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malfoymxnor · 3 years

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𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

➤ pairing: draco malfoy x hufflepuff reader

➤ summary: every year, you bake christmas cookies for your friends. after you seeing a sad draco malfoy sitting alone, you can’t help but give him your last batch despite being enemies.

➤ words: 1.9k

➤ a/n: you don’t have to be in hufflepuff to relate to being y/n, i just wrote it this way! get ready for some major fluff y’all

It was finally the most wonderful time of the year, at least according to you: Christmas. Christmas always symbolized the happiest moments of your life. Your most cherished memories included sitting around the tree back home with your family and watching your family’s faces light up as they open presents. You always tried your best to spread that familiar joy to those around at Hogwarts.

That’s why, for the sixth year in a row, you planned to bake Christmas themed sugar cookies and hand them out to your large group of friends. This task seemed simple enough, and it was for your first couple years at the magical school. However, now your once close knit group of friends had grown tremendously. Now, it was practically a whole night’s work to bake these cookies on time.

That’s what led you to risk breaking Hogwarts’ very clear rules. Ever since the threat of war with You-Know-Who, it was strictly prohibited for any students to be wandering the corridors after dark. Seeing as you had no time after classes and assignments to bake and tomorrow would be the last day before winter break, you had no choice but to break the rules. It may be silly or childish to risk getting in severe trouble just to bake cookies, but disappointing your friends was not an option.

At least you’re a Hufflepuff and your common room was near the kitchens.

Not even 30 minutes after the sunset, you found yourself sneaking into the school’s kitchen and setting on your mission. You left the lights off, whispering “Lumos” and allowing your wand to be your source of light. You set your wand on one of the marble kitchen counters, getting out the bowls and ingredients you would need.

Time seemed to pass in a blur. You made it a point to make as little noise as possible. The last thing you needed after all was Professor Snape to find you in the kitchens. The thought of getting caught sends chills down your spine, nevertheless one of the professors you absolutely feared finding you.

You took out the largest bowl you could find in the cupboards and rolled up your yellow and black robe before beginning to work. This was a (Y/L/N)’s family recipe and didn’t need a written record of the recipe, it’s one you have been making with your parents since practically birth. You combined the flour, baking powder, and salt in the bowl, your thoughts practically running a mile a second as you worked.

You were aware that if this was any other witch or wizard baking, they would simply use magic. Maybe that was the smartest way to do this, especially with the need to get out of the kitchen as soon as possible to avoid punishment. The thought did cross your mind, but what was the fun in it? You adored magic in every way, but you also carried love in doing things the Muggle way sometimes. There was something so simple in baking a dessert from your own hands. It was perhaps like a potions class, except without Professor Snape sneering over your shoulder and telling you every mistake you’re making.

Next, you used a whisk to beat together some butter and sugar, eventually adding eggs and vanilla extract after the mixture was completely smooth. You added the dry ingredients to the wet, smiling to yourself as the dough formed into the exact consistency you needed for some tasty cookies.

You rolled the dough enough so it was a thin sheet that laid out in front of you, before cutting it with various shapes of cookie cutters. Your friends were definitely being spoiled this year, not that you minded, one of the greatest joys was surprising your friends with small gifts. In the end, there were sheets full of cookies shaped in trees, snowmen, gingerbread houses, presents. You even managed to find a cookie cutter in the shape of a mug filled with Butterbeer from Hogsmeade.

While you baked the cookies and prepared the icing, you couldn’t stop your thoughts from wondering yet again. You made a mental list of all the friends you would need to be sure to see before the day ends. There was the Golden Trio, Ginny, Luna, several friends from Hufflepuff.

One person you were so sure that was not getting cookies was the one and only Draco Malfoy. You truly did not hate a single soul, but you held a distaste for the young man. You weren’t sure why, but ever since Year 1, he has set it out to make it a nightmare for the entire Hufflepuff house. He often called your house an embarrassment to Hogwarts, the weakest house by far. How a person could be filled with so much hate shocked you.

A soft ding pulled your thoughts away from the platinum blond, signaling that they were done and needed to be pulled out of the multiple ovens Hogwarts had provided. You let them cool to the side while you began to work on the frosting. Your mind couldn’t help but focus on Malfoy, for whatever reason. A part of you strongly disliked him, but a part of you have always wondered why he acts the way he does. You’re aware his family is one of the most powerful magic families in the world, but that doesn’t make him better than you or any of your friends. So, what reason could he think of to justify his behavior?

Time seemed to blur after the cookies had cooled down enough for you to decorate them. Ever since you were a child, this was always your favorite part of the process. You had the chance to be creative with how you designed the cookie. It truly brought the cookie to life, it seemed. Your years of decorating experience has allowed you to really master the craft, creating unique designs that only a professional baker may be able to pull off.

At the end of the process, you had multiple dozens of bags filled with cookies of all shapes and sizes, labeled neatly with the recipient’s name printed on them. You filled a wooden basket with the bags, finally allowing yourself to breathe. It was a close call, but you managed to bake the cookies before dawn. You ended the night with flour covered hands, but you hardly minded. You took a moment to look at the time on a clock near the oven and a soft gasp escaped your lips.

Was it really 7:45 in the morning? You had Potions at 8, which was halfway across the castle. If you had any hope of getting there on time, you had to leave now.

With a quick flick of your wand, you set the kitchen in order. It looked as if no one was in there the entire time. You rushed out of the kitchens towards the main corridor, down the steps towards the potions classroom.

The day seemed to pass in a blur as well. Perhaps it was because it was the last day before winter break, but it seemed as if you blinked and you were already at dinner with your friends. You decided today to sit with Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. It wasn’t unusual for you to do so, however, most of the time you sat at the Hufflepuff table. The only reason you tended to avoid the Gryffindor table like the plague was because it was right next to the Slytherin table. You refused to let Malfoy ruin Christmas for you.

You handed bags out to the three friends in front of you, laughing to yourself as Ron abandoned his chicken leg to practically tear up the delicate cookie bag. Harry thanked you for the desserts and stored them in his pockets, while Hermione complimented you on the fascinating designs you made with the frosting.

As you talked to Hermione, you felt a pair of eyes on you, although you couldn’t pinpoint where from. Your eyes broke from Hermione’s and glanced around the room, until they landed on a boy sitting at the Slytherin table.

You immediately recognized him as Draco Malfoy due to the infamous hair color. He sat in his black and emerald school robes, his eyes wondering about the room as he sat alone. It was quite a strange sight, he was the leader of his usual friend group in fact. However, today, it was as if that friend group disappeared in front of his very eyes. He sat with his cheek leaning against his pale hand, sadness apparent in his icy gray eyes. Once he realized he had been caught staring, his eyes darted back to his lap, where he had to pretend to read one of the many books in the library.

Perhaps it was the Hufflepuff in you, but you felt immediate sympathy for him. You hardly consider him an acquaintance, let alone a friend, but it was hard for you to watch someone in despair and not do something to cheer them up. Without even thinking about how this would look or any of the backlash you may face with your friends, you took the last batch of cookies you made just for yourself and made your way to the Slytherin table.

Seating yourself right across from the Slytherin Prince, you slid the bag of cookies across the table to him. His eyes rose to yours as he realized he was no longer alone.

“Draco.” You said softly, biting your lip. Being around someone this infamous tended to make you nervous, much more than you thought. You eventually managed to bring yourself to make eye contact. You could have melted into those eyes and you would not have known.

He raised his eyebrow, a bit confused as to why you were sitting in front of him with cookies on the table. “Y/N?” was all he could manage to spit out.

“I, uhm..” You shook your head slightly, trying to steady your heartbeat and remain focus on the mission. “I was sitting with my friends and noticed you were alone. Every year I make cookies for my friends, I had an extra bag and thought maybe it could cheer you up.”

For a moment, Draco forgot any sense of despair he had about becoming a Death Eater due to the pressure of his family, and the mission he had been charged with. It was a stupid bag of Christmas cookies, but it may have been the kindest thing anyone could have done for him. He felt himself sitting up straighter, a small smirk coming to his face. He felt as if he could trust the stranger in front of him, for whatever reason.

“Thank you.” He looked up at you once again, before tearing a corner from the page in his book and pulling out a quill. He wrote down a couple lines and folded it up, handing it to you. “I’ve never received a gift that came with no cost to me. Please, look at this when you have the chance, alright?”

You took the paper and nodded, not sure what to do with the feelings coming over you. Before you could say anything more, Draco stood from his seat and gathered his things. He took a bite from a snowman shaped cookie and with a smile on his face, nodded to you and walked away.

Unfolding the paper in your hands, it read:

The Malfoy Manor

Wiltshire, England

Write to me this break. I’m intrigued.

Malfoy

#harry potter #harry potter imagine #harry potter imagines #hp #hp imagine #hp imagines #draco #draco malfoy #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy x you #draco malfoy x y/n

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wildegreenlight · 5 years

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Just

A/N: Hello lovely Romione fans! It seems I have returned from the dead! Ghost!Wilde strikes again! It feels like a million years since I wrote something, and for a while I honestly thought that I may have forgotten how to do the things with the words. It feels good to have had a little time with these two, I had missed them terribly.

Thanks as always to my DEM crew for keeping me in the loop and for always encouraging me in real-life and in the world of R/Hr. Special thanks to @callieskye for helping my knock the rust off and beta this thing...I owe you a cider! (And if we’re lucky @trademarkblue will join us again!) I love you all 3000!

It was late, too late really. She should have gone down to Ginny’s room ages ago, but she just couldn’t bear the thought of leaving, not quite yet.

Ron sat across from her on the worn rug, bending over a book. The soft glow of the lamp shone from behind him-around him. The warm halo of light made him look like a sunset, or a painting of a saint, Patron Saint of Crossed Signals. For a long moment a smile bunched her cheeks, and she could not tear her eyes away from him- abandoning her customary caution.

“You alright?” Ron had closed the book and was staring at her with an adorably furrowed brow.

“Oh! Yes...sorry...I was just,” yes, Hermione, please, do tell! What were you “just” doing? Just imagining how soft those little wisps of hair curling around his ears would feel? Just fighting the urge to crawl over there and snog the adorable off his face? “Uhhh...thinking”

“Yeah.” He definitely didn’t doubt her answer, and honestly, he probably thought that she was thinking about all the things she should have been thinking about: Harry, Horcruxes...her parents.

Her parents…

Ron had been so, so...well, beyond words wonderful since she had shown up on his doorstep, a barely contained mess. It made her a little lightheaded just thinking about how tenderly he’d held her as she sobbed into the thin fabric of his t-shirt. It felt so right to have him comfort her, reassure her. How was it possible that he could make her feel so strong even at her weakest moments?

It had really started with the funeral, now that she thought about it. After Dumbledore’s death she knew that the time had come to put her “worst case scenario” plans into action, despite her fears over the sanity and morality of her idea. However, when she had finally told him about the new life she would make for the soon-to-be Wilkinses, his sincere support soothed her anxious nerves. Instead of trying to talk her out of it, or offering to shield her from it, he had listened and agreed and ultimately, best of all, trusted her judgement. That kind of faith in someone else was a rare thing, and she had just begun to appreciate it fully. More than anything, Hermione wanted to be worthy of his faith in her.

The silence settled between them as he conceredly studied her face. He gently placed the book beside him and scooted closer to her, taking the book she had been pretending to read and moving it next to his recently discarded one.

“Why don’t we take a break, yeah?”

“Sure,” she prayed that he would attribute the tremor in her voice to anything other than her distraction at his fingers brushing against hers.

“It’s been ages since dinner, want me to go grab you a bite of something, a sandwich maybe?”

Something in the way he asked the question reminded her so much of Molly that she almost looked around for her. She smiled in spite of herself at the image of Ron, apron-clad, enthusiastically offering second servings to a boisterous table of copper-haired children.

“Not doubting my sandwich making skills are you? I’ll have you know that I’m a genius with two slices of bread, and Mum’s roast, of course.”

Her smile became a chuckle, “I have no doubts...actually that’s what I was thinking about just now.”

“I knew it! I’ll be back in a mo’,” he started to get up, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“No, don’t go,” his look grew worried, perhaps she had said it a bit too desperately, “I mean...I was thinking about...you...and well, your Mum...and how,” she searched for the words to make him understand.

“Yeah, I know she’s been right barmy lately. Wedding would have her a mess during the best of times, but pile on the extra dose of mortal peril and it’s like a billywig and a pixie had a very high-strung baby,” he bumped her with his shoulder playfully.

“True, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so wound up before, but I was actually thinking about how good she is at looking after everyone, and well,” she determinedly continued, afraid she might lose her nerve, “how good you have been about making sure I’m okay, about keeping me okay even when I know that it’s hard for you too.”

“Hermione,” the playful look from mere seconds ago was replaced by something that she couldn’t quite name, “I’m glad that you think I’m helping, you don’t know how much I want to,” he looked down at the floor, searching for the right words, “take care of you...well, not that I think that you can’t take care of yourself...I mean...fuck, I am so bad at this, sorry.”

She dipped her head slightly, drawing his eyes back to hers, “What exactly do you think you are so bad at?”

“Well obviously I’m bad at explaining what I mean, so that’s one thing.”

“Trust me, you are no worse at that than I am,” he shook his head, but she continued, “not to mention that everyone has trouble with that sometimes. What else?”

“The ‘making sure you’re okay’ part,” he put up his hand to stop her automatic rebuttal, “you can’t change my mind...I know we kinda agreed to just forget about it, but I can’t.”

Oh.

She had not expected this. Not at all. They never did this. Once a row was sorted, or was at least adjacent to sorted, they never spoke of it again. Ever. She was instantly conflicted: did she have the courage to hear what he might say? The courage to say what she dreamed of saying?

“I was a shitty friend, there’s no way around that. Even though you don’t need me,” his pause was so small that she almost missed it, “to look after you...you should at least be able to count on me not being a giant arse to you.”

She knew that at least part of what he said was true; she wouldn’t insult him with a lie, “How about we agree that we were both horrible friends,” the word friends left an odd taste in her mouth: bet Bertie Botts doesn’t have that one!

“You were only horrible because I was more horrible.”

“It’s not a competition, Ron,” she tried to use humor to lighten the intensifying mood, but his look of earnestness did not fade. “Seriously, you can’t take all the blame, I was just as much at fault.”

“I should’ve never let it go that far.”

Let what get that far, exactly? Their argument? His relationship with Lavender? She didn’t want it to matter to her which he meant, she had worked so hard to be mature about it, but she couldn’t deny exactly what her preference really was.

“Well, it’s not like you were the only one,” her whole body strained forward, desperate to consume the last few centimeters between them.

Since his poisoning they had been like two people trying to cross a frozen lake, unsure if the surface would hold, fearful of what lie beneath. Each step they took was tentative, always listening for the telltale crackling sound. She had learned to look for weak spots, and steer clear of them. But now...were they pushing their luck?

“Sorry, I don’t...I just...want you to know that I’m trying to do better...to be better.”

“You are,” before she could talk herself out of it, she reached out and placed her hand on his knee, “there is no way I could have gotten through the last few weeks without you.”

Covering her hand with his own, he continued in a more confident voice, “You would’ve though... you can do anything you put your mind to...but I do want to make it easier for you if I can. I know what it’s like to be worried about your family...to want to protect them.”

“And you are! We both are...just in different ways,” she made no attempt to move her hand.

“Yeah, but in the same way too,” when she looked puzzled, he continued, “you know...by helping Harry end this.”

That was it wasn’t it? In the end, they had to get it right, so that they would all be safe.

“Ron, I’m scared. What if I...what if we are in over our heads? I mean, we have so little to go on and so much against us,” she felt her confidence slipping, her voice shaking.

“Honestly?” after she nodded, he gathered both her hands in his before he continued, “ ‘mnot as worried as maybe I should be, but that’s only because-”

“Because of what?”

“Look, I may not be the smartest bloke in the world,” he continued in spite of her narrowed eyes, “but I do know this.. if I’m gonna be in over my head, there’s no one that I’d want to be there with me, no one I would trust more to make it work.”

“Really?”

“I may be a prat sometimes, but I have never lied to you...never will.”

“What about Harry?”

