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#on the other hand I just read a bunch of daemon AUs so I’m very distracted by those XD
10moonymhrivertam · 3 years
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That issue where you enjoy next week’s chapter more than the one that you’re supposed to be posting tomorrow 😅
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blahblahblippyblah · 4 years
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The Magic of Dust: first day
Chapter 3
His dark materials AU.
Read on AO3 too.
Remus
Remus was the first one to wake up the next morning. Ileuda was curled up on his chest and glared at him angrily when he sat up and she tumbled on top of the bedsheets. He opened his bed curtains and surveyed the dorm. t was small and the other three beds had their curtains drawn shut still. Remus could hear the sounds of snoring coming from Peter and James’s beds. Orange sunlight spilled into the room, the sun was just showing up. He stretched and heard both his shoulder pop. He was sore today, which as expected the full moon was now 6 days away. He tiptoed barefoot to the bathroom. He quickly washed up and got ready. Ileuda also washed herself up using the sink to wet her little paws and wipe them on her face.
Tiptoeing back to the dorm he was relieved to see everyone was still fast asleep, so he took the opportunity to quickly get dressed. He changed his shirt as quickly as possible not even wanting to risk someone seeing the scars that covered his chest and back. By the time he was putting on his socks James’ curtains had begun to rustle, and by the time he had his bag on and was tying his trainers James stumbled out blurry eyes without glasses heading to the bathroom.
The common room downstairs was practically empty. Only two upper year students were up sitting by the fire chatting quietly. Remus headed straight down to the Great Hall since his stomach was rumbling.
The Great Hall was also sparsely occupied. Only the gamekeepers, and a large porky professor with bushy moustache were up at the head table. Two Slytherins were sitting far apart at their table, a group of three Hufflepuff girls were sitting giggling, and then one other person at the Gryffindor table. When Remus got closer, he saw it was the red-headed girl from yesterday. She looked sad as she poked her scrambled eggs with her fork. Remus decided to go and see what was up.
He sat down across from her and began filling his plate with bacon and filling his mug with some spicy smelling tea that was out.
“Good morning. Lily was it?” He asked when she looked up.
She stared at him for a second with a straight face and slightly squinted eyes. She was obviously deciding how to respond. Remus had forgotten about the fight James sand Sirius had started in the compartment, and she probably was deciding if he was to blame too.
“I’m Remus” Remus said extending his hand to her. “Sorry I didn’t introduce myself properly yesterday. Kind of nerve wracking coming to Hogwarts.” Remus continued trying to convince Lily he wasn’t being malicious.
She reached out and shook his hand back then went back to poking her eggs solemnly.
“It’s ok. I was nervous to come too” She said. On her shoulder her mourning dove daemon let out a mournful sounding sigh.
Beside him Ileuda laid her head in his lap. Remus pet her softly. Obviously, something was up making this girl sad, he felt bad for her, but he didn’t want to be nosy and intrusive, so he decided to try and change the subject.
“You excited for any particular class?”
Lily looked up and smiled faintly.
“Ya, I’m excited for potions. My friend Severus lent me a potions book on rare ingredients before I got my letter and I got really interested.”
Remus smiled; he honestly wasn’t fond of potions. At home his dad had stopped brewing since the smells affected him so strongly. Even if his office door was closed the fumes still seemed to spill out under the door and make him feel ill.
However, his mother would take him out a in the forest behind their house and he would help her pick stuff to eat for dinner, mustards, herbs and berries. Occasionally his dad would come and point out magical plants. Sometimes they would pick they for healing potions. One time they found a wand tree on their property deep in the forest. His dad had pulled out a handful of rice and placed it at the bottom of the tree. Then they stood back quietly behind and watched as a bunch of bowtruckels came down from the canopy to eat the rice. He was young then and seeing the little twig creatures had been a magical moment.
“So did you use to pick potion ingredients with your family?” Remus asked.
“Oh umm no. My family is muggle. But I went out with my friend quite a bit. He used to brew potions in his bedroom. I don’t think my sister would have liked that very much” The last sentence she said with her nose scrunched up a bit. Her dove daemon ruffled its feathers at the mention of their sister. Then it flew up in the air and turned into a monarch butterfly and landed in Lily’s hair.
“My mom’s a muggle. She doesn’t understand potions. She thinks it’s silly to brew a potion for a sore throat when you can just drink some ginger tea.” Remus said trying to keep Lily in conversation now that it seemed to be cheering her up.
Lily chuckled a little. “It is a little silly isn’t it. So what classes are you looking forward too.”
“Oh history of magic sounds fun. I read the text book twice already. Plus, I found a book on the Goblin rebellion of 1419 that I started reading.”
With that they started talking about how they thought school here would work. She had apparently been to a public muggle school, and she was worried Hogwarts would be different. Remus himself had never been to school before. His mom and dad taught him from home. They moved a lot because of his condition, and his dad was worried about people realising that he disappeared every month around the full moon, only to come back injured. So, He was really excited to start school like a regular person.
