#(like ffs shes getting considered for deputy)

[yuridovewing]

thinking about how ivypool thought dovewing got favoritism from the clan growing up and continued to enforce the idea that dove was an entitled bitch, and then she participated when the clan was manipulating and guilt tripping dovewing into a relationship with an entitled creep who didnt respect her, telling her she owed him affection

#‘’my sister gets so much special treatment!! anyways my clanmates are bullying her into an unhappy relationship i better get in on that’m #idea here but what if ivypool was regarded as like a hero for spying on the dark forest and is seen as a respectable warrior now #(like ffs shes getting considered for deputy) #but dovewing is now the one getting ostracized and tossed aside now that shes not ‘’useful’’ and she didnt ‘risk her life’ #and now ivy has it all but she still insists on punishing dovewing for what happened when they were kids #because shes solidified the idea of dove as a whiny entitled spoiled brat who cries to get what she wants #and she absolutely refuses to change that view of her bc she wont let go of her spite #so shes controlling to dove and gets really guilt trippy when dove dares call her out on it #ok im trying not to seem like an ivypool hate blog. im not i think shes interesting and i think her being bitter is fine #my opinion of her has certainly soured over the years (and admittedly bc of the fandom) #also all this talk isnt ‘’omg this is canon this is why she SUCKS!!!!’’ its more ‘’this is probably how id go about it in my rewrite

[drivingsideways]

hi, I've been going through your jtbc life tag, and seeing your commentary on how the writer lacked in some parts, how differently would you have written it had you helmed it?

How delightful. This no-name fic writer unencumbered by entertainment industry realpolitik would:

1. Write the elder Ye sibling as a woman. Why not? Are women not allowed grief and misdirected rage? Are they not allowed to shake the world? I submit that they are. I don't think there needs to be too much change to Ye Jin-woo's role/ characterization for this to work. The love story between the siblings remains absolutely the same. 

2. HOWEVER. I would not go into a pointless red herring plot about possible murder. Ye Seon-woo and Ye Seol-hee find out about the funds misappropriation; unfortunately Director Lee passes away before he can take any action. With Deputy Director Kim in line for the job, and also their PRIME SUSPECT, ER star doctor Ye Seol-hee gets into battle mode.

3. Meanwhile! Sungkook stalwarts ( and People Who Have Had An Unspoken Thing Between Them for twenty odd years , two marriages, two divorces, and two kids betwixt them) Chiefs Joo and Oh are in the process of figuring out What To Do About the Problem of CEO Gu Seung-hyo. Chief Joo and CEO Gu clash very publicly, and Chief Joo's MORAL COMPASS and (unfortunate!) popularity with the staff make him a front runner for director's post because the Kim Tae-Sang subplot gets resolved a little faster. But! CEO Gu knows Chief Joo would be a total disaster and he thinks Chief Oh would be an acceptable compromise? So he's trying to figure out how to get an in with her, because they seem to be A Team, and she speaks her mind but doesn't do any real politicking; ffs, she hasn't even put her name on the list. How now?

4. Hello, junior NEUROSURGEON Lee No-eul of the sunny smiles and unfortunate taste in friends, but BETTER taste in mentors i.e Chief Oh's special fave. Lee No-eul is his in! She seems a sensible sort- they end up sitting having a  meal together at the cafeteria when she walks up and introduces herself and they actually have a particularly good conversation about the govt’s latest regulations re: health insurance- and she adores her sunbae.

5. But how to? Enter Kang Kyung-ah, who LUCKILY has befriended Lee No-eul, VIA Ye Seon-woo, whose love for Lee No-eul could be seen from SPACE, Gu Seung-hyo thinks, but to which No-eul remains charmingly oblivious. But that's not *his * problem, he just needs No-eul to latch onto the idea that Chief Oh should be the next director.

Isn't it time this hospital put women in leadership roles, Kang Kyung-ah asks No-eul over coffee and chatter about kittens. CEO nim was honestly surprised not to see any names in senior management. Of course, the field at the moment was narrow, this was probably something they needed to work on, but Chief Oh has the chops, doesn't Dr.Lee think so? Dr. Lee does think so. Perhaps Dr. Lee should tell her sunbae that then, and y'know, drop the hint that CEO nim would be very happy to see her name on the list. (It would be great drama if this becomes a point of contention between Ye Seol-hee and Lee No-eul rather than you know Romantic Problems Caused By Best Friend Falling For Known Enemy)

5. Chief Oh knows she has the chops. But- there's Chief Joo to consider. She loves him, but god, the man needs to learn to work around things to move them forward, instead of being the tree that won't move. Plus it's a LOT OF WORK, and it's not like she's not already STRESSEDT. Alright, whatever, she's gonna do it.

6. Well, Chief Joo thinks it's a brilliant idea, and really wants her to win, but wait, WHAT, you don't think Gu Seung-hyo needs to be taken down entirely, he just needs to be kept in line? HE HAS SEDUCED YOU WITH HIS CHARM AND HIS PROMISE OF BETTER EQUIPMENT FOR NEUROSURGERY. ARE YOU GOING TO BE SELLING VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS NOW, IS THAT WHERE THIS IS GOING? (How could you betray everything we've stood for all these years?? How can you betray everything we’ve been to each other all these years?)

7. I feel this would be a great time to bring things to boiling point with a nursing staff strike? Kim Eun-ha was a fave minor character that I would have liked to see more of, and I think her whole cause of better pay/ working conditions for nursing staff would be a great crisis point to really go all out with Our Golden Trio, as Seung-hyo, Chief Joo and Chief Oh take different positions on this, while the directorship remains in the air. 

7. So, well, it's VERY difficult and there's PINING like crazy, but like, when push comes to shove, THEY ARE THERE FOR EACH OTHER OK? He votes for her of course (though he doesn't tell her that), and she brokers a decent compromise for the nursing staff AND gets him a budget for those rural clinics he’s been dreaming of, but oh no, can she ever forgive him for Things That Happened and Oh No Can He Ever Forgive Me For Crossing Sides etc. The Pining (TM) reaches such stratospheric levels that even Ye Seol-hee takes time off from fucking things up to notice. [”How Sungkook’s Hospital betrayed it’s staff by breaking the first ever strike” reads the top online story for a week ]

(What's going on with them, she asks her bestest friend Lee No-eul, who shrugs, philosophically, pats her hand and says, not something you'll understand, you have to know what Real Romance is for that. Hmmph, says Ye Seol-hee, and grumps for a week, but No-eul also notices that these days Seol-hee keeps running off to take calls in secret and it turns out that secret is firebrand reporter and giraffe Choi Seo-hyun? Oh! thinks Lee No-eul, that's adorable, and she tells Seon-woo , and they both look at each other and burst out laughing, and Seol-hee finds her life even more UNBEARABLE thanks for nothing)

7. The point is, Gu Seung-hyo thinks, the point is, Chief Joo and Director Oh are there for each other, their bond wasn't something that even his interference (for admittedly selfish reasons) had broken, and y'know what, he's not a kid, he's emotionally aware enough to admit that he'd really like something like that for himself. What would that even be like, he thinks, as he cuddles Nighty, to know that you weren't alone, and that someone would love you despite your fuck ups or for them, even? And FINE, he wasn't immune to the attraction of deeply moral men who worked 48 hrs straight and fell asleep in supply closets, and NEITHER was he unaware of the way he maybe sometimes found himself taking a little extra care of his appearance on the days he had a meeting with Director Oh, but none of this could be allowed to matter, the point is that they'd never see him as anything but an outsider, and anyway, the way things were going, he'd probably have no cause to see them every single day--

8. "Gosh, listen to this man making us reveal our age," Director Oh says at the farewell dinner they organize for him. It surprises him that it's dinner, that the restaurant is cosy, warm, instead of business-like. It doesn't surprise him in the least that the low, warm lighting accentuates the twinkle Chief Joo's dark eyes as he replies, or that it makes the red of Director Oh’s lipstick headier than the wine they’re drinking. It’s their favourite restaurant he finds out, a small joint that serves Ethiopian food, they’ve been coming here for twenty years, and everyone knows them and they know everyone, and oh, y’know, when he’s in town and not so busy, would he like to join them for their weekly dinners here? 

9. But WHAT ABOUT THE ROMANCE you ask, every kdrama needs a romance, not just subtextual OT3! You’re absolutely right! Not to worry, Kang Kyung-ah is totally on the job! “How adorable is Ye Seon-woo!” she tells Lee No-eul on one of their many dates where they don’t discuss Gu Seung-hyo at ALL, “If I were ten years younger I’d totally hit that!” No-eul laughs, but is also a little embarassed, that’s like her best friend ok, and then Kyung-ah adds, “Not that he’s got eyes for anyone but you!” and No-eul goes, what? and Kyung-ah goes “what?” and then No-eul has a whole ten days (while the Ye siblings are on their seaside vacation) where she’s trying to figure out if a) it’s true and b) what she feels about it and c) then that gets VERY clarified when she finds out that Seon-woo MIGHT DIE and when they are back she’s like, listen up Seon-woo, if you have plans of dying without surgery, just gonna tell you that’s not on the cards, and Seon-woo is like, do you have an alternate plan? and Lee No-eul, neurosurgeon extraordinaire and a woman who knows what she wants, is like, you betcha, we gonna get married and have five kids, and Seon-woo is like *swallows *, “If you say so”, and she’s like “I do.”

FINI. 

#jtbc life #anon you can see that nobody would ever pay me #why yes i do think jang yeo bin would be perfect for Ye Seol-hee

[mallowstep]

tpons initial/reading thoughts

keeping my "liveblogging" in one place to maintain my mortorium on spoilers

tpons spoilers below the cut. obviously.

prologue

i swear to god if bramblestar comes back and i don't get squirrelstar i might actually seek out the collective representation of erin hunter and kill her

chapter one

bristlefrost.

bristlefrost, can you hear me [1].

jayfeather is under exactly the same stress as alderheart. so either you're implying alder is weak or you're in the "adoption isn't real" camp and i'm neutral on you as a character, i don't want to dislike you.

you know, i thought the scene in mtbnsof where all of thunderclan is like "yeah, let's just exile squirrelflight" [2] was exaggeration, and honestly i spent a long time workshopping it to make sure it felt natural, but apparently i didn't have to do that, because the characters are canonically OK with it!

do y'all want your leader back or bramblestar? (i'm not salty nope not me.) also twigbranch the fuck do you mean "it would be wonderful if bramblestar came back" like what he barely let you stay in thunderclan stfg.

fuck, i can't tell whether or not sparkpelt is denying lionblaze and jayfeather as squilf's kits, but they're really ruining my good faith in adoption. or just proving my point that it's not about adoption.

does thunderclan care about shadowsight? what is going on i swear did they forget he killed bramble and is responsible for the entire mess right now?

chapter two

shadowsight you did a bad of course they're not hiding how disappointed they are you did a bad my son

lmao it's the reverse of tawnypelt's clan [3], shadowsight is being kidnapped against his will for the tribe. also please can we go back to the tribe but only if it's good

he listed dovewing next to "clan leader" not "clan leader's mate" which implies dovewing has shc's respect which yes i stan

aww siblings being siblings. i miss that from po3. nothing has captured it as well. well, like, the sight.

chapter three

you know, i think part of why i've struggled so much with this arc is because i just don't like any of the pov characters. i don't dislike any of them but i don't like them.

yeah! tree defending rootspring!!!! fuck. good fathers in warriors.

so rootspring calls lionblaze TC deputy which means squirrelstar [4].

god they go, like, ages without caring whose parent is who and suddenly they're covering it all over again but like, in an adoption bad way, and just, fuck you erin hunter [5].

it's good to see lionblaze does care about her, fuck, can we just get some consistency here. (i mean god rootspring he lost his mom too --- i mean, if anyone should know this, your mom was violetshine, posterchild for bad adoption, who fought w twigbranch over adoptive mother shit)

i want a bernie meme like "i am once again asking for adoption to be treated like a legitmate form of family."

chapter four

wait why the fuck is bris faster than windclan their whole thing is being fast

also that moonkitti video about harestar having no personality[6] is painfully real i know nothing about this man

oh huh we were just talking about windclan camp[7]. this is actually pretty similar to the first ever description, right down to bris wondering how people sleep there (they don't.) well, uh, credit where credit is due, good job for sticking to your guns on windclan sleeps outside.

i love how crow and breeze being difficult is just common knowledge.

oh, so crowfeather gets credit for the three? fucking hell man i'm done.

also fuck you crowfeather for victim blaming i will be making a call out post so help me [8]

okay i'm ngl it feels like bris is crushing on lionblaze. i don't think that's supposed to be a thing [9], it just feels like that.

okay okay okay i'm confused in earlier books the great battle was like a well discussed thing. god, avos had that whole the names of the fallen thing. and now, not even a full generation later, and bris doesn't understand the dark forest? (also who's even in the dark forest?)

(oh wait this book is going to answer that. uh for the record, now, squirrelstar/mtbnsof has been fully plotted and will disregard whatever this book says, unless it's good.)

oh wow i guess we're just throwing out the concept of the moonpool why don't we. really, everything i heavily justified/couched in mtbnsof is happening unironically in canon.

mothwing and willowshine god fucking damn. they're prob my fav mentor/apprentice relationship. mistystar's omen stg.

what is it with everyone and bouncing all the fuck around with squirrelflight? like, okay, i'd get it if they doubted her because yeah, i could make a strong argument about clan morality and her actions [10]. but they're so on and off about it i hate it.

shadowsight.

shadowsight, can you hear me.

you're literally saying, "i could solve this, if i had a solution to the problem."

well ig we know who he takes after.

chapter five

what's up with this "darkest thoughts" bullshit come on you're really going to invalidate ivypool like that?

lionblaze really do be going back and forth. can't blame him he's not used to having a character.

also, i really love jayfeather standing up for alderheart [11].

mothwing wtf how're you getting to hell you don't believe in it. how do you have faith in shit. also please stop trashing shadowsight [12]. that said, she's absolutely right, she would be the ideal cat for the job, considering she has warrior training.

jayfeather what the fuck dude why are you suggesting it. although i'm glad at least he acknowledges his connection to squilf. good job. good job for being the one fucking character.

willowshine. willowshine baby no. don't do it. willowshine. willowshine no. don't do it. baby. no. please. i'm crying please don't do it.

"well, Mothwing, I admire everything about you" holy fucking shit what a line that's a line to inspire so much fic [13].

willow please baby no. please. send kestrelwing or something. puddleshine. anyone but you please baby.

damn okay what is with the connection between mothwing and.

no.

no no no no no.

they're killing willowshine.

why.

she's. baby. please no. she's not read. she's too. no. i can't.

ffs moth please stop dissing shadow like this he doesn't deserve this. (also, unrelated, did, uh, did puddleshine name shadowsight for spiresight, a cat he never met and had no connection with? fuck i forgot what happened there.)

you know, out of the med cats, mothwing and jayfeather are the oldest. it's nice to see that dynamic have weight: when jayfeather speaks, people listen. it's been a while since we've had that role of the med cats in thunderclan.

god willow is dead and i'm going to sob.

chapter six

I FUCKING CALLED IT I HATE EVERYTHING

why did they have kill my baby [14]

when did rootspring get fucking responsible this is worse than when i got responsible

also mothwing i'm so sorry.

fuck.

i didn't cry i was too angry and i cried about it last night because i knew it was coming just.

they didn't have to do her dirty like that.

chapter seven

just, before we begin, still sad about this willowshine bs. give me back my baby.

oh gee bristlefrost i wonder why lionblaze can't talk about his mother being taken away

does this mean they're going to acknowledge adoption again? please let this not be me raising my hopes too soon.

also really with all this lionblaze = deputy stuff...i just want squils [15]

oh lionblaze is back on his bullshit again. like, dude. he was instructed to treat ashfur. he was ordered. jesu maria.

uh. spotfur. what the fuck?

okay, first of all, squilf was chosen as deputy, so yes, she does in fact inherit leadership. that's...that's just wrong.

if you want to complain about lionblaze, sure, i hate it as much as you [16]. but squilf?

yes, yes, please give me ivystar [17]. if i can't have squilfstar (and i don't think i can, hence the existence of mtbnsof [18]), please let me have ivypool. (although mousewhisker? who said that lmfao.)

uh, lionblaze? there are so many better choices. i think bristlefrost would do a better job. (that's not an idea please don't give me bristlestar.)

ayyyyy! graystripe! what a man. what a time.

(graystripe and his gd dramatic entrances.)

also it's good to see elders getting the respect they deserve. (wait what what what the fuck happened to him.)

hehe (mtbnsof spoilers) i'm glad at some level that like, i identified key things that need to happen to make the story interesting and compelling, and they're happening. tbc really is picking up with the good writing. i have a lot of thoughts about this, but mostly, like, these books have changed since when i started them, but i'm happy with where they got. also, lmao i'm dying because like, yeah fuck i don't even know, i can't believe both the worst and best parts of mtbnsof have made it into this. god. what a world.

oh thank god lionblaze is stepping down.

hey, uh...is anyone going to follow up with what graystripe was doing? this is getting sus i can't take another thing i just need to trust someone.

chapter eight

i'm still not over willowshine

i. can people decide if dark forest is punishment or. wasn't lionblaze against sending shadowsight? i can't remember shit i should be taking useful notes i have a memory problem xd

aww dovewing mom.

you know i have a quick q: in skyclan & the stranger, leafstar's kits call her mama. but i don't think we've seen any adult cats say that. what's up w that?

oh dovewing i love you but...nah i just love you

that said, uh, can shadowsight's behavior be treated consistently? i don't know something is just bothering me.

oh yeah icewing exists lmao. forgot about that. can this continue like can shadowclan be the new home for wayward souls? they kind of deserve it after all of the villains they've had. and the earliest books kind of implied shadowclan used to do that.

i really, like, okay. cats like icewing are all "durr hurr dark forest very bad" and then others are like "bruh hell is real?"

uh. nope. i hate this implication that the dark forst is poisonous. very bad very bad very bad.

aww tigerstr being a good dad. breaking the cycle. first one [19].

i really, like, why do cats blame shadowsight? he wanted to go? he wanted to be the one? like, wtf?

urgh who wants to be warriorcatsfandommisandry [20] would praise shadow's rule breaking while victim-blaming squilf for the same behavior.

well, uh, ig i'm glad mothwing secretly cares about shadowsight? like, that's kind of fixing her character. kind of.

chapter nine

wow this post is getting long whoops i mean it is all of my notes on a book. usually i condense em into the good stuff.

lmao shadowsight b like "yeah if i die sorry my dad's gonna kill u luv u thanks for coming >3"

seriously mothwing was definitely the cat to choose considering she could 100% fight. also, like, his body is at risk?

you know, i think mothwing is supposed to be having a jayfeather arc here, but it's crippled by the fact that we're not in her head [21].

how many cats are even in the dark forest wasn't this the whole plot of oots that they're all dead?

also, like, i'm glad mothwing is back to herself. i don't even care about the inconsistency i'm happy to have mothwing back.

seriously it's starting to get to me that the knowledge of the great battle is so inconsistent.

okay i like that we've ditched the "darkest thoughts" thing that was kind of stupid

squirrelflight

(i am crying she's here again fuck)

chapter ten

okay yeah valid gotta maintain that tension (altho fuck you erin hunter [5])

huh. i still kinda hate rootspring for basically no reason ngl

you know, i've never questioned this, but how the fuck does moss ball work? moss doesn't work like that god no no no i can't over think it [22].

you know, forbidden romance might be "overdone" but it's worth pointing out that we very rarely get the perspective of the cats in the forbidden romance

lmao what is it with greystripe? like? is everyone in love with him? i'm not being fair to him just...what?

emotional support wife dovewing [23]

i really wish there was a deeper bond between bris, rootspring, and shadow. i appreciate the viewpoints into different clans, but with no meaningful differences in culture, it's just weird because we're used to po3 and avos and stuff where our leads are really close to each other.

willow

willow baby

you know it's occurred to me i've never vocalized my love for willowshine on this blog before now? xd see i don't actually talk about my favorite characters that much. i talk about dovewing the most out of my top 3 (dovewing, jayfeather, willowshine, in no particular order), but they just kind of feel...too personal? because i have really specific reasons to connect with all of them.

dovewing just happens to be for reasons i'm most able to share >3

willow please don't be corrupted

chapter eleven

please i just want to know squilf is okay

bris u fucking idiot we've established the moonpool is deep. don't you remember literally yesterday?

flametail imagery

"drypaws" what a word. interesting ik leopardstar just avoided water, but here bris can't swim. i don't care i'm just happy for some gd culture

okay i've said it before and i've said it again: i draw the line at cat cpr

wait what is daisy doing? fuck was i supposed to read the novellas first? is this what daisy's kin is about? when did daisy leave? did i miss something? what's going on??

okay can we...like, cats who aren't elders trained in the dark forest. this wasn't even a full generation ago. lionblaze. breezepelt. just...guys.

tigerdove...so cute. i love them [23].

where tf are the sisters they got here so fast

like bruh...i liked the sisters but now they're like, clan on demand ghost summoners? i think? idk clearly i'm missing something very important

emotional support wife dovewing

chapter twelve

i see shadowsight and i don't see squirrelflight and i have a complaint

oh uhhh who's snowtuft again?

also i feel like, i feel like i made my point about it being empty

a light in the mist title drop dodoododod

bruh what is ashfur even

oh series one cat xd yeah that checks

look. if they're not in the allegiances, i don't remember them for shit, okay? my series one memory is excellent, it's just that series one cared about thunderclan, and, like, tallstar

squilf squilf squilf squilf squilf if she's not in this chapter i'm going to scream it is 2am bitch

I AM SCREAMING BITCH

chapter thirteen

the scream lengthens

just give me her

at least i get to spend time with willowshine?

wait mapleshade is still alive? i thought someone killed her oop

also uh yeah how did ashfur amass power like, that bitch is an incel he's done nothing but fail to kill three cats and get murdered and go to heaven

are there even enough dark forest cats for that?

rootspring this is a bad idea don't do this haven't you seen horror movies stop being the white chick

sad ghosts r sad sigh

chapter fourteen

when did warriors get all "oh no can't do multiple chapters of the same narrator in a row" please nobody fucking cares that bris is sad i just want to see squirrelflight

lmao bris like "it's illegal to be atheist" bitch i read code of the clans exactly once i know it's dovestar who tried that and the answer was no.

ah, tree. actually mediating, for once.

god, bris...why is firestar's legacy so large? like, fuck, i know why, i just...

also, tree, she said a nobel and true Clan, not the clan. so like, maybe chill out for a moment [24].

hnnnng family drama also i really like that tree loves his wife very good very good

dfskj okay mothwing missing riverclan would be much more impactful if we actually knew what was going on in riverclan. (like, say, if willowshine was a pov in this arc [25]?) also, you know, riverclan has had so many problems with treating cats badly? god, a shadow in riverclan. wait, like, shouldn't mothwing also remember/reflect on this? wait this would be so much better if we had more pov for this fuck

also fuck off bris about being proud you are so fucking priviledged your forbidded romance drama is as intense as like, idek, the notebook? from someone who lived through, uh, forbidded romance that involved threatening to send someone to conversion camp [26], fuck off

bruh. why is she acting like thunderclan is gone xd you have no idea what it's like for a clan to almost fall apart yeah i stand by my comments on shadow/skyclan.

"what will my place be?" it will be a fucking warrior of thunderclan??? all you've ever wanted???? god she's...look i get it she's like, my age. and lord knows i don't react gracefully to shit. she's stressed, i get it. i do. but also, just, ffs bris. get it together.

"you die in the dark forest, you die in real life" can we meme that?

oooh okay it would be really good to get all three pov cats in the dark forest [27].

also, how long has rootspring been down there? how does this work? what's up with shadowsight? what is anything even? how long has it been?

thank you mothwing for pointing out bristlefrost is extremely unexperienced.

also can i just say, i really like bris' name? like i think bristlefrost is an extremely cute and good name. cute in that it's cute and good in that it conveys her character well.

god i want mothwing pov on this [25].

why is bris so convinced that if she doesn't act, rootspring isn't coming back?

chapter fifteen

wow i had a lot of notes on last chapter huuuh

oh vibe do i finally get squilf

stopping caring about bramble shadow no one fucking cares

seriously when did ashfur get this, uh, good at being a villain?

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

she's

here

fuck i'm crying

poor bb i just. poor baby.

okay. ashfur. let me making something clear.

i do not understand why in the world squilf would ever choose bramble [28]. but you're fucked as a choice.

ffs yellowfang this is why we don't say "his only crime was loving too much"

okay well as much as i'm confused by his power his characterization here is fantastic. i'm really glad we got ashfur back as a villain, you know.

good job squirrelflight. do not take unnecessary blame.

(also please learn to transfer these skills to your pos husband.)

#when you can't get her to love you by killing her husband and dragging her into hell so you think you can make her love you by showing her how you're torturing the souls of her loved ones

you know i had the snowtuft thing spoiled for me i just forgot who snowtuft was so it had 0 impact

damn bramblestar is still alive.

dammit.

people kept calling lionblaze deputy don't do that to me if you're not following through on it ffs

okay not to pimp out my own fic but if you're interested in a squirrelstar au, "may there be no sadness of farewell" is my squils (squirrelstar) au and it does have an imposter arc. so you know. if that's your thing.

hnng my thoughts on bramble [29] aside i can appreciate the drama

ashfur. ashfur. ashfur you fucking idiot you're the one fighting her. also fuuuck i love this character. if i was bookmarking this on ao3 you know it'd get the "hot damn" tag.

huh. uh, wow. good chapter. hot damn. loved it. loved it so much.

hate what it means for my hopes and dreams, but very good. very intense. i approve.

chapter sixteen

eh, wasn't she going to the dark forest? did i forget something?

ohhh dream

huh this is interesting

and cute.

i love the "everything is fine" trope so much tho

does...did no one ever describe ashfur to bris?

you know, i think this is why so many people, me included, go with the we-don't-talk-about-our-villains thing. sure, it makes some bits awkward, but...yeesh

huh. weird chapter. both impactful and kinda meh.

chapter seventeen

you know i'm feeling a lot of things right now, and i might have to just give in and finish this damn thing.

we'll see.

willow willow willow willow willow

sigh ffuuuck she's dead. i'm sad. i'm going to write a fic about her. "under a willow tree" i have plans. it's going to be good.

yeah see okay. i made a joke about warriors needing to make not talking about shit part of the culture and i'm glad they did because it works

squilf!!!!!!!!!

oh fuck i'm crying again. my girl. she's here. she's here.

of course they saved you!!!!!! you're!!!!! squilf!!!!!!

please get nine lives.

please.

let the body be dead.

let bramble die.

please.

chapter eighteen

okay seriously i really want to memify "if you die in the dark forest, you die in real life"

oh rip shadow's ear. that sucks. huh. i'm gonna have to explore this, too. esp. w dovewing.

eeeeee mothwing being mothwing again i'm happy

willow

mothwing stick to ur guns for a moment

also i appreciate the "u can't tell me what to do i'm a med cat" thing going on

hehe tigerdad (where's dovewing my beloved)

chapter nineteen

wow okay i'm 3/4 of the way through

dammit rip squilf something something exploring some canon complient stuff.

huh, shadowsight. do you think maybe. being in the dark forest. is bad. do you think. maybe.

bruh shadow way to go call out your own father smh.

mothwing, my dear, you're the one who didn't want to treat him like that. i mean i'm glad you're standing up for him but this kind of makes your whole treatment of him feel like a plot device.

okay, i'm glad that's a formal thing, med cats > leaders, that makes me happy

i really want to know what alderheart is up to.

yeah really why have they waited so long. i mean i forgot about them too but the sisters seem like an obvious choice? since they're here?

