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emeritusemeritus · 2 months

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Spellbound [Fred Weasley x Ravenclaw!Reader]

Title: Spellbound.

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Ravenclaw!Reader

Timeline: Non-specified, no mention of canonical events but I pictured OOTP as I was writing.

Summary: Sick of how his twin’s devastating crush on you is affecting his Quidditch abilities, George takes matters into his own hands and meddles.

Warnings: Use of a love potion, essentially dubious consent. Pining, crushes, probably minor swearing. Fred’s a love sick puppy. Questionable morality on George’s behalf. Not beta read.

Word count: 2.7k

This was inspired by a lovely Anon request I was sent, original post here. I hope this is what you were looking for, I enjoyed working on this so much! 💙

George Weasley was one half of the infamously disruptive Weasley twins; usually mentioned second and hardly able to be distinguished from his slightly older twin to those that didn't really know him. To those that did, his identifying qualities included being slightly quieter, more patient, more understanding and perhaps more moral... sometimes. Though it was never said aloud, he was the slightly better Quidditch player with a slightly better aim and was arguably more passionate about the game than his twin. He had more focus at least, which was never more obvious than during this season of Quidditch when Fred had been mightily distracted through most of the games, missing bludgers an amateur could have hit and earning more fouls in one season than he had in his entire time on the team. His reason? He had a crush. An almighty crush on you which made him distracted, inattentive, sometimes irritable and almost constantly mopey.

George was perceptive by nature and had picked up on his brother's infatuation not long after it began, noticing that Fred's attention was often pulled away as soon as you'd walk into the great hall or class. Didn't matter that they were in the middle of a conversation or a tactful sale, in you'd walk and out would go Fred's sanity. George couldn't deny that you were pretty, you'd turned his head a few times, not that he'd ever admit that to his brother, but the affect you had on Fred was almost laughable. He was certain he'd seen his brother drool once over you, the hearts in his love-stricken puppy eyes almost making George want to laugh and vomit at the same time.

When he wasn't pining for you in ways George could hardly fathom, Fred was often touchy and sulky at the unrequited nature of his crush. If he saw another bloke talking to you or making you laugh, he'd be insufferable for the rest of the day, shooting daggers at the culprit and threatening under his breath to set off a dung bomb in the unsuspecting lad's dorm.

To make matters worse, you'd started attending Quidditch games regularly when Ron made Keeper in support of your friend and also as support for Hermione so that she wouldn't have to sit alone with her two best friends on the pitch, despite being a Ravenclaw. Many people went to support their friends and as long as they weren’t competing against your house you figured it was fair game to support them. You'd also infrequently started attending practice sessions with Hermione, sitting in the stands or on the side lines where you would spend most of the time studying or drawing. It was a double edged sword for the team if you showed up or not; if you didn't, Fred would mope about and keep checking that you hadn't arrived late during the entire time on the pitch. If you did show, he'd spend the time trying to impress you with comical dives on his broom, outlandish tricks and almost everything exactly fulfilling his actual role to get your attention.

So George came up with a plan. One night when they were restocking the skiving snack boxes and checking on their slow-brewing potions, he'd come up with a plan that was admittedly a little immoral but should surely work. Tensions had risen between the twins after Fred had received another avoidable foul causing them to nearly lose the match and George had walked out of the changing rooms in a huff to start on the restocking, not wanting to hear Fred waxing poetic about how fit you looked in your jumper or how loudly you were cheering for him the few times during the match he'd actually played well.

George was sick of listening to it and it pushed him to a point when his plan seemed to be the only choice.

The next morning George had woken Fred early, dragging his half asleep twin out of bed to get to the Great Hall bright and early, the older of the two still dishevelled from sleep and rubbing his eyes, grumpy to boot.

"Don't see why you're dragging me down at this time, not like they'll run out of food," Fred complained grumpily as he tried to fall into step with George who seemed to be walking at a faster than normal pace down the staircases. About halfway down the staircases, Fred noticed that his jumper was back to front and had fixed it with a huff and a yawn, battling the wool over his wide shoulders.

"Told you, I'm starving," George replied vaguely with a shrug, a small smirk tugging at his lips as he turned away from Fred to conceal it.

They took a seat at the table and once again Fred complained as he saw hardly anyone up yet except for a few Ravenclaws huddled together on the other side, talking in hushed but excited whispers. Fred begrudgingly accepted a glass of pumpkin juice from George and simply looked at the few slices of toast in front of him, his stomach still asleep. So consumed by his tiredness he didn't even notice that George hadn't taken a bite of any food even after five minutes, despite his prior claims of being starving. Fred sat in a gloomy slump at the table, head in his hands and staring down at the table, if his eyes were open at all whereas George kept his eyes trained on the open door in a much more jovial mood.

"Morning," your voice rang out quietly but pleasantly. George had to physically place his hand over his mouth to conceal the laughter that was threatening to burst out of him watching Fred's reaction to your voice. It was like he'd been electrocuted or at least unknowingly stunned as his head shot up, elbow banging on the table as it slid off the edge of the wooden table as his head whipped up to look at your face.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," you said with a timid smile and a little laugh before taking a seat beside George. You’d usually sit with the other Ravenclaws but as it was so quiet this morning you figured you would sit with the twins.

"You're up early," George says with a smile, offering you the jug of pumpkin juice, which you gladly accepted. Fred had said nothing but his pink cheeks were talking all by themselves, though you didn't seem to notice.

"Wanted to take a long walk around the grounds this morning," you reply after taking a sip of the juice that George had poured for you. "I've been trying to do more exercise lately... it's always so pretty in autumn so it's not as horrible getting up early."

"Why?" Fred says, finally speaking. He regrets it the instant your eyes fall upon him, realising that the word had tumbled out of his mouth before he could even think, his tone a little sharp and defensive, as if it was an unnatural thing to do. "I meant, about the exercise."

"Oh, well I guess it's good for my head," you explained, placing down your cup. "And the waist line, I feel like I put on a stone every term with how good the food is." George chuckles along, finally helping himself to the breakfast food in front of him but you notice that Fred hardly reacts.

"I know what you mean, if it wasn't for Quidditch I'd probably be the size of a troll."

Your laugh renders Fred even more speechless than he already was, so much so that he'd accepted his fate as forever mute at this point.

"Well thank Godric for Quidditch," you say with a smile. Fred doesn't miss the way your gaze suddenly flashes over him, most notably his arms as he lifts the cup to his lips, making him choke into his juice. It was the first time he'd ever noticed your gaze slip over him so obviously.

"Must be tough being a beater, those bludgers must be really heavy," you say, your gaze hardly moving from Fred's arms, up and across his shoulders before slipping down again. He couldn't believe you were looking at him like this, especially when your eyes travelled up to his face and you caught his eyes. You didn't look embarrassed or look away, simply gave him a playful smile before addressing his twin again as he replied to you. Fred was dreaming, he must be.

But the attention didn't stop. Fred didn't know what had changed that morning but he started noticing little things like how you'd catch his eye when you walked into a room, like you were seeking him out, or if he gazed over at you it was only time before you would look in his direction too. He no longer had to pretend that you were cheering the loudest for him at Quidditch matches because you actually were, and noticeably so. You still attended practice sessions infrequently but you no longer kept your head down and in your books, now you were actually watching the team practice, though it appeared you were really only concerned by one half of the beater duo.

George's plan had worked. Fred was in a good mood more consistently, played better during Quidditch as he was actually focused on the game and no longer trying to get your attention as he already had it. Sure he was still grouchy if another male approached you but he didn't feel quite as bad about it when you would seek him out mid conversation, as if you wished it to be him instead.

"I'm gonna ask her out," Fred says one night as they enter their dorm, throwing off his big jumper and leaving it on a pile on the floor beside his bed.

"Maybe you should wait until after this season mate, only two more matches to go if we carry on playing well," George says delicately, taking off his own jumper but instead choosing to fold it onto the chair beside his bed unlike his sloppy twin. He watches as Fred's face scrunches up in displeasure at his words but he doesn't immediately question them, taking time to think about it.

"Yeah maybe," Fred says eventually, reaching don under his bed to pull out the large tray of stock they had stashed, mainly the slicing snack box stuff.

The two of them restocked and replenished the stock they had on hand for a while, completely ignoring all homework before they slipped down to the common room later that night.

"Gonna check the potions," George whispers in Fred's ear before slipping off, leaving him with Lee in the common room.

If Fred noticed anything off about George when he gets back, he doesn’t mention it. But George can feel it, the sense of dread and guilt, exactly what he didn’t want to happen was coming to fruition. He realised then that he’d have to break it to Fred, admit what he’d done.

“You coming mate?” Fred asks, grabbing his quidditch stuff ready to head to the pitch but pauses when he sees George sat on his bed, not making an effort to move. He looks sad, distressed even.

“What’s up? You didn’t eat all those Bertie boys did you?”

“Fred,” George says quietly, eyes slowly rising up until he’s looking into the all too familiar eyes of his twin. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

For the first time in history, Fred and George Weasley weren’t speaking. It was their first proper fall out, first argument and the first time in history that they hadn’t been wandering the corridors of Hogwarts together, causing mayhem or mischief but no one knew why. The tension between the pair was awful for them and everyone around them. Then suddenly, they were back together again even though it was still tense and not at all like it was before, they found their way back to eachother.

“Y/n,” Fred says from behind you, pulling you away from your conversation as the Ravenclaw table, your friends looking on curiously as you turned with a smile to see Fred behind you looking a little nervous.

“Hi Freddie,” you say with a smile, having missed him.

“Can I borrow you?”

You nod, turning to your friends to say bye and got up from the table and followed him out of the Hall, thinking how strange he was acting. He leads you up the staircases with little explanation and manages to sneak you up into his dorm through the portrait hole, something you couldn’t believe he managed to do.

When you walked into his dorm, you saw George sitting on the bed you assumed to be his, the room a little untidy but not awful.

“George?” You say, worried about the sad look on his face. He gives you a little smile and a brief wave as Fred closes the door behind you.

“What’s a matter? What’s going off?” You say, looking between the two. Fred offers you a seat on the nearby bed you assume to be his and he sits beside you, both now looking nervously at George.

“George has something he wants to tell you,” Fred says, casting a rather harsh glare at his brother, tone sharp and resolute. George takes a deep breath, clearing his throat as he looks up at you.

“I,” he manages to get out, but shuts down the moment he opens his mouth, apparently losing all the words he needed.

“It’s okay Georgie,” you say gently, trying to give him confidence.

“No it’s not,” Fred retorts in a much harsher tone. Your head whips round to him and he softens as he looks at you.

“He’s been giving you love potion,” he says, nodding his head towards his guilt stricken twin. Your mouth falls open in disbelief, a frown pulling at your eyebrows as you try your hardest to think of how it was possible.

“But.”

“I didn’t really mean to,” George says weakly but quickly changes his wording when Fred’s glare increased threefold. “Okay I did but not with any malicious intent. He’s bloody obsessed with you and I couldn’t stand the pining anymore, it was insufferable. He wasn’t focusing when you were at Quidditch and I just wanted him to focus again so I thought if you gave him attention back then he’d have his head back in the game and it worked.”

“George!” You say completely outraged, in disbelief that he’d have actually done that. “Stop it right now! It’s not funny.”

He frowns at you briefly, just quick enough for you to see as he looks between you both.

“I haven’t given you any in over a week,” he says curiously, “I ran out last week.”

The room is silent after his reveal as you start to slowly realise that even if you had been given the love potion initially, being without it hadn’t actually changed your feelings of Fred.

“You’re obsessed with me?” You ask, turning to Fred who looks like he wants the ground to swallow him up.

“I wouldn’t have said obsessed… but yeah, I really fancy you,” he says, not quite meeting your eyes. It’s a split second decision that leads you to closing the gap between the two of you, legs touching as you scoot along his bed and slowly lean in to him, trying to gage his reaction. He doesn’t resist in the slightest and finally looks up into your eyes just long enough to realise what’s happening before your eyes close and your lips meet.

George slips out quietly with a pleased look on his face, knowing that everything would be alright in the end. He walks down to the little store room where they brew their potions and he smirks to himself when he sees the still very full cauldron of love potion simmering, the pearlescent pink glow radiating from it.

You’d believed him to easily, both you and Fred. And if he had to take the hit for a little while, it was worth it.

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#emeritusemeritus #emeritusemerituswrites #harry potter #fred weasley #fred weasley x you #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley masterlist #request

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futurecorps3 · 6 months

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hello! could i please request James Potter x Goth!Reader? She would be a hufflepuff, maybe he saw her once at the hallway defending some younger kids from some bullies and it was love at first sight uwu

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐆𝐨𝐭𝐡!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Masterlist<3

Yay, this is so cute!! I wouldn't define my style as goth but it is more on the punk/grunge, so I hope I get this right. Thanks for requesting, nonnie! x

♡ Baby boy is so :(

♡ He holds no stereotypes or at the very least tries his best not to

♡ So, when he sees you defending a Gryffindor boy -surely a first year- from a group of Ravenclaws, it's safe to say he was head over heels.

♡ "Hey I-I just wanted to say that was very kind of you" all light voices trying to be masked by an overly confident body language because you're so tall in those boots holy shit you're intimidating

♡ You are until you flash a dazzling smile to him

♡ "It's the least I could do; poor kid was terrified of them. If only he knew we're all very scared of everything most of the time..." you wondered, walking to the covered bridge with your long, black leather coat floating almost divinely behind you

♡ "I-I'm James!" he shouts, hand in his fluffy hair as he stared at you go before turning around briefly and shouting back "I know!" with a giggle

♡ He was aghast, knowing he hadn't seen you before in all his years here. How could he miss you!?

♡ While you didn't share any classes, he made sure to take an extra look at the Hufflepuff table during lunch and found you there, giggling with your friends

♡ "James, eat up" Remus mumbled with a full mouth "He's in love, Moony. Let him enjoy the fleeting moments of joy that come with the sight of his belo-" "Shut up Sirius, I can't hear her"

♡ Not long after, he saw you in the steps for Hufflepuff during a Quidditch match. In a swift motion, he flew on his broom over to you

♡ "James!" you smiled. You were wearing a dress vest, a long raincoat and dress pants all in black, along with silver accessories "I'd say your name in the same excited tone but I don't have the pleasure of knowing it"

♡ He was such a charmer, couldn't help but blush a bit 🤭

♡ "It's Y/N, Y/N Y/L/N"

♡ My man felt butterflies, fireworks and his heart skipped a beat! It felt nice to say your name, a good feeling in his tongue that he couldn't get rid of

♡ Y/N, Y/N, Y/N

♡ He took a big deep breath and turned the slut on

♡ "You're on the wrong side of the stadium, darlin'. Should be on Gryffindor's side! Let me take you there" he said, offering his hand out, so you hopped on his broom

♡ You declined kindly, saying your friend was playing for the first time today and you couldn't leave.

♡ James feigned offence and winked before flying off with his signature smirk

♡ Two weeks later, at the match against Slytherin, he spotted a familiar face in the crowd while he stretched and played his best

♡ After that, you never really left his side

♡ You seemed to be everywhere! He found you in the library, during parties, on Hogsmeade and even in the hallways

♡ This turned you into something, making him ask you for a date eventually. A date you said yes to.

♡ Now to the dating part <3

♡ HE BUYS YOU GOTH SHIT HE KNOWS YOU'LL LIKE

♡ "Look! It's a silver cross!", "Baby I got this corset for you, they only had this tone of red though...", "I got your eyeliner refill... yes I know you still have some but it'll run out EVENTUALLY... love you too, dove”

♡ He borrows your crop tops ughhhh!!!

♡ Baby is so supportive!! Ofc you don’t care much about what people say about your style but if you ever have second guesses he makes sure to reassure you

♡ YOU BLESSED THIS WORLD WITH THE SIGHT OF JAMES POTTER WITH EYELINER

♡ He loves Siouxie and the Banshees bro, he’ll be forever grateful to you for showing him her cover of Passenger, originally by Iggy Pop

♡ Y’all go record shopping to the city <3

♡ “James, baby, I adore you but if Daniel Ash asked me out…”

♡ He gave you the silent treatment for like thirty minutes, caving when you pretended to be truly hurt

♡ James is a SUCKER for seeing you get ready

♡ Wether you wear huge eyeliner with intricate designs or just take a lot of time accessorizing, he’s there to admire and help in what he can!!

♡ Therefore, loves going shopping with you

♡ He incorporated some of your underground music knowledge to one up Sirius during muggle music discussions

♡ “Queen is great but have you heard Sisters of Mercy?” “James there’s not a point of comparison what the fuck are you talking abou-“

♡ Worships the ground you walk on pretty much

♡ You get many stares with different meanings when you walk through the school but the only one you care about is James’ lovesick gaze checking you out from one of the classroom’s doors

♡ “You’re so hot” he’d groan when you finally reach his arms before kissing you UGH SOMEONE BRING HIM TO ME NOW!!!

♡ Just imagining his linebacker figure, dressed in his jersey and being the sunshine he is next to you which are pretty much the opposite at first sight makes my heart all warm!!!!!!

♡ To end this, a random little hc I developed just now

♡ If you tend to be very all over the place and distracted like me, rest assured that James Potter knows where all your shit is

♡ “Love, have you seen my boots? The one’s with a bunch of buckles on them, can’t fin-“ “Bottom of the bed” …. “Jamie! Where’s my chain?” “Bats or coffin?” “Bats” “Top left drawer under your black shirt with the tiny holes on it”

♡ Sweet angel boy loves his goth girl!!

