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hjbender · 4 years

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Hi it's that Donald Blake au anon, and I agree I don't like Donald in general it's weird and sometimes in the comics he has a stick that he's always holding onto then he bangs it and somehow becomes Thor, idk. But the au is something that really interested me cuz it has so much potential, like is Thor an Avenger in this au, does he have to wait til Loki is not looking to go and save the world? Or is he not worthy yet and somehow choosing to reveal himself to Loki the real way to be worthy?

OH HAI AGAIN, ANON. THANK YOU FOR RETURNING

Yeah, I’m kind of glad the writers and directors decided to leave out the whole “mild-mannered human alias” from the Thor franchise. Really, so many superheroes already have alter egos—Peter Parker is Spider-Man, Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool, literally every single one of the OG Avengers except Thor has another name—that for once it’s nice to just have Thor be Thor.

But as far as that brilliant idea you pitched, in the first couple drafts of my answer, I actually started to rewrite Thor (2011) to make your idea fit with canon. However, after getting stuck a couple times, I started thinking it might work better away from canon (specifically Earth 616), more like a true alternate universe, no Avengers or Thanos or anything. Or, to make things simpler, it could just be a Porn With Feelings deal where the story is driven by characters and drama (and, of course, porn).

For the PWP approach, Thor masquerades as an MD on Earth because he genuinely likes to help people and having a human form helps him escape detection, or possibly keep his powerful electromagnetic radiation field from harming humans. In any case, Loki is unaware of his brothers super-secret human identity.

Somehow Loki bites off more than he can chew or pisses off the wrong supervillain—it’s practically his hobby, isn’t it?—and ends up getting his ass beaten and thrown to Earth. Miraculously, Thor (as Don Blake) is there to help him, and Thor can’t risk getting his cover blown, so he just plays along while Loki regains use of his limbs and/or powers (a perfect opportunity for some hurt/comfort whump sickfic type tags). Thor brings Loki to his apartment until he can fully recover, and in that time, Loki finds himself bonding with this disabled and good-natured human man who reminds him so much of his brother… and thus begins the forbidden romance and angst-ridden relationship drama.

...okay, so the PWP setup actually has a lot more plot than your average smutfic. (But just think of all the opportunities for medical kink in this one. Like Loki pretending he feels hot and achy and insisting that Blake give him a thorough, private exam… on the kitchen table… with stethoscopes and tongue depressors and lots of poking and prodding and pelvic exams. Anyone? No? Just me?)

The actual canon setup is the one I tried (unsuccessfully) to write out, but here’s a bullet list of the basic plot (get comfortable, this gets kind of long):

After defeating the frost giants in Norway in 900-something, Odin secretly makes a deal with Laufey to raise Loki as his own son, then marry him off to Thor so they can establish everlasting peace with Jötunheim (just like Odin and Frigga did to stop the Æsir-Vanir war). Thor and Loki’s children will be heirs to both royal houses. Upon Thor’s ascension to the throne, Odin will then return the Casket of Ancient Winters to its rightful place, and Jötunheim will flourish again with Asgard as its protector/ally

Loki is a lot more autonomous and independent than his original cinematic depiction, traveling the realms to learn seiðr and be an ambassador (and cause mischief, naturally, but nothing that can’t be fixed or used to his advantage). He’s always held a secret torch for his brother but knows there’s little/no hope of it ever being reciprocated, thus he stays away from Asgard as much as possible

Thor loves and misses his brother (perhaps too much). Their parents would surely disapprove of their relationship, gods or not, and besides, Loki is too much of a free spirit, a wanderer, content with his own company. Asking anything more of him (like a grounded, committed relationship) is something Thor could never do

Loki returns to Asgard on the eve of Thor’s coronation with gifts and smiles, and Thor embraces him with deep affection. They almost confess their feelings to one another, but shy away at the last moment (damn!)

Meanwhile, Malekith the Accursed (comics version Malekith, who is a lot sexier and generally more interesting/diabolical than his MCU counterpart) doesn’t like that Laufey is planning to make peace with Asgard and sever his alliance with Svartalfheim, and somehow breaks into the Vault on Thor’s coronation day just so he can frame Laufey and sour the arrangement with Odin

Odin decides not to act, sure that something else must be going on. Loki decides to take the intellectual route and do some investigating while Thor and his warrior companions sneak into Jötunheim to kick some ass

Thor accuses Laufey of wrongdoing, just as Malekith wanted, and almost incites a war with the frost giants. Odin banishes him to earth to live as a disabled human man until he can learn some humility

After much screaming at the sky and manly weeping, Thor finally accepts his fate and his new human identity

Enough time passes (months? A year?) that Thor eventually learns to be humble and considerate, helping other humans physically and emotionally in the medical field (I imagine him becoming an orderly at a local hospital since being a doctor requires years of education and money. Also, being thrown to Earth without a penny to his name will help Thor work through some of his entitlement and privilege issues. I headcanon he was aided by some good-hearted humans who were able to find employment for him and a place to stay, help him get on his feet, basically)

With Thor out of the way and the royal family torn apart, Malekith begins preparing for his attack on Asgard

Loki doesn’t know that Thor is trapped in a human form, only that he was banished and all contact forbidden. Loki is suspicious of the frost giants and goes to Jötunheim alone, where Laufey reveals everything to him—including Loki’s betrothal to Thor

Loki is stunned at first, unable to believe that the thing he’s wanted most was always meant to be his, and he hurriedly leaves Jötunheim

He tries to sneak to Midgard without using the Bifrost, but Malekith catches him en route and they fight. He throws a binding spell on Loki to render him powerless and then beats the living daylights out of him

Loki crash lands on Earth not far from where his brother was banished (he had been following the last known path from Asgard to Midgard), and is rendered temporarily powerless and amnesiac, not remembering anything about his fight with Malekith, Thor’s banishment, or why he was on his way to Midgard

