#don’t know who took the original but it’s proving v fun to paint

[areyouwho-ithinkyouare]

was gonna make a joke abt how i’m avoiding painting her hands like the plague but like...... perhaps it’s not the time.

[agentrouka-blog]

When Jon think about wanting winterfell and it's Lord he felt hunger which he later connect with ghost's hunger. Do you think that passage is implying something?

Hi anon!

I think the passage has many layers when it comes to symbolism and foreshadowing.

ASOS, Jon XII is a fun chapter. Jon’s been through a lot. His trip North of the wall left him traumatized and disillusioned in a way that’s hard to sum up. Anything he had hoped to be proud of in life was obliterated, he suffered serious injury, has been separated from ghost, learned that all his family are dead or missing, fought a viciously cruel battle, feels responsible for the death of his stockholm-syndromy abuser, was stripped of all respect and honor by his superiors, and he got to see a woman die in childbirth. Now Stannis and Mel are squatting at Castle Black, and the threat to the North keeps looming.

Life sucks. 

We’d been introduced to some options that were denied to him in life:

His lord father had once talked about raising new lords and settling them in the abandoned holdfasts as a shield against wildlings. The plan would have required the Watch to yield back a large part of the Gift, but his uncle Benjen believed the Lord Commander could be won around, so long as the new lordlings paid taxes to Castle Black rather than Winterfell. "It is a dream for spring, though," Lord Eddard had said. "Even the promise of land will not lure men north with a winter coming on."

If winter had come and gone more quickly and spring had followed in its turn, I might have been chosen to hold one of these towers in my father's name. Lord Eddard was dead, however, his brother Benjen lost; the shield they dreamt together would never be forged. (ASOS, Jon V)

or

“If the boy shows any skill with sword or lance, he should have a place with your father’s household guard at the least,” Jon said. “It’s not unknown for bastards to be trained as squires and raised to knighthood. But you’d best be sure Gilly can play this game convincingly. From what you’ve told me of Lord Randyll, I doubt he would take kindly to being deceived.” (ASOS, Samwell IV)

One fails because of the seasons, the other was prevented by Catelyn. The Watch has been a soul-destroying nightmare, Ygritte’s offer of taking over a Tower “after” is not even worth a moment’s consideration to him. Every hope he ever had about his life has been disappointed. 

Jon’s just about sixteen and is completely done. Sam notes how much time Jon spends in the training yard, even though he’s injured and off-duty for the title of turncloak. He does not bother voting in the Lord Commander election. A maligned outcast again. Forever. 

The warg, I’ve heard them call me. How can I be a warg without a wolf, I ask you?” His mouth twisted. “I don’t even dream of Ghost anymore. All my dreams are of the crypts, of the stone kings on their thrones. Sometimes I hear Robb’s voice, and my father’s, as if they were at a feast. But there’s a wall between us, and I know that no place has been set for me.” (ASOS, Samwell IV

He is lonely. Even Ghost is gone, his one proof that he belongs to something.

Stannis alienates Jon by talking ill of Robb, but he offers Jon recognition for the things he did right, a rare thing, and then he offers him legitimization. Basically, “You proved your worth and you have the Right blood. All you ever wanted can be yours. For the small price of breaking your oaths for real and of your own volition and forsaking your gods.” Downright mephistophelian.

Jon is torn, can’t sleep, fights. For the first time he has a real choice. He remembers the traumatic incident where his bastardy became a true concept to him.

That morning he called it first. “I’m Lord of Winterfell!” he cried, as he had a hundred times before. Only this time, this time, Robb had answered, “You can’t be Lord of Winterfell, you’re bastard-born. My lady mother says you can’t ever be the Lord of Winterfell.”

I thought I had forgotten that. Jon could taste blood in his mouth, from the blow he’d taken. (ASOS, Jon XII)

And Jon’s response is a near black-out rage against his sparring partner. All his suppressed feelings of grief and anger and longing and loneliness are just broiling inside him.

Why am I so angry? he asked himself, but it was a stupid question. Lord of Winterfell. I could be the Lord of Winterfell. My father’s heir.

Jon soaks in the hot tub and thinks of Winterfell, mulls restoring it versus not belonging and destroying its soul in the process

When Jon closed his eyes he saw the heart tree, with its pale limbs, red leaves, and solemn face. The weirwood was the heart of Winterfell, Lord Eddard always said … but to save the castle Jon would have to tear that heart up by its ancient roots, and feed it to the red woman’s hungry fire god. I have no right, he thought. Winterfell belongs to the old gods

The tree is almost described like a person. A person with Tully coloring, like all his siblings save Arya. Like Sansa. The hot springs in Winterfell have a potential link to his decision to join the Watch, or at the very least to his siblings in general. The castle of Winterfell is juxtaposed with the heart, with the purpose and point of it all. Save a structure by destroying what made it a meaningful place? Betray his family in his heart, the person whose castle is truly is, betray all his values and his gods?

He takes a walk past sites of all his recent experiences and North the Wall over the recent battle field and just sits to think. 

Ygritte wanted me to be a wildling. Stannis wants me to be the Lord of Winterfell. But what do I want? The sun crept down the sky to dip behind the Wall where it curved through the western hills. Jon watched as that towering expanse of ice took on the reds and pinks of sunset. 

There’s an essay I could write about walls, Tyrion, Jon and Sansa (the sun to Arya’s moon) and how they all interact in the books, but let’s say just like this word play, the fact that Jon answers his own question is not an accident:

"Close your beak, crow. Spin yourself around, might be you'd find who you're looking for."

Jon turned.

The singer rose to his feet. (ASOS, Jon I)

The singer rose. Lyanna, his mother, the riddle. But also Sansa, who unwittingly took up her mantle. One unlocks his path to the other and everything that follows in his imagination:

I would need to steal her if I wanted her love, but she might give me children. I might someday hold a son of my own blood in my arms. A son was something Jon Snow had never dared dream of, since he decided to live his life on the Wall. I could name him Robb. Val would want to keep her sister’s son, but we could foster him at Winterfell, and Gilly’s boy as well. Sam would never need to tell his lie. We’d find a place for Gilly too, and Sam could come visit her once a year or so. Mance’s son and Craster’s would grow up brothers, as I once did with Robb.

He wanted it, Jon knew then. He wanted it as much as he had ever wanted anything. I have always wanted it, he thought, guiltily. May the gods forgive me. It was a hunger inside him, sharp as a dragonglass blade. A hunger … he could feel it. It was food he needed, prey, a red deer that stank of fear or a great elk proud and defiant. He needed to kill and fill his belly with fresh meat and hot dark blood. His mouth began to water with the thought.

Jon paints a picture of recreating his own childhood with his wolf pack at Winterfell, only this time there are no outcasts, and he is the Father. He gets to be Ned. The Lord of Winterfell with a lady’s love. And a son, something he had, apparently, dreamed of until he stoppped. 

He has always wanted this thing that he has no right to and it filled him with a guilt strong enough to concern the gods. But he admits it to himself, lets himself truly feel it. The feeling flows through him the same way the rage did earlier. powerful and all encompassing. 

Like a dragonglass blade. There we have some lovely foreshadowing for a) potentiall the origin of the Others, b) Jon’s paternity, and c) his own death when his desire to abandon his vows and head to Winterfell is met with, you know, some blades. Not to mention d) his desire to have these things.

Each of these is answered by his primal hunger response. Which is of course, his connection to Ghost. The wolf he has so woefully said goodbye to, that he missed deeply and bitterly, chooses this moment to reappear. This moment where Jon returns to his own feelings, his true self.

a) the answer to the Others are the direwolves, the Starks, their magical connection to Winterfell and what happened way back when.

b) the answer to Jon’s paternity is a violent embrace of his mother’s side.

c) the answer to his own stabbing will be warging into Ghost and biding his time in there, becoming more wolf than he ever anticipated.

d) the answer to his heart’s desire...

It was a long moment before he understood what was happening. When he did, he bolted to his feet. “Ghost?” He turned toward the wood, and there he came, padding silently out of the green dusk, the breath coming warm and white from his open jaws. “Ghost!” he shouted, and the direwolf broke into a run. He was leaner than he had been, but bigger as well, and the only sound he made was the soft crunch of dead leaves beneath his paws. When he reached Jon he leapt, and they wrestled amidst brown grass and long shadows as the stars came out above them. “Gods, wolf, where have you been?” Jon said when Ghost stopped worrying at his forearm. “I thought you’d died on me, like Robb and Ygritte and all the rest. I’ve had no sense of you, not since I climbed the Wall, not even in dreams.” The direwolf had no answer, but he licked Jon’s face with a tongue like a wet rasp, and his eyes caught the last light and shone like two great red suns.

