#and once again i made a redhead with green eyes and tons of freckles

[agena87]

Shawn Whaley, 19, Henford-On-Bagley

"Heard you were lookin' for a farm hand."

[1littleshippergirl1]

They know

Summary: Harry and Percy are getting closer when the family finds out

@curiousfeline

--

To be clear, it wasn't their intention to try and leep their blossoming friendship and subsequent feelings hidden from the family. They weren't ashamed by any means, but Harry was always getting whisked away by Ron or Ginny for one reason or another.

So, they made it a habit of Harry sneaking out of bed to tip-toe down the hallway down to Percy's room, knocking gently with his knuckles until Percy would open the door and they would stay up for hours, just talking about anything and everything.

After the war ended, Percy temporarily moved out of his flat that was near Diagon Alley to come back to the Burrow and into his old bedroom. They were all hurt and in need of healing after what happened to Fred; Percy felt deeply guilty and sorry for everything he'd done and vowed to make it up to them.

Harry was there, too. Mrs. Weasley insisted he stay there now that Voldemort wasn't a threat anymore. The Dursleys certainly wouldn't welcome him back with open arms or at all, really. Last he heard, they were still in hiding for the time being; just until things settled down more.

Harry had always had mixed feelings regarding Percy. At first, he was just the somewhat stuck up, no fun older brother that scolded him and Ron sometimes. But than again, Harry never had an older brother figure in his life so maybe most of them were like that.

But, as he grew older, feelings started to arise that were far from friend or brother-like. It further complicated things, causing a swirl of anxiety to feel as though it was being dropped in his stomach like a ton of bricks. He was sure that Percy would never see him beyond being Ron's best mate.

Until, lately, that is.

Harry didn't see Percy as being much of a flirt, but as he would come to find out, there was much more to Percy Weasley than meets the eye.

A subtle brush against him as they passed each other, a shy smile exchanged more than once. They would glance at each other, quickly turning away. Harry once laughed a little too hard at a joke that Percy had said while talking to Charlie. Those nearby-Ron and Ginny-stared at him in bewilderment. Charlie raised his eyebrows and Percy looked downright amused.

Harry promptly turned red.

--

Harry was laying on Percy's bed, on his side with his head propped up with his elbow. He was listening attentively to Percy describing the work that the new Minister-Kingsley-had him doing as they diligently worked to repair what had been damaged during the time that the Death Eaters had taken over the Ministry.

Percy was always so passionate when he was talking about something that interested him. And Harry saw that shining through, with the redhead waving his arms around and his tone becoming excited.

Harry could have listened to him talk for hours, as cheesy as it was.

Percy abruptly calmed down, adjusting his glasses and giving Harry a sheepish smile. "I suppose I'm boring you aren't I?"

Harry shook his head. "No. Definitely not."

"You're sure?" Percy said, frowning. "I know it isn't the most riveting work out there."

"I'm sure," Harry reassured him. "Really. I'm glad you're sharing it with me. You don't really talk about it, otherwise."

Percy lowered his gaze. "Yes, well, no one wants to hear it. You've seen how everyone thinks of me as boring. I'm not deaf, you know. I hear them pretending to yawn and ask when it'll be over. I just act like I don't hear it."

A sense of shame filled Harry. He'd done that before, growing immensely bored at listening to Percy talk of cauldron bottoms and had nudged Ron to see if he was bored as Harry felt. It never occurred to him that Percy had caught what he said. "I'm sorry."

He needn't explain it. Percy came closer, standing up from his spot on his desk chair and sitting on the bed. He ruffled Harry's naturally untidy hair and the younger boy rolled his eyes. "It's alright," he assured, Harry.

"But it isn't," Harry protested. "You didn't deserve to be made fun of for that. No one makes fun of Charlie when he talks about dragons for hours and they don't pretend to be sleeping when Bill tells us the same stories about his job." He sat up, scooting closer to Percy and looked at the man earnestly. "It isn't fair to you."

"Harry-" Percy blinked, apparently caught off guard. "I...I didn't know you cared that much. I-thank you. I really appreciate it."

Harry leaned over to hug him, surprising them both. He wasn't all that affectionate, usually. "Of course I do," he muttered, getting momentarily distracted by the smell that was coming from Percy. He was wearing cologne. It suited him well.

