#don’t think someone who didn’t grow up like me would understand? and like I’m glad most people didn’t grow up like me but im just talking to

[madigoround]

🙃

[dizscreams]

Jack Champion Drabble! 🥳

Pairing: Jack Champion x gn!actor!reader

Summary: You and Jack are at an interview for Avatar and it’s rlly obvious how much you like each otherrr. FLUFF

A/N: Just smth i thought abt lmao it’s super random but it’s cute nonetheless! enjoy, lovelies :)

“Hi, I’m Jack Champion and I play Spider.”

“Hello, I am y/n and I play Ivy.”

You both had a bright smile on your faces as you introduced yourselves. While doing interviews could be exhausting you were glad to be with Jack, you two had gotten closer since working and basically growing up on the set of Avatar together.

“Perfect! So, y/n I’ll start with you. You were great in this film, uh what can you tell me about how you got into Avatar and the first time you remember watching it?”

You slightly nod and smile gently before answering, “Thank you! Um I guess it was like years ago now” you laugh “I think I was like 7. I used to love Avatar-“

“Used to?” Jack cuts you off with a goofy smile “you don’t love it anymore?!”

The interviewer laughs as you slightly nudge Jack from where you were sitting. “If you would let me finish! I used to love Avatar and still do, but I’d watch it every day and then I heard about auditions and I think I auditioned when I was 12 or something like that- but yeah. I just knew I wanted to be a part of this franchise.” You made eye contact with the interviewer as you spoke confidently.

Jack admired you while you talked, he didn’t understand how you could talk so perfectly off the top of your head. He didn’t understand how you could be so pretty either, he’s had a crush on you for years now but didn’t want to ruin or make anything awkward between the two of you. He liked your dynamic as it was and he didn’t think you felt the same.

“Jack?” Snapping his head in the direction of the voice, it was the interviewer. “Oh sorry, yeah?” You slightly chuckled and he looked at you with a shy smile. The interviewer kindly re-asked the question, “I was wondering about you and y/n. The two of you seem to have gotten really close, how would you describe your relationship?” If you squinted you could see the slight smirk on the interviewers face.

“Oh man, umm” he bounced his leg up and down and thought about how to answer this without anything being taken out of context by the fans or have some crazy rumor start. You smiled as you watched the gears in his head turn. He always looked so cute when he thought about what to say, but you could tell how nervous he was. You gently patted his thigh and he looked at you, you leaned in and whispered in his ear, “You don’t have to answer it, you know?”

He smiled and shook his head, telling you he was fine. He looked back at the interviewer, “I’d say I’d describe our relationship as a once in a lifetime experience. It’s not every day you meet someone who has exactly the same interests as you or you click with instantly and I think that’s how it is for us. We just get and understand each other on a level I’ve never really had with another person and I think, I think that working on this movie together really helped that. I think our relationship is something really special-” He realized he was rambling and talking with his hands and suddenly got embarrassed. “and yeah” he said with a nervous chuckle as he put his hands to his sides.

The interviewer awed and you looked at him with slightly wide eyes that held nothing but love. What Jack wasn’t aware of is that you had a crush on him as well. If you were being honest, sometimes it annoyed you at how oblivious he was.

You couldn’t help the grin that adorned your face and you felt your face get a little hot. You could tell he really meant what he said, that’s what you loved about him. He was so sweet and kind without even trying.

He noticed your smile and looked away getting nervous again, the entire interview ended up being you and Jack looking at each other than looking away with giddy smiles. Jack thought he was being subtle until he looked at the YouTube comments about a week later.

“they are so cute!”

“are they dating?? I’m genuinely confused??”

“AWW THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HER”

“new ship unlocked”

He shook his head with a laugh and put his phone down on his stomach. He was lying back on his bed and he covered his face with his hands. There was no way you didn’t know now or maybe you really didn’t feel the same. He had gotten hopeful at the end of the interview when you asked him to go out for lunch but to his dismay nothing happened. What he wasn’t aware of was that you were going to ask him to be your boyfriend but chickened out.

He felt his phone vibrate, signaling he had gotten a notification. Looking down at his phone a grin took over as he read the text from you.

You sent a screenshot of the comments on the YouTube video and said “I think they know we like each other. What do you say we go out on a date?” Just as he was about to respond with a yes, you sent another text. “More than friends if that wasn’t obvious. You’re so oblivious it’s sad tbh 😬”

He laughed and decided to call you.

“You’re a jerk but yes, I’d love to.”

“Great, it’s a date! I’ll send you the info. I’ve got to go, byeee”

“Byeee!”

When you hung up you almost threw your phone as you jumped up and down. You hugged the friend you were with and told them all about it.

Jack had jumped out of his bed and ran to tell his mom.

lowkeyyyy sucks but my boy needs more fics of him! 🫶🫶🫶

tags: @beary-rambles @wekiamo @ashlesys-blog @dizzyscreams

[lxmelle]

If the conditions for happiness and/or satisfaction at the core of each of them are summed up through:

“(I’m jealous, but) I’m happy if you’re happy.” Geto Suguru

“I’m happy if you’re there.” Gojo Satoru

Does it come as a surprise that they’re smiling...?

They needed one another to be happy 🥹

I was reading several options from a few international readers of the series on X and it’s nice that they seem to echo that too - that without the other, they are less happy.

If one is unhappy, the other would be too. They complimented each other in so many ways, including how they loved each other and wanted to be loved**

**i don’t necessarily mean romantic love

Just some blabbering on my thoughts/analysis/views about their love under the cut. Perhaps it’s headcanon more than anything. Read if you wish:

Geto was very giving and it “gave him as much as he gave” when he was able to love someone. He could love anyone, but to be able to love someone like Gojo felt like a privilege. Gojo wanted his love as much as he wanted to give love. It felt balanced and reciprocal.

Gojo enjoyed being indulged; and as someone who could be good at anything he put his mind to - allowing someone to love him was a privilege he gave - he felt loved to be loved in this way. Being loved by Geto who had love for everyone, so exclusively, made him feel even more special.

I also think if they were allowed to progress with a mature relationship, they’d grow together and the way they could love & receive love would begin to overlap & equalise. Especially as they tended to see themselves on the same side / level, they would be more likely to understand one another and receive the love given.

Geto saw the goodness in Gojo that few took the time to see. This purity of love would strike a chord in anyone and resonated in Gojo’s soul - so much so that he “knew in his soul” that Kenjaku in Geto was not his Geto Suguru. Geto had recognised that something changed in Gojo when he awakened, and still, Geto wanted to protect Gojo’s humanity - this was his way of loving him in the twisted world - by leaving. Not pulling him along with him. Gojo would have gone.

Gojo loved by clinging onto his love. “I’ll protect you.”

Geto loved by letting go of his love and going instead. “I’ll save you.”

Gojo saw the self blame and sacrifice in Geto that few took the time to see. He missed the sadness in his eyes and when Geto left, wanted to save him and prevent the jujutsu world from continuing as it was that left people like them alone. This was all he could do after the damage was done, and in the end to kill him was also to give him love.

I’m glad they met again. I hope they can start again at the end.

To add onto what this post opened with…...

The loneliness of absolute strength; one who will teach you about love...

For Sukuna who didn’t know real love: “Love is worthless; I don’t need anyone (/ love) to satisfy me.” It was a direct contrast to the scene in 236.

For Gojo: “If you (love) were there […] I probably would’ve been satisfied.” (Love = Geto)

In jjk 0 we saw this theme:

For Gojo & Geto: “Love is the most twisted curse... curse (love) me a little at the end.”

Geto and Gojo were plagued with loneliness.

The antidote was love.

Love, was in the form of each other.

Because: they taught each other about love.

[therealcocoshady]

Recovery - Chapter 4

Eminem x Reader (Y/N) fanfiction

Summary : Y/N’s ex boyfriend interrupts her dinner with Marshall.

Tags : angst, light smut, mention of miscarriage

You couldn’t believe Simon was standing here, only a few hours after breaking your heart for the second time.

- What are you doing here ? You asked.

- Can I talk to you alone ? He replied, looking at the three other people who were staring at you.

- Yeah… come to my room, you said as you led him upstairs.

You closed the door to your bedroom and caught him staring around.

- Nice space, he said. You settled in ok ?

- Why are you here Simon ? You asked.

- I want to apologise, he said. I didn’t expect to see you. Especially not when I was with someone else. I think I owe you an explanation.

- You don’t. We are broken up and you are free to kiss whoever you want, you pointed out.

- Still, I’m sorry you had to witness this.

You tried to smile and keep your composure. As much as seeing him with another woman hurt your feelings, you were touched by his apology.

- I hope she makes you happy, you said.

- She does.

- May I ask how long the two of you have been dating ?

- A while now, he said, suddenly looking uneasy.

- As in…? You felt the need to insist.

- Well, it pretty much started immediately after I left you, he admitted.

- Wow. You did not lose any time, did you ?

You stared at him in disbelief. You did not expect him to start dating so soon after leaving you.

- I want to come clean, Simon said.

- About what ?

You could feel yourself becoming more aggressive. You sensed there was something wrong.

- Sarah and I met when you were in the hospital, he said.

- Did you cheat on me ? You asked.

- No. I could never. But she… - she is part of the reason why I left, he admitted.

- I don’t understand. You said you left because I had a problem that needed fixing.

- I know. And I did. Partly.

- Did you even care about me ? You asked. Or were you just too eager to start a new, easier relationship ?!

- Of course I cared. I was worried sick for you. But then I met Sarah and…

Simon took a long pause.

- She made me see how simple love can and should be, he explained. As much as I loved you, there was too much drama between us. You know it too, Y/N.

- No. Don’t try this with me, you warned him. What you have the audacity to call drama is what I call trauma, Simon. I DID NOT CHOOSE TO LOSE OUR BABY. I DID NOT CHOOSE TO GRIEVE WHILE YOU MOVED ON.

- But you did choose to take pills, he said.

- BECAUSE YOU FUCKING LEFT ME ALONE, you screamed at him. PILLS WERE THE ONLY THING THAT HELPED ME EASE THE PAIN. YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I TOOK PILLS ? YOU WERE FUCKING UNABLE TO BE HERE FOR ME. AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO COME HERE TO DO WHAT ? EASE YOUR CONSCIENCE ? TRY AND BE A GOOD MAN ?

You were now looking at Simon with disgust.

- Let me make this clear for you : a good man would have stayed by my side. A good man would have helped me. A GOOD MAN WOULD HAVE HAD THE BALLS TO BE HONEST FROM THE GET GO.

- Would you have seeked help if I had been ? He asked.

- THAT IS NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS. YOU ARE A PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A MAN.

- Look, Y/N, I am sorry. I thought I needed to tell you the truth. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and you have no idea how hard it’s been.

- WELL I DON’T GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT YOUR GUILTY CONSCIENCE.

You were screaming at the top of your lungs and tears were running down your face.

- Simon, I think you should go, Talia said as she emerged in the room.

- Look, I am sorry. I am merely trying to do the right thing, he tried to explain.

- YOU KNOW WHAT ? MAYBE I AM GLAD I LOST THE BABY AFTER ALL. I WOULDN’T WANT MY CHILD TO GROW UP TO BE A PIECE OF SHIT LIKE YOU.

