#the reason he was turned into a frog in the first place was his lack of manners and entitlement but you can already see that has faded

[perdamian]

when analyzing gerard’s decision to throw pinocchio the sword of truth it’s easy to look at that as him being too cowardly to attack the stepmother, but the reality is that gerard gave up his means of protecting himself so that pinocchio had a fighting chance. emily mentioned in adventuring party that murph assisted in 3 crits in the last couple episodes and it’s so meaningful for gerard’s characterization that he’s not the leader of the party as you’d expect a prince to be but someone willing to forgo the glory of defeating the villain to ensure the safety of those around him (particularly children)

[hamliet]

the notion that bnha is pro authoritarianism or social hierarchies is nonsensical not to mention acting like being pro cop is bad

Err... BNHA is pretty pro-authoritarian. I actually find it pretty disturbing. And that's even if the story turns out with the League alive at the end.

As for being pro-cop--cops are human individuals, yes. But people have in recent years in multiple countries (including Japan, by the way) protested against cops being used as tools to maintain social hierarchies wherein people who are not part of that hierarchy suffer for daring to want to be treated as human beings. When I say I'm anti-cop, I'm not saying I hate anyone on the basis of being a cop. But I am saying that the ways in which the police force are used in many countries does societal harm. Critical thinking, yo.

Honestly I feel like this whole story (BNHA) and fans reactions throughout (especially when compared to other stories) demonstrate how people are not using critical thinking. And that can have real world consequences, though it doesn't have to.

I just find it weird that people are okay with a story where the ruling class is always right and always wins. Like... how have they not? I mean, even stories that end up suggesting the ruling class isn't entirely wrong or show flaws in rebellions generally don't go hard on the authoritarianism. But Horikoshi... is doing this.

The whole thing is so weird to me personally, too, because Horikoshi's wishy-washy framing and switches in coding generally seem to be the result of him caring, deeply, what his audience thinks and feels. Too much, really, but it also seems like he genuinely doesn't want to hurt people. Except this ending--even if Tenko does reappear as New Character and saves the League--is the exact opposite. (If Tenko doesn't reappear, then everything I'm about to say is multiplied by a thousand.)

It's catering to mean-spiritedness, and while I do understand fiction isn't reality, the side he's catering to now is making the argument that fictional crimes are real crimes and thus must meet real penalties.

I can play this game too.

If people are gonna make those arguments, I'm going to say they're the problem and the reason we have wars, genocides, assaults, and more.

If you ever want a cycle of violence/abuse to stop, someone has to accept that they've taken the last punch. Not keep going until the other side is WIPED OUT.

If you equate justice with equalizing losses, then you are enacting Dazai from BSD's statement on justice: justice is a weapon. You can never heal by it.

If you want to heal, you have to stop fighting and bandage wounds. And maybe you are too injured to do the bandaging. That's okay. But someone else can, and if you try to stop them on the premise of "but no one bandaged my wounds" you're a bitter person who makes the world a worser place.

If you say a tragedy is the story, sure. But you have to set up tragedies from the start. See, Attack on Titan, which's ending I love. It began with someone crying and an ominous message to the future. You don't set up your first chapter with "this is the story of how I become the greatest hero!" spend 200+ chapters criticizing hero society and have the hero fail at the goal he'd been repeating for 200 chapters in the end and join hero society and still think you wrote a story that delivered in what you promised. You failed.

Either you wrote a tragedy and are trying to pass it off as a happy story (see how well that works usually) or your understanding of a happy story is pretty much just fascist propaganda. And yes, BNHA does have fascist themes at this point. Way more than AoT ever did. But they have smiles and cute frog girls so it's not nearly as dangerous, right? (sarcastic).

The thing is, this is where the lack of critical thinking comes in. While I've seen people talk a bit about how BNHA seems like copaganda, it's taking things much, much further than other stories usually do and into territory where I'm frankly disturbed.

Yes, BNHA started out as a clever critique of hero society and of the very idea it's now seeming to uphold: that the human instinct (which is universal in real life to) to idolize people leads to a lack of humanity for those who do not have those traits we idolize, whether their fault or not, and for people to become villains in response. But not only has it failed to deliver on this premise by upholding society (hey, Naruto and to a degree Tokyo Ghoul also failed to completely change society), it's gone so far as to endorse what it previously criticized.

It's more akin to Game of Thrones Season 8 upholding racism, sexism, and classism, than it is to Naruto or Tokyo Ghoul. GoT ended with a joke about prioritizing brothels being open, as if the misogyny was actually a good thing and not what caused a lot of the problems. There's no critical lens here. It's just like "hey, there was no point in struggling. Monarchies that abuse women, rah rah, let's go!"

BNHA seems to be going a similar route. Deku's murder of Shigaraki, Ochaco's crying over Toga, the way Shouto reaches out to Touya--it's sad, but not framed as something the audience should see as a wrong done on behalf of heroes. In fact, the heroes are not criticized at all. Frickin' Edgeshot, whom no one cares about, is fine. All of them are fine. Their statuses are generally fine, too, except maybe Enji's and even then he's not like going to face the fate of the League and die alone. His family still supports him. Hawks is completely fine and framed positively. His regret over Twice is pure lipservice. Deku really did just need to kill Shigaraki, and all his "I want to save" spiel, much like Ochaco's, is for naught. He just needed to learn to grow up and get in line.

Even if Tenko comes back, and even if Deku like... somehow knew this would happen via vestiges or whatnot (let's be real, he will if this is the case), and the message is just that society isn't ready to move forward, but at least they can live, then... I don't know, y'all. That's still depressing. I don't see how Deku is a hero for that, much less the greatest number one hero. He decided to be a hero at the cost of his own integrity, and if this was a gritty story about the realistic struggle of living in a capitalistic society where ethics are always compromised that would make sense, but... it's not. Even until the final battle, the characters were endorsing idealism.

At the very least, Horikoshi didn't deliver on his promise in the first chapter. At the very worst, he's endorsing fascist ideals.

Like, I'm sorry, but "kill this person for the good of society," the violent upholding of oppressive societal hierarchies, the importance of being a cop hero and the way the military hero brutalities are worshipped, the way heroes are lauded and everyone who doesn't get in line with this is punished, went from being criticized to being endorsed. Those are all central elements of fascism.

The little guy deserves to lose, but, but Deku is the little guy, so it can't be! Except it can be. Because it's actually pretty common irl even to trot out examples of people like Candace Owens to be like "hey, you can't possibly say Republicans are racist!"

And don't you dare say "but Japanese culture makes it unreasonable to expect a non retributive justice!" The Japanese people are not a monolith. Not to mention... Naruto, Bungou Stray Dogs, Monster, Hunter x Hunter, Yu Yu Hakusho, Mawaru Penguindrum, Oshi no Ko, Dragon Ball, Attack on Titan, and Tokyo Ghoul all say hi.

I hated the TG ending, and still hate it, but I'm not going to say that it upheld the CCG as right all along because it didn't. BNHA thus far is doing that with hero society. And even if the answer is for the League be revived and to leave society or whatever, then how can we be happy Deku is a part of this society? How can we root for him, or his classmates? Is he going to work from the inside to change it? Why wasn't that emphasized beforehand as a theme or struggle?

tl;dr Horikoshi has cooked his story no matter what he does now, and I don't think it's salvageable. Either way it has themes that are disturbing especially considering real world events across the globe, and that people should be more aware of instead of focusing solely on stories that have fascism and monsters in them but don't uphold it.

[fantasygerard2000]

Tastes and Preferences Are Not Standards

There's this issue with fans of any media complain about the lack of original works over actually watching them.

So, recently, D23 announced a ton of upcoming projects for the parks, games, shows, etc with their movies being the one that got the most attention. Majority of them are sequels and live action remakes and per usual, people are outrage over the big D for prioritizing on nostalgia baiting than making new ideas.

Here's the thing tho, alongside the sequels and live action remakes, they also announced Hoppers, an upcoming original film by Pixar directed by the guy that made We Bare Bears, Daniel Chong. Response to Hoppers, was near nonexistent. Like, very little anticipation as in "it exists".

Not only that, another original film before Hoppers is currently to be released next year, Elio. Just like with Hoppers, Elio only seen as this movie that was originally supposed to be released this year before swapping places with Inside Out 2.

Now, the obvious answer to this is rage culture. Being angry over the current thing is an easy content mill. Mufasa is being blasted because it had the audacity to not be faithful to an obscure prequel book series and Snow White for even much more dumb reasons, mostly centering on the lead actress because, if that didn't work on Halle, might as well try again on Rachel.

And when other people addressed that Pixar and Disney did made original films with Elemental and Wish being their current examples, the response these grifters is "We want GOOD original ideas." Now that just shows that they genuinely don't actually care about wanting to watch original ideas, regardless of quality, and simply only using them as a point to why hollywood is dead, blah blah blah.

Original ideas take time to get people invested into watching them. People prefer to engage with media they are more familiar with over the new ones, hence why they are always needlessly comparing things.

Elemental was mocked for being a Zootopia clone but with living elements and themes of racism, but while Zootopia is about general prejudice, Elemental is about personal prejudice. It doesn't use allegories like Zootopia, it's straightforward about the characters being immigrants. Just like any other Pixar film, there's more to the story than the general concept. But that didn't stop people saying that the characters being living elements didn't contribute to the story. Just like with Turning Red, the creator chose so because he want to, as if kids totally wanna watch a movie about immigrants. It's his story, based on his own life experiences told through a lens so kids can enjoy it.

I already talked about Wish to death, but it is a major factor considering that it's an original story that is deliberately made to be an homage to classical and renaissance era Disney films. The comparisons of to to previous films like Disney's more well known works like Snow White are dubious because they're oddly biased and surface level when there's another Disney film that's even more comparable, The Princess and the Frog.

Princess and the Frog is a lot like Wish, black lead, classical villain, hand drawn animation (though Wish's is stylized) and themes about working hard to achieve your dreams. While Wish has problems about how "half cooked" it is, Princess and the Frog has more problems than Wish; Tiana, their first black princess being a frog for majority of the movie, the sugarcoating of a 1920's setting, the demonization of an active closed religion that people use as an aesthetic coughAlastorHazbincough and a complicated story about technicalities to break the spell and a forced moral about love and family, and not in a good way.

Despite these issues being present and are still discussed today, the fact that it's hand drawn animated and has a cool looking villain wallpapers all over this issues. This is also extends in a lot of Disney's other older films. The mess of a cultural mix setting that is in Aladdin and Raya, the racism in Peter Pan, the usage of g*psy in Hunchback, Pocahontas existing and characters of color being played by white actors that the same thing literally happened with Raya (SEAsian characters, not SEAsian actors). Even though these problems have always been present, people dismiss them with "It was fair for the day". They value their personal nostalgia over the issues other have during them.