Red suns. Arya’s wolf has golden coins (haggling for death, faceless men coins, spinning fates), Grey Wind has molten gold (like a crown that kills you). 

Jon’s wolf has red suns. Like the colors that the sun painted on the Wall. The direwolf in heart tree colors, inverted bastard colors of house Stark, Tully colors, Sansa colors. 

Red eyes, Jon realized, but not like Melisandre’s. He had a weirwood’s eyes. Red eyes, red mouth, white fur. Blood and bone, like a heart tree. He belongs to the old gods, this one. And he alone of all the direwolves was white. Six pups they’d found in the late summer snows, him and Robb; five that were grey and black and brown, for the five Starks, and one white, as white as Snow.

He had his answer then.

Not the red gods, not fire. The old gods. the heart tree, the wolves. He may be a Snow, but the old gods gave him Ghost. His own wolf. His white wolf. His place was made by their will. 

There is honor in that choice. No matter what anyone else says, Jon knows who he is and he has that power: to reject betraying his heart. 

How does this choice led by Ghost fit the layers?

a) The answer to the Others: don’t steal, don’t trick. Be honest. Accept what was painful. Not the Wall matters, the answer is in the heart tree.

b) The Dragon father does not Need to guide his decisions. He can let that go. He is a Snow.

c) Being in Ghost will lead him back to himself. Not fire, not Melisandre. The old gods.

d) Well... What does Jon want? What IS his answer?

Jon is filled with sudden energy. He strides back, rejects Val in his mind, stalks dramatically into the dining hall and is suddenly voted Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. We close on this:

So Jon Snow took the wineskin from his hand and had a swallow. But only one. The Wall was his, the night was dark, and he had a king to face.

Jon’s answer? We never hear it in this chapter. 

We hear it in ADWD, Jon I:

"By right Winterfell should go to my sister Sansa." 

And ADWD, Jon IV:

Jon said, "Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa." 

The chapter is followed by? Sansa. Rebuilding Winterfell out of snow. 

When Jon lets go of pretense, honestly asks himself what he wants, shame or not, his wolf takes over and helps him find the answer and the path. The answer is not in taking the Castle and creating a mimicry of what it was, it is in honoring what it truly was and truly means. The heart over the structure. 

And in giving supremacy to the heart, to the red-white heart, he unknowingly paves the way for his own place: Winterfell built of Snow. He doesn’t have to steal the castle, he will be invited to belong.

That’s my own humble interpretation, anyway.

[tslasvegas]

Episode 2: “I am typically regarded as a joke” - Livingston

Anyways... rip Colin, no idea who that was.. obviously Okay well I think we are out of the first impressions stage of this game and I think I've done an okay job of not making a strong impression one way or another, except to DeNara who I've been talking to most consistently since the start of this game. Except for today lmfao I was NOT active on purpose but I'll try to get to that in this confessional. I saw that the tribe went on a call so I decided to join and chit-chat with the girlies of this tribe and I've gotta say.. I'm lowkey disappointed to learn that despite being a returning player, everybody else on the tribe is friends with each other. Aside from Mo it sounds like they all know each other one way or another and I'm kinda left out of that connection. Even though they might not all be friends, it is a bit uncomfortable to be in a call with people where you know NOTHING they're talking about and you're not catching any of the jokes or references to other games. Also, I noticed that the personalities kinda blended together and these aren't people that I'd get along with in other orgs I play, so.. oops. One highlight of the call was that Nik was talking about Rachael and they were saying that Rachael got rid of them, I believe. Basically just talking about how they view Rachael differently because of that I guess? I was kind of in and out during that. But then DeNara posted IN THE TRIBE CHAT when it was just us three plus Kailyn on the call that Nik was spilling tea... and it was just. so. cringe. Idk if Nik or Kailyn noticed and the fact that everyone else was acting so nonchalant makes me think I missed something but either way I was on mute howling bc of second-hand embarrassment. As far as my current position, I do feel a bit comfortable with where I'm at because although I AM uncomfortable being left out of the friend group, normally I thrive early game when I get underestimated. I'm trying to just not make waves and stick to whatever plans come my way and hopefully people don't view me as a threat. Every time I'd leave and rejoin the call everybody was talking about totally normal IRL stuff so it doesn't seem like people are playing the game yet, but last round I did make a bit of an alliance with DeNara for the time being. Despite feeling like an outsider, I'm going to just continue to look at the positives of every situation because as a pessimistic person by nature, I'm inclined to feel doomed in any scenario. But this is my redemption season. I'm not here to get tenth place, I'm here to win and this season will prove itself to be an uphill battle and I'm just getting started. Tumblr Survivor has always felt like the story of Sisyphus and the Boulder to me. Look into the deeper meaning of the story and I promise a lot of the details do kind of relate to me and my character throughout my run in this community, but the general idea is that I've been tasked with a chore of having to push this heavy boulder up a neverending mountain in Hell. As a returning player, I've faced a lot of hardship when I could've just gotten the outcome I want the first time, and each return to Tumblr Survivor, I've pretty much done worse and worse since then. I'm ready to finally push that fucking boulder out of the underworld and bring myself back to the playing field I deserve to be on. For now, I'm just going to keep pushing.

So glad we won that first immunity. Why am I not surprise to see a unanimous vote for the first tribal. Even a self vote.... hopefully we win again today 

I’m already over this tribe. Keegan and Liv are the only fun ones to talk to, Joey I think tries but also doesn’t. Also low key hoping people don���t know too much about Svalbard cause if people know about Rachael and I being close that could be a problem. I’m not letting my work schedule get in the way of my activity, but it’s a bad sign to me when I’m of the most active people on the tribe. I should be the baseline, not the gold standard

I think our Tribe is a bit laid back. Not much interaction, not really that engaging. I hope Jake and Kevin did a good job at the challenge, I don't want to go to Tribal again. The typhoon here passed, I hope Tribal passes too!

Woo we got out the main inactive person. Although really my entire tribe is quiet and lowkey inactive, but Jake and I talk a lot in PMs which is good. Also Stephen is doing his best with timezones so I know he wants to play bc he's always on when he is able to be on. The next biggest inactive person on the tribe is Kevin, but he instantly volunteered to do the challenge so yay I guess. If we lose though, he is still an option to go in my mind. I'm not trying to make too much of a plan because we could win this challenge and then I'm going to try to open the vault because if we come in first I will have 10 chips. But I still need to figure out if it costs 10 chips to open the vault or if you're just not allowed to look at it until you have 10 chips.

You want a confessional, well here it is. Nothing has happened. To be honest, I’ve barely even spoken to anyone today. Or yesterday for that matter. It’s also been quiet in tribe chat.

I finally got my tribe on a call. Most of them joined in, at least for a little bit so that was nice. The only person that wasn't on call was Ben, which kind of paints him as the outsider of the tribe right now. 

...five seconds later

I want to get to know Mo better and maybe set up some sort of alliance with them, but they are so spotty with when they are on, it is difficult to keep a conversation going. I am not chill enough for this game yet lol.

ok. so like that's annoying. that challenge was supposed to be fun but jake is making a big stink. and like yeah i'm mad too but like it's over and it's just a game it's not like actual money lol. also, i don't really care if we go to tribal. makes you stronger. whatever. i'm sure he's a nice person but like i think he's just mad he lost. whatevs. 

Nik and Rachael did our challenge and won. Thank goodness it wasn't me! What my tribe will soon come to realize is I am basically useless at challenges. Rip me.

...five seconds later

Yay! Mo finally asked if I wanted to work together! Took them long enough ;-) jkjk I am excited to finally start playing this game

So after a heated and undeserved loss - sorry Dan I know we talked about it but I'm sticking to my guns - I start packing my bags. All of a sudden Stephen wants to target John, John wants to target Timmy; and nobody is throwing my name out there... Like... Hello? I just got into a public fight with production, shouldn't I be target number one? And now, Xavier and I are the swing votes... How the hell did the worst Tumblr Survivor Player and a 45 Year old man end up stuck in the middle? What the hell even is this season?

WE LOST AGAIN. So now which alliance to choose?! 