- Y/N ! Enough ! Jamal said.

- No. You have no idea what he…

- We heard everything, he interrupted.

Everyone was now gathered in your room, looking at you. Your heart was beating fast and you were out of your mind.

- I never want to see you again, Simon, you said coldly.

- I am sorry, he said before leaving.

You looked at him as he left the room and, eventually, the house. You were still crying, but unable to make a single sound.

- I thought you were going to kill him, Jamal said. God, I didn’t know you were capable of screaming so loud.

- You should have let me, you simply said.

- Are you ok ? Talia asked.

- No. He lied to me. He never really cared. All this time I thought… whatever.

You put your face in your hands. Still in shock. It felt as if everything you had ever felt about your relationship had been a lie all along.

You felt someone pulling you in their arms. It was Marshall. You didn’t move. You just kept on crying, tears of sadness, pain and anger. He didn’t move either, he just stood still and stroked your hair.

- Do you need anything ? Talia asked, but you were unable to answer.

- We should give them a moment, babe, Jamal said.

- We… we’ll be downstairs, she said.

You heard the door close and it was just you and Marshall. For what seemed like forever, you were unable to stop crying. He held you and stroked your hair and skin in an attempt to soothe you. At some point, you had no tears left. Still, it took a few minutes for you to let go of Marshall’s. When you realised you were holding on to him, you felt embarrassed.

- sorry, you said. I didn’t mean to…

- It’s fine, he said, taking a look at your face. You don’t have to apologise.

- I kind of do, though. You probably had other plans that didn’t involve me bawling like a baby or screaming like a madwoman.

- Well you didn’t choose to, did you ?

- No but… God, I am so embarrassed, you said.

- Don’t be, he said as he took your hand.

- I am such a mess. And Simon he is such an…

- Dont start. Don’t think of him, he said.

His voice was firm. It almost sounded like an order. It would probably have felt weird if this hadn’t been soothing. Truth was, you didn’t want to think anymore. About anything. This very instant, you wished you could swallow some pills, just to ease your mind and prevent you from overthinking.

You let your head fall on Marshall’s shoulder, your hand still in his. In this moment, his presence was the most reassuring thing in the world. He pulled you closer and held you again. You buried your face in his neck.

- Do you want to leave ? You finally asked.

- Do you want me to leave ? Marshall asked back.

- No, not yet, you replied instinctively, before you could even think about your words.

You could feel his fingers tracing circles on your skin. You kept your eyes closed and focused on the sensation of his skin against yours. You could feel his breath on your neck.

- I just… I don’t want to think, you said, your head buried in his neck.

- Then don’t, he replied.

Without really thinking, you planted a kiss on his neck. You could tell he was surprised as it almost startled him. Yet, he pulled you even closer and dug his fingers into your skin. This prompted you to do it again. His skin felt soft and warm against your lips.

- Kiss me, you pleaded, without thinking about it. It was as if words fell out of your mouth.

And much to your surprise, he did kiss you. He held you tight as his lips brushed against yours. The kiss was soft, at first, and then deepened, as Marshall’s tongue found yours. He placed one hand on the back of your neck, the other on your hip. You soon found yourself against the wall as he kept kissing you. You didn’t want it to end. In fact, it was quite the contrary. You kissed him harder and softly bit his lip, causing him to grunt.

- Y/N… he started, his blue eyes staring into yours.

- Please, you pleaded.

In that moment, you realised you were full of desire for him. You wanted nothing else but for him to make the pain go away. For a split second, it seemed like he was going to talk, but his lips found yours again. His kisses were soft, so were the strokes of his fingers on your skin. But as agreeable as this was, you wanted more.

- Marshall, please.

- What ? He asked between two kisses.

- More.

It was the only word that could leave your lips. More. Marshall gently pushed you against the wall again and deepened your kiss, his hands starting to wander around your body. It felt as though your skin was on fire. You needed him, you craved his touch. Your hands started to wander as well. You pulled his hat and his jacket, before running your fingers through his hair. You could feel his hands in your back, underneath your tank top. His moves were ever so soft, ever so slow, as if he wanted to make sure not to rush you. You were the one in control. Soon enough, you ran your hands underneath his tee-shirt. You could feel muscles under your touch.

- Take it off, you ordered.

Once again, he did as you said and went back to kissing you. You ran your fingers through his back, gently scratching it with your nails. You could tell he liked it by the way he deepened the kiss. He gently grabbed your waist and you wrapped your legs around him. He brought you to the bed, placing you on top of him. You quickly took your tank top off and he gently unclasped your bra. Your chest was against his and it felt like your skin was meant for his touch. You started grinding against him while you kept on kissing and he gently caressed your back. At that point, you were soaking wet and you wanted him to feel how much desire you had for him, just like you could feel him being rock hard for you. As you got up to remove your sweatpants, he gently grabbed your arm.

- Y/N… he started.

- Mmh ? You asked.

- I don’t think it’s a good idea, he said, sitting up.

- Don’t you want to ? You asked, confused.

- Believe me, I do, but… we shouldn’t.

- How about you hold that thought for later ? You said seductively, before kissing him with passion. I want you.

He kissed you back and pulled you closer for a second before breaking the kiss again.

- Y/N… no.

This time, it was firm. You stared at him in disbelief.

- What’s wrong ? You asked.

He stared in your eyes intensely and handed you your tank top.

- It’s a bad idea, Y/N.

- Why ? You asked, visibly hurt.

- I want you, he said. And you’re amazing, but…

- But what ? You asked rolling your eyes.

- You had a bad night, our friends are right downstairs and… he took some time to answer.

- And what ?

- I don’t think I should be messing with you, he simply said.

- Meaning ?

- Please don’t make this any more difficult than it already is, he said as he put his tee-shirt back on.

- I feel so stupid, you blurted out.

- Don’t, he said gently.

- Well clearly I do. I shouldn’t have jumped on you, as you clearly don’t want me !

- Please, keep your voice down, he asked in an annoyed voice. The last thing we need is for Talia and Jamal to hear us. You have no idea how much I want this… but it can’t happen.

- Right, you said.

- I’m really sorry, Y/N.

You stared at each other for a few seconds. He leaned in and kissed your cheek.

- I should probably go, he said.

- Right.

You lowered your gaze, feeling like a fool. Marshall mumbled a few words of apology before leaving the room and heading downstairs, where you heard him say goodbye to your friends. You made sure he had left before you joined them in the living room.

- Are you feeling better ? Talia asked.

- Yeah, you lied. Look guys, I’m sorry for the screaming and the crying, I just… I lost it.

- It’s ok, she said. We were just really worried for you. I’m sorry you didn’t get the celebratory night you deserved.

- Yeah, it sure doesn’t feel like much of a celebration, you murmured.

- What ?

- Nothing, you said. I think I should go and rest.

- Yeah. We’ll do something with Marshall another night, Jamal said. It’s great that you guys are hitting it off. He really likes you, you know ?

- We’ll see, you said with a forced smile.

You got back to your room and laid in bed, still surrounded by the scent of Marshall’s cologne. You tried to clear your head and go to sleep, but you could only think of the sensation of his skin against yours. At the same time, you couldn’t help but wonder how it would be like when you saw him again. Ever since you had started hanging out with the group, you had thought the world of him. He was the funniest person you knew, kind and thoughtful too. You really hoped you hadn’t blown it.

[royalarchivist]

Eret: I feel so lucky I am able to be in a position where I’m able to help other people -- at the very least -- realize they are not weird, they are not alone, they’ve got someone who will look out for them. Because that’s something I didn’t have when I was growing up [...] I didn’t have any exposure to any gender stuff, or even LGBT stuff. Now, I actually get to be that representation for some people, and that’s f**king amazing for me. I hope I can continue to help people find themselves, and continue to be a positive representation for people, because I remember what it's like not to have that.

Eret discussing the importance of LGBTQIA+ representation.

Full video transcript:

[Responding who a dono who thanked Eret for helping them find and feel comfortable with their gender identity]

I’m so glad I could help you with your journey. I feel so lucky I am able to be in a position where I’m able to help other people — at the very least — realize they are not weird, they are not alone, they’ve got someone who will look out for them. Because that’s something I didn’t have when I was growing up, and I thought I was weird, I thought I was — I don’t know, I didn’t have any exposure to any gender stuff or even LGBT stuff. So I just thought, “Well these things going in my mind are f**king weird stuff.”

Now, I actually get to be that representation for some people, and that’s f**king amazing for me. I’ve gotten so many letters, and so many messages, and so many donations, and so many chat messages going, “Thank you for everything”. Meeting people in person at conventions, people literally shaking and going, “Oh my god, it’s you.” And I’m like, “I’m just me! I’m just a person. I just play games.”

To have people freak out over that is mind-blowing. I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to it. Like, I got recognized at my university, I used to get recognized doing random things, and people would just come up to me and go, “Seriously, thank you.”

I hope I can continue to help people find themselves and continue to be a positive representation for people, because I remember what it's like not to have that.

I want to make sure that anyone who feels alone, or anyone who feels they don’t have anywhere else to find understanding, I want to be there for them. I understand I can’t have that one on one connection, but at least I want a space where you can come to, and you’re surrounded by a big group of people who all go, “Yeah, I understand that! Yeah, we’re all on the same page.”

[thoughtfullyrainynightmare]

Hiiii!!!! I just finished watching black clover and found your account and have been binging all your fics the whole day!! You're so good at writing o ma gawd.

If it's not too much trouble could I please request for a fic (maybe make it a lil long?🥺) where Fuegoleon and y/n are in an arranged marriage situation with eachother and she's really pretty and they have a big age gap like she's like 6 years younger than him?

She's like his complete opposite- he's a soldier she's not, he liked exercise she likes sitting in a corner of the home library- but they still find themselves attracted to eachother?

I know it's a hyper specific ask so if you don't feel comfortable doing it then that's totally okay too!! But I would appreciate it if you let me know if you're not doing it😁

Hiya~!

I'm glad to hear that you've been on a binge! And that you're enjoying the show ^^

I made this to be a kind of a first meeting thing. And I don't think 6 years is that big of an age gap. Like sure, if you're in your early 20s it might seem so, but once you're in your 30s it's nothing. Speaking as something with an irl 5 year age difference with their spouse ANYWHO, I hope you like this ^^

Pairing: Fuegoleon x f!reader Genre: general/fluff Fanfic type: Oneshot Length: ~0.9k Contains: an arranged marriage prompt, 6 year age difference, reader is an educated woman who isn't the fighting type, office first meeting, smiles and careful tender feelings

What am I doing here? Or. Well. I know perfectly well what I’m doing here. I’m here to meet the man I’m, some day, going to marry. And that day will come rather soon. Far too soon for my liking. Because… while I… Perhaps it’s just a foolish wish of a woman who reads far too many books, I would have liked to marry someone I love, rather than be married off. Though my father deems me of fitting age to marry. 24. I don’t think it’s old, but he deems otherwise. If nothing else, he could have chosen a man who’s closer to my own age. Or at the very least, someone with whom I’d have something in common. Damned hells, I don’t mind having someone who is older than myself, as the men of my own age are nothing but silly boys. Much too juvenile. While older ones tend to have a head on their shoulders. And 5-6 years in age difference… It’s not too bad. In 2 years he’ll be 32 and I’ll be 26. And the further along we go, it’ll just become less significant. Something about women growing up sooner than men. I think that’s where this is going. So… if only we had something in common. But what in common would I have with a soldier? I don’t fight. I don’t do reports. I just… read the news and … enjoy my books. A quiet life. A peaceful life. Yeah, I think ‘peaceful’ is a better word for it. So… this man, who I’m about to meet… I wonder… I wonder what he’ll be like. Someone rugged and battered by battle and life? Someone broken? Jagged? Filled with sharp edges? Someone unruly? Only a few more moments… a few steps… And I’ll have… an idea on how happy, or unhappy, I’ll become…

The doors opened into a study. A room filled with bookshelves. A carpet. And a fireplace in the corner.

