#i think a point of DH was 'you spent so much time thinking about your dad but actually it was your mum who was important'

[seriousbrat]

actually Lily is the main character of the marauders era

#she's the catalyst for everything. she unites snapes arc with the marauders/order #she's the one who sacrifices herself and starts the entire plot of hp #ultimately james and snape are side characters in her story!!! #i think a point of DH was 'you spent so much time thinking about your dad but actually it was your mum who was important' #she is Protagonist and its time she was treated like it

[theworldoffostering]

So much snow. And cold. And sadness.

It’s NB’s birthday this week. He will be FIVE! Can we please take a moment to reflect on his birth? His mom called me at 5am and told me she was in the ER at a hospital nearly an hour away from me, asking me to come meet her. I did. Upon arrival, the OBGYN came into the room and said she was going to have the baby now and gave me a gown so I could head back into the OR and watch the c-section. Never in my life did I imagine that would be how I was spending my morning/day. NB was born and I sat with him until the ambulance came to transfer him to a larger hospital with a NICU. NB was about six weeks early, and born addicted, but was mostly a feeder and grower. His NICU experience was fairly bland except it happened 71 miles away from us during the polar vortex. We commuted daily and spent many nights there despite DH and I both working full-time.

NB was born the day before Ms. 6’s adoption. I sent her an email today asking if she was ready to talk. I don’t think she is, but wanted to put the ball into her court and let her know that we were. She’s requesting contact with NB, but no one else, and we have refused. It’s so weird to me. In her biological home, Ms. 6 was very much the favorite, and Ms. 6 now has made NB her favorite, and frankly that is a major benefit of her no longer being here—we no longer have to choose to manage that dynamic. But I’m also still sad over all of the loss. (For sure I am also relieved.) It’s confusing and complicated.

DH’s family situation continues to be challenging. His sister’s situation is worse than we had initially known, and his mom’s cancer is potentially back. She’ll find out for sure this week. How do you handle death of a parent when the parent hates you and is actively trying to destroy your marriage? I feel bad for DH, and also clueless as to how to make anything easier/better in this situation.

I also saw DD last week. She came over to pick up some Christmas gifts that my mom had sent for her. About 90% of what she said during her visit were straight up lies. I’m sad, frustrated, disappointed. Is this part of the disease, or is this just who she is?

I don’t know you guys, I am sort of just asking myself, “What is the point?” Like what was the point of doing all of the work to get Ms. 6? We are completely isolated in our own community due to it, and she has rained down so much pain and trauma on our family/other kids. What was the point? She got out of a residential setting, was safe here, experienced life, went on vacations, and acquired the skills to graduate high school (she’s done—she just finished in December). Was that the point? Is that enough to justify all of the harm done to the people left standing?

DD left an orphanage in Eastern Europe, and I think it probably (not trying to be dramatic) saved her life. As a person with cerebral palsy, I’m not sure how many years she would have made it in the orphanage, and aging out would probably mean being on the streets. It was such a miracle that she got out of Eastern Europe when she did (truly), that I always felt like she was destined for great things. And by great, I mean typical adulting like having a job, being in a stable relationship, etc. That’s not what’s happening, and I’m crushed by the loss of that dream, and feeling like I am losing hope for her future to be more than what it currently is. It could probably be worse, but not having an authentic relationship with her is particularly painful to me as she’s my first child and for many years, it was just she and I. We were a family and I felt so connected to her. Having the relationship we have now feels to me like an accute loss. So again, what’s the point is the question that keeps rearing up for me.

It’s weird to be a foster parent for so long, be entirely dedicated to it with your whole self, and then be left wondering, “Does it even matter?”

#deep thoughts #parenting is hard #this is foster care #foster care

[thegirlwhowrites642]

Which couple marry first hinny or romoine in your opinion? Please do share.

Can I just say that I love that "please do share"? It makes me feel important.

OK, now, about the ask...

Short answer: Harry and Ginny

There are several circumstantial reasons but there's one in particular that I believe to be the essential point and weirdly enough I've never seen anyone bring it up. So, without further ado, let's start with the long answer:

The circumstantial reasons are these (to understand some of the following points it's necessary to remember that we are working on a pretty small window of years. James Sirius was born in 2004 and the first year after the war Ginny and Hermione were at Hogwarts):

Harry and Ginny have basically a whole year over Ron and Hermione. While they were technically broken up for several months, they were emotionally together. When they got back together, the romantic dynamic was not something new that they explored for the first time. And even the first time around they fell into it extremely easily. We also see that after nearly a year apart, they are still perfectly in tune with Harry who needs one single look to make Ginny calm down. Ron and Hermione get together in an extremely complicated time and, while having feelings for each other for years, they are also both people with a tendency to overthink, so there might be some awkwardness at the start (obviously it would be much easier to make a correct assumption on this if we ever saw how they interact alone).

Ginny and Hermione go back to Hogwarts. While for sure not easy for Harry and Ginny, we already know that they dealt with a year apart in the worst possible conditions, they also display a secure attachment style. Ron and Hermione are far from used to being apart, their romantic relationship is newer, and they do not display a secure attachment style (even if I like to believe that they eventually gained some of that maturity), so it's pretty easy to imagine how that year of long-distance relationship was far more difficult to manage for them.

Marriage is not something far away from Harry's mind. In DH we have him imagining Ginny in a wedding dress, addressing her as his family, then there's the whole death sequence with the comparison between the family he'll have in death and the one he can have living. Ginny's declarations between the end of HBP and the start of DH all point to an everlasting love that she is comfortable labeling as such out loud. All of this while Ron and Hermione are still playing the "you love me, you love me not" game.

Harry and Ginny had Teddy to set them already in a domestic mood. If a Teddy of age spends four dinners a week with the Potters, imagine how much time he spent with them as a child. Not that children and marriage need to be necessarily connected but they are undeniably on the same line of thinking, especially for two people who want both marriage and babies and have a romantic streak. Ginny is far more explicitly romantic than Harry, but I think we can all agree that Harry "her blush is like the setting sun" Potter is a closeted romantic.

Hermione is not exactly someone that I would call family-oriented seeing how little time she spends with her parents. She obviously is enough to get married and have children but what we know about her character suggests that they wouldn't be a short-term priority for her.

In the most likely correct assumption that Hermione's parents weren't too happy about being shipped off to Australia without their consent and that Hermione cared about healing her relationship with them, it would be reasonable for Hermione to find it necessary to keep the family dynamic stable for some years. Especially considering that, despite it all, she still goes back for her last year at Hogwarts separating herself from them once again.

Harry and Ginny started having children sooner. Obviously, it's pure statistic here.

I think that Ron and Hermione dancing around each other for a million years proves quite clearly that Harry and Ginny are far more impulsive people.

Also: I've seen some people say that Ginny would want to wait a while to get married to affirm her independence or something like that but when exactly did Ginny Weasley, who took the surname Potter and decided for a career change to have more time with her children, ever gave you the impression that she would take such decisions on how others might or might not perceive her? Or that Harry's fame is something she struggles with and wants to avoid like the plague? Doesn't it sound a lot more like Ginny saying "I'm gonna destroy all your arses on the Quidditch pitch and I'm going to do it with whatever surname I prefer"? Plus, I might add that it didn't take much time for Ginny to become famous in her own right. According to Rowling, Ginny was a celebrated Quidditch player. Considering that she played for only four/five years but also simply how the careers of great athletes work, if she weren't a first-string player when she entered the team (but she most likely was) then she became one during her first year playing.

Now these were all points that suggest that Harry and Ginny would marry sooner but there is one very specific reason that I think gives us pretty much certainty on the answer:

Marriage is not just about how much you love each other. There's a very strong economic component to it.

Harry and Ginny are, to put it very plainly, rich. Harry has both the Potter and Black fortunes and, even if I highly doubt they lived there after they got married, he has already a house at Grimmauld Place. Ginny is a celebrated professional Quidditch player who plays in an elitist team. In short, she instantly made a lot of money. Add to this that between being a great player, and conventionally good-looking, she probably sold an insane amount of merch. Yeah, Ginny was loaded even without Harry's money.

Ron and Hermione have normal jobs. Hermione having two parents that are dentists was definitely from a family who was comfortable money-wise but there's no indication of her being a trust-found baby. Ron was an Auror for two years (it's not clear if it's meant as the three years of training plus two years or just two years) and then he went to work with George. Now, if it was only two years, training included: while we know that the twins could afford things they would've never dreamed to afford before, it's always in comparison to what the Weasleys could afford. At the end of the day, they are still two young men who have to provide only for themselves and live in the little apartment above their shop. This is to say that, while the business is successful, they are not rich (the shop was also probably closed for a while). Now, for the life of me, I can't imagine Ron Weasley, who throughout the series is so sensitive towards money, being ok with marriage without being 100% sure of having the economic safety to afford a house and to provide an economically comfortable life for eventual children. Also, even with less money apprehension, Hermione probably had an entire plan with goals to reach before taking every important life step. If there's something that Ron, the chess master, and Hermione, the organization obsessed, have in common is that they think things through a lot, which is what brings them to occasionally overthink.

This said, I still think that Ron and Hermione married before James Sirius was born, I don't think they married a lot of years after Harry and Ginny. Rose is after all just two years younger than James. Even if the idea of Ron and Hermione dealing with an unplanned out-of-wedlock baby is hilarious.

#hinny #romione #ginny x harry #harry potter #ginny weasley #harry and ginny #hermione granger #ron weasley #ron x hermione #thegirlwhowrites642HPmeta

[decoysouled]

send "let me take care of you" for my muse's reaction // accepting. @astrcls // 'let me take care of you.' [ for caelus, from dh ! ]

ON DAYS LIKE THIS, Caelus ponders whether Dan Heng can see right through him & into the depths of his mind — if he is like one-sided glass fitted the wrong way, never seeing the way people look into his heart & soul, never able to see them in return & finding them to be a mystery, a puzzle he must put together. Perhaps to others, the puzzle is Caelus & his less than desirable antics when it comes to learning all there is to know about the worlds the express travels too.

On days like this, Caelus ponders whether there is any point in protesting the care shown by his friend in spite of his own eccentricities — since the day they have met, it feels as if Dan Heng has spent his time looking after him & March, keeping them out of trouble when necessary. Except, Caelus realises ( it is a slow realisation, yet inexplicably quick, like the sunrise on a summer morning ) that Dan Heng had not, in fact, been there to take care of him today.

Dan Heng has not been around to take care of any of them, having stayed on the express & then spent his time separated from them — it makes sense, now, why he wants to keep Caelus within arm's reach & make sure he's alright. Or so he assumes, if only because he can't think of any reason than the other's worry to say such a demand so boldly ( because it is a demand, not a request. it is a statement, not a question. ) & yet with the intention of doing so any.

None of Caelus' denial would be met with anything other than protest, that much he's sure of, & so he offers a smile. He lifts a finger to poke Dan Heng in the cheek, his own words holding a teasing lilt to them: ❝You're like a bird, you know? Making sure everyone in your nest is alright.❞ There is some truth to the statement, albeit it is more an attempt to make him laugh than anything & Caelus stares intently at his face, awaiting the crease of his lips in a smile that he would try to hide & he listens for the quiet ring of laughter, almost inaudible.

He does not see a smile. He does not hear laughter. He wastes little time, after realising that perhaps Dan Heng is a little more concerned than Caelus had realised, in moving a hand to his sleeve, lightly tugging on it as if to get his attention. As if he is stuck in his thoughts. ❝If it'll make you feel better, you can take care of me for as long as you want. I don't mind.❞

#002. ❝transmissions: down with the fallen.❞ — answered #& fandom — honkai star rail #128. ❝go on then icarus; take your turn.❞ — caelus #129. ❝pull the wool out from your eyes.❞ — V1 ( hsr ) #astrcls #addressed to — dan heng (astrcls)

[firendgold]

Harry for the blorbo opinion bingo

and with this ask, the other half of fireandgold/this blog's ship is now complete! thanks~

And would you look at that, Harry earned himself a bingo! *confetti*

Expounding on the squares again from the top down--

blorbo: not as much as Albus, but Harry is very special and I like how he defies the "everyman" tropes people try to put on him. He is definitely a distinct character in his own right.

I respect them: Harry is extremely compassionate, and extremely forgiving. He makes a lot of choices I would not and could not personally have made if I were in the same situation. I think it takes a lot of courage and for someone so young to stick to unpopular opinions and feelings. For example, if Harry were real, I think he'd defend to the death all his children's name-choices, and heaven help you if you thought you'd change his mind with some half-baked, rehashed argument.

(but like, Harry. why Severus. why Severus as a middle name--)

my opinion changed a lot over time: I've never disliked Harry, but I've definitely disagreed with him at times (especially in DH over Dumbledore, because he was being such a fucking idiot). It's also easy to get the real canon Harry confused with all the fanon Harrys who are meant to "improve" on him (but sometimes don't actually do so), 'till you get to the point where you hardly remember what your unbiased opinion of Harry James was in the first place. But when I'm fresh off a re-read, I find that I am far fonder of him than I was when initially reading his story in the mid 2000s. I was more or less neutral then.

I can make them worse: Mmmm, imagine. A genuinely Dark Harry who wasn't Voldemort's pet or lover, but a dangerous individual in his own right who was the patron saint of misplaced orphans and serpent king of the underworld. Ruler of dementors, and the only dark wizard able to cast a Patronus. A man whose only true love was control because he spent so much of his pre-Hogwarts years without a shred of it. Similarly to Albus, people write the most bland, nauseating independent!Harrys and Dark!Harrys and Harem!Harrys and PoliticalAsshole!Harrys and every type of Harry who isn't Harry you could think of. Even if I restricted myself to writing those repetitive genres only, I'm pretty sure I could do better. You know, if I ever hit my head on the sidewalk and had a personality transplant.

they intrigue me: Auror Dad is perhaps the least interesting route That Woman could have had Harry take, so of course that's where he ended up. Harry wasn't The Next Merlin by any means, but he was skilled with magic and a quick thinker, and I would have loved to see him unleashed on the world as he was at seventeen, fresh off dancing on Voldemort's corpse.

I have so much to say about them: It's not as easy to get me going on Harry as it is on Albus, but the parts of him that do get my mouth running send it off just as passionately as any Albus-related-rant does. ^^

they're hard to understand; I get it tho: I... sort of get it and don't get it... because it definitely feels like people are projecting what they wish Harry was onto him, or their own experiences or whatever. I do that too but I have to be so careful not to let my own voice seep through when I'm writing him. so in true Virgo fashion I'm all, if I can watch myself when analyzing Harry why can't literally everyone else? lol. But yes. Harry is very hard to understand. His compassion, his temper, his mood swings, his reactions to how he was raised... any and all have been misunderstood by all of us at the best of times. He's very intriguing because he's not as easy to pin down as he might seem. (That's why I don't buy into the idea of him as a bland protagonist. Y'all just aren't reading deeply enough into him. If he was that bland, wouldn't there be even more versions of him in fanon, instead of people slowly starting to come to a consensus about just who Harry James Potter is?)

