#nobody loves willow more than you love willow

[dayabot]

WILLOW PILL - “Give It To Me Straight” EP4

[cherry-romper]

Loving You Sounds Like a Song

Playlist

+ Midoriya, Bakugou, Todoroki, Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, Iida, Momo, Jirou, Mina, Ochaco, Asui, Mirio, Amajiki, Aizawa, Hawks, All Might, Dabi, Twice, Compress, Shiguraki

Midoriya; Head over Heels - Tears For Fears

I wanted to be with you alone

I'm lost in admiration, could I need you this much?

Something happens and I'm head over heels

One little boy, one little man - funny how time flies

Bakugou; Everlong - Foo Fighters

I've waited here for you, Everlong

Come down, And waste away with me

Breathe out, So I can breathe you in

And I wonder...if everything could ever feel this real forever.

You gotta promise not to stop when I say when.

Todoroki; Say Yes to Heaven - Lana Del Rey

Give peace a chance, Let the fear you have fall away

Say yes to heaven, Say yes to me

If you go, I'll stay, You come back, I'll be right here

And if you fight, I'll fight

I've got my mind on you

Kirishima; Lover - Taylor Swift

Can I go where you go?

Can we always be this close forever and ever?

I've loved you three summers now, honey, but I want 'em all

I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover

All's well that ends well to end up with you

Kaminari; NEON - DPR LIVE

Your kisses make it go neon

Neon, I want to know you

Neon, lose the night with you

Girl, I'm liking your body, but more than that I love your, uh

Colourful smile, you make me wonder what's under, uh

The way you make the light go blurry

Sero; Coast - Hailee Steinfeld

You the wave upon my ocean, pounding rhythm and motion

Just relax and let the riptide pull you close

Baby, all I wanna do is coast, with you

The starts come down, you drown 'em out

I'm sinking deeper into you

Iida; This Charming Man - The Smiths

Will nature make a man of me?

Why pamper life's complexity, When the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat?

This man said, "It's gruesome that someone so handsome should care"

A jumped up pantry boy, Who never knew his place

Momo; You've Got The Love - Florence + The Machine

I know I can count on you

But you've got the love I need to see me through

When my food is gone you are my daily meal

When friends are gone I know my saviour's love is real

Jirou; Wait a Minute! - WILLOW

I'm here right now, with you

I'll run my hands through you hair

You wanna run your fingers through mine

You left your diary at my house, And I read those pages, Do you really love me, baby?

Mina; DESERT EAGAL - Beyonce

Soft to the touch, let you hold somethin'

Soft kisses on some fat lips

Put on a show and make it nasty, Desert Eagle in the backseat

Oh, I keep it classy, let you love me like a lady, yeah

Ochaco; Strawberry Skies - Kid Travis

Girl you brighten up my world

Cant you tell I want you by my side?

We're gone with the wind, Hair in your face, Put my hand on your waist

Strawberry skies, all on your lips, 'cause I love how it taste

Hope that you catch me when I fall

Asui; Honey - Kehlani

I like my girls just like I like my honey, sweet, A little selfish

'Cause I'm a beautiful wreck, A colourful mess, but I'm funny

All the pretty girls in the world, But I'm in this space with you

Don't walk away, or would you wait for me?

Isn't love all we need? Is it love?

Mirio; I can't Help Myself - Four Tops

You know that I love you, I cant help myself

I love you and nobody else

Leaving just your picture behind, And I kissed it a thousand times

When you snap your figure or wink your eye, I come running too you

But every time I see your face, I get choked up inside.

Amajiki; Halley's Comet - Billie Eilish

But in my dreams I seem to be more honest, And I must admit, you've been in quite a few

But you're all it takes for me to break a promise

Silly me to fall in love with you

Midnight for me is 3AM for you

I was good at feeling nothing, now I'm hopeless

Aizawa; Adore You - Harry Styles

I get so lost inside your eyes, Would you believe it?

You don't have to say you love me

You don't have to say nothing

You don't have to say you're mine

I'd walk through fire for you, Just let me adore you

Hawks; Where u Goin' Tonight? - Mac Ayres

Just don't stand so close to me... Unless tonight, you'll be my only

All of the things I tried to keep low, Feeling like I been changing

Tell me where you goin' tonight? I'll meet you there if that's alright

Could I be the one to do the things that you like?

Burnt all my bridges, baby, But at least I'm staying warm

I been working on forgiveness, Said I don't think its catching on

All Might; I Was Made For Lovin' You - KISS

Tonight I wanna give it all to you

'Cause girl, I was made for you, And girl, you were made for me

Can you get enough of me?

Feel the magic, there's something that drives me wild

Dabi; LET THE WORLD BURN - Chris Grey

It's dangerous 'cause I want it all, And I don't think I care what it costs

I shouldn't have fallen in love, Look what it made me become

And I know you think you can run

But I just cant let you go

I'd let the world burn, Let the world burn for you

This is how it always had to end, If I cant have you then no one can

Twice; Caraphernelia - Pierce The Veil

There ain't a think that you can do that's going to ruin my night

This dizzy dreamer and her bleeding little blue boy

Hold my heart, it's beating for you anyway

Ill burn your name into my throat

What's so good about picking up the pieces?

Mr. Compress; Never Ever Getting Rid of me - From Waitress

I will never let you let me leave, I promise I'm not lying

I'm gonna do this right, Show you I'm not moving, Wherever you go, I won't be far to follow

I'm gonna love you so, You'll learn what I already know, I love you means you're never, ever, ever getting rid of me

Shigaraki; No Mercy - DeathByRomy

My boy hates everybody but me

He's sinister, but to me, he's sweet

In love with a monster, Daddy thinks I've lost it

My boy's a bullet in your brain, I show no mercy

Your nightmare is the man of my dreams

It turns me on when he makes you bleed

[firewhiskykiss]

I’VE GOT MY EYE ON YOU | DM / YOU

draco’s eyes have been following you everywhere, even to the prefects bathroom. requested by @dolcid <3

a/n • this was so much fun to write. i didn’t know what genre i wanted this to be so it’s a mashup of everything!!!! and all of my current ideas. i could’ve made this sm longer but i decided to keep it short.

theme • angst, fluff, sexual allusions but no explicit smut.

warnings • bullying, nobody likes you, you’ve got no friends, nonconsensual sexual advances, some sexual content, complicated feelings, rejection, angsty stuff, kissy stuff, etc.

word count • 4.8k

petulant. that is how you would describe draco malfoy. not that anyone would bother asking for your opinion. you were of the firm belief that bullies never wholeheartedly meant anything they said, that it usually came from a place of unresolved insecurity. draco malfoy was that sort of bully - the annoying, insincere sort, that probably only did it for some corrupt form of entertainment or to compensate for his dreadful hair. but his style was nevertheless cruel. he had an aptitude for humiliation and throwing insulting pieces of parchment at the back of your head during lessons. he loathed the sight of you. your brother, harry, was not much above malfoy’s bullying, and silently enabled every vile remark that the blonde boy threw at you. despite the unremitting teasing, you noticed that your brother appeared to have lost his tongue every time he bore witness to these events, and failed to stick up for you, despite your own fierce loyalty towards him.

you and harry and been bought up similarly, but in your first year at hogwarts together it transpired that harry was much less affected by the dursley’s abuse than you were. he became a brilliant, albeit cocky, boy with lots of friends and you seemed to drift in the opposite direction. by the time the second year of school had come around, you had no friends and had been thoroughly ostracised by your own twin and his two best friends. it made no difference that you and harry shared the same blood, it was irrelevant to almost every student and teacher in the school with the exception of luna lovegood, a girl who was as equally rejected as you were. you had to admit, even you found her a bit excentric sometimes, but she had a heart of gold and you couldn’t fault her.

it wasn’t uncommon for unkind students to play pranks on the both of you. once, you had found a pair of your shoes tied to the branches of the whomping willow. you would have loved to say that you were brave enough to retrieve them but you and luna had consecutively agreed that your lives were not worth a pair of scruffy, canvas pumps.

today, you had defence against the dark arts with professor snape. you’d learned to expect teasing and paid no heed to it, treating it as indifferent to the rest of your daily routine. you heaved your book up onto the desk and mindlessly inked the date onto your parchment. the fact that malfoy was yet to start flicking black ink at your school shirt was almost concerning, so you mustered up the confidence to glance at him over your shoulder. although you weren’t able to make out his snide remark, it wasn’t hard to infer the nature of his words because his face was screwed up with disgust, as if he’d just sniffed something foul. he usually looked at you like this when he was saying something callous.

as the gaunt teacher strode down the aisle of desks, he jabbed at the fact that your last piece of homework had been smeared with an unrecognised green substance. that had been the fault of malfoy’s goons, you recalled.

“ten points from ravenclaw.” you could have sworn the professor had nearly been snarling at you when he returned your assignment by slapping it onto the desk infront of you.

subdued by his harsh glare, you sunk into your seat hoping it would be enough to hide you from the sniggers of your classmates or, more severely, hoping that you would disappear.

malfoy arrogantly hollered, “nothing new with y/l/n, sir, she’s completely useless.”

“as much as i regret to divulge the truth…” snape droned on, “it seems you leave me no choice but to agree with my pupil, miss y/l/n. i must implore greater care from you next time.”

with a weak smile you looked up at your teacher and apologised, ignoring the eyes that bore anonymously into the back of your head. they were malfoy’s, but you were preoccupying yourself with the wall.

malfoy was an expert in his field. at some point he had gone from being an annoying little boy who only picked on you for your slovenly, second-hand uniform, to becoming one of your greatest anxieties, howbeit intelligent and even better at avoiding reprecussions. at the same time as malfoy had transcended this level, you noticed that he’d also started to outgrow the puppy-fat around his face, broaden around the shoulders and get increasingly taller. dare you say, he was becoming quite handsome. this wasn’t something you conciously thought about, you were too busy removing the hexes from your possessions before bed every night.

his goons, crabbe and goyle, marvelled the ground he walked on, to make matters worse. suppose malfoy didn’t show up for a lesson, you could unfortunately rely on crabbe and goyle to ravage your mood instead.

malfoy enjoyed having you on ropes, his victories came as a breath of fresh air because he was so used to overconfident gryffindors standing their ground. you were easy to break, not that he got any sadistic pleasure from ruining your day. the rationale behind it was that teasing you bore resemblence to a sort of callow game, it was a childish delight. at a push he found it cute when you reddened with embarrassment when he teased you. guilt was only small component of the game, he scarcely felt it. he might’ve felt remorse if he’d ever seen the tears in your eyes, but you never gave him the satisfaction.

you felt something suddenly bounce off of your head and land on your desk, it was a note. the hand it had come from was disciplined, their writing was neat however there wasn’t alot of it, instead an animated portrait of you being dangled in the air by the branches of the whomping willow tenanted most of the space. you furrowed your eyebrows.

“who…”

“surprised you don’t recognise my handwriting by now.” quipped a familiar voice. you shuddered. “never been one to pay attention though have you, y/n? i think that’s why you’re failing most of your classes.”

he wasn’t wrong. but it would be a whole lot easier if you weren’t subject to constant abuse.

“actually-” you began, prompting malfoy’s lips to curl into an unpleasant smirk. he cut you off before you could thoroughly begin.

