#worth dying for [james & harry]

[saintsenara]

What do you think about Tom Riddle Sr?And your thoughts on Tom Riddle Sr/Merope Gaunt as a ship? I read some of your answers on Merope Gaunt and I just adore your fic 'Enchanter's Nightshade'. I was curious as to what your thoughts are on his canon character, the way that he is treated in fanon and if you have any headcanons on his character

thank you very much for the asks, pal - and i'm sorry that i'd entirely forgotten that i had an answer for the first sitting in my drafts until the second arrived in my inbox...

[thank you also for the very kind shoutout to enchanter's nightshade!]

and i find tom sr. extremely interesting as a character, and he's someone i think quite a lot of compelling stuff can be done with in fanfiction - particularly in how fic writers can take a sledgehammer to how he's treated by the canon narrative...

which - of course - means that there is a trigger warning for a discussion of rape in what follows, which is under the cut.

tom and merope

it's worth starting by emphasising that the series never thinks of tom sr. as a victim. it treats love potions as benign and broadly amusing [the only time we ever see someone under the influence of one - ron in half-blood prince - it's played for laughs], describes merope's drugging of tom sr. as something she would consider "romantic", and never acknowledges that she was his rapist.

[although it is important to point out that the fanon that voldemort's issues with love come from the circumstances of his conception is something jkr never said. and i also think that it's important, when thinking about tom and merope's relationship, to recognise that all the evidence of canon is that she is subjected to incestuous sexual violence at the hands of her brother and/or father - she is an abused teenager with no meaningful understanding of consent or bodily autonomy, and she evidently views her "relationship", as she sees it, with tom as a means of escaping a life which is undeniable, unrelenting misery.]

[which is to say - i find tom and merope interesting as a pairing because of this inherent nuance, tragedy and violence.]

the series also criticises tom sr. for leaving the relationship - in line both with its broader disdain for absent fathers and idealisation of devoted mothers, and with its prioritisation of love-as-suffering and love-as-sacrifice over forms of love which are more self-indulgent. its view is evidently that tom sr. should have gritted his teeth and remained in merope's life in some way or another [maybe not as her husband, but also not as her survivor] in order to have been involved in his son's life.

indeed, it always stands out to me that - when he discussing tom sr. fleeing his abusive relationship - dumbledore refers to merope as "merope riddle". emphasising that the two were married underscores the fact that the text views tom sr. as straightforwardly unadmirable - a husband and father who abandoned his family.

[and he gets his comeuppance. i think it's worth noting that the narrative isn't sympathetic at all about his death - the opening chapter of goblet of fire, where voldemort's murder of the riddles is described, states plainly that nobody likes them - and he finds himself unable to outrun the son he left behind when that son uses his bones in his resurrection ritual... the subtext is clear: abandoning your son was the wrong move, and since good people - like james and lily - don't abandon their son even after their deaths, tom sr. is therefore a bad person.]

that both dumbledore and harry see him like this makes sense within their watsonian characterisations. harry has - as he says when lupin tries to walk out on the pregnant tonks - the view that parents should never abandon their children unless they have literally no choice, which is a perfectly understandable opinion for an orphan who lost their parents in such traumatic circumstances to hold [he also takes a very dim view on merope for dying]. dumbledore, who recognises the dangerous paths overwhelming desire can lead one down, sees himself in merope, and is therefore less willing to examine the cruelty of her actions.

voldemort also thinks of him in this vein - his view of his father, expressed during his resurrection scene in goblet of fire, is that he abandoned merope [with whom he had a consensual relationship] in a fit of pique when she confessed to him that she was a witch. voldemort thinks of his father as a deadbeat who left him to rot - and the series never takes issue with him holding this view, even as it works to prove many of the other things he believes about himself, magic, and power wrong.

tom and voldemort

the role tom sr. plays in voldemort's narrative arc, then, is pretty much unconnected to his experiences at merope's hands - he is not considered by the text to be a warning about the corrosive, oppressive, violent potential of using magic against muggles which voldemort follows his mother in doing, for example.

his role in his son's arc across the seven-book canon is to underscore that voldemort will never successfully outrun his muggle heritage - the fact that his son has his face and his name [and the fact that dumbledore, and then harry, insist on using this name for him after voldemort sheds it, which is - and we should call it what it is, especially given jkr's stance on such things - deadnaming] serves as a way for the text to criticise and humiliate voldemort, undermining his belief that he's something pure and special [and undermining his pride in his descent from slytherin] by making clear that, when all is said and done, he's just an ordinary man with a muggle father.

and so his death occurs purely to enable this narrative treatment of voldemort. he has to kill his dad - because he's trying to eradicate anything muggle from himself - and so the action becomes all about him. tom is basically just there.

but this is something i really like playing with in my own work. i always end up writing tom sr. as not only physically resembling his son - except for the fact, and i'll die on the hill that this is the canon text's intention, that voldemort has his mother's eyes - but as being the source of his mannerisms and many of his non-childhood-trauma-induced personality traits.

partially this is because i think we might as well take the series' belief that voldemort can't escape the riddle genes and go the whole hog with it.

but it's also because i think it's worth skewering the series' view of voldemort's slytherin heritage as - essentially - dooming him to be incapable of change in either positive or negative directions. the way the gaunts are described in canon - violent, unstable, grandiose etc. - is set up to suggest that voldemort gets these aspects of his personality from them, that - like the parseltongue - being a terrorist with delusions of grandeur is just something the heirs of slytherin are bound to inherit.

but i like idea of these traits coming from the less mystical branch of voldemort's lineage - and his decision to indulge them being nothing more than deliberate choice.

tom riddle sr. character notes and headcanons

which leads us to the question of what tom sr. is like as a character separate from merope and voldemort.

we only see him once in canon - where he's talking in a carrying voice to cecilia about how much land his dad owns and correctly identifying morfin as a danger to society - and he's only mentioned a handful more times: his whirlwind marriage; his return home a few months later, which he explains as him having realised he'd been "hoodwinked"; the fact that he's considered even worse than his "rich, snobbish, and rude" parents by the villagers of little hangleton in the period immediately before his death; and that he dies in his evening clothes with a look of pure terror on his face.

his gravestone in the goblet of fire film has him born in 1905, and i like this [although i push his date of birth back a couple of years in order for him to have finished university when he's attacked by merope] because it enables him to be a stereotypical "bright young thing" - the sort of dissolute aristocrat, untroubled both by his father's victorian morals and by the devastating impact of the first world war on men a decade or so older than him, whose exploits dominate our image of the roaring twenties [or - at least - the roaring twenties in britain]. at the start of 1925, before his life all goes wrong, i like him as idle, profligate, bohemian, constantly partying, a keen user of cocaine, promiscuous, vain, and incredibly rude to his servants, tradesmen, and policemen and so on - spending his days in a whirlwind of hangovers, tennis, elaborate fancy-dress balls, modern novels, dining at his club, and piles of liberated flappers, vile bodies [and jeeves and wooster...] style.

