#must i do everything in this house. in by which i mean write a squid game rip off fic of exactly the fearplay i want

[showrunnerihardlyknowher]

i finally decide to go and read some g/t fanfics and you're telling me the hyperspecific thing i want doesn't exist?

[dickpuncher420]

hi ambre my love for writing prompts can i get uhhhhhh fairground ferris wheel zukka

As the Fire Lord, it’s rare that Zuko finds enough time to travel, especially at this time of year. But the spirits must have been feeling especially generous lately, because this is the longest he’s ever gone without an assassination attempt, his council has been uncharacteristically agreeable, and all of his current projects are moving smoothly along, without the need for his supervision—meaning that he’s free to take some time off, for once in his life, and finally experience this Glacier Spirits Festival that Sokka has told him so much about.

Sokka and Izumi have already been down in the Southern Water Tribe for a while, ever since Izumi started suddenly bending the tea out of their cups at breakfast one day, and they’re the first ones to greet him when his airship touches down on the outskirts of town. Izumi makes a face when Sokka pulls him in for a kiss—she’s getting to that age where everything her dads does embarrasses her—but then tugs insistently at Zuko’s robes until he reaches down to pick her up.

“Oof.” Zuko groans as he settles her onto his hip. “You’re getting a bit too big for this, ‘Zumi.”

Izumi pouts at him, her golden eyes big and imploring. “But Daddy does it all the time, and he never says I’m too big.”

“Does he now?” Zuko shoots Sokka a look, and Sokka grins sheepishly and shrugs. They’re going to have a talk about that later—he’s well aware that Izumi has the both of them wrapped around her little finger, but that doesn’t mean they can’t learn to tell her no sometimes.

He sets Izumi down after placing a kiss to the top of her head, and she holds his hand and chatters excitedly the whole way back to the house. Auntie ‘Tara has been teaching her some very basic waterbending control, mostly to keep her from getting into any future accidents—even Azula didn’t start learning actual bending techniques until she was six years old.

With the festival starting tomorrow, booths and attractions have been set up all over the centre of town, and Izumi eagerly points them out as they walk past. Zuko can practically feel the tension easing out of his shoulders by the minute—he doesn’t realize how much the crown weighs him down until he’s finally free of it, and now, with it safely stored in his rooms all the way back in the Fire Nation, he feels lighter than he has in ages.

Dinner is a quiet, simple affair. Sokka nabs the stewed sea prunes that Izumi has pushed to the sides of her bowl, and laughs at the face that Zuko makes when he bites down into one by accident. Even after all these years, he’s never quite been able to get used to the taste; never had to, really, since Sokka would always steal his right out of his bowl whenever he came to visit.

They put Izumi to bed once she starts nodding off in her seat, and then spend a few more hours talking quietly, curled up together next to the hearth. Zuko heats his hands and massages Sokka’s leg without being asked—the break is old and fully healed, but Zuko knows that the cold still gets to it sometimes—and Sokka sinks back into his furs with a grateful groan.

“You’re the best husband ever, you know that?”

“Mhm,” Zuko says, smiling. “You could stand to say it more often, though.”

They’re awoken in the morning—or what passes for the morning, this close to the solstice—by Izumi, who leaps onto their bed, squealing about the festival. She barely gives them time to eat breakfast before she’s ushering them out the door, one hand clasped in each of her fathers’ hands, dragging them along as fast as her little legs will go.

Zuko catches Sokka’s eye as they walk and grins. He can’t help it—Izumi’s excitement is infectious.

She totes them along as they go from booth to booth, trying out the fried eel-squid here, admiring the beadwork of a young vendor there. At one of the game stands, Sokka wins her a stuffed sky bison plushie, which she immediately names Baby Appa—or Bappa, for short. Zuko complains that it sounds too much like Baba, and Sokka just laughs and wins him one too, if only to shut him up.

There’s something comforting about the anonymity of the festival. Here, he’s not the Fire Lord. Here, he’s just a man, enjoying the Glacier Spirits Festival with his family, just like any regular person. He’s not the only foreigner, either: in the years since the end of the war, the festival has expanded enough that people from beyond the Water Tribes have become regular visitors as well. Nobody even spares Zuko, with his pale skin and mottled scar, a second glance—especially not when his hair has been braided back like this, in a traditional Water Tribe style.

Zuko doesn’t often regret being the Fire Lord, at least not anymore. Sure, it’s tedious and tiring and stressful, but he’s always proud of his work, and there isn’t a single person in the world that he would rather have take his place.

It’s at times like this, though—with Sokka’s hand in his, and Izumi bounding ahead to marvel at the ferris wheel that towers over the rest of the town—that he wishes he could leave all the pomp and circumstance behind and just be Zuko.

Izumi waves them over, practically vibrating with excitement, and begs them for a ride on the ferris wheel. Unable to deny her anything, Zuko dutifully hands over a few copper pieces to the operator, and the next thing he knows they’re being strapped into the strange metal contraption, Izumi safely wedged between him and Sokka.

Snowflakes begin to fall as they wait for the rest of the seats to be filled. Izumi kicks her feet excitedly, eyes wide, and sticks her tongue out in an attempt to catch a few. Zuko laughs and joins her, and he’s so intent on his snowflake-catching that the sudden jolt of the ferris wheel kicking into motion catches him off guard, and he yelps and clutches at Sokka’s arm.

“Scared?” Sokka teases, and Zuko gives him a half-hearted smack.

“Are you scared, Baba?” Izumi says, adorably earnest in the way that small children are. “You can hold my hand.” She holds out a small gloved hand, and Zuko smiles at her and takes it, wondering if she can sense the way it feels like his heart is melting in his chest. He can feel people’s inner fire—surely waterbenders must be able to do something similar?

“Thank you, ‘Zumi,” he says, and she beams.

The ferris wheel creaks and groans as it carries them up, and back down, and back up again. Sokka assures them that it’s perfectly safe—he’d looked over the plans and supervised its assembly himself—and Zuko finds himself relaxing into the motion of it, chuckling at the way Izumi’s eyes go wide whenever they reach the top of its cycle.

Eventually, the ferris wheel slows and shudders to a stop—and it’s just their luck that they happen to be sitting at the very top of it when it does. Like this, they have the entire town spread out before them, with all its lights and colours and the crowds of people milling about. It makes Zuko feel strangely small, but small in that way that he likes, in the way that makes him feel like just Zuko.

And maybe it’s only temporary, but—he glances over at Sokka, at Izumi, both staring down at the world below with wonder in their eyes—he thinks he can let himself enjoy being just Zuko, just for a bit.

[randomficsandshit]

Bellarke Fic Rec

*NONE OF THESE FICS ARE MINE*

Please do not forget. I have not written any of these. I’m simply recommending favorites of mine over the years. If you love something, send the author your love, not me :) and if any links don’t work, send me a message and I’ll see what i can do, this is a pretty old list 

There's A Nap For That 

Word Count: 6k+

AU. Based on that post: "If you both agree to take a nap instead of going out, it’s a date." Or: The one where Bellamy and Clarke keep taking naps together. You know, platonically. See also: Let Them Rest.

If You Wear A Dress and Have an Animal Sidekick, You Are a Princess

Word Count: 3k+

AU. Bellamy can't not take care of every animal he sees, and Clarke can't not find it endearing.

*Mouth Like Heaven, Kisses Like Stars

Word Count: 4k+

His eyebrows are knitted together in a slight frown, the kind he usually gets when he’s trying to work out a difficult problem. Finally, he meets her eyes again and says, almost hesitantly underneath his mask of bravado, “Well, I’m always here to lend a helping hand if you need it, princess.” Clarke actually chokes this time, and it feels like all the breath has been knocked out of her. -or, the time when everything goes downhill and bellamy just goes down.

Wingwoman 

Word Count: 1k+

AU. Clarke didn't think she'd need a wingwoman at the park playground when she's babysitting her one-year-old niece, but then Bellamy Blake strolls up, and Amelia rises to the occasion, luckily for her.

When Love Hits (Better Make It Worth The Fall)

Word Count: 4k+

AU. (She's All That) Four times Clarke gets hit on the head (+1 time she doesn't) during her last semester of high school, and every single time, Bellamy Blake is somehow involved.

All This Time

Word Count: 5k+

AU. Four times Bellamy innocently kisses Clarke, + one time he doesn't.

Take This Heart

Word Count: ~

clarke moves into bellamy's room. this is both soft and full of disdain for clarke's terrible... everything in season 3

You're Cool On The Internet, At Least

Word Count: 9k+

AU. Look, Clarke will not dwell on this. She will not get flustered just because a possibly cute guy on Facebook apparently shares her views on what constitutes a terrible person.

(Or: Clarke meets Bellamy on Facebook. They hit it off.)

(One of my personal favs)

We Came Out On Top

Word Count: 11k+

AU. “How can you guys be all like this and then be at each other’s throats during trivia night?” “Because it’s trivia night,” both Bellamy and Clarke said at the same time, sharing the same why don’t you get it tone. Bellamy, Clarke, and the trivia night rivalries only they care about.

She Does What The Night Does To The Day

Word Count: 5k+

AU. He assumes she would just giggle and continue petting him while saying how pretty he is, but instead, she pulls back with what might have been a leer had she not been three sheets to the wind, and says, “Your body is 65% water and I’m thirsty.” And then if that wasn’t bad enough, she stumbles out of his arms and fucking winks at him. Or at least he thinks it’s a wink. She used both eyes instead of one. or, the one where Bellamy is woefully and terribly oblivious.

The Giant Squid's Got Nothing On You

Word Count: 6k+

AU. Objectively, Clarke knows she’s probably right, but she still can’t help but lift her chin determinedly and say, “He is not going to find it.” She can barely hear her scoff in reply over the din of the cafe. “Yeah right,” says Raven, “The internet is forever, Clarke Griffin. He will find it eventually.” or, Clarke finds her new muse at the local cafe

Alone Together 

Word Count: 11k+

AU. Clarke shows up at Bellamy’s apartment at exactly two minutes to midnight on a Thursday. He's not sure how she ends up staying the night — or why he doesn't turn her away, when it happens again. And again.

Cold As The Wind Blows (so hold me in your arms)

Word Count: 3k+

AU. Clarke gets trapped in the storage room overnight, but at least she's not by herself.

Tequila Regrets

Word Count: 6k+

AU. Clarke and Bellamy have been roommates for a while, and Clarke has been in love with him for almost as long, but when she finds out that his terror of a boss has marked him as her next conquest, Clarke offers to pose as his fake girlfriend for the staff Christmas party to scare her off. She did not think this all the way through.

Mutual

Word Count: 6k+

AU. As acts of rebellion go, Clarke knows that getting a tumblr is both minor and pathetic. But it's her secret, her own tiny, online space where no one knows she's Clarke Griffin, Hollywood A-lister. She's just some nobody with like five followers and opinions no one cares about. And then she makes a friend.

Wish On Everything

Word Count: 11k+

AU. It's not as if Bellamy wanted anything bad to happen to his mother. All he wanted was to get custody of his little sister, so he'd know she was taken care of. And after eight years, he's basically given up all hope of that. Then his mother does die, and social services tells him he gets Octavia.

Legs Crossed Towards Each Other 

Word Count: 7k+

It starts with Raven wanting to set up Mr. Sinclair, out of what are probably genuinely good intentions. It's everyone else who turns it into a massive headache for Bellamy.

What The Hell Is The Catch? 

Word Count: 6k+

Bellamy gets tickets to take his AP US History kids to Hamilton, and Clarke figures he's going to need a chaperone. She's happy to help out. And if he says she owes him for it? Totally worth it.

If You Wanna Reach Me

Word Count: 5k+

AU. Clarke: So yeah, in the dream it's like We're in New York, I think. I'm not really sure, but you know how it is when it's a dream and you just know something. So we're in New York.

Jasper: whos we??????

Clarke: Most of us, I think? It's always kind of hard to remember when it's a dream. Like I just thought "everyone's here!" but I mostly interacted with Bellamy.

Raven: did u mean: real life

Time Enough For Rocking When We're Old

Word Count: 14k+

boston > boston/camb/brook > housing > apts by owner $2-300 Roxbury small room in 3-br 1-bath house, spouse preferred (Roxbury) Pair of siblings looking for housemate. Due to extenuating circumstances I will share with interested parties, I would prefer a roommate who is willing to get married for legitimate personal reasons that do not include sex or anything sketchy. If not interested in marriage, room still available for $300/month plus utilities. Pets okay, no smokers, NO DRUG USE. Please don't just email me to tell me this is fucked up, I know it is, you really don't have to tell me. If you are interested in the marriage part, a female spouse is preferred, but male would be okay too. I promise I will explain this if you really want details, but I'm not putting it online. Serious inquiries only.

Must Love Intersectionality 

Word Count: 2k+

AU. Bellamy hates his stupid history of colonialism class, until he makes a friend. Weirdly, the friend isn't actually in his class, they just share the same desk and like to write angry notes about the patriarchy. Bellamy's a fan.

Regardless Of Warnings, The Future Doesn't Scare Me At All

Word Count: 20k+

AU. 2 Chapters. After an argument with her mother about her unplanned pregnancy, Clarke Griffin ends up back in the small town where her father used to live, spilling her sob story to a sympathetic bartender. And then, somehow, she ends up moving in with the bartender and her brother.

(You Might Find) You Get What You Need

Word Count: 20k+

AU. Clarke needs a date to her ex's sister's wedding, and she's at the point of hiring someone off the internet when Octavia points out that her brother is always looking for money. So Clarke takes him instead.

Just As You Are 

Word Count: 10k+

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single Clarke Griffin in need of a Latin tutorial partner will always end up paired with Bellamy Blake.

I've Been Dreaming Of You From The Other Side (I Know You So Well)

Word Count: 17k+

AU. Ten years ago, Clarke found out she had superpowers. Now she's all ready to start a new life: English teacher by day, vigilante by night. All she has to do is figure out how to be a superhero, avoid getting caught and shipped off by mandatory metahuman registration, and not strangle the stupid history teacher down the hall. It'll be fun.

She's Touching His Chest Now, He Takes Off Her Dress Now

Word Count: 26k+

If Clarke had thought arguments could actually lead to switching bodies with someone, she wouldn't have been surprised this one really did. But since that's actually impossible, waking up as Bellamy Blake is still a shock.

I Know That Fortune Is Waiting To Be Kind

Word Count: 20k+

When Bellamy is eleven, his mother dies, and he finds out his father was a prince, which makes him a prince too, albeit a bastard prince. And when he's twelve, his family decides he would be a good candidate for marriage to Princess Clarke of Arcadia. Princess Clarke thinks so too, but only because he agrees to come back in ten years and help her make sure the wedding never takes place. It seems like a really good deal, when he's twelve.

And Dream How Wonderful Your Life Will Be

Word Count: 19k+

Clarke has known Bellamy Blake for two months when she finds out two completely unexpected things about him: he's married, and he has an eight-year-old son. He's also getting a divorce and he needs a roommate, and she's got a spot. It's complicated.

One Deep Breath and One Big Step

Word Count: 17k+

Clarke Griffin has been groomed for Ark University and Sigma Kappa Upsilon sorority since she was a kid, and she's a little annoyed to discover, upon getting to college, that she really does like Sig-Kap. That she wants to pledge. There's just this weird thing where they don't seem to like her new friend Bellamy.

Write What You Know

Word Count: 13k+

Bellamy understands every individual choice that got him to this point. He started writing erotica to make some extra money, he didn't correct the assumption that he was a woman, made up some facts about his new persona, and now his publisher wants him to start making public appearances, so he needs someone to be that persona. And Clarke really is the logical choice. It all makes sense to him, when he thinks about it, but he will admit it is incredibly weird. Luckily, Clarke's still got his back.

When Can I See You Again? 

Word Count: 13k+

Bellamy doesn't recognize a lot of people he meets at conventions, even if he's met them a lot. It's just hard to keep track. But the girl who comes once or twice a year is pretty easy to remember. And that's before her foster mom shows up in a panic because she took a bus to Vegas alone. After that happens, it's basically all over.

But They Ain't Doing It Right

Word Count: 14k+

“So,” he begins, running a hand through his hair. It’s a lost cause trying to work it back into some semblance of order. “What is this?” “What do you mean?” He doesn’t meet her eye when he says, “Once is a mistake, twice is a pattern,” too busy picking at a loose thread in his hem. “Wanna go three times and just make it a habit?” she jokes weakly, and his head snaps back up, eyes boring into hers. She flushes under the intensity of his gaze. “Actually,” he begins slowly, “That doesn’t sound that bad.” or, the friends with benefits au that got away from me

Phone A Friend

Word Count: 7k+

Clarke does not ask Bellamy for tips on having a threesome because she's hoping to have a threesome with him. He's just the only person she knows personally who has actually had a threesome, so he seems like her best resource. And when the opportunity to have a threesome with him presents itself, it's not like she's going to just say no.

I'm Swept Away and My Heart Ensnared 

Word Count: 15k+

Raven hums low in her throat. “Well, at least Bellamy can make it up in time. So you won’t get too axe murdered.” Clarke wrinkles her nose, leaning on the banister of the upstairs porch. From here she can see the ocean, just a five minute walk away, and she breathes in brine soaked air. “He’s still coming?” “What do you mean if he’s still coming? He didn’t say anything otherwise.” She shifts from foot to foot, feeling herself colour slightly even though there’s no one there to see her. “I just assumed that because you and Miller couldn’t make it up anymore he wouldn’t come today.” “Why the hell did you think that?” “Because Bellamy and I aren’t exactly friends, Raven." or, Bellamy Blake and Clarke Griffin don't really like each other. Or at least that's what they tell themselves.

