#confession 280

[star-trek-fandom-confessions]

#280

"I'm really glad "The Least Dangerous Game" got rid of Boimler's internalized misandry. It was kinda annoying how he dissed other guys in past episodes for not being nerds like him so having him make friends with Lundy and Sherwyns, two guys he didn't really give a chance to before, was really nice to see."

[rededgecitycouncil]

My condolences to the person that thinks Alejandro is ugly. I hear life sucks when you have poor taste. -- Anon @alejandroxfuentesx

[jttwconfessions]

[tmf-confessions]

confession #282

In tmf, the club is an allegory for being queer. I may or may not elaborate depending on how much hate I get.

[readsaboutreid]

Detangling | S.R. imagine

this is just gonna be a short little imagine because i can't bring myself to write anything more right now and i could imagine spencer being the absolute best partner about a situation like this

You walk into the door and Spencer follows behind you. You hadn't spent as much time at your apartment since you and Spencer started getting serious, but your place was closer to the theater he had taken you to for a showing of a documentary on your favorite subject he had surprised you with tickets to go see.

After about 45 minutes of watching Star Trek on the couch together he asks you a question you'd been hoping he'd avoid asking. "It's really warm in here, love," he mentions, "why don't you take off that beanie?"

"I-I'm cold," you mutter, not meeting his eyes.

"You're flushed and sweating," he reasons, stroking a finger down your cheek before putting the back of his hand to your forehead. "You don't feel feverish. Is there another reason you're wearing the hat?" He asked with a knowing look in his eyes before you break down crying. "Wait no, please don't cry, I'm sorry I-I didn't mean to upset—" his panic is cut off by your sigh.

"It's okay, Spencer," you exhale shakily. "I'm just—I, uh, I've been feeling a little bit down recently and my hair is kind of a depression rats' nest." Your cheeks heat with embarrassment but you finally meet his eyes, which soften with understanding at your confession. "I've been hiding it with the hat until I can just go to a hairdresser and probably just have them cut it all off. It's what my mom used to make me do if I let my hair get this bad and it's kind of just the easiest way to make myself presentable again."

Spencer wraps you into a tight hug on the couch next to you. "What, uh, what if I were to help you so you don't have to cut it all off?" he asked softly, before hastily adding on, "unless that's what you want to do."

Next thing you know you're going into your bathroom and returning with a hairbrush and sitting down on the ground in front of him.

"I'm sorry about this, Spencer," you mumble as you wait on the ground in front of the couch, between his open legs. More tears prick your eyes from embarrassment and your lip trembles. "You shouldn't have to take time out of your day to take care of me like this."

"Hush, I won't hear any of that nonsense." Spencer chides from above you as he grabs the hairbrush you had approached him with. "I like taking care of you, and that's why I offered do this."

"But I—I'm an adult," the tears that welling in your eyes start to fall down your cheeks and your voice breaks as you pull your knees up to your chest. "I should be capable of taking care of myself by now!"

You hear Spencer sigh above you before you feel him shift around on the couch. He stands and walks around where you're seated until he's on his knees in front of you. He gently pulls your hands from your face, kissing each one of the palm softly and then holding them in his own. In his eyes you can see none of the shame or disgust you're expecting to see. Instead his eyes are filled with love, understanding, and concern.

He's quiet for a moment before reaching out to wipe your tears away gently. "Did you know that there are approximately 280 million people worldwide who suffer from depressive disorder? That doesn't even factor in those who suffer from depression as a symptom of an underlying physical or other mental illness." He leans in and kisses both of your cheeks. "I know there's no magic thing I can say to make you feel better, but just know that there's no shame in struggling. Or asking for help from those who love you."

"O-okay," you stammer as you look at him again before he stands and moves back to his spot on the couch. He slowly begins working his way through the tangles, holding your hair and pulling the brush through until eventually your hair is fully detangled and in need of a wash. "Th-thank you, Spencer."

He pulls you up and kisses your forehead before wrapping you into another tight embrace. "Never be afraid to ask for help when you need me, sweetheart," he whispers.

[system-to-the-madness]

Classroom Confessions - Sugawara Kōshi x Reader

Pairing: Sugawara Kōshi x Reader (can be read as any gender, no pronouns used) AU: post!timeskip Genre: fluff Word Count: 1 280 Warnings: none Summary: You help Suga clean up the classroom Prompts: acorn, chestnut, pinecone A/N: I’m in love with Suga. I said it before and I’ll say it again. I’m in love with this character. If I could, I’d marry the shit out of him

After hours of sitting on the small chair that had been assigned to you, you felt like it was almost a relief to be sweeping the floor of the elementary school classroom. The children had done most of the cleaning up already but wanting the room to be in top condition for their Monday class, you had offered to sweep out the last dust and traces of their crafting projects; scraps of paper mostly.

“Thank you so much, you really didn’t have to help clean up,” a familiar voice behind you spoke, making you look up from where you had just gathered everything you had swept up in a neat pile.

“You’re welcome, thank you for inviting me,” you smiled and turned around to your former classmate Sugawara.

“I was surprised you actually came,” he admitted, running a hand through his adorably disheveled silver hair, before he grabbed a hand broom and walked over to you, crouching down and sweeping up the paper and dust you had gathered.

“I got invited, so I figured it was the polite thing to do,” you told him, making use of the moment to take in his appearance once more.

His hair was longer than it had been during his school time, but not unkempt. Instead, it looked soft and fluffy, just like the dark green sweater he was dressed in. During your school time you had been close, really close, but with university and the stress of entering a job, you had lost contact for a few years, until you had bumped into him again recently.