Coming back on the topic of comparing films, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is often brought up to compare anything Disney and Pixar make. People had low expectations towards The Last Wish because it was a sequel to a spin off no one asked for and it succeeded their expectations. The reason why I brought up The Last Wish is because a minority of animation fandom use it as the standard for animated films. The comment saying "We want GOOD originals" is practically them moving up the goal post because to them, any original idea isn't good enough for their tastes. We can't have an original idea without someone bemoaning about how it's inferior to an already existing idea based on surface level comparisons.

Bringing back Wish because it's a good example, people wanted it be like the previous Disney films. However, being like them means loosing its own identity. Turning Star into a generic pretty boy for the girls to salivate over means losing what Star represents, the hope people have to keep on pursuing their ambitions.

An ironic thing is whenever they find a good idea they liked, they want more of it. Basically, wanting others to be just like it. What's the point of wanting an original when all you just want is the same old thing again?

[otter-pop]

Big post about Victor!!

First of all, changes are taking place in Victor's biography. I also redid what is written under the full-fledged story posts. As a child, Vitya was a healthy, curious and sociable boy. Of course, not everyone wanted to communicate with him because of his strangeness, but he managed to find companions. The traumatic train accident occurred when the boy was 10 years old. His friends called the boys to go for a walk on the railway. When they were playing, the company ran across the street, bragging about their bravery, including Victor. Only the kid and his friends did not notice how his foot got stuck between the sleepers. As a result, he fell, and they helped him only when a train passed and cut off Vitya's leg. This case affected the whole family. His parents divorced, and Vitya stayed with his father. He grew up in love and care, graduated from school and university with honors and became an abdominal surgeon, just as he dreamed. After the traumatic incident with the train, a deviation appeared in his psyche, which turned into a disease – bipolar affective disorder. Gradually, it developed and it became more difficult for Victor to control himself. His father noticed his strange behavior, but Vitenka waved away his advice about going to a psychiatrist. It ended with the surgeon having a fight at a corporate party with the head of another department and being fired. This affected the emotional state of the man and he went to a psychiatrist, where he was prescribed treatment. He was in the psychiatric hospital itself for 3 months and was under the active supervision of doctors for 3 years. After treatment, Victor went to the hospital himself and at that time Grigory (a volunteer) was attached to him, who was supposed to monitor the ward's visits. It lasted two years. At first, Grisha treated the former surgeon indifferently, but as they talked, they became good acquaintances or even friends. Two years went by, and Vita needed a job. He worked as a handyman, but he didn't like it. At that moment, Grisha got a job at the morgue as an assistant. When he saw that his friend could not find his place in life, he helped his friend find a job as a pathologist. A year later, Victor loses his pills, but is in no hurry to buy new ones, as he was sure that he no longer needed treatment. Also, one of the reasons is the lack of time due to work. But Victor forgot that the disease returns if you do not take medication. Therefore, he gradually lost stability. Morgue workers began to notice his strange behavior, but Vitya didn't care. Gradually, crazy ideas about reviving a corpse appeared in his head, like in the movie Frankenstein. In two weeks, he had planned the perfect plan and even experimented on frogs. Nevertheless, he needed helpers and turned to Grigory. Upon learning his friend's crazy plan, Grisha thought it was just a big joke and nothing more. It turns out that Victor was not joking, and for three weeks they were making equipment for the experiment. When it came to the corpse, Grigory realized that the case smelled fried and tried to convince Vitya that this experiment would not work. The mad scientist did not believe him and there was a strong quarrel between them, and then a conversation. Vitenka calmed down and on the morning of the storm they brought him to a psychiatrist for treatment and scheduled sessions with a psychotherapist. Now Vitya is being treated and learning to accept himself as he is.

[automatayaoi]

*throws a dozen dress up clowns at your head* Character design!!! murder puppet apologism!!! chemicals turning frogs gay!!! its kero kero time!!!! i dont know how to type up a real bio so im just throwing tidbits fullspeed at your window and also partially me spitballing speghetti against the wall

✨ their name is kero pierrot ofc, and they are a funny little frog clown married to arlequino hehe. keeping with the theme of commedia dell'arte their name is based off the character of the pierrot (and it's also a pun on keroppi since theyre my favorite sanrio character waha)

✨ the Pierrot was a tragic and lovesick figure, portrayed as naïve but endearing, often hiding their true feelings behind their jokes, and was a popular choice for romantic artists

✨ kero is a widdle bit fucked up in the brain zone but its FIIINE just slap a coat of face paint on there and ur good 8) Do not perceive the crushing mental illness behind the curtain

✨ grew up in america ofc, came to japan for reasons that turned out to be highly fallible (they maybe trust people a little too easily), refuses 2 talk abt this, they are however lacking in places to stay and money to spend so start of everything theyre Struggling A Little

✨ at this point they arent even kero really just Person...pathetic sopping wet frog you find under a rock. they had a special interest in clownery but always sort of put those kinds of thoughts to the side as more of a silly daydream than a goal they could achieve

✨ a clown without its nose have you ever seen anything so sad

✨ they first see masaru and the rest of the nakamichi circus when they saw them perform their street show (starting here), they just happened to be in the park at the time, and it's honestly the first time kero has felt happy since they Arrived in japan

✨ magic of the circus

✨ they spend the next few weeks going to the park and sorta following the nakamichi circus around to see more of their street shows, they don't really have much else to do anyway, they might as well spend some time having fun watching a circus act

✨ they attend so many that they actually start getting recognized by some of the circus members, especially masaru and shirogane since theyre very Perceptive. not a lot of details on those thoughts currently but masaru probably does his Main Protag/Therapist thing and gets to know kero

✨ BUT the way they actually join the nakamichi circus is during the performers meetup (starting here), kero goes to see their show again, but then things start Going Very Wrong and masaru's left by himself with no one to perform with. Little guy problems

✨ they've seen how much masaru and the others have been working and struggling in the past weeks, improving their street show, their cooperation with each other, and even if masaru hadn't talked to them they couldn't stand seeing something that made them so happy go down in flames like this

✨ SO! they hop in with vilma naota and mitsuushi to save the act! they don't have circus training like them so they can't do any fancy acts, but kero knows how to improv and roll with the punches, so they play off of the others as second zanni to liven up the show

✨ after that, i think they'd try to slip away quietly (kind of cant believe they did that) but masaru goes after them and asks them to join the circus!

✨ he knows that they wanted to be a clown, and even without formal training, he thinks having a western style clown will help the nakamichi circus stand out from the crowd! (also a call back to this moment in the manga when they went to see the straw circus)

✨ this is when they actually introduce themselves as Kero Pierrot to the others. there is no other name only Clown

✨ this has been a lot of masaru talk so far sorry he's my little buddy inflicted with main character disease. also i dont get a chance to meet my husband until like chapter 380 so i gotta be doin smth in the mean time

✨ from here on, kero sticks with the nakamichi circus as their new home :) they already knew a lot about clowning, but they really throw themselves into studying it as best they can (usually by spending hours at a library computer since most don't really have a textbook on clowns) and also training with the other members to sorta expand their repertoire. they get a lot better at the classic clown skills, your juggling, your balloon animals, what have you, BUT they also start to learn the cyr wheel!

✨ kero and masaru bond over doing circus training together. i give him a little noogie.

✨ they become pretty close with ryouko and lise too !! i jus love all my circus family i get them to play board games with me

✨ Peaceful Life (Until Its Not)

✨ this post as already gotten so long (and also i wanna reread some parts of the manga to refresh my mindself) so at some point i will expand on kero's feelings irt masaru running away and narumi joining nakamichi circus, but theres a couple other important points i want to make :V

✨ kero sorta takes a back seat with the rest of the nakamichi gang until they show up at kuroga village

✨ Specifically they join lise heima and ryouko in going to mont-saint-michel to follow masaru (they are NOT!!! letting these children go off on their own to fight!!!!)

💕 this is when they meet arlequino hehe 💕

✨ they stay by ryouko's side while they fucking Book It form the shirogane-o, and that's when they run into arle

💕 sorry ryouko but I'M the one who smiles at him 💕

✨ i should make a separate post of the manga panels i'm def in. and/or rewrite the scene as a fic which i might do at some point but just wait

💕 anyway this post is long enough so all you have to know is we get married and now hes my malewife Arlequino Pierrot 💕

💕 tagging my karakuri buddies @dissonantyote @lameassboyfriend (i hope dats oke)

[xknivesandpensx]

Like Pieces of a Puzzle

Chapter 3

Summary: What if Harry wasn't the only extra student called upon to participate in the Triwizard Tournament? Far from the most popular candidate, Draco not only has to take on the trials but also deal with his unexpected feelings for Hermione. Will he be able to face the challenges as well as follow his heart?

Chapter length will vary. I'll be referencing both the books and movie versions. Some things from what I've previously written will be mentioned, all of which you can find here.

And for those who asked to be tagged: @dayane245love

The air held a slight trace of humidity, the wooded area retaining a distinctive earthy scent. Large pools of water persisted from the night’s rain, leaving little to no dry places along the trail. Trampling feet splashed their way along (although many skirted around) as they followed Hagrid through the dense forest. The overall atmosphere appeared dreary and downright mind-numbing. But Draco got a feeling the latter had nothing to do with the weather.

Sleep evaded him for the majority of the night, leaving him far more temperamental, almost coming off capriciously brisk in attitude depending on who decided to speak to him. Especially, given the reason he tossed and turned so frequently.

He still refused to admit it, even to himself.

Draco forced his attention to focus on his present surroundings. The uneven ground, the sound of endless chatter, how he absolutely hated this class.

If able, he’d erase it entirely from his schedule. Dropping the elective came to mind several times, but far be it for him to attempt something different.

Arithmancy seemed too difficult, his grades hardly hitting spectacularly high to begin with, the theoretical nature of Study of Ancient Runes lacked practicality, he couldn’t get away by guessing there, and he wouldn’t dare take Muggle Studies based on standards alone.

So, that left Care for Magical Creatures and Divination, which he easily managed to glide through if his predictions came off morbid enough to allow Trelawney to go off on a random digression.

During any other lesson, he’d sit at a table, attempting to pay attention only for his thoughts to wonder elsewhere. Here he stood on his feet, tempted to roll his eyes regularly.

In addition to their teacher, having the Gryffindors join the Slytherins for yet another year irritated him greatly. Harry eagerly rose to defend Hagrid, Ron commenting along in added agreement. And of course, Hermione never kept her mouth closed on the matter either.