and i do think the idea of him as lazy, convinced of his own brilliance, and complacent [personality traits not helped by an education at eton and oxford - he takes a fourth, the lowest-possible passing classification, on a degree in greats - which he has neither the intellect nor the work ethic to succeed at without the power of daddy's money] offers a really interesting side to him being preyed on by merope.

i like him as someone who thinks of himself as rational, cheerfully irreligious, and far too modern and well-bred to waste his time on the silly superstitions of the boring, ordinary people in the village. him mentioning to cecilia about the stories the villagers tell about morfin can be read as him being condescendingly amused by local folklore surrounding the gaunts - a sort of "would you believe it, one of our gardeners is convinced they're wizards! too, too funny!" vibe - and i really like writing him as someone whose total rejection of the possibility of magic and conviction that the gaunts are just pitiable and disgusting, rather than dangerous [the view of the rest of the village], means that when merope offers him a glass of shimmering water he thinks "why, what a lark!" instead of running.

when he returns home, however, i imagine him as profoundly changed - paranoid, beset by nightmares, increasingly superstitious [voldemort's own rather... catholic leanings being mirrored in his father going full sebastian flyte is delicious to me], unwilling to eat or drink anything he hasn't seen prepared [one of the reasons, perhaps, why the servants at the riddle house dislike him so much], unable to go anywhere near the stables and see the horse he was riding when evil befell him, unwilling to talk to anyone or receive visitors [hence his reputation for being snobbish and rude - the villagers interpret this as him thinking them beneath him], unwilling to spend money or give gifts because he's afraid of unwittingly finding himself ensnared again [giving him a reputation for being rather miserly], and so on.

i like the idea of him becoming incredibly reclusive, losing his interest in the social life he once enjoyed overnight, and spending his days sleeping poorly and staying inside. i imagine his parents being supportive to the best of their ability, but that tom's inability to speak openly what happened to him [he, like his son, doesn't like doctors because he fears they will accuse him of being mad] means they can only do so much. their understanding of tom's marriage is the same as the rest of the village's - that tom consensually slept with merope, she told him she was pregnant, he "did the right thing" and married her, and he then discovered she was lying.

[he knows - of course - that she was pregnant, and he is convinced in his bones that the child will one day find and destroy him...]

tom's obvious post-traumatic stress disorder would undoubtedly have been enough to exempt him from conscription when the second world war broke out - although, of course, his medical unfitness wouldn't have been described in these terms.

and i think it's really interesting to consider how this would be received in the village - especially since the riddles would have gone out of their way to conceal his mental state from the public [hence their performance of the rituals of aristocratic life - including taking their dinner in full evening dress - even after he comes home a changed man]. i really like the idea of the general view being that - unlike the ordinary, hard-working men of little hangleton - tom managed to buy his way out of service [not only in the army but also on the home front], and that, to be quite honest, it was no wonder wounded war-hero frank bryce snapped and killed him.

which is a nice segue into the fact that frank bryce/tom riddle sr. is a concept i've recently become completely convinced by. frank staying in the riddle house after he's eliminated as a suspect in the riddles' deaths is something i find really quite moving - not only because of what it says about the disconnect between the historical memory many brits have of the war and the war's reality that a disabled veteran would find himself with nowhere else to go, but because it must indicate a genuine affection for the riddles which nobody else shared. the garden bringing some comfort to tom sr. on his worst days triggering a solemn, steadfast love for him in frank [requited or not] which endured past his death really compels me.

[and i also think that frank having some deeper connection with tom sr. - rather than just being his gardener - provides a more satisfactory explanation for why voldemort uses him as a horcrux murder than we get in canon. voldemort seeing - in his father's mind or frank's - that the two were entangled in some way would only increase his fury that tom sr. abandoned him and his mother...]

i'm also hugely convinced by the potential of shipping tom sr. with dumbledore. i don't particularly like stories in which voldemort is collected from the orphanage and raised by his father - firstly, because most of the things i find interesting about him are so heavily rooted in his orphanhood, and secondly, because i think that tom sr.'s move would be to place his son as the ward of someone he felt certain he could pay to keep quiet rather than bringing him up himself. but i can see dumbledore becoming aware of a magical child lurking in a london orphanage years earlier than in canon, having some sort of misguided belief that he should track down said child's family, turning up on the doorstep of the riddle house with a sinister toddler glowering in his arms, and insinuating himself into tom sr.'s life in a way which is either very funny or very dark.

cecilia is also an incidental character i'm unjustifiably obsessed with. i like her as tom's casual girlfriend in 1925 - with neither of them imagining for a second that the relationship will ever be serious - who then turns into the only friend from his glamorous set who remains in contact with him when he comes home.

and - i'm afraid to say - the plot-bunny of cecilia deciding to try and unravel the mystery of what's made tom so ill and scouring london orphanages until she discovers tom jr. has now bounced into my head... joining the other tom sr. fic i would pay cash to see, a rebecca-style caper where the second mrs riddle is haunted everywhere she goes by the spectre of merope...

#asks answered #asenora meta #tom riddle sr #merope gaunt

[multishipperofgaydeadwizards]

*clears throat and pulls up with a powerpoint* (/jk im making this uo as i go and spilling whatever comes to my brain)

Peter/Sirius *jazz hands*

1) Plant. Dads. There is no other way around this ok? They're plant dads. Peter got Siri into it and now they're both obsessed and are at the top of the class in Herbology along with Alice.

2) They would such a beautiful dynamic omg like Sirius "I say whatever that comes to my mind/ I blatantly flirt" Black and Peter "I have a hard time coming to terms with my feelings/ I can't flirt at all but if someone flirts to me I'm dying on the spot" Pettigrew mhmm mhmm

3) The heartbreakkkk Peter pining over Sirius. And Sirius "I'm in my denial phase I'm not gay" Black going around hooking up with every woman in sight

4) ooooh wait no let's switch things up. Peter is very upfront about his feelings. It takes him time but he gets there eventually. He'll go to Sirius straight up and say "I fancy you. Do with that what you will" and Sirius is just standing there dumbfounded.

5) Sirius would make the first move tho, he would kiss Peter and then he'll move away unsure and Peter will just be like JSKSKDLSMDKDNDKNF externally and internally

6) they'll have picnic dates after they raid the kitchen and its all cute and cottagecore and fluffy

7) the betrayal oooh just imagine how heartbreaking it'll be omg like watch as Sirius spends his time in Azkaban being in denial and then slowly becoming a being of pure rage

8) he leaves Azkaban half cause he wants to hunt down Peter and make him pay but also cause a part of still believes in Pete and wants to hear it from him that he was under a spell or that it a mistake. Something. Anything.

9) ok also thinking about this now I feel like if Startail had happened then the betrayal would have happened? Cause like Peter's flaw was that he kept feeling left alone even tho he actually wasn't as much as his brain led him to believe. He felt left alone with James being Sirius's other half and Remus being Sirius's love of his life right? So now it's like- I don't see a point in the betrayal

10) oooooh wait Dark Pete mhmm mhmm. He is jealous of James because as long as James was there Sirius could never be fully his so he does what he has to for love. In his eyes, he did the right thing.