They continued talking about wizard history till the hall started to get busy. Lily had also read Hogwarts: A History and they started to compared notes when James and Sirius came into the hall. James was tying his new Gryffindor tie as he came in trying to straighten his clothes, which he obviously put on with little effort. Sirius however had just thrown on whatever was probably lying on the top of his trunk and didn’t seem to care. His tie hung untied around his neck, his shirt was opened at the top, and his robe was thrown over his shoulder, everything very wrinkly. This only thing that was done properly was his neatly brushed hair pulled back with a striking red and gold ribbon. This was in contrast to James whose hair looked even more of a rat’s nest than yesterday. They sat down with Lily and him and Lily immediately dropped her niceties and turned to Sirius who sat down beside her.
“I don’t remember asking you two to join us”
James paused but Sirius stayed calm and ignored her.
“Good because I don’t remember asking.” He simply said filling his plate with eggs and toast.
Lily glared daggers at Sirius. Remus thought she was about to hit the guy so he decided to step in.
“Lily this is Sirius and James. You may be confused since they forgot to introduce themselves like regular human beings.” Remus said to Lily while stepping discretely on James’s toes.
James got the message and sat up straight and turned to Lily.
“I’m James.” Remus pressed harder on James toes. He winced and continued “Sorry for that um…kerfuffle yesterday”
Lily didn’t respond. She just glared angrily at him. Sirius who was sitting beside her snorted at the word ‘kerfuffle’ and then coughed a bit since he chocked on his mouth full of eggs. Some went flying from his mouth onto his plate. She shot him a disgusted look and James started laughing out loud at Sirius which caused milk to splatter out of his mouth, which caused Sirius to laugh and a disgusting feedback loop of chewed food.
“You are both disgusting” She said out loud and shuffled further away from them.
Thankfully the post decided to arrive just then, stopping further bickering. The hall filled with owls carrying letters and packages to students. Remus looked up and saw a giant eagle owl land on James’s shoulder. The owl was huge, and very regal in the way it looked. It promptly held out its leg to let James untie the large package attached to it.
“Forgot some stuff. Oh, look mom sent cookies” James said reaching in the box.
Remus was so caught up admiring James’s eagle he didn’t notice his family owl until it nipped at his hand.
“Sorry Toffee” He said taking the letter from the little burrowing owl. He ruffled her feathers and gave one cautious look at James shoulder where his owl was now swallowing a whole boiled egg before taking off again.
Remus opened his letter.
Son,
I hope all went well on your way to Hogwarts. Your mother and I are already missing you terribly, as well as worrying about you. Last night we had Cottage pie only because it was your favourite meal, and your mother felt bad about not making you some before you left. She’s worried they might not feed you well enough so she’s planning on baking a bunch of things to send. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the Hogwarts house elves are probably the best cooks in Britain. I’ll have to wait to send the sweets until I go to Diagon alley, since muggle post won’t reach you and I will need to borrow a heftier owl. I would have sent some, but poor Toffee wouldn’t have been able to make the journey.
The school has an owlery which you should be able to send letters through instead of having Toffee fly across the country. I’m sure your first day will be busy, but if you could take the time to write home today and let us know how you are doing it would make both me and your mother feel better.
Study hard and keep your head down,
Dad
Remus smiled at the letter. He missed his parents too and appreciated the letter. He made a note to visits the owlery before the end of the day to tell his parents where he was sorted.
“Do you know how to use the muggle post?” James asked. Remus turned to see him looking over his shoulder. He quickly folded the letter and put it away.
“Ya, I use to send my grandmother letters all the time until she died. A little slower than owl post though.”
“That’s so cool. So how do stamps work then?” James asked with wide eyes and apparent interest. It was now Lily’s turn to snort in laughter. James shrank a bit at the laughing. Sirius chose then to but in and save James from further embarrassment.
“Given me a cookie Potter” Sirius said getting up and leaning across the table to reach for the box James was going through and putting in his bag.
“No! You Freeloader!”
Remus moved over a little just like Lily to avoid the fighting that ensued, where Sirius grabbed the box and James tried to wrestle it back.
“I feel sorry that you have to live with them” Lily said to him.
Remus smiled and was about to say that they weren’t that bad when a stray owl flew over them and dropped a red scarlet envelope in between James and Sirius. They both stopped moving immediately looking at it frightened. Everyone around them also stopped and stared at the letter too.
Neither James or Sirius reached out to pick it up both acting like any quick. Movements might make it explode. Remus leaned over to see in emerald green ink the name on the front in large cursive letter.
Sirius Arcturus Black III
“You better run mate” A redhead beside James said. His twin brother across the table nodded.
“What is it?” Lily asked. Remus too was wondering the same thing.
Then the letter started steaming violently.
“Too late” James said backing away from the letter. Sirius too sat down leaned away. The letter exploded with a thunderous bang scorching the table. Then a voice boomed around the hall making all the other students who hadn’t notice the letter stop and turn to see the commotion.
“SIRIUS BLACK! HOW DARE YOU BRING HUMILIATION UPON THE NOBEL HOUSE FOR WHICH YOU REPRESENT. CONSORTING WITH MUDBLOODS AND TRAITORS! YOU HAVE BROUGHT BOTH ME AND YOUR FATHER TO SHAME, YOUR ANCESTORS SHALL ROLL IN THEIR GRAVES!” Sirius kept a blank face but continued to stare down at the black burnt mark on the table where the letter was emanating sound. His eyes lost all the sparkle they had just moments ago, instead becoming grey haze. The voice was shrill with a thick French accent similar to Sirius’s, but this was posher. It out like thundering and making his ears ring with pain.