It had hardly surprised you, that the attraction you had felt towards him during school was still there, and he had hardly changed. He was still the responsible, caring friend you knew, but at the same time as sassy and chaotic as ever.

One thing that had changed though was that he had grown more confident, and after meeting with him and a few other friends from school, he asked you to go out with him. It was nothing official yet, only the declaration between the two of you that you both wanted to try what a relationship might be like, limited to dates over coffee or ramen and shy handholding.

Both of you were busy with your jobs though, so when he had invited you to the event at his school, you had agreed to join immediately, knowing it gave you a good excuse to spend time with him while watching him in his workplace and interact with the students he taught. And it would have been an understatement to claim watching him treat them so sweetly, taking them serious but not being harsh with them, instead curious and funny, it made your heart swoon even more for the young elementary school teacher.

“The kids were really excited for you to join,” Suga agreed, getting up from the floor and discarding the last dirt in the bin. “And so was I.”

He shot you one of his bright smiles as he put the brooms away.

“I really had fun,” you told him, leaning against one of the small tables. “It was nice, doing some crafting again. I liked the idea.”

“To have children and parents craft together?”

“That too, but also the little figures?” You turned around and lifted up one you had made. “First going out and searching for the acorns and chestnuts and pinecones, and then making these little figures out of it? That’s a really adorable idea.”

Suga smiled thoughtfully, walking over to one of the tables where he had prepared two cups of leftover tea.

“I wanted to do something that fit the season and gave the parents a reason to spend time with their children,” he explained, handing you one of the cups and leaning against a table opposite you. His smile faded away and instead was replaced by thoughtfulness. “Some of the children said, their parents barely have time for them, and it made them sad that they couldn’t play together like in the story we read in class.”

“So, you created an opportunity for that?”

Suga nodded, taking a sip of the black tea. “Hm, I’m really glad every child had at least one parent who made time for them.”

“And they made some really cute figures,” you laughed, remembering the attempts of the students to stick woolly yarn on the heads of their figures and draw faces on the roundish, smooth surface.

“Oh, now that you mention it,” Suga pushed away from the table again and walked over to his desk. “I received a gift.”

Curiously you watched as he carefully pulled something out of a drawer, placed it on his palm and came walking back over to you.

“What is it,” you asked, tilting your head. It seemed like two of the pinecone- figurines, and as Suga came closer, you realized one had silver yarn stuck to its head and the other a yarn that seemed to try to imitate your own hair colour.

“It’s us,” Suga grinned, holding the figures out for you to study more closely. In fact, it seemed like their hands had been glued together, making it look as if they were holding hands.

“Did you tell them we were dating,” you asked amused, taking in the details of the figures. The one that represented Suga had some dark green felt stuck over its body, mimicking his pullover while your figure was dressed in bright orange.

“I didn’t… I might have mentioned you a few times though,” he admitted.

When you looked up at him, he had the softest smile on his face looking at the figures.

“A few times,” you asked amused, knowing if he said ‘a few times’ he probably hadn’t shut up about you. You had already suspected as much, considering how much the children had known about you before you had even stepped foot into the classroom.

Suga hummed, not really reacting to your teasing, instead his soft smile turning cocky as he said: “One of the mothers asked when we’re getting married.”

You sputtered at that, quickly averting your eyes as heat rose in your cheeks. Suga had known exactly what his statement would do to you and took delight in your reaction.

“We’re barely dating,” you told him, trying hard to regain your composure, still unable to meet his eyes, the idea of marrying Suga suddenly making hot butterflies dance in your stomach.

You heard Suga put down the figurines he had been holding, and a moment later he was standing in front of you, caging you against the table with both of his hands on either side leaning against the table.

“Well, maybe we should make it official,” he whispered against your ear, his voice low, but you knew him well enough to hear the nervousness that swung alongside his suggestion.

Turning your head, finally looking at him again, you found his dark eyes watching you carefully. There was still a hint of cockiness and playfulness left, but it was obvious how hard he tried to keep up the façade over the fear of rejection. For a moment you just studied him, his beautiful dark eyes, the faint freckles over his nose, the dark hair on his jaw where he had shaved just this morning, the soft bow of his lips.

Yeah, you thought to yourself, you most certainly wouldn’t mind making it official. The only reason you hadn’t asked him yet was because you hadn’t been certain whether he was certain. So instead of giving him a verbal answer, you just smiled at him shortly before leaning in and closing the gap between your lips.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Justice for Barty Crouch Jr: Part 1/2

(Part 2)

This is a bit of a weird theory, and I'll confess, some of the evidence is not all that conclusive. But I didn't see anyone mention anything about this anywhere else...

When I reread the books recently, I noticed I really liked Mad-Eye Moody in Goblet of Fire. Moody in the fourth book is actually one of my favorite characters, he makes the top 10. But then I reached Order of the Phoenix and realized (again) that I hate Moody's guts.

The only conclusion I could draw was that I really liked Barty Crouch Jr. because, Moody in book 4, wasn't really Moody. So, I went back to Goblet of Fire to try and find out who Barty is, how his behavior as Moody, differed from the real deal in the later books, and why I liked him when I didn't like the real Moody.

And let's just say, I came to some interesting conclusions...

This post ended up being pretty long, so I've divided it up into two. But my thesis is:

Barty was a Death eater, but he didn't torture the Longbottoms.

He didn't want Harry to be hurt during the Tornoment and actually cared about him.

And I can prove it!

Reasons for Doubt

When reviewing all the scenes of Barty Jr, it was made clear pretty quickly that Barty wasn't really trying to fool anyone. Actually, he seemed to be actively sabotaging himself.

