#also had a bunch of games set up by one of my professors and played them throughout the week

[sa-banana-ana]

Procrastinating on homework, so here's a life update.

Been playing with my style and came up with a really cute outfit. Saw the eclipse, used it as a way to get out of class early cause I didn't have the brain capacity to sit through kecture. Got a new car and have been playing SiruisXM since they give a free trial. Tried a few different boba shops and many different flavors. I'm studying to be an MLS, and this past week was National Lab Appreciation week, so my professors prepared activities for us, such as coloring using our micropipettes and making agar art. I made a cowboy bear that didn't show well on CAP. I should have used a BAP and could have used Serratia to make a nice hat trim if I had used a BAP. Some of my friends had really nice designs so I included those too.

[whistlefrost]

Okay okay. More MAJOR TGAA2 / DGS2 case 4 spoilers incoming! Also, random MAJOR Dual Destinies and Rise From the Ashes spoilers as well.

I'm gonna just list some theories I have halfway through case 4 of DGS2 because they have been playing on my mind for a while.

Please don't confirm or deny anything! I'm just putting my thoughts out here :)

Starting to get the feeling that Susato's dad is. Definitely more deeply involved in the professor thing then he is currently thought to be in the case. I mean, of all 3 people studying abroad, Mikotaba is the only one of them who literally IS a professor.

Mikotaba has been subtly orchestrating people's movements throughout the duology, like Ryunosuke going to london, Susato coming back to Japan, and subsequently returning to London. And the most suspicious thing...

Mikotaba directly caused Dr. Wilson's death. He himself said, he was the one to ask Wilson to come to london. He even was in somewhat of an authority position over Jezaille Brett, who then murdered Wilson.

Regardless I think Mikotaba does have somewhat good intentions. Tbh I think whoever the professor is has to either have good intentions, or be evil, but just controlling a bunch of people with good intentions. I don't buy that gregson is actually evil. I think he is probably just trying his best to pursue justice in a corrupt system.

I'm also not buying that Genshin Asogi was the real professor. Based on Kazuma's actions and Van Ziek's accounts of who the guy was, I genuinely believe he must've been framed. Kazuma probably knows this and is trying to uncover the truth behind it which is his whole 'mission' here.

I think whoever the professor is, is also a major player in the reaper stuff. I mean, they have literally the same goal of eliminating all of the corrupt rich / noble people. Also unrelated but Klint is definitely suspicious for this reason. Even his design screams 'secretly evil'. But they might just be wanting me to think that.

The circumstances around Iris's birth are really strange. She must've been born right when the professor shit was going down since she's 10 years old. I'm guessing her mom may have been one of the professor's victims since she's not around and I seem to remember Iris mentioning she was dead??? Not sure though I've been playing this game over the past few months and details are slipping. Maybe both her parents were and thats why Dr. Wilson moved to Japan. But little did he know his friend who he thought had his best interests at heart was setting him up??? Idk.

I think Herlock knows a lot, but perhaps not everything. I truly don't think he is super involved in the plot, but he's maybe been trying to solve it himself? Idk. I just trust him too much. they wouldn't make another really goofy ace attorney detective with the main colour of highly saturated brown evil??? right??? right???

Mael Stronghart is soooo suspicious, but I can't decide on whether thats a red herring or not. He looks A LOT like damon gant, to the point I almost think it's intentional? And I can't decide whether that makes his more or less likely to be a villain.

The characters I genuinely trust are Herlock, Iris, Gina, Susato, Barok Van Zieks, and probably Kazuma (I think the game wants me to be suspicious of him though). Anyone else I think could very easily be in on the plot tbh.

I'm just like Gina fr. Can't trust most of the adults but the kids are chill.

Anyways sorry for my insane ramblings. Can't wait to play 2 more minutes of this case and find out all of these are wrong and the professor is actually time travelling Aristotle Means

[creepyfruit]

hiii so glad u had fun playing iwatex! im sending this from my main but my iwatex blog is dillypillars <3 what endings have you gotten so far and how do you feel about them?

Hi, I actually love your blog omg

I haven't had many runs in the game yet, rn I'm in the first year of my fourth, but here's the three runs I've done so far.

1st run:

Bestie: Cal

Romance: Tang

Ending: tangent's cure

Alignment: 80 Loyalty

Augment: Eagle Eyes

Like I already mentioned in a previous post tangent's cure traumatized me to the point were I haven't gotten over 30 hearts with my girl tang in any other play through. The whole ecocide that I help cause paired with the fact that Cal (who gets shot and killed in that ending) was my bestie and also all the regular first play through deaths (Tammy, Uncle Tonin, Kom, the old governor I forgot her name, both of Sol's parents, professor Hal) made me feel so horrible. Your home girl managed to eradicate a whole planet and half the cast in one play through 😍🤞.

The one thing I absolutely loved about this ending was the angst. Romancing Tangent and seeing that vision/dream in one of the later years with the planet bare of life and her crying and apologizing was so confusing but hurtful. And then I actually got the ending and omg my hearttt. Poor Tang crying while that lunatic Lum pulled her up on stage and praised and congratulated her broke me. But the icing on the cake is what came after, Sol following Tang after she run of stage. Honestly I might go back to that save to try the other dialogue options but the whole scene of Sol finding out she helped cause this and then the truth about how Lum was forcing them do it and finally Sol forgiving Tang and telling her she still loves her. Ouch

2nd run

Bestie: Nem

Romance: Marz

Ending: Standard Ending as a Novelist

Alignment: 100 rebellion

Augment: Calm Temperament

My second play through was much more uneventful and light-hearted. I still managed to somehow forget to save uncle Tonin and I couldn't save my parents but the fact that Tammy was alive and that I focused on all the yellow stats set me up for a peaceful run. I worked in places I hadn't touched before and therefore I got a lot of fun and cute little work events. My absolute favourite thing about this run (beside the Marz romance ofc) was the whole secret club thing. It was soooo cute and such a sweet reminder that, hey these are still a bunch of little kids. Also the art piece of them solving that mystery is so close to my heart simply because of how adorable Tang looks in it.

I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't stay with Marz in the end but it makes for a realistic story that's for sure (also Marz getting with Tang for a short while after the break up made me giggle, my ship has sailed) I also didn't mange to work at the bar enough so the twins didn't get their moment.

3rd run:

Bestie: Dys

Romance: Nem

Ending: Disabling the Array

Alignment: 80 rebellion

Augment: Super Strength

My latest play through was interesting to say the least. I managed to save my mom finally although I didn't have high enough empathy at the time my dad died (stupid shimmer I have no idea how to cure it yet) and our relationship went to shit. I really wanted to focus on explorations and meeting Sym and I achieved that. I actually thought that disabling the array was a great compromise and I would consider it the best ending if it didn't force me to become besties with Vace in the epilogue, minus points for nemmie breaking up with me as well. I don't like Sym but I still felt kinda bad for taking away his immortality but at the end of the day between submission to the stupid gardeners and constant glow attacks I'll take this ending without a doubt.

Yet another ending were I couldn't keep Dys at the colony because he, yet again, disappeared and was never seen again. I was pretty certain that he wouldn't like this path given how much he sympathises with the gardeners for reasons I still can't understand but it still sucked to see him go since him and Sol spent so much time as expedition buddies. I honestly wish the creators didn't push this ending as the "asshole military dude who wants to kill all the poor animals". Like no I just want to leave peacefully while admiring and coexisting with the planet's native flora and fauna without having the ai soldiers over my head trying to kill me very year.

[roostersup]

Isekai Legacy

Hogwarts Legacy Fanfic

Some AI art for my new story character (because while I feel I am a talented writer I am not an artist). She’s ended up in the Hogwarys Legacy game from a modern day time- which is why the baseball cap.

This story follow Jane Moore, a girl whose background we wont really get into- for the sake of my sanity. All we know is that she is American, a girl, loves playing Hogwarts Legacy, and now she gets placed into the game.

The first chapter I kind of speed through everything. I just want to set the stage for the rest of the story. Thing become a lot more detailed and enjoyable as the chapters go on.

Wattpad — Fanfic

Chapter 1

…….

…..The sorting ceremony! She had only taken every buzzfeed and pottermore quiz that had ever existed! Now she was going to live the real thing! Well as real as this was. Whatever, she was going to milk this for all that it was worth!

She followed after Black, feeling a little self conscious about all the eyes following her. She steeled herself from looking through the crowd to try to find Ominis- she was going to make their first encounter a memorable one. Instead she focused on the task ahead- what house was she going to be sorted into.

Now the whole deal with the storing is that you choose your destiny. Even in the game, if you get sorted into a house you can just choose whichever one you wanted anyway. Jane had played through them all and was now debating which one she should go with in this magical circumstance.

She thought that she might actually be a Ravenclaw, but she could go with the OG Gryfinndor for nostalgia- being in Harry Potter's house would be awesome. But the Hufflepuff common room was probably the best out of the four (in her opinion), but Slytherin would get her more time with her favorite character....

As she reached the stool where she would meet her fate, she decided to just let the hat do its things. It was kind of like she was getting the ultimate buzzfeed quiz. She froze before she made her way to the seat- staring in awe as the professor Weasley brought the scrubby hat towards her. It really looked like it was hundreds of years old- also it had been on literally a bunch of 11 year olds heads.... No no it was fine, this was all a dream- none of that stuff mattered.

She took her seat and tensed excitedly as the hat covered over her eyes.

"Ah yes- a bit older than the others, aren't you?"

Ah yes, the pre-set dialogue. At this point she might be able to copy exactly what the hat was going to say. Maybe this was going to be just like the game and all she was going to do was answer two questions before it placed her. She was feeling momentarily bummed until she heard what it had to say next.

"It seems your age isn't the only thing that is setting you apart though- now is it."

She froze- this was not part of the game. On top of that it didn't sound like the hat was asking, rather it was telling her that it knew.

"Do you know who I am?" she sent thought out, hoping that if it was somehow in her head it could also hear her thoughts.

"Oh I know and see much more than you could ever dream of. I see you've been given the chance to accomplish something great, and that all you need is already inside of you. I see that you question yourself and even who you can become. Well then if you cannot trust yourself, then allow me the chance to trust in this old hat."

She didn't say or think anything, instead she just nodded.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat called out its words to the entire hall.

As the mass of fabric was lifted off her, she brought her hands to her face to shield her eyes from what felt like blinding light. The room had erupted into cheers, the red table yelling out the loudest. Jane dropped down from her seat, and was literally pushed by Professor Weasley towards her seat at her new house table.

People around her patted her on the back and congratulated her, but it was all white noise. She stared dumbfounded at the space in front of her, and even the food she had dreamed about eating ever since watching the first Harry Potter film couldn't rouse her. She knew this was all some sort of dream, but man that hat triggered something inside of her that felt so... real...

[whoredmode]

For the ask meme: 6 (specifically for the second part!), 9, 46!

Saints Row Character Building Questions

6. What voice option(s) did your character use? Were there any VA lines that affected how you meta’d your character?

so for the games i did voice 1 in sr1, male voice 3 in sr2, male voice 1 in srtt, and nolan north in sriv. just because i like nolan north and sriv is not real to me.

honestly i can’t say that there were any huge things that specific lines shaped as i had a lot of anteros’ character decided and just kinda molded him alongside the lines. some stuff i just blatantly ignore because it makes no sense for him (for example, in srtt that voice has lines that make him sound really clueless about sex and kink which like. no. anteros of all people is extremely familiar with sex work for obvious reasons. but i digress). there’s also some lines that i have at least like. written around or explained in a different way? that voice also says he’s read jane austen a bunch, and i believe anteros has but not out of a love of it, but because his dad was a literature professor and made him read a bunch of stuff way above his reading level when he was like seven.

