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late-to-the-party-81 · 2 months

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Happy Birthday, Yasha

AN: Creeping in with a story for Bucky’s birthday, I bring you Cap Quartet filth. This is just porn. Not a sniff of plot. Based in the same BDSM AU as The ties that bind us. Sam and Steve have fully consented to this scene in advance and can safeword at any time without consequence.

Beta’d by the wonderful @endlesstwanted and with Russian help from @bittersweet-in-boston

Likes are loved, reblogs are golden

Mood board by me and dividers by @firefly-graphics

Bingo and Challenge fills:

@buckybarnesevents Bucky’s Birthday Bash - Base - AU Bucky; Filling - Forced Proximity Frosting - Sam, Nat and Steve; Toppings - Humiliation/Degradation Kink, And

Build a Bucky Bingo - March - Impact Play

@stuckygeekevents Bingo - O1 - “Why did you flinch?”

@stuckybingo - N3 - Free space

@steverogersbingoBingo - D4 - Sex Party

@caplanbuckybarnes’s Weekly Writing Challenge #3 - “Please kiss me.”

Master list | Stucky Bingo Master List | SRB Master list | BaBB Master List | SGE Bingo Masterlist

Summary: It’s Bucky’s birthday and Nat has arranged a private party, just for him.

Relationship: Dom Bucky x Domme Nat x Switch (but Sub in this) Sam x Sub Steve.

Word count: 3.2k

CW: BDSM AU, Pre-established relationship, Polyamorous relationship, Bondage, Impact Play, Ass Play, Body Worship, Female Masturbation (briefly), Frotting, Anal Sex, Humiliation/Degradation Kink, edging, Face Sitting, Oral Sex, Cum Play/Cum eating, Cum Slut Steve Rogers, Aftercare, Safe, Sane and Consensual.

Bucky couldn’t help but grin, his arms around Nat’s waist and his chin resting on her shoulder as he took in the scene before him.

“Is this all for me, Natty?”

“Of course it is, Yasha. A party just for you.” His pack-mate and fellow Dom stated, her smile evident in the tone of her voice.

They were standing in the playroom, and spread out - and tied up - on the bed in front of them were their Switch, Sam, and their Sub Steve.

Sam was laid on his back, arms attached to the headboard and ropes around his thigh holding his legs open. A silver plug with a bright red jewel poked out from between his round buttocks. Steve was laid face down on top of Sam, his small body similarly bound but with a blue, jewelled plug stretching his rim wide. Neither could move much, but it wasn’t stopping the pair of them trying to rub their cocks together as they messily made out.

“Fuck,”Bucky exclaimed again. “Look at them. Pretty as a picture and all dressed up for me. How am I gonna top this when it’s your birthday?”

Nat turned her head and nipped at Bucky’s ear. “You’ll think of something, handsome. You always do. Now, go enjoy your birthday treat. They’ve been like this for fifteen minutes already and I edged them a couple of times before I brought you down here, so they’re both a hair's-breadth away from coming apart.”

“You’re staying, though?” Bucky nuzzled into Nat’s neck, enjoying the way his scruff brought a red rash up on her neck. She might be a Dom as well, but that didn’t mean Bucky didn’t like marking her. She gave as good as she got anyway.

“I was hoping you’d ask. I want to see which one of them starts to cry first. You go left, I go right?”

“Deal.”

Bucky had known when Nat said she had a surprise for him today that it would be something along these lines, so he’d been waiting, just dressed in his leather pants, until she came to get him. Nat herself was dressed in her favourite PVC outfit - a push up bra with cutouts at the nipples, crotchless panties and thigh-high stiletto boots. She looked exquisite.

He stalked over to the right hand side of the bed, climbing up beside the two desperate, strung up men. He tapped Sam on his shoulder, as Nat on the other side tapped Steve, and the two broke apart and looked at the two Doms. Two pairs of eyes were blown wide and two faces had lax expressions, already looking totally fucked out. Bucky laid down and captured Sam’s lips, Nat doing the same to Steve.

It never ceased to amaze Bucky how different Sam was from Steve. Steve was a Sub, but a bratty one, needing to be forced into submission for his own good more often than not. Sam, though, as a Switch, was never intentionally bratty, but sometimes had difficulties moving from one headspace to the other. It seemed that Nat had done the hard work already, or maybe Sam was just in a submissive move, because he opened himself to Bucky’s domineering kiss without any resistance. Bucky laid his left hand on top of Steve’s buttocks, feeling the little movements his favourite brat was trying to make in an attempt to get friction on his no-doubt aching prick. With a grin into Sam’s mouth, Bucky brought his hand down onto Steve’s ass - a warning to stay still. He heard the angry squeak despite it being muffled by Nat.

Bucky pulled back, enjoying the way Sam chased his lips, and how Sam’s broad chest heaved with need.

“You’re gonna be a good boy for me, aren’t you Sammy? Gonna let me do exactly what I want, when I want, yeah?”

“Yes, s-sir,” Sam stuttered out, eyes glazed.

“Unlike this one,” continued Bucky as he took a firm grip of Steve’s dirty blonde hair and jerked his head back, pulling him from Nat. Steve’s eyes rolled, the little pain-slut he was, but there was still defiance in his eyes - he wasn’t as deep down as Sam was. “Fighting it as usual, Stevie? And on my birthday too? What am I going to do with you?”

Steve just narrowed his eyes, but for once didn’t talk back. He was probably too distracted by his throbbing cock to come up with something witty.

“Natty, can you reward Sam for being a good boy while I just work on Steve’s attitude?”

Nat smiled back enigmatically, then moved herself so Sam could turn his head and take one of her PVC clad breasts into his mouth and tease the nipple with his tongue. Nat let her head loll back and allowed herself to enjoy the sensations. Bucky, on the other hand, rose up from the bed, and with the feeling of Steve’s blue eyes boring a hole between his shoulder blades he went and opened up the wooden armoire that held their toys. His fingers trailed along the handles of the various implements used for chastisement and finally settled on his flogger. There were two of almost every implement, one made for Nat’s small grip and one made for Bucky’s much larger one. If Sam was in Dom mode with Steve, then he borrowed Bucky’s, but Sam wasn’t as much into impact play as the two Doms.

As Bucky turned back to the bed he carefully kept the flogger hidden behind his back, not wanting Steve to know how he was going to get punished until it happened. He positioned himself by the side of the bed and used his free hand to hold Steve’s head down against Sam’s collarbone, making it impossible for him to see.

“Stay still, and be good,” Bucky commanded, but wasn’t at all surprised when a sharp “Fuck you” was the answer. He leant down, head close to Steve’s ear. “I plan to, sweetheart. I’m gonna fuck you until you make a mess of yourself and Sammy. Maybe I’ll make you clean it up as well.” Bucky didn’t even need to see it to know that Steve shivered at the mental picture he’d painted. Pain and humiliation were Steve’s bag - it’s why they meshed so well, Steve enjoying everything that Bucky could dish out. Without any further warning, Bucky brought the flogger down on Steve’s deceptively plump ass. He didn’t strike all that hard, but starting too soft with Steve never brought the right results and he bit back a dark chuckle as Steve let out a shout and wiggled as much as he could, resulting in him just rubbing his trapped dick against Sam’s.

“Why did you flinch?” Bucky asked with mock confusion.

“Fuck!” was the breathy response. This was gonna be good.

Bucky flicked his eyes up to Nat’s, which sparkled back at him with amusement as she stroked her hand over Sam’s short hair and encouraged him to pay attention to her other breast. She was already lazily playing with her clit, enjoying the scene before her. Bucky smirked and brought the flogger back down onto Steve, another beautiful sound of pained pleasure meeting his ears. It only took another dozen swipes, evenly distributed over Steve’s ass and upper thighs, for Bucky to feel the fight go out of his Sub, Steve finally relaxing under his hand.

Discarding the flogger to the floor, Bucky moved back around to the end of the bed and climbed up between the two pairs of spread legs. He took hold of one plug with each hand and slowly pulled and twisted them until Steve’s and Sam’s rims were stretched around the widest part of each before pushing them back in. Two choked off groans echoed around the room, and Bucky’s grin broadened as he started to fuck both of them with the plugs. As anticipated, Steve started showing signs of being close to orgasm first, so Bucky stopped playing with his plug, enjoying the strangled wail of disappointment that spilled from him. However, it was only a minute or so later that Bucky saw Sam’s balls start to draw up, so he stopped playing with his plug as well.

Having tested for himself how ready they both were, Bucky unzipped his pants and pulled out his cock. He picked up the bottle of lube that Nat had thoughtfully tucked at the base of the bed and squirted some out onto his palm. As he stroked himself, he took another moment just to appreciate how beautifully Sam and Steve had been laid out for him. Fuck, it would be easy just to stroke himself to the view and leave the pair of them needy and unsatisfied. It was a tempting thought - he always delighted in marking both of them with his cum -, but neither of them had been particularly badly behaved recently and he was feeling in a kind mood.

Satisfied that he was sufficiently slicked up, Bucky removed Steve’s plug, being a little rough but in the way that Steve liked. Without ceremony, he pressed his cock inside Steve’s hole, the guttural moan sounding like music to his ears. Nat had moved off the bed and had come to stand behind him, a reverse of their earlier pose. She peered around his thick body as he speared into Steve, who had returned to kissing Sam as the pair of them were jostled together.

“Look how beautifully he takes you, Buck,” Nat observed, her gaze fixated on the way Steve’s body stretched to accommodate Bucky’s thick cock. Bucky placed his hands on Steve’s hips, gripping them tightly as he pulled back and thrust forward with vigour.

“You did a wonderful job preparing him, moya printsessa.”

He thrust forward again, enjoying the way his balls slapped against where Sam and Steve were pressed together, their combined precum making a sticky mess. He let himself sink into the pleasure of using his Sub until Nat let him know that Steve was close to coming.

“Careful, moy lyubimii.”

Gritting his teeth, Bucky pulled out of the warm clutch of Steve’s ass and pushed the plug back in, watching the ripple of the muscles in Steve’s back and listening to his once more frustrated wail. Bucky gave a harsh spank to his still red ass.

“Patience, kitten. ‘I want’ doesn’t get. You come if I allow it.”

Using deft fingers, Bucky removed Sam’s plug more carefully than he had Steve’s, and lowered his hips, curling himself over Steve where he was laid on top of Sam so he could sink into his other lover. Sam’s moan was deeper but equally as needy sounding as Steve’s as Bucky started to fuck into him. It was taking all of Bucky’s control to hold back, because he didn’t want to come yet - he had his own plan and was determined to see it through. And, with the way that he was pressed against both of them, he wasn’t surprised by how both Sam and Steve continued to moan, the friction between them increasing with Bucky’s movement.

“Don’t come yet, sweethearts. The first to come doesn’t get my cum and doesn’t get to have Nat ride his cock. He’ll also have to be on clean up duty as well. So best behaviour, both of you.

“Sir!” Sam shouted out in panic. “Please! I’m too close. I’m gonna come.”

“You’ll just have to hold it, Samuel. You get a break when I give you one.”

Taking a peak around Steve’s small frame, Bucky could see the way that Sam was now biting his lower lip, his fists holding tight to ropes that bound him to the bed as he desperately tried to hold back his orgasm. He gave a few more firm thrusts and decided it was time to return to Steve.

As soon as he slipped back inside his bratty sub, he knew that Steve was on a knife-edge. His whole body was trembling and he was letting out pathetic mewling noises each time Bucky punched his way up into Steve’s guts.