Afraid To Call This Place Our Own 

Word Count: 22k+ 

(Single mom!Clarke and Teacher!Bellamy, with the usual angsty shenanigans.)

And Are We There Yet (Home) 

Word Count: 2k+

A Bellamy POV and mini sequel to afraid to call this place our own. (this shit made me cry) 

Bloodstains and Innocence: A Clarke Griffin Mystery

Word Count: 27k+

Police Chief Clarke Griffin knows three things: 1) Charles Pike is dead. 2) Octavia Blake is the prime suspect. 3) Bellamy Blake a giant pain in the ass with no business being involved in a murder investigation, and yet here he is, working the case alongside her. A hurricane is approaching the sleepy little island of Arkadia, NC as evidence begins to mount against Octavia and Clarke wrestles with her increasingly complicated relationship with Bellamy, all while trying to answer one simple question: Who killed Charles Pike?

Is There An IUD That Can Stop The Image of You and Me? 

Word Count: 8k+

It's probably impossible to be friends with benefits with someone who might not even count as a friend, but "lab partners with benefits" isn't a thing yet. So that's probably the right term. Whatever it is, Clarke's enjoying it. As long as she ignores the whole feelings thing.

I’m Gonna Leave You Anyway

Word Count: 65k+

Modern AU inspired by the show You're the Worst, where Bellamy and Clarke hook up after a wedding.

                  And You Can Have This Heart To Break

Word Count: 37k+

Clarke knows she's being a little over-dramatic in her complaining about having to move to Maine, but it does seem pretty unreasonable of her mother to drag her to a small town in the middle of nowhere for the three months between high-school graduation and her starting college. As it turns out, the summer is great. It's just the summer ending that's the problem.

Museums and Mistletoe 

Word Count: 1k+

Clarke buys Bellamy a museum ticket for Christmas and he acts like it’s the best gift he’s ever received. She buys one for herself too, because she knows none of their other friends have the time to go—finding a day they can all get together to exchange gifts is hard enough—and if it gets her an uninterrupted afternoon with her best friend and all around favorite asshole, she’s definitely not complaining.

When In Brome

Word Count: 57k+

Octavia is the one who tells Clarke about "Untitled Gladiator Project," because she thinks Bellamy wants to be on it, and also thinks Clarke is the one who will be able to convince him to do it. Plus, it turns out Clarke actually needs to be involved, because all of the gladiators are required to have girlfriends with them, and, honestly, the more she hears about it, the more of a mess it seems like. On the other hand, it sounds kind of hilarious, and definitely right up Bellamy's alley, so there's probably no harm in trying out. It might be fun.

It’s All Internet Interaction

Word Count: 11k+

Bellamy is less than pleased when soap opera star Clarke Griffin lands the lead role in the Callister reboot. So, naturally, he writes about it. It’s not supposed to blow up. She’s not supposed to respond to it either, but here they are.

Just Dive Right In (And Follow My Lead)

Word Count: 24k+

Clarke Griffin needs a partner. Bellamy Blake just happens to walk into her rink. (Or: Bellamy and Clarke as ice dancing partners, training together through the years to the Olympics.)

Sleight Of Hand

Word Count: 56k+

Notorious criminal prodigy Bellamy Blake has been tasked with a seemingly impossible heist. Luckily enough, he just might have the right crew for it. *Personal Favorite*

And Then We Were Chasing Comets

Word Count: 21k+

If you told Clarke Griffin that she would become best friends with the resident black sheep of Arkadia, she would have difficulty believing it, let alone the fact that he apparently wrote an entire book about her. (Or: Clarke and Bellamy through the years, as childhood best friends.)

See Me In Hindsight 

Word Count: 16k+

“You’re kind of a mess,” He says mildly. “Thanks captain obvious.” The corners of his mouth twitch a little, like he’s holding back a smile. She is not remotely pleased by that. Not at all. Or, the one where they're project partners and maybe, perhaps, friends. (And maybe, perhaps, more.)

Challenge Accepted

Word Count: 30k+

He doesn't even like Clarke Griffin, he's pretty sure he hates how easy everything has come to her. So imagine his surprise when he finds himself at their office party looking through dick pics on her phone. “You can do better, Princess. In fact, I can do better.” As soon as she turns to him with raised eyebrows and an open mouthed grin he knows he’s said too much but she’s not going to let it drop. “Oh really, you think you can do better, Blake?” And he's never backed down from a challenge in his life.

Found Myself In A Second 

Word Count: 5k+

The one where Clarke finds a lost wallet belonging to one Bellamy Blake.

Every Rose Can Sting You 

Word Count: 15k+

Clarke expected to encounter annoying guys when she got forced into becoming the Bachelorette, but she didn't realise that the most annoying of them all would be the head cameraman. Because seriously, Bellamy Blake is a total prick. It's a good thing there's absolutely no chance of her ever actually liking him, because boy, would that be inconvenient…

Choking On Your Alibis 

Word Count: 7k+

Bellamy gets a girlfriend and Clarke handles it spectacularly well

[sirenswhispers]

The knight and the princess

N/A: Hello. I hope you like what I wrote, I’m sorry is it’s misspelled or something, I apologize deeply, but english is not my first language and I’m trying. Anyway, Fred and George always enlight my day, and today I’m feeling a little sad, so this came to me. 

Enjoy it 

George Weasley x Fem!Ravenclaw Reader

Warnings: Is bad writing a waning? George Weasley being oblivious

At the age of ten, running through the wide fields of your town, the sun shining high and wearing a paper crown on your head, that’s how you met the Weasley twins.  

It was the first time you have ever seen people with red hair, and you thought it was wonderful, if not magical. Such a beautiful and vibrant color that belonged to them. You had to talk to them, ask them what it was like to be a redhead.

“Well, it’s an everyday thing for us.” Said the twin on the right, while the one on the left could only sport a shy smile for you. “So, it feels pretty normal”.

You laughed.

That’s how your friendship began. That day, they played with you for the first time.

Seeing the crown on your head, Fred yelled he wanted to be the king while George settled for being the knight that rescued the princess from the evil ruler. In the game, Fred was and arrogant king who kept you captive, stolen from your own reign, and George was the one who had to rescue you and take you back to your castle.

He never told you how much he enjoyed being able to hold your hand when he saved you from Fred.

However, he did promise you something that day.

Pretending to be the most honorable knight of the reign, such a gentleman, he gave a kiss to your hand, and watching you through his light eyelashes he said-: “Someday, I’ll marry you princess.”

Neither of you were familiar with the ticklish feeling that grew on you from those words.

Being a year older than you, soon the twins left for Hogwarts, and you didn’t have neither an evil king to run from nor a gentle knight to save you. Instead, your most loyal company was your owl, which flew day by day to give your letters to the twins and theirs to you.

They told you how amazing Hogwarts was. They wrote about pranks, and classes, and magic. Mostly, they loved telling you about their pranks on Filch. One day, they told you the story of how they had found a map in his office, and they couldn’t wait to show all the secrets pathways it had.

When summer holidays came that year, you ran all the way to the crooked house in which the twins lived, excited to see your best friends again.

And while Fred engulfed your frame in a tight hug, screaming in your ear about everything related to Hogwarts, George knelt in front of you, a playful grin plastered on his face.

“Hello my princess.”

That ticklish feeling you felt when playing with George came back to you, this time making you feel warm and giddy.  

You had never thought much about which house you’d like to be placed in, but since becoming friends with the Weasley twins you knew you wanted to be with them in Gryffindor, maybe as much as they wanted you to be with them.

But when the hat screamed the name of Ravenclaw, and the blue crowd exploded in cheers, you send a sad look in their direction, silently apologizing for something you didn’t have control over. Fred send you a reassuring smile, while George made his best effort to pretend that he wasn’t annoyed with you not being with him.

Even though you wanted to be a Gryffindor, soon you fell in love with the house of the eagle. Blue became your safe color and you became good friends with your roommates, although they weren’t nearly half funny as the twins.

You wished you had more time to spend with them, but the difference of lessons and schedules made it hard to even say a word to them. There were days you didn’t get to see a hair of that vibrant red you liked so much. It made you sad, but you learned to live with it.

It wasn’t until the middle of the school year that you could enjoy a short time with your best friends.

The three of you had come with the plan of spending the day near the lake to see if one of you could spot the giant squid. Throwing all kind of stuff into the lake, trying to get the creature to show even a small piece of him.

He never did, but it was the most fun you have had in your whole year. You were happy to spend time with Fred and George, that was enough.

Years passed, and through differences and struggles, you found a way to maintain your friendship with the twins, to find a way to keep George close to you as you understood that that ticklish feeling he gave you was the love you held for him.

It wasn’t hard to accept your crush on George. It was too normal, too familiar to feel uncomfortable with it. But you didn’t have the guts to tell him about it.

You spent your years watching him grow, seeing you as nothing more than a friend, no matter how many times he’d look for a subtle way to touch you, to call you his princess or just be with you. You were oblivious to his feelings just as much.

Fred had to watch you both dance around your feelings, smiling softly at the tender moments you two shared when you though he wasn’t looking.

When your sixth year came and neither George nor you talked about the elephant in the room, Fred decided that that was enough. He was tired of listening to you two ramble about the other to him.

He had a plan, which had to be cancelled when his father was attacked in the middle of the night and his siblings and him had to go away, leaving you behind.

It felt like an endless night, seated at Gimmauld place without knowing about their dad. The Weasley siblings didn’t have space for another thing in their minds than their family. But you were family to them too.

The next day, when they came back from St. Mungos, George practically ran to you when he saw you waiting for them in the house.

You held him tightly, thanking silently that he was okay, that everything had turned out well at the end. But George was only one of your best friends. Without letting him go, you opened your eyes, looking directly at Fred as you opened one arm for him too. He ran to you and let some tears fall on your shoulder.

You spent Christmas with the Weasleys, making your best efforts to make them smile and ease the sadness. You were no hero; you just wanted the people you loved to have a nice Christmas.

And fairly they did. Mr. Weasley was back by the time you celebrated the holiday, and it felt like home.

You tried not to think much about it when George intertwined your fingers with his while eating, instead, you gave a caress to the back of his hand, accepting his touch.

“Thank you for staying” He told you later that night “Not only for Fred and I, but for everyone”

Your hands were still holding each other’s, and you smiled softly at them. “It was my pleasure my knight” You answered, watching as smile grew on George at the nickname. “Besides, if we were to get married, this is as well my family. I must take care of them too.” You remembered him the words he had said to you many years ago.

“Then, I shall marry you as soon as possible my princess.”

If he could, he would have married you right there in the spot, but this was only an inside joke, born from the innocent promise of a kid. It didn’t mean anything, no matter how much you both wanted it too.

You shuffled closer to him, finding a nest to rest your head in the crook of his neck, while he embraced you tightly.

The both of you were so focused on your feelings that no one noticed Fred’s mischievous smile, nor the light enchantment he was casting over your heads. A beautiful mistletoe growing from his wand, falling delicately on you both.

When the enchantment was finished, Fred laughed to himself. He turned around and walked upstairs, leaving you two behind with only one way to leave the room.

As cozy as you were with George, you knew you had to go back to your room with Ginny. Being as quiet as not to disturb him much, you moved away, or you tried to. Something invisible was stopping you.

You looked around in vain, no one close enough to blame or to ask what was going on, until you looked up and noticed the beautiful plant.

Your throat went dry immediately.

“George” You called him. “George, wake up!” Shaking his body as to waking him up from his sleep.

He smiled fondly when you were the first thing he saw, but your confused expression made him frown. “What’s wrong, love?” He asked, straightening himself from the couch, not going much far. “What’s this?”

You didn’t say anything, only pointing your finger to where the mistletoe was placed. Right above you both.

He understood right away and blushed wildly at the meaning.  

“W-we don’t have to… I mean, we kind of have to if we want out but… If you don’t want to…” He stuttered his words.

“I want to!” You said immediately, not flinching nor thinking much about it.

Realization fell upon you when you heard yourself. That was not smooth, and if you could, you would’ve have ran as far away as possible.

George saw you blushing deeply, your eyes watering from embarrassment and how uncomfortable you looked. You said you wanted to, but maybe because you didn’t know how to turn him down.

Was it possible that you despised the idea of kissing him? He had to swallow the knot in his throat and ignore the shattering in his heart.

“I understand you don’t want to kiss someone like me, but can you at least pretend I’m someone else and go through it? I’d like to get out of here.” George explained, his eyes avoiding you.

Did he think you didn’t want to kiss him? Someone like him?

“What do you mean by “someone like me”?” You asked, anger growing in you. “How is someone like you? God, you can be so daft sometimes George Weasley.” The tears of anger falling from you. “Someone like you?! You know what? I’d love to kiss someone like you. I’ve been dreaming about kissing someone like you, I’ve been thinking of how wonderful it would feel to kiss you George.”

His name slipped easily between your lips. So normal, so comfortable that you didn't even noticed it. But he did.

It was your turn to know how deep he adored you.

The gentle knight you had fallen for was gone. The man in front of you was wearing a fierce determination while holding your face in his hands and stamping your lips together.

A pick on the lips would’ve been enough to break the spell, but he kept the kiss going. He was the one leading you, making you open your mouth with a caress from his tongue, his lips moving heavenly against yours.

As much as you had imagined a kiss with him, nothing was as good as a real one. He kissed your whole body in one, giving you the chills, making your legs tremble from the intensity and the passion.

You had to separate when your lungs were burning for air.

“Someone like me, someone who loves you dearly, my princess.”

[serialreblogger]

Tagging Game

thank you for the tag @theproblemwithstardust!

rules: tag 10 people you think would like to be tagged, and copy/paste the asks into a new post. Answer all/as many of them as you want!

1. do you prefer writing with a black pen or a blue pen? bold of you provide such a boring binary. i prefer green

2. would you prefer to live in the country or in the city? again: no. give me Forest or give me death

3. if you could learn a new skill, what would it be? FLIGHT

4. do you drink your tea/coffee with sugar? so MUCH. i have to add half of it at the hot water station at work and half at my desk so my coworkers don’t catch on that i’m a hummingbird in human form

5. what was your favorite book as a child? one??? well i loved The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester. When i was little i read pretty much whatever i could get my hands on tho, most of which were really old and British for some reason? which is why i now talk like a horrific combination of “abominable tumblrite” and “Victorian aristocrat”

6. do you prefer baths or showers? BATHS but only if i can play music to drown out the sound of my ears ringing

7. if you could be a mythical creature, which one would you be? i WOULD be a dryad, but if i could choose i’d be a shapeshifter (capable of transforming into anything and everything)

8. paper or electronic books? i hoard books like a dragon hoards gold, but like. electronic books are also valid (no no look i’m not elitist, some of my best friends are fanfics)

9. what is your favorite item of clothing? i have a sky blue dress shirt that is the perfect fabric and colour and shape and i love it so much

10. do you like your name? would you like to change it? my Name is Linden, and i love it. my legal name is distressingly ugly and i hate it

11. who is a mentor to you? dang, friend, i don’t think i trust any adults enough for them to count

12. would you like to be famous? if so, what for? i would like to be famous for writing excellent, world-changing fantasy fiction. it will have actual representation and will be so popular that no one will remember the name of that other british writer, she who must not be named

13. are you a restless sleeper? ehh i don’t have insomnia but like. i don’t -enjoy- sleeping

14. do you consider yourself to be a romantic person? nah fam i’m MUCH to screwed up for that. i like romance well enough but i’m awkward as heck, doubly so with romance. sorry Cris, i love you

15. which element best represents you? aether! i am Edgy

16. who do you want to be closer to? some of my irl friends, i guess, bc i’m real bad at relationship maintenance sometimes

17. do you miss someone at the moment? i miss my girlfriend!

18. tell us about an early childhood memory. my childhood had happy parts but i mostly remember all that trauma, so imma give y’all a pass on that one

19. what is the strangest thing you have eaten? honestly, probably calamari. i’m not an adventurous eater. but i do like me some nice rubbery squid

20. what are you most thankful for? i just got a job, which means i can (hopefully) move out in the next little bit!

21. do you like spicy food? NO i do NOT enjoy the feeling of flame inside my mouth, i am TOO WHITE for that

22. have you ever met someone famous? Ryan Reynold’s brother’s cousin or something works at our local Costco, does that count?

23. do you keep a diary or journal? it’s called a “tumblr blog”

24. do you prefer to use pen or pencil? pencil!

25. what is your star sign? i like 🌠

26. do you like your cereal crunchy or soggy? unpopular opinion but soggy cereal is better

27. what would you want your legacy to be? i want something i do to have a real, significant, important impact on the justice of this awful world. i want my life to make it easier for the kids who come after me to live theirs

28. do you like reading? What was the last book you read? i LOVE reading but these days it’s only fanfiction. Do you accept The Reverb in These Holy Halls by @wolftraps? I hope so because it well surpasses most fiction for thematic complexity and superb characterization, do recommend

29. what are you afraid of? literally everything

30. what is your favorite scent? i don’t really like scents, but i love the smell of my girlfriend’s house

31. do you address older people by their name or surname? i prefer to simply Not address them (because i want to call them by their surname but at this point i’m also an adult and that’s apparently weird)

32. if money was not a factor, how would you live your life? i would MOVE OUT. then take a part-time desk job and spend the rest of my time growing succulents and writing stories

33. do you prefer swimming in pools or the ocean? mmm also no

34. what would you do if you found $50 in the ground? honestly i’d probably ask the nearest person if it was theirs, and they would say yes even though it wasn’t and i wouldn’t clue in until i was halfway down the block

35. if you were to get a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it? i GENUINELY don’t trust myself enough to get a tattoo. i’m not permanent enough for that. but if i had to i’d probably pick a little, colourful, very pretty tree design and put it on my ankle or the inside of my wrist

36. what can you hear now? Welcome To The Black Parade by MCR

37. where do you feel the safest? lol imagine feeling safe

38. if you could travel back to any era, what would it be? look if i existed at any point prior to today i would, 100% without doubt, be dead by now. that said the 1920s had some sweet hair jewelry

39. what is your most used emoji? 😊

40. describe yourself using one word. contradictory

41. what do you regret the most? who i used to think i was. the person i tried to be

42. last movie you saw? The Meg (hey, it has a surprisingly good romance subplot. i was actually mildly invested, A+ for a canon m/f ship in a dumb action movie. Also it has Attractive Bruce Willis in it, so bonus points)

43. last tv show you watched? i think it was Community

44. invent a word and its meaning: Hieuule is from my current wip. It means “treasure/wealth of spirit”

ok imma tag @onionwithanxiety, @existentialcrisisetcetera, @hitsuaya, @imthesheikofaraby, @elmofongo, @oliver-in-retrograde, @thenorsiest, @lunarmultishine, @marshmallow-fluffy and @affzinho! I’d love to see y’all’s responses (but please don’t feel pressured, of course) and anyone else who wants to do this, consider yourselves tagged by yours truly!!