"YOU WLL FIX THIS EMBARESSMENT IMMDEIDALTY OR THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!”
And with that final note the hall fell silent. Sirius stayed still and everyone kept watching him.
“All right you lot mind your beeswax” One of the redhead twins said out loud scolding everyone watching. Slowly people went back to their breakfasts.
“Alright mate” James asked quietly.
Sirius shook his head as if coming out of a trance.
“Ya. Of course.” He said sounding as if nothing had happened. “Lovely women my mother, real charmer” Sirius joked. James made a little snort of laughter which was what Sirius must have been going for because he began reaching for the cookies again.
Remus felt a little off. He had only heard about how some pureblood families were prejudice, but he thought Sirius might not have been from one of those families. He was so nice, maybe he didn’t know he was a half blood. But then again Sirius didn’t sound like he agreed with his family the way he just joked about his mom. Remus thought he would just wait and see how the day went with Sirius now knowing he was probably a half blood with James asking about the muggle post.
McGonagall was now going around handing out schedules down the Gryffindor table. Remus looked around.
“Where Peter?”
“Damn. I know we forgot something” James said standing up with Sirius and heading out of the hall.
Peter
The first day of classes had gone slowly. The first class they had was charms. Professor Flitwick was a short man with a high pitch voice and a goldfinch for a daemon talked for a bit then set them up to practice levitation feathers. This meant that they could talk with each other for most of the class.
This seemed to both be a blessing and a curse. The blessing was that everyone was so occupied with their own little groups they didn’t notice that Peter wasn’t able to even make his feather twitch. The downside was that everyone was talking about one thing. The howler Sirius Black had gotten. The story James and Sirius had told him when they woke him up hadn’t been complete, but from the rumours he was overhearing he didn’t blame Sirius for not wanting to talk about it.
Sirius however seemed bothered about the howler, he only seemed worried about one particular thing.
“They all think I’m some sort of loony blood purists now” Sirius said glaring at two Ravenclaw girls who were whispering behind them while looking over at Sirius. When James looked back at them and narrowed his eyes, they stopped whispering
“Forget them.” James said turning back to his feather and making it soar up effortlessly. James and Sirius both got the spell on the first try. Remus had taken a few tries but had eventually got it.
Peter turned back to his feather and tired again. Nothing.
“Here” Remus said reaching out and getting his attention. “Try a more flicking wrist thing. Like this”
Remus demonstrated. He tried again using Remus’s movement. The feather in front of him twitched up but didn’t get very far.
“More flick, less swish”
Peter tried again and felt the magic move out from his arm to his wand. The feather raised a little bit up to eye level and slowly fell back down.
“Amazing work Mr. Pettigrew” Professor Flitwick said coming over to check on everyone.
The rest of the day was uneventful. In Herbology they just went over safety rules. Most of which James and Sirius did not pay attention for. They spent most of the class secretly levitating potting soil into some blonde Hufflepuffs school bag. When the boy went to reach for his notebook to write down the readings for next class, the boy was pissed but couldn’t find the culprit. It took everything for them not to burst out laughing when he went to open his quill case to find that also filled with soil.
“Beautiful touch with the quill case Black” James aid as they headed to lunch.
After lunch was a double period of History of Magic. After the initial shock of Professor Binns who to their surprise was a ghost coming out of the chalk board the lesson got boring. Binns droned on reading from his notes about some sort of Goblin legislator formed on the 1600’s and most of the class fell off to sleep within the first hour. Eventually James was full on sleeping. Sirius was playing tic tac toe lazily with him on a spare bit of parchment. The girls sitting in front of them were braiding their hair and drawing doodles on their notes. The only person who seemed to be listening was Remus, who was diligently listening and taking notes.
By the time diner time arrived Peter was exhausted. Thankfully the amazing smell of the food in the hall woke him right up. Aspecta even ended her long nap and crawled out of his pocket landing on the floor as a racoon before getting up beside him at the table.
The girls also came to join them for dinner.
There was Marlene McKinnon and her Squirrel daemon Avita, Mary McDonald and her ginger cat daemon Wholright, Dorcas Meadowes and her snail daemon Reunter, and Lily Evans, who Peter remembered from the train. Lily didn’t seem happy to sit with them but followed her friends anyway. She however sat beside Remus as far from James and Sirius as she could, and only talked to him for the duration of the meal.
It wasn’t until desert something interesting happened. The greasy guy named Severus came over to their table and tapped Lily on the shoulder. He had a straight face on but Peter could feel the contempt coming off of him being this close to James and Sirius, who he kept shooting angry glances at. Thankfully they were both too engrossed in their conversation to even notice him.
“Hey Sev. What’s up? Sit down with us”
Severus looked at the group with disgust then shook his head.