I can't believe this round. I should be the target, why - why am I not the target? I lost the challenge. I yelled at production. I am the easiest vote, but nobody is voting me! What is happening?? Timmy and Stephen made an alliance chat with Xavier and I to vote John. John and Kevin are working together to vote Timmy. Xavier says - "Jake tell me what to do!" Timmy and John are both telling me everything the other one is saying to each other, and it's amazing. I have no idea how Xavier and I are voting tonight. On one hand, you have Stephen and Timmy who seem like a really strong duo. But Stephen trusts me a lot, and if I vote out his closest ally than I'll go down that list - which could be trouble in case of the inevitable swap. John is MY closest ally, but if we vote him out the team is much more united. Do I play for ME or do I play for WE? I'm 95% sure the vote is going to be 4-2, and people are going to be blindsided.

“Theres three tribes! Means we’re less likely to have back to back tribals” -_- sure jan. So we lost again, blergh, looked like an annoying challenge. The tribe is still pretty muted, who knows whether they’re voting for me or not. I made a 4-man alliance with Timmy Jake and Xavier, which i do want, but we’ll have to see if everyone is legit. The two bad possibilities are if everyone is actually voting me for various reasons (timezone, round one oopsie, etc.) or if the real vote is jake for arguing with dan. idk, time will tell. From my POV the vote is John, pretty randomly just based on the fact of who competed in the challenge.

Hiiiiiii So I am very excited to be back in the game again. I very much enjoy my original tribe especially Andrew. We already have a Pennsylvania alliance with Stephanie and I think that that is good groundwork to have moving forward should we ever lose a challenge we already have three that are tight in at seven so if we hear anything about any of them targeting us we can do something about it. I like Livingston a lot and Joey but I can’t tell if Joey is 14 years old or not and that kind of bothers me. I am v excited to get with Kevin and see where me him and Andrew can go 

Winning is great, but we need to lose the next one or it’s gonna be a weird spot if the first swap is at 18, although it is very possible that it’s at 16. I don’t want to go into a swap with all the agency being with Luxor, or us having the most players because in both cases we get painted as the targets. Bad news all around

I have yet to confess but here goes! I feel very good on my tribe. We seem to be doing fairly well at comps so far and I would love to continue to miss Tribal as much as humanly possible. I have talked to everyone on my tribe in some capacity but I am not trying to be the one to initiate like alliances and shit before we even have to attend tribal. I just wanna be chill and lay low while also being a good member of the tribe whom people like. Keegan and I have a mutual agreement to make sure each other gets far. I got first boot in my last game and he has never made single digits here in Tumblr Survivor so let's change that. One fear with working with Keegan is that he knows how I play. I played his game, Forest of Horrors, and got rocked out at the Final 7. Keegan has since told me that I was runner up for Player of the Season. I am typically regarded as a joke in this community but Keegan is someone who knows how I play and respects how I play. This game is an entirely different scenario so I am going to likely try to keep my connection up with him.

So the vote seems like it's going to be John Coffey. I'm quite sad about it for a few reasons. He is really nice and I know we work well together in games and he is a very loyal player. Also, Jake had an entire temper tantrum last night after results and that was just extremely annoying. But, Jake is more active and talks to me more while John is a rare sighting. Tbh I would rather it be Kevin but I think they're getting a pass since they participated in the challenge...always next tribal because knowing this tribe it's a strong possibility. I swear if the next challenge is a music video though I will punch a wall since that will be my death sentence since I do not participate in those. I never feel comfortable so I just don't. If we go to tribal as a tribe of 5, that might not be that good, so just really hoping that that is not the next challenge.

ok here's the tea guys. i am pretty solid in my tribe right now. after this vote tonight there 5 of us, and 4 of us are in an alliance, which is good. HOWEVER, i'm solid with the 3 people separately. that's put me in a good spot for a tribe swap/merge. obviously we're like years away from a merge. but we could tribe swap soon. we shall see! 

[vrainsrewatch]

episode 9 thoughts

revolver vs playmaker round 1 hype! i somehow took another 19 screenshots this episode, even though it was mostly dueling. i guess these are just getting longer as the plot picks up, lol. 

so first off:

this line, plus the little montage that follows it, i love. i love how they demonstrate what is going on in his head without telling us straight up yet. i love the air of mystery vrains managed to keep for it’s first season. we didn’t learn about our protag’s backstory until episode 20 or so. that’s so cool! 

but yeah, yeah, mr. emissary of revenge.

i’ll talk a bit more about yusaku later. this is our first full episode with revolver, so he’ll be what i talk a lot about for this one. first off,

this line makes me laugh so much now that i know what’s to come. yeah, you didn’t care who he was at first, but later on you care so much that you risk eeeeeeeverything because of it, you absolute fool. i love you.

he also brings up the ignis, to yusaku’s surprise.

more so he acquired it and gave up trying to figure out what it is. again, i love the mystery here. how this line gets you questioning what is it? what do you know? and for me, originally, it also had me wondering are you really the bad guy here? 

i love that shit. arc v has some amazing foreshadowing, but i feel like nobody really talks about how vrains actually had some and some really cool set ups, too. i don’t think it tops a5′s, no matter how... ridiculous, we’ll say, it got at the end, but this sets up the 43 reveal really nicely, because he doesn’t really explain anything else other than ignis bad here lol.

this also sets up revolver as a character pretty well, and also i did kind of laugh bc it sets up the rest of vrains, as well. everything in this show is so high stakes lol. a lot of people complained that it made some of the death scenes feel cheap, because every fuckin duel was life or death, and while i agree to an extent, it also is kinda cool when you think about how yusaku’s perspective on dueling was only challenged once, and that happened in the first 10 episodes lmao. dueling really is life or death in vrains, and i like that it doesn’t try and prove yusaku wrong for the most part on that.

moving onto everyone’s favorite meme speech:

i know people meme this to death, but i think it’s a good look at who revolver is, and sparks the beginnings of why part of the fandom thinks him an anti hero. because what he’s saying isn’t... it isn’t an evil thing to say, he’s even saying he wants people to wake up so they don’t destroy themselves and the world they’ve built, but i digress on the anti hero thing.

for another thing, though, we don’t really know right now that AI can have free will. i talked about it in my episode 1 thoughts, but vrains is a series that asks a lot of questions regarding free will, and what it means to be a human -- or to be real. revolver talks about breathing and having a heartbeat, but does that mean you don’t have emotions? your own thoughts and feelings? does that mean you can’t connect to others? revolver thinks yes, because he’s been conditioned to think of the ignis as evil and world destroying. had ai not gone off the deep end after s2, i think he would’ve come to accept that free will means that you can choose for yourself whether you’re good or bad, or whether you want to do good or bad things.

the other thing that’s interesting here is him referencing fake bonds. i think he’s talking about the KOH lackeys that they utilize throughout this season. they don’t really understand, they don’t believe in his cause, they just think he’s cool or they’re doing something cool or whatever. it’s a fairly thoughtless existence, and revolver recognizes it for what it is.

it also calls to question his relationship with his father -- the internet world is fiction. yes, the KOH were able to recreate his father’s brain into LV. but he’s essentially a dead man in the real world. he obviously understands this well, considering he’s the one that takes care of his father irl. i wonder if he holds some resentment, since it really seemed like he didn’t get to spend much time with his father until he was recreated in LV.

also, he apologizes here. you could not think much of it, but because i’m me, and clearly i like thinking way too much about everyone in this show, i’m going to do just that.

this is a stark contrast from the finale of s2, where revolver has completely lost himself and doesn’t care about anything else but fulfilling his father’s wish. it’s also a stark contrast to how he thinks of playmaker after he says his three things speech and revolver starts putting the pieces together on his identity. 

he’s enjoying himself a little here,

but ultimately, he doesn’t care who he’s dueling. he himself doesn’t ever go after anyone he deems unnecessary -- hence the amount of lackeys. watching him lose himself this season all over again is going to be fun, lmao.

anyways, though,

honestly, much as i loved s3, i missed ai’s little quips like this lol. vrains has such a serious tone to it, which i love, but i also love these quick little moments of fun.

as a filthy shipper, i could go on and on about this, but i won’t. all i’ll say is i love how they are two sides of the same coin, and i love how vrains paints that picture here for us.

all we really know about yusaku so far is 

1) he’s awful with people/doesn’t care about making friends 2) he’s got a strong, but self centered, sense of justice and 3) he will fulfill his mission at all costs

the reason all the revolver vs playmaker duels were so enjoyable for me, at least, was because of how determined they both were. i love a5, it was my second fave series for a long time, but reiji vs yuya never felt like this. i haven’t watched zexal yet (i know, shame me), but in 5ds, jack vs yusei had a bit of this, but they were friends at their core. best friends. and gx was a mess with the rivalries, lol, so we won’t go there. anyways, my point here is that i really, really missed that. these two felt like actual rivals.