“He may lie to you, but I have no control over that,” his eyes twinkled while hers rolled at the joke. “You know I love Harry, but it’s just not the same, ya know?”

Hermione’s heart was hammering in her chest, no, it is not the same with Harry, not at all. “How so?” She knew she was playing thick, leading the witness, but she wanted to actually hear his own words, not the ones she thought he might mean.

“It’s like Harry is always out there you know? On this “Chosen One” mission, not that he ever asked to be... and it’s like our job to keep him from imminent danger and to keep him from letting that stuff go to his head, to keep him “just Harry” sometimes. But with you,” he glanced down at their joined hands, “with you it feels like sometimes you’re the only one in the world that sees past Harry...to me.”

“I feel the same way...I love Harry too, but I could never tell him the things I tell you,” it was so close to saying what she really wanted to say, “he never makes me feel this...safe.”

“I will do whatever it takes to keep it that way.”

“Me too...because I learned something really important this year.”

“That Luna is the best Quidditch announcer Hogwarts has ever seen?” Not even her attempt to kick his shin made him stop holding her hands.

“I’m just not half as good at anything as I am when I’m doing it next to you.”

For just a moment, she chided herself for saying too much, but the look of pure joy on his face quieted her. Maybe those signals are not as crossed as I thought. She was also fairly certain that if she leaned forward just the tiniest bit that he would meet her in the middle for that kiss she had dreamed about since she was fifteen. Yet somehow this was better.

“Thank you,” his voice was softer than it had been before.

“For what?”

His thumbs made lazy circles across the backs of her hands, “For not hating me, for letting me take care of you, even if it’s just a little.”

“Just don’t let it get around; I have to keep up my swotty, know-it-all reputation.”

Ron’s laugh was loud in her ear as he pulled her into a hug. Making him laugh, a real, genuine laugh, was one of the most satisfying feelings; it wasn’t as great as resting her head against his chest, and the two combined were making her giddy. She knew that soon she would have to go downstairs, and soon they would have to leave with Harry to find Horcruxes. Soon they would make a world safe enough for all of them, a world safe enough for that kiss she had dreamed of since she was fifteen. But for now she was just Hermione, and he was just Ron, and it was just right.

#hp #ron weasely #hermione granger #romione #r/hr #my fanfic #sorry it's been so long #i forgot how to words

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xx4353 · 4 years

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So I have wrritten some fansty ideas stuff, its pretty fun to make a world you know. Anyway gonna put the stuff underneath a *read more*

Werewolves: Werewolves were created when a group of humans wanted to create the perfect hunters, It did succeed in some ways. Werewolves now do hunt but are more focused on fighting each other. Werewolves villages are just huge mess halls where the drinks and food are plentiful. Arm Wrestling, wrestling, fighting, and other competition are common past time. They are loud and love a fighting spirit. But werewolves have a strong sense of community since anyone can become a werewolf they are very focused on making sure newcomers are welcomed and it feels like you are joining a new family, a family of werewolves who love wrestling each other. Racism and disputes are very very unlikely when it comes to werewolves since they pride in being accepting. How to become a werewolf is very simple, you can drink the blood of a werewolf, or simply get bitten by one. The first news of a newcomer to the werewolf life will find that it can be stressful and hard, to not let into primal urges. But one can restain themselves and control the beast within, then they can be a functioning member of their new werewolf communities. Though much more feral werewolves can be seen out deep in the wild, the ones who couldn’t control the beast. Different species will have different versions of a werewolf, a human werewolf is average but an elf werewolf will be tall and lanky with very point ears, there are books and people who study werewolves for a living. Along with that, common side effects of becoming a werewolf is being more hunger, getting into fights, and growing hair everywhere, even for females. If a werewolf wants to marry another werewolf what they will do is have a kiss before they transform for the night, and then still kissing while they are transforming, to symbolize how their love is for both them and their wolf version. While many races do hate werewolves, they hardly hold grudges but will protect each other in times of need.

Werewolves hunters: While most werewolves do not attack other races and eat them, they are a few who let their wild side take control of them, giving the werewolves a bad name. Werewolves hunters typically believe that werewolves are a deranged monster of nature, that something should not exist and must be eliminated, to keep the world pure. There are some hunters who hunt because they want to hunt the best creatures around and werewolves fit that challenge. Most werewolves hunters will wear the dead fur of werewolves or carry around necklaces of werewolf teeth.

Vampires: Vampires are much like the opposite of werewolves, they are reserved and do not like mixing with outsiders. IN truth vampires believe themselves to be a higher race than most, and see other races as just mere food. With that you will not just see a random vampire around, no they live in castles like kings and queens. The family line is what is important, do not mingle and make the family tree too wide they say. There is always the Head of the family, who controls and acts as the ruler. Each race has one vampire family, this is because even with other vampires, vampires think its best to stay in your own race as well, just to make sure they don’t spoil the blood. But that has lead to constant fights between families overpower. Vampires don’t believe that showing emotions is good, so love is never a concern of theirs. Marrying is just a tool to gain power, you don’t marry because you love that person, you marry because they have land or a resource you want. Vampires despise werewolves, they hate how they just accept anyone into their ranks, they are a strong race, why should those werewolves just mingle around? In truth, most vampires can’t understand the concept of being equal with others. Most families have deals with local governments that prisoners on death row get sent to the families to feed on. They have the ability to change into a big bat version of themselves, which is more resistant to the sun and damage, but it’s common for most vampires to stay out of this form. They find it insulting to race and high standing to look so beastly.

The Cave bats: These are large bloodthirsty bat people who live in caves, they do not like the sun as it hurts their eyes so they mainly stay in their caves till night. Which when they do go flying out, they tend to grab unprotected livestock from local farms, and they suck the blood out of them. They are one of the worst creatures to find in caves since they will tend to swoop people away from their groups and there is alot of them since they breed so fast. They are not natural-appearing creatures, what happens is a vampire will attempt to make another person a vampire and in some very very rare cases, the person will turn into one of these feral bloodthirsty bat people who loses all their previous identity. The transformation is quick and sudden and there is no way to reverse it. They will naturally go into caves and try to find others like them to create a new colony of bats. Vampires hate these animals because to them they are mistakes and should not be alive, they often fight with each other. Cave Bats also can not transform other people into vampires or into cave bats.

Vampire hunters: Much like werewolf hunters. Vampire hunters think vampires are a blight on the world. A spot that needs to eradicate. Vampire hunting is tricky because of its like staging war on a big family, a big family who drink blood. Vampire hunters when they do kill a vampire, they will rub the ashes of a vampire into their skin

Elves: Elves are the race that believes the best way to live is to live with nature. Thats why they live in the trees of great forests and live off the land. They mostly stick to themselves. But beware, if you start polluting their forest they will protect their land with their lives. Their clothing reflects this by being mostly made out of what they have in the woods

Dark Elves: Much like their kin the Elves. The dark elves believe in being with nature. Their skins have multiple tones grey. With big red eyes with black pupils. But the way they go about doing is by being nomadic. The dark elf motto is "why not explore the world and its beauty?". Dark elves live in nomadic groups will set down in a place for a long time and then move. Their clothing is heavily inspired by Mongolians. Master at riding animals and living off any land. They prefer colder climates. Their main values are one should never waste anything if you can still use it. Then why not keep using it? The other value is sharing and showing kindness to strangers. Because we are nothing if we are too scared to show compassion to people we don’t know

Sea people: At the coast and in the sea there is a race that can breathe both in the sea and on the ground. Sea people is a general term since there are many different variations, from octopus to sharks, to lobsters. These humanoid sea creatures who have evolved far away from people but yet have made similar choices as humans.No god created them. There are plenty of deep cities that most races can’t get too because of a lack of oxygen but if a sea person wants to, there are ways to lead them into the cities. Most cities are market-based, meaning that the center is a huge square for trading goods. Most other races tend to only see these creatures as pirates, and these creatures are some of the most dangerous of pirates. Their ships can swim and glide through the water and raise up and lay like a normal ship. Giving most races a fear of the sea, and the thought of maybe there a pirate there. The deeper you go into the wilder, the odder sea people you will encounter, like blobfish and anglerfishes. For the sea people, the land races are just things to trade with or take stuff from, basically just a source of income.

Dwarves: Dwarves are a race that mainly lives in the mines and caves. They are master of the furnace and instead of lights dwarfs create aqueducts of molten lava to light up their cites. To the point where dwarfs had lava to a part of their culture, bathing in lava is considered a social activity, since dwarfs skin can withstand lava. Often they try to get their fellow races to join them since they don’t realize other races can’t handle lava. This causes lots of issues with the sea people. Dwarves of community and think it’s important to be with other races, to gain more knowledge. Drinking is also a very social activity, but most other races can’t handle the drinks. This has caused drinking parties between the werewolves and the dwarfs. Their amour is made out of this hard stone that no other races seem to know how to craft, most weapons break when hitting this amour, causing this to be very sought out.

Humans: What are humans in this world in fantasy? Some ways they are the weakest of the races, they have no special powers, no deep connection to the forests, to gods. But yet, what makes a human special? They are born with a fiery determination, a determination to grab ahold of the world and bend it’s to their whim. Sometimes this is for the betterment of the world, they can create cures to diseases that are hurting the other races, save others, create food, art, and music. Sometimes this determination has lead to wars and famine and diseases, sometimes the humans can have a greed that devours all the good in them. Humans are special like that. They have no main home, they are everywhere. In the forests, in the cities, in the mountains, and near coasts. Humans are to some a plague and to others a special flowers. Humans, in the end, are just an odd spot in this world. And they know this, humans know they are dealing with creatures higher in power than them. But that will not stop them from continuing with progress. One such group of humans even try to become the perfect hunters but ended up making werewolves we know today

Sirens: The creature of the water, these seductresses of the deep pry on people who get a bit close to their lairs. They do not eat or drink or need any sort of energy to keep them going. No, there only purpose is to watch others drown as they bring them down into the deep dark sea. Their bodies are made out of pure water. They will fill the mind of people with thoughts of their deepest desires and make it seem if they come with them, that their thoughts will be granted. There are a few races who can resistant the song. Sea people can since they have evolved too and dwarfs since their mines are filled with thoughts of mining, and the singing of a siren never sounds good to them, dwarfs much prefer the type of music that fills an entire mountain

#werewolves #dwarves #sirens #dark elves #elves #vampire #vampire hunter #vampires #fantasy #writting #orginal work

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murasaki-murasame · 5 years

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Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 Episode 15: “I Wouldn’t Say That”

The one and only thing this episode needed to do was succeed in making Hatori look fine as hell, so I’m glad they managed to do that, since this part of the story’s always been kinda forgettable beyond that, lol.

Thoughts under the cut. [Spoiler warning for the whole series]

Just to get right to the chase, this episode adapts chapters 25 and 26 of the manga, same as episode 16 of the 2001 version. It’s actually kinda interesting to compare them, since even though they’re about 99% the same, the comparison really highlights even more of the consequences of the stuff the 2001 version cut out as a whole.

I think I already mentioned this last week, but anyway, since the 2001 version removed the whole hat subplot and everything referencing Kyo’s connection to Kyoko, everything about Yuki and Kyo acting weird in this part had pretty much no context in that version, whereas at least in this version you have a pretty good idea what’s going on and how it connects to the previous episode, even if they’re both subplots that are largely still mysteries right now. And in addition to that, they also entirely removed Mayuko from the 2001 version, so the stuff with Hatori there was left on a more vague note. Which all just made this part feel super filler-y and disconnected from the rest of the story, originally.

But honestly even in the manga this part was always kinda filler-y and uneventful. It was just made even more so in the 2001 anime because it basically removed the few important story elements that were actually set up here. I think the series is really good at having every new story beat either introduce a new character, meaningfully develop existing ones, or just set up future plot points, but I’ve always felt like this is the weakest arc out of all of them, with the set-up mostly just being ‘wow, Yuki and Kyo sure are still moody for reasons we don’t fully know yet’ and ‘I guess Hatori will maybe hook up with the main trio’s teacher eventually’.

I do think it’s kinda funny, though, after seeing a lot of anime only people last week be like ‘I can’t wait to find out what’s going on with Yuki and Kyo next week :)’, when in reality this episode is like 90% Tohru going ‘I wonder what’s going on with Yuki and Kyo’. We’re not gonna find out what’s up with them, especially with Kyo, for a loooong time, lol. I hope that anime-only people don’t feel too genuinely let down or disappointed by this episode, but if there’s any one part where I think new fans might start thinking that the series is beginning to spin it’s wheels and needs to kick it up a notch, this episode would be it.

This whole part’s also always stuck out to me, even in the manga, as being just about the only part of the story after the first volume where we actually see Yuki and Kyo transform. It’s one of the things that make this part feel like a very episodic, filler-y ‘return to the status quo for a whole’ sorta part, if that makes sense. You’d think it wouldn’t be noteworthy that they transform here, but it sticks out in hindsight when you notice how they otherwise stop doing so pretty much entirely after the first volume. It’s not actually a recurring element of the story. Though I actually think it feels a bit more ‘natural’ in the 2001 version because they added some bits here and there in other episodes to have them transform when they didn’t in the manga, which made it seem like something that happens way more than it actually does.

Like always, I tend to be mostly ambivalent to these sorts of comedic breather sections [even though they’re necessary for the overall story flow], but I still really like the whole Jason joke. It reminds me that when I first read the manga I assumed that it must have been a localization of a reference to a Japanese horror movie, but nah, it was literally a Jason reference even in Japanese, lol. Which actually makes it feel a bit more understandable that Kyo doesn’t get it. Although, come to think of it, I wonder if this has more to do with how his sheltered upbringing lead him to being completely oblivious to a lot of ‘normal’ stuff. Which would make it kinda depressing in hindsight. But still funny.

Even though I still kinda don’t like the whole Mabudachi trio as a unit, Hatori’s still great, so I appreciate how this episode is actually more about giving him a chance to take a nap and read a book, more than anything to do with the main trio. I do still like how many parts there are like this that focus on the adult characters and their perspective on things. Even though, as much as it gets more relatable over time, it also becomes kinda funny, in the sense of ‘stop being such a drama queen, Hatori, you’re not even 30 yet, lmao’.

Also, it’s not like they really changed it from how it was in the manga, but I forgot just how immediately obvious it is that he’s gonna hook up with Mayu later on. Although I think it’s actually even more blunt in the manga since apparently she had a picture of Hatori next to the picture of her and Kana, which I didn’t even notice until I just saw someone point it out.

I’m actually pretty excited for the episode we’ll get later on focused on them, even though it won’t happen until season 2 at this rate. They’re one of my favourite side couples in the series, and it still bugs me that they cut Mayu out of the 2001 anime [even though I get why they did it].

Anyway I think that’s about everything there is to say about this episode, but in addition to all that, we now know for a fact that the next episode will be adapting Uo’s backstory, which is really interesting to me. I already guessed it based on the vague look we got a while ago of Caitlin Glass’ notes, but I’m still a bit surprised they’re shifting that part up so much. If I remember right, it’s chapters 39 to 41, so at least in the manga it’s a fair bit ahead of where we are now. But it’s also mostly a flashback arc so I don’t think it’d exactly be hard to shuffle it about.

I’m mostly curious to see how they’re going to adapt it and pace it out, partly because it basically wasn’t adapted in the 2001 anime at all so it’ll sort of be all new in the reboot, and partly because it’s a three chapter arc in the manga, and the reboot hasn’t adapted mote than two chapters in a single episode yet.

Caitlin Glass’ notes do seem to indicate that Uo’s backstory will cover the next two episodes, though, which would at least be better than cramming it into one. It’s a pretty substantial arc with a lot going on, so I’d be happy if they give it a two-part treatment here. Though if they do it across two episodes, it makes me wonder how they’ll break it up, and if they might flesh it out with some material from later in the series, to bring it up to effectively two chapters of content per episode, which would be in line with the average pacing of the reboot thus far.

If they do that, I hope they find a way to slide chapter 50 [the one where Uo and Kureno meet for the first time] into it. I think it’d be fairly easy to tie it into the present-day parts of the Uo backstory arc, and it’d be nice for the reboot to throw a curveball and formally introduce Kureno this early on. At the very least the alternative is that he probably wouldn’t show up until season 2, which would be kinda sad.