“No thank you. I was actually wondering if you wanted to come to the owlery with me”
“Sure. Sounds fun I can send a letter to Tuney” She said standing up. Her butterfly flew around her head happily. “Remus don’t you have a letter to send as well”
Remus looked up too. “Oh yes. I’ll come with you.” Remus said standing up.
Severus gave him a look that said very clearly that Severus didn’t want Remus to come, but Lily smiled at Remus and him so Severus made a forced smile that disappeared as soon as Lily and Remus turned to head out.
“Ugh. He’s so creepy. No wonder he’s in Slytherin” James said beside him looking at where Remus, Lily and Severus had exited.
“Speaking of creepy Slytherins” Sirius said pointing over James’s shoulder to a blonde witch in Slytherin robes walking towards the Gryffindor table. She was slender and blonde, with perfect posture. She seemed to look down on everyone she walked by even though she couldn’t have been past 4th year herself. Her daemon was a pale white snake with red eyes that had wrapped itself tight around her neck like a scaly choker necklace.
“Who’s that” Peter asked.
“My bossy cousin”
She stopped in front of Sirius and cleared her throat. Sirius however rolled his eyes and went back to his pudding.
“What do you want Sissy?”
Sissy, the girl looked down at Sirius with a sympathetic look.
“Aunt Walburga has asked I talk to you in private. The girl said. She had the same French accent Sirius had, but it sounded softer and more polished like Sirius’s mom.
“Whatever the old bag has to say she can say it herself. She obviously has no problem telling the world”
“Sirius please. Don’t be a child”
“Whatever you have to say you can say it here”
“Sirius you know I can’t, now come along.” She turned gracefully her carefully braided hair whipping around her back as she walked away.
Sirius sighed dramatically then stood up.
“Duty calls apparently” He said sarcastically. “If I go missing, I leave noting to no one”, and with that he stalked off after the girl.
Sirius
Sirius was apathetic about whatever it was Sissy wanted, although he had a good idea what this was about. However, if his mom had contacted her it probably wasn’t good news. They wanted someone and Sissy loved being the bearer of bad news. She was always the goody two shoes, always tattling on him. She was even worse than Regulus.
When they got into the entryway Sissy led him towards the dungeons where it was quiet and no students were walking nearby. She put her hand on his arm and made Sirius walk alongside her. Maybe it would be a nice gesture if it wasn’t for what followed.
“Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion have asked me to pass on the families remedy to your…. Indiscretion.”
“Ya? and what’s that?” Sirius asked trying to keep the hostility out of his tone.
“That you will remain in Gryffindor only if you can agree not to consort with half bloods and mud bloods. Gryffindor is full of them, and you will not allow them to taint your reputation.”
“My reputation?”
“Yes, your reputation, because whether you like it or not you are the heir to the house of Black, and therefore what you do will reflect on the whole family”
“I don’t care about this stupid blood nonsense” Sirius said pulling away from Sissy feeling annoyed.
“It is not nonsense Sirius, It is very much the opposite. The Blacks are the most powerful of the sacred 28. What we do sets the course for the future of our families. We can’t let lesser wizards work their way into our ranks and taken it down, like a disease slowly killing the tree from the inside out.”
“What a load of ….”
“Sirius. This is not a joke, and this wasn’t a request. Uncle Orion was clear. You are not to consort with anyone who isn’t a pureblood. If other families saw the Black heir consorting with filth, they’ll think our family is weak. Andromeda and I are to make sure you listen, it’s not just your head on the chopping block Sirius.”
“Fine. Is that all” Sirius said now inpatient.
“Yes” Sissy said with a forced calm voice.
“Good” and with that Sirius stormed off.
James
“Mate, where were you?” James asked when he came into the dorm. Sirius was laying on his bed staring at the ceiling. Fid was currently back to snake form, he wound around the bed post slithering up.
“I came right back up. Didn’t feel like finishing desert”
“Huh. Want to talk about it?” James said sitting down beside him on the bed. Bahadurr morphed into a kestrel and flew up onto the top of the bed and looked down at Fid head moving side to side regarding him.
“Just family stuff”
“Something tells me family stuff isn’t normal family stuff.”
Sirius just grunted in agreement. James laid back on the bed with him.
It was quiet for a bit. They both just listened to the sounds of the win blowing around the tower and the sound of people chattering down in the common room and in the stairwell.
“Sissy told me I wasn’t allowed to hang around muggle born and half blood. Said it would make the Blacks look weak or something.” Sirius said it low as if someone might overhear them even though they were alone in the room.
James just grunted out loud. He wasn’t surprised. He knew how most pureblood families thought. That was exactly the reason why his mother and father kept clear of them.
“It’s so stupid” Was all Sirius said after a long pause. James could tell Sirius was deep in thought. James waited a bit before speaking up.
“My dad says that wizards would be extinct if we didn’t marry muggles.”
James jumped up as Sirius started cackling like a mad man. James didn’t know what to do so he waited for Sirius to stop laughing and sat up beside him on the bed.
“I think your dad is right. Maybe my families too inbred to think properly. Either that or their heads are so far up their arses they can’t see past their gloomy manors and stuffy social groups”
“You know what I think.” James said and Sirius turned to him attentive to hear what James had to say. “I think bugger the lot of them. You’re a Gryffindor now.”
