#“why can't they just be friends” the books are from harrys pov.

[remusawoooo]

one look under ronarry tag in tiktok and most comments are

"YES BEST FRIENDS"

"BROTHERS FOREVER"

"PLATONIC SOULMATES"

when the edit is clearly shipping them romantically

[dracolilhoe]

Secret Keepers Pt. 2 (Severus Snape x Y/n)

Pt. 1 -> Secret Keepers

Severus Snape x fem!pregnant!wife!professor

Main Masterlist here -> DracoLilHoe

Harry Potter Fandom Masterlist here -> HP Masterlist

Warnings - Female reader, use of Y/n, Professor reader

Words: +2.4k

Summary: Severus & Y/n have been secretly married for the last few years. Y/n has a hunch that something big is happening, but isn't sure if she should trust her instincts.

If you find mistakes please tell me! I'm not a perfect writer so please just let me know. Happy reading! :)

*Harry POV*

That was what felt like the longest detention in the history of detentions. How could Snape even be married let alone have a baby? I walk into the somewhat crowded common room spotting Hermione and Ron sitting at a table arguing about who knows what.

Hermione looks up spotting me. "Harry! How did the detention with Professor Snape go? He didn't give you a hard time, did he?" I shake my head. "You won't believe what I heard," I mutter taking the seat across from the two.

"As I was walking toward his office I heard him talking with Profesor y/l/n. Apparently, she's pregnant!" Ron's jaw drops. "Nooo!" He whines earning an eye roll from Hermione. "Ronald you never had a chance! She's too old for you, and you're too young for her!" Rons sighs, "Whatever, but why would she tell Snape of all people. They aren't exactly friends. Are they?"

"That's the thing," I lower my voice to a whisper. "Snape's the father!" "What!?" Ron shrieks his face contorting into a look of utter shock earning a few confused looks from the fellow first-year Gryffindors. Hermione raises her eyebrows the realization finally hitting her. She gives Ron a smack to the head, "Lower your voice, Ronald! They obviously want it to stay a secret!"

Ron rubs the back of his head muttering about how she didn't have to hit him that hard. "It all makes sense now," Hermione continues. "I wondered why she always wore a ring but thought it was too rude to ask about it. I can't believe I missed it!"

"I can't believe it.." Ron groans laying his head down on the desk. "Ron, Hermione's right. It's obviously something they didn't want anyone else to know. And you never really did stand a chance with her."

"I just, I don't understand. How could Professor y/l/n possibly be interested in that old git?" Ron asks. Hermione sighs, "Ron, she is obviously happy with him. She's his wife. He's probably different around her than the rest of us."

Ron gets up sighing dramaticly, "I'm going to bed. Clearly, life has nothing left for me." "Ronald grow up!" Hermione shouts up to him from the bottom of the stairs.

"If anything I wonder what you see in him," I smirk. Hermione rolls her eyes before scooping up the rest of her books in her arms. "That makes two of us."

-

"Sleep well, Ron?" Ginny questions as we take a seat at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. He gives her a look as he grabs some sausages putting them on his plate.

Hermione furrows her eyebrows looking over at Ginny. "Since when did you care what happens with him?" "Since I found out about Professor y/l/n. Heard she's been up to somethin. Just wonderin' how he's taking it."

"Shut your trap, Ginny!" Ron grumbles tossing a piece of sausage at her.

"Wait, how do you know about that?" I ask. She shrugs, "It's the talk of the school! It's been spreading like wildfire. I heard from some first-years about it this morning."

The three of us share a look before turning our gaze to Ginny. "Does... does everybody know?" Hermione bites her lip nervously. "At this point, I would assume so."

"Nice talking to ya Ginny. Will see you later." I say as Hermione and I stand up. Ron looks up at us confused. "Where are you guys going?" "Ronald get up!" "But we just started breakfast!"

"You won't get to finish it if Snape finds out who started this in the first place!" I hiss. "But it was you! I don't have any part in this!" Hermione rolls her eyes and grabs Ron's arm pulling him up. "Oi!"

Ginny's eyes widen. "You started it?" "Look Ginny we would appreciate it if you kept this quiet," I mutter. She nods. "Good luck." "What about my food?" Hermione grabs a piece of toast shoving it into Ron's mouth. "Come on lets go!"

The three of us quickly run back up to the common room. "Harry! What the hell mate?" Ron's voice is muffled as he finishes the last of his toast.  

"Hermione and I didn't even know about anything until you said something." He protests. "Ronald hush. If you didn't shout last night then nobody would have been paying attention in the first place!!"

He pauses the realization hitting him. "Oh... yeah. Sorry." He rubs the back of his neck nervously. "If anything it's your fault." I sigh. "Hermione putting the blame onto anyone isn't going to help. The bottom line is it was all three of us. Let's hope they didn't find out yet."

*Y/n POV*

My eyes flutter open as I glance over at the clock on my bedside table. I begrudgingly sit up just to be pulled down by a strong arm wrapped around my waist. "Severus," I murmur trying to loosen his strong grip around me.

He groans burying his face into my neck leaving light kisses. "Sev, we need to get up." He sighs, "Must you be so dreary?" I scoff. "Me? Dreary?"

He lets out a huff reluctantly moving away from my neck to rest his head against his pillow.

"I'm only stating you are quite boring." He teases. "I'm not boring!" I protest. "As much as I would love to stay in bed with you and do nothing all day, we have classes to teach."

He wraps his arm around me again and pulls me toward him. Causing me to let out a soft gasp. He places a gentle kiss to my lips as his fingers rub small circles on my stomach.

I smile to myself as I turn to look at the loving look plastered across my husband's face. He isn't the type of man to share his emotions. But the look in his eyes says all it needs to.

-

"Severus, I told you I'm fine." I chuckle as I walk in between him and Minerva. "No, you are not 'fine'." He retorts. "You can not skip breakfast! We have discussed this multiple times, love." "And I have told you time and time again that I'm not hungry."

"Y/n, dear, he's right. It would be best if you ate something. If not for you then for the baby." Minnie places a comforting hand on my shoulder. I know they are right. Of course, they are right. "I know I should but I just haven't been that hungry lately."

Severus lets out an audible sigh sending me a stern glare. We continue our walk down the corridor a few students giving us odd looks as we pass. "Um, anyone know what that was about?" I question glancing between the two.

They shake their heads just as confused as I am. I'm used to seeing Sev get looks from the students but this was different. Instead of fear, it was more like... curiosity? And possibly bewilderment? And it was directed toward me which is odd.

"Something's not right," I mutter as Minerva nods in agreement. We make our way into the Great Hall taking our seats. Filius sits between Minerva and Severus, and I am on his other side. I feel Sevs hand reach under the table to rest on my upper thigh.

"Good Morning Severus!" Filius says taking the napkin from his lap and wiping his lips. He gives him a polite nod in return as he brings a cup of coffee to his lips. "Oh, and I just heard the good news. Congratulations on the baby!"

Severus nearly choked on the coffee he was drinking. "I beg your pardon?" He questions as a quiet mumble of a curse escapes his lips. I turn to look at the charms professor in bewilderment. How does he know?

I turn my gaze to Severus who already has his eyes on me. "Did you tell him?" I question. He shakes his head. "I thought it was you." He admits as he turns to look back at the charms professor.

"Filius, how exactly do you know that?" He turns to look at me confusion etched across his features. "I heard some students discussing it this morning. I didn't know the students were aware of your relationship."

"They shouldn't be." Severus mumbles clenching his jaw.

"Minnie you haven't told anyone right?" She gives me a sweet smile and shakes her head. "That is not my information to share." "Then... who could it have been?" I question as she shrugs. "I think I might have an idea." Severus gets up from his seat and quickly heads toward the corridors outside the Great Hall.

I sigh, "Minnie this might take a bit. I might not make it back in time for the first classes. Could you watch them for me?" "Of course dear. You should probably settle this. Who knows what rumors have started." I give her a smile as I exit the Great Hall after Severus.

"Severus!" I call out as I chase after my husband. He stops spinning around to face me. "Yes?" "How could you possibly know who did this?" I now stand before him looking up into his dark onyx eyes.

"It was Potter." I scoff at his words crossing my arms. "How could it possibly be Potter?" He grabs my hand, his fingers interlacing with mine, dragging me to his classroom.  

Once we enter his classroom he locks the door. "It's best if we talk here. We don't need any unwanted attention." He walks over to sit at his desk. I follow sitting across from him. "Alright now how in fucks sake could it possibly be Potter?"

He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Darling, you told me yesterday night. Potter was supposed to have a detention yesterday night. He must have been eavesdropping. It is the only possible explanation!"

"There are plenty of explanations as to why it isn't Potter!" He raises an eyebrow, "Well, go on." I pause mid-sentence. "Well, I-" He lets out a small hum of satisfaction. "Well, I didn't even see him when I was leaving!" I blurt out crossing my arms.

"He was most likely hiding." Shit. He has a point. "Okay fine! Maybe it was Potter! But that doesn't explain how the whole bloody school knows by now! I haven't even seen him at all this morning."

"Hmm, I wonder why." He mutters sarcastically. "Oh, hush! If it is Potter then Weasley and Granger probably have something to do with it too." He nods in agreement. "Seeing as we have no idea where they are we should probably ask Minnie what their schedules are."

"She's supposed to cover my first class for a bit. I can ask her then." I steal a quick glance at the clock. "Speaking of classes, they start soon." I stand up walking around his desk to give him a quick kiss. "I love you. I'll see you in a bit."

I start to turn away but he tugs me back. He pulls me down his lips returning to mine. "Love you more, darling." I smile against his lips. "Oh and what should we say if the students ask us anything?"

I pause in thought for a moment. "I don't see any point in hiding it anymore. They already know." His lip forms a line indicating his uncertainty. "Are you sure you want that? Your reputation could be ruined because of me and-"

I place my finger over his lips shutting him up. "I don't care what they think. If they don't like me much anymore that's okay. I have all I need right here." He smiles at my remarks kissing my forehead, "How did I get so lucky?" He mumbles. I sigh cheerfully. "I do really need to go now. I love you. I'll see you in a bit."

*Harry POV*

"Oh, we are so screwed." Ron groans. "Professor McGonagall just told us Snape wants to see us, Ron. Of course, we are screwed!!" I mutter as the three of us make our way down the stairs to the dungeons. "We are so lucky we didn't have potions today."

"No kidding." The three of us stop outside the door to his classroom. "How much trouble do you think we are in?" Hermiones whispers. "Well, it's also Professor Y/l/n. So hopefully not too much." Ron answers nervously. I hesitantly reach out my hand and knock.

*Y/n POV*

"Don't be too hard on them!" He scoffs rolling his eyes. "They exposed us. They are lucky I don't give them detention for the rest of the year." "First of all do not roll your eyes at me! I'm your wife. Not a student. Second, we don't know their side of the story. So yes Severus, do not be an arse."

He opens his mouth to retaliate but stops. "Sorry." He murmurs. I avoid his gaze, "I'm sorry too. You are not an arse." Our heads both turn to the door at the sound of a knock. "Come in"

The three of them walk in their eyes avoiding Snapes and focusing on me. "Can one of you explain why the whole school is aware of our relationship?" Snape questions glaring at the trio. The three of them look at me as if asking me to help them out.

"Well go on. He asked a question." Harry takes a breath before speaking. "I heard the two of you talking last night and I told Ron and Hermione." Snape sighs pinching the bridge of his nose. "That doesn't explain how the school knows."

"Well, a group of first years heard us talking out it last night, in the common room," Hermione looks over at me. "We weren't going to tell anyone. But they heard us. It was an accident we swear!"

"I don't think there is anything we can do about it at this point," I say trying toward my husband. "Weeks denention. For the three of you." Ron's mouth falls open a gasp of astonishment leaving his lips. "Make. That. Two." Snape growls. The two turn to give Ron a glare. "Now go before I change my mind." The three scramble out the door.

"They are something else." "Tell me about it." I turn to look at Severus. "You going to actually get some sleep tonight?" "I have paperwork to finish, dear." I smile kissing his forehead. "Just come to bed at a decent time. I love you."

"Goodnight, my love. I love you too."

Pt. 1 -> Secret Keepers

____________

OMG!! First off TY so much for my first request!! <3

Second, I'm sorry this took so long to complete I've been a bit busy!!

____________

REQUESTED BY: @thatlittlefangirl

____________

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I wasn't able to tag everyone that read Pt.1 there was 200+ ppl🥲🙏

[louvemione]

illicit affairs (part two) — d. malfoy (draco's pov)

synopsis : Draco watched as Y/n slowly walked out of his life and wonders why their relationship is considered illicit.

warning/s : angst, fluff if you squint hard enough, profanity, written in first person, pureblood! reader (this isn't really important & would only be implied)

author's note : like promised, here is part two of illicit affairs 🥳 but i feel like i didn't write it properly 🥲 hopefully, you guys get the message i'm trying to get through!