It also was making Harry's brain short circuit.

Slowly, to linger to keep absorbing as much of the aroma as possible, Harry pulled away. A bit saddened at the loss of contact. But he didn't vocalize it.

Percy was looking at him quite funny. It made his stomach do that flip flop, like when he had his brief crush on Cho. He swallowed.

"What?"

"Nothing," Percy shook his head, giving a sound that was between a scoff and a breathy laugh. "I just- your eyes are very green, that's all."

"Err, okay," Harry said, bemusedly.

"S'stupid, I know. I just-"

"It's not," Harry interrupted him. "Guess I've just heard that a lot. I mean, I thought you knew."

" I did," Percy said, maintaining eye contact. "But I've never seen them this close up before. It's different."

"Oh," Harry whispered. "Alright."

"I like them," Percy said, quietly. "Your eyes. They're your best feature, really."

A brilliant flush washed over Harry's face. He wasn't used to being complimented for his appearance, much less from the man he'd taken a serious fancy to. "Thanks," he ducked his head. "I mean, they're alright, I suppose."

"I mean it," Percy licked his lips and Harry zeroed in on his tongue that lightly brushed over on the pink flesh.

Godric, help him.

"You're staring," Percy breathed and Harry knew he was caught.

"Sorry," Harry muttered. He was going to move, go back to Ron's bedroom where he found bury his face in the pillow to forget about this moment when Percy took ahold of his wrist, preventing him from leaving.

"Don't be," Percy's eyes were dilated. "I'm rather glad."

"You are?" Harry's own eyes widened slightly at the confession.

"Indeed. I quite like you, Harry."

"How do you like me?" Harry deliberately kept his voice low.

"I think you know," Percy said smoothly.

Harry's heart gave a leap.

"I want to kiss you," Percy admitted. "But this isn't the right time. We hardly know much about each other, not as much as we should."

Harry nodded wordlessly.

He longed to pull the other man by the loose tie he was still wearing and smash his lips against him, but Percy was right.

They both felt that connection.

That feeling of electricity that Harry had previously dismissed as being real.

They would take it slow. They wouldn't rush anything. Because they both wanted it to work.

It had to.

"We'll get there," Percy cut through his thoughts, speaking softly. "I promise you."

Harry could only nod again.

"Suppose I should go, then..."

"You don't have to," Percy shook his head. "If you don't want to, I mean. I like having you here." He laid on his back, his head resting against the pillow and he gestured for Harry to join him.

"Really?" Harry gawked at him. "You don't think it's too soon for that?"

Percy seemed a bit startled and propped himself on his elbows just as Harry had done earlier. "Do you?"

"I don't know," this was new territory for him. "I've never done this before."

"I understand," Percy said, sincerely. "You certainly don't have to if you dont want to."

Harry glanced over his shoulder at the closed door and back to Percy's slight apprehensive and hopeful face.

"I want to," he decided. He crawled next to Percy and the red head wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer.

Harry's heartbeat quickened, the cologne infiltrating his nostrils once again. He'd never been that close in proximity to Percy before, where the freckles that were scattered on the man's face became more pronounced.

"Do I make you nervous?" Percy murmured. He'd turned his head, his breath hitting Harry's temple.

"A bit." Percy was having more of an affect on him, more than simply nerves. He was hardly doing much, and he might not have even known it, but the slight touch to Harry's skin was like fire.

Harry had never experienced such a feeling with anyone else and he didn't want it to end.

"A bit, how?" He could hear the smile in Percy's voice. His words were coquettish, thoroughly un-Percy-like.

"I think you know."

Percy's soft laugh reverberated off the walls.

They laid there for the longest time. Harry eventually allowed himself to relax, the tension from being so close to Percy fading away. For a while, until sleep began to override the red head and his hand went limp, his fingers had been running through Harry's hair.

It might've been Harry's imagination or a bit of a hallucination from exhaustion, but out of his peripheral vision, Harry could have sworn that Percy was going to kiss his forehead-before he retracted.

--

Harry noticed two things when he awoke the next morning.

One, he was laying right on Percy's chest. The red head was still asleep, blissfully oblivious to it, but his arms were wrapped around Harry's frame, keeping a decent grip for not being awake.

