#I mean it's not much but at least people could choose insults that don't sound like they would happily gang-rape us to death?

[infiniteglitterfall]

Just a reminder: calling Jews "pigs" is "an allusion to the fundamentalist antisemitic slur that Jews are descendants of apes or pigs."

Prefacing it with "zionist," as in, "Fuck you, zionist pig," does not give you plausible deniability.

Real-life examples of its usage, from the Telegram account for Hamas & its associated groups:

October 6, 2023, 1¼ hours before Hamas officially began its Al-Aqsa Flood massacre: (warning, that link shares extremely graphic details)

October 28, 2023:

February 4, 2024:

January 9, 2024:

[sgiandubh]

Hi, I don't know if you understand me or go through this, I would like to know your feeling about it.

After all this circus (which I can't take anymore and after a few years in the fandom) I can't stand Caitríona anymore. I swear I try, I swear I try to get excited about her projects. I swear I try to understand her reasons, her anger, her antipathy towards us all these years. For a long time I managed to suppress this sad feeling I feel for her, but now it screams. I can not anymore.

On the other hand, I still support Sam, even more than I should, because he, along with her, plays the main role in the narrative and is not a saint. I think these feelings would be the signal to leave the ship. I no longer admire her, I no longer miss her, at least on social media, I no longer even want to see her face.

I feel bad for feeling this way, I don't know what to do. Have you ever felt like that? And before you start offending me, I'll tell you: I'm not anti, only or whatever. I am someone who paid a lot of attention to this narrative and ended up hurt, very hurt by them, by her specially…

Dear Feel Bad Anon,

I was just about to go to bed after a very, very long and dense day, but your question stopped me in my tracks. Story of my life, really: that banging on the dorm's door at midnight ('it's vile X, we just broke up, help') - ah, the memories. So, I will not let you down.

First of all, thank you for this ask. It is a genuine one, I know it. It takes a lot of honesty to write it down without cackle, hysteria and the everlasting 'they owe me' refrain (no, they don't owe anybody anything, because, Anon, do you owe anybody anything when you are that much in love? I am sure you don't give a hoot about Aunt Y and Neighbor Z, Anon, and fuck them and their curiosity, eh?). And, my goodness, you really do sound exhausted, here.

Take a good look at this pic I took in Mandalay (see post below) of a Yama Zatdaw (Ramayana) puppet show:

All these public ten years are summed up in here: the puppeteers (TPTB), the puppets (S&C) and the convenient prop ( T) in the middle.

Where are the private ten years? I could think of this Amarapura pic, taken the day after the puppet show:

And that is ok, Anon. It's them. Their lives. Their love. We are just peepers through a keyhole, in here: let's try and do it gracefully.

You don't like C anymore? S couldn't give a damn about how you feel, Anon, and forgive me if I sound brutal. He loves her and he already did the unthinkable for her. C does give a damn about you, however. Not because she cares about you, but because she probably thinks your intelligence and your questioning endanger her narrative and put at risk all the negotiated perks. This is why she thought intelligent to bark at you and publicly insult you: by a simple zealot reflex, her part of the bargain. It has nothing to do with her private truth. You are disappointed by a puppet, not the real C. Or, using this time Plato's Allegory of the Cave, you are mad at the silhouettes reflected on the walls of that cave, not at the people whose reflections you see - those people are outside the cave.

Get out of that mental cave, Anon. Stop racking your brains off trying to give definitive answers that cannot be honestly given with the amount of information we have. Stop obsessing about a visibly curated social media presence, online times and all this shit - they mean very little, especially at this point in time. Trust your heart and your intuition. Trust your life experience. Trust yourself, not me. All this side of the fandom can offer you is based on our own life paths and street smarts. Do I think it's legit? Of course, otherwise I'd not be here or I'd be a pervert. Do I think that together we'd be a step closer to what really is? Oh, by all means. But you are the only sovereign master of the course, here. You are the only one able to choose between believing or rejecting, staying on deck or jumping ship.

I chose to be interested in the puppeteers, Anon. The paper trail. The minute intricacies. The boring details Mordor does not want to see or doesn't know how to translate in simple English. That is really what keeps me going and that is something I will never publicly trade. The more I look into it, the clearer the picture is. Oh, for sure, I take great pleasure in seeing and discussing the script inconsistencies - don't we all? But to me and as I see it, this is the tip of the iceberg. The bar I set myself for public happenings, statements and all the shit show is very low. It avoids undue disappointment and even allows me to be relaxed about it. Not always. Not a perfect strategy. But it is my way of managing it and so far, it works.

Take at least a day off Tumblr. Think of it as detox. I can guarantee you will see it way clearer. I wish you well, Anon. And I really hope my long, long answer helped at least a little bit.

[mega-ringsandthings-world]

Hi, as a Mishanks expert, I wanted to ask your opinion on something. Do you think Shanks actually is a less capable swordsman now that he lost his arm? Does Mihawk actually think that? Also, would Shanks be able to match or win against Mihawk if he hadn't lost his arm?

Hope this doesn't sound weird, I hope you're having a good day! 🧑‍🦰🗡️

Hi! Not weird at all! And thanks, it's going great so far! Hm, I don't think Shanks losing his arm turned him into a less capable swordsman, but I'd say he's now certainly a more reserved one than he he was pre arm-loss. For lack of a better term he's not as flashy as he was. If we go by his left arm being his dominant one, then losing it meant he lost the ability or at least made the choice to stop using grandiose or clever moves like a lot of other characters. He's just as a good swordsman as he was with two arms, but he's streamlined his techniques after losing an arm. We've never seen him fight much when he had both arms attached, (although we get a nod to it when Whitebeard is meeting with Shanks and brings up having watched a duel between him and Mihawk with the implication that it was intense) but we have seen how he fights with only one. The recent fight against Kid is a good example, Shanks' use of his sword is powerful, direct, and incredibly controlled. Even his the name of his attack is stated precisely and intensely. And when he draws in Marinefored, there's no flourishes to it except for him taking an action stance. Shanks is no less powerful, but he's more simpler out of necessity. And...Mihawk doesn't like that. Mihawk doesn't consider Shanks less powerful or less capable because he lost an arm, but he does have a issue with how Shanks and his fighting style adapted to losing an arm. Which is honestly kind of bitchy, but that's Mihawk for you. I mean, "NoT wHen You'Re halF the MaN yoU USed to bE" says it all. He wasn't insulting Shanks' skills with that, he was poking at Shanks' physical lack of an arm. Mihawk doesn't like reserved. He's bent out of shape because Shanks is no longer drawing on techniques he is capable of in his duels against Mihawk, and the fact that Shanks is no longer physically capable of using those techniques or is choosing not to use them to consolidate his swordsmanship with his non-dominant hand is no excuse. If Shanks wants to duel with him after the arm loss, Shanks can either start re-incorporating every aspect of his skills back into his physical swordplay or grow his arm back. whichever he prefers, Mihawk won't be picky about that. (he'd prefer the arm) I think before the arm-loss, Shanks was evenly matched with Mihawk. Mihawk is the best swordsman in the world, so he surpasses Shanks in terms of power and skill with a sword, but Shanks is the only one who Mihawk can not strike a winning blow against and vice versa. In their earlier days, they were both neck in neck, but Mihawk always held that tiny lead on Shanks. And also in those days, Shanks was a lot more flashy and expressive. So he didn't just give Mihawk a duel, he gave Mihawk a show as well. Which was titillating for Mihawk. Because if it was anyone other than Shanks, the fight would always be to-the-death-matches. Other peoples' lesser skills only allowed them to fight seriously and nothing more, because one wrong move, one display of lesser skill and they were dead. Shanks, being matched with Mihawk, could play with Mihawk. He wasn't fighting for his life or reputation against Mihawk, he was fighting because he wanted to. He could challenge and provoke and give as good as Mihawk could. And Mihawk misses it. Either way, Shanks didn't lose much power or skill, just re-structured it a bit and Mihawk has been pitching a hissy fit over that for years.

[amethystina]

Fanfic Tag Thingie

I am choosing to be tagged by @miss-ingno because this sounded like fun and I need an escape from the realisation that I am literally on the edge of burnout and my life is a mess. So here we go! :D

How many works do you have on AO3?

76

What's your total AO3 word count?

2 237 636

... and I have around 200k more just sitting in my WIP folders. I can't write short things x'D

What fandoms do you write for?

Right now it's mainly various Kdramas (The Devil Judge, Black Knight, plus my bold venture into Strangers From Hell) but, before that, it was mostly The Losers, Marvel, Pacific Rim, and Teen Wolf. With the occasional detour here and there.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Who Holds the Devil (The Devil Judge, Gahan) at 3 390

Tech Support (MCU, Winteriron) at 3 217

Autonomy (MCU, Winteriron) at 3 137

I Won't Hold My Breath (MCU, Winteriron) at 2 914

Conflict of Interest (MCU, Winteriron) at 2 173

It's honestly a little wild to me that Who Holds the Devil has somehow managed to race to the top despite the other fics being at least four years older (sometimes more). And for a much bigger fandom, at that. You guys are not fucking around.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! Every single one if I can, though it can sometimes take a while before I get to all of them. And I just can't help it, I guess? Partly because I want to show that I've read the comment and appreciate the time and effort that went into writing it, but also because it often gives me an opportunity to talk about my writing and the choices I made in the fic.

And, apparently, the fact that I reply to all comments has become a bit of a thing at least when it comes to Who Holds the Devil, where readers will search through my replies looking for tidbits and extra information about the fic, characters etc.

(you guys are so weird and so dedicated and I love all of you xD)

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Grief (The Losers (Comics)). Because it is, predictably, about grief and how to keep living after someone you love has died. Though I would argue that the ending has a hint of hopefulness to it since it's also about moving on from said grief?

But yeah. Definitely that one since it's Major Character Death that I choose not to fix.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Literally every single fic except for the one above xD I LOVE my happy endings, okay? And it's kind of difficult to rank them since it depends a lot on the setting, characters, and the personal preference of the reader.

Heck, I even managed to give my Strangers From Hell fanfic a sugary sweet happy ending! That's dedication right there!

Do you get hate on fics?

Yeah, from time to time. I've gotten everything from childish insults calling me a bad writer to backhanded comments questioning my choices, writing style, grammar, spelling, dedication, intelligence, etc. I've even received more targeted, personal hate where people I thought I could trust were making fun of me behind my back in private chat rooms.

Most recently, though, it's less hate and more the "I simply must tell you that you're not writing this fic as I want you to write it" type of deal. Often paired with "It's my personal opinion and I have every right to express it." Which, fair enough. But that means I get to do the same, which I've noticed is something those kinds of commenters kind of hate. Especially when I point out that they've now made me a lot less keen to write the fanfic they're supposedly so fond of.

Turns out people don't like being reminded that their actions have consequences.

All in all, though, I've learned to just delete the comments I find too offensive or hateful.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Oh god no. Sex scenes are the bane of my existence and I spend the entire time writing them looking like this: ლ(ಥ益ಥლ)

I've been told I'm not bad at writing them (the ones in Until Death Do Us Unite were quite appreciated) but anything involving sex or sexual tension is just a nightmare for me. Even more so when it's supposed to be kinky or extra spicy.

So why is one of the main ships I write for right now clearly a Dom/sub ship, you ask?

Because I'm an idiot. That's why.

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you've written?

I rarely do. The only crossover I've written is Resurrection where Derek Hale ends up in Purgatory together with Dean Winchester and they fight their way back to the world of the living (so Derek replaces Benny, basically).

I also have this one random fic (yet unposted) where Tony Stark and Eddie Brock are a couple (from the MCU and Venom movies, that is). But they're technically both in the Marvel universe so I'm not sure if that counts?

Long story short, crossovers aren't really my thing. I rarely write or read them.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, no.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have! Several, in fact, from various fandoms. Mostly into Russian, Spanish, or Mandarin. And I am honestly so flattered every time someone asks me if they can translate one of my fics 💜

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not, no. I made plans to write a fic with a friend once, but we never got to the point of actually writing it. And, in all honesty, I think that might be just as well. I'm a perfectionist and writing a fic with me would probably be very exhausting for the other party xD

What's your all-time favourite ship?

I really don't know. Like, I'm tempted to say Jensen and Cougar from The Losers, or maybe Destiel or Stony, but I think that's partly founded in comfort and nostalgia. My ships change as I do and I really can't pinpoint an all-time favourite.

But CURRENT favourite? Definitely Kang Yo Han and Kim Ga On because they present such a wonderful challenge to someone like me, who loves to go real deep into character motivations, behaviour etc. They're a delight.

What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I'm not sure. I plan to finish all the ones I've started posting but there might be some in my folders that I'll decide to abandon if I truly can't revive my interest in them. But, usually, I can.