9. Did your character set out to climb the top of the Saints’ ladder?

not necessarily? i think things just kinda happened. honestly i don’t think anteros is the best leader, but he’s what they got and they’re managing pretty well all things considered. once they get over their communication issues in srtt. i don’t think he ever thought he’d become leader of the saints in the first place; at the time he was just enjoying having actual friends. before. he died. then i think he mainly just wanted revenge on julius but then one thing leads to another and one day he’s waking up head of a (comparatively small) criminal enterprise

46. Which gangs did your character hate the most? Which gangs did they fear the most?

i’d argue the brotherhood was one he felt flat-out rage towards because of what happened to carlos. i’d also say the morningstar put a bad taste in his mouth because of their trafficking operations; kinda similarly he doesn’t like zimos because he just reminds him of people he’s had to associate with back before he was in the saints but that’s a whole different post. for clarification zimos doesn’t join the saints or anything in my canon, he mostly just plays the role of informant. but anyway.

i feel like the gang he had the most visceral feelings and reactions towards was honestly the masako? because it was dex who sent them in the first place. the masako were the things standing between him and resolution, and even after he got rid of them he still couldn’t get ahold of dex. at least at the time. but they get their finale eventually, just much longer than anteros would’ve liked.

[lunzoic]

After finally beating the game...

Big spoilers for Scalet/Violet ending!...

I think I'm echoing a lot of other people's sentiments when I say 'Huh, so that's where half the budget went'. I don't even mean that in a salty way, I'm just kind of baffled that there's such a strong contrast between the effort that went into this final area and the rest of the game. I seriously underestimated how much there was going to be too since the Pokemon tradition is that post Elite-Four content is kinda lacking, and the only hint that Area Zero was not 'postgame' was that credits had not rolled yet. I was really expecting Area Zero to just be an afterthought, similar to the usual optional postgame dungeons. Or like Ultraspace, in which: you go there, leave after having one big fight, and optionally come back later to find more ultrabeasts. And instead we got a fairly expansive dungeon that both contains the really cool paradox pokemon as well as like, the game's entire narrative weight, interesting character interactions, a big fight I was definitely not expecting, and all the actual intriguing plot elements in one ultra-concentrated dose. I actually prefer a fantastic ending to mediocre game rather than the other way around, it's just very surprising to see it happen when the opposite is so common. And yeah some of that perception is filtered by the bar of expectations being set so low by the rest of the game, and of course it was by no means a perfect ending. The jank still allows you to accidentally skip if you jump off certain cliffs, the scripted encounters with paradox Pokemon are just ok, and navigating Area Zero without Ko/Miraidon can be a pain if you take a wrong turn. But the pacing, the dialogue, the way the characters play off each other, the gradual reveals, and the whole final fight was actually incredibly well done. And it makes me feel a little sad to see that the dev team was clearly capable of making great story-driven game segments, but that it was only at the very ending of the game that they really got to flex those creative muscles. I feel like it's also created a weird dichotomy of people who could not abide the jank and put the game down or decided not to buy it in the first place/refunded it and the people who stuck it out to the end and got an unexpectedly quality finish. Good for us I guess? I definitely would have lost interest a lot sooner had friends who finished the game not given clues that they really enjoyed the ending...

More specific ending spoilers and commentary: Having an AI character being aware of having their own will being overridden was equal parts fucked up, heartbreaking, terrifying, and really effective. The way they're clearly fighting against it even as they taunt you, their whole speech about freedom and treasure, that moment when they seem to intentionally succumb to the programmed will in order to sincerely tell Arven that the original professor loved him (oh my FUCKING god)... Now THAT'S how you break the mold in terms of creating a different narrative hook than the usual formula! For me it really did retroactively change the feeling of the entire game, knowing that the 'professor' who started you on your whole journey was actually patiently waiting for you to become strong enough to venture into area zero and do what but their programming did not allow them to do. That they were vicariously enjoying every step of your adventure along the way, because their very nature as an area zero anomaly meant they could never leave themselves. Their final decision to send themselves to the past/future in order to disable the time machine, while kind of cheesy and nonsensical, was something that they willed with their own heart and wholly defied the original professor's wishes. That in their vast intellect they decided to stake the future on a bunch of teenagers is still pretty goofy but hey, it's Pokemon. Like a lot of people I did suspect that there would be some sort twist with the professor, but I did not expect THIS, nor did I expect a Pokemon game to handle a sympathetic AI character in a really emotional and interesting way. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised given that Pokemon as a franchise has had various created/artificial beings who are treated sympathetically? But it does also kind of highlight once again that the game feels kind of hodge-podge in regards to what audience it's catering to, due to the entire game feeling hand-holdy and kid-friendly in its appeal and then... that entire ending happens. I can imagine some kids not even being able to finish the game, not even due to difficulty spike but because of finding the Arven and robo professor story too scary and sad. On the other hand, Pokemon at its roots has always some pretty damn heavy themes, so I guess this could also just be considered a return to form? Pokemon themselves being fully sentient creatures forced to serve their masters no matter what, the entire arc of Mewtwo being created and then destroying its own lab... I remember finding those too sad to contemplate as a kid so I kind of just. Didn't. But those aspects were never really explored to the depth they could have been within the main game's stories (I do know the movies/anime/comics have darker storylines, but those are all 'extended lore' as far as the games are concerned). So this is the first time where elements like the death of a main character and having the villain be a human (in appearance) ally with explicitly programmed loss of will who doesn't want to turn against you are THIS front and center in the story of a main series game. And it was actually done pretty emotionally and effectively, so I do applaud the decision to take a risk and make a more mature storyline happen at all.

And yes, it is not lost on me that both a reluctant final boss and the subtle use of the menu interface in the finale are reminiscent of ah... a certain other game? I might be seeing stronger connections than I should due the killer music contribution by Toby, and I don't really care if it was intentional or not, but I'm just really happy to see any game make use of those tropes to great effect.

[nativetosorrow]

now that i’m almost done with the fontaine quest i can safely assume that hoyo will never be able to top it. i’m not someone who cares about lore a lot (in-game at least, i’d rather read everyone’s wiki page than read a bunch of dialogue) but with fontaine i was hooked right from the start. i never had this much fun while playing genshin

i can’t say much about the other quests or compare fontaine to it because i skip the dialogue a lot (or because it’s been too long), but fontaine was so interesting and different, even the game play - i mean the whole detective part? as a danganronpa/professor layton fan i ate it up. i loved looking for evidence and piecing everything together. i also loved the traveller and paimon sneaking around in the prison and breaking a bunch of rules and how different the setting was PLUS when wrio confronted us i was so wary of everyone because i genuinely thought that maybe we were tricked into thinking sigewinne and wrio are good people and i was waiting for a huge twist (which would’ve been really interesting but alas. i’m glad it didn’t go in that direction)

the relationship between the traveller and the twins, arlecchino as the father, the courthouse… the dramatics of everything kept me on the edge of my seat !!! the entire time!!! fontaine i love you more than anything

honorable mention: PAIMON (jp va) HAD SUCH CUTE VOICELINES.. i’ve always been a huge paimon fan (maybe the only one ever like that’s my daughter. i actually gave birth to her) she’s just such a cutie i loved her so bad 😭💔 i truly don’t understand how anyone could hate her i’d sacrifice everyone in teyvat for paimon

[0-k-4-y]

I love Pokemon. It is the Hallmark of video games in that it's the safe, calm, non-threatening, familiar game series that almost everyone has fond memories of. That being said I feel like the games need to change. Now there are 4 big things that Pokemon need to change in my opinion

-battles

- visuals

- story

-gimmicks

Firstly, the battles in Pokemon need to change. Now if it were up to me I would turn pokemon into a fighting game where you set your four moves up and you can jump and dodge out of the way and it would look like something out of the anime. You'd have your 6 pokemon and you'd have to master them and their moves as you worked your way to the end of the game. Though I don't really feel like that's feasible due to tech and would be too much work for their team. So here's what I'd do with the game I'd add the left and right dodging from Pokemon go. The game suddenly doesn't get super complicated, anyone can still play it,but it adds an added sense of strategy when I can suddenly dodge your shadow ball. Things like speed could still affect it and make it harder to dodge, but I feel like it would add a slot to the game. Cause I feel like one reason the games have remained so simple is accessibility. A 10 year old and a 90 year old could pick up the game quickly and it's not super complicated, and I feel like the left and right movement would add some complexity, but keep things simple. The animations are another big thing that I feel needs to be addressed. Pokemon have enough money to animate their Pokemon doing something more interesting than hopping in place or jumping from side to side. Like I'm not asking for anything fancy, but you could have like an animation of Pokemon getting hurt and a pokemon running up and biting at or punching or clawing or yelling at the Pokemon they don't need to touch, but give me the illusion of them touching.

Pokemon need to hire some people that just do textures and I'm tired of seeing a tree or a mountain that looks like it was made for the N64 I'm not asking them to hire a bunch of new people, just some people who's job is to texture things and make them pretty. Also if they're gonna keep the schedule they have they need more QA. I know QA can be a dirty word on the business side of videogames, cause if they're looking to cut costs the QA team is the first to go, but no game needs to release in a bad state and so many issues could've been fixed and so many gaming companies reputations could be saved from hiring people who's whole job is making your game play the best it can.

Now, the story in Pokemon can be great I've heard that the newest game had a great story. I just have a few issues with Pokemon's story. For one, I feel like Pokemon has way too many throw away characters. How many professors exist in one game just to be thrown away in the sequel? how many rivals? How many enemy teams( even in the game gen?) there are characters people love like lance and Cynthia and Oak, but I feel for every one of those characters you have so many characters that you throw away in Pokemon, never to be seen again. Like one thing about gold and silver I loved is that it lets you re-explore Kanto after a previous different you saved the Pokemon world and I feel like Pokemon doesn't let you do that much. Like the legends are a step in the right direction, but I don't feel like the story potential is explored there at all. Not only that, but I feel like some of the stories they give (*cough sword/shield*) are kinda lame. I also don't like Pokemon locking pokemon and story content behind DLC, though I feel like that might just be a necessary evil of the games industry, I don't like it, but whatever I don't know what they would do with dlc beyond that and games should have some other revenue they can get besides just one big game every few years.

Pokemon needs to stop adding a gimmick every new Pokemon game. The cooking gimmicks especially. Some I think are really cool like I like the idea of mega evolutions and future and past pokemon and regional forms. I also liked the dynamaxing when it changed the Pokemon's form. Big fan of the stuff that changes a form of a pokemon, but not so much when it just makes a pokemon big or just makes it made of crystal. I'm more of a fan of gimmick Pokemon (seeing a bird choking on a Pikachu will never not be funny), but not so much if the gimmick is all that Pokemon is. Shines are great, but not when the default is just green for a lot of Pokemon. Also so many of these gimmicks are gone by the next game and some are beloved, but kinda fizzle out in a few games (like contests and mega evolution) I feel like if you need a gimmick to keep things fresh there's something wrong with either the game or that aspect of the game. My main issue with the cooking gimmick is that it's just an added-on mini game when you could have used that development time to clean up your game or add on to what you already have. Like imagine if those cooking mini-games were for contests, it would have been more fun than pokeblocks where you had to blend berries, but they're just there for you to connect with your Pokemon. Like I feel like the gimmick is more "hey look at this shiney new thing(sometimes literally)" than "hey look at this fun new thing."

So here's what I'd do. I'd add dodging as a battle mechanic. It's simple and keeps you more engaged in the Pokemon battle, but it doesn't over complicate It. Depending on the attack you'd have to jump out of the way. If they want to do double battles one pokemon could be controlled by the directional pad and one by the shoulder buttons or you could just have them dodge in sync. Secondly being more smart with the textures,more cell shading would probably do the trick and more animations to give me the illusion of combat happening and more QA. Third, bring back more old faces, like I don't want it to be uncommon that you see an occasional old face in a new place if nothing else the spin off games would be perfect for this. Not asking for a deluge just some old faces more often when it makes sense. Just a professor or rival showing up more often wouldn't be unwelcomed. Fourth less, but more meaningful gimmicks. You don't have to reinvent the wheel with every new game, but if there is a new gimmick it should be something you want to complete and do. I think these are fair and easy things they could imminent and it would add a lot to the game.