<- part one | part three ->

leave the perfume on the shelf

that you picked out just for him

sixth year

"why is it that you no longer wear your signature perfume? I used to love it" that was probably a dumb and unnecessary question to ask

but can you blame me? I just need the slightest reasons and I would gladly start a conversation with her. as crazy as it sounds, I'd most definitely take every opportunity to talk to her.

she was silent for a moment, luckily it was only us sitting by the fire, "there's absolutely no reason for me to wear it but i'm glad you loved it"

i hate this. i hate the awkward silence between me and her, i hate that she's distancing herself from me and i hate that i am pretty much aware of it, i hate not being able to tell her how much i adore her, i hate not being true to myself, i hate—

"i'll go to my dorms now, it was nice talking to you" she didn't wait for my response and continued to walk to her dormitory, i hate when she's formal, it's as if we weren't friends.

so you leave no trace behind

like you don't even exist

"good morning!" I say, rather awkwardly than I hoped for it to

"hello, Draco" she smiled and walked past me

I watched her retreating figure like I always do now that she tries to cut every interaction short.

I hate it.

I hate it when she acts as if nothing ever happened between us. I hate that she no longer wears her perfume. I hate that she's slowly starting to slip past my finger tips.

I fucking hate it.

because she was leaving my life, slowly. so slow that I could see her disappear bit by bit. like, she was packing her things to move else where.

from her presence, to her perfume. it's as if she never even existed with how carefully everything connecting to her disappeared from my life.

take the words for what they are

a dwindling, mercurial high

"you look gorgeous" I whispered, hoping that it was loud enough for y/n to hear, hoping that she knew that it was directed at her, not Astoria.

I felt guilty for dancing with my soon-to-be wife and wishing it was y/n I'm holding.

soon enough, when Harry and Y/n stopped dancing, I excused myself.

"I'll go out for a moment" not waiting for Astoria's reply, I started walking away. I walked behind Y/n, grazing my hand against her waist in the process, hoping that she gets the message.

and that's how we ended up in the restricted section of the library, where we spent the next hour hugging and exchanging kisses and i love you's while looking through the different books in the shelves.

i love you, looking back, I started to wonder whether or not she took my words seriously.

"impossible! he can't...actually mean it!"

but according to the conversation I overheard, she took it as a dwindling, mercurial high.

a drug that only worked

"we're okay, we'll figure this out together, but let's not think of that for now" my kisses were denied when she pushed my head away and sat up.

"we all know we can't do anything about it" she argued and pushed me off, "listen, baby, we shouldn't restrict ourselves from loving who we want and I definitely won't spend my life married to someone I don't love, so believe me, I'll do something about it"

"but you two are set for marriage—"

"but I love you, not her" she stayed silent and I smiled, "so, do you trust me?"

"yeah, of course, I do"

the first few hundred times

"do you not trust me?!"

"NO! I FUCKING DON'T!"

and that's the thing about illicit affairs

and clandestine meetings and stolen stares

illicit? our relationship is nowhere near illicit.

it's not wrong to love someone, what's wrong is to pretend to love someone.

if it were Astoria I'm in a relationship with, that's illicit. but y/n? why would our relationship be illicit? because I'm bound to marry someone I don't want to marry?

"you okay, mate?" only then did I realize that I have been gripping my knife so tightly as I watched as she laughed with Saint Potter.

"we know you've been...feeling bad since she ended things with you but—"

"I just don't understand! why now? why—"

"why not now, Draco? did you think she'd want to wait 'til your wedding before breaking it off?"

"there will be no wedding!"

"oh I wouldn't be so sure if I were you" Daphne says, "my mum wrote to me this morning and mentioned that they might start planning yours and Astoria's wedding, if I were you, I'd start getting into action"

I spent the rest of supper thinking and secretly staring at y/n, who seemed to be doing the same.

they show their truth one single time

"i love you"

but they lie, and they lie, and they lie

"do you love me, still?" I say, not too bothered by the students who I knew were eavesdropping in our conversation

"as a friend, yeah"

we both know she's lying. and I know she's aware of the fact that I know she's lying.

a million little times

© louvemione on tumblr | do not steal, copy, translate or repost

[i4bellingham]

Hi!! Could you please write a little angst w Jude? Perhaps he goes out to a club with the boys and a fan tries to kiss him and there’s photos on the internet. So this is when he comes back home ? Ty!

MISLEADING : jude bellingham x fem!reader ( angst + fluff ending )

cw: some random chick kissing jude without any permission + her friends tolerating that shit, cussing, breaking down, crying, making up, england’s nt being the best guys >> cuddling as a result of making up, switches in povs

💗 happy christmas to everyone <33

　

It’s not a typical occurrence for Jude to go in clubs so when he was given the invite to go with some of the boys from England’s NT and with your persuasion that he go and enjoy the night out, he simply let out a heavy sigh before dragging himself up the stairs and into your shared room to change.

So here he is now, not entirely bored but he’s not really having fun either.

If it’s the club scenario or the wack music or the suffocating atmosphere, he can't decide. But Jude wants a change of scenery else he’ll definitely be going home earlier than the rest of the guys tonight.

Just as he was about to stand up and head outside, Henderson came back to their groupㅡand the confused frown painting Jude’s face was an evident indication that he wasn’t even aware of Hendo leaving the group in the very first place. One Jude deduced was probably because he was way too occupied judging the lame music and plotting of ways to leave the place to notice anything.

Amidst the loud music, Jude can hear Henderson yelling his words to their group.

“The girls from three tables down wants to take photos with us.” Henderson tells them, pointing a finger over the exact table that was filled with a few girls. “Passed by them on my way to get drinks and apparently they've been in some of our games, had photos ’n everything too.”

Trent visibly rolls his eyes beside Jude, not an ounce of care in his face if he's seen doing the notion or not. “Thought Harry implemented the no-picture-taking-in-guys-out rule?”

“Yeah well unfortunately Harry’s not here.” Saka sighs, also contemplating the strict rule that was made so that the boys can enjoy a night out without needing to worry about taking photos. “Well... we can take a few but after this, no more yeah?”

“We’ll be there for no more than five minutes then we’ll come back here and that's the last of it, alright?” Declan’s suggestion earns a unison of nodding heads before the girls are seen approaching their table. “Or... y’know they can just head over here or whatever...”

From beside Jude, Trent whispers just enough for him to hear. “Why do I sense something vile in the air...”

“Why are you wording it like that?” Jude teasingly asks before he’s being smacked on the shoulders. “Startin’ to sound poetic no?”

“Shoulda taken a different route huh?” Trent raises his brows playfully with a smirk. “Think I might do well with poems, literary... might even sell million copies of my books.”

With this, Jude simply laughs before his attention is being taken away from his friend and towards Henderson and a blonde girl beside him.

“Bellingham!”

With a sigh, Jude leaves his seat to approach the two with a smile on his lips. He greets the girl with a simple hi while Henderson does all the work introducing the two to each other albeit a little awkwardly and even though it’s more than apparent that the girl was already aware of who Jude is before they’re doing a little pose for the photos.

It wasn’t customary but it wasn't uncommon for Jude to wrap an arm around a fan’s back or shoulder, so he lets his hand loosely enclose over the girl’s spine before smiling for the camera. But what happens next is enough for Jude to reel himself away from the girl and wiping his lips, the other guys who witnessed what happened letting out shocked ‘woahs’ and ‘heys’ before Henderson is grabbing him by the arms to drag Jude behind his back.

“We’re very lenient when it comes to taking pictures but if you do so much as what you just did which held no respect for my guy... you better best just leave us alone.” Henderson gruffly says before Marcus too is holding the man by the arms.

On the other end, Jude was just lost for words. He was beyond confused and uncomfortable with what just happened that he’s barely processing Mason and Jack coming to his side to sit him back down on the booth before they're standing in front of him, shielding him away from the group of girls as did the other guys who left their seats.

“... you must be bloody crazy if you think it’s okay to molest someone like that. Ever heard of respecting a person’s space? No? Cos it shows.” Jude hears Trent scoff before he’s being told by Wilson to calm down.

There’s a few more exchange of words, but Jude’s head was just way too far beyond to fully comprehend the entire conversation happening. All he got from it was the guys telling the girls off, slapping them basically with the wrong their friend did that was unfortunately tolerated by their entire circle before he hears Phil just demanding the girls leave their table else they'll call security on them. That seemed to have done the trick because after a more than 10-minute discourse, their table finally cleared and the guys are sitting back in their seats, all tensed and irritated.

Saka taps Jude by the shoulder, sliding him a glass of water. “Do you wanna stay here or do you want to go home?”

“Home-”

Shit.

Jude frantically looks for his phone, wiping his sweaty palms over his jeans before he's tapping onto the screen, checking some things on there which garnered him confused looks from the other guys before the realization too smacks them straight in the face.

In a split second, all of them are scrolling through their phones. Pulling articles after articles, tapping their’s and Jude's names on the search bar of Twitter to see if anything new popped up.

“Shitshitshit.”

Anxiousness was all Jude felt. There was no other thoughts in his mind as he scrolls through his phone, name searched for the latest news about him except for you, his girlfriend who trusted him enough to go out with the guys without any issues. What if someone took photo of what happened? What if you misunderstood everything and hate him? What if when he gets home you're no longer there with him? What if he can’t explain his side knowing he too was just as dumbfounded and surprised when it happened? What if this causes for-

“Jude.” Luke passes him his phone silently, a grim look on his face.

The others stop their searching before they too are leaning over the table to look at Luke's phone. There, a photo although a little blurry was still pretty recognizable especially with the flash on. The photo was posted on a Twitter handle with no profile, no followers and no other posts besides the picture itself that was posted just a minute ago. But the likes and retweets of it was spiking by each passing second.

“Fuck I need to go homeㅡI wanna go home she's gonna fuckin’ leave me if I don’t explain what happened I can’t I need to go home-” Jude abruptly leaves the table before the guys are following after him, jogging after their midfielder to the parking lot as Jude tries to ring up your phone but to no avail.

“Jude calm down! You’re gonna get yourself hurt if you don’t calm down this second man!” Trent pulls him by the shoulders, slightly shaking him as he tries not to breakdown in front of his friends. “Come on, I’ll drive you. We’ll help you fix this alright?”

Jude stiffly nods his head, phone still against his ear as he listens to the ringing sound of the device in his hand.

Marcus pats him on the back, opening the passenger’s side before he’s ushering him in while Trent goes to the driver’s side.

“Drive safe Trent.”

“We’ll pick you up at theirs. We’ll explain what happened to you if things goes south Jude, don’t worry about anything.” Henderson adds before he too reaches a hand to give a reassuring pat on Jude’s shoulders.

Mason nods his head in agreement. “You didn’t do anything wrong Jude. Don’t beat yourself over this.”

“If it’s someone else’s fault, it’s that girl’s and her friends’. Bunch of obnoxious things they were.” A few snorts and snickers left the guys’ lips from Jack’s comment. “Don’t worry, like Trent said, we’ll help you fix this and like Mase said, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Jude breathes a sigh of relief, wiping away the tears on his lash line before he lets a sigh escape from his chest. “Thanks a lot...”

One by one they clear off from Jude’s car, watching the vehicle as it drives away before going inside their respective cars as Henderson follows after them to take Trent back and to also back their friend up.

It’s such a draining thing, what happened was. Jude couldn’t fully grasp in his head that a random girl had the guts to kiss him right on the lips in public and in front of his friends especially knowing he’s already got a pretty thing waiting for him at home; a relationship that was already out in public for an entire year.

Although was filled with reassurance, he still couldn’t help the harsh palpitations of his chest. Jude still dreads for whatever is gonna happen next because he cannot bear to see you hurt regardless of what reason causes you to feel like it. But the thing is that, something happened tonight. It happened, and that was just there to it. It happened and Jude doesn’t want it to cause you to start overthinking or worse, lose your trust.

So when 20 minutes later and they're pulling up in front of his house, Jude leaves the car with a shaky breath and Trent following after him.

Before the both of them headed inside, Trent places a palm on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, you did nothing wrong. And if there’s one thing I know, she’ll hear you out if she did read and saw the posts because she trusts you enough to listen to your side of the story. So just calm down and explain everything that happened to her.”

With a stiff nod, Jude grabs the doorknob twisting it before he’s pushing the door open.

　

　　　　　　　　　　ㅡ ♡ ㅡ

　

It was supposed to be a calm and relaxing night.

You planned on binge-watching your favorite tv series in your laptop, eat some of your favorite snacks and drink and settle down on the couch with your thick duvet wrapped around you for the extra coziness and warmth.

It had been 45 minutes since Jude left the house, planting multiple kisses all over you face before he’s out the door with a promise to be back before the clock hits one. And your plan for the night was nearly coming into fruition, you just need to get your snacks to the coffee table in the living room then you’re all set.

But it was the notifications that came after one another blowing up your phone that had you pausing from placing a bowl of berries on the tray as you checked the device over the counter.

　

from: friend1

hey isn’t this jude?

https://twitter.com/user97203759/status/1937373027638.com

　

With a frown, you tap on the link thinking not too much of it.

You were expecting to see another goofy video, another weird picture of Jude being posted online but what welcomes your vision wasn’t anything but that. Instead, the dimly lit photo with a blurred background of red LED lights, booths and two people in front of the camera made you do a double-take as you eyed the rather intimate captured moment.

The entire outfit that Jude left the house with not even an hour ago was waving straight at your eyes, the haircut and even the blurry face showed that it was indeed your boyfriend himself. But what made you close your phone from inspecting your screen any further was the fact that another girl was kissing Jude.

You wanted to throw up.

You need to throw up.

Tears started to pool around the corner of your eyes as you lean yourself on the counter, heaving deep breaths of air through your mouth before you have a palm against your chest, clasping at the section.