And, speaking of that, to all my MCU peeps (if there are any of you still out there): I know you've waited six years for the Tech Support sequel but it's finally been written and just needs to be edited. It's coming, my darlings. I promise.

Basically, when I say I'll do something, I will do it — even if it takes me six goddamn years, apparently x'D

What are your writing strengths?

Characters, tone, and emotions. I'm good at capturing the essence of the characters and write them in a way that feels believable and close to canon. I'm also really good at making people feel things with my writing, I've been told. According to testimonials, my readers can often see what's happening play out inside their heads like a movie, and feel the characters' emotions as they're living through them.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Aside from the aforementioned sex scenes? I think it's my inability to keep things short. I use a lot of unnecessary words and could definitely get better at being more concise. In a similar vein, I sometimes focus so much on the details with lengthy, wordy descriptions that I accidentally forget about the big picture, which is understandably confusing to my readers.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've done it from time to time (since my man Cougar speaks Spanish) but I'm pretty careful with it. And if it's longer sentences I always make sure to double-check with a native speaker.

First fandom you wrote for?

Teen Wolf! Which, admittedly, was because I didn't care if I fucked it up x'D I enjoyed the first two seasons of Teen Wolf, make no mistake! But I chose it mainly because it wasn't the ship I was the most emotionally invested in and so I figured it wouldn't feel as bad if it turned out that I sucked. Luckily enough for me, I didn't xD

Favourite fic you've written?

Just like with the all-time favourite ship, I'm not sure if I can answer this one. Because I like all of my fics but in different ways.

I'll always have a fondness for that first huge Teen Wolf series I wrote, for example, and had a lot of fun with Autonomy because of the world-building. Same goes with Hyperborean. But Who Holds the Devil is definitely my favourite when it comes to character work. While Allies is my favourite when it comes to tone, since it ended up just the way I wanted it to. And Until Death Do Us Unite was an absolute BLAST because I got to write horror and some really weirdass shit, which I've never done before.

So, truly, I can't say. Each one I've written has something I cherish and while some definitely stand out more than others, I wouldn't be able to just pick one.

___

And that's that! I tag whoever wants to do it! :D

[katyspersonal]

Before you deride anyone for being an "idiot", you should probably shit can the Meyers-Briggs pseudo-science in your description. You know, that way you don't look like an idiot who buys into that stuff.

Naaah, I still think that accusing a very anti-nationalist creator that created a very anti-nationalist movie FOR nationalism just because his movie used trademark brilliant Japanese nonverbal display instead of spelling stuff out like poorly written modern Western media IS pretty "idiotic". Waaaay more "idiotic" than MBTI stuff. 🌛 (retroactive, because I already did take my insult back several days ago)

I'll have you know that whereas MBTI is definitely not as binding and fails in what it tries to do (just like every attempt to strictly categorize people failed), it is actually SUPER handy to communicate a LOT of traits and patterns within a short abbreviation instead of a long essay! For example, people that know MBTI lore will read that I am ENTP and instantly expect me to be a lover of debates and "devil's advocate", be bad at talking about my feelings genuinely and sound hurtful without any intention to do so! If person chose to describe themselves with an MBTI label, it doesn't necessarily mean they are the type to take it super seriously, but often it is a way to communicate what to expect from their personality in a really compact form! Or at least what this person believes about themselves, which is also good for "communicating without communicating" :p Most people that have MBTI in their bio/pinned/whatever aren't as serious about it. Those that tried to choose friends/couple and form a collective according to MBTIs are long ago extinct, trust me!

I also found MBTI useful for some writing stuff. To define a type, you have to make 4 choices between 4 pairs of traits: 1) Introvert or Extrovert; self-explanatory 2) Sensory or iNtuitive; so, oriented more in "physical" reality and present or into past, thoughts and concepts 3) Thinking or Feeling; so, stronger at logic and thinking, or at empathy and tact? 4) Perceptive or Judging; so, an open-minded person that is okay with leaving loose ends or a person that needs clear distinction and final conclusion! Yeah they are very bare-bones descriptions and there is more to say about the 8 'letters', I am just cutting to the chase! I never passed MBTI test, I just figured which one of these aspects applied to me and it made ENTP abbreviation! Then I read the description of this type and could recognize a lot about myself. You can for example do that for a character you want to develop, get the abbreviation, then go read full description of this type and I guarantee you, there will be MANY things in the text making you go "damn this makes sooooo much sense for this character 👀" or otherwise inspire a vision of them!

I agree that people that get too caught up into MBTI stuff can be frustrating, and that accuracy of MBTIs is long ago debunked; again, no way to split humans into clear cut types works and we are all too different! Zodiac signs stuff is a similar problem. But, these things are good for communicating aspects of your personality quickly, for finding which sides of yourself to focus on and get "coherent shape" (very useful for my personality disorder ass!) and are good for WRITING! I've even found using MBTI descriptions as a help a good preventive measure from too much self-protection onto characters I am writing! You know same face syndrome issue in drawing? Sometimes the same problem is possible in writing personalities, MBTI is something that helped me to double-check whether I am doing this. Don't harshly discard a thing just because you haven't found an efficient way to utilize it! MBTI failed at what it intended to do but succeeded at being a good compilation of distinct traits and ways to think, act and react!

On the other hand, believing in anti-scientifical things is not necessarily a sign of being a judgemental, narrow-minded, "idiotic" person: a person is only an "idiot" when they make themselves be.

___________

That being said, I don't blame you for being strictly negative? MBTI craze, Zodiacs stuff and similar things have history of really annoying people wasting their time and being weird about what they tell others but that's not my case. In my country MBTIs are in general 90% fandom of memes xd I might consider removing ENTP from my bio in the future if I estimate people are more likely to expect the worst (like you did) than take it for fun after that """science""" has fallen but I just dunno yet. But I'd appreciate if you didn't use harping on me for a mistake I already apologized for to express your disapproval of MBTI stuff 🌛 Not only it is cruel, but also even UNDER assumption that liking MBTI stuff makes me an "idiot" your logic doesn't work - why would doing one stupid thing remove my right to call out another, irrelevant (!!!) stupid thing? This is like saying that only "perfect" people are allowed to offer criticism and disapproval towards frustrating situations and I am not here for this sort of attitude. Someone can be competent in one area and be a complete moron in another area, does it mean they can't talk about what they're competent at anymore?

[dandelyle]

What to do when your country chooses fascism over letting you take a piss in a public restroom

Or, is it okay to leave my home instead of fighting for it?

it's one thing to understand that your country has no left wing, and even its "left" is actually right wing globally. it's one thing to know that fascism is on the rise. it's quite another to witness with your own eyes how the majority of people choose a self-proclaimed dictator, convicted of multiple crimes, purely on the basis of hatred. Last night, two trans women were beaten up in Minneapolis, and not one person came to help them. Instead, witnesses reportedly cheered on their attackers, meanwhile my sisters were knocked unconscious and left with broken bones. And this was in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a so-called "trans sanctuary state" with some of the best protections for our people in the nation. But there is nowhere safe for us here. There is not one city, not one county, not one state that will choose our life over any cis person's inconvenience. We are inconsequential, unless of course we are being blamed for the loss of the election. No, you fools, we didn't cost the country the election. People's hatred and bigotry chose this on purpose. And now I see this country for what it really is: a place where inequality is upheld, minorities are punished for existing, and fascism is the gold standard.

Everything I was taught in school as a child--to share with the less fortunate, to only judge others based on the content of their character, to give without the expectation to receive like-kind in return, to debate ideas not insult your opponent, to keep quiet when you have nothing nice to say, to mind your own business if no one is being hurt--is a lie. The libertarians claim to believe in a small government that doesn't overstep on people's personal lives, but where are they now when the government is bragging about its ability to forbid sound medical treatment of known debilitating disorders? The conservatives have always been bigoted idiots, but now they no longer fear retribution for committing crimes of hate and assault people in front of witnesses. And liberals. What can be said about liberals that hasn't already been said? They are spineless cowards. They claim to be on the "right side of history" and "champions of equality" yet at the first sign that it might be difficult, they are ready to throw entire populations under the bus if it means keeping power. There is no party for the people in this country. There are only parties for the rich and powerful who think they each have better ways than the other to manipulate the people, but ultimately all seek the same goal: to get as much power and money in their own pockets as possible.

This is nothing to say about the exploitation on a global scale that people here blatantly choose to ignore, or acknowledge it fully and say they don't care, or worse welcome it. This behemoth, this atrocity, must fall. No one benefits from this country existing.

I was taught that this country meant equal opportunity for all. Ellis Island, they told me, represented an ideal that anyone from anywhere could come here and make something for themselves with hard work. That hard work was the great equalizer. If you just applied yourself, you and your family could have a safe and pleasant life. That's all people really want. We just want to have peace during our limited time here on earth, and the United States claimed to be a symbol for that. But it never really was, was it? That was propaganda invented by the rich to further profit on the backs of the working people. Does Jeff Bezos work harder than the janitor? I bet if you measured hard work in gallons of sweat per year, the janitor would beat Bezos by at least 3 buckets.

The moment you learn anything about this country's history, you can see that. They put children to work in factories, denying entire generations a childhood. They kidnapped an entire race of people and sold them into slavery, denying an entire race that peace they sought for themselves. They murdered entire populations in order to make room for their cities and cars. They destroyed the environment, raping the earth to enrich themselves. Everything about this country is a lie.

But I knew that. I learned these facts as a young person, outside of the classroom of my own volition, because I believe history is important. It is. Despite learning these horrible things, every time there were activists, people willing to do something about these horrible things to force the USA into being the country it promised us it was.

This time? Silence.

There is a culture shift. I know I am a part of it, as a young person from the United States. I could be the one to start organizing people who believe in equality to do something about it, or at the very least I could join up with some organization that already exists. But I'm not going to, and I'll tell you why.

Some, probably rightly, believe there is a culture of cowardice overtaking young people from the United States. I don't entirely disagree. But ultimately what has happened has been a loss of belief that we can enact lasting change. In 2020, Black Lives Matter took the country by storm with their massive protests against racial inequality and police brutality. In the past, huge protests nationwide would have led to change. But this time, nothing happened. Some municipalities require police cameras on at all times, but even more gave police bigger budgets and training on how to treat their own citizens as enemy combatants.

This country is not worth fighting for. It was rotten from the very beginning. A hypocritical lie designed to uplift white men and silence every other population. They killed native americans just to pave over their ancient sites, and are now relegated to barren reservations. Enslaved black people, and then subjugated them as second citizens, which continues to this day. Women were treated as property of men and still do not earn the same salary nor have full control over their own bodies. AIDS was encouraged to ravage the queer community, and now they accuse us of heinous crimes to disguise their own. We could all join together and overthrow this hierarchy, but no one does because the United States has cultivated a deep sense of selfishness and suspicion in every group. We all suspect each other instead of the rich white men at the top, and this is by design.

I'm not naive enough to say this doesn't happen in other countries. I'm not even saying it's different here, or somehow worse here. But at least in other countries, people don't just take it lying down. The american people are like battered children. We now have eaten the poison and believe we deserve this. The golden child believes he is special and he will get what he is owed at the expense of everyone else, while the scapegoat is left out in the cold, blamed for the hideous selfishness of the state as a whole. Pick your scapegoat. I've seen democrats blame the loss of the election on hispanic people, black people, trans people, what have you. But do they ever blame the real culprit? Selfish white people? No. Because they are just as selfish as the conservatives, they only hide it better.

This culture disgusts me. You cannot cure gangrene. You can only cut it off and hope it doesn't spread. I fear I have been contaminated already. I knew from a young age that there was no future for me here. Is that selfish? Or is it self preservation?

I know it is selfish. I should be ready to die for the cause. I should take to the streets and willingly throw my life away so that future generations of trans people might not suffer as I have suffered, the way my hero Harvey Milk did. He fought for us, and died for us. The man was literally assassinated for gay rights. I should become a politician and argue for my people on the Senate floor the way Sarah McBride is doing now. "This city belongs to you, too" she said. Perhaps that sense of belonging is what I lack.

Raised in the Great Plains of Oklahoma, now living at the foot of the Rockies in Colorado, I have traveled this country and seen the Grand Canyon and the Redwood Forest. I have buried my feet in the sands of the Gulf of Mexico. I have paid my taxes and eaten locally grown foods. My blood, sweat, and tears have been absorbed by the dirt here. But I have never felt at home here. I became aware of my difference around the age of 13, when I had my first same-sex crush. My whole life I had been taught by Christians that gay people were an abomination. After I kissed her, I wrote in my diary, "how can something that feels so natural be against God?" I stopped standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. In my eyes, I was disowned by the country for being a queer, and I was disgusted at the hypocrisy of the statement "liberty and justice for all." It was scientifically proven that the justice system discriminates against people of color, and the country would do nothing about it. Teachers at my school ranted about the bible and how wrong it was to be gay. They were never admonished. Queer kids who stood up for themselves against the bullying of adults twice their age and size were suspended for "being disrespectful." I have always felt adrift, homeless.

