 self, and I didn’t delete it.). I would highly, highly recommend. And apparently, SOMEDAY, there’s supposed to be a sequel, thank GOD.

4. Loki: Agent of Asgard, by Jason Ewing (a reread of a favorite book). I could actually get away with a reread for this one! I love this graphic novel series. I love how they depict Loki, how he finally gets a goddamn redemption arc. It’s a really fun read. Check it out.

5. The Beast Within, by Serena Valentino (a book inspired by mythology, legend, or folklore). A companion novel to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. I don’t really remember much about this book. It was weird. But like, it plays with the timeline and the curse a little bit, where the beast gets cursed but doesn’t become a beast immediately. He slowly transforms as his behavior gets worse and more cruel. Apparently he used to be friends with Gaston, but Gaston forgot about him once he finally transformed. Really weird. If you’re obsessed with this fairytale like I am, give it a shot. If not, it probably won’t be that interesting.

6. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen (a book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie). Another reread. I know it’s a classic, but I seriously just love this book. 

7. Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diane Wynne Jones (a book about someone with a superpower). Another reread of a favorite book, what can I say. The movie is my favorite movie, but the book is better.

8. Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell (a book told from multiple character POV’s). Okay, listen. I had to reread this book, because it had been a few years and the sequel came out this year. Think of this as generic brand Harry Potter if Draco was a vampire, was Harry’s roommate, and helplessly in love with Harry. I’m serious, it’s generic brand. But damn if I don’t love it. @JKR, this could be us but Harry had to be the jock that married his high school sweetheart and grew up to be a cop. Definitely read.

9. Franny and Zooey, by JD Salinger (a book with no chapters/unusual chapter headings/unconventionally numbered chapters). My brother got me this book for my birthday. Before this I had only read Catcher in the Rye, which I started out hating when I was fourteen but turned into loving when I was nineteen. Honestly I think this novel is better than that one. I really loved it. Highly recommend. What’s it about? Who the fuck knows? But to quote my brother: “At its core, I think this book is about a smart brother and a smart sister. I think we can relate.” So read it and buy it for the smart brother or sister or sibling in your life.

10. 1916, by Tim Pat Coogan (read a book during the season it is set in). This is an Irish history book about the Easter Rising of 1916 and (what I didn’t know when I started reading it in April) everything that came after that can trace its cause back to the rebellion, all the way to the centennial of the Rising. The Easter Rising was the catalyst of Irish freedom. It was like the Boston Tea Party of Ireland, rather than the Battle of Yorktown (as in it kickstarted the War for Independence but didn’t immediately result in freedom), that is, if the instigators of the Boston Tea Party were rounded up, imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol, and a week later almost all executed by firing squad. It’s a tedious read if you’re not into Irish history or history in general, but I enjoyed it.

11. Loki: Where Mischief Lies, by Mackenzi Lee (a book set in space). Okay, technically it takes place on Asgard and Earth, but those are planets, and planets are in space, so it counts! I’m still reading it, but I really like it so far. (Honestly I maybe just like the idea of Loki in knee high black boots marketed towards women and black nails. I never promised not to be gay.)

12. Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman (a book set in Scandinavia). I’m sorry! I read this book every year. Neil Gaiman is an amazing writer, and we all know I’m gay as shit for some good Loki tales. 

13. Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer (a book that takes place in a single day). Okay, I know people love this fantasy series, and since it’s Irish I fully expected to, too. But I didn’t like any of the characters enough to read the rest of the series, least of all Artemis himself. I struggle to enjoy stories if I don’t like the main character, and Artemis was kind of a shit. Sorry, I did not like this one.

14. Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy (a debut novel). I just started this one, too, but I really like it already. I think the audiobook is read by the same guy that read Artemis Fowl, but already this is way better than that one. The characters are likable, for one (god, the bar is so low for fantasy books for me right now). It’s a mystery and a fantasy, and the main-ish character is literally an anthropomorphic skeleton detective. It’s excellent. I’m going to read the whole series. (I have to; my mom accidentally got me the 12th installment for my birthday.)

