#coby mcquaid

[ariparri]

Undeserving

HPHM Cardverse Masterlist | Blog Masterlist

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

Here it is, finally! Rakepick's backstory and motive! I kept this one short since I didn’t plan to make her backstory too long, just a good enough description on why she’s the way she is. To put things simply, she’s mad because the newer official role holders are all younger than her and some were literally handed their positions on silver platters while she worked her damn butt off to get her position.

In the illustrious Country of Spades, where work flowed like the rivers and power lay in the hands of a select few, Patricia Rakepick was born into the esteemed House of Rakepick. From her earliest years, she was immersed in a world of privilege and expectation, the weight of her family's legacy pressing down upon her young shoulders like a suffocating cloak.

Raised within the imposing walls of her family's estate, Patricia's childhood was marked with rigorous education and training. Her parents, stern and unyielding, demanded nothing short of perfection from their daughter, instilling in her a relentless drive for excellence that burned bright within her.

But it was in the hallowed halls of the military academy that Patricia truly found her calling. She excelled in her studies, displaying an insatiable hunger for knowledge and a keen intellect that set her apart from her peers. Improving her skills in combat and strategy, driven by a burning desire to prove herself worthy of her family's legacy.

As she ascended through the ranks, Patricia's ambition knew no bounds. She set her sights on the coveted position of Ace of Spades, the highest rank in the country’s military hierarchy, a title reserved for only the most skilled commanders. Her prowess on the battlefield became legendary, her name whispered in awe and fear by those who knew of her exploits. But even as she carved out her place among the country’s elite soldiers, a shadow of resentment lingered in her heart.

Unlike Patricia Rakepick, who had clawed her way to the top through sheer force and will, Duncan Ashe had been handed his position on a silver platter, his ascent to becoming the next Jack of Spades was swift and seemingly effortless. Under the watchful eye of his mentor, Ulrich Scheller, the mastermind behind the country’s intricate web of finances and policies, Duncan had risen through the ranks with alarming speed, his youth and charm masking a cunning intellect that belied his years.

Even as he was still attending university, Duncan's influence within Ulrich's cabinet was already felt far and wide. His reports and recommendations were eagerly awaited by those in power, his insights and analysis proving invaluable in guiding the country through troubled times.

As Duncan was appointed the new Jack of Spades, another figure emerged from the shadows: Coby McQuaid, the king who never truly sought the crown. Coby's ascension to the throne was a twist of fate orchestrated by his closest friend and confidant, Duncan Ashe. Coby McQuaid never envisioned himself wearing the crown. His days were filled with adventure and laughter, not with the weighty responsibilities of rulership. Despite his initial reservations, Coby embraced his newfound position with characteristic optimism. He may not have been well-versed in the intricacies of governance, but he possessed a deep love for his people and a genuine desire to see them thrive.

As Patricia Rakepick's thirst for power intensified, so too did the darkness that lurked within her soul. Fueled by resentment and driven by ambition, she became a formidable force to be reckoned with in the Country of Spades. Overhearing the conversation between King Coby and Duncan about the possibility of adding Veruca McQuaid, Coby's sister, to the council only served to stoke the flames of Patricia's anger. In her eyes, it was yet another example of undeserving individuals being handed positions of power without earning them.

Determined to prove herself superior to Coby and Duncan, Patricia's ambition twisted into something darker and more insidious. She became ruthless and cunning, willing to cross any line to achieve her goals, no matter the cost. With each passing day, Patricia's thirst for power grew, consuming her from within like a relentless hunger. She manipulated events and people with calculated precision, leaving a trail of destruction in her wake.

But as she climbed the ladder of success, leaving a path of devastation in her wake, Patricia's grip on reality began to slip. The lines between right and wrong blurred, and she found herself teetering on the edge of madness. Yet, even as the darkness threatened to consume her, Patricia remained determined to claim her rightful place among the elite of Spades. For in a country where power was the ultimate currency and ambition the driving force behind every action, she would stop at nothing to emerge victorious.

As Patricia Rakepick's fame as a war hero grew, so did her influence within the Country of Spades. Leveraging her reputation and military prowess, she capitalized on the dissatisfaction brewing among the people regarding King Coby's laid-back nature and perceived ineffectiveness as a ruler.

With a shrewd understanding of political maneuvering, Patricia exploited Coby's relaxed style of governance as a potent weapon against him. She paid off news reporters to spread gossip about Coby's extravagant spending habits, painting him as out of touch with the needs of the common folk. The whispers of discontent among the council members and the general populace provided fertile ground for Patricia to sow seeds of dissent. As she positioned herself as a strong and decisive leader, contrasting sharply with Coby's perceived weaknesses, she garnered widespread support among the disillusioned masses.

Patricia's promise of swift and decisive action resonated with many, particularly those who longed for a return to old-school traditions and values. Veterans, in particular, rallied behind her banner, viewing her as a champion of stability and order in a time of uncertainty. Under Patricia's leadership, she demanded absolute loyalty from her supporters, particularly from her military forces. Those who dared to question her authority or stray from her path were swiftly dealt with, sent off to the metaphorical "gulag" as a warning to others.

While some embraced Coby’s vision for the future of Spades, others clung stubbornly to the past, resisting change and viewing Coby's carefree demeanor as a sign of weakness. Yet, as the winds of political upheaval swept through the country, it became increasingly clear that the days of Coby's reign were numbered, and the era of Patricia Rakepick's iron-fisted rule was on the horizon.

#hphm cardverse #ariparri #patricia rakepick #hogwarts mystery #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #coby mcquaid #duncan Ashe

[carewyncromwell]

"Got no diamond, got no pearl -- Still I think I'm a lucky girl."

x~x~x~x

HPHM Cardverse developed by @ariparri // Read about how Jacob and Duncan met

x~x~x~x

Duncan Ashe was an incredibly driven, ambitious person. It was part of the reason why he'd climbed the ladder at court so fast and earned the position of Jack of Spades while still only a university student of 21. That same year, he brought Jacob Cromwell on as an advisor and technology expert, and the following year, he brought his best friend Coby McQuaid into the fold as well. This second addition in particular had prompted a lot of waves, and before long, Coby had actually been named the new King of Spades himself.

All in all, Duncan was very pleased with how his life at court was shaping up. This was why he was perturbed to find his "right-hand man," Jacob, looking so tired and gloomy that autumn. And to make him all the more perturbed, when Duncan asked him about it, Jacob forced a painful-looking smile on and lied through his teeth.

"Gloomy?" he said. "Aw, nah, I'm fine, Ashe, just...just a little tired is all. But don't worry! I just have to finish this up, and then I can get right to the next prototype..."

Duncan's eyebrows furrowed. "Jacob, your shift's ending in an hour. If you're tired, then maybe you should go home and rest -- "

"Rest? When I'm on a roll?" laughed Jacob. "Nah, I've got to start experimenting on those soil samples tomorrow...and hey, this wind turbine isn't gonna fix itself..."

"Jacob," said Duncan, but Jacob cut him off with another forced smile.

"It's okay, Ashe," he said as reassuringly as he could. "I don't mind staying late to finish...and well, the overtime pay here's great! So it all works out."

The sentiment was familiar enough to Duncan that, very reluctantly, he gave in and let Jacob be. The Jack would still watch Jacob from afar, noting the dark circles that were slowly forming under his blue eyes and the way all trace of a smile would disappear the moment he thought no one could see him, and he grew more concerned by the day.

That concern was sidetracked completely, though, by the very nasty surprise Duncan got, when he accidentally overheard some other courtiers talking.

" -- he's got a sweetheart!"

"Cromwell? No way!"

Duncan stopped mid-step down the hall. His head shot around and he stilled, trying hard to listen.

"It's true!" said the first female voice. "He's been receiving boxes of white flowers and chocolate every day for a week now!"

"From who?" asked the other.

"That's what's so mysterious! I saw one of the packages arrive in his office the other day -- it had no note, no return address...not even a name! Just 'Jacob Cromwell' and his office number, printed on the light blue paper."

Duncan's ears perked up at once. Light blue paper? Only one store he knew of wrapped their packages in that stuff...

Sure enough, the other courtier made the same connection.

"Light blue paper? Only Pique's General Store wraps their stuff up that way!"

"Right! I talked to the gent in the mail room, and he said that he's found one of those such packages on his desk for Jacob at 5:15 PM every day for the last week!"

"How quaint! Then maybe Cromwell really has got some kind of secret admirer..."

"A lady, undoubtedly -- I saw the handwriting on the package, and that kind of penmanship is most assuredly a woman's..."

As their voices came around the corner, Duncan quickly peeled himself back from the wall. Not wanting them to think he'd been eavesdropping, he quickly strolled past the two gossiping girls without even looking at them. Even so, Duncan couldn't ignore the stifled gasps they gave at the sight of him.

"You don't think the Jack heard you?" one asked the other, as Duncan walked that little bit faster down the hall, sliding his hand into his vest pocket at he went.

x~x~x~x

Now, at first, Duncan wanted to confront Jacob about the rumors. Very quickly, though, he decided against it. After all, however much Jacob saw him as a friend, Duncan was his employer, and truthfully, it wasn't Duncan's place to stick his nose into Jacob's personal life. He was perfectly within his rights to date, if he wanted, so long as it didn't interfere with his work...

But that was kind of the sticking thing.

Jacob was entitled to date. He was allowed to do anything he wanted romantically, really -- even if that idiot had somehow turned out to be some sort of Casanova with women on every block, that ultimately was his business and his alone. And yet the thought of Jacob having some squeeze on the side...it was disquieting to Duncan, way more than it should've been.

You hired Jacob to serve as one of your courtiers, Duncan had to remind himself. He's your subordinate. People already think you favor him as it is -- if they had any reason to think you were romantically involved...

Duncan wasn't a naive person. He knew full well how such a thing could be spun, in the public sphere. And with people like Patricia Rakepick looking for any kind of opening to "one up" him, Duncan couldn't risk that.

And so that next day, in the late afternoon, Duncan paid a visit to the mail room. Sure enough, when he arrived, the older gentleman working there had a light blue package set aside for Jacob, accompanied by a bouquet of white hydrangeas.

"Saw Pique's new little shopgirl drop them off, as I came in," said the mail clerk cheerfully. "Poor lass...asked her if she wanted a spot of tea before she left, but she looked to be in a dreadful hurry..."

Duncan cocked his eyebrows as he picked up the package. "Really?"

"Yeah, well, old Pique's always been stingy about how many people he hires," said the mail clerk. "And she was a tiny little thing -- no older than my granddaughter, I think, 13, maybe? I reckon Pique's probably running that girl all over town, dropping off stuff..."

Well, there goes the idea of that girl being Jacob's "secret admirer," thought Duncan. Sounds like she's barely old enough to even think about romance. Still...

"What did the girl look like?" Duncan asked.

"Ginger hair, red lips -- and small, of course. Very small. Probably only five feet or so."

Near Veruca's height, Duncan mentally filed away the information.

"Thank you."

With this, Duncan took the light blue package, placing it under his arm as he headed out.

x~x~x~x

When he brought the package around to Jacob's office, his subordinate's face lit up at the sight of it. He unwrapped the package, and sure enough, it was a box of artisan chocolate.

When Jacob noticed Duncan looking over his "gifts" so critically, though, his smile faded.

"It's not what it looks like," he said immediately, sounding incredibly defensive.

"Oh?" said Duncan, raising an eyebrow.

"I've needed to harvest the flowers' seeds for my experiments," said Jacob with a weak smile. "It's all about the pH of the soil, see -- the hydrangea is a very unique plant -- "

"And the chocolate?" asked Duncan.

Jacob brought a hand through his dark curls uncomfortably.

"...That's just...to try to cheer me up, that's all."

"Cheer you up about what?" Duncan pressed him.

Jacob avoided Duncan's eye. Duncan swept around, trying to force Jacob to look at him.

"Jacob," he said sharply, "if there's someone -- "

Someone else...

Duncan forced himself not to go there. He couldn't confront Jacob's romantic life straight-on: if he did, he was afraid he'd say too much...

"...If there's something going on, you can tell me. You know I can help -- "

"I can do it by myself!" Jacob said in an oddly harsh tone.

Duncan flinched. Something almost stricken seemed to run over Jacob's face -- it made him lose a lot of the color in his face.

"It's fine, Ashe," Jacob said very firmly, putting on that strained smile again. "I've got it under control. I do."

Duncan's eyebrows came together tightly. "Jacob -- "

Jacob seized Duncan's shoulder and squeezed.

"I've got it," he insisted as reassuringly as he could.

Despite saying this, his hand on Duncan's shoulder was shaking.

Duncan's dark eyes flitted down to Jacob's hand on his shoulder, before looking up. They ran over Jacob's strained, pale face critically, taking in how tired the wrinkles around his eyes were...and then narrowed.

Jacob was lying. He was lying right to his face. What Duncan didn't know is whether Jacob knew it as well as he did.

"Fine," said Duncan, more coldly than he meant to.

Sliding out of Jacob's grip, the Jack of Spades turned on his heel and left, his long coat sweeping behind him as he went.

x~x~x~x

The following day, in the midst of work, Duncan went on an unscheduled outing into the capitol. He'd taken off his usual purple and white sash, preferring to go a little bit more "incognito" for the moment, and even took the trolley rather than a private streetcar with a driver.

His destination -- Pique's General Store.

Duncan had only ever been to this store once or twice. It was a store that sold a little bit of everything, from food to flowers to household trinkets, but was best known for its wearable pieces. Many women bought dresses, shoes, and jewelry from Pique's -- even Duncan's father had stopped in here to buy himself a new pocketwatch once, when Duncan was young.

When Duncan entered the store, he found it incredibly busy. The line was nearly out the door, and several of the shoppers seemed rather impatient. This may have been, however, because there was only one person at the register -- a girl with a black ribbon in her ginger ponytail and an apron tied over her second-hand gray dress.

Duncan's eyes narrowed. So this was the shopgirl who'd dropped off that package from Jacob's "secret admirer."

The mail clerk was right -- she was small. Her young, make-upped face indicated she was a teenager -- fifteen or sixteen, perhaps, a few years older than Veruca? -- but her petite height definitely made her look younger. Despite this, though, she zipped around behind the counter, fetching various goods and ringing up what the customers brought to the register. At several points she had to dart up the ladder leaning against the back shelf to pick out specialty items for a customer, sweeping back down to the floor with the grace of a chubby little robin landing after a flight. And all the while, even as the whole shop rumbled with the mutters of grumpy customers, she kept on a pretty, lady-like expression: not smiling, exactly, but nonplussed and grounded. This affect didn't shift even when one customer started berating her for making her wait fifteen whole minutes for service: instead, the small girl faced her with astounding patience.

"I apologize for the wait, ma'am," she said.

"I'm sure you do," the older woman sneered sarcastically.

The shopgirl didn't rise to the taunt. Instead she rang up the woman's total.

"That'll be a hundred, altogether."

The woman reacted with anger. "A hundred? The sign on the window said 'sale!'"

"The 'sale' items are marked in that far corner, with blue marks on their tags," the shopgirl explained. "I'm afraid only two out of your ten items have those marks."

"That is not what it said on the sign!" the older woman shot back angrily.

"The 'sale' corner has the exact same sign as the window does," said the shopgirl calmly. "If you'd like, I can put what you don't want back where they belong. Or if you want them all, but can't afford them right now, I can always put some of them on layaway for you."

The older woman looked so affronted, she looked close to literally clutching the pearls around her neck.

