#I watched Howls moving Castle the other day and fell in love with the story and aesthetic of the film and felt like it would fit into the au | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cosmiclatte28 · 3 years

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Magic (Yuta x reader)

Hello, It's Yuta's day already in Korea and Japan, and @yutahoes already posted this, so I will also post it here.

Our first story for the EVER AFTER collab!

Honored to be writing in this story with the best sister-writer here @yutahoes

Character : Wizard, magician! Yuta x baker! reader + Apprentice Mark

Inspired from Howl's Moving Castle

TW : none of scary or nsfw things. This is safe for everyone to read and has good morals

not beta read yet, because we might need to find someone to beta read and we are a bit busy! but we did it... for yuta :")

enjoy reading!

Nakamoto Yuta. Everyone in the kingdom knows the name. Girls would swoon at the sound of his name. Guys would admire him from afar. The greatest wizard in town.

"Some market-goers were saying that they saw wizard Yuta earlier."

One girl said, opening her fan then covering it on her face before giggling. "I'll be the happiest woman when I get to see his handsome face."

The other girl shook her head, "I heard the princess had a claim on him."

Someone else muttered, "We don't have any say on this. It's already the princess."

The princess of the kingdom is much like the other girls who were swept off by the blinding beauty of the wizard. Although Yuta doesn’t show himself in town much, his charm is hard to shrug off and that was exactly what happened to the princess who fell in love during the kingdom’s banquet.

A loud knock resonated through the whole house, followed by a huge booming voice announcing that it’s from the king. Yuta groaned, covering his head with the pillow, but the knocks grew louder that made him annoyed. “Mark!” he called. Footsteps can be heard which made him smile.

The younger guy stared at the indicator by the door, showing a green light. Using a spell, his messy brown hair became dark pink with orange highlights at the front. Two men, who he immediately recognized as royal guards, handed him an envelope claiming that it’s for the wizard. Mark nodded, thanking them before closing the door. He just placed the document on the table when the wizard went down the stairs, rubbing his long blonde hair. “What do they want again?” He asked, opening one eye then yawning. “Another invitation?”

“Hyung, you really should go to the kingdom and personally decline the invitation.” The younger man claimed before putting jam on his bread. “This is the third this month.”

Yuta shook his head and Mark was confused if it was the bread he offered or what he said. “You know I hate going to town.” The younger scoffed before biting the bread. The older man stood up, brushing his clothes before walking to the door. He watched as black wings appeared from his broad back as his body started changing into a bird.

“I’ll be back before lunch.”

Mark nodded. For someone who hated going to town, he had been out almost everyday.

----

On the other side of the town, under the warm golden sun and fluffy clouds, a young lady is taking her time enjoying her morning. Y/N was already out of time for her morning errands. She has exactly half an hour before she's needed at the bakeshop so she stayed in the park and watched as the birds nibbled on the leftover bread from yesterday.

"I hope you like it little birdies." She whispered then breathed hard just as a little black bird went to her shoulder.

"Hey there.” she greeted with a wide smile, opening her palm and placing some crumbs on it.

Her eyes gazed at the old couple walking hand in hand, smiling fondly.

“They look so good together.” She whispered. “I heard they were married for so long.” She crumbled the bread, throwing some to the little birds.

“If only I can experience an eternal love like that.” She said dreamily.

A gasp escaped her lips as the clock tower rang nine times, Y/N threw the last handful of bread crumbs into the ground and let the flocks of birds enjoy their delicious morning breakfast. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said to the birds before running to the main road.

The black bird stared at her longingly, keeping his eyes on the girl who was now leaving him. He waited until she was several steps ahead of him before he flapped his wings and flew after her. Something caught the bird’s attention when he saw several blocks ahead, a group of big men smoking cigarettes blocking the way. He quickly looked around and judging by the route she is on, the girl will surely have to pass those men. The black bird hid behind a chimney and with one blink, changed into his human form, waiting for the perfect time to pop up.

Y/N did not realize the group of men loitering around her way. All she cared about is that she needed to go back to the bakery or she’ll be late for the busy hour. When she noticed them, it was too late. There’s no backing down. One of the guys already saw her and started walking closer to her. She wanted to turn away and run but one of the guys held her hand already. “Where are you going, little mousey? A beauty like you would surely go to waste if we let you go.” the brunette guy smirked.

“Let me go, or else…” she hung her words, building the tension and finding a spot to kick them and run away or maybe scream for help.

“Or else what? You want to scream?” the other guy stepped on his cigarette and pushed the other guy to the side. Y/N tried to free herself from the strong grip of the man in front of her but she realized her strength was incomparable. She almost yelled for help when suddenly a strong hand hugged her shoulder from the side.

Her eyes grew wide but her heart skipped a beat when the man with his deep calm voice greeted them all. “There you are darling, I’ve been looking for you everywhere” he threw a quick glance at her. Their eyes locked with his and as if hypnotized, she just froze in his arms.

“Who are you?” The two guys tried to scare the young man away but he calmly brushed his cape back and smirked. He ignored the question and just looked at the girl with hearty eyes. Finally, he could stand next to her, have her in his arms and in human form.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” he said with a warm smile. “You two, go home before you regret it.” his golden hair swayed perfectly when he threw a death glare on the bastards. “Or else, I will turn both of you into toads. You want that?” he raised his brow, smirking when he saw the two men tremble. A satisfied smirk escaped his lips when they let go of the girl.

“She belongs to me. Now, excuse us for we have some business to do.” he pulled her closer into his arm, briskly walking past the two guys.

“I hope you know how to fly.”

“What?” He magically stomped on the ground to float above the roofs. His hands held hers, like a mother teaching her child how to walk and as if she was dreaming, they were walking on air. Taking a stroll around the neighborhood in thin air.

Y/N gripped his hand, afraid that she would fall if she let go.

“Follow my lead,” he commanded and craned his neck to look at her fascinated face,

“You’re a natural darling. Now to the bakery is it?” he led both of you to land on the window. He stepped on the balcony first then lent his hand for you to hold while meeting the ground once again.

"Please be careful of yourself from now on."

“I will. Thank you, kind sir."

The guy smiled before flying backward while doing a curtsy. "That's my girl." The girl watched as the guy disappeared before she ran away to the crowded bakery.

He saw her disappear from the window and when he saw the two guys earlier running with guards while pointing at the sky, the guy knew it was his cue to disappear before he got caught in another problem. His strong black wings appeared again and within one spin he was back soaring on the blue sky.

Y/N had no chance to think of what happened to her. She only knew that she had never seen or met him before, but what’s with his greetings? It seemed like he had been looking for her for such a long time then finally found her. The call from the counter made her rush to help. She tied her apron and put on her sweet smile, attending to the customers of their small shop.

The day was busy and full of patrons who came to their bakery for bread. Although it was her ultimate dream to sell cakes, she was expecting to sell her own cakes. Yet she’s not still equipped for the job, or that was what her father always says. She was assigned to clean up the bakery since it’s nighttime. The bells of the door can be heard. They’re already close. Who would need bread this late at night? She turned to greet the customer with a smile, only for it to fade away when she noticed who was standing in front of her. A woman with an ominous aura.

Y/N knew her and knew that she couldn’t run away from the cruelest witch in town. No one can escape her. But why her? What did she do? “Don’t try to run away,” the older woman said in a chilling tone.

“The princess ordered me to curse you for being near her lover. Now you must bear the consequences.” the witch twirled her hand and like being controlled, she couldn’t move her limbs at all. There was green smoke around them and suddenly Y/N could no longer feel her youth running inside her.

“Enjoy being an old lady,” the witch said with a cackle.

“Now you won’t be able to flirt with the future prince at all.” What? She did not know who she was flirting with that caused this big misery. She stared into the mirror and screamed upon seeing a reflection of an old woman.

She was cursed into an old lady even before feeling the beauty of falling in love.

She knew she cannot stay in their house looking like this. With three pieces of bread and her cloak, she went out of their home and into the streets of the town. She doesn’t know where to go or when to spend the night. All she knows is that she needed to go away and protect her only family member from the curse of the cruel witch.

She didn't know where to go and it's already morning yet her aching body isn’t helping at all. The effect of being an old woman in the cold. The market is full of people, an opportunity for her to find a new place to stay at.

"Oh shit! I forgot the baguette." she heard someone say that made her turn to the owner of the voice.

"That annoying man would kill me. And the bakery is so...Shit! Why am I talking to myself?" She giggled. He looked so young. Why is he struggling with the groceries?

"And damn it, I haven't cleaned the house." He looked like he's in such a dilemma.

"Are you alright?" She asked that made the younger guy stare, bowing to apologize for being so loud but she shook her head, smiling.

"A baguette is easy to make if you have an oven at home. You just need eggs, flour…"

"But I still have to clean the house." He reasoned out then as if remembering something, shouted an 'Oh shoot' that made her flinch.

"Sorry. I have to get him unique flowers and leaves, as well as roots too. I am just tired of living with an adult who is like a kid.”

He is really troubled. "Do you need help? I might be an old woman but I can help you with your tasks. I can bake some bread for you."

His eyes lit up, looking at you. Obviously, he was thinking deeply about it. But honestly, you just wanted to help the poor guy.

"I guess I can let you in the house before that annoying guy wakes up." It must be really annoying for him to hate the guy so much.

And you figured out why. While heading to the so-called 'magical house' of his wizard master, he supplied you with the rants he had over the child-like guy. “We need a bread supply for I don't know how long. That annoying man just can’t settle down in one place. Didn’t he know how hard it was to find a good bakery?” It must really be a magical house. But why would they keep moving to different places? Are they hiding from someone?

“I have to do the groceries and clean the house. Then all he did was trash the house with his hair, dirty clothes and he would only look for me when he was hungry. I am not even there to be a cook! Let alone be his housekeeper.”

He seemed like a guy who is responsible for a lot of things. How bad can that wizard be that this guy kept ranting like this? He should be enjoying his life, not stressing over things like these. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Mark Lee, by the way."

"I'm Y/N."

"I'm really sorry for dragging you here like this." he looked apologetic so she just shook her head, careful not to drop the eggs they bought. Mark didn't stop and kept talking about how this person who lived with him was so annoying and how he wished this guy could be less dramatic about life. Y/N just smiled hearing Mark’s rant. Though he sounded so tired about it, he sounded like he cared a lot about this guy or maybe he was just afraid of him.

Once they arrived, the house looked normal and warm. She stepped in after Mark and understood how hard it was to clean up. Things were scattered all over the floors and tables. It truly is a man's place. Despite Mark saying he tidied up all the time, Y/N knew better that both of them were just hopeless.

Mark began by sweeping the floor while Y/N collected the dirty plates and glasses to put them in the sink so she can have some space to prepare her baking materials. She took a quick pause after kneading the dough when she felt her body get tired. Mark offered her some water and she was grateful for it. Y/N helped mop the floor while Mark arranged the herbs and potions on the shelf as they were waiting for the bread to bake. She was told that this is a wizard's house and that Mark is an apprentice.

The smell of the fresh bread filled the house and Y/N only heard footsteps from the second floor. Maybe the wizard is already awake. Now that she found out a lot about him, she's completely curious about who the annoying guy was. Her eyes widened in surprise seeing a familiar man, rubbing his eyes as if he just woke up from his sleep. His golden hair swayed as he sniffed the air and roamed his eyes around the house before stopping to look at the girl. It's the guy who saved her in town.

"Mark, who's the guest?" he asked and her eyes widened in surprise. It is indeed him. The same voice. So that explains why he can float in the air. He is a wizard. The younger guy introduced her before a knock on the door could be heard. The two guys looked at each other before Mark glanced at the red light above the door. He changed his appearance before her, the messy brown hair changed with a green hair that made him look younger, then opened the door and talked to someone outside.

“Did you bake the bread?” the wizard asked

She nodded as the wizard took a stick of baguette and started nibbling on it. “This is pretty good. Better than what Mark buys.” The mentioned lad entered the door before getting a bottle from the shelf and exiting out. She caught sight of the outside, a grassy field unlike the cobblestones of the roads in their town. Immediately, she pushed the curtain to the side and saw a flower path that startled her. Are they in a new place?

When Mark came back inside, he just put coins of gold in one jar. “Hyung, let’s go back so Y/N can go home.” But the wizard shrugged, saying that he’s tired. The younger guy hissed and the girl just gave him a comforting smile. “So Y/N can stay with us now?”

The guy with blonde hair nodded, “She cleans the house better and cooks better. You can leave now, Mark.”

“What? Don’t be harsh on the kid.”

“I’m not a kid!”

The girl sighed. They’re both kids. How can they live with each other for so long?

Y/N was surprised when she opened the door that showed yet another place. Last night, she slept looking at the green scenery but now there is a beach nearby. She closed the door as the breeze made her cold and turned the stove on to start making breakfast for her and the two guys. She realized how annoying it is for Mark to find different markets and buy food whenever they move places, but why would the wizard do that?

As expected, it was Mark who woke up first among the two. Rubbing his eyes while mumbling a good morning at the old woman making breakfast. Luckily, there are still eggs left from the bread she baked yesterday. Maybe they can have that for breakfast. “I’ll try to ask hyung to return us to the town today,” he claimed. “Besides the miss might be in the market today.” he said more to himself that made the girl surprised. Is Mark in love? Y/N smiled, he’s at that age. It’s not a surprise.

The footsteps can be heard while Mark starts setting up the table. The blonde guy stretched and yawned, somehow looking super handsome despite his bed hair. Y/N shook her head. Is he really an amazing wizard like what Mark says? "Morning pretty fellas, but I am prettier!" He giggled at his own sentence but Mark and Y/N just looked at each other. "Oh, what's with the cold shoulder?"

But Mark didn’t say anything and just sat down beside the girl, quietly eating his breakfast. “Mark, get some seaweed from the sea nymph. Let’s stay here today, I have to maintain my skin.” he said while holding his cheek. Mark wanted to return to town right? Why can’t he tell the wizard that? Is he scared to tell his thoughts?

“Actually, Mark wanted to…”

“I’ll go get it hyung.” The girl only looked at Mark in surprise.

While heading to the sea nymph’s place, Mark explained how tiring it is for the wizard to change places. He even apologized for not returning to town immediately. If it’s tiring for him, why does he keep changing locations? Is he running away from someone?

The nymph’s place is rather mystical and when Mark entered, the nymph welcomed him by saying, “Oh it’s the mighty wizard’s apprentice.” Everyone looked at him, especially the females who were naked except for shells covering their breasts. When she glanced at their legs, she only saw scales. Mermaids.

“The usual seaweed?” He nodded before asking her to sit down. She watched as the mermaids headed to Mark and asked how the mighty wizard is. But Mark didn’t answer them.

Oh, she thought. Maybe the guy dated mermaids and that is the reason why they had moved places. He’s handsome and obviously, the females were attracted to him judging by their expressions. Maybe that was it. He’s a womanizer. Now, she felt bad for Mark who had to suffer because of the older’s reckless doings.

When the girl and Mark went home, they were surprised to hear a scream coming from the inside. Mark hurried inside and the girl huffed. Why must she be an old woman? When she came inside the door, she saw how the older guy dramatically slumped on the couch. “Did you touch my things?” he asked, which made the girl surprised. She only cleaned the bathroom earlier.

“Look at my hair. I’m not attractive anymore.” What? His hair had changed into a dark color but he still looked attractive, which is rather annoying. Why does he look good with everything?

Mark stared at the girl then at the wizard. “I’ll take care of it hyung,” he claimed before taking the seaweeds they bought. “Here, don’t stress yourself. Calm down. I’ll make a mixture for your hair.”

Y/N was just staring at the dark-haired guy lying on the couch with the seaweeds covering his face. Mark was busy mixing potions and looking really troubled. Seriously, who is the real wizard here? The older one here? Mark cares about him yet he never actually cared about the younger guy. And people call him an amazing wizard? “Amazing wizard? How stupid?” she said loud enough for the two guys to hear, making them look at her.

The wizard removed the seaweeds from his face then in a serious look stared at the girl. “What did you say?”

“Hyung, don’t. She’s an old woman…”

“I just think it’s stupid how you run away to everything. If you’re an amazing wizard like what they call you, shouldn’t you be fixing this instead of the apprentice?” Mark called for her name, asking the girl to stop but the older guy just stared at her. “You never even cared about anyone or anything but your looks. I only stayed here for a day and I can see how badly you treated Mark…” The mentioned guy tried to stop her again. “And you call yourself an amazing wizard?”

“Is that how you got your curse?” The girl’s eyes widened, surprised at what he meant. He knew that she’s cursed? Even Mark looked surprised as he stared at the girl.

“You talked back to a wizard? The dark witch to be exact?” But she didn’t. “Mark, send her back tomorrow morning.” The guy walked back upstairs telling the apprentice that he doesn’t have to do the mixture and that he’ll skip dinner.

The girl bit her lip in guilt. Why can’t she just shut up? Mark remained quiet the whole course of dinner and honestly, she cannot sleep soundly that evening. She doesn’t have to say those words. She should apologize. But when she woke up that morning, she only saw the cobblestone of town from outside the window and Mark saying that the wizard was already outside.

“Do you think he hates me?” Mark shook his head, walking the path to the bakery. In the course of the days, she had missed her dad. Is he looking for her? “I’m really sorry for saying those things but Mark you have to tell him if you’re getting bothered by all the things he’s asking you to do.”

“I appreciate you looking out for me, Y/N. But I owe hyung everything.” Mark started. “You see, I was a young kid when he found me and told me that I should become a wizard. He willingly took me in as his apprentice when I didn't know anything about magic. He does seem like a narcissistic person but he cares a lot.” Of course, she doesn’t know that. She quickly judged him. “Do you stay in the bakery?” The girl nodded, seeing as how the bakery is still full of people. “Should we buy something?”

It was weird standing in front of the bakery as the customer and not the seller. It was an old man who manned the stall, her dad. He looked worn out, the life missing from his eyes. He must be worried about her. “Can we get croissants and breadsticks?” She asked and he only answered a nod that made her heart ache. From the corner of the store, she saw a picture of them together.

“I feel bad for the baker.” They heard one of the customers. “His daughter just left without a word.” The older woman continued before another one butted in, “Maybe she ran away with some guy.” She didn’t. But she cannot return when she’s in this state. What can she do?

Mark looked at her in concern. “Yuta hyung can help you.” Yuta hyung? Her eyes widened in surprise. That attractive wizard is Yuta? Yuta Nakamoto? The greatest wizard in town?

-------

‘You never care about anyone or anything but your looks.’ The old woman’s voice kept on ringing in Yuta’s ears. Is he really that obnoxious to begin with? He knew that Mark was scared of him but he didn’t know that he had been neglecting Mark all this time. Nevertheless, she’s wrong about something because he cares about someone. But why isn’t she here? The clock bell is about to ring.

He cannot remove her from his mind, even feeling the warmth of her skin against his fingertips. He wanted to see her again. But when he passed by the bakery, she’s nowhere to be seen. It’s been two days. He had to go to the bakery and the park in the morning, before Mark or Y/N woke up, which tired him out. Changing locations drains his energy and although he doesn’t like the idea of going to different places, he cannot bear to put Mark in trouble because of him.

Yuta was surprised to see his apprentice and the old woman heading to the park with brown bags. What are they both doing here? They sat on the girl’s usual seat that confused Yuta. He watched as she started taking the bread from the bag and crumbled it on her skirt before throwing it to the birds. The same way the girl had been doing. In his bird form, he flew to the older woman’s shoulder and she smiled while rubbing his head with her finger. “Do you usually do this?” Mark asked and the old woman nodded, answering that she did before she got the curse. “How did you get the curse in the first place?”

“A dark witch came to me.” she shared, “Telling me that the princess asked to curse me for…” She stopped. Yet Yuta doesn’t need to hear the full story.

It was his fault. He was the reason why she was cursed. ‘And you call yourself an amazing wizard?’ Her words repeated in his mind. She’s right. He’s not an amazing wizard if he only caused her harm. If he only caused them harm.

Before Yuta could hear any more of Mark telling the older woman about the girl from the market that he liked, just to divert the conversation, he had already flown away. In the middle of nowhere, under the dark humid roof, he blinked and Yuta made his appearance to the witch. “What did you do to her?” The black witch was obviously startled at the appearance of the almighty wizard in her place, uninvited. A smirk appeared on her face before asking to elaborate on what he meant. “Y/N,” he said in a loud voice. “Break her curse. She doesn’t have to be involved in this.”

The wicked woman circled around the furious Yuta. “So you’re in love with this baker girl?” A villainous laugh echoed through the whole room. “The princess ordered me to do it. And Yuta, you know exactly what to do to break her curse.”

He doesn’t have any choice. He wanted her to return to her life. He wanted her to get out of the curse. He wanted Mark to be free of him. “I’ll marry the princess. Just break her curse.”

The evil witch only smirks, laughing in her maniac tone. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to run away.” Yuta gulped and closed his eyes, channeling his anger into his soul. It was his fault since the beginning, he shouldn’t have used that charming potion his tutor warned him about.

Yuta took his time walking through the enchanted forest. He wondered who named it enchanted when all he could feel while walking through the trees was a gloomy feeling. Disenchanted. He wished there is a way to turn back time and heed the words from his tutor. His long lonely walk made the blood run in his head. He let himself think of all the mistakes he had made, of all the insincere help, the selfless acts he did to others, and just how bad of a wizard he actually is.

His heart almost dropped to the ground when he realized he had to ask them to leave before the evil witch could do anything bad to them again. There he could see Mark and Y/N giggling over the house chores. He smiled fondly. He had never seen Mark smile this cheerfully in a long time. He used to only order Mark around to answer the door, cook food, and dwell with guards. He doesn’t even notice that Mark always gets the bread from the same bakery that the girl he admired worked in. Yuta knew nothing about the people around him, not even the closest one who shared the trouble living with him.

“Oh hyung, you are here!” Mark greeted him with an inviting wave of hand. “Is it alright if Y/N stays for one night? She still doesn’t have a place to stay.” Yuta smiled, nodding while staring at the girl who was busy arranging some small circular colorful objects. Yuta believed they were called beads. “Come here, Y/N is teaching me how to make bracelets. These stones have different meanings.” Mark showed off his red and orange threaded beads to Yuta.

Yuta admired the work and ruffled Mark’s hair. “What does your bead mean?” Mark looked at Y/N, asking indirectly if she wanted to explain it or not but the old lady just kept her mouth shut as she made another one.

Mark took the silence as an agreement to explain it. “This red bead showed how brave I am, for leaving things behind since a young age.” He showed Yuta the fiery red bead then moved to the next one, “This orange bead showed how loyal I am to you. And these little yellow ones are accents that say how young and energetic I am.”

The wizard took another look at the beads. He was sure it’s just regular beads and that Y/N made up some cool words describing Mark to cheer him up. Yuta wondered what made Mark sad, but this was a worry for another day. “That’s nice. Looks like Y/N here is so creative and thoughtful.” Yuta stared at her with loving eyes. She did not realize it for she was so focused on a bracelet full of monotone beads.

“And what does your bracelet mean? I see no colors.” Yuta tried to ask her. The girl made a final knot on the bracelet and she asked for Yuta’s hand. He was surprised but he kept his mouth shut when Y/N slid it in and rotated his arm to take a look at how the bracelet settled.

“This is a bracelet that explains you, Yuta.”

Yuta raised a brow, “I don’t see any colors. Does it mean I am not brave or bold like Mark?” Yuta turned his bracelet again “You gave me the pale white colors, am I not attractive? Do I have no personality?”

Y/N giggled and shook her head. Yuta huffed, “I should take more of the charming potion then.” he tried to laugh it off but that statement made Y/N surprised.

“Charming potion?” she sounded confused but the guy just shook his head. “Yuta, what do you see with those white beads?” she asked him and he shrugged his shoulders, trying to act as if he was not hurt.