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Marauders taglist (DM or answer to be added): @kquil

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vivienne-writes · 1 year

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I'll Ingrain Your Touch Into My Memory

“That’s what it feels like when you touch me. Like millions of tiny universes being born and then dying in the space between your finger and my skin. Sometimes I forget.”

― Iain Thomas, I Wrote This For You

“Come on, Ominis, just this once,” Poppy pleaded with the sweetest tone of voice she could muster.

It was a fine Saturday afternoon when Poppy managed to rope MC and Imelda into her latest venture: getting Ominis to describe what each of them may look like based on touch. They had spent all morning trying to track him down and poor Ominis, catching wind of their plans, spent all of his morning trying to escape their clutches. He would have tucked himself away in the Slytherin dormitory, but Imelda could have easily let them in.

He was headed towards the boathouse to plant himself there for the rest of the evening when Imelda, atop her broom, managed to spot him and corner him at the clocktower courtyard. Now surrounded by the trio, Ominis had no escape and Sebastian was nowhere in sight to help him.

“I’d like to go about my weekend without hexing anyone, if you don’t mind,” he grumbled angrily.

“It won’t take too long; I promise I won’t ask for anything else!” once Poppy has made up her mind, there was no swaying her.

“I’m not a plaything,” Ominis argued, although his resolve was weakening. He was tired and the thought of curling up for a nap sounded incredibly tempting. He’d much rather nap by the fireplace in the Slytherin common room, basking in the warmth of the hearth, than spend any more time running away and hiding.

“Humor us, please?” you finally spoke up gently. Originally you accompanied Poppy to indulge her, but really, you were just as curious to see what Ominis’ would say. And maybe, although you refused to admit as much to yourself, you wanted to know what his touch felt like.

Little did you know, Ominis harbored a bit of a crush on you. He was under the assumption that he’d only have to feel Poppy’s face but maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he got to touch yours too. And truthfully, he didn’t have the heart to deny you.

“If I do this, do you lot promise to never bring this up again?” he asked with a sigh.

“Cross our hearts,” said Imelda as she leaned against her broomstick.

“Alright then. Sweeting, you first,” Ominis reached out both hands which Poppy pulled to her face eagerly. He took his time, running his fingers over her nose, her forehead, her chin. He contemplated his answer thoughtfully. “You’ve a very soft face and I can tell you’re smiling. These dips right here, are these dimples?”

Poppy nodded, urging him to go on. Ominis felt her bangs, fingers twirling the strands down to the tips. “I didn’t realize you had short hair,” he muttered, more so to himself. “I think you live up to your namesake. You must have a very sweet, kind face. Also, you’re much shorter than I expected.”

“I can live with that!” Poppy beamed cheerfully. “Now your turn!”

She pushed you towards Ominis, whose heart began to beat so rapidly, he was afraid you’d realize how nervous he was. Maybe his feelings for you weren’t as insignificant as he thought they were. He wiped his hands anxiously on his robes, hoping you wouldn’t find them clammy or sweaty.

“I’m right here, Ominis,” you said as he reached out towards you. You took his hands softly in yours, placing them gently on your cheeks. You found them to be firm but so smooth, it took everything in you not to nuzzle your face into his palms.

Ominis, on the other hand, was struggling to focus. He had wondered countless times what it would feel like to touch you, your hands, your face. And here you were, warm and pleasant to the touch. He noted the curvature of your cheekbone, the delicate shape of your jaw, the flutter of your eyelashes against his skin. He brushed a thumb lightly over your lips, breath hitching ever so slightly as he took in their plumpness. His mind began to stray, wondering how your lips would feel against his. When he began to run his fingers through your hair, you had to stop yourself from letting out a moan. It took every ounce of self-control you had to stay grounded. Meanwhile, Ominis was wondering whether running a hand down your neck would be too much when Imelda pulled you away abruptly.

“Hurry up Gaunt, we don’t have all day,” she demanded, grabbing his hands forcefully. You were somewhat relieved she pulled you away. Otherwise, you would have stood there all night, entranced by the feel of his dexterous fingers. But it didn’t satiate your curiosity, it just made you crave it more.

“You have a strong forehead, quite the forceful chin,” Ominis mused, fingers wandering Imelda’s face now. “Yes, I think I have a good idea as to what you look like, Reyes.”

“Go on then,” said Imelda, smugly expecting a compliment.

“You’ve got a face only a mother could love,” he smirked cheekily. Imelda swung her fist, dropping her broom and narrowly missing Ominis’ face. She would have landed her mark if you and Poppy hadn’t jumped to pull her back in time.

“Have a good evening!” Ominis called over his shoulder as he began making his way back inside, Imelda’s insults ringing in the air. He was hoping to return to the privacy of his room to replay the memory of your touch over and over in his head when he bumped into Sebastian.

“You were here this whole time and didn’t step in to help me?” Ominis asked incredulously.

“Help you? I was doing you a favor,” Sebastian chuckled. “So, tell me, did she feel as good as you expected?”

“Don’t be so crude, Sebastian,” Ominis scolded, aware of the heat creeping up his face. But he couldn’t deny that your touch not only felt better than he expected, but it had permanently ingrained itself into his memory.

#hogwarts legacy #ominis x reader #ominis x mc #ominis gaunt #poppy sweeting #imelda reyes #sebastian sallow #my works

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imkillerbae · 11 months

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Dancing in the Dark (Part 2) (Valorant Yoru x Fem!Reader x Valorant Sova)

Part 1 Here.

Summary: You're confronted by Yoru about your lies and decides to have his way with you in a broom closet.

Words: 2k

CW: Crying, regret, FLUFF. Happy ending

(A/N: I was supposed to add a smut after this but got lazy so I didnt hence the broom closet AHAHA anyway here's the ending! REQUESTS ARE OPEN. Please send me ideas i am running out of ideas i beg) Listen to 'Dancing in the Dark' originally by Bruce Springsteen covered by LOLO for better experience.

The bottle of whiskey was barely drunk from, and you held the neck of it with a tight grip. You were glaring at the man in front of you, and he returned the look, although less hostile. Yoru tried to tug the bottom of the bottle from your grasp but you did not relent, pulling it towards yourself even more.

“You’re not planning to drink all of this yourself, are you?” You ask in annoyance.

“And what’s that to you?” He muses, raising his brows to taunt your question.

Sova’s birthday party was getting more and more unbearable for him, especially with the mind blowing news he received just moments ago. He needed to go numb, to just let his brain go blank even just for a moment. You weren’t helping the situation, because it was taking all his self-control not to drag you to the nearest broom closet and—

“I know how you get when you’re drunk.” You reply, looking at his shoulders rather than his eyes. He was much taller than you, something he liked to relish in.

You couldn’t help but intrude when you saw him heading for the bar, Sova walking the opposite direction of him. You didn’t see them talk but you could tell he didn’t like being around Sova anyways. And when he’s drunk, he gets a bit violent and destructive. Not the bad kind. He just becomes painfully unaware of how strong he is and just breaks things. During Phoenix’s birthday, they dared him to dance on top of the tables, and he broke them in half.

The tables were made from metal.

“I don’t think that’ll be any of your business.” He reaches for the bottle again, and you switch it between your hands, holding it out of his reach. “It is my business. Sage took extra effort to get this whole party perfect and I’m not gonna let you ruin it with your drunken antics,” you lied, trying to seem uncaring. He furrows his brows at you, his blood simmering under his skin. Ruin it? He would never. He didn’t even think of doing that at all. Not even slightly.

“Oh, sorry if my presence disturbs the party. Wouldn’t want your archer boyfriend to get upset right?” He taunts, trying to confirm what Sova told him before. Her heart is set on no one else but you.

You sigh and shake your head. “He’s not my boyfriend.” You say in defeat. He’s still hung up about it. Rephrase: he’s still hung up about nothing. Sova wasn’t anything to you other than a friend and a teammate. Why couldn’t he see that?

Yoru tries another time to grab the bottle from you and succeeds, your low mood affecting your reflexes. He pops the bottle open and drinks from the spout, not bothering to put it on the glass anymore. “Oh yeah, he’s a brother to you. Although brothers don’t usually confess their love to their sisters, but whatever floats your boat Y/N,” he glares after drinking, his voice full of spite that you almost shudder.

You stood in place, shocked. He knows? How? Did Sova tell him? But you agreed to keep it a secret. Your blood runs cold even with the alcohol in your veins. Yoru knows that he was right to be suspicious. And now he thinks you’ve cheated on him. “I-I…” You start, but he intrudes.

“Strange family dynamic but I’m not judging,” he laughs at his own joke, pushing your arm gently to get you out of your trance. “You lied to me Y/N. You lied to me about him, got me worried sick about you, and you tried to gaslight me into thinking I was wrong,” he smiles an empty smile at you, tossing the whiskey glass over the bar. You don’t hear it shatter, getting caught by the fine sand.

“Why did you have to lie to me?” He asks, shaking his head in disbelief. You clench your fists, looking down guiltily. You thought you could have gotten away with it. But in reality you knew he was bound to find out eventually. You just didn’t think it would be so soon.

“I-I’m so sorry Ryo… I-I thought it would be best you didn’t know! I know you would be mad at me for not seeing it, and angry at Sasha a-and confront him about it,” you start, tears forming and flowing down your cheeks and nose. He tilts his head to the side, listening intently. “I was told that if a fight broke out, one of you w-would be fired from the protocol, a-and I didn’t want to lose you…” You grab your own arm and squeeze, trying to get yourself together.

“Y-you were right, a-and I was wrong and naïve and stupid a-and I broke your trust… I shouldn’t have lied but I was scared what you’d do if you knew you were right about him… I was scared that you’d hate me for being so naïve and not listening to you…” I hate myself for not listening to you, you thought but didn’t say anything of the sort. You didn’t want to turn this into something about you. You hurt Yoru and tried to make it seem like he was the bad guy in all of this, just so you could play peacekeeper.

With that, you were already crying as you stood, and you muffled yourself with your hands. He stood there watching you, wanting to hug you, hold you in his arms, but he couldn’t just do that. You needed to learn your lesson. Seeing you crying was the last thing he wanted tonight.

“Puta no!” You both hear Neon yelp, but it was too late. You didn’t see what happened but somehow Neon short circuited the lights, causing all the lightbulbs to pop above you, surrounding you all in total darkness.

“Merde, has anyone seen my glasses?”

“Everyone, stay calm, the generators will open in any moment.”

“Ow! That was my foot Gekko!”

“I—I’m all the way here! That wasn’t me!”

“Can’t you go up in flames or something Phoenix? We need light!”

“With all the flammables lying around? Do you want to get toast?”

You uncover your face and you couldn’t see anything. You could only hear the sounds of the ocean waves and the ruckus going on in the crowd. You then hear a sigh before you’re dragged by the wrist by someone, Yoru you’re guessing. You stumble after him as he walked quickly, opening a door and ushering you inside. He closes it and you hear a clicking sound.

“They won’t hear us talk here.” He says. You reach out your arms and hit his chest mistakenly. You step back and step on a few things, making sounds. “Will you stop that? They’re going to think there’s someone out there that isn’t us,” he scolds, and you make an angry face at him, or wherever your face was directed to. “I can’t see you!” You complain, reaching for him again until he reaches for your hand and puts it on his cheek. Your heart skips a beat, and you blush. He couldn’t see that though.

“There. Is that better?” He asks, his voice more quiet than usual. You nod, but then remember he can’t see you too. “Y-yeah. Sorry if my hands a-are wet.” You wipe your other hand on your sundress frantically, and he grabs hold of that too and places it on his shoulder. He then grabs your waist, pulling you closer. You start to feel him move side to side, and a picture formed in your head.

You were dancing in the dark.

“I get up in the evening, and I ain’t got nothing to say~” You sang quietly, and he laughs a bit. “I go home in the morning, I go to bed feeling the same way~” You continue, humming.

“I ain’t nothing but tired. Man I’m just tired and bored with myself,” he sings along after a while, and you pull him closer. “Hey there baby, I could use just a little help.”

Can’t start a fire, can’t start a fire without a spark.

This gun’s for hire, even if we’re just dancing in the dark.

“I was dying to dance with you all night,” you admit, whispering it in his ear. He nods, breathing against your neck. “Me too.” He replies quietly. “I missed you so much. So much. I’m so sorry for lying, I’m so sorry for being so naïve and not listening to you. I’m so sorry,” you cry, and he holds you closer, letting you sob on his shoulder.

He was still mad, but hearing how sad and lonely you sound, he knew this was hard on you as it was for him. Miscommunication was a bitch, and you both became a victim to it. Ironic since you had excellent communication systems.

“I understand why you lied to some degree. And you were right, I would’ve murdered him in his sleep. But you know I could’ve gotten away with it,” he chides, and you step on his foot. He feigns hurt but keeps dancing. “You tried to protect me and had the protocol’s best interest in mind. Can’t fault you on that too much. But it still pisses me off that lied. You shouldn’t feel the need to lie to me.

“But that was my fault. You were scared of how I’d act. And yeah, I know I can get carried away most of the time. Just a few minutes ago, I almost broke Sova’s nose,” he chuckles at the thought but continues. “Point is, we both made mistakes.” He finishes with a sigh.

“Please take me back,” you ask, and as soon as you did, the power went on. You adjusted your view, and saw that Yoru was also a bit teary eyed. You smile tenderly and hold his face with your palm, caressing it. “Please take me back. I love you and only you,” you begged. He stops moving both of you and leans into your touch, thinking. He hasn’t seen you this close in a while, and from the bags under your eyes, he could tell how unwell you’ve been without him.

“Promise me you won’t lie to me anymore. Promise me you’ll tell me anything that bothers you, even if you won’t like my initial reaction. And I promise to listen to you more, and to never doubt you again,” he asks, leaning his head on to your hands, melting him like putty. You nod, your smile quivering as you cry. “I promise. I promise,” you were able to blurt out, pouncing on him and hugging him tightly. You both dance again as you hum the lyrics to your favorite song.

They say you gotta stay hungry, hey baby, I’m just about starving tonight

I’m dying for some action, I’m sick of sitting round here tryna write this book

I need a love reaction~

“C’mon now, baby give me just one look,” he pulls away, giving you a smile before he kisses you longingly as you dance the night away. He missed you more than you know. And he was glad that he was your last dance tonight. He wanted to dance with you so bad.

You can't start a fire, sitting 'round crying over a broken heart

This gun's for hire, even if we're just dancing in the dark

You can't start a fire, worrying about your little world falling apart

This gun's for hire

Even if we're just dancing in the dark.

(Tagging: @sv03, thanks for waiting!)

#valorant sova #sova x reader #valorant sova x reader #valorant imagines #valorant #valorant headcanons #valorant sova imagines #valorant sova oneshot #valorant oneshots #valorant oneshot #sova #fanfiction #valorant fanfiction #valorant yoru #yoru x reader #valorant yoru x reader #valorant yoru oneshot #yoru

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marciabrady · 2 years

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rachel ze*ger: *bashes Disney's Snow White as a dated portrayal of women without substance and says her Snow White will actually have to learn lessons throughout the film, unlike the original*

actual quotes from the original film that depict some of the lessons Snow White both learns and teaches during her narrative, identifying her value to past and future audiences:

"I really feel quite happy now. I'm sure I'll get along somehow. Everything's going to be all right." The power of positivity and optimism yields resilience in the face of adversity. Snow White was almost murdered and had to run away from the only home she'd ever known. She had a panic attack and allowed herself to process her emotions in a healthy way, and once she acknowledged her feelings, she instantly felt much better and began to make plans on how to rebuild her life. You can't become a product of the things that have happened to you- you have to continue moving through life. So yes- acknowledge what's happening, process your emotions, but also don't let circumstances outside of your control destroy you. Get back up and keep going, even when it seems impossible. You're capable of so much more than you realize.

"Please don't run away. I won't hurt you. I'm awfully sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. But you don't know what I've been through. And all because I was afraid. I'm so ashamed of the fuss I've made." Despite what you're currently going through, you can't let that bleed through to how you affect and treat other people. Always be mindful of the impact you have on others and never allow yourself to become a victim of your own misfortune. While it's important to allow yourself to fully experience the weight of your own emotions, sometimes getting too stuck in your own circumstances can make a situation worse and create additional barriers for you to conquer. Keep everything in perspective and keep your eyes open to the communities around you.

"And as you sweep the room, imagine that the broom, is someone that you love and soon you'll find you're dancing to the tune." Always infuse even the most mundane things about you with love and suddenly your work, no matter how seemingly inconsequential it may be, will feel meaningful.

"When hearts are high the time will fly so whistle while you work." Doing something with lifted spirits and in a state of happiness makes a job ten times easier than setting about to accomplish something in a miserable mood. Nine times out of time, working on something when you're in a good disposition will also provide better results and findings.

"I know! We'll clean the house and surprise them. Then maybe they'll let me stay." Never expect anything from anyone. While Snow White assumed that the cottage belonged to orphans, making it an orphanage- and she, herself, is an orphan and she'd then have a rightful place there if, indeed, it was an orphanage- she didn't expect free room and board. She looked about her and noticed that there were gaps to be filled- namely in cleaning and cooking- and then went about fulfilling those tasks, which she hoped to leverage to bargain shelter for herself.

"Now you wash up the dishes. You tidy up the room. You clean the fireplace. And I'll use the broom!" Divide and conquer! Snow White delegated the various tasks of cleaning to the different animals and accomplished what would've individually taken her all day in a single afternoon. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of those around you, and work together as a collective to bring yourselves closer to a shared goal.

"You think their mother would- maybe they have no mother. Then they're orphans. That's too bad." Never assume anything about other people because you don't know the path of life they walk down and their situation. Never judge someone by what they're wearing or what they look like or the house they live in because you're never going to be fully aware of their circumstances and you'll come across as ignorant. Lead with compassion, always.