[50shadesofmittens]

Oh hey I finally did something Rapunzel.

It’s super fucking tropey and looks like a one-way relationship from the context here but oh well have fun. Thanks to @coaxionunlimited for doing the prompt-swap with me that led to this. I needed to write something TTS that was not-fluff and not-humor (too much 3TtD) and this came out, the emotional climax of a 300-page mega-fic that is not yet written

EDIT: I walk away for literally 20 seconds and get better ideas. So there’s been some minor changes to this. since it’s posting

At the base of the silver Tower, on the back of a rented camel, one lone Custodian disguised as a mutant Tzeentch worshipper (read: wearing a paper-mache mask over his helmet and a T-shirt over his armor that proclaims “I <3 Change”) stands planning the next step of his daring assault.

Then a red lasso grabs him and yanks him up to the highest floor, in through a hole in the liquid-solid walls that closes as soon as the Custodian is deposited on the floors.

“Are you insane? Do you realize what will happen if even a single daemon finds you here? I’ve found you here! Tzeentchhas to know by now, and if you’re still here that means this is all one of his plans. Probably to end with your humiliating death or corruption!”

“Nice to see you too, Magnus.” The Custodian groaned as he got up from the floor. “Was that a hair-lasso you grabbed me with?”

“Shapeshifting is the easiest spell for me to cast if I don’t want to be seen.” Magnus replied, his hair rapidly shortening back to its usual length. “Not that it works completely- there are some forces which can, if they/she/it/whatever the squid is right now choose so, can see everything I see. And since I’m on probation/house arrest, again, I’m being watched fairly closely right now. So if we’re going to get you out of here alive-”

“We’re not.” Magnus startled as the Custodian continued, “We’re staying on this planet, and getting the planet out of the Warp.”

“Have you gone completely mental?” Magnus barked out a laugh. “Wait- don’t tell me, I should’ve known  when you thought it was a good idea to come out here, alone, with just yourself and is that a camel?”

“Right behind you.” Sure enough, the camel had followed it’s rider up the tower. This rider gave her many head-pats and good oaty snacks. She liked head-pats.

“The fuck-” Magnus shook his head. “Never mind. The point is, you have to go, before whatever scheme this all is gets too complicated for me to pull you out.”

“And what if sending me away is the scheme? Hm?” The Custodian shrugged. “It’s not like you can prepare for every plan Tz- that one has. Weren’t you the one who decided that it was better to just work with what we had, than to think too hard about how to win?”

“That was a very different scenario. Besides which, I’m not trying to win- I’m just trying to get by. For now,” Magnus added hastily, “once I’m in a better position I can-”

“Stop. Just- before you tell me what your long-term goals, are tell me this: how do you plan to get into this ‘better position’ in the first place?”

“I’ll work with what I have, just like you said!”

“So, what, Tzeentch mentions he wants this subsector conquered, you work on it, get further into his good graces, and just keep going until he’ll let you be free?” The Custodian shook his head. “We both know it’s not going to work like that.”

“I don’t expect it to go that far. I just need enough to make things… better.”

“You’re mixing your goals up. You’re planning too far ahead where you should be thinking about the now, and you make your immediate plans where you should be thinking about the long-term.”

“At least I’m doing something.” Magnus snapped. “Isn’t that enough? I used to just wait, wait, wait, planning every step and making every choice based on a thousand pre-existing factors, until I got too lost in my own head. You helped me break out of that- and I’m grateful, really, I am. I’m so, so glad I met you.

“But please,” and Magnus took the Custodian’s gauntlets into his own hands, “don’t destroy yourself trying to save me. You already have- in more ways than you’ll ever know. If I’m to live with the memories of you as my guide, don’t make one of those memories be your death. That’s not how I want to repay you.

“Go home, [R E D A C T E D]. The other Custodes need their Captain General, and the Imperium needs its leader. Don’t throw all that you’ve accomplished away. I’m not worth it.”

“I’d debate you on several of those points,” the Captain General said, “but for now, I’ll settle on a question: are your sons worth it? Are your people?”

“Don’t.” Magnus pulled away, and he turned away. “Don’t ask that.”

“Magnus.”

“Don’t tell me to choose- between the one thing that’s made me happy and the duty that I’ve only just really started to love again- you know, ever since I got back, I keep seeing all the amazing things I knew before but kept missing or mistaking for something worse. ‘We humans have a peculiar ability to turn the worst, stupidest dystopian situation into stuff we can laugh  grimly at, I appreciate that.’”

“the-nothing-maker, early second millennium assorted internet. Volume, Tumblr.” The Captain General said, “I read you that one.”

“You use my words against me, I use your quotes against you.” Magnus said, though there was no bite in his words. “You know, in the few times I haven’t been alone here, everyone keeps telling me you’re the bad guy. That you were tricking me into neglecting my kingdom so it’d fall into disarray, or were going to tell me to burn it all down so we could start over later.” Magnus sniffed. “It’s all rubbish. There might’ve been some downturns, but the working infrastructure hasn’t exactly collapsed without me- which is more than most daemon planets could say. Besides which, it’s not like I’ve been doing much governing since then.

“And the first offer you make is to save the planet- though if you were a daemon or another Tz-“ The Captain General made a loud noise of protest to keep Magnus from saying the whole name, “-follower, I could buy  that it’s some plan to destroy the planet, but… that’s not you. That’s the farthest thing from you. That’s why I- I can’t sit by while you’re destroyed.”

“Magnus.”

“No just-” Magnus swallowed hard and looked the Captain General in the eye. “Just listen to me. It- it’s crazy but… if I died there would be another war, big fucking whoop it must be Tuesday, but… if you died, I think the galaxy would become a little colder. Because every time I look at you and try to decipher what sort of man you are, I find something wonderful there. Every time. And you can be petty, hypocritical, and cowardly, but even when you are those things that… kindness, that spark that makes you shine is still there. It doesn’t shine consistently, but it never vanishes completely. And… there’s nothing else I’ve seen or heard of in this galaxy that can match that. Not the Gods, not my Father, and certainly not me.”

“Magnus…”

“I know you still think, somewhere deep down, that you’re not worth it, or that you could be replaced. But I’m telling you, you can’t.”

“Magnus.” The Captain General said, louder now, but something scratchy in his voice as though he was pushing back tears underneath the helmet. “I didn’t come here to die. I know you think- that the place you’re in and the person you are makes it impossible to get out but- you keep forgetting one key thing, in the way it most counts. Who you are.

“You’re the person who saved hundreds of thousands of entire civilizations worth of culture and history- through negotiation and diplomacy, and just giving them respect. If it wasn’t you, someone else would’ve done it, and they wouldn’t have been anywhere near as kind. We both know by now that the kindest thing would’ve been to have left the galaxy alone, but that wasn’t gonna happen, so you made it happen your way. No matter what anyone else said, or did, or how they mocked you for it- you did what you thought was right. Just like in the Heresy, your sons were kept from the war because you fought back against the poison in your soul, and kept them as far from the madness as you could.

“You’ve done a lot of evil, I’m never going to argue on that, but you’ve got a lot of drive to do good- and you’ve done a lot of good, over and over, from the moment you got the chance. What you did for me, during [REDACTED]

“[REDACTED]”

“[REDAC-] But you showed me that you want to go farther- and you are going farther, from the twisted paths that came before. You managed to hold out longer than any of your brothers (exceptmaybeMortarionI’mnotclearonthetimeline) when it came to corruption.”

“You...” Magnus said, “are the only person in the galaxy who truly believes that intentions have any value.”

“Maybe that’s because the galaxy doesn’t value people’s hearts enough. That life is so disposable nobody bothers trying to help the hurting. I think that’s bullshit. And Magnus, you stood up with me against the indecisive squid once before, and with your help I won. Now, I’m asking you to stand with me once again.

“Please, Magnus.” The Captain General held out his hand, “trust me?”

And Magnus closed his eye, sighed deeply, shook his head, opened his eye, then reached out and took his hand. “Okay.” He said, voice breaking, “What must I do?”

[bonesandscales]

Hannibal Fic Recs

I’ve seen a couple of those floating around lately so I thought I’d do one too. Here are some of my favourite fics in the fandom.

1. Rediscovered Treasures by Nalyra (@allione). Will finds Hannibal's stash "erotica" from around the world. Hannibal of course claims that it's all "art"--very sophisticated and classy--and Will is just like, "that is a woman fucking a squid ffs”. 

(sending a million kisses to allione because this is the fic that made me start writing for this fandom ❤)

2. Omiai by iesika (@iesika). Will acquires a murderous secret admirer, and learns how much easier the habit of violence can be with an enthusiastically willing target. 

A courtship through blood and… other means of influence.

3. Sounders of Three by inameitlater. "The Chesapeake Ripper kills in sounders of three.

"In which Will continues his journey after the events of "We Killed a Dragon Last Night".

4. Ravenous by rageprufrock. Clarice Starling meets Hannibal Lecter armed with a copy of the Buffalo Bill file. 

5. i feel your thumbs press into my skin again by softhan (@strongwillgraham). Autoimmune encephalitis can be a recurring disease,” Hannibal says, as gently as Will has ever heard him.“Oh, god.” Will brings his hands up and covers his face. He takes a moment to just breathe, letting the thought hit him and settle, mind spiraling in a hundred directions. “What are we going to do about that? I can’t very well just check myself into a hospital and say ‘Hi, I have a history of this rare autoimmune disease that a fugitive who looks exactly like me is known for having’, can I?”

Will has a relapse of his encephalitis, but Hannibal and their dogs take good care of him.

6. The Torment of Tantalus by InfiniteCrisis (@crisisoninfintefandoms). Set in Cuba after the fall. Hannibal isn’t touching Will. Will wants to know why, but is afraid to ask.

Sexual and emotional tension and resolution; a comedy of errors told by the ocean and classical mythology.

"Everyone always spoke of the torment of Tantalus; no one ever stopped to consider what it was like for the tree."

7. The Estate by bokunojinsei (@bokuno-jinsei). "Love involves a peculiar unfathomable combination of understanding and misunderstanding."

-Diane Arbus

Chiyoh had shot Will down in the street, his forgiveness falling with a clatter to the pavement. Hannibal, once intent on his belief that only by consuming Will could he be free of him, decides impulsively to try something a little different than what he had planned.

Or: What if Hannibal hadn't tried to eat Will after he drugged him in Florence? What if he'd decided to run away with him instead?

8. Out Of The Depths by TiggyMalvern (@tiggymalvern). After the fall, Hannibal gets away and Will is left behind to deal with Jack, and the wreckage.

9. Physis by Chifuyu (@staticraining). After everything that has happened in Italy, there is still one last obstacle Will Graham has to overcome before he can try and pick up the broken pieces that once were his life: Being a witness at Hannibal Lecter’s trial.

10. The Sun’s Light Failed by  shiphitsthefan (@shiphitsthefan). “I know what you are," Will tells him. "You’re the Ripper. I see you."

A long pause, and then Hannibal very carefully says, “You shouldn’t speak of such things. I dread the thought of you and calamity meeting under inconspicuous circumstance.”

Will steps forward into Hannibal’s space; he eases down to his knees in front of him, but never breaks eye contact, and it doesn’t hurt to look at Hannibal. It’s like looking into a carnival mirror; they’re the same, but different. “That isn’t a denial."

Hannibal takes a deep breath. He reaches out and brushes his fingers along Will’s cheek. His hand is trembling. “Does the lamb come so freely to the slaughter?

11. “NIGHT OF THE RIPPER” by  EvilAdmin. Life finally seems to be on the upswing for 24-year-old Wolf Trap police officer Will Graham when he receives a letter from the FBI Academy informing him that he's been accepted into their program for the upcoming semester. But fate intervenes with a cruel and ironic twist when Will walks into a house and discovers a murder scene, and he recognizes the M.O. as that of the Chesapeake Ripper, a killer who’s been on the FBI’s ten most wanted list for the past two years. But the shock of finding a Ripper murder scene in Wolf Trap is only the beginning as Will soon realizes that the Ripper is still in the house. And so begins a night of terror for Will as he tries to stay one step ahead of one of the most ruthless and cunning killers in the country, while also trying to prove to himself that he's worthy enough to join the ranks of the F.B.I.

A "Hannibalized" version of the book “Intensity” by Dean Koontz.

12. through a glass by amare. He went to sleep in an asylum; he woke up in a reality not his own. Will's either gone down the rabbit hole of his own unstable mind, or he's ended up someplace else entirely. (The non-opaque summary: Will wakes up in a universe where he and Hannibal are dating.)

13. Variation on Persephone by dornfelder (@uniwolfwerecorn). When they speak of Kore, they never talk about how she had, in truth, been Persephone all along.

14. The Thorn of the Rose by AGlassRoseNeverFades (@aglassroseneverfades). "Beware," it is said, "Beware, beware, do not go into the forest at night." Yet go Will must in order to save his best friend Alana after she goes missing in that gloomy, forbidden wood. He finds her in the dungeons of an abandoned castle at the heart of the forest, imprisoned by a fearsome horned beast. A bargain is struck, one life in exchange for another, and Will learns that all is not as it seems in the ruins of Castle Lecter.

A Hannibal retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

15. To Beg by jonnimir (@ethicsbecomeaesthetics). Hannibal blinked, taken aback by the sudden turn of phrase. Then his upper lip curled. “I beg your pardon?”

Will looked phenomenally unconcerned for someone whose tongue Hannibal was idly contemplating serving as an amuse-bouche. If anything he looked satisfied at throwing Hannibal off-balance, a smile playing around his lips. He straightened his back, raised a brow, and said with relish: “Then beg.”

Hannibal finds himself unexpectedly attracted to Will's dominance. Will stumbles upon his submissive streak by accident, and is quick to seize this opportunity.

16. Blood and Feathers and Antlers by  TheSilverQueen (@thesilverqueenlady). When Will was a young fawn, all he ever wanted was to grow up as proud and strong as his idol, the Prince of the Forest, Jack. And then one day he wandered off the path and into the strangest pool he'd ever seen. It was red as those sharp roses whose thorns Will had learned the hard way not to eat and smelled like the metal that he'd seen two-legs leave behind. It takes a few drinks to realize that it's blood. When he jumps back in shock, he ends up bumping into the biggest stag he's ever seen, bigger than Will's father, bigger than even the great Prince of the Forest, with antlers as tall as Will himself and feathers as black as night.

"Hello, little fawn," says the Ravenstag, "what have we here?"

17. Proximity by victorine (@victorineb). Hannibal’s hand is halfway to stroking down Will’s spine before he catches himself. He is achingly hard and the source of his arousal is inches from him, blissfully unaware. Slowly, he draws his hand back and lets it slide downwards, towards the swell of his erection, letting out a hiss as he grazes against the silk that is barely containing it.

This is… rude. Inexcusably so. Were he entirely in control, Hannibal would surely retreat into his mind palace and wait until he was less affected.

But…

Hannibal cannot touch Will as he aches to. So he touches himself instead.

18. Hannibal: Pushing Us Into Self-Destruction by IBegToDreamAndDiffer  (@ibegto-dreamanddiffer). Clarice Starling needs help with a case, so she pays a visit to Will Graham, who's incarcerated in the Baltimore Sate Hospital with his partner.

19. Pattern Break by ThisBeautifulDrowning. Will knew what had happened. He knew exactly how Abigail's ear had gotten into him, who had shoved it down his throat. He also knew that trying to indicate Hannibal as a killer again was futile. Jack seemed to want to believe him, going by the conversation in the BSHCI's visitor hall, but Jack needed something concrete, evidence. Hannibal had eluded capture for so long, he wasn't going to start leaving fingerprints or hairs at his crime scenes now.No, Will was going to deal with Hannibal Lecter on his own terms. The man deserved to reap what he'd so carefully sowed, didn't he? He deserved to experience what he'd coaxed forth from the bottom of Will's soul, to see the result of his machinations.

After his release from the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, Will doesn't return to work for the FBI.

20. Atavism by RubyBakeneko (@rubybakeneko). Will and Hannibal have prolific amounts of sex, but Will refuses to accept tenderness or affection. When Hannibal objects, Will thinks it’s with the aim of controlling him and fostering further dependency. He roleplays as his former self to try and prove his point, steadfastly ignoring his own underlying feelings and motivations. The results are predictably messy. 

[dreamingsushi]

My girlfriend is an alien - Episode 1

So while I was scrolling through Youtube, I was recommended that show hence, that is what I started watching, even though I was actually thinking of Go go Squid because I love Yang Zi, but oh well.  I have plenty of time to watch both!