The first time I left the country, I was 24 years old. I spent three weeks in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was the first time I realized I could actually leave, that maybe my home was out there, but I just hadn't found it yet. I made wonderful friends there, and they showed me such hospitality. The very streets of the city seemed to welcome me with open arms. No one gave me dirty or confused looks when I opened my mouth to speak. They instead smiled excitedly at hearing their tongue in a foreign accent, and inquired about my origin. It wasn't what I was accustomed to after speaking to someone. My voice at home is considered faggy, and it has always garnered dirty looks from the people around me when I dare to open my mouth. But abroad, the only thing notable about my voice is my slight gringo accent, which makes me desirable instead of repulsive.

The second time I left the country, I was 25. I went excited-yet-apprehensively to the home country of my partner. It was our first time meeting in real life. I was more interested in him than the city we stayed in, but still I noticed how much easier it was to breathe there. When I held hands with someone in the US, we both always looked over our shoulder, fearing becoming a hate crime statistic or a shocking news story. But my partner was at ease, and so I was too. I would visit him there four more times over the next few years. Only twice has anyone ever stopped us to comment on us being gay and in love in public. Once was an older man, who told us we were beautiful and how he wished he had been able to hold hands with a boy when he was our age. The other time was a pair of elderly women, who showered us with compliments, saying we were both so handsome and how lucky they felt to share their building with us.

I felt accepted.

I had never felt that before.

Leaving is not just the right choice for me; it is the only choice. How can I stay in a place that has made it clear over and over again that they do not want me? That they do not consider me a citizen worthy of sharing the street with? My ancestors fought in the revolutionary and civil war. My family line can be traced back to the 1600s here. My ancestor's sister was the first woman who ran for president, before women even had the right to vote. Yet I am not enough for this place. I have been chewed up and spat out, time and time again. Multiple times I have been told by conservatives that if I don't like it, then I can just leave.

Fine then. I will leave, and you will lose an educated, taxpaying, law abiding citizen. Whatever country I end up in will be lucky to have me.

It is not cowardice to abandon a sinking ship that never wanted you around in the first place. I will embrace my adopted country with open arms and leave behind the rotten cesspit I come from. It is terrifying to leave behind everything you have ever known, even if you are aware that what you are leaving is bad and where you are going next is better. I will try my hardest not to bring that tainted culture with me. I will do anything I can to overcome my upbringing.

I will watch from afar as the United States continues to cannibalize itself. As more and more intelligent, educated people leave the country, and the brainwashed populace continue to choose hatred and ignorance, the empire will eat itself alive. I can only hope to live long enough to see it fall.

11 / 19 / 2024

[astronnova]

Okay but I wouldn't purely blame LMK for the flanderization of Tripitaka. All the flanderized depictions in fan works I've seen are from people who actually read the book and made fan art of the original source. And both versions of Trip develop into better people, anyways. Also, it's a little hurtful to say that most people don't analyze what they read, no? Granted, it's a kids show so much of the fanbase are minors, but like...kids will be kids.

my bad that it came across as hurtful! thats not my intention, i meant it as more of an objective viewpoint on something that's become widespread online and irl then just an insult to people.

unfortunately, a lot of people within the uhhh lets say 15-early 20s range dont... dive as deep into literature as they should. you ever heard of that one meme about "the door is blue because the author liked the color blue" ?

this is just one of many, and you couldnt go anywhere online without seeing somebody make this kind of joke. schools dont even really teach deep analysis of literature recently (i should know, ive been in multiple english lit classes and most of them don't dive as deep as you could and should. the only one that does that is with my most recent professor), and this stuff happens in highschool. yknow, during students most formative years of learnin stuff.

kids shouldnt just get a free pass on choosing to ignore the main point of a piece of literature because "kids will be kids". literature is the backbone of critical thinking, most people develop that skill through reading, and stories have a greater purpose, especially classical ones, than just "heres a show that provides constant stimulation with no reason".

i probably sound a little crazy or something, and im not articulating this as well as i could due to me taking *checks notes* two melatonin like 30 minutes ago BUT anyway tldr for that section is that a lot of people just dont dive deep into literature and its true meaning. a lot of folks like only looking at the surface level bits because its so much easier and simplier than writing an 1000 word essay about the importance of a certain theme within a piece of classical literature or something

steering this back to monkie kid,

the thing i explained above i think is one of the sources as to tripitaka, and sun wukong's, flanderization within the monkie kid fandom. instead of looking at the characters with the original intent of the religious text, its looked at as more of a "well he did X so he's a bad person". its too literal for a religious allegory. trying to apply strict "real world black & white morals" onto characters like this just wont work and will end with every character from the original jttw with the label of "bad person".

i could go onto a whole rant about how the recent decline of deep analysis of literature is the reason so many people seem to prefer "childrens cartoons" (because of the easier to understand morality/lessons) over, say, classical work or hell even some modern classics. this isnt an insult towards ppl that like "kids cartoons" btw, like look at my whole blog its just about cartoons LOL . i think theres more than just that one reason as to why people, at least online, gravitate towards childrens cartoons (likely because theyre more fantastical rather than trying to cater towards "adult gritty realism" and are animated, which is hard to find nowadays with all this "live action remake" junk), but i do think its one reason.

again, my bad if i sound like an ass or something or if i dont make sense, its like 12 am and i shouldve been asleep like an hour ago but im easily distracted LOLOL . but yeah, i think the source of the flanderization is just people misunderstanding the point of the original text and trying to apply modern storytelling conventions to something thats meant to be a big ass metaphor for enlightenment

[jrueships]

plz tell us more ABT gg!

u guys don't know how happy i am to get this ask, man!! ive been ROOTING for good things to come with gg !! a little quietly at the beginning bcs i didn't want to add more pressure onto the lil guy, but man. im so glad things are going well for him!!! he's had a.. challenging start, to say, for a career in the NBA... at least regarding public opinion, anyways.

I'm a fan of UNC basketball, that's how I heard abt GG in the first place. For necessary background, UNC is a Big basketball school that hailed Michael Jordan, hence how i'm a fan bcs Chicago duh. GG isnt from North Carolina, but he IS from SOUTH carolina (remember this), so UNC was definitely trying to recruit him using homefield advantage and big name BCS GG was hyped to be a big FUTURE talent. Keyword being future. The main conflicts in GG's basketball journey were: going into college a year early.. and going into the NBA a year early. Basically, in his 'freshman' year of college.. he was actually (supposed to be) a HIGHSCHOOL senior. AND NOW.. in his first year in the nba.. he's actually supposed to be a FRESHMAN in COLLEGE. Going into things early isn't new in the nba.. but to do it twice? It can double the average challenges.

UNC was one of the mainstream stems from that 1st conflict. Short summary, GG originally committed to NORTH carolina for 79 days. Took the pictures, all that. UNC was stoked to have him as a player whose talents they could help mold. GG was projected, at one point in HIGHSCHOOL to be # 1! Which makes it sound silly for UNC to have work in PROGRESS plans for GG and not INSTANT stardom set up. But we have to keep in mind the FIRST CONFLICT: GG reclassified from highschool early. All these projections & hype are very preemptive. NOW IF HES A HIGHSCHOOL SENIOR who did FOUR years of lower school.. and the hype has CONTINUED throughout those 4 years.. then the narrative maybe wouldve been different in terms of training. Gg's skills would be more trusted than trained since he has the stability in years and evidence of backing claims. Projections would turn into points. But he didn't. And that's fine!! That's more than fine for UNC because they have basketball history! They have proven tools and methods to help turn the number 23 into the name MICHAEL JORDAN. UNC FANS and UNC itself were excited to have GG on as a future eventual sophomore star at the LEAST! They were excited to show GG how to sharpen his young skills using their own very skillful roster!

And then GG decommited for a college closer to where he's from (South Carolina). Now you would think UNC would be mad because they view it as 'betrayal' to their 'great rival south', but... they don't. Because south carolina is. Not their great rival. At least not as much anymore. It used to be, there's OLD history, but.. now it's just history because UNCs been creating NEW history. It's UNC versus DUKE now. It's UNC entering bigger basketball, and South? It's not really doing that.

UNC fans are mad not because of the name of the school, but the game of it. South Carolina simply does not have the same depth, training, resources, and stardom as UNC. That's why they're not really rivals anymore.. UNC's outgrown South in terms of basketball skill. The decommital wasn't exactly an insult of namebrand, but of pure, raw skill.

GG went to South because it wasn't as skilled. That's what all the UNC people who are hurt about it say. I don't personally share the same hurt, but i can see the reason. Kids can choose big schools that can nuture them into an eventual big name later on, which means you can risk your pick in the draft being lower from so many big fish sharing the same ocean, but it can help you seem more solid and safe as an option so you WILL eventually be picked (talking abt like maxey and keldon going to Kentucky. Didn't get picked too high, but still got picked anyways), or go to a small school with a smaller pool so you have all the room to show off your talent.. with the risk of showing off your weaknesses as well from the bigger burden of being the star backbone. Stand out more, get stung more. And GG got... he got stung pretty bad.

I don't care what future prospects do, tbh. Im not the kind of guy who's like 'LOOK AT THIS 9FT TALL 9 YEAR OLD!! IMAGINE HIM IN THE 20XX DRAFT!!!' like girl. i could be dead by the time he becomes a teen or smthin. Im not gonna worry abt some child bcs. Like. Im normal lol. They have their own worries, and i have my own worries. Sadly, not a lot of people think like that... especially people who like college sports. Idk if it's a variation of that one person who keeps visiting their old highschool 'stomping grounds' or What. But they feel like a certain entitlement to their college and who enters it. GG going to a smaller basketball 'pool' (talent terms) school was a lowblow to their 'UNC COLLEGE PRIDE' or whatever. 5 star talent is decommitting from a 5 star talent college to a . A 1 star. Oh my gosh, you woulda thought these grown men considered it a stabbing from their own son. Their wouldve been next Michael jordan just walked out to go to community college, in dramatized words.

' but GG IS from SOUTH carolina! He's not from North! It makes sense, at least, for him to want to stay at his hometown even though it's smaller! Like ant! ' but unlike ant.. he only did 3 years of highschool. Ant did 4, built up both SOLID and big hype, then denied big schools for his home team Straight Up. When GG wanted to stay closer to home, it showed less loyalty and more selfishness .. to the press anyways.. BECAUSE he's ONLY done 3 years! Only has 3 years of resume! To UNC, gg should be GRATEFUL to even be CONSIDERED by them RIGHT now. If he had 4 years and KEPT UP a STRONG hype, then it'd be reversed. But it's not. GG is too young, UNC is too stacked, and South is too desperate.

GG goes to South Carolina. He even filmed a little tiktok with his friends poking fun at his decommitment from big UNC to South. It was a little light thing that quickly got deleted, but on social media.. nothing is light and nothing is ever Really deleted. You can still find the video and you can still find the insulted UNC fans under it. It's just more evidence of how young he is and how naive he is to burdens regarding business. So anyways, he goes to South Carolina... and he doesn't do what he was hyped to do. It was too much pressure, too much scarcity of help. The coach, who's close to GG bcs hes the best thing they have to a 'star', despite how young he is.. They're that bare bones, sees how all these minutes are doing more harm to GG's stock than help like college minutes for any player is supposed to, and tries sitting him out more as a solution. Tries writing plays that'll set GG up for maybe an assist but not a point, definitely not points because he just hasn't been getting them and if the NBA didn't see it back then during smaller scale highschool.. they definitely see it in college. They definitely see it in a SMALL basketball college, when there isnt a lot of other teammates to stare at or depend on. Big Scale UNC fans CERTAINLY see it after GG politely then not-so politely turned down their 'token of kindness' for.. what's shaping up to be a big mistake.

GG does not take very well to that. ONE OF the ups on why he chose this school of namebrand UNC (im not saying it's the ONLY reason, like some angered Unc fans may, but im also not saying it Not one to be considered . Im just bringing general observations that are either heavily backed or confirmed by fact) is for those HEAVY minutes. He was hyped to be their star, but he's not getting those deep save the game minutes he expected. He was supposed to get all the plays, and now he's getting some. So he does what ANY kid does nowadays and rants his frustrations out on social media

that doesn't go well. He can't be a kid, not according to college, not when you set yourself up to be the leader of a team. When you take on big tasks, you take on big blame as well. That goes double in sports. It's a bit harsh, if you ask me, but no one's asking.