“Check his face, Natty,” Bucky huffed out between thrusts and Nat strutted around the bed. She leant down to peer at Steve’s face where it was buried into Sam’s neck.

“You’re right, James. He’s crying already. Are you about to come, Steve?” she cooed. “You gonna make a mess all over Sam? Are you looking forward to cleaning me and Sam up and swallowing down all that cum?” She fisted her hand into Steve’s hair, wrenched it up and gave a little slap to his tear stained face. “I bet you’re not even sad that Bucky isn’t gonna come in you, because this way you get to taste it. You’re just our little cumdump, aren’t you, Steve? Can’t get enough of the taste. I bet we could get you to clean the whole floor with your tongue if we just splattered it with our cum. You act all bratty, but you just wanna be on your knees, don’t you? Maybe another day we should tie you down and just come all over you. Leave you in a sodden mess. You’d be in heaven.”

Steve cried out and his body spasmed around Bucky’s cock, his slim hips moving as much as they could, humping onto Sam as his orgasm rocked through him, pushed over the edge by Nat’s words. Bucky hissed and closed his eyes, trying to hold back his own orgasm, and Sam groaned as his cock slipped and slid against Steve’s.

“I knew it,” Nat said, her voice full of derision. “Pathetic.” She released Steve’s hair and shifted her attention back to Sam, running the back of her hand across his cheek bone as he looked at her with wide eyes. “You’re gonna be a good boy though, aren’t you? Gonna let Bucky come inside you, but not let yourself go until I’ve ridden that gorgeous dick of yours?”

“Yes, m-ma’am. G-gonna try.”

“Make sure you do, or I’ll ruin it for you.”

Bucky almost felt sorry for Sam. He had to be struggling about now, and Bucky had seen Nat ruin orgasms before - it wasn’t nice. Bucky pulled out of Steve, who was now laid lax and snivelling, and returned to Sam’s waiting heat.

“Sir!” Sam shouted. “Oh god!” His hips bucked up as much as they could in his bound position, bumping Steve.

“Hold it, Sam,” Bucky barked back as he set a bruising pace, no longer able to resist the urge to just chase his pleasure. His movements jolted Steve even more, who whimpered as his spent cock was overstimulated from being rubbed up against Sam’s. Bucky could feel Sam’s channel flutter around him, desperately trying to hold back, and the sensation tipped Bucky off the cliff. A deep groan left him as he pumped rope after rope of cum deep into Sam, his hips continuing to snap back and forth until there was nothing left in him.

After he came down, Bucky pulled out and sat back on his heels, recovering his breath. Steve’s hole still gaped at him, and his cum was dripping out of Sam.

“Nat - come look.”

“Oooh, pretty,” she said before bending down and attacking Bucky’s lips with her own. They kissed ferociously for a few moments, fighting each other with tongues and teeth before they moved apart and untied Steve. They rolled him off Sam and he laid prone on the edge of the large bed. Bucky started to rub at the rope marks around his wrists and his thighs, bringing the blood back into full circulation

Meanwhile Nat climbed up onto the mattress, admiring Sam’s still rock-hard cock, the head a deep crimson-purple and covered in Steve’s cum and his own pre-cum. She leant down and licked a stripe up it, letting out an evil giggle at how it twitched.

“Nat! Please!” Sam begged, and with a smirk she took pity on him, throwing her leg over him, taking hold of his cock and sinking down in one move. She leaned back, her hands braced on Sam’s spread legs and began to ride him.

“Fuck, Sam. Love this dick so much. Feels so good. Just hold on for me.”

Bucky watched in amusement, only stopping to tap Steve’s face with his softening cock and then feeding it between Steve’s lips when he blinkingly opened his eyes.

“First clean up duty, Stevie.”

Steve just moaned and started to suck and lick at the cock in his mouth, eager for every drop of Bucky’s cum he could get.

On the other side of the bed, Nat had changed her position, now palming one of her own breasts through her bra, pinching the nipple through its peek-a-boo hole and rubbing at her clit with her other hand. Sam was tossing his head back and forth on the pillow, whimpering, and as soon as Nat shuddered out her own orgasm, Sam’s face screwed up and he shouted, finally letting himself let go.

Nat gave herself a few moments to recover before she eased off Sam, his cum running down her inner thighs, and straddled Steve instead, her puffy cunt hovering over his face.

“Next clean up, Steve. And you better make me cum again.”

“I will, ma’am. Please. Wanna taste you and Sam.” Steve couldn’t keep the eagerness from his voice.

“So you can be good? Now, get to work.” She sat down and Bucky heard her sigh in pleasure as Steve slurped loudly, his small hands coming up to hold Nat’s thighs. Bucky smiled and moved over to release Sam’s bonds and rub at his aching limbs.

“So perfect for us, Sam,” he praised. “Just relax for a moment. You worked so hard.”

“Please kiss me,” Sam slurred out, and who was Bucky to deny him? He laid down next to Sam and gently kissed him, lazily trailing his fingers over Sam’s still sensitive body, amused by the answering whimpers and twitches.

“Fuck! Steve!” Nat shouted, her hips bucking. “There! Just there.” She had one hand on the headboard and the other in Steve’s hair, holding his head in place as she fucked his face with her pussy. She threw her head back and wailed as her second orgasm washed over her. She rocked her hips slower as she came down, and then slid down Steve’s body. His face was flushed red, shiny with her and Sam’s combined spend, and his hair was sticking up every which way. He looked totally debauched and more than happy about it. Nat kissed him deeply before urging him up and over to Sam.

“Clean his cock first, Steve,” she urged. “Then you can get your taste of Bucky’s cum.”

Steve crawled with wobbly limbs over to where Sam was now dozing, his head in Bucky’s lap, having his hair petted. When Steve started to lick and kiss at his cock and balls, Sam let out a happy sigh.

Nat pulled herself up against the headboard, the other side of Sam, and looked indulgently down at her Switch and Sub before turning her attention to Bucky.

“Did you enjoy that, Yasha?”

Bucky opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Sam’s whining moan as Steve pushed his face between his ass cheeks, and most probably, wormed his tongue in Sam’s ass. Bucky chuckled. “Best birthday ever, milaya. We’d best start planning for Steve’s. What was it you said about all of us coming over him and leaving him lying in it?”

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carewyncromwell · 3 months

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“It's time to stand up -- stand up! Show me what you're made of! Hands up, hands up! Fight the fear...fight the fear! Rise up from the ground -- Gonna make you a believer!”

~”The Fear” by the Score

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a sincere thank you to @catohphm, @jackies-ear69, @hphm-jeniferltheman, and @ariparri for brainstorming about MC’s friends’ boggarts with me!

x~x~x~x

The year she took on the task of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, Patricia Rakepick soon became many students’ favorite professor. Scholarly sorts like Rowan Khanna appreciated her extensive knowledge of the subject, while more avant-garde sorts like Jae Kim and Nymphadora Tonks liked her dry sense of humor. This didn’t even touch aspiring Cursebreakers Bill Weasley and Merula Snyde, both of whom Rakepick had a pointed interest in and greatly esteemed Rakepick for her skills.

There were students who didn’t take to Rakepick as well as others, though. Ben Copper could never completely relax around Rakepick, thanks in large part to how critically her eye always seemed to fall on him. Even serial rulebreaker Tulip Karasu got bad vibes from Rakepick, suspecting ulterior motives to the professor’s seemingly more kindly actions.

And of course there was the last student Rakepick had taken a targeted liking to, and arguably the strongest liking at that -- Hogwarts’ infamous Cursebreaker, Carewyn Cromwell.

Carewyn had distrusted Rakepick from the moment she first arrived at Hogwarts the previous year to supposedly help deal with the Cursed Vaults, and Carewyn’s opinion hadn’t softened toward Gringotts’s Head Cursebreaker anymore now that she was a professor. Even when Rakepick ended up saving Carewyn from an Imperiused Ben the previous school year, it only served to make Carewyn all the more wary of Rakepick’s intentions. After all, Carewyn couldn’t help but think, how was it that Rakepick caught up with her and Ben so fast, that night? Had she been keeping tabs on her? However concerned Rakepick had seemed for Carewyn, the Cursebreaker still left her, Bill, Charlie, Hagrid, and Torvus to deal with the Forest Vault, rather than going with them or dealing with it herself. Even now that Rakepick was a professor, she kept trying to get Carewyn, Bill, and Merula to work “with her” (read: under her leadership) to reach the next Cursed Vault. Admittedly Carewyn planned on searching for the next Vault and rescuing Jacob with or without help...but she couldn’t help but agree with Tulip that Rakepick clearly had her own motives. The Head Cursebreaker had even said herself that she intended to find the Cursed Vaults and “reveal their secrets” -- therefore Rakepick was mainly interested in retrieving the Vaults’ so-called “treasure”...something Carewyn didn’t give a damn about, in the face of finding and saving her brother.

Carewyn’s distrust of her didn’t seem to bother Rakepick in the slightest, though. If anything, the professor only seemed to expect more from Carewyn and single her out in class more because of it.

Once Rakepick quizzed the entire class on protective wards, only to insist that Carewyn tell her the difference between Protego Diabolica and Protego Horribilis. (Carewyn correctly explained that the first was a Dark curse intended to kill any enemies who tried to cross the boundary, while the second was a strong form of the Shield Charm specifically intended to protect against Dark curses, and Rakepick awarded Slytherin ten points before moving on.)

Another time, when Rakepick brought an entire swarm of pixies for the fifth-year class to defend themselves against, the professor insisted that Carewyn use a spell other than Immobulus, the spell they’d been actively studying, to stop them -- apparently Rakepick knew Carewyn had gotten help with the spell from her ex-Prefect, Felix Rosier, in the past and she thought that the assignment would be too easy for her on its own. (Carewyn responded to the challenge by using Impedimenta to slow down each pixie enough that she could levitate them one by one back into their cage with a Locomotion Charm before closing it -- a solution that brought a satisfied smirk to Rakepick’s face.)

It was therefore no surprise in late October when Rakepick decided to give her fifth-years a proper review on boggarts, the Cursebreaker-turned-professor had Carewyn come up to the front of the class first to deal with the creature.

Carewyn was a bit startled despite herself.

Rakepick’s lips turned up in a smirk.

Carewyn frowned deeply at Rakepick.

“Of course not,” she said with a faint huff.

She glanced over her shoulder at the rest of her class with a grimmer look, her jaw setting as she rose to her feet.

“...I should let you know, though,” she spoke very clearly despite her eyes being averted and her voice being low, “my boggart is You-Know-Who.”

A few of her classmates exchanged glances. Rakepick’s eyebrows raised.

“That is not an uncommon fear, Miss Cromwell,” said the professor.

Carewyn’s eyes narrowed a bit without looking up.

“I know,” she said curtly. Her gaze lingered on the desk she’d been sharing with Badeea. “That’s why I want to make sure everyone knows it -- I don’t want to scare them.”

Rakepick’s confident look seemed to darken, becoming a bit grimmer as well. “You won’t have to, Miss Cromwell. The boggart will do a good enough job of that -- your classmates may as well just accept it.”

Carewyn looked up at last, her eyes narrowing a bit more, as Rakepick indicated the box to the side of her desk with a clipped nod.

“You may begin when ready. Though I’d advise you not to keep me waiting -- I only have so much time allotted to me for this lesson.”