Second class of their first day and he already felt ready to go back to bed.

They had to feed Blast-Ended Skrewts. The creatures smelled like rotting fish and their appearance came across as some disformed scorpion or shell-less lobsters. He still didn’t see the point of them, their usefulness a mystery. The dull quality of Hagrid’s sessions were anticipated by now, but raising those things over the course of the year, he thought it nothing less than a waste of time.

He purposely stayed a short distance from the crates, of which a couple of students circled, unwilling to grab a handful of frog livers in hope they’d take to eating them.

Plus, the only open space happened to be right next to Hermione. He still felt a little off whenever he caught himself looking at her. Being directly near her seemed far from appealing.

All the same, his eyes gravitated towards her despite his preference to look anywhere else, almost lured in her direction. He watched, for no more than a few fleeting seconds, how her cheeks dimpled when a smile overtook and laughter rang from her lips.

Ron said something to cause the reaction. Probably another stupid joke or funny comment, nothing Draco assumed took many brain cells to come up with.

His attention veered after Dean let out a complaint of getting his hand singed, his arm retracting swiftly from the Blast-Ended Skrewt’s reach.

Lavender too announced her grievances, sounding disgusted by them and regardless of Hagrid’s attempt to explain the creature’s general nature, Draco let out a huff, sauntering a couple of paces forward.

“Well, I can certainly see why we’re trying to keep them alive.” Sarcasm rolled off his tongue effortlessly, tone set in a typical degree of harshness. “Who wouldn’t want pets that can burn, sting and bite all at once? They are ugly little things, aren’t they?”

“Just because they’re not very pretty, it doesn’t mean they’re not useful,” Hermione snapped, unable to ignore the rudeness of his comment, even if she agreed in means of their harmful propensities.

“I don’t remember asking for your opinion,” Draco mentioned, his signature sneer in place. The butterflies in his stomach irked him so much he forced out another bout of cutting words. “But then again, you’re always so eager to stick your nose in other people’s business. Perhaps you want some attention. Waving your hand in the air doesn’t seem to quite cut it anymore, does it? To think you’re so desperate for it, you’re even seeking mine now? It’s quite sad, really.”

Why he chose to go there specifically, he’d never know. Maybe it had something to do with the fact of how she kept snatching his attention and not the other way around.

Hermione’s face grew hot under his scrutiny. His frosty assertion hit in a rather demeaning fashion, she found herself unable to produce a hasty comeback.

“Nothing to say, Granger? That’s a first,” he jeered. “Probably best to keep it up and spare us the torture.” There was something, a particular aspect he noticed which gave him reason to pause. Did the warm weather cause her cheeks to appear flushed, either that or a blush bloomed before his very eyes.

The emotional display caught him off guard, but it mostly sent a wave of confusion to overtake. Draco suddenly became very aware of the students around them, many eager for him to continue, others staring him down. Sure, Hagrid’s observation remained on the crates, so what? Did they expect him to further antagonize her or possibly her silence mystified them as well?

Crabbe and Goyle were a step behind, as per usual, hovering too close. Normally, he’d keep going, persistent in his hounding until satisfied (if not interrupted beforehand).

Hermione took a breath, for once she wished to act like a child and shove him in the chest. Clearly, for the sake of her self-respect and dignity, she restrained. “If anyone’s in need of acknowledgement it’s obviously you.”

“Oh, please. I’m a Malfoy, as if I need any help in that area.” Honestly, at this point he almost wanted either Harry or Ron to intervene. At least then he’d have reason to break their bickering spat before it escalated. Luckily, liberation from their conflict came quickly.

“Enough bickerin’ you two,” Hagrid interjected, finally noticing the lack of students around him as he appeared rather busy attending to his Skrewts. “We’re in the middle of class, are we not? Now ev'ryone gather round.”

Grateful for the escape, Hermione hurried to rejoin the others.

What a great comeback. What she wouldn’t give to stop herself from feeling anything towards him. She was only thankful he hadn’t come even closer, then she might’ve gone all wide-eyed like Ginny used too around Harry.

As Hermione went past a group of Slytherin girls, she felt a pair of hands collide with her arm, shoving her off balance. A loud splash muffled a surprised gasp as a rush of cold, murky water made contact. The puddle sunk surprisingly deep, soaking much of her clothing.

“You did that on purpose,” Hermione coughed out, a bit of water still lodged in her lungs. She went to push herself upright only to feel a sharp wrench of pain in her wrist as her fingers sunk into the wet dirt.

Pansy hovered over her, a satisfied grin on her face. “I don’t know what you mean. It was a complete accident.”

Hermione turned red with embarrassment once an eruption of laughter sounded, it froze her in place for a moment far too long. It shouldn’t surprise her to see Draco chucking alongside everyone else, though she couldn’t know he practically had to compel it out of his throat.

Not because he particularly felt bad about joining in. He simply wanted it to feel normal, to laugh until his ribs hurt from the hilarity of it all.

“A Mudblood in the mud. Exactly where you should be, if you ask me,” he attempted to add, yet not a single ounce of satisfaction registered.

“You’re going to regret saying that, Malfoy!” Ron advanced, soon held back by Dean and Seamus. Of course, he witnessed Pansy’s part but he thought twice about lunging at a girl. He was, however, more than willing to tackle Draco. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Harry rushed over, after giving Draco a rather unpleasant look, and extended his hand to Hermione. She slipped into him after being pulled up, leaving traces of dirt on his uniform. “You okay?”

“You mean besides being totally humiliated?” she asked almost angerly. Hermione unlatched herself from his arms and ran her fingers through her hair, frowning at the mess.

Draco became deaf to Hagrid’s voice nearly booming in the background the moment he spotted a glassy reflection of tears in her eyes (not that she’d let herself cry in front of everyone) as Harry attempted to help wipe away the mud from her face. Ron complained in a grumble off to the side, though he appeared hesitant to touch her, almost unhappy Harry managed to first.

Guilt slammed into Draco’s chest seconds later, an incessant, nagging throb beating so apparent it caused him to lose all sense of a smile. Never had he felt bad about making fun of anyone. A tiny part of his mind even started to whisper some vague drivel about apologizing for his callous behavior.

As if he’d ever.

Next thing he knew, Hagrid sent Hermione and Harry back to the castle to clean up minutes before class itself ended. And if he believed eating would satisfy his hollow stomach, he was rather mistaken. Lunch came next and not only did he not see Hermione, his hunger disappeared completely. Even the sweets and cakes he received in the morning from his parents, all of which he couldn’t wait to enjoy later on, lost their appeal.

He heard from behind, as Harry explained Hermione’s absence to Ginny in a somewhat hushed tone, about how she went to Madam Pomfrey for her wrist then straight to the library. Apparently, she wished to avoid any probable mockery from her fellow classmates. Fred and George got a little rowdy about it, otherwise Draco stopped listening.

All in all, the very fact of not receiving detention for calling Hermione a Mudblood in class worked out well in his favor. Hagrid noticed, but he got out before any reprimanding happened, not that he couldn’t inform Snape. Draco very much doubted the possibility.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Goyle asked, noticing the way he pushed his food around on his plate instead of taking a bite.

“Shut up, Crabbe,” he impertinently rejoined, not paying any mind to who spoke to him at all, his temper already tampered with too much for the day.

“That wasn’t me,” Crabbe muttered, reaching over for a piece of chicken. His arm nearly knocked his cup over, threatening to spill its contents across the table.

“Like it matters.” He provided a glare, daring him to say another word. When the two settled on their meal once more, Draco took a sip of pumpkin juice.

He usually looked forward to the hour break in between classes, but his mind kept hounding him with more nonsense. Draco could practically hear his father chastising him for undergoing the slightest implication of guiltiness.

Specifically, when it centered on someone Muggle-born.

He glanced at the bruise he received for unintentionally eavesdropping. Maybe Lucius cut above severe punishments, but he never shied away from harsh reminders. And he didn’t need another.

Pansy sat across from them, her brows furrowing from his somewhat unusual behavior. “Why are you in a mood? I thought you’d be happy.”

As if she specifically mortified Hermione for his benefit. Knowing Pansy, perhaps that was her precise motivation. Though in truth, she naturally detested Hermione and likely took the opportunity when it came.

“I’m completely thrilled, can’t you tell?” he asked, a thin level of exasperation clinging to his voice. Draco pushed his plate aside. “I’m going to the common room. Alone.” He stressed the last word, forcing Pansy to sit back down.

The last thing he sought was her company or anyone else’s for that matter. Leaving the Great Hall, he passed Professor Moody along the way, taking note on the way his artificial eye followed him until he crossed into the hallway.

He got the impression their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher didn’t see him in a very high light. He knew those types of looks all too well, at least the readable one from his good eye.

Draco shook off the notion and kept a steady pace, intent on avoiding the very direction of the library. He didn’t want to see Hermione or even think about her, so how did he find himself walking past shelves of books mere minutes later?

[lesleymoonwriter]

Meet My WIP!

“So! I take it that you’ve never heard of the world-famous Page Thieves before, huh?”

“World famous?” Mory scoffed, “We’re lucky if anyone outside of town knows who we are.” 

“You’re undermining my sales pitch, Bee Body.”

“What sales pitch? He’s a kid!” Mory’s smile held back a laugh. “Let me explain it, okay?” ✨📖✨

Title: The Page Thieves -Subtitle: And the Royal Frog Conspiracy (This is gonna be a trilogy, so this is the current book I'm working on!)

Genre: Middle Grade (MG) Comic Fantasy with Mystery Elements

Length: Currently we're sitting at 219 pages and 28 chapters for this first book, though this might change in later drafts.

POVs: First-person limited (Arno)

Synopsis: When his hatred of cake uncovers a conspiracy and (mostly) saves him from a curse placed on his family, an unconfident noble's son joins forces with a pair of curse breakers known as the "Page Thieves" to thwart a conniving earl's plans. Main Characters:

Arnold "Arno" Wedgeworth: The 11-year-old bookish son of some recently cursed nobles. After fleeing from his home to find help, he encounters the Page Thieves and lives and works with them as they unravel the conspiracy behind his family's cursing. The benefits of his intelligence and perceptiveness are often hindered by his lack of confidence. His inability to properly express himself is only made worse by the part of the curse he did get: a literal and figurative frog's tongue that turns his words into frog croaks. Remington "Remy" March: The mid-20-something founder of the Page Thieves. Some years ago, he became well-known for his uncursing exploits, but his 15 minutes of fame ended after he was cursed with literal sticky fingers. Now working as a full-time bakery owner and a part-time curse breaker, he's still chasing his glory days in the small coastal town he's ended up in. While skilled in investigating, his pride and desire for attention often get the best of him, though he's always committed to helping others first and foremost.