You knew Jude well-enough to know that he wouldn’t cheat on you. No, his Mum raised him better than that. He knows his morals stands at a better point to be a man like that. You knew he would never do it. Not now, not ever.

But still, the ache in your chest and the hollow sensation had you slotting yourself on the floor, arms wrapped around your knees in a way to comfort your own self before you're sniffling and muffling your cries against your thighs.

You sat there with no sense of time. All you know is that you've been there long enough for your bottoms to start hurting. And though your tears have dried leaving a streak on your cheeks, the pain and disappointment was still fresh in your head.

And then the front door opens before the padding of feet on the floor sounded off in the corner of the hall that connected the living space and the open kitchen.

“Y/N? Love?” Jude’s voice reached your ears before you even saw him, but it wasn’t long before his tall figure emerged from the shadows of the barely lighted room.

　

　　　　　　　　　ㅡ ♡ ㅡ

　

When Jude reached the open space for your kitchen and living room, his heart broke at the sight of you sat on the floor with your phone beside you, arms wrapped around your body as you stared at the wooden flooring of the house.

Jude immediately knew he fucked up, big time. And though he didn't like what happened, it still happened and there’s nothing he can do to change that. But what he can do right now is to make it up to you, assure you that there’s nothing going on, that there’s nobody else but you, that he would never cheat, not to anyone and especially not to you. And he starts doing just that by approaching you with slow steps. In his sixth step though, you stopped him by asking one question that had him pausing entirely from his tracks.

“What happened?”

Jude breathed a sigh of partial relief. Although the circumstance wasn’t an ideal one to begin with for him to be washed away with the relief slowly soothing his chest, he’s not yet explained his side of the story and reassure you that the things you probably already saw on the internet isn’t what it seems. So Jude hesitantly sits down beside you on the floor, leaning his back against the cold marble of the kitchen counter.

“There were these girls wanting to take pictures with us ’n I didn’t really put too much thought into it at first, never even had a single thought that she’d kiss me in the process but it happened.” Jude sighs, wincing at memory. “Then the guys reprimanded their groupㅡcouldn’t recall the entire conversation if I’m bein’ honest... was still stuck inside ma head to fully comprehend what’s happening.”

You didn’t say anything at his explanation, fiddling instead with the loose ends of your shirt and refused to meet his eyes.

The relief Jude felt earlier slowly washed away, replacing it was the dread that built up in the pit of his stomach and the anxiety that had his hands shaking.

“I didn’t want it to happen love, I swear to you I didn't want it to happen...” He whispers, hands aching to reach out to you but instead he lets them sit over his thighs. “I don’t want to lose you, please believe me...”

A hundred million thoughts ran inside Jude’s head as your silence prevailed, most of which were inclined to the doom of the relationship that he wanted to last until the very end. It was not a good look on him, he knows that. But somewhere deep down he knows that you knew him enough to gauge his character that he would never do such thing. Jude believes that you would never doubt his loyalty to you, but at the same time looking at the situation in entirety and even though he never wanted for it to happen, anything was plausible to play out even the negative scenario playing inside his head. Because even though Jude didn’t want it doesn't mean the current issue never happened.

“Y/N...? Babe please say something...” Jude leaves his spot beside you before kneeling down in front of you. “I would you rather swear at me just please... say anything-”

“I’m hurt Jude.”

Your words pulls at his heartstrings and making him stop his sentence.

“I’m hurt and disappointed and angry...” There is a drag at the end of your words, almost as if you're trying to prolong the impending end of the relationship. At this, Jude almost scrambles on his feet to ask you to listen, to tell you that he’s got the guys to back his story up because that’s what really happened or better yet, convince you to visit the club with him so they can ask for security footage when it happened. He was ready to do just anything so you don’t break up with him, but what leaves your lips next had him slotting his large frame in between your legs, head on your chest and arms around your waist.

“But I know you... and I know you would never cheat on me, and I trust you. Denise will give you a lifetime’s worth of ass-whooping if you did that.” The last sentence was meant to be a joke, a playful jab to ease down the tense atmosphere but instead of it having that effect, Jude was on your chest and muffling his sniffs.

You simply cradle him against you, leaning your head against his before you're running your fingers through his curls. “I trust you Jude... it’s okay... it’s okay baby...”

“I thought you were gonna leave me.” He says against your chest, arms tightening around you. “I was so scared...”

You plant a kiss on his head. “I would never. I thought you knew me better than that to think that I would immediately believe posts like that on the internet.”

“Yeah well... I wouldn’t be surprised if you did, that wasn’t a good look innit?”

“Definitely wasn’t, but I believe you.”

Jude raises his head from your chest before a few feet shuffling down the hall from the entrance of your home sounded off against the walls. There, Trent and Henderson emerges from the hall just like Jude did earlier.

Their eyes widen for a split second seeing you and Jude on the floor, arms around one another.

“So I take it that you guys are okay?” You both nod to Trent’s query.

“We’re still hearing the wedding bells mate, they're fine.” Henderson adds before the two of them are ranting about their experience with those girls not too long ago, all with hand movements and loud booming voices that was definitely a pale comparison to the calm night that you were hoping for.

　

　　　　　　　　　ㅡ ♡ ㅡ

　

The next day comes and accompanies it was the shrill sound of Jude’s phone ringing early in the morning.

He was still trending on Twitter but this time, with a new clarification to his name.

Head against his bare chest, he scrolls through multiple posts from different Twitter users who reposted a video from last night’s event in a different yet very helpful angle. In the short clip spanning not even longer than 3 minutes showed Jude and the still yet unnamed girl posing in front of the camera. It also showed the other guys who were also taking pictures at that time before the girl slotted her lips against Jude’s that had them rushing off to their mate who by then was already being shielded by Henderson.

The conversation wasn’t audible in the clip but the unmistaken heated faces of the guys says enough for you. The video ended with the camera panning back to Jude who was seated back inside the booth, in daze and very much unaware of his surrounding as he stares at the wooden table in front of him.

“Such an unfortunate thing her entire circle of friends defended her...” Jude scoffs at your comment.

“I’m betting they planned it all beforehand, quite pathetic really.” He kisses your head before closing his phone and letting his back land on the plush bed, dragging you with him on top. He wraps an arm around you as you adjust so you're laying next to him. “And this is why I’ll never go out without you ever again.”

“Well what if it's the boy’s night out at Harry's?”

“Katie loves you doesn’t she?” You nod your head hesitantly. Jude simply hugs you tighter, throwing a leg over your hip. “Then it’s settled, I’m bringin’ you anywhere I go.”

You roll your eyes before patting him on the chest. “Nice try big guy but I have classes and other things going on.”

You receive another kiss on the head and a cheeky reply from that as Jude smiles. “Well... I’ll find ways to sort that out but for now, stay here with me.”

“Always Jude... always.”

a/n: i have an upcoming photoshoot from 26th of this month up until the 30th so i’m trying to finish all the requests sent in my asks but man, my finger cramps are such a buzzkill 😭

[spockandawe]

Oh, this is interesting. To me. I'm not sure it's interesting to anyone else! But I'm on my computer for once and FULL of words again, and I'm delighted to talk to myself given half an excuse.

So, I made a post about Long Live Evil! Because I cracked open the book and was absolutely taken aback by how transparently it seemed to be an SVSSS reskin. I wrote up a goodreads thing (it's whatever, I'm going to rehash the main points here too), because I was also full of words and beans after finishing the book yesterday, and after polling online friends, I was surprised to see that the comparison didn't seem to have organically occurred to anyone else, when it was so naked to me. I know there’s a TON of transmigration and isekai stories out in the universe, and pointing at one single book was a big claim, so I just had to assemble all my thoughts! I find this so interesting! And I reblogged my initial one-off post with a little more elaboration about some of the things that jumped out at me, then got on with live and went back to chipping at ORV and GHG, and shotgunned MADK this afternoon.

This is a subtle nod and a wink to my passionate love for these kind of... morally grey main characters! Calling them villains might be a bit much, I don't think there are many true villain protagonists out there (LLE included), and even Devil Venerable has a demonic cultivator who's doing demonic shit and killing loads of people... but with the ultimate balance of the heavens and earth as his priority. This kind of story is my jam. I was recced this book on the basis of transmigration and sketchy protagonists being my thing. I can't rightfully call SVSSS the best cnovel I've ever read, but it is my favorite. And I've probably reread it more times than any other cnovel.

So, that SRB post, huh? I put Long Live Evil behind me, and honestly even following up on the sequel is mmmmmdoubtful, but THIS snagged my attention again. First, the comparisons she's calling out as incorrect are wild to me. Draco and Harry? What? Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian?? (I had to ponder that one for a hot minute, but I bet you anything it's about 'the golden cobra' and 'the last hope' and that's just silly, they're not wangxian, they're MOSHANG)

I was recced LLE in one friend group, but I had an anti-rec from my book club friend group. My book club friend hadn't been at all impressed by it! And she's cool, and I talk up svsss and mxtx to that crowd every so often, without really expecting them to read it. I talk about transmigration as a plot device that I love, and the things that can be done with it! But with that connection in mind between the books, as I started LLE, I was jokingly defending the honor of SVSSS to this crowd, so I admit I was primed to recognize similarities.

I really truly did not make it far in the book before locking it down. I was getting vibes basically from the moment Rae started gushing about her problematic fictional fave, I referenced 95% certainty shortly after she makes the jump to the fictional universe, the golden cobra was 98%, Lia Mingyan's, I mean Liu Mingyan's lack of sex scenes was 99%, and the first pov section for Marius-jun was where I gave up and called it as a sure thing.

It'll be very funny if I'm wrong! I don't think I'm wrong.

Plenty of spoilers to follow, because I identified this inspiration early, I guessed basically every plot twist early, I don't have the patience to dance around spoilers while explaining how it all lines up.

Now, I said this elsewhere, but it bears repeating: I don't think this is plagiarism. I think it's tasteless to accuse an author of stealing and repurposing characters to her face. But I think it's also tasteless to repurpose characters as nakedly as happened here! Again? If I'm wrong? That's why I'm talking to myself on my blog and not messaging her directly (?????? who even does that). What are the stakes for me being wrong here? I look like a clown online? That would be terrible, I've never done that before! It's not a crime to write in ways I find distasteful. It's not a crime to write a book I think is not good, even apart from the use of fictional influences. But I like talking about my feelings online, and I can't be stopped!

But there's two aspects of this that make me somewhat uncomfortable in a less fun way. Both are contingent on the big IF. If this is inspired by svsss, I think it's not a classy move to take a Chinese story in a Chinese setting, inspired by the modern Chinese literary scene and classical Chinese fantasy, and just dump the characters into a generic western setting. Fanfic? Have fun and try to be respectful. Profic, making money off it? Ehhhhh. The question of how much change is necessary is a tricky one! It's not one I'm equipped to answer, this is not my wheelhouse or my place to speak. But it doesn't make me feel good!

However, here's where I have more personal stake:

Again, if this is inspired by svsss. It really doesn't feel great to see a queer story (a smash hit in more than one country!) stripped down for parts and made into a heterosexual story. It's not all heterosexual, we get side lesbians, we get men with homoerotic tension. But the central ship is now a guy and a girl. And it... stings a little extra, because in the story of svsss, the idea of assumptions about default (hetero)sexuality are such a central theme. A queer man has written a trashy, oversexed stallion novel where the hottest guy in the universe collects the hottest women like pokemon, and it sells so much better than the more personal stories he tried to write. He has to write this pandering trash to make money to live, he can't live on the more authentic stories he tried to tell before. The protagonist is the projection of his own insecurities and self-hate, and the protagonist's right hand man is his projection of his own ideal man. Another man transmigrates into the book, assuming that he himself is straight, assuming the protagonist is straight, and the force of their love changes the course of the entire narrative. In retrospect, it's upsetting to see those load-bearing themes casually carved out of the story and the hollowed-out remains used like this.

Anyways, in their place, now we've got running gags about how the heroine's tits are BIGHUGE now and she can't keep her balance because her GIANT HONKERS keep tipping her over.

I'm a little more bothered than I was yesterday! On the other hand, since I saw SRB's post, I've been chewing on that central ship. Full disclosure, it was one of my favorite aspects of the novel! My other favorite aspect is the dynamic between the golden cobra and the last hope (the moshang, which I think some people misdiagnosed as wangxian).

I know that the central ship here is the thing that's LEAST comparable to svsss, and the biggest roadblock in the way of my theory. On the other hand, I think it was the thing that HAD to change if this story was going to repurpose svsss without getting called out for being a classic 'bro can i copy your homework' adventure.

For this section, let's assume that I'm right and let's roleplay an author trying to figure out how to change Bingqiu into something not-obviously-Bingqiu. How do we need to differentiate Rae and Key from Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe.

First, we eliminate the martial sect thing. Easy peasy! That's a wuxia concept, and this book goes full nondescript western fantasy. She's not his teacher, he's not her student. And if she's not his teacher and he's not her student, why does this woman have power over this man, to build up the resentment that inspires him to turn the tables on her later? Well, in nondescript western fantasy, she's a noblewoman of some kind, and he's a servant of some kind. Noble lady treats servant like garbage, servant resents her. Doing great.