I'd fuck them: oooh, a NSFW one. well. I'm far too old to think of canon Harry in that way, and he wasn't really pushing any teenage heartthrob buttons for me when I actually was a teenager (that was more Percy Jackson's role, lol). But sometimes I see fanart of adult Harrys that look delicious. Like, shaggy tied-back hair, lightning-bolt scar accentuated to the point where it looks like an epic tattoo across his face, brilliant bottle-green eyes, long flowing Quidditch or professor robes... it hits sometimes.

#blorbo opinion bingo #empatheticeyeroll #thanks for the ask! #fireandgoldposts #not fireandgold #Harry Potter

[artemisia-black]

What decisions did you make when writing Regulus in your WIP?

Thank you so much for reading. Here is the breakdown of my interpretation of his character (taken from Cannon and how this is reflected in Pietas)

Character point one - He's as feisty as his brother

His locket note reads like a 'f-you' to Voldemort. It is feisty and defiant.

‘I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret’- RAB note

So, when sitting down to write him, I had to give him some fire and this comes out in chapter two when he squares up to his brother.

‘YES BUT I AM NOT,’ yelled Regulus finally losing all control. ‘Since you met that low-life, I have had to live with the humiliation of having a blood-traitor for a brother. Do you even care how your feckless and dissolute conduct affects me? '- Pietas, Chapter two

I’ve also tried to mimic the aristocratic tone of the letter in his speech pattern

Character point two- He is loyal to his family/Loved ones

In cannon, he drinks the potion instead of Kreacher and swears him to secrecy in order to protect his family

‘And he orders—Kreacher to leave—without him. And he told Kreacher—to go home—and never to tell my Mistress - Kreacher's tale, DH

In chapter 4, he might be angry with Sirius but he’s ready to throw hands when the other Slytherin’s insult him (although he’d never admit that it was to defend Sirius).

'Regulus had been utterly humiliated at the gall of a Yaxley, a family of upstarts from nowhere, correcting the conduct of a Black.He had even said as much before, stalking off to his dormitory and wishing he could punch Rosier for humiliating him so.'- Pietas chapter 5

Character point 3 - He's proud of being a Black / is a blood supremacist.

‘ But Master Regulus had proper order; he knew what was due to the name of Black and the dignity of his pure blood.' - Kreacher's tale, DH

I reflect this in his disappointment with Orion’s plan for him.

‘He had been hoping to help with his family’s political dealings. He had yearned to dedicate his life to something that would aide in bringing wizards out of hiding and help his family take their rightful place on the world stage. He had dreamed of the day when wizards could openly use magic and their superiority was acknowledged by all.’ Pietas chapter 6

And also in his general snobbiness.

Character point 4- A complex relationship with Sirius.

Sirius bitterly reflecting that Reg was the ‘much better son,’ decades after his death, indicates some sense of rivalry between them.

However, to quote my post about Sirius’s mental health (and how I write him through the lens of complex PTSD):

The fact that Sirius has such a detailed theory about what happened to Regulus, means that he spent time both thinking about it and investigating. There is an excellent book called the Red Parts (see references) , which explores how an unsolved murder affects the way family members grieve for the victim. And I truly believe that Sirius grieved deeply for his brother ( he threw out heirlooms yet left Regulus’s room untouched).

#regulus black #sirius black #hp meta #my writing #harry potter fanfiction #toujours pur

[heyjude19-writing]

Hey there! I was rereading remain nameless when I realized you've done something that no other author has done (that I have seen). I have been reading dramione now since 2016 and trust me I've read a lot of fic. You are the first author that I've seen that has hermione start a muggleborn foundation for first year students. It's usually that she's in the ministry with the magical creatures department which is totally fine, nothing wrong with that. But starting the muggleborn program just..makes sense. It's totally something she would do along with the creature work. And like you say in the fic, it's something that's totally needed and beyond past due. Like imagine at 11 years old you and your family's world get turned upside down and you're expected on Sept 1 to adapt to this new culture. Like..no. no way in hell. Especially for the parents too like wtf. Comparing it to muggle university sealed the deal for me. Like that's the whole point of orientation and family programs for first year college students! So I guess I'm trying to say is thanks for writing this awesome program (and this awesome fic too)! I totally wish to see a canon where this is implemented with hermione turning the wizarding world in the right direction.

Hey anon!

Thank you so much. Part of the reason RN is so long is because I couldn’t leave well enough alone when it came to canon things I wanted to fix. The muggleborn experience being a major one. I just cannot imagine how difficult that must be. Let’s take Hermione’s experience first. She has two (seemingly) involved, supportive parents, both dentists and no other siblings. They’ve got to come to terms with her being magical and then be all right with shipping her off to Scotland for most of the year, to a school they have never seen, to a world they can barely comprehend. I just cannot wrap my brain around muggle parents being okay with this? Before they even get to that point of acceptance, they’ve got to go on this bonkers shopping expedition, starting with Gringotts and just… figure it out on their own?

A family like Hermione’s is going to have a difficult enough time with it. Now what about other muggleborn children like Dean Thomas? From what little we’re given of him, we know he’s the only magical person in his family (from DH it seems he has a mother and sisters, all non-magical). A magical child of a single muggle parent with muggle siblings in tow? That’s going to be a nightmare. And I think of the Creeveys too, their dad’s a milkman and according to Colin (from CoS): “It's amazing here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts."

I think Hermione would be horrified at how ill-prepared these children and families are to enter the magical world. And so her program is my attempt to have some sort of orientation to magic prior to September 1.

I actually cut a scene when I was writing RN where Hermione tells Draco about her time spent Petrified in their Second Year. But I got too bogged down in the logistics of her parents trying to visit the school and how would they get there and how they’re informed their daughter is basically comatose and yeah, I think the story was long enough. Readers got the point, it makes no sense for Hogwarts, a school that has been around for a thousand years, to not have some sort of informational outreach procedure for muggleborn children/families. Like you can’t tell me there isn’t a Muggle equivalent of Lucius Malfoy trying to storm up to the school every other day over hippogriffs or potions accidents. Obviously with the books being from Harry’s POV we’re limited to how many other characters’ lives we can see, but the lack of time given to Hermione’s family life is such a gaping hole for me.

Thanks for reading and for the ask!

#remain nameless #dramione #muggle stuff #harry potter thoughts

[hypmic-writings]

Hello! I was wondering if you had any headcanons for how DH (our Osaka lads) make bad significant others? For example: Rei has trouble staying faithful, or Rosho is bad at communicating. Stuff like that! I thought it’d be an interesting concept. If it’s too weird, no worries! I hope you’re doing well :)

━━ ∘◦ ☆ ◦∘ ━━

Pairing: Sasara Nurude x reader; Rosho Tsutsujimori x reader; Rei Amayado x reader 

Genre: Angst

Warnings: None

A/N: This one was interesting to write - definitely a bit angsty, but it was fun to look into them as characters and look for their misgivings. Hope this is along the lines of what you wanted. Enjoy~

⋘ ──── ∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗ ──── ⋙

Sasara Nurude 

We all know that Sasara is a big name in comedy, but I feel like this could bring a point of contention in your relationship

he has a tendency to get a one-track mind that could lead to him being dismissive of your feelings and emotions

he doesn’t do this on purpose, rather he’s so engrossed in his own ventures and goals that he can sometimes push you to the side

he’s a very well-known comedian and he has many fans so you’ll have to be prepared to either defend yourself against them or ignore them

this will be difficult because there will always be crazy fans that will think you’re not good enough for him

Sasara is someone that can have his ego boosted by those around him - he enjoys feeling liked by other people (including his fans)

so whenever you try to bring this up to Sasara, he might not be incredibly sympathetic to you because he’ll be so focused on his career 

Sasara has a very specific way that he likes things to be done, and if you’re not doing it in the way that he wants, he will tell you as much

he’ll keep his tone light, but his words will be very clear that he wants you to do things differently (i.e. the way you make his coffee in the morning, directions when you’re driving, etc.)

sometimes it can be hard to tell when he’s joking and when he’s being serious because he has a tendency to be flippant at times

Sasara can be childish at times which might be frustrating after a long day or when you’re already in a bad mood

he can and does hold childish grudges against you for things as silly as not giving him a goodnight kiss or laughing at somebody else’s jokes

in order to make this relationship really work, you might have to be confrontational at times

Sasara does love you, he’s just particular and needs you to tell him what you will and will not accept from him in a relationship

as long as there’s communication, I think you would be able to have a solid relationship with Sasara

Rosho Tsutsujimori

Rosho is someone that has been through a lot in his past to get to where he is today

despite all that though, he still has some things he’s working through

Rosho isn’t the best at communicating his problems - as shown before, whenever he’s frustrated, he tends to internalize it into his own struggle

if it’s mistakes he’s made in his work or as a member of his rap team, he won’t want to burden you with it and will think he can solve it on his own

even if it’s something small that you do to frustrate him, he won’t tell you about it until it’s built up to the point of explosive anger or possibly resentment

and at that point it might be too late to stop an argument from happening

Rosho also has a very dry sense of humor which could lead to miscommunication between the two of you, especially if it’s over the phone where you can’t see his body language

he can tend to be forgetful as well and has forgotten things that are important to you in the past which could make you feel like you aren’t his number one priority

he has a lot of anger and fears from his past of people he’s close to surpassing him and of him holding others back, so he can often times blame himself for your faults

for example, if you don’t get a promotion at work, I can imagine him internalizing it as his fault, thinking that if he had supported you more and spent less time with his division, you could have achieved more

this could lead to him wanting to break up with you because he feels like you deserve better, but since he can’t communicate his feelings very well, you might only see it as him not wanting to be with you

in order for this relationship to work, you’re going to have to make sure that the both of you understand each other at an emotional level

you’ll have to make sure that Rosho knows he can rely on you, and you’ll also have to be patient with him when he goes through his emotional turmoil or when he makes rash decisions 

don’t be afraid to sit down with him and go over all of the things that the two of you have been frustrated with or been dealing with 

Rei Amayado 

Rei is a fickle man that his lived by his own rules for as long as he can remember

he was in love at one point and he remembers what that’s like, but he much prefers one-night stands and flings to relationships because he’s less likely to be disappointed by them or have any expectations at all

however, when he is in a relationship, his downfall will be his flippant outlook on most things

he’s going to find it difficult to stay committed to someone because he’s a curious person and knows that there are so many other things out there that he hasn’t tried yet

I think Rei has a lot of guilt surrounding his previous family and the fact that he couldn’t be the father/husband that he needed to be for them

this also exists because he hasn’t worked through his own past failings and the guilt that he has surrounding that, he’s simply suppressed it, so it’s difficult for him to overcome any of those emotions

so becoming serious with someone will take a long time for him and he’ll always slip away at the idea of getting married or having kids

if the two of you get into an argument or a fight, he’ll constantly be running off to busy himself with work or throw himself into his next project 

because Rei is someone that has spent most of his life running away from his feelings and from his past and he doesn’t really know any other way

he can be judgmental at times, criticizing you for small things and although he doesn’t mean to be rude, he’s just a blunt person

it’s funny because most of the time he’s either telling you the blunt, honest truth about how he feels about something, or he’s lying through his teeth

lying is something Rei is quite good at and a mechanism that he’s used time and time again to get what he wants, so that would also be a point of contention in the relationship

in order to make this relationship work, you would have to humanize yourself and be simultaneously strong enough to put up with all of Rei’s bullshit

but also emotional enough to show him that he doesn’t have to have his guard up around you 24/7

you would have to be prepared to have your heart broken, but work as hard as you can to show him that you truly do love him

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

#hypmic #hypnosis mic #hypnosis microphone #sasara #sasara nurude #rosho #rosho tsutsujimori #rei #rei amayado #sasara x reader #sasara nurude x reader #rosho x reader #rosho tsutsujimori x reader #rei x reader #rei amayado x reader #imagines #headcanons #hypmic imagines #hypmic headcanons #hypnosis mic headcanons #hypnosis mic imagines #hypnosis microphone imagines #hypnosis microphone headcanons

[buggre-alle-this-for-a-larke]

So I do not ship wolfstar. In fact if you follow me you’ll know that I’m pretty damn vocal about disliking it, But I love the marauders and its incredibly difficult to find marauders content that doesn’t include (or in fact centre itself around) Wolfstar. What gets my goat is people saying that Wolfstar is canon or at least theres enough basis for it in canon, simply because I disagree. I’ve never really thought about exactly why I don’t ship Wolfstar and Lockdown is getting to me HARD today lads. I need something pointless to distract me, so I’m going to do that now;

(DISCLAIMER; THIS IS NOT TO SAY I THINK IT’S WRONG TO SHIP WOLFSTAR OR THAT I OR ANYONE ELSE CAN EVER POLICE YOU LIKING WHAT YOU LIKE. SHIP WOLFSTAR? COOL! DONT? COOL! I’M JUST CHUCKING MY THOUGHTS OUT THERE AND LIKE THIS IS REAL OLD THOUGHTS RIGHT SO LIKE FUCK IT, IT DOESN’T MATTER. Also JK can suck my dick so really do what you like, ship whoever you want to and remember that trans rights are human rights) 

1.) I’m going to start at the very beginning with what I think is probably the key reason I just cannot see Wolfstar, and say that the dynamic of the marauders changes significantly if you add in a Remus/Sirius relationship storyline. The main reason for this is because we know that two of the marauders were closer to each other than the other two - But that was quite clearly James and Sirius. Take the photo Harry finds on Sirius’ wall :

“To Sirius’ Right stood Pettigrew…. flushed with pleasure at his inclusion to this coolest of games, with the much admired rebels that James and Sirius had been. On James’ left was Lupin, even then a little shabby looking, but he had the same air of lighted suprise at finding himself liked and included” - DH CH10

It highlights the fact that it was always James&Sirius and then Remus and Peter. Sirius’ entire story arc is driven by his love of James and the fact that James was the most important person in Sirius’ life. He offered him family and shelter (and a mate to pick on people with) and was ‘the best friend he ever had’. Everything he does for Harry stems not from an immediate love for him, but from the all powering love he always had for James. Multiple characters point this out throughout OotP when they say that Sirius is acting like he has James back. To say that Remus knew Sirius better, and was closer to him, just doesn’t make sense in terms of the story canon and takes away from James and Sirius’ bond.

2.) Remus does not trust Sirius. 

Sirius tried to use Remus as a tool to frighten, or possibly murder, a kid he didn’t like. Remus and Sirius are undoubtably close, and so in theory Sirius would know that one of Remus’ biggest fears was always that he would bite someone and make them live as he does. Sirius would also know the lengths that Remus would have to go to keep his illness a secret whilst at school and decided to tell the very person who despised Remus like it was no big deal. We don’t know what would have happened if James hadn’t stepped in, but we do know that Dumbledore refers to it as saving Snape’s life so we can infer that Snape would have been killed by the werewolf he met down there, and therefore Remus would have been probably punished (and I bet not fairly).

We also know that having done this, and presumably seen the impact it had on Remus, Sirius shows absolutely no remorse;

“ Black made a derisive noise. ‘It served him right.’ he sneered. ‘sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to’ “ POA CH18

I think this lead Remus to be able to fully believe that Sirius betrayed James -after all he’d betrayed him in the highest possible way hadn’t he? He spent 12 years believing Sirius to have joined Voldemort - I think if they were together there would be no way this would have happened.

3.) Sirius didn’t trust Remus.