anyways, though, then we get this:

to which ai asks how long have you been able to do this? and after a quick shot of yusaku during the lost incident, he says:

this is the biggest thing i wish they hadn’t dropped or just starting ignoring for the most part in vrains. was this why yusaku was the sixth child??? i know takeru doesn’t really have this, or at least not that i remember, but do any of the other children? spectre could sense when earth was erased -- is that because earth was born from him, or is it because of link sense to some degree? or is the LI why yusaku developed link sense? if that’s the case, what made him different? ryoken’s interference?

and speaking of ryoken when it comes to link sense,

is that where his ability to control datastorms comes from??? i know he does one single thing with the storms in s2, but is that like, it? do we ever get to hear about why he can do this? i don’t remember oof. you’d think for how much i write about him, i would know this off hand lol. but seriously, i wonder if his influence in the LI caused yusaku to gain his link sense, and if it somehow effected him, too. that would’ve been so cool to see as a mini arc, or plot point, in s2, but kmoney had to shill a certain deck LOL (i kid i love takeru a lot)

moving on again, though,

if this was how this card worked in the TCG i’d actually still have it in my rokket deck, probs LOL

i love how vrains uses the link summoning chants as a way to get into character’s heads. not as hype as other summoning chants from other series or even vrains, but i really like them.

this is obviously a reference to stardust road. it’s subtle, but it’s there, and that’s so nifty. i didn’t even realize until i was rewatching this episode today that it was a reference to stardust road, or could at least be taken that way.

also,

this. this is so funny to me. ai is so offended that revolver somehow ripped this program. also, does this imply that windy, too, ripped ai’s program? or that he gave it to windy, back before he went all corrupt-y?

then there’s more duel stuff, but this is getting really long again, so i’ll stop myself there lol. i’ll probably watch another episode or two later since it looks my tentative plans have been cancelled lol. that’s fine by me tho, i’m sleepy, and there’s nothing more relaxing then getting to watch my favorite show~

[squidshadow]

more demon au stuff (alcohol tw. summ3r is referred to as aestas, latin for summer. word count: 2k)

They got into town late - a dreary little place named Aberby - and spent far too much time in a local tavern. Aestas drank a fair bit - maybe too much, but she somehow had the money to pay for it all - and Lucille saw it as a challenge. It was a challenge she lost - it turns out that demons are fairly unable to get drunk, while humans are rather good at it. Maybe too good.

Because they got into town so late, and spent too much time having a stupid competition in the corner of a tavern that reeked of sweat, shit, and other horrible odors, most inns were closed. The ones that were open were mostly all booked up, or claimed to be. (Aberby was a relatively quiet town with not much to do, but Aestas assumed it had to do with the fact that she was an entire demon with a relatively sloshed travelling companion that they turned them away.)

Towards the town's outskirts was yet another inn - which, admittedly, was a bit odd. A town as dead as Aberby didn't need so many inns, but it did make this search a little more irritating. The paint was faded and peeling off in spots, and it looked as if it would collapse if someone bumped into it. It was a wonderful thing that Aestas did not care enough about dying to do so.

Aestas could continue travelling, maybe to a nearby town, although travelling by foot is never very fun. Or, well, she normally didn't mind it, but she did, in fact, mind Lucille, who was currently draped over her frame with a firm grip on Aestas' hair. Again, not that she minded, but she did. Or, she would. She'd start minding the moment Lucille grabbed a horn and- Oh, there it was. Okay, Aestas officially minded.

She shifted Lucille a bit in her grasp, who let out a quiet noise when she did. It was by some miracle that Lucille hadn't passed out yet. Perhaps Aestas had angered a god once, and this was their way to get revenge. 'Here you are, Aestas. You'll have to babysit this drunk toddler of a woman for a few hours so that she can try to kill you in a month whenever you make it back to the capital.' Horrible plan on Lucille's part, by the way, but no matter.

"Where're we going..?" she slurred, pressing her face into Aestas' neck. Her skin was warm and feverish. Aestas came to the conclusion that Lucille was maybe incredibly too drunk.

"An inn," she replied, jerking her head to the side so that Lucille would let go of her horn. Her hand fell down and firmly clutched the back of Aestas' shirt, and Aestas simply decided that this might as well happen.

"I thought you went to an inn already," she mumbles. "Five inns."

"Two, dear." Lucille whined something muffled and incoherent. "It'll be fine. We could be in one already if someone didn't get pissed drunk."

"You started it," came her childish response. With her free hand, Aestas gave Lucille a condescending pat on the head. "What time's it?"

"Night."

"That's not an answer. What's the time time?"

"You're the one with a watch. You tell me."

Lucille made a small groaning noise. "It's dark and I can't see anything."

"That's your answer, then."

"Dark and bad isn't a time," she mumbled. "You're being an ass."

"You started it," she breathed, revelling in the annoyed groan that left Lucille's lips. "I'll get a room here, it's fine."

Opening doors while holding a drunk person was a task much harder than Aestas originally thought it would be. Maybe it would be easier if she had all her arms, but alas.

Ducking to enter the inn, the tired man at the desk suddenly froze as his eyes focused in on her.

"Ah," he started. "What brings you here?"

"I'd like to rent a room," she stated. "And I sincerely doubt you're all booked up."

"I, um." Aestas could see the terror in his eyes, and she could feel his fear. "We, um... We are, actually."

"Are you?" she said, mouth curling into a small frown. "What a shame.""Ah, it, um... It is, yes. I'd hate to... Turn away customers, but-" He stopped suddenly as Aestas tossed a handful of coins onto the desk.

"One-thousand gold," is all she said. "If you would, please."

"I. Um." He looked down at the money, counting it briefly, before looking back up at her and giving her his best smile. "How... Many nights will you be staying?"

"Just this one. We'll be out by noon."

"Um... Yes, okay. Right... This way, please."

With her best smile, Aestas nodded.

xx

The room was cold and rather dingy, not like she was expecting much else. She happened to only get one room, with one bed, because Lucille didn't seem to be wanting to let go anytime soon.

"You're very clingy," she commented as the slayer wrapped her arms around her neck.

"I'm cold," Lucille stated. "You know, you kinda feel like a corpse."

"Thank you."

"It's not a compliment."

"I know."

"Do you know where we're going tomorrow?"

"You're the one with the map, dear."

"Yes, but I forgot."

"You were just looking at it, though."

"Right, but..." Her voice trailed off as she looked up at Aestas. "... Mm. Your eyes are nice. Really red."

"Thank you. I grew them myself."

"Do they glow?"

"Well, you can see them in this otherwise dark room."

"That's not an answer."

"Why don't you go to sleep?" she snapped.

"Why don't you?" Aestas, whose talents include being able to see in the dark, could catch Lucille's mouth curl up in a smirk. "If you're so cool."

"... That doesn't even mean anything."

"Nooo, it means something to me."

Exasperated, Aestas opted to just stare at her. Lucille, in turn, laughed, and Aestas could smell the wine on her breath.

Silence settled over the two, and after five minutes or so, Aestas believed Lucille finally fell asleep. As she shifted in bed, she felt a small tug on her shirt.

"Hey," Lucille mumbled. "Aestas, are you awake?"

"I am physically unable to fall asleep."

"Okay, cool." Her face is flushed, still smiling to herself. "Y'know, I bet you're a shit kisser."

"I'm sorry?"

"I think I'm better at kissing than you." The look in Lucille's eyes was drunk and taunting. Aestas decided she did not get paid enough for this, and that this would be sufficient blackmail material.

"I'm a good kisser," she muttered.

"Prove it."

"I'm not going to kiss you, hunter."

"Are you insecure, Aestas?" She laughed to herself. "I bet you are. I bet you've never kissed anyone ever."

"You're being a child. Act your age."

"You're being a virgin. V-I-R-G-N, that's you."

"You forgot an 'I'."

"You forgot an 'being good at things.'"

"Will you go to sleep if I kiss you?" she asked with a sigh. Lucille paused and licked her lips, then nodded. "Okay. Fine."

Sitting up, she sighed again to herself as Lucille sat up as well. There was a slight sway to the woman, try and she might to hide it. Oh, she would be so incredibly grumpy in the morning. Aestas would never let her live this down.