“Maybe someone’s hoping Potter is going to die for it,” said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl. An extremely tense silence followed these words. Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, “Moody, old man ... what a thing to say!” “We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn’t discovered six plots to murder him before lunchtime,” said Karkaroff loudly. “Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination too. An odd quality in a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but no doubt you had your reasons.”

(Goblet of Fire, page 279)

From the very beginning, Barty is outright telling everyone what happened. And exactly how:

“Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!” said Moody. “It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament. ... I’m guessing they submitted Potter’s name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category. ...” “You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody,” said Karkaroff coldly, “and a very ingenious theory it is — though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realizing it was a carriage clock. So you’ll understand if we don’t take you entirely seriously. ...”

(Goblet of Fire, pages 279-280)

He goes as far as to explain how he got Harry into the tournament. To the point even Karkaroff thinks it's strange Moody would bother putting so much thought into it. And he's right, it is super strange.

Barty shouldn't be explaining that to the people he is supposedly trying to deceive. It's so incredibly revealing and counterproductive. And it's not that Barty is stupid, he shows he is both intelligent and competent to a degree it's clear that if he really wanted to not be discovered he wouldn't be (he transfigured his father's corpse to a bone and buried it in the forest when he didn't wish to be found out, clearly, he can get away with murder when he wants to). So why all of this? Why try so hard to tell them exactly what's going on? Why is he showing his hand?

It won't be out of character for Moody to not mention all of it. He could not go into as much detail easily. But, he chooses to go into detail about the very method he used to get Harry chosen for the tournament. Like he's trying to get himself caught.

“So . . . whoever conjured the Dark Mark . . .” said Hermione slowly, “were they doing it to show support for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?” “Your guess is as good as ours, Hermione,” said Mr. Weasley. “But I’ll tell you this . . . it was only the Death Eaters who ever knew how to conjure it. I’d be very surprised if the person who did it hadn’t been a Death Eater once, even if they’re not now. . . .

(Goblet of Fire, page 143)

This is an earlier note from Hermione, and I agree with her 100%. The goal of Barty when casting the Dark Mark isn't clear. We know he is a marked Death Eater, but so are Regulus and Snape. We know not all Death Eaters agreed with everything they did, and some of them had regrets. And it's kind of interesting this idea that Barty cast the Dark Mark to scare the attackers off was planted this early in the book.

“What — what are you doing?” said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret’s progress through the air. “Teaching,” said Moody. “Teach — Moody, is that a student?” shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms. “Yep,” said Moody.

(Goblet of Fire, page 206)

I wanted to add this scene just because of the "yep" as his response to McGonagall, but this entire conversation, actually is noteworthy. Why? Well, the mannerism.

Moody whom we meet in book 5 and onwards doesn't speak or act like this. The mannerisms and speech patterns we see in this conversation are 100% Barty Crouch Jr. And this isn't the only scene in which his own mannerisms peek through because he isn't putting much effort into his act.

Here are some examples of how Moody talks in book 5, for comparison:

“Well, congratulations,” said Moody, still glaring at Ron with his normal eye, “authority figures always attract trouble, but I suppose Dumbledore thinks you can withstand most major jinxes or he wouldn’t have appointed you. . . .”

(Order of the Pheonix, page 169)

“Yeah, well,” said Moody, “there’s something funny about the Potter kid, we all know that.” “Dumbledore seemed worried about Harry when I spoke to him this morning,” whispered Mrs. Weasley. “ ’Course he’s worried,” growled Moody. “The boy’s seeing things from inside You-Know-Who’s snake. . . . Obviously, Potter doesn’t realize what that means, but if You-Know-Who’s possessing him —”

(Order of the Pheonix, page 491)

He's more gruff, more blunt, more paranoid. He isn't as gentle with Harry and Ron as Barty was (I'll showcase some of these moments later). And he shows full faith in Dumbledore's decisions. Something, Barty doesn't do even when pretending to be Moody.

Some Background

I want to talk about Barty's trial and Azkaban sentence for a bit, along with his relationship with his father as it explains a lot about him as a character...

and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. He was shivering, his straw-colored hair all over his face, his freckled skin milk-white. The wispy little witch beside Crouch began to rock backward and forward in her seat, whimpering into her handkerchief. Crouch stood up. He looked down upon the four in front of him, and there was pure hatred in his face. “You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law,” he said clearly, “so that we may pass judgment on you, for a crime so heinous —” “Father,” said the boy with the straw-colored hair. “Father . . . please . . .” “— that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court,” said Crouch, speaking more loudly, drowning out his son’s voice. “We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror — Frank Longbottom — and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named —” “Father, I didn’t!” shrieked the boy in chains below. “I didn’t, I swear it, Father, don’t send me back to the dementors —”

(Goblet of Fire, page 594)

Does this look like a hardened Death Eater who was happy to torture the Longbottoms and proud to serve his lord?

No, this is a terrified nineteen-year-old kid who was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people.

Barty continues and calls:

“Mother!” screamed the boy below, and the wispy little witch beside Crouch began to sob, rocking backward and forward. “Mother, stop him, Mother, I didn’t do it, it wasn’t me!”

...

“No! Mother, no! I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it, I didn’t know! Don’t send me there, don’t let him!”