So now he has all this doubt in his head. And his dad isn't an athlete, he's a pastor, so he's telling GG to have faith and to have faith and faith and faith, but what if it's FAKE? what if UNC was right in telling him he can't shoulder this alone. What if everyone was right. What if he's selfish. So he enters the draft and it's SPECULATED that he didn't do well.

People are saying the person who dropped it then dropped so low in the draft because of it is him. People in the nba and out of it. I'm not saying it's true or it's not, we don't know, but i do know that having a rumor like THIS on you? When you're so young?? Is not good. At all. Combine that with his less than positive living to the solo hype at South? And you get this.

GG crying at his own draft party because of how poorly he's doing.

Just looking at the photo alone just fuckin. Splits the heart for me. He's a KID!! he's a KID! i don't know if it just hits harder for me bcs ive BEEN to draft parties where the draft never happened, or maybe because we're like one year apart in youth, like im not that 'discontented nothing better to do in my life' adult yet like a lot of his long-term haters have been.. but like. That sucks. That's awful to see. His coach, the same person GG openly criticized on social media, being in his ear CONSOLING him.. keeping him from bawling in front of all these people.. telling him he could always come back to college and give it another year and GG doesn't even know if he should do that or not is.. it's painful!! GG set this party up BANKING off the Hope, the FAITH that the hype he had back in HIGHSCHOOL, those THREE years.. was STRONG enough to get him drafted not top 10 but at least first ROUND?? And that sounds stupid now, it sounds silly, it sounds grandiose, and it is. It has to be because he WAS the projected #1 pick at some point. He WAS a lottery pick. And now he doesn't even know if he's gonna be picked at all because of what? Because he had faith? Because he betted on himself? He listened to his dad?? He's a kid??????

That's what a Lot of people wanted for him. They CRAVED it. They WANTED him to fail BECAUSE he's young and because he's made mistakes and because it happens. It's unfair for other possibilities. Famous failure is different than mere familiar failure. It just tastes better.

I care about GG because I think some people, who have no business to, care about him Too much. I'm just happy he's managed to do what makes him happy because not everyone can, so it's a blessing that he can and I love that for him. I don't care about GG bcs he 'proved the haters wrong blahblah blah', because he really didn't. He went in young, took the harder option, and got his draft history hurt because of it. Shit happens. He's clearly learning, he's clearly improving, and he's clearly happy.

And i like when people are happy. Idk, maybe im just sick :)

[liskantope]

As one of what will likely be several minor afterthoughts to the Big Thread that's been going on with me, here's something else I want to say regarding the way people argue about what counts or doesn't count as love.

This may surprise some people, since I've been known to deride simplistic-sounding slogans as meaningless, annoying, or misleading, but I'm actually really fond of the slogan "love is love". If you knew me in real life, there's a chance you might have run across a photo of my real-life self at a rally carrying my own homemade sign saying "LOVE IS LOVE".

Now I guess what some people have been trying to suggest to me is that "love is love" was part of an effort to get homophobes to believe that when two people of the same sex said they were in love, they actually were feeling genuine love. I think I always interpreted it differently: as an abbreviation of "Love is love, and that's all that should matter in this issue." More generally in our language, we say "X is X" with an implied follow-up of "...and that's the only salient thing right now" (compare to the common saying "Rules are rules.") Or to put it another way, "I think same-sex relationships should be respected and celebrated in our society -- after all, love is love." It was never, to me, about a dispute as to what actually counted as love; otherwise I suppose it would be somewhere between a simple direct claim and a silly-sounding tautology.

That said, I'm aware of a longstanding characterization of gay people (I think particularly gay men) as operating on lust only, and I've occasionally run into more extreme types (always very religious) who insist that there is no real love outside of the parameters they believe in. During college I spent an inordinate amount of time in one of the main plazas which was frequented by extremist preachers spewing all kinds of garbage (at the time part of it was morbid fascination with how outrageous their purported beliefs were, although with maturity I've come to suspect that at least half of it was performance). Among all the horrible things they said, condemning me and all of my friends to hell and so on, the only time I recall feeling real, deep anger was when a preacher asserted that no two people can actually love each other without believing in his god. I don't know if I found the voice to argue with him, but I remember literally shaking. And I clearly reacted this way because I was feeling very much in love at the time with my then-girlfriend, and we were both staunch nonbelievers, and how dare he look down and insult us by saying our feelings weren't genuine. (Another time, I recall a preacher -- I don't remember if it was the same guy or someone else -- said how sorry he was for atheists because atheists are incapable of feeling true joy, which didn't make me angry in the same way but which struck me as even more bemusingly deluded than usual.)

The thing, though, is (and please don't jump on this, I'm no longer trying to use my memories as justification for some point like in the Big Thread, I'm just expanding on some interesting recollections) that the preacher saying those who didn't believe as he did couldn't feel love wasn't discussing this in the context of homosexuality or even "fornication" (one of their favorite words), although his type did often harp on such views. He was simply insisting that in the absence of God in the relationship, genuine feelings of love couldn't exist. It was just another way, as with the way they condemned homosexuality and pre/extramarital sex, that God was constantly being treated as a black box that simply changed the meaning and validity of everything while being (to someone like me) a complete abstraction that I could choose to embrace or not.

[eyrieofsynapses]

...never have I wanted a show to fail more badly in my whole life. I'm sorry, I'm just--I have a very long list of problems here. This sounds like exactly the corporate nightmare the books are written to warn us about.

1) Murderbot's being played by a blue-eyed white guy. No, we don't have confirmation on MB's actual in-book appearance, but we do know that the overwhelming majority of characters are POC and most of what little official artwork we have portrays MB as POC. The chances of it being POC are very high. I headcanoned it as such very early on. There is no reason not to pull from the massive pool of excellent POC actors out there instead.

2) As far as I can tell from a couple quick searches, he sure as hell ain't trans; he might be queer given some rumours, but if there isn't anything from him officially talking about it, I don't care. And he is very, very allo, judging by how he talks and jokes in the article quotes I'm skimming. Murderbot is CLEARLY AND LOUDLY an equivalent to agender ace/aro.

Yes, there is much debate on portrayals of queer characters by non-queer actors, and rightfully so: community criticism sometimes outs people who don't want to be, and cultural climate sometimes means that it is more dangerous for a queer actor to play a role than a non-queer actor. No, actors shouldn't have to out themselves for an audience's satisfaction. But right now? We live in a world with MANY lesser-known nonbinary actors who would do brilliantly in that role and love playing it. Hell, Elliot Page has been all over lately--we know trans actors can and do get big roles! Murderbot would be the perfect opportunity to find a lesser-known POC queer actor and give them a chance to shine! AND YET.

So why choose this guy? Well gee whiz, go take a look at that LOOOONG LIST of awards. He sure is well known and handsome, isn't he? Perfect material to nab lots of eyes. Thirst material, you could say. Big name, big attention, big money to be made, right?

To be clear here: I am not familiar with Alexander Skarsgård beyond the very quick skimming I have done in the last, mmm, fifteen minutes. At first glance, I have no problem with the man himself. I am absolutely profiling here. But this is also about appearances, and about what many people's immediate reactions will be, and sadly I can just see the thirst posts and both the unintentional and very, very intentional misgendering pouring in. This could easily completely and utterly fuck up Murderbot's well-known reputation as a bastion of queer representation that is damn near impossible to find on store bookshelves. This will get everyone and their mother calling it a "he" and looking to pair it up romantically with someone and violating every damn aspect of the character. As someone on the ace/aro spectrums and part of the queer community who has found kinship and comfort in MB, I am angry and aggrieved that they couldn't be bothered to find a queer actor for this. It feels like a vulgar insult.

That's not all, either:

3) That whole damn list of directors and producers are very likely all cis men. I see zero evidence of any of them being queer from skimming over articles, either, and while again, that is not something you can profile or determine immediately, TMD is such a vibrantly queer series that I seriously doubt their collective ability, alongside the lead actor, to accurately represent a queer experience in the least. I could be wrong. I could be very wrong, and if I am, I will take this back and apologize. But I seriously doubt it.

You know what they do have, though? Big industry names and credits that sure do look nice on a TV/movie poster. TMD is well-known enough to draw enough attention that it doesn't need big names, and it can probably afford to support and uplift women, POC, and queer creators, who are often pushed down in the film industry and struggle to get to the top. (Take a good long look at most big-box modern movie credits if you don't believe me. It's still mostly straight, cis white guys. Yes, we see the big ones with better representation--but they are notable BECAUSE of that, and are quite rare by comparison.) It really should anyway, but like, you can't even try to say "well but it NEEDS a big name." It doesn't. It really, really fucking doesn't, and it needs creators that represent the characters and the goal of the books. I don't see that here.

I'm also not confident in Apple's ability to pull this off. Why not use a small company? Or at least go to a company that represents the same goals and interests as the book expresses? This is APPLE. This is "let's overprice our products, make them die as early as possible so people have to buy new ones constantly, intentionally design them so that even an experienced technician can't fix them, and build a system so incompatible with every other system out there that you can only move over by losing half your stuff you paid for" APPLE. This is one of the very corporates that the books WARN US ABOUT.

And I have thoughts on neurodivergent reputation as well, but that's a significantly more nuanced and difficult discussion, and one I don't want to get into because we just don't have enough information yet and I don't know enough about that from a filmmaking standpoint to have a reasonable opinion.

This isn't my worst nightmare for a Murderbot adaption, but it sure is damn close, and it's the most realistic nightmare you could get. Hypermasculine allo white cis dude as MB's lead actor, a similar board of directors, not an openly queer person in sight, all done via a company that is known for locking down their devices and using the very same corporate mindset that the books condemn... this won't be Murderbot. I suspect that this will be nothing more than a sick, pale shadow of it, if not a downright mockery.

I have no intention of supporting this. The news just broke and I suspect the majority of the fandom will be displeased, so we'll have to see what the response is, but I sure as fuck hope somebody involved in this has a good explanation for why they chose these people and this company, because otherwise, I really only see this wrecking the series' purpose and getting dragged through mud, shit and blood by the original fandom. In the meantime, I'm going to hope like hell that this doesn't get off the ground, because this will probably be a thousand times worse than TMD never having an adaption at all.

*Edited to correct the spelling of Elliot Page's name.

On the one hand, I have wanted a murderbot show for a long fucking time! On the other. Sure wish Murderbot wasn’t being played by a white blond blue eyed guy.

[dreme-inc]

bite mark || g.w

An apple a day keeps the baddies away.

Summary: Not based off anyone in particular, but it could be. George x Slytherin!reader. A housemate insults the blood traitor Weasley family.

a/n: Another self-indulgent writing in queue. Up next are requests. :)

George Weasley holds his ground quite well. Being half the Weasley duo was bloody brilliant, and a value to him (he loved Fred more than anything), but it wasn't all he was.

It's another day when you hear a student in a telling green-lined hood seize as good Slytherins do- as opportunists. They find confidence in spotting the mischievous twin alone and insult him.

"Blood traitors, you and your family," they hiss.

While you respect being an opportunist as a Slytherin yourself, you aren't cruel. Still, the redhead is matching said opponent insult after insult, the wheels in his head turning as his jaw sets. The prankster is planning revenge as they speak and you suppose they did put it on themselves, didn't they?

It's when the person in your house begins gathering a posse as they normally do, do you choose to intervene.

They spot you, and the front one who started it all is quick in quipping, "what kind of Slytherin are you?"

"A proud one, now shove off!"

George can't deny, you weren't like many others he's met around, and he's drawn. Your entirety had him curious- remaining tough without being rough. He couldn't even tell you the strength his heart was beating until he realized he felt them up to his ears.

How did you look so soft in your robes with their telltale green colors? Magic.

Once, he noticed you comforting a first-year in your house, the poor child frightened by their placement. But you told them to be proud of themselves, and if they weren't like other Slytherins, then be a good one.

Now, he needs to catch himself from gazing over to the Slytherin table too much, for now at least. As melted as it sounds, he's braver because... he wants to talk with you, regardless what anyone else will have thought or said, no matter what it looked like.

(Don't tell Fred yet.)

You turn towards him, "you okay?"

"Yeah, uh... thanks for that," both you and he deem he would have been alright in the end, but the male in red-lined robes genuinely appreciated the assist.

Still, he's... slightly skeptical. Only Gryffindors were said to be brave enough to stand against their own, and you smile, understanding.

You hoped what had happened didn't further ruin the reputation for the others. You were a happy Slytherin (rightfully so :)), as there were so many good people in it- misjudged and dismissed far too quickly.

"A couple of bad apples..." the thought you accidentally said aloud trails, and you bite the inside of your cheek in shock before you continue.

There were some good ones, you promise. You'd promise out loud but- you're caught up watching his lips- they twitch easily into a handsome grin.

He can't push down the flirtatious smile.

"And you're in the batch?"

Pause. Then, he continues.

"I think you're one of the good ones."

+

"Oi!"