With Lucille's hands atop hers, she waited patiently for Lucille to get her bearings.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she slurred, and Aestas believed the contrary. "Mmkay. Lemme just..."

Leaning forward, Lucille's mouth crashed into Aestas's chin. Aestas wondered what she did to deserve this, and then remembered the time she killed a few children for playing too close to her shrine.

"Yeah," Lucille said with a smirk. "How was that?"

"Terrible. You missed my lips entirely."

Lucille blinked. "Maybe you missed mine."

"I didn't move. This was your error."

"Well. Whatever. I bet your chin felt good."

"It didn't, but thank you.""Well. If I'm so shit at this, you show me how to do it." Aestas could recognize this as Lucille attempting to find some sort of physical intimacy for once in her life, and she really didn't care enough to call her out for it.

"Okay," she said, pulling her hands out from beneath Lucille's. "Here."

Tilting Lucille's head up with one hand, Aestas leaned forward and pressed a kiss against Lucille's lips. The hunter reciprocated immediately, hungrily mashing her lips into Aestas's.

Her arms wrapped around Aestas's neck, and Aestas moved her hand from Lucille's chin to her hair, letting her fingers tangle and intertwine with it. Her tongue swiped against Lucille's lower lip and Lucille greedily accepted it with a small moan.

It was about the point when Lucille started sucking at Aestas's tongue that Aestas realized that this was probably a little more than a kiss, and she slowly pulled away, leaving Lucille panting slightly in the cold room.

"Was that sufficient?" Aestas asked, wiping her mouth.

"I dunno," she breathed. "I might like another."

"And I might like a million gold, but we can't all get what we want, now can we?"

"You're an ass," she grumbled, laying back down. "I'm cold."

"Outstanding. There's a blanket, you know."

"I don't want the blanket," Lucille huffed. "I want you."

"Wow, you really are depraved." Lucille shot her an icy glare which was a lot less scary than Lucille intended it to be given the circumstances. "I don't care. Do whatever you want if it doesn't bother me any."

"Mh." As Aestas laid down again, Lucille immediately latched onto her, burying her face in her neck. A few minutes later, and she began to snore softly.

Ugh. 

Humans were annoying.

xx

The inn served breakfast, which Lucille wasn't very interested in eating as she felt as if she was going to vomit, but she did have a cup of coffee which she was slowly sipping on. Aestas simply watched and didn't mention the previous night, but the slight blush Lucille had whenever she looked at Aestas for too long led her to believe Lucille remembered it nonetheless.

"Where are we going today?" she asked. Lucille took a long sip of her drink and didn't make eye contact.

"Bachbury."

"Do you feel alright, dear? You're not drink still, are you?" Lucille's face flushed a dark red at that and the grip on her mug grew tighter.

"No. I'm... Fine, thanks for asking." She took another audible sip. "Do you not want anything to eat?"

"I don't need it. It'd be a waste, truthfully. You should eat, though. You'll need it."

"So caring," she mumbled and then downed the rest of her mug. Lucille stood up to go get a refill, and Aestas slumped forward, resting her head on her hand.

Was Lucille mad about last night? Not that Aestas cared, of course. She didn't seem very mad, but humans were odd like that. She seemed more embarrassed than anything else, really, but Aestas had to wonder.

On an unrelated note, Aestas blessed the inn. Or, rather, the innkeeper's family. Keep them safe from disease as a simple thanks for allowing them to stay the night. The gold she paid with was counterfeit, rocks and pebbles disguised with magic, but they would pass as real unless someone attempted to melt them down, which was fair enough.

When Lucille sat back down, she didn't say anything. She took another long sip of her drink. Briefly, Aestas wondered if she should join her, but she never really liked the taste. If they had wine, then maybe, but it would look odd if she downed an entire bottle so early in the day.

"Um," said Lucille, breaking the silence. "About last night."

"Ah. So we're going to acknowledge that happened."

Lucille blushed and didn't say anything at the jab. "I... Pressured you into that. I'm, um... Sorry, Aestas."

Aestas stared at her and watched for a second, and Lucille never met her gaze.

"It's fine," she replied. "It didn't matter much to me."

"I just... Feel bad about it. That's all."

"I told you it's okay. Don't worry about it."

Lucille looked up, finally. Her eyes seemed dull and tired. All in all, she looked impossibly hungover.

"It's fine," she repeated.

"Okay," Lucille said, and left it at that.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Lions, Tigers and Bears, oh my! pt. 2; Winchester brothers x teen sister reader

And here is the second part of my new series and here is where I leave you guys cause I’m in the process of writing pt.3 but it’s still the beginning part and idk when I’ll end it before beginning pt.4. Now fill free to listen to the music choice I’ve chosen and if for some reason the link doesn’t work PLEASE LET ME KNOW so that I may try to fix it. Enjoy pt. 2 my lovelies and until next time ;) 

_____________________________________________________________

I was currently on the couch and Sam was huffing and growling almost as if he were talking to me and lecturing me.  

Dean wouldn’t stop glaring at me almost as if he were ready to attack me while Gabriel was enjoying every second of it.

“There’s no point in going at me Sam. It’s Gabriel’s toy!” I then turned towards the Archangel and said. “How do we reverse this?”

“Ohh see that’s the thing. There’s no potion or spell that can reverse this one”.

“What?!”

“And there is one more thing. By the second sunrise, your commandment will be permanent”. At that my jaw dropped as I turned to my brothers who were now both glaring at me.

“Please Gabriel, there’s got to be something that can be done to undo this thing”. He looked at me then my brothers as he hummed before I snapped out his name in anger then he said.

“Well there is one way to undo this. But it’s not by the usual way you Winchesters try to do, it’s what you have to do baby Winchester” I glared at the nickname as he then continued, “The one way to reverse this curse is to remember this phrase; Fate be changed, look inside. Mend the bond torn by Pride”.

“Isn’t that out of a movie or something?” I questioned.

“Movie or not that’s what you have to learn in order to change dear old Dean and Sammy boy back to their original selves. If you don’t realize that lesson before the second sunrise….well that’s just bad news for you kiddo”. I remained silent and looked at my brothers before Gabriel’s voice spoke up again “Well now that I’ve got my orb back, I bid you Winchesters adieu”. He bowed graciously.

“Wait no, no, no, no, no!” But it was too late as he was gone and the sound of fluttering wings echoed through the cabin. I kicked down a table and cried out “SON OF A BITCH!!!” I then turned towards my brothers and they both looked down solemnly.

I looked at them sadly and I knew that I couldn’t keep a full grown lion or black bear in the cabin for much longer. Pretty soon the rangers would come in to check on me and my brothers so I might as well use the damage that my brothers had already done after not recognizing each other at first to make it seem like wild animals had gotten in and trashed the place.

After packing up the bags into the car I got inside and just before Dean got in I told him.

“Whoa, whoa what do you think you’re doing?” He roared at me but I didn’t understand him. “What?” I asked.  My eldest brother then proceeded to roar very slowly and enunciating his roars at some points before looking at me as his ears perked up. “Sorry Dean-o, I don’t speak bear”.

Even as a bear he still was able to give me a bitch face as he gestured to himself first before pointing at the driver’s seat where I was currently sitting at before pointing at me then at the backseat.

“Oh no, no, no. Dean you don’t even have apposable thumbs, how the hell are you supposed to drive Baby? Hell you won’t even fit in this car with all that fat you’ve got”. His bitch face grew darker and it was then Sam stepped in and placed his paw on top of Dean’s back and pulled him backwards and the two of them proceeded to argue about it.

Both of them roaring and growling at each other before finally Sam let out a let roar and growled lowly and soon Dean submitted and started grumbling lowly as he sat on his butt.  Sam turned to me and I smiled at him and said.

“Thanks Sam, now you boys follow me, and try to stay out of sight”. He nodded then I started Baby up and I pulled her out of the driveway and proceeded to take the road further down until I found a path leading straight for the woods.

I made the left turn and drove up the pathway until I came to a clearing where I could hide her well enough up until the spell reverses.  I exited the car and locked her up then I took out the camouflage sheet cover and put it over her so that she wouldn’t draw anyone’s attention with her fabulous black paint.

I then heard a snap of a twig and soon coming out of the trees was Sam and Dean.

“Hey guys, well let’s see if we can’t find ourselves an old cave or something to set up camp for the night”. I then walked on ahead with some of the bags and my brothers followed behind me.