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seladorie · 7 years
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Do you have any fic recs you can give us for FFXV? I'd be cool to hear your recommendations.
hell YEAH i do
i’m gonna try to keep this short and manageable because i. i read a lot of fanfic. I also do not have time right now to add in links for all of these, can and will do later. 
these are all fics i’ve gone back to read more than once, and also trying to only do fics here that aren’t like. will show up by a simple search for the most kudos of that category, but sometimes the former outweighed the latter there
PROMNIS:
It Hurts by NoticedKohai: this is trans!Prompto and Ignis, dealing with menstruation. It’s super cute.
Professional Ethics for the Freelance Massage Therapist by edibleflowers: To help him relax, Prompto offers Ignis a massage and… yup. Yup.
Filters by Quail (Salamander): Five times Prompto surprised Ignis with a photo.  
a year and a day by ObscureReference (OR has a bunch of stuff I like): Merman!Prompto and Iggy.
the years between by greyskiesblack: A long recovery fic for both Prompto and Ignis. Explicit and has dark themes and is so, so good.
GLADNOCT:
so good for me by rustandstardust: Gentle sex between Gladio and Noctis, and that’s about it.
Not Even a Handful by chocolatetigerfics: “Noctis doesn’t like it when Gladio calls his dick puny. Because it is.”
Go The Noct To Sleep by Mythril (fantacination): Sleeping arrangements and GladNoct.
PROMPTIO:
Incentive by LadyLarkFrand: Cute, domestic, prompt fluff. Good stuff.
Education by Riona: Fluff. Good good fluff of the two of them getting together.
I’m Trying Hard To Take It Back by ObscureReference: Soulmate/Soulmark AU where your touch is marked onto your soulmate’s skin forever… and for Prompto and Gladio, it happens when Gladio shoves him on the train.
Fantasy Ride by dirtbag: Prompto and Gladio share a sleeping bag for body heat and yup.
PROMNYX:
Oh. by TheIskraeon. "Prompto just wants to know if Nyx is okay.” Takes place when you meet Cor in game. As you might suspect, it’s a bit sad.
NOCTNYX:
brighter than the sun by nickofhearts: Noctis accidentally joins the Kingsglaive.
CHOCOBROS:
they say through gritted teeth by mushydesserts: 5 +1 of Gladio carrying someone else, and one time they carried him.
For Duty by Allubttoa: Not complete as of yet, but a very interesting premise that explores how the royal family of Lucis gives their warriors their magic. Not porny, mostly plot, but deals with uncomfortable themes.
PROMPTO/GLADIO/IGNIS:
Synced by Lalaen: Dom!Iggy and Dom!Gladio tae care of Prompto.
ARDYN/PROMPTO:
A Real Charmer by ohmyfae: One of the only Ardyn/Prompto’s i’ll rec because I tend to like happier stories, but this one the story of FFXV changes because Prompto can charm daemons. Including a certain Chancellor. And all of the other bros suffer as a result ;)
RAREPAIRS:
Sagefire by notthelasttime: Nyx/Ignis, and I know, what?? but it’s a cute twoshot about the two of them getting together through a casual hook up.
carry your heart by yodelpalma: Dino/Prompto. Prompto introduces Dino to his friends.
A Candidate For My Affections by HighrollaKockamamie: Ardyn/Ignis, Ardyn’s courting techniques are WAY behind the times.
GEN:
Reprisal of an Old Mistake by pariahpirate: This fic is pretty much how I think of Prompto’s background regarding the laboratories of Niflheim. That said, quite dark.
The Improvisational Method by JosephineSilver: And oldie that came before the game’s actual release I think, but features sly Prompto getting the bros out of trouble by pretending to be a traitor.
Scattershot by Riona: “The longer Noctis spends traveling with him, the clearer it becomes that Prompto can get a crush on anyone.”
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iamthechocobabe · 7 years
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We All Have Battle Scars
I am on ze role! Wis mah fake Franch accant, I vill post anozer chaptah. 
I’m working on three hours of sleep. 
Once again, if you want to read the AU this was based on, check out @nifwrites Ignis soulmate AU We Intertwined 
IMPORTANT A/N: Please be aware that while this is based on the same mythology that Nif wrote, IT IS NOT THE SAME UNIVERSE. There were some changes to the mythology and characters that were created by Nif and @cupnoodle-queen and @blindbae are not in this story. 
We All Have Battle Scars
~Chapter 1~
Word Count: 2,006
SFW
~Chapter 1~
Alaea played a game whenever she came across a mirror-she would put her hand over the scar on her lower left cheek and neck and would pretend the scar wasn't there and that she was normal. 
Her hand wasn't big enough to cover the whole scar as her burn scar ran past her neck and into her chest, but she usually tried to ignore the rest of the scar and just focus on her face. When you couldn't focus on the scar, you could focus on Alaea's almond shaped golden-brown eyes, her slightly pudgy but cute nose and full lips that was naturally curved to a smile. 
But no one ever seemed to want to look past her scar. Even the workers at the Chocobo Outpost treated Alaea differently sometimes. 