I don’t know anything about this drama, I have no idea what the plot is going to be like, I am afraid it might look like My love from the star (which was sooo good, are there words to describe my love for Kim Soo Hyun?), but we’ll give it a try.  Episode are only 40 minutes long, I think it will be an easy watch if the acting isn’t bad.

So the episode with a guy, again a CEO because big bosses are so much more interesting than anybody else, as you know, driving his luxurious car during a somewhat weird storm.  Not to disappoint, there is a car accident caused by some kind of meteorite falling on the ground.  A strange lady comes out, dresses herself with a blanket that was conveniently lying on the ground and she touches the guy’s chest (for a mysterious reason, his shirt is open now) and she’s kind of salivating about that. Weird.  This an unusual start. Well anyways, she’s magical, she does this thing to heal him I guess but then... BOUM!  The car explodes.  I hope the whole thing will have that much action from head to start haha.  She protects the two of them with some kind of electromagnetical barrier or whatever it is, but the impact still is big so poof!  She loses some jewel on her necklace and falls down.

And next thing we know, the main lead wakes up in sweat in bed.  So was it all a dream?  I must say that if it was, that guy has even weirder dreams than I have and that’s not easily achieved ladies and gentleman.  Okay not a dream.  Doctors just come in to tell him that everything seems fine and there are no problem with him since the car accident.  But he doesn’t remember anything about what happened.  I just want to know the guy’s name now, because this is getting confusing to write, even for me.  And I am not going to call him CEO, this is weird.

So next thing we know, the weird lady from before comes out of a river where an old man is fishing.  I think we’re on for cheap special effects with this series.  She turns head around like an owl, looking backwards, analyzes the old grandpa identity and asks him her way on earth.  Do I need to tell you she scared the hell out of him and that he ran away?  To top it all, she has a talking turtle on her which appears to be her secretary.  The ship she’s coming from is gone and she has no way of communicating with them without the jewel she lost.  She only remembers the nice body of the CEO guy  she saved, but not his face and she will need to find to contact her kind.

Okay, I can already see this drama is meant to be funny.  I am not really into Chinese humor but well we’ll see.  Maybe it won’t be that bad.

One funny thing is, the girl’s name is Chai Xiao Qi, the last character meaning seven and it makes me think of the movie CJ7, which is also about extraterrestrial beings (that time being a cute fluffy ball and if you have not seen that movie, go and watch it, it’s the cutest and here I cut the comparison).

Yay!  Finally I know the main male lead’s name.  So Fang Leng’s ex girlfriends organized a protest outside of his office wearing wedding dresses, with all the media there.  His assistant (name will come in the future I guess) suggests him to not go to the office, but then he goes anyways and to get rid of all the exes he bribes them, terminating the whole thing in a short amount of time.  I don’t know if it was supposed to be funny?  Probably I guess.  Well, when all of that is solved, assistant guy hands him the blue stone, but then Fang Leng says it’s not his and sends it to the lab for research.

Meanwhile, Xiaoqi is trying to sketch Fang Leng’s portrait, but she can only remembers his body and not his face, so the picture is nearly useless.  She goes to try clothes and with some magic or what so ever, whatever clothes she wants just magically appears on her body.  She sets her heart on a wedding dress and the little turtle tries to tell her that she shouldn’t wear that one, but there’s no time to change her mind because the police officer is there to arrest her since she didn’t buy any of the clothes she tried on.  As she runs across the street, she gets scared because of the cars and ends up freezing time.  This girl is way too powerful, it’s going to get on my nerves if it’s always like this... Anyways, the only person that still can move is Fang Leng, in his car, so she escapes.

Later she sees a party and gets in and gets excited by the sight of all the shirtless guys.  This is the weirdess thing ever. Anyways, she drinks alcohol, ends up having a huge bill and has to stay at the party place to work so she can repay the owner, thus she becomes a delivery girl.  She ends up delivering at a painters house and she agrees to give him her delivery clothes so he can escape : he has to paint and is forced to stay there by Fang Leng.  She agrees very easily.

One thing I must say, she keeps on saying how handsome the guy is but actually... well i think we don’t have the same taste.

Well, so anyways, Fang Leng finds out very quickly and it seems he can prevent her from using her magic power because she couldn’t escape easily.  Anyways, after she manages to leave, the receipt for the delivery is still there so Fang Leng just knows where to check.  When she comes back after a long day delivering, he reserved the whole restaurant for himself and she has to cook for him.  But then, she doesn’t know how to cook so she ends up setting the wok on fire... Hahaha.

So Fang Leng takes off his shirts and extinguish the fire, because she doesn’t know what a fire extinguisher is. And there it is. She recognize him.  That was easier than I expected haha.

Overall, this is easy to watch, I don’t have to think much.  I don’t think I am going to see anything especially original with this drama, but it seems perfect to keep myself away from boredom.

[soomstudies]

grocery shopping with svt

a/n: i!! went grocery shopping with my friends and suddenly got inspiration lol enjoy sorry the lengths are uneven AHAHAHA ( can be idol or non idol au )

Seungcheol

i feel he kinda tries to get only what’s on the shopping list

but he fails miserably at it

“we came here for eggs and rice only!”

“but the ramyeon... is on sale...”

carries all the shopping bags because he insists that he should do it

and even if he doesn’t insist, it kinda becomes the norm for him to carry

Jeonghan

he doesn’t go grocery shopping until you’re down to the very last ramyeon packet or the last cup of orange juice

when he realises, he immediately rushes out with you to go shopping

like you’re just chilling and suddenly

BAM

“we need to go shopping tonight.”

“sure”

he tries to buy as much as possible in one go so he doesn’t need to go again so soon??

y’all struggle a little carrying so many bags back to the dorm/house/apartment but he insists it’s better to struggle at once than to go all the time

yes i really had to use this gif for jeonghan

Jisoo

so you two go shopping pretty normally

it’s nothing super special

but he likes to shop with one hand holding the basket and the other holding yours

soft bb i love shua i mean who doesnt

and you guys talk about your day as you shop

about the cute cat you petted on your way to school/work

or about the new project hes working on

or sometimes you even complain about those stupid classmates/coworkers or at how annoying it is that the train was delayed

and as you’re complaining, he quietly adds some strawberries and chocolate into the basket

because the moment you go home, he rushes to make some nice strawberry chocolate desserts because he knows you love them

and he just wants to make you feel better and make sure you end your day well!

and after a delicious dinner that you may or may not have cooked together,

you two fall asleep satisfied with your tummy filled, and cuddled together under the warm blanket

Jun Hui

sneaky boi he makes sure you two eat before shopping so you’re not hungry and impulse buy

psychological stuff yo

he’s not cheap he just wants to stick to the list

because if not i feel he just impulse buys a lot ;;

you: hey im gonna go grocery shopping tomorrow, you wanna come?

him: !!! yes!! but after dinner

you: sure sounds good

it usually works pretty well

just that sometimes he gets so excited about dinner with you that you two completely forget to go grocery shopping 

smh cuties

it ends up you have to go on a completely different day

even then sometimes he makes a booking for a nice restaurant that’s nowhere near a supermarket

and the process repeats

but how can you blame him? he just loves spending time with you

hes a cute dork hes the best

Soonyoung

hes the one who wants you to sit in the trolley and pretends its a racecar

going nYOOOOOOM down the aisles and drifting to the next one

you kinda fear for your life

but don’t worry hes got it under control!

for the most part.

there was this one time he accidentally let go of you and you went right into a tower of chocolate powder tins.

it was super embarrassing and no one stops teasing either of you over it.

you two raced in the grocery store a little less after that but still occasionally do have your fun!

Wonwoo

you know the video of the dude making ikea puns with his gf?

yeah that’s wonwoo in the grocery store

and he does it in this really monotonous voice

“hey... do you think we should’ve taken a trolley instead of a basket?”

“hm? why?”

“i don’t think we have mushroom left”

“...”

“...”

his nose scrunches up in his iconic laugh and you have to laugh because hes so adorable!!!!

“but really, i think we need a trolley instead”

Jihoon

the type to go to the grocery store and stand in the freezer aisle for ten minutes in the summer

he’s not browsing he just wants free aircon

hes also the one who sees grocery shopping as a chore the most. :(

if hes alone he tends to just grab what he needs and get out as quickly as possible

but if hes with you he doesn’t mind have to stay a little longer and ponder over which type of ramyeon he wants most that week or which packaging of cola he wants to have today

he wont say it, but if it gives him an excuse to spend a little more time with you, he’ll stay

Ming Hao

the one whos a master at finding discounts and the most “worth-it” item.

you: “let’s just get the 4 pack one...”

hes keying it into his phone calculator

“no no this is better. buy 5 get 1 free”

he just puts it in the trolley and you go with it

you: hm. looks like the cereal price increased a little...

him: the cereal whAT?!??! excuse me who the Fuck decided they can do this

“boi u can buy gucci???? but not a little more pricey cereal????????”

“look ok-”

Mingyu

hes the main reason i wanted to write this ok 

as a man who can cook, he must go grocery shopping once a week

he likes to drag you along

if you’re short he likes to tease you because you can’t reach things

like you’re halfway diving into the icecream freezer because the icecream you want is at the very back and he’ll just be giggling for a bit

of course he helps you in the end what a gentleman

lol jk he puts it even further at the back

because he really loves seeing your cute pout and you hitting him lightly in annoyance

and he really just likes to spend time with you so he drags this on for as long as possible until he finally helps and passes you the icecream you wanted

ugh im so soft for bf!mingyu :(

Seokmin

he does the thing that dude in the vine does where he pronounces everything weirdly

i can see him doing it in his high tone rap voice too

“yo look at these kehloggeh’s frosetitties flakuhs” 

“ras kraspas yo”

i really dont know how to write what hes saying forgive me

and sometimes he will pronounce regular korean words in a really bad foreigner accent??

“당근 구매하자” -> “danggoon gumayhayjya” pardon google translate

overall super fun to shop with and always makes you laugh while shopping

Seungkwan

i feel that... he (like minghao) tries to buy food at a cheaper rate...

to the point he buys wholesale.

he also likes to phone his mom a lot

mama boo knows whats best

whatever she suggests, he will buy straight away, and he’ll make sure to get enough for you too

except cucumber and tomato

he steers very clear of those

Hansol 

the worst at grocery shopping sorry

like you HAVE to go together because if you don’t,

hes just walking around with his headphones in and spacing out while looking for some peanut butter idk (like im sure yall seen the clap choreo video)

cute

when you go shopping together, he makes sure to take out his earphones but he likes to hum a lot when you guys shop

he also likes to talk a lot about new artists he’s into and songs he likes!

and even though it’s been a long day and you had to go shopping or starve,

because it’s his voice, you feel at peace and like all the stress has left you

hes your healing <3

Chan

a little different and cliche this is way longer than expected

you were shopping late at night and realised you wanted to buy some squid for supper

you go to the seafood section and are relieved to see there’s just one left

sp you run to it but you grab it at the same time as some really cute guy

the two of you look at each other for a while in awkwardness but he finally lets go and says “sorry, you can have it”

mc why didnt u talk to him

the next week you went again for shopping but guess what happened at the fruit aisle this time?

the dude from before is there and he grabbed the same pack of blueberries!

he lets you take it once again

and this just keeps happening all the time, even when you try to go at different times??

sometimes he lets you take it sometimes he asks for it claiming “the hyungs will kill me” whatever that means

one day he’s with a friend and the moment they see you, they start walking to you very quickly

??? two cute guys coming closer what they doin

the friend pushes him to you and tells him “ok chan go talk to the cute person”

he very awkwardly goes “hi i’m lee chan and uh... well i think you’re pretty cute. could we go shopping together sometimes?”

he’s nervous and blushing and cute and hoW CAN YOU SAY NO

it’s the start of the cutest relationship

[coral-station]

1: Fresh Start Station (Draft)

Agent 8 needed a new name. After everything she had gone through and despite all that she had gained, it wasn't without loss. Her arduous journey that started with her fateful encounter with a young squid she would come to know as Agent 3, propelled her through the darkest depths of the deep sea and - perhaps without her full understanding - culminated in the social liberation of her kind. Torrents of demanding feats and tests came at her one after the other as she was set in pursuit of Agent 3. The reasons and truths drew closer each step of the way and, Agent 8, surfaced alongside them. Agent 8, with help from a surprisingly crackpot team of Squid, Cuttlefish and Octopus had overcome a maniacal and ancient evil to, much like their composition, united societies and found a freedom deeper than the oceans they escaped from. What was lost however, was Agent 8 herself. 'Agent 8' was a nickname for convenience sake; her previous name, memories and life was left behind, torn off at the bottom of the sea. The only thing Agent 8 had left floating in her mind was the heavenly melody of the Calamari Inkantation, brought in by a rebellious tide that carried so much flotsam from a wreckage of life to be left behind.

"How about we just call you 8?" Said Pearl who, by this point, had become tired of thinking about the same thing for this long.

"No, Pearlie. It needs to have more meaning to it, you know" Marina looked over at me, warmly considering my feelings "You've gotta start fresh, right?"

"Yeah, you're right. I want to start re-establishing me again, somehow" Marina shot me a quick pose as I did my best to hide the pensive look that grew on my face.  

Pearl stood up from the lavish sofa, perhaps jumped off like a small child who sunk too far into the overly fluffy cushions would be a more accurate way to describe the small squid's movements. I watched as she trudges along the matching pink, fluffy rug that filled in the floor space from here on the sofa to most of the way to what was more window than wall. Sunlight broke through the thin cloud cover and warmed the large open-plan seating room so effortlessly in a way I never thought I would experience. I have a vague recollection of seeing the sun's rays break through the waves far above my head. Thinking of when I would have been in such shallow waters as to see the sun gave me a headache. While remembering specifics of my life from before is tough, I still recall clearly how cold and dank Octarian society was and, most of all, how profoundly deep down our lives were. This separation from the world above was stressed upon us no more clearly than in rare specs of light that penetrated our darkness, teasing us of what was up there - teasing us only if you still had a mind to think with of your own.

After concluding the events that had me fighting for the liberation of all Octolings from a society that was as oppressive as the ocean's pressure, I began to live with Pearl and Marina. This duo had assisted me under the guises of M.C. Princess and D.J. Hyper_Fresh respectively. Pearl was a shorter-than-most-squid who, despite living in luxury her whole life, was honest, tireless and as loyal as a barnacle. Marina, on the other hand, was actually an Octoling like me! Likewise, her life was changed when she first heard the Calamari Inkantation. Unlike me, she had managed to escape to the surface world and join the Inkling's society all by herself. When Pearl and Marina met, they had instantly bonded over their love of music and formed a band: Off the Hook. Off the Hook just as instantly became a hit and the two of them of are at the forefront of Inkling pop-culture, but I've come to know rather differently following their stint as my undercover saboteurs.

"But what you did was really something!" Pearl spun around from large pane of glass and beamed a smile as radiant as the summer afternoon. "I thought that continuing to call you 8 would carry some ... gravy" 

Marina and I surely shared the same dumbfounded look on our faces for a moment until Marina cracked the code. "Do you mean gravitas?"

"...What did I say?" Pearl then joined ranks and wore a similar confused expression. There was nothing to do but laugh about it.

"Thanks, Pearl. I just would rather start life here with a blank slate and fill it out myself from here on" I stretched out my legs and stood up, leaving what I imagined was the softest place on this earth. I had no real intention to go anywhere and just walk around idly, but as if catching me before I left forever Marina spoke up. 

"Are you still thinking of leaving soon, finding your own place?" Marina may well have held out her arm to grab me "I mean, I- uh, we, want to help you all we can. It's the least we can do"

It was clear Marina felt somehow indebt to me personally, owing to her also being an Octoling. The significance of it all was never lost on me. "I would love that" not being in a position to be as self-reliant as I want to be quite yet, I could only accept gratefully.  

It was the polite thing to do anyway, to oblige and let both Marina and Pearl express their gratitude - not that I feel deserving completely. Truthfully, the whole ordeal was such a whirlwind, I can hardly believe I was capable of doing something of the things I had to. They say in certain dire situations you find that your body is capable of unimaginable physical feats. I must have tapped into my primal instincts - do or die. It was a real rush! Living with Pearl and Marina in their stylish mansion far from the city - further from the sea - it was too quiet, relaxed and I was on edge. Even now I find it uncomfortable to sit still for too long. When I look out to or ponder around the well-kept garden, the smell of cut grass and trimmed hedges that soothes others only makes me almost uncontrollably agitated by the serenity of it all. My bedroom window towards the rear of the estate overlooks the garden's stone bird water feature, waking up to that sight in the morning irritates me. I cannot comprehend that thing. Marina often sits beside it watching the flesh and birds that congregate to sing, as if offering their songs for consideration to Marina as she works on her with her laptop and headphones. I think it’s supposed to be calming - at least that's what she says. "The sun's early morning warmth and sweet bird song are all I need to recharge my heart when I'm feeling down or burnt out" was her answer when I asked her once. Not that I meant to, the question just found its way from my head and out through my mouth to Marina. "Oh! And my Pearlie! Nothing else works quite like her when it comes to recharging my heart" she would add with a coy smile pressing one hand against her cheek.

I want to break the whole thing. Kick my legs out at it and flail my arms until one or the other breaks.