"If you let me stay, I'll keep house for you. I'll wash and sew and sweep and cook..." To avoid being kicked out of the haven she'd found, Snow White needed to pitch her values to the future landlords. As mentioned above, Snow White noticed the gaps that were needed to be filled in the house and pitched her services accordingly to tempt the dwarfs into letting her stay. It's hard to argue in the face of facts. Snow White knew the value she could bring to the Dwarf's cottage and wasn't shy about presenting it to them in a plea to allow her refuge.

"Oh, [you've washed] recently? Let me see your hands!" Never take anything anyone says at face value. If you're doubting them, call them on their bluff and ask for proof- and never be afraid to voice your doubt.

"March straight outside and wash or you'll not have a bite to eat!" Despite the fact that the Dwarfs nearly kicked her out before agreeing to letting her stay, Snow White had ownership of the tasks related to cooking and cleaning and she wouldn't budge until the Dwarfs behaved accordingly to the standards she set in place. She treated them as equals which, in turn, made them treat her as an equal. Sometimes, people are too afraid to come off as bossy or intimidating, or to throw their weight around, but there are moments you'll need to assert yourself and if you play second fiddle to someone, they'll treat you as just that.

"Bless the seven little men who have been so kind to me." Before wishing for anything for herself, or allowing herself to fall into a line of self despair over the tragic events of what happened to her earlier in the day, Snow White is grateful among all else. She thanks the Seven Dwarfs for their generosity toward her and asks for God to bless them. With a grateful heart, you can accomplish anything, and if you're thankful for the good things in your life and don't take anything for granted, your fortune will only multiply.

"Well, aren't you going to wash? What's the matter[, Grumpy]- cat got your tongue?" Snow White wasn't afraid to match Grumpy's energy in the moments he exhibited hatred toward her, but she always kept it playful and never meanspirited. If we encounter hatred in the workplace or at home, sometimes it behooves us to stick up for ourselves or comment on the apparent behavior others are exhibiting toward us. Always be mindful of limitations and how to express this in a safe way though- Snow White never pokes a hornet's nest or says anything toward Grumpy that would threaten the home she'd made for herself in the cottage. She knows exactly how close to walk up to the line.

more lessons we can observe from snow white in the 1937 film from her body language and different plot points:

Leave a situation that's dangerous and frightening to you. The minute the Huntsman tells Snow White of the Queen's motives, Snow White flees into the forest for refuge. She didn't try to sympathize with the Queen or reason her way out of it. Snow White recognized the potential danger she was in and she worked quickly to remove herself from it. A girl I worked with once said Snow White was dense for this- after all, why wouldn't she work with the Huntsman to ensure he'd bring her food and water while she was in the forest or assist in finding her a place of shelter? But the fact of the matter is, Snow White trusted the Huntsman once and that resulted in him nearly killing her. Cutting ties with him was the most conducive way to a safe future. Even if he didn't want to hurt her, if Snow White's whereabouts were known to him, there's no telling what the Queen would do to him to retrieve that information or to force him into using that knowledge to put Snow White in a place of danger, once again. More on this in the incredible post my friend made.

Make your intentions known! Snow White, in many ways, is a product of manifestation. Her mother wished for a child as white as snow, as black as the ebony on her window-frame, and as red as blood, and she received just that from the universe. Likewise, Snow White didn't shy away from making her wishes known to the wishing well- the wish of love after years of neglect and isolation and abuse- and her love came to her by the end of the song. Later, during the scene with the apple, she again voices her wish to be reunited with her lost love- and sure enough, it comes true!

Trust your instincts! So many people overlook this lesson that Snow White teaches, but she was visibly uncomfortable by the hag during their shared scenes. Her body language depicts her consistently shrinking away from the other woman, and generally behaving in an uneasy demeanor with tense facial expressions and a disturbed energy. She even openly says, "I feel strange" after consuming the apple. The hag applied to Snow White's compassion, identifying it as a "weak spot", because she could tell Snow White was growing increasingly vague and guarded.

Don't judge a book by its cover. Snow White wasn't frightened by the hag because of her unconventional appearance, but the frightening energy with which she interacted with Snow White. However, Snow White never judged the hag's appearance and when the hag feigned a heart attack, Snow White's compassion motivated her to nurse the old woman back to health and give her a drink of water. Juxtapose this with the Beast from Beauty and the Beast who couldn't see past the hag's outer appearance and refused to offer her shelter for the night. In turn, he was cursed until he learned the lesson that Snow White had already known.

Never expect anything from anyone or rely on a title. Snow White is the Princess of the land the Seven Dwarfs dwell in, yet she never once relied on her title or power in her interactions with them. She easily could've pulled rank and pointed out that since their property fell on the land of her rule and her former parents' rule, they should be more than willing to accommodate her. Instead of relying on these false barometers of social standing, Snow White interacted with them on a human level and offered to work in exchange for her room and board. This led to the Dwarfs interacting with her as an equal in return and they had so much more love for her than they would've if she pulled a "do you know who I am" card, leading them to rush to the cottage that much more quickly when they sensed she was in danger and surrounding her coffin in eternal vigil prior to the ending of the film.

Be open to different ways of thought and to the world around you. We live in a nuanced, vibrant world with so many different ways of thought and methods of approaching a conflict. One of the top attributes employers look for in future hires is a teachable spirit. There are many times throughout the film where Snow White askes those around her for ideas and is open to advice. "What do you do when things go wrong?" "Maybe you know where I can stay- in the woods, somewhere? You do? Will you take me there?" Snow White is always open to experiencing the world around her and never discounts the opinions and thoughts and values of those around her. In turn, she leads a very full life and this resourcefulness serves her in moments in dire need- like when she's homeless in the woods with no future prospects or connections.

#snow white #snow white defense tag #snow white 1937 #oof i'm so angry #i get lily and elle did this #and naomi to a certain extent #but like #this hurts the deepest #there's so much hate for snow white already that #i would've expected rachel to respect the character or understand her somewhat #or be the person to present the character in an authentic way that would soften contemporary audiences up to snow white #what she's doing is cheap and disgusting and anything but novel

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amendehonorable · 3 months

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* ◟ : 〔 sarah snook , cis woman + she/her 〕 ESTHER VAN CORTLANDT , some say you’re a THIRTY-NINE YEAR OLD lost soul among the neon lights. known for being both UNFALTERING and HIGH-STRUNG, one can’t help but think of MISS AMERICA by DAVID BYRNE when you walk by. are you still a CONSIGLIERE / DIRECTOR at BURNING GODS / NEW YORK BALLET COMPANY, even with your reputation as the SHARK? i think we’ll be seeing more of you and graceful steps down marble floors, power echoing through the click-clack of her heels; the sound of her office door closing three times, every time; a dusty bible hidden in the back of a broom closet. inside it, revelation 3:14-17, underlined and highlighted, “you say, ‘i am rich; i have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ but you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”, although we can’t help but think of NINA SAYERS (black swan), MIMA KIRIGOE (perfect blue), LEDA CARUSO (the lost daughter) whenever we see you down these rainy streets.

esther van cortlandt. a woman born suspended in a space between heaven and hell. the place you go to fester in the mistakes that rendered you a sinner in the first place, or to set yourself free. from the moment of conception, her reputation preceded her and her family as the heirs to some of the oldest money in new york city. crumbling railroads throughout the united states existed in their heyday under their control. while most of these tracks have long since been deemed unusable, the money made from these ventures had been enough to bring the world out of poverty twice over. this money exists today in the wallets of the last three living van cortlandts—abel, katerina, and esther. a father, an investor in oil, lithium, and silica. a mother, practically sold to the van cortlandts to benefit the reputation of her own family’s legacy. a daughter, bound to destroy it all one day.

the end always follows a beginning, an origin, a becoming. for esther, it started on the marley tile, in tears as she practiced her plies. by the time she could walk, her folks threw her into extra curriculars to see what would stick; gymnastics, piano, even chess. all of these bored the young girl. the only class that managed to hold her attention was ballet. as she grew older and the classes became more than daycare her parents could feel proud of, the more dedicated she became, all with the help of her mentor michèle. a tall, angular woman. so sharp she could draw blood. perfection was non-negotiable. this mentor acted more as a mother to esther than her actual mother had been, in the way that hamsters and rabbits eat their young. she saw a small seed of talent in her that she wanted to exploit or destroy—or, maybe, something in between the two. esther chooses not to think about it.

quicker than she had been able to register, her world began to revolve around dance. summer intensives, national competitions, the works. little room existed for her to revel in her youth when she had been preparing for her professional career from age eight. before high school, her time at home was spent either practicing technique or attending to schoolwork. all of her friends were forced to be just as cutthroat and anyone else who wasn’t didn’t interest her. by the time high school rolled around, she had been sent to a full-time ballet school in the heart of paris with michèle, where she further submerged herself into isolation for the sole purpose of perfection. and the closer she got, with every class, recital, show, and competition, the further she spiraled into this obsession. the thrill of winning was stronger than all of the abuse her body had to endure, and endure it did. through high school and university, everyday was the same. her body hurt with every step, her bones cracked and ached enough to stir her awake, but she didn’t listen—opting instead for dulling the pain with pills from her mentor’s medicine cabinet. she was sprinting for the finish line with the hope that it would free her, that it would act as proof of her discipline and commitment to excellence. what was her purpose, if not greatness? this question would stew and fester in her mind, michèle’s tack sharp tone narrating every thought.

this behavior does not come without consequence. unbeknownst to her, this suffering would soon become biblical. she stepped on stage as prima ballerina for the first and last time at the paris opera ballet, where she had spent the first four years of her professional career. instead of the freedom she had dreamt up for herself, almost all of her time outside of the ballet was spent acting as caretaker for the aging michèle, who continued to mentor esther through the decline of her health. only weeks before she was set to debut as prima, michèle arrived at the emergency room unconscious. time she would’ve spent practicing was used for hospice transfers and funeral pre-arrangements. wracked with worry, the time spent at rehearsals proved to be less than fruitful. the focus she had worked so long to develop quickly diminished into a fraction of what it had once been, while the pressure to succeed mounted as opening night inched closer and closer. the day it arrived, she relied on pure instinct until the very moment it failed her, one moment that lasted seconds would impact her for a lifetime. the doctors said something about slipped and fractured discs, untreated muscle tears, and a litany of vitamin deficiencies. everything that would cut this career she had wasted her youth developing short. michéle, just like her dreams of a legacy detached from the van cortlandt name, died as she recovered from from her injuries in a hospital.

not soon afterward, she moved back to manhattan to live in an apartment on her family’s dime. after healing from the worst of her injuries, her work shifted to teaching, simply because it was what had been expected of her. she trained dancers for dozens of performances but all of them blended together as she imagined herself on the stage. it was at one of these performances where she had met the man who would one day become her husband. strong, powerful, and secure—a day trader with a glint mischief in his eye. she didn’t learn about his position as the consigliere of the burning gods until they tied the knot. her allegiance with the gang was originally formed out of obligation. esther would come to realize that her husband was a bad man, a violent man, one who harmed indiscriminately and punished draconically. what bothered her the most, however, was his carelessness. his inability to tie loose ends. her concern with his behavior only heightened when she fell pregnant with their first child, a beautiful baby boy. she couldn’t bear the thought of having to watch her son grow up from the confines of a prison cell, rendered destitute with their name dragged through the mud.

while esther was seven months pregnant, whispers became plans, and those plans fell into action—her husband went “missing”. friends and family sent condolences while she mingled with her husbands colleagues at the burning gods, that little spark of dedication that she once felt with dancing firing again with a passion for leading and being at the helm of an organization with such notoriety. during the first few months of his disappearance, she was something of an interim consigliere. as time passed and hope of finding him dwindled, this position became more permanent. proving herself was something she had been doing all her life, and she was prepared to continue. it was all she knew how to do.

#lawlessintro #* ESTHER V.C / intro !

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fitzs-trained-monkey · 2 years

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A Beautiful Mind

Title: A Beautiful Mind

Summary: You had begged Kol not to put you to sleep. You had told him of the sights that haunted your nightmares - red lights and black water. He never could have guessed that the safest place for you would turn out to be the most dangerous. Three Doors Down - Part Three || Kol x Disabled!reader || Here are parts one and two || Here lies my Masterlist

Word Count: 10,000

Warnings: Fear of drowning, talk about death, violence, blood. Oh, also a weird as all frick dream sequence - it's not supposed to make sense, just keep that in mind.

A/N: Fun Fact, this fic originally started as a self-insert because I actually live with hearing loss and speech aphasia. So to everyone who has been supportive of this mini-series, I just wanted to say thank you. Enjoy this finale, I hope it lives up to expectations.

Checking his watch for what was surely the millionth time that day, Kol tore his hands through his hair, cursing under his breath as he leaned his head back against the wall of his broom-closet prison. Waiting was torture; each minute felt like an eternity and the space wasn't even big enough for him to stretch his legs out all the way. He was so hungry. Bloody hell! He was starving! There were so many warm bodies in the rooms surrounding him. Oh, what he wouldn't give to sink his teeth into just one - any of them would do, yet there was a certain one he couldn't seem to take his mind off of. Try as he might, she was all Kol could think about. Y/N. Her dry wit, her dazzling smile, her quiet strength, her captivating eyes, her perfect lips, her soft skin… her blood.

Warm and thick and-

No!

Stop. Don't go there.

Kol groaned, drawing his knees up to his chest in a vain effort to relieve just a fraction of the excruciating pain in his stomach. He couldn't stop thinking about her, no matter what he tried. Where was Y/N by now? Probably in Mystic Falls already. The thought pained him - she shouldn't be anywhere near that wretched town. She should have been with him.

He didn't care if it made him weak, Kol wanted her back. He just wanted her back, safe and sound. He just wanted to have her back so he could make her laugh and smile in that adorable way that made him want to smile too. He wanted to hold her, and kiss her, and feel her, and… and… He wanted to listen to her heart race and he wanted to bury his teeth into her tender flesh. She'd been so good the first time, she hadn't fought him and she'd tasted divine. The memory made his mouth water. Her blood - hot and thick and sweet like candy. He'd stopped too soon, far too soon. He should have had more when he had the chance. Bloody hell, he could still taste her on his tongue. Sweet. So sweet. Sweet like candy…

NO!

STOP IT!

STOP!

NOT HER!

He didn't want that, he didn't want to think about her that way. Kol didn't want to hurt her! Because that girl was a lot like him - she had lost parts of herself, things she could never get back. Just like him. Except Kol hadn't had anyone to take comfort in. So for Y/N, he wanted to be the person he'd never had - his way of flipping off the cosmos, perhaps.

And why shouldn't he? After all that had been stolen from him, after all the injustices and pointless suffering, the universe owed him this much. Cliche as it sounded, Y/N was a light in the dark, radiating joy and enthusiasm like a fire gives off heat. She didn't care about his looks or his charm. He didn't have to do anything to be of worth - just being himself was enough for her. The attention she gave him was free of ulterior motives, and like a starved child, he wanted it all to himself. He didn't mean to be possessive and he would never do anything to harm or disrespect that girl, or keep her from happiness. He adored her! But that was the problem. Kol just didn't know how to let go. One thousand years had been so long, and he'd been so alone. He deserved someone like Y/N. Yet the universe in its infinite cruelty still sought to take her away.

It wasn't fair!

That was why he'd bitten her.

He hadn't wanted to hurt her, but the alternative was worse. If he hadn't done something drastic, she would have gone back to her life in Denver. The thought of Y/N living her life without him? The chance she might one day fall in love with someone else? He couldn't stand it. He hadn't even known her that long - hardly a week but every day of that week, she had knocked on his door and greeted him with a smile and a hug to say good morning. How could he give that up?

Kol had fed on her because he wanted to keep her. He thought about her because he was worried and he missed her. But the monster under his skin couldn't tell the difference, and it didn't really care to. It just kept torturing him with memories of her blood on his tongue.

Kol checked his watch and cursed.

All that for eight bloody minutes.

He had to give it to the Gilbert siblings, they were nothing if not persistent and, unfortunately, they weren't entirely brainless. According to the elder Salvatore's gloating, they had gotten their Bennet witch to temporarily deactivate his daylight ring - a feat he would have been impressed by had he not already spent nine and a half hours trapped in a closet because of it. (For all that witch lacked in skill and knowledge, she made up for it in raw power.) Eight floors worth of windowed hallways stood between him and the building's exit. He could get out if he tried and he would survive the journey, but it would be excruciating and ultimately pointless as his car did not have specially treated windows and attempting to drive whilst he burned alive wasn't exactly feasible.

Now, Kol was well aware that despite appearances, Y/N was far from helpless - she'd proven that much. However, she wouldn't be able to hold her own against Niklaus. By taking their cousin to Mystic Falls, the Gilberts might as well simply hand-deliver Y/N right into Klaus' hands. If Kol's brother realized how he could use that girl… Kol didn't even want to imagine what the hybrid would do.

Klaus would hurt her.

Kol didn't want to see Y/N hurt.

Bloody hell, he felt awful. He'd promised to protect her and he'd failed spectacularly. Y/N was probably terrified. Kol wished he could help her. He wished he could just see her, but he couldn't!

Unless he could…

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, resting his head against the wall. Calming his mind was difficult, it always had been for him; thoughts tended to race through his mind like gale-force winds and that was on a good day. Now his psyche was plagued with images he'd rather not see, predictions of a future he could only pray he had the power to stop - that frail, bubbly girl sprawled on the ground, drained of the life she gave so freely, and the ground around her stained red, red, red. The worst part was knowing he might be the one to make her that way. He was so hungry.