We never find out exactly why Sirius believes Remus to be the one selling them all out to Voldemort, maybe it’s because the only other option was Peter or maybe it’s because Voldemort  has promised Werewolves equal rights and he thinks that Remus would actually go for it. It could have been both. Either way, Sirius not trusting Remus is the reason they end up in the mess they’re in with having Peter as the secret keeper instead of himself, Remus or Dumbledore.

Again, If they were together I really doubt this would be the case.

4.) Sirius leaves everything to Harry. In his will, Sirius leaves absolutely everything to Harry. His money, his house, his house elf, everything in that house goes to Harry - and whilst I think that’s fair in the long run, giving your entire fortune to your godson who is already a millionaire opposed to your impoverish partner seems truly harsh and just doesn’t make sense. Although we know that Lupin must have a house somewhere “Lie low at Lupins” {GoF Ch 34}, we also know that when Dumbledore came to offer Remus the DADA position he was living in a semi derelict cottage. After being out of work for 2 years when Sirius died, we can presume that his housing situation might not be the most stable and his finances are absolutely not.

“Harry remembered how much shabbier Lupin looked these days and his dislike of Umbridge deepened even further” OotP Ch12

If they were together at the time of Sirius death, as many believe, then I can’t imagine Sirius not leaving Remus anything at all given the circumstances.

5.) Sirius is incredibly insensitive to Remus’ condition.

Even if you disregard the Snape Prank situation, Sirius is a dick to Remus;

“‘ I’m bored’ said Sirius. ‘ Wish it was full moon’ ‘You might’ Said Lupin darkly from behind his book. “ OoTP CH28

From what Lupin says in PoA, we can gather than transforming in to a werewolf is incredibly painful and extremely unpleasant even with his friends around. He HATES it. But Sirius doesn’t seem that bothered because he gets a fun adventure out of it. Even as just friends Sirius lack of care over this fact unsettles me, but if this was supposed to be a relationship it’s absolutely wild.

6.) Remus ends up with Tonks.

Of course, not everyone ships these two and that’s cool, but I think Tonks is rad. Bisexual Power Couple anyone? I think my reasoning for preferring this ship over Wolfstar is that I’d much rather poor Remus be with someone who would continuously repeat that is he enough if that’s what it takes to get him to believe it, opposed to a relationship fraught with mistrust and betrayal. Remus and Sirius were absolute ride or die friends and would do anything for each other, but as a couple it would have been disastrous.

I think the man has suffered enough, let him have this one.

#Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #nymphadora tonks #Anti Wolfstar #I guess I should tag that #once again absolutley no hate #Im just bored and need something to do with my hands #Also I dont think either sirius or Remus are straight because c'mon

[chuchiotaku]

Tells one thing.  Shows another.

A video I watched about what went wrong with the Crimes of Grindelwald film said that one reason JK Rowling failed as a screenplay writer was that her characters tend to say one thing but then the movie shows the exact opposite, or not show enough to prove the point.  One example was the relationship with the Scamader brothers.

Newt says he and Theseus don’t have a good relationship and that Newt said that Theseus doesn���t really like him (”Does he try to kill you?” “Frequently.”)  But previous scenes show Theseus actually looking out for Newt, worrying for him and even being physically affectionate.

Now this can be interpreted as a proof of Newt not getting people very well, including his own brother.  But what I can get from this critique is that I agree with it on some level, specifically about Ron Weasley.

I read once that Jo said that Ron was very much loved by his family and friends because he was so easy to love.  Unfortunately, when I read back the books, I don’t find much proof of that.  Perhaps it’s because the books are told mostly from Harry’s perspective, but from what I’ve seen:

Ron’s older brothers, Fred and George, can be downright mean and hurtful to him.  Sure, they say it’s just pranking and all in good fun.  But there’s nothing fun about getting your tongue burned by an Acid Pop or your teddy being turned into a spider or being tricked into doing an Unbreakable Vow.

Ron is often shown getting the short end of the stick when it comes to Molly’s love:getting sandwiches he hated, his knit sweater always being that of his least favorite color, those hideous dress robes.  They might be little things and may seem very childish and trivial to complain about, but these little things build up and leave an impression.  Where’d you think the horcrux’s line “Least loved by a mother who craved a daughter” come from?

Harry and Hermione, as brilliant as they are as characters fighting for the Light, can be rather terrible friends to Ron.  As readers, we can tell that Ron is very important to both of them, but they never bothered letting Ron know or feel that.  Hermione insults his intelligence and emotional quotient (like she’s the one to talk), and has the gall to be mad at Ron for being receptive of another girl’s affections, who honestly treated Ron better than Hermione (both as a love interest and as a person).  Even Harry treated him like an idiot during their fight in GOF, then worse so during DH, and did nothing to address the heart of the reason why Ron left (because Ron had been worried about his family and Harry insensitively belittles those genuine concerns).  

I’ll be honest: while I don’t necessarily hate Ginny, I don’t like her either.  I can see why people do. though, because Ginny is strong-willed, spirited, smart and determined.  However, my neutral opinion about her dropped drastically during HBP for several reasons.  What I’m bringing up here was that argument with Ron.  From one hand, I can see why Ginny would be angry at Ron for being so overprotective.  But that doesn’t excuse the hurtful things she said, and boy did she hit him where it stings like hell!  And she acted like a bitch to someone I spent more time knowing than her.  So forgive me for not liking GInny for not making up for that. :P

I’m not saying that I don’t think that Ron is loved by his family or friends.  Just that the books don’t prove it enough and therefore I don’t think Ron’s insecurities on that regard are not unfounded.  

To make my Ron loving heart feel better, I’ll be writing my fanfic with so many scenes of Ron getting so much love that you don’t need me telling you that our King really is loved.  

Weasley is my King!

#harry potter #ron weasley #ron weasley defense squad #weasley is my king #ron weasley love

[thewitchoftherock]

01Q10

Please Enjoy this one shot about one of my Synths, 01Q10.

Every Synth was created to serve King Decon. 01Q10 wanted to serve King Decon to the best of their ability, which was the only proper path for a synth! They were certain, however, that there had to be something wrong with them.

How else could they work so hard and still fail?

During Physical training, which took up a whole third of their day, 01Q10 proved themself to be mediocre at best. They weren’t the worst synth in the training room, but they weren’t far off. The next part of the day was devoted to mental training.

How 01Q10 struggled during mental training. How they hated it. Every day they worked hard, strained their minds and gave themself a headache just trying to do half as well as the other synths. Every day, they failed. Every day, they were the worst performers. They looked around the training room at the other synths at their desks, who were working their way through their own puzzles. This work was supposed to be improving their minds and developing their problem-solving skills. This was supposed to be hard, but 01Q10 knew that they could grow because of it!

Why did they feel like they weren’t getting better? Had they done something wrong? King Decon did not create His synths to be stupid; had something happened to 01Q10’s mind? King Decon gave them everything they needed to thrive as His tools; failure was only a result of laziness in the body and mind.

01Q10 sighed as they looked at the puzzle before them. After trying and failing more than a dozen times they did what they always did when they got stuck. They stopped and waited, watching the surrounding synths to see what they were doing. Normally they could find someone else who had the same puzzle, and they could watch how they went through it.

This time, they couldn’t. Everyone else was too far ahead of them. They had lingered too long on this puzzle.

“Is there a problem, 01Q10?”

They froze as the sound of an Overseer rang through the room. Several synths turned to glance at them, and 01Q10 could feel their ears warm.

“No, Overseer.” 01Q10 said, refusing to turn around and look as they approached them from behind. They didn’t look up as the Overseer stopped at the side of their desk and looked over their puzzle. 01Q10 knew they were looking at the little timer that showed how long they had been working on this puzzle. They also knew that they had spent their entire period of mental training on this one puzzle.

Shameful for a synth; they should do better. They knew that.

The Overseer gave a derisive click of their tongue. 01Q10 glanced up then, and could see the disappointment in their ears. They stared at their desk as the Overseer walked away. Everyone around them went back to their own puzzles, ignoring the struggling synth.

It wasn’t fair. They tried their best, and they just couldn’t keep up with the others! It was like everyone else was just running along and 01Q10 was scrambling up a cliff and just holding on so they didn’t fall.

Their ears twitched down as they felt the tears sting at their eyes. They just wanted to be a good synth. They wanted to serve King Decon, but it was more than that. At worst, if they were too stupid for genuine work then they’d be assigned to maintenance here in the training center. If they were too stupid even for that, then they’d be reprocessed. Even being reprocessed was a way even the most useless synth could serve King Decon; the reuse of otherwise wasted organs could support a synth who was better, stronger, smarter.

01Q10 didn’t want to be reprocessed. They didn’t want to work in maintenance. They didn’t want to just serve King Decon. They wanted to be important.

A hand tapped at their arm. They jumped, unused to being touched at all. They forgot about the tears in their ears as they looked at the synth next to them.

Mostly, all the synths looked alike; none of them had any hair, their nose flattened out into a curved snout, their little darker blue upper lips seeming to point up to the center of their snout. They all had wings draped over their shoulders at most times. They all had big, black eyes and long ears, which outside of the general shape had a variety of slight differences that set them apart from one another.

This one was different, though. Their eyes seemed bigger than the others - or maybe that was because while everyone else seemed to go around with their eyes half closed - 01Q10 included- this one had their eyes opened wide. Their ears were also far rounder than 01Q10 was used to seeing.

It was a split second where they made eye contact, yet to 01Q10 it felt like days had passed as they swam in the darkness of that other synth’s eyes. They suddenly remembered the tears burning in their eyes. Ears burning with shame, they looked away and wiped their tears of frustration with their sleeve.

“Hey.” they whispered low enough that 10Q10 was certain that despite a synth’s excellent hearing, nobody else could hear, “I’m awful at this too.” They gave 10Q10 a quick smile and turned back to their own puzzle, leaving 01Q10 confused.

Nobody spoke to them. Nobody bothered to speak to them save for the Overseers when they got orders, and the officers who had taken them out of the tank only a few cycles ago.

Why did this one talk to them? Why had they been so kind to a such a failure? Why couldn’t they stop thinking about their deep eyes and their soft, curved ears?

======

Mealtime came after mental training. Hundreds of synths sat down and ate in the large, cavernous cafeteria every mealtime. There was no talking, normally. They sat, they ate in silence, and then they left. In this time, 01Q10 normally just ate as quickly as they could so that they could get away from the sound of chewing from those around them. They found the sound disconcerting.

They didn’t notice that the synth from earlier sat next to them until they spoke.

“Hi.” they said, smiling, “You are the one from earlier, right? From our mental training?”

01Q10 nearly let the little piece of cubed food fall from their mouth as they turned to see the synth with the soft round ears and the big eyes looking at them, a smile on their face and their ears up with happiness.

“Yes?” they said, confused. “Can I help you?”

“No. I just hoped I could sit with you.” they said. They smiled and picked at their food.

“Why?” 01Q10 asked before they could really consider it. They didn’t mind if this synth wanted to sit with them, but that just wasn’t something that Synths did! You simply sat where you sat; there was no point in waiting for a specific seat so that you could socialize. Even now, just because they were talking quietly, were other synths looking at them oddly.

The other synth tilted their head at 01Q10, who couldn’t help but notice how the overhead lights seemed to filter through the thinnest parts of their curved ears.

“I just wanted to sit with you.” they said. They had such a pleasant voice, and their speech held a cadence that no other synth seemed to have. Still, as pleasant as it was to listen to them, others were still staring. “I don’t mind if you wish to sit next to me.” 01Q10 said, keeping their voice as neutral as possible; just like the Officers and Overseers, “But please stop speaking.”

Their ears fell, a look of sadness flickered over their face, but lasted only a moment. They nodded and looked to their food.

“... What is your call number?” 01Q10 whispered as quietly as they could; they realized they had not seen the number on the front of their uniform yet.

“70H67.” They whispered back, “But I prefer DH.”

DH. DH? Why DH? They had call numbers. so why create something confusing to like ‘DH’ to replace it? Did they think there was something wrong with King Decon’s method of organizing them?

This 70H67 - this DH- was strange. They were dangerous. 01Q10 could feel it. This was the type of Synth that got corrected early on and ended up working in maintenance for the rest of their life. 01Q10 didn’t want to work in maintenance. They wanted to be better than that. As much as they wanted to be around DH, to hear them talk and to watch their soft, rounded ears move, they knew that if they wanted to serve King Decon, if they wanted to be important, they’d have to avoid them.

======

“Q10-”

“Please don’t call me that.”

“Sorry.” DH’s ears flicked down, “01Q10, do you ever try to remember what happened in the tanks?”

01Q10 looked around suddenly, almost hurting their neck to make sure that nobody else was around. They were alone in the hallway, at least for the moment; at least as far as 01Q10 could see, anyway.

“I do not.” they said, “And you shouldn’t either.”

“But I do, though.” DH muttered.

Not for the first time, 01Q10 thought they had to put some space between themself and DH. There was something different about this one, and not in a good way. Some synths were different in ways that allowed them to solve puzzles faster, or fly better. Some could perform better in physical training. DH was just strange and underachieved as much as 01Q10 did. As much as they wanted to work hard and be important, there was a vague feeling of relief because if they ended up working in maintenance, then at least DH would likely be with them. At least they’d be able to listen to DH every day. At least they’d be able to see them. Maybe they’d work together. Maybe they’d be maintenance partners! Did maintenance synths have partners? 01Q10 didn’t know, but they hoped so. They’d have a lifetime of working and talking with DH, and enjoying their little touches here and there; a tap on the shoulder, a hand on the arm. It was a sad comfort at first, but over time it seemed more and more like a hope.

A terrible hope. They had to remind themself that they wanted better than that. They wanted to be important and serve King Decon.

As they walked towards the dormitories, they saw another synth turn the corner. The call number on their tag read 55H75, and 01Q10 recognized them immediately; they had seen them in their mental training class and appreciated how methodically they went over their puzzles; how they seemed to have a system to help them figure it out.

“You go on to the dormitories.” 01Q10 said to DH, “I wish to speak to this synth.”

55H75 stopped as they heard what 01Q10 said and looked over 01Q10 with an icy indifference - like they were looking over a piece of machinery.

“Alright...” DH said, their ears drooping down, “I’ll meet you there.”

DH walked off, giving a quick nod to 55H75 as they passed. The other synth made no sign of acknowledgement to the other.

“What do you want.” 55H75 said, their voice horribly deadpan compared to DH’s melodic tone, “If you wish to make small talk to me as you do the other one, I have no interest.”

“No.” 01Q10 said, trying to keep their ears still and their voice calm, “I admire how you work through your puzzles. I was hoping you’d show me how. I struggle with our mental training.”

“I have noticed.” 55H75 said. “And I have heard that in physical training, you’re mediocre.”

Despite their best efforts, they couldn’t help the way their ears pinned back in anger, how they burned with shame. “I do my best.” they said, “I only want to serve King Decon.”

“That is good, at least.” 55H75 said, “But I won’t help you.”

“Why not?” they took a step forward, feeling their wings puff up around them. Why wouldn’t this synth help them? “We all want to work for King Decon, yes? Helping one another is a part of that, is it not?”

“It is.” 55H75 said, “But I worry that spending my time on you would amount to wasted resources.”