“maybe if you weren’t so busy concerning yourself with that lunatic friend, you’d have room for school in that tiny brain of yours.” malfoy didn’t care who else he brought down in the process of taunting you. “or is it - remind me, what are they called again? the wrackspurts? total nonsense.”

despite the scorn in his voice, you detected something soft behind his eyes. everything about his expression mocked you, except for the eyes which studied you, to the point that he almost looked fascinated on the contrary to his angry eyebrows. his eyes followed your hand down to the piece of parchment and watched as you tucked it into your pocket.

strange. he thought. he’d expected you to throw it away, but instead you’d kept it on your persons like a souvenir of his cruelty.

in the strictest of confidence, he thought it was cute.

he thought you were cute.

the following day, you had care of magical creatures. you pursued a winding path that was swallowed by the forest on the way to your lesson. the grounds were impeccably preserved. you had always found yourself mesmerised by the school’s unworldly beauty: the dulcet choir of birds in the morning; the unflinching snowdrops; hagrid’s mountain of brilliant, orange pumpkins; the pine trees that shed their needles across the underwood. you were nature’s undeclared admirer.

you had learned to quickly tame your school book this year, by stroking along the binding as if to comfort it, but your fellow classmates were slower to this realisation, which made for a very messy walk to lesson. neville’s book wrestled him to the ground and tore at his uniform, by the time you had all formed a circle around hagrid, neville had been dismissed in order to find a new set of robes because his lay in shreds on the forest floor.

“wouldn’t do you much harm, y/l/n”, malfoy chorused, “weren’t you saying that you needed new uniform?” he said, gesturing to your faded cloak. the soles of your shoes were also coming apart.

“just leave it, malfoy.” you sighed defeatedly, clutching your book to your stomach.

“i’m quite good at fixing shoes, i learned a few things from the cobbler in diagon alley”, he started, lowering his wand to your feet.

to little effect, you began to step back, the other students paying more attention now to malfoy than they were the lesson.

“taranallegra!” he thurst a cloud of purple smoke at your feet, and stepped back to admire his work.

your legs soon become restless, you were hopping from one side to the other, until you were involuntarily dancing infront of the entire class. it wasn’t something you could resist, if you’d strained any harder your legs might have snapped in two. it took hagrid few strides to reach malfoy because of his huge legs. then, the teacher grabbed the boy by the scruff of his collar and growled.

“you undo thats now or i’ll ‘ave yer sent up to dumbledore this instant!”

hagrid’s narrowed eyes pressured malfoy into searching desperately for his wand, but the boy wasn’t successful. whilst you jigged uncomfortably, a small mound of black fur hurried to your side, it was a creature you had been studying as part of your elective, an innocently disposed niffler, whose small paw was wrapped mischievously around malfoy’s wand. the slytherin gulped and the niffler looked up at you with a pair of sinless eyes, they twinkled. if creatures could smile, the niffler would have been smiling. it tapped your shoes, sweetly ending the jig, and scampered behind your legs to where it hid from malfoy’s long, condemning finger that pointed straight at it.

“professor, that thing has stolen my wand!”

“oh shurrup, yer slimey toad.” hagrid groaned and released malfoy’s collar with some force.

the teacher winked at you kindly as he picked the niffler up with two hands, like a small puppy, and pulled malfoy’s wand from it’s grip.

it was difficult to say who had been more embarrassed.

“you’ll pay for that, you pathetic halfblood.” draco sneered, snatching his wand back from hagrid without thanks. his two goons crossed their arms threateningly over their chests and smirked. they were like puppets - funny looking ones with protruding features and round tummies. at this, you laughed and turned your back on malfoy for the rest of the lesson leaving him to stare at the back of your head with a heavy chest.

he felt he’d gone too far. he wasn’t sure why. but that didn’t dissuade him from ensnaring the tree roots around your feet with a dark charm to wind themselves around your ankles.

“MR MALFOY!” bellowed the giant teacher. the niffler ran up to malfoy and mounted his leg, attempting to bite him with it’s blunt teeth. you would’ve found it funny if you weren’t bound to the forest floor. in typical fashion, harry undid the hex - ONLY because he hated malfoy just as much as you did.

actually, you weren’t sure if you hated him. you just hated that he hated you.

weeks had passed now. the sad smile you cast towards hagrid at the end of the lesson was the denouement of malfoy’s bullying. in the weeks that followed, he’d been battling an unfamiliar feeling of guilt. it was foreign to you as well, but you’d been feeling, noticeably, lighter and draco had been observing your newfound happiness.

it was fine. it didn’t bother him. not one bit. he spent most of his time convincing himself that he didn’t miss your… altercations. perhaps he meant interactions? he certainly couldn’t besmirch himself by apologising, that was too far. so he had to ignore you.

until one evening he found his goons picking on you in the library.

you had taken up harry’s reluctant offer to study with him and ron in the library, ron hated the idea, but harry had learned to tolerate you ever since malfoy had stopped ridiculing you. truthfully, you were less of an embarrassment to him this way.

you had left your desk to find the book that you needed, when a cold hand prevented you from pulling out of the shelf.

“whatchu need that for, ay?” you recognised crabbe’s uneducated accent.

“just studying…” you hadn’t missed this. the constant apprehension. perhaps you’d let your guard down too much, you’d stopped excepting it. knowing your luck, malfoy would probably appear soon and start being cruel in some way or another, and crabbe prolonged the minutes by staring down at your cowering figure.

goyle was stood there too, lethargically pressed up against the bookshelf opposite you.

“what should we do with you? draco’d kill us if he thought we were here-“

“-taking the liberty to annoy you ourselves.”

they completed eachother’s sentences like twins.

“bet your brother’s glad to be shot of you for a few-“

“but we could do him a favour and make it a lot longer if you’d like us to.” goyle teased while crabbes hand made it’s way through the folds of your robe.

“no, i don’t think that’s-“ you tried, but crabbed pressed a fat finger against your lips to silence you. you knew that any attempt to escape them would be done in vain, they would have already planned ways to stop you. goyle dipped his chubby mitts into your pocket and took your wand, tucking it into his back pocket. nifflers were an unlikely occurrence in the library. all of your options were exhausted.

“no, please-“ as crabbe’s hand rode up your thigh, goyle went suddenly rigid and slumped onto the floor, your wand rolling out of his pocket onto the stone slabs.

“patrificus totalus!” you’d closed your eyes expecting to be the victim of another immature prank, but you mistaken. the anonymous wizard had missed and the spell rebounded off of the bookshelf, causing crabbe to retreat into his neck fat and turn around.

“malfoy?!” you choked, surprised. he looked at you but he didn’t acknowledge you, in the same way that he picked up your wand and shoved it abruptly into your chest, but refused to say a word.

instead, he gritted at crabbe and poked his wand viciously into the folds of his skin.

“the bloody hell do you think you’re playing at?” at the same time, he kicked goyle’s pleading hand away from him and grimaced at the lump on the floor. “consider yourself lucky, the pair of you.” he threatened, taking crabbe by the collar and tossing him down to the ground .

“pathetic.”

you must’ve accrued some sort of respect from malfoy after the incident with the niffler.

the look that crossed malfoy’s face was not explicitly guilty - until your eyes began to well with tears. after everything, you’d hoped to be immune to everybody’s incessant wickedness but it had somehow come to this. scooping up the book you’d been after, you brushed past the slytherin, whose mouth had fallen open to say something but failed him.

over the days that ensued, you were left to ruminate as to why he’d bothered sticking up for you at all. draco malfoy hated you. there was no means of distracting you from these thoughts, especially now it was the holidays and luna had gone back to spend it with her father.

you were one of few students that stayed at school during the holidays. you and harry. malfoy’s father had insisted he spend his spring break at hogwarts to focus on his studies, he was keen for his son to make a success of himself, if only he knew about his extracurricular activities. in some ways, you preferred it when the other students left to see their families, but your biggest headache still sat across from you at all meal times.

you noticed that draco’s eyes had become less hostile, more watchful and there was no distracting you from that, either. every time you looked up from your plate, his chin was connected to his palm in a manner of deep, undisrupted thought.

his blue eyes followed you through abandoned corridors, up enchanted staircases, though his feet maintained a fixed position.

silly, conflicted draco.

he was beginning to feel things that he wasn’t used to, that provoked him to behave strangely. if you ever confronted him about his actions, he’d justify them by saying that he was simply protecting you, because you were truly incapable of protecting yourself, supposing that no one had slipped veritaserum into his morning pumpkin juice.

malfoy was on his way back to the slytherin common room after quidditch practice, when he’d noticed the sound of footsteps in suspiciously empty cloisters. darkness had stolen the day. it was cold. he whispered “lumos” to his wand, and followed the fading noise. he was also unconsciously trailing after a familiar scent - something that echoed honeysuckle. meanwhile, you were unaware that malfoy was skulking behind you.

you’d borrowed harry’s invisibility cloak to slip into to the prefect’s bathroom late at night. you unlocked the door and hung harry’s cloak on one of the many hooks. when malfoy realised what he’d gotten himself into, he held his breath. he immediately felt like a complete pervert. not only was he unaware that it you was you hidden beneath the cloak, he’d also been unaware that this was the prefects bathroom until he got himself locked inside.

you began to shed your layers, your tired robes of the day, your figure appearing to draco in the moonlight. the moon kissed your skin shamelessly through the stained glass, draco tried to keep his eyes trained on the floor, but your body was an invitation to a temple he’d yet to worship.

just as you submerged yourself in the bubbles, he stepped forward, clearing his throat. he’d since put his light out and dropped his wand on the floor, leaving little light to highlight his features. the looks you gave eachother were a surprisingly comfortable exchange, you felt fine so long as the bubbles covered everything that made you shy.

“i didn’t realise you were following me, draco.” you whispered gently, pulling the bubbles into your breasts, careful not to melt them with the water dripping off of your hands.

“nor did i.” he chuckled breathlessly, eyes blown wide with fascination.

neither of you had yet noticed the snow falling softly from the ceiling, it melted too quickly in the water, for draco’s magic was attuned his feelings of guilt. this also spurred feelings of sadness, hopelessness and desperation - he desperately wanted to be forgiven. around the bath grew tiny, white posies of mistletoe that also harmonised with his feelings. but these feelings were of a different nature, but he lacked the adequate vocabulary.

everything that had been repressed was surfacing in the bathroom.

“why are you here, draco?”

“i’m sorry, it was an accident, i should be goin-“

you extended an arm out of the bubbles and grabbed his ankle.

“but i haven’t said thank you yet.”

“for what?”

“for sticking up for me.”

malfoy stiffened and shrugged, his back still to you. if he looked at you for any longer, he’d turn the bathroom into a garden.

“yeah well, i don’t mind a prank. but they took it too far. i don’t like you any more, i don’t hate you any less.” he lied, causing the flowers to suddenly wilt. you noticed and frowned, cupping your cheeks in contemplation whilst your elbows rested on the side of the bath. the snow from above delicately crowned your head.

you now bathed with an uncomfortable silence, draco couldn’t bare it any longer. he withstood all of his words, all of his beliefs, and turned around quickly, kneeling down and pulling you onto his lips by the face.

he moaned longingly, wetting your mouth with his kiss. you returned the gesture with keen interest, using your arms to hoist yourself out of the water, although you were no longer hidden by the bubbles and your chest was flush against his quidditch uniform, making it wet. you were only far enough out of the water to reveal your top half, the bubbles still hugged your little waist, he loved it.

he pulled back quickly, shaking off his green uniform and leaving it in a careless heap on the floor to be soaked as he jumped into the water. draco was considerably bigger than you, however thinner. he swam to you, pulling your legs around his waist and snogged you up against the wall of the bath, blonde hair how damp and rugged-looking. he had kept his underwear on as courtesy, but it was clear you cared little for chivalry as you lips made their way down his neck.