Kol dragged his hands through his hair and let loose a string of curses. He needed to find her, but to do so required him to focus on the present and at the moment he could do anything but. Perhaps this was how Y/N often felt, reaching for something she knew she possessed, yet always coming up short. That was when she'd start doing all those adorable nervous ticks he loved so much. Kol pictured her - the way she'd snap her fingers and bounce on her toes, biting her lip just right and every time she did so it made him want to kiss her senseless. That thought made him smile and he caught hold of it. Pushing away the fear and hunger, he leaned his head back and reached out, letting that radiant vision guide him to the girl he'd come to adore.

"Alright, darling," He muttered. "Where are you?"

Y/N was dreaming. Her magnificent light was easy to distinguish; the way her cognizance flickered and danced, out of sync with the other mortal minds populating the world, was beautiful. It was something he'd never seen before, yet more familiar to him somehow than he'd thought possible. Kol focused on that light, let it envelop him in an embrace that felt as warm and genuine as the girl it came from, and then he was falling backward into a dream that wasn't his.

He saw black at first and started walking, his hand soon meeting a wall which he used to guide himself down what he quickly discovered to be a hallway of some kind. The gentle notes of piano chords could be heard playing from somewhere ahead of him and he moved along the hall towards the sound. A dim light flickered to life over his head, barely illuminating the few feet in front of him - the rest of the hall remained black as pitch. Kol glanced up to watch as the light wavered and changed, the dull glow began to oscillate between colors.

Red to blue.

Then white.

To red.

To blue.

To red.

To blue.

Then white.

Then red.

The colors continued to shift and Kol frowned. He remembered Y/N had said something about lights as he'd compelled her to sleep. She'd begged him not to, mumbling some gibberish about red lights and black water. What had she meant by that? What made it important enough to mention in her last moments of wakefulness? Kol didn't know, and he hated not knowing.

Although, now that there was some light to be had, Kol noticed that there were doorways lining each side of the corridor - a mental maze of sorts - except this one was different than any he'd traversed before. In Y/N's mind, the doors did not stay put. He watched as these gateways to her memories faded in and out of existence, seemingly at random.

He grimaced. Whatever happened next was bound to be interesting.

"Y/N!" He raised his voice and shouted down the corridor. "YN, it's me - it's Kol! Can you hear me?"

There was no response - just more piano notes sounding from the dark expanse ahead of him. It seemed forward was the only stable direction he could go, so he started moving and the light moved with him, maintaining its position over his head.

After what seemed like hours of walking, Kol arrived at the hallway's end. A simple dark green door, the same as the one she'd resided behind in Denver - three doors down from his - stood in front of him. The chords of a piano drifted from beyond it, louder and stronger now that he was so close.

Kol paused. Should he knock? Before he could decide, he was stopped by the sound of an unfamiliar voice intertwining with the music emanating from behind the door.

"Y/N, dinner's ready!"

The warmth was what startled him. The warmth and the love that he could feel radiating from the memory just beyond that door was baffling. It was something entirely mundane - as ordinary and as common as grass - but the sound made Kol smile because it was something he'd never really had.

"Y/N/N? You gonna come down? It's time to eat, sweetheart!"

That voice could only belong to a mother - one who loved her child with all her heart and soul - and just for a moment, Kol let himself bask in the sound.

He moved to touch the door's handle and a blinding light erupted in front of him, engulfing his senses in white. The next moment, Kol stumbled forward into what must have been a teenage Y/N's bedroom.

The setup was nothing extraordinary. There was a bed, a dresser, a nightstand - just the basics. The only feature truly of note was the antique piano and the girl sitting in front of it. Once again, her beauty stunned him. Those perfectly sweet, kissable lips, that small but tempting figure, and those wide, vulnerable eyes - so open and genuine - that made him want to hold her tight and never let go. Especially now, when those eyes were filled with sorrow and tears.

Her fingers expertly stroked the piano's old yet well-kept keys, turning out a blissful, dream-like melody, though her face displayed an altogether different set of emotions. Kol could read the desperate frustration in her clenched and grinding teeth and the dreadful sorrow in the line of her brow and the glistening in her eyes.

"Y/N? Are you alright up there?"

The piano music stopped and Y/N began to cry. The sight tugged at Kol's heart - to see someone he knew was so much stronger than she looked break down in tears was heart wrenching. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know how. Emotions were messy things and he'd never been very good at handling his own, let alone anyone else's, but for Y/N he was willing to try. He moved with a certain degree of caution over to the piano and sat down on the bench beside her. The girl's tears were quiet little things - not the kind she would want to share much about but he could try anyway. He tapped his fingers against his knees, unsure of what to say.

"Why are you crying?" He asked gently, hoping his mere presence wouldn't frighten her. The girl straightened and wiped her tears but didn't turn to him.

"Had a… had-had a, um… a bad day." She shrugged. Her voice held little emotion. "Lots of yesterday-ays ago. O-okay now… all g-one."

Reliving an old memory wasn't uncommon, he supposed. Although, most people he'd dream walked with weren't aware they were dreaming until they woke up. Perhaps lucid dreams were another side effect of Y/N's strange mind.

"I see." He nodded. "Hello, Y/N."

She smiled slightly and hummed in return. She didn't seem to be in the talking mood and that only made this harder. Kol tentatively touched her hand - he just wanted her to look at him but she didn't. She just tugged on his hand and placed it on her thigh so she could play with his rings, slipping them off to examine each one. It was almost painful to watch her, not knowing what she was thinking and she wouldn't talk to him - for the love of Thor - she wouldn't even look at him! He had a thousand things he wanted to say but none of them were helpful.

"So… what about now? Are you alright?" It was pathetic, but it was the best he could come up with.

She shook her head.

Kol's eyes darkened. "Did they hurt you?" He forced the words out through clenched teeth.

She shook her head again and he relaxed a little.

"Do you…" He hesitated. "- want to talk about it? Believe it or not, I actually have some experience with being rendered unconscious by members of my family." That actually got a reaction out of her.

Y/N's hands stilled and she turned her head slowly to stare at him. "What the hell?" She mouthed silently. Her expression was a perfect picture of baffled confusion and it took quite a bit of willpower on his part not to laugh. Though he couldn't refrain from cracking a smile.

He shrugged. "I have weird siblings. What can I say?" He would tell her the disturbing truth later. For now, he made light of it. The corners of Y/N's lips twitched up, trying to smile while the rest of her expression turned even more bewildered.

"That-that's not-" She stammered, at a loss for words. Kol placed a hand on his chest, feigning offense.

"This isn't a laughing matter, darling. My family takes the game of croquet very seriously!" Humor as medicine was an excellent strategy and his appeared to be working. Y/N snickered, rolling her eyes. "Ah, ah! What did I say about laughing?" He playfully chastised.

"Mm-mm -" She hummed, shaking her head as she fought to keep the grin off her face. "- I-I-I not… I'm not laugh-aughing."

"Really?" He smirked. "What's this then?" Kol poked her in the ribs and Y/N jumped, letting go of a little squeal. "What was that?" He poked her again in a slightly different spot and she twisted, grinning. "What was that, Y/N? Was that a giggle?"

Upon realizing his new plan, her eyes flew wide and she slapped his hand away. "Uh, uh! Nope!" She held up a finger as if as a warning.

"Are you sure?" He drawled, squeezing her thigh. She pushed that hand away too and shifted away from him.

"Uh, huh. Yeah." She nodded. Kol sighed, shrugging - letting her believe she'd won.

"Nah, I don't believe you."

He poked at her again and Y/N giggled as she jumped back in an attempt to dodge his assault. She very nearly fell off the bench, but caught herself at the last second and stood, backing away from him with a smile on her face. Kol grinned and followed, shifting into a predatory stance. Y/N tried to out maneuver him but it wasn't long before he had her backing into a corner.

"Don-don't tickle!" She said, matching his steps.

"Surrender and I won't have to," He replied, smirking down at her. He had her fully backed into the corner, trapping her there with an arm on either side of her head.

"Mmm-mm!" She shook her head, keeping her lips sealed to stay her laughter.

Kol sighed, overdramatic. "Then you leave me no choice but to force you." Y/N snickered and ducked under his arm but he turned swiftly and caught her by the waist, picking her up as if she weighed little more than a feather. In a blink, he'd tossed her onto the bed and climbed over her, attacking her sides without mercy. Y/N squealed with laughter as he found her sweet-spot, she giggled and squirmed but couldn't escape. The sound of her laughter was the most joyful thing Kol had ever heard. "Being adorable won't save you, darling. You have to say it!" He declared.

"I-I sur-sur- ACK! No! No, wait! I sur-ur-en… surred-der!" She cried.

Kol grinned and moved off her, making himself comfortable on the bed as he watched her catch her breath.

"Uh, F- uh… F- you," She grumbled.

"Please," He hummed, grinning cheekily. The girl rolled her eyes and smacked his chest. He laughed, catching her hand before she could pull it back and tangling their fingers together.

"In- in your d-dreaming," She chuckled.

"Yours, actually," He pointed out.

Y/N sent him a look. "No."

"I'm just saying-"

"Kol…"

"Why not? It'll pass the time! I've still got another six hours till the sun goes down and I can get out of this closet, and who knows how long it will be until you wake up," He reasoned. Y/N just snorted, shaking her head. "You really should be more open to new experiences, darling. Didn't your parents ever teach you that?"

He turned to watch her with a proud grin, his obnoxious attitude having won a full-on laugh from the girl. She closed her eyes and shifted closer. Her cheeks were tinged with pink and it was then that he remembered just how hungry he was. It wasn't his fault. Her flushed cheeks just looked so appetizing, even in a dream, and her heartbeat pounded deliciously in his ears. His smile faded and his eyes drifted to the artery pulsing in her neck.

"Ko-l?"

"Hmm?" He forced himself to tear his eyes away - to look at her.

Y/N was watching him with caution, one brow raised. "You okay-ay?" She asked. She was an observant girl. He really needed to learn how to keep his hunger in check. Before now, he'd never had a reason to.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" He replied, forcing a smile.

She saw right through him, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Hungry?"

Kol nodded, unable to meet her eyes. He wasn't ashamed of what he was - not anymore. He was ashamed that he allowed her blood to tempt him. He was 1,000 years old, he should have been better than this. "I'm sorry. It's just been a while since I… Well, since I had anything to eat, and let's just say I've never been the best at curbing my appetite," He admitted. She deserved the truth. His truth wasn't pretty.

Y/N blinked. "O-oh…" She cleared her throat and shifted her gaze to the ceiling.

And now he'd freaked her out, good on him.

"B-but this is a dream," He quickly added, trying to reassure Y/N somewhat. "I can't hurt you in here, not really. You're safe."

The girl nodded slowly but her lips remained pressed together and her eyes stayed fixed overhead.

He sat up a little, looking over her with concern. "Darling?" He tried. She turned her head, refusing to look at him. A flash of something painful ripped through his heart and he touched her arm. "Wait, Y/N/N. Please don't do that. I didn't mean to scare you. I promise you're safe, I promise I won't do anything… I-I'm not a monster. I-I promise."

She turned back, looking up at him with those stunning E/C eyes. "Ca-an you?" She whispered.

"Can I… what?"

"Pr-prom-omise that," She said. "Keep it?"

He wanted to answer yes, immediately and without a doubt, but the truth was he didn't really know. All Kol knew was that he needed her in his life and that he'd be willing to do almost anything to keep her in it. This sensation he felt when he looked at her wasn't something he knew how to deal with - it felt a little bit like the hunger he was so familiar with, but it wasn't painful. She looked so beautiful from this angle, with her hair all spread out around her head, like a haloed angel. He couldn't help but think back to two nights before - the life in her eyes, how she had felt beneath him, so soft and warm. He craved her presence in every moment and he knew that it was selfish, selfish, selfish. Kol had never tried to control himself before and it was a lot harder than he'd thought anything could be. It was selfish of him to put her in that sort of danger, but he just couldn't help it. He needed her. So he would try his best to keep her safe, especially from himself.

"Anything for you," He murmured, brushing a strand of hair from her face. He couldn't resist leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek. He loved the way she smiled.

Her eyes left his and she reached up to play with his necklace - nothing special, just a stone with a few sigils carved into it attached to a black cord. He'd made the thing when he was human… so maybe it was a little special.

"Does it… being, uh… being… being here? No, not-not that one… Um… being, um…" She snapped her fingers. Kol had no idea what she was trying to say so he stayed silent, watching her bite her lip and wishing she would let him do that for her. "Does… Does being, uh… close! Yeah, close! Does being close… close t-to me w-when, uh, when you're hun-hungry… does it hur-rt?"

The girl had been kidnapped twice in thirty six hours and she was still worried about him. What an angel. He smiled softly, stroking her cheek.

"A little bit," Kol admitted. "But you're worth it, and I'll be okay." He laid back down - looking down on her like that was just too tempting. "What about you?" He wondered, changing the subject. "You have been handling all this remarkably well."

The girl nodded, shrugging. "S-scared and lot-lots of wor-ords," She said. "But okay."

He raised a brow. "You mean questions?"

"Uh, huh. Yeah."

"Well, go ahead and ask, darling. We've got plenty of time." He grinned.

"Quest-estion one-" She started. "What the hell?"

Kol barked a laugh. "Understandable. Would you like to hear what the hell from the beginning or just the reader's digest?"

"A-all the hell," She deadpanned.

"Are you sure? That's quite the long story, love," He warned, grimacing slightly.

Y/N raised a brow. "How, uh… how-how many y-years?"

"How old am I?" He clarified. She nodded. "I'm nearly one thousand years old." Her eyes flew wide. "Although, physically I'm eighteen," He added quickly.

"Huh…" That was all she had to say.

"That doesn't upset you, does it?" He asked hopefully, taking her hand in his and stroking his thumb over the back of it to calm her.

She swallowed thickly and blinked, shaking her head. "I'm-I'm good."

"Still want to hear the whole story?"

She nodded. "Lis-listen-ening."

Kol sighed. "Better get comfy then, this'll take awhile."

The girl snickered and sat up, reaching over him to grab something - a stuffed Y/F/A plush - before settling with her head resting on his chest. She never ceased to surprise him.

Kol couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. Hesitantly, he slipped his arm around her back. "Is this alright?"

She huffed a laugh and grabbed his other hand, placing it on her waist. Well, if she was okay with it… He tugged her closer and shifted her body so she was practically on top of him. She was warm. He missed being warm.

"Get-get on with, uh, with it," She joked, smiling.

"Alright, alright! Someone's pushy," He grumbled playfully. "I will warn you though, the Chronicles of Baby-Kol are, uh… well, they're a bit of a tear-jerker, so be ready."

"Okay."

Kol took a deep breath, and then he told her everything.

***

Alright, so 'what the hell' from beginning to end turned out to be a lot more than you had thought, but you listened to every word and tried your best to understand. First, he decided to tell you about the curse on his brother. He told you of your cousin Elena's magical blood which was needed to break that curse. Kol made it rather clear that he would not be involved in all the drama if not for the threat on his life. He also made sure to tell you about Stefan and Damon Salvatore - two vampire brothers competing for Elena's favor - as the latter of whom had aided in your abduction.

"I'll kill them both if you want me to, darling. Just say the word and they're dead," He offered, only half joking which was frightening though you'd never admit it.

You shook your head. "No. No dead-ed-ing," You said. "Who can I tri-ick? Which-which one?"

Kol groaned. "Y/N, love, I say this because I care about you… But, for the love of Odin, please don't do anything stupid?" You opened your mouth to protest but he beat you to it. "They are ten times stronger and faster than you. Don't provoke them."

You rolled your eyes and scoffed. "Trick them," You insisted. "Tr-trick! Use it, um, use pity!"

"I thought you said you hate it when people pity you?" Kol said, raising a brow.

You shrugged. "Gets things."

Kol grinned. "You, darling, are a little two faced devil and I love it." He laughed and pressed a kiss to your hair. "The younger of the two - the one who looks like he's the main character - he'll be the easiest to fool."

You nodded and bit your lip. All this information was great, but not what you truly wanted to know. So you asked the question that had been weighing on your mind since Kol had buried his fangs in your neck. You tapped his chest gently. "How?" You whispered. "How did this, um… br-ring? No, no…"

Kol sighed heavily. "You want to know how I became this, don't you?" You nodded. "I'd hoped you'd give up on that."

"Have to," You said, somewhat apologetic. "Have to know."

You had to know his past - his reasons. You needed to know why you were here and why he was here with you. You were important to him, even though you weren't sure why, but you could tell that he was trying very hard not to scare you off. Why was he so determined? What did you mean to him?

"I know you do." He cradled you closer and sighed again.

You were good at reading people, you always had been because you had needed to be. So you knew that Kol wasn't being entirely honest with you - he was holding something back. He was lying. Kol was manipulating you to keep you around… and you decided, for the time being, to let him. You knew it was the only way to figure out the truth. People told you more when they didn't think they were telling you anything, and Kol thought he had you in the palm of his hand. It wasn't intentional or malicious, but that was the truth and you needed to figure out the reason behind it.

So you kept your head on his chest, and as he began to speak, you listened.

"I was born of two worlds. The world of men from my father, and from my mother, the world of magic. My father's people were what yours now call the Vikings, but I, like my mother, was a witch."

Your eyes remained closed as you took note of his heartbeat, his breathing, and the vibrations of his voice. You kept track of each as he spoke, noting every change - every increase in rhythm, every struggle for breath, every fluctuation in tamber. More importantly, however, you paid attention to his hands.