Waste. A synth shouldn’t be wasteful! A synth was never wasteful! Was 55H75 implying that their very training was wasteful? It made 01Q10 shake with rage. “Why do you think such a thing!” They said, “I work hard! I -”

“You work hard, I acknowledge that.” 55H75 said, “But it amounts to very little when one looks at your performance. Worse than that, you associate with that one.”

“... That one?”

“70H67. They are dangerous. In the first cycle, two of those who spent time with them were sent for correction. Most others have been wise enough to avoid them since.” They walked past 01Q10, not bothering to bow their head, “Corrected or no, you will still be useful to King Decon; despite the negative effects that correction has on cognition, you might still have a use in maintenance. Regardless, that means that giving you my help would be a waste.”

They passed by them, continuing down the hall. 01Q10 turned, their ears pinning back, their lip curing up to reveal their pointed fangs as their wings puffed up around them, “I will not be corrected!” they snapped. They would not be corrected, no. They wanted to serve King Decon. Every synth had a use, but they wanted to be more useful than a maintenance synth.

They wanted to be important.

55H75 stopped and turned around. “That one is strange. Broken.” they said, “And you seem to enjoy their company. You seem to enjoy their eccentricities; how they like to touch. How they talk. I watch. I see.” They tilted their head at 01Q10, “It makes me think you are broken as well. Broken synths are corrected, or repurposed. It is nothing personal; it is just how it is.”

======

01Q10 didn’t see DH in the dormitories after that. They went straight to their sleeping pod, the tiny little container that they slept and studied in.

They didn’t want to see DH. Was 55H75 right? Would DH get corrected? Would they themself get corrected if they weren’t very careful? Would they get corrected for spending time with DH?

They didn’t want to get corrected.

They wanted to be important.

They wanted to spend time with DH.

They didn’t want to be corrected.

======

“What did I do?” DH asked the next day. 01Q10 hated it. They hated how sad DH sounded, and how confused they were. They had hoped that this would be a quick conversation as they walked from the cafeteria to the training room, but it seemed like it would take longer than they hoped.

“You… You talk too much.” 01Q10 said, “You touch too much. 55H75 said that you might be corrected. That I might be corrected! That I might be seen as broken as well.”

DH fell silent, their beautiful ears drooping down. “... Do you think I’m broken?”

“You…” They didn’t want to say that DH was broken. They didn’t think that DH was broken. “You are strange.” 01Q10 said, “And… and I want to work hard. I want to serve King Decon! I Want to be important-”

“You are!” DH said as they took a step towards 01Q10. They reached out to put a hand on their arm - an almost casual gesture by now- but 01Q10 pulled away. DH’s hand hung in the hair before they withdrew their arm and wrapped their wings tightly around themself.

“I need to improve.” 01Q10 said, “I need to get better. I cannot do that if you’re always… Always touching me and talking to me.”

They wanted to take it all back. DH’s ears drooped down so low, and they couldn’t ignore how their eyes watered.

“If I am silent.” DH said softly, “If I don’t speak as much, and if I don’t touch you, will you let me be around you?”

They were almost at the training room. They caught sight of a few synths already heading in, one of which was 55H75. The other synth looked at 01Q10, then at DH, then with their normal cold indifference they headed into the training room.

“I do not care what you do.” 01Q10 said, their voice becoming cold and deadpan as well, “It matters not to me.”

======

The training room was a large, empty room with a screen on one end. As they entered the room, they put on wristbands and ankle bands which would seem to increase in weight for certain exercises.

They took their places, a synth to each of the mats on the floor. The screen turned on, and the instructions began; stretch this, rotate that. Lift the arms. Spread the wings.

It continued on and on. DH was next to 01Q10, working silently as 01Q10 struggled. That was one thing they had noticed about DH: they were strong and seemed to be more aware of their body that 01Q10 was. They were more coordinated.

They were better.

Was this a synth that was strange or broken? Was this the synth that was going to get corrected? As they moved to pose on one leg with their arms spread out, they caught sight of 55H75, and remembered what they had said.

If DH was broken and strange, yet they were better than 01Q10 was… what did that make 01Q10? Were they strange as well? Was their best value to come if they were corrected?

Were they worthless to King Decon?

They stumbled as they thought that, fell forward, and collapsed to the ground. They didn’t hurt themself, but still they felt the tears burn at the corners of their eyes. It wasn’t fair! None of this was fair! They tried so hard, and they knew that they could be better! They knew they could improve! They knew they could do well and serve King Decon.

They wanted to be important!

“Are you ok?” It was DH, forgetting their promise to be quiet. They reached out and took 01Q10 by the arm. As they did so, 01Q10 saw 55H75 glance over at them.

That same deadpan look; dismissive. As though they were looking at nothing.

01Q10 was not nothing! They were not useless!

“Here, let me help y-“

“Do not touch me!” 01Q10 suddenly screamed as they pushed DH away. Their voice had so much anger in it that they scared themself. They were so startled that at first, they didn’t notice that they had knocked DH down. They noticed 55H75’s eyes still on them.

They needed 55H75 to teach them how to do the puzzles. They needed to get better. All they wanted to do was to serve King Decon.

They wanted to be important.

They stumbled to their knees, feeling the blood pounding in their head; A mixture of shame, frustration, and fear as they watched DH look at them with those big eyes, those rounded ears that were down so low now.

“Do not touch me.” 01Q10 said, making their voice as icy as possible. They were not broken, and they would prove it! “Do not come near me. I will teach you if I must.” They raised up their arm, preparing to strike the other with the added force of the weighted wristband.

They didn’t want to. They shouldn’t hit another Synth. Still, if this would get DH away from them.

They hesitated for just a moment, their hand hanging in the air. Did they want DH away from them? King Decon, or DH. What did they want more?

Before they could decide, another synth was standing between them and DH. 01Q10 didn’t really know this synth, but they knew of them. They had 09T07 on their tag. They like to talk, like DH. However, they were also skilled in flight, and did well in physical training.

“I do not see how this helps.” 09T07 said, “You should not attack King Decon’s property.”

Who was this synth? Who were they to tell them how to act? They were no better than 01Q10 was! Did they think for a moment that they were?

“That one is broken.” They snapped, “They talk of foolish, needless things. They keep loitering around me for no reason. They keep touching me- grabbing my arm to gain my attention, I tell them to stop. They pick lint off my uniform, I tell them to stop. Now, I fall down and they rush to grab me and pull me up. They do not listen. I will teach them to listen.”

“You will do no such thing.’

“And who are you to tell me what I will and will not do?”

“I am simply one who has learned their place.” 09T07 said, “And I know that we are not to attack one another. Injury would hinder development, and create problems for King Decon.”

Who was this synth? Why did they care what happened to DH? Had they been friends with DH before? DH had never mentioned them! Why did 01Q10 care if they had or not?

The door to the training room opened. 09T07 helped DH up, and without another word to 01Q10, they took DH away. The other synths around them settled down and get back to their training. They had stopped and had watched to see if there would actually be violence among synths. Now that nothing would happen, they went back to their training.

01Q10 watched DH, hoping that they would look back at them.

They wanted to be important.

They wanted to be important to DH.

DH never looked back.

======

If you want to learn more about 01Q10, please check out Synth at

#Synth #angst #Drama #insecurity #non-binary #scifiworld #sciencefiction #dystopia

[booksandwords]

Invision by Sherrilyn McQueen

Series: Chronicles of Nick, #7 Read time: 1 Day Rating: 5/5

The quote: “Well, aren’t you a cheeky one?” “So says my father. It’s ever a fault of mine that I don’t know my place. But who better to know my place than I, says I? And who so better to determine it? For I will not be hemmed in by anyone else’s expectations. This is my life, such as it is. And it will be lived under my rules so long as I have it.” — Caleb Malphas & Lilliana

I am not tagging this with a spoiler warning but read on at your own risk. Invision (and this review) contain spoilers for the wider Dark-Hunter verse.

Let's start with something important to those reading Chronicles of Nick and The Dark Hunter Universe. I'm not sure where Sherri is up to in her story of Jaden in the DH books (I'm picking and choosing my way through them), but I know Jaden is an upcoming book that should lay his story bare. Invision may contain massive spoilers for Jaden's book. That reason only Jared knows? Yeah, that is in here and that piece of lore is unlikely to change between the two. Most of the spoilers I tag in this review are relevant to not just Invision but Jaden. If you want to go into Jaden's story without prior knowledge do not read Invision. And I apologise in advance this review gets quite long.

This is another book with a whole lot of story to tell. And it leads well into Intensity, the last book of the series. Well may not be the right word it ends on a cliffhanger. There is a lot of lore added, we finally get an explanation of pith points in a way that makes sense. We meet some new characters and learn a lot pf backstory on some of the characters that we already knew. But there is a lot of time spent on family and found family as is normal. It turns out that even less of the characters than we thought are strictly human. I enjoyed this a lot it helps me understand a lot more and I live for Sherri's lore.

My queen is back. Hello, my beloved Lilliana. Never has a character so long dead had such a lasting and irrefutable impact on a series while barely appearing. Xevikan's Myone is also a powerful woman. We finally find out how Caleb met Lilliana met. Including the wonderful exchange "Are all demons as gigantic as you?" "Depends on the species." "Are all women as brave as you?" "Depends on the species." (Lilliana & Caleb Malphas, p62). She chose his name because of its meaning "the faithful, fearless warrior who defends what he believes with everything he has" (Lilliana, p66), which isn't far off the Hebrew meaning. Myone was Xev's anchor his reason for existence the reason he was willing to do so much. His story isn't this dissimilar to Braiths in a way. Blessedly the brothers are back on speaking terms.

Book random dump

Reading Cay openly admit brotherhood with Xev is something I needed to see and made me smile.

"I think I know now why the gods made the two of you so incredibly hot. You'd be insufferable otherwise"  Kody (p.85) about Caleb and Nick. I mean I can totally see why people tell Kody to ask her other boyfriend. She stopped pretending a while back.

I like the choice to interchange Kody and Nyira now. But what is Nyira? It doesn't appear to be a name.

This is the first time I've seen any indication that Simi will get her own story.  Kody knows who her husband will be. There were only three options in the room at that point. Jaden, Xev or Caleb. All will exist is the DH universe. Jaden needs good in his life. I'll take that and run.

Cadegan is more complicated than I thought. In his bio he calls Thorn his lost brother, Noir gives aways his parentage Thorn is his father. Well, Son of No One just got bumped up my tbr.

Is this the first time we've heard Caleb's full designation? Esme Daeve. Like Nick thrives on fights, rage.

Bout time we got a demon hunter. Didn't expect that character though.

“He was a chaos god, Nick. The god of blood disease, fire, plagues, famine, violent death, fear, and destruction.” (Caleb p.175) Good lord Xev. You really did get all the fun stuff, and he's the Malachai's blood slave.

As a side point, I'm adding a could of pieces of general tidbits because I keep forgetting them.

The six generals of the ušumgallu. Grim, Bane and Laguerre who live permanently earthside. The others who had to be called, Xevikan, Livia and Yrre.

Nick's six generals (chosen at the end of Instinct). "Nashira. Xev. Dagon. Aeron. Kody. Caleb." Narshira is the yōkai formerly trapped in Nick's Grimoire. Aeron the forgotten son of the Morrígan. Dagon, son of Noir and Hekate, aided Lycaon to create the Were-hunters.

The six primal gods. Those of the light; Razer, Cam and Verlyn (aka Jaden). Those of the dark; Noir, Azure and Braith. Braith is complicated, while she aligns to the dark she is more grey. Two of the primary gods are missing; Razer and Braith. Verlyn was captured. Making me wonder... is Razer in play already and just not revealing his identity. Cam is Menyara, Verlyn is Jaden both are known in DH but their identities aren't known.

So... Parentage. Who is related to who is a big deal in the CoN series. But relatives are power and mostly seem to be an indicator of where your allegiance should lie. There is a theme that appears of the abandoned half children acting out of spite for one parent at least until they find themselves. As Xev puts it “Born of both sides. Forever lured between them. Never trusted by either, and cursed by both.” (p.287).  Nick's line is particularly important. Did anyone else not realise that Xev was Nick's Grandfather during that wonderful bomb drop during Chapter 8 of Instinct? I reread it knowing the truth and yeah the indication is there. Mostly in the way he looks at Cherise, maybe she favours Myone more than we know and in the way he speaks. But it isn't said. And I really think it needed to be. In light of this and other revelations halfway through Invision, I decided I needed to make a small family tree because good lord this should not be that complicated but it feels like it is. I think there are minor allusions to Nick's tree somehow being connected to Kody's (through the primordials) but I can't figure it out. I'm writing this after I binge-read Intensity which adds a whole lot more so I'm adding it to that review instead. Beware spoilers if you go there.

One last thing from Dream Warrior... “I’m helping to train the new Malachai and I just wanted to know something.” “That is?” “Does anyone else know you’re related to him?” (Jared and M'Adoc, p.314). By Dream Warrior Nick is in his mid-twenties and everyone knows he's the Malachai. My question which is not answered there. Does Jared know? He's powerful and Nick is his blood he should be able to pick it. I've always thought Dark Hunter was the Ambrose timeline but I don't think it is. Theoretically, M'Adoc doesn't exist in that timeline.

God this review is long. I knew that anyway. My Goodreads review does have the worst of the potential Dark-Hunter spoilers, they relate to Jaden.

#invision #sherrilyn mcqueen #book review #chronicles of nick #sherrilyn kenyon #omg lilliana my queen i love so much #spoilers on goodreads #ktreviews #read 2021 #younglings

[stereksecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, kevaaronday!

For @kevaaronday. I tried to use all the tropes you liked, though I played a bit with the coffee shop!AU request. It ended up being pretty long, but I hope it pleases. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Read On AO3

*****

Food, Drinks, and Pings

Stiles just wanted to clear things up—he did not work for Hale Corp, and he certainly did not work for said company’s inhouse café, The Family Bean. He was a writer, who just so happened to have been roped into the gig because he was best friends with the soulmate-fiancée of the best friend of one of the sons of the company’s owners.

See, one of Stiles’ best friends from high school was Erica Reyes, blonde, vivacious, and both crazy and powerful enough to castrate someone with her fingernails. She might look like she just stepped off the catwalk, with her hourglass figure, fluffy hair, and red lips, but she had a knack for business that led to a scholarship at a reputable business school. Stiles, on the other hand, took to writing like a duck to water, thanks to his overactive imagination and ability to turn a phrase. He could write anything and so he did—news pieces, articles, blogs, reviews, as well as a modestly famous soulmate series published under a pseudonym.

Erica’s soon-to-be husband and soulmate was Vernon Boyd III, a tall, dark, and delicious drink of chocolate, who was so fit he could bench press a baby elephant without breaking a sweat. He was the perfect picture of seriousness and silence, that Stiles used to wonder how he functioned as Hale Corp’s Director of Operations. After getting to know him better, he realized just how smart and charismatic Boyd really was.

Boyd’s best friend from childhood was Derek Hale, one of the sons from the famous and powerful Hale Family, owners and leaders of the mass media company, Hale Corp.

Stiles knew of the Hale Family, and who didn’t? You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t know the famous family of business tycoons and titans, a family so rich they could buy a person’s soul even. Nor would someone fail to hear about one of the most powerful love stories that rocked the world.