And two, Ginny was standing in the room, wide-eyed with her mouth agape, frozen.

"Ginny," he started, then stopped because what was he supposed to say that would somehow this when he was on her brother's chest, in his room when he should have been with Ron?

Ginny held her hands up, coughing lightly. "Mum, erm, was wondering where you went. Said to tell you, Ron and Percy that breakfast is ready."

"Right," Harry muttered. "Thanks."

Ginny nodded. A smirk came onto her face, now that her own awkwardness seemed to subside a bit. "Tell that to Percy when he wakes up, will you?"

Harry was trying to move at least one of Percy's arms, which was keeping him trapped. "Right," he said. "I'll do that. Close the door behind you, yeah?"

Ginny did just that and he was sure he heard her snicker as she turned away.

Once they were safe, privacy restored, Harry shook the red head gently. "Percy," he whispered, urgently. "Percy, wake up!"

Percy's face scrunched up and he looked blearily at Harry. "Hmm?" He grunted.

"Wake up," Harry repeated.

Percy released Harry when he moved his arms to rub at his eyes. "What time is it?" However, before Hary could get a word out, he sat straight up, suddenly looking more awake. "Oh, Merlin. We fell asleep."

Harry exhaled. "Yeah."

"You have to leave," Percy told him, quickly. "Mum's going to be wondering where you're at."

"Too late," Harry mumbled. He hesitated. "Ginny was here."

Percy groaned, falling back. "Merlin's beard, this isn't good."

"Sorry," Harry muttered, looking on over at the wall instead of Percy's eyes. "Should've left last night."

Unbeknownst to him, Percy frowned and sighed. "It's not your fault, now stop it. I was the one that invited you to lay down. I should've known better, we were both tired by that time."

"What will we tell them?" Harry wondered. "They're going to have questions."

"The truth," Percy shrugged.

"Really?" Harry blurted out.

Percy looked at him strangely. "Yes, if that's alright with you."

"Oh, yeah! Yeah, that's fine. I....I didn't think you'd want them to know."

"Why?" Percy was surprised. "Why would you think that?"

"I don't know," Harry shrugged now. "Figured you'd want to keep it quiet."

"But why?"

"I'm," Harry mulled over what he'd say, "not exactly the best person to be with right now."

"Harry, if this is about the war, I completely understand," Percy said softly.

"It's not that....people are going to talk, Percy."

"Let them," Percy said, immediately.

"But your job-"

"My job isn't going to dictate my personal life," Percy said, matter-of-factly. "If I want to see you and you're alright with that, then that's what I'll do."

A warm sensation filled Harry from his toes to his face. A goofy grin came onto his lips. "Oh," he murmured.

"Indeed," Percy agreed. There was a two second pause. "Shall I take it from your smile that you wouldn't mind seeing me?"

"You'd be right, Mr. Weasley," Harry said with a sense of playfulness that he didn't know he had in him.

Percy grinned.

--

Most of the family was there at the table, eating breakfast and drinking their tea without much talking going on. Bill and Fleur were back at their cottage, they'd decided against staying at the Burrow. And right after the battle, Charlie was summoned back to Romania to tend to one of the dragons that was injured from some falling debris.

Ron wasn't down there, yet, either. Harry was thankful. Perhaps he hadn't realized he was gone. Of course, that wouldn't stop Ginny or Mrs. Weasley from asking him about last night. He imagined they were bursting to know why he was in Percy's room, of all people.

"Morning," Harry kept his head low. Percy let him go ahead of him, while he dawdled.

Mrs. Weasley glanced at him, smiling. She was pouring tea in Ginny's cup. "Good morning, Harry, Dear. How did you sleep?"

Ginny snorted.

Harry cleared his throat. Mrs. Weasley was most likely not trying to tease him, but he still couldn't help but feel cornered. "Fine, thanks."

"Bet you did," Ginny mumbled.

Harry blushed, taking a seat.

"I noticed you weren't in Ron's room, Dear," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Err, yeah."

"Ginny told me you were in Percy's room, is that right?"

"Yeah," Harry said, quietly.

George almost spit out his tea. "Percy's room?" He said in disbelief. "What in Godric's name were you doing in there?"

Now Harry definitely felt cornered. "Nothing," he said hurriedly to avoid any unnecessary belief in thinking that they'd done more than they did. "We just talked, is all."