(also i'm still really confused by the daisy thing.)

heh i really do need to read squilf's hope. i've been putting it off (i don't want to read cft, but...), but i think it's about time.

rootspring what? okay going to read it now ig

okay okay i'm really glad the sisters are like fuck we're done w y'all cause that's been a long time coming

what debt where the sisters in to the clans XD???

chapter twenty one

"moonpond"xxd i'm dying

awww tigerdad

don't the sisters know the basics of herbal healthcare?

poor tigerstar. no no guys. his wife was in a dangerous prophecy, and now his son is. :(

tigerdad!!!!!!!

ohhh this chapter hit hard

chapter twenty two

"the sign of a true leader" is...talking fast?

dfsjadfskj rootspring you are lead by leafstar the best and most capable leader the fuck are you talking about

:((((((((( brambles........alive

is squirrelstar so much to ask for

y'all're lucky i was going to release "ilex aquafolium" tonight as a follow-up to "better left unsaid" because freyja (my cat) chose it to be next in the rotation but i might end up finishing chapter three of "may there be no sadness of farewell" first because coping

chapter twenty three

you know writing that chapter did not take me better i forgot mtbnsof is angst until like...the epilogue

heyyy they're back....i'm.....soo....happy...about......this [30]

i mean i feel like every one is way too trusting how do u know it's the real squilf?

shadowsight bris rootspring polycule? just a thought

oh. so that's it, then.

you know, i enjoyed it.

citation: a moonkitti video ↩︎

see here to read it, but...you could probably get it in canon ↩︎

legally i have to tell you i haven't actually read this yet ↩︎

please let me have this. ↩︎

where "erin hunter" refers to the collective who writes warriors ↩︎ ↩︎

it's called "leader chance" if you're interested ↩︎

okay, techincally i was talking about riverclan dens, but it's close. ↩︎

for my own personal reference, pg 50 on phone. about 19% ↩︎

warrior cats still hasn't invented cheating. also, no, i'm not going overboard on the footnotes. ↩︎

nts, do this. or add on to like "daughter of mine" or "secrets passed over in the dead of night" ↩︎

gives more weight to sunset and evening star. ↩︎

although also guys it's not that out of character for her. like, she's always been quick to do what she thinks is right, and this time, it's the wrong thing. you know? ↩︎

including my own fuck. ↩︎

spoilers for mtbnsof. i mean i know i killed willow for exactly the same reason but...why'd they have to lift all of my least favorite parts of squilfstar. ↩︎

squilf but for squirrelstar. coined in my drafting notes for mtbnsof ↩︎

to be clear, he's wrong, i just wouldn't bother arguing because it's annoying having lionblaze as clan leader. ↩︎

nts: do something with this. mtbnsof spoilers. even if i don't end up going through to squils death, i want to do something with ivystar, preferably before the entire clan is ocs. ↩︎

in case you're new here, my ao3 is mallowstep and mtbnsof stands for may there be no sadness of farewell, a squirrelstar au that begins at the end of lost stars. ↩︎

"love knows no bounds (but maybe it should)" (unannounced) spoilers. ...i say, knowing about how he's, uh, not in lknb. ↩︎

hopefully, i'm speaking ill of the dead and not summoning the devil. hopefully. ↩︎

yes of course i will now be writing that thank you for calling me out. we will also be exploring her relationship with religion. title? unsure, but we might reuse "i'll believe the wind is calling me" since that has been scrapped and salvaged ↩︎

only valid kit play scene is now the one at the beginning of the sight. ↩︎

no tigerdove discourse please. i'm not in the mood for it. play nice. ↩︎ ↩︎

although to be clear, the only actually noble and true clans, at least time of this book, are shadowclan and skyclan. ↩︎

nts - "under a willow tree" ↩︎ ↩︎

oh. so that's why i don't like her. ↩︎

it triples my odds of seeing squilf. ↩︎

i do. i really, really do. but until the erins acknowledge it, i try to ignore it in canon. otherwise i get too sad. ↩︎

as mentioned before, when i'm interacting with canon, my standards are a lot lower. because i like to enjoy the stories. that's why i write fix-it fic. ↩︎

i'm crying ↩︎

#mine #txt #6th #April #2021 #April 6th 2021 #7th #April 7th 2021 #8th #April 8th 2021 #9th #April 9th 2021 #10th #April 10th 2021 #11th #April 11th 2021 #12th #April 12th 2021 #13th #April 13th 2021 #tpons #talk #tpons spoilers

[bluemoon-writer]

TSI - Chapter 1

Word Count: 14.4k

Summary: Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon realize that ignoring the Harry's Hogwarts letters isn't going to work. Thus leading Harry to arrive at Hogwarts unbiased.

Chapter 1 - Author's Notes

Read on: FF --- Ao3 --- Wattpad

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Author's note at the bottom

On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. (1)

Uncle Vernon had exploded when he realized that the letters were in his eggs. How they had gotten in there, Harry had no idea. Nonetheless, Uncle Vernon was furious and angrily paced around the kitchen ranting, raving, and waving his fists in the air. Petunia watched him worriedly, every few minutes she would start reaching out to try and calm him down before realizing it was a moot point. Dudley gave Harry a look of amazement.

"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?"(2)Of course, if Harry had known that then they likely wouldn't be in their current situation.

Eventually, Vernon calmed down, and Petunia was ready with a plan. She shooed the kids from the kitchen and quickly intercepted Vernon before he could rip the letters to shreds. Ignoring them clearly wasn't working, so it was time to try a new approach.

"Vernon, dear, I don't think ignoring them is going to work."

Vernon sighed in frustration, "Well, what else are we supposed to do?"

"I think we need to let him read it. I don't think they'll stop unless he does," Petunia suggested cautiously. Vernon rolled his eyes. How anyone would know if he read the letter was beyond him.

"That's ridiculous!"

Petunia sighed. "Wizards are ridiculous dear."

"And how do you know that'll work?" Vernon asked.

"I don't but ignoring them clearly isn't working. We have to try something else, I'm tired of my house being made into a circus sideshow!" Petunia exclaimed.

Vernon nodded slowly. He was also tired of the chaos ignoring the letters had brought, he had barely gotten any sleep the past week and it was starting to negatively affect him at work. He could also follow Petunia's logic, and if he could get the letters to stop without moving to a deserted island then it was worth a try. He sighed. "Okay, let's give it a go. Bring the boys in."

Petunia opened the door to reveal Harry and Dudley casually leaning against the wall pretending that they hadn't just had their ears pressed to the door. The two boys glanced at each other in surprise, before cautiously taking a seat at the table. Then Petunia handed Harry one of the letters.

"It looks like we can't avoid this, so go on, read it."

Dudley started to protest but was quieted by a firm look from Vernon. Harry took the letter in amazement. He didn't think he had a chance in hell of ever getting to read his letter. He had half a mind to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He restrained himself though, and opened the letter quickly, before his Aunt and Uncle could change their minds.

---

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress

---

Harry looked up at his aunt and uncle in shock. His first thought was that this was a cruel joke. However, he quickly remembered that the Dursleys have no sense of humor (3). And, Harry knew in his gut that the letter was right, even though it didn't make any logical sense.

"Is this serious?" He had to ask, had to make sure.

Petunia sighed. She didn't even know where to begin explaining the little she knew about magic. "Unfortunately, yes. My sister, your mother, received a letter just like that when she was eleven." Petunia's faced twisted and angry thoughts she never had a chance to voice started spilling out. "Then she was brainwashed into joining that-that obscene cult and abandoned her family! And of course, all her irresponsibility got her killed! All because of that nasty magic world and that arrogant man! Then you were dumped on us and we swore we'd stomp out any magic in you!"

"I-I thought my parents died in a car crash," Harry said quietly.

Petunia shook her head vehemently. "No, Lily and that dreadful man she married got involved in some ridiculous war or whatnot and were killed," she said callously, not thinking, or caring, if this new revelation hurt Harry.

Harry processed this quietly. He knew there had to be a reason that his relatives hated him so much. Still, he had never imagined something like this. They hated him, berated him, hit him, starved him, locked him in a closet all because he could do magic? Like they thought that would reverse biology? Harry shook his head. There was a slowly building fury rising up in his chest and he did his best to suppress it. Blowing up now wouldn't do any good.

Dudley broke the silence. "So, Harry can do magic? That's not fair! Why can't I do magic?" He whined.

"You thank the Lord you can't do magic! Magic is evil!" Petunia snapped.

Dudley wailed and banged his head on the table. "It's not fair! Give me Harry's magic! I wanna do magic! I wanna do magic!"

Petunia turned red and slapped Dudley across the face (4). "You will never speak about magic again. Go to your room and don't come back until you're done whining about it." Petunia hissed furiously. She could accept that she had to allow her sister's disgusting wizard son live in her house, but she would absolutely not stand for her Dudders to be infected with that satanic energy.

Dudley stared at his mother in shock. Not once, in eleven years, had she ever gone as far as to speak firmly to him. He silently stood, his face stark-white, and walked to his room. Harry watched him uneasily. He had been hoping that getting to read his letter meant he'd get to go to this school, but now he wasn't sure. His aunt very clearly hated it. There was only one way to find out though. He flipped through the other papers and tried to look uninterested.

"So, does this mean I'm going to this weird magic school?"(5)

Vernon snorted. "Look at that school list boy! I'm not paying a cent for that. Besides, we made it clear that we don't want to be involved with any of that blasted magic."

Harry sighed. It was just as he thought. He'd have to try and find some way to convince them (6). Perhaps he could threaten to call child services, he certainly had enough bruises to make a convincing case. Luckily, for Harry, it didn't have to come to that as the perfect solution was in the pile of papers he was flipping through.

---

GRINGOTTS BANK

Mr. Potter,

We at Gringotts are pleased to hear of your acceptance into Hogwarts. Please present this letter to any goblin in the entrance hall of Gringotts to verify your identification. At that time, you will be given access to the education fund set up by your parents.

Sincerely,

Griphook

Head of the Potter Accounts

---

Harry grinned to himself, a plan forming in his head, and look back up at his Aunt and Uncle. "I understand, I'd never want to be a burden, but it seems like you don't have to pay for anything. The Hogwarts letter came with a letter from a bank called Gringotts. It says I have a vault there. My parents must have set up a school account for me before they died." (7) Harry could barely contain his excitement but forced himself to stay calm. Knowing the Dursleys they'd be even less inclined to let him go if he seemed excited about it. (8)

Vernon frowned. "Well, if they did, it must be the only sensible thing either of them had ever done in their entire lives. Even so, we told you that we are not getting any more involved in that mumbo-jumbo!"

Internally, Harry wanted to strangle the Dursleys, but he forced himself to be calm. He nodded. "That makes sense, but even you acknowledged that ignoring it hasn't seemed to help at all. If I went to Hogwarts, I'd be gone most of the year and you wouldn't have to worry about magic at all, but if I stay here who knows what these wizard folks will do. They seem pretty determined. They did all this just to give me a letter, imagine what they'll do get to me to go to the school." Harry gave a fake shudder.

Vernon and Petunia glanced at each other. In all honesty, Petunia didn't know much about the wizarding world. However, the one of the things she did know was that they became legal adults at 17, because that was when her sister had gone off and disappeared with that dreadful wizard, which meant they could get rid of Harry a whole year early and finally, truly, be done with magic.

"I suppose, if you really do have an account, we can consider it. Vernon, why don't you take Harry to that Gringotts place and see if it's true that my sister and her husband left him money? If they did, then we might as well send him. It'll make Mrs. Mills and Mrs. Clover so jealous if I tell them that both of the kids are going to elite private schools," Petunia sighed, already thinking up stories she could tell her neighbors that will make her seem even more impressive. Yes, this might be a good idea. She doesn't have to deal with her freak nephew for most of the year, and she can use this opportunity to boost her reputation.

Vernon was surprised that she gave in so easily but shrugged it off quickly. He was sure she would explain her reasoning to him when the freak wasn't right in front of them (9). So, he gruffly told Harry that he'd better be ready to go at 8 o' clock sharp Sunday morning, or he could forget about going to that absurd school at all.

Harry and Vernon left for Diagon Alley right after breakfast the next morning. Petunia pretended they were just going for a "lovely Sunday morning drive", Vernon grumbled about not having time to read the paper, and Harry pretended he didn't exist and sat quietly in the backseat, hoping Vernon wouldn't get fed up and turn the car around. He just needed to get to this "Leaky Cauldron". Then it wouldn't matter if Uncle Vernon changed his mind. Surely the Wizarding World had some form of child services, if need be, Harry hoped he could rely on them for housing should his Aunt and Uncle decide to kick him out.

As Harry continued to plan for emergency situations, Uncle Vernon drove up and down the same street, repeatedly, looking for the Leaky Cauldron. It wasn't until his fifth time down the road that Vernon suddenly spotted it and slammed on the car brakes, jolting Harry out of his thoughts. Harry jumped in surprise but was filled with relief to see that they'd arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. He'd made it.

Vernon snorted in disgust as they entered. "Why on earth would they put the entrance to their magic shopping way in such a dirty, unpleasant place?"

Harry thought it was to keep normal people away but kept that thought to himself. He had learned long ago when to keep his mouth shut. He watched as Vernon walked up to the bartender and loudly asked where "that Diagon Alley place is." The bartender glanced around Vernon to see Harry and smiled.

"Ah, you must be a muggleborn! Just got your Hogwarts letter, I see. Personally, I think they ought to provide better instructions on how to get here in that there letter. Same with Platform 9 ¾ . I tell you, the number of stories I've heard from muggleborns who almost missed the train because they didn't know they had to walk through the dividing wall is astounding (10). Anyways, come over here; I'll let you into to Diagon Alley. You've got to have a wand to get in," the bartender rattled on.

Harry watched in amazement as the wall slid away after being tapped in a couple of places. Even Uncle Vernon looked intrigued, though he tried to hide it. They stepped through the wall and took in the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley.

There were people dressed in cloaks and robes everywhere. They were flowing in and out of elaborate shop fronts, some were selling things on the streets, and others were simply standing and talking. The air seemed to crackle, and Harry felt immediately drawn in. They were so distracted absorbing their new surroundings that Vernon and Harry both jumped when they heard the bartender speak.

"That over there is Gringotts, the bank. You'll want to stop there first to exchange your currency," he said before stepping back into the pub and closing the wall.

Harry looked where he pointed and saw a large, ornate, marble building. He and Uncle Vernon glanced at each other and started towards it. They had never liked each other, but they were both taken aback by the wizarding world and had formed a small, tiny sense of camaraderie in their mutual confusion.

Inside the bank, Vernon Dursley assumed his usual, no-nonsense work face. He approached the nearest goblin, sucking up his disgust, and showed it Harry's letter. He tried not to look at the thing as it took the letter and examined it. He couldn't help but think that these goblins were surely a violation of nature. They looked like cross between a midget, a dead bunny, and a reptile.

Harry, meanwhile, had the opposite reaction. Growing up, he had spent a decent amount of time hiding in libraries and had ended up reading a great deal of fantasy novels. He thought the goblins were absolutely fascinating and had to resist the urge to bombard them with questions, which was incredibly difficult as everything about them raised more questions for him. After all, he'd never seen anything like them in his life. Additionally, unlike the wizards outside, they were dressed normally, Harry could only assume it was because they were bankers. Which only led Harry to wonder why only goblins seemed to work at the bank. Were certain areas of commerce controlled by different races? Or are wizards just really bad at math? If so, Harry certainly couldn't blame them, math definitely was not his favorite subject. (11)

"Welcome to Gringotts, Mr. Potter. I'll go fetch your account manager," the goblin said in a low, gravelly voice before hopping off his stool and walking away.

He returned soon after with a slightly taller goblin who was dressed even finer. The teller bowed and hopped back up on his stool. Harry turned and smiled at the new goblin who had extended his hand.

Harry shook it as the goblin introduced himself as Griphook. He also shook Uncle Vernon's hand, although it barely seemed so with how quickly Vernon snatched his hand back. The large man was barely able to resist wiping his hand on his pants. The goblin led them to a private room to discuss their affairs. As Griphook gave them a brief history of Gringotts, Vernon pulled himself together, goblins were certainly the last thing he had expected to encounter at a bank. 'Yes, these creatures are funny looking, and have who-knows-what kind of lifestyles, but this is a bank. Anyone who runs such a fine-looking bank must have a semi-sensible head. Plus, they dress normally so they can't really be that strange. I'm a client here for money, I've done this a thousand times before. I just have to pretend it's a regular human,' Vernon thought to himself.

They sat down in a small room and Griphook laid out several files.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Potter. The Potters have always been great clients here at Gringotts so I'm glad you got our letter. I'd been wanting to get in contact with your guardians for quite some time, but for obvious safety reasons Dumbledore kept refusing to share your location."

Vernon cleared his throat, and made eye contact with the creature, "I'm Harry's guardian, Vernon Dursley. I'm married to his maternal aunt." He couldn't bring himself to apologized for being repulsed by its appearance, but he would treat it as normally as possible. It is the course of action that will benefit him the most (12).

Griphook nodded. "Ah, yes, I had suspected that Harry may have been placed in the Muggle world."

Uncle Vernon frowned, "Muggle?" he questioned.

Griphook inwardly sighed at having to explain the meaning of 'muggle' to yet another confused parent, 'Honestly, does the Hogwarts administration explain nothing to these people?' he wondered. His annoyance was tempered though by reminder that this was simply another chance to milk money out of them with a large 'consultation fee' (13).

"We call non-magical folks muggles. Wizards born to muggles are called muggleborns, the children of a wizard and a muggle or muggleborn are half-bloods, and the children of two wizards are purebloods," Griphook explained simply.

"The bartender earlier called me a muggleborn, but I thought both of my parents are wizards?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Ah, he likely didn't recognize you since you're with a muggle and are dressed very much like one, though you are actually a half-blood." Griphook shrugged, if the child didn't have that letter, then he likely wouldn't have recognized him either.

Harry nodded, then frowned. "Wait, why would he recognize me?"

Griphook blinked slowly. The pure absurdity of the boy-who-lived being the only person in all of magical Britain to not know who he was made Griphook want to jump off a building. He could understand him not knowing much about the wizarding world, but not knowing who Harry Potter even is? That was something he couldn't understand at all.

"Well, frankly, Mr. Potter, you're famous. Before you were born, a dark lord began rising to power, and everyone in the wizarding world was terrified of him. Your parents fought against him, along with several others. I don't know all the details, but once you were born, they hid away. Then, one day, he came after them. He showed up at your house and killed your parents with the Killing Curse. He then tried to do the same to you, but you didn't die. He vanished after that and hasn't been seen since. Most people believe the curse rebounded and killed him. Ever since, you've been hailed as the boy-who-lived," Griphook explained in simple terms.

'Yes,' he decided internally. 'I will charge them an extremely large consultation fee.'

Harry touched the scar on his forehead, suddenly understanding how he got it, and why it had never gone away. Vernon was also surprised. He never would have thought that the boy's parents were war heroes. It didn't do much to change his opinion of them though. If they didn't want to die, then they shouldn't have gotten involved at all.

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you the bad news," Griphook said, not sounding apologetic at all. "Truthfully, I would have thought Dumbledore would've made sure to explain this all to you (14). But there's nothing to be done about that, then. Now, then, I'm assuming you also don't know anything about you accounts?"

Harry shook his head mutely.

"Alright, well, the Potters are a very old family and have gained a significant wealth over the years. Like most rich wizarding families, they have several vaults, properties, stocks, and paper businesses (15). As the only remaining Potter, you've inherited them all. However, you won't have access to most of it until you come of age, so I will save us some time and talk only about what you do have access to (16).

"First, and what you came here for, is your school account. It has already paid your Hogwarts tuition for the next seven years and covers all of your school expenses. Currently, it has approximately 500 galleons. If you would like specific numbers, I can give you that, but otherwise I'll save my breath.

"Then there's your child support vault (17). Your parents set this up in case something should happen to them. Whoever became your guardian was to have access to this vault in order to provide for you. I had assumed that you and your guardians knew about this because there had been several withdrawals by Albus Dumbledore. I thought he was withdrawing money on your behalf and then sending it to you. I now know this is not the case and deeply apologize. Inside your child support vault is approximately 5,000 galleons.

"Lastly, there's your private account, which will be merged with your trust fund when you come of age. You are the only one with access to your private account. Inside is approximately 7,000 galleons (18).

"There is also your family vault, but you legally don't have access to that until you've come of age. Now, since you are underage, there are several restrictions on your accounts. You're only allowed to withdrawal a set amount each year to ensure that you don't run out of money before you are an adult. You have six years before you're an adult, so it is only possible to withdrawal a sixth of each of your accounts each year and only a fraction of that can be withdrawn by one person. So, for example, there are three people with access to Harry's child support account. Each of them can only withdraw one third of one sixth of the account this year. Next year, it will be one third of one fifth of the account." Griphook thoroughly explained.

Vernon nodded with a deep frown on his face. He was mentally calculating just how much unnecessary money they had lost on the kid throughout the years. "Okay, so, who is this "Albus Doombelldurr," and why is he allowed to take money from Harry's accounts? And how much is a galleon worth in pounds?" Vernon had gone into full business mode. As the director of Grunnings, he was used to managing money and knew embezzlement when he saw it.

"One galleon is approximately 20 pounds (19). There are 17 Sickles in a Galleon and 29 Knuts in a Sickle. As for your other question, Albus Dumbledore is the headmaster of Hogwarts. Whoever the current headmaster of Hogwarts is always has access to school accounts and is extremely limited in how much they can withdrawal. In addition, any amount withdrawn has to be approved by us, and the headmaster must present evidence for his reason of withdrawal. Dumbledore is also registered as one of Harry's guardians, though, which has given him access to Harry's child support vault."

Vernon frowned. "Is there a way to remove him? I can guarantee you that we never received anything from him."

"He can't be removed without proof of misusing the funds. We can file an audit, but that will take several months, during which his vault key will be retracted. However, it's entirely possible that the money he withdrew was used for Harry's benefit in a way that wasn't visible." (20)

"I see. I'd still like you to do an audit," Vernon decided. "Now, how do the boy and I get keys?"

"We make them here. It will only take a few minutes. As you're a muggle, you should know that we also provide a debit card for our muggle clients. We understand that transferring currency can be rather troublesome, so we strive to make it as simple as possible. There is a regular bank in London that has a passage straight to Gringotts. If you give me a moment, I'll go start the paperwork for the audit, make your keys, and get you directions to the muggle bank." (21)

Harry sank into the cushioned chair. This was much more than he had expected. He was still reeling from the knowledge that he was famous, and that his parents were murdered. Then there was the fact that, apparently, he's filthy rich. Harry wondered what Uncle Vernon was thinking. He was probably plotting ways to steal Harry's money from him. Harry couldn't help but grin. From what Griphook said, it sounded like it'd be mighty hard for the Dursleys to do that. Harry happily took a cookie from a platter on the table and ate it while he thought about his new future.

Harry was only partially right in his thoughts about Uncle Vernon. Vernon was really thinking about he could use Harry. But it had also dawned on him, with no small amount of terror, that Harry was likely very loved in the wizarding world. Meaning, that if anyone got the impression that the Dursleys treated Harry anything less than excellently, then his whole family would be in danger. Vernon scowled. Those damn Potters leaving this huge mess for them. 'However,' he thought, 'if I do this right, then I could end up much richer than before.'

It was then that Vernon Dursley resolved to not only gain Harry's favor, but to learn more about the wizarding world. 'If I'm going to be involved in this shit, then I ought to know how this wonky world works. Perhaps, I can use learning about this place to bond with the little brat. He clearly doesn't know anything about it, and, from the looks of it, he hasn't yet realized just how much influence he has,' Vernon thought to himself. He grinned as he formed a plan, and happily treated himself to the snacks on the table.

Unfortunately for Uncle Vernon, Harry had realized the sway he had, and after seeing the calculating look on Uncle Vernon's, he got an idea of what Uncle Vernon's plan was. Harry decided to play dumb and go along with it. Having his uncle be nice to him was certainly a plan he could get behind (22).

Soon after, Griphook returned and handed them their keys, cards, and directions to the muggle bank.

"Now, we can head to the vaults."

After the mine cart ride to their vaults, which Vernon found extremely unpleasant, Griphook explained that the coin bags he gave them were enchanted so no one could steal them. Vernon, as opposed to magic as he was, thought that was brilliant and planned to keep one of the bags.

Griphook walked them to the entrance of the bank and pointed out which shops they'd need to go to before wishing them farewell. He had also advised them to buy a trunk first so that they could put their purchases in it. Then the goblin retreated to his office and gleefully wrote an invoice for an extremely large consultation fee.

Vernon and Harry followed his advice and wandered across the street to Madame Lougage's Travel Necessities, where they were greeted by the sight of multiple towering stacks of nearly identical items. Harry, completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of different types of trunks, glanced helplessly at his uncle. Vernon, however, had gone shoe shopping with Petunia multiple times and was undaunted. He waddled confidently to the sales associate and demanded their assistance in selecting the best case for a first year Hogwarts student.

"For a first-year student, I would recommend The Lougage Simplified it has a basic three compartments: one for clothes, one for books, and one for miscellaneous items. It comes with a weightless charm already applied, and a lock that cannot be undone with a simple alohomora. All that for the low price of five galleons!"

Vernon nodded as if he had great knowledge on the subject, despite not understanding half of what the man said. "Sounds good, we'll take it."

xxx

Flourish and Blotts was only a couple of shops away, so they headed there next to buy the obscenely long list of books Harry needed. Inside, Harry's jaw dropped with awe. He had never seen so many books in his life. His school library was ridiculously small and the Dursleys were not the type of people who enjoyed going book shopping. Harry wandered to the first section that caught his eye and gazed at the vast assortment of books. He found himself particularly interested in '101 Curses and Hexes for the Beginning Wizard' and idly wondered if he could use them on Dudley (23). Harry wasn't sure if Uncle Vernon would let him get it, but he tucked the book under his arm anyway.

While Harry was ogling books of curses, Uncle Vernon found something else even more amazing. Fellow muggles. He saw them from across the store; a nicely dressed mother and father with their son. They stood out from the rest of the crowd since they weren't dressed in the ridiculous cloaks the wizards wore. Vernon practically raced across the store to introduce himself. He cleared his throat to get their attention once he was next to them.

"Say, you aren't wizards, are you?" Vernon asked, just to be sure.

The man smiled at him and shook his head.

"Is it that obvious? My stepson, Dean, just got his letter a few days ago. I'm Malcolm Clarke and this is my wife Catherine," the man said.

Vernon Dursley beamed. "I'm Vernon Dursley, happy to meet you. My nephew got his letter just a couple of days ago too. Didn't want to believe it at first, I tell you. It's nice to see that I'm not the only non-wizard here," Vernon said happily.

Mr. Clarke nodded. "Oh yes, I mean, we always knew Dean was special, but we never would have guessed that he was magic." Behind him Mrs. Clarke looked guilty for moment before clearing her face and smiling welcomingly (24).

Malcolm and Vernon soon found themselves enthralled in a deep conversation about the differences they had noticed between the magic and non-magical world so far. Dean quickly zoned out and began looking for Mr. Dursley's nephew. He thought it would be nice to actually know someone before getting to school. It didn't take him too long to spot him, he was the only other boy dressed in muggle clothing. He was staring at a shelf filled with books about the boy-who-lived. Dean had only glanced at the shelves as they entered; his parents had been intent on finding his schoolbooks first, however with his parents distracted he was free to roam.

Dean tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, you're Vernon Dursley's nephew?" he asked casually.

Harry jumped and stared at him. "How did you know that?"

Dean pointed across the store where his father and Vernon were still chatting.

"He just introduced himself to me and my parents. I'm Dean Thomas by the way." (25)

Harry shook his hand. "I'm Harry Potter."

Dean blinked slowly and glanced at the shelf of books about the boy-who-lived. The book in the center was titled, in larger words, 'Harry Potter: the boy-who-lived'.

"Are you trying to prank me?" he asked, suppressing a laugh. He wasn't the class clown at school, but he was certainly fond of pranks.

Harry smiled and shook his head. "To be honest, it came as quite a shock to me too."

Dean's jaw dropped. "You didn't know? How? How can you be famous and not know?"

"Well, how can you be a wizard and not know? I grew up in the muggle world, like you."

Realization dawned on Dean's face. "Oh, that makes sense, I guess. Wait, how'd you know I didn't grow up here?"

Harry laughed and gestured to Dean's clothing. "You're wearing a West Ham football jersey mate. I didn't know magic existed until yesterday, but I don't think that's something a wizard will wear."

Dean laughed in embarrassment. "You're probably right...You don't think that means wizards don't play football though, do you?"

Harry shrugged, personally he had never gotten into the sport, but he didn't dislike it either. "There's a sports section over there," he pointed out. "Let's go find out."

To Dean's despair, the sports section only had books on some weird sport called Quidditch. They flipped through them for a few minutes trying to figure out how on earth the game worked.

"Okay, this seems pretty cool," Dean acquiesced. "But I'm still going to bring some football posters!"

Harry nodded in support. He didn't see a reason why Dean shouldn't do it, quidditch seemed pretty cool but not that much cooler than football. They stayed in the sports section for a few more minutes, both of them selecting a book on quidditch and promising to swap them when they were finished. Dean picked a book titled, "Quidditch and it's Teams: a Brief History" that gave a brief history of the formation of quidditch and then an overview of the most famous teams. Harry selected a slightly thinner booked called, "Twiste, Turne, and Drop: Quidditch Maneuvers" which was filled with moving pictures depicting different flying techniques and quidditch maneuvers with a description next to them. After that, the two boys set out to find their schoolbooks.

xxx

An hour and a half later, Harry and Vernon each had a large pile of books on all topics. Harry had grabbed mostly spell books, but also picked up, "History of Wizarding Britian: For Muggles" and "A Guide for Muggleborns Entering the Wizarding World". Both of the books had been in the 'recommended for muggleborns' section that was set up near the front of the shop. Vernon had picked out several history books and bought a subscription to the Financial Times. He figured he ought to know as much about this world as he can if they're a threat to his family.