“That I am plain, boring, I have no talent and so useless.”

Mark and the girl stifled a laugh, making the wizard annoyed. She asked him to come with her to one corner of the room, in front of the window where the afternoon sun still hit the dark room. She took his arm and extended it under the sun, “Watch how this bead explains you. You’re young and you have so many opportunities that you have to try and create. You need to work on your story,” she explained while Yuta has his eyes fixed on the beads that are slowly showing colors. It turned from white to a paler color and his eyes widened.

“Is this magic?” he whispered to himself but kept listening to Y/N who explained something more

“These white beads will turn into bold colors, just like you. Full of charm, talents, and wonders.” she explained while pointing at the different colors of the beads.

“You got all the colors because you are enough even without your magic, Yuta. Be confident in yourself.” Y/N whispered and tapped his shoulder. Yuta did not flinch, he just kept admiring the bracelet that is now filled with colorful beads. How awesome. Yuta now felt bad if he asked the two of them to leave. He knew in his heart that he won’t even be happy if he marries the princess.

Mark only smiled and asked Y/N to come with him to leave Yuta alone with his thoughts. “Do you think I make him feel more confident?” Y/N asked Mark when both of them were in the kitchen preparing dinner.

Mark grinned, “I’ve never seen that reaction from him before.” He smiled once again, “His eyes cannot leave the bracelet.” The girl nodded, wondering what might be running on Yuta’s mind now. “I think you made him felt understand his purpose in life. I am glad we met you, Y/N!”

She smiled then stared longingly at the back of the wizard. And she’s glad to find out about them as well.

The dinner that night felt even better. It was only a simple dinner that Mark and Y/N made but Yuta could finally appreciate the feeling of sitting down at the table filled with people and enough food. He finally understood why a warm mealbetter when eaten together, and for once his mind was not filled with how he should eat to keep himself looking charming. He did not have to swallow the bitter pill that he was imagining earlier, telling the two most important people in his life to go away from his house. Without them, this building is a house and not a home. Yuta wants a home. He needs a home.

He should fix his mistake. He needed to be brave. For Y/N. For Mark. For himself.

He doesn’t love the princess. He loves someone else. The girl who made him realize his real purpose of being in this life. Yuta promised he will find a way to take the three of them away from this mess. He will have to find a way to cancel the marriage while breaking the curse.

That night, instead of worrying about his beauty sleep, Yuta dived deep into his notes of wizarding that he has. He flipped through chants and spells, through potions and charms. He knew there will always be a loophole to break the curse. If the witch says the curse is broken only by the marriage happening then one thing he could do is make the princess cancel the marriage. He bit his lips as he browsed vigorously through the books. If he made a potion for charming the princess, there should be an antidote that can stop the princess from the charm.

His finger traced through the names and ingredients of the potions when finally, his eyes glimmered in hope “Disenchantment potion!” he excitedly squealed and reached for a paper. He jotted down the stuff he had to prepare and his breath hitched when he read the seventh ingredient. “Strand of hair from the person to whom this potion will be given.” his voice slowed down.

Get a strand of hair from the princess, make the potion, and make her drink it.

He buried his head in his hands. How can he take her hair and then run away before she caged him with a lot of boring stories? Yuta ended up overthinking, worrying about the mission, then slept on his desk.

The next morning, he woke up with a note from Mark and Y/N saying that they will visit the bird place. Next to it was a loaf of bread that made him smile. Y/N really does make amazing bread. But the note made him stare, “Bird,” he chuckled before suddenly sitting straight and yelling “BIRD!” Yuta jumped from his chair then quickly wore his black cape.

His black wings soar through the sky and he landed perfectly on the princess’ window. The princess looked beautiful sleeping peacefully in her bed but Yuta knows that she deserved someone better than him. Slowly, Yuta pecked her hair and took away two strands, in case he messed up his potion. Before the princess realized anything, he flew back to the house and quickly took out his cauldron.

Yuta began mixing all the ingredients, stirring while reading his book to ensure he doesn’t miss anything. Then right when Mark and Y/N return while chatting happily, Yuta already turned off the fire and let the potion cool down. Now he just has to find a way to make the princess eat it. “The apples look so good. Maybe we can make an apple pie.” He heard Y/N tell Mark. Perfect! Yuta thought.

It was the middle of the day when Yuta came for the first time in several months into the castle. His hair is no longer blonde like when the princess first met him. On his wrist is the bracelet from Y/N that he never takes off. On his hand was a freshly baked pie he begged from Y/N and surprising Mark.

The guards let him in and made him wait for the princess. As Yuta rehearse the words he needed to say in his head, he kept twisting the beads on his wrist. He got this, he reassured himself. With one deep breath, he stood up and bowed before the princess.

Yuta explained his arrival and before the princess could protest, Yuta held her hands and calmly explained to her the words he practiced in his head repeatedly. “My dear princess, you are the future queen of the kingdom. And it is the right of the people to have a great queen and king to rule them. You, princess, have all the talents and kindness to become a great queen. But me,” he lowered his head “I am just a wizard who still needs a lot of practice. I am still in the process of learning how to be selfless and brave.”

The princess almost protested, but Yuta raised a finger to her lips. “Shh, hear me first.” The younger girl nodded, “I cannot be your husband, nor the people’s perfect king. I don’t feel butterflies in my stomach when I am with you. I don’t feel calm when I have to stand next to you.” Yuta sighed before confessing, “I am so sorry for charming you when we first met.”

The princess looked at him in curiosity, “Charm? Me?”

Yuta nodded “You see, I was so anxious about meeting you and having you not like me. I was so insecure about myself that I hid my true identity through potions and charms. I took a charming potion and made myself look attractive to everyone that they fell for me.”

The princess gasped, “So, I am not truly in love with you?” she gasped in disbelief when Yuta nodded.

“I am so sorry, it’s your time to find your true prince. The people’s king and the perfect one for you.” Yuta pushed the apple pie in her direction. She was curious but still took a bite. Her eyes widened before taking another bite of the pie. Yuta smiled, “The only way that can fix our bond, the truth between our feelings, the future of your people, and both our future too.”

The princess was touched by Yuta’s consideration and after thinking for a moment, she does realize she needs a strong, brave, and wise king. She knew Yuta is a great wizard but she never knew anything more than that. With one big courage, the princess took a bite of the apple pie. Smiled at the good taste then grimaced at the aftertaste.

She coughed a little and Yuta just waited on the other side of the table with a pounding heart. “Is it working?”

The princess smiled and nodded, “You sure are good-looking and definitely eye-catching. But I did not know you well enough to actually get married to you. I am sorry for making the witch put a curse on every lady that was close to you. I was just afraid of losing you too.”

Yuta smiled. “You are the princess, why are you still worried about not getting what you want?”

The princess smiled, “That is because you don't know how a true princess lives. We have to be selfless and thus lose a lot of the things we want or like.” Yuta smiled. He would never really understand it but someday, he hoped he can. “Now, go home and learn to be a better person Yuta. I appreciated your courage and bravery to finish this. I’m letting you go.”

The princess indeed is a wise girl. Yet Yuta feels proud of himself, he can give himself credit for being bold.

Yuta arrived at the front porch of the moving house, breathing heavily. Does it mean he can settle down now since he doesn't need to run away from the consequences of his actions? He breathed heavily and unlike the first time, this feels lighter. His foot nudged on something on the ground. He quickly noticed the shape and curiously bent to take a bouquet of flowers on the front door. Why is this here? He opened the door to the house while trying to find who owned the flowers. His smirk popped up upon reading that it was addressed to Mark Lee with a cute heart on the edge and an initial.

“Hey, I’m ho...” his words disappeared when he saw Y/N, holding a tray of freshly baked bread. He knew that she was Y/N, the girl who always gives bread to the birds in the morning but seeing her in front of him, like this, still fascinates him. She looked at him in confusion but Yuta only smiled. “Y/N,” he called. “I cannot say that I’m prettiest in this house now.”

The girl looked surprised and confused before Mark shouted from the stairs. “Y/N, I didn’t know you’re this pretty.” She was startled before glancing at her hands which obviously looked younger. She lightly glanced at her reflection from the window. “Does this mean your curse is broken?” Both of them looked at Yuta who only grinned. “And does this mean you’re going to confess to Y/N now, hyung?”

Yuta chuckled before handing the bouquet to Mark. “This is for you.” His cheeks became redder when he read the initials and soon, he was running upstairs and back into his room while inhaling the fresh flowers.

Y/N giggled, “Looks like Mark will finally get to live his love story.” She glanced at Yuta who just stared at her with warm eyes. “Do you still have to move? You and Mark?”

The wizard shook his head.”I think we’ll stay here. I’ll try to make an antidote for the charming potion so I can go to town.” She smiled, nodding at him. “Thank you, Y/N. For saving me and Mark.”

The girl had to shake her head, smiling at Yuta. “It was you who saved the three of us. Thank you, Almighty Wizard Yuta Nakamoto.”

Yuta smirked then stepped forward in front of her. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s not fair that Mark is the only one who can live his love story.” Yuta breathed heavily. “Now, I’ll be brave and chase my feelings in the right way. Starting with you.” The surprise in her face was all that registers in his mind. She’s so cute. “Let’s go back to your dad first. He’s worried about you.” Tears were forming in her eyes as she nodded at him.

-----

Yuta held her hand tight as they stroll through town. There were a few looks here and there but it’s more of people staring at them as a couple, not at the wizard himself. Yuta is becoming known as the wizard who trained the current amazing wizard in town. “I think the charming potion is wearing down.”

The girl looked surprised as she whipped her head in his direction. “Huh? But you’re still attractive in my eyes.” A tinge of red can be seen on Yuta’s cheeks as he smiled fondly at the girl. He really does know the way to his heart.

He made sure that the bench is clean before asking Y/N to sit on it. Yuta was the one who crumbled the bread before feeding it to the birds. “You’re a natural in this.” she teased that made him smile, throwing the other crumbs to the birds nearby.

An older aged couple can be seen walking hand in hand, making Yuta smile. “Do you think we can be like them in the future, Y/N?” The girl smiled, admiring them from afar. The love that she badly wanted before. Of course, who would have thought that she’ll find the same love with the wizard who was the reason why she was cursed in the first place? “Let’s have a love that’s eternal, Y/N.”

Her eyes widened at that. How did he know that? The guy giggled at her surprised face. She’s so lovable. He promised to be always true to her. To be honest at all times. “You know that little black bird who likes to be on your shoulder?” She nodded, actually seeing that bird for a while now. “Let’s just say that one of the wizard lessons thought me on how to shapeshift as that.”

“That was you?” Yuta chuckled. “Is that why you always disappear when I ask you to clean the coals of the furnace?”

“In my defense, Y/N, that is a pretty hard job to do.” The girl giggled, rolling her eyes. “Can I just use magic to clean the furnace?” He asked with a grin making her giggle then smile. “And let me help you with baking the bread. Mark is such a bother.” Because of his growing popularity, Mark would always advertise your bakery causing much more patrons to buy bread. It only meant that the bakery is now larger than ever.

“Okay,” she claimed with a grin. “Just don’t put potion on the bread.”

Yuta giggled. “You’re the only one I want to charm with my potions.”

Y/N rubbed his chin, smiling. “You’re enough for me. You’ll always be the most attractive person in this town.” Yuta pushed a strand of hair away from her face. The bracelet on his wrist glistened in the bold color of red.

Red for bravery. He’s now brave to face everything.

Red for passion. With his passion, he’s ready to show the world just how great a wizard he is.

Red for love. Because none of this is possible, without the love of his life. Y/N.

end

wait for our next story : Mark's story which is still connected to this story

thank you for reading! please spread the story and wait for our next member

#yuta day #yuta x reader #yuta x y/n #yuta x you #yuta fanfic #yuta scenarios #yuta imagines #ever after collab #nakamoto yuta #nakamoto yuta x reader #yuta nakamoto #nct scenarios

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mostlymovieswithmax · 3 years

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Movies I watched in May

Sadly, I kind of skipped writing a post for April. It was a mad month with so much going on: lots of emails sent and lots of stress. I started a new job so I’m getting to grips with that... and even then, I still watched a bunch of movies. But this is about what I watched in May and, yeah… still a bunch. So if you’re looking to get into some other movies - possibly some you’ve thought about watching but didn’t know what they were like, or maybe like the look of something you’ve never heard of - then this may help! So here’s every film I watched from the 1st to the 31st of May 2021 Tenet (2020) - 8/10 This was my third time watching Christopher Nolan’s most Christopher Nolan movie ever and it makes no sense but I still love it. The spectacle of it all is truly like nothing I’ve ever seen. I had also watched it four days prior to this watch also, only this time I had enabled audio description for the visually impaired, thinking it would make it funny… It didn’t.

Nomadland (2020) - 6/10 Chloé Zhao’s new movie got a lot of awards attention. Everyone was hyped for this and when it got put out on Disney+ I was eager to see what all the fuss was about. Seeing these real nomads certainly gave the film an authenticity, along with McDormand’s ever-praisable acting. But generally I found it quite underwhelming and lacking a lot in its pacing. Nomadland surely has its moments of captivating cinematography and enticing commentary on the culture of these people, but it felt like it went on forever without any kind of forward direction or goal. The Prince of Egypt (1998) - 6/10 I reviewed this on my podcast, The Sunday Movie Marathon. For what it is, it’s pretty fun but nowhere near as good as some of the best DreamWorks movies.

Chinatown (1974) - 8/10 What a fantastic and wonderfully unpredictable mystery crime film! I regret to say I’ve not seen many Jack Nicholson performances but he steals the show. Despite Polanski’s infamy, it’d be a lie to claim this wasn’t truly masterful. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) - 8/10 Admittedly I was half asleep as I curled up on the sofa to watch this again on a whim. I watched this with someone who demanded the dubbed version over the subtitled version and while I objected heavily, I knew I’d seen the movie before so it didn’t matter too much. That person also fell asleep about 20 minutes in, so how pointless an argument it was. Howl’s Moving Castle boasts superb animation, the likes of which I’ve only come to expect of Miyazaki. The story is so unique and the colours are absolutely gorgeous. This may not be my favourite from the legendary director but there’s no denying its splendour.

Bāhubali: The Beginning (2015) - 3/10 The next morning I watched some absolute trash. This crazy, over the top Indian movie is hilarious and I could perhaps recommend it if it weren’t so long. That being said, Bāhubali was not a dumpster fire; it has a lot of good-looking visual effects and it’s easy to see the ambition for this epic story, it just doesn’t come together. There’s fun to be had with how the main character is basically the strongest man in the world and yet still comes across as just a lucky dumbass, along with all the dancing that makes no sense but is still entertaining to watch. Seven Samurai (1954) - 10/10 If it wasn’t obvious already, Seven Samurai is a masterpiece. I reviewed this on The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast, so more thoughts can be found there. Red Road (2006) - 6/10 Another recommendation on episode 30 of the podcast. Red Road really captures the authentic British working class experience. Before Sunrise (1995) - 10/10 One of the best romances put to film. The first in Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy is undoubtedly my favourite, despite its counterparts being almost equally as good. It tells the story of a young couple travelling through Europe, who happen to meet on a train and spend the day together. It is gloriously shot on location in Vienna and features some of the most interesting dialogue I’ve ever seen put to film. Heartbreakingly beautiful.

Tokyo Story (1953) - 9/10 This Japanese classic - along with being visually and sonically masterful - is a lot about appreciating the people in your life and taking the time to show them that you love them. It’s about knowing it’s never too late to rekindle old relationships if you truly want to, which is something I’ve been able to relate to in recent years. It broke my heart in two. Tokyo Story will make you want to call your mother. Before Sunset (2004) - 10/10 Almost a decade after Sunrise, Sunset carries a sombre yet relieving feeling. Again, the performances from Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke take me away, evoking nostalgic feelings as they stroll through the contemporary Parisian streets. There is no regret in me for buying the Criterion blu-ray boxset for this trilogy. Before Midnight (2013) - 10/10 Here, Linklater cements this trilogy as one of the best in film history. It’s certainly not the ending I expected, yet it’s an ending I appreciate endlessly. Because it doesn’t really end. Midnight shows the troubling times of a strained relationship; one that has endured so long and despite initially feeling almost dreamlike in how idealistically that first encounter was portrayed, the cracks appear as the film forces you to come to terms with the fact that fairy-tale romances just don’t exist. Relationships require effort and sacrifice and sometimes the ones that truly work are those that endure through all the rough patches to emerge stronger. The Holy Mountain (1973) - 10/10 Jodorowsky’s masterpiece is absolute insanity. I talked more about it on The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - 10/10 Another watch for Grand Budapest because I bought the Criterion blu-ray. As unalterably perfect as ever. Blue Jay (2016) - 6/10 Rather good up to a point. My co-hosts and I did not agree on how good this movie was, which is a discussion you can listen to on my podcast. Shadow and Bone: The Afterparty (2021) - 3/10 For what it’s worth, I really enjoyed the first season of Shadow and Bone, which is why I wanted to see what ‘The Afterparty’ was about. This could have been a lot better and much less annoying if all those terrible comedians weren’t hosting and telling bad jokes. I don’t want to see Fortune Feimster attempt to tell a joke about oiling her body as the cast of the show sit awkwardly in their homes over Zoom. If it had simply been a half hour, 45 minute chat with the cast and crew about how they made the show and their thoughts on it, a lot of embarrassment and time-wasting could have been spared. Wadjda (2012) - 6/10 Another recommendation discussed at length on The Sunday Movie Marathon. Wadjda was pretty interesting from a cultural perspective but largely familiar in terms of story structure.

Freddy Got Fingered (2001) - 2/10 A truly terrible movie with maybe one or two scenes that stop it from being a complete catastrophe. Tom Green tried to create something that almost holds a middle finger to everyone who watches it and to some that could be a fun experience, but to me it just came across as utterly irritating. It’s simply a bunch of scenes threaded together with an incredibly loose plot. He wears the skin of a dead deer, smacks a disabled woman over and over again on the legs to turn her on, and he swings a newborn baby around a hospital room by its umbilical cord (that part was actually pretty funny). I cannot believe I watched this again, although I think I repressed a lot of it since having seen it for the first time around five years ago. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - (2011) I have to say, these movies seem to get better with each instalment. They’re still not very good though. That being said, I’m amazed at how many times I’ve watched each of the Twilight movies at this point. This time around, I watched Breaking Dawn - Part 1 with a YMS commentary track on YouTube and that made the experience a lot more entertaining. Otherwise, this film is super dumb but pretty entertaining. I would recommend watching these movies with friends. Solaris (1972) - 8/10 Andrei Tarkovsky’s grand sci-fi epic about the emotional crises of a crew on the space station orbiting the fictional planet Solaris is much as strange and creepy as you might expect from the master Russian auter. I had wanted to watch this for a while so I bought the Criterion blu-ray and it’s just stunning. It’s clear to see the 2001: A Space Odyssey inspiration but Solaris is quite a different beast entirely. Jaws (1975) - 4/10 I really tried to get into this classic movie, but Jaws exhibits basically everything I don’t like about Steven Spielberg’s directing. For sure, the effects are crazily good but the story itself is poorly handled and largely uninteresting. It was just a massive slog to get through.

Darkman (1990) - 6/10 Sam Raimi’s superhero movie is so much fun, albeit massively stupid. Further discussion on Darkman can be found on episode 32 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast. Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1995) - 1/10 Abysmal. I forgot the movie as I watched it. This was part of a marathon my friends and I did for episode 32 of our podcast. Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (1996) - 1/10 Perhaps this trilogy is not so great after all. Only marginally better than Darkman II but still pretty terrible. More thoughts on episode 32 of my podcast. F For Fake (1973) - 8/10 Rewatching this proved to be a worthwhile decision. Albeit slightly boring, there’s no denying how crazy the story of this documentary about art forgers is. The standout however, is the director himself. Orson Welles makes a lot of this film about himself and how hot his girlfriend is and it is hilarious.

The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021) - 4/10 More style over substance, Sony’s new animated adventure wants so much to be in trend with the current internet culture but it simply doesn’t understand what it’s emulating. There’s a nyan cat reference, for crying out loud. For every joke that works, there are about ten more that do not and were it not for the wonderful animation, it simply wouldn’t be getting so much praise. Taxi Driver (1976) - 10/10 The first movie I’ve seen in a cinema since 2020 and damn it was good to be back! I’ve already reviewed Taxi Driver in my March wrap-up but seeing it in the cinema was a real treat. Irreversible (2002) - 8/10 One of the most viscerally horrendous experiences I’ve ever had while watching a movie. I cannot believe a friend of mine gave me the DVD to watch. More thoughts on episode 32 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast. Don’t watch it with the family. The Golden Compass (2007) - 1/10 I had no recollection of this being as bad as it is. The Golden Compass is the definition of a factory mandated movie. Nothing it does on its own is worth any kind of merit. I would say, if you wanted an experience like what this tries to communicate, a better option by far is the BBC series, His Dark Materials. More of my thoughts can be found in the review I wrote on Letterboxd.

Antichrist (2009) - 8/10 Lars von Trier is nothing if not provocative and I can understand why someone would not like Antichrist, but I enjoyed it quite a lot. After watching it, I wrote a slightly disjointed summary of my interpretations of this highly metaphorical movie in the group chat, so fair warning for a bit of spoilers and graphic descriptions: It's like, the patriarchy, man! Oppression! Men are the rational thinkers with big brains and the women just cry and be emotional. So she's seen as crazy when she's smashing his cock and driving a drill through his leg to keep him weighted down. Like, how does he like it, ya know? So then she mutilates herself like she did with him and now they're both wounded, but the animals crowd around her (and the crow that he couldn't kill because it's Mother nature, not Father nature, duh). Then he kills her, even though she could've killed him loads of times but didn't. So it's like "haha big win for the man who was subjected to such horrific torture. Victory!" And then all the women with no faces come out of the woods because it's like a constant cycle. Manchester By The Sea (2016) - 6/10 Great performances in this super sad movie. I can’t say I got too much out of it though. Roar (1981) - 9/10 Watching Roar again was still as terrifying an experience as the first time. If you want to watch something that’s loose on plot with poor acting but with real big cats getting in the way of production and physically attacking people, look no further. This is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen because it’s all basically real. Cannot recommend it enough. Eyes Without A Face (1960) - 8/10 I’m glad I checked this old French movie out again. There’s a lot to marvel at in so many aspects, what with the premise itself - a mad surgeon taking the faces from unsuspecting women and transplanting them onto another - being incredibly unique for the time. Short, sweet and entertaining!

Se7en (1995) - 10/10 The first in a David Fincher marathon we did for The Sunday Movie Marathon, episode 33. Zodiac (2007) - 10/10 Second in the marathon, as it was getting late, we decided to watch half that evening and the last half on the following evening. Zodiac is a brilliant movie and you can hear more of my thoughts on the podcast (though I apologise; my audio is not the best in this episode). Gone Girl (2014) - 10/10 My favourite Fincher movie. More insights into this masterpiece in episode 33 of the podcast. Friends: The Reunion (2021) - 6/10 It was heartwarming to see the old actors for this great show together again. I talked about the Friends reunion film at length in episode 33 of my podcast.

Wolfwalkers (2020) - 10/10 I reviewed this in an earlier post but would like to reiterate just how wonderful Wolfwalkers is. If you get the chance, please see it in the cinema. I couldn’t stop crying from how beautiful it was. Raya and The Last Dragon (2021) - 6/10 After watching Wolfwalkers, I decided I didn’t want to go home. So I had lunch in town and booked a ticket for Disney’s Raya and The Last Dragon. A child was coughing directly behind me the entire time. Again, I reviewed this in an earlier post but generally it was decent but I have so many problems with the execution. The Princess Bride (1987) - 9/10 Clearly I underrated this the last time I watched it. The Princess Bride is warm and hilarious with some delightfully memorable characters. A real classic!