"How dare -- this is outrageous! I demand to speak to Mr. Pique this instant!"

"I'm afraid Mr. Pique is on a coffee break," said the shopgirl, "but if you wish to speak to him, then you can come back in twenty minutes. He should be back by then."

"I'm not leaving until I see Mr. Pique!" the older woman shouted.

The shopgirl's pale face hardened.

"All right," she said lowly. "Then stand off to the side, while I help these people behind you."

She immediately turned her attention to the man waiting behind the woman in line.

"Bring your things here, sir," the girl said more gently.

The man, with a faintly stunned look at the woman in front of him, hesitantly approached the counter with the bottle of whiskey and bag of candy he'd purchased. The woman in front of him looked outraged.

"Excuse me!" she shrieked. "I am your customer -- "

"And so are they," the shopgirl cut her off.

The girl's voice was very quiet, but it sounded so authoritative that she suddenly sounded much older and stronger than she looked.

"You complained about waiting fifteen minutes for my assistance," the shopgirl said coldly. "I'm not going to have all these people wait longer, simply because you no longer want that assistance. If you want Mr. Pique to speak to you, then he can speak to you after he has had something to eat, as I'm sure you will, once you've finished your shopping for the day. And hopefully you'll treat him with more respect than you have me."

The older woman started to redden as red as a tomato, her whole face puffing up like an angry fish.

"You -- !" she spluttered furiously. "You -- low-class, uppity little tramp -- !"

"And now you're disrespecting my other customers, by making a scene," the shopgirl said in that very soft, but pointed voice. "Either wait for Mr. Pique outside, or have a lovely day elsewhere."

The older woman spluttered some more nastier swears under her breath. Then, whirling around to look at all of the other stunned customers, she pushed right through the crowd and out the door of the shop, leaving all of her things strewn about the counter.

"That's it!" she raged. "I'm done!" She paused in the doorframe just long enough to add, "You may tell Mr. Pique that he has just lost himself a loyal customer -- !"

"Thank you," the shopgirl cut her off with great finality.

This only seemed to make the woman even madder as she stormed out, slamming the door shut behind her.

"I have never been treated thusly in my entire life -- !" could just barely be heard through the closed door.

Duncan watched her go, his lips spreading into a broad smirk despite himself.

Not bad, he thought as he glanced back at the shopgirl as she addressed the man who'd been behind the difficult customer in line.

"I'm very sorry about that," she said kindly. "And about the wait..."

"Oh, no, it -- was no trouble," said the man. He cleared his throat, clearly still a bit uncomfortable about what he'd just witnessed. "Ahem...I'm just sorry a little thing like you had to deal with that all by yourself..."

"It's no trouble," said the shopgirl, her red lips forcing a smile. "I've got it."

Duncan stilled. His smirk faded from his face as he stared at the shopgirl with a clarity he hadn't had until just that moment.

That strained smile...that pale face, that modest height...those almond-shaped blue eyes...

Those eyes...were Jacob's eyes.

Duncan felt like his heart had leapt up into his throat.

Carewyn. The shopgirl who'd delivered all those anonymous packages was Carewyn Cromwell -- Jacob's little sister.

Since when did Jacob's little sister have a job? She had to be so young still -- right around Veruca's age, Duncan thought. That would be way too young to be working a job like this... Was Jacob's family really that bad off that Carewyn had had to drop out of school too, to support her family?

Duncan suddenly felt like his heart was being squeezed.

Was this why Jacob had been so depressed? Because his little sister had had to give up on her academic future, the way Jacob had his...?

"Is there anything I can help you with, sir?"

Duncan was startled by the sound of an older, portly gentleman coming in through the door, putting out a cigar on the door frame as he entered.

"Ah...yes," Duncan said after he'd recovered. "You'd be Mr. Pique, I suppose? I thought you were out for a coffee break."

"Oh, I am," said Pique gruffly. "My thirty minutes isn't up quite yet...but I thought I'd just check in on my new little lady -- wasn't sure how she'd do behind the desk all by herself..."

His rough face broke into a fonder smile when he saw Carewyn quickly ringing up one customer's totals while adding another's by hand on a spare piece of paper, so as to cut the line down faster.

"But it seems I needn't have worried," he said, his smile becoming a bit more crooked. "I knew she'd be good help, the moment I met her."

"She is a bit young to be working here, isn't she?" asked Duncan.

"A bit, yes -- lass isn't going to be fifteen until September," said Pique.

"Then she's fourteen?" recurred Duncan.

She really was right around Veruca's age. The thought of Coby's sister working a full-time customer service job with people yelling at her for nothing made Duncan feel nauseous.

"Yes, I usually don't hire until at least sixteen," Pique said with a shrug. "But she fought hard to get this job, even just part-time. Said she'd need to save up some money, if she was going to be able to attend university..."

Duncan's heart leapt. "University?"

Then Carewyn hadn't dropped out?

"Yeah!" said Pique with a barking laugh. "I gather her family's financial state isn't so great. Her brother works for the Jack of Spades, so I hear, so he earns good money...but I reckon my little lady doesn't want him spending his pay on her future, when he's had to work so hard as it is. And well, I'm sure that boy would want to move into his own place and settle down with someone nice, at some point, not just stay at home with his folks forever..."

Duncan found himself tuning out as Pique rambled on a bit longer, only because his brain and heart were both turning with this new information.

The Cromwells weren't in financial trouble. Carewyn hadn't had to get a job to save her family, like Jacob did. She'd done it to pay for her education, so that Jacob wouldn't have to. She'd decided to work part-time, while still going to school...

...Kind of like Duncan had...working under the previous Jack while he was at university...

Duncan looked back up at Carewyn behind the counter. Her line of customers was almost completely gone now, leaving only a young man with a very dorky bow tie fumbling through his wallet for exact change.

"I can count it out for you, if you'd like," Carewyn offered.

"Th-thank you," the young man said with an uncomfortable smile. "I-I guess I'm just a little frazzled..."

Carewyn very quickly counted out exact change on the counter. Then, after scooping up the rest of the coins and returning it to the man's wallet, she handed a rather pretty light blue-wrapped box with a white ribbon to him.

"Here," Carewyn said with an encouraging smile. "I hope she likes it."

The young man's face burst into a blush, but he nonetheless smiled, encouraged. "Thank you!"

With a little wave, the young man left the shop. Carewyn likewise waved as he left, before sighing heavily, clearly relieved that the long line was gone.

"Well done, Carewyn!" said Pique jovially as he strode up to the counter, clapping her hard enough on the back that the much smaller girl winced. "Quite well done, indeed! I knew I was right to take you on..."

Carewyn put on her best smile. "Thank you..."

Then she immediately frowned as she gathered up the hats and dresses the difficult customer had left strewn on the counter.

"...But sir, your break isn't over until 4:30 -- "

"I'm still on break, I'm just not 'breaking,'" Pique said brusquely.

"Put on the brakes now, or you might break down later," Carewyn warned the man concernedly as she put the hats back on the proper mannequins.

But Pique waved this off. "I'll brew up some coffee and drink a cup before ringing anyone else up. Why don't you go take your lunch break a little early? You've worked hard enough."

Carewyn hesitated. "Are you sure? I can work until your break is over -- "

"Nonsense!" said Pique. "I passed around some fliers advertising the sale during my walk, so we'll undoubtedly have another rush of shoppers this evening, after people get off work. You go on ahead for now and get something to eat -- I'll have plenty of work for you to do when you get back."

Not looking entirely convinced, Carewyn nonetheless did as her employer said, putting the rest of the dresses away before heading back to the counter. She took off her apron, hanging it up on a nail on the side, and then headed to the backroom. Duncan lingered in the store, watching, as a minute later, Carewyn came bustling back out, a light-blue package under her arm.

Duncan's eyes widened in realization. Then the packages weren't being delivered on behalf of some secret admirer -- they'd all been from Carewyn herself!

"I'll be right back!" Carewyn said, as she darted across the store to the door.

"Be back in thirty minutes on the dot!" Pique called after her.

Just as the door would've closed, though, Duncan grabbed it and left the shop after Carewyn.

x~x~x~x

The Jack followed Carewyn out of the general store and then to the trolley stop. He climbed onto it right after her, and upon catching sight of her moving toward the very back left corner of the car, he moved after her, taking a seat right beside her.

Duncan sneaked a covert glance at the girl out the side of his eye.

She really didn't resemble Jacob at all...did Carewyn take more after her mother, while Jacob took after their father, or vice-versa? If it weren't for their identical eyes, Duncan would've been tempted to think they didn't share blood.

"Why did you follow me?"

Duncan blinked. Carewyn hadn't even looked up, when she asked this. Instead she looked out the window on the other side of her.

"I saw you standing at the back of the general store," she said lowly. "You didn't browse through any of the inventory or even get in line. All you did was watch me work and then talk to Mr. Pique when he came in."

Her blue eyes narrowed upon Duncan's reflection.

"...What do you want?"

Her eyes may have been colored and shaped like Jacob's...but in that moment, so sharp and piercing and full of distrust, Duncan was almost reminded more of Patricia Rakepick's.

Duncan's surprise melted away into something more serious.

"I came to talk to you, actually," he said.

Carewyn raised her eyebrows.

"Recently my subordinate has been getting a lot of...mysterious packages, delivered by a shopgirl with ginger hair," said Duncan. His eyes flitted down to the light blue package in Carewyn's lap. "No name, no note -- no return address...but all in Pique's distinct light blue paper."

Carewyn's eyes grew a little bit smaller.

"...And this 'subordinate' of yours...?"

"Jacob Cromwell is his name," said Duncan. His lips curled up in a small smirk. "Your brother, if I'm not mistaken."

Carewyn turned around to look at Duncan properly, her eyes very wide. Then something in the back of them brightened.

"...Ashe," she breathed through a smile. "You're Duncan Ashe!"

Duncan's smirk broadened. "You've heard of me?"

"Of course!" said Carewyn. "Jacob's told Mum and me all about you."

Duncan's heart fluttered. Jacob had told his family about him...?

"...Has he?" he asked softly.

"Well, he talks about you a lot," said Carewyn, and she had to stifle a giggle behind her hand. "If either Mum or I ask after you, he'll ramble on and on until he's completely run out of breath."

Duncan gave a cynical laugh. "Well, give Jacob just about any subject, and I daresay he'll do the same thing..."

Despite saying this, though, Duncan couldn't mask the light, happy flush painting his face, nor could he deny how warm he felt, thinking of Jacob rambling on about him to someone. Did he talk about his intellect, his cleverness -- his ambition -- his looks, how well he dressed? Surely not -- Jacob was an absolute idiot when it came to picking clothes for himself, Duncan had had to pick out something proper for him to wear to court...but maybe Jacob appreciated how Duncan dressed, despite this? Duncan wished his mind wasn't dancing so giddily with such fancies.

Carewyn's eyes softened.

"Really, though," she said more gently, "Jacob is so grateful for everything you've done for him. And I am too."

Duncan avoided Carewyn's eye. "Well, it's...nothing Jacob didn't earn, really. He's got a brilliant mind -- someone else would've seen it, even if I hadn't..."

Rakepick would've snatched Jacob up in a second, if she could've, Duncan thought, a surge of dislike pulsing through him at the thought of the Ace keenly parsing over one of Jacob's blueprints.

Carewyn shook her head. "But that's just it. My brother is brilliant -- he's always been brilliant -- but so many people have never seen it."

Her gaze drifted back out the window.

"...I was too little to remember all of this, but...when Jacob was young, he was bullied, for being interested in things. Even sometimes for not being interested in other things, like sports, or clubs, or parties. He was beaten down and ignored...and whenever he'd lose his temper or try to fight back, he'd get in trouble for it. Soon the only thing anyone ever saw of Jacob was his misbehavior -- our dad, included."

Duncan stared at Carewyn's reflection in the glass. Her face looked almost heartbroken, thinking this -- as if just recounting what her brother went through physically injured her.

"Jacob tried really hard to be better after I came along, and especially after Dad left us," she said softly. "He had to help Mum look after me...so he worked really hard, for a really long time. He dropped out of school, gave up a lot of dreams...all to try to make sure we had a roof over our heads. And eventually...all anyone ever saw of Jacob was that he was useful. That he could do things they could use for their business -- that he could fix things, or cook things, or file things, and do it all perfectly. They weren't looking for him to talk, or explain, or share, or teach, or think -- they just wanted him to do."

Duncan found his own eyes drifting through the window now, barely seeing either Carewyn's or his reflections now. In his mind's eye, he could see Jacob fixing the trolley door through another window, on another trolley -- see the muscles in his arm flexing -- seeing him smile so brightly --

"Your brother likes being useful," Duncan said softly.

"Of course he does," said Carewyn. "He always has. But that doesn't mean that's all he is."

She turned to smile at Duncan. "That's why I'm grateful you brought him to court. I know Jacob feels useful to you, but not just because of what he can do. You value his ideas -- his hopes and dreams. His drive to challenge the status quo...to shake things up and do real good for people. His passion and his aspirations for a better future. His brain and his heart."

Her blue eyes sparkled as her smile softened.

"Jacob's happy there, with you," she murmured. "Happier than he ever was at those other jobs. He wasn't unhappy, exactly -- those bosses did appreciate what he gave them, and those jobs did help him support us...but, well..."

Her eyes fell down to her hands in her lap.

"...They only wanted one small piece of Jacob. You...want all of him."

Duncan felt his face darkening with a redder flush. He quickly looked away, trying to hide it by covering his mouth, cheek, and chin with his whole hand.

"Well...um..."

Duncan felt very flustered, and he really didn't like it. He shot a look at Carewyn -- fortunately she too still had her eyes averted to her hands in her lap.

He swallowed, trying to recollect himself. When he finally did, his voice came out a bit strained.

"...I...I do want Jacob here," he said lowly. "He's...very special."

To me.

Refusing to let those words leak out, Duncan forced himself to get back to business.

"...He...said that you sent those packages to cheer him up."

Carewyn smiled a bit uncomfortably, her eyes drifting back out the window.

"...Yeah...Jacob's been pretty upset that I took a job too, around my schooling. He said he didn't want me to have to work -- that he'd work twice as hard, so I wouldn't have to...but I can't do that to him. Jacob and Mum have provided for me my whole life...it's my turn to help them, now."

Duncan's eyes betrayed concern. "Is it still so difficult for you? I thought with Jacob's higher salary -- "

"We're not struggling," Carewyn said earnestly. "But well, Jacob and I have still had to share a room my entire life. Jacob needs space. We both do. He needs an office -- a place where he can work on projects outside of work. I need a real closet where I can organize my clothes properly, so I don't have Jacob pairing my socks with his by accident."

She actually pursed her lips a bit, giving off something of a haughty expression. It made Duncan bite back a snort of laughter.

"Jacob's good at earning money and doing without on things, but not budgeting."

"And there is a big difference," said Duncan.

Carewyn nodded. "So Mum and I have been looking at the long-term...and what's holding us back from buying a bigger place is saving up enough for me to afford books and tuition. Jacob wants to just stay where we are and pay for me to go to university...but I don't want that for him. I don't want him to have to do without anymore, when I can help him now. And I wish he wouldn't work so much overtime to try to persuade me otherwise!"

This came out a bit frustrated, despite Carewyn's seemingly best efforts. She looked almost guilty, expressing such emotion in front of Duncan.

"...I'm sorry," she said lowly. "I...know you're Jacob's friend, so I thought I should explain."

"You don't need to apologize," Duncan said at once.