15. Red, White, and Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston (a book that’s published in 2019). I read this twice. It’s so beautiful. I really expected it to be a shitty YA novel, but it wasn’t! It was very romantic (once they stopped “hating” each other), and gay. The premise sounds far-fetched: First Son of the United States falls for the Crown Prince of England. But, guys, it’s soooo gooooood. Highly, highly, highly recommend. 

16. The Wisconsin Road Guide to Mysterious Creatures, by Chad Lewis (a book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature). I mean, you can make your own decision whether these cryptids are real or imaginary. This is a travel guide to cryptids in Wisconsin, which I got on vacation earlier this year. I liked it, but reading a road guide for pleasure is admittedly kind of weird. Recommend if you’re planning a road trip through Wisconsin and want to stop at some cryptid, ghostly, or Nessie-like hotspots. Or if you just want to fuck Mothman, like me. (Dustybae’s not in this particular travel book though.)

17. Take Me With You, by Andrea Gibson (a book recommended by a celebrity you admire). Okay, so it was by a celeb I admire, not recommended by. This is a very quick read, of quotes from Gibson’s poetry. They are a queer spoken word poet with some really good pieces. They’re on spotify and apple music, probably among other sources. Recommend their work, but the book is very short, so maybe only purchase if you enjoy their work.

18. This is How it Always Is, by Laurie Frankel (a book about a family). This book was really, really good. It was passed around the aunts in my family until it got to my mom and I, which was really kind of a magical thing. It’s about a family navigating the challenges and gifts of raising a trans child. I cried a couple times, and it was so good. It’s written by a parent of a trans child, so it came from a place of understanding, and it was interesting to read this type of narrative from a parent’s perspective, when usually being genderfluid myself, I tend to consume media that is from the perspective of trans characters themselves. I had some very interesting conversations with my aunts and mom about it, and I really think this book changed my family a little bit, and I didn’t expect it to change me, too. Highly recommend. 

19. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Suzanne Clark (a book that includes a wedding). So the wedding is at the very beginning, and sadly not between Strange and Norrell. But it’s really good. Lots of magic, lots of regency-era Britishness. The book is huge, but there is a miniseries on Netflix based on the novel and that’s really good too. Highly recommend, and still in love with my man John Childermass. Hnng.

20. Wayward Son, by Rainbow Rowell (a book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter). Sequel to Carry On. Sheer madness. I loved it. Think of it as generic brand Harry Potter post-DH, if Harry sprouted dragon wings during the final battle, is gay as shit for Draco, and a year later Harry, Draco, and Hermione are set loose on America with .5 seconds of research, severe culture shock, one cell phone between them, and a half-assed plan to rescue Ginny who may or may not want to be rescued. Shit show, but well done and I’m fully invested and ready for the third installment.

21. Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman (a book with a two-word title). I’m sorry, I need to shift to caps for this. GUYS I FUCKING LOVE THIS STORY YOU HAVE NO IDEA IT IS THE GREATEST THING THAT HAS EVER COME INTO MY WORLD! I MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE WATCHED THE AMAZON SERIES THIRTEEN TIMES TO DATE AND IMMEDIATELY DEVOURED THE BOOK IN THREE DAYS. You don’t know what it’s about? Where have you BEEN?! An angel and a demon who are gay as shit for each other and love humanity way more than either of their respective sides. One downside is that as the miniseries came out like twenty years after the novel, my two favorite parts were only written for the series, and are not in the novel. But the book is still very, very good. 15/10.

22. Dumplin’, by Julie Murphy (a book revolving around a puzzle or game). I took game to mean competition, so this is about a beauty competition. I watched the Netflix movie first. I honesty thought I was not gonna like it, but holy shit it was amazing. Admittedly I think the movie was better (despite having Jennifer Aniston in it), but the book was really good, too. Recommend.