Morgan "Mory" Blotch: Remy's partner in page thieving, who also usually serves as his voice of reason. She's a skilled artificer witch, creating a variety of unusual yet useful gadgets for the thieves. She tends to approach most situations with caution, though her more enthusiastic and playful side can take over when she's made excited or comfortable. Not much of her past prior to meeting Remy is known, which may have to do with a curse that makes everyone who hears her name forget who she is -- the better they know her, the longer they forget.

What to Expect:

-Found family! -1890s-based fantasy setting! -A fun magic system! -Cozy costal town with small mysteries to solve! -Several bizarre curses (and the weirdos who obtain and/or break them) -Absurd royal conspiracies! -Magical gadgets! -Heisting hijinks! -Puns. So many puns. -Lots of frogs! -And a despicable chocolate cake ;)

[viviskull]

@electricea​ : Continued from here

“…Yeah, it doesn’t look like the sort of place that gets many visitors,” If anything, at all.  Though this part he kept to himself as he didn’t want to add to Vivi’s hurt about this place.  There was always something undeniably sad about seeing a once cherished place fall into disarray - like watching an old childhood playground slowly become abandoned - the sandbox becoming full of dirt and old garbage over time, rather than the joyful footsteps of children running across it - the playground equipment itself rusting over time due to neglect.  Perhaps what was saddest of all was that these things never happened overnight but it almost always seemed to be a slow gradual process - watching less and less people turn up, less and less signs that there had ever been people visiting there in the first place.  Eventually, it seemed to reach a place not unlike they were now - if there were very few visitors, if any at all - coming back to remember what had once been.  “That’s kind of reassuring in a way, isn’t it? The fish will always be here to greet you - they’re taking care of this place for you.”

That might have been an idealistic way of looking at him but he hoped that it was still a comforting one for her, nevertheless.  Really, there was little he could say or do regarding this place - as he didn’t share her sentimental memories or attachment to this place - but he could still sympathize with the feeling, nevertheless.  There were times when he wondered about his own favorite childhood spots, back home in Hokkaido.  Were they still standing? Did people still enjoy them? Had they fallen into disrepair like this place here? The lack of knowing was saddening but in a sense, he also felt that maybe it would be best not to know - to remember them as he had loved them and cherished them.  Though, he had the added benefit of being pretty far away from them.  Vivi didn’t seem to have that luxury.

Sitting back a little he tried to imagine what this place must have been like in its heyday - for one thing, probably a lot more trees still standing, potentially a bigger pond.  Going to places like that, he had almost half expected to hear the sounds of frogs croaking and just the sounds of nature and water all around him - not unlike his favorite fishing spots.  Yet as he sat here, mulling this all over, there was nothing but silence - almost no reminders that there was any other life here, at all - hell if Vivi hadn’t pointed out the fish, he likely wouldn’t have noticed them himself.

Still in its heyday, this place must have been a popular place for people - maybe even children - to go fishing, to hunt for frogs and bugs, even just to sit and enjoy the pond.  He’d been drawn to the docks for a similar reason - just enjoying looking out over the clear blue water - in a way, it almost felt like the waves were washing away his troubles and worries, along with his thoughts.

Perhaps for Vivi, it had been much of the same for her? She did seem rather fixated on the water.

“…Yeah, this kind of stuff is always is complicated, but don’t feel like you have to tell me everything about it - just begin wherever you want,” He continued, now shifting closer to her as he hoped to offer some comfort about this place.  “Is it tough seeing how much it’s changed or…?” He asked, hoping to understand what exactly was upsetting her as he still couldn’t really figure out what exactly that was or why this place seemed to be getting her so sad.  “Did you used to come here with someone or maybe whenever you were stressed about something…? Like a special place for you…?”

His brows seemed to furrow as her further comments seem to confirm just that - there had been someone who had come here with her and although she hadn’t elaborated much further that, he had a feelings that things hadn’t ended well.  “I guess that person…isn’t with you anymore?” He asked, slowly hesitantly - trying to discern if they might have been a friend who had drifted or moved away.  The worse possibility was that they might have actually passed away, which likely would have made memories of this place all the more painful to her.  He supposed it didn’t matter who it was or what had happened, though.

“Maybe, you don’t have to remember though - isn’t it better to remember this place as you loved it and visited it…? You could write about it, do art of it maybe.” He suggested, shrugging his shoulders as he tried to think.  “Do you have any old photographs of this place…? You could look at those too - just remember it as it was to you - someplace special, with someone special.”

Through the cracks in between her fingers, this time Vivi was more distracted looking down at the water again.  There’s no moves made to accept the physical closeness Ryuji had silently been offering her, but she wasn’t retracting from his comfort either.  Perhaps she didn’t want to look her friend in the eye then, or was it to hide the warm tears that were irritating her skin, too?

Yet, pausing at the odd prickle of her companion’s query, she starts with a jolt; her head drawing itself out from the hollow comfort of her cool hands.  Eyes quickly dart up to meet his.  Her hands hang in the air for a moment, the lingering warmth they sapped from her features feeling all the more alien to her senses.   Her eyes stung, but her cheeks felt even more uncomfortable at the familiar wetness of her already spilled tears.  She blinks for a moment, making the blur of her vision slightly worse with it; but it could only be ignored with a sharp sniffle then.  Already, she looks away again (only to stall a little), she sloppy wipes at a corner at one of her eyes with the edge of her sweater sleeve once more.  She sniffles again.

Her smile’s long washed away.  Yet, looking to the starry night sky, she at least seems to consider his words.  Perhaps once this old drying pond had once used to be special to her, even if only for a fleeting bit of comfort.  When she was younger, naiver, it had been her place.  Sharing it once with a close companion, but… He had long since made too many mistakes; their last parting nearly cut their lives short.  That, in some semblance of memory she still clung to, she could still feel his blood burning upon her skin.

“.. Our last meeting didn’t go so well, ya could say.”  She shrinks a tad in posture, her shoulders slump just a little, too.  “He.. As much as I feel like I’ve known them, I.. don’t have the best memory, to tell ya the truth.  Sometimes I remember them in their entirety, but other days.. I just try not to forget my team, my entire family, at least.  The only reason I remember something being in this ol’ noggin’, it’s because I have landmarks like these.”  Out of impulse, a hand wanders to a length of her scarf, she grasps it for a sense of squeezing it tight.

“It doesn’t make much too sense sometimes, I know.”  She says.  “But.. my brain’s been like this for as long as I.. Well, as I can remember, really.”

[lunarsilkscreen]

Problems with the [X-Men]

The X-Men comics were about a neglected and overlooked portion of humanity; the underdogs. And how they're often abused by the rest of humanity and the government. And the strife they have to face that not other person has to.

Why did it become so... For lack of better phrasing; problematic?

This has to do with the 80s mostly. The underdogs of society were the war veterans, the children in hospice, the kids put up for adoption and the ones lost in the system. And those born *different* that just didn't fit in with society. Either because they were autistic, or Queer, or disabled, or just never had a platform or family life to speak of.

The exemplary Mutants are the fan favorites; Wolverine, Magneto, Professor X, Rogue, Gambit, Angel, Night Crawler, and Deadpool.

There's a reason why I picked those. Nobody really cares about Cyclop's literal x-ray vision (in opposition to Superman's non-harmful variant)

Because he was just the kid with the coke-bottle glasses and given just... An awful power to make them feel better.

Which is kind of why X-Men and mutants started getting really outside of pop-culture. Cokebottle still became the boy scout football team captain engaged to the cheer team captain. So far away from the [Stereotype] he was meant to embody.

In contrast; Wolverine is the Vietnam vet who is just a bad ass and good guy, despite... Not being [all there] sometimes.

Professor X is the handicapped mentor, with seeming psychic ability, and despite knowing basically everything; is incredibly altruistic.

And Magneto; the Jewish Holocaust survivor, master of a technical trade (metalcraft) who sees the world "As it really is" in contrast to X.

Rogue embodies the negative side of being different. Having a superpower that literally kills others by touch. And thus; being the touch starved femcel.

Gambit; because God damn if audiences don't love the altruistic Tramp who nothing ever seems to work out for despite being really good at card magic.

Angel who literally cut off his own wings in order to fit into society, who then has to overcome his own trauma that keeping his wings brings.

And Deadpool.

There certainly are a lot of other heroes who are frequently overlooked; but that's usually because the writers don't really know where to take the character. And so readers stop reading because the stories just aren't that interesting.

But there's also a lot of characters who's loves are made miserable; and only really to make audiences miserable despite being incredibly memorable characters.

And then there was that one time they weaponized Aids because X-Men became a word synonymous with [Queer Community]>>>

You can see where the writers are trying to take the X-Men. But why is it always... Off to [Transylvania]? And this constant statement that [Mutants can't fit in with humanity]

"These mutants literally had no future, even in Mutant society".

And then; it becomes this anti-thesis to your traditional [Hero School] tale. Always embodying this constant despair and asking the question; why don't we just end the world]>

There is literally never anything good that comes from being a Mutant. And so they're trapped in this constant mutant civil war.

I think this why Disney went back to X-Men '97. They're trying to figure out *what made X-Men good in the first place* while also capitalizing on that '90s nostalgia.

So we see Anime from Japan like "My Hero Academia" who even manages to make the Frog Powers a likeable persona that Audiences wouldn't mind idolizing.

In opposition to X-Men's [Toad].

A stereotypical unhygienic nerd, whose powers just served to make him seem more unhygenic.

And what they were trying to do with the [Brotherhood] is to have a place where even the [X-Men] rejects could go.

Despite Magneto then being relegated to trying to turn them into [Project Mayhem]... I'm sure *Even he* knows that's not the wisest course of action. Not for the brotherhood's best interest, not for mutant-kinds best interest.

And it's that thing that turns Magneto from a good anti-hero jumping passed villain and going straight into "WTF, who is this idiot?"

Magneto is supposed to be wicked intelligent and Wise, and making the decisions that need to be made in opposition to Professor X; the altruistic who will refuse to make certain actions not for the good of the world and mutant+human relations, but just because of his "Morals".

And authors many times make Magneto no better than just making decisions because they're opposite what X would do.

Like a god damn child; not like the badass old man he is.

Why NightCrawler? I don't think anybody really knows. He's a demon spawn that can teleport. Son of a bi-gender shapeshifter.

Despite having a hot mom half the time and a uh... Something the other half; nobody really knows why he such a likeable character.

And writers can't either; constantly giving him back story and personality that clashes with his overall motif.