Along with the books, Harry and Dean both got a writing set, stocked with enough ink to last the whole year, several quills, parchment, and most importantly, a calligraphy guide. The writing set had been recommended by a sales associate after hearing Dean shout, "We have to write with quills? My handwriting's barely legible when I use a pencil!" (26)

xxx

The two families left the store together and headed to the potions shop next. Potion supplies and a telescope were the only things Dean hadn't gotten yet. They had arrived at Gringotts only a few minutes before Vernon and Harry, but for some reason hadn't stayed nearly as long. Finding that out caused Vernon and Malcolm to launch into a debate about the accuracy of the currency exchange outside the potion supply shop.

Dean's mom rolled her eyes at the two men. "Come on boys," she put a hand on both Dean and Harry's back, "Let's go inside and get what you need."

They spent significantly less time in the potions shop than they did in the bookstore, partly because they had no idea what any of the things in the shop were for, and partly because there was a huge display at the front of the store with kits designed specifically for Hogwarts students.

"Hey Harry," Dean asked, looking at his friend through a glass jar of what was supposedly 'liquefied fairy wings', "What do you think this is for?"

Harry glanced at it, "Obviously, you drink it before a quidditch match so you can fly."

Dean nodded solemnly. "Yeah, that makes sense." Behind them, an older man choked and quickly turned away from the boys.

When they left the shop, Vernon and Malcolm were still discussing economics, though they had shifted from the exchange rate to the international value. Dean eagerly interrupted them to show his dad the kit they got which featured: a cauldron, a set of glass phials, a set of brass scales, a few small beginners' books on potion making, and a potion ingredients case with all the ingredients a first year may need. Malcolm looked it over with interest.

"So, it's kind of like chemistry then huh?" he said, flipping through one of the books. "Well, if you try it at home do it in the kitchen, we don't need this stuff ruining the carpet."

Vernon was extremely relieved to have run into the Clarke family because the entire potions shop repulsed him. When the door had opened, he could hardly stand the smell that wafted out, and thanked the lord that Mrs. Clarke had taken Harry in for him.

Sadly, they had to part ways after they found the telescopes. Vernon and Malcom shook hands again and exchanged contact information, Mrs. Clarke gave Harry a hug and a warm smile, and Dean promised to see him on the train. The Clarkes pointed out the robe shop they had taken Dean to and then were on their way out. Then Harry and Uncle Vernon were alone again. Uncle Vernon was in a great mood though, happy to have found people like him. He even patted Harry on the head as they walked towards Madam Malkins.

xxx

Vernon left Harry to go inside Madam Malkins by himself while he went in search of a bathroom. Harry entered hesitantly and looked at the enormous range of fabrics with uncertainty. A large woman bustled over to him and smiles kindly.

"Ah, you must be a first-year Hogwarts student here to get your robes, I bet. Well, come stand over here and we'll get you measured. There's another boy your age up there too," the woman said as she pushed him to the back of the room.

Harry smiled at the other boy, but he wasn't sure what to say. The other boy smiled back, but also didn't seem to know how to introduce himself. The ice wasn't broken until one of the seamstresses screamed when a toad leapt out of the boy's pocket and on to her.

"Why is there a toad in your pocket?" Harry asked in confusion. The boy flushed in embarrassment.

"His name's Trevor. I just got him at the pet store across the street. You're allowed to bring one pet to Hogwarts you know, and I saw him and knew he was the pet for me."

"Oh, so you're a frog person then?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, anything in nature really. I really like plants and gardening, and with a toad I don't have to worry about it ruining anything. My gran was absolutely repulsed when I picked Trevor though. She thinks owls are the only practical pet for a young wizard to have."

"Owls? Why would you want an owl as a pet? How do you even take care of an owl?"

"Oh, you must be a muggleborn," the boy said, glancing at Harry's clothes. "I'm sorry, I'm probably confusing you. Owls deliver mail, so if you have your own you can use it to send letters and packages to people. They're magical so you just have to let them outside, and they take care of themselves."

Harry's eye bulged. "Whoa, that's wicked cool. I'm Harry, by the way."

"I'm Neville (27). So, I guess if you're a muggleborn you don't have any idea what house you'll be?"

"Mate, I don't even know what the house are," Harry answered with a grin. Neville flushed again and muttered an apology before explaining.

"Everyone is sorted into four houses at Hogwarts. Gryffindor, for the brave and chivalrous. Slytherin, for the cunning and ambitious. Ravenclaw, for the intelligent and curious. Hufflepuff, for the loyal and hardworking. I'm hoping for Gryffindor, both of my parents were in that house, so my Gran will be very disappointed if I don't get in. Knowing me, I'll probably get stuck in Hufflepuff though," Neville sighed.

"What's wrong with Hufflepuff? You just said it's the house for loyal and hardworking people, that seems just as important as bravery to me," Harry said.

"Hufflepuff is just looked down on, I guess. They're not anything special," Neville said dejectedly. Harry frowned. He had only just met the boy, but he felt the urge to cheer him up.

"That's stupid. From your description, I'd rather have a Hufflepuff friend than anyone else. Listen, I'll be friends with you whether you're sorted into Gryffindor or Hufflepuff," Harry said firmly.

"Really? You don't even know me though," Neville said in confusion.

Harry shrugged.

"I can't explain it, but I feel like I know you're a good guy though," Harry told him. It really was the oddest sensation. He had never met him, yet he somehow felt connected to him, like they had a shared history. Neville nodded with a strange look on his face (28).

"Yeah, I feel the same. It's weird."

Neville's robes were finished before they could chat any further though. Harry waved goodbye and promised to see him at Hogwarts.

xxx

Harry was done soon after and asked to use the bathroom before he left. When he emerged from the shop, Uncle Vernon was nowhere in sight. Harry was about to resign himself to sitting and waiting when he spotted the pet shop across the street. From the moment Neville had mentioned owls Harry had desperately wanted one. He doubted Uncle Vernon would let him have one though. However, if he went and got one on his own surely Uncle Vernon wouldn't make him return it. His uncle was trying to get on his good side after all.

Harry rushed to the pet shop, excited to get a pet of his own. The Dursleys had never gotten a pet of any sort, and Harry had always yearned for one. A companion that would love him unconditionally. It seemed too good to be true. Immediately upon entering the store, Harry was drawn to a beautiful, snowy white owl. She cooed happily at him when he approached, and he knew that she was the one for him.

Harry left the pet shop just in time to see Uncle Vernon return from the bathroom. He hurried over to his uncle with his new owl and the bundle of robes he had gotten.

"What in God's name are you doing with an owl?" Uncle Vernon exclaimed. Harry shrugged.

"It was on the school list," he said simply. Uncle Vernon blinked and slowly breathed in and out to control his temper.

"It stays in your room and you are fully responsible for taking care of it. If it ruins anything in my house, I'm getting rid of it. Okay?"

Harry nodded happily and smiled down at his owl who cooed at him.

"So, what else do we have to get?" Vernon asked gruffly. Harry glanced back at the list.

"Just a wand. I think the store we have to go to is Ollivander's."

"A wand? You'd think that would just be a stereotype," Vernon snorted. "These ridiculous wizards are driving me crazy."

xxx

Vernon's perception of wizards being crazy only got worse when they arrived at Ollivander's. It took a solid hour of complete chaos for Harry to get his wand. Vernon sat in a chair at the edge of the room shaking his head at the complete lack of organization. If this man had really been doing this for so long, you'd think he would've found a more efficient method of matching wands. Finally, though, Harry got his perfect match.

"11' Phoenix Feather core, holly wand. Nice and supple," Vernon heard the eccentric wizard say. Vernon began pulling out the coin bag as the wizard started giving Harry some cryptic message. Vernon didn't catch the whole thing, and he didn't really care. This old man clearly had some loose screws, and Vernon was ready to go. As fascinated as he had become, Vernon had had enough of the wizarding world for one day.

As they walked out of the Leaky Cauldron, Harry stopped and faced his uncle.

"Uncle Vernon, I just wanted to say thank you for letting me go to Hogwarts even though you don't like it," Harry said quietly. He figured that maybe with the change of events that their relationship could improve. Of course, Harry didn't think he would ever like his uncle or vice versa, but perhaps they could coexist peacefully. It should be easy with Harry gone for most of the year.

Vernon scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He didn't do emotional stuff. So, he simply grunted and patted Harry on the back. However, Vernon had only ever patted Dudley, who weighed significantly more than Harry, on the back. So, Vernon's pat was more like a slap and caused Harry to lurch forward. He was barely able to regain his balance and avoid falling to the ground. His glasses weren't as lucky though, and they hit the hard cement and broke (29).

Harry groaned. He could barely see with his glasses; his prescription was so out of date, but without them he was practically blind. Uncle Vernon picked the glasses up and examined them. He realized as he looked at Harry's glasses that he hadn't see a single wizard wear glasses except for the crazy wand guy. Vernon then looked Harry over, taking in his appearance. He honestly looked like a homeless street kid. Vernon winced and remembered what the goblin said about Harry being famous, the wizarding world wouldn't be happy if they got the slightest indication that Harry had been mistreated. And shitty clothes were a key sign of a mistreated child.

Uncle Vernon sighed and looked at his watch. It was only 1 o'clock. "Let's go to the eye doctor and see if they can squeeze you in today, if not you'll have to wait for a couple of days."

Harry stared at him in surprise. He had expected to have to simply deal with it. He couldn't remember the last time he got new glasses, despite them getting broken several times.

xxx

At the optometrist, they got lucky. Someone had just canceled their appointment, so they were able to fit Harry in at four o'clock (30). That left them with two and a half hours to kill.

Vernon figured this was the perfect time to get Harry some new clothes. He wasn't going risk being attacked by angry wizards because he let Harry wear dirty rags to school. Plus, he had the Gringotts debit card to use, so he wouldn't have to spend any of his own money. Vernon marched Harry around a nearby department store handing him things to try on. Harry mutely obeyed, not completely comprehending what was happening. He was sure he had to be dreaming. Being told he was a wizard was crazy enough, but his uncle actually being nice to him? That was out of the ballpark crazy. When Harry asked why they were buying new clothes Uncle Vernon snorted and gruffly explained.

"Surely you damn wizards don't lounge around in cloaks all day. You ought to have something to wear on the weekends and in the evening."

"I have clothes."

"Ah, those old rags? I'm not going to have you offending some crazy wizard and bringing his anger home. Besides, they said this Hogwarts place is a castle, if you wear those rags, you'll surely get hypothermia and die. And that'll be even more trouble for me."

They left the store with a nice variety of clothes. Vernon had insisted on forcing Harry to get a suit, because he wouldn't have that boy embarrassing him if he ever had to dress up. He got three pairs of shoes, though Harry didn't understand why he needed more than one. There were several sweaters, button down shirts, and two pairs of slacks. To Harry's relief, Vernon also let him get regular clothes; jeans, t-shirts, and new pajamas. Much to Harry's embarrassment, he also got him new underwear, socks, and two belts. When they were finished, Vernon was satisfied that no one would question Harry's appearance.

xxx

They got back to the optometrist just in time for the appointment. The eye doctor said Harry had the worst eyesight he had ever seen for someone his age. Harry flushed in embarrassment and left to go pick out new frames while Uncle Vernon discussed cost with the doctor. Harry decided on a pair of glasses with a simple silver frame and brought his choice back to the doctor.

"Very nice choice, they suit your face well," the doctor complimented. "Have you ever thought about getting contacts though?"

Harry shook his head. The thought of sticking his finger in his eye nauseated him. Uncle Vernon, however looked interested.

"I don't usually suggest them for someone so young, but with how terrible your eyesight is I think they might be more convenient (31)," the doctor continued. "We can give you a one-week trial pair to see how you like them. Your new glasses won't be ready till then anyways."

"That sounds like a great idea," Vernon agreed.

Harry hesitantly sat down in a chair as the doctor explained how to put the contacts in. Harry failed miserably at putting them in the first couple of times, but he finally figured it out and was surprised that they were so comfortable. He looked around the room in awe. He had never seen everything so clearly. There were no blurry gaps in his peripheral vision at all, and the colors on everything seemed to pop. Harry glanced in the mirror. It was weird seeing himself without glasses, but he thought he could get used to it.

When they arrived home, Dudley pitched a fit about not getting a pet and Petunia stared on in stony silence. Vernon pulled her aside and explained about the bank accounts, and she scowled deeper.

"Figures, they'd dump their son on us and not even have the decency to tell us about the child support. But, we have it now," she acquiesced. She sent Harry to his room and told him that she didn't want to see any of his school supplies outside his room or she would throw it away. Harry went happily, not minding that he was missing dinner as they had gotten food on their way home.

In his room, he opened his set his owl down next to the window and opened the cage.

"Hello, I'm Harry. I don't have a name for you yet so I'm just going to call you Snowy for now."

Snowy squawked at him indignantly.

"I'm sorry! It's just until I come up with a name." In an attempt to appease her, he opened his bedroom window. "Are you hungry? You can go hunt! Just come back before morning or my aunt and uncle might get mad."

Snowy gave him a serious look, jumped on his shoulder, rubbed her head against his, and then flew out the window.

Harry really wanted to take a closer look at the quidditch book he got but decided he should pick out a name for his owl first. He didn't want to offend her again, so he started skimming though the few history books he got.

When Snowy flew back in a few hours later, Harry waved at her and tested out her new name. "Hey Hedwig, have fun?"

Hedwig tilted her head and squawked happily. (32)

xxx

Two days after their trip to Diagon Alley, Harry turned eleven. He expected in birthday to pass by unobserved, yet again, but to his surprise Uncle Vernon actually bought him a cake. At first, Harry thought his uncle was ill, but then he remembered that Uncle Vernon was still trying to get on his good side. As for presents, Uncle Vernon told Harry he could have whatever Dudley left in his second bedroom. It wasn't a fantastic gift as most of the things that Dudley put in there were broken, but Harry was sure he could learn a spell to fix whatever was broken.

Still, even though most of the items were broken, it was the most he had ever gotten for his birthday. While Harry did appreciate getting something, he couldn't help but bitter anger than he couldn't remember ever receiving any gifts and that he was only receiving some now to placate him, not because anyone actually cared about him.

xxx

A week after their trip to Diagon Alley, Harry returned to the eye doctor to get his new glasses. They were in a nice, shiny case and Harry held them very carefully. They were incredibly thick but felt much sturdier than his old ones.

"How did the contacts feel?" The doctor asked Harry as he tried on the new glasses.

"They were alright, I liked seeing without glasses, but the contacts got a bit uncomfortable if I had them in for too long," Harry answered honestly.

"Oh yes, I would not recommend wearing them for more than ten hours straight because they do dry out, and definitely do not sleep in them. But I can give you eye drops too, which should alleviate any discomfort if you're not in a place where you can take them out immediately. Would you like that Harry? Or do you just want to stick to wearing glasses?"

Harry considered for a moment. The contacts were much better than his glasses when it came to seeing, but they were also a hassle because he couldn't wear them constantly. However, it couldn't hurt to have both glasses and contacts. Then he could choose whatever he wanted to use that day. He would hate to need contacts one day, and not have them.

"I'll try using eye drops with the contacts," Harry decided.

The eye doctor patted him on the back, happy to have helped. Uncle Vernon ordered a year supply for him and scheduled another appointment for next year. (33)

xxx

The next month felt like it passed in a blink. Harry was mostly confined to his room, on Aunt Petunia's orders, so he spent most of his time reading through his schoolbooks, wanting to be prepared for the first day. He was sure that he was going to be set back due to just learning about magic and Harry was determined to do well. His whole life depended on this, despite his aunt ignoring him and his uncle acting semi-decent, he still had no desire to stay with them any longer than he had to. They had never been family, and just because they stopped screaming at him didn't make him like them any more. So, he had to be good at magic to ensure a future in the magic world.

He also read the guidebook for muggleborns and was extremely glad he bought it. It seemed life in the wizarding world was set back hundreds of years politically. It was even more complicated than muggle politics with all the Barons and Earls and Lords and Ladies. Aristocrats seemed to rule their society. Harry briefly tried to figure out the politics, but he didn't even understand muggle politics, so this just gave him a headache. Harry figured he could learn it all when he was older and decided to focus on understanding his schoolwork. Besides, Uncle Vernon managed to make sense of the wizarding world politics and had many long conversations on the phone with Mr. Clarke about them as they tried to discern the different sides. Harry tried listening in on some of the conversations, but it doesn't really work when you can only hear one side. He ended up more confused than when he started. (34)

Aunt Petunia ignored Vernon whenever he did this. She refused to acknowledge anything associated with magic and tried to shut it all out. Which is what led to Harry being kept in his room most of the time. He was only allowed out for breakfast, dinner, and bathroom breaks. He didn't get lunch, but that was okay because Petunia was trying to ignore him to the point that she didn't stop him from eating as much as he wanted. Vernon on the other hand, encouraged Harry to eat more, not wanting the wizards to think he'd been starving the boy. Harry was rather happy with the turn of things. He wasn't a huge fan of being stuck in his room, but he had plenty of things to entertain himself with, and he didn't have to do chores anymore. It was pretty good, he got to sleep in a few extra hours and go to bed whenever he wanted. He had found a flashlight in the pile of toys that Dudley had forgotten about and used it to read at night.

Dudley, meanwhile, was not happy with the new changes at home. He was used to being the center of attention and had like ordering Harry around. He had a temper tantrum every day for a week when he realized that his father had started trying to get on Harry's good side. He couldn't understand it at all. For his entire life, his parents had called Harry a freak and suddenly now his father was sucking up to him? Dudley didn't like it. Eventually, Dudley realized that the only way to gain his father's attention was the play along and get himself involved.

He barged into Harry's room after a week and a half and demanded that he teach him about the wizarding world.

"No," Harry said flatly. He had no desire to spend any more time with his cousin then necessary.

"But you have to! I want you to!" Dudley yelled.

"Why? All my life you've tortured me, I have no reason to help you," Harry said, before turning back to his book.

"I won't beat you up ever again!" Dudley exclaimed. Harry looked up in interest. "If you teach me, I promise I'll never do anything to hurt you again!"

"What about your friends?"

"I won't let them do anything either. Harry Hunting is over, I swear!"

Harry grinned, "Deal."

Dudley dropped on the ground happily. "Okay, so what first?" (35)

xxx

Explaining to Dudley what he knew about magic worked out for Harry very well; he found that explaining it to someone else helped him remember and understand it better too. It took a few tries though for Dudley to understand any one concept, so it was slow going but his cousin was decent enough that Harry didn't mind him tagging along to meet ups with the Clarke family.

Uncle Vernon always swore the boys to secrecy the hand full of times they went to meet the Clarkes. Petunia was at risk of flying off the handle if she thought any more magic was infiltrating her home, and all three males wanted to avoid that. So, Vernon would casually say he was taking the boys to the arcade, or the movies, or out to ice cream and as soon as the car was out of sight of the house he would turn and go in the direction of wherever he had planned to meet the Clarkes. Usually, it was a random park somewhere halfway between where they lived. Luckily, as it turns out, the Clarkes lived in nearby Staines, so it was never more than a ten-minute drive to get to their meeting place. (36)

The park was their ideal meeting place because they could chat about magic without worrying about being overheard, and the boys had plenty of space to run around. Harry and Dean spent a lot of time trying to figure out quidditch. They swapped the books they got and shared what they'd learned. Surprisingly, Dudley was rather adept at understanding quidditch, though he didn't think it seemed very interesting.

Inevitably, the boys would get restless and Dean would pull out a football. Harry had never actually played football before, so Dean taught him the rules. Harry actually found it fun. He was a decent runner from always being chased by Dudley's goons and discovered that he had really good foot-eye coordination as he scored a few goals. It made him wished he had played sports as a kid, 'Maybe I'll try out for the quidditch team at Hogwarts.' He thought.

The three boys would play a few games of football, usually with a few random kids joining in, before collapsing in the grass and waiting for Vernon and Malcolm to finish talking. Eventually, the two adults would notice that the boys were at risk of falling asleep and switched their conversation to something normal as they took the boys for ice cream before heading home.

Soon, it was September 1st. Uncle Vernon drove Harry to King's Cross with Dudley tagging along. Petunia had opted to stay home and hadn't acknowledged them when they left. They awkwardly approached Platforms 9 and 10. The bartender at the Leaky Cauldron had explained how to get on Platform 9 ¾ but knowing is different than doing. They were all a little unsure of what they were supposed to do as they approached. Luckily, a huge family of gingers appeared and seemed to be going the same place as them. So, Harry approached the friendly looking matriarch with his uncle and cousin following him.

"Oh, is this your first year at Hogwarts dear?" the friendly witch asked. Harry nodded.

"Oh, wonderful. My Ron is a first year too. Perhaps you can be friends," she said absentmindedly.

Harry smiled at her and nodded at the tall boy she had gestured to.

"So, do we really just walk through that wall to get there?" Harry asked.

The red-haired lady nodded. "Unfortunately, muggles can't go through, so you'll have to say goodbye to your family here."

Harry turned to his uncle and cousin. He wasn't sure what to say to them. After spending the past month discussing magic they were on better terms, but he wouldn't say that they were anywhere near to being close. Uncle Vernon awkwardly patted him on the back once, careful not to knock him over this time.

"Don't get yourself killed," he said.

Dudley was a bit friendlier and made Harry promise to write him once a week.

"It's not fair that you get magic and I don't, so you better write me and tell me how much it sucks and how glad I should be that I don't have it."

Harry chuckled and agreed. His relationship with Dudley had become weird and he wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but he was rolling with it.

Harry closed his eyes and ran at the barrier. A part of him was sure that he'd slam into the wall and crash. Of course, that didn't happen, and Harry found himself on Platform 9 ¾. Harry glanced around in awe. Magic was amazing. Harry smiled to himself as he began looking for where to board the train. He wasn't paying much attention to the people around him, but one phrase did catch his attention.

"Gran, I lost my toad again," Neville said.

"Oh, Neville," his Gran sighed.

Harry turned and looked for the boy that he'd met at Madam Malkin's.

"Neville! It's good to see you!" Harry exclaimed, walking over. Neville looked up and grinned.

"Harry! I didn't think I'd see you till we got to Hogwarts. There are so many people here," Neville said. Harry nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, this is way more than I expected!"

"Oh, Harry this is my Gran, Augusta Longbottom," Neville introduced. Harry smiled and shook her hand.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, but I can't stay. I think I need to hurry and find a compartment before they all fill up. I just wanted to say hi quickly." Mrs. Longbottom's mouth twitched in a smile.

"Yes, yes, if you don't grab one now then you'll be stuck sitting in the hallway."

"Oh, Neville, do you want to come with me?" Harry asked. Neville shook his head.

"I have to find Trevor. I can't leave for Hogwarts without him. I'll see you later though," Neville promised.

Harry nodded and started heading towards the back of the train where the last of the empty compartments were. He pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove his trunk toward the train door. Despite being weightless it was difficult to push up the stairs due to its size in comparison to Harry.

"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier. "Yes, please," Harry panted.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"

With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.

"Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.

"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar. "Blimey," said the other twin.

"Are you?"

"He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.

"What?" said Harry.

"Harry Potter, "chorused the twins.

"Who's that?" asked Harry, unable to resist the urge to mess with them.

The two boys gawked at him, and Harry felt himself turning red. He wondered if maybe instead of being funny he had just made himself sound like an idiot. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mum." With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train. Harry sat down next to the window where, half hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. He watched as their mother scrubbed at Ron's nose while the boy tried to squirm away. Soon another red-haired boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his black Hogwarts robes, and Harry noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter P on it. He wondered what it stood for.

Harry zoned out as the large family outside his window joked amongst themselves. Until their conversation turned to him. Then Harry started listening curiously.

"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"

Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.

"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"

"Who?"

"Harry Potter!"

Harry heard the little girl's voice. "Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, eh please..."

Harry felt himself begin to flush with embarrassment. It was definitely going to take a while to get used to being famous. Attention was not something he was used to or comfortable with.

"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"

"Saw his scar. It's really there - like lightning."

"Though when we asked him, he didn't know who Harry Potter was."

"Then he likely isn't him. He must have gotten a scar from something else," their mother said. "And I don't want you pestering him about it. He's clearly a muggleborn and you'll just confuse him with your talk about Harry Potter!"

"All right, keep your hair on." A whistle sounded.

Harry tuned back out as they said their goodbyes. He felt awkward spying on them, but it was interesting to know that no one knew for sure what he looked like. (37)

BANG!

Harry jumped as the compartment door slammed open. He looked over to see a sheepish Neville.

"I didn't mean for it to slam like that..." he said, scratching the back of his head.

Harry threw his head back and laughed. "Come on in Neville! Did you find Trevor?"

The other boy pulled the toad out of his pocket to show Harry, "Just barely in time though. Gran had to cast Accio to find him. I thought the train was going to leave without me," Neville explained as he sat down across from Harry.

He glanced back at the door as the red-haired twins passed by and wondered where Dean was. Harry debated getting up to look for him, but he didn't want to risk losing his compartment. Also, he had barely slept the night before and was starting to feel rather tired. As he focused back on Neville, out of his peripheral, he saw the youngest red-haired boy paused at the compartment door. However, he didn't loiter for long and ran to catch up with his brothers. (38)

Neville had noticed the boy too, "Should we invite him to sit with us?"

Harry shrugged, "Sure, he seemed nice enough." (39)

However, when he peeked out into the hallway the there was no sight of any redheads. On the bright side, he did spot a familiar head poking out of a compartment a few doors up. Harry grinned and waved.

"Harry!" Dean exclaimed, "I was afraid you didn't make it. My dad was complaining about the traffic the entire drive here."

"Yeah, I learned a few new words from my uncle," Harry laughed. "Do you want to come up to my compartment?"

"Oh god yes," Dean whispered. "I was sitting with a bunch of giggly girls. Normally, I don't mind girls, but all these ones do is giggle. They look at each other, whisper something, and then start this high-pitched giggling! I don't get it."

Harry did his best impression of a teen girl giggle, and Dean punched him lightly in the arm. "I'm going to have nightmares of that, thanks a lot mate."

"Sorry, sorry," Harry laughed unapologetically. "Here, I'll help you bring your trunk to my compartment.

xxx

It took a few minutes, but the two boys managed to maneuver the trunk to their compartment where Neville helped them shove it up top.

"Neville, this is Dean. Dean, this is Neville," Harry introduced the two boys.

"Oh, is this the kid you told me you met at the robe shop?" Dean asked.

"Yup, the one and only Neville..." Harry trailed off and then stage whispered, "What's your last name?"

"Longbottom," he whispered back. "And what's yours?"

"Potter, and his is Thomas."

"Wait," Neville froze. "Harry Potter?"

"Yes, that's my name."

"As in the-boy-who-lived?"

"And is still living," Dean joked. He had bought one of the books on Harry as a joke, and the two had laughed over the ridiculous monikers used throughout the book.

Dean's joke seemed to snap Neville out of his haze of shock, "Well, good to meet you both. So, did you two know each other before?"

"Oh yes, we're twins. Can't you tell?" Harry asked.

Dean nodded. "I think we look strikingly similar."

Neville shook his head with a grin, "Sorry, it must be the hair that's throwing me off."

"Really? Our hair? Huh, usually it the skin color that most people get stuck on," Dean said curiously.

Harry couldn't stop grinning, "No, we actually met in Diagon Alley the same day I met you. My uncle and his step-father stayed in contact, so we met up a few times in August."

"I see, so you both grew up in the muggle world?" Neville asked curiously. "What was it like?"

Harry shrugged and Dean gestured vaguely. "It was normal I guess, I mean, what was growing up in the magic world like?"

Neville opened his mouth and then quickly closed it. "Oh, yeah, that's hard to explain if it's all you know."

"So, your whole family is magical?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yeah," Neville answered. "The Longbottoms are a pretty old family."

"How old?"

"I don't know exactly, more than a thousand though that's for sure."

"Do you have any siblings?" Dean asked.

Neville shook his head sadly. "No, it's just me and my gran. My parents...are gone. But, what about you?"

"I've got two half-siblings," Dean said. "They're both a bit younger than me though."

"I wish had siblings at all, whether they're older or younger. All I've got is my cousin and he's horrible," Harry said.