“i’m sorry, y/n, it was supposed to be a game,” he breathed, slowing your endeavours, and pulled your focus up to his eyes by holding your chin between his thumb and forefinger, “got out of hand…”

despite all of the heat, and the fact that you requited the feelings inhabiting his cold heart, it wasn’t going to work out with draco the way you hoped it would. you weren’t pleased to submit yourself to a person like that. you deposited these feelings quietly in the water, in the hope they’d disappear down the drain along with all of the bubbles, and petals…

previous discrepancies between you and draco made you reluctant to kiss him any further, you even welcomed thoughts of hating draco, it would have been so much easier to let go of him that way. still, you loosened your grip on his hair and shook your head.

“it would be too foolish.”

he preciously rubbed your cheek with a thumb and disagreed, “then be a fool for me?”, innocently cocking up an eyebrow. he’d never felt so vulnerable, if you rejected him he’d have to drown himself or do something spectacularly awful, he thought.

then, he thought he couldn’t possibly be bargaining with you. he cringed slightly and pulled his hand back too. he had stripped to not only reveal the best of him, but all of the worst too. he considered remorse, and vulnerability to be a few of the worst qualities, that were redeemed by the big package in his underwear. it was childish, his way of thinking. you were accustomed to it.

it would have been nearly too easy to make draco malfoy your friend, let alone your lover.

you were surprised that the sun hadn’t begun to dazzle you through the stained glass mermaid. what felt like epochs, transpired to be 2 hours after you’d returned to your dormitory in a fluffy robe and slippers. that night, despite how tired you felt, you couldn’t sleep soundly with draco malfoy’s kiss weighing on your conscience. and the fact that you’d rejected him.

when the term resumed, you expected your kiss with malfoy to have been forgotten about. rather than teasing you for your tatty uniform, he instead discovered ways to flirt with you to an insufferable extent, they worsened day to day. it was his revenge. because you challenged his disposition. because you lead him astray. because you seduced him with that perfect, perfect body of yours. because you forced him to admit that he didn’t hate you at all. because you -

you.

it was all your fault.

despite however much you pretended to hate him, you couldn’t deny the ghost of his hands nor the way they’d pawed at your breasts and loved you. yearning for him seemed to consume you more than hating him, but deliberately nosey glances from your brother made it difficult to reciprocate anything out-loud during lessons.

one day, he’d leaned over to “borrow your textbook” in potions, his cool breath making contact with your ear as he muttered a sly “thank you” to which you valiantly fought him off with an elbow and snatched the book out of his hands.

you craved him. and bickering with him was but a lame excuse to touch him, because it looked strange any other way. so you both unrelentingly fought the other. you hit his arm, you elbowed him as much as you had to if it meant you could feel close to draco malfoy. because loving him was not an option.

at night it wasn’t your heart, but your pussy that needed him, for so many consecutive nights you clutched your pillow to the warmth between your legs and rocked back and forth, wishing he was there.

perhaps it would be sufficient to fuck eachother and avoid the subject of love all together? you wondered this sometimes. you wondered about things like this when you shouldn’t have been, when you should have been paying attention to professor snape’s arrogant ramblings. perhaps you should try and forget about that night in the bathroom for good? move on? unlikely. these thoughts usually occurred to you in quick succession and overwhelmed you for the rest of the day.

it would’ve been an ordinarily overwhelming day if malfoy hadn’t seized you from within the alcove he’d been hiding it, and covered your mouth with his big hand.

“i must be going crazy, y/n.” he started angrily, “i haven’t thought about anything else.”

his eyes were crazed, his mind was demented, his heart was torn. you fiddled for your wand, even though you knew you wouldn’t need it, but he stopped you anyway and pinned your hands to the stone wall behind your head. he was gripping you so tightly, his knuckles had turned white.

you weren’t religious, but you’d mistaken draco for the devil. clearly, something had been tormenting him all day, he looked disturbed, and it was making you tremble.

“get off me you dog!” you whisper-shouted, above the sound of a party. you assumed slughorn must’ve been throwing one of his do’s, judging by the raucous music and the smell of alcohol lingering on malfoy’s breath. funny, he wasn’t usually invited to events like that.

his robes were smarter than usual. he was always well dressed but they weren’t embroidered with his house crest, and his tie wasn’t green, instead it was all black and stylish, his blonde hair combed neatly either side of a middle part.

“dog? dog?! you-“

“SHUT UP!” you shouted, because you couldn’t put your hand over his mouth.

“you can’t just kiss me the way you did, and expect to forget about it!” he seethed at you, burying his knee between your legs, making you gasp, “my heart talks about nothing else.”

“no one else.” he continued sincerely, silencing his heavy breaths against your forehead, but it was hardly a kiss.

“you must be drunk, draco.” you tried weakly, but in vain, because you were moaning when he kissed you for the second time in your short life.

“who’s the fool now?” he questioned, mumbling against your lips between short kisses, “you have been mine, the whole time i have known you. you never knew it.”

you had no fond memories at hogwarts besides those shared with draco. as he looked upon you with fierce eyes, you came to the uncanny realisation that your entire teenhood had revolved around him in some way or another, fate had been twistedly weaving you together. you hadn’t been intending to tie your soul to his every time you’d fought him off with a glare, or ruined the other’s day. every tear you shed was his, he owned every feeling you’d ever felt in human extremity, all of the smiles he’d watched from across the hall were contingent on his actions, and for too long he’d abused this power.

his hold on you relaxed and you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him in for seconds. his tongue ravaged your pretty mouth, and licked yours. you knew what the kisses would lead to, if you carried on in such a way that had draco panting for breath and lowly whining when you denied him the chance to grind against your hips. your innocence was his, too, to bear and to deconstruct. he did just this, leading you on foot through the halls, before he grew impatient and threw you over his shoulder, handling you through the door of the slytherin common room and throwing you against the leather sofa.

he crawled ontop of you, discarding his black robes on the floor and unfastening the buttons of his shirt, exposing so much more than skin.

“don’t you ever try anything like that again,” he said furiously in reference to your attempt at denying all the obvious feelings you had, and wrapped his hand delicately around your throat.

“i’ve got my eye on you.”

[mtkay13]

Gonna post TWO hoboxus today because I CAN! (still desperately trying to catch up with my twitter posts LOL help I'm terrible at this)

From a meme based on art by KOTTERI, the author of Veil (among amazing other things). Find them on twitter @_K0TTERl_!

More musing below, as per usual! (Be ready it's a LONG one again)

I really hesitated with how I wanted to do this. The original had this gorgeous red poster that seemed like a perfect fit for WKX:

(@_K0TTERl_)

Either I went for the imagery of ZZS wistfully gazing upon the mysterious and eccentric WKX, which would definitely have been more aesthetic and undeniably fitting, or I went the semi-humorous route of channelling the "WKX fell for that ugly hobo and his gorgeous shoulder blades" meme-ified side of their dynamic.

Well, clearly that's where I ended up going, but I feel like explaining a bit.

For me, this picture was three-folds:

First part is the meme; it's kind of funny, kind of ridiculous, and sets the tone of what TYK starts off as; rather absurd, with its reasonable dose of dark humor, and the (at first seemingly improbable) meeting and love story between a silly dying hobo and a strange, suspicious, hedonistic gentleman. It felt thematically appropriate for TYK to twist the original image and put the obviously uglier one on the poster since TYK relies heavily on genre subversion to begin with.

Secondly, there is WKX. So, controversial opinion (/jk) but I don't think WKX was necessarily convinced or even really thought that ZZS was "a beauty" underneath his alleged mask. It was probably a mix of various feelings and teasing/provoking which lead to this joke. First, everything he expresses throughout the book and in extra 4; the fascination for this man who seemed too hide great strength and was of no known identity--who was probably more than what he seemed.

(I'm gonna push it just a little bit ((but isn't that the fun of literary interpretation)), but the "beauty under the mask" is not only physical. It could be a way to say, I think that beneath your raunchy, ridiculous attitude, beneath your gross appearance, beneath the pretense that you're a nobody, that you're a peasant, you're probably someone of great importance and great accomplishments, someone much stronger than you pretend to be--someone like me, perhaps, even. The shoulder blades references are, besides of course WKX *actually* noticing them, the observation of how ZZS moves, of how agile his body is, etc...)

Anyway-- the entire point of this intro is to say that to me, this isn't actually referring to that whole side of their dynamic (or not entirely), but rather to that passage that I am STILL OBSESSED WITH where Wen Kexing recognizes ZZS just from the way he's sitting in a restaurant, and that makes him feel things not entirely positive:

Zhou Zishu stepped into an inn alone. He chose a seat by a window, ordered a few side dishes and a jug of mulled rice wine, and drank it slowly while soaking in the sunshine. As soon as Wen Kexing walked in, he saw Zhou Zishu from behind. He didn’t know why, but he thought that this view was quite special—he could always pick it out of a crowd. Zhou Zishu did not sit with his back straight. Most of the time, he lounged indolently at an angle that looked exceptionally comfortable. Wen Kexing thought that it seemed as though nothing weighed on him; seeing him was enough to ease the heart. Wen Kexing unconsciously halted his steps. He stared at Zhou Zishu’s relaxed silhouette for a while, with no trace of an expression in his face or eyes. His heart swelled with some strange feeling—strange, in that it was no feeling at all. He felt as though this man was mocking him with this wordless posture; he who rushed around for one thing or another, who was burdened with so many cares, yet obstinately put on a devil-may-care persona. Zhou Xu—as carefree as duckweed, he thought, with a body like willow catkins. In all the world, with its boundless perspectives, where could you find someone who walked their path alone and never allowed anything to trouble them? Yet he was not apathetic—he had his joy, his anger, his sorrow—and they came in a flash as quickly as they went. Within the blink of an eye, he had forgotten it already.

(Tian Ya Ke, chapter 18, TL by Lianzi) (have I quoted this already??? If not I should have I love this passage so much)

AND THEN QUOTING ANOTHER PASSAGE (LOL), TL by me this time:

From the moment he'd noticed his shoulderblades, felt this rush of excitement, to when he'd started liking who Zhou Zishu was, when he'd thought——so this is the Commander of Tian Chuang. Suddenly, he'd felt as if he'd met his other self. Both of them, lone wolves caught in a hunter's trap, struggling for freedom to no avail, until they had resolved to coldly gnawing off their own legs in the end. He'd felt compelled to follow him around, watched him, until he suddenly realised—if Zhou Zishu could live like this, then surely, so could he?

(Full passage in this other post LOL)

So yes, THIS. Those two things. That's it. Need I say more? HAH OF COURSE I DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO (help)

More seriously--the way WKX is captivated by ZZS' apparent carefreeness and freedom, all the different feelings (or absence thereof, as he puts it, which I interpret as so distant from what he's used to feel that it almost feels like nothing at all) is what I was going for here.... By not showing his face at all LMAO

The envy, the frustration--the impression of being mocked, but also the longing, how it inspired him to follow along and try to be free like he was.

-cough- yes, so that was point 2 out of 3.

Now lastly, about ZZS himself and my representation of him as hoboxu. I think (?) I've written enough about him that I think I can keep this succint. I love how priest often makes a point of expliciting, in the book, how he's so often smiling, and how he's always incredibly energetic in the morning, as if the night of pain had never happened. I like to think that hoboxu is both a carricature of a ridiculous character that ZZS has fun embodying---but also a liberated expression of his deeper self.

WKX feels like he's mocking him, but ZZS is also mocking himself relentlessly, when he feels like the outside resembles the inside finally, when he feels ridiculous in these new robes, when he allows himself the most outrageous behavior---and then there's mocking life itself, mocking jianghu, mocking everything that he nonetheless deeply cherishes. It's almost... gently mocking, affectionate mocking of everything because his own life has become a joke yet he's still going to enjoy it to the fullest--drinking to his heart's content, rolling in the mud and visiting touristy sites (or so he intended).