My head often fills with sudden impulses like that. Even when I see Pearl and Marina cosy-up with each other, all I can do is fake a smile and try not to wrest my tentacles from my mantle. Not that I have anything against them, my emotions just go from zero to one hundred with only enough time for me to pretend they don't exist. I've never acted out of turn though, I've managed to resist these compulsions for now. Though, when my mind isn't preoccupied with something else, or when I'm not kept busy, I'm constantly bombarded from the inside like this. It gets worse. This next bit is very tough for me, I don't want to admit it’s going on. I can hardly bring myself to believe it’s real. I'm haunted by a phantom. Not a phantom of the gloopy life form that inhabited the telephone, but of the train. When I close my eyes and silence is all I hear, the distant chug of the train rolls in from the darkness. The darkness itself soon bares arrival to the train's headlights. The long hallways of Pearl and Marina's grand design does nothing to abide this presence either. At night, I see the train pull past the far end of the hallways. The sleek finished double wooden doors around the house shift their state to better resemble the automatic doors of the deep-sea metro's carts when I'm on my own and no one else can see. The normal relationship of commuter and public transport has been spun on its head and the train awaits my arrival, with this house the station - or perhaps, more specifically, the destination. Trying to reconcile these thoughts cuts me deep to my core. I have no sense of previously established sense of self to draw from and explain my own thoughts logically thereby. Where there may once have been a 'me' is lost and replaced by the mess I am now. This new me that I am now has lost something far more integral to my being than the difference in the change of my surroundings. It is as though I left behind all my personal belongings on the station when I boarded the train, or left them on the train when I alighted the station. Which way around is it? I cannot possibly tell.

I let Pearl and Marina know I would be stepping out the rest of the day, to get some air and explore around. Pearl had some business in the city that evening and insisted I join her on her way down if I was going that direction. Since it would be no imposition on her driver to have me as an extra passenger, I took her up on her offer. A launch event for a line of Camp Triggerfish camping gear, clothes and various other sundries was being held at The Reef. Since Camp Triggerfish was owned by Pearl's family, it was her idea to hold a wild launch party with live performance from Off the Hook. In the end, she had to settle for much more tame press event purely for publicity sake. Canopies and expensive champagne would be the height of the festivities to encourage favourable write ups. While it may just be purely circumstantial, Pearl was certainly much more active and busier than her impression gives off, so this half-hour at most car journey would be the most time I've spent in her company just the two of us. It was a little hard to tell if Pearl felt as anxious about this as I was, but the thought of visit Inkopolis gave me an opportunity to act on one of my impulsive thoughts that a little awkwardness wouldn't be too hard to put up with. Thankfully, Pearl is just as surprisingly comfortable to be around.

"You know, my Dad has a few empty condos not too far the pad now that we could set you up in" Pearl could tell I had something on my mind and, as outlandish as her lifestyle is, her offer was completely genuine and considerate to me.

"Wow, thank you. Honestly. But I'll have to pass up on such an offer. Not that I want to reject all your generosity, I just had something smaller in mind. Something more quaint" Sitting next to Pearl on the leather seats, absentmindedly stroking the fabric upholstery in Pearl's chauffeur driven limousine it wasn't hard to imagine how it was possible that she just offer up a condo space for me so easily.  

At home Pearl is a little slobbish, unkempt and sometimes disastrous when it comes to household chores, but here in the car's atmosphere she cuts a much more refined figure. It was as though she could flip a literal switch that turned her from an unruly child to a sophisticated and responsible adult. I was about to ask after her father's work when she leaned over to the window on my side and redirected my attention. "Check it! The ocean. It's for real mad, yo!"  

Without time to breakdown what she was saying, I looked outside to see the cliffs break to reveal the ocean that expanded across the horizon. "Mad" I found myself repeating. The sight was gorgeous. The ocean could be seen from Pearl's place but the cliff edges were a little further on so the view was always a little oblique. I had yet to return to Inkopolis since moving in with Pearl and Marina so this was an entirely new vista for me. The sun reflected so large on the ocean with waves' ripples further imposing its size. To the east the tall skyscrapers of Inkopolis also made their presence on the ocean's surface known too by cast an equally impressive reflection. Driving down from the hillside also brought into view the harbour opposite the mainland of Inkopolis. It was this harbour from which we bested Tar-Tar and the weaponised statue. The partially recognisable head of the statue that remained mostly sunken beneath the ocean would soon come into view, and so too would the memories of the fight. The sky rails. The bombs from the helicopter. Pearl's heroic roar. The throbbing of my hearts.

"You can see it, yeah, the head?" Pearl broke the silence and my intense stare relaxed, but my eyes still remained fixed.

"I wonder if anyone else really know what happened" I took a deep breath then breathed out. Pearl sat back in her seat contemplating how to answer. No, was the obvious answer, but I think my question had an extra layer to it that we both knew to be there, hidden underneath.

"Perhaps someone else saw it. Perhaps a few. It was such a big to-do and we got so caught up in focusing on what we had to do that we could have had a large cheering crowd before us and we didn't notice"

"It wouldn't have been at all like you to miss out on a chance to put on a show for them" I surprised myself by saying something like that so casually.

"Hey! What do you think my scream was for? I can only hope they boo-yah'd back!" Pearl and I shared a good chuckle.

Spending time with Pearl on the car journey into Inkopolis was a lot more rewarding than I imagined. I actually felt somewhat embarrassed being so initially pensive, but I think Pearl understands me a whole lot more than she lets on. Soon the car drove through the harbour and across the long bridge over the ocean into Inkopolis proper. Showing further her ability to intuit me, or at least the mood, Pearl instructed the driver to stop the car and let me out after we finished our cresting the bridge. I thanked Pearl for bringing and for the pleasant journey. It was probably unnecessary to say that second part out loud, my mouth had gotten the better of me. Pearl shrugged it and, before closing the door and zooming off to prepare for her event this evening, she gave made me one more offer.

"The thing at the Reef tonight, come to it if you want. Sorry I didn't remember to invite you sooner. Just say you're on the guest list!" She closed the door and waved to me from inside the window, at some point she managed to put on a pair of dark sunglasses without me noticing. Pearl rode off without telling me a specific time for the launch party and smile played its way on my face. That was more along the lines of what I expected from Pearl. Nonetheless, I was now in Inkopolis. I felt empowered. I felt like was finally taking my own lead again. But my mind soon grew blank. Where was I going? No, that's not quite right. I knew where I wanted to go, I'm just hesitating. There was only one place I felt drawn. I had to shift the balance, put it right again. I had to go to underground, back to the deep-sea Metro.  

[topclassteacher-blog]

What it’s like to live and teach English in South Korea

I have been teaching for nearly 10 years and during that time, I have had the privilege of teaching in a number of different countries. Therefore, I’d like to write a few posts for other  travellers who may be thinking of following in my footsteps.

So, first of all, let’s go back to where it all began; Busan, South Korea. The year is 2008 and I had just finished my degree. Like a lot of graduates, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life but I had spent the previous few years working with kids and I had loved it. Therefore, when my mum told me that the daughter of one of her friends was teaching in South Korea, I thought why not?

Before Going

One of the worst parts of my whole experience was before I went. First of all, a mate of mine was supposed to come with me but he dropped out - after we had had our leaving party! Then, the agent who I had been working with went on holiday and my visa application sat on her desk untouched. This meant that I was late arriving and I missed the training provided by the EPIK (English Program in Korea). That being said, I have since been told that the training was not fantastic and that a lot of my peers went to their respective schools feeling far from confident.

If you are planning to go to Korea, you must be in possession of the following things:

- A Bachelor’s Degree

- A passport from a native speaking English country (UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland)

The following things are also important to consider

- No visible tattoos

- No history of mental illness

- No drug use (you are drug tested when you arrive)

However, remember that most employers in South Korea will pay for:

- Your rent

- Your flight (this will be reimbursed on arrival)

Arriving

Upon arriving in Busan, South Korea, I was taken to my school directly from the plane. Imagine my horror when I realised this - I was wearing a Hooters baseball top as it was the most comfortable and loose fitting thing I owned. I met the principal and had to give a little speech in front of all the other teachers - again something I wasn’t prepared for.

Just a day later, I was in front of my first ever class. I had been given a few textbooks (even then I could see what poor quality they were) and the powerpoints created by the previous incumbent of my position. I cobbled together an introduction lesson and stood up in front of the class. Now here is a huge difference to consider - will you be in a public school (organised by EPIK) or a hagwon (a private academy)? For an explanation of the difference, see the section below. I was with EPIK which meant I was assisted by a Korean co-teacher who translated everything I said into Korean. At the time, I thought this was great but I now realise that this is really bad practice. I was really glad she was there that day though as, 25 minutes into a 40 minute lesson, I ran out of things to say. Fortunately, she stepped in and ‘rescued’ me and by the time the next class rolled around, I had prepared a little more; enough to fill the time at least.

On the whole, I did the best I could in class but with no formal training, I acknowledge my lessons were pretty awful. That’s why I would definitely recommend getting a CELTA before teaching anywhere. Not only does it prepare you for what it’s like to stand in front of a class but you also get a slight salary bump as well.

EPIK or Hagwon?

EPIK

Advantages

A Korean co-teacher handles discipline and is on hand to translate any difficult words.

You don’t teach the same class all the time so you can ‘rinse and repeat’ lessons which means less planning.

Your classes are often cancelled as they are not high priority. This means you often get paid for doing nothing. For me, this was actually a disadvantage because I went stir-crazy with nothing to do for long periods.

You work a traditional work week - 8.30-4.30, Monday-Friday.

You are much less likely to get bad accommodation, although this does happen.

Disadvantages

Days are very repetitive

You may be the only native speaker teacher there which can make meeting new people difficult

You sometimes feel like a circus attraction - the kids used to come to my class just to stare at me or pull hairs out of my arms.

Hagwon

Advantages

Higher salary

You teach the same children so you have a chance to learn names and build a relationship with them

There are other native speakers around for you to interact with.

You are given full lesson plans to work with

Disadvantages

There are a lot of shady operators who do not treat their teachers very well, e.g. a friend of mine was made to live in her boss’ basement.

You work until late. The normal work day is 2-10pm.

Your classes are NEVER cancelled. If you are contracted to work those hours, there will always be students there.

You have to handle discipline yourself.

Life in Korea

Socialising in Korea

Socialising in Korea was incredible. I quickly got myself into a football team of native speaker teachers and travelled all over Korea with them and I had a large group of friends. While the majority of my free time was spent out drinking and partying, I also had some of the most incredible experiences there including:

- Making Kimchi (see food) with monks

- Diving with sharks at the Busan Aquarium

- Jumping off the Daegu Tower (unfortunately this is now closed)

- Playing in a volleyball tournament on Haeundae Beach in Busan

- Being invited to a co-teacher’s house for traditional Korean food

- Visiting incredible temples - Yonggungsa in Busan is stunning!

2. Korean Food

I miss the food - my God how I miss the food! When I arrived, I wasn’t convinced by the food but after being shown around by my new friends, I realised that Korean food is fantastic. Here are some of the things you need to try

- Kimchi. The Korean staple, Kimchi is fermented cabbage served in a chilli sauce. While it may not sound nice, it’s different in every restaurant that you visit and when you find 2-3 restaurants where they make good kimchi, you will not be able to stop eating it. Popular variations are Kimchi-jigae (Kimchi soup) and Kimchi-Pahjon (Kimchi pancake) which are also delicious.

- Samgyupsal and Bulgogi. Order raw meat and cook it on your own personal grill with onions, garlic, Korean chilli paste and Kimchi. Then enjoy family style!

- Hae-Jang-Guk. Translated this means ‘hangover soup’ and boy does it do the job. The contents are pork spine with a fiery broth. The meat just melts in your mouth and you can add rice for extra yumminess.

- Tang-Soo-Yuk. Korea’s answer to sweet and sour, this is much more tasty in my opinion. Sticky and really unhealthy, it’s another thing you won’t want to stop eating.

- Ojingo. Squid that is served while it is still moving. This is an acquired taste but something you have to try. The sensation of the suckers sticking to the inside of your mouth is bizarre but unique.

3. Korean people/customs

On the whole, you will find Koreans a pleasant enough bunch and some of the younger generations have grown up having native speaking English teachers so it is normal for them. Make an effort to have some Korean friends even though it’s tempting to just hang around with other English speakers. Some of my best experiences came with my Korean friends Gyu-Ho, and (Super) Hans. However, there are a few things you should be aware of. Do not get into any kind of conflict with a Korean as your status as a foreigner means you are always in the wrong (even in the eyes of the police in some cases). Koreans are fiercely protective of their language and are not especially helpful when you make mistakes. Do what I didn’t and take classes to make sure your pronunciation is spot on.

Korean people (especially women) love to form relationships with native speakers and while they are very affectionate and undeniably attractive in a lot of cases, this can cause problems with old-fashioned families. One friend of mine was told that he would marry his Korean girlfriend ‘over her father’s dead body’.

This section seems unduly negative and I don’t want it to be. Most of the people I met were great people and were so happy that I was there to share in their culture. The negative sides of this part are more a case of ‘forewarned is forearmed’.

In terms of customs, you will often find that you will need to remove your shoes before entering a house or, in my case, even a school. However, they will often provide slippers/sandals for you to wear.

While eating there are a few customs to be aware of. A lot of meals in restaurants are served on low tables which require you to sit cross-legged. I am the least flexible person ever so this was not an enjoyable experience for me. Also, the person sitting opposite you is your ‘partner’ and you are ‘responsible’ for them, Make sure they always have a drink in front of them and serve it to them with one hand while holding the other on your bicep, e.g. serve with your right hand, your left hand should be on your right bicep. Finally, please please please learn to use chopsticks before you go. When I arrived, I didn’t know how to use them and it caused me no end of embarrassment. When I finally learned, my Korean co-teachers and waiters/waitresses in restaurants were so happy. It’s a small thing but it makes a huge difference.

The last major custom that you should be aware of is the different approach to nudity. Koreans will often visit jjimjilbangs (spas) with friends and coworkers. Once inside, the men and the women are separated and go into large spa rooms/hot baths completely naked. This is normal but Korean people are a little prone to staring especially if, like me, you are quite hirsute.

4. Shopping in Korea

While you are in Korea, you will still be able to get a lot of your home comforts. In Busan, they have a Costco where you can buy a lot of Western food although you have to buy it in bulk.

In terms of clothes, you need to be aware that sizes differ drastically. Here in the UK, when buying a pair of shorts, I wear a medium but in Korea my shorts were an XL! Also, for women, if you are busty, it can be very difficult to find clothes that will fit. A friend of mine once went into a shop and the shop assistant pointed at her chest and said “No size, no size”.

As you might imagine, electronics are cheap so there’s no need to take too many gadgets with you. I bought a really nice camera out there much cheaper than I could have bought it in the UK.  

5. Transport/Getting Around in Korea

The best way of travelling from city to city in Korea is the KTX (the bullet train). This super-fast train is affordable and comfortable and is a pleasure to travel on. If you’re on a budget there is also the mugunghwa which is an older, slower train that is used to get to smaller towns and villages.

In terms of travelling in the city, most of the big cities have a subway system which makes it easy to get around. I used this opportunity to learn the Korean letters as all the stations are in Korean and in English. There are also buses that you can use if there isn’t a subway station near where you are heading. Finally, taxis are much cheaper than in the UK (I’d say cheaper even than Uber) but make sure that you know how to pronounce where you’re going - I got into a rather heated argument with a taxi driver about my pronunciation of White Hotel as the Korean pronunciation was White-uh Hoe-ter. As you might imagine, I was quite upset about having my pronunciation of English words corrected.

Last word

Overall, Korea is a wonderful place and a part of me still misses living there. The quality of life is great and as an English teacher you will be financially comfortable.

I hope this guide to living in Korea has been helpful and if there is anything I haven’t covered or if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

[kaorym]

The Lannisters: Dysfuntional Family’s Relationship.

Since there’s no meta about Lannister’s mental health, I decided to write one (or trying to at least) I hope all this makes sense.

..................

Tywin Lannister

Tywin is the center of the whole house Lannister up until his death. He controls everything and everyone. No one does something without him knowing and agreeing to it.

"It has been hard for Kevan, living all his life in Tywin's shadow. It was hard for all my brothers. That shadow Tywin cast was long and black, and each of them had to struggle to find a little sun. " Genna to Jaime -AFFC

If you have read the books, you must remember him as a severe, stoic figure, who will not feel remorse or empathy for others. Well, that’s part of the definition of a Narcissistic father.

Many parents want to show off their children, have high expectations, may be firm at times (such as when a child is behaving destructively), and desire their offspring to make them proud. None of these traits alone constitute pathological narcissism. What distinguishes the narcissistic parent is a pervasive tendency to deny the offspring, even as an adult, a sense of independent self-hood. The offspring exists merely to serve the selfish needs and machinations of the parent(s).

Tywin wants his children to be and do as he says. He has this dream in his head for them, for their house and consequently, him.

"We all dream of things we cannot have. Tywin dreamed that his son would be a great knight, that his daughter would be a queen. He dreamed they would be so strong and brave and beautiful that no one would ever laugh at them." Jaime’s dream - AFFC

Of course, all this came from Tywin’s father acts and personality, which damaged not only the Lannister’s image but Tywin himself.

"No. Tywin mistrusted laughter. He heard too many people laughing at your grandsire."  Genna to Jaime - AFFC

In the end, it’s all a sick cycle. A never-ending perpetuation of the trauma, passed from parents to children and repeating again.

It all goes back and back, Tyrion thought, to our mothers and fathers and theirs before them. We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us, and one day our own children will take up our strings and dance on in our steads.  Tyrion - ASOS

Tywin and his children

A pathologically narcissistic parent tends to dwell habitually in several of the following personas while remaining largely unaware of (or unconcerned with) how these behaviors affect one’s offspring.

Tywin doesn’t care about his children on an emotional level. He sees them as paws, objects to use to his benefit.