After about an hour and a half hike, we finally came up to good area with a cave. It was a nice area that was close enough to a small river with plenty of fish for Dean to eat.  And I knew where there was water, some game would come as well and that should satisfy Sam’s hunger as well as Deans should he want anything bigger.

“Well at least we’ll be nice and dry should any rain come. Check out the cave for a second Dean, make sure no one’s home”. He immediately went inside the cave and after about a minute, he head poked out and he gave us a gesture to enter.

Sammy and I went inside and I set the bags down and settled myself down. Man hunting is one thing but hiking….ugh that really knocks you right now.  Dean settled himself right down in front of me while Sammy came around behind me and lay down on his stomach and let out a big old lion yawn.

“Tired already?” I gently brushed through his dark mane he turned towards me before falling down onto his side. “Well lions to typically sleep 23 hours a day, especially the males”. He glared softly at me and I held my hands up in surrender telling him that I was just telling the facts.

It was then I took notice of Dean sniffing through the snack bag and I pulled it away from him and said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT3gSBCZjNc

“Ah-ah not those!” He growled at me and I instantly knew he was asking ‘why?’ “Because you big goober you’d eat the whole thing and I’d have nothing to eat. You need to eat what bears eat”. I then pointed out to the river where I knew there would be some salmon there.

Now Dean being a smug little shit that he is, thought that he could catch a ton of fish and especially now since bears were experts at getting fish.  So he swaggered over to the stream and stood on top of the small rock formation on his two feet and as fish came flying up he missed each and every one of them.

He kept trying and trying until finally he almost had one but it kept getting out of his paws until he finally fell off the top of the stream and fell into the river.  As he came up two fish slapped each side of his face and he just sat there with yet another bitch face on him.  I rolled my eyes and stood along the river and gestured for him to get back on his feet.

I now stood beside him at the top of the stream and gestured for him to watch me.  I waited patiently for a fish to come and as soon as one came right at my feet, I grabbed it quickly with both hands and then made eating motions towards Dean.

He then looked towards the stream to see more fish coming up towards him.  He decided to keep his mouth open hoping that a fish would just jump right in which eventually one did but it kept squirming in Dean’s mouth so he spat it out which made me laugh as he licked his lips before finally catching one that flew right by him on instinct.

He let out a surprised grunt and turned towards me and I applauded him.  Fish after fish he caught then when he caught another fish he decided to see if he could toss it up onto land to save it for me but he didn’t throw far enough and it landed on the smooth rocks which allowed it to swim back into the water.

Dean grumbled and slammed his paw on the water which made me laugh before he turned towards me and I shut my mouth teasingly while still smiling at him.

The rest of the time Dean and I spent fishing together.  As he was on the tail of one of them, I cried out to get his attention on a big one that I had nabbed.  

When suddenly it slipped out of my hands and I fell backwards into the water but some of my fall was cushioned and when I turned around, I saw Sammy.  He looked at me with warm golden eyes and pushed me back up the rocks before following behind me.  Soon the rest of the afternoon was filled with fishing with my brothers.

The things we never got to do growing up, that they never got the chance to do since hunting had been a part of their lives much longer than it has mine.

Having fun.

Sammy like a house cat trying to chase after a laser pointer, was trailing behind a fish while Dean was on point of another one. And if we weren’t fishing then we were playing with each other.  Sam and Dean wrestling with each other splashing water everywhere trying to see whether Lion or Bear was the strongest beast.

Then I would get in on the wrestling match or just start kicking and splashing water towards them and that’s when Dean would stand up before slamming his paws on the water sending water my way.  Or with Sam when he would playfully but gently pounce on me sending me down to the water.

I now brushed the wet hair out of my face to see Dean sitting along the water like a real bear with a salmon in his paws while Sammy was up along the shore licking his catch like a real lion claiming his kill.  As I stared at them I almost couldn’t help but think back on all that’s happened this far.

Maybe Gabriel was right.  We Winchesters are known to be stubborn and prideful at times because we always want to be right and prove that we can save everyone, especially me.

I’ve lost my brothers so many times that if I had lost them on that witch hunt—I wouldn’t know what I would’ve done.  I just….couldn’t go through that heartbreak again.  

That’s why I did what I did on that hunt, and now here I was with my brothers for the first time since I was a kid before I got involved with hunting playing with them like I used to.

It was then both my brothers began to walk away but in different directions.  I quickly raced out of the water and grabbed my gun and first followed behind Dean calling out to him.

“Wait! Where you going?” As I got closer to Dean I couldn’t help but giggle after still having the adrenaline of having fun just a second ago as I reached out to him saying, “Dean come back” but as soon as I touched him, something happened.

He turned and growled at me.

I looked at him confused and softly backed away. He fully turned towards me his head now lowered as he grunted and growled aggressively, his ears pointed backwards and he showed no sign of fear as he kept stomping towards me.  But what struck me most were his eyes, pure black but they were demon eyes, his irises were just blown up pitch black as his brown eyes weren’t there anymore.

“Dean….is that you?” he then lunged his paw out his claws ready to slice me to pieces but I ducked and let out a cry but felt no claws on me.  I slowly looked up to see Dean mid-way in his attack almost like with a snap of a finger he was back to normal.

He looked at his paw fearfully before I said his name like a scared little girl.  Dean let out a soft bear whimper as he backed away before standing up on his two legs with his front paws crossed over each other.

“You changed. Like you were a—” he grunted again worriedly as I try to break it too him gently, “I mean….like you were a bear on the inside”. He grunted regretfully then he got back down on his fours and nuzzled me, begging me to forgive him. “I forgive you Dean-o but you don’t think Sammy…..” He huffed before he gestured for me to get on his back.

I did as told and he ran on ahead as we tried to find Sam.  We soon found him out in the open eating himself a large moose growling lowly as he ate the large creature.

“Never thought I’d live to see when our moose would eat a real moose. What would Crowley think of that?” I stated.  Dean let out a bear grumble and he cautiously walked up towards Sam.  Once we were about a foot away from Sam, I slowly got off of Dean and I cautiously said.

“Sammy?” It was then he turned towards me growling defensively as his big paws pulled his kill closer to him.  I knew then that I wasn’t talking to my big brother, but a real lion.  He continued to growl defensively at me before he did a false charge which made me jump back as Dean stood defensively on his hind legs and roared as Sam and whacked him with his paw.

At that moment, Sam’s growling stopped and he just looked at us before looking down at me with sad eyes.  Dean stood down and said something to Sammy in bear language which Sam understood.  

Sammy looked to me and slowly walked up towards me and I held my hand out to him and he placed his strong muzzle against my hand and I felt through his soft, golden fur.

“It’s okay Sammy, Dean about did the same thing. But that means we’ve got to get you guys back to normal and fast, who knows when you guys could go rouge again”. I looked up to see that the sun was starting to set so I lead the boys back to the cave campsite.

[ughthatimagineblog]

not that smart

draco malfoy x ravenclaw!reader

requested: Hello! Um if you could, i would love a imagine where a ravenclaw girl, who actually isnt that smart and has to study all the time, catches the eye of draco. And draco is all rude and teases her continuously about not being smart even tho she really is until they have to do a project together and he is forced to work with her. And then he starts to really fall for her because of how hard she works to make the great grades she gets. I love all your stuff and thank you for your time and everything!

word count: 1597

warnings: idk tbh just be prepared for anything, OH WAIT, theres like mentions of a KiND OF smutty scene? like its just kissing but it paints an image of hot draco if u read it soooo

a/n: wowza this took 5 ever, now i can do my max v and hugh imagines! this was super fun to write tho. writing for harry potter always requires a lot of research for me lol

 Birds flew around your Herbology class outside. You were in the middle of a book when you heard your friend Draco Malfoy laugh along with his goons. “Of course I do. Do you really think I’d believe that the stupid sorting hat made the right decision? Sure, she’s in Ravenclaw but she isn’t that smart.” He laughed, sounding cocky. You rolled your eyes. He was always like this around people. Attractive bastard. You thought to yourself. “Yeah, Malfoy? Is Chinese Chomping Cabbage useful for potions or charms? Or neither?” You quizzed him, poking your head up from your book.

 He began to turn read as he looked at the two boys who were with him. C’mon, Malfoy, we’re in fifth year for God's sake. You thought to yourself. “Uh,” He stuttered out an a lightbulb went off in his head. He smirked and crossed his arms. “Neither.” He said confidently.