George snaps back to reality as Fred stares at him with a hard expression.

"What the bloody hell are you so caught up on?" He hadn't seen his brother so concentrated on something other than their pranks and products for a while.

"It's a little too late to consider returning to a future of academic achievement."

"Shove off."

Fred hums. "Must be a girl then, eh?"

"I mean it."

[quarthly]

Twilight characters as random animals that I think are oddly fitting

(Also yes, I am roasting the animals as well)

Edward: He would be a Cheetah. Now I know, seems like a cop out just because of his speed but hear me out. Cheetahs are, at face value, pretty cool. They used to be my favorite animal as a child, but then I grew up.

Cheetahs, through no fault of their own, are severely inbred. Now thats mainly because of poaching, but the cheetas anxiety also comes into play. In captivity, cheetahs are usually given emotional support dogs. I will admit it is cute but it negatively affects the population. Excluding one in the wild, cheetas can be to anxious to breed and thats not good for conservation efforts.

Cheetahs can hit up to 80 miles per hour in a couple of seconds. They are designed for fast running and agility. Their claws are similar to that of a dogs for better traction and they have elongated spines for longer strides. They have a thin build, long legs and a long tail for balance.

This has downsides though. Many times after making a kill, it will get stolen for them by larger predators. Thats right, they get absolutely bodied by the other animals. I should probably make these shorter but I'm on a rant now, so I guess this will be semi educational.

Throughout the series, we see Edward over estimated his abilities and value, constantly getting bodied by others. He's essentially a perfect mormon, though thats on S'meyers. He constantly judges others, dehumanizing them to their baser flaws, without doing any self reflecting. Him viewing himself as a monster doesn't really count to me. While he definitely hates himself, the only thing he is truly demonizing is being a vampire.

Bella: Picking up from Edwards, Bella is a Chocolate Labrador. Yes, she is his therapy dog. I feel like this is really fitting for her. I know Golden retriever would make more sense, as thats the most common breed for service animals. However, I kind of focused on her appearance. Only at first though! I just know that Edward raved about her human qualities and that would pass over as animals as well. Her chocolate eyes and brown fur, very average and boring. Thats essentially Bella. Even Edward wasn't into her until he got a wiff. Labradors a very loyal dogs and while they have more personality than Bella, I just couldn't shake it. Their also very stupid. Ok that's kind of mean, they're not stupid but when it comes to love, then yeah they are stupid.

I used to have a lab, loved him to death, but god he was something else. Very much danger prone, from their own stupidity or their lack of survival instincts. I know that labs are almost aquatic. They love water, swimming, all that jazz. We can just say that bella has a few screws loose in her dna and is just "not like other labs."

Rosalie: Now she was hard. There are quite a few animals that I think would fit for her. I'll list the other ones, but that one I went with is the Swan. Like Edward, seems a little on the nose, but I have my reasoning.

I was going to pick a predator for her, as she is shown to be very vengeful and viscous. I would have pick some type of cat, most likely a purebred, from a rich family. It could still work, but the swan just speaks to me on this one.

Swan's are known for being beautiful, graceful, and are pictured as the symbol of love. They are also very vain. Edward constantly brings up Rosalies vanity. She was constantly valued for her beauty as a human, so of course that crossed over in the transformation. She was raised to be married into wealth, she was used as a bargaining chip to increase the family's standing.

Rose has a very strong character and makes her opinions known. She's assertive and aggressive at times. She's not afraid to get dirty.

Swans mate for life and like geese, are known for being great parents. I was also going to choose geese as an option for the maternal instincts. I was wary at first because swans can be really aggressive. Like actually, you think geece are bad? Yikes bestie...

I was conflicted because swans are known for drowning dogs and sometimes people. However, I can actually see Rose drowning Bella. It's not that unbelievable lmao.

Emmett: Now this one is just ironic. I only associate him with bears. Its inevitable, but picking a Grizzly or Black bear is too obvious. So I went a slightly different route...

So I was going to pick the Sun bear just because of looks alone. Like, I'm not exaggerating, it looks like someone wearing a bear costume. I don't think it fits him but I know for a fact that he would dress up as a sun bear and sneak into a zoo to see if anyone would notice. I'll put a pic of it here

Like look at this thing. I have no words...

Anyway, what I picked was a Sloth Bear. Now Sloth bears are mostly nocturnal, which either way works consider vamps don't sleep. Their diet is also odd but honestly so is the cullens. They're native to the Indian subcontinent, and are known for being aggressive towards humans. Its said that for the most part they're pretty calm, so I think its just fear of humans that make them act aggressively. Honestly, that's a good thing because they are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red list.

They have some similarities with sloths, which is where they get the name. They have long claws and unusual teeth. They are known to hang upside down from tree branches, and is described as having a messy appearance. Honestly, Emmitt has a messy personality. Sorry bestie but you're a lot of work.

Now heres the biggest reason for choosing this bear. Aside from Baloo from the jungle book being a sloth bear, they are known to run fades with Tigers. Honestly, how fucking badass is that!? Now I don't think there are recorded instances of a Sloth bear killing a Tiger, but when push comes to shove, they can hold their own and I find that incredibly impressive.

Carlisle: This one was somehow the easiest as well as the toughest. I know Owl seems like the obvious choice, and I can see it. However, I believe Carlisle values emotional intelligence as much or if not more than academic intelligence. He is so charismatic and values other's above himself. He might not be as Saint like as Edward thinks, but he does try and I think he genuinely cares about others. For that reason alone, I choose a Elephant.

Elephant's are very social animals and are extremely intelligent. I could rave about them for ages, I love them so much.

Now elephants live in a familial unit and are usually matriarchal. Bulls usually are on the outer edges of the herd or form little groups with other males. Honestly, they're not that bad aside from when their in musk.

In the group of males, the elder ones will teach the younger where to get the best food, water, how to use things as tools, and every other thing that will increase their odds of survival. This is really cute to me tbh, they do this because the females usually choose the older males because they've proved that they are intelligent and strong, that they have survived and will continue to for awhile. Teaching the younger males these things are to make the odds of them getting chosen to mate more likely. The whole unit just reminds me of a father that has to deal with rowdy teens.

Carlisle likes to take in strays, he might not have a herd but he will make one and teach them to thrive. That's how he envisions it anyway. He just has a found family and is trying his best.

Esme: Now this might seem like an insult, but I promise it's not! This is in no way misogynistic. I love cattle and ever since I took animal science in highschool, I have appreciated these grass puppies like they deserve. Call me Castro because I love cows.

Yup! I chose a Cow for her. Specifically a beef cow. That might sound weird but its because beef cows have higher maternal instinct than dairy cows. I'm thinking Scottish Highland based on vibes alone.

They are nicknamed the Gentle Giants of Scotland. Super maternal and sweet and ugh look how cute they are!

Esme came from a abusive marriage and had just lost her child, she was depressed and desperate. Her changing was, in a way, salvation. She just fits in. She adopts all these strays along with him and will protect them to the death. She might be gentle by nature, but don't fuck with her family. She lost her first one and she isn't going to lose this one.

Alice: She's an odd one. There are so many possibilities and maybe I'm biased, but I feel like she would be a Crow.

Ok listen, I'm definitely biased but it just feels right. Crows get a bad rap, they are so cool! They are so intelligent and have the ability to actually sit and think about the past, prest, and future. I forget what its called, but this was only seem in humans! Maybe other apes, I can't remember exactly, but either way its awesome. They do live in groups, or murders, and remember people and faces. They remember locations and are able to pass down information through generations. They essentially have their own language! They are able to use tools too!

Alice's story is really sad. When we first meets her, it revolves around the death of her mother and her institutionalized. She was essentially tortured and forgot everything from her past. All she had was the future and even that wasn't constant. Crows a often viewed as omens, they are associated with death. I personally believe that instead of being the cause, they just know something is going to happen. They are very inquisitive and can be creative.

If you befriend a murder of crows, sometimes, depends or the group, they will bring gifts. Its can range from food to shiny metals and colorful plastic. Hell, I think I've seen a post of one stealing things from people just to gift it to their human.

Alice's love language is gifts. Even if they are focused around fashion, she still goes out of her way to get something that will look good and at least be a little comfortable. By that I mean she tends to forget peoples comfort zones, but she means well.

Jasper: Honestly not to sure what to put for him. I know a predator would be more fitting, but for some reason I can see a donkey working. I know, seems like I'm clowning on the confederate. Fair, but I'm serious about the donkey thing. Honestly, it would be perfect if it wasn't a herbivore. Porcupine would also work.

Being a predator would make more sense. Given his backstory and his characterization, it wouldn't make sense for him to be a prey animal. Usually I wouldn't count this, but given his gore filled past and trouble with the diet, it seemed fitting.

I see him as a Big Cat. Honestly, vamps in general just give cat vibes. Jasper though especially have some cat like qualities, which originates from hunting and being a soldier.

I specifically see him as a Mountain Lion. Aside from him being blonde, he just has the predatory stealth to him. In midnight sun, we see him use his gift to make the nomads overlook him. He's honestly really powerful.

Mountain lions are known for being stealthy with an air of grace and power to them. They are stong animals. And I mean strong. They can jump 40-45 feet.

They're very elusive and quite. They stalk their prey and tend to attack from behind but don't think they won't hold their ground if need be.

Jasper was changed during the Civil War and forced to fight in the Newborn wars. He was a soldier as a human and as a vampire. He's able to feel and manipulate others emotions. He's covered in scars and is very intimidating.

He still struggles with the diet and honestly I hate how the others handle it. Like they have no room to talk. I don't want to defend the confederate but it just pisses me off. He has to deal with his hunger on top of everyone else's. Like damn, besties always on edge! Everyone doubts him which I don't think helps any.

Also, Mountain lions and Cheetahs can purr!

@aquanova99 I'll do a Volturi one too. That one will be fun lmao

[phoenixyfriend]

b, f, i for the fanfic asks?

FanFic Ask Game

B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience?

Well, certain elements of The Discourse of Annie Storm, but I think this question is more about fics like Ghost Ladies, Sowing Discord, Starbucks in the City (and Soap Operas in the Park), that sort of thing. It's only ever elements, though.

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?

Plenty! A regular one is omegaverse (mostly reading), and author tract nerd tangents (when writing) that I don't have to remove since I'm writing for free and I can add what I want.

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it. (Doing this one last so I can toss it under a cut)

I'm really happy with a lot of the layered-meaning conversations in my time-travel fics, but let's go with something I'm proud of just because of how much fun it was to write in Bare Your Teeth, Soldier:

“Ow…” Anakin groans. He opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”

Obi-Wan questions this, in the way of someone with a recent head injury, which is to say that he forgoes words in favor of an aggrieved grunt that could, in some universe, be parsed as a ‘what is wrong, oh child of my heart and soul whom I love most dearly,’ but would most likely just be interpreted in this universe, and their last, as ‘what’s up?’

“How are we in Coruscant?” Anakin demands.

Obi-Wan makes another noise of confusion.

“Yes, I am looking at the ceiling of the Council room,” Anakin snaps. “It’s daylight and everything.”

Anakin still doesn’t get up. There are people here, people he knows, but he doesn’t want to. He’s injured, and he hasn’t slept, and also Obi-Wan is hurt. He can be petty and tired and stay on the floor.

With a noise, Obi-Wan flops over. Anakin doesn’t see him do it, but he can hear the shift of fabric and groan of pain and clatter of armor. “Well, then. Odd.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“I may have a concussion,” Obi-Wan acknowledges. “I also may have been poisoned. Hopefully it’s one or the other, not both.”

Anakin groans and slaps a hand over his eyes. Then he gags, because there was blood on his hand, and now it’s on his face. This is disgusting.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan says, ever pleasant.

“Hm?”

“Nobody’s addressing us.”

Anakin thinks this through for a moment. Someone almost comments, but chooses not to. They’re probably waiting for him to talk himself into a hole, or if they’re nice, just waiting to see where this all goes.

“Honestly,” Anakin says, “I figured they were waiting for me to stop being annoying like usual.”

“Oh, you’ve noticed!”

“Yes, I’ve noticed,” Anakin says, not a little offended. “I’m ‘abrasive and ill-tuned to the emotions of others’ and ‘competent in battle and in interactions with lower class civilians, but to be removed from engagement with any high-ranking politician or social figure, given the risk of intentional insult,’ but I’m not stupid.”

Obi-Wan seems almost impressed. Anakin hopes he is. The question is obvious. “…who are you quoting?”

“I dunno, it was from an anonymous performance review,” Anakin dismisses. “Point is, I’m an asshole who’s not great at people, not a moron.”

“At least you’re self-aware,” Obi-Wan sighs. “I remember the days when you used to read romance novels just to find the best way to insult me with fancy language since you—”

“Who are you people?”

Hm.