The scar was bright red with bubbles of skin that hadn't been as burned throughout the scar. Wiz once compared it to a type of spider web because the bubbles connected to other bubbles through small patches of skin. 
For awhile, Alaea refused to let her scar bother her and tried to live her life as normal as possible, even going so far as to cut her long golden brown hair to her chin so that there was no way she could hide her face. But the older she got, the more kids taunted her until she finally grew her hair out to be long and wavy with  a length that reached her elbows. When she didn't have her hair up in a messy bun for working on the ranch, her hair was loose and usually hiding the left side of her face. 
And there were times she hated that face. 
"It ain't going away, Chocobee," Wiz called to Alaea.
"I know, daddy," Alaea called back and wiped some dirt off her shoulder. Her work clothes were getting dirty; mud was beginning to cake the red and black checkered button down shirt that Alaea wore over the bright purple tank top with the Wiz's Chocobo Post logo in the center. The black jeans she wore had a hole in the right knee and the white in her white and black sneakers was now an ugly brown color. 
"Chocobee, can you quit primping and take this customer's order? I need to sign our feeding shipment," 
"Only if you quit calling me 'Chocobee'," Alaea called and started to head over to the small table that had a young couple and what looked like their son, who looked to be about ten or eleven. 
"Ali, you know that ain't happening," 
Alaea smirked at her dad and focused on the people at the table. "What can I get you?" 
"Yes, what does your name tag say?" the woman asked, referring to the name stitched into the left side of her work shirt. "A-lah-eh-a?" 
"A-lay-a," Alaea sounded out the name, like she had done so many other times before. "It's okay, I know it's tricky," 
"Right, right," the woman gazed at Alaea for a second but looked away when their eyes met. 
"Do you need some time to look at the menu?" Alaea asked. 
"Actually, if it's possible, we were wondering..." the woman trailed off and shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable by something. Alaea had a suspicion as to what it was. 
"Yes?" 
"We know it's a lot to ask, but we would...we would feel more comfortable if...um..." the woman stuttered again and was looking at anything but Alaea until finally the husband, who hadn't once looked up from the newspaper he had bought, decided to chip in. 
"We don't want you to serve us," 
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened and Alaea knew it wouldn't be the last, but it still hurt to hear it. "Excuse me?" 
"You look like a daemon tried to chew on your face and didn't like the way you tasted and spat you out," the little boy, their son, piped up. 
"Billy!" the woman chastised her son and glanced nervously at Alaea. "It's nothing personal, dearie, it's just...we don't want anything to get into our food, you see?" 
Alaea paused, trying not to feel offended but being unable to do so. "I see...well, I can assure you, my scar doesn't peel and won't 'fall' into the food, but I'll go ask one of the other hands to help you," Alaea turned around and walked away without giving the family a chance to say anything. 
It wasn't long until Wiz came into the house and sighed at the sight of his daughter sitting and stewing in anger and bitterness on the couch in the living room. "People these days," he said. 
"Tell me about it," Alaea said, the bitterness practically dripping from her voice. 
"Don't let what they said hurt you, Ali," Wiz sat down on the couch next to her and put his arm around her. "They're just jealous that you get to hang out with the Chocobos all day," 
"Har har," Alaea said, but leaned on her father's shoulder anyway. "You'd think with bounty hunters being more frequent that people would be more used to seeing scars," 
"It's these posh people from the Crown City-we're getting more of them ever since the Empire invaded Insomnia," 
Alaea couldn't help but shiver. "You think Impirials will come here?" Alaea asked softly, not wanting to think about her precious family home and her father's life's work being torn apart by a bunch of magiteks. 
Wiz laid his head on the back of the couch and pulled his wool cap down so it covered his eyes. "I don't know, Ali. Maybe-that's why I'm trying to raise money for some bounty hunter guards, but...it's been difficult," 
"Maybe I could become a bounty hunter," Alaea mused. "Take care of that Behemoth that's shitting around the Chocobos," 
Wiz looked at his daughter with a smirk and held out his hand. "Swear jar," 
Alaea grumbled and pulled five gil out of her pocket and put it into her dad's hand. 
Wiz pocketed the change and continued. "Darling, you screamed bloody murder when a rat slithered across your foot the other day-I don't think you can handle fighting daemons, let alone a Behemoth,"
"Dad, seriously; everyone who's gone after that daemon has either come back with the shit beaten out of them or not come back at all. Aren't you the one who always said 'if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself?'" 
"That's talking about ordering Chocobo feed, Ali; we're talking about taking up a daemon that's about the size of a small house," Wiz held out his hand again. "Swear jar," 
"I can take daemons," Ali insisted while putting another five gil in her dad's open palm. Deep down, Alaea knew she couldn't really handle daemons, though. Ever since she was a baby, she'd been deathly afraid of mice and other small critters that weren't Chocobos. 
Alaea had never had the guts to fight a daemon before, but the fact that the ranch was starting to lose business was getting to Alaea. She had to wonder if she could defeat the daemon, or at least maybe trick it into leaving the valley. 
Wiz looked at his daughter and raised an eyebrow. 