11) But he miscalculated and ended up losing everything. (And that's why he helps Harry in TDH2)

12) soft top Peter and trying to be bratty but incredibly failing cause of all the softness and care bottom Sirius

I rest my case, your honor.

welcome back to my inbox. I'm glad to see your ideas are still incredible

1) YES!!!! they have so many plants. sirius doesn't get the hype at first (he thinks it's dumb that peter named all of his plants), but then one day the love for the plants hits him like a punch to the face. he hasn't been the same since

2) delicious. they're perfect, for eachother and in general

3) yeah, poor petey :( james tries to support him through it but he doesn't help all that much. marlene tells peter to get over it bc sirius isn't worth the heartbreak (she has one-sided beef with sirius bc of it) (Sirius doesn't know why she suddenly hates him)

4) hsisbidurbo you can combine those two. peter at first waits for sirius to realise that he's not entirely straight... but then he gets tired of it and just tells sirius. the flabbergasted look on sirius's face was an extra

5) bright red peter bc sirius just kissed him. finally. only took him seven thousand years or something

6) yesss. hc that peter is an honorary hufflepuff, and the house elves LOVE him (almost as much as sirius does)

7) the hurt he must be feeling :( he probably refused to believe that peter framed him. there was no way his peteyboo would do that to him, right?

8) yeah. he'd be sure that there must've been something. peter would never do that to him. not his peter

9) maybe sirius and peter go through a rough patch and voldemort or someone else (cough cough jealous ex-lovers rosekiller cough cough) is in peter's ear telling him that sirius is going to leave him if he doesn't do something about it

10) + 11) hdbdoebaobe9ebeos sod o eow e9rbekwze9eb9r dark!peter omg I love this sm. yes, that terrible terrible miscalculation. costing peter both his childhood friend and lover

12) personally I view peter more as a bottom... they're switches. that's how easy that is. but yes, soft dom peter is so real. my boy could never be mean (he murdered people) he's a total sweetheart (he was part of a murderous and pretty much racist cult)

this amazing. I'm excited for the next time you stumble into my asks

#marauders #marauders era #marauders fandom #peter pettigrew #sirius black #startail #sirius x peter #the lover with the great ideas #wow... you're bad at parking

[vazaha-tya]

can i ask what you think about regulus? and jegulus/jegulily as well, if that's alright. i like reading your thoughts and interpretations of the marauders era characters

that's more than alright! fair warning, i'm gonna be all over the place because i have so many thoughts! some of it is interpretation based on what i remember from canon and the rest might be fanon i internalised from reading too many fics lol.

first up, i should say that regulus is my favourite slytherin and i'm endlessly fascinated by the relationship dynamics he and sirius would have had. it's obvious sirius loved him and we don't know if the reverse was true but there's definitely something raw and painful that suggests he did and that their estrangement was even more painful for it.

since regulus is a reserved boy (fanon or canon? not sure) who is pretty smart, brave and kind on top of being a seeker, he kind of feels like what harry could have been in slytherin.

more importantly, he's the only redeemed slytherin i can think of who is first described as "soft" before being described as "brave". regulus is someone who is only described by people who love him (sirius and kreacher) and despite the whole black family situation, the most important thing they can tell us about him is that he was gentle. i think that's a bit incredible, especially considering who his mother was.

and i'm not sure if it's canon or fanon that he researched voldemort's life? but if it's canon i think that's also really interesting and tells us a lot about his inquisitive personality. one thing that strikes me about the black brothers is that they were clearly both extremely sheltered before coming to hogwarts and it's only by being sorted gryffindor that sirius was able to meet people that were different from the ideal his parents were trying to force on him. regulus didn't have that chance yet he still managed to make friends with kreacher and see him as someone worth betraying voldemort for. it's because regulus watches and learns , i think. he observes people, what they value, how they treat each other and at first he probably tried to push it down so he could be the perfect pureblood his mother wanted but at some point he wasn't able to anymore and he made his choice. he weighed what he observed of kreacher's kindness and adoration for him against what he saw of voldemort's cruelty and decided the former was worth dying for.

beyond that, in a more pragmatic sense, regulus is the first time we are given any indication that purebloods have limits. because death eaters are so violent and cruel we feel like they have no boundaries but regulus found out about the horcrux and he, a black, was horrified. i'm not sure if this means that potentially more death eaters would have disapproved of horcruxes if they knew or if it's regulus particularly but i think that's also important to note.

about jegulus and jegulily, i am all for it! though jegulus means harry wouldn't be born so i don't like it as much haha. but there's so much to work with in those ships, especially because of the sirius-regulus reconciliation that would come with it and the idea of james finding value in slytherin qualities which would rid him of his own prejudice. i just like the idea of them acting as a bridge between the two houses in the middle of war. and lily finding a slytherin who doesn't wait for her to die to do better would be bittersweet but something i'd be curious about. i'm not sure i'd write those ships myself (mostly because i'm bad at writing romance) but i do find them really interesting

thanks for the question, i had a lot of fun thinking about it!

#hp #harry potter #harry potter meta #regulus black #jegulus #jegulily

[maladaptivewriting]

okay but imagine lily and james separating after the war and lily finally getting to know herself outside of the confines of “smart & nice muggleborn” and “james’ wife” and “harry’s mother”

picture lily evans getting drunk in greece with a bunch of women she just met that day

picture lily evans visiting america for the first time and crying at the beach because she’s having the time of her life

picture lily evans having rough nights only to wake up the next morning feeling stronger than ever cause she survived and she knows she’s worth fighting for

picture lily evans taking a ten year old harry to disney world because he barely spends any time in the muggle world and he deserves to be a kid having fun with his mom

picture lily evans cutting off all her hair and dying it all sorts of colors just to see what she’d look like

picture lily evans and sirius black traveling together cause they’re best friends and lily always feels safe with sirius

#lily evans #i love her #lily and sirius

[caramelapplesauce]

happy birthday to the queen herself, lily jane evans <3

30 January 1971

יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת שָׂמֵחַ,” יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת שָׂמֵחַ, יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת שָׂמֵחַ לְשׁוֹשָׁן “יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת שָׂמֵחַ

(Yom huledet sameach,

Yom huledet sameach

Yom huledet sameach le'shoshan

Yom huledet sameach)

All around the table, the Evans were all looking at Lily expectantly. Her mom broke the silence and said, “Go on and blow at your candles, sweetheart. Make a wish.” 

Lily closed her eyes tightly and wished for an adventure. Up until that point, Lily didn’t have many friends, besides Petunia and the very nice, poor boy she had befriended this past Hanukkah. She wanted something more. She dreamed of living in a kingdom and being the most favored princess of village. She wanted to have people love her like she loves others. 

She blew out her candles with this in mind.

30 January 1977

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!”

“CHA, CHA, CHA!”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!”