 “Incorrect.” Professor Sprout shrilled, appearing at the end of the greenhouse. “Used for potions.” You said with a sad smile and Professor Sprout confirmed.    Draco was as red as a tomato having just been proved wrong. “Speaking of knowledge,” Professor Sprout turned to the class.    “We will be doing a three week long project on the different plants in this greenhouse and their uses.” Professor Sprout told the class. “You will be paired with someone to do this in the time allotted. I will be choosing partners.” A collection of disappointed sighs was heard amongst the students.     Even you let out a small huff. You were hoping to be paired with Neville. You liked Draco and he was your friend and all, but Neville was the best at Herbology and you truly wanted to compare notes with him.

 “Draco, you seem like you could use some practice, so I will be pairing you with Y/N.” She told him and the other kids laughed and Draco was visibly upset. Not that the disappointment was real. Deep down, he knew you and had talked with you before. You were enjoyable company. But you were a halfblood and Draco couldn’t be seen with a half blood. Not in a friendly way. His family has bred him to believe all half-bloods were all stupid and dirty, almost on-level with mudbloods.

 You knew of the feelings Draco had towards you and, though you disagreed, you understood and respected his wishes.  In one of your small conversations he had even told you to be prepared. “I might say some mean things, but I might not mean them. Some of them.” He had said in a hushed tone.   You two were just friends and in reality, he didn’t know you too well. But you knew all about him. You liked the boy. If only he wasn’t so mean. But you know why he’s like this. It isn’t his fault. You told yourself.

 Once everyone was paired, Draco moved closer to you reluctantly. “Do you even know how to identify plants just by looks?” He asked with doubt. You held the book you were reading up. It was an illustrated guide to identifying all magical herbs and plants. “Oh.” Was all he said.  “I’ll start taking notes on the plants I can find. You need to read so you can help.” You told him and he rolled his eyes with a glare. You brushed him off and walked away.  Draco sat down and began to read.  While you were investigating a Screechsnap, you caught a glance at the boy you were paired with,only to find he was barely a boy anymore.  You had known Draco since you were eleven and here you both were, now sixteen and Draco’s baby fat had disappeared. His muscles were now more defined and his jawline clenched and unclenched as he turned the pages. You caught a glimpse at the way he sat and you noticed he had rolled up his sleeves to show his defined arms.  You felt your face heat up as you noticed how, almost manly, he looked and you quickly turned back to the task at hand, shaking off whatever thoughts roamed your mind.  Meanwhile, Draco was reading and he notice scribbles here and there on the pages. How could he not? They practically took up the margins that weren’t taken up with the book’s original text.  Things like ‘Do not use for. . .’ and ‘Works best at this temperature with this plant’. Some even had page numbers directing you to different plants. Draco looked up at you, surprised you had been this thorough in your studies. He noticed a small redness on your cheeks and his heart skipped.  She’s blushing. He thought to himself, quickly followed by, of course she is, you idiot, it’s bloody hot in here. His thoughts made his smile fade a bit and his head turn back to the book. Yet, no matter how many times that second voice spoke, he couldn’t help but listen more to the first one.  It had been Friday the day you and Draco were paired together and as you returned to class monday, Draco noticed a small pouch slung across your shoulder. “What’s that? Where you keep your teacher’s pet awards?” Draco teased and you rolled your eyes, opening the door to the greenhouse. “You’ll see, Malfoy.” You told him.  You got to your station and pulled out a small book and rolls of parchment paper that had writing all over it. “What’s this?” He asked.  “It’s all of my notes over every plant in this greenhouse. All I have to do is copy it down in this book and draw a few illustrations and then we can turn this in a few weeks early.” You said simply and Draco was at a loss for words. After two minutes, you counted, he spoke. “We?” He asked, watching you pull out a quill and some ink. “Yes. We.” You told him, not necessarily bothering to look up.  Draco’s stomach dropped. He was feeling. . . Guilty? “Why? Why would you turn it in if I didn’t do anything?” He asked quietly. You looked up, unaware of how close his face was to yours.You stopped moving abruptly but stayed in the same spot. You gulped and found your words.  “I’m surprised you care. Besides, I don’t mind.” You told him and you locked eyes with him, suddenly aware of his hot breath fanning your face.  “Well give me the book and I can do some of the illustrations.” He reached for the book but you placed a hand on his. “Truly, Draco, don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”  But he did worry about it. He stayed up at night, thinking about why you would do that for him. The next couple days, you showed up to class with the same few things. The book, that began to grow with words and pictures everyday you showed up, the parchment paper that held all of your notes, a quill and some ink, and your original studies book. Draco, guiltily, walked around and pretended to take notes as you instructed him to do so Professor Sprout wouldn’t be suspicious.  On the third day, Thursday, you came to class with just the book and quill in your hands. You set it down in front of Draco and he looked up at you. “I figured you would want to look at it before I turn it in.” You said blandly but your heart was racing. I hope he likes it. Your mind seemed to scream. You hadn’t been able to get Draco out of your mind.  The image of him with his sleeves rolled, a couple buttons undone, hair a mess above you, stroking your face and kissing your lips, it simply just wouldn’t leave you alone.  “This,” his voice snapped you out of your daydream. “Is wonderful.” He looked up at you. “The work and art is so detailed, Y/N, this is magic.” He said in awe. He looked at you and felt the urge to kiss you. He was wrong about you not being intelligent enough for Ravenclaw. You could be smarter than Hermione Granger.  “It’s not, I promise.” You laughed at his words and he nearly swooned. Her laugh. . . Draco sighed in his mind. He closed the book and looked down at it.  His name was signed on the front next to yours and that pang of guilt flowed through him again. “Thank you, Y/N.” He said, honestly. Your station was towards the back and most of the students were outside. The ones that were inside were either out of earshot or they simply didn’t care.  “Anything for y- I mean anytime.” You caught your automatic response and changed the words quickly. But Draco caught it and his heart nearly lept out of his chest.  His hand reached up to cup your face and he leaned in. Just bloody kiss her, mate. The voice inside his mind screamed. His lips touched your cheek and stayed there for a few beats longer than a friendly kiss-on-the cheek.  He pulled away hesitantly to find that same blush he now adored on your cheeks. He then proceeded to take the quill from off the table and fix a misspelled letter on the cover. You had spelled Herbology ‘Herbalogy’. An early-morning mistake, the both of you knew.  Your blush grew to a red when you saw what you had done.

  “Thank you.” You stuttered out as Draco tucked his hands in his pockets. “Anything for you.” He said, deciding to leave his feelings to be announced later, and left the greenhouse.

hope you enjoyed!

[trolloled]

Nobody asked for it but I’m giving it to you anyway:

The inspiration-behind-the-trolls master post:

Damath: I saw a lot of haughty seadwellers super proud of their status and thought ‘what if there was a seadweller who lost at being a seadweller’ and damath was hatched. I basically wanted an asshole desperately clinging to his old status, and he hasn’t changed too drastically since then.

Haydel: I listened to Barrett’s Privateers and became inspired to write my own ‘pirate’ troll. She was fairly flat when I first wrote her. She didn’t even have a proper profile until recently despite being first designed several years ago. Originally she was just a drunkard pirate with bad aim, but now she’s a drunkard dancing pirate with middlin’ aim and a strong desire to kidnap trolls to be her lackeys so she can prove herself the toughest of all seadwellers.

Vollia: I dunno, I think someone literally just suggested ‘what if there was a troll based off one of those repo-men shows’ on MSPAF at one point and Vollia was hatched. She’s changed drastically since then. Original incarnation was still a drinker, but only to deal with the stupidity she dealt with on a regular basis. She was also fairly bloodthirsty and absolutely loathed subjugglators for ‘ruining’ the good name of indigos

Deviex: I was fresh off playing Bioshock and I wanted a lunatic doctor of my own. He was never a direct Bioshock rip-off, but I slipped in a few steinman jokes here and there and unfortunately that got him l labelled as such. He originally had a yellowblooded moirail that kept his homicidal medical intentions in check, but since her RPer turned into a huge prat stopped roleplaying, that is long gone and Deviex has since had no one to stop him from flying into a rage when told someone won’t submit for medical testing.

Remiva: ‘what if there was a highblood who made it his job to deal with these nice highbloods?’ I think I originally just designed him as an example profile for a fantroll help blog I used to run (boy that was a dumpster fire). Since I liked the concept of someone being a deliberate asshole to lowbloods for the sake of status while stabbing other people in the back to prove some philosophical point, I fleshed out his profile completely.