Loki wakes up in a hospital bed with a kind human man looking after him. After an unsuccessful escape attempt, he settles in and finds himself comforted by Donald Blake’s presence. It’s… soothing, somehow familiar…(maybe it’s the drugs talking)

Thor instantly recognizes his brother but he cannot reveal himself, either because he’ll look insane/lose his job or maybe Odin made it so he’s unable to even speak the name “Thor” until he’s worthy again. In any case, Thor decides it won’t hurt to beat Loki at his own game just this once (Loki has played this prank on him more times than Thor can count). He ends up taking Loki back home with him once he’s discharged from the hospital

As his memories and powers slowly return, Loki is surprised that Blake listens to and believes everything he claims to be, and soon grows to trust and even like the man. He’s never really had a true friend before… except for his brother, Thor, of course. Blake reminds him so much of Thor…

While things gradually heat up between Loki and Blake-Thor, Malekith disguises himself as Loki (just as he did in the War of the Realms comic arc) and returns to Asgard. Odin and Frigga learn that Loki had indeed traveled to Jötunheim and confront their “son” about what he might have learned there

Not knowing it’s actually Malekith they are speaking to, they reveal the truth about Loki’s parentage and upbringing, and the reasons for his betrothal. Malekith is shocked, then amused at his good fortune. He decides to use this information to his own advantage

Malekith plots to bring Thor back to Asgard and insist that they be married at once. Thor will be crowned king, and when Thor finishes swearing his oaths, Malekith will steal Gungnir and kill Thor with it (and the entire royal family of Asgard). He will then steal the Casket of Ancient Winters, return to Jötunheim, kill Laufey and all the rest of his clan, and then head to Midgard to finish off the last of that bloodline: Loki. Then, with the power of Gungnir, Mjölnir, and the Casket of Ancient Winters, nothing will be able to stop him from bringing war and chaos to the Nine Realms

My brain is smoking and on its last cylinder right now, and I know this post is already decades long, so I’m gonna cheat and skip the whole part where Thor and Loki somehow learn about Malekith’s plot (maybe the Warriors Four come to Earth to warn them), and Thor becomes worthy again, revealing himself to a stunned Loki, and they all go flying back to Asgard, beat Malekith in an epic battle, and save the day

Once the dust has cleared, Thor is crowned king to an audience of Æsir and Jötnar, followed immediately by his and Loki’s wedding. Everyone cheers, Volstagg weeps and uses Fandral as a handkerchief, and Malekith gets a tiny slice of the wedding cake down in the dungeons

The end 🍰

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atamascolily · 3 years

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Shield of Lies, continued.

What would my mother think of me? he wondered, and it was the first time such a thought had ever confronted him.

Luke, you really suck at introspection, don’t you? Like... NEVER in TEN YEARS have you EVER wondered about your mother? Sigh.

Shortly after the reorganization of the government, Nanaod Engh had given Luke keys to most of the real treasures of the New Republic—the central data libraries maintained by various branches of the General Ministry. Thanks to Admiral Ackbar’s intervention, Luke also carried the highest-grade security clearance held by any civilian.

Between the two, Luke had—potentially—a great deal of information at his fingertips. But the access he had been granted was a courtesy, not a necessity. Luke’s most urgent curiosities were in areas of little interest to bureaucracies, and he had never found reason to make much use of the favors extended him.

But he found himself with reason now.

Speaking of lack of imagination.... SIGH.

Luke returned to the pilot’s couch and curled up sideways in it. “How do people become part of the circle?”

“Curiosity is not sufficient—which I hazard you know. Some are born to it. Some come to it. Is it any different in your discipline?”

“Born with the gift, do you mean, or born to someone who already belongs, to a trained adept?”

“Is the gift not in the blood?”

“Sometimes it seems that way. Sometimes it seems as if the talent goes wild, almost as if the Force chooses its own,” Luke said, turning on his back and propping one foot on the control panel.

“Why, what do you mean?”

“Look at the way the Jedi are coming back,” said Luke. “The Empire hunted us so relentlessly that most everyone who escaped thought they were the only Jedi left. But it isn’t just that a few solitaries who were hiding have resurfaced. I’ve found students with no family history whatsoever, in species that were never represented before in the Order.”

“Some of your number may have been adventurous travelers,” said Akanah. “On Carratos, I heard many jokes about how the Emperor spent his evenings. If a Jedi sleeps alone, surely it must be by choice, as it is with you.”

LOL, Akanah doesn’t know about Callista. Or Gaeriel. Or anything else about Luke’s messed-up love life.

“Are you saying that you expected me to warm a bed with you?” Luke said. “I didn’t think that was our bargain.”

“No,” she said. “I never expected that.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“That Luke Skywalker could have a hundred children by now. A thousand.”

“That’s crazy.”

“No—that’s the simple truth. There are different rules for heroes and royalty, and you’re seen as a little of both. You can’t be unaware of that.”

Luke frowned and looked away. “I don’t know how to be a father to one child, much less a thousand.”

“You wouldn’t need to know,” she said. “Their mothers wouldn’t expect it. They would be grateful enough for the gift.”

“I’d expect it of me,” he said, and firmly steered the conversation back on course. “We were talking about my being an honorary member of the circle—”

Again, I’m surprised by Luke’s lack of imagination--and offers--given how people at the spaceport viewed him. Did none of them really think, “I would totally bang this dude?” WHY IS HE SO SURPRISED?

Also Luke, just say “fuck,” it’s okay, I promise.

“We were talking about my being an honorary member of the circle—”

“Not honorary,” she corrected. “Novice.”

“Novice, then. But there’s an exception in your oath for people like me?”

“Every adept has the right to judge and the duty to teach,” she said. “I’ve made my judgment.”

“And the rest?” Luke asked. “We’ve had many hours together—why haven’t you started to teach me?”

“But I have,” she said. “I’ve asked you to think about what you know and believe. To go beyond that, the novice must ask for the door to be opened. But you aren’t ready to think of yourself as a student again—not yet. You run too well and easily to go back to crawling.”