Personally; I pretty sure it's just his powers and his cool demon appearance, and everybody else just kind of... Tries to ignore everything else about him.

Which; is a kind of an allegory in itself. But doesn't really serve the media as a whole.

In exactly the same way all the other bits and bobs tend to make X-Men often lose momentum and require a reboot every short period of time.

Sure; Jubilee is my favorite X-Men, but she tends to be forgotten or left out. Like completely... And her stories just aren't popular enough to be picked up long term.

Which isn't her fault; that's just par for the X-Course.

Anyway, that's why they needed to Give Scott a cooler brother with cooler powers; because nobody feels sorry for the popular kid.

And as for Jean Gray; The Phoenix story makes her character; while everything else about her makes her that forgettable cheerleader whomst peaks in high school.

[aki-bara]

I'm responding to this with my take on the book as requested by @iamnotadumbdonut Not trying to start an argument. Also please keep in mind I do not currently own a copy of Chalice of the Gods so everything I'm talking about is just from my memory and may be inaccurate.

My overall take away from the book was that Percy is depressed and dealing with it poorly.

What first struck me about the book was Percy's general tone. In many of the books you could describe Percy's narration as irreverent, flippant, or teasing. Despite this there's a sense that he genuinely cares about what is happening and about making sure his actions have a positive impact on events as they unfold.

In this book the flippancy is there, but we begin to see a lack of genuine empathy, even for characters Percy has a close emotional connection too. This detached style of narration feels unique to this book and to me reads as apathy on Percy's part. The way Percy describes the more dangerous parts of this quest lack a real sense of danger and Percy seems to almost never panic in the moment, unlike in earlier books. Many consider depression to be an absence of feeling, and to me that seems to be what's happening here.

Let's take a look at the beginning of the book. If I remember correctly we start at Percy's school where he has been called to the guidance counselor's office. Percy isn't a big describer in previous books, but he spends a lot of time here describing the school, the counselor's office, the counselor herself, and a frog painting. The focus on the superficial here read (to me) as an attempt by Percy to distance himself from the emotions of this moment. Percy as a narrator is someone I feel dislikes talking too much about himself, but the lack of insight we get here feels especially pointed. Whether this was an intentional choice on Percy's part to distance himself from the reader or subconscious is up for debate.

The feeling that comes through strongest on these pages in my mind is disdain. Percy hates this school. He doesn't want to be here. It's clearly a place they put "rejects" or people that don't fit, and what better way to emphasize that than by literally focusing on the ill-fitting furniture and inappropriate murals. The school doesn't care, and in turn the students don't care. Percy wants us to believe he doesn't care either. Whether that's true or not, isn't particularly important. What is important is how this is communicated to us.

If I remember correctly Percy never outright says anything negative about the school or mock it. In past books whenever he's disliked something he hasn't held back on mocking whatever it is or explaining just how and why he dislikes it. Despite a lack of mocking here, it's clear Percy doesn't care for the school and his lack of comment communicate this just as effectively as any cutting remark. This results in a feeling that Percy both hates his school and is too tired to mock it. He doesn't care enough, he can't think of anything to say that can't already be said in the simple description we're offered.

Now I'd like to talk to you about the frog mural. Percy has a strange fixation on what he describes as a picture of a "sick frog" because apparently this used to be the school nurses office. Why is this frog here? Why is Percy fixating on it? Of course the in-universe reason for the frog to be there is because its a bad school wall mural, but why did Rick decide to write that there is a sick frog on the wall in this office? Throughout the conversation with the guidance counselor Percy continously empathizes with the sad frog, and while it's definitely a joke, there's a sense of truth to the humor, a sort of genuine spark of "Percy" we don't see in the previous pages.

Next Percy gets flushed and sees his dad. While Percy's chapter titles have always been sarcastic, this one feels especially pointed. (No actual help occurs, or something like that) Percy is one of the few demigods that I would consider to have a positive relationship with his godly parent, yet Percy comes into this encounter ready to fight. He mocks his dad's fashion choice. This isn't his first time describing his father's "look," but it is the first time he does so derisively. He also implies his dad seems to care more about his home rennovations than anything else. Reading this scene I was left wondering, did something happen between these two? Or is it that something "didn't" happen?

The animosity Percy brings to this conversation feels excessive. Remembering the last time that he and Poseidon spoke (to our knowledge) was at the end of the HoO series, I was left wondering if Percy's resentment in this scene was a result of Percy wanting his dad to do more for him. I think Poseidon actually offers to flood Percy's school at some point during this conversation? I could be remembering wrong, but to me this seems like Poseidon is genuinely trying to make a caring gesture. To us it's obviously a completely inappropriate response, but this attempt at kindness only seems to irritate Percy further.

Now, this could be a me thing, but when I have my worst depressive episodes I start to engage in an activity I like to call "bridge burning." I think the reason I (and likely others) insitgate this behavior is out of a false sense that we've been wronged. When you are depressed, you're hurting. The people who you expect to help you in these moments are your friends and family. The problem with clinical depression is that your friends and family can't help you. If you haven't realized this, you may begin to feel increasingly frustrated as being with the people you love continuously fails to alleviate your negative feelings. This is when the lashing out begins. Depression makes you think people don't care about you. Lashing out at people is a way of "proving" this to yourself. It's simultaneously a call for help, like many self destructive behaviors are. And I'm the depressed person's mind it is deserved for the reasons previously stated.

My sense in this scene was that Percy perhaps feels like his dad is not doing enough for him. (No actual help occurs.) Whether that feeling is justified or not, we can't be certain. Either way it feels clear to me that Poseidon DOES care about Percy. He is trying to help him, even if the way he goes about it isn't in the way Percy wants or needs. Percy understandably comes away from this encounter feeling pretty crappy, but notably unlike Annabeth and Grover, whose reactions are of outrage and dismay, Percy's own feelings are just more tired frustration, like an "of course this would happen," reflecting a cynical self-defeating attitude typical of individuals suffering from depression.

Now lets focus on the plot of the book, and of the series overall. Percy is told essentially, that he has to "make up" for his continued existance. It goes without saying, but this is a REALLY crappy thing to say to someone. Can you imagine yourself telling ANY person that they don't deserve to exist? That they shouldn't exist? That they need to do something to prove they deserve to exist? Percy is rightfully upset at being told he needs to do these quests, but he seems to be upset because he's ALREADY done so much, not because the idea itself is insulting as hell. This leads us to wonder, does Percy actually feel he needs to prove his right to exist?

Obviously regardless of if he believes that, he clearly feels he's already proven it. But if you define the value of your life in terms of your usefullness to others, you are quickly going to run into trouble. For most of his life Percy has defined himself in tems of his relationships to others. Sally's son, Grover's best friend, Annabeth's ???? (didn't have a definition for this one until recently). Now he's heading into adult life and his goals are going to stop being defined by other people. He's going to have to find his own way forward. This is a time in many people's lives where they are left to wonder what they want to do and why they are here. Percy is literally presented with this question through Zeus. He is asked to define his own existence, and his rejection of this goal speaks to me of a clear lack of certainty regarding the future, regarding the reasons for his own existence.

The next significant moment in the book to me in relation to this theme is the aftermath of heebie jeebiesm which I may have spelled wrong. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover become little kids for a moment. Grover and Annabeth are understandable freaking out and begin to act a bit childishly. Percy, however, seems to act the same way he always has. While this is a pointed reminder at Percy's inability to be a child during his own childhood, it also reminds us these are the situations in which Percy is most comfortable. IE, the dangerous ones. Annabeth and Grover panic, but it feels like this is Percy in his natural element. And yet it's in the middle of a dangerous quest, something he actively does not want to be doing any longer.

There's a moment in Sea of Monsters where Percy says he's disappointed to have found that something he's really good at (sailing) is a useless skill. I wonder if he feels that way again now. He shines in these panicked moments of danger, but these dangerous moments have also caused him irrepairable harm and he rightfully no longer desires to engage in such activity. But what does he want to do? Annabeth sort of saves the day here with her chicken plan. and they are all restored to normal, but Percy leaves the encounter shaken. And he's shaken in a way I didn't anticipate and to be honest, didn't fully understand.

The scene with his mom on the balcony really shook me. Percy so rarely allows himself to be vulnerable around others. His mom is one of the few people he's comfortable showing weakness too, but he still resists that temptation nine times out of ten. Now, what happened to him earlier that day has shaken him so much that he confides in her, and nearly starts crying when she affirms that he's a good kid. Low self-worth is a key symptom of depression, and honestly this whole experience felt so innocous that I was surprised by how much it triggered these negative feelings in Percy, to the point where he even grew tearful about it!

This isn't the only time Percy gets tearful in this book either. The second time it happens? When his father tells him over the phone that he is proud of him. Both times Percy became emotional in this book it was because the people he loves and respects affirmed his self worth to him. This boy is struggling to see the positive things in himself and these two moments really sent that home for me.

The final thing I want to mention is the "battle" Percy has with the river spirit whose name I can't fucking remember. Percy seems to really give no shits about what happened in this encounter and considering he almost fucking died that seems WILD to me. He goes into the encounter with no plan, says some shit, gets the crap beat out of him and then nearly kills the river spirit in retaliation. Annabeth somehow is calm throughout and even brought tea. Did she plan for this? She didn't tell Percy the plan if so, or maybe she did and he just didn't care enough to relate it to us or even pay attention. The overall vibe throughout this whole scene is that he just doesn't care about what's happening, and again, that's that apathy I mentioned.