"Three children is quite sufficient. I am Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, not a brood mare! The Queen Regent!"

"You are my daughter, and will do as I command."  Tyrion - AFFC

"I am tired of having highborn women kicking pails of shit at me, Father. No one ever asked me if I wanted to be Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, but it seems I am. I have a duty—"

"You do." Lord Tywin rose as well. "A duty to House Lannister. You are the heir to Casterly Rock. That is where you should be.  Jaime - AFFC

Both, Cersei and Jaime are adults, around 32 years old. Jaime is the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and Cersei is Queen Regent of the Seven Kingdoms. And yet, Tywin demands absolute obedience. The consequences of rebel against his orders?

"That is so very kind of you, Father," Cersei said with icy courtesy. "It is such a difficult choice you give me. Who would I sooner take to bed, the old squid or the crippled dog boy? I shall need a few days to consider. Do I have your leave to go?"

You are the queen, Tyrion wanted to tell her. He ought to be begging leave of you.

"Go," their father said. "We shall talk again after you have composed yourself. Remember your duty."

Cersei swept stiffly from the room, her rage plain to see. Yet in the end, she will do as Father bid. She had proved that with Robert.  Tyrion- ASOS

"You are my son—"

"I am a knight of the Kingsguard. The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard! And that's all I mean to be!"

Firelight gleamed golden in the stiff whiskers that framed Lord Tywin's face. A vein pulsed in his neck, but he did not speak. And did not speak. And did not speak.

The strained silence went on until it was more than Jaime could endure. "Father . . ." he began.

"You are not my son." Lord Tywin turned his face away. "You say you are the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and only that. Very well, ser. Go do your duty."  Jaime - ASOS

Manipulation. Cersei wants his approbation and Jaime his love, He uses that to make them do as he wants them to do.

Till now I didn’t mention Tyrion, and that’s because his case is different.

Everyones knows the lack of affection/attention Tywin gives to Tyrion. Not only he is the cause of his mother died, by childbirth, but he is a disgrace to the family at his eyes, for being a dwarf. Tyrion is on the opposite spectrum of Jaime's, Tywin doesn't have expectations about him, except don’t embarrass their family.

"The vanguard?" he repeated dubiously. Either his lord father had a new respect for Tyrion's abilities, or he'd decided to rid himself of his embarrassing get for good. Tyrion had the gloomy feeling he knew which. Tyrion -AGOT

Tyrion distaste of Tywin grows as he sees his father doesn’t care about him. More so, Tyrion truly believes his father doesn't really care if he lives or dies.

His father's eyes were on him, pale green flecked with gold, so cool they gave Tyrion a chill. "Did that surprise you, Father?" he asked. "Did it upset your plans? We were supposed to be butchered, were we not?"

Lord Tywin drained his cup, his face expressionless. "I put the least disciplined men on the left, yes. I anticipated that they would break. Robb Stark is a green boy, more like to be brave than wise. I'd hoped that if he saw our left collapse, he might plunge into the gap, eager for a rout. Once he was fully committed, Ser Kevan's pikes would wheel and take him in the flank, driving him into the river while I brought up the reserve."

"And you thought it best to place me in the midst of this carnage, yet keep me ignorant of your plans." Tyrion - AGOT

[thereleventist-blog]

The turkey is in the brine, the football is inflated to a perfect 50 psi, and the television is on a timer to turn off exactly when those stupid parades start. It seems you’ve prepared for everything. But there might be one thing you’ve overlooked: thinking of all the things you should NOT talk about on Thanksgiving. Most people open their mouths and let words fly out without thinking a single thought about it. Many a misspoken word can be forgiven, but there are some boundaries which cannot be uncrossed. Here are 12 Topics to Avoid at Thanksgiving Dinner.

1. Local and/or Ancient Roman Politics

You have invited people from all over to your Thanksgiving Day dinner. They have all brought different desserts and guess what? They’ve brought different baggage from their local political situations as well. Everyone thinks their own mayor, sales taxes, and bad roads are so very interesting that they never stop to realize it’s all boring. Stan doesn’t even live in the city limits and he’s getting upset about the water department taking over the duties of the city waste disposal department. Then he goes on about how the aqueducts couldn’t carry away the trash of the Roman populace. At that point cousin Nate slams his fist down, grabs his dinner knife and screams “Yes, they could! That’s what they killed Caesar over! And I’ll do it to you, too!” At that point the children start crying. And we have to reassure them that the Senate was actually upset about his being named dictator for life. And though it helps, it doesn’t always pacify the young’uns. All the while you sit there, poking at the peas with your fork, bored out of your skull. Just put down that knife and sit in the awkward silence that family deserves.

2. Squid vs Octopus

Science has yet to prove there is a difference between the two, yet everyone still believes they know which one is which. It’s embarrassing. None of your family are scientists, and yet they all take hard lined stances on the subject. It’s almost exactly the lobster vs. crab debate from last year or the horse vs. zebra discourse of ‘09, but much more pointless and volatile. Steer clear of this subject. Don’t serve any seafood that could spark such a debate. If this does happen, the best of you will wake up from your tryptophan comas and wonder what the heck you were thinking, the rest will carry resentment over the matter well past Boxing Day.

Can you “spot” the difference?

3. What was the Best Episode of Jeopardy

Let’s face it, pretty much every episode is the same. This discussion always devolves into whether Alex Trebek should have shaved his mustache or not. If you want to have a conversation about types of mustaches and if they are a good idea in general, then knock yourselves out.  But don’t have this important discussion under the guise of ranking episodes of Jeopardy. It’s not fair to you, it’s not fair to Alex Trebek.

4. The Best Way to Start a Retirement Fund

If there is one thing that brings a family together it’s money. But money doesn’t always bring happiness and contentment. I once heard from my mutual funds manager that most fights about money are about how to save for retirement. Although the general consensus is to invest in trinkets and subscription based services there are those that often disagree. Financial advisor Ira Roth has been the source of many family squabbles. He suggests stocks or accounts or something less fun. And more and more people are taking hard stances nowadays. So we recommend avoiding this subject all together.

5. Christmas

It’s still November, yet the shrill voices of children singing Yuletide songs has been scraping against your eardrums for at least six weeks now. Your job has essentially laid you off for four days when you need to be away from the house the most. And to top it all off, Aunt Kathy has decided it’s the perfect time to talk about what to do for a holiday that’s a whole month away. You aren’t even done with this drudgery and you are summoned to negotiate an even bigger ordeal than the one you’re currently trying to navigate as you rapidly slip into a culinarily induced coma. Not only that, but half of your family are Jehovah’s Witnesses. Which just adds to the drama because they are upset about celebrating Thanksgiving in the first place. If the subject comes up, the most diplomatic way to handle it is to start singing “The Monster Mash” as loudly as you can followed by “How do you like mixing holidays now? Huh?”

6. Cousin Gerald’s Seat on the First Shuttle to Mars

The ticket is bought. It is non-refundable. It was expensive and probably a scam. But he’s proud of it. He’s proud of the fact that his score on the 20 question IQ test he took on the internet was so good that he was automatically offered 20% off the already low low price. He’s proud that they waived the required physical because he paid with a money order. It’s a time to be THANKFUL. Don’t go around bursting Gerry’s bubble. That’s the kind of conversation for St. Patrick’s Day. Change the subject.

7. What Knot is Best

Possibly the best knot for these kinds of situations.

Dinner is over. Every belly is full. The dishes are stacked to the ceiling with care. And we all know what that means: “Let the Thanksgiving festivities begin!” So you try to take the initiative and hang the Pilgrim Piñata (something no one ever wants to do) and immediately you get an earful from your uncle Jack about how your square knot is the wrong knot and how you should be using a hogshead knot (something you’re not sure actually exists). Uncle Jack’s chastising under the pretense of ‘helping’ is quickly interrupted by your Grandpa’s two cents on how how a fisherman’s knot used to be all you needed to know. Soon all the men and most of the older women in your family are in a heated discussion about knots that no one wants to admit is getting heated, so everyone is talking in aggressively pleasant tones and fake laughing way too much. And the worst of it is, you were initially really proud that you had perfected the square knot in the first place. Avoid the conversation by not trying. Who’s ready for the Thanksgiving piñata?

8. The War of the Roses

You DO NOT want to go there. You don’t have enough information to make a valid point and you’re just going to end up looking like a FOOL. Everyone thinks they can hold their own when entering this conversation but no one has actually done any research beyond the occasional episode of “The White Queen” or a historical treatise here and there. The whole thing is a vain attempt to look smarter than your idiot cousin who’s only real skill is BSing his way through life. Good luck with that. Just stuff your mouth full of mashed potatoes and let it go.

9. The Beatles or The Rolling Stones

Pictured from left to right: Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith

Most people either don’t realize or refuse to accept the fact that The Beatles and The Rolling Stones consisted of the same musicians. The Beatles were so famous and out of their minds that they had to create alternate personas just to keep their brains from exploding. In fact they did it twice more. Once as Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and the other as The Monkees. So forget arguing an essentially moot argument. Instead argue if the Rolling Stones were better than Elvis. That’s a valid argument. Argue that

10. How Dry/Moist the Turkey Is

Ugh. Small talk. The Thanksgiving version of talking about the weather. It only serves to hurt the cooks feelings or stroke their ego. It’s stupid, pointless, and sadistic. I want to blow my brains out.

11. Grandma’s Will

Although we’ve known for years that Mam-Maw only has days left, I must advise that it would be prudent to leave the subject of her Last Will and Testament alone. Remember five years ago, when we found out that she didn’t have one? Well, you nagged her into writing one on her own because you didn’t want to force her into doing something she wasn’t willing to do. But she had already slipped so far from reality that it turned out completely incoherent. And what did make sense would ruin the family for years to come. Well, next year you suggested she write a new one. Too bad for you, because Great Aunt Gladys hired a lawyer and threatened to sue you and cut you out of the will completely if there was any suspicion of foul play or tampering. And it only got worse from there. Cut your losses and get over it.

12. Any Shared Family Memory

We use the term “shared” loosely. Any memory that more than one family member might have will invariably be variable. More than that most events from long ago will be so downright contradictory that any outsider would wonder if these people are related at all. A good way to deflect this is to bring up a memory that none of your family share. Unfortunately, this will come at the price of your dignity. That’s right. Revealing your most shocking and embarrassing secrets is a surefire way to keep the rest of the family from shouting you down in dissent and instead keep them shouting you down in disgust. Who are you kidding? There is no possible way to keep your family from fighting. But at least this time they won’t be calling you a liar. Except for your mom, who believes she raised you better than that.

Surely another successful Thanksgiving is at hand so long as you let these sleeping dogs lie. Memories will form like never before and, who knows, maybe some new traditions will be formed, too. Just remember, if some uncouth relative brings up one of these subjects, you don’t have to get involved. And, if there’s any doubt, have a seat at the kids table. No one there is going to write you out of their will.

Horace Dunmar

[theinkquiry]

Eye of the Hurricane

Pairing: Fred X Reader

Prompt: You're a Slytherin just trying to get by with all the crazy nonsense happening around Hogwarts lately. All you wanted was some peace and quiet so you could finally pass Transfiguration. Unfortunately for you, Fred Weasley has decided that you are to be his new friend. Just great.

Warnings: None

A/N: Cute prompt idea! Hoping to really buckle down on writing these days. Plus this one is pretty long, and I'm quite proud. Feedback always appreciated!

The lake at Hogwarts was a very peaceful place. You often liked to go there just to escape all the chaos and noise from regular Hogwarts. These days, it felt like no one in this school cared about their grades anymore. It was all Potter this and Malfoy that. Especially in the Slytherin Dungeons. Which was why you decided to pick this spot exactly to resume your Transfiguration studies. Unlike most others in your house, you somewhat respected Professor McGonagall and did not want to be on her bad side.

You were sat beneath a large birch tree looking out onto the clear waters. You were shaded just right so that the sun wasn't in your eyes, but the reflections from the water provided the perfect amount of light to study your textbook. The occasional gurgles from underwater (probably from the giant squid moving about) made for excellent white noise.

"Now this is much better than listening to another hour of 'Draco Knows Best'," you chuckle to yourself. Shifting into a more comfortable position, you opened A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration and began to read.

After page forty-something, you lost track of time. The sun had no indication of it moving, yet you felt like hours had already gone by. You decided to read one more page before calling it a day. As soon as your eyes went back to the pages, you felt someone sit directly next to you.

"Hey!" His voice was chipper and happy. You didn't come all the way out to the lake just to be disturbed again. Probably best to ignore them until they get a hint to leave you alone.

"Erm...hello," you reply back without looking up at them.

"What're you reading?" He clearly couldn't take a hint.

"Just some book." You flip the page. You hoped this stranger would leave soon. Any more and your entire concentration would be shattered by useless small talk and boredom.

"Advanced Transfiguration? McGonagall must be tough." You frowned and shut your book with a single hand. The 'clap' of the covers shutting like your patience withering.

"Can I help you?" You out of curiosity. Finally facing the mysterious stranger, you came face to face with bright red hair and a gold and crimson tie that looked more like a warning sign to you than an article of clothing. The color drains from your face as you realized who you were talking to. "I-I didn't mean to be rude-"

"I was just bored." Either Fred or George shrugged off your initial attitude. "George is off doing whatever with some girl we met yesterday." Fred then proceeded to yawn and lay back against the tree in a relaxed manner.

"I see..." You tug your knees in close to your chest. This was really weird, and you had a hard time figuring out why Fred Weasley was here talking to you.

"Anyway, I saw that you were just reading out here by the lake and wanted to say hi," Fred explained.

"Oh." You were still really confused, yet intrigued. "Hi."

"Hey!" He beamed at you.

It doesn't even cross your mind that he may get the wrong idea when you asked "Why do you do that all the time?"

"What?" His smile disappears. Alright, you felt pretty bad for asking that.

"N-Nothing. It's just that nobody really smiles that much. Not in Slytherin anyway." You couldn't recall the last time someone genuinely smiled so sincerely without a care in the world. Normally, everyone's mood fit the dark and serious tones of the Dungeons. It was a really tense time for everyone.

You expected Fred to just get offended and leave, but he laughed heartily and wiped a tear from his eye. "You're pretty funny. I'm Fred Weasley." He held out his hand.

You stare at it, surprised at his friendliness towards you. It didn't take long for your etiquette instincts to kick in and return with a firm, but not intimidating, handshake. "Y/N L/N. It's...good to make your acquaintance."

"Indeed it is. Maybe I'll see you around some more, Y/N. I think dinner is starting soon. Don't worry, I won't walk with you. Wouldn't want to make you feel embarrassed." Fred got up abruptly.

"W-wait!" You grab his arm before walked away. When he turned around, he just looked so gleeful that you were left questioning your own sanity. "Do you have the time?" You quickly averted your eyes to stare at the grass instead. It made a lot more sense than Fred speaking to you.

"Should be around five or six." He answered simply. You looked up at his face. To your astonishment, he didn't seem offended at all by your lack of tact or awkward questions. You stay silent, and Fred takes that as his signal to leave.

You still had a bad feeling in your gut. "I don't think you would embarrass me, by the way." It was half a lie, but you felt compelled to reassure him of this half-truth.

You thought Fred hadn't heard you, but he turned his head slightly and gave another satisfied grin. You couldn't help but smile back, even if no one saw you. You didn't know what this feeling was, but it was sort of...refreshing. The way he could talk to you like everything was normal and dandy and fine. You picked your textbook off the ground, though you weren't sure of when you even dropped it. Dusting the grass off, you noticed that a soft orange was cascading down the lake. Dusk already? Looking back to the castle, you saw Fred in the distance. You smiled again, unsure if you could call this making a new friend. One thing for certain was that this year would be very...intriguing.

True to his word, you did see Fred again. And again and again and again until you couldn't imagine spending a whole day without reaching out to him at least once. It was a strange contrast, how the school got more depressing as you felt more alive than you had in months. You wouldn't admit it to anyone, but spending this much time with Fred gave you very foreign feelings in your stomach. It was like some crazy infatuation.

He was on your mind almost everyday. His jokes, his laugh, his whole personality. He added the color in your life that you didn't even realize was grey. Thinking this made you want to slap yourself and vomit, but it was also really..comforting. However cliche, he anchored you and made you feel. Not any particular single feeling of love or hope. Just feel alive.

"Funny seeing you here, Y/N." You stopped in your tracks. You were wandering down the wrong hall, at least until someone from your next class stopped you.

"Oh, I must have been distracted. Thanks." You felt yourself heat up in humiliation and quickly turned at the heel.

"You know you ought to stop thinking about that Weasley boy all the time," they said. You stopped in your tracks and turned around. It was Crabbe of all people. Crabbe.

You waited two beats. "I don't know what you mean."

"Stop pretendin'. Draco said that you were basically married to that Weasley boy." Then, in a disturbing motion, he started mimicking you. "Look at me! I'm so quiet and shy and smart. I'm must be better than everyone else!"

"C-cut that out. I never said that," you denied.

"Then why're you always gone? Never in the Dungeons, barely alive in Potions. Draco said you were always hanging around the Gryffindors like some sorta..sorta...traitor!" Crabbe sneered.

You felt a bit disheartened. "Tell Draco to stop talking about things he doesn't know and to leave me alone!" You turn your back, preparing to speed-walk your way to class when he tugged you back by the arm.

"Why don't you go tell Draco yourself?" Try as you might, Crabbe was clearly stronger and started to half-drag you to wherever the light-haired braggart was.

"Let me go, this is preposterous of you!" You tugged harder.

"Oh look who's using all the fancy words that nobody understands." Crabbe rolled his eyes.