"Talked to who?" Ron came down, yanking behind his hand.

"Harrykins was talking to Percy," George informed him. "Last night in Percy's bedroom."

"Why?" Ron looked at Harry, blankly.

"Hush up, all of you," Mrs. Weasley had mercy on Harry. "If Harry wants to tell you, that's his business. And be nice, Percy is your brother. He's working hard to mend things so we should be making am effort as well." She gave her children a stern gaze, silently daring them to contradict her.

"Oh, come on, Mum," George protested, "you aren't the slight bit curious why Harry was with Percy, of all people?"

"No," she retorted.

Harry grimaced when Percy appeared, smiling at them. "Good morning," he greeted, kissing his mum on the cheek. "This looks delicious, Mum." He took a seat adjacent to Harry's.

"Why was Harry in your room, Perce?" Ron said, dumbly.

"It isn't it obvious?" Ginny mumbled under her breath.

But Ron didn't hear her.

"Not that it's any of your business," Percy said, pointedly, "but we were talking."

"About what?" George was confused. "What could you two have to talk about?"

"Plenty," Percy raised his eyebrows.

Harry itched to intervene before Ron or George said something hurtful, as they prone to do.

Ron blinked. "But why?" He pressed. "Harry never talks to you."

"Actually, Ron-"

"We do," Harry said and everyone's attention turned to him. "Talk, I mean. We've been doing it every night since Percy came back."

Ginny looked thoughtful. George and Ron were astounded. Mrs. Weasley had a smile on her face.

"You have?" Ron couldn't believe it.

"Yes," Harry said, slowly. "And that's not all." He glanced at Percy for permission. The red head nodded subtly. "We're, err, well-"

Percy, thank Godric, was able to articulate it for him. "What Harry means to say is, we've come to have certain....feelings for each other."

Mrs. Weasley squealed and gave them both a bone crushing hug. Harry had a nagging suspicion that wedding magazines would soon be popping up all over the place.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" She gushed, clapping her hands together.

Oh, yes, Harry could see the wedding bells in her eyes.

"We aren't together yet, Mum," Percy said, gently. "Not yet. We want to get to know each other first."

"Oh, nonsense. You've known each other for years!"

"But not on a personal level," Percy explained, patiently. "I know Harry as Ron's friend. But I want to know him further. I want to know him intimately."

Harry's felt awfully like a teenage girl, but he could not stop the happiness that was roaming around within him. He couldn't remember someone ever saying something like that to him before.

"You really like Percy like that, Harry?" Geotge spoke up, glancing between them. Ron was looking just as confused.

"Yes," Harry affirmed.

"Like a-a lover?" Ron was having difficulty getting the question out.

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "Ronald Weasley, if you even think about-"

"I don't care that he's gay!" Ron said, defensively. "He already told me, anyway. S'just weird, is all, liking my brother."

"You didn't react well when he was with Ginny, either," George snickered.

Said Weasley rolled her eyes.

"But I do agree with Ron on this," George continued, sobering. "Why Percy?" He looked to Harry.

Percy was trying to appear as though he didn't care that much about Harry's response, trying to nonchalantly stir the sugar into his tea; but Harry saw through that. He was obvious (to Harry), there came the little glances out of the corner of his eye as he waited for Harry to speak. "He's just..." Harry paused, "different. He made mistakes but he's trying to fix them and there's so much more about him that I never realized."

"Like what?" Ron asked.

"He's really passionate about things and he's got a wicked sense of humor."

"Percy?" George snorted. "Our Percy? Him? Percy Weasley?"

Percy looked mildly annoyed.

"Yes, him," Harry said. "You'd know if you paid more attention to him."

That got them thinking.

"Alright, then, why Harry?" Ron directed to Percy.

"He's different," Percy chuckled when his siblings rolled their eyes. "He makes me feel appreciated and I don't have to worry about boring him. It's just a different feeling, one that I never even shared with Penelope." He then added, "He's quite good looking, too."

Ginny laughed.

Mrs. Weasley beamed.

Harry shot him a dirty look, his cheeks reddening.

"Oh," was all Ron could say.

"You're not angry, are you?" Harry was concerned.