#accurate. Luke spends most of this book so convinced he knows everything and yet he can’t figure out why he’s so stuck in a rut.

“No,” Luke said, shaking his head. “To be a Jedi is to be a seeker. A Jedi is always learning. It’s only on the dark side that one becomes obsessed with knowing, and impressed with doing.”

“There’s a touch of the dark side,” Akanah said slowly, “in the way you cling to the privilege of killing, and resist the teaching I’ve offered you. A hint of a mind that has settled on answers and resents being challenged with new questions.”

Luke toyed with the lacing on his longshirt as he considered her words. “You may be right,” he said finally. “I found the Force at a time when what I needed was power. I wanted a weapon to protect my friends, not enlightenment. I was thinking of war against the Empire, not peace with the universe. Perhaps something of that lingers in how I see myself. I’ll think on it.”

“Good,” she said. “Your words give me hope. And hope is the beginning of everything worthwhile.”

I have no idea how the chronology lines up with the other plots and honestly it’s hard to care. This is the most interesting part of the book to me, and I’m STILL reeling at how late in the game this is.

He then took advantage of the open space inside the bay to work his first complete set of Jedi training drills since leaving Coruscant. Working both with and without his lightsaber, he patiently went through the complex exercises which brought him to a profound state of restful clarity.

It was in this state that he felt most keenly the truth and the wisdom of the simple words: There is no emotion; there is peace. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no death; there is the Force. The peace, the knowledge, and the serenity were gifts that came with his surrender to the Force and with his connection through the Force to all that was.

Sustaining that clarity was always the challenge. In the isolation of a Dagobah, the Jundland Wastes, or a hermitage on a frozen shore, an experienced Jedi could preserve that inner state indefinitely.

But the chaos of the real world was another matter. When ego returned, so did will. The surrender became tainted, the connection flawed. The clarity gradually slipped away under the continuous assault of elementary drives and passions. Even the greatest of the masters needed to perform the practice regularly lest they lose the discipline that made them what they were.

GAH. WHY IS IT ALWAYS DUALITY WITH YOU, KUBE-MCDOWELL? WHAT ABOUT A MIDDLE WAY BETWEEN THE “TAINTED WORLD” AND “PURITY OF ISOLATION”. What about “entering the market-place with gift-bestowing hands”? And nothing ever stays the same “indefinitely”!!!!!

The drills were as much a test for the body as for the mind, and the docking bay’s newly sanitized shower brought a blissful peace to muscles that were telling Luke they had not been properly exercised in too long. He stood for a long time in the place where the six needle jets converged, letting the water flowing down his body become another meditation.

Yeah, maybe you should have thought of that in your hermitage-quarantine-sulk thing??

I’d forgotten about the bookstore full of Jedi forgeries!!!

The offerings included Emperor Palpatine’s Principles of Power, a private publication for Imperial Moffs; the Sith book of offerings and rituals; the H’kig book of laws; and the secrets of forming Bilar-type claqa group-minds, among others—with a special discount if Luke took any three or more. Most of the documents were undoubtedly frauds, and none tempted Luke beyond idle curiosity over the skillfulness of the fraud.

And the Jabba’s palace re-creation OH MY GOODNESS:

But making his way to the outgate, Luke turned a corner and was taken aback by the brilliantly lit exterior of a club bar called Jabba’s Throne Room. Performing Nightly—The Original Max Rebo Band, said the scroll. Visit Jabba’s Guest Quarters with a Pleasure Slave. Face the Mighty Rancor in the Pit of Death—

Driven by an outraged curiosity, Luke joined the line and paid the membership charge without haggling. Inside, he descended a curving flight of stairs into a remarkably faithful copy of the throne room in Jabba’s desert palace on Tatooine. Some of the dimensions had been stretched to accommodate more tables in front of the bandstand and around the rancor pit, but the architecture and atmosphere were authentic.

“Why, it’s just like the Palace Museum,” [he] said to the tall and elegantly dressed Twi’lek barring the way at the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m afraid my master Jabba is away on business,” said the Bib Fortuna look-alike, nodding toward the empty dais. “But I’m having a little party in his absence, and I hope you’ll enjoy yourself.” His head-tails stirred in signal, and one of the scantily clad dancing girls hurried to him.

“Yes, Lord Fortuna,” the server said.

“Oola, this is a friend of mine,” said the major-domo. “Treat him well. Find him a seat at my best table.”

The same fiction was carried through everywhere else—an Ortolan keyboardist leading a jizz-wailer trio on the bandstand, the roaring of the rancor underfoot, an annoying Kowakian monkey-lizard skittering around the room stealing food and cackling rudely, even a carbon-frozen Han Solo hanging in the display alcove. But a busy kitchen was concealed down the corridor to the servant’s quarters, and the price card “Oola” left for him included various services available upstairs in the guest quarters and downstairs in Jabba’s dungeon.

It was tasteless and exploitative, but the music was surprisingly agreeable, the roast nerf was tantalizing, and the clientele was markedly more subdued than their counterparts out on the walks. [He] ordered a drink and the executioner’s cut of nerf, refused all other offers with a polite smile, and settled in to discover the truth quotient of The Secrets of the Jedi.

Shortly after his meal arrived, Luke’s consciousness was pricked by hearing a familiar name spoken at a nearby table: Leia’s. He looked up, fearing that the evening’s entertainment at Jabba’s Throne Room would be a dance by a slave-girl-Leia look-alike. But the band was on a break and the transparisteel dance platform over the rancor pit deserted.

I’m honestly surprised this isn’t at Galaxy’s Edge, tbh.

Shortly after, a holographic Jabba made an appearance on the dais above the main floor. That signaled the start of an elaborately scripted show that promised to involve not only “Bib Fortuna” and the dancers, but additional actors and the audience as well.