“CHA, CHA, CHA!”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LILLLLYYY!”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!”

“CHA, CHA, CHA!” 

Everyone was gathered around Lily and the three tier cake that Marlene was able to get the house-elves to make. They were all smiling wildly and waiting for her to make her wish. She closed her eyes and wished for peace. She wished that she would stop wanting Se-Snape to be with her celebrating her legality in the wizarding world. She wish that his words didn’t hurt anymore. She wished that the world outside was as kind and joyful as it is right now in the Gryffindor common room. She wished that Voldemort didn’t exist and that this war would be over before they graduated. 

She blew out her candles with this in mind. 

30 January 1981

“Happy birthday to you!”

*baby babbles*

“Happy birthday to you!”

*baby babbles*

“Happy birthday, to mama!”

*baby babbles*

“Happy birthday to you!”

Harry, who was in James arms, starts clapping and laughing giddily. James laughs as well and moves to give Lily a kiss on the forehead. 

“Happy birthday, my love,” he whispers to Lily as he pulls her into a little side hug, “Go on and make a wish.”

He gestures towards the little round brownie cake that him and Harry made. It had a three candles in it. Lily closed her eyes and wished for all of her loved ones to make it through the war safely. They were going on Order missions every other day and more and more of her friends were dying. Marlene was ambushed at her home in late November and Dorcas was soon after. Remus was undercover constantly and Sirius was getting frustrated with how long this war has been going on. Lily just wanted everyone she loved to make it to the end. 

She blew out her candles with this in mind. 

30 January 1982

וֹם הֻלֶּדֶת שָׂמֵחַ,” יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת שָׂמֵחַ, יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת שָׂמֵחַ לְשׁוֹשָׁן “יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת שָׂמֵחַ

(Yom huledet sameach,

Yom huledet sameach

Yom huledet sameach le'shoshan

Yom huledet sameach)

Remus voice was just above a whisper as he sang to the lone candle he was holding. His tears fell silently as he closed his eyes and wished for Harry to be okay. He wished that he saw it coming. He wished he saw the signs that his boyfriend was going to betray his favourite person in the world. He wished that her sacrifice was worth it.  He wished for his best friend to come back. He wished everything were different. He whispered, 

“אני אוהב אותך פרח השושן שלי” 

(I love you, my lily flower)

He blew out the candle with this in mind.

#uhhh #this was not going to be sad #but i am about to cry #my bad #hope you enjoy i guess #lily evans #happy birthday lily #birthday through the years #jewish lily evans #jewish remus lupin #sorry could not find the transliteration for the last bit of hebrew #and the bigger chunk of hebrew is hebrew happy birthday #marauders era #marauders #the marauders #marauders girls #james potter #marlene mckinnon #dorcas meadowes #remus lupin #sirius black #canon compliant #harry potter #fuck peter pettigrew #hp marauders #hp #fanfic #drabble #jily #just ranting

[padfootastic]

Ooh, it’s not just how does Sirius react to Snape murdering James and Sirius losing his other half, but how does this later impact the war? There’s no Harry so Neville is the only prophecy child, meaning Voldemort has one single target to go after and who knows if Alice is able to give Neville the same protection Lily gave Harry. Plus, do the Marauders even stay friends or do they crumble apart without James? How does the wizarding world at large react to James Potter being murdered on school grounds? The staff might be crucified because a student developed a deadly spell on their grounds and used it to murder someone and, in contrast to other dangerous events that have occurred at the school, the dead student was a pureblood this time. Does Voldemort or his side take advantage of this, using it to justify their prejudices and to try to show how dangerous outsiders can be since Snape is a half-blood who was raised in the Muggle world (he may have known about magic, but he was raised in the Muggle world)? Do the Blacks take advantage of Sirius’s sudden devastation and grief, because him on the warpath could be twisted to their advantage if they’re clever enough? I can’t wait to read this story

no but that’s what i’m saying!!! james dying feels like. SUCH a major domino falling ykno? on so many different levels. i started this as a oneshot and i don’t know if it’ll go any further than that—maybe as a collection of fics on ao3? note sure—but i think i can talk at length about it in the form of bullet points lmao

i will say, tho, that i think the marauders will entirely crumble without james. they did it at 21, and though there’s no active war, i think it’ll actually be sirius’ grief that’ll be the biggest factor (bc he won’t be able to look past it for a while) and then, peter pulling away (bc i hc him as someone who’ll move from protector to protector and by the end of 5th year, his rat tendencies would’ve been nicely formed so i think he’ll treat it as abandoning a sinking ship sort of a thing). remus and sirius are also,,,fundamentally incompatible, i think, so they won’t be able to last.

it’s interesting about how the murder will be treated by the wizarding world at large because,,,what we know is that usually it’s just. not. it feels like hogwarts has absolutely no oversight bc myrtle died, students were petrified, ginny (a pureblood) was almost believed dead i’d say, draco was attacked, others were killed, students were tortured by umbridge and literally nothing ever happened. but! this is where the power dynamics i mentioned come into play. james might come from a powerful pureblood family who’s not willing to let this lie low, not to mention sirius’ own status and influence, for whatever that’s worth. then there’s sirius personal revenge and what he might do to snape, and what he can get away with doing to snape.

just. so many different paths u can take with this, i think.

#sirius black #james potter #i love these tangents anon!! #i’ve found that i personally enjoy worldbuilding so much #often more than the actual writing itself lol #i can sit there and daydream for a long time #and it’s so fun #ultimately this might just be a measly little oneshot—but all of this will still be churning in the bg lol #pen’s asks #pen’s writing

[weeklyreadings]

Week 31, part two

Operation: Toebeans by @blurryayse

Rated T. 28k. Wolfstar

Sirius comes up with the ingenious idea to give McGonagall a Marauders-esque nickname, but potentially getting kicked off the Quidditch team for the sake of mischief is just over the "not-worth-it" line. A reluctant Remus comes up with the idea of using reverse psychology to trick her into calling him Padfoot, so it's only fair they can then call her Toebeans.

Sirius thinks it's brilliant. James is crying of laughter 90% of the time, Peter has a few rare strokes of brilliance, and Lily is pretty damn sure that's not what reverse psychology is.

Second Generation by @msalexwp ♥️

Rated E. 47k. Wolfstar

Remus Lupin and Sirius Black spent their late teens in a happy haze of sex, troublemaking, and playing in their band, but break up in college. But when their respective children get in trouble together more than 20 years later, Remus and Sirius find themselves at odds with their very different parenting styles and dealing with a spark that was never quite extinguished.

👆🏾 pure perfection. I added it to my list of favorite fics before I was even half way through. I loved every word of this story and it just made me so happy to read.

again, for the first time by @aibidil ♥️

Rated E. 14k. Drarry

Five times Draco lied about why he wasn't drinking, and one time he gave an honest answer. Or, a love letter to sobriety.

The Trouble with Wanting by @waldorph

Rated E. 60k. Drarry

Draco Malfoy is cleared of all charges; this is what happens next.