"Ah, Dudley's not that bad. A bit aggressive, kind of obnoxious, but I'll bet he'll come off it eventually," Dean said.

"So, you really grew up with muggles?" Neville asked Harry. "Sorry, I don't mean to be annoying, it's just shocking."

Harry nodded. "I didn't even know I was a wizard till a month ago."

Neville nearly fell out of his seat when he heard that.

"Seriously? But you're the boy-who-lived, how could they not tell you?"

Harry chuckled and shrugged. "I guess no one knew how to tell a kid that his parents had been murdered by a dark lord," he lied. He liked Neville and Dean, but they definitely didn't know each other well enough for Harry to share his extensive history with the Dursleys.

xxx

A little while later a woman knocked on the compartment door and asked if any of them would like a treat. The three boys eagerly jumped up to look at what she had. Neville gave them recommendations on what was the best, and between the three of them, they had a large pile of candy.

They spent the next hour working their way through the pile and joking about random things. Neville explained Chocolate Frogs and their collectible cards to Harry and Dean and cautioned them about Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. Approximately halfway through the pile, Neville jumped up and ran to the bathroom, exclaiming that he desperately needed to pee. Harry and Dean laughed at him for holding it for so long and continued pigging out.

Eventually, they finished the pile and Neville still wasn't back. Harry desperately had to go to the bathroom now as well and wondered idly if Neville had fallen into the toilet and needed help. 'Well, I'll find out when I get there'. He grabbed his robes too, figuring he might as well change while he's in the bathroom. However, on his way there he ran headfirst into Neville.

"Neville! There you are! I was worried that I'd have to fish you out of the toilet."

Neville turned scarlet, and Harry realized why when he glanced around the boy to see a girl with him.

"Hello!" She exclaimed. "Did you see a toad anywhere?"

Harry's jaw dropped as he turned to Neville. "You didn't, did you?"

Neville nodded and buried his face in his hands. "I lost Trevor again," he mumbled. Harry couldn't help but laugh.

"At this rate you're going to make me think you don't like him after all," Harry joked. Neville rolled his eyes and grinned at the joke.

"We're going compartment to compartment to see if anyone's seen him," Hermione explained. "You haven't seen him, have you?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I was just heading to the bathroom, but if I see anything, I'll tell you. Don't worry Neville, I'm sure you'll find him." Harry promised before continuing to the bathroom. He relieved himself and changed quickly. Then hurried back to his compartment, brushing past a snobbish looking platinum haired boy who was peeking in all the compartments. (40)

"You're back! Geez, you left for 10 minutes and everything interesting happened," Dean said as Harry slipped back into the compartment.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, apparently Neville lost his toad again and that's why he's been gone for so long."

"Oh, yeah, I ran into them in the hall, poor guy, but at least he has help."

"Yeah, then after them this blonde kid came by."

"What did he want?"

"No clue, he looked in the compartment, and when he saw me, he turned away and left. It was bloody weird," Dean emphasized.

"Eh, he was probably just looking for his friends," Harry guessed.

Neville returned to the compartment a few minutes later. The girl he was with, her name was Hermione apparently, convinced an older student to do a locater spells to find Trevor. Turns out Neville left him in the loo.

The train arrived at Hogwarts soon after and everyone was rushed off the train. In the distance, Harry could see a large man calling for the first years. Unfortunately, in the large crowd, with students pushing and shoving past him, Harry lost Dean and Neville. He hoped the other boys made it to the boats okay but was too excited to really worry. (41)

In his boat there was one other boy and two girls. They introduced themselves as Theodore Nott, Padma Patil, and Susan Bones. They were slightly awestruck upon Harry introducing himself but recovered from it quickly and their conversation soon turned to what houses they'd be sorted into.

"I'm going to Slytherin for sure, it's the best house," Theodore Nott declared. Padma Patil wrinkled her nose.

"The best house if you want to become a Dark Lord maybe," she retorted. "I'm hoping for Ravenclaw, but Gryffindor would be alright. I'm betting that's where my sister will go so it'd be nice to be with her."

Susan nodded. "I want to go to Hufflepuff. My whole family is from there."

Theodore snorted and Susan glared at him.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing I'm just surprised. I would rather die than be sorted into the useless house."

Susan scowled. "Hufflepuff is not the useless house. Hufflepuffs are loyal and hardworking, they're they kind of people you like and respect. Unlike Slytherins," she shot back.

Theodore rolled his eyes. "Slytherins are hardworking too, it's the house for the cunning and ambitious after all. Going after your dreams isn't evil."

"Harry, what house are you interested in?" Padma intervened, stopping the argument before someone got pushed in the lake.

Harry scratched his head.

"I don't know, they all have their merits, I guess. We'll just have to see," he answered. In all honesty, Harry hadn't really thought about the sorting. It wasn't until just now watching the other students argue did he realize how significant it was. But, nonetheless, he still didn't know what house he'd prefer. He'd read a little about them in one of his books, but he didn't know much more than the basics about any of them.

xxx

Harry couldn't help but gape a little as McGonagall lead them into the entrance hall. It was huge! He looked around while she gave them a brief speech.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." (42)

McGonagall had them form a line in alphabetical order while they waited. Harry and Dean were next to each other in line and at the very end Harry saw the red-haired kid from before. Before he had a chance to introduce himself, McGonagall was leading them into the Great Hall which was even more grand than the entrance hall. Professor McGonagall lead them to the front of the room where an old hat sat on a stool. The entire hall was eerily silent for a moment before the hat opened its mouth and began to sing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on!

Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The hall broke out in applause as the hat finished its song. Once it quieted down Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause -

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat. The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah. Harry smiled at her as she passed, glad that she got the house she wanted.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy." went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see the redheaded twin brothers catcalling. He thought that seemed slightly inappropriate considering she was eleven.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. Harry glanced at the Slytherin table as they cheered and welcomed her. He hadn't been worried at first, but now he was starting to feel sick. He remembered being picked for teams during gym at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him. He was suddenly afraid that no one would want him here either.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. He wondered how long it would take for him. Was it good or bad if the hat took a long time?

"Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!" Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. "GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Harry heard the boy behind him groan, Harry wasn't sure why though. She had seemed nice enough on the train.

When Neville Longbottom, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. Harry whispered good luck to him, and he smiled in return. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag." Neville was grinning like crazy and Harry gave him a thumbs up. He supposed that Neville had gotten over his fear of his gran's anger. Despite his nerves, he couldn't help but feel happy for his new friend. (43)

"Malfoy, Draco" swaggered forward when his name was called and the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!" Malfoy went casually to the green table and, based on his blonde hair, Harry guess he was the boy who had stopped at their compartment.

There weren't many people left now. "Moon" then "Nott" who got his wish and was sorted into Slytherin as was "Parkinson". Then Padma and her sister. She had been right in her assumptions. She was put in Ravenclaw and her sister in Gryffindor. Then came "Perks, Sally-Anne" and then, at last - "Potter, Harry!"

Harry walked nervously up to the hat as whispers broke out through the hall and put the hat on.

"Hmm, where to put you. You'd make a great edition to any house, but which one is the best? You have plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, ah my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... Usually by now the student has started butting in with their own opinion."

"I don't know which house is the best. Everyone seems to have very different opinions about them all," Harry replied, feeling quite overwhelmed.

"That's certainly true, perhaps you can help change that, but first I have to sort you. Hmm, throughout your life what have you wanted and valued the most?"

Harry thought back to the song the hat had sung, 'perhaps in Slytherin you'll make your true friends' and knew without a doubt that he wanted that. "Friends and family," Harry answered immediately. "I've never had a family of my own. And at school, no one wanted to be friends with me. I've always been alone. People who love you, care about you, will fight for you, and support you no matter what. I want people who will do that for me, and I want people that I want to do that for. I want a family more than anything," Harry thought surely.

"I see, however, you're the boy-who-lived. People will target any family you have. What will you do to protect them?"

Harry paused to think about that. He knew that his Uncle Vernon was worried about that, and they weren't even close. Harry thought about his resolve to be good at magic so he could get away from the Dursleys. As he remembered that, a plan formed in his mind. His answer to the hat was simple, as there was only one thing he could do.

"I'll become the most powerful wizard I can. I'll be the top of all my classes here at Hogwarts, so that when I leave, I'll already have a reputation of being smart. Then, I'll gain influence in the wizarding world, and I'll get the good will of the public so anyone who comes after me will not only be stupid but hated by the people and disciplined by the law," he answered.

The hat chuckles. "Ah, there we go. I know without a doubt you belong in... SLYTHERIN!

----

Hello! Thanks for reading, below I just have a few notes about this AU that I'd like to share.

Most important in terms of writing mechanics is that I'm American, so my knowledge of British slang is mediocre. I'm going to try my best to use British over American terms, but I'll likely miss some things. Also, I don't hang out with 11 year olds, so the dialog might be a bit more mature than what reality would be, if that bothers you I'm sorry.

Now, about the AU, I've always liked Slytherin! Harry and wondered what the chances were that he'd be sorted into Slytherin if he hadn't had such a bias against the house. In canon Harry demonstrated a few Slytherin traits, however, I was also tired of reading Slytherin Harry stories where Harry is a cold-hearted ass, so I created this story. My Harry is slightly more 'clever' than canon Harry because I think that's more realistic considering how he grew up. Same goes with the Dursley's, I'm not trying to redeem them all but I do think the canon versions are a litte too unrealistic so I changed them.

As of January 3rd, 2020 I went back through and revised parts of the chapter, and accidentally added another 4,000 words.

-I tried to keep the bank and shopping trip as short as I could because I know a lot of people think it's tacky and overdone, but it was important.

-originally, I had had Harry meet Hermione and her parents at the bookstore, but I decided to change it to Dean because I'm really fond of his character and he doesn't get used a lot in fanfiction so I thought it would be fun to expand his character a bit.

-Neville's birthday is July 30th, which is why I choose to have him and Harry meet in Madame Malkins. Also, it is a personal headcanon of mine that Harry and Neville do have a slight bond over both being possible candidates for the prophecy.

This is not going to have morally Dark! Harry.

As for plot, since Harry is in Slytherin things will obvious go very differently, however, things that Harry doesn't affect will be the same. For example, the stone is still hidden at Hogwarts but Harry doesn't know that Hagrid ever got something out of a Gringotts vault for Dumbledore.

Finally, my full author's notes are on Tumblr. I have a lot to say, so my authors notes tend to be very long. I don't want to make the AN too long for people who aren't interested so I decided to post them on my writing Tumblr, which is Bluemoon-writer. You'll notice numbers in parentheses throughout the story like this (1), these correspond to my author's notes that are on Tumblr. You'll be able to find my notes by going to my pinned post, clicking Harry Potter, then The Snake Inside, then Chapter Notes, then Chapter 1. (Or you can just scroll back to the top of this chapter where I linked them as well)

This is also going to be posted on AO3, Wattpad, and FF if you'd prefer to read it there.

Thank you for reading, sorry about the long AN.

Please review and let me know what you thought. Thoughts, opinions, suggestions tell me all of it.

#harry potter fanfiction #the snake inside #tsi #midnightsonder fanfiction #bluemoon-writer fanfiction

[what-a-messsss]

1x9 rewatch

Yeeeee, this has Jacob and Mathias.  Good good.  ...It bothers me faaaar more than it should (which is to say, at all) that the episode title “Dogs, Horses and Indians” doesn’t have an Oxford comma.  Like, a lot.  o.o

Aaaaaahahaha, and here is Mathias being sneaky, sending Walt and Vic off to the northeast quadrant!  And I am once again confronted with my own double standard.  Because Mathias doing this has me kind of proud of him, but if Walt did it, I would be loading the solar catapult.  Hm.

Henry gives Walt so much leeway.  Mathias’ little dig at Henry about living on the Rez his whole life makes more sense to me now.  After all, Henry and Walt worked on oil rigs up in Alaska for at least part of their 20s according to later info.  That and him living above the Red Pony now, in Durant, make sense that there might be some added friction.

Wooooow.  Vic repeatedly said how weird it was that Mathias was being agreeable, so she just takes it upon herself to be even more of a jerk to balance things out?  Which... the heavy irony being that her “Maybe they didn’t want you running the investigation” crack is right, but also super wrong.  

Haa, the campaign advisor running “joke.” And Henry’s smiiiiile.

Oof.  Walt does not know the meaning of “tread lightly,” but again, he’s not wrong about this one.  Mathias did massively mess with the crime scene and muddle the investigation to a spectacular degree.  But Mathias is wily, and far more savvy about politics than Walt ever chooses to be.  And he’s right that he’s in an incredibly tight spot, and it’s not like he could have just asked for help.  Even if Walt had been inclined to help (haa), doing so would have totally undermined his credibility with the force and the tribe.

“Come on, Sheriff.  Can you look me in the eye and tell me you’ve never broke the law for the right reason?”  Matty, that’s his whooooole modus operandi.  As I think you well know.

I do wonder how long it’s been since Cady got her own place.  No judgement on her credit card statements still going there; one of my bills still ends up going to my mom’s despite attempts to change that, and it’s been over 5 years since I’ve lived with her.  But I do wonder.  

GOLF.  Baaahahaha, golf.  Of course the Connallys golf.  Barlow is suuuuuuuch a piece of shiiiiiit.  And of course he’s already leveraging favours and keeping track.  Oooo, but they do make it delightfully easy to hate him, and very satisfying, too.

NO, Walt, somebody being your deputy does not make their personal life your business.  Even when it involves your daughter.  Until either of them make it your business, it sure fucking isn’t.  And then the look on Branch’s face when Walt goes, “You... that’s a different story.”  Aaaah, back when Branch was vaguely sympathetic sometimes.  Ish.

Why... why does Walt charge in with no backup so often?  I guess just general self-destructive tendencies and all, but ffs.  He takes on a biker gang in their home territory with no back up.  On purpose.  He has no idea that the deputies have figured out where he is and are coming.  He just goes charging in and does some impressive damage, but if they hadn’t showed up when they did he’d be in traction or just flat out dead.  Exhausting.

I cannot for the life of me remember the actor’s name, but he’s in my head as Gabriel from the bit of time I did watch Supernatural.  He’s so squeaky new!  He’s such a rube.

I wonder how many ‘excessive force’ charges have been filed against Walt.  Probably not one in 20 times they could have been.  Ruby is not impressed.  And Vic is, as ever, an enabler.  Oooooo, Ruby just called him Walter.  She means business. Too bad he doesn’t give a shit about anything but what he wants.  ...I think I just figured out part of why Walt pisses me off so much.  That entitlement to do whatever the hell he wants and bother the rest rings really familiar from my dad.  Womp womp.  That can go on the list of things to talk about with the therapist.

Awwwww, Cady’s graduation photo on Henry’s desk!  He’s such a good second dad.  

I hadn’t thought about it the first time around, but @cminerva said something in one of our musings (that I think went into our joint fic) about Walt making Mathias come to him for things.  And here we are in the Red Pony, with Walt having had the Tribal Council brought to him, all 10 or so of them, rather than to go to them.  Which... that’s some fucked up power dynamic bullshit right there.  And they’re all sitting in a semi-circle, with Walt and Vic standing.  This is... so uncomfortable.  Crusty old white man scolds Tribal Council, literally standing there with his hands on his hips.  WITH HIS HAND ON HIS GUN--I fricking swear to gods, Walt, what the flaming hell.

Yeeeeeee, Jacob.  He’s so fluffy.  The sides of his hair are so long.  This is a delight.  Ok, but can I just take a moment with the fact that Jacob bought Eaglestar’s debt?  From a cynical point of view, it could be to make sure that he had the president of the tribal council effectively in his pocket, and there was probably an element of that.  But I do genuinely believe that as much of a pragmatist as he is, Jacob is a thwarted optimist.  When he says, “Because I bought his debt.  ...I wanted to make sure no one could influence his decisions, no one could force him to act against his own judgment,” that he’s telling the truth.  “He may have had demons, but he was his own man.”  I think that he probably hopes the same for himself.

Cady’s faaaace when Walt gets back and is ignoring the excessive force charge.  Officially one of my favourite moments of the whole show now.  Yus.  The sheer lack of respect that Walt has for his daughter. Blatant lack of respect for her and her expertice.  Yeet him into the sun, I’m telling you.

Who she sleeps with is not about you, you jackass.  This is such a good scene for her as an actor.  And such a bad scene for him as a dad.  He’s such a bad father.  Which makes me about 400x more grateful that she basically has Henry as her Other Dad.  Who does not suck as much.  Damn.

Mmmmm, Henry’s glasses make a return.

Vic’s “don’t shit where you eat” is pretty rich, considering her multi-year boner for her boss, and then actually getting together with him.  

I’m pretty ridiculously gone on Jacob.  He walks back in at the end the ep and my sad little heart just goes pitter patter.  I’d sort of forgotten that he doesn’t meet the blood-quantum requirements.

“Not cynical.  Just suspicious.”  No, no, suspicious aaand cynical.  You’re mighty good at multitasking on the shitty stuff, Walt.  The accusations he levels at Jacob are so utterly circumstantial, so completely without any shred of proof to back them up, but we’re still in the early days of the show, where we’ve seen him spin these “here’s what happened” things had seen them pan out, that the audience is inclined to believe him.  Walt also has a tendency to complicate things.

If Jacob was setting up dominoes behind the scenes, the convoluted mess that Walt postulates still doesn’t really make sense.  It would make more sense for Jacob to buy Malcolm’s debt in the hopes that he would possibly feel indebted or otherwise favourable towards him to not pass the blood-quantum resolution in the first place.  Arranging a convoluted murder to get himself a place on the council when there are clearly election anyway is just... not clean, not smart, and too liable to go wrong.  Jacob is careful and while he prefers delegating, a total wild card like Mika would be a huge risk for something that could blow up in his face so spectacularly.  Walt, you make no sense.  Como siempre.

This scene at the end with Branch and Cady reinforces my theory that Branch desperately wanted anything positive from Walt.  “He’ll get over it.”  “Yeah, with you.  You’re his daughter.  But me?”  And that’s kind of gutting for him.  So he squares up and off he goes.

“And I’m no quitter.”  No, you’re a drama llama.  Sheesh.

#Longmire #episode commentary #Mathias #Jacob Nighthorse #I sort of like Walt but mostly hate his fricking guts #I spend a decent amount of time yelling that he needs to be flung into the sun #Cady #Branch

[jupitermelichios]

DC: The High-School AU: The Series: The Staff (the musical)

So I finally cast the school staff and teachers for my DC High School AU, which I thought some of you would have some fun with! I took the subject list from a fairly fancy looking private school, because only schools you have to pay for have their subject lists online, so I’m probably offering way more classes than your average state school, but hey, it’s my AU and I wanted to cram in as many supervillains, obscure heroes, and bad jokes as possible.

Admin & Staff

Principle - Amanda Waller

Deputy Principle & Treasurer - Noah Kuttler (the Calculator)

Nurse - Myra Mason (she was Dr Midnite’s nurse and love interest in the 40s & 50s, then got fridged, but I’m unfridging her and giving her a job with much better survival prospects)

Councillor - Ethel Peabody (she’s a psychiatrist from the Gotham TV show, and also in my headcanon, Amanda Waller’s sister)

Librarian - Stanislaus Johns (The Librarian. I considered bookworm for this job but he’s literally called the Librarian, what was I supposed to do, not use him?)

Admin Staff - Laura Conway (Superman supporting cast and occaisional vampire), Mabel Martin (Riddler’s secretary), Theresa Collins (Goldstar, also Booster Gold’s secretary)

Business

Loren Jupiter (aka Mr Jupiter the richest and therefore most thrustworthy man in the world) - Business 101, Business Law, Entrepreneurship

Wesley Dodds (Sandman) - Business Communications

Annabeth Chamberlain (Brimstone) - Marketing, Hospitality & Tourism (she doesn’t work in tourism, but I figure anyone who can waitress while also having the power to set people on fire and damn them to hell and keeps her job probably knows a whole lot about customer service)

Family & Consumer Science

Miss Tribb (Lobo’s childhood teacher who inexplicably survived the extinction of their species) - Childhood Developement, Early Childhood Education

Neil Richards (The Mad Mod) - Texiles/Sewing, Fashion

Tenzil Kem (Matter-Eater Lad) - Food & Nutrition

Finance

Noah Kuttler (The Calculator) - Personal Finance

Foreign Languages

Matron Bertinelli (Nu52 Huntress, who I’m declaring a sepperate character and the aunt of pre-52 Huntress because they’re radically different characters and I like both of them) - ASL, Italian

Chang Jie-Ru (Nu52 Yo-Yo) - Chinese, AP Chinese

Yolanda Montez (Wildcat II) - Spanish, AP Spanish

Barbara Minerva (Cheetah) - Latin

Health Sciences

Myra Mason - Emergency Medical Responder training

Charles McNider (Dr Midnite) - Anatomy & Physiology, Health Class

IT

Brian Durlin (Savant) - Computer Programming, Web Dev

Jennifer Lyn-Hayden (Jade) - Digital Art 101

Arnold Wesker (Ventriloquist) - 3D Animation, 3D Graphics (I don’t know why but the idea of Wesker as an animator just tickled me. Obviously his real passion is stop-motion, but he learnt 3D because there were more jobs)

English (the fancy private school called this ‘language arts’ which is so prentious it makes me feel slightly nauseous)

Wesley Dodds (Sandman) - English Language, AP English Language

Rac Shade (Shade the Changing Man) - English Literature, AP English Literature

Chloe Sullivan (the worst character in the Smallville TV show, a hotly contested position) - English Language, Communications 101, supervises the School Paper and the Yearbook

Shelly Gaynore (The Whip III) - Englist Literature, Creative Writing

Basil Karlo (Clayface) - Intro to Shakespeare

Nick Scratch (officially his supervillain name is just Scratch, but I refuse to consider that a code-name, looking at you Drake) - Communications 102: Public Speaking

Mathematics (which has a 100% villain make-up, which seems accurate from what I remember of high-school maths)

Noah Kuttler (The Calculator, because I think I’m funny) - Pre-Calc, Calculus, AP Calculus

Harlan Graves (The Underbroker) - Stats, Algebra 1, Algebra 2

Angelo Bend (Angle Man, becuase I know I’m funny) - Geometry, Trigonometry

PE (I realise this is probably too many PE teachers but there are a lot more caonical althetes than just about any other job in the DCU except maybe scientist)

Lawrence Crock (Sportsmaster, you knew this was coming) - Gym, Weight Training, coaches Baseball, Basketball, Tennis & Hockey

Lisa Snart (Golden Glider) - joint-coaches Cheerleading, coaches the Drill Team, Wrestling

Randy Hanrahan (Stallion) - PE, joint-coaches Cheerleading & Cross-Country, coaches Football

William Everett (Amazing Man) - PE, joint-coaches Cross-Country, coaches Track & Field

Matron Bertinelli (Huntress, sort of) - coaches Soccer & gymnastics

Performing Arts

Lisa Snart (Golden Glider) - Dance

Hartley Rathaway (Pied Piper) - Music 101, Music Theory, Composition, teaches Guitar & Percussion

Isaac Bowin (The Fiddler) - Music 101, AP Music Theory, leads Jazz Band, Orchestra, Marching Band

Siobhan Smyth (Silver Banshee) - part-time, leads the Choir and teaches singing

Basil Karlo (Clayface) - Theatre, Theatre 101

Simon Trent (Grey Ghost) - Theatre, Theatre 101, Film Studies

Ted Kord (Blue Beetle) - Theatre Tech

Mary Louise Dahl (Baby-Doll, from B:TAS) - Film Studies, Video Production

Betty Bates (Lady-at-Law, who is technically owned by DC now due to corporate buy-outs) - Debate

Science (do you have any idea how hard it is to pin down areas of specialisation for comic book scientists? TNT is on this list entirely because he’s the only actual honest-to-god professional chemist I could find)

Kirk Langstrom (ManBat) - Biology, AP Biology

Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy) - Biology, Environmental Science

Thomas “Tex” Thomas (TNT) - Chemistry

Achilles Milo (Professor Milo, again not really much of a code name) - Chemistry, AP Chemistry

Will Magnus (I refuse to even dignify it as a code-name) - Physics, Earth Sciences

Ray Palmer (The Atom) - Physics, AP Physics

Adam Strange (DC is just doing this to fuck with me, personally) - Astronomy

Social Studies & Humanities

Barbara Minerva (Cheetah) - World History

Maxie Zeus (ffs) - World History, AP World History (fun fact, Maxie was canonically just a normal history teacher before he got lightning powers, became convinced he was Zeus incarnate, and set out to become a criminal, making him my favourite DC mobster by a country mile)

Terry Long (aka one of the only characters to really deserve to get fridged) - US History, AP European History

Eobard Thawne (every code-name he has is stupid, but lets just go with Reverse-Flash as the least awful option) - US History, AP US History

Nick Scratch - US Government, AP US Government, AP Comparative Politics

Rex Tyler (Hourman) - AP Art History

Magdalene Kyle-Burton (Sister Zero, she’s a sometimes-nun and a sometimes-sister to Catwoman) - Comparative Religion

Michael Carter (Booster Gold) - Economics, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics

Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow) - Psychology (there is exactly one heroic psychiatrist in all of comics, and I’d already used Dr Fate elsewhere. Scarecrow seemed like the least bad option of the remaining pool for being around children, and he does at least have teaching experience)

Adam Strange - Sociology

Betty Bates (Lady-at-Law) - Law

Richard Occult/Rose Psychic (it’s complicated, lets just say Dr Occult and leave it at that) - part-time, Criminal Justice

Technology & Engineering

Ted Kord (Blue Beetle) - Electronics, CAD, Woodworking

John Henry Irons (Steel) - Engineering, Metalworking

Will Magnus - Robotics

Visual Arts

Linda Lee/Danvers (she’s Supergirl, but I’m making her a different character from Kara Danvers/Kent because the DCU is really short on artists and I needed someone to teach the damn class, although the only thing that really makes her distinct from other supergirls is that she fucked a horse that one time and IDK how that will translate into a personality...) - Ceramics, AP Studio Art: 3D Design, Art 101

Rex Tyler (Hourman) - Graphic Design, Drawing, AP Studio Art: Drawing

Jack Knight (Starman) - Painting, AP Studio Art: 2D Design, Art 101

Jennifer Lyn-Hayden (Jade) - Photography

So there you go - I’ll be honest I still don’t really understand how high-schools in the USA work, and I have no idea what Design studio art even is so I kind of assigned those ones at random, but now it’s done and cannot be changed.

As always this universe is open to prompts so if you want a chapter focussing on any of these characters just drop me an ask or a comment and I’ll see what I can do. Making Dr Occult & Rose Psychic a single gender-fluid person is already on my list to do, since that’s who I thought they were for a longest time when I started reading comics and I’m still kind of annoyed that isn’t canonically what’s going on.

#teen titans fanfiction #amanda waller #ted kord #booster gold #supergirl #john henry irons #will magnus #adam strange #betty bates #ray palmer #maxie zeus #hs au #my fics #my fic #highschool never ends

[lifeinahole27]

CS ff: “Tidings of Something” (au)

Summary: When Emma gets injured during a routine bail bonds job, it may be the Christmas miracle she never knew she needed, if only because it finally gets her to open her eyes about the man that helps her through everything. Killian would’ve preferred the Christmas without picking Emma up from a hospital, but doesn’t much mind the way it all turns out.

Rating: Barely even T, I think.

A/N: So maybe it would’ve given me away had I said “Hi @captainmorningstar! I’m your secret santa and I’m never on time!” and she would’ve been like “Oh! My santa is lifeinahole because she never posts anything when she’s supposed to!” and then at least it would’ve been anticlimactic when I forgot to hit anon. Despite all that, I had a blast gathering the info for this and writing it. Thanks to @cssecretsanta2k19 for putting this together - for putting us together. I had such a fun time getting to know my darling giftee and writing this tailored gift for her. I hope you enjoy it, my dear!

-x-

It’s the second week of December, and already Emma has heard the song playing over the speakers at least twenty times. It doesn’t help that there are only thirteen Christmas songs total and the radio stations just cycle through each iteration on an endless loop. Despite all of this, though, Emma is humming along to the soft strains of an instrumental “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” as the pain meds finally start to do their job.

“Swan?”

The sound of his voice is sweeter than any song ever could be, and with a struggle, Emma opens her eyes to the bright fluorescents overhead, blinking until Killian’s face comes into focus above her.

“Hi there,” he says when he can see she’s tuned in.

“Hi,” she responds, her voice dreamy and her smile as big and as dopey as she imagines it is. She’s caught up in the blue of his eyes, the perfect lines of his face, the worry lines crinkling his forehead as he visually checks her over.