A cozy little room.

A room where… you didn’t mind spending some time in.

“Good day, miss,” a voice welcomed you in.

And as you turned your gaze, there was a man with auburn hair and a stern gaze. But still, he didn’t seem… unruly or rugged. Strong perhaps, but… not downright uninviting.

“Please forgive me for choosing this place for our first meeting,” he told you. “But I… hoped to meet you first, in private, rather than accompany you out. And while a living room might have been better suited, I… thought them to be cold and … distant,” he seemed unsure of the last word. “I understand you enjoy reading,” he gestured around the room. “Hence, I chose a place where I hoped you might feel… a little more at ease.”

Thoughts.

Being courteous.

He was already thinking about what might make you feel better.

“I understand that… a marriage of convenience isn’t… ideal-“

“Is it not?” You had to ask. Because for most nobility arranged marriages were preferable, actually, as they functioned as business deals. Less complicated than emotions. And as such, it could be run like a business.

More structured.

That’s why hoping to get married out of love, was unorthodox.

“I…” he uttered. “I can’t…” he stumbled. And cleared his throat. “If I may be as frank, my lady, I always thought to marry for love,” he admitted. “But fate hasn’t been as kind.”

A surprised expression rose to you face, as that wasn’t what you had expected. To hear such a personal admission so soon. And him to be quite so honest with his feelings.

But… his honesty would be something you could trust.

“I understand,” you admitted back. “I share your sentiment,” you continued as your gaze averted.

A flash of surprise passed through him.

“Quite frankly I… I intended to treat this like a business deal,” you continued.

“’Intended’?” He repeated.

Which made you pause for a moment.

“I… suppose so,” you admitted with a slight laugh. “But for now, I… can’t say that I’d mind getting to know you.”

“Oh?” There was a hint of amusement in his curious utterance.

“I… Well,” it came out as an exhale. “You have tried to cater to my preferences,” this time it was you who gestured around the room. “From the little you’ve been told. Which tells me that you’re … an attentive man. And a courteous man. Which reflects the… the um… feel of the situation,” you tried to best describe it. “And you’re being honest with me,” you could feel your heart beating. “If you were in this with… anything less than genuine intent of getting to know me, you wouldn’t have admitted preferring to marry for love.”

His chin lowered a little, but he was smiling. He seemed amused by the situation.

“My lady,” he uttered while gesturing towards the chairs in the room. “I think we’ll have a very pleasant discussion, if only you’d entertain it.”

“I don’t see why not,” this time there was an amused smile on your face.

Because… it had only been a few minutes into the meeting, but… you were already getting along.

Yes. It was very likely that you’d have a very pleasant discussion.

[newtthetranswriter]

Hi! I saw you posted asking for characters who don’t get enough love, so the person is shoji mezo (mha). Feel free to ignore if you don’t feel comfortable or writing for him, the idea is basically a fluff of he meets someone who also wears a mask all the time b/c they have a blood quirk or something and have sharpish teeth that people are afraid of. Thanks! Hope you are well!

Word Count: 899

Paring: Mezo Shoji x gn!reader

A/n: Hello and thank you so much for this request. I love Shoji so much, so seeing that he was requested made my heart squeal. Also I went with a quirk that gives them animal-like teeth because the only blood quirk I could think of was like a vampire and I wasn't grooving with it. I hope this lives up to your expectations. So as always enjoy, and remember to hydrate or diedrate.

    Being fresh out of U.A. and taking a job as Pro’s sidekick introduced Mezo to meet new people. He may have never been the most social of Class A, but the other rookie sidekick who wore a mask over the lower part of their face piqued his interest. So, to his own surprise he started to befriend them.

    Their friendship started out as simply going on patrol and talking while watching for villains. After fighting alongside them, Mezo learned that Y/n’s quirk was called Druid, essentially they could shapeshift into a variety of different animals. Y/n had also revealed to him over a cup of coffee that a side effect of their quirk was they had animal like teeth and so they wear the mask.

    After Y/n had explained why they wore their mask, Mezo also told Y/n the story behind his own mask. This was still early in their friendship so neither were ready to actually show their face, and both parties were ok with that. There was no pressure to reveal such an important part of themself until they were ready.

   This mutual understanding of each other helped their friendship grow past just partners who went on patrol together. Over time they started seeing each other on their days off, going to the mall or the movies. Some days they would meet at one of their apartments and just stay in and relax.

   Both of the masked heroes had grown accustomed to being in the other’s presence, to the point that Mezo was starting to feel like maybe it was time to show Y/n his true face. He felt truly comfortable around them and knew that they would never cast judgment over him or his scars. And so having decided it was finally time for this major step, Mezo invited his close friend to hang out.

   When Y/n finally arrived at Mezo’s apartment, they were expecting to be greeted by Mezo’s masked face. But to their surprise when Mezo opened the door, he wasn’t wearing his normal blue mask, instead he greeted them with a smile. Seeing the face behind their friend’s mask left them frozen, not in fear but in pure surprise that he felt comfortable enough to show his face to them.

   Taking their moment of silence as a bad sign, Mezo began to internally panic that he had messed up. His smile slowly dropped from his face as he looked to the side trying to think of something to say. “Sorry, I just figured we’d been friends for long enough that I could take a break from wearing the mask.” He quickly said. “If you want to wait on the couch, I'll put it back on.”

   After registering his words,Y/n shook their head. “NO.” The word came out a little too loud and fast startling both parties. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to shout or scare you. What I meant was, no you don’t have to put the mask back on. I’m glad you feel comfortable enough around me to want to have it off.” Y/n corrected themself, giving Mezo a smile. “So, are you going to let me in or are we going to stand in the doorway for the rest of the day?” Y/n asked with a joke.

   Mezo nodded before opening the door further and gesturing for Y/n to entire the apartment. “Well, this was kinda all I had planned for the day. So is there anything you want to watch or do?” Mezo asked as the pair sat on the couch.

   Y/n thought for a moment before responding. “You know I was just thinking how funny it is that you choose today of all days to do a face reveal.” They stated as if it was one of the most obvious things in the world. Mezo turned to look at them confused by the statement. As far as he could remember today wasn’t a special occasion, so what did they mean by that. Seeing the confused look on Mezo’s face Y/n laughed. “Don’t worry it’s not a special occasion, well not yet but we might change that.” Once again Mezo was confused. Deciding that they had tortured him enough, they started to move their own mask, pulling it down below their chin. “I said it was funny you chose today to do a face reveal because I was also planning on taking off my mask.” They finished giving Mezo a smile that showed off their sharp predator like canines that rested slightly over their bottom lip.

    It was Mezo’s turn to freeze in surprise. He had not been accepting them to respond by also taking their mask off. “I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to share your face with me.” Mezo said after getting over the shock.

   The two sat in silence just taking in each other’s faces for a moment before Y/n broke the silence. “Now that we’re both chill with having our masks off, can we order pizza and watch movies?” They asked with a slight laugh.

   Mezo nodded, grabbing his phone and ordering pizza, while Y/n grabbed the remote. Both were relieved that they had someone they didn’t feel the need to hide from. y/n was right today was a special occasion because it marked a massive step in their friendship.

[ssruis]

Saw someone say it wasn’t realistic that rui is now liked by more people & he should have to experience more social rejection and be fine with it for an arc because it’s “not realistic” & (extremely loud incorrect buzzer) uh oh! looks like someone failed their rui kamishiro classes.

A lot of Rui’s issues with connecting with others/being disliked by his peers had to do with people just not understanding him - assuming he was dangerous, that he was willing to put people in harms way, that he was just a crazy director. There was a massive gap in maturity, of course - if you put a super genius (autism coded) child in a group with average kids, he’s going to stick out. RMD shows this pretty clearly. He attempted to reach out through using shows as a common ground, which didn’t work.

Now that he’s in high school, and his peers are more mature, those who actually speak to him and spend time with him are able to recognize that he’s actually a good guy. Look at his relationship with Akito if you need an example. Additionally, through tsukasa & wxs Rui was able to realize he could connect to people outside of shows and he stopped acting very… indifferent to everyone around him, which also helped with making friends. The pandemonium crew were a special case because they all thought Rui’s knowledge/inventions/etc were cool from the get go, but other students… did not share that opinion. And still don’t.

There are a lot of examples I could bring up, but the 2nd card story in Rui’s “Brand New Style” 2* (TL Haruka’s penguins) is one of the best:

2nd year (greening) committee member A: Well, I’m still attached to the plants I took care of, so I thought I’d take care of them until I graduate.

3rd year committee member A: That’s understandable. Besides… ever since Kamishiro-kun joined us, it’s been much easier to take care of them.

2nd year committee member B: True, the flowerbeds aren’t getting vandalized anymore!

Rui: I don’t think I’ve really done much… but I’m honored to hear you say something like that.

3rd year committee member B: Yeah, I’m really looking forward to working with you again this year, Kamishiro!

Rui: (The atmosphere of this committee has changed a lot.)

Rui: (When I first joined, the looks everyone gave me weren’t exactly ones of “welcoming.”)

Rui: (Now, though, I seem to have gained their understanding. I’m grateful.)

Rui: (But…)

1st year committee members: Hey, isn’t that the senpai we heard those rumors about? The one from the weirdo one-two finish…

1st year committee members: That problem child who flies drones and conducts dangerous experiments in school? Why does he have to be in the Greening Committee…? I thought it was meant to be a peaceful committee…

Rui: (… Well, I suppose it can’t be helped.)

[rui is asked to be the one to explain greening committee’s responsibilities to the new 1st year members]

Rui: Would everyone please follow me?

1st year committee members: O… okay…

[scene change to outside]

1st year committee members: I never thought I’d end up getting involved with the senpai from the rumors like this…

1st year committee members: My friend’s older brother said to stay away from him because he’s supposed to be dangerous…

Rui: We’re here.

1st year committee members: O-okay!

Rui: All the flowerbeds facing this schoolyard are managed by the greening committee.

Rui: We’re in charge of daily watering duty, but we also work with the soil and plant new flowers during committee time.

Rui: The seeds for the flowers over there were planted a few months ago by the committee members. I’m glad to see the buds have finally sprouted.

1st year committee members: Hmm, you’ve been growing them from seeds, these flowers —

Rui: Ah, please be careful when you go to touch the flowers. It’s difficult to see, but there’s a net in front of the flowerbed.

1st year committee members: Woah, there is…! I didn’t notice at all, but there’s a net of threads like a spider web…!