Carewyn still looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Please don't tell Jacob I told you all this," she said quietly. "I know Jacob esteems you...he wouldn't want you to see him as unable to do something."

Something stirred in Duncan's memory.

"I can do it by myself!"

"It's fine, Ashe. I've got it under control. I do."

Then that was it. Jacob hadn't just been lying to Duncan -- he'd been too proud to even accept things as they were himself...too proud to acknowledge he couldn't carry the world all by himself...

Duncan's brows and lips both knit together tightly.

"What I see him as is a complete idiot," he said dryly.

The Jack pulled down on the trolley string to make it stop outside the Palace of Spades. As he got up, Duncan extended a hand to Carewyn as if to help her up.

"Now, then -- Jacob's lab is on the far end, so we'll have to walk briskly, if we're going to deliver your care package to him. I'll need to drive you back in my personal car afterward, if you're going to have any decent time to eat before returning to work..."

Carewyn flushed. "That's all right -- I don't need anyth -- "

"Let me guess -- you've been skipping out on meals, just to bring these packages to your brother on your breaks," Duncan cut her off.

Carewyn shot him a glare through her blush. "There's always something to eat quickly at home -- I can more than manage until then..."

Duncan brought a hand up to his face and shook his head.

"Well, now I see sacrificing for your loved ones is something of a family trait, for you Cromwells. Ugh -- come on, then -- we're picking up your brother, dropping off his chocolates in the lab, and then driving somewhere for a proper meal. Shut your mouth right now and don't bother taking out any money, I won't hear any arguments from you or your brother about it."

x~x~x~x

Despite the sourness he'd spoken with, Duncan still kept his eye trained behind him to make sure Carewyn was keeping up with his longer strides, as he strolled quickly down the hall. And when Jacob looked up to find Carewyn in his lab and practically leapt out of his seat, throwing his arms around her and squeezing her tight as he beamed so happily over her shoulder at Duncan, the Jack of Spades couldn't have possibly obscured the soft, contented rosiness of his face as he watched them.

Jacob did in fact try to argue with Duncan about paying for their supper in full -- and Duncan scolded him just as much as he had Carewyn.

"Don't argue with me, I'm your boss. And no more of these little package deliveries, to cheer you up -- the next time Carewyn wants to bring you something, I intend for her to bring it to you when she's off from work and school, on formal visits..."

Jacob's eyes widened.

"Formal visits?" he repeated, disbelieving. "You mean...Wyn can come see me here, at the Palace?"

Carewyn looked just as stunned herself. "Duncan, you -- you don't have to do that -- "

"I know I don't," Duncan said, averting his eyes uncomfortably, "but I'm doing it. I give my permission -- Carewyn can come whenever she wants."

Jacob and Carewyn both stared. It made Duncan's flush creep up his neck all the more.

"Just as long as you don't get distracted, Jacob," Duncan added, his voice becoming a bit more strained in its defensiveness. "After all, you'll still be at work and earning pay -- it's just easier than making Carewyn use up her break times. And Carewyn seems responsible enough that she won't keep you from your work. Plus it'll quiet a lot of the unnecessary gossip around court about you having a sweetheart sending you packages..."

Jacob's mouth fell open. "What? Oh, come on, Ashe, I told you it wasn't like that -- !"

But Carewyn disregarded this completely. Instead she got up and, opening her arms, gave Duncan a hug.

The gesture made Duncan stiffen, taken aback, and she immediately withdrew, looking a bit guilty.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly, even though she couldn't keep the smile off her face. "It's just...thank you, Duncan. I've never been inside the Palace before, aside from the mail room, and seeing where Jacob's working..."

Her eyes sparkled like gems.

"... Your invitation...it's very generous," she whispered. "Thank you."

Duncan hadn't thought he could go any redder, but somehow he was. Coby would probably be comparing him to a tomato by now.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat awkwardly as he looked away. "...You're welcome."

He glanced at Carewyn out the side of his eye, to see her smiling sympathetically. Maybe she sensed his discomfort -- or maybe, being far more insightful about people than Jacob, she sensed what really fueled it: that stifled, hidden desire to make her brother happy.

Either way, Duncan found himself smiling a bit too, as he looked back at her.

Maybe Carewyn wasn't Jacob's sweetheart...but she did have a very sweet heart, all the same.

#hphm cardverse #cardverse au #hphm #my writing #fanfiction #duncan ashe #jacob cromwell #carewyn cromwell #aesthetic #moodboard #lane cromwell #patricia rakepick #coby mcquaid #veruca mcquaid #hydrangeas change color depending on the soil they're grown in! #jacob's testing which plants grow best in soils with different pH balances #so as to experiment with ways to modify those pH levels and make more usable farm land #carewyn didn't have access to seeds so she did the next best thing she could #which was buy hydrangeas with some of her own salary for her brother to use in his experiments #jacob adores his little wyn to pieces but damn it he has trouble accepting that she doesn't need him as much #hey he was her only real father figure her entire life so there you go

[ariparri]

Now that Bill's story is done and posted what story should I work on for Cardverse?

Currently only plan to write for characters that already have a design with the exception of Beatrice. But since I need to work more on Jokers and the other regions, I can make Beatrice's design with the story. If it gets chosen that is.

#hphm cardverse scenario #patricia rakepick #orion amari #beatrice haywood #duncan ashe #penny haywood #diego caplan #hogwarts mystery #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #veruca mcquaid #coby mcquaid

[ariparri]

The Man from Hearts

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

HPHM Cardverse Masterlist

Summary: Bill receives an offer to work within the museums of Spades as the new archaeologist. Eager for better work opportunities and to explore more of Cinderhaven, Bill takes the offer and travels to the Country of Spades. While there, he meets the King of Spades and his younger sister.

Warnings: Not proofread (I never proofread TwT), slight angst, mentions of death, harassment and public humiliation, Veruca insulting Bill's hairstyle but not in a cruel antagonizing way.

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

Word Count: 5313

I ended up dragging this on a bit too much… This was originally supposed to come out last month, but I was so busy with everything going on that I couldn’t work on my art or stories. I’m not used to Bill’s or Rakepick's characters quite yet xD I hope you guys enjoy this one though. I eventually got to go into more depth with Rakepick and why she holds a grudge against Coby and Duncan. She’s bitter because the newer officials are all younger (Coby, Duncan, Orion, Penny, etc.) and easily got their positions while she worked her butt off (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

Timeline for my AU is also kind of wack. Just know that Coby and Veruca are ten years apart, Bill and Veruca are about two or three years apart making Bill about eight or nine years younger than Coby. In the beginning of this story Coby is 27, Veruca is 17 and Bill is about 19 or 20.

I have also provided a visual reference for Coby, Veruca and Bill for this story! Bill's hair is messed up on purpose.

• ･❀･ ｡ . ⡀｡⠐❀ ･ ｡ . ⡀｡⠐❀ ･ •･❀･ ｡ . ⡀｡⠐❀ ･ ｡ . ⡀｡⠐❀ ･ •

Traveling from the Kingdom of Hearts to other regions for work wasn’t always part of Bill’s plan, yet the curator for the museum he worked for informed him of archaeologist positions open within the other regions. Each region’s history was rich and new knowledge for Bill, yet he didn’t wish to travel too far, so the Land of Clubs was quickly taken out of the equation. Hearts are connected to both Diamonds and Spades, so those two were his obvious options. Though the Diamond Empire was much too interested in their luxury, something Bill and his family didn’t really have, they made do with the love and care they had for each other. And that leaves the Country of Spades. Spades’ history with both science fiction and technology is quite huge with material still undiscovered. Bill would have been crazy not to accept the offer, and the travel cost to Spades was covered by the museum.

And so Bill had accepted the position in Spades. On the train, passing through the mountain path connecting Hearts to Spades, Bill sits alone in a booth reading over the papers from Spades’ museums the History Vault, home of the general history of the country, and the Science Fiction Institute, where all creations and inventions of Spades are held. Unlike in Hearts where he only worked in the museum for the kingdom’s artifacts, Bill has access to work in both the Vault and Institute. It seems there will be more for Bill to discover within the country and his nerves are building it up in anticipation.

The train’s air horn blows signaling the passengers on board of their next stop. Bill quickly gathers his things, placing his papers and within his briefcase. Looking out the window, Bill is amazed by the vast difference to the environment of the country. There’s machinery everywhere. Mechanic animals pulling carriages and carts, the machines mostly in the form of a horse or a giant bird. “Was that an ostrich?” Bill muttered as he watched a giant robotic bird pull a carriage along the streets. Smoke pours out from the steam engine’s chimney pipes as the train slows to a stop on the tracks just by the station’s platform. People filed out of the train as soon as the doors opened, some shoving or bumping into others as they made their way through the crowd. Bill steps out onto the platform, ice grey eyes observing the station until he finds the information desk. With his luggage and passport in hand, the young man makes his way towards the receptionist.

“Next in line!” The receptionist calls and the young man steps towards the desk, immediately handing over his passport and credentials. She takes them, reading over them with little enthusiasm. “Hmm, William Weasley. You came from the Kingdom of Hearts and you’re traveling for work?”

“Yes. I’m here for the archaeologist position for the—”

“Oh you’re the new recruit!” The lady cuts off, “Lady Buckthorn-Snyde has already informed us of your arrival.” She immediately stamps Bill’s travel form and passport for approval, before reaching over to the brochure stand and pulling out a couple pamphlets. “She was very adamant that we make sure your access into the country goes smoothly. Normally, this isn’t a long process, but Lady Buckthorn-Snyde can be an intimidating woman to deal with and I don’t want to be the next person to face her wrath.” She hands over the pamphlets leisurely. “So these pamphlets will help you around the place. One is the map, one is for housing and renting, and the last one is a basic guide for tourists and foreigners. Anyways, enjoy your stay or whatever.” She dismisses Bill after handing him his paperwork before signaling to the next person in line.

Dumbstruck by the quick dismissal from the receptionist, Bill faltered as he gathered his things and left the information desk. He looked around for the exit, head darting left and right before spotting the double doors people were flooding through.

Stepping out of the station the astonishment from before had come back as Bill gazed at his surroundings. The skyline is packed with distinct buildings and towers and their history seems to shine more now than ever. Science and development is flourishing in Spades and it has clearly attracted a lot of attention. From the distance he can see a clear view of the palace, including the factories and the sea behind it. Many different inventions have left their mark not just on business, but also upon the city's identity. A zeppelin, a huge air ship he was only able to see from a very far distance in the Kingdom of Hearts, can be seen flying overhead of the buildings. Just like the trains they built for Cinderhaven, branding the country’s symbol and colors, the Country of Spades was truly magnificent.

A loud screech was heard, causing Bill to snap his attention towards the mechanical ostrich pulling a carriage charging right for him. He jumps back before the bird runs into him. “Oh I’m definitely going to enjoy my stay here.” He chuckles, watching the ostrich continue to run down the street before pulling out the pamphlets of the map and housing. Bill reads through the information on the pamphlet, finding two places closest to the museums, Saxons Motel or Magrath Villa, both for good prices in rent. However since Bill will be residing in Spades for the foreseeable future, having a permanent place to stay would fare better for him. So Magrath Villa will be the first place Bill heads to.

At least he hopes he can get there. Hailing for a cab or carriage has been futile as many of the transportation vehicles passing by are already occupied or simply ignored him. With no luck of getting a ride to Magrath Villa, Bill grabs his suitcase and proceeds down the street. The map the receptionist gave him proved to be useless as there were more than the necessary amount of trails to follow. Maybe he’ll be lucky to get directions from people passing by.

However that also proved to be useless as the people actively ignored him and went about their day. Some even outright refused because he was a foreigner. It seems even in Spades, there is some prejudice against outsiders. Still, Bill tried to find someone who was helpful enough to give him directions. He spots some men carrying boxes and instruments into the music shop up ahead. “Excuse me, gentlemen!” Bill rushes up to them, “I'm looking for Magrath Villa. Would you–“ the men completely ignored him, a couple giving him dirty looks as they haul the equipment into the building, leaving Bill alone on the street-- “hmmm, I guess not…”

A sigh escapes Bill as he has no choice but to try and find Magrath on his own. Lost in his own thoughts a young woman with brown wavy hair rushes by, seemingly excited to get to wherever her destination leads her. The girl accidentally bumped into Bill’s side as she passed him, stumbling a bit before catching herself and continuing onward, spewing out a hasty apology. Taking the chance to ask the girl for directions, Bill calls out to her “Oh wait, excuse me, Miss. Can you please help me–” just as Bill held his hand out to tap the girl’s shoulder, a heavy silver handle in the shape of a wolf landed on his shoulder and pulled him back. The sudden force caused him to stumble a bit as he was turned around. The same silver handle lands roughly on his shoulder again, steadying him. And as he regained his composure Bill looked up at the man before him, bewildered ice grey eyes meeting steely eyes hidden behind blue tinted round shades.

Before Bill had a chance to speak, the man shoved the cane handle under his chin, forcing Bill to tilt his head upward. “Now I’m certain you weren’t just trying to make a move on my sister.” The red head was too stunned to speak. Never before had he ever expected to be caught in a situation like this. From the hard expression on his face down to the accessories on his person and the aura he presents, the man before Bill was effortlessly intimidating.

The man was dressed in a form fitting velvet black suit jacket, a velvet black and white waistcoat with a Jacobean pattern to match. The citrine gemstone on the wolf lapel pin, his blue tinted glasses and the accessories on his hat are the only elements that add splashes of colors to his entire suit. Everything about this man screamed upper class, and that’s when Bill noticed the emblem pinned on the belt of his hat. A silver Spade adorned with a crown. The man holding him hostage in the middle of the street was none other than— “The King of Spades—” The red head sputters, trying to regain his composure as the king glares down at him. “I’m sorry, it wasn’t my attention— I’m new here—”

“Clearly. No Spades wears this amount of red and bears the Hearts crest.” The king remarks with a scoff and a roll of his eyes. He tilts his shades down, peering his vibrant magenta eyes at the red head. Once again, Bill was silenced by the scrutinizing intensity of the king’s gaze on him. What are the chances that Bill would meet the King of Spades on his first day in the country. And already, he’s gotten himself in trouble with the king. Before Bill could come up with a sentence, a feminine voice was heard from behind. “Coby, leave him alone.”

The young woman from before came into view again, she had a frown on her face as she faced the king. ‘She called him by his first name. Is she allowed to do that?’ Bill thought as he watched the king and the girl go back and forth in their banter. “Vera, he was hitting on you!” The king exclaimed, earning an eye roll from the girl now known as Vera. “He already said he wasn’t. For the love of Avis, not every guy is out to get me!”

“You don’t know that. Men can never be trusted!”

“Yeah? What about Carson? Is my best friend not to be trusted?”

“That’s different. He’s family, of course you’re gonna trust him. I’m just saying, all men are animals. Don’t be getting close to any of them!”

“Oh shut up! You do this all the time. You know some guys are afraid to approach me because you’re the king!”

“As they should be! None of those guys are worthy to be in your presence if I have anything to say about it!”

“Would you stop! Oh my lord, you can be so annoying! Why do you—”

“Um excuse me!” Bill’s voice rang out, effectively putting the argument to a halt. The sibling duo stopped and turned their attention back to Bill, still in Coby’s hold. Bill gave them an awkward smile, “Aha, yeah… I’m sorry for the trouble but can you please let me go?” Coby instantly removes his cane away from Bill, returning to a casual stance leaning a bit of his weight on to the cane. “Right,” he cleared his throat, “Apologies for that. Just looking out for my little sister, didn’t mean to rough you up there.”