She’s fine, of course. Not the first time she sprained her wrist, but the rib subluxation is something she could’ve lived without.

The stress on Killian’s face fades slightly as he looks at her, relief taking its place.

“You had me worried, love.”

“Nothing to worry about,” she wheezes out as she struggles to sit up. “I’m fine.” A deep inhale of breath says otherwise as her left side reminds her of that whole rib thing and she winces, doing her best to keep her breathing even so she doesn’t hurt herself again.

He hums his response, settling onto the bed next to her as he asks her to explain what happened. It’s a brief story, thankfully: bail runner caught on, shoved her as hard as he could, and took off. It wasn’t until she’d slapped the cuffs onto him that she realized she was in pain, once the adrenaline started to wear off. Somehow, she made it to the hospital on her own and it wasn’t until they said she wouldn’t be able to drive home that she realized she was going to need help. Enter Killian: faithful friend, dockworker with an understanding boss, love of her life that she’s never told.

He smells like salt today, and there’s a hint of fish from working so close to the cannery, but she doesn’t mind, not when she carefully rests her head on his shoulder and melts into his embrace grabbing onto his prosthetic hand in a gesture of comfort. She’s not sure how much longer she can stay awake, so she’s thankful when the doctor finally comes in with her final advice for recovery.

Emma’s going to be off work for a while, which is going to suck. She’s set for now, but a month is a long time to go without a paycheck. The only bright side is that she works her ass off all year so she can take it easy around Christmas, so she was looking to spend less time chasing after people anyway. 

She’s been here for a couple days staking out this particular mark, so they have to get her packed and checked out of her hotel. They make arrangements with said hotel to leave her car there until Killian and David can come down to get it, and then Killian is bundling her into the passenger side of his vehicle, easing them onto the highway and turning down the volume when Emma inevitably caves and falls asleep after the first five miles.

She doesn’t wake again until they’re pulling up in front of her apartment building. Then it’s a delicate operation getting her out of the truck and into her apartment. The sprain in her wrist isn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Maybe a little more pressure from the fall and she’d be dealing with a fracture instead, but it certainly doesn’t tickle right now. It’s still easy enough to get changed on her own and settled into the bed, accepting the glass of water that Killian hands her after he knocks to make sure she’s decent.

“Try to rest. I’m going to grab us some dinner and come back in a bit, okay?”

Emma’s too tired to even speak, so she nods, nesting down into her bed and letting her body finally rest.

-x-

It’s only after he knows she’s fast asleep that Killian leaves, carefully locking the apartment door behind him when he goes. He heads to the sheriff’s station first, as he knows David needs to hear in person that his adopted “little” sister got the shite kicked out of her at work today.

Getting the call from Emma was terrifying; he probably would’ve panicked if he’d gotten the call about anyone, but with Emma it’s… different. He’s been in love with her for so long now that he can’t even recall when or how it happened. But he’s the person she calls when she’s in trouble, and a devoted best friend. He can’t mess any of that up with feelings that she doesn’t reciprocate.

“Killian? What are you doing out of work so early? I thought you guys were shutting down the spare docks for the season.”

“We were. But I got called away on an emergency so I left this morning before lunch.

“What kind of emergency?” David asks, his voice and face going deadly serious. There are only so many people in this town Killian knows, and David knows which one he would drop everything for without hesitation.

“Don’t worry, it’s all okay,” Killian says first. “Emma called from Portland because she took a bit of a spill. Nothing is broken, but she’s a little bruised.”

Immediately, Killian can see David popping into “overprotective brother” mode and understands that this is exactly why Killian was called to tend to Emma instead of him.

“How bruised?”

“It’s just a sprained wrist and she almost dislocated a rib. Nothing but some standard pain killers involved. She’s already back home and resting. You and I will have to drive down to Portland this weekend and retrieve her vehicle.”

The other man relaxes, even if just slightly, at hearing that nothing is broken and that she’s already home. Killian’s been around long enough that he knows exactly how this all goes.

“I was hoping, however, to enlist your lovely wife to help keep an eye on her. She’s going to have to refrain from work for a little bit but we both know Emma loves to push herself even when she should be resting.”

“Of course. She’s going to do what she wants, in the end, but maybe we can at least keep her entertained enough that she won’t feel the need to go out looking for trouble.”

He’s always thankful for David. Not only is he a friend to Killian, but he’s on similar wavelengths when it comes to how Emma works. They know she’s a woman of her own mind, and that she is not to be directed, so they work to find healthy alternatives.

For all the years that Emma has been in his life, she’s been chasing bail skips. He’s seen it hurt her but he’s also seen how much of a thrill she gets from a victory. It probably feels like vengeance against Neal every time she catches a scumbag that should be in jail, and so he’s happy to support her ventures. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t scare the daylights out of him when she gets injured, though.

One thing is for sure, he will always stand by her decisions, will stand beside her in every way he can, but he’s still allowed to wish she’d take the position David offered her as a deputy for their sleepy little town. He understands why she can’t, but it doesn’t stop him from hoping sometimes.

-x-

When Emma wakes up, it’s to a much darker apartment, but she can smell food. That’s what draws her slowly from her bedroom, taking her time and being extremely cautious with her left side.

She loves her job. She wishes it wouldn’t lead to moments like this, but this is the exception and definitely not the rule. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t think about joining the simple life sometimes.

A while ago, David offered her a position at the station as a deputy. She said “no” without even really thinking about it, but over the last couple months she’s been thinking more and more about what it would mean to take it.

She wouldn’t likely get beaten up anymore, that’s for sure. Storybrooke is more about minor traffic violations, and a yearly dispute, usually between two of the miners that happen to be brothers, and only after they’ve been drinking after work. They deal with petty squabbles and neighborly disagreements, but they’re so simple and easy to solve, and at the end of the day, everyone still loves each other in this town.

Having a job at the station would mean seeing her brother more often, and staying in town. It would mean a dedicated health care plan and like, a 401k. It would pay the bills a little more predictably than her current adventures. And while that’s all really boring stuff at this point, it would feel good not to worry about those things as much as she does right now.

And so she considers telling Killian she’s been thinking about it again. Been thinking about a lot of things, really, but she can’t tell him – not when he looks so devastatingly handsome standing in her kitchen plating up whatever’s been heating in her oven while she’s been sleeping. Because there’s always the chance he doesn’t feel the same way, and taking a job at the station means she can’t just leave if it all goes to shit.

“You’re awake!”

Her attention is brought back to the man in her apartment and Emma shakes off the rest of her thoughts. This right here, having time with her friend, is what matters more than anything.

They settle in and eat dinner, watching a movie when they’re done and everything has been cleaned up (by Killian, of course, because he wouldn’t let her lift a finger). She falls asleep on his shoulder less than halfway through, succumbing to the chaos of the day earlier than she meant to.

When she wakes again, it’s morning, and she’s in her bed.

There’s a note on the fridge telling her to take it easy, and she scoffs at it as she goes to brew coffee. It’s not like she had anything planned for the day, work or otherwise.

She’s not sure if he made the plans for her or if Elsa decided on her own, but it’s just after noon when there’s a knock on her door and the blonde is standing there with a deck of cards and a tray of to-go hot chocolates.

“Did he put you up to this?”

“Nope. Told me what happened but I decided to do this all on my own. Besides, you probably didn’t have plans today anyway.”

Her words are an echo of her previous thoughts, so she shrugs a little and opens the door wide to let Elsa in.

“I was surprised you didn’t call David,” Elsa says after they’re settled in around her coffee table, lounging on cushions and blankets, looking like they’ve nested for the remainder of the winter.

“He would’ve flipped out. And Snow would’ve mothered me to death. Killian panicked, but he at least takes care of me the way I need him to.” She’s staring at the cards in her hand, trying to decide if it’s worth it to keep looking for an ace or to start discarding them from her hand.

Elsa hums at that, and Emma gives her a look. “What’s that noise for?”

“Oh, you know.”

When her friend doesn’t continue, Emma stares harder.

“Oh, come on, Emma. What was it you said to me once about knowing me before you knew me?”

Emma takes her time responding, shuffling her cards and finally discarding the five of diamonds instead of the ace. “I said I knew you because I knew myself. We were both loners, looking out for ourselves, and trying not to hurt anyone else along the way.”

“Exactly. That’s the kind of bond we had when we were still a pinch hostile towards each other when I moved here, and now we’re friends. So imagine how much more I know about you now, and how much you’re avoiding the elephant in the room.”

She stares at Elsa, trying to gauge exactly what she’s talking about. She knows it’s in reference to Killian, but Emma works so hard to keep that secret buried deep. There’s no way Elsa could know how she feels, is there?

“When are you going to tell him how you feel?” Elsa asks, eliminating all questions about what thinly veiled conversation they’re having.

“Never.”

“Emma.”

“He can’t know.”

“Why not?”

“Because he doesn’t need this baggage hanging around him when I could run at any moment.” She blurts it out, surprising even herself with the intensity of the words.

Elsa puts her cards down, completely abandoning the game at hand and reaches over for Emma.

“Has it ever occurred to you that if you ran, he would follow you?”

“I’m not sure he would, actually.”

“That man would follow you to the ends of the earth, or time, if he had to. But if you need proof, please look at the guy that left work in the middle of the day to drive to Portland to pick you up and take care of you because he knows the right way to take care of you. Your words.”

Her little speech is topped off with a raise of one of her perfect eyebrows.

“I’m not saying you need to confess your feelings right now,” she adds, grabbing the cards from Emma’s hand and gathering them all to re-deal. “But think about it. Also you should’ve discarded the ace. I’m doing you a favor.”

Emma shakes her head as she motions for Elsa to continue, taking a moment to sip from her hot chocolate and consider her options. She sets herself a deadline of January 1. Maybe by then she can make up her mind what to do or not do.

-x-

On Saturday, early in the morning, Killian pulls up outside of Emma’s apartment. David is dropping off Snow to spend time with her while they go down to Portland to get Emma’s Bug. 

But before they can get to that part of the plan, they have to make it there first.

Killian and David actually have a fantastic relationship. They bonded over having pains in the ass for brothers, and their friendship with Emma (even if David’s goes a little deeper than his own – being siblings by legal decree does mean a little more than “best friend” after all). But currently, you’d think they were strangers with the way the silence sits heavy between them in David’s SUV.

He tries to think of things to talk about, but nothing comes to mind but how to tell his very good friend that he’s in love with Emma. That’s not a conversation for a car trip where he literally cannot escape if the other man tries to aim his side of the vehicle at a tree.

Finally, he settles on something more mundane, asking what David got Snow for Christmas, and if he had any good ideas for what to get Emma this year.

That, of course, derails the conversation pretty quickly.

“You could get her your honesty about how you feel about her,” David suggests, still driving in the same calm and collected manner he has been the whole time.

“Pardon?’

“You heard me. I think she’s the only person in Storybrooke that doesn’t know how you feel.”

“Aye, well, all the more reason to not tell her. I don’t need to scare her off.”

“Why would that scare her off?” David asks, glancing over at Killian to see the tired look on his face.

“I know Emma. I know how she thinks. And she’s sworn off love for so long that I feel if I admitted my attractions that she would split as soon as she could,” he says in response.

“You never know until you try,” comes the answer to his statement, but Killian isn’t convinced.

“Does she need a new blanket for the living room, do you think?”

“You two are more alike than you think,” is David’s final comment before letting Killian successfully change the subject without returning to it again.

When they get to Portland, Killian stops in at the front desk to let him know he’s back to gather Emma’s car, making sure everything is still squared away with that before he goes out and gives David a thumbs up. The other man still waits until he sees that the Bug is successfully running, and then they both head back on the road to get home.

Killian has to pull into a gas station not long after they start driving, though, after a glance at the gauges tells him that Emma never bothered to fill up after she got here. He checks over the contents of the car quickly, making sure nothing was disturbed as he finds that the passenger door was also unlocked this whole time.

One item in particular draws him up short, however, when he reads the heading and discovers it to be an apartment application for a building not far from the hotel he just left.

When was she planning on telling anyone she was interested in moving down here? By the looks of it, she got two-thirds through the application before it was left on her passenger seat.

His heart sinks looking it over, where she’s even filled out potential move-in dates for right after the holidays are over. He can’t imagine Emma living outside of Storybrooke. She was there when he moved to the US and she’s been there for him ever since, and he never imagined she would leave. Apparently, though, she had other plans that she wasn’t sharing.

Maybe he should invest in some packing materials for Christmas in order to help her, if that’s what she wishes to do.

With every mile he drives closer to home, the more his heart aches. Should he tell her he found the application? Should he try to convince her to stay? No – he’s always claimed he would support her in anything and everything she ever did, and this change in location will be no different.

Instead, what Killian decides to do by the time he gets back, is bury the knowledge of what he’s found. If Emma wants to move, she will tell him - tell all of them - in her own time. 

By the time he makes it back to Storybrooke, he’s worked his own mind into a frenzy. All he wants to do is drop off the keys and get back home. But when he gets to Emma’s door, he can smell the food first, and hear the laughter of their friends beyond the wood. Emma must sense his arrival because she whips open the door right as he’s about to knock.

“We thought you got lost!” she says, smiling wide and yanking on his sleeve to pull him inside. “We made dinner. Come join us.”

Despite his internal turmoil, Killian obliges, kicking off his shoes by the door and hanging his coat where it always hangs. He heads to the kitchen table when he’s settled, doing his best to put on a happy mask and enjoy the time with his loved ones. 

He sets himself into the easy rhythm of traditions, passing the food in the order they always choose, and stacking the plates in a particular way when everyone is done. 

As a group, they initiate cleanup. Emma and Killian fall to their respective roles of washing and drying the plates, while David packs up the food and stores the leftovers away. He and Snow leave shortly after with their own container of food, leaving Emma and Killian by themselves as they finish the dishes. 

A million times, he tells himself to stay quiet, but that doesn’t stop him from blurting it out after five minutes. “So, the Portland Arms is a nice building.”

“It… you saw the application.”

“It was on the seat of your vehicle, so yes, I saw the application,” he says with much more attitude than he meant to. 

“It’s just…”

“Just what, love? Just a couple hours away? Just a change of scenery and nothing else will change?”

“I was going to say ‘just an application’ but you’re right with both of those, too.”

Killian sighs, deflating a bit as he places the last dry dinner plate on the stack. “I’m sorry, Swan, it’s just the thought of you leaving is a lot to take in. But if it’s truly what you want, then just let me know what you need me to do and I’ll be happy to help.”

“Hold your horses,” she tells him, patting him on the arm when her hands are dry. “I’m not going anywhere yet. Like I said, it’s just an application. I don’t know if I want to move in the middle of winter so it may be a while.”

That her obstacle is the middle of winter rather than anything else tells him a lot about her feelings on the matter, so he lets it drop. 

-x-

It feels like there’s something brewing that Emma can’t control. She’s not sure what exactly, but ever since they went down to get her car and Killian found that stupid application that she left on her seat, there’s been some underlying tension that they can’t seem to shake. He’s been moody, but also pretending he isn’t. She’s not sure why she didn’t tell him the truth, but it’s her own damn business, anyway! 

On Christmas Eve, he comes over as he always does in order to decorate her tree. Normally, Emma is fully immersed in the process of picking out, cutting down, and hauling in of her tree. This year, she had to skip the second and third parts of that, only having a hand in picking out the one she wanted while David and Killian were the ones to bring it in. It’s been in the stand for a couple days now just waiting for the trimming part, but they always wait until the day before to do that together. 

While David and Snow are busy decorating theirs and getting their little family home ready for the holiday, Killian comes to her apartment. He doesn’t put up a tree of his own because he spends so much of his time at Emma’s place. 

He doesn’t do a lot of holiday decorating for that same reason, and Emma gets why he might be upset with the idea of her moving to Portland because all of his traditions that have been formed over the years will be moving with her. 

Clearly, she didn’t consider how hard he might take it if she actually moved away. 

But as she carefully sits there unwrapping and adding ornaments to the tree, she can’t imagine doing this without him. They have assigned parts in this play: they pick the tree together, and Killian puts on the lights while she fetches the skirt and the ornaments, then he’s in charge of the garland and Emma tops the whole thing with the star. 

This year they had to make some concessions to make sure Emma doesn’t hurt herself, but she’s still taking care of the ornaments while Killian struggles to get the beaded garland untangled. He’s muttering to himself, saying how he meant to wrap them around something last year when they packed it all up, but it’s all a diatribe to himself and she just listens and tries her best not to laugh. 

He’s helpless. Adorable and helpless. And she doesn’t really realize what she’s doing until she’s already moving towards him - the small swan ornament she’d been holding is abandoned back in the box and she’s grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him towards her.

There’s a look of shock on his face as she tugs him down, and then she’s not thinking about how there was no warning leading up to this but how right it feels to be kissing him. Killian’s surprise wears off quickly and then he’s kissing her back, wrapping his arms around her waist. She can feel the beads of the garland digging into her side where he clearly didn’t drop the strand but she doesn’t care, especially when her hand buries into his hair and she’s not sure she ever wants to surface from this again. 

He sighs out her name as they break apart at one point, and that’s when reality comes crashing down on her. What is she doing? And what is he doing kissing her back like that?

“I’m - I’m sorry. I’ll be right back,” Emma stutters out, making a dash for the bathroom. She takes her time, pressing a cool washcloth to her face and running the faucet for far too long before she exits again. 

When she comes back, the living room is empty. The garland is neatly strung around the tree, but the coat rack reveals no extras and it’s clear that he’s made a swift exit while she tried to collect herself. 

There’s a note by the tree, hastily scrawled but still more beautiful than most handwriting she’s ever seen. In it, Killian explains that he’s had a rather long day and he’s headed home to get some sleep, but that he’ll see her in the morning when they all exchange gifts. With a sigh, she turns back to her ornaments, adding the last few she had left before.

It takes her that long to realize that Killian has already added the star to the top of the tree, probably foreseeing that she can’t stretch like that on her own right now. She doesn’t even plug it in to see it all completed, instead flipping off the rest of the lights and making sure the door is locked before going to bed.

She knows why she kissed Killian - she wanted to. She wanted… wants him. She just doesn’t know why he kissed her back like a man on a mission and then bolted while she tried to make heads and tails of the situation. 

Her dreams are fraught with weird scenarios, one of which has her tangled in strands of lights and garland, trapped in a Christmas prison. She calls out for help repeatedly, but never gets an answer. Then she calls out Killian’s name and she can immediately hear a response for her to hold on, that he’s on his way.

In the morning, she wakes with that dream fresh in her mind and her heart still aches a little at the message. In all situations, great and small, she knows without a doubt that Killian will be there to help her. So what’s holding her back from telling him how she feels? 

The whole day feels different. Killian is usually the first one at her door in the morning but he’s not there when David and Snow show up. They’re the ones helping Emma put together brunch, just waiting for the oven timer to ding when Killian finally walks through the door looking like he slept about as roughly as Emma did. 

“Sorry I’m late,” he tells her as she helps him out of his coat. “Had to take care of some things at home.”

It’s a lie. She’s not sure she’s ever heard him lie to her this blatantly before. He’s lied to her about small things before, but this is the first time she’s heard him outright lie this bad since they drove down to Boston one summer and he claimed he wasn’t lost. When they ended up in New Hampshire, he finally admitted his wrongdoing. 

But when she looks a little harder at him, he averts his eyes, moving instead to remove his boots and wander over to where Snow and David have already made themselves comfortable in the living room. 

That’s the way it is all through brunch and the cleanup from their meal, and even most of the way through presents. He only really looks at her again when he thanks her for his gift. His eyes say volumes about how he’s feeling, so while the words were quiet, he’s practically screaming his gratitude in looks alone. 

When she opens the gift from him, her heart almost stops. Nestled in the small box is a swan pendant, vastly different than the last one she owned when she was younger, and already holding a lot more meaning than the little keychain some asshole once lifted from a gas station for her. She kept the old pendant for the longest time as a reminder not to trust anyone. It was Killian that helped her finally get rid of that necklace, patiently sitting with her as she took her time, made peace with all the bad memories, and then chucked it into the ocean from the boat he’d taken her out on that day.

“I hoped it would have slightly better memories than the last one,” Killian says, and she didn’t even notice him move closer until she realizes how near his voice is. “May I?”

She nods, watching in silence as he lifts the necklace from the box, taking his time to grasp the clasp between his fingers and pinching it open while holding the other side with his prosthetic. She holds her hair up and out of the way as he latches the necklace behind her, his fingers lingering just a bit before he abruptly stands. 

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ve some work to attend to,” he says, looking regretfully at Emma before he heads for the door. He makes sure to gather his gifts, thanking David and Snow before slipping from the apartment as quickly as he showed up. 

It takes some acting, but she plays off his departure as nothing major. It’s clear he’s never mentioned the apartment application to David and Snow or else one of them would’ve blurted out an objection already. So she plays along and smiles through the rest of their time together. 

Just after they eat dinner, Snow excuses herself. “I’m going home for a moment, and I’ll be back with more cookies,” she tells them. 

Another lie, Emma can tell, but she lets her friend go, realizing pretty quickly this is a case of Divide and Conquer between the married couple. 

“I’m going to make you more hot chocolate. And when it’s done, we’re going to have a talk,” David says when the door has shut behind his wife, confirming her suspicions. 

Emma bites back the smile the best she can and follows him into the kitchen.

-x-

It’s snowing and cold but Killian doesn’t really notice any of it. His hand is shoved into his pocket and his prosthetic is resting on the wooden railing overlooking the docks. 

“I would be lost without you,” he repeats to himself. It’s the inscription she put on the inside of the compass, a beautiful rosewood piece that he would normally be so excited to display in his home until it was time to bring his own boat out of winter storage. 

Now, after everything that’s happened the last couple weeks, he can’t tell its intended meaning. She’s talking about moving, and then she kisses him, and then runs away, and then gives him this particular gift with this particular message? 

He watches his breath fog out in front of him, noticing that even that looks sad and aggravated.

“Thought I might find you out here,” comes a voice from behind him.  He turns to find Snow standing there, bundled against the cold and holding a hot mug that she hands to him.

The tea is one of his favorites, and he sighs in the comfort of the gesture.

“You two have been keeping secrets from us,” Snow says. “You don’t need to tell me everything, since I’m sure it means more to you and Emma than it does to me or David. There’s some things that I do know. It’s that you don’t get a happy ending without working for it, and that everyone deserves love. I can tell you have feelings for Emma that go beyond best friends. And though she’d never admit it, I’m pretty sure Emma feels the same way.”

“You’d get along with my brother,” Killian says, managing a smile. It doesn’t last, though. “And I don’t know if she truly does.”

“You won’t know until you talk to her.” Snow reaches out and clasps his arm. “Look, Emma has waited a long time for someone to come into her life that she trusts enough to give her heart to. And I think she so badly wants it to be you, but she’s too scared to make a move without knowing for sure how you feel.”

It’s sound advice, to maybe even make things a little more obvious to her. Handing her a necklace doesn’t explain his reasoning behind it - that he not only bought it because he thought of the way she’d smile when she saw it, but also because she deserves to replace every last memory from the last man she trusted that broke her heart. 

Snow shivers, bringing him back to the present and he’s finally aware of the snow falling heavier now than it was before. “It’s cold out here. Go home,” she tells him. “And Merry Christmas!” With a quick peck on his cheek, Snow turns and walks up the path back towards where she can see David waiting in his truck to pick her up. 

He turns back towards the water, staring out at the darkness beyond his vision. 

His friend is right. He needs to tell Emma how he feels, and he needs to do it before it’s too late. Liam always tells him that a man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets. With one more look out to the water, he turns to head back to Emma’s apartment, but she’s already there.

She’s a couple meters away, shivering slightly despite her warm weather gear, and it’s only once Killian turns that she seems to come back to herself. 

“What are you doing out here, love? It’s freezing.”

“Says the man out here without a scarf or a glove or a hat?”

“I wasn’t really planning on staying out long. It just sort of… happened.” 

“Killian.”

“No wait, there’s something I need to say before we go any further.” He braces himself quickly, moving towards her slowly as he starts to speak. “When I met you, I was a broken man. I'd lost what I thought was the love of my life. After that first Christmas I spent with you, I felt like maybe my heart could move on one day. You invited me to join your family and your traditions, and for the first time in a long time I felt that hope that I'd find love again. And by the next Christmas, I wanted to find that love with you.”

He stops when he’s close enough to see the way the snowflakes catch on her eyelashes, and the way she keeps brushing them out of her hair. 

“I was always afraid to say anything for fear that you’d go running from me, since I’d heard all the stories you’d told me about the men you’d been with. I figured if you kept repeating ‘I’m never dating again’ enough in my presence that I should probably heed that warning.”

Emma chuckles under her breath at that, inching her way closer to him as he does the same to her. 

“Snow told me you’ve waited a long time to find a man to give your heart to. I’m truly hoping if you’d be lost without me that it means I may be the one you’re ready to try again with?”

“I know the engraving was cheesy but it fits too well, and it’s absolutely true. I would be lost without you.” The words come out quietly, and his breath catches in his throat as her fingers find the pirate’s luck necklace she bought him a few years ago. “I know I didn’t make it easy for you to tell me the truth, but I want you to know I feel the same way. What do you say, should we make this official? Kiss again and not have either of us go running for the hills afterward?” She means for it to lighten the mood, but he can’t help but be perfectly honest with his next words. 

“Your heart’s desire, Swan. That’s all I want.”

Her responding smile is bright and she leans forward just as he does. For a moment, all they do is touch their foreheads together, savoring this moment and breathing the other in - this closeness feels different than all the other times in their shared lives. When her fingers link with his, that’s when Killian moves again, angling his head and pressing his lips to hers. 

This time is sweeter, with much more meaning behind it.

“Does this mean you aren’t moving to Portland?”

“Killian. I was never moving to Portland. My skip worked in the housing office at that building and I needed the application as a cover to get to him.”

“And you couldn’t have just told me that when I brought it up?”

“I got defensive! It’s a knee-jerk reaction.”

“You got the ‘jerk’ part right, at least.”

She points a finger at him, a wordless warning that he’s been on the receiving end of multiple times. 

“Let’s go home,” she tells him, smiling as he lifts one of her gloved hands to press his lips against it. 

It’s later when she kisses him goodnight when she tells him she took the job at the station, and he feels like this may be the best Christmas he’s ever had. 

-x-

The next Christmas, the box she unwraps is engraved, and the contents inside of it make her tear up. 

“Where you lead,” he whispers, “will you let me be by your side?”

Her response of ‘yes’ is quickly lost in the way that they kiss, and they inform David and Snow to make it Christmas dinner instead of brunch, just so they have time to get their celebrating out of the way before they tell everyone else.

The End!

#captain swan fanfiction #cs ff #cs ff au #cssecretsanta2k19 #sarah writes ff #only a week and a day late #not as bad as i've been on some tasks!! #:[

[justanoutlawfic]

Coming Home: Chapt. 1( A Charming Family Fic)

Summary:  Emma Swan’s best foster family came when she was 5 years old. But just as quickly as it came, it was taken away. 23 years later, the boy she gave up for adoption drags her back to that familiar town and she’s confused as to how those foster parents haven’t aged a day.

Also on AO3/FF

I'm staring out into the night Trying to hide the pain I'm going to the place where love And feeling good don't ever cost a thing And the pain you feel is a different kind of pain

I'm going home Back to the place where I belong And where your love has always been enough for me I'm not running from No, I think you got me all wrong I don't regret this life I chose for me But these places and these faces are getting old So I'm going home Well, I'm going home-Daughtry

There’s a town in Maine where everyone is just surviving.

 There’s the grandmother and granddaughter that run the diner. You’re probably not going to get your tuna fish on rye without seeing them fight at least once.

 The mayor has run unopposed for the past few terms. It’s either no one else is interested in politics or they’re too scared to challenge her.

 The town craftsman talks about his late wife often and how they were never able to bear children. He gives sad glances at the ones that play every time he is asked to fix something at the school.

 Then you have the teacher at the school. She’s got a dark pixie cut, green eyes and a warm smile that doesn’t quite reach them. She’s kind to all her students in the 4th grade classroom. She helps them with their homework, never finds any question stupid and will run parent/teacher conferences at whatever time works for the parents. Everyone says she’s so great with kids, she should have one of her own. That’s when the megawatt smile disappears for only a second and it’s like she’s brought back a hundred years.

 Across town is her ex-husband, the sheriff. He works double shifts, having a hard time delegating responsibility even to his deputy, Graham. He used to take off every weekend. He used to smile more and make “dad jokes”. There are a lot of things that the town sheriff used to do. Before he and the schoolteacher divorced. Before he lost the thing that made them feel like they were finally connected.