23. The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde (your favorite prompt from a past Popsugar reading challenge; a book with a queer protagonist). God, please read this book. This has been up there in my list of favorite books since I was fourteen. Oscar Wilde is a master storyteller, and Dorian Gray is intriguing and despicable and beautiful. I’ve already read this, but I love it too much not to.

24. Terrible Queer Creatures, by Brian Lacey (a book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent). Okay, so it’s not set there for the whole book, but gay monks and nuns are things. This was another birthday present, and an absolute hit. Combining two of my favorite things: Irish history and queer history. I had no idea a book like this existed. I’m still really excited about it. The only issue I have is that most of the one chapter dedicated to gay women involve biographies of people that were actually probably trans men, like Dr. Barry. They could have probably had a separate chapter and then a chapter of the clear lesbians and bisexual women (including trans women, of course). Lumping them in with the women in a chapter specifically dedicated to queer women did not seem particularly inclusive. But overall I really enjoyed the book.

Top Ten Books of 2019 post will be forthcoming.

#books #Book Recommendations #book recs

[alonzotheeboy]

rules: answer 21 questions and then tag 21 people you want to get to know better, even tho there’s only 15 questions for some reason 😂

i was tagged by @uppastthejelliclemoon

nicknames: Bart

zodiac killer: Ted Cruz

height: 5′2

hogwarts house: Gryffindor

last thing i googled: The rum tum tugger jason derulo (ikr?)

do you get asks: yeah, and i always get kinda excited when i do because i love it when people talk to me, anon or nah, or i just love it

amount of sleep: around 8 hours since i got to bed at 10 and wake up at 6

lucky number: 9

what i’m wearing: a vault boy t shirt and gym shorts

dream trip: anywhere that’s playing cats because literally nothing comes even close to my town

instruments: drums, guitar (but i suck, that’s more my brother’s instrument) tambourine (don’t ask), and xylophone

languages: English and asl

favorite songs: i love these types of questions cause i can have a different answer each time and it’s always true. My friend and i decided to force each other to listen to each other's favorite music (i made her listen to the cats soundtrack of course) and she had me listen to this dope song by bts i think? idk, it’s called Cypher pt. 4 and i’ve just been boppin to it for like 5 days straight

random fact: my grandma can knit photo-realistic pieces. like there’s a picture of a baby in her house that looks like a renaissance painting but she knitted it. she’s just a crazy knitter. Even knitted me this magic rabbit with a match wand pulling out a smaller rabbit out of hat.

aesthetic: The city late at night with wet pavement and neon lights all around. Deep into a forest with birds chirping all around and a river nearby. A snowy castle on top of a mountain overlooking a village. 

Aight, i’ll tag @cats2019-istandforit @munkustrap-game @ritt-seh and anyone else who wants to do it, just say i tagged u cause why nah 😂

#tag game

[theonetrueemo]

Answer all the cute ask questions

HHHHHHHH- THATS SO MANY

angel; do you have a nickname?

On here people just call me Alex but irl people call me Lily even though my name is Lilith

awe; how old are you?

13

baby; favorite color?

BLACK!....Purple....

bloop; spirit animal?

Wolf

blossom; favorite book/movie/song?

Favorite movie is Freddy vs Jason, favorite book is Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, and favorite song is what ever I feel like at that moment.

blush; what was your stuffed animal as a child?

A cute little pupper.

breeze; most precious childhood memory?

Idk......

bright; mermaids or fairies?

Fairies because unlike mermaids I think they do exist

bubbles; do you have a best friend?

@loved-and-i-lost-you @smol-satanist-666 @gay-leader @ihaveapizzzacollection @jokerstrueidentity

buttercup; showers or baths?

Baths but I never take them

butterfly; dream destination?

London

buttons; are you religious or spiritual?

Uh??....

calm; favorite scent?

Haunted Castle look it up its amazing.

candlelight; what did you dream about last night?

Martin Persner...........

charming; have you ever been in love?

@ihaveapizzzacollection

cozy; eye/hair color?