The Invisible Kid (1988) - 1/10 About as good as you’d expect a movie with that name to be, The Invisible Kid was a pick for The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast, the discussion for which you can listen to in episode 34. Babel (2006) - 9/10 The same night that I watched The Invisible Kid, I watched a masterful and dour drama from the director of Birdman and The Revenant. Babel calls back to an earlier movie of Iñárritu’s, called Amores Perros and as I was informed while we watched this for the podcast, it turns out Babel is part of a trilogy alongside the aforementioned film. More thoughts in episode 34 of the podcast. Snake Eyes (1998) - 1/10 After feeling thoroughly emotionally wiped out after Babel, we immediately watched another recommendation for the podcast: Snake Eyes, starring Nicolas Cage. This was a truly underwhelming experience and for more of a breakdown into what makes this movie so bad, you can listen to us talk about it on the podcast.

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bokutosworld · 3 years

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night time activities with hq boys

- the little things and shenanigans that they like to do with their s/o once the world has quieted down and people have gone to sleep zzz

wc: 1.9k words, fluff, sfw.

characters: kageyama, hinata, yamaguchi, oikawa, iwaizumi, bokuto, kuroo, ushijima, semi, atsumu!

a/n: so this was intended to be a mini hc list but i got carried away in my feels and just wrote mini scenarios for my top ten hq boys. this is self-indulgent ngl mom i love them :’)

💌 he always gets asked what's the secret to his clear and smooth skin. well, the answer is you. since the two of you started living together, you've gotten kageyama on board in your nightly skincare routine. he doesn't mind it even if tsukishima and hinata tease him endlessly, something about the 'king of the court' being soft for you. as soon as he comes out from the shower, he positions himself on the edge of the bed, letting you stand between his legs as you wipe his face with a toner, followed by a moisturizer. then you'll get a sheet of face mask and put it on carefully. 'thank you, y/n,' he'd always say with a smile before pulling you to his chest, laughter echoing around the room, as you both fall on the bed.

💌 you thought your relationship with hinata wouldn't survive the long distance. but despite the thousand miles separating the both of you and the difference in timezones, he made sure to always wish you sweet dreams and good night. sometimes, he would call you in the middle of practice or while he's sitting in the train during commute. if he's lucky to have a free day, he'd call you while he's also in bed and you guys would talk non-stop, exchanging stories, saying your i love yous and i miss yous. and when you're the first one to snooze, he'd chuckle in the background, taking a few screenshots of your adorable sleeping face before saying goodnight and ending the call with a smile.

💌 one of the things that made yamaguchi fall in love with you was your love for studio ghibli films. when the topic was brought up among your friend group, he instantly whipped his head to where you were and before he knew it, his feet were bringing him to you. you were already friends so you didn't mind him joining the conversation, he was mesmerized with how you passionately talked about your love for howl's moving castle or how you talked about the nostalgic soundtrack of from up on poppy hill. the rest was history and now, five years into the relationship, watching studio ghibli films every friday night has become a tradition to both of you. oftentimes, you would find yourselves cuddled on the bed, legs entangled and arms wrapped around one another. spirited away was playing on the laptop, the light illuminates the dark room as the both of you slowly drifted to sleep. it was in moments like these that you felt overwhelmed and satisfied with the security and comfort of being with him.

💌 oikawa was spontaneous - it kept you on your toes, always wondering what kind of surprise or gimmick he has prepared for you. the day before a big presentation, you were nervous and you made sure he knew it by texting him non-stop, sending him memes that expressed what you couldn't say in words. he didn't want to say you were overreacting in fear of getting on your bad side, but he has no doubt that after spending weeks in preparation that you can ace your presentation. still, he wanted to be of help to you and he knew just how to lift your mood up. it was 2:15 am when you were woken up by the incessant ringing of your phone. you pick it up, ready to shout at whoever was on the other side when you heard his laugh, 'grab your jacket, we're getting mcdonalds.' you didn't need to be told twice, almost running down the stairs so you can get your fix of your fave happy meal. after getting takeout, he drove you to a park and laid out a blanket. you sat and enjoyed your food in peace before he mentioned something about the stars shining bright tonight, turning to you with the biggest grin on his face, 'but i have the brightest star in the world right now by my side.'

💌 iwaizumi could never see what it was about video games that you loved so much. though after dating you since high school, he's been used to being ignored, put on voicemail, and being the second priority whenever you had a console in hand. but one late night, he got curious about the new title you were playing, super smash bros, and figured he could give it a try. you were surprised when he suddenly sat on the couch and scooted closer to make room for himself. he took your extra controller and asked to play for one round. little did he know that one game became two, which became three until the both of you couldn't keep track anymore as he kept losing and asking for a rematch. when you closed the game, the sun was slowly peeking over the clouds. you kissed him on the cheek before retreating to bed 'thanks for playing with me, iwa. that was one of the best games i've had.' he wouldn't admit it but he enjoyed it too, and he was thankful that he had the following day off or he'd be nursing an insane headache at work due to lack of sleep.

💌 people thrived off of the contagious energy that bokuto radiated, and you were no stranger to that. you were all too familiar with the intoxicating feeling that one can get by being around him. being with him, living with him, there were no dull days or quiet evenings. there would be nights that he'd still be high on the adrenaline that came from winning their game, that before sleeping, bokuto would drag you up your feet and get you singing your favorite songs. he didn't need a mic, his loud voice was enough and it reverberated around the room. you'd both be laughing, stumbling over the lyrics as you danced to a silent beat. jumping up and down, you're worried that the neighbors might report you to the guards in the apartment lobby. but none of it would soon matter as he'd suddenly collapse on the bed, pulling you with him. you fall to his chest and you hear the erratic beating of his heart. he lifts your chin up to look at him and he presses a chaste kiss on your lips, 'thank you for being with me all this time.'

💌 due to the nature of his job, you'd been used to kuroo returning home almost midnight due to doing overtime. often, he'd return to a dark apartment as you'd already be tucked in bed, drifting off to a deep sleep. but tonight was different. it was 11:45 pm and when kuroo turned the knob and swung the door open, he was surprised to see you sprawled out on the floor of the living room. a mess of polaroid photos, printed stickers, papers, and craft items were beside. you greeted him with a smile, he returned it with one of his own and question fell on his lips, 'what are you doing here?' he swears he melted on the spot when you said you were making a scrapbook of your moments and milestones together. something about the idea of you collating everything - from when you went on your first date, your first kiss, your first out-of-town trip - had the butterflies in his stomach go crazy. he loosens his tie and undos the first two buttons of his shirt before joining you on the floor, looking forward to staying up all night reminiscing your memories together.

💌 as soon as you and ushijima got home from date night, he'd head straight to the kitchen to brew your favorite cup of tea while you went ahead to wash up and prepare for bed. he'd bring two cups to the room, placing yours on vanity table and his on the nightstand. when you came out of the shower, you'd go straight to your vanity to do your evening skincare, noticing the tea he had prepared and taking a sip before putting on moisturizer. ushijima would take his place behind your back, a hand resting on your shoulder as the other leaned to get your brush. he'd gently comb your hair, dragging the brush slowly over your tresses. 'is this okay? it doesn't hurt?' you'd look at his reflection in the mirror, catching his eyes and you reassure him that it's fine. silence envelopes the two of you, but it's not the awkward kind. it's the one that puts you at ease, erasing your worries as he continues his action. when he finishes, he returns the brush on its spot, turning you around to give you a kiss, 'i love you.'

💌 semi notices something was wrong when you arrived home all quiet. usually, you'd run to where he was - often in the kitchen where he was cooking food or in his mini studio where he composed songs - but tonight, you made a beeline to your shared bedroom. he follows and observes as you throw your bag on the floor before falling face first on the bed. he swears he heard you take a big sigh and takes that as his cue to prepare a warm bath for you. semi makes sure that the water temperature is just how you like it, pouring your favorite bubble soap and lighting up your favorite scented candles all over the room. when he's done, he makes his way over to you, 'come on, sweetheart. i readied a bubble bath for you.' your ears perk up hearing his words and you get up, letting him take your hand as he brought you to the bathroom. he helps you take off your clothes and assists as you sit in the tub. and just when he was about to make his leave, you grab his hand, 'i'd be a lot more comforted if you were here with me.' knowing what you meant, he nods, ridding himself of his clothes before joining and hugging you from behind. 'you're okay now, i got you.'

💌 the past few days have been unkind to you and atsumu. with him being busy with extended training and you being occupied with an insane amount of workload that came with your promotion, you didn't really have enough time to spend awake at home. and atsumu misses you and your voice. it wasn't enough for him just to cuddle up to you when sleeping as he'd always feel bad whenever he had to leave in the morning. so despite knowing that you'd get mad for getting up before the sun has risen, he shook you lightly, 'hey, wake up, i want to show you something.' you opened your eyes slowly, looking for the source of disruption of your sleep, but when you realized it was atsumu, you simply groaned before raising your arms in request from him to carry you. he complies, carrying you bridal style to the car and he speeds off to a nearby park hill. when he alerts you that you have arrived at the destination, you rub sleep off your eyes and come out of the car just in time to see the sun rising over the horizon. the scene unveiling right in front of the both of you was so beautiful that you were left speechless. atsumu hugs you from behind, his chin resting on your shoulder and exhales, 'i missed you so much. let's take our time here, okay?' eventually, the two of you reported sick for work/practice but it was worth it.

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu fluff #haikyuucreations #haikyuu x you #hq fluff #hq x reader #hq fics #haikyuu texts #haikyuu one shot #haikyuu!!

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angelicamerlinbarnes · 3 years

Text

Seven times someone spoke to a Marauder alone in a portrait and one person who spoke to them all together

In a world where all the Marauders died in the first war, their souls are preserved in portraits in Hogwarts. Their stories are legend if a bit tweaked, and their names are famous if a bit forgettable. But they were painted individually, and housed all over the castle, separated for all eternity from each other.

(Also, there are seven Marauders because Lily, Severus, and Regulus. Fight me.)

(FOR CONTEXT: Regulus married a Muggle named Amir and had a daughter with him named Hailee. Regulus and Sirius never fell out and Regulus calls Remus “Mum” because reasons. Sirius and Remus married and died without children and James and Lily had Harry with their partner, Severus. Peter had a nonbinary partner named Max, but they died in the war.)

ONE: Regulus Black (Room of Requirement) & Draco Malfoy [Second Year - Youth (Daughter)]

Draco is coming back from Quidditch practice after calling Hermione a Mudblood. He’s walking alone down a hallway empty of doors when one suddenly materializes in front of him. He walks inside, too curious not to, and finds a room with two chairs in front of a crackling fire.

Over the fire hangs a portrait of a young man with pale skin, ebony hair, and striking grey eyes. Draco sits down in one of the chairs and picks up the cup of hot cocoa from the coffee table, looking up at the portrait, which has now started moving.

“Who are you?” He asks, and the portrait shoots him a grim look.

“My name is Regulus Black. Do you know who I am?”

Draco shakes his head. Regulus hums, tugging at something around his wrist.

“I’m a Death Eater who defied Voldemort,” he says, pulling his sleeves up to reveal a blank wrist. “They didn’t paint me with that wretched Mark, thank Merlin.”

Draco puts his cocoa down, nervous, and finds his eyes darting around the room for a door.

“How do I get out of here?” He asks with all the politeness he can muster, and Regulus offers him a wry smile.

“Right through that door,” he says gently, pointing to the door now etching itself out of the wall. “But please remember, Draco - you make your own choices in life. You decide who you are. Not a House, not a name, not a Mark. You. Do not forget that like I did.”

Draco nods, backing towards the door.

“But you defected,” he says, feeling small. Regulus smiles sadly, his eyes cutting.

“Yes, I did. And I paid for it with my life. And the life of my partner, and my daughter, and my brother and my mum and my best friends. I paid, Draco. I’m still paying.”

Draco has his hand on the door knob. “Huh,” he says, and opens the door when Regulus adds, “Oh, and Draco, dear? Don’t call people Mudbloods. There’s no such thing. And it’s rude.”

Draco nods frantically and closes the door so hard he lands flat on his ass in the hallway, watching the door seal itself and fade back into stone.

TWO: James Potter (Gryffindor Quidditch “Hall” of Fame, Gryffindor Common Room) & Seamus Finnigan [Fourth Year - Never Not (Lauv)]

Seamus finds himself alone in the Gryffindor common room one Wednesday morning, pretending to be sick with a cold. He’s wrapped in a blanket and staring into the empty fireplace when he hears, “YO! KID!”

Startled, he falls off the couch, and stumbles up and over to the Quidditch trophy case in the corner. There, in a small frame, is the smiling face of a boy who looks just like Harry, except without the mark, with dark eyes, and happier. Seamus reads the plaque, James Potter, and smiles sadly, wondering if Harry has ever talked to this portrait before.

James, meanwhile, barrels forward, “You’re the one in love with that lanky black kid, right?” Seamus’ eyes snap up as he sputters, but James just grins. “Cool. I thought so. Can I give you some advice…?”

“Seamus.”

“Can I give you some advice, Seamus?”

Seamus, now bright red, says, “Um, sure?”

James’ eyes twinkle and he says, “Tell him.”

Seamus starts coughing, beating his chest as James laughs and he protests, “No! No, I can’t just tell my best friend I’m in love with him!”

James shrugs. “You can,” he says. “You wanna know a secret?” He leans in just a bit. “My best friends fell in love.”

Seamus startles. “What?” He breathes, and James grins.

“Yeah. Sirius Potter and Remus Lupin. Wasted six bloody years apart before finally giving in and admitting it. They’re the most in love people I’ve ever met.” His brow wrinkles. “Well, except Sev and Lily and me.” It wrinkles further. “Nah, I gotta give ‘em this one.”

Seamus gapes in shock for a moment before blurting, “That werewolf and the Black runaway were in love?! And you - fuck, you were with Severus Snape???” James stares at him for a moment before blinking and then bursting into laughter.

When he finally calms down, he looks back up at Seamus’ flushed face and says, “Sirius is a Potter and a Lupin, not a Black. And he and Remy loved each other more than anything. And yeah, Sev and Lily and I had some real fun times.” He tilts his head in consideration and says, “Actually, now that I think about it, some of those happened right on that couch over there. It’s weird they haven’t gotten a new one, huh?”

Seamus sputters for a third and final time and skitters away with a tomato-red face as James shouts after him, “TELL HIM, KID! SHOVE HIM AGAINST A WALL AND SNOG HIM SENSELESS!”

(Seamus, later, to Harry: “Your dad is fucking wack, bro.”)

THREE: Lily Evans (Library, Restricted Section) & Cedric Diggory [Fourth Year - Someone To You (BANNERS), Good Old Days (Kesha, Macklemore)]

Cedric sneaks into the Restricted Section to hide from all the pressure of the tournament. One night he’s thumbing through the books in his boredom when he finds an unframed portrait of a smiling redhead. As soon as he lifts her out of the book, titled The Marauders: A Complete History of Unfiltered Pranks (by Minerva Mcgonogall for Minerva Mcgonogall, signed by Regulus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Severus Snape, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Lupin (Love you Minnie!), and Lily Evans), the portrait pipes up, “Hi! I’m Lily!”

Cedric nearly drops the book in shock, but manages to catch it at the last second, mustering up a smile for the grinning portrait and introducing himself. She beams and glances at the book in his hand, her smile turning mischievous. “That’s a good one. We did get up to a lot, didn’t we?”

Speechless, he nods, not really processing that she’s just admitted to being Lily Evans, and her eyes dull with sadness at the sight of one of the injuries on his collarbone from the most recent challenge.

“Where’d you get that?” She asks, and he explains the tournament. She hums, and finally murmurs, “I heard them say my son is in that. Is that true?”

Mouth dry, Cedric nods, and Lily looks up at him again with glassy eyes and rasps, “Can you tell him I love him? That I’m proud of him and so are his fathers? Can you tell him that for me?”

Cedric nods again, hearing a creak and turning his head towards the noise when Lily whispers, “Go. Go, Cedric, before you get caught. Be brave, honey.” Cedric shoves the portrait back into the book and the book back onto the shelf with a muttered goodbye before sprinting away, Lily’s words echoing in his ears like a dying child’s scream.

FOUR: Sirius Black (Mcgonogall’s Office) & Ginny Weasley [Fifth Year - Alone (Bazzi)]

Ginny is sitting in Mcgonogall’s office, waiting for her professor to come and scold her for punching Zabini (he touched Luna’s ass, what was she supposed to do? Ask him to kindly stick his nose up where the sun don’t shine? She’d still be here, and he’d still be snickering like the slimy motherfucker he is in that dungeon cell he calls his bedroom). She hears a cough from somewhere on Mcgonogall’s desk and straightens up, ducking her head to peek around when she hears, “Pssst. Over here.”

She looks over and sees a framed picture of Sirius Black, grinning as if he’d never died. She swallows down her tears and nods her head in a polite hello. Sirius’ smile saddens as he says, “I hear you’re dating my godson.”

Ginny blushes, but nods, and for a moment, Sirius looks like he’s about to cry. “Why are you here, Ginny?” He asks softly, and she shrugs.

“Punched a Slytherin who touched my friend’s ass.”

Sirius grins at that, nodding his head in respect. “Good girl. You ever think about why that is?”

Ginny’s brow furrows and she opens her mouth to ask what he means when she sees his eyes wandering to a sketch of a wolf howling at the moon on Mcgonogall’s far wall, with the note For you, Minnie. Moony didn’t want it. Love, Sirius.

“I fell in love with a boy once,” Sirius murmurs. “My best friend. Remus Lupin. And he loved me back.”

I know, Ginny wants to say. You two were married and gave baby Harry joint Christmas presents and danced in the kitchen when you thought no one else was still awake. I’ve heard the stories, I’ve seen the pictures. I know. But instead she stays quiet, listening as Sirius tells his story.

“But instead of admitting that, I dated Marlene McKinnon for three years. Sold my gay ass out to a lesbian whore because I was too afraid to tell him how I felt about him.” Ginny has a lot of questions about the “lesbian whore” part - “I mean, she was a friend of mine, but I never wanted to kiss her, or sleep with her, but I did anyway. And he looked so fucking sad all the time. But he didn’t say anything. He didn’t wanna ruin my happiness. I didn’t know how to tell him that he was my happiness. By the time I figured it out, it was too late.”

Ginny swallows, finally speaking up, “Why are you telling me this?” Sirius finally tears his eyes away from the picture of the wolf and the moon and gives her a bitter smile.

“Because I’m dead and my husband and I spent a mere three years together in all of the ten we knew each other. What kind of bullshit is that?”

Ginny shrugs. “Some bullshit,” she answers, and laughs uncomfortably.

Sirius laughs too, then sighs. He looks deep into her eyes and says, “I love my godson. You make sure he knows that. But I also love my husband. And I spent too damn long running from that. So let me save you a bit of trouble, Ginny - the greatest love is often the scariest.”

Ginny purses her lips. “What are you saying?” She says slowly, and Sirius smiles sadly as Mcgonogall’s heels come clicking down the hall.

“I’m saying maybe you shouldn’t waste your time on Harry when both your and his hearts lie elsewhere.”

Ginny blushes, looking down at the homemade bracelet Luna made her three summers ago, and at the sound of the door opening, she looks back up at a frozen Sirius, whose eyes are caught on Mcgonogall, somehow still twinkling.

FIVE: Peter Pettigrew (Outside Gryffindor Dorms) & Ron Weasley [Fifth Year - lovely (Billie Eilish, Khalid)]

Ron is sulking on the stairs outside the Gryffindor common room after a particularly bad Quidditch loss. He wishes he were with Hermione and Harry, but they were already tangled together when he came upstairs and he didn’t want to intrude, even though they invited him to.

He knows they’re all best friends, he just feels so much like the third wheel sometimes. So he’s sulking when he hears a soft, “Hey.”

He looks up in surprise and sees a portrait of Peter Pettigrew, and he immediately steels his eyes, backing away. Seeing this, Peter shouts, “Wait, no! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I know! I just - I didn’t actually betray them, you know? Okay, well, I did, but - but I fixed it! They forgave me! I promise I’m not evil, I’m not, Ron -”

“How do you know my name?” Ron blurts, and Peter jumps back in his frame, startled, then smiles softly.

“They say it,” he answers. “Harry, and that girl you’re always with. They say your name all the time.”

Ron blushes. “Oh,” he says, ducking his head with a smile. When he looks back up into Peter’s sad eyes, he says, “We lost today. Quidditch.”

Peter cocks his head. “To who?”

Ron shrugs, looking down at his lap and fidgeting with his fingers over his knees. “Slytherin. Never lost against Slytherin before.”

Peter shrugs. “James and Sirius did. All the time.”

Ron looks up. “Really?” Peter smiles softly.

“Yeah. Mostly because they wanted Severus and Regulus to feel good, but. Yeah, they lost to Slytherin all the damn time.”

Ron’s smile fades. “Severus? Like, Snape? The Death Eater?”

Peter winces, then shrugs. “The Order spy. But, yeah.”

Ron blinks in shock. “They were friends? Even after Lily?”

Peter’s brow furrows in confusion, but he answers anyway, “Yes? They were dating. Them and Lily. Sent the whole school up in flames.”

Ron’s jaw drops open. “You can do that?”

Peter shrugs. “Yeah, ‘course you can. You can date Harry and that girl if you want. No one’s stopping you.”

Ron flushes, looking down in shame.

“They don’t want me,” he mumbles. “Not the way they want each other.”

Peter hums. “Severus said that too. So did James. They were both idiots.” Looking up at Ron’s glistening eyes and pouting lips, he smiles.

“Just because you’re not the smartest or the strongest or the funniest or the best at anything in particular doesn’t mean you’re not important, or that people don’t care about you.”

Ron nods, slowly. He stands and heads back inside without another word, pretending he doesn’t hear Peter sigh and say, “You’re welcome,” bitterly as he mumbles the password to the Fat Lady and slips back through the crack in the door.

SIX: Severus Snape (Headmaster’s Office) & Hermione Granger [Sixth Year - Ophelia (The Lumineers), O Children (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)]

Hermione is visiting Dumbledore’s office for her Prefect badge and an overview of the position while Ron and Harry are brooding in their room. The three of them have become far closer than normal lately, and she’s almost glad to be away for a moment, as they’ve always been more honest with each other when she isn’t around. She can’t decide if that bothers her or not.

She’s waiting for Dumbledore to get there when she hears, “Miss Granger, correct?” in a slow, molasses drawl.

She looks up at the portrait labelled Severus Snape and answers the boy in the Slytherin tie, “Yes. Hello, Mr. Snape.”

Severus grins slowly, a cat-like expression of amusement and carefully calculated arrogance. “Smart one, aren’t you?” He asks, and she nods. He clicks his tongue. “Should’ve been in Ravenclaw.”

She flushes and opens her mouth to retort when the Sorting Hat starts shouting about insecure fuckwads who don’t know their place and Severus starts screaming back about it not doing its fucking job right until finally Hermione screams, “STOP!”

The hat grumbles off to sleep again while she stares a shocked Severus down, her shaking hands curled in fists as she says, “Please don’t shout at it. It’s tired.”

Severus raises an eyebrow, but huffs and turns away. She sees his blank arm as he turns his back to her and feels her heart break open with pity.

“You’re Harry’s father, right?” She asks softly, and his head whips towards her in shock. She offers a sad smile and explains, “Lily and James. There are no records, of course, but…”

“You’re Mcgonogall’s favorite,” Severus finishes, smiling wryly. “Yes. I am one of Harry’s fathers.”

Hermione nods, looking down at her books, and swallows before looking back up again to say, “He really loves you.”

Severus rears back in shock, his eyes searching her for lies as she tears up. “He really does. You may not know it, and he doesn’t speak of it, but - but I can tell. He misses you.”