 No one knows that the mayor’s son has left Storybrooke. Not even the mayor herself. She had an early meeting and trusted he could walk to the bus stop alone as he does every Wednesday when she needs him to. Yet, instead he’s walked all the way out of the small town. He’s the only one that’s ever been able to pass the town line since…. well, no one ever talks about that.

 He won’t be gone for long. No, despite how much he claims to hate his mother, he truly doesn’t. He’s just bringing someone home. A person that can change the course of the town forever. A person that can make the clock start moving again and maybe start the aging process of some of his classmates.

 The mayor’s son knows that this woman is the daughter of the school teacher and the sheriff. What he doesn’t know, is that this woman has been here before. That she considered them her parents without knowing they even shared the same DNA.

 The mayor’s son doesn’t know that he’s about to create a massive reunion.

***********************************************************************************

Emma had tried to force herself not to think about her son over the past 10 years. She made a choice that day in the hospital and it was one that she didn’t regret. At the time she wasn’t even 18, she was serving a sentence for robbery and still had a few months left before she was released. Giving the child up was the best choice for not only herself, but especially for him. She trusted that he would end up in a good home and from the looks of it, he had. Regina was tough around the edges but Emma tried to consider what she was walking into. Henry had just run away to find his biological mother. He was an angry little boy.

 When Emma woke up in the jail cell the following morning, the deputy tried to convince her that she had been drinking. Emma knew that she only had a few sips of Regina’s hard cider but perhaps it had been a bit stronger than she realized. She was in the midst of trying to convince him to let her go, when Regina stormed in, claiming that Henry had run off yet again. Emma was used to charming her way out of things and offered up her help in exchange for freedom from the DUI. Graham and Regina took it, heading back to the mansion to figure out where Henry had gone.

 The computer said that Henry had used a site to find Emma called “Who’s Your Momma?”. It wasn’t exactly the type of service that a typical 10-year-old could afford with a paper route. Regina insisted vehemently that she hadn’t given him any money and according to the records, she was telling the truth. The credit card information belonged to one Mary Margaret Blanchard.

 Mary Margaret. Why did that name sound so familiar?

 “She’s Henry’s teacher.”

That sounded familiar to Emma too. Before she could ask further questions, Graham butted in. “Perhaps we should pay Miss Blanchard a visit.”

“It’s a school day, she’d be there.”

“I think I’ll head down there and talk to her myself. You can head back to the station, Graham, in case anybody calls.”

“I should get back anyway,” Graham said. “The sheriff will be in soon and I’m sure he’ll be upset I didn’t inform him that the mayor’s son was missing.”

“I’ll come to the school with you,” Emma found herself saying. Regina gave her a weird look. “If this Miss Blanchard helped him out, I may be able to get information out of her. It’s also my job.”

 If Regina wanted to argue, she certainly didn’t show it.

 The two of them headed to the Storybrooke Elementary School. It was a big brick building, one of the better ones that Emma had seen throughout her life. In fact, as she walked the halls, she couldn’t help but think that she had been there before.

 Most schools look the same, you’ve been to enough to know that, she thought to herself. She was probably mixing it up with one of the nicer schools she had been to throughout her education.

 Regina opened the door to a classroom and a flurry of children rushed passed them. None of them were Henry. Regina stomped to the front of the room and began chastising a woman that Emma couldn’t clearly see. The woman’s voice was soft in return, almost defeated.

 “I assumed he was home sick with you.”

“Do you think I would be here if he was?” Regina snapped. “Did you give him your credit card so he could find her?”

 The woman stepped to the side to get a better look at Emma. Emma took in the dark pixie cut, the kind but confused green eyes. That cream-colored button up sweater that she had once used as a blanket. The skirt that covered the lap she would crawl up onto, to hear lullabies and fairytales.

 There was a reason why this school looked familiar. Why that name sounded familiar. Except when Emma had known her, she had been Mary Margaret Nolan, not Mary Margaret Blanchard.

 “What the hell?”

Mary Margaret continued to look confused for a moment until it clearly clicked. Her face softened and the tears sprung to her eyes. “Emma,” she whispered.

Regina looked between the two of them, an eyebrow raised. “The two of you know each other? How is that possible?”

 Emma stared at the woman she had once loved. Hell, the woman she still loved if she was being honest. The woman that she had called “Mommy”. The woman that had promised would be her forever home. Only to have it all ripped away at a moment’s notice. She didn’t feel like yesterday was her 28th birthday. No, she suddenly felt 3 feet tall. Her mind replayed that horrible day in her head. The way she cried until there were no tears left. The way she screamed for her parents, but nothing ever came. The heartache of no one listening to her, that she just wanted to go home.

 She forced herself to snap out of it and turned to Regina. “I would get my kid a new teacher,” she told her. “I wouldn’t trust her with Henry.”

  With that, she stormed out of the classroom.

#coming home verse #charming family #snowing #ouat au #ouat #once upon a time #snow white #mary margaret blanchard #david nolan #david charming #emma swan

[u23art]

A Look At Kingdom Hearts 3.

Kingdom Hearts 3 is an epilogue. 

         Kingdom Hearts 3, is sadly not the resolution we, or at least I, had hoped for. I wanted this to be a celebration of all the things that made Kingdom Hearts great, instead we got a Kingdom Hearts title that frankly is missing a few pieces.  Though there were elements in this game that I adored, it sadly doesn’t overtake Kingdom Hearts 2 in terms of the quality the best titles of the series can achieve. 

         The wait was long, the wait was arduous while fans of the series were drip fed morsels of information about the game. I counted down the days until the day of release, and on the day of release I counted the seconds until Gamestop open while I waited beside the door in below zero temperatures. My excitement didn’t cease as in addition my preorder for the limited edition PS4 Pro arrived the very same day, and since I had no internet due to extreme cold conditions I sat myself down for 3 days and played through Kingdom Hearts 3.

The gameplay, is smooth, I had my worries after 0.2 with its overly speedy movement through stages and at times “lumpy” action, but in 3 though Sora moves fast but the stages are wide and vast, and action inputs are responsive and attacks can be sequenced together with ease from keyblade swings, magic and shot lock commands. My only complaint was that I wasn’t given an option like in Kingdom Hearts 2 to turn off some of these activation commands, cause I could have done without Attraction Flow attacks popping up as often as they did.

  One cool additional feature however, was the ability to upgrade keyblades, rather than just switching to the next new keyblade after each world, each keyblade has a unique play style and you can power it up if it suits your approach to combat. I primarily found myself switching between the Shooting Star and Favorite Deputy keyblades.

The best stages to me, were Olympus, Toy Box and Monstropolous, they were wonderful to look at with tons of spaces to explore. The weakest worlds on the other hand, were Arrendale and San Fransokyo. Arrendale is white, Arrendale is covered in Snow, this is annoying when trying to differentiate areas and either find your way or find lucky emblems. San Fransokyo, is a city block, with grey buildings the blur into one another and it’s ESPECIALLY hard to find things like treasure chests. And then there’s Twilight Town, we are allowed ONE area of Twilight Town to mingle about in. Perhaps they should have put resources into making Twilight Town bigger instead of rendering music videos for "Let It Go" and......"Do You Want To Build A Snowman"......

Story wise, Sora is tasked by Yen Sid to achieve the power of waking in order to bring back Ven. Instead of being a teacher, he sends Sora out guided by his heart to various Disney worlds to get stronger and get the power of waking. Riku and Mickey on the other hand, are tasked with dropping into the world of Darkness to find Aqua.

Addressing this first, I was disappointed with the Riku segments, I expected brief adventures but instead we get two fights. I would have accepted reusing stages and assets from 0.2, we’re looking for Aqua anyway, why not go through places she did as we retrace our steps.

Going back to Sora’s story, it feels far too much like a straight line though points A through B and ect. Kingdom Hearts 2 worked as well as it did thanks in part to Hollow Bastion, a world with an expanding narrative to unravel after beating certain numbers of Disney worlds. On top of not having Radiant Gardens available to visit here, there wasn’t a single Final Fantasy character to drive its plot anyway.

I mentioned earlier that this game felt like it was missing pieces, there were signs that this would be the case when it was evident the first world would be Olympus and not an original world for the narrative to revolve around like Traverse Town, Twilight Town or Radiant Gardens. Upon starting up the game, my fears were further affirmed when I played through the entirety of Olympus’s narrative and Phil hadn’t said a single word. After visiting Olympus a second time, I was further saddened that there was no Hades cup or tournament. There are multiple instances of this throughout the game, this gnawing feeling that something is missing. Kingdom Hearts has always been known as an amalgamation of Final Fantasy and Disney, and to not have an FF character beyond some mentions of Cloud and Auron makes the whole experience feel disingenuous to what Kingdom Hearts is instead of celebrating what makes it great. There are MENTIONS of FF things, like some of the gummi ships, a cactuar and Leviathan from Final Fantasy V, but sadly the restoration committee is a no show.

One of the main selling points of this game was that the worlds are vast and seamlessly interconnected with the exception of a few points. This is cool, however without having separate areas and no brief pauses and transitions between them, the campaigns feel like they just breeze on by despite the fact that each one is a little under 2 hours. This creates a similar sort of problem that Final Fantasy XV had, where there was a focus on making vast open areas but sadly there’s no meaty substance to fill them with.

On a personal note, this game could have been fantastic-ish had they just replaced the shallow Frozen and BH6 worlds with worlds from Pocahontas and Treasure Planet.

The story should have enforced the story of Kingdom Hearts 2, which was immensely fun to play, INSTEAD it enforces THE MOBILE game which is not fun to play and personally I had quit after being sick of road blocks that kept me from progressing. Heck, this game actually undoes a lot of good KH2 did for the overall narrative. Union X stopped being especially fun since it had a habit of creating more and more questions without providing answers, a quality that has been passed on to Kingdom Hearts 3. 

Here is a list of questions that this game created without answering them.

What keyblade information did Larxene, Luxord, Demyx and Marluxia divulge to Saix?

Luxord and Demyx had Keyblades?

Axel and Saix became apprentices to Ansem to Wise to find and save a girl? 

Who is this girl, WHO are they talking about?

If Riku’s inner Riku whisked away Replica Riku to heart heaven, how could Xehanort still have the right amount of Darknesses.

When did Roxas leave Sora’s body to enter the replica body?

How did Roxas fly into battle from the sky?

How did the Norts get Xion’s heart from heart heaven to put into a replica?

How did Ansem the Wise get Namine from heart heaven into a replica?

How did Ansem the Wise conduct experiments on children and keep that hidden? That happened?

Where did Xehanort learn about the stupid requirements of 7 lights and 13 darkness to make Kingdom Hearts appear?

Where the H did Demyx go after he dropped off a replica and Ansem the Wise?

Why did Kairi shatter from Xehanort’s strike?

How did Sora save Kairi?

Where is Sora?

What rock are the Final Fantasy characters hiding under?

And most importantly, why was Phil not allowed to utter a SINGLE words the whole 2 or so hours I was at Olympus?

Ultimately I am happy that I finally got Kingdom Hearts 3, but I have a theory that higher interference kept this game hindered from being truly great.

Consider for a moment, have you notice that Kingdom Hearts 3 was announced in 2013 yet Big Hero 6 didn’t come out until 2014? 

HMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

#Kingdom Hearts #Kingdom Hearts 3 #Square Enix

[seriouslyhooked]

Lost Souls and Reveries (Part 5)

18 part AU written for @cssns​. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Story available on AO3 Here and FF Here. Banner created by the amazingly talented @shipsxahoy​!!

Killian Jones is a wolf shifter without roots, without plans, and without a pack. He’s a rogue, someone humans should avoid and shifters should be wary of given his lineage. But one night years back set him on a path he didn’t realize he was taking, a path leading to a future he is destined for. That future is tied up in one woman – a human named Emma Nolan. Together Emma and Killian will find not only answers, but a love that’s truly fated. But will love be enough to set them free, or will past demons win out in the end? (Answer: love always wins – I am writing this so despite some tiny pockets of angst it’s basically a fluff-filled insta-love fest). Rated M.

A/N: Hey everybody! Hope this update finds you doing well, and that you’re ready for another installment of ‘Lost Souls and Reveries.” This chapter was very fun to write because there’s a bit of intrigue, some new developments in our shifter universe, and of course, more CS cuteness. I can’t wait to hear what you all think and I’m so looking forward to your thoughts on this. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoy!

“A real man lives up to his word, even when it damn near kills him.”

Killian had heard those words more times than he could count from his elder brother over the course of his life, so much so that he could practically hear them aloud as he headed for the sheriff’s station.

The confrontation to come was something that Killian wanted no part of. It was bound to be unpleasant, but nevertheless it had to be done. This morning he promised Emma that he would try to smooth things over with Graham, and he would never break a promise to his mate. Even if he hated the idea of making peace with someone who had challenged his claim to her, Killian would try for Emma’s sake. Besides, the show down in the diner had proven to both him and Graham who the stronger shifter was.

Hours later it still amazed Killian that Graham was a shifter at all. There was no way to deny it when seeing him in person, but Killian had picked up no trace of another of his kind in the days since he’d arrived. It worried Killian that he could miss what should have been so obvious, and at first he wondered if his senses had taken some kind of hit. Perhaps the distraction of finding his perfect match had desensitized him to what should be undeniable signs. But he concluded, with the benefit of a few hours spent canvassing Storybrooke, that this was not the case. There was still virtually no scent that would hint at Graham’s existence, and Killian couldn’t comprehend how that was possible. By the time he arrived at the station, Killian was no closer to an answer, but as he walked through the front door his determination to get to the bottom of this had further solidified.

“Good morning,” a petite woman greeted from what appeared to be a deputy’s desk. “You must be Killian Jones.”

The acknowledgment of who he was surprised Killian until he remembered how small towns like Storybrooke operated. Still, this didn’t seem like a deputy greeting the town’s newest arrival. It was almost like this tiny woman had known that he would be here today, but that was crazy. He had made no appointment, and after the incident in the diner he was likely unwelcome and unwanted here, but this woman stood staring impassively at him as if his presence was just another item checked off of a very long list.

“I am, yes.”

“You’re early,” She said, motioning towards the clock on the wall. “He didn’t think you’d be here so soon.”

Killian wanted to ask how Graham could know he would come at all, but at that moment the man himself appeared.

“I think I’ve got it from here, Tink,” Graham said, embodying a much more laid back attitude than he had before. “It probably wouldn’t be a bad time to make the lunch run. We’ve likely outwaited the rush by this point, right?”

“You’ve got it boss,” she said dutifully before offering Killian a polite goodbye and heading out, leaving Killian and Graham alone.

“So… you made good time,” Graham said, pulling Killian’s attention back again. With the departure of the human buffer, Killian expected animosity to surface, but Graham remained as calm as he was before. “I’m assuming you surveyed the whole town. Find anything?”

“Nothing,” Killian said, perplexed by the newfound easiness in the sheriff’s demeanor as they walked back through the precinct and to Graham’s office. “How did you manage that?”

“Let’s just say you’re not the only one who doesn’t want to be found.”

The hair on the back of Killian’s neck stood up at the mention of his past though he did his best to appear unaffected. It was too much to hope that Graham wouldn’t go looking, but where there would be very little to say about him as far as the human government was concerned, Killian undoubtedly had a reputation amongst the packs. All it would take was one call and Graham would get some iteration of his story, if he hadn’t heard it already.

“Appears you have me at a disadvantage. You seem to know more about me than I do about you. Hardly seems fair,” Killian mused.

“There’s not much to know,” Graham said as he motioned for Killian to take a seat before taking his own spot behind the desk. “I don’t exactly come with a pedigree like yours.”

“No, but you’ve inserted yourself into a human town and become the sheriff. You don’t think that’s an interesting choice?”

Killian purposefully infused in his tone how strange it was for a shifter to do something like that. It was one thing to go rogue and live among humans. But to enmesh oneself so deeply in their community and take on the role of protector? Well that was a bizarre choice indeed, one that clearly stemmed from a story worth hearing.

“I didn’t insert myself,” Graham said evenly. “I was raised nearby by humans so they’re what I’ve always known. I tried the whole ‘pack’ thing out for a while when I was younger, but it didn’t stick, so I came home.”

Killian marveled at how forthcoming Graham was being with this information, especially given how anomalous it was. Humans didn’t raise shifters – there were fail safes in place to make sure it didn’t happen. To keep the secret safe orphaned shifters stayed within the clans. They were adopted by a pack and not allowed to live with people who shouldn’t know the truth. Yet Graham spoke of his past like it was nothing, and maybe to him it was. For Killian though, the past was something he wanted to forget and fend off as best he could. It wasn’t something he shared lightly, but now that Graham was aware of who he was, his options were limited. Killian could either take the man out in the hopes of preserving his secret (which was frankly not an option), or he could try and make nice and hope he could eventually trust the man.

“Packs are overrated,” Killian responded.

“That they are,” Graham agreed with a low chuckle. “But it begs the question – why is a rogue wolf who’s forsaken the bonds of pack and family laying claim to a human? Just what are you doing with Emma Nolan?”

“She’s mine,” Killian growled out immediately and the ferocity of his response triggered a defensive stance from Graham for the first time since Killian arrived.

“No, she’s not.”

Killian could feel his wolf pushing to get out at the provocation. His animal wanted a fight. It wanted to rip apart any shifter who would doubt his claim to Emma or question his motives. If Killian let himself give into those baser instincts his wolf would win too. A physical fight would just prove what their showdown had this morning – Killian was stronger and more dominant than Graham was, plain and simple. But a brawl would also make a mess where Killian couldn’t afford to create one. He tried to breathe through his rage instead of caving to it, but it was bloody difficult to do so.

“Look man, you want to stay here, fine. You and I both know I can’t successfully fight you off,” Graham confessed bitterly. “But I’m not letting you come in here just to mess with her. Emma might just be a human but -,”

“She’s not ‘just’ anything. She’s my mate and she’s perfect.”

The look of shock on Graham’s face was unsurprising. He must be thinking the same things Killian considered when he first found Emma. How was it possible? She was a human and Killian was a shifter. True mates that crossed the species simply didn’t happen – but it had – and he had the proof both in his heart and on his person.

“You can’t know that,” Graham replied, convinced it had to be a lie.

“And yet I do.”

“You just got here. The full moon is still weeks away. You need it to -,”

“She marked me,” Killian said, proud of that fact even though he didn’t like that he had to share it with anyone. “My wolf knew from the moment I saw her, but it was confirmed when I got this.”

He pulled down the collar of the shirt to reveal part of the insignia Emma had left as a presence on his skin. Meanwhile Graham shook his head, clearly blown away at all of this. The sheriff hadn’t expected this twist, but Killian hoped that now that he knew the truth, Graham would stop trying to get Killian to leave her alone.

“Well shit… I guess she is yours.”

“As I said,” Killian responded with a huff before returning his shirt to normal.

“I would apologize, but I’m not really all that sorry,” Graham said with a shrug. “I was only trying to protect her.”

“Why?” Killian asked, before clarifying. “Why are you close to her? To her family?”

“Because of David,” Graham stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Emma’s father?” Killian’s brow furrowed as he asked the question. What did Emma’s father have to do with this? He wracked his brain, thinking of the few tidbits he’d learned from Emma about the man, but all he recalled was that he was a vet like Emma.

“You don’t know,” Graham said, his eyes giving away that he himself had just made some kind of mental connection.

“Know what?”

“Why did you come here?” Graham asked, completely ignoring Killian’s question.

“Honestly? Because Emma asked me to.”

“Not the station. I mean Storybrooke. How did you end up here?” Killian didn’t follow Graham’s insistent tone.

“It was random. I just did.”

“Really?”  Graham asked, unconvinced. “You had no other reasons?”

Of course you did, the voice in Killian’s head which he knew to be his wolf said adamantly. She was here. You knew she was here. She was calling you to her. Calling you home.

“Well I didn’t come here on a whim,” Graham said, filling in the silence that his question had prompted. “I came to this town specifically out of all the ones around here because of Doc Nolan. Because he saves people, people like us.”

“He’s a healer?” Killian asked, now completely and utterly flummoxed. “But he’s…”

“Human, yeah.”

If he hadn’t already been sitting Killian would have needed to take a seat. This was so much to wrap his mind around. A human who knew about shifters? That was a threat, one that the council would have a lot to say about if they ever heard. It was part of the reason that Killian was nervous about his relationship with Emma. She was his mate, but there weren’t any laws in the shifter world that said how to handle that. It was a huge grey area, but her father knowing about shifters was cut and dry. He should not know, and if anyone found out that he did, he’d be handled somehow, likely in a way that would hurt Emma because it would take away her father forever.

“Why does he do it?”

“I’ve never asked him,” Graham replied with a shrug. “And I don’t know if he’d tell me if I did. That’s his business, not mine, but there are shifters all around this area who owe their lives to him knowing. David’s not a threat, even if he has to hide what he does for us.”

“And Emma, does she know?” Killian asked. Part of him hoped that she did. If that were the case then he wouldn’t have to worry about the reveal of his true nature. Maybe she’d be open to this. Maybe it wouldn’t freak her out to find out the man who wanted to spend his life with her forever was part wolf.

“No, she doesn’t. I don’t even know if David has told his wife,” Graham said honestly. “If Mary Margaret does know she’s never said anything to me, and that would be impressive, since she’s hardly known for her ability to keep a secret.”

The implications of all he had just learned weighed heavily on Killian. On the one hand, Emma’s father knew about his kind and he had decided to help them however he could. That was admirable, even if some might consider it reckless or crazy to open himself up to the risks associated with what he was doing. But on the other hand this was a secret, a secret about Emma’s family that he now knew and that Emma did not. Killian didn’t know if he could handle keeping something from Emma. Right now things between them were new and undefined, but he had every hope of moving things along with Emma and soon. In a perfect world they’d cement their bond as mates by the first full moon in a few weeks, Emma’s being human or not, but he couldn’t go into that with any kind of secret. What kind of foundation was that to build a life together?

“He has to tell her,” Killian said firmly. “If he doesn’t I will.”

“I figured you might say that,” Graham said with another smirk. “But that’s between you and him. Unless you want me outing you as a wolf to your future father in law.”

Killian grimaced at the thought, assuring Graham that he did not want that. He would figure this out. He just needed a bit of time to endear himself to Emma. Only with the benefit of more time together would Killian learn the best way to move forward, and until he knew how to handle this with the grace and tact it deserved, he’d keep this to himself. Graham agreed to respect that, and Killian decided that despite the fact that he had a dozen more questions, he would only ask one more. He wasn’t sure how much time they’d have before Graham’s deputy returned, and it wasn’t exactly a human-safe line of questioning.

“Why is there no trace of any shifters here?” Killian asked, genuinely curious. “You were right before. I tracked all over the town and there was no trace of anyone, including me. How is that possible?”

“That’s my job,” Tink said, spooking Killian since so few people had the ability to sneak up on him. She tossed a bag from the diner over to Graham, apparently back from her lunch run.

“Tell me you’re a witch or something,” Killian pleaded, truly hoping she had some reason to know of their existence instead of being another human caught up in a dangerous situation.

“Tink is a Lynx shifter,” Graham explained, as if what he was saying wasn’t certifiably insane.

“That’s not possible. There are none left.”

“Ha! That’s what you think,” Tink quipped, her human looking eyes altering at her command to include a distinct shade of amber that Killian had never seen before. When she lifted this barrier Killian could finally scent her, and he was amazed. She was telling the truth. Would wonders ever cease? “Just because we don’t mark our territory constantly like wolves do, doesn’t mean we’re gone. Some of us like a little more discretion.”

“Lynxes can camouflage their scent naturally. Tink just broadens the scope – keeping Storybrooke and the trails coming in and out invisible to others.”

“Well that’s… brilliant,” Killian admitted. “Thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome,” Tink replied, clearly proud of herself. “But do me a favor and try to stop wandering, okay? You’ve had me working overtime with all the running and the pacing you’re doing. I know it’s over Emma but if you could just keep yourself in one area it would really help a lot.”

“Uh right,” Killian said, startled that she knew so much and a little sheepish at having been tracked this week. “I’ll keep that in mind. Any other shifters or surprises I should know about?”

“Nope. That about covers it,” Tink said with a smirk before she raised a brow at Graham and nodded towards the door.

“Well all right then,” Graham said, standing from his chair. “If there’s nothing else, I think Tink and I should eat this and go make our evening rounds. There’s a storm coming tonight. Want to beat the bad weather if we can.”

Killian took the hint, rising from his seat and saying goodbye to both of them before heading out of the station. He was still shocked by all that he’d learned in there, and his mind tried to make sense of the new discoveries he was faced with as he made his way home. But while he was walking, he came to understand exactly what Graham and Tink were on about before. The winds had shifted and the atmosphere had changed in the time since he’d gone to hash things out. A storm would come, probably not until later tonight, but instinct told Killian it would sweep in quickly and stay a long while. Summer storms were famous for that, and Killian couldn’t help but think of the worst summer storm he’d ever seen many years ago…

It was fitting that the world outside was still but charged. The air around them was hot and heavy, weighing on the forest in an almost impressive way, but it wouldn’t last. Miles off there was a feint sound of rumbling and the winds up high whistled a little more strongly through the trees. The normally brilliant summer twilight was dull and gray, and the white clouds above grew darker to the west as they headed this way. In another hour this relative state of natural peace would be long forgotten. The storm would be in full force, and that was when they would strike.

“It’s not too late you two,” Granny pleaded from the corner. “You don’t have to do this yet. There’s still time.”

“To what, run?” Killian asked, the words dripping venom as they spilled from his lips. “No we’re done running, and the only way this stops – the only way the world can be free of Brennan is if he’s dead.”

In every second that had passed since his mother was killed, Killian had harnessed just a little more pain and hurt and hate. It had been almost two years now since his mother had been killed, and the rage he felt towards his father flamed brighter than the sun at the peak of summer. The darkness inside of Killian had grown a little bit day by day, feeding him strength and stamina. This might be about justice, about righting a wrong that was too cruel to even contemplate, but Killian had not taken any kind of high roads to get here. He had channeled every ounce of his ability and feeling and natural alpha-genes and honed himself into a weapon. His body had shifted from boy into man through rigorous training and never letting up. He had managed to fully control his wolf, and learned to communicate with his animal side in a way that should have taken decades to perfect. But his only goal in achieving all of this was to rid this world of the monster that was his father.

“Ruby, dear, try to talk some sense into them,” Granny said, calling on Killian’s cousin who had been zoned out since Killian and Liam arrived here last night. But when Granny grabbed her hand, it seemed to pull Ruby back, and she looked at Killian with clear eyes as she made a surprising statement.

“I can’t. They need to do this. So many lives hang in the balance. Brennan is only getting worse, Granny, and soon it will be too late. The sickness is spreading.”

“Sickness?” Liam asked, and though Killian was interested as well, it wouldn’t matter what Ruby said. He was here to kill Brennan and that would not change.

“Alpha sickness. It’s rare, but sometimes when an alpha forsakes the good of the pack for the wants of his animal it happens. Your father has had it for years, but at some point there will be no human side left. Brennan will be a wolf – and a rabid one at that. When that happens…”

They all knew what would happen if his father reached peak strength and derangement. There were already no lines that Brennan wouldn’t cross, but at least the man had strategy. A wolf would be guided by instinct and instinct alone, and with a heart so black it no longer knew what goodness felt like, Brennan would be a force so dark it couldn’t be survived.

“So our window is closing,” Killian said, his muscles flexing in preparation for the fight ahead. He was ready for this, not caring that the chances of survival weren’t great. Honestly it didn’t matter to him. If he died then so be it. As long as he rid the world of Brennan once and for all, it would be worth it.

“Yes,” Ruby whispered, her sad and resigned look telling Killian she probably knew exactly how he felt. A part of him felt a pang of guilt for worrying her and Granny like this. But he couldn’t prioritize that over revenge. He just couldn’t.

“Any other things you’ve seen that could be helpful?” Liam asked, but Killian knew it was a losing battle. Gifted as Ruby might be, she was also cursed, at least that was what Killian’s mother used to say. Knowing the future was a burden that must largely be handled alone. It was the only way to keep things as they should be. Telling them too much could actually hurt the future, and Ruby knew that.

“Don’t let him bite you,” Ruby said firmly. “The sickness is contagious.”

“When did it start?” Liam asked, his curiosity and hope shining through in the question even though he tried to hide it. “The sickness. Was he bitten before we left?”

This was a moment of truth for Liam, even if it didn’t matter to Killian. There was no way that he could ever forgive his father. Whatever this alpha sickness was, whatever craziness Brennan had been infused with it didn’t matter. A real man would have fought it off, or would have taken care of the problem. No one could truly love his wife or his family and hurt them as Brennan had. There was no excuse – nothing that would make it right. So when Ruby gave the final blow, Killian didn’t feel any kind of pain.