1st year committee members: But what’s the purpose of that?

Rui: This flowerbed is positioned in quite a precarious place.

Rui: The flowers planted here were often crushed by stray balls from the tennis and softball clubs.

Rui: In order to protect the flowers from such accidents… but also to avoid spoiling the scenery, an almost invisible defense net was made.

1st year committee members: “Was made”… Did you make it, Kamishiro-senpai?

Rui: I did. I felt sorry for the flowers, you see.

1st year committee members: … Someone who’s known for dangerous experiments is working with the flowers…

Rui: … Oh dear. This flower seems to have withered.

1st year committee members: Ah… If it’s withered that much, I doubt it’ll grow anymore. You’ll be wasting the nutrients of other flowers, so it’s better to thin out—

Rui: … No.

Rui: I’ll put this flower in another planter and take care of it.

Rui: When it’s recovered, I’ll return it to this flowerbed. It should be together with everyone else, after all.

1st year committee members: Kamishiro-senpai…

1st year committee members: … I will do my best as a greening committee member.

1st year committee members: Senpai, please teach me a lot!

I think this card story is a microcosm of how he started to be more accepted at school - 1st years are scared of him, then they spend time with him and realize he’s not Some Insane Dangerous Monster but instead a nice guy (… when he’s not being a freak), and are like “oh ok he’s not a bad person we accept him.” Crucially: there are still other students who don’t accept him. & Rui has never really had an issue brushing this off, even if it’s obviously not something he enjoys experiencing.

I could talk at length on how I think this is actually a pretty realistic portrayal of what it’s like when you go from being really misunderstood (and therefore unliked) as a kid and then have an easier time making friends when you’re older, but I don’t think that’s necessary. I will say that I think if pjsk elected to instead constantly hammer in the fact that some people still don’t like rui it would kind of run against the story’s message of improving your life. We don’t need to dwell on sad things constantly in the Hopeful Hatsune Miku Game. But whatever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

The thread also mentioned that Rui should have been more upset in BLF over not immediately succeeding, which I don’t have as much to say about beyond. No? It shouldn’t have? Why would it? Rui himself acknowledges that he’s not as well versed in the world of movie directing, and he’s always been eager to learn, which is a sign that he knows there are gaps in his knowledge. Similar to the rest of WxS, setbacks regarding his passions are something he views as an opportunity to improve.

Also. Rui *has* failed before as a director, just not on a massive scale. He mentions regretting type casting Tsukasa up until the torpe show, he mentions being at a loss for how to help Tsukasa in Phoenix, he talks about how his lack of singing knowledge was detrimental to Nene’s growth. I agree that it would be interesting to see him struggle in a big way with directing specifically, but it’s just not true that he’s never failed at anything ever wrt directing.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

As an American, I need this. Please.

Skipping the queue to do this for you, because yeah. That's a solid af reason.

1k for TWATYTK:

---

If there’s one thing he knows, it’s that. Knowing what that’s like has informed so many of his parenting choices over the years. Eddie looks at his husband. He gets the religious, cultural side of it in a way Buck doesn’t. But Buck isn’t a stranger to a different genre of growing up without the necessary affection, either. More so than Eddie, maybe. 

Buck has a strange, contemplative look on his face. 

“And, uh, the open adoption part,” he says to Lourdes. “That’s so you know for sure?”

Eddie raises an eyebrow, not quite following. But the way Lourdes’ face sinks, she does. She understands what Buck is saying. 

“Yeah,” Lourdes nods. “I can’t keep her. I know I can’t. But what kind of person would I be if I just… Didn’t make sure she was okay with people who love her properly?”

Eddie gets that, too. It’s the same thought process that led him to changing his will all those years ago. To changing what would have been the natural, assumed process of things in the case of his death. Chris would have been fine if Eddie died and he went to live with his parents. His physical needs would have been met. They wouldn’t have even been hard on him in the same ways they were hard on Eddie, for a number of reasons from different circumstances to ableism. But would they have loved him properly? Fought for him right? No. Eddie knows that wholeheartedly. No. 

Lourdes may not want or be able to parent this child. But she’s got that bone deep instinct that Eddie recognizes. The one where you’re desperate to make sure your child has it better and easier than you did. 

“She’s lucky,” Eddie says suddenly. Because maybe no one has told this girl that. Maybe she’s only been told that she’s fucked up. “The baby. She’s lucky.”

Lourdes blinks. Her face kind of goes blank.

“Not every kid has someone advocating for them like that,” Eddie explains. 

When Lourdes speaks again, her voice is a little shaky.

“Thank you.”

☆☆☆

They leave Pepa’s maybe an hour later. When Pepa and Maria arrived back from their walk, they did of course make Eddie and Buck tell Lourdes all about Chris. Even though Eddie is certain she’s already heard. It’s a bizarre matchmaking process that leaves Eddie with a poor taste in his mouth. Regardless, he’s glad they met Lourdes. Glad they talked to her. Even if he can be one person to make her feel like she’s not a screw up, whatever. He’ll take it. It was worth the rest of the discomfort. 

Buck is quiet as they leave. He’s got a very intense but distant look in his eyes. He’s thinking so hard Eddie worries steam is going to start coming out of his ears. Eddie feels guilty. He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to be here. 

They don’t even make it down Pepa’s street before Buck pulls the vehicle over, puts it into park, and looks at Eddie. 

“What’s wrong?” Eddie asks. 

“I change my mind,” Buck says. 

“What?” 

“I change my mind. We should adopt her baby.”

Eddie can’t be hearing this correctly.

“Buck,” he sighs. “Come on. You don’t have to do this because you feel bad or pressured.”

Buck shakes his head. “That’s not what this is. I really want to do it.”

“Okay, well,” Eddie huffs, a little exasperated. “You were adamantly against this a few days ago, remember? So I’m sort of confused here.”

“I can’t have a change of heart?” He asks.

“Not without me worrying that you feel backed into a corner or-or guilty…”

“I don’t!” Buck practically snaps. “I’m just fucking terrified, okay?”

Eddie feels a bit stunned. That’s not what he expected to hear. In this whole lengthy discussion, spanning over a year, about becoming parents again, Buck has never expressed fear. That’s sort of Eddie’s thing. Buck has always been the one who plows full steam ahead. Confident. Optimistic. Easy-going. But, Eddie supposes, they’ve never been this close before.

“Okay,” Eddie says gently. “Explain that to me.”

Buck takes a deep breath. “I… I liked that we had everything under control before, right?”

“Right,” Eddie nods. 

“But I… I do like the idea of helping her. Of having a little girl in October? That’s, like, so soon. That’s amazing.”

Eddie smiles a little. “Yeah, that would be pretty cool.”

Well… October 19th is less than four months away. So that’s… Scary as shit, actually? But Eddie could handle that. Of course that’s the part Buck is excited about. But, overall, yes. A little girl, sooner than they expected, does sound pretty wonderful. Even if Eddie had been super sure their next kid would be a boy. That hardly matters. 

“But, Eddie… We would have no control,” Buck says. “She could… She could change her mind. She… She could change her mind before. She could change her mind at the birth. In California, she has thirty days to take her back.” 

“Oh,” Eddie exhales, understanding. 

“I couldn’t… I couldn’t handle that, Eddie. How could I handle that? It was hard enough handing over the baby when I knew he wasn’t mine to keep, I…” Buck gulps for breath. “I don’t know if I could do it.”

“Okay,” Eddie nods. “Okay, I understand. And yeah, that would… That would be awful. It would.”

Buck breathes, clearly trying to bring himself back down.

“For what it’s worth,” Eddie says. “I don’t think she’d do that.”

“We don’t really know her,” Buck says. “I like her. She seems great. But we don’t know her.”

“No,” Eddie agrees. “We don’t. I just… I got a sense she’s really serious about setting that baby up to have a happier life than she’s had. Which is why she’d prefer two public servants to the wealthy church family.” 

“Right,” Buck mumbles. “Yeah, she did… She did seem that way.”

“But…” Eddie sighs. “I don’t think that’s the main factor here.”

[wish-i-were-heather]

This is a long post but not a vent its the opposite of a vent ykwim like a long happy rant

I love you all so much.

Maybe I’m just all dramatic and emotional because I’m on my period, maybe because I’m writing this late at night and I’m gonna think it’s really cringe in the morning, but I love you guys so much. Tumblr has brought me so much joy. I’ve been here for maybe three or four months now? And I can’t really think of a time in my life where I was happier. 

I first made an account after scrolling aimlessly. I would go onto the tumblr website and it would let me search a bit until it was like “you need to make an account to keep going!!” And then I’d just close it and move on. But then one day I decided  hey what the heck just do it. So I made an account, and I didn’t really know what I was doing. I came up with this username because I liked conan gray, I gave myself  a daphne blake profile picture because she has red hair, and just kinda explored. 

I looked through tags of fandoms I love like the inheritance games and pjo and shatter me and even scythe (which was when i was then brought to the realization that the aoas fandom really is dead everywhere even here😔). But I just kinda explored.

Then I found all you guys, the cute aesthetic tumblrinas! And omg I thought everyone was so cool. Pretty much everyone I’m mutuals with now is someone who i found their blog and was like OMG I WANNA BE ONE OF THEM!! I loved the friendships and the connection and just seeing everyone interact made me so happy. I think one of the first people to follow me back was Belle and I remember I legit freaked out because omg!! Shes so cool!! 

Now that I’m telling the story it’s a little embarrassing, but it’s fine. I just know I was slowly growing my blog and meeting new people but I still didn’t feel like I had real friends, it hadn’t been that long. But I think it all kinda happened after I accidentally deleted my account, and I sent panic asks to everyone. And you guys were so nice and so sweet and for a lot of people it was some of the first interactions we had. 

I have the world’s worst memory, but it just kinda took off from there. 

And now I am friends with all you guys!! I’m so incredibly glad I decided to make this blog that day because omg. I’d seen people talk about online friends but I’d never had any. But now?? OMGG I UNDERSTAND!!! I finally have people who are just as obsessed with the books/tv/movies/music/everything that I am!! 

My friends IRL are nice, they’ve read the books I read, but I cant talk to them the way I do you guys, yknow? Tumblr is literally just such a safe space for me. I have a bad day, come online, and my mood is lifted. It makes me so happy and it also makes me feel so validated for whatever weird interests or feelings I have! I have a weird thought? Post it to tumblr! It’s just so amazing, how there’s people all over the world who care about me even a little, even just enough to like my shitposts. 

I’ve even infiltrated both the shatter me and tig roleplays, and I’ve really just done everything I could’ve hoped for when I joined tumblr. I used to be the one watching everyone interact, and now I am the one interacting! I don't think you guys understand how much you all mean to me. Especially as someone with bad social anxiety, who struggles with making friends irl. I also don’t believe in popularity in schools, thats stupid, but technically i’m not a “popular kid.” So I have friends, but not a billion. But here? Everyone is friends on tumblr!! It’s so amazing. I love you all so much. 

That’s long and honestly pretty sappy, also yall probably don't care about my whole tumblr history and how i got here (plus no one asked), but I felt like i wanted to share. There’s so much more I wanna say, but surprisingly enough as a writer, I’m not always the best at expressing my feelings over writing. My love language is physical touch, not words of affirmation. Which suckss cause i cant give you guys that. But this is as good as i can get. 