Luke took that as his cue to leave. His decision was affirmed when, climbing up the curving stairs to the street, he encountered the bounty hunter Boushh coming down them with an unconvincing Chewbacca in tow.

“Aren’t you a little short for a Wookiee?” he muttered under his breath as they passed.

LOL. Anyway, here’s some stuff on archives searches in the GFFA:

From Carratos he requested any information available from newsgrid, political, or police records on Akanah Norand Pell, Andras Pell, and Talsava. He sent the same query to Coruscant’s criminal records office and citizen registry and to the home offices of both the Coruscant Global Newsgrid and the New Republic Prime Newsgrid.

From the New Republic Reference Service, he requested a quickreport on naming conventions on Lucazec and Carratos, thinking he might parse another lead from the names in hand.

A second request to the same source asked for five-hundred-word excerpts from all matches on the key words “Fallanassi” and “White Current.” After a short debate with himself, and despite the pathetic and sensational inaccuracies of Secrets of the Jedi, Luke also contacted an information broker on Atzerri and paid a hundred credits for a search on the same keys.

He also requested a Current Terms & Conditions brochure from the chief librarian’s office on Obroa-skai. The library computers there were the only resource offering both a greater variety and a greater volume of records than those held by Coruscant.

But Obroa-skai’s generosity with its planetary treasure was limited. To protect against theft of the library, and to provide the resources needed to maintain it, accessing the records meant either going to Obroa-skai or hiring one of the library’s own trained contract researchers.

In either case, Obroa-skai was not a resource one turned to for quick answers. The official language of New Republic recordkeeping was Basic, and everything held by Coruscant was kept in one of several readily searchable data specifications. But the Obroa-skai library was a collection of primary documents, in ten thousand storage formats and uncountable languages. The most complete general index covered only fifteen percent of the library’s holdings, and all the specialty indexes combined added only a few percent to that.

Those were the principal reasons why the brochure—which Luke received within minutes of requesting it, as the first response to any of his inquiries—reported that a normal single-part library search was averaging eight days. The waiting list for terminal time was holding at fifteen days, and the backlog for contract researchers had climbed to seventy.

LOL. I should definitely use that in a fic at some point.

#star wars #eu fuckery #the black fleet crisis

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mbk-writes · 7 years

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I love your Snape story that you wrote so I decided to request! Maybe reader is a Seventh year Gryffindor, and they've always excelled at potions, like making potions just clicked with them from the first class they had. Snape is conflicted once reader gets older because they spend more time in the potions room practicing and Snape develops feelings? And he doesn't know what to do because age gap and the fact that they're Gryffindor but then one day reader just kisses him? Smut maybe? Thanks! :)

(I’M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!!!)There she was again, he thought, always honing her skills. You were at the bench in the dungeon classroom, your eyes quickly scanning the book beside you and finely chopping the ingredients with a sharp knife. You scooped up the bits of dried batwing and mugwort, tossing them into the gently simmering liquid in the cauldron. You could not feel his eyes on you but he was watching.The dark haired Potions Master pretended to look busy, a book in front of his prominent nose as he sat at his desk, but he would peer over the leather bound edges to watch what you were doing. He remembered your apprehension on the first day you were in his classroom, and now you were weeks from graduating. But instead of slacking off like most of the other students, you were here hard at work. He couldn’t help but admire your drive, figuring it must be tough to forgo time with your friends to be here. Surely a talented and beautiful Gryffindor witch like yourself had plenty of friends. He stopped himself briefly, looking back to the words in his book as he silently chastised himself for thinking you beautiful. Very unprofessional.

"I think I got it, finally!“ you exclaimed, a smile stretching across your face as the cauldron bubbled with a faint gold glow emitting from the top. One of the most difficult potions to make, Felix Felicis, also called Liquid Luck. You had been working on this potion for months. It was the toughest potion you could legally make in this class, and even then Professor Snape had to fight Dumbledore to let you attempt. Your hands were shaking slightly, the excitement and nerves getting to you for the final check by your professor. You smoothed down your gold and crimson tie. Severus heard your excitement and set his book down, lurking over as only he did to your position. You watched his intent, dark eyes as he examined your cauldron, taking the spoon in the pot and gently ladling the liquid to look at its viscosity. It shimmered in the lamplight. "This looks correct,” he murmured as he continued to study it. But instead of pride in raising such a fine pupil, why did he feel more melancholy than usual? You bit your lip, eyes wide and looking up at the taller man. “I hope so, I know I have to wait and let it settle until tomorrow but all the work is done. My final project,” you said, a little bit of half-sad sigh to your voice. You knew this would mean no reason to come back and bother the Professor like you had throughout your career at Hogwarts. Sure, you loved potions, they just made sense to you, but you also admired Professor Snape and wanted him to be pleased with you.