Talia Hale was the eldest child of the main branch of the Hale family and was poised to take over the world. Desmond Fitzgerald, in contrast, was the only child of elderly parents, and they lived at a shabby, squat house with no electricity, scraping by each and every day. 

Talia’s father, the late and great Everett Hale, had visited the local community college as part of their charity program. Talia had tagged along, nineteen and already learning the ropes, and had tripped over the custodian who had been on his hands and knees straightening the welcome carpet.

Take a guess who the janitor was.

An accidental brush of skin, the burning of a Mark, and that was it.

Talia and Desmond turned out to be soulmates, and their Marks, her howling wolf and his crescent moon, had become one of the most romantic symbols of their time.

Now, where did Stiles and The Family Bean came in, you ask?

Aside from writing, Stiles knew his way around a kitchen. His mother had passed away when he was seven, and he had grown up with a Sheriff father who only knew the basics. Stiles had to learn how to cook a meal or risk them subsisting on fried everything and endless takeout orders.

So yes, Stiles knew how a kitchen worked. The thing was, Erica didn’t, and had spent high school eating Stiles’ meals and hanging around his kitchen. Nothing soothed her viciousness and temper like one of his desserts.

So whenever Erica was close to breaking someone’s jaw and risking a lawsuit, she’d invite Stiles over and he would come and work his magic at The Family Bean. It wasn’t like it was such a hardship. The place had a gorgeous kitchen, a full pantry, and a really comfy setup with cozy booths and colorful tables and chairs. 

It wasn’t only Erica who benefited. Stiles often found inspiration at the tail end of a whisk or in between beating a dough into submission while listening to Erica’s gossip. He had come to depend on her brand of sass whenever he was suffering from writer’s block, or dealing with annoying clients, or avoiding his editor, Danny Mahealani. 

It got to the point that Erica had HR make him a permanent guest entry pass—written down for Stiles S, Food Guy—and everyone knew him by name, the security, the delivery boys, the café’s actual employees, and some of Hale Corp’s employees.

That was what he meant by his original statement: He did not work for Hale Corp or The Family Bean. He was just Erica’s food guy and personal chef. Just another title to add to personal punching bag, platonic soulmate, best friend, and partner-in-crime, among others.

Boyd was surprisingly calm about the guy constantly hanging around his soulmate. Then again, no one would choose Stiles’ skinny ass for Boyd’s lusciousness, so Stiles could understand that he wasn’t much of a threat. Erica said that Boyd knew they were a package deal, and it helped that Boyd had been won over by Stiles’ banana bread. Either way, Boyd was cool and didn’t punch Stiles in the face for his and Erica’s weird platonic love affair.

So, in the end, that was Stiles’ life—work, his Dad, Erica, and his other friends.

Then the Hales happened.

It all started on a fine Monday morning with Kira Yukimura. She was pretty and petite, and the goddess who was actually the one in charge of The Family Bean’s kitchen. She wore floral dresses with studded combat boots, and held katana wielding lessons on Saturdays and a kids’ kitchen workshop on Sundays. Stiles adored her.

So when he walked in that day—after spending the entirety of the weekend not writing, because his protagonists, Peter and Wade, were being idiots—only to hear Kira’s cries for help, he was more than happy to tag in.

“I’m not crying.” She glared at him from where she was assembling sandwich orders, her gaze as sharp as her swords.

“But you still need help,” Stiles said. He put his laptop bag in one of the employee lockers, rolled up the sleeves of his red sweater, and put on an apron. “Erica wants to do lunch, but I decided to come in early.”

Kira nodded towards the window. “All right, because I got a purple ticket for you.”

Stiles jumped up. “Ooh, cool! I’ve never handled a purple ticket before!”

Kira gave him a relieved smile. “Well, today’s your lucky day. One of my employees called in sick, another is late, and I’ve got five packed tickets from different departments, three of them being rush orders, not to mention today’s purple ticket is a little too vague. I’m both swamped and stumped.”

“I’ve got your back, K.” Stiles gave her a salute and bounced over to the ticket tacked up on the holder.

Purple tickets were orders sent straight from the Wolf’s Den. It was the codename for the top floors occupied by the Hale Family and their closest associates. Boyd and Erica’s office were there, too. Stiles had only ever seen it through photos. There was a lot of security posted there, as if guarding the gates of heaven.

Anyway, purple tickets meant VVVVIP orders, note the number of ‘very’s. Kira usually handled those, but she obviously needed help now.

“Now, what do the Lords and Ladies want?” Stiles murmured to himself.

The Family Bean:

MH: hot chocolate

CC: pancakes

SHB: waffles

VHB: dirty chai

LH: anything 

“You know who’s who?” Kira called out.

“Yep, I got it,” Stiles replied. He learned about this from Erica.

MH was Matthew Hale, the firstborn son and heir to the kingdom. CC was his seven-year-old daughter, who everyone called by her nickname. SHB was five-year-old Spencer, and VHB was his mother Valerie Hale-Barone, the firstborn daughter, second eldest, and the lawyer of the family. LH was Laura Hale, the third eldest and the maverick of the family. She was the only one not directly working for Hale Corp, and was more involved their side projects.

“Purple tickets are usually like that,” Kira said, looking at him with amusement. Stiles realized he had been frowning in confusion. “Despite being insanely rich people, they’re surprisingly not very picky about what they eat. Laura, in particular, will eat anything. It’s just difficult to give them variety or find a balance between upscale and too simple.”

“And now you want me to take a crack at it?” Stiles asked.

“Sure. It’ll be in my name anyway, and I don’t mind if you go wild,” Kira said encouragingly. It made Stiles grin. Most would be horrified at handing over their precious menu to someone who wasn’t a baker, much less someone who wasn’t a legitimate employee. But Kira had always been a rebel.

Under Kira’s guidance, Stiles filled up a purple delivery bag for the Hales. The dirty chai latte was pretty straightforward, though he didn’t know how Kira usually made it, so he went with his own style. He also made a raspberry hot chocolate, strawberry cheesecake pancakes, mixed berry waffles, and, for the anything portion of the ticket, a berry breakfast parfait made of yoghurt and fruits and graham crackers.

“Tastes awesome and looks pretty as a picture too,” Kira said, nibbling on her own waffle as she sat atop the counter, swinging her legs to and fro. Stiles could see a hint of her soulmate Mark under her dress just on the outside of her thigh. “I still believe you should have been a baker rather than a writer.”

Stiles grinned as he hung up his apron. “I’m both, but one pays the bills and the other’s a hobby. It’s surprising how most people would think one’s the other.”

“Kira?” a voice called out.

Kira perked up and immediately slid off the counter. She straightened her skirt and stepped out the door of the kitchen. 

“Good morning, Derek,” she greeted.

Stiles peeked out unashamedly through the service window.

Tall, dark, and incredibly handsome, DH or Derek Hale was the middle child of the family. He was the Chief Financial Officer, and was said to be shyer and quieter compared to his more unruly and flashy siblings. It made sense why he was childhood friends with Boyd. The two seemed to share a calm, quiet demeanor.

Stiles had always thought that Derek was quite handsome in an already attractive family, and every once in a while, he would get front row seats—or the view through the service window—to the man in the three-piece suit with the godly shoulder to waist to ass ratio. It was quite inspiring.

“I heard Val and the others had a purple ticket sent down,” Derek was saying to Kira. “I’m on my way up and I thought I’d bring it along and save you a trip.”

“Oh, thanks, Derek. I’ll get it from the back,” Kira replied. “How about you? Do you want anything?”

Derek thought about it. “Just a drink. Anything you want to make me.”

“So long as it’s sweet?” Kira teased, which made the man chuckle.

It was like a bulb lit up in Stiles’ head. 

He met Kira at the door when she walked back in, and it said so much about how awesome she was because she immediately said, “Yes, Stiles, you can make whatever you want. I mean, you’ve already tried your hard at the purple ticket. Might as well go all the way.”

“Thanks, K. You’re a goddess.” Stiles bounced off to the machines. He had always liked a challenge.

In the end, Stiles added his specially made ‘very merry berry frappe’ into the bag. He made sure to put it in a cup cozy to hide the purple color. He wasn’t sure if Derek would mind, but it just wouldn’t do for one of the bosses to be seen with a colorful drink. He let Kira whisk the bag away and they watched Derek exit The Family Bean.

“I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave,” Stiles murmured, eyeing the man’s backside.

“I’ll drink to that.” Kira giggled, clinking her extra glass of frappe against his. “And you’re teaching me the recipe by the way.”

“Not on your life.”

It took eight days before Stiles could once again visit The Family Bean. He had had a burst of inspiration following his last visit and had locked himself up in his apartment. His Dad John and his editor Danny were used to these binges, so they had taken turns visiting him to make sure he was alive and eating actual food rather than inhaling takeout, junk food, and soda. 

He had sent off the first few chapters to Danny yesterday and had then slept for about eighteen hours, before Erica had barged in to make sure he hadn’t died. She had been pissed at him last week, annoyed that she hadn’t sampled Stiles’ berry-filled menu, but she’d gotten over it and had even brought groceries before dragging Stiles to The Family Bean for some fresh air and free lunch.

And if that wasn’t enough to perk Stiles up, she and Kira proceeded to tell him how well-received his menu was.

“The kids absolutely loved it, and Laura practically licked her parfait cup clean,” Kira said as they sat around the table for lunch. She had prepared honey sesame chicken, egg rolls, and sweet potato salad. She definitely had Stiles beat when it came to savory meals.

“Valerie was surprised that her dirty chai tasted great. She wasn’t biting people’s heads off more than usual,” Erica shared. She was running her fingers idly over her soulmate Mark, the three claw marks that spanned across her forearm.

Stiles felt pleased at the compliment, but he couldn’t help sending Kira an apologetic look. He didn’t want to usurp her clients and her kitchen. 

Kira just laughed. “It’s fine. I know it’s due to your magic fingers and secret recipes. Just teach me how you do Valerie’s dirty chai and we’re good.”

“Sure thing, but it’s nothing special” Stiles said. “I did bring dessert, as thanks for letting me play around last time.”

Kira bounced on her seat. “Tomato pie?” 

“With extra bacon and jalapeños, just how you like it.” Stiles grinned and showed her the pie, making Kira squeal.

“You gals eat up. I’ll mix us up some lattes, if you want anything,” he offered.

Stiles went to the kitchen to fix up Erica’s usual iced cinnamon honey latte and Kira’s vanilla almond. He was in the middle of finishing them up when he heard voices out at the main area. He recognized Boyd’s low voice and decided to make him a cup of blond roast with soy milk. He paused when he heard unfamiliar voices and took a peek out the service window. He instantly recognized the small group that had joined Kira and Erica.

There was Boyd, who immediately sat down beside Erica and kissed her cheek. His soulmate Mark was obvious, a rose on the back of his left hand. Stiles liked their marks, very beauty and the beast.

Having come in with Boyd was Derek, who looked just as handsome as he always did in a fetching dark blue suit. With him were his younger siblings, twins Cora and Cameron Hale, the artists of the family, who made music and art, played a bevy of instruments, and also drew and painted. Stiles was only two years older than the twins, but they had more talent in their pinkies than Stiles had in his whole body.

The twins’ Marks were one of the most popular, not just because the two were celebrities, but also because they were incredibly visible. Even from a distance, Stiles could see the compass between Cora’s collarbones and the lighthouse that popped up over Cameron’s collar at the left side of his neck. 

Suddenly feeling shy, Stiles stayed in the kitchen and watched and listened.

“Nice spread, Kira. Is that for us?” Cameron asked.

“No, you Hales have your own food upstairs,” Kira said. “I heard Wild Flour Italian sent lunch over.”

Cora rolled her eyes. “Jennifer Blake owns that joint. She’s been trying to get us to come over. No doubt she’ll just use it as some sort of advertisement. I’d rather take a bite of this.” She pointed at their table.

“That pie looks good,” Cameron said. “Can I have a bite?”

Stiles saw the gleam in Erica’s eye.

“Go on,” she said. “They’re good.”

Stiles watched as Erica and Kira offered the Hales a slice each. For some reason, he felt anxious to hear about how his food will be received. It had been nice to hear the rave reviews from Kira and Erica, but it was different seeing their reactions in person.

Cora let out yum-yum noises, which buoyed Stiles’ spirit. 

“Okay, that’s pretty tasty. I love the caramelized bacon.”

“Wait, is this tomato in pie? Like a tomato pie?” Cameron asked, inspecting his plate. He took a large bite.

Kira bounced on her seat in excitement. “Yes, isn’t it good?” 

“Who made this?” Derek asked. He didn’t look displeased, but he didn’t look happy either. He had a really good poker face. It might be good for business, but it was hard for Stiles to interpret. Stiles noted that he kept on eating the pie though.

“My Food Guy,” Erica said with a smug grin.

“Her Food Guy’s the one who made the berry-eautiful purple ticket that received quite the sensational reviews,” Kira added. She glanced at the service window and Stiles knew she saw him hiding there.

“The one who made my drink, too?” Derek asked.

Kira nodded. “The same one.” 

“Spence went gaga for those waffles,” Cameron said. “And Mattie couldn’t believe someone got CC to eat fruit.”

A loud ring cut through their conversation and everyone started pulling out phones to check. It was Derek’s.

“Mom’s calling. Time to go,” he said, standing up.

In reply, Cameron started shoving the rest of the pie in his mouth and also popped in a couple of egg rolls.

“Where’s the Food Guy, though?” Cora asked, head turning to the kitchen. Stiles ducked down behind the counter. “If he makes stuff like this, I wanna meet him.” 

“You can order a purple ticket if you want, but he’s not here all the time,” Erica said, and Stiles glared at her in his mind.

“He works part-time?” Derek asked.

“Not quite,” Kira said. “He’s—”

They were interrupted once more by a ringing phone, and this time Boyd spoke.

“Talia wants you all upstairs. Now.”

Stiles peeked out again. Cameron attempted to bring the entire pie tin, but settled for polishing his slice off. He then joined Cora in writing up a purple ticket order. After a moment, Derek put an order in too. The Hales left in a hurry and Stiles leaned right out of the service window just as Kira came bouncing towards it.

“There’s the man of the hour,” Boyd said, with a smirk.

Kira giggled. “Order up, Food Guy. You got a purple ticket.”

“I’m so proud.” Erica mockingly wiped a tear away. “Stiles, my Food Guy, charming the Hales off through the power of food.”

“Oh, fuck you all.” Stiles glared, ducking back into the kitchen.

At the last minute, he reached out and grabbed the purple ticket from Kira, ignoring the others’ laughter.

Over the next three weeks, Stiles prepared four more purple tickets. According to Kira, his drinks and desserts had become quite attractive to the Hales, both because of the taste and the mystery.

“At this point, they don’t even want me handling the tickets. They always ask if The Food Guy is around before they send their orders down,” Kira said. This time, she was the one helping Stiles prepare and pack. 

The Wolf’s Den was going to be holding meetings nonstop, so Stiles had to prepare a variety of drinks and snacks. It would have been easy if they had simple requests, but the Hales were a mix of eclectic and frustrating.