And to loop back around to the beginning of this a little, I think it really is key to this reskinning that Rae is a SHE. If the central ship remained queer, it would be so, so hard to pull away from the most identifiable thematic aspects of svsss. And pieces of what remain are... kind of bizarre for a normie heterosexual ship where our protagonist is aware that she's transmigrated into an impossibly desirable sexpot character!

Shen Qingqiu never considers that Luo Binghe might be interested in him because Luo Binghe is about to have a HAREM of beautiful women, he's the most heterosexual man of all time, and Shen Qingqiu is straight too! Besides, Shen Qingqiu is his teacher! He half-raised Luo Binghe! Even if Luo Binghe was bent, he wouldn't be interested in an old man like Shen Qingqiu!

Rae is 20, occupying a 24-year-old body. Her character's sexiness is relentlessly remarked upon from start to finish. Key is 18. Why is Rae so sure that he looks up to her as... a mentor, as an older woman? He almost goes down on her! He makes out with her! And she's like 'ah yes, it means nothing. lol. so funny how these things happen.' Bruh, at least after Luo Binghe kissed Shen Qingqiu, Shen Qingqiu finally got hit with the clue stick. Binghe didn't try to blow him only for Shen Qingqiu to keep noodling on about how Binghe definitely isn't into him in any sense, even the most oblivious man in the universe managed to catch on.

Why doesn’t Rae think there’s any chance of genuine attraction here? Yeah, I get that she's coming back from terminal cancer. She's doing great. She knows that the fictional character she occupies is one of the most desirable ladies in the land. He’s a teenager. He’s not expressing disinterest. A lack of horny for sexy lady ought to be more surprising for her. But I guess she’s slightly older than him and that small age gap has been magnified by the transmigration, so she conceptualizes herself only as his teacher, I mean mentor.

I’m not even mad at this dynamic. I love their chemistry, the ‘boss’ thing is cute, but lordt, I have to wonder if it’s meant to substitute for ‘shizun.’ But you know where this comparison really falls apart? Key isn’t really THAT much Luo Binghe.

At least, he isn’t in terms of personality. I mean, we’ve got the mysterious magical heritage, the healing factor, the unbeatable fighting skills, being beaten repeatedly because of the protagonist (tbh it’s sexier when she’s responsible, rather than just being a bystander), being yeeted into the abyss, I mean the ravine, to rise again and assume power as the merciless ruler of all the land. Oh, and he comes back from the dead still bearing the scar that represents her betrayal. In the original novel, he turned on her the moment he got his opening and was responsible for coming up with her gruesome torment.

(Also, Shen Qingqiu being terminally ill isn’t canon, but it’s very popular fanon, and it’s hard to ignore that with how hard the narrative lingers over Rae’s terminal illness as her gateway into this fictional world)

But! But the things that are different! Luo Binghe is a smart and sweet teenager, who had a rough start on the streets and has a tragically deceased single adoptive parent, but that’s their only backstory parallel, he doesn’t blacken until he’s thrown into the abyss. Not like Key, Key is a murder-happy sociopath, a former street kid who fought the odds and made good, and who’s a lot sharper and cleverer than the upper classes think someone like him should be. He utterly destroyed a righteous cultivator clan, I mean glassblowing guild, for the sake of revenge. Once our heroine scores a number of trust points with him, we unlock secret backstory about how as a small child, he experienced deeply formative hand trauma.

He’s Xue Yang.

It took me a moment to process the wangxian allegations SRB mentions in her post, because I was trying to figure out how someone would be aware of wangxian, and read that backstory, and somehow miss it. But it’s fine, I’m pretty sure they were actually talking about the golden cobra and the last hope! So LET’S TALK MOSHANG.

It was so funny. I was liveblogging the book to friends, because honestly, I do not jive with the buffy-esque joss whedon relentless quip-quip-quip writing style. I was struggling to stay engaged when the narrative never took a moment to breathe. And I perked up at the introduction of this new character! He seemed kind of fun, kind of meta, Key came over to share Secret Info with him, and I messaged the friend who recced this to me (also an svsss appreciator) ‘lol, what if he’s shang qinghua. just straight from svsss shang qinghua.'

Reader, a second transmigrator has hit the narrative.

Now, in some ways, he’s a disappointment to me. He’s not nearly as interesting as Shang Qinghua. Adding the author to their own narrative is way more fascinating to me than just dropping a rando into the story. But I’ll take what I can get, I think multiple transmigrators are almost always a fun decision. And for the queer reasons I mentioned above, I think Shang Qinghua ties into the themes of his novel a lot more strongly than Eric does here. I don’t want to call him ‘the golden cobra’ every time, I get more self-conscious every time I write it. And honestly, the reveal of Eric’s full Eric Whatever name feels a little awkward and… pointed compared to the sheer opacity of Shang Qinghua’s existence. Never mind what his name was in the real world, we don’t even know his name before he was a Peak Lord. I’m not upset we got a name or anything, it would make certain fannish activities a lot easier if Shang Qinghua had additional canon names, but it was an interesting detail in light of how parallel the characters are.

Okay! He’s not the author! He’s still a super-fan. He transmigrated into the book years before the LLE main character, and has settled in pretty well. According to canon as Rae knows it, he’s fated to be killed by his own favorite character. He’s fast-thinking and fast-talking, and scattered and all over the place, but dangerous when cornered and more competent than he looks. He deals in information and manages a network of spies. He’s a creative! He and the main character banter relentlessly and get along like a house on fire. He and the king’s trusted ice-cold right hand man share a weird codependent dynamic that’s part hostile, part homoerotic.

Marius has complicated feelings about not-shang-qinghua. Eric is a coward, he’d rather talk fast and lie than stand up for anything, he cowers and cringes and isn’t honorable. He and Mobei-jun also shared a deeply formative experience in their youth, where as a teenager in distress, Eric/Shang Qinghua appeared before them and announced their devotion. In Shang Qinghua’s case, it was offering to serve him (and saving him from huan hua injuries), and in Eric’s case, it was declaring him to be his favorite character (and saving him from sad teenaged isolation), but man. And in the end, after a long, fraught relationship, Marius/Mobei-jun is furious and strangely distraught when Eric/Shang Qinghua abandons him.

Guys, it’s not wangxian.

I think it hits less hard when Marius’s themes of family violence aren’t allowed to sit directly in the narrative, and when it seems like some vague berserker rage thing rather than Linguang-jun just bluntly wanting to murder him for practical reasons, but hey! This was still, genuinely, one of my favorite parts of the story. I wanted more more more of them, I would read this moshang au any day.

After that, the parallels get a little more nebulous! The comparisons between the abyss and the ravine are pretty obvious. I’m not sure why we decided to build our city and palace right on top of the pit of people-eating ghouls rather than literally anywhere else, but it means we don’t need to take a special field trip to Jue Di Gorge, which means we can do the bait and switch where it turns out Key was a heavenly demon all along. The temperamental King Octavian, the young master of the palace, one might even say the xiao gongzhu if they were feeling spicy, jealously tries to romantically monopolize half our main ship and has the other half flogged with a magic whip.

I already mentioned that Rae brings up that Liu Mingyan — wait, I said I’d change some answers so it wasn’t obvious I copied — Lia doesn’t get a sex scene in the books even though loads of other people did, just like Shen Qingqiu praises Liu Mingyan for her untouchable image in such an oversexed, gratuitous book. I don’t think it would be right to call Liu Mingyan a white lotus heroine in either SVSSS or PIDW, but her archetype is in that wheelhouse, and Lia is just a white lotus rival played straight (and played deliberately, another touch I liked). We don’t have made up animals like black moon rhinoceros pythons in LLE, but we do have leucrotas, which are like a lion and a hyena and serve no narrative purpose.

Oh, you know what else I forgot to mention? Rae gives Key one of her red ruby earrings, and he refuses to sell it, and stubbornly holds onto it until the bitter end. Is this Xue Yang holding onto the last piece of candy Xiao Xingchen gave him, or is it Hua Cheng determinedly keeping Xie Lian’s red coral earring with him even through his own death? Por que no los dos?

There are things that are original in here. I know that this presentation undersells how much of the book is original. The trouble is, almost everything I thought was good is something that either was lifted from another person’s creative endeavors, or is being tainted by association with all the other naked lifts. Some of the noble ladies have an archery contest! That’s pretty new and fresh, huh? We didn’t have any archery contests in SVSSS!

Yeah, but we sure did in MDZS. And MDZS is already in play, because we’ve already got one character who’s just copy and paste Xue Yang.

There’s a thermocline of trust in this book that fell off for me sharply, and it turned a lot of this into a guessing game of ‘wait NOW what the refrance? owo'

I’m probably on a hair trigger by now, but I’ve also probably missed some things. And I’m sure this is a synthesis of multiple influences, because most stories are. But this feels like cooking and trying to season your dish with a little salt and then the container lid just falls off.

Emer isn’t a clear parallel to an existing character! Love that for her! Love a lady with an axe, especially if she gets a nice girlfriend! On the other hand, in terms of backstory? Wow, she’s been raised with our protagonist since early childhood, as not-quite-foster-siblings, but she was always the clear unfavorite and harbors a lot of resentment over that. Oh, and once Rae entered the story, Rae started trying to speedrun an enemies to 'hello hiiii we should bestiessss' arc with her. I think she had to have an axe, because a whip or a sword would make the Jiang Cheng and/or Liu Qingge vibes a little uncomfortably strong. She doesn’t follow their character arcs! But the disappointing thing is that it felt like she was just there to facilitate pasting the frankenstein patchwork of the narrative together rather than having an arc of her own.

(why did Marius stop to give her a sword lesson? Why did she immediately sneak onto the roof to eavesdrop on the king?? It’s hard to give her credit for being an original character when none of her original actions make sense in the greater universe)

Oh, I almost forgot, we’ve even got magic plot macguffin plants. While Binghe is in the abyss, Shen Qingqiu needs to get the Sun And Moon Dew Flower Seed so he can build an escape hatch for himself before Binghe wrecks his shit. Rae, on the other hand, needs to secure the Flower of Life and Death by an arbitrary deadline as an escape hatch so she can go back to her original life rather than being trapped here forever. Very different! There’s even little side tangents about how these plants can be so beneficial to others, Zhuzhi-lang is desperately trying to secure a seed to build a new body for Tianlang-jun (which Shen Qingqiu enables him to do, despite not knowing what he wants it for), and Rae thinks about how the flower could “save someone on the very doorstep of death,” and gives it away for that exact purpose. So different!

I need to cut myself off, otherwise I’ll keep going. Truly, there is original content in here. It was just all the stuff I didn’t like. The character quipping was. God. There sure was a lot of it! By sheer volume, that’s a lot of original content. Some of the extended cast was interesting, I enjoyed the Horrors and their brothers, I liked Valencia. Now, I didn’t like how basically every girl ADULT WOMAN in this cast was in shitty teen mean girl mode. I didn’t like how immature every character interaction period was. I lost track of how many times Rae was going around in sexy clothes and rando servants were like “HARLOT,” out loud about a favored noblewoman, you know, as you do. Especially when her bodyguard is pulling against his choke chain just waiting for an excuse to do a murder. I don’t need Rae to be the picture of flawless maturity. But nobody is mature, full stop, not even the set dressing servants.

For a less loaded example, the cumplane friendship dynamic is here, practically intact. Shen Qingqiu can't snipe about authorial choices, because Eric isn't the author, so instead Rae and Eric squabble about favorite scenes and favorite ships and such. But it isn't nearly as charming when we don't see these two characters dropping their dignified Peak Lord cultivator roleplay to talk shit with each other. Rae and Eric never have a filter once in this book. They are always Like This, it isn't a secret face that gets unlocked when they're bouncing off each other, they are never circumspect, never have a filter, never have any idea they shouldn't be speaking their full thoughts at full volume 24/7. Even after this starts to have material consequences when they're inevitably overheard! It's an immersion-breaking level of immaturity, which is terribly frustrating when the original dynamic that I loved is only changed in such minor ways.

And another thing that actually tastes way more sour than it did on first reading – Valencia is probably the least mean girl of all the women in the cast. She’s delightful. Too bad that in every scene but her last one, Rae, who repeatedly references her own experiences having her body and appearance ravaged by cancer, cannot for love or money stop talking about how uggo Valencia is.

I know this is an adult novel. The characters are, by age, adults. There’s almost an oral scene. God, I wish we’d gotten the oral scene. But by every other metric, the characters are all high schoolers and I’m an exhausted adult muttering to myself ‘they’ll grow out of it, please GOD let them grow out of it.’

Again, none of this is a crime! Nobody forced me to finish the book! And I did enjoy the book. Parts of it! But that very distinct partial enjoyment experience almost forced me to dissect my own emotional response. And truly, other than a few flashes like Valencia, almost everything I enjoyed about the book was something I could trace directly back to one author, and mostly to one book by that one author. I… enjoyed half of the book. And if I can track most of that half back to mxtx and svsss, I really think that says something about how much wasn’t done to make the inspiration behind this book the author’s own.

It's disappointing! I read this book because I like svsss, I read it because I want more books like svsss, I read it because I trawl the novelupdates tags looking for more books that will hit me the way svsss did. It doesn’t taste good to be served reheated svsss with expired buffy sauce drizzled on top. It tastes even less good once I have a minute to think about what turning an m/m meditation on sexuality and self-image and assumptions about others into a m/f snooze does to the themes I loved so much. It stings to see an author rehash a book that was/is so important to me, and see what they kept and what they threw out, and be like ‘oh, so… these were the elements that mattered to you?’