On Target by milkandhoney, @the-sinking-ship

Rated E. 14k. Drarry

A charity dunk tank, some sorry excuses for friends, a Slytherin with freakishly good aim, a (mostly) empty locker room, and one very small towel. Because, apparently, everyone is dying to get Harry Potter wet.

Romp and Circumstance by @wolfpants

Rated E. 36k. Drarry

Since the war, Harry Potter has gone from Saviour to Scoundrel—not that he’s complaining.

With a schedule full of gorgeous men, alcohol, and late nights, why would he want to change? Enter Draco Malfoy: beautiful, sharp, and completely untouchable. When Draco comes to Harry with a proposition to help him attract an engagement, Harry’s up for it—after all, how hard can it be not falling for his former nemesis?

Criminal by @the-sinking-ship ♥️

Rated E. 83k. Drarry

Things were going just fine for Draco Malfoy. He successfully conned and counted cards across Europe and America, amassing a small fortune, along with a lengthy rap sheet. That was until he made the grave mistake of returning to England for a high stakes card game and got himself caught – by Harry Potter no less. Now, Draco is stuck in England under Auror Potter’s guard with no friends, no distractions, and no escape. How the hell will he pass the time? And since when did Potter get so bloody fit?

#fic recs #fanfic #hp fanfic #wolfstar #ao3fic #drarry #wolfstar fanfiction

[limetimo]

-RAB fics I read this week (8-14 May)

When All Hope Was Lost by HogwartsIsMyHomeJMC shit goes downhill in WizWar II and Hermione travels to 1979 to take names and kick ass - and she has all the names. Hermione/James, past Regulus/Pandora, Marauders and Marauderettes

as a friend, as an old enemy by Anonymous for doshu I'm screamiiiiing I have a. LOT of feelings about this one. Regulus intended to destroy the locket - but he's very, very gay and young Voldemort is very, very handsome

speak in tongues ('til you listen) by Anonymous Remus/James/Sirius/Regulus non-con gangbang, 30k of it but it's like *snaps fingers* and suddenly it's 3AM

rewrite my heart (let the future in) by secretpersona PANDORA AND REGULUS ♥ SOUP AND EACH OTHER I love them your honour also FUCK Moody and Dumbledore. I love this so much and you will too

The Horcrux Hunt by Keysie crying screaming throwing up I love this enemies to friends to brothers ♥♥♥ Everyone: Remus and Sirius are dating Remus: No, but not for the lack of trying on my part Regulus: If my brother doesn't pull his head out of his arse by the time we're thrity I'll literally platonically marry you Also cathartic yelling at Albus Dumbledore

A Star Goes Out by tuxedoallie This is GOOD. Regulus is a Death Eater, he's very in love with Jily (who love him back but you know, Death Eater), and Barty is by medical definition a psychopath and he's trying to hard and I love him your honour REGULUS TALK TO YOUR BARTY ABOUT YOUR CHANGING FEELINGS ABOUT VOLDEMORT DAMMIT

Heart of Emeralds by Anonymous for Maeglin_Yedi Regulus intended to destroy the locket - but he's very, very gay and young Voldemort is very, very handsome. In which the Locket Horcrux recruits Regulus' help in merging back with the rest of the souls parts

Wolf on the Fold by Anonymous for Ticigi *screaming* another Blackcest and is it just me or is this year's Regulus Black Fest really Blackcesty so far? But like uuuuugh gorgeous amazing brilliant I'll cry an ocean for Squib Regulus

Unmissable Occasions by Anonymous a beautiful Quidditch-centered fic!

just lovers (like we were supposed to be) by zeppazariel AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA James' insecurities he's not even aware of, Regulus making bad decisions he is very aware of, the Hogwarts Queer club, Lily being a Queen, Peter being a KING, Wolfstar being annoyingly oblivious and annoyingly in love, and Regulus' friends being very very mean :D

The Journey Back to You by Anonymous Regulus and Pandora are working together to track down and destroy the Horcruxes, Xeno and Pan are an unexpected power couple (I love them your honour), and contrary to popular belief James Potter was not made to be a househusband

love is in the air by ga_bi a little bit of domestic Jegulus

The Marauders and the Chamber of Secrets by SilverShadow1 alternate universe Marauders + Lily + Regulus read the Chamber of Secrets!

Linger by weekdayworld when Regulus sits on the stool with the Sorting Hat on his head, he was practically screaming:  Don’t let me become my mother. The Hat puts him in Slytherin. It's really well written, I like it and can't wait to see what's up next

voici mon secret by Anonymous for Ginnywasafriendofmine AAAAAAA After Voldy killed Walburga before little Regulus' eyes, the family had to ship him off to France or he'd try to rip Voldy's throat with his teeth. Now he's an adult, back in England, back on his bullshit. Can James convince him that revenge is not worth dying for? ♥♥♥

The Serpent That Devours Us by Maeglin_Yedi There was no was, Harry is a magizoologist and comes across a Basilisk that is actually cursed Tom Riddle. (Barty and Regulus are his intellectual uncles, they don't show up often but they're *chef kiss*). James Potter needs to chill hard

From Eden by INFPwriter Harry's time travelling little sister Anne + Regulus Black = big cute af love. Seriously I can't they're so sweet when they're not helping to plot Voldy's downfall

your smile is a million suns by Anonymous art, pretty vibes

I see you in the stars by Bibliosmia0 James suffers from a big case of gay and "I could save him" disease

Thin White Lies by wotcherremus Identity Porn wolfstar modern au, basically married Jegulus in the background

Hard decisions by Anonymous for Risuna_Phenix After finding out Voldy is shit, he is finally allowed to choose his brother over Death Eaters

No Face by BafflingYew Regulus is forced to attend a summer theater club (because Sirius picked it, the joys of being the younger sibling D:). It might not be as bad as he thought it would be...

An Overly Considerate Friend by Anonymous for lumosatnight James has hots for Regulus and his friends are not helpful

Lifeline of Black by Anonymous for lumosatnight Regulus misses his brother, plays a little piano, and ends on a hopeful note

The Turncloak Black by Anonymous Walburga did not carry her sons for 9 month each for them to die over Tom bloody Riddle.

To His Credit by Anonymous for doshu Jegulus smut with a side of Quidditch!

Open Season by avidita this one has me going "huhuehehehe"

Pull The Strings by JBlackLupinMalfoy James is in the habit of renting sex workers for a night... he's very surprised to see Regulus Black standing on his doorstep. With the Dark Mark on his arm Regulus is doing pretty fucking badly in the post-war world where sex work is the only work he can find. His mental health, perception of self-worth, perception of sex? All shot to hell. Can James be the sanctuary where Regulus heals? (boy needs SO MUCH therapy I'm not even kidding)

#regulus black #fic rec

[wearingaberetinparis]

I am screaminnnggggggg! So much fluff it makes me giggle! Definitely worth the wait Mary! Can't wait to meet Harry in the final chapter!❤️🥺

It is so, so, so fluffy! I am literally dying. SOTME/KUBME James makes me want to swoon, while Lily makes me want to be her very best friend.