As he talked, Kol's hands began hesitantly roaming your body. He was gentle with you, and his touches were nothing short of loving. Even though you weren't entirely sure whether or not you were comfortable with being felt up, you chose not to reprimand him for it. It was pretty clear that Kol had been touch starved for most of his life, so he didn't realize everything he was telling you. Trying to figure out his past was too difficult with only the pieces he gave you verbally - he was trying to keep things from you, so you had to use every advantage. Every touch was a clue, a piece of the puzzle and you were rather good at puzzles.

For the most part, Kol's right hand stayed in the vicinity of your head, neck and shoulders. He took to twisting and tangling your hair around the fingers of his right hand as he told you about his childhood. His early days of mayhem and magic were clearly some of his favorite memories, but you weren't sure how they related to you. Oddly enough, it was his left hand that told you more as he was right hand dominant and thus paid less attention to his other hand.

"Don't laugh, but we had werewolves for neighbors. Everything would have been fine if Niklaus hadn't taken Henrick out to watch them turn."

Kol trailed his hand from your waist over your hip and then down to your thigh.

"When they came back, Henrick wasn't alive anymore."

His hands stilled and his voice turned distant. He wasn't over the death of his younger brother.

"My parents were devastated. So they elected to do the unthinkable. My mother cast a spell to make us immortal and bound it within us using wine laced with blood."

You found it strange that his voice was so apathetic and devoid of emotion. It was hard to tell whether he was angry or hurting just from his tone because it didn't change much, he kept his voice carefully controlled.

"I didn't realize what my mother had done to us until it was too late," He said. Kol slipped his hand beneath your shirt and you tried not to flinch, just let him caress the skin of your waist. "And I-I tried to run, I tried to warn them - I promise I did - but I-I just wasn't fast enough." He shifted uncomfortably and his right arm tugged you closer to him. "My father caught me. I thought I could outrun him. I ran as fast as I could. 'Kept trying to go faster. But I couldn't and-and then I…" He stopped and you gently pulled yourself away from him, opening your eyes.

You weren't lying on your bed anymore, the ground was dirt and the walls of your room were no longer standing. Instead you were surrounded by shadows and trees. You looked down at Kol and his eyes were far away, his expression drawn tight with fear. He was terrified.

"Wh-what seen n-next?" You asked quietly, hesitantly. You wanted to ask what had happened, but it seemed your brain was no more cooperative than usual. You weren't entirely sure you wanted to know.

Kol shook his head, eyes unfocused. "I-I didn't even know he was there until I felt it…" He whispered. He sounded so young. So scared. "I couldn't hear him behind me. I-I didn't know! If I had, I would have done something, but I didn't, and then… Then he…" The boy trailed off.

"K-ol?"

He closed his eyes and laughed. The sound came from deep in his chest and it wasn't happy at all. When he opened his eyes they were black as pitch. He looked right at you, his right hand moving to cup your cheek. He watched you for a moment, a faint smile gracing his face. Then he leaned up and captured your lips with his and you let him. His kiss was harsh and rough and needy. Kol slid his tongue over your bottom lip, asking you for permission. You denied him because he simply wasn't thinking straight, something was wrong. Kol pulled away, breathing heavily as he rested his forehead against yours.

"Please, Y/N?" He whispered pleadingly. "I-I need you." He tugged on your shirt. "I need you right now."

"N-no." You shook your head. "I-I can't… You're n-not o-okay… you're not-."

"Not good enough? Is that what you mean?" His voice sounded so pained. "Or is it because I'm not human?"

"No! No, no… Kol I-" You sighed. "Not that. Like you, um, I-I like you… but-but I…"

"What's so wrong with me?" His lips ghosted over yours as he shook his head. "Why am I more broken than you?"

"Not, Kol! You-you're not!" You wanted to tell him that he was scaring you. You wanted to ask him why he was behaving this way, but you couldn't get the words to come out. "You're sca-ring me."

"Good," Kol said, petting your side. His eyes weren't black, you realized. They were blood red. "You should be scared of me."

Then his lips were on yours, kissing you so ferociously that you knew he had no intention of stopping. He squeezed your waist and you let out a gasp of pain as his fingers dug into your flesh. But he didn't care. It was like he couldn't even hear you. He sat up with you on his lap but that wasn't enough for him. Suddenly, you were the one one the ground and Kol was hovering over you. There was something wild and desperate in those blood red eyes. Something mad.

"You want to know what happened next, Y/N?" He spoke, his voice like matted silk. "Just look around. This is the spot where it happened - a recreation of it anyway because I'll never forget." He glanced around, admiring the place. Why was his voice so emotionless?! Then his eyes snapped back to you. They were cold. His voice was soft.

"He murdered us, Y/N," Kol said, stroking your cheek in a way that would have been loving had it not been so frigid. Even when he'd been standing with his arms around you in a crushing grip, greedily draining mouthful after mouthful of your blood, you had never been truly scared of Kol. But now, laying beneath him, completely at his mercy - now you were terrified. "He murdered us, and we all died. Finn slit his wrists because mother told him to. Elijah tried to stop our father from beating Niklaus to death, but he failed and they bled out together. Rebekah died in her sleep, her throat slit by our father's hunting knife. In some twisted way I think he was proud of me. See, I died on my feet. Alone. Here in these woods. My father drove his sword through my heart." Beneath your shirt, Kol moved his hand. He rested it over your heart, tapping lightly. "Right here… and it hurt." He drew his finger in a circle, just grazing your skin. Kol's hands were as cold as death. You knew because you remembered what death had felt like. You tried not to move.

"He killed me!" The boy choked. "He killed me, Y/N! I'm dead!" His voice quieted. He blinked. "Yes, I'm quite dead…"

Both of you were dead.

The cold of his hands sank into your bones and took you away. It was so cold. You shivered. Kol grinned and his fangs slid out, ready to tear into your throat.

You hardly noticed when someone threw him off you.

A familiar voice cried your name.

"Y/N, RUN!"

But you didn't.

You were already drowning.

You were all alone and all you could see was black water and red lights. You were sinking, deeper and deeper beneath the surface. Water filled your lungs and you couldn't breathe! The black water froze your skin and burned your lungs as you desperately tried to claw your way to the surface. The red lights only drew further away from you. All you could do was sink lower, and lower. You couldn't breathe.

You closed your eyes and you were-

Back in your room?

You were back where you had begun. Standing in your room. Across from you stood Kol. His eyes were back to normal - that sweet as chocolate brown - but they were fixed on his feet and he played with his fingers nervously.

"I'm sorry about that," He said quietly. "I-I didn't realize your mind would be so excitable - so reactive to traumatic memories…"

All the fear crashed in on you then. You screamed, backing away from the boy you'd thought you could trust. "W-hy?! Why did-did you do that to m-me?!" You didn't understand anything that was happening.

Kol lifted his hands, trying to calm you. "No, no! Y/N/N, that wasn't me!" He claimed. "I promise that wasn't me!"

"Wh-what?!" Nothing made sense and you could still feel the water's chill. You didn't want to die again. You didn't want to drown.

"Darling, listen to me." Kol's voice drew your attention. "Your mind is playing tricks on you - on both of us. It's reacting to our fears and manifesting our nightmares."

You raised a brow, still trying to process what you had just experienced. "Wh-what's ha-happen-ening? I-I don't get! I feel cracking!" You felt shaken, out of control. It was as if there was something else moving in your mind, another force entirely. It was roiling and frothing and angry.

The water.

You were going to drown. You were going to die.

"Y/N, I need you to calm down!" He ordered, gritting his teeth. "Your mind is highly encourageable; it's a bit like quicksand really, the more either of us struggles, the deeper we sink," He explained.

"So how cl-imb out?!" You demanded. Something was pulling at you. You felt light headed.

"I'm not sure," Kol said. "But I think my worst fear is out to get you, and if that's true, then yours is only minutes behind me. We'll be in more danger the longer we remain entangled like this."

You froze, looking up at him curiously. "You-you… fear?" You wondered. "You're afr-a-aid?"

"Yes." Kol nodded. "Yes, that's right, I'm afraid of things too. It's alright to be afraid, love."

"What-what, uh…" You shook your head, blinking. How could he be afraid? What did he have to fear? "What, um, sca-scares you?"

"I think you've already met it." The boy bit his lip, playing with his fingers.

Only then did you make the connection. "Bla-lack eyes?" Kol sighed.

"It's just that I-I've, um…" He trailed off, watching you with dark eyes that had never looked so soft. "I've got this real nasty habit of breaking things…" Kol's voice was barely a whisper and you could see the tears in his eyes. "...beautiful things, things that I love - things that make me happy. I bring to desolation everything that I touch. I've done it over and over, countless times, and I'm terrified that I'll do it again."

He looked up, meeting your eyes and you understood. Kol's worst fear was hurting you in a way you wouldn't forgive - that's what that corrupted version of him had been trying to do. Something slammed against your bedroom door - a fist pounding on wood - and you flinched. Kol's nightmare was trying to get in.

"I've seen your fears too, Y/N," The boy continued. "I've seen the red lights you told me about - the lights of the bridge you saw overhead as the current pulled you under and then the lights of emergency vehicles on your way to the hospital. I saw them."

He'd seen them.

You were going to drown. You were going to die.

The wall behind Kol transformed into a swirling wave, rushing to flood the room. You screamed, but the impact you were bracing for never came and you felt the boy's hands on your shoulders. You glanced up. The room was as it had been - no water. "Y/N, look at me! You need to calm your mind. If you don't, then once I leave you'll be lost to horror after horror. You need to calm your mind."

But you couldn't. All you could think of was his monster's cold hands, and cold water, and red lights.

"I can't!" You cried. "I-I-I-I can-n't! I can't!"

Kol wrapped his arms around you. He was warm and you clung to him. "Shhhhhh," He whispered. "It's alright, sweet-thing. I won't let you drown."

"C-old!" You choked out. "So cold!"

"I know," He said. "I know it's cold. But I'm right here and I promise you're going to be okay."

You shook your head. You would never be okay - you were far too broken to ever be okay. "Can't f-fix my-my-mysel-f…"

Kol just held you tighter. "You don't need to fix anything, Y/N. I love you just the way you are." He combed his fingers through your hair and pulled you into his lap, pressing against you lovingly. He took your face in his hands and kissed your lips slow and soft, relishing every second of it. Then he stooped low to whisper in your ear, cradling you in his warm gentle arms. "You have a beautiful mind, darling - a powerful, extraordinary, unparalleled mind that is capable of powerful, extraordinary, and unparalleled things. You are the master of its potential, and I promise that one day these nightmares that plague you will fade. There is nothing that you are not capable of overcoming and I think I'm going to enjoy watching you rise." He pressed a lingering kiss to your forehead and you hugged him tighter as that lightheaded feeling increased. Your vision flooded with white and Kol's arms disappeared.

When you came around, everything was ringing. Except this time, you were pretty sure that only half of the noise could be attributed to your tinnitus. The rest you blamed on the drugs.

You groaned. What in the Sam hill had your cousins injected you with? And how on earth had they gotten their hands on hospital grade sedatives?! They don't just sell that sort of stuff at Wal-Mart! Your cousin's extracurricular activities were becoming more and more worrisome the longer you thought about them.

However, there was a time and a place to worry about such things and neither of those were here and now. For the moment, you needed a plan.

Step one: Achieve mobility. (This was going to be challenging as your entire body felt like one giant block of lead.)

Step two: Ascertain your whereabouts. (You didn't think your cousins would've taken you someplace dangerous, but then again, they had kidnapped you so there was no telling what they might decide to do next.)

Step three: Negotiate your freedom. (If their willingness to jump to extreme methods was anything to go by, then any attempt to convince your cousins that Kol had merely been trying to protect you might not go over too well. So perhaps it would just be best to convince them that you were free from his wacky mind control whatever-that's-called. )

Step Four: Expect negotiations to go sour. (Elena and Jeremy didn't seem very open-minded about whatever was happening here and words had never been your strength. Hope for the best, expect the worst, right?)

Step Five: Escape via any means necessary. (While peaceful methods would be the prefered option, family or not, use of violent force would also be tolerable. Kol had said that the vampire with the hero hair was the most likely to grossly underestimate you, so you figured he was your ticket.)

Step Six: Find Kol and run. (Kol wanted to keep you safe, that you were sure of. While it was true that he wasn't exactly stable, you were important to him and for now that seemed to be your best advantage. Elena and Jeremy had other priorities and common sense dictated that you side with the possibly ancient vampire over your teenage cousins.)

The surface you were sprawled out on was luxuriously soft - softer than a cloud - thus your will to get moving was rather illusive. With more difficulty than you thought reasonable, you sat up, scrubbing your eyes with the palms of your hands. You had to blink rapidly for a few moments so your eyes could adjust to the bright sunlight streaming into the room from the window on your right, but once you could see, you found yourself in an extravagant albeit entirely unfamiliar bedroom. You had visited your cousins before and this was not their house. Such knowledge was somewhat unnerving, but you kept yourself calm regardless.

Step one and two down. Time for three and four.

First, however, you needed to find a weapon. Hope for the best, expect the worst, and you didn't actually expect negotiating your way out of this to work, but it was worth a shot. Managing to clamber to your feet without making any sort of noise was a bit of a challenge but it didn't take you too long. Kol had informed you of the enhanced senses vampires possessed; lucky for you, you had spent your whole life perfecting the art of going unnoticed.

Shuffling forward, you carefully made your way over to the dresser that sat pushed against the far wall. Upon it, rested a large, bronze candlestick. You weren't sure why anyone in the twenty-first century would still have a candlestick in their room, but for the moment you simply thanked heaven for people with weird decoration preferences. Grinning, you swiped the candlestick from the dresser and weighed it in your hands. It was frickin' heavy. Your grin stretched wider.

Unfortunately, the candlestick was too long for you to successfully conceal it beneath your clothing. So, sliding back to the bed, you sat down and slipped the thing underneath your leg and then pulled the covers over yourself. You rubbed at your eyes and ruffled your hair a bit in an effort to look a tad bit more distraught, then you took a deep breath…

And screamed your ever loving lungs out.

If your cousins thought you were going to be a good little prisoner then they had another thing coming.

It wasn't long before some guy with dirty blond hair came rushing into the room, waving his hands in a placating gesture while he said a bunch of words you couldn't discern in an attempt to get you to stop screaming. Faking absolute terror wasn't too hard as you were actually rather unsettled by the situation as a whole, however, you did feel a little bad because the dude in front of you seemed pretty close to hysterics himself. You decided to take it easy on him and snap your mouth shut abruptly, staring at him with eyes as wide as quarters. He let out a nearly comical sigh of relief and took a step closer.

Naturally, you started screaming again.

The poor man jumped and scrambled back, putting his finger to his lips and again trying to calm you. He kept apologizing over and over but you figured that acting like a total wreck would benefit you most so you continued your mindless shrieking. His expression turned pleading and he clasped his hands together in earnest.

You took pity on him and shut up again, looking him over. You knew instantly that this must have been Stefan Salvatore. Kol had been absolutely right - the guy really did look like a main character of something.

He opened his mouth to talk. "I'm not going to hurt you," He said slowly. He over pronounced his words so you could read them off his lips. Then he pointed at the bedside table. "We charged those for you."

You blinked, watching him with distrustful eyes before sparing the briefest glance to where he was pointing. Resting in a charging port, were your hearing aids and you silently thanked every deity you knew of that they had survived through two kidnappings. You snatched them up and put them on, keeping your eyes on Stefan the whole time.

When your hearing aids beeped to life, sound returned to your world and escape seemed that much more possible.

"Uh, hi." Stefan waved awkwardly. "Can you, um… can you hear me?"

"Y-yeah," You said, letting your voice shake.

"Good! Great! That's, uh, that's really… great…" He nodded, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, um, I'm Stefan and, uh… this is, uh, my-my house… and… I really hoped your cousins would be back by now." He kept talking really slowly and offered you a sheepish smile. Bless his soul, he was trying so hard. You almost felt bad for him.

"W-where is-is Jer-r-emy? El-en-en-na? Where gone?!" You demanded, hugging yourself for extra pity points.

"I'm a friend of Elena's," Stefan said, trying to reassure you. "She asked me to watch out for you while she and Jeremy went to go put their stuff back at their place. They're really worried about you, uh… Y/N… It is Y/N, right?" He asked quickly. You nodded.

"Don't, uh, don't under-s-stan-and!" You hiccuped.

"I know you're scared, but you're safe here. I promise," He said. You looked up at him with curious, vulnerable eyes. He continued, "Elena told me what happened. You're safe now. Kol is never gonna hurt you again."

To hell with steps three and four; now was the perfect time to throw yourself a pity party.

You froze at the mention of Kol's name, letting your breaths turn shallow and your eyes open wide. You shook your head. "No," You whispered. "No, no, no! N-ot him! He-he was i-in my-my head! No! Ma-ake lea-ve. Can't… don't want to! Make me do things! Did-didn't want to!" Tearing your fingers through your hair and sobbing, you proceed to stutter out some incomprehensible gibberish about being scared out of your wits.

It seemed to do the trick.

Stefan's eyes flew wide and he did that thing with his hands again, looking as if he were trying to calm a spooked horse. "Hey, hey! Shhhhhh. Y/N, shhhhhh. It's okay! I'll call Elena, yeah? I'll-I'll call Elena and-and you can, uh, you can talk to her about all this. Alright? Does that sound good?"

You just nodded, pretending to cry. This was going to be much easier than you'd thought.