Again, I hate to be redundant with this, but. I think calling this book plagiarism would be overdoing it. I think it’s tasteless. I don’t think being tasteless is a crime. It remains wild to me that she’s getting messages calling out her supposed inspiration, even if I’m simultaneously criticizing the judgment of the people making those specific comparisons. And I ABSOLUTELY understand why she’s reluctant to own up to the specific inspirations behind this book, because good lord. If it was me, I’d be professionally embarrassed too.

It’s not my job to be the book quality police, but I think someone as experienced as this should be able to do a better job of synthesizing inspirations into something original. I dropped ‘can’t afford to offend my scheming disciple’ earlier this year, because that narrative couldn’t shake the taste of stale svsss fanfic, and it was much more subtle than this is. Once again, if I’m wrong, this post will be retroactively VERY funny and I’ll be all ears to see what her inspirations actually were. I don’t think I’m wrong.

[fictionalnormalcy]

See I don't even know myself why I have such a problem with this. But everytime- everytime I see a post regarding the PJO show, my brain goes to this. I absolutely love how everyone was cast. Everyone matches their character, they emote the personalities well.

But when it comes to Walker as Percy, I'm like NO. I can't get myself to like him.

I have no problem with Luke being played by a brunette and no longer being a blonde. I ADORE Grover now being played by a southeast asian actor.

It's when I think about the fact that I no longer can see my fave character bearing his dark hair and sea-green eyes, the actor falls woefully short to me.

I know I'm just making excuses, plain fact being that I'm just not a fan of blondes. Much so to the point that when I'm reading a new book that I read a central character is a blonde, it's just an immediate turnoff. Even when I'm rereading books I used to love as a teen.

Then today, I was telling a friend of my plans to watch the PJO show after all, pointing out my offputting, and realizing something else.

I am one of those people, who likes to advocate that there needs to be more POC representation in media. And I mean, thinking of just PJO in itself, the only latino character I can name off the top of my head was Chris Rodriguez. Heroes of Olympus is where we get Leo, Reyna, and yes we had Hylla in SoM but Riordan wasn't going out of his way to describe Hylla as latina. I mean I thought Grover was black for a while until I actually saw the official art for him and being like, "He's been white this whole time?"

So when we got the announcement about how there was going to be a show, a second chance at PJO seeing a screen, then getting spoiled of those cast for characters, I was PUMPED.

And here's where I also admit: I was also too influenced by Tumblr. PJO and HP getting the treatment where we were seeing Percy and Harry drawn in darker skin tones. I was saying, oh hell yeah this is much better. Never forgetting seeing someone's post saying that Percy is canonically from the upper east side of New York, more latino territory, loving the headcanon of Percy being latino.

So when Percy's actor was revealed, showing the actor I recognized from The Adam Project who apparently is a blonde with blue eyes? Paired alongside a cast with more people of color? I guess, well I am judging on appearance. If they were truly going to go more inclusive, I wanted to see Percy as a POC too. Instead it felt like they backtracked even more. Where instead of a dark-haired, striking green-eyed hero that could even be mixed race, being blonde felt like reinforcing like hey this demigod is white.

There's also something I remember we bring up in fandom, as well as become aware about in non-Percy POV stories: the fact that Percy actually comes off as intimidating. He may think he comes across as a dummy, clueless, non-threatening. But we have our handful of moments where boy as he grows is meant to look intimidating.

Ejemplos being: Leo being yelled at by Percy reminded him of the hair-raising feeling when Jason summoned lightning. Annabeth being mortified when Percy was torturing Akhlys with her own tears and poison. So much so Percy didn't want to scare her like that again! Percy having that dream in TLO where he sees Rachel's painting of him where he has an ominous look on his face.

I'll admit, Walker does emit that air of confidence, he'll pull off the leader role, but I don't think the show will be able to enforce the Percy being scary that someone will be nervous around him.

poc

[acourtofthought]

Hi!

I was wondering if you could share your thoughts on something I've noticed in the ship war.

The canon tells us that Elain doesn't want a mate or a male, and we know it's because she wants Greyson, and I see some Eluciens wonder if maybe Elain is attracted to/wants Lucien and is in denial and/or fighting against it and we might learn more about when we get her own book/pov

However, I see Elriels claim that when Eluciens say stuff like this, they are ignoring what Elain wants and are forcing her to be with Lucien. Since there is a mating bond between them, isn't it natural to think that Elain might be attracted to Lucien and is just refusing to admit or act on it because she resents it? Isn't that basically what Nesta did? So, with Elain, why is it so crazy to think something similar could be going on?

From what I've seen, many Elriels love to claim the other side is delusional or misogynistic for suggesting Elain feels more Lucien than just revulsion. Yet, do they not also suggest that Azriel feels more for Elain than just lust?

The canon tells us that Azriel has not thought of Elain beyond sexual fantasies, yet I've seen Elriels suggesting that Azriel has only limited himself to those fantasies because dreaming of having more with Elain would be too painful.

However, in my opinion, at least, there is nothing in the text or about the delivery of those thoughts to suggest that. So, are they themselves not also ignoring what Azriel wants and forcing him to be with Elain when he, in canon, only wanted to have sex with her once to satisfy his lust?

I'm in agreement with everything you said and I think it really all boils down to the fact that we're reading books, that this is not real life and does not mimic real life in any true way. We don't have to believe what Elain says when she says she doesn't want a mate, we don't have to believe it's a simple as "she's just not interested" because there is no story there if that's the case. Sarah loves Lucien's character just as she loves Cassian and Az and Feyre and Nesta and so on. I can't think of a single author who has professed adoration for one of her characters, made him a MAJOR part of the series since book 1, only to write him as the "nice guy who isn't taking the hint when his mate clearly isn't interested so he's just a creeper at this point and she's feeling harassed by this male she doesn't want." (E/riel narrative). Someone is trying pretty hard to convince themselves the author hates her own creation if they really believe that. There is no angst or growth in a character saying "I don't want the mate that fate gifted me while I was engaged to someone else so I'm just going to ignore him for the book before my own book and reject him to be with someone else who I don't even try to spend time with even though I'm comfortable with him!" The story has and always will lie in a character trying to turn from their destiny only to realize why that destiny was the key to achieving the ultimate in greatness, the ultimate in happiness. Bilbo Baggins didn't want to go on an adventure. Harry didn't want to fight Voldemort. Feyre didn't want to go to the faerie lands and didn't want to go to the NC with Rhys. Aelin didn't want to train with Rowan or become Queen. Aragorn didn't want to be King. Claire didn't want to travel to the past or to marry Jamie. None of these characters wanted to take the path that fate was sending them down but in the end they did anyway because it's how hero's are made, it's how epic love stories are told. It's ok for us not to want Elain to stay in the NC with friends she made off page with a love interest we've never seen her have a deep conversation with because there is nothing grand about that. I want to see Elain's beliefs challenged. I want to see fate take her by surprise. I want the 24 year old to realize that what she thinks she's fine with isn't actually the thing that will bring her enlightenment, that will open her eyes and her mind to something she never dared to imagine. "Elain should get what she said she wants before her book even starts." So Elain should be serving side character energy for the rest of the series? Because that is the kind of setup reserved for those characters; not main characters, not heroines. Main characters need to realize they were wrong about certain things before they can grow. Main characters need to realize they didn't know what was best for them at the start of their journey. Main characters need their sheltered world shaken up so they can turn around and rattle the stars.

[iamnmbr3]

hello once again!🤍

(Before i start, everyone has their own interpretation about pansy and Draco's relationship but personally, i don't think they were besties or friends as fandom shows(i understand why they do that)and i even don't think they were dating i think pansy had a crush on draco, desperately drooling over him but not that deep feelings really and draco liked attention)

But my point is how many people think they were dating and it was IMPLIED in their opinion.. so i really think it is harry's pov making them think like that and MORE INTERESTING thing is that harry doesn't notice ginny has a crush on him and fans tell he's as observant as brick wall(which i'm not agreeing) but the moment pansy shows interest and attention to draco, harry notices it(like draco coming in yule ball with pansy and "she was clutching his arm")and mentions it in some unpleasant way(like stroking draco's hair)

I can't stop smiling thinking about this really. What do you feel about this?😂

Hello! What a great question. Basically I agree with you. I have to say I really do enjoy some good Draco & Pansy friendship dynamics in fic. But just like fics can add in romances between characters who weren't romantically involved in canon (and do an amazing job of it too - there are characters who are married in my head even tho they never even met in canon due to some excellent fics I've read) fanon can extrapolate based on what is in canon or what just seems fun even if there's not much canonical basis.

Draco's dynamic with his fellow Slytherins in canon is super interesting and we get hints that there's actually a lot of distance and performativeness in how he interacts with them, which means that even before 6th year he's actually very isolated and lacks any true confidants, even though it's not that apparent till then.

In his world - the world of rich, influential purebloods - Draco is genuinely hugely important. I mean, his family are sitting in the Minister's Box in book 4. No other family is there. It's all officials. They are important and influential due to their wealth and social connections. Draco is a Black on his mother's side and Malfoy on his father's side, so from a blood purest perspective he's also about as pedigreed and high status as you can get.

All this is to say that he has a certain image to maintain and doesn't really interact with his classmates as equals. He treats Crabbe and Goyle as minions, more than friends - something that they apparently resent, as they are rather gleeful about switching up this dynamic once his family has a fall from grace. Similarly I would imagine there is a certain distance in his relationship with Pansy and that they probably don't have the intimacy that Harry has with his friends, though a closer dynamic can be super fun to read and explore in fic.

I personally read Draco as gay and so I don't think he had romantic feelings for Pansy. I think Pansy's feelings for Draco can be read several different ways. She may have been attracted to him and/or assumed they would get married since he would be an advantageous match (even if he was gay he may also have assumed they would eventually marry). Or they could have simply been friends since he certainly is a very important person to be friends with within her social circle.

She does seem to stick by him in 6th year when his family is starting to have troubles (though of course him being a Death Eater may given the illusion that should Voldemort take over, he'd be in good standing again - by 7th year this illusion is gone and it's clear that Voldemort does not favor his family and they are "finished" as Crabbe puts it.)

In the 6th book Pansy can also be read as knowing Draco has a crush on Harry and being romantically interested in Blaise, not in Draco. She and Blaise do eventually get married after all, and Pansy seems awfully interested in figuring out what kind of girl he likes. I tend to prefer this reading and like to see Draco and Pansy as mostly platonic, though with the possibility that Draco did know there was a possibility they might end of married because #Purebloods.

Regardless, I don't think they were ever dating. Harry would definitely have noticed if they were. I think they just kind of defaulted to each other for plus one type situations. (Just as they might have defaulted to matrimony at one point, before deciding to ultimately forge their own paths with the people they preferred). Harry does definitely get weirdly jealous of just the idea that they might be dating. Which is sure interesting. But they don't ever seem to. If they were actually together I'm quite sure Harry would have noticed and thrown a fit lol.

[arokel]

10 questions for 10 writers

thank you so much for the tag @strangethings-everywhere ! secretly I've always wanted to do one of these

1. Is writing a hobby or a way of life?

Way of life for sure; I'm basically never not thinking about it. I start to feel awful and purposeless if I go too long without writing at least something.

2. A journal full of notes or a clean completed manuscript?

Clean completed manuscript, unfortunately. I wish I could be less persnickety about my first drafts but so far that hasn't happened. I do sometimes make extensive outlines though and those are always by hand, but they're usually pretty clean too :/ no scribbly scribbly for me

3. Who or what inspired your writing?

I've been writing since I was five years old and telling stories since I could talk, so I guess I'll say that when I was first reading chapter books I asked my parents why books always have a few blank pages at the end and they said it was so you had space to continue the story yourself if you wanted. They made it up on the spot and they don't remember saying it at all, but it's always stuck with me.

4. Which is worse: Someone you ‘idolize’ reading your first draft or listening to you sing?

Listening to me sing, 100%. I post my barely-edited first drafts on ao3 all the time lmao. But I also feel like with a first draft it's easy to say hey this is a first draft, if there's stuff you don't like I'm happy to hear criticism! Whereas with singing, that's just your voice. You can practice the song but at some point whether they like it or not just comes down to something about you that you can't change. (Although I am a hashtag classically trained singer so my feelings of needing to live up to that might not be universal.) (Don't ask me to sing opera for you because I don't actually like opera.)

5. Has writing from someone else’s POV changed your perspective?

I think most of the perspective changes that have come out of stories have been from reading for me? Like the first time I was really exposed to the idea of transness was a Harry Potter fic (suck on that, JKR) and that obviously really stuck with me. But I think the desire to write from queer povs really helped me come to terms with my own sexuality, maybe more than actually doing it. I guess writing narrative essays, which I do less frequently than straight up fiction, is usually a way for me to explore things I feel about myself and about the world.

6. Tumblr, AO3, LiveJournal, or FFN?

AO3 foreverrrrrrr. I was on ffn in my misspent youth and Very briefly on lj, but ao3 has been my home since 2014 and it would take a lot to get me to move.

7. AO3 word count? And are you satisfied with it?

646,046, and soon enough it'll jump another 100,000. Honestly not sure how I feel about that.