We’ll see how it goes, but at the very least the next episode will definitely be getting into the flashback portion of the arc, since the episode title is taken from when Uo first met Tohru. I wonder if it’ll adapt all of the flashback, or if it’ll stop halfway and finish off in the episode afterward.

Most of the series thus far has split very easily into single episode chunks, so it’s kinda exciting to get to a part that’s a bit less obvious in how it’d translate into an anime format. It’s the sorta thing I really like speculating about.

And as a reminder, going by what we know from the next episode preview, Caitlin Glass’ notes, and the official confirmation of season 1 being 25 episodes long, it looks like the structure of the season from here on out will be two episodes for Uo’s backstory, Kisa’s intro, Ritsu’s intro, Hiro’s intro, the episode with Hana and the Yuki fan club, Hana’s backstory, and then probably Tohru getting sick and then the whole Kyo arc across three episodes total. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but after looking back at the notes we saw, it looks like the two Hana episodes will in fact be two separate episodes back to back, so Hana’s backstory would be episode 22 at this rate, which leaves three episodes to adapt chapters 30 to 34. Which I think would work fine. I think they’re going to tie the set-up for the Kyo arc into the episode with Tohru getting sick so that it ends with Kazuma showing up, and the last two episodes can spend more time on the actual meat of the Kyo arc. But we’ll see.

Either way I’m really excited for the next two episodes. The reboot’s been pretty similar in execution to the 2001 anime for a while now, so it’ll be fun to get two episodes in a row focused on material that basically wasn’t in the 2001 version at all.

#murasaki rambles #fruits basket #I was busy with stuff yesterday so I'm only just getting around to this now

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grandbananabanana · 4 years

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It was one gloomy morning and people are busy for it is Monday but as usual Alex is still in her bed well she is probably lazy. Alex devien is popular in class because of the way she looks but sad to say she even don't have knowledge in both academics and non academics. She is brat. she gets what she wants that's why maybe she can't think for others. It was 7:00 am when her maid wake her up because she is going to school but as a brat she just cover her both ears with pillows and sleep again. but after a minute Alex realize that she really need to go to school because probably she will get noted and the dean would probably call her parents that's why she rush into her bathroom door and take a quick shower and put her uniform on. On the way to school she is busy pampering herself she didn't even noticed that she is already at school. As she walks fast for her not to get late she bumped into someone, someone who she really hates and that is Klen well who wont hates Klen chester ? He is actually weird,old school but probably the most smartest on their batch but Alex didn't know that Klen has a huge crush on her. She just roll her eyes on Klen and take the way to there room. It's 12 noon and the bell rings telling them it's lunch time and Alex is keeping her things while having chitchat with her girlfriends but someone cut their chitchats and that is Ms Cruz, she ask Alex for a talk that's why instead of going to canteen Alex is on miss cruz office. Ms Cruz is asking Alex because of her grades 'ms devien your grades is kinda makes me disappointed' Ms Cruz said. 'but ma'aam I'm doing my best to have good grades' Alex. 'well maybe Alex your best is not yet enough for you to have the passing grades maybe you should have a tutor' Cruz. 'but ma'am I can't have a tutor I can do it on my own.' 'sorry miss devien but you really need a tutor and that would be Klen chester meet him at the library after class and I won't accept any excuses this time,go now and take your lunch' Alex didn't persist anymore because she know that she can't do anything. Going to canteen Alex saw green, green was the campus crush and probably Alex crush but then green always ignored her even if she's the prettiest in their batch. It was already 2:50 pm and Alex was sitting at the back portion she was not listening to the discussion,as the bell rings alex stand up immediately and go to the library even if it's not her well but still she can't do anything but to go. She saw Klen immediately she walks toward her and sit on the chair 'well Klen I don't have enough time to discuss any unnecessary things so let's began about the tutorial' Alex said Klen was still shy thats why he can't even utter a word he was stammering 'ah-ah yes ah about ah that can you ah just go in our ho-use this Sunday?' even if he stammer he can still manage to say those words 'well okay with me I'll just call you just give me your number tommorow so yeah gotta go' Alex took up from her chair and go out to the library fast, they didn't know someone was watching them a far 'you'll be dead soon..' As days passed by it was Sunday already Alex got up her bed and eat her breakfast she was busy preparing herself for she will go to klen's house, on the way to Klen house Alex saw green on there backyard with a gun she was shock but then she just ignore it and just listen to a music. When she is already on Klen she just go inside and ask the maids where is Klen well the maid leads her on klen's room. Before opening the door she knocks for permission. And as expected klen's room is not the typical guys room it is full of books and it's clean she saw Klen sitting on the chair preparing the lesson he would be teaching. Alex sit beside Klen and they just start the tutorial' without any unnecessary chitchats. After an hour Alex and Klen finish their business. Alex jump on the bed of Klen without any hesitation well she doesn't even care at all even if she doesn't own the bed. Out of nowhere Alex ask Klen on a date 'klen let's go on a date' Klen was really shock on what he heard and in that time he can't utter a word but just nod . Alex on the right hand was laughing as she saw klen's reaction it's already 8pm when Alex plan to go home but before she go she gives Klen a peck on the cheek that makes Klen face turns red. Friday when Alex plan to go to klen's house for their so called 'date' on the way to klen's house she calls Klen so that Klen would be ready when she Fetch him. As expected klen is wearing a belly button pants while he tuck in his shirt and with his big nerdy glasses and on the other hand Alex was disgusted of what she saw about klen's fashion that's why a great idea pooped up on her mind 'makeover' you read it right she's planning to change Klen so she cancelled out their date and go to the mall with Klen and buy some stuffs for him. Klen can't do anything but to agree of Alex. Alex buy so many stuffs for klen and after that they went home. But it is not yet the end alex makes Klen wear all the stuff she buys and after that she fix klen's hair even tho she doesn't know a thing but she just watch some tutorial' on YouTube and after that she put some contacts to klen's eyes so that he wouldn't use the big glasses. After a couple of hours klen's transformation is done and when Alex saw the results of the make over she just smile and clap her hands she was just amaze on how Klen looks. Klen is so handsome that even other girls would probably drool for his looks. Alex ask klen to stand in front of his mirror and klen obeys her and as same reaction Klen didn't recognize his self too from the weird old style nerd he change a lot he becomes more handsome totally handsome than before. After that klen thanks Alex for everything and he even hug Alex while Alex was stun and she blush after Klen let go of the hug. They just talk a lot and after an hour Alex decided to go home. Monday. it was just a normal day but for klen it is different because he would not go to school looking like a old school nerd just like before. School, students are busy going to there respective classroom and and usual Alex is late she enter her classroom and go to the last row and take a nap but she was disturbed by the noise of her classmates that was amaze on what they saw and then she saw Klen the Klen she change and she just smile on her thought. Dismissal, Alex was packing her things she was looking for klen but she can't see him as she walks on the hallway someone grabs her and cover her nose and that moment she feel dizzy but as she close her eyes she saw green with a cold stare. Darkness. As Alex wake she see nothing's but a cold dark place she was so scared that time she screams for help and her body was trembling all she can thinks that green was the one who did it all. She was crying and screaming but afterwards she hears a footstep coming from her and she saw Klen yes it's Klen she was shock on what she saw and even ask klen why did Klen do that to her but in respond Klen laugh and help her to sneak and she just laugh because she accuses Klen by putting her up on that dark room. As Alex got home she thanks Klen for saving her and ask why did Klen knows that she is in the dark room. But Klen just shrugged and forbid his goodbye. At that night Alex didn't sleep and was still thinking about what happens earlier all she know is that green was the suspect about earlier. Tuesday. Alex was so early sitting on the bench where green used to seat every morning and as expected she saw green walking towards her with those cold eyes without any hesitation she punch green face that makes green mad at her 'WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!' green ask in a cold scary way ' because of what you did to me yesterday!' green was quite shock but still can manage to look at her and tell her that ' don't be so credulous darlin' and by that he left alex wondering. Alex shrugged all the thought she have as she enter her classroom. Dismissal Klen texted Alex for them to meet on his house. On the way to Klen house Alex is still wondering about what green says it was like a broken old record that keep on repeating. When she is already at Klen place the maid guide her to the garden. Perfect. that was the first thing that comes up on her mind. From the blue roses from the candle lights that guiding her on the table and a perfect night bright. Those stars that was shining above them and the moon that also gives light to them it was all perfect for her. as she walks slowly Klen offer his hands to have dance with Alex. 'do you like it?' Klen asks 'yes of course the splendor of the garden awed me into silence' Alex replied. As the music keeps on playing the are romantically dancing but someone disturb them with a cough 'hey brother' they stop and look at that someone 'green?' Alex ask in a confuse voice 'well yes I am,yes I am' green reply in a blatant way. Alex look at Klen that is sweating and can't mantain eye contact to green. 'klen can you explain this to me?' Alex ask klen 'well Alex if you wouldn't mind' green interrupt 'oh shut up I mind so Klen explain this to me why did that jerk calls you brother?' Alex asking still confuse. On the other side Klen doesn't know what to do he is scared of the thought that maybe green would tell Alex the truth that's why he end up running away. Alex follow Klen and push green away. Green was smirking while watching them run away from the garden. Playground. Klen end up sitting on the swing he was crying while Alex is rubbing his back to hush him but it's not effective he is still crying so hard, on the other side Alex was somewhat worry because she never saw Klen crying this much even if the students bully him in school but she never saw Klen on his weakest in a minute Klen hush and hug Alex 'are you fine now?' Alex ask instead of answering he ask Alex to never trust someone 'Alex can you please just don't believe anyone but me?' Alex was confused but as a friend she just nod and smile at klen. Klen was sleeping on Alex shoulder that's why Alex calls her driver to drive them home. Alex bring Klen on her house and wake him just to let him sleep on the guest room. Later that morning Klen and Alex eat breakfast together and act like nothing happened yesterday. After they eat breakfast they go to balcony and sit there talking about stuffs and things but Alex open up the topic about yesterday that makes Klen uncomfortable that's why Alex didn't bother to ask klen about that anymore Months passed and it's December already everyone is busy for their upcoming Christmas party and most of them are busy on planning about their Christmas vacation. When Ms Cruz comes in everyone stays quiet and listens to her discussion. As the class ends Alex is packing up faster for Ms. Cruz call her regarding to the tutorial'. Office, Ms. Cruz ask Alex to seat and talks about the tutorial' well as expected Alex grades becomes good and that's makes Alex smile and hurriedly went outside and find Klen when she cannot find Klen she decided to go home. When she pass on the the music Hall she hear a noise in fact it's a voice of two people she actually wants to eavesdrop but her driver call her saying that he is waiting outside the campus. Home when Alex got home she jumped on her bed and fell asleep so fast. Alex woke up in a room consume by darkness and there is no single light in the room she was. She was tied up with a chain on her wrist and on her feet. She was shouting and crying she didn't know how to escape she was too weak to escape those chain. Minutes passed by their is a guy who is wearing a mask with a knife in his right hand, he walks slowly towards Alex and laughs like a devil. Alex was curious who the guy was but she don't have any idea who is the guy 'wanna play darlin?' the guy asked her 'green?' she replies back 'green?' Alex ask but the guy just laugh and tell Alex how silly she is. Alex was trying her best to escape those chain but all she got is wounds. The guy is laughing evilly while playing his knife, minutes passed by another guy enters the dark room. Alex was confused who is the guy but she knows the body built of that guy but she just shrugged her thought and just close her eyes. Slowly the guy walks toward Alex, when he already in front of Alex he greet Alex 'hello alex' Alex open her eyes slowly and was shock on who is the guy standing front of her, even if she can't believe it she can still force to utter the guy name 'klen' yes it is definitely Klen well who have thought that a nerdy old school Klen who is actually transformed by Alex was the one behind. Without any word Klen grab the knife and stab Alex on her chest 'bye alex'. Tears and sweat. Alex woke up in tears and having sweat over her. She was so scared about her bad nightmare,she is still stuck on her dream. Suddenly someone shrugged her thoughts off by knocking her door and it was her maid. Telling her to go to her dad's office. She was asking why for her father and mother wasnt in there house but still she does what the maid said. As she open her dad's office she saw her dad smiling at her and her mom who is on the small sofa. She runs quickly towards her father and give her father a hug and also her mom after that she ask her parents why did they go home 'well baby its your 18th birthday next week's' Alex dad. She just smile and hug her father coz she don't expect that her parents would come home for her birthday. Monday when Alex announced that she would be throwing a birthday party next week and everyone can come on the said venue. Dismissal Alex and Klen decided to go to the mall to buy something for her birthday tho Alex have a nightmare about Klen killing her but still she just forget it and stay friends to Klen. Mall they separate ways to buy their stuff Alex would be buying some girly stuff while Klen is buying Alex gift after they buy stuffs they eat to the nearest restaurant because they are booth hungry after they eat they go home safe. Weeks after everyone is so busy for today is Alex birthday. It was a grand birthday party Alex was still in her assigned room for she was having a make over for her special day. The venue is perfect there was a hall with a stair on the both side a big chandelier on the ceiling. outside the hall is a garden with a fountain that is full of butterflies and the place was surrounded with a blue roses and bubbles it was all perfect for Alex special day. It was 8:00 in the evening where everyone is already at the hall and Alex was ready too she was so excited and kinda nervous. In a jiffy moment the party would start and Alex would be going down the stair with klen courting her. As Klen knocks Alex assigned room the assistant open it and present Alex to him he was mesmerized by the beauty Alex have. Alex is wearing a purple red mermaid long dress off-the-shoulder lace. Alex and Klen was already walking down the stair everyone was amazed by Alex her beauty was so natural and her long dress fits her perfect body before she starts the party she thanks her parents and her guest for coming in her birthday party and also thanks Klen for escorting her. As the party start everyone is having fun also Alex but little did they know there is someone who is planning bad for Alex. Alex excused herself for she will use the restroom as she walks her way to the restroom she hear a voice same both voice before but now she can clearly hear them and she was confuse because she hears Klen voice but she just go to the restroom instead of eavesdroping after she pee she check herself on the mirror but before she can go outside someone grab her and cover her nose with a handkerchief that makes her dizzy and fall asleep afterwards. She woke up in a severe headache she can't see anything but darkness she can see an empty space and a door her hands are not tied that's why she had the guts to open the door knob but it was lock she cant do anything but to wait for someone who can save him after an hour someone open the door and that is Klen she feels safe not until Klen walks towards her with a cold eyes she ask klen why but Klen is just starting at her with a cold stare she is so nervous that maybe like her dream Klen would stab her with a knife but after wards Klen is laughing and Alex got confuse and ask klen why did Klen laughs and after that all the led string lights turns on Alex is amaze on what she saw there was a table for two and roses all over the floor she was in teary eye when she saw what's on the wall stating 'can you be my girl' Alex was stun she didn't recognize klen's hand asking her hand for a dance 'alex since then I have feelings for you actually I have plan on telling this to you remember before someone lock you in a dark room actually it's me it's not green I am actually planning to surprise you with that but I feel nervous that's why I back off, and second is when we are in the garden but green interrupt us actually he's my cousin he just call me bro but Alex devien can you be my girlfriend?' instead of answering Alex slap Klen face but then pull him into a hug 'you scared me Klen you nerd but yes I can be your girlfriend but can you promise me don't ever do that again it cause me heart attack for Pete sake' Klen chuckle by Alex expression. Klen was so happy after he hear that word and after that the parents of Alex and their classmate came out Alex ask klen how did he do this and klen answer her that he plan it since then Klen calls Alex parents for them to go home and testify how klen loves their daughter Alex parents was happy for their daughter and on the other hand Klen and Alex was both happy knowing that they love each other and on the other hand it is green who is actually jealous but still she is happy for his cousin achievement. A year later Klen and Alex finish college and find a job and even get married and have children on their own

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theonceoverthinker · 5 years

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OUAT 4X06 - Family Business

After spending ten minutes trying to make a pun for this one, I don’t SNOW if I can do it!

...Well, there you go!

Review’s under the cut!