Ron immediately shook his head. "Course not. It'll take some time to get used to but you don't have to worry about anything, Harry. You're my best mate. I'll support you no matter what."

Inwardly, Harry gave a sigh of relief.

Ginny kicked George from underneath the table. "Ow! Sheesh, Gin. What was that for? If Harrykins likes Percy, then that's fine by me. He's just going to regret not picking up on a such a handsome bloke like myself," he said with an air of fake arrogance.

"You're not even gay," Ginny pointed out.

"The point still stands," George sniffed.

The Weasley siblings shared a laugh. Harry watched as Ginny affectionately ruffled Percy's hair and George promised to give Harry a "talking to" and later on, when Mr. Weasley came back from whatever he was working on in the shed, he was informed of the events he missed.

Now that it was out in the open, he and Percy didn't have to be so secretive. So, at dinner, they sat next to each other and Harry was free to glance over at his potential lover, observing how he easily brushed off his siblings' teasing about his (possible) relationship.

It was a good time, indeed.

--

I hope y'all liked it! I would love to do more Percy/Harry so if you guys have any requests, don't be afraid to message me!

[slytherin-puffskein]

Small ficlet based on this post I’ve seen ! Enjoy <3 !

Description: As Merula asks Laurent what he feels for Barnaby, he realizes a thing or two.

* * *

“So, King”

As soon as he hears Merula’s voice in the Great Hall, Lau immediately knows that something is coming... something he might not entirely enjoy. Reluctantly, he puts his fork down, and turns to the young Slytherin. As usual, her hair is sticking out in random tufts, and he almost thinks about buying her a hairbrush... but really, who was he to judge her like that ? As far as he knew, his hair were as messy, maybe even worst.

“Now, that is the topic of the day, Merula ? Are you going to talk about my ‘mediocre’ Quidditch skills ? Or make fun of my freckles again ? Really, that one could have been original, if it had been delivered by someone more... creative than you”

Somehow, Merula manages to let all of Lau’s comments slide, and she focuses on the young boy as she tries to figure out how to word her sentence. She can’t believe she’s doing this. Really, she only accepted because Rowan was too shy to ask himself, and promised Merula a bunch of candies if she did it.

“Do you have a crush on Barnaby Lee, or not !? Literally everyone has been asking themselves that question... except Barnaby, of course. He’s too much of an airhead to realize someone might potentially like him”

As demonstrated with Ismelda and her failed confession attempt. Lau can’t help but briefly remember that awkward moment, but quickly shifts his attention back on the so-called ‘Best Witch of Hogwarts’

( my ass )

“And why would I answer ?”

“Because Rowan promised me... a reward, that will greatly help me with finding the Vaults”

Come on now, she wasn’t going to admit to Laurent Dorian King that he merely told her he’ll get her candies. She leans towards Lau, a scowl on her face.

“So now, tell me the truth, before I hex the truth out of your Mudblood mouth !”

“Y’know, Merula, someone should really teach you how to properly ask a question”

He tilts his head, and stares at Merula.

“I am not crushing on Barnaby. He’s just a friend”

“Just a friend ?”

“Yeah ! Friends are a thing, Mer. He’s just someone I enjoy being around, and I really hate it when he’s not nearby. I mean, isn’t that a normal thing to feel about your friend ?”

Huh, Merula can’t really tell she feels that way for Ismelda. But she keeps listening to him anyway.

“And like... I just happen every so often to admire his smile, and his dimples, as well as the way he lights up when he talks about something he loves. Have you seen him talking about Magical Creatures ? It’s adorable, really. And he’s also just... so caring, how can I not like being around him ? Surely, it’s a normal thing to feel... right ?”

( Doubtful )

Before Merula can say this, however, Laurent keeps speaking, a smile on his face.

“And I mean... have you seen his eyes ? Like, really looked at them ? They look like... green leaves covered with fresh morning dew, and it’s the most beautiful thing ever. I just want to-”

And suddenly, he stops, his eyes widening to the point that Merula fears they might fall out of their sockets.

( I should go get Ismelda, she would enjoy that )

Instead, the girl snickers, and walks away from the redhead.

“See you around, King”

And as she disappears from the Great Hall, the realization suddenly hits Lau.

( I might like Barnaby more than intended )

* * *

“Come on, Lau ! The later we get there, the less time we’ll have to cuddle Nifflers !”