Eye color is blue and my hair is very dark brown. But I am gonna dye is in the near future

cuddly; what’s your favorite time period?

Like....in the day or?....Well midnight and or 1920s-1960s

cupcake; favorite flower/plant?

I like buttercups a lot

cute; what did you get on your last birthday?

Ghost merch

cutie pie; most precious item you own?

.....Ghost merch.....No seriously my favorite thing I own is my Freddy Krueger glove.

cutsie; what makes you happy?

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

daisies; describe a moment when you felt free.

Never......

daydream; how do you want to be remembered?

“That satanist girl obsessed with Multi”

daylight; favorite album of all time?

OPUS! EPONYMOUS!

dear; zodiac sign?

Aquarius....

delightful; concerts or museums?

Concerts. Museums are so silent....I hate it....

dimples; have you ever written a letter?

Yes many times.

dobby; dream job?

Artist or making all the gore in horror movies or working at a morgue....

doll; how do you like to dress?

Masculine

dovey; any paranormal/magical experiences?

Yes everyday

dreams; do you want or have any tattoos?

No but I want multiple

drizzle; do you believe in aliens?

Yeah duh. Watch Shane Dawson

euphoric; talk about someone you love.

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh- No...

fairy; do you have a pet?

I have 6. 5 cats 1 dog.

fluffy; ocean or mountain?

Ocean. For years I have wanted to be a Marine Biologist but I dont think it will work.

forever; where do you feel time stop?

What?.....

froglet; are you a good plant owner?

Idk....

garden; how many languages do you know?

6

gem; who are your favorite tumblrs?

@ anyone I talk to

giggles; what is your aesthetic of choice?

Emo/goth/satanic

glittery; do you like anons? why/why not?

I like all asks

glow; list the top 5 things you like about yourself

Shins, emo/goth, satanic, I am some what good at drawing and I think I am a kind person

heart; silk or lace?

Silk because A) It feels nice and B) Lace is see through so fuck that.

honey; coffee or tea? how do you take it?

Tea. Hot tea once its made you take TWO table spoons of sugar mix it in and just a little bit of milk. Its perfect.

hugsy; do you enjoy people watching or bird watching more? why?

People watching, I’m an Aquarius.

hunnybunch; what sounds help you sleep?

Ghost, Otep, Slipknot, MCC, ect.

jewel; what’s your favorite kind of weather?

Rain. Thunder and lightning.

jiggly; what do you usually like to do on weekends?

Literally nothing.

joy; do you laugh loudly or giggle more?

Giggle....

kinky; do you blush easily?

It depends....

kisses; what romantic cliché do you wish for most?

Pick up lines!!!

kitty; what’s your favorite time of the day?

Midnight or Dusk.

ladybug; what’s your favorite artist to listen to when you’re sad?

Ghost.

love; what is your favorite season and why?

Winter or Spring because its cold

lovey; what is your favorite flavor of macaron and ice cream?

I’ve never had a macaron......But I like vanilla ice cream.

magic; what are five flaws you have?

I could write a book so if I tried we would be here all day.

moonlight; do you prefer soft pastels, warm neutrals, or cool darks?

DARKS

munchkin; what do you look for in your significant other?

Idk.....Loyalty is the most important thing to me.

paddywack; how would you describe a perfect date?

At home on the couch with some Chinese food and a true crime show on netflix.

pebbles; how do you spend free time by yourself?

Reading fanfic about a ship I like.

precious; what is something valuable that you learned in your life?

Life sucks

pretty; do you like to cook or bake more?

Bake.

prince; how would you describe your handwriting?

Better than other 13 year olds. I’m pretty proud of it actually.

princess; do you play any instruments? if not, are there any you wish you could play?

I play the keyboard and a little guitar. I would like to take actual classes for the keyboard but we can’t all have what we want.

prinky; how do you relieve stress?

Listening to Ghost, screaming or just....crying....

pumpkin; what is your favourite kind of fruit/vegetable?