Stefan paced around the room, holding his phone to his ear. "Hey, Elena. Uh, your cousin is up and, uh, I-" He glanced back at you. "-I can't understand a word she's trying to say. You think you could get back here? Soon?" He paused, listening. "Well 'cause she's so… different! I don't know how to deal with this!" He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

You waited until his back was turned, tightening your grip on the candlestick still hidden under your leg. Soundlessly, you slipped out of the bed and crept up behind him, raising the candlestick high over your head.

"Thanks," He said into the phone. He moved to hang up. This was your chance.

Without giving any sort of warning, you brought the heavy bronze down on Stefan's skull as hard as you could.

A sickening crack echoed through the air and he grunted, swaying for a moment before he collapsed to his knees. The phone slipped from his fingers but you caught it and hung up before it too could hit the floor. Stefan groaned and lifted his head, squinting up at you, his face a picture of confusion.

"How…"

You just shrugged, brushing some hair from your face before Spartan kicking Stefan in the chest. The force of the impact sent him toppling over onto his back. Feeling no remorse whatsoever, you stepped on both his hands to keep him pinned. Blood from your first blow dripped down the candlestick, slickening the shaft. You adjusted your grip and raised the weapon over your head again. With a scream of effort, you bashed the candlestick over his head four more times, until you were satisfied that he wouldn't be getting up any time soon.

Pushing the hair from your face with a bloodied hand, you stood, patting Stefan on the knee. It was nothing personal - he had just made the same mistake as far too many others. You were damaged, it was true; where people went wrong was thinking that damaged meant the same thing as helpless. It didn't.

Wiping Stefan's blood on your pants, you left the room. You were no stranger to blood - the sight of it had stopped making you queasy a long time ago. Moving down a dimly lit hallway decorated with wood and red carpet, you found your way to a stairwell which you took. At the end of another long and dim hallway, you spotted a window large enough to crawl through. You dashed towards it. Because attempting to find the front door in this maze of a house would take forever and you didn't have the time to waste. You forced the latch and threw the window open.

The stupid thing hardly budged.

You groaned. Throwing your weight against it a few more times, you managed to shove it open a little more - just enough for you to fit through. You made sure to chuck the candlestick out first because there was no way you were leaving that thing behind, then you steeled your nerves and dove through. You went head first, wriggling your way out while simultaneously tossing away any shred of dignity you'd ever possessed. All that time spent immobile in various hospital beds had finally paid off! For the first time in your life, you were actually grateful to be so extraordinarily frail.

After tumbling to the ground in a heap that lacked any grace whatsoever, you took a brief moment to curse your cousins for kidnapping you. Once that was taken care of, you stood, brushed yourself off, and grabbed your candlestick out of the dirt. It was pretty gross, seeing as all the leaves and moss and dirt had gotten stuck to the congealed blood glossing the thing, but you simply could not find the will to care. You had only ever visited your cousins once and thus had absolutely no clue where anything in their little town was. However, as long as you weren't with Elena, anywhere would be better than that creepy old house. So, you took a deep breath and hightailed it into the trees.

You ran as far and as fast as your short, under-used legs would carry you and you were pretty sure you tripped over every root there was to be had along the way. You only paused when you heard the snap of a branch. It was a little too close for comfort and you were almost positive there were no deer nearby. Flinching as you turned up the volume on your hearing aids, you listened for other sounds of a pursuer.

You turned to face her as she stepped out from behind a tree on your left, swiftly and casually tucking the candlestick out of her view. The girl was blonde and looked to be around Elena's age. She was rather tall too, and she watched you with an appraising gleam in her sharp, preparatory, blue eyes. Those eyes reminded you of Kol's - you smiled wryly.

"What's that buzzing sound?" She asked first, glancing around. Her voice blared in your ears, your hearing aids dramatically enhancing the annoyed tone of it. You flinched. Turning your head, you pointed out your hearing aids to her, proceeding to lower the volume on them. She tilted her head curiously. "Are those little devices how you heard me coming?" The girl wondered. You nodded. "Huh… Are you Y/N?" You nodded again. "Do you know who I am?" You shook your head. Her eyes flicked down to your semi subtle attempt at hiding the candlestick and she smirked, gesturing vaguely at it. "Concealing your weapon, are we? I can see why Kol likes you so much. Come now love, what is it? Is it the revolver or the lead pipe?"

You chuckled softly at the sheer irony as you showed her the bronze candlestick. The girl's eyes widened and she smirked in amusement. Then she strode forward and stuck out her hand for you to shake, which is exactly what you did.

"My name's Rebekah," She said. "Kol's my older brother; he called me and asked me to keep an eye out for you."

"Why-why go? Why d-did, uh, it?" You asked skeptically.

Rebekah shrugged. "I owe him," She replied easily. "Besides, us girls need to stick together." She smiled and you returned it. "Also, did you whack Stefan Salvatore over the head with that thing?" The girl pointed to the candlestick in your hand and you just nodded vigorously. Her grin grew wider. "Oh, darling, I like you! Let's go get you cleaned up before Kol gets back, yeah? He's real anxious to see you."

Rebekah threw an arm around your shoulders and you followed her lead out of the woods.

Turns out, Kol and the rest of his family were loaded, so you spent the rest of your evening in comfort at their enormous mansion. Rebekah gave you some fresh clothes for you to change into, which you appreciated despite them being a bit too big. She also introduced you to her other brother, Elijah who you helped solve a crossword puzzle. You also helped Rebekah with her homework because the poor girl was seriously struggling in algebra.

Five hours after you had arrived, the door to the kitchen opened behind you and someone threw their keys on the counter. You sat at the bar, checking the last problem on Bekah's homework while she watched over your shoulder. Elijah sat behind you, reading a really thick book. When you heard the door open, you smirked and turned around. Standing in the doorway was Kol. His hair was tousled and his chocolate eyes were an innocent kind of tired. You thought he looked soft.

"Hello, K-ol!" You chirped.

The grin that spread across his face could have lit up the whole world but it was only meant for you. "Hello, Y/N/N." He waved.

You hopped off your stool and ran to him, jumping up so you could throw your arms around his shoulders. Kol caught you and held on tight, burying his face in your neck. His whole body curled around yours and neither of you said a word because no words needed to be said. You gasped as he turned his head to press a few heated kisses along your jaw, but he made no move to take it anywhere further. Not at the moment. Kol wasn't done holding you yet.

Your cheeks flared with heat as someone behind you cleared their throat and you were abruptly reminded that you weren't alone.

"I know Elijah," Kol mumbled into your neck. "I owe you for keeping Klaus away, I've got it."

Rebekah just huffed and stalked out of the room. You turned your head a bit to watch as Elijah closed his book.

"No, actually I was going to say that for this one-" He gestured to you. "-I'd be more than happy to do it again."

Kol merely sent his brother a thumbs up and went back to kissing your neck. That wasn't very nice of him so you smacked his arm and he sighed, glancing up at Elijah. "Thank you for the offer, I'll keep it in mind. Now bugger off!" You smacked his arm again. "Alright, bugger off please?" He added.

Elijah huffed a laugh and left the room. When he was gone, Kol turned back to you. His eyes turned a little more sad now that you were alone.

"Y/N… I just want to say-"

You slapped your hand over his mouth, effectively shutting him up so you could talk. But you didn't. You signed instead.

You pointed to yourself.

Then crossed your arms over your chest.

Then you pointed at him.

"I love you."

Kol grinned and smoothed his hands over your arms. You pulled him close again for another hug but this time Kol's hands gripped your thighs, prompting you to hook your legs around him. A breeze skipped over your skin and your surroundings changed in an instant. Kol placed you down on his bed and moved to shut the door before returning. You blushed deeply, shying away from him as he climbed over you.

"S-slow?" You asked quietly. He smiled and cupped your cheek, brushing the loose strands of hair away from your face. Kol left a lingering kiss to your forehead. Then he moved, ghosting his lips along your bright pink cheeks. Your eyes fluttered closed and he kissed those next. His feather-soft lips trailed along your jaw and then finally met yours for a kiss that lit a fire in your lungs that spread through your whole body. You felt warm. Kol was warm.

"You're beautiful," He whispered, urging you to lie back. Kol kissed you gently, tucking stay wisps of hair behind your ears as you shifted. "I'd do anything for you." That boy deepened his kiss, drawing a soft moan out of you that turned his breaths shallow. Kol pulled back and those chocolate eyes of his burned into yours. "Broken or not-" He said. "-I love every part of you."

Tagging: @yn-ymn-yln @r13mar @rootbeerfaygo @iiskittles16ii @fandomrulesall-blog @dark-night-sky-99 @railingsofsorrow @musically-ambiguous @apolloroid

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mask131 · 2 years

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The evolution of Ophelia Addams (1)

After making Morticia, I had to talk about Ophelia! And you might be surprised to learn that Ophelia Frump (or Ophelia Addams depending on the continuity you follow) actually does exist in the original cartoons of Chas Addams!

Mind you, Charles Addams actually did not “invent” Ophelia. The character’s name, personality and the like were invented for and by the television series - but Charles Addams did create a prototype, or rather invented his own version of her. I have read in some places that Charles Addams only created the “Ophelia-like” character after the airing of the sitcom, as a nod to the television character ; but due to her character appearing in various places, I will not say I am certain of this. I will need in the future to check the dates of the various strips and drawings she appears in : but it is this “Addams family feast” drawing right above that officially made the “flower-haired girl” part of the unnamed “Addams clan”: you can see her on the left.

As in the television series the character is a blond girl with flowers in her hair - but beyond that, this “prototype” has barely any link to the sitcom Ophelia. She dresses in black dresses, not white. She does not seem very happy, joyful or lively : she has a sort of calm, placid, expression with sleepy eyes and a faint smile. She also has a bit of dark eyeshadow. Beyond the feast drawing, she also appears in this second drawing (right above) - she looks a bit younger and smaller than in the other strips, and asks her mother (who is a classical, stereotypical witch) if she can borrow her “broom” to go “out” for the night (a parody of the girls asking if they can borrow a car to go out). This drawing shows that the flower-haired girl and her witch of a mother do not live in the decaying manor of the Addamses, but rather in a stone-and-wood house, much simpler and smaller in appearance, the kind of wooden cabin or old outland cottage a fairytale witch is expected to live in. The hag of this drawing can be compared to Granny Frump from the television series (but I’ll get to her later).

There are only three drawings (that I know of) where we are CERTAIN the Ophelia-prototype appears. There are other characters similar to her in the drawings of Chas Addams - other sad-faced, pale, thin, blond girls, in bizarre and weird situations ; but for the sake of simplicity I’ll stick to the three “canonic” ones. In this third drawing, that you can see above, the Ophelia-prototype sits in a wicker chair on a porch, at night, in what seems to be a Southern-style setting (note the high plants in the night, and what might be a screen door behind the chair). And a man with the bizarre Addams-like features (pale skin, small black-circled eyes, not particularly beautiful dark hair) is kneeling in front of her, making what seems to be a love confession, but in the dark Addams way twisted n “There’s enough hate in my heart for both of us”. It is unclear what “Ophelia” thinks of his words, due to her lack of expression, and given we never see the man together with her again, it might not have worked out.

But this “Ophelia” going out alone at night (presumably for a party or to meet friends) and then having a boy declaring to her his love (?) - it all seems to hint that despite her pale, small, quiet appearance, she is quite a “social” girl. At least among the Addams-like beings.

#charles addams #the addams family #addams family #ophelia frump #ophelia addams #ophelia #cartoons #drawings #analysis

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modkatisbacc · 4 months

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Planned Stories for 2024!

Might as well Try this whole... Schedule thing out for a New Year's Resolution. Below are stories that I am working on/will be working on in the coming year, that will stop being on hiatus and will be updated by me. Or else.

World of Warcraft:

PSTD: My Oc's World of Warcraft story that takes place on an Alternate Azeroth! Canon is OUT the window, and everyone ends up traumatized because of it.

Come Together: The sequel to PSTD, will probably not be a thing until much later next year, since I'm only on chapter 3 of PSTD (Which I'm soft rewriting, I like whatever I did last time for once.)

Death And All His Friends (Viva La Vida): Eventual Fairshaw fic in which both Flynn and Taelia are turned into Death Knights following a tragedy at sea.

After All This Time, It's Still You: Katiann thinks back on the last ten years. (Half completed, two chapters whole moly my second completed fic soon??) Katiann's first sidestory.

Gen:lock:

Time Stands In A Duel (And I Stand For You) *TSIAD for short* My only GL Story currently. I haven't looked at it since I made it and I thought it was horrible, but I got a comment saying they were wondering when I was going to write the next chapter, sooo ITS BACK BABY. Eventually.

The GL Time-Travel fic. Will the gang make things better, or worse? *Not compliant with Season 2*

Ninjago:

The Only Ones: An unpublished fic in progress where Lloyd and Pixal time travel back to the events of season three. We need more Lloyd and Pixal friendship.

An Unlikely Team: The RWBY/Ninjago Crossover. Long before time had a name, Ninjago was besieged by the forces of darkness, creatures of Grimm.

Legend state that the great and powerful Oni had left them behind as a warning that they would truly never be gone from the realm, and have spawned indefinitely for milliennia. In the present, teenagers all over Ninjago are taught how to fight this force of darkness, if they choose to do so.

These monsters go after anyone that are left unguarded, from villages, to towns with no defense. It is now up to the chosen Huntsmen and Huntresses of the next generation to continue this line- or end it once and for all.

HomeScapes: Since I am a horrible human being, I stayed up until past 7 am last night and could not stop thinking about Homescapes. Just a bunch of cute stuff with horror undertones bc It’d be funny if the player character was just the shadowy figure that loomed over everyone and just wanted to help fix stuff, with no one scared or even surprised about you.

To See You Again: Katherine Broom was excited that her childhood best friend (and crush) Austin had returned to town. When she learned that he was trying to restore his childhood home, she dropped everything to help him, even her training to become a protector of nature.

“It’s like you have magic!”

“It’s… not magic… Austin. I’ve just worked with nature and plants all of my life is all.”

It was definitely magic, and you grit your teeth and smile hoping that he doesn’t think anything is up.

You glance at the shadow person that towers over the two of you. They give you a thumbs up.

(Did I add horror elements via the player character? Yeah don’t worry about it)

Original Stories:

WTF, ModKat! Series: A series of strange dreams and or nightmares made into stories.

Let Her Into Your Heart: Your name is Jude, you are twenty-five years old, and every five years on your birthday you run away. From everything. You were on your way to celebrate your birthday when you jumped out of your dad’s car and are now on the run.. but what are you running from?

Subway Killer: You are world renowned investigator, and your biggest case leads you to an abandoned subway tunnel… where you find that the suspect for several murders has been hiding.

#THAT IS IT #For Now #Technically don't have a RWBY story #Outside of that crossover #Ninjago #gen:lock #genlock #warcraft #world of warcraft #There you guys go :)

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saltandfire-blog · 4 months

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Lucerys Velaryon x Aemond Targaryen

Salt and Fire

When you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the deepest ocean. You will be all in - blood and salt.

Summary: Lucerys Velaryon belongs to both sea and sky. His whole life he has tried to prove his blood runs thick with not just fire but salt, despite the scandalous accusations that have haunted him and his brothers. Aemond Targaryen is nothing but fire, and before their families tore them asunder, his nephew was one of the few people he did not scorch. History books would have you believe the green and black children of House Targaryen grew up enemies, but before eyes and loyalties were slashed, there was once devotion between the two second sons. As boys grow into men, it is easier to repay an injury, because forgiveness is a burden and revenge a pleasure.

Notes: I’m SO sorry this chapter took much longer to put out than expected! Last chapter I put out way too soon, posting it around 4 in the morning, so the next day when I read through it I was horrified to see just how many mistakes there were! So if you read the chapter 10 when it was freshly posted, I strongly encourage to reread lol. I’m sure there’s still stuff array considering I’m a terrible proof reader, but it’s not humiliating at least. So with this, I admit I did take extra time updating to make sure it was ready. Anyone a beta reader out there?

I also did receive a comment last chapter about Jace’s character development, and I wanted to wave frantically and assure them it was coming! And here it is! Lots of brother moments in this chapter that I’m particularly fond of and really enjoyed writing Jace and Luke. Entirely different brother dynamics than Aemond and Aegons that’s for sure. I know I have also focused a lot on Luke and Laenor’s relationship, but I felt like Rhaenyra needed to be paid her dues, especially after that new trailer (!!) so here is my tribute to her character development through this story as well.

The poem Lucerys reads is not actually from Nymeria or the asoiaf universe, but from the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley. It’s a favorite one of mine that I thought could sound easily Dornish. Florys the Fox also isn’t mine and belongs to G.R.R., though I did embellish and added more to the original story that I hope you guys might have found interesting with this back and forth story exchange between Aemond and Luke.

I really tried my best to go back and read over crumbs about Dragonstone from Davos POV chapters and inserts from F&B, so I hope you enjoyed them!

Thank you so much for all your comments, kudos, & bookmarks! I cannot express how thankful I am for every bit of feedback!

Oh, and issa embar zaldrīzes translation is my sea dragon 😊

Chapter Eleven

disenchanted.