Carewyn pursed her lips. Walking purposefully around her and Badeea’s desk, she shot a glance back behind her. Her eyes glided over Rowan, Ben and Charlie quickly before finding Talbott; when Carewyn made eye contact with him, the Ravenclaw straightened up a bit, his hawk-like eyes narrowing a bit upon her face as he nodded.

I’m okay, his look seemed to tell her.

Carewyn inhaled quietly through her nose, giving him a very short nod in return, before she faced the wardrobe, her wand held high.

“...Alohomora.”

With a shriek of the hinges, the box’s lid was thrown open, and a huge, black mass erupted out of it. The huge black cloak was accompanied by skull-white, spider-like hands and the face of a monstrous man -- one tall and pale with heartless red slits for eyes.

A couple of people in the class inhaled sharply despite themselves, seeing the Dark Lord Voldemort standing before their classmate. Rakepick, however, spoke to them with dry reassurance.

“Don’t you, Miss Cromwell?”

Carewyn kept her focus solely on her boggart rather than respond. Raising her wand, she pointed it right at her target and bellowed,

“Riddikulus!”

CRACK.

In an instant, Voldemort was seated at a full dining table of Mrs. Weasley’s home cooking with a red and white checkered napkin comically tied around his neck, looking completely bewildered.

Charlie laughed loudly, but louder still was Barnaby, who actually got up from his seat.

“It’s just like I said!” he said excitedly through his laughter. “It must be impossible for You-Know-Who to enjoy any good food without a nose!”

Others started to laugh too -- even Talbott had to chuckle. Carewyn bit her lip as she grinned in amusement too.

“Quite good, Miss Cromwell,” said Rakepick, very pleased. “All right, now, class, prepare yourselves -- when I call you up, you shall come forth and face your boggart. When you see your fear, think up a way to turn it into something humorous -- then cast Riddikulus to defeat it. Ready now...Mr. Lee!”

Barnaby eagerly scampered around the desk, raising his wand.

“I’m ready for this!” he told Carewyn brightly. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since we went into the Fear Vault...”

Boggart Voldemort shifted his gaze over to Barnaby, his red eyes flashing --

CRACK.

The boggart had become a clown -- a rather menacing, fanged, Voldemort-looking clown, but still a clown.

“Riddikulus!” said Barnaby.

CRACK.

A bucket of water appeared over the demonic clown’s head, before turning over and splashing all over it -- it sputtered in confusion as all of its face paint was washed off and its curly red hair lay like flat curtains around its face.

Barnaby gave a fist pump. “Yes!”

“Good job, Barnaby,” Carewyn said, beaming proudly.

“Miss Tonks!” said Rakepick.

Tonks darted forward just as eagerly. The sopping wet clown shifted his gaze over to her -- then, with another CRACK, it had become herself, only with mousy brown hair and eyes, colorless, friendless, and insecure --

Tonks, without her Metamorphagus abilities.

“Riddikulus!” laughed Tonks.

CRACK.

Boggart Tonks had shifted into Tulip, holding up a bottle of hair dye potion and laughing as loudly as Tonks herself. The real Tulip was also laughing from her own desk.

“Disguising yourself as someone and wigging them out -- that is a good idea for a prank, Tonks!” Tulip called out with a wicked grin.

“Mr. Winger!”

Talbott leapt up onto his feet, sweeping across the room with the grace of a bird coming in for a landing.

CRACK.

Boggart Tulip had transformed into a black-hooded figure holding a wand alight with acid green, the Dark Mark glowing in the sky over his head -- a Death Eater set to kill him like they had his parents --

“Riddikulus!” Talbott spat out with venom.

CRACK.

The Death Eater’s cloak seemed to expand into strips of fabric that lashed around it in strips, wrapping the frantically wriggling figure up tightly like a mummy.

“See, Andre?” said Talbott with a cool smirk over his shoulder. “I told you long cloaks only get in your way.”

Andre crossed his arms, his face appearing rather sassy. “A stylish person knows how to wear a cloak properly...and also doesn’t consider wearing American-style cowboy hats unironically in public -- ”

“Mr. Weasley!” Rakepick cut off the two Ravenclaws’ debate at the legs.

Charlie hopped nimbly right over his desk and zipped up to the front.

CRACK.

The boggart had become a very official-looking desk piled high with paperwork stamped with the purple seal of the Ministry of Magic.

“Being stuck working in an office for the rest of my life,” Charlie explained helpfully to Carewyn, and he gave a shudder. “Still reckon Mum wants me to go that way, like Dad did...”

Carewyn offered him a sympathetic smile. “You’ll never belong in an office, Charlie.”

Charlie grinned as he faced the boggart. “Yeah -- I guess it is pretty ‘Riddikulus!’”

CRACK.

The desk chair was suddenly filled by Charlie’s brother Percy, who’d organized all of the paperwork perfectly -- only for his younger twin brothers Fred and George to barrel on through on their brooms and send the tall stacks of papers flying.

“Miss Haywood!”

Penny, as devil-may-care as she usually was, hesitated just a bit before running up to the front. Her face hardened with focus and determination, even as her wand hand trembled.

CRACK.

The boggart had transformed into a hulking, furry werewolf, its fangs dripping with blood as it growled ferociously.

Carewyn shot a quick look over at Chiara. Her face had gone very white as she shrank back in her seat.

“RIDDIKULUS!” Penny shouted as loudly as she could, even as her voice cracked.

CRACK. The werewolf became a giant stuffed toy, which flopped down to the floor face-first.

“Mr. Caplan!”

Diego had been ready a good five minutes ago -- he slid right in front of Penny with the grace of a dancer, his wand raised.

CRACK. The boggart became a wrinkled, hunched-over old woman in ragged clothes with a face shaped like Diego’s. She clearly wasn’t human, though -- she smelled horribly, like rotten eggs and petrol, she grunted and groaned like a zombie, and her eyes bulged unnaturally out of their sockets.

“That’s La Tunda!” said Rowan. “Tundas are shapeshifting creatures that make themselves look like your loved ones in order to lure you in, trap you, and then drain you of your blood.”

“Take five points to Slytherin for anticipating one of my future lessons, Miss Khanna,” Rakepick said very lightly.

Diego’s hand clenched that little bit more tightly around his wand, murmuring something very quietly under his breath before pointing his wand at the boggart.

“Riddikulus!”

CRACK.

In an instant, a flock of monarch butterflies flew out of Diego’s wand, attacking the Tunda and knocking it backward off their feet. The rest of the class laughed, though Diego gave a slightly weaker laugh himself.

“Sorry, Abuela,” he said sheepishly. “I don’t like the butterflies anymore than you do...”

“Miss Murk!” said Rakepick.

CRACK. The boggart became four people, all of whom looked very clean-cut and uptight -- the youngest of them, a girl who looked identical to the older sister standing beside her -- had Ismelda’s face.

“Riddikulus!” Ismelda cried, her mouth spread into an almost manic smirk.

CRACK. The four people were all splashed with mud, and the other three members of the family ran off in disgust and humiliation as Boggart Ismelda splashed happily in the mud puddle by herself.

“Mr. Kim!”

CRACK. The boggart became a cold, empty house with no furniture and barren cabinets with no blankets, clothes, or food.

“Riddikulus!” shouted Jae.

CRACK. The house fell apart like a movie set, revealing a bunch of TV crew shouting at each other in Korean about the poor craftsmanship.

“Miss Lobosca!”

CRACK. The boggart became a rather pretty girl with curly brown hair, curled up in a ball in the corner and her wide, terrified eyes streaming with tears.

“Get off of me!” she screamed. “Get away from me -- !”

Selina, Carewyn realized in horror.

Chiara’s face had lost all of its color, but she faced Boggart Selina with a very strained, strangely gentle expression.

“Riddikulus,” she whispered.

CRACK. Selina became Tonks, doubled over in fits of laughter from a Tickling Charm.

“All right!” she choked through her laughter. “All right, you win -- you’re better at the Tickling Charm than I am!”

The real Tonks laughed too. “Oh come on, Chiara -- no need to rub it in!”

Chiara gave both Boggart Tonks and the real Tonks a very small smile before looking up at Carewyn. Seeing the concern in her friend’s face, Chiara gave her her best reassuring smile.

“Are you -- ?” started Carewyn, but before she could finish, Rakepick had already called up that one Gryffindor boy who was terrible at Wingardium Leviosa to take his turn.

CRACK. A laughing crowd of students became a surprise birthday party.

CRACK. A mirror reflection turning invisible became an incomplete portrait being painted by an admirer.

CRACK. A demonic-looking Merula Snyde was suddenly decked out in bright pink and ribbons, crowing about loving lollypops and unicorns. (This one in particular prompted Merula to take out her wand and threaten to hex both Tulip and Carewyn in the face for how hard they were laughing.)

“Miss Khanna!” barked Rakepick, so as to put a stop to the escalating fight.

Rowan dutifully came up to the front of the room, her shoulders locked beside her head and her wand held high with determination.

CRACK.

Whatever Rowan or anyone else had been expecting, it wasn’t what the boggart became. Instead, it transformed into the spitting image of Carewyn.

The class looked from the fake Carewyn to the real one, incredibly taken back. Rowan faltered.

“Carewyn?” she said.

Boggart Carewyn, however, didn’t answer. Instead she merely turned on her heel and started to walk away.

“Carewyn!” said Rowan.

Forgetting herself, she reached out as if to grab Boggart Carewyn’s shoulder, only for her hand to get knocked out of the way. A fake Charlie Weasley had appeared out of nowhere wrapped his arm around Boggart Carewyn’s shoulder and was steering her away.

“Come on, Carey -- let’s go play Quidditch!”

Rowan flinched. Out of nowhere also appeared a fake Bill, wrapping his other arm around Carewyn and continuing to steer her away.

“Now, Charlie, don’t forget, Carey and I still have to deal with the Vaults -- ”

“Hey, Cursebreaker!” a fake Andre’s voice called out in the distance. “Still up for a midnight broom ride tonight?”

“Carewyn!” called another voice in the distance that almost sounded like Barnaby’s. “Carewyn, you just gotta see this new Mooncalf at the Magical Creature Preserve -- ”

“Carewyn, I just finished listening to the CD you sent me over break -- ” said a voice vaguely like Chiara’s.

“I don’t suppose you have any time to give this a read, Carewyn?” said a voice like Talbott’s.

Soon the voices were all piling up on each other. One kind of like Liz’s -- one kind of like Tonks’s -- kind of like Orion Amari’s -- one like Rosmerta’s, and Hagrid’s, and Rakepick’s --

Rowan’s dark eyes had become very wide behind her glasses. She’d gone very quiet and her wand hand had fallen slack at her side. Carewyn looked from the boggart to Rowan, her concern giving way to alarm, as she dashed forward -- Rakepick, however, stopped her, sweeping in front of Rowan first.

“Step back and collect yourself, Miss Khanna,” she said brusquely. “I don’t need Miss Cromwell throwing herself in front of you to protect you.”

Rowan blinked rapidly, awareness and then shame flooding her face, as Rakepick tossed her hair to look over her shoulder.

“Mr. Copper!” the professor said sharply. “You next!”

Ben looked as if he wanted nothing less than to leave his desk. Still, knowing he had no choice, he swallowed back the lump in his throat and -- raising his wand -- stumbled forward.

Boggart Carewyn -- still flanked by the fake Charlie and Bill -- turned to look over her shoulder at Ben, her blue eyes oddly blank and penetrating. Then, in a moment, the shapes all seemed to contort together, morphing and twisting --

CRACK.