That’s not the usual response they get, even if Master Windu does sound just as frustrated with them as usual.

Anakin lifts his head just enough to look around the room. It’s the full council. They haven’t been assembled in person like this since the war started.

He squints. That’s Coleman Trebor. Huh.

“Weren’t you dead?” He asks. The man himself blinks at the two of them. “Wait, is this time travel?”

Obi-Wan groans. “That’s a new one.”

Anakin drops his head back to the floor. He’s too tired for this shit. “You don’t sound surprised, Master.”

“I stopped being surprised by unconventional applications of the Force after that time you were twelve and accidentally melted a droid with your brain.”

“I apologized.”

“Be that as it may—”

“Ahem,” Master Windu interrupts.

Anakin smirks at Obi-Wan about him getting interrupted instead of Anakin, but Obi-Wan isn’t looking at him. Obi-Wan is frowning at the ceiling, brow deeply furrowed, and looks to be in pain. That ruins it a bit, then. Anakin can’t be smug when his master is hurting.

Well, he can. He’s just prefer not to, in this particular situation.

“Strangers to you, we are not,” Yoda’s ever familiar voice interrupts. “Strangers to us, you are. An explanation, have you?”

“Investigation. Sith Temple. Anakin’s fault.”

“Hey!”

“I told you not to touch the—”

“I was pushed—”

“Because you refuse to pay attention to the people trying to kill you—”

“Well excuse me for trying to save your life, Master, maybe next time you’re getting shot at while a Sith Acolyte is trying to cut your head off, I can pay more attention to which direction she’s kicking me while you flirt with her—”

[fantasycorrupted-a]

"I thought so." Though the thought, as fleeting as it has been, has been amusing, Fíann doesn't laugh, letting him speak. "That's why I sounded so incredulous. I mean it. Poor thing, though." For a moment sadness washed over her face, but like any other time it happened, the need to clear her throat and put the mask of calmness back on choked her. "For the jokes you make, and for the ones you heard me say, there's good there in you somewhere."

She sneezed then, bringing her hands up and over her face. Was she truly feeling better, really? Granted, Fíann rarely got sick nowadays. Maybe it was because she would always overdo it a bit and pack a bit more extra clothes in the cold than she thought she would need; being used to shitty weather and remembering what her mother would give her when she was sick, aside from staying in shape and eating good food, had helped her stay healthy.

"You make sense." Her voice was soft and quiet, in stark contrast to her usual confident chirp. "And I will look after myself. Not leaving this bed until I feel a normal amount of coldness. We aren't walking ovens, after all." It was from her bad jokes that Vaas could notice she hadn't lost her spirit, even sick. Surely, only mildly sick, but still - people often sounded different then than when healthy.

Aahh shit. She had been seen. "Fuck. It was careless of me... I thought no one was looking in my direction, or able to see anything in that dark." But she had been wrong. "I just keep doing it, don't I, dragging others into the mess I leave behind each step I take." Fíann chewed on the inside of her mouth. "First this, then I got sick, who knows what else..." She had to shut her eyes closed to kick out the thoughts and usher in others. "But we'll make it. I know that."

She had said we, and he had taken that further, caressing her cheek, and in that moment Fíann felt her heart sink. You can't do that. This is not supposed to be happening. This is not possible. I already had my hopes pinned on somebody else once, and I lost them. I am not letting this repeat. She wanted that enough for it to hurt, and yet she would not say it. Betraying her, her body did its silent talking with how she leaned into his touch, heart racing, bringing her hand to touch his. Her fingertips barely brushed against his hand yet the want to grab his hands and never let go - oh, seven hells, what on earth...

And oh for how long she had wanted to hear somebody say words like these. Not any lies and false promises, not any insults, not any ridiculing (although she had still drank them up even if they were as bitter as poison). It was like, despite how alike they could feel on the surface, he was the opposite of Merric, actively choosing to be this and stay. And not just leave and then come back over and over, keeping her in the dark about what he was thinking and planning.

"I care. I care enough to want to make sure everyone keeps living in relative peace. As much of it as possible. To wish for peace around the whole world is naive, but it is possible for some of it to be a fact." She sighed. "At least that's what I hope." He truly was saying those words, wasn't he? "What if he hurts you in the process? What if you die?" She could take it. If she had to piece him together after things ended up with Vaas getting fucked up to the point where he could barely be brought back to his previous self, she would do that. She would fucking try to with whatever she fucking had. But him dying? No, no, no, don't think about that, do not.

Harden your heart. You're weak, and for what? Merric used you to the last drop he could squeeze out of you. His family would beat you to a pulp for killing him if they knew where you were. Hell, half the city would enjoy them lynching you in public for their precious bratty idiot of a son and then leaving you to your fate. Trusting people only equals trouble. Stick to your family. The thoughts buzzed like insects in her head, and the only way to silence them was to stretch her arm and hold his hand. "...Sorry. I..." Her hand let go of his, though it didn't move away, lying there next to him. "I'm worried and it's eating me up alive. I just needed a little something to lean on for a bit." Not a word about how she wanted to grab that hand and never let it go, or him, or... no, stop, better only dream about this at night when you and your stupid thoughts are all alone together, Fíann.

"Huh. You have tried to change their diet?" Fíann raised her eyebrows. Alright, alright, whatever this is that we've got into, you'll need to get out of it. Fast. You're not going to be dealing with feelings again. Last time that happened you barely got out, and you lost your friend. "My goodness... You're starting to sound like our neighbors. They liked my family so much."

She smirked. At least there was a silver lining to it all. If Merric's family truly did choose to try and track her down, they would be in for a huge surprise when they showed up. "Mermaids of this kind are destructible." She could not believe she had said this, yet there it was. "It's those genetically engineered ones that I had a nightmare about once that could come after us. Although... everyone has their weak spot. That includes us."

Her worst suspicions were coming true. "He knows?... How? I... Unless you all saw me swim... if I was human, that would have taken me far less effort than it did... Dammit..." Fíann stared at the opposite wall. "If he does agree to that, would he keep me alive so I hiss at people and entertain them?" In case mermaids hissed at all. "That's exactly what my parents once warned me against. That this was why my grandmother, my great-grandmother and their moms barely ever went swimming. They could be captured... And not even being able to freeze people's blood or bite their face off helps here."

It would seem all odds were against her. The usual, wasn't it? If she could look Fate in the face, Fíann would yell at her. Could you not give me this much trouble? I never asked for it! Of course, this was one of the impossible things. Like the existence of mermaids should have been. "I know. But that would actually make murder interesting. It wasn't a part of my life until recently and I'm convinced some of me still doesn't approve of me having to do it. I..."

Soft? After all the work she did on ships, that would surprise her. But she did wear gloves often. "I'm a marine engineer. Marine engineers usually don't kill people." Fíann grabbed her face in momentary despair. Why had she allowed herself to think about this, and why had she gotten this far with it? "Oh, they are. The last real mermaids, if the rumours are to be believed and you don't count my family. They want to be the last last ones. So they've decided that my family and I and anyone else who might be out there... needs to go." Fíann slowly smirked. "That's such a good idea. My parents would hate it, but... This time I'm not getting them involved."

Oh, Vaas's idea already sounded perfect. Mermaids against mermaids was an unfair match, even though humans needed a lot more than guns or knives to destroy one. And while a part of her was freaking out that she could end up a museum artefact, she was more than willing to hand the bastard and his family over to save her own family. If that could work, of course...

[1a-imagines]

No excuses

》 Bakugo x reader

》 Word count: 5k

》 Overview: You were childhood enemies who always ended up stuck together, you were neighbours, got put in all the same classes, ended up living together in the UA dorms. Overtime you grew to accept each others company, maybe even enjoy it. So what happens when your new work lives separate you for the first time?

Every day was lacklustre.

You weren't sure what; but something was missing. Ever since you went pro and moved into your own apartment you felt as though your life lacked something. There was an empty hole but you just weren't sure what used to be there.

Perhaps you just missed those simple UA days? Being surrounded with your friends day and night and not having to worry about all the things pro heroes had to worry about? There was no doubt it was a much less stressful time.

Or maybe it was the fact you no longer had your family breathing down your neck every second of the day? You were an adult now and that came with a whole new sense of freedom. Maybe what you were missing was being surrounded by your loved ones all the time? You lived alone in your new apartment and it was a big difference in contrast to the UA dorms you lived in for three years.

You thought you'd enjoy the quiet but it turns out you found the silence painful. It was more peircing to your ears than any yelling or screaming you had in the dorms.

No matter how much you wondered what was missing you just couldn't seem to place your finger on it. It's not like you weren't  keeping in touch with your friends and family. They called everyday, you certainly weren't lonely. So why was your heart still yearned for something... maybe even for someone?

With a sigh, you dried the last plate of the bunch and put it away. Finally done with your chores for the day. You dried your hands and went over to check your phone that had been thrown onto the couch. You saw a text notification pop up.

Blastard: (1 new message)

Oi! Idiot! Are you dead yet? I haven't heard from you in weeks!

You couldn't help but chuckle at his unique way of showing worry, though it would be a lie to say you weren't used to it by now. It was such a typical Bakugo move. You shook your head before typing out a reply.

Bad news for you, I live!

You hit send before throwing your phone back down. You felt awfully giddy about him texting you, which was a strange feeling, usually you annoyed the hell out of each other. As weird as it was; it had been awhile since you'd last spoken to him.

Maybe you were just happy he hadn't completely forgotten you exsisted, you figured once you went your seperate ways that you'd probably never talk again; unless it was work related.

You had grown up together, always forced to be around each other no matter how much you despised it. You were neighbours, you didn't go to the same schools, but you'd always hear him yelling through the walls whenever he was home, you'd always pass each other when leaving your houses on the morning, and to your 10 year old self? There was no worse way to start off your day than his stupid face being the first thing you see when leaving your home.

It was like you couldn't get through a day without running into him at least once.

Then you both ended up in the same highschool, UA, which meant you walked the same route everyday as well as being in all the same classes. Then you lived in dorms together for three years, which meant you were around your childhood enemy almost every minute of everyday.

It was like the universe was trying to torture you both.

You hated each other as kids, always getting into scrapes and arguments, but as you got older the hate died down into more of a friendly rivalry. You bickered non stop but you also grew to enjoy all those comebacks and quick retorts, it was like a never ending game of 'who can make the best comeback/insult'. It even made you laugh at times.

Eventually, somewhere during your UA days, you both got to a point where you could actually admit you were friends.

But after being stuck together for so long? You'd think you would be happy to have some peace and quiet around here. You no longer had to deal with explosions going off or yelling every 5 seconds. No yelling from downstairs or next door, no insults or smartmouthed comments.

Though, even you had to admit he had matured a lot since you were kids, he still kept true to his grouchy self, but he was no where near as violent or bad tempered. He'd calmed down a lot as you grew into adults and you were proud of him for coming so far.

You were about to go take a bath to relax after cleaning all day, but when you saw your phone light up again you couldn't stop yourself from diving for it.

Blastard: (1 new message)

The fuck do you mean? That's not bad news for me dumbass.

It was a little weird for him not to give a snarky reply but it's possible hero work was tiring him out as much as it had been tiring you out. You were about to tell him it was just a joke but then another message came through,

Blastard: (1 new message)

Have you been eating alright? I know you can't cook for shit and you're living alone now.

Your eyes softened at the message, a goofy smile spreading across your lips. Not only had he made an effort to message you first, something he rarely did, but he also was showing care for you? Your cheeks heated up and you took a second to press your face into a pillow, a way to collect yourself before you replied.

Aw, you care about me?~

I've been eating fine! Instant ramen exists for a reason! It's for people like me who "can't cook for shit" :P

His next reply was almost instant, it scared you how quick your phone was to sound with another notification.

Blastard: (1 new message)

Don't fucking tell me you've been living off of instant ramen this whole time-

You felt too shy to admit to the truth. It was true you hadn't been eating great since you had been living alone. Your job was so demanding you didn't have time to cook. Choosing fast options over home cooked meals had been your way of living for the past few weeks and admitting to it felt like a punch to your pride.

Blastard: (1 new message)

That's it, I'm coming over to make you an actual meal tonight. See you at 6.

You did a double take at the response.  There was clearly no room to argue.

"He's coming over!?" You jumped up in a panic at your sudden self invited guest. Lucky for him you had a rare night off work, and lucky for you, you had spent the day cleaning up. Maybe it'll look like you have this whole "adulting" thing down.

After glancing at the time and seeing it was only 4pm you threw your phone down. You needed to freshen up before he came over.

For some reason you felt this pressure to look good in front of him? But you had known him since you were little kids! He wouldn't care, he's seen you look much worse, so why did you care about looking good this time around? You shook your head, sick of all this over thinking and went to take a quick bath. Once you were done you dried your hair and threw on a fresh pair of clothes.