Waves lapped at Luke's feet where he sat along the beach of Dragonstone, his boots having been discarded a while ago where he buried his naked feet beneath the sand and sat with a light booklet in his hand. Three rods had been set up, but it was only Luke looking after them. He glanced up from his reading every few paragraphs to check if any lines were being tugged at, but despite them having casted them quite a while ago there was still nothing. Luke determined something must be amiss and debated pulling them back in to the check the bait. Dragonstone's castellan Ser Alfred Broome had told them how harvester and hunter shrimps were common to catch in the warmer waters around the volcanic island, so yesterday their father made a day of rowing out past the dead coral beds that surrounded Dragonstone and set a net to catch the shrimp they meant to use for larger fish today. They were supposed to meet Laenor after they broke their fasts that morning, but his attendant had informed them their father was running rather late. Recalling how he had indulged more than his usual the day before while at dinner, Luke sighed and determined to go on ahead while he waited for his father to compose himself, taking Ser Lorent with him down to the beach to appease his mother. Even though his brother wasn’t usually interested in fishing, Jace had also come to join him, but Luke suspected he had only come as it was something to do on their off day without any lessons and had brought his bow with a small satchel of arrows to practice with on the beach.

He and Jace were still on tentative terms, but they were each other's only company it could sometimes feel like on the island. Their port was not a busy one like it’s neighboring island and lacked a market of any foreign merchants, nor was it teeming with relatives like on High Tide or the Red Keep. It was only them who resided in the previously vacant castle, and the servants on the island mostly came from the fishing village on the eastern side of the island. His mother told them it had not been properly lived in for over a decade, and remarked with a small smirk it's last resident had been her uncle, Prince Daemon who had left King's Landing with his mother’s brother's egg and a paramour. Though that was all before his marriage to Laena, his father interjected in defense of his sister's honor.

Luke found Dragonstone a very peaceful retreat when one warmed up to its gaudy castle and rather enjoyed life away from court with his family. Life was much more relaxed here. They spent the whole first week they came to the island practically living along the surrounding Blackwater. The sands were soft and the beach was long, and Luke taught Joffrey how to jump over waves and to pick his feet up higher as he ran through the water. Despite Jace and their father's complaints, he even enjoyed the smell of smoke and brimstone in the island's salt air that was particularly distinctive on Dragonstone, especially the closer your traveled towards the Dragonmont that emitted the thick grey smoke. Even his mother and father’s drawn faces had softened after a time and begun to relax in their household away from the capital, and before long, he actually heard his mother confess favoring their decision to move more than anyone. After all her refusals, it seemed Rhaenyra felt life was much easier away from the Red Keep as well.

Though while Luke and his mother wondered why they had never left King’s Landing sooner, it was his brother and father who were struggling. Jace had become uncharacteristically quiet even before they had moved here and it seemed even more prominent now. Back in King's Landing, if Luke felt betrayed by what had happened about the incident in the Dragonpit, it seemed his brother felt just as much, if not more so. Aegon's blatant denial of showing them the tunnels had appeared to have struck Jace rather hard, and as the ever dutiful son, whatever relationship he had held with their eldest uncle seemed to dissipate when he agreed with their mother that he was to create distance between her half-brothers. Jace mentioned Aegon apologized not long after the whole affair and tried to steer his brother back into their old antics, but Luke had found his brother lingering in their apartments and spending much more time with their mother and Joffrey than he ever would have before. That had included Ser Harwin especially.

Jace was not discreet in seeking out whatever attention it was he wanted from Lord Strong, and it had become a problem. So much so, that when Ser Criston was able to mistreat his brother in front of the other knight, it had been enough to provoke a beating so severe it had him disbanded from the City Watch. After returning all three of them back to the Keep, Luke remembered how he had stood in his defense against the Queen before his parents had shown up, and if he hadn't already began to endear himself to Luke, he had earned Luke's admiration after that night. Most of his life he had spent either trying to ignore or hate the man everyone whispered was his true father. Now that he was forced away, he felt unexpectedly dejected to see him go. Enough so that when Ser Harwin implored he should make up with his brother before leaving, he did his best. The two had never been so distant from each other and he could tell Jace was still sour about the slug he had thrown at his shoulder when he tried to pull Luke away from going after Aemond.

Though once the training yard incident happened, it appeared to have been the last straw for his parents.

“Father's not coming,” Jace called out, shooting another arrow into the distance to land in the sand further from his last.

Luke noted he was wearing his new bracers Laenor had made for him out of brand new leather that matched a sheath for the dagger Ser Harwin had given Jace that was now a permanent fixture on his belt these days. Before saying goodbye, Lord Strong had claimed it was a nameday present for Jace since it was approaching, though it did not look newly forged and had three small stones of blue, red, and green imbedded into the hilt. No one commented it seemed a much more sentimental gift than just for his brother's nameday. In fact, his mother had even looked away when Ser Harwin pressed it into Jace's hand, and their father handled it for a few moments before he gave it back to his son, only to gift him a sheath to place it in a few weeks later.

“He's just running late.”

Jace shrugged, loosing another arrow before traipsing off to go collect the rest from the beach.

Surprisingly, it was their father who had been the most publicly upset after the training yard fight. Ser Harwin gave his account of it all and told them how he had felt Ser Criston had handled Jace roughly and had only reacted to slander being thrown at his and their mother's honor. When the Queen called for Ser Harwin to be disbanded from his position, it was Laenor who pushed back rather abrasively about the decision.

“It was Ser Harwin that laid hands on my son, Ser Laenor. And we have already established years ago that Ser Joffrey provoked such an attack on himself when he threatened your own wife.”

“Your Kingsguard is a mad dog!” he exclaimed, angrier than Luke could say he had ever seen him, reminding him that his father was Velaryon but also half dragon. “First he’s shown clemency for killing Ser Joffrey Lonmouth at our wedding, and now he dares lay hands on my son!”

“Disguise it how you wish, I will no longer turn the other way and live beside this man who dishonors my family, your Grace. How much longer will you turn your eyes from the crimes this man continues to commit while in his position? When will consequences finally be sought?”

Viserys, who had been his own witness to it all, faced Luke's father and everyone was silent while the King hesitated to answer Laenor's calls. Though the Queen swept ahead and turned her chin up at the heir of Driftmark's challenge.

“Ser Laenor, have no doubts that I would gladly wish to see the day decency and duty are conducted about this castle, and consequences dulled out indeed.”

There were no words of threat, Luke had thought, but the way his father straightened and his heated breathing quieted, his mouth setting tightly against his teeth as he and Rhaenyra glared at Alicent, it definitely seemed perceived as one. Like the Queen had just drawn steel against them.

#hotd #house of the dragon #fanfiction #house targaryen #aemond targaryen #westeros #aemond targaryen fanfic #lucerys targaryen #aemond x lucerys #lucerys velaryon #lucemond #lucerys velaryon fanart #prince lucerys #aemond targaryen fanfiction #aemond targaryen x lucerys velaryon #archive of our own #a03 fanfic

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fauna-flora11 · 2 months

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Witches and Wonders

Characters: Original characters

Genre: Romance <3

F/M

prompt: "And with one last glance at him, she was plunged into flames"

The first time she laid eyes on him, she thought he was a horrible flirt. The first time he laid eyes on her, he saw his future. Usually, a young lady alone with no chaperone was a sign to stay away, but the man with the red umbrella was intrigued. What are you doing alone, he asked. The lady did nothing but turn away, for it wasn't his business to know. The man pulled out a spare umbrella and handed it to her. Her eyes softened and she thanked him.

Rather like a stray dog who had been fed scraps, the boy trailed her waves of auburn hair all the way to her home,busying her with his nonsense chatter. As she finally turned to look at home she said, "wouldn't it be fit for you to go back to your home and spare me the burden of putting up with you for another hour or two while I make you tea?" the boy just smirked, a smirk that, even without her permission, made her heart flutter. "of course, I would love to come in for tea," and he made his way past her to the door, and though the girl sighed as he went in she didn't stop him. The first meeting turned into a second, and the second into the third, and that was when the girl started to warm up to him. It was also when the boy noticed odd little habits of hers.

"lady, why do you have a cat?" she would smile and reply "oh, silly, however else am I supposed to keep the rats away?" "but why black?" "if I had a brown one, wouldn't you ask why brown?" she would merely say and happily scratch the pleased cat's neck. He would sit in front of her as she massaged his shoulders and examine her house. "dear lady, why do you always have a broom by the door?" she would tilt her head down to look at him and say,"well I wouldn't want to let you see my house un-dusted or un-broomed , would i?" she would lightly kiss him and return to massaging him.

One day, her dear boy returned to her house, and he looked worried. She took his coat, and immediately set down some ginger tea. She sat in front of him,and asked him what was bothering him. He looked up at her, worry in those lovely eyes of his . "lady, you must stop these habits of yours, they're accusing all of you smart women for being witches!"She smiled and leaned forward and brushed the hair out of his face. " and so what if I'm a witch? They can't take you away from me dear, we're eternal" The boy pushed her hand away, visibly agitated. "darling, they can take you away from me, they're burning those witches at the stake! Just get rid of that cat and we'll be fine" "darling, it's lovely that your fussing over me but I'm not throwing away my only companion to the streets because of some petty rumours that'll be gone by next morrow" "but I am your companion ," She chuckled, "dear, there's a difference between husband-to-be and companions" He clasped his hands into hers and she could see the pleading in his eyes, "lady, please, do you remember the maiden from next door!? She has been captured and burnt so please, please,"

She cupped his face in her hands and said, "dear, no more arguments. I'm not giving up my habits for petty rumors. This ends here and I give you my word I won't be captured," "but-" He was silenced by a gentle finger on his lips and though it was selfish, he let it go. ************************************************************************

A knock on the door, which quickly hardened into banging. A recently wedded lady with auburn hair opened the door and was just giving greetings when she was gagged, chained and thrown to the carriage. After a while, when he opened the door and found an un-dusted floor to greet him, he ran to the stake. Her flaming hair was easy to spot in line and he ran towards her, only to be stopped by a guard. He screamed. He tore apart the iron bars. He cried. He shouted. He did none of these things. He just watched. Watched. Watched her get in line. Watched as a salty taste entered his mouth. Watched as she got onto the platform. Watched as she entered the flames. And she watched as well. "And with one last glance at him, she was plunged into flames"

#original character #witches #salem witch trials #one shot #writer #fiction #short story #writing prompt #tragedy #dark aesthetic #dark academia

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kimetsu-no-yaiba-writings · 2 years

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Hello, can I request Kyojuro with an s/o after the Mugen Train Arc and their life after. Could be them doing Kankagari.

Hi there Anon! Honestly thank you for requesting something with the potential to make it fluffy!!

Also I love Kyojuro, sooooooooo........yeah!

I had fun writing this one anon, I hope you don’t mind a oneshot instead of headcannons etc. (￣∀￣) heh, opps?

Anyway! Everythings under the line so it doesn’t take too much of your screens + time up when scrolling

Title: Fluttering Flame - Rengoku Kyojuro x (FEM) Reader

Word-count: 1283 WORDS

Warnings: None - That I can think off?

You could remember the day that your husband set off on a mission, having packed him a bento and sweets and let him set off with a kiss and a whispered “Come back safe Kyojuro” falling easily from your lips.

You and your brother-in-law had watched him until he had walked out of sight, an awful churning in your stomach as his blonde hair disappeared – haori not even leaving a flutter left – watched as he set off for one of the longest missions that month….

Time past in a blur, days turning into weeks and the awful feeling grew longer before his crow came calling followed by a weeping Mitsuri Kanroji at the door – her hug making your ribs creak as she buried her face into your shoulder drool, snot and tears wetting your kimono – wailing words of worry as she already began to partially drag you out of the door to go to the butterfly estate (You barely managed to grab your katana or haori…..).

Senjuro sending you off with tears streaking down his face, broom clutched tightly between his worn hands – knuckles having gone white beneath the force of his grip – while Shinjuro remained uncharacteristically quiet, alcohol bottle lowered as he calmed Kyo’s crow.

Time blurred, faces blurred, and words blurred, nothing made sense as your heart thumped a screaming chorus in your ears, Mitsuri’s grip and Shinobu’s words didn’t make sense simply washing over you and muted beneath your hearts pain.

Kyojuro laid there.

Bandages wrapped from the left side of his face down to his chest, feint splodges of blood stained and even so injured he looked beautiful.

Tears fell hotly and the candle on is bedside flickered and flickered.

Just as quickly as those memories came, they disappeared with the flickering of the torch in front of you.

The doors remained tightly shut, all cracks sealed up and windows carefully blocked from letting in any natural light. The room was quiet and sparse of any decoration’s that it usually held, to any normal person it would have felt ominous, and they’d have been put on edge, but luckily enough for you, you were used to it having to enter twice a week for two hours.

Flames flickered and danced across the floors and walls, warm tones searing themselves into your very being as you watched the torch.

Watched and watched and watched until its flame danced imprinted on your eyelids.

You blinked languidly.

Form still kneeling with a giant cushion supporting your knees from the polished floors – and from aching too badly - with a blanket draped over your shoulders, you were the picture of comfort.

A yawn passing your lips as you raised your hand to cover your mouth, a habit that wasn’t currently needed seeing as you were by yourself, well….

Not entirely.

The baby inside of you kept you company.

The baby who was a product of Kyojuro’s and yours love, nestled and growing so strongly in your tummy.

Who would have his hair and eyes – “And Your personality my love!” Kyojuro said with a laugh, arms folded over his chest as you tended to his scarred back

A smile curved your lips as you ran a hand gently over the still forming bump of your baby, tuneless humming echoing through the room as the torch’s flame danced in a rhythm of unknown origin.

Time was non-existent in this room.

But you weren’t really bothered, rather happy – and filled with a sense of loving pride – at being able to spend time with your developing baby in the quite stillness of your husband’s family ritual – part of his family’s history.

“(Y/N)? My love?” Kyojuro’s voice was gentle as it came through the closed door “May I come in?”

You hummed quietly, gaze never leaving the flame as you spoke,

“Has it been two hours already?”

Kyojuro’s warm laugh made its way pleasantly through the door’s foundation,

“Yes, it has my love,” His voice soft and mellow like honey “May I come in then?”

Now it was your turn to laugh, hand poised to cover your mouth,

“Of course, Kyo!”

The sliding door opened with a gentle but solid push; a cooling breeze flushed against you as Kyouro carefully padded over to you – the subtle tapping of his cane along with his steps – a warm look of love probably already crossing his scarred face.

“(Y/N)?”

You blinked away the flames behind your eyelids as you finally turned to him, looking up with a tired smile,

“Kyo, my love,” You cooed, taking hold of the hand he offered so you could stand “You know, you didn’t have to ask… you could have just come in!”

Kyojuro’s eye stared at you with a certain gentleness - a smile tugging his lips up to show off pearly canine’s – taking you all in as a hum rumbled through his chest, before replying softly,

“I know, I know… but I just felt it right to ask instead of barging in….”

Your husband had always been so considerate…

A small sigh escaped your lips as you shook your head, laughter practically threatening to bubble up and explode out of you at his cute and rather puppy-like response.

But you simply looped your arm with his, a small “Ah!” leaving your lips as you grabbed the torch and started making your way out of the room in slow and steady steps.

Kyojuro smiled down at you.

Before something seemed to come over him and caused the concerned new expecting father mode to come over him – as well as the “My wife is fragile and is carrying our child and if anything is wrong or I think anything might harm her, god dammit I’ll kill everything in my path until she’s safe and sound” mode…

“Careful of your eyes (Y/N),” He fussed, making sure to leave the room first, casting a subtle shadow over you before leading you out into the evening light “I don’t want you harmed…”

You hummed with a smile, tiredness clouding your brain in a crashing wave of haze,

“I’ll be fine my lovely husband,” you yawned “Just tired and hungry and ready to sleep in your arms tonight”

Every time you blinked, the torches flickering dance still shimmered in the brief darkness and Kyojuro’s warmth remained strong beside you, helped ground you to the cooling evening and the tenderness of his love.

You remained smiling gently, walking slowly and steadily, listening to Kyojuro fuss as the smell of food wafted from the kitchen – The form of Senjuro moving with practised ease as Shinjuro sat waiting on the engawa outside – and Kyojuro’s fussing quietened when hearing your rumbling stomach.

A well-timed cough hid the laugh that escaped your lips as Kyojuro fussed even more – thinly veiled worry lurked in his eye and in the small furrow of his brow.

Shinjuro simply chuckled dryly at his eldest’s fussing, moving with purposeful steps to meet both of you half-way something softening the harsh contours of his face as he took the torch from your hand, signalling with his head towards the kitchen,

“Kyojuro,” He warned lightly “(Y/N)’s simply hungry, give her a rest from your mothering…..”

You didn’t really hear Kyojuro’s response, too busy giggling at the terms Shinjuro used and the softness he showed

This was what Kyojuro would have missed if he’d passed, if he’d not fought with his bright stubbornness, the developing baby, the warmth of a fixing family and the continuous love from you that you drowned him with whenever you had the chance.

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terra-esperra · 1 year

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Endings are Beginnings

This is my first ever fanfiction, please be kind.

Sebastian Sallow x Original Female Character (my Hogwarts Legacy Slytherin MC)

Story is posted on AO3 & Wattpad

New Beginnings are often disguised as Painful Endings. -Lao Tzu

Aurora McKnight and Sebastian Sallow used to be inseparable, but that couldn't be further from the reality of their lives in the last year. Now their paths have started to cross again, but the road ahead holds harder challenges then they ever had to face before. Not everyone can have a happy ending. But not all endings are final.

Chapter 1: New Year

The summer holiday was over, but the summer sun still warmed the land. With the weather aiding in happy her mood, Aurora McKnight couldn’t help but feel ecstatic on her flight to school. September had finally arrived, and it was the start of her final year at Hogwarts. She could hardly believe she was in her seventh year already. Seemed like a lifetime ago that Professor Fig had taken her in and brought her to Hogwarts for the first time as a fifth year. So much has happened since then.

Aurora didn’t take the train to school as she did last year. Her new home, a charming little cottage, was in the mountains, so broom flight was simply easier. Enchantments used on her trunks had shrunk them down to a travel-able size, and with all her beast with her in the nab-sack, she was all set to start the new year.