Severus’ eyes turn dull and glassy and he turns away, hiding his face with his long shaggy hair. Hermione swallows down her tears, smiling again. “Yes, well -”

“I love him too,” Severus interrupts, voice soft. “I miss him too. We all do. Tell… tell him that, would you?”

Hermione blinks, then nods.

“Of course,” she says, ducking her head as the staircase starts to rumble. “I’ll take good care of him, sir.”

Severus smiles that sad wry smile again and stills just as Dumbledore steps through the door, but Hermione hears his silence echo in her ears.

Thank you.

SEVEN: Remus Lupin (Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom) & Luna Lovegood [Seventh Year - Dynasty (MIIA), Towards The Sun (Rihanna)]

As the war comes closer and closer to Hogwarts, the students there grow more and more anxious. Luna herself takes refuge in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where only Harry and Ginny know to find her. But with Harry on the run with Ron and Hermione and Ginny trying to hold down the fort with Seamus and Dean, Luna often finds herself alone.

One day she decides to make her way up onto the balcony over the classroom that leads to the office, and she reaches for the knob on the office door when she hears, “Don’t go in there, Miss Lovegood.”

She looks over at the portrait who’s spoken, dubbed Remus Lupin, and smiles. He smiles kindly back and asks, “What are you even looking for?”

Luna shrugs. “Some way to help, I guess.”

Remus smiles wryly and nods, glancing down at the wedding ring adorning his finger. His smile softens for a moment before he says, “Sometimes, Miss Lovegood, the best way to win a war is by treating others with kindness.”

Luna tilts her head to the side. “Like, with hugs and smiles?” She asks, and Remus smiles, biting his lip and nodding. His eyes are glassy, but she pretends not to notice.

“Yes, my dear, with hugs and smiles. Support each other. Take no conversation for granted. Merlin knows the only thing that comforted me in the first war was the constant reminders that I still had my family. That they were fighting with me, and that I was fighting for them.”

Luna nods sagely and looks down at the bracelets littering her wrists, each one made for a different person in her life: Ginny, her girlfriend; Harry, her partner; Neville, her best friend; Draco and Ron and Hermione, her friends. She asks, “What comforted you when you died? I know… I know it wasn’t fast. Or painless.”

Remus smiles, his eyes shining with kindness and hope despite the exhausted bruises beneath them and the scars across his face.

“I wasn’t alone,” he answers, his voice soft. “I died by Sirius’ side. I was holding his hand when I saw the light. And in the light there were silhouettes - James, Peter, Lily, Severus, Regulus. They were waiting for us. And I knew we would be okay.”

Luna nods. She twists a ring on her finger and says, “Thank you, Mr. Lupin. I’d best be going now.”

Remus nods as she begins to descend the steps, his voice ringing out one last time, “Good luck, Luna. I hope to Merlin your victory will be more permanent than ours.”

Luna twirls around, cocking her head as she asks, “You think we’ll win?” Remus smiles.

He nods, his eyes twinkling, and says, “Someone has to. Why not you?”

ONE: All Together Again (Grimmauld Place, Harry & Ron & Hermione’s Bedroom) & Harry Potter [After Graduation of Eighth Year - Daylight (Taylor Swift)]

Following the end of the war, Harry moves into Grimmauld Place, left to him by the godfather he never knew. He takes Hermione and Ron with him, the three of them having been in a committed relationship since sometime when they were on the run and following an unspoken agreement that they will follow each other anywhere.

Luna lives nearby with Ginny, in an apartment by Draco’s little cottage and Neville’s tiny hovel. The three of them live quietly, though their friends visit often. Harry feels better, happier, though the hole left by his missing family is still there.

One day, as he’s putting up pictures of him and his partners around their shared bedroom, he hears, “Harry?”

He looks up, and there, on the opposite wall, is a picture of the seven Marauders, all young and staring at him in shock. Harry tears up and rushes over, taking the picture delicately in his hands and smiling as he rakes his eyes over his lost family. They all grin back, and Harry reads the inscription on the frame: My dear Marauders, You have been my pride and joy for seven long short years. I know you will all do great things; I cannot wait to see what you accomplish. You are, and have always been, my favorite students. All my love, Minnie.

Harry covers his mouth, emotional, until finally James asks, “Are you happy?”

Harry looks at Remus and Sirius, their fingers intertwined and their eyes sparkling. He looks at Regulus and Peter, their arms around each other’s shoulders as they grin. He looks at Severus and Lily and James, his three wonderful parents. And he looks down at the two wedding rings on the chain around his own neck, bearing the initials R.W. and H.G.. And he nods.

“Yeah,” he answers, grinning. “Yeah, I’m really fucking happy.”

64 notes · View notes

enapouyou · 3 years

Text

My little stone guardian

(Sorry if there are spelling mistakes, english isn’t my language. The story is translated from French )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had succeeded.

Well, almost...

Puddles of paint littered the floor, their various colours contrasting with the black that was slowly taking over the place. The gentle warmth of the universe gave way to a cold, icy wind, making the bones of those who dared not move tremble. But was it really the cold that made them tremble... ?

A thud broke the silence, the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground. Then came the sound of footsteps, slow, uncertain. They seemed to go on forever, as if the goal to be reached was constantly receding. And finally, a scream, a howl, tearing apart the time that seemed to have stopped. A scream, a single word, a single name...

- DREAM !!!!!!!!!

Frozen in the middle of what used to be their battlefield, amidst bones stuck in the ground, paint soaked into the grass, blasters that had come to rest, the guardian of positivity had returned to a state no one thought possible.

Arriving first at his side, Ink's hands were shaking, slowly coming to rest on the cheeks of a stone statue, feeling a few tears slide down the cold surface. Behind him, Blue stood still, replaying the events, trying to understand how this umpteenth battle against the bads sanses could have ended this way.

On the other side, a laugh finally rang out. That of the brother of the new stone statue. Nightmare hadn't planned this, wanting instead to kill his brother to get the golden apple, but... Now that he thought about it, it had taken his brother two hundred years to come out of the stone the first time. So he had plenty of time to plunge the world into chaos. Plenty of time to create a world full of negative feelings. Plenty of time to prepare to welcome his brother back and come up with a plan to finally catch that apple that was currently trapped in the stone as well.

Beside him, his three faithful henchmen were also staring at the scene, exchanging a few glances. They too did not think that this time their fight would surely be the last. They were pulled out of their thoughts when Nightmare snapped his fingers, looking at them with a huge grin before opening a portal to DreamTale, inviting them home to celebrate. Dust and Horror did not hesitate, passing through the portal with their boss, but Killer remained still for a moment. He watched as Blue joined Ink and mourned their friend's condition. Within him, the feelings were quite contradictory as he looked at the guardian of the golden apple, frozen with his arms open and that sweet smile on his face despite the tears, having tried to reason with his brother again... Without success... A call from the portal snapped him out of his thoughts, turning to Nightmare who was staring at him, ordering him to return with a single dark look. Killer felt his soul clench, taking one last look at the stone statue before rejoining the gang, the portal closing just as he passed, the sound of Ink's threat of revenge.

In the distance, he watched his colleagues fighting. Once again, their mission was to go and fill a universe with negative feelings and once again, stars sanses had come to try and stop them. It was becoming a habit, a game... But a dangerous game. The attacks were real and their intentions were to really hurt them... But still, stars sanses continued to just want to reason with them, only attacking in case of major force and always with the aim of immobilizing them, with the least damage possible. And he knew that it was Dream who asked them to do this... Because Dream really believed he could save them.

- Don't you fight, Killer?

The voice had sounded behind him and without even turning around, the madman knew that the guardian of positive feelings had arrived behind him.

- I don't feel like it. He replied calmly. I already know how it's going to end. It's getting boring.

Not detecting any aggression in the skeleton with empty eye sockets, Dream approached to level with him, observing in turn the four others fighting nearby.

- Why do you keep obeying Nightmare then? Dream tried.

Beside him, Killer remained silent for a long time, his gaze fixed on his colleagues.

- Because he saved me. I owe him, whether you like it or not, little Guardian. Maybe if you'd been the first to come for me that day, I'd be with you.

He turned his gaze on the golden-pupilled skeleton, who felt no dominant emotions. He seemed neither happy nor sad that Nightmare was the first to take him out of his world when he wanted to RESET him by erasing himself from his own world.

- This war is none of your business... Dream whispered. This is between Nightmare and me... You should be neutral to all this, but he had to make you feel like he saved you to get you on his side...

Deep down, Dream blamed himself for not being the first to find them. That he couldn't have saved them otherwise. But while he was lost in his thoughts, Killer laughed beside him.

- You're wrong, little Guardian. We don't just do this out of debt. We love it too.

Dream remained silent for a moment, watching Killer with a feeling of contradiction. He felt nothing, not even a little joy. His voice was neutral, tired, without much conviction.

- Is it true?

- Of course it is. Look in front of you. Dust and Horror take pleasure in knocking you off your feet.

- No, Killer. I was asking for you. Are you really enjoying this?

Time seemed to be getting longer and longer. Each day was repetitive, boring. Since Dream had become a stone statue again, the days were boring. Nightmare was at full strength, making Ink and Blue's fight almost futile.

They beat them every time, watching the last two stars retreat to avoid serious injury. And that was every time they crossed paths. It had no interest, no flavour anymore...

But on the other hand, as Killer watched his colleagues, he saw himself as the only one who found the moments boring. Nightmare was getting stronger all the time, Dust loved to go out and attack universes, and Horror was happy to have more time to go hunting for food. But Killer was bored... Taking no pleasure in attacking others. He just wanted to get away from those darned repetitive days.

Many universes had sunk into fear, hatred, the inhabitants no longer having any remorse to fight to maintain an illusion of security for their families. Bads sanses were names that made more and more people tremble, causing chaos and terror. And despite Ink and Blue's best efforts, the number of universes controlled by fear grew steadily, as if hope had vanished.

Everything was too easy.

Sitting on the bed in his room, Killer played with his dagger, twirling it on his knuckle before throwing it to catch it by the handle. He let out a long sigh, beginning to lose interest. The missions had no flavor anymore, Ink and Blue were a shadow of their former selves, too weakened by their search to save their friend.

Eventually the madman dropped his knife and got up to grab his jacket, slinging it over his shoulders and walking out of his room. As he moved through the corridors, he dodged the Papyrus of corruption that were the servants and that were growing in number, witnessing the growing power of their master. These lifeless puppets did not interest Killer either. He was too bland, far from being able to fill his boredom.

Through the window, the round-souled skeleton could see the red sky of DreamTale growing stronger and stronger. The shadows were also taking more ground, turning the place a little more into a universe where negativity was king.

He had won...

Eventually exiting the castle, Killer opened a gate, wanting to take a moment to wander off. Yet, while he was sure he had no idea, as he passed through the gate, his gaze fell on the stone statue.

Dream had not moved. Too heavy but at the same time too fragile to be handled by Ink and Blue. Even Nightmare didn't want to break it, fearing he would lose the golden apple if he killed Dream like that. So he stood there with his arms open and a welcoming smile on his face. Only his tears had disappeared since that famous day.

Killer stood still for a moment, staring at this being trapped in the stone. The images of the fight of that day came back to him. He could hear Dream's pleas for peace, for change. Then came the attack, sharp, almost invisible. No one had seen it, but the sound of stone beginning to freeze Dream had stopped everyone. The guardian had first looked at his feet and then straightened his face towards his brother, holding out his arms and smiling at him despite the tears.

Killer had to give him that. Dream was strong, much stronger than they were. He hadn't been afraid, not for a moment. And even as he turned to stone, he continued to hold out his arms, his hand. The same hand that Killer had gently agreed to take from time to time, when Nightmare wasn't looking.

And he'd discovered an entirely different Dream. A guardian consumed with worry, fear, but not of dying, no... Fear of losing those around him. Even those enemies.

- Why do you want to help us?

Killer sat atop a hill in a nearly destroyed universe. His legs dangled in the air as he watched the last of the survivors being pulled out by Ink and Core!Frisk. Behind him, Dream had sensed his presence and had joined the madman, knowing full well that he was not responsible for the state of this universe. For once, it was only the game's fault.

The question posed by the madman had caught the little guard off guard. How had he guessed that he had come for this? Wasn't it because Dream was talking to Killer more and more and Killer was getting to know him well.

- Is it because we're destroying the world you want to protect? Killer continued. You think it's better to save us than to destroy us, don't you?

Once again, Dream remained silent, unsure of how to respond. But he finally sighed, slowly coming to sit beside the madman, looking in the same direction as him.

- Of course I don't want to destroy you. Because that's not my role.

- So what is your role, little guardian?

-Bringing joy... Just being there and letting people be happy with my presence.

For the first time, Killer had sensed sadness in the guard's voice, but also deep resignation. He had not done this for himself for years. Had he ever done it for himself...

- And what would you like to do?

This time, Killer had turned his head, looking at the smaller man next to him. The latter lowered his head a little, as if unable to answer. At least, unable to answer without thinking, without searching for words.

- I don't know... I would just like to find my brother... Not to have to fight him anymore because he wants to kill me and not to have to face him because the inhabitants of the universes are waiting for us to come and save them.

Slowly, Dream lifted her head, planting her golden pupils in the madman's eyes.

- I would like more moments like this... More moments where we can talk without having to fight... I'm sure we have a lot in common that we could share.

Killer had finally approached the statue, his gaze lost in front of those hands stretched out before him. He knew they weren't meant for him, but he really wanted to take them...

He was right... They had a lot to share. Much more than he had expected. How many times had they found themselves away from the fight, talking about their common weariness to fight. How many times had they ended up talking about something else, slowly opening up to each other. How many times had they lowered their weapons in front of each other, refusing to fight the one who brought them a little novelty in these repetitive confrontations.

Far too many times... And yet, now that he was facing this stone friend, Killer regretted never having told him how happy he was to have spent so much time with him.

- Did you know that Nightmare loved to tell stories when we were kids?

- For real? Then again, I once heard him talking to himself at night in his room. Like he was actually telling something. Of course, he flatly denied it when I asked him what he was doing.

The sound of their laughter filled his memories, prompting him to come a little closer to the statue, placing a hand on the outstretched one. The coolness of it contrasted with the usual warm hand, but Killer had no desire to let go of it now.

- Yesterday I saw a cat near the castle. I would have kept it, but Nightmare doesn't allow animals...

- It's a shame, I'm sure you'd take good care of it. And even if Dust and Horror are your friends, having a furry friend could be good for you.

Slowly, Killer curled his knuckles against the stone one, looking at it sadly. Thoughts raced through his mind, reminding him of all the sweet moments that had seemed timeless. Like a little moment just for them, away from everything.

- Killer... Your soul... It has taken on the shape of an inverted heart!

- ...I haven't seen it like this in a long time.

He placed his second hand on the guard's, passing his empty gaze from one hand to the other. It had been so long since he'd had a moment with him... In addition to his petrification, which must have lasted for the better part of a year, Killer had been distant with him for the past few months. He had felt a real change coming on with Dream and he had been afraid that Nightmare would eventually see them. So he had distanced himself, but in the end, now that he was facing that stone statue, he regretted it.

But what he didn't know was that far away, someone else was regretting this situation too. Not for the same reasons, but for a lot of things that everyone else didn't know. For many things that he kept locked up, refusing even to admit to himself. But this doubt, however small, was present in his heart and for a moment the spell wavered.

Unaware of this, Killer let his hands slip from the stone guardian's, his gaze dropping to the ground. His arms fell limply to his sides, drained of all energy, filled with the weariness and remorse he could no longer change. Slowly he turned, preparing to leave, telling himself that he would come back tomorrow and praying that he would not tire of coming here either.

- You're leaving already... ? a voice whispered behind him.

For a moment, Killer felt the voice come from his mind and he shook his head, needing only to speak, even to a hallucination.

- There's nothing more I can do... I could have prevented this... I should have prevented this. He didn't deserve this...

- I already told you, Killer. The voice continued. You didn't have to get involved in this war, so you're not responsible for what's happening.

The madman took a long breath, really feeling that the voice was real, but he knew it... Nightmare's spell was powerful enough to last for centuries... But even if it was fake, hearing that voice did him a lot of good. Much more than he thought it would, and he couldn't help but say:

- I miss you...

The voice seemed to have disappeared, and Killer felt his soul clench. Not even a hallucination seemed to believe him. What would happen if he told the real Dream? He didn't even want to imagine that.

Yet, as he was about to leave, he felt two arms go around his waist, squeezing him gently as a head rested on his back. The presence startled him and he was ready to attack. Until he looked at the two arms, seeing the two yellow gloves with their jade bracelets. His soul stopped beating for a moment, not daring to believe that this could be possible.

- At least have the courage to say it to my face, Killer.

Against him, the arms tightened a little more, pushing him to turn around, to see for himself that it wasn't a bad dream. And it wasn't... When he turned, his gaze met the golden one, making his soul purr softly.

- I... I missed you... Killer repeated.

Gradually, a smile came over the guard's face. A sincere smile, far from the many, many fake smiles he had taken in his life. And that smile was contagious, causing Killer to return it as he put his arms around the body that was slowly regaining its warmth.

- I missed you Dream... Killer whispered again, wanting to anchor that sentence to show her how serious he was.

Small black tears rolled down his cheeks, but soon he felt Dream's thumbs come to caress his cheekbones, banishing the worry that had been eating away at the madman. Killer closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the moment, feeling the little guardian's body snuggle and warm against him. Then when he opened them again, one of his empty eye sockets had regained a small gleam of a white pupil, gently confronting the golden one that wouldn't let go.

They were so happy to be together again, but no more words came to them. Gestures were enough. There was no need for more, they understood each other perfectly. So much so that when Killer felt the hands on his cheeks gently tugging at his face, he let himself go. Without needing a single word, they brought their faces closer together, granting each other something they had dreamed of on the other side but never dared to speak. But this time they knew they could, and in sweet silence their teeth sealed together, stopping time around them, making their souls beat as they had never felt before.

The kiss lasted only a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity, but also too short for them. The closeness of their bodies made them feel how sincere the other was and they couldn't help but blush when they looked at each other again.

But this moment was short-lived. The guardian's awakening had taken its toll and they were soon separated by the sound of portals opening. Behind Dream, Ink and Blue had just arrived, while behind Killer, Nightmare had arrived.

The two sanses stars grabbed their friend, coming to hide him behind them as they began to insult Nightmare, the latter growling that his spell hadn't lasted long enough. But Dream and Killer didn't seem to care about the quarrel, not taking their eyes off each other, smiling at each other.

The guard was then grabbed by the arm by Ink, wanting to take him to rest, and he didn't object, following his friends to the portal. Nightmare had also summoned a portal, shouting at Killer to return, as the war was about to start again.

But before leaving, Dream and Killer took one last look at each other. They were looking forward to the next battle. They were looking forward to the next battle, looking forward to slipping away like before, even though from now on their time together would have a completely different flavor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

English is not my language and if you understand French, I encourage you to read the story in its original language : here

I hope you liked the story

#dreamkiller #driller #Dreamtale #dream sans #killer sans #oneshot #fanfic

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fineosaur · 3 years

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first line game

thank you for the tags @littlerockerao3 and @salty-wench, i haven’t done one of these in a while and this one was super fun to compile (fair warning this IS quite long)

rules: list the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). see if there are any patterns. choose your favourite opening line. then tag 10 of your favourite authors.

pieces of you stuck on me (but i’m careless and i’m wicked) -- a rickon x lyanna fwb multichap

He’d woken up alone, something he was often used to, but in the last months, he had grown more accustomed to waking up beside just one particular person. More or less a year if he was being honest with himself. But he wasn’t completely alone either, he was just alone in her bed.

we both coincide (when the world’s wasting time) -- a rickon x lyanna story that shows their relationship spanning over a few years

The moon is already out when he still finds himself at her side. She’s solid and warm in his embrace, swaying lazily with him to the strumming harp and the melodic voice that sing the words that seem to weave their way in his head, taking root as he tries to focus on just being there with her.

in the highlands of our dreams -- a single dad!rickon x lyanna fic that’s a lot on the softer side than my usual work

Most of his life had felt like there was an errant thumb on the fast forward button. At times he knew it had much to do with the way his thoughts often ran too fast, and even with long enough legs to chase them, they just kept their brisk pace. Other times, he wasn’t so much to blame.

watch me wary -- a rickon x lyanna fic where rickon goes off the grid for a few years and has to come back to face his family (aka rickon’s apology tour)

“You’re late again, kid.”

He rolled his eyes despite the verity in the statement. Pulling off his helmet, he held a hand out to shake the shorter man’s hand.

watch me wary (prequel) [title in progress] -- set in the stormlands 2 years after rickon leaves home and involves him falling in love with steffon seaworth

There was a feeling between relief and guilt that followed leaving home. Often times thought of as ‘running away’ or ‘disappearing’, at least ‘leaving home’ sounded so much more tempered.

an empire for two -- a canon-divergent robb x theon & rickon x lyanna fic which involves established throbb and an arranged marriage for lyckon

It was warmer inside the castle. It always was; with the hot water from the springs running through its walls, the castle lived and breathed through each change of season, chilling winters and weeping summers, not buckling for any.

where the stars do not take sides -- a oneshot set in a canon-divergent setting where rickon x lyanna spend a few last hours of peace together before they return to war

The snow falls around them rather gracefully. There’s often peace in the Godswood, and the distant howls of the wolves do nothing to deter from that. Though nightfall has come and its chill alike, they stand stiffly facing one another.

be with you -- a rickon x steffon oneshot that shows their relationship as well as how they fell in love

The floor manages to feel warm despite the hour. If he thinks hard enough, he guesses that they’re one of the only two left there.

His father’s office is littered in papers, stacks of words that blur into one with his boredom. Really what keeps him going is the way the man in front of him continues to push his mop of brown hair back, no matter how many times it falls back into his face as he leans over the glass desk.

sight for sore eyes -- mixed pov which has tommen pining for rickon who is pining for lyanna — true heather style

There’s a moment of reprieve that comes once the moon has passed its apex. Its scattered light plays amongst the stars that pepper the sky and the hazy streetlights that guide them through the night.

to feel like gold -- a lyanna x myrcella oneshot where myrcella chooses to indulge in a little rebellion with the girl that’s been on her mind for months

The room is almost too bright for her liking. It hardly fits her resentment. The brisk night air streaming through her windows suits her well enough, rippling over her arms in goosebumps as she feels the frown between her eyebrows deepen.

forest fires -- an arya x gendry oneshot set with a lunar eclipse and a brief moment of repose for the couple

The night’s brisk breeze doesn’t unsettle him like it used to.

It’s still cold though. The wind makes the hair on his arms stand up and he wonders why he hadn’t thought to wear a jumper over his thin cotton t-shirt.

help! -- a stark family -smutty crack fic- that involves ned and cat accidentally stumbling into each one of their kids in precarious situations with their partners

It almost felt like nothing had changed like her children were all still children. Like they’d never flown the coup. But as she stood there, holding a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice, she knew that a lot had changed, that every one of her kids had grown up, fallen in love and were seemingly happy. It flooded her with such relief to know so, though the still gentle tug at her heart was there, telling her that her babies would no longer run to her begging to be held after a nightmare.

it’s all hope -- canon compliant robb x theon oneshot that involves a love confession before theon sets off to pyke

Much like the fire within the hearth that beckoned him with its flickering warmth, he felt disquiet within himself.

The air felt thick, far more humid than that of the North’s. He could easily make out the Red Fork by where he stood, pulling at the laces of his tunic. It unsettled him, the rushing water, so fresh, unlike the brine of his home.

take one last look back-- a jon x satin drabble where the couple has a little spat in the car

The wind becomes distracting. With the way it whistles through his ears, blowing at those perfect curls of his, it even makes it abundantly clear how much his eyes sting.