After clearing up the misunderstanding, Coby had properly introduced himself and his sister, whose name is actually Veruca. Bill returned the introduction, explaining that he traveled to Spades for work and needed directions to Magrath Villa. To Bill’s surprise, Coby and Veruca offered to show them the place. Ignoring his complaints, the sibling duo proceeded to walk in the direction of the villa, leaving Bill with no choice but to catch up with them. The three engage in small talk, with Veruca asking Bill about Hearts to Coby asking why he specifically chose to work in Spades.

“I see,” Coby noted, “So the luxuries of Diamonds would be far too glamorous to what you’re used to. Well if you can get through the day with all the pollution from the factories and engines here, I’d say you’d fit right in with Spades.” He gives Bill a signature charismatic grin earning a small laugh in response from the red head. “Yeah well, Spades’ history is one that intrigues me more than the other regions. Why and how did the people go from actual horses to making machinery of horses?”

“Though, I am surprised to see the king himself walking in the streets without a guard. Don’t you think that’s a little careless? What if you get attacked?” Bill can’t help but wonder how Coby can just roam freely as the king of the region. Not even King Declan left the castle without a courtier following closely behind. It was a big surprise to Bill with how lenient Coby is as a king.

Coby simply hummed, “I could be careless, but I was never really a rule follower. Ironic right, since I’m the king?” He laughed, patting the younger man on the shoulder. “But I don’t like being followed around by a guard every hour of the day. Besides, this one here, hates having our bonding time interrupted.” A grin forms on the king’s face as he taps Veruca’s head with the handle of his cane. He expected Veruca to swat his cane away or hit him back but the younger McQuaid was more focused on their new companion. She had a hard gaze in her eyes as she scrutinized the red head. Bill cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable by the girl’s glare. Coby wasn’t sure what got his little sister bothered, but knowing Veruca, it was either going to be entertaining or insulting.

“I’m sorry” the younger McQuaid halts in her steps, "but who did your hair? It looks absolutely terrible. You really need a new barber." Insulting, Coby confirmed mentally. He wasn’t sure if he should laugh or scold Veruca for her comment. And yet he found entertainment in the situation. A sheepish look was on Bill's face, scratching the back of his head he let out an awkward chuckle, "Aha yeah… my mum tends to chop it off if I let it grow out too much."

An awkward silence followed, Veruca cringing at both her choice of words and Bill’s admittance and Coby shook his head as he sighs. “I’m sorry for my sister’s comment.” Coby spoke up first. “She has the habit of speaking her mind. A good thing so she isn’t pushed around but, in casual conversation she can sound rather insensitive and ignorant.” He ruffles Veruca’s hair earning a shove from her. Fixing her hair up with a roll of her eyes, Veruca turns her attention back to Bill, eyes narrowed in a skeptical gaze. “What, you're not grown enough, so you still let your mother cut your hair?” Her question had earned her a smack to the back of her head by her brother. “You don’t have to answer that.”

It was safe to say, the sibling duo became a central part of Bill’s life in the Country of Spades.

~ One Year Later • Aug. 28th ~

Life in the Country of Spades had gone dim as soon as news of King Coby’s death reached the people’s ears. News stations were competing against each other to make headlines on the cause of the King’s death. Even the people were starting to create their own theories on Coby’s death. Bad gossip and nothing more.

Sitting in the outdoor dining area of the cafe nearby the museums, Bill tossed the newspaper onto the table with a tired sigh, dragging a hand down his face. He had met the King many times and most of them were when he was with Veruca dragging him out of the palace and to places she wanted to go to. From their interactions and seeing how the siblings are, Bill could tell that Coby was a good man. He cared not just for his family but for the people as well. He worked hard with Duncan Ashe, the country’s Chancellor and his best friend, to create Spades’ very own annual event for the people to enjoy and have fun in.

Bill glances over at Veruca sitting across from him. She had been quiet ever since she got to the cafe, staring off into space and in her own world. Bill was worried for her. With her brother gone, and the country making up theories on his death, no one seemed to realize or care how this loss is affecting Coby’s family. Veruca’s parents had already made their statements, choosing to mourn in peace and silence. Veruca on the other hand was sought after by the press every time she left her home. It didn’t help that Coby was assassinated on her birthday five days ago, making Veruca an easy subject for journalists to go after.

Bill pulls out a small rectangular box and slides it over to Veruca on the table top. Veruca seemed to snap out of her daze, curiously gazing at the box before looking up towards Bill. He simply gave her a small smile and nodded his head towards the gift. “A birthday gift.” Veruca’s face scrunched up, “But you already got me a gift, you don’t need to give me another one.” Bill shakes his head, nudging the box closer to her. “I insist. Besides, this one is undoubtedly special to you.”

Veruca was silent again, but seeing how Bill was adamant that she accept the gift, she took the small box in her hands. Just as she removed the top cover of the box, her breath hitched as the contents within was revealed. Inside laid a golden bullet connected to a chain necklace. Veruca instantly recognized the piece of jewelry. Picking up the bullet, she turned it over to see her brother’s name engraved into the pendant. Her green eyes glossed over as she ran her finger over the carved letters. “Where… where did you get this?”

“Lady Buckthorn-Snyde wanted to put it up on display in the Vault alongside the former monarchs’ belongings as another artifact, but it didn’t sit right with me.”

“Wow… of course she would do that.” Veruca laughed bitterly. “I’m surprised you got permission to take it though. I hear that woman is very tough to persuade.” RBill shrugged with a teasing grin, “Well, I never said I got permission.”

“You just took it?” Veruca had an incredulous look upon her face, a lighthearted huff escaping her lips. “Now if only they can find Coby’s cane. That one was actually a family heirloom, it belonged to my great grandfather.” Bill hummed, holding his chin in thought, “I haven’t seen his cane within the Kings’ Artifacts exhibit, but I’ll be sure to keep a look out for it.” Veruca responds with an appreciative smile.

“Well if it isn’t the King’s younger sister, Veruca McQuaid.” A voice calls out, causing the two to look over to see Patricia Rakepick approach their table. At the Ace’s presence, Veruca went quiet again. “Miss Veruca I haven’t seen you since the incident. I am not surprised though, after what happened I expected you would hide away for a while.” The Ace spoke aimlessly with a wave of her hand. The tone of her voice was empathetic, but there was an eerie chill, almost taunting, that followed. “Madame Ace, what a surprise to see you here.” Veruca quietly spoke, barely keeping the older woman’s gaze. Bill noticed Veruca’s reaction, leaving him confused to see her act so small in the Ace’s presence.

“I am merely taking a stroll, then I saw you and I must simply come by to say hello.” Rakepick’s cool demeanor was anything but comforting. Veruca felt as if the air around her was starting to suffocate her. Before Bill could greet the Ace himself, Rakepick’s cold gaze turned in his direction. Upon looking into her eyes, Bill froze, feeling a hitch in his breath. Now he knew why Veruca was so hesitant to face the Ace. The way the woman gazed at him was almost akin to a predator spying on its prey, ready to pounce. The world around him was slowly fading to grey as he maintained eye contact with the woman. The last remaining color Bill saw before everything faded in a sea of grey were the piercing cold blue ice peering down at him.

‘What the hell is going on?’ Questions rang through Bill’s head as he was frozen in place. He’s personally never met the Ace, only heard of her reputation being a brutal yet highly respected member of the court. But upon meeting her now, Bill wasn’t too fond of being in her presence. At least now he understood why Veruca felt so uncomfortable with Rakepick around. He snuck a glance over to Veruca to see her sitting tensely, eyes now casted onto the box he had given her.

A wicked smile graced the Ace’s sharp features, “And you must be the archaeologist the Curator spoke of. William Weasley was it? I see you’re well acquainted with Miss Veruca.” Swallowing the lump in his throat, Bill gave Rakepick a nervous smile, “Hello Madame Ace, that is correct. Veruca is a good friend of mine.” A quiet hum was her response. “I see. Well I do hope that Miss Veruca has been treating you well. She does not seem to realize that her incessant need for company can be seen as distracting and a burden.” Aghast by the accusation, Veruca quickly snapped her head up to Rakepick. “Excuse me?”

Bill shifted in his seat looking just as uncomfortable as Veruca, “I’m not sure what you mean by that. Veruca has been nothing but pleasant since I first came to Spades.”

“I am sure she has. Be careful around her though, Miss Veruca can be very demanding when she wants someone’s attention. Just take the late king for example. Tried to do his job as the country’s king, but his own sister kept getting in the way. Distracting him until, well, it’s all in the news. Everyone knows about it.”

“Madame Ace, that was uncalled for! Coby’s death was not my fault!”

“Was it really? Was it really not your fault that your brother is dead?” Rakepick turns her head back to the brunette, the gaze in her eyes scrutinizing and accusing, “Your brother had a role to play as the king of this country. Yet you constantly interrupt him of his duties, dragging him out of the palace to entertain your silly little ideas.” Veruca shakes her head, looking up at the older woman with a scowl, “That’s not true! I never distracted him, Coby—”

“Are you insinuating your brother was a slacker? That he cared less about his role as King and spoiled you because you are family?”

“N—no! I would never— I never said he—”

“King Coby was perceptive and sharp despite his laidback attitude.” Rakepick silenced her, “If you weren’t at the palace at the time of the assassination, his majesty would have easily detected the assassin. But he was too preoccupied with your presence.” Her eyes narrowed, glaring down at Veruca. “And his majesty couldn’t properly fight off his assailant as he was too focused on making sure you weren’t in the way.” The tension around them was getting heavy, Veruca couldn’t defend herself with Rakepick cutting her off at every chance. The people around them were quietly whispering amongst each other and sneaking glances their way. “But you got in the way, anyways. And now your brother is dead, and the country has no king.”

“That’s enough!” Bill slams his hands against the table, standing up with so much force the chair is knocked back. He steps between the two, shielding Veruca from any more of Rakepick’s torment. A deep frown crosses his features as he holds a stern glare towards the older woman. “Have you no damn shame! Veruca just lost her brother, and on her birthday no less! She doesn’t need you accusing her of something out of her control, have some damn empathy!” At Bill’s outburst, a guard stalks through the crowd ready to dispel the commotion.

“How unbefitting of you, Madam Ace, to be causing a scene in public. Most especially against King Coby’s sister.” An authoritative voice broke through the crowd, silencing everyone around as their eyes turned in the guard’s direction. Erika Rath, the Chancellor’s guard, stands before the three. Her arms were folded across her chest, standing tall and confident as she observed the group with a neutral expression. “It would be wise to control yourself, lest you would like the Chancellor to get involved. He’s a very busy man, Madame Ace, and he has no time to be dealing with your nonsense.”

“You have a lot of nerve to be talking down to me, soldier.” Rakepick snapped towards the blonde. “I should have you put through a restriction and a reduction in grade, for talking back to your superior.”

The expression on Erika’s face was intense, she steps closer to Rakepick, fiery gaze in her eyes, “I report directly to the Chancellor, Madame Ace, not you. And on his order, no one is to disturb the late King’s family as they mourn over their loss. You may be the Ace, Madame, but the Chancellor still ranks above you. You do not want to make him even angrier than he already is with you.” Rakepick says nothing, keeping up with the intense stare down with the guard. A few seconds passed before a cold smile reappeared on her face. “Apologies, Rath. It seems I have overstepped many boundaries today.” The Ace turns her attention back to Bill and Veruca, the two feeling a chill run down their spine as if they felt the older woman peer right through their souls. “My condolences Miss McQuaid. I do hope you can let this whole ordeal go. With the king gone, so many things are going on and everyone is clearly out of sorts.” She spoke with a hand over her heart as a sign of sincerity but there was none in her words. “I’m sure you can understand the stress we are all in.”

Her tone was sickenly sweet, it made Veruca feel sick. She struggled maintaining eye contact with the older woman, only managing a weak nod in response. Rakepick gave them one last icy smile before she left the cafe not even sparing a glance or a word to Erika. As soon as Rakepick was no longer in sight, the heavy tension went away and Bill let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Everyone was urged to continue on with what they were doing by Erika. Though there was an obvious awkwardness in the air. Who can just go back to sipping their tea and eating cakes after witnessing all of that? Erika turns to Bill and Veruca, simply giving them a nod and that she would inform the Chancellor of what had transpired. Bill thanks her and watches Erika leave to continue her patrol.

Once she was further away from them, Bill turned around to face Veruca. She had been quiet the entire time since he stepped in to confront Rakepick. She had a downcast look, and Bill noticed that her eyes were glossy. Her jaw was tightly clenched and he realized that she was trying to hold herself back from crying. Veruca flinches when a hand rests upon her shoulder, she looks up to see Bill giving her a reassuring smile. “Hey, it’s okay. I don’t think she’ll be bothering you anymore, today.” Veruca returns the gesture with a strained smile. “Thanks… you didn’t have to do that, though.” Bill simply waves her off with a shake of his head, “Oh come on, I couldn’t just stand by and let her harass you like that.”

He pulls out his handkerchief and hands it over to her. “Still hard to believe that woman is the Ace of the country.” Veruca hums in acknowledgement, taking the cloth and wiping her tears away, “A foul one, isn’t she? Never really liked her. At least you know the reason why. She has this arrogant aura around her due to her title, and it’s gotten worse since…,” she trails off, eyes glancing around before turning her gaze back to her companion, “well, you know… She started taking the mantle way too seriously, creating more strict policies on everything. Duncan isn’t too happy about her overstepping his authority.”

“I can imagine.” Bill huffs, returning to his seat, “She’s a hard woman to deal with, I give my praise to the Chancellor for lasting this long with her.” Veruca lets out a small laugh before going quiet again, the gloomy expression returning to her face. “Do you think it was really my fault?” Bill looks at her with a reassuring yet sad smile, “No, not at all. It’s an older sibling's nature to protect their younger sibling.” He gently pats her shoulder. “Don’t believe a thing Rakepick says. Coby obviously loved you and was happy to follow you wherever you wanted to go or let you into the palace. And don’t forget, he was willing to chase away anybody who tried to take advantage of you. Even if they were merely asking for directions.” Bringing up their first meeting, hoping it would at least brighten up Veruca’s mood a bit.

Veruca chuckles at that, remembering the encounter. “Yeah, he does have an aggressive way in dealing with creeps.” A surprised gasp comes from Bill, “I’m a creep? Now that’s just hurtful, Veruca.” He frowns, feigning offense and holding a hand to his chest. “And here I thought we were friends.” Veruca rolls her eyes at his comment, “With the shoddy haircut you had at the time, you were definitely a creep.”

“Hey, I told you already my mother was the one that cut it! That wasn’t my fault.”

“No offense to your mother, but you seriously need to get someone else to cut it.”

“Who says I plan to cut it? I’m growing it out. It looks better this way, don’t you think?”

“Well it certainly is an upgrade to your old look. Being an archaeologist pays nicely, huh? Don’t have to worry about your precious hand-me-downs being ruined.” Veruca jests. The two often poked fun at each other’s appearance in a light hearted manner.

A smile breaks out on Bill’s face seeing Veruca brighten up again. Fear, pain and sadness were not emotions Bill had ever associated with Veruca. However after today’s events, he was more open to realizing how much Veruca keeps so much to herself. Veruca hardly had much reason to express any negative emotions, and if she did she kept it hidden, bottling it up so no one ever knew she was upset. ‘The pressure of being the king’s little sister must have gotten to her.’ Bill solemnly thinks, watching Veruca finish up the last of her tarts. With Coby gone, Veruca is much more vulnerable to people with bad intentions. It was obvious with the journalists and then today with Rakepick. Duncan, Wilhelmina and Elroy can only do so much, but they know they can’t watch over Veruca all the time.