(Goblet of Fire, page 595)

Barty calls this as Bellatrix and the Lestranges are completely calm, taking credit for torturing the Longbottoms. Shouting at Crouch Sr, that Voldemort would return. Barty isn't doing that, he isn't the fanatic Death Eaters, he's a scared boy:

But the boy was trying to fight off the dementors, even though Harry could see their cold, draining power starting to affect him. The crowd was jeering, some of them on their feet, as the woman swept out of the dungeon, and the boy continued to struggle. “I’m your son!” he screamed up at Crouch. “I’m your son!” “You are no son of mine!” bellowed Mr. Crouch, his eyes bulging suddenly. “I have no son!” The wispy witch beside him gave a great gasp and slumped in her seat. She had fainted. Crouch appeared not to have noticed. “Take them away!” Crouch roared at the dementors, spit flying from his mouth. “Take them away, and may they rot there!” “Father! Father, I wasn’t involved! No! No! Father, please!”

(Goblet of Fire, page 596)

Barty keeps swearing he wasn't involved and that he didn't do it. that it wasn't him. Compared to how calm the three Lestranges are — it's clear something's up.

I think Barty is telling the truth here. I think he really didn't torture the Longbottoms.

Barty was still acting as a scared boy, just like in his trial, even in front of only dementors and Death Eaters, when there was no need to act. He is described by Sirius when he arrived in Azkaban:

I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can’t have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though . . . they all went quiet in the end . . . except when they shrieked in their sleep. . . .

(Goblet of Fire, page 528)

Barty was young and scared and kept to the same behavior even with no audience to convince — which means it wasn't a lie. It wasn't an act. He really didn't do it.

Sirius talks a little bit about Braty's childhood, his relationship with Crouch Sr and the events leading up to his trial:

“Crouch’s own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who’d managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power.”

...

“Nasty little shock for old Barty, I’d imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn’t he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while . . . gotten to know his own son.” He began to wolf down large pieces of bread. “Was his son a Death Eater?” said Harry. “No idea,” said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. “I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I’ve found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I’d bet my life were Death Eaters — but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf.”

...

“...Crouch’s fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn’t much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy . . . then he sent him straight to Azkaban.”

(Goblet of Fire, page 528)

Barty, at the time of his trial and sentence, wasn't even for sure a Death Eater. He wasn't actually caught doing anything, he was caught with Death Eaters who escaped an Azkaban sentence, which means Death Eaters other than the Lestranges. This means he wasn't even caught on the scene of the Longbottoms torture, but somewhere else and unrelated. It proves even more that Barty was innocent regarding the torture of Frank and Alice.

We know he was a Death Eater because he could cast the Dark Mark. But, I think he wasn't involved in torturing the Longbottoms or anyone, for that matter. I don't think he had it in him before Azkaban and years of torment by his father.

The other thing of note is Crouch's treatment of his son. He was an absent father, caring more for his ministry position than his family. And we see later in GoF that Barty despises his father. I think he disliked him even before being kept under the imperious curse for years. I think that's what pushed Barty to become a Death Eater, it was something to spite his father. To create a distance between them.

His murder of his father during GoF is probably the only murder he wanted a part of. Actually, his father is the only person we know he killed. He didn't get the chance to kill the real Moody, and he never killed anyone else.

Once the boy [Barty Jr] had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him

(Goblet of Fire, page 529)

More from Sirius that strengthens my former point. Barty joined the Death Eaters, in large to go against his father.

This vendetta against his father is the main reason I believe Barty chooses this plan to aid Voldemort. Well, there are some other reasons, but using the tournament is a good way for him to mess with his father's reputation. That same reputation that was more important to him than his own son.

As a Teacher and Mentor

A lot of fans like to say Remus Lupin was the best DADA teacher Harry had, I'd actually argue it was Moody (aka Barty). I'm saying that because Barty-as-Moody was the one who taught Harry many of the techniques and approaches he keeps going back to in the books.

The constant vigilance that saves him multiple times is from Barty, not the real Moody.

His resistance to the imperious curse.

When Harry quotes Moody in his head under certain situations for the advice he was given, it's not advice from the real Moody but from Barty:

He raised the cup to his lips and then, just as suddenly, lowered it. One of the horrible painted kittens behind Umbridge had great round blue eyes just like Mad-Eye Moody’s magical one, and it had just occurred to Harry what Mad-Eye would say if he ever heard that Harry had drunk anything offered by a known enemy

(Order of the Phoenix, page 630)

This above quote is based on Barty's advice in GoF, not the real Moody.

Barty made Harry think of becoming an auror. He was the one who convinced him he could become one:

“You ever thought of a career as an Auror, Potter?” “No,” said Harry, taken aback. “You want to consider it,” said Moody, nodding and looking at Harry thoughtfully. “Yes, indeed . . . and incidentally . . . I’m guessing you weren’t just taking that egg for a walk tonight?” “Er — no,” said Harry, grinning. “I’ve been working out the clue.” Moody winked at him, his magical eye going haywire again. “Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas, Potter. . . . See you in the morning. . . .”

(Goblet of Fire, pages 477-478)

Barty did more for Harry's self-esteem than any other teacher.

“Now, that’s more like it!” growled Moody’s voice, and suddenly, Harry felt the empty, echoing feeling in his head disappear. He remembered exactly what was happening, and the pain in his knees seemed to double. “Look at that, you lot ... Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We’ll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention — watch his eyes, that’s where you see it — very good, Potter, very good indeed! They’ll have trouble controlling you!”

(Goblet of Fire, page 232)

In the above scene, Barty is delighted by Harry's resistance of the imperious. He is so proud and fond. I already mentioned and will continue showing how Barty did very little acting when he pretended to be Moody, as such, I don't think he's pretending here either. I think he actually is delighted.

And, I mean, think about it, why would a servant loyal to Voldemort teach Harry Potter how to resist the imperius? Why would he keep practicing with him throughout the year to make sure he was good at it? Why make sure Harry knows people would want to control him and he should make it hard for them?