The boggart disappeared completely. The entire class stiffened, staring at the spot where the creature had been. The silence dragged. Then, suddenly...

Attack.

A voice filled the room. It was a cold male voice that dripped through everyone’s ears with the softness of silk and the frigidness of icy water -- a voice that made Ben crumple in on himself like a piece of paper.

“No,” he whispered.

Attack. Again. Attack.

“No -- no, no -- ”

The boggart Carewyn had reappeared -- but this time, she wasn’t the least bit nonchalant. This time she was crumpled up on the ground, her eyes very wide as spells from nowhere rained down on her, cutting at her face and clothes and blasting her wand out of her hand.

The real Carewyn moved forward. “Ben -- !”

Once again, though, Rakepick stopped her, this time by actually taking hold of her arm.

“You can’t save your friends from their own demons, Miss Cromwell,” she said very lowly.

Do it, said the voice filling the room. Finish her. Kill h --

“DEPULSO!” Ben screamed.

BAM.

The boggart Carewyn was blasted backwards. It seemed to flicker, for an instant becoming Merula, and then the clown, and then the werewolf, before hitting the wall. Ben, however, had not lowered his wand -- his brown eyes were wide with terror as he pointed it at the boggart again.

“STUPEFY!”

The stunning spell knocked the boggart right back into the open trunk with so much force that it lost consciousness. Then Ben pointed his wand at the trunk and cast “Colloportus!” to lock it.

Breathing hard, Ben looked up at Rakepick, who was frowning deeply as she released Carewyn, crossing her arms.

“I don’t believe I said anything about locking that boggart back in its cabinet, Mr. Copper,” said the professor very coldly.

Ben bowed his head in shame.

“...No, professor,” he said very quietly.

“And yet you did it,” Rakepick challenged him.

Ben swallowed. “I...didn’t know how to make the Imperius Curse funny, professor.”

Rakepick’s eyes narrowed as her eyebrows rose. “Your lack of creativity doesn’t excuse not following the assignment.”

Carewyn was outraged.

“Ben used quite a bit of creativity,” she defended her friend fiercely. “He knew he couldn’t defeat his boggart with laughter like the others did, but he still came up a way to defend himself and everyone else from it. If that isn’t ‘Defense Against the Dark Arts,’ I don’t know what is.”

“If you truly knew all that Defense Against the Dark Arts encompasses, then you would not be a student sitting in my classroom, Miss Cromwell,” Rakepick reminded her very coolly. “Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Copper, for putting an end to our lesson early by stunning and re-trapping our boggart without direction. Mr. Copper and Miss Khanna, you shall face your boggarts again next week with Messrs. Hayden and Egwu and Misses Ali, Tuttle, and Snyde -- and in that class, I expect a proper demonstration of Riddikulus.”

Merula shot a scornful look over at Ben as he sat back down next to Charlie, who patted his shoulder reassuringly. Rowan slunk back down into her seat too, her head bowed in shame.

“...Yes, ma’am.”

Carewyn looked from Ben to Rowan, her blue eyes rippling with pain. Then, shooting a venomous look at Rakepick, she -- rather than returning to her seat next to Badeea at the front of the class -- switched seats so as to sit down next to Rowan in the second row.

Rowan looked up at Carewyn, startled. The red-haired Prefect didn’t look at her, instead keeping her hard gaze up on Rakepick at the front of the classroom, but she lightly pressed her shoulder up against her friend’s.

That boggart isn’t true, Carewyn prayed Rowan would understand. I won’t leave you -- please don’t believe that...

Rowan, however, couldn’t meet Carewyn’s eye. Instead she shifted away and started to quickly pack her books into her bag.

Carewyn’s heart clenched.

“Rowan -- ”

“Miss Cromwell,” said Rakepick curtly. “A quick word, after class.”

Carewyn looked up from the desk to glare at Rakepick. Then, glancing at Rowan reluctantly, she rose from her seat and approached Rakepick in front of her desk.

Once the rest of the class had filed out, Rakepick spoke again.

“I’m sure you think I was quite unfair to your friends just now,” she said seriously. “Undoubtedly because you yourself probably feel some trace of responsibility, for the forms their boggarts took in the first place.”

Carewyn’s eyes flashed, but she tried not to let the pain show on her face. She did not want Rakepick to have any inkling of just how spot-on her guess was.

“But you will not always be able to protect them from harm, Miss Cromwell,” said Rakepick. “On the contrary -- it is likely you will be forced by circumstance to solely focus on your own survival. Ben Copper’s attack of you this last spring is more than enough proof of that.”

“And yet you still act like Ben was a villain in that whole affair,” Carewyn challenged her. “Even after seeing visible proof that his greatest fear was being controlled by the Imperius Curse, like when he attacked me, you still take pot shots at him.”

“I’m not the only one in your circle who harbors doubts about Mr. Copper’s story,” Rakepick said very quietly. “Just as I’m certain you’re not the only person in my class that harbors doubts about me.”

Justifiably so, Carewyn thought resentfully, and her eyes narrowed.

“However much you may doubt my intentions, Miss Cromwell,” said Rakepick, “I am here to instruct you and your class in how best to defend yourselves. And however much potential you possess, both as a leader and a protector, I do not want you sacrificing yourself for people incapable of doing the same. You deserve allies strong enough to protect you just as much as you protect them -- ”

“I don’t want my friends to sacrifice themselves for me, Rakepick,” Carewyn snapped. “And I will not have you advise me on which people deserve my loyalty -- only I have the right to do that.”

Carewyn turned on her heel and prepared to leave. Rakepick didn’t stop her, but once Carewyn reached the door, the professor made the Prefect pause when she spoke again.

“I know you intend to go to Knockturn Alley. Mr. Kim is an admirable choice of back-up -- but if you intend to get there, you’ll need a fireplace connected to the Floo Network: something not easy to find, inside the castle walls. Meet me outside Dumbledore’s office on Monday, and I can get you inside.”

Carewyn cocked her eyebrow suspiciously. “And get both Jae and me caught on our way back to Dumbledore’s office and be banned from Hogsmeade for the rest of our school careers? No, thank you.”

“I have no interest in you being hindered from finding the Cursed Vaults, Miss Cromwell,” Rakepick said lightly. “Nor do I have any interest in Mr. Kim being prevented from moving as he pleases -- he does Gryffindor house proud, and as I said, his knowledge of Knockturn Alley makes him useful.”

Rakepick’s Niffler, Sickleworth, scampered up her arm to curl up on her shoulder. Rakepick scratched under his neck idly.

“My interest is in you succeeding in your undertaking, Miss Cromwell,” she said levelly. “Your success will bring both of us closer to the Cursed Vaults -- so it’s only right that I ensure that outcome by giving you the means to succeed.”

Carewyn crossed her arms, the suspicion not shifting from her face. Then, after a long moment, she said,

“...Fine. Jae and I will meet you outside Dumbledore’s office on Monday. But we have our own way back into school -- so don’t bother tipping Filch off to when a pair of shady-looking students might be popping up back through Dumbledore’s fireplace.”

Rakepick smiled wryly as Carewyn left the room, closing the door with a sharp snap behind her.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #my writing #patricia rakepick #carewyn cromwell #ben copper #rowan khanna #chiara lobosca #charlie weasley #talbott winger #andre egwu #tulip karasu #barnaby lee #nymphadora tonks #diego caplan #merula snyde #ismelda murk #jae kim #bill weasley #fanfiction #I had this in my drafts for WAY too long and decided damn it I'm just going to knuckle down and finish it!#but yeah this is set in year 5 chapter 9 so right before that big blow-up in the library scene #fortunately carewyn and rowan do have a pretty good heart-to-heart after that whole affair #and ben...yeah those demons of his aren't going to go away at all really they're just going to molt and evolve #I do see him mastering how to resist the imperius curse in large part due to how violated and scared he felt being controlled like that #yes I admit it I will always love rakepick and carewyn's dynamic #with carewyn ttly being rakepick's favorite but NOT jiving with it at all #merula's boggart would probably end up being some form of being second-best forever or ignored and forgotten by everyone #...kind of like victor's actually -- yes his is the one of the reflection turning invisible #I thought that'd be particularly ironic considering that in the game he becomes a vampire a creature that supposedly has no reflection

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slytherindisaster · 3 months

Text

HIMYM or How Andy Met Manon:

Chapter One: Hope Dies Last

This story is very unserious (until it isn't), some portrayals of canon characters might be exaggerated. Sorry not sorry. This is purely for fun.

Reid Van de Lune belongs to @kc-and-co, Mina Pendleton, who is briefly mentioned belongs to @lifeofkaze.

You can find all the chapters here.

The whole school was buzzing with excitement and rumours about the friendly visit from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang schools. It was announced a few days before that Hogwarts, once again, will be hosting representatives from both schools. The students were divided into the ones that couldn't wait for the visit and the ones that couldn't care less. Andy Adler represented the former, Hayden Jenkins - the latter. The breakfasts were starting to get really tough to get through with their different amounts of enthusiasm.

"You don't even know if she's going to be there." Hayden said, annoyed at his best friend.

"She is, I can feel it."

"You only saw her, like one time! She probably doesn't even remember you. You didn't even speak to her, I bet."

"Who doesn't remember him?"

Reid Van de Lune joined them, confused about what his friends were squabbling over this time.

"Some random french girl, Andy fantasies about since the last Beauxbatons visit. Three. Years. Ago."

"Her name was Manon!"

Haden brows furrowed. "How do you even know that?"

Andy's whole face melted into an adoring expression, and Hayden quickly regretted his question.

"The wind knocked off her hat in the Clock Tower Courtyard. I picked it up, and the name was embroidered on the inside."

"Don't tell me you kept the hat…"

"Of course not! I gave it back to her immediately. I looked into her eyes… Man, I wish her friends didn't start giggling and dragging her away with them."

"Woah," concluded Reid, "it's like, a scene from, like… a movie."

"Sure, if you're into psychological horror," Hayden scoffed.

Andy sighed, not giving up.

"Come on, don’t be like that! Help me out, I only need a few French lessons, and if she won't be there, it still couldn't hurt, right? Don't any of your fancy slytherin housemates know french?"

Hayden laughed almost honestly. "Maybe in the last century, they were fancy. Have you seen my roommates? Barnaby can barely handle English."

"Hayden."

"I mean, I guess Mina Pendleton, maybe?" He pointed at a blonde girl at the slytherin table, "But I'm not going to be the one talking to her."

"Why not?"

Hayden shuddered. "She intimidates me."

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE ALL OUT?!”

Virginia Scott’s angry voice carried through the Great Hall.

"Speaking of girls that are unapproachable…" Andy mumbled as their attention turned towards the end of their table.

“Exactly what I just said.” Jae Kim, the person her anger was directed at, didn't seem worried. “I’m out of all the firewhiskey, elder wine, in all honesty I don’t even have butterbeer at the moment.”

Gigi bit her tongue to avoid screaming at him again.

“And you’re only telling me this now?”

“You didn’t ask about anything specific when we talked last week. You know how fast these things sell around here.”

“I-“ she started but was immediately interrupted by the boy sitting next to her.

“So, how long would it take to execute our order?” asked Diego Caplan, pouring coffee into Gigi's cup in an attempt to calm her down.

“Depends.” he answered, looking suspiciously at the list laying on the table before him. “It’s a big order.”

Gigi sighed heavily and reached for her schoolbag in order to find her purse.

“Ever since you ripped me off on that divination chart you’ve become unbearable, Kim,” she said, handing him a couple of galleons.