[mangodestroyer]

But it's so true! Healing from this shit can be so much work! And not everyone heals from it the same way.

Like, I'm autistic and spent my whole life dealing with emotional abuse. My RSD is BAD. I feel so threatened if I get the slightest idea that someone isn't a fan of me. Because I don't know if they're going to become abuser number 500! I feel I am constantly on edge. Looking out for people who might be playing games with me. It sucks! It doesn't do anything to help me. It doesn't stop toxic individuals from being toxic, nor does freaking out and catastrophizing when they show their true colors. I just want to find the balance between healthy boundaries and being chill.

This kind of shit is what also makes me crave things like a "safe person." And that desire... led to me ending up with abusers who prey upon that vulnerability/desperation. They'd pretend to be kind and accepting people at first... and then they weren't. For instance, some just wanted a romantic partner they could take their emotional baggage out on and control.

It's what I mean when I say the universe is cold and uncaring! Life isn't some fictional story where the character who is really going through it finally catches their lucky break! There's no entity tracking your suffering points to reward you for it later. And you can't count on anyone "rescuing" you. You may encounter some good opportunities, and kind people along the way, but you also need to figure this all out on your own. I'd say the only good that has come from my trauma (especially from being a quadruple minority, mentally disabled individual) is that I learned to be insanely strategic.

After all, the "normal life" is just not going to be a thing for me. Tons of "normal" and "respected" careers, for instance, would be difficult for me to thrive in. I've tried some of these out! It's one of the perks of work experience/going to school. Figuring out what kind of work/people you can tolerate/thrive with. Anything that requires you to play 4D chest with social dynamics is a huge no for me. That eliminates a large number of careers that are popular/pay well. Those of us on the spectrum need to think outside the box and find a niche. We need to make ourselves valuable in things that most people can't or won't do. It'll be easier in some workplaces than others. I was an asset in very particular ways at a clothing store. I'm finding this is not the case in an HR office. NTs who can handle a job like that are a dime a dozen. They're better at it than we are!

I went on a bit of a tangent there, but my point is that people with lots of trauma tend to be outcasts. They either got the trauma BECAUSE of that fact by itself or became outcasts from the trauma. And I think lots of people in this boat make the mistake of getting caught up on "normal" milestones. And this is where I'm at in my healing journey right now. Realizing that I am finding more joy in life now that I've been letting some things go/considering other options. I finally gave up trying to pursue a bunch of "safe" and "normal" careers and am now going for something a little bit more out there. Something that is increasing in demand quite a bit, especially because other college students have been overlooking this as a potential career path in recent years (in favor of fields such as computer science). This field is also just something I found SUPER FUN learning about in grade school! And holy shit! I have never had so much fun participating in my classes/extracurriculars! Fuck office work and social games! THIS is living! It's made me also stop caring as much about the fact that I don't have that "safe person." My priorities are now much more set on learning about this field/looking out for jobs I can do as a student/networking with professors and classmates. And it's so much easier to do these things when you have genuine passion!

All the people saying Crowley's trauma has "made him a better person" need to read this

@peculiar-persephone

[evievigilant]

Well I finished Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright! That was a hell of a ride. I hope my posting about it wasn’t Too Much heh. 

Final thoughts below (mostly just for me to sort them out but hey) (also I spoil the first 3 Layton games too I’m sorry):

The mystery as a whole kinda disappointed me? And I feel bad for saying that since the world-building and lore was so heavy, but I think that was to its detriment at times. It was all SO much in order to make anything make sense. I really really loved the first half of this game, since it felt like we could reasonably solve the mystery within the world around us and play within the established rules of this particular world (i.e., one where magic and witches do exist). The information we got felt like it was gradually building to something, and I was excited to see what would happen and see if I could figure it out. With the latter half, all the intrigue was kind of stripped from the first half. Kira’s not dead, Layton wasn’t turned into gold, Maya’s fine, and in fact, except for Belduke (and well, the town ages ago), no one died at all. The main mystery requires that everything you experienced was false, but in a way that made it seem like all those events had no weight to them in the end. And in doing so, the reality of the situation is less interesting and far more convoluted than what was presented to you in the first half.

Now you may be saying, “You fool, Layton games often end with the deconstruction of the supposedly supernatural setting they’re in! And Ace Attorney exists within the normal realms of society for the most part (minus spirit channeling but ya know),” and yeah sure, you’re absolutely right about that. But the thing is, sometimes the twist in Layton games is done well (Curious Village, Unwound Future) and sometimes it’s not (....Diabolical Box (I’m sorry! I don’t like the twist in this one, even if the rest of the game is enjoyable)). The reason I like the twists in the Curious Village and the Unwound Future is because while both times you do prove the town is fake, everything still builds to something else that is real. Flora was still in the tower and the mystery had to be solved for her, and Clive set the trap in motion for a reason. The falsity of those locations builds to a more interesting purpose in the end. It replaces your initial understanding of the circumstances with another more interesting circumstance (e.g. “Oh we need to find the Golden Apple” to “Oh shit, robots” and “Oh no we’ve traveled to the future” to the very real threat of “Oh no this guy kidnapped a bunch of scientists and this OTHER guy is using him as a pawn to enact his revenge”). The latter half is more interesting than the first half. With the Diabolical Box, the time spent in Folsense felt a little more wasted because it was all a hallucination (one that occurred on VERY loose grounds in my opinion) and to me, a hallucination that even the main culprit is unaware of is less interesting than a mystery town with a vampire. In Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright, I don’t know if I can say that the MASSIVE effort to keep up the illusion of this town served to tell a more interesting story than one where witches and magic do exist, especially since the reasoning behind creating the town was.....a lot, to say the least. The real reason for the town existing isn’t NOTHING but I don’t know if I 100% like it. 

I kinda figured magic existing in this world would be fine since this game doesn’t seem the most canon. And I’d honestly prefer it, since it could have led to a more cohesive story, but oh well.

In all honesty, the ending was just so much to take in, and half the revelations weren’t anything we could have predicted without the people responsible just ADMITTING it through a ton of exposition. Like not only was Labyrinthia a research facility, but it was set up for Espella so she wouldn’t have to deal with her trauma, and also Darklaw is Espella’s childhood friend Eve, and also the town has been hypnotized to not see the pure black machinery that is responsible for the “magic” in town, and also the Shades are witches and victims that are alive and well, and also Shades can mess with people’s memories with silver by making people unconscious because everyone has a condition that makes them do that because of the water, and also pamphlets at the parades were used to hypnotize them more, and also Eve was rewriting the story, and also Espella rang the bell (except no she didn’t, Eve did), and also The Storyteller has an incurable disease, except no there’s a wonder drug for it now, it’s fine. And perhaps if this were all revealed gradually throughout the game it would be fine, but this was all basically revealed in the last trial. And as a result, it’s hard to feel like you have a decent grasp of everything.

The game reaaalllyyy wanted me to be sympathetic towards the Storyteller and well....I am not. Also Eve Belduke did nothing wrong (she did a few things wrong but I sympathize with her because wow. WOW). 

Barnham was done so dirty, oh my goodness. I had to think about how I felt about certain parts of the game more than others, but one thing I knew IMMEDIATELY when finishing was that this guy had so much potential and it was squandered. He started to become really interesting after Maya’s trial (especially since he felt guilty over her situation and started to question his role as an Inquisitor a bit, what with his talk about his duty in protecting the town) and we even saw him spy on Darklaw and the Shades. And then they just....sent him to the dungeon. And he wasn’t seen til the ending cutscene. They could have done SO much more with him. I thought for the longest time, “No way are they going to build up his character like that and then throw him away. He’ll probably come back somehow.” Like I thought he and Greyerl were gonna plan an escape heist haha. Turns out I’m the fool here. I wish he had more connection to the main mystery. Perhaps his character arc could have been made more satisfying then.

Honestly pleasantly surprised with how much Layton + Luke and Phoenix + Maya worked together as a group. I didn’t know how that would work out but I liked their dynamics.

I enjoyed how trials and investigations were balanced, and how elements from both Ace Attorney and Professor Layton were incorporated. The puzzles were very fun in this game!!

It was really cool seeing elements from this game that were later carried over to others. For instance, having multiple witnesses and pursuing them based on their reactions to other pieces of testimony was something I didn’t know originated with this game. Always thought it was only a Great Ace Attorney thing. Cool to find out otherwise!

The middle of this game (basically after Greyerl’s trial) was pretty dark! I’m surprised they went in that direction with what I first thought would be a wholly delightful crossover featuring Gentleman Puzzle Man. But it was a welcome surprise because I was heavily invested, especially since some really heavy stakes were established (until they weren’t lol). I made the very Wrong deduction that in order to get Layton and Maya back, we’d have to convince the Storyteller to rewrite the story to bring them back somehow, or rely on time travel bullshit. And well. It does not happen like that.

This game’s music is outstanding. I don’t know if it’s my favorite but it’s definitely up there (tbh though, it’s a difficult mountain to climb to get anywhere near TGAA2′s soundtrack). The pursuit theme is one of my favorites now, too. One of my favorite parts of playing AA games is first hearing what the pursuit themes sound like, and when I first heard this one I was SO impressed. 

Overall I liked this game, even though there were definite problems towards the end. The ending severely tanked its standing in my ranking of AA games unfortunately (I’m sorry :( I value good endings) but I still enjoyed playing it.

[carewyncromwell]

Penny 🤝 Carewyn

Requested by Anon

Carewyn Cromwell was, by and large, not much of a party person. She had always been much happier just spending quality time with her closest friends, rather than being surrounded by a bunch of exciting strangers. Even when she attended parties, she almost always tended to stick close to her friends, especially those friends who found parties even less comfortable than she did, like shy wallflower Liz or solitary smart-mouth Talbott. 

Penny Haywood, however, was the definition of a party person -- and she always tried to yank Carewyn along with her to them, whenever possible. 

“Come on, Carewyn, it’ll be fun!” she’d say. “Everyone’ll be there! There’ll be lots of food and dancing and games...I even heard Gwenog Jones herself might make an appearance!”

Carewyn very gently declined off most of these such invitations so as not to hurt Penny’s feelings, but every now and again, Penny was able to convince Carewyn to go to a few of them. Sometimes it was because of who’d be there, such as the house party Penny helped Charlie organize at the Burrow -- not only was Carewyn happy to spend time with Charlie, but she also thought that such a party would need at least one adult present. And sure enough, Carewyn ended up being the one to pull in the reins and make sure Charlie wouldn’t get in any trouble for hosting a party while his parents were out. Another time Penny had asked Carewyn to help her with and attend a Christmas party she was throwing to celebrate the professors and all of their hard work over that school year -- the event ended up being a rather modest, classy affair, which Carewyn was secretly very grateful for.

This time, however, Carewyn was coaxed in by her one true love: music. Penny had caught wind of a huge get-together at the Three Broomsticks, being put together by several members of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, where they planned to smuggle in a modified Muggle jukebox and dance the night away. Since Carewyn so rarely could play any of her favorite non-magical songs anywhere but at home, it seemed like listening to a lot of Muggle oldies would be a lot of fun. So Carewyn put on one of her favorite dresses and went to the event, ready to spend an evening drinking a butterbeer by the jukebox and singing along with any songs she recognized. 

Penny, of course, wasn’t willing to settle for that. Upon finding her friend sitting by the jukebox, she immediately flounced over, her own bright yellow dress sweeping behind her.

“Come on, Carewyn!” she said brightly, taking both of her hands. “Let’s go dance!”

But Carewyn stayed seated. “It’s okay, Penny -- I’m fine right here.”

“Oh, I know,” said Penny earnestly, “but this song is really good...and we can’t let Diego have all the fun!”

She indicated their mutual friend, Diego Caplan, cutting a rug a short way away.

“The last thing I’d want to do is get in the way of a master at work,” Carewyn said with a ruby red smile. 

“You wouldn’t be in the way, Carewyn,” Penny said brightly. “I’m sure you’ll be brilliant! You’ve always been so attuned to music...”

She gave Carewyn’s hands a very light tug. 