BROCCOLI! EVERY KID HATES IT FOR SOME REASON BUT I’VE LOVED THAT SINCE I WAS 1

rainbow; what was the last line of the last book you read?

“Omega swallowed and Alpha fell on top of Omega and they fell asleep”

roses; what is the most significant event in your life so far?

Idk.....

smile; what is one thing that has greatly affected you?

Idk....OH coming out to my family. It still feels like a dream....

shine; art or music?

DONT MAKE ME CHOOSE!!!

shimmer; do animals tend to like you?

I have 6 what do you think.

smitten; do you collect anything?

Pop funkos...I have 23....

smoochies; how many pillows do you sleep with?

7 are on my bed but I never use them at all. My head is always on the mattress.

snuggle; what is your favourite candy?

Anything really....

snuggly; do you have a camera? if so, what kind?

I have my iPad.

sparkle; do you wear jewelry?

Fuck no. Actually I wear a Harry Potter ring.

spooky; sunrise or sunset?

Sunset!

sprinkles; do you like to listen to music with headphones or no headphones?

Noise cancelling headphones.

starlight; what was your favourite show as a child?

(Just to be clear...I still like these shows to this day) Octonots or Wild Krats!!! I FUCKING LOVE THOSE SHOWS!!! I cried when Captain Barnacles from Octonots got stung my a jellyfish and he was in pain!! I love him *cries*

soft; describe your favourite spot in your house.

My room...its my room....

soothe; digital or vinyl?

Vinyl. Obviously. I may be 13 but I am an 80′s fan for life!

squeezed; who do you miss right now?

everyone.....

sugary; what traits do you value most in friends?

LOYALTY! I am a Slytherin so I am VERY loyal.

sunshine; do you prefer for things to be practical or aesthetically pleasing?

Idk...

sweet; do you find it easy to open up?

Fuck no

sweetie; do you like kids? if so, do you ever want to have any?

Yes and No.

thimble; is there somebody you look up to? who are they?

Tobias Forge, Martin Persner, Simon Soderberg, Per Errikkson, Justin Taylor. idk if I spelled Per’s name right......

toot; what is something you find unique about yourself?

I growl....

tootsie; what kind of friend are you?

Loyal pet.

treasure; what was something that made you smile today?

I was drawing a picture of Thomas in a restaurant and the waitress liked it.

velvet; are you an early bird or a night owl?

Night owl. I have an owl. He doens’t come inside but we feed him. We named him....Dr. Who LOL

whiffle;  if you could have a magical power, what would it be?

Probably to turn invisible

whimsical; do you prefer doing stuff at home or going out?

Home

whiskers; do you usually wear makeup?

No

wiggly; are you a messy or tidy person?

Messy but thats only because I never have time to clean up. I am a clean freak though.

wispy; do you like the place where you grew up? do you think you will live there when you get older?

I dislike it a lot and I plan to move to London when I am older. Fuck Florida.

wobbly; have you ever wished upon a star?

No because nothing happens.

I HOPE THAT WAS IT! ~ A

[italicwatches]

I Couldn’t Become a Hero, so I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job - Episode 01

I regret nothing. …Well, I say that now. I’m not entirely sure if this show will be any good, but it’s one whose title has had me curious for a while. Will it be silly and fun, or will it, I don’t know, turn super rapey or something? You never really know when you go down this road. So join me, won’t you? it’s I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job, episode 01! Here we GO!

-We begin with fire and brimstone. A volcano erupting! And then, to a temple ruins! It’s a scene right out of an incredibly anime version of Jason and the Argonauts, as our armored hero fights against a batch of skeleton w…knights, only for a harpy to come swinging in! He’s saved by a woman…in…

-Okay it’s one of these.