The only conclusion I can come to is that he is trying to help Harry from a limited position. Why and How will be discussed later.

Neville was standing alone, halfway up the passage, staring at the stone wall opposite him with the same horrified, wide-eyed look he had worn when Moody had demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse. “Neville?” Hermione said gently. “Neville, what — ?” But an odd clunking noise sounded behind them, and they turned to see Professor Moody limping toward them. All four of them fell silent, watching him apprehensively, but when he spoke, it was in a much lower and gentler growl than they had yet heard. “It’s all right, sonny,” he said to Neville. “Why don’t you come up to my office? Come on . . . we can have a cup of tea. ...” Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody. He neither moved nor spoke. Moody turned his magical eye upon Harry. “You all right, are you, Potter?” “Yes,” said Harry, almost defiantly. Moody’s blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it surveyed Harry. Then he said, “You’ve got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you’ve got to know. No point pretending ... well ... come on, Longbottom, I’ve got some books that might interest you.”

(Goblet of Fire, page 219)

And he wasn't only the best DADA teacher for Harry, he was the best teacher for Neville too. He actually helped the son of the Longbottoms he was sent to Azkaban for torturing.

Just, he is the only adult attempting to build up Neville's confidence in himself and his abilities. He encourages Neville's love of Herbology and doesn't ridicule him like most other adults in Neville's life.

Also in the above quote, he clearly wants to tell Harry more. "but you’ve got to know", he says. He is trying to prepare Harry for what's to come. Why would he do that if he wants him dead?

As a Defender of Harry

To continue off Barty actually steps up to defend Harry a lot throughout the book. Even at times, he won't necessarily have to. I mean, the real Moody was never this protective of Harry. Sure, he kept him safe, but he didn't really care for Harry's feelings and self-esteem. Barty did.

“Yeah, that’s Harry Potter,” said a growling voice from behind them. Professor Karkaroff spun around. Mad-Eye Moody was standing there, leaning heavily on his staff, his magical eye glaring unblinkingly at the Durmstrang headmaster. The color drained from Karkaroff’s face as Harry watched. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came over him

(Goblet of Fire, page 258)

He's scaring Karkaroff and the Durmstrang students away from Harry. The moment before this quote had the Durmstrang students and Karkaroff noticing Harry for the first time as they were leaving the Great Hall on the day they arrived at Hogwarts. They all freeze and stare at Harry, knowing his story and probably about to ask him questions, it's not like Karkaroff would've done anything in the Great Hall. But Moody (Barty) steps in to fend off Harry's discomfort! Hes not even in actual physical danger! Just discomfort!

Harry hesitated. He’d been afraid of this — but he hadn’t told Cedric, and he certainly wasn’t going to tell Moody, that Hagrid had broken the rules. “It’s all right,” said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. “Cheating’s a traditional part of the Tri-wizard Tournament and always has been.” “I didn’t cheat,” said Harry sharply. “It was — a sort of accident that I found out.” Moody grinned. “I wasn’t accusing you, laddie. I’ve been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won’t be. They’ll have told their champions everything they can. They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They’d like to prove he’s only human.”

(Goblet of Fire, pages 343-344)

Moody is glad Harry knows about the dragons, and that could be explained by wanting him to win so he could get to the graveyard (that plan had so many problems in it that I'll get to later) but that isn't the only thing he reveals here. He calls out Dumbledore and his attitude. He shows his dislike towards Dumbledore and his moral flexibility regarding cheating - two things the real Moody will never say. And he would definitely not phrase them like this. This whole conversation — that's all Barty.

Barty, who is actually encouraging Harry and belittling Dumbledore.

That sentence about proving Dumbledore's human, I think Barty shares that feeling. He agrees with the other headmasters on that. Even if he hates Karkaroff's guts.

Because he actually does hate all the Death Eaters that got away genuinely, but not for the same reasons as, let's say, Bellatrix. Bellatrix dislikes them for their lack of loyalty to their lord; Barty hates them out of envy.

Barty was sent to Azkaban for his mark even if he never tortured or killed anyone. And these other Death Eaters, ones he might know killed or tortured, got out scott-free. He was fought alongside them and still sent to the dementors instead of being let go. And he is bitter.

Also, important to remember, that a year in Azkaban and then twelve years under the Imperius curse didn't leave him unscathed. He is not mentally or emotionally well or anything close to it when we meet him in the books.

“Well, I’m not going to tell you,” said Moody gruffly. “I don’t show favoritism, me. I’m just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is — play to your strengths.” “I haven’t got any,” said Harry, before he could stop himself. “Excuse me,” growled Moody, “you’ve got strengths if I say you’ve got them. Think now. What are you best at?”

(Goblet of Fire, page 344)

I love this scene. Like, this is the first ever time an adult with authority, a teacher, tells Harry how great he is. I talked about the fact Harry is clever and magically powerful but has really low self-esteem. And Barty actually argues with him. Bart (as Moody) makes him believe he could become something. That he has things he is good at.

One of this book's antagonists is the first person to tell Harry he has strengths. That's just all levels of messed up.

It shows Barty Crouch Jr actually does more for Harry's emotional well-being than any other professor he had. More than McGonagall, more than Lupin. Actually, the only adult who tries to help Harry with more care than Barty, is Sirius Black, Harry's godfather. It's just insane that Barty, a Death Eater, actually understood Harry and went out of his way to help with his insecurities and make him comfortable more than Molly Weasley did.

Now, let's talk about the Farret Incident because it's interesting too. both regarding his defense of Harry and his hatred of the Death Eaters that got away.

“I don’t think so!” roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again — it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more. “I don’t like people who attack when their opponent’s back’s turned,” growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. “Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do. ...”