“Coming, coming !” the redhead giggles, letting Barnaby drag him to the Magical Creatures Reserve.

Their fingers are intertwined together as they run to their destination, and once they finally reach it, Lau needs to lean on Barnaby in order to catch his breath.

“Whew ! Well, I definitely got today’s workout done... you run so fast !”

And Barnaby wiggles his eyebrows, in an attempt to tease him.

“So you’re telling me Slytherin’s Seeker can’t handle a little race ? I might need to talk to your captain about this...”

“Don’t you dare !” Lau exclaims with laughter.

He playfully smacks his arm, and Barnaby gently places his hand on Lau’s lower back to guide him deeper in the reserve, until they finally see Nifflers.

Tons of them, happily playing and squeaking.

And both boys immediately become aware of one thing: they’re in heaven. Absolute heaven.

They spend many minutes playing and goofing with the adorable creatures, but despite all of that cuteness, Lau couldn’t help but think of his earlier conversation with Merula.

( ‘I just happen every so often to admire his smile, and his dimples’ )

Quickly, he shoots a glance towards Barnaby, seeing his smile. His pure, genuine smile, which would put a balm to everyone’s heart. Only seeing it made Lau feel better, as well as breathe better.

( Well... I only like his smile. Doesn’t mean anything else ! )

However, something else he’d said comes to his mind.

( ��Have you seen his eyes ? Like, really looked at them ? They look like... green leaves covered with fresh morning dew’ )

“And it’s the most beautiful thing ever” Lau faintly whispers to himself.

“Hm ? You said something, Lau ?” 

Barnaby’s voice startles Lau for a while, and he quickly nods with a forced smile on his face.

“Y-Yes ! I’m fine !”

“So... you said something ?”

“No ! I mean, I said I’m fine ! Like, I spoke !”

And he forces himself to shut up at last in order to not punch himself right in front of Barnaby. Luckily, the Slytherin doesn’t ask any more questions, and lays down on the grass to let a Niffler climb on his chest.

“Awww, look at him, Lau ! He’s so cute ! Yes, you are cute, Mr.Niffler !”

He giggles as the Niffler gently licks his face, and starts to softly pet it. While Barnaby may be considered as a rough and brutal guy, he is the absolute opposite, and proof would be how he pets magical creatures: with the utmost carefulness.

( if only he could pet my hair like that )

Once again, Lau freezes, and all of his previous thoughts rush back into his already confused mind.

He takes another look at Barnaby.

And it fully dawns on him.

( I like him )

[sultrysirens]

Please just go off and rant about your OCs! I just love them all so much (even the ones that haven’t been introduced yet) and want to hear more about them!

I hope you’re prepared for what you’ve just unleashed~!!

JOCELYN was the start of this avalanche. When I first conjured her up, I had just a few points in mind: I wanted her to be colored (though I hadn’t decided yet what her ethnicity would actually be), I wanted her to be a ballerina, and I wanted her to not be drop-dead fucking gorgeous.

One of these things did not hold up. X’D

My original intent was to just make a short story -- 10 chapters or so -- in which she gets with Raphael and they bang. That was the literal long and short of it, which you can kind of see considering how rushed the first few chapters were.

I didn’t mean for them to get so into each other and fall in love. They did that entirely on their own. And, to be honest, it’s been an amazing experience; I’ve learned a great deal and feel like my creativity has gone through the roof.

Considering I’ve always been crazily creative anyway, that’s saying something.

Initially I picked Raph for this story because I thought (in my ignorance) that he would have the least amount of love and sex-related stories. Oh, how foolish I was, lol. But I was also thinking he would be the easiest to write just falling into bed with someone, and while that is something I commonly see, in my story he very much did not do that.

It was really weird. X’D

While I was writing The Dancer, I was also writing a then-untitled sister fic/epilogue (which I later titled The Dragon). It was quite a few years down the line, so I went ahead and conjured up some future scenes and events. Among them: Lisa.

This fic started in Mikey’s POV for a few reasons, one of them being that I really wanted to write something from his perspective. Lisa was introduced to my story this way, and I quickly took a liking to her and started development on her character. One of the things I did first was write pieces of the first chapter of The DJ, just to get the start’s setting down.