-Because that wouldn’t even qualify as Sexy Samurai in a decade-old shitpost video. So our hero, Raul Chaser, is willing to rely onYUP THERE GOES HER ARMOR. So she’s like Darkness but without the joke that she’s into this kind of treatment. A small army of skeletal archers pour on the arrows…When lightning comes down from the skies, brought by their other companions! Fight, war, and reach the giant leading this army! Strike him down, and they pass the exam! The woman races in, sprints up the giant’s arm, rams her fucking sword into his EYE…

-And Raul backs her up with his RAUL SLASH, carving deep through…

-Hard cut to the light of day. The hero school has been shut down. Demon Lord got defeated(probably by some fucker from another world), sooooo they don’t need to keep training brave heroes. They’re all fucked. They’re fuuuuuucked.

-Episode 01: I Couldn’t Be a Hero, so I’m Working the Register

-Hard cut to the Leon Magic Shop, where Raul has to sell suburban couples on enchanted washing machines. Magically guaranteed to remove even the most stubborn stains! But they’re not interested.

-TITTIES.

-Meet a perky bubbly young lady, Nova, who does not realize how sexualized she is. I’m sorry. Anyways, Raul is in a bit of a bind, too, since he hasn’t gotten a raise and his credit card bill is coming up this week…When a nerd comes in looking for some vintage cassette tapes. You’re in luck, they have some…! And suddenly the store is mobbed by vintage audio enthusiasts here to buy out the entire stock. Then they’re gone as fast as they came…

-And you know what, I don’t think those tapes are super vintage. I just spotted totally-not-Kodak film behind the counter. I think this is just set in the 80s-90s equivalent of this world. Plus, after a hoodie-clad blonde comes in, the CRT television in the corner plays Conveniently Timed News about how the cassette maker I-ONE has gone out of business! They just couldn’t hold their own against cheaper, ‘good enough’ cassettes and equipment from the competition while still making a profit. It’s a legitimate tragedy whenever that happens.

-And the blonde is getting mad and wants them to get the manager right now…Which is when Nova runs off to handle inventory. Escape, Nova, escape while you can! So Raul is forced to do it…Which is when the blonde slams a resume down. And is here for an interview. When the blonde forgets the resume…And so Raul’s able to read it, and holy shit.

-Raul bursts into the interview room with the resume, because you cannot seriously be thinking of hiring the demon lord’s child, right boss? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?! You literally wrote it on your resume. W, Well, you’re supposed to tell the truth on those, aren’t you?! Anyways, busty lady boss has decided that Fino here will be joining the shop. It’ll be a good experience! Fino, Raul. Raul, Fino. Please get along.

-So soon Fino’s in the store, looking at all the stuff, and there’s some really cool things that humans have made. Like magicvision, and magic cassettes, and magic…You know what I’m just going to spoil it for you now. It’s 80s-90s level tech, made with magic. I’m not going to bother to specify anymore. It’s a fuckin’ TV, it’s cool that it works because of fairy dust or whatever but I’m calling it a TV. Anyways Fino never had a personal TV growing up in the Demon Castle, and is all oooooh and aaaah.

-Well, you know what else you didn’t have growing up in the Demon Castle? A broom. Get sweeping, rookie. …Yes sir! And then Convenient News comes back on to talk about the anniversary event for the demon lord’s defeat two years ago. Quick flashback, to how that day totally fucked Raul’s life. A young man, two steps away from a degree in a job that literally no longer existed overnight. His entire party was shattered. They’re stuck in dead-end jobs and with crushing college debt, and nothing to show for it except broken dreams and a bitter envy of those who actually benefitted from the changing order…

-…Damn. That’s…Damn.

-Eventually it’s later in the day, and Raul is continuing to struggle with getting Fino to, you know, work like a proper employee…Also shocking twist Fino has long lovely hair. And that’s when a rough, tough…Dirty old man comes in off his slick dragon-pulled hotrod. And he’s here to peek up Nova’s skirt and grope that ass. Fino immediately decides this shit has to be stopped…When the old man reveals he’s gonna be buying a lightbulb. One lightbulb. Every time. The perfect excuse. And now Fino is…Shall we say, confused. Are humans like dogs? Is butt stuff just part of the communication?