(Goblet of Fire, page 205)

Barty steps in to defend Harry because he does it a lot. It's why I placed this moment in this section. One would expect someone who wants Harry to die to not mind if he was cursed a bit, it's not like Draco was about to kill him, but no, he defends him even when no one sees him there.

But specifically in this incident, I want to mention how personal he gets about this. Barty's disdain towards the Death Eaters that escaped Azkaban is very real and very dangerous to Draco. He's furious they didn't need to spend a year in hell on earth only to then be enslaved by a curse for 12 years by their father who kept them like a dirty secret in the basement.

As I mentioned above, I don't think Barty is mentally sound, but I think he genuinely cares about Harry and didn't torture the Longbottoms.

In the next post, I go through the final scene of Barty in the book, and explain the whole plan Barty had.

Part 2 >>

[mylevisdontfitanymore]

Chubby Bucky in college who doesn't really care about being chubby. His weight doesn't move much, he packed on the freshman 30 his first semester but then it stayed pretty level

That is, until he meets Steve. He and Steve get on great, but Bucky assumes Steve wouldn't be interested in him bc of his tummy. Bucky isn't embarrassed about his chub, but he's aware enough to know that most people aren't into the kind of body type he sports, and that's okay! But then he sees the way Steve stares at his gut, or watched Bucky eat, or brings him snacks and orders him extra food when they hang out, and Bucky decides to try out an experiment of sorts

During summer vacation, he plans to put on some weight, see if Steve notices. If he says something or not, if his stare intensifies, he's gonna be observing it all. His intentions are maybe another 30 lbs? 10 lbs a month seems doable, especially with how Bucky's diet is and how sedentary he's been. It should be easy, right?

And it is! But maybe it's a bit too easy...

When Bucky started school the year before, he was a strong 185 lbs. By the New Year, he was 215. After summer and coming back in for the new school year tho? He's 280 lbs. He managed to pack on WAY more weight than intended, and in the process he accidentally broke what remained of his metabolism, and fucked up his appetite, so he doesn't even stop the gaining. It slows down when he goes back to school and stops actively gaining, only packing on about 5 lbs a month instead of closet to 15 or 20. But he sees Steve notices, and he KNOWS Steve is into it

But the other man won't make a move, and Bucky is a mixture of salty and curious, so he waits on Steve. In the meantime, he decides he's fine with gaining more weight, so why not fuck with Steve? See what it takes to get the fit, attractive man to confess how much he loves watching Bucky succumb to his obesity? So he starts actively gaining again

By the time this newest semester is over, Bucky is a solid 330 lbs, but still nothing from Steve. In fact, Steve doesn't make a move until that following 4th of July, his birthday, when it's just the two of them after a big day of BBQ and fireworks. Bucky is sitting in Steve's kitchen in his apartment, eating his way through the leftover desserts despite not really being hungry. At this point, Bucky is somewhere around 400 lbs, and his rapid gain has absolutely destroyed his fitness levels

He's so out of shape, and so unused to it, and so surprised at how much he likes it. Almost as much as Steve does, with the way the man goes bright red when Bucky starts breathing heavy after adjusting his seating

Moving his bulk around in the dining chair turns out to be a mistake tho, bc it collapses out from under him and Bucky topples to the ground, his whole body shaking like jello. He barely has time to acknowledge that he broke a chair before Steve is kissing him hard and fast, and things escalate from there

The end of the night sees Steve funneling some melted ice cream into Bucky's mouth in Steve's bedroom, the bedframe creaking ominously. The next morning, they start dating and talk about Bucky's weight, how he never cared either way before but now he's into it and likes it a lot. So Steve starts feeding him, and Bucky gets even fatter even faster

He switches to online school and by the time graduation comes along two years later, Bucky is nearly immoblie

(maybe they have him walk the stage anyways, just to see the looks of shock on people's faces when he waddles up with his bariatric walker, terribly out of breath and red in the face just from the walk across the stage. They celebrate that night with a massive stuffing and it's the last time Bucky moves more than a few steps at a time as he hits immobile territory very quickly)

I've had this in my drafts forever (I'm so sorry about that, by the way) just to fucking open it and reread it again and again. I hoarded this shit like a dragon with shiny treasure because FUCK ME.

💳💥💳💥

This is me rn!!!

WHAT THE FUCK.

HE'S SO BIGNAND SO EASY AND IT MAKES ME MELT INTO A PUDDLE. I DONT HAVE WORDS. I ONLY HAVE HORNY. WOULD YOU LIKE HORNY? I HAVE EXTRA. I GOT AO MUCH EXTRA.

THANK YOU ❤️🥵🥵🤤

[eastwindmlk]

Here we are! On the last day of Jilytober! We did it! 31 prompts, 31 ficlets and a total of 19.7k words written!

Day 1: 🎶 “Before the dawn I hear you whisper in your sleep, ‘Don’t let the morning take him.’” 🎶 - Judas Priest - Before the Dawn.

Arise, Fair Sun, a small, angsty continuation of a Jilyweek drabble! Word count: 465

Day 2: A: “If anyone does X I’m going to love them forever.” B: Does X.

The Rest is History, 5th year, I am so not into him and James being a little shit. Word count; 501

Day 3: Spoiling Harry

Quaffle, a poor attempt at drawing Word count: A picture is worth 1000 words right?

Day 4: Featuring McGonagall (It is her birthday after all)

Ever Your Devoted Godson, our first outside POV (There are a lot) James writes a letter to his godmother. Word count: 939

Day 5: 🎶 “Get the car packed, throw me the keys. Run away with me.” 🎶 Aaron Tveit - Run Away With Me.