“You alright there, Bill?” He must have had a weird look on his face judging by the way Veruca was staring at him. He simply smiled, shaking his head, “Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” It was then that Bill made a promise not just to himself, but to Coby as well, that he would stand by Veruca and watch after her. After all, it is in the older sibling’s nature to protect their younger sibling.

#ariparri #hphm cardverse #bill weasley #veruca mcquaid #coby mcquaid #patricia rakepick #erika rath #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery

[ariparri]

Coby McQuaid Introduction

Finally Veruca's one and only brother, the source of her stress and frustration, Coby McQuaid, gets an introduction here!

The Jacob of my version for Hogwarts Mystery. The Jacob that actually has some sense and isn't a damn idiot to fall for Peregrine's stupid plan 🙄

❌ NO REPOSTING ❌

———————————————————

Coby McQuaid is a pure blood Irish wizard. He is the eldest son of Elroy and Wilhelmina and Veruca’s brother. Coby was born on the 26th of November 1962. While he cares for his sister, the two have a very competitive relationship. Their competitive natures also caused them to engage in childish disputes that continued on into adulthood. Coby may be the oldest, but he can definitely be the most immature between the two, something Veruca often points out, causing Coby to whine about it. They can never play any game together as their competitiveness gets out of hand and someone ends up tackling the other to the ground.

Coby McQuaid, is a confident, energetic, outgoing, brash, and informal young man, who revels in his freedom from order and responsibility. He is charismatic and well liked by those around him. He often does whatever he likes on whim with a macho and confident attitude.

He enters both duels and flying races with unabashed confidence, often thinking that every event is one big and crazy party. His most gifted trait is his ability to live life as it comes, never worrying what others think of him and treasuring his own personal values. While others may see him as a simple rebel, he does have some code of personal ethics and will stand for those who can't defend themselves. He feels that duels should be fought fairly and doesn't condone picking on the weak. He also admires bravery and often feels compelled to stick up for the underdogs.

Proud of his heritage and gung-ho for flying and dueling, he has a tendency to get lost in the thrill and forget his limits. Therefore, he often relied on the wisdom and responsibility of his friends, Olivia Green and Duncan Ashe, to keep him focused and on track. He is grateful for any helping hand and strives to repay his debts in kind. Carson's overall assessment of him implies that his unpredictability is not merely based on a whim, but out of consideration for his family. In Hogwarts, he joined the Dueling Club in favor of Quidditch, but often held flying races in the Pitch.

After seeing the way Diego interacts with Veruca, Coby has been extremely wary of the younger male. Although knowing his sister is no longer a child, it's his brotherly instincts that often kick in whenever Veruca either mentions or hangs out with Diego. To see if he was a good match for his sister, Coby dueled Diego and admitted he wasn't taking it easy on him. He eventually started respecting Diego for his skills and had warmed up to the younger male when he started showing he was serious about Veruca. While it took time for him to approve the relationship, it is still taking a long time getting used to his baby sister being in one.

After R had been fully taken care of, Coby moved back to Kinsale, Ireland. He lives a relaxing life in a cabin on a private beach. He doesn't marry or have any kids, but owns two Chesapeake Bay Retrievers named Rosie and Eugene. He also works as a bartender in one of the nearby bars and usually handles the drinks during family gatherings and parties. Coby also got a small tattoo of a butterfly on the left side of his neck a symbol of his great grandmother Avis.

Coby has a coffee addiction. He used to drink tea because of his Nana, but switched to coffee after he needed something to keep him up whenever he pulled all-nighters. He never went back to tea after that. When Veruca was still drinking out of a sippy cup, there was no more of her favorite juice so Coby filled her cup with some coffee. Ever since then, Veruca started craving for coffee and would throw her cup away if she was given juice. Elroy found out was upset his little girl was getting caffeine high at an extremely young age.

#ariparri #coby mcquaid #hphm #hphm jacob #hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery jacob #harry potter hogwarts mystery

[ariparri]

I finally found him and he just runs off?!

Oohhh you're evoking so many emotions in me Jacob.

Veruca you need to be ANGRIER!! 🤬😡

They get back to Hogwarts and Veruca is beating a training dummy with her beater bat! She needs to let out all that pent up frustration she's been holding in because of the vaults, Rakepick and Coby.

#veruca mcquaid #coby mcquaid #hogwarts mystery #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hphm mc #hogwarts mystery mc #jacob's sibling

[ariparri]

Hogwarts Mystery Masterlist

Blog masterpost | Cardverse Masterlist | Magic Awakened | Hogwarts Legacy

Veruca McQuaid

Bio

Portrait (Hogwarts)

Portrait (Post Hogwarts)

Y4-6 Design | Other Designs

Ship of DieRuca (Diego x Veruca)

The Missing Plaque

St. Patrick's Design & Reference

Gambat

Christmas Sweater

Daddy's Little Girl

Traditional Dancing

Halloween Art

Happy Birthday Veruca

Past, Present, Future

Nightmare

Loading Screen

Carson Ivey

Introduction

Portrait (Old)

Old Design

Potions

Post Hogwarts Portrait

St. Patrick's Design & Reference

Scavenger Hunt

Happy Birthday Carson

Valentine Card

Traditional Dancing

Loading Screen 1, 2, 3

Then vs Now

Sparkly Eyes

Caster Ship 1, 2, 3

Christmas

Coby McQuaid

Introduction

St. Patrick's Design & Reference

McQuaid Family

Patronus

Other Content

Fanart

Elroy McQuaid

Y8 Andre Hairstyle Concept

Y8 Skye Hairstyle Concepts

Y8 Penny Redesign

Y8 Merula & Ismelda Desings

Ismelda Redesign/Revamp

Ismelda Scene Redraw

Masquerade 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

✨Pain✨

Flipped AU

Mother's Day

Valentine's Cards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Hairstyle Wishlist

Beserker Rowan

Fiction

Dancing, Duelling, and Diego (pt.1)

First Kiss

Camping Trip

His Princess

Flowers

Collabs & Templates

Your OCs Here

Christmas Collab

Friendship Reward

Romance Reward

Scavenger Hunt

Chocolate Frog Card

Side Quest Template

#hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery masterlist #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #veruca mcquaid #carson ivey #coby mcquaid

[carewyncromwell]

"Started out on a one-way train -- Always knew where I was gonna go next -- Didn't know until I saw your face I was missin' out on every moment..."

x~x~x~x

HPHM Cardverse developed by @ariparri // read more about "the Counselor" Duncan Ashe here! // See Jacob as Duncan's Right-Hand Man // credit for the new and improved physics lecture goes to @ag907!! Thank you, sweetie!! 💚

x~x~x~x

It wasn't a surprise to much of anyone when Duncan Ashe became the Jack of Spades. He had become a well-respected member of the previous Jack's court even while still at university, and even throughout his schooling, he was known for being both incredibly driven and ambitious. Even if yes, he also became a bit of a rulebreaker upon befriending Coby McQuaid, his strong work ethic and cleverness were never to be questioned. Combine this with a good sense of dress, and most would agree the young man embodied the part of someone who would easily climb the social ladder.

Duncan Ashe knew where he was going. He was going to be successful, and he was going to do it by beating out all of his competition both academically and in life overall. And that is why he took on the responsibility of working under the Jack of Spades, Ulrich Scheller, while also being a full-time student at the University of Spades. It did result in a lack of sleep, sure, and it did make it so he often had to finish homework in strange locations, such as in the middle of press conferences and against the wall of his dormroom while he got dressed in the morning...but it would all be worth it, in the end. Even if he had to finish up complex physics assignments while sitting on the way-too-full trolley heading out of the capitol, Duncan shrugged it off and just kept going.

Or, at least, he did, when he didn't have random strangers standing next to him on the trolley distracting him.

"Physics, huh? That's fun."

Duncan looked up.

Standing over him was a modestly-sized, rather messily-dressed young man about his age with curly dark hair, carrying a beat-up old leather bag at his side. Unlike Duncan, who was dressed in a well-tailored vest and slacks, this person was dressed for hard labor, with his pants tucked into a pair of scuffed-up black boots and faded oil and grease stains on his long-sleeved linen shirt. Even the muscles outlined under his long sleeves were a good indicator that this person was more of a "blue collar" sort than Duncan was.

"What's this? Fourier transforms?" the young man pointed a grubby finger to Duncan’s homework assignment.

Completely taken aback and lost for words, Duncan nodded yes.

"Oh, that's fun!" the stranger said brightly. His almond-shaped blue eyes were very bright as he examined the homework Duncan had in his lap. "You've gotten your sines and cosines mixed up, though -- I think that's what's holding you up on the second one. See, the integral of cosine is sine, not the other way around. Oh, and the answer is supposed to be negative -- we don't use absolute value here. Personally I've always preferred Laplace transforms over Fourier, but they aren't as applicable in physics. The only reason Laplace transforms really took off at all was because of that one fascist prat in Hearts who studied them a long while back -- forgot his name, I'll have to ask Mum -- but even if he was a creep in his politics, he did bring Laplace transforms into the modern era. Reckon people would've had to develop an entirely different way to solve higher order differential equations without them..."

For a moment, all Duncan could do was blink blankly. Finally, like a rubber band, Duncan's surprise and utter disbelief snapped back into defensiveness. He slapped his arms roughly over his work to cover it.

"All right!" he said, his face flushed a bit despite himself. "You've -- you've certainly made your point..."

Duncan couldn't help but goggle a bit.

"Are you a math major or something?" he asked. His black eyes lingered on the boy's dirty shirt and toned arms. Surely not -- any self-respecting university student would have to dress better than this --

The young man, though, only grinned. "Nah, no university for me. I didn't even finish high school."

Duncan's mouth fell open. "You didn't even finish -- ?"

You have got to be kidding me. Some high school drop-out is standing here giving me a lecture about how to do my physics homework?

"Well, the schools up north aren't the greatest -- after a while, I just kind of got fed up," said Jacob. "Plus it's not like getting straight A's or gold stars is any actual indication of intelligence -- it's really more indicative of how well you can jump through hoops, and well, even dumb animals in a circus can do that..."

Duncan flushed, offended.

"And yet those 'dumb animals' could do it, while you couldn't," he said sharply.

"Guess I just like applying my brain to more useful activities," the young man said with a shrug.

"Like fixing mechanical horses and streetcars, I suppose?" Duncan said very dryly, shooting another condescending look at the oil stains on the man's collar.

"Sure," the young man said brightly, not sounding the least bit offended. "Though that's only Mondays and Wednesdays -- got Pik's on Tuesday and Thursday and the library on Fridays..."

He abruptly looked up through the window with slight surprise.

"...Hey, don't you get off here? This is the university."

Duncan realized with a start that the trolley was driving on, passing the university.

With a bolt of panic, he shot up out of his seat, his papers spilling out over the floor so he could get up and pull the string.

"Stop! Stop the trolley!"

The trolley came to a screeching halt. Grumbling in anxiety under his breath, Duncan quickly stuffed his papers into his briefcase and then hurriedly stumbled off the car and off to class.

It wasn't until Duncan took a catalogue of all of his paperwork at home that night that he realized he was missing one page of the physics assignment he'd been working on. He grumbled sourly to Coby about it and the stupid guy on the trolley that made it so he'd now have to do the work all over again for close to a hour, before finally giving up and turning in for the night. He'd just have to work on it tomorrow.

You can imagine Duncan's surprise, therefore, when the following morning, the trolley driver actually handed Duncan a piece of paper after he paid her for the ride as usual.

"Jacob wanted me to give this to you, if I saw you," she said with a wry smile. "He worked on it for the rest of his trolley ride home yesterday -- he saw the due date was in three days, so he hoped I could get it to you before then."

Duncan stared. The page was covered with equations, all scrawled in exquisite detail despite the messiness of the writing.

The stranger who had to be named "Jacob" had finished not only the problem Duncan had been struggling with, but all of them.

~*~

Duncan didn't collide with Jacob again the rest of that week. His hours at Pik's (which turned out to be a tavern -- Coby had heard of it, even if Duncan hadn't) seemed to start very early in the morning, way before Duncan was even out of bed, and whatever library Jacob was assigned to, it must not have been on the route the trolley took into the capitol. Even on the weekend, Jacob was nowhere to be found -- likely taking some well-earned time off at home, Duncan presumed. And so the university student didn't have any potential chance to follow up with Jacob about him having done his work for him until the following week, after Duncan got the assignment back. And when Duncan did see Jacob again, it wasn't on his afternoon trolley ride south to the university -- it was through the trolley's window.

That Monday, Duncan's entire day had gotten off to a terrible start when the trolley's doors had gotten stuck in a half-open position, making it unable to run. As fate would have it, though, Jacob had been at the following stop, and upon being tipped off to the trolley's problem, he ran several blocks up to go help. Soon he'd rolled up his long sleeves and taken a toolkit out of his worn brown bag and immediately set about taking the door apart to fix it.

Duncan looked through the window, tilting his head to try to get a better look at what Jacob was doing.

The curly-haired young man had completely removed the door from the trolley and was now cleaning the interior, scraping out the gunk on the inside and lubricating the rusted hinges with oil. His muscles -- exposed by his rolled-up sleeves -- bulged slightly as he hoisted the door into place and held it there with one arm while screwing the hinge back on with his free hand. His bicep flexed while holding the heavy door, making veins pulse to life through his pale skin.

He was strong.

Duncan caught himself staring and mentally slapped himself. Good thing too, because the very next moment Jacob looked up and caught Duncan's eye through the window.

Jacob blinked, his blue eyes widening just a bit. Then they lit up and he gave a happy little nod, unable to wave due to his hands being full.

"Hey, Ashe!" he greeted.

Duncan was taken aback. "...You know my name?"

"The driver told me," said Jacob. "At least she said she thought that was your name...she caught a glimpse of your student ID once, and she thought it said 'Ashe.' And she reckoned you kind of looked like the rest of the Ashe family -- not that I'd know, never much been anywhere downtown..."

Duncan's lips came together just a bit. He'd never been very close to his family -- his father in particular -- so the reminder that people could see any physical resemblance wasn't particularly cheery.

"The name's Duncan Ashe," he said briskly. "And you would be Jacob, right?"

"Right! Jacob Cromwell," the curly-haired man responded offhandedly.

Duncan raised his eyebrows. "Cromwell? As in the Diamond Empire jewelers?"

Jacob's eyes flashed with dislike. "They're my mum's family. But we don't talk to those prats."

Duncan felt a pang of empathy, thinking of his own family. Something a bit more serious then flickered through Jacob's expression.

"...Were you able to turn in that assignment on time?" Jacob asked. "I hoped you hadn't gotten through it all a second time, by the time you got it back."

Duncan felt his cheeks actually darken with a light flush.

"Oh, ah...yes, I was," he said. He averted his eyes. "I did have to write it out again myself so it'd be in my handwriting, but...what you did was...helpful."

If by "helpful," he meant getting the highest marks he'd gotten in physics class so far.

Jacob gave something of a weak smile. "...Well, I'm sorry you had to write it again -- I'd finished it so you wouldn't have to..."

"Well, yeah, but it wasn't in my handwriting, so someone would've known it wasn't mine, if I'd turned it in that way," Duncan blustered. "Anyway, it...doesn't really matter, it did save me a lot of time, not having to do the math myself. Though I am still a little confused about how you knew how to do it, when you said you never even finished high school."