Jae shrugged and shoved them into his pocket.

“I’ll talk to you soon.”

And with that he was gone.

"Dude, even since her and the hippie broke up she's been a walking nightmare."

"You mean more than usual?" Hayden chuckled. "No, you're right though, she's unbearable in normal circumstances, but this year is like if someone slipped the essence of insanity into her morning coffee."

"Duuude–" Reid almost choked on air, "what if there was like, a potion that would make you totally speak another language?"

"That would be… perfect actually!" Andy jumped up in his seat. "Is there one?"

Reid suddenly became very serious.

"Do I have an obsession with potions and a head full of blond hair?"

"No…?"

"Then how should I know, I'm not Penny Haywood."

Hayden tuned out their conversation as someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to see two girls he vaguely recognised as fifth year slytherin students. They both were awfully giddy for a Monday morning.

"Sorry, you're Hayden Jenkins, right?"

"The one and only, how can I help you?"

"Well, we just wanted to say that we can't wait to see your band play at the party this Saturday."

"My… band?"

They nodded their heads energetically, and before he could ask more questions, they sprinted out of the Great Hall giggling.

He turned back to his friends completely dumbfounded.

"Snails," Reid said as if he just discovered a new spell.

"Reid that's… I mean it won't hurt to try, we should go anyway if we want to hit the greenhouse before the lessons start."

They gathered their things and stood up.

"Mate, you coming?"

"No, go ahead, I have to take care of something first."

"Suit yourself," Andy shrugged and they were already out of the door.

Hayden also didn't stay at his spot. He had business to take care of at the end of the table. He passed Diego Caplan on his way to the evil witch, and Hayden could swear the Hufflepuff mouthed "good luck" to him.

Virginia Scott was fixing her nails, seemingly unbothered, but Hayden knew her well enough to know that she was still angry about the encounter from before. Her feelings were the least of his concerns at the moment, though.

"Hayden, this is not the best time, darling," she said before he even spoke.

"Don't worry, I just have one little question for you."

She put down the nail file and looked up at him, raising her eyebrows as if she really wanted to hear it.

“Why am I finding out from some random fifth year that not only I have a band but also that I'm going to play with it at your party?”

“Oh, I actually wanted to talk to you about this. I need you to play at my party.”

“Gigi."

“Yes Hayden?”

“I don’t have a band.”

“I’m sure you can figure something out, darling.”

Hayden sighed, immediately regretting not going to the greenhouse with his friends. He could use a smoke right now, after all.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery fanfiction #andy adler #hayden jenkins #reid van de lune #virginia scott #diego caplan #himym or how andy met manon #my writing

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ariparri · 10 months

Text

Flowers For Your Garden

The Hogwarts Mystery Cardverse is an AU that takes place in a fantasy land called Cinderhaven. There are five regions, four of them representing a suit of cards; Spades, Clubs, Hearts, Diamonds. The final region representing the Jokers.

HPHM Cardverse Masterlist

Warnings: Diego trying to impress Veruca

MCs Mentioned: Carewyn © @carewyncromwell , Sarahi © @dat-silvers-girl

Tag List: @catohphm @lifeofkaze @eternalchaoschocolaterain @oneirataxia-girl @akikocho

If you want to be updated on content for the AU, let me know and I'll put you on the tag list!

I had this in the drafts for a while! Wanted to get this done last month, but so many things were going on. Still currently dealing with the aftermath of Typhoon Mawar TmT Also, sorry if I portrayed the MCs poorly I tried qwq I kind of gave up in the end, and didn't bother proofreading =w=

Weeks after the civil war, the Country of Spades has continued the process of restoring its home to its former glory. Machinery that were used during the war have been refined back to their original intended uses, building and mining. The streets were easily cleared of debris and destroyed buildings were quick to have the wreckage removed.

Along with the people, Clubs have provided medical aide and man power to help remove debris and rebuild some infrastructures. Diamonds has offered funding for businesses and people who need help with damage repairs. What surprised the people of Spades the most was the Jokers offering to host the children and the elderly while Spades continued the restoration. They have even offered to hold Rakepick’s devoted followers as prisoners, or more so to have them forced to take part in a comedic act where they are the targets of humiliation.

With Hearts’ contribution, they have helped with clearing the railroad tracks between the mountain path connecting Spades to Hearts so the train can operate again. Upon the last meeting between both the officials, Spades' Ace, Bill Weasley, had mentioned that Queen Veruca was upset after seeing the damage done to the garden she frequented. Wanting to make up for his horrible first meeting with Veruca, King Diego had taken it upon himself and prepared a new shipment for the country after the tracks were cleared.

The royal gardener, Sarahi Silvers, was tasked with gathering bundles of flowers, seedlings, sprouts and potted trees for Spades' restoration. King Diego had hand picked the types of flowers to be planted in Spades' parks. With all the florals in the kingdom, he wanted the perfect ones to be sent to Spades. Sarahi went through each of the plants, making sure everything was accounted for on the list as they were placed on the carts. Seeing that everything was there, Sarahi gave the guards a thumbs up for them to finish loading up the carts.

Standing by the gates, she waves them off as they head to the stations with the shipment. If the stations aren't crowded, the shipment should be able to reach Spades within a day.

~ Next Day • Country of Spades ~

Back in the Country of Spades, the newly appointed Jack, Rowan Khanna, rushes through the corridors of the palace, nearly bumping into the staff and workers trying to restore and clean up the damage from the war. The palace was the last thing Veruca wanted repaired as she wanted the resources to be used more for the people.

Hastily passing by people trying not to knock more things over, Rowan makes her way to the main garden of the palace. Excited by the latest supply delivery Rowan hopes the letter will bring some comfort to her friend. Afterall, the Country's acting Queen, Veruca McQuaid, cared more about her home than most people realized.

On the other side of the palace, Veruca stands in the middle of what remains of the main garden. What was once a beautiful place to relax during the day has now been wrecked in the midst of the war. As depressing as the sight before her, a melancholic aura hangs heavy in the remains of the garden. Her priority right now is to make sure homes and businesses were attended to first before public spaces like the parks.

Though Veruca cannot help the doleful look as she made her way towards the broken down gazebo. This very garden was her favorite place in the palace. When her brother, Coby, was still the King, they would have lunch in the gazebo on days Coby was free. That was quality time for the McQuaid siblings, that he would make sure everything was already prepared and would send away any servant or guard to prevent any interruptions.

Oh how she misses those simple days. Days where she didn't have to worry about getting stopped on the street by guards abusing their authority or constantly looking over her shoulder for someone following her.

If Veruca closes her eyes, she can remember how lush the plot of grass was, contoured by connected flower bushes and shrubs. The gazebo standing near the back of the garden, surrounded by a plethora of more exotic species. The flower beds were slightly overgrown, but looked otherwise in great shape; they were a unique, miniature world.

A couple of benches were carefully placed in specific locations of the garden, almost taking people by the hand in order to show them the best sights. Grass and plants had crawl their way over and around the garden, eager to claim all pieces of land.

The gazebo demanded all attention, but in doing so also drew the attention to everything near it. The flower beds often looked fantastic, and the flower bushes and shrubs certainly attracted attention too, but the spotlight was always on the gazebo.

Veruca hoped to restore the garden to what it once was. But how and where were they even going to start? Some of the flowers were not native to Spades, and the gazebo was designed by an architect from Diamonds. The last thing Veruca wanted to do was ask the regions for more assistance when they have already offered more than enough support for the country. Veruca has already owed enough people a favor for their assistance in the rebellion, she would hate to add more to ongoing list.

The sound of dead grass and twigs being crushed break Veruca out of her train of thoughts. She turns her gaze over towards the entrance of the garden to see Rowan rushing over to her, an envelope in her hand.

"Veruca, there you are! We just got a delivery from Hearts." The Jack holds up the envelope, the Hearts official stamp in clear view. "They sent an entire abundle of floral sprouts and potted trees. King Diego says it should be enough to help restore the plant life here."

Taking the envelope from Rowan, Veruca reads over the letter contained inside of it. "I hope these flowers can help return the Country's true glow with all their beautiful colors." Unexpected, but pleasantly surprised by the gesture, Veruca cannot help but smile. "So the King of Hearts can be genuine."

Rowan nods, "Despite his showmanship, King Diego does show genuine compassion towards others. It was a surprise though when he greeted you with that ridiculous comment."

A tight frown appeared on Veruca's face, "Hm, yes. Bill wasn't joking about Hearts and their obsession with beauty." A tired sigh escapes from her lips, "well come on then, let's go see what they had to offer." She nudges Rowan by the arm before making her way to the entrance. A small laugh was heard as Rowan comes rushing over to her side. "You're going to be impressed by the array of florals Hearts has. I wasn't even aware some of them were native to the Kingdom!"

The two made their way to the palace gates discussing what was next on their line of business. Bill was helping with the construction work while Veruca's family was helping in any way they can to provide for those who lost their homes. Rowan's family was working harder to provide materials and products for the people. Everyone was doing everything they could to rebuild Spades. Even Peregrine Pierce, a Trades Tracker, has even offered products and services from his company. Mister Pierce was a huge help during the rebellion, he was able to provide most of the rebels with equipment and gear without any of Rakepick's soldiers suspecting it.

"Everything seems to be going in order. The roads are being reconstructed, and most of the homes and facilities are in repair." Rowan addresses, flipping through the papers on her clip board. "I say if things continue to go this smoothly, we'll be done with all the repairs in no time!"

Veruca simply nods, "That's good. I want nothing more than for the people to go back to their old lives, before I plan to do anything else."

"I know, the staff here are surprised you haven't started the building plan for the palace's repairs."

"The palace can wait, the people should be able to sleep comfortably first. They're my priority right now."

The two women stepped through the palace doors, walking down the steps leading towards the gates. Three carts fully decked with plants and other gardening supplies, ranging from sprouts and seedlings to potted trees and shrubs. The carts were full with a beautiful array of florals, each one with its own unique set of gorgeous colors. They felt so out of place in the ruined remains of the palace entrance, surrounded by grey from smoke and soot. But still, these plants can help bring back some color in the country and lift people's spirits.

"Wow," amazed by the rainbow assortment, Veruca admires the way they shine under the sunlight. Taking her time to examine each of the greenery the Queen was impressed with Hearts' flora and vegetation. "You weren't kidding Rowan. I don't think I've ever seen some of these plants before."

Rowan lets out a small chuckle, "I knew you'd be impressed. Here take a look at this set right here!" The Jack takes a hold of one of the potted plants, holding it up carefully for Veruca to see. "These are Alstroemerias, also known as lily of the Incas. They come in many different colors. Their outer petals are solid colors while the inner petals are flecked or striped with darker colors. Beautiful aren't they?"

"They indeed are," Leaning closer to the plant, "perhaps we can–" the strong scent of the plant causes Veruca's face scrunches up, "we can– ah– achoo!" The sudden gush of air caused the pollen to spread.

"Bless you!" Rowan chimed, offering her handkerchief to Veruca. "Thank you," Veruca takes the cloth, sniffling a bit before wiping her nose. Her face scrunches up once again as she breathes in the pollen. Sneezing again, Veruca holds the handkerchief to her face.

"Veruca, are you alright?" Rowan puts the lily down quickly coming to Veruca's side. "You're not looking too well."

True to her words, Veruca's face was flushed. Her eyes were red with tears forming on her waterlines, slight swelling was beginning to form. A dull, throbbing pain was pounding against her head. Bringing her hand up to her head, she massages her temple to try and ease the pain.