Main Takeaways

Past

I’m torn between disliking and liking the writing choice to have Anna doubt Ingrid so fiercely. On one level, I sort of get it. After being betrayed by Hans (And more recently, Rumple), Anna’s become a bit less trusting. That’s good character development. However, to have Anna be untrusting to this degree is just a little too far fetched for me. I think had Anna wanted to accept her and been more outright friendly, but was too curious to settle for Ingrid’s non answers, the story would’ve been a bit more palatable for me.

So, as far as Belle goes, I’m kind of inclined to treat this episode in a way as a precursor to Belle’s attitude later in life, kind of like“Best Laid Plans.” Just like how Snowing dedicated themselves to being the best people they could be after their horrible sin, Belle does the same thing through a combination of seeing Anna be taken and learning the truth behind her mother’s death. That also having been said, I feel like had they stated that the stone of memories was a one-off item, I wouldn’t be so frustrated with Belle because why not just get another stone after saving Anna?

That also having been said, I get that it didn’t matter. What mattered in this segment was that Belle’s selfishness fucked over someone and the point of this episode was to realize that and show that she’s grown from it. And that is the important part of the episode and it was delivered well. What I pointed out were smaller narrative crumbles that don’t amount to absolutely nothing, but are ultimately less important than the delivery of the theme.

Present

I can talk about a lot of aspects of this episode (And I will), but let’s be real here: The big part of this episode really comes down to a singular moment. While most of this episode is pretty clearly framed otherwise, so much so that I wonder just how much can write about, this moment’s where shit gets complicated and messy. That, of course, is Belle’s use of the “dagger” to make Rumple take her to the Snow Queen’s fortress.

Let’s break my thoughts on this down a bit.

It’s...a complicated situation. I’m sympathetic to Belle in the sense that she’s trying to stop The Snow Queen and making a hard choice like that is something she sees as just something that has to be done. Additionally, the mirror scene establishes that Belle might have doubts about the validity of the dagger, so there might have been a part of her doubting that it would work. I also get that this was Belle’s weakest moment and thus, it’s something she doesn’t want relayed.

That having been said, this episode frames Belle’s motivation as wanting to keep a secret. That’s the reason why she doesn’t relay her information to Emma and Elsa. And for a secret that is so relatively small in the grand scheme of not only the scope of the universe, but what villains have been forgiven for around in these parts, I find it rather weak and makes for a stark contrast to her attitude of just shutting up from the present scenes prior It’s brought on by a sad conversation with Elsa and Belle finds it more appropriate to use the dagger on her husband than just simply tell the truth, a moment that when finally comes to pass, isn’t given any gravitas, meaning that Belle keeping that secret wasn’t that big of a deal. It’d be one thing if Elsa was so mad that she froze Belle or shut her out or something like that, but she doesn’t, making the reason Belle wants to hold out telling the truth fall flat.

I also almost wish this moment had come earlier in the season, maybe before “The Apprentice” because that look of fear on Rumple’s face when he realized that his own wife is using the dagger to control him would’ve been a hella effective point in showing why Rumple feels like he needs to go to the extreme of putting people in a magic hat to ensure that he never has to be controlled again. That said, it does work here, albeit not as effectively.

I do think that the framing of this moment works. Ignoring the motivation behind it, Belle is shown as going too far by using the dagger, BUT the more complicated nature of the dagger being as real as a $3 bill isn’t ignored by the narrative either.

Okay, now that that’s done, let’s move on.

The mirror scene is a really chilling look into Belle’s psyche. Not only is there a great display of Belle’s insecurities on display in this scene, but it truly sets up the mirror as a genuine threat. Belle is one of the purest characters in the show, second to probably only Ariel at this point. And yet the mirror is able to pull at the weaknesses she doesn’t possess as easily as loose Jenga pieces. Within a minute, she feels helpless.

I also really like the way Rumple is presented here! He’s at once a villain and a victim in a way and the balancing of that was well done!

Stream of Consciousness

-I like the costume Belle has in the first bit of her flashback. It does a really good job of painting her youth and naivete.

-I love how literally every piece of Belle’s wardrobe and decorations in her room are Beauty and the Beast colors!!! Dude, if she wasn’t the actual Belle, I’d accuse her of being the biggest fangirl in the world! XD

-Really, Rumple? Belle doesn’t know about the hidden safe by this point?

-”Before we open.” So I guess that library scene really didn’t carry over in any capacity. That’s a shame.

-I absolutely LOVE the zoom out shot as everyone takes in the Snow Queen video tape! All eight of the mains are in the shot as well as Elsa! And everyone is so serious, even the woman in the blue sparkly dress! I know it’s been said 1,000 times, but it’s totally CSI Storybrooke up in this bitch! XD

-Belle, you are amazing at tracking! And you dig any chance to be a hero! Why the fuck are you willingly stepping down?! XD

-Why does everyone diss books?! And if you’re gonna diss the book, maybe take the book? Like, I don’t want Maurice to take the book, but if he’s gonna go to the trouble of being a douche nozzle, at least go all the way.

-I feel the need to ask if Ingrid has employees at “Any Given Sundae.” Does she just switch off between driving the truck and running the shop? Did she ever have an intern? XD

-”Was she afraid someone was gonna steal the rocky road?” You’re three episodes off, Emma.

-Ice powers are the world’s most dangerous mood rings! XD

-”Do you really think she would’ve discovered that if I didn’t want her to?” And what part did you have to play in Emma discovering that evidence? Like, every piece of evidence Emma has uncovered has been by total coincidence! The video, the truck? Both of those were spur of the moment decisions!

-I feel like mirror Belle is what would happen if Lacey had Belle’s memories.

-Ummm, if that was the real dagger, would that slash have killed Rumple or would it kind of be like what happened with Dark Hook where only the lethal cuts matter? But then again, that was close to the throat.

-Belle, where the hell did that gorgeous ass coat come from? Because holy hell, I LOVE it!

-Okay, am I the only one who feels like Maurice had some personal experience with Rumple prior to Belle’s summoning?

-”Spend a little more time in this town love, and you’ll realize that just about everyone’s related.” This is true and I LOVE it! XD

Favorite Dynamic

Regina and Robin. I really like Regina’s scene with Robin in the forest. Lana perfectly shows Regina’s frustration at having tried every possible approach to waking Marian and failing at it as well as this sense of resignation about what she has to tell him. It’s a fantastic moment in how it’s performed and written. Regina’s in her best form by being blunt, but not unsympathetic: If Robin wants to save Marian, he has to fall in love with her again, no if’s, and’s, or but’s. You can tell that this is the last thing she wants to say, but she knows it’s the truth. It’s a really good display of her growth as a character. Something very difficult for her to do and the truth isn’t pretty, but she’s delivering it anyway, even at her own expense. The added bits of snark additionally really help it too by giving the scene a bit of levity and gives the dialogue a bit of that Regina fierceness.

Writer

Kalinda Vazquez comes in for her second episode in a row, a first for a writer for this series outside of A&E! Alongside her is Andrew Chambliss. I gotta say, it’s nice not having a newbie this episode. While there are some character issues, I think the episode works more than it doesn’t due to the more complicated nature of the present segment’s story and the fact that the framing is spot on.

Rating

8/10. I think there are a fair amount of good elements to this episode. The delivery of the themes is solid and that is the ultimate make or break piece of an episode like this. Additionally, the framing of this story was hard, but successful.

-----

Hey! Sorry this wasn’t my best review. I don’t know what happened with this episode, but it just took me so long to figure out how I felt about it. I hope what I put out made sense.

Thank you for reading, if you did as well as to @watchingfairytales and @daensarah. Love you!!!!

Season 3 Total (42/230)

Writer Scores: Adam and Eddy: (9/60) Jane Espenson: (10/40) David Goodman and Jerome Schwartz: (10/50) Andrew Chambliss: (14/50) Dana Horgan: (6/30) Kalinda Vazquez: (14/40) Scott Nimerfro: (6/30)

*Links to the rest of my rewatch will no longer be provided. They take posts with links outside of searches and I spend way too much time on these reviews to not give them that kind of exposure. Sorry for the inconvenience, but they still can be found on my page under Operation Rewatch.

#ouat #once upon a time #watching fairytales #ouat 4x06 #ouat rewatch #jenna watches ouat

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artificialqueens · 6 years

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You're A Kite, Dancing in a Hurricane. (Biadore)

Hi Guys. I was torn as to whether to continue this as I have exams upcoming but it’s a good distraction from working and the reviews we’re pretty good so I thought I would do! Please let me know if you’d like to see it continue!

Here’s a link to part one.

Wednesday marked the middle of Roy’s first week teaching at the new school. He felt as though he was settling in quite well. He was starting to warm up to some of his students as he began to understand them better and had hope that he could genuinely help at least some of them. But there was one student he wanted to help most of all. He mulled over this thought as he awaited Danny’s arrival, fifteen minutes late as usual. Since Danny had seemed far more relaxed and willing to engage in somewhat meaningful conversation, Roy was looking forwards for another forty-five minutes of light banter. When Danny trudged in, practically dragging his bag behind him, with huge dark bags under his bloodshot eyes, Roy decided he may have pre-empted his enthusiasm. Danny sat in his usual seat at the back of the room and took out the same small notebook from Monday’s detention without even acknowledging Roy. Roy stated sat behind his desk silently for a few minutes before talking.

“You okay there, chola?” Roy asked. Danny looked up and grinned at the nickname. Roy was pleased he could make him smile, since it looked like he had had a rough day.

“Just a shitty day.” Danny smiled lightly. Roy could tell that this was an understatement to say the least.

“You want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“Thank fuck” Roy joked, making Danny laugh again. He started to sit up a little straighter in his chair and closed the cover of his book. Roy decided that today probably wasn’t the day for delving into Danny’s problems and so settled for trying to make him laugh insead. “Thought I was going to have to listen to some crap there.” He continued, making Danny laugh harder. “I got my own shit to be dealing with.” Danny kept laughing more and more until the unexpected happening. Through the laughs his eyes became teary. His laugher hitched in his throat and all of a sudden he was sobbing. He covered his face with his hand and turned away from Roy slightly. “Shit” Roy murmured

“Were my jokes that bad?” Roy joked uneasily. He walked over to Danny’s desk and took a seat next to him. “Was it something I said?” Roy checked. Danny shook his head no, as his sobs subsided into light shakes and sniffles.

“Sorry” Danny muttered. Roy didn’t say anything, just brought him some tissues from his desk drawer.

“Do you drive yourself home?” Roy asked, glancing out of the window at the rain. Danny shook his head. “Does anyone pick you up?” Danny shook his head again. Roy let out a small sigh. He knew that he would get some unwanted questions if he offered to drive Danny home, so resisted the urge.

“How about we wait here until the rain lets up a little and then you can leave early.” Danny nodded slightly. “Do you want me to leave you be?” Danny didn’t answer. Not wanting to push Danny to talk, Roy slid Danny’s black notebook towards him and went to sit behind his desk once more.

“Mr Haylock?” Danny said after a few minutes of silence. Roy looked up from his work in acknowledgement. “Thank you.”

Once the rain began to ease up slightly Roy told Danny that it was okay for him to leave. Danny thanked him once more and left quickly. Roy packed up his things and walked out to his car to leave. As he got to his car the rain started in full force once more and he thought about Danny walking home alone. After driving a for a few minutes he noticed Danny waking ahead of him and contemplated offering him a ride. Nobody from the school would know. And even if they did, there’s surely nothing wrong with driving a student home in the rain. Something about it felt wrong, so he decided against it. That was until he saw the strap of Danny’s bag break and all of his belongings fall out onto the sidewalk. He immediately pulled over a few metres ahead of Danny and watched in the rear view mirror as Danny stood on the sidewalk staring at his belongings looking utterly lost. It broke Roy’s heart.

Roy hopped out of his car and made his way to Danny, grabbing the umbrella from the trunk of his car on the way. Roy approached Danny gently and held the umbrella over his head, allowing himself to get rained on. Danny looked up with tear filled eyes and stared at Roy. “I don’t need help.” Roy put the umbrella into Danny’s hand and bent down to start picking up his things from the floor. Danny just held the umbrella in silence, not speaking, not crying, just watching Roy.

“Let me drive you home.” Roy said and gestured towards the car. Danny didn’t argue and walked round to the passenger side seat. Roy got into the driver’s seat and turned on the heaters but didn’t drive straight away. He passed Danny’s things back to him and he sat holding his damp belongings in silence.

“I know today might have been shitty and it feels like everything is against you, but it’ll pass, chola.” Roy smiled lightly at Danny. “I promise.” He added, for extra emphasis. Danny smiled briefly. That was a start. Roy started driving and got to the end of the road before he realised he had no idea where he was actually going. He asked Danny, who gave him directions until they arrived in a relatively nice neighbourhood. Roy looked around at the nice looking houses, wondering which one was Danny’s. “Anywhere around here.” Danny muttered and Roy shut off the car.

“Let me take a look at that bag strap.” Roy said before Danny got out of the car.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. I’ll take it home and see what I can do. You can pick it up tomorrow morning from my classroom.” Danny thanked him and left the car carrying the contents of his bag. Roy waited where he was parked to make sure that Danny got into his house safely and he watched as Danny walked away from the nice street they were on and down an alley leading somewhere else. It was very clear that Danny did not in fact live around here at all. It made Roy sad to think that Danny would want to lie about where he lived, as though that would make any difference to how he viewed him.

When Roy got home that night he sat down at his sewing machine to have a look at Danny’s bag. The tear in the strap was simple enough to fix so he decided to reinforce the strap in the weakest areas so that Danny could avoid this happening again. He looked over the main body of the bag noticing a few holes and rips and patched those up too. Feeling pleased with his work Roy eventually left the bag by the door for the morning and set about making himself some dinner. Later that night he went to bed and found himself hoping that Danny was alright and anticipating the following day when he could see him again.

—

Thursday morning rolled around far too slowly for Roy’s liking and he sat in his classroom anticipating the arrival of Danny. When he did arrive, he tried to act as though he was in the middle of something.

“Morning, chola.” Roy smiled and tossed Danny the bag. “You feeling better today.” Looking at Danny he noticed he looked a little brighter this morning.

“Yeah I’m good. Just a bad day yesterday. All good now though.” Danny smiled, baring all of his brilliant white teeth. Danny turned the bad over in his hands noticing how Roy had sewn up every little imperfection. Danny’s grin widened. he really appreciated Roy’s effort, even though it made the bag look way less punk. It reminded Danny of the time his grandmother stitched up the holes in his ripped jeans and he laughed.

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do this.” Danny said sincerely

“I know.” Roy smiled. After saying brief goodbyes Danny left the classroom with a huge smile across his face and swore to himself today would be a good day.

When detention rolled around Roy walked into his classroom ready to start his 15 minute wait for Danny to arrive when he noticed a different student sitting on the front row.

“Hey Mr Haylock.” The girl said casually, as Roy sat behind his desk. He tried not to act too disappointed that it wouldn’t just be him and Danny.

“Hello Kayleigh.”

“Is this detention gonna be, like, long? Because I have somewhere else I want to be.”

“Believe it or not sweetie, I have somewhere else I’d like to be too.” Roy laughed and the girl grinned. “Did you finish the assignment I set you in class today?” The girl shook her head. “Why don’t you start working on that and when you’ve finished it you can leave?” Kayleigh took out her notebook and started to work on the assignment. After a few minutes Danny walked in late and to his usual seat.

“Noregia, you gotta sort out this fashionably late thing you’ve got going on.” Roy said, mainly so that he didn’t seem like a pushover in front of the other student.

“Sorry.” Danny drawled, grinning. Danny took out his black notebook and the three sat in silence for a few more minutes.

“So what brings you two here today then?” He said, obviously knowing why Danny was there but not wanting to single out the other girl.

“I’ve missed like a billion English assignments or something I don’t even know.” Roy rolled his eyes dramatically.

“Maybe you should be working on your English assignments instead of mine, hey?”

“Hey Sir, you didn’t ask me why I’m here.” Danny spoke up from the back of the room. “It’s because of my whore mouth.” Danny said followed by a wink. Roy blushed bright red and Danny laughed loudly. Roy decided it would be best to let the students work in silence.

After a few minutes of working, Danny tore a page out of his notebook, crumpled it and threw it towards the front of the classroom. “Will you throw that away for me, Sir?” Danny said, followed by miming ‘open it’. Roy looked confused but unfolded the paper anyways. ‘IM BORED’ the paper read. Roy smirked.