In the end... the world is still in his own hands. He chose everything, chose the way he lived, the way he (would have) died and still has the power to dissappear at will--but he stays. Stays and endures what he pretends annoys him, because he can't help himself, because he's ridiculous and is aware of it and may as well have some fun while being so.

I can't seem to ever have enough of this, of this vibe. I wanted to have him laugh at and with WKX, at and with the people seeing him, at and with himself, at and with the narrative.

SO YEAH HAH THATS HUM THAT'S IT. You know what they say, it's only a fun meme if there's an essay behind it (noone says that help 😭😭😭😭)

I hope you had fun reading it and have a nice weeked 🤪

[howlingday]

Joke I had. Don't know if it has been told yet. So setting is Beacon (No Fall of Beacon) Team Rwby and Jnpr (Second years) has a family over. (Jacques is in prison and Willow divorced him) So Yang while showing her girlfriend Blake to her dad and trips with yells Motherf#cker. Ghira,Tai, and Jaune all sneeze afterwards.

"So then I said, 'Now that's a katana~!'"

The group laughed at her joke, no more so, though, than her own father. Taiyang wiped a tear from his eye as he beamed with pride at his daughter. Whether the beam was more proud than ones given by other parents to their kids was hard to say. In the year following the Battle for Beacon, things had noticeably quieted down.

Yang and her dad hung around with Ruby on the other side with Qrow, the uncle-niece duo already having more than enough jokes to last them both a lifetime. Hanging onto Yang's arm was Blake, whose feeling for the blonde brawler became more evident after she'd risked her life for the woman who risked her life. Costed her an arm, sure, but it was well worth the days of recovery for her.

Adam was in jail with most of the White Fang, Cinder Fall escaped with the others, and the Grimm were routed and exterminated by the joint effort of huntsmen and huntresses from all kingdoms. Heck, love had even blossomed outside of her life, too. Pyrrha and Jaune had a heartfelt reunion in which the couple made out for what was probably a good five minutes before parting. Say what you will about Vomit Boy, he's got some lungs on him.

But Pyrrha wasn't the only one with eyes on him. No, he'd been getting looks all night from just about everyone in the room. She'd walked past Pyrrha who had to be sure Jaune would be okay alone, which she thought was ridiculous until she turned around and saw Weiss, Ruby, and Velvet jostling each other to get closer to him.

But the craziest thing was she thought she saw was when Weiss' mom was probably eye-banging him. Recently divorced after a wild lawsuit battle that lasted almost a year, the beautiful Willow Schnee was notably more vibrant than ever before. Weiss commented that it was because something good finally happened to her mother that wasn't just leaving her awful father. But nobody could figure out what it was. Maybe-

"Shit!" Yang tripped, falling and cracking her eye on the corner of the table. Blake came over to comfort her girlfriend, who was holding her hand over her eye. "Argh! Motherfucker!"

"ACHOO!" Bellowed a heavy gust of wind, like a hurricane from a beast.

"Here you go, Ghira." Cooed Blake's mom.

"Heh-choo!" Came a familiar voice, with a sneeze that made her laugh as a child.

"Ack-choo!" Said another familiar, this one from a groggy drunk half-deep in his third flask.

"Here you go, Dad!" Ruby said before zipping again. "Here, Uncle Qrow!"

"Kichoo!" Fluttered a smaller voice, this one sneezing like a kitten.

"Oh, Jaune." Pyrrha handed him a handkerchief. "Are you getting sick?"

"Nah, I'm fine, Pyrrha."

"Yeah, you are." Purred a voice that made Yang lift her head up. Looking through the crowd, she saw Jaune holding Pyrrha close, while Weiss' mom rubbed his shoulder from behind. Pyrrha squeezed Jaune closer, making the older woman giggle. "Fine, fine. I'll see you two later tonight~!"

Yang shook her head.

"Are you okay, Yang?" Blake asked.

"I... I think I need to lie down."

[lollytea]

Love the idea that the feral, hormonal Willow post and the dress measurements post take place simultaneously, so you have this teenage girl holding onto her restraint by the skin of her teeth and then suddenly getting a text from her boyfriend with his measurements because??? what???does she do with this??? Is he making a move?? Is something happening here?? It’s probably too forward to send her own, right?? Should she just go for it or gather intel from her friends first?? meanwhile Hunter is just like “I’m gonna make Willow such a pretty dress :D”

YES!! That is exactly what's going on here. I have this vision of how Willow and Hunter's romantic relationship started off. Things moved quite slow, because Hunter got overwhelmed very easily and Willow liked him so much and didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable in what should be a safe space. It's very new and neither of them really know how to approach romance immediately, but one of them desperately wants to practise and one of them needs more time to ease into it.

Willow is always watching Hunter with sharp eyes, intently reading his body language, waiting for any kind of signal that he'd like to do a little more than hold her hand. It's usually Willow that initiates the less nerve wracking stuff like hugs and hand holding and casual affection, but she let Hunter kiss her first. She's very proud of herself for noticing the way he glanced at her mouth or she wouldn't have asked "do you want to kiss me?" and then he wouldn't have done it. Whenever Hunter initiates something, Willow knows he wants this. She knows they're making progress.

Once during a group movie night, he fell asleep resting against her side and she laid in that uncomfortable position all fucking night. He eventually started sleep snuggling her and she she was fucking EXHILERATED. This is what she's been starving for.

A headcanon that I hold so near and dear to my heart is that Willow is secretly batshit insane. Totally bonkers. Off the fucking rails. Yknow just in general. And Hunter definitely makes the crazy flare up. But she's always been good at hiding it so nobody suspects a thing.

Hunter is not very good at articulating how he feels about Willow but he's desperate to express it in any way that he can. So he's always doing nice things for her. And making her laugh. And supporting her in any way that he can. And surprising her with little gifts that he made.

Willow also isn't all that good at articulating how she feels about Hunter. "You're cute" and "You mean a lot to me <3" and other casual flirty lines are used a lot but she's not quite covering the extent of emotions. She feels a lot more intensely than that. She can't really put it all into words. All these feelings give her the unbearable urge to start gnawing on his flesh like a fucking damn griffin drumstick.

The texts make her wanna act up somethin fierce

Hello_willow: what are these?

RULERZREACHF4N: My hip, waist and bust size <3

Willow at her fucking LIMIT:

What does that MEAN?? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??? Is this flirting? Maybe Hunter's idea of a scandalous text?? She knows from whispers in the hallways that sometimes significant others send pics when they wanna get bold. Like shirtless pics. She has been hoping every damn day that one day her scroll is gonna buzz and its her shy boyfriend, deciding that he likes the way his chest looks today and he wants to show it off to her. But it can never be that simple, can it? NO. Her fucking tailor of a boyfriend it trying to speak to her in tailor language and she can NOT fucking fumble him right now because there's a chance that if she gets this right, she might get to put her hands on the areas that he has given her the measurements of.

Hello_willow: Oh

Is she supposed to compliment him on his beautiful measurements? His broad chest? His slim waist? Should she say that she'd have no problems wrapping her arms around him? That he is the perfect size for squeezing? That she wants to come over and see for herself if he's being honest? Is that what he wants to hear?

RULERZREACHF4N: Is there something you want to tell me? :)

Willow panics, suddenly feeling the pressure to answer quick. What does he want?? WHAT DOES HE WANT????

She quickly decides that she CANNOT be bold here. Because all of the things she wants to say are shockingly indecent.

That's when she realizes. It's Hunter. Hunter, who told her yesterday that he used to be scared of the dark when he was little. Hunter, who might be trying, in his own weird Hunter way, to be a little more vulnerable. Give her more personal details about himself, so she knows that he trusts her and feels safe with her. Like when a beast rolls over on its belly.

A little of Willow's tension melts away. He's very sweet. She likes him an awful lot.

Not knowing how to proceed, Willow awkwardly tries to let him know that she appreciates him telling her things that he thinks are important.

Hello_willow: thank you

Feeling a little unsure, she adds a question mark at the end. And then, upon getting a few seconds of silence on the other end, she panics again and hurriedly types another message. A little more upfront this time.

Hello_willow: I love learning new things about you Hun. You have very elegant measurements <3

Another twenty seconds pass.

RULERZREACHF4N: Thanks. You're sweet <3

HALLELUJAH TO THE TITAN, TO THE SON AND TO THE HOOTY GHOST!!! HE THINKS SHES SWEET!!! SHE IS GONNA GET TO HOLD HIS HIPS TONIGHT!!!!

RULERZREACHF4N: Can I have your Dad's number?

NO!!! HOW THE FUCK DID SHE FUMBLE THIS!!!!

[cloudcountry]

SUMMARY: Vil and Rook celebrate your birthday <33

WARNINGS: None!!

COMMENTS: this is a birthday present for @v-anrouge!! i hope i did your boys justice ^^"

With Vil Schoenheit, everything was supposed to be perfect. He did everything to the best of his ability and never slacked off, even when corners could be cut. Today, your birthday, was yet another day when the entirety of Pomfiore dorm was following those principles.

An invitation, delivered to you by none other than Epel, coaxes you from the confines of Ramshackle. The morning air is chilly, but with Epel by your side and the smile on his face, you find that you’re not cold. Once you reach Pomfiore, the bright, shining doors open like the gates of heaven, and you’re hit with warmth and the smell of good food.

Vil greets you by the door, the first one in line to wish you a happy birthday. There’s a gentle smile on his face as he raises his arms, purple fabric draping from his arms like the leaves of a willow tree. You fall into him as easily as the wind rustling the branches, and he encases you in a hug that smells like warmth and expensive cologne.

A kiss is pressed just behind your ear, an action hidden from the rest of the room. Your breath catches in your throat as you tense, but you can feel him smile into your skin at your embarrassment. What a tease he can be.

“Happy birthday, my dear.” he pulls away and yet keeps holding you close, the spot he kissed tingling under his lidded gaze, “I do hope you will enjoy today.”

The decorations were chosen carefully and tailored to suit your tastes. Rook was at the forefront of this, swooning about how your favorite colors were shades of beauty, rivaling gems and stars, and when blended together, they were lovely, just like you.

When you arrive, Rook watches you hug Vil with tears in his eyes. It’s a beautiful display of affection on a day that is entirely yours, and for you to choose them to spend it with has his heart beating out of his chest. He almost bursts from pure, unbridled joy when you break away from Vil and gaze upon him, your eyes wondrous and mysterious.

Rook sweeps his arms out, a wide grin on his face as he takes you in. There’s a small lipstick mark left by Vil, but Rook elects to leave it unnoticed. Nobody in the room is as observant as he is anyway, which is why he notices the straightening of your back and the shimmering in your eyes and the way your lips twitch when you run to him.

It’s a beautiful thing, when you collide. His hat is knocked off his head as he catches you, arms far stronger than many give him credit for. Your legs swing up into the air at the force of your hug, arms thrown around his shoulders as your face is tucked into the crook of his neck.

“Oh, my darling Trickster.” he croons, helping you stay balanced as you find your way back to the ground, “There has never been a more beautiful day.”