8. What movie/book gripped you irrevocably?

I will never not love Tamora Pierce's Tortall series. I know they're kind of dated and don't hold up in some places, but they've been in my bloodstream so long that they're basically a part of my understanding of the world. They shaped so much of my ideas on literature - how to create compelling characters and relationships, what makes a world believable, what fantasy even is - and honestly I think they're responsible for about 50% of my sense of humor and at least a quarter of my relationship to gender. They were my first fandom and in the end I'll always come back to them.

9. What’s the highest compliment you could ever be given, and have you been given it?

One of my plays deals with a very difficult emotional subject and is quite frankly pretty depressing the whole way through, and after the premiere a friend of mine came up to me and said "it was so so funny; I was laughing the entire time." That's what I always want my writing to do, not so much in fic but out in the world - I want to give people catharsis, and I hope they leave the reading or viewing experience feeling a little better than they did going in. And also I want people to laugh at my jokes.

10. What defines your writing style?

Can I say inconsistency? No but really it's definitely dialogue. I struggle with descriptive prose sometimes, but I never have to work at dialogue. I think it's my strongest area and people always tell me it's snappy (thank you Tamora Pierce). Other than that uhh... too many commas probably.

tagging @violasmirabiles @fregata-magnificens @kjxlll @borealopelta @uwu-dowoon @teaforarteza @icegreyrose @shadowquill17 @ris-d-deridex and using my 10th tag for anyone else who wants to participate!

[carica-ficus]

"Harrow the Ninth"

13/02/2024

Reading progress: 100/507 (20%) Read through since last update: 100

*in the singing voice of Mariah Carey* It's tiiiimeeeee~!!!! I've got my hands on Harrow a few weeks ago and now I finally have the time to start reading it! I've been looking forward to this book ever since I read through Gideon and all my friends are already anxious for me to continue with the series! :D For those of you who stumble upon this little reading journal and have not seen me do it before, I just want to highlight that this is a public expression of my own thoughts while I read through the book. I like to speculate over the text. Since Muir loves to hide bits and pieces of information throughout her books, I like to try piecing them together on my own. It's fun and I feel like I'm conversing with her work in a way, like I'm a participant in the story. I know some people might find that annoying, but just let me do my thing. ^u^' (Just skip this post if you don't like it.)

----------------------------Spoiler warning!!!----------------------------

And now, without further ado, my thoughts and notes:

Who else needed an embarrassing amount of time to realize Ianthe was referring to Harrow when she said Harry? (Hate hate hate that nickname)

Yer a bone wizard, Harry.

The Noniad? Really? Really?

Well Harrow just took body dismorphia to another level. Painting a skull on her face with her own blood to feel some comfort? To regain just a little bit of control? Love her. Love love love her! She's such a mess. 🖤

Hold on. The Emperor says he hasn't resurrected anyone in 10 000 years. Didn't he... Become Emperor 10 000 years ago? Hm hm hm.

I'm managing to follow up on the time changes and the POV changes. As best as I can, of course. Obviously, I'm still a little confused at some times, but I'm glad some questions are slowly getting answered. Well... There's even more questions being asked, but I'm glad we get further insight to the lore.

I really missed Muir's writing. There's such a profound poetry in her style. I love it so much. 🖤

UGHHH!!! THE WRITING IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

The way Muir writes about Harrow and her life, especially about her childhood, feels so gritty, so powerful, and so incredibly raw. There's no possible way to connect to Harrow's experience. She went through so much. But the grief, the responsibility, the connection she has to her culture, to her planet, to her family and to her duty is just so masterfully written, I can't help but feel so drawn to her character. And her story. Man, I missed this series and it's only been 3 months since I've read Gideon.

It's way to early on to know who's the person narrating behind Harrow in "the future", but after the scene with Ianthe and the letters, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Harrow herself. Just from the past. I can't remember whether or not Harrow wrote letters to herself and I just forgot about them... Maybe she did. I don't know. In any case, I'm just speculating, but the way the narrator talks and offers up part of their own personality and parts of their own knowledge, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out it's Harrow. (Well, she did write letters to herself as is revealed in some later chapter, but I think she did the same in Gt9.)

There's so much that is not said yet, but my go to reaction is to just accept it, not fight it. I am wondering where Gideon is, but at the same time I don't currently care about her whereabouts because it's obviously none of my concern. I am also a bit confused over why Ortus is being mentioned so much when he wasn't even involved at the whole Lyctor thing. Again, just speculating and throwing my 2 cents out there. I have full trust in Muir. Everything she writes is with a good reason. I'm presented with all of this information and tangled up timelines and conversations because I need to be. They'll add up to something more. I know it.

Speaking of weird timelines, I wonder where we're at this point in time. I feel like we're actually somewhere unspecified, that these chapters I went through were just a collection of memories, from the past and the future. So I'm wondering what is actually happening right now, but then again, as I already said, this doesn't matter yet and will be revealed later.

Excuse my philosophy. I might be entirely wrong. Don't take it personally, I just like to ramble in these little reading journals of mine, mostly because I like to look back at them and see how much I was wrong/right about my speculations. 😊 What I'll say is that I find Muir very clever as a writer. I like how she plays around with the narrative and makes the reader keep guessing. And I love to guess. I love to participate in her writing. It's very fun! It makes me feel like I'm a part of the story, not just an observer. If that makes any sense. 😅

OKAY! SCRAP EVERYTHING I SAID!!! The part about traveling through the River, the part where Mercy says that something can get inside the Lyctors body when their soul is separated from their physical form, that's the one!! I'm not saying anything more about my speculation, but I hope I have the right hunch about this.

(It will be SO fucking funny if I'm wrong about this, but I don't care.)

(Oh, on another note. That's such a super cool concept!!!! Love the idea. Love how much there's at stake!!!!!)

They're already in the River??? Nah, I'd die instantly. From stress alone.

Also, a little detail I liked is how The Emperor's eyes are described in detail. They're mostly black, but then there's a line where Harrow notices a little silver circle around them. I'm wouldn't outright say he's probably a Lyctor, but I'd say he might have also sacrificed/killed someone he cares about or his cavalier. I don't know, I just found it really interesting that his eyes are often mentioned as something strange.

BTW I love the heterochromia part. Such a beautiful way to portray the cavaliers have become a part of the Lyctors.

[greenerteacups]

have a few questions for u! i loved your latest chapter, i believe it’s my favourite one to date together with the yule ball special :)

01. since u’re writing a (very intense) re-write of book 1 to 7 canon, how happy/sad were you about draco’s arc in the books and films? it always bugged me that him and the slytherins didn’t get to shine that much in both aspects, and that’s why we never really got to appreciate them a lot when the books and films came out. would love to hear your take on this!

02. not sure if this has been asked before, but what thing/s inspired you to write lionheart? i recall reading it was because of your love for to all the young dudes, but i’d love to hear you talk about this more

03. if j* r****** weren’t as awful a person as she was (and so terribly closed minded too) do you think there would have been a way for draco and hermione to be together in canon, or at least be some level of friends, if not together romantically?

04. i’m a narcissa black-malfoy apologist and stan, and can i just say, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for writing her in such a beautiful and heartbreaking way. i cannot wait to see how you write her arc in books 5-7.

05. an absolute, absolute shot in the dark - but since friday’s last update was sort of a cliff hanger - would you be open to a double update or an earlier than usual update this week? we aren’t entitled to anything but i swear to you, i was biting my nails and at the edge of my seat fr the minute i ran to the friday update. draco and sirius’s conversation was too real and too beautiful i sobbed so much.

i love you!!! may the universe bless you with all the good karma (is my boyfriend, is a god, is the breeze in my hair on the weekend)!!!

hello! thank you for all the questions, wow!! will probably answer some in separate posts because tumblr usually censors my craft glitches out when i write long asks BUT

how happy/sad were you about draco’s arc in the books and films?

[looks at 400,000 words of AU fic about draco's arc] oh yeah i feel normal and care a regular amount about it

Man, it makes me sad. It makes me sad that almost all the Death Eaters are also children of Death Eaters, establishing this as a familial cycle of violence and hatred, and that's just... left to sit there in the narrative, implicating.

Draco’s arc in particular is a flat downward descent from schoolyard bully into a fascist death cult, and it’s bleak as fuck. like, if these books are written from Draco’s POV, it is some gruesome and deeply cynical stuff, guaranteed. which is a shame, because I think “reluctant and begrudging reformed villain” is an amazing character type that he could have fulfilled perfectly. doesn’t even have to go on tour with the Golden Trio, either; because I lost hope for Redemption Arc after the end of book 6, my ideal world going into book 7 was just having Draco stuck in Grimmauld Place, being bitchy and ill-tempered about the Order’s witness-protection equivalent, while the others treat him like a house-elf. “oh, yeah, that’s Draco, he used to bully us but now he has to ask us to buy the tea he likes at the grocer’s,” etc. I mean, full redemption would have been great, and by far the most rewarding for him/me personally as a reader, but I kind of figured by the end of HBP that it wasn’t in the cards. JKR writes characters in a particular way when she’s interested in them as people, and Draco was just never written with that level of attention or care. 

he’s not even given a particularly rewarding antagonist arc. he doesn’t follow through and kill Dumbledore, thus giving him something irrevocable and life-scarring to repent for; but neither does he join the Order (e.g., Disappearance), meaning his ultimate contribution to the war effort is just this listless, choiceless trend of enabling. he’s forced into the plot with the Vanishing Cabinet, but can't kill Dumbledore; he tries to hide Harry’s identity from Bellatrix in Book 7, but it doesn’t work; he tries to catch Harry in the Room of Requirement and fails, then has to be saved by Harry from fiendfyre his own incompetent sidekick conjured. cringe failson. it’s also hilarious put in contrast with this fanon we have of hypercompetent draco — it’s like we all saw him and were like god bless can we please get this man a skillset. jesus christ he is getting killed out here.

but anyway tbh I think the most character development we see from him in all 7 novels is when Hermione slaps the shit out of him in POA (call that spell of Shutting the Fuck Up the way he doesn't even try to retaliate). The bathroom scene in book 6 is huge, because it’s the first time we get a modicum of sympathy for him, but that’s not followed up on — we just sort of leave him with “yeah, that’s tough.” we don’t even know why the Malfoys go back to Voldemort, because by all accounts, they seem miserable. Lucius seems miserable even before he hits his Flop Era in book 6-7, but he’s also broadly miserable all the time when we see him (likely bc we only see him when he’s plotting/scheming/exploding in rage when Harry manages to yet again Scooby Doo one of his plots, but who knows). I think the seventh book subtly implies the Malfoys are so close with Voldemort because of Bellatrix, and [spoilers incoming] I myself lean heavily on that thread in later sequences in Lionheart, but in the books it’s up to the reader as to how much the Malfoys really believe in the Dark Lord versus just comply with his orders from fear.

[easypeasylindyvesey]

here are all the songs on my ITISWNK playlist that y'all can listen to while reading to kinda fit the vibe (if you wish). artists are listed on the left, corresponding songs are listed on the right :)

the 1975: about you, love it if we made it

6LACK: rent free

adele: someone like you, when we were young, all i ask

aidan bissett: more than friends

alicia keys: if i ain't got you

angus & julia stone: take me home

arctic monkeys: i wanna be yours

ariana grande: boyfriend (with social house), be alright, into you, leave me lonely, sometimes, thinking bout you, don't wanna break up again, the boy is mine, we can't be friends (wait for your love), imperfect for you, ordinary things, why try, just a little bit of your heart, safety net, pov, better off, goodnight n go, bad idea, ghostin

aron wright: build it better

berlin: take my breath away

between friends: affection

beyoncé: II most wanted

big time rush: nothing even matters

billie eilish: birds of a feather, i love you

billy joel: turn the lights back on

blackbear: dead inside

børns: electric love, american money

brent faiyaz: wasting time

briston maroney: freakin out on the interstate

bruno mars/silk sonic: leave the door open, after last night, put on a smile, love's train

bryan adams: (everything i do) i do it for you

cage the elephant: come a little closer

calum scott: you are the reason

camila cabello: my oh my, bad kind of butterflies, dream of you

the chainsmokers: closer, it won't kill ya, beach house, if you're serious

chance peña: in my room

chicago: hard to say i'm sorry (2009 remaster)

chris brown: forever

the cinematic orchestra: to build a home

coin: talk too much

coldplay: sparks, yellow, fix you

conan gray: forever with me, disaster, yours, memories

the cranberries: dreams

dave matthews band: crash into me (IYKYK)

dayglow: can i call you tonight?