You worked hard for 2 years before you got that first half-smile out of him for a successful project; no easy feat for a Gryffindor. “Indeed,” Professor Snape responded, his dark eyes quickly evading yours, “you make come back for your potion and to clear your belongings out any time tomorrow. I will be here.” The man then turned on his heel and exited the classroom to his office, the large wooden door closing loudly behind him. You watched the door a moment and then quickly gathered up your notes and other belongings, taking another look at the cauldron with the shimmering liquid. Looking briefly again at the door, you procured a small vial, spooning just a small amount of the potion into it, corking it and stuffing it in your pocket. You checked the door once more. Nothing. You bit your lip as you quickly hurried out, back to your dorm. Severus did not hear you leave but knew you must have gone by now as he leaned against the oak door separating him from the classroom. His face with its typical grim demeanor, he walked over to his desk, slumping down into the chair with a sigh. Tomorrow would more than likely be the last day he would see you in this private setting and somehow that was upsetting to him. He grit his teeth hard, cursing himself silently for behaving so ridiculously. He had seen students come and go before and he had never given any a second thought. So why could he not get you out of his head? The man slammed his hands down onto his desk with slight force before opening a compartment in his desk, bringing a shot glass and a slightly dusty bottle of firewhiskey out. This is my punishment he thought to himself, pouring himself a full shot of the liquor. He damned himself for you being on his mind when he knew he could not be further from yours as he knocked back the drink. The strong burn clawed at the back of his throat. This was going to be a long night.You sat on your bed, gazing out the window. The sun was hanging lower in the sky as you watched all the students on the lawn shooting off fireworks from the tips of their wands, dancing, laughing. There was a party going on before graduation, food, games. You held the vial up to the light and watched it shimmer. This is all you had. Rolling over onto your back with a deep sigh you held your arm outstretched looking at the vial. Maybe there was something you could do before the school year ended. Before you left for good. But you figured that would take a lot more than a bit of novice-brewed liquid luck to accomplish. You sighed once more, quickly burying yourself under your covers and drifting off to sleep, still clutching the vial. Severus did not have as peaceful of a night. The hallways were dark and the cold seeped through the cracks in the dungeon walls as the older man clumsily slammed down the shot glass. Only a small amount of the amber liquid still sloshed in the large bottle. He could feel his body numbing and his brain feeling fuzzy. Sure, it dulled the aggravation but his mind kept traveling back to you. Your intelligence. Your beauty. He never meddled in your affairs or knew too much about you outside of the classroom, he knew it would only disappoint him. He knew you must have somebody special. Probably a seeker on the Quidditch Team or something. He grumbled as he continued to fight even having thoughts like that. It shouldn’t matter to him whether or not you have somebody. It shouldn’t matter that you had the prettiest eyes and the softest smile and how he adored the way your face lit up when you did something correctly. He put his head down on his desk, his dark hair spreading out over his belongings. “What am I going to do,” he slurred out, to himself before falling asleep in a drunken haze.The sun peeked through the shades as the dawn rose over Hogwarts castle.You awoke with your hair plastered to the side of your face, groggy from the long night’s sleep. Your brain snapped into action as you realized you no longer held the vial and scrambled through your bedding, relaxing when you found it intact just underneath your pillow. “The vial itself is lucky,” you smirked a little to yourself. Getting ready for the day you brush out your hair and get dressed, your fingers running over the glass vial every few moments, just making sure it’s there. You adjust your red and gold tie before hopping down the stairs and out into the halls. You could feel your nerves tightly wound, and your hands were clammy from fear. This will be it, you thought. You tried to eat some breakfast at the Great Hall, a spread of toast, eggs and assorted pastries and other delights all laid out for the graduating class. But you couldn’t eat. Your stomach was in a knot thinking about Professor Snape and seeing him for the last time before getting your degree. You looked up in case he had come in for breakfast, but his seat was absent. You nibbled a little toast before giving up and leaving. You did not want to go to him so early in the day but bit your lip when you hesitated. It was now or never. You could not stall and put it off or it’d be too late. Confronting him now was the only way. Besides, you shrugged to yourself, if everything goes as bad as you think it will you have the rest of the day to drink and cry. Before you had time to procrastinate any more about it, you realized your feet had carried you to his door. Your fingers curled tightly around the vial as your eyes narrowed slightly in determination. Enough for an hour, if it works, that’s all you’d need. You uncorked the small vial and chugged. The nervousness faded slightly as you felt the magic of the brew wash over you, but the possibility of it being incorrectly made and killing you painfully also weighed on your mind. You knocked on the door, figuring it’d be better to die in the classroom than in the hallway. “Come in,” the deep voice reverberated through the door.You gulped and entered, looking up at the tall man clad in black standing by your bench. His eyes locked with yours a moment and you could feel your heart swell. He paused and let your eyes linger in his, capturing your face to his memory before looking down at your belongings.“I organized everything,” the man almost mumbled, touching the top of one of your potion books gently, “I did not like the mess on my table,” he lied. “Oh, I’m sorry,” you stammered out, the anxiety creeping back in, “I should have come by sooner.” “No, it’s fine,” he said quickly, gritting his teeth for saying that. “It was something to do, anyway. I finished inventory last week.”“Right,” you said looking down at your feet. You moved to be beside him and began piling your books into your satchel that had been slung over your shoulder. You stuffed the books in and paused with your hands slightly clenched. It was now, or never. You had Felix Felicis on your side. You could do this. You could try. “Is something wrong-” Professor Snape began to ask as he noticed your pause but was interrupted with your soft lips upon his. You could feel your adrenaline rushing through your body as you finally felt what you had had been imagining nearly your entire school career. You meant it only to be a brief kiss but got carried away, lingering on his lips. Finally, you pulled away and gazed up at the older man, studying his slightly-lined face and dark eyes for any expression. Your lips quivered as you attempted to speak, unsure what he was thinking. A small smile crept across his lips as his hand reached out to cup your face tenderly and leaned in to kiss you again. That jolt coursed through your veins again as your lips connected once more, pressing harder against the man’s body and stretching your arm around his shoulder, your other arm pressed against his warm chest.You parted your mouth slightly, gently caressing the tip of his tongue with yours and felt both the warmth of his body against yours and the heat coursing through your bloodstream. Suddenly, he pulled away and you looked up at him slightly worried. His arms wrapped around you firmly he pressed his forehead against yours. A deep chuckle reverberated in his chest.“Well, it is safe to say your potion was a success,” Severus murmured with a smirk to his lips but your blood ran cold. “W-what?” you stammered out, your face flushing. How did he know you used the liquid luck for this to happen? Was this all a ruse? “Your Felix Felicis. It worked perfectly,” his dark eyes looked into yours, slightly puzzled about why you looked so frightened. Suddenly, he doubted saying anything. Maybe he should have kept it a secret and just had enjoyed it until it ran out. The smile disappeared from his face as the giddiness ran out. “I may have tried some, before you got here,” he said quietly and looked down as he let you go from his embrace, “I had hoped that it would help me… With you.” Severus suddenly felt very ashamed, looking away. He began to feel that, while it was a luck potion and not a love potion, it seemed he had cheated the system. In his mind, he quickly tried to come up with an apology, or how to even begin apologizing for violating a student of his like this because of his own ridiculous obsession with her over the years.