As she flew high in the sky, the castle still very small and far in sight, she thought of her summer. The last couple of months she spent mostly alone with her beast, caring for each one and helping to raise the offspring of the few that had given birth. There was a hand full of times she was able to meet up with her friends in Hogsmeade for rounds of butterbeers and to catch up, but everyone else had their own plans for the summer holiday and remained busy. She was looking forward to seeing her friends again.

This was going to be her last year at the castle as a student. That thought only held a bit of sadness in her heart, but those feelings were nothing compared to the happiness of beginning a new year. There will be time for sadness later at the end.

Aurora flew over the crowd of students making their way up the stairs from the boat house to the gates of Hogwarts. She tried looking down for any familiar faces of her friends, but she couldn’t recognize anyone. Before she knew it, she was landing in the courtyard as the first wave of students started to make their way into the castle. She again tried looking around again for any of her friends, but there were simply too many faces to be able to find anyone she knew.

‘Guess I’ll just head to the common room’ she thought to herself as she entered the castle’s main doors and made her way to the dungeons where the Slytherin House was. She had a small wager with Ominis anyway, so hopefully she’d make it there before he did, and she could just wait for him at the entrance.

Aurora was able to make her way quickly through the castle, down to the dungeons, and arrived at the common room door just as some juror classmates had arrived and spoke the password to let them all enter. There, just beyond the entrance, at the top of the stairs waiting was Ominis.

“Damnit” she quietly mumbled as she took in his appearance. It’s only been a few months, but he seems to have matured quite a bit in his face and body. Other than that, his blonde hair neatly slick back, not a hair out of place. His Slytherin uniform and robe is without a single wrinkle. It could annoy her how perfectly he presented himself without him even knowing.

“There you are. I thought it was supposed to be you waiting on me and not the other way around this year”, he said with a smirk as Aurora approached him. Aurora wasn’t even surprised at the fact he knew she was approaching him. For someone born blind, he was extremely conscious of his surroundings. Ominis was referring to the promise she made last year when they arrived back at Hogwarts to start their 6th year. He complained he waited on her too long and thus she wagered that would would be waiting on him the following year.

“I’m sorry, but you couldn’t have been waiting long. They just open the doors.” Aurora took his arms into hers, connecting at the elbow, and they started to walk down the steps to the common room together. He trusted her to guide him rather than using his wand to see.

“I used my connects and got in before anyone else. Told Black that my father wanted his son to be able to get to the Slytherin rooms safety rather than with the wave the students all returning at once.” He said with a smirk on his face.

Aurora’s mouth dropped in mild shock.

“That’s cheating Ominis!”

“What of it?”

Aurora just huffed but decided to let it go. No sense in creating a dispute with him. It was all playful fun away. Besides, now they could find a comfortable spot in the room to catch up before more students over crowed the area while we wait for dinner and the ceremony. She led them to a bench next to one of the windows of the lake. The little light from the sun that was able to shine through the water created a comfortable ambiance that always seemed to calm any nerves she may have. This was home.

“So how was your holiday Ominis?” She asked as they sat down. She had to body turn towards him, but slightly out to the lobby. She wanted to keep a look out for who else was returning for the year. There was a subconscious need for her to know who was always around. The previous years of fighting a variety of emeries made her develop this trait.

“Oh, home was lovely” He said sarcastically, “Mother and Father are as insufferable as usual. Though my older brother only said maybe three words to me all summer, so that was very kind of him.” Aurora could only giggle at his brief summary of his time away from school. She had no family left, but she supposed that was better than going home to a loveless one.

“You know I don’t like speaking of my family. Tell me about your holiday. You mention finding an area to raise your beast before we left school.” The mention of her home and beast made her face light up with glee. Ominis couldn’t see the smile on her face at the mention of her beast, but he could feel the excitement radiating from her.

“I was able to find a small valley hiding in the middle of the mountains. It’s secluded enough that the beast can run free, and I shouldn’t have to worry about the poachers finding it. There’s even steam a that runs from one of the mountains tops that provide wat-“

“Aurora?” Ominis reached out to her shoulder when she abruptly stopped her story.

Aurora couldn’t hear his call for her. Everything around her seemed to stand still when she noticed that he had walked into the room.

‘Sebastian’

She turned her head away from the center of the room to look down at her and Ominis’ feet. She tried to get her bearings while Ominis concerning voice finally started to reach her ears.

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Ominis knew. He always knew. “Aurora, are you okay? Talk to me. Is he looking at you? Is he coming this way?”

Aurora turned her head slightly to look back up to see what the brunette was doing. Sure enough, he was leaning up by the fireplace, arms crossed over his chest, and had his eyes fixed in their direction. Her eyes met with his dark chestnut ones immediately, forcing her to turn away from is gazed and turn back to Ominis.

With her quick glance, she had noticed he’s matured as well. Matured very well. He’s grown even taller than what she noticed from last year. Under his robes, she could tell his arms and chest had become more defined and muscular. His baby face has grown lean into that of a man’s, still cluttered with freckles.

He was always beautiful to her, and he’s only grown more so. Aurora could feel her face get hot with a blush.

“No, he’s over by the fireplace. He’s talking to some students I don’t quite recognize.” She partly lied. She didn’t want to tell Ominis that Sebastian was staring at them.

“Are you lying to me?”

“No, Ominis. Please, just let it go.”

Before he could press her even more, one of the prefects announced that it was time to make our way to the Great Hall, the new first years were gathered, and the sorting ceremony would begin shortly.

“It’s time Ominis, come on,” Aurora stood up first and linked their arms at the elbows once more to lead him out to the dining hall. Ominis didn’t say anything more as he let her lead him out of the common room and up the stairs out of their house. The two kept quite the entire time walking towards the hall with the other students. Sebastian, being closer to the stairs than they were, was already lost in the crowd. Hopefully far enough ahead.

While walking with Ominis, in a sea of other students, Aurora quickly got lost in her thoughts. Ominis might as well have been guiding her, as she was more in her head than paying attention to her path.

Sebastian and she were inseparable during their 5th year. Where one was, the other was either next to or not far away. However, after the events that took place in the winter and spring of that year, their relationship was stained. With casting unforgivable curses, Sebastian killing his uncle in a fight for knowledge to cure his sister, killing a man herself and being the cause of death to her mentor, and then absorbing an immense power in hopes to being able to cure the same sister Sebastian tried to- only to fail, was too much for their relationship to handle at the age of 16. So much that they have not spoken to each other since going their separate ways for once that year ended for the summer. Not a word at all was spoken between them last year during sixth year.

Wasn’t that she was avoiding him per se, their paths didn’t cross as much and neither made the effort to seek each out to the other. Aurora took the year to really focus on her studies more and give attention to her beasts without the added distractions of death at nearly every turn that fifth year had brought. Sebastian had seemed busy himself with quidditch and flirting with every other student with a pair of legs and tits.

Though it wasn’t her business to care.

But that didn’t mean it doesn’t still fucking hurt.

She had loved him with everything she could have given, and did give, to him. There was a while she thought that love was returned. But that obviously wasn’t the case for him. His life has kept going seemingly unfazed. While she silently cried herself to sleep most nights last year missing him and what she hoped could have been, he’s still the face of Slytherin. With more friends and fan girls than she could compete with.

‘It’s for the best that we’re no longer close.’

Before she knew it, they passed the double doors into the dining room. Aurora and Ominis sat towards the back of their house’s table, as they were one of the last to arrive. She couldn’t see Sebastian anywhere, so she assumed he was towards the front, closest to where the sorting ceremony would begin. She tried to put Sebastian out of her thoughts the best she could and continued her conversation with Ominis about her valley and her beast.

The ceremony was just about to begin when Aurora suddenly realized she needed to step out for a moment. She knew she had to be quick if she was going to make it back in time to see all the new first years come through to get sorted into their houses, and she was looking forward to seeing the joy on the young kids’ faces.

“Ominis, I ‘ll be right back.” she said as she rose from her seat and began to step away.

“Where are you going?” He reached out to grab her hand, gripping her robe to stop her from leaving.

“I’m just going to the lady’s room” she snickered as she walked away.

She let her guard down.

There was nothing unusual heading to the lady’s laboratory.

On her way back, however, she had not noticed someone behind her until she felt a pull on her shoulder. The grip startled her, and she let out a small cry. The force pulled her back towards the wall, and she was able to look up at the person that decided to stop her.

She wasn’t expecting to see Sebastian’s face glaring down on her.

“We need to talk.” He said softly in her ears as he bent down to grab her hand and started pulling her away from the ceremony that had just begun. She did nothing to protest his grip, though she did struggle to keep up with his longer and faster stride. He continued to lead her away, towards the stairs that led to the entrance of the dungeons.

He practically dragged her all the way down the winding staircase to the bottom. Once they hit the last step, he cornered her behind the staircase, out of sight of anyone who might be wandering around and not present for the celebration. His large frame towered over her. His hands placed above her head, caging her in with no apparent means of escape. Aurora shrunk back as far as she could, trying to make she self as small as possible. His dark stare made her want to shrink down even further in herself.

“What do you want from me Sebastian”, she spoke softly, her head turned to the side to keep her gaze away from him.

She hated this.

Normally, she would go toe to toe with anyone who was confrontational towards her. She had a fire in her that could rival that of even the bravest Gryffindor. But right now, she didn’t have a spark of a flame against him.

She felt Sebastian lean down to her face, in an attempt to get her to look him in the eye. It was apparent that he wasn’t going to say anything until she looked at him. With a huff, she finally gave in and met his eyes.

For a moment, he just continued to stare into her.

“This is just a game to you?”

The question caught her off guard and immediately switched her mood. She straightened up her spine and returned his irritated glare back at him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

One of his hands that was resting above her came down to punch the wall right next to her head. She jumped slightly from being startled by the impact. Sebastian has always had a temper, but never did she think she would be on the receiving end.

“Don’t fucking sit there and play dumb, Aurora!” he was seethed. Her eyes widened and her mouth just hung open. She pressed her back as far as she could to the back wall.

“I really don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. We haven’t spoken since fifth year! What game could I possibly being playing with you?” The confusion was written all over her face, her voice shook with nerves, but Sebastian didn’t relent at all and brought his face even closer to hers.

“You’re really going to sit there and act all innocent. After we spent all that time together for the whole fifth year. We went through everything together. Then you abandon me at the end of the year.”

His allegations weren’t fair.

“That’s not at all-“ she tried to intervene.

“Then I come back last year”, he talked over her, “to watch to attach yourself to Ominis- my best friend, my brother, and you don’t even try to talk to me.”

His anger initially shocked her. However, she got over that and grew angry herself. Aurora took a step forward towards him, forcing him to take a half a step back and straighten up himself. He was more than a head taller than her, but she tilted her head back and stood as tall as she could to face him. Her meekness moments ago was forgotten. These claims weren’t fair and wrong.

“As I recall, you didn’t try to talk to me either.” Her voice was steady, but she wanted to convey to him he wasn’t going to push her around.

“Your guard dog forbade me to. He said he wouldn’t stand for me to hurt you again. Crock of shit that is,” he chuckled darkly, “When you’re the one who said you needed the space and to give you time. I let you go, waiting for you to come back when you were ready- yet I’m the one that hurt you?!”

“Because you did hurt me!” All her patience was gone now, “When I couldn’t cure Anne, you couldn’t look at me for weeks, and even when you did, all I could see in your eyes was disappointment. You hated me for not being able to help her!” Aurora anger was growing now. It was getting harder to contain.

“I never blamed you! I was upset, sure! I truly believe your ancient power would be enough to finally heal her, but I never blamed you after it didn’t work. And I certainly never hated you.”

They were yelling at this point. Sebastian had bent his body down again so their faces for leveled and their noses were almost touching. They were physically closer to each other more than they had been in well over a year, yet they have never been further apart.

“Cut the bullshit, Sebastian. You owe me that much. Besides, you can hardly say you’ve missed me. I watched all last year as you had two to three girls hanging on you through the hallways. Smiling and laughing without a care!”

She felt her temperature start to rise. She was getting too hot.

“So, it’s my fault for finding a distraction while I watch you hang all over my best friend to get back at me?!”

“I never used Ominis to get back at you, fucking arse! Ominis was there for me as a friend after all the bullshit you put us through with the dark magic nonsense” She couldn’t believe him, “He’s the only one that could have understood the pain you put me through. He has been a better friend to me then you ever were.”

That made him snap. Sebastian put his hand on her at the junction of her throat and shoulder then pushed against the wall. His face was controlled with anger.

“Is that right?” He spoke low in her ear, “Does he kiss you better then I did?”

Her heart started to beat rapidly from the memories that were being brought to the surface.

He continued, “Is he keeping your bed warm now too. Has he felt your body the way I did? Has he taken you when you promised to wait for me?”

“Sebastian s-stop”, tears began to well up in her eyes. She could feel herself start to lose control.

Sebastian stepped back again to look her in the eyes. Aurora was having trouble catching her breath, which had nothing to do with his hand still at the base of her throat. He wasn’t choking her, just holding firmly her in place. His eyes looked into hers with still so much anger, she couldn’t see the pain he was in himself. He wasn’t going to show her.

“You moved on quick. Must’ve been easy to convince a blind man you’d loved him, taking advantage of that lack of sight huh? Tell me, does his hands-“

He was cut off when a sudden power knocked him clear across the hallway. A gust of wind stronger than any Depulso charm he’d ever felt knocked the air from his lungs as he hit the stone wall. The landing to the ground wasn’t so soft either. After a moment, he was able to right himself up on hands and knees, trying to regain his breath before looking back at what had knocked him away.

He wasn’t prepared for the sight in front of him.

Aurora still stood under the stairs. What he could only have assumed was her ancient magic was swirling around her. Bright red sparks of energy dancing along her body like lightning. Her eyes glowed a menacing red. It was as frightening to him as it was beautiful.

Sebastian started to call out to her, but she stopped him as soon as she heard him start to say her name.

“Don’t. Just don’t, Sebastian.” She closed her eyes and clenched her fist at her side. “I don’t want to hear another word from you.”

She opened her eyes, only to scowl at him, “All I did throughout our fifth- everything I did, was for you. I loved you and I gave you every part of my heart.” Tears began to run down her face. “I know we haven’t been close for over a year, but that doesn’t mean you can treat me like this.” Her voice was breaking apart as the sobs started to take over.

Her sobbing quickly became uncontrollable. The magic around her was increasing, the sparks grew and became more erratic around her.

“Aurora…” Sebastian was able to finally get to his feet and took a step towards her. His movement brought him back into her focus. Without her wand, without a verbal cast, he was pinned back to the wall. He couldn’t move, no matter how hard he tried.

“Just stay away from me Sebastian. You ignored me all this time, I’m sure it won’t be a problem for you to do it again.”

With that, she took off up the stairs, out of his sight.

“AURORA!”

The magic still held him in place as she ran away. He couldn’t do anything but close his eyes, as the realization of what had just occurred finally sunk in. He never wanted to confront her in this way. He fucked up. He only could hang his head and swear under his breath in frustration as the sounds of her footsteps faded with the distance.

___

The magic was slipping from her control. Her emotions were on high, and she couldn’t contain them, let alone the ancient power coursing throughout her body. She had to do something, and quick before she lost complete control.

She fled the castle’s grounds before anyone else could see her. Once she made to the outside, she conjured her broom and took off high in the sky. She waited till she was a mile or so away from the castle before she started casting Revelio every so often, using the spell to find an outlet to release her magic.

She didn’t have cast the charm too many times before she finally found what she was looking for. A poacher’s camp, right near a magical beast’s nestling location.

Aurora touch down in the middle of the camp. The magic’s aura was overflowing, there wasn’t time for a stealth approach. It was a larger camp than most. She guessed there were about 30-40 poachers surrounding her. Different beasts throughout the camp, locked in cages and in obvious destress. Only influenced her rage even more. A few of the poachers started towards her, wands drawn, but they did not seem too concerned about her sudden appearance.

“Hey there darling, are you lost.” A poacher said he inched closer to her. More poachers stopped what they were doing and began to approach her as well. She was the center of the whole camp’s attention now, quickly enclosing on her.

‘Darling,’ she thought bitterly.

She was brought back to a time a certain brunette Slytherin called her that. In their common room, in the middle of the night by the fire. A time when she thought they would be happy and together forever.

She turned towards the poacher who called her the horrid term, her face emotionless, tears still streaming down. Her eyes glowed red as she let the magic slip from her control. A dark red mist started to flow off her and surround the camp.

“I’m no one’s darling.” She whispered darkly as she sent a silent cast of Bombarda to the poacher, affectively blowing his head up from his shoulder. The now headless body dropped to the ground with a thud. She smiled as the other poachers took a couple steps back from their fallen comrade.

“You little bitch! You will pa-“ the poacher wasn’t able to finish his threat as a Diffindo charm cut him clean in half. She took her time taking out the rest of poachers, one at a time. She didn’t need to use an of the unforgivable curses, not when she was enjoying hearing their cries from the attacking spells she learned legally from her teachers.

Before any of the other poachers could even process what was happening, the ancient magic finally exploded into a wave around her. The blast killed every poacher left alive in its path, sparing only the innocent beast.

She collapsed to the ground, the magic was finally released, and exhaustion was now taking over. She was able to curl herself into a ball before she let darkness take her. Using the ancient magic takes a toll on her.

And a little piece of her gets lost each time as well.

#sebastian sallow #sebastian sallow x reader #sebastian sallow x mc #hogwarts legacy #slytherin #hurt/comfort #angst

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