“Come on...I’ll dance with you! It’ll be fun!”

Carewyn was pretty unaffected by peer pressure, but Penny’s earnestness was wearing at her resolve. She knew if she said no flat-out, she might hurt her friend’s feelings -- so she tried to find a way to soften it.

“It’s not that I don’t want to go out there with you, Penny,” she said bracingly. “It’s just that...dancing isn’t really my particular skill set -- ”

“That’s okay!” insisted Penny. “You don’t have to be great at dancing -- this is all just for fun, anyway...”

“I know,” Carewyn cut her off a bit more crisply than she meant. She immediately tried to soften her tone again. “But...well, I like watching all of you dancing. I like sitting back here and watching you and the others having fun. That is fun, for me.”

Penny blinked, slightly confused. “But...wouldn’t it be more fun to go out there and do it yourself?”

“For some people, maybe,” said Carewyn. “But me...I like just watching. Sometimes it’s fun to go out and do things, but other times...well, it’s nice to just take a moment, sit back and just...enjoy everything. See everyone interact, and talk, and live their lives. Even if it’s not something you’re that good at or even like yourself, it’s...nice to just see other people being excited about something.”

The memory of her brother Jacob going off on a long, animated tangent about the ingredient break-down of Skele-Gro rippled over her mind. Carewyn barely even remembered everything he’d said about the potion and its composition anymore...but it’d still made her smile so fully, listening to how happy all of it made her older brother.

Penny considered Carewyn’s words, before her lips curled up in a slight smile.

“...I guess I know what you mean,” she granted. “I don’t fully understand you and Badeea sometimes, when you’re talking about art -- or you and Rowan, when you’re talking about History of Magic. And Charlie -- wow! Dragons are cool, sure, but the way he talks about them with you...I wonder if he’ll ever love any one person more than he does dragons...”

Carewyn giggled behind her hand. “Likely not.”

Penny settled herself at the table next to the Slytherin Prefect. 

“It’s something I’ve always admired about you, Carewyn,” the blond Hufflepuff said softly, “how in-tune you are with people. It just kind of makes me sad that everyone doesn’t know how good at it you are.”

She sighed, but it didn’t dampen her smile.

“I guess it’s the same reason Talbott doesn’t seem to care that no one knows how loyal of a friend he is, once you get to know him.”

Carewyn smiled. “Well, sure. Not everything that’s valuable is meant to be shared. Sometimes you have to earn it.”

“Now you sound like Orion Amari!” Penny said with a laugh. She gained a slightly more longing glint to her smile. “Oh, I do miss when you were on the Slytherin team...it was so much fun, to watch you, Skye, and Orion fly together...”

A twinge of discomfort and guilt panged through Carewyn remembering her time with the Slytherin team and the fall-out between her and Skye that had resulted in her departure. Fortunately, at that very moment, the jukebox changed songs, playing a light, upbeat tune that caught both Penny and Carewyn’s ears right away. 

“Here comes the sun -- doo doo doo doo...”

“Ooooh, I love this one!” Penny said eagerly.

Carewyn grinned too as she immediately sang along. 

“Here comes the sun, and I say...”

“It’s all right!” Penny jumped in to finish the line brightly. 

Hufflepuff’s resident gossip queen leaned over to turn the knob on the jukebox to increase the volume as Carewyn sang along a little louder.

“Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter... Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here...”

Penny kicked her legs back and forth leisurely as her bright, slightly sharp voice joined Carewyn’s much more trained tone again for the chorus.

“Here comes the sun -- doo doo doo doo...

Here comes the sun, and I say...it’s all right!”

A few of the people dancing on the floor took notice of popular Penny Haywood and “Cursebreaker Cromwell” singing along to the jukebox on the sidelines together. Most of the others, though, were too preoccupied doing their own thing...and Carewyn liked that quite well. 

Friendship Drabble Prompt! 

[jadedxrealityw]

-Quiet- Oliver Wood x Female Reader

    ☼-☪-☼

   Summary: You have been the chaser for the Gryffindor quidditch team for about a year now and were what everyone would call a ‘quiet brute’ you were fast and silent. For the past year both you and Oliver grew feelings for each other, but Oliver didn’t think you had felt the same. Until one day when Slytherin cheats during a match and you reveal why you have been quiet for so long

   Kody: Let’s see if i can capture the Oliver Wood we know. i’m am also fully aware that the timing will not fit in well, but it’s fanfiction so like lmao. I watched every single quidditch scene for this bullshit lol and i still don’t get it so bare with me please. 

   House: Gryffindor

   Possible Triggers / Warnings: cursing, Marcus Flint, Slytherin slander, (jkjkjk) a smidge of angst

   ☼-☪-☼

   Tap!

   Tap!

   Tap!

   you open your eyes and snap your head towards the sound. Eyes stopping your window. An owl was tapping its beak against the glass pane. It was so early, who would send a letter this early? Sitting up from the bed and throwing your legs off, you walk towards the feathery companion. 

   reaching for the latch, you unhook and push it open. The owl stepped off of your windowsill and onto the desk right under the ledge. You plop down onto the seat and reach for the letter in its mouth. The owl drops the letter in your hand. You rip off the wax seal and grab the folded piece of paper in the envelope.

   unfolding it you see a familiar name written at the bottom ‘Oliver Wood’ the captain of your quidditch team. The wizard you had known for a year and had a small- well large infatuation with.  You cracked a small smile before reading the contents of the letter. 

   ‘Dear Y/n, since we are playing against Slytherin tomorrow and they are our biggest rivals i want add an early morning practice today, hence the letter now. This extra training will help, i promise. Once you receive this letter head to the Gryffindor common room. With l- Sincerely Oliver.’

   you sigh deeply. Not being a morning person meant you hated getting up early in general, but you couldn’t do much about it. So you go over to your dresser and grabbed some clothes suitable to practice in. It’s been cold outside recently so you needed to cover up. 

   you slip on your quidditch sweater that had your number and name on the back, your black quidditch pants, and your gloves as well. As you lace up your boots you sit on your bed so you wouldn’t fall over. Once you were finished you stand up straight, reaching for your wand on your nightstand.

   you slip it into your belt loop even though you plan on putting it in the locker that was in the changing rooms later anyway. Once your all set you open your dorm room door and make your way down the hall, passing a couple girls that unfortunately woke up as early as you. 

   as you reached the common room you saw your whole team sitting on the sofas or standing up. Angelina was the first to notice your presence “Y/n’s here. That’s all of us” she says, standing up from the couch. All eyes turn to look at you, making you advert your gaze to the fireplace. 

   lifting up your hand for a second, basically an introverted wave. “Not a morning person aye L/n?” Fred asks, pushing off the wall he was leaning on. You didn’t say anything and just shrug your shoulders in reply. “Alright, let’s head out” your captain, Oliver said, gesturing with his hand to the door. 

   the team replies with okays and such and you all begin to leave the common room. You let most of them walk out so you can be in the back, mostly so no one would try and talk to you. It was too early and you were too cranky for conversation right now- or ever really.

    ☼-☪-☼

   as you all walked the halls, you didn’t notice the certain scottish boy slowly falling behind until he was standing next to you. You only noticed when he suddenly spoke “Sleep well?” he asked. You turn your head to look at him for a split second before back the other direction “Fine”

   he nods once. You didn’t really give him much to go off of. Oliver made you more nervous than other people did, probably because of the crush you had on him. If only you knew he was exactly the same. “That’s good. Are you nervous about tomorrow's match? I sure know i am” 

   you shrug your shoulders once, not really knowing how to answer “A little.” you say, looking forward. You all were nearing the field now and everyone was going into the male and female locker rooms to get there brooms and such. Oliver was about to follow the other guys when you spoke again.

   “I wouldn’t worry much, your a skilled keeper” you say, E/c eyes focused on your fingerless gloves on your hands. Before he could get a word in you follow Katie Bell into the locker rooms, leaving Oliver dumbfounded by your words. “Aw look at the young love. If only you weren’t a nervous wreck right?”

   Oliver heard both twins snicker and laugh, causing him to become flustered “Both of you get your brooms” he snaps, before pushing pas the two of them. 

    ☼-☪-☼

    morning practice went well that day as well as afternoon practice. You were actually excited for the game tomorrow, which was a first. Maybe it’s because you wanted to see the look of despair as your team own the match. Either way, you couldn’t wait for the match to start

    “Welcome back everyone to another exciting day of quidditch! Today Gryffindor is going against Slytherin for this seasons quidditch cup! Both teams are currently tied, so this game will for sure see who is the superior team! Now, let’s welcome our teams. First Slytherin!”

   Lee Jordan’s voice boomed through the mic as the Slytherins roared for there team. You watched from the ground as the Slytherin team flew onto the field, throwing their hands in the air. You took a deep breath as they took positions “Alright we're up next guys. Mount your brooms!”

   Oliver shouts before mounting his own broom, all of you doing the same. “Let’s welcome our Gryffindors!” Lee shouts and all of you took off into the air, making your way up. You stopped in front of the Slytherin team and assumed correct positions as Madam Hooch stands on the ground below us

   “I want a clean match, ya hear me!? No magic and no wands, understood!?” she spoke, looking at both teams. Some of us nod while others just blink mindlessly. Madam Hooch kicks he box and the snitch and bludger are released. After a couple of seconds, she lifts up the quaffle from the box and holds it up.

   you tighten your grip on your broom, ready to launch at the quaffle once she throws it. Hooch smiles before tossing the quaffle in the air, causing Lee to shout once more “And let the games begin!” you and Angelina dove in to grab the quaffle while Katie drew back, just in case it was tossed outside the ‘kill circle’ that was happening at the moment. 

   a Slytherin chaser managed to get ahold of it, so Katie flew after her. Katie catches up to her and pushes the quaffle from under her arm, causing her to drop it. You could see it fall a few feet in front of you and took that chance to attempt to catch it. 

   you hold out your hand and grab the quaffle “Yes!” you say excitedly to yourself before beginning to make your way to the hoops where the slytherin keeper awaited for you, Miles Bletchley. You throw the quaffle towards the hoop and it completely misses miles and went straight in.

   “Y/n L/n scores ten points for Gryffindor!” Lee annonces, as the Gryffindors cheered your name while the Slytherin booed. Typical. You fly back as the quaffle lands in the middle again, this time Angelina goes after it.

    ☼-☪-☼

   after about an eternity of playing, both teams were tied with 140 points each. Harry and Draco have been unable to catch snitch. It was exhausting, but you seemed to be going strong. That was until you saw Marcus Flint with the quaffle. He was heading towards your goal.

   you see that Katie and Angelina are to busy being bombarded with bludger so you chased after Marcus. As you did so you watched as he uses his free hand to reach into his robe and grab his wand, he had most of it covered by his robe but you know what you saw. 

   Oliver, who was at the goal and ready to deflect Marcus’s throw was suddenly thrown back into the hoop and hit the metal bar. Marcus takes the opportunity to throw the quaffle into the hoop and scores “Another ten points for Slytherin and that’s 150 points. Slytherin wins!”

   you feel your heart drop as Slytherin erupts in victorious cheers. It was almost as if you were on autopilot as you flew down to meet your team. All of you watched as the Slytherin team high hived each other. What a bunch of bloody cheaters. 

   “I swore i had that. This is all my fault” Oliver spoke, his face dropped into a sad expression. You feel as if you had been punched in the gut, your fists balling in anger. You drop your broom and shrug off your robe “Hey Flint!” you shout, catching his attention as well as his teammates.

   “Well if it isn’t Gryffindor’s chaser. Came to congratulate us? How sweet” he holds his hand over his heart in mock sympathy and you swore you saw red. “Drop the act Flint. I know you cheated! I saw you pull out a wand! Which is against the rules!”

   the shouting seemed to draw in Madam Hooch as well as a couple or Professors that were leaving the stands “What’s this shouting all about!” she says, placing her hands on her hips “Marcus Flint used a jinx on Oliver to win! I saw it! He has his wand in his robe!”

   your teammates stood behind you, shocked by your outbursts. You only spoke about three words at a time and you were always so neutral. It was strange to say the least as you were fuming with anger. “I did not cheat! Your just being a sore loser and a bitch!” Marcus yelled back at you. 