"I read books in the mathematics section of the library sometimes, during the slower hours," Jacob said with an offhand shrug.

Duncan blinked in surprise.

"You learned all that just from reading library books?" he asked. The courtier couldn't help but be impressed.

"Sure," said Jacob leisurely. "Once you get the theory down, all it really takes is putting it into practice. I just finished up the last of the books on number theory," he added almost as an afterthought. "About a third done with the history section too. Though the science section is actually my favorite to explore -- I recently checked out a book on the biochemistry of various viruses, and it's fascinating. It astounds me that the court of Spades hasn't pushed for using the principle of reverse genetics to develop new vaccines..."

Jacob finally finished screwing the door back into place and, with a bounce in his step, straightened up.

"Go ahead and give it a try now!" he told the trolley driver.

The driver did, and with a ding, the door closed and then opened again like a charm.

Everyone on the trolley burst into applause as Jacob and the other people waiting to board outside all climbed aboard. Several even gave Jacob hearty slaps to the back.

"Thank you so much," the driver said, his blanched face curled up in a weak, relieved smile. "I don't know how I'll ever thank you -- "

"Sounds to me like you just did," Jacob said with a rather handsome smile.

"I've got to at least pay you for your work -- how about -- ?"

"Don't worry about it," said Jacob flippantly.

Without even seeming to notice the driver's attempt to protest, he slid a few coins into the slot by the door to pay for his ride and strolled into the trolley. He sidled into the open seat next to Duncan, grinning broadly. Duncan cocked his eyebrows at the shorter man.

"You could've at the very least accepted a free ride," the well-dressed student pointed out dryly. "The driver was clearly trying to offer it to you."

Then maybe you could save up for some halfway decent clothes, he couldn't help but add to himself, eying Jacob's outfit. It was the exact same one he'd seen him in before, though with perhaps one or two more grease stains.

Jacob blinked. "Really? Huh..."

He shrugged this off very easily, though.

"Oh, well -- I can pay for it, so I may as well. Wasn't doing it for pay in the first place, after all."

Did this guy seriously just shrug off the fact that he could've saved some money when his boots looked like they were a few steps removed from second-hand? Duncan raised his eyebrows.

"Just because you benefited from the trolley being fixed doesn't mean you didn't earn some reward for what you did."

"Oh, I know, but..." Jacob shrugged. "I honestly wasn't even thinking of my own commute, right then. I just knew the driver was having trouble, and I was pretty sure I could help, so I wanted to try. I like solving people's problems," he added with another grin.

Duncan considered Jacob for a moment. It was so strange, how someone who could talk so much about absolutely nothing could come across as so...innocent, in a strange way. So sincere and generous, while also being so clueless about other people's feelings and social cues...

Jacob was a strange person. A strange person, but...interesting.

Little by little, Duncan actually found himself smiling too, though much more wryly.

"...Hm."

Jacob turned his focus to the window as the trolley began to move. Duncan and he fell into a contented silence, which was broken when Duncan initiated conversation again.

"...Which library do you work at?"

"The one uptown, near the museum!" Jacob said with a grin. "My mum recently became a curator there...we generally walk home together those days, so we can pick up Wyn from school on the way. Anyhow, Mum's the most smashing curator -- never been great around lots of people, but she's so smart...she outclasses everyone else there, easily. One day she told me about this new exhibit she's been helping with on the history and short-lived reign of the Knave of Hearts -- bloody as all get out, mind you, but brilliant..."

Before long, Jacob had gone on a long tangent about the history behind the Knave of Hearts's reign and the boom in technological advancements that cropped up in the rest of Cinderhaven in response to refugees fleeing the Kingdom of Hearts. Duncan was having trouble following all of it, but Jacob's passion was remarkable enough to sit through -- it was like sitting beside a raging fire just to enjoy its warmth. And in those times when Duncan found himself on the same wavelength as Jacob, he found a strange excitement pulsing through him as well.

"...And well, out of that, we got new tanks, models of mechanical horses, gas stoves -- even our modern streetcars," said Jacob. "All that, just from immigrants coming here, to explore greater opportunities."

Duncan nodded. "I've put in several proposals to the Jack of Spades, for just that reason."

Not that he's willing to do anything the least bit differently than how they've always been done, he thought dully.

"There's so much potential for growth, if we just invest in projects at home. And if Spades invested more in developing those technologies used for transportation, then it could even encourage other technologically sharp minds in other parts of Cinderhaven to settle here."

Jacob beamed. "Oh, for sure! But you know, I reckon that's only one component, the improving of our transportation methods. It's also about the fuel we use."

"Finding a way to increase coal production to meet demand, you mean?" asked Duncan.

"Yeah, sort of -- but to increase production, we'd also have to make improvements on how it's done," Jacob pointed out. "Coal is smashing and all, but it's still a toxic substance. Prolonged exposure runs the risk of kidney damage, lung damage, heart damage...even it just being too close to running water has proved dangerous. Not to mention coal mines are ridiculously unsafe."

Duncan nodded grimly. The Jack of Spades had received several reports about that, though he'd sort of treated it as "par the course," for such "unskilled" labor.

"So you think the first step would be improving conditions for those coal miners," Duncan surmised.

"Right!" said Jacob. "And well, it wouldn't be too hard! We already have windowed submarines that help us breathe and travel safely underwater...all we'd really need is a way to adapt that concept for use in mines! Some sort of a submarine suit, for use underground instead of underwater...oh!"

The curly-haired man abruptly shot to his feet and grabbed the string, tugging down on it sharply to tell the trolley to stop. Duncan looked up, startled, as the trolley came to a stop right outside the university.

"Didn't want you to miss your stop," said Jacob with a slightly cheeky smile.

"I suppose it is the least you can do," Duncan said coolly, "considering you almost made me miss my stop for a second time."

He got to his feet and headed for the trolley door. In the door frame, though, he paused, and he glanced back at Jacob.

"...You work at Pik's Tavern, right?" he asked.

Jacob blinked. "Yeah -- Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Duncan's lips curled up into a very small smirk. "I'll try to pop in sometime. I could use a place to eat with a good discount...that is, if knowing a guy there would put me in good standing?"

Jacob beamed so brightly that his blue eyes actually sparkled a bit.

"10% off your order, if you ask for me by name!" he said brightly.

Duncan's smirk broadened a bit. "10%? That's not bad. All right -- tomorrow morning, then, before I head into work."

"It's a date, then!" Jacob called back, as Duncan finally climbed off the trolley.

Once he'd stepped off, Duncan found his eyes darting up to the trolley as it closed its doors and drove off. He also found his heart beating just that little bit faster and his cheeks flushing as he brought a hand through his hair, looking away again quickly.

A date, then, he recurred Jacob's offhand remark in his own head. Duncan tried to push the memory down, even as it made his lips spread into an amused smile.

Obviously he'd never date an idiot like Jacob Cromwell...but talking with him some more would be fun. It'd be like spending time with Coby, back in grade school -- except with someone who couldn't read social cues and went on ridiculous, rambling tangents about absolutely nothing...

But it could be fun. Listening to Jacob get carried away by his own passions and getting a bit swept up in them himself for a while...that could be fun.

~*~

That day Duncan ended up bringing up the idea of applying reverse genetics to future vaccinations during a meeting with the Jack of Spades and his other courtiers. It was an idea that prompted an muted nod of approval from the Jack, as well as a few side-long glances from the other courtiers that made it clear they wished they'd proposed the idea.

Jacob would've probably been blissfully unaware of those envious looks, Duncan thought to himself in amusement. He probably would've also gone a whirlwind tangent about how to apply the same vaccination principles to the farming of produce or something.

~*~

When Duncan visited Pik's Tavern the following morning, he wasn't served by Jacob, as he'd expected -- instead, after eating one of the best breakfasts he'd had in his life, Duncan found a scrawled note on the receipt his female server had brought him.

10% off, as promised! Hope I cooked the eggs all right -- if you'd like them runnier next time, just let me know. Jacob C

The bloke could cook. The knowledge made Duncan stare at the little note on the receipt a bit longer than he should've.

After stewing in his thoughts for a moment, Duncan finally decided to bite the bullet and ask his server about when Jacob got off work. The server gave him a knowing smile.

"He's supposed to only work mornings," she explained, "but he always stays later. I reckon Jacob would stay and work for a full twelve hours, if we'd let him...but he always heads out, whenever his sister gets here."

Duncan blinked. "His sister?"

The memory of Jacob mentioning a "Wyn" rippled over his mind.

"Carewyn's her name," said the server fondly. "She's a sweet little thing -- smarter than her brother too, sometimes. She's still in grade school, but she always takes the trolley after school to 'pick Jacob up' when he's working here, so they can head home together." She gave a soft laugh behind her hand. "It's absolutely adorable."

The thought of Coby carrying his sister Veruca on his shoulders when she was little rippled over Duncan's mind, and it made something a little softer flit through his expression.

"...I see..."

Well, there went the idea of talking to Jacob some more after he got off work... Duncan considered his options for a moment before speaking again.

"...I'll be off then," he said at last, his voice incredibly business-like. "Tell Jacob I'll be back Thursday morning -- and if possible, I'd like to give him a review of his cooking in person."

~*~

From then on, Duncan would come into Pik's Tavern every Tuesday and Thursday morning on his way into the capitol, Jacob would cook him a scrumptious breakfast spread, and they would talk while Duncan ate. More than once Duncan would pay for Jacob's meal too so that he could eat with him -- if nothing else, he said gruffly, he should reimburse the Tavern for "stealing" one of their chefs for an hour or so twice a week.

As he and Jacob sat together, they would talk about various things -- economics, dirigibles, medicine, anthropology, music, renewable energy, joke shops, trains, mythology, biodegradable alternatives to household goods...anything and everything. They'd also talk about themselves, sometimes. Jacob would gush about his sister Carewyn, who was as sweet and small as a cherub, but brave and smart as a whip, and his mother Lane, who was soft-spoken and hated crowds, but was the gentlest and smartest person he knew. Duncan would talk about Coby -- about how laid-back and fun he was to be around, about all the trouble they got into at school together...about how much he loved his sister Veruca, and how much Jacob had reminded him of his best friend. Duncan would talk about his father and how they never spoke after the death of his mother -- how Duncan was working at the court of Spades and was determined to really be somebody, his own person, on his own and successful and free to do as he liked. Jacob would talk about how his father abandoned his family, leaving Jacob to drop out of school so as to help keep his family afloat financially through his multiple part-time jobs, and how he taught himself using books from the library, since he lacked the money or qualifications to attend university himself. Sometimes Jacob would even sing! Duncan caught the other man's tenor voice echoing several times out of the kitchen on his way out to greet him, and each time the soaring, carefree tone would make Duncan's heart skip a beat.

The two young men would talk and talk until finally both Jacob and Duncan had cleared their plates and had to get back to their respective jobs. And at Duncan's job in particular, he found the subjects of his meetings with Jacob returning to his mind more and more, whenever he'd meet with the rest of court.

"If we're looking for funds for these projects," Duncan proposed one day, "then perhaps technology could provide some solutions. Sure, we don't have enough money to pay for a new school right now...but investing in energy that's renewable, rather than single-use, could make it cheaper to refuel the machines needed to build these new structures. Water, for instance -- it's still only been used on the large scale right now with dams, but hydroelectric power could be a great alternative, if it could be duplicated on a smaller scale."

Afterward the Jack of Spades actually pulled Duncan aside to speak to him privately.

Ulrich Scheller was a very austere, by-the-book sort of man. Duncan had never once see him smile, and he and Coby both reckoned no one had ever heard him crack a joke in his life. Ulrich was very tall and stiff-shouldered, dressed in a high-necked black and white tweed coat that made him look like a vicar. He was losing some of his blond hair, so he'd combed his gelled hair down a bit to obscure it, but it didn't appear comical: if anything, it only made his forehead appear taller and his face appear longer and pointier, by extension.

"Your idea is really quite inventive," said the older man, his eyes boring into Duncan very carefully. "I hope you don't mind if I discuss it with the King, when next I speak with him?"

Duncan was startled. The Jack actually wanted to tell the King about something he'd suggested?

"Of course not," he said very quickly, once he'd recovered.

"Good," said Ulrich.

He crossed his arms behind him, strolling over to the window and looking out.

"...The King was very positive, when someone passed along your idea about vaccines. He came to me specifically requesting that I invest more in our local laboratories for the coming year. ...I don't think I've ever heard the King speak so passionately about infrastructure before."

The Jack's eyes watched Duncan's reflection in the window carefully. Duncan felt like an invisible hand was squeezing his stomach in a vice grip.

"...Thank you," Duncan said after a moment.

"Your hard work and resourcefulness have garnered quite a lot of attention," the Jack pressed on. "Investing in biodegradable tools, applying submarine technology to mining equipment...even the Ace of Spades has noticed. I think I even caught her expressing some interest in some of your ideas -- or at least, adapting them for her particular department..."

Ulrich gave Duncan an almost curious look.

"I must admit, Mr. Ashe...you are an impressive young man."

Duncan felt ill.

The praise should've been so validating -- after all, Duncan had worked incredibly hard, and he did want to be seen as valuable to the Court of Spades...but he'd only brought up Jacob's ideas because they were objectively good ideas -- they had to be, if the King reacted so well to them! Duncan hadn't really planned to take sole credit for those ideas...and now that he was set to, he found himself feeling trapped. On the one hand, he didn't want to take credit for ideas that Jacob had come up with all by himself, without even a formal education...but on the other hand, he didn't know how the Jack of Spades would respond to the knowledge that Duncan had earned all of this respect through promoting ideas developed by someone else...

"Mr. Ashe?" said Ulrich. "Is something the matter?"

Duncan shot out of his reverie. "No, sir."

He paused. Jacob's grinning face swam over his mind.

"Guess I just like applying my brain to more useful activities."

"Wasn't doing it for pay in the first place, after all."

"I honestly wasn't even thinking of my own commute, right then. I just knew the driver was having trouble, and I was pretty sure I could help, so I wanted to try. I like solving people's problems."

Jacob never looked for any kind of reward, for the work he put in. He didn't ever seem to want anything selfishly for himself. All he ever seemed to care about was solving problems -- knowing that what he'd done had been helpful to others...

Even so...

Duncan swallowed.

"...I can't take credit for those ideas, sir," he admitted lowly at last. "All I did was share them -- "

"Shared them at very critical moments," Ulrich cut him off smoothly. "They were timely and educated suggestions. You clearly put a lot of thought into them..."

"No, I didn't," Duncan said, a bit more loudly than he meant.

He very quickly reigned his emotions back in as best he could.

"...I mean, yes, they were applicable to the task at hand -- and yes, I have worked hard, and I appreciate you noticing..."

The young man swallowed again, trying to steady his courage.

"...But those ideas...I didn't come up with them on my own. They weren't even my ideas in the first place -- they're someone else's."

Duncan averted his eyes, unable to look at his superior.

"...He's the inventive one. I just...recalled his ideas, during those conferences."

The Jack of Spades considered Duncan for a long moment. Then, to Duncan's shock, he actually smirked slightly.

"Mr. Ashe," Ulrich said coolly, "you misunderstood my compliment completely. I never expected all of those ideas to be solely your own invention -- for however smart you fancy yourself to be, you are still only a student," he added rather dryly. "You have so much still to learn -- about politics, about the world. About mankind overall. That's why it's a remarkable talent, to discern which voices to listen to...to pinpoint good ideas when you hear them and promote them to others who might be too afraid to pursue them, despite their novelty. ...It's a talent I've lacked for a very long time..."