Then all I had to do was get The Dancer to a point where I could connect the two. At the time I was only around chapter 20, so...yeah, it took a while. XD

With Jocelyn, one of the key decisions I made was to make her very unlike Raphael -- she’s flirty, often relaxed, has an incredible love for ballet, has almost no family (just a mother; no dad, no siblings), and has such a crazy obsession over shoes that she literally picks out what shoes she wants to wear before picking her clothing for the day.

With Lisa, I went in the opposite direction: be just like Mikey. She has low intelligence and knows it, yet is brilliant in an unconventional way; her sense of humor is one of her biggest traits and she laughs to defuse situations and deal with problems; her genre is 100% hip hop in nearly all ways; and I made her athletic pretty much entirely so she’d be able to keep up with the master of movement, Mikey. (Say that five times, fast.)

It wasn’t until after I really got into writing Lisa that I noticed something interesting about my two fics: the couples both view each other in the same light.

Jocelyn and Raphael think one another is sexy and bad-ass.

Lisa and Mikey think one another is cool and cute.

This is, of course, not the rule -- Raph has thought Jo is super cute before, and Mikey finds Lisa sexy as hell, too -- but it is their primary mindsets. And it makes me wonder if my remaining two couples will have the same kind of viewpoints. I can’t say for sure yet because I haven’t gotten to the part in either story where they’re actually dating, but it’s fun to consider.

Then again, maybe for Leo and Donnie’s relationships they’ll have opposite viewpoints as their lovers do. It would definitely be an interesting twist.

Progress with The Dragon is going very slowly, which is understandable given I still have a lot of world-building in The DJ to do first, but I do very much love the story. In fact, so far if I were to rank my fics based on my own favorites, it would go Dancer > Dragon > DJ (I have literally nothing written on the final fic yet cause I still haven’t even finished designing the final girl, lol).

As much as I love Lisa (and I freaking do holy shit), I just don’t quite love her the best. This is actually kind of weird considering just how close to being a self-insert she is -- an unintentional self-insert, yes, but the parallels are definitely there.

For example, Lisa is a white girl of mixed white heritage (like me) with a particular pair of beauty marks on her face (same as me, just in different places), she has brunette hair (like me) and blue eyes (mine are actually green, but my parents’ and brother’s eyes are blue and I’ve always been jealous of that), she’s a huge gamer (just like me; she’s just better at competitive games), she dislikes swearing (I swear a lot now, but at her age I was much more sensitive about it), she has an older brother (I technically have two, but one’s very distant and the other was always close), she has a distaste for meat (I’m not vegetarian but as a whole I dislike meat) and some serious compassion for life (same), she loves piercings (I’d have more but I’m seriously forgetful), and she has incredible ears for music (can name almost any song within seconds -- just like me).

Oh yeah, and she’s a Mikey girl. ♥

And more pointedly, I named her mother after my sister (deceased) and her grandparents after my paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother.

I named Jocelyn based on the character of the same name from A Knight’s Tale (it just occurred to me that they have the same tits lmfao); after seeing the movie I kind of became enraptured with this character and her smart tongue and haughty attitude and incredible elegance -- not to mention I freaking loved her name.

Lisa, by comparison, I named based on one thing: the Mona Lisa. Yeah, that’s right, y’all -- I named her after a famous painting by an Italian Renaissance painter. Hurr hurr. XP But though I never mentioned this, Lisa’s mother, Brandy, cites that she named her ‘Lisa’ based on The Simpsons, as Lisa was Brandy’s favorite character.

This cute, incredibly good-hearted and brilliant young girl? Yeah, Brandy loves that character and was hoping Lisa would take after her.

Hmmm, what else...

Well, I had a completely different story set up for Cecilia at first. I’m honestly really glad things didn’t go the way I’d planned, and here’s why: Cecilia was supposed to catch a glimpse of Jo and Raph having sex one day (before meeting him) and go kind of nutso.

You see, at first she claimed diabetes but was not diabetic -- she was doing cocaine, and saying she had diabetes was her explanation for when Jo would catch her shooting up. And with the cocaine in her system, Cecilia’s mind went right to demons and witchcraft.

Terrified for her daughter’s immortal soul, the original plan was for Cecilia to attempt to burn them both to death. To everyone’s surprise, however, Jocelyn didn’t burn -- only Cecilia.