When he leans back in his seat, his eyes meet the rearview mirror, where he can see his grey eyes, dark and stormy, the perfect juxtaposition to the gleaming sun that threatens a headache.

second nature -- a rickon x lyanna drabble that has a drunk rickon confessing his affections for his best friend, lyanna

She’s sitting in her car with one leg crossed when she sees him take a minute to check each side of the road before crossing. It’s 4 am, her car is really the only one on the road.

Her car is flanked on the side of the road and it’s completely unsurprising that his first instinct is to lower himself to her opened window and flash his stupidly white grin at her.

a troubled mind -- a robb x theon oneshot, after his parents’ deaths, robb overloads himself with responsibility and on the verge of falling apart he seeks comfort in the one person who’s always been there for him

He’s never gotten the opportunity to let it all get to him. There’s never been time for it. Not when there’s always been at least one other person that needs the safety his arms provide.

It’s part of being the oldest son, he tells himself far too often.

calmest wave -- an arya x gendry drabble, a post-show canon fix it where the couple are parents in the stormlands

The shattering waves could still be heard, breaking onto the rocky coast of Shipbreaker’s Bay, even from where they walked, with withered leaves crumbling underfoot.

There was tranquillity within the godswood, interspersed by the humidity carried across the Summer Sea and yet he still felt a breeze pick up, cooling him down as he gently held the small hand in his palm.

you were just dancing on your own -- an arya x gendry drabble where arya seeks comfort with gendry after a bad night

It’s still dark when Arya wakes up in her car; windshield covered in a think layer sleet. Her teeth chatter as she pulls her jumper tighter around herself, yellow haze in her eyes from the streetlights.

She’s in the passenger seat of her car, seat pushed back the most it can go. Her heater doesn’t work, no matter how much she bruises her knuckles against the vents.

high, high love -- an arya x gendry oneshot - set in the pieces of you stuck on me universe. after a few years away, arya returns to the man who she’s always loved

She had been back in Winterfell barely two weeks, in a way, things fell into place, though it was in the most disjointed way possible.

Arya found her footing, day by day, acclimating to the changes she had missed, she had to anyway; this was her family, and no matter how much they had changed, how many things she had missed, they made her feel like home, and she was back home now, for good.

stubborn-hearted blue -- an arya x gendry oneshot where arya moves into the same building as a man she had a fwb arrangement during her college days

She was still adjusting to life in the new city.

Arya hadn’t been in the Riverlands since university, and at this point, it felt like a lifetime ago, a distant memory, more like a dream. But now she had been back for almost a month and boxes still littered her living room, still waiting to be unpacked. between her new job and just trying not to pass out as soon as she was back home, there wasn’t much room for unpacking.

okay WOW i cant believe that managed to date back to over a year. this is pretty much a whole year of my writing summarised in opening lines.

if it isnt obvious, about half of these have yet to be posted, but this was still fun to give a little teaser for those ones.

i’ll be tagging @yanak324, @evax3, @selkiedams, @livhatesolives, @lightninginabottle0613, @watersandwolves, @estrangedandwayward, @jeynepoole, @sneetchstar, @treaddelicately, @bobafettsslut, @nalgenewhore

also, hi! enjoy!

ps, i hope everyone is taking care of themselves and keeping safe x

#i havent been active much in a long time #this is the most active ive been in the last 6 months and that's because im back in lockdown #i think i now have a lot more time for this stuff now that life isnt as fast paced as it has been for the last year #tag games #my writing #rickon x lyanna #robb x theon #jon x satin #rickon x tommen #arya x gendry #gendrya #lyckon #throbb #jonsatin #asoiaf fanfiction

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haunted-medievalist · 3 years

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tag game time!

i was tagged by the lovely @contre-qui, with the aim of tagging nine people to learn about their interests - i'm unlikely to find that many people myself but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it! going under the cut because this is a pretty long(ish) one.

music!

fave genre a little bit of everything but right now especially medieval folk & pop rock

fave artist a strange mixture of måneskin, kraftklub, siames, cavetown, and rainbow kitten surprise

fave song hard choice, but probably 'brothers' by siames & eddy capparelli

most listened to song recently either 'coraline' by måneskin or 'king orfeo' from the child ballads

song currently stuck in your head 'happy pills' by weathers

five fave lyrics oh boy, this is gonna take some thought.

"called to the devil and the devil said / hey! why you been calling this late? / it's like 2a.m. and the bars all close at ten in hell, that's a rule i made / anyway, you say you're too busy saving everybody else to save yourself / and you don't want no help, oh well / that's the story to tell" ('it's called: freefall' by rainbow kitten surprise)

"today i coo, today i caw / i have a pistol party and i kill 'em all / i think i might be scared / of the man and the men with their hands inside / and the women, oh, the women all they do is cry / and i, well i lose my mind" ('little pistol' by mother mother)

"so did you pack your bag, or did somebody pack it for you? / take me to the sad, sad party that you're bound to / whether you're a 'have-not' or a 'have', i got a question / are you living dead, or is this some kind of possession?' ('blast doors' by everything everything)

"but what if i run out of fertiliser? / what if the clouds run out of rain? what if lemon boy won't grow no longer? what if beaches dry of sugar cane?" ('lemon boy' by cavetown)

"now they tell you that you're their muse / yeah, they're so inspired / but where were they when they called your name / and they lit the fire? / when the voices came, you cut your hair / but you're stilled confused" ('joan of arc' by arcade fire)

books!

fave book genre fantasy all the way

fave writer bernardine evaristo, leigh bardugo, madeline miller

fave book oh dear, here we go. 'circe' by madeline miller, 'six of crows' and 'crooked kingdom' by leigh bardugo, 'girl, woman, other' by bernardine evaristo, 'good omens' by neil gaiman & terry pratchett, 'the raven cycle' series by maggie stiefvater, 'oranges are not the only fruit' by jeanette winterson, and a whole lot of old norse literature of dubious authorship (but especially 'gisla saga' and 'hrafnkels saga freysgoða', and pretty much all of the eddic poems in the volsung cycle)

fave book series it's a tie between leigh bardugo's grishaverse novels and maggie stiefvater's 'the raven cycle'

comfort book 'the secret kingdom' by jenny nimmo

rainy day book any of my norse books, sagas or poetry

fave characters nina zenik in the grishaverse, ronan lynch in 'the raven cycle', gisli in 'gisla saga' (not sure if that counts as a character or historical figure, dependent on perspective...?), and circe in, y'know, 'circe'

five quotes from your fave books?

"i thought once that gods are the opposite of death, but i see now they are more dead than anything, for they are unchanging, and can hold nothing in their hands" ('circe' by madeline miller)

"'spreader of swords, it is your own sons' / corpse-bloody hearts you've chewed up with honey, / proud man, you've consumed dead men's meat, / eating it as ale-dainties, sending it to the high seat' [...] with the point of a blade she gave the bed a bloody drink, / with a hel-keen hand, and set the dogs free; / she woke the servants, and in front of the hall-door / she flung a burning brand: she paid them back for her brothers. / to the fire she gave everyone who was inside, / who'd come from myrkheim after murdering gunnar and his men; / the ancient timbers fell, the temples smoked, / the buildings burned of budli's kin, and the shield-maids inside; / their lives stemmed, sinking into hot flames." (gudrun avenges her brother in 'atlakviða', a poem in the old norse poetic and elder eddas)

"you aren't a flower, you're every blossom in the wood blooming at once. you are a tidal wave. you're a stampede. you are overwhelming." ('crooked kingdom' by leigh bardugo)

"from the passenger seat, ronan began to swear at adam. it was a long, involved swear, using every forbidden word possible, often in compound-word form. as adam stared at his lap, penitent, he mused that there was something musical about the ronan when he swore, a careful and loving precision to the way he fit the words together, a black-painted poetry. it was far less hateful sounding than when he didn't swear." ('the raven cycle' by maggie stiefvater)

"but where was god now, with heaven full of astronauts, and the lord overthrown? i miss god. i miss the company of someone utterly loyal. i still don't think of god as my betrayer. the servants of god, yes, but servants by their very nature betray. i miss god who was my friend. i don't even know if god exists, but i do know that if god is your emotional role model, very few human relationships will match up to it. i have an idea that one day it might be possible, i thought once it had become possible, and that glimpse has set me wandering, trying to find the balance between earth and sky. if the servants hadn't rushed in and parted us, i might have been disappointed, might have snatched off the white samite to find a bowl of soup." ('oranges are not the only fruit' by jeanette winterson)

tv and movies!

fave tv/movie genre fantasy, travel/road trip & comedy

fave movie the secret life of walter mitty, supernova, any and all ghibli films, scott pilgrim vs. the world, lord of the rings, the how to train your dragon trilogy

comfort movie the lion king (original), how to train your dragon, from up on poppy hill, kiki's delivery service

movie you watch every year elf, howl's moving castle, love simon

fave tv show she-ra and the princesses of power, skam, bee and puppycat (i guess more of a web series than a tv show?), adventure time, the it crowd

comfort tv show adventure time

most rewatched tv show skam, every october without fail

five favourite characters catra (she-ra and the princesses of power), sana (skam original), marceline (adventure time), moss (the it crowd), inej (shadow and bone netflix adaptation)

tagging (absolutely no pressure, this is a pretty long one!): @crowcaves, @the-obsidian-soul, @natscbi, @somehowmags, @gabrilearnelle, @clockwords, @starsspace... and that's it, that's as close to nine as i'm getting, but if anyone else just feels like doing it then feel free to consider yourself tagged!

#tag game #long post #tysm for the tag!!!!

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versaliiens · 3 years

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The Garden

inspired by a series of messages whilst watching howls moving castle during movie night in my discord, i wrote this at midnight on a tuesday, sitting in my car, and while listening to a spotify playlist called ‘fuckboy songs that unironically fuck’. enjoy.

The meadow and the forest whisper of ancient stories long forgotten. For beneath the grass and the moss and even the deepest roots of the tallest tree, there is a history that only the earth itself remembers. Tales locked away in stone buried under the soil that has become the grave of all that came to rest beneath the open sky. A cool breeze of the late summer air blows through reeds on the bank of a narrow stream, rippling with chilled water that’s traveled from the spring at the top of the eastern mountain. It waters the nearby land as it carves and twists its way through a field of late blooming perennials and into a forest, where the trees are almost old enough to remember the stories. The stream feeds a small pond just beyond the edge of the wood, where an old cottage sits neatly and quietly.

Though, for a peaceful place, a quiet corner is rare. Whether it be through the voice of a songbird, the groan of a bullfrog, or the wind through the trees, a tale is always being told. Tangled roots, overgrown vines, and unturned stones are home to many that reside beyond the mountain and next to the stream. Frogs perch upon toadstools and call to each other. Crickets and insects chirp and squeal throughout the day and into the night. Spiders spin their webs and squirrels build their nests in the boughs of trees. It is never quiet in the meadow or the forest, but it has not always been as it is now. There was once a time when there was only the silence of death heard there, hanging low and heavy like a dense fog over the land. The birds didn’t sing. The frogs didn’t cry, the flowers didn’t bloom, and the wind was still. Before the witch came and made her home by the pond, the trees had accepted their death and had begun to lay themselves to rest. It’s a shame this story is sealed in stone, for this is one the earth does not care to remember.

The place beyond the mountain and next to the stream lay dead and decaying, as the stream had been poisoned by a dark evil from the top of the mountain. When the witch found the carcass of the meadow and the forest, she caught a glimpse of the stories written and lost there. She fell in love with the corpse the land had left behind and breathed life into it once more. By one way or another, she vanquished the evil that corrupted the spring. She cleansed the stream and the pond, planting herbs and weaving her magic into the roots below her feet. She protected the place beyond the mountain and next to the stream with all that she was, and in return, the meadow and the forest and all the stories they held became her friend.

The witch never once asked anything of her friend, but she began to notice patterns in the way the birds watched her through an open window as she cooked. How the foxes followed her down paths carved by the wanderings of thirsty fauna. When the deer never shied away from her visage and would stand like sentinels at her doorstep. She watched the frogs judge her from atop their toadstools and she chuckled along with the squirrels when they eventually flopped back into the water. The mushrooms sleeping in beds of moss, and bushes ripe with berries gave her nourishment. The stream satisfied her thirst. The trees gave her plenty of conversation. With the cautious chaos of all things that are wild and free, her friend became her home.

It didn’t take long for the fairies to return, because they too needed the place beyond the mountain and next to the stream. The story of the meadow and the forest was theirs, just as much as it was that of the birds, the trees, and the bees. The witch avoided the fey, like any good witch would, but they tended her herbs and crops when she was away. They helped the stream to flow where it was meant to and the leaves to fall on time. They played games in her cottage and hid when she grew frustrated with her missing tools, only to find them days later in the only places she never thought to look. In their own mysterious and mischievous way, they too became a friend to the witch.

For it was the fairies that laid her to rest when she reaped the last of the garden. Her funeral pyre was a blaze of red, orange, and yellow, summer flowers and autumn leaves in the stark snow of midwinter. Her bones found their place upon the earth and the stone, and it didn’t matter that the trees would eventually forget her. When spring came again, a blanket of moss and mushrooms covered her with their warmth and she was buried in the heart of a friend.

Those that would speak of the place beyond the mountain and next to the stream would call it wilderness. Unruly land. Those that heard the stories of an ancient evil, fairies, and a kind witch would call it fantasy. Children’s tales. But those that lived under old roots, upon buds of reluctant daisies, and in a small cottage near a pond that was cold with the water of a mountain spring would simply call it home.

#writing #short story #prose #long post #mine #yelling #the garden #this isn't meant to be a serious thing #i just wanted to have a lil fun with the imagery that we were talking about and stuff #i also am a sucker for analogizing nature #:)

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queen-of-my-goofball-army · 3 years

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An Ode To Miyazaki:

Hi everyone! So for my final paper for film, we had to pick our own director of our choosing and talk about them extensively between the attributes that make them special. Our course focused on the narrative and technical styles of directors. For my final project, I have chosen my biggest hero in the world of animation and somebody that drastically changed my life as a young child, Hayao Miyazaki. Learning about him for this project gave me so much insight into not just his films but who he is as a person. I hope that my paper is as interesting for you to read as it was for me to do research for!

1. Hayao Miyazaki, often referred to as the Japanese Walt Disney is the front runner of his animation studio Studio Ghibli. I picked him because I already have sufficient knowledge and love of his films. One of the first memories that my parents love to remind me of is my first time watching Totoro and laughing at the introduction characters. Miyazaki himself stands out for a number of reasons. Over the years, Miyazaki has made a humongous name out of himself, one of his most famous movies Spirited Away became the most popular film to ever be released in Japan and also won the academy award for the best-animated film that year. His most “popular” films (I say popular in air quotes because it is nearly impossible for people to agree on a favorite) remain the aforementioned Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Princess Mononoke. Beginning his career as a simple animator for Toei animation, he worked as an in-between artist. It was here that he met his future collaborator at Ghibli, Isao Takahata. His first big directorial debut in film before founding Ghibli was a team effort without Takahata was Lupin The Third, The Castle Of Cagliostro. His first successful movie was one that was based upon his own manga Nausicaa of the Valley Of The Wind. The first official Miyazaki movie that was made with Ghibli was one of my personal all-time favorites that had ever been created, Castle In The Sky. For many children, especially ones with parents who are lovers of a film like mine, Miyazaki was one of the first animators that I was introduced to. His films have become classics for every fan of animation, being referenced in culture, specifically back when Disney owned Studio in Toy Story 3, Bonnie has a Totoro.

2. So, this brings up the question, how does one recognize a film by Miyazaki? You can always expect for him to be critically acclaimed, for there to be some element of magic and whimsy in the way that he animates, for there to be something to do with flight (whether it be dealing with airplanes like in Porco Rosso, the idea of flight in Howl’s Moving Castle, or a floating castle up in the sky in Castle In The Sky.), his heroines are always strong-minded and live by their own rules never bowing down to anybody, his love stories are dynamic and fulfilled, a sweeping score by Joe Hizashi, and they have a meaning about nature somewhere, mostly about why it needs to be protected.

Let’s start by breaking him down narratively. The thing that is always in every Miyazaki film no matter which one you decide upon watching, is that his female characters are always strong-willed no matter what. In many ways, I think that he writes women better than Disney does. He has gone on record saying “Many of my movies have strong female leads—brave, self-sufficient girls that don't think twice about fighting for what they believe with all their heart. They'll need a friend, or a supporter, but never a savior. Any woman is just as capable of being a hero as any man.” Sometimes, this will cause them to come across as reckless, or stupid, but in my opinion, I have always looked up to his female characters and the way that they are portrayed. My personal favorite female character that he has ever brought to life through the screen is Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle. She is strong-minded, not willing to put up with any of Howl’s dramatics, kind, an incredible adult figure for Markal, endlessly sympathetic to her friend’s plights (namely Howl and Calcifer), and somebody that I can always look up to. I spent most of my childhood looking up to characters like Kiki in Kiki’s Delivery Service, Chihiro in Spirited Away, or one of my personal favorite underrated girls, Fio in Porco Rosso. All of these female characters are independent and never let themselves be taken advantage of by anybody.

Another trait that can always be found narratively in his films is that Miyazaki is an airplane/ air travel fanatic. He absolutely loves airplanes, even to the point where his latest film, The Wind Rises was based upon the life of one of the first airplane manufacturers in WWII. Almost all of his films will involve something about flying in the air. Even with the ones that he didn’t direct and he just simply wrote. His obsession with flight is something that stemmed from his childhood and he never saw them as a thing to be used for war “airplanes are not tools for war. They are not for making money. Airplanes are beautiful dreams. Engineers turn dreams into reality.” My personal favorite of all of his flight animation is used in Howl’s Moving Castle when Howl and Sophie “fly” over the heads of all the people below them.

Narratively also one of the biggest things that set apart his films from any others is his focus on nature. The idea of protecting the beauty of nature is something that he has always stood by. A lot of the time, America tries to prove that it can make films about nature as well to usually varying results. I think that nobody can sell an environmental message quite like my biggest hero for Japanese animation. One of the main movies that focus on his will to protect nature above all else is Princess Mononoke. He always manages to animate nature in such a beautiful and majestic way no matter where the film is set.

I also think that a narrative trait of his that often gets overlooked is how beautiful the romance in his films can be. He never has a romance between two characters that feels stale or boring. I love the fact that you can pick any number of his films and the chance of there being a romance that you’ll get sucked into is a very large one. Everybody has their personal favorites, I love Howl and Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle but my best friend loves Sousuke and Ponyo from Ponyo. He has on record saying that “I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live - if I’m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.” Writing romance between two characters can be a very tricky thing which is why it’s always amazing when he can continually pull it off despite everything and how many films that he has made over the years. The beauty of having both a strong and independent male and the female character is that they can both lean on one another for love and support. Probably the biggest supporter of this is Whisper Of The Heart, a film that he wrote instead of directing. The romance is what makes up the entire film. It’s a beautiful love story about how two young teenagers fall in love with each other. The romance is something that continually keeps me coming back for more every time.

Technical style Miyazaki can always be assured to deliver breathtakingly stunning animation. There is a reason why so many people leave his films starving because the food that he draws always looks so good. For me though, it’s the backgrounds that stand out above all else. It’s nearly impossible to have one favorite shot in one of his films but I as a matter of fact do have one. The most breathtaking animation in any Miyazaki film is the scene where Howl takes Sophie to see his secret garden. Everything about this scene never fails to make my breath catch. It’s such a profoundly beautiful moment and how it is animated is something that I haven’t forgotten since my first initial viewing of the film when I was seven.

Another iconic technical trait is that Disney did a fantastic job dubbing the films from their original Japanese language into English. Back when Ghibli films first started to become popular, they needed a way for an American audience to see them. So Pixar’s CFO at the time, John Lassater made a deal with Ghibli that they would dub all the films from their original language for a brand new audience. Growing up, this was how I watched all of Miyazaki’s films. I fell in love with the way that they sounded in English. To this very day, I have yet to see one of his films in any other language. I don’t think that anybody could have dubbed them better. Ever since Ghibli and Disney went their separate ways and they went to GKids the dubs haven’t been the same.

Finally, the last technical trait is that a Miyazaki film will always have a score done by his longtime collaborator Joe Hizashi. The score is such a big part of what makes Miyazaki’s films his own. They are what get you sucked in through their whimsical and magical tones; they always fit the vibes that he’s going through at that moment. There is also the element of sound. Every Miyazaki film has a distinct sound effect that will set it apart from the one before it.

3. The first film that I want to look at is my personal favorite of all his films that he has made so far if you were to force me to pick just one Howl’s Moving Castle. Released in 2004, it was the 9th film that the director came out with. It has an 8.2 out of 10 on IMDB and an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. The storyline for the movie follows a young woman named Sophie. She gets a curse set upon her by the Witch of the Waste and when she leaves home she finds the infamous Howl’s Moving Castle. This is the second Ghibli movie voiced by a Batman live action actor. Christian Bale voiced Howl Pendragon after Michael Keaton played the titular Porco Rosso.

Narratively this is definitely a Miyazaki film. From how strong of a female character Sophie is I spent most of my childhood looking up to her as a character. Strong female characters are everywhere in his films and in my opinion, Sophie is one of the strongest. Another strong factor is that flight plays a major part in this film. One of Howl’s main powers is that he has the ability to fly around. This leads to my favorite scene of flight in any Miyazaki film when Howl takes Sophie’s hand and they “fly” over the tops of the city down below them. All of his early films up until the last few were set in someplace other than Japan. This one is set in Europe, and he takes a lot of time while in the cities to show off all the different types of buildings while Sophie tours around the city.

Technically speaking this is also a Miyazaki film and holds all the titular traits of being so. The animation is utterly for lack of a better word, magical and spellbinding. It takes my breath away every time that I rewatch it. The food looks incredible, one scene that most of Miyazaki’s fans always think of when this movie is brought up is Calcifer making the food for Howl, Sophie, and Markal to eat. The dub for this film is also one of Disney’s best dubs for Miyazaki films. It even brings actors to the table that I usually would not like to see in other films like Christian Bale. I haven’t loved him in any other films than this one. Billy Crystal is a stand-out as well as my favorite fire demon Calcifer. The score is done by Joe Hizashi as well. My favorite part of the score is the main theme which has Howl and Sophie floating above the people below. The sound effect that follows throughout this film is the steady creaking of the castle itself.

Princess Mononoke was the first time that Miyazaki ever “retired”. Most of the time, whenever he tries to retire, he always comes back. A lot of his colleague's joke that it’s because he physically can’t stop working. He animated most of this movie by himself. Before Spirited Away it was Japan’s most famous film to date. The story about a young man who is just trying to erase the curse that was set upon him by an angry boar and it leads him to a place called Iron Town is something that never fails to amaze me. While in Iron Town, Ashitaka meets a young woman named San who was taken in by wolves and he finds himself caught between a war involving humans and the gods of the forest.

Narratively this is definitely a Miyazaki film. It has a strong female lead, focusing most of its screen time on how important it is to protect and preserve nature as a whole. The idea of protecting nature is such a moving part of the film, as we see what it does when man takes over the forest. We see how distraught it makes the Gods of this world and how they wish that the humans would just go away. However, you also see it from the point of view of the villain of the film Lady Eboshi, who also regularly helps lepers and people who would often never get work outside of her offering them a home and a family. I have regularly gotten into a debate with my mom over which side is “right” and which side “wrong” over the course of the last few years of me being a massive fan of this movie. She takes the side of the forest while I see Ashitaka’s side that everybody should just get along and interact in peace and harmony. Miyazaki never shoves the idea of nature down your throat. That is not what this film is. It’s instead about the beauty of what we have and learning to appreciate it.