As he scrambled for words with the guilt weighing his brain down he heard a light giggle that turned into an uproarious laugh from the young woman beside him. Perplexed, he looked at you, searching for an explanation for the joy stricken across your face. “I took some right before I knocked on your door,” you looked up at him, guiltily, a shy smile across your face, “seems like that six months of work wasn’t necessary after all.”You saw the relief wash over the older man’s face as he chuckled and embraced you once more, his warm scent infiltrating your nostrils. Your giggles subsided as he lifted your chin delicately in his fingers. “I suppose we need to stay together until it wears out,” a small, devilish smirk ran across his face, “just to be sure, of course.” You grinned and nodded, “Obviously,” you concurred as his lips met yours again with an intense passion, his tongue slipping into your mouth and making you tingle all over. His arm wrapped around the small of your back as he pressed your body closer to his. It was the end of your time at Hogwarts but the start of a new, exciting journey.

#fanfiction #reader x snape #snape x reader #snape #severus snape #gryffindor #potions #hogwarts #fanfic #one shot #romance #harry potter #Anonymous

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fangirlmomentsandmytwocents · 7 years

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1001 Dark Nights Author Bundle Day Release Day Launch

1,001 Dark Nights presents...

Author Bundle Day!

7 New York Times bestsellers. 21 amazing novellas. 7 specially priced bundles.

Experience the 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Nine Here…

Midnight Breed Bundle: 3 Novellas by Lara Adrian

Tempted by Midnight

Once, they lived in secret alongside mankind. Now, emerged from the shadows, the Breed faces enemies on both sides—human and vampire alike. No one knows that better than Lazaro Archer, one of the eldest, most powerful of his kind. His beloved Breedmate and family massacred by a madman twenty years ago, Lazaro refuses to open his heart again.

Sworn to his duty as the leader of the Order’s command center in Italy, the last thing the hardened warrior wants is to be tasked with the rescue and safekeeping of an innocent woman in need of his protection. But when a covert mission takes a deadly wrong turn, Lazaro finds himself in the unlikely role of hero with a familiar, intriguing beauty he should not desire, but cannot resist.

Melena Walsh has never forgotten the dashing Breed male who saved her life as a child. But the chivalrous hero of her past is in hard contrast to the embittered, dangerous man on whom her safety now depends. And with an unwanted—yet undeniable—desire igniting between them, Melena fears that Lazaro’s protection may come at the price of her heart….

Stroke of Midnight

Born to a noble Breed lineage steeped in exotic ritual and familial duty, vampire warrior Jehan walked away from the luxurious trappings of his upbringing in Morocco to join the Order’s command center in Rome.

But when a generations-old obligation calls Jehan home, the reluctant desert prince finds himself thrust into an unwanted handfasting with Seraphina, an unwilling beauty who’s as determined as he is to resist the antiquated pact between their families.

Yet as intent as they are to prove their incompatibility, neither can deny the attraction that ignites between them. And as Jehan and Seraphina fight to resist the calling of their blood, a deadly enemy seeks to end their uneasy truce before it even begins….

Midnight Untamed

The mission was supposed to be simple. Infiltrate an enemy’s stronghold outside Rome and eliminate its leader. For a Breed warrior as lethal as Ettore Selvaggio, AKA “Savage”, stealth assassinations are only one of his many cold-hearted specialties. But the last thing Savage expects to find behind enemy lines—in his target’s bed—is a woman he once adored.

It’s been years since Savage last saw beautiful Arabella Genova. Years he’s strived to banish to his past, along with the fierce desire he once felt toward Bella . . . and the irresistible calling of her blood that stirs in him even now, despite the fact that she belongs to another male.

But when fate throws Savage and Bella together again in a race for their lives, will his long-lost love prove to be the one woman he can’t live without, or the perfect weapon to destroy him?

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Wicked Lovers Bundle: 3 Novellas by Shayla Black

Forever Wicked

They had nothing in common but a desperate passion…

Billionaire Jason Denning lived life fast and hard in a world where anything could be bought and sold, even affection. But all that changed when he met “Greta,” a beautiful stranger ready to explore her hidden desires. From a blue collar family, Gia Angelotti wore a badge, fought for right—and opened herself utterly to love him. Blindsided and falling hard, Jason does the first impulsive thing of his life and hustles her to the altar.

Until a second chance proved that forever could be theirs.

Then tragedy ripped Jason’s new bride from his arms and out of his life. When he finds Gia again, he gives her a choice: spend the three weeks before their first anniversary with him or forfeit the money she receives from their marriage. Reluctantly, she agrees to once again put herself at his mercy and return to his bed. But having her right where he wants her is dangerous for Jason’s peace of mind. No matter how hard he tries, he finds himself falling for her again. Will he learn to trust that their love is real before Gia leaves again for good?

Pure Wicked

During his decade as an international pop star, Jesse McCall has lived every day in the fast lane. A committed hedonist reveling in amazing highs, globetrotting, and nameless encounters, he refuses to think about his loneliness or empty future. Then tragedy strikes.

Shocked and grieving, he sheds his identity and walks away, searching for peace. Instead, he finds Bristol Reese, a no-nonsense beauty scraping to keep her business afloat while struggling with her own demons. He’s intent on seducing her, but other than a pleasure-filled night, she’s not interested in a player, especially after her boyfriend recently proposed to her sister. In order to claim Bristol, Jesse has to prove he’s not the kind of man he’s always been. But when she learns his identity and his past comes back to haunt him, how will he convince her that he’s a changed man who wants nothing more than to make her his forever?

Dirty Wicked

After being framed for a crime he didn’t commit, former private eye Nick Navarro has nothing but revenge on his mind—until a woman from his past returns to beg for his help.