[lordsukunas]

songs made by black artists that i think would suit jjk characters. oh my god this took forever to format n link songs. anyway, happy black history month yall!!!! i hope yall like this bc im sick of seeing taylor swift pop up in the list of artists gojo would listen to <33

gojo – starboy the weeknd, daft punk + ghost town kanye west, partynextdoor

for starboy it just gave im that nigga vibes, and for ghost town it's just the entire ‘i alone am the honored one’ scene. but mayb it could also be applicable to current gojo? idk.

geto – like a tattoo sade

fun fact: this is actually the inspo for my user!! the whole ‘broken by the burden of his youth’ and ‘hungry for life, thirsty for the distant river’ reminds me of his whole reason for defecting. he's hungry for life (wanting sorcerers to not have to risk their life to protect non-sorcerers & actually live a long, fulfilling life) and thirsty for the distant river (remember when they kept with the race/hallway analogy? yeah, and geto's goal was always going to be unattainable for him simply bc he didn't have the strength)

yuuji – adorn miguel + crooked smile j. cole, tlc

UGGHHH he's just so lovely. the most supportive boy ever i love my son sm, and that is my only justification for my song choices.

megumi – alone willow + nineteen pinkpanthress + answer tyler, the creator

tbh… idk bros been goin thru it this entire series, but esp recently. for answer, i rlly liked the first couple of verses (idk what to actually call it, but it's before the first chorus) bc it aligns well w papaguro n megumi. ig the stepdad could be gojo…?

nobara – no scrubs tlc + conceited flo milli + apeshit the carters + on my mama victoria monét

she takes nobody's bs n i love that for her!!! i feel like she'd absolutely love flo milli + megan thee stallion.

nanami – lotus flower bomb wale, miguel + i love you more than you know black party, childish gambino

sorry i rlly like him y'all... there's no angsty reason for these songs! n for i luv u more than yk, it's just nanami if/when he goes to malaysia :3

choso – do you like me? daniel caesar

i actually dk for this one... i just thought it suited him! yk since he wants to live as a human n when he loves he loves hard (shown by how determined he is to be the best older brother to his lil siblings)

toji – she will lil wayne, drake + foe tha love of $ bone thugs-n-harmony, eazy-e + crack rock frank ocean

i am a firm believer toji would like 90s + early 2000s rap. it just makes sense idk, also i once saw a post that said he died just a bit b4 no hands by waka flocka came out and... hey! for crack rock, it's just post-mamaguro him n instead of crack, it's his gambling addiction

sukuna – hater's anthem infinity song + hit ‘em up 2pac, outlawz + king’s dead jay rock, kendrick lamar, future, james blake + unbothered ski mask the slump god

he's a hater just for my son. bum ass nigga... and for hit em up: ‘don't one of u niggas got sickle cell or sumn? u fuck around n have a seizure or a heart attack’

maki & toji – worst behavior drake

self explanatory! them n their rebellion against the zenin clan <3

gojo & geto – oui jeremih

cause if weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! sorry but this is fueled by geto saying ‘we are the strongest’... thats it :p

[mapofthemazeinthemirror]

I’m working on two royal au things already, but after listening to Love Story and Willow consecutively, this was born. This is just a thought dump and won't turn into anything more I'm afraid.

☆ gender neutral reader

Royal reader x Nobleman Yeonjun

Everybody, including your parents, insist Yeonjun has his eye on you with ideas of marrying into the crown. Nobody knows about quiet giggles during a shared dance. The way he swiped away your tears with gentle thumbs when he found you breaking down in the garden. None but you have read the heartfelt and vulnerable letters he has slipped you in passing after banquets with nobility and aristocracy where there was no escaping for a quiet moment for just the two of you.

You hope nobody will come to know when you light a lantern in your window one night, the agreed upon signal that the cost is clear. That you lay together and whisper to each other, Yeonjun holding both of your hands in his warm one as he speaks of a shared future that will never be. After chatting for hours, you fall asleep in his arms, and it's a feeling greater than anything you’ve ever known, the best sleep you've had in years.

When you wake in the morning he is gone, slipped out before the palace began to stir, and feel your heart twinge with the loss of his presence. You close your mind to the fact that one day, his absence will be a permanent fixture in your life, for your parents will never allow a man with his last name to take your heart. They don't know he already has.

written by mapofthemazeinthemirror - do not repost my work in any form

[theorphicangel]

Hello there! Take your time of course, but, I'm throwing out #15 from the prompt list! :)

hi Eliza!! I hope you’re doing well :) thank you so much for sending this in, I love it!!!

low-key a continuation of this but it’s not necessary to read it, just inspo for this piece

This is a lil short but sweet :)

#prompt 15: “You’re staring”. “You’re glowing, my love, of course I will.”

After setting down the red and white checkered picnic blanket, you gratefully took a seat, soon regretting your poor choice of footwear to wear for today. If you’d known that you’d have been walking this far then you wouldn't have picked the most uncomfortable pair of sandals you own with the idea that it was worth suffering if it went well with the new summer dress that you were wearing.

Nethertheless, you were more than happy to finally take a seat and take a break from walking and soon enough Levi joined you – of course weary of the grass and dirt, making sure that his shoes weren’t anywhere near the blanket.

Raising your hand to block the sun from your eyes, you observed him as he placed the brown picnic basket in the center. The heavy ass picnic basket that he had to carry for most of the way.

“Right then,” you say, “what would you like to start off with first? The sandwiches or the cheese board?”

“Your choice.”

You hum in response, opening up the picnic basket and begin removing its contents. Reaching inside, you pulled out a large cold bottle of wine with two glasses for the both of you and with the sound of a clink as you tapped the wine glasses together your lips stretched into a cute grin before placing them near him.

“I think I’ll start with the cinnamon rolls instead.” you announced, pulling out a large brown paper bag full of hot and fresh cinnamon rolls from your favorite bakery, which was not too far from your shared apartment.

The sun continued to beam down on you, the lazy afternoon heat surrounding your entire body. It was peaceful for the both of you, with nobody around for miles, alone with a clear blue sky and greenery which seemed to stretch for miles.

Taking a bite of the warm roll, you let out a sigh of satisfaction, closing your eyes in absolute ecstasy at the flavors melting on your tongue.

Looking inside the brown paper bag, you don’t forget to offer him one. “Want one Levi?”

At hearing no response you looked up in confusion, “Levi?” Immediately met with his gray eyes studying you in silence, nothing but the sounds of birds circling the willow tree that stood not too far from your position.

“Mhm.” he hummed in acknowledgement.

Cheeks growing warm at his unrelenting eye contact, you bluntly point out to him.“You’re staring.”

He scoffed, leaning forward to wipe a crumb from the side of your mouth, and in doing so he mumbled, “You’re glowing, my love, of course I will.”

[incorrectlumityquotes]

Lumity Episode Master List

Well, this is it gang. It's over. The Owl House is finished. Part of me will always be bitter about Disney gutting season three.

BUT at the same time, part of me is glad that The Owl House is over. Because that means lumity is canon forever and nobody can change that. What's that Disney? You don't like the gay? Well too bad. The only way you can change it is to make more episodes which I know you're not gonna do.

Nana-nana, boo-boo. Stick your head in doo-doo.

It's been a fantastic journey and if you ever wanna go through it again, there's always Disney Plus. But if just want your lumity fix without going through every single episode, then here you go.

I did it for starco and now I'm doing it for lumity. Here's every single episode the led up to lumity.

Spoilers for a show that we painfully know has ended.

"I Was a Teenage Abomination"

The revolution was a lie. Do you remember? When we were young and you wanted to set the world on fire? Sorry that's a reference to a song I like.

You can't do a list about a ship without actually starting the ship. The episode where Luz and Amity first meet and thank jeebus they did. Personally, I thought the first episode was okay and I didn't like the second one. But this episode was amazing. 10/10.

Luz feels like she isn't learning as much as she could from Eda so she sneaks into a witch school. With witch kids. We meet Willow and then we meet Amity, who I honestly thought was going to be some kind of Draco Malfoy bully type character. And she's kinda sorta like that in this episode. Little did we know the love that was gonna blossom here.

"Covention"

I get it. It's like coven and convention. OH now I get it. Well, we can't have them be enemies to lovers without them being enemies first. Willow and Gus invite Luz, Eda and King to the local covention where Amity just happens to be checking out the Emperor's Coven panel.

Yeah, she's still upset over the whole 'pretending to be an abomination thing.' We get some classic Malfoy-esque bullying from Amity that pushes Luz to challenge her. Since the Clawthorne sisters refuse to have one up over the other, they both cheat, embarrassing Amity.

The scene where Luz apologizes to Amity was the first hint that Amity would go beyond a Malfoy-bully character. Even though Amity was still upset, she broke the pact and Luz held no ill will towards her.

"Lost in Language"

I'm lost in language and I don't know what I'm thinking about. I'm back on my feet. Eager to be what you want me. Sorry. That's another song.

We get the first seed of the actual lumity ship and my first "I ship them" episode. Luz goes to the local library and the show shock everyone by showing Amity...reading to kids in the kids corner. You guys gotta remember that at the time this blew everyone's minds. The bully character reading to kids in the library? And they love her? Everyone's view of Amity changed, especially Luz's. Then we met Edric and Emira, who unlike Amity, are super cool and nice. All of which plays to the theme of the episode.

We (and Luz) discover that Amity is a lot more than she seems. She's not the bully character. Same with Edric and Emira. They're not the cool ones; they're the bullies. And that's the same way Amity feels about Luz. But with a little teamwork and a horrifying children's character come to life, Amity agrees to try to be a friendlier witch.

"Adventures in the Elements"

We wouldn't see Amity again for another several episodes. Thank goodness for that other country airing the episode early, am I right, people? Anyway.

Luz finally goes out with Eda for some serious witch training after Amity (oh cramity) warns her about the baby class. We get Amity making an actual effort to be nice to Luz, which almost completely goes to hell when Luz takes Amity's training wand. But then she does the "You'll only get hurt bit," and we see more of those little glimpses.

It's safe to say that after this episode Luz and Amity actually did become friends. No ill will on either side.

"Understanding Willow"

Luz and Amity became friends in the previous episode. Just Luz and Amity. Willow and Gus were a different story. Especially Willow. This is that story. It's the full story.

It's revealed that Willow and Amity used to be friends until Amity's parents forced Amity to push Willow away, something Willow still resents her for.

In the lumity side of things, Luz starts wiggling her way into Amity's heart with her upbeat, positive attitude. It's infectious. We even get a lumity hug, even if it was one sided.

"Enchanting Grom Fright"

Come on. Come on. Do I even have to at this point? The episode that blew this ship into the stratosphere.

It's Grom season and everyone's getting a date. Except for Amity who is unfortunately named the grom queen which means she has to fight a horrifying shapeshifting monster. Horray for The Boiling Isles being a safe and sensible place to live. Luz, being Luz, takes Amity's place so she doesn't have her worst fear come to life in front of everyone. But Luz is unable to face her greatest fear, and it takes the power of Wan to put Grom back in his place.

I love this episode. I love talking about this episode. I love how Amity is staring at her note because she's contemplating putting it in Luz's locker. I love how she says "Watch it, nitwit," before she realizes who she's talking to. I love how Luz and Amity randomly meet at the woods. Is it sloppy writing? Fuck you. I love when Amity grabs her dress when Grom tears her note. That's such a kid thing to do.

This is already way too long. I should move on.

"Wing It Like Witches"

The final part of the original lumity trilogy. We get the stupid fakey made up magical sport. Fuck you, Harry Potter. And we also get Boscha being a royal B. Someone tell her to see you next Tuesday. Am I right, people?

Luz, being Luz, wants to stand up to Boscha for Willow but, being Luz, makes things so much worse. Amity pops in and out of the episode to try to help but the gay panic is too much for her. Amity admits, out loud, that she loves how Luz seems to always get herself in over her head when she's trying to help someone. But they lose anyway. Fuck you, Harry Potter.

Enchanting Grom Fright was huge. But this episode was a bunch of fun. Fuck you, Harry Potter.

"Escaping Expulsion"

After breaking Amity's leg because we didn't want her anywhere near the season one finale, she finally makes her grand return. We also meet her parents and Odalia is one of the biggest Karen's I've ever seen. Luz gets expelled which is bad but she's more concerned over Willow and Gus. She tries to cut a deal with thicc mama Blight, but gets roped into product demonstration. Odalia tries to kill a child and fails when Amity appears from the rafters like Sting and announces to the world, "Stay away from my Luz."