On a technical level, this film is fantastic as well. It blows my mind that Miyazaki-san animated most of it all by himself. The backgrounds are sweeping and utterly gorgeous showing off the time period of the film. The fight sequences which make up the bulk of the film’s running time are engaging, thrilling, and fabulously animated. Mononoke’s score was done by Joe Hizashi as well. Its score is beautiful and I always find myself getting sucked into it, especially for the more dynamic scenes with Ashitaka and San. The sound effect for this film uses nature as a backdrop for brutality. Ashitaka’s arrows don’t just come out of his bow, they screech through the air.

Finally, my last film that we will be focusing on, Kiki’s Delivery Service was made in 1989 a year after his cult phenomena My Neighbor Totoro and was his fifth animated feature. Kiki is a young girl that is hoping to become a young witch in training. However, to do so she has to train a year away from home. She and her cat Jiji find a town by the sea where she learns her true strength and what she can really do to help others. Hayao Miyazaki didn't want to bore the audience during the film's end credits by using just the names. He set it up to be like a mini-sequel so that the audience would leave the theatre feeling happy.

Narratively this has all the traits that one should be familiar with and associate with a Miyazaki film. It has a strong-minded female character at the source of it that young girls can look up to and admire. As a kid, Kiki was my favorite female character of his because I loved her strength and her dedication to what she was good at. She knew that she was still young and had a lot to learn but even though she gets depressed she doesn’t let that stop her in the long run and will still save her love interest Tombo. The romance in this film is by far one of the sweetest. I love the interactions between the characters and the way that they both inspire one another to be better than they are. The idea of flight is basically the focal point of everything. Kiki finds that her best trait is that she flies incredibly well and decides to create her own flying delivery service.

Technically this also has a lot of traits that Miyazaki made a name for himself in doing. The animation is spectacular, especially for Kiki’s flying. I could watch her fly around all day and that was the idea that he was going for while making the film. The sweeping score by Joe Hizashi, especially in my favorite song A Town With An Ocean View, is something that I’ll often listen to outside of the film itself. The sound effects for the film are meant to be calming. From the first sound that you hear of the wind rolling through the reeds while Kiki lies against the grass to the waves when she finally finds a home.

4. Miyazaki as a director has inspired me since I was way too young to even remember. When I was a kid I would pretend to run around my apartment building's front yard imagining that I lived in a big house in front of a camper tree like the one in Totoro. His movies are perfect for children that “suffer” from having an overactive imagination. His movies are everything that is bright and beautiful in the world. The animation never fails to take my breath away, the characters and stories are unforgettable, the soundtracks sweep me away and tell stories themselves. His movies are something that even my parents, who are not anime fans, can watch over and over again. I think that speaks for itself. Miyazaki makes films that are art, not just animated films.

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finn-ray-nal-beads · 3 years

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jameson whiskey send tweet. BLOWHOLE.

A/N: WHALE, WHALE, WHALE KITTEN... here we are... another installment of the siren series with Captain Flip and finding his sultry sea maiden! I hope ya like it kitten @maybe-your-left 🖤. I did a few time jumps to cement the story a little further. If you haven’t read the beginning of my Blowhole series please refer to it in my Masterlist under the Flip Request section for context.

Warnings: Mild angst, pining (from Flip and us too), mostly plot hardly any porn I’m sorry everyone, mentions of alcohol, mentions of possessive behaviors, masturbation, Flip is an irritable motherfucker as usual, and of course pirate slang slathered throughout the entire story, coupled with Little Mermaid slurs

(Y/N’s POV, the day you saved Flip)

You startled awake, gasping as a flurry of bubbles left your lips, a nightmare that had stirred you awake from your restless sleep.

You rubbed your tired eyes, stretching your muscles and tail from the king-sized clamshell bed in your extravagant palace of opalescent towers, gazing out at the majesty of the underwater mecca you’d called home.

The bustling of merfolk swimming in all directions, schools of fish making their ways in and out of the caverns, and the heart of the city blossoming with light as the shining palace glistened in the light of the morning.

It was truly a paradise in the depths of a trackless sea, an epicenter of life only visible to those seeking it out the most. And in this hustle and bustle, you felt lost.

The longing to be free from the chains you’d been given since birth only growing as your age advanced. Being the daughter of the king of the ocean had its perks, including the charmed life you’d grown to know and love. Showered with affection and attention by all who had come to know you, attending galas and balls weekly, being taught the highest educational studies the merpeople could offer, and the access to the most precious possessions in the ocean, to which any man or woman would kill to have.

But the worst part of all of this was your indifference to it. Yes, as a child the affection and material prizes were all the rage, but as you got smarter, grew into the stunning beauty you were, so was the pressure to uphold the family traditions.

Those included taking your rightful place on the thrown, with the strongest merman as your king to lead the people in keeping the peace between land and sea, just as your father had done and his father before him.

This had been cemented into your studies from your preschool years and on, the consequences racking up as your age did, and the pressure to find a suitor as well, which nauseated you to no end.

One evening at dinner, you’d not been in the mood for foolish tricks, settling to quietly consume your seafood as your parents droned on and on about foreign relations with the land folk and treaties of such nature that you’d tuned out.

“My darling,” your mother prompted as you were pulled from your distant state, “you haven’t even touched your food. What’s going on sweetheart?” gazing as you shrugged, rolling the shrimp on your fork and pushing your palm into your cheek.

“It’s nothing mother,” sighing as you took a sip from your chalice, avoiding all eye contact with both parents while the room grew more silent.

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong with her,” your father booming out, stuffing his face with the delicacies like the titan he was, “she’s neglecting her duties!” smacking his lips together and boring his eyes into yours.

“I am not!” slamming your fork down to lift yourself from your chair, “you don’t even know what it’s like to be me!” tears welling in your eyes as he lifted his hulking body to meet your eye-level.

“Do not raise your voice at me, Y/N!” he commanded, a swirl of water whirl pooling as he grew angrier and angrier, “you will comply with my choices and you will marry one of our chosen suitors by the end of the full moon celebrations!” forcing an imaginary hold on you to stay in your seat.

“It’s time you stop fucking around, Y/N!” he bellowed, your emotional state the furthest from his mind as he stuffed tradition down your throat, “you’re not getting any younger!” cementing his point to cause you to wail out in a pained cry.

“Let me go, father!” squirming in his magical grip as you struggled to release your body from all of the stresses of being in the family, “I don’t want to be someone’s possession! I want to be in love!” screaming with pained tears as you writhed free from him.

“Love!” he chuckled, the word a foreign thing to him as he married your mother for the sake of treaty, “my sweet stupid siren, you know nothing of love because it doesn’t exist!” his laughs ringing through the dining hall as you sobbed into your hands, your mother trying to comfort you as you were given the harsh reality of the rest of your days in the palace. Her silent tears falling under the mixture of your hurt as well as her own sad significance to her husband.

“Y-you’re w-wrong!” you stifled, heavy cries releasing from your lungs as you grasped for something to parch your aching thirst, wiping the heavy tears that dissipated into the saltwater.

“Y-you’re s-so w-wrong f-father!” speeding your tail out of the great hall, the echo of his angered voice radiating through the hall as you burst out of the castle, swimming at the fastest speeds you could.

Your tears clouding your directions as you rocketed through the masses of folk passing through the town square, fish hurrying their way out of yours as you cried through your pain.

“I-I’ve got to g-get out of h-here!” you hiccuped as the lights faded from your view, the darkness of the ocean enveloping you in a mysterious veil as you tried to curb your sobs.

You stilled your breath, stopping in the abyss to gather your surroundings, knowing you were far enough from home for your father to pull you back with his vortex with the flick of his wrist. Scoffing in sobs and flipping the bird in the direction as a thunderous roll hummed through the ocean.

The light from above striking the surface in a lightning cloud as thunder boomed from the skies, your eyes gazing at the majesty from below as you solitarily floated in the swells, watching the huge waves ebb over each other in a frenzy.

Suddenly, a huge object grew over the surface, the oval shape of it covering the crackling sky above, pulling you towards it like a beacon.

Your tail moving unconsciously as you neared the large wooden hull, noticing its undoubtedly characteristic figures from the books you’d nosed through in your study.

“Holy sh-,” barely getting the words out as a crack of light shot through the bottom of the ship, sending debris into the seas as the wooden vessel disintegrated before you.

Bodies strewn amongst barrels of alcohol, cannonballs, and masts fell to the depths of the ocean, maneuvering the wreckage as you surveyed the devastation.

Amongst the chaos, floating in the ebbs of the depths, you noticed the most striking being you’d ever come across in your years. His ravened hair flowing in the ocean as his lifeless body rag-dolled in the currents, his chiseled features glimmering in the crackling lightning as you came closer to his hulking figure.

Running your scaled hands over his nose, his facial hair, his plush lips as you finally came to grips with what you had to do. Taking his dead weight into your arms as you turbo your way from the shipwreck, the bubbles trailing your tail as you figured out your next move.

The panic set in when you realized this man wasn’t like you, his pulse no doubt fading the longer he was under the ocean.

You hastily tried to find a speck of sand, bobbing your head up and down out of the water as you clung to the surface, trying to give him the slightest bit of oxygen as the thunder rolled over the stormy seas.

“Come the fuck on!” you cried out, looking left and right as you caught the glimpse of a palm tree wavering in the hurricane winds several miles away.

You barreled yourself and your extra weight towards the shores, dragging his thick muscle onto the sand as the wind howled through the patch of trees settled in the middle of nowhere.

Laying him out on his back, trying to shield him from the ebbs of the shores, and the debris flying through the air as you surrounded him with your slick tail. Holding his deadened face in your chest as you covered him from the turbulence above.

“Dammit, dad!” grunting into his ravened hair, cursing the swells that had grown familiar to you when he’d been stirred the wrong way, “would you fucking calm down?!” yelling into the thundering greyness that only swirled into a bigger frenzy as you gave it life.

“Fine!” you screamed out, the swells howling as the clapping continued over the vast sea, “I’ll do whatever you fucking want, just please, stop this tantrum!” tears streaming down your face as the words left your lips, sentencing you to a life of loveless encounters all for the good of the merpeople.

Upon your claims, clouds cracked, the thunder dissipated, and the waves calmed as if there hadn’t been a tsunami wrecking the open ocean in the slightest. Seagulls squawked as they elevated into the clear blue sky, the smell of the sea penetrating your aching lungs.

The sun crept through the whitening clouds, beaming its light on the tanned shores, your eyes squinting as the tears steamed off your cheeks in the searing fireball. Choking on air as you savored the last moments of your freedom, feeling the land beneath you and the spray of the seashore on your tear-stained face.

“T-thank you,” the bile straining from your throat as you gagged back the fake appreciation, looking back to your sailor, his skin glowing in the sunlight as you removed your tail from his body.

He stirred underneath you, heaving his chest as he puked up seawater, gasping for air as he writhed on the sand.

“H-holy f-fuck!” grunting out, trying to shield his eyes as you quickly shape-shifted to avoid more shocking revelations from your handsome stranger.

His thick pectorals straining in his shirt as he coughed up more spit and water, trying to grip himself back to reality.

His eyes straining upwards towards your silhouette, the frame of the sunlight sitting perfectly on your glistening face, your nude form covered in sand as it clung to the beads of water sporadically strewn on your legs and arms.

“H-hello?” he strained out, taking in your features as you melted in his amber gaze below, his honeyed bellow rippling through your shocked body embracing you in a warmth hotter than the beating sun.

Your breath left with the tropical winds as you watched him sit up towards you, his chiseled tanned features becoming more human as he gained more consciousness. You felt something you’d only read in storybooks, something you had hoped for, ever since you were a guppy.

You stared at him, watching his chest heave in and out, his rippling arms gathering himself to sit up, his grunted breaths penetrating the sea air over the waves crashing around him.

“Well good morning to you too, sailor,” you sang out in the most enchanting melody possible, losing yourself in lust as the morning peaked over the palm trees.

Figuring that you had sentenced yourself to a lifetime of duty to your people, what was the harm in getting at least one romantic fling before heading back to reality?

And it devoured your body up and down, right in the sandy shores of the Atlantic.

__________________

(Flip’s POV, in search of Y/N)

The heavy swells of the sea cast over the proud Jolly Roger, relentlessly plowing through the white water in the bright light of an Atlantic morn. The course had been set by the fearless buccaneer in his quest to find his elusive mermaid lover, his focus not wavering even when he laid to rest his eyes at night.

He filled his head with folktales and legends of the lost city, hoping to find an Easter egg to lead him closer to his precious prize. Every port they landed on, he was nose deep in the libraries, swilling rum to curb his irritation at the exclusivity of information on these folk and where they hid their secrets.

“There has to be something,” he sat in the candlelight, puzzling as he rubbed his ravened mustache, maps and books strewn over his desk, combined with notes he’d added to help or hinder his progress.

“For fuck’s sake there has to be!” slamming his fist down, throwing the texts on his wooded floor in a thud, rubbing his temples as he filled his cup with another helping of his precious hooch. Slamming a shot or two down with large gulps as he fed the demon brewing within, becoming more and more frustrated at his dwindling expertise.

He had found treasures buried in the bellies of beasts for God’s sake, been to all corners of the ocean, even dared to look Davey Jones in his squid tentacles and spit on the ground he walked on. It couldn’t be that fucking hard to find his precious scaled dame, who captured his heart and wracked his brain every single day since the moment your sultry eyes met his.

He got up from his seat, rubbing a hand through his silken waves as he sighed. Taking another swill of his poison to cleanse his dried throat, rubbing his eyes from the headache that had built up in his desperate attempts at finding a sign.

“I just need to quit for the night,” heavily sighing at his failures, angrily going to remove his effects from his person, his tensed muscles aching as he rubbed the back of his neck in a strained groan.

“Mmm, fuck,” he growled, stripped down to his skivvies as his half hardened cock waved in the motions of the ebbs and flows of the ship, the pained movements egging the erection to grow harder and harder coupled with his thoughts of you.

He laid in his chambers, the warm light caressing his freckled skin, showcasing his muscular form as he propped himself to stifle his need for your soft pussy.

The more he laid staring at the ceiling, the more he conjured up thoughts of you. How perfect your hair glimmered in the warm sunlight, your enchanting eyes swirling in his mind, boring into him as if you had actually been in the room. Your glistening skin that gave off an opalescent hue in the light of the beach that morning, your perfectly pouted lips, begging to be covered in his as you coaxed him to you.

He laid uncomfortably now, eyes furrowing as he gripped his mast in his thick digits, slipping his wet tip in them to slide the moisture down his veiny shaft, “Y/N,” he whimpered, his mind racing with more images of you that morning, “Y/N please,” begging as he sped up his motions on his throbbing cock.

Your perfectly plump tits, shimmering on the sand, grit covering parts of your coconut-scented skin, the curve of your ass showcasing your siren charms as you coaxed his mind into his own pleasured memories.

‘What are you gonna do to me sailor?’ a melodic and enchanting voice ringing through his psyche as he palmed his girth in his hand, his balls tensing as he thought of you and your wiles.

“Oh fuck darlin’,” he sped up his assault, “I-I’m gonna storm your shores so f-fuckin’ hard,” he groaned, feeling his orgasm build and build on his fantasy of you sand-covered, begging for his cock, “y-you’ll be cummin’ in w-waves on m-my, f-fuck!” he cried out feeling the heat spread over his lower half.

His motions speeding and squeezing on his Kraken even harder as he finished his thoughts, ‘come on captain,’ you purred, covering your body in more and more sand as it stuck to your glistening curves, ‘blow your load all over me,’ your lips whispering to him as your eyelashes batted in his direction.

“O-oh f-fuck!” he shouted, his release clouding the image of you as he snapped back to reality. Hot cum spurting in waves as he dumped his wasted spend on his chiseled abs, balls tightening as it cascaded down over his knuckles.

“M-mother f-fuck,” groaning as he threw his head back into his pillow, feeling the wetness cover his hand as he finished his ministrations, recoiling after it began to feel like too much on his softening cock.

He glanced down at the mess, huffing and puffing at the wasted release, shuttering as he saw the amount that had come out of him. He wished it was six feet deep in your velvet cunt. Wished it was dispersing itself in your vacant womb, seeding itself so deep that he’d marked you his forever.

He shook his head, the ache returning in his temples as he laid there. Completely spent from his quest, wishing you were laying on his chest, smelling your tropical scent on his nostrils. Feeling the kinks and curls of your freshly fucked hair, hearing your sweet breaths escape your lips as he’d try to kiss on them before lulling you to sleep in his chambers. He only wished.

Suddenly, a series of hasted knocks threw him out of his daydreams, the sound of Ron begging him to open up.

“Captain! Captain!” he cried, seemingly in distress, as Flip hurried to make himself decent, throwing on his pantaloons and white undershirt, grunting as the knocks came quicker and quicker.

“Hold the fuck on!” he bellowed, slamming his boots on the wooded floor to kick the books he’d previously thrown from his desk, ready to strangle his mate for disturbing him so late.

Throwing open the heavy door “what the hell is going on, Ron?” his clearly irritated demeanor causing his buddy to jump back, shying away as his intentions seemed to be overzealous in their action.

Flip lifted to his full height, crossing his arms to practically cover the doorway, the smallest slivers of light from his room emitting in a halo around his head, huffing his chest to hear what the commotion was about.

“Uhmmm, Z,” he timidly questioned, not making eye contact with his captain as he knew the second he’d panic knocked, he’d signed a death warrant on himself, “I-I think you need to see this,” leading to the doorway that pulled them on the main deck of the massive ship.

“See what, Ron?” gritting out as he lumbered behind him, a mixture of puzzled and pissed as he helped him jiggle the latches on the double doors.

The cool sea air penetrated their faces, the sounds of the waves crashing the hull as it pushed its way in the set course, the night sky spotted with bright stars and a moon that illuminated the entire ocean as his night crew was busy with their chores, raising and lowering the sheets to readjust the direction from the winds.

Ron led him to the captain’s wheel, being manned by a crewman who had taken Ron’s station for him to alert Flip to the sight. The man scurried away when he saw them approach, Ron gripping the wheel to keep the ship in the right direction as his other hand gripped the telescope laying by the maps given to him.

“Here,” he gestured, placing the tool in his captain’s hand as he lifted to extend it out to look through, “about two paces to the right from where the ship is headed,” he pointed, to which Flip did as his mate had told him.

Zeroing in on the spot he’d mentioned, eyes squinting as he took in the scene from the spyglass, “what the fu-?” he adjusted the fine vision on the lens to reveal something he’d never seen before in his life.

A bright beam of lights, emitting from the horizon, colored in blue and green hues as it danced on the trackless shoreline they were headed. The streams seemed to pulse with life as they danced on the waves, the stars beaming through as the light show continued on and on.

“What do you think it is?” Ron’s voice, stern but concerned as Flip closed the glass to glance over at him.

He huffed, stalking over to the maps on the other side, looking at them to see what the answer could possibly be, caressing his goatee as he forked through the latitudes and longitudes.

Dragging his large index finger over the directions he’d mapped out, looking at landmarks, squinting as the light of the night didn’t help his vision.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the possible answer, shimmering in the light of the moon like a beacon, calling to him like your siren song had rung through his ears that day.

“This,” he slammed a sausage down, a devilish smirk painting his face as he glazed over the name labeled on the parchment.

Ron glanced down to notice the name inked on the spot, looking in his direction, noticing his demeanor changed in an instant as he marveled at the map.

“The Bottom,” he chanted, as he gripped the ship’s wheel, watching Flip snap into action, a frenzy of map tracking and smiles at his traction gained on finding his prize.

“The Bottom, Ron,” he chuckled, the both of them looking up as the lights grew larger in the sky, seemingly large fingers coaxing the Roger towards it in an enchanting procession.

“You really think it’s there?” he steered puzzled now as the lights brought them closer and closer, Flip’s eyes beaming with the shadows of them as he was entranced by the thoughts of you in his arms again.

“Only one way to find out, buddy,” he grinned, placing his buccaneer’s cap on his thick locks, reaching for the bottle that was kept on top of the map.

Taking a large swig of sweet nectar to let out a huge gasp, rubbing the remainder from his mustache as he tossed the vice to his mate, who took a swig too, aiming the ship still as he gripped the glass.

“We gotta go to the bottom of that barrel, Ron,” cocking an eyebrow as he prepared his crew for all that would be beyond the lights.

_______________

WILL HE FIND YOU IN TIME BEFORE YOU’RE SHIPPED OFF TO MARRY ANOTHER UGLY FUCK?

FIND OUT ON THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF BLOWHOLE AND HIS SIREN LOVE!

🖤,

ray-nal-beads

#flip zimmerman #flip zimmerman request #flip zimmerman x reader #flip x you #flip zimmerman x you #flip x female reader #flip x reader #flip zimmerman smut #flip zimmerman fluff #flip zimmerman imagine #the siren series #a sirens song #the bottom of the barrel #pirate!flip #pirate au #flip zimmerman x mermaid reader

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alittlenarnian · 4 years

Text

A Daughter of Eve

Soulmate au where people see in black and white until they meet eyes with their soulmate for the first time. The reader is a daughter of eve on the witch’s side, whose world is turned upside-down when she makes eye contact with a certain prisoner.

Enjoy!

An infant’s cry rang out through the otherwise silent wood. A cloaked figure moved through the darkness towards the noise and came across a small bundle of blankets, dark grey against the cold white of the snow. This was not the cry of an animal. Two hands reached down and picked up the bundle. Unwrapping it, the dwarf found small hands, fingers, toes. This was no animal. It was not a dwarf either. Not even a hag. This was a human child.

The dwarf wrapped it back up and hurried off. The Queen would be pleased with him today.

Y/n was treated like a princess in the Queen’s court. She knew she wasn’t one, but she was the only thing close to a child that the Queen had. She had been told the story, many times, of the Queen’s benevolence, how the Queen had found her and taken her in, deciding to raise her as her own. The Queen loved her, and treated her like a daughter. Daughter of Eve she called her.

For a while, the Queen had her constantly by her side. Y/n had to learn how to rule, after all, for the Queen had no children. One day, Y/n would be the one to take over the throne.

“We must deal firmly with any act of insubordination. If we let our subjects get away with the tiniest acts of rebellion, if they fail to kneel before us, and acknowledge us as their leaders, it will only be a matter of time before they rise up against us.”

Y/n understood. Only a tight fist could run an empire as strong as hers. Her heart was sorry each time she punished a subject, but feelings were weakness, and weakness was unacceptable. She learnt to push down the guilt so that eventually she felt nothing at all. After all, their subjects would be much worse off if the Queen’s rule was sloppy or weak. Keeping order was what was best for the kingdom.

As time rolled on, Y/n sensed the Queen’s growing displeasure with her. She guessed she was displeased because the country had given up fighting the Queen, and Y/n no longer had a way to prove her worth to the Queen. Y/n was thirteen when the Queen arrived home from a ride through her kingdom wearing a smile that made Y/n feel unsettled.

“Maugrim!” At the Queen’s voice, the wolf bounded into the court, and stood at attention.

“Yes, my queen.”

“Pay a visit to the faun, Tumnus, who lives near Lantern Waste. I have heard a report that he has been fraternising with a daughter of Eve. Bring him here. Alive.”

“Yes, my queen.” The wolf let out a chilling howl, and departed once again.

“My Queen?” Y/n shook as the Queen turned to face her.

“What is it, Y/n?” The Queen’s voice was dangerous. The thin veil of civility that had hidden her displeasure was gone.

“A daughter of Eve? Like me?”

“It is none of your concern. Go and make yourself useful to Ginarrbrik.”

“But–”

“Go!”

Since that day Y/n had no doubt that she had somehow earned the Queen’s displeasure. She was no longer allowed in the Queen’s court without invitation, and she was put to work in the castle kitchen. Once a day, she would traipse down to the dungeons, and hand out frozen lumps of bread and ice cold water to the prisoners.