You felt excited to see him again and almost-... Nervous? It was a strange sensation, you shouldn't be feeling nervous to see him, you used to see him everyday. Maybe it was because this would be the first time you'd be spending time alone in your new home? Yeah, that must be it!

Glancing up at the time you still had half an hour until he arrived. You decided to take your mind off of all your swirling thoughts by mindlessly scrolling through your phone until your door bell finally rang.

You pushed yourself up with a small groan. You walked to your front door, your heart raced in your chest knowing who was on the otherside of the door. You took a deep breath through your nose before opening the door to see your familiar, scowling, friend. He stood there, a bag in his right hand and foot tapping on the floor as if he had been waiting ages for you to open the door for him.

"Kat! Long time no see!" You beamed up at him only for him to roll his eyes and brush past you. "Shut up and show me where your kitchen is, you need a proper meal."

You couldn't help but smile as you noticed the bag he carried was filled with fresh groceries. He was alway so bad with words but it was actions like this that made you see how much he really cared about you.

"Through there." You nodded your head toward an opening and followed him through after shutting the door. He put all the ingredients down and you leaned back against the counter watching him prepare the food. "What? No 'Hi Y/n, how have you been?' You cut right to the chase as always." You chuckled softly to yourself earning a glare from the blond as you attempted to imitate his voice.

"First of all! I don't sound like that! Second of all, I'm only here because you can't take care of yourself." He scoffed before adding. "Still annoying as always."

'Why was I missing him again?' You huffed, blowing some hair from your face in the process. "So! Chef! What are we having?"

"Curry." Was his quick reply as he began to lay out and cut up the ingredients. You hummed in delight at the thought of homemade curry. It had been a while since you had a good home cooked meal. Your family sometimes brought you leftover foods knowing how busy you were with work, but they couldn't come feed you everyday. You were an adult now and you needed to learn to cope on your own! Even with a busy career life.

"You remember what I like?" You asked, your eyes glimmering with an emotion he couldn't quite tell, in order to avoid looking at your face he kept himself busy with making dinner.

"I've known you for over 10 years, just because I haven't seen you for a few months doesn't mean I'm going to forget everything about you, idiot." He tutted, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. You leaned back against the counter beside him, your lips twisted into a soft frown.

"A few months huh? It feels like longer..."

You did not intend for him to hear that but he did, and honestly? He agreed.

Without you around to annoy him every hour of the day, things just seemed to go by painstakingly slow. Without you his days were boring, and as much as he hated to admit it, your stubbornness, your quick remarks and sarcastic comebacks, as much as they annoyed him, they added a certain spice to his life.

They kept him on his toes, he liked the challenges you gave him, whether it was getting the last word, winning against you in training or just coming up with the best insulting nickname. He couldn't believe he actually missed it all, but he did, and honestly? This whole dinner thing had just been an excuse to see you again.

He missed you.

"Tch, feels like not long enough." He grumbled as he moved over to the stove to turn it on. You sent him a cocky grin, shifting your weight onto your other foot. "Oh yeah? Then why were you so quick to come over here?" You hummed, tilting your head. He knew you were teasing him, he could tell by the way the words melted from your lips like butter, you were practically purring as you grinned at him. It reminded him of a cat.

He decided not to dignify you with a repsonce and you took that as a sign of victory. You giggled before turning to grab a drink from the fridge. You cracked open a can of soda and upon hearing the unmistakable fizzing noise Bakugo's head shot around to you, his eyebrows creased together in distaste. "You shouldn't be drinking that shit!" He barked at you.

"Oh come on! I've cut right back on the junk food. Look!" You threw the fridge door open to display the variety of fruits and vegetables in front of him. "I've been really healthy! I've even been doing a lot more weight training! Soon I'll be as strong as you! Maybe even more so!" You smirked, he wanted nothing more than to wipe the smug look from your face. You shut the fridge door with your foot before taking another swig of your soda.

Bakugo scoffed, "You wish! You'll have to work a lot harder before you can even dream of matching up to my strength!" He sent you a toothy grin as he watched your shoulders deflate, eyes narrowing up at him.

Bakugo continued to put the chopped up ingredients into the pan, "Why have you been eating instant ramen this whole time if you have all that shit anyway?"

You turned your head away, cheeks flushing red with embarrassment. It took a lot to swallow down your pride enough to mutter the next words. "You know I can't cook very well." It was painful to admit you were an adult with the cooking capabilities of a child. Between school and work placements you just never found the time to practise new recipes. Not to mention the fact your family usually cooked a lot of meals for you.

You had contemplated practising some recipes in the past but something always manages to come up! You knew working as a pro was going to be hard, that you'd be busy every day, but you didn't know it would consume your life to this extent.

Without another word you walked towards the living room. "Let me know when dinner is ready!" You sent him a cheeky grin as you left. Bakugo turned back to the food, grumbling something about how he wasn't a damn slave, despite being the one who offered his services in the first place.

Looking around, he finally had time to take in the room, he hadn't seen it since you first moved in and bugged him and kirishima to help move boxes. The room was well decorated, not a thing out of place. Despite the apartment being pretty small you had done well to make it homely.

As he made the curry, he added in some spices and when he picked up the shaker labelled "Extremely hot", He smirked. He recalled the good ol' days in the UA dorms. He sometimes went out of his way to spike your food with hot spices. Your face was always priceless! The thought crossed his mind to do it again. After all, it wouldn't affect him, he loved spices and, unlike you, they didn't turn his face red.

He sighed before shaking his head. You were both grown up now, and you needed to eat a proper meal. He hated to even think about it but he did care for you. More than he would like to admit. He always thought once he went pro and finally got away from you, this "curse" you two shared of always being stuck together wherever you went would disappear, and he would be happy.

But he wasn't, somewhere down the damn line he has gotten used to your annoying presence, he had grown to like your quick remarks, how you never backed down from him, you weren't afraid to speak you mind or put him in his place, and as much as all those qualities used to bug the shit out of him as a kid, he had grown to respect them, even-... love them?

He clenched his teeth when he felt his cheeks heating up. God, he hated this. He wasn't cut out for this lifestyle! Why was he even here!? He could be out training! Not pining over his childhood enemy! The curry sauce started to bubble over in the pan and he cursed to himself, once again he was so distracted with thoughts of you that he couldn't concentrate on the task at hand!

He finished making the food, doing everything he could not to let his mind wander back to thoughts of you. He grabbed a few plates before putting the rice and curry onto them. He yelled through to you that the food was done, "I'm only in the next room! You don't have to yell so loud!" He huffed in amusement, your words were ironic considering your volume matched his. He smiled at your never ending bite, you always had something to say.

Such a smartass. He shouldn't enjoy it as much as he did.

You came through, throwing the empty soda can into the trash as you passed and sat down in the seat beside him. You hummed in delight, "Smells so good!!"

"Of course it does! I made it!" He grinned, taking a bite. While the lack of extreme spice was underwhelming for him, he knew you would like it. Your face twisted into distaste at his smugness, "I forgot to never stroke your fat ego."

He growled, ready to yell at you for the remark but when he saw you take the first bite of food his anger was forgotten.

Your eyes lit up like fireworks on a cold winter night. "I also forgot how crazy good of a cook you are!" You beamed, happily digging into the curry. His features softened, something about seeing you enjoy his food so much felt really good. He almost forgot to eat himself as he watched you stuff your face. You had gotten some rice stuck to your cheek as you shoveled the dish into your mouth. It was so stupidly cute, a soft smile graced his lips.

You caught him staring, it was rare to see him smile, no cocky grin or smirk, it was a real smile. Soft, relaxed, happy. You thought your heart was going to jump out of mouth. You did not expect that sight when you looked up from your food.

You gulped, not because there was food in your mouth, but because the atmosphere had suddenly changed. There was an invisible weight ontop of you both, crushing you.

"What…?" You asked quietly, hiding your face behind your hair. He snapped out of it, realising he'd been caught he froze, his heart skipped a beat. However, there was no time for him to get embarrassed because next thing he knew he was throwing a towel at you "You got rice all over your face, idiot! Wipe it off! You look stupid!"

You grumbled as the fabric hit your face, yet complied and wiped your lips clean. You went back to eating, this time more carefully so you didn't make a mess. You noted the mild spices but didn't comment on them. It was unusual for Bakugo to not fire up his dishes with spice. The decision to make the curry mild definately wasnt for his own benifit. He'd done it for you.

It made you smile, and as much as you wanted to thank him for it you figured he wouldn't want you bringing up his strangely nice gesture since he had been so silent about it.

During the dinner you talked about your new work lives, how you'd been coping living alone, anything that came to mind. Of course, that came with a variety of witty comments and snarky comebacks, but it was just how you liked it. It was how it had always been, how you always wanted it to be.

Once the plates were clean you stood up, reaching over to grab his plate so you could clean up but his hand shot out and grabbed your wrist. You paused, looking up to meet his eyes. "I'll help clean." He said, picking up his plate and taking it to the sink. You smiled, following him with your own plate.

"Wow, cooking and cleaning? Has anyone ever told you that you'd be a perfect house wife?" You smirked at him as he filled up the sink with soap and water.

"At least I can cook." He shot back without missing a beat. You laughed st the remark, nudging his side as you pushed your wasy in front of the sink. You continued to chat as you cleaned up, you washed as he dried.

As you finished up scrubbing the last dish Bakugo made a comment about you eating like a pig at dinner which, in return, made you splashed his face using soapy dish water.

He growled when he felt the droplets soaking his face and hair, but hearing your laughter made it hard to stay his usual, grumpy self. Instead he settled for dipping his fingers into the water and flicking you back.

Your face scrunched up, eyes closing to avoid any soap suds getting in your eyes.

You took his reciprocation as a declaration of war and it soon turned into a mini, kitchen water fight. Laughter filled the once quiet apartment as you fought each other.

For a moment it didn't feel like you lived alone, for the first time in months you felt like that empty space in your life had been filled again.

You had to stop the water fight before you soaked the kitchen as well as each other. As fun as it was you didn't want to have to clean up for the third time today.

Once all the dishes were put away and you dried yoursleved using a spare towel; Bakugo narrowed his eyes at the front door.

He wasn't sure if he should go, a part of him didn't want to. He only came over to make you dinner, now that was over he had no reason to stay. Should he make up some bullshit excuse to stay? He didn't want you teasing him again.

Despite taking a few minutes to think up an excuse to stay, he came up with nothing. Grumbling to himself he kicked his foot against the ground and turned around to you, ready to say goodbye.

His eyes widened upon landing on you, you held up two gaming controllers, a grin on your lips as you pushed one towards him. "Wanna try finally beating me at mario kart?"

"What are you talking about! I win all the time!" He rolled his eyes and snatched a controller from your hands, taking on your challenge. He felt the weight lift from his shoulders, you were giving him a reason to stay longer and he wasn't about to turn that down.

"You beat me at super smash bros! But never mario kart!" You backfired, plopping down onto the couch as the console fired up.

"Then let's play super smash bros!"

"We do not play that in this household!" You stomped your foot at the thought of the game you could never beat him at. Bakugo scoffed and sat next to you. "You're such a fucking sore loser!"

You forced a laugh before sending him a glare, leaning closer to him. You reaction must have amused him as he smirked at you. "I do not want to hear that from you!"

"Shut up and let's play!" The first round started up, the familiar countdown sound ringing in your ears. You'd like to say things started pretty civil, but It didn't take long for you to start shoving each other as you battled for first place. There was a lot of yelling, combined with a lot of laughter and cheering. It was the most lively your apartment had ever felt, in just one night Bakugo was able to change all of that.

A few rounds turned into hours. You didn't even notice how high up the moon was in the sky. You were too busy enjoying each other's company, having more fun than either of you had experienced in months.

You shot out of your seat pumping your fist into the air as you passed the finish line in first place once again.

"HAH! You still can't beat me!” You boasted.

The blond threw the controller down, his teeth clenched tight as he grumbled. “Next time I’m bringing super smash bros!” You sat back down, giggling as you poked his side. “Who's the sore loser now huh? Big baby.” You teased, poking a finger into his side, much like poking a bear with a stick, it was a recipe for disaster.

He growled and jumped to you grabbing your hands to keep them away from prodding him. You started laughing again, squirming and battling with him, determined to keep attacking but your giggle fit made it hard to fight back.

As you were laughing you missed yet another rare smile on his face. He didn't know what was going on with him, maybe he was just in a good mood today? He had taken down a group of robbers earlier when he was on patrol, and taking down villains always felt good.

All he knew was that he never wanted the moment to end, it was nice to hear your stupid laughter again, to see you smiling as you tried to match his strength and fight back. He hadn't even realised that some point during your play fight he had knocked you down onto your back and was hovering over you.