“I’d love to help you Danny, I just don’t want to.” Roy laughed and tossed the paper back. Kayleigh laughed. Danny murmured something under his breath and went back to writing. After another minute he stood up and walked towards the trash can.

“Guess I’ll just do it myself then.” Danny said, throwing the paper into the trash with one hand and placing something on Roy’s desk with the other. Roy unfolded the paper, ‘BORED BORED BORED’, it read, with the letter growing increasingly bigger. Roy laughed and tossed the paper into the trash in a way that Danny could see. Danny playfully sulked at his desk.

Danny spent a few minutes focusing intently on whatever he was writing, then looked over to make sure Kayleigh was still working and proudly held up the sign he had made. ‘B O R E D’, it read in huge letters, decorated with pink gel pens and highlighters. Roy let out and audible laugh, which he had to fake into a cough when Kayleigh looked up. He scowled at Danny and Danny laughed.

Roy decided to get his revenge on Danny and wrote a message on a piece of paper which he folded in half four times. He got up and walked to Danny’s desk and placed the paper in front of him. “Here’s the assignment I wanted you to complete over the weekend for extra credit.” Danny grinned and unfolded the paper to reveal the message. ‘Do. Your. Fucking. Homework.’ Roy had written, perfectly neat, unlike Danny’s scrawly huge letters. Danny chortled and Roy look pleased with himself.

Danny and Roy spent the rest of the detention making faces at each other and communicating in increasingly ridiculous means. By the time Danny actually leaves the classroom Roy was blushing like a schoolgirl. This was bad. He needed a drink, but of course the only local bar doesn’t serve any alcohol, so decided to settle for calling his friends instead.

As soon as his friends answered he let out a long frustrated sigh.

“Hey Baby Girl! How you doing?” DJ asked, as him and Willam fought to be in the centre of the screen. Roy laughed and thought about how much he missed his friends.

“Confused!” He groaned.

“Girl whats wrong? Is it this little boy child you’ve got yourself a crush on?” Willam laughed hard as Roy covered his face with his free hand.

“Of course it is!” He blushed. “But I do not have a crush on him you’ve got to stop saying that!”

“So what is this thing you’ve got going on then?” DJ asked in a more serious tone. He was no idiot and he knew how much trouble Roy could get into if he was fooling around with a student.

“I’m helping him.”

“Is that what the kids are calling it these days.” Willam joked, earning a nudge from DJ.

“Look this kid is clearly going through some shit and what kind of a teacher would I be if I just ignored it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with helping a student but you’ve worked at that school for four days and our only two conversations have involved him.” Roy looked embarrassed. He knew that what he was doing was wrong.

“I know. I can’t help my feelings. I just don’t know what to do.” Roy was torn. He didn’t know how he could help Danny without his feelings growing, but he couldn’t refuse Danny help purely based on his own selfishness. He hated this.

“I think you just need to find yourself some friends. You know like something else to focus on? Maybe now you should get Grindr!” Willam grinned. Roy rolled his eyes at the mention of Grinder but considered the other part of the advice.

“Getting something else to focus on isn’t actually a bad idea. You know you guys are actually super smart when you try.” Maybe if he has some friends he would be able to gain a little perspective. Roy said goodbye to his friends and decided that he would minimise contact with Danny unless necessary and attempt to find a real bar at the weekend.

–

Friday was Danny’s last detention with Roy, hopefully if Roy could get through this hour with limited flirtation and he wouldn’t have to spend any more one on one time with Danny for a while and the flirtation would die down. Danny walked in and Roy smiled from ear to ear, this was going to be a little harder than he anticipated.

“So, do you feel reformed?” Roy joked.

“Of course.” Danny laughed.

“Will I be seeing you back in detention again soon?”

“Of course.” The pair both laughed.

“Do you want to leave early today?”

“Party!” Roy laughed at the childlike charm of Danny’s favourite word. Roy was slightly disappointed at Danny’s willingness to leave early but then considered that at 18 years old he probably had a lot better things to be doing than hanging out in detention.

“Come on then we might as well leave now.” Roy said gesturing towards the door.

“Do you have any plans this weekend?” Danny asked on the walk through the halls towards the main entrance doors to the school.

“Well, I was going to try and find something to do outside of this tiny town. Like a bar maybe? Just something normal?” Something to get my mind off you, he continued in his head.

“Well my sister performs at a bar outside of the city on the weekends. It’s dirty and small and about 30 miles away but it’s the closest thing to any kind of nightlife around here.” Roy wasn’t exactly thrilled about Danny’s sister being a part of a his plan to find something else to do, but he guessed it was better than nothing.

“What does your sister do?” Roy asked as Danny stopped to get some things out of his locker. He really should’ve just said goodbye and looked up the bar online but he decided to stay and wait for Danny to finish so that he could walk the rest of the way with him.

“She sings. And she’s pretty fucking good.” Roy laughed at Danny’s abruptness.

“So where is this bar then?”

“You’re actually going?” Danny’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah why not.” Roy said as Danny’s smile got wider. It was nice to see Danny so enthusiastic about his sister. At least it meant he had at least one good person in his life.

“Give me your hand.” Roy was confused about the request and started to blush before he realised that Danny was holding a pen. Danny took Roy’s hand gently and scrawled the address on the back of it. Roy rolled his eyes.

“Couldn’t you have written this on paper.” Roy chuckled, feeling his skin burn at the points Danny had touched it.

“I didn’t want you to forget!” Danny laughed. “You’d better go. My sister will look out for you.” Roy said goodbye to Danny, promised to go the bar that night and walked to his car. As he was driving away he rolled his window down as he passed Danny.

“Danny I forgot to ask, what’s your sisters name?”

“Adore.”

#biadore #adore delano #bianca del rio #teacher/student #tw swearing #rpdr fanfiction #yakdiah #kite #m/m au #queen au #hurricane bianca au #high school au

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daphnewritings · 3 years

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Chapter 12: The Dragon Egg

Summary: Draco is a sneaky little bastard

Warnings: A reminder of that feeling you get when you touch something old and slimy and immediately want to chop your hand off

Word Count: 4.8k

- Chapter 11 / Chapter 13 -

Before Draco knew it, the Easter holidays had come and passed. Their teachers had decided that it was high time to start preparing them for their exams, despite the fact that they were over two months away. The overload of review work, along with the new spells, potions, constellations, and wizarding world history may have caused a lesser young wizard’s head to spin, but Draco was only feeling a slight strain. He had already advanced past most of the other witches and wizards in his grade besides a select annoying few, so he was more than prepared for the upcoming end of year exams.

This didn’t mean that he wasn’t spending every moment he could studying. Sure, he was proficient. More than proficient, if the teachers of Hogwarts were to be believed. But it wasn’t enough to be good. He had to be the best.

Which is how he found himself often leaving the confines of the Slytherin common room on his own to find solitude away from his friends and the general hubbub. He needed to focus more than ever now if he was to beat those other proficient witches and wizards.

For the most part, his friends didn’t understand his intensity. “Come on, Dray,” Blaise said on the Monday following Easter Sunday, looking over Draco’s shoulder at the array of studying materials spread across the rug in front of Draco’s crisscrossed legs, “you can’t be up studying again. The exams are ages away!” He pulled a random sheaf of parchment that Draco was using as a bookmark out of Draco’s copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and gave it a look before tossing it aside flippantly and throwing himself elegantly down onto the couch behind Draco. “I don’t even know why you’re killing yourself over Herbology anyway. Everyone knows you’re top of our class.”

Draco gritted his teeth. “I may be the top of our class, but that doesn’t say much, Blaise. I can best Slytherin and Ravenclaw, but what about the other first years in other houses? My parents are expecting top marks at the end of this year, not just good ones.” He paused for a moment between memorizing the Devil’s Snare rhyme and the uses of Puffapods to lean his head back against the couch and close his eyes. “And as you well know,” he said quietly, “my weakest subject is Herbology.”

Blaise huffed a quiet laugh. “Oh Dray, of course I know. Your parents aren’t the only ones who expect their child to be the top of the class.” He sat up and said in an undertone, “I’ve just given up on besting you. But you can still count on me being right on your ass in every test, friend.” He ruffled Draco’s hair as he stood up, causing it to spike up at odd angles. Draco glared at his back as he walked away and fervently returned to his memorization.

So now Draco spent most of his free time between classes and after dinner absorbed in his textbooks and notes at a table in the library that was beside a bank of windows that looked out over the towering pines of the Forbidden Forest. Whenever he needed a break, he would sit on the windowsill and let his mind rest as he watched the tops of the trees sway in a breeze, or he would wander the stacks, pulling out books at random. There was one time when he found himself flipping through the pages of a particularly musty book in which someone had actually pinned different types of merpeople scales onto the pages. When he ran his finger over them, they still felt slimy to the touch, a feeling that had him immediately slamming the book shut and sliding it back into its place on the shelf.

He’d washed his hands multiple times after that in an effort to try to erase the feeling.

On one such afternoon halfway through April, Draco once again found himself strolling beside the tall bookcases, not really paying attention to the titles of the books his finger was trailing across when he heard Potter’s unmistakable whisper off to his left.

“Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?”

Draco walked to the end of his row and peaked around the corner. Potter’s back was to him, as was Granger’s. They were both watching Weasley as he stood up and announced, “I’m going to see what section he was in,” before he walked off into the stacks.

Draco saw that their table, much like his own, was also strewn with study materials and stacks of books, Granger’s being the tallest of the three. Potter leaned back in his chair, pushing the rickety thing back onto two legs as he ran his hand through his unruly black hair. It was always all over the place and Draco thought sometimes about what it would take to force it to lie flat. Often, he wondered what would happen if he cursed it off of Potter’s head, an idea that usually made him chuckle to himself.

Draco was in the middle of picturing this perfect scenario in his head when he realized he hadn’t tried to mess with Potter in days. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d even thought about tripping Potter in the halls or dropping frog eyes into his pumpkin juice. Wait, Draco thought, when was the last time he tried to pull on over on me?

Weeks.

It had been weeks.

Maybe he really should pull his face out of his books every once in a while. Life was about more than studying for their end of year tests, after all.

And it really wouldn’t do for Potter to think he had gone soft.

When Weasley came back around the corner carrying a teetering pile of books in his arms, Draco quickly pressed himself deeper into the shadows of the bookshelves. It also wouldn’t do for you to get caught snooping before you even figure out what Potter’s up to, now would it? Draco berated himself.

“Dragons!” Granger hissed as the books spilled out of Weasley’s arms.

The front two legs of Potter’s chair slammed against the ground as he pushed through some of the pile to look through the titles. “It makes sense,” he said quietly, “Hagrid’s always wanted a dragon, told me so the first time I met him.”

Dragons? Hagrid? A…stone? What were Potter and his friends up to?

“But it’s against our laws,” Weasley said as he precariously propped his own chair up on its hind legs. “Has been since 1709. It’s hard to keep Muggles from noticing us if we’re keeping dragons in the back garden.”

“But there aren’t any wild dragons in Britain, right?” Potter asked incredulously.

“Of course there are, but the Ministry has set up wards around most cities and towns to turn them around if they get too close. Although, sometimes they’ll get to close to a village in the hills and then the Ministry has to send out a whole battalion to hush them up.

“But if it’s banned,” Granger mused, “then why on Earth is Hagrid researching them?”

Why indeed? Draco thought before he had to clap his hand over his mouth to keep himself from snorting as Weasley’s chair tipped a little too far. While Granger and Potter were both laughing at Weasley’s flailing form as he was thrown backwards, Draco slipped back through the shelves, his resolve to once again keep a closer eye on Potter renewed.

He would get to the bottom of this new mystery, no matter what.

After a whole week of nothing, Draco got the answer he was looking for during breakfast on Wednesday. He’d made it a habit to meander along behind Potter after he finished his breakfast and dinner, sometimes even skipping out on the last few bites of his own meal to follow him out of the Great Hall.

Out of the corner of his eye, he’d seen Potter’s big white owl drop down in front of him, which was a fairly uncommon occurrence all on its own, but the reaction he had when he read the note he pulled off its leg was what really caught Draco’s eye. Potter had tensed up and immediately shown Granger and Weasley. The trio had hastily abandoned their meals and walked right out of the Great Hall, forcing Draco to do the same and leave behind a freshly buttered muffin.

Oh, the things one does to meddle in their archenemy’s affairs.

In the middle of his mad scramble to follow them, Draco met Theo’s disconcerted gaze across the table. “What?” he asked, shoving his latest homework assignment from McGonagall into his bag without even checking to see if the ink had dried, not that he’d even written a word beyond ‘The’ since he had been so intent on watching Potter and his friends.

“You’re more,” Theo waved his splayed fingers in front of his face, “distracted than usual. What’s – ”

“Cool, yeah, can we talk about this later?” Draco asked, interrupting what he was sure would have been a fascinating comment that he did not have the time for. Potter had just exited the Great Hall and Draco could feel his opportunity to figure out what had been written in that note slipping away.

Theo opened his mouth to say more, but Draco cut him off. “Great, see you later!” And then he was rushing off after Potter, only remembering just before he raced out of the Great Hall that he couldn’t just run up behind him and expect to learn all his secrets.

Slowing down, Draco breathed in deep and then strolled out of the Great Hall, hoping that he was putting off the desired air of nonchalance. When he saw the three Gryffindors with their heads close together, he casually walked closer to them, stopping within earshot of their whispers. Acting like he needed desperately to hunt through his bag for something, he listened while he rummaged.

“I say we just skip Herbology and go straight there,” Weasley said.

“No, Ron, every lesson is important this time of year! You never know what Professor Sprout is going to add to our exam.” Draco had to agree with Granger on that one. “Besides, it’ll be a little suspicious if all three of us skip a class, don’t you think?” she asked the two boys.

“Oh, come off it, ‘Mione! How many times in our lives do you think we’ll get the chance to see a dragon hatch?”

You’ve got to be joking, Draco thought, freezing at Weasley’s last words. There’s absolutely no way.

“We’ll get into trouble, and that’s nothing to what Hagrid’s going to get caught up in when someone finds out what he’s doing – ”

“Shut up!” Potter hissed suddenly.

Without looking up, Draco knew they had finally spotted him just a few feet to their right. He could feel the sly smile that split his face as his eyes flicked up and met Potter’s. Draco could see that his expression was a mix of apprehension and anger since he couldn’t be sure as to how much, if any, Draco had heard of their little discussion.

Don’t worry, Draco thought as he spun on his heel and headed for the stairs that would lead to the upper floors of the castle, I got everything I needed.

Draco barely listened to McGonagall over the next hour and a half. He could barely sit still much less take any notes on the Avifors Spell, which they would be performing in class the following week. How could he, when he had an unobstructed view of the greenhouses out one of the few spare windows in the room and knew he needed to watch for any black cloaked figures racing down toward Hagrid’s dismal looking little hut? Theo and Pansy kept giving him odd looks whenever he would crane his neck about to make sure he wasn’t missing any hidden corners, but he just waved them off.

Once the bell rang, signaling the beginning of morning break, Draco bolted out of the classroom and practically flew down the stairs until he reached the entrance hall. He weaved and pushed his way through the crowd of students coming in through the front doors from their morning lessons. Once Draco had finally freed himself from the tangle of teen and pre-teen limbs, he followed a trail that branched off from the main path that led to the greenhouses towards the Forbidden Forest and Hagrid’s home.

Once he finally crested the last hill and the small stone house came into view, he braced his hands on his knees. As he gulped down air, he watched as the tail end of Granger’s robe disappeared through the oaf’s door and smiled.

He hadn’t missed anything.

Crouching a bit as he jogged down to the house so he wouldn’t be seen from any of the small, square windows, Draco pressed himself up against its round side and listened to the muffled voices within. When they all suddenly went silent, Draco couldn’t resist standing on his tiptoes to see what was going on.

At the time, when he’d overheard Potter and his friends earlier that morning outside of the Great Hall, the only part of the information that had stuck with him up until now was that it could be used against Potter. Draco hadn’t stopped to think about the fact that he could possibly see a dragon hatch, an event that few ever got to witness. And, though he hated to admit it to himself, and would never, ever say it to anyone else, Weasley was right about this being something that couldn’t be missed.