It was awesome. We get a return blush and Luz officially starts crushing on Amity back. Reminds me of another post I did long ago telling everyone to be freaking patient. This episode also marks Amity being a part of the Hexsquad, but not one hundred percent into the friend group just yet.

"Through the Looking Glass Ruins"

I'm looking at you through the glass. Don't know how much time has past...I forgot the rest of the song.

It's funny because I guess the lumity stuff was actually the B-plot to this episode. This episode was very important for a lot of reasons. It introduced Phillip's diary, the galderstones, Matt and Gus kinda became friends. But we're not here to talk about that.

Luz discovers the there was a human in The Boiling Isles who donated a journal to the Bonesboro library. And since Amity works at the library, you know the whole two stones thing. And we see Luz crushing hard on Amity for the first time.

Unfortunately, Luz does get Amity in trouble again for like the fourth(?) time or something. That puts a real dent in things. But Luz comes through for Amity (offscreen) and gets her her job back. Amity makes the first move right at the end of the episode marking the beginning of the purple Amity era.

"Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Hooty's Door"

Hey, hey, hey! Please tell me I'm not the only one that got that reference. Don't make me feel old.

This is it. The most important episode since Grom. Dana and the crew knew that the series had been cut short so they had to speed things up. So they turned to...Hooty? Yeah. Okay. Sure. Whatever.

Luz is torn between finding a way back to the human realm and trying to ask out Amity. And you know that old saying about chasing two rabbits? Yeah. Hooty's solution? Kidnap Amity and force the two into the tunnel of love. Amity is actually totally digging the tunnel of love but Luz is afraid that Amity is going to make fun of her. Both ideas backfire and Amity starts to the think that she's been rejected already.

But that's to Hooty losing his mind, and a little advice from Eda, Luz asks out Amity. And she says YES! Lumity canon! In episode 8 of season 2! That's how you do it, Star vs the Forces of Evil! You give the people what they want. And now that Amity is Luz's girlfriend, she can help get more info out of the echo mouse.

And the love stuff too.

"Eclipse Lake"

Oh right. Amity. The girlfriend of Luz. The girl who is in a romantic relationship with Luz. Luz's girlfriend. That's Amity.

We have the first episode of Luz and Amity being a couple and hoo-boy, did Amity make sure to let us know. Nervous about having her first serious girlfriend, Amity wants to prove to Luz and herself that she is an awesome girlfriend. By going into the titan's veins to steal some of its blood.

As one does.

Hunter tries to prey on Amity's (and his own) insecurities about having to prove your worth. But it takes King and some well placed emoji messages to remind Amity why she fell in love with Luz in the first place. That Luz is so different from her family and her social circle. She doesn't have to prove anything to Luz. Luz wears her affection on her sleeve.

"Follies at the Coven Day Parade"

Night of the living dead is on its way. I keep making a lot of song references here.

This is the episode were the couple hits their first snag as a couple. Luz has a serious problem communicating when something is wrong (more on that later). After the traumatizing events of the previous episode, Luz can't bring herself to tell Amity that she promised her mom that she'd leave forever, especially since Amity is doing so much to get closer to Luz like learning Spanish. But Amity ain't no dummy. She can tell when Luz is hiding something. It's made even worse when Amity gets a hold of Luz's phone, which anyone who has been in a relationship could tell you, is a trap.

Luckily, trust and compassion win out in the end. Luz tells Amity exactly what happened, and they communicate. But if Luz was honest with Amity in the first place, we'd only have half an episode.

"Any Sport in a Storm"

Again, Lumity takes the B-plot.

While huntlow is becoming a thing, Luz and Amity try to search for the author of the Azura book series. On the way they parody fan theories in the nicest way I've ever seen in a show. And the big twist of the author of Azura turns out to be that there is no twist. It really is just a fantasy book series that Luz really likes that sometimes washes up in The Boiling Isles.

This episode is important because it serves to remind people what Luz and Amity have in common. Pointing out the fact that the two girls are different is fun, but sometimes you just have to go back to basics and remember that Luz and Amity just really like each other, get along, and are both nerds who like the same book series. And that whole opposites attract thing is bullshit. The key is compliments, not opposties.

"Reaching Out"

Hoo-boy. This one is heavy.

It's a special day for Luz, which is not a good thing. She wants to do anything but be alone with her thoughts. Good thing Amity shows up with a problem that could distract them all day.

Amity thinks that signing up for the Bonesboro Brawl could bring her closer to her dad (since her mom is obviously a lost cause) and ditches coven tryouts to compete for the championship title. Luz tries to help, but when Amity has the competition in the bag, Luz tries to help even more to keep herself busy.

But, as usual, Luz gets Amity in trouble and it really hurts this time. Not only did Luz get Amity in trouble (again), but she won't talk to her (again). When Amity has had enough, Luz does what she only does as a last resort and actually communicates.

That's when everything changes. It's the anniversary of Luz's dad's death. And usually Luz and Camila spend the day together. You know, to make it hurt less. But this year, she can't be with her.

This episode is important because after seeing Amity at a low point an unfair amount of times, this time Amity is seeing Luz at her lowest point. Amity makes this one face that, to me, says that Amity is shocked (to say the least) that her girlfriend was in pain this whole time. But she was so wrapped up in her own problems that she didn't notice. Or at least, that's my interpretation.

Luz and Amity make up and pick flowers together. It wasn't pretty or that romantic. It hurt and was kinda sad. But if you want to paint a pretty picture, sometimes you're gonna use some dark colors. And they're stronger for it.

"Clouds on the Horizon"

Oh yeah, baby. You know what this episode is.

When all hope seemed lost, it turns out not everyone believed Bellos' promises of paradise on the Day of Unity. While the adults are trying to stop the draining spell, Luz is sent on a slightly less dangerous mission of rescuing Amity from her mom's house arrest. Thicc Mama Blight even broke Amity's tamagachi thing. That bitch. See her next Tuesday.

But hope comes in the form of a Noceda as Luz enters through her bedroom window, Romeo & Juliet style. She promises Amity a slice-of-life future and Amity can't hold back anymore and

Gifs you can hear. Am I right, people?

We get it. Our first kiss. Our babies grow up so fast.

Actually no, that took forever, but you get my meaning.

Season 3: "Thanks to Them" "For the Future" "Watching and Dreaming"

Okay yeah, this is a bit of a cop out, but also, not really. Since Disney decided to be, well Disney, season three was cut short. Just enough to finish the story, but not enough to get lumity centric episodes. Everything was mashed together into 3 forty minute episodes.

Yes, we do have a lot of important lumity moments, but they're generally spread around all three episodes. None of them are more important than the other.

"Thanks to Them" had Luz coming out to her mom and introducing Amity. "For the Future" had Amity comforting Luz about her palisman. "Watching and Dreaming" had more kisses.

Unfortunately, I have to end the list by just saying watch all of them or none of them. Not very specific for a post that's supposed to be a specific list. Sorry, gang.

[sgiandubh]

Our Lady of the Earrings

Almost 3 AM and as always before any flight/train (but mercifully not when driving myself) trip I am struck by a severe case of Reisefieber, which translates to almost complete insomnia, in this noble house.

Thanks to one of @bat-cat-reader's Anons, I immediately went to watch C & Alfred Enoch's seven minute segment on The Booker Prize 2023 Livestream you can watch, too, on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/live/OgIGnfxISk0?si=nfUz7KoCFgEzQmQB

Some quick observations:

Not one, but two new ear piercings I took the gracious pain of documenting (sorry for the thumbnail size, it's the best I could do with the primitive technical means readily available) :

What would that be? Punk C? How could that even be? A speculative coin dropped: last time, it was cutting her hair, but now I see a body modification impulse. I am still pondering this one and I have to say I am torn between a simple fashionista reflex and something deeper than that (new beginnings? healing? letting go?). Either way, I am not in a hurry, because I know dots will eventually connect.

Thoughts?

Also, the rings. I have never been paying much attention to that particular merry-go-round, but anyways, for the fandom pundits, there goes:

Because I am not an Our Lady of the Rings kremlinologist, I shall leave it here as is. By all means, do comment, if you feel inspired.

Onwards to content. You know, by now, that I am a book freak (after all, my fandom journey started with a bookshelf!), so I listened very carefully. Her answer to the comment prompt on Paul Lynch's Prophet Song was, I am sorry to say, so restrained it sounded almost cookie-cut. She mentioned the tension of the quoted and performed (almost to perfection, I have to say) passage of the book, but little else and it left me still hungry for more. I mean, when you love a book, you have this urge to talk about it at length. She was almost subdued, even if I am absolutely sure she read it and liked it.

By contrast, Alfred Enoch (🎵it's a small world, after all 🎶) was totally chill. I shamelessly skipped, yet couldn't help but notice the contrast.

Second question was very interesting: 'what books made you fall in love with reading?' I always find this very telling about people, because anything related to books is very personal. We are not only the sum of our choices, but also the sum of all the books we read. Something C apparently knows very well, too, because she elegantly sashayed and said absolutely nothing about her first love book. She simply mentioned her mother taking her to the library, from a very early age and how all these books were windows which opened on The World and finally how seminal this experience is for someone growing up in a small village. But no particular book made it to her lips and again, I found it very curious. I am nobody and I can still quote not one, but two books that changed my whole world (and then I never looked back): Alice in Wonderland and The Wind in the Willows. It's not that she couldn't, it's that she wouldn't. So, for Christ's sake, Mrs. B, stop punishing your fandom like that! There's nothing wrong about sharing your joy of books, it really isn't!

Third and last question: 'are you a Kindle reader? do you like a physical book? audio books? what's your favorite medium for reading?' I could have bet handsome money she was not a Kindle reader, for obvious reasons (cannot remember/retain information), but I found endearing the almost sneaky confession she needed her couch and snacks for a good reading session (same, same and since forever: I grinned). She buys a lot of books, 'and then they sit and look at me and it takes a certain time to get in'. Same as Enoch, who wondered what the Japanese word for 'buying books for the simple pleasure of seeing them pile up' was (it is, correct me if I am wrong, tsundoku).

One of the other people talking about reading and books was Dua 'Behave' Lipa. I am legit howling like the cretin I am, but the project she supports is about bringing Booker Prize books to women in prison. And this, my friends, is absolutely extraordinary.

Also, no red carpet pictures on Getty. The only one who made it was Alfred Enoch:

And somebody else seems very interested by Getty, lately (as of yesterday, to be more exact):

But surely, that is only a coincidence.

PS: it has been asked in the comments thread chez Bat. C's pinky ring is Cartier's Trinity. My favorite of them all, spare my big butterfly 1925 chevalière (which is a Chaumet, by the way).

[Edit]: I am told she had the three ear piercings for years. My bad. I can't know just about everything. Thank you @crispyflapdeputyflower for the info. The rest is fresh, though!

[just-another-star-47]

@kiwiplaetzchen made this wonderful template and I couldn't resist to fill it out, now that I try to focus mainly on Luscinia and her story. 😊

(And yes, I need to draw her wand, but I'm still not sure about the design 🙈)

So let's get a little more into detail, shall we? 😁

Luscinia is the Latin name for nightingale (So the c is spelled like the ones in Accio). During the big witch hunt in Europe, big wizarding families started to give their family members Latin names as an act of rebellion against the Christian church, that used Latin for their holy textes. Till this day, the Plonbraw family keeps that tradition alive, much to Luscinia's regret.

Luscinia's family originated in the eastern part of (modern) Germany, a part that is part of Prussia in the 1890s. The family of her mother still lives there, so she regularly visited her old homeland, even though the Plonbraw family fled into the far north of Norway centuries ago.