So thank you to everyone, my mutuals and followers and whatever. Thank you for being so loving. Thank you for being stupid with me. Thank you for listening to me rant about nonsense. Thank you for liking my posts. thank you for being here. Thank you for making me feel safe.

Cause every time I get a notification, I smile. It’s hard not to, when I know everyone is so amazing. I hope you think of me when you listen to heather, because I always think of you when i listen to online love. Anyway, I love you all. I hope we meet one day. Actually, scratch that. We will  meet one day. That is a threat :)

LOVE YOU ALL MUAH MUAH MUAH IM BREAKING INTO YOUR HOUSE RIGHT NOW BTW WERE GONNA WATCH HALLOWEEN MOVIES AND HAVE HOT CHOCOLATE AND GO TO THE PUMPKIN PATCH AND DO A BIG GROUP COSTUME AND GO TRICK OR TREATING TOGETHER GET READY 😋😋

[paintyoureyeswithavividmind]

close to home | chapter twenty eight

close to home | chapter twenty eight

plot: the reader and her group start their journey north

series masterlist

Pairing: Eventual Daryl Dixon x f!reader Word Count: 1,699 Warnings: violence, blood, typical twd A/N: thank you for reading!!! How is everyone liking the build up with reader and Daryl? I know it's slow.... but it'll be worth it! Let me know what you all think!! Love you all for reading 😘

It was getting close to nightfall when the apartment building was cleared. You all played it safe, taking one apartment at a time, clearing it, scavenging it, and then repeating it. Your body was aching and sweating, and your new shirt was riddled with walker blood. But it was worth it. 

You’d scavenged enough food and water to last most of the trip. It could take days, and with so many people needing to eat, it was better to be safe than sorry. 

The Acadia was chosen to put the supplies in, and Rick offered to drive it back for you since you were exhausted and it was a bigger car. Michonne went with him while Carol drove the car you all drove up here in, and you can Daryl took the one Rick found. 

The sun was nearly set as Daryl drove, the car’s AC blasting and a random CD playing in the background. Yours and Daryl’s weapons were all lying at your feet, and your legs were up on the dash. 

“I should’ve grabbed another snack before Rick got there. I’m so hungry,” You said, touching your growling stomach. 

Daryl didn’t say anything, but he did glance at you.

“At least we found some canned food,” You said, yawning and turning so you were facing Daryl. “I’m just glad I had the sense to grab another shirt. I hate having blood stains.”

“More than just blood stains,” Daryl said quietly. 

“Don’t remind me. This world is disgusting.” You said. You glanced at him, watching how the setting sun lit up his face. He was squinting as he drove. “Do you miss your bike?”

He nodded. 

“You should teach me to ride one day,” You said. “I always thought it was too dangerous, but living nowadays is too dangerous, so I wanna learn.”

Daryl glanced at you. “Why?”

“Because you do,” You said honestly, then you smirked. “Can’t be that hard, can it?”

Daryl shook his head, “Shut the hell up,”

***

While your group had success, Maggie’s group didn’t. They found a few things--formula for Judith, thankfully, and a lake where they filled up containers of water--but that was it. So when everyone saw what your group had brought back, they were all happy. Especially the clothes. 

You, Michonne, and Rosita organized the cars and got them ready while Rick reviewed the plan with everyone else. They’d be taking the van, the Acadia, and a car and leaving in the morning. 

You ensured that each car had water and a full tank of gas. Under Rick’s advisement, all food rations would be kept in the back of the Acadia. You and Rosita rationed enough for each car and its riders, but the remainder would stay in reserve for the next day. He didn’t want anyone touching anything during this trip. You thought he was going crazy with it, but you didn’t question him. He was right more often than not. 

Maggie used the oats and water to make everyone dinner, and you were looking for Daryl to eat with when you realized he was gone. You started growing worried when Rick saw you and told you he’d gone out to hunt. You didn’t like that he was hunting at night, but if he could bring something back, it would be worth it. 

Still, he was gone for a long while. And your heartache started to set in as the camp settled for the night. You ended up eating with Tyreese, who was more than enough company. He was one of the only other people you felt safe with. You have to, after what you went through together. 

Tyreese talked, and you listened. His voice was soothing and comforting. And while when you looked at him, sometimes being reminded of what happened, you were glad to have someone understand what you went through. You were happy about it, even. You felt close to Tyreese, and you respected him. You weren’t as close with him as with Daryl, Michonne, and Maggie, but it was something. And he liked to talk while you liked to listen. 

Eventually, though, you settled down to sleep. Rick still didn’t want you on watch just yet, not until you were one hundred percent. You didn’t mind so much. It was nice to be able to sleep through most of the night. Especially being in a group this large, it made things easier. 

You knew you couldn’t sleep until Daryl was back, so you counted the few stars you could see through the trees and waited. Tora bounced between you and Carl before she settled on your stomach, and you were petting her softly. You weren’t sure how long it was, the fire was dimming, and the second watch rotation started when Daryl was finally back. 

He paused when he saw you; the past few nights, you’ve slept next to him on the outskirts of the camp. But tonight, you were sleeping beside Tyreese and Sasha, with Maggie and Glenn close by. He met your eyes through the firelight and felt disappointment. 

But you smiled and nodded him over. You could tell he hesitated for a moment, really hesitated before he came over. 

“Catch anything?” You asked. 

He shook his head as he laid down next to you. He felt uneasy about sleeping so close to everybody. He preferred there to be a bit of distance. Not because he felt unsafe or didn’t like the group he was with but because he liked space while he slept. But he didn't want to give up the idea of not sleeping next to you because it was so new. 

You were glad he came over, you didn’t really want to move, and you didn’t want anyone to see you follow him to wherever he slept. Besides, the fire was warm against the air, and despite the hard ground, you were somewhat comfortable. 

“I would’ve gone with you,” You yawned.

“Nah, ‘s okay,” He responded. 

You nodded, “Next time, remind me to look for a pillow. I miss mine,”

He laughed under his breath and nodded but didn’t say anything. Not that it mattered, you’d fallen asleep in seconds. 

***

The group moved at sunrise. Another meal of oats was quickly devoured, the campsite was packed up, and everyone was eager to hit the road. Rick took the car with Michonne, Carl, and Judith, and made Gabriel ride with them as well. It was the easiest place to put the car seat. Abraham took the van with Rosita, Eugene, Sasha, Tyreese, and Tara, while you, Daryl, Maggie and Glenn, Carol, and Noah took the Acadia with Tora as well. 

You sat in the back seat. Tora was riding in the trunk with a bunch of bundled-up clothes that had yet to be picked through. You checked on her, already sleeping, while the car loaded up. 

You watched as Daryl looked around for you, and when he spotted you in the back, he gave you a look before climbing in and sitting on the other side of the backseat. 

“Why ya sat in the back?”

“No one said you had to sit with me, you know,” You replied. “And the seat reclines. Not much with all the supplies, but it’ll be nice a few hours in, and I wanna take a nap.”

Daryl snorted and shook his head. He put his crossbow on the ground, where your machete and gun were. “Where the bow and arrow?”

You nodded towards the trunk. “Not enough room in here.”

The SUV filled up quickly, Carol and Noah taking the middle-row seats, with Glenn and Maggie at the front. Soon everyone was ready to go, and you finally hit the road. If everything went well, you’d be there in about eight hours. You could only hope. 

Glenn played whatever CD was in the player and opened the windows, so a dull breeze filled the stuffy car. You glanced at Carol, who was already falling asleep in her seat. She has an early morning watch, and with all the prep last night, she probably didn’t sleep well. Noah was snoring. 

You glanced at Daryl, who looked too big and too uncomfortable in the backseat. You smiled and shook your head at the idea of him cramming himself back here to sit with you. Surely it would’ve made more sense for Noah or Carol since they were smaller. But it made you smile and nearly blush at his actions, with a weird flutter in your stomach that felt inappropriate for your situation. Still, you couldn’t help it. 

The sudden urge to scooch into the middle seat and curl up beside him made you look away. You could vaguely remember the feeling of sitting so close to him in the truck when your loss and grief were so overpowering. You felt so safe. You felt warm and protected. You hadn’t felt it in a long time, not since your fiance. But you missed it. And you wanted it again. 

Luckily you could focus on other things, like your growling stomach. You sighed and pressed your hand against it. 

“You okay?” Daryl asked you, his voice below the music. 

You nodded, “Hungry. Same as everyone.”

“That reminds me, here,” Daryl said. You watched as he dug something out of his vest pocket. “Got crumbled.”

He handed you a pop-tart, and you laughed quietly, glancing at the rest of your group in the car. Maggie and Glenn were engrossed in their own conversation up front, and both Carol and Noah were already asleep. 

You smiled at Daryl as you took it, opening it as quietly as possible and giving him the second one. “You shouldn’t have done that. But thank you,” You whispered to him and reached over to squeeze his arm. You had to touch him; you couldn’t stop yourself. 

Daryl nodded and looked at the food in his hand. “Don’ gotta thank me,”

You smiled at him again and took a bite. "So," You said through a full mouth, "Wanna play I-Spy or something?"

[leaderpinhead]

Ace - Overachiever Syndrome

Written for @flashfictionfridayofficial current prompt.

“You know this paper is only five hundred words, right?” 

The stack of books landed on the table with a heavy thud. Someone from across the library loudly shushed them for the noise. Ace ignored the shusher, as did everyone else, and groaned when Yuu opened the first book in the stack. “You’re not even gonna be able to read that before our next history of magic class!” 

“I’m done!” Grim exclaimed, earning them another “Sssshhhhussshhh!” Grim proudly held up his paper. “Trein’s gonna give me a gold star when he sees this!” 

Deuce leaned across the table and squinted at Grim’s wobbly handwriting. “The...Queendom...of...Roses...is...gi..gib?” 

Ace snorted on a laugh. “Those first-grade reading lessons are finally paying off.” 

Deuce’s cheeks turned red. “It’s not my reading that’s the problem! Grim’s handwriting is barely legible.” 

“What d’ya mean you can’t read my handwriting?” Grim flattened the paper on the table. His paw perfectly fit the inked paw print he had left behind on the bottom corner of the paper. “It’s perfectly readable!” 

“You misspelled big! The b is at the beginning.” 

“That is a b! You just can’t read!” 

While Deuce and Grim argued—the shusher interrupting with a few shushes—Yuu flipped through the thick textbook. Ace rolled his eyes and started balancing his pencil on the tip of his nose. “Are you seriously about to do a binge study session? We’ve got homework in three other classes to do 

“I’m glad you’re taking our assignments seriously,” Yuu said. She kept flipping through the book. Her speed would have impressed someone like Deuce, but Ace knew better. She wasn’t some super-genius with a photo memory who could skim a whole textbook in fifty seconds and retain everything. She was looking at all the pictures at the most. “So you understand why it’s important I do research for this assignment.” 

Ace groaned and let his pencil roll off his nose to bounce on the table. “Doesn’t that defeat the whole point though? Trein said the paper was to assess what we already know about the Queendom of Roses.” 