Jesus christ I wrote a lot. Sorry. @iamnotadumbdonut This is my real response, the other one was a mispost. I hope what I said makes sense!

some observations about the changes in Percy's personality in the chalice of the gods because im a fucking dumb fuck

if you've read chalice of the gods, (and if you haven't then just go and read it PLZ), it's pretty obvious that Percy's personality has become more "bby girl" sassy than his original "angsty skater boi" sassy. now i know I'm probably making excuses for rick's writing still, which changed considerably after writing 5 whole books from apollo's perspective, who is the canon bby girl btw, but some of his sass has transferred into Percy's personality. this could also be because of the natural change in Percy tho. for starters, he's growing up now. leaving the angsty angry teen years behind. obviously, his emotions are more in control. in chalice of the gods, it is indirectly stated he keeps his cool more than he did before. in the tower of Nero, he seems more amiable than he ever was, which just proves my boi has become a well rounded individual on the way to adulthood who has learnt to not be angry and childish. good for him.

another reason he's a lot happier than before, and i could be wrong, but i most definitely am not, is that Percy was pretty angry and snarky before he went into Tartarus, right up till MoA. and boom, in house of hades, he falls into Tartarus, gets hella traumatized, broken af and just fucking destroyed, and then he enters the mortal world again, all sappy and shit. most people think that he's all happy and so he's dumbed down in the blood of olympus in order to raise all the others to the pedestal, but isn't that how anyone will react after going to hell and back??? sure he was dark and all scary at first, but when that boy healed (almost completely, after all PTSD never really leaves you ) he was just so full of joy. because that's the rational way to go about it. compared to all the shit in Tartarus, any problem in the world was next to fucking NOTHING. no problem was too big because he has been to literal hell, and hence all his anger has died down and is just a little spark now, and so just pointing it out old Percy= snark/ impertinence (close enough eh) Percy in Tartarus= fucking broken lmao new Percy= lost most of his anger, a lot happier, nothing else. and hence a new equation is formed snark-anger=sass so now all that's left is sass it's also given in the dictionary that while sass is just playfully feisty, snark is supposed to rude. that's all. Percy hasn't been dumbed down. he's just happier and more carefree (again pointing out, not the same as careless, which Percy was before) wait wait wait yes

old Percy= careless new Percy=carefree careless + more responsible + more considerate - anxious =carefree

boom bitches im the psychological mathematician. ciao muahahhhhaahahaha

[chaoticgremlinbrainspace]

idk if theres something wrong with me but I feel the deep seated urge to just study the bat family and their weird ass family dynamics/relationships with eachother and like make a huge chart with notes then work my way out from there to their friends and then their friends friends until I know the entire web of complex interlocking relationships and how different people interact with each other and their histories with each other and shit. like I want to dissect the dc charaters and I know the only reason my ass is here in the first place is bc I hyperfixated on nightwing then got invested (sobbing shittung dying nightwing is my lil dude I put into a hydraulic press so unfortunately he would take up so much brain realistate💀) I wanna write silly goofy lil stories featuring him but I also want to do other characters justice and have full context of events and stuff I will throw up if im ooc and or just fucking wrong about something. like theyre so funky I wanna do right by their charaters but ive also gripped dick by the throat and started projecting onto his guilt ridden ass.(eldest child moment yippeee disappointmenting my parents makes me explode :( also hes funky like that lol) but like genuinely want to be able to take existing relationships and just like idk go into it? like explore them I guess and how they interact, what makes a character tick and all that. theres just something about charaters that are so fun to pull apart and find who they are at their core, what makes them this charater, you know? and I feel like part of discovering that is understanding the connections and history of a character in relation to the setting and other charaters, how they react, how they think and feel when put into situations, shit like that I could rotate in my head for hours. im also an emo lil shit and my brain tends to fixate on the darker events and happenings, which can be a hindrance at times 💀. and like im also just one lil dude my Interpretation of those relationships and charaters could be comepletely different form someone else's due to my experiences or lack of experiences with certain stuff. and like I wanna do it justice I dont wanna should dumb or completely miss the point because that would suck ass, Especially if I ever did post it online it would be like being dragged through the city tied to a Honda civic or smth. or at least thats probably how it would feel lol. damn fear of failure and ridicule we meet again you assholes....anyway, I wanna write silly goofy lil stories for my own enjoyment but I want them to be good and accurate to the characters, maybe add small little head canons as a treat but. Domestic type shit or me projecting onto dick my fucking adhd and making him explode too lmao.(im very insane about that head canon ive thought about it a lot, shout out to middle school me for doing all that research instead of sleeping or doing homework your a real one lol). that and using dick as a vehicle to explore my own queerness in a sense because like, its fun, and probably less dangerous than walking around downtown by myself. like I really enjoy giving dick a funky gender that he cant quite label or name that just is, and it doesn't matter because he’s just rocking around kicking ass, he just happens to not be cishet in my heart and mind. that and I wanna draw him in fun outfits, my friends agree he dress like a lesbian(lesbian approved statement). and like yeah I just think its neat to heasdcanon him as queer, Especially the funky genders because hes just doing his own thing bhfdjknvl. this turned into me rambling about making dick gender queer in some fashion not to say that cis dudes cant wear traditionally seen as feminine clothing or anything ya’ll because fuck the notion of gendered clothing, I just mean like imagine like very loud outfits, patterns colors weird shapes and sizes. that and cursed thrift store shirts that say some shit like “oat sealed frog jar” with a picture of Freddy Mercury sitting on a bench wrong. with the like insane fonts. I guess I wanna throw dick in fits that you typically would associate with the chill queer alt people who have cool drip. idk man. anyway sorry to y’all reading this it kinda got outta hand there. 

[carolap53]

Are You Becoming Secularized?

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman

05/11/2023

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen

(Rom 1:24-25).

There is a story told about a frog in a kettle. The frog is placed in a kettle of warm water. The frog does not notice that the water temperature is being turned up gradually until it is too late. He dies from the heat of the water not realizing the danger he was in.

Societies are suffering from the "frog in the kettle" analogy. They make decisions that seem innocent enough, only to realize later the impact these decisions bring to their society. Whether the issue is gay rights, abortion, euthanasia, or simply a lack of spiritual influence over society, the changes seem logical to the unregenerate mind but reveals the moral compass of the nation has been removed.

In 1945, a book was written about the spiritual condition of England. "We are convinced that England will never be converted until the laity use the opportunities daily afforded by their various professions, crafts and occupations."

[1]

During the time of this writing, 30% of England attended church. Today, less than 7% attend church in England. It has become a secularized nation.

During this same time more than 40% of America was attending church. Today, less than 30% attend church and it is rapidly declining. The reason is that more and more believers are seeing the local church as irrelevant to the world they live in. Surveys reveal that up to 90% of church members believe they are not being taught how to apply the Bible to the complex world of work where they spend 60-70% of their time. It is not a question of them being taught the Bible; it is a question of making it relevant to their world.

Pray that God will bring revival upon our nations and that His glory will be revealed in and through His Church throughout the earth.

[mwahagga]

My stories never go anywhere so now you get to read them

The man’s foot tapped rhythmically. He took a sip and noticed the whiskey in his glass was warm. One of the electronic ice cubes must've malfunctioned.

"Keep! 'nother of your rocks is busted," he said as he slid the glass across the counter. With a sigh, the lady behind the bar stepped up, and in one fell swoop, she dumped the liquid in the sink, fished out the warm metallic cube, and tossed it in the recycler while tipping the other cube and the glass into a countertop ultrasonic steam dishwasher. While she poured another drink of the customer's preferred whiskey, she murmured something about regretting going with the cheaper brand of refrigerant cubes. She set the new glass on the counter, grabbed a couple clean cubes from the pile on the wireless charging pad, and after checking their temperature was acceptable, dropped them in. She then slid the drink back to the reclusive patron turning her back before it reached its destination.

"I'm not paying for that last one, ya know" said the man before testing a sip. The barkeep waved him off. He knew that wouldn’t phase her. Besides, she couldn’t afford losing any customers. There was hardly ever anyone in here especially at this time of night which was one of the reasons why it was his favorite place to imbibe. Currently, the only other customers, sitting a few stools over, were a young couple whose lowered inhibitions were causing them to start getting a bit handsy. He doubted she would want to be left alone with those two for any extended period of time.

He looked up at the screen that spanned the width of the wall above the bar. The first quarter of it was filled with advertisements that changed every few seconds. The next section showed two popular national newscasters, a man and a woman, discussing something mundane that had happened earlier that day as fervently as expected of them. The last half of the screen cycled headlines and short descriptions of topical news. Nothing interested him so he glanced around to see if something else would pique his attention while he drank. 

The place wasn’t very large. The entrance was off to one side. Upon walking in, one could choose to sit in one of the handful of booths to the left or the bar on the right or keep walking to get a hallway with unisex bathrooms and an employees-only door presumably leading to a small kitchen. The outside wall next to the booths was just one large adjustably-transparent window that the man had only seen set to fully opaque. Between that and the wall behind the bar being fully blocked by shelves of alcohol, there wasn’t much room for decoration. Amused with the thought, he wondered if more ornamentation was the missing key to this place being more successful.

With nothing else in the bar to entertain him, he began to watch the barkeep diligently perform her duties. Out of the numerous times he had come here no matter what time of day, she was the only one he had seen working here, yet he didn’t even know her name. It was, of course, completely possible he had asked previously and had forgotten it. That wouldn’t surprise him in the least bit given his activities while he was here. He reasoned it would be awkward to ask again at this point, and he honestly wasn’t sure if he cared enough to do so anyways. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to make acquaintances, though he had been struggling with that recently. He just simply enjoyed their current relationship of provider and consumer of alcohol and didn’t want to make things any more complicated than that. Her apparent indifference towards him only made his lack of action easier.

When the barkeep turned around to swap out some bottles, he saw something peeking out from the back of the tank top she was wearing that he had never noticed before: a tattoo of a frog wearing a tiara.

[restrained-by-society]

In all honesty, Ira could've opened with an admission that he thought he was a tree frog and Cleric wouldn't have thought anything of it. Iraavanan was far from the first person he'd encountered in his lifetime who made such off-the-cuff comments and dark-humoured jokes involving cannibalism and decidedly more taboo topics.

"Indeed. Consider me surprised." The artist remarked with a teasing lilt to his British accent.

And again with the contrasting remarks. If Cleric was more critically aware and introspectively cognizant of what he was attracted to, Ira might've been spared from his psychotic defect of needing to plunge a knife into a warm, twitching body. He wanted to be worshiped, but not because of an ego or confidence. He wanted a human heart, whether rhetorically or literally (Cleric neither knew nor cared), but he also considered being polite and, what, going at a reasonable pace?

Cleric was patient, but not that patient, and especially as the cool night air conflicted with the warmth from their respective cigarettes, walking in the dark, distancing themselves from humanity and the population as a whole. The area was poorly-lit, and Cleric had discarded the butt of his cigarette some several meters ago. Not that he ever thought about those things. He didn't think about a lot of things, including whether or not his still being a free man could've been attributed to his parents' influence, a lack of authoritative competency, or a general apathy towards the dead and dying.

"Then I'm only partially sorry for for not being more polite," Cleric replied, regarding Ira before the latter turned to face him. And, for a moment, he grew very still as the taller man placed a finger on his chest, the bone that tied his ribcage together. Thick, sturdy, incredibly durable. Difficult to puncture. "Shite, I guess we're out of luck, then." The man scoffed, another cloud of smoke flickering out of his mouth.

The hand was on his sternum, and Cleric's hands slowly, but confidently and rather affectionately rose to cup Ira's face in them. "Do you want me to attempt more pleasantries, Your Grace?" He asked, his blue eyes looking up to Ira, sharp and focused.