This was the original way Jo discovered she’d been taking on Raph’s mutagen. It’d made her fireproof.

As you can see, I’m super glad I didn’t stick to that, lol.

As for Lisa, me making her a cutter was a spur-of-the-moment decision during that scene where she examines her reflection in her undies. The boob thing, though? That was planned from day one -- because I wanted her to very much be Jo’s opposite, and this included general color palette, skills, likes, personality, and body type.

Jo: tall and willowy, grace incarnate, dark skin and blonde hair, super thick lips, generally thin but with a killer ass, rounded face, freckled, minimal piercings, crazy flirty and confident to no end.

Lisa: barely taller than average, kind of stocky and curvy, shapely lips, wide hips and heavy tits, shapely lips and face, zero freckles, tons of piercings, jittery and mousy but also immature and raucous.

By comparison, so far Mei and Pinky are just people. (Note: Mei’s faceclaim so far is Lucy Lui, but Pinky doesn’t have one just yet.) Mei’s also skinny, but that’s cause she’s 100% Chinese and as far as I can tell that’s just how they are. I’ve done a lot of googling and pretty much all young people I’ve found that way are, in a word, skinny. X’D

I’m leaning towards Pinky being the shortest of the girls, maybe in the 5′1″-5′3″ range, but I’m worried about making her too short. The concept is still very much up in the air, lol. This is also the character I once said I was considering being half Puerto Rican, and while I still like that I’m not sure it’ll stick. It might be more fun to make her like Indian or something.

We’ll see. (I’m very much open to suggestion about her, btw, if anyone has any thoughts...and I know it’s not much to go on yet but there’s a reason for that.)

And then there’s Cassie. My redheaded best friend of my best girl, Jo. I really don’t have much to say about her; I introduced her almost entirely to expand the world a bit and give Jocelyn more ties -- a girl like her would damn well have ties, y’know.

I don’t know what it is, but I have a really hard time writing her. She feels very bland, and while that was kind of the intent, it makes it really hard to get a feel for her. Only a few things remain strong when it comes to her: she’s kinda weirded out by the turtles, she supports Jocelyn completely, and she’s just as much of a ballet-enthusiast.

These girls have been friends for almost their literal entire lives. And I think part of the reason why I wrote them like this was out of jealousy -- I’ve never had that kind of a friendship. The oldest friend I can recall was Jenny, when I was five, and she was a BITCH.

I only have two memories of her anymore: 1, she used to invent games for us to play then change the rules on a dime so she’d always be the winner, and 2, I once tried to leave her home and she slammed the door on my fingers.

I sincerely hope she grew out of that, man.

Suffice to say we were not friends for very long. And since then I’ve seen a constant pattern: I can’t keep friends for longer than a few years, and not because I don’t want to.

Because something always happens. They move, I move, someone’s interests shift, we lose contact, a misunderstanding occurs, etc.

I wanted Jocelyn to have something better than a constantly-shifting sea of semi-friends. I wanted her to have best friends, and then THE best friend -- the one who will remain her best friend for the entirety of her life. The one who was there through all the biggest troubles and best celebrations, the one who will be there for all of the troubles and celebrations to come, and the one who knows her better than anyone else ever has (at least until a certain mutant comes into her life).

Lisa, on the other hand, is...me.

Her friendships flagged, drifted, dissolved, changed, and so on. The only constants in her life have been her family. And even then a good portion of her family has never been there, a fact that hurts her whenever she pauses to think about it.

She hurts, she yearns, and there are times she feels completely alone, even in a full room. She’s constantly scared no one understands her or cares about her, and she gets through this by laughing -- at others, at herself, at that one missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle that makes it kind of look like a penis, and so on.

Lisa has always had the support of her family while needing true understanding and affection. Jo has always had affection and the understanding of her closest friend while needing support.

It’s amazing to think about. And while there’s a lot here that I never put into my fics, these are threads and pieces of my characters that have either always been there in the background or have developed as I wrote them. Maybe I never said Lisa was terrified of being alone, but it was in my mind every time I wrote her.

And I just want to take this moment to thank Anon for giving me this opportunity; I’ve always wanted to rant about my girls but never thought anyone would care, so what was the point, y’know?

Thank you, babe. ;)