That thought in itself nearly ruined the sight that was unfolding before his eyes. He persevered, if only to appreciate the tiny, spindly black creature that rolled out across Hagrid’s rough-hewn kitchen table. Its wings, which were tipped with tiny claws and it’s shining black scales that reflect the light of the fire looked straight out of a fairytale. Hagrid, who was facing Draco, thew his hands up in delight as the dragon righted itself and blew a flurry of sparks in his direction, setting his bushy beard alight. Draco couldn’t help feeling the same sort of elation at the existence of this purely magical creature.

As Hagrid was patting the sparks away, he looked away from the baby dragon for only a split second, but that was all it took for him to notice Draco outside the window. Leaping back from the window as Hagrid surged to his feet, Draco turned and pelted back the way he’d come, his mind reeling with what he’d seen.

A real live baby dragon! Draco would have thought that Potter might have caught onto his snooping and was making it all up, if he hadn’t just witnessed the dragon hatching himself. It took him a minute to remember that this was supposed to be something he was going to use against Potter, rather than marvel at alongside him.

Draco glanced over his shoulder to see if he was being pursued. When he saw there wasn’t any black robed figures dashing out of the little house below, he slowed his sprint to a jog, and finally, to a walk. When he reached the top of the hill and looked behind him again, he saw that the door had been thrown open and a person with unruly black hair stood on the threshold, staring after him.

Draco waved jauntily and continued on his way, not bothering to look back to see if Harry had responded in kind.

He had a feeling he didn’t.

Over the course of the next few days, every time Draco saw the three Gryffindors in the halls or during meals, he always plastered a bright, knowing smile on his face reserved just for them. During Potions two days after the dragon hatched, Draco could feel Potter’s gaze burning a hole through the back of his skull, but he refused to turn around and acknowledge him, which he absolutely knew set Potter on fire.

He barely had to do a thing in Potter’s presence to have his eyes glued on him the entire time they breathed the same air, something that Draco enjoyed immensely.

When he was pulling out his textbook and wand for Defense Against the Dark Arts on Thursday, Daphne leisurely strolled up to the desk in front of Draco’s and dropped her own textbook onto it with a loud thud. Draco didn’t even pause from what he was doing as he said, bored, “What is it, Daphne?”

“I know something you don’t know,” she trilled, promptly sitting down in her seat and propping her chin up on her two palms.

Draco responded with a noncommittal hum as he reorganized his bag and hung it on the back of his chair, letting her stew in his disinterest. He had figured out, in his past experiences with Daphne, that if you left her alone for long enough when she felt like she had something she could hold over you, that you wouldn’t have to work that hard to get the information out of her when you finally gave her the attention she wanted.

There was also the fact that she could be absolutely insufferable when you gave in too quickly.

When he was finally ready to deal with her, he sat down and arched a dark brow at her. “Well, what is it that you so want to tell me?”

She was practically bouncing out of her seat, waiting for him to settle down. “I overheard Hemione Granger talking to Parvati Patil about how Ron Weasley is now mysteriously locked away in the Hospital Wing with an unexplainable bite on his hand,” she said, all in a rush.

And occasionally she would bring him tidbits of information that were actually useful, like today.

“Oh?” he asked, burying his increasing interest so it wouldn’t show on his face and give away how much he needed to know more right now. “And what did Granger have to say about this mysterious bite?”

Daphne shrugged. “Nothing. She made it sound like it was just some Herbology lesson that had gone wrong. You know how some of Sprout’s plants can be.”

Indeed, he did. He had accidentally stumbled too close to the Venomous Tentacula and could’ve sworn he saw his very short life flash before his eyes.

But Draco was pretty sure that he knew exactly how Weasley had gotten that bite, and it definitely was not from one of Sprout’s vicious plants.

“You know something about it, don’t you?” she needled.

Draco shrugged, flipping open his book as Quirrell walked in, turban slightly askew as always. “I might.”

“Oh, come on,” she whined pitifully, “just tell me.”

He leaned forward and dropped his voice to a whisper, making her bend towards him so she could catch his words as Quirrell started the class. “Daphne, dearest, if I wanted every single person in the school to know my business, then I would tell you. When I need that to happen, trust me, I’ll let you know.” He leaned back, satisfied with the offended look on her face and started to take notes on Quirrell’s latest lesson on vampires.

After class, Draco headed straight for the Hospital Wing. He knocked on the one of the cherry double doors and waited a few seconds for Madam Pomfrey, who pulled the door open with a quizzical look on her face. “Hello,” Draco started with a pleasant smile, “I was wondering if I could visit Wease – I mean Ron. It will only take a moment.”

“No, I don’t think that wise, Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Weasley is very sick and needs his rest.” She started to close to door but Draco threw his arm out, bracing it open. Madam Pomfrey stared at the offending hand and then looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.

Draco half thought he had, but retracted his hand and tried again. “Please, Madam Pomfrey, I really think Ron would benefit from my presence. See, we’re good friends and I just really wanted him to know that I’m thinking about him in his time of need.” He could tell she was resisting the urge to roll her eyes, but the door was still open, so he still had a shot. Deciding on a different track, Draco threw his hands up as if he were finally giving in and said, “Honestly, Madam Pomfrey, I just need to borrow one of Weasley’s books. I accidentally spilled a bit of practice potion all over my Potions textbook and none of my friends will let me borrow theirs.”

Madam Pomfrey nodded sagely. “Ah, see young Mr. Malfoy, I can always tell when one of you young witches or wizards is trying to put one over on me.” She sat back on her heels and considered him for a moment before she waved him inside. “You better be in and out in a tick, Mr. Malfoy. I don’t have all day to sit around waiting while my patients mess about with their visitors.”

With that she turned and bustled off into her office. Draco waited until her door closed before he strolled down to the only bed with curtains drawn around it. He grasped one edge of the blue and white striped fabric and pushed it aside. Weasley looked over as the curtains swished back into place behind Draco and groaned.

“Go away, Malfoy.”

Draco chuckled. “Now why would I do that?”

“Can’t you see I’m already in enough pain?” he groused, waving his bandaged left hand around. “I don’t need you to add to it.”

“Even if I know how you got that bite?” he asked. The color started to drain from Ron’s face as Malfoy leaned in closer and whispered, “Should I go knock on Madam Pomfrey’s door then? Tell her what I know?” Ron just stared at him with his mouth slightly open like a dying fish.

“I could, you know,” Draco said, straightening up and brushing his hands down the front of his robes. “It certainly wouldn’t be any skin off my back.”

“Then why haven’t you?”

“What?”

“Why haven’t you told anyone?” Ron asked again. “Why haven’t you set Hermione, Harry, and me all up with a lifetime of detention and gotten Hagrid fired?”

Draco paused, considering his question. He wasn’t an idiot to ask him about it, considering that Draco couldn’t quite nail down his reasoning himself. It was why he had started this after all, right? To catch Potter doing something that would land him in trouble?

“Maybe I just like watching the lot of you squirm,” Draco said at last while he flipped through the books on Weasley’s bedside table. Once he found Ron’s copy of Magical Drafts and Potions, he tucked it under his arm and turned to leave. “Let me know when you figure out how to deal with your little problem,” Draco threw over his shoulder.

“Oh, don’t worry, Malfoy,” Ron called after him as the curtains swung shut. “We will.”

Draco rolled his eyes as he strolled down the center of the row of empty beds. Nodding to Madam Pomfrey as he let himself out, he shoved the extra textbook he didn’t need into his bag and headed for dinner.

Later on, when he was back in the Slytherin common room and tucked away in his own little corner away from his friends, he pulled out McGonagall’s latest assignment on undoing the effects of the Avifors Spell and changing their blackbirds back into inkpots. When he settled back into his chair, quill in hand, he accidentally knocked over his bookbag and sent the contents tumbling out onto the floor. Muttering darkly about his own clumsiness, he noticed something he hadn’t before about the book he’d taken from Weasley.

There was a bit of parchment sticking out at an odd angle. Bending to pick it up, he leafed through the pages until a folded note fell out into his lap. Flipping it open, he read it through once. And then twice.

And smiled.

On Saturday night, Draco waited until the only sounds he could hear from the boys sleeping around him were soft snores. Throwing back his sheets, he peeked out through the curtains around his bed and looked around to make sure that all the boys were indeed asleep. Satisfied with what he saw, he swung his legs off the bed and grabbed the sneakers waiting in front of his dresser. As he stepped out into the near darkness, he almost stumbled over Theo’s shoes, which had been kicked off haphazardly earlier that evening when he’d been getting ready for bed. With muffled curses, Draco slowly tiptoed around the room, going from bedpost to bedpost until he was in the open space leading to the door.

Reaching it, he slowly pushed it open and slipped out into the stairwell beyond. Bending down to yank his shoes on, he quickly tied his laces and raced up the many flights of stairs until he reached the common room above. By the light of the dying embers in the fireplaces, Draco took a quick peek around to make sure that the rest of House Slytherin was tucked away in their beds for the night and then continued his ascent.

Draco touched his palm lightly to the stone of the doorway that led out into the rest of the castle. Once the door opened enough to allow his slim frame to slip past, he stepped out into the darkness of the hall. He let the door close softly behind him and took a deep breath. Draco hadn’t planned much past escaping the Slytherin dorm, but now that he found himself outside of it in the middle of the night, he was arrested with exhilaration.

The whole castle was his to explore right now. He could go anywhere he wished, as long as it wasn’t blocked by an unknown password.

Was it really worth it to waste this newfound freedom on stalking Potter up the tallest tower to catch him with a young dragon?

Duh.

Though, if Draco was being honest, he’d fully expected Theo to notice how quiet he was being all night and ask what was going on, and then try to stop him when Draco inevitably told him.

He tried not to be disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to share this with Theo, but shook the feeling off when he remembered how weird he had been acting for the past week or so, ricocheting between hanging on Draco’s stories as he usually did and pointedly not listening to him at all.

Once this Potter situation was dealt with, Draco would worry about Theo’s mood swings. He certainly didn’t have the time now. He was just standing there in the middle of the deserted, darkened hall like a fool. He needed to move.

Sliding along the walls and around the dim pools of light offered by the torches burning down to their cinders in their brackets above him, Draco made his way slowly through the lower parts of the castle. He had to wait in the shadows for a few minutes once he reached the entrance hall, since Peeves had decided that now was the best time to play wall tennis. He soon grew bored and floated off and Draco waited a few more minutes before slipping up the staircase to the upper floors of the castle.

If he had been paying attention to anything besides his own actions, he would have seen the front doors silently opening and closing on their own as he turned the corner and headed up the stairs. But as it was, Draco was too absorbed in his own mission to notice anything as out of the ordinary as that.

Draco’s journey through the upper floors of the castle were much more tenuous than his time traversing the network of hallways below ground level. More than once he had to quickly and quietly leap behind a suit of armor or into a shadowed alcove to avoid detection by a ghost or Filch. But he didn’t let that stop him. He was determined to reach the tallest tower before Potter and Granger to catch them before they could send the dragon away with Weasley’s brother.

In fact, he was so determined that he didn’t notice the quiet footsteps coming up behind him as he crossed too close to a pool of light. When a hand came down on his shoulder and yanked him around midstride, no one was more surprised than him. Except for, perhaps, Professor McGonagall, who’s lamp was currently sparking to life just in front of his face.

< Chapter 11 / Chapter 13 >

#dm #book one

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spectroamer · 6 years

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SERVERTALE Chapter 17: Twice upon a time