Wanderlust, fluff and stargazing Word count; 304

Day 6: Making food together/Food disaster Wor

Chocolate, Pistachio and Pumpkin Pie, Sirius' POV, fluff and pregnancy cravings. Word count: 329

Day 7: 🎶“No grave can hold my body down, I’ll crawl home to her” - Work Song by Hozier

No Grave Can Hold Me Down, alternate Oct 31st, soulmates, MCD Word count; 567

Day 8: Prompt: “Maybe we can find out what the hell your problem is over dinner sometime”

Copy by Five, Newspaper AU! Co-Workers, Rivals. Word count: 442

Day 9: “You just checked your phone three seconds ago.”

Game, Text, Match, Muggle AU, continuation of Jilychallenge fic. Word count: 549

Day 10: Prompt: Meddling Parents.

Tea with milk and motherly advice, No Voldemort AU, Meddling Euphemia Potter, set in the world of TB(itb)ND Word count: 575

Day 11: Prompt: 🎶“Uncovering feelings unfound”🎶 - Out of the Blue by Katie Pruitt

Moonlight, Moon Bright, 7th year, Head Students, Feelings Realisation Word counts: 311

Day 12: "sometimes I wonder if you're in love with me."

Pumpkin Juice and Painful Confessions, Veritaserum, 7th year. Word Count: 1138

Day 13: Muggle Technology

Baby you can drive my car, Outside POV, James in the muggle world Word count: 1113

Day 14: Surprise Party

Welcome Home Party, Outside POV, First War, Word count: 476

Day 15: "You can kiss me, you know."

A gift that keeps on giving, Pre-dating, James is bad at flirting. Word count: 441

Day 16: 🎶“My words are my faith, to hell with our good name”🎶 - Hum Hallelujah by Fall Out Boy

Bigger Fish, Muggle AU, Grand gestures, open-ended to be continued. Word count: 748

Day 17: “It’s cute when your face gets red like that.”

Sideways Dog, Praying Grasshopper, Fluff and humour, flirting, yoga. Word count: 384

Day 18: Neighbours

Across the street, Muggle AU, meet-cute, accidental voyeurism (but like spicy like mayo) Word count: 338

Day 19: “You could say it a hundred times and I still won’t listen.”

My beautiful wife, ugh, Married Jily, Pregnancy. Word count: 507

Day 20: 🎶Try to move on, it's back to you that all my roads keep leading 🎶 - Before I Fall Apart by Elle Coves

Mushrooms and Moving On, Pre-relationship, James and Sirius are besties, pining. Word count: 1603

Day 21: "Let me distract you"

Familiar paths, Married Jily, First War. Word count: 280

Day 22: "How long have you been standing there?" "Longer than you'd like."

Dance like no one is watching, no voldie, little domestic jily, silly, fluffy goofiness. Word count: 361

Day 23: Indulging in hobbies

Midnight Premier, Muggle AU loosely inspired by @annabtg's AO3 is down, just nerd being nerds. Word count: 341

Day 24: 🎶Then I know everything is gonna be fine, Because you are mine🎶 -You Shine from Carrie - The Musical

Little ponds, That would be continuation of day 16. Bigger Fish, Muggle AU, Grand gestures, weddings, open-ended. Word count: 3606 (Yeah, I know)

Day 25: "Are we going to talk about it?" "I'd rather not.”

Actions and Consequences, Post SWM and spiritual prequel to Held in Contempt James and Sirius being 'best friends' Word count: 675

Day 26: 🎶One bright morning goes so easy. Darkness always finds you either way🎶 - First Light by Hozier

In the morning where I'm real, married jily, mild angst, first war. Word count: 343

Day 27: “what if it doesn’t work” “what if it does work”

I can hear the bells, Sirius POV, nervous James, could be Jilypad if I were multishipping trash... Wait. Word count: 370

Day 28: Holiday fic

Under the mistletoe, art, inspired by last year's christmas calendar fic.

Day 29: Cold Winter nights

By Firelight, married jily, cottage life Word count: 378

Day 30: 🎶"where's the trophy? he just comes running over to me"🎶 - The Alchemy by Taylor Swift

Win or Lose, married jily, no voldy, quidditch player James. Word count: 933

Day 31: Accidental couples costume.

Better to see you with, my dear, Hogwarts, Halloween

[awesomerextyphoon]

An Unintended Valentine's

Summary: You wanted Sam to have the best Valentine's Day, but the day had other plans.

Pairing: Sam Wilson x Black Female Reader

Word Count: 280

Rating: 16 / Teen

A/N: I wanted to write short (<400 words) something for Valentine’s Day and I haven’t written for Sam in some time. This popped into my head over the weekend and I knew I had to share. Thanks to @mrsmischief209 for the beta.

Back to Masterlist

“Could you tell Sam that I’m sick? Thanks.” you sigh-coughed as you sent Sarah the weary text.

It was Valentine’s Day and you planned on making Sam’s favorite dinner and dessert—your award-winning Toffee Crunch Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookies—then you woke up with the flu.

Why did this shit always happen at the worst times?!

You were ecstatic at being Sam Wilson’s girlfriend. You finally confessed to your feelings and told him despite the nagging voice in your head calling you a loser.

Sam was understanding and always managed to find time for you. It made you feel special, but it sometimes had your anxieties and insecurities claw their way into your heart.

The disparaging whispers and biting gossip about Captain America ‘debasing himself’ by dating you certainly didn’t help.

A small part of you wondered why Sam even bothered with you.

You barely made it to your bed’s blanket fortress, nose running while your body was freezing hoping Sam wouldn’t see you in such a sorry state.