You were about to hex him at this point, Merlin knows why you didn't think of that before. With a quick utter and a wave of your wand, Crabbe was knocked against a wall and your arm was free from his sweaty grip. At the same time, a serious of small explosion seemed to have landed right on his face. He gave a cry of discomfort.

"You know, I think it's just you who can't seem to understand the basic English language." Your head whipped around. Fred was beaming at you with a smirk and a handful of his latest 'wizard wheezes'.

"Nice touch atop the hex. Your inventions are really coming along," you compliment.

"Gah, you did all the hard work," Fred shrugged, "but did he hurt you?"

"N-no no I'm fine. Just being an idiot as usual." Fred put an arm around your shoulders and quickly steered you away from the scene.

Fred stayed abnormally quiet for a moment. "Am I causing you trouble with your house?"

You looked up at him, surprised. "No, no! I love being around you. I-I mean those comments don't bother me at all."

"I just don't want anyone to berate you just for knowing me. You've worked so hard and I don't want to ruin-"

"You're not ruining anything, Fred." You throw your arms around him. He returned the hug and let out a deep breath. You felt your cheeks getting warm again for a whole other reason. "I don't regret meeting you. If anything, I'm glad that I have at least one real friend in this place."

"I don't know, Y/N. I'm not exactly the most popular with Umbridge's administration. I think we're breaking seventy rules just by hugging right now," he points out.

"I don't care. I don't want to stop seeing you," you declare. "No one is going to be suspicious of two friends just hanging out." You could only wish it to be more than that.

"Alright, Y/N. Be careful. Umbridge...she's been hurting people who act out. I don't want you to get tangled up in that mess," Fred takes his hand in yours. "Promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise as long as you do the same." You give his hand a squeeze. "Wanna ditch class and test out more wheezes?"

Fred laughed. "You know, I think I'm starting to rub off on you."

"It's only divination. I'm sure even Umbridge wouldn't mind."

It was nearing the end of the year, and you found yourself right at the beginning. Reading a book by the lake. Thinking back along the whole year, you only wished that you were confident enough to tell Fred that you've practically fallen in love with him. You looked out onto the lake, thinking deeply.

It's been almost a whole year of knowing him now, and you couldn't be happier. It's true that he may not ever return your feelings, but what you got was still a lifetime's worth of treasured memories. You promised yourself that day that you wouldn't let anything get in the way of you and him. Whether it was only a friendship or something more. Your train of thought was once again interrupted. This time, loud sizzles, cracks, and booms coming from the castle. You'd have thought it under attack if there weren't such a spectacular display of colors.

Reds, greens, blues, and purples dotted the orange dusk skies. Umbridge would not be happy. You had a feeling that a pair of tricksters were up to no good once again. This didn't sit well with you. What if Fred got caught and punished? Or expelled? Or worse? You got up immediately, running towards the castle.

"Slow down there, Y/N!" You hear a voice call above you. It was Fred and George...on brooms! "Don't want to accidentally run into Umbridge, now do you? Rule number one million: no running!"

"Fred! George! What were you thinking, you're going to be in so much trouble!" You shout up at them. Concern lined your face. Fred gave a short nod to his twin, who started to fly away.

"Fred?" You repeated softer. He dismounted his broom and faced you directly. His face was difficult to read, but he seemed torn about something.

"I'm going to be leaving, Y/N. For good. This was my last prank at Hogwarts," he explained.

"Wait, what-" you couldn't believe your ears. "But..I-I" You struggled to get the words out as tears started to stream down your face. How could he just leave you alone like this?

"Don't cry, Y/N. We'll see each other again, I promise. The year's almost over." Fred wrapped you in a warm embrace and rubbed your back.

"Then why couldn't you stay? We-we could've finished together," you sniffled.

"I'm so sorry. George and I- we don't belong here. We're ready to start our new life. As businessmen." Fred passionately stated. "We're finally going to open up our joke shop. I couldn't go without seeing you one last time."

"Take me with you then, please. I-I can't stand it here without you," you pleaded.

"You know you can't do that, Y/N. Your parents won't be happy and you need to complete your N.E.W.Ts to get what you want." Fred shook his head. "I just had to do something before I left."

"Do wha-" He interrupted you with a kiss. It was the sweetest and most heartbreaking thing you've experienced yet. Your face was still lined with tears, but he didn't seem to care. Both his hands cupped your face as you two melted into one another's arms. Your mind clear for once and filled with exhilaration. You kissed until you ran out of air, but even then he pecked you once more time on the lips.

"I really really like you too, Fred," you joked. "Please stay safe."

"We'll be together again before you know it, Y/N. I promise." Fred continues to hold you for a long time.

"I'm holding you to that promise, Weasley. I'll be waiting for another kiss." You pull away to let him climb back on his broom.

"Well then," Fred pretends to tip an imaginary hat towards you. "It would be rude of me to keep you waiting long. Only a month or so and then I'm all yours."

You watch as he soars into the sky, almost as if he was flying towards the sun. Only a month or so. Then he would be all yours. The smile that you wore whenever you thought of Fred found it's way back onto your face, and you kept grinning the entire way back to the castle.

[victakestaipei]

WEEK 1 RECAP: drip drying, pot stickers, and hand-sized snails

I’ve realized that during the weeks here, I’m going to be pretty busy. I am trying to keep a schedule (routine) so that I can have some sort of stability/consistency in this still-unfamiliar place. As a result, I will probably stick to blogging on the weekends, because my “me time” isn’t in excess like I’d hoped. So, with that…

Let’s start with Monday/Tuesday:

As you all know from my previous post, I had a bit of a stressful first day. But things definitely started looking up as the week trucked by…

I started taking the bus to class after the first day. As it turns out, the bus is way more convenient than the MRT. It’s less walking (to get to the bus stop) and it arrives to school in like 7min, and drops me off right across the street from the building that all of my classes are in. The bus is also cheaper than the MRT too! It’s just better in all aspects. One thing to note though is that the bus starts and stops pretty abruptly, so if aren’t holding on to something before the doors close, you will definitely lose balance and find yourself stumbling into the poor old asian woman standing next to you, minding her own business, umbrella and shopping bags in hand.

In terms of my class, that’s a long story so I’ll condense it a bit for ya’ll. My teacher’s name is Cheng, or “Cheng Lao Shi” (meaning Teacher Cheng). And it’s interesting to note the different dynamic of the Asian classroom. First off, there are 7 of us in the class.. three Americans, three Indonesians, and one Swiss guy. Our teacher is friendly and charismatic, like I said in my previous post. But now that the week has ended, I can tell she has this sort of dark humor.. and her facial expressions tell you everything you need to know about what she thinks of your horrible Chinese grammar. I try not to be sensitive because I know it’s not personal, but it’s hard when you already feel insecure about speaking Chinese to begin with. She also, like other Asian teachers, is keen on comparing the students… She says how one student in my class has horrible handwriting, and says that she should practice more so that she can write characters beautifully like I do. (which is a nice compliment I must admit, but she really ain’t had to say all that ya feel?) She even asked me (in front of the entire class) if I would help said student write better… It’s just awkward for me ya know? We all sort of joked/laughed about it but I know that if it was me I would have wanted to pop off.

We also have daily quizzes and homework which keeps me busy at night after I have my daily nap (yes you heard that right, daily nap)… And on my second writing quiz I got a 93%!! Hooray for progress!!

After class my friend Jeannie and I headed out to scout out the on-campus gym. Come to find out, since I am an exchange student and technically a student of NTNU, I get free membership! It is a small facility in terms of the weight lifting area, but the building as a whole is huge, and three or four floors. The weight lifting area has some pretty old/dusty machines, but they keep the AC blasting (thank God) and it has all the necessities I need. On Wednesday after class I headed to the gym with Jeannie and did leg day/abs, and then on Thursday I did back day/abs, and Friday I did chest/shoulders/abs. The locker rooms in the gym are also super duper nice. But I always forget that there’s no toilet paper in the bathroom… By Friday I finally got it through my thick skull that I need to bring my own toilet paper to the gym and into the bathroom itself. Drip drying has to be the most uncomfortable thing on Earth… but ya do what ya gotta do I suppose. 

walking around NTNU after learning about my free gym membership^

Wednesday:

On Wednesday I got up a bit later than I wanted to, so I headed straight to the grocery store after leaving the house in the AM so that I could grab some fruit for breakfast and head to the bus stop. I got a bit turned around when trying to find the bus stop, so I was a little stressed about the possiblity of being late to class. I hopped on the bus around 10am, and I still made it to campus by 10:10, giving me 10 minutes to cross the street and head up the elevator to my classroom. Class dragged on, and I found myself looking forward to those little 10minute breaks we get after every 1-hour of class. After class I hit the gym, and then after the gym Jeannie and I were craving smoothies. We found a cheap spot on the street market with fresh mango smoothies for 60NT! ($2 US). That smoothie had to be one of the best smoothies I’ve had. The mangoes here are so sweet and fresh and just bomb. I ended up getting another smoothie the following day (hehe). After the smoothies we hit up this other food stand where we got some really good fried squid and french fries (not your typical post-gym meal, but it was delicious). I definitely can see myself eating tons of calamari while I’m here because they offer it everywhere, so it’s good that I’m working out because all of this fried food can’t be good for my “summer body” lol.

the mango smoothie place ^ and the fried squid/french fries   v

Today was also the deadline to pay my dorm payment, which was 8800NT (around $295 US [for the entire summer]). Not too shabby right?? After lunch I hopped on the bus and headed home. On my way in, I stopped at the nearby 7/11 to use the ATM and make the payment. Here in Taipei you can go to the 7/11 for just about anything:  printing, copy machine, fax, ATM, food, drinks, buying train tickets, making payments, etc). And there’s a 7/11 on just about every street corner, making it all the more handy. However, I had alot of trouble at the ATM, and it was pretty frustrating. I have a Chase bank account that I never really use (not in the past 4 years at least). I definitely prefer to use my Wells Fargo account, but since my mom uses Chase, it’s easier for me to use that card because my mom can just send me money directly from her account and it’s instant. But, with my Chase account, I didn’t tell them about my travel plans so when I was trying to use the ATM (for my second withdrawal of the day), I was flagged and they put a protective block/hold on my account. After inserting my debit card about 5 more times, I finally gave up and went home. I was able to pay my dorm fee because I already had some cash on hand, and also my first withdrawal was a succcess. I called on Thursday and got everything settled, but it still bugged the hell out of me that I stood there at the ATM like a dumbass. 

After I got home my roommate Bunny told me that she bought her ticket for the Phillipines (which we have been talking about/planning for a few days now). I also had trouble purchasing my ticket online at first, so Bunny paid for my flight (which was about $95 roundtrip) and I ended up venmo-ing her the money after getting off the phone with Chase International Customer Service. We leave for our Phillipines trip in two weeks! I’m PUMPED!!! We leave on Friday early AM (like 1:30 AM) and return Monday early AM (between 1-2 AM). Then I have class on the following Monday at 10am, so I’m sure Monday’s class will drag on even more so than this week had.

Bunny and I ordered pizza for dinner after finishing our homework, and the pizza actually wasn’t awful (to my surprise). I ate the whole thing too fast (because I was starving and it was personal-sized), and crawled into my bunk bed to lay on my stomach. I knocked out shortly after that. 

Thursday/Friday:

The end of the week flew by.. Bunny ended up joining our intensive class because her class level was a bit too easy for her, and we had an open seat available (most classes are 8 students). So now Nick, Bunny, Jeannie, and I are all on the same class schedule (10:15am-1:15pm), and Nick/Bunny/I all have the same exact class. It’s definitely a bit more fun now, and Bunny and I sit next to each other so we always share quick glances when the teacher starts to verge on saying inappropriate things (and quite frankly, wildin’ out on our classmates, and us (occasionally)). On Friday I was super sore at the gym from the previous two days, and decided to do a quick chest/shoulder day. Now that it’s Saturday I regret that decision, because now literally every part of my body hurts… from my thighs to my butt, to my back and my chest/arms. I’m a mess. Crawling in and out of my bunk bed is 10x harder and I can’t help but moan in pain everytime I get up. 

For dinner on Thursday, Bunny and I found this hole-in-the-wall potsticker place right by our campus. 

As it turns out, this potsticker place is open from 8pm-3/4am, and they only serve potstickers, soup, and fried chicken. (the fried potstickers and fried chicken are pictured above ^) 

I have to give them a pat on the back though because they have a great location (right next to campus) and their hours of operation are superb. While walking to the potsticker spot, we ran into a couple quite large creatures. Some of them being large flying cockroaches (like thumb sized roaches with wINGS!!!!!) But the one I really want to note is this snail. We found a snail making it’s way across the sidewalk but it was about the length/size from the tip of my pinky to the bottom of my palm (where my palm and wrist connect). It was HUGE. and TERRIFYING!!!  

We had a test on Friday in class, so Bunny and I reviewed a bit before hitting the hay on Thursday… The test proved to be quite easy actually so I feel really good about it (though I don’t have the grade yet.) Friday’s class flew by and after the gym I headed home to shower and lay down. It’s finally the weekend and I can finally relax knowing I have absolutely nothing to do until Monday. Lord knows I won’t do my assigned homework until Sunday night anyway, so I figured I would just enjoy this small break while it lasts. I would’ve blogged yesterday (Friday), but I elected to binge watch Netflix instead and I have no regrets. Last night (Friday night) we headed out around 9:30 to go to the movies! Bunny really wanted to watch the new Spiderman movie and it actually wasn’t bad. Yes the movie was in English (with Chinese subtitles) and the tickets were only 240NT (around $8 US), and for an extra 60NT ($2), we could have gotten popcorn and a drink!! Crazy how cheap everything is… but I decided to just buy the movie ticket because I wasn’t hungry after dinner and I had my hydro with me. Spiderman was definitely a good end to the week, although I wish Zendaya would have been the love interest instead of whoever the hell that other black girl was.

[networkingdefinition]

Pumpkin Quotes

Official Website: Pumpkin Quotes

  “Only write what you know” is very good advice. I do my best to stick to it. I wrote about gods and dreams and America because I knew about them. And I wrote about what it’s like to wander into Faerie because I knew about that. I wrote about living underneath London because I knew about that too. And I put people into the stories because I knew them: the ones with pumpkins for heads, and the serial killers with eyes for teeth, and the little chocolate people filled with raspberry cream and the rest of them. – Neil Gaiman

In a clutch or a corner, I tend to make a weapon out of what is near at hand. That can be anything from a crowbar to a cat, though if I had a choice, I would prefer an angry cat, which I have found to be more effective than a crowbar. Although weaponless, I left the house by the back door, with two chocolate-pumpkin cookies. It’s a tough world out there, and a man has to armor himself against it however he can. ~Odd Thomas – Dean Koontz

Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West, From North and South, come the pilgrim and guest, When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board The old broken links of affection restored, When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more, And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before. What moistens the lips and what brightens the eye? What calls back the past, like the rich pumpkin pie? – John Greenleaf Whittier

And all Halloween candy pales next to candy corn, if only because candy corn used to appear, like the Great Pumpkin, solely on Halloween. – Rosecrans Baldwin

And I Jack, the Pumpkin King, have grown so tired of the same old thing. – Tim Burton

And so, Thanksgiving. Its the most amazing holiday. Just think about it — it’s a miracle that once a year so many millions of Americans sit down to exactly the same meal as one another, exactly the same meal they grew up eating, and exactly the same meal they ate a year earlier. The turkey. The sweet potatoes. The stuffing. The pumpkin pie. Is there anything else we all can agree so vehemently about? I don’t think so. – Nora Ephron

Asleep by the Smiths Vapour Trail by Ride Scarborough Fair by Simon & Garfunkel A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum Dear Prudence by the Beatles Gypsy by Suzanne Vega Nights in White Satin by the Moody Blues Daydream by Smashing Pumpkins Dusk by Genesis (before Phil Collins was even in the band!) MLK by U2 Blackbird by the Beatles Landslide by Fleetwood Mac Asleep by the Smiths (again!) -Charlie’s mixtape – Stephen Chbosky

At last, small witches, goblins, hags, And pirates armed with paper bags Their costumes hinged on safety pins, Go haunt a night of pumpkin grins. – John Updike

Autumn. Pretty leaves, pumpkin pie and sweaters. Perfect weather for reading. Winter is great but I hate shoveling. – Eden Robinson

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'pumpkin', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_pumpkin').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_pumpkin img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

Boston: Their hotels are bad. Their pumpkin pies are delicious. Their poetry is not so good. Edgar Allan Poe

But see, in our open clearings, how golden the melons lie; Enrich them with sweets and spices, and give us the pumpkin-pie! – Margaret Junkin Preston

Dark furrow lines grid the snow, punctuated by orange abacus beads of pumpkins – now the crows own the field. – John J. Geddes

Dear Great Pumpkin, Halloween is now only a few days away. Children all over the world await you coming. When you rise out of the pumpkin patch that night, please remember I am your most loyal follower. Have a nice trip. Don’t forget to take out flight insurance. – Charles M. Schulz

Do not be small minded. Do not pray for gourds and pumpkins from God, when you should be asking for pure love and pure knowledge to dawn within every heart.- Ramakrishna

Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He’s gotta pick this one. He’s got to. I don’t see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there’s not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.- Charles M. Schulz

Eighteen luscuios scrumpitous flavors, Chocolate,Lime and Cherry Coffee,Pumpkin, Fudge-Banana, Caramel Cream and boysenberry. Rocky Road and Toasted Almond, Butterscotch,Vanilla Dip, Butter Brinkle, Apple Ripple,Coconut,and Mocha Chip, Brandy Peach and Lemon Custard. Each scoop lovely.smooth and round. Tallest cream cone in town lying there on the ground. – Shel Silverstein