“That’s easy for someone like you who grew up in the Queendom of Roses,” Yuu countered. She was about halfway through the textbook now, and she paused on a photograph taking up one whole page. “Unlike you, I didn’t grow up in Twisted Wonderland. So how am I supposed to write five hundred words about a place I don’t know?” 

“Easy.” Ace twirled his pencil through his fingers and grinned. “Just write I don’t know anything five hundred times.” 

Yuu crumbled a piece of paper for the single purpose of throwing it at Ace’s head. “I think I'm going to do it my way, smartass.” 

Ace batted away the paper ball. “Suit yourself.” He pointed at the stack of books she had collected. “You know there’s, like, fifty books in that series, right?” 

Yuu’s eyes widened. “Fifty? Are you sure?” 

Ace nodded. “Yeah. War in the Queendom of Roses, right? It’s way popular in the Queendom of Roses even outside of school. Riddle quotes it at least once a day.” 

“Fifty,” Yuu repeated, her voice soft like she didn’t even realize she spoke aloud. She didn’t react to Grim flying across the table to tackle Deuce in the face. “I only saw these books on the shelves...” 

Ace shrugged. “Maybe the librarian put the other books in different sections. Not all of them are about history. One of them is a straight-up cookbook. Trey’s got that one in Heartslabyul’s kitchen.” 

Yuu stood from her chair. Her eyes shone with a new determination. “I need to find those books.” 

“You need to write your paper, so we can get out of here!” 

“I can’t understand the Queendom of Roses without those books.” 

“Do you not know how convoluted the history of the Queendom of Roses is? Riddle can’t even give you a timeline that’s 100% accurate!” 

Yuu punched the palm of her hand. “I’ll start with the Queendom of Roses and then move on to the history of the countries in the Shaftlands.” 

“We’re not even supposed to start on the Shaftlands until next semester!” 

Yuu completely ignored him and disappeared into the bookshelves. Ace groaned and slouched into his chair. “Man! If I had wanted a Riddle-study-session, I would’ve just gone to the dorm.” 

Deuce and Grim ignored him too, the two of them loudly wrestling on the floor. Whoever had been shushing them had given up, and Ace had the sneaking suspicion the librarian would soon be around to kick them out. He threw the paper ball at the back of Grim’s head just to be sure the librarian had a strong enough reason to kick them out. 

It took Yuu getting into a loud argument with a Scarabia student over War in the Queendom of Roses Vol. XLII for the librarian to finally expel them. The next morning, Yuu turned in a thick stack of papers for her assignment. When Trein only stared at the stack, Yuu shrugged. “The instructions were to write at least five hundred words.” 

Trein was very strict about the length of the rest of the assignments he gave them. 

[unreadpoppy]

An heir is born

Raphael x Gwen

The sequel to this.

A/N: Not my best but today was bad brain day, so i'm glad i was able to finish it. Finally, actual, dad!phael.

tags: @bg3fan

Someone had smacked Raphael on the chest while he was asleep.

Hard.

He sat in a hurry, looking around the room, worried that someone might have entered and tried to attack him.  

Instead, when he turned his face, Gwen was standing next to him, holding her belly. 

“What happened?” He asked, a frown on his face. He covered her hand with his. 

“The water broke…” She whispered. 

In the months leading to the delivery, Raphael had spared some time to read upon childbearing, including labor. Although he knew that any child he produced would be a tiefling, a very small part of him still worried that they would come out as he did - murdering their mother. 

And so he was ready for this moment. Raphael quickly stood up and called Korilla. 

“Yes, master?” She asked in a tired voice. 

“Go call the midwife.” The warlock nodded and left. Raphael held one of his wife’s hand and placed the other on her back. Together, they walked out of the room, and slowly went to Gwen’s old chambers. 

“Remind me why you can’t just snap us away?” She asked, hissing. 

“Walking will help put the child in the right position.” 

“Hmpf.” Was all she could reply. Eventually, they arrived in the room, and he helped Gwen sit down on a rocking chair. 

They stayed there in silence, the only sound in the room being Gwen's breathing. Raphael paced around, not sure what to do with himself. 

“Are you alright?” Gwen asked. 

“I should be the one asking you that.” He replied. She chuckled.

“I’m managing, but your pacing around is making me nervous.” Raphael walked towards her and she held one of his hands, and kissed his fingers. “Everything will go well, my love.”

“I know.” He sighed. He didn’t want to worry or care about this as much as he did, but the thought of either of them dying put some fear into him. 

Raphael was taken out of his thoughts by the arrival of Korilla, alongside the midwife. The woman was also an old dwarf and she had brought along her assistant, an elven maiden. 

The women explained how things would go on from now and politely asked Raphael to leave. 

“No.” He said. 

“Sir, please understand that it would be better if you stayed outside.” The elf tried to reason. Raphael took a step back and placed a hand on Gwendolyn’s shoulder. Before he could rebuke, she spoke up.

“I think they’re right, Raphael.” 

“What?” 

“Look, things are going to get messy, and we all know how you don’t like chaos. Besides, I don’t want you hovering around these ladies and trying to bark orders at them if anything went slightly wrong.” She told him. 

“Are you sure?”

Gwen nodded. “I promise they’ll call you as soon as the baby arrives.”  He sighed but obliged. 

Raphael waited outside, to what felt like hours. He even had time to change his clothes. As he heard the screaming from inside, he couldn’t help but want to barge in and see whatever the hell was going on. But, alas, he remained outside. 

After only the gods knew how long, the screaming stopped and the door opened. The elf smiled at him. “Come in.” 

He walked past her, looked at Gwendolyn. She was still sitting on the rocking chair, though by the look of where the blood was, she had not given birth there. Her purple hair clung to her sweaty forehead. In her arms, she held the babe, who was wrapped in cloth. She gave the child a tired smile. 

Raphael walked towards them. “It’s a girl.” She said, in a raspy voice. Gwen raised her arms towards him, and he was able to take a better look. 

The girl’s skin seemed to lean more on Gwen’s color, pink. She didn’t have much hair, so they would have to wait to figure out the color. He could see two small stumps on her forehead, that one day would grow into proper horns. She was asleep, so later he would figure out the color of her eyes. 

With a careful finger, he gently rubbed her cheek. “Have you thought of a name?” He asked Gwen. They had discussed names previously but hadn’t arrived at a conclusion. 

She nodded. “I think… something to homage my mother, without giving her the same name. Maybe…Natahlia.” She paused for a moment. “I know it’s very human sounding but-”

Raphael interrupted her. “If that is what you wish, then Natahlia it is.” 

…

It was late at night. Gwen had finally put Natahlia to sleep. The two weeks since her birth, the girl had been very vocal. Because of his duties as Archdevil Supreme, he hadn’t had the opportunity to spend as much time with his newborn, which caused a conflict between him and his wife, who was stressed from taking care of the child. 

Due to that, when Natahlia suddenly began crying, Raphael told Gwen to stay in bed while he walked towards the crib. 

Now that it had been some time since she was born, some of her features were slightly different. For once, her skin had darkened to a more red, raspberry color. She was a big baby, with chubby cheeks, but he could already tell she had his nose. The small tuft of hair she had was a dark shade of purple. 

He picked her up, shushing her. She kicked her little legs, still crying as he rocked her up and down. 

“Shh…you have to go back to sleep, little lady, before your mother awakens again.” He whispered to her. “You have a grand legacy to carry on, my heir. But do not fret, under my guidance, you’ll do great things.” 

She began to calm down, looking at him with big eyes, which were both blue, the same shade as the one blue eye Gwen had. Most lords would have preferred a boy, but he had secretly wished she’d be a girl, one that would be as beautiful as her mother. 

He smirked and began to lower her back on the crib. Once he fully settled her down, she started to cry again. Raphael sighed and gently rocked the crib. 

“Maybe you’ll prefer a song.” He said, putting a finger on her wet cheek. “How was that one your mother sang?”

He thought for a moment, remembering the lyrics and began. The lullaby had been originally written in infernal, which was how he sang it, but the translation to common was this: 

The carnation fought the rose 

Underneath a balcony 

The carnation left hurt and the rose shattered 

The carnation got sick, and the rose visited him

The carnation fainted and the rose started to cry 

It was not one he particularly enjoyed much, but it got the job done, and soon, Natahlia was fast asleep again. As he looked at her belly gently raising and falling, he couldn’t help but genuinely smile. His legacy would live on.

[burnwater13]

Fennec Shand standing on Morak waiting for Din Djarin and Migs Mayfeld to return from the Imperial Base. Image is from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 7, The Believer. Caption is from The Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 6, The Gunslinger. Caption reads: The bounty on your little friend has risen significantly. - Fennec Shand.

NOTE: Here is a story that ran in December 2023. I am on vacation and thought you might enjoy seeing this one again.

December 20, 2023

It had taken Grogu a long time to get the full story of what had happened when his dad and that obnoxious jerk, Calican, went into the desert after Fennec Shand. Din Djarin hadn’t wanted to talk about it. Calican couldn’t. Peli was just glad that it was over and at the time, Grogu had been pretty happy about that as well. 

But as time went by Grogu wanted to know more. How did that gunslinger make it out of that part of the desert alive? Where was the person they were going to find? What happened to his protector’s speeder bike? Most importantly, how the heck did that punk manage to trick an experienced Mandalorian Bounty Hunter?

Grogu realized it was that last question that his dad really didn’t want to answer. Peli told him that the kid had made his dad feel old and no one likes to be reminded that one day someone else would be taking their place. Grogu asked her if she felt that way too and was told in no uncertain terms that women like Peli did not grow old, they matured like fine spotchka and improved in all manner of ways. His dad heard that and started laughing as soon as she said ‘fine spotchka’. Peli had retorted that she never needed to hide her good looks under a helmet. Or words to that affect. Grogu couldn’t really hear her because his dad was still laughing so loudly.

It took a while, but he finally had the opportunity to ask Fennec herself. They had been at the Daimyo’s palace, having a meeting about things the Mandalorian could help them do to address some of the other issues on Tatooine. Grogu found that all very boring. Especially when the discussion drifted from the strategies and tactics needed to permanently close off Tatooine to spice smuggling and turned into a long, dull conversation between the two bounty hunters on methods and techniques for keeping Mandalorian armor clean and functional. 

“Hey Boss, I’m going to take the kid down to the rancor enclosure. Maybe he can get the critter to take a nap and the trainer can finally clean that place up. It stinks like a rathtar nest.”

“Don’t tire him out Fennec. We’re heading back to Mos Eisley today.”

“Don’t worry Mando. He’ll be fine. He’s not as easy to trick as you are.” Fennec cackled at his dad and then they were off. 

Grogu wondered what she was talking about and when they were out of earshot of the throne room, he asked her. 

“It’s a good thing for you that I’ve been a place or two kiddo. Your dad still doesn’t understand what you’re saying half the time.”

Grogu nodded his head. That was absolutely true. 

“When you decide to take up an occupation like mine, administrator for the Daimyo, you have to have a broad set of skills and experience. I’ve met others of your kind, a long time ago, and let me assure you, out of all of them you are by far the most intelligent and the best looking. Even so, I did learn a thing or two from them and that has always been a big advantage to me. Even when your dad and that fool, Calican, came after me.”