"Well, I can still take you on, anyway," Alaea pinched her dad in the side and sat up. "At least then I can tell people I got malled by a daemon. Much more epic than a cooking accident," 
"Not everybody's gonna focus on your scar, chocobee," 
Alaea glanced at the mirror on the counter that overlooked the kitchen and scoffed. "Could have fooled me," 
"Your soulmate won't focus on it, I bet," 
Alaea couldn't help but put her hand on the back of her neck where her soulmate mark was. Her dad had one in the shape of an eye on his right foot while her mother had one on her left foot and when Wiz had met Gayle, that was how he knew she was 'the one'. 
Alaea's mark was centered on the back of her neck, just below her hairline and had the shape of an ulwaat berry, which kind of looked like a strawberry. She knew because her parents were soulmates that her soulmate would have the same mark just with the stem curving to the right instead of to the left. 
But though she would never tell her dad, Alaea didn't believe the soulmate thing was legitimate-it had been clear that people didn't just straight up fall in love just because of a soulmate mark they owned; Alaea knew this by looking at her own parents failed marriage. 
"Knowing my luck, dad, he'd have all kinds of scars with a lazy eye and a limp-or worse..." Alaea shuddered. "Blonde," 
"Not all blondes are horrific she-devils," Wiz mumbled. 
The one you married was, was what Alaea wanted to say but she bit her tongue and stayed silent for the sake of her father's sanity. 
"Anyway, now, that wouldn't be the worst thing-looks aren't everything, you know," Wiz looked at his daughter-he knew she was skeptical about the soulmate marking and was justifiably so. 
"Knowing your luck, chocobee," Wiz said while pinching Alaea's shoulder. "He'll be so devishly handsome that you'll feel inadequate to him," 
Alaea looked at her dad, one of her eyebrows raised. 
Wiz realized his error and nodded. "Right, that would be worse,"
Prompto Argentum touched the back of his neck gently as the group drove onto Lastallum. Once again, his mind was drawn to what his soulmate would look like-he had considered asking Cid if Cindy had a soulmate marking, but when Cid was approached, he gave Prompto a look that said 'if you say one word about my daughter, I will skin you alive and hang you up by your entrails,'
And Prompto would say 'well, that escalated quickly' 
But what bugged Prompto the most about his soulmate was the memory of meeting his own soulmate when he was very young. 
It was almost like a dream, but he remembered the back of a neck that had the same soulmate mark as Prompto's, just mirrored. When Prompto discovered his own soulmate mark at a young age, the memory stuck with him, but when he told his parents, they said it was probably just a dream. 
Prompto wasn't sure if it was a dream or not, but he hoped it wasn't. 
Because then that meant they were still out there, somewhere. 
Gladiolus, who sat in the backseat with Prompto, noticed Prompto tracing the outline of his soulmate marking, knowing that the mark looked like an ulwaat berry with the stem curved to the right. "Touching it is not gonna make them magically appear," he snickered. 
"Shut up," Prompto grumbled-his soulmate mark always felt private to Prompto, like it was something only he should know. But it was hard to keep something like a soulmate mark private, especially with three close friends. 
"I never could get the purpose in a soulmate mark," Noctis said from the front seat. "What if they have absolutely nothing in common? What if one of them is a thief?" 
"But what if one of them is their destined one?" Prompto pointed out and Noctis snorted. Noctis was about to say something when Prompto gasped. "OH. EM. GEE," Right ahead, at the curve of the road, was a sign that said 'Wiz's Chocobo Outpost'. "Noct, we HAVE to go! Please, please, pleeeeaaaaasssee!" 
"We have to meet Iris in Lastallum," Gladio grumbled. 
Noctis laughed softly. "Few days wouldn't hurt," he said and Ignis began to turn off the road and head towards the ranch. "I was gonna ask you a question though, Prompt," 
"What?" 
"What if your soulmate is ugly?" 
Prompto scoffed a little at the comment, irritated once again at how people were so obsessed with the looks of their soulmates. Prompto used to hear stories all the time in school, how if someone's soulmate didn't meet their expectations, they would reject them. It always pissed Prompto off. 
"Um, wow, Noctis, conceited much? Do you think I'm that shallow?"
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deaky-disco-queen · 4 years
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For the writers' ask! ink, pen and paper, journal, novella, pulitzer, genre, narrator, backstory, time-lapse, characterization, carnegie, faulkner, o’connor, dickinson, playlist, record, nobel, notepad, parchment, dedication, trope, input, critic, mifflin, houghton!!!!!!!! (i love ya)
Holy- okay here we go: 
(love ya too)
+++
Ink: What do you do to “Set the mood” when writing? 
I usually don’t set the mood, only when I write very specific things like horror (which I don’t do often) but to get me in the writing mood, I usually just make sure I have a drink nearby and set youtube on auto-run.
Pen and paper: Do you prefer writing by hand or on a device? Why? 
Device definitely. I mostly write on my laptop, sometimes on my phone simply because it’s not as messy as my written notes and I do not have to transkript everything which saves me time and work. 
journal: Do you ever write just so you can enjoy something to read? 
Most of the things I write are purely self-indulgent because I want to read something but haven’t found anything like it before so yes, absolutely. 
novella: Do you prefer to write short stories, one shots or entire novels?