The faun, Tumnus, was one of those prisoners. The first time she brought him his meal he had looked at her in surprise, and murmured daughter of Eve. She had scowled in response, shoved his tray towards him, and left. So what if she was a daughter of Eve? What good had it done her? What good had a daughter of Eve done him?

It was a week later when she heard whispers of a son of Adam around the castle. Y/n felt eyes watching her, and her neck bristled. Whoever this son of Adam was, the castle seemed to think he had something to do with her.

She was on the way to the kitchen when she heard it. The voices were hushed, but ice walls echo.

“…fulfil the prophecy,” a voice was saying. “Do you think she–”

“No. This one has a brother and two sisters. Two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve.”

“What do you think Queen Jadis will do with her?”

“Who knows. Once she’s got her hands on the others, what use does she have for her?”

“What use does she have for her now?”

Y/n squared her shoulders and rounded the corner. The hags fell silent at the sight of her and gestured towards the trays on the counter.

“The prisoners won’t feed themselves little daughter of Eve.”

Without speaking, Y/n loaded the kitchen cart with the trays and turned to go.

“I’d be careful, you know, little Evie. The Queen doesn’t keep people around longer than she needs them.”

Y/n shoved a tray of food across the floor of the faun’s cell. That blasted faun who’d started this. Who’d fraternised with a daughter of Eve. It was then that Y/n had fallen from grace, and she didn’t know how, but she was sure the events were connected. Even if they weren’t, it was easier to bear when there was someone to blame.

She glanced into the next cell, and saw him. Huddled up at the back wall of his cell was the son of Adam. He must have been the son of Adam. He was definitely of the same kind as Y/n. He didn’t look up as she stared at him.

“Food,” she said bluntly. The boy’s eyes flicked up and caught hers.

Those eyes. They were like nothing she’d ever seen. Was this colour? Those eyes. Despite their scowl, that colour felt warm. His eyes widened, and before she could process it, colour, for that’s what it must have been, was seeping into the cell walls around him. The walls of his cell were a harsh, cold colour. This couldn’t be happening. Not here. Not because of him. Not because of a prisoner.

Before either of them could speak, Y/n was gone.

Colour. She’d heard about colour. The hags had told her first, long ago, when she was still the Queen’s favourite. You’d see in blacks and whites and greys until one day you’d meet a stranger’s eyes and colour would come into your world. It was meant to signify the meeting of like hearts, finding the soul that fits with yours and makes it whole. Your soulmate.

She had asked the Queen about it and she’d looked annoyed. If you ever see colour, she had said, you tell me straight away. But that was long ago. That was before the Queen found reason to despise her. Now things were different.

Y/n steeled herself. She couldn’t tell the Queen. If the hags were right, and the Queen was already on the brink of – getting rid of her – she doubted claiming a prisoner was her soulmate would make anything better. Especially if that soulmate was a rebel son of Adam.

She would pretend nothing had happened, that colour had not just burst into her world. It shouldn’t be too hard. This whole damn castle was the same harsh colour. She couldn’t get caught marvelling at new colours if there was only one.

One? No, there were two. There was that warm colour she’d seen in the eyes of that boy. A thought occurred to Y/n, making her heart stop. The boy. She wouldn’t be stupid enough to tell the witch about the colour, but she wasn’t the only one who knew.

Y/n slipped back down the stairs to the dungeon, but a voice stopped her. The Queen was there, speaking to the son of Adam in that dangerous tone of voice Y/n knew all too well. As quickly and quietly as she could, she went back the way she came.

She was sure the boy had given her away, or soon would even if he hadn’t yet, but what could she do? There was nowhere for her to go. Y/n busied herself in the kitchen, awaiting the wrath of the Queen, but the afternoon wore on, and it didn’t come. Instead she learned that the Queen had turned the faun to stone, and left in her sleigh, taking the wretched son of Adam with her.

She was going in pursuit of the others.

Two days passed, and the Queen did not return, but Y/n heard strange reports coming in. Winter was ending, they said. The snow was melting and spring was coming. Spring hadn’t been for a hundred years.

Then came the order to march. The Queen was setting up a war camp. What was left of the Queen’s people at the castle gathered up weapons and armour and headed out.

Y/n felt like she was travelling across a whole new country. Snow and cold was all she had known until now. Spring was colourful and beautiful, and warm.

They arrived at the camp, and there was the son of Adam, tied up and gagged. His eyes found hers, and there was that warm colour again, pleading with her. Y/n stuffed down the guilty feeling and looked away. She had no time for this. They were preparing for war against this boy’s family, and against a beast called Aslan. Aslan, who had come and threatened the Queen’s reign. Caused rebellion. Brought Spring.

The Queen was yelling at a dwarf. A day ago, he had been at the war table, second only to her general in power and authority. Now, less than twenty-four hours later, he had fallen out of favour. As the camp watched on, the Queen brought out her sceptre, and in an instant the dwarf was stone. This was how the Queen kept order. Her punishments were swift and merciless. Her favour was conditional. Her subordinates obeyed on pain of death.

Just then, one of Maugrim’s wolves rushed into camp. Moments later a band of Narnian rebels crashed after him, led by a centaur. Everything happened so swiftly. Y/n reached for her sword, but before she could use it, she was face down in the dirt, and the rebels were gone. They had taken the boy.

The camp was silent and on edge as the soldiers waited for the Queen to lash out, to punish whoever she decided was at fault. But the Queen wore a deadly smile.

“This may yet work in our favour, general. Make ready my chair. Tomorrow I pay Aslan’s camp a visit.”

Late the next morning the Queen set out from camp. When she returned, she was smiling victoriously. Y/n cowered. This smile somehow seemed as threatening as her anger at the dwarf the day before.

“The great lion has agreed to die in place of the traitorous son of Adam.” A cheer went up around the camp. “Tonight, we will gather at the stone table. In the morning, we take back Narnia.”

Y/n’s stomach churned. She had thus far been forgotten, but when this was over, when the war was won and winter returned, what would become of her? Would she return to the Queen’s favour when they rid the land of the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve? Would she be forever cast aside, spurned, hated?

As sundown neared, the troops gathered at the stone table. The jubilant cacophony could be heard for miles. As the sun disappeared, the lion approached.

Y/n had been told about the lion, but she had never seen him. She had been told he was a great beast. A ferocious, dangerous enemy. If she was naughty, they said, he would come at night and eat her whole. Until a few days ago, she’d thought he was a story, made up to frighten children into good behaviour.

Now, as the lion approached the table, Y/n saw strength and kindness in his eyes. His eyes met hers as he was tied down, and she felt stilled, peaceful. Her fear, her worry, her shame, all of it faded away in that moment. Hope flickered in her heart, but when his gaze moved it was extinguished. Fear flooded back in as she watched the lion die on the stone table.

Doubt filled Y/n. Was this right? Was Narnia meant to be cloaked in snow? Was it meant to live in fear of its Queen? Was this lion, whose gaze had filled her with indescribable peace, really a dangerous enemy? Was that boy with the warm coloured eyes, her soulmate, an enemy of what was right?

But what could she do? The lion was dead. She was under the Queen’s rule. She had nowhere to go, no power, no idea what was true or right or good. So when the battle began she fought fiercely. She no longer cared whether she lived or died. The lion had given her hope, but he was gone. Even if she survived, she could never get to know the boy with the warm eyes, fall in love with her soulmate.

The battle was harsh, and the Queen’s army had pushed the rebels back. The rebels would fall, winter would return, and Y/n would discover her fate. She could see the rebels getting tired, losing hope. It wouldn’t be long now.

Suddenly, above the clanging swords and grunting soldiers, came an almighty crash. Y/n turned towards the sound in time to see the Queen drive a shattered sceptre into the boy’s middle. Y/n’s heart lurched as the eyes that had brought colour into her world squeezed shut as he dropped to the ground.

“EDMUND!” the other boy screamed. He made to charge at the Queen, but a roar stilled the battlefield.

The lion, glorious, regal, stared down at the Queen for a moment, letting her take in her own demise before he pounced.

Y/n collapsed. Exhaustion and relief washed over her. She rubbed her eyes. When she opened them again, she paled. Colour was seeping out of the edges of her vision.

Shaking, Y/n pulled herself up and looked around. There was the boy, her boy, on his back, his breath heavy and unsteady. As she watched, three others swooped down on him. The smallest one pulled a red vial from her belt, and poured a drop into his mouth. As his breathing steadied, colour returned to the edges of Y/n’s vision.

The lion breathed on one of the Queen’s victims, and Y/n watched in wonder as life returned to the stone. The small one looked down at her vial and grinned. She and the lion started moving around the battlefield, tending to the injured and breathing life back into stone.

It was then that the bigger two noticed Y/n staring. She saw their shoulders tense, and the older boy stepped in front of his siblings. She reached for her hilt. The boy unsheathed his sword and the girl nocked an arrow. But Y/n unhooked the hilt from her belt and dropped it to the side.

The boy lowered his sword and the girl frowned.

“Weren’t you with the witch?” He asked.

“Please–” Y/n started, but a voice behind him interrupted her.

“That’s her. That’s my soulmate.”

Three months ago, Y/n’s world had changed. She’d met eyes with a boy in a cell, and colour had burst into her life. In the days that had followed, she had begun to question everything she had been told. When the battle had been won, Y/n learned that the woman she had called Queen was known to the rest of Narnia as the White Witch. The people she had seen as rebels and insurgents were citizens who had been brought up on stories of beautiful springs and warm summers, and of a prophecy that foretold the coming of four kings and queens and a lion, who would put an end to this winter and liberate the land of Narnia. They were people who had been brought up knowing hope.

Now, Y/n knew hope, and love, and joy. She had a place in a new kingdom where leaders didn’t rule with a tight fist, but with wisdom and justice. She had a family who loved her, not for what she might do for them, but for who she was.

She knew it would be a long journey, but she was learning to let herself feel again. To take every emotion, every pang of guilt or sorrow, every thrilling moment of joy, and to listen to it, acknowledge it, learn what her heart was saying.

And Y/n had a soulmate. A boy who understood where she had come from better than anyone else. A boy who had known forgiveness and redemption, and was quick to offer her the same. A boy whose eyes were her favourite colour, and whose laugh was her favourite sound. He had turned her world upside-down, and it was perfect this way.

#edmund x reader #edmund pevensie #king edmund the just #narnia fanfic #narnia #The Chronicles of Narnia #soulmate au #narnia soulmate au #edmund x reader soulmate au #edmund pevensie x reader #black and white soulmate au #i honestly didn't know what to call this #why are titles so hard?

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spideyanakin · 4 years

Text

A Walk In The Skies

Peter Parker x Reader

~ This was highly based on Howl’s moving castle

Synopsis; Reader is cursed to be demon until someone loves her.

🧚🏼‍♀️masterlist🧚🏼‍♀️

You were cursed. Cursed to burn as bright as fire in the day, cursed to live in the night.

That’s what you get for swallowing a falling star.

You were burning bright in the Hydra head quarters, lighting up the main office. You peacefully rested your eyes, lighting up the bosses chimney. On days like this you were usually forced to make small talk with Hydra’s director and even give him advice, even though you weren't to supportive of his work.

You were one of Hydra’s most previous treasures; a talking fire. Lucky for you they didn’t know your true form. They kept you locked in that room all day and night, a few logs as food, and sometimes he would even throw in a few biscuits.

You gladly took them during the day, but the nights were getting lonely. You were left to sit by yourself, in an empty office, near a cold chimney you were supposed to light. No food and just a few books to pass time.

You survived six long months. At night you would read and think about how life could be if you just left.

You wanted to just walk out that window, but not knowing where to sit all day disturbed you. What if you accidentally lit up an entire forest? or even a house? What if someone threw a bucket of water at you?

So you stayed put, never adventuring further than this.

By now you knew every word of every book, you every corner of the room, every dent on each wall and every piece of important paper who were previously kept.

You peacefully slept, sat put in your chimney. You heard the loud sigh of Hydra’s boss.

“Fire Demon girl.” His voice made you open an eye.

“Yes?” You knew your voice was slightly altered when you were a fire, but that didn’t bother you.

“Here.” He threw you a cookie and you grabbed it, enjoying every last bit of it.

“Thanks.” You said in between chews.

“No problem. You must be bored sitting here all day and night.” He looked at you.

“Yeah.” You sighed and looked out of the window. “If only I could walk.”

“Though life ain’t it.” He chuckled before leaving. “Here have the rest. I’ll come back tomorrow, you keep my office safe.” He dropped a full plate of cookies in front of you before leaving and locking the door behind. You looked at the sky and the clock before sighing, you were once again left alone in Hydra’s most guarded office.

You snaked your fire tongue out and grabbed another cookie, chewing it louder then you would have liked. An hour after sunset, the clock showed the so familiar 10:00, and you felt yourself slowly cooling down. You stretched before fixing your clothes. You grabbed the plate of cookies and your favorite book before sitting on the boss’s chair.

You looked at the sky before starting your peaceful reading.

A few hours later the clock showed 06:00 and you felt your hair burning up. You placed the book on its shelf and the empty cookie plate back in front of the chimney.

A new boring night was over and a new boring day was starting. Your whole body burned bright before turning into only flames. You liked the warmth it brought you, it felt like a warm bed was wrapped around you.

So you closed your eyes, and fell into a peaceful sleep.

You were wakened up by loud noises coming from downstairs. You eyes darted to the clock it’s needles pointing 10:37.

“Weird. The boss usually comes at 9:00″ You whispered to yourself wishing you could walk up to that door. For six months the boss came every single day at 9:00a.m and left every single day at 9:00pm. His absence worried you as the noises were getting bigger and closer.

Loud bangs suddenly hit the door. You looked at it with wide eyes as it flew open.

“There’s no one.” A tall muscular blond looked around the room before his eyes landed on your eyes.

“What the-” He was taken aback. A smaller brunette came from behind.

“What?” He deadpanned. The tall blond pointed towards you and he was taken aback as well.

“What? What are you?” They approached you.

“Can’t you see, im a powerful fire demon. Waaalalalala.” You tried to scare them but you didn’t really do anything.

“A fire demon?”

You nodded along with their words.

“We have to evacuate this, should we trust her or um him?” The blond pointed to you and frowned.

“I don’t know. This looks interesting. I think we should bring it with us see what Thor has to say.” He looked at you carefully. “Im Tony by the way.”

“Y/n” You mumbled.

“How do we move you Y/n?”

“Oh no, no, no, no Im not moving!”

“You want to burn with the rest of the building?”

You looked around the room. You gulped. They had attacked the base, you knew they were good guys and you had to trust them.

You admitted you would miss the boss. He was a nice guy, just filled with anger and hatred, but he was always kind to you.

“You take that shovel over there. As long as my hear- My core fire stays untouched. You’ll see it when you get me out.”

“Alright!” He put his sleeve up and grabbed the shovel scooping you right out.

You became smaller as you had less things to hang on too.

“Watch out, crazy man with a shovel.” You screamed as he was wiggling you around not keeping the shovel stable.

“So we just walk you anywhere like this?”

“Yeah. As long as I don’t go out, I’ll be fine. Just drop be back again on some wood when your done”

“What is this?” A shubby man with short brown hair asked almost in shock at the sight of you.

“Happy, meet Y/n. She a powerful?” He turned to you and you gave him a look.

“Fire demon. A powerful fire demon.” You deadpanned and Happy backed away at your sassiness.

“I’ll go put her in the chimney,” Tony said before heading upstairs.

“What the-” You heard a boy’s voice as Tony slowly placed you down in the chimney.

“Here, you happy? You have some logs here.” He pointed to a beautiful pile of logs. “And um what do you eat?” He placed a hand to his mouth in question.

You gave a soft laugh.

“Just logs. I do enjoy some cookies tho.” You looked around the room, happy you’d have more space to travel at night.

“Alright. Cookies and logs it is!” He clapped his hands together and chuckled in disbelief. He could see you were harmless, just wanted somewhere comfortable to live.

“WhAt iS tHiS!?” A young boy about yout age which you had to admit was pretty handsome walked right in front of you, his eyes were sparkling at your sight.

“This is a um, a powerful... fire demon.” He pointed to you while you were casually taking a log and put it right in your mouth. It flopped right at the bottom of you. Peter blinked a few times.

“A fire demon? This is so cool.” He smiled and looked at you like an animal in a zoo.

“What are you looking at.” You deadpanned which made Tony burst out laughing.

“Alright, she is quite sassy I’ll tell you that.” He laughed and patted Peter’s shoulder. “I’ll go get Thor maybe he knows more about her.” Tony left, and Peter couldn’t take his eye off you.

“What?” You almost scared him.

“Nothing. I um, I never saw anyone like you.” He replied in the sweetest way possible.

You looked at him for a few minutes. No one in ages had been that interested in you. To tell you the truth you weren’t that interesting. You weren't human, you didn't have your powers, you couldn’t even fully use the powers of the demon you were bonded with. You were practically useless.

“Well, im pretty boring.” You said taking another log. “Just a fire demon with no full abilities.” You laughed and looked at him in the eyes. If you weren’t stuck with that stupid curse, you would have done anything to go on a date with him.

“No full abilities?” He tilted his head in question.

“Well, um.” You looked away not knowing what to say next. “I wasn’t born a fire demon if that’s what you want to know. I was merged with one. That’s why i can’t fully use my and his powers.”

“powers?” His eyes went wide open.

“Fire demon you say!?” A tall large guy came in followed by Tony, cutting your conversation.

“Yes. Fire demon.” You replied meeting Thor’s eyes.

“Um, interesting.” He replied and looked at you. “Haven’t seen any like her.” he bent towards you.

“That’s because im not like anyone else.” You snapped.

“Told you she was sassy,” Tony replied from the back of the room.

Thor squinted his eyes and looked at you.

“You’ve been cursed.”

His words took you aback and you stared straight at him, barely knowing what to reply.

“I-”

“You have. Or else you wouldn’t be stuck in a chimney.” He said. “It’s a nasty curse i’ll give you that. Not easy to get rid of.” He looked at you even more. “So what type of fire demon were you?” He asked.

“I don’t want to answer.” You said not wanting to reveal much of yourself to them.

“She’ll tell us more later. Let her cool down a little.” Tony chuckled at his own joke. “She’ll warm up to us eventually.”

“If you continue I swear that when this curse is removed im going to curse you as a fire too. ” You said in the calmest way possible.

“Oh, you burned me.” He placed a hand to his heart.

You laughed as you blew a ball of fire right no his face. The fire turning to smoke when it was only millimeters away.

His face turned white and the room filled with laughter.

“Watch out demon!” He pointed to you and left the room the others following.

The day went by and you stayed quiet. Thor didn’t question you much, but the others did. You didn’t mind, you quite liked the company. They laughed and shared their stories together, you watched from a distance, enjoying the lively home.

They all quieted down and left the room one by one.

“You good? You don’t need anything before sleeping?” Tony carefully asked before leaving.

You quickly eyed the clock, 9:45.

“No im good thank you. Just one thing. During the night I cool down, like I just turn to dust. I always come back in the morning don’t worry. Don’t be surprised if you don’t see me during the night.” You said before pretending to drift off to sleep.

“Ok.” Tony looked at you one last time before heading out. It was earlier than usual for the Avenger household, but today was quite a day.

The clock stroke ten and you were back to your human form. The warmth fully disappeared from your body and you felt shivers run down your spine.

You stretched before slowly walking around the room.

The couches looked so comfortable and the large tv seemed like something you could enjoy during your lonely nights. You looked around and admired everything, you liked the bigger space. You had more space to do whatever you wanted, and more space to move around. You weren't locked in a small room anymore. You smiled admiring everything.

The sound of the door made you freeze on the spot.

You were face to face with the brown-haired boy you saw earlier.

Peter Parker froze too. He’d never seen you before and liked the sight of you. His breath got caught in his throat as he stared at you. He’d never seen anyone like you. In an instant, he even forgot his name.

“H-Hi.” He shyly waved.

“Hello?” You answered not sure of yourself.

“I um. I forgot my um, web-shooters.” Peter went to the coffee table and grabbed two black cuffs. “I um, why don’t I know you?” He questioned.

You were frozen and didn’t want to say anything.

Peter frowned and his eyes drifted to the empty chimney.

“Oh no. She went out.” Peter bent towards the ashes. “Tony told me she would at night.” He sighed and looked to you, not making the connection.

“Who?” You played dumb.

“The fire demon Tony and the others brought back.” He said right before a yawn escaped his mouth. “Well, im going to go to sleep. See you later.” He gave you a soft smile that made you fall for him in an instant.

You let out a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him. You shook your head not believing you were falling for a boy. You were cursed. A curse you couldn’t do anything about. A curse you tried so long so get separated from. A curse almost impossible to cure.

You sighed and turned towards the window. The beautiful scenery was breathtaking. The city never looked so beautiful under its bright lights. You smiled loving every second of the view, you’d never seen anything like it.

“What do you mean a girl?” Tony entered the room with Peter following making you opened an eye.

“I saw a girl yesterday! In here! I thought she was new or something!”

“I’ll see the security cameras, they’ll tell me if anyone entered the building.” Tony nodded and turned to you. “Morning demon.”

“Morning.” You groaned

“You didn’t see a girl yesterday in here did you?” Tony eyed Peter, not believing someone could possibly infiltrate his precious building.

“Nope, and I was out most of the night.”

“She wasn’t there when I saw her.” Peter pointed to you.

“Would have told you if anyone was there.” You closed your eyes again.

“Well, I don’t know,” Tony added in a questioning tone.

Peter looked half confused half disappointed. He was honestly sad the girl he thought about all night was a thief, or worst just his imagination.

On the other hand, you were just glad they didn’t think it was you.

Lucky for you that night the Avengers were all invited to a gala, leaving you plenty of time alone to visit the compound.

The clock showed ten and you took your humain form once more. You stretched like you always did and fixed your clothes in habit. You let out of soft sigh before you heard a squeak coming from the couch.

You snapped your head towards the noise.

“Oh no,” You whispered to yourself when you saw a wide mouth, Peter Parker.

He was in his pyjama’s, the tv remote in hand eating popcorn.

“Wha-” He pointed towards you and walked right in front of you.

“Peter. Peter, you can’t tell anyone.” You placed your hands in front of him.

“Did you just-?”

“Peter please.” You whined.

“I- Wha?” He looked at you up and down, speechless.

A few minutes of the staring passed and you decided to break the silence.

“You don’t have to be scared Peter. Im, im just a fire demon.” you gave im a shy smile. “Well, im cursed to be one.”

“You weren't always a fire were you?” He came a step closer. Concern painting his eyes

“No.” You sadly laughed. “I use to be a spellcaster. A pretty great one if I may.” You looked back into your memory as a spellcaster. “I was learning with my aunt until i- um. Until I was cursed.” You looked at him in the eyes this time.

“Oh. I um, im sorry...” his eyes soften.

“it’s not your fault.” You gave a sad smile. “Plus I get to be a human during the night.” You placed your hands in the air. “I just don’t get the full use of my powers.” You rubbed your arm while you stared into his bright brown eyes.

"You have, um had powers?" His eyes light up.

"Yeah! I told you I was a spellcaster." You smiled.

"That’s amazing! I didn’t know they existed." He smiled brightly.

A small silence fell.

"Well, um... what do you usually do all night?"

"Depends" you laughed. “Where I was... I just read books a night. I was locked in an office.” You laughed sadly rubbing your arm for comfort.

“Oh. Well um. Do you want to watch a movie with me?” He asked pointing to the large tv. “Im watching Star Wars... Don’t know if you um, like it.” He looked into your eyes for answers.

Your face lit up with a smile. For the first time in a while, you were going to watch a movie with someone. Enjoy someone's company in your human form.

You tucked a hair behind your ear.

“I’d love to watch Star Wars with you.”

The movie ended, a smile still on your face.

You and Peter brought the empty bowl of popcorn back to the kitchen.