   “What did he say!?”Oliver shouts, ready to knock Marcus out, but Fred and George hold him back. “Mr. Flint! There is no need for that language, now empty your pockets this instant!” Madam Hooch points to his robes as he turns a shade of white.

    “B-But i didn’t do anything! She’s spewing nonsense just because her captain is incompetent!” Marcus blurts out as a last attempt. Oh he did not. “Listen here you sack of shit! Oliver is the best captain and just person in general that i’ve ever met. So much so that you had to cheat just to win!”

   everyone is stunned into silence as you yelled, venom lacing each and everyone of your words. “Now Mr. Flint!” Madam Hooch repeats and you watch as Marcus pulls out his wand and hands it to her. She looks disappointed and shakes her head solemnly.

   “What a disgrace to quidditch. Marcus Flint, you are hereby removed from the quidditch team and will serve two months in detention. Also, Gryffindor wins!” she shouts and all the Gryffindor students who remained shouted in happiness now they had gotten their rightful win. 

     Marcus crosses his arms and mutters another insult towards you. You walk up to him and punch him straight in the nose, causing him to fall back. With that, you walk off the field. You needed to calm down and couldn’t do it with all those people around shouting and yelling.

    ☼-☪-☼

   you had avoided your team for the rest of the day, shameful of your outburst. You wondered if you would get in trouble for punching Marcus and the fact that you told half the school you thought Oliver Wood was the best person in the world, either way. You were fucked. 

   you were now making your way to your dorm so you could cram in some studying before bed. You wore a white t-shirt, a red and white flannel as well as baggy blue jeans. As you opened the door of your dorm a flash of light causes you to stumble abit as well as a bunch of colored paper? oh confetti. 

   “Thank you Y/n!” you hear multiple people yell. You quickly decipher each one as one of your teammates. As your vision cleared you saw Fred and George holding up a banner that said ‘Y/n is the best’ Angelina and Katie were holding baskets that were filled to the top with sweets. 

   Harry was holding a case of butterbeer with a kind smile on his face. Last. but not least Oliver stood in the middle with a bouquet of flowers. you felt your heart race a little more when your eyes met “Um- Hi” you spoke shyly and began to fiddle with the sleeve of your flannel. 

   “You didn’t tell us you had that fire in you Y/n!” George shouts out of nowhere, his twin nodding in agreement “Wicked” Fred says in agreement. You just shrugged your shoulders “Uh- Thanks?” you said, unsure of what the both of them meant. 

   “yeah, you definitely put Marcus Flint in his place. Even Draco Malfoy apologized to us. It was insane, you should of been there!” Angelina exclaims, placing her basket of sweets on the ground of your room “You avoided us yesterday, why?” Katie asked, everyone's heads perking up.

   you sigh deeply and figured you owed them some sort of explanation “I’m just really socially awkward i guess. My uh- my parents died when i was like nine in some freak potions accident with Luna Lovegood’s mom. So Xenophilius Lovegood took me in. I was mute for awhile, so talking is just hard i suppose?”

   the girls faces drop as well as Olivers. Who knew your silence came with such a dark reason. “Sorry- did i ruin the mood?” you ask and they all immediately shake their heads “No, of course not! Anyway, we wanted to thank you for calling Marcus out and basically handing us the win.” Oliver spoke, taking a step towards you.

   “Also for sticking up for me. I appreciate it” He adds and you feel a familiar warmth invade your stomach harshly. Oliver hands you the bunch of poppies and you tilt your curiously “There fake?” you question and he nods once “I know your allergic to pollen” he says, which makes your heart skip a couple beats.

   you remember mentioning that you were allergic to pollen when you first met. He remembered after all this time? A cough interrupted the both of you and you look to see Fred double fisting butterbeers “Enough of that love shit, lets just hang out”

   your team burst out in laughter as both you and Oliver looked away from each other in embarrassment. Stupid Fred.  

       ☼-☪-☼

    a couple hours later Angelina was passed out on top of Katie on the floor, they had all brought sleeping bags apparently. This was very planned. Harry was laying on a beanbag chair with a blanket over him and marker on his face. George and Fred’s idea. 

   speaking of the twins they both were laying on the floor next to the trunk at the end of your bed, sweet wrappers surrounded them. You and Oliver had yet to fall asleep yet. You had actually opened up a bit and enjoyed talking to him. The more you talked, the more you fell for him really. 

   during the little ‘party’ your team had you all changed into different clothes (in their own dorms of course) so you were now wearing a black muggle t-shirt and grey sweatpants. Oliver was wearing his quidditch jersey and black sweatpants. He looked- well...hot.

   “You know Y/n. I can stop thinking about how you said i was the best person you knew” you inhale sharply and lean back onto your pillows, since you were both sitting on your bed “Yeah?” you question, afraid to say anything more. Oliver sits up straight, eyes boring into you. 

   “I think your the best person i know” he says confidently, reaching for your hand. He grabs it and runs the pad of his thumb over your skin. “Yeah?” you repeated once more. He snorts and looks down at the bedsheets for a moment before looking back at you “I’m trying to say i like you Y/n, like a lot”

   say what now? Oliver Wood. The guy who you thought barely noticed you just said he had feelings for you. Like earlier, your brain ran on autopilot “Yeah?...” you say a third time. Oliver rolls his eyes before leaning into kiss you gently, hands cupping your face and leaving room for you to push him away. 

   up close he smelt like fresh cut wood- like from a broomstick. That made sense actually. You snapped back to reality and hesitantly reach up to place your hand on the back of his neck, pulling him in for a deeper kiss. Oliver responds and places one hand on your waist.

   he lays you back against the bed and hovers over you, breaking the kiss. You look at him with a flushed expression “I like you too- you said it earlier so i felt like i should say it now...before anything else happens” you spoke quickly and quietly. 

   Oliver raises a brow in amusement “Anything else? Who knew you could think so dirty Y/n” he says in a teasing tone. You shake your head “What- no that’s not what i meant” your sentence trails off into a mumble. He chuckles quietly “I know” he said, going into kiss you again.

   “Can you guys not shag up, were right here” when did Fred wake up?

   “Yeah, be respectful to others around you” and there goes George.

   you watched as Oliver’s eye twitched in irritation “Both of shut up and go back to sleep. We are not shagging up” he says and they both mumble an okay. He lays back against the bed, turning on his side to face you “I think we should sleep as well, you don’t mind me sleeping here right?”

   you shake your head, not minding him there. He smiles lightly before reaching down to the grab the sheet. He pulled it over both of you. You go to scooch away to the other side when he wraps an arm around and pulls your back against his chest “You can’t get away that easily, lass” he whispered.

   you held back a small laugh before getting comfortable in the Captain's arms. “Night Y/n” he spoke quietly before placing a kiss to the back of your head. “Goodnight Oliver” you said back and used your wand to turn out the lights before closing your eyes.

   and with that. You fell asleep. 

    ☼-☪-☼

   Kody: I call these group of idiots the chaotic Gryffindor quidditch team. Anyways, peace. 

[amethystblack]

hello~! i'm trying to learn programming and heard that cass is self taught. that's such an inspiration and i would love to hear about her journey(and any tips) if she's willing to share! thank you all for making such an inspiring game!

ok so let me tell you a story. (you can skip to the bottom if you just want the tips.)

it was the year 2014 and i was visiting a college. one of the events of the day was a department fair where some professor would tell you all about what their department does. so i went up to the chair of the computer science department and said "hey, so, I think computers are neat, but I hate to code. do y'all have anything for that?"

man, those were the days.

fast forward to 2019. i didn't go into computer science. i still hate coding. however, i'm also now on the development team for this fucking video game. i believe it's called, uh, punkymen "james" reborn. this video game runs on an engine called essentials. many of you haven't heard of this "essentials" before (especially from me), but this engine has a reputation for being- and this is a technical term, just stay with me- "bad". it's okay if you're unfamiliar with the term "bad"- you'll become very familiar with it and its association to the aforementioned engine very soon. now i'm still just a lowly text file editor (a term used by assholes who code to describe people who don't code) making a whole bunch of battle content for postgame (wow e19 has been in development for literally ever). i had made the theme teams and had moved onto battle tower sets. i looked into the text files (lol imagine looking at TEXT files) to see what the base sets were and saw. things. horrible things. awful things. things that no one should ever have to see. brightpowder mons? focus band? quick claw? c'mon no one wants to fight that. and they topped out at gen 3! gen 3 wasn't even real c'mon now. so i was like "okay. i gotta redo all these." so i did! but then i got to a pokemon called "deoxys". now you might be thinking "hey, wasn't that still gen 3?" and you're right! but deoxys was banned. (imagine getting a legendary mon and never being able to use it. don't worry we fixed that*.) i'm going through these pokemon alphabetically, and deoxys was the first pokemon to have different forms! (*for most of them. the really strong ones are still banned. sorry kids.) the text files (i know they're so 16th century but stay with me here) don't allow you to change those! they also don't allow you to change abilities. now that i think about it, that was probably the real reason for what i'm about to say. which is that i went into the code to fix it! so i dug into the scripts. (i'm going to take a quick break to say that no one should ever ever ever use the script editor in rmxp. it's really bad. technology has come a long way since dinosaurs roamed the earth. in fact, just don't use rmxp. it's really bad. anyway *coughs) so this wasn't technically my first foray into coding- i took an online c++ class sophomore year of high school (which was online, so it didn't count) and i took ap computer science my senior year (the teacher didn't know anything about computer science, which meant it was self taught, and yeah uh-huh i definitely did all the homework and worked very hard in that class and did not just fuck off to the library every day to play civilization or some shit)- but it was definitely my first real foray. it ended up not being too complicated- i figured out what lines read the text file and just added a few extra parameters to them. it was enough for it to legally count as coding. i had also offered to fix some bugs. my first bug to fix was related to meloetta transforming in battle (ironically, something that i ended up removing entirely later). i didn't fix it. battle code too complicated. didn't wanna. back to text files thanksbye (somewhere in here i did a little more coding in grad school. it was kinda unnotable and got derailed by this "corona" thing you may have heard about. it was in c++ and was frustrating.)

so i mentioned that rmxp was bad and essentials was bad. one way that this manifested was that the game was really slow. i mean really slow. rmxp was an engine made in 2003. essentials was a scriptset made out of silly string. if you managed to get it to run smoothly then, well, you were probably lying. it ran like shit for everyone on every computer. i fuckin hated that. so two things happened. first was that i dug up an engine called mkxp and it made the game run a bit better. still not great! but better. then someone by the name of perrence dropped into ame's patreon server (hello did you know that ame has a patreon? you probably don't because she never talks about it, but this is MY post and IM talking about it and it's right here) and was like "hey this game is really slow and i have a thing called a profiler that will tell you where it's slow". oh man. this was, like, my calling. my sworn duty. my mission. i went apeshit on those scripts. i am not going to go into detail about what i did, since you can read about it on the dev blog. this post is about me. and not only did i go apeshit on those scripts, i googled the fuck out of them, too. my optimization binge was really a perfect storm of factors: i was very highly motivated, had a script with lots of inefficiencies to experiment on, and had a shitload of free time because it was summer during a pandemic. i think i spent 70-80 hours a week for, like, a month or two, just tinkering around with the scripts. anything i wasn't familiar with (which was really a fair amount of stuff) i looked up online. i tried tons of different ways to improve the code until i got tired of the specific issue i was working on and moved on. this whole experience was important because 1.) it made me realize that, hey, maybe i'm not too bad at coding! and 2.) i really like writing clean, pretty, efficient code. so that was really what got me started. i've done a lot since then! the original optimization blitz wa- oh my god it was two years ago what the fuck-- sorry, sorry. i'm ok. whew. the original optimization blitz was (*breathes) two years ago, and it made me comfortable enough with the scripts that whenever i found an issue that annoyed the hell out of me, i could just get rid of it. and i've done that a lot since then! (there'll be another coding post soon, trust)

i, uh, it's been almost an hour and a half.

oops!

so i'll just put in a few general tips:

- coding classes suck and you shouldn't take them (or, at least, nothing beyond the basics) anything you can learn about coding from a class you can learn on the internet. there are tons of tutorials online for general knowledge. even beyond that, if you have a more niche/specific question (hey is there a speed difference between a case statement and a conditional) there's probably a bunch of other people who have also wondered that and one one of them has almost certainly done so on a message board. there's lots of information out there if you're searching for it. which...