I like one-shots the most probably because it’s very contained and easier to keep track on what you’re doing and where you are going with it. I would like to rite longer pieces, though, too. 
pulitzer: Tell about/Link a piece where you felt your writing was the best
From the ones I published it was probably either Bubbles or And We Can Have Forever which I like the most speaking of my writing. There is a very old thing in my drafts where I thought my writing peaked but I haven’t compared it with those pieces yet so maybe that changed. 
genre: what genre do you prefer to write in? 
My true passion are fantasy and science fiction but I haven’t written a lot for it honestly because it’s very intimidating and I just didn’t find the time for it yet. 
narrator: What pov do you like writing in best? 
Third person, limited. It’s just more fun to me than anything else. I tried first person a couple of times but it just… didn’t really work with me. 
backstory: How did you come to love writing? 
The first things I ever remember writing were little stories I made up about my sisters’ and my plushies which was really fun and I enjoyed creative writing practices in school and that’s probably why. I used to make up lots of stories as a kid and it the next logical step was just writing them down. 
time-lapse: How long have you been writing (as a hobby or for work)? 
For about thirteen years, give or take a few. There were some phases I wasn’t writing a lot and read more but at least since age twelve I would say I actively started to see it as a hobby but I started around seven/eight years old. 
characterization: describe your favorite character(s) you’ve written. 
My favorite character to write is honestly Clint Barton from Marvel, I have no idea why but the combination of high-skills with absolute disaster is so much fun to me. 
carnegie: What authors and/or books/stories have inspired you to write or influenced your work?
I’d say Matt Haig inspired me a lot, especially The Humans by him. Other than that, as cliché as it is: Lord Of The Rings because I love fantasy as well as Trudi Canavan and Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. They just combine a lot of things I love in different ways. 
faulkner What tropes do you Love writing? Which ones are your guilty pleasure? 
I adore the found family trope. There is nothing better than a bunch of people figuring out how to work with each other and realizing they happen to like each other for whatever reason. My absolute favorite is when it’s between a kid/baby and someone you wouldn’t trust to take care of a child. Roadtrips are a perfect trope and you cannot convince me otherwise. Friends to lovers/enemies to lovers is always a strong contender along with mutual pining. I love it. 
My absolute guilty pleasure are Daemon AUs, Mermaid AUs and everything to do with Dark Fantasy.
oconnor: What tropes/genres do you dislike writing?
I don’t like writing Highschool AUs. Maybe it’s because I don’t know how american highschools work or simply because I never had a really interesting time at my “Highschool” It’s just not super fun to me. Of course there are exceptions but I am probably the last one to write them for the fun of it. 
I also dislike writing illness plots like  The Fault In Our Stars or any book in this direction. 
dickinson: hat insecurities do you have in your own writing? What do you think you should improve on? 
English is probably my number one insecurity. I’d like to think I have a pretty good grasp on the language but still, I don’t think it is as good as it could be. 
I think I rely too heavily on dialogue to move my stories along and should work on filling the space in between and probably work out scenes a little better. I do think I spent too much time describing characters sometimes. 
playlist: What kind of music/songs help you write? Do you have a writing playlist?
I do not listen to a lot of music when writing, I prefer listening to podcasts or Let’s Plays most of the time. I do have a playlist for the BDSM Club AU though that I made up on a whim.
record: Have you written things based off songs? Do you like to?
I haven’t so far, honestly but maybe one day. I made up stories for random song lyrics, though. 
nobel: Have you published anything you’ve written? Online or irl?
Well, I have published several things on ao3 but I also published a couple of poems I’ve written for a creative writing class during school.
notepad: Can you write anywhere or do have to be in a specific place and mood to write? 
I can generally write anywhere. I’ve written on trains, in cars, while my friends watch movies I am only half-interested in. It doesn’t really matter where I am, honestly. I do have to be in a halfway decent mood though. I don’t have the nerve to write when angry. It works when I’m sad. 
parchment: How often do you or your personal life influence your writing? 
A lot. Either it is something I really enjoy (see the Buzzfeed Unsolved AU) or just little things like I give a character a pretty ring I’ve seen, a blanket I really like or an outfit I enjoy. But that’s mostly the expanse of it. I do tend to come up with new AUs whenever I go to the cinema/read something/play a game or anything. So in that way, it influences my writing a lot. 
dedication: If you were to publish a book or multiple, ho would you dedicate the book(s) to? 
My sister. 
trope: What’s a pet peeve you have about writing? 
I can’t really think of any. Maybe unnecessary/forced love triangles? But I guess that’s more of a trope. 
input: What’s something you hate that people say to you about writing/your writing? 
Honestly, not many say anything about it so I don’t really have anything I hate. 
critic: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received about writing? 
That was probably my friend telling me to write whatever I want and not care about what others want from my writing. 
mifflin: What do you feel is your strong suit in writing? 
Probably dialogue? I like to think I’m pretty good at writing fluffy smut, too. 
houghton: What’s something you love that people compliment your pieces on? 
Realism, I guess. I like it when people tell me it feels like something that somebody could actually say or do in that situation. 
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