Peter offered you a tea which you gladly accepted. You sipped the heavenly warm drink that you had missed for so long, the warmth of the hot liquid reminding you of the moments you would turn into fire.

You stared at your cup, admiring the past.

“So um. You did you get cursed.” Peter brought you back to reality. “You don’t have to tell me.” He let out a nervous chuckle.

“No, don’t worry. I don’t mind.” You played with the string on your teabag before meeting his eyes. “I swallowed a star” You said keeping the mystery.

“A star!?” Peters eyes widen before his brows knitted in confusion.

“A star.” You replied barely above a whisper, remembering the day. “It was a few years ago. My aunt was preparing dinner, I was enjoying the flower field we had behind the house.” You smiled at the memory. “Suddenly. The sky changed color. Stars began to fall all around me. The second I caught one, it's like I was transported into the galaxy. Everything was dark and things were flying everywhere around me. I felt trap. I could hear thousands of different voices begging me to swallow the star.” You swolled thickly remembering the feeling. “I couldn’t resist it. I put the star to my mouth and ate it. I felt like someone shoved a warm ball down my throat.” You paused in your explanation. “After that, everything calmed down. Took me a second to realize that my entire body was glowing. I came to my aunt in panic, asked her what was wrong, she quickly realized it was a curse.” You bitterly laughed. “Some wizard who hates my aunt. She tried everything. From then I was cursed to be a fire during the day.”

Peter looked at you with owl eyes. A small wow escaped his mouth, and guilt started to rise in him. He wanted to help you but didn’t know how. He cleared his throat.

“How did you um. End up over there.” He looked at you with concern, compassion filling his tone.

“Our village got torn down by Hydra. They um, took down all the spellcasters they could find.” You played with the string of your teabag, feeling your eyes getting glossy. “They took me and kept me locked into the bosses office.”

Peter didn’t know where to put himself. He placed an arm on your shoulder in comfort.

“You’ll be ok with us.” He smiled

“Thanks.” You chuckled and whipped your teary eyes.

A few weeks had passed and you were Peter’s little secret. He made sure no one was in the room when you transformed back. He would hide you in his room until dawn, and the days he wasn’t here, you would stay there.

The night's Peter spend at the compound were sleepless. He’d spent them with you, talking, getting to know you, laughing.

The two of you got along like peanut butter and jelly. You were almost inseparable. During the day Tony and the rest of the Avengers were even questioning Peter’s relationship with you, as you guys were always laughing and cracking jokes.

“Hey why don’t I take you for a swing tonight,” Peter asked a small blush tinting his cheeks.

“What?” You chuckled.

“I never took you!” He protested

“Because that would be terrifying!” You laughed.

“C’mon. I’ll protect you.” He gave you that shy smile you could never resist.

“Alright.” You stood up.

Peter chuckled before handing you his hand and bringing you through the small hallways of the Stark tower.

“Hold on tight.” Peter snaked an arm around your waist and shot a web, swinging you both into the air.

You let out a small shriek before taking a deep breath and hanging on tighter to Peter.

“It’s like a walk in the skies.” You laughed lightly while he dropped you on a roof top an arm still wrapped around your waist.

“Yeah.” He smiled, getting lost in the moment. You barely noticed the sun slowly rising as it approached six.

You looked deep into his eyes forgetting everything around you. You felt the gap between you and him slowly disappearing, the air you breathed getting mixed up with his breath.

Your mind completely shut down the second your lips touched.

Barely a second into the kiss and you felt your body warm-up. It wasn’t like anything you felt before as you felt your body shine.

Suddenly you felt something warm came up your throat and come out your mouth, the light from your body turning off. The ball of light slowly dropped into your hands and kept shinning bright.

“You broke the spell.” A voice came out of the shining star. “True love breaks any spell.” You snapped your head from the star to Peter, who was staring right at you. You both gave each other shy smiles as the star continue talking.

“Im sorry, my master cursed you.” The voice became softer and apologetic.

“It's alright.” You smiled.

“Well goodbye.” The star’s voice rang in your ear before flying away into the sky. You looked at it while it slowly faded from view.

You laughed in happiness as Peter snaked his hands back around your waist.

“Im free.” You smiled.

“Yeah.” You looked at him before pressing your lips to his once again, finally free.

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker x reader #Peter Parker x you #Peter Parker x y/n #tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland x reader fluff #TOM #The Avengers #spider #spiderman #spider man x reader #spider man x y/n #howls moving castle #curse #cursed reader

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quazartranslates · 3 years

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Welcome to the Nightmare Game - CH87

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

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Chapter 87: Castle Cry (XIV)

"I should say 'I'm sorry' to you, but I don't think you want to hear such boring words of comfort," Su He took a sip of black tea, put down the beautiful white porcelain teacup and said.

Qi Leren propped up his side face and looked at the boundless blue sky outside the tower, making a muffled sound.

"Actually... I don't quite understand." Su He's voice called back Qi Leren's attention. He frowned slightly and showed a puzzled expression. "In my opinion, there is no essential difference between men and women. They are both human beings, and their spirits are intertwined. All attractive characteristics and all beautiful characters will not be different because the other party is male or female."

Su He smiled, looked Qi Leren in the eyes, and said seriously: "If I would fall in love with you as a woman, I would definitely fall in love with you as a man, because you have the same soul, which is unchanged by gender differences."

The speed of Su He's was slow and his voice was gentle, and his gaze even gave Qi Leren the illusion that he was special to Su He. This kind of thought made him a little uneasy. He immediately expressed an objection: "It’s still different... There’s a natural attraction between men and women. Even if they don't like it, they can't help but pay special attention..."

"Are you trying to talk about sexual attraction?" Su He asked with a smile.

"Ah?" Qi Leren is a bit stunned.

Su He put his chin in his hand, looking at him leisurely with an unfathomable smile: "It depends on skill. All kinds of... skills. "

Qi Leren felt that he seemed to understand something that he would rather not. He coughed twice: "We’re going too far."

"Ah, because the speed that time flows in the field is very different from the outside world, before I knew it I forgot that we’re still in the task. It really is a pleasure to chat with you... Let's get down to business." Su He sat up straight, put his hands on the table, and asked solemnly, "Do you want to get rid of that thing behind your neck?"

Get rid of the seed of slaughter? Qi Leren raised his head in astonishment and stared at Su He. At that time, he seemed not to understand.

"You heard me right. As I said before, I’ve done some research on the power of demons. I guess the demon mark on you should be a seed of slaughter. This thing can really enhance people's combat effectiveness in a short time, but it will gradually erode the person's reason. You’ll find it more and more difficult to control it until one day... you completely become its slave."

Warm sun fell on the tower. They were on the terrace under a circular dome supported by four pillars at the top of the tower. Airy flowed in from all sides, with a fence that was only half the height of a person surrounding the terrace. The Village of Dawn in Su He’s field was sunny and breezy, but Qi Leren’s mood was indescribably heavy.

He wanted to say yes without hesitation, so that he could immediately get rid of this dangerous ticking time bomb, but he still remembered his contract with the Court. Did he want to break the contract? Should he do this?

"How do I get rid of it?" Qi Leren asked with a hard expression.

"It's a bit complicated, and you need to go to a place far away. If you like, I’ll take you there after this task is over. I'm afraid you won’t be able to go back to the Village of Dusk for a while." Su He's proposal was incredibly tempting. "There are still many unknown places in the Nightmare World. There are all kinds of wonderful things. Naturally, there are ways to remove the Devil’s mark... I can't be 100% sure, but still 70% to 80%. Even if you don't succeed, I will help you think of other ways. In short, I won't watch you go to a dead end."

-I won't watch you go to a dead end. Qi Leren's heart cramped painfully, and his eyes were a little wet. He didn't tell anyone about it, and he didn't dare to tell others how isolated he had been, constantly injured, constantly dying, resigned to his fate, with the road ahead uncertain. No one could share his pressure, not only about his own life and death, but even about the fate of this Nightmare Game.

He was afraid that he would suddenly die one day and never be able to revive again, and then this heavy secret would be buried with him in this world, together with the hope of redemption that no one knew.

For a moment, he wanted to tell Su He everything and tell him the secret of the Nightmare Game. He was much better than him. Maybe he had a way to solve it easily and could save the world.

But when his lips moved, the bloody words in the drawer reappeared in his mind - keep the secret. He choked on the words that had come to his lips, swallowing them back.

Qi Leren closed his eyes for a long time. He said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you. But... I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have to disappoint your kindness."

He had to refuse. If he didn't refuse, sooner or later he wouldn’t be able to help himself from telling everything.

There was an inaudible sigh from the wind: "Is that so? I see."

"I’m really sorry," Qi Leren apologized again.

Su He shook his head. "I know you must have your reasons. If you need my help one day, you can contact me and I’ll help you find a way."

Qi Leren nodded silently, and his inner doubts came up again: "But why..."

Why help him?

Su He's calm expression finally revealed a faint confusion and melancholy: "I don't know. People are always faced with many choices in their life. Sometimes, you don't even know why you do something. Just like this time, I understand why I came here, and the system won't make the same mistake twice. Suppose the last time it was because the killer disturbed the order of the Novice Village, what about this time? Why is that this time, the system issued a false alarm?"

Qi Leren's nerves suddenly tightened, and cold sweat flowed down his back. How could he forget? Su He didn't appear here to catch up with him! Under the gentle appearance, his keen observation has already seen through him. How many things had he found?

"I..." Qi Leren tried to say something, but Su He gently put his index finger on his lips and stopped what he had not yet said.

"Don't say it." Su He and said.

"But why..." Qi Leren really doesn't understand Su He.

"Don't ask either." Su He added.

“……”

"When I make a choice at this moment, it is not your own business. For now it's our secret, but if you say it now, I can't help you keep it a secret. Don't ask me why, I’ve said many times that people will always make choices they don't understand." Su He smiled wryly. "But now that you have made a choice, never regret it."

Qi Leren's heart was stuck in panic, and the impulse to talk about everything reappeared, but he still couldn't say it.

Keep your promises and keep your secrets, even if you have to lie.

"I... I still have some questions... About this task, there seems to be something involving devil worship." Qi Leren forced himself to divert his attention and took the time to ask Su He, who had done a lot of research on it.

Su He listened carefully to what he said. Even if the two had just had a regrettable conversation, even if his kindness had been rejected, his tolerance and self-cultivation made him show no negative emotions, and he was as calm as ever.

It was not until Qi Leren finished telling the story of his battle with the crazy lady and how he’d lost control of the seed of slaughter to kill her that Su He said: "Before, Dr. Lu also told me about the task this time. You’ve found something very interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"In the past few years, many players have found that demon power has appeared in copy worlds outside the main world, but it’s not clear why the demons in the main world interfere with the copy worlds. Even though its existence has become very common, the system will not report errors on these contaminated copies, nor will it purify the copies. There will be some unusual changes in these polluted copy worlds, at least in terms of difficulty, so many players have encountered copies that exceed their own strength, causing accidental death," Su He explained.

"..." Well, it seemed that it wasn’t all his lucky value that made this D difficulty so difficult. Qi Leren felt a little relieved.

"But you still made a lot of mistakes during the boss fight, otherwise you could have solved this crazy lady more simply. Of course, it’s also possible that I’m looking at the problem from your narrative point of view, but I’m caught in a misunderstanding." Su He smiled apologetically and seemed a little embarrassed to point out his mistakes. "Do you want to hear it?"

"Of course!" Qi Leren said without thinking.

"The first one is about the haunting shadows. They appeared for the first time when you were climbing down with your mobile phone for lighting, and for the second time after the candles in the basement came on, but after your explosion caused most of the candles to go out and you were in the dark, they disappeared. The third time was after the crazy lady howled when the extinguished candles came on again, but at this time the shadows couldn’t hurt you, who was controlled by the seed of slaughter. Obviously, these shadows appear because of the appearance of a light source, so the light source you carry should not face yourself and it is better to extinguish them, including those candles. Considering that this is a two-person copy, the two players should cooperate with each other, but you were alone, which made the situation you faced in isolation even more dangerous. This was the first mistake. " Su He calmly said his analysis.

Qi Leren suffered a wake up call. Yes, the shadows that scared him were not difficult to deal with, but he couldn't think this kind of problem through calmly in such a time of crisis.

"Second, when you were against Mrs Crazy, you completely adopted the method of confrontation, but do you remember? You said that at first she held a doll and put it carefully on the rocking chair. After defeating the crazy lady, you grabbed the doll. It seemed to be a reactive living thing. I'm afraid this doll is not simple, because it’s linked to the clue of the crazy lady's miscarriage. This doll should be her weakness. If you went straight to the doll at the beginning and killed it, maybe the battle would have ended sooner. The other is the devil sacrifice. I think these things are not just to reveal the truth of that year to the players, but to have an impact on the boss, but you didn't bring one. All of them were left with Dr. Lu."

Qi Leren nodded solemnly.

"The last point is not a mistake with the boss fight," Su He suddenly laughed, and his beautiful eyebrows were gentle in the glow. "You unexpectedly hit the wall and forced yourself to wake up from the seed’s control."

Qi Leren touched his forehead and smiled bitterly: "I couldn't help it..."

"But I think you still had a choice," Su He laughed.

"What?" Qi Leren's voice just fell, and an idea flashed in his brain.

"I remember you saved the file before being controlled by the seed of slaughter. If the save time allowed..." Su He's voice dropped and finally turned into a faint sigh. "I'm not sure about the principle of your skills, but it's possible that the seed of slaughter would be 'degraded' back to the save state at that moment because of your loading of the file. For you now, one less outbreak means that you can live longer. Whether loading the file or the seed’s effects are more harmful, you can judge it yourself."

Qi Leren opened his mouth, but couldn’t say if it was in surprise or helplessness. He still had to rely on the S/L skill to survive. Su He's guess should be correct. If he deliberately activated the seed of slaughter after saving, and then committed suicide to load the file, then with his death the seed of slaughter should also return to its state at the point of the save, but the premise was that he had to grasp the short moment of clarity, otherwise he would fall under the control of the seed.

Su He stood up, walked slowly behind him, and said gently, "Look down and let me have a look at it."

Qi Leren lowered his head. The back collar of his clothes was gently pulled open, and cool air poured down his neck, which made him shiver. Su He's finger touched it in the place where it stung from time to time. It was a little cold and itchy.

"The spread of the seed is usually through specific ceremonies, but I believe that you wouldn’t turn into a worshipper of Slaughter, so was it an accidental infection?" Su He asked, standing behind him.

"Hmm." Qi Leren talked simply about the accident on the spaceship.

"In such a short period of time, its growth rate has exceeded the normal level," Su He sighed, adjusted his open collar for him, and then returned to his seat. "It's almost time to leave, let's go."

Qi Leren clutched his neck and nodded silently.

In the field, the world of the Village of Dawn began to darken, and in the blink of an eye, they had returned to the castle.

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[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

#Welcome to the Nightmare Game #欢迎来到噩梦游戏 #danmei

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gracereadstoomanybooks · 3 years

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answering questions I’ve been asked on TikTok✨

QUESTION: how did you get into reading?

So, when I was in middle school (many moons ago) we had this thing called AR Testing. Basically, you read a book and take a test on it—the questions were things that happened in the book, it was really simple. If you got a good grade, you got points. The more points you earned, the more eligible you were for the reading party at the end of each semester. Me, being the nerd I am, got top of my class because I went through 8th grade level books like it was nothing. The librarian at my school brought me books from the high school to read since everything was easy for me, and alas, my addiction began. And now that I have adult money, it’s a true addiction. Also, telling my father “I’m bored” and his response being, “go read a book or something” so thanks dad.

QUESTION: what’s one book you ALWAYS recommend to people?

This one is tough because I’ve read THOUSANDS of books, but if I had to choose one, it would probably be Confess by Colleen Hoover. I fell in love with her work in high school when I first read Ugly Love, but Confess is the type of book that pulls at your heart strings, y’all. It has everything people love: humor, sexual tension, drama, love. GO BUY THE DAMN BOOK. Or honestly any book by Colleen Hoover—she’s a fucking amazing author.

QUESTION: outside of making TikToks, what do you do for a living?

I currently work at a restaurant and hate every second of it. If anyone tells you to become a server, DONT. It’s not worth the hassle, I promise you. Sure, you can make decent money but the amount of rude customers and shitty tips you receive each shift is very disheartening. If you really need a job, do anything BUT work in the food industry.

QUESTION: what’s your wattpad story about?

First question: which one? I have about 30 drafts sitting there waiting to be posted. But, I’m going to assume you’re talking about the Harry Styles fan fiction I’ve been working on for the past 4 years and haven’t had the courage to post. I’ll tell you a little about it: Elaine Aldridge is forced into a betrothal to a man she’s never met & loathes. She goes to his court and realizes things aren’t what they truly seem. And the guard her future husband sticks on her??? None other than Mr. Harry Styles. Add in some magic & deaths and you’ve got my story— The First Prince. (Honestly, that’s an extremely shitty description so if you wanna check it out go to my wattpad account)

QUESTION: how old are you?

Ahem. . . twenty-one.

QUESTION: what is your dream career?

Being a published author and having people rave about my books. That’s all. Or, an editor for a publishing company. Imagine reading all day and being paid for it🤩

QUESTION: what was your least favorite read of 2020?

I already KNOW I’m gonna get shit for this but....... the wicked king. YALL I LITERALLY COULDNT GET THROUGH IT IM SO SORRY, I STILL HAVENT FINISHED IT

QUESTION: current favorite author?

Sarah. J. Maas. I don’t know what it is about her writing style, but it’s addicting. Throne of Glass is hands down the best series I’ve ever read. A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first book I’ve EVER reread. Her stories truly suck you in and hold onto you—you get lost so easily in her writing and it’s like once you’re done with a series, nothing will compare. Or, at least that’s how I felt after finishing Kingdom of Ash. Honorable mentions: Jennifer L. Armentrout, Penelope Douglas, L.J Shen, Elle Kennedy and Kennedy Fox.

QUESTION: any recommendations/tips to give to a new reader?

I’ve always given this advice to people who want to get into reading: find what you like and start with that. If you like romance, I’ve got a list for you to choose from. Mystery? Another list. Sci-fi? I GOT YOU. Fantasy? Yes! Sports fiction? It might take me a second but I’ll find you a book. Nonfiction? I’m zero help in that category, honestly. The point of the matter is that you’re never going to enjoy a book if you aren’t interested in the underlying topics.

QUESTION: do you ever find yourself comparing your life to fictional life?

Yes. All the time. I daydream about being apart of the Inner Circle and living in Terrasen with Aelin and Rowan. I think about what it would be like to have real powers and a mate. It drives my boyfriend crazy—but he loves me anyway.

QUESTION: what are your most anticipated books of 2021?

Here’s a list:

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Gods and Monsters by Shelby Mahurin

Crescent City 2 (Untitled) by Sarah J. Maas

A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer (I just ordered this one & it arrives tomorrow)

Blessed Monsters by Emily A. Duncan

QUESTION: why did you start a Tumblr?

Honestly, I used to love tumblr when I was in grade school (way too young to be on here then but what else is new). I like having an extra space to get my questions and comments out without having to compress it into a 60 second video for TikTok to see. Tumblr is a good place to blog & post things like this.

QUESTION: what’s your favorite song right now?

I’ve listened to Carry You by Novo Amor every day for the past two months and I cry each time.

QUESTION: why write Harry Styles fan fiction?

Simple: I love Harry Styles. I’ve been a fan of him and One Direction since they were on X FACTOR. Read that again. X. Factor. I used to watch their performances on YouTube before WMYB even came out. Of course, I love all of the 1D boys but I was always a Harry gal. And I look up to him in a way—I’ve read things about people wishing they knew him personally and honestly? I would never want to meet him. I like the version of him I’ve cooked up in my brain over the past 10 years. I like the symbiotic relationship I have with his music. Fine Line is a ✨masterpiece✨. HS1 is a ✨work of art✨.

now, some topics I’ve been asked way too many times and want to finally get to:

QUESTION: political views?

the saying “anyone but trump” has been in my brain for the past four years. No, I’m not a republican. No, I’m not a democrat. I like to think of myself as a progressive (ahem, liberal) Did I vote for a democratic candidate? Yes, and I’d do it again and again until the US isn’t one of the worst countries—I’m sorry, businesses— to be apart of. I wanted Bernie but got Biden, and I’m alright with that. And my girl Kamala🥳

QUESTION: how did you feel about the BLM protests?

I went to multiple BLM protests and donated a lot of funds to BLM & other organizations. It’s 2021, people... stop being fucking RACIST. And don’t be afraid to call racist people out! Black Lives Matter, even if no one is posting about it anymore.

QUESTION: thoughts on abortion?

your body your choice, queen! not my uterus, not my problem.

QUESTION: there was a comment on an old video of yours talking about r*pe, why did you delete the comment?

I made a video when I first started my account on TikTok about reading in public and feeling “turned on” by it. Go watch it if you don’t know what I’m talking about. BUT, some ignorant male decided to comment and say “this is how girls get r*ped”. Whew. So. I deleted the comment because ....

I am a victim of sexual assault. Along with a lot of other women. 1 in 5 women have been victims of sexual assault. Talking about being r*ped isn’t funny.

No one else needed to see his comment. I reported it immediately and his account was shut down.

I never got justice for what happened to me, and the fact that some random male—who had never even met me or seen me before my video showed up on his FYP—had the nerve to comment that? Unacceptable.

this question isn’t as controversial but

QUESTION: what’s the best way to get out of a toxic relationship?

okay, let me just start off by saying that the people around you who love and support you are going to be your backbone. Leaving a toxic situation is hard, and every situation is different, but my best piece of advice to offer you is don’t be afraid to ask for help. Your loved ones are going to be there for you when you need them, even if you don’t believe they will. If you explain what’s happening, someone you know and love will drop whatever it is their doing to make sure you get out safely. good luck my babes.

now, back to our regularly scheduled program:

QUESTION: any tips on making tiktoks?

Literally none. I post what I think is funny and relatable and if anyone agrees, I’m satisfied. Even if it’s one view, it’s good enough for me. So I guess my one tip is to not base your life off of an app and followers.

QUESTION: favorite Harry Styles fanfic?

DONT MAKE ME CHOOSE. Duplicity is up there, along with Stall 1&2, and Kiwi. After? Absolutely not.

QUESTION: favorite WEBTOON?

y’all already KNOW. LORE OLYMPUS BY USEDBANDAID. Rachel is a genius and I have reread the series a million times. Hades is my soulmate and Apollo can rot in the fiery pits of the Underworld. also, if we’re talking about other webcomics, reading Walk on Water on mangadex...🤫

QUESTION: favorite movie?

Howls Moving Castle. I will be getting my “a heart is a heavy burden” tattoo very very soon.

QUESTION: I read your Elain theory on tumblr, can you explain a little more?

I thought I was pretty straightforward but I’ll say it again: she is always the “good” one and it’s too suspicious. SJM has already given one Archeron sister a happy ending, Nesta’s is obviously inevitable, but Elain? She has too many options for a happy ending. Lucien, who is her “mate”. Azriel, who is intrigued by her slightly. Her human guy—I don’t remember his name—who is disgusted that she’s not human anymore. Or, alone, planting flowers all day. BUT! My point is that she’s not truly happy. She was forced into the Cauldron just like Nesta. She was ripped away from the life she loved so dearly and didn’t want to give up. The man she was going to marry now hates her guts because she’s a High Fae. She has the perfect set up for a villain plot line and I’m all here for it.

well, that’s all I feel like doing tonight. hope you enjoyed my little q&a! be kind, and talk to you later! byeeee!

#a court of silver flames #acotar #harry styles #one direction #sarah j maas #throne of glass #wattpad #tiktok #elain archeron #howls moving castle #lore olympus #q&a time #walk on water #persephone #lore olympus hades

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