- coding class assignments suck and you should avoid them there is not a single person in the universe who has gotten passionate about homework. the only exception to this is when an assignment goes beyond just being homework. part of why i got so into my work was because it wasn't just work- my efforts resulted in a meaningful difference that i could visibly see (granted, i was seeing it in an FPS counter, but that's not nothing!). if you can find something that you can tinker around with and have an enjoyable time doing so, it'll be far better for you than a stupid c++ class. which...

- c++ sucks and you should avoid it ok this isn't actually that true, i'm just sticking to the format. there are a lot of coding languages. they all have their quirks and specific syntax and different uses, but they all follow the same fundamental rules: all you do with code is use logic to mess with data on a computer. that's basically all it comes down to! you tell a computer "hey, this thing does this, and that thing does that, and if this thing is equal to some other thing it should do something else" and you've coded. so find a coding language that you like. i don't like c++! it has a lot of rigid syntax rules and isn't very flexible. low-level coding languages are like that. ruby is great. i like ruby. you can make some really pretty code with ruby. coding in ruby is a little more like writing prose, where coding in c++ is like writing an instruction manual. high-level languages like that are much more pleasant.

one last thing.

- watch out for assholes! so i don't know what gives, but there are a lot of people in this business with really big egos. this is incredibly anecdotal, but i have a running theory that coding classes teach you that there is a "right" way and a "wrong" way to code and, as a result, there are a lot of comp sci majors with their heads up their asses. there was actually a guy who made fun of someone because "real developers" coded and he just edited text files! please never be like that. there was another guy who dropped into my comment section to chadsplain* how to program to me. that guy is still probably off running relic castle, too. coding's more of an art than a science, and "good code" isn't really a thing. obviously i really care about pretty, optimized code, but the thing about code is that most people aren't going to see it anyway. *chadsplain (v.) an explanation given under the assumption of the superiority of the person offering the explanation.

fuck it's been another half hour. i'm just bitching about people at this point anyway, so i'm going to do everyone a favor and cut myself off.

tldr: find a project you like, in a language you like, and google things you don't know. that's all i did.

[13uswntimagines]

Pranksters of the Bunch (Harry Potter AU)

Y/n is just starting to get comfortable with her new friends, when she learns about their more... playful side. We learn about more relationships and see hints of our endgame. We also get a glimpse of some other players that make up the rest of our version of Hogwarts. @literaryhedgehog

Pt. 1

“For next class, homework is to practice your transfiguration. Anyone who can get their matchstick into a needle is exempt from writing their essay. You are dismissed,” Professor McGonagall said, tapping her wand on the blackboard so the notes from the day’s lesson disappeared. As the other students began filing out of the room you picked up your bag and dropped your notes into it, careful to set your “quill” gently so the bic ballpoint pen you taped to it wouldn’t fall off.

“If you epoximose it, you won’t have to worry about it falling off” Lindsey said with an eye roll, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Some of your habits were a bit… odd. Like your preference for a pen that you didn’t have to dip in ink. 

“I’m sorry, if I what?” you asked. “That sounds like a sneeze.” 

“It’s a spell that’ll glue it so you don’t need to use spell-o-tape,” Kelley said, appearing on your other side as Professor McGonagall left the room.  

“I can teach you, if you like. It’s super simple, even a first year could do it,” Emily offered, ignoring Lindsey’s sideways glare. 

“Then why don’t they teach it to us as first years?” You said, slamming your chair under the desk. Not that you disliked any of your classes, but the curriculum seemed to leave out a lot of useful information. 

“Because they’re afraid that it’ll just help students do better pranks,” Lindsey huffed, crossing her arms. If anyone was going to teach you things, it should be her. 

“No they’re not,” Ashlyn said, rolling her eyes. “They teach tricky techniques that are applicable to multiple spells. It’s like quidditch drills.” 

“Cause it’s so much less challenging than fighting a boggart, or accioing anything. If you mess it up, then you could glue your fingers together,” Emily snorted, shaking her head. She was just lucky that Madam Pomfrey liked her enough to not rat her out to Professor Slughorn (not that he’d actually do anything) or Professor Longbottom. 

“Or accidentally drop a banner on the Huffelpuffs?” Ashlyn said with a raised eyebrow. Emily and Kelley seemed to shrink just a bit under her gaze. 

“That was you?” You asked, eyes wide. That banner had almost knocked Cheney off her broom and Amy was pissed. Rumor had it that the Slytherin captain had taken care of the incident because it was someone in her house that did it, but no one knew for sure (at least you thought no one knew). 

“You can’t prove anything,” Emily grumbled. 

“It was them,” Lindsey nodded, smirking at you. “and Arod made sure they not only apologized, but that they actually meant it. Kelley only got away unscathed because she hid in Gryffindor tower,”  

Those two always got themselves in over their heads and something always went wrong. You could only wonder what the Slytherin chaser did to them. Amy was terrifying when she wanted to be especially when you messed with her girlfriend. 

“Of course I meant it, the banner wasn’t supposed to fall,” Emily grumbled. “The charm was supposed to last the whole game. Anyway, she made me practice the sticking charm and its reverse a hundred times so it wouldn’t happen again. Not that it matters next year when I’m actually on the team. It’s stupid that they still don’t want second years to play beater.”

“At least this time there won’t be any accidents,” Ashlyn said, smirking as she settled into a chair previously vacated by some of your second year peers. Which was when you realized it was kind of odd that she was here. Wasn’t she a third year student?

“What do you mean?” You asked, your head tilting to the side like a puppy. 

“Wait THIS time?” Lindsey, asked, looking between the three girls settling down at the desks like it wasn’t the end of the day’s classes. “Don’t tell me you’re planning another prank right now?”

“Of course not!” Kelley said, looking aghast. 

“You haven’t left the room yet,” Emily said, adopting a similarly innocent, wide eyed expression. 

“They’re going to be dumbasses and probably get detention for a month aren’t they?” You asked, looking at Lindsey for help. Though you had know been hanging out with them for the past few weeks, they were still her friends after all. 

“Oh. I don’t want detention though,” Ashlyn said flipping through a spellbook absentmindedly. “And it will be rather hard to prove we have anything to do with an event which might or might not happen in the next few days.”

“Just a word of advice, though. If you’re going to take a shower today, do it in the next two hours and don’t take one tomorrow morning,” Emily said finally, eyes softening just a little at your too nervous expression. 

“You don’t think they’re going to test your wands to see if it was you?” Lindsey asked skeptically. 

“Priori incantatem only goes so far, especially if I tutor Y/n on how to glue her pens together,” Emily rolled her eyes, and shrugged. She would argue she was just being a good friend after all. 

“With the kind of prep work we’ve done, they’d have to go back, oh, at least three days before they saw any hint that we’ve done a spell related to the event, which again, might or might not start in,” Kelley checked her watch, the face of which glowed a soft yellow, “two hours and five minutes, give or take 20 seconds.”

You wondered if she came from a muggle family too, but you had been too afraid to ask. You had never met a wizard or witch that preferred wristwatches to pocket watches before. 

“In that case, we’ll head back to the Gryffindor dorms,” Lindsey said, hastily sweeping her transfiguration notes into the mouth of her bag. “See you at dinner Kelley, Ashlyn.”

“Want to meet in the library to learn the sticking charm Y/n?” Emily asked. Lindsey stopped in the doorway, waiting for you. “Like I said, I practiced the charm literally a hundred times, so I’m really good at it now!”

“Um, I think I’m just going to focus on turning my matchstick into a needle tonight, but maybe some other time?” You mumbled, glancing up at Lindsey. (Were you imagining the slight uptick of her lips?) 

“Okay,  See you then!” And with that Emily turned back to her compatriots, who all put their heads together and started talking in hushed voices, over a sheet of paper which looked eerily similar to a playbook. 

“What do you think they’re planning?” you whispered to Lindsey as the two of you raced towards the stone staircases up to the Gryffindor tower. There was this one staircase that was the fastest way up when it was connected to the right floor, but it only stayed there for a few minutes every half hour. If you missed the window to catch it there would be two extra flights to climb. 

“You really don’t want to know. Something always goes wrong when they make plans anyway. It’s why they always get caught,” Lindsey said back equally as quiet, shaking her head. She would skin them alive if you got caught in the crossfire. You were on her off limits list (you always had been) and they had always promised to respect that. 

*****

The two of you just made it to the beginning of dinner, after taking turns in the dorm’s bathroom to shower and dry your hair (at least until it wasn’t noticeably dripping). You didn’t know when your next opportunity to take a shower unscathed would be, and you were happy you had made it within Kelley’s two hour window. 

However, despite your expectations of screams, or the sound of frogs appearing from the drains, it was a quiet night. As was the morning afterwards. It wasn’t until lunch the next day, that you learned what the prank had been. Exactly as the clock struck noon, all around the great hall people started laughing as the hair of ¾ the school population turned bright colors. 

Professor McGonagall frowned at her bright purple hair in the reflection of her teapot. Alex threw a roll at Kelley (with neon yellow hair) who was pointing and laughing at her forest green hair. Tobin and Lauren had fallen off the bench laughing over at the hufflepuff table, pointing towards their respective girlfriends matching pink hair at the ravenclaw and Slytherin tables (Tobin’s hair didn’t seem to have changed color, though Lauren’s was a pale aquamarine sort of blue).

 At the Slytherin table Michelle was admiring her jet black hair, though with a wave of her wand it seemed to be speckled with glimmering white and red stars, then she turned to resume her conversation with Joy and some of the other seventh years, who you noticed didn’t seem to have colorful hair. 

Looking around the hall, you noticed that a lot of the older students seemed to be lacking the colorful hair sprouted by most of the student body. A few Ravenclaw sixth years had only looked up briefly from studying their notes to see what the commotion was about, before returning to “The Official N.E.W.T.S. Study Guide- test prep for the procrastinator”. Hope, Brandi, Mia, Briana, Christie, Tiffany, Lorrie, Carla. You looked at the sixth and seventh years you knew from watching quidditch games. Regardless of house, almost none of them appeared to be affected by the prank.. 

“You could have told me, you know?” Alex glared, throwing another roll at her cackling girlfriend. 

“But what fun would that be?” Kelley snorted, dodging the roll and quickly snatching up the basket to remove any further ammunition out of Alex’s reach. 

“Ashlyn told Ali and Emily told Kristie!” Alex whined, her nose scrunching up just the way Kelley always loved. Alex’s angry face was too cute for her to be like or off limits. 

“I value my life too much to mess with her hair care routine,” Ashlyn said, lifting her hands in surrender at Kelley’s death stare. Ali was on her off limits list after all, and that was a line she wasn’t willing to cross. 

“And you’ll notice all three of us were also affected by this terrible prank some stranger pulled!” Kelley said, unable to keep a straight face to match her seemingly offended tone. 

“Though I think I might use my free period after lunch to practice some quidditch drills,” Ashlyn said, twirling a strand of her bright maroon hair around a finger. “I have a feeling that the color will fade after I dump the icy cooler water over my head.” 

“Need someone to send some quaffles your way?” Lindsey asked around a large bite of turkey. She was always down to practice, especially if it meant avoiding the food fight that seemed to be brewing at their table. 

“Wait, ice water?” You asked Kelley as Ashlyn and Lindsey began discussing practice plans. Kelley jumped on the opportunity to escape Alex’s ire. 