He who fled the crowd and people's attention, finding peace only in the calm of his office, his house, partitioned off, easily found comfort the further they walked from the hubbub of the bar and its surroundings.

There were many ways to react to such a confession: Ira had never admitted to anyone what he had to do while lost with his class in the Canadian wilderness, but that didn't stop him from making comments like this one.

People saw it as cynicism or as a coping mechanism and that suited him perfectly. The fewer people asked questions about him, the better off he was.

A priori, this man had no idea of Ira's past and he did not really seem troubled by what must surely have been a touch of humor on the part of the lawyer. He smiled at Cleric, looking somewhat predatory, taking the time to observe his raised eyebrows, their twitch, then a smile forming on that man's lips. His gaze rested on that beautiful mouth for a moment. He sighed, and smoke escaped, caressing their faces. "I really should have opened with that. But that would have ruined the surprise, don't you agree." Once again, he stared at him, and once again, they walked further from the bar, from mankind, until it was just them and the occasional passerby.

"I think I'm simply trying to be polite about all of this," seeming too eager was such a bad look after all. "But if you want to skip the pleasantries, my darling Cleric, be my guest," with those words he stopped himself, turning to the side to face his company. He then raised his index finger, pressing it against his sternum as if to feel the man's pulse. Then, slowly, he started to rub along the bone, his eyes focused on the other's, a puff of smoke clouding them from his sight at a steady rhythm. “If it's a sinner you want, look no further. If you want an heart... That might be a bit more complicated."

[bukojuiice]

— genshin boys as your late night study buddy

ೃ ft. childe, diluc, kaeya, zhongli, xiao and albedo x gn! reader

ೃ 200-299 words per character!  (they are your bfs in this! bc MAN do i desperately want one of the genshin boys to cram school works with and shower me with luv and affection.) ♡

ೃ tags: college au, modern au, and lots of fluff. 

ೃ thank you so so much for 1k notes on my very first batch of genshin hcs! i appreciate all the luv it received and i can never thank all of you enough 🥺 i’ll be making a genshin masterlist soon to compile all of my current and future works so pls stay tuned for that!

ೃ if you want to be a part of my taglist, answer this form! ♡

ZHONGLI:

– Zhongli would be a very chill study partner. He will always keep his cool and focus, never letting his attention stray away from less trivial things. If he can focus, he’ll focus. There’s always this sense of comfort surrounding him that brightens up your mood and productivity. The both of you are sat in this long table, papers, books, and cute matching pencils are sprawled about. You lean your head on his shoulder, as he serenades you with his deep and butter voice, explaining all the formulas to you. Being able to study in peace and quiet with him is always a blissful experience. He never fails to brew you green tea (as it helps the brain function) even if that meant going down to the kitchen at 2 in the morning. He always brings a small humidifier and some essential oils with him that can help brighten up the study mood and that emits a wafting vanilla pinecone scent to keep you happy. (He’s just fancy like that.) When he doesn’t understand the concepts right away, he’d turn to you, his sharp amber eyes gazing at yours with nothing but innocent and love, and asks: “(Y/N)... what reference is this supposed to be? pepe the frog? kermit the frog? here come dat boi? aren’t they all just amphibians? what are the differences between them? I am very intrigued.”

CHILDE:

  – Childe loves a challenge. An academic challenge. He loves the thrill of finishing school works the night before the deadline, he loves studying for a pop quiz twenty minutes before the bell rings, and most importantly, he loves to pretend he doesn’t know how to solve point a to point b if that means getting to spend time with you as you tutor him on how to do so. He’s at the top of the class, He’s popular and friendly, He’s the captain of the Archery Team, and one of the vice council members of the Fatui Club. But, no other title will ever come close to being your study buddy. You and Childe always chill on the bed whenever you study. Especially when the both of you have the sudden urge to just laze around. Well, it is the wee hours of the night, so just lounging around and trying to resist the urge of sleep is pretty understandable. Sometimes, the two of you would take power naps in between study sessions. This meant cuddle times! Childe will always cuddle with you, (he’s the big spoon and you are the smol spoon) and often times you would be immersed into your textbook while he’s scrolling through his phone and looking for some of the current and popular memes. He’d poke you on the cheek and show you what he’s found. It was quite annoying sometimes and you would reprimand him for it, but it never fails to make you laugh. You jokingly suggested one time that the two of you sneak in the library after closing hours, and your chaotic boyfriend turns to you with the biggest smirk plastered on his face. “Let’s do it baby. I know the law.”

DILUC:

–You and Diluc are the cutest pair of night owls. So, studying late at night is never a problem with him because with the help of each other, the both of you are unstoppable. An actual power couple. Batman and his love interest who? I only know (Y/N) and Diluc. Mondstadt University should be giving you the title of #NoSleepGang for the “Campus Cuties” awards because the two of you are able to ace every test still despite lack of sleep.  You and Diluc are very very organized. The both of you own matching couple planners (that the both of you had gifted to each for Christmas) and have your entire study schedule planned out already. Since the two of you prefer to study at night, your dates are usually done during the day. Which meant never having to worry about the upcoming finals whilst you’re at a cute little café with him. The both of you have respective desks whenever you study together, but you never fail to gaze at your crimson-haired boyfriend with the cutest pout and biggest puppy eyes. He always gives in and next thing you know, your swivel chairs are practically glued next to each other and the both of you are cuddling in your seats. One thing that Diluc never fails to do is pamper you with comfort food or little gifts that you love after a long and tiring week of hell (aka exams) It’s such a sweet gesture and the blissful relationship that you have can’t get any better than this.

“I got you some boba and that necklace from Pandora that you’ve always wanted. I-I’m so proud of you (Y/N). You did great, my love.”

KAEYA:

- You are the Lawful Good to Kaeya’s Chaotic Evil. Kaeya is always tempted to ask for answers from your professors. He’s quite the teacher’s pet, but with good intentions. That’s just how he rolls. Every time he jokes about going to the faculty to help out and the answer sheets are just out in the open, waiting to be snatched, you always glare at at him and punch him softly on the arm, every time he tries to bring up the idea. To which he would always reply with, “I’m kidding. Just kidding my love.” You and Kaeya have amazing study hacks. He is always able to find a movie that is somewhat related to the topics that the both of you are currently studying about. For example, when the topic was an introduction to different branches of science, Kaeya chose Big Hero 6  as the “Educational Movie Of the Day.” He is always able to find something fun and informative for the both of you to watch. Well, Kaeya does find fun and interest in everything. Another effective strategy that both of you do is every time you or him get an answer right, you reward each other with either a kiss on the cheek or a bear hug. Both of these affectionate gestures give you butterflies in your stomach anyway, so it doesn’t matter which is which. With the ideas that Kaeya constantly makes up every single day of your study sessions, there’s a high chance that you’ll never fluke a test ever again.

“Oh. That’s pretty cool of you (Y/N). You got 30 correct answers! If we count everything, so I basically gave you 15 forehead kisses and 15 bear hugs. Congrats! I know we’re going to ace our finals!”

XIAO:

– Xiao is extremely intelligent and talented in a myriad of things. However, he lacks self-confidence. You’ve sworn to your boyfriend that you’d help him gain confidence in his academic abilities. Which is why you became study buddies in the first place. It served as dates with him too! Although he stubbornly refused at first, his reasons being that he can do things by himself and he doesn’t need any help. You continued to encourage him that this was going to help the both of you and it was a way for the two of you to bond, and Xiao hesistantly agreed right after. As the captain of the soccer team, “The Liyue Adepti”, The only free time that Xiao has was during the evening which is the reason for your scheduled late night studies with him. This brought so much more intimate and sweet moments with him though! It meant sleepovers with him, midnight snack runs, and casual early morning strolls in the park. It became sort of a routine. Your hand interlaced with his, the crisp morning air, the little chirpings birds, and the tranquil swaying of the trees brought so much comfort to the both of you. Xiao would be the type of student to not speak up unless he’s called. Even if he knows the answer. The both of you sit on some floor pillows whenever you would study. So, whilst you read aloud, Xiao always hugs you from behind, resting his head on your shoulder.

“I don’t deserve the patience and love you give me, (Y/N). I am eternally grateful for everything you’ve done for me. I hope you know, that I’ll always be here for you.”

ALBEDO:

- Being the university’s library assistant has it’s perks. Access to infinite knowledge, quiet solitude within the library walls, and being able to hang out with your boyfriend. It was truly a perfect deal. After classes, Albedo would be heading straight over to the library to do his work. You’d meet him there and wait until he gets his work done, and then the two of you head home together or have dinner. Albedo likes to plan things in advance. He’s quite busy, being a part of university’s alchemist group and as a library assistant, but, he will always study with you. He even brings Klee with him at times too! She’s always an energetic and cute addition, + she tattles on and on about how in love Albedo is with you and how he would never shut up about you at home. Albedo puts a lot of effort into creating review materials for the both of you. He makes very intricate drawings of modules, dioramas of certain science models, and has all the formulas memorized for him to list down. He’s a genius after all, and although you’ve constantly told him time and time again that he doesn’t have to make a review paper specifically catered to you, he still insists. He always gifts you one whenever it’s exam week (he adds extra detail to them during your finals) The cutest thing about these papers are scribbled about in all of the pages. The cutest doodles of the two of you with hearts and flowers drawn all over. Albedo + (Y/N) is even written in the last page, along with a heartfelt message: 

“I put all my faith and belief in you, (Y/N). I know you can do this. I’m proud of everything you’ve reached so far, my beloved. and I know you’ll reach greater heights. Let’s continue to excel and thrive together. I can’t wait to spend the rest of this journey with you.”

[seriouslysnape]

Moonlight Dip

Neville Longbottom x Fem! Reader

Warnings: Fluff, Sexual content (super brief).

Word Count: 2,588

“We’re going swimming.”

Hogwarts was always desolate and quiet at this time of night. The only person who was supposed to be stirring was Filch, Mrs. Norris, and possibly Professor Snape keeping an eye out for any students who had grown bold enough to break curfew. Most students didn’t bother trying to sneak around the castle at night. Not because they were afraid of getting caught, but because if they DID get caught, they’d have to deal with Filch’s overly strict behavior. Honestly, that was a punishment in and of itself. 

Which was why Neville just couldn’t seem to figure out why you were leading him through the dark corridors, moving like a woman on a mission. You had crept into his dorm around midnight or so, pouncing on his bed and shaking him from his gentle slumber. You barely waited for him to wake up before you were whisper-shouting at him that you had somewhere for the two of you to go. He never minded a surprise visit from you, but he also wasn’t very keen on attempting to slip out undetected. Still, his curiosity won out.

“Hey, uh, flower?” He whispered, not knowing where Filch might’ve been.