#knocked up by my ex #jily fic #part 9

[lucigoo]

So here is my list of Non-Marauder fics. By Marauders Im speaking of what I would class as a Marauder fic, So Lily with Harry, yes. Mary pining for lily, no. I'm hoping some of my smaller fics get see and loved as much as I adore them. I hope someone enjoys at least one of them. They are a mix of gen and different ships. <3

Unhappy Ending: It's over, they're all gone (Minerva/Poppy) Summary: Poppy stood surrounded by the aftermath of the battle. The deaths were terrible, but one, one particular death has broken her heart all over again. Mischief Managed (Gen, Weasleys) Summary: Fred and Percy shared the last joke they will ever have with one another. George feels his life ending in that split second. My Regrets Hurt More Then My Death (Petter Pettigrew-centric) Summary: Peter lay dying, killed by the Master he had served for 15 years, a Master he had given everything for. Destroyed by the hole he had got himself trapped in and watched by the boy he had hurt more then anyone else in the world. I'm sorry George - Lucigoo89 - Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling [Archive of Our Own] (Agelina Johnson-centric) Summary: Roxanne has gont to Hogwarts, now the long days of just Angelina and George lay before her. But even now, all these years later Angelina has to admit the truth to herself, he just isnt Fred. Lily oh Lily (One-sided Mary/Lily) Summary: Mary loves Lily with all of her being, sadly, Lily loves james with everything inside her. Mary knows this, she understand this but her heart isnt able to figure out she is always the friend, never the beloved. We Could Do It If we Tried? (Alice/Narcissa) Summary: Alice wants to convince Narcissa it will be ok, that they can be together happily, but can they? Will Narcissa agree? Only me in the limelight (Gen, Cormac McLaggen-centric) Summary: Harry has just signed up to pay Quiddich proffesionally. Cormac McLaggen is not happy, at all!

Getting Together: We're safe, together (Madeye Moody/Kingsley Shacklebolt) Summary: Kingsley had come to help Moody sort out his wards and home protection. Moody is always so self-controlled that nobody but Kingsley can see he needs support and cuddles. Afterlife fics: Harry is loved in this life and the next (Draco/Harry) Summary: Harry James Potter breathes his last at 93 years of age. Surrounded by his family. Ready to be reunited with those he lost so many painful years ago. Molly's Ready (Molly Weasley-centric) Summary: Its been a long time since Molly last held Fred and 13 years since she saw her husband.

Shes ready, Molly's ready to close her eyes and find her missing family members and wait for the others.

Post Second Wizarding War: Kiss for the camera (Harry/George) Summary: Harry is going to his first Quidditch game with Teddy. Maybe he will come home with more then good memories of the finale. Two Orphans And A Widow Can A Family Make (Gen fic, Andromeda-centric) Summary: Andromeda has buried most of her family, all she has left is a sad lonely teenager and an orphaned infant.

But Andromeda is a Black through and through, regardles sof her last name, and Black's never give up, they never surrender and she is one of the two only Black's left alive. She will not give up whilst she is needed, and she is oh so needed by these boys. We won, but at what cost? (Molly Weasley-centric) Summary:Molly looks at her empty table, a table that should have been full with all 7 of her children (8 with Harry) but now it's empty. She has lost Fred to death, but she had lost her other children to the ravages of grief.

So she sits at her empty table as she thinks about what they lost and wonders if it was worth it. If her boy was the price worth paying for "peace." "Where did you go Wally?" ( Past Walburga/Euphemia)

Summary: Walbuga Black drove her heir away, now she watches as he laughs his way onto the Hogwarts Express. She watches as it takes her heir and spare somewhere safe.

Whilst she watches, SHE comes along, and angel or a demon, it doesnt matter because she is a better witch, a better woman and a better mother then Walburga has ever been, has ever been allowed to be. Women always suffer with the History of Men (Narcissa/Lucius Malfoy) Summary: Narcissa is on trial after the Battle Of Hogwarts. She will do anyhting to save her Dragon, including tell the truth. The honest, bitter truth that she and her foremothers have endured. For women always suffer at the hands of men. It is their history and at their hands that Narcissa has suffered by. No longer.

Fireseeker verse: (Post second War, Percy/Viktor Krumov): Fireseeker Verse Percy and Viktor and their love through the years.

#My fic #Enjoy #minerva/poppy #Gen #Weasleys #Peter Pettigrew #moody/kingsley #harry/draco #molly weasley #Harry/George #percy/viktor #andromeda black #angelina johnson #mary mcdonnell #Alice/Narcissa #Narcissa/lucius Malfoy

[thewrongsorts]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY ♚ your da adores you 

#worth dying for [james & harry] #m: carry you home tonight [james] #original #// mutuals can rebaggel

[askabound]

new tags !

#❛ ooc › the ones who love us never really leave us #❛ self promo › she’s a nasty piece of work though #❛ promo › the risk would’ve been what made it fun #❛ writings › we’ve all got both light and dark inside us #❛ headcanon › there are things worth dying for #❛ ramblings › there are things worth dying for #❛ desires › what’s life without a little risk? #❛ study › what matters is the part we choose to act on #❛ sirius crack › are you siriusly joking? #❛ aesthetic › maybe i’ll break the tradition #❛ dashboard › when all this is over‚ we’ll be a proper family #❛ prompts › since when did someone have to be in the order to ask questions? #❛ inbox › did you like question ten‚ moony? #❛ keepsakes › we are part of you #❛ shitpostery › mr. padfoot would like to register his astonishment #❛ queue › times like that bring out the best in some people #❛ relations › harry j. potter #❛ relations › james potter #❛ relations › remus j. lupin #❛ relations › peter pettigrew

[thewrongsorts--archive]

some single dad au content for the soft tragedy crowd

#//mutuals can rebagel #worth dying for [james & harry] #james v: angels never arrived #m: carry you home tonight [james] #original content #queue

[byakushisakura-rp]

Starter Call - Marauders

Like for a starter!!

#{there are things worth dying for}~Sirius #{until the very end}~james #Harry Potter #{It is very painful to turn into a werewolf}~Remus

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

So how did you think Jake found out that Tom was alive in the Eleutherophobia-verse?

Eva wakes up Chapman, in the early hours of the morning after the children left for their final assault on the Pool ship. “Come on,” she whispers. “Let’s go.”

He sits up, looks around the hork-bajir valley. “We’re supposed to stay here. To…”

To be ready to grab the civilians and run for it, if the battle really goes to hell. Because then even if the Animorphs don’t survive, even if the planet doesn’t, there will still be some free humans and hork-bajir left in the galaxy.

“It’s been thirty-six hours,” Eva says. “Radio chatter is still wall-to-wall peace negotiations. It’s over, I’m going. And I need a copilot.”

Clumsily, Chapman rolls to his feet. He doesn’t argue further.