“No. He wasn’t.”

Silence descended upon their cabin as the four of them soaked in that knowledge. It was the ugly truth, but in some ways Killian was glad for it. Now he had more to hold onto, more hatred to stow away, and he would need all of it to do this tonight. Absentmindedly his hand reached for the pendant around his neck, and he felt the cool, comforting metal he’d been wearing since they fled from England. The compass was his mother’s the only thing of hers Killian had kept after everything, and right now he needed it with him. Though she herself was peaceful and good, Killian knew his mother’s spirit would be with him tonight. He only hoped he could avenge her, and that maybe when it was all over he would be able to claw himself out of this darkness he’d created…

The ding of his phone that sounded when a message arrived sucked Killian from the depths of his memory. He was a little more used to the thing now, having given his number to Emma a few mornings ago, and he prayed that it was her reaching out. When he saw that it was he smiled, and when he read her message his smile bloomed into a full-blown grin.

E: Hope you’re brushing up on useless information for tonight. The Rabbit Hole is on the corner of Hickory and Main, FYI.

Killian couldn’t explain how he knew, but he was certain that this text wasn’t actually about telling him where the bar was. This town was so small; it would have been impossible for him to miss it after a week here. No, this was Emma reaching out and confirming that they’d see each other. It was a sign that she was missing him and wanting to be reunited, though probably not as much as him. He sent her back a message of his own, promising to do his best to bring her honor and to see her soon. Once his phone was put away he hurried up, walking as quickly as he could back home so he could get on with this evening at last.

Unfortunately, getting ready ended up being a little more complicated than he expected. It was easy getting home, of course. Killian would actually be surprised if any one could get lost in so small a town, shifter or not, but when he got down to readying himself to see Emma again, the challenge presented itself. Having very little experience in any kind of ‘trivia night’ Killian wasn’t exactly sure what one wore to such an evening. He assumed it was casual, right? They were going to a bar and playing a game, so that would stand to reason, but since he was getting to see Emma, Killian still had this urge to look his best. He wanted his mate to desire him, because he was desperate for more moments when her eyes grew darker and her scent shifted ever so slightly to one of want and need. More than that, Killian also wanted Emma to be proud of him. Despite his wish to be alone with her, the reality was tonight would be filled with other people too including her friends. It was imperative that he make a good impression, and there was only one chance to make a first.

In the end, after showering and trying to set himself to rights, Killian went with what he knew best. Dark colors had always suited him and he didn’t have anything else in his wardrobe to even consider. He tried to strike a balance between casual yet upstanding, and then he grabbed his leather jacket despite the heat and the impending rain for one reason, and one reason alone – because Emma liked it.

He had learned that particular fact early on, seeing the way she took him at their first few meetings, but yesterday as he was walking through town, hoping to run into Emma during her lunch break, he’d overheard some women in the town gossiping. At first he was angry that anyone would speak of Emma behind her back, but as he got closer to them (still standing far enough away that no human could have heard from such a distance) he noted that everything they said was complimentary. No one had a bad word to say about his mate; they simply commented on how taken she was both by Killian and by his choice in outerwear.

“I cornered her after their breakfast at the diner today, trying to figure out how far things have gone between them. You should have seen how flustered she got. She was blushing like crazy and mumbling. All I caught was blue eyes and black leather.”

Killian chuckled to himself during the brisk walk to the bar, not because he found Emma’s reaction to him funny, but because he knew it was unusual for Emma just as it was unusual for him. Never in his life had Killian succumbed to such feelings. He’d never been this distracted or in need of more time with anyone before. The only person he’d ever lay awake and dreamed of was her, but since coming here those dreams he once had had changed. Now, instead of innocently wondering where Emma was and wishing she were safe, his thoughts had progressed further. He still wanted her to be taken care of, but he now felt it was his duty to see her protected. He wanted to be close to her, yearned to touch her, to explore the sweet seductive pull between them, and so he spent the hours when they were apart imagining how it would be when they finally came together.

When he arrived at the Rabbit Hole, Killian was nowhere near under control. On the contrary, his constant thinking of Emma and waiting for the moment he’d get to see her again had him feeling frayed and unmoored. He lacked direction. He didn’t know how tonight would be or how he should be as a result. Would Emma want him to be friendly, or would she welcome more from him? He hoped that he could show her his intentions, but he didn’t know how, and as he stepped inside the well-used town tavern he debated the merits of a number of different options.

Yet at the moment that Killian found Emma under the lights at the bar, he stopped dead in his tracks. Instantly all debate flew from his mind, and it was replaced by admiration and enthrallment all centered on one Emma Nolan. He was rooted to his spot, looking at her and taking her all in, and what he saw was nothing short of a miracle.

It defied reason how any one person could be so beautiful, but here she was, a marvel and a treasure that a man could look the world over and never see again. Killian’s eyes moved down from her beautiful face along the curves of her body, finding her outfit of choice for this evening even more transfixing than her usual fare. Jean shorts and a short top that didn’t quite cover all the way down shouldn’t look this good, but on Emma it was sublime. She looked young and carefree, laughing at something one of her friends said beside her at the table, but he could feel the charge around her. Her anticipation hung thick in the air, but there were other scents too, scents he did not like at all.

Killian tore his eyes from Emma and looked around for the encroachers. There were other men here, men who were far from Emma but who watched her and her friends with interest. It stoked the protectiveness in Killian and an instant feeling of aggravation. He did not appreciate others looking at his Emma, no matter how impossible it was to ignore her. But those primal thoughts couldn’t overcome him. At some level Killian knew that Emma was her own keeper and guardian. She could handle herself – she’d been doing it for years – but he wished that he could fill that role for her. He wanted the world to know that the two of them were tied together, and as if she could feel his presence from the intensity of his yearning from her, she turned at that moment and found him in the crown.

When she spotted him her reaction was immediate and overwhelming. The wave of her happiness that she emitted hit him right in the chest, and Killian could do nothing to resist her. He made his way through the place, ignoring every other person until he was at her side, where he felt he most belonged. They were close, only a matter of inches apart, but he had to touch her, even if he couldn’t great her exactly as he might want. His hand came to hold hers lightly, his thumb tracing a soft trail over her hand as he grounded himself in the fact that they were here together.

“You made it,” Emma murmured, her voice silky and smooth and utterly irresistible.

“Trust me, love, nothing could have kept me away.” His eyes traced the flush that came to her cheeks at his words, and only when a throat cleared from beside Emma did he regain himself. He looked away from Emma, seeing her two friends, Anna and Elsa, in the booth and he offered them a smile. “I hope you don’t mind me crashing your game tonight.”

“Mind?” Anna asked incredulously. “Honey we are thrilled. We have all sorts of questions about -,” 

Anna let out a yelp mid statement and jumped slightly, and Killian knew that under the table one of them had swatted or kicked her to keep her quiet. He couldn’t tell based on faces if it were Emma or Elsa, for Emma looked mortified but Elsa looked irritated, like a mother who’s child had gotten somewhat out of line. 

“Uh, you know trivia questions. Not like digging into your background interrogation questions.”

Anna’s attempted cover prompted a groan to come from her sister and Emma ducked her head down for a moment, her hand coming over her eyes as she shook her head. Meanwhile Killian had to laugh at this and try to alleviate the tension.

“Well whatever questions pop up, I’ll do my best to answer them.”

This seemed to appease all parties, and just as he took his seat the festivities began. It became apparent rather quickly that this was a town-wide enjoyment and a usual occurrence for many in attendance, including Emma and her friends. There was a lingo here and inside jokes that Killian was not versed in whatsoever, but he found his ignorance only added to his overall experience. As the night progressed Emma made sure at every turn to keep him in the loop and include him, and soon enough he found he wasn’t just enjoying her company, but that of everyone else as well.

“I think you might actually be the perfect addition to our team,” Anna said after Killian had correctly guessed an answer for a question about this year’s World Cup. “I know pop culture, Elsa knows all things history, and Emma’s our science and animal guru, and you can handle the guy stuff.”

“Anna, girls can like soccer too,” Elsa reminded her. “But real talk, how much do you know about the history of alcohol? Leroy always asks a question about it without fail and -,”

“All right, all right quiet down. I can’t ask my questions if you’re all talking,” their host grumpily announced – lambasting their team as well as all the others who were chatting on their own. He was a small man, but Leroy certainly packed a lot of aggression into one small form. “In 1887 a bartender by the name of Jerry Thomas served the first martini ever. What city did the hotel he worked in reside in?”

Emma and her friend’s all looked to him expectantly and Killian was elated that he actually knew the answer. There was no real reason why he would, except for the fact that he’d actually spent time in the city a few years back.

“San Francisco.”

“You seem awfully confident about that answer,” Emma teased, and Killian didn’t miss the way her leg subtly grazed his under the table. It was a gentle touch, but it was enough to have his already present flame of wanting burn brighter.

“That’s because I am.”

“You’re bluffing,” Anna quipped, even as she wrote it down and covered the answer with her hand so none of the other parties (some of whom like to cheat a bit) would see.

“Am I?” Killian asked and it was Elsa who spoke up.

“Nope – he knows it. He won’t know the next three questions, though I think he’ll pull through for us in the last round.”

Killian looked to Emma for explanation as Leroy announced that he was in fact right and Emma explained about Elsa and her way of knowing things. It sounded to Killian like she might actually have some kind of gift, though he didn’t know the extent of her talents. Regardless he was soon distracted as the game continued on and his subtle flirtation with Emma unfurled as well. In the end Elsa was right. Killian did not know very many more answers, but the final question was one that stumped Emma and her friends, and he, blessedly knew what it was.

“The state bird of Virginia is a Cardinal.”

“Write it down, write it down,” Elsa urged Anna and a few minutes later, after they’d submitted their answer sheet for the final round, they found out he was right and that the four of them had won the game.

The women of his table immediately broke out into laughter and shows of excitement. Anna and Elsa were beside themselves, their game-long competitiveness paying off in spades, but it was Emma’s reaction that blew Killian away. Her excitement at having won was palpable, and Killian swore he’d never felt a similar high before. To see Emma happy was a remarkable gift and he felt the same sense of elation coursing in his own veins though the stakes were so small. This was one game of trivia, but Emma made it seem like the greatest accomplishment. She celebrated with her friends, and then, in a twist he never saw coming, she pulled him close for a kiss right there in front of everyone.

It was pure bliss when their lips came together, but where Killian desired the chance to pursue this further, Emma pulled away all too quickly. It was an instinctual reaction – just a sweet, short show of her affection, but when they came apart she only lingered in that happy thrill with him for a moment. When it dawned on her what she’d just done, the color drained from her face and her excitement immediately deflated, letting worry in in its stead.

“Oh um, I didn’t – well I mean I shouldn’t – I’ll be right back.”

Killian tried to reach for her and keep her close but Emma slipped away with a speed he didn’t see coming. One moment she was there with him and the next she’d gone running, leaving him not only desperate for more but also needing to make this better. He wasn’t sure what exactly was wrong, but he vowed to himself to fix it as he followed her. There were murmurs around them, no doubt discussing the scene that had just happened, but Killian tuned it all out, tracking Emma and finding her out back in small alley way. It struck him as significant that this was where his moment of truth with her would come, especially since they’d been in such a space before but under completely different circumstances.

“Emma, love, are you all right?” he asked, his eyes taking in her stance as his heart went out to her. Her position wasn’t defensive per se, it just looked like she was trying to hold herself together. There was anxiety in her brilliant green eyes, and he moved toward her slowly, not wanting to rush her, but also needing to ease that to the best of his ability.

“Yeah I just – I kind of lost my head in there. I didn’t plan that or anything. I’m so -,”

Oh no she didn’t. Emma thought that right now she was going to apologize to him for that kiss, but he wouldn’t allow it. Instead he closed the space between them, pulling her into his arms. He held her for a moment, taking in the heat that returned to her face and the slip of her mask. It revealed that she was just as desirous as he was, and when he knew that this was what she wanted he fused his lips with hers, tasting her again and letting himself have that more he’d craved when they were in the bar.

It took no time at all for Emma’s hesitations to fade, and Killian reveled in the way she arched into him and her hands clung to him. She met him beat for beat, her passion even more vibrant and amazing than he’d ever imagined. She was exquisite – a dream made flesh – and Killian was in awe of her. He would give anything in the world to take this further. The take these kisses even further. He let his hands roam her body, feeling her gentle curves and her smooth skin, but before he could get too carried away he retreated, breaking the kiss an waiting until Emma opened her eyes, blinking as her vision adjusted in the after math of such an embrace.

“I know you didn’t plan this, Emma. I didn’t plan it either. It’s sudden and unexpected, but I think you should know that my feelings aren’t in any way fleeting.”

“Your feelings?” Emma whispered, her eyes glancing back down at his lips before they returned to his eyes, searching for answers he was more than willing to give.

“I want you, Emma,” he confessed as his fingers traced along her cheek, before he pushed a lock of her wayward hair behind her ear. “There’s something about you that I can’t deny and I wouldn’t even if I could. I know it’s fast, but I also know that this pull between us matters. I know that you matter, more than anything has in so long.”

“I feel the same way,” Emma said with a smile as her hand rested above his chest. She must feel the unnaturally fast beat of his heart, but in the quiet of the alley he could hear hers matched the same rhythm almost identically. “I just didn’t think… I mean you never really made a move so…”

“Been waiting for me, have you?” Killian teased and Emma’s laughter was so bright and so bubbly that it filled him with joy all over again. He was floating right now, despite their surroundings and he never wanted this moment to end. “Well now that I know that, I promise, you won’t have to wait anymore.”

“Good,” Emma said before pulling him for another kiss and filling those last fleeting moments out there under the golden lantern light with all the peace and joy and love deserving of two souls who had been searching for each other forever, only to finally find their way home.

Post-Note: So there we have it. Chapter five came bearing some new beats, developments, and confirmations. I know it was kind of information heavy at the beginning – but I don’t think many other chapters will be that way from here on out. I foresee more action coming down the pike. That being said there were things that needed to happen, like Killian learning about Graham and Tink and David. Also on the CS front we just needed a kiss already, I mean come on. Five chapters is a slow enough burn for me. Anyway next chapter, which will be here in two weeks, is from Emma’s POV again and it will cover the aftermath of this kiss and then ask out for the first date. I hope you’ll stick around on this adventure with me and let me know what you thought about this chapter! I love to hear your feedback, and appreciate all your support!

Tag list (if you would like to be added let me know!): @jennjenn615 @winterbaby89 @kmomof4 @teamhook @coliferoncer @ultraluckycatnd @resident-of-storybrooke @artistic-writer @snowbellewells @snarkycaptainswan4 @allofdafandoms-blog @eastside-divebar

#captain swan #captain swan au #captain swan fic #cs fic #cs ff #cs fluff #cs au #cs mc #emma swan #killian jones #captain swan supernatural summer #cssns #shifter!Killian #human!Emma #the whole storybrooke gang #sheriff graham #ouat au #lost souls and reveries #lost souls 5

[singularityy2]

[HONEY FF]

┌────── ⋆⋅♤⋅⋆ ──────┐

chapter nine

TOUGH

└────── ⋆⋅♤⋅⋆ ──────┘

URARAKA AND YUNO WERE at the entrance when they were bombarded with interviewers.

"Will you tell us about what the Symbol of Peace is like as a teacher?" One lady questions the two as Uraraka nervously stared at the cameras.

"Wh-What he's like? Um.. He's very muscular!" Uraraka says as the lady then turns the mic to Yuno.

"What about you?!" The lady questions Yuno who faked clearing her throat, leaning closer into the mic.

"I am not obligated to answer your questions, thank you very much. We will be leaving now." Yuno smiles as she interlocks her arm with Uraraka, pulling her away.

"She looks familiar.."

-

-

"Good work on yesterday's combat training. I saw the video and results. Bakugo, you're talented, so don't act like a kid." Mr. Aizawa says as Yuno turns to look at the ash blond beside her.

"I know."

"And Midoriya.  You settled it by breaking your arm again, huh? You can't keep saying you can't help it because you can't control your Quirk. I don't like saying the same thing over and over. As long as you fix the control issue, there's a lot you'll be able to do. Feel a sense of urgency, Midoriya." Mr.Aizawa says as you could feel the happiness radiating off of Deku from her seat.

"Yes, sir!"

"Now let's get down to home room business. Sorry about the late notice, but today, I'll have you.." Mr. Aizawa said as the same question filled everyone's mind.

Take another special test?!

"Decide on a class representative." He finishes.

"I want to be class rep! Pick me!"

"Me too!"

"I want to do it, too."

"It's a job made for m-"

"I'll be the leader!"

"My manifesto is for all girls' skirts to be 30 centimeters above the knee!"

"Let me do it! Me!"

Many students had raised their hands, as they wanted to be the lucky choice.

"Silenced, please!" Iida exclaims as everyone becomes quiet at the sound of his voice. "It is a job with serious responsibility of leading others. It is not a job for just anyone who wants to do it. It is a calling that requires the trust of those around you. If we want to use democracy to decide on a true leader, then we should hold an election to choose one."

"Your hand is raised the highest!"

"Why did you suggest that?"

"We haven't known each other for that long, so how can we have trust or anything?" Tsu questions.

"If that's the case, and everyone votes for themselves..."

"Don't you think that is precisely why whoever receives multiple votes here can be truly considered the most suitable person? What do you think, Mr. Aizawa?" Iida questions as he turns to look at Mr. Aizawa who was already in his sleeping bag.

"I don't care, as long as you decide before home room is over."

"Thank you very much!"

-

-

The results were now on the board, the top two people being people she never expected.

Izuku Midoriya - 3

Yuno Kamishiro- 2

"Why Deku?! Who voted for him?!" Bakugo exclaims as he stands up from his seat.

"Well, it's better than voting for you." Sero says as Yuno tried to contain the laugh that wanted to escape her mouth. She never expected for herself to be on that board, as she had voted for Iida.

"What did you say?!"

"One vote." She could hear Iida say, a pout slowly forming on her lips for the boy.

"Hey! It's better than zero." Himura's familiar voice exclaims, patting his shoulder.

Deku and Yuno stood up front, she turned to look at Deku who was practically a nervous mess.

"Then, the class rep is Midoriya, and the deputy class rep will be Yuno."Mr. Aizawa says.

"S-S-Seriously? Seriously?" Deku whispers as Yuno puts a hand on the boys' shoulder.

"It's okay. It's okay."

-

-

"There are a lot of people today, too!"

"That's because everyone in the hero course, support course, and management course meets in the same place." Iida says as Yuno grabs her chopsticks.

"The rice is so delicious!" Uraraka says as Yuno grabbed a clump of her rice, the girl quickly glaring at her.

"Even though I've been chosen as class rep, I don't know if I'm qualified for it." Deku says as Yuno turns to look at the boy.

"Me too." Yuno pouts as she takes a bite of her food.

"You two are." Uraraka says, taking another bite of her rice.

"It'll be fine." Iida says as Deku turned to look at him while Yuno took another piece of Uraraka's food, as Uraraka did the same.

"Your courage and judgement at critical moments make you worth following. That is why I voted for you." Iida says as Yuno looks up, her gaze going towards Iida than Deku.

"It was you?"

"But didn't you want to be class rep, too, Iida? I mean, you've got glasses and everything." Uraraka says as Yuno quickly turned to look at the girl, she was practically the definition of saying something before thinking it.

"Wanting to do it and being suitable for it are different issues. I merely did what I judged to be correct." Iida says as the trio quickly look at him.

"Merely?"

"You don't usually say that word." Yuno says as she takes a sip of her apple juice.

"Oh, that's.."

"I've been thinking..." Uraraka says as the trio then turns to look at the brunette.

"Are you a rich boy, Iida?" Uraraka says as Yuno couldn't help but stop the giggle that escaped her throat.

"Rich.. I tried to change how I talk because I didn't want to be called that."

The trio stare with wide eyes at the boy, waiting for him to continue.

"Yes, my family has been heroes for generations. I'm the second son."

"What?! Wow!"

"Do you know the Turbo Hero, Ingenium?" Iida questions then as Deku was quick to respond.

"Of course! He's a really popular hero who has 65 sidekicks working at his Tokyo agency! Don't tell me..!" Deku trails off, a smile slowly appearing on Iida's face.

"He is my elder brother!"

"He's telling us straight out!"

"That's amazing!"

"He is a likable hero who honors the rules and leads people. I set my sights on being a hero because I want to be like my brother. However, I think it is still too soon for me to lead others. Unlike me, Midoriya realized the point of the practical portion of the entrance exam, so he is more suitable for the job." Iida says as a proud smile was now portrayed on his features.

"This might be the first time I've seen you smile like that, Iida." Yuno smiles as she looks at the nervous boy, placing her chin on the palm of her hand, staring at Iida.

"What, really? I smile!"

"Now I have two rich kids as friends, who would've known." Uraraka says as Iida turns to look at Yuno with raised eyebrows.

"Damn it, Uraraka... My family -" Yuno began to say when Deku cut her off.

"Sorry, Yuno. But about the entrance exam-" Deku began to say when suddenly the alarms went off.

"There has been a level 3 security breach. All students please evacuate outdoors promptly." The speaker announces as everyone begins to stand up.

"Excuse me! What's a level 3-" Yuno began to question the boy when he quickly answers her.

"It means someone is trespassing on school grounds! I've never seen anything like this in the three years I've been here. You should hurry, too." He exclaims as he quickly gets up from his seat and runs off.

-

-

Students were trampling over each other, trying to get out as soon as possible. The four tried to stay together. Deku and Uraraka were closer to each other while Iida and Yuno were one person behind.

"Iida!" Yuno exclaims as she grabs onto his arm, not wanting to get separated from her friends. Someone pushes Deku away.

"Who in the world trespassed?" Iida says as Yuno and him look out the window to see the press from the morning.

"I wondered what it was, but it's just the media." She could hear Iida say as her grip on him began to loosen.

"Iida!" Yuno says as she pushes roughly past people and over to Iida.

"Everyone, calm dow-" Iida began to say when they suddenly pushed him against the window.

"Hey! Don't push!" Yuno glares as she pushes people away to give Iida some space to at least breathe. The sound of Uraraka yelping caught her attention, her head turned quickly, seeing her friend being pushed more and more farther away by the other frantic students.

"Uraraka!" Yuno exclaims as she turns to look at the pair, Uraraka's worried eyes staring into the annoyed ones of Yuno's.

"Yuno! Iida!" Uraraka exclaims as they try to move closer to each other.

"I'm gonna wrap my hair around your waist okay?!" Yuno says as Iida nods, as she lets her hair grow long, quickly wrapping around Iida's waist securely.

"Uraraka! Make me.. Make me float, Uraraka!" Iida shouts as they try to lean closer to each other. They couldn't reach each other. Yuno pushes people aside, as her hair made its way around Uraraka's waist. She pulled them closer together as they were finally able to touch hands. She releases her hair from around their waists. He quickly floats into the air, his glasses falling in the process. Before they could fall she quickly wraps her hair around them and pulls them towards her, putting them in her pocket.

Yuno saw Iida hesitate, not knowing where to go.

"The exit! Iida, the exit!" Yuno yells as she felt herself behind pushed against people more and more. He nods, lifting his pants to his knees.

"Engine boost!" He exclaims when suddenly he goes spiraling in circles over to the exit.

"Watch it, dumbass!" She hears a voice shout, as she turns to look at the voice. Bakugo angrily pushed past people who glared at him in return, but he didn't care at all.

"Tsuki!" Yuno exclaims as another person pushes her a little too roughly, a boy had tripped over another person, the older boy had pushed Yuno against the glass, their bodies almost pressed up to each other's. Their eyes widened as more people pushed against them.

"I'm so sorry!" The boy says with an apologetic tone, trying to give the now panicked girl some space.

"Hey! Watch it!" Bakugo exclaims as he successfully pushes his way through people and pushes away the second year away from her which causes Bakugo to crash against Yuno, her hair quickly wrapping around him so he can regain his balance. His arm went around her waist securely, pulling her body closer to him to keep her safe.

"You okay?" Yuno questions him as he looks down to see that her skirt has ridden up her thigh. A tint grew on his cheeks as he tugged her skirt down to stop it from lifting even more. Yuno's eyes widen, her innocent eyes looking at his flustered face. Her head fell on his shoulder as another person had roughly pushed Bakugo, causing his body to now be pressed up against her completely to the point her chest was practically begging her for space.

He tried to make his mind wander to other places, not trying to think of other things about the girl who clearly was a flushed mess. His eyes widened even more as he felt Yuno wrap her arms around his torso.

"Everyone, everything's fine! It is just the media! There is nothing to panic about. Everything's fine! This is U.A. Let us act in a way befitting the best of the best." Iida explains as their attention went from Iida towards outside which clearly showed the press that had bombarded the teens with questions. Yuno unwrapped her arms from around Bakugo as he did the same.

"Hey-" Yuno began to say when Bakugo began to push his way past people, disappearing from Yuno's sight.

-

-

"Come on, Deku. Start."

Yuno whispered over to Deku who was nervously staring at the class.

"N-Now, let us decide on the other class officers. But first, can I say something? I think.. that Tenya Iida should be the class rep after all! He was able to get everyone's attention in such a cool way. I think it would be best for Iida to do it." Deku says as Yuno decides to say something as well.

"Can I say something too? I believe that Momo Yaoyorozu. She is a much better and more responsible person, even at that age. I think it would be better for the class as well." Yuno shyly says as she looks over at Yaoyorozu who looked at her with puppy eyes.

"I'm good with that, too."

"They're saying it, and it's tru that Iida was big help at the cafeteria today."

"Yeah, and he kind of looked like the person on the emergency exit signs, didn't he?"

"We're off the hook now, Deku." Yuno whispers over to Deku as he gently smiles at the girl.

"You're wasting time. I don't care what you do, just hurry up and do it." Mr. Aizawa says as the two turn to look at him then at Iida who had stood up.

"If the class rep and deputy class rep nominate Yaoyorozu and me, then it cannot he helped." Iida says, raising a hand up in the air.

"From this day forth, I, Tenya Iida, promise to do my best to carry out the duties of class representative."

"We're counting on you, Emergency Exit!"

"Emergency Exit Iida!"

"Do your best!"

"Thank you, Yuno." Yaoyorozu says to Yuno who simply smiles at her, sending her a thumbs up.

-

-

"For today's hero basic training, it's turned into a class with three instructors, All Might and me, and one more person." Mr. Aizawa says when suddenly the boy behind her raises his hand.

++ THERES MORE

#bnha oc #bnha fanfiction #bakugo katsuki #league of villains

[bbcbreakingnews]

News24.com | Covid-19: Higher education academic year likely to end in March 2021, says Nzimande

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande.

The Department of Higher Education, Science and Technology’s budget is cut by almost R10 billion.

The current academic year may only end in March 2021.

The DA, EFF and FF Plus do not support the budget.

The academic year in the higher education sector will probably only end in March next year, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Blade Nzimande said.

He also told the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Tuesday that his department’s budget will be cut with just shy of R10 billion.

“The final Special Adjustments Budget cut for the department for 2020/21 amounts to R9.857 billion,” Nzimande told MPs in the virtual sitting of the NCOP.

He said the total suspension of funds amounts to R6.734 billion, of which R4.999 billion is reallocated for reprioritising expenditure towards Covid-19 activities, while the net suspension amounts to R1.734 billion for normal voted funds.

READ | Blade’s plans to save the academic year 

The adjustments budget also provides for the reduced collection of skills levies to the amount of R8.122 billion.

This means the department’s original allocation for 2020/21 reduces from R116.857 billion to R107.000 billion, which represents a reduction of 8%.

“It is clear the 2020 academic year is not going to finish in 2020,” he said, adding it is expected to finish in March, which will add to the costs.

Opposition MPs were not impressed with the budget cuts.

Plundering

DA MP Delmaine Christians said higher education should be the frontline department and the DA is “deeply concerned” about the cut and the “plundering” of higher education.

The EFF’s Lindile Luthuli said the adjusted budget does not appreciate the critical moment South Africa currently finds itself in.

“It shows no imagination and does not consider the needs of the black child,” she said.

READ | Schools reopening: Union threatens to shut down schools

FF Plus MP Armand Cloete said only time will tell what the impact on higher education will be.

He said Nzimande should take responsibility for the “ghost students” and the R100 million for an inadequate computer system at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

DA MP Cathlene Labuschagne said the budget should be an investment in South Africa’s future, but the government seems more interested in getting bailouts for SAA, showing “cadre deployment is its highest priority”.