Ne: We need to be ready. Slasher: Oh, come on. We fight those idiots almost every day. Do you really think that they will be a threat. Ne: Listen, Frisk is almost at the end of the Computerworld probably. When she starts activating the portal, it will send a beam up into the sky, which will attract unwanted attention. Amy: Are you saying that both Cobra and Ramirez will show up? Ne: Exactly. Slasher: Still. We can handle Cobra and I haven’t seen Ramirez fight once. He’ll probably be an easy target. Amy: I don’t think that he would be leading the sentinels if he was just another soldier. Ne: Not to mention that the elites are stronger than before. Slasher: Alright. Lets hear your plan. Ne: Firstly, we need to have a backup plan if someone gets taken down. We will be defending the portal on the mountain. If I get get beaten, you shall take my spot and let one of Kris’ soldiers take yours. You’ll need to stick to cover, since there will be a lot of enemy firepower. Engage Cobra from distance while he’s distracted and use the hook of you grapple to your advantage. Cobra’s weak spots are his hands, that’s where his armor is weakest. Amy will use the camera system to help you out. Amy: What if something happens to him? Ne: I’ll just have to defend his and mine stop at the same time. Slasher: You might be fast, but you’re definitely not that fast. Ne: I know, but that’s the best we’ve got. We have dozens of soldiers while they have hundreds, remember? Slasher: You got a point there. Ne: I will keep Ramirez and Cobra distracted while you take out their soldiers. Bring any firepower necessary, the whole place will probably be a warzone. Slasher: I like the sound of that. Ne and Amy look at him surprised. Slasher: I mean the guns part. Warzone is bad. Ne: I’ll help you out when possible, but You’re gonna have to do most of the work. If I say to fall back, I’ll create a shield that will provide you cover. Plan A is aggressive defense. Plan B is moving behind cover and fighting from there. Plan C is any means necessary and we move back all the way to the portal. Hopefully we won’t need a plan to replace C. Understood? Amy: Crystal clear. Slasher: I’m gonna go check on my weaponry. Slasher exits the house. Amy: Are you really sure about this. Ne: To be honest, no, I’m not, but this is the only chance we have. You can’t fight, and I’m not sure how much can we rely on Kris’ squad. Amy: Why? Ne: They work within the law, which means that they still answer to normal authority, which can be easily bought. Amy: I see your point. Ne: Basically, it is up to me and Slasher to secure the portal. Amy: Is it really okay for me to stay here? I mean, I’m kinda using your house and food here. Ne: Of course it is. I don’t need food and I like having you around. Amy: Good to know. Ne: Are you feeling better by the way? Amy: Well, I am tired, but I generally feel better. Ne: You should sleep. Resting will restore your energy better than I can. Amy: Alright. Ne gets up and starts to walk away but Amy grabs his hand. Amy: Uhhh, could you maybe... stay here? It feels awkward for me to sleep here if you’re not here. Ne: Well... I’ll stay if you want me to. Amy: Yeah, I’d like that. Ne takes off his helmet and places it on the floor, before sitting back on the couch next to her. Ne: Ok. Then, I’ll stay right here. Amy: Thank you... for taking care of me. Ne: Any time. Frisk is walking through the final room of the core. Chara: We’re almost there. Asgore’s throne room isn’t too far now. Suddenly, a shadow nears Frisk. She looks back, only to see a purple cloak, without anyone inside it. Chara: Riverperson? What are they doing here? Riverperson: Tra la la... The human reaches the throne, but the risks have only grown. Frisk: What do you mean? Riverperson: What your new friends said is not true. Lied, or uninformed, it does not matter. They say that for the piece or King has will. But he will not hesitate to kill. Frisk: But everyone said that he is friendly. I don’t want to fight anymore! Riverperson turns around. Riverperson: Be careful when your next move you choose. Your life we do not want to lose. Tra la la... Before Frisk had the chance to ask any more questions, the mysterious cloak already floated away. Frisk: Who... Who was that? Chara: Riverperson is the transporter for monsters. They own a magic half boat, half cat. No one really knows what they are. Frisk: Can we trust them? Chara: While no one knows a lot about them, there are two facts known to everyone: They know everything and if they wanted you dead... Well, we wouldn’t have been talking now. Frisk: Oh... So I will have to fight Asgore. Chara: Come on, we can’t stay here for too long. Frisk: But what will happen now? Chara: Only time will tell. Lets move. Frisk goes in the elevator and selects the next floor. As she walks out of the elevator when it reaches the location, she is amazed by the next room. It is completely white, and behind a window, the hole city of monsters can be seen, homes and roads made out of black metal and blue light shining everywhere. The black sky is brightened by the lights of the endless city. She wishes that she could just stay here and enjoy the view. When she thinks about it, staying in the Computerworld wouldn’t be bad at all. She already made some friends, and she is sure that with the help of Sans and Mettaton, others would start to like her as well. But she knows that she can’t be selfish. She got here for monsters and Chara, and she plans to get them out. Chara: Are you alright? Frisk: Just enjoying the view. While I can Frisk reaches a house that looks exactly the same to Toriel’s... Ignoring that this one is in way much better condition. Chara: This was our... this was their home when things were better. Frisk goes into the living room. Chara: We would eat on that table and Toriel would read us her books later on at that chair. Suddenly, froggits appear in front of Frisk. She gets in a battle stance, but they don’t attack. Instead, they start talking. “A long time ago, a human fell into the ruins.” “Injured by its fall, the human called out for help.” Chara: That’s... they are talking about me. The froggits go away, letting Frisk continue exploring the house. She goes into the kitchen. After checking the kitchen, she finds a key and takes it. As she passes through the living room again, whimsuns fly in and continue the story. “Asriel, the king’s son, heard the human’s call.” “He brought the human back to the castle.” Chara: Heh, I remember how he offered his help without hesitation. Frisk goes through the hallway and enters the room in which Asriel and Chara lived in. She finds two presents, neatly rapped in boxes with ribbons. Chara: Open the first present. Frisk opens the box and sees a heart shaped locket inside. Chara: Take it. Frisk reads the small writing on the locket. Best Friends Forever Frisk: Chara, I can’t wear this. It was your present. Chara: But I want you to wear it. Please, he would have liked you more anyway. Frisk: Fine, but only for you. Frisk puts on the locket and exits the room, leaving the other gift behind. As she keeps walking through the hallway, she encounters a row of moldsmals “Over time, Asriel and the human became like siblings.” Chara: How silly I was, hoping that I would get him to meet you one day. “The King and Queen treated the human child as their own.” “The underground was full of hope.” Chara: Until I took it away from them. Frisk keeps on walking. Frisk: It was not your fault. Chara: You didn’t hear the full story yet. I became greedy... Reckless. Frisk walks in front of a mirror. Chara: But look at you. Despite everything, it’s still you. The same caring, peaceful, kind Frisk I’ve met years ago. Frisk blushes softly. Frisk: It’s hard. Chara: I know. Frisk takes another key and starts walking back. She unlocks the chain and goes downstairs. Two migosps appear. “Then... One day...” “The human became very ill” Chara’s voice becomes a little shaky. Chara: They all cared about me so much. After them, three vegetoids wait for Frisk to come closer. “The sick human had only one request.” “To see their friend on the surface” Frisk: Me? Chara: I was so persistent. “But there was nothing we could do.” As Frisk passes the vegetoids, two loox appear. “The next day.” “The next day.” “...” “The human died.” Chara stays quiet. Frisk walks into two snowdrakes. “Asriel, wracked with grief, absorbs the human’s soul.” “He transformed into a being with incredible power.” Frisk goes around the snowdrakes and sees icecaps ahead. “With the human soul, Asriel crossed through the barrier.” “He carried the human’s body into the sunset.” “Back to the city of the humans.” Chara: We... we were so close. Three woshuas wait behind a corner. “Asriel reached the entrance to the city.” “He knew that he was getting closer to the human’s friend.” “He kept carrying the human.” Behind the woshuas, shyrens await. “Suddenly, a loud noise rang out.” “Two powerful wizards saw Asriel holding the human’s body.” “They thought that he had killed the child.” Three dummies peacefully stand behind the shyrens. “The humans attacked him with everything they had.” “He was struck with blow after blow.” “Asriel had the power to fight them.” Madjick and Knight knight stand together, continuing the story. “But...” “Asriel did not fight back.” “Clutching the human...” “Asriel walked away.” For the first time, Frisk finds a weird type of froggits, which are more armored than the original ones. “Wounded, Asriel stumbled home.” “He entered the castle and collapsed.” “His dust spread across the garden.” This was the breaking point for Chara, as she sobs softly. Armored whimsuns approach. “The kingdom fell into despair.” “The king and queen had lost two children in one night.” “The humans had once again taken everything from us. Chara: It was me! I-I d-did this to t-t-them. Frisk becomes overwhelmed, by Chara’s sadness and the story itself. Three Astigmatisms hover nearby. “The king decided it was time to end our suffering.” “Every human who falls down here must die.” “With enough souls, we can shatter the barrier forever.” When Frisk passes them, she notices moldsmall, loox and migosp standing together. “It’s not long now.” “King Asgore will let us go.” “King Asgore will give us hope.” “King Asgore will save us all.” Pyrope and to vulkins wait behind. “You should be smiling, too.” “Aren’t you excited?” “Aren’t you happy?” One last froggit appears, and before he hops away, he says one sentence that completely breaks Chara. You’re going to be free. Chara starts crying, not being able to continue. Frisk sits down. Frisk: We don’t have to continue right away. Lets take a break. We could both use it. Frisk and Chara sit in silence for a few minutes, before they start going again. They reach the next room. It is completely made out of blue metals, shining and bouncing light everywhere. The windows have the Delta Rune symbol on them. Even with all the light, a figure far up ahead is still dark. Frisk uses a savepoint, before approaching the figure. As she gets closer, she realizes that it is Sans. Bells ring out through the room. Sans starts talking, but in a completely different voice. Sans: So you finally made it. The end of your journey is at hand. In a few moments,you will meet the king. Together... You will determine the future of this world. That’s then. Now. You will... you will... ah, forget it. Sans’ voice returns back to normal. Sans: listen, kid. i was supposed to judge you, but you two have already passed through enough already. you were amazing. you didn’t hurt a single monster. you avoided getting love and exp. Frisk: But weren’t those supposed to make me more powerful? Sans: power helps to live, but it also destroys. love and exp are acronyms. they stand for level of violence and execution points. Frisk: Oh... Sans: yeah. good thing you dodged that. Frisk: But what do I do Sans? Sans: what? Frisk: I don’t ant to kill Asgore... But I don’t want to die either. Sans: you can always not fight him and stay here with us. i know that we don’t have much, but you would be safe. Sans reminds Frisk of her fight with Toriel, only bringing back more painful memories. Frisk: I have to pass through Asgore if I want to break the barrier. Sans: you’re right. that only leaves one option. Sans sighs, tiredly. Sans: i can’t believe i’m doing this. Frisk: Doing what? Sans: I’m about to betray the whole kingdom. Frisk: What?! Chara is equally surprised. Sans: Come on. I’m gonna try to talk Asgore out from fighting you. Frisk: Are you sure you want to do this? Sans: You did so much for us already. This is the least I can do for you. Sans and Frisk start walking to the next room. Chara: I can’t believe that he’s actually going to do this. Sans: i said that i was going to protect you. Chara: Wait, you can hear me? Sans: and see you. Frisk: You have so much explaining to do if we get through this, Sans: a skeleton never reveals his secrets. Chara: Pfft, is that a rule or something? Sans: well, actually, all of the previous members of the font family had a lot of secrets. no wonder that only a few of us are left. Frisk, Sans and CHara reach the end of the corridor. Sans: this is it. remember, stay determined. All of them enter the throne room. They see Asgore watering flowers. Asgore hears them approaching. Asgore: Dum dee dum... Oh? Is someone there? Just a moment! I have almost finished watering these flowers. Chara: He always loved doing that. Asgore: ...Here we are! Asgore slowly turns around and sees Frisk and Sans, standing in front of him. Shocked, he takes a step back. Asgore: Oh. Sans: heya asgore. Asgore: Sans? Did you escort the human all the way here? Sans: nah, she got here on her own, i just now found her. Asgore: I so badly want to say, “would you like a cup of tea?”. But... you know how it is. Sans: actually, about that... Asgore: Yes? Sans: i think... you shouldn’t fight the human. Asgore: What? Sans: she’s harmless. Asgore: Sans... You do understand that the human has the last soul needed for us to be free? Sans: i will find a different way. Asgore: Why do you want to protect that human so much? Sans: don’t you see? i watched her whole journey. she didn’t hurt anyone, and judging by her skills, she could have easily defeated most of the underground if she wanted to. Asgore: Peaceful, or not, there is a law against humans. Sans: well, i guess you’re just gonna have to change it. Asgore creates his red trident. Asgore: Protecting a human is treason, Sans. Please... Do not make me fight you. Sans creates his bone staff and defensively holds it in front of Frisk. Sans: if that’s what it takes, than that’s what i’m gonna do. Asgore: In that case, goodbye, my old friend. Asgore raises his trident, ready to attack. Sans holds on to his staff, while making sure that Frisk is behind him. Suddenly, small bullets circle Asgore and they all hit him, knocking him down. Chara: NO! Sans: asgore! Sans drops his bone staff and runs to him. Before he even has the chance to check Asgore’s soul, Asgore’s body already turns to dust. One final bullet flies in, breaking Asgore’s soul into pieces. Chara is completely frozen, not knowing what to do. Sans: that... wasn’t me. Frisk quickly looks around, full of fear, trying to find the attacker. Flowey suddenly pops out of the ground, scaring Frisk. Sans: flowey. Flowey: You idiots. You haven’t learned a thing... All the souls the monsters have gathered so far start circling Flowey. Flowey: In this world... It’s KILL or BE killed Flowey’s face melts as he absorbs the souls. Everything starts falling apart. The Computerworld is breaking as it becomes darker, more glitched than before. Sans: i got this, just gimme a second. Sans opens the console and starts messing with the code. He quickly eliminates the viruses Flowey was trying to use to tear the Computerworld apart. Sans: ok, i’ve managed to stabilize the computerworld, but he still has the control. Darkness is everywhere. Suddenly, bright lights turn on, showing a picture with a monster resembling a loox and a human from older times with text. Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS One day... The picture suddenly glitches out, deforming the monster and the human they all disappeared without a trace. Everything is gone gain. Sans summons Frisk’s soul and uses her console. Flowey LV 9999 9999:99 My World Continue Restart Frisk finally breaks the silence with a shaky voice Frisk: What’s going on? Sans: he has the control. he has the save... he has everything. Frisk: You sounded like you knew him. Did you fight him before? If so, you know how to beat him, right? Sans: i fought him countless times, but never like this. he is more powerful now than he has ever been. Chara: What do we do now? Sans: the only thing we can. fight for this world. Sans selects continue. Suddenly, a save star appears in the distance. Frisk slowly walks to it, while Sans watches her surroundings, being really careful, since the only light sources in the area are his and Frisk’s suits, the star and her glow stick. Frisk attempts to use the save star. As the console opens, it starts glitching, before it completely crashes. Behind it, Flowey’s huge face lights up on a screen. Flowey: Howdy! It’s me, Flowey. Flowey the flower! I owe you a huge thanks. You really distracted that old fool. Without you, I never could have gotten such an easy shot. But now, with your help... He’s dead. And I’ve got the humans souls. The screen turns off, before turning back on seconds after. Flowey: Boy! I’ve been empty for so long... It feels great to have a soul inside me again... Mmmm, I can feel them wriggling... Aww, you’re feeling left out, aren’t you? Well, that’s just perfect. After all, I only have six souls. I still need one more... Before I become god. And then, with my newfound powers... Monsters. Humans. Everyone. I’ll show them all the real meaning of this world. Sans opens Frisk’s console to check the older save file, but doesn’t find anything. Flowey: Oh, and forget about escaping to your old save file. It’s gone forever. But don’t worry. Your old friend Flowey... Has worked out a replacement for you! I’ll save over your own death. So you can watch me tear you to bloody pieces... Over, and over, and over... Sans steps in front of Frisk. Sans: do you really think i’m gonna let that happen? Flowey: ...What? Do you really think you can stop me? Hee hee hee... You really are an idiot, trashbag. All of the souls are summoned in a circle, while a huge beast starts approaching, radiating a blood red light across the area. As it gets closer, its disgusting body gets visible, standing tall, made out of plantlike body mass and metal armor everywhere, a flat screen instead of a head and bellow it a four eyed creature with a sideways mouth. On the screen, his intimidating face shows up and he starts laughing like a maniac. Omega Flowey attacks. He starts shooting out razor sharp blades out of the eyes. Sans blocks all of the blades with his staff, while Frisk stays behind him. Two flamethrowers on top of his pipes activate. Frisk and Sans jump back, avoiding the fire. Some of Flowey’s vines rush forward. Sans moves aside, pulling Frisk with him. Frisk gets an idea. She takes her phone and uses the blaster to fire a shot at Flowey. If there was any damage, than it was way too small to be visible. One of the tubes around the eyes lights up in cyan, as Flowey uses one of the souls for more powerful attacks. He summons giant knives circling around Frisk and Sans. They carefully move between the knives, until the soul breaks free and turns the knives into healing magic. Flowey creates multiple bombs in the air, which start falling down. Sans quickly fires a barrage of bones, destroying the bombs. Flowey uses the next soul, creating huge hands which he uses in an attempt to crush his opponents. Sans keeps opening portals and guiding Frisk to the other side. Soon, Flowey looses control over the soul and it gets free. Flowey stabs one of his arms into the ground, while his vines shoot forward to Frisk and Sans. While Sans is busy blocking the attacks from front, the underground arm sends vines to dig up behind them. As the vines reach the surface and rush towards Sans and Frisk, they are stopped when a blue sword cuts them multiple times. Surprised by the sound, Sans and Frisk quickly look back, to see Papyrus. Sans: papyrus?! what are you doing here? Papyrus and Sans keep talking while they block attacks from Flowey. Papyrus: THE HUMAN AND I WERE SUPPOSED TO VISIT UNDYNE, BUT SHE NEVER SHOVED UP. I WENT TO LOOK FOR HER AND SAW YOU FIGHTING THIS THING. SANS, WHAT IS GOING ON? Sans: we’re trying to save the world. i’ll protect the kid, you take care of the abomination. Another soul starts glowing. Papyrus shoots up a long bone from the ground bellow him, lifting himself up all the way to Flowey’s height. From that level of height, Papyrus sees the full room. A strange light fills the room. Twilight is shining through the barrier. It seems The battle has just started. As Frisk sees the skeleton brothers protecting her, she is filled with determination. Sans takes care of blocking Flowey’s attacks, and Papyrus leaps from the bone with his sword, landing on the activated tube and stabs his sword in it, freeing the soul early. He continues to swiftly drop down, his landing cracking the floor below him. Flowey sends a bunch of pellets on Sans and Frisk, while he tries to crush Papyrus with his arm. Sans’ eyesockets go dark and in his left eyesocket, an incomplete blue circle of energy lights up, as he blocks all of the pellets with speed to fast to track. As he stops moving, his eyesockets go back to normal. Papyrus jumps out of the way of Flowey’s attack and uses the chance to cut the now trapped arm. One of the pellets breaks apart into more tiny pieces, cutting Papyrus. Flowey uses another soul. While Sans makes sure Frisk isn’t gonna get hit, Papyrus jumps on the grounded arm and runs all the way up to the soul tube and cuts it open, making all of the attacks disappear. Flowey tries to bring them off their balance, by resetting a few seconds back, but Frisk and Sans remember what’s going to happen next, while Papyrus can’t be attacked in his current position. Papyrus jumps down, exposing himself to Flowey’s attacks. Flowey tries to hit him, but papyrus blocks all of the attacks. Sans and Frisk use that moment to open fire on Flowey, noticeably damaging his screen. Flowey turns his attention to Sans and Frisk again and launches more blades at them. Both Sans and Papyrus raise a wall of bones from the ground, effectively blocking most of them. One blade gets through and grazes Frisk’s shoulder. Sans looks back at her worried, but even tho her shoulder is bleeding, she stays focused. Flowey uses the next soul. Huge fireballs start falling from above. Sans’ special eye lights up again when he creates a huge portal that leads to a few meters above Flowey. All of the fireballs fall on him, slightly burning him. Sans then summons Papyrus’ soul and turns it blue. Sans: paps! get ready to land! Sans changes the gravitational pull of papyrus’ soul, making him fall into the portal, which leads him to the top of Flowey. Papyrus makes a soft landing, before jumping down on the tube and breaking it, and then falling all the way down to ground level. Flowey throws more bombs, but All three of them shoot the bombs. After more attacks, Flowey finally uses the last soul, creating a handgun. He fires the weapon and huge bullets start flying towards Sans and Frisk. Sans quickly turns Frisk’ soul blue and pushes her aside, while he uses his staff to launch himself over the bullets. Papyrus uses the bullets as platforms, jumping from one to the other all the way to the last soul tube. Papyrus jumps next to it, cutting it in the air and falling back down. Flowey looses control over the last soul. All of the last souls start circling around Sans, Frisk and Papyrus, before healing all of their injuries. All of the magic armor the souls were giving Flowey disappeared, leaving him without defense. Flowey starts randomly using all of the attacks, while his opponents start attacking together. Papyrus uses his sword to cut off any nearby part of Flowey, Sans keeps creating bones and firing them off at Flowey and Frisk uses her phone blaster. Flowey knows that all of them are using their maximum potential for fighting techniques, so he does the same thing. Combining his attacks, Flowey sends bombs, pellets, blades and vines flying everywhere. While Sans might not be able to do much damage to Flowey, He is more than able to perfectly block all of Flowey’s attacks. After some time of defending and attacking, they finally overcharge Flowey. Flowey: No... NO! This can’t be happening!! You... You... Flowey loads his save file all the way to the beginning of the battle. Flowey: You idiots. Flowey’s mouth suddenly opens, firing off a beam of energy so fast that neither Sans or Frisk had time to react, disintegrating both of them. Not a second after their death, Flowey loads the file again and impales them. He keeps loading the file and using those same two attacks. He circles them both tightly with his pellets, not giving Sans enough room to create a portal. Flowey: He hee hee. Did you really think... You could defeat me!? I am the god of this world. Chara: Sans, what do we do? Sans: i... i don’t know. i don’t think there’s a way out of this one. Frisk: There has to be! Flowey: You’re hopeless. Not even your worthless friend can save you now. Call for help. I dare you. Cry into the darkness! See what good it doe you! Frisk takes a deep breath and focuses. She lifts her soul into the air and it brightly shines, calling out the other souls. Nothing happens. Flowey: Boy! What a shame. Nobody else is going to see you two die! The pellets slowly start to get close, before they disappear. Frisk looks questionably at Sans. Sans: That wasn’t me. Chara: Not me either. Flowey: What? How’d you...? Well, I’ll just- Console with the save file opens up. A row of numbers is written all over it. 01001100 01001111 01000001 01000100 00100000 01000110 01000001 01001001 01001100 01000101 01000100 Flowey: Wh... Where are my powers!? The souls answer Frisk’s call and burst from the tubes. Flowey: The souls...? What are they doing? Sans: i guess you could say... they had a change of heart. The souls start attacking Flowey, slowly taking him apart. Flowey screams in fear as he tries to force the souls, but they don’t listen. The souls destroy his omega form, leaving him in his flower body, cut and burned. Frisk aims her phone blaster at Flowey for a few seconds, but when she sees that he is too weak to do anything, she lowers the phone, sparing him. Sans created one sharp bone, prepared to stab the broken flower, but Frisk stops him. Frisk: Don’t be like him. Flowey weakly speaks. Flowey: What are you doing? Do you really think I’ve learned anything from this? No. Frisk: Maybe not now... but you might soon. Flowey: Sparing me won’t change anything. Frisk: Neither will killing you. Flowey: Killing me is the only way to end this. Frisk: I’ll make a new way. Flowey: If you let me live... I’ll come back. Sans: we’ll be ready. Flowey: I’ll kill you. Frisk: You won’t. Flowey: I’ll kill everyone. I’ll kill everyone you love. Frisk: I’m not gonna change my mind Flowey. Sans: sorry, looks like it’s your lucky day, because i trust her. and if she says there’s hope for you, you’re gonna live for now. Flowey looses his smile. Frisk and Sans’ mercy is only rubbing their victory further in his face. Flowey: ...Why? ... Why are you being... so nice to me? Frisk: I believe you can do better. Flowey: I can’t understand. I can’t understand! I just can’t understand... Flowey burrows into the ground and escapes. Chara: What happens now? Dad is dead and we lost the souls. There’s nothing left. Sans: well, not entirely. Frisk: What do you mean? Sans: That power Flowey used to turn back time. you have it as well. now, normally, i really wouldn’t like this, but it’s the only chance we have. Chara: What are you saying? Sans: you need to reset all the way back to the entrance of the throne room. as much as i remember, papyrus said that you should have met undyne with him. if you would get her to like you, maybe we can convince asgore to spare you. i mean, me and papyrus already have your back, but we need more support. i suggest we gather everyone. me as a judge, undyne as the captain of the royal guard, papyrus as the second captain, alphys as the royal scientist, mettaton as the celebrity and toriel as the queen. if we all protest asgore’s decision, he won’t be able to deny us, without us, he has nothing. Frisk: It’s worth a shot. Chara: Not like we can do anything else. Sans: alright, we’ll go with that. but remember, me and papyrus will have no memories of this ever happening, so you’ll have to remind me. i might not believe you, so just in case, use the codeword “seventeen”. got it? Frisk: Yes, I’m ready. Sans: ok, i’ll guide you through. Sans opens her console and finds the save file. he selects it. Sans: ready? Frisk: Yes. Sans: remember, we’re all counting on you kid. stay determined and have fun jumping through time. Sans presses the load button. 01001100 01001111 01000001 01000100 00100000 01010011 01010101 01000011 01000011 01000101 01010011 01010011 01000110 01010101 01001100 Prologue Chapter 16 Chapter 18