“I’m glad you’re cool about this, but the Hales are bound to find out that the one making all their desserts isn’t even an employee,” Stiles said, as he added an extra shot of syrup in Laura’s honey and milk iced coffee. Just like her usual orders, she had asked for ‘any drink that’s sweet’ which was such a large ballpark that Stiles wanted to clock someone over the head, maybe her.

“I’m more surprised that you keep making these for free,” Kira said.

Stiles shrugged. “It’s a challenge, and I like challenges.”

“Really, just for the challenge?” Kira asked. “Stiles, Valerie fell in love with your version of her dirty chai. I did it the exact same way you did, but she insists that it tastes different. Same with Cameron’s favorite spiced coconut coffee. Same with all the desserts you made for the kids…”

Her face turned serious. “Don’t you think there’s more to this? Don’t you think it’s a ping—”

“It’s just for fun, Kira. It’s nothing,” Stiles said, heart rabbiting in his chest. He pushed it down firmly. “Plus, it’s surprisingly inspiring for my stories. Right now, I’m writing a new story for my spy series and I’m trying to solve this thing going on between James and Quentin.”

Kira’s face fell but she smiled, if a bit awkwardly. “Ah, well. Whatever you say, Food Guy. I’m just happy I get free labor out of it.”

“So you’re the Food Guy?”

The two of them jumped up in surprise and they turned around to see that someone had come in through the kitchen doors.

“Nathan, hello!” Kira greeted. “We didn’t hear you come in.”

Nathaniel Hale was the youngest of the brood at nineteen, and with his dark hair and piercing blue eyes, he was quite the heartthrob in an already beautiful family. If that wasn’t enough, he was an athlete and a rising star in soccer.

Stiles didn’t really care at the moment, too busy wondering if the kid had heard what Kira had been saying.

Nathan leaned against the counter. “Everyone was arguing over who was going to pick up the ticket this time. I walked out while Laura was arm wrestling with Cam.”

Kira laughed while Stiles looked away, suddenly awkward.

“Uh, that’s cool and all, but I’m not remotely interesting enough to warrant an arm wrestle.”

Nathan shrugged. “Your stuff tastes amazing.” He smiled at Kira. “No offense, Kira. You’re still queen. But you… you’re interesting.” He gave Stiles a look. “You know, I’ve been ordering the same caramel vanilla iced coffee from The Family Bean for years now. You made it once and now everything else tastes different.”

Stiles couldn’t help flinching. Oh yeah. Nathan had definitely heard Kira.

But Nathan turned to Kira, breaking the stare. “Anyway, is the ticket ready? Can I take it up?”

Kira smiled and handed over the bag. “You just want to lord your victory over the others.”

“Of course. That’s what having siblings is all about.” Nathan scoffed, but grinned. “Anyway, thanks.” 

Kira smiled. “Enjoy your meal.”

Stiles watched Nathan leave and rubbed his left shoulder. He had a weird feeling about all this.

A single touch was all it took to find someone’s soulmate. However, people couldn’t just go around touching one another. Some did, but there were laws against touching people without their consent. So Nature, in all its wisdom, gave people the capability to locate their soulmates by following a trail.

The best trail was through family members. Take for example one other famous Hale love story, that of Valerie. Her husband, the Italian magnate Piero Barone, was from a family of vintners. During Talia and Desmond’s trip to Italy, they met Piero at a wine tasting event and immediately felt what Mark experts called a ‘ping,’ a connection between them that hinted at the identity of Piero’s soulmate. Piero followed the Hales to America, met the family—all of which gave off similar pings—was finally allowed a Touch Test with Valerie, and the rest was history.

There were other kinds of trails, like what happened between Boyd and Erica. They both attended the same university, though Boyd had graduated several years earlier. However, even without knowing Boyd, Erica inadvertently joined the same groups and organizations that he had, and even lived at the same apartment that he had rented when he had been a student. Then after Erica graduated, she decided to take a year off to travel. Months later, when Boyd went on sabbatical, he ended up following almost the exact same itinerary. They finally met by chance during an alumni event and got to talking, which revealed all of the things they had in common. Before the event was even halfway through, they had done a Touch Test and found their match.

Stiles’ favorite trail story was of his parents’. John and Claudia met when they were children. Having no siblings, they didn’t have the benefit of a family trail, and being young meant there weren’t a lot of experiences that could link them. However, they had always known there was something special about one another. They grew up together, grew apart, and met later on in life. They still didn’t have the same life experiences—she was a librarian, he was a deputy—but the moment they saw one another again, they just knew.

Sometimes people just knew.

“Well, well, well. I didn’t know we were serving twink in the menu.”

Ordinarily, that comment would have had Stiles lashing out with his sharp tongue, but upon looking up, he hesitated. First of all, the other person was clearly drunk and it was only, Stiles checked his watch, three-forty-seven in the afternoon. Second, the other person was none other than the infamous Peter Hale, Talia’s younger brother.

The eternal bachelor, he was called, well known for his many dalliances and relationships. He was also the Hale with the most well-known Mark, not because it was at a visible spot, but mostly because he tended to flaunt the large image of a bird in flight that was across his chest via his tendency of wearing unbuttoned shirts.

In Stiles’ opinion, Peter reminded him of one of his book characters—the rich and powerful Anthony, who, underneath all the bravado, was desperately looking for his soulmate, only to find it in the fair-haired, gentle-hearted Steven, who wouldn’t take his crap. He wondered who Peter’s soulmate was.

“Oh, for god’s sake. Uncle, come back here!”

Stiles looked up to see Derek jogging over to them, looking both pissed and worried at the man leaning against The Family Bean’s pristine counter.

Peter ignored him. “Oh, lay off, Derek. I want a drink, and this twink is going to make me one.”

Derek turned to Stiles. “Peter, do not call—” He paused, dark eyes widening.

Stiles felt his heart jerk in his chest and his left shoulder burn. He felt like he had been hit in the head, so did Derek going by his gaping.

Peter suddenly tilted sideways, interrupting their stare down. Neither Stiles nor Derek were able to catch the man before he ended up sprawled across the counter. The sight of him had Stiles dredging up some semblance of control. He sighed.

“You are very rude, and also very drunk, but because I feel sorry for you, Mr. Hale, I’ll make you a free drink.”

Derek let out a gurgle and then a cough, obviously holding back laughter. Peter propped himself up on wobbly elbows. 

“You feel sorry for me? Don’t you know who I am, kid?”

Stiles was both annoyed by Peter and buoyed by Derek’s reaction. It was probably what sharpened his tongue.

“You’re Talia Hale’s younger brother, but between the supposed—ahh, what was it—Big Bad Wolf of Media and this so-called twink, I’m not the one nursing a hangover at this time of the afternoon.”

Stiles shook his head and walked off, ignoring Peter’s angry, garbled words and the sudden chuckle from Derek. The latter made Stiles’ shoulder ache.

Stiles ignored that and prepared a quick takeout bag. He could hear Peter and Derek arguing out on the main area. It was the work of minutes to prepare a quick smoothie and throw in some crackers and fruits. He walked back out and handed the bag to Derek, but then quickly tucked his hands to himself. The other man’s piercing stare was making him sweat.

Peter grabbed his drink and took a gulp of the smoothie, before asking, “What’s your name, kid?”

Stiles rolled his eyes. Not even a thank you. How rude. 

“Not a kid, and there’s no need to know my name since you’re just going to forget it.”

Peter smirked lasciviously. “Oh, that mouth on you.”

“I’m also not into geriatrics,” Stiles was quick to bite back.

Peter’s jaw dropped. “Geria—”

Derek suddenly burst into laughter and the sound of it seemed to fill Stiles’ heart and mind, making his face flush and his body warm. Derek smiled at him and Stiles felt warmth bloom in his chest.

Stiles cleared his throat, trying to will the blush away. He rubbed his shoulder. “Well, anyway, I’m happy to help. I’ll tell Kira you guys dropped by. See you around.” He glanced at Peter. “Not you. Drop dead.” He stepped back.

“Wait!” Derek lurched forward, startling Stiles and also Peter, who, true to Stiles’ words, slid off the counter to the floor. They ignored him.

Derek leaned forward over the counter. “I’m sorry if I’m forward, but are you—”

Stiles shook his head vigorously. “I’m sorry. I have to go.” 

He ducked back into the kitchen, ignoring Derek’s calls and Peter’s drunken warbling. He leaned against the door and slid down until he could curl up into a ball. He placed a hand over his burning shoulder.

Sometimes people just knew.

Stiles was tempted to stay away from The Family Bean after that. He really wanted to. But it was hard to stay away.

Even harder to stay away from a ping.

Stiles wasn’t stupid enough to let that slip away.

Still, it was hard to face up to it and admit that he had a soulmate.

So for the next two weeks, Stiles stayed away from the front of house, always hiding in the safety of the kitchen. He kept on making purple tickets whenever they came, but he avoided coming out for any reason, especially after Derek started coming by nearly every day. Sometimes he even brought his work over just so that he could stay as long as possible.

It confused Kira and Erica, but they assumed Derek just liked the food. The other Hales also started coming by and many times, Stiles could hear them asking Derek why he was hanging around The Family Bean instead of working in his office. Always, Derek kept mum.

Because as it turned out, Derek hadn’t told anyone about the ping.

In fact, Stiles had a feeling that the only person in the Hale family who knew was Nathan. Maybe because he had already been suspicious of it. Out of all the Hales, he was the only one who didn’t ask Derek about why he kept hanging around the café.

The other one who knew was Boyd.

Derek had been called to a meeting one day, so Stiles had felt it safe to come out and work at one of the booths. He had already fallen so far behind on his writing commitments. After a few minutes, Boyd had dropped by and had joined him. Stiles knew he was typing gibberish on his laptop, but he kept on as an excuse not to look at Boyd, who was looking at him intently.

Finally, he spoke, “Looking back, I guess it wasn’t just your banana bread that won me over.”

Stiles jerked, sending a series of characters across the screen.

Boyd kept on. “I always had a good feeling about you from Erica’s stories, but when we met, that was definitely a ping.”

Stiles bit his lip. “Does Erica know?”

Boyd shook his head. “I love her, but Erica would have thrown a party if she knew.”

Stiles sighed, both in relief and in trepidation for the moment Erica find out.

Boyd studied him. “Derek’s a good guy, you know.”

“I know I got that impression from all the stories you and Erica had of him,” Stiles said. “I always thought it was surprising considering he could afford not to be a nice guy.”

Boyd studied him, making Stiles shift in his seat. “Is that the reason you won’t meet with him? Or do a Touch Test? Because he’s a Hale?”

Stiles almost protested, but he deflated. “…I don’t know.”

Boyd hummed under his breath. “Well, you’ve always played your cards close to the chest when it comes to soulmates, but I know you’ll figure it out.” He stood up. “But you better make it soon. Erica and the rest of the Hales are bound to figure it out.”

Stiles groaned and sank down on his seat. 

“Noted.”

The day after that, a still-conflicted Stiles was once again at The Family Bean. Kira had gone up to the Wolf’s Den to deliver the latest purple ticket, so he had to stay and man the counter. 

The door let out a little tinkle, and Stiles froze the moment he saw the woman entering the café.

He’d know Talia Hale anywhere.

Stiles almost panicked, but then he remembered that she didn’t know who he was. He took a deep breath.

“Um, good afternoon, Mrs. Hale. What can I get you?”

The woman smiled, quite warm and friendly despite her fierce reputation. “Just some tea, please. And are there any new desserts?”

It had been a moment of weakness, but Stiles had actually brought over some peanut butter stuffed cookies and added it to the purple ticket in the hopes that a certain Hale would like them. He still had a few cookies left, but he wasn’t sure if he should offer them to her.

“I smell cookies,” Talia said pointedly. “I’ll have some of those.”

Stiles gulped. “Ah, we have some peanut butter stuffed cookies. Let me get those for you.”

He swallowed his nerves and served the woman, who took a sip of tea and a bite of the cookie right there on the counter.

She smiled, studying the cookies. “Very tasty.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Stiles smiled politely. He turned away to leave and maybe gather his strength in the privacy of the kitchen.

“When we started hearing about The Food Guy, I admit I was quite intrigued. It’s very rare for someone to grab the attention of my entire family.”

Stiles paused and turned to her.

He should have known.

Stiles nodded stiffly. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

Talia smiled, sharp and knowing. “And you, Food Guy.”

“Any reason for the visit?” Stiles asked, shifting on his feet.

“I wanted to meet you,” Talia said, taking another bite of her cookie. 

Stiles frowned. “That’s all?”

“Were you expecting anything else?”

“Uh, well, I…”

Talia shrugged and sipped his tea. “I don’t blame you for any misgivings you might have should you prove to be soulmates with my son. I’m well aware of the reputation of my family. My late father, Everett, embodied the might of the Hale name better than anyone. You should have seen him back in the days.”

Stiles held up his hands. He couldn’t help the feeling that he had to explain.

“It’s not that there’s a problem with Derek or your family. Being a Hale isn’t the problem… not entirely…” he hesitated, but then plunged on, urged by the ping he could feel inside him and the desire to make someone understand. “My mom passed away when I was seven. She was soulmates with my father. He was—I was—we were never the same after.”

A heavy silence fell, and Stiles was both nervous and intrigued. Talia’s face changed. Something in her eyes darkened and she pursed her lips.

“Forgive my sudden melancholy, but I was just reminded of something.” She sipped her tea. “I was reminded of my youth. My father, Peter, and I had never been the same after mother walked away.”

“Walked away?” Stiles was taken aback. It was rare to hear any mention of Talia’s mother, but everyone had chalked it up to grief at her passing. “But you all said she died—”

Talia interrupted him delicately. “People think of Marks as the be all and end all where the only answer is yes. But even soulmates are a choice…”

“Desmond grew up without a penny to his name, so he rejected me as he could only see himself as an embarrassment to the Hale family. My opinionated father had, unfortunately, been a contributing factor to that line of thinking. I grew up with a rather jaded view of Marks and pings, and I had seen his rejection as a challenge and not a privilege. Desmond and I, our story had been tempestuous, quite unlike the romanticizing people had done.”

She finished the last of her tea. “If I may be allowed to request one thing, all I ask is that you make a choice so that Derek can do the same. No one in this family will certainly blame you for it.”

Talia pushed her empty cup and plate towards Stiles, and smiled. “Have a good day, Food Guy.”

Stiles watched Talia walk away.

He had some thinking to do.

Stiles took a deep breath and tried not to crush the boxes in his hands. He was nervous and his left shoulder was throbbing.

“Ready?” Kira asked him. She was carrying the other delivery boxes.

“As I’ll ever be,” Stiles replied.

Kira smiled, both encouraging and proud, and nodded to the guard on duty. The man held open the double doors for them, and Stiles was instantly met with a wall of sound.

“Purple ticket delivery,” Kira called out, leading Stiles inside.

The office was spacious, as it should be if it was going to accommodate all of the Hales, and all of them were there. There was a long table at one end where Talia, Matthew, and Boyd were talking and laughing. Desmond was on one couch, talking to Piero and Erica. Laura and Cora were seated on armchairs and were arguing loudly about something. Peter was egging them on. CC and Spencer, were seated in front of a television at a kids’ play area set up in the corner. Cameron was with them, all of them singing along to whatever cartoon was playing. Derek, Valerie, and Nathan were huddled around a table, looking at blueprints.