She takes deep breaths, finding it hard to breathe despite her runny nose and congestion. Her throat and mouth begin to itch, coughing, clearing her throat and running her tongue on the roof of her mouth to try and soothe the itch. Her attempts were futile though as it just made the itch worse.

"I think–" another sneeze cuts Veruca off, "I think I'm allergic to… the pollen…" Rowan lets out a huff, "I'll say! You're definitely having an allergic reaction!" Taking Veruca by the hand, Rowan leads her back towards the palace. As soon as they were inside, the Head Maid, Aishe Durrant, comes rushing towards them.

"Aishe make some herbal tea, and call for a doctor. Her majesty is having an allergic reaction." Aishe nods hastily, running to call a doctor. Rowan helps Veruca to her chambers, guiding her to the bed before heading towards the private bathroom. She searched through the cabinets, sifting through the contents hoping to find something to help alleviate Veruca's condition. Finding a small bottle, Rowan checks the label. Painkillers. While it might not help much with the itchy throat or watery eyes, it could help with the headache.

Taking the bottle, Rowan heads back into the main room to see Aishe placing the tray of tea on the nightstand. Madam Strout, one of Spades' best healers despite being somewhat inattentive and naive, stands beside Aishe as she examines Veruca's condition. "So this is your first time having an allergic reaction?"

"Yes, doctor." The queen confirmed with a curt nod. "I have been around many flowers before, being able to breathe in the pollen until today." She sniffs, before coughing into a tissue.

"Mhmm," Madam Strout quickly wrote down the information on her clipboard, "and it was a lily that had caused your sudden allergic reaction." She stated, "The alstroemerias to be exact."

Veruca could only give a slight nod before another coughing fit starts. She swallows hard, taking deep breaths to try and steady herself. Rowan frowns seeing her friend in this condition, though she cannot do much but stand by as Madam Strout continues her assessment. The doctor nods her head, tapping her pen against the clipboard before turning her gaze towards the queen. "Well your majesty, your allergies are not severe. We are able to provide you medication."

"Oh that's good," Veruca gives her a small, shaky smile, "what are they, and when will I be able to take them?"

"With the alstroemerias being planted here, we can give you allergy shots to help your body build a resistance to the pollen. Yet remember since it will be your first time taking the shot, the medication will take some time for it to take effect." Madam Strout sorts through her medical bag, "I can prepare the medication for later and have it sent once it's complete. For now, you can take these allergy pills to ease the other symptoms."

"Thank you for your help, Madam Strout." Rowan takes the pills from Strout, grateful that Veruca's condition wasn't as bad as she thought, "I was really worried there for a second."

A soft chuckle left Madam Strout's lips, "Of course my dear. Now remember, call me if her majesty's condition gets worse." Madam Strout waves at the two women as she follows Aishe out of the room.

"Well, having an allergic reaction was not how I planned to end the day." Veruca sighs, throwing herself down onto her pillow. Rowan can only hum in agreement, "If I had known you were allergic, I wouldn't have brought the flower so close to you."

"It wasn't your fault, Ro. It's not like I knew I was allergic to those flowers too." Shaking her head, Veruca once again lets out another sigh. Taking one of the pills from the bottle Madam Strout provided for her, Veruca swallows the tablet. "I have never seen those flowers until today!"

Rowan stays silent for a moment, analyzing her friend before a smile takes over her face. "Well, we can place blame on King Diego. After all, he was the one to send it!" Even though she was joking, Rowan is already thinking of what she was going to say to the King of Hearts when she sends them a letter. Seeing the mischievous glint in her friend's eyes, Veruca can't help but laugh. "Oh alright, but go easy on him. It's not like he knew about my allergies as well."

"Of course, of course your majesty!"

~ Kingdom of Hearts ~

Back at the Kingdom of Hearts, the Royal messenger wolf cub awaits the postman outside the castle walls. Taking a short break from the day’s hard work of going around the kingdom delivering letters from the royal court and townsfolk, Borf was resting under the shade provided by the tree near the gate. After all, Borf was a good hardworking boy, and he deserved a little nap.

His ears perked at the sound of an engine running, alerting him of another presence. Instantly awake, Borf gets up from his laying position and stands guard. Facing the entrance, his blue eyes searched for the new presence approaching the castle. Finding that it was just postman's vehicle pulling up to castle gates Borf's tail wags expectantly. The postman steps out of the vehicle, waving towards the excited wolf cub hopping in place before it trots towards the postman.

Letting out a content sound from being petted, Borf sits to enjoy the attention the man is giving him while the postman places the navy blue envelope in his messenger bag. Accepting the treat with a happy bark, Borf waits till the postman leaves the castle grounds before turning around and heading back inside the castle.

A happy bark catches Chiara's attention and she turns to see Borf skipping over to her. "Hey there, Borf." Chiara crouches down to Borf's level, a smile adorning her face, "Did you retrieve the letter from the postman?" Another bark from the cub tells Chiara that he has received it, before turning around to show off his bag. Chiara takes the envelope from Borf and pet him on the head, "Good job, boy." Standing up with the letter in hand, Chiara makes her way to the monarchs sitting under one of the big trees in the garden.

The messenger cub makes his way through the massive corridors or the castle. His grey coat along with his red and gold vest shine under the bright lights as he walks by. Borf has completed one part of his task, retrieve a letter from the postman, and now he has to deliver it to the Jack of Hearts. He makes his way to the private garden the monarchs occupy for their usual tea time. Upon reaching the doorway, Borf wags his tail once his eyes land on his owner, Chiara Lobosca, the Jack of Hearts. Her silver hair is the first thing he notices.

Diego's eyes light up at the news, "Ah, wonderful! I have been expecting their letter." He sets his teacup down and readjusts his position to lean back against his chair. "I wonder if her majesty is quite pleased by the array of florals she has received."

"Your majesties, we have received a letter from Spades." Chiara calls out, catching the King and Queen's attention. The silver, spades shaped wax seal catches their eyes as it shines under the sunlight. "It must be their response about yesterday's shipment."

Carewyn, the dutiful Queen of Hearts, squints her eyes at her fellow monarch as she sets her own cup down. "An array of florals?"

"Nothing but the best!" Nodded Diego, feeling proud of his noble deed. "I had heard from their Ace, Bill Weasley, that her majesty wishes to restore the gardens and parks. So I–"

"Tasked Sarahi to pick out every floral arrangement you had requested and shipped them off to Spades." Carewyn cuts in, waving her hand to signal Chiara to open the letter. "Well, she is better at handling floral than you are."

"Absolutely! She was our best person to handle it. All the assortments were gorgeous," Diego exclaims, happily snacking on the tea cakes. After dusting his hands clean of any crumbs, he clears his throat, "Chiara, what has the Queen of Spades said in her letter? I'm sure she and her people adored our gift."

"Actually, it's from the Jack, Rowan Khanna." Noticing the slight disappointment in the King's eyes, Carewyn raises her brow as Chiara lets out a small chuckle before reading the note.

"Dear King Diego, we appreciate the shipment you have provided and will happily plant every flower and tree around the country. Her Majesty was quite fond of the alstroemerias–"

"Ah I knew the lilies would be perfect for her majesty!" Diego raises his cup, making a small cheer before bringing it close to his lips.

"However," Chiara interjects, cutting Diego's celebration short, "despite her majesty's appreciation for the flowers, they have triggered an allergic reaction and her majesty is now on bed rest until it passes. Her majesty has ordered that the alstroemerias will still be planted, yet it will be on the far east side of the country by the tracks by the mountain path. The next time you send something over, please make sure it will not potentially kill our queen."

As Chiara finished reading the letter a loud thud resonated from the table. Both women looked to see Diego's head faced down on the table, his teacup knocked over on the side. Muttering can be heard, yet he dared not to make any movements. "Uh, Sire…?" Chiara called, Borf walking over to the King before nudging his foot. "Are you okay?"

More mumbling from the King, "That's twice… twice I messed up my impression to her… Stupid Diego, how could you be so stupid?!"

Slightly amused by Diego's moping, yet is in disbelief by his intentions, Carewyn lets out an exasperated sigh. "Diego, you didn't think to ask what flowers Veruca or her council would want for their parks?" A groan was her response followed by a mumbled 'I wanted to surprise her.' Carewyn pinches the bridge of her nose, "Oh you surprised her, alright."

Diego turns his gaze away, looking anywhere but the two women with a pout on his face. "I'm not trying to make a fool out of her."

"It's hard to root for you when you're fumbling terribly over a woman." Carewyn claims, resting her elbows against the table and her chin upon her hands. A sly smile graced her features. "You've never been so shaken up over a woman before. Are you perhaps fond of the Acting Queen of Spades?"

"Right, because the only one who is making a fool out of themself is you, my Lord!" Chiara chimes, earning a soft chuckle from Carewyn and a huff from Diego. "Hey, you're supposed to be on my side here!"

Before Diego can answer, Carewyn raises her hand to silence him. "Veruca is clearly not like the women here in Hearts. They did not lead a rebellion and lost their only brother to a tyrant. Veruca is dealing with more than what we manage. You understand that, right?" She sternly holds his gaze, the seriousness of her words getting to him. "I know you're not trying to hurt her, nor were you intentionally being ingenuine. But do you understand that simply giving Veruca flowers without knowing her wasn't going to turn out in your favor?"

Not being able to turn his gaze away, Diego nodded, "I do… I do, I just–" he lets out a deep breath, "The way she looked at me when we first met… It was almost similar to the glint in your eyes when we met but more… intense. I felt chills throughout my entire body, and I liked it." Chuckling as he recalled their first meeting with the acting queen. "And then I acted on impulse! Said the first thing on my mind, tried to fix it and I blew it!"

The two women laughed thinking back on the memory. Carewyn left Chiara to continue the lecture as she took Veruca around the castle. The silver haired Jack remembers her king pouting as he watched Veruca follow Carewyn. He probably wasn't aware of it at the time, but he was quite smitten by Veruca.

Another sigh is heard, "I was hoping that by giving Spades flowers and trees for their parks, I'd be able to make it up to Veruca for our first meeting. I don't want her to think I see nothing past her beauty."

A moment of silence passes, letting Diego's words sink in before Carewyn hums in acknowledgement, "Remember the music box you gave me for Christmas?" She asks, receiving a nod, "You went out of your way to give me something when I was feeling down." She gave him a pointed look, "You can give thoughtful gifts when you are being genuine and sincere."

Diego remains quiet. Carewyn and Chiara are right, Veruca doesn't need a thousand flowers. And her reaction to their first meeting proved that she was not the type to accept compliments so empty like that. He can remember the look of absolute disgust when he asked what else was there to beauty. And he still remembers the hard hit to the head and the lectures about his poor choice of words. He truly was making a fool out of himself.

Seeing the realization dawn on his face, a knowing smile graces Carewyn's face. "So you now understand, that you have this whole thing backwards." She stands up from her seat, "You're treating her like she's one of your fangirls. We ladies of Spades are more inclined to accept praises when we earn them." Carewyn pats Diego on his shoulder before heading towards the archway entrances, "I can help you, but first," turning around, she gives Diego one last earnest look, "stop trying to mindlessly impress her and get to know the woman. Veruca will be more appreciative of you and your gifts if you are genuine about it." Carewyn then exits the garden, leaving behind Diego and Chiara.

"She's right, Sire." Stated the Jack, breaking Diego out from his thoughts. "And her majesty won't be the only one to help you. There's also me to help," Borf lets out a bark reminding them of his presence, "and also Borf!" The wolf cub barks once again in agreement. "It's honestly getting quite sad to see you try so hard only to fail."