“Oh yeah, we- um, whoever pulled this terrible prank- tied the spell to the hot water pipes. It should be safe to take a hot shower by tonight, but basically anyone who used hot water last night or this morning was affected. Cold water removes it though, which is why we quidditch players will discover the counter first, as we are known for taking ice baths after practice.”

“So I have to freeze my ass off to fix this shit!!” Alex screeched, plucking at the strands of green hair falling into her eyes. 

“Come on,” Lindsey said, grabbing your arm and pulling you towards where Brandi was sitting at the front of the Gryffindor table. “Let’s go get the locker room key from Brandi so we can go practice before potions.” 

“Yeah, let’s do that” You mumbled, eyes widening at how Alex was now towering over Kelley. You didn’t know the beater could shrink so far into her chair. 

Brandi, it turned out, was talking with professor McGonagall about the house cup this year. Though no longer head of Gryffindor house, McGonagall was still invested in the team’s progress. 

“Oh, speak of the boggart, here are our two latest recruits,” Brandi said, gesturing at you and Lindsey as you walked toward her. “Professor, Lindsey is our newest chaser and Y/n is one of the best first time seekers Mia has ever seen.”

“Speaking of which,” Lindsey said jumping in, “We were hoping to practice some drills after lunch. Could we borrow the locker room keys?”

You stood just behind her, still a little intimidated by both women. 

“It is good to see some responsibility coming from some of our second year Gryffindors,” Professor McGonagall said, smiling at you- when you peeked out from behind the taller chaser- and Lindsey in turn.  “I do think some of your classmates, and perhaps even some of our third year students could learn a thing or two from you.”

You weren’t sure how to respond, so you smiled meekly and quickly made your way out of the great hall with Lindsey and the acquired keys. “What do you think she meant by that? Do you think she knows who did it?”

“Oh absolutely,” Lindsey said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t take a Seer to predict that they’re going to have detention tomorrow night. Now come on, I want to try that new feint you read about.”  

[mxrcayong]

part of @nct-writers​’s cafe resonance collab!

genre: fluff, a more UK-based pov of university

summary: jisung, a college student now looking for a job, has decided to apply for a job at the local café. he thought being friends with the manager and its employees has it perks; from unlimited free coffee to whatever pastries haven’t been eaten by the end of the day. needless to say; the perks must end somewhere. 

word count: 2317 words

note: i didn’t make the divider!!

College students practically live by coffee shops. If university was a religion, the on-campus coffee shop would be the bible. Daily, college students’ breath in the coffee beans like oxygen, feel the permanent imprint of coffee mug or a ‘to go’ cup on their lips. They’re surrounded by the smells of different fruity pastries and savory snacks, and the sounds of students either chatting or typing away on their computers. 

It’s no wonder that the university coffee shop was practically a hub of activity. When you sit down to work at Café Resonance, it’s feels like you’re a part of a bigger and collective community, stressing for assessments or just taking a break from their hectic university schedules. It’s especially hectic when you’re a full-time student and work part time.   

“Do I really need to get a job?” Jisung sighed, scratching his head as he leant against the barista’s counter. His six closest friends were working behind the counter: using the coffee machines and decorating the pastries. “Can’t I just use your employee discount on everything?” 

Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows. “You know I want to, my little mouse.” He teased as he placed another order on his tray, “But I can only put the café employee discount on so many things.” He practically sung as he left, heading to a table to bring another set of students their own cups of their own ambrosia.     

From the cash register, Haechan had just finished taking the orders of the last bunch of the line and immediately replaced Jaemin’s place next to Jisung. “You can always just become a sugar baby.” He suggested, coming over to the display case to grab one of the pastries to heat up per the customer’s order. “Or a pole dancer… aren’t you a good dancer?” 

Jisung immediately protested. “Firstly, no. Secondly, is it even legal? I literally only became an adult this year.” 

“Actually…” Haechan started to counter, only to be interrupted by Mark approaching with a raised hand and a dirty mop. 

“Stop telling everyone to become a sugar baby.” Mark chided as he ducked to get back behind the counter, drudging the cleaning supplies with him. “You do realize that if someone does become a sugar baby, they aren’t entitled to paying for your shit either.” In response, Haechan grumbled under his breath as he gave the bewildered customer overhearing the odd conversation their fruity treat. 

Jisung has visited his closest friends enough to know that working at the café is like a beautifully choreographed dance. It moves like clockwork; with the six doing their roles diligently and without question. So, it’s not unusual for his friends to come and go during the conversation – all taking part whilst separating themselves at the same time. 

“Why don’t you just ask Chenle if you could work here?” Renjun suggested, coming out from the back room where he started baking some more pastries – obvious through his powdered apron. “We all work here already, and we can go through the ropes with you.” 

Jeno immediately stepped in and basically rejected the offer. “Do you remember the last time we hosted an event and Jisung wanted to help?” He prompted, before chuckling. “He tried to wash the food with dish soap…and he broke the broom when cleaning!” 

Almost as if the thought of teasing Jisung summons him, Chenle came out of seemingly nowhere. “Didn’t he leave the broken broom on the floor and just started playing video games?” Jeno, Haechan, and Renjun nodded – remembering the mess the 00-line apartment was that night.  

“Not the best party we hosted.” Jaemin commented, going around the counter to make his own drink now that the list of waiting customers is gone. “But, still, Jisung learns fast. I think he could work here.” 

Chenle let out an introspective hum, before leaning over to whisper to Haechan. With a questionable look on their faces, Chenle decided to call Jisung into the back room and in his makeshift ‘managers office’ (a perk of being family with the owner of the university café). “I’ll consider your application, but I can’t do any nepotism.” He started, “so, you must go through the whole application process.” He paused. “You must come up with your own recipe.” 

With a rule to not discuss recipes with his ‘potential future co-workers’ – which Chenle weirdly specified as everyone but Haechan, Jisung had to get straight to work. In all honesty, he had no baking experience nor ever made a drink without a guiding recipe.

While his six closest friends were out of the equation, he had another friend he could reach out to; Y/N. 

You were in his freshmen orientation group earlier this year. Not going to lie, you initially thought of each other as familiar faces who you’d occasionally wave at or nod in acknowledgement when you walk past each other. However, you later found yourself eating in the same hall cafeteria…and then the same hall pantry…and then, it clicked. You two lived only four doors away from each other in your university hall. 

Needless to say, you two ran midnight McDonald trips basically on a weekly basis. You became integral to Jisung’s daily routine; from waking each other up for breakfast to storming into each other rooms, armed with complaints and rants about the shitty professor who made you read 300 pages for one night. Even on your busiest days, you two would always pick each other up for the hall provided breakfasts and dinners. 

So here you were - Jisung was slouching down on your desk chair while you were resting on the bed, your back against the wall and a pillow in your lap as you tried to help Jisung solve his current problem. “Well…did Chenle give you a prompt or anything?” 

Jisung shook his head, groaning back. “It’s not like we have a kitchen to try and bake either! We only have fridges and a microwave and a….” He tried to recall what was on the floor pantry. 

“Just a fridge and a microwave.” You added. “That means pastries are off the table…how about a drink?” 

Jisung groaned again. “I have a hard time making pre-made coffee!” 

You couldn’t help but chuckle; you remembered that day. It was a scary time for you; your credit card company sent you a text about a fraudulent use of your student account. Not only did you end up stressing to the point of crying, but you also learned it was a false alarm. Luckily, while still reeling from the anxiety inducing news, you ran into Jisung as he was leaving his room. He then took you to the pantry to try and cheer you up with coffee…however, a fire alarm went off and practically deafened the whole university housing cohort for hours. 

And poor Jisung…Jisung was just an awkward little mouse, trying to look innocent as he saw his exhausted neighbors clamber out into the park due to his attempt of making pre-made coffee. 

“Well…you have me. This isn’t hopeless.” Climbing off the bed, you pretended to dust yourself off. “So, let’s go to the pantry? Another one of our…”

Jisung quickly furrowed his brows, interjecting while you still spoke “I don’t think this can be considered snacking…”

“Pantry-time dates.” You stuttered, obviously unsure of the title. Usually, you call them ‘cup noodle dates’ or ‘popcorn dates’; a joke that ran through your small group of friends as well as the resident advisors at the university hall. 

No one likes being in the pantry. Especially the second floor. For one, things always get stolen; from cutlery to a six pack of coke. Secondly, the few times people use the microwave to heat up their meals, they tend to leave the leftovers to rot on the windowsill. But you and Jisung sit there together; maybe because something about it feels open and comfortable, despite the terrible smell. Plus…the two of you placed bets on who could be the thief when people awkwardly clamber on by, and if on one of these ‘dates’ you catch the thief obviously taking something that isn’t theirs? Even better. 

But today… you two will have to be the forsaken thieves. 

“So someone put chocolate powder in the fridge…” You commented incredulously, especially as this fridge is known for freezing things into ice in minutes. “There’s some…expired milk.” Jisung watched as you searched through the fridge for any hidden treasures; feeling more and more unsure of himself as you listed more and more ingredients. “Oh, okay, some non-expired milk. That will be useful.” 

“We can make a latte?” Jisung offered, now on his phone searching up popular café drinks. 

“Yes!” You enthused, finally feeling like this trip to the pantry isn’t useless after all. “But…we should probably write an apology note to the people we’re stealing from.” 

It’s been almost five hours in the pantry. Countless of people came in (however, this time you tried not to place bets as you knew who the real thieves were tonight) and would just stare at the two of you, arguing over a kettle of milk. Even your neighbor Victor came in; having sat and watched you two for a good while (which made Jisung extra cautious; he’s had a theory about him being the forsaken pantry thief for a while). Victor, however, said you two should have a cooking show, to which you scoffed while Jisung basked in the compliment. This very same compliment crossed Victor off of Jisung’s “potential criminals” list. 

Eventually, you had a drink in front of you. A chocolate latte that Jisung insisted on putting salt in, as “Modern Family said it was a good idea”. Admittedly, the first ten versions of this drink were absolute failures; making you go to the bathroom numerous times to vomit out the thick and almost flour-like texture.  

So, for your final check, the two of you grabbed the non-eaten pastries Jisung brought home from the café. Hopefully, this will act as a palette cleanser; especially since tasting all of the failed drinks probably have messed with your taste buds and lowered all sorts of expectations. 

After taking bites into the Suh-ndwitch and Henpretzel, you two finally took sips of the drink you attempted to make since 10pm – with Jisung making far too many references to the Powerpuff Girls opening theme. 

Alas – the taste that flooded their senses wasn’t at all bad, no. Nor was it ‘a little bit of sugar and everything ice’, but it was something you’d expect from Starbucks. You two immediately squealed out of excitement, ignoring the fact that you probably woke the neighboring rooms up at three in the morning. Jisung immediately went over to hug your waist, spinning you around as fast as he could; before something unexpected happens. 

You felt his lips on yours; tasting like chocolate and leftover ingredients that were remnants from his palette cleanser of a sandwich. The feeling was foreign; you never expected to kiss Jisung. He was your best friend, your neighbour; but his lips were soft…and something about this felt right. 

But then the door slammed opened. A zombie-like RA came in and you two immediately jumped to different sides of the room. “I know you two always do your pantry dates, but…” The RA started, obviously sluggish from being woken up at 3am. “We got noise complaints.” 

Jisung awkwardly coughed, apologized, and ran away; leaving you confused in the corner of the pantry. 

Café Resonance were never busy Friday evenings. People were most likely out pubbing or preparing for their weekends of antics. So when Jisung stormed in with a recipe in hand, he wasn’t afraid to celebrate as loudly as if he had just won the Olympic World Cup. “I got the recipe! Can I please have the job?” He practically pleaded, dropping the piece of paper with messy handwriting and the sample drink you two whipped up again the night prior. On top of the page with chocolate colored stains were the words; “Hamji Choco Latte” with (served hot or cold)  at the bottom.

“A recipe?” Everyone but Haechan and Chenle looked confused; with the latter two smirking in the corner of the room. But as soon as Haechan cracked and let out a loud laugh, Mark turned around and immediately recognized the culprits of this misunderstanding. 