“Oh, yes! The food’s here!” Cameron cheered, which sent the children shouting as well.

Kira navigated the area like a champ, while Stiles slowly shuffled after. “You guys ordered a lot. I had to ask for help. This is Stiles.”

Stiles didn’t miss the way Derek’s head suddenly jolted in his direction, nor Talia’s proud smile, nor Erica’s sudden screech of “Stiles!” which had everyone else turning their way. Stiles winced. He was going to get his ass kicked later for not telling Erica about this.

“Well, well…” Peter grinned. “Hello there, twink.”

Stiles shuddered. “Still not into creepy old geezers.”

“Oh, wait, wait! Is he the guy who called you a geriatric?” Laura asked, before shrieking in laughter.

“And the one who said Peter should drop dead,” Cora added, cackling. 

Laughter rang around over Peter’s protests, and it made Stiles’ heart stutter. He felt warm all over, like the pings going off in his head were doubly delighted at the Hales. He glanced at Derek, who was smiling warmly.

Stiles winced when he caught Erica’s gaze though. She looked between him and Derek and her eyes widened. But Boyd was suddenly there, hand over her mouth and whispering to her.

Stiles helped Kira take out all of the food and the ravenous Hales were quickly upon them.

“Food Guy’s stuff tastes awesome,” Nathan said, licking his cupcake’s icing. He waggled knowing eyebrows at Stiles, who bit back a grin. Cheeky kid.

“Please pass our compliments to the chef, Kira,” Desmond said, reaching for his drink.

Kira giggled. “You can thank him yourself.” She waved at Stiles with a flourish.

Stiles felt a little like a deer in headlights when all their gazes alighted on him.

“You’re Food Guy?” and other iterations of the exclamation rang around the room.

Stiles flushed. “I’m glad to hear you all like what I’ve been making.”

“Oh, wow! How wonderful!” Piero piped up. “I haven’t felt a ping in such a long time. How nostalgic, don’t you think, dear?” He turned to Valerie.

“That’s a ping?” Matthew asked, confused, before his face cleared and he rubbed his chest. “Oh, hell, this is a ping.”

“Is that the tingly feeling here, Uncle Mattie?” Spencer asked, pointing at his tummy.

Erica finally managed to get out from under Boyd. “Stiles, did you ping with Derek? Is that why you’ve both been hanging around The Family Bean? You’ve both been pining over each other!”

Stiles groaned, while gasps and shouts suddenly rang around the room.

Kira sighed. “Way to ruin it, Erica.”

“You mean I was pinged through a tomato pie?” Cameron was asking, wide-eyed. 

Cora started laughing. “Oh my god! Uncle Peter flirted with Derek’s soulmate!”

“That’s Uncle Derek’s soulmate?” CC asked.

“Yes, he is.” Nathan looked like he was immensely enjoying all this, and Stiles was starting to realize that he was a little shit.

Derek stepped towards Stiles. His face was a little red, but he was smiling and Stiles thought he was the handsomest man he had ever seen.

“My family’s a mess. Please ignore them,” Derek said, ignoring the protests from his siblings.

Stiles chuckled. “At least they keep things interesting. It’s just me, my Dad, and her.” He jerked a thumb at Erica.

“Oh, fu—dge you!” Erica said, glancing at the kids. She turned to Boyd. “And I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

Boyd rolled his eyes. “I was giving him space to process things.”

Stiles ignored them and turned to Derek. He only had one chance to do this.

“Ah, sorry, it took a while. I was figuring stuff out, but I thought we should get to know one another first.”

“Of course,” Derek said immediately. He reached out a hand. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you, Stiles.”

Stiles glanced at Talia, who was whispering to her husband. She winked at Stiles.

“Soulmates are a choice.”

Stiles smiled at Derek. He could feel his Mark tingling in anticipation.

“Me too, Derek.”

He reached out and took his hand.

#kevaaronday #stereksanta20 #*fic20 #*gifts20

[yespolkadotkitty]

How about teaching Geralt how to bake bread? To other people it may not mean that much but this time spent with his beloved would mean the world to Geralt.

“Don’t you ever miss food?”

Geralt rolled over in bed, tracing a hand down your shoulder. “I miss your food, when I’m away on a hunt,” he rumbled.

You met his amber gaze. “I mean, what do you eat on the road? That awful dried meat stuff. Whatever you can scrounge from taverns here and there. Whatever passes for food.”

He moved a shoulder. “You get used to it.”

“But you shouldn’t have to.” You shuffled closer, pressed your face to his chest. He smelled of woodsmoke and the outdoors and just a lick of lemon oil, and it was addicting.

Geralt stroked his fingers through your hair as you breathed him in, and then you had an idea.

“I want to show you something.”

One of his pale brows winged up.

You rolled your eyes. “You’re insatiable.”

“Witcher,” he pointed out gruffly, but you heard the smile in his voice. “Comes with the territory.”

You spread your palm over his chest, leaned in to nip at his skin with your teeth. “My territory, now.” Then you sat up. “Out of bed.”

“Hmm,” he muttered, but he sat up anyway, the sheet pooling around his nips. He stood up, naked, and you admired the view for a long moment. Who knew when he’d be back in your bed after tomorrow - he had a kikimora to kill, and then he’d go wherever he was needed, until he’d earned what he judged to be enough coin.

Then he’d come back to your cottage, hair wild and eyes black, the hunt chasing up his veins, and you’d destroy each other for a few days in between eating and sleeping.

“While you were away, I worked on something for you - and you can share with your bard, if you want.”

“Hmm.”

You beckoned him over to the hearth. “I’m going to show you how to make campfire bread. Bread on the road.”

You saw interest pass over Geralt’s face. He loved bread.

Kneeling by the fire, you pulled over your wicker basket of baking supplies and then patted the floor beside you.

Geralt came to sit cross-legged next to you. You glanced over, felt saliva pool in your mouth. “Would you put something on?”

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth, and he left briefly to tug on some black breeches, leaving his torso bare. It would have to do.

“Right.” You gestured to the fire. The coals were sizzling now, red hot, very little flame rising from them. “The fire needs to be as close to this as possible before you start the bread. You’ll need a bowl, or some sort of container, or one of Jasier’s ridiculous hats, to mix the bread in.”

Pushing the wicker basket towards him, you opened the lid and took out a metal cup, pressing it into his hands as you set a large wooden bowl on the floor. “Measure out two cups of this flour, and one of that.”

He glanced at you, but did as asked. As he leaned forward to the task, you traced with your eyes the long scar on the side of his torso. A cerberus had given him that, when you first met. You’d found him about a half mile from your cottage, Roach nosing at his face, weak from blood loss.

Two years later, and you didn’t know what you’d do if he never came to your door again.

“And now, what?”

“Two pinches of salt-” you offered the salt bowl, and he did as you bid. “And one cup of water.” You reached for the pitcher you kept near the fire, poured. Geralt transferred the liquid and without being asked, started to knead.

You watched his hands, thinking idly about those hands on your body. When he touched you, when he was gentle, and when - at your pleading - he was rough. When he came back to you with midnight black eyes and torn clothes, his breathing ragged and his need for you razor-sharp. When he pushed you up against the wall and tore your skirts, and the long sigh he gave you when you were finally joined, his softly muttered fuck, all the little things that told you that his home was no longer a place, but a person.

“And now?”

“And now you shape it into a ball -” you dusted his hands with flour first - “and set it directly on the coals.”

“Nothing else?” he eyed the loaf skeptically.

“If you’ve a little rosemary or thyme, then add that. Honey, maybe.”

Geralt scoffed. “If I’ve honey I’ll put it on the bread after it bakes.”

“Fair point,” you allowed.

He caught your gaze. “Or better, I’ll save it to eat off you when I get back. From whichever mystical place I’ve managed to get honey from.” He shook his head a little, and sadness clenched at your heart. You wanted the best things for Geralt, always. A soft bed, warm hands, tender kisses. The sharpest sword, the finest ale.

And when you had those things, you made sure he got them. He would only ever know kindness and warmth and welcome from you.

The bread started to bake on the coals, the smell of the flour cooking reaching your noses.

“Smell that?”

“Hmmm.”

You leaned your head on his shoulder, sighed. You’d miss him so, when he left again, when the forest swallowed up the sound of Roach’s hooves and then later, you’d miss him again, when your mattress lost the scent of him. “You only make that noise when you know I’m right.”

“Hmmmmm.”

Tagging people who might like this: @princess-of-riviaa @ly--canthrope @owillofthewisps @ohjules @littlefreya @constip8merm8 @dr-kayleigh-dh @readings-of-a-cavill-lover @andahugaroundtheneck @thethirstyarchive @mary-ann84 @peakygroupie @lilliannaansalla @asylummara @onlyhenrys @iloveyouyen

#askbox fic #geralt of rivia

[thedistantdusk]

Hi, I’m the nonny! Thank you for such a kind response, it means a lot. I was thinking the year she’s back at school post DH and they’re rebuilding their relationship and dealing with the distance after being together all summer. Thank you again, I hope you’re doing well during this crazy time!

Nonny, I can only hope this provides you a bit of happiness right now and that I addressed the prompt! :D I’m so sorry you’re going through this and that everyone will find peace.  HUGE thanks to @floreatcastellumposts for reading this a billion times and Brit-picking and @el-eye-zee-aye for the same, but not the British parts! ;D Also on AO3. Not pure smut, but definitely M! __________ Harry wasn’t here last year. 

But he followed her everywhere, anyway. 

She spent most of a school year with his memory lingering in the shadows of every corridor. She could almost see his hands in his pockets, his expectant smile stretching as she approached and then faltering as she passed. She was haunted by his graveled moans from the corners of the quidditch pitch, his sharp gasps beneath the tree on the lawn, his low, reverberating pleas in empty cupboards they knew so well. And she didn’t realize it at the time, but that kept her going, really... his silent presence. The revenant of what they’d been before the world fell to shit. 

There are a few reasons why Ginny doesn’t think much about Phantom Harry during the summer after the war. First, she knows it’s a bit pathetic that she constructed it — constructed him — out of a relationship that lasted three weeks... although she’d fight anyone to the death who dared describe it as such, themselves.

Second, she’s away from school for months and thus lacks a real trigger. And third, she finds that Real Harry is infinitely more fun — especially when he’s in her arms and in her bed and doing all the things he’d once promised he’d do... even though he hadn’t said he’d do those things, either. They’d been quiet Harry things, the sorts of things he’d said with his eyes while he’d stared at her like he was drinking her in. The sorts of things he’d conveyed with a trail of his fingertips or a low groan. The sorts of things that were no less tangible for remaining silent. 

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. So after a summer of learning and discovering and rebuilding, there’s no small irony that Ginny and Hermione must return to Hogwarts to learn, discover, and rebuild. They stand on the platform on September the first with their respective boyfriends and share hurried, awkward farewell snogs and promise to send filthy letters — all while pretending the other girl isn’t doing the same. Together, they then make the doleful journey to the school that hasn’t been their proper home in ages, regardless of when they visited last. Together, they start a new-old life that’s both alien and familiar, both dull and soothing. 

Ginny and Hermione grow closer too. As the days turn to weeks, Ginny wonders if they’re more compatible as friends now because Hermione’s finally loosened up just as Ginny’s started to take non-quidditch topics a bit more seriously. Living under Death Eater rule was roughly comparable to living with Tom in her head, but it nonetheless taught Ginny a series of valuable lessons about holding onto anger versus letting things go. 

This too, perhaps, is why it takes until a Hogsmeade visit in October for Ginny to realize what’s missing — or more aptly, who’s missing. 

Harry and Ron greet them just at the entrance of the Hogsmeade gates. Just like when they’d departed at the start of term, they each share awkward, hurried snogs of greeting and pretend they aren’t desperate for activities they can’t do in front of their siblings. 

Ron and Hermione, however, seem to take this social norm as a suggestion rather than a rule. Ginny vaguely hears them shuffle off behind a shrub, and Harry takes the cue to lift her against him, duck-walk them across a path, and put her down in the shadow of the apothecary, all without breaking a kiss. He smells warm and fresh, like broom polish and soap and Harry, and she doesn’t mind at all when she feels extra definition in the arms that he uses to caress the small of her back. Ginny’s not sure how long they spend snogging, but when Harry pulls back with a choked moan, his glasses fogged, she’s equally sure she can’t see straight, either.

“I erm. I got you a present,” he manages, Adam’s apple bobbing. 

Ginny thinks they’ve both underestimated how badly she wants him, though, because she immediately makes a joke about sex.

“I noticed,” she says dryly, brushing against the hardness pressing into her waist.

Harry chuckles. “That’s... a remarkably low bar to be considered a gift, Ginny. Someone should really talk to your boyfriend about giving you better presents.” 

“Oh, so you’ve met my boyfriend!” she says brightly. “Brilliant, I was dreading the awkward introduction.”

Harry pulls back to clear his glasses with a quick Impervius. “Yeah,” he says fairly, examining the lenses in the light. “I mean, I wouldn’t call us friends, but I hear he’s quite talented.” 

He slides his glasses back on and takes her hand. She has no idea where he’s taking her, but she doesn’t question his deliberate strides down the street.

“Mm,” she agrees, skipping a bit to keep up. “There are two main talents I can think of.”

“Oh?” Harry takes a distracted look around, like he’s searching for someone.

“First, coming back to life,” she says, giving his hand a grateful squeeze. Harry swallows and shoots her a soft, affectionate look from over his shoulder. 

“And the second?” he deadpans, his green eyes darkened with lust. Even while turned on, he has the nerve to know she’s setting him up for a joke. Unbelievable!

As they come to a stop outside Three Broomsticks, Ginny decides to make it a good joke, indeed. So she arches a brow and plainly enunciates, “Of course, the second talent would have to be eating—“

“—HEY!” Ron’s voice booms as Harry chortles into his palm. 

Ginny looks up, unperturbed, even as Harry falls to pieces. Ron and Hermione are standing a few meters ahead, each red-faced, each with their clothing askew. Harry rolls his eyes, but she knows exactly what he’s thinking: Just imagine how they’d look if she’d finished that thought. And they’d heard it.

Ron’s demeanor changes when he sees them… and for a split-second, Ginny’s afraid she has finished the thought, and he has heard her. As she and Harry walk closer, Ron loses his confident swagger, his face paling, his shoulders slouched; if Ginny didn’t know better, she’d say that her brother was thinking (very broadly) about the concept of her and Harry. Together. Because Merlin knows she’s seen that expression on his face more times than she can count. 

But when the four of them are standing nearly toe-to-toe, Ron sets his jaw in grim determination and peers over at Harry. “Did you tell her?” he mutters, squinting in the dying sunlight. 

Blegh. 

Now Ginny’s the one feeling queasy. She knows it makes her a bloody hypocrite, but she can’t handle hearing her brother’s voice all deep and scratchy, like he’s been groaning and moaning and—

“Erm, we never got the chance?” Harry says weakly. The corners of his lips twitch. “We were... a bit busy.”

Ron makes a disgusted sound in the back of his throat as Ginny turns to Harry with narrowed eyes. “Tell me what?” 

Harry shrugs. “Like I said, I got you a present.” 