Ahh! Good. Fennec remembered all of that. Grogu had worried that when the Daimyo brought her into the Modifier that she’d forget all of what had happened that day. 

“I’ll never forget that day kid. That’s when I decided that I wouldn’t be taking your dad out. He’s the one who told that stupid kid not to… uh… end me. You don’t forget a thing like that. Even lying in the desert. I do think your dad needs to get better sensors for that armor he wears. Just because my heart beat slowed down, it didn’t mean I was gone.”

Fennec’s voice had changed subtly and Grogu almost missed it. She usually gave his dad a lot of guff and sass which Grogu found funny. Now she sounded impressed with him, if a little bit annoyed. But Grogu could understand that. He was always a little annoyed with his dad. 

“Kid, your dad is honorable. I’ve met a lot of Mandos in my time. Most of them weren’t fit to polish your dad’s armor. He and Boba are exceptions. Never forget that. I know I won’t.”

Grogu smiled and coo’d at her. He promised that he wouldn’t forget that either. He also wasn’t going to forget that even if you got fooled by someone once, it didn’t make you a fool. Either you trusted a person who couldn’t be trusted or the odds were never in your favor to begin with. Grogu supposed that’s why his dad didn’t want to talk about it. He still didn’t know which thing had happened and since it had all worked out in the end, it didn’t really matter. 

“Hey! Machete! The kid wants to ride the rancor!”

Grogu laughed as the big man scrambled up from where he was taking a nap and looked from one of them to the other. 

“Did the Boss agree to that?”

“Would I be here if he didn’t?” Fennec cackled. 

The trainer went to collect Ranky and Grogu shifted in Fennec’s arms so he could tap her head gently with his. 

“Thanks kid. Now really wear the critter out. It’s going to take him all day to get this place cleaned up.”

Fennec brushed a tear from one eye and Grogu just pretended that he hadn’t noticed. He’d never smelled a rathtar nest, but if it smelled like this, then he understood why it brought a tear to Fennec’s eye. Memories were like that.

[whinlatter]

obviously ginny always holds a candle for harry and her feelings for him never really go away, but what do you think is the point when her feelings change from a childhood crush to realised actual adult feelings?

(I love this question so here I am, back on my bullshit with another Hinny meta not a single soul asked for)

“— how she didn’t think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her…” “She thought you might take a bit more notice if I was a bit more — myself.”” 

There’s a huge gulf from the Ginny being talked about in that first quote and the Ginny speaking in the second. When and how Ginny gets from one to the other - both a new way of seeing herself, and holding a new, healthier set of feelings for Harry that he will return and deeply value - is tricky to parse out because of how much Ginny’s growth clearly happens off-stage (and is… criminally underwritten). But I do think it’s clear that that this shift does happen but I actually hadn't ever really thought about it properly before lol sooo I have been scratching my head over this one since you sent this ask.

The headline is: I basically think Ginny’s crush dies in the chamber. As early as Ginny’s second year, in PoA, she’s made a decision to cope with Harry’s inevitable presence in her life, and that’s to have her feelings be less about revering him, and more about making him feel supported and loved, both by her and by her family. She makes her feelings less about who she is relative to him, and much less about an immediate hope of reciprocation, and more about reinforcing in Harry a sense of his own worth and value as something that need not be a comment on her own. As they both grow up, and she gets to know him better, I think she starts to understand that they are fundamentally incredibly similar people. She learns that she has a unique understanding of him that other characters don’t, someone who she can help be better, and ultimately someone she knows how to love well and someone who knows how to be loved by him. And that in part is a testament to how much work she does - with the help of good guidance - to like herself and like what she brings to the table, both in seeing the parts of her that are similar to Harry and liking them, and in being confident that the parts of her that are different to Harry can be ways of understanding him and loving him in ways he really needs. Basically, when Ginny starts to see herself as somebody worthy of love and similar to Harry, not someone unworthy and defined by their inadequacy relative to Harry, that’s when the crush is gone and the real feelings emerge. I think that level of self growth starts to happen much earlier in canon for Ginny than it does for lots of her peer characters, especially Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 

Full reasoning is below the cut, and I am using the word reasoning loosely, because there is absolutely no rhyme or reason why I have written as many words on this question as I have. Ask me a Ginny question and I will act up, apparently

The crush

What’s really significant about Ginny’s crush on Harry (and is imo quite overlooked) is that it’s defined by an incredibly low sense of self-worth and a terrible loneliness on little Ginny’s part. Riddle tells Harry how Ginny feels about herself, and tbh it’s absolutely fucking heartbreaking. Obviously, this version of Ginny’s sense of self is refracted through Riddle’s most uncharitable telling, but I think we should take it as containing at least an element of truth (because what makes Riddle such a master manipulator is his capacity to understand people’s fears and anxieties, and to play to them):

‘Little Ginny’s been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes — how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how —” Riddle’s eyes glinted “— how she didn’t think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her…” ‘No one’s ever understood me like you, Tom… I’m so glad I’ve got this diary to confide in… It’s like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket…”

The Ginny we get a sense of in these lines is of someone who thinks very little of themselves, who is defined by friendlessness, and has so deep a sense of isolated inadequacy she very easily becomes dependent on someone who shows her the first bit of genuine interest and makes her feel worth listening to. Obviously, Ginny is very loved at this stage, by both her parents and her brothers, but she’s not really seen, and she clearly feels both alone and deeply insecure. Unlike Ron’s way of dealing with his own sense of inadequacy, which is expressed, at various stages, through jealousy and resentment, Ginny feels her inadequacy into a crush that isn’t just about how great Harry is, but how great Harry is compared to her, and how unworthy she is of his attention. She doesn’t seem to have close friends, she has no-one who sees her as an equal, no emotional support that meets her where she’s at, and she is deeply doubtful that she deserves more. (I don’t want to say Ginny/Snape parallels but uhhh well........ you know)

There are elements of the crush that will remain a constant in Ginny’s feelings towards Harry throughout the series. She'll remain extremely protective of him ("Leave him alone, he didn't want all that"), she'll continue to admire him a great deal, and obvs she … fancies him. But the crush and her later feelings for Harry are clearly pretty distinct. When we see glimpses of her crush in other scenes - at the Burrow, in Diagon Alley, in the Valentine’s incident - it’s an endearing but ultimately juvenile, all-consuming view of Harry, in that way that crushes often are when you’re very young, but also one that speaks to her inability to see Harry as a real person and, especially, a person who is not better than her. Her crush isn’t empowering, but humiliating. It's something over which she has no control, and experiences publicly and very bodily (the whole-body blush, the physical clumsiness of knocking everything over, hiding behind doors and watching him at the Burrow). When she writes and commissions the Valentine, she talks about his appearance and his legacy in such a telling way. ‘I wish he was mine, he’s really divine’ isn’t the line of a confident person shooting their shot - it’s hero worship from someone who very much does not think themselves worthy of worship, and therefore direct adoration upwards at the person they’ve put on a pedestal. Although she’s not exactly asking Harry out directly with the Valentine (it’s supposed to be anonymous, and it’s only outed as Ginny by Malfoy), she pitches herself to Harry as someone who is in awe of him and really fancies him, but gives no sign of a capacity for great mutual understanding, no demonstration of their (many) similarities, no sign of deep care and no kind of pitch for her self as someone great who deserves love, someone funny, clever, and attractive, the traits that will later define the Ginny Harry falls for.  

Leaving the crush behind

I think the aftermath of the Chamber is really significant for Ginny’s changing feelings for Harry. Leaving aside the lingering trauma of possession and her near-death experience, it’s hard to overstate how absolutely fucking awful it would be to interact with Harry after that.  It’s not just that Riddle reveals the depth of little Ginny’s clearly intense feelings for him to Harry - mortifying enough - it’s that Riddle told Harry that Ginny’s obsession with him meant she inadvertently fed Riddle information that would render Lily Potter’s sacrifice moot, cost Harry his life and bring Voldemort to some form of power again. Though of course what Ginny reveals to Riddle isn’t an active betrayal of the Pettigrew vein, there are few consequences of having a crush that would be worse than the person you have a crush on nearly being killed because of it. A very reasonable response would have been to avoid Harry forever, and try and put that whole episode, and her feelings for him, to bed. 

But she… doesn’t do that. Of course, Harry’s in her life whether she likes it or not. But she doesn’t have to become who she does become to him by OotP, and it’s clear then that she actively makes a series of choices to turn her feelings for him into something that is useful and kind for Harry: something that helps him and improves him, rather than starting at a point of thinking he’s perfect. Her appearances in GoF and even PoA lay the groundwork for the approach to him that she’s mastered by OotP. In PoA - so in the aftermath of this experience where Harry is the person who serves as the biggest reminder of her ordeal, and also Riddle’s chief victim - other than her awkward hello in Diagon Alley, the only reminder of Ginny’s feelings for Harry come when she leaves him the get well card she makes for him in the hospital wing. Harry’s narration implies the get well soon card is an expression of Ginny’s crush: he describes her as “blushing furiously”. But both making and delivering the card takes a huge amount of courage, and it’s a fundamentally selfless gesture - it’s literally a wish for him to get better, to make him feel like someone cares about his welfare, and a sign she is already starting to try and channel her feelings for him into something kind and supportive.(Obviously he… hates that the card sings so, you know, swing and a miss on execution, but she’s trying). Other than that, she only pops up to briefly share a private laugh with Harry over Percy (the first one-on-one injection of humour to their relationship), and to console Ron and reprimand the twins when Scabbers ‘dies’, establishing her as someone who acts with love and kindness, even if not directed at Harry himself.

In GoF, Ginny comes closer to honing this approach. She blushes when she sees Harry again at the Burrow, but she also then talks with confidence and humour in front of him with relatively little effort. She really reaches a crossroads over the Yule Ball, where she sets herself on the path away from validation from Harry and towards a stronger sense of who she is and what she believes in. She doesn’t ask Harry to the Yule Ball, even though several other characters do ask him out. She doesn’t chance rejection, but nor does she risk mortifying him. When Ron suggests she go with Harry, she turns him down and honours her commitment to Neville, something she finds difficult but is her choosing who the person she wants to be: someone who does the right thing, the selfless thing, who doesn’t ask Harry to validate her, but also who won’t accept the idea of being an afterthought last-option invite for Harry Potter. Because we’ll later be told, by Hermione, that Ginny met Michael Corner at the Yule Ball, I think we’re supposed to take Christmas 1994 as the period where Ginny starts to actively turned a corner in her feelings for Harry. With Hermione’s help (and I think it is this Christmas where Hermione advises Ginny on this), Ginny resolves to seek out romantic companionship elsewhere, where she will be able to be herself - something that might attract Harry in the long-run, but that will have its own value, too. The time where Ginny's sense of her own worth was calibrated around how much better than her she thought Harry was is increasingly in the rear-view mirror.