disclosure: latch

doja cat: agora hills

don toliver: drugs n hella melodies

drake: yebba's heartbreak, imy2, hours in silence, i guess it's fuck me, flight's booked, teenage fever, lose you, from time, summer games, finesse, sooner than later, take care, doing it wrong, the real her, show me a good time, find your heart

dua lipa: break my heart, these walls

duster: stars will fall

dvsn: all that matters (spotify singles)

dylan conrique: birthday cake

eden: sex

ed sheeran: how would you feel (paean)

ellie goulding: close to me, something in the way you move, love me like you do

faye webster: i know you

fitz and the tantrums: out of my league

forest blakk: if you love her

frank ocean: godspeed

french montana: unforgettable

gabrielle aplin: skylight

gavin degraw: she sets the city on fire

gayle: ur just horny

(g)i-dle: i do

giveon: for tonight

gracie abrams: friend, feels like

greyson chance: shut up

grouplove: tongue tied

halsey: now or never, sorry, so good

hannah montana: he could be the one

harry styles: adore you, fine line, grapejuice, as it was, daylight, satellite, meet me in the hallway, two ghosts

hippo campus: way it goes

hoobastank: the reason

hozier: work song, cherry wine- live

hugo brijs: mol y sol

imagine dragons: next to me, start over, wrecked, bad liar

instupendo: comfort chain

james arthur: certain things, car's outside

james bay: wasted on each other

james blunt: you're beautiful

jensen mcrae: massachusetts

jeremy zucker: cozy

jess benko: a soulmate who wasn't meant to be

john de sohn: love you better

john legend: conversations in the dark

jonas brothers: hesitate, five more minutes

jp saxe: a little bit yours

justin bieber: as i am, off my face

jvke: golden hour

jxdn: beautiful boy

kanye west: heartless, devil in a new dress, runaway

katy perry: e.t.

kendrick lamar: die hard

khalid: don't pretend, better

the kid laroi: love again

king princess: 1950

labrinth: skeletons (lexi needed a break)

lana del rey: summertime sadness, a&w, let the light in, lust for life, norman fucking rockwell

lany: if this is the last time

lifehouse: you and me

lil nas x: tales of dominica, void

lil peep: star shopping

little mix: notice

lizzo: if you love me

lizzy mcalpine: ceilings, the elevator, come down soon, like it tends to do, staying, i guess, you forced me to, vortex

lord huron: the night we met

louis tomlinson: written all over your face, lucky again, chicago, angels fly, that's the way love goes

lovelytheband: i should be happy

luke hemmings: place in me, a beautiful dream

the lumineers: where we are, never really mine, just like heaven, sleep on the floor, my eyes, patience, white lie, donna, salt and the sea, slow it down, morning song

m83: wait

maren morris: nervous

the marías: echo

maroon 5: stutter, never gonna leave this bed, if i ain't got you - live, bet my heart, it was always you, unkiss me, feelings, my heart is open

max: butterflies

***mazzy star: fade into you*** (this is the song that the fic is based off of!!!)

metro boomin: creepin'

miley cyrus: you - live, rose colored lenses, river

milky chance: stolen dance

mitski: my love mine all mine

monsume: jade

montell fish: fall in love with you., love you more than me

morgan wallen: wasted on you, not good at not, you proof, wine into water

the mowgli's: say it, just say it

muni long: time machine

nessa barrett: die first

ne-yo: let me love you (until you learn to love yourself)

nf: if you want love

niall horan: this town, put a little love on me, still, heaven, meltdown, must be love

nick jonas: close

noah kahan: stick season, come over, strawberry wine, everywhere, everything

ocean park standoff: if you were mine

olivia rodrigo: bad idea right?, logical, love is embarrassing, teenage dream, good 4 u, lacy

one direction: steal my girl, where do broken hearts go, fool's gold, spaces, infinity, end of the day, if i could fly, long way down, what a feeling, love you goodbye, temporary fix, a.m., home, kiss you, little things, they don't know about us, truly madly deeply, magic, what makes you beautiful, one thing, i want

parson james: stole the show

partynextdoor: come and see me

patrick watson: je te laisserai des mots

phillip phillips: dancing with your shadows

p!nk: true love

post malone: stay, take what you want, i know, leave, wrapped around your finger

preston pablo: flowers need rain

quinn xcii: let me down, good either way, the lows

rag'n'bone man: anywhere away from here

reneé rapp: in the kitchen

rihanna: stay

ruby haunt: answering machine

ruth b: dandelions (slowed + reverb)

ryan woods: bad texter

saint jhn: the best part of life

sam fischer: ready

sam smith: lay me down

sarah barrios: mourn the living

sarah kinsley: the king

sasha alex sloan: dancing with your ghost

selena gomez: a sweeter place

shawn mendes: it'll be okay, why, wonder

stephen dawes: don't hate me when it's over

stephen sanchez: until i found you (with em beihold)

strawberry guy: mrs magic

suki waterhouse: good looking

surfaces: falling again, find a way, hold onto me baby, so far away, stay

sydney rose: turning page

sza: awkward, snooze

taio cruz: break your heart

tate mcrae: that way, hate myself, go away, run for the hills, hurt my feelings, stay done, messier, think later, slower, you broke me first, wish i loved you in the 90s

taylor swift: out of the woods (TV), this love (TV), i know places (TV), wonderland (TV), you are in love (TV), "slut!" (TV) (FTV), say don't go (TV) (FTV), is it over now? (TV) (FTV), all of the girls you loved before, champagne problems, tolerate it, evermore, august, illicit affairs, invisible string, miss americana & the heartbreak prince, false god, afterglow, question...?, sweet nothing, bigger than the whole sky, would've, could've, should've, message in a bottle (TV) (FTV), dress, sparks fly (TV), the story of us (TV), enchanted (TV), electric touch (TV) (FTV), i can see you (TV) (FTV), fortnight, loml, the alchemy, you're losing me (FTV), fresh out the slammer, dancing with our hands tied, new year’s day, you’re not sorry (TV), you all over me (TV) (FTV)

teddy swims: evergreen

timaland: the way i are

troye sivan: angel baby, talk me down, for him., wild

the walters: i love you so

the weeknd: shameless, earned it, how do i make you love me?, out of time, here we go...again, best friends, don't break my heart, the knowing

whitney houston: i will always love you, i wanna dance with somebody

wrabel: ritual

yungblud: 11 minutes

zach bryan: i remember everything, spotless

zayn: dusk till dawn

**updated 6/23/2024

[theflikchic]

Okay food for thought: I'm rereading PoA, I'm almost done it, and I'm trying to read it critically. And this thought cannot stop bothering me:

Excluding the later books, speaking strictly from a character-writing perspective, does anyone else find it kinda weird and uncomfortable how glossed over the "prank" (basically murder attempt, Sirius doesn't even deny it) on Snape is?

There are definitely more pressing matters during the situation. Who really betrayed Harry's parents is the ultimate issue at hand. But I noticed that after Lupin, who is mostly very open about how the whole "prank" went down, explains why it is that Snape really hates Lupin and Sirius, Harry addresses this and even when he believes Sirius isn't guilty of murder, he still never gives Sirius' apathy towards almost killing Snape a second thought. And the narrative seems totally fine with it.

Like, this is a major revelation. Or at least, it should be. Harry has found out that the real reason James saved Snape's life is because James' friend- his best friend- used Lupin to try and harm another student. And despite this, the narrative still acts shocked when Snape looks "deranged" and "mad" when faced with Sirius, whereas Harry calls him "pathetic". Snape is obviously an asshole who has beef with a CHILD, so there's bias there from Harry but...

Okay. Snape goes way out of line during that Shack scene (imo, he deserved to get conked out like that telling Harry to actually die, SHIT). But I get why he goes that far even if it's awful.

At first, when he reveals himself specifically after the explanation behind the prank, the narrative seems set up for the reader to also gain some understanding for why Snape is behaving this way while still presenting him as in the wrong. He was nearly killed, Sirius got off, they hushed it all up, and he clearly has severe unresolved trauma from that. I can't see ANY other explanation for why he acts like that, and the same goes Sirius (who was younger than ME when he got put into Azkaban). So you'd think- with Harry's whole year being about trauma and the narritive focusing on it, you'd think the set up would lean more into setting up Harry considering the unresolved trauma Snape has about this.

But no. The narrative goes right back to only portraying him as "petty" and having to just get over himself, as someone now looking "deranged" because of a "schoolboy grudge". It's as if the provided info of the prank never happened and the only thing Harry heard was that Snape was "jealous of James' talent on the Quidditch pitch" (also Snape?! How?! Given what we know about him these past three books, this seems sorta out of character. Jealous of James' popularity definitely but sports ability?). Harry doesn't question the prank, even when his FATHER did, chalks up Snape's whole experience to being "made a fool of at school", and the narrative just... goes with it?

Whether or not you believe Snape deserved to get attacked by Lupin, it's very odd to me how this is a big reveal and then Harry's brain and the narrative alike switch back to "oh that Snape, just grow up" as if the reveal never happened and acts as if it's still shocking that a man forced to hush up his near murder would be..."deranged" (the small ableism in PoA is something else btw).

This was way longer than intended but from a writing perspective, does it seem odd to anyone else? Is it just bc the narrative is so heavily told from Harry's POV? If so, it doesn't always feel that explicitly from Harry. Maybe I'll add on more when I finish rereading it but for some reason, this is really bothering me.

[wordofthewicked]

Switched- A Fred and George Weasley Fan Fic

Fred and George Weasley are the most infamous duo at Hogwarts- you'll never find one without the other trailing close behind. Many people can't even tell them apart, and even fewer try to figure it out. However, there is more to the twins than meets the eye. Perhaps being two halves of the same whole isn't their choice in the first place. When a date with George's longtime crush leads to a new budding romance, chaos ensues within the Gryffindor house. This girl holds some key to George's future, but can he outrun the danger that comes with loving her?

~All characters, places, objects, and events that happen in the Harry Potter Universe are property of J.K Rowling. I own none of them. This book is purely a work of fan fiction.~