Beautiful widow Sasha Porter has been hunted by his enemies. Desperate, she offers him anything to keep her young daughter safe, even agreeing to become his mistress. The last thing either of them want are emotional entanglements but as they entrap the ruthless politician who arranged Nick’s downfall and passion sizzles between them, danger closes in.

Will he choose love over vengeance before it’s too late?

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Masters and Mercenaries Bundle: 3 Novellas by Lexi Blake

Dungeon Games

Derek Brighton has become one of Dallas’s finest detectives through a combination of discipline and obsession. Once he has a target in his sights, nothing can stop him. When he isn’t solving homicides, he applies the same intensity to his playtime at Sanctum, a secretive BDSM club. Unfortunately, no amount of beautiful submissives can fill the hole that one woman left in his heart.

Karina Mills has a reputation for being reckless, and her clients appreciate her results. As a private investigator, she pursues her cases with nothing holding her back. In her personal life, Karina yearns for something different. Playing at Sanctum has been a safe way to find peace, but the one Dom who could truly master her heart is out of reach.

On the hunt for a killer, Derek enters a shadowy underworld only to find the woman he aches for is working the same case. Karina is searching for a missing girl and won’t stop until she finds her. To get close to their prime suspect, they need to pose as a couple. But as their operation goes under the covers, unlikely partners become passionate lovers while the killer prepares to strike.

Adored

Mitch Bradford is an intimidating man. In his professional life, he has a reputation for demolishing his opponents in the courtroom. At the exclusive BDSM club Sanctum, he prefers disciplining pretty submissives with no strings attached. In his line of work, there’s no time for a healthy relationship. After a few failed attempts, he knows he’s not good for any woman—especially not his best friend’s sister.

Laurel Daley knows what she wants, and her sights are set on Mitch. He’s smart and sexy, and it doesn’t matter that he’s a few years older and has a couple of bitter ex-wives. Watching him in action at work and at play, she knows he just needs a little polish to make some woman the perfect lover. She intends to be that woman, but first she has to show him how good it could be.

When an unexpected turn of events throws the two together, Mitch and Laurel are confronted with the perfect opportunity to explore their mutual desire. Night after night of being close breaks down Mitch’s defenses. The more he sees of Laurel, the more he knows he wants her. Unfortunately, someone else has their eyes on Laurel and they have murder in mind.

Devoted

Amy Slaten has devoted her life to Slaten Industries. After ousting her corrupt father and taking over the CEO role, she thought she could relax and enjoy taking her company to the next level. But an old business rivalry rears its ugly head. The only thing that can possibly take her mind off business is the training class at Sanctum…and her training partner, the gorgeous and funny Flynn Adler. If she can just manage to best her mysterious business rival, life might be perfect.

Flynn Adler never thought he would fall for the enemy. Business is war, or so his father always claimed. He was raised to be ruthless when it came to the family company, and now he’s raising his brother to one day work with him. The first order of business? The hostile takeover of Slaten Industries. It’s a stressful job so when his brother offers him a spot in Sanctum’s training program, Flynn jumps at the chance.

When Flynn realizes the woman he’s falling for is none other than the CEO of the firm he needs to take down, he has to make a choice. Does he take care of the woman he’s falling in love with or the business he’s worked a lifetime to build? And when Amy finally understands the man she’s come to trust is none other than the enemy, will she walk away from him or fight for the love she’s come to depend on?

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play

Krewe of Hunters Bundle: 3 Novellas by Heather Graham

Crimson Twilight

It’s a happy time for Sloan Trent and Jane Everett. What could be happier than the event of their wedding? Their Krewe friends will all be there and the event will take place in a medieval castle transported brick by brick to the New England coast. Everyone is festive and thrilled . . . until the priest turns up dead just hours before the nuptials. Jane and Sloan must find the truth behind the man and the murder—the secrets of the living and the dead—before they find themselves bound for eternity—not in wedded bliss but in the darkness of an historical wrong and their own brutal deaths.

When Irish Eyes Are Haunting

Devin Lyle and Craig Rockwell are back, this time to a haunted castle in Ireland where a banshee may have gone wild—or maybe there’s a much more rational explanation—one that involves a disgruntled heir, murder, and mayhem, all with that sexy light touch Heather Graham has turned into her trademark style.

All Hallow’s Eve

Salem was a place near and dear to Jenna Duffy and Samuel Hall — it was where they’d met on a strange and sinister case.

They never dreamed that they’d be called back. That history could repeat itself in a most macabre and terrifying fashion.

But, then again, it was Salem at Halloween. Seasoned Krewe members, they still find themselves facing the unspeakable horrors in a desperate race to save each other-and perhaps even their very souls.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play

MacKenzie Family Bundle: 3 Novellas by Liliana Hart

Captured in Surrender

Bounty Hunter Naya Blade never thought she’d step foot in Surrender, Montana again. Especially since there was a warrant out for her arrest. But when her skip ends up in the normally peaceful town, she has no choice but to go after him to claim her reward. Even at the cost of running into the cop that makes her blood run hot and her sense of self-preservation run cold.

Deputy Lane Greyson wants to see Naya in handcuffs, but he’d much prefer them attached to his bed instead of in a cold jail cell. She drove him crazy once before and then drove right out of town, leaving havoc in her wake. He’s determined to help her hunt down the bad guy so he can claim his own bounty—her.

The Promise of Surrender

Mia Russo spent ten years working undercover, entrenched in the dregs of society before handing in her shield. Opening her own pawn shop is a piece of cake in comparison. All she needs is the bad attitude she developed on the streets and the shotgun under her counter to keep law and order. Until the day Zeke McBride walks into her shop.

Zeke knows Mia has every right not to trust him. He was the one who chose the next op instead of her. And all he can hope is that somewhere under the snarl and cynicism is a woman who can forgive. Because whether she trusts him or not, they’re going to have to work together to bring down the gang that’s decided Mia is their next target.