Eva leaves a note for Peter, but doesn’t wake him — not worth the risk of also rousing Naomi or Michelle. The downed Bug fighter is still perched on the upper edge of the valley, battered but functional enough to hum to life when she throws it into gear.

The trip passes in silence. Ex-hosts don’t tend toward chatter, especially not when the air is thick with anxiety. She handles the controls; Chapman navigates.

It’s not hard, with an Empire comm on board, to find out about the Pool ship parked on the Washington Mall. To discover that the yeerk fleet now answers to one War-Prince Jake Berenson, Commander in Chief of the Earth Resistance. To find that their new overlord is currently located at a processing center outside Washington D.C., but he’s not taking calls at this time.

Eva leaves Chapman at the entrance of the main hub of the processing center (“M-E-L-I-S-S-A, blond hair, this tall, she’s fif— shit, she just turned sixteen…”) and pushes her way further inside. No one thinks to stop her; everyone’s got too much to do.

Their Commander in Chief is sitting on the cement floor of a back office, legs pulled up to his chest, face pressed into his kneecaps. Marco leans against his shoulder.

“Cariño,” Eva breathes, and they both lift their heads.

Marco has been crying. Jake has not. Marco surges upright, throws himself into her arms. She grips him hard, heart squeezing, rocking where she stands.

“Who,” she whispers.

“Rachel.”

And oh, oh, may God forgive her for the surge of relief she feels. May he look kindly on her gratitude that it is Naomi and not she who must live with this pain.

“Tom as well,” Marco says, face buried in her shoulder from where she presses a hand into his hair. “Jara. James. Kelly and Tuan. Don’t know about Collette, but, uh.” A wet breath.

No surprises there. She expects the list of dead hosts to be innumerable, and they knew the Auxiliaries were on the front line. Peter is safe. Marco is safe. Jake is safe. Eva has room in her heart for three people only; any more and the world will eat you alive. She’ll need a moment to find it in herself to care about the others.

Marco pulls back enough that they can glance at each other, and then both look at Jake.

His eyes are dull, but he stares up at them. That tilt of the shoulders, that openness to his face — it’s the stance of a starving man watching a feast, of a hypothermic leaning toward a dying fire. Eva has been glimpsing that hunger for months, but she can’t satiate it. She isn’t Jean, isn’t Steve, isn’t Tom.

All she can do is nudge Marco forward, and let him shove his way back into Jake’s arms. All she can do is leave them their space to grieve, and to hope that Jean will learn to forgive.

She’s in a refugee center, she realizes as she shuts the door on her boys.

**********

Two hours later, Eva’s guarding the door against entrance and intrusion and inquiry when a harried-looking woman rushes up, raising a hand to knock before Eva steps into her path.

“We need someone who speaks Galard.” The woman tries again for the door. “If you’d let me through—”

“I speak Galard,” Eva says.

For the first time, the woman looks at Eva.

Eva looks back. Windswept gray hair, bags under eyes, ex-host stiffness.

The woman blows out a breath. “Yeah. Okay.”

The woman (Diedre, she says) runs Eva through a brisk summary of the clusterfuck as they make their way back to the processing room: “Over half a million ex-hosts, twenty thousand and counting in the D.C. area alone, some claiming to be yeerkless but we don’t know, some who are still controllers and we’ve got no kandrona, casualty count unknown… We’ve got nowhere to put them. No way of knowing who to trust.”

It’s too much. That much horror, in numbers that high, simply becomes so incomprehensible it’s boring.

“Galard.” Eva cuts her off. “Tell me what you need Galard for.”

Diedre takes her to a computer console, one of the human ones back-fitted by the Empire to run on yeerk software. Scrolling across the screen is a list of file paths.

“Break in,” Diedre says. “Any contact information about hosts, anything with numbers or names or who can morph, will help.”

Eva sighs, looking at the scrolling text. Yeerks rarely record anything about hosts, outside of quantity. But Diedre probably knows that already.

No use complaining. Eva gets to work.

“Hedrick Chapman,” she says at one point. “Can someone find Hedrick Chapman and tell him I need his help with the Sharing rosters? He’s forty-five, six-one, thinning brown hair.”

No less than four people scurry off, moving as urgently as… as if Visser One herself had issued that request. Eva resolves to save the identity crisis for later, and gets back to typing.

“I’m not getting involved in this,” Chapman says, when he gets herded back into the room, Melissa in tow. “I’m out.”

“Uh-huh.” Eva hands him an inch-thick stack of paper. “Underline the voluntaries and cross out the deceased.”

Grumbling, Chapman sits down and scrounges a pen.

Anything that looks remotely useful — memos on troop movements, Sharing logistics, notes on cover stories for hosts — she flags as being of interest and runs through a rough auto-translate. It’s one hell of a haystack, and most of the needles are mislabeled; she looks up at one point and discovers night has fallen and that she’s been here long enough for her wrists to ache.

“Does anyone here know andalite programming?” she yells into the hallway for the fourth or fifth time.

Everyone looks up. They’re up to eleven people crammed into this room, ranging in usefulness from Zachariah who’s fluent in four alien languages to Melissa, who has gamely taken on the task of alphabetizing print-outs.

“I may be able to assist in that regard,” a familiar voice says.

Every ex-host in the room jumps. Chapman shoots to his feet, eyes wide, body suddenly between Melissa and the man standing at the door.

Well. Not quite a man.

“What’s with the sudden interest in helping non-andalites?” Chapman says acidly.

Alloran looks him over. “Thank you for your concern. I must congratulate you on your newfound loyalty to your own species.”

“Nope!” Eva claps her hands. “No, I do not care what history you two have. You will be sitting down, you will be keeping your traps shut, and you will be handing me a Unix-compatible list of yeerk deployments to the greater D.C. area by tomorrow, or so help me God I will— will put you both in time-out.”

That definitely came out in Visser One’s voice. Changing her threat mid-sentence doesn’t do much to mitigate it. Eva wants not to care. There isn’t time to care.

Alloran and Chapman both settle in meek silence at their consoles. That’s something, anyway.

Eva types, until her eyes blur, until her thoughts are all in Galard. The next interruption comes in the form of a cup of coffee being set on the desk next to her. Searing hot, acidic, cut lightly by two creams and a surface coating of cinnamon.

“You are a blessing to every one of your ancestors,” she says with real feeling, looking up at her son. She has no idea how many months it’s been since she’s had hot coffee, had no idea Marco remembered how she takes it.

Marco gives an over-causal shrug, but he’s flushed with pride. “We were feeling kinda useless, to be honest.” He tilts his head over to Jake, who is handing around snack cakes to everyone else.

“Have you tried getting him out of here?” Eva asks in an undertone.

“Can Tiger Woods golf?” Marco mutters.

Eva nods. Jake’s waiting for news about his parents, no doubt, and she can appreciate his not wanting to be alone.

Speaking of which. She might as well try again, since it’s been a few hours since the last attempt. Eva pulls up the ever-updating list of hosts in custody, and enters ‘Berenson.’

This time, the computer comes back with a result.