-Does Fino need to bend over? Fino stop bending over. FINO NO. FINO PUT YOUR BUTT AWAY. NOVA DON’T ENCOURAGE THIS.

-Lunch break, at last. Raul is able to sit down and have some food from the convenience store…A place with some old friends who worry about the dork, and look after each other.

-Back in the store, the boss is talking to her assistant manager, Viser, and trying to explain her disinterest in bringing in another company into the shop…When they spot Raul working with Fino at the register, over the security cameras. And cut down to the actual register, where Raul’s decided that the actual core of Fino’s problems is a lack of respect. Rethink everything. Back to zero. This job means they are lesser than the customer. Yeah it sucks. Deal with it.

-…Fino doesn’t know how to do that. Well try on Raul. Okay! …Fino you’re being demonic again. This isn’t a battle, you stupid dork. Are you a chuuni or just stupid?

-Fino is just trying to copy how Dad used to talk! Your dad was, literally, a demon king. THE demon king. There is, quite literally, no worse example you could mimic for this lesson! …You know what, start with the manual. But first, come on, to the repair room. They also do repair work.

-Oooh, what’s that? It’s a toaster oven. And that?! A humidifier. And…And Fino touches the humidifier, and causes a surge of water, electricity and magical energy that knocks the poor idiot into the far wall! Raul’s stuck carrying Fino into the break room to figure out a plan that doesn’t involve calling a doctor and getting into trouble, and oh, great, a note from literally everyone else who works today listing their reasons they’re not here right now. Awesome. Just awesome.

-Right, first step, get these ruined clothes off of Fino. …Fino was not wearing anything under that hoodie. And that’s how a pair of big, bountiful, ladylike breasts come wobbling out.

-And that’s when Fino wakes up.

-So.

-This isn’t great for either party. And both of them are having a freakout, until the actual events that happened get all laid out. …Please put some fresh clothes on, Fino.

-And eventually, it’s the tail end of Fino’s first day, and she gets to have a uniform! Now sweep the walkway. By hand. With this broom. Welcome to working life, kid. When a sweet old lady passes by praising her hard work, and Fino thanks her, and the kid might just do okay in this world. Maybe.

-Night comes, and Raul stops at the convenience store for dinner, having a brief chat…But as he walks by the shop on his way home, the lights are on?

-Because Fino is in the back, washing down by hand in the sink?! What are you DOING?! She’s got no house, so this is her house now. …That’s not…That isn’t…You can’t just…Do you have any idea how terrible dish soap is for hair and skin? I’d question focusing on that angle over all the other things Fino’s done wrong here, but at the same time, I mean, there comes a point where you just have to find the smallest bite of the elephant.

-And as Raul helps her dry and generally make herself presentable, they end up talking about their own pasts. Raul, who came from a tiny village only to see all the great marvels of modernity in the city, and Fino who lived an even less modern life in the castle…Despite everything, there is a connection of friendship there, and Fino’s starting to learn human society. She might just do okay here yet.

-Credits!

-Aftercredits! Fino touches the turbo button on the hair dryer and…Uh…It makes a biiiiig boom. She has a scary amount of magic in a world that runs on the stuff.

Hmmmm. Well, it’s not so bad that I’m gonna drop it, but man, the fan service in this one is dense…And a lot of it is pure camera-work, too, not actions actually willingly undertaken by characters. It’s honestly a shame. There’s a lot of interesting conceptual meat in this. It really didn’t need big bouncing tits and panty shots everywhere to be a good show.

Oh well. Sometimes I watch super amazing stuff and my job is just to show that amazingness to you. Sometimes, I watch not-so-great stuff and my job is to separate off the good stuff and bring it together into a better piece. If this one’s more the latter, that’s fine. We’ll just have to get a better vibe on it next time, in episode TWO of I Couldn’t … Job! Wait for it!

#where I watch #recap #anime #I Couldn’t Become a Hero So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job