She said the irony is President Cyril Ramaphosa and the National Coronavirus Command Council are relying on scientists, but with this budget, there might not be any scientists to advise in the future.

Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Buti Manamela dismissed the opposition’s criticism as coming from a “point of privilege or the comfortable position of opposition”.  

The post News24.com | Covid-19: Higher education academic year likely to end in March 2021, says Nzimande appeared first on BBC BREAKING NEWS.

from WordPress https://bbcbreakingnews.com/news24-com-covid-19-higher-education-academic-year-likely-to-end-in-march-2021-says-nzimande/

#AFRICA

[eddiediazofficial]

my two cents

on Dean Winchester putting the Bi in Bitch

For one, I have to say that I compare him and Isak from SKAM in one way: the fact that Isak pretended to be straight and had no trouble flirting with girls because (as a Gay) they had no effect on him sexually. It wasn’t until Even that Isak was seriously freaked. Dean is the same way---he has absolutely no trouble with women, and I can’t name a single time he’s been shook except maybe when Pamela kissed him in Heaven lol We all were shook tbh ANYWAY it’s generally men that give him the Shakes

Because of overwhelming evidence, a lot of fans think (for good reason) that he is bisexual, woven into the story (specifically his arc) since season 1.

He’s going to be 40 in a couple years and has yet to admit anything about his sexuality, in a single word or phrase.

Has absolutely zero trouble sleeping with and flirting with women, and becomes visibly flustered only when around a dominant and/or good-looking male, maybe someone he’s got a connection to.

Gunner Lawless, his childhood wrestling hero. Dean has palpitations and holds Gunner’s hand way too long when they meet, his first B&E was because he broke into someone’s house to see a Lawless match ffs; he freaks out like a kid when he thinks he’ll get Gunner’s glove; and when Gunner is thrown to the floor beside Dean, he winks up at Dean and Dean dead ass looks AROUSED for a hot second. ? honestly same

Aaron Bass, a gay man who flirted with him and caused Dean to stumble backward over a chair leg. DEAN WINCHESTER, tripping. He was fine acting his FBI role UNTIL the SECOND Aaron insinuated they had a “connection,” after which he became tongue-tied. A good looking guy like Dean hasn’t been hit on by every gender before, enough to be chill and shrug it off? Get real. His excuse for not taking Aaron up on his ‘offer’ was: “It’s just a—you know... a federal thing.” His reason wasn’t even a legit, valid reason, i.m.o; it was just him (awkwardly) stumbling for an excuse in the moment rather than the obvious “I’m straight, but thanks.” Later refers to Aaron as his ‘gay thing’ to Sam when it’s revealed that Aaron wasn’t actually flirting with Dean.

The Siren, who disguised himself as another FBI agent. I just have to point out that the Siren didn’t know that Dean would offer him his flask in the car. If his persuasion is spread through saliva, how the fuck heck was he supposed to infect Dean if not through a flask they share?? I WONDER. ‘Brother figure’ my ass. Dean is broken, okay, after being raised by John Winchester’s A+ Parenting and simply can’t differentiate between familial and romantic love---unless it’s like as obvious as a literal blood relative---bc his experience of both has always been skewed and short-lived. Simple as that.

Castiel, the angel who gripped Dean tight and raised him from Perdition. I don’t even need to get into this with y’all ffs

The deputy from Yellow Fever. Dean was basically drunk from that poison and dead ass flirted with that guy. In regular old Dean language he said “You’re awesome” and when the deputy smiles and tells Dean the same, albeit a little awkward, Dean smirks like ‘HA bitch yeah I know,’ and reaches to put a hand in his pocket. Is it plausible that he was reaching for his cell phone to get the guy’s digits before Sam dragged him away and cleared his throat pointedly?? Like sorry now’s not the time for flirting, Dean??? MAYBE SO. Or he could’ve been trying to put a hand in his pocket because he would look cool, leaned on one foot and smirking. Either way: NOT STRAIGHT SITUATION. I stg just watch the scene and watch Dean’s smile; he’s… It’s a lot.

DR SEXY?? Are you actually kidding?? This brings up a great point: Dean says he doesn’t like things, only for it to turn around and make it canon fact that he DOES in fact like that thing. Dean dead ass watches a doctor show where the star is a ‘sexy’ doctor, who he knows pretty well considering a flaw in the doc’s costume was how he knew it was Gabriel messing with them—“I swore that a part of what made Doctor Sexy sexy is the fact that he wear cowboy boots.” Dean not only thinks another man is sexually attractive, but admits to CONTEMPLATING what EXACTLY makes that so. And when Sam teases him about it, Dean chocks it up to “guilty pleasure.” ?? And no chick flick moments, when Sam later says that Dean does actually love chick flicks, which Dean confirms.

Traveling to 1944, Dean sees a group of men pass by in suits. Right before this, a group of women pass going the opposite direction. Dean didn’t so much as glance at them; his eyes immediately went to stare after the men. Sure, maybe he was admiring their clothing; he does love the style of the 40s, confirmed. But let’s be honest; guys look GOOD as HELL in those suits, and Dean’s used to women in dresses. But men in slick suits and jaunty ass hats?? WHOO

Dean wore a pair of pink, satiny panties when he was 19. And he ‘kind of liked it.’

Sam teases Dean that people think they’re dating because Dean is butch, therefore possibly over-compensating for being gay which an overwhelming number of people used to and still think automatically means weakness, specifically in males. I wonder why Dean would never admit feelings for other men when raised by (again) John Winchester’s A+ Plus We Don’t Cry or Speak About Feelings Like Ever Parenting. Dean literally fakes a laugh in this scene after Sam says that btw. Don’t you think if he was completely straight he’d just tell Sam to fuck off, like siblings do? As someone with siblings, yes, I think so.

Checks out Cliff’s naked ass dick in The Curious Case of Dean Winchester; literally just walks over and lifts the blanket, despite the fact that they knew Cliff was Cliff and just mentioning his wife enough with such certainty would’ve been enough to trigger him; that guy was a terrible liar. Did Dean seriously have to do a dick birthmark check? Shut up

The scene (11x18) where Sam says something stupid Dean thinks is stupid and Dean replies with, “Yeah, well there’s times I want to get slapped during sex by a girl wearing a Zorro mask. That don't make it a good idea.” ?? Explain this

Sam turns on the radio and it’s ‘All Out of Love’; this is after they’ve lost Cas (and the Impala) in season 7. Sam apologizes, possibly because Air Supply is always joked about as the gayest band and that song as the gayest song, and he assumes Dean hates it. Maybe Sam feels bad because the first line that plays is What would you say if I called on you now, and said that I can’t hold on? There's no easy way, it gets harder each day. Who does Dean always ‘call on’? Cas. Sam goes to turn it off and Dean stops him because it’s ‘probably the only thing on,’ but as soon as Sam looks away Dean starts to sing along--he knows the song, and is obviously really into it until Sam glances his way and he stops. Yet another moment in which he pretended not to like something that he actually enjoys, a song by a notoriously ‘gay’ band that talks about feelings.

Cowboys  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the security guard in 07x20. Charlie couldn’t flirt with him because she’s gay (”not my type. not a girl”), so Dean talks her through it?? Even though that guy shouldn’t be his “type” either??

#just my always mood #im not good at articulating for shit but here it is #dean winchester #is a bi man #spn #supernatural #perdition #deancas #destiel #i guess #tho its mainly just dean being a bi(tch) #but thats none of my business #dw #dean is bi

[captainswanfanfic]

Happy Ever After Fics Rec...

Below are the fanfics that I like to call ‘Happy Ever After’ - for those of us that have chosen Season 6 to be our finale - and these allow for a glimpse into the future of our favourite ship!

ONESHOTS

A Different Finale...  

Untitled by phiralovesloki - Canon divergence in which Hook uses the bean and is able to get to Boston. http://phiralovesloki.tumblr.com/post/160994492524/dunno-why-i-wrote-this-canon-divergence-in-which - A personal favourite of mine, and starring a TL Kiss!

dreams that you dare to dream… by startswithhope Finale Canon Divergence time - so, imagine that the magic bean Killian retrieved from the beanstalk was still usable and I’m gonna spin off from there…(cause I wanted the payoff for the lengths Killian went through in the EF to try to get back to Emma) - 900 words http://startswithhope.tumblr.com/post/160704832337/dreams-that-you-dare-to-dream

The Most Powerful Magic by CaptainSwanLuver - After Killian finds his way back to Emma, he must help her regain her memories and remember the love they share. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10898202 

We've Come So Far, My Dear by onceuponacaptainswan - Excessively cheesy future CS morning fluff where the Final Battle was never a thing. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10890750

Their Happy Beginning by unbrokensaviorwithperfecthair - In an AU where the Black Fairy didn't cast her curse, Killian and Emma share a quiet moment after the festivities of their wedding. "Emma finally gets what Killian had been saying earlier. She might be damaged, and she might have scars from her past, but she is still fighting for their happy beginning." http://archiveofourown.org/works/10861053

The Wedding ...

'They Lived’ by Lifeinahole27 - This is 1.2k of pure wedding fluff, because I wanted them to have a little more fun at their reception this time. http://lifeinahole27.tumblr.com/post/161181048218/cs-ff-they-lived

First Dance by melroihag - Three precious moments shared after Emma and Killian’s wedding. This fic is a re-imagining of the musical episode, as if the curse didn't happen, so everyone is dancing and enjoying themselves. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10888986/chapters/24199971

Flufflet #1 by phiralovesloki - some wedding (reception) related fluff.  http://phiralovesloki.tumblr.com/post/161228712449/flufflet-1-for-lifeinahole27-to-help-reward-her

The After...

A Time for Peace by allofthismatters - had a lot of feelings about how emotionally tired our babies must be after all this nonsense, and thought some angst and hugging after The Final Battle was in order. http://allofthismatters.tumblr.com/post/160854364689/a-time-for-peace

After The Final Battle by secret-captain-swan-blog - https://secret-captain-swan-blog.tumblr.com/post/160704820905/after-the-final-battle-what-was-it-like-he

Never Stop Fighting by CaptainSwanLuver - Missing scene from 6x22. After finally consummating their marriage, Emma and Killian share a few quiet moments in their bed, as they discuss everything that has happened. http://archiveofourown.org/works/11014467

The End by mayawrites95 (mayarox95) - Emma needs a moment to process the events of the final battle and what it means to her, and Killian is there to talk her through it. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10909575 

Where I Lay My Head by  Technicallysizzlingcloud - You won’t regret reading this, I promise you. I loved it from the beginning until the end! https://technicallysizzlingcloud.tumblr.com/post/160710853696/where-i-lay-my-head

Happy Beginning  by xerxesrises - A morning drabble cause when it hurts, I write.  A little bit of fluffy sexy times for our Captain Swan. http://xerxesrises.tumblr.com/post/160475565366/happy-beginning 

past the clouds we’ll find the stars... by startswithhope - because these two deserve a damn honeymoon... http://archiveofourown.org/works/10876860

Fries, Wine, and Bubble Bath by goddesswan - A honeymoon fic inspired by Jen, the queen of our ship. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10856421

Untitled by initiala - How about Emma tries to explain birth control, but he misunderstands and thinks Emma is infertile, and he tries to come to terms with the fact that there will be no Swan-Jones children. http://initiala.tumblr.com/post/160963927851/how-about-emma-tries-to-explain-birth-control-but

In Sickness and In Health by ilovemesomekillianjones - Emma is sick and tired, literally. As always, she perseveres by pushing through her bout of the flu because only Emma takes care of Emma. When Killian comes down with the same flu, how will he handle it? Is he a cut above the average ailing male, or will Killian manage the man flu the same way he does most things... with panache?http://archiveofourown.org/works/10660167?view_adult=true 

Babies

maybe baby by cryingaggressively - A few months after fighting the Final Battle, Emma is forced to share some news through typical Storybrooke circumstances. - Post Season 6, and really the only kind of post finale story I will consider given I won’t be paying attention to s7. An amazing oneshot! http://archiveofourown.org/works/11033727  

New Babies Smell Amazing by unfolded73 - More pre-pregnancy, but still a great oneshot. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10966482

Sheriff’s Deputy by yourekillianmesoftly - Killian Jones joins his wife to fight crime as her sheriff’s deputy for the first time. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10947276

New Addition by hookedonmccutie - This is a totally not gonna happen speculation fic for 6x22. Just a conversation for Killian becoming new deputy or whatever he becomes. Because I needed it. - http://archiveofourown.org/works/10890870

hush little baby…by lostalongtthewayy - cs future family fluff ~ or the one in which Killian and Emma are in awe, and amazed, and so in love with their five-week old baby girl. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10914339

with you (i have everything) by swcnsmagic - A year into their marriage, Killian and Emma welcome their first child into the world. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10840536

280 Days by canwetalkaboutcaptainswan - Captain Swan twin pregnancy fic! Buckets of fluff. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10972563

CHAPTERS

The Nth Time It Happened by canwetalkaboutcaptainswan - This is the collection of times that Captain Killian-can’t-get-enough-of-his-daughter Jones wakes up in the middle of the night because he’s just too stinkin in love with his little girl. 99% non-stop Captain Swan fluff, feat Leia Swan-Jones. I’ve posted on tumblr before, but want to put all my fics in one place and am finally getting around to it! - I need more of this one, I really really do. http://archiveofourown.org/works/10963851/chapters/24407460

#captain swan #cs fic rec #cs fanfic rec #cs ff #emma jones #happy ever after #post season 6 #post final battle #cs domestic #lists #killian jones #pregnancy #cs baby #wedding #OUAT #once upon a time

[shinyflareon]

I’m honestly really close to just blacklisting Hollyleaf because suddenly the tag is full of people whining that she or Ivypool should’ve been leader and I’m just over here like...have whatever headcanons make you happy, idgaf, but 1) Hollyleaf is about as Lawful Neutral as you get in a kid’s series (yes, she’s Neutral and not Good fight me, you do not murder someone, even someone who threatened you, just because they threaten to expose a secret that threatens your reputation), and rigid and inflexible to boot, even after she came back; she could not bend, so she broke, and that’s how you get villains (which, sure, if that’s what you want, go ahead, just don’t whine that they’re “punishing” her for not falling in line or w/e)

Ivystar might happen sometime in the future but also ffs literally no leader’s first deputy has ever succeeded them as leader, and Bramblestar’s got a long leadership ahead of him. For that matter, Ivypool needs to mature and stop being so reckless before she should even be considered for the position, plus time for the stigma of her affiliation with the DF to pass (yeah, we know she was a spy and self-sacrificial, but she also took massive risks and the other cats/clans don’t have our perspective, it honestly feels like Harespring probably only managed deputy/leadership of WindClan because Breezepelt was so damn awful that everyone kind of forgot about the affiliation of anyone else from WindClan); having a few apprentices will definitely be really good for her.

#warrior cats #rant #what fresh hell am I going to get myself in today for this? #hollyleaf #ivypool

[what-a-messsss]

1x10 rewatch

Ok, let’s get back to Walt Longmire: Disaster Boi of S1 and finish this season off with a...something.  Pleading look to the heavens, maybe?  

How do I keep forgetting that Lizzie is a thing, even after our decision to find her some nice Smitten Cowboy to be with?  Holy hell, but why are you still keeping your dead wife’s ashes in the kitchen?  At least you kept Lucian in your fucking truck.  In a coffee can.  What is with you and breakfast beverages??  We all know you need lots of therapy, but this seems like a kind of niche issue.

“Trust me, you don’t, uh, you don’t want that tea.”  Buddy.  

Poor Lizzie.  She really is so nice.  And he’s such a fucking disaster.  “You seem weird,” she says, in reaction to him going bug eyed from having to convince her not to drink his dead wife without her realizing that’s what he was doing.  Sweetie, you have no idea.  And she really does like him.  

This is.  So.  Gloriously awkward.  And Lizzie’s there in her bare feet.  And all we need is for Branch to show up and we’ll have a full house, and aaaaahahaha, Walt is so trying to freeze time with the power of his brain.  Staring off into the Not Here place with his mouth pressed just so...  Awwwww, suffer.

I had forgotten that Ferg was the one who actually did the body work on the Bronco!  Even did the paint work, because that old truck has never looked so good.  I know Omar loaned Walt his truck while the Bronco was “in the shop,” but I like that the writers gave Ferg the skills to do that.

“If anybody... has something they want to say, I suggest you think twice about it.”  We don’t need to say anything; we’re too busy laughing at you.

Oof, and then Lizzie hearing Martha’s voice still on the message greeting.  She’s really quite a good actress.  Lizzie isn’t a terribly subtle character generally, but she gives her these really fine microexpressions that give you occasional glimpses that there is more going on under the surface, and she’s not just an open book.  : (  Making me actually like her and feel bad, not just cringe when she comes on.  Dang iiiiiiiit.

Ok, that does NOT look like Sharpie.  I’m sorry, but that looks like a paint pen or lipstick more than it looks like a Shapie on the dead kid’s forehead.  Even if it were one of the jumbo Sharpies, they don’t write like that, they aren’t that colour on skin, and the thickness of the lines are all off.  Which is not really relevant, but it buuuuugs meeeee.  Pedantic little shit that I am.

Ope, Branch is basically past the angst about Walt not liking him and straight into just giving him nothing but attitude.  Which, while I can hardly blame anyone for giving Walt shit, does get old pretty fast.

Walt, you are So Bad at talking to people, even when it’s for the damn job!  Yeah, it’s fine to have Ferg fill Vic in, but at least acknowledge that she’s there, damn.  Honestly it would have been good for both Vic and Ferg for Walt to tell her to follow Ferg’s lead on this one.  He knows the case, the local history, the players, the situation, and probably more about archery than her, and she could stand to take the reminder that working 5 years in big city homicide still doesn’t make her the senior deputy and that she needs to be ok learning from even Ferg.  Shit, I keep finding more and more reasons to be annoyed at Walt.  Is he even really that good of a sheriff?  I’m shaking the ol’ Magic 8 Ball here, and signs point to frickin’ NO.  Ugh.

Five HUNDRED dollars says that he didn’t check with Mathias before going on the Rez for official police business again.  Jackass.

Can’t really blame Viho for being super bitter.  And Ayasha is so sweet.  This whole family dynamic is so well done.

Aw, Ferg is so excited about the gum wrapper.  “Still minty!”  How are you such a sparklebunny?  Bless.

Detective Falessssss.  His opening line is so great, but uuuuuuuhg, he’s as bad as Walt with his singlemindedness about the case.  

“Talk to Ruby.  She runs my life.”  She runs the department, bucko, and you’d be lost without her!  Lost, I say!  But you treat her like your personal social secretary, and that’s crap.

In Fales’ dubious defense, you were just super weird about that whole encounter.  

Omar!  You creepy little lecherous jackass.  Why am I still fond of you?  It’s really rather galling that I enjoy your character at all, but I doooo.  Thank gods he has the beard now; cleanshaven was just wigging me out.  “Vickie’s never shot before--”  “That is the second-to-last time you will ever call me that.”  And I chortle myself to distraction to the point that I have to rewind to catch the lines that I missed.  With her horrible plans when she gets drunk (I’m still cringing at that flashback of her with Travis) and her obvious thing for older men, I’m honestly kind of surprised she didn’t end up having a deeply regretted something with Omar at some point.  They do have good chemistry in an antagonistic way.  And he does so enjoy tugging her pigtails.  ...ew.  Why is my brain like this?  

“A little bit of practice, even a girl can make that shot.”  Aaaaaaand we’re back to kick him in the nuts.  Not that we ever really left there.  Such a butthead.

Boy oh boy, it sure is great the tone that all these shitty rich white people take saying “Indian.”

“That is what a normal person would do in your situation.”  Henryyyyyy, I love you so much.  Why can’t we spend more time with him in the early seasons?  Why are you drinking a Rainier?  Nooooo, please have better taste in beer than your boyfriend!  You have expensive tastes in bourbon, why can’t you have decent taste in beeeer?

Walt, what is the point of practicing darts when you are FIVE FEET from the board?  Seriously, you’re supposed to be like...  (a google later)  7 feet 9.25 inches away!  That’s...  That’s an oddly specific measurement.  Wtf.  No quickly apparent reason for that specific measure.  Resisting the pull of this particular rabbit hole to continue the ep.  

Aaaah, that’s right, this is still when Walt thinks that Henry may have killed the guy for him.  And BestDad Henry talked to Cady after the blow up about Branch, and he is a wonderful human being.  “It’s really none of your concern.”  Hoooooow dare you.  It is clearly a function of being bffs with that butthead that Henry just smiles (somewhat bitterly) at this instead of tripping him into the bar or shoving his head into the cigarette machine.  (Is that a cigarette machine?  Wtf is that thing with the yellow lit up portion towards the top? [14:05])  

“What a rich inner life you must lead.  From time to time, you should consider sharing some of it with the rest of us.”  The sass!  Swoon.  Henry.  Marry me.  

“I’ve got other problems.”  Buddy, you are other problems.

I wonder how many people/places Ruby just has on speed dial so that she can zoom through her list of “Where the hell is Walt now” to get in touch with him.

Aaaaand we’re back to Branch getting a bit big for his britches.  Whee.  Better fight about it like Big Boys.  Ffs.  “Go ahead.  Give me your best shot.”  ::Pat Benatar starts playing in the background::  Oh holy shit, I wish so damn much that I had any know-how about making vids.  I would be beyond amused by a spoofy hate vid of Walt and Branch being assholes to “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.”  Ooo, oo, or “Hit Me Baby One More Time!”  Aaaahahaha, these fucking losers and their fragile masculinity.  Get rekt.

Children.  Childreeeeen.  Stop it, or you can’t go to Timmy’s birthday party next week.

The irony of Vic being the one who is actually calling them on their shit and getting to do their damn jobs.  Well shit, they actually have a warrant this time.  Will wonders never cease.

Damn, Viho is smart.  Politically savy, pointing out the election coming up.  He’s got the wrong end of the stick this time, but the fact that he’s seen these angles and considered a bunch of things about the consequences already is telling about how smart he is.

Ruby is so pleased to see Henry.  She sounds tired (dealing with Walt and Branch and the sheer volume of bs that is accumulating in that office, no wonder) but still fond.  And the look she gives him.  I love her so much.  She puts up with so much.  And I love Henry continually calling Walt and the department on their shit and just being a dedicated activist for his community.

Fuck right off, Branch.  “Woah.  I know you’re Walt’s friend, Henry, but you don’t have any particular rights here.”  You are sliding into being a full on trashbag of a human being so fast, Brancheroo.  Reminding a young man of his rights and helping him avoid getting railroaded by your biased ass isn’t a bad thing, you rusty wingnut.

Ok, it might not be Glasses!Henry, but cowboy boots!Henry with the glow of righteousness upon him is also quite A Look.

Aaaaahahaha, for once Vic’s unholy yelling saves the day.  Being able to shout over a mass of raucous teens is usually reserved for teachers, camp counselors, and stage managers.  Looool and using detention as the threat.  And then jail.  Heeeh.

This is soooo weeeeeird: I’m starting to genuinely like Lizzie.  She just showed up and I remembered that it’s for dropping off that present, and then Vic is such a butt about it, and this poor lady is just trying to date a guy that she really likes and even gave him about 5 different outs that morning and he pointedly didn’t take any of them and dammit, Lizzie deserves better, too.  Fuck, Walt, you are such a disaster zone.  And Vic is a whole other disaster area that’s looking to, uhhhh, share a border.  Yike.

The present is definitely more Lizzie than it is Walt, with the wrapping and everything, but it’s still a sweet impulse.  AND THEN VIC, who told Walt how many times that he should call her?? gets all up in her business?  Poor Lizzie trying to figure out what the fuck this has to do with Vic or how it is even on the same planet as any of her business.  She does have some issues from her previous marriage, but she owns them.  And her BS meter is actually pretty finely tuned.  Sure picks up on Vic’s awkward boner for Walt in no time flat.  Not that it’s particularly well hidden, damn.

This kid is a rapist and a murderer and The Bad Guy, but at the same time, he is a high school kid, chances are he’s a minor, and Walt is talking to him alone in his office without any parent, much less a lawyer.  What the fuck.  

“Because Ayasha Roundstone told me so,” is a good line, solidly so.  And Walt’s all in The Righteous Hand of Justice mode or whatever, with the gravelly voice and standing over the kid, staring him down.  Effective.  (But where are that kid’s parents?)  Ah, that’s right, his dad is taking a shot at whatshisnoodle to make it look like he’s the killer.

Awww, Cady.  Honey, how long have you been waiting for you FailDad to show up?  Fuck.  Right.  This was how she found out that Martha was murdered.  He lies to her so much.  He manipulates her so much.  He passes all of this off on it being Martha’s wish, but he even acknowledges that Cady had a right to know and he chose not to tell her.  He denies Cady her own agency again and again.  He makes decisions for her without ever giving her a chance to choose for herself, and punishes her when she makes a choice that he doesn’t agree with.

It’s not “protecting” her from the pain.  “Protecting you from the pain,” is not a father’s job; it’s to teach their child how to manage it, help them live through it, and how to grow past it.  You’re damaging her.  Into the suuuuuuun, Walt!  Into the fucking SUN.

But fuuuuuuuuuuuck, her delivery of that same line, “Well, let me relieve you of that burden,” is sooo good.  You done fucked up, buster.  And you just keep fucking up.  I would say in new and exciting ways, but it’s generally in the SAME DAMN WAYS, dammit Walt.

This flashback is really difficult.  

They’re right about that technically being kidnapping, too.  Wyoming  § 6-2-201 specifically includes defining kidnapping as unlawfully confining another person, with the intent to “facilitate the commission of a felony; or Inflict bodily injury on or to terrorize the victim or another,” with unlawful confinement defined as “accomplished (i)  By force, threat or deception; or (ii)  Without the consent of a parent, guardian or other person responsible for the general supervision of an individual who is under the age of fourteen (14) or who is adjudicated incompetent.”  Meaning that not only could Walt charge Jake with the kidnapping of Rich, but also probably of Ayasha, since she was ruled an unreliable witness and would more than likely be legally considered a “mentally incompetent person” according to the states’ legal definitions.  

Not... that I have the Wyoming State Criminal Code downloaded on my computer.  >_> Certainly haven’t skimmed about 80% of it trying to figure out what charges would most make sense to be levied against Jacob at the end so that I don’t have to deal with him going in to a Federal prison on RICO charges.  <_<  Or what Cady probably should have been charged with after that mess with Tate and Catori.  Nnnnnnope.  Sure don’t, didn’t, haven’t. o_o

This is about the only time I can remember there being a legitimate reason for Walt not to have backup.  Since they’re off checking other locations.  Also, damn, that was some classic Old West quickdraw shit, Walt!  Noice!

“Why did you stop me?”  Because you have to testify, you little shit.  HE is not terribly bright.

Ooooooo, somehow I forgot that it was Branch who went to Jacob.  But that makes total sense; I can’t really see Jacob seeking Branch out, but once he walks himself into his office, Jacob will certainly play those new cards for all they’re worth.  Ooooooooo, and the Hotamétaneo’o headdress!  I’d forgotten about Branch seeing it, too!  Nice call back and foreshadowing to finish off S1!

“You will not find a chili cheeseburger of this caliber anywhere in Colorado.”  And now it’s 4:30 in the morning and I want a chili cheeseburger.  Thanks, babe.   Some daaaaaay, I will figure out which is my favourite Henry, but it is not this day, because godsdaaaaamn, the red checked shirt with that vessssst, is *chef kiss* a wonderful thing.   And the director knoooooows it = that pan down Henry’s back as he turns after saying, “I said nothing,” for noooo reason other than to have Henry’s ass on screen.  Seriously.  He says his line, it pans down, we get a primo shot of his jeans, and then it cuts away.  Solely a pan for Henry Butt.  Who directed this, and where do I send the fruit basket?  Dang, it was Nelson McCormick, and this was the only ep of Longmire he directed.  Huh.  In S1, there’s only one repeat director, who did eps 1, 3, and 7.  Interesting.

Focus, kid.  You are less than 3 minutes from the end and you’ve had it paused for over 5 minutes to wander around IMDb.  No wonder it takes you three flipping hours to watch one of these episodes.  What a mess, indeed.

“We all process grief in our own way.”  Buddy.  You have not processed.  You are a human <BUFFERING> screen.  You’re a walking loading symbol.  Walt, he gives you some basic vital statistics on the guy, but...  You haven’t even asked who it was.  Walt, you are so bad at this.  Fffffffff---  And there’s season 1.  lawd.

#Longmire #episode commentary #cady longmire #cassidy freeman #Walt #Henry Standing Bear #Branch is such a tool #Lizzie (Longmire) #How many tangents did I manage to go on this time? #Yikes