A stream of tears flowed down your face as you waited for the cold’s icy embrace. You failed Sam once again.

“Hey,” you gasped as Sam’s handsome face peered through your blanket cocoon and his body cradled you in his warmth.

“Wha-”

“Sarah texted me. Said you were sick,” Sam answered as he set you on his lap.

“What’s wrong?”

“No! No! I don’t want you to see me like this!”

Sam resisted the urge to caress your cheek, “Why not?”

“You’ve been working so hard and I wanted today to be special, but I blew it!”

Sam chuckled hugging you even harder, “That’s impossible. Every moment with you is special.”

[fictionalsimp09]

blind – September 5th – Dorlene – 280 words 

It’s a known fact that Dorcas hates Marlene. She hates that she’s a better beater than her. Hates that she’s so loud and boisterous. Hates that everyone loves her. 

So, when they are forced to work together in potions, everyone expects things to blow up in their faces. Literally. They can’t seem to work together without bickering. Like an old married couple, Dorcas hears Lily mutter behind them. 

The longer the project went on, and the pair of them learned to be civil to each other for the sake of their grades, Dorcas starts to wonder why exactly she hated her. Maybe it’s because Marlene always seemed to hate her, so she just reciprocated her energy. 

Marlene stirred the potion as Dorcas read the instructions on what to do next. “Why do you hate me?” she asks. 

“I…don’t know anymore,” Dorcas replies. 

Marlene beams, “So, you don’t hate me anymore?” 

That smile, and the happiness in her voice, makes Dorcas’ heart flutter. Oh, shit. How could she be so blind? She doesn’t hate Marlene; she has a crush on her. 

“I never hated you,” she whispers. 

“Then why did you always act like you did?” 

“I didn’t realise just how much I liked you.” 

They work in silence after that, and Dorcas thinks she just didn’t care about that confession, when Marlene finally admits, “I like you too. A lot, actually. Which is why I acted the way I did, because I was hurt that you hated me. Well, acted like you did, at least.” 

Dorcas was stunned. She likes her too? Her crush likes her back. “Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?” 

“I would love that.” 

[genopaint]

Week 41 off the presses, more or less. A day late.

As always you can follow me on twitter where they’re posted daily

And read more info on each of them below the cut

Daily Dragon #280 - Cake Wyrm

These odd little creatures take on the forms of cakes! You can find them in many varieties ranging from chocolate to birthday! If you find a cake in the woods and think it's too good to be true, it probably is!

Daily Dragon #281 - Buggodon

These dragons lay dozens of eggs at a time, they start as small lizards but eventually will grow into large Buggodons. When mating season is around, you can hear them sing a lovely song to attract mates!

This is a redesign of THIS dragon from 2016! Called the Bug Dragon, I tried to make sure I didn't redesign it to look too much like Flygon lol

Daily Dragon #282 - Terrasaur

Large mountain dwelling dragons that are covered in thick stone-like scales. They're incredibly strong, able to move massive stones with their large horns and throw them long distances by grabbing them with their powerful jaws.

This is another redraw for you today! These are from all the way back in 2011 and were originally fan monsters I made by editing Pokemon sprites! Neat! These 3 were originally named Rocktile, Bouldermeleon, Stonasaur! THIS redesign is based more on my 2016-ish redo of it, though

Actually I didn't have the 2016 redesigns of Rocktile and Bouldermeleon in their original colors so I had to guestimate them based on the properly colored Terrasaur. I only had their shiny color schemes. So... Here are those!

Daily Dragon #283 - Sunrise Beast

Only coming out in the morning to hunt, this monster is known by people who live near it as the Sunrise Beast. It's scales brilliantly reflect the early morning light, making it easy to know when it's out flying. Don't get blinded by the glare!

Yessir this is another alt medium dragon! This time it was done in chalk at the public park! I got up nice and early so I wouldn't be in anyone's way. Here's some closeups!

Aaaaand here's some behind the scenes :)

Daily Dragon #284 - Feral Knife-Wing

These small wyverns are scavenger monsters. They're almost blind but have incredible hearing and smell to make up for it. Scientists believe they evolved their helmet-like armor because their head was a weakspot.

You can see some more info on the construction of this creature by clicking its name above! It'll take you to the post about it. But here's an alt color and the sprites before I put them together and colored them :)

I LOVE how this one came out SO much it's not even funny!! I will confess though, I made this one a few days ago. I tried to make other splices to use for the daily dragon instead but didn't like any of them nearly as much. So I cheated and saved this for today.

You'll have to forgive me but also it's my challenge and we're almost 300 days in, cut me some slack

And I suppose you could consider this another alt. media dragon! Neat!

Daily Dragon #285 - Punished Dragon

A demonic dragon from a realm of torment. Unfortunately for many adventurers, it gets stronger the more damage it takes. When it's about to die, it'll release a vile miasma to disintegrate attackers.

Yeah it's Halloween season it's time for some freaky dragons I think

Daily Dragon #286 - Weredragon

These folktales describe Weredragons as being hyper violent, hunting any meat without a care. Wild animals, cattle, and humans. If they can sink their teeth into something they will. Even the calmest human will become a crazed beast under the curse

[tccconfessionsfagg]

“Wasn't Stephan a pedo.” nah he was just chilling plug was a little weird but he was chill

Confession 280

[tmf-confessions]

confession #283

confession by @silver---stars

I don't actually like Jomiecule that much </3 do to hcs ofc, Would maybe ship it if like, my hcs were different

[rwby-confess]

Confession #280

[tdlosk-confessions]

there should've been a magical girl character in saiki smh.

[Confession 280]