Diego laughs, shaking his head. "Of course. I appreciate the help from all of you." Chiara smiles before handing him the letter. "We aren't the only ones offering our aide, it seems even the Jack of Spades herself is willing to give you some advice."

Taking the letter, Diego reads past the lines. He lets out another small laugh as he reads the words written at the bottom of the paper under where Rowan had signed.

'PS If you really want to impress her majesty, her favorite flowers are carnations.'

#hphm cardverse #veruca mcquaid #diego caplan #carewyn cromwell #rowan khanna #chiara lobosca #borf #hogwarts mystery #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #writing 💙

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indigobackfire · 10 months

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Doesn't it annoy you how much Diego is hated on Reddit for no reason? Sure he's flirty and cocky but redditors act like he's somehow the spawn of Satan and I believe it's a trend to hate on him. Everyone is like "Oh idk who the hell this character is, but since everyone hates him, I hate him too!".

There's that one dude who said "I headcanon him as a pervert". The dudes flair is year 3. Did you even meet Diego? 👁️👄👁️. Same goes for Poor Ben

Oh, this hate goes from way back when he was released, I wasn't present but content from that time evidences as such.

I truly don't know why, if I'm being honest, he has that Don Juan personality that can be jarring to some people, but he backs away from being flirty with MC almost immediately after that first encounter and becomes one of the most insightful and level-headed friends in our list with his own backstory and interests, albeit a little attention seeking.

People are so caught up in his "I'm great at dueling" dialogues because "MC is the best blah blah blah" when it's evident the game doesn't allow failure from us. The statement is "Diego is the best at duelling" with evidence to prove so, i.g. Merula seeks his mentoring, Flitwick tells us so, etc. So whoever complains about it is just being silly and redundant.

Or they'll complain about him being self-centered and talking in the third person about himself, when he tells us it's a mechanism to help himself with self-confidence issues, etc.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt with him being introduced much later than most of our regular friends and in light relation to Merula, but it doesn't fully explain why his reception was so different from other similar characters.

I don't like going down this path, but if we're looking at all possible reasons why, I wouldn't exclude biases against his ethnicity and/or race in their dislike towards him.

I do think dislike for him has decreased considerably, but I also don't know how has his presence been in the game as of late since I have stopped playing quite a few months ago, but I've no doubt he hasn't been getting the attention he deserves (him and every other character out of the circus act that has been the latest plot threads).

#i do have a thing for these somewhat disliked characters so idk #and if I'm being honest if I was the best at duelling. you can be sure I'd brag about it left and right #If I had that confidence I'd be flirty too #better to honest brag than pretend fake humbleness #anyway #i love diego #i love shipping him with Aspen. I love writing him as well #diego caplan #hphm #ask #rambling #thanks for asking!!!

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sueclancy · 11 months

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Figures Of Speech and writing artist statements

The exercise of writing an art statement for my upcomin art exhibit “Figures Of Speech” has me reaching for essays by Wendell Berry and thinking of the ways poetry can evoke many thoughts and feelings in a few lines. My upcoming art exhibit is titled Figures Of Speech and the title is itself a description of what my exhibit is about. I know exactly what inspired all of the individual artworks…

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#artist statement #Burnt Bridge Cellars #business of art #Caplan Art Designs Gallery #dachshund #essay #Figures Of Speech #fine art #framing #poetry #Wendell Berry #writing

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noeljpenaflor · 6 months

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Watching COBWEB

Wasted gas to see this in a near empty theater as this got crushed by Barbenheimer back in July.

The family wanted to see this now that it's on Hulu. Why not, since it's only 90 minutes.

Tries every cheap jump scare and fake-out Smile did in 2022. You know where everything is coming.

Cleopatra Coleman in a thankless role as a Magical Negro teacher.

May work as gateway horror if you're under 15 and have never seen a horror movie before.

3 Horror Movies and 1 Romantic Comedy MacReady and Childs Watched After The Thing Ended! (LINK Below)

Click on This Link And Be Happy!

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domwho11 · 8 months

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youtube

If you're interested in autism and neurodiversity and how they're portrayed in fiction this panel is well worth watching x

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caplanbuckybarnes · 2 years

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I’m gonna go on an absolute whim here and just claim that my fics aren’t getting any reblogs or feedback because

1. My writing sucks

2. My writing is shit

Or maybe

3. My writing is garbage

And I’m only thinking that because every time I’ve posted something in the last TWO YEARS it’s barely gotten notes or feedback or any reblogs that weren’t my own.

#caplan speaks #why bother writing #I was so excited to come back here in march #but it’s still shit with interactions w me 🥺#am I doing something wrong?

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thealogie · 2 months

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thea on a scale of 1 to 10 how unwell about MS would i get if i watched masters of sex. want to watch everything this man has done but i have to think of my sanity too

If you like him at all it’s like actually mandatory viewing. It’s like a decoder ring to the rest of his acting. He starts out so unlikable and then he slowly makes you care about this repressed little freak. He gives one of the greatest performances of the golden age of tv while never quite mastering an American accent. Also Lizzy Caplan is everything in that show. I cannot recommend it highly enough even though the writing gets a little choppy towards the end, it’s still one of the greats

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carewyncromwell · 1 year

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Merula 🤝 Carewyn

tw: brief mention of attempted suicide, mention of murder

It was a Monday, and the day Chiara finally deemed Carewyn well enough to leave the Hospital Wing. Carewyn's weeks-long neglect of herself after Rowan's death had brought her dangerously close to ending her own life, and Chiara had been passionate in not letting Carewyn go back to her own devices until she was sure her friend's physical and emotional health had both improved. Fortunately one thing that gave Carewyn focus was the newly formed Circle of Khanna.

Carewyn was only one of five founding members of the Circle. Ben had actually been the one to come up with the name. Bill, always Carewyn's right-hand man when it came to dealing with the Vaults, had served as de facto leader while Carewyn was recovering. The people who'd really worked to do the most recruiting, however, were the other two ringleaders, Charlie and Merula. And it was Merula who met Carewyn outside the Hospital Wing so they could talk on their way down to Potions class.

"Hello, Merula," said Carewyn.

"You look like rubbish, Cromwell," Merula said dryly.

She started down the hall beside Carewyn, her magenta eyes ran over the other girl's face critically.

"...I don't think I ever realized just how much makeup you put on every morning," she said absently.

"So says the queen of mascara," Carewyn shot back very coolly.

"I never said I didn't put on makeup," Merula huffed.

She looked a bit more pensively at Carewyn as they walked.

"It's just...I've never once seen you break out, or get chapped lips, or have a bad hair day," she said absently. "I felt like I was rooming with a bloody china doll."

"You sure didn't treat me like a china doll," Carewyn said very coolly. "Or do you frequently shut china dolls into rooms with Devil's Snare?"

"I said I was sorry about that, okay?" Merula shot back in annoyance. "What I mean is it was annoying to be around Little Miss Perfect all the time, when you're constantly having to apply bubotuber pus to your hairline."

Her lips curled up into more of a smirk.

"But looking at you like this...your eye bags really are awful."

Carewyn cocked her eyebrows. "Almost as bad as my brother's?"

Something in Merula's eyes lit up with genuine amusement. "Yeah, actually!"

She laughed. It was a kind of laugh Carewyn wasn't used to hearing out of Merula -- mocking and full of schadenfreude, sure, but not wholly mean-spirited. Maybe even a bit happy, strange as it sounded. Carewyn figured it had to be because of the mention of Jacob, and the reminder of Merula's crush on her brother made her wince a bit.

She'd be lucky if Jacob even put things together fast enough to turn her down nicely, Carewyn thought dully. However academically and magically brilliant Jacob was, he'd always been notoriously dumb when it came to dealing with people, and if there was one person he was bound to never see in any kind of a romantic light, it was Merula Snyde.

The memory of Jacob, and of how much he'd pushed her away this last year, hurt Carewyn the longer it lingered -- so, shifting her gaze to the wall, she shifted gears, becoming much more serious.

"...How are your recruiting efforts coming along?"

Merula's face instantly grew more serious too.

"Good," she said in a slightly lower voice. "Charlie's already recruited Egwu, Winger, and Barnaby...and I talked to Diego, and he's all up to giving Rakepick what-for. Apparently after what happened to Khanna, he's been blasting dummies apart on the regular."

Carewyn raised her eyebrows, surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah...Ismelda overheard Sprout inviting Diego to her office for some tea and fairy cakes, after finding him on the Training Grounds with about ten ruined dummies."

"Wow..."

Carewyn's eyes fell down to the floor. She had a hard time visualizing someone as amiable and suave as Diego being so uncomposed.

"I know," said Merula. "Even when I went to go talk to him, he didn't smile at all...except a little one when I told him you were okay: he asked as soon as he saw me," she added with a rather dismissive shrug. "But well...everyone's upset, about what happened to Khanna. Ismelda too -- she asked to join up."

Carewyn was taken aback. "She did? But...why would she do that? Ismelda's never liked me."

"So? Neither have I, yet I'm still here," Merula said airily. She then grew much more serious again. "Cromwell...as much as we're not friends, we were both there, in the Forest. In the Portrait Vault too. We both saw Rakepick betray us -- we both saw her kill Khanna."

The reminder of what had happened to Rowan made Carewyn close up like a clam -- she closed her eyes and turned away, trying to shut out the flash of green and Rowan's vacant eyes from her memory. Merula pressed on regardless.

"You and I both have reason to want Rakepick to face justice...and as long as Rakepick walks free, she's a threat to all of us. Ismelda knows that just as well as we do."

Her magenta eyes drifted off toward the wall ahead of them absently as they migrated down the stairs.

"And well," she added a bit more uncomfortably under her breath as they reached the landing, "as much as Khanna was your friend...she didn't deserve this. She..." she swallowed, "...she didn't deserve to die."

Carewyn didn't answer. Her blue eyes stayed locked on the far wall. Merula waited for a moment for a response, and upon not getting one, moved on again.

"You aren't the only one who misses Khanna, Cromwell," she muttered. "I hope you're not so arrogant to assume that."

Carewyn looked up, her blue eyes very sharp. "I know that."

Rowan deserves all the love she's received. She's always deserved it.

Her expression then gained more of its composure back as she shifted her gaze ahead again to the stone wall.

"...I just...wouldn't have expected so many people would want to help me, after everything," she said lowly.

After all of the lies, all my pretending...after Rowan...

A wince pulsed through Carewyn's features as the memory of that green light from Rakepick's wand danced over her eyes again.

It was because of me that she was there...because of me that she...

Merula scoffed. "Hey, you somehow opened all the Cursed Vaults, made Prefect, and ended up Little Miss Popular without even wanting it. Things have always been easy for you..."

"'Easy?'" Carewyn said very coldly. "Are you sure you want to have my life, Merula?"

Merula faltered. Her eyes flickered down over the dark, skull-like bags under Carewyn's eyes, before she immediately shifted her gaze down to the floor.

"That's...that's not what I meant," she mumbled, her voice betraying some vulnerability despite herself.

She went very quiet.

"...I just mean that people tend to flock around you. You've always gotten people to like you -- to do things for you, without you asking them to. I mean, Orion Amari's still knocking on your door with invitations to rejoin the Quidditch team, after you only ever played in one game. Flitwick's always favored you, almost as much as Copper -- not to mention you managed to get a talented older student like Bill on your side, even while you were only a second year..."