“Bruh,” Chenle let out throughout his charming ‘dolphin laugh’, “You had the job – I was just messing with you.” 

Haechan pouted, approaching Jisung to ruffle his hair. “My sweet, small, dumb idiot…how much I love you.” He placed a sloppy kiss at the corner of his head, making Jisung immediately try to scrub it off. 

Jisung scowled, upset he let himself get fooled by his best friends. “At least I got a girlfriend from it…” He mumbled, more to himself, but forgetful of how Jeno’s ears can pick up on anything. It was from my ASMR stint, Jeno would say. 

“WHAT!?” He exclaimed, as if Jisung getting a girlfriend would happen the day pigs would fly. 

“I sent you to make a café recipe, not a love potion!” Chenle cackled even more; while his fellow friends made him explain what happened. 

By the time the store closed, Jaemin gave Jisung the ‘talk’ and warned that although they spent nights in each other’s rooms before, Jisung and you must be ‘safe’ and ‘protected’. 

People always say the first people you become friends with at university don’t always stay friends for life. People tend to clash, find their hobbies, and go different ways. But Jisung was lucky. He met you; his best friend and now his other half. And despite the annoying prank Chenle made that wasted hours of your time, Chenle was right; the Hamji Choco Latte was basically a love potion as it brought the hidden infatuation you had for each other to light.  

Now, every time he picks you up from your lecture hall, he brings one extra-large chocolatey drink to share. 

“Email sent out to residents of NCU Hall: 

Dear residents of the second floor, 

The person who has been stealing cultlery and food has been identified. Victor Cho will be coming by to return any items that may have belonged to you.”

Jisung screamed at the top of his lungs when he got this email. “I TOLD YOU SO!” 

[retvenkos]

“this place feels like home”

A/N: someone mentioned it, so here i am

WHAT THE HOGWARTS COMMON ROOMS LOOK LIKE, IN MY CLEARLY SUPERIOR OPINION...

gryffindor common room

i’m no interior decorator, and i’m betting godric gryffindor wasn’t either, so it looks like a glorified man cave

lots of designated areas for just hanging out, a huge, central fireplace, lots of open places perfect for pulling your wand on someone to duel, but very cluttered in other areas where you are meant to be close for house bonding!

secondly, there are a total of like, 4 desks you can use to work on, and they’re pushed to the walls, the chairs constantly stolen for something or another.

the main focus of the gryffindor common room is the couches and chairs

there’s a recliner that some muggle-born student brought in, and when they first kicked it out the purebloods went absolutely feral

they don’t know how it works, but they love it

there are so many radios... gryffindor has the best sound system for any kind of party. the other houses have to use charms to get the sound evenly distributed, but gryffindors just use their like, 10 different radios

there are a lot of spare pillows and blankets, but they don’t exactly have a place to go - they’re usually just thrown on the back of the couches or cast to the floor.

sometimes the 1st years will play “the ground is lava” and it’s vvv sweet

the ceiling has constellations mapped onto it, and they’re actually accurate. using your wand, you can “shift” the sky and it’s a really effective way to get your astronomy homework done

harry didn’t notice it because he’s as observant as a doorknob

the most chaotic thing about the gryffindor common room is the fact that there are real swords and battle axes on the wall, all of which belonged to godric gryffindor himself

students will 100% try to use them as jokes, but they can never manage to actually grab them? their hands just go right through them like they aren’t real

but if you approach them with nothing but wonder and reverence, when you reach out, you can most definitely feel them, and they are real

i really just want someone to have picked up a battle axe during the battle at hogwarts, now

there are a couple of portraits that give life advice, but most of them are #tired and leave their portraits to go visit others because the common room can get so crazy

the amount of animals this common room has,,,, i sure do hope you’re not allergic

there are lizards, rats, toads, cats, tarantulas...

if you’re afraid of any of them, tell your classmates when you’re still a first or second year and the whole of gryffindor tower will rally behind you to make the other person put their animal in their dormitory

there always seems to be leftover food from a party, so you’re well fed. 

and if you’re from another house, this is the easiest house to steal food from.

oh, and the carpet (because YEAH, someone put in carpet with some kind of magic) does not match the furnishings at all.

minimalists cry at the sight of this common room 

slytherin common room

first of all!!!! this common room has a glass ceiling because someone else came up with this idea and it is legendary

they mentioned the merfolk help with classes! they know sign language! i am very here for it.

then,,, there is an entire section of the common room that is dedicated to games - checkers, chess, poker, solitaire, even some muggle board games

it’s how they foster community. friendly competition is everything to slytherins and slytherins can actually do friendly competition, unlike ravenclaws

at lot of purebloods are still trying to win risk. it confuses them so much.

there’s probably a cat or two in this common room

they actually get along fairly well with the owls, but every so often snape has to come in and stop then from attacking each other and it would be hilarious if he weren’t so intimidating

there’s a lot more space in this common room, or maybe it’s just set up as to give the illusion of more space. either way, the slytherins are more spread out.

they don’t like breathing on each other

the gothic aesthetic does exist, but it’s not all gloomy because some intelligent slytherin’s know that’s bad for mental health.

they probably have a fourth of the room (maybe in a corner) that’s a little more lighted and cozy, with the most supportive portraits in that area

the slytherin common room has bean bags

this was a later addition, ofc, seeing as there is no way in hell salazar slytherin would ever allow that to happen

but everyone loves them a whole lot. 1st years always beeline for them

and slytherin was a good interior decorator, so we have the perfect ratio of portraits to wall space and the amount of lamps is actually palatable.

and there might be a dramatic hamlet skull on a table or two, but they’re not real - just decor. sometimes slytherin’s use them for pranks.

there’s actually a fair bit of communal property, too? like, there’s a lot of blankets, a bookshelf, and a table that always has food on it because the dungeons are hella far away from the kitchens and many slytherins like a good midnight snack

the slytherins actually talk more to ghosts than the other houses - ghosts like to hang out in the dungeons, and the amount of ghost jokes that the slytherins know is incredible

a group of hufflepuffs swear they once heard professor binns laugh at a ghost joke one of the slytherin’s retold

the snake iconography of this room is so high - it would honestly be a little unnerving if everyone wasn’t just used to it.

there’s probably a game going around where someone will conjure up an extra snake decoration and every week the first and second years are trying to find out which one it is

sometimes a very tired 5th year will give you a hint

there’s not a space that’s specifically designated for studying, but you can often find space in a few different places.

the desks are always being used for games, like i mentioned above, but someone had introduced the idea of lap desks and slytherins love that so much.

ravenclaw common room

this is the most minimalist of the common rooms in decor and style, but there’s so much happening at all times that it never looks bare

and a fair few ravenclaws are BIG about organization, so this is one of the more compartmentalized common rooms

it’s also formatted this way because the studious ravenclaw has threatened the musically inclined ravenclaw, saying that they will not hesitate to sabotage the other’s saxophone if they ever hear careless whisper while trying to study for n.e.w.t.s again.

also, i just want to say that ravenclaw house is probably one of the most diverse houses because creativity is so broad, and that combined with their individualistic streak means that community is a little less strong in this house, but there’s a place for everyone

i have no doubt that someone has enchanted the common room to expand on the inside, so it has much more room than say gryffindor common room or hufflepuff common room. 

they’re also big about making boundaries - there’s probably actual walls and doors between different areas. 

like, one for studying, one for art (like drawing and painting), one for music, etc.

also, you would think this is a quiet common room but you would be wrong.

the quiet ones are slytherin and hufflepuff. gryffindor and ravenclaw are both p chaotic.

except for the quiet room, which is as silent as they come. if you need quiet inspiration, you go there. it’s also the study room, though, so when you’re struck with inspiration, you have to keep quiet.

now, ravenclaws like to keep what is theirs, but they do have some communal property, mostly in the form of books and materials like typewriters and art supplies (although some people are very territorial about their brushes. it’s a toss up.)

there’s a floor to ceiling window that can actually be opened up - kind of like doors. the ravenclaws have it instead of the gryffindors because they have self control and won’t jump out the window without a sure plan of survival.

there’s also statues and busts! rowena ravenclaw was decent at interior design, and she loved sculpture - maybe she had a sculptor lover at one point? who knows? there’s just a lot of busts in ravenclaw tower

no doubt they’re enchanted to give advice or tbh just to gossip. i imagine there’s a lot of gossip in ravenclaw tower

the walls are painted in some places. it’s a rule that you don’t paint over other people’s art, but the paint is also enchanted so that if you look closely, you can see the name of who has painted what, and ravenclaws are too proud to do idiotic things like drawing crude doodles on the walls.

the only person to ever paint on the ceiling is luna lovegood, and she was commissioned to do so after her time at hogwarts.

there’s also a chalkboard wall for when you’re studying and need to write things down to think. beware, though, because your work can and will be erased.

you can also write on the large window i talked about! muggle students have brought dry erase markers and they are much needed.

oh, and ravenclaws have a lot of owl access - they owls like to stop at ravenclaw tower for treats and whatnot, and ravenclaws definitely use this to their advantage. they have priority for mail service and it’s a win tbh.

hufflepuff common room

now helga hufflepuff was no interior decorator either, but she was a homemaker, so we all know that this common room is the most home-like of the bunch

first of all, there are potted plants everywhere. hufflepuffs are known to be good at herbology, and that tradition means there are a whole lot of life in this common room

there’s also a curious amount of sunlight, too, despite being in the basement. i’m not exactly sure how it’s done, but the common room has actual sunlight - it’s important for the plants.

i also imagine there’s one wall that is a long mirror. you can use it for whatever you like, introspection, self affirmations, or reflecting light or whatever, but helga thought it was important to always be aware of yourself.

muggle students have brought sticky notes and now the mirror if full of them - little reminders, little motivations, fun quotes, jokes, etc.

there’s also a lot of couches and desks. the desks are usually very cluttered, but you can always find space for your stuff, somehow. and the couches are the softest at hogwarts, gryffindors have been trying to steal them for years.

also, the marauders were incredibly presumptuous, thinking they had found all of the secret passageways in the castle - there are at least 3 secret passages that only hufflepuffs know about and it’s one of the best kept secrets at hogwarts. they all connect to the common room.

and as initiation, on their first night as hufflepuffs, first years traverse secret passageways in the dark trying to figure out where they lead, all of them having to work together to figure out the lumos spell for some light.

and one of those passageways leads to the kitchens. it’s how they get the best food for parties. hufflepuffs often put in requests for what they want at breakfast or dinner.

this is also the warmest common room. i’m not exactly sure how it’s done, but the common room is never cold - maybe a little chilly, but not cold enough that you need a sweater.

the flooring is carpet, but parts of it are hard wood - it’s clear it used to be carpet, but was stained beyond repair from a broken pot or two.

there is toad supremacy in the hufflepuff common room. there’s probably one or two toads that don’t have real owners but are treated as the house pets.

there’s also a few paintings - all of them are smaller because there’s so much going on in this common room already, the walls have to be mellow to account for everything else, but there’s a couple and all of them like to tell jokes and give really good advice. 

two of the newer (and favorite) additions include cedric diggory and tonks. they both get along quite well, although tonks is more mischievous and cedric is more down to earth.

cedric will often tell you how to charm a professor, if you ask, and he might give answers to homework questions to favorite students.

similar to gryffindor common room, there’s a lot of cozy areas that encourage students to chat with each other and spend time together.

but similar to slytherin, there is a lot of games about - they involve less strategy and more fun (like hide and go seek or charades) - but games is a bonding strategy that hufflepuffs utilize.

AND FLUFF ENSUES.

-- taglist: @musicallisto, @theletterhart, @locke-writes, @randomfandomimagine, @brokenandheadoverheels, @timeofmadness, @writerdream22, @lotsoffandomrecs, @neelia-thedaughtherof-athena, @coffee--writes, @lenalxvegood, @cooloaflandhero, @swanimagines, @noesapphic​, @amortensie // message me if you want to be added!