Sweet Surrender

It’s been twelve years since Liza Carmichael stepped foot in Surrender, but after her great aunt’s death she has no choice but to return and settle her estate. Which includes the corner bakery that’s been a staple in Surrender for more than fifty years.

After twenty-five years on the job, Lieutenant Grant Boone finds himself at loose ends now that he’s retired. He’s gotten a number of job offers—one from MacKenzie Security—but he’s burned out and jaded, and the last thing he wants to do is carry the burden of another badge and weapon. He almost turns down the invitation from his good friend Cooper MacKenzie to stay as their guest for a few weeks while he’s deciding what to do with the rest of his life. But he packs his bag and heads to Surrender anyway.

The only thing Boone knows is that his future plans don’t include Liza Carmichael. She’s bossy, temperamental, and the confections she bakes are sweet enough to tempt a saint. Thank God he’s never pretended to be one. But after he gets one taste of Liza and things start heating up in the kitchen, he realizes how delicious new beginnings can be.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play

Demonica Underworld Bundle: 3 Novellas by Larissa Ione

Azagoth

Even in the fathomless depths of the underworld and the bleak chambers of a damaged heart, the bonds of love can heal…or destroy.

He holds the ability to annihilate souls in the palm of his hand. He commands the respect of the most dangerous of demons and the most powerful of angels. He can seduce and dominate any female he wants with a mere look. But for all Azagoth’s power, he’s bound by shackles of his own making, and only an angel with a secret holds the key to his release. She’s an angel with the extraordinary ability to travel through time and space. An angel with a tormented past she can’t escape. And when Lilliana is sent to Azagoth’s underworld realm, she finds that her past isn’t all she can’t escape. For the irresistibly sexy fallen angel known as Azagoth is also known as the Grim Reaper, and when he claims a soul, it’s forever…

Hades

A fallen angel with a mean streak and a mohawk, Hades has spent thousands of years serving as Jailor of the Underworld. The souls he guards are as evil as they come, but few dare to cross him. All of that changes when a sexy fallen angel infiltrates his prison and unintentionally starts a riot. It’s easy enough to quell an uprising, but for the first time, Hades is torn between delivering justice — or bestowing mercy — on the beautiful female who could be his salvation…or his undoing. Thanks to her unwitting participation in another angel’s plot to start Armageddon, Cataclysm was kicked out of Heaven and is now a fallen angel in service of Hades’s boss, Azagoth. All she wants is to redeem herself and get back where she belongs. But when she gets trapped in Hades’s prison domain with only the cocky but irresistible Hades to help her, Cat finds that where she belongs might be in the place she least expected…

Zhubaal, fallen angel assistant to the Grim Reaper, has spent decades searching for the angel he loved and lost nearly a century ago. Not even her death can keep him from trying to find her, not when he knows she’s been given a second chance at life in a new body. But as time passes, he’s losing hope, and he wonders how much longer he can hold to the oath he swore to her so long ago…

As an emim, the wingless offspring of two fallen angels, Vex has always felt like a second-class citizen. But if she manages to secure a deal with the Grim Reaper — by any means necessary — she will have earned her place in the world. The only obstacle in the way of her plan is a sexy hardass called Z, who seems determined to thwart her at every turn. Soon it becomes clear that they have a powerful connection rooted in the past…but can any vow stand the test of time?

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play

Blacktop Cowboys® Bundle: 3 Novellas by Lorelei James

Roped In

Ambition has always been his biggest downfall…until he meets her.

World champion bulldogger Sutton Grant works hard on the road, but his quiet charm has earned the nickname “The Saint” because he’s never been the love ’em and leave ’em type with the ladies. When he’s sidelined by an injury, he needs help keeping his horse in competition shape, but he fears trying to sweet-talk premier horse trainer London Gradsky is a losing proposition–because the woman sorta despises him.

London is humiliated when her boyfriend dumps her for a rodeo queen. What makes the situation worse? She’s forced to see the lovebirds on the rodeo circuit every weekend. In an attempt to save face, London agrees to assist the notoriously mild, but ruggedly handsome Sutton Grant with his horse training problem on one condition: Sutton has to pretend to be her new boyfriend.

But make believe doesn’t last long between the sassy cowgirl and the laid-back bulldogger. When the attraction between them ignites, London learns that sexy Sutton is no Saint when that bedroom door closes; he’s the red-hot lover she’s always dreamed of.

The more time they spend together, the more Sutton realizes he wouldn’t mind being roped and tied to the rough and tumble cowgirl for real…

Stripped Down

Never challenge a cowboy to a little naughty competition…

A flirty game of sexual truth or dare between best man, Wynton Grant, and maid of honor, Melissa Lockhart during their BFF’s wedding reception results in a steamy hookup.

But their plans for a one and done change when a family crisis leaves Wyn shorthanded at the Grant Ranch. Experienced horsewoman Mel volunteers to help out and gets way more than she bargained for living under the same roof as the sexy rancher. Playing house has never appealed to Wyn…until now.

But the feisty redhead is keeping secrets and Wyn’s not above stripping her bare—body and soul—to get to the bottom of it…

Strung Up

Rancher Creston Grant retreats from the world after he loses the love of his life… Can his former flame, rodeo cowboy Breck Christianson prove he’s a changed man who can give Cres a second chance at love?

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About the 1001 Dark Nights’ Author Bundles Authors-

About Lara Adrian: Lara Adrian is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 internationally bestselling author of the Midnight Breed vampire romance series and seven award-winning, historical romances, previously released under the pen name Tina St. John. Lara’s Midnight Breed series is available in hardcover, mass market paperback and e-book through Random House, and in limited edition through Doubleday Book Club, Rhapsody Book Club, Book of The Month, and the Science Fiction Book Club. Unabridged audio editions are available through Tantor Media, Random House Audio, Amazon, iTunes, etc. Lara’s new releases regularly appear on all of the key bestseller lists including including the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Indiebound, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, etc. There are more than 2 million copies of the Midnight Breed novels in print in the United States.