The Jack turned around to face Duncan properly, his arms still folded stiffly behind him.

"Yes, perhaps others presumed these ideas were fully germinated from your brain, but I was never so foolish to. Speaking from experience, however -- there's nothing inherently wrong with being influenced by the people around you, especially if they are both valuable and trustworthy. And from the sound of things...the people who've inspired you have been fortunate enough to earn your trust."

Duncan felt that hand squeezing his stomach loosen its grip. He relaxed slightly, relieved that his position hadn't been compromised -- but there was still something restless, in his feet.

"...Thank you, sir," he said.

Duncan paused. Then, after a moment, he spoke with a big more strength in his voice.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"There's this man I know. He's my age, but his mind...it's inventive, truly inventive, in a way mine isn't. ...I think he'd be invaluable, in developing new interior projects for the Country of Spades."

Ulrich cocked his eyebrows, interested.

"If you think so, perhaps you should invite him to court."

Duncan's heart gave a leap of surprise as Ulrich strolled over to the door of his office.

"...You give your approval, sir?" Duncan asked, delighted.

"After tonight, Mr. Ashe," the Jack said cryptically, "I don't think you'll need it."

He didn't explain himself at all before he strode away.

It was only when Duncan returned home that he found the official Spades-sealed letter that had been delivered to his door.

Dear Mr. Ashe, We are pleased to inform you that you have been nominated -- with nearly universal approval from the Court of Spades -- to take on Master Ulrich Scheller's position as the Jack of Spades.

~*~

Within a few weeks, Duncan had taken on the mantle of the new Jack of Spades. The same day Duncan was inaugurated, Jacob Cromwell put in his letter of resignation at the mechanic shop, Pik's Tavern, and the uptown library near his home and took a full-time job as an advisor and technology expert at the court of Spades under Duncan.

The rest of the courtiers honestly didn't know what to make of Jacob at first, but fortunately even those who'd looked upon him with the most scorn eventually came to see how truly brilliant the young man was. More than a few times, Patricia Rakepick tried to coax Jacob to make some more militaristic modifications to his blueprints -- but to Duncan's satisfaction, Jacob always ended up finding a way to blow the Ace of Spades off.

"Why would you use mining suits on a battlefield anyway?" Jacob asked with a deep frown. "They'd get trashed up so fast you'd have to fix them over and over...so pointless..."

Duncan smiled wryly. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised you have more interest in building mechanical bees than bombs and tanks."

"Well, of course!" said Jacob as if it were obvious. "Mechanical bees can help with the shrinking bee population. With artificial pollinators in the mix, we can both help the environment and improve food and medicine production! Not to mention the technology could be applied to larger models, once it's perfected -- imagine! Mechanical winged horses that can pull our own modified flying carriages! Mechanical carrier pigeons to deliver messages! Maybe even mechanical dragons! Imagine the uses that could give to a welder, or a baker...anyone in the culinary industry, really..."

Duncan found himself smiling absently as he let Jacob go off on another one of his dreamy tangents. His subordinate's blue eyes had drifted skyward ages ago, as it often did whenever he was thinking hard, but they sparkled like happy aquamarine gems.

Jacob hadn't had a lot of opportunities in his life, prior to meeting Duncan. After meeting him, though, Duncan hoped he'd have more, much more.

Because someone this resilient...this brilliant, this passionate, this idealistic and good...even with all the disadvantages he'd had and all the struggles he'd had to overcome and all the reasons he had to resent the world and his place in it...

He deserved to be celebrated. He deserved to be great, and appreciated, and successful -- to be able to do what he wanted to do and chase all of his sky-high dreams as far as they'd take him...

Jacob deserved to feel important. Because...he was. To Duncan, at the very least...he was important.

#cardverse au #hphm cardverse #duncan ashe #jacob cromwell #my writing #coby mcquaid #veruca mcquaid #carewyn cromwell #graaaaah I love these two so much #doesn't matter what universe #LMAO though duncan I see you eying my boy #1) bad fashion but cute 2) smart AF 3) muscles 👀👀👀 4) CAN COOK OMG 5) wubs his sis like my BFF awwww #you are so whipped boy hahahaha

[ariparri]

St. Patrick's Day Outfits

Gave my characters their own St. Patrick's Day outfit because I'm not a fan of the one JC made. It feels like we already have an outfit like that and that hairstyle sucks.

I could have also just brought back Veruca's Irish Step Dancing costume. There's green in that costume it could have worked!

And it's only now that I realize that the clover is supposed to have four leaves not three 🤦‍♀️

❌ NO REPOSTING ❌

●■●■●■●■●■●■●■●■●

Coby gives off pimp vibes from this design. Then again, he is a player and his Cardverse design also makes him look like one 🤣 His design here was also supposed to come with a feather coat or whatever they're called but it was too much. Maybe for the drawing I have in mind I'll add it 😆

Veruca, my sweet girl! Of course I am going to give her a dress. Veruca's attire mostly consists of skirts and dresses. Her design here is mostly inspired by fantasy tavern maids/waitresses. I feel like I remember seeing a costume like this in one of the many anime I watched. Also, the tiny hat. Veruca looks good with tiny hats, I definitely like how her headpiece suited her Cardverse design.

Carson's attire was inspired by all the St.Patrick's Day/Leprechaun costumes you can find on Google. Of course, I had to give it some flair to suit Carson's style. I even replaced his cassette tape earring for a golden clover. I was a little worried the colors wouldn't match, but it looks great on him!

I got drawing ideas for these designs.... well, it wouldn't be the first time I held off on the important stuff for other things 😆 Rohan and Charlie's drawings are gonna be put to the side for now.

#ariparri #veruca mcquaid #carson ivey #coby mcquaid #hogwarts mystery #hphm #hphm mc #hogwarts mystery mc #harry potter hogwarts mystery #outfit design #character design

[ariparri]

Glamour Weekly - Issue 007

Glamour Weekly 006 | St. Patrick’s Designs

Coby's magazine issue is out now and he is ready to party! How many copies are you getting 😆

I actually liked how this one turned out. I was a little worried about how I was going to make his shades, but they turned out well!

❌ NO REPOSTING ❌

#ariparri #coby mcquaid #hphm jacob #hphm #hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery jacob #harry potter hogwarts mystery

[ariparri]

Connection is still kind of out so have a bunch of meme charts with Veruca, Carson and Coby!

Feel free to tag your OCs!

#veruca mcquaid #carson ivey #coby mcquaid #hogwarts mystery #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hphm mc #hogwarts mystery mc #meme chart #meme

[ariparri]

Veruca and Coby meeting Bill for the first time

Veruca: My god your hair is awful, who the hell is your barber?

Bill: Ah yeah. My mother did this...

Veruca: Oh...

Coby: Sorry for my little sister's comment.

#bill arrives to spades with a bad haircut courtesy of dear molly xD #veruca mcquaid #bill weasley #coby mcquaid #hogwarts mystery #hphm #hphm cardverse scenario

[carewyncromwell]

“Evil's for me -- you can have good. It doesn't suit me to be Robin Hood!”

x~x~x~x

HPHM Cardverse developed by @ariparri​​ ♠️

x~x~x~x

It was common knowledge in the Kingdom of Hearts that their Queen, Carewyn, had originally been from the Country of Spades. What was less common knowledge was her rationale for leaving home...and the woman who helped spur that decision on in the first place.

Carewyn Cromwell first met the woman who would become known as the Tyrant of Spades while she was still merely the Ace under the previous King of Spades, Coby McQuaid. She sadly hadn’t gotten to know the King very well before his well-publicized assassination, but she had become close to the Jack of Spades, Duncan Ashe, through her brother Jacob. Jacob’s genius intellect had served Duncan and by extension Coby very well, helping spark new reforms and innovations in chemistry, architecture, machinery, and even food preservation, so Jacob was given permission by Duncan often enough to bring his precious little sister to work with him so that he could show her his progress, as well as just to spoil her rotten while she was in the capitol.

It was on one of these outings where Jacob first brought Carewyn up into the royal zeppelin that Carewyn first collided with Patricia Rakepick. The Ace of Spades had been engaged in conversation elsewhere when she caught part of a conversation between the Jack and his companions.

“...is all well and good,” said Carewyn, “but no matter how much we might advance in technology, it’ll be people who will have the power to use it -- many of whom won’t use it wisely.”

“But one man’s advancement will ultimately benefit us all, Wyn,” Jacob said earnestly. “Every new discovery opens up new doorways -- fresh knowledge, to be built on by future generations! With the improvements we’ve made to steam power, we may even be able to make this new power source self-sustainable -- making expensive refueling a thing of the past!”

"Yes...and that is a good thing, Jacob, it really is,” Carewyn said, “but not everyone sees your work as something to improve the lives of the common man. I wouldn’t even say most do. They see it as something they can apply to weapons of war.”

Rakepick’s gaze flickered over her shoulder in the direction of the conversation.

“War?” recurred Duncan, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Where did you hear that?”

“Military officers are very talkative when they think no one’s paying attention,” Carewyn said very coolly. “I suppose they think the ‘pretty little shopgirl’ behind the counter is too empty-headed to care about what they have to say.”

Rakepick turned away to obscure her smile hearing this. This girl is sharp.

“I’m afraid I must cut this short,” she said dryly to the person she’d been speaking to. “Excuse me.”

She turned and made her way over to the corner of the room where Carewyn, Jacob, and Duncan were still talking.

“The court of Spades isn’t really entertaining the idea of war, is it, Ashe?” Jacob asked Duncan. His brows were knit tightly over his eyes. “What possible reason could they have for it?”

“Not a good one,” Duncan said dryly.

“Greed and self-aggrandizement never is,” Carewyn remarked cynically. “That doesn’t mean people don’t still act on it -- especially when we all know that when rich men start wars, it’s the poor who die in them.”

The Jack of Spades was frowning deeply as he considered this.

“...The King has no interest in declaring war on anyone,” he said after a moment. “He’s always sought out peace. However many people in the military might be itching for a fight, they won’t get one, with him at the helm.”

“That’s not good enough!” said Carewyn, her expression deeply troubled. “The King is a noble man...but he can’t trust people like that to do the right thing, if push comes to shove. If the army can’t stand behind him united, then it will crumble from within.”

“I have to agree.”

Duncan, Jacob, and Carewyn all turned, startled, when Rakepick finally entered their circle. Her dark blue eyes surveyed Carewyn carefully as her lips curled up in a small smirk.

“Would this be the famous Carewyn I’ve heard you speak so glowingly of, Master Cromwell?” she asked.

Jacob’s eyes flitted from Rakepick to Carewyn and back.

“...Yes,” he said after a moment.

“Then you would still be in school, Miss Cromwell?” said Rakepick. “How old are you, if I may ask?”

“Fifteen, as of this September,” Carewyn said politely.

Rakepick raised her eyebrows. “Just fifteen? And already quoting the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre. Most impressive.”

Carewyn felt Jacob bring an arm around her, his hand enclosing over her shoulder. Duncan crossed his arms, cocking his eyebrows at Rakepick. 

“That’s high praise from the Ace of Spades,” the Jack remarked rather sardonically. “Especially considering that Carewyn was critiquing the army you oversee.”

Rakepick’s eyes flashed in Duncan’s direction. “What can I say, I like seeing young women who aren’t afraid to speak their minds. It rather reminds me of myself, in a way.”

Her eyes drifted back over to Carewyn as she smiled again.

“You and I agree that the army should be loyal to its ruler,” said the Ace. “Tell me -- how would you inspire such loyalty, in the men that you have seen among its ranks?”

Carewyn crossed her arms. Her eyes drifted off out the closest window.

“You can’t inspire loyalty in people who are only out for their own self-interest,” Carewyn answered lowly.

“And yet these are the soldiers we have,” said Rakepick. “Until our whole army is nothing but mechanical soldiers, we must instill some loyalty in them.”

“You can instill obedience, but not loyalty,” Carewyn corrected. “Loyalty is a feeling, more than an action. It’s sincere devotion to someone else -- love, dedication, admiration. It’s respecting the person, or thing, or cause you’re fighting for...honoring them and everything they stand for, even when it’s in direct opposition to what benefits you. Willingly sacrificing for their sake, simply because you want to do right by them.”

Her almond-shaped blue eyes grew a little smaller.

“Those are things a selfish person could never understand.”

Rakepick’s eyes ran critically over Carewyn’s face, even as her lips spread into a broader, yet still rather arrogant smile.

“And so such men could only be compelled to stay and fight out of fear for their own livelihood, not out of duty to someone else. Well reasoned.”

“Madam Ace!”

An attendant had abruptly rushed up to her, carrying a gilded envelope. Rakepick took it from him with an oddly miffed glare, before plastering on another cool smile as she addressed Carewyn again.

“Please excuse me, Miss Cromwell -- it seems my attention is needed elsewhere,” she said crisply.

“Of course, Madam,” Carewyn said with a clipped nod.

Rakepick extended a hand, which Carewyn reluctantly took so she could shake it.

“Thank you for your stimulating conversation,” said Rakepick with a dewy smile. “I sincerely hope that you shall return to the capitol soon, so that we might speak further.”

Carewyn avoided her gaze, instead keeping it on their interlocked hands.

“...Thank you.”

Even after Rakepick released her hand, Carewyn still felt a weird, cold, uncomfortable shudder in her hand -- one that made her want to wash her hand immediately after.

“Be mindful, Carewyn,” Duncan told her very solemnly.

Carewyn looked at him, startled. She’d never heard his voice sound quite so low before.

“Patricia Rakepick is not a person who’s easy to impress,” he said. “She was chosen as Ace for how much fear and respect she’s instilled in the army, so she’s not someone who plays nice with others. And yet it seems she’s taken a real shine to you. Most would say you should consider yourself very fortunate.”

Carewyn’s brows knit over her eyes.

“Would you say I am?” she asked softly.

Duncan’s eyes narrowed on Rakepick’s retreating back.

“...I don’t know,” he said at last.

He looked at Carewyn, his dark eyes oddly grim.

“I know how the Ace of Spades treats those she sees as beneath her. I don’t know anything about how she treats those few people she actually likes.”

~*~

Several years later, Rakepick took control of the Country of Spades, first as a quasi-regent and then as a “Queen” herself. It was this act that prompted many people to refer to her as “the Tyrant of Spades” -- and it was not long after she took full control that her new Jack of Spades, Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde, brought back a rather interesting message from the court of the Kingdom of Hearts.

“Their new Queen has requested an audience with you,” Verucca said coldly, holding out a letter with a red-rose-decked wax seal.

Rakepick scoffed.

“Has she now?” she said with an arrogant smirk.

She handed her glass of red wine to her attendant so she could take the letter from Verucca and rip open the envelope. 

“She told me to pass along her disappointment that you would hide behind your courtiers,” Verucca added, her eyes flashing with distaste. “The young lady also made a point to lament that you didn’t have the previous Jack of Spades advocating on your behalf.”

Rakepick’s smirk only seemed to broaden. “Comparing you to your predecessor and insinuating that I’m a coward? That takes real cheek.”

She opened the letter and began to read. Once she did, however, her arrogant smirk slowly faded.

To Her Excellency, the former Ace of Spades and current Queen, from Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts;

Madam --

My counterpart, the King of Hearts, has recently received word that you will abstain from the Passion Ball set to be held at the Palace of Hearts this upcoming winter. Please know that your presence will be felt, if not missed.