General Master List

Switched Master List

~~~

Chapter Four- The Kiss

Stevie's POV:

George and I stood outside the Great Hall, the rumble from inside the doors was making me dizzy. "They're going to stare."

He laughed a bit and shrugged. "When you're with me- they'll always stare."

"I'm not used to being someone people care much about." I brushed my long hair out of my face, and shifted my weight between my legs.

"Relax- you're just having dinner with me. It's not like you're the first person whose sat at another house table." George put his arm around my shoulder and ushered me into the hall before I had a chance to argue.

The wall of sound hushed slightly at the sight of George and I together. Hearing we were going on a date was one thing, seeing it was another. My eyes immediately trailed over to my normal seat at the Slytherin table. Draco and I made eye contact, and he gave me a small thumbs up in support. I shot him a grateful smile before George quickly guided me over to where his friends and family were sitting.

"Think we have room for another guest?" He laughed, dropping his arm back to his side. I shivered slightly at the loss of his body heat against me.

The chatter at the table silenced, and Fred looked quickly between the two of us. No one spoke a word until Fred broke out into a beaming smile and signaled for Hermione to scoot farther down the table. "As Mum says- there's always room for one more at the dinner table."

George and I quickly sat down, sandwiching me between himself and Hermione. I gave the table a weak hello, and began fidgeting with my hands in my lap.

"Relax love- you look like you're gonna be sick." George whispered in my ear.

"I'll try to miss your shoes. No promises." I joked.

He paused for a moment and studied my face curiously. I raised an eyebrow at him as a silent question, but he just shook his head and faced his twin.

"How was everyone's afternoons?" George smirked, helping himself to a scoop of potatoes.

"Probably not as fun as yours from the looks of it." Ron sniggered, before Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.

"Right- Stevie, isn't it? I don't think we've ever actually met. I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione offered me her hand and I shook it gingerly.

"Wow, I wonder why." Ginny grumbled from across the table, her gaze set intensely on me.

"Oh right- course you know Fred. That's Harry- well I'm sure you know him too. And Ron, he's next to Hermione there. Next to Freddie you have Lee, and Katie. On his other side are Angelina and Ginny. And then this is Alicia. And that's- well that's everyone." George smiled, gesturing wildly around the table.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all! George talks very highly of you." I tried to ignore the way they were looking at me. It was a mixture of curiosity and distain, all wrapped into one.

"Don't think you lot did much talking today." Lee chortled.

George cocked his head before turning to look at me. Suddenly, his eyes went wide, and he pulled my hair to the right side of my neck.

"What're you-" I began, bringing my hand to my throat. 

"You've got an, erm" his face flushed red, drowning out his freckles "you know. On your neck. An uhm-"

Realization washed over me and I felt my cheeks heat up. I could hear a few more of his friends chuckling, each one making me feel more out of my element.

"You know what, I'm not even hungry anyways. I might just call it a night and go back to my dorm." I started standing up, but George grabbed my wrist before I could move.

"No! Stay- please. They're just poking fun at me, not you." He assured me.

"Sorry Stevie- I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Just having a bit of fun s'all." Lee scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"No- I'm sorry. It's been a hard day and I'm just tired." I told him, giving him a weak smile.

"God- Malfoy looks like he's ready to murder someone. Look at him." Fred pointed out, his eyes trained over at the Slytherin table.

Instinctively, we all followed his line of sight and turned to where Draco was sitting. He was, truly, absolutely fuming. However, his eyes were not focused on George and I, instead blaring right at Adrian. I quickly turned away from them, not interested in seeing any more.

"Looks like somethings going on over there- can't wait to hear the inside scoop from our new Slytherin best friend." Lee laughed, nodding towards me.

I shook my head back at him and smiled. Draco Malfoy is many things- arrogant, a prick, and a bit of a blood purist (though if you ask him he sounds more like he's reciting lines that his father taught him), but he was always very directly protective of his female friends. He usually stayed mostly sober at parties to ensure nothing happened, and didn't think twice about hexing any guy who looked at Pansy, Millicent, or me the wrong way.

George sensed how tense I was and placed his hand on my knee to steady it. With his left hand, he kept eating his dinner, not paying any mind to the burning sensation that blossomed from where his fingers grazed my skin, just where my skirt stopped.

"So Stevie- what do you do for fun? Do you play Quidditch?" Angelina piped up from across the table.

"Er- yeah. I play when I can."

"Oh I didn't know that! Why don't you play for Slytherin? Did you try out? What position are you?" Alicia asked excitedly.

"I did try out last year, but I didn't make it. I prefer Keeper- but honestly as long as it isn't Beater I'm fine." I smiled.

"Oh, what a shame. You should try out again this year! You guys could use more girls on the team!" Katie enthused. "Or any girls, actually."

"And with Malfoy as the new captain, I'm sure you'd have quite the shot." Fred raised his eyebrows.

"I am planning on it, our tryouts are tomorrow morning. Hopefully it goes well- I spent a lot of this holiday at Draco's practicing. He really wanted me to take over as a Chaser since Flint's gone, and I'm a pretty fast flyer. My accuracy for getting goals isn't as good as he wants it to be, though." I shrugged, serving myself a helping of the potatoes as my appetite began coming back.

"A summer intensive on Quidditch playing from Malfoy sounds like my own personal hell." Angelina laughed, shaking her head.

We all laughed with her and I felt my heart began to still in my chest. George's friends were a lot like him- loud and boisterous, but really, truly kind. As the food on our plates slowly began to disappear, the platters of chicken and potatoes were replaced with delicately decorated desserts.

Suddenly, I felt George stiffen beside me. His hand quickly left my knee, where it had stayed the entirety of the meal. He scooted slightly farther from me, and nervously glanced over before quickly turning towards Fred. Lee looked between the two of them, as if he could also feel the shift in the energy.

I leaned into George's side and whispered. "You okay?"

He jumped at the sound of my voice, seemingly surprised at my presence. "Erm, yeah. I'm alright."

"Can I talk to you... alone?" Fred asked from across the table, standing up.

George nodded quickly and stood with him, the pair rapidly heading towards the door. As soon as they were out of sight, I looked over at Lee for answers. Before I could question him, he blurted out "Twin stuff, ya know?" and went back to eating his dessert.

I sighed deeply and looked back to the slice of apple pie that suddenly seemed less appealing now that George wasn't around. I set my fork down, and tried to tune in to whatever Angelina and Alicia were chatting about. I zoned out across the table, staring up at the large windows that showed the dark sky. Night was getting longer as autumn was beginning to set in.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and quickly swiveled around to see Draco standing sheepishly behind me. "Can I borrow you for a second?"

I nodded and got up to follow him out of the Great Hall, secretly thankful that I didn't have to be alone at the table anymore. Fred and George were no where to be seen, and it was just me and Draco alone in the corridor.

"What's going on?" I asked, once he stopped walking.

"I just wanted to get your side of the story. Adrian's spouting some bullshit about you being brainwashed by the Weasley boy, and said him and his body double tried to jump him after your potions lesson. It didn't sound right to me, so I wanted to talk to you about it." Draco rolled his eyes when he said "Weasley boy", but I let it slide.

"It's a really long story. I'm not being brainwashed by anyone, and they didn't try to jump him. George got in between Adrian and I because..." I trailed off, unsure of how best to explain it. "Adrian grabbed my arm a little too hard, and George heard me say it hurt. Him and Fred just wanted to make sure Adrian didn't do anything, but it's not a big deal."

Draco furrowed his brows and squinted at me slightly. "You sure that's all? It's unlike you to just disappear for hours, especially with someone you barely know. The weasel didn't... try anything you were uncomfortable with, right? Cause I can see you've got a giant hickey right there."

I laughed at his protective nature. "No he didn't do anything bad. He even asked before we kissed- very respectful. Something weird did happen though, now that you mentioned it." Draco nodded for me to continue, tilting his head at me. "Obviously this isn't the first time I've kissed someone. Yet, it was the weirdest thing. As soon as we kissed, it was like... Merlin, this sounds crazy, but it was like everything melted away. Not in a cliche way, but physically the world vanished for a second. It was the weirdest thing I have ever experienced."

"Alright I don't want anymore details." Disgust was written all over his features. "Keep it to yourself Blythe, you sound like a crazy teenage girl."

"Hmm, perhaps that's exactly what I am." I laughed, somehow relieved to just have been able to explain everything. "Keep that between us though, alright? I don't need everyone else thinking I've gone mad."

"Trust me- there aren't enough galleons in the world to get me to repeat what you just said." Draco laughed.

"And what did she say?" I heard a voice tease from behind me. Draco's smile instantly returned to his normal pout as he locked eyes with someone behind me.

I turned around to find Fred and George observing the two of us, their arms crossed in amusement.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I joked, scrunching my nose at them.

"Kinda, that's why I asked. But alright then- keep your secrets." George rolled his eyes, bemused.

"I am going back to the common room- I'll see you later." Draco muttered, turning to leave.

"Actually- wait. George, are we still on for tomorrow night?" I asked.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." He smiled.

"Great! Then," I ran towards him and gently pecked his lips. "I'm going to call it a night. Tell your friends it was nice to officially meet them. See you then. Bye Fred!" I turned back towards Draco and fell into pace with him as we headed away from the Great Hall and into the dungeons.

"You had to make me wait and watch that?"

~~~

Fred's POV

"I'm going to call it a night. Tell your friends it was nice to officially meet them. See you then. Bye Fred!" Stevie called over her shoulder as she ran to where Malfoy was standing.

I looked over at George who had a glazed expression resting across his face. I shook him gently, snapping him out of it. "Apparently you weren't the only who felt that when you kissed."

"I know. I thought it was because we were about to switch. That's almost exactly what it felt like, the world melting away from us." George was still staring at where Stevie was standing moments before.

I grabbed his arm and brought him into the Great Hall, dragging him back to our table.

"That was a close one, mate. She knew something was- wait did you two switch clothes?" Lee cocked his head at us.

George grumbled as he plopped back onto the bench. "Yeah, we switched right before we left. We had to switch clothes too, since I never got a chance to change out of my robes earlier."

"Why didn't you just switch back?" Angelina questioned.

"I-" began but quickly faltered. The thought hadn't occurred to me, changing clothes seemed like our best option.

"You're both idiots." She laughed.

Ginny was fuming next to her, her pale face almost red with rage. "What's got you in a mood?" I nodded at her.

"George- you can't just bring someone to sit with us without asking. Especially not someone like- well like her!" She shrieked, slamming her hands down on the table.

"Woah- calm down Gin. She had a bad day and I figured she would've rather sat with us than with her friends. Why is it such a big deal?" George rebuked.

Ginny opened and closed her mouth in exasperation before responding. "A big deal? Why is it a big deal? How about you ask Hermione, a muggleborn, how she feels about you inviting a blood purist to dinner!"

"She's not a blood purist!" George protested. "You don't have a hierarchy over who can and cannot sit with us."

"Maybe if you started thinking with your head instead of your dick, you'd see what I'm trying to say." Ginny got up and stormed out of the Great Hall, the rest of us watching in awe.

Silence fell over us for a moment, no one quite sure what to do.

"I'm not trying to make anyone uncomfortable. She's different than the other Slytherins- I wish you guys could see that." George rested his head in his hands, and slumped forward.

"I'm sure Gin will come around. You know how much she looks up to Hermione- she's just afraid Stevie's not... who you think she is. You did just meet her last week. And for most of that I was you." I elaborated.

"I'm not bothered by her- she seems quite sweet. But... anyone friends with Malfoy can't be-" Hermione took a deep breath and hesitated before continuing. "Everyone friends with Malfoy may not be a blood purist, but they've decided that's not a deal breaker. Which really does say something, I think."

George didn't say anything back to her and kept his head against the table.

"Well, if she's who you think she is, I support you." I piped up.

Lee, Alicia, Katie, and Angelina murmured in a half hearted agreement with me.

"Is no one else bothered that our 15 year old sister just talked about George's dick?" Ron interjected.

"I think we were hoping to just ignore that. Thanks for reminding us though." I explained.

George got up from the table and headed out of the room without saying another word to any of us.

"Do you think I upset him?" Hermione asked, pain written across her dark brown eyes.

"No," I assured her "I think he's just confused on what to do. I'll admit I don't know her very well and neither does he. If you asked me yesterday, I would've said they were going to go on one date and then probably realize they have nothing in common and call it off. But after today- there's something about her that's getting to him in a way I've never seen before. She kissed him goodnight and you would've thought that man won the lottery… again. They hang out once and she's suddenly sitting with us for dinner... I don't know."

"Something strange is going on. George's been weird since she said yes to the date, on edge and spacey." Lee confirmed.

"Maybe Ginny's right? Maybe she shouldn't be around us." Harry piped up.

"I don't know. But I have a feeling that whatever happens, George is going to be the one getting hurt." I sighed.

"I just- I can't believe she told him to stop thinking with his dick." Ron groaned.

"RONALD!" Hermione screamed, hitting him on the chest. "Please focus on the the issue at hand."

"You know you hit really hard." He grumbled, rubbing his hand over the spot Hermione had connected with.

"I'll hit harder next time." She retorted.

"3 sickles they're together by the end of their fifth year." Lee whispered to me.

"3 sickles he doesn't ask her until their seventh year." I responded.

"You're on."

[heartofspells]

Heyy you're back ❤️

For the ask game: 12 - the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

💜😘 Hiya, my love!

12 - the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

I know I'm not the only one that feels this way, but I adore Peter. Not everyone does it, and he's getting more screen time now from what I've noticed, but I wish people didn't ignore him as much as they tend to do. He's so fascinating to explore, whether that be in a canon structure or an AU. The very nature of his betrayal in canon and the friendship that came before it, all those circling factors that made him do what he did, that made him who he was, things we don't know about, how can you simply ignore that. And I'm guilty of it as well in certain fics where I can't find a good way to slot him in without making him some briefly mentioned two-dimensional side character (which feels very unfair to him).

Why did he do what he did? What kind of friend was he before they left school and joined the war? Why did the others keep him around if he was so terrible (i refuse to believe he was; the other three wouldn't have wasted their time if he had nothing at all of interest or value to offer them). We only ever see Peter from Harry's POV in the books, and mostly only after his betrayal and default to Voldemort. The one time we do catch a glimpse of him during SWM, it's also through Harry's eyes where he's painted as weak and fawning over James, but Harry already knows who Peter is and what he became, so his judgement is incredibly skewed during his observation. I just think he's so interesting.

Choose some violence with me ;)

[randomguyonline71]

My unpopular HP opinions are

I don't like Fred or George and thought they were generally more mean than funny

Ginny Weasley is a better written female character than Luna or Hermione

Ron isn't a monster or this huge asshole fandom makes him out to be

My unpopular SW opinions

PT/ Clone Wars Era is far more interesting and better conflict than OT

Clone Wars show didn't "save Anakin". They just turned him into Han Solo 2.0. I don't even really like Padme in that show either.

I don't find Obiwan attractive

Padme outfits in episode 1 were ugly. Episode 2 is top tier for her outfits

Thank you for the ask.

I have to disagree with the Fred and George part. I'm a bit of a prankster myself. And I do find their mischief quite entertaining. However, there were definitely times were they took it too far. The most obvious example being when they transformed Ron's Teddy into a spider, or when they made him take an unbreakable vow.

Ginny certainly had the potential to be a better written character than Hermione and Luna. However, she didn't get enough time to shine, so I wouldn't give her that title.

Ron is not an asshole at all. I think he is a quite realistic and great character. Him leaving Harry and Hermione in DH and him being upset with Harry in GoF was probably the two only major negative things that he did. In a series of seven books, that is not a lot. Yes, the impact of it was quite extreme, since he was Harry's best friend. And the narrator is from Harry's POV. But he was shown to have a degree of realism that many of the other characters lacked. Ron had some severe flaws, and he made mistakes. Hermione didn't really do that to the same extent, which is probably why many feel like Ron doesn't deserve her. But people seem to forget that he tried sacrificing himself for Harry twice. One within a year of knowing him at the age of eleven. And that is just one of the many examples as to why Ron was a great friend.

TL;DR - He has flaws, but was ultiamtely a great friend and a realistic character.

As movies, OT was better. But the storyline in the Prequels are second to none. In my very biased opinion, I can't remember a trilogy in cinematic history with as great of a storyline as the PT. The worldbuilding was incredible. I know LOTR is a big contender for that title, and rightfully so, but I'm going to give the edge to PT. There are so many side-stories in the PT era, so many interesting characters. And the political game is just (chef kiss sound).

Anakin's character didn't need saving. He just needed to be shown at a time that literally wasn't in the running for the worst time in his life prior to his fall. In AOTC he is an emotional mess due to his nightmares of his mother. In ROTS he is an emotional mess due to his nightmares of his wife. In TCW he still grieved for Shmi, but the majority of the show showed him being happy, or as happy as someone could be under those circumstances. Padmé was the major factor for that. Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Rex contributed to that as well. So, I wouldn't say it was a different character, like many says, I would simply call it a different time in his life.

As a 100% straight man, I have only one thing to say about Obi-Wan Kenobi: SMASH.

I'm not an expert on dresses or female fashion sense. But I do prefer her outfits in AOTC to TPM. But like the part about Anakin. It is two very different points in her life. I liked most of her casual wear in TPM. I'm not a huge fan of her formal wear. I wouldn't go as far as to call it ugly. But it wasn't pretty, in my honest opinion.

This was fun. Please send me more.