She glances over. Marco’s drifted across the room, saying something to Melissa that causes her to break into giggles and her dad to glare. Jake is standing next to them, staring into space, empty-handed. Eva angles her monitor a little more to the left.

Jeanette Berenson, the entry says. Held in Annapolis, MD. Uninfested, voluntary exit.

Eva blows out a long sigh.

A sudden memory. Eva pushing a stroller along sidewalks that cut between manicured suburban lawns, feeling as self-conscious as a cygnet in a duck pond. The genuine warmth, in the way Jean had stood from her front porch and rushed to meet a fellow mother. Toddlers playing in the yard: one loudmouthed four-year-old throwing a nerf ball, one barely-walking baby watching them over the thumb jammed into his mouth.

There had been no hesitation, no guile in Jean. She’d cooed over Marco’s two-tooth smile, asking when Eva had moved in and if tomorrow would be too soon to arrange a play date. Eager to befriend, regardless of Eva’s brown skin and foreign accent.

A good person. A good parent.

Eva can be honest, in the privacy of her mind where now even Edriss cannot hear: she never liked Tom Berenson. He never really outgrew being too loud, too energetic, taking up all the attention. Never seemed to notice Jake’s agonizing case of hero-worship. Never gave anyone else reason to notice Jake either, although that was not his fault.

But her heart can still ache for his loss, looking at her beloved friend’s name on the screen and wondering who shall break the news that one of Jean’s sons has killed the other.

The computer beeps. It’s loaded more results.

Three more results.

Again, Eva glances over at Jake. He’s paying no attention.

Daniel Berenson, the next file says. No surprise there. Held in Bronx, NY. Infested.

Another parent. Another dead child. Eva struggles to find fondness for Naomi, musters at minimum sadness for her loss.

Thomas Berenson is the next file down. Eva jolts at the name, but it’s clearly a different Thomas Berenson, because next this one is a listing about his current location rather than a deceased marker. Another glance over at Jake.

This time he looks back, frowning slightly.

Eva’s not proud of what she does next. She widens her eyes in concern. Mouths: “You all right, honey?”

It has exactly the intended effect. Jake’s expression closes off. He gives her a stiff nod, and walks out of the room.

Steven Berenson, the final entry under the name. Held in Annapolis, MD. Uninfested, voluntary exit. With any luck, he and Jean have already found each other.

Eva looks around for Marco, hoping to let him deliver the good news about Jake’s parents. Before she calls him over she hesitates, and takes one more look at that third entry.

She wouldn’t want a misunderstanding causing Jake pain. So she can go through and confirm that it’s a nasty coincidence, maybe update the file with a middle name or a suffix so that Jake will know at a glance this isn’t his brother.

Thomas Berenson. The entry has notes about his being taken in outside of Gainesville, Virginia, held in Arlington. And then she sees the warning tag down at the bottom.

Eva switches off the monitor and shoots to her feet.

“Diedre?” She’s pleased with how level her voice sounds. “Diedre, I’m going to need you in the next room.”

Diedre stands as well, moving to set down the yeerk tablet.

“Bring that,” Eva says.

She’s moving fast down the hall before she even confirms Diedre is following, opening doors at random until she gets to an empty supply closet. Diedre steps in, asking no questions. Bless her heart.

“I need you to pull up everything you have on Thomas Berenson,” Eva says. “From the host files.”

Awkwardly, Diedre shifts to type into her tablet. “Okay, this him?” She holds up the entry.

“That’s the one.” Eva’s eyes once again lock on that note at the bottom.

WARNING: suspected morpher.

Because suddenly this is looking less like a coincidence… more like Marco’s own ability to use morphing to get out of near-certain death.

“What do you need?” Diedre asks.

“Anything.” Eva’s voice is less steady now. More breathless. Shakier, thinking of Jake’s bloodshot eyes and blank face. Of Jean’s effortless love. Of Steve’s dorky laugh. “Everything there is on this host. I need all of it.”

“Okay.” Diedre taps her tablet. “Sending an inquiry to the Arlington facility now. They’re going to be as overwhelmed as we are — that’s where the most senior yeerks are being held.”

The lightheadedness increases. “Including Visser Seventeen?”

“Yeah, he’s on the list.” Diedre keeps tapping. “Oh, here we go! They have video stills of all the controllers, including… this.”

She holds out the tablet. Filling the screen is a color photo of the host, suspected morpher, possibly Visser Seventeen, allegedly Thomas Berenson.

Eva’s knees give out. She catches herself before she goes down, and then she’s throwing open the closet door and screaming Jake’s name.

#animorphs #long post #animorphs spoilers #eleutherophobia #eva animorphs #tom berenson #jake berenson #marco animorphs #animorphs ficlet #eleutherophobia ficlet #hedrick chapman #melissa chapman #alloran semitur corass #i swear this was meant to be like 200 words and then i did my usual thing and this happened #also sorry-not-sorry but i just think pre-eleutherophobia eva would straight up *not give a shit* about tom #and only be mildly sad about rachel

[moonlightserenadeeznutz]

Harry Potter characters insulting Rowling

tw// swearing, caps

~

Harry: Transphobia? Absolute bullshit. Fuck Jk Rowling.

Ron: JK Rowling? Even her name’s a joke.

Hermione: Transphobia is nothing but illogical. Trans woman are woman. Trans men are men. Non-binary people are non-binary. I have zero respect for this Rowling woman.

Ginny: Rowling? Where? I’d like to show her my bat bogey hex... *has to be restrained by Fred and George*

Fred: We’re restraining Ginny because that woman isn’t even worth it, right George?

George: Right, Fred. That being said... a prank wouldn’t go amiss...

Fred: ... you know... we haven’t exploded a toilet for a while... and I could find her address...

George: :))))

Luna: As a trans girl myself, I hope nargles take over Rowling’s brain.

Dean Thomas: Transph- 🤢 Transphobi- 🤢 Transphobia? 🤮 Gross.

Seamus Finnigan: On account of the entirety of Ireland we’d like you to piss off.

Sirius: Rowling and my mother would get along great! They’re both a refined flavour of bitch with a side order of SHUT THE FUCK UP

James: Absolute BOLLOCKS! Trans rights are human rights and Rowling can prise that out of my cold dead fucking HANDS

Remus: *clears throat* *inhales* *opens eyes* fuck you :) Want me to say it in Welsh too? dos i chwarae efo dy nain. That means fuck off :)

Lily: Oi, Marlene. Hold me back, cos I’m about to slap this sad cow into tomorrow.

Marlene: Why the fuck would I hold you back, Lils?

Dorcas: Transphobia’s for losers lmao couldn’t be me 😌

Tonks: ROWLING SAID WHAT ABOUT TRANS PEOPLE? FUCKING BOLLOCKS *trips over in the chaos* I MAY BE ON THE FLOOR BUT I CAN STILL BITE YOUR ANKLES, BITCH

~

Happy trans day of visibility!! You’re all valid and I love you 💕🏳️‍⚧️💕

#harry potter #fuck jkr #trans day of visibility