Ginny swats him on the chest. “I told you, I don’t need a present!” But then she drops her voice, leaning in to trail her finger along the seam of Harry’s jacket. “What I could use, though,” she murmurs, meeting his eyes, “is a good—”

“We have rooms at Three Broomsticks!” Harry blurts, loud enough for everyone to hear. Ron explodes with a swear and mutters something about “terrible fucking ideas,” and it’s not until then that the pieces in Ginny’s head slide into place. 

Oh! She glances at the pub behind them, which suddenly seems far more warm and welcoming than she’d ever thought. 

That’s… oh! 

But wait, no, something doesn’t quite— 

Ginny rips her head away from to peer over at Ron and Hermione, her eyes narrowed — and ahh, fuck, this whole this has been a sham! They definitely knew! She can read it on their bloody faces, can’t she, as they do that thing where they shuffle in place?  For two people allegedly good at strategy, they’re shit at hiding when they’ve been caught bang to rights. 

At least Ron has the decency to look a bit green at the gills as he peers in the direction of the pub, like he’s just realized — or perhaps just accepted — that Harry and Ginny are about to do what he and Hermione are about to do. Hermione, though, couldn’t seem more flush-faced and content, like she’s wearing her smugness as a badge of honor. Bloody morons, the pair of them… 

Ginny turns back to Harry with a raised pointer finger, her mind filled with questions (How long did Hermione know? Was Ron really involved in this process… really? Should I get used to this during these weekends?) but before she can ask any of them, he cuts her off with a nod towards the pub. 

“So erm... shall we?” Harry asks, his voice unexpectedly timid. Then he gives her that familiar sheepish grin as he rubs his hand on the back of his neck. 

Ron makes another disgusted sound from behind them — which Hermione quickly soothes with a murmur. 

And although Ginny would love to maintain an air of self-righteous indignation, she decides to let her boyfriend try this grand-gesture-chivalry-thing, after all.

 ________

The second they’re in the room, Harry shoves her against the door.

“Does McGonagall know?” Ginny demands with her last bit of brainpower as Harry’s mouth nibbles on her jaw. “Because I can’t... mmm... I imagine her being ok with—”

Harry replies with a startled laugh, but it seems the reminder of McGonagall has cooled his ardor a bit. 

“Not unless you plan to tell her!” he says darkly, taking out his wand. “But fair point, this place could probably be more secure.” Then — with one jacket sleeve dangling from his shoulder, his shirt halfway unbuttoned, and a visible bulge pressing against his trousers — Harry proceeds to very stoically cast a series of charms around the room, his eyes flitting from corner to corner. 

Ginny would laugh if she didn’t match his desperation. 

“No, no, I’m not really worried about that!” She sinks down to the bed to toe off her trainers. “I was just wondering if you’d got permission for us to stay a bit longer, but you answered my question. Anyway.” She waves her hand dismissively and unbuttons her jeans. “Why are you so paranoid? Everyone and their mum knows we’re shagging, Harry. You can’t expect that to be a secret!”

He gives a humorless chuckle and casts the contraceptive charm. “Yeah, but knowing in theory is a bit different from seeing my pasty white arse on the front page of The Prophet.” He puts his wand on the bedside table and shrugs his shirt off the rest of the way. “Trust me when I say that I’ve seen some shit these past two months, Ginny — and I don’t mean dark shit. I mean like, middle aged women who somehow find me delectable!” 

He shudders and he tugs off his jeans; Ginny wonders if he’ll ever accept what a fucking hero he is, but she answers her own question almost immediately: Of course he won’t. He never will. This is the man who saved the bloody world a few months ago, but never even thought to ask for permission to actually shag her overnight. 

Ginny bites her lip as he finishes undressing. He’s heartwarming and ridiculous at the same time, isn’t he? Harry. This person who’s carelessly sexy and sloppy and perfect... this person whose idea of a grand gesture involves hatching a plan with her brother. 

Then he lies down beside her with a timid smile that doesn’t match the arousal jutting out in front of him, and as he softly brushes the hair away from her face, Ginny will be damned if her heart doesn’t swell to a million times its size. 

__________

He fucks her deeply, passionately... the type of shagging she knew she was in for when she first heard about his plan. It’s the type where he stares into her eyes and watches with breathless wonderment as he makes her come — twice. It’s the type where she feels his heartbeat with his pulse as he finally spills himself inside her with a strangled roar. It’s the type of shag that sets her nerve endings on fire and steals her breath and makes her feel a startling sense of connection... to the universe. To her body. To her soul. 

But most importantly, to him. 

To Harry. Her Harry... the one with the racing, reckless mind and loose grasp on authority and suddenly defined arm muscles that he uses to roll them over until she’s lying on his chest. 

He came — and hard. She knows he came so hard that he’s scarcely breathing, so hard that his world is surely an array of pinpricks exploding in the darkness... but he’d never, ever be blind enough to forget about her. And as she lays there, her cheek pressed against his heart (the one that’s miraculously, somehow, still beating), a realization that’s been glinting at the edges of her mind slams into her like a ton of bricks: He hasn’t haunted her this year at all. 

Ginny exhales on a shudder and bites her lip, but his warm weight keeps her from slipping. He anchors her to earth, this Real Harry... the one she’d ached for and pined for and craved, but not as a figment of a memory. 

Her heart hammers, her pulse races, as she makes sense of it all. As she tries to come to terms with it. As she considers how to explain to her boyfriend that he’d once been everywhere (when he wasn’t happy), and how he’s now nowhere (when he is). 

Harry gets there first. 

“What’s wrong?” he rumbles, his hand coming up to stroke her hair. 

A smile lifts her left cheek, still flush against his chest. What else can she do, really, but smile? “Nothing’s... exactly wrong.” 

“Nothing exactly,” Harry agrees, threading a tendril through his fingers. “But seriously, Ginny, I know you a bit better than that by now.” He trails off with a chuckle that makes her head bounce, and she grins even more broadly; she loves the proof of him, the evidence he’s here. 

“Erm, you do know we’ve shagged quite a lot, yeah? Enough times for me to know what’s normal with you — and what’s not.” He shifts his thumb to brush her jawline and clears his throat with an air of formal importance. “So. If you’ve got any complaints about my performance, I highly recommend you formally share those with the HR department before—“

“—Last year was fucking horrible,” she breathes, her eyes trained on the far wall. 

The silence that follows is more deafening than if she’d shouted. In any other circumstance, she’d feel guilty for throwing at him without context. Now, though, she can’t stop... especially not when she hears his reassuring murmur. Not when she feels his hands grip her closer, wrapping around her middle. 

And with that, it’s like he’s uncorked a stopper; every bizarre, mortifying thing she did to keep him alive suddenly spills over. “So I guess I... I guess I pretended I saw you everywhere at Hogwarts — even though I didn’t do it on purpose — because even for me, that would be a bit much,” she babbles, her thoughts only half-formed. “For some reason you were in all the places we used to snog, and also everywhere else, and I don’t know...” She trails off with a huff that ruffles the hair around her face. “It just... I didn’t realize until now that I haven’t done that this year and how fucking pathetic that was while you were gone, and—”

“Hey!” Harry interrupts, his arms gripping her waist more tightly. “Of all the things you are, love?” He kisses the top of her head. “Pathetic doesn’t make the list. Not even close.”

Ginny gives a delirious laugh and shifts until she’s propped on her elbow; she’s seized with the desire to see him, to prove (again) that he’s more than a memory. She’s not disappointed with what she finds. Harry’s put his glasses back on, but they’re lopsided and smudged and unmistakably human. His grin is lazy and warm, the type she couldn’t make up, not even if she tried. His eyes are roving over her chest, his jaw tense, as he attempts to take her seriously even though she’s naked. 

“Anyway,” she adds, extending her finger to trail down his chest. “I guess it just hit me all once, that you haven’t, you know, been there. Even though I’ve missed you terribly.”

Harry arches a brow. “How terribly?” His hands start to dance up her side. “Please don’t spare the details, Ginny. A poor, lonely bloke needs something to go on.” 

She rolls her eyes. “You know damn well how bloody terribly! How many pairs of knickers have I sent?”

Harry clucks his tongue. “Not enough, I’m afraid,” he laments, brushing the underside of her breast. Then he peers up at her, his face stretched into a grin. “After all, it’s hard to top the red ones.” 

Ginny snorts before she can help it. Even though she’s naked — even though they’ve just shagged — she can’t help but feel vaguely abashed. “I still can’t believe I did that,” she mutters, running a hand down her face. “And more than once! For fuck’s sake, if my mother ever found out...”

Harry just laughs, shaking his head, but then something catches his eye behind her.

“Shit,” he swears, his eyes going wide, “is that really the time? We were supposed to be downstairs to meet them five minutes ago.” 

He gives her a final, moaning kiss before he leaps to his feet and searches for his clothes. Ginny rolls her eyes again as she begrudgingly flings the blankets off. Even after all the time, he’s still more terrified of her brother than anything else...

“A lot of doors will open the moment you realize you’re Harry fucking Potter, you know,” she says archly, reaching for her bra. “You could even, you know, ask to properly spend the night with your girlfriend!” 

Harry laughs from the corner of the room. “I do feel pretty terrible about shagging you and running off. But what can I say? You’re in school, and I’m training. It’s just not a good time.” 

“Mmm.” She flips her hair out over her cloak and turns to examine herself in the mirror. She’s a bit pink in the cheeks, a bit bright in the eyes — but if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t necessarily know. At least that’s what she tells herself when she considers facing McGonagall later tonight.

“Will the next Hogsmeade visit be a good time, then?” she asks, raising her eyebrows. “Because a girl could get used to this, Harry.” 

He shoots her reflection a surprisingly tender look before throwing his cloak on, too. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world, darling. Assuming there isn’t too much drama at work.” 

“Shouldn’t be,” Ginny says fairly, “so long as we keep those middle-aged witches at bay.” She smirks and turns around to eye the red patches on his neck. “I think I’ve thoroughly marked you, but you never know...” 

Harry laughs and uselessly tries to run a hand through his hair. Ginny muses, not for the first time, that his unruly hair serves a purpose in times like these; no one can tell if he’s been shagged or not. 

With that in mind, she turns to the door with a skip in her step — but she quickly discovers Harry’s not on the same page. He’s suddenly become a bit contemplative, a bit sullen. His brow draws in a grimace as he kicks the floor with his trainer.  

“Erm… but seriously, Ginny,” he says, pushing his glasses up his nose. “I’m sorry you went through that last year.” He winces again, staring at his cuticles, before he turns to her with a shrug. “I’m glad I’m not there anymore, though. You seem… happier.” 

“Definitely happier,” she confirms, taking a step forward. “Definitely. With real you.” 

A ghost of a smile flits across Harry’s lips as he takes her hand. Ginny just leans into his warmth. Leans into him. Desperate to prove — again — how real he is. 

“I’m quite fucking in love with you, actually,” Harry murmurs, eyes still focused on their joined hands. “Even if I can only show it by shagging you in hotel rooms every few months.” 

He pulls back with a reluctant sigh, and when he peers at her again, his eyes are filled with so much love and devotion and compassion that she could cry.

If she were the sort who did that, of course. Which she’s not. 

Right. 

So Ginny pushes down the swell of emotion, the warring forces of pleasure and pain, the feeling of the past meeting the present… and opts to torture him, instead. She rises to her tiptoes, drapes her arms around his neck, and leans in to deliver the final blow.

“You only visit me when I touch myself,” she whispers, nibbling at the shell of his ear. 

And in retrospect, Ginny will accept that Harry’s answering groan was 100% worth the snide looks she got from Hermione the rest of the night. 

#harry/ginny #hinny fanfic #implied smut #anonymous prompt #harry and ginny

[hypmic-writings]

Kinda specific sorry, but could I get some platonic sasara and rosho (separately) with reader? Tysm!

━━ ∘◦ ☆ ◦∘ ━━

Pairing: Sasara Nurude x platonic!Reader; Rosho Tsutsujimori x platonic!Reader

Genre: Fluff; Platonic

Warnings: None

A/N: Platonic relationships are so lovely, BRING ON THE FRIENDSHIPS! Especially with Sasara and Rosho I can totally imagine both of them being amazing friends. Hope you enjoy~

⋘ ──── ∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗ ──── ⋙

Sasara Nurude

having Sasara as a friend is just a wild ride 24/7

he’s always begging you to come to his shows, offering you free tickets and telling you that you’ll love it

and whenever you do go to support him, he’s extatically happy

I can see him being the type to throw his arm around you and comment that he hasn’t seen you in forever even though the two of you just hung out the day before

whenever the two of you hang out, it’s never just chilling at home, it’s always going off on an adventure, going to the arcade, hitting up shops around the city, or something else fun

he has absolutely run away from the police before and has taken you with him

if you’re just as outgoing as he is, the two of you will always be finding someplace new to go to

and you’re always acting as his wingman/woman/person whenever you’re out and about 

if you’re more on the quiet side though, I can definitely imagine Sasara loving to go to all different types of restaurants with you

just so that the two of you can sit and talk together

overall the friendship is just non-stop

Sasara strikes me as someone that loves to text a ton of memes and jokes on end, and even when you don’t respond he’s still just spamming the chat 

“Sasara, please stop sending me pictures out of context.”

“Don’t you get the joke? It’s hilarious!”

facetimes are definitely a thing for whenever the two of you haven’t spoken in a while

when DH is founded, he’s a bit wary of having you around all the time cause he’s worried you might get hurt if you’re associated with them

but you just reassure him that you can hold your own and he says to keep an eye out because you’re his best friend and he would never want anything to hurt you

Rosho Tsutsujimori

a friendship with Rosho would be extremely comfortable and endearing

he thinks of you as one of his first and best friends so he’s always asking to catch up over coffee or lunch

he’s awful at texting, but he responds if you need something so it’s not that big of a deal

you’ve tried teaching him the art of texting but he just never really gets it, so at some point you give up trying

I can imagine Rosho being the quiet one in a friendship, but that lends itself to having really good conversations

whenever one of you is having a bad day, the other listens intently, and although Rosho isn’t the best at giving advice, he’s really good and hearing your troubles and comforting you

“Ugh, Rosho, My boss is the worst, I just wish he would stop being an asshole.”

“Do you want me to beat him up for you?”

likewise, whenever he’s feeling dismayed he can get really quiet and since the two of you have spent so much time together you can easily pick up on it

you’ve been actively helping him with his nervousness and any time he has to speak up in front of people you’re always encouraging him

he’s always grateful and although it’s hard for him to express that sometimes, you know how much it means to him

your favorite things to do together are going to all you can eat restaurants and going for midnight drives just outside the city to find an overlook that you can relax on

you guys have a ton of inside jokes and sometimes he or you will just bring one up and the two of you are sent reeling on the floor

other people get annoyed but you never really care because laughing with Rosho is totally worth it

when he joins DH and ends up travelling to different parts of Japan, he always brings you back little keychains

you end up throwing them on your lanyard and it’s gotten really heavy, but you would feel bad telling him to stop so he just keeps getting you more

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

#hypmic #hypnosis mic #hypnosis microphone #sasara #sasara nurude #rosho #rosho tsutsujimori #sasara x reader #sasara nurude x reader #rosho x reader #rosho tsutsujimori x reader #imagines #headcanons #hypmic imagines #hypmic headcanons #hypnosis microphone imagines #hypnosis microphone headcanons #platonic