He had always been the stronger of the pair so you lost fairly quickly. His hands pinned yours beside your head. "That was a good fight you put up, but it's still not good enough to match up to me." He smirked down at you

You stuck out her tongue at him, panting as you tried to kick your legs at him. Turns out he had thought ahead and pinned those down too. You huffed through your nose, tasting defeat was bitter.

You stared at each other, as the laughter died down so did the playfulness. The atmosphere became serious. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was some sort of unspoken feeling between you both. He gulped, noting the way your hair was sprawled out on the couch beneath you, creating a halo of hair around your head. Your eyes shone as they stared into his, he had never noticed what a nice colour they were, and your lips- they looked so soft..

There was a pull, an invisible red string tugging you closer to each other and connecting your hearts.

But, you both ignored it. He got off of you and sat back. He ran a hand through his hair, you both avoided eye contact.

Looking out the window Bakugo finally noticed that the moon had long ascended into the night sky. Had he been here that long? God, it must be passed midnight but he felt like he had only been here for an hour. He shook his head and stood up, You watched him with parted lips, your heart racing at the tension.

What was that feeling between you two? It was so strong. Did he feel it too? It was sending your head into a spin.

"I should go." He muttered, he didn't want to go, he really didn't but the words were leaving his mouth before he had time to process them.

He had felt it too, and he didn't know how to react. He hadn't felt anything like it before, it made his heart race, he felt weak and he didn't like it. He knew he felt- something for you? But was it enough to call it love?

You looked up at him, giving him a nod, not like he could see since his back was already turned. You stood up, arms wrapping around yourself as you walked him to the door.

There were so many unspoken words between you. So many feelings left unexpressed. You bit your lip, voice caught in your throat as you watched him silently slip on his shoes. He opened the front door, pausing for a second, hesitating... "See ya."

"Bye." You replied as he closed the door behind him.

The appartment suddenly ran cold, silent, a chill running across your skin. The silence cut through your ears like a sharp blade.

You pulled your arms tighter around yourself. How could you deny it? Having him around again had been amazing, even if just for one afternoon. You despised him as a child, but over time, throughout highschool, through building a silent trust, a friendship had formed, and then-… and then somewhere down the line it turned into more.

No matter how much you tried to convince yourself otherwise, you loved being around him, you had a strong bond, you had watched him grow and become a better person, you had seen each other at your best and at your worst. You had fought each other but also fought with each other. You cared for each other, you annoyed the hell out of each other, you had been through so much together.

He had always been there, even if you didn't want him to be. You had hated him and you had loved him...

You… loved him…

Your eyes widened, "I.. love him." You muttered, saying it out loud made it all the more real. A feeling of wanting to slap yourself silly for being so blind overcame you.

You loved him! Of course you loved him!!You had always been so focused on school and work that you hadn't even noticed you were growing feelings for your childhood rival?

You couldn't let him go again! How many more months until you got to see each other again? You had always somehow ended up stuck together, it felt like he would always be there but now you had witnessed what life was like without him around… you hated it! For the first time in your life, you wanted him around.

You couldn't sit around in your lonely apartment each day now you knew you were in love with that jerk!

"God damnit! Why did it have to be him." You ran to the door and flung it open, not even thinking of shoes as you ran out into the cold night air. "Maybe he didn't get far-"

You rounded the corner before colliding with what you could only assume was a brick wall. You winced, pulling back and rubbing your nose. You looked up, coming face to face with none other than the man himself.

You stared at each other in shock, he came back for you too? This whole scene, these feelings, neither of you could have ever imagined this is where you would've end up.

"I need to tell you something!" You spoke in unison, making you both cringe.

"You first." He crossed his arms stubbornly, wanting to know you were on the same wave as he was and hadn't just ran after him because he left something.

You sighed, rubbing your arm, glancing away for a second to collect yourself. You hadn't thought this far ahead so you had no idea what to say. You sighed, looking up to meet his eyes, the best way would be to face your feelings head on. No going back! Even if he rejects you, at least he would respect you being blunt with it, he hated when people beat around the bush.

"I love you." You said, your head lifted high. His eyes widened at your bold declaration, his tense demeanour dropping. "I wanted to tell you before you disappear for months again. So there you have it, I'm in love with you. Believe me or not I don't care. I just- mmph!" Hands yanked you forward by your hips, smooth lips molded against your own when he head dipped down.

It took a few seconds to reciprocate, but when you did he pulled you closer. Your hands went to his shoulders to steady yourself, your legs felt weak, but that didn't stop you from kissing back.

You smiled into the kiss, you couldn't help it. Not only did the kiss feel great but the way he had pulled you in for it without wasting time with words was just such a Bakugo thing to do.

"I love you too, dumbass." He muttered when he pulled away, You let out a breathy laugh and shook your head. "You have such a way with words~"

"Shut up." You giggled at him before you went back in for another kiss, longer, holding more passion as your years of pent up feelings finally reached the surface. Your heads tilted and turned, hands roaming each other's bodies, his arms wrapped around you, his body heat protecting your bare skin from the chill of the night.

He backed you up agaisnt the wall. His tongue ran across your bottom lip, you weren't sure how long you had been standing there but it felt like you were the only two people in the world.

It was so late not another soul was to be see. It was just you, him and the city lights.

His hand ran down towards your thigh, only for you both to jump back when the distance sound of a car honking ripped through your serentity.

Panting as you stared at each other, almost not believing you had just msde out with each other. You pressed your fingers to your tingling lips. A smile on your face, "So- uh, wanna come inside for a bit?” the mischief in your eyes did not match the innocent smile on your face. He knew exactly what you were planning, "Fuck yes."

And there was no way he was going to turn it down.

[sweetcherrypie1967]

In the Name of Love

To everyone around them, what was about to happen had been a complete surprise and not to mention unexpected. But, everyone else didn't know about the secret the two shared. The months of sneaking around Hogwarts just to avoid being seen together, the stolen kisses, the insults they didn't mean, and the fear of what they felt. For if it became public, they'd surely be killed..or worse.

You see, to everyone else, that two despised one another just as they seemingly had for years before now. Even their closest friends didn't have a clue about what they were hiding.

But soon, everyone would know.

The students and staff of Hogwarts gathered around in the courtyard while the Death Eaters were on the other side. Something odd caught most of their eyes though, it was Hagrid. Hagrid, in the midst of the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself, not only that but he was carrying someone.

"Who is it that Hagrid is carrying?" Hermione Granger's panicked voice was heard.

"Who is Hagrid carrying?!" Hermione said louder and in more panic than before.

She got no answer, until..

"Harry Potter is dead," the voice of Voldemort rang out. His voice alone was enough to cause someone's skin to crawl, but for him to say that their Chosen One, their friend, was dead?

No!" Ginny Weasley exclaimed as she tried to rush to the body of the boy she loved.

But her father, Arthur Weasley, held her back as she sobbed uncontrollably as he knew that now wasn't the time to grieve.

They were all still in danger.

Hermione knew this, that's why the only reaction she had was hot, burning tears were running down her face. Harry Potter is practically her brother but he wouldn't want her to put herself or others in danger due to her emotions.

"Harry Potter is dead!" he repeated to the students and staff with grief filled expressions. There were earsplitting screams from those who were close to The Chosen One. Even Draco Malfoy was greatly affected by the loss. Not that he had liked the boy much, but he knew what it meant for him and the rest of the Wizarding World.

"Harry Potter is dead!" He repeated once more but to those on his side of the courtyard, and they laughed.

Draco Malfoy had at this point, not paid much attention to anything else. Lost in the realization that the Light had lost and all was doomed, even he who was on the side who won had still lost. For he had a secret that, once revealed, would make him no different to the ones who had been on the other side the entire time.

He was in love with a muggleborn.

It wasn't until he had heard his father beckoning him across the courtyard that he was snapped back into reality.

"Draco!" His father said gesturing for him to come by his side.

The blond boy hesitated, he could stay. He could be among all the other he would eventually die with, he could stay here and get it over with sooner and not have to live without his love. Then again, what about his family? What would happen to them? Weren't they the ones he had done all of this for, weren't they the ones who got him into all of this in the first place?

"Draco!" His father persisted.

Draco was torn, his family or his beliefs. He I surely took a step forward when a small hand caught his and his grey eyes locked with brown ones.

"Don't do it Draco," Hermione Granger begged him, "stay with us, stay with me."

He paused holding his love's fragile hands tight in his own. Seeing the fear in her eyes, he had made his final decision. He stood tall and more confident in himself then he had been in a long time.

Draco would stay. He would stay for her.

He gave her hand a squeeze and small smile to reassure her of his decision, she smiled tearfully and engulfed him in a hug to which he returned. "Anything for you," he whispered in her ear.

"Thank you," she whispered back before breaking the hug but still held his hand firmly.

"The Malfoy boy has become a filthy blood traitor!" Some Death Eater Draco didn't know called out angrily.

"What is this?" Voldemort called after seeing the exchange, "surely you have raised him better than this, Lucius?"

"Yes, my Lord, we did," Lucius said without emotion.

"It appears you hadn't done a well enough job at it. So few remaining pure families and with even less heirs to carry on their legacy," Voldemort mused, "the mudbloods have ruined so many good family names, Potter's pet has snuck in and now soiled the Malfoy's name."

"Hermione didn't 'soil' the Malfoy name, I did," Draco spoke up, "it was me who fell in love with her and it is me who will gladly choose her over your worthless cause."

"Love," he said in disgust, "what a foolish choice, I thought you were smarter than that. You should be ashamed."

"Just because you've never had it doesn't mean it's foolish," Draco argued, "and I'm not ashamed, I'm doing all this in the name of love. I'm done hiding from it."

"What a disappointment, I had such hopes for this one," Voldemort said sounding hardly disappointed or even surprised, "I'll give you one more chance, young Malfoy. Join me and you family and live a life like you deserve or you can die here and now right after Potter's whore."

"Don't call her that," Draco growled now seething with anger, "my mind is made up, I'd rather be under the cruciatus than live whatever life you would have planned."

"The cruciatus? I do think that can be arranged," Voldemort said casually right before pointing his wand at the boy.

"Cruc-"

Draco closed his eyes in anticipation for the pain he was about to experience, it wouldn't be his first experience with the curse, but it never came. He looked up just in time to see Neville Longbottom cut the head off of Voldemort's snake, Nagini. Voldemort roared at the sight knowing what it meant even when Draco didn't quite understand.

Moments later the fighting resumed, though now Draco Malfoy was known to be fighting on the other side. They had ran back into Hogwarts, if only for their last time. He and Hermione were fighting the death eaters side by side when they heard Hagrid.

"Harry! Where's Harry?" He cried.

While Hermione instantly looked to where his body had been mere seconds before only to find it gone, Draco cast a spell to prevent her from being injured due to her badly timed distraction.

Everything was happening so fast that, before they knew it, everything suddenly stopped when one voice was heard throughout the Great Hall.

"Protego!" Harry Potter shouted.

Everyone watched as Harry and Voldemort dueled for the final time.

And just like that, Voldemort was dead.

Draco had been helping to heal the wounded, he couldn't help but be angry at himself for previously causing a few of them before changing his side but at least he was making it right. He had actually found that he sort of liked helping people like this. Perhaps it was from the exhilaration of it all finally being over, he could finally have the life he wanted. It was after finishing with a sixth year Ravenclaw he didn't recognize that his Mother approached him.

She had gathered him into a hug, which was quite unusual for her especially in a public place, and he recuperated it. "My baby boy," Narcissa kept repeating. When the embrace ended she looked at him with glassy eyes, "I'm so proud to call you my son. You stood for what you believed in and even found love," she told him.

"Mother-" Draco began, truly moved by her words, when she interrupted.

"Speaking of which, I want you to have this," Narcissa told him taking out a small black box, "I'm sure you know what this is and if you care for her as much as you've displayed today, then I'm sure you won't waste any time in using it."

Now Draco was walking with Hermione down the halls of Hogwarts nervously fiddling with the box in his pocket.

"What is it you wanted to talk about? There's no one around anymore I'm sure," Hermione said.

"So impatient," he joked.

"Well while I do love it being just the two of us, there is a lot going on right now," she said in a similar tone.

"I know, I know you'd rather be with your friends than me," he said not unkindly.

She lightly pushed him, "you know that's not true."

"You're right," Draco said trying to stall.

"Plus the anticipation is killing me," Hermione told him.

"In that case maybe I'll wait until later to tell you," Draco teased.

"No! Please just tell me now," she begged and he chuckled.

He got down on one knee.

"I love you more than life itself as I've shown you today and I want to spend the rest of my existence with you. Hermione Jean Granger, will you marry me?" Draco said pulling out the black box to reveal a beautiful golden ring with both red and green gems in it.

The next words will change both of their lives forever.

"Of course I will!"