In a wand ceremony in her old home town the wand of one of her ancestors choose to be with her - made out of willow wood, around 20 cm long, somewhat flexible. (Read about the wand ceremony here)

I don't want to spoil too much, because I think it will be a part in my story, but let's just say her Patronus is a special dragon. 🤫

Rosalie was a gift from her older brother, right before her first year in school. He bought it from the money he got from selling potions to his classmates. (Maybe I have chosen the name after a little owl in one of my favourites films, that always broadcast around christmas in Germany. 😊)

Speaking of her brother, she has three siblings. Her older brother Corvus is four years older than her, her sister Alauda is three years older and her brother Alcedo is two years younger.

The relationship with her parents is.. complicated. Her father is an Auror, that isn't at home very often, her mother sees the worth of her children only in their achievments.

Luscinia is shy, because she doesn't trust other people and overthinks way too much, what they could do with the informations she gives them. She also often times feels pressured to regulate the people around them, making sure nobody gets hurt or upset.

She's rather lazy when it comes to homework, or other academic duties, but she needs to do things. Boredom makes her go crazy and you really don't want to come across her, when she's bored. It's one of the rare occasions, where she'd be very rude.

The only reason why her room is somewhat tidy, is because she gets overwhelmed very quickly, when there are too many distracting things in her surrounding. Other than that, she has simply no interest in beeing overly neatly, one of the reasons why she's so bad in Potions and Transfiguration - the need to be overly exact is nothing for her.

Luscinia tries to be friendly to everyone, because she never want to make someone feel bad or unwelcome. That beeing said, she's not a big philanthropist and especially in her teenage years she can get grouchy in social gatherings.

Typical Gryffindor here - brave to a point were it borders on dumbness.. 😅 Her playfulness doesn't make it any better. It's a trait not many are allowed to witness, but if she feels safe with someone, she loves to tease, play, do dumb shit and get lost in small details.

Luscinia is clumsy, because in her mind she is often elsewhere - already doing the next task, daydreaming or talking with herself. So no, she doesn't even notice it, when she bumps into objects, or that it's predictable that she pushes the vial with the liquid from the table to the ground by how hastily she works. 😅

[sparks-olivarpente]

the very long list of Very Short Fics

Here's a list of byler very short fics (≥ 2500 words)

Will’s Crush: A Post-Painting Sleepy Convo by bloomaomori4540 (@tsugarubecker) Shhh. It’s 3am in the van, pitch black, and Mike and Will are asleep.

feedback loop by @aceoflanterns Other words begin to enter the feedback loop. The world is still a hazy thought, just a distant memory, but new things enter your mind—it’s not, it’s not my fault, it’s not my fault you don’t like girls! or, the destruction of castle byers.

I'll Be Waiting by SunflowersAndSarcasm (@sunflowersand-bees) The Snow Ball hadn't gone quite how Will and Mike had wished that it would. But they get a do-over. Maybe this time, it'll work out.

My Love, I Could Have Sworn I Felt Your Arms Around Me Last Night by lookinghotwiththosewings (@dinitride-art) “Dreams can be dreadful things. They are everything you have and everything you don’t. Stored memories blend with desperate pleas and reckless hopes. And how recklessly did I hope that you loved me.”

The Hospital, Nancy and My Mom's Cardigan: All That's Left of My Family by lookinghotwiththosewings (@dinitride-art) They don’t tell you what to do when someone you love might lose someone.

would i know him? (i don't know) by willow_lark (@willow-lark) It's November 6th, 1988--a long and hard two-and-a-half years since the start of the fight against Vecna. Nancy just got back from a reconnaissance mission to the Upside Down, and she pulled a stranger out with her--a boy with fearful eyes and a lot of secrets. Mike Wheeler doesn’t trust this new guy at all.

Don't Leave Me Here by BeanwithaQ (@quinnick) Will and El go on a mission to end Vecna for good but when they don't return on time, Mike waits for them. For however long it takes

Something Which Matters by nbfutureboy (@futureboy-ao3) Hopper swallows his pride, and attempts to apologize to Mike Wheeler for the Summer of ‘85. Unfortunately, the logistics of teenage relationships are every-changing and dramatic, so he gets a little more of a surprise than expected.

i could be brave by jaymelovestaffy (@ghoultaffy) Mike clumsily sneaks out to Lucas's get some things off his chest.

please say i'm young enough by @elekinetic Will is gay. Robin knows. Or, Robin and Will go on a supply run. Set in post-season 4 apocalyptic Hawkins.

a change that i can see by agustplz (@wheelerstrange) He heaves a sigh and kicks off his blanket, welcoming the slight chill of the air against his bare arms. And then, like clockwork, he rolls to his left and takes it in for the thousandth time. Will's painting. or: a sleepless night in mike's room, april 1986

yellow is your favorite color by RomeoWrites (@itsromeowrites) Will has an episode and under the kitchen counter is a better place to hide than expected.

Mouth Reader by byelervevo Will’s true sight, as Mike had called it, certainly came at a steep price. His doctors said that the temporary deafness in his right ear was a mere side effect of. He should regain hearing just in time for the Snow Ball. But he doesn’t.

the tender things by iphigenias Without her hair again she looked younger and older all at once, but the shape of her mouth was the same, the slope of her nose, the bright eyes that looked straight into Will’s when she spoke to him because she’d never learned the meaning of the word awkward. He’d missed her, more than he realised.

pink & black by queer_we_are Eddie wears a lot of pins and buttons on his vest, and Will is pretty sure he saw a pink triangle on one of them. Which would mean that Eddie is…Well, that Eddie is like him.

False Expectations by @breyito Nobody expected it. Nobody expected Will’s eyes to open and be a solid, glacial blue.

Two spoons by General_KJ Dustin is working a shift at scoops ahoy when Mike and Will suddenly show up and he learns something new about his best friends.

[captainmera]

How do you think Belos would react if he found out Hunter had feelings for Willow,a witch, just like his brother?

As a man of repetitive patterns - I'd say he'd kill him?

"It hurts every time he chooses to betray me"

can mean lots of ways Caleb betrayed Philip. It's vague and Philip gets to interpret it however he wants for every new grimwalker. It's almost like he expects it of them - otherwise, why always have one in the making?

Betrayal of wanting to be himself. Betrayal of loving a witch. Betrayal of loving the demon realm. Betrayal of disagreeing with ideologies. Betrayal of wanting to quit the coven system/Golden guard. Betrayal of running away.

Essentially, Hunter checks every mark of betrayal.

"you looked the most like him" <- WELL, DING DONG BELOS THE NEWS IS HERE; YOUR NEPHEW IS MORE ALIKE CALEB IN OTHER WAYS THAN LOOKS ALONE!

Unless there was a reason of absolute that caused Belos to refrain from killing Hunter, if he has a use for him he no longer can get from anything or anyone else (making a new grimwalker might not be on the table anymore, for one), I think it would just be a matter of time before he kills Hunter too.

Put a mental pin in this note: No new grimwalkers mean no new person to exercise his cycle of reliving trauma and self-abuse with.

I don't think there is anything Hunter could've done. He would never have been who and what Belos wanted. Belos would have killed him.

I think the psychology, if I may be so bold and a little controversial here, is that Philip has a genuine trauma (as per definition of it) in regards to Caleb.

Here's something about trauma, yeah? It's not just innocent people who get it. Awful, horrible, people get trauma too. Sometimes, they are awful horrible people because of trauma.

In Philip's case, I think he was traumatized by the abandonment - as well as the humongous moral injury on top of it when finding out his brother chose to leave him and was happier now.

Side note: You know when you have a bully, then you grow up and you've had this awful life because you were traumatised by this person's abuse to you. In whatever extent it was. Could've been one moment, or a long period of time. Whatever it was, it left a significant mark on you that stagnated your life. As an adult, you look them up. Surely, a person who does that can't just... move on, right? There must have been karma, something! Anything! Divine justice! Nope. They just have a happy life, this whole time. People even love them.. And there you are. Broken.

Kind of the same vibe but a bit to the left.

Did you know that killers suffer ptsd?

It makes sense. Soldiers does! They're just people in war. But killers, you know, people who kill in self-defence or set out to kill for whatever reason in the context of regular society (and not in lines of war or duty). They actually, majority of the time, get trauma from it.

Soldiers don't need to have psychopathic tendencies to be able to kill another human being. Nobody does.

I don't think Belos began as a psychopath, 'nor a sociopath or a narcissist. I think he is a normal dude, whom due to trauma and repetitive re-living of that trauma has skewed his view of reality to such an extreme that he frankly just.... is functionally delusional.

He is a smart dude, who got crazy and scary, because he is delusional, wounded and functional.

Belos seeks his trauma out in a new setting where he has control over what happens. He sets it up the same every time. Has the same result every time.

He is a self-abuser.

Sometimes people seek out to revisit the trauma they experience, but in a way where they are in control of what happens.

Serial killers are interesting in this factor. Especially if we go by the stereotypical reason why male serial killers do what they do - Developing a need to impose power and murder the person they cant actually murder. Projecting to the extremes. At it's core, it's just the chase to impose power over a situation they had no power in.

In Belos case, is by all accounts a serial killer! ...With delusions of grandeur and lives in a delusional version of what reality actually is.

He absolutely slots right into that.

Consciously or not, he's trying to exert control over Caleb, the person who caused his trauma and, in his eyes, his abuse. Caleb leaving was, to Belos, abuse. By definition anyway, yeah. Unfortunately, if it hurts the person, yeah. That doesn't mean Caleb owes him shit though.

Killing Caleb was, most likely, very traumatic.

So, the moral injury of betrayal, coupled with murdering Caleb, possibly caused this cycle of murder.

I know some people are going to read this and cringe all "Don't call it trauma" but it is. It is trauma. Trauma is not some moral debate, it's an injury on the psyche or emotional state, your soul even. It is a wound.

And wounds can heal, and they can.. like in Belos case... Just escalate and consume them.

Belos just didn't fucking COPE.

Like, this would have been so different if he just COPED. But he has no friends, no family, he's isolated and wounded and single minded and scientific. It's all the right and wrong things to shape him into a dude that... did. not. cope.

And being HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD just living and breathing and doing NOTHING ELSE than committing your ENTIRE EXISTENCE to this repetition... This wound.. Dissecting it over and over and over and over AND OVER.. Well...! There he is!

Belos, everyone!

What a dick. :V

People rarely want to discuss the ugly of mental illness. And the horrible people trauma can create.

In no shape or form am I excusing Belos behaviour or actions, just explaining the road it might've gotten there.

Again, it's not just the innocents that can have trauma.

I've personally met people who just.. They're an endless cycle. They were traumatized, they became not-so-great people... Never coped. Made it their whole identity.

And they think, because they're hurting; it's fair game to hurt others. Because to them it's not reaaal hurt. Because only victims hurt, right? And they were a victim once, they feel like a victim, they still live in that role.

And abusers are bad, victims are good. So they will never admit that they can do wrong. In their mind, they're the good guy forever. And you saying otherwise means you must be a bad one.

Some people, not all and not majority, finds control and comfort in remaining the victim - meaning they can never ever be the abuser in their mind either. Thus, starting a new cycle where they hand out abuse in the disguise of "love" or demanding "love" from someone.

Belos, absolutely, sees himself as the good guy. The one who was BETRAYED. He fails to see that he is betraying his brother, his long line of nephews- his own humanity even.

Everyone else (grimwalkers) is the bad guy if they don't become the one to heal them (belos), or cater to their needs.

Suddenly, it's your job to ensure they're okay, not hurting. And you will, because you love them. Right? If you didn't, you're a bad person. And you don't want to be that, do you? Disappoint them?