I had hoped to speak more cordially in person, but since you’ve seen fit to send others in your stead, these words I have will have to be restrained to just this page. I don’t fully understand the motivations behind your sudden withdrawal from the world stage, nor what you hope to gain by so ruthlessly fortifying your borders -- but whatever they are, I assure you, you make no friends, treating your citizens like prisoners. The world outside sees your actions as cruelty, and although I can glean nothing of how your own people view you thanks to your efforts, I was once one of them, so I can only surmise that they’re similarly displeased. Like any wild beast that yearns to run free, they won’t take kindly to the jailer that has imprisoned them -- so truly, it’s in your best interest to loosen your grip, and set free those whom you’ve imprisoned. Jacob Cromwell would be a good man to start with.

My deepest condolences go out to Duncan Ashe’s family, as well as whatever friends he had that remain at your court. I grieve him as I would a brother, and it disheartens me that you would pick a replacement for him who has no sense of honor or compassion.

Signed,

Carewyn R

Rakepick read over the letter once more, her expression oddly unreadable. Then, when she’d finished, her lips curled up in a much colder smirk than before.

“Take this down,” she said curtly.

The attendant hurriedly scrambled to grab some parchment and a pen so that he could copy what Rakepick said aloud to him,

“‘To Her Majesty, the newly Crowned Queen of Hearts, from her Majesty, the Queen of Spades;

‘Miss Cromwell --

‘I must say, you have impressed me yet again. I always knew you belonged at the court of a royal -- I had merely thought that that court would be mine, rather than in the Kingdom of Hearts. But I suppose it’s as you once said yourself: I could never command any loyalty from you. It’s just a shame that you have seemingly divested yourself of any such loyalty to your home country, as well. But it seems that the world has finally seen the potential I saw in you from the start. A shame that I couldn’t capitalize on it when I had the chance.

‘I regret to say that your brother is no longer in my custody, however much I wish he still was. He disappeared from his cell not too long ago, and I’ve yet to hear any further news of him. If you hear anything of him, I hope that you’ll let me know...but otherwise, I’m afraid I can’t help you.

‘As to my motives, I’m confident in saying that they are the same as yours. I shall protect what’s mine -- just as I’m sure you likewise wish to protect the throne and people you’ve taken as your own. I would’ve extended that same protection to you, had you chosen to stay in Spades. You would’ve made an excellent Ace yourself, if one follows your qualifications for a courtier -- though I might’ve proposed guarding your heart more, in such a role. Such sensitivity is rife to be taken advantage of. And from one Queen to another, I would say it still is, in the role you have now.

‘Enjoy your little ball, Miss Cromwell. Take care not to let your heart run away with you -- your position as Queen ordains you choose your country’s needs over whatever trifles you might seek from me.

Regards,

Her Majesty, Patricia Rakepick, Queen of the Country of Spades.’”

Once the attendant had finished writing the letter and putting it in an envelope with a black wax seal of an upside-down spade, Rakepick gestured for Verucca to take it.

“Bring that back with you when you return to the Kingdom of Hearts,” she said coolly. “And when you give it to her Majesty, be sure to express my regret, that I had to miss her coronation.”

Verucca took the envelope and slipped it into her interior coat pocket, her eyebrows raised sardonically. “Do I detect sarcasm, Patricia?”

“I’m quite sincere,” said Rakepick, though her voice still sounded oddly passive-aggressive. “Miss Cromwell has always been rather disinterested in parties -- I’m sure not having her brother there to keep her company made it quite a bit less enjoyable...”

Her dark blue eyes flashed with a strange glint.

“If she’d only stayed here rather than fled...perhaps then she’d have both status and her family, as she so clearly wishes.”

“Status as a courtier, you mean?” Verucca said coldly. “Don’t think I didn’t catch that you thought to bestow your old position to a mere child.”

“Tone down your condescension, Jack of Spades,” Rakepick answered pitilessly. “That child has advanced to a position most maids her age can only dream of. Your niece included.”

Verucca’s thin lips knit together tightly, but otherwise her face remained very stony as she gave Rakepick a clipped bow and left the room.

Rakepick lounged back on the throne that had once belonged to Coby McQuaid, resting her chin on her hand as she glanced out the closest window.

Perhaps it was fitting that Carewyn ended up a queen in her own right. She’d never sought out any leader to follow or mentor to idolize, even as a mere maid of sixteen. That mature, independent, self-sufficient streak was part of what had reminded Rakepick so much of herself, from the very beginning.

Carewyn Cromwell, like Rakepick, was not meant to follow others. She was destined to be a queen.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #hphm cardverse #cardverse au #my writing #aesthetic #moodboard #carewyn cromwell #patricia rakepick #jacob cromwell #duncan ashe #coby mcquaid #verucca #verucca buckthorn-snyde #carewyn signs her name 'carewyn r' which stands for 'regina' not unlike how the queen of england signs her name

[ariparri]

The Mac Uáid Family

Not proofread, simply copy and pasted from my old docs 😅 Will update when I get the chance. Just wanted to share just how much I made the family too complex even for myself.

》Basic Info《

Family Name: Mac Uáid

Family Founder: Rohan Mac Uáid

Family Residence:

Mac Uáid Manor

County Cork

Kinsale, Ireland

Relations: 

Conraoi Family

Ní hlorua Family

MacTraynor Family

Serpen Family

O'Rorke Family

Bernier Family

Bettina Family

Delamere Family

Crow Family

Quinelly Family

Ravenal Family

Lavery Family

Myllet Family

LeBeau Family

Keswick Family

Caplan Family

Beckett Family

Blood Status: Pure-blood

Patronus: Wolf

Motto:  Formed from many, now as one

Crest: 

》About《

The second Mac Uáid House, commonly referred to as McQuaid, is a household of purebloods originating from Ireland. The household is symbolized by a wolf pack and the family patronus is a wolf that suits each member's character.

》Overview《

The Mac Uáid family was founded by Rohan Mac Uáid. It originally was in the possession of his grandfather, Maol Mac Uáid. After Rohan's marriage with Avis of the Conraoi family, he overthrew the current head of the family and casted out those who shared the same ideology towards muggles and blood purity. The influence of the family continued to grow even after Rohan's death. After his passing, he left his holding to his eldest son Donagh, who, in turn, disposed of those who betrayed the family. Over the years the Mac Uáid family slowly separated themselves from nobility, choosing to live in commonality. 

》Family Structure《

A family clan that originated from the sole Mac Uáid family but has broken apart from them and now acts as a separated household. The household is built up with close family members as well as loyal followers of Rohan. The Bettina, Bernier and Crow families operated as the main form of security to the Mac Uáid household. The Bettina family had casted a numerous amount of protective spells over the family manor. The Crow and Bernier families acted as personal guards to the household.

》Family Relics《

Mac Uáid Coat of Arms

A plaque of the Mac Uáid coat of arms that had been made during Rohan's time. It is currently held at the Mac Uáid family manor. 

Avis' Harp

A harp that was once in Avis' possessions. She was well known by those around her that she would always be seen playing the harp. The harp holds so much sentimental value that after her passing, the harp has remained within the family as a relic.

Mac Uáid Spell Book

Book of spells written by Miksa that has been held within the Mac Uáid manor for generations. The spells recorded have been created by Rohan to the current generation.

Wands of the Heirs

Wands of Rohan, Avis and family that had passed displayed on a wand stand.

》Notable Members《

Rohan Mac Uáid

Head of the Mac Uáid family

Father of Donagh and Naoise Mac Uáid. Husband of Avis Mic Uáid.

Status - Deceased

Avis Mic Uáid (née Conraoi)

Wife of Rohan Mac Uáid. Mother of Donagh and Naoise Mac Uáid.

Status- Deceased

Donagh Mac Uáid

2nd head of the Mac Uáid family

Son of Rohan and Avis Mac Uáid. Older brother of Naoise.

Status - Deceased

Naoise McQuaid

Son of Rohan and Avis Mac Uáid. Younger brother of Donagh.

Status - Alive

Nevaeh McQuaid (née Quinelly)

Wife of Donagh Mac Uáid. Mother of Áine and Elroy.

Status - Alive

Elroy McQuaid

Third Head of the Mac Uáid family

Son of Donagh and Nevaeh. Husband of Wilhelmina. Father of Coby and Veruca.

Status - Alive

Wilhelmina McQuaid (née Ravenal)

Wife of Elroy and mother of Coby and Veruca.

Status - Alive

Áine Lavery (née McQuaid)

Daughter of Donagh and Nevaeh. Older sister of Elroy.

Status - Alive

Coby McQuaid

Son of Elroy and Wilhelmina, older brother of Veruca.

Status - Alive

Veruca Caplan (née McQuaid)

Daughter of Elroy and Wilhelmina, younger sister to Coby.

Status - Alive

》Other Members《

Tierney Ní hlorua

Best friend and confidant of Rohan. Helped form the new Mac Uáid family. 

Status - Deceased

Giles MacTraynor

Sworn brother of Rohan. Helped form the new Mac Uáid family.

Status - Deceased

Wren Serpen

Friend of Avis and Rohan. Helped form the new Mac Uáid family

Status - Deceased

Ríona O'Byrne

Cabal Member

Former friend of Rohan. Casted out for betraying the oath.

Status - Deceased

Aisling O'Rorke

Cousin of Avis

Status - Deceased

Rian O'Rorke

Cousin of Avis

Status - Alive

Crawford Bernier

Cousin and sworn brother of Rohan. 

Status - Deceased

Miksa Bettina (née Mac Uáid)

Cousin of Rohan

Status - Alive

Valentine Delamere

Uncle to Avis

Status - Alive

Ursula Ront

Cabal Member

Sided with Ríona after Rohan removed her from the family

Status - Unknown

Saskia Harrods

Cousin of Rohan. Left the family after Ríona tried to frame her for theft of the family inheritance. Wasn't settled until after the Cabal's end.

Status - Deceased

Obsidian Crow

Cousin to Rohan

Status - Alive

Pleasance Myllet (née Bernier)

Daughter to Crawford. Cousin of Donagh and Naoise

Status - Deceased

Giséle LeBeau

Niece of Giles, older twin sister to Charléne.

Status - Deceased

Charléne LeBeau

Niece of Giles, younger twin sister to Giséle.

Status - Alive

Wolfram Sartre

Cabal Member

Cousin to Donagh and Naoise. Tried to steal the family's fortune and Avis' harp.

Status - Incarcerated in Azkaban

Selma Crow

Daughter to Obsidian. Cousins to Donagh and Naoise

Status - Deceased

Danika Keswick (née Bettina)

Daughter to Miksa. Friend to Noaise and aunt to Elroy and Áine.

Status - Deceased

Ashfield Lovett (née O'Rorke)

Cabal Member

Daughter to Rian. Was disowned by her father and eventually joined the Cabal

Status - Alive

Rhys MacQuillan

Cabal Member 

Cousin to Wilhelmina. Tried to steal the spell book and the family's fortune

Status - Incarcerated in Azkaban

Kasper Hall

Cabal Member

Grandson to Selma. Had a fallout with Elroy over the family's legacy and helped form the Cabal.

Status - Unknown

Jensen Wilkinson

Cabal Member

Former friend and cousin figure to Elroy and Áine. Had a fallout with Elroy and sided with the Cabal.

Status - Incarcerated in Azkaban

Rain Serpen

Great grandson to Wren Serpen. Cousins with Coby and Veruca.

Status - Alive

Sterling Beckett

Great great grandson to Charléne LeBeau. Cousins to Marisol, Carina and Ruairí.

Status - Alive

Marisol Caplan

Daughter of Diego and Veruca Caplan. Elder sister to Carina and Ruairí.

Status - Alive

Carina Caplan

Daughter of Diego and Veruca Caplan. Sister to Marisol and Ruairí.

Status - Alive

Ruairí Caplan

Son of Diego and Veruca Caplan. Younger brother to Carina and Marisol.

Status - Alive

》Achievements《

Rising Unity

Rohan cuts his family from his life and creates a new Mac Uáid family with his sworn siblings. It eventually leads up to Rohan seizing all the fortune and land his family used to own.

Duelling Champion

A handful within the family hold the title of Duelling Champion from all the competitions they participated in.

Quidditch Plaques

Given how some members of the family are into quidditch, Elroy especially, there is a wall dedicated to all the quidditch season plaques and trophies he's ever won.

》Magic Abilities《

The Mac Uáid household has always prided themselves in duelling. A duelling competition within the household is held annually at the manor's duelling area. Their expertise focused around wandless magic, and spell creations. Miska, Nevaeh, Kasper, Wilhelmina, Rian and Aisling were excellent spell inventors while Rohan, Donagh, Áine, Crow, Coby, Selma, Veruca and Rain were exceptional in wandless magic.

Some of the members within the household are familiar with the dark arts. The Crow, Ní hlorua, and Serpen families focused on using the dark arts as a learning method for the younger generations in the family to teach them how to properly defend themselves against it.

Majority of the households are excellent flyers. Quidditch has been an interest to many within the family. Elroy is one of the well known players during his time in Hogwarts. Coby, Giles, Charléne, and Valentine were known as the fastest flyers within the family.

》Trivia《

• The family manor has a wall dedicated to crests of families that have joined with the Mac Uáids either through loyalty but mainly through marriage.

• While the Mac Uáids started off as a pure-blood family, it slowly lost its purity as generations passed.

• Every year during family reunions, the Mac Uáid household hosts a little competition for the family. The very first game was hosted by Avis as a way to keep the familial bonds strong. The competition can range from duelling, quidditch or flying races.

• With the addition of the Caplan family, music, dancing and a talent show have been added to the reunions.

• After breaking apart from his old family, Rohan changed the spelling of his surname to the anglicized version of it. His coat of arms, as well as his eldest son, kept the Gaelic spelling for Mac Uáid.

#mcquaid family #mac uáid family #veruca mcquaid #coby mcquaid #elroy mcquaid #avis ni conraoi #rohan mac uáid #hogwarts mystery #hogwarts legacy #marisol caplan #carina caplan #ruairi caplan #magic awakened

[carewyncromwell]

Hi! How about a song for either Veruca, Coby or Carson? X3

Veruca McQuaid ~ "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett

*giggles like a child* Oh come on, can you NOT see our favorite sassy loner bad-ass Veruca vibing to this?? Especially with Carson screaming and Carewyn singing along to it in the distant background while Veruca's just left crossing her arms and rolling her eyes around her smile.

Coby McQuaid ~ "Kings" by Tribe Society

I started my search with a song I could associate with Coby as the one true King of Spades, and...yeah, I found this! Not only is it very indie in vibe, which I think really speaks to Coby's counter-culture, but still very approachable feel, but the lyrics are all about not sitting on your laurels and chasing freedom and success with all of your fire, even despite adversity. I just think that screams Coby!! <3

Carson Ivey ~ "Trouble Maker" by Hyuna & Hyunseung

Okay, I'm cheating just a little bit here, because this song I actually first found while developing Tulip's character playlist...but I'm sorry, the lyrics do also really speak to me of Carson too, and not just because he's sometimes connected romantically with Tulip (though I'm sorry, Carson/Chester makes me cover my face with both hands and fail to suppress my giggling). It's playful, flirty, and mischievous, and yet it also does betray some more genuine emotions in the midst of all the fun ("the more I know, I'm liking you more, baby // I think I'm drunk with the thoughts of you, lady").

Send me a character, I'll give you a song!

#song ask #veruca mcquaid #coby mcquaid #carson ivey #yeah I couldn't choose so have all three! <3

[ariparri]

Working on the sketch for the King or Spades!

#sketch #hphm cardverse #coby mcquaid #work in progress