Coming to a halt outside the Potions classroom, Merula brought a hand through her bangs to shift them out of her face.

"You've always had people willing to help you," she said a bit more stiffly. "I guess I just don't see why that's so weird to you now."

Carewyn considered Merula for a long moment. Then, glancing toward the door of the Potions classroom, she shook her head.

"...I guess it's because...I know I don't deserve it," she admitted lowly. "I'm only one person -- someone small, and weak, and powerless, in the face of something like R. And as much as I want to help, I know there's so much I can't do...that I can't control. I can't protect the people I love, and I can't even protect myself. And even if I have to fight because I have no other choice...well, those people do have a choice. They can turn around and walk away. So I suppose...it'll always be weird to me, when people want to help me."

Merula scoffed. "What, that you're a normal bloody human being like the rest of us? Play me a violin, Cromwell."

Despite saying this, though, the dark-haired Slytherin actually smirked.

"Come on -- let's get to class. When we're done, maybe you can help me coax Tulip and Tonks on-board."

"I'm not going to coax them to join," Carewyn said stubbornly. "The danger's too great for me to wax poetic about justice and friendship. If they want to join the Circle, then it will be their decision alone."

Merula sighed. "Knowing your luck, Cromwell, that approach will probably be just what's needed to get them eating out of your hand..."

Friendship Drabble Prompt!

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #my writing #friendship drabbles #merula snyde #carewyn cromwell #ismelda murk #charlie weasley #bill weasley #ben copper #diego caplan #orion amari #filius flitwick #chiara lobosca #patricia rakepick #redacted #rowan khanna #yes in case you haven't noticed I love these two's 'frenemies' relationship too!!#they never really become friends but they can talk civilly as adults #especially once merula gets the hell over jacob #yeah sorry merula but jacob was never not going to be baffled beyond belief when he realized you had a crush on him #you're not his type at all XDDD #also yes my canon is divorced from jam city's canon from the creation of the circle of khanna onward #so merula never joins r or any of that garbage #I'll take other drabble requests if you guys want!#you can consult the 'friendship drabbles' tag if you want to read more too :3

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blueshistorysims · 2 months

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September 1922, Henford-on-Bagley, England

Before he decided to visit the smaller country house, he had it updated with modern plumbing and electricity. Walshstone Park had been built in the early 1800s for a residence of a younger son and his family, though it had been used as a dowager house. While still a rather large house, it wasn’t a castle, and the cost to run it was two-thirds less than Henford Castle.

He hadn’t told the servants yet, mostly because he felt bad about letting most of them go. He planned to give them a good severance check and reference, considering he was downsizing considerably—Walshstone Park only needed a butler, housekeeper, two maids, a cook, two kitchen maids, a footman, a valet, and lady’s maid, a measly ten compared to the several dozen that lived in Henford Castle. Byron didn’t plan on having a valet, and Stella had refused to hire a lady’s maid in England. He didn’t plan on keeping any of Thomas Walsh’s staff.

He would still own most of the land, only selling the specific part of the land where the castle grounds sat. From the money of the castle’s sale, he’d decorate it to what he liked. He’d even thought about sending a telegram to Elspeth MacGregor, though she’d likely refuse to decorate the home of a duke, related by marriage or not.

When he returned to Henford Castle, Caplan told him that the duchess had returned. He was shocked by the news, having not known when she was returning from New York.

“Why didn’t you write and say you were returning?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t plan on returning this soon.”

“Soon? It’s been three months since I last saw you.”

“I wanted to see you.”

Her words were kind, but the tone of voice was not. She sounded bored, distant. Like she came because she had to.

“...Well, I’m glad to see you.”

Even the sex was distant. She was there in body, but not in mind, and a creeping feeling began to slither into Byron’s mind: There was a reason why she was there, and it wasn’t a good one.

“Caplan told me you gave your sister the London house,” she stated afterward. It was accusatory.

“So what? It was just sitting there gathering dust. You never used it.”

“It was our house.”

“It’s not now.” He swallowed. “I’m selling the castle too. We can’t afford to keep it running on the title’s wealth. And I doubt you want to put your money into it.”

She didn’t answer.

“The smaller country house, Walshstone Park, is lovely. I’ve updated the electricity and plumbing, though the landscaping needs work. We’ll take a picnic there tomorrow.” He tried to sound gentle, but he couldn’t help the exasperation coming out of his voice.

“Why’d you give the house to your sister?” She repeated, angrier.

“Stella. It will be put to better use. Don’t be upset. I truly have missed you.”

Stella took a deep breath and frowned, looking away from him.

“I love you, darling,” he whispered, trying to smile.

She didn’t reply.

#the walshes #the walsh legacy #ts4 #the sims 4 #sims 4 #sims 4 decades #sims 4 historical #sims 4 decades challenge #ts4 story #sims 4 history challenge #ts4 historical #ts4 decades challenge #1920s #ts4 1920s #tw sex mention #stella gardenhouse #byron walsh

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ariparri · 1 year

Text

It takes Two to Tango

Lively chatter, music, and laughter play throughout the ballroom. Many from all over Cinderhaven had attended the Passion Ball, an event Hearts hosts every winter.

It had been a while since Spades had attended an occasion such as this one. While it wasn't Bill's first time attending the masquerade, it was definitely Veruca and Rowan's first time attending. The Queen simply admired the scene, while the Jack was ecstatic about her surroundings.

The Spades officials were off to the side of the room, having a conversation with a few familiar faces from past interactions. Jae Kim, a connoisseur of "uncommon" and suspicious merchandise, surprised the Spades with his presence, as he wasn’t one for fancy occasions. Despite that, they were happy to see him again after his last business trip within Spades.

And there was Andre Egwu, heir of his family's clothing brand, Aura Spectacle, a brand Veruca very much enjoys. He was currently telling them how Jae tried to leave his shop with a plain mask to go with his red and gold suit. The stylist was appalled and refused to let Jae leave until he found a perfect mask.

The group continued chatting amongst themselves until the Master of Ceremonies announced the Hearts' monarchs King Diego's and Queen Carewyn's (@carewyncromwell) entrance. The audience was silent as the monarchs addressed the crowd with their announcement on the second floor balcony.

After their speech the pair descended the stairs, greeting guests as they made their way through the ballroom. Diego's eyes lit up when he noticed the Spades officials. The pair made their way over to the group and said their greetings. They all exchanged pleasantries, discussing potential business and trading plans. Andre was requesting to open a branch for his clothing brand within Hearts. Carewyn was discussing Spades' improvements after the civil war with Veruca, Rowan and Bill.

Their conversation went on when the slow melody playing for the waltz smoothly transitioned to the tempo for tango. "Ah, that music," Diego listens closely to the distinctive style. He turns his attention back to Veruca, "would you care to dance, your highness?"

Veruca crosses her arms, scrutinizing the King before her. "Hmph, you expect me to dance, in a dress not suitable for this type of music?" Diego opens his mouth to speak but is silenced when Veruca holds a hand up. She gestures for Rowan's assistance as she unties the ribbon belt to her dress. Rowan quickly grabs hold of the skirt, keeping it from falling to the floor as Veruca twirls out of it, revealing a shorter dress underneath.

Andre stood proud at the dress reveal. As someone who personally designed the Queen of Spades' gown, Andre was ecstatic that she chose this design.

Veruca turned back to Diego, "Well, your majesty." She looked at him with expectancy, bringing a hand up to her face and twirling a lock of her hair. "Are you going to ask me to dance? Because if not, I'm sure I can find someone else who would be interested." She motions to the three other gentlemen, Bill and Jae had grins on their faces while Andre boasted about Veruca's dress.

Diego shook his head, that charming smile returning to his face "Apologies, my lady," he bows, extending a hand out for Veruca. "Would you do me the honor of dancing with me, your highness?"

A faint smile appears on Veruca's face. But as quick as it appeared, that smile disappeared. She places her hand in Diego's own, allowing him to lead her to the center of the dance floor. Many of the pairs have decided to sit out the current song, clearing the floor of the few pairs that remained.

Their first steps fell in line to the first beat of the music. Diego led Veruca with sharp movements, both showing off impressive footwork as they danced. Their dance had a dramatic flair to it, their movements though improvised were synchronized well. Strides were short and smooth, the movements intimate, expressing an element of romance in there. Tango has always been a vibrant and spontaneous dance, with its expressive music to go with it.

They moved around the floor, in their own world as they danced, not caring about their surroundings. The tempo of the music would go from its medium tempo to a sudden drop where the pair would follow with a dramatically slow movement, before the song goes back to its original pace and the pair follows.

Their dance ends along with the music, an abrupt stop with the pair finishing their dance in a striking pose. The pair kept their eyes locked, chests heaving as they caught their breath. No words were spoken between them, simply forgetting everything around them. Until the sound of applause slowly brought them back to reality. Diego let Veruca out of his embrace, he gazed around the room keeping a smile on his face.

"You're a magnificent dancer, Veruca," He praises, "and I'm not saying that just to flatter you. I genuinely mean it." He bows to her once more.

Veruca lets out a hum, "thank you. I must say, you were also splendid." Diego chuckled and held out his hand for her. "Well, we should head back to the others. I'm sure you would feel out of place continuing a conversation in the middle of the dance floor."

This time, Veruca gave him a genuine smile and took his hand. The pair make their way back to the group, having their own conversation as they pass by other dancers and guests. "I must say though, I'd be more interested in a dance without so many prying eyes."

That sweet smile on the queen's face quickly morphed into a mischievous one. "I must apologize, your majesty. But you'll need more than music and charm if you want more of my attention." Veruca lets go of his hand and saunters off to rejoin her friends, leaving Diego astonished.

"The Queen of Spades is an interesting woman, isn't she?" Carewyn joined her partner, snapping him out of his daze when she spoke. "It's actually quite amusing to see you get a bit tongue-tied around her. And I thought you've improved since our first meeting with Veruca." She chuckles and Diego had to roll his eyes before dragging his hand through his hair.

"I thought we agreed to never bring that up again."

"I never agreed to such a thing."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm trying to write more and practice the dancing scene for when it's time to write the dance off in Diego's quest rewrite.

I was inspired by the Valentine Dance scene in Another Cinderella Story. It was perfect for Diego and Veruca 💜 Especially for the Passion Ball!

Originally I was gonna use the actual dress for Veruca, but drawing it out was very awkward. So I made it into a two in one gown kind of dress where the big puffy skirt was detachable. At least Veruca was able to dance much more easily.

I'm thinking of also drawing some characters that would be into the events for the AU. Like I think Diego would love harpastum. Orion, Veruca, Charlie and Skye would like abraxan derby since it shares similarities with quidditch. I don't know if I would add Andre to it though, maybe for harpastum or the steam cart race 🤔 actually the steam race would be a good opportunity to show off his style with his outfit and vehicle 😆

Coby, and maybe Jae would also do the steam cart race. Badeea, Carson, and Rowan would join the Bizarro Scavenger Hunt and most of them would attend the Passion Ball.

But that will be for when I don't have so much to do! December is a busy month.

Diego's Masquerade Design

Veruca's Masquerade Design

Cardverse Masterlist

Cardverse Events

❌ NO REPOSTING ❌

#ariparri #hphm cardverse #diego caplan #veruca mcquaid #dieruca #hphm masquerade #diego x veruca #diego caplan x mc #hogwarts mystery #HPHM #hphm mc #hogwarts mystery mc #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hphm diego #the writing for this was kinda awkward #not proofread

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