“Yes, Neville?” You whispered back, peering your head around the corner to check for anyone coming. 

“Where are we going exactly? And why are you in your robes?” He questioned, feeling a bubble of nervousness in his chest.

Truth be told, Neville felt a little underdressed. He was clad in his pajamas bottoms and an old t-shirt that he only used to sleep in. You looked back at him with a smile, his heart leaping at how beautiful you looked under the illumination of the Lumos you had uttered from your wand. Neville had learned to be more spontaneous after he had begun dating you. You were as sweet and respectful as anyone, but you definitely had a wild side that sometimes shaved some years off of Neville’s life. He wasn’t sure what to think of it at first, but over time he found that he loved all of your silly shenanigans. Even the ones that had gotten you both in hot water before. 

“I told you, Nev. It’s a surprise!” You answered, squeezing his hand that was interlaced in yours, “It won’t be a surprise anymore if I tell you.”

Neville made a puzzled, yet thoughtful look as he racked his brain of possible ideas. He thought that maybe that you were daring to venture to Hogsmeade for a late night snack. Every now and again, you’d convince Neville to help you with sneaking into Honeydukes after hours to snag a few treats (don’t worry, you always left the right amount of money on the counter to pay for it). 

However, his theory was proven wrong when he realized that you were taking him past the courtyard and in the general direction of the Quidditch field. He was glad that it was well into spring now, and the nights were warm with the days. You didn’t play Quidditch though, and neither did he. So he couldn’t fathom why you were headed that way.

“The Quidditch fields are always dark this time of night. There’s no way we’ll be able to see.” Neville pointed out, mumbling under his breath when he almost tripped on a loose rock. 

You turned to look at him again, another smile plastering on your face. 

“Then it’s a good thing that we aren’t going there.” You replied.

Sure enough, you kept walking towards your desired locating, keeping your antsy boyfriend in tow. About the time that Neville had given up on trying to figure out where you were taking him, his question was answered. The lake was always so pretty at night, and tonight was no exception. The moon was only a phase away from being full, but still offering enough light to where the two of you could somewhat see. The reflection bounced beautifully off of the dark lake, creating glittering ripples in the water when it was agitated from it’s still position.

You let go of Neville’s hand once you were standing on the bank, crouching down to untie your shoelaces. Neville stood still, his arms at his side rather awkwardly. He wasn’t picking up on your plan just yet.

“I didn’t know that you like to fish.” Neville said aloud, not bothering to whisper anymore since there was no chance that anyone would be out here.

“I don’t.” You giggled, removing your shoes and socks.

Neville’s eyebrows raised, still oblivious even as your fingertips worked at untying the cord around your robes. Well, he WAS oblivious, until it was literally right in front of his face.

“Then why are we- oh my God, what are you doing?” He cut himself off when your robes fell to the grass, revealing your bra and knickers underneath.

Neville was glad that it was mainly dark outside, because his sudden deep blush would’ve been painfully obvious otherwise. You smirked at the bashful boy who was frozen in place, unsure of what he was supposed to do.

“We’re going swimming.” You announced, reaching for his hand again. 

Except he didn’t take your hand. He wasn’t on board with this idea at all.

“Oh no. No, no, no. I draw the line at swimming naked!” He rattled off, taking a step away from you.

You weren’t offended in the slightest, and you were even rather amused at his skittish behavior. This was nothing new to you.

“I’m technically not naked.” You reminded him calmly.

“You’re in your knickers!” He hissed back, his eyes widening as he actually took a second to look at the lacy material.

“Exactly. Which equals not naked.” You returned, fighting the urge to burst into laughter.

“Nope!” He protested, sitting down on the grass instead, “I’ve defended us for getting caught sneaking off for Chocolate Frogs and breaking into the library at 3 o’clock in the morning. But I will not try to explain why we were in the lake naked.” 

Neville seemed adamant about staying put where he was. He was tempted to get up and leave, but there was no shot in hell that he was going to leave you out here by yourself. He was perfectly fine with sitting off to the side and observing from a safe distance.

“You see me in my underwear all the time, Nevy,” You said, not really believing that the lack of clothes was what he was timid about, “Is it the ‘nakedness’ or the critters that sometimes live in the lake?”

Neville was frightened of a lot of things, and while he tended to love animals, aquatic animals were an exception. Fish and water-based bugs freaked him out for some reason that even you didn’t quite understand. The only animals that lived in and around water that he liked were frogs and toads. The only aspect of the lake that he might enjoy (aside from seeing you wet and half-naked) were the plants that were undoubtedly growing below the surface.

“Maybe both...” He murmured, resting his forearms on top of his knees that were pulled into his chest, “Regardless, I’m staying right here.”

You shrugged your shoulders, believing your intuition that said that he’d be in the water with you in less than fifteen minutes.

“Suit yourself.” You told him before making a graceful entrance splash into the water.

He watched as you plunged in, your entire frame disappearing under the water that looked black due to the inky color of the sky. Neville felt his nerves get fired up when you went under, a slight anxiety in his gut that you might not come back up. The lake wasn’t super deep by any means, only coming up to just below your hip. Neville knew that it was possible to drown in any depth of water, which was why he became a bit on edge.

Thankfully, though, you emerged from below the water before he could get too worked up. He watched with interest when your hands swept your wet hair backwards, slicking it on your head. 

Neville had always found you pretty. He thought you were the most beautiful girl on the planet. While he always thought that you looked stunning, there were still times where it was much more clear to him. For instance, early in the morning when you’ve just woken up is one of his favorites. Or right before a Gryffindor party on Friday nights when you’ve taken extra time to get spiffied up. Seeing you always made his heart beat with a little more purpose. It reminded him of how much he cared for and loved you. 

And this moment now really had him swooning.

His eyes studied as water droplets dripped from your frame, soaking into your underwear and gliding down your beautiful skin. It created a shiny gleam over you, bringing out all of his favorite parts of you. He must’ve fallen into a lusty daze, because he felt himself snap back into reality when you called to him.

“You sure you don’t want to get in?” You spoke, letting your fingertips trail over the surface of the lake.

Neville shook his head in response. 

“I’m good here, tulip. Promise.” He said, still not sure if this was something he wanted to do. 

You never pressured Neville into doing things he didn’t want to do. You never wanted him to be uncomfortable around you or associate discomfort with spending time with you. However, you knew that Neville was a worrier. He was an avid overthinker and sometimes just let his nerves get the best of him. You encouraged him to live a little more, without thinking about every single possible outcome of a situation. It’s great to be cautious and aware, but life without taking some risks could be...boring. You just didn’t want Neville to grow old with you and wish he hadn’t let his head get the best of him.

You swam out towards the middle of the lake, but not so far that you couldn’t see or hear Neville. You floated on your back and played with things that you found on the mushy, sandy floor of the lake. Neville maintained a conversation with you, but found himself feeling tempted to join you. It was just swimming. It wasn’t like the two of you were trying to blow up the lake or anything. 

“How does...how does it feel?” Neville asked, stifling a giggle at how you were bouncing on your feet with your head lolled to the side to get water out of your ear.

“It’s nice. It’s not warm by any means, but it feels good.” You told him, wringing the excess water from your hair, “Changed your mind?”

Neville chewed the inside of his cheek, but he was warming up to the idea.

“I don’t even have a pair of swim trunks with me.” He argued.

You motioned towards your own body with a look of hilarity.

“Oh, and I’m wearing my swimsuit? It doesn’t matter, love. Just take off what you have on.” You instructed, getting hopeful that he was actually going to do it.

Neville stood from where he sat, stripping down to his boxers at a snail’s pace. He folded his clothes neatly, setting them next to your robes that he had also folded previously. He dipped his foot into the water, expecting it to be much colder than it actually was. It was a lukewarm temperature, something that would be refreshing on a hot summer day, but far too freezing for a frigid winter day. For his moderate spring night, it was perfect.

Neville didn’t love how the bottom of the lake felt on his feet. It was a mix of a squishy, gelatinous feeling. You reached for his hands excitedly, taking them as he waded out to where you were standing.

“So, what do you think?” You wondered, careful not to freak him out too much,

“It feels...nice. I don’t think I’ve ever been in this lake,” He admitted, “How did you even come up with this?”

“Well, you told me once that your Gran used to have a little pond behind her house that you liked to swim in during the summer. You said you enjoyed it and I thought maybe this would be something you’d like too,” You explained to him, suddenly feeling insecure about this whole thing, “I know it’s probably not the same or as fun.”

Now things really started to make sense. Neville felt the cage of butterflies flutter all into his belly whenever you did something sweet for him. Especially when it was something with sentimental value. 

Neville had undeniably fallen in love with you. Not because of your witty personality or the random adventures you liked to take him on. Those things were plenty great, and he cherished those things with everything he had. But that wasn’t what made him decide that you were his future. 

It was the pureness of your heart.

He fell for you more and more each time you did something for him. Whether it was as small as you combing your fingers through his hair when he was asleep on your chest in the common room, or as big as the time you devised a plan to throw a surprise birthday party for him at his Gran’s house. No matter what it was, you never hesitated to spend your energy, time, and love on making him happy.

“I did always like that pond, flower. But...you want to know something?” He said smoothly, with just the faintest hint of shakiness in his tone, “This is a lot better.”

He pulled you in close at the sight of your brightening eyes, bringing you down with him as he sank down to his knees under the top of the water.

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?” You pressed on.

“Because you’re here.” He mewled, pressing a kiss to your forehead. 

His descent of kisses trailed down to your nose, to your cheeks, to your lips. His kisses were never rushed in moments like this. They weren’t ever in a rush to get to the point or so rough that he didn’t have a chance to feel it. He liked to take his time with you. He liked to savor you.

“I love you, Nev. I really do.” You professed once he pulled away from you.

“I love you, petal,” He returned, going to kiss you again, but stopped when he took a big swash of lake water to the face.

He let out a startled gasp at how he was totally soaked now. It dripped from his hair, droplets rolling to the tip of his nose before falling off back into the lake. He caught your mischievous expression, your cheeks puffed out as you fought your laughter.

“Really funny, doll.” He sputtered, nonchalantly reaching around to your back and unclasping your bra with one hand. He managed to whip it off of you with ease, leaving you completely naked on top.

“Neville!” You squealed, “Give it back! That’s my favorite one!” 

Neville teased you as he held your bra high in the air above his head, chuckling as you struggled (and failed) to get it back.

“Don’t worry, love bug. I’ll take good care of it. But if you want it...” Neville paused, shimmying past you and waddling further out into the lake with a sneaky, yet innocent sneer on his face;

“You’ve got to come and get it.”

*****

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