#Undertale #Sans #Frisk #Papyrus #Flowey #Chara #Undertale AU #Ne #Amy #Slasher #Servertale

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contre-qui · 6 years

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Semester 1 Exam Roundup

My last final exam grade from the first semester was finally posted so I'm here to do a quick lil post with my grades and how I felt about the exams, as well as tips for others in these classes.

AP English Language and Composition

S1 Exam Grade: 92

This wasn't too bad at all; I zipped through this exam in less than 30 minutes and then spent 15 more checking my answers so I didn't seem like I rushed. English is one of my best subjects, so as far as advice goes: just read in your spare time. Read books, articles, journals. Read from different time periods as well. Becoming familiar with the language of various time periods or styles will just make reading passages in an exam easier and less stressful.

AP US History

S1 Exam Grade: 77

This grade I'm not especially pleased with. However, my teacher's study guide told us incorrect information on what to study and she's not an awesome teacher to boot. So really, all I can say in this class is do a lot of self-studying. Crash Course is really helpful for big concepts and finding other YouTube videos has been really helpful for filling in my teacher's gaps.

AP Biology

S1 Exam Grade: 78

Again, not especially happy with this one but I know I didn't study as well as I could have. I reviewed a little but definitely not as much we I should have. Although I felt fairly confident in a lot of the questions, it just wasn't enough. Most of them were repeat questions from previous tests, meaning I was unsure whether or not I'd gotten the right answers last time. My best tips for exams like these is to review your past tests and do test corrections if possible. I didn't this semester, and I think that hurt me.

AP Seminar

S1 Exam Grade: 100

Our "exam" this semester was a presentation over our individual research (mine was on indigenous healthcare in Brazil). I ended up staying up super late to work on this script and practice and I was so nervous about going over time. In the end, I gave a really nice presentation. I spoke naturally and addressed all my questions well. If you have a similar exam, just really practice your speech. Get really comfortable with your research. Have normal, non-presentation conversations about your topic. Run your script in the mirror. Do it worst case scenario with no notecards at all. Do it for your pets and your family and your fake plant Albert. Kids in my class presented for our band directors to get rid of the nerves.

Wind Ensemble Band

S1 Exam Grade: 100

This was a word search, as always. It was also a completion grade, as always. If you aren't this lucky and have a performance exam, then just make sure you practice right. Start with chunks until those chunks are good. Run individual measures of what you're bad at. Do it 10 times perfectly in a row before you can move on. Closer to the audition/performance, string the chunks together to make sure you have the transitions down.

Pre-AP Spanish 3

S1 Exam Grade: 93

Our exam included a listening section, map matching section on the autonomous regions of Spain, grammar and vocab we had done that semester (using hypotheticals and "I would..." statements mostly), and true/false on facts about Spain. Find the areas you're weakest in and practice those. Terrible at maps? Make a Quizlet with diagrams as the front and the region as the back so you have to just look and know. Shaky on grammar or vocab? Practice writing a whole bunch of sentences, or try to find a Señor Jordan video on YouTube (he's got one for everything). Just identify what your weak sections are and maintain your notebook throughout the year to make review easy.

Pre-AP Precalculus

S1 Exam Grade: 84

I wasn't super pleased with this grade but I'll take it. Our exam was the exact same as our review. The order of the questions was the same, the answer choices were the same, and the numbers were the same. I studied really hard for this exam so I was hoping to pull an A but math has always come a little harder to me so I'm not too upset. My best study tips are to just use your resources. Use your textbook, your review, Wolfram Alpha or Khan Academy or Purplemath. Use your friends too! My bf is really good with numbers so he and I called and he walked me through concepts I didn't understand or things that I was unsure on. If your friends are good at this stuff and you aren't, have them teach it to you! It's a review for them and a review for you.

Good luck on all your exams darlings! You're going to do great if you haven't taken them yet and if you have, maybe this can be a guide for next semester. Enjoy your break and happy New Year!

💜, Mari

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sarcasmfish · 7 years

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Distractions

Holy Andraste’s Chantry Prep School

This was inspired first by @rimdraws who assured me that Alistair would totally be the one with a school bag full of random snacks. It’s second inspired by the eeeeevil folk like @trulycertain and @celeritassagittae who not long ago carried on devious plans to write sad things about the possible punishments Alistair experienced in the Chantry and Templar training.

Alistair x Female Warden (pre-relationship, modern boarding school AU setting)

Read here on AO3

The clock hands had not moved. She had just looked at least five minutes ago, but she swore the hands had not budged even a fraction. Was it broken? The batteries must have run out while she had been looking away. That would explain the lack of movement.

She turned her attention back to the packet of worksheets in front of her while one hand flipped through the pages of her history book without actually seeing what was on them.

The Nevarran Accord. Mages were bad. Put them in Towers. Put Templars in to watch them. Put Seekers in to watch the Templars watch the Mages. End of story. Why were there 34 pages devoted to this topic? Why were there at least 17 new vocabulary words to definite over it? And who cared about her written opinion on the matter hundreds of years later? Knight-Captain Hollens, apparently.

There was a humming sound off to her right. She cut her eyes to the side, landing on Alistair in the row beside her own. His eyes were distant and focused far off through one of the upper windows, as if he were watching the clouds go by. He was humming a faint little tune.

She stared at him a moment and then returned to her work. Kordillus Drakon the first was born to Septimus Drakon, the youngest son of Lord Vanderin Drakon of Tevinter in the year… What tune was that? It seemed so vague, but familiar. And could no one else hear him? Maker! She couldn’t concentrate with that humming!

“Psst…” she tried to gain his attention, tried to wave her hand around a bit to catch his gaze, but he was leagues away. “Alistair… Ali-”

“Miss Surana!” The loud boom came from the front of the room where their instructor sat glaring.

She stood, slow, head sinking into her shoulders, color rising to her cheeks as all eyes in the room swiveled back to focus on her. “Yes, Knight-Captain?”

“Is your arm somehow broken?” His lips were turned up into a sneer.

“No, ser.” Her answer was soft, no doubt if the room had not been so silent, as to glean this exciting exchange, he would have forced her to speak louder.

“Then if you need assistance with something you can raise your hand like all of the other students have learned to do.” The sneer turned smug. She could almost hear him congratulating himself on leading her right into that verbal trap; as if she had any other path.

“Yes, Knight-Captain. I apologize for disrupting the class.”

She sat back down and sunk as far as she could into the seat, keeping her head bowed low from lingering stares. With a shaking hand she picked up her pencil again and returned to copying the definitions from the paragraphs in the book.

The clock hand had moved. It had only moved forward one or two tiny steps, but it had moved. The definitions were all filled in, her scratchy handwriting looping and falling into the margins, but they were done. She hefted a little sigh and flipped the page over to begin on the short answer questions.

A scratching sound was coming from her right. She shifted her gaze to Alistair again in slow measures, feeling as if the Knight-Captain could merely sense her step out of line, like some sort of predator discerning the weakest member of the herd.

Alistair was drawing something with fierce determination on the bottom of his worksheet, one hand weighing down the paper as if it might fly away before his masterpiece could be unleashed upon the world.

She stared at him, the scratching of the pencil seeming to be scratching upon the outside of her skull. Her lips pursed themselves into a scowl. Maybe if she stared at him hard enough he would realize and look her direction. Then she could convey to him to be quieter so she could concentrate.

She imaged her eyes were daggers, boring into that head of hair she knew he spent at least an hour on every morning. He continued drawing, biting the corner of his lip, pausing now and then to tilt his head and asses his work.

What was he even drawing? Was that a chicken? A gryphon? She sat up a little straighter to try and see over his arm, craning her head and squinting her eyes.

A loud THWACK resounded off her skin, the flat side of a ruler leaving a large red welt over the back of her hand. She yanked it back, cradling it against her chest.

“Miss Surana. Keep your eyes on your own paper!” The Knight-Captain stood over her shoulder, just behind and out of view. He must have been creeping around through the rows while she had been distracted. The ruler poised for another strike.

She hunkered down in her chair again, keeping her head down as the class turned to gawk. “Yes, ser. I apologize again, ser.” It was a bit of a mumble, any louder and her voice might crack and broadcast to the entire room her humiliation.

“This is your last warning.” There was a growl in his voice and she hunched her shoulders to help disguise the sting of tears welling in her eyes. He continued his prowl through the rows of desks and students, leaving her huddled over her worksheet.

She dared not look at the clock, but was sure that it had not moved. She was trapped here forever. This was some justice the Maker had cast against her for… well, for something. This was her new home. Eternal history class with Knight-Captain Jerkface. She just could not wait to learn about all the ways mages had ruined the world throughout Thedas’ history. Just think of the pages and pages she could write on the irresponsible follies of her kin!

She unconsciously rubbed at the welt on the back of her hand. It still stung.

A crunching sound drew her attention to her right. Her eyes drifted towards Alistair again, cautious, but curious. Maker, was he eating?! She watched, eyes large and full of disbelief as he took generous bites from one of those granola bars that notoriously crumbled into billions of pieces before it even reached your lips. As she sat in stunned horror, large hunks broke off and sprinkled over his textbook and assignment.

Her eyes grew wider as she watched, then cut to the instructor sitting with an oblivious glaze at the front of the classroom. She looked from Alistair and back to the Knight-Captain several times, waiting, just waiting for him to notice the grievous ruler breaker sitting right in their midst. But their instructor went on about his day, straightening his papers, checking his computer, glaring at everyone but the one person who actually deserved it.

She waited and watched. Alistair was halfway through the crunchy mess and now added the crinkling of wrapper to his list of insults against her concentration.

The Knight-Captain sat down at his desk, hands hovering over his keyboard. She scowled at Alistair again and, with a quick snap of her wrist, sent her pencil flying through the space between her row and the next. It hit the edge of Alistair’s desk with a loud clack, slid across the open space above his book, and rolled off the other edge to the floor.

“Miss Surana!” She didn’t even bother to look up this time, the venom in his voice spoke volumes. “I’ll be seeing you in detention this evening. Come prepared.”

There was nothing she could say, no defense for her actions he would accept. A long pause filled the room, the only sound that of thirty pairs of eyes peering at her, before he spoke again. “Class dismissed.”

She shoved the assignment into her book, snapped it closed, and slid it into her bag. The clasp on the bag had long since given up its useful function. Her hands attempted to jam the two pieces together for a moment, teeth grinding in frustration, but ultimately made no progress in forcing it to stay closed. She let it hang open and threw the strap over her head and across her body.

Alistair was standing beside her, crumbs clinging to the stubble on his chin. His hand was out, open to her. In the palm of his hand sat the pencil that had earned her quality time with her favorite instructor.

His head tilted to the side, stark confusion written over his earnest face.

“Isn’t this your pencil?”

#dragon age #fanfic #dragon age fanfic #alistair theirin #warden x alistair #holy andraste's chantry prep school #modern au #modern boarding school au #I just want Alistair to be happy #astaria surana

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