After the crush

By the time we get to the summer of OotP, something really big has shifted in Ginny’s mind about how she is going to be around Harry and what he is to her. The depth of Ginny’s growth, self-improvement and self-knowledge is on full display here, and she’s clearly reached a relative peace with herself. She has a confidence she didn’t have before; she’s got clear skills and abilities that mark her out as talented and assured (including Quidditch, but also her sense of humour and magical abilities); she’s actually shown herself capable not just of controlling her bodily and emotional responses to Harry, and also become an incredibly sophisticated liar (lol); and, crucially, she’s no longer lonely but surrounded by friends and in a romantic relationship that seems to be stable and healthy enough for a fourteen year old relationship, a real fuck-you to Tom Riddle. From the very start of OotP (“I thought I’d heard your voice”, “We know, Harry”), she can see what she’s become towards Harry: a shrewd reader of him, empathetic, supportive, forgiving, someone rooting for him, wanting good things for him and for him to grow and mature in happy, healthy ways, unafraid to call him out or help him grow when he’s displaying destructive coping mechanisms, lashing out or craving the approval of unworthy peers, and, crucially, someone who has pushed any thought of reciprocation to the back of her mind.

She also really understands who Sirius is to Harry in such a deep and profound way. Over the prefects issue, she’s the one who instigates of the conversation that consoles him over the Prefects issue - she’s the one who draws Sirius in as someone whose example (as a person who clearly was not a Prefect) will be a comfort to him (as well as just like, giving him valuable bonding moment with his godfather and knowledge of his father at school):

“What about you, Sirius?” Ginny asked, thumping Hermione on the back. Sirius, who was right beside Harry, let out his usual barklike laugh. “No one would have made me a prefect, I spent too much time in detention with James. Lupin was the good boy, he got the badge.”

On the train, when Ron and Hermione go to the Prefects carriage and Harry feels suddenly bereft, it’s Ginny alone who stays with him and agrees to sit with him on the train, finding the carriage with Neville and Luna to sit with, even though she’s with Michael at this point. Does Ginny still hold a torch for him? Sure, but she’s still holding a torch in sixth year, and she’s happy to leave him on his own on the train then. She decides in this moment Harry’s need is great, and wants him to not feel alone on his first train ride without Ron. She also shows here that she’s matured and grown up a lot more than he is in some significant ways. She doesn’t share his acute embarrassment about Neville and Luna, and she sorts him out after the Stinksap debacle, helping his embarrassment in front of Cho. Obviously there’s the ‘lucky you’ scene (side note: I love Ginny’s at his side on the tube as soon as they leave St Mungo’s after the conversation about possession). The ‘lucky you’ scene does not scream ‘please love me I’m so in love with you’. It’s a sign of deep care for a person, but it’s the behaviour of a person who no longer gives much of a fuck about being thought well of - they want to be helpful, it’s a very selfless kind of love, but she’s sort of over expecting things of him. 

The Easter egg scene is another case in point of someone who clearly has some level of deep feelings for someone else - as evidenced by their obvious close knowledge of that person developed through watching them closely and generously - but who has turned them into something directed and selflessly productive. We can see that Ginny’s approach has meant something to Harry even if he hasn’t really clocked it. That he gets upset over the Easter egg certainly speaks to how much distress he’s in, but it also speaks to a subconscious feeling of being in the presence of someone who allows him to let his guard down, even if he's baffled as to why his body has behaved like this. Fifteen year old Harry sits, despairing over his fifteen year old father’s failings, grappling with his doubts about his parents’ path to romantic love, consoled by the thought that “his mother had been decent” - when Ginny enters, reaching through fifteen year old Harry’s own failings (irascibility, self-isolation) and gets through to what he needs. Selflessly, she suggests he tries to talk to Cho. She demonstrates strong emotional intelligence towards him, she delivers him a path to getting what Harry really wants - a conversation with the one person he sees as family, about his dad. That Ginny is the person who makes possible Harry’s one conversation about James with Remus and Sirius is so significant (and why I’ll always be mad that JKR cut the plan to have Harry literally confess the James memory to Ginny in the library and then mention Ginny’s advice to Sirius and Remus. The cut “That’s what Ginny said” line that Harry was supposed to say to Sirius and Remus from the JKR OotP planning notes lives in my head not just rent free but claiming full squatters’ rights). 

Even more significantly in OotP, Harry quietly shows her that, while there’s a lot to admire about him, and lots of empathise with, there’s also a lot to be disappointed with him in. I think this only cements Ginny’s sense that her approach is the right one, and avoids setting herself up for further disappointment. The truth is that Harry lets her down several points in OotP, not just in the ‘lucky you’ scene. On the train, he is at least a bit embarrassed by her - not as much as he is of Neville and Luna, but certainly doesn’t think of her as a “very cool person”. Harry spends the whole book screaming at everyone for information, feeling frustrated about being patronised and deemed too young, but does the same thing to Ginny four times: once, at Grimmauld Place, where he lets Molly remove her from the room and makes no case for her entitlement to knowledge, and then three separate times after he's had the vision of Sirius being tortured:

“Hi,” said Ginny uncertainly. “We recognised Harry’s voice — what are you yelling about?”  “Never you mind,” said Harry roughly. Ginny raised her eyebrows. “There’s no need to take that tone with me,” she said coolly. “I was only wondering whether I could help.”  “Well, you can’t,” said Harry shortly. “You’re being rather rude, you know,” said Luna serenely.

And then again a few pages later in the Forest: 

“I’ve got a broom!” said Ginny. “Yeah, but you’re not coming,” said Ron angrily. “Excuse me, but I care what happens to Sirius as much as you do!” said Ginny, her jaw set so that her resemblance to Fred and George was suddenly striking. “You’re too —” Harry began. “I’m three years older than you were when you fought You-KnowWho over the Sorcerer’s Stone,” she said fiercely, “and it’s because of me Malfoy’s stuck back in Umbridge’s office with giant flying bogeys attacking him —” “Yeah, but —”

One more time for emphasis, Harry, there's not enough salt in that wound:

“Look, you three” — he pointed at Neville, Ginny, and Luna — “you’re not involved in this, you’re not — ”

I think this is in part why Ginny moves onto Dean so quickly at the end of the OotP year and doesn’t wait around to see if post-Cho Harry is interested in something. Obviously, she would see and respect the enormity of Harry’s grief. But she has just spent a year receiving confirmation that Harry doesn't see her as an equal and doesn't seem to intend to meet her emotional needs in any of the ways she has learned to meet his. She dumps Michael because she knows what she’s worth, and though she’s briefly single she fills Michael’s space with someone else who clearly admires and values her, something Harry has shown no sign he is capable of doing (yet). She leaves OotP having found a way of being around Harry that works for her, that offers him meaningful friendship and support, and that both sees him and sees through him. She’s not about to ask for more, out of respect for him but also out of self-preservation. (I think she is also beginning to grasp that if anything ever did happen with Harry, it would be temporary, in ways that colour her approach to it, too.) 

All this is to say, by the time we get to HBP, Ginny has five years post-crush under her belt of overcoming the unhealthy and toxic aspects of her feelings for Harry, honing who she is to Harry and living with her feelings for him, and also just... becoming someone she herself likes and who she believes deserves love and respect. Her feelings aren’t gone, but she’s built a life that doesn't centre them, and she’s happy with who she is to Harry, and how she can make him feel loved without asking for romantic love in return. The trouble for her is that Harry’s about to have an absolute shocker and realise their significance to one another in ways that threaten the equilibrium she’s found. But that's the trouble when you have a massive sense-of-self glow-up Gin! Sometimes people clock them and go: wow wait. So sorry baby you did this to yourself! 

[autism-alley]

i don't know if you answer asks but you're one of the few blogs still consistently posting pjo tv crit and it's been such a relief. with the amount of praise it's gotten i feel so gaslit like am i just being a baseless hater?? but no there's a reason a lot of the people criticizing the show are writers. it's a poorly written show and the more i think about it the more problems i find

like i was thinking about the way the kids in the show just know everything and how boring it is to watch, especially the casino scene, and something hit me

the lotus casino functions perfectly as a metaphor for traits associated with adhd--the need for stimulation and time blindness. anyone would fall for the casino's lure, but especially adhd kids. the fact that the show takes that away is REALLY weird to me, to put it kindly

if i were being less kind? i would say there's grounds to argue that having these characters, who are children with adhd, be impervious to something that is designed to trap people exactly like them is, on some level, erasure of their disabilities. especially since the one character who does get affected by it is the one who doesn't have the same neurodivergencies as the two who don't. the explanation for why percy and annabeth didn't start to forget themselves was such a lazy cop out and i can't believe people ate it up

i don't know what that writers' room has against literal adhd children falling for traps that are designed to trap people, but it's embarrassing for them tbh

i’m so glad to hear it anon!! i’m a little surprised to hear it too tbh, i wasn’t sure if anyone else was still. interested in discussing it? it seems like the pjo/atla fanbase overlap means most people have moved onto to the live action atla show. and while i am an atla fan, i didn’t grow up with the show the same way i grew up with the pjo books, so based on what we’d already seen/heard of the natla show before it even released + my utter disappointment and heartbreak regarding the pjo show, i decided to spare myself the watch. i would rather keep my memories of the original show untainted; what i have seen of the show resonates with people’s criticisms of the writing (and as someone who has done costuming work. one look is all you need to understand THAT criticism lmfao).

but i’m honestly… surprised? the pjo show did not get the same level of criticism as the natla show? it’s not like pjo is not also very popular with that same generation, sure, atla being a show perhaps made it more appealing and accessible to more kids, etc etc, sure. but from the fan bases themselves, size aside? proportionately? the pjo fandom is FULL of show defenders just blatantly ignoring the show’s major foundational issues if not just outright parading them around as successes, meanwhile the critics are in the minority. compare that with what i’ve seen where the complete opposite is true of the atla fandom, it’s weird!! and especially jarring to me bc it seemed pretty clear to everyone in the atla fandom the show had Issues, meanwhile the pjo fandom heard the promise from rick riordan’s very own mouth this show is going to be faithful to the series’ spirit. it’s so weird to see the wildly different responses to what i think are prolly equally bad reboot shows, with a fandom of similar demographics (clearly not the SAME demographics or the response would prolly be more aligned but you get my point). so i agree anon, i do feel a little gaslit by the pjo fandom, and watching the atla fandom’s very reasonable response to the natla show is like. whiplash. another sign you and i are not losing it lmao

as for the lotus casino, this is an excellent point! i don’t even think it can be called unkind to point out how this episode is a symptom of the show’s overall disability erasure. i would say it’s unkind of the show to erase adhd and dyslexia representation. in fact, because of the explicit promise by its creator to see that representation, i would go as far as to call it cruel to then erase it. if anything, based on rick’s promises to add more representation, i was hoping for elements like autistic annabeth confirmation, since when pjo was first written, it was based off rick’s son and his friends who were all ND, and at the time it wasn’t thought to be possible to be AuDHD, but likely some of those kids probably were (and that then made its way into the books in characters like annabeth!). that would have been the perfect opportunity to add something with the foresight of modern times, but instead we got… absolutely no disability rep from the show aside from a few short lines of dialogue as a lame-ass bone-toss to the book fans.

the pjo show’s biggest crime is its lack of spirit of the original book series, and that book series cradled myself and every other ND child or child in an abusive situation who read it. it offered us a mother who never got angry with us when we showed “difficult” symptoms. it offered us camp half-blood, the idea of a place, a home, where people like us were not just accepted, but thrived. it offered us a new world. it offered us a friend in percy jackson. i do not feel the show truly offers anything substantial. it only takes.