Belos, also, by repeatedly committing the murder of his brother is continuously abusing himself and re-traumatising himself. Death and empathy would wain and fade out. With practice comes perfection.

Basically he's training himself to feel less, because he has deluded himself into thinking the inhabitants of the Demon Realm aren't actual people - so it's okay. To him. To kill them.

And by murdering, and feeling less empathy per murder, coupled with his scientific desire to explore and dissect to understand as a way to (like doctors do) dehumanise the carcass he's working on, it's no wonder he started feeling less empathy.

And saw this growing lack of empathy as... Well, proof. Proof he's right. They aren't people.

With all this being said...

I don't think this is something he could repent from. It would take twice the time it took for him to get to this point. What? 300-400 years? so... 600-800 more just to give him a chance to repent?

Now, could HE heal from it? I'm sure he could. But that would not include being forgiven or going without punishment - if that punishment is death, yeah. sorry man. Off with your head.

ANYWAY.

Hunter and his uncle.

Belos abuse exerted upon Hunter is, in many forms, guided to shape Hunter into being the version of Caleb Belos wants Caleb to be.

But, also having this subconscious understanding that this boy is NOT his brother, and calling him his nephew and even giving him a name that symbolises what he wishes Caleb to be (Hunter, Witch Hunter. You could even say the GG is a general - so, witch hunter general).

All of this, possibly, as deranged as it is - in an attempt to reverse the roles.

Belos gets to be Caleb (the person who held "power" in the dynamic), gets to be admired, the way Philip admired his brother, which is now Hunter loving his uncle.

While still weirdly parading his nephew as his brother.

I think the psychology is layered in several ways here.

He he is forcing Hunter to be all of the vulnerable parts of his own younger self, while also forcing him to be everything he wanted his older brother to be. Making Hunter both an embodiment of what he hates in himself as well as what he admired in Caleb.

A very contradictory combo that, no doubt, would make Hunter's life hell to try understand - it's not a secure attachment, to have a violently out bursting parental figure that flip-flops between loving what you do for them but hating a vague invisible something you'll never understand that you also are.

Hunter's familial love is genuine, I don't doubt Belos has familial feelings towards Hunter. But I think, because he is so desensitised and on some level of delusion knows the grimwalkers will never be "good enough", that he is both emotionally and mentally prepared to watch life exit his nephew's eyes. So the attachment isn't a normal one.

He reduce it to the degree of putting the family dog out. Like "oh, it does hurt me, but I can get a new dog." kind of feelings.

Which is like, holy shit dude. What the actual hell is wrong with you.

But that's just... That's who the trauma has turned him into.

Yeah...!

Yeah!

I mean.. I'm not surprised..! Are you?

Humans can create the worst of monsters. Not because they have a negatively affiliated diagnosis like narcissism. But because the conditions were just right (or wrong) enough to make this genocidal maniac.

:l

So, long answer made short:

As a man of repetitive patterns - I'd say he'd kill him.

just straight up bye bye nephew. <:')

THIS WAS LONGER THAN EXPECTED.... I'M GOING TO HAVE LUNCH NOW.

[coraniaid]

I don’t think it’s particularly controversial to suggest that, if Buffy the Vampire Slayer were being made today – in the age of streaming and binge-watching, when even as many as twelve episodes in a single season seems like a luxury – neither Phases nor Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered would ever have made it to the screen.  

To use a term I’m not sure Tumblr really approves of, they’re both very clearly filler episodes: moments of relative calm between the major events of Innocence and Passion. They don’t do much if anything to advance the main plot of the season, and they’re primarily focused on characters other than the star of the show.  Phases is about Willow and her relationship with Oz; Bewitched… Is about Xander and his relationship with Cordelia.

Actually, I think these are a type of episode that we haven’t really seen in Buffy before.  In Season 1, there wasn’t really any obvious season-long arc for the monster of the week episodes to distract from.  The Master didn’t have a concrete plan to escape the Hellmouth that we ever saw after the first two episodes, and between The Harvest and Prophecy Girl Buffy didn’t exactly do much to try to stop him.  Yes, the episodes of the season still fall into a fairly natural order and sometimes have long-term consequences – we meet the Anointed One in Never Kill A Boy On The First Date, say goodbye to Principal Flutie in The Pack, learn about Angel being a vampire in Angel, meet Jenny Calendar in I Robot, You Jane and Principal Snyder in The Puppet Show  – but there just isn’t the same divide between “arc episode” and “filler episode” that I think there is for the later seasons.

And that didn’t change immediately in Season 2, even with the introduction of Spike and Drusilla.  These characters, let’s not forget, were not really interested in Buffy except as an obstacle.  Spike was in Sunnydale looking for a cure for Drusilla.  It never seemed particularly strange to spend a few episodes focusing on something else.  It’s only now, in the second half of the season, that there’s a sense of urgency.  It’s only now – with Angelus out there and actively planning to hurt Buffy and her friends – that it starts to seem a little strange that the show isn’t carrying directly on with that part of the story.

Of course, neither of these episodes is entirely divorced from the events of the wider season. It’s not at all an original observation on my part to note that both episodes are, on a metaphorical level, very much about Buffy and Angel’s doomed relationship.  

In Phases, Oz is Angel: the show repeatedly makes a point of reminding us that he is older than Willow; Xander worries about the fact he is “attractive” (compare with his complaint in Teacher’s Pet that nobody had told him that Angel was “a very attractive man”); Oz’s peers can only think of one reason why he might be dating somebody younger than him: “she’s got to be putting out, or what’s the point?”.   

And that’s before we learn that Oz is cursed to transform into something monstrous, something that  “acts on pure instinct: no conscience, predatory and aggressive.”  A monster that, Buffy is told, her refusal to kill makes her uniquely responsible for: “if that thing out there harms anyone, it’s gonna be on your pretty little head.”  You don’t need to look very hard to find the subtext here.

Meanwhile, while Xander and Cordelia’s relationship in Bewitched… isn’t quite so obvious a parallel to Buffy and Angel, the spell Xander is responsible for casting has an impact that’s not totally dissimilar to the curse affecting Angel.  When Giles says “it’s not love, it’s obsession.  Selfish, banal obsession” he could just as easily be talking about the nature of Angelus’s new obsession with Buffy as he is about the actual plot of the episode.  “He would think of it as affection, I suppose.”

But other people have gone into all this in much more depth than I can, and I don’t really have anything new to say about that.

What’s more interesting to me is to realize that it’s not the only thing these two episodes have in common.  Not only are these episodes that I don’t think we saw in Season 1, in a sense they are episodes that we couldn’t have seen in Season 1. 

I’ve talked a bit before about how Season 2 has started fleshing out the world of Sunnydale a little bit more, with more minor recurring characters and callbacks to the events of previous episodes.  These minor characters and history are, in some sense, essential to the plot of both episodes.  Xander brings up his memories of being possessed by a hyena spirit in Phases while Oz stares curiously at the statue that imprisons Amy’s mother; Cordelia’s friend Harmony returns for the first time since Season 1 in Bewitched… and this is the first episode that really solidifies her group of friends. This is a show with a history now, and these episodes take place in that context. It helps a lot that we’ve met so many of the minor characters in these two episodes already.  It’s just a shame the show couldn’t have made Angelus’s victim of the week Theresa somebody we’d seen before.

And as well taking advantage of this existing world-building, both these episodes continue that trend: bringing back a character who’d only appeared in a single episode of the show before and making them recurring.  Phases brings back Larry Blaisdell, who’d previously only appeared in Halloween, while Bewitched… brings back Amy Madison, last seen almost a year ago in Season 1’s Witch.  But neither character is quite the person we thought they were.  In Phases we find out that Larry is gay – the first and, in fact, only man on the show to explicitly come out as gay (no, obviously Scott Hope doesn’t count, come on) – and in Bewitched we find out that Amy has (for reasons the show will never bother to explain) taken up her mother’s interest in witchcraft.

How consequential either of these things really are in the longer term is perhaps a matter for debate.  After Phases, Larry will appear in just three episodes of the show, all in Season 3, before being killed off in the season finale.  Amy will be a little more fortunate – she will also almost be killed in Season 3, and while she survives she will be almost written out of the show for some years, but she will at least be talked about quite a few times before finally being brought back for three episodes in Season 6 and one last episode in Season 7.

The show won’t forget that Larry’s gay – in fact it will quite literally be the second-to-last thing anybody ever says about him – but at the same time he’s out in a very limited way.  We never see any of the boys his grandmother is apparently setting him up with; nor do we see Larry show any sign of being attracted to any other man on the show.

Equally the show will never forget that Amy is a witch, but it will discard almost everything else about her.  The show reminded us about her mother in Phases, but has already forgotten about her father.  She uses her magic purely for selfish reasons here, but Season 3 will have her practicing “harmless” magic with Willow for other people’s benefit, while Season 6 will retcon her as a magical junkie.  Amy will go on to be mentioned in or appear in every single season of the show without the writers ever bothering to give her a consistent personality. 

(It’s a little odd too that, despite the show very firmly settling on the idea that being a witch is a metaphor for being a lesbian in its fourth and fifth seasons – and despite the fact that this episode introduces Amy by having her ask Willow if she’s planning to go to the school’s Valentine’s Dance – there’s never any suggestion that Amy might be gay.   In fact, Season 6’s Smashed tells us that she was planning to ask Larry out to the end of year Prom before she turned herself into a rat.  Perhaps he wasn’t quite as out as he told Xander he was?)

The longer term consequences of the main plots of these two episodes are also rather limited. Cordelia chooses to give up on her social standing because her friends are “sheep” (for which read: susceptible to magical mind control, I guess?) in order to date Xander (who might have spent the season insulting and belittling her, but did buy her one (1) nice gift) but this relationship will last for only a dozen further episodes.   And while Oz and Willow will stay together for much longer, the show won’t ever find anything interesting to do with the fact Oz is a werewolf until Season 4, when it uses it as a pretext for writing him out of the show.

So yes, these episodes aren’t just filler – they have something to say about the season arc, even if they don’t advance it directly, and they introduce real changes into the world of the show – but they are still somehow insubstantial.  I don’t think anything happens in either of them that really matters.  If you forget that Oz is a werewolf, or that Cordelia apparently thought Xander’s attempt to mind control her for “revenge” was romantic, you really won’t be missing much.

And in the interests of transparency, I should probably admit – if it wasn’t already obvious – that I simply don’t think either of them is very good.  Yes, on one level, I’m glad that the show’s writers had the space to make these sorts of episodes – episodes that explore characterisation and flesh out the world and don’t directly advance the plot – but the specific episodes that were actually made honestly kind of suck.  

Phases has its moments, but it’s decidedly uneven with at least as many misses as hits,  and overall I think it’s a pretty average episode at best.  The fact that Oz’s werewolf costume is terrible is balanced only by the knowledge it will somehow get worse.  And Bewitched… is, by some distance, the episode I’ve least enjoyed of all my current rewatch.  Even just trying to summarize the plot makes me feel a little sick.  I would genuinely think better of the show if this episode hadn’t ever made it to air. 

(So, yeah: for those following along, I think the worst episodes of the rewatch so far, by some distance, have been Teacher’s Pet, The Pack and now Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered.  No need to point out the common theme or character-focus of these three episodes.

Going into this rewatch I really didn’t think of myself as somebody who hates Xander Harris.  He certainly isn’t my favorite character, but I think the show does ultimately find some pretty interesting and sympathetic things to do with him.  And I think the popular fandom idea that Xander is uniquely a ‘Whedon self-insert’ while all the other characters on Buffy are somehow not is pretty silly.  But quite a large part of my rewatch experience so far has involved having to remind myself, over and over, that Xander gets better.  Eventually.  Surely.

And … well, it must be true.  Because right now his character has nowhere to go but up.)