Eric followed Vlad Tepes’s stubby finger, identifying me as the future Happy Meal. Then he stared at Dracula, looking up from his kneeling position. I couldn’t read his face at all, and I felt a stirring of fear. What would Charlie Brown have done if the Great Pumpkin wanted to eat the little red-haired girl? – Charlaine Harris

Even the weather seemed to be celebrating; as June approached, the days became cloudless and sultry, and all anybody felt like doing was strolling onto the grounds and flopping down on the grass with several pints of iced pumpkin juice, perhaps playing a casual game of Gobstones or watching the giant squid propel itself dreamily across the surface of the lake. – J. K. Rowling

Even where the land was more receptive, settlers soon learned to take some precautions before planting their vegetables. Maize and pumpkin seeds were soaked in water for several days and then blackened with tar before planting – the most effective way to deter rats, mice and birds. Bee Dawson

Every woman needs secrets,’ her mother said with a smile then, her eyes meeting Sally’s in the rearview mirror. ‘Remember that when you’re old like me, pumpkin, because the world has a way of making a woman’s life everyone else’s business–you have to dig out a little place that’s only yours. – J. Courtney Sullivan

‘Good Morning America’ exploited Joan Lunden’s pregnancy, but you won’t see me bringing my babies on the air. The only reason I’m talking about the babies at all is that they’ve been with me on the show since I became pregnant. After a while, I had to acknowledge this pumpkin tummy. – Jane Pauley

He gave me a look sure to put frost on anyone’s pumpkin.- Charlaine Harris

I don’t believe pumpkin pie is even made from pumpkin. I mean, how can something that smells that shitty make a pie so sweet? There’s not enough sugar in the universe. – Lewis Black

I feel like Cinderella sitting in the middle of the road with a pumpkin and a couple of mice, while Prince Charming charges off to rescue some other chick. – Cynthia Hand

I get more out of life just being myself, by just being a human being. Not by being a rock star, not by being whatever. Sometimes I act like a jerk, but I think people respect me for being myself. That’s the ultimate thing about the Smashing Pumpkins. – Billy Corgan

I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s listening to Public Enemy and Mobb Deep and the Smashing Pumpkins. I don’t even know what it was like in the ’60s – I wasn’t alive then – so the Mayer Hawthorne sound is taking what I can learn from the classics, and blending it with my hip-hop DJ and producer background and punk-rock bands that I played in as a kid. – Mayer Hawthorne

I haven’t taken my Christmas lights down. They look so nice on the pumpkin. – Winston Spear

I idolised bands like Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins, who wanted to reach as many people as they could. Nate Ruess

I kept as still as I could. Nothing happened. I did not expect anything to happen. I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep. – Willa Cather

I like to make pies. Thats kind of my new obsession – peach, blueberry, apple, strawberry. I make a really good pumpkin pie with real pumpkin. – Morgan Saylor

I lost my virginity to a pumpkin when I was 23. Back then I was convinced I was actually a Vegetable, hell, that’s what the song is about. – Thom Yorke

I love the scents of winter! For me, it’s all about the feeling you get when you smell pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread and spruce. – Taylor Swift

I love the U.S. We came the first time in 2003, and it seems like we haven’t left since. James Iha from The Smashing Pumpkins came to Stockholm to see one of our shows, and he really fell in love with the band. He said, “I’m going to take you to America, I’m going to release you on my label.” When you’re in your early twenties and you get that kind of opportunity, you just gotta roll with it. – Maja Ivarsson

I mean you know at midnight everything is going to turn to pumpkins and mice; right? But if the evening goes along, I mean, you know, the guys look better all the time, the music sounds better, it’s more and more fun, you think why the hell should I leave at quarter of 12. I’ll leave at two minutes to 12. But the trouble is, there are no clocks on the wall. And everybody thinks they’re going to leave at two minutes to 12. – Warren Buffett

I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan. – Billy Corgan

I represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic party. – Paul Wellstone

I saw thousands of pumpkins last night come floating in on the tide, bumping up against the rocks and rolling up on the beaches; it must be Halloween in the sea – Richard Brautigan

I see a girl caught in the remains of a holiday gone bad, with her flesh picked off day after day as the carcass dries out. The knife and fork are abviously middle-class sensibilities. The palm tree is a nice touch. A broken dream,perhaps? Plastic honeymoon, deserted island? Oh, If you put in a slice of pumpkin pie, it could be a desserted island! (Pg 64) -Laurie Halse Anderson

I sort of have a dark, twisted, offbeat way of writing, which I see coming up in my kids. It’s funny, on Halloween, one of my daughters said, “Halloween isn’t supposed to be happy, dad, it’s supposed to be dark. ” No smiling pumpkins at the Sixx household! – Nikki Sixx

I suppose I will die never knowing what pumpkin pie tastes like when you have room for it. – Robert Breault

I think people fetishize glasses in general. You could put glasses on a rotting pumpkin and people would think it was sexy. – Tina Fey

I was never able to get through Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. I’ve never been able to make it through. And I love the Smashing Pumpkins, they’re one of my favorite bands ever, but I’ve never been able to listen to the whole thing all the way through. – John Wozniak

I went to Floridita on Wardour Street when I was 18. All I could afford was pumpkin soup and a glass of champagne, but it was worth it. – Karen Gillan

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion. I would rather ride on earth in an ox cart, with a free circulation, than go to heaven in the fancy car of an excursion train and breathe a malaria all the way. Henry David Thoreau

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion. – Henry David Thoreau

I’m half-Japanese, so I collect toys, like a Yayoi Kusama stuffed pumpkin. – Nicola Formichetti

I’m not sure I would label it a ‘survivor,'” said Iko, her sensor darkening with disgust. “It looks more like a rotting pumpkin. Marissa Meyer

In November, the smell of food is different. It is an orange smell. A squash and pumpkin smell. It tastes like cinnamon and can fill up a house in the morning, can pull everyone from bed in a fog. Food is better in November than any other time of the year. – Cynthia Rylant

In the lives of children, pumpkins turn into coaches, mice and rats turn into men. When we grow up, we realize it is far more common for men to turn into rats.- Gregory Maguire

Instead of doing cinnamon, nutmeg, and all those baking spices I’ll have one spice that’s for sweets, and that’s pumpkin pie spice. – Sandra Lee

Is there a short-eared koobish, then?’ Mmmyes …’ said J.Lo. ‘But it is technically not really a koobish. Is more alike a kind of singing pumpkin.’ We had conversations like these all the time, where I just eventually gave up. – Adam Rex

It looks more like a rotting pumpkin. – Marissa Meyer

It was time to take the pumpkin out of the pot and eat it. In the final analysis, that was what solved these big problems of life. You could think and think and get nowhere, but you still had to eat your pumpkin. That brought you down to earth. That gave you a reason for going on. Pumpkin. – Alexander McCall Smith

It’s midnight Cinderella, but don’t worry none. Cause I’m Peter the Pumpkin Eater and the party’s just begun. – Garth Brooks

  Just wait and see, Charlie Brown. I’ll see the Great Pumpkin. I’ll SEE the Great Pumpkin! Just you wait, Charlie Brown. The Great Pumpkin will appear and I’ll be waiting for him. – Charles M. Schulz

Know what it is to be a child? It is to be something very different from the man of today. It is to have a spirit yet streaming from the waters of Baptism; it is to believe in belief; it is to be so little that elves can reach to whisper in your ear; it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, for each child had its fairy godmother in its soul. – Percy Bysshe Shelley

Lakes, June, Games

Like many indelible family memories, carving a pumpkin begins with someone grabbing a really sharp knife. – Dana Gould

Little brats yellin ‘Trick or Treat’ all through my screen door, When y’all should be at home sleep, Instead of at my front porch 15 deep. The jack o’ lantern came in handy… I can turn my porch light out like I ain’t got no candy. But ain’t that somethin? You buy a Halloween costume and a pumpkin, Almost gave your children a heart attack. It’s a tradition, but who the hell started that? Kam

Miraculously, smoke curled out of his own mouth, his nose, his ears, his eyes, as if his soul had been extinguished within his lungs at the very moment the sweet pumpkin gave up its incensed ghost. – Ray Bradbury

My father played guitar, so I always wanted to play for that reason. But I think the biggest reason was just the ’90s in general – growing up listening to the Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day and bands like that, and going to concerts and thinking it was the coolest thing in the world. – Jack Antonoff

My favorite word is ‘pumpkin.’ You can’t take it seriously. But you can’t ignore it, either. It takes ahold of your head and that’s it. You are a pumpkin. Or you are not. I am. – Harrison Salisbury

My kids just brought home a beautiful pumpkin, but you know what? I’m going to return it because it’s a Democratic pumpkin. It has the orange color of John Kerry’s tan, and the roundness of Teddy Kennedy. – Arnold Schwarzenegger

My most memorable meal is every Thanksgiving. I love the food: The turkey and stuffing; the sweet potatoes and rice, which come from my mother’s Southern heritage; the mashed potatoes, which come from my wife’s Midwestern roots; the Campbell’s green bean casserole; and of course, pumpkin pie. – Douglas Conant

October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace! – Rainbow Rowell

Of the first achievements of the legislature was to institute a ten-thousand-dollar agricultural fair to show off forty dollars’ worth of pumpkins in – however, the territorial legislature was usually spoken of as the “asylum”. Mark Twain

On the moon we have everything. Lettuce, and pumpkin pie and Amanita phalloides. We have cat-furred plants and horses dancing with their wings. All the locks are solid and tight, and there are no ghosts. Shirley Jackson

Once a pumpkin, Always a pumpkin. – Billy Corgan

Pumpkin pie is a living symbol of mediocrity. The best pumpkin pie you ever ate wasn’t all that much different from the worst pumpkin pie you ever ate. – Garrison Keillor

Pumpkin spice lattes are egg nog for morning people. – John Oliver

Pumpkins are the only living organisms with triangle eyes. – Harland Williams

Raindrops the size of bullets thundered on the castle windows for days on end; the lake rose, the flower beds turned into muddy streams, and Hagrid’s pumpkins swelled to the size of garden sheds. – J. K. Rowling

Severus, please fetch me the strongest truth potion you posess, then go down to the kitchen and bring up the house elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrids house where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here. J. K. Rowling

She liked anything orange: leaves; some moons; marigolds; chrysanthemums; cheese; pumpkin, both in pie and out; orange juice; marmalade. Orange is bright and demanding. You can’t ignore orange things. She once saw an orange parrot in the pet store and had never wanted anything so much in her life. She would have named it Halloween and fed it butterscotch. Her mother said butterscotch would make a bird sick and, besides, the dog would certainly eat it up. September never spoke to the dog again — on principle. – Catherynne M. Valente

Smashing Pumpkins has never been a band about hit songs. – Billy Corgan

Some people are absolutely funny and you want to wish them Happy Thanksgiving in funniest way possible. Here is the list of Funny Thanksgiving sayings. Just chose the quote you want to wish that person. Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin pie. – Jim Davis

Sometimes I think that ideas float through the atmosphere like huge squishy pumpkins, waiting for heads to drop on. – Neil Gaiman

Thanksgiving is a magical time of year when families across the country join together to raise America’s obesity statistics. Personally, I love Thanksgiving traditions: watching football, making pumpkin pie, and saying the magic phrase that sends your aunt storming out of the dining room to sit in her car. – Stephen Colbert

The coach has turned into a pumpkin and the mice have all run away. – Lady Bird Johnson

The first real concert, other than going with my dad to see Three Dog Night, was Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage. I was fourteen or fifteen. I liked Shirley Manson because she reminded me of Annie Lennox. They both have these deep, sexy, powerful alto voices. – Amy Lee

The ideology of the Smashing Pumpkins was ultimately more valuable than the music of the Smashing Pumpkins. That’s what critics can’t put their finger on. – Billy Corgan

The mask can be a limitation, but you just deal with it. You do get superhuman strength and pumpkin bombs and all this other stuff to express yourself with.’ – Willem Dafoe

The mellow sweetness of pumpkin pie off a prison spoon is something you will never forget. – Mitchell Burgess

The near end of the street was rather dark and had mostly vegetable shops. Abundance of vegetables – piles of white and green fennel, like celery, and great sheaves of young, purplish, sea-dust-coloured artichokes . . . long strings of dried figs, mountains of big oranges, scarlet large peppers, a large slice of pumpkin, a great mass of colours and vegetable freshness. . . . D. H. Lawrence

The past was a consumable, subject to the national preference for familiar products. And history, in America, is a dish best served plain. The first course could include a dollop of Italian in 1492, but not Spanish spice or French sauce or too much Indian corn. Nothing too filling or fancy ahead of the turkey and pumpkin pie, just the way Grandma used to cook it. – Tony Horwitz

The Pumpkins love rock-and-roll, we absolutely love it, but we also think it’s a flatulent, ego-serving kiddie playground. You can have your cake and eat it too. – Billy Corgan

The Smashing Pumpkins was never meant to be a small band. It was going to either be a big band, or a no band. – Billy Corgan

The tree of nonsense is watered with error, and from its branches swing the pumpkins of disaster. – Nick Harkaway

The wind outside nested in each tree, prowled the sidewalks in invisible treads like unseen cats. Tom Skelton shivered. Anyone could see that the wind was a special wind this night, and the darkness took on a special feel because it was All Hallows’ Eve. Everything seemed cut from soft black velvet or gold or orange velvet. Smoke panted up out of a thousand chimneys like the plumes of funeral parades. From kitchen windows drifted two pumpkin smells: gourds being cut, pies being baked. – Ray Bradbury

The word ‘vegetable’ has no precise botanical meaning in reference to food plants, and we find that almost all parts of plants have been employed as vegetables – roots (carrot and beet), stems (Irish potato and asparagus), leaves (spinach and lettuce), leaf stalk (celery and Swiss chard), bracts (globe artichoke), flower stalks and buds (broccoli and cauliflower), fruits (tomato and squash), seeds (beans), and even the petals (Yucca and pumpkin).Charles Heiser

There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people…religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin! – Charles M. Schulz

This year I invested in pumpkins. They’ve been going up the whole month of October and I got a feeling they’re going to peak right around January. Then bang! That’s when I’ll cash in. – Homer

To be a textual critic requires aptitude for thinking and willingness to think; and though it also requires other things, those things are supplements and cannot be substitutes. Knowledge is good, method is good, but one thing beyond all others is necessary; and that is to have a head, not a pumpkin, on your shoulders and brains, not pudding, in your head. A. E. Housman

Way out in the country tonight he could smell the pumpkins ripening toward the knife and the triangle eye and the singeing candle. – Ray Bradbury

We fancy men are individuals; so are pumpkins; but every pumpkin in the field goes through every point of pumpkin history. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well, there doesn’t seem anything else for an ex-President to do but to go into the country and raise big pumpkins. – Chester A. Arthur

  What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye? What calls back the past like the rich pumpkin pie? – John Greenleaf Whittier

What she did have were Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. – J. K. Rowling

When I had a job catering, I catered a wedding for the Smashing Pumpkins bassist in Indiana. And I served Billy Corgan shrimp off a tray. – Amy Poehler

When I lived in New York, there wasn’t as much TV or film around. I got asked to do a couple of indie films, just based on me being from The Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle. I did a couple of indie movies from Japan and one from Canada, and I thought it was an exciting, fun thing to do. I had a great time doing it, it was just that, in New York, there really wasn’t as much. My studio in New York closed, so I moved out to L.A. and just started looking into composing as another thing to do, as a musician. I like it a lot. It’s fun and it’s a different way of thinking about music. James Iha

When I was a kid, Halloween was strictly a starchy-vegetable-only holiday, with pumpkins and Indian corn on the front stoop; there was nothing electric, nothing inflatable, nothing with latex membranes or strobes. – Susan Orlean

When the Lord starts out to make an oak tree, he takes a hundred years to do it in, but he can make a pumpkin in 90 days. More or less life is like that. We must choose whether we desire to become and oak tree or a pumpkin. – Sterling W Sill

When white men first effect contact with some unspoilt race of savages, they offer them all kinds of benefits, from the light of the gospel to pumpkin pie. These, however, much as we may regret it, most savages receive with indifference. What they really value among the gifts that we bring to them is intoxicating liquor which enables them, for the first time in their lives, to have the illusion for a few brief moments that it is better to be alive than dead. – Bertrand Russell

Who are you writing to, Linus?” “This is the time of year to write to the Great Pumpkin. On Halloween Night, the Great Pumpkin rises out of his pumpkin patch and flies through the air with his bag of toys for all the children!” “You must be crazy! When are you going to stop believing in something that isn’t true?” “When *you* stop believing in that fellow with a red suit and the white beard who goes, ‘Ho, ho, ho!'” “We’re obviously separated by denominational differences. – Charles M. Schulz

Why are terms of endearment always food? Honey, cookie, sugar, pumpkin. Its not like caring about someone is enough to actually sustain you. – Jodi Picoult

With the garden I planted for the Reina Sofia, each plant related to different celebrations along the calendar – Christmas with evergreen trees, Valentine’s Day with roses, Halloween with pumpkins. All these symbols are so culturally loaded, but they are organic living entities – just like the fish in the tanks. They grow on their own. The symbolic ecosystem is growing without a narrative anymore. It’s a physical and mental landscape.- Pierre Huyghe

Women are like pumpkins; you search and search for the perfect one, bring it home, and the next thing you know, you’re looking for a knife. – Dana Gould

You could hollow out a big pumpkin and wear it on your head for the entire week of your birthday. This will allow you to get in touch with your Halloween emotions.- Jade Puget

You will never see the four original Pumpkins on stage ever again, unless it’s a Hall of Fame thing. But you would never see a tour. There’s so much damage, there’s no way. – Billy Corgan