Charsa: Originally designed for a dieselpunk SGRUB rp that never took off, she used to be a very energetic and excitable inventor who routinely broke everything she made out of excitement. In the translation between that and here, she lost her excitable nature and become more tired than anything, partially as a result of how her AB turned out. Which is all well and good, I prefer the lazy/tired inventor archetype to the excited one. Plus she kept all the eccentric nature of what she builds with a mildly amused, nearly asleep-college-student attitude.

Kormut: He was my first fantroll. I just wanted a highblood that couldn’t be considered overpowered since I was super worried about accidentally being some sort of newbie rper who busted in with overpowered trolls that everyone auto-loved. So I gave him inexplicable bad luck. Some people guessed that his bad luck was entirely in his head, but it really wasn’t. He’s stayed pretty much the same since his inception, though his lusus turned from a Dune-esque sandworm into a slightly mutated lusus cougar instead.

Sapant: Hatched from the idea of ‘take an obscure character from a popular work and make them into a fantroll.’ He’s Owl Eyes from The Great Gatsby, albeit with his niceness significantly toned down to fit in with troll attitudes. He’s too new to have changed at all!

Newsen: One of the first new trolls I made following my impromptu hiatus. I saw a pair of torn jeans and a wicked hairstyle on a sprite sheet while listening to Dirty Laundry, so I figured a reporter intentionally sabotaging everyone else’s success for his own gain would be pretty amusing, especially if he was pretty disgusting himself.

Yegeri: He’s somewhat inspired by the Pinkerton Detective Agency (His name is formed from two different prominent Pinkerton detectives). You know, before they became some weird private security group. When they busted rum runners and such. He doesn’t get much any use because I’m not a big fan of the sprite I made for him, but I still like his personality.

Hovend: I wanted Yegeri to have a distaff counterpart that was absolutely not suited for police work whatsoever. What would happen if the worst person possible was thrust into a position where he had to do what he hated most? The answer is apparently regress into anime and origami folding.

Xrumon: Not gonna lie, I made him because I was annoyed with a certain someone’s representation of a troll brought back from near-death in robot form. Not to worry dear weird person reading this, it’s nobody that follows me. Their representation had the troll...blandly accept being saved, and they weren’t at all concerned with the ramifications of their new body. So I said ‘I can do it better’ and wrote up the mean spirited son of a bitch we all don’t know and certainly don’t love today. Turns out being trapped in a robot shell sucks.

Portec: There’s an episode of American Dad where Stan really, really, really wanted to get a helicopter or some shit. I saw that and decided I wanted a helicopter troll because it’d be funny (That’s a common theme). So Portec became reality, formed with a strong desire for coffee and a reckless attitude, he...really hasn’t changed all that much.

Deveii: He was originally a self-insert! Oh no! He had my worst personality traits of course, namely being my absolutely awful temper at the time along with cowardice. Thankfully he quickly grew way the hell away from being a self-insert through the power of Zagaya (his first moirail) taking him under his wing. He always retained his bad temper, however, and accidentally gained an affinity for dating highbloods.

Evelsi: I think rai dared me to make a troll that only spoke in like 50′s slang or some shit like that. For a while, that was basically his quirk! I had a whole page written up of various slang terms to use, while Evelsi was basically ‘hey remember the American 50′s? Weren’t those times wild?’ the troll. From that I gradually added onto him so that he became more of a rock n’ roll troll with a penchant for helping others gain friends/quadrants, and pretty much entirely dropped the 50′s schtick.

Remune: “I want a bartender that nearly kills people with what he makes.” That’s pretty much it. His sprite is one I’m really proud of, even if I used a base. His hair was a total bitch but I love how it turned out. He hasn’t changed much, though he originally had telekinesis as a power. I changed that to seismic sense so that I could play it into his alcoholism (Booze deadens the constant noise other trolls generate for him).

Gaveyo: I kinda just wanted an explorer type troll? I listened to the Legionnaire’s Lament by the decemberists and wanted a troll that evoked that song. A lot of my trolls are inspired by music. At first he was just gonna be a lil grumpy and v. tired and v. world weary, but he somehow turned into fat dickhead who ruins people’s nights for laughs. At least he kept his trait of collecting trinkets and mementos. Fun fact, his last name is a rearrangement of the word cloyed, which iirc means something that is really sweet or overly sappy. I have actual reasons for keeping it that way.

Chamlo: I wrote him for a special RP where mutants/undesirable would get to duke it out on an island. The last one standing would be allowed to rejoin the troll empire at large, having been granted the gift of life! And every other troll in the empire got to watch a sick, extreme version of survivor! Unfortunately the RP didn’t get enough applicants and then the MSPAF got nuked so oh well.

Adabon: I listened to Delta (C2C) and suddenly got inspired to make a troll who was a fan of bombs. But since that felt a little cliche, I wondered what else could one do w/ bombs. And then I remembered seeing a cartoon where some fool used an explosives challenge to paint a shitload of stuff at once and figured that’d be pretty fun! It worked out pretty well overall, I’d say.

Yarrex: Second fantroll ever. Most of his characterization came from when I first used him on MSPAF. I can’t remember if the cafe interactions or his profile came first. Either way he soon turned into a troll obsessed with balance. Then I did the stupidest thing ever and wrote myself into an Edgy Fanfic Corner(tm) by burning his hive down and killing his lusus because itsbadwriting.gif. Fortunately, people still liked him for whatever reason. I’ve retconned all of that so his lusus is quite alive and his hive is still standing, but I still have him reference his hive at least getting singed sometimes as a nod. 

Argumi: “Boy, reading everyone’s thoughts would actually be a pretty horrible power. I know! I’ll make it so that you can’t turn it off! And you’re an empath!” And so began Argumi’s suffering. Most of my trolls are ‘inspired’ by sudden thoughts, really. First he was just an empath, then he turned into a mind reader, and now he’s an empath AND a mind reader. His life just gets worse every rewrite. But at least he’s more functional now than he used to be.

Famynn: Was written originally to be the Totally Awesome Doctor(tm) in a pirate RP. He would have performed surgery listening to stirring operas and complained about everyone else being little kids. Basically an incredibly old fashioned, anachronistic, asshole. But then the owner of said rp who shall remain nameless repeatedly made me lower his caste so their friends could get in instead. So he became brown and hopelessly incompetent as a doctor. Then the RP ended because oops the earlier mentioned prat was in it and the owner was no better. Later I used him in a better RP called Hunters (of the lost planet) where he was still the ship’s doctor. That’s where he got his jealous nature towards highbloods from! He’s been pretty much the same since, although his Alternian form has no doctor incliniations.

Marnin: I listened to Convoy or something one too many times and wanted a badass trucker troll. He was Not Great(tm). Really flat for my tastes and I’m a little embarrassed at how one-note he was. I was recently convinced to revive him by someone who actually liked him. I used it as a chance to completely revamp his personality (i.e. actually give him one) and change what he did completely. He’s not the same troll he used to be.

Abnage: I just wanted a con artist, really. His sprites belonged to a failed troll concept I tried out for a while, involving a hobo that flagrantly violated society’s norms to make some dumbass moral point. Unfortunately, that would mean being nice on purpose, and since everyone else’s trolls were nice at the time, the point was lost in translation. 

Gerrel: Third fantroll ever! I wanted the ‘ideal’ lowblood, in a similar vein to how Kormut was a purposefully underpowered blueblood. I didn’t want people calling me mean names if I made an upstart lowblood, so I went in the opposite direction. Just about the only personality trait he retains from his original incarnation is his workaholic-please-everyone attitude. He used to be somewhat suave (at least, what, 15 year old me thought so?) and utterly confident in himself. He bored me to tears, honestly, since I wasn’t a very good writer and couldn’t work with him very well. He’s gone through the most rewrites out of all my troll’s until we got to his ULTIMATE FORM (the one he’s in now). Unfortunately this came at the cost of (oopsie) alienating the fire nation his matesprit, since I never RP’d him much and also randomly went on hiatus.

Platar: I wanted a gas mask troll who burned things. I think the original ORIGINAL idea I had was just ‘world war 1 troll.’ He always carried deadly clouds of poison around with him in sealed containers to show off to other trolls. He was also hideously scarred under his mask thanks to accidentally exposing himself to a large batch of mustard gas, a secret no one ever actually found out. He’s changed entirely up to this point, since he’s now an extremely loyal member of the empire hellbent on proving the worth of his supposed ancestor and burning out